Mission 7: Flight of the Wolves

[Ezac's Quarters - USS Phoenix]

Welcome aboard, Ezac muttered to himself under his breath.

He hadn't been aboard very long. In fact, he had just enough time to find his way to his quarters and begin settling in before he felt a violent impact that nearly assisted him to the floor. Out of habit, he looked back and forth in an attempt to find out what had been disturbed. He was quickly reminded that he had brought only one bag with him, and although it had slipped off its shelf and onto the floor, all of the contents remained inside.

As he strode across the room toward his door, he knew that he was going to need to hit the ground running. The door whooshed open, and the activity in the hallways confirmed his suspicion that something had gone horribly wrong. He considered to himself where might be the best place to seek direction. After settling on the Main Bridge, he promptly turned down the hallway and made his way toward the nearest turbolift.

Reyaen 3 wrote:

[Bridge]

The Vorta stared somewhat blankly at her captain before shaking her head.

"I'm afraid if they took a piece of the hardware then it is unlikely they would transmit whats recorded on it. Given the technical sophistication of their current assets, it's likely they'll try to send it off-world for analysis. Even if I knew where they were, no signal could penetrate the amount of rock they're hiding under. I still have no Bajoran lifesigns other than those of the prisoners with the away team."

Reyaen looked around the bridge as if searching for the disembodied voice that came through the speakers. Her sensors indicated that the message had come from the same location as the jamming signal.

"Negative, sir. Transmission originated from the same antenna array as the one that blocked our communications."

[Bridge]

Once again, Archangel found herself locked in a battle. She pondered for a handful of seconds, aware that time was rapidly running out. She narrowed her eyes slightly, about to respond when another hail came through, addressed to her on a Federation signal. The name that popped up was one that she had both dreaded seeing and relieved to see.

Admiral Corman Stark.

"T'Koris to Stark, we have a bit of a situation here. You picked a fine time to come aboard. You have clearance to land." As she spoke the last few words, she nodded to the cadet at operations, signalling to her to start the procedures for the shuttle to land in the hangar bays.

Turning her attention to the tactical station, Archangel noticed a new crewmember walking onto the bridge. Ah yes, the one they had picked up just before heading out on this mission, an enlisted tactical. And a Breen, she thought to herself. Cardassians, Vorta and Breen, oh my...

"Mr Ezac, welcome on board the Phoenix. I'm afraid we don't have time for a tour. I need you to help Ensign Pardek. I want all sensors picking up any kind of weaponry they might be using and take it out."

Archangel T'Koris wrote:

"T'Koris to Stark, we have a bit of a situation here.  You picked a fine time to come aboard.  You have clearance to land."  As she spoke the last few words, she nodded to the cadet at operations, signalling to her to start the procedures for the shuttle to land in the hangar bays.

[Bridge]

The Vorta's head tilted to the side as she glanced to the man in the helm station who had slowly turned around to the captain. As his attention returned to his console, Reyaen's went to hers as well. Ops could handle this, but it was traditionally left to flight control. There came a quiet nod as she set to work while T'Koris went about addressing the Breen newcomer.

She relayed the approach path to the tractor beam operators in the main hangar and lowered shields for the arrival. They would go back up the moment they were aboard, but something was greatly amiss. She glanced to the chronometer, unsure of entirely when the threat would actually begin counting at. Nevertheless, she seemed to feel the same dread that she saw on the face of the holographic man sitting at the helm.

Do I say something? Is that proper in this situation? Surely she did not forget. However, she has not made any attempt to warn the away team or the civilians on the ground... Is this how a Romulan captain does things? Fewer casualties on the ground would be incurred than if the ship were hit. Is that what she meant by "minimum"?

Archangel T'Koris wrote:

"T'Koris to Stark, we have a bit of a situation here.  You picked a fine time to come aboard.  You have clearance to land."  

[USS Carron]

Situation, indeed.  "Acknowledged," was the clipped reply.  Once the runabout drew into the ship's orbit, Stark lowered the shielding.  Whatever had attacked the Phoenix didn't seem to have done much physical damage, but the Carron was picking up on quite a bit of residual interference.  

