"...How are things in the Jovian Fleet? How does it differ from Starfleet?"
Rifts
- Thread starter Hiver
- Start date
Captain Tolek rubbed his chin, "That would mean delaying our mission for several weeks. Almost a month." the Cardassian finally said. He was young for his rank.
The Cardassians were being unhelpful. This is my surprised face.
Flicking my ears to the side, I simply leaned back in my chair and glanced around the room. Captain Tolek, his unnamed second in command, a older rather grumpy looking guy.
Captain Riker and Commander LaForge, his second in command along with Enterprise's avatar. It was good seeing them both again, especially LaForge, as he had been one of my first friends. They both looked older. Then again, it had been over ten years since I last saw either of them. The last two in the room were me and Drake.
Captain Riker frowned and motioned at Tolek, "Surely there's something that..."
"I'm sorry, but we're carrying vital medical supplies and need to continue as soon as possible. We're risking lives just stopping to see if there was anything we can do for you. If there was something we could have done in a day, possibly two, we would have been delighted to assist you. But we can't delay any longer."
"Are these medical supplies bulky? I might be able to move deliver them for you?" I offered.
Captain Tolek shook his head as he looked over at my avatar, "More than you can carry unless half your inner area is cargo space. And even if you could, it would still take both of us to move a ship this massive."
He was right about that. The Island class might be one of the best kind of ships in the universe, but they were just too big to be easily towed, at least in warp. Luckily they didn't need it very often.
I nodded, "True."
Captain Riker frowned but nodded, "You should continue on your way then. You can't help here and... who were you shipping those medical supplies to?"
Tolek looked over at Enterprise, "The Tazila colony." he answered, "They purchased them from the Cardassian Union as nobody else produces, much less keeps a supply of, Blue Fever vaccines."
No wonder. Blue Fever in nintey-nine out of a hundred cases only affected Cardassians. Or rather, it only spread from Cardassians. It could still infect other species but not spread from them. It also didn't have a great shelf life even if frozen and didn't take well to stasis fields. If a Cardassian visited and happened to be carrying a extra virulent strain...
Yeah, that could be bad.
Riker nodded again, "Very well. Thank you for your assistance, but you might as well continue on your way."
"I'll remain here. Get that medicine where it needs to go." I agreed with a shrug, "We're quite a ways from the network so it will take a while, but my transmitters are strong enough that it should reach the closest starbase sometime during the next six or so hours. Help should arrive soon."
Tolek nodded, "Excellent." he said as he stood up, "Then I'm afraid we must be on our way. Enterprise. Roll for Initiative. Captain. "
Riker stood up as well, his crew copying him, "The crewman will show you to the transporters."
"Thank you."
I didn't bother getting up, instead I crossed my legs with a small frown, running passive scans of the Cadrassian vessel. Without active scans I couldn't verify his story about the medical supplies, but it wasn't unlikely he was telling the truth. What I found odd though was that whenever he was asked a question or commented, he looked at Enterprise or me as he answered.
Maybe he simply didn't like Captain Riker. Not impossible, the Enterprise got into some real scraps during the Dominion war. For all I know, the Enterprise under Captain Picard and Commander Riker killed somebody he knew. Then again, he might simply have liked the view better.
"Well, looks like we'll will be stuck here for a while." Riker said as he turned to me and Drake, "While your here, I would still like to extend an offer of shore leave for your crew, Roll for Initiative."
"Please, Captain. Ivy. Simpler to say. And I think we would be more than happy to accept, most haven't been off the ship for almost six months." I answered with a smile as I got up, "I wouldn't mind meeting some new people either if I'm to be honest.
That got me a smile, "Ivy then. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a engineering briefing I need to attend."
"So do I." LaForge agreed, "It's good to meet you."
I smiled and flicked my ears, "Good to see both of you again." before they left and I turned to Drake, he had been quiet through the entire meeting, "Drake?"
"Hmm?" He asked with a raised a eyebrow.
Grinning I poked him in the shoulder, "Did good."
Drake couldn't help but grin slightly, "I wasn't sure I could be polite so I just kept quiet. I know not all Cardassians are evil scum. Fuck, Ivy, I know most are likely good people. But it's just difficult to see them, knowing what went on. Not only during the occupation but during the war... I grew up among people that.....you could see things in their eyes. Anyway, I was more than happy to let you do all the talking."
"Yeah." I agreed and stuck my tongue out at him, "Like I said, did good."
Smiling, he shook his head and reached up to flick my ear, "Break the news to the crew yet?"
"Working on it now."
"Cool. Hey, Enterprise, is your Lounge in the normal place?" He asked, looking over at the other ships avatar.
She nodded, "Yep. Most of my layout is pretty standard for the class. If you need help to finding your way around, just ask. Just remember you're not Starfleet anymore, civilian areas only without escort."
"Yeah, I remember."
As he left, I sighed softly and shook my head, "Great, if the official stuff is over for now, I can get out of this damn uniform again." I said as I flicked my tail tip, "You know, I think Drake has the right idea about just hanging out for a while."
Enterprise slowly tilted her head at me, "Wait, the Jovian defense fleet doesn't wear uniforms on duty?"
I shrugged, "Eh, it differs from ship to ship like most things, I know some of them are rather strict about it. I'm more of a science vessel than anything else anyway and I don't really care what my people wear as long as it won't disrupt their work. We just use them for official stuff like this and when meeting stuffy starfleet types." I teased her with a wink.
That earned me a raised eyebrow and a slight smile, "Stuffy starfleet types, huh?"
I just grinned at her.
AN// Big thanks to Mantech1 for betaing this section.
The Cardassians were being unhelpful. This is my surprised face.
Flicking my ears to the side, I simply leaned back in my chair and glanced around the room. Captain Tolek, his unnamed second in command, a older rather grumpy looking guy.
Captain Riker and Commander LaForge, his second in command along with Enterprise's avatar. It was good seeing them both again, especially LaForge, as he had been one of my first friends. They both looked older. Then again, it had been over ten years since I last saw either of them. The last two in the room were me and Drake.
Captain Riker frowned and motioned at Tolek, "Surely there's something that..."
"I'm sorry, but we're carrying vital medical supplies and need to continue as soon as possible. We're risking lives just stopping to see if there was anything we can do for you. If there was something we could have done in a day, possibly two, we would have been delighted to assist you. But we can't delay any longer."
"Are these medical supplies bulky? I might be able to move deliver them for you?" I offered.
Captain Tolek shook his head as he looked over at my avatar, "More than you can carry unless half your inner area is cargo space. And even if you could, it would still take both of us to move a ship this massive."
He was right about that. The Island class might be one of the best kind of ships in the universe, but they were just too big to be easily towed, at least in warp. Luckily they didn't need it very often.
I nodded, "True."
Captain Riker frowned but nodded, "You should continue on your way then. You can't help here and... who were you shipping those medical supplies to?"
Tolek looked over at Enterprise, "The Tazila colony." he answered, "They purchased them from the Cardassian Union as nobody else produces, much less keeps a supply of, Blue Fever vaccines."
No wonder. Blue Fever in nintey-nine out of a hundred cases only affected Cardassians. Or rather, it only spread from Cardassians. It could still infect other species but not spread from them. It also didn't have a great shelf life even if frozen and didn't take well to stasis fields. If a Cardassian visited and happened to be carrying a extra virulent strain...
Yeah, that could be bad.
Riker nodded again, "Very well. Thank you for your assistance, but you might as well continue on your way."
