Episode 5: Red Sand, Dark Tide, Part III

Kelly Jan 6 2004, 05:39 AM	Commander Samantha Halliwell ~ Ready Room, USS Pollux Halliwell looked to K'Rak for a moment, then back out to the battle, another ship destroyed and she realized they were still retreating, "How long will it take to gather a landing party." "5 minutes at the most..." She nodded and then slowly turned back to him, "Gather them and go to the transporter room," Halliwell put her hands behind her back as she carried on speaking, "I'll order us to come about... and attack the lead vessel you were talking about and on my mark, you'll beam aboard." Halliwell looked down to the floor for a moment, realization dawning on her, "I'm giving you a maximum of 10 minutes," she said sadly reading from her monitor, "Then you get out of there...you hear me." "It should be more than enough time, sir." K'Rak answered, she nodded to him and he walked out the ready room, she wanted to say good luck but there was not much point in the gesture really, not to her anyway. She quickly walked back onto the bridge, "Report," were the first words that came out her mouth. "Shields are holding at 60%...." one reported. "We've managed to get weapons back online...we're still on main power...at least for the time being." Halliwell nodded and sat down in the command chair and glanced round to the rest of the bridge crew, It's now or never Sam. "Helm, come about." "What??" "You heard me," she answered and looked over to the tactical officer on duty, "When we're in range, locate the lead vessel and target their weapon ports, we need to knock out their shields. Do we have an understanding?" "Why?" She got up and walked over to him. "Whose the officer in charge here," she asked politely. "You." "Yes, I need those shields down...do you understand me? I don't care how you do it, just do it." "Yes ma'am." Halliwell sat back down, what she wouldn't do for a strong cup of something right about now. She still didn't know how Major was doing and she was very concerned right about now. They had re-entered the battle, she turned to the tactical officer, "Are they within range yet?" He shook his head slowly. "Halliwell to K'Rak...how you doing?"   "We're ready to go, Commander." "Good," Pity we aren't. Another look to the view-screen. "Standby." A large ship de-cloaked on the Pollux's port bow. The Vellous took up most of the main view screen and then was replaced with an incoming message. Halliwell stood up, ready for whoever it was.   The ships Captain smiled back at her open mouth and smirked. "Miss me?"
Nightranger Jan 6 2004, 03:23 PM	Fleet Captain Hardgrove - The Vellous, Bridge Once the Vellous had gotten into range, it had only taken seconds to hail the Vulcan Dreadnaught Iethan. The view screen's image changed from that of the immense shield grid to the picture of Captain Sojor. "This is Captain Hardgove of the Vellous. We need to get that shield down and fast. The fleet is dwindling." Captain Sojor noded in agreement, "Indeed, any sugestions on how Captain?" It seemed only a split second but an idea had come to Hardgrove within the brief instant. "I'll have one of the Scout ships cloak on the shields edge. When I transmit the signal, lets hit her with torpedoes. I'm thinking the with the ship cloaked and targeting the warp core, the explosion may short out the shield." "Fascinating," the Vulcan Captain responded. Within a few short minutes, the Romulan scout ship was in place. The attack was commenced the immense explosion indeed shorted out the shield and allowed the forces to begin the attack. Cloaking, the Vellous began to onslaught the Alliance forces. Scanners picked up the Pollux and the Vellous approached slowly to aid assistance. When within range, Hardgrove gave the order, "Hail them."
k4m4caZ1 Jan 8 2004, 01:46 AM	Lieutenant Daniel Clark - Pollux Auxiliary Engineering Room The news of retreating to the back lines for repairs had seemed to boost the moral somewhat in engineering. Even though this meant more work for the crew, at least we knew that we weren't going to die. Well, not in this attack at least. We would get another shot at the front lines and battle, and that was all the more incentive to get this ship working. "Commander..." Clark addressed Tanik as he approached him PADD in hand. "Report lieutenant." Tanik said as he looked up from his holo-display. "Sir, we've managed to bring the shields back up to 60%, the inertial dampeners are off line, life support is holding for now, and all other systems are running on auxiliary power." "Very well. The shields and weapons systems can wait for the time being. Right now we have to restore vital systems, and bring main pow..er...on..line.." The Romulans voice trailed to a stop as the ship came about. "HOLD ON!" He yelled as the engineering detail scrambled to grab something to hold on to. They could feel the entire ship moving, as the pressure increased. "We're going back in!" Tanik yelled. "EVERYONE! Drop what you are doing and work on shields and weapons systems! Clark, get back to main engineering and bring those shields up to full power. I'll work on these damn inertial dampeners!" "But sir, you saw those relays, it would take..." Clark was cut short by his commander. "I don't care what you have to do, just get that power back!" "...Aye sir." Clark looked at Tanik for a moment and turned for the door. So much for the retreat, Clark thought as he made his way to main engineering.
Mozg Jan 10 2004, 01:52 AM	Lattrel Ottel - the Tilibos “Give me the update on our ships,” Ottel barked out at Mkrdij, while checking the status of the magnetic field generator. “Damn it! This is going to take a while.” “Those that got through have taken heavy damage. We’ve lost fifteen small vessels...” Mkrdij waited while the computer displayed more information. “... a large number of our ships is disabled. Aga Lattrel,” he continued with excitement, “looks like the shield is down. The rest of the ships are getting through. I also read the Vulcan fleet and the Orion ships.” “Good. Maybe now we can beat them.” “They still outnumber us by about 200 ships,” Mkrdij broke his spirit. “Allright, keep me updated,” Ottel opened the hatch to the field generator. “I’m going to try to fix this as fast as I can. We still need to close the breach in the cargo section. The force field is holding, but we can’t just rely on that.” “I’m on it,” Mkrdij said. He walked into the cargo section. The breach wasn’t very large, but Mkrdij could easily see several ships above the Tilibos. “Alright, let’s see...” he looked around, wondering what to close the breach with, “to hell with it.” He pulled off one of the panels from the wall and slammed it on the opening, sealing it off with a continued stream from his phaser. Finishing his job, Mkrdij stepped back. “Good,” he said, admiring his job, and went out. As he approached the sensors panel, something caught his eye. “Aga Lattrel, I’ve got something.” “What is it?” Ottel’s voice was heard from the distance. “It’s the Pollux. You told me to monitor its activities, and it seems to be going back in.” “Umm... Follow it!” Ottel said after a short deliberation. “What?” Mkrdij could not believe his ears. After that crazy brush with death, the last thing in his mind was heading back into the battle. “We aren’t even operating at 70% efficiency.” “Just do it! I’ll fix things.”