[USS Phoenix]

Thankfully, there wasn't a yeoman waiting with a bos'n whistle when Corman disembarked from the runabout.  That was just as well, as he was certain he might have stuffed the thing in an anatomically-appropriate uncomfortable place, depending on species.  Stark gave a perfunctory nod to the flight control deck, making a beeline to the turbolift.

[Bridge]

"Fill me in," he said, almost before his right boot touched the industrial carpeting on the bridge.  If anyone so much as opened their mouth to say 'admiral on bridge', God help them.  "New Cardassian weapon?"

Corman Stark wrote:

[Bridge]

"Fill me in," he said, almost before his right boot touched the industrial carpeting on the bridge.  If anyone so much as opened their mouth to say 'admiral on bridge', God help them.  "New Cardassian weapon?"

[Bridge]

Archangel had been leaning one hand on a spare console as she finished typing out a coded message to the away teams warning them of the threat received. She hadn't wanted to do it over an open comm channel in case the terrorists could listen in somehow. A quick update on the threat and reiterating that she wanted all remaining members of her crew back on the ship with a pulse and preferably with the prisoners. She narrowed her eyes slightly at that. They weren't prisoners of war, they were criminals that had to be taken back to a Starbase to stand trial for what they had done.

She snapped to attention as she heard the sharp voice of Admiral Stark. "Bajoran terrorists, sir," she corrected. "I still have teams on the surface who should be returning soon and a thread of a torpedo strike against either their shuttles or the hospital where a hostile incident happened. We have been unable as of yet to communicate with the terrorists."

Kintiss wrote:

"You conssssider broken bonessss to be "fine"?" Kintiss raised an eyebrow sardonically. Humans were a needlessly stubborn bunch, especially when it came to wounds and injuries. "The otherssss will do fine. You lie back and relax. I'll take care of you." He set aside the hypospray and took up an osteo-regenerator. Holding it over Gavin's broken ankle, he activated the device, keeping his hand steady as the technology did its work.

He watched a couple of medics taking care of the dead crewmen. He didn't know who they were, but he felt the impact of their loss. No doubt they were exemplars of Starfleet. He thought that they'd eventually be put in boxes and shipped back to their families, if they had any.

[Sickbay]

Sighing, Gavin nodded, allowing the ensign to go to work on his broken bone. He leaned back, feeling the tingling sensation of his own bones knitting themselves back together as he watched the ceiling lights...trying to shut out the images of what he'd seen. Only the pleasantly calm sound of Thelos' voice filtering through the terse ambient chatter brought him any comfort.

"Wait!" he said, suddenly sitting up. He reached up and grabbed at his temple, closing his eyes as sickbay cascaded into a swirl of light in his vision. Okay, genius, that wasn't so smart... "Where's Jiseth? Didn't she come back with us?"

Archangel T'Koris wrote:

She snapped to attention as she heard the sharp voice of Admiral Stark.  "Bajoran terrorists, sir," she corrected.  "I still have teams on the surface who should be returning soon and a thread of a torpedo strike against either their shuttles or the hospital where a hostile incident happened.  We have been unable as of yet to communicate with the terrorists."

[Bridge]

Bajoran terrorists? Well, the concept wasn't new...the dichotomy between terrorist and freedom fighter was in the eye of the beholder, as were most things. Still, attacking a Federation craft, and the Fifth Fleet's flagship? Something was very, very wrong, here. Aside from the fact that there's a Breen and a Vorta on my bridge? He was used to Starfleet PR stunts by now, but this... It took days to count the dead when they attacked Earth.

However, he would have plenty of time later to ruminate over whatever unpleasant surprises awaited him. Perhaps the entire Engineering department was staffed by Borg? Nodding, Stark moved toward the tactical console like a stalking lingta, taking in Archangel's explanation. "Minutes to spare, hm? Well." He turned, staring at the planet surface on the viewer as if he could see the Bajorans in person.

"Operations," Stark said, not looking exactly at the Vorta and Breen. "Give me point-of-impact calculations of the warhead that hit is. See if you can extrapolate how wide a patch it would affect if it struck in atmosphere, on the surface. We need to know how much destruction we're looking at. Captain," he said, turning to Archangel. "Can we use that sensor pod sitting up there on top of us to route the transporter signal gain?"