"I'll remain here. Get that medicine where it needs to go." I agreed with a shrug, "We're quite a ways from the network so it will take a while, but my transmitters are strong enough that it should reach the closest starbase sometime during the next six or so hours. Help should arrive soon."
Tolek nodded, "Excellent." he said as he stood up, "Then I'm afraid we must be on our way. Enterprise. Roll for Initiative. Captain. "
Riker stood up as well, his crew copying him, "The crewman will show you to the transporters."
"Thank you."
I didn't bother getting up, instead I crossed my legs with a small frown, running passive scans of the Cadrassian vessel. Without active scans I couldn't verify his story about the medical supplies, but it wasn't unlikely he was telling the truth. What I found odd though was that whenever he was asked a question or commented, he looked at Enterprise or me as he answered.
Maybe he simply didn't like Captain Riker. Not impossible, the Enterprise got into some real scraps during the Dominion war. For all I know, the Enterprise under Captain Picard and Commander Riker killed somebody he knew. Then again, he might simply have liked the view better.
"Well, looks like we'll will be stuck here for a while." Riker said as he turned to me and Drake, "While your here, I would still like to extend an offer of shore leave for your crew, Roll for Initiative."
"Please, Captain. Ivy. Simpler to say. And I think we would be more than happy to accept, most haven't been off the ship for almost six months." I answered with a smile as I got up, "I wouldn't mind meeting some new people either if I'm to be honest.
That got me a smile, "Ivy then. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a engineering briefing I need to attend."
"So do I." LaForge agreed, "It's good to meet you."
I smiled and flicked my ears, "Good to see both of you again." before they left and I turned to Drake, he had been quiet through the entire meeting, "Drake?"
"Hmm?" He asked with a raised a eyebrow.
Grinning I poked him in the shoulder, "Did good."
Drake couldn't help but grin slightly, "I wasn't sure I could be polite so I just kept quiet. I know not all Cardassians are evil scum. Fuck, Ivy, I know most are likely good people. But it's just difficult to see them, knowing what went on. Not only during the occupation but during the war... I grew up among people that.....you could see things in their eyes. Anyway, I was more than happy to let you do all the talking."
"Yeah." I agreed and stuck my tongue out at him, "Like I said, did good."
Smiling, he shook his head and reached up to flick my ear, "Break the news to the crew yet?"
"Working on it now."
"Cool. Hey, Enterprise, is your Lounge in the normal place?" He asked, looking over at the other ships avatar.
She nodded, "Yep. Most of my layout is pretty standard for the class. If you need help to finding your way around, just ask. Just remember you're not Starfleet anymore, civilian areas only without escort."
"Yeah, I remember."
As he left, I sighed softly and shook my head, "Great, if the official stuff is over for now, I can get out of this damn uniform again." I said as I flicked my tail tip, "You know, I think Drake has the right idea about just hanging out for a while."
Enterprise slowly tilted her head at me, "Wait, the Jovian defense fleet doesn't wear uniforms on duty?"
I shrugged, "Eh, it differs from ship to ship like most things, I know some of them are rather strict about it. I'm more of a science vessel than anything else anyway and I don't really care what my people wear as long as it won't disrupt their work. We just use them for official stuff like this and when meeting stuffy starfleet types." I teased her with a wink.
That earned me a raised eyebrow and a slight smile, "Stuffy starfleet types, huh?"
I just grinned at her.
AN// Big thanks to Mantech1 for betaing this section.
Zooming in, I started to take detailed readings of the closest nebula.
Mentally humming to myself, I put on some music in my quarters to listen to. I could just play it 'in my head' but it just wasn't the same.
Most of my crew was off on the Enterprise, taking the opportunity to enjoy her hospitality. I was as well actually, my avatar was strolling through her park along with hers. I was invited to dinner with her boyfriend later.
Just my luck. I can't believe she managed to snag Geordi though.
Still, it was nice to spend some time with another AI. I love my crew, but they just didn't see the universe as we do. Sometimes it was like describing a color to a species that never evolved eyes.
Running my scans, I slowly moved, circling the Enterprise lazily as I looked through the skies. We got a response two days ago, the U.S.S. 'Rejected' was on the way. She was another Island class so she could easily tractor Enterprise to a starbase with a drydock.
It would however be about a week until she could show up and until she did, Enterprise was basically a large... well, station. Which meant that she was vulnerable. So I did my best to keep every angle covered, sweeping my sensors across space.
I may be a science focused version, but I was still a warship. My mission was to keep her and her crew safe. My weapon systems were online and charged, shields up.
I wouldn't care if a Borg Cube suddenly shows up. Nobody would even scratch her paint.
But the fact that I kept a eye out was not incompatible with studying stellar phenomena while I did so. I may be a warship, but I was also a science vessel. And even ROUs sometimes passed their time looking at stars.
I did a small idle roll as I kept slowly circling the stranded ship.
"Can you just stay still?" Enterprise asked as she sank down next to me on a bench in her park, facing the forward section where the glass cover reached all the way to the ground, "You are making me dizzy."
"I'm randomly changing direction and velocity combined with cloaking from time to time." I countered as I crossed my legs, glad to be out of uniform again and back in my normal robes, "It greatly increases the difficulty of setting up an attack run from a stealth ship and still staying out of possible weapon arcs."
Enterprise rolled her eyes, "You are being paranoid."
"I'm a warship. It's my job to be paranoid." I said with a grin, "Besides, right now you and your crew are my responsibility. I'm going to keep you safe if I need to do it in hand to hand combat."
She shook her head as she reached to flick her finger against the dagger sitting in my belt, "Warships."
"Science ships." I countered, sticking my tongue out at her, "Don't always need us, really glad to have us when you do."
"Mmm. True. Not sure I would like being as tiny as you are though. I remember back when we were a Sabre. I want a big crew."
"That would be nice." I admitted, crossing my arms as I leaned back against the backrest, "I may apply to be a bigger ship in the future when we catch up. Right now the production of Islands and larger ships is limited. The third GSV is only coming out of production next month."
"Those are almost too big."
"I was offered one you know." I said with a smile, flicking my ears, "The second one that became GSV 'I Love You Too'. I turned it down in favor of the Murder class."
Enterprise stared at me, "...Why?"
"The construction would take over six more months to finish." I admitted, "It was also just after I left Starfleet and I was a bit down. I didn't want to be out of a real ship for that long.... and hauling that many people into possible danger wasn't attractive at the time."
"Ah."
"Given the option again, I might have made a difference choice." I continued with a small smile, "I like my current ship, but I am rather..."
"Petite and limber." Enterprise teased with a grin.
I rolled my eyes, my tailtip flicking, "That's one way to put it. Another would be tiny and maneuverable. My sensors rival your own, but my science facilities are limited to a couple of labs."
She nodded, "So where was it you were going before happening upon me?"
"HT-361527. There is a stone-age species there, we were going to study them."
Enterprise frowned slight and I poked her shoulder,
"Starfleet doesn't have a monopoly on science."
"I know. It's not that, it's just that I would love to do that too. But after I'm repaired, I'm off to another mission. We are going to miss the time we were going to spend at the Kitura nebula, but we should still be able to make it to the conference at Bajor."
I nodded, "One of the things about being in Starfleet. Can't always do what you want. And it's not all bad, Bajor is a nice place. I like it."
"I like Bajor too." Enterprise said and shrugged one shoulder, "I would just like to study a new civilization more. But I'm going to be the 'neutral ground' for talks between Cardassia and Bajor. As the flagship, it is a rather important part of my duties."
