USS Spectre Compile - March 1st-31st 2007 by Alan Reading ========================================================================= Mission: The Sword of Damocles Day: (Previous to Mission start) Stardate: 2407.01.29 (Earth Spacedock - Location - Counsellor Jynea Kreung - 15:30) ========================================================================= Mission: The Sword of Damocles Day: (Previous to Mission start) Stardate: 2407.01.30 (Luxury Liner Obsidian - Promenade - Counsellor Jynea Kreung - 15:30) ========================================================================= Mission: The Sword of Damocles Day: (Previous to Mission start) Stardate: 2407.01.31 (Luxury Liner Obsidian - Crew area - Counsellor Jynea Kreung - 21:30) (USS Hood - Auxiliary Transporter room - Counsellor Jynea Kreung - 21:40) (USS Hood - Guest quarters - Counsellor Jynea Kreung - 21:45) ========================================================================= Mission: The Sword of Damocles Day: (Previous to Mission start) Stardate: 2407.02.01 (USS Hood - Guest quarters - Counsellor Jynea Kreung - 01:15) (USS Hood - Crew's Lounge - Counsellor Jynea Kreung - 01:25) (USS Hood - Guest quarters - Counsellor Jynea Kreung - 06:25) ========================================================================= Mission; The Sword of Damocles Day: 4 Stardate: 2407.02.05 (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 15:05) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 15:07) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - ACEO Ensign Robin Bourne - 15:09) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - ACEO Ensign Robin Bourne - 15:16) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 15:17) (USS Spectre - Corridors – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 15:17) (USS Spectre - Holodeck – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 15:19) (USS Spectre - Deck 5 - TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna - 15:21) (USS Spectre - Cloak – ACEO Ensign Robin Bourne - 15:23) (USS Spectre - Marine quarters- Corporal Houseman - 15:25) (USS Spectre - Cloak – ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 15:26) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - President Rondar Nell - 15:29) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Presidential Guard Phillip Tovardi - 15:30) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 15:33) (IRW DihVhael - Bridge - Commander Talok - 15:35) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Agent Smith - 15:36) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering - Corporal Houseman - 15:36) (USS Spectre - Dropship Bay - MXO Major Bruce Kowalski - 15:37) (USS Spectre - Holodeck – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 15:37) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 15:38) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Lieutenant Commander Phil Tovardi - 15:38) (USS Spectre — Deck 5 Corridor — Ensign S’rrep — 15:38) (USS Spectre - Holodeck – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 15:39) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor - 15:39) (USS Spectre - Cloak – ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 15:39) (Zulu Alpha Two - Jeffreys tube nine A - Weapons control - Lomax - 15:40) (USS Spectre - Cloak – ACEO Ensign Robin Bourne - 15:42) (USS Spectre - Cloak – ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 15:43) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor - 15:45) (USS Spectre - Cloak – ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 15:50) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor - 15:53) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 15:55) (IRW DihVhael - Bridge - Commander Talok & Tal'Shiar Officer N'Alae - 15:55) (Zulu Alpha - Bridge - CO - Commander Marco Ryan - 16:00) (USS Spectre - Personal Quarters - "Janus" - 16.00) (IRW DihVhael - Bridge - Commander Talok - 16.01) (USS Spectre - Deck 6 - SO Ensign Yates - 16:02) (Zulu Alpha - Bridge - CO - Commander Marco Ryan - 16:04) (USS Spectre - Ten Forward – Daimon Brak – 16:05) (USS Spectre - Bridge - TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna - 16:05) (USS Specture - Sickbay - CMO’s Office - CMO Williams - 16:06) (IRW DihVhael - Bridge - Commander Talok - 16:06) (USS Spectre - Ten Forward – SO Ensign Nathanial Yates - 16:07) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor & TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna - 16:08) (USS Specture - Sickbay - CMO’s Office - CMO - Williams - 16:09) (Zulu Alpha Two - Bridge - Lomax - 16:09) (USS Spectre - Deck 6, Torpedo Storage - MXO Bruce Kowalski - 16:10) (Zulu Alpha Two - Bridge - Lomax - 16:11) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor & TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna - 16:12) (Zulu Alpha - Bridge - CO - Commander Marco Ryan - 16.13) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering - Corporal Houseman - 16:15) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Agent Smith - 16:15) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 16:16) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor & Romulan Commander Talok - 16:16) (USS Spectre - Holodeck 2 - ACSO Lt. Yayla Nollys - 22:41) (USS Spectre - Corridor - ACSO Yayla Nollys - 22:52) ========================================================================= Mission: Ad Noctum (Andoria - City of She'nah Hoorn , The Ruins - Major General Michelle Roberts - 07:00, Day 3) (Andoria - City of She'nah Hoorn, The Ruins: Inside the Argo-Command Vehicle - Major General Michelle Roberts - 19:40, Day 5) ========================================================================= Mission: The Sword of Damocles Day: (Previous to Mission start) Stardate: 2407.01.29 (Earth Spacedock - Location - Counsellor Jynea Kreung - 15:30) "Momma!" Jynea cried, startled to see her mother waiting by the massive view windows. "What are you doing here?" Her mother had been elsewhere while she was packing her meagre belongings from home and preparing to ship out. The original plan had been to go to a graduation dinner with her mother, Captain Clarke, and the extended friends and family. But as with all things military, plans changed after the first stage. She was being shipped out immediately and instead of taking a standard transport, she'd been given a bunk of a galaxy star liner heading out toward Starbase 21. Apparently she was paying catchup to crew already assigned to the Spectre. She hadn't had much of a chance to study her new ship, but she figured that's what downtime on the ship was for. She wasn't worried - there wasn't a bum ship in the Fleet as far as she was concerned! "What am I doing here?" Jynea's mom echoed, dragging Jynea's thoughts back to the present. "I'm standing here to see my baby off to her future and destiny!" Jynea blushed purple, "Aww, mom!" she managed, not quite scuffing her feet. "I'm just so PROUD of you honey!" Lina told her daughter, "You've come so far, done so much, and you'll go even further and see even more. We came from nothing and now you hold the stars in the palm of your hand!" Jynea didn't know quite what to say, she was used to her mother's poetic soul, but still, it was hard to say she wasn't all that when her mother's eyes shined with hope and pride. "Thank you, Mom" she finally said, dropping her duffel and hugging her mother with enthusiasm. Lina sniffed and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "Now, you go forth and you show them what Jynea Kreung is made of! And send messages often! I'll be worried all sick, but I know you'll be fine." It was a parent's duty to worry she knew. "Thank you," she said again, simply. She picked up her duffle, "This isn't the send off I pictured but.. I'm glad you came Mom. Maybe on my first R&R we can make up for the lack of partying." Lina smiled raggedly, "It will be one freck of a party, I promise!" Jynea gave her mother another quick hug and proceeded into the secure, passengers only area. She turned and gave one last wave before turning back to the large luxury liner awaiting her. As far as career beginnings went, this one was fantastic! (Reply None) (Posted by Lorna Appleby) ====================================================================== Mission: The Sword of Damocles Day: (Previous to Mission start) Stardate: 2407.01.30 (Luxury Liner Obsidian - Promenade - Counsellor Jynea Kreung - 15:30) Jynea hadn't been sure if she counted at 'on duty' or not while travelling on a civilian liner but decided to err on the side of caution and wore her uniform anyway. She was proud to be a newly commissioned officer of Starfleet. She wondered at the kind of people who took vacations on the liner though. All the food was grown and real. The thought that the food had grown in dirt, been manured and then harvested made Jynea's stomach queasy and she'd retreated to the 'emergency' replicator in her quarters in quick order. She didn't even want to THINK about what they did to make the root beer. None of the passengers seemed to care about the universe outside. Politics, wars, famine, whatever was going on on the other side of the hull was irrelevant to them. All they seemed to care about was forgetting about everything but 'having a good time.' As near as Jynea could tell, this good time involved eating as much as possible, gambling away ridiculous amounts of credits, or sleeping under the fake holosun on the promenade. She didn't understand the attraction. She could understand the couple who had their noses buried in books, she could understand those who were working out on various exercise equipment or playing sports. She didn't understand those in the holosuites. You could play in a holosuite at home! Passing near some bushes that smelt entirely too real, she spotted some red hair hiding behind the green leaves. "Hello." Jynea said to the bush, "Are you lost?" "No!" came the declared reply. By the sounds of it a young boy. "I'm playin' hide'n'go seek with my brothers!" "Ohhh." Jynea said wisely, looking up and down the way. It didn't look like any brothers were looking for him. "You must be extra good at hiding, I don't see them *anywhere*" "Uh huh! I've been hiding for 92 minutes, they haven't even come close!" Came the proud reply. A pair of blue eyes suddenly appeared to peer out at her. "Who're you?" "Ensign Jynea Kreung, at your service." She gave a small bow. "But you must be getting hungry. I'd think your parents would be worried by now." "Naw, mum's in the spa, an' dad's playing dabo." He climbed out from behind the bush, "But I am hungry. Wanna go get a hot dog?" Jynea offered her hand, "Well, that depends, what's a hot dog?" He took her hand, "It's a .. well, a hot dog!" Trusting boy, she thought. She could be anyone coming to carry him off. Though, she figured probably not too many would be kidnappers would wander around this ship as the lone person in a Starfleet uniform.. but you never knew. She should probably track down his parents and have a chat with them.. especially if those brothers were supposed to be keeping an eye on him. "So, what's your name?" "I'm James!" he said proudly. "James Richard the fourth!" Imagine knowing your family for four generations. Jynea smiled down at him. James led her to a strange food booth with a red and white striped overhang. "Two hot dogs please! With *everything!*" Jynea was fascinated to see a sentient actually cooking food, but vaguely disturbed at the process as well. The Bolian handed over two buns. "Don't worry ensign, it's replicated meat. We don't actually harm potential sentients." "Er, right." She watched James take a very enthusiastic bite out of his hot dog. before taking a tentative one of her own. The flavours of onion, ketchup, relish and mustard warred with the bread and psuedo-meat. She wasn't quite sure WHAT to think of the food, but decided to try a second bite just in case. It wasn't BAD, but she didn't think it was going to be on her list of favourites any time soon. "THERE you are, young man!" A shrill voice declared, planting a hand down on James' shoulder. Jynea whirled to see a very painted, middle aged woman, with over-styled hair frowning down at, what Jynea could only assume was her son. "I have been looking EVERYWHERE for you. Thomas and Michael said you ran off!" "I didn't run off, I was playing - " His explanation got cut off. "Yes, of course you were. What have I told you about not going off alone?" "but I wasn't alone - " he started. "Yes, yes, imaginary friend number sixteen. Come on, we'll be late for dinner. You better not have been filling up on junk food this whole time!" She half-hauled, half-pulled James off the stool and started to haul him down the promenade before Jynea started to try and get the woman's attention. She'd have had better luck trying to get a droag to stop for tea. Giving up after a few steps and attempted words, Jynea returned to the stool. She was baffled by the behaviour of the human female. Should creatures so self-absorbed have children? But maybe the woman was having a bad day. Jynea tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, though, what could cause a bad day other than boredom on this flying piece of overindulgence was beyond her. (Reply None) (Posted by Lorna Appleby) ======================================================================== Mission: The Sword of Damocles Day: (Previous to Mission start) Stardate: 2407.01.31 (Luxury Liner Obsidian - Crew area - Counsellor Jynea Kreung - 21:30) Jynea had been surprised that when it became time to transfer to the Hood she had to go down into the bowels of the vessel to their transporter rooms. She assumed their were emergency transporters all over, since the Federation required it, but the only working one seemed to be down in crew country. Apparently, the passengers normally came on and off via the umbilical cord to the relevant space station, and took runabouts up and down to the planets the vessel visited. To Jynea it seemed an awful waste of time and energy, but it was part of the supposed charm of the cruise. She couldn't say she'd much miss the supposed charm. This morning at breakfast one of the senior citizens had discovered she was a counsellor and she'd spent the rest of the day listening to stories about children, grandchildren and other "problem" members of families. She didn't mind listening, she liked it in fact, she didn't mind offering advice, but she'd rapidly gotten the feeling she could have been a potted fern and the various people wouldn't have noticed the difference. The crew areas of the ship were remarkably plain and utilitarian in comparison to the luxurious decks above. The crew she passed while being lead by a gopher gave her respectful nods but didn't slow down in their brisk, efficient duties. She didn't know what kind of compensations the crew got for serving, but apparently it was good enough that no one was napping on duty. She got up onto the transporter pad and it seemed no sooner than the okay had come over from the Hood that she was trapped in a transport beam. (Reply none) (Posted by Lorna Appleby) (USS Hood - Auxiliary Transporter room - Counsellor Jynea Kreung - 21:40) It was refreshing to be back on a Starfleet vessel. Smart and simple uniforms, clean lines and neutral tones, and a friendly, smiling, petty officer. "Welcome to the USS Hood, ma'am." "Thank you Petty Officer," Jynea replied. She managed to not try and correct the poor transporter operator into calling her by name. She'd been told over and over familiarity was for inside the counselling department, military structure and formality was to be observed outside of it. It seemed very stuffy and old fashioned to Jynea, but she had to play by the rules if she wanted to stay. At least the woman hadn't saluted! As she stepped off the pad, the petty officer stepped from behind the control panel. "Petty Office Anders, I'll show you to your visitor quarters. We should be at the rendezvous point in 79 hours. Ensign Beckett is also aboard, he's going to the Spectre as well. Do you need help with your packs?" Jynea blinked at the influx of information. "Uhm, no, this is it, I'm fine." The pack contained mostly off duty clothing and holocubes, it wasn't exactly heavy, just bulky. She fell into step beside the NCO, though she got the feeling Anders would walk one step behind and to the right if she wasn't supposed to be leading. Jynea mentally shook her head, obviously the Petty Officer was from one of the many 'Fleet families' and had military protocol in her breast milk. It wasn't a long walk to the quarters. Anders opened the door and asked if Jynea wanted an escort to the lounge for supper. Jynea reassured her she was fine and belatedly remember to dismiss the petty officer who had been looking at her expectantly. At first the counsellor thought the woman was waiting for a tip. She had definitely been corrupted by the luxury liner. (Reply none) (Posted by Lorna Appleby) (USS Hood - Guest quarters - Counsellor Jynea Kreung - 21:45) The quarters were Starfleet standard. A sitting room with some soft furniture, a simple bathroom with sonic shower, and a bedroom that was little more than a bed and a dresser. She dumped her pack on the bed with the thought she should probably unpack a couple uniforms but really couldn't be bothered. She walked up to the replicator and asked for a garden salad and root beer. It was so nice to have a replicator that didn't advise one that they could get 'real' food just a short hop away in the nearest dining hall. There were many times in her life where she'd been grateful to have a basic replicator to eat from, she didn't understand the jaded view of so many sentients who felt replicated food and synthetic drinks were the bottom of the barrel. *She* couldn't tell the difference in taste or texture, she was pretty sure it was all in the heads of the spoiled sentients. Maybe she could declare THAT her speciality. If she ever wanted promotion past ensign, she'd have to declare a counselling speciality, she could see it now, "You are not what you eat," as a thesis statement. She smiled as she took her food to the couch and activated the holoprojector to get the latest from the Federation News Network. She was still leaning towards interpersonal relationships in a military life, but didn't