Corman Stark wrote:

"Operations," Stark said, not looking exactly at the Vorta and Breen.  "Give me point-of-impact calculations of the warhead that hit is.  See if you can extrapolate how wide a patch it would affect if it struck in atmosphere, on the surface.  We need to know how much destruction we're looking at.  Captain," he said, turning to Archangel.  "Can we use that sensor pod sitting up there on top of us to route the transporter signal gain?"

[Bridge]

Almost immediately, Archangel's mind switched tracks from command back to Engineering. There, she was in her element, at least.

"Our main problem with transporters was a jamming signal, but Engineering seems to have found a way through it enough for communications. I'll see what they can do about the transporters." Looking up toward the ceiling as was the norm during interdepartmental communications, she called out to the computer. "T'Koris to Engineering, what's the status of the transporters? Could we use them to get the rest of our personnel off the surface?"

"Everything ready?"

"Yes, the charges are set. The package is secure aboard the ship. The beacons are on the move. Torpedo ready to launch."

"They had their chance. We can ask Gly for her forgiveness when we reach the Celestial Temple. Let's get out of here."

A bright, blue light leaped from the mountain side and trailed high over the village. It was as if it were surveying the scene. Looking for something. Maybe just taking in the sights. A moment later and it was a streak like lightning toward the ground. As baleful as it was full of purpose.

The capsule careened into one side of the Diogenes and out the other, first. It then ricocheted off the ground in an alley between the hospital and an adjacent building. Airborne again it tumbled end over end until it landed roughly a kilometer and a half away before detonating in a blinding flash.

Corman Stark wrote:

"Operations," Stark said, not looking exactly at the Vorta and Breen.  "Give me point-of-impact calculations of the warhead that hit is.  See if you can extrapolate how wide a patch it would affect if it struck in atmosphere, on the surface.  We need to know how much destruction we're looking at.  Captain," he said, turning to Archangel.  "Can we use that sensor pod sitting up there on top of us to route the transporter signal gain?"

[Bridge]

"As ordered, sir."

As she began working on extrapolating how much the energy was involved in the blast from the first hit, a light from the surface caught her attention. Her screen began pinging with various alerts. Her analysis finished shortly thereafter.

"There's been a surface detonation!"

Reyaen changed the bridge's main screen from the planet and star-strewn space in which it traveled to an overhead view of the settlement. A small wisp of black smoke appeared in the Eastern part which was the crash site of the Monongahela. Much further West outside of the city limits was a slowly rising fireball forming into a brown and grey mushroom cloud. The shockwave from it sweeping past buildings, with dust and debris swarming through between them.

Over ground zero appeared a transparent red overlay followed by a slightly smaller amber one.

"Well, sir... I was off by 4%."

Archangel T'Koris wrote:

"Mr Ezac, welcome on board the Phoenix.  I'm afraid we don't have time for a tour.  I need you to help Ensign Pardek.  I want all sensors picking up any kind of weaponry they might be using and take it out."

[Bridge]

"Understood."

Ezac promptly turned and walked over to tactical and sat down next to someone wearing Ensign rank. He assumed it to be Pardek and began tapping his way through the console user interface.

Despite feeling a bit like a fish out of water, he began optimizing sensors to detect the type of weapons that "they" might be using. He didn't even know who they were, although he understood how little that mattered at the moment. Pushing his curiosities aside, he returned his full attention to his console and resumed his search.

Gavin Van Gelder wrote:

Sighing, Gavin nodded, allowing the ensign to go to work on his broken bone.  He leaned back, feeling the tingling sensation of his own bones knitting themselves back together as he watched the ceiling lights...trying to shut out the images of what he'd seen.  Only the pleasantly calm sound of Thelos' voice filtering through the terse ambient chatter brought him any comfort.  

"Wait!" he said, suddenly sitting up.  He reached up and grabbed at his temple, closing his eyes as sickbay cascaded into a swirl of light in his vision.  Okay, genius, that wasn't so smart...  "Where's Jiseth?  Didn't she come back with us?"