Hawku Jan 13 2004, 08:56 PM	Commander Rune Sith - The Vellous On screen, Halliwell nodded to Hardgrove. Sith waited as they were speaking. Their tones were confusing as if there was something personal going on between them.   Halliwell smiled, *It's good to see you alive.* Hardgrove nodded, "You look as if you already have a plan of attack."   *If you'll notice, one of the Alliance ship's in the left flank is adrift. We're going to board it and blow it up in the middle of the Alliance Fleet.* Sith stepped up, "Let me guess, you want us to cover you?"   Halliwell nodded this time, and then looked at Hardgrove, *I know your the Fleet Captian. Do you approve of this course of action?* Sith glanced at Hardgrove. The sudden growing smirk on Hardgrove's face was answer enough.   *I'll take that as a Yes.* Halliwell cut the screen out. "FayeAcca, follow the Pollux in!" Sith ordered. The Pollux began moving towards the Alliance Fleet's, prompting the Vellous to follow. The Tilibos, three of its ship's and five more Federation vessel's tailed to give additional cover. "Cloak the ship!!" Hardgrove yelled as a torpedo headed straight for them. The Vellous disappeared and dodged the torpedo. That one incoming Alliance Vessel was pounded with torpedoes from the invisible Vellous until the Alliance vessel flew away in fear. The Pollux passed the drifting Alliance Romulan Ship and beamed over K'Rak and his Team. The invisible Vellous and the maneuverable Tilibos provided cover. The Vellous shot a Torpedo, knocking the impulse engines off a suddenly attacking Alliance Tholian Ship. Those engine pieces went flying and hit the side of another Tholian Ship as it was coming in. But they weren't through yet. The Tholian's blasted a Web Torpedo at the Tilibos. In a quick swerve, the Tilibos dodged it easily. The Torpedo continued on until it hit onto one of the smaller five Federation ship's, the U.S.S. Bluenose was suddenly wrapped in strands of white silky web material. As it passed the U.S.S. Mercedes, a white strand of Web slung shot from the Bluenose onto the shield bubble of the Mercedes. They were stuck together. Strands engulfed both ship's shield bubbles, while passing the Pollux. A strand shot out and suctioned onto the Pollux's shield bubble. Strands then began to encompass the Pollux's shields. They were forced to fly in unison with the Bluenose and the Mercedes. The Vellous was too busy to notice. They were pounding five Alliance Romulan ship's in the distance, who had them surrounded. "Evasive manouvers!!" Sith yelled to FayeAcca. "There's too many of them!" Krone yelled in warning. The Vellous was hit, illuminating them momentarily. FayeAcca quickly tapped at her controls, spinning the Vellous upside down as it passed over one of the Alliance ship's. They locked a tractor beam and pulled that Alliance Ship around, until it smashed into a second Alliance ship. The two Alliance ship's were merged into each other, and pieces went flying out into space. Some of which the Vellous dodged on their way out of there. Sith looked at the two crashed ship's on screen as they were heading away from them. The other Alliance ship's were escaping to join a bigger fleet. The Federation is finally fighting back...
k4m4caZ1 Jan 13 2004, 10:03 PM	Lieutenant Daniel Clark - Main Engineering Daniel stumbled forward as the ship rocked in the battle, luckily catching a railing he regained his balance. It was hard enough to make these repairs in the time given, but to do it in battle with inertial dampeners fluctuating was another story. She's crazy! Clark thought to himself in the empty engineering room. One hit to the shields and there will be a mess to clean up here. No sooner had he thought it when the call came through the Comm, "All hands! Brace for impact!" Something hit the shield grid. But it wasn't any conventional weapon impact. What should have been Daniel hitting the other side of the room head first turned out to be him landing face first in the corner of a wall. Either Tanik has finally got those inertial dampeners online, or that wasn't weapons fire. Daniel thought puzzled as he slowely got up to his feet and spit out a mouthful of blood.   "Tanik to Clark." Came the a on the Comm. "...Clark here." He said rather feebly as he rubbed his head where he was hit.   "Listen Clark, we don't have much time! Inertial dampeners are back online and the alliance has shot some sort of webbing at the shield grid. I can't access the shield controls from here so I need to get if off!" Tanik ordered as an explosion in the auxiliary engineering room cut him off. Daniel scrambled to the nearest operational consol and hacked as fast as he could at the holographic display. If Starfleet had made any major improvements in the past few decades it was in holographics controls. The controls were surprisingly easy to manipulate despite the complicated looking display. After a few moments of scanning Clark had a full schematic of the alliance web. It appeared to be attached to the shields by tapping directly into the power grid. Whatever this new weapon was, it sure wasn't very good on the power relays.   "Clark, report!" Tanik said as soon as he had finished controlling the situation in auxiliary engineering. "It's feeding off of the main shield power relays sir, power levels are going down. If we don't get it off soon we won't have any shields left!" Clark shouted back as a power conduit overloaded on the other side of engineering.   "Try resequencing the shield harmonics! The power relaps may break us fr..." Clark cut in, "It's no good sir. We can't reset the shields while it's attached!" Tanik was quiet obviously thinking about what to do. "Sour the milk..." Daniel whispered absent mindedly to himself.   "Maybe try..... what?" Tanik responded confused. "I remember hearing a story about the Enterprise when Picard was still in command," Clark yelled as a thought came into his head. He ran over to another console and started pushing buttons as fast as his body would allow. "They had to sour the milk! Clark said half concentrating on what he was saying, and a lack of response from his Commander forced him to elaborate, "uhh, change the frequency!"   "I thought you said we couldn't do that!" Tanik responded. "We don't have to resequence the shields," He said looking up at another display and tapping a few buttons, "all we have to do is change the power output frequency to something it can't absorb!" He looked down at his display, "There it is! Got it! ........Clark to bridge! Has the web been detached?!"   "Negative! Get that thing the hell off of us!" Commander Halliwell yelled from the bridge, "We have to keep going and we're going with or without shields Lieutenant!" "I understand Commander!" Clark yelled back trying to concentrate on his task. I don't get it! This should be working! He thought to himself, when it hit him. He dove back into the mess of buttons and looked back up to the screen.   "Request denied." The computer sounded in the room, "Level 4 clearence required." "Damn it! That's senior staff!" He was yelling now. "Clark to Tanik! Commander I need your clearance code, quick!"   "Computer, engineering authorization: Tanik Five Setta Niner!"   "Authorization acknowledged." Came the computers voice, "Power surge initiated." Clark was quiet. The engineering room seemed to get quieter as he did, until the silence was broken by a loud hum followed by a high pitched crack. The lights went off in engineering while Clark held his breath.   "Tanik to Clark." Came the Romulan's voice. "The bridge reports the webbing has been vaporized." "YES!" Daniel yelled in the all quiet room as the lights came back online. "Sir, power is stabilizing, shield power returning to normal..... shields back to 86% Commander!" "Well done lieutenant."
Kelly Jan 14 2004, 08:26 AM	Commander Samantha Halliwell ~ Bridge, USS Pollux Halliwell gripped her fingers into each side of the command chair, as the screen went blank. She had never, and she meant never been so glad to see Hardgrove in all her life. With some cover, they had some chance of making it through this all, she glanced over to the helm as the ships came back on screen. "Let's go," she said as calmly as she would be able to muster. She stood up and looked at the screen, "Come on," she whispered hoping that they would be able to get K'Rak and his team onboard safely, and without getting themselves destroyed would be an added bonus. She looked round at all the Alliance ships and then at the Vellous, she noticed another ship joining them, and it gave her a somewhat more positive look on the whole situation, for the first time since they got here, she had a good feeling about this. "Shields are still holding at 60%." More good news she watched as torpedoes were fired and struck. She saw the target ship in sight and her expression remained serious as the Vellous fired a large amount of torpedoes at it. "Their shields are failing." "Get us as near as you can," Halliwell ordered making her way over to one of the vacant consoles, she wanted to make sure that K'Rak and his team would get over safely, she tapped her commbadge, "Halliwell to K'Rak," she said loudly, "Stand By." She looked back to the screen as they approached the drifting ship. She then looked back down to her console, seeing how the shields were doing and if there were any progress on the Alliance Romulan Ship to get them back up: none so far. She glanced up to the screen, as they got nearer. It was here she had to use her own judgment. She opened a comm to the transport chief, "K'Rak remember what she said."   "Yes ma'am," he answered. "Now." She watched her console as she followed the progress, they had made it safely but she was blind from here. She knew that the Pollux had to keep moving it was bad enough been a moving target, let alone a stationary target. A ship came from the left of them, "They're firing at us." She tapped the comm, "All hands brace for impact." She had told them to do it, but she hadn't held on her self and she fell backwards, onto the floor in front. She immediately got up as someone rushed over to her, "Ma'am, are you alright?" Halliwell stood up and nodded, it took more than this to knock her down. "I'm fine..." "But you're bleeding." Halliwell quickly felt the side of her face, she must of cut her cheek on something and she had a cut on her forehead, she didn't let it bother though, "I'll live." She saw the look she got from her, "Really." She shook her head slowly then looked back to the screen as a Tholian ship appeared. She ran over to the helm, "You don't want to be on the recieving end of them," she shouted as they came nearer and nearer. "Their firing a torpedo... not just any." Halliwell's eyes widened as the Bluenose and the Mercedes were engulfed the giant web, Gotta love the Tholian's she thought sarcastically, "Get us out of here." The ship shook and then stopped, Too late - "Only one thing for it," she said as she went back over to the command chair, "Hail the Bluenose and the Mercedes." She looked to the screen as the two captains appeared on the screen, "Commander," they both said, they both looked as bad as her. "Until we can get free of this web, we're gonna have to fly together," she said in a commanding tone, which she knew she shouldn't be using with superior officers but it had to be done. They had to have an understanding. "We need to keep near the Alliance Romulan Ship," she said as she held onto the back of the chair, "I have a team over there." The captain's nodded slowly, although she knew they were uncomfortable with her tone, perhaps they thought it was the best course of action. "Halliwell out." "Halliwell to Tanik," she said pressing her comm badge, "Get us out of this thing."   "I'm working on it ma'am, but it's feeding," he got cut off. She looked round the bridge, and felt completely helpless. She had no idea when it came to engineering, she just let them do their jobs and get on with it. And she had still had no word from K'Rak.   "Clark to bridge! Has the web been detached?!" "Negative! Get that thing the hell off of us!" Halliwell yelled, "We have to keep going and we're going with or without shields Lieutenant!"   "I understand Commander!" he replied. She nodded to herself and kept a hold of the chair. The ship shook for a few seconds and then slowly the web just, slipped off them, just as easy as that. She smiled briefly, "Report." "Shields are up to 86%." "Halliwell to Clark," she said tapping her comm badge, "I don't know what you did down there but I'm glad you did." She didn't wait for an answer and the helm turned to her for orders, "Halliwell to K'Rak. How you doing over there?"
