Compile#5 June 30-31 (USS Rosenante) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Mission: Into The Darkness Go I Day: 4 Stardate: 2408.08.04 Compile Summary (USS Rosenante – Trade Winds – 30/CCOUNS Lt. (jg) Jon Nayati -2000) ===================================================================== Mission: Into the Darkness, Go I Day: 5 Stardate: 2408.08.05 Compile Summary (USS Furious - Sickbay - SO, Ensign Sakon - Day 5 -1958) (USS Furious - Sickbay - SO, Ensign Sakon - Day 5 -2001) (USS Furious - Sickbay - SO, Ensign Jones - Day 5 -2002) (USS Furious - Sickbay - SO, Ensign Sakon - Day 5 -2004) (USS Furious - lounge- SO, Ensign Sakon - Day 5 -2300) ===================================================================== Mission: Into the Darkness, Go I Day: 6 Stardate: 2408.08.06 Compile Summary (USS Rosenante - Deck 3, Section 17 - ACEO - Ensign (jg) Mitena Rixx - Day 6 - 2218) ===================================================================== Mission: Into the Darkness, Go I Day: 7 Stardate: 2408.08.07 Compile Summary (ISS Rosenante - Cargo Bay 3 - ACEO - Ensign (jg) Mitena Rixx (MU) - Day 7 - 1428) (USS Rosenante – Medical office – Ens Kimiko Ichijo - Day 7 1939) (Hexikor Alpha Moon- Medical Center- Ensign Benoit- Day 7 - 2003) (USS Rosenante - Bridge - CO, Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid- Day 7- 2158) (USS Rosenante - Bridge - COPS, Lt Tom Jackson - Day 7- 2159) (USS Rosenante – Trade Winds- 30/CCOUNS Lt (jg) Jon Nayati – 2159.5) (USS Rosenante - Bridge - 2O/CTAC - Lt Cmdr T'Larah Sullivan - 2200) (USS Rosenante - Bridge - FO - Cmdr Josh Caskie - Day 7- 2202) (USS Furious- Bridge - FO, Commander Erin Sloane - Day 7- 2205) (Hexicor Alpha - Conference Room - Captain Saleke - Day 7- 2206) (Hexicor Alpha - Waiting Room to the Conference Room - Ensign Benoit - Day 7- 2207) (Hexicor Alpha - Conference Room - CTSO - Ensign Williams - Day 7- 2207.5) (Hexicor Alpha - Waiting Room to the Conference Room - Ensign Benoit - Day 7- 2207.8*) (USS Furious- Bridge - FO, Commander Erin Sloane - Day 7- 2208) (USS Furious- Transporter Room - CO, Captain Saleke - Day 7- 2209) (USS Furious- Transporter Room - CO, Captain Saleke - Day 7- 2210) (USS Furious- Transporter Room - Ensign Benoit - Day 7- 2210.5) (USS Furious- Transporter Room - CSO, Lt. Commander Holis Gralen - Day 7- 2211) (USS Furious Bridge CTSO Ensign Andrus Williams - 2211.5) (USS Furious- Transporter Room - Ensign Benoit - Day 7- 2211.9*) (USS Furious- Bridge- CO, Captain Saleke - Day 7- 2212) (USS Furious- Bridge - FO, Commander Erin Sloane - Day 7- 2213) (USS Rosenante - Bridge - FO - Cmdr Josh Caskie - Day 7 - 2214) (USS Rosenante - Bridge - CO, Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid- Day 7- 2215) (USS Furious - Bridge - CO, Captain Saleke- Day 7- 2216) (USS Furious- Bridge - FO, Commander Erin Sloane - Day 7- 2217) (USS Furious- Main Engineering - ACEO, Lieutenant Steven Matrix - Day 7- 2222) (USS Furious - Transporter Room 1 - CO, Captain Saleke- Day 7- 2229) (USS Rosenante- Transporter Room 2, Captain Saleke- Day 7- 2230) (USS Rosenante - Ready Room - CO, Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid- Day 7- 2231) (USS Rosenante - Transporter Room 2 - FO - Cmdr Josh Caskie - Day 7- 2232) (USS Rosenante - Transporter Room 2 - Captain Saleke - Day 7- 2233) (USS Rosenante - Ready Room - Captain Saleke- Day 7- 2235) (USS Rosenante - Ready Room - CO, Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid- Day 7- 2236) (USS Rosenante - Ready Room - CO, Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid- Day 7- 2237) (USS Rosenante - Bridge, CO- Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid- Day 7- 2238) (USS Rosenante - Ready Room - Captain Saleke - Day 7- 2239*) (USS Rosenante - Ready Room - Captain Saleke- Day 7- 2240) (USS Furious- Deck 6, CSO's office- Lt. Commander Holis Gralen- Day 7- 2244) (USS Furious- CSO's Office- Ensign Benoit - Day 7- 2245) (USS Rosenante - Turbolift, CO- Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid- Day 7- 2250) (USS Rosenante - sickbay- ACMO Ensign (jg) Sam Lopez- Day 7- 2359) (USS Rosenante - Sickbay- Ens Kimiko Ichijo- Day 7- 2400) ===================================================================== Mission: Into the Darkness, Go I Day: 8 Stardate: 2408.08.08 Compile Summary (USS Rosenante - Sickbay- ACMO Ensign (jg) Sam Lopez- Day 8- 0001) ===================================================================== Mission: Into the Darkness, Go I Day: 9 Stardate: 2408.08.09 Compile Summary (ISS Rosenante - Bridge - CO, Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid (MU) - Day 9- 0200) ===================================================================== (USS Rosenante – Trade Winds – 30/CCOUNS Lt. (jg) Jon Nayati -2000) Jon was eating a filling meal of NCR II blood schroms, ickor lichens and ice grubs when he saw Ensign V’Shera enter the spacious Trade Winds. She looked very much refreshed, relaxed and quite lovely. Jon didn’t need to be telepath to discern what had happened. ~The meeting Captain Salid and V’Shera must have gone exceptionally well.~ Jon’s duty watch was relatively uneventful. In the periods of down times between station up dates and issuing appropriate orders, Jon had time to read his copy of the ghost torpedo report that V’Shera had verbally given Captain Salid earlier. Jon had found V’Shera’s report well researched and informatively written. V’Shera’s report at least furnished a discernible answer on a mission filled with mysteries and tight lipped secrecy. ~What orders had caused Captain Salid to deliberately violate his original mission parameters? What, if anything did the person or persons, know about the mystery Rose that had attacked the Bardon Mining Colony and now was headed to Hexikor Moon Alpha? Why had Captain Salid automatically assumed the Furious’ Captain Saleke was part of whatever secret conspiracy that was directed at him and the Rose? The most perplexing of all, why did a captain, who seemed almost paranoiac, have an aura free of discernable psychosis.~ Jon was torn between believing his clinical training and his conflicted spirit gift of true sight. So far he still trusted his spirit gift, over his training. Jon prayed that he had not been making a catasthrophic mistaken. At the onset of this dangerous mystery odessey, Captain Salid had asked his crew to trust him implicitly, with no questions asked. Because of the great respect and trust that they had for Captain Salid his crew had agreed to do so. Jon was wondering what the other crew members were thinking now, especially in light of Salid’s refusal to talk Captain Saleke when they had encountered him at the Bardon Colony. Crew discipline was still excellent, thanks to their loyalty to Captain Salid. But, according to his subordinate counselors, there were possible morale problems looming on the near by horizon. Since the costly battle with the Furious, there had been in easing numbers of crew checking for situational stress counseling. Some the crew checking in were concerned about be declared rogue again, and being forced to fight other Federation star ships a second time. ~It was the bad old days of the still too recent Civil War all over again.~ That was especially true since Captain Salid had only tried to inflict minor, delaying damage to the Furious, who had definitely not reciprocated in kind. Some of the checking crew were concerned about was going to happened captains Salid and Saleke squared off again. Other patients were reporting dreams of impeding doom, or ominous feelings of crawling, or falling, down a swirling black worm hole with no conceivable light or hope at other end.~ While this morale situation was not out of control, it could be so if something was not effectively done to reduce the general level of crew stress. Jon was deliberating on how to proceed, when he became aware that Ensign V’Shera gave a quick moment of intense eye contact. It wasn’t a telepathic contact per se, but it was contact that conveyed a quality of interest and desire to talk. Her aura conveyed qualities of interest, curiosity – and loneliness – as well. ~Perhaps she wants to talk, to socialize, but doesn’t want to appear over eager. Doesn’t want to be spurred or rejected I did want to compliment her on her report on phase torpedoes, this might be a good time to do so.~ Since V’Shera hadn’t sat down with anyone, ~standard SOP for her at the Trade Winds~, Jon decided to seize the opportunity at hand. Standing up, Jon said, “Ensign V’Shera, if you’re not too busy, would you care to join me?” As he asked that, Jon pulled out an empty chair. At his own empty table. ~Perhaps we can both be alone together, for a little while.~ (Reply V’Shera, Any) (Posted by Jim McCrary) ===================================================================== (USS Furious - Sickbay - SO, Ensign Sakon - Day 5 -1958) Both Jones and Sakon arrived at sickbay and saw the ship's captain. "I am Ensign Sakon and this is Ensign Jones." The Vulcan said as they met the Captain. The Captain nodded and said. "This then is the sum of the material taken from the scene?" "Yes Captain it is." Sakon said as Jones nodded, indicating the evidence bags, he and the Vulcan where carrying. "Thank you, I will review it shortly after speaking with Commander Sloane. Was the sensor placed as ordered?" Fred looked at Sakon. Fortunately, it was a statistical impossibility for a Vulcan to have forgotten an order, so he relaxed when the Vulcan let him off the hook. "Yes Sir, it was." Replied the Vulcan. "Did you meet anyone as you were bringing the material here and did anyone try to stop and speak with you about the purpose for your mission?" "We encountered no one along the way, Sir." Said the Vulcan. Fred nodded in agreement. The Captain nodded and began to leave with the FO. Fred saw the Klingon was also in the room and smiled. K'tar walked over to the Captain and spoke to him as he was leaving. Just before the Captain and FO left, K'tar said, ""I pledge myself to guard the captain". After the Captain and FO left, Fred said aloud to both the Vulcan and Klingon. "Hey guys, what say we get a drink at the lounge after our shift?" (Replay Sakon, K'tar or any) -- (Posted by Morgan Belcher) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Furious - Sickbay - SO, Ensign Sakon - Day 5 -2001) After the Captain and FO left, Fred said aloud to both the Vulcan and Klingon. "Hey guys, what say we get a drink at the lounge after our shift?" Sakon thought it over~i do not like conversation especially an emotional one, but why not experiment~"I will accept your offer Ensign Jones"Sakon said. ~a Vulcan, Human, and Klingon conversation would be very interesting~Sakon thought. (Reply by Jones,K'tar) (posted by shawn) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Furious - Sickbay - SO, Ensign Jones - Day 5 -2002) After the Captain and FO left, Fred said aloud to both the Vulcan and Klingon. "Hey guys, what say we get a drink at the lounge after our shift?" Sakon paused briefly before saying, "I will accept your offer Ensign Jones." (Reply K'tar) Fred broke out in a large grin. "Great, I go off shift in a couple of hours, you guy's want to meet in the lounge say around 2300?" (Reply Sakon or K'tar) "Great! See you guys then!" Fred, walked out of sickbay whistling. --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Furious - Sickbay - SO, Ensign Sakon - Day 5 -2004) Fred broke out in a large grin. "Great, I go off shift in a couple of hours, you guy's want to meet in the lounge say around 2300?" "that will work with me"Sakon said. "Great! See you guys then!" Fred, walked out of sickbay whistling. --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Furious - lounge- SO, Ensign Sakon - Day 5 -2300) Sakon entered the almost empty lounge and sat down at an empty table to await the others. (Reply by Jones,K'tar) (posted by shawn) ===================================================================== (USS Rosenante - Deck 3, Section 17 - ACEO - Ensign (jg) Mitena Rixx - Day 6 - 2218) Mitena rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath. ~Last one.~ There'd been such a hurry to get the phase compensators into place before they ran back into the Furious again that the last few days had seemed to be a blur between sleep and work. Quite honestly, she was ready for some downtime. Crewman Winters probably was thinking the same thing. As Mitena had brought the shield generators back online each time to check the modulation, Winters had captured the data and relayed if the computer was getting the same reading. Twice, installations had to be completely restarted due to 'minor' mechanical irregularities once in place. Some of the repairs done at the Geneva station didn't seem to be as good as others. The data had been logged, she'd leave it to the Chief to decide if it was going to file a complaint with Geneva. "OK, Caroline, we're good to go for this one. My readings are within range and tolerance. Please tell me that the computer agrees." A few moments passed while the crewman ran thru the diagnostic. =/\=And we are.... good. We are at .033 variance and the phase compensators are doing exactly what they should do. Looks like we are good.