[Sickbay]

"Sssstop moving or I sssswear I'll sssstrap you to thissss biobed!" Kintiss didn't even bother to hide the irritation in his voice. This guy wasn't even medical personnel and he was a worse patient than most of the doctors he'd treated. Maybe that human saying wasn't entirely true.

[Pullock V]

"...You've got to be kidding me."

"I'm sorry, my lady, but the dust turned to glass and choked our engines. Had to set her down and kill power to keep them from overloading."

"Send a signal to the rest of the squadron. Tell them to make a run for the Phoenix. We'll have to hope they transport us up."

"We're leaving the shuttles here?"

"We don't have time. Grab what you can. If you want to avoid an unpleasant trip to sickbay, get something to cover your faces so you don't breath anything in that's been kicked up."

"Yes, ma'am."

Jiseth pulled a face mask from a medkit that had been broken open and slipped it over her jaw and nose. It was dark in the cabin as she felt around for the manual release of the hatch. When it was found, she pulled the level and then came a loud click followed by a hiss as it opened. Less than 50 meters away was the Diogenes, but it was difficult to see in the churning dust cloud.

For a moment Jiseth's heart stopped and she made a hand signal for Mondrian team to stay put. She could see movement inside the vehicle, but no idea who. Her phaser was at the ready as she closed in. The world got dark suddenly and Jiseth's head twitched skyward as the mushroom cloud obscured the sun.

=/\= Away team to Phoenix... What the hell was that? =/\=

Archangel T'Koris wrote:

 "T'Koris to Engineering, what's the status of the transporters?  Could we use them to get the rest of our personnel off the surface?"

[Main Engineering]

=^="In an answer, yes,"=^= Gabriel replied, his hands working almost quicker than his brain as he tapped at various buttons and commands on the console.  =^="We re-routed the signals to re-gain commlinks, and the very same path could be used to piggy-back the transporter beam.  There is an increased chance of signal degradation, since it's going through redundant steps, but the risk is minimal enough to be pretty much academic."=^=

He turned to Nefen, snapping his fingers and smiling.  "We can boost the gain through our pod array," he said, both to the Trill and to the captain.  "On it," he said, his nod indicating that the ensign should immediately set to work.  =^="You'll have the green light momentarily."=^=

Jiseth wrote:

=/\= Away team to Phoenix... What the hell was that? =/\=

[Bridge]

=^="Landing party, this is Phoenix.  Someone detonated a warhead not far from your location.  Take cover as you can, but don't go too deep anywhere.  You are being transported back to the ship."=^=

Stark turned from the viewscreen, his grey eyes cold as pieces of chert knocked from a hillside.  "I think we have our answer as to what kind of weaponry they're going to be using," he said, a dry and humorless smile touching his lips.  He glanced at the Vorta, resolving for now to ignore the urge to boot out an airlock whoever had thought it would be a swell idea to slap war criminals in Starfleet uniforms.  Did the Federation Council also stop by any number of war memorials on Earth to take a piss on them?

Still.  They had a task at hand, and he would use the available resources.  "Off, indeed," he replied.  "I don't suppose we know how many of those torpedoes these people have?" he asked the Breen at Tac. "And they have given no indication that they hold any of our people, or innocents, as hostages?" The last question was asked more to the bridge at large.

Corman Stark wrote:

=^="Landing party, this is Phoenix.  Someone detonated a warhead not far from your location.  Take cover as you can, but don't go too deep anywhere.  You are being transported back to the ship."=^=

[Pullock V]

A warhead? You don't say...

=/\= Mondrian and Diogenes are down-stand by! =/\=

The Romulan could heard a womp sound. It was off in the distance. Then another, though smaller. Something, many things were starting to come down from the sky. One hit the ground in front of her and rolled to a stop. A melon-sized rock, sent flying by the explosion. Soon there was a light showe of smaller ones as Jiseth made a run for the Diogenes and lept into the gaping exit wound on the starboard side of the craft.

There she found herself staring at only one prisoner, the Bajoran woman still unconscious, as the flight crew including T'mir pushed themselves off the cabin floor. The chairs had broken off from their mounts and there was a smell that Jiseth could not put her finger on.