Captain Archer Jan 13 2004, 08:09 PM	Ambassador Michael Larkin - Quarters Michael sat up in bed. He'd been trying to sleep for hours now. He went over to the chair were he had flung his clothes and put them back on. He headed out into the living area. "Computer lights on full." The darkened room lit up, he made his way to the replicator. "Coffee. Black." The computer chirped and his cup materialized. He took a few sips and put it back down. He looked out the window gazing at the stars. This waiting is going to kill me. Michael headed to the door and down the hall to the turbolift. The door swung open and he stepped in "Operations." The turbolift took off. OCC Michael stepped off the turbolift and cut through the Operations Center towards the hall containing his office, along with Captain Major's and Admiral Garrison. "Ambassador." Michael nodded at the nameless officer as he kept his eye on his goal. He strode up to the door and hit the chime.   "Come in." Michael stepped through the door, "Admiral, may I have a seat?" Garrison never took his gaze from the window. "Of course. What's on your mind?" Michael sat down, "From the looks of things, the same thing on yours, how goes the battle?" Garrison turned in his chair, "It's to early to tell, but thanks to you, our new Bajoran allies are sending ships. They should be there within the hour. That will help out greatly." Michael nodded. "Good. Minister Hallan and I have developed a good working relationship. Admiral, the Gambit..." Michael's voice trailed off. Garrison shot him an odd look. "I believe it's pulled to the back of the line making repairs. Concern for Hardgrove?" Garrison asked. "No sir, his first officer Commander Hurst, we're...involved." "Ahh, well I'm sure you'll see her again." "Yes, well, thanks for the update." Michael stood to leave, he turned to the Admiral. "Tom, I've come to think of you as a good friend. If you ever need to talk...I hope you feel comfortable enough to come to me." Garrison let a small smile slip across his face, "Thank you for the offer, I may take you up on it someday." Michael nodded and walked out. Double~Helix Bar, several hours later Michael got up from what was left of his meal, and headed out onto the Deck. He walked around the corner of the bar's entrance, and ran right into Counselor Rasin. "Ambassador, it's good to see you again. It's late. Are you having trouble sleeping?" "I could ask you the same thing Counselor." Rasin smiled, "I asked you first." Michael grinned "So you did. I was just having a late dinner, or early breakfast... depending on how you look at it. I was just with Admiral Garrison, finding out about the Gambit." Rasin's head came up a bit as if he was intrigued "And?" "They were fine, they had pulled back and were making repairs." Rasin began walking down the Deck. Michael followed. "So, no nightmares then?" Michael was caught off guard by the question. "I'd prefer not to discuss this here Counselor. But I would like to talk. May I set an appointment for sometime this morning?" Rasin nodded, "I'll put you down for 09:30 hours. Is that all right?" "It's okay with me, I'll see you then."
Ullii Jan 14 2004, 07:47 PM	Lieutenant Ullii Lauren - USS Pollux - Sickbay *CRACK!* All of a sudden there was a loud sound, and the lights flickered and went out for a few seconds! Everyone stopped what they were doing. Nothing could be done without the medical equipment that was hardwired to the ship's energy core. When the lights came back on, all of the equipment had short-circuited. "Damn!" Ullii was not in the mood for this. "Computer! What the bloody hell!" "Energy diversion from all systems has short-circuited some systems on decks 5 through 7." Wow, it actually understood what I wanted. Didn't see THAT comming. "Reinitialize medical equipment in sickbay! Get these things working!" "Re-initialization will take two minutes" "Thank you, do hurry." The major operations taking place in Sickbay had to wait until the re-initialization was complete, but with the lights back on, the medical staff continued to treat minor injuries using their available tools that didn't need energy from the ship.   "Bridge to sickbay." It was Halliwell. Ullii assumed a mock secretary-like voice. "Sickbay here. I'm sorry but your call cannot be completed due to SYSTEMS SHORTING OUT! Please hang up and try to call again."   "This is no time for jokes, Doctor! Lieutenant Commander K'rak is leading a boarding party, and I'm... "calling" to inform you that once their mission is over, we will be beaming them directly to Sickbay." No sense of humor... "Understood, sir." She paused as something came to the front of her mind, "Lieutenant Commander CRACK???"   With the distortion of the sound system, the two women couldn't hear how the other was pronouncing the Lieutenant Commander's name. "Yes. Be prepaired f..." "--for casualties, yes sir..." There was a short silence "Sorry sir."   "Lieutenant, I would appreciate that in the future, you allow me to complete my sentences." Halliwell's patience with Ullii was running out. It was all she could do to keep from snapping at her. "Yes sir. Sorry sir." I've gotta stop doing that! "And Sir, next time you need power, perhaps you should remind your faithful engineering crew that lives depend on keeping power in sickbay! I..."   That was enough. "Lieutenant, I have not forgotten about the lives at risk in Sickbay. Nor have my 'faithful Engineering crew'! I will decide what actions are necessary to keep this ship in one piece, and I will have no further insubordinate remarks from YOU! Is that clear Lieutenant?!" This was shocking, to say the least. I was only trying to be funny. "... Yes Sir. It won't happen again Sir."   "I certainly hope not. Halliwell out." Just as she finished talking with the Commander, the lights on the medical equipment returned to their previous glory, and Ullii continued working on her critical patient. She looked around the room at all the faces looking at her. "Well what are you looking at? Get back to work!" This incident with Commander Halliwell made her feel terrible! I shouldn't have said that... it wasn't my place... There was a long pause in her thoughts as she changed subjects in her mind, ... Lieutenant Commander Crack???... Well, I guess it's not HIS fault... And I thought LAUREN was bad!...
Joshua Jan 17 2004, 12:22 PM	Counsellor Rasin - In His Office on 001 "So, how is Eric? I heard you two were close." Othoniel paused his cheerful smile and upbeat attitude with the mention of Eric. He swallowed hardly, and then ignored Ambassador Larkin's question. "How are you, Ambassador?" said Othoniel, with a hint of interest in his voice. "Fine, I'm fine" "Good," said Othoniel, "how have you been sleeping?" "Well," Michael paused for a moment, thinking, "ok, I guess. I have not had any nightmares, but... I have been getting other kinds of dreams" "Oh?" Othoniel leaned in with interest, so as to not miss a word. "Well, I mean, they are just silly dreams, but I don't know what they mean." "Tell me one of them," Othoniel said quickly. Slightly hesitant, Michael continued. "Well, I am on Earth, and I am behind a house. There are only two houses that I can see, and I am in the backyard of one of them. It is empty, and the grass dead. Then, just in the next yard there is a lush garden. It's beautiful, but I can't cross the fence." He stopped abruptly, and waited for an interpretation.