=/\= Came the response. "Thank goodness! Crewman. I'll inform Lieutenant Morrow that you'll be taking half a shift tomorrow unless needed. Get some rest." She said, packing up the cumbersome toolkit. =/\=You too, Mitena. See you then. =/\= After she lugged the seemingly very heavy kit back to its rightful storage bin, Mitena began the onerous task of writing up the summation report on the alteration. She kept the details as succinct as she could, certain that no one would truly want to read the multipage report that she could have written. Once complete, it was a simple matter to forward the report and the supporting repair/alteration logs to the Captain, First Officer and Lieutenant Morrow. Normally the first two she would have left off, but given the nature of the work done it seemed like they would need to know. (reply none) (posted by Ruby) ===================================================================== (ISS Rosenante - Cargo Bay 3 - ACEO - Ensign (jg) Mitena Rixx (MU) - Day 7 - 1428) Mitena smiled and kept her eyes on the PADD she was working on. Of course she already knew what the science officer had done in sickbay. She'd been part of the detail that had been responsible for replacing the components that had been damaged from the misadventure. Doctor Wyler had been livid. Benoit was lucky that he'd not spent several horrific hours in sickbay instead of being confined to quarters. With his tendency to tinker, one would have thought that Benoit would have went into engineering instead of the lesser used Sciences department but Mitena was sure he had his reasons. Then again equally considering his tendency to break things, perhaps it was better that he was in Sciences. "Would you look at that." Benoit said, "Interesting coil design." "Inverted. And if you'll look underneath, it looks as though they eventually feed back to themselves. I got a peak at those while disconnecting it earlier. I'd say it takes a little bit of juice and amps it down the line before it feeds the residuals back into its own path. Seems like a solid configuration, but according to the specs, we're going modify it significantly to route more power. You might want to take a look at the specifications on the project." she suggested. After sending the specifications for the new parts to the Engineering replicator that was obviously a new installation and not normally a part of Cargo bay 3, Mitena stood and walked over to the device. "Computer, initiate replication plan Rixx-003 Alpha, 20 second pause between each instance." Once the program was acknowledged, it began producing the items that she had requested and she began loading them all onto a materials transport cart that had been left in the bay. "First batch of new parts and connectors. We definitely have a great deal of work ahead of us." Mitena couldn't help wondering what Lieutenant Bird thought of the fact that more of his engineers weren't selected to work on the project. It definitely left room for speculation. (reply: none needed) (posted by Ruby) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante – Medical office – Ens Kimiko Ichijo - Day 7 1939) Kimiko wait for a response to the hail, while glaring at the nonoffending stylus =^= Sullivan here, go ahead Doctor. =^= “ I have some further data on our guests, I will forward the info to your office, tripled locked and all of that. “ Kimiko kind of felt bad about the last statement, there was probably a good reason for all of the security, and she really shouldn’t discount it. "Ensign, I did not know, perhaps I missed the memo, but since when has Captain Salid authorized Junior officers addressing their seniors on a first name basis unless expressly allowed by that officer?" Kimiko mentally slammed into a brick wall, ~sarcasm? By a Vulcan? What the……~ “I am aware of no memo Ma’am” Kimiko blushed to a bright red ~It was probably sarcasm, but who knows with them~ ” I apologize, Commander Sullivan, I fell into the naming conventions of my youth. One I believe is shared by Vulcans” =^= It is a common mistake with those unfamiliar, though I am half Vulcan, I use the human customs in regards to surnames. It was a social decision I made upon entrance to the academy. You had no way of knowing my personal social preference, but please do so in the future. =^= “Understood Ma’am” Kimiko replied =^=Thank you doctor, and if I have questions regarding your findings? =^= “ Certainly if you have any questions, please contact me, Ichijo out “ Kimiko closed the channel and stared at the ceiling ~Commander Sullivan……Commander Sullivan……..Commander Sullivan…~ (Reply none) (Posted by Jack) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (Hexikor Alpha Moon- Medical Center- Ensign Benoit- Day 7 - 2003) "Customized uniforms?" The Doctor asked "Can you give me any examples? Before you do though tell me how the Bynar Doctor looked before they beamed him out, was he conscious?" His eyes showed his concern. "He was a bit shaken, but as far as I remember he was still conscious." Benoit replied. The Doctor pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed. "Would you recognize them if you saw them again and did they give any names you can remember?" Benoit thought. "There was a Commander, female, and a few Ensigns. I don't recall any names being said. Sorry." He then squinted his eyes. "Wait, the Lieutenant that attacked me. The one who was deflected out of the room. I think I heard someone say, 'Where's Jackson?", I'm sure they were referring to him. "Thank you Ensign, that is most helpful." He looked at the other Doctor who's antennae were twitching with interest. "I am assuming the Captain will be along shortly and will wish to speak with you as well if you feel up to it." "Certainly." Replied Benoit. The door to the room opened and Commander Romeo stepped through, he noticed the medical team in attendance and nodded at them as he walked to the bedside. "Well Ensign I see you're getting along pretty well, have they been taking care of you?" He gave a small smile to put the young man at ease before looking warily at the Doctor and nurse from the Furious. Benoit nodded. "Oh, I've been treated very well. I'm certainly feeling a lot better now." He paused. "Commander, I'm assuming we are going after these people and get the deflector shield back?" (Reply Romeo, Drs or any.) Benoit continued. "Well, I'd like to help out. After all." He looked a bit embarrassed. "I was ordered to protect it. I guess I failed. But..." He continued quickly, "I want to make up for my prior mistake. Besides, aside from the Bynars, I know about as much about the deflector shield as anyone." (Reply Romeo, any) (Posted by Morgan) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Bridge - CO, Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid- Day 7- 2158) "Approaching Hexikor Prime Captain." Ensign Midas reported "ETA In five minutes." Ahmed perked up in his chair, here was the moment that he was both dreading and anxious for at the same time, a moment in which he could possibly verify that Maddox's theory on the nature of the perpetrators was correct. That the rogue Rosenante was actually a ship from the Mirror Universe, raiding in this sector of space, and apparently attempting to build an omega weapon. "Take us out of warp, Mister Midas, full impulse." Ahmed ordered. "Aye captain, full impulse." "Mister Jackson, Activate the HISS. Go to emissions control." (reply Sullivan) "Mister Sullivan bring us to red alert. Activate shields, but keep weapons offline." (reply Sullivan) Salid tapped his commbadge. "Caskie and Nayati to the bridge" he said before tapping it a second time and closing the channel. (reply Nayati, Caskie) As the HISS activated, effectively making the Rosenante invisible to almost every type of sensor known to the Federation, Ahmed turned his focus back to the main view screen, looking for any sign of either the Mirror Universe Vessel, or the USS Furious. "Captain, Sensor show the Furious in Orbit around Hexikor Alpha. The facility seems to have taken minor damage. All long-range communications nodes on both Hexikor Alpha and Hexikor Prime appear to have been destroyed. There is minor damage to the facilities Command and control section on the Prime Facility." "Thank you." Ahmed responded. "Magnify the Furious." The main view screen shimmered as the previously tiny image of the USS Furious grew to dominate the screen. The Prometheus class ship was in a standard orbit around the Hexikor Alpha facility. It appeared none the worse for wear from their previous encounter. Small figures could be seen clustered around the Long Range Communications array. ~There is a work team trying to repair the communications.~ Ahmed thought. He knew that if he thought about firing on that ship that those men and women would never even know that they had been attacked. They would die immediately and not even the ship's shields would be able to protect them. "Mister Jackson, transfer some of the power from shields to our transporters." he ordered his course of action now decided. (reply Jackson) "Mister Midas, bring us into Medium transporter range nice and smooth." "Aye captain." Midas replied, slowing the Rosenante's headlong dash into the system. The doors to the turbo lift opened and His First and Second Officer stepped onto the bridge. "We've arrived at Hexikor." He said in summary to them both, "We're about to pacify the Furious." (reply Nayati, Caskie iyw) "We're at medium Transporter range Captain." Midas reported a few moments later. "Hold station." Ahmed reported. He leaned over to Caskie, who had taken her place in the First Officer's chair. "I've come up with a plan to neutralize the Furious without causing any casualties.. After reviewing the technical specifications of the ship, I've identified 6 primary power relay busses that, when removed will prevent them from operating their warp drive, shields and weapons systems. They'll be forced to use their secondary relays to maintain life support and other critical functions. Those systems can not channel enough power to run Impulse engines, or power any of their weapons or shields. They'd be limited to maneuvering thrusters for maneuverability, which means the only military option left to them would be ramming, but we're faster and would be able to out maneuver them with ease. The ship's safeties will shut down the power flow to the affected conduits within milliseconds." He explained as he turned the console towards her, tapping in the commands that would display the selected junction busses. "In a moment, we'll be executing this plan. Hopefully without any chance of causing anyone injury. " he finished. (reply Caskie) Ahmed smiled, then pressed the button to open a channel to the transporter room. "Mister Dawson. I have just sent you the location of six power relay busses located aboard the furious. I want you to lock the transporters onto those locations and prepare to beam them off the ship." There was a moment of silence as Dawson checked the data that Ahmed had just sent him. =^= Understood Captain. I'll have them all dialed in within a few moments. Is there any particular order you want them grabbed?=^= he asked. "Grab them in groups of three, that should give them a few moments of confusion as you do so. We should be able to complete the transports before they even realize what's happening." =^= understood captain. I am ready to commence transport on your command.=^= Ahmed took a deep breath, then ordered, "Proceed Mister Dawson." =^=Aye Sir, Energizing.=^= (reply Caskie, Nayati, Jackson, Sullivan) Daniel Greene --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Bridge - COPS, Lt Tom Jackson - Day 7- 2159) Tom Jackson was refreshed after the bit of down time Josh and Ahmed had 'suggested' he take. Jackson had relaxed with Chief Sheridan on the holo-deck pretending they were swashbuckling pirates. Phil Sheridan had over indulged in the bar's rum and had a nasty hangover. Phil grinned sheepishly afterwards. His thoughts were brought back to the present as Captain Salid ordered "Mister Jackson, Activate the HISS. Go to emissions control." "Aye, Aye" Captain" Tom replied. Jackson's fingers danced over the console. He quickly moved to emissions control. "Mister Jackson, transfer some of the power from shields to our transporters" Salid ordered as they neared ever closer to the Furious. "Yes Sir" came the crisp reply as yet again as Jackson fingers danced over the console. Jackson -shut down the holo-decks and other assorted non-essential systems and routed the power to the transporters. His tactical side kicked in and he wondered what the Captain was up to? They had arrived at Hexikor. A confrontation was was imminent. Again, Tom felt butterflies. Tom was fascinated as he heard Salid and Caskie discuss what was to happen next. Tom smiled ~Figure an Engineer to think of that~ he thought. (reply: Any BRIDGE staff) (posted by: Bill) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante – Trade Winds- 30/CCOUNS Lt (jg) Jon Nayati – 215.5) Jon was just finishing his evening meal in the Trade Winds when his commbadge chripped. It was Captain Salid speaking. =^=Caskie and Nayati to the bridge.