Mission 2: Tell No Tales

Bridge

Andrew was taken back by the Captain's question. Orion? Surely she was jesting, but no...no of course she wasn't. With an arched left eyebrow; Andrew began going over the debris part as the ship drew closer and closer to the intended destination. If indeed it was an Orion; than something was very seriously wrong. For one, how did the Orion's gain an ion drive that was reading partially like that of an old 21st century vessel? For another, if it wasn't part of the vessel they were pursuing...then what happened? Was the ion vessel better armed? Had the Orion's underestimated her?

Swiftly, Andrew began a comparison analysis of the debris part to match it with the Starfleet threat dossier on ship designs....beginning with the Orion vessels. One match came up rather quickly...an older type of Orion, but still one of the pirate vessels.

"The debris matches Orion configurations from the mid-23rd Century, Captain, but the debris itself is much more recent. I'd venture to say it happened around the same time the distress call came in...plus or minus twenty minutes. There is the a slight ion signature to the debris...not from an explosion, but more from like a directed weapon discharge. Never heard of ion weapons before," the young Ensign reported his findings...his brow creased with concentration and puzzlement. Almost immediately, Andrew began looking into the shield system of the PHOENIX, and hoped that the starship could handle such an unusual attack. After all, ion storms were dangerous to a starship, but a directed beam weapon with such....well he wanted them to be prepared.

Andrew Sheridan wrote:

Bridge
"The debris matches Orion configurations from the mid-23rd Century, Captain, but the debris itself is much more recent.  I'd venture to say it happened around the same time the distress call came in...plus or minus twenty minutes.  There is the a slight ion signature to the debris...not from an explosion, but more from like a directed weapon discharge.  Never heard of ion weapons before," the young Ensign reported his findings...his brow creased with concentration and puzzlement.  Almost immediately, Andrew began looking into the shield system of the PHOENIX, and hoped that the starship could handle such an unusual attack.  After all, ion storms were dangerous to a starship, but a directed beam weapon with such....well he wanted them to be prepared.

[Bridge]

"I do not like the sound of that," Archangel muttered, more to herself than to anyone else. She had heard of ion weapons, but only in a classified file. As far as she was aware, they were only plans on a drawing board. The thought that someone had actually managed to make something like that?

Leaning her hands against the console she was standing at, she thought for a moment. "Any ideas on how to defend against it?"

Bridge

"I am working on that right this moment, Captain," Andrew informed her as his fingers worked over the Ops console a bit feverishly. "An ion storm envelopes a starship, and rakes the entire shield system with its power...basically overloading the shields. A focused burst might be able to be defended against, if more power were added directly to that area to counter the effect. I might add, that a continuing strike could hamper our defensive capabilities against such. We would have to overwhelm them swiftly if face such firepower, Captain." Andrew paused as he continued his work on the shield schematics.

When a starship faced an ion storm; she was extremely stressed. Shields didn't function well against such things as the ions tended to wreck unholy havoc on the shield integrity. Rotating the shields might work...in that way no one part of the shields were facing such an ion attack at any one point. Yes, that might work, but not against multiple assailants.

"Rotating the shields like against the Borg may work somewhat...at least against one or two attackers carrying such firepower, but not more than two. The shields would then have time to recover more from each attack, because no one part of the shield is facing the same assault. I would still recommend overwhelming such a foe as swiftly as possible. This is only an idea of what we can do, and while about 89% in our favor...I would not want to endure such an attack for any long period of time," Andrew added as he sent his data to her.

Andrew Sheridan wrote:

Bridge

"I am working on that right this moment, Captain," Andrew informed her as his fingers worked over the Ops console a bit feverishly.  "An ion storm envelopes a starship, and rakes the entire shield system with its power...basically overloading the shields.  A focused burst might be able to be defended against, if more power were added directly to that area to counter the effect.  I might add, that a continuing strike could hamper our defensive capabilities against such.  We would have to overwhelm them swiftly if face such firepower, Captain."  Andrew paused as he continued his work on the shield schematics.

