Alliance?

[tomcat]

Townshend was being helped to her seat. Tam had administered a smelling salt to bring her to and though she felt nauseous from both the salt and the effects of the explosion's pressure wave on her body, she was no worse for wear. Pushkin on the other hand had some minor first degree burns. The doctor would not allow the helmsman to return to his post without a thorough physical in sickbay, and even Darkan had to interject.

"Alex... to sickbay. Now!" he said, jerking a thumb towards the turbolift.

The Russian, along with the medical staff exited the bridge only to be replaced by a team of engineers - including Ramos. Dr. Tam had also stayed to learn more of what was going on with the Columbia.

On the viewscreen, the wounded D6 hung motionless. Suddenly Vrang's voice emanted across the encoded channel with which they had comunicated in the recent past that was still open. Townshend moved quickly to ascertain that the channel was not set to ship-wide and she adjusted the volume.

"Well Darkan, we meet," the Klingon commander said. "You are far from Federation space. What makes you think that I will not destroy you for this intrusion across the Neutral Zone?"

[sdrotar]

Townshend was being helped to her seat. Tam had administered a smelling salt to bring her to and though she felt nauseous from both the salt and the effects of the explosion's pressure wave on her body, she was no worse for wear. Pushkin on the other hand had some minor first degree burns. The doctor would not allow the helmsman to return to his post without a thorough physical in sickbay, and even Darkan had to interject.

"Alex... to sickbay. Now!" he said, jerking a thumb towards the turbolift.

The Russian, along with the medical staff exited the bridge only to be replaced by a team of engineers - including Ramos. Dr. Tam had also stayed to learn more of what was going on with the Columbia.

On the viewscreen, the wounded D6 hung motionless. Suddenly Vrang's voice emanted across the encoded channel with which they had comunicated in the recent past that was still open. Townshend moved quickly to ascertain that the channel was not set to ship-wide and she adjusted the volume.

"Well Darkan, we meet again," the Klingon commander said. "You are far from Federation space. What makes you think that I will not destroy you for this intrusion across the Neutral Zone?"

Ramos, who had just arrived on the bridge, harrumphed audibly.
He had barely been able to keep the Columbia in one piece while saving the ungrateful Klingon and his ship, but if it came to it, he'd make damned certain he could keep her together longer than the Klingon's chief engineer could keep his rust-bucket from flying apart at the seams...

[tomcat]

[OOC:] Shawn, Stonn is able to detect the current status of the Gr'Toth and he knows that he is full of crap. The D6's weapons are currently offline and her Operations and Life Support are struggling.

[sdrotar]

[OOC:] Shawn, Stonn is able to detect the current status of the Gr'Toth and he knows that he is full of crap. The D6's weapons are currently offline and her Operations and Life Support are struggling.

"Captain," Stonn said under his breath, "the Klingon vessel is in no position to fight. It's likely he is simply posturing. Requiring Starfleet aid - in the Neutral Zone - would probably be seen as a great dishonor. Therefore, he may be trying to 'save face'. Helping him do so may be advisable."

[GandalfOfBorg]

Darkan didn't realize he was gripping the arms of the command chair so tightly. Smoke hung in the air around the bridge, people were coughing, and something warm was sliding down his face.  Reaching up to his forehead he found that he'd been cut by some shrapnel after the last barrage.  For a moment, he flashed back to the last time he was on a bridge fighting Klingons.  But this time it was different, he was in command of his own ship and he did to save a ship full of them.  His mouth was dry, making the first words out of his mouth stick there.  "Good work, people, but we're not done yet."

[Vrang speaks]

Darkan had to tread carefully, choosing his words with care and hoping that Vrang indeed was a loyal and honorable soldier of the Empire.  "One word, Vrang:  Honor.  You just proved it by speaking to me and offering a challenge as an equal and not by stabbing us in the back like those traitorous dogs did to you."  That might've been a little too much, but he hoped it worked.

[tomcat]

There was silence from the Klingon commander - Darkan wondered if he had gone too far - but on his ship, Vrang looked to his XO and the two warriors exchanged thoughts, the comm system muted as they talked.

"They have to know that we have no means at the moment of complying with a threat," the second-in-command said.

Vrang nodded, "And this Captain Darkan's ship, though shaken from the B'rel assault, is quite capable of finishing us."

The XO shook his head, "I do not believe that is why they are here. It is very irregular this alliance, but we do owe them... at least to listen."