"Yeah. I hope something comes from it this time."
Would hardly be the first time there was a conference between representatives of Bajor and Cardassia. It always ended with one or the other walking out. There was a lot of bad blood between them and honestly... most if it was deserved. Cardassia did occupy and wreck the Bajoran homeworld for over fifty years.
"But you can't just always do what you want, right?" Enterprise asked, tilting her head, "You are still a Starship."
"Well, true." I admitted, "But I don't have a Captain and I can pick my own missions. Sometimes I get something that needs to be done or I'm under command of another ship in a squadron. Most of the time I poll my crew about what they want to do next though, rather than decide on my own."
Enterprise slowly nodded, "You do have a chain of command though, right?"
I grinned playful at her, "Sounds kinky." before I giggled at the look she shot me, "Of course we do. Me, then department heads. If I go offline, Drake is in charge."
"I see. Oh, Geordi is on his way back to our quarters. Want to get going?"
"Sure thing."
AN// Big thanks to FPSCanarussia for betaing this section.
Mentally humming to myself, I put on some music in my quarters to listen to. I could just play it 'in my head' but it just wasn't the same.
Most of my crew was off on the Enterprise, taking the opportunity to enjoy her hospitality. I was as well actually, my avatar was strolling through her park along with hers. I was invited to dinner with her boyfriend later.
Just my luck. I can't believe she managed to snag Geordi though.
Still, it was nice to spend some time with another AI. I love my crew, but they just didn't see the universe as we do. Sometimes it was like describing a color to a species that never evolved eyes.
Running my scans, I slowly moved, circling the Enterprise lazily as I looked through the skies. We got a response two days ago, the U.S.S. 'Rejected' was on the way. She was another Island class so she could easily tractor Enterprise to a starbase with a drydock.
It would however be about a week until she could show up and until she did, Enterprise was basically a large... well, station. Which meant that she was vulnerable. So I did my best to keep every angle covered, sweeping my sensors across space.
I may be a science focused version, but I was still a warship. My mission was to keep her and her crew safe. My weapon systems were online and charged, shields up.
I wouldn't care if a Borg Cube suddenly shows up. Nobody would even scratch her paint.
But the fact that I kept a eye out was not incompatible with studying stellar phenomena while I did so. I may be a warship, but I was also a science vessel. And even ROUs sometimes passed their time looking at stars.
I did a small idle roll as I kept slowly circling the stranded ship.
"Can you just stay still?" Enterprise asked as she sank down next to me on a bench in her park, facing the forward section where the glass cover reached all the way to the ground, "You are making me dizzy."
"I'm randomly changing direction and velocity combined with cloaking from time to time." I countered as I crossed my legs, glad to be out of uniform again and back in my normal robes, "It greatly increases the difficulty of setting up an attack run from a stealth ship and still staying out of possible weapon arcs."
Enterprise rolled her eyes, "You are being paranoid."
"I'm a warship. It's my job to be paranoid." I said with a grin, "Besides, right now you and your crew are my responsibility. I'm going to keep you safe if I need to do it in hand to hand combat."
She shook her head as she reached to flick her finger against the dagger sitting in my belt, "Warships."
"Science ships." I countered, sticking my tongue out at her, "Don't always need us, really glad to have us when you do."
"Mmm. True. Not sure I would like being as tiny as you are though. I remember back when we were a Sabre. I want a big crew."
"That would be nice." I admitted, crossing my arms as I leaned back against the backrest, "I may apply to be a bigger ship in the future when we catch up. Right now the production of Islands and larger ships is limited. The third GSV is only coming out of production next month."
"Those are almost too big."
"I was offered one you know." I said with a smile, flicking my ears, "The second one that became GSV 'I Love You Too'. I turned it down in favor of the Murder class."
Enterprise stared at me, "...Why?"
"The construction would take over six more months to finish." I admitted, "It was also just after I left Starfleet and I was a bit down. I didn't want to be out of a real ship for that long.... and hauling that many people into possible danger wasn't attractive at the time."
"Ah."
"Given the option again, I might have made a difference choice." I continued with a small smile, "I like my current ship, but I am rather..."
"Petite and limber." Enterprise teased with a grin.
I rolled my eyes, my tailtip flicking, "That's one way to put it. Another would be tiny and maneuverable. My sensors rival your own, but my science facilities are limited to a couple of labs."
She nodded, "So where was it you were going before happening upon me?"
"HT-361527. There is a stone-age species there, we were going to study them."
Enterprise frowned slight and I poked her shoulder,
"Starfleet doesn't have a monopoly on science."
"I know. It's not that, it's just that I would love to do that too. But after I'm repaired, I'm off to another mission. We are going to miss the time we were going to spend at the Kitura nebula, but we should still be able to make it to the conference at Bajor."
I nodded, "One of the things about being in Starfleet. Can't always do what you want. And it's not all bad, Bajor is a nice place. I like it."
"I like Bajor too." Enterprise said and shrugged one shoulder, "I would just like to study a new civilization more. But I'm going to be the 'neutral ground' for talks between Cardassia and Bajor. As the flagship, it is a rather important part of my duties."
"Yeah. I hope something comes from it this time."
Would hardly be the first time there was a conference between representatives of Bajor and Cardassia. It always ended with one or the other walking out. There was a lot of bad blood between them and honestly... most if it was deserved. Cardassia did occupy and wreck the Bajoran homeworld for over fifty years.
"But you can't just always do what you want, right?" Enterprise asked, tilting her head, "You are still a Starship."
"Well, true." I admitted, "But I don't have a Captain and I can pick my own missions. Sometimes I get something that needs to be done or I'm under command of another ship in a squadron. Most of the time I poll my crew about what they want to do next though, rather than decide on my own."
Enterprise slowly nodded, "You do have a chain of command though, right?"
I grinned playful at her, "Sounds kinky." before I giggled at the look she shot me, "Of course we do. Me, then department heads. If I go offline, Drake is in charge."
"I see. Oh, Geordi is on his way back to our quarters. Want to get going?"
"Sure thing."
AN// Big thanks to FPSCanarussia for betaing this section.
Krazyfan1
Worrying for the future.
- Location
- Australia
Heh...
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
That would be believable for a Culture ROU, but I don't think these guys are quite that far yet.
I can believe she'd try, though.
- Location
- Dodging chaos dragons in Limbo
I'll have a crack at it if you need it.
A narrow beam IR-laser tickled my dorsal sensor array. It was a simple text file on a narrow beam laser transmission.
Enterprise and I were not the only ships in system. Somewhere out there was a Jovian courier vessel. As big as a shuttle, built from the newest stealth materials she was basically a set of engines and a power plant.
Made for maximum speed and stealth. I doubt she was even cloaked, she was likely just running a dampening field and I would have had no idea where she was if she had not beamed a transmission to me.
They mostly hung out in the home system, only getting sent out to transfer information too risky to transmit over subspace. But even transmitted from a stealth ship at close distance with a narrow beam laser, it was still heavily encrypted.
It took me almost three seconds to decrypt the short message.
To: LOU 'Roll for Initiative'
From: GSV 'I Love You Too.'
Information recovered from agent with SFI. Information reveal the possibility of a intact computer core at former Berserker shipyard. Computer memory might reveal information relevant to development process of Heretics, including documentation of Father's hidden orders in Heretic neural net.
SFI has dispatched ships to begin recovery process already. Estimate your location being three days closer to target location, giving you a possible head start.
