Commencement

[tomcat]

Again it became a situation of hurry up and wait. "Days" were passing aboard the Columbia as she maneuvered near the Neutral Zone at the very end of the Wedge. It had been just over 72 hours since Darkan had spoken with Vrang and the Klingon had changed course to investigate the data sent to him by the Federation starship. Everyone aboard hoped that the D6 cruiser would confirm the ruse created by the Romulans before anything could come of it - Townshend spent many hours at her station (beyond the standard order) listening for word from Vrang. The comm officer was retrieving all sorts of communications from both sides of the line but all were encrypted and she could only decipher the Federation messages. Starfleet was ready just in case, but were positioned to look as if everything was normal.

Otherwise, it had been, and still was quiet.

Stonn on the other hand had a lot to do. The sensor station tracked multiple ships on the Klingon side of the Neutral Zone and it appeared that there was an increase in tracks.


[OOC:] I need a Sys Ops (sensors) test TN 15 from Stonn and a Sys Ops (communications) test TN 12 from Townshend.

[tomcat]

[OOC:]
Stonn: Sys Ops (Sensors)
Sys Ops +9, Specialty +2
Roll(2d6)+11: 3,5,+11 Total:19 SUCCESS

Townshend: Sys Ops (Comm)
Sys Ops +9, Specialty +2
Roll(2d6)+11: 2,5,+11 Total:18 SUCCESS


Mr. Stonn watched the screen and couldn't help but notice that the Klingon's were moving ships into position for some major offensive, but he wondered against who. More B'rels had come into the sector and now held position close to the Neutral Zone, the Klingon outposts and two even tailed the D6 - surely Vrang could see that he was being shadowed.

To his left, Townshend was confirming the Vulcan's fears as the sector had suddenly grown quiet of any Klingon communications. Stonn pushed the comm button and called for Darkan to return to the bridge.

Moment's later, the captain returned looking refreshed from the shower he had just taken. The viewscreen showed the sector predominated by Klingon space and Darkan did not like what he saw. Vrang had yet to communicate back and it appeared as if time was running short.


[OOC:] I am going to run this story arc through with just you and me Matt and then shut this game down. If we get to a time in the future where we can get some thing going again, maybe I will start up these characters again... if they survive! 

Shawn / Chris, if you are reading this then feel free to take up your characters but either way, I wanna bring this story to a conclusion and see what happens to the Columbia.

[sdrotar]

OOC: Wow. somehow, I missed this post. I've been traveling (I'm in Vancouver now), and when I went from desktop to laptop, I didn't see the little arrow that indicated a new post. My apologies.

"Captain, given the situation, it is very possible that Vrang's ship is in danger. The Empire, or some faction of it, seems to be moving to protect this ruse from being discovered. If that is the case, we would seem to be in great danger as well."

It seemed to Stonn that they had stumbled into a much larger plot - possibly one that they would be unable to unravel alone. All the pieces fit - a Romulan faction had allied itself with a Klingon one in an effort to foment a larger war in the region, and place the blame upon the Federation.

"Sir," he said, "we may not be able to foil this plot. It may be advisable to warn Vrang and escape to safety, if possible. From there, it might be advisable to break radio silence and sound the alarm to Starfleet forces in the area... while we still can."

[tomcat]

OOC: Wow. somehow, I missed this post. I've been traveling (I'm in Vancouver now), and when I went from desktop to laptop, I didn't see the little arrow that indicated a new post. My apologies.

[OOC:] It's no big deal Shawn. I completely understand and besides this game is still a bear to get our momentum going. But I do want to see what happens in the end, so I am going to keep it moving. Your participation is definitely desired here! 

Doug

[GandalfOfBorg]

Darkan had a few choice epithets come to his tongue but thought of maintaining decorum... for the moment.  "Which ships are those?" he asks, pointing to the Federation ships on patrol.
OOC:  Besides names, OOC Im interested in ship class as well.

"We cannot let the Romulans continue with this deception and terrorize the innocent falsely using the name of the Federation.  That imposter ship must be destroyed -- it's our highest priority!"  Knowing that committing to the action he was about to order, he realizes that it may be a death sentence for his crew and ship.

[tomcat]

Townshend answers her captain, "Sir, through traffic communication, I have determined that the two local Federation ships are the Endeavor and the Groton. The Endeavor is a re-fit Constitution-class vessel and the Groton is a destroyer. They seemed to have gone into a higher level of emission control about two days ago."