Vrang agreed once more, "Do we have a choice?"

The Klingon commander gave the command to reopen the channel visually and he answered Darkan, "It is the way of the warrior to show honor in combat. You have shown honor in the truth of your words and the aid - though unlooked for and against our laws - that you have extended us. So I extend you this opportunity to explain what your intentions are before I order any attack... what is it you want Captain Darkan?"

On the Columbia, Vrang's face appeared on the main viewscreen and Darkan and the bridge crew saw their potential ally. He was a tall Klingon with short, coarse hair circling his great forehead crown, his skin swarthy and a long moustache wrapping his mouth. He had a determined look upon his face no matter what the condition his ship was currently in. Darkan and Stonn looked behind him to see the condition of the bridge crew and Vrang seemed to have them all well-ordered.

Vrang spoke once more, "Your information has proved itself true. It seems that the Romulans and the Chak-ruth have conspired against the major houses of the Empire. The attack on my ship being infallible evidence, but why are you here... what does the Federation want from this? Or do you have a part?"

[GandalfOfBorg]

"According to our laws, many which I have recently broken, I and my crew are rogue, no longer under the protection of the Federation.  Our duty was to serve and protect our people just as it is yours; even though rogue, we still consider it our duty.  When we found this deception, orders were stretched or broken while seeking to remove the threat and gain your aid by, as it has become apparent, any means necessary.  The only thing I seek out of this is the destruction of the ship we've disclosed to you previously and your aid in doing so.  Bringing traitors and enemies to justice or their destruction I think would be more than enough incentive for you to join us."

[sdrotar]

While loathe to interrupt, Stonn stood back from his sensor hood and spoke loudly.
"Captain... Captains: We are reading a power spike in the D6's impulse engine. The ship may have sustained more severe damage than originally thought, and there may be a risk of explosion unless the problem is mitigated immediately."

Ramos turned around quickly to his engineering station, where the efficient science officer had already forwarded the readings. He studied them quickly to determine the risk and what could be done about it.

[GandalfOfBorg]

"Wha... Options?  How much time until critical?  Is this due to battle damage or could it be sabotage?"  Darkan was not yet ready to believe Vrang would commit suicide.

[sdrotar]

"Wha... Options?  How much time until critical?  Is this due to battle damage or could it be sabotage?"  Darkan was not yet ready to believe Vrang would commit suicide.

"The damage appears to be battle-related, Captain," said Stonn.

Ramos spoke up, without looking away from his board. "It looks like the attackers got a lucky shot - but not too lucky. Vrang's ship took an indirect hit to the impulse block. Instead of causing an immediate explosion, the disruptors broke down multiple conduits.  They'll start failing in time, though. Shutting their impulse engines down should allow them to repair the damage well enough, but it'll take time..."

Ramos turned to the captain, raising his hands with a helpless look. He knew time was a luxury they couldn't afford.

[tomcat]

Ramos was almost right.

The main fusion reactor that powers the impulse engines is linked to two systems - the primary warp reactor and the auxilliary reactor (generally used for cold-starting the ship's engines and emergency power supply). Though all three were independent of each other and each had its own reactionary fuel, they all were still tied together with TFC, or Transfer Flow Conduit. The conduit was huge and laced throughout most starships and though their designs were different between Klingon and Federation engineering, the physics was the same. Magnetic force was used the entire conduit length to both contain and shift the amazing amount of energy that the reactors created to fill the many needs of a starship.

Unfortunately for the D6-class battlecruiser, the Klingons only serviced the vessels enough to keep them as transports and to provide for patrolling, not front-of-the-line ships. Yes, they could be used in a conflict but most knew that they would be merely a blocking force, not a maneuvering one. The venerable system failed. The disruptors' hit had broken down multiple conduits but it also had damaged the breaker control system. And so the safety program had gone into effect and the energy was redirected away from the destroyed grid, but it built upon itself and with no automated breakers, the TFC blew. It happened on the starboard side of the ship just along the warp nacelle wing. The whole length of the conduit exploded outwardly and literally sheered the wing and nacelle from the main body of the craft. With the extent of her power grid sundered, the vessel lost the bulk of its power and went dark. The force of the explosion caused it to list and drift in the opposite direction of the outward blast. Emergency battery power went active throughout the decks to keep main environmental functions active for however long they would last or until the Klingon engineers could restore what power they could.

On the D6's bridge, Vrang began to yell as his ship shook and the lights went out, "GR'L FROK-NA*!! WHAT!? WHAT HAPPENED!? DID THEY ATTACK US!?"

The crew around him began to rush about and semi-chaos ensued, each station trying to get some kind of answer from their mostly dead ship. The XO answered his captain, "I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW!"

In the confusion, Vrang was unaware as to who was talking to whom - "DID THEY ATTACK US!?" he demanded once more.

On the Columbia, Darkan frowned as his viewscreen went blank of Vrang's bridge only to see the external view of the D6. The bridge crew watched as the silent image suddenly flared with light along its starboard wing and then list to one side as the nacelle blew off. The cacaphony of Vrang's bridge could still be heard over the open channel and the captain cringed to hear the insinuations of the Klingon commander.

Grahm shouted out information Darkan already knew, "Sir! There was no, I repeat, no weapons fire from the Columbia!"

Townshend spoke slowly to no one in particular, "Vrang is the only Klingon that knows that the Federation is not willfully attacking the Empire - especially if the whole H'atoria sector is part of the coup. If he dies, we may be at war..."

Stonn spoke next and his emotionless voice only added to the stress of the moment, "Sir, sensors are picking up a warp signature of an approaching vessel. It is still fifty minutes from our position."


[OOC:]

*Some Klingon expletive that probably would offend in its english translation - but really just some letters I put together for added color. 

Actions and / or Dialogue please 

PS - Hey Shawn, I really liked how you added to the story there with Ramos. That is the kind of stuff I love from you guys whether it is exactly right or not - as in this case.  But sometimes it gives me stuff to build on with the story and you guys can help direct it even more.

[GandalfOfBorg]

"Vrang, come in!  We did not, repeat, did NOT fire upon your ship.  One of your nacelles just blew off.  ID that ship inbound now!"  Darkan was quickly considering options in his head.
1) He could tow the ship to a nearby system, but that'd likely get them killed.
2) Beam over the Klingon crew.  They wouldn't necessarily get killed, but things would get complicated quickly such as what to do with them then?
3) He could tow them to the Federation, but likely the same result as 1 and more complicated than 2.
4) Leave them and head out after the Federation look-alike.  This really wasn't an option for them after what Darkan's already said and done.

But these were the only option he could come up with.  "Alright, people, we need options and fast regardless if that ship is friendly or not."

[tomcat]

From across the distance of cold space, Vrang's voice shouted to Darkan, "DARKAN! DID YOU ATTACK US?! YOU SPEAK OF TREACHERY!"

Townshend spoke next to her captain, "Sir... we have another problem here! The Gr'Toth is broadcasting only. I am not getting any evidence of reception. He cannot hear you sir!"

When the combat had broken out with the two Chak-ruth B'rels, the scout vessels had targeted and damaged the D6's main communications system shutting down any means of long range broadcasting. The explosion from the conduit shook the ship bad enough to disable her 'ears' as well.

With Jess' announcement hanging there, Grahm spoke next, "Options sir? We need to make sure that Captain Vrang survives above all else. We can attempt to beam the whole bridge crew to our ship that way we do not miss the only Klingon with authority who can stop this tide of war. Once he is secured upon the Columbia, we can do what we need to to make sure that he is able to contact the Klingon High Council. We can destroy the Federation mock-up and then we can get outta Dodge."

Stonn's scans of the D6 showed that her auxilliary power reactor had yet to come on but batteries were powering environmental systems. The Gr'Toth's crew should be able to restore some sort of power and maybe even get the old ship moving again.


[OOC:] Stonn needs to give me a Sys Ops (Sensors) test... I will give you the information of the inbound based on the roll results

[GandalfOfBorg]

Darkan mulled this over a moment.  He detested such a brute force approach to the problem, but seeing as there was little to debate this, he looked around for any objection to Grahm's suggestion.  Not seeing any, he nods.  "Call a security team to the bridge and then transport the bridge crew over."

[sdrotar]

[OOC:] Stonn needs to give me a Sys Ops (Sensors) test... I will give you the information of the inbound based on the roll results

OOC: Stonn: Sys Ops (Sensors)
Sys Ops +9, Specialty +2, Ship's Sensor Mod +1 (High Res scan at 2 LY away)
Roll(2d6)+12: 5,1,+12 Total:18