When a starship faced an ion storm; she was extremely stressed.  Shields didn't function well against such things as the ions tended to wreck unholy havoc on the shield integrity.  Rotating the shields might work...in that way no one part of the shields were facing such an ion attack at any one point.  Yes, that might work, but not against multiple assailants.

"Rotating the shields like against the Borg may work somewhat...at least against one or two attackers carrying such firepower, but not more than two.  The shields would then have time to recover more from each attack, because no one part of the shield is facing the same assault.  I would still recommend overwhelming such a foe as swiftly as possible.  This is only an idea of what we can do, and while about 89% in our favor...I would not want to endure such an attack for any long period of time," Andrew added as he sent his data to her.

[Bridge]

Tapping her fingers on the console, Archangel thought through what Ensign Sheridan was saying.  It seemed to make sense to her.  Rotate the shields, keep them as strong as possible for as possible. With a little luck, they wouldn't even need these defenses, but she would rather be safe than sorry. She had already lost a ship too many times in her short stint as a captain.

"Liaise with tactical and engineering.  Put together a program to rotate the shields and make sure that there's enough power.  We don't want to get caught out again."

Bridge

"Already working on it, Ma'am," Andrew told her, and he was.

Swiftly his fingers were dancing over the Ops console as he sent the idea to the Tactical and Engineering stations for review, and to be updated and coordinated. He, like his Captain, had no desire to have their ship taken over or hurt. This was home. Even before he joined Starfleet; Andrew still remembered the loss of his mother's ship to the Borg. He remembered the valiant and futile defense of Vulcan as the three Borg cubes had closed in on them. To lose another ship was simply not something he was going allow...not on his watch. He was in Operations for a reason, and that reason was to make sure his superiors and shipmates had everything they would need when the time came.

At the moment, that meant him getting the new shield program ready for any such ion strikes the starship might face. With a couple of minor changes here and there; Andrew continued to work. Linked as the program was to Tactical and Engineering; the updates and changes were automatic for them. He would not fail them....

Still, it was curious to him that there was ion damage to the piece of Orion debris they had found. Further, it was curious that a ship out there was using an ion drive. In both cases, ion seemed to be the preferred usage, and it made Andrew Sheridan wonder....why? Why ions...why not the standard of the quadrant? Ion propulsion...ion weapon....and yet part of it had seemed too old to be effective. Of course, Derek would need to confirm that with the things he had sent to the helmsman. Had it been an old experiment? Or, was it someone just starting out...a new race, perhaps?

They would find out soon enough as the minutes ticked by...

Ilana Telak wrote:

[Sickbay]

Ilana gave a quiet snort.  She was lucky that Raynor wasn't here to hear that.  She didn't think that he'd step in to stop it, but he would watch Thompson like a hawk, just waiting for the security officer to slip up.

"I can s-sympathise," she told him, "but it is n-necessary if you want to b-be at your b-best if and when you do go back."

[Sickbay]

"At my best? I'm at my best 99% of the time. And yes a lot of that is included in sleep; I'm a light sleeper." The young man let out another laugh. "I am Azrael! Pronounced As-rye-el. Let me ask, do you know where that name comes from?" He had adopted the name as part of who he was. Even though it was more of his dark counterpart. "Well, you doubtfully where I adopted the name. Azrael is considered to be the Archangel of Death in many different types of lore. I took the name, because an Archangel is always at their best; and Azrael seemed to fit the job I do. It was that or Uriel, but I'm not female so there's the problem with that one." He laughed again.

Andrew Sheridan wrote:

Bridge

"Already working on it, Ma'am," Andrew told her, and he was.

Swiftly his fingers were dancing over the Ops console as he sent the idea to the Tactical and Engineering stations for review, and to be updated and coordinated.  He, like his Captain, had no desire to have their ship taken over or hurt.  This was home.  Even before he joined Starfleet; Andrew still remembered the loss of his mother's ship to the Borg.  He remembered the valiant and futile defense of Vulcan as the three Borg cubes had closed in on them.  To lose another ship was simply not something he was going allow...not on his watch.  He was in Operations for a reason, and that reason was to make sure his superiors and shipmates had everything they would need when the time came.