"Where are the other captives, Princess?"

"...I would surmise that they were blown out when the hull ruptured. You are standing some of their remains."

"What? Oh, is that..? What is that? Great. Someone else's I don't even know what is on my boot."

Corman Stark wrote:

[Bridge]

Still.  They had a task at hand, and he would use the available resources.  "Off, indeed," he replied.  "I don't suppose we know how many of those torpedoes these people have?" he asked the Breen at Tac.  "And they have given no indication that they hold any of our people, or innocents, as hostages?"  The last question was asked more to the bridge at large.

Ezac heard the rear admiral's words clearly, but they weren't the type of words that he wanted to hear. At the moment, some unexplained interference was making it very difficult to determine much of anything, let alone the specific number of torpedoes.

After rechecking his data, Ezac turned around and spoke to Stark.

"Sir, I estimate at least 8 additional fully functional torpedoes."

Gabriel Arthur wrote:

[Main Engineering]

=^="In an answer, yes,"=^= Gabriel replied, his hands working almost quicker than his brain as he tapped at various buttons and commands on the console.  =^="We re-routed the signals to re-gain commlinks, and the very same path could be used to piggy-back the transporter beam.  There is an increased chance of signal degradation, since it's going through redundant steps, but the risk is minimal enough to be pretty much academic."=^=

He turned to Nefen, snapping his fingers and smiling.  "We can boost the gain through our pod array," he said, both to the Trill and to the captain.  "On it," he said, his nod indicating that the ensign should immediately set to work.  =^="You'll have the green light momentarily."=^=

Nefen nodded, saving his data on tracking the signals in a personal file-just in case-then logging off of the console he was presently at. He couldn't affect the pod array from here, so he jogged/ran to the other side of Main Engineering, where he could do so. It took a moment to log in with his code, get the system to register what he was accessing, then for the computer to confirm his authorization, but then he was ready to do as he needed.

The Trill set to work immediately, black spots seemingly creasing and moving across his face as he concentrated on using the pod array to boost the transporters' signal. It wasn't meant to do this, so it took more than a little theoretical along with practical know-how, but soon he was sure he had it done, or at least ready. =/\=Tufezr to Commander Arthur, the pod array is ready to boost the transporter signal, but I have to monitor it manually and the power will transfer back to itself if we try to beam too many of them at a time. I'd think maybe a dozen at absolute most is what the pod array can handle supporting.=/\=

[Maquis Raider Dieppe]

They called him Ishkur. It was not his true name, no one knew that. Not even Gly. That mattered little at the moment. The plan had taken a turn to the left, but still resolvable. Plus, the weapons had functioned perfectly. His cover too. A few surgeries and his Farian features looked Bajoran.

This tin can he now was the de facto commander of could be disposed of easily enough. Seven of the crew had already been killed to his knowledge. Just over half. The remaining four outside of himself might still be useful. After all, they still had to get past the Nebula-class ship in orbit.

His attention was focused on the viewscreen at the moment as the ship rose away from the dusty mountain side and into the sky. He was somewhat relieved the torpedo had gone astray. More survivors meant more stories. More discontent because it would appear as a minor incident while those on the ground starved and discontent with the Federation would be a quickly growing vine.

[Later]
[USS Phoenix - Captain's Ready Room]

Captain's Log, Captain Archangel T'Koris. Stardate: 55490.5

This will be my last log as Captain for a couple of months as Read Admiral Stark will be taking command of the Phoenix.

The incident at Pullock V has been contained and several of the Bajoran terrorists have been apprehended for transport to Starbase Athena for identification, questioning and trial. I do not believe that this is the only cell of the group and recommend that Starfleet Command send a specialised team to comb through the remnants of their base in order to glean any more information.

My crew has suffered several casualties, both injury and death. While I have been informed that the injuries have been stabilised, we are proceeding at high warp back to Starbase Athena in order to get them to a more specialised facility. Messages have been sent to the families of the deceased and the bodies will be kept in stasis until decisions on their preferred funeral rites have been made.

Attached is the full list of deceased with honours.

End log.