RMrulz Jan 19 2004, 06:26 PM	Admiral Tom Garrison - Quarters "Computer, lights," Tom ordered as he sat up in bed. He was momentarily blinded as the illumination level in the room increased, but his eyes soon adjusted. "What is the time?" "The time is 0600 hours," the computer informed him in its gentle monotone. Damn... Time to get up and I haven't even fallen asleep yet. This is the third night in a row I haven't slept now. He didn't actually have to be up yet, he didn't have anything he needed to do until 0900 hours. But there was no use laying in bed any longer, it was obvious he wouldn't be falling asleep. So instead he got out of bed and headed for the sonic shower. A few minutes later he was adjusting his uniform, and he stepped out into the corridor. The Deck - Two Minutes Later Tom stepped off the turbolift out onto the deck. The first thing he noticed was how deserted it was. Even at such an early hour, it was usually swarming with civilians and Starfleet personnel. But with 001 being run by a skeleton crew while everybody else was off fighting the Alliance, there were only a few civilians milling about. He walked into the Double~Helix. There was one man sitting at the bar, plus a couple sitting at a booth in the back, but that was it. Like a ghost town... he thought to himself. He sat down at a nearby table. A waiter came over and took his order, and a few minutes later a plate of eggs and a steaming mug of coffee were placed in front of him.   The Federation News Service was being shown on a large monitor above the bar. The volume was low, but Tom could still make out the words. "... is hard to come by, but we have received reports of massive casualties. It is unknown who is winning the battle, but unconfirmed estimates suggest Starfleet has already lost more than half its ships. In other news... " Tom stopped listening. He looked down at his food, suddenly he wasn't hungry. He sat there sipping his coffee for several moments. The waiter came over with the bill, and he placed his thumbprint on the holoPADD handed to him. Then he got up and headed back for the turbolift. The silence on the Deck was deafening, he hurried towards the Turbolift. All he wanted to do was get out of there. A few minutes later he exited the turbolift and walked out into the Operations Command Center. He stood watching the bustle of activity. At least you can still feel life here, he thought to himself. Young officers went about their duties, excited to be left in command of the starbase but also worried about the battle taking place so far away. Tom knew how they felt. He walked to one side of the room and entered the Executive Suite. He walked down the hallway until he reached his office, and then he entered the room. He sat down at his desk and activated his holoTerminal. Before he could even start to catch up on what happened since he left last night, he turned and looked out the window. Two and a half hours later Tom was interrupted by the sound of a door chime. He turned away from the window, the first time he moved since he got to his office that morning. "Come." The door opened, and Captain Maxwell Sumit walked in, the Captain of the Enterprise. "Ahh, Captain. I've been expecting you."
Tucker Jan 22 2004, 07:25 PM	Captain David Major - USS Pollux, Sickbay Pain tore through his head as he concentrated on trying to sense his body. The voices that had plagued him before were still there, but seemed softer, less harsh. He slowly opened his eyes, only to find himself in sickbay, the room filled to the brim with injured crewmembers, some near death. Flashing red light bathed the room, and as he gradually, painfully pushed himself up, he called out to the nurse nearby. She didn't show any sign of hearing him, turning away to attend to yet another injured patient. Rotating to the side, he set his bare feet on the carpeted floor and stood up - nearly falling over a pile of supplies that had been left that at the side of his bio bed. Carefully maneuvering around the bodies, he called out to the nurse again, yet as before she ignored him and half ran into the medical office. Scrambling after her, the ship lunged to the right, and as he reached out to the bulkhead for support, his hand went right through the metal, making him collapse to the floor. Another surge of pain filled his head, and as he tried to pull himself back up, a crewman came rushing through the door, and without stopping, walked directly through Major. A mix of confusion and extreme paranoia overcame him. How could this happen? Possible situations surfaced and were rejected as he struggled to come up with an answer. Taking another glance around the room, David saw the last thing he had expected: his body, lying on the same bio-bed he had just risen from.
Ullii Jan 23 2004, 01:07 AM	Doctor Ullii Lauren - USS Pollux - Sickbay Ullii heard the distinct beeping on the console of the bed next to her. She swiftly moved to the console to check the conditions of the patient laying in it. Oh my god! She quickly picked up a medical tricorder and scanned the man's body. Her tricorder readings showed normal body function, but there was no brain activity at all! She was shocked when she looked at his uniform! He's a Captain? How did he end up in the Sickbay? The young doctor searched her memory of medical anomolies, but could remember nothing anywhere close to this! And for the first time, in spite of all of her years of training under the sound tutorage of StarFleet Academy and Vulcan's most highly esteemed physician, she panicked. This is impossible! How can the body function without any brain activity?! This.... it's impossible! It is illogical!! The stress was unbarable. "Auethn!" she cried aloud. Two of the nearby nurses looked up at her confused, as the word she spoke was obviously Romulan. Ullii knew that word well. Her mother made her learn to speak and write Romulan, and would force her to speak it fluently and often. 'Auethn' roughly translated means 'tell me what to do'. A plea she often made to her mother, who constantly punished her when something wasn't done correctly. "Uh, I said 'away then'. Take him away, then, to a private bed." Sometimes the first things that come to her mind aren't the most prudent things to say. The two nurses looked at each other in subtle disbelief, then began transferring the Captain to another bed in a more quiet section of sickbay. "And keep an eye on his condition." If he even HAS a condition. "Aye sir." The two nurses acknowledged the order and went about their task. Ullii then turned to a young man that just walked through the door. There was a short pause as he stopped to look at her. "Doctor! I fell and hurt my lips. Can you kiss it better?" She admired someone with a charred hand who could still have a sense of humor. She smiled, "Good thing you didn't hurt your bottom." He smiled back, "So what's your name?" "Do you maybe want me to fix your hand first?" His smile turned into a laugh, "That would be delightful! I shall try my best not to smell your beautiful hair as you train your lazer on my unsightly hand, my lady." It was her dream come true! Her large smile couldn't be hidden as she repaired the third degree burns on his hand. "There. All better." "Then I thank you, fair maiden, and humbly ask for your name." "It is Ullii, kind sir. I now beg of your leave, for if you stay, I shall never return to my other patients who..." She stopped talking as she saw him pointing to the rest of the room. She looked only to notice that the sickbay had almost cleared out! The few patients that remained were being taken care of by the nurses. "Oh." "So Ullii... That's a beautiful name! Mine is Autumn. James Autumn. Would you care to join me for dinner during the post-battle celebration?" "Sure!" Her heart was pounding! "Great! I'll see you then." She stared at his cute behind as he majestically walked out the door. As she turned around, everybody suddenly started doing something, pretending they didn't hear what had just taken place. Janks walked up to her with a PADD and handed it to her." "My report, fair maiden." Suddenly the entire room burst in laughter; staff and patients included! Ullii had never blushed like she did in this moment, in her entire life! It was humiliating, but she soon saw the humor in it. She soon started to laugh just as uncontrollably as the others! Another nurse walked up to her and handed her a hypospray. "Your perfume, my lady." Everyone laughed even harder! Yet another nurse stepped forward with a tricorder. "I'm reading extremely high levels of luuuuuuuuuv!" This increased the laughter to a previously thought unattainable level! It was uncontrollable! Everyone was almost on the floor! Surely this was the most fun Ullii had ever had in her entire life! Then as quickly as the laughter had started, it was cut short by the impact of another torpedo. A painful reminder of where they actually were. The thought of her date gave Ullii new motivation. I hope he survives.
