The March of the 12th (Massive Fleet Participation Needed!)

[Forge04]

“Good morning everyone,” Admiral Quinn said from the podium on Earth Spacedock.

He was acutely aware of who was in the audience. Many officers and senior crewmen from the station, as well as many across the galaxy watching from subspace channels in real-time.

“Notice that this briefing is classified as secret/no foreign, and that the doors to this room have been secured. The communications channels are at level four encryption.”

The Admirals and Generals throughout the Federation, seasoned warriors and explorers, combat tested doctors and diplomats, all of them did what they needed to do when they suddenly realized that the situation was dire.

Some of them sat forward in the seats. Others leaned back. Some stood up and paced, others crossed their arms. But Admiral Quinn had their full attention.

“We have received word that a system in the Hromi Sector, a Federation researched system designated RY8-894, has been completely taken over by the Klingon Empire. Some of you are familiar with this system.

The Federation has invested billions of credits worth of time, equipment and personnel to this system in order to mine the Decathium on RY8-894-C. Latest records show over one hundred thousand people were on it when we lost contact.

That’s not even the most unsettling news.

Starfleet Intelligence has reported that RY8-894-B has been invaded by the Klingons to include the Gorn and Orions. This planet is home to a pre-warp civilization that was estimated to be between eighty and one hundred years away from faster than light travel. The Native population call themselves the Poighet, and numbered over 8 billion citizens when the Klingons invaded.

It is the decision of the Federation Council that this act of violence and war will not be tolerated.

Commander Samuel Winters.”

The aging white human left the stage while another, younger white human took his place as the hologram above him activated, showing a desert planet with white poles.

“Good morning Admirals and Generals.

What has happened in the last 17 hours is everything we’ve worried about during this long battle with the Klingon Empire.

RY8-894 is a seven planet system. Alpha is the standard barren rock, completely cooked planet worth nothing more than to observe that it’s there.

Beta is a completely different story. They had several space stations and thousands of satellites orbiting their planet. Atmospherically they have millions of aircraft and an impressive support system.

Around Beta are three moons, one of which holds a thin breathable atmosphere, which they have a small research station on. The other two moons are both barren rock forms which could provide a tactical advantage in various ways.

Between Beta and Charlie is a massive asteroid in a stable orbit that the Poighet have colonized, albeit for the vastly wealthy. There is also another small research station here but mostly this asteroid is a vacation spot. We believe the Poighet were eventually going to use this asteroid to complete their first trip to another planet in system, which is Charlie.

Charlie is slightly further away from the systems star, and has a light asteroid ring around it. We have several docks and stations in orbit around Charlie for when the Decathium would have been ready for shipment.

Delta is a helium gas giant with eleven rocky and volcanic moons.

Echo is another gas giant, though hydrogen makes up most of it.

Foxtrot is a mess of various elements, with a solid, hot core and liquid surface. No atmosphere, though there are basic multi-celled bacteria that are evolving as we speak.

And Gamma is like our Pluto, a small rock leftover after the rest of the system was formed.

The Klingon Empire have dug in specifically hard around Beta and Charlie understandably. The know we’re going to be coming back for the system and have prepared well.

Over two thousand KDF ships are in the system, ranging from B’rel Birds of Prey to Kar’Fi carriers and their fighters. We’ve also received word that Gorn and Orion support cruisers and Nausicaan Marauders have also arrived in system.

The primary objectives are not to dispatch all of these ships, but rather, eliminate these particular vessels.

The first is the flagship of the KDF 3rd Fleet, the Hegh 'ej Quv. It is an Ou’Dai battle cruiser that has survived with it’s commander in all but his first seven battles. It is commanded by General Chu’Troq. He is a bit a hero, having won over fifty engagements and neither he nor his crew should be underestimated.

Also with the 3rd is the Green Dragon. No information is known about this vessels commander, just that it has been present at many Gorn victories, which we all know are in somewhat short supply.”

The room lightly chuckled at the joke, though the weight of the information was still in the air.

Since the Klingons have taken control of the system, they have already begun establishing trade routes and defensive patrols. Civilan transports have also been shown on a vector for RY8-894.

It has been decided that orbital bombardment will be a last resort and as such, ground forces will secure the planets and stations. For this briefing, Captain Mark Davis.”

Winter walked off and was replaced by and holographic representation of Angel.

“Howdy all. Howdy howdy howdy.

We’ll just start alphabetically eh?