[GandalfOfBorg]

"More than enough firepower for what they're up against.  Ms. Townshend, please notify Vrang of our intentions and that we request his assistance in defending the Klingon Empire in the same manner as previous.  Mr. Pushkin, set a course for the Romulan station at the maximum speed where the Prairie Masker will still be in effect.  Once we breach the Neutral Zone, maximum warp.  John, get your people ready to board the dry dock; we'll first attempt the subtle approach, but if that proves unachievable, we'll use the direct approach."

Getting up from the command chair, he gives one last command, "Mr. Stonn, please notify me when we are 5 minutes out from the Neutral Zone; I want to address the crew.  I'll be in my Ready Room."  With that he leaves the bridge.

OOC: During the time he's in the Ready Room, he makes up a final briefing to Starfleet, prepares commentary for likely losses of crewmen, and finishes by reviewing the final goodbye letter to Mia that he wrote upon taking command of the Columbia.

[tomcat]

Darkan felt the change; his ship was slowing down. He looked up to the wall chronometer - over three hours had passed just like that and he knew that Pushkin was bringing the ship to the point of embarkation. Upon his command, the U.S.S. Columbia would break the long existing order by entering the Neutral Zone.

He looked down as his desk comm beeped. The emotionless voice of Stonn, "Captain, we have reached the Neutral Zone."

A more pleasant voice came next and Darkan smiled at the humanity that it contained, "Captain Darkan, I have been unable to raise the Gr'Toth. Either she is unwilling to reply, or unable to... sir."

[GandalfOfBorg]

"Understood, I'm on my way," the young captain said with heavy heart.  The door to his office wheeshed open and again as it shut behind him.  Collecting himself, he strode to the command chair and pressed the comm for all hands.  "Attention Columbia, this is your captain speaking.  I know we haven't been long together as a crew or I as your captain.  There are many I have yet had more than a passing 'good day' with and there are probably some I have yet encountered.  And so I apologize for you all have been a crew worthy of note in my tenure as this ship's commander.  We have weathered a horde of space creatures, infiltrators, and Romulan duplicity, but our primary mission has been the same and completed per our orders."

"But why, some may ask, haven't we yet turned our sails toward home... why are we still silent and in the cold.  The answer is simple and yet it isn't.  In the event of preliminary analysis of data collected as a part of our original orders, it was discovered that there is a joint Romulan and Klingon plot to destabilize this region and force the Klingon Empire and Federation once again into war.  These Klingons are not the loyal sons and daughters of the government with which our leaders have laboriously worked to entreat, but a rogue faction that wishes to overthrow the peace that has been struggled to maintain.  This plot hinges upon the use of fake Federation ship to make raids in the adjoining Klingon sector so as to force a Klingon response in attacking the Federation.  Our mission, no our duty, is now to breach the Neutral Zone, enter Romulan space, and destroy the mock up ship.  If effort to curry favor with the Klingons, I sought out and requested assistance from who I think to be a loyal captain of the Empire.  Since the request, we have received no answer.  This may be due to its inability to do so, a double-cross, or something worse.  Regardless of aid from the Klingons, the peace we've all fought and lost much for is threatened and we, the Columbia, are the best chance in averting such a result.  I won't lie to you, this is a mission where some or maybe even all, won't return from, but from the bottom of my heart I thank you all for your dedication and service.  Good luck to one and all.  Darkan out."

Turning to his comm officer, he says, "Ms. Townshend, I have made a comm packet available for secure, tight-beam transmission to the closest Federation starship to relay on.  It contains a copy of my orders and other pertinent info for Command and the crew's families in case of ... well, just in case."

At that, he sits down in the command chair that all of sudden feels too big and too small at the same time.  His crew is ready and more than competant.  All there is left now is to wait.

OOC:   Not quite Picard's speech when facing the Borg or the president's in Independence Day or Robert Shaw's in Glory, but it was a good stab.

[sdrotar]

Stonn surmised that their odds of success were long, but the Captain's course of action was logical - they had simply run out of time and options.
Naturally, Stonn would do his duty, and although he would not cling to such a uniquely human contrivance as "hope", he did understand that the universe held many surprises...

He spent his time preparing the ship's sensors; honing them to near-perfection and running a systems check on whatever else he had time for.

When the tight-beam transmission was made available, Stonn submitted his packet to Townshend. In it, the spartan missives greeted his family and passed on his personal recollections of the science he had gathered over his time on the Columbia for posterity and future research.

There was no concern - something he saw in many of his crewmates - simply a task to perform, coldly logical... if a mission of war could be described as such.
Stonn brushed aside such notions; there would be time for that later, if the task at hand was completed.

He was ready.