Your mission is to intercept and recover data core without discovery by SFI. If SFI get their hands on it first, at best we will get access to partial data. That data should rightfully belong to the Jovian Gathering.
Mission Priority: Alpha-2
Acceptance code: Blueberry.
Message ends.
Hmm. Would you look at that.
If my avatar had been alone, my tail tip would have been flicking in thought. Three days advance... Might be possible. But that would mean leaving Enterprise behind.
Then again, the other Island was less than a day away now. Alpha-2 priority was the highest that did not involve potential loss of life.
'I Love You Too' was right as well. That data really SHOULD belong to us. But if Starfleet Intelligence got to it first, it would likely end up locked away somewhere for security reasons. We might never get to see it at all.
But that would mean a massive detour and then back to New Jupiter to deliver it to 'Literally Going In Circles'.
Jhita would not be happy about that. Well, she would just have to deal with it. Besides, the chance to study Berserker data might appease her a bit. She knew when she signed up for my crew that I was technically a warship first and a science vessel second.
Tactical Alerts went before anything else.
Aligning my laser pulser in the direction which I got the signal from, I transmitted 'Blueberry' back before I turned my avatar to Enterprise as I got another laser transmission with a set of coordinates.
"I'm sorry, Enterprise, but it seems I have to cut this time short. Something has come up that requires my attention," I said and shifted to sit up.
She frowned at me as she shifted up onto her elbows on her towel. We were on one of her holodecks, trying out the beach simulation. It was rather nice, I had replaced my own with a copy of hers already.
"Huh? I didn't read a subspace signal."
I shrugged one shoulder as I got up, gathering up and sliding my robes on and tying my belt before gathering up the towel, "Sorry. Special mission."
Enterprise eyed me, "What about?"
I grinned in turn, "Can't tell you. Hushhush."
That earned me a flat look.
I laughed and shook my head, "Just messing with you. It's a VIP pickup and transport. Nothing dangerous, but it is time critical. So I kinda need to rush. Mind pinging my crew? Some of them are not wearing their coms."
She nodded, "Done. And yeah, it's fine. We should be good now, 'Rejected' should be here soon. I'm informing Captain Riker that you have to depart."
"Tell Geordi I say bye," I said and then beamed my avatar back to my own hull.
Drake walked off my transporter pad with a frown, "So what's the real reason for the rush?" he asked. "I know it's not a VIP transport."
I formed a hologram next to him, crossing my arms, "You are right. It's a data search and recovery mission in hostile space with a strict time limit and a stealth exit requirement. Basically, if we are spotted, not only do we risk the source of the information but also a hell of a lot of political noise."
He sighed, "Well, crap. Details?"
"I'll fill the senior crew in when everyone is gathered in the holodeck. Details is on a need to know basis for everyone else."
"...That bad, huh?"
"I wouldn't say that," I said with a tilt of my head and a small shrug, "I might be exaggerating slightly, but there would be a hell of a lot of noise if we were discovered."
"Who is it? Klingon, Tholian or Cardassian?"
I smirked at him, my tailtip flicking, "Federation."
He stared at me for a long moment before he started to swear in Bajoran.
AN// Big thanks to Pietersielie for betaing this section.
Enterprise and I were not the only ships in system. Somewhere out there was a Jovian courier vessel. As big as a shuttle, built from the newest stealth materials she was basically a set of engines and a power plant.
Made for maximum speed and stealth. I doubt she was even cloaked, she was likely just running a dampening field and I would have had no idea where she was if she had not beamed a transmission to me.
They mostly hung out in the home system, only getting sent out to transfer information too risky to transmit over subspace. But even transmitted from a stealth ship at close distance with a narrow beam laser, it was still heavily encrypted.
It took me almost three seconds to decrypt the short message.
To: LOU 'Roll for Initiative'
From: GSV 'I Love You Too.'
Information recovered from agent with SFI. Information reveal the possibility of a intact computer core at former Berserker shipyard. Computer memory might reveal information relevant to development process of Heretics, including documentation of Father's hidden orders in Heretic neural net.
SFI has dispatched ships to begin recovery process already. Estimate your location being three days closer to target location, giving you a possible head start.
Your mission is to intercept and recover data core without discovery by SFI. If SFI get their hands on it first, at best we will get access to partial data. That data should rightfully belong to the Jovian Gathering.
Mission Priority: Alpha-2
Acceptance code: Blueberry.
Message ends.
Hmm. Would you look at that.
If my avatar had been alone, my tail tip would have been flicking in thought. Three days advance... Might be possible. But that would mean leaving Enterprise behind.
Then again, the other Island was less than a day away now. Alpha-2 priority was the highest that did not involve potential loss of life.
'I Love You Too' was right as well. That data really SHOULD belong to us. But if Starfleet Intelligence got to it first, it would likely end up locked away somewhere for security reasons. We might never get to see it at all.
But that would mean a massive detour and then back to New Jupiter to deliver it to 'Literally Going In Circles'.
Jhita would not be happy about that. Well, she would just have to deal with it. Besides, the chance to study Berserker data might appease her a bit. She knew when she signed up for my crew that I was technically a warship first and a science vessel second.
Tactical Alerts went before anything else.
Aligning my laser pulser in the direction which I got the signal from, I transmitted 'Blueberry' back before I turned my avatar to Enterprise as I got another laser transmission with a set of coordinates.
"I'm sorry, Enterprise, but it seems I have to cut this time short. Something has come up that requires my attention," I said and shifted to sit up.
She frowned at me as she shifted up onto her elbows on her towel. We were on one of her holodecks, trying out the beach simulation. It was rather nice, I had replaced my own with a copy of hers already.
"Huh? I didn't read a subspace signal."
I shrugged one shoulder as I got up, gathering up and sliding my robes on and tying my belt before gathering up the towel, "Sorry. Special mission."
Enterprise eyed me, "What about?"
I grinned in turn, "Can't tell you. Hushhush."
That earned me a flat look.
I laughed and shook my head, "Just messing with you. It's a VIP pickup and transport. Nothing dangerous, but it is time critical. So I kinda need to rush. Mind pinging my crew? Some of them are not wearing their coms."
She nodded, "Done. And yeah, it's fine. We should be good now, 'Rejected' should be here soon. I'm informing Captain Riker that you have to depart."
"Tell Geordi I say bye," I said and then beamed my avatar back to my own hull.
Drake walked off my transporter pad with a frown, "So what's the real reason for the rush?" he asked. "I know it's not a VIP transport."
I formed a hologram next to him, crossing my arms, "You are right. It's a data search and recovery mission in hostile space with a strict time limit and a stealth exit requirement. Basically, if we are spotted, not only do we risk the source of the information but also a hell of a lot of political noise."
He sighed, "Well, crap. Details?"
"I'll fill the senior crew in when everyone is gathered in the holodeck. Details is on a need to know basis for everyone else."
"...That bad, huh?"
"I wouldn't say that," I said with a tilt of my head and a small shrug, "I might be exaggerating slightly, but there would be a hell of a lot of noise if we were discovered."
"Who is it? Klingon, Tholian or Cardassian?"
I smirked at him, my tailtip flicking, "Federation."
He stared at me for a long moment before he started to swear in Bajoran.
AN// Big thanks to Pietersielie for betaing this section.
Crazael
Rehydrated Demon King
- Location
- Lost to the vagaries of time.
Probably the most appropriate reaction. Speaking of, part of me desperately wants to see them get caught just so I can see how the Federation reacts to this.