exactly have a lot of personal experience and wasn't sure if she could just demand people relate all their stories to her so she could write a paper. (Reply None) (Posted by Lorna Appleby) ====================================================================== Mission: The Sword of Damocles Day: (Previous to Mission start) Stardate: 2407.02.01 (USS Hood - Guest quarters - Counsellor Jynea Kreung - 01:15) One could almost think that sentient beings had trouble getting along from the reports on FNN. So-and-so was invading so-and-so, such-and-such had errupted into civil war over the scaricity of the beloved blark, and this fleet was attacking that fleet because of a mistake over a flag. Jynea knew she should belittle the waste of lives of the men, women and other, but it was hard to take seriously when it was so far away and didn't touch her life directly. And besides, fighting over a yellow beetle WAS silly. She uncurled from the couch and approached the replicator, "Chocolate Chip cookie." she requested. The replicator made the blat of an unhappy machine unable to comply. "Any kind of cookie?" Jynea asked. *Blat* "What kind of fates forsaken replicator doesn't have cookies?" Jynea asked herself as she pulled up the replicator's menu. It was at install preset. Not a cookie, treat or desert to be found. Some engineer somewhere should be brought up on charges of blasphemy. Sighing, Jynea pulled on her duty jacket and decided to brave the hallways of the Hood. The lounge should have cookies of one sort or another, or she was just reporting this whole ship as unsafe for sentient inhabitation. (Reply None) (Posted by Lorna Appleby) (USS Hood - Crew's Lounge - Counsellor Jynea Kreung - 01:25) She'd only gotten minorly lost twice. It wasn't as if having to ask a non-sentient machine to direct you was anything to be ashamed of, though not being able to follow said directions might be. However, the lounge replicator did indeed have a fine selection of cookies. She scrolled down, gave up and just copied the whole menu to her temporary quarters. She'd be doing extra PT for a week, but didn't she deserve a treat? While trying to justify what exactly she deserved a treat for a humanoid in a yellow uniform strolled up and towered over her. "So," he greeted, looking her up and down twice, "What kind of counsellor are you?" Jynea eyed up at him and his pips. She'd been warned there would be a certain amount of hazing for new officers, but she hadn't expected it on a ship she was a in-transit officer on. But, he knew she was a counsellor, and if that fake leer was any indication, he'd probably already read her public personal folder. She had a sudden sneaking suspicion her replicator was *supposed* to be barren. At least he hadn't spit out ration bars and water. "That's *ensign* to you, Petty Officer!" she barked, doing her best Lieutenant Racktor impression. "Stand up straight, get out of my personal space and explain yourself!" The human (or at least, she was pretty sure he was human, he smelled human anyway!) took a surprised step back, "Er, ma'am.." he started, obviously taken completely off guard. Jynea took the cookie from the replicator tray and winked at the enlisted man, "I'm a counsellor with a sense of humour, that's what kind of counsellor I am." She gave him a half curtsy, and sailed out of the lounge, happily munching on her cookie. Mmm, white chocolate and macademia nut, her favourite! (Reply None) (Written by Lorna Appleby) (USS Hood - Guest quarters - Counsellor Jynea Kreung - 06:25) The yellow alert warning siren woke Jynea from her sleep. Pulling the pillow over her head, Jynea had already decided her first requisition would be a softer pillow. The standard ones had to be designed for Klingons by Vulcans. She suddenly missed all the homey gifts her mum had made for her that had been shipped from her academy dorm room. Hopefully they'd catch up with her eventually. The siren turned off, leaving the flashing lights to remind everyone to be on stand by. Dropping the pillow back on the bed, Jynea rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. She wasn't quite sure why they'd gone to a yellow alert. She wasn't even quite sure where the ship was going or why they were going there. Reviewing the last few days Jynea realized she'd never even looked up her new ship. She'd been wandering blind with faith in Starfleet that she was needed where she was going. Hindsight told her this wasn't necessarily the brightest of ideas. While she was hardly security or a tactical response officer, she should at least be aware of her environment. Stumbling off the bed, Jynea yawned her way to the terminal in the main room. "Computer, destination of USS Hood." [That information is classified] replied the entirely too cheerful voice. Jynea peered at it one eyed, she supposed she didn't have crew clearance. "Computer, location of USS Spectre." [That information is classified], the happy voice informed her. Jynea rubbed the back of her head. Maybe some sort of security issue? But you'd think the counsellor of the vessel would be allowed to know where it was. Although, maybe the computer didn't know she was the counsellor of the Spectre yet. "Computer, personnel roster of the USS Spectre." A half-ass information screen scrolled up. Jynea wanted to flick the screen in case it got stuck. Name, rank, position. It wasn't even a quarter of the ship's personnel, but her name was associated with the counselling department. Brow furrowed she tried to select public files for the personnel it showed. She was happily informed once more that the information was classified. Was there some sort of information lock down because they were in yellow alert? Or was she just hopelessly data impaired? It wasn't like she'd sailed through her Ops classes. In fact, she remembered managing to destroy the Academy's botany database by accident in her second week. Fates bless backups or she might really have been in trouble.. Pulling back the chair and sitting down cross legged, Jynea pulled at her lip as she studied the screen. Maybe she was being sent to some sort of special ship where they felt only the best of the best could keep her out of trouble. Tilting her head she thought about it seriously for eight seconds and then a snicker dribbled out. The snicker turned into a giggle. She had more belief in her own ability to completely foul up a computer. Letting out a frustrated breath, Jynea rolled to her feet. Well, she'd tried to do the sensible thing and find out information. The next sensible thing, she supposed, would be to be in the crew's lounge for breakfast and do what a counsellor did best - listen and filter through gossip for the meat of the matter. Surely the crew of the Hood knew where they were going and why! (Reply None) (Written by Lorna Appleby) ======================================================================== Mission: The Sword of Damocles Day: 4 Stardate: 2407.02.05 (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 15:05) "Erm... Guys.. I think we have a problem over here...." Bourne shouted. "Looks like the... wait.." Jacqueline waited, hoping the problem had been an error on Bourne’s part and not something else they’d have to fix. ~Please let him have read something wrong.~ "Nothings seems to be getting power! I presume the cloak requires power..." he asked rhetorically. "So.. I presume that means that... were..." he trailed off. "Did you try…I don’t know, thumping it?" Jacqueline asked. Sometimes she’d found the only way to fix temperamental machinery was to hit it, especially when it was old. Of course, that usually required knowing the machinery a lot better than she did the ship’s systems. "There has to be power," she continued, not nearly as sure as she forced herself to sound. After all, there had already been one sabotage attempt, so why stop there? "Come here and have a look! I don't know this system well... I'm just saying what its displaying!" He shouted. "Um…I’m new to this too," she answered, somewhat offended by the man's reaction. "No need to bite my head off," she added under her breath. She kept her distance, making sure Chenoll had room to get to the console and see what she could do first. Maybe it really was a mistake. Maybe tribbles could fly. If only she had some coffee, maybe then she'd start thinking more clearly. (Reply Chenoll, Bourne, any) (Posted by Siobhan Armstrong) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 15:07) ~How could you kill all the power to this thing at the same time?~ The fact was, Jacqueline couldn't think of a way to do that without setting off a few alarms. And if it were sabotage and not the biggest glitch she'd ever heard of, wouldn't it have been easier to just kill power to the whole area? No, that would leave the culprit in the dark and alert everybody to the fact that something had happened. Actually, the best idea might be to trick the diagnostics scans, making the computer think there was no power. And if that was the case, then there should be a way to return the system to normal... "So what the hell is wrong with you?" she thought out loud. ~Did I just say that?~ (reply any) "Uh, no, no-not you. The computer system," she explained hastily. Stress was making her just as snappy as it seemed to make Bourne a moment ago. "My guess is that it would be easier to trick the computer into thinking there was an error rather than risk cutting all the power. Too much room for an accident that way. That's how I would have done this, anyhow." (reply Chenoll, Bourne, iyw) "I really have no idea how to hack the system that way, but whoever did this might." She shrugged, almost in apology. "If you're good you can get a computer to do almost anything." (reply any in cloak, any) (Posted by Siobhan Armstrong) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - ACEO Ensign Robin Bourne - 15:09) Robin was desperately attempting to pinpoint the source of the problem, awaiting someone to take over to give him a task to fix, not to find. "So what the hell is wrong with you?" He over heard from the center of the room. Looking up to see Bristed looking over on his direction. Instantly, Bourne stopped any commands he was in the process of doing. "Erm.. Me? " he answered back in shock, hands now frozen in the air about ready to give up. ~Now the engineering crew is turning against me... Can anything else go wrong?~ "Uh, no, no-not you. The computer system," Bristed explained hastily. "My guess is that it would be easier to trick the computer into thinking there was an error rather than risk cutting all the power. Too much room for an accident that way. That's how I would have done this, anyhow." In anger and frustration, Robin replied "So i guess you've done it before? Sounds like you knew what to do..." "I really have no idea how to hack the system that way, but whoever did this might." She shrugged, almost in apology. "If you're good you can get a computer to do almost anything." He smiled. Its been a while in this situation he found anything to be able to be funny. "Your right, and true. I have not done a computer diagnostic.. one of the things I can do well" he said, thinking of the possibility they were still safe. "Chenoll, this console is all yours" he replied, as he moved over to another wall terminal and started his diagnostic (Reply Chenoll IYW) "I can do a comp diagnostic from here" he replied entering his access codes, and started the tedious job. (reply any in cloak, any) (Posted by Robin Bourne) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - ACEO Ensign Robin Bourne - 15:16) "Guys.. looks like the people up a deck have taken the intuitive, they have completed a new cloak diagnostic whilst I was doing a computer diagnostic. If there were any computer 'fakery', it should have been detected" he stated to everyone around him "and for once, its something I can read easier.." He scrolled through the report, zooming in on key parts. "Did you find anything on your end by the panel?" (Reply Bristed) "Check the power regulators there, and the transfer leads... this report, in a complex way, is pointing the problems down to that." he replied. (Reply Bristed, Chenoll) ~Right, know the problem, know the cure~ he thought happily to himself. "I am going to bring the repair kit, hold tight!" he said as he ran to the nearest highlighted repair locker. Grabbing two tool kits, one in each arm, he sprinted back to the panel where Bristed was heavily scanning. "You do know what this means!" He said whilst running. "Were uncloaked in hostile space for sure! I don't want to be here longer then we need to!" he said as he skidded one of the containers towards Bristed, and got himself near enough to the panel to see inside. "What you need me to do and where?" he commanded. "You know this system better then me, well, that's what I have heard anyway." He said, attempting to boost herconfidence. (Reply Bristed) (reply Chenoll IYW) (Reply Bristed, Chenoll, any) (USS Spectre - Cloaking Device Section - ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 15:17) Jacqueline felt a surge of relief as Bourne announced that the problem was physical and not something gone screwy with the computer systems. It was immediately followed by a somewhat frantic sense of panic because so far, nothing had turned up. "Did you find anything on your end by the panel?" came Bourne’s voice. Bristed took a deep breath, forced herself to stay calm. "Minor stuff, nothing that would kill the power feed," she answered. Mostly patchwork that could do with some shoring up, and a spot or two where sparks had left their marks…even when she considered all of it together, it didn’t seem to add up to such a massive problem. "Check the power regulators there, and the transfer leads... this report, in a complex way, is pointing the problems down to that." Bourne replied. She complied with the suggestion, scanning the leads carefully, then the regulators. There was something wrong there, although it hadn’t been readily obvious to her at first. Until now she had been looking for something massively wrong, but the results proved to her how stupid that was. The connections on most of the leads weren’t attached properly, somehow. They’d need to be manually checked over. As for the power regulators, one of them seemed to have died during H’Chir’s unorthodox removal of the detonator. Jacqueline released a series of epithets aimed mostly at the malfunctioning items, jumping from language to language indiscriminately. She kept her voice down, a habit developed while working on her father’s much smaller ship, but she was sure the others heard at least half of what she said, even if they didn't understand all of it. "Lunikkh ta’vik, fragging sonuva …tuilli! Duhes Andorsu sharding lost the bruddy…damn! Just damn!" she finished, feeling a bit better about things now that she’d ranted a bit. "Hey, yeah, I think we’ve found it," she called out once she was sure she was done. "This’ll go faster if I get some help though." (Reply Chenoll, iyw) "I am going to bring the repair kit, hold tight!" Bourne said as he ran to the nearest highlighted repair locker. Grabbing two tool kits, one in each arm, he sprinted back to the panel where Bristed was heavily scanning. "You do know what this means!" He said whilst running. "Were uncloaked in hostile space for sure! I don't want to be here longer then we need to!" he said as he skidded one of the containers towards Bristed, and got himself near enough to the panel to see inside. "What you need me to do and where?" he demanded. "You know this system better then me, well, that's what I have heard anyway." Bourne said. Bristed pointed her fellow ACEO at the dead regulator. "If you could get that power regulator working again, I’ll go for the loose connections we seem to have. We should have everything running again once that’s taken care of." ~I hope~ she added silently. (Reply Bourne, Chenoll, any) (Posted by Siobhan) (USS Spectre - Corridors – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 15:17) H’Chir was on the run – again. He’d fixed the cloak, but it wasn’t as fixed as it was supposed to be. The universe wasn’t playing by the rules, and they were going to blame him. He’d thought that by asking for his assistance they were paving the way for reinstating him as Chief Engineer, but now they’d almost certainly see him as a mistake… or worse. H’Chir stopped running and ran a finger around his collar, for an instant he’d been sure he could still feel Colonel Krige’s hand around his throat, crushing the life from him. Shaking himself free of the image, H’Chir resumed running until he found the Holodeck. Certain only in the knowledge that he could not be labelled a traitor again, H’Chir opened the door to home and stepped onto Vulcan. (Reply none) (Posted by Michael Drake) (USS Spectre - Holodeck – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 15:19) The blazing sun shone down against the cracked earth of the Vulcan plains. The intense heat caused the air to waver, the distant mountains seeming to ripple before the eye. A number of hooded monks, followers of principles of unyielding logic, passed by, draped in desert clothing. Pale cloaks passing between dusty brown buildings against the dusty brown landscape; dusty brown statues to Vulcan’s great philosophers standing in dusty brown courtyards… And through them all a streak of blue ran. There was sweat on his brow, and his breathing was already laboured, clearly indicating that he was not used to this climate. Ensign H’Chir had lost his wild sense of panic, and was now running with a clear sense of destination. He nimbly stepped around obstacles until he was outside one particular building. And then he was inside. The temperature fell away immediately, but he was too intent on his task to yield to any sense of relief. He brought his right hand up in the traditional Vulcan salute, a silent greeting to the attendant, and then stepped into a side room. Access a computer terminal in Vulcan script, he began working furiously. Slowly, methodically, a scene began to take form… (Reply any) (Posted by Michael Drake) (USS Spectre - Deck 5 - TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna - 15:21) Stepping into the turbolift at the end of the corridor, the security chief turned about & pondered the debacle that had just been. The guile & the sheer wit of the Andorian never ceased to amaze her but to play with them as he now was was bordering on contempt. At any other time it would have been comical, for Yates it already was of course but having them chasing a damned Cat around the ship was the last straw. Vasilyovna watched as the doors to the turbolift closed, then she made her request for the bridge before reaching up to her combadge & giving it a light tap. "Vasilyovna to all security stations, the moment Ensign H'Chir is sighted I want him detained immediately & returned to sickbay", she said in her clipped accent. "Inform both myself & Councellor Taxia the moment this is done", she added as the lift arrived with a slight jolt on the bridge. Vasilyovna stepped out & then informed the Captain of proceedings regarding H'Chir before moving towards the Tactical console to relieve the crewman stationed there, then she set about familiarizing herself with their current operational status. The cloak, of course was down but the ship was still in low polar orbit of Carraya IV & benefiting from the magnetic shield it provided, the away teams had now been located & beamed aboard & their special guest was undergoing emergency surgery at the hands of the good Doctor in sickbay. All in all it appeared that things were on the up at long last, in a moment the Captain would order them underway & they would finally be able to return to the relative safety of Federation space once again, hopefully..... With their cloak offline however, Vasilyovna was able to take advantage of the active sensor net once more & by switching their comms to subspace burst mode, a status update from the Hood immediately became available to them. "Sir, I have a scrambled subspace transmission from the USS Hood, Captain Taleko sends his regards & is standing by to assist upon our return to Federation space", said Vasilyovna. "Oh, & it seems we have a crew transfer available.....an Ensign Becket currently in transit from Starbase twenty one", she added. The Captain simply nodded to indicate that he had taken the news on board, then he ordered the Security chief to return their status to the Hood via scrambled subspace burst whilst he himself began receiving status reports from all decks regarding their operational readiness. (Reply, Any, None) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Cloak – ACEO Ensign Robin Bourne - 15:23) Robin started on opening the device on a nearby desk, whilst Bristed was head deep in the panel with wires. Stripping down the components inside, the damage was evident. Black burnt out components, similar to a surge, was spread all over the circuit board. ~nice...