=^= Jon got a sinking feeling in his stomach as he had the captain’s voice. It was at that instant that the Rose went to red alert status. Jumping to his feet, Jon slapped his badge hard. “Understood and on my way Captain.” Jon exited the Trade Winds rapidly, along with everyone else inside. It was an orderly exit not a blind screaming panic. ~ A tribute to the firm discipline still present in the hearts and minds of the Rose’s professional crew.~ (Reply any in the Trade Winds) Out in the corridor Jon raced to the nearest turbolift, got in and ordered to take him to the bridge. On the way up Jon heard the faint sounds of the HISS and defensive shields going up. 35 seconds later the lift opened. Jon stepped out and caught a glimpse of Lt. Commander Caskie stepping through the bridge doors ahead of him. (Reply Lt. Commander Caskie, IYW) Jon fell in right behind her. So quickly in fact that the bridge doors didn’t have time to close between them. “Reporting in, Captain Salid.” Jon said as he took over the third bridge seat. (Reply Captain Salid. Any, IYW) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Bridge - 2O/CTAC - Lt Cmdr T'Larah Sullivan - 2200) "Mister Sullivan bring us to red alert. Activate shields, but keep weapons offline." "Aye sir, red alert, shields up, crew at battle stations weapons on stand-by." she announced the actions as she performed them. Her tactical station came alive as the different stations aboard reported ready. In mere moments she got go status from all stations. " All stations report ready." Seeing that his first and third officer were absent, Salid tapped his comm-badge. "Caskie and Nayati to the bridge" he said before tapping it a second time and closing the channel. (reply Nayati, Caskie) As the HISS activated, all the tactical readouts coming from the Rosenante were muted and her mind could not help of thinking during Earth's history and the cold war between the Capital and Communist states just before the Eugenics wars. Ancient underwater vessels rigged for silent running to avoid enemy listening posts, not to mention other vessels. All the Rose's sensors were passively scanning for signs of enemy vessels, the ones that would attack out of ignorance or arrogance. "Captain, Sensor show the Furious in Orbit around Hexikor Alpha. The facility seems to have taken minor damage. All long-range communications nodes on both Hexikor Alpha and Hexikor Prime appear to have been destroyed. There is minor damage to the facilities Command and control section on the Prime Facility." "Thank you." Ahmed responded. "Magnify the Furious." The main view screen shimmered as the previously tiny image of the USS Furious grew to dominate the screen. The Prometheus class ship was in a standard orbit around the Hexikor Alpha facility. It appeared none the worse for wear from their previous encounter. Small figures could be seen clustered around the Long Range Communications array. ~What are they up to? Did they receive some damage from conflict? Or are they attempting a ruse or a method of discovering our whereabouts?~ (Reply Salid, Caskie, Nayati) (Posted by Todd) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Bridge - FO - Cmdr Josh Caskie - Day 7- 2202) Josh stepped out of the turbolift and took in the screen with a glance. Crossing to her seat she sat down and made herself comfortable. The Captain turned to her and to Mr Nayati who had arrived simultaneously. "We've arrived at Hexikor. We're about to pacify the Furious." Raising an eyebrow Josh smiled slightly at the Captain. "And exactly how do you plan to 'pacify' the Furious?" The Captain leant over towards her. "I've come up with a plan to neutralize the Furious without causing any casualties.. After reviewing the technical specifications of the ship, I've identified 6 primary power relay busses that, when removed will prevent them from operating their warp drive, shields and weapons systems. They'll be forced to use their secondary relays to maintain life support and other critical functions. Those systems can not channel enough power to run Impulse engines, or power any of their weapons or shields. They'd be limited to manoeuvring thrusters for manoeuvrability, which means the only military option left to them would be ramming, but we're faster and would be able to out manoeuvre them with ease. The ship's safeties will shut down the power flow to the affected conduits within milliseconds." He explained as he turned the console towards her, tapping in the commands that would display the selected junction busses. "In a moment, we'll be executing this plan. Hopefully without any chance of causing anyone injury. " he finished. Josh grinned. "Ingenious. I imagine that no-one but an Engineer would have come up with that solution and they most probably won't be expecting it." --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Furious- Bridge - FO, Commander Erin Sloane - Day 7- 2205) Erin was sitting on the bridge in the center seat, checking in, for the fifteenth time, on the engineering team working on the Communications array on the hull of the Furious. EVA work in the field was always dangerous and Erin was worried that some event would take place that would threaten the lives of those so diligently working to restore the ship's broken connection with Starfleet command. The Captain was still aboard the Bynar facility, apparently finishing up the last of his investigation. There were good indications that the Ship responsible for the attacks, on both the Bardon Alpha Mining facility and the Hexikor system were not from this universe. In one way that made Erin pleased to know that their own Rosenante, was not marauding through the sector trying to create some sort of terrible killer weapon. But in another, that meant that the alternate universe vessel was. This was doubly worrisome because the commander of that ship did not seem to have any moral conscience. He would build such a weapon and deploy it without hesitation. And that made the situation even worse, in some aspects, than before. ~At least we could have tried to reason with our Captain Salid.~ She thought. Suddenly the ship shuddered and the lights and consoles on the bridge went dark. "Report!" Sloane called out. "Main power systems are offline." someone called back. "Switch to back up!" she ordered. A moment later several consoles flickered to life and the lighting came back to normal levels. "Red Alert, Shields up!" she ordered. "Shields not responding." The order came back from the Tactical station. "Damage report then." she barked, almost leaping from her chair as the main view screen showed a decloaking Rosenante Class vessel appearing. "Break Orbit, Full Impulse." She ordered. "Impulse engines, warp drive and all weapons and shields are offline. All primary Power systems are offline. The ship is running on secondary power conduits only commander." "Were we attacked?" she asked, ~Or we're we sabotaged?~ "I'm showing no battle damage. The system is saying that several key power transfer busses are ....." There was a pause. "Are what?" Erin asked a little irritated. "They're missing commander." came the reply. "We're being hailed by the Rosenante." Erin's eyes snapped forward to the main view screen. The ship was perfectly poised to destroy her vessel in an instant. Yet they wanted to talk. ~Maybe it's our Rosenante and not the Mirror Universe ship.~ She stood, pulled down her uniform tunic and took a deep breath. "On screen." Instantly the image on the screen shifted from that of the threatening pose of the Rosenante to her bridge. Captain Salid rose from his command chair and stepped forward until he was standing just a short distance behind the CONN station. =^=USS Furious, This is captain Ahmed Ibn Salid of the USS Rosenante. To whom am I speaking?=^= Erin met the Mediterranean man's glare. "This is commander Sloane, First Officer of the USS Furious." =^=Commander Sloane, where is Captain Saleke?=^= the man asked. "Captain Saleke is not aboard the ship. I am in command." =^= I see, commander. No Disrespect meant, but I will not accept the Surrender of the Furious from her First Officer. Please notify Captain Saleke that he should return to the Furious and be prepared to surrender his ship. You have 10 minutes. And please commander for the sake of your crew, just do as I ask and don't try anything heroic.=^= A moment of intense anger coursed through Erin's blood. This pompous captain had her by the scruff of the neck and was dictating terms to her. It should be the other way around. She managed to control her personal feelings of embarrassment and helplessness, with a nod. "I will contact Captain Saleke right away Captain. You'll be hearing from him soon." The man on the screen nodded once, then said. =^= ten minutes, commander. Salid out.=^= The channel closed. Erin turned to face her bridge crew. "Get me Captain Saleke." A few moments later, a voice called out. I have the captain Commander. "Open the channel." she commanded. A familiar chirp sounded letting Erin know that the channel was open. "Captain Saleke." she began, " the Furious has been disabled by the Rosenante and they are demanding our surrender. However Captain Salid has told me that he will not accept the surrender from myself and has demanded to speak with you. He's ordered us to beam you and the rest of the away team back to the ship. He's given us 10 minutes to comply of which we have 8 minutes remaining." (reply Saleke) Daniel Greene --------------------------------------------------------------------- (Hexicor Alpha - Conference Room - Captain Saleke - Day 7- 2206) Saleke was in a conference room with the CSO while the rest of the away team including Tactical Chief Andrus Williams and Ensign Benoit waited in an adjoining room as they discussed the impact of the information gathered at the Hexicor Alpha facility. Saleke had already spoken privately with the CSO and the two were in agreement that the PCO was hiding something of importance, he was not about to be forthcoming with that information though which made him a prime suspect in the ongoing investigation the Captain was conducting on the possibility of conspiracy and treason within the ranks of Starfleet. This investigation had been instigated by the claims of Captain Salid whom evidence now appeared to exonerate of any charges stemming from the attack on Bardon Alpha. CSO Gralen did not know the exact nature of the threat of course as the Captain was constrained by orders to keep the existence of the Omega Device secret. He did realize however that Saleke was quietly determined to know just what Commander Romeo was attempting to keep hidden but time was against them and this meeting was nearly concluded. "Commander Romeo has consented to allow Ensign Benoit to accompany us as he is familiar with the devices stolen from the facility, it is imperative he find any weaknesses in the paratrinic shield generator that we may be able to exploit." "Understood Captain, I'll get with him immediately after we return to the ship and we'll dissect this thing from stem to stern as well as its programming. I assume then you are expecting it to be used against us." "A logical assumption Doctor." Saleke's combadge chirped as it registered an incoming signal. The voice of a breathless Commander Sloane came through clearly. =^= Captain Saleke the Furious has been disabled by the Rosenante and they are demanding our surrender. However Captain Salid has told me that he will not accept the surrender from myself and has demanded to speak with you. He's ordered us to beam you and the rest of the away team back to the ship. He's given us 10 minutes to comply of which we have 8 minutes remaining.=^= "Our Rosenante?" Holis asked. Saleke gave him a raised eyebrow. "The circumstances would seem to suggest so." He tapped the combadge to reply. "Commander Sloane this is the Captain, have transporter room 1 stand by to beam us aboard on my order." (Reply: Sloane) Tapping the combadge again he spoke. "Mister Williams have the Away Team and Ensign Benoit assemble in the conference room, we will be transporting to the Furious immediately." (Reply: Andrus, Benoit) As soon as the officers were gathered he tapped the combadge again. "Transporter room 1 seven to beam aboard." =^= Aye Captain, energizing.=^= The world dissolved once again in sparkling motes as the transporter whisked them away from the station. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Hexicor Alpha - Waiting Room to the Conference Room - Ensign Benoit - Day 7- 2207) Benoit was waiting somewhat nervously, when he heard his Comm Badge. =^=Mister Williams have the Away Team and Ensign Benoit assemble in the conference room, we will be transporting to the Furious immediately.