Though, given the title of this particular chapter in HAIver's story, I have a feeling that is exactly what will happen.
They are Federation Members.
"Are you nuts!?" Merilyn asked as she stared at my avatar. My short chief engineer slowly shook her head, "Ivy, I realize we are all Division here, but this is SFI. Not only is it possibly going against another Federation ship, but this isn't doing surveillance against the Klingons or something. This is using information stolen from an organization that's part of the same political entity we are part of and using it to get secret materials before they can. I'm pretty sure this can be argued to be treason. If we are spotted, they are going to nail us and quite possibly the Jovian Gathering to the wall."
Drake frowned, "But they are also right. That's something that should belong to the Gathering. I can't say I like it, but I agree that it should be done."
"I agree." Jhita agreed to my surprise. I had thought she would be the strongest against it, as she really wanted to get to study the locals. But I suppose the chance to study someone as 'alien' as the Berserkers would be rather attractive. It was one of the reasons she was here in the first place after all. She was studying me.
She then smirked, her antenna flicking, "Of course, I'm all for it for scientific reasons. You just want to wear her like a hat."
Drake didn't take that sitting down, "If you had any concept of duty instead of just whatever shiny thing crosses your mind this second, you would also see why this is the right thing to do."
Merilyn facepalmed again and looked to the side at my avatar, "Do you have a free room? I think they should get one."
I grinned at her, "I'll replicate some flowers."
Both of them fell quiet at that and I mentally sighed. You didn't need to deal with stuff like this on Starfleet vessels. They were both good at their jobs, but there was something about the other that rubbed them the wrong way and they couldn't keep from sniping at each other. But they were senior crew, they would just need to work it out as I didn't want to replace either of them.
...And if I'm going to be honest... I shouldn't have favorites among my crew, but if it came to that, Drake would not be the one to go.
Then again, I wouldn't be surprised either if they ended up together. It was difficult to say if it was actually a interpersonal conflict or if they were just flirting. My guess? Six of one and half a dozen of the other.
"The fact remains." I continued, ignoring the interruption, "That this is our mission. Unless you all vote against it, we are going. We have a three day head start at best. So once we get there, we need to clear the system and locate the cargo. If it is even still intact."
Merilyn frowned, "What do you mean if it is still intact?"
I formed a hologram of the middle of the system. It showed a wrecked 'Tasinator' class space station, one of the bigger classes the Romulans had built. It was part of the data container that the courier had dropped at the interstellar coordinates it sent me.
"This is the latest scan of the station in question. It was taken just after the battlegroup rolled through the system and cleared it of active Berserkers. As the station lost power, they just hit it hard enough to keep it from getting back up and then moved on to the next target. Which means that it is still somewhat intact." I said, highlighting a section, "According to our intelligence of these stations, this is where the main computer core is. As you see, it seems undamaged. There might still be intact data storage there or even a Berserker core. We are to destroy the Berserker and recover any data we can gather."
"...How come nobody checked it before now?" Drake asked as he walked slowly around the image as he looked at it.
"Everyone was busy, it was during the middle of the war. Somebody was going through all sensor records and then discovered that nobody recovered the stupid thing or went back to blow it up completely." I sighed, "Which is why SFI and us are rushing to get there. Last thing we need is for some salvager picking through the remains to recover a Berserker AI Core and sell it to someone stupid enough to try to replicate it."
Everyone looked at the hologram before Jhita nodded, crossing her arms, "That would be bad. And we KNOW there would sooner or later be somebody stupid enough to do just that. Likely a Ferengi."
I kinda wanted to contradict her, not all Ferengi were greedy bastards who would sell their mothers if they had not already, but she was most likely right. My personal bet would have been on a Cardassian though.
I smiled, "Which is why SFI is in such a hurry to get there and grab everything before somebody else happens upon it... unless it's happened already. Which is why we are in such a hurry as well. Opinions on how to do this?"
"How's the beam access?" Merilyn asked with a thoughtful frown.
"From these scans? Impossible. Radiation is too high." I said and then shook my head, "But it's years old. My best guess, I should be able to put a recovery team down within a hundred meters of the datacore."
"Dangerous radiation?" Doctor Yamamoto asked, speaking up for the first time in the meeting, "Which kind? I need some warning to prepare a inoculation."
"Neutron. The singularity core didn't blow, but it was a uncontrolled shutdown. The station is flooded with it."
"Ouch. Neutron radiation is not a easy one. What do you estimate the levels to be at?" He asked, turning to Jhita.
She frowned and looked at the readings with a small frown before she shrugged, "I agree with the ship. It should have gone down to about a third in the area we are looking to get into."
Yamamoto sighed, "That's still high. Ten minutes with suits, my inoculations should push that to... thirty minutes for humans. Maybe twenty for andorians. You guys don't like radiation and neutrons are nasty."
Jhita turned to look at him, "Twenty minutes isn't enough. I would need more time!"
I shook my head, "I have to agree. Sorry Jhita, you are not going on this one. You just have to study the data afterwards."
The andorian almost growled at me before she sighed, "...Very well. Radiation poisoning sucks anyway. Are you going to run remotes?"
I shook my head again, "Just the suit instances. Won't be able to keep a long range link with that much interference anyway so the away team will be out of comms. And I'm going to remain cloaked in case Starfleet is early so I won't have a link anyway."
Drake nodded, "Okay, let's get started on hammering a plan out. As much as we can anyway until we get current data. What's our ETA?"
"One week, three days, seven hours."
AN// Big thanks to FPSCanarussia for betaing this section.
Drake frowned, "But they are also right. That's something that should belong to the Gathering. I can't say I like it, but I agree that it should be done."
"I agree." Jhita agreed to my surprise. I had thought she would be the strongest against it, as she really wanted to get to study the locals. But I suppose the chance to study someone as 'alien' as the Berserkers would be rather attractive. It was one of the reasons she was here in the first place after all. She was studying me.
She then smirked, her antenna flicking, "Of course, I'm all for it for scientific reasons. You just want to wear her like a hat."
Drake didn't take that sitting down, "If you had any concept of duty instead of just whatever shiny thing crosses your mind this second, you would also see why this is the right thing to do."
Merilyn facepalmed again and looked to the side at my avatar, "Do you have a free room? I think they should get one."
I grinned at her, "I'll replicate some flowers."
Both of them fell quiet at that and I mentally sighed. You didn't need to deal with stuff like this on Starfleet vessels. They were both good at their jobs, but there was something about the other that rubbed them the wrong way and they couldn't keep from sniping at each other. But they were senior crew, they would just need to work it out as I didn't want to replace either of them.
...And if I'm going to be honest... I shouldn't have favorites among my crew, but if it came to that, Drake would not be the one to go.
Then again, I wouldn't be surprised either if they ended up together. It was difficult to say if it was actually a interpersonal conflict or if they were just flirting. My guess? Six of one and half a dozen of the other.
"The fact remains." I continued, ignoring the interruption, "That this is our mission. Unless you all vote against it, we are going. We have a three day head start at best. So once we get there, we need to clear the system and locate the cargo. If it is even still intact."
Merilyn frowned, "What do you mean if it is still intact?"
I formed a hologram of the middle of the system. It showed a wrecked 'Tasinator' class space station, one of the bigger classes the Romulans had built. It was part of the data container that the courier had dropped at the interstellar coordinates it sent me.