~ he thought as he turned to his repair kit, and picked up a circuit cleaning tool. Sweeping it through the path lines of the circuit, it suddenly became apparent that the damage was not as bad as he first thought. After removing and replicating the damaged internals, he slotted them back in making the device complete. He reached for his tricorder and started a scan. After a few seconds, the results were showing the repairs were complete. ~Much faster then heading to the cargo bay and getting a new one~ he thought, satisfied with the optimal performance. "Here, its complete, as good as new, without heading to the cargo bay to get a new one" he stated to Bristed whilst he walked to the open panel. "Should not take long to place. You finished your part?" He asked, amazed at how clean the panel where the device was look. (Reply Bristed) "Cool, Then this should..." he said whilst plugging in the device. Shortly after, the hums and beeps of the cloak began to re-appear, as energy was being converted to Chroniton Particles. Looking over the diagnostic screen showed that everything was working to plan. "Looks like it should be back up to top performance in... a few minutes" he stated, failing to read the distant panel clearly and judged it by the colours it was creating. "So, that drink...?" he asked Bristed, as he helped to seal the panel up. (Reply Bristed, any) (Posted by Robin Bourne) (USS Spectre - Marine quarters- Corporal Houseman - 15:25) Houseman was standing by his bunk wearing a clean uniform. He felt warm and refreshed after his shower. It felt nice to be clean again. On the bunk was his angle II weapon within his reach. He put his TR-116 back into the armoury as there was no need for him to have a snipers rifle on board. “Hay Houseman finished looking like a damp squid.” He looked over his shoulder. He saw Corporal Bedford walking across the room. “Hey Bedford nice to see that you dropped by when the party had finished. He grinned and picked up his weapon. Before he could reply the red alert klaxon sounded. He glanced at Bedford who shook her shoulders. They both turned and headed for there assigned stations. (Reply None) (Posted by Robbie Gray) (USS Spectre - Cloak – ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 15:26) "Here, its complete, as good as new, without heading to the cargo bay to get a new one" Bourne stated to Bristed whilst he walked to the open panel. "Should not take long to place. You finished your part?" He asked, amazed at how clean the panel where the device was looking. "Just a second," she answered, "Almost there." Much experience with outdated systems had taught her a few tweaks that sometimes kept problems from recurring. After a last-minute adjustment, she extricated herself from the panel. "That should be it," she said, smiling hopefully. Experience also taught her that even when she was completely sure things were right, old equipment could act up just to prove her wrong. The outdated stuff on her dad’s ship had done it often enough, anyhow. Bourne reconnected the device, and the sounds of an operational cloak were once again heard. It didn’t sound exactly like the simulated one she had trained on, but that probably had something to do with it being a holographic reproduction in the first place. "Looks like it should be back up to top performance in...a few minutes," Bourne said, looking at a panel and seemingly attempting to read it from a distance. Not the most accurate reading she’d ever heard, but it was good enough. "So, that drink...?" Bourne asked. "Yes, about that drink…" she replied with a grin. "I’m more than ready for it." (Reply any, none) (Posted by Siobhan Armstrong) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - President Rondar Nell - 15:29) Nell, still in the grip of drugs and dream, ignored all calls to calm down. HE opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by officers in Starfleet Uniforms, and he recognized none of them. "TRAITORS!" he yelled, as white froth formed on his lips. He'd already tossed one of them off him, he grabbed another and yanked, forcing the man off balance and away from him. Nell tried to get up, but yet more hands forced him down, and his own body began to betray him. It wouldn't do everything he wanted it to do, he had been drugged. He had been betrayed. "Traitors, all of you, traitors!" He screamed again. "Guards, get me out of here, NOW, before Doenitz gets his hands on me!" (reply: any) (posted by Trout) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Presidential Guard Phillip Tovardi - 15:30) Phillip was a tired man. All the running, the ducking & diving they had endured up until now had sapped him of his energy & he was relieved to be back on board a federation vessel once more. The cramped confines of the various Bajoran transports & Maquis hoppers they had endured had not exactly been in keeping with the quarters that the President & his men would have been used to & compared to those, the Spectre was an absolute godsend. In retrospect though, one could say that Tovardi was not exactly a stranger to Starfleet vessels. His rank of Lieutenant commander was hardly honorary for he had spent six years as a special forces Marine & had served on the line as a First Officer aboard the USS Gallant. It went without saying of course that he had seen more than his fair share of conflict in his time. Added to that was the very fact that he`d been hand picked by Nell to head his personal guard & that sort of task did not come lightly, irrespective of wether the President recognised him now or not. The man`s outbursts however had come as a surprise to him, it was clear that Nell was not himself at all & the fact that he was now referring to them all as traitors only reinforced that fact further. The Doctor of course was the epitomy of professionalism for he was upon him in a second & administering a hypospray as any medic would no doubt do. As far as Phillip had been concerned though, he had simply been doing his job when he had quieried it`s contents & then verbally assaulted the medic, in reality though he was a man on the edge & his own outburst had earned him nothing more than a phazer nozzle being pressed against the back of his neck for his troubles! Phillip frowned at his own stupidity, he should have seen it coming. At one time he would have sensed the assailant from feet away & disarmed them in a blink of an eye, in his current state of emotional fatigue however his ability to perform at his optimal level was seriously in question. In short, he needed a break. "Get back Agent. You have no jurisdiction here.", said Phillip in as calm & collected a manner as he could muster under the circumstances. "I suggest you lower your weapon before I take it from you & shove it up your........", added Phillip, pausing to hold that last sentiment as he spoke. "Sorry can’t do that. You just calm down.", said the female agent, at which point the angst ridden bodyguard let out a heavy sigh before finally releasing the Doctor & then allowing him to continue with the task he had assigned himself to, albeit under strict scrutiny. It was then however that the alert Klaxons began sounding & the annunciators began flashing red around the room to indicate that the Spectre had just gone to red alert! Phillip quickly turned his attention to the President where he lay, now a little more calm than he had been beforehand, then he turned to one of his men to bark off an order in his direction. "Get up to the bridge, find out what`s going on & have the Captain report to me directly", said Tovardi somewhat arrogantly. The man wasted no time at all of course, to the accompaniment of a curt 'Aye sir', he was off out the door & into the corridor as ordered whilst behind him, the Doctor & his team continued to work upon the confused, although far from comatose President. (Reply Any, None) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 15:33) Andrew pulled himself up. His head was throbbing as it had connected with the corner of the wall. "TRAITORS!" ~Come on. Lets get going~ He pulled himself up. He saw the president was thrashing around being restrained by his personal body guard and Douwsy. "Traitors, all of you, traitors!" ~This is not good~ He glanced at the presidential bodyguard who was finding it hard to hold the president down. ~Need to get him calmed down~ "Guards, get me out of here, NOW, before Doenitz gets his hands on me!" Andrew grabbed the hypospray filled it with a mild sedative. He stepped over and injected the contents into the president’s neck. As the president calmed down the body guard stepped over and pinned Andrew to the wall. “What did you give the president?” “It was a sedative.” “You go near him again with out my express permission, I’ll kill you where you stand.” Andrew saw the hatred in the mans eyes. (reply Agent Smith) Andrew looked to one side and saw Jo with a phaser inches from the body guards neck. “Get back Agent. You have no jurisdiction here.” (Reply Agent Smith) The body guard released Andrew. Glared at him and then stepped over to the president. (Reply Agent Smith) Andrew looked over at Jo. “Yes thanks.” Andrew looked back at the president who had stopped thrashing around but was still talking. He looked at the bodyguard. “May I.” The bodyguard scowled but nodded. ~This is going to be a good day~ He stepped over to the president. ~Hope he is going to be okay~ (reply Smith, any) (posted by Robbie) (IRW DihVhael - Bridge - Commander Talok - 15:35) "Signal Captain Ryan, inform him that we are prepared to initiate a wide dispersal Chroniton sweep of the area", said Talok. "Yes Commander, it is being done as we speak", said the Romulan communications officer just as the Zulu Alpha`s Captain appeared on their viewscreen. (Reply Ryan) "I hope your wrong Captain Ryan, for all our sakes", said Talok. (Reply Ryan) "If she is here she is under cloak as we expected but she cannot hide", said Talok somewhat smuggly as he turned his attention then towards the Tal'Shiar officer seated next to him. "If this turns out as you expect N'Alae, the People of Romulus will honour you", said Talok with clear intonation that he very much hoped that the arrogant major was undisputably wrong. The Tal'Shiar officer however simply smiled at the Commander's words, the intelligence had apparently been reliable, the Captain of the Zulu Alpha had merely confirmed her earlier suspicions of an all out attack upon Romulus, the manner by which it had been planned however had come as a complete surprise to say the very least. A phase cloaked Federation Vessel carrying a weapon of awesome destructive power parking itself undetected in the very core of the Romulan homeworld, whilst their 'Apparent' civil war raged on all around them as a perfect distraction! It was beautifully simple, in fact it was so simple that N'Alae almost cursed herself for not thinking of it first. There was only one thing that bothered her however & that was the Captain of their new found alliance. Ryan was untrustworthy, N'Alae had sensed it immediately & her own latent telepathic tendencies, although uncommon amongst her kind had alerted her to his somewhat dark motives. Time however would tell & as always, it would tell no lies, the dice had been cast & now it was time to play the game. "Initiate the Chroniton sweep, direct your scans towards the outermost planet & work inwards, inform me the moment anything is detected", said Talok as he settled back into his seat, his thoughts heavy now with doubt. (Reply Ryan, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Agent Smith - 15:36) Jo looked up to see the presidential bodyguard had Andrew pinned to the wall by the neck. ~Ow hell~ “What did you give the president?” “It was a sedative.” “You go near him again with out my express permission, I’ll kill you where you stand.” Jo grabbed her phaser which she had not returned when she had transported back and placed it under the bodyguards ear. “I don’t think so pal.” Jo poked the body guard with her phaser to indicate her point. “Get back Agent. You have no jurisdiction here.” ~Yeah well whatever~ Jo smiled at him. “Sorry can’t do that. You just calm down.” She watched as the bodyguard backed down. She stepped over to Andrew. “Are you okay.” “Yes thanks.” ~Good. Lets get back to work then~ She stepped back and let him get back to work. (reply Williams, any) (posted by Robbie Gray) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering- Corporal Houseman - 15:36) Houseman entered main engineering on Bedford’s heels. She gave him a grin and shook her head slightly as they took up their positions by the main door. The marines when on red alert were tasked to bulk up the security teams or like Houseman and Bedford have assigned areas. He looked cautiously at the warp core. ~Well if we have a warp core breach I’ll be one of the first to know~ He heard Bedford signal in on the marine comm that she had arrived. This was Bedford’s area compared to him who was his squads sniper and heavy weapons expert. Bedford was a combat engineer and was at home in the bustling engine room. He tapped his comm system. “Houseman to control at assigned position bravo two four.” He got the reply and then waited. (reply any) (posted by Robbie Gray) (USS Spectre - Dropship Bay - MXO Major Bruce Kowalski - 15:37) "It never rains, then it pours" The sentiment that had just left the MXO`s lips was clearly echoed by those in the vicinity as the Spectre suddenly & inexplicably went to red alert. The fact that the probability of such an alert was high meant nothing at all to Kowalski as he chatted with a marine spannerman whilst he checked out a coolant interlock on one of the Trojan`s nacelles. Immediately their status had changed though, the Marines had responded by going to alert one status which basically meant that they now had to be ready for anything & defend their home base with deadly force. For the time being anyway this was the USS Spectre. Kowalski himself wasted no time at all as he tapped at his communicator to open a channel to the Marine CO. "What have we got sir?", said the MXO. (Reply Krige) "Affirmative, standing by for further orders, security backup is being deployed as we speak", said Kowalski as he marched out of the dropship Bay, his expression one of cold determination as his comms crackled into life once again. =/\=Houseman to control, at assigned position bravo two four.