compile summary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2408.07.27 (USS Hades, corridor outside Observation Lounge, ACSO Ensign (JG) Kenneth McKenzie 22:05 hours.) (USS Hades, Deck 3 - aFO/CSO Jericho Haynes - 2313) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2408.07.28 (Tch'Kair'n orbit, Orbital station, Medical ward, Alpha 10, Mosh, 0145) (Tch'Kair'n orbit, Orbital station, Medical ward, CMO Angeni Windsong Trommashere, 0146) (Tch'Kair'n orbit, Orbital station, Medical ward, Medic Kaleph, 0148) (Tch'Kair'n orbit, Orbital station, Medical ward, CMO Angeni O. Windsong-Trommashere, 0150) (Tch'Kairn orbit, Orbital station, Cell G, aCEO Lieutenant Darla Wright, 0500) (USS Hades, Bridge, aCO Commander Eva Straton, 15:00) (USS Hades, Bridge - aCTAC/SEC Ensign (jg) Lo'ren T'Vof - 15:01) (USS Hades, Plegathon Bridge - aCTAC/SEC Ensign (jg) Lo'ren T'Vof - 15:06) (USS Hades, Bridge, ACSO Ensign (JG) Kenneth McKenzie, 15:07 hours.) (USS Hades, Bridge, ACSO Ensign (JG) Kenneth McKenzie, 15:08 hours.) (USS Hades, Bridge, aFO/CSO Lt. Jericho Haynes, 1510) (Tch'kair orbit, Orbital station, Control center, Alpha 1, 1511) (Tch'Kair, Capital City, - SO Lieutenant Baylon Trinin- 1520) (USS Hades, Bridge, ACOPS, Lt. David Adams, 1521) (Tch'Kair, Capital City, - aCEO Ensign (jg) Eoin Mac Liam - 15:22) (Tch'Kair, Capital City- Compound, - SO Lieutenant Baylon Trinin- 1525) (Tch'Kair, Capital City- Compound, - SO Lieutenant Baylon Trinin- 1529) (USS Hades, Acheron Bridge, aFO/CSO Lt. Jericho Haynes, 1535) (Tch'Kair, Capital City- Compound, - SciO Ensign Harry Doorman- 1535.5) (Tch'kair orbit, Orbital station, Control center, Alpha 1, 1536) (USS Hades, Sick bay, ACMO Ensign Haywood Parker, 1539) (USS Hades, Plegathon Bridge - aCTAC/SEC Ensign (jg) Lo'ren T'Vof - 15:42) (USS Hades, Sick bay, Dr. Chase O'Neil, 1542.5) (USS Hades, Sick bay, ACMO Ensign Haywood Parker, 1544) (USS Hades, Sick bay, Dr. Chase O'Neil, 1550) (USS Hades, Bridge, ACOPS Lt. David Adams, 1605) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ begin compile Stardate: 2408.07.27 (USS Hades, corridor outside Observation Lounge, ACSO Ensign (JG) Kenneth McKenzie 22:05 hours.) Kenny slowly left the observation lounge with the rest of the crew. He had been deep in thought with Commander Straton's words. This plan sounded bold and dangoureus. Then again, this was the USS Hades, one of the best Federation ships which was always on the front lines. Still, at times Kenny wondered if he was not cut out for found line stuff. He always wanted a job on a small science vessel. Not that he was complaining, he just didn't think he had what it took to be on a ship such as the Hades. As he stood at the door, thinking to himself and waiting for CSO Jericho to emerge, he saw both Harry and MacLiam leave. Kenny knew that both of them were going to be on the team, and after his own encounter with the Wagoshiin, he wanted to wish them luck. He also thought that this might be the last time he sees any of them, but he tried to push that thought aside. It was not easy. "Hey, guys." He said to them informally. (reply Ensign Doorman/Ensign MacLiam) "I just wanted to say good luck. You’re going to be in the thick of combat with a deadly foe. Be carful." He smiled, trying to show sincerity. (reply Ensign Doorman/Ensign MacLiam) "And Harry, I know why you’re going. Please don't do anything stupid. She would not like it if you died trying to be a hero." he placed his hand on Harry's shoulder, trying to comfort him. Kenny had never been in love in the same way that Harry was, but he did not want to find out that Harry had died trying to save her. (reply Ensign Doorman/Ensign MacLiam) Kenny nodded and turned away from them and walked down the corridor a little, looking out of the window. He was trying to hide it form himself, but he could not. He had been very thoughtful ever since his fight with the Wagoshiin and his reaction to them. He wondered if this how everyone felt there first time in combat, or if he was, God forbid a coward with a cold heart. He heard a voice behind him and turned just in time to see Jechro walking over to him. Kenny stood tall and at attention as the CSO spoke. "Mr. McKenzie." he man said. "Aye Sir?" Kenny asked. The CSO smiled. "You'll be running the department on the Hades during the battle as you know so I'm counting on you to keep the Commander well informed while she's running things. If there are any questions in your mind or anything you're going to need I want you to let me know posthaste got it?" Kenny nodded. "Aye Sir. but I... I mean." he looked away and out of the window. He sighed and turned back, trying to suppress a nervous gulp. "Maybe at this time, a more experienced officer would be-" Jack clapped his hand onto Kenny shoulder, interrupting him. "You're going to do fine. I'll be taking Fredericks with me and McAlister will be on the Phlegathon which will still leave you with a good crew here. We've got time, think about it. In the meantime get a good nights sleep and I'll see you at 0800." Kenny shook his head and perked up. "Aye Sir. Meet you at your office?" he asked. (Reply Jericho) Kenny nodded and left the corridor immediately for his quarters. It was late and he was tiered after what happened during the day, a good sleep would be good for him. He wanted to get to his room as fast as possible so he took a turbolift and arrived soon after. Immediately he removed the top of his Starfleet suit and placed it on the floor. He decided to use some of his water ration to have a good clean bath instead of a sonic shower. Afterwards he felt alot better. He went straight to bed, but it took him a while to get any sleep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (USS Hades, Deck 3 - aFO/CSO Jericho Haynes - 2313) Jack reeled her in with his arms as she teasingly kissed him. "Am I going to get this kind of treatment every time I get promoted? Maybe I need to get really ambitious." Her eyes were so close as she leaned her forehead against his he had to cross his own to focus on them which he gave up very quickly. ~That could give you a honey of a headache.~ "As for fraternization between a tactical officer and her first officer... I would much rather it be you than Straton." That one got a belly laugh out of him. "Perish the thought." He finished still chuckling. She laughed and pulled him gently to his feet. "Come on, I've had enough to eat for now and I'd like to get this finished so we can go to bed." The way she looked at him as she gently disengaged her hand before turning away gave him a goofy grin. ~That sounds promising.~ As she bent to a box he grabbed a full one and hefted it. "I'll be the pack mule then while you pack, the sooner we get this stuff moved the better." He was whistling as he stacked another one atop it then left the room with a spring in his step. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stardate: 2408.07.28 (Tch'Kair'n orbit, Orbital station, Medical ward, Alpha 10, Mosh, 0145) Mosh watched the alien with slitted eyes as the medics puttered over her, a pedestal at the foot of the bed in which she had been placed had a square monitor which showed her vital signs. The one who had been in charge of the medical team had it turned toward him and was alternating his attention between it and a portable device he was passing over her. "Well?" Mosh barked. "I am seeing nothing wrong." The medic shook his head. "No blockages in her circulatory system, her neural pathways seem to be operating efficiently and there are no signs of invasive organisms. Her respiration and cardiovascular system are functioning at a low level however and she appears incoherent but I can find no reason for it. I am going to draw some samples shortly and check further, her blood, gastrointestinal and spinal fluids. There is little we know about this species but I will find out." "Could she be faking it?" Mosh growled. "I don't know." The medic answered, "We should though soon. I shall go and get the equipment I need." The othe rmedic had already left to attend to other duties. "First restrain her just in case." The medic nodded and pulled a strap from one side of the foot of the bed, ran it across her ankles tightly and secured it on the other side. Her arms were likewise secured with straps on each side of the bed at waist height. "I am going now." Mosh nodded and motioned to the Beta to follow him outside the room, he welcomed the fresh air. The female stank and his sensitive nose immediately began clearing after the door to the room shut. He and the Beta then took up station on either side as the doctor moved to one of the supply rooms to gather his equipment. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Tch'Kair'n orbit, Orbital station, Medical ward, CMO Angeni Windsong Trommashere, 0146) Angeni opened her eyes, looking around the room. She kept her movements small, and slightly jerky as if she was just coming out of something. Her eye caught sight of something on a nearby countertop, and she nearly screamed for joy. She saw a crumpled up Starfleet uniform. She had to get over there in case there was a communicator badge somewhere in there. In a what looked like medical waste basket, she saw her lab coat that was torn to shreads. "Assholes..." she muttered under her breath. She sighed and leaned her head back. Angeni gently strained against her bonds to no avail, so she figured she wasn't exactlygoing to have the ability to just pull against the straps and leave. ~I have to be smarter than a puppy with a pituitary problem...~ Suddenly she heard the door open, and she coughed gently, groaning slightly. ~Here goes nothing..~ "Water..." She rasped, "I need water." She coughed gently. She looked up at the medic, yet she avoided his eyes. "I had a dehydration induced seizure. I haven't had anything to eat or drink in over twenty-four hours. Humans need to consume at least twelve ounces of water every four to eight hours or we begin to get sick..." (Reply Medic) "Please..." she implored, rasping again, "I do not want to get any sicker, and I would honestly hate to die right now. From one medical person to another, please let me just get a drink of water..." She closed her eyes, her head throbbing. She opened them again, tears in her eyes. "I just want to get back to my mate..." (Reply Medic) She leaned back again, sighing gently. "I can give you information, about our body systems so it would make it easier for you to keep us here long term. I know my Alpha would have my hide if I let his prisoners die. No tricks, I promise. All I want is this: Access to that sink right over there so I can have some water, then I will show you anything and everything you want to know. From one medical professional to another. Hell, you can even hold onto the stun gun and zap my tawny hide. Even more so, I trust you." She closed her eyes and fidgeted on the bed untilshe was able to lean her head back far enough to expose the soft flesh of her throat. She knew that in wolf packs, lesser wolves would expose their throats to the alpha male and female, and when they did, the alpha wolf would come up and give a sort of 'love bite' where they would put their powerful jaws around the lessers' throat. If the alpha didn't like the lesser, his throat would torn out in a hot minute. If the alpha felt he was worthy, he would be allowed to live and join the pack. Angeni wasn't truly sure how many of the wolven primal instincts the Waagoshin had, but she had to use everything she could think of if she wanted to escape from the situation they were in. If she died, then she could at least say she died trying. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Tch'Kair'n orbit, Orbital station, Medical ward, Medic Kaleph, 0148) The Waagoshin doctor stepped through the door and had to blink at the odor in the room, the first order of business he would have to attend to would be to clean up the alien, the sanitizer system was being taxed to its maximum and would take some time to clear the air at this rate and he was loathe to work under such conditions. He was carrying several specimin vials as well as an extractor which looked like an old terran hypodermic needle, extracting spinal fluids would be painful. The alien coughed slightly and groaned. "Water..." She rasped, "I need water." She coughed gently then looked in his general direction. "I had a dehydration induced seizure. I haven't had anything to eat or drink in over twenty-four hours. Humans need to consume at least twelve ounces of water every four to eight hours or we begin to get sick..." He moved to the bedside and deposited the items in a tray then silently picked up a small light and with one hand upon her head shone it into her eyes to check her pupils. "When was the last time you drank?" He asked. "Please..." she implored, rasping again, "I do not want to get any sicker, and I would honestly hate to die right now. From one medical person to another, please let me just get a drink of water..." "Water is no problem." He said. "Though perhaps I should wait till the tests are done before giving you any." "I just want to get back to my mate..." His eyes narrowed as he considered it, her wishes meant nothing but making her more comfortable so that she would be in shape for interrogations was of prime importance.. She leaned back again, sighing gently. "I can give you information, about our body systems so it would make it easier for you to keep us here long term. I know my Alpha would have my hide if I let his prisoners die. No tricks, I promise. All I want is this: Access to that sink right over there so I can have some water, then I will show you anything and everything you want to know. From one medical professional to another. Hell, you can even hold onto the stun gun and zap my tawny hide. Even more so, I trust you." She then leaned her head back exposing her throat in a submissive pose. Kaleph considered it for a moment silently. As a slave she had no room for bargaining with her masters but it would be difficult to feed her water as she lay confined as well. The odor in the room made it impossible to tell if she was lying or not but she was in a weakened sate. What could it hurt? "Very well." he finally spoke. "I will release you but if you try to attack me I will use the collar, also there are two guards outside this door who will punish you severely if you do so, they will know if you try anything. Do you understand?" (Reply: Angeni) "If you falter in your walk and collapse I will not aid you and I will have them come into the room and move you back to confinement." He wouldn't give her the opportunity to try to trick him into an unexpected assault. (Reply: Angeni) "Very well." He began moving about the bed undoing the straps, when he had finished he stepped back and watched her warily as he moved to the opposite side of the bed from the sink. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Tch'Kair'n orbit, Orbital station, Medical ward, CMO Angeni O. Windsong-Trommashere, 0150) "Very well." he finally spoke. "I will release you but if you try to attack me I will use the collar, also there are two guards outside this door who will punish you severely if you do so, they will know if you try anything. Do you understand?" Angeni nodded, and she smiled gently at him. "I thank you very kindly..." "If you falter in your walk and collapse I will not aid you and I will have them come into the room and move you back to confinement." He wouldn't give her the opportunity to try to trick him into an unexpected assault. Angeni wiggled about slightly, opening her hands and bowing her head slightly. "I am true to my word. You are showing me great kindness, and I plan on returning it to you in spades. I thank you ever so much for this." Her smile broke into a wide grin. "Very well." He began moving about the bed undoing the straps, when he had finished he stepped back and watched her warily as he moved to the opposite side of the bed from the sink. Angeni wasn't lying about the fact that she was thirsty. She was used to constantly drinking water and coffee, so to have gone who knew how long without water was killing her, besides, the Kayla certainly didn't help her. She moved quickly to the sink, and with her left hand turned on the knobs, and her right hand rested open palm down on the uniform. As she leaned into the sink, she depressed her right hand, and to her dismay, she felt the lack of a communicator pin. ~You have got to be kidding me!~ She hungrily lapped up the cool water, trying to come up with a new plan. She noticed a sterile tray with large needles and what looked like a crude cutdown tray. If it was a cutdown tray, that ment there were several scalpels and two intracardiac needles. Seeing as if the tools were for overgrown German Sheperds, they would be drastically bigger and more painful. In front of the tray was a privacy screen. She had yet another idea. "Excuse me, sir?" She stated as she stood upright. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "It seems like I have soiled my uniform by accident. May I change into a clean pair of clothing? I'm sure the smellis quite offensive to your superior nose. If it's making my nose wrinkle, it must be making yours curl. (Reply Medic) She bowed her head and spread her hands in a gesture of completely giving up. "Look. I promise you, I am not trying to trick you. Besides. In my culture, wolves, or Wa-yas as we called them were highly regarded for their cunningness and intelligence. I would be degrading my culture to try and fool you, number one, and number two, I don't have the same intelligence as you do. You would see right through any ruse I could possibly think of. Besides, I know you could kill me in a heartbeat, and at the moment, I like the way my heart beats." (Reply Medic) She smiled gently at the Waagoshin and she turned back to the sink getting another drink of water. She knitted her brow and she wrung her hands. "I'm really worried about my...litter mate as it were. She needs water as well, and I would like to take a look at her...with you present of course...no tricks. Besides, I would like you to give you some medical information about us so you can keep us healthy for the duration of our time here. It is only fair, don't you think?" (Reply Medic) "So,how about we start with some clean clothes and work our way from there?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Tch'Kairn orbit, Orbital station, Cell G, aCEO Lieutenant Darla Wright, 0500) ~Damn I'm good!~ Darla thought as she held the Waagoshin slave collar in her hands. The locking mechanism had not been difficult to get open despite the fact that she had been unable to see it directly. She sat on the small sleeping mattress in the cell, turning the device over in her hands as she did so. The Waagoshin obviously intended for the collars to be easy to maintain, since once the collar was off the slave, the access panels to the electronics and the power source were readily accessible. She had pried those panels off, stripping the small but powerful power supply from the collar as well as salvaging some strips of metal from the frame as well. Without tools, she couldn't do anything too fancy, but with the small pile of components, she was anything but helpless. A strip of cloth from the pant leg of her jumpsuit acted as a natural insulator, and she had wrapped some around her left wrist before nestling the power pack against the insulative fibers and tying them into place. Using some materials with low melting temperature, pulled from the light in her cell and heated through electrical resistance induction, she had managed to connect two thin strips of metal from the power pack extending past the back of her hand, when she made a fist. A quick test of the makeshift device performed by touching the two exposed leads to the metal wall, sent a burst of sparks into the air around the contact point. It was raw power, coursing through the leads and completing the circuit when they touched something conductive, like a body, or anything else. She had basically created a very crude high capacity taser. It, unlike the collar, didn't have the benefit of regulating the output. It was raw, unregulated and quite capable of doing some serious damage to anyone on the receiving end. She smiled to herself as she pulled the sleeve of her jumpsuit down to hide the majority of the device from sight. The now inert collar she closed back around her neck to maintain the illusion that she was still controllable. The locking mechanism however, had been jimmied so that one hard jerk would allow the collar to come off in a second. It could then be turned into avery crude bludgeoning weapon. Now all she had to do was wait for the right opportunity, escape and link up with the rest of her away team. ~Piece of cake~ she thought to herself with a pessimistic smile on her lips.~You just have to figure out how to escape and get you and everyone else off this damned station.~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (USS Hades, Bridge, aCO Commander Eva Straton, 15:00) The Graelridge had been destroyed, it had been the first target in the guerilla war the Hades had been waging the past 10 hours since the Away Team had left the ship. Hit and run attacks against the Waagoshin fleet outside the system had continued keeping the Waagoshin off balance never knowing where or when the Hades would show up again. They hadn't always been able to destroy their intended targets, but that was alright, they always did some damage while only taking minimal themselves. Eva was using every trick she had learned while Strategic Operations Officer under Admiral Sevant to keep the Waagoshin command guessing their next move. She never hit in the same location more than once always moving the ship around the system and timing her attacks at random. Everything was designed to weaken the Waagoshin fleet for the final battle in system when they received the signal from the Lt. Trinin from the planet that they were ready. The signal, using the same fractal qualities of the original distress call that had drawn the Hades to the system in the first place, would be one that they hoped the Waagoshin would be unable to detect. Ensign Doorman would have to set the signal up planet side and then send it when Lt. Trinin gave the order. Lt. Haynes would be able to pick up and decode the signal on the Hades and that would set everything into motion across the system as they had set everything to happen simultaneously across the system. "Signal incoming, "Lt. Haynes said from Science 1. Eva turned andlooked at him briefly as he studied his screen. "It's the ready signal. Codes confirmed." "Move us into the system," Eva ordered, turning back to face the screen. "Three quarters impulse. Red Alert, maintain cloak. Lt. Haynesand Ensign T'Vof assemble your crew and report to the Acheron and Phlegathon Bridges in preparation for tri-vector assault. (Reply Haynes, T'Vof) "Mr. McKenzie send the prepared reply notifying the Away Team that we are moving into position," Eva said as Lt. Haynes and the others moved toward the turbolift's. (Reply McKenzie) Eva counted silently to herself watching as the Hades sailed into the system and the heart of the Waagoshin fleet. Once they were into position they would drop cloak and start attacking at the exact same time the Away Team and Tch'Kairn resistance we launch their attacks on all the Waagoshin land installations in the system eventually working their way onto the station. Within a few minutes the Hades was in position and it was time to begin. Eva's eyes narrowed as she studied the disbursement of the Waagoshin fleet on the tactical display on her screen. "Alter our course to 235 mark 34," She ordered, " Accelerate to full impulse and drop cloak, raise shields. Attack pattern Theta 5. Full spread of quantum torpedo's." She was tapping targets on her screen to highlight them for the tactical officer standing in the THIS. The Hades attack was the signal for the ground forces to begin now everything was motion, there was no going back. Eva barked out more orders as the Waagoshin fleet began to respond to the Hades appearance in their midst. The ship shuddered under the assault of Waagoshin weapons fire, but the Hades didn't stop and kept moving as she sped toward the planet and the station. Eva kept directing the ships weapons fire on the Waagoshin ships closest to the Hades until they had gotten within orbital range of the planet. "Alter course, take us around behind the planet," Eva ordered."Prepare for tri-vector mode." She watched as the Hades spun around the planet at full impulse with at least three Waagoshin ships in pursuit while 4 more moved to cut them off. The station opened fire but the Hades CONN officer managed to dodge a few of the barrages. When the Hades was on the opposite side of the planet from the station Eva nodded. "Now! Tri-vectorassault! The lights on the Bridge changed and the alert sounded as the Hades suddenly, and to the shock of the three pursuing ships, split into three. "Reverse course," Eva ordered, "Lets take out those pursuing ships. Acheron take point. Phlegathon cut off their retreat. Mr. McKenzie begin jamming all Waagoshin fleet communications." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades, Bridge - aCTAC/SEC Ensign (jg) Lo'ren T'Vof - 15:01) "Move us into the system," Eva ordered, turning back to face the screen."Three quarters impulse. Red Alert, maintain cloak. Lt. Haynes and Ensign T'Vof assemble your crew and report to the Acheron and Phlegathon Bridges in preparation for tri-vector assault." Lo'ren wasted no time moving to the turbolift, shooting off only two words as she left the main bridge. "Yes, Ma'am." The trip down to the Plegathon Battle Bridge was short but she took the time to tap into the comm system and call up her crew, at least those she'd asked to stay at main postings until she called them. "Plegathon team, activate."Lo'ren wasn't one to use a lot of extra words in the heat of battle so she'd gathered a team that could catch her meaning from short commands. Ensign Tethlin was already on the Plegathon bridge and setting herself up. Lo'ren trusted the deaf woman's instincts after the report from the security team in Ten Forward had come in. Standing orders for her in this fight would be to keep inertial dampers up, shields as full as possible and to keep the Plegathon engines from exploding, imploding or going critical in any way. The other core members included Artie Newberry, best flight ops man that could be spared from the Main Bridge, Andrew McMeel, the science officer that Jack had recommended, Joanie Rowe had the best hand-eye coordination Lo'ren had seen and would be in the T.I.H.S ring and Menken, fastest hands she'd ever seen at the Tac board would be backing her up. There were others too, but those four were hand picked. Lo'ren was joined in the turbolift by Menken and McMeel as it hurtled towards its destination and spat them out. They were gentlemanly enough to let her out first and she again wasted no time calling out, "Stations, stand ready all." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades, Plegathon Bridge - aCTAC/SEC Ensign (jg) Lo'ren T'Vof - 15:06) One engineering station was awash with light and looked like a kaleidescope- dizzying to the untrained eye. Lo'ren couldn't keep up with the info scatterred across it, but knew that the Atrean woman had set it up very particularly. The electronic voice representing the shy but spunky engineer came out, "All is go." Lo'ren nodded, "Good." Eva Straton's voice was coming over the speakers and Lo'ren sat in the centre seat, ready for the order. =/\=Prepare for tri-vector mode.=/\= The ship shivered slightly as she was hit by the Station. They left that den of evil behind as they rounded the planet and Lo'ren geared up for the moment. =/\=Now! Tri-vector assault!=/\=The Plegathon bridge glowed blue as the ship began the separation and burst apart. =/\=Reverse course,=/\= Eva ordered, =/\=Lets take out those pursuing ships.Acheron take point. Phlegathon cut off their retreat. Mr. McKenzie begin jamming all Waagoshin fleet communications.=/\= The ship flew apart at the seams and suddenly the Plegathon was an independant vessel, Lo'ren heard the command from the Hades and said simply,"Do it. Ops go. Tac - Fire in range go." The three sections moved away from each other, homing in on the different ships. Lo'ren watched the view screen as the starfield shifted and showed up the ships trying to tail the Hades, she also saw now the Acheron and the Hades. Bright beams lanced out into the frozen night and shredded across the bow of one ship. Lo'ren saw the shimmer of energy shields and knew that there'd been no damage. Just the same, the report came in from McMeel, whom Lo'ren had designated her reports man. "Direct shield hit, no damage." Phasers flared into being as Rowe sent out her next barrage. This one hit the ship to port, stopping it from making its retreat. The report came in, this one more positive, "Good hit, minimum damage to engines." Lo'ren gripped the arms of her chair as Newberry tucked the Plegathon into a roll that beat the inertial dampers momentarily before the flurry of fingers that was Arysha Tethlin got them going again, it also beat out the enemy fire that was coming at them. Unfortunately not so with the next volley that came at the Plegathon. The bridge rocked as the small ship was blasted by energy, zapping the shields and stressing the structural integrity. "Hit to Shields," Lo'ren frowned as the repost came back to her, rumbled by her science officer, "down to 85%." Lo'ren had her eyes locked on the port ship. "Take out port." Her voice was quiet but it cut across the Battle Bridge quite clearly. They went into action, Artie aming the ship to a near ramming vector and bringing the Plegathon about aggresively. Menken was tapping out the targets for Joanie and Joanie looked like she was conducting, her hands waving about, creating beams of deadly fire power that pierced the starfield and sent sparks flying off the Waagoshin shields. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades, Bridge, ACSO Ensign (JG) Kenneth McKenzie, 15:07 hours.) Kenny looked on with shock and admiration as the Hades fought tooth and nail with the Wagoshiin ships. This was the first time he had seen the ship in actual combat with his own eyes and it was holding it's own against many ships. He guessed that this was partly because the Hades was built for this kind of combat, but also because the Wagoshiin had underestimated them. The fact that the Graelridge had been destroyed so easily gave kenny a guilty pleasure. he felt that it had been appropriate payback for what had happened to them last time they had met. He felt no loss for the Wagoshiin aboard. From what he had seen, it did not seem that the Wagoshiin kept civilians on board such ships, but she was sure there were slaves aboard. That thought made his spine grow cold. How meany slaves were they killing when they destroyed each ship? Kenny knew that he could not think of such thoughts at a time like this. He turned his attention back to his console, looking for anything that ma not be known already. So far, he knew that this was a combat situation and there was not much he could do if everyone already knew everything they needed, but he was still going to remain sharp in case he was needed. he had already mapped the area encase the Hades had to flee. There were several places that they could use as cover, asteroid belts, nebulae and such. Still, knowing Straton, they would fight until death. He didn't laugh at that thought. "Mr. McKenzie send the prepared reply notifying the Away Team that we are moving into position." Commander Straton said, turing to Kenny. "Aye Ma'am." Kenny pressed several keys on the consol and was answered with a series of bleeps. "Message sent, Commander." he replied. Kenny watched as the ship decloaked and began attacking the ships near the planet. The Wagoshiin, however, were ready this time. There weapons opened fire as soon as they were visible and kenny could see the weapons fire come towards them. he braced himself against his console as the wave hit them. The ship was rocked slightly, but other than that, there was not damage that he could see. Then the Hades got close enough and opened fire. Kenny's jaw dropped as the first ship went down without much effort. An explosion of red and blue light told that hundreds of lives had been lost in a few seconds of fire from the Hades. Kenny again was amazed at the firepower of the Hades. As the battle continued and more ships fell, Kenny heard the Commander give the order for saucer separation. The lights flashed and the ship was rocked as the Hades became three ships. Kenny could feel that these vibrations had came from the separation of the ship, they felt different, almost comfible. At any rate, he soon saw the are parts of the Hades in the view screen. He had never seen Tri-vector Assault Mode in action. In a weird way, Kenny was excited. This was a battle, but it was different from the fight that he had been in back at the Wagoshiin space station. he was not sure why. Maybe it was because there was not a Wagohsiin right in front of him, or maybe it was because he had the entire Hades around him. he did not care. It felt good. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades, Bridge, ACSO Ensign (JG) Kenneth McKenzie, 15:08 hours.) Mr. McKenzie begin jamming all Waagoshin fleet communications." Commander Strtaon shouted. "Aye Ma'am" Kenny called back. He turned to his console and began to enter the code which would send out the pre-set signal. The computer bleeped in response and the console flashed, asking for assurance. Kenny smiled. Once he pressed the button, the Hades would send out a multitude of subspace signals all at once, which would overload and jam the Wagoshiin's transceiver arrays. The subspace signals repeatedly sent the signals out again at 0.5 second intervals, meaning that the Wagoshiin would not be able to send signals back and forth to each other because so many signals were being sent at once. It was crude, but it was all he had come up with within the short amount of time he had. He pressed the button. Once he had, he took a look at a 3D view of the the local map. The ships, planets and such were all yellow framed skeletons. The subspace signals were drawn as blue crescent mood waves and, as he has programmed them to work, were being sent at 0.5 second intervals in all directions. "Signals jammed, Commander. They are now deaf." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades, Bridge, aFO/CSO Lt. Jericho Haynes, 1510) His dreams of having time to prepare in the simulator for what was to come turned out to be just that ... dreams. The commander hadn't wasted any time at the start of the day to begin making the Waagoshin's lives miserable, Jack concurred with that as well since leaving the officers aboard the station for even one minute longer than necessary turned his stomach. As it was though yesterday had been a long day and they had needed some rest to prepare themselves for the grueling battle ahead. The Graelridge had been the primary target of their 'softening up' tactics and it hadn't taken more than ten minutes from the beginning of hostilities for Graffna and his ship to arrive upon the scene. They had been engaged with two of the smaller ships that had started as one when the Graelridge arrived upon the scene and begun taking shots from long range as she moved in. The manuever Straton had executed had been daring as well as brilliant, engaging the cloak and moving the Hades beyond their primary enemy then reappearing and pouring everything they had against the lead ship. Graffna must have expected it, the Graelridge had turned to bring primary weapons to bear too quickly to have been fooled but the amount of firepower the Hades sported had turned the tide quickly. The ships under his command though hadn't moved fast enough, it took them precious minutes to swing around the flagship and begin targeting the Hades, minutes Graffna did not have. The Graelridge had it not been underpowered may have been somewhat of a match but her shields had begun buckling after a handful of shots, Lo'ren had made certain of that, alternating searing phaser blasts with quantum launches that pounded against the enemies port and forward shields. Pinpoint fire had soon reduced them to nothing, a spread of quantum torpedoes had been the coup de grace. The Waagoshin vessel had begun exploding at their forward weapons pods, the following blasts erupting all along its length till it was little more than shards. The Hades had then disappeared and moved to another place within the system and attacked another Waagoshin vessel and left it a smoldering hulk, one of the tactical sensor stations within the orbit of the seventh planet had followed then another Waagoshin straggler. A classic tactic summed up in an old boxing euphamism, 'stick and move'. Move in and hit them with a few hard shots then get out before they could gather their wits and counter punch, always moving, always keeping the enemy guessing. Eight hours of this kind of treatment and Alpha 1 must have been howling in impotent rage. Now though was the time to get serious, a massive attack on Waagoshin assets on the third through fifth planets was due just as Alpha 1's reckoning was coming due. They were currently outside the system and awaiting the next phase. Jack was waiting intently at science 1 when the call come through, broadcast on the Tch'kairn's ancient though highly sophisticated fractal wavelength. "Signal incoming." Jack said with an edge to his voice, time to get to the real work. He could almost sense Commander Straton turning in his direction and waiting intently. =^= "Three Wolves to Mother Goose. We are ready to blow the house down. I repeat we are ready to blow the house down."=^= The idea for a code embedded in Terran bedtime stories had been Baylon's and should give the Waagoshin no idea of what it meant in the event of a signal interception. A numerical carrier code of fractal origin that accompanied it matched completely. "Roger three wolves, message received." He turned to the Commander. "It's the ready signal. Codes confirmed." She was in action almost instantly, turning away as she snapped out orders. "Move us into the system. Three quarters impulse. Red Alert, maintain cloak. Lt. Haynes and Ensign T'Vof assemble your crew and report to the Acheron and Phlegathon Bridges in preparation for tri-vector assault. "Aye sir." Jack was already in motion, his words following his movements as he vacated science 1 and left it for his ACSO to take over. He slapped his combadge as he moved. "Fredericks report to the Acheron bridge, all Acheron personnel report immediately, code red." He and Lo'ren arrived at the turbolift almost simultaneously, he gave her a strained smile as it began its descent. His only words were spoke as it began coming to a stop, he had reached over and squeezed her arm, said. "Take care of yourself" and then was through the door in a flash. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Tch'kair orbit, Orbital station, Control center, Alpha 1, 1511) This was fast becoming a nightmare which started for the Waagoshin Commander with the death of the Graelridge. Graffna had been in contact with his superior when the telling blow had come. "We are taking heavy fire Alpha 1, support is moving into position... Ahhhhh!" Behind Graffna the bulkhead had blown sending deadly fragments flying through the air, multiple explosions had followed brilliantly lighting the control center of the flagship before contact was utterly lost. From that point they had lost a half dozen ships and their defensive relays on the outskirts of the system before a lull had finally settled. It had been almost an hour now leaving Alpha 1 to wonder just what it was that the one called Straton was waiting for. The Remaining fleet such as it was, twenty six ships had been reformed and placed in strategic defensive positions awaiting their next move. There was no more hunting of their prey but a nervous waiting game until now. "Alpha 1 the Hades has decloaked and is moving into the system fast, their course appears to be for Tch'kair!" "Notify the attack group to intercept! Cut them off!" "Acknowledged." But that wasn't all. "Alpha 1!" It was his new Alpha 4. "Reports coming in from the garrisons on planets three through five, they are all under attack!" "So that's your game." He muttered under his breath. "Divide and conquer." Louder he said. "Send reserve ships to support planets three and five, one wing each and scramble the fighters on planet five for attack support. I want intelligence updates on just who we are facing on the surface." "It will be done Alpha 1." "I also want enemy coordinates on Tch'kair relayed to this station for fire suppression support. Use weapons systems eight through ten but conserve missiles at this time." "Aye sir." The security Alpha barked then turned to his work. Alpha 1 didn't realize it but his communications tech had been listening eagerly to the reports, while he was busy giving orders her fingers were dancing across the panel activating the commands for the garrison subversion subroutine she had prepared for the occasion. One button left to press. "Slave notify the garrisons I want continual updates." Klk'shis jumped in surprise but slipped her finger to the initiate control and pressed it as she turned which hid her movement. Behind her the 'command sent' button flashed on the console. "As you command master." Turning back she was satisfied to see her work had been done and shut off the tell then began signaling the garrisons to relay Alpha 1's orders. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Tch'Kair, Capital City, - SO Lieutenant Baylon Trinin- 1520) Things had moved rapidly once the away team had landed in the mountains east of the capital city. The Tch'kairn and the federation officers had discussed their individual and mutual objectives and had ultimately agreed on a plan of action. Between the senior Hades crew members experience and ability and theTch'Kairn intelligence and area knowledge, the plan was both simplistic init's approach although a bit more complex in it's difficulty. The security team had began gathering the Tch'kairn resistance warriors together, training them on the weapons that they had brought for the occasion. The training had been quick and dirty, the basics, how to fire, how to change settings and basic shooting tips, such as don't lead the target because there is no delay between the squeezing of the trigger and the impact of the beam. The Tch'Kairn had been quick studies, and with time quickly dwindling, the teams had separated and assembled at their predetermined locations in preparation of the assault to come. Baylon had deployed one of his security personnel with each of the Tch'kairn groups. Not in a command position but as a communications coordinator and advisor. The Two photon mortars had been set up in alleyways a few hundred meters away and were standing by for the word to commence their general shelling ofthe Waagoshin compound. Baylon, Doorman, Haywood and Ensign Maguire were with the Tch'kairn Leadership, K'thartek and Lupo Dal. There was a sizeable squad of Tch'kairn partisans accompanying them as well. Their position was on a roof top overlooking the majority of the Waagoshin compound. The building was at least half a floor higher than the barrier that surrounded the compound and allowed Baylon a clear line of sight of the courtyard and several of the lesser buildings, which the resistance had identified as Barracks for the Waagoshin troops. A number of support vehicles were parked to one side of the courtyard, and Baylon had ordered the Mortars to target them first, since they were more mobile. When everyone was in place the entire Tch'Kairn resistance would move on the signal and reduce the obstacles that separated them from the main building, one by one, massing their firepower, in what Baylon hoped would become an irresistible wave of force. Lupo Dal, a Tch'Kairn that was some sort of religious or spiritual leader among the Tch'kairn spoke quietly. "The last of the raid teams are in position." Baylon nodded then tapped his commbadge. They had converted the commbadges to vibrate rather than chirp when they activated. "Papa Bear to Mama bear and Baby Bear" he said quietly. =^= Mama bear here=^= Ensign Larose replied with her soft southern drawl. It was followed a moment later by =^=Baby Bear here=^=. The latter voice belonging to the oldest member of the security team on the planet, CPO Cartwright. "Give me confirmation that you teams are in place and that all PM's are zeroed in on predetermined grids." Baylon stated. =^= mama Bear here, my porridge is hot.=^= "I'd bet it is," Ensign Maguire muttered, which caused Baylon to give him a chilling look. =^= Same here Papa bear.=^= Cartwright added. "Understood. All Bears, stand by for the signal from goldilocks." Both officers acknowledged with a =^=standing by=^= Baylon looked at Eoin. "You're virus ready?" He asked. (reply Eoin) "Good, Parker? You good to go?" He asked Haywood. (reply Haywood) Finally Baylon looked at Harry. The man looked absolutely burdened in all the equipment he was wearing. "Mister doorman, Let the Hades know that the three Big bad Wolves are ready to Blow the house down." "Yes Sir." Harry responded, then shrugged the specialized transmitter from off his back and set it down in front of him. He tapped in a few commands on the device, programming the fractal series and then tapped his commbadge to link with the scrambler. "Three Wolves to Mother Goose. We are ready to blow the house down. I repeat we are ready to blow the house down." he said repeating the unique series of passwords and commands that had been established before hand with the Hades to initiate the operation. A moment later the acknowledgement came in and Harry read the display on the scrambler. "All is ready Lieutenant.' he said. The codes match up and the Hades is coming into the system. "I find it intriguing." K'thartek said then, "This means of deceptive communication. Not only is the signal scrambled, but even if the Waagoshin could break the fractals, the data is otherwise meaningless. It's a very cunning way to communicate." "We'll we've had our share of wars, unfortunately. That little trick is one born out of necessity, I'm afraid." Baylon replied. "What now?" Lupo Dal asked. "We wait for a few moments. We have to give the Hades time to engage the last of the defense fleet otherwise those ships in orbit will make quick work of our attack." "How will you know when they have begun?" K'thartek asked then. "We left one of the passive sensor arrays on the shuttle craft active. It isfine tuned to detect the energy spikes of a particular type of energyemitted by quantum torpedoes when they detonate. When the Hades is engagingthe innermost ships in the system, they will be in range of that scan. Thereis a subroutine running that will immediately send me a preprogrammed signalwhen such an event happens. That's our go signal." "So you are using your ship as a relay?" Lupo Dal asked. "Effectively. Think of it as a Relay and a forward observer rolled intoone." Suddenly a tiny beep on Baylon's tricorder sounded. "There's the signal." hesaid aloud as he tapped his commbadge. "Papa Bear to all Wolves. Blow thehouse down! Say again, Blow the house down. Mama Bear and Baby Bear,Goldilocks has come home. Say again Goldilocks has come home." There were no replies from any of the units, instead Baylon knew that thetwo strikes teams on the other planets were now beginning their assault,even as the Photon mortars began dropping rounds into the vehicle parkingarea in the courtyard below. "Time to head below." Baylon said with a turn to those present. "Parker, stick with Doorman and Maguire, Eoin You're with me. K'thartek,Dal, try to stay close." With That Baylon led the way to the ground floor in preparations to rush thegaps that would soon be opening in the barrier that surrounded the Waagoshincompound. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades, Bridge, ACOPS, Lt. David Adams, 1521) The red alert klaxon was blaring and the lamp on the bridge flashing. David's fingers flew over the buttons of the console as he prepared the Hades to go into multi-vector mode. Commander Straton was barking out orders behind him. "Mr. McKenzie send the prepared reply notifying the Away Team that we are moving into position," (Reply McKenzie) The Commander went silent for a while as the ship streaked into position, the Waagoshin were moving in an intricate search pattern designed to cut down their opportunity to cut a stray from the herd and increasing opportunities for a quick response by supporting ships to cut them off during a retreat. "Alter our course to 235 mark 34," Straton ordered, " Accelerate to full impulse and drop cloak, raise shields. Attack pattern Theta 5. Full spread of quantum torpedo's." David heard her tapping buttons on a display behind him. A bead of sweat worked its way down his forehead as the very teeth of the battle opened its maw to greet them. She barked out more orders to tactical as the the Waagoshn closed the net and began firing, Barnes was weaving an intricate pattern of evasion of his own as a number of ships opened fire, one spinning out of control as a hit on its starboard drive pod blew it from the ship and left a sputtering plasma fire burning within the wing which had been attached to it. Most of the power on the craft failed as it spun, its vector forcing another enemy craft to break off its attack run and manuever around it. And then they had broken through the cordon, the planet came into view and grew on the screen. The ships own shields were holding up well as was reserve power, tweaks to the SIF had minimzed the drain by the reconfigurations. "Alter course, take us around behind the planet," Commander Straton was barking."Prepare for tri-vector mode." Two green LED's were burning showing the status of the Acheron and Phlegathon bridge controls, there would be no fire control or nav lock, those LED's were dark. "Engineering I haven't gotton the all green on the primary and secondary warp engine shunts yet, how long till full engine seperation?" =^= Initiating now.=^= Was the reply. =^= How do you read?=^= The green LED's came on as if on cue, the linear warp drive engine had been seperated into its component parts. Warp power for the engineering sections was now fully internalized, though still in one piece the Hades was now in essence three independent ships acting cooperatively. Their orbit was taking them in a counterclockwise direction around the Tch'kairn homeworld, the station soon disappeared as more enemy vessels bracketed them, three following and four more appearing ahead and moving in a clockwise orbit which had them almost in attack range. "Tri-vector mode ready Commander." he threw over his shoulder. "Standing by for seperation." "Now! Tri-vector assault!" He hit the master control intiiating the seperation, the ship rocked as thrusters on all three vessels activated, pushind the Acheron up and away and the Phlegaton down and aft. "Seperation activated, distance to Acheron and Phlegaton twenty five meters and rising, initiating warp nacelle deployment." Three Green LED's activated in order as the deployable warp nacelle reached first partial, then minimal and finally full deployment, at the last the fourth LED ignited showing full warp power available. "Warp nacelle deployed, full warp power available." The Acheron and Phlegathon had settled into place 100 meters to the wing and were awaiting orders. "Reverse course," The Commander ordered, "Lets take out those pursuing ships. Acheron take point. Phlegathon cut off their retreat. Mr. McKenzie begin jamming all Waagoshin fleet communications." The engineering sections leapt ahead then like hounds on the hunt as Ensign Barnes turned the saucer section in a near pirhouette, the Hades rounding back upon her pursuers, the hunted suddenly becoming the hunters. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Tch'Kair, Capital City, - aCEO Ensign (jg) Eoin Mac Liam - 15:22) The last few hours for Eoin had been a bit of a blur. Of course, he remembered the major events, what with training the Tch'Kairn resistance fighters, and picking up a few combat tips for himself, but it was all running together. He was nervous to say the least; this was going to be his first time ever in a real combat situation. Yes, there had been several times that he had participated in war games at the Academy, such as that dreaded Kobyashi Maru scenario, which he had failed at as miserably as most everyone, but this was the real thing. And there was no substitute. Their position was on a roof top overlooking the majority of the Waagoshin compound. The building was at least half a floor higher than the barrier that surrounded the compound and allowed Baylon a clear line of sight of the courtyard and several of the lesser buildings, which the resistance had identified as Barracks for the Waagoshin troops. "Papa Bear to Mama bear and Baby Bear" Trinin said, signalling his other teams quietly. =^= Mama bear here=^= Ensign Larose replied with her soft southern drawl. It was followed a moment later by =^=Baby Bear here=^=. The latter voice belonging to the oldest member of the security team on the planet, CPO Cartwright. "Give me confirmation that you teams are in place and that all PM's are zeroed in on predetermined grids." Baylon stated. =^= mama Bear here, my porridge is hot.=^= "I'd bet it is," Ensign Maguire muttered, which caused Baylon to give him a chilling look. =^= Same here Papa bear.=^= Cartwright added. "Understood. All Bears, stand by for the signal from goldilocks." Both officers acknowledged with a =^=standing by. =^= Baylon looked at Eoin. "You're virus ready?" He asked. Eoin produced a small, red isolinear chip. "Ready and waiting, sir." "Good, Parker? You good to go?" He asked Haywood. (reply Haywood) Finally Baylon looked at Harry. The man looked absolutely burdened in all the equipment he was wearing. "Mister doorman, Let the Hades know that the three Big bad Wolves are ready to Blow the house down." "Yes Sir." Harry responded, then shrugged the specialized transmitter from off his back and set it down in front of him. He tapped in a few commands on the device, programming the fractal series and then tapped his commbadge to link with the scrambler. "Three Wolves to Mother Goose. We are ready to blow the house down. I repeat we are ready to blow the house down." he said repeating the unique series of passwords and commands that had been established before hand with the Hades to initiate the operation. A moment later the acknowledgement came in and Harry read the display on the scrambler. "All is ready Lieutenant.' he said. The codes match up and the Hades is coming into the system. "I find it intriguing." K'thartek said then, "This means of deceptive communication. Not only is the signal scrambled, but even if the Waagoshin could break the fractals, the data is otherwise meaningless. It's a very cunning way to communicate." "We'll we've had our share of wars, unfortunately. That little trick is one born out of necessity, I'm afraid." Baylon replied. "What now?" Lupo Dal asked. "We wait for a few moments. We have to give the Hades time to engage the last of the defense fleet otherwise those ships in orbit will make quick work of our attack." "How will you know when they have begun?" K'thartek asked then. "We left one of the passive sensor arrays on the shuttle craft active. It is fine tuned to detect the energy spikes of a particular type of energy emitted by quantum torpedoes when they detonate. When the Hades is engaging the innermost ships in the system, they will be in range of that scan. There is a subroutine running that will immediately send me a preprogrammed signal when such an event happens. That's our go signal." "So you are using your ship as a relay?" Lupo Dal asked. "Effectively. Think of it as a Relay and a forward observer rolled into one." Suddenly a tiny beep on Baylon's tricorder sounded. "There's the signal." he said aloud as he tapped his commbadge. "Papa Bear to all Wolves. Blow the house down! Say again, Blow the house down. Mama Bear and Baby Bear, Goldilocks has come home. Say again Goldilocks has come home." The photon mortars began falling on the compound. It was a terrible sound, and Eoin had to resist the urge to cover his ears. It reminded him somewhat of the things he had read about the London Blitz and the Emergency when he was younger. ~This is what it must have been like. Except, we're the ones carpet-bombing.~ "Time to head below." Baylon said with a turn to those present. "Parker, stick with Doorman and Maguire, Eoin You're with me. K'thartek, Dal, try to stay close." Eoin nodded, and followed Trinin into the compound. It was an absolute mess already. The lot where once many vehicles stood was not much more than a glorified pile of rubble now. Eoin leveled his rifle, and laid down some fire. He wasn't that good of a shot, but managed to pick off two Waagoshin soldiers before getting under cover behind a vehicle. Trinin wasn't far behind. "Mac Liam." Baylon called, " That door there, see it?" He pointed the barrel of his rifle towards the door in question. It was on the far side of the courtyard. "Yes, I do," Eoin replied. "That's our objective." Baylon said, then fired a few blasts into some Waagoshin that were trying to flank a group of the Tch'Kairn fighters. " I'll provide covering fire, get across and get that door open as quickly as possible. McGuire, you're with him." "Understood, sir. McGuire, come on. We can get there easily." With that, Eoin ducked down, and ran towards the door, doing his best to dodge the Waagoshin fire coming out of the horseshoe. Now, with a technical task ahead of him, was Eoin's time to shine. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Tch'Kair, Capital City- Compound, - SO Lieutenant Baylon Trinin- 1525) The rounds from the photon mortars were exceptionally accurate. The vehicles in the open lot didn't stand a chance out in the open, and once they had been reduced to worthless piles of slag, the mortar shifted to the perimeter walls that surrounded the compound. These two were not really designed to handle the brunt of an attack. With blast after blast, they collapsed into massive piles of ruin, forming low walls made of collapsed mortar and brick like substances. When the firing stopped, Baylon raised his rifle in the air tapped his commbadge and gave a war cry. Then his feet were carrying him across the open space between the building where he had been sheltering and the closest breach in the wall. Debris crunched under foot as he started up the pile of shattered building materials Two Tch'Kairn resistance fighters reached the top first. They stopped and began shooting. Despite the initial surprise of the raid, it appeared that the Waagoshin were well trained. Some of their faster soldiers had come pouring out of the Barracks and had taken up firing positions behind some of the destroyed vehicle hulks. Waagoshin rod fire erupted outward like a wall of deadly energy. Some of the first wave of Tch'Kairn resistance fighters made it through the volley of fire, leaving their dead and dying comrades writhing where they fell. Sporadic return fire reached out from the assaulting Tch'Kairn and as Baylon crested the debris pile he realized that the resistance warriors needed to be rallied before they broke and routed into an immediate defeat to be hunted down by the Waagoshin soldiers. He raised his Angel to his cheek, as he maneuvered down the debris, and began squeezing off shots as he went. First one, then two Tch'Kairn followed his example. Baylon dropped three Waagoshin in as many seconds, his long hours on the indoor range coupled with his battle-honed instincts driving him forward and helping to select the most dangerous targets first. He spotted an alpha barking at his troops, and with a quick squeeze of the finger, put a bolt of energy through his gut. More of the Tch'kairn began to get the idea and the meager return fire, multiplied as the resistance fighters began to concentrate their fire into particular pockets of Waagoshin resistance. Baylon dropped down behind the still hot shell of a vehicle that he thought had once been a shuttle craft of some sort. K'thartek and Lupo Dal,accompanied by Doorman and Mac Liam were close behind. He took a moment to assess the situation. The Waagoshin had formed themselves into a rough horseshoe shape, while the assaulting Tch'kairn had been forced to approach in small clumps of firepower. That didn't bode well for the good guys. Baylon palmed a pair of photon grenades, set their timers and leaned out away from the cover of the vehicle just long enough to toss them at the closest point of the horseshoe. They sailed through the air and detonated with a high-pitched squeal. "Mac Liam." Baylon called, " That door there, see it?" He pointed the barrel of his rifle towards the door in question. It was on the far side of the courtyard. (reply Mac Liam) "That's our objective." Baylon said, then fired a few blasts into some Waagoshin that were trying to flank a group of the Tch'Kairn fighters. " I'll provide covering fire, get across and get that door open as quickly as possible. McGuire, you're with him." (reply Mac Liam) "Got it chief." McGuire called out. "Everyone covering fire!" As Mac Liam and McGuire broke cover, Baylon and the other members of his squad began pounding the enemy line with suppressive phaser fire. The idea wasn't so much to hit the opponents, although he'd take what he could get,as it was to make them keep their heads down and prevent them from killing the two men rushing across the courtyard. Even with all their efforts, they weren't able to prevent some of the Waagoshin from returning fire. McGuire made it halfway, before a pair of Waagoshin bolts tore through him and dropped him hard into the wreckage littering the small courtyard. Mac Liam made it across, and took temporary refuge out of the line of fire. Baylon's eyes tracked back to the fallen security officer. He moved. He wasn't dead. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Tch'Kair, Capital City- Compound, - SO Lieutenant Baylon Trinin- 1529) A crisscrossing barrage of weapon's fire crossed the courtyard of the compound with enough intensity to make the place light up in a myriad of blue and red flashes of light. Both Waagoshin and Tch'Kairn troops were falling under the barrage, and Baylon's position was being pelted with enough energy discharges that he was having difficulty keeping down his suppressive fire as Mac Liam and McGuire crossed the courtyard en-route to the compound entry way that Baylon had indicated was their objective. The hardened veteran of two partisan conflicts immediately recognized the dangers of falling into a static position. The Tch'kairn if they stalled would find themselves out maneuvered by any sort of mobile forces that the Waagoshin could bring to bear. With the holding force holding strong behind some of the bulk of the destroyed vehicle hulks, and the Tch'Kairn beginning to hunker down behind whatever cover they could find, Baylon realized that things were not going to go as well as he hoped unless he could get them motivated and moving against the flow of the weapons fire. He glanced back over his shoulder as he squeezed off another three heavy blasts from his Angel into a pair of Waagoshin soldiers trying to wheedle their way around the Tch'Kairn resistance fighter's left flank. He glanced back up in time to see McGuire's feet collapse under him as he was struck by a Waagoshin bolt of energy. "Damn it!" Baylon spit out, although he was glad to see that Eoin had managed to cross the last of the open space and make it to the door. As the engineer dropped his tool kit and went to work, Baylon could feel a sense of pride. These people that were here, dying on this alien world were doing so because they believed in what they were doing. It was a strong and compelling feeling to know that such disparate people could be united for something as universal s peace and doing right. "Doorman" Baylon called. "What?" the Science officer