=^= Benoit did not reply, he simply entered the adjacent conference room, looked at the Captain, and said. "Reporting for duty, sir." Only a few seconds past before Williams arrived in the room with the rest of the group. The Captain tapped his Comm Badge. "Transporter room 1 seven to beam aboard." =^= Aye Captain, energizing.=^= Benoit experienced the familiar, but still somewhat unsettling feeling of be transported. --------------------------------------------------------------------- (Hexicor Alpha - Conference Room - CTSO - Ensign Williams - Day 7- 2207.5) Andrus Williams was excited. This was his first AWAY mission. He was assuming a lot of responsibility as CTSO but he was a fast learner and Cmdr. Sloan and Captain Saleke were good teachers. Ensign Williams looked at his fellow SF Officer, who was named Benoit, and wondered what the slightly frazzled man had to do with all of this mess they were in. The blue skin of the Bolian CTSO was a deep blue and his antennae were twitching. This indicated his excitement. His thoughts were brought back to the present when he heard the Captain order ""Mister Williams have the Away Team and Ensign Benoit assemble in the conference room, we will be transporting to the Furious immediately." Andrus replied quickly " Yes Sir" and made the necessary steps to get the personnel to the location quickly. The team assembled and was soon back on board the Furious. Along with the CO and FO, he hurried to the bridge. (USS Furious Bridge CTSO Ensign Andrus Williams - 2211.5) Adnrus relieved the duty CTSO and manned the station. He watched as the Captain of the Furious and Rosenante spoke. This talk could mean many things. (reply: any on Bridge) (posted by: Bill) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (Hexicor Alpha - Waiting Room to the Conference Room - Ensign Benoit - Day 7- 2207.8*) Benoit was waiting somewhat nervously, when he heard his Comm Badge. =^=Mister Williams have the Away Team and Ensign Benoit assemble in the conference room, we will be transporting to the Furious immediately.=^= Benoit did not reply, he simply entered the adjacent conference room, looked at the Captain, and said. "Reporting for duty, sir." Only a few seconds past before Williams arrived in the room with the rest of the group. The Captain tapped his Comm Badge. "Transporter room 1 seven to beam aboard." =^= Aye Captain, energizing.=^= Benoit experienced the familiar, but still somewhat unsettling feeling of be transported. --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Furious- Bridge - FO, Commander Erin Sloane - Day 7- 2208) =^=Commander Sloane this is the Captain, have transporter room 1 stand by to beam us aboard on my order.=^= Erin nodded at operations. She nodded back. "Transporter Room is standing by Captain." Despite the fact that Captain Saleke was a Vulcan she could almost imagine his disappointment in her ability to handle the affairs of the ship for the short time that he had left her in charge. --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Furious- Transporter Room - CO, Captain Saleke - Day 7- 2209) As soon as the transporter effect had subsided Saleke stepped from the pad and moved to the door, not waiting for the others as he made his way to the bridge. (Reply: Andrus, Benoit) --------------------------------------------------------------------- USS Furious- Transporter Room - CO, Captain Saleke - Day 7- 2210) Benoit found himself in the transporter room with the rest of the group. He watched the captain walk out of the room. He stepped off the transporter pad and stood with the other officer's, awaiting further orders. --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Furious- Transporter Room - Ensign Benoit - Day 7- 2210.5) Benoit found himself in the transporter room with the rest of the group. He watched the captain walk out of the room. He stepped off the transporter pad and stood with the other officer's, awaiting further orders. -- (Posted by Morgan Belcher) --------------------------------------------------------------------- USS Furious- Transporter Room - CSO, Lt. Commander Holis Gralen - Day 7- 2211) Holis stepped off the pad as the Captain 'hot-footed' it to the bridge, while the vulcan always conveyed the impression he was never in a hurry the scientist knew better, to say Saleke wasn't worried was not in doubt but he was certainly intent on defusing the situation. Looking around the group he motioned to Ensign Benoit as the tactical chief addressed his security team and the medical team left the transporter room. (Reply: Andrus, Benoit) "Mr. Benoit..." Holis checked the time. "You've been cooped up in sickbay for much of the day and I'll bet you haven't had a decent meal." The dimmed lighting signaled that the best Ten Fprward offered might not fare much better. "Go to ten forward and get yourself something to drink and eat then join me in my office on deck 6 after you've refreshed yourself. We are going to need to go over this paratrinic shield generator in question and see if we can find any weaknesses. Since you've worked with the unit I'm going to need to pick your brain for everything you know." (Reply: Benoit) Holis laughed. "Yes I'm a Betazed but I didn't mean literally, I'll see you at 2245 and we'll get straight to work." (Reply: Benoit) (Posted by Charles) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Furious Bridge CTSO Ensign Andrus Williams - 2211.5) Adnrus relieved the duty CTSO and manned the station. He watched as the Captain of the Furious and Rosenante spoke. This talk could mean many things. (reply: any on Bridge) (posted by: Bill) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Furious- Transporter Room - Ensign Benoit - Day 7- 2211.5) Gralen looked at Benoit as the tactical chief addressed his security team and the medical team left the transporter room. Benoit nodded. "Mr. Benoit..." Holis checked the time. "You've been cooped up in sickbay for much of the day and I'll bet you haven't had a decent meal." He paused. "Go to ten forward and get yourself something to drink and eat then join me in my office on deck 6 after you've refreshed yourself. We are going to need to go over this paratrinic shield generator in question and see if we can find any weaknesses. Since you've worked with the unit I'm going to need to pick your brain for everything you know." "Yes Sir." Benoit said and then added, "I guess you could read my mind now." Benoit smiled. Holis laughed. "Yes I'm a Betazed but I didn't mean literally, I'll see you at 2245 and we'll get straight to work." "I will see you in your office directly." Benoit replied, and then left to grab a meal. --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Furious- Bridge- CO, Captain Saleke - Day 7- 2212) Saleke strode through the opening doorway of the turbolift at a measured but quick pace and made his way to the command chair as Commander Sloane relinquished it, sitting down he swiveled his head toward her. "Time Commander?" (Reply: Sloane) "Damage report." (Reply: Sloane) A slight nod and he spoke. "Open hailing frequency to the Rosenante." "Hailing frequency open Captain." As the screen changed to the bridge of the Rosenante Saleke noted his counterpart in an aggressive stance which he countered by sitting calmly and at ease in the command chair like the stoic vulcan he was with his hands together before him and the index fingers steepled, seeming for all the universe as though he were the one in control of the situation rather than Salid. "Captain Salid this is Captain Saleke, I must question why you have taken aggressive action against my vessel." (Reply: Salid) "You will be pleased to know that my investigation on Hexicor Alpha has cleared the Rosenante of any charges in connection with the attack on Bardon Alpha, your claims of conspiracy also appear to have merit and I have a preliminary suspect however that portion of the investigation is not yet complete and it appears it will take some time to 'get to the bottom' of this particular scheme, I would welcome any evidence you have that may shed light on the matter." (Reply: Salid) "A bioneural computer and experimental paratrinic shield generator were stolen from the facility by a vessel masquerading as the Rosenante which may have come from an alternate reality or universe, the ship had already left when we arrived and I was preparing to give chase." (Reply: Salid) (Posted by Charles) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Furious- Bridge - FO, Commander Erin Sloane - Day 7- 2213) Erin hadn't bothered to resume the seat in the central command chair. There was actually two very good reasons for her decision. First she thought better on her feet and second, she knew that once the captain arrived that he'd be relieving her anyway. The doors to the turbolift slid open and Captain Saleke came onto the bridge with a purposeful stride. "Time Commander?" he asked simply. "Three minutes, sir." She replied as she shifted over to her own chair allowing the captain to assume his rightful place. "Damage report." he then asked. "Engineering reports that all six of our Primary power distribution busses are missing. As a result, we have no shields, weapons, Warp or impulse capability." Saleke gave a slight nod and opened a channel to the Rosenante. The conversation was tense but fairly cordial considering the circumstances. Saleke's counterpart ended with =^=I'll have an honor guard waiting for you. Commander Caskie will escort you to my ready room where we can talk. Please bring your findings. I'll expect you in 15 minutes.=^= (reply Saleke) Once the channel was closed Erin turned to look at the captain. "I don't trust him Captain." She said simply. "He may not be a cold blooded murderer, but he's a sneaky one. He slipped to within transporter range while cloaked and used the transporters to steal our busses. He didn't even reveal himself until after we'd been... Sucker-punched, sir." (reply Saleke) Daniel Greene --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Bridge - FO - Cmdr Josh Caskie - Day 7 - 2214) Since nothing else had been asked of her Josh simply sat and waited as her captain first spoke to the FO and then the captain of the Furious, requesting their surrender. She was curious to see the other captain's response. However, when it came, it took her by surprise. A slight arcing of one eyebrow was all the outward sign that she gave, however she waited eagerly to see her own captain's response. (No specific reply needed) (Posted by Marilyn) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Bridge - CO, Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid- Day 7- 2215) Ahmed sat in his command chair in silence. He was at the hurry up and wait point of the operation. He couldn't really just leave the Furious there as it was, there was too much of a chance that something unexpected could happen and for all intents and purposes, the Furious was effectively neutralized. "Captain we're being hailed by the Furious" Ahmed nodded, gave a look to Caskie and then rose to resume his position between his command seat and the CONN station. "On Screen" he commanded. The image of the starship was immediately replaced by the dimmer than usual lit bridge of the Furious. Captain Saleke was sitting in his command chair, very much in contrast to Salid's own more aggressive stance. =^=Captain Salid this is Captain Saleke, I must question why you have taken aggressive action against my vessel.=^= "Because Captain. I could not risk an engagement with your ship in which your phased torpedoes might be employed. In this manner I managed to make certain that there would be no chance of further loss of life." Ahmed replied. =^=You will be pleased to know that my investigation on Hexikor Alpha has cleared the Rosenante of any charges in connection with the attack on Bardon Alpha, your claims of conspiracy also appear to have merit and I have a preliminary suspect however that portion of the investigation is not yet complete and it appears it will take some time to 'get to the bottom' of this particular scheme, I would welcome any evidence you have that may shed light on the matter.=^= Ahmed had to force himself to keep from smiling. The news that they were exonerated was welcome, although Ahmed was still uncertain whether the Vulcan was simply telling him what he wanted to hear in the hopes that Ahmed would lower his guard. "I'd be glad to share this information with you Captain, but you'll have to come aboard the Rosenante. In the meantime I'll have the components missing from your ship returned to you. I see that you have plenty of space in Cargo Bay 3. They'll be returned there. I'd like to know also Captain what was the objective the raider had at this facility." NRPG: It should take at least 24 hours to repair and reinstall these components, working around the clock with full crews at each location. =^=A bioneural computer and experimental paratrinic shield generator were stolen from the facility by a vessel masquerading as the Rosenante which may have come from an alternate reality or universe, the ship had already left when we arrived and I was preparing to give chase.