=/\= "Acknowledged", said the MXO as he quickly went on to assign further details to all key areas just in case they happened to be boarded. It all sounded like an extreme scenario but Kowalski knew of course that a ship didn`t just go to red alert for no reason at all & the fact that they were in hostile, Romulan space only heightened their need for caution even further. All about him the crew were now a hive of activity as they prepared themselves for a possible combat situation in a well scripted, methodical approach, his own people too moved from deck to deck as ordered whilst with quiet determination, they each awaited their next steps along the chain of command. (Reply Krige, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Holodeck – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 15:37) H’Chir watched as the rain of sparks blossomed over his sleeve for the ninth time, a splatter of singe marks dot his sleeve. Each time he goes through the simulation he subconsciously cradles his left hand, the dozens of tiny burns and blisters only just starting to impinge on his awareness. “Halt programme.” Stepping around his holographic self, H’Chir ran a diagnostic on the holographic cloaking device. For the ninth time, the result came back that the cloak was fully functional. Logically he knew this served as justification for his actions – logically he’d done the right thing – but that only served to increase his frustration that he was now cast well and truly back in the loony bin in the eyes of his peers and his captain. Frustration danced behind his eyes as he heard the holodeck door open. The two H’Chirs faced the newcomer, an apparently inquisitive Caitian no less whom H'Chir had not yet met before. Pre-empting the situation however, he declared “I was right.” (Reply any) (Posted by Michael Drake) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 15:38) Andrew looked at the scans from president Nell. They showed a lot of brain activity which indicated the agitated behaviour but there was something he just could not put his figure on. "Is he OK?", he asked. He looked at the bodyguard who had pinned him to the wall. “Nothing a few day rest and a good meal won’t cure.” He was not going to explain his patients problems while he was still in earshot. He looked at the data again. ~Hmm might need to get David to have a looked at him~ "I`ll be on the bridge, inform me of any changes.... Doctor Williams, please see to it that the President is appraised of our situation the moment he is cognitive", Andrew nodded at the bodyguard as he saw him leave sickbay. He turned back to president Nell who looked a lot calmer than he had been earlier. “Mr President. My name is Doctor Williams. I am here to look after you. How are you feeling.” (reply Nell) Andrew nodded taking in the answer. “You are on the USS Spectre Mr President. Everything is going to be okay.” (reply Nell) (Reply Nell , Any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Lieutenant Commander Phil Tovardi - 15:38) =/\=We have company sir, two vessels, initial passive scans point to a Warbird & a Prometheus class variant....this could be Ryan's command=/\= The communication had been brief but to the point & the information contained within it had only served to raise Tovardi`s hackles all the more. Phillip knew Ryan well, he had served with him once before when the man had fought on the side of the just, he had been a good officer, now he was just a psychotic wreck. "Have we been detected?", said Tovardi, "let me speak to the Captain immediately", he added without even waiting for the reply from his subordinate. =/\=Negative sir, they appear to be scanning, the Captain is otherwise indisposed at this time but we ARE rigged for silent running=/\= ~Indisposed my ass~ Tovardi paused & then looked about the room as the Doctor & his Nurse worked to stabilize the President. "Is he OK?", he asked. (Reply Williams, Any) Tovardi pursed his lips together in concern, then he turned to the men making up the remainder of the Presidential guard & began to formulate a sentence along the lines of making sure that these medics do their job correctly. It was a pointless idea though, after all they had been through Williams & his team were probably more qualified than any they had encountered so far & deep down, Tovardi knew he could trust them. Phillip's sentence trailed off in his head before he had even uttered them, then he replaced them with, "You know what to do", as he turned about & made his way towards the door. "I`ll be on the bridge, inform me of any changes.... Doctor Williams, please see to it that the President is appraised of our situation the moment he is cognitive", he added. (Reply Williams, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre — Deck 5 Corridor — Ensign S’rrep — 15:38) S’rrep couldn’t help himself—he had to know what was going on around him at all times even when it wasn’t really his business. For example, as he passed Holodeck 1 on his way to the turbolift and his duty station, he noticed it was occupied. He decided to find out who it was, for no better reason than it seemed like it might be interesting. "Commputerrr, who is’n therre?" "Unknown." That was strange. It could have been his difficulty in pronouncing Federation Standard, but he doubted it. Something strange was going on here…that suited him fine. What good was a xenobotany specialist during red alert anyhow? It was likely nobody would notice he was late showing up--again. He stepped out from the corridor—into what appeared to be the housing for the cloaking device. "I was right," said one of the figures. Actually, he was the only one moving at the time, so S’rrap suspected this was the "unknown" occupant. S’rrap’s tail lashed in frustration as he tried unsuccessfully to figure out who this Andorian was, for he was sure he had seen him before. What he was right about also eluded S’rrap at the moment, but the Andorian could be right if he wanted to be. Wait, he was hiding, wasn’t he? And that missing person the security people were looking for, he was an Andorian. Suddenly everything clicked together in his mind. This, then, was the missing Ensign H’Chir, the one they wanted returned to sickbay immediately. The Caitian debated whether or not to alert security immediately or to find out what H’Chir had been right about. Curiousity won out. "What werrre you rright abou’?" he purred. (reply H’Chir, any) (Posted by Siobhan Armstrong) (USS Spectre - Holodeck – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 15:39) “What werrre you rright abou’?” H’Chir blinked to clear the unsettling image of two identical Caitians from blocking his mind. For an instant he thought it was M’Rurrh, his Engineer’s Mate – he’d always had trouble telling Caitians apart – but something about the swish of the intruder’s tail made him wonder if this one might be more foe than friend. “The cloak. It should have worked.” (Reply S’rrep) H’Chir snarled, his frustration growing. “You were there; you saw. The bomb was a decoy and I took it out – it should have worked fine after that.” Seeing an opportunity to vindicate himself H’Chir added, “I’ve run simulations.” He stood proudly before the Caitain, as if daring him to contradict the ship’s Chief Engineer and its computer. (Reply S’rrep) (Posted by Michael Drake) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor - 15:39) The anomalous power readings in regards their cloak after H'Chir had haphazardly ripped the device from within it were confusing to say the least, but Bourne & Bristed had now stabilized them to such a level that things appeared to be optimal once again. The last thing they needed now was for their cloak to fail in such a delicate situation as the one they were now in & everyone knew this. So far however, they had not been detected by the two vessels that had suddenly warped into the system, this of course did not mean that they wouldn`t be but for now anyway things looked good. "Bridge to Engineering", said the Captain opening a channel to the engineering section. (Reply any in Engineering) "Operational power levels on the cloak are currently showing at ninety four percent of optimal, can we boost those levels without affecting other essential sytems?", said the Captain. (Reply Any in Engineering) "Understood, be sure we have backup power to the cloak at all times, if need be re-route from non essential systems but ensure that the cloaking device remains active until further notice", said the Captain. (Reply Any in Engineering) The Captain then turned his attention to the Science console. "Your evaluation on the Prometheus class Lieutenant, from our earlier encounters & the downloaded schematics from the captured Zulu Alpha....does she have a weakness we can exploit if need be?", asked the Captain. (Reply Nolly`s) "And how soon will the Romulan vessel`s Chroniton sweep reach saturation point in our area of space?", said T'Vhor. (Reply Nolly`s) "Understood, feed the data to the navigational console.....helm, be prepared for evasive maneouvers at a seconds notice & plot a course tangential with the predicted sweep pattern of the Warbirds Chroniton beam", said the Captain. "Aye sir, plotting tangential course in correlation with the navigational data", said Rodriguez just as the Spectre veered slightly onto a corrected course heading as instructed. (Reply Engineering, Nolly`s, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Cloak – ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 15:39) The emergency averted and the cloak definitely working properly again, Jacqueline stood up and stretched. When they weren’t snapping at each other, the three worked together rather well. The after-shift drink that had been arranged between herself and Bourne was now probably going to be celebratory rather than calming. =^="Bridge to Engineering"=^= came the captain’s voice. Jacqueline signaled to the others that she’d answer before tapping her combadge a little harder than necessary to activate it. "Ow," she hissed, and then, "Ensign Bristed here, sir." =^=Operational power levels on the cloak are currently showing at ninety four percent of optimal, can we boost those levels without affecting other essential sytems?=^= said the Captain. Jacqueline considered the question for a moment. "We can try. If things look like they’re about to go downhill we’ll have to stop." No sense in killing the power again now that they’d finally got things running. =^=Understood, be sure we have backup power to the cloak at all times, if need be re-route from non essential systems but ensure that the cloaking device remains active until further notice,=^= said the Captain. "Right, so how do we coax this thing into its optimal power level?" she thought aloud. As far as she knew, all the connections had been repaired, everything should be working perfectly. She began running an inventory of things they could try in her head, but nothing seemed to fit. (reply Bourne, Chenoll) "You think that would work?" Bristed asked. (Reply any in cloak, Any) (Posted by Siobhan Armstrong) (Zulu Alpha Two - Jeffreys tube nine A - Weapons control - Lomax - 15.40) Lomax drummed his fingers lightly against the darkened steel walls of the cramped shaft as he paused to check his location. The schematics had pinpointed where he needed to be & as far as he could now tell, he was within a few feet of his objective. Climbing upwards via the small ladder set against the bulkhead, he stopped & then reached into the small satchel he carried with him in order to pull out a small black box, which he then attached magnetically to the door control panel. A quick press of one of it`s three buttons & the door mechanism had been fooled into releasing without informing anyone on the bridge that it had done so, Lomax then removed his mag box & moved through the opened hatch. A few moments later, one of the panels in the proceeding chamber had been quickly removed from the wall to reveal the ODN juncture associated with the Zulu Alpha`s primary weapons control. This was only one of five circuits linked to the formidable array of weaponry available to Ryan of course, but it was the one most likely to be linked into the Anti-Matter weapon he carried on board & as such, it`s disablement would prevent him from starting a war none of them could ever hope to win. Taking this circuit offline would no doubt make Lomax a serious fly in Ryan's ointment of course but then again, he wasn't about to allow his act of sabotage to be traced back to him or indeed be immediately visible to anyone on the bridge. If the worst scenario came to be however, he would deal with Ryan when the time came for him to do so, it was as simple as that. Lomax took up the small black box once again & then he attached it to the exposed circuitry, it's indicator lights flashing as the intelligent interface sought out the microfibres set into the ODN circuitry. It took about thirty seconds before it had done so & then it beeped once to confirm success, it`s indicators going from red to green whilst displaying the message:- 'Interface with primary control complete'. Lomax wasted no time now as he stepped back from the panel & re-attached the cover plate before then backing out through the door from whence he had came, ten minutes later he was back in the corridor as though nothing had happened. So far so good..... (Reply None) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Cloak – ACEO Ensign Robin Bourne - 15:42) "Right, so how do we coax this thing into its optimal power level?" Jacqueline thought aloud. As far as she knew, all the connections had been repaired, everything should be working perfectly. She began running an inventory of things they could try in her head, but nothing seemed to fit. "Erm..." Robin replied, completely out of his depth. "we only need a six percent increase right? Stating the obvious, something done on this panel must have affected another system, and if your sure that nothing else is damaged in that section..." He paused, thinking of where he was going with this. (Reply Bristed IYW) "Something, like a surge, managed to damage the power regulator, and a few of the components had to be replaced. Test showed it was working to optimal efficiency, so that's not the problem. My fear is that the regulator was an older model to ones I had researched in the Academy, therefore might have let some of that surge through..." Robin looked back at the diagnostic console that he had left open and running. "As far as I can see, I agree that there is no damage here... I think it went to deflector control.. ", he said leaning back into the panel. "If someone heads to deflector control and monitors the spread of the Chroniton Particles when the input is slightly varied here, then can monitor and see if there is any minor damage over there and see if we can find this problem!" Robin finished excited, as for once he had come up with a plan, rather then listening to them. "You think that would work?" Bristed asked. "Well... Its under the presumption that the deflector panels were damaged, or the circuits were... for a drop on six percent, I would say that one, maybe two sections would have been damaged? My concern is why the computer diagnostic has not picked this up..." (Reply Bristed, Chenoll) "True, could also be your theory" He replied nodding to Bristed "Someone has played with the computer system and altered the system... to stop the deflector control from being scanned. " After a small pause, he finally asked "Ok, if this is to work, someone needs to stay here, and another person heads to deflector. I have no clue how to edit the input or output of this device" he said, hoping that the others would catch his drift. "Personally I think I am best to go to deflector control. " (Reply Bristed, Chenoll) "Oh, doing this won't make us detectable will it? I mean, a small enough jump in power should make my detailed scans detectable, but normal scans won't be effected" he asked with worry, as he realised that his plan could be seriously flawed. (Reply any in cloak, Any) (Posted by Robin Bourne) (USS Spectre - Cloak – ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 15:43) "We only need a six percent increase right? Stating the obvious, something done on this panel must have affected another system, and if your sure that nothing else is damaged in that section..." He paused, thinking of where he was going with this. "I think we’re all good. Go on," Bristed urged, wanting to know what Bourne had in mind. "Something, like a surge managed to damage the power regulator, and a few of the components had to be replaced. Test showed it was working to optimal efficiency, so that's not the problem. My fear is that this the regulator was an older model to ones I had researched in the Academy, therefore it might have let some of that surge through..." Robin looked back at the diagnostic console that he had left open and running. "As far as I can see, I agree that there is no damage here... I think it went to deflector control.. ", he said leaning back into the panel. "If someone heads to deflector control and monitors the spread of the Chroniton Particles when the input is slightly varied here, then can monitor and see if there is any minor damage over there and see if we can find this problem!" Robin finished excited, as for once he had come up with a plan, rather then listening to them. "You think that would work?" Bristed asked. "Well... Its under the presumption that the deflector panels were damaged, or the circuits were... for a drop on six percent, I would say that one, maybe two sections would have been damaged? My concern is why the computer diagnostic has not picked this up..." Jacqueline shrugged, not sure why this was happening either. "Maybe something’s screwed up with the diagnostic." "True, could also be your theory" He replied nodding to Bristed "Someone has played with the computer system and altered the system... to stop the deflector control from being scanned. " After a small gap, he finally asked, "Ok, if this is to work, someone needs to stay here, and another person heads to deflector. I have no clue how to edit the input or output of this device," he said, hoping that the others would catch his drift. "Personally I think I am best to go to deflector control. " (Reply Chenoll) "Oh, doing this won't make us detectable will it? I mean, a small enough jump in power should make my detailed scans detectable, but normal scans won't be affected" Bourne asked with worry. Jacqueline thought about it as quickly as she could. If the slight inefficiency made the ship somewhat detectable, at least they weren’t sitting in full view right now. Would they be jeopardizing their safety by going through with Bourne’s idea? "No, I don’t think so. I’ll mess with things down here, you go to deflector control. And then—well, by then I’m sure it’ll be time for that drink!" she said. (Reply Chenoll, Bourne, Any) (Posted by Siobhan Armstrong) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor - 15:45) With the cat & mouse game continuing in earnest, the Captain only briefly acknowledged the sudden arrival of Tovardi as he stepped out & onto the bridge to begin with his inevitable twenty questions. "One moment Lieutenant Commander", said the Captain raising his hand now to enforce that sentiment as Tovardi stopped in his tracks. The Presidents bodyguard simply frowned at the halting action, then he turned his attention to the viewscreen to note the zoomed in view of the Warbird & the Prometheus variant moving steadily in close formation across it. Tovardi immediately slipped into bridge mode & took the liberty of moving from console to console in order to appraise himself of the situation now evolving, his command training was foremost in his mind now & as he observed the visual representation of the scanning field coming from the Warbird, he knew then why the Captain had interrupted his outburst as he came onto the bridge. "Lieutenant Rogers, your evaluation please?", said the Captain as he turned to the FO seated beside him for his thoughts on this. (Reply Rogers) The Captain pondered the FO`s recommendations, it was definitely the second Zulu Alpha, there was no doubt about that now as Vasilyovna had also confirmed it`s signature on the tactical readout. Why it now had a Warbird in tow however was anyones guess & wether it had simply accompanied the other vessel into Romulan space or it was actively participating in it`s task remained to be seen. The only thing they could really be sure of was that it was scanning for something & that something was probably them! Rodriguez of course had been repeatedly readjusting their course headings to compensate for the Warbirds scanning beam, but it was inevitable that sooner or later, unless they warped out of the system they would be discovered. To initiate warp now however would be a foolhardy move for it would give away their position immediately. "It would be illogical to confront the Zulu Alpha, it`s weapons are more than a match for ours unless we can pinpoint a weakness", said the Captain. "But it is just as illogical to remain here as we are, repeatedly countering their scanning beam", he added. (Reply Any) "Sooner or later one of us must give....the question is who", said the Captain as he sat back into his chair. (Reply Rogers, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Cloak – ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 15:50) Jacqueline wondered how often the cloak was going to act up when it was needed. They had been lucky this time, but if something like this happened while an enemy was scanning for them…well, she wouldn’t know what happened, in that case. Nobody would, not for very long. ~As long as I don’t do anything stupid with it now, it should be fine.