Jake Jan 23 2004, 07:06 PM	Lt. Commander Tanik ~ U.S.S. Pollux, Auxiliary Engineering Room Tanik surveyed the chaos around him. Some of the crewmen were running around between stations, looking for something to do. Some were yelling at their consoles, trying to coerce them into working with mere willpower - the sheer sound of their voices. Others did not even have all that much willpower left - a few were crying in the stress of the moment as the ever-so predictable explosions rocked the ship, and as the 'pop...pop...pop' of torpedoes could be heard through the hull. A crewman yelled up excitedly, "Hey! Shields are up to 90%!" It was like a ray of light in the middle of the night. It was soon to be blacked out, though, when a torpedo hit the broadside of the Pollux, throttling the ship about violently. His smile faded. "62%," he said dejectedly. Tanik turned around when he heard the door open suddenly. T'Kila stormed in. Tanik raised a questioning eyebrow to her. "What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?" Tanik yelled jokingly over the cacophony. T'Kila smiled thinly. "I hear you have problems!" Tanik returned the grin. "Yeah, I do. But that's none of your business." T'Kila responded, "I was referring to engineering." Tanik laughed. "Oh, yeah - we've got problems!" T'Kila took a more serious undertone. "I'm here to see how I can help." Tanik laughed with her, "Oh, I wouldn't want you to get your hands dirty, or God forbid a cut!" Tanik paused while she chuckled, "Well, there's a break! I'll find something for you. And, if there's nothing at the moment, I'm sure some torpedo will strategically hit in not too long a time, and THEN you'll have something to do." He surveyed the calamity. There was no order or control whatsoever. Something had to be done. So, he took a hydrospanner to a long metal pipe near the door. The shrill noise got everybody's attention - some even jumped or screamed. Then, they realized that it was simply their superior officer trying to get their attention. Many tried to gain their composure, but tear stains were evident on some of their faces. All of them looked rather pathetic, as if they had been working under a vehicle for hours. All of them were covered in oil and grime, in sweat, tears, and blood. Tanik spoke in a strong, deep, and strangely soothing voicing. "We are in one of the most important engagements of the history of the Federation. I know this is frightening. I also know that it is also exhilarating - that combination of feelings can only be felt in a great battle, such as that we are participating in. You have now felt this. But now, I ask of you this - whatever you do, DON'T THINK." The crowd looked perplexed. "FEEL. If you let your feelings and reflexes take over, you will work as a unit. Thinking can get in the way. You can confuse yourself, get off task. You all are the best trained group of engineers in Starfleet, and good training means that you know the job like the back of your hand - therefore, do it out of your instincts. Trust them, and they will help you do your job. Now let's get organized people! LET'S KICK SOME ALLIANCE ASS, and LIVE to tell your children about it." An ensign chanted loudly, "HAZAA! HAZAA! HAZAA!" Others looked at him, and joined in. Quickly, the entire group was hollering. T'Kila even joined in. Tanik smiled. He looked over the group, and saw an ensign who caught his eye. He began issuing out jobs. "I want you to watch those inertial dampeners like there's nothing else in the world!" Tanik said to the ensign. He had to yell over the explosions, impacts, and the constant creaking of the ship's hull, as the design of the Pollux put the most maneuvering hull stress in this area. He pointed to another, female ensign. "You! I want you to get a couple of guys to monitor all the fires throughout the ship. If we have a major fire, we'll lose oxygen faster than I can eat a taco with everything. If there's a fire in a section with nobody in it, just blow the nearest airlock and be done with it. If not, get a fire team down there asap!" Tanik continued like this and people began scurrying about their jobs. He looked over at T'Kila, and, as if on cue, a torpedo impacted into the ship. Everything that wasn't bolted down to the floor thrashed around, and an explosion in a corner of the room caught everybody's attention. Coolant leak. T'Kila looked to Tanik. "You're one hell of a prophesizer. I'll handle it!" Tanik responded, "Alright - just be careful. That whole system's pneumatic, and it can be an s.o.b. at times." "I'll keep that in mind!" T'Kila yelled back. Tanik went to go check on the shield status. "32%... get it back up to 90 - I believe that was a record for us since we've entered this battle," Tanik said to a crewman at the shield console. Tanik heard T'Kila yell from across the room, "What the hell am I supposed to do?!" Tanik chuckled. "To stop the coolant flow, just turn that metal bar above the pipe - do you see it?" "Yeah!" T'Kila replied Tanik continued, "Turn it 180 degrees counterclockwise." There was no sound from her area of engineering for a while, until T'Kila yelled, "It must be jammed! It's not moving!" Tanik chuckled again. "I told you it's an s.o.b.! It's spring loaded with heavy resistance to keep it from prematurely stopping the coolant flow - you're going to have to put your back into it!" He heard T'Kila mutter something, but he couldn't tell what it was with all the noise in the room. He craned his head to see how she was doing. T'Kila was staring greatly, but she had managed to get it nearly halfway when a disruptor blast rocked the Pollux. T'Kila lost her grip and footing, and the heavy, spring-loaded bar whipped back to it's original place - but not before whacking her right above her right cheek, HARD. The sound was a disgusting combination of a high-pitched metal 'ping' and a sickening 'crunch'. She landed limply on the floor, having performed two nearly complete spins in the air. She was out cold. Tanik's eyes widened in horror. He hit his comm badge. "Clark - you'd better get down here and take charge! I've got a wounded officer and I have to take her up to sickbay!" Tanik said while running over to her. "Alright, sir - I'm coming immediately," Clark responded. Tanik looked T'Kila over. She was at least breathing, albeit barely. Blood trickled delicately from her nose and mouth, as well as from the point of impact. He could tell that some of the bones in the right side of her face and head had been cracked. It was serious. Tanik gently picked her up in his arms, and proceeded to sickbay as fast as he could without manhandling her in the process.
k4m4caZ1 Jan 23 2004, 10:42 PM	Lieutenant Daniel Clark - USS Pollux "Computer, open turbolift doors." Clark said with as much patience as he could muster. One door slid open revealing half of the deck in front of him. Through the open door he climbed up onto the deck and straightened out his uniform. He gained his balance from another phaser hit to the shields and began running down the corridor towards Engineering. Clark quickly slowed to a fast walk as he rounded the corner to see Tanik running down the corridor drenched in blood. He was holding Lieutenant T'Kila. "Clark! Listen to me." Tanik was out of breath as he slowed down to talk to Daniel. "There's a coolant leak in Engineering. My team is on it but I need you to re-rout coolant flow through the auxiliary ducts. You got it?" Daniel didn't respond. He just kept looking at T'Kila bleeding in Tanik's arms. He had never met the lieutenant before but he had gone over her personal profile before joining the station. "Clark?! You got it?" "...yeah. Uh-- yes sir!" "Good. Keep her in one peace!" Tanik yelled from the end of the corridor and passed out of site. So much for Engineers not seeing the casualties of war. He thought as he quickened once more to a run, and flew into the Auxillary Engineering room. He pushed the thought of T'Kila aside and focused on the task at hand, spotting two men working on the plasma coolant duct to the back of the room. Everyone else was busy with the jobs that Tanik had assigned to them which was a good thing for Clark. He was still getting used to a command possition, even if it was only assistant cheif engineer, and was used to taking orders not giving them. He ran up to the men who were feverishly trying to contain the leak, but with pressure in the duct increasing it was becomming more difficult to turn the metal bar which had already claimed one officer. The three men pulled together and it took all of their strength to pull that bar which snapped into the lock possition with a clang. The gas stopped hissing from the damaged pipe and the coudy room began to clear as the environmental system sucked up all the excess coolant. "Man!" Yelled an ensign beside clark, "I'm glad thats done!" "It's far from over!" Clark yelled back, "If that coolant supply isn't re-routed within 5 minutes this core will overload and half the ship will be destroyed!" Of course the situation wasn't all that serious, but the look on that ensign's face was what Clark was going for. "Thats the trick about Engineering," Clark told him as he worked away at a holoterminal, "you're job is never over." He finished as the duct depressurized and was re-routed to the reactor. Clark laughed as a lieutenant walked up to him with a PADD.