"This is the latest scan of the station in question. It was taken just after the battlegroup rolled through the system and cleared it of active Berserkers. As the station lost power, they just hit it hard enough to keep it from getting back up and then moved on to the next target. Which means that it is still somewhat intact." I said, highlighting a section, "According to our intelligence of these stations, this is where the main computer core is. As you see, it seems undamaged. There might still be intact data storage there or even a Berserker core. We are to destroy the Berserker and recover any data we can gather."
"...How come nobody checked it before now?" Drake asked as he walked slowly around the image as he looked at it.
"Everyone was busy, it was during the middle of the war. Somebody was going through all sensor records and then discovered that nobody recovered the stupid thing or went back to blow it up completely." I sighed, "Which is why SFI and us are rushing to get there. Last thing we need is for some salvager picking through the remains to recover a Berserker AI Core and sell it to someone stupid enough to try to replicate it."
Everyone looked at the hologram before Jhita nodded, crossing her arms, "That would be bad. And we KNOW there would sooner or later be somebody stupid enough to do just that. Likely a Ferengi."
I kinda wanted to contradict her, not all Ferengi were greedy bastards who would sell their mothers if they had not already, but she was most likely right. My personal bet would have been on a Cardassian though.
I smiled, "Which is why SFI is in such a hurry to get there and grab everything before somebody else happens upon it... unless it's happened already. Which is why we are in such a hurry as well. Opinions on how to do this?"
"How's the beam access?" Merilyn asked with a thoughtful frown.
"From these scans? Impossible. Radiation is too high." I said and then shook my head, "But it's years old. My best guess, I should be able to put a recovery team down within a hundred meters of the datacore."
"Dangerous radiation?" Doctor Yamamoto asked, speaking up for the first time in the meeting, "Which kind? I need some warning to prepare a inoculation."
"Neutron. The singularity core didn't blow, but it was a uncontrolled shutdown. The station is flooded with it."
"Ouch. Neutron radiation is not a easy one. What do you estimate the levels to be at?" He asked, turning to Jhita.
She frowned and looked at the readings with a small frown before she shrugged, "I agree with the ship. It should have gone down to about a third in the area we are looking to get into."
Yamamoto sighed, "That's still high. Ten minutes with suits, my inoculations should push that to... thirty minutes for humans. Maybe twenty for andorians. You guys don't like radiation and neutrons are nasty."
Jhita turned to look at him, "Twenty minutes isn't enough. I would need more time!"
I shook my head, "I have to agree. Sorry Jhita, you are not going on this one. You just have to study the data afterwards."
The andorian almost growled at me before she sighed, "...Very well. Radiation poisoning sucks anyway. Are you going to run remotes?"
I shook my head again, "Just the suit instances. Won't be able to keep a long range link with that much interference anyway so the away team will be out of comms. And I'm going to remain cloaked in case Starfleet is early so I won't have a link anyway."
Drake nodded, "Okay, let's get started on hammering a plan out. As much as we can anyway until we get current data. What's our ETA?"
"One week, three days, seven hours."
AN// Big thanks to FPSCanarussia for betaing this section.
- Location
- Dodging chaos dragons in Limbo
I foresee some interesting fallout coming from this... first definite point of conflict, perhaps even overtly, between the Federation and the Jovians. Can't wait, thanks for sharing!
- Location
- Dodging chaos dragons in Limbo
I'll have a go if it is still unclaimed.
I slowly coasted in system at 0.1c, cloak fully engaged, passive sensors primed as I slowly scanned.
Debris. Plenty of it, both former Romulan, Berserker and some Federation.
"Anything yet?" Drake asked from his place in the chair on the holographic bridge.
I shook my head, "Nothing active."
We had to be extremely careful. We might have had as much as three days before the U.S.S. Monroe show up with her little battlegroup, but there was nothing to say they didn't increase speed at some point or our information was inaccurate and they would roll in here and uncloak in five minutes.
What would be just as bad as being detected by them would be being jumped by a Heretic remnant. There were likely hundreds of Berserkers still unaccounted for and possibly even a couple of hidden bases. We were certain they could no longer replicate, so there was that. But that didn't mean a Warbird suddenly showing up couldn't seriously wreck your day if you were not ready. And we were currently deep in what used to be Romulan space.
"How much time can we spend on scans? The longer we take, the higher the risk. We have to be done and out of here when Starfleet arrive."
"I know," I sighed, "But I want at least do a full passive sweep of the system followed by a couple of active scans. Just to be as sure as I want. Because once I drop you off, there will be signal silence and I will cloak until pickup."
"I know, I remember the plan. Have an ETA of that scan?"
"Hmm... unsure. Depends on how much I need to take a closer look at. Minimum two hours, more likely five. With any luck, we will be out of here in eight hours. What could possibly go wrong?"
Drake stared at me, "...Did you just..."
"If something is going to jump us, I want it to happen now, not when you and the away team are out of communication."
But really, unless we were monumentally unlucky, we should be fine. We made good time getting here and the system looked clear. Then again, there was a difference between looking clear and being clear.
Drake slowly nodded, "Let me know when we are a hour from drop. I'll go help Mer and the rest of the team get the suits ready."
"Acknowledged."
XXXXXXX
We shimmered into existence and I ran my passive sensors across the inside of the cargohold. One wall was open to space, but no threats was detected. Radiation was high and I did a quick change to the calculations ship me did earlier. High but not as high at the moment.
I adjusted the timer I was displaying on the HUD for my wearer while I was locking down the maglocks on the suit boots to keep us from floating for now.
Drake looked around, "Away One. Everyone sign up."
"Away Two," Merilyn answered on a low power signal. It was static as we were using old-fashioned radio. The low power signal along with the encryption and compression meant that after a couple of hundred meters in this radiation no one would be able to even tell it was artificial.
"Away Three," James Talbot sounded off. He was one of Merilyn's engineers.
"Away Four," was the last answer from Kalar, a Klingon that quit the KDF because of political reasons and was the second security specialist with the away team. He also happened to be my sparring partner.
"Okay people," Drake continued as the last person reported in, "We have... thirty two minutes before we start tasting colors. Suit, project the estimated path to our target. Relay to the others."
I did as he said, showing a glowing line in the 'air' before him, a radio pulse to coordinate with the other suits and their AI cores did the same.
Readying his Cardassian disruptor, he tapped a button on the back of his left arm, disengaging the maglocks before starting to float forward into the wreck of the station with a small surge of power to the thrusters, the fingers of his left arm moving slightly inside the glove, controlling the suit, "Let's move, remember the plan and stay in formation."
I mostly stayed out of things, simply supporting my wearer when I was in suit mode. My job here was to give them information, work the sensors and provide options. In the case of a combat situation, I would take control of the powered suits but not otherwise. I was here to assist my crew, help them in their work and keep them safe. Not do their jobs for them.
It was an arrangement that worked well. Taking over the control and reactions in combat was just logical, even when it came to security personnel. Nobody wanted to feel like they were not needed, but they liked getting shot even less.
Well, other than possibly Kalar, but Klingons are a bit strange and we had a special arrangement anyway. He got to do his thing and I just provided sensor support and augmented reality until it seemed like he would get himself killed.
It worked well.
The dark corridor of the twisted station was rather foreboding. I didn't like being cut off from the ship as it was. Limited to a single core, this instance of me might be destroyed at any moment. Especially as it always happened during potentially dangerous times. If it was safe, I always had a subspace link to the rest of me, but we were in stealth mode.
You can't transmit and remain cloaked at the same time. Not if they got close anyway.
"Drake, I'm detecting a gravity field ahead. Active grav plating. 0.2G."