~ Several minutes of tedious fiddling with energy output had finally rendered an almost constant output of 98% efficiency. It absolutely refused to do anything more, although it was quite willing to drop down a percent or two if she did too much to it. Being continually rebuffed in her efforts by twelve-year-old equipment was frustrating to say the least. The language she had been indulging in over the past several minutes was not something she’d want to translate to anyone. "Bristed to Bourne. I’m getting nowhere fast. Anything you can do with the deflector to make things better?" (reply Bourne, any) (Posted by Siobhan Armstrong) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor - 15:53) "Confirmation on the last known position of the Hood please Lieutenant", said the Captain addressing the Comms officer now. "The USS Hood`s last transmission has her approximately bearing, four two four mark one nine sir, she is at impulse & maintaining her cover mission in the vicinity of the binary emergence", said the Lieutenant. "Apparently, the emergence is spectacular sir", added the comms officer, "according to Captain Taleko that is"..... The brief attempt at sentiment was of course completely lost on the Vulcan hybrid, wether the emergence was spectacular or not was neither here nor there, they were deep in Romulan space now & it was illogical to even think of the joys of sight seeing when there were two hostile vessels pacing their every move. "I am well aware of how a binary emergence looks Lieutenant", said the Captain dryly before continuing on with his duties unphased. "ETA to the Hood at warp?", he added reverting to the cold professionalism typical of one with Vulcan blood coursing through their veins. "At warp seven we will intercept her coordinates in three hours fifty four minutes sir". "And at maximum sustained warp?", said the Captain. "One hour twenty two minutes sir", came the reply just as T'Vhor opened a channel to sickbay in order to check on the Presidents progress. "How is the President doing Doctor Williams?", said T'Vhor. (Reply Williams) "His personal bodyguard has indeed arrived", said the Captain with a raise of an eyebrow in typical Vulcan fashion. "Keep me appraised of his progress Doctor, bridge out" (Reply Williams) The Captain then returned his attention to the two ships slowly traversing the viewscreen like relentless & indefatigable predators seeking out their prey. (Reply Williams, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 15:55) Andrew looked up as T'Vhor's call came through. He stepped away from Nell so that he was out of the president's ear shot. "How is the President doing Doctor Williams?", said T'Vhor. "He's still quite agitated and confused. I'm going to ask Counsellor Taxia to come down and give his opinion." ~If not him then someone from the Counsellor department~ "Oh Captain, did one of the presidents personal bodyguards arrive on the bridge?" =^=His personal bodyguard has indeed arrived=^= =^=Keep me appraised of his progress Doctor, bridge out=^= "Yes Captain." As the channel closed he walked over to Douwsy who was hovering near by. "I'm going to be in my office. Call me if anything happens." He tapped his comm badge. "Dr Williams to Mr Taxia." (Reply Taxia) "Sorry to bother to you. I was wondering if you or someone in your department had a free moment if they could come down to sickbay and have a look at a patient." (Reply Taxia) "Okay thank you." He turned and caught O'Harper's eye. "Dr O'Harper could I have a word with you." (Reply O'Harper) They ushered him into his office and offered his a seat. He quickly sat across from him. "So what do you think about the president's condition?" (Reply O'Harper) Andrew nodded. "Yes he is very agitated and confused. Do you have any idea about what could be causing this?" (Reply O'Harper) (Reply O'Harper, Taxia, any) (Posited by Robbie) (IRW DihVhael - Bridge - Commander Talok & Tal'Shiar Officer N'Alae - 15:55) "I have an indiscriminate contact bearing one ninety mark two zero Commander", said the Romulan officer manning the tactical station. "Elaborate", said Talok as he leaned forwards in the command chair at the sudden announcement. "The Chroniton particles are at optimal dispersion in that sector, first impressions are of a fluctuating anomoly.....it could be the cloaked vessel we are searching", said the tactical officer. Immediately N'Alae was on it of course as she marched over to the tactical console herself to oversee what was now being reported. Her frown was immediately evident as she surveyed the signal & re-checked their findings, then she turned to face Talok. "It has to be the Starfleet vessel Ryan spoke of, I suggest you target that area immediately & cripple them before they can run", said the Tal'Shiar officer. Talok simply raised a hand, his demeanor one of calm control as he quietly assessed the situation further. N'Alae's response was typical to say the very least, her usual plan invariably involved overkill & her innate paranoia brought about by her single minded, Tal'Shiar training simply drove her further & further towards destructive ultimatums. No, it would not do to listen to her demands & Talok was a seasoned enough Commander to know that. "What if we are wrong?", said Talok, "do you really think that one vessel will attempt a hostile incursion into Romulan space, let alone Romulus itself in order to detonate some fabled super weapon as Ryan implies", he added much to N'Alae's obvious & escalating displeasure. "It would be nothing less than planetary suicide on their part", he added. The Tal'Shiar operative simply exploded in responce as she slammed her fist hard onto the railing before hollering her disapproval as she did so. "How much more do you need to see Commander Talok, do they need to annihilate the homeworld before you inform the senate of their clear intentions!!", she cried as she moved around quickly to face the Commander where he sat. "If you do not act now I will remove you from command & attack them myself", said N'Alae abruptly. Talok however remained unflinching as the arrogant officer attempted to intimidate him further, then he stood suddenly to face her directly, his expression one of cold determination at her outburst. "If we launch an attack now we risk a war with the Federation possibly for nothing", cried the Romulan Commander, "your answer is always to attack, the Tal'Shiar are not infallible N'alae & neither are you", he added sternly whilst the rest of the bridge crew looked on unnervingly at the tense situation now evolving on their bridge. N'Alae stepped back at the Commanders forwards motion as he spoke, her expression changing again to confusion as to his inaction in regards what she herself saw as a clear & definite threat by the Federation. It didn't matter that their attack would be unprovoked, the Federation vessel was in Romulan territory so that much in itself was enough to act. To her militaristic mind, it all seemed ludicrous but she was hardly prepared for the actions which then followed as the Commander suddenly reached for the Tal'Shiar officers throat to take it firmly & painfully in his grip to cause her to begin choking slightly, then he moved his face closer to hers before speaking. "I have grown weary of your continual threats to relieve me of my command N'Alae", said Talok in a calm, stony voice, "you may be Tal'Shiar but you have no jurisdiction or overall authority on this bridge, remember that & carry out your duties or I will have you thrown in the block", he added as he released the officers throat & pushed her backwards towards the helm position before retaking his own seat in the command chair. N'Alae was not pleased, she reached up to her throat, rubbing at the skin upon it with her fingertips whilst glaring towards him with clear & obvious malice. "You will regret that Commander, I will see to it that the imperial Praetor is made aware of your treason", said N'Alae. "You cannot win against the Tal'Shiar", she added as she returned slowly but reluctantly towards her own station. "We shall see", said Talok unphased by her threats as he turned towards the tactical officer. "Continue your scans in the designated area, inform me once there is a clear & definite contact", he added as he settled back into his chair. "Get me Ryan immediately", said Talok, his impassive expression remaining fixed upon his face as he instructed his crew. "Yes Commander", said the Communications officer as he began the process of raising the Zulu alpha`s CO. "I am not sure that the ex starfleet Captain is all he seems", said the Romulan Commander, "there is more to this man than meets the eye", he added as his hand reached up to his temple to rub slowly at the pain now developing in his head. (Reply Ryan) (Posted by Alan Reading) (Zulu Alpha - Bridge - CO - Commander Marco Ryan - 16:00) Ryan sighed has he was interrupted by the Romulans. "We don't have time for this," Ryan said. (reply Talok) "What are you accusing me of, Commander?" Ryan said with a edge in his tone. (reply Talok, any) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre - Personal Quarters - "Janus" - 16.00) Finally, his shift was over. "Janus", has his spymaster liked to call him, slipped silently into his quarters. He walked over to his sofa and sat down and slipped off his boots and tossed them casually onto his bed. He ran a finger through his hair and then looked around. After resting his sore ankles for a moment, he rose and walked over to the wall panel near the door and entered a quick code. [Door Locked,] the computer replied, and Janus walked over to a rather large frame that contained a picture of him and a very attractive woman wearing a Starfleet uniform. She, was a holographic woman. If anybody asked, she was an old flame. Janus had a backstory for her, and could even recall what song was playing at their first date, if asked. Despite the fact she was fictional, the picture was his most important possession. Janus grabbed the frame and held it like a PADD while walking over to his dresser. Going to the bottom drawer, he pulled an old battered cricket bat. He had a backstory for that too. A gift, from an old friend from the region on Earth known has England. 'I asked so much about cricket, he gave it to me has a gag,' he would say if anybody asked. He slide his hand over the toe of the bat and held his palm there for several seconds. It made a quiet clicking noise, and he pulled his hand away. A small compartment had been unlocked, and using his fingers, he slid a long, skinny, antenna from the compartment. It was less than a centimeter around, and roughly the length of the blade of the bat. Taking one end of the antenna, he slipped it into a small, unnoticeable slot in the back of the frame, and suddenly, the picture of him and the woman disappeared, and was replaced with a standard LCARS interface. He entered a few quick commands, and soon, the words "Recording..." appeared on the screen. Janus cleared his throat. "Janus reporting in. Stardate 2407.02.05. Passphrase for this date, 'He who is silent speaks volumes.'," the passphrases were random quotes that Janus was forced to memorize. There was one for everyday of the year. He continued his report. "The Spectre has brought President Nell onboard. The man led us on quite the chase down the rabbit's hole, I must say. Something about Romulans now, not sure what thats about.. Oh yes, another saboteur onboard, somebody tried to mess with the cloaking device. Poor H'Chir has gone nuts again. Looks like they can't keep their house in order," Janus reported. "Well, that concludes my report. Give the Admiral my best, and I'm still counting down the days until you bastards change my name and give my a lifetime expense-paid vacation on Risa," Janus remarked, his signature signoff, and a favorite of the spymasters back at base. He entered another keystroke, and the hidden PADD informed him that it was "Processing..." then... "Sending..." The sending took roughly two minutes, and below that, the names of various ship's functions, such has 'Passive sensor sweep,' and 'Bussard collection scan,' were flashed in very quick succession. Janus assumed that the transmitter was some how masking his message has various normal ship activities. However, he had no idea, and wasn't paid to care. All he knew, is that his spymaster had once called it a 'Bit-Burst Array', whatever THAT meant. Oh well. He snapped out the antenna and slide it back into the bat, and quickly reattached the cover and tossed it into the bottom drawer. The PADD (which now had turned back to the picture with the absence of the antenna) was quickly replaced on the nightstand, at the exact angle it was before, perfectly inline with the thin layer of dust that was on the stand. He unlocked his quarters and walked off, he had a cover to keep, after all. (reply none, yet) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (IRW DihVhael - Bridge - Commander Talok - 16.01) The moment the human Captain`s features had graced the Romulan viewscreen, Talok knew that he was going to be awkward & unpredictable. It was one of the reasons he had his doubts over the validity of the man's claims, he was too eager to engage & too insistent that the 52nd fleet vessel be vapourized the moment they had encountered it. Something wasn't sitting right. "We don't have time for this," said Ryan arrogantly as he shifted in his chair clearly annoyed at the hail from the Romulan vessel. "Then I suggest that you make time Captain Ryan", said Talok, "after all, you cannot expect us to engage this vessel without first fully ascertaining it`s motives here", he added. Ryan looked pensive, his brow beginning to show the obvious impatience of a man on the edge as he scowled at the Romulan commander. "What are you accusing me of, Commander?" said Ryan. "I am not accusing you of anything Captain, I am merely......", said Talok pausing now to choose the correct wording. "......safeguarding the interests of the Romulan people, nothing more, nothing less", he added as he attempted to read the Humans demeanor & body language further. (Reply Ryan) "You would have me accept your claims without first validating them at my leisure", said Talok his face now showing the clear element of distrust that had been growing within him from their very first meeting. "May I remind you that you are a Federation vessel in Romulan territory also Captain, how do I know that it is not your own vessel that has phase cloak technology, how do I know that it is not your vessel that intends to carry a destructive weapon to the very heart of Romulus?", he added. "Perhaps our foe is not here to antagonize, perhaps it is here to prevent something from happening", said Talok. (Reply Ryan) N'Alae simply huffed in annoyance at her station. Clearly if she had had her way about any of this, their target vessel would be nothing more than space debris floating amidst the atoms making up the dust that hung in pockets throughout the airless vacuum of space. Diplomacy though, albeit a rare commodity in a Romulan Commander was very much in evidence in Talok, as a high ranking & very much respected officer of the Imperial fleet, he had learned that direct & reckless action was not always the desired route towards a favourable outcome. Sometimes it was best to keep your options open... (Reply Ryan) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Deck 6 - SO Ensign Yates - 16:02) ~Damn I could do with a drink~ The thought hung in his head like a Tiberian bat as he licked his lips in anticipation of a cool, refreshing pint of real German Lager. Not that replicated rubbish but the real, sparkling deal.... The thought of the security chief witnessing him gulping the aromatic amber fluid down his neck however immediately brought him back to reality. Drinking on duty!!!, Vasilyovna would have an absolute Russian fit... FERENGI!!! ~What the......