RMrulz Jan 23 2004, 09:12 PM	Admiral Tom Garrison - Office Tom was interrupted by the sound of a door chime. He turned away from the window, the first time he moved since he got to his office that morning. "Come." The door opened, and Captain Maxwell Sumit walked in, the Captain of the Enterprise. "Ahh, Captain. I've been expecting you. Come in, sit down," he said while gesturing to a chair on the other side of the desk. Maxwell Sumit, one of the most respected officers in Starfleet, slowly walked forward as the door closed behind him. He sat down, and the two men stared at each other for a moment. Sumit broke the silence. "I wasn't sure if you would allow me to come, allow me to leave Earth." "I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to let you, to be honest. But Max, to be blunt I need you. Most of the Starfleet Officers, hell most of the entire Federation, has supported this rebellion. But most of those that still support Command, those that are being held on Earth along with your entire crew and all of Command, they would follow you if you joined us. And we need the Enterprise, it's one of the most advanced ships in the fleet. So I had to allow you to come, I have to hear whatever it is you want to say to me." Sumit thought for a moment, figuring out how to proceed. All he had told Admiral Garrison was that he wanted to talk to him, not that he had anything specific he wanted to tell him. And honestly he wasn't sure if he even wanted to tell him yet. He didn't know the Admiral very well and wanted to try and judge his character first. So instead, he started by playing it safe. "What you're doing, leading a rebellion, declaring martial law... it's wrong. It goes against everything the Federation stands for, it violates all we are taught to hold sacred. How can I go along with that, how can I betray what I have spent my life fighting for?" "Come on... you've seen the information that's been released, and you know it's been validated. You sit there and lecture me about violating what the Federation stands for. What about Command manipulating me into sending the Alliance important secrets about our shipyards? What about Command, and the Federation Council, sitting back and doing nothing while system after system falls to the Alliance? What about them secretly using the senior staff of this starbase as guinea pigs in their time travel experiments, something which could have gotten them killed! What about their plans to alter history? If THAT doesn't violate all we're taught to hold sacred, then what does?!" Tom retorted, his voice raising in intensity and speed as he spoke each sentence. Sumit just sat there shaking his head. "You just don't get it." "Don't get what?!" "That maybe you don't know everything, that maybe there is a lot more going on than you realize, that... " "What the hell are you talking about?" Tom snapped. "I don't care what your rank is, do not interrupt me," Sumit said cooly. Tom glared at him for a minute, then looked down. "As I was saying, that maybe Starfleet Command knows a great deal more about the situation than you realize." Tom tried to make sense of his words, but he was getting a headache. "Captain, I've known you for a very long time. Not very closely, but we've worked together on several occasions. You have never been a man to speak in riddles, you're one of the most honest, direct, blunt men I've ever met. So tell me, just WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" After a pause, Sumit spoke. "And you're one of the most rational, level-headed, diplomatic men I've ever known. The Admiral Garrison I know, the Admiral Garrison I know the reputation of, doesn't lose his temper. Tell me, Admiral, have you been under stress lately?" Sumit was baiting him, and Tom knew it. He said nothing. "What's wrong, Tom," Sumit said, using his first name. "You look tired... haggard. Not sleeping well? Seeing the faces of those people you murdered down at Starfleet Medical?" The moment he said it, part of him regretted it as he saw the flash of pain that came over Tom's face. But he had to say it, he had to figure this man out before he told him anything. At the mention of Starfleet Medical Tom almost lost it. For about one second all he could think about was a blind rage, a rage so powerful he wanted to kill Sumit on the spot. But he quickly gained control of himself, gathering reserves of strength he barely knew he had. When he finally spoke, it was in a voice that almost sounded desperate. "Max... how can you sit down on Earth everyday knowing the entire fleet is struggling for our survival? While you are on vacation, we are losing good men and women by the hundreds, hell by the thousands. How can you just sit there? We need you, join us!" "How can I sit by and watch it all happen... I could ask you the same thing." That struck a nerve. Not in the same way as the comment a minute before, but it still hit Tom hard. He swiveled his chair away and looked out the window. "I wish I was out there. Believe me, I do." He said, almost in a whisper. "So why aren't you?" "Captains Hardgrove and Major decided it would be best for me to remain here. They wanted to make sure the leader of this whole thing survived. They were quite adamant. I could have argued stronger, but at the time I thought I would be able to live with it. But now that so many people are dying out there..." his voice trailed off, not finishing the thought. Sumit sat in his chair. Up until this moment he had been pretty sure that staying on Earth, plotting a way to retake power with Command was the right thing to do. But suddenly he saw Garrison in a new light. He believed in what he was doing, he would die for what he was doing, and he was being torn up inside by the fact that he was forced to sit on the sidelines. As a combat veteran, Max understood that sentiment. A few moments later, with Garrison still staring out the window, he made his decision. Garrison's response would determine whether Sumit joined him or went back to help Command. "Admiral... there's something you need to know."
Ullii Jan 23 2004, 08:17 PM	Doctor Ullii Lauren - USS Pollux - Sickbay "Where's the Doctor!? I need a doctor!!" It was Tanik! "I'm the CMO, Dr. Lauren. Put her on a bed; we'll take it from here." Ullii was in a hurry, and didn't want to be disturbed. "Lauren? That's a Romulan name! Are you..." "Half Romulan, yes! Now I'm terribly sorry, but I'm very busy. Just lay..." The tricorder in her hand started beeping. She scanned the readings and found that the unlucky Vulcan was bleeding internally near the fracture in her spine. "Get her on a bed! Stat!" She looked uneasily at the worried Romulan. She didn't want to say it, but she needed him. The rest of her staff was occupied, and she couldn't do what she needed to do alone. "I'll need your help."
Hawku Jan 24 2004, 12:55 AM	Commander Rune Sith - The Vellous, Bridge Sith shot out an arm about to hold on from a torpedo hit, but his stance turned out to be good enough to keep him steady. "Helm! Postion 29 Mark 334--" Hardgrove ordered, then turned around. "Tactical, fire Trans Phasic Torpedoes, enemy ship position 644 Ventral." The Vellous destroyed a Romulan Cruiser, sending plasma and hull fragments into kingdom come. Through the explosion flew three more Romulan Harvest Ships. They were huge and fully loaded. Sith stepped up, "Faye! ...Postion 335 Mark 21." FayeAcca nodded as she moved her holopanels around. She loved every second of this. The Vellous slunk down to get a bottom view of the incoming Enemy. "What kind of move is that!?" Krone interrupted angrily. Hardgrove turned, "I beg your pardon?" The three Harvest Ships flew overhead and dropped Trans Phasic Torpedoes at them. "Krone, phaser those Torpedoes now!" Sith ordered. "That is a stupid move! We'll be destroyed!" He argued. The Torpedoes were leaving range of the Harvest Ships and closing in on them. "Do it now!" Sith repeated, fearing it was too late. "I do not take orders from you, Human!" Krone responded. "You will do as your told or you will be relieved of duty!" Hardgrove yelled at Krone. The Tilibos suddenly flew by and shot out a magnetic probe. The Probe flung over the Vellous and attracted the Torpedoes to itself. The torpedoes turned in space and followed the probe away, leaving them safe.   *Are you guys alright?* Ottel came on screen. *We noticed you took quite a beating a couple minutes ago.* "We're fine. Thank you for your assistance." Hardgrove said.   As they were talking, Sith was forced to squint his eyes. No... It couldn't be... he thought in disbelief. "That's my Bartender!" He pointed to the view screen interrupting. "What?" Hardgrove asked. "You're a Bartender!" Sith repeated, speaking directly to Ottel.   Ottel shook his head, *Look I don't have time to explain--* "No! You're a Bartender! What the hell is going on here??"   *You're going to have to trust me. I am Lattrel Ottel leader of the Smuggler's Coalition and the Trusted Cricle.* Sith was silent for a moment. He had no choice but to believe him. There was no time for anything else. Suddenly the three Harvest Ship's arched around in space and headed for them. The viewscreen clicked off and everyone got to work fast. --Cloak-- The Vellous cloaked and opened fire. Trans Phasic Torpedoes flew from all angels around each enemy ship, weakening their shields. The Tilibos had to keep its distance, due to its small size. Moving in any closer would have been suicide. BOOM!! The back end of the third Harvest Ship blew off, and pieces flew through space hitting and partially illuminating the Vellous as it passed. The Vellous quickly spun overhead and tractor beamed one of the Harvest Ship's into the other. The crash was minor and minimal on damage. The Vellous, suddenly assisted by four more Syndicate Ship's in the background, flew in-between the first and second Harvest Ship dragging a Phaser Beam through their shields and along their hull. The beams burned lines through the enemy's hull's like liquid. After, the Vellous flew a good distance away to catch a moment to regenerate fallen systems.   *Sith!* Came a stranger's voice from one of the other Syndicate Ship's. It was the Captian of the Xoleras. *My Helmsman here requests that you line the enemy with plasma exhaust.* Sith looked on screen and saw that Neilson was at the Helm. He knew what he was thinking. "Interesting." The Vellous rocketed for the Harvest Ship's again, just as the first one was about to break off itself. But the Vellous opened its extra Plasma reserves and swung around them. They came past the other two crashed Romulan's and the Xoleras was right behind, lighting the Plasma with Pulse Phasers. Explosions occurred as the three Harvest Ship's were engulfed in destruction. The middle ship exploded and sent large pieces into the two beside it. Those two were broken into and in half, partially exploding themselves. Each momentumed piece trucked away and out from the flaming plasma circle, dragging an astonishing tail of energy. The Vellous and Xoleras hovered around and joined the Tilibos. They watched the destruction, able to see dead Romulan bodies floating through space. The Bridge's were silent for a moment, certain not to feel sympathetic. Zeta sat on Sith's shoulder recording everything he saw.