=^= Ahmed had never heard of a paratrinic shield generator, although bioneural computers were nothing new. "I'll have an honor guard waiting for you. Commander Caskie will escort you to my ready room where we can talk. Please bring your findings. I'll expect you in 15 minutes." (reply Saleke) The Channel closed and Ahmed turned to Jennifer and Nayati. "Mister Nayati, tell me about Captain Saleke, was he being genuine or should I expect a trap?" (Reply Nayati) "So do you believe that he has no ulterior motives at this point?" he asked. (Reply Nayati) With a nod, he turned next to Jennifer. "I want you to meet Saleke in Transporter Room two. Take Sullivan and anyone else you think you'll need. Keep a close eye on him and bring him to the ready room. He and I will have a discussion and I'll brief you afterwards." (reply Caskie) "It's not that I don't trust Mister Nayati's observations of Captain Saleke, but be very careful with him. He's an expert tactician. If this is a complex ruse to get aboard the ship, you'll need to be ready." (reply Caskie, Nayati, Saleke, Any) Daniel Greene --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Furious - Bridge - CO, Captain Saleke- Day 7- 2216) =^= I'll have an honor guard waiting for you. Commander Caskie will escort you to my ready room where we can talk. Please bring your findings. I'll expect you in 15 minutes.=^= "Acceptable Captain. An honor guard is unnecessary however I will be beaming over at 2230 as you requested, please send your coordinates to my transporter officer." When the channel closed Saleke lowered his hands and turned to Commander Sloane. "Commander the bridge is yours once again." (Reply: Erin yw) "I was simply making an effort to defuse the situation before it degenerated further, when in an untenable situation take the initiative." (Reply: Erin iyw) "I will be going alone lest Captain Salid suspect some skullduggery on my part. Continue to stand by and await further orders." (Reply: Erin iyw) With the bridge now again in Commander Sloane's control he stood up and moved to the Ready Room where he would copy all the pertinent files to a PADD for Captain Salid's review. --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Furious- Bridge - FO, Commander Erin Sloane - Day 7- 2217) When the channel closed Saleke lowered his hands and turned to Commander Sloane. "Commander the bridge is yours once again." Erin was surprised that captain Saleke was so quick to return command of the Furious to her so readily. After all, she had been the officer in command when Salid had managed to completely disable the ship without a shot fired. "Aye Captain." she replied, hoping that her voice did not betray the emotion that she was feeling at that very moment. ~I'm not sure I completely understand everything that's happening at this moment.~ She thought to herself. As if the Vulcan could read her thoughts from afar, he then commented, "I was simply making an effort to defuse the situation before it degenerated further, when in an untenable situation take the initiative." "I understand sir." She finally replied, "I'll have Mister Andrus put together a security detail to accompany you to the Rosenante." "I will be going alone lest Captain Salid suspect some skullduggery on my part. Continue to stand by and await further orders." Erin performed a tense little nod. "While I disagree with your decision sir. I understand why you've made it. I'll have a security detail standing by should you need them." The captain stood and exited the bridge going first to his ready room and then on to the Transporter room. Once the captain was gone, Erin awkwardly shifted her position back to the central command chair. The sense of disappointment in her recent performance when sitting in that chair was even more palpable than she would have liked. "Operations, advise me when the relay busses have been beamed back aboard the Furious." "They just materialized commander." came the almost immediate response. Erin nodded and wondered how much they could trust Captain Salid. Would he have had time to booby trap the components? ~No if he wanted to destroy us, he would have already done so.~ she reminded herself, ~We wouldn't even be able to put up a fight.~ Sloane tapped her commbadge, "Sloan to Lieutenant Matrix" she intoned. (reply Matrix) "Lieutenant, there are six primary power relay busses currently sitting in Cargo bay 3. please recover them and get your engineering teams to work repairing the damage done to the ship's systems and try to get them installed ASAP. Focus on repairing the one for the ship's shields first, then the four for the warp drive. The unit for weapons take last priority at the moment." (reply Matrix) A second tap of her commbadge closed the channel. She turned to Mister Andrus who had just returned to his station on the bridge from the Away team. "Mister Andrus. I want you to put together a counter boarding plan in case the Rosenante feels compelled to board us. Also, put together a team ready to rescue the captain should it be necessary. And pray we don't have to use it." (reply Andrus, Matrix) Daniel Greene --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Furious- Main Engineering - ACEO, Lieutenant Steven Matrix - Day 7- 2222) Matrix and three shifts of engineers were already at work throughout the ship. Main engineering was a buzz of activity, comm channels were chattering with activity. Matrix looked across at the group of engineers that had regrouped in engineering from a previous task. "Crewman Sloan, take team four with you to the primary conduit relays in section...14B. AFTER you have disengaged the power feeds to that section remove the panels and give me a level 2 diagnostic. Report your findings to me as soon as you can." bellowed Matrix as he looked at his ever present PADD. "Sloan to Lieutenant Matrix" said the first officer. =^=Yes commander, Matrix here go ahead.=^= replied Matrix. "Lieutenant, there are six primary power relay busses currently sitting in Cargo bay 3. please recover them and get your engineering teams to work repairing the damage done to the ship's systems and try to get them installed ASAP. Focus on repairing the one for the ship's shields first, then the four for the warp drive. The unit for weapons take last priority at the moment." Matrix read through his PADD display while the commander spoke, =^=Yes Commander, I've got a team already heading there to grab those units. Matrix out.=^= Matrix tapped his commbadge, =^= Matrix to engineering team three, head to cargo bay 3, recover the six primary power relay busses, distribute one of them for repairing shields, have someone from your team bring four of them down to main engineering and leave one in section 11E. I'm sending a team up to grab that last unit for weapons repair.=^= "Understood Lieutenant. Ensign West out." replied engineering team three leader. Matrix moved over to the primary status display in main engineering to assess the situation. =^=Matrix to engineering team two, status please.=^= "Chief Hamel here sir, Ensign Moore and the others are just about finished with repairs here...we're looking at another 15 to 20 minutes." =^=Very good Chief, when you've completed that please head over to cargo bay 3, there will be a primary conduit relay waiting there for you in section 11E, please have your team start on repairing the weapon systems with that relay. Matrix out.=^= "Aye sir, I'll advise you when we've started repairs on the weapons systems. Hamel out." (Reply any, none) (Posted by Steve) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Furious - Transporter Room 1 - CO, Captain Saleke- Day 7- 2229) Saleke removed the phaser he had been issued before beaming to Hexicor Alpha and placed it on the transporter console before stepping upon the device with PADD in hand and moving to the nearest pad, after he was in place he looked at the officer. "Coordinates set Captain, ready to beam you over." "Energize." --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante- Transporter Room 2, Captain Saleke- Day 7- 2230) With the transporter effect subsided Saleke found himself in a transporter room not unlike that on the Furious with Commander Caskie and other officers in attendance, stepping down he nodded at the First Officer of the Rosenante. "Commander." (Reply: Caskie, Sullivan, any) (Posted by Charles) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Ready Room - CO, Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid- Day 7- 2231) Ahmed had settled into his chair and took a moment to compose his thoughts before tapping his commbadge. "Salid to Raschen. Please take the time to prepare a board operation of the Furious. It will be employed should it be necessary. But for the moment I want something prepared and ready to be executed as soon as possible." (reply Raschen) "Thank you lieutenant, Salid out" Ahmed pulled the encrypted PADD that had been hand delivered to him by Ambassador T'val, the Ambassador to the Dominion and placed it on the desk top in front of him. He also had the recording of the information provided by the Dominion warship Commander Julman that had been given to him on Barakus IV. Between the two there was just enough information to start the conspiracy theory and more than enough data to indicate that an Omega Device project was underway somewhere in the Ikev Sector; the very same sector that the Rosenante and the Furious were currently operating within. He still didn't understand where the Mirror universe ship came into the equation, but he was still hoping to find out as soon as they made contact with the mirror counterpart to his own Rosenante. There was a chime on his door and as was usual it slid open immediately to admit Captain Saleke. The Vulcan looked as severe as he expected. But Ahmed had come to realize that was simply because of the strict discipline that most Vulcans exercised. The Vulcan Captain stopped just inside the door and raised his right hand in the traditional Vulcan Salute. "Captain Salid. Live long and prosper. You have my apologies for the earlier attack on your vessel, a mistake which could have been avoided had the proper channels of communication between you and myself been employed." ~There it was a straight forward accusation. or perhaps just a statement of facts.~ Ahmed thought as he returned the salute, "Peace and long life, Captain Saleke. Please have a seat." Ahmed gestured to the chair across from him. "I also regret the incident as do the 32 members of my crew which were either injured or killed in the attack." He let the statement hang for a while allowing the older captain to digest it. Saleke stepped forward and placed a PADD on the desk so that Ahmed could see it. He did not sit. "This PADD contains the summary of my findings upon Hexikor Alpha and includes interviews with station personnel as well as one transporter officer abducted from Bardon Alpha during the attack upon the facility whom the marauders intended to kill upon leaving the station, his survival was fortuitous as it gave me a first hand account of conditions aboard the enemy vessel. That officer is now aboard the Furious and has been thoroughly debriefed by my personnel." Ahmed nodded. He so desperately wanted to consume the data on that PADD with lightning speed, but chose instead to allow the captain to continue. "You will find as well..." Saleke continued standing, his weight on the balls of his feet and his hands cupped behind his back. "That the cover story given for the use of the bioneural processor and experimental paratrinic shield generator is solid however the CSO of the Furious who is a Betazed, at my request used his empathic abilities as well as some pointed questions to test the project commander's truthfulness and is certain that the information is a fabrication. Due to the circumstances it makes him a suspect due to your allegations of treason and subterfuge within Starfleet as he has ties to 'individuals of interest' in the investigation. Further steps will be necessary to uncover the full truth as the information at my disposal is insufficient to press charges against him or extrapolate further on where he is receiving his orders from. This is why I am interested in being given access to the information at your disposal." Now Ahmed could more readily accept the earlier statements that the Captain of the furious had made. "I see. I happen to have here, a pair of encrypted PADDs that contain some of the information that you are looking for. This first one..." Ahmed unlocked the PADD quickly and handed to the Vulcan. "Is a recording of Data provided to me by a Vorta warship Captain named Julman. He risked his vessel entering deep inside Federation Space to meet with me directly at Barakus IV. As you will no doubt realize, there are a large number of key indicators concerning the potential construction of an Omega Device in this sector. There are no indications as to who may be behind it, but that is only to be expected. The Dominion is efficient, but if this is a particularly small group it would still be nearly impossible for them to infiltrate their inner