At the moment, that meant him getting the new shield program ready for any such ion strikes the starship might face.  With a couple of minor changes here and there; Andrew continued to work.  Linked as the program was to Tactical and Engineering; the updates and changes were automatic for them.  He would not fail them....

Still, it was curious to him that there was ion damage to the piece of Orion debris they had found.  Further, it was curious that a ship out there was using an ion drive.  In both cases, ion seemed to be the preferred usage, and it made Andrew Sheridan wonder....why?  Why ions...why not the standard of the quadrant?  Ion propulsion...ion weapon....and yet part of it had seemed too old to be effective.  Of course, Derek would need to confirm that with the things he had sent to the helmsman.  Had it been an old experiment?  Or, was it someone just starting out...a new race, perhaps?

They would find out soon enough as the minutes ticked by...

[Bridge]

Moving away from the science console she was working on, Archangel made her way back to the captain's chair, sitting down and using two fingers to rub her brow ridges. She tried to make sense of this inside her head, but there wasn't much coming out of it.

Ion propulsion? Ion weapons? It wasn't adding up. Ion propulsion hadn't been used in a long time, not since the matter/antimatter relays became more efficient.

"Scavengers? Possibility?"

Bridge

"That is a possibility, Captain. I had not considered that option, to be honest. Still, scavengers...wait...let me think," Andrew stopped for a moment as he did a check on what would happen if an ion direct burst hit the PHOENIX unshielded. The result he got back was not encouraging, but it did lend the Captain's theory more credit.

"Scavengers, indeed, Ma'am," he stated softly...more to himself as he played the sequence over twice more on his console, and then let out a low whistle. "According to this, a direct hit from an ion weapon to our ship without her shields up would begin to ionize our systems...weapons, propulsion, and so forth. Caught unaware, anyone using this weapon could...in theory, shut a ship down. For our size, it would take more than a couple of direct hits, but each new hit would likely start causing system malfunctions and failures. I will begin developing a program to clear out excess ions from our systems should such become the case," Andrew stated to his CO.

He had seen some bad things in his short life, but the possibility of an ion weapon that could shut down a starship...that was a bit terrifying.

'Remember your training, My Son,' came the voice in his memory of T'zel...his adopted Vulcan mother. 'Do not let the fear reach you. Control your emotions, young one.'

Andrew drew upon the strength of this memory, and steadied his thoughts. Now was not the time to let fear overwhelm his thoughts.

Matthew Thompson wrote:

[Sickbay]

"At my best? I'm at my best 99% of the time. And yes a lot of that is included in sleep; I'm a light sleeper." The young man let out another laugh. "I am Azrael! Pronounced As-rye-el. Let me ask, do you know where that name comes from?" He had adopted the name as part of who he was. Even though it was more of his dark counterpart. "Well, you doubtfully where I adopted the name. Azrael is considered to be the Archangel of Death in many different types of lore. I took the name, because an Archangel is always at their best; and Azrael seemed to fit the job I do. It was that or Uriel, but I'm not female so there's the problem with that one." He laughed again.

[Sickbay]

Ilana sat back, observing her patient for a moment. It was getting harder and harder to determine whether or not Matthew was telling the truth as it was or as he believed it to be. When it came to delusions of duty, this one seemed to be right up there with the captain.

"I am familiar with most human religious lore," she said carefully. She had done the research a long time ago, when she had been a medical cadet and Archangel had told her that her name had human religious connotations.

"Matthew... These... Thoughts. They are n-not healthy. Have you s-seen a counsellor about th-them?"

[Bridge]

Well, it'd definitely taken a bit of sweet-talking to calm the engineers down, but Kestra had understood the need for the excess speed. Besides, having come from that particular branch of the service (and been a CEO himself), Gabe knew damn well that engineers tended to overestimate their own ship's limitations, as well as time needed for repairs. Until, that is, they weren't exaggerating. A good CO could hear the subtle inflection change in an engineer's tone to indicate that. Besides, on a ship run by two former engineers...it almost seemed like Celes' crew was in competition with itself not to disappoint either the captain or the XO.

