The wasps flew by the broken B'rel to confirm it was out of action. The other Klingon scout had fired its phasers, striking only one of the fighters, but unable to cause it damage at the range. After which, it immediatly turned and fled at high speeds, disappearing completely moments later.
On the Columbia bridge, Darkan heard the flight lead call in, "Columbia this is Wasp lead 1, tango 2 is out of commission. Tango 1 has disappeared. I am not sure if tango 2 still has any alive on board, but the ship looks really beat up. We are circling to find Galileo 042 and would like instructions from there. Lead out."
Grahm smiled inwardly, thinking to himself about Ario's words, "Don't tell me, ensign, what my weapons can do."
He turned to his captain to both comment on the recent action and Darkan's suggestions. "Sir, I agree with the engaging of the prairie masker and using the planetoid to hide the ship. I don't think we will have much trouble from the other B'rel for a while. I would like to collect our shuttlecraft though, sir."
Not far away, a large hunk of metal and rock floated in space - the perfect thing to hide a ship. The planetoid was dark, as no stars were close enough to give it more light than that which to create haunting shadows.
Darkan looked to Stonn at the science station. "The cloaked ship still on sensors?"
Quote from: GandalfOfBorg on Mar 04, 2008, 11:42 PM
Darkan looked to Stonn at the science station. "The cloaked ship still on sensors?"
"In a manner of speaking, sir," Stonn said, unaware - like many Vulcans - that his statements of fact sometimes were perceived as aloof to humans. "More accurately, we can extrapolate the ship's likely position based upon the tachyons left in its wake; but we cannot get a fix on the vessel's precise position through the cloaking screen."
"So they're still in the vicinity then," mused Darkan, absently rubbing his aching arm but making it hurt worse and he winced. "Have the fighters rendezvous with the shuttle and we will bring them aboard. They are to maintain a low profile and defensive posture until all are secure. We need to make this pick up as fast as possible."
Time breakdown since the Episode started:
| A hour* -1 | crew slowly revive and begin initial work to find out what has happened |
| A hour* -.25 | Darkan starts his 30 minute tests to come back to his senses |
| A hour* -0 | Klingon B'rels arrive and move in opposite direction |
| A hour* +.5 | Ramos begins computer reboot; Pushkin starts shuttle launch |
| A hour* +.75 | Grahm blows pods and extinquishes fire |
| A hour* +1 | Pushkin circuits the Columbia; Ramos programs the patch |
| A hour* +1.25 | Pushkin discovers the Gr'Toth; Ramos wires the tricorder |
| A hour* +1.5 | Ramos initializes the CPU |
| A hour* +2 | Life support comes online; Telek and Torrence complete repairs on hull breaches and secondary system failures |
| A hour* +2.25 | Sensors come online |
| A hour* +2.5 | Helm and Nav come online [Propulsion] |
| A hour* +3 | Shields come online |
| A hour* +3.5 | Weapons come online |
| A hour* +3.75 | Misc minor systems come online [Operations] |
* A hour is the arrival hour of the two B'rels; bullets in red have already passed
Thirty-five minutes passed and in that time the Columbia's shields re-energized and her weapons' control came online. A sigh of relief went throughout the ship from all those crewmen that knew the vessel's current disposition.
A call came from the shuttle hanger, "Captain Darkan, shuttle bay control. Lt. Pushkin has just commenced his landing and he states he is arriving with six surviving Klingons from the D6, including Commander Vrang."
"That is good news. Direct them to sick bay, Mr. Stonn and I will meet them there. Darkan out." Turning to the conn, "Helm, lay in a course to intercept the nearest Federation vessel on the other side of the border but be prepared to alter course further into Klingon space if need be. Falcone, let me know when all craft are aboard; you have the bridge."
With that, a weary young captain heads to the nearest turbolift and once inside, braces himself against the wall, waiting for his XO to join him.
"How is your health, Captain?" Stonn asked in the turbolift as the doors slid closed. "You look uncomfortable."
(Insert Darkan's response, please)
"Very fortunate that Captain Vrang survived; his testimony might completely change the situation in our favor."
"Do you remember baths? With real water? I sure could go for one of those." He frowns at the statement he just made as it reminded him of the last day he spent with his Mia. He attempts to lift the injured arm, barely able to do so and grimacing with pain. "About this good... youself?"