ranks. As it is this was not enough information to convince me, but I did realize that I had to investigate. the risk that this was in fact happening was too great to ignore, despite the consequences." (reply Saleke) "The second PADD..." Again the captain unlocked it for viewing. "Is personal correspondence between myself and Ambassador T'val of Vulcan. As you probably know she is the Federation Ambassador to the Dominion. I value her opinions and her expertise. She was quite certain that such activity could only be conducted by high ranking members of Starfleet command. She had attached a number of key indicators, including personnel clustering that would support her theories. her data is consistent with that provided to me by the Dominion, and is even farther along, since it also includes some data found only at the highest levels of federation government. The Ambassador, I have since discovered was killed in a convenient shuttle crash while en route to a conference in Dominion Space. Thus I felt that the likelihood of conspiracy was significantly increased." Now that Ahmed had explained the two PADDs and handed the data over to Saleke, he picked up the data brought forward by the Vulcan captain. he quickly skimmed the documents, depending on his photographic memory to retain the data he had just seen. He would digest it over the next several minutes. "Now what confuses me is the appearance that the Marauder isn't simply another Rosenante Class vessel, originally thought to have been built in secret, but a ship from the Mirror Universe." He frowned as he thought. "Either that ship is in some way connected to our conspiracy, or by some quirk of fate has become a part of the situation through some as of yet unknown means. if they were involved it doesn't make any sense that they would forcibly attack the facilities, when they would be able to simply recover them. unless of course they were looking to implicate my ship and hope that you would follow your duty and destroy us when we resisted." (reply Saleke) "I'm curious captain. I had heard that you were on medical recovery. How is it that you came to be placed in direct command of the Furious and why were you so close to Bardon Alpha in the first place?" (reply Raschen, Saleke) Daniel Greene --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Transporter Room 2 - FO - Cmdr Josh Caskie - Day 7- 2232) Although she hadn't much time Josh had managed to get herself, Sullivan and a fully armed security team, also ready to give honours in the transporter two on time. As Captain Saleke materialised on the transporter Josh ordered everyone to attention and as he stepped down from the platform and nodded to her, Josh saluted. "Welcome aboard the Rosenante Captain. I am Cmdr Caskie the First Officer. May I present Cmdr Sullivan our Second Officer. We have been asked to escort you to the Captain's ready room. If you would be so good as to come with us sir......" (Reply Saleke iyw) Josh watched as two of the security team lead the way out of the transporter room. She motioned for Saleke to follow them and she and Sullivan began walking beside him. The other two security officers fell in behind them and they made a steady procession toward the turbolift and finally the Ready Room. Finally stopping outside the Captain's Ready Room Josh hit the chime. As the door glided open she turned to Captain Saleke. "Please enter sir. Captain Salid is expecting you." (Moving it on since I can't post tomorrow.) (Posted by Marilyn) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Transporter Room 2 - Captain Saleke - Day 7- 2233) "Welcome aboard the Rosenante Captain. I am Cmdr Caskie the First Officer. May I present Cmdr Sullivan our Second Officer. We have been asked to escort you to the Captain's ready room. If you would be so good as to come with us sir......" The Captain nodded simply and followed the escort to Captain Salid's Ready Room. (Reply: Sullivan IYW) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Ready Room - Captain Saleke- Day 7- 2235) "I see. I happen to have here, a pair of encrypted PADDs that contain some of the information that you are looking for. This first one..." Captain Salid unsealed the PADD with dispatch and handed it to Saleke who taking it settled into the seat he had been offered. Captain Salid's initial manner had been sarcastic as well as suspicious which was to be expected owing to the damage suffered by the Rosenate during their earlier encounter, the primary reason he had come to the ship alone in order to avoid suspicion and defuse the hostile situation that existed. "Is a recording of Data provided to me by a Vorta warship Captain named Julman. He risked his vessel entering deep inside Federation Space to meet with me directly at Barakus IV. As you will no doubt realize, there are a large number of key indicators concerning the potential construction of an Omega Device in this sector. There are no indications as to who may be behind it, but that is only to be expected. The Dominion is efficient, but if this is a particularly small group it would still be nearly impossible for them to infiltrate their inner ranks. As it is this was not enough information to convince me, but I did realize that I had to investigate. the risk that this was in fact happening was too great to ignore, despite the consequences." "Understood Captain." Saleke replied as he held the PADD without looking at it as of yet, the lines of communication were more vital at this time and he would have opportunity to go over the information shortly. "The mere suspicion of the construction of an Omega Device cannot be overlooked." "The second PADD..." This one he unsealed also. "Is personal correspondence between myself and Ambassador T'val of Vulcan. As you probably know she is the Federation Ambassador to the Dominion. I value her opinions and her expertise. She was quite certain that such activity could only be conducted by high ranking members of Starfleet command. She had attached a number of key indicators, including personnel clustering that would support her theories. her data is consistent with that provided to me by the Dominion, and is even farther along, since it also includes some data found only at the highest levels of federation government. The Ambassador, I have since discovered was killed in a convenient shuttle crash while en route to a conference in Dominion Space. Thus I felt that the likelihood of conspiracy was significantly increased." Having spoken Captain Salid began perusing the PADD given to him by Saleke as the vulcan began also studying the information of the first PADD given him while the second lay near his right hand. "Now what confuses me is the appearance that the Marauder isn't simply another Rosenante Class vessel, originally thought to have been built in secret, but a ship from the Mirror Universe." "A logical conclusion." Saleke agreed as he set the PADD aside, the information contained therein was 'interesting'. Salid frowned then but the gesture had nothing to do with their earlier discourse as he had relaxed noticeably. "Either that ship is in some way connected to our conspiracy, or by some quirk of fate has become a part of the situation through some as of yet unknown means. if they were involved it doesn't make any sense that they would forcibly attack the facilities, when they would be able to simply recover them. unless of course they were looking to implicate my ship and hope that you would follow your duty and destroy us when we resisted." "The resources needed to contact and bring this ship to our universe for that event would seem to make such an effort prohibitive." Saleke noted. "I find it more likely they are here for purposes of their own." "I'm curious captain. I had heard that you were on medical recovery. How is it that you came to be placed in direct command of the Furious and why were you so close to Bardon Alpha in the first place?" NRPG: Can't find the compile with the initial conversation between the Admiral and Saleke but I believe the name is correct. RPG: The question was unexpected, Saleke quirked his right eyebrow before replying. "I had just been released from medical leave when I was sent for by Vice-Admiral Weatherby to take over the command of the ship which had been refitted and was about to be launched, the circumstances were curious as the former Captain had disappeared while being beamed aboard. It was by the Admiral's orders that the Furious was being sent on patrol near the Cardassian border in this sector. The Admiral's stated reasoning was that some elements supporting the former regime might be active here." (Reply: Salid) "What I find most curious of all..." The Vulcan intoned as he settled back in the seat. "Is that the Vice-Admiral also has ties to Commander Romeo who is Project Commander on Hexicor Alpha, I found this out by chance after Captain Haverly was found still alive though badly beaten on the ship. As part of the investigation seeking clues as to the identity of his abductor I mind-melded with the Captain and had access to his memories, Commander Romeo was a Lieutenant and Admiral Weatherby's Tactical officer during the war and was quickly and lavishly promoted to head the research projects afterward. His abductor has covered her tracks well and is still being sought, it is certain she had planned to destroy the vessel at some point. She is also not acting alone but taking orders from some other agency. The reason for Captain Haverly's abduction is unknown at this time though it is certain he incurred the Admiral's displeasure when I brought my ship the Poseidon into Federation space and attacked their rear supply line during the invasion. This evidence is however circumstantial but I hope to find out much more when the culprit is apprehended. I am also curious to find out who is behind the 'clustering' of key personnel which you mentioned, this informaton along with what she has to say may well give us the grounds we need for further action. " (Reply: Salid) (Posted by Charles) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Ready Room - CO, Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid- Day 7- 2236) Saleke quirked his right eyebrow before replying. "I had just been released from medical leave when I was sent for by Vice-Admiral Heatherby to take over the command of the ship which had been refitted and was about to be launched, the circumstances were curious as the former Captain had disappeared while being beamed aboard. It was by the Admiral's orders that the Furious was being sent on patrol near the Cardassian border in this sector. The Admiral's stated reasoning was that some elements supporting the former regime might be active here." Ahmed's face screwed up in contemplation for a moment. That was an interesting piece of news. "What I find most curious of all..." The Vulcan intoned as he settled back in the seat. "Is that the Vice-Admiral also has ties to Commander Romeo who is Project Commander on Hexikor Alpha, I found this out by chance after Captain Haverly was found still alive though badly beaten on the ship. As part of the investigation seeking clues as to the identity of his abductor I mind-melded with the Captain and had access to his memories, Commander Romeo was a Lieutenant and Admiral Heatherby's Tactical officer during the war and was quickly and lavishly promoted to head the research projects afterward. His abductor has covered her tracks well and is still being sought, it is certain she had planned to destroy the vessel at some point. She is also not acting alone but taking orders from some other agency. The reason for Captain Haverly's abduction is unknown at this time though it is certain he incurred the Admiral's displeasure when I brought my ship the Poseidon into Federation space and attacked their rear supply line during the invasion. This evidence is however circumstantial but I hope to find out much more when the culprit is apprehended. I am also curious to find out who is behind the 'clustering' of key personnel which you mentioned, this information along with what she has to say may well give us the grounds we need for further action. " Ahmed nodded in agreement. "Agreed. It also would seem that we've been played off of one another. There is a good chance that ambassador T'var was forced to reveal information concerning her correspondence with me. It is likely that the Mirror Universe Rosenante moved the conspirators plans forward and they your appointment as Captain of the Furious as well as your assignment to this sector were beneficial to them in so much as that you were in a unique position to follow through with your duty and apprehend or destroy the Rosenante. Thus removing myself as a thorn from their side. There was also the added benefit of breaking the chain of personnel assignments to this sector by assigning known 52nd fleet officers. When the time came for the conspirators to make their move, we would both find ourselves effectively surrounded by loyalist vessels." He looked the Vulcan in the eyes for a moment, before