~ Yates did a double take as he stopped in his tracks, the green & brown speckled waistcoat-like tunic, the hobgoblin like gait of the figure as the vision disappeared around the corner & quickly out of his sight.... Yates couldn't believe it, it surely was that damned Ferengi Daimon. "What the hell is he doing out & about?", said the security officer under his breath as he turned about & followed in the diminutive figures footsteps. The Ferengi of course had been restricted to his quarters by the Captain long ago, someone should have been guarding his room but in the chaos that had ensued, most of the security officers had been taken off of mundane tasks such as Ferengi babysitting & rushed to more important matters at key strategic areas of the ship. Daimon Brak, it would seem had chosen to take advantage of this & go on a little jaunt in search of liquid pleasures whilst the Spectre crew engaged in less important matters! As far as he was concerned anyway... Yates had now turned the bend in the corridor ahead of him with a distinct suspicion about where the Ferengi was headed, it didn't take much guesswork after all for this corridor led directly to the Ten Forward lounge & the most likely location for a Ferengi in search of fun. Upon entry into the said location however, Yates immediately spied him standing at the bar, banging his fists onto it & hollering for service from a non-existent barman whilst he crept up slowly behind him. Then he grabbed him by the back of his jacket to almost lift him bodily into the air. "Why are you not in your quarters Troll!", cried the security officer, "you are supposed to be restricted to them, can't you see we are at red alert?", he added. (Reply Brak) "Are you blind, you are not being served because there is no one here to serve you, I don't know how they do it on Ferengi Marauders but Federation vessels don't open their bars for drinks & recreational pursuits when the ship is at red alert", said Yates. (Reply Brak) "This is ridiculous, I've heard enough, come with me", said Yates growing increasingly tired of the Ferengi's Primadonna like attitude. "The Captain should have thrown you out of an airlock the moment you proved that it was pointless bringing you aboard", he added as he marched the struggling Ferengi out of Ten Forwards & on up the corridor. (Reply Brak, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (Zulu Alpha - Bridge - CO - Commander Marco Ryan - 16.04) Ryan sighed as the Romulan droned on. =/\= I am not accusing you of anything Captain, I am merely safeguarding the interests of the Romulan people, nothing more, nothing less, =/\= Ryan's fist clenched. He saw his Andorian tactical officer growling at the teeth. The man hated the Romulans. Ryan shifted in his chair. "Listen, you little-..." Ryan restrained himself. "This ship is a threat to Admiral Doentiz' Federation... and your Star Empire. We are on the flashpoint of a new struggle, Commander. You would be a fool not to stop this, here and now," Ryan commanded. =/\= You would have me accept your claims without first validating them at my leisure, =/\= Talok continued, =/\= May I remind you that you are a Federation vessel in Romulan territory also Captain, how do I know that it is not your own vessel that has phase cloak technology, how do I know that it is not your vessel that intends to carry a destructive weapon to the very heart of Romulus? Perhaps our foe is not here to antagonize, perhaps it is here to prevent something from happening. =/\= the Romulan said in a very Vulcan-like tone. Ryan smiled and rose to his feet. He snarled at the Romulan through the viewscreen and swore. They must have found the antimatter warhead he had secretly armed. His ace-in-the-hole. "You Romulan bastard. Obviously you've discovered that my vessel is carrying an Antimatter weapon of large yield. This weapon of mass destruction is not intended for you or your people, Commander. I am here to destroy the Spectre. The moment we have contact, we will be moving into position to take her out." "I suggest you get your ship at least 2500 kilometers away from her, thats the minimum radius for a weapon of our size," Ryan said, practically shouting. "And you might want to tell your Empire that this planet will be uninhabitable for the forseeable century or two. I hear the radiation from these warheads are horrible," Ryan said with an evil smirk. He turned to his Ops officer, who cut the transmission. "Bring us to Red Alert & prepare to target the Spectre on my mark, get a firing solution for that warhead," Ryan said, sitting back in his chair. He turned to see Lomax arrive on his bridge. "I'm not in the mood, Mr. Lomax. I don't care what your opinions are about Antimatter weapons," he said, shrugging the former Starfleet officer. (reply Lomax) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre - Ten Forward – Daimon Brak – 16:05) “Why are you not in your quarters Troll?” Brak whirled around and was face to face with a very red-in-the-face security officer. “You are supposed to be restricted to them; can’t you see we are at red alert?” Dabbing his forehead with a handkerchief, Brak replied, “I know. The stress on this ship is making me quite thirsty, but noone seems to be taking my order.” “Are you blind? You are not being served because there is noone here to serve you. I don’t know how they do it on Ferengi Marauders but Federations vessels don’t open their bars for drinks & recreational pursuits when the ship is at red alert.” Brak had lost interest by the end of the first sentence of that speech, and it took a few seconds before he realised the security officer had stopped talking. “Perhaps I should go and man the phasers?” he asked, impishly. “This is ridiculous, I’ve heard enough, come with me. The Captain should have thrown you out of an airlock the moment you proved that it was pointless bringing you aboard.” “Unhand me, you suited buffoon!” screeched the Ferengi as he was dragged out of Ten Forward, struggling all the way. (Reply Yates, any) (Posted by Michael Drake) (USS Spectre - Bridge - TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna - 16:05) Manning her Tactical console, the Security chief began scanning passively for anything that might possibly give them an edge in the ensuing situation that was now evolving. At first she hadn't even noticed it nestling there within the last data packet they had received via their sensor array, like some chinese cracker or something. It wasn't her fault though, the small transmission, for that was what it appeared to be had been sent in such a way as to not be obvious to anyone but them, it was scrambled & it appeared to have emanated from the vicinity of the Zulu Alpha's positional coordinates. Vasilyovna couldn't make head nor tail of it but she knew it must have been important so she quickly turned to Nolly's at the science console. "Lieutenant Nolly's, I`m passing a data packet to you for analysis", said Yelena. (Reply Nolly's) "It looks like a transmission of some kind, it's coded but it appears to have originated from the Zulu Alpha & I would say that it`s meant for us", said the Security chief. (Reply Nolly's) The notion was interesting to say the least, to be honest the same thought had crossed Vasilyovna`s mind as well but surely that just couldn't be, if it were true though then perhaps they had just found the weakness in the Zulu Alpha they had been looking for. A possible ally on board working in their interests!!! (Reply Nolly's, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Specture - Sickbay - CMO’s Office - CMO Williams - 16:06) Andrew waited until O’Harper had left his office until he picked out a PADD from a pile on his desk. ~This should be good~ He leaned back in his chair. He knew that they were at alert but until something happened there was no need for him to breath down his teams necks. He looked back at the PADD. It was the ‘Journal of starship medicine’ It was a three monthly Journal that he got. He looked though the PADD seeing if there was anything interesting. ~Hmm an article about nurse lead sickbays. Must let Douwsy read this. May'be not, she might get ideas though~ He flicked through and saw an article on twenty first century surgery which he read closely. ~Might try some of these ideas~ He read then rest Journal and then placed the PADD back on to the table. He sat there looking around the office and then got up and walked back into sickbay. (reply any) (posted by Robbie) (IRW DihVhael - Bridge - Commander Talok - 16:06) An Anti-Matter warhead!!! So that was his ploy... =/\=I suggest you get your ship at least 2500 kilometers away from here, thats the minimum radius for a weapon of our size=/\= hollered Ryan. Talok responded in kind, as a Romulan Commander he was not your typically aggressive type but he could be so when the need arose. In an instance he had slammed his fist hard onto the command chairs armrest whilst leaning forwards aggressively. "If you detonate that weapon here Captain I will be forced to fire upon you!", said Talok, "may I remind you that you are in Romulan territory only because the Romulan senate has authorized you to be so whilst accompanied by us", he added, but already the Zulu Alpha's CO had closed the channel & taken his ship to red alert. "He has gone to red alert Commander, he has readied all armaments & is targeting our last scan location", said the Romulan Officer manning the tactical console. "Disengage the Chroniton particle sweep & move us to intercept, place us directly before Ryan's ship & raise shields, ready all disruptors", said Talok. "Yes Commander, disruptors are standing by", came the reply as N'Alae immediately jumped up from her seat in clear disapproval. "Have you gone mad!!!", she cried whilst stepping towards the command chair, "you are protecting the Federation vessel before even knowing their intent, this has gone too far", she cried. Talok's expression said it all, he needn't have done so but he pointed directly towards her & ordered her to back off, such was his level of irritation at the Tal'Shiar officers continuing attacks at his command. "Return to your station!", snapped Talok, "carry out your orders or get off my bridge!", he added, his voice not once betraying any weakness at all. N'Alae's eyes glared, her anger overflowing now as she struggled to hold her tongue & take a deep breath in an attempt to control that anger, then once she had managed to do that she addressed the Commander once again. "It was nice knowing you Commander", said N'Alae, "the next time we see each other however, you will not have the rank anymore, of that I assure you", she added as she begrudgingly returned to her station. Talok remained unphased. "Status report", said the Commander. "We are now in position as ordered Commander", said the helmsman, "Captain Ryan is hailing us", he added. "Ignore his hails, attempt to open a channel to the other vessel", said Talok as he gripped at the armrests of his chair. The communications officer paused briefly & Talok turned towards him. "Do as I say... NOW!", he cried & in seconds they were attempting to hail the other Federation vessel. "This is Commander Talok of the Romulan Warbird DihVhael to the cloaked Federation Vessel in our vicinity", said Talok allowing a few seconds to pass before repeating his hail. "It is imperative that you respond to this hail, the Romulan Empire has been instructed that you intend to attack Romulus, if this is so then I am authorized to destroy your vessel forthwith", said Talok. "You have five minutes to comply & respond", said Talok as he settled back into his chair taking a deep breath as he did so. (Reply Ryan, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Ten Forward – SO Ensign Nathanial Yates - 16:07) "Buffoon, Buffoon!!", cried Yates, "do I look like a buffoon to you", he added incredulously. "A buffoon by definition is a fool, an imbecile....may I remind you Daimon that you are the one acting the fool here", said Yates, "the ship is readying itself for combat & you wish to imbibe alcohol, how foolish is that?", he asked. (Reply Brak) "Nevertheless, unless you can add anything constructive to our current situation you are of no use whatsoever, & as such, you will return to your quarters until further notice", said Yates as he herded the disapproving Ferengi up the corridor. (Reply Brak) Yates was used to this of course, when a Ferengi was cornered or in some way hampered, he would invariably attempt a bribe or some other unscrupulous course of action in order to steer things in a direction he wished to go. The security officer however remained steadfast in his desire to return Brak to where the Captain had requested him to be, namely, back in his quarters where he could do no real harm. Two marines running in the opposite direction to that which they were heading however, caused both of them to stop in their tracks. The Marines had been carrying III-C phazer rifles so it was obvious that they were preparing for serious action here. It had been the first time that the Ferengi had appeared lost for words since Yates had apprehended him, so perhaps now the severity of the situation might filter through to him. But then again, may'be not..... (Reply Brak) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor & TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna - 16:08) The Warbird has moved off & raised it`s shields sir, it`s disengaged from the Zulu Alpha & has placed itself immediately between us & it", said Vasilyovna. T'Vhor simply raised an eyebrow in typical Vulcan fashion, then he turned to address the chief. "Is there any indication that we have been discovered?", he said. "None sir, I have no explanation as to the Warbirds tactics, it doesn't make sense", said Vasilyovna. "It may only appear that they are actively between us, it is possible that it might just be a coincidence but that still doesn't answer the question as to why they have taken up a confrontational stance to the Zulu Alpha", she added. The Captain returned his attention to the viewscreen once again, then he checked the status of their cloak which was found to now be running at optimal capacity. "WE, are being hailed sir", said Yelena with a surprised look upon her face, "they clearly know that we are here, but they may not know exactly where we are", she added. "Put it through", said the Captain & immediately the voice of the Romulan Warbird's Commander came booming through their comms. =/\=This is Commander Talok of the Romulan Warbird DihVhael to the cloaked Federation Vessel in our vicinity=/\= The communication had come as a surprise to say the least & the bridge had suddenly fallen into a deathly quiet save for the sounds of their monitors & the steady pings of the bridge consoles. It was almost as though everyone were afraid to even speak. "Do we respond sir?", asked the Security chief just as the hail then continued. =/\=It is imperative that you respond to this hail, the Romulan Empire has been instructed that you intend to attack Romulus, if this is so then I am authorized to destroy your vessel forthwith=/\= "Whaaaat!", cried Yelena, "attack Romulus, what the hell is he talking about", she added. The Captain seemed just as puzzled at the remark, it was an illogical act, as a Vulcan why would he attack Romulus with one vessel? His train of thought however was quickly interrupted by the voice of the Romulan Commander once again. =/\=You have five minutes to comply & respond=/\= The bridge fell quiet again as everyone took in what had just been said, it was completely preposterous, why would the Romulan Empire be of such an opinion? "Is the Zulu Alpha countering the Warbird?", asked the Captain. "It`s just sitting there sir", said Vasilyovna, "the Warbird's disruptors are charged & their shields remain raised", she added. The Captain pondered the situation briefly, then he turned to his First Officer beside him. "Your thought's on this Lieutenant?", he asked. (Reply Rogers, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Specture - Sickbay - CMO’s Office - CMO - Williams - 16.09) Andrew picked up the PADD which contained all the patient information that were in sickbay. ~Hmm that’s interesting~ He scanned it again. ~Nope definatly not there~ He looked over to Douwsy who was at the nurses starion. He crossed over to her. “Douwsy where is Mr H'Chir?” Douwsy looked up. “While you were planet side Lieutenant Vasilyovna came in a took him away.” ~What this man is ill.