Beta is heavily populated, still. Over 500,000 people have been shipped off to Charlie, and more are on their way as we speak. The natives are putting up a pretty good resistance, considering.

The planet’s terrain is broken down as such: 68% water, 11% arctic, 16% urban and the remaining 4% is still heavy jungle. Mountainous regions have all either been terraformed to relative flat ground or incorporated into the massive cities that dominate the skylines. These cities are a nightmare tactically, with numerous sniper perches and eddies with which the enemy can hide. Hence why the natives resistance is proving to be unusually effective.

The problem is transporters.

The enemy has them, the resistance has no way to defend against them. The one thing we have on our side is that they can only move so many people at once. 8 billion is a lot of people.

The generous amounts of water on the planet have also been colonized. Underneath the surface are numerous cities and towns, all supported by hydro-electric generation fields that stretch for thousands of square kilometers.

These areas have also begun to be stripped of its citizens. Town by town, city by city. And it’s only a matter of time.

I believe the Klingon Empires objective on Beta, given the intelligence, is that they plan to simply take it over with as little damage done to the infrastructure as possible. They will take the capitol. They will take this major underwater city which is supported by these geo-thermal generators and hydro-electric field.

In short, the less they destoy, the less work to get it ready for the new civilian population.

Charlie on the other hand, was completely deserted. Though it had a breathable atmosphere, its current stage of development has left its water on the planet at the poles, where it has stayed frozen.

This has resulted in a planet devoid of plant life and oceans. Ambient temperature averages around -3 to -15 degrees Celsius. Our mines have already begun to swarm with the native populace, all being put to work by the Klingons and their allies.

The terrain is either desert, extremely mountainous or arctic conditions.

There are five shafts on the planet, two in the mountains around the planets equator, two in the deserts north and south, and one right on top of the northern pole.

Not exactly how I want to fight a war.

The moon bases and asteroid vacation spot are of little consequence as well. We will take these objectives, though mostly for demoralization of the enemy and to ensure there are no surprises waiting for us at these locations.

More information will be given as it is discovered –“

A Lt. in the third row raised his hand.

“Yes Lt.?” Angel asked.

The young Bolian stood.

“Sir, Lt. Guir Sir. I’m wondering, why don’t we use transporters ourselves to both extract the Poighet and neutralize the enemy?”

Angel smiled at the young man.

“That’s a perfect question Lt. The answer is the worst part.”

The hologram changed above him to show a ship. It looked like Starbase 24 if it were on its side, though thinner, longer and green/red instead of dark grey and blue.

“This image scan was taken from the SS Reilly as it escaped the system. Intelligence has been tracking the development of this project and the Klingon Empires large investment in it. It is a transport inhibitor.”

The room suddenly became a quiet panic as whispers and light talking erupted.

Angel held up his hands.

“Settle down, settle down.”

When the room hushed he began again.

“It is over nine hundred meters tall. The dish is roughly five hundred meters in diameter. It is designed to travel to a planet, land, and stop anyone from coming or going. In this first wave that the Reilly was able to observe, there were over fifty of these automated vessels.

That’s just the first wave. They’ll use these massive tactical nightmares around the mine shafts on Charlie and the major populated areas on Beta.

And that concludes my brief. Admiral?”

The hologram shimmered out of existence as the Admiral came up the steps to the podium.

“By order Romeo 8574 of the Federation Council and Starfleet Command, I hereby order the 12th Fleet to use any and all means necessary to enter the RY8-894 system in order to rescue the Poighet, take control of the various resources of the system and destroy the occupying Klingon force. Dismissed!”

[Black_Astral]

Starbase Valhalla

Ensign Paltio Neovo was finally getting sleep after battling two month of insomnia and nightmares caused by a mission in the Kavis system. He had lost all but a few of his crew due to a virus in the collective nanite population known as the Machina. Thanks to the help of Captain Nactal, a fellow 12 Fleet member, Paltio was rescued from an emergency escape pod with failing life support.

Attention please! This is Commodore Vasily Pasternak. All Intelligence officers on Starbase Valhalla report to conference room 5 in ten minutes. I repeat: This is Commodore Vasily Pasternak. All Intelligence officers on Starbase Valhalla report to conference room 5 in ten minutes.

Paltio fell out of his bed cursing the communicator and whatever situation that had sprung up this time. Picking himself up off the floor, he stumbled to the sonic shower and tried to make himself look presentable and a little less like death warmed over.

This better not be about what new shoes the commodore should replicate for his latest outfit again or some Gorn dung like that. Someone better be dying or I'll be quite ticked off!