speaking again. "If the mirror universe Rosenante is here for her own reasons, we'll have to work together to stop her, especially if her goals are to acquire the components to build an omega device." (reply Saleke) "I propose that the Rosenante tractor the Furious and that we tow her behind us through the spiral warp conduit. We can extend our outer shields to cover her while your crew conducts the repairs. It will take about 35 hours to reach the Kabor system, where the trail of the other vessel seems to be headed. You should have your repairs completed just shy of that mark with all your crews working full shifts on two rotations. Once your repairs are complete, you can maneuver and fight on your own once we exit the conduit." He nodded to the captain then. "If they delay even a little at Kabor we should be coming into the system just a short time behind them. If they are gone, we should be able to narrow the gap to their next location and come out just a few minutes behind them. Especially since they don't seem to be running at emergency speed." (reply Saleke) "One other thing captain. If the Mirror universe Rosenante is true to the original design of this class, she'll be a brute to deal with. She's fast, maneuverable and extremely heavily armed and shielded. She'll be a lot harder to stop than my ship is, since we've been refitted as an explorer. If at all possible, I'd like to stop them and then see to it that they return home as intact as possible. I don't want a large number of other ship's from that universe coming to look for them." (reply Saleke) Daniel Greene --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Ready Room - CO, Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid- Day 7- 2237) "Understood." The Vulcan said. "The mirror universe mentality is brutish and extremely hostile, they would make every effort to equip their ships to make as effective a fighting machine as they are capable of employing. It may well take both of our ships to pacify them. Phased torpedoes in numbers would ultimately destroy the ship which would not be in our best interests as you stated but the Furious in Tri-V mode to complement your own ships capabilities would considerably even the odds. I suggest we employ that tactic from the beginning rather than 'feeling them out' and use every means at our disposal lest they attempt an escape. Brute force in this instance must be met by brute force, once their ship is effectively neutralized we can use what knowledge we have to send them back to their own universe." " I think you're absolutely correct captain. The trivector attack mode would give us a great deal more flexibility when dealing with the marauder." Ahmed replied with a nod of his head. "If we are too late and they are able to deploy the weapon it will be more problematic, one of our ships will have to move to neutralize the threat while the other engages the alter-universe Rosenante, since your Rosenante is better equipped to deal with that ship and I have a technician aboard who is familiar with the paratrinic shield generator which I anticipate they will use for the weapon I would suggest the Furious be the one to neutralize the device, I shall make available what resources I can without compromising that mission and return to aid the Rosenante as soon as the threat is dealt with." "A sound suggestion, again and completely logical. The Furious would definitely be the best choice should the weapon be deployed. My crew and I will continue to handle the Rosenante once we've engaged the enemy." Salid concluded, "Besides in multivector mode, your chances of catching the weapon if deployed is three times greater than ours." Saleke took the PADDS in his hands as he stood to his feet. "I am gratified that we have reached an understanding Captain and once again apologize for the attack on your vessel, I shall need to return to my ship to make the necessary arrangements." Ahmed rose to his feet as well. "I'm very happy that we ended this misunderstanding as friends and allies rather than enemies captain Saleke. My crew and I understand your actions as I hope you have come to understand ours. You are of course free to return to your ship." As Saleke communicated with the Furious, Ahmed reached down and disengaged the transport inhibitor protecting his ready room from unwanted entrances or extractions. Saleke tapped his comm. badge as he nodded at Captain Salid. "Commander Sloane the Rosenante will be towing the Furious to the next target of the marauder, inform the chief of engineering to change the duty roster to maximize the refit on the power buss components, he has less than thirty five hours to complete the repairs. The communications array is of secondary importance. Also inform the transporter officer I am ready to return to the ship." =^= Understood captain. Lieutenant Matrix is already working on the repairs as we speak. I'll have the transporter chief beam you aboard right away captain. Furious out. =^= Ahmed raised his hand in the traditional Vulcan salute. "Live long and prosper captain Saleke." Before the Vulcan could reply he was transporting off the ship. --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Bridge, CO- Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid- Day 7- 2238) Ahmed stepped onto the bridge with a sense of urgency. Now that an arrangement had been reached with the commander of the Furious there was no longer a need to delay any further. "Mister Sullivan, tractor the Furious in tow, to our aft. I want her held tightly at 5 kilometers aft center. Then extend our outer shields to encapsulate her." (Reply Sullivan) "Mister Jackson disengage the hiss and see to it that Mister Sullivan has all the power she needs to keep the Furious in place and shielded. Notify Engineering to closely monitor the shields and aft tractor assembly. Any sign of trouble and I want to know right away. Also have them synch up the second core and use that additional power as needed. Tell them I want a complete weapons and defensive systems diagnostic on all components completed within 24 hours. As Lieutenant Morrow is off duty, advise Ensign Rixx of our requirements. Then contact Doctors Ichijo and Lopez in medical and have them prepare for potential heavy casualties. Have them convert the secondary galley into a triage center and reallocate medical supplies as needed. We reach Kabor in 35 hours I want everything finished in 30." (reply Jackson) "Mister Caskie set a course for the Kabor System. We will be towing the Furious behind us through the spiral drive. We'll be using emergency speed for the duration of the trip." (reply Caskie) "Mister Raschen, I want boarding operations prepared to seize control of the Marauder, should it be necessary. I also want a counter boarding option in place and ready to be executed before we reach Kabor." (reply Raschen) "mister Nayati, you're with me." (reply Nayati) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Ready Room - Captain Saleke - Day 7- 2238) "Please enter sir. Captain Salid is expecting you." "Thank you Commander." He replied and stepped through the door to find Captain Salid seated behind the desk with a guarded expression upon his face. "Captain Salid." Saleke raised his right hand in the time-honored vulcan salute as he held the PADD in his left. "Live long and prosper," Lowering the hand he continued. "You have my apologies for the earlier attack on your vessel, a mistake which could have been avoided had the proper channels of communication between you and myself been employed." (Reply: Salid) Stopping before the desk he placed the PADD before the Captain of the Rosenante. "This PADD contains the summary of my findings upon Hexicor Alpha and includes interviews with station personnel as well as one transporter officer abducted from Bardon Alpha during the attack upon the facility whom the marauders intended to kill upon leaving the station, his survival was fortuitous as it gave me a first hand account of conditions aboard the enemy vessel. That officer is now aboard the Furious and has been thoroughly debriefed by my personnel." (Reply: Salid "You will find as well..." Saleke continued standing, his weight on the balls of his feet and his hands cupped behind his back. "That the cover story given for the use of the bioneural processor and experimental paratrinic shield generator is solid however the CSO of the Furious who is a Betazed at my request used his empathic abilities as well as some pointed questions to test the project commander's truthfulness and is certain that the information is a fabrication. Due to the circumstances it makes him a suspect due to your allegations of treason and subterfuge within Starfleet as he has ties to 'individuals of interest' in the investigation. Further steps will be necessary to uncover the full truth as the information at my disposal is insufficient to press charges against him or extrapolate further on where he is receiving his orders from. This is why I am interested in being given access to the information at your disposal." (Reply: Salid) (Posted by Charles) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Ready Room - Captain Saleke- Day 7- 2240) Saleke met the Captain's intense look with an impassive mien. "If the mirror universe Rosenante is here for her own reasons, we'll have to work together to stop her, especially if her goals are to acquire the components to build an omega device." "Agreed." Saleke said, there was no room for argument or dithering on that point even had he been so inclined, the Omega directive left no room for compromise, even when the ship may have come from outside their own universe. The technology or equipment needed to construct the device was off limits to anyone and everyone who might be trying to fabricate it. It went without saying especially to a ship that had showed aggressive and even homicidal instincts. "I propose that the Rosenante tractor the Furious and that we tow her behind us through the spiral warp conduit. We can extend our outer shields to cover her while your crew conducts the repairs. It will take about 35 hours to reach the Kabor system, where the trail of the other vessel seems to be headed. You should have your repairs completed just shy of that mark with all your crews working full shifts on two rotations. Once your repairs are complete, you can maneuver and fight on your own once we exit the conduit." Saleke nodded serenely in reply, the suggestion was logical and necessary, if the ship had managed to construct the device by the time they met it they would need every available ship to stop it. Salid nodded then. "If they delay even a little at Kabor we should be coming into the system just a short time behind them. If they are gone, we should be able to narrow the gap to their next location and come out just a few minutes behind them. Especially since they don't seem to be running at emergency speed." The vulcan concurred. "The other captain seems to be confident in his attempts to deflect blame to your ship and has been in no hurry to this point though as he comes closer to his objective that tendency may change. At least for now time appears to be on our side. He has in his possession the boronite and a means to protect the weapon till it can reach its destination and his next target will be to find an existing omega molecule. It appears from his movements to this point that he has had access to an Omega Device and/or the technology to construct one in his universe and is retracing his steps in our own universe. It would seem that those complicit in the conspiracy here are unwittingly supplying him with the materials and technology he needs." Captain Salid continued. "One other thing captain. If the Mirror universe Rosenante is true to the original design of this class, she'll be a brute to deal with. She's fast, maneuverable and extremely heavily armed and shielded. She'll be a lot harder to stop than my ship is, since we've been refitted as an explorer. If at all possible, I'd like to stop them and then see to it that they return home as intact as possible. I don't want a large number of other ship's from that universe coming to look for them." "Understood." The vulcan said. "The mirror universe mentality is brutish and extremely hostile, they would make every effort to equip their ships to make as effective a fighting machine as they are capable of employing. It may well take both of our ships to pacify them. Phased torpedoes in numbers would ultimately destroy the ship which would not be in our best interests as you stated but the Furious in Tri-V mode to complement your own ships capabilities would considerably even the odds. I suggest we employ that tactic from the beginning rather than 'feeling them out' and use every means at our disposal lest they attempt an escape. Brute force in this instance must be met by brute force, once their ship is effectively neutralized we can use what knowledge we have to send them back to their own universe." (Reply: Salid) "If we are too late and they are able to deploy the weapon it will be more