~ “And I hear about this now.” “Doctor O’Harper new.” ~That’s not the point~ Andrew tapped his comm badge. “Dr Andrews to security where is Mr H'Chir.” There was a pause as the security officer replied. “We do not know where he is at this time.” Andrew stopped for a second as the information sank in. “So you have lost him?” “We do not know where he is at this moment in time Doctor.” ~I cannot believe this~ “Thank you, Sickbay out.” He saw Jo enter sickbay followed by a marine. ~I’ll just have to do this myself~ “Call me if you need me. Agent Smith your with me.” He scooped up a tricorder and headed towards the door. (reply any) (posted by Robbie) (Zulu Alpha Two - Bridge - Lomax - 16:09) The doors to the turbolift slid aside to reveal a bridge readying itself for imminent action as the arrogant Ryan ordered them to red alert. The image of the Romulan commander had only just disappeared from the viewscreen when Lomax had arrived, Ryan however was upon him in an instance. "I'm not in the mood, Mr. Lomax. I don't care what your opinions are about Antimatter weapons", said Ryan turning towards him as he walked onto the bridge. Lomax said nothing, his brow simply creased into a frown at the mans assumption that he would object to his latest course of action, the ship still had it`s phasers & torpedoes of course & as such it was still a formidable animal, but little did it`s egotistical Captain know that it`s largest & most dangerous teeth had just been pulled. Lomax took the rebuttal in his stride & simply moved to the ledge behind the Captains chair, where he leaned both hands upon it to observe the viewscreen & study proceedings whilst the bridge crew obeyed their CO. The only vessel visible of course was the Warbird as it spun about & then moved off at a forty five degree angle, it's Commander no doubt formulating some contingency to Ryan`s overt actions. Lomax nodded to himself, his mind straying to thoughts of wishing he`d had the time to take the Zulu Alpha's weapons completely offline, then he began tapping his fingers slowly upon the support rail upon which he leant. ~This will be interesting~ (Reply None) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Deck 6, Torpedo Storage - MXO Bruce Kowalski - 16:10) "What the hell do you mean tampered with!!", hollered the MXO, "I arrive in a sensitive area like our primary weapons bay & you tell me someone has....MESSED with something!!!", he cried in disbelief. The engineer simply bowed his head as though sorry he couldn't be more specific as to the details of this latest act of possible sabotage. "All I can tell you is that all of these were fitted with photon triggers the last time they were inspected & all the warheads were definitely accounted for", said the Crewman, "when we went to red alert the weapons were brought to full readiness, it was then that diagnostics threw up an anomoly", he added, rubbing tentatively at his brow as he spoke. Kowalski couldn't quite believe what he was hearing now & the expression upon his face, hardened as it was from years of battle weariness, showed his disbelief as he stepped towards the engineer to crouch down beside him. "Are you telling me that people can yomp willy nilly through this vessel without anyone asking a question as to why", said Kowalski, his blood boiling now at the mere thought of such a security lapse. "No sir, it's not that.....it's, it's.....I mean...", said the Engineer stammering now as he attempted to find the words that he needed to explain things properly. "No sir", he added taking a hold of himself now, "that isn't possible, this area was thoroughly checked & nobody has been here without authorization since", said the Engineering crewman. "A photon trigger & a damn warhead is missing crewman!!", cried the MXO, "these things don't just grow legs & go on a hike you know", he added. "I, I know that, it's just.....", said the Engineer returning to his state of confusion once again. "Look I'm just an Engineer, it's my job to put things right when they go wrong, back off my case will ya", said the crewman as he suddenly realized he had had enough of the MXO's unwarranted insinuation. Kowalski exhaled heavily & closed his eyes, then he stood up & turned to one of his grunts nearby. "Come with me", he ordered, "post details at all strategically important areas, inform the Captain that we have........ yet another, possible sabotage situation & work on finding those missing components", he added. "Sir, yes sir", hollered the Marine Corporal as he set off down the corridor double time only to have Kowalski suddenly call after him. "Get Vasilyovna on this as well!", he cried as he reached up to his combadge to open a channel to the rest of his men. "Ok people, listen up, the soup has just got a lot thicker....we now have a possible code 10 on board on top of everything else, repeat, that's a code 10", said Kowalski. (Reply any) "Houseman, what's your situation?", said Kowalski. (Reply Houseman) "If this get's any worse, we'll miss the damned dance entirely", said the MXO in an attempt to add a little wit to the situation. (Reply Houseman) "Just do as we always do soldier, be prepared for the worst anyway, Kowalski out", said the MXO as he moved off towards the turbolift shaking his head in denial as he went. (Reply Houseman, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (Zulu Alpha Two - Bridge - Lomax - 16:11) Ryan was most agitated, his nerves fraying more by the minute as the Warbird moved to intercept his forwards motion in pursuit of the Federation vessel. So far they had no definite coordinates for the Spectre but Ryan had ordered his ship to target the last scan points of the Romulan Chroniton beam. It seemed that he had ascertained, either correctly or incorrectly that this must be where the ship was hiding, he had a fifty fifty chance on that one anyway but Lomax was growing tense regardless. "Looks like you've lost your edge there Captain", said Lomax in a slightly condescending manner, "you were banking on the cooperation of your new friends & it appears that they are not so easily convinced after all", he added. (Reply Ryan) "The Romulan vessel HAS attempted contact with the Spectre, I would say that they are willing to play devils advocate on this one wouldn't you", said Lomax as he pushed himself away from the railing upon which he had been leaning before moving down the steps & closer to the viewscreen itself. (Reply Ryan) Ryan's agitation was growing by the second now, clearly he was beginning to lose control of his anger as he hollered at the bridge crew, & then slammed his fists onto his chairs armrests at the sheer gall of the Romulan Commander now blocking his path & blatantly ignoring his hails. The Romulans however were clearly prepared to stand their ground. (Reply Ryan) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor & TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna - 16:12) The deadline for the reply to the Romulan Commander was now fast approaching & Captain T'Vhor had taken heed of his FO's recommendations. It was a precarious situation to say the very least & they all knew it, they were a Federation vessel deep in the heart of Romulan territory & whatever they did now would involve consequences no matter what. Vasilyovna of course had resorted to her Security training & had recommended that they not go down without a fight. The Captain however knew that his crew & his ship were now regarded by the 52nd as expendable so long as the Federation President was brought out of this alive. The one thing he wasn't though, was a Captain that would not put his ship & crew first regardless, they had risked all to come here & each of them had laid their lives on the line when they had been tasked with this mission. Everyone of them had been offered the chance to stand down & everyone of them had remained, their Captain was not about to let them down. "We will do what is necessary to ensure the survival of this ship & crew", said the Captain, "if need be, we will engage the Warbird & the Zulu Alpha to ensure this, but not until we have exhausted all other options", he added turning to the Tactical chief. "Lieutenant, has the Zulu Alpha changed it's position at all?", he asked. "No sir, it's facing the Warbird as before, I'm readi...... hold on sir, message coming in from the marines", said Vasilyovna pausing now to feed it over the internal speakers. =/\=Corporal Merridew to bridge, we have a possible tipped arrow on board sir, MXO Kowalski is recommending alert two status pending strategic lockdown, advise please=/\= The Captain responded immediately of course. "Negative on the lockdown Corporal, we need what weapons we have online, advise the MXO to initiate alert two status & keep me informed", said the Captain realizing the severity of this newly unfolding problem. =/\=Understood sir, Merridew out=/\= At that precise point, it was clear that Vasilyovna was itching to leave the bridge in order to oversee this, but the Captain overrode the sentiment even before she had articulated it. "I need you here Lieutenant, if we engage these vessels I need my Tactical chief on the trigger", said the Captain, "have security back the marines up to find that warhead", he added as he quickly returned his attention to the viewscreen. "Prepare to disengage the cloak, lock phazers on the Zulu Alpha the moment we return to normal phase & open a channel to the Romulan Commander", said T'Vhor. "Aye sir, phazers pre-locked, opening a channel", said Vasilyovna. NRPG: More to come..... (Reply Any, None) (Posted by Alan Reading) (Zulu Alpha - Bridge - CO - Commander Marco Ryan - 16.13) Ryan sighed and wrapped his fingers tighter around the end of his arm rests. Lomax decided to mock Ryan. "Looks like you've lost your edge there Captain. You were banking on the cooperation of your new friends & it appears that they are not so easily convinced after all," Lomax said with a sly grin. Ryan rubbed his forehead. "Quiet, Lomax. I'm not in the mood," Ryan snapped. Entering a quick command on his keypad, the viewscreen changed to a tactical display, showing tactical readouts of data. He looked it over while Lomax continued. "The Romulan vessel HAS attempted contact with the Spectre, I would say that they are willing to play devils advocate on this one wouldn't you," Lomax said, taunting. Ryan stood up and shouted a loud grunt, and then turned back to Lomax, "ENOUGH, Mr. Lomax. I'll have you spaced," he turned to his Tactical officer, "Continue aggressive scanning. Disengage the safety locks on the Antimatter weapon. I want to blow these bastards out of the sky as soon has we have a lock," Ryan said. He strutted off to a rear bridge station and entered a few commands. His security chief appeared on the screen. =/\= Sir? =/\= The brute of a man asked. "Lieutenant, have two of your men report to the bridge. I believe Mr. Lomax may become a problem," he said. The man nodded and the screen turned to black. Ryan returned to his seat, an agitated look on his face. (reply Lomax) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering - Corporal Houseman - 16:15) =^=Ok people, listen up, the soup has just got a lot thicker....we now have a possible code 10 on board on top of everything else, repeat, that's a code 10=^= Houseman paused as he hard the news. ~Ow great. Now some one has a warhead. That’s brilliant~ “Copy that.” =^=Houseman, what's your situation?=^= “Engineering is secure. =^=If this get's any worse, we'll miss the damned dance Entirely.=^= Houseman smiled to him self. “Yes Sir. Is there any thing that you want me to do?” =^=Just do as we always do soldier, be prepared for the worst anyway, Kowalski out=^= Houseman looked over at He looked over his shoulder. He saw Corporal Bedford and nodded. He put a flash bang round into his grenade launcher. He then moved further into engineering. He found a place where he could cover the main door and He looked over his shoulder. He saw that Corporal Bedford was covering the warp core. He flicked the setting to single shot. He did not want his fire to hit anything vital. Now all he had to do was to wait. (Reply any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Agent Smith - 16:15) Jo heard some one speak out side sickbay. She stepped out to see a security officer and a marine standing guard. “Understood.” Jo looked at the Marine. “What’s going on marine.” The Marine turned and looked at her. “We have a code 10.” Jo nodded, her mind going into overtime. ~Oh hell not a Code 10~ “Marine your with me.” She turned and entered sickbay. “Call me if you need me. Agent Smith your with me.” She saw Andrew scoop up a tricorder as he headed towards her. “Doctor Williams a moment if you please.” (Reply Williams) “We have a Code 10.” She noticed that the presidential detail stiffened as they heard what she said. (reply Williams) “A code 10 in when an explosive device is missing while on board a starship. I would say someone had stolen one of our torpedo warheads.” (reply Williams) She watched him turn to Douwsy and issue his instructions. She saw Douwsy give a quick nod and turn away. ~He is not happy about something~ She watched as he turned and headed for the door. She shook her head and hurried after him. (reply Williams, any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 16:16) Andrew watched as Jo walked up to him. “Doctor Williams a moment if you please.” “I’m going to look for one of my patients Agent Smith. What do you want.” “We have a Code 10.” Andrew looked at her for a moment “What is a Code 10 Agent Smith.” “A code 10 is when an explosive device is missing while on board a starship. I would say someone had stolen one of our torpedo warheads.” ~Oh great~ “Oh wonderful. That’s just great.” He turned to Douwsy. “Douwsy. I need you to find Dr O’Harper and get him up to speed. Tell him to get things ready in case every thing goes nasty." He turned back to Jo. ~Let’s go and find H'Chir ~ “You coming Agent Smith.” He turned and headed for the door. (reply Any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor & Romulan Commander Talok - 16:16) The fact that the Warbird was effectively protecting them from the advances of the Zulu Alpha was about the only redeeming factor in all of this now. Wether they liked it or not, the Captain knew that they could not run & the only option now was to face the aggressor head on. "Lower the cloak & target the Zulu Alpha's impulse engines Lieutenant", said the Captain & no sooner had it been ordered it had been done, as the Spectre suddenly shimmered into view before the two vessels standing ahead of them. The Tactical chief then announced that they had an open channel to the Warbird & that the Romulan Commander was responding. "Put them on the viewscreen Lieutenant", said T'Vhor & the gaunt face of the Warbird's Commander suddenly appeared flanked as he was by his Sub commander. "I am Captain T'Vhor of the Federation Vessel Spectre", said the Captain, only to be immediately interrupted by the Romulan's curt, but controlled rebuttal. =/\=You are in Romulan territory Captain, explain your presence here....=/\= =/\=.....and please do not attempt to insult my intelligence with some half baked excuse of navigational equipment failure=/\= Captain T'Vhor raised an eyebrow at the remark & then promptly answered the Romulan's query. "On the contrary, our navigational equipment is functioning as per operational parameters Commander", said the Captain. "As for our presence in Romulan space however, we are here on a mission of rescue", he added. =/\=I have been informed otherwise Captain=/\=, said Talok abruptly. =/\=sources say that you are on a mission to attack the Romulan homeworld=/\=, he added, disguising his obvious contempt of such a concept with a thinly veiled smile as he spoke. "That would be a most illogical course of action Commander, given that we are just one vessel, do you not think", said T'Vhor as he turned his attention briefly towards Vasilyovna in order to intonate his desire to maintain a scan on the movements of the Zulu Alpha. Vasilyovna simply nodded her assent & continued with her tasks of monitoring whilst the Captain returned his gaze to the viewscreen once again. =/\=I regret that I must agree that such a course would indeed be an illogical act=/\=, said Talok, =/\=despite my distaste at using such archaic & often misused words=/\= "Perhaps you would grant us an audience & beam aboard to discuss this matter Commander?", said the Captain, realizing of course that as they were technically the aggressors here, they would have to play the second fiddle so to speak. The Romulan paused as though to think on that one, one of his crew, the subcommander leaning towards him in order to whisper something in his ear as he did so. =/\=I think that would not be a wise move on my part Captain=/\=, said Talok, =/\=I do however request the rights to scan your ship for weapons other than that which a federation vessel would normally be carrying=/\=, he added. Vasilyovna, as the security chief turned immediately at the Romulans words of course, clearly she was unhappy about them scanning their weapons quota but the fact remained that they WERE in Romulan territory & as such, certain demands should be met. "What is it precisely that you are looking for Commander?", said T'Vhor. =/\=I will know it when I see it Captain, trust me=/\=, said Talok, his expression ironically oozing nothing but distrust now as he spoke. T'Vhor wasn't happy about this either of course, but right now it was them that needed an edge, with a Warbird & one of the dreaded Zulu Alpha's staring down their necks, what else could they do. T'Vhor paused in contemplation, then he turned towards the viewscreen. "Agreed.....initiate your scans on one condition", said the Captain, "once you are convinced that we are no threat to Romulus, you grant us safe passage back to Federation territory", he added. The Romulan said nothing as he contemplated the Federation Captain's words, then he took advice yet again from the Sub Commander at his side before finally answering. =/\=Assuming that we are satisfied with what we find, WE will escort you back into Federation space, but mark my words Captain...=/\=, said Talok =/\=Your presence here is noted & will be reported to Senate with the possibility of further action being taken against your Government=/\=, he added ominously. "Duly noted Commander", said T'Vhor with a quirk of his head. =/\=Stand by, we will contact you again shortly once we are satisfied that you pose no threat=/\= The screen then went blank. (Reply None, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Holodeck 2 - ACSO Lt. Yayla Nollys - 22:41) Pointing her finger at the bartender, he came up to her and looked at her a little more strangly each time. The routine was always the same. First, she would point at the bartender, then point to the bar in front of her, indicating she wanted another shot after another. How many had she had so far? ~12…13…14?~ She just couldn’t remember anymore, nor did she really care. She came here with these intentions, she would leave with the consequences. “You know, “ said the bartender, “I’m not going to be able to let you leave in this condition?” “So sue me,” she replied. Downing yet another shot, she pointed with her finger yet again. “I’ll be just fine.” She replied. “Whatever you say missy. I’ve seen people from all walks of life come in and out of these doors. I know the limit when I see it.” Watching as the bartender set her another shot, she gave him ‘the eye’ and he gave her ‘the look’ right back. “I’m afraid I’ll be cutting you off after this one,” he said. “You can’t do that! I’m still paying you, aren’t I?” Shrugging his shoulders, he said, “Call it…my personal policy.” Rolling her eyes, she downed the last shot, threw some money down and said, “Yeah? Well I hate your personal policy. Computer, exit.” (Reply None) (Posted by Stacey) (USS Spectre - Corridor - ACSO Yayla Nollys - 22:52) Using her hand to help her steady herself walking down the corridor, she remembered the last time she drank like this. In her academy days…and man did she pay for it later. She was always quite the partier, however usually alone. It had been awhile since she’d had any kind of ‘real’ alcohol, so she figured ‘what the hell’. ~That didn’t take long.