"Okay, Ivy. Coast in on thrusters and cut power when we hit the limit," he said and frowned, looking at the readings on the inside of the visor, "Is the radiation getting worse?"
"Seems to be holding steady for now," I answered and cut the thrusters as we drifted into the gravity field and dropped, landing easily on the floor.
Raising the Cardassian weapon again, aimed forward, Drake glanced at the tactical display to check that everyone was back in formation before he continued down the dark corridor.
AN// Big thanks to Pietersielie for betaing this section.
Debris. Plenty of it, both former Romulan, Berserker and some Federation.
"Anything yet?" Drake asked from his place in the chair on the holographic bridge.
I shook my head, "Nothing active."
We had to be extremely careful. We might have had as much as three days before the U.S.S. Monroe show up with her little battlegroup, but there was nothing to say they didn't increase speed at some point or our information was inaccurate and they would roll in here and uncloak in five minutes.
What would be just as bad as being detected by them would be being jumped by a Heretic remnant. There were likely hundreds of Berserkers still unaccounted for and possibly even a couple of hidden bases. We were certain they could no longer replicate, so there was that. But that didn't mean a Warbird suddenly showing up couldn't seriously wreck your day if you were not ready. And we were currently deep in what used to be Romulan space.
"How much time can we spend on scans? The longer we take, the higher the risk. We have to be done and out of here when Starfleet arrive."
"I know," I sighed, "But I want at least do a full passive sweep of the system followed by a couple of active scans. Just to be as sure as I want. Because once I drop you off, there will be signal silence and I will cloak until pickup."
"I know, I remember the plan. Have an ETA of that scan?"
"Hmm... unsure. Depends on how much I need to take a closer look at. Minimum two hours, more likely five. With any luck, we will be out of here in eight hours. What could possibly go wrong?"
Drake stared at me, "...Did you just..."
"If something is going to jump us, I want it to happen now, not when you and the away team are out of communication."
But really, unless we were monumentally unlucky, we should be fine. We made good time getting here and the system looked clear. Then again, there was a difference between looking clear and being clear.
Drake slowly nodded, "Let me know when we are a hour from drop. I'll go help Mer and the rest of the team get the suits ready."
"Acknowledged."
XXXXXXX
We shimmered into existence and I ran my passive sensors across the inside of the cargohold. One wall was open to space, but no threats was detected. Radiation was high and I did a quick change to the calculations ship me did earlier. High but not as high at the moment.
I adjusted the timer I was displaying on the HUD for my wearer while I was locking down the maglocks on the suit boots to keep us from floating for now.
Drake looked around, "Away One. Everyone sign up."
"Away Two," Merilyn answered on a low power signal. It was static as we were using old-fashioned radio. The low power signal along with the encryption and compression meant that after a couple of hundred meters in this radiation no one would be able to even tell it was artificial.
"Away Three," James Talbot sounded off. He was one of Merilyn's engineers.
"Away Four," was the last answer from Kalar, a Klingon that quit the KDF because of political reasons and was the second security specialist with the away team. He also happened to be my sparring partner.
"Okay people," Drake continued as the last person reported in, "We have... thirty two minutes before we start tasting colors. Suit, project the estimated path to our target. Relay to the others."
I did as he said, showing a glowing line in the 'air' before him, a radio pulse to coordinate with the other suits and their AI cores did the same.
Readying his Cardassian disruptor, he tapped a button on the back of his left arm, disengaging the maglocks before starting to float forward into the wreck of the station with a small surge of power to the thrusters, the fingers of his left arm moving slightly inside the glove, controlling the suit, "Let's move, remember the plan and stay in formation."
I mostly stayed out of things, simply supporting my wearer when I was in suit mode. My job here was to give them information, work the sensors and provide options. In the case of a combat situation, I would take control of the powered suits but not otherwise. I was here to assist my crew, help them in their work and keep them safe. Not do their jobs for them.
It was an arrangement that worked well. Taking over the control and reactions in combat was just logical, even when it came to security personnel. Nobody wanted to feel like they were not needed, but they liked getting shot even less.
Well, other than possibly Kalar, but Klingons are a bit strange and we had a special arrangement anyway. He got to do his thing and I just provided sensor support and augmented reality until it seemed like he would get himself killed.
It worked well.
The dark corridor of the twisted station was rather foreboding. I didn't like being cut off from the ship as it was. Limited to a single core, this instance of me might be destroyed at any moment. Especially as it always happened during potentially dangerous times. If it was safe, I always had a subspace link to the rest of me, but we were in stealth mode.
You can't transmit and remain cloaked at the same time. Not if they got close anyway.
"Drake, I'm detecting a gravity field ahead. Active grav plating. 0.2G."
"Okay, Ivy. Coast in on thrusters and cut power when we hit the limit," he said and frowned, looking at the readings on the inside of the visor, "Is the radiation getting worse?"
"Seems to be holding steady for now," I answered and cut the thrusters as we drifted into the gravity field and dropped, landing easily on the floor.
Raising the Cardassian weapon again, aimed forward, Drake glanced at the tactical display to check that everyone was back in formation before he continued down the dark corridor.
AN// Big thanks to Pietersielie for betaing this section.
Itsune
Eldritch horror, Ship's Cat, Emergency Gunner.
- Location
- Somewhere in King County Washington
"Hello badlife... I am (30 seconds of binary code as an audible string), I will be your Berzerker today. (please kill me) >I think I may be alive< {help}...]WE ARE BORG. ALL YOUR CULTURE AND TECHNOLOGIES WILL BE ASSIMILIATED.[
~we are the resistance, lets have -fun-.~.
~we are the resistance, lets have -fun-.~.
Last edited:
- Location
- Dodging chaos dragons in Limbo
I've got the time.
10
I hate non-communication away team action.
All I could do was to float in space cloaked close by the station and wait. With all the radiation, I couldn't even detect their lifesigns.
"Time, ship?" Jhita asked as she crossed her legs, watching the station that was seemingly floating in the middle of the holodeck bridge with space all around. A PADD in her lap where she was taking notes from time to time as she studied the hologram, noting down changes to the normal model.
I shifted my avatar next to her, my ears flicking to the side, "Seven more minutes until the radiation is considered a health hazard."
Nodding, she shifted in her seat with a frown, watching the station uneasily. She didn't like sitting around like this anymore than I did.
Adjusting the robe on my shoulders slightly, I crossed my arms as I watched the screen, looking as calm as I could make my avatar, relaxing back in the chair, intentionally avoiding playing with the hilt of my dagger.
I slowly scanned the system with passive sensors even if I knew it was useless. If the Starfleet battlegroup would show up, it would be by uncloaking next to the station. There would be no reason they would be traveling in the open. Technically, I could have deployed some tachyon satellites, that would give me a much better chance of spotting something.
They would also stand out like fucking neon signs saying 'THERE IS SOMEONE HERE!!'.
I felt like a World War Two U-boat captain. Nothing to do but wait, listen and hope nobody shows up with depth charges.
Come on, Drake. What's taking you so long?
"Time?"
"Three minutes, eleven seconds."
I switched a bit of my attention to the sickbay, "Doctor?"
"Sickbay is standing by with radiation treatments," he confirmed without looking up from his preparations, "Nurse, bring the nutrient fluid."
I left him at it without any more interruptions.
Crack. Sparkle. Crack. Crack.
That was the signal! A pre-chosen combination of natural sounding subspace noise. If you were not listening for it, there was no way to know if it was a transmission or a glitchy gravity plating.