Mozg Jan 24 2004, 02:38 AM	Lattrel Ottel - the Tilibos   *No! You’re a bartender! What the hell is going on here?* “You’re going to have to trust me. I am Lattel Ottel, leader of the Smugglers’ Coalition and the Trusted Circle.” The screen went blank for a second, then disappeared, opening up the violent scenery in front of the Tilibos. My bartender? Ottel thought. “Mkrdij, we can’t rely on those probes for too long: we’ve used over half of them. I’ve got to take care of the field generator, otherwise we’re an easy target... What?” “My bartender,” Mkrdij smiled. “My bartender, MY bartender,” he kept repeating Sith, and every time his smile got bigger and bigger. “Oh, just shut up,” Ottel smiled at the words himself. “I’m done here, but I still have to completely reconnect the wiring of the auxiliary generator. I’ll be in the engine room.” He turned around to leave and said, “Room, my a.., it’s smaller than a box.” “Sure thing... my bartender,” Mkrdij laughed out loud. Ottel just shook his head and walked out. “When you’re done amusing yourself, try to make sure we get out of here alive, so I can send you to boot camp once again.”
Kelly Jan 24 2004, 05:22 AM	Commander Samantha Halliwell ~ USS Pollux, Bridge Halliwell gripped the sides of the chair as another hit shook the whole ship violently. She closed her eyes, gritted her teeth and swore under her breath. "We're a standing target here," the tactical officer shouted to her. She turned to him then looked to helm, "Circle again," she said. The helm carried it out and she felt the ship move. She stood up, crossing over to the newly relieved one, a young female ensign, Halliwell looked down and saw her hands shaking, she put her hand on her shoulder, "You're doing fine," she whispered. "Thanks ma'am." Halliwell faintly smiled as they approached the vessel once again, "Halliwell to K'Rak."   "K'Rak here. It's good to hear your voice Commander." Thank you she prayed silently, "What's your progress?"   "We're just setting the self destruct sequence now and setting the co-ordinates." Halliwell grabbed the back of the helm's seat as the ship took yet another hit. She struggled to listen in to the conversation K'Rak was having with the members of his team. "We're ready to go," he said. Halliwell looked over to one of the Lieutenant's behind a console, "Hail any ships within the vicinity. Let them know there's going to be a hell of a light display." He smiled and did so. "Carry on K'Rak," she said loudly. She watched as the ship came about, aimed at the bulk of the Alliance forces..."Halliwell to K'Rak....h."   "No worries Commander, we've safely beamed aboard." Halliwell smiled for a moment, "Get us out of here," she said to the helm and looked back at the screen, "All hands prepare...." she didn't get to say the rest as the ship collided with most of the other ones. "If successful, this could turn the tide of the battle." she remembered K'Rak saying in the readyroom...from her vantage point, it was certainly looking that way indeed.
Ullii Jan 24 2004, 01:49 PM	Doctor Ullii Lauren - USS Pollux - Sickbay T'kila's condition was bad! If she were conscious, she would probably die just from the pain! "Listen very carefully..." She paused, not knowing the Romulan's name. "Tanik. Chief Engineer." "Alright. Listen carefully! I need you to apply pressure here, on her neck, as hard as you can! It will hopefully slow the internal bleeding long enough for me to repair the damage." "I'll do whatever you ask." The engineer pressed hard against the poor Vulcan's neck. Ullii wasted no time. With a tricorder in one hand to read her vital signs, and a micro tissue regenerator in the other, she set to work. After a few seconds into the procedure, T'kila started violantly shaking and foaming out of her mouth! "Hold her!" "I'm trying!" "I can't heal the internal wound if she's moving! If you can't handle it, Romulan, then leave! Isn't that what you people are best at? Sneaking away when it suits you?!" Tanik kept his cool, but not his patience. "I don't know what kind of personal feelings you have toward my kind, Doctor, but this is not the time to let them get in the way! I will do the best I can to help you, but I am not a nurse!" Ullii did not like the idea of working with a Romulan defector. After all, her father was one, and he abandoned her when she was five! There was no good in them! There couldn't be!... But she's a doctor! She must save the patient! Even if it means working with the Romulan! "Very well!" Just as she continued operating, 5 people, including Lieutenant Commander K'rak transported into sickbay. K'rak seemed fine, but two of his team were seriously injured. One, critically. Just my luck! She continued operating. K'rak searched the sickbay for the CMO. All of the doctors and nurses were busy with patients. The sickbay was chaos! He finally found Doctor Lauren working on Lieutenant T'kila! "Is she alright?" "She won't be if I get any more interruptions!" She talked as she worked, "Lieutenant Commander Crack, I assume?" "Crack?! I..." "Lay your patients anywhere you can find room out of the way on the floor. We'll get to them as soon as possible!" "Yes doctor. And my name is K'rak maddam, not Crack." "That's what I said! Just please lay the patients down, and get out. It's too crowded as it is." The proud Klingon growled to himself, and did as the Doctor had asked. "Do you think she's going to make it, Doctor?" Tanik was becoming quite worried. Ullii remained silent as she continued the delicate procedure. It seemed like an eternity before she spoke another word. "I'm trying to heal the tissue surrounding the fracture in her spine. I've stopped the internal bleeding in her neck, so she'll live. You can let go now." "Bless you, Lieutenant!" "Damn!" "What is it?" "I had just about finished healing the fracture when it reopened!" "What does that mean? Will she be alright?" "It means that the fracture is now too big to heal. I can heal the bone, but the damage to the grey matter inside of it may be irreversible." She checked her vital signs once more with her tricorder. "She's in a coma."