replied as he crouched down behind the wreckage that they were using for cover. "You've got to get across the courtyard, help Eoin. You'll need to provide him with cover fire." "Me?" The scientist replied, Baylon could see the color seeping from his face. "Yes you. Now. I'm going to cut around behind you and attack their flank, K'thartek will go with me. You and Lupo Dal get across the courtyard and help Eoin or we've come here for nothing." Doorman swallowed the lump in his throat. "Do you understand me ensign?" No response. "Mister doorman!" Baylon bellowed, his voice hard. "Get moving now or I'll shoot you myself!" Of course the Security chief had no intention of doing that but the scientist didn't know that. The words seemed to have an immediate affect on him He nodded feebly and shifted forward. Baylon moved past him and looked at the Resistance fighter with him. "Let's go kill some Waagoshin before this assault falters." he said simply. The Resistance leader regarded him with his multifaceted eyes. "I am with you." he said. "Send Dal with Doorman." The resistance leader clicked his mandibles a few times and Lupo Dal responded in a similar method. A few moments later the Philosopher shuffled up behind the science officer. "You move right after we do." Baylon ordered. Doorman nodded. Baylon took a deep breath and shifted around the end of the wreckage that had offered them protection against the incoming enemy fire. Three bolts of searing hot blue energy slid past him, close enough to cause him to pull away from the heat as they past. The Betazoid raised his weapon to his shoulder and rushed forward,concentrating his fire at the left flank of the Waagoshin line. Burst after burst poured into that flank. He wasn't trying to hit anyone specifically, more for the purpose of making them duck and keep from returning fire against him and the Resistance leader as they approached the enemy position. Blasts slammed into the cover that the Waagoshin were using, and a few blasts slipped just over the top of the cover as well. A Waagoshin soldier,braver than his compatriots raised up to return fire and took a phaser blast to the face, the energy burning off his snout and pitching him backwards behind the makeshift barricade. Baylon's vision narrowed into an adrenaline fueled hyper-awareness. His brain already instinctively reaching out and sensing the presence of the Waagoshin huddling behind their barricades. K'thartek was right behind him, moving with a fluidity that Baylon would have thought was impossible for a being of his obvious size and body structure. The Resistance leader was putting down effective weapon's fire into another portion of the barricades, further suppressing the Waagoshin efforts to kill them. The rest of the Tch'Kairn must have seen him rushing the enemy, because the air was filled with an inhuman sound of a heavy dry chirping, as if several of the Tch'kairn were rubbing their legs against their carapace in some primitive call to arms. A moment later a virtual hell storm of phaser fire filled the courtyard as the Resistance fighters surged forward in an effort to overwhelm the Waagoshin positions. Baylon reached the end of the barricade and threw himself prone in a sideways thrust. His weapon raised and pouring fire into the exposed flank that was occupied by a half dozen Waagoshin soldiers. His burst struck three of them before they even had time to realize what had happened. He landed hard and wrong. The wind was forced from his lungs and the broken concrete and shattered debris from the Waagoshin vehicles drove themselvesinto his uniform. Bruising his ribs and scraping away some of the skin that covered his ribs. Two of the Waagoshin raised their batons to finish off the Security Chief, even as the realization that Baylon had made a mistake began to permeate his war fogged brain. They never managed to fire however. K'thartek, the massive nearly nine-foot tall Tch'Kairn leader had leapt over the last few feet of the Barricade. His massive insectoid body suddenly occupying the same space as the last three Waagoshin soldiers in this position. He landed on one of them, driving his massive chitinous feet through the Waagoshin soldier with a sickening squish of noise. A second Waagoshin went sailing through the air as the Tch'Kairn backhanded him with once massive powerful armored arm. He sailed at least a dozen meters through the air, stopping only when his sailing body made contact with a relatively intact concrete pillar. His back broke, folding him into an unnatural angle. The third Waagoshin was much faster. He spun and used his baton as a club. It slammed into the back carapace of the Tch'Kairn leader, shattering some of the armored plates there with a resounding crack. The Waagoshin should have moved away from his opponent but because of the bloodlust, or because he had underestimated his opponent, he stood his ground. K'thartek spun, an inhuman squeal of pain issuing from somewhere deep in the recesses of his body. His mandibles snapped closed, working angrily against the throat of the Waagoshin warrior. The hardened mandibles crushed the Waagoshin's throat and snapped through his spine like a pair of shears cutting through the limbs of a small plant. Blood erupted as the being's head shot off from the force. It spattered on the Enraged Tch'Kairn face and carapace lending a devilish red hue to the already alien appearance of the larger predator. It was the scariest thing Baylon had ever seen. Two Waagoshin warriors chose that moment to round the barricade. They froze in terror at the sight, obviously deeply affected by the raw terror that the blood splattered Tch'Kairn represented. All creatures have an innate survival instinct. And pack and herd animals seem to feel it more acutely when they are isolated from their pack or herd members. The first Waagoshin turned to run, a howl of sheer terror coming from his snout. The second simply froze. K'thartek leapt forward, covering the distance between him and the Waagoshinas Baylon pulled himself to his feet. The frozen Waagoshin was crushed between a powerful blow of the Mantis-like being's third leg and the barricade. Baylon could hear the crack of bones and the wet slush of damaged internal organs and flesh being rent into useless mush. The Betazoid sprinted to keep pace with his larger ally. He never made it to the second fleeing Waagoshin soldier. A second Tch'Kairn fighter leapt down atop him from the top of the Barricade. He pinned him to the ground with the sharpened ends of his primary arms, then rent him to pieces with a simple jerking motion. All along the line,Tch'Kairn were dropping over the barricade, landing in amongst the Waagoshin defenders and wreaking complete and total havoc. Baylon raised his rifle and fired two bursts into the chest of a Waagoshin that was beating the carapace of an injured Tch'Kairn warrior. The Fox-like beast pitched backwards as the blasts dissolved flesh and organs. Despite his efforts, the injured Tch'Kairn stumbled and his legs gave way. He spasmed a couple of times and grew still. The tide of the battle was turning, but it wasn't over yet. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades, Acheron Bridge, aFO/CSO Lt. Jericho Haynes, 1535) The ship rocked as the Hades fought its way through the fleet protecting the installations on the inner planets, the viewscreen showed a quantum torpedo hitting one of the Waagoshin craft cutting off their penetration into the system, its starboard engine pod blew away in a scintillating shower of particles with plasma fires glowing within the wing that had attached it to the ship. The vessel went into a spin which caused one of its fellows to veer off and break his attack run. The glow of the fires within it growing more pronounced as a cascade of power failures darkened it. The shards which were still spreading out from its destruction turning in space and giving off sparkling specks of light caused by reflections from the blue/white dwarf sun. The Hades accelerated toward the planet, as it neared it the station began growing on the screen like some maleavolant moon studded with weaponry. "Bridge controls active, we're on internal power sir!" Ensign Brady called. "Activate the TIHS and external sensors." He barked. "Prepare for seperation and call out each step." "Aye sir." Out of the corner of his left eye he saw the tactical system activate, since this was primarily a battle post the bridge was laid out a bit differently. While OPS and Nav were in front of him tactical was to his forward left and science to his forward right. The engineering console was behind the CONN. A change of course took them into a counterclockwise orbit around planet four. "Primary and secondary shunts fully activated." Brady called. "Warp engine is hot, we're at full power. Waiting for seperation order." He tensed, now was the baptism by fire. He had jokingly considered his first view of the Hades bridge from the command chair and figured he would see little of such things but now here he was the next day about to command a warship during a battle. Starfleet simulations could prepare you for a lot of things but not the adrenalin rush, not the nervous sweat that was beading on his forehead or the knot that was growing in the pit of his stomach from the tension. His breath had slowed and his heartbeat accelerated causing his vision to narrow, a common occurance of tunnel vision which such factors caused. He conciously forced himself to take deep breaths as he waited for the seperation order. "Seperation initiated." The Acheron shuddered as the manuevering thrusters kicked in, the rear of the saucer section filling the screen as the viewscreen switched to a full external view from the Acherons perspective. "Activate shields and charge phasers." "Aye sir." It wasn't long before the order came through. His vision was beginning to return to normal as the com activated. =^= Reverse course. Lets take out those pursuing ships. Acheron take point. Phlegathon cut off their retreat. Mr. McKenzie begin jamming all Waagoshin fleet communications.=^= "Acknowledge that order." He snapped. "Helm full ahead at half impulse, Ms. Sketh target the lead ship's propulsion systems, their shields appear to be weaker aft. Three bursts then target the next ship, force them to break formation!" "Aye sir." The Andorian watched her readings closely as she seemingly stood hovering in space, the planet to her left and the Waagoshin ships streaking to them on an intercept course. The sun was coming around the curve of the planet ahead and the THIS' internal shunts activated, dampening the dazzling light and bringing the enemy vessels into sharp focus. Her right hand was poised with her index finger cocked waiting for them to come within range. "Helm twelve degrees mark eight." The Acheron banked slightly to starboard giving her a better firing angle and then... her finger shot forward and tapped three times on the port engine pod of the enemy craft, brilliant bursts from the Acherons forward phaser arrays shooting out and ravening against the ships shields. The first two blasts lit up their defensive shielding in a calaidescope of clashing colors as its emitters struggled to hold up against the massive energy surges, the third burst through like a crossbow quarrel penetrating plate armor, throwing aside the weakened shielding and burning into the fin. It glowed white hot for an instant before exploding ouward from the pressure differential, atmosphere and electrical arcs lighting up like neon signs against the backdrop of space The ship rolled to that side as it lost manuevering power. "Helm increase speed to full impulse and change course 118 degrees positive mark five!" She had already targeted a second and was firing as the Acheron accelerated, the ship acting like a wedge in the enemy formation. The stricken ship seemed to come right at her as she concentrated her fire on the vessel to the right but it turned starboard protecting that side as the second blast hit it. The third phaser shot hit it on its ventral shielding as it rolled, its Captain desperately trying to keep her from concentrating her fire. Then the first ship dropped away underneath her as the Acheron brought her nose up and shot above it. Green weapons fire was lancing out from the Waagoshin ships as they tried to turn them back but it was too late, the subject of her attentions found himself split from the pack as the Phlegathon bore down upon it. "Alter course ninety degrees mark three! Tactical fire at will at the ships to port." She turned her attention to the two ship which were rolling in their direction, their port weapons fire along with missile streaking through space toward the Acheron. "Evasive manuevers!" Jack shouted but too late for three of the missiles which caught the Acheron aft on the port side, the ship shuddered and lost course from the detonations, surges in the command/control matrix throwing the bridge into darkness for an instant before power was rerouted around the burned out components. The viewscreen flickered back to life showing the enemy turning and coming in, their weapons fire throwing rainbow arcs of energy from the forward shielding. Return fire from the Acheron caught the first ship right on the nose, they couldn't roll away fast enough before a succession of following blasts burst through their shields and blew out their forward compartments. The Acheron streaked past her starboard side, phaser bursts raking it as it passed, the shielding finally collapsed completely and the Andorian sent a final burst into her engine compartment. The ship seemed to crack and break in slow motion before erupting amidships in a huge fireball that engulfed the whole Waagoshin vessel leaving only white hot fragments that cooled quickly as they spread out through space. Some entered the atmosphere of the Tch'kairn homeworld like a shower of meteorites, lighting up the predawn in a show of fireworks that had the people cheering before they completely disintigrated in the atmosphere. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Tch'Kair, Capital City- Compound, - SciO Ensign Harry Doorman- 1535.5) To say that he was terrified would be like saying that Einstein was a Genius. It was both true and undeniable. Harry huddled frozen against the hulk of the vehicle that was acting as cover from the intense weapon fire that the Waagoshin were pouring out at them in an attempt to snuff out their lives. ~What in the hell was I thinking?~ He wondered, knowing that the answer was a non-secquitor. Lieutenant Trinin had ordered Ensign Mac Liam and Ensign McGuire to cross the courtyard to the door that would lead them into the core of the facility. Neither man had hesitated. It was a sort of blind courage that Harry knew deep in his soul that he didn't have. Mac Liam made the distance unscathed,but McGuire was split by an energy bolt that knocked the man's feet out from under him. He was most likely dead. "Doorman" Baylon called. "What?" the Science officer replied still stunned at watching McGuire die such a sudden death. "You've got to get across the courtyard, help Eoin. You'll need to provide him with cover fire." "Me?" The Harry replied, a touch of ear seeping from his soul into his voice. "Yes you. Now. I'm going to cut around behind you and attack their flank, K'thartek will go with me. You and Lupo Dal, get across the courtyard and help Eoin or we've come here for nothing." Doorman swallowed the lump in his throat. He was suddenly having difficulty breathing. "Do you understand me ensign?" Harry worked his jaw, but no sound issued from his lips. The terror had stolen his voice. "Mister doorman!" Baylon bellowed, his voice hard. "Get moving now or I'll shoot you myself!" Harry snapped out of his paralysis, and forced himself to nod. He someho wmanaged to override his fear, pushing it deep into the core of his stomach. He with an effort of will he made his legs move, stepped forward to the edge of the wreckage ready to move. Baylon moved past him and looked at the Resistance fighter with him. "Let's go kill some Waagoshin before this assault falters." he said simply. The Resistance leader regarded him with his multifaceted eyes. "I am with you." he said. "Send Dal with Doorman." "You move right after we do." Baylon ordered. Doorman nodded. His muscles tensed and his stomach threatened to rebel. Suddenly Baylon and the Resistance leader was moving and somehow Harry's body moved forward breaking cover and moving across the open courtyard towards the Engineer working at the door. Energy bolts crisscrossed all around them and for a moment harry understood what it must feel like to be one of those moving targets on the phaser range. If they could feel, he was certain that they'd have felt the same nearly blinding terror that was chilling the very fabric of his soul. The desire for survival was intense, a rush of power, energy and sheer terror could do wonders. Harry Leapt over a large piece of debris with an ease that would have made an Olympic athlete jealous. He landed, kept his footing and then suddenly found himself almost to McGuire. Sometimes the unexplained happens. In this case, the Unexplained caused Harry to stop. Right in the midst of blazing bolts of death. With a strength fueled by body chemistry. He reached down, grabbing the fallen security officer by the wrist and pulled him into a sitting position. Then with an effort of will and a burning of muscular effort, he pitched the officer over his shoulder, bringing him into a fireman's carry. Lupo Dal, passed him, But Harry didn't hesitate any longer. The diminutive scientist found new purpose, reached deep down into the depths of his soul and suddenly felt his legs propelling him forward. His legs ached under the effort, his breathing was labored, but somehow he managed to cross that distance intact. He reached the alcove where Eoin was working feverishly on the door. He gently placed McGuire into a sitting position against the wall. The to his surprise the man exhaled and groaned. "He's alive!" Doorman exclaimed, "amazed that the security officer could have survived the energy burst that had slammed into his side as he was crossing the courtyard. (reply Eoin iyw) "We have to get him inside." Harry said. "The Waagoshin are charging us!" Lupo Dal said, with a sense of urgency that made Harry's skin crawl. ~Provide cover fire.~ he remembered Baylon saying. With an uncanny resolution driven by a fear of death, harry raised the phaser rifle, holding it uneasily and spun out from the alcove. He pointed it at the Waagoshin and started firing. Screaming as he pulled the Trigger. They were closely packed together and even Harry's abysmal weapons skills couldn't miss at this range. The first three blasts slammed into two different leaders of the Waagoshin pack. They pitched backwards, as the energy burned a hole through them. The adrenaline and fear mingled into a sort of supercharged nitrous oxide for the fight or flight response that every living creature experiences when confronted with the distinct possibility that they are going to die. In uncharacteristic stupidity and with Lieutenant Trinin's words still ringing in his mind, Harry charged forward completely taken by the desire to remove the threat to his person. He rushed them, weapon firing as fast as he could pull the trigger. Several bolts of phaser energy flew wide or high, but the shrinking distance made it harder for him to miss. Another Waagoshin went down screaming as Harry blinded by fear and anger charged headlong into them. It must have been the fight or flight response that saved him. His senses seemed to be strained almost to the breaking point. The closest Waagoshin swung his baton at the science officer. Somehow Harry managed to get his rifle in the way. He didn't stop the blow, but he did dampen the force of the impact. The end of the baton struck him on the chin, staggering him Harry dropped his rifle and with his bare hands, now driven as much by the pain wrapped his hands around the throat of the Waagoshin that had struck him. By Betazoid standards Harry wasn't a strong man. He wasn't the most fit and he certainly wasn't the most athletic. But fueled by a primal desire to survive, his endurance and strength seemed magnified. His fingernails bit into the soft flesh of the Waagoshin's throat and tightened in a vice like desire to protect himself and to save Angeni. When your very existence is threatened you will fall back into an instinctive desire to use whatever tools you have available to you to increase your odds of survival. In this case, fueled by the chaos all around him Harry reached out with his mind, forced his way into the Waagoshin's conscious mind and screamed. The Waagoshin's eyes glazed over, struggling to contain his own fear as Harry ripped his mind apart even as he squeezed the life from his body. The Soldier's eyes rolled up in his head as he convulsed, his body growing rigid as muscles fought for control. Then he suddenly grew still. A phaser blast shot past him, taking the next closest Waagoshin down. Harry continued to press his fingers into the soft flesh until his logical brain suddenly resumed control and told him that the creature was dead. He was dead and harry suddenly felt a tremendous weight withdrawn from his shoulders. He suddenly understood that he could kill these beasts and survive it. The fear diminished and the Scientist rose, a feral look in his eyes as he bent down almost casually to pick up his rifle. He turned facing the courtyard as weapons blasts slammed into the stone wall behind him. He raised the weapon to his shoulder and pumped a bolt into the closest Waagoshin, dropping him with a primal glee that was welling up from the primitive recesses of his psyche. Another Waagoshin was almost upon him and Harry reached out with his mind, pushing into the creature's mind with out any concern and paralyzed him with a telepathic scream. He paused, nearly stumbling as Harry switched his grip on the weapon and swung it into the side of the Waagoshin's skull with all the force he could muster. Then he realized that the Tch'kairn were leaping over the Barricades and that the Waagoshin were no longer interested in harry Doorman. The man shuddered and emptied the contents of his stomach against the wall. When the evacuation was complete, he wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and turned to walk back to the alcove where Eoin was working. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Tch'kair orbit, Orbital station, Control center, Alpha 1, 1536) "Alpha 1 we still have not regained contact with the garrison on Tch'kair." Alpha 1 rounded on his security commander. "We have not heard from them since the beginning of the attack on the surface, are they already taken?" His snarl was fearsome and his underling flinched. "We are still reading fighting going on outside the garrison but they appear to have broken inside as well." Alpha 1 didn't have time to follow up on this as the Hades had rounded the planet. "Message incoming!" "Display it!" The view screen activated and the commander of one of the pursuing ships came up. "Alpha 1 their ship has split into three!" "What?" Alpha 1 roared as he sprang from his seat, he knew at that instant he had severely underestimated not only their tactical planning but also their technical abilities. There had been no way to see this coming but it perhaps clarified what Graffna had said about their power curve, any ship with the ability to split into three would have vast energy supplies. "They have split their force, one continuing current orbit and two of them moving toward us." The view screen rocked. "They are attacking!" "Blow them out of space." Alpha 1 howled as the ship rocked again. Sparks blew from overloaded relays as the Captain was giving orders. "They are targeting a weak spot in our shielding, propulsion pod is hit..." Then the screen went black. Alpha 1 began pacing the control center in rage, his underlings said nothing but went back to their work nervously hoping beyond hope they would not become targets of his wrath, all that is except the lone Tch'kairn who was working her mandibles silently in glee. Her hopes were soaring that these aliens could indeed defeat the Waagoshin, their abilities had so far exceeded her wildest dreams. An attack against this station however would be much more difficult, she needed time to think how she might affect the outcome in their favor. Until now she had not thought that far ahead as there had been little hope they could have gotten this far but they had.. and were winning. "Call in all the reserves, pull them back to set up in support positions for the station." Alpha 1 snarled behind her. She tensed in surprise then nodded in understanding. "It will be done master." In the meanwhile she would be working on her plan. She heard Alpha 1 behind her snap out another order. "Bring the Federation Alpha to the control center, it is time to make use of him. Slave after you have notified the reserves prepare to signal the one called Straton. I will wish to speak with her." "Yes master." Her mind was racing so much she had trouble carrying out his first order, she knew what Alpha 1 would do, he would threaten to kill the Captain of the ship before Straton's eyes if she did not withdraw and she knew as well he would not hesitate to fulfill his threat. Sash's life now hung by a thread, what would Straton do? Were they doomed to defeat so close to victory? Her antennae drooped as she concluded dispatching the reserves then began locking on the communications frequency used by the Hades. Perhaps she should sabotage the communications for the station so he could not carry out his plan? But there wasn't time, she was committed to his orders. She sobbed air quietly through her spicules as the communication signal was activated. Would they even be receptive to a communication? Perhaps they might refuse and never know their Captains fate, she could only hope. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades, Sick bay, ACMO Ensign Haywood Parker, 1539) Haywood, sick of his desk, was sitting on the floor between two occupied biobeds with his back leaning against the wall. A PADD balancing on his knees, he was trying to concentrate on finishing his reports, but there was so much to get done, his brain felt like mush. He bit his lower lip and threw his head backwards against the wall. How Angeni managed to get everything done, he had no idea. He had forgotten to shave this morning, and was well aware of how scruffy he looked, but it wasn't a rarity. It never took long for people to get used to the fact that Haywood often forgot, or lost his razor... The door swished open, and he scrambled to his feet, thinking it was another patient coming in for treatment of some new gash or break. With the way the ship was bouncing around, it was no real surprise. Doctor O'Neil stood at the door. "Hello, Chase," Haywood called, tossing his PADD from hand to hand. He offered a smile, "Just starting your shift?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (USS Hades, Plegathon Bridge - aCTAC/SEC Ensign (jg) Lo'ren T'Vof - 15:42) Lo'ren was staring intensely at the screen, her left hands braced on her knee, her right hovering over the command chair's armrest controls. She was feeding extra commmands back to the tactical pair to her left. Menken,Benzite fingers tapping out a symphony off coordinates to highlight the TIHS for Rowe, was breathing hard. ~He didn't properly adjust to the breathing treatments.~ Lo'ren frowned and made a note to order him to Sickbay for tests when this was over. Tethlin was working hard, a sheen of sweat making her face glow in the light of her station. ~I imagine she's never had to work as hard as this, and holding up well.~ Lo'ren thought she might recommend the woman for more active assignment more often, but she wanted to reserve judgement until she spoke with Arysha. Turning her attention back to the main viewer she saw that Artie Newberry was doing an excellent job dodging the bullets. She was aiming for the designated target off Lo'ren had named. With Jack's voice still in her head ~Take care of yourself~ Lo'ren leaned forward. "Status." Lo'ren had briefed her team to keep reports short and to the point, not only for the sake of expediency, but to accomodate the engineer and the language difference present. "Tactical, good to go." Menken's stilted, slightly rasping voice called out. "Science, good to go." McMeel sounded tense, but Lo'ren left it alone. "Engineer, good go." The mechanical VOX sounds came over the comm badges ofall present. "Flight Ops, working smooth." Artie called back from the CONN. Just then the ship shuddered under fire and Artie gave a disgusted grunt, "Not so smooth." Lo'ren nodded. "CONN ram us down their throat. Tactical, blow a hole for us to get through." The Plegathon veered slightly to avoid a slice of phaser fire and then homed in on the designated ship. Artie pushed the engines higher increasing their speed and bearing down on the Waag ship. Joanie and Menken worked like a well oiled machine and the phasers sang out, time after time, rocking the enemy with bolt after bolt of dead on shots. Lo'ren leaned forward, muttering under her breath, "Die, you power hungry puppies. As long as I am here, you will never take another slave." She watched as the ship opposite sparked and shuddered under the barrage. The Plegathon rocked under the shots that came at her, sparks flying off of panels as smoke began to gather on the ceiling. Just before the Plegathon would have needed to veer to avoid a collision, one last shot of phaser fire shattered the Waagoshin ship, sending out an explosion that the Plegathon sailed right through. The battle bridge visibly relaxed, but only for a moment because Lo'ren barked out another series of short commands. "Tethlin, inertial dampers, maxplus increase. Tactical, new target. Ops, plot spiral course. Science, watch our tail and company." The crew became another flurry again. Lo'ren tapped in coordinates that went to Tactical and FOps and they centred the viewscreen on a ship trying to sneak in behind the saucer section. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades, Sick bay, Dr. Chase O'Neil, 1542.5) "Hello, Chase," Haywood called, tossing his PADD from hand to hand. He offered a smile, "Just starting your shift?" Chase smiled and walked over to Haywood, clasping his hand in a friendly handshake. "Ang would've killed me if she found out that I didn't head here when the red alert klaxon went off. Besides, I'm too much of a trauma junkie to not come down." He smiled as one of the nurses handed him a PADD. He read it over quickly and nodded. "Go ahead with two milligrams of Morphine and ten of Tordol." He smiled and patted the nurse on the shoulder as she walked away. "Laceration to the forearm and forehead from falling debris in the patients' quarters. No neuro deficits, no tendon damage, so I'm giving him enough Morphine to let him relax for about an hour, and the Tordol to keep down the swelling and keep the pain off for the next 24 hours. What do you think about that, Dr. Parker? Anything you think that should be changed?" (Reply Haywood) Chase nodded and smiled. "Thanks..." He took a big deep breath and he grabbed several boxes of hypo refills and started loading hypos. He shook his head slowly and sighed. "Can you believe all of this? All we were doing was exploring, and now all of a sudden they took our people hostage." His temper began to flare slightly, and he crushed the empty box in his hand. "We didn't do anything to them. God Dammit war sucks big eggrolls." He bowed his head slightly and sighed. "Sorry..." He shot Haywood an apologetic look. "I shouldn't be venting at you like this, it's not fair..." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades, Sick bay, ACMO Ensign Haywood Parker, 1544) "Laceration to the forearm and forehead from falling debris in the patients' quarters. No neuro deficits, no tendon damage, so I'm giving him enough Morphine to let him relax for about an hour, and the Tordol to keep down the swelling and keep the pain off for the next 24 hours. What do you think about that, Dr. Parker? Anything you think that should be changed?" Haywood shook his head and scribbled quickly on his PADD, "No, sir." He bit his lower lip again, "It was in order. Chase nodded and smiled. "Thanks..." He took a big deep breath and he grabbed several boxes of hypo refills and started loading hypos. He shook his head slowly and sighed. "Can you believe all of this? All we were doing was exploring, and now all of a sudden they took our people hostage." Haywood watched anger get the best of the other doctor as he crushed an empty hypo refill box in his hand. "We didn't do anything to them. God Dammit war sucks big eggrolls." Haywood had to fight to keep down a snigger. The expression was hilarious. "Sorry..." Chase shot Haywood an apologetic look. "I shouldn't be venting at you like this, it's not fair..." Haywood shrugged, "It's true." He agreed. "We all have to wait around on our toes now because there's no telling what crap they'll throw at us next... Not to mention our most experienced doctor and CMO has been abducted and we're left trying to pick up the pieces without her." He didn't want to add that he felt no where near qualified enough to be the acting CMO in her absence. "It's just important that we're here." He finally said, "And thanks," he indicated the hypos Chase had just filled, "It helps a lot when your coworkers are less scatter-brained than you." His smile was weak because the truth in his statement was overwhelming. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Hades, Sick bay, Dr. Chase O'Neil, 1550) There was such gravity in that statement that Chase could barely keep himself from furrowing his brow. He had forgotten what it was like to be 'green' in crazy situations like this. He put a hand on Haywoods' shoulder, speaking in hushed tones. "Hey now, we'll get through this together. No one stayed on for their full eight seconds during their first rodeo. I'm guessing this is your first mass casualty/war time situation?" (Reply Haywood) He nodded and smiled. "Well then, let's get to work. First of all, we need to get you wired. If this is the first time you are playing with Ms. Trommashere, she probably hadn't gotten around to showing you these." He quickly scurried into Angeni's office and returned moments later with two black cases. he grabbed a Medics' kit off the wall, opened it, and then closed it back up, hanging it back up. He opened one of the cases and smiled. "I knew it." He pulled out what looked like a small, 20th century pager. A clip on the back held four black cloth and metal wrist bands. Chase handed one set to Haywood, and he clipped one of his own onto his waistband. "Alright. This will help keep your patients organized. To activate the device, you simply strap one of these bands around a patients' wrist. A display on the receiver you have will show you patient vitals, and the type will be in various colors to show severity. Red is for those who need treated first, yellow second, green third, and black fourth." (Reply Haywood) "Once you're done with the patient, simply take the bracelet off and that particular unit will shut off and is ready for the next patient. If there are any changes in patients' vitals, the pager will vibrate alerting you to the change." Suddenly, the doors of the Bay slid open, and a medic came in carrying a crewman over his shoulder. "Doctor!!? I need a doctor here, NOW!" Chase looked at Haywood, "Come on, I don't think this is going to be a one doctor effort." (Reply Haywood) Chase moved over to the medic quickly who had laid the patient on the floor. "Severe plasma burns. He was repairing a plasma conduit when it exploded. He wasn't breathing when we got there, but we cleared his airway and he started gasping and gurgling. Circumfrential burns around the chest, head, and arms, vitals right now are dancing everywhere." Chase nodded. "What are the vitals?" Another medic and a nurse had cleared off the head biobed, and Chase grabbed the man along with the medic and hoisted him up on the bed. He pulled down one of the operating lights and he opened the mans' airway. "What the Hell are the damn vitals?! For the first time in almost seven years he uttered such a dirty explitive it made the Medic blush. "Get me a Cric kit. Dr. Parker, I'm going to try to get an airway in him...now.." Chase cleared his throat as he ran the sterlizer over his hands, "Can a brother get some vitals please?!" He bellowed above the din of the bay, and all movement and noise stopped. A nurse quietly piped up. "BP is 60 over crap, Respers are 4 and agonal, Heart Rate is 145 and climbing." "Thank you..." The young doctor replied in a demure fashion. "Now, Dr. Parker, while I go about getting an airway, feel free to jump in and fix something." He prayed violently that Haywood didn't take his statement in an offensive manner, but he wanted to be perfectly clear about the fact that this was not John Wayne time, they both had to pull together to save the mans' life. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (USS Hades, Bridge, ACOPS Lt. David Adams, 1605) The battle was going well so far, on the viewscreen another Waagoshin vessel exploded as a quantum torpedo touched off its reactor, the display was satisfying. David's attention was caught by a blinking tell on the console, he checked the readout and was surprised to see it wasn't from either the Acheron, Phlegathon or any of their forces within the system. It was using the same com signal they had used before... when speaking with the Waagoshin. He turned in his seat to face the command chair. "Commander I have an incoming signal." (Reply: Straton) "It's the Waagoshin sir, they are requesting to speak with you." (Reply: Straton) "Aye sir." He turned back to his board and activated the viewscreen, as it solidified Alpha 1 could be seen sitting in his command chair, to his left though stood captain Sash flanked by two more Waagoshin holding their rods in readiness. The Captain appeared to have a silvery metal circlet of some type about his neck. Alpha 1 leaned foward with an enraged expression, his ears were flat against his skull. "Commander I order you to break off your attack and leave Waagoshin space now or I will kill your Alpha. If you think me too weak to carry out my threat you know nothing of my race. You have ten seconds to reply before I give you a demonstration of my serious intentions." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- end compile