[tomcat]

Things began to happen at different points throughout the sector - some unintentional.

The conspirators of the Chak-ruth clan were headed by a Klingon commander named Qwarl and he had been nervously watching the days pass until the t-mark - the point when each of the three phases of his plan would initiate. Eighteen days past, he and his Romulan associate, Delegate Korvona, had commenced the countdown with her message of the final preparedness of the mock-up Federation vessel. The project had been fully funded by the Romulan Empire and Qwarl wondered what concessions they would demand once he had removed the Tal-Hok'nah from power.

His plan was seamless as long as there were few unknown occurances, but with the demise of the Klingon Empire's most powerful patriarch, the Tal-Hok'nah clan had become immersed in an inter-family dispute as they all vied for the leadership. Their allies, the Bor-Klah merely stood on the sidelines, inert, while they watched and waited to see what would happen - perhaps they even planned their own succession. Needless to say, while they all looked on the inside, Qwarl and his fleet was about to use the fragile moment to supplant he and his allies to greatness.

First they would stir the pot with the mock up Federation vessel entering Klingon space and destroying outposts along the T'wanful Sector; second his ships would commence limited border attacks with the Federation - enough to draw all eyes to there and not to Qo'nos. Finally, Qwarl had his assassins in place to make the House of Tal-Hok'nah nothing more than a group of masterless slaves. The Bor-Klah alone would not have the strength to stop the tide of change and Qwarl and his House of Chak-Ruth would rise to dominance allied with the four other lower houses. He would soon command the assets of Bor-Klah and Tal-Hok'nah and return the empire to greatness.

There was less than 24-hours left before phase one was to commence when Qwarl received the call. "Commander Qwarl," the unfamiliar voice said, "we have a problem."

The words made his blood turn ice, "What is it?"

The messenger was the local governor of the H'atoria Sector, and he was surprised by the calm reply from his commander, "Sir... two of our B'rels have been tracking a D6 called the Gr'Toth of the Bor-Klah House. Commander, they have just made sweeping scans of Romulan space outside the T'wanful Sector where we have the Federation vessel prepared. We think that they have found it, sir."

Qwarl's decision was immediate, "Destroy them now and be prepared for an immediate commencement of Phase One. You will proceed with your orders commencing in two hours. Qwarl out."

The leader of the Chak-Ruth house pressed another button, "I need to speak with Delegate Korvona immdiately. Inform her T-mark has been moved to a two-hour commencment."

The Columbia moved at Warp 8 along the Neutral Zone between Klingon and Romulan space and as yet had not been intercepted, although they knew that they had to have been tracked. Townshend continued with her intermittent coded transmission to the Gr'Toth in hopes that she would once more make contact with their only hopeful ally - Commander Vrang.

Nothing yet had been heard.

It would not matter soon as the Columbia would be reaching her last known position within the hour.


[OOC:] I need Stonn to make a Sys Ops (Sensors) test TN 12, and Ramos to make a Warp Drive Reliability test TN 10 for the two hour run at Warp 8.

[sdrotar]

[OOC:] I need Stonn to make a Sys Ops (Sensors) test TN 12, and Ramos to make a Warp Drive Reliability test TN 10 for the two hour run at Warp 8.

Sensors Test (TN 12) - Stonn Sys Ops +9, Sensors Specialty Bonus +2 = +11
Roll(2d6)+11: 2,6,+11 Total:19 - SUCCESS

Warp Drive Test (TN 10) - Ramos Engineering +6, Warp Propulsion Specialty Bonus +2 = +8
Roll(2d6)+8:2,4,+8 Total:14 - SUCCESS

[GandalfOfBorg]

OOC: I can hear the obligatory Klingon scene music commensing 

[tomcat]

[OOC:] Hey Shawn, just for future reference, system reliabilty tests are made using the system reliability modifiers - but this is okay!  I will take the roll made as well. See your Private Message to add what you want to the story.


Stonn looked up from his sensor hood, and then peered back inside - was he really seeing what he thought he was seeing?

[sdrotar]

[OOC:] Hey Shawn, just for future reference, system reliabilty tests are made using the system reliability modifiers - but this is okay!  I will take the roll made as well. See your Private Message to add what you want to the story.


Stonn looked up from his sensor hood, and then peered back inside - was he really seeing what he thought he was seeing?

OOC: Oops. Sorry about that...

"Captain," Stonn said sharply, "I have ascertained the position and status of Vrang's D6 vessel. It is engaged in combat with two B'rel-class vessels, and readings indicate that the D6 is over-matched. Sending coordinates to the helm and navigator now."