That, however, was all secondary to the main reason he'd come rushing back from Engineering to the bridge. As the door slid open, he could practically taste the tense curiosity in the room. Gabe moved over close to his wife, his voice low. "Reports just came in to Engineering to prepare for power shifts and shield modulation. Kestra's got damage crews called up. The hell's going on?"

Andrew Sheridan wrote:

Bridge
"That is a possibility, Captain.  I had not considered that option, to be honest.  Still, scavengers...wait...let me think," Andrew stopped for a moment as he did a check on what would happen if an ion direct burst hit the PHOENIX unshielded.  The result he got back was not encouraging, but it did lend the Captain's theory more credit.

"Scavengers, indeed, Ma'am," he stated softly...more to himself as he played the sequence over twice more on his console, and then let out a low whistle.  "According to this, a direct hit from an ion weapon to our ship without her shields up would begin to ionize our systems...weapons, propulsion, and so forth.  Caught unaware, anyone using this weapon could...in theory, shut a ship down.  For our size, it would take more than a couple of direct hits, but each new hit would likely start causing system malfunctions and failures.  I will begin developing a program to clear out excess ions from our systems should such become the case," Andrew stated to his CO.

[Bridge]

Archangel looked up at the operations officer, taking in the information he had given her and processing it inside her mind. The results she was getting from those thoughts were not encouraging.

"I don't like the sound of that," she muttered. "We'll have to make sure that we don't let them get more than a couple of hits in if we have an encounter with them. We're going to have to be on the ball."

Gabriel Arthur wrote:

That, however, was all secondary to the main reason he'd come rushing back from Engineering to the bridge. As the door slid open, he could practically taste the tense curiosity in the room. Gabe moved over close to his wife, his voice low. "Reports just came in to Engineering to prepare for power shifts and shield modulation. Kestra's got damage crews called up. The hell's going on?"

It was hard not to smile as she heard the turbolift doors open and saw her husband step onto the bridge, but they weren't husband and wife here. They were captain and first officer. Getting to her feet, she straightened her jacket and nodded to him before responding.

"Sensors picked up an ion trail leading to the same coordinates as the distress call we're investigating. We don't know if it's the same ship or whether we're looking at a ship that was attacked by another."

Archangel T'Koris wrote:

Archangel looked up at the operations officer, taking in the information he had given her and processing it inside her mind.  The results she was getting from those thoughts were not encouraging.  

"I don't like the sound of that," she muttered.  "We'll have to make sure that we don't let them get more than a couple of hits in if we have an encounter with them.  We're going to have to be on the ball."




It was hard not to smile as she heard the turbolift doors open and saw her husband step onto the bridge, but they weren't husband and wife here.  They were captain and first officer.  Getting to her feet, she straightened her jacket and nodded to him before responding.

"Sensors picked up an ion trail leading to the same coordinates as the distress call we're investigating.  We don't know if it's the same ship or whether we're looking at a ship that was attacked by another."

[Bridge]

"Ions, huh?" Gabriel mused, scratching his head and frowning in concentration. "That's...unusual." He moved over to the secondary command chair, slipping into it while thinking. Something tickled the back of his mind about ions, but he'd be damned if he knew what it was. Why did it remind him of his brother, Garen?

Suddenly, a silent alarm went off in Gabriel's skull as he snapped his fingers, standing up out of the chair and taking Archangel by the arm. "There's rumors," he said, without preamble, "about a new technology that's beginning to pop up here and there. A kind of cloak. Er, an accessory to a cloak. It enables a ship to run completely silent, but with a hell of a drain on resources."

He shrugged, sighing. "Something I heard about. Could just be rumor, but...could be something to look out for." Garen had thrown back more than a few Cardassian Sunrises when he'd told his brother about trying to acquire one of the highly-illegal devices. Who knew if the man had actually found one, or if they were real.