~ She thought, as she finally reached the turbolift. Her stomach was fairly strong, but she was starting to feel the beginning effects of stomach sickness. ~I can make it home, I can make it home.~ She repeated to herself. Getting into the turbolift, she stabalized herself against a wall, then slowly sat down onto the floor. She felt sleepy…so sleepy. (Reply: Any, none) (Posted by: Stacey) ========================================================================== Mission: Ad Noctum (Andoria - City of She'nah Hoorn , The Ruins - Major General Michelle Roberts - 0700, Day 3) “What’s the butcher’s bill?” she said, looking over the city which had become one hell of a battleground. “We just passed the eighty- thou mark, General.” One of her Aides said. She shook her head. Eighty thousand friendly dead, of the 750,000 that she commanded. She was almost positive, once this war was over, that she’d dream of those eighty-plus thousand her every waking moment. It could have been worse though, she might never have thought of them again. As one madman had once said, “A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic” * She turned and looked at her entourage. She had a ‘Generals Aide’, more-or-less a communications liaison, for each major theater of the war. There were seven distinct districts of combat; each commanded by a senior Colonel or Brigadier General- her Theater Commanders. On Andoria, every part of the planet was a theater of battle. The planet had become the ultimate playground for Marines, Tactical and Fighter Command. She’nah Hoorn itself was the epitome of combat in rocky terrain, urban street fighting and body-mass warfare. The Northern end was a near steady stream of Marines in armor clashing, simply running out into the open and sniping at other Marines doing exactly the same thing. The southern end mostly comprised squads going from shattered building to building, hunting down snipers and individual squads (or the odd demi-company) or flushing them out to be shot. Every other part of the city was a no-man’s zone that earned rapid death if a foolish trooper ventured to far. And this was only one city on the Planet, there were others where the fighting was reported as even more intense, sometimes even barbaric. There wasn’t a part of the city that Michelle could walk and be considered safe. In fact, there were few places on the planet that could sport that particular claim. It was sad, really. Michelle had once taken a vacation to Andoria, when she’d been stationed on nearby Tellar during her first few months of on-the-job training out of Parris Island . The beautiful spires of blue and green had been laid to waste. What the orbital bombardment of a year ago hadn’t accomplished, the Andorian Resistance and the SMEF had. One of her minor communications aides ran up a few seconds later. “We’ve got reports of shuttle drops just three miles from here, they got through our batteries!” “Get Fighter Command on the horn!” Michelle bellowed spun on her heel and watched three Stallion shuttles flying away like a bat out of hell at top speed. How they’d gotten through all the jamming, and all her batteries, she had no idea. But it didn’t really matter. If she knew her troopers, they would think their professional honor was on the line of those shuttles got away- and her thought was rewarded when several heavy phaser batteries opened up. All three of the shuttles jinked to avoid the strafing fire, but they still were hit. Two of them crashed, trailing black lines of oily smoke. The warp core must have been hit on one of them, it hit the ground in a nuclear fireball that wiped out anything within a mile immediately. The shockwave washed over the ruins of the city, racing only behind the initial exposure to ionizing radiation, knocking buildings down and doing damage for dozens of miles around. Michelle, who was about five miles from the site of the explosion, managed to plant her feet and withstand the multi-hundred mile-per-hour winds that the shockwave created within just ten seconds. Her BDU beeped at her, estimating the explosion at nine point seven megatons. Estimated radiation levels were well above lethal for anyone not in a suit… and they were climbing She shuddered to think about anyone trapped within two miles of the initial explosion, they were nothing more then cinders now. She also pitied any civilians left in the area. In a single engagement, the city had been made inhabitable for years to come. “I want a fighter umbrella over this city,” she rasped as she gazed up at the awesome mushroom cloud that was just forming. Radiation levels were still climbing. It could have been worse though, only one shuttle had detonated. If the other two shuttles’ shielding hadn’t survived, then she would be as dead now as any Marines who had been standing within two miles. It was an occupational hazard. Billowing fire followed the first shockwave, and jets of soot and other irradiated materials fell from the sky, items and dirt that had been picked up in the shock wave, but not thrown into the stratosphere by the original explosion. “First guess, how many troopers did we just loose?” Her aide, a Major, shrugged, “That was part of no-mans land. Maybe a couple of thousand.” “Initiate radiation protocols,” she said as the wind reversed direction. It was a freak of physics; the explosion had created an area of high pressure and had driven everything that could be thrown- out. Now, nature was seeking to fill the void... the wind would reverse itself again as the Fallout cloud began spreading. She continued with, “Everyone’s suit gets checked out and everyone gets a dose of radiation pills in case their suits is breached.” She didn’t have to say that they weren’t pulling out; the city was still a battle-zone. “And put as many troopers as you can spare into moving whatever civilians are left in this poor wreck of a city out.” “General, we have enemy troops moving our way, approximately three squads!” “That would be from the shuttles, I imagine.” She grabbed her scatter-gun and squatted. She caught site of a couple of them, backlit by the Hell-Bourne fireball that was still climbing to the sky. Soon then mushroom cloud would envelop them all, explosions of that size usually ended up covering miles worth of territory with highly irradiated dust within minutes after detonation. The cloud would be a terrible thing to see, but nothing compared to what it was like inside… Michelle had only walked into the fiery hell of a nuclear explosion once, she’d walked as far into a low-yield mushroom cloud as the radiation and heat would allow before her BDU began breaking down. She’d never forgotten it. She pitied the troopers who were closer and were, even now according to their training, digging themselves into the dirt so they could protect their suits from the intense heat and radiation they were being exposed to. A BDU wasn’t inviolate after all, as these days of combat had shown. She tapped a button on her scatter-gun and nodded when she heard its compressor charging. If those enemy Marines down there were charging for her position, despite the nuclear accident with the shuttle, then they had to know she was here and wouldn’t stop for anything short of death. She took aim just as a couple squads from her own side flopped down on the ridge beside her and began firing. The enemy dove for cover, then began leap-frogging up. She nodded at their training, at least, they were executing the maneuver brilliantly. Even so, they had to die. “Fighter Command, this is Roberts, come back.” =/=General, this is Major Trondan, enroute from the Saratoga.=\= “We could use a bit of ground support here, Major. We’ve got at least three squads of motivated killers after my hide. Wipe them out, they’re preventing me from running my War.” =/=Will do General. Angel Leader to Angel Host, on me. =\= The com went silent for a few moments. Michelle fired a few shots from her scatter-gun on tight-beam, for the range, and watched one of her Enemy lifted off his feet with several small holes in him. She fired again, dispassionately, but missed as her target dived behind some heavy stones. The whine of impulse engines in atmosphere distracted her for a moment. Cries of ‘Tally Ho!’ filled the fighter-communications circuit as four of the Void-Sphinx’s flew at high velocity right at her. Their weapons opened up a few moments later. Michelle turned and ducked behind a stone pillar to avoid the shrapnal. A few moments later, a great rush of wind and debris flew past her. Her suit gave even more radiation warnings and a RAD-meter formed on its own to the lower-left of her HUD. She closed her eyes for a moment and then turned back. She couldn’t even see the hill where the enemy had been running, it was now a mass of fire and dust, the mushroom cloud had overtaken their position. She could almost make out great craters where her Angel’s phasers had landed, but that might have been nothing but her imagination. =^=Radiation Warning, Heat Warning. Suit Nanites have been dispatched.=^= Michelle ignored them as she gazed over the Land of the Dead. She was, for the moment, awed into silence. Up and up her gaze rose, until she could no longer tell the difference between land and sky. There was no difference in the Heart of the Storm, all was death and destruction. Fireballs began to fall from the sky, most of them the remains of bricks and buildings that had been super-heated in nano-seconds. Great clouds of soot swirled at high speed as the mushroom cloud continued to rise and spread. “All forces in the area of She'nah Hoorn,” she said into her mic, in a voice she could barely hear. “Take cover where practical, wait out the firestorm, but don’t abandon your posts unless absolutely necessary!” She turned away from the rapidly expanding firestorm and jumped down thirty feet to the basement of the building she’d been standing on. “Alright, take cover!” she said over the immediate Marine frequencies. “We won’t be done much for a couple hours, until this settles down and cools out!” “Get me in touch with the resistance, Major.” She said a few seconds later to one of her aides as they took cover against the fallout. “And make it fast.” (reply: none) (posted by Trout) Mission: Ad Noctum Day: 5 (Andoria - City of She'nah Hoorn, The Ruins: Inside the Argo-Command Vehicle - Major General Michelle Roberts - 19:40) “You have got to be kidding me.” The words had escaped her mouth before she could catch them, a habit she’d never been able to break in all her time in Starfleet. But… who could blame her? There was a young Andorian in front of her; he had to be sixteen or seventeen. And he claimed he was Suvven D'nall, the reputed commander of all Insurgents in this sector, one of the biggest names in the Andorian Resistance. But… he was a child. That he had walked up to a Marine squad this afternoon and requested (more like demanded) that he be brought to the Expeditionary Force Commander said little more about him then he was brave. But anyone could be brave, given the right circumstances. The fact that his face was scarred twice, once recently, that he carried a Marine’s line-phaser and he had an ancient Andorian battle-ax on his back did little to bely the image. Michelle would grant that he was far older then his years, but to be one of the major contenders in the Resistance? She also had to give him a bit of credit; he didn’t seem put off by her incredulity. His antenna didn’t even twitch, which was a sure sign of Andorian irritation. The seconds ticked on and the self-proclaimed Suvven didn’t so much as twitch a muscle. When he did, he was to reach behind him and grab the ancient ax on his back. Several of Michelle’s guards brought up their weapons, but Michelle brought up her hand to forestall them. It was doubtful that he’d be able to scratch her armor, much less hurt her before he could be shot. He hefted the Ax and then laid it gently on the desk that Michelle was using. “I was watching when over two-hundred men and women, all fighters, were slaughtered by a Company of Starfleet Marines… just a few blocks from here in fact. Torval Reen was their commander; he had laid down arms to prevent further bloodshed. And as I’ve heard it, he had laid plans for his warriors to slip into uneventful lives… during the day, but to continue the fight at night. Tactically, the Marines did the right thing. Strategically, those murders ensured that the Andorian people would never again lay down arms.“ The young Andorian’s antenna twitched. “I personally pried this axe from the hands of a slaughtered Tellarite. He was an ugly, smelly creature… but he’d fought with the weapons of his ancestral enemies, at the side of that same enemy… to fight against a new evil which had fallen against him. I watched him slaughtered because he refused to surrender. And his blood, though red, mingled well with the blue pools that congealed from that massacre. I learned more about dedication, of sacrifice, in that one moment then I ever will again in my life.” The Andorian’s eyes flashed then, “Don’t mistake youth for ignorance or lack-of-purpose, General. The enemy Marines we’re fighting today has made that mistake dozens of times, and I’ve taught them the error of their ways. I’ve come to offer you aide and intelligence, not debate Federation child labor laws or my lost childhood.” Michelle folded her hands together as bombs went off in the distance and considered the youth, the warrior, before her. Finally she said, “I learn not only from my mistakes, but the mistakes of others. I believe you.” She leaned forward, “Very well, Suvven D'nall, tell me how you can help me when I have seven-hundred thousand Marines on Andoria and we’re still being bogged down.” The Resistance leader smiled, but it wasn’t a friendly smile. “Why, General, I can help you win.” “How? Your resistance cell, though famous, isn’t known for being large. And you have no direct control over the cells in other cities. Our contact with this cities cells in the last two days has given me a very accurate picture of how much support you’ve got drummed up right now.” She didn’t have to say that they’d been contacting individual members of the resistance since the second day of conflict. She was still wondering why it had taken this youth most of a week to make himself known to her. She narrowed her eyes at him, sensing there was a lot more to this man’s statement then bravado. And with the way he was holding himself, she almost felt as though she were the butt of a joke and didn’t realize it. She had a feeling, however, that she was about to be educated. The youth betrayed just the slightest bit of joviality, as if he really were party to some cosmic joke, or secret. “You might be surprised.” He said. “In fact, I think you will be. My cell has fewer then two hundred Andorians, barely a Marine Company. But in fact, I can deliver to you nearly the entire population of Andoria.” The general’s eyebrow quirked ever so slightly. “You might want to explain that.” She finally said with only a hint of disbelief in her tone. “We have been waiting for a time to rise and fight, General.” Suvven said. “I do not say that philosophically or as an exaggeration. I have been in contact with dozens of major city leaders, other Cell commanders. You say I command a cell; but you are misinformed. I’ve been planning the strategy for half of Andoria for the last six months, and advising the rest. The resistance is small, and the people haven’t been fighting back en-masse only because I’ve forbidden it. I never wanted my people slaughtered; we’ve been saving our strength for a time when it really counts. And General, your seven hundred thousand fully armed Marines and Security will provide just enough force to make THIS a time that counts.” He paused for a few moments as that sunk in, and then continued with: “I’ve already sent orders for every cell to strike in two days time, whether you take part or not. I can guarantee you that, whereas each city only has a couple of hundred official resistance members… hundreds of thousands or more will be fighting that day… with anything they can get their hands on.” Michelle sat back, her mind reeling. This young Andorian was either a military genius, or a certifiable nut-case. She supposed he could also be a pathological liar… but he really –was- a big shot in the Andorian resistance, so she tended to doubt that he lied much about his skills. Everything he’d just spoken about depended on his contacts, something that Michelle could guess at but had no direct proof of. And if he didn’t pull off his end, then the SMEF would put itself in a terrible strategic position if she were to throw in. But then, they already –were- in a terrible position. They still had a couple thousand men down in this area alone for Radiation sickness. She eyed him for a few moments and then nodded, slowly. “Alright, I’ll trust you for now. So we have two days to come up with a plan that doesn’t leave this planet cracked in half.” He smiled again, “All you need to do, General, is give the orders.” He pulled out a PADD. “Look these over, you’ll have about fifteen hours before orders have to be given and units have to start moving. That should give you enough time to decide to commit. I’ll be back then for your answer.” He half bowed and then left the command vehicle, leaving a stunned staff behind him. But Michelle was quick to recover and look over his plans. After fifteen minutes of study she looked back up, “General.” She said to a Brigadier who had joined her. “When this is over, we’re dragging that Andorian back with us. There are only a few changes I have to make to this… the base plan is brilliant.” “I wouldn’t,” the Brigadier said after a few moments of thought. “If he’s really got these kinds of contacts, he’ll have us all killed in short order.” “Perhaps.” She replied. “But let’s worry about that later. For now…” she smiled for the first time in a long time. “We’ve got a battle to plan.” She looked down at the Andorian battle axe, which Suvven had left on the desk… probably as a reminder. “And we have to plan it all right, or these people will be marching to their deaths.” she said absently. (reply: none, yet) (posted by Trout)