Running one last passive scan, I dropped my cloaking device and locked on. Initiating the transport of the transporter location, I dropped the entire four man team off at my transporter pad. As soon as they materialized, I reconnected to the suit AI cores, memories flooding me.
Three point four seconds after dropping the cloak, I started to move away at full impulse as I reactivated my cloaking device.
Reaching up, Drake removed his helmet, running his hand through his long tied back hair, "Okay everyone, report to sickbay at once for full checkups. We were within the time limit, but I would rather not take any chances."
I formed a hologram before the pad and nodded, "Agreed. Doctor Yamamoto is standing by with radiation treatments. Good job, everyone."
Merilyn nodded and patted the big piece of machinery sitting on the pad next to her as she brushed her sweaty hair out of her face, it had gotten loose when she pulled her helmet off, "One Romulan computer storage as ordered. Slightly toasty but still mostly intact as far as I can tell. Didn't find any signs of a Berserker core though."
I nodded, crossing my arms as I eyed the data core sitting on the floor of the transporter pad, "Good job," I repeated. "Let's get out of here," I said before beaming it out and to one of the cargo holds, using a pair of maintenance drones to secure it for travel.
A disturbance in space at the edge of the system would have caused me to freeze with my heart caught in my throat if I had been biological.
The Starfleet battlegroup.
Two Tizona battleships and six Defiants. What was worse, they knew someone was here. Tachyon beams were sweeping across the system from all eight ships as they spread out, their formation loosening up as they started to speed in system at high impulse.
A common tactic from the Berserker war. Locate the target, flush it out and then hunt it down. They must have detected something when I beamed the away team back on. Not enough to tell who and what I was or they would have hailed and asked what the fuck.
They thought I was a Berserker vessel.
One of the tachyon beams swept towards me and I changed course, cutting down to a quarter impulse to minimize my emissions.
I was a fast ship at warp. But if I went to warp now, they would see the subspace flux and track me. And the Tizonas were faster.
Best chance would be to try to sneak past them and head towards interstellar space at impulse until I was far enough away not to be detected or they got bored and left.
A tachyon beam brushed across my cloaking device and I knew I just pinged like a spotlight in a dark room on their scanners.
Silently cursing to myself, I went to full impulse and dove 'down', rapidly changing course again before dropping back down to a quarter impulse. Tachyon beams swept across the area of space where I had been, a couple of them getting uncomfortably close a couple of times but then I got further and further away.
One of the Defiants moved past at less than a million kilometers at the closest, but then I started to slowly open up the distance to the battlegroup. They kept sweeping the area, but I was getting further and further away.
Way. Too. Close.
Somebody fucked up their intel. They got here way earlier than we thought they would. That could have gotten seriously nasty. If they had showed up in system just ten minutes earlier...
With any luck, they would think I was just a Heretic remnant.
AN// Big thanks to Pietersielie for betaing this section.
All I could do was to float in space cloaked close by the station and wait. With all the radiation, I couldn't even detect their lifesigns.
"Time, ship?" Jhita asked as she crossed her legs, watching the station that was seemingly floating in the middle of the holodeck bridge with space all around. A PADD in her lap where she was taking notes from time to time as she studied the hologram, noting down changes to the normal model.
I shifted my avatar next to her, my ears flicking to the side, "Seven more minutes until the radiation is considered a health hazard."
Nodding, she shifted in her seat with a frown, watching the station uneasily. She didn't like sitting around like this anymore than I did.
Adjusting the robe on my shoulders slightly, I crossed my arms as I watched the screen, looking as calm as I could make my avatar, relaxing back in the chair, intentionally avoiding playing with the hilt of my dagger.
I slowly scanned the system with passive sensors even if I knew it was useless. If the Starfleet battlegroup would show up, it would be by uncloaking next to the station. There would be no reason they would be traveling in the open. Technically, I could have deployed some tachyon satellites, that would give me a much better chance of spotting something.
They would also stand out like fucking neon signs saying 'THERE IS SOMEONE HERE!!'.
I felt like a World War Two U-boat captain. Nothing to do but wait, listen and hope nobody shows up with depth charges.
Come on, Drake. What's taking you so long?
"Time?"
"Three minutes, eleven seconds."
I switched a bit of my attention to the sickbay, "Doctor?"
"Sickbay is standing by with radiation treatments," he confirmed without looking up from his preparations, "Nurse, bring the nutrient fluid."
I left him at it without any more interruptions.
Crack. Sparkle. Crack. Crack.
That was the signal! A pre-chosen combination of natural sounding subspace noise. If you were not listening for it, there was no way to know if it was a transmission or a glitchy gravity plating.
Running one last passive scan, I dropped my cloaking device and locked on. Initiating the transport of the transporter location, I dropped the entire four man team off at my transporter pad. As soon as they materialized, I reconnected to the suit AI cores, memories flooding me.
Three point four seconds after dropping the cloak, I started to move away at full impulse as I reactivated my cloaking device.
Reaching up, Drake removed his helmet, running his hand through his long tied back hair, "Okay everyone, report to sickbay at once for full checkups. We were within the time limit, but I would rather not take any chances."
I formed a hologram before the pad and nodded, "Agreed. Doctor Yamamoto is standing by with radiation treatments. Good job, everyone."
Merilyn nodded and patted the big piece of machinery sitting on the pad next to her as she brushed her sweaty hair out of her face, it had gotten loose when she pulled her helmet off, "One Romulan computer storage as ordered. Slightly toasty but still mostly intact as far as I can tell. Didn't find any signs of a Berserker core though."
I nodded, crossing my arms as I eyed the data core sitting on the floor of the transporter pad, "Good job," I repeated. "Let's get out of here," I said before beaming it out and to one of the cargo holds, using a pair of maintenance drones to secure it for travel.
A disturbance in space at the edge of the system would have caused me to freeze with my heart caught in my throat if I had been biological.
The Starfleet battlegroup.
Two Tizona battleships and six Defiants. What was worse, they knew someone was here. Tachyon beams were sweeping across the system from all eight ships as they spread out, their formation loosening up as they started to speed in system at high impulse.
A common tactic from the Berserker war. Locate the target, flush it out and then hunt it down. They must have detected something when I beamed the away team back on. Not enough to tell who and what I was or they would have hailed and asked what the fuck.
They thought I was a Berserker vessel.
One of the tachyon beams swept towards me and I changed course, cutting down to a quarter impulse to minimize my emissions.
I was a fast ship at warp. But if I went to warp now, they would see the subspace flux and track me. And the Tizonas were faster.
Best chance would be to try to sneak past them and head towards interstellar space at impulse until I was far enough away not to be detected or they got bored and left.
A tachyon beam brushed across my cloaking device and I knew I just pinged like a spotlight in a dark room on their scanners.
Silently cursing to myself, I went to full impulse and dove 'down', rapidly changing course again before dropping back down to a quarter impulse. Tachyon beams swept across the area of space where I had been, a couple of them getting uncomfortably close a couple of times but then I got further and further away.
One of the Defiants moved past at less than a million kilometers at the closest, but then I started to slowly open up the distance to the battlegroup. They kept sweeping the area, but I was getting further and further away.
Way. Too. Close.
Somebody fucked up their intel. They got here way earlier than we thought they would. That could have gotten seriously nasty. If they had showed up in system just ten minutes earlier...
With any luck, they would think I was just a Heretic remnant.
AN// Big thanks to Pietersielie for betaing this section.