problematic, one of our ships will have to move to neutralize the threat while the other engages the alter-universe Rosenante, since your Rosenante is better equipped to deal with that ship and I have a technician aboard who is familiar with the paratrinic shield generator which I anticipate they will use for the weapon I would suggest the Furious be the one to neutralize the device, I shall make available what resources I can without compromising that mission and return to aid the Rosenante as soon as the threat is dealt with." (Reply: Salid) Saleke took the PADDs in his hands as he stood to his feet. "I am gratified that we have reached an understanding Captain and once again apologize for the attack on your vessel, I shall need to return to my ship to make the necessary arrangements." (Reply: Salid) Saleke tapped his comm badge as he nodded at Captain Salid. "Commander Sloane the Rosenante will be towing the Furious to the next target of the marauder, inform the chief of engineering to change the duty roster to maximize the refit on the power buss components, he has less than thirty five hours to complete the repairs. The communications array is of secondary importance. Also inform the transporter officer I am ready to return to the ship." (Reply: Sloane, Salid iyw) (Posted by Charles) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Furious- Deck 6, CSO's office- Lt. Commander Holis Gralen- Day 7- 2244) Holis was reading over the information provided by the station's database and impressed by what he saw, the shield generator was more advanced than he had originally anticipated. The practice of cycling shield frequencies was nothing new of course but always before done by the practiced eye of an experienced officer but this type needed no such human agency, instead it used a linked bio-neural processor to automatically cycle those frequencies. Useful for penetrating the corona of a star and adjusting for conditions inside of it in order for a probe to be successfully insinuated into it? Absolutely. Would it make for good protection for a ship or weapon? Again absolutely and that with the near instantaneous reaction time of a highly advanced computer which could read and react far faster than said officer. The paratrinic shield generator then could take the next evolutionary step in a starshps protection much like the Tactical Interactive Holographic System had done for weaponry. The balding Betazoid in his mid-thirties sighed as he leaned back and rubbed his eyes, the technology of modern warfare was inexorably advancing as it always had, from sword and sling to bow and arrow followed by guns and cannon to the present day of phased energy weapons and quantum torpedoes, it never stopped. What one man made to kill another would be outmoded and overpowered by tomorrows enhancements. It was a deadly game of cat and mouse that never ended. More than that though this new model was more powerful than its predecessors and would be difficult to penetrate, even the Furiious' class XII phaser strips would have to wear it down rather than blaze through it as the weaponry normally did to more lightly shielded targets. Outhinking the onboard computer would be impossible, hence the need to find its 'Achilles heel' if there was one to circumvent its programming. The opening of the door interrupted his reverie as their best hope for finding that weakness walked into the room. "I'm ready to get started, Sir." Benoit said eagerly as soon as he had stepped through the door. Holis stood to his feet in welcome, at 5'10" he looked and felt short compared to the younger man. "Come in and sit down Ensign." He said, pointing to a chair. "I've been reading over the files I downloaded from Hexicor Alpha and I'm impressed or depressed, pick your term. The Captain believes we may find ourselves on the opposing side of this device and it's formidable, how long have you been working with the shield generator anyway?" (Reply: Benoit) He sighed. "Nevertheless you're our resident expert and I'm counting on you to help me find a weakness in the device that we can exploit, I see it's been moved from the experimental phase and classified as ready to assume duty which means that almost all of the bugs have been worked out, what insights can you give me?" (Reply: Benoit) "What about its power source, is there any possibility it can be overloaded? And what about its internal components? Since it was obstensibly designed to penetrate the corona of a star they would have to be extremely durable so I'm assuming that would be a dead end so tell me about the bio-neural mechanism and its programming, is there is a way we can confuse it or scramble its logic circuits? What one man can do another man can undo with the proper motivation and we've got the motivation, we just need an idea no matter how off-the-wall it might sound and a strarting point to work from." (Reply: Benoit) (Posted by Charles) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Furious- CSO's Office- Ensign Benoit - Day 7- 2245) Benoit arrived with a full stomach and a head cleared of aches. He walked in the CSO's office. "I'm ready to get started, Sir." Benoit said. (Reply Gralen.) -- (Posted by Morgan Belcher) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Turbolift, CO- Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid- Day 7- 2250) "Deck 3" Ahmed said once both men entered the turbolift car. He turned and regarded the ship's counselor. "I need your brutally honest assessment of the crew's morale counselor." (reply Nayati, Raschen, Jackson, Caskie, Sullivan) Daniel Greene Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid --------------------------------------------------------------------- USS Rosenante - sickbay- ACMO Ensign (jg) Sam Lopez- Day 7- 2359) Sam had been assigned nothing to work on these past few days other then his regular shift and that was not exciting.~this mission is passing me by~ Sam let the thought pass and resumed his work.~now time for another long night shift~ (reply by any in sickbay) (posted by shawn) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Sickbay- Ens Kimiko Ichijo- Day 7- 2400) Kimiko wondered into the Sickbay. It was odd, regardless of the time, the sickbay was well lite and the staff moved purposefully though the bay, but you could tell when it was the wee hours. ~just a sense I guess~ The doctor thought to herself. Ichijo saw the other ACMO flipping though screens on a Padd and decided to least say hi. “Doctor Lopez, greetings.” Kimiko said with a smile, extending her hand. “I was just coming in to check on an update for our visitor’s cell counts” (Reply Lopez) “Right, it is an odd hour” Kimiko grimaced. “but the system was under a diagnostic and what resources weren’t needed for that, were being used for minor things like patients” her smile implied the joke. (Reply Lopez) “Well, I had noticed that there seemed to be a, well for a lack of a better word, a ‘gelling’ of the cytoplasm in their bodies, seemingly independent of the natural decay. Any ideas?” (Reply Lopez) (Posted by Jack) ===================================================================== (USS Rosenante - Sickbay- ACMO Ensign (jg) Sam Lopez- Day 8- 0001) Sam saw the the other ACMO come into sickbay and head towards him. “Doctor Lopez, greetings.” Kimiko said with a smile, extending her hand. “I was just coming in to check on an update for our visitor’s cell counts” "It seems really late to be doing that"Sam said. “Right, it is an odd hour” Kimiko grimaced. “but the system was under a diagnostic and what resources weren’t needed for that, were being used for minor things like patients” her smile implied the joke. "good one, so how is it going with your special patients"Sam said. “Well, I had noticed that there seemed to be a, well for a lack of a better word, a ‘gelling’ of the cytoplasm in their bodies, seemingly independent of the natural decay. Any ideas?” "well, that is interesting,but nothing comes to mind. I would have to look at to get a good idea"Sam said. (Reply by Kimiko) (posted by shawn) ===================================================================== (ISS Rosenante - Bridge - CO, Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid (MU) - Day 9- 0200) The Kabor System was a small affair of a solar system that was hardly worth notice. It was not in a particularly strategic location, nor was it mineral rich. In fact the majority of the system consisted of a single white dwarf star and a solitary class N planet. Kabor Prime had been surveyed, found particularly useless and subsequently categorized and indexed into the Starfleet catalog of planets as, class N world, mineral poor, not suitable for mineral extraction. It was this categorization that had caused most officers in the fleet to even forget that Kabor existed. And that had made this planet the prime research facility for the Omega Device. Buried deep inside the planet's crust was a small facility dedicated to the creation of a stable Omega Molecule. The fact that the facility was presently powered by such a molecule was a testament to the decades of hard scientific experimentation that had proven that the Molecule could indeed be stabilized. The power from that single molecule was contained in a special magnetic resonance chamber buried so deep within the planet that it's power signature could not be detected by passing starships. But Ahmed knew it was there. The main portions of the facility were considerably more shallow in their construction. And in his own universe, Salid had visited the facility to take possession of the original Omega device to deploy against the Klingon Cardassian Alliance at Sunali II. And since everything else about this project seemed to mirror that in his own universe, he had no reason to suspect that the facility was not here. The main view screen shifted to show the slowly rotating ball of dust and rock that characterized Kabor Prime. A world without atmosphere, Kabor still harbored the impact craters of hundreds of ancient meteor and asteroid strikes across it's surface. The shuttle bay for the facility was hidden in the wall of one such crater. Salid turned to look at Benoit. The ensign had been assigned to the bridge to run the ship's sensors to locate the correct crater. So far he was still looking. "Anything Mister Benoit?" The captain asked again for the third time in ten minutes. (reply Benoit) "Very good, Helm take us into geosynchronous orbit over the coordinates provided by Mister Benoit." "Aye captain" Midas replied and shifted the Rosenante's course and speed until he had carried out the Captain's orders. "I have a visual on the location." someone reported. "Put them on screen" The image shifted from the curvature of the planet to a more compressed image of the surface of the moon-like world. A single massive twelve kilometer diameter crater dominated the screen. On the western edge of the crater, buried deep in the harsh shadows cast by the light was a barely visible outline of a Shuttle bay hanger door. "Excellent work." Suddenly the ship shook. "Report." Salid ordered. "Captain there are twelve class XII phaser emplacements on the planet's surface. They are very well hidden and are firing on us." Smith reported. ~Well that is certainly different. For once the Starfleet commanders are showing some signs of intelligence. ~ he thought, remembering that in his own universe the facility was purposefully left unarmed so that it could be more easily monitored and controlled. Apparently the Starfleet here was not worried so much about the control aspect of things at this facility. "Mister Sullivan. Red Alert, shields up and engage and destroy those emplacements." (reply Sullivan) A few more blasts from the planet shook the ship and lighting and other systems seemed to flicker under the impact. Those phaser batteries were exceptionally powerful, linked directly into the power generated by the Omega Molecule at the heart of the facility. "Salid to Engineering, Damage report." (reply Rixx) "Get the repairs teams in action Ensign, we can't afford to be too terribly delayed." A few minutes passed as Sullivan meticulously located and destroyed the hidden phaser banks. Once they were dealt with, Salid tapped his commbadge and spoke. "Mister Dawson, please transport up the equipment located at the coordinates that I provided to you earlier." =^= Dawson here captain, commencing transport=^= A few moments passed. =^=Transport complete Captain.=^= Salid smiled, then looked at Caskie. "Commander bury them alive. I'll be in the cargo bay. Once that's done set course for the Sunali system." (reply Caskie) The Captain tapped his commbadge again. "Rixx, Weaver, meet me in the cargo bay immediately." =^= On my way captain.=^= Weaver replied. (Reply Rixx) He tapped his badge again to close the channel. " Mister Sullivan, you and Mister Benoit are with me." (reply Sullivan, Benoit, Rixx, Caskie) Daniel Greene --------------------------------------------------------------------- End Compile ---------------------------------------------------------------------