Gabriel Arthur wrote:

[Bridge]

"Ions, huh?" Gabriel mused, scratching his head and frowning in concentration.  "That's...unusual."  He moved over to the secondary command chair, slipping into it while thinking.  Something tickled the back of his mind about ions, but he'd be damned if he knew what it was.  Why did it remind him of his brother, Garen?

Suddenly, a silent alarm went off in Gabriel's skull as he snapped his fingers, standing up out of the chair and taking Archangel by the arm.  "There's rumors," he said, without  preamble, "about a new technology that's beginning to pop up here and there.  A kind of cloak.  Er, an accessory to a cloak.  It enables a ship to run completely silent, but with a hell of a drain on resources."

He shrugged, sighing.  "Something I heard about.  Could just be rumor, but...could be something to look out for."  Garen had thrown back more than a few Cardassian Sunrises when he'd told his brother about trying to acquire one of the highly-illegal devices.  Who knew if the man had actually found one, or if they were real.

[Bridge]

Archangel's brow furrowed in concern as Gabriel took her arm, unsure of what thought had just crossed his mind that would have him take her aside. As he spoke, however, she had to work on not letting her emotions show on her face for fear of tipping off the other officers on the bridge.

"A cloak? We might be dealing with a cloaked ship?"

Why was her mind suddenly conjuring images of Romulans warping into their space?

Ilana Telak wrote:

[Sickbay]

Ilana sat back, observing her patient for a moment.  It was getting harder and harder to determine whether or not Matthew was telling the truth as it was or as he believed it to be.  When it came to delusions of duty, this one seemed to be right up there with the captain.  

"I am familiar with most human religious lore," she said carefully.  She had done the research a long time ago, when she had been a medical cadet and Archangel had told her that her name had human religious connotations.

"Matthew...  These... Thoughts.  They are n-not healthy.  Have you s-seen a counsellor about th-them?"

[Sickbay]

"I believe you misunderstand. I do not mean I am the embodiment of Azrael. It's a name I picked up long ago. Probably best not explain why I adopted the name. But, it sadly is an accurate description...well, save the being a celestial being part." Matthew let out a laugh.

Matthew Thompson wrote:

[Sickbay]

"I believe you misunderstand. I do not mean I am the embodiment of Azrael. It's a name I picked up long ago. Probably best not explain why I adopted the name. But, it sadly is an accurate description...well, save the being a celestial being part." Matthew let out a laugh.

[Sickbay]

"The n-names we give ourselves are an indicator of h-how we see ourselves," Ilana pointed out. "R-regardless of reason, it is n-not a g-good indicator of your mental s-state." She hoped that Chira was listening in on this. She was the one with the counsellor training, not the Cardassian.

Ilana Telak wrote:

[Sickbay]

"The n-names we give ourselves are an indicator of h-how we see ourselves," Ilana pointed out.  "R-regardless of reason, it is n-not a g-good indicator of your mental s-state."  She hoped that Chira was listening in on this.  She was the one with the counsellor training, not the Cardassian.

[Sickbay]

"Well...yes. After you've done some of the things I have; death seems an appropriate name. The least I could do was make it sound more eloquent. If you call yourself Death, no one wants to talk to you. Call yourself Azrael, people at least speak to you. It's quite the beautiful name is it not? At least; until you know who Azrael is."

Matthew Thompson wrote:

[Sickbay]

"Well...yes. After you've done some of the things I have; death seems an appropriate name. The least I could do was make it sound more eloquent. If you call yourself Death, no one wants to talk to you. Call yourself Azrael, people at least speak to you. It's quite the beautiful name is it not? At least; until you know who Azrael is."

[Sickbay]

Ilana shrugged one shoulder at her patient. "At l-least they talk to you long enough to ask your name. Most p-people turn and w-walk in the other d-direction as soon as they s-see me simply b-because I am Cardassian."

Ilana Telak wrote:

[Sickbay]

Ilana shrugged one shoulder at her patient.  "At l-least they talk to you long enough to ask your name.  Most p-people turn and w-walk in the other d-direction as soon as they s-see me simply b-because I am Cardassian."