Captain Archer Jan 24 2004, 06:52 PM	Ambassador Michael Larkin-Office Michael sat in his darkened office looking over communications from the Corp of Ambassadors. It would appear that the official "Welcome to the Federation party" for the Bajorans has been delayed until the current conflict is over. What the hell is that suppose to mean....until the battle is over or the war that is almost certain to follow? Michael tossed the padd onto his desk and turned his chair to look at Earth. His mind went back to his last session with Rasin, the interpretation of his dreams was most prevalent in his mind. He could still hear his words, as if they were coming from the darkest corner of his office "It could mean several things." But the one that stuck out to him was repeated over and over in his mind: "You could be foreshadowing death." Michael was puzzled by this. He had been having the same exact dream over and over for the last few nights. If I am to die, I would not like to foreshadow it as well....it seems almost cruel. Michael was snapped out of his daydream, by a chime. "Come in." The door slid open revealing his mother. "Mom, what are you doing here!" she smiled at him and made her way in. "Have a seat please, can I get you anything?" "No thank you, I thought I would come for a visit. I haven't seen you since you were posted here." Michael smiled as he sat down, "Well, I've been extremely busy, I've been meaning to send you a letter." She threw a hand up in the air, "No need to apologize, I've seen the news." She got up and came across the desk and hugged her son. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright." Michael sighed, "Mom, I'm not exactly putting my life on the line riding a desk." He chuckled, but not to hard. His thoughts went out to his love; she was out there putting here life on the line. "Let's go get something to eat, I've got so much to tell you." She smiled, stood up and followed him out the door. The Double~Helix Bar, several Hours Later "Jen Hurst? The girl you were friends with before you left home? I do remember her, she seemed to be a nice girl." His mother grabbed his hand and squeezed, "I'm so happy for you Michael." Michael smiled "Thank You. So how long can you stay?" Her face fell, "My transport leaves in a half hour. I've got to get back home. But next time you want to see me, you'll have to come home." She smiled at him. "Well, I'll make sure and come visit you; I promise. Let me walk you out to the docking bay." She looked puzzled "I'm not leaving for a half hour." "Well, on a station this size, it may take that long to get there... especially if you know all the good viewports to stop at along the way." Quarters, 0300 Hours   "Operations to Ambassador Larkin." Michael stirred a little.   "Ambassador Larkin please respond." This time he sat up, he thought he had imagined it. He reached over and hit the comm panel on his nightstand. "Larkin here."   "Sir you have an incoming transmission from the U.S.S. Gambit." Michael jumped out of bed to his wall monitor. "Patch it through to my quarters." He threw on a robe and waited for the monitor to activate. It chirped and the UFP logo was exchanged with a smiling, somewhat haggard looking Commander Hurst. "Jen, how are you?"   She half smiled. "I'm doing good considering..." she waved her hand in the air. "Well, you obviously aren't in the middle of fighting, what's going on." She sighed, "We've had to pull back once again to make repairs, but the battle is going good." "That's good news. Do you know when you'll be back?"   "Not yet, but as soon as I do, I'll contact you, I just wanted to let you know that I'm still here." Michael shook his head, "I had no doubt that you would be fine." He hoped she couldn't tell that he has been worrying about her safety since she left.   "Well, we're getting ready to go back out." "Good luck to you and the rest of your crew, Jen."   "Thank you. Hey, I'm looking forward to our dinner. You're not going to welch on me are you." "I wouldn't dream of it." Michael heard an officer over her comm system inform her that they were ready to depart.   "Goodbye Michael, I'll talk to you soon. I love you." "I love you too." She terminated the message and Michael climbed back into bed.
RMrulz Jan 24 2004, 09:49 PM	Admiral Tom Garrison - Office "Admiral... there's something you need to know." Tom was about to snap "Well, out with it" when he stopped. What's wrong with you? You're turning into an impatient, brooding, ass! He took a breath to calm himself, to try and collect himself. He had to pull himself together, this endless anger and guilt had to stop. Maybe I'll speak with Rasin after all. He sat forward in his chair. "I'm all ears," he said. He was genuinely intrigued by whatever Sumit had to say. Sumit paused, gathering his thoughts. He had been turning over different ways to say this in his mind for the past several days but didn't really like him. Finally he just decided to go with what had worked for his entire career... bluntness. "I'll just come right out and say this, no beating around the bush. Two years ago, Starfleet Command sent me on a reconnaissance mission five years into the future, to see what happened with the Alliance. When I got there I found that you had led a rebellion... an unsuccessful rebellion. The Federation had completely fallen to the Alliance. When I came back with my report, that's when Starfleet Command decided to start this time travel program to change the past. They hoped they'd be able to do it before you started the rebellion, but they didn't get everything finished in time." Tom sat at his desk. He had heard the words, but they hadn't quite sunk in yet. The future? He saw this rebellion before I even began to contemplate it? I was destined to do this? We lost to the Alliance? .. no, we will lose to the Alliance? The thoughts were flowing through his head faster than he could keep up. Before he could even begin to figure out how to respond, Sumit continued. "There's more. Just as I was returning to our time I was hit by a Romulan disruptor blast. The damage it did to my body didn't travel back in time with me, but the fact that I was hit still exists. As I move closer and closer to the time I was hit the symptoms being to show up. When we finally reach that point, three years from now, I will die." He didn't bother to mention the fact that the only thing keeping him from living in agony was the fact that he was addicted to painkillers, but having to take them more and more often as time went on. Sumit stopped speaking and watched Tom. He didn't expect a reply right away, Tom needed time to let this sink in. Finally Tom spoke. "I assume you can prove this." Sumit nodded. "I have plenty of holorecordings down on earth, if you want to see them. You can have them all validated by your own people, you'll find they're quite authentic." Tom believed him, but filed away a mental note to check up on these recordings later. "So what you're saying is that I was destined to lead a doomed rebellion, and that in three years... or maybe less... the Alliance will win?" "That's correct." "Why tell me this? What do you expect me to do?" "Step down. Return power to Command. Let them go through with their plans to change history, it's the only way to save the Federation." Sumit spoke the words, but didn't altogether believe them himself. He still hadn't made up his mind. "You know I can't do that. But even if I did, what about everybody else. They'd never go along with it." "They would follow you, Tom," he said again using Tom's first name. "You're a natural leader, if you told them all to stop this rebellion and return power to Starfleet Command they would do it." Before Sumit even finished speaking Tom shook his head no. "No, NO! I won't do that. We have to fight, even if we're doomed to fail. There's no other option." "Tom..." Sumit said softly. "You don't understand. You weren't there, you weren't standing in the ruins of Earth, stepping over dead bodies while hiding from Romulan invaders. You didn't see what I saw. We will lose, and when we do, we will lose everything." "No, Max, you don't get it. By not fighting we lose everything. I would rather die fighting for what I believe in than give up now, than allow Command to change history. And that isn't mindless rhetoric, I mean that. I will die if I have to, but this rebellion will continue. And besides," he added with a half-smile, "I don't believe the future is written in stone." Sumit sat there saying nothing. In truth, he didn't really disagree with what Garrison was saying. Hearing it from the leader of this rebellion was helping him to realize that. After a minute, Tom spoke again. "Of all the officers in Starfleet, I'd expect you to understand this. You're a warrior, you fight for what you want, for what you believe to be worth it. You should understand." When Sumit still didn't say anything, Tom asked "who knows about this, about what you just told me?" "All of the Admirals in Command, and me. Nobody else." Tom stood up, his mind already made up. "Garrison to the OCC, have a full security team meet me in transporter bay 4 in five minutes." He turned to Sumit. "Come with me, it's time I pay Command a visit."
Nightranger Jan 30 2004, 04:51 PM	Fleet Captian Drayson Hardgrove - Scorpion fighter, adrift Captain's log supplemental. In the past six hours the balance of power has turned. Within two hours of our blowing a whole in the Alliance's flank, we were attacked with a sudden flood of Alliance forces. With the loss of over fifty ships, to the barrage of ships from the transwarp conduit I came to the conclusion that blowing the conduit was our only hope for survival. Taking a Scorpion fighter from the Vellous Lt. Sith and I went to attack the conduit only to be shot down. I can only hope the Tilibos was able to blow it before it too was attacked. I must have blacked out, for when I woke, Sith was missing and my fighter was disabled. Life support failing, oxygen low. I never thought I'd go this way... At least I gave us a fighting chance. Goodbye Sam.