Neovo left his quarters and headed to the conference room.

[Keyes]

==U.S.S Agincourt, Deep Space 9==

The ship's senior officers sat in the conference room, watching the briefing with rapt attention.

“By order Romeo 8574 of the Federation Council and Starfleet Command, I hereby order the 12th Fleet to use any and all means necessary to enter the RY8-894 system in order to rescue the Poighet, take control of the various resources of the system and destroy the occupying Klingon force. Dismissed!”

As the transmission concluded, Captain Keyes stood to address his staff.

“We know our orders, its time to follow them, Commander Tellah, I want a tactical report and analysis, Mr. Slan, see if you can figure out A weakness in those transporter inhibitors, Ydyosial, I need the ship ready for whatever the Klingons want to throw at it, get us ready, Six, talk to the DS9 quartermaster, requisition us double stocks of everything, more torpedoes, medical supplies,ammunition everything we'll need, doctor, prepare medical for A worst case scenario, get ready for lots of patients, Williams, run a full diagnostic on all weapons systems and get them up to one hundred and ten percent, Mer, I want work on a ground assault strategy for those mines, Nerean, do you know anything about this system?”

“I remember hearing vague reports about it before I left but nothing specific, I am, however quite familiar with any ship the Orions could bring to the fray” the normally care-free Orion answered, her businesslike tone belying the seriousness of the situation.

“Good, I want a report on those ships, after your done, work with Slan on those inhibitors, I want us ready and on the way to the Eriksson rally point within the hour, dismissed.”

The officers dispersed quickly, heading off to complete their assigned tasks with grim determination, Keyes walked swiftly to the bridge and sat down in the captain's chair, resting his head on a closed fist beneath his chin, deep in thought.

“Sir, course laid in for the Eriksson system, best speed, ready to take us out when as soon as preparations are complete” Lieutenant K'Rona reported.

“Thank you Lieutenant, I'll be in my ready room, you have the bridge.”

Malcolm sat down and opened a ship-wide broadcast.

“Attention all hands, this is the Captain, 17 hours ago a massive force of Imperial warships invaded a peaceful, pre-warp system, with a large Federation mining outpost on a distant planet, the 12th Fleet, and therefore the Agincourt, have been ordered to repulse this threat at any cost, this wont be easy but I expect you all to do your duty but I know you wont let us down.”

He activated his terminal and began to plan for the upcoming battle.

[liquidzoo]

U.S.S. Proteus - Deep Space K7

Kimara sat in her Ready Room, the door uncharacteristically locked by her own Executive Order, as she intently watched the briefing she had been called to.

“By order Romeo 8574 of the Federation Council and Starfleet Command, I hereby order the 12th Fleet to use any and all means necessary to enter the RY8-894 system in order to rescue the Poighet, take control of the various resources of the system and destroy the occupying Klingon force. Dismissed!”

She sat in silence for a moment, thinking about what she should tell her crew. She didn't know Captain Davis personally, but she knew enough of his reputation to know that he meant business.

"Computer, end order Ral-0607-B."

The computer chimed its familiar response as the door locks were released. Kimara was on her feet and heading to the bridge moments later.

"Aloani," She addressed her first officer, "How well are we stocked?"

"Last report said we were running low on a few basic supplies, but nothing serious, why?" Aloani said, startled by the look on her friend's face.

"Have Ensign T'Nass make sure that we're fully stocked, then order an entire ship's compliment of extra medical supplies. Have them put in cargo bay 2, since it's the closest to Sick Bay; then have Lt Commander Braf triple check our armaments. We can't afford any slip ups. Get K'Konek to help load anything you need."

"Aye Ma'am." Aloani responded, figuring this wasn't the time for the more casual attitude the lovers usually took with eachother, then she left to ensure the orders were carried out.

Kimara touched her communicator.

"Bridge to Engineering."

"Engineering here, go ahead Captain." The faintly mechanical voice of Three of Seven came back.

"Three, how are we looking down there? Anything I should be aware of?"

"There's a slight tremor I detected the last time we came out of warp, but I can't seem to locate the source. All of the tests I've run have come back negative."

"I'm sending Lt. Dar down to give you a hand. I need to be ready to go in 3 hours and I don't need anything going wrong. We're going to need all of the power we can get."

"Aye Captain, we will find it."

"I have faith in you, Three. Just keep that Ferengi on task. He's been a little too lax in his duties recently. Bridge out."

Kimara turned and looked out the view port. The bustle of activity around K7 seemed normal to her. Ships coming and going, off to this destination and that. She wondered how many of them had heard the call, and if any of them would make it back here.

"Can I ask what's happening?" Aloani's voice cut through her thoughts, startling her slightly.

"We're responding to a call to war, Aloani. The Klingon's have invaded a pre-warp civilization, and the 12th has been ordered to respond. We may not be the ultimate combat vessel in the fleet, but they're for damn sure going to need doctors. You and I both fall into that category."

Aloani swallowed hard, but only nodded her response. Kimara could sense the tension in the other Betazoid, tension that she was feeling as well.

"When everything has been loaded, and Three has completed her work in Engineering, plot a course to the Eriksson system at maximum warp and call all of the Officers to the conference room. They're going to need to hear the details before we get there."

"You got it, anything else?"

"See what you can find on the RY8-894 system. Anything you can dig up might help the fleet. I've got to contact Valhalla to let them know we're enroute. I expect they're busy coordinating everything and will be happy to hear that Medical has a ship on the way. You have the bridge, I'll be in my Ready Room. Let me know when the Officers are ready."

"Yes Ma'am." Aloani half smiled. She knew that Kimara liked to keep a casual bridge, especially between the 2 of them, and she knew it would ease some of the tension the other was feeling. She was right, as Kimara disappeared behind the closing doors, she could sense a brief relaxation coming from her. They both knew what was coming, though, and she had a lot of work to do before they could undock from K7.

[Forge04]

Angel stepped out of the holoscanner unit and made his way to his office/quarters on Valhalla. He tapped his combadge.

"Grant?" he asked his first officer.

"Go Angel," his best friend said.

"I want you to take command of the Locksley. You are the official flyboy after all," he opened his locker and surveyed his gear.

He strapped on his tactical kit first, then the various holsters for the 1911 and extra magazines, the Klingon electic-knife that had proven so useful during the Sector X mission. He thought about bringing the F2000 from that mission as well, but instead grabbed his anti-proton sniper rifle and assault rifle.

"Where're you going?" Grant asked him.

"I'm going to be taking the Tal'Afar with Prowler Brigade," he closed the locker and went to the door, stopping to look at the picture of his wife on the dresser.

"How're you going to fit over two thousand troops onto that ship buddy?"

"They're MACOs. I'll explain what our missions will be over the next - whoever knows how long. This is gonna be the last bit of comfort we're going to have for a long time. Unless you think the Klinks are just going to let us cruise on through," Mark went down the corridor.

Everyone was going somewhere with their gear and assignment. Some were going ground side he could see. Others were preparing for engineering catastrophies. It occured to Angel that some of these people weren't going to be coming back.

"Look Grant, I know. I want to be up there with you, but the reality is, General Wolv brought me back to Starfleet as a MACO. That's my real job now. You and the Locksley are to meet up with Intelligence and Captain Keyes. He'll be giving you orders. Make sure and bring back my boat in one piece," Mark said, stepping onto the turbolift.

"Keyes knows we're coming?"

"He will when either you or I tell him, whichever comes first."

"Got it. Anything else?"

"Yeah." Angel paused. "You take care of yourself alright?"

"You too Angel."

"Semper Invictus."

"Semper Vigilans."

Angel left the lift and turned down the hall, several other MACO officers already headed to the assembly hall.

This'll be General Ezme's first real large scale command since General Wolv was relieved. This could be pretty interesting.

[Nactal]

The turbolift doors slid open and Cpt. Nactal stepped onto the bridge. Everyone was hard at work punching in coordinates, running final diagnostics, putting on those finishing touches on the necessary calibrations.

After his return with his passengers back to the Sol system, everyone had regarded him as a hero for rescuing pilots in "perilous danger". Even though he was glad that some people had survived, he didn't feel much of a hero. Shortly after his return he had been granted a promotion and a new ship for his loyalty and patriotism. He was still unsure what to name her yet.

Nactal's mind wandered for a minute or two until he realized everyone had stopped what they were doing and were standing at attention. damn procedures... he thought to himself. "At ease." Nactal tapped his combadge and the shipped intercom buzzed and was silent, ready for any and everything he had to say. "Everyone has been given the debriefing so everyone should know the danger we are facing. I know everyone here is more than capable to do there best and work their hardest and thats why we will be returning home.

Someone once said that you can't change your fate, you can only help it along its way. All I have to say is screw that! Our actions decide what happens to us! It's because of this, that I know we will return home safely with a victory under our belts. Because we are going to be the judges of our fate." It was in that moment Nactal knew what to name the ship. The USS Judicator.

"Commander Tialik, get this metal ballerina out of this dock. I'm getting claustrophobic." Nactal sat in the captain's chair, opened the private communication line to the 12th fleet members awaiting further instruction. On top of that, he hoped that this wouldn't turn into another disaster like last time...

[Tavious]

U.S.S. Banshee Conference Room.



“By order Romeo 8574 of the Federation Council and Starfleet Command, I hereby order the 12th Fleet to use any and all means necessary to enter the RY8-894 system in order to rescue the Poighet, take control of the various resources of the system and destroy the occupying Klingon force. Dismissed!”


Val blanked the screen that had the replay of the briefing from Admiral Quinn.
"So, there you have it boys and girls. The Klingons got to big for their britches and now we have to knock em down a peg or two." She looked around the room at the six men and women that made up her command staff of the Banshee. "After this meeting adjourns we'll set an immediate course for System RY8-894. For now I need an update on everything, supplies, weapons the works." She turned to her left at Six of Nine one of the liberated Borg she rescued a few months ago. "Six, how's the ship?"

Six answered in a quiet yet confident voice. "We have a variance in the aft phaser array, we've had no luck in tracking it down, however it doesn't present a critical problem....yet. Aside from that and some minor hull patching with that last run in with Hirogen we are fully operational."

Val smiles briefly, "Ok Six take Cliff here and track down that problem last thing we need is phaser array to go off-line in a fight. She looked towards her long time friend and Second in Command. "Talsian, how are the weapons stores and tactical arrays?"


The female K'sera smiled and spoke in a slightly musical voice. "We're low on Quantum torpedoes and the ships armory of phaser packs needs replenishing. Tracking and Targeting systems are good to go."


"Good to here, take Lt. B'hyv." She nodded to her fellow Andorian. "And double check everything also make sure that all of the kits and personal armor is operational." Then she turned to the Banshee's Chief Medical Officer and Talsian's brother. "Pouroa how are you and Curail holding up in Sickbay?"

"We're short on some of the basics and there seems to be an issue with a few of the dermal re-generators but aside from that we're fully staffed and ready, just remember Captain we're a small ship we don't have a very large sickbay." the elder K'sera replied, looking over to his younger charge Curail, but the Trill was looking up ships stores on her PADD. "Captain, we can set up a small triage unit in Cargo Bay One." she looked back to Pouroa and smiled sweetly. "I stand corrected Captain." he said, smiling back.


Val got up and paced around the room. "Ok it sounds like we have some minor thing to finish up, we'll stop at the nearest Starbase and pick up whatever replacements we need and then set course for RY8-894." She looked around and offered a confident smile. "We'll show the Klingons not mess with the Federation or the 12th Fleet. DISMISSED!"

[Broccan]

Broccan Mor rose stiffly from the chair in his ready room. His hand trembled as he closed the secure channel to Earth Spacedock. An all-out confrontation with the Klingons, a nightmare coming true.

Broccan had spent his years at Starfleet Academy refining his engineering knowledge, begun on his homeworld. After being granted his first command, he all but abandoned those studies in favour of diplomatic pursuits. Over the years he had become a skilled negotiator and a seasoned mediator. He was not trained or practiced as a warrior.

Of course, as a Starfleet officer and as a commander of a ship he had been forced on many occasions to become just that. Blissfully he had the memories of several other lifetimes to fall back on. Of those, the memories of Jashin Mor, a celebrated soldier and warrior had been most invaluable. Her techniques and strategies had guided him through confrontations with the Breen, Jem'Hadar, Romulans, Borg and even the insidious Undine. Today however, Jashin's memories were what unbalanced him so profoundly.

In the early days of this new conflict with the Klingon Empire, Jashin had been serving as a MACO on board the U.S.S. Urquhart, conducting patrols of the neutral zone. While on course back to Federation space, the Urquhart was caught unawares by a cloaked Klingon scout group. The details of the event were fuzzy in Broccan's mind but he could never bring himself to look up the official Starfleet records. All he remembered were the shields failing momentarily and Klingon boarding parties beaming in. The rest was a haze of adrenaline culminating with the warmth around the neck as the Bat'leth blade passed through.

The memory lingered as he walked onto the bridge.

"Problem Sir?" Sina Strand, his first officer asked, seeing his face.

"Sin, muster all available hands in the main cargo bay," his voice retained the steadiness of command