[Sickbay]

"I hate people. I turn and walk away because I see you're a doctor, not because of your species." He commented jokingly then laughed. "Trust me, I know I'm damaged, Chira knows I'm damaged, most people I speak to know I'm damaged. Damn good at my job though."

Matthew Thompson wrote:

[Sickbay]

"I hate people. I turn and walk away because I see you're a doctor, not because of your species." He commented jokingly then laughed. "Trust me, I know I'm damaged, Chira knows I'm damaged, most people I speak to know I'm damaged. Damn good at my job though."

[Sickbay]

The Cardassian tilted her head to one side with a slight frown on her face. She was definitely going to have to brush up on her counselling if this man was going to continue coming into sickbay for regular treatments. She felt as if she was in a test of patience with a Romulan.

"How did you manage to g-get past the Academy psyche exams?"

Ilana Telak wrote:

[Sickbay]

The Cardassian tilted her head to one side with a slight frown on her face.  She was definitely going to have to brush up on her counselling if this man was going to continue coming into sickbay for regular treatments.  She felt as if she was in a test of patience with a Romulan.

"How did you manage to g-get past the Academy psyche exams?"

[Sickbay]

"It was easy really. My damage only goes far enough to make me passionate to save people. Like some inherent need, I'd die if it meant saving one person." His tone was much more serious now.

Matthew Thompson wrote:

[Sickbay]

"It was easy really. My damage only goes far enough to make me passionate to save people. Like some inherent need, I'd die if it meant saving one person." His tone was much more serious now.

[Sickbay]

The scales above Ilana's right eye shifted slightly in manner similar to a being with eyebrows raising one. She was going to have to write a note to Starfleet Academy to review their psychological testing if this one managed to make it through.

"No... I think your d-damage likely goes far d-deeper than that. I have s-seen similar before. It is n-not a pretty picture."

Ilana Telak wrote:

[Sickbay]

The scales above Ilana's right eye shifted slightly in manner similar to a being with eyebrows raising one.  She was going to have to write a note to Starfleet Academy to review their psychological testing if this one managed to make it through.

"No... I think your d-damage likely goes far d-deeper than that.  I have s-seen similar before.  It is n-not a pretty picture."

[Sickbay]

"No. My problems run skin deep. That much I know to be true. The worst thing it does is make me not want to kill people for no reason. If it's the only way to save lives, that is the only time I'll kill someone."

Matthew Thompson wrote:

[Sickbay]

"No. My problems run skin deep. That much I know to be true. The worst thing it does is make me not want to kill people for no reason. If it's the only way to save lives, that is the only time I'll kill someone."

As much as Thelos would have liked to remain out of the way and leave Thompson alone, he couldn't help but make a comment.

"Ensign, you came in here unable to speak clearly and shaking," he said. "Then proceeded to have a violent seizure. Those are hardly superficial problems."

Thelos th'Zhela wrote:

As much as Thelos would have liked to remain out of the way and leave Thompson alone, he couldn't help but make a comment.

"Ensign, you came in here unable to speak clearly and shaking," he said. "Then proceeded to have a violent seizure. Those are hardly superficial problems."

[Sickbay]

"We were speaking of mental problems. Not physical." Matthew commented. "I'd like to point out that you are the reason I had the seizures. My body can not handle anesthetics while I'm having a massive adrenaline spike." He let out a sigh. "If it weren't for Mrs...? Sorry didn't get your name. If it weren't for her I'd still be having the seizures."

[Sickbay]

Nothing's ever easy, I guess, Chira thought, as she knew she couldn't avoid the clusterflub of a mess that was going on in Sickbay right now. How had she gone from preparing herself to deliver the news to her husband that they were going to be parents, to...well, whatever was going on? Because you're this damn boat's counselor, she thought, and their needs come first, so suck it up and do your job. Chira hated when her inner voice was right.

She approached the table where Thompson was laid out. "Matt," Chira softly said, "what's the problem?"