****
He nods at the reality sinking back in from the brief bit of revery. "I am sorely tempted to just head back to Federation space, drop the Klingons off with the nearest ship, report back to Earth, and give everyone a week's furlow." Sigh "But I think we may need to make for Qo'Nos post-haste. Vrang's assessment will help with this decision."
Temoc sat and listened to the communication going on between the Galileo and the Columbia.
"So... there were survivors on the D6. That old ship was part of the Bor-Klah house, correct?" A nod from his second confirmed his thougts. The commander of the Bird of Prey leaned forward, "The Federation ship cannot be allowed to leave this sector - neither to their space nor towards Qo'nos. We are going to need help. Comm! Send this message..."
The turbolift doors opened for Stonn and Darkan on deck seven, to the surprised face of Grahm, "Sirs! I apologize for my absence on the bridge, but I had to check on someone in Sickbay."
Suddenly Pushkin's voice came over the comm regarding the Klingon survivors enroute to the Sickbay. The Tactical Officer looked to his commander, "Sir, do you want a security team to be present to escort the Klingons?"
"Have a pair of security stationed outside sickbay but arriving only after the Klingons have entered sickbay; don't need them more jittery than I'm sure they already are. You return to the bridge and closely monitor the area; the cloaked ship is likely out there waiting for us and may even call in a few favors. Be thinking of ideas to give us at least an edge at escaping if need be; we are still not in shape for another slugfest."
"Aye captain," said Grahm. "Right away."
And with that, the Tactical stepped into the now vacant turbolift and the doors hissed closed behind him. As the lift took him to the bridge, John pressed the comm button for a closed departmental channel, "Security, this is Mr. Grahm. I need two security guards placed outside Sickbay. Make sure their presence is inconspicuous to our new 'guests'. Grahm out."
On Deck 7, Stonn and Darkan made their way to the med department.
[OOC:] Matt and Shawn, your story will go to the Sickbay thread for now - you can pick it up there.
As the turbolift opens for Mr. Grahm, he finds that it isn't so vacant as Pushkin steps out. "Apologies," He says, stepping out of the way of the hurrying officer. He steps forward to head to his Helm console which has been far too absent from. He blows out a relieved breath as he gives a nod to his backup. With him in the chair, he knows that the Columbia will get out of Klingon space.
He looks over the systems, checking on their responses before looking over towards Grahm with a smirk. "Did I miss much?"
With all craft safely aboard, the Columbia's course was plotted.
Anderson, who had escorted the Klingons also returned to his station and set about the task of getting them out of enemy territory. The nav computer created a three dimensional image in relation to the sector, plotting postions of all known information. It then drew a series of waypoints from the starting point C, which was the Columbia's location, all the way back into Federation territory. In total it was just over 3 light years away; at warp factor four, the maximum speed capable with the prairie masker active, it would take about 10 days. Anderson looked at Pushkin with a nervous smile, "So close but yet so far."
::BOOP::BOOP::
The comm center's panel signaled. The tech on station put his hand to the earpiece and then turned to Mr. Grahm, "Sir? I believe we were just hailed."
"By whom mister?" replied Grahm, not knowing the young ensign's name.
"By that planet out there sir."
Grahm looked at the comm station with a quizzical expression on his face, "What?"
"Yes sir," the crewman answered. "It is not intelligible and I have the computer working on the signal, but it is definitely from the planet."
Grahm looked to the science station, which sat vacant without Stonn. "Pushkin, bring us about for now and get me a range to the planet."
[OOC:] Jeremy, you can roll if you'd like, but it will just be a Sys Ops TN 5
Pushkin lifts up his eyebrows and glances towards the Comm station. He glances over to Grahm about the mysterious signal. "Could it be more survivors from the Klingon Cruiser. Did they actually make it to the planetoid?" he asks out loud before nodding his head. "Aye, Mr. Grahm." He answers the command, swinging back into his chair. He makes only a slight course correction with already being so close to the planetoid.
Sys Ops TN 5
Sys Ops (Flight Control) +13, -2 (Dazed and Winded)
(5,5) +13 -2= 21
The Columbia began to cruise back towards the small planetoid.
Grahm sat in the command chair looking at the viewscreen as the large piece of rock loomed closer. He turned to the sound of the turbolift doors opening and saw both Darkan and Stonn exit. The tactical officer graciously stood to allow his captain to take his place.
"Nothing new to report at the moment, sir," John told Darkan. "I had Pushkin change course and cruise back towards the planetoid, but nothing more."
Stonn went to his station and immediately put his face to his sensor hood.
"What's the analysis of the transmission? Is it Klingon? or maybe Romulan?" Sitting in the command chair, he looked over to Stonn at the science station for his opinions of the situation.
Quote from: GandalfOfBorg on Mar 22, 2008, 12:40 PM
"What's the analysis of the transmission? Is it Klingon? or maybe Romulan?" Sitting in the command chair, he looked over to Stonn at the science station for his opinions of the situation.
Stonn had hoped that Communications had figured that out before the pair had arrived on the bridge, but he turned to his viewer just the same.
"Analyzing now, Captain."
[OOC:] Hey Shawn, anytime you say that Stonn is going to scan or analyze, go ahead and throw a Sys Ops (Sensors) test. I will evaluate any results based on the dice roll. Thanks.
For now, don't worry about it. See the PM for what Stonn receives.
The Columbia's sensors sweep out over the distance to the small planetoid and Stonn's console begins to scroll data. The Vulcan took it all in via his sensor hood which sorted the information by the most basic to the more detailed.
"Sir, the size and composition of the planetoid is similar to that of Earth's moon," said Stonn. "Nickel-iron core, point-six gee on the surface, roughly 6,000 kilometers in circumference. It has no atmosphere, and is not in orbit of any planetary or solar body... it seems to be a rogue planetoid."
He leaned into his viewer once again, then spoke slowly, as if he couldn't believe what he was saying.
"I am reading no power emanations... but I am reading... interesting - tunnels with clearly large metallic latticework."
He turned to face Darkan.
"The tunnels are not natural, sir. But with no power readings, there is no way to pinpoint the signal."
"Would moving closer to the planetoid to yield such information? Is there a centralized area within the latticework that could be habitation? Can you determine if there is a liveable environment within?"
Quote from: GandalfOfBorg on Mar 27, 2008, 12:37 AM
"Would moving closer to the planetoid to yield such information? Is there a centralized area within the latticework that could be habitation? Can you determine if there is a liveable environment within?"
"Our sensors are working perfectly, Captain," Stonn replied. "It would seem that the metal - or the planetoid's core itself - will make more detailed scans impossible."
"How much longer on decoding the transmission?"
"Sir, the computer has run the signal through the whole library of of languages and algorithms, but nothing is coming of it," replied the comm station crewman. "It seems to be nothing but noise, but we were definitely the intended receiver of the transmission."
He turned back to his console, "There it is again."
Grahm interjected, "Captain, I just want to bring back to the fore that we are in the middle of unfriendly territory with a ship out there somewhere."
"Right you are, Mr. Grahm. Unless there is anyone who has an idea to crack this chestnut in a timely fashion, we must make our departure post haste."
Pushkin looks to the Captain when he says making for departure. "Helm's ready, Sir." He pipes up before looking back to his console, making sure she is ready to enter a course and heading.
Grahm stared blankly. He had no input as to how they could investigate this particular new puzzle and commence their departure from Klingon space - something that seemed the wisest based on the ship's current condition.
Yet, it was Starfleet's mandate to explore new worlds and new intelligence. He remained silent, leaving the decision to his captain and glad that the weight was not on his shoulders.
Stonn understood the situation; he would have liked to investigate further, but exposing the Romulans' plot was of far greater importance.
"I do not understand the reference to tree nuts, sir, but perhaps if we can make the Romulans' motives clear to the proper Klingon families, we might be able to investigate the planetoid afterwards... perhaps the Klingons will be... grateful enough to allow us to study it?"
"Back to Federation space, Mr. Pushkin, at best speed to rendezvous with the nearest Federation ship. Do your best to keep our profile low."
The helmsman activated the controls that brought the Columbia's warp engines online and the ship began to accelerate until in a flash, it warped away from the small planetoid called Kirelius 19A. The mystery of the transmission left behind.
All hoped that the days of travel necessary to escape Klingon space would be uneventful, but the Neutral Zone was a long way away.
"Steady as she goes," said Darkan as he sat back down into his chair and activity returned to normal on the bridge.
[OOC:] As you guys know, my brain has a hard time thinking in two genres at once and so our Star Trek game is going to go on a short hiatus. In the meantime, I will be seeing some of you in my Lord of the Rings games.
I will return to our story and crew soon to see what next tale can be weaved.
Seppun1, I will contact you via e-mail or PM when the game re-commences. You'll be around here anyway with your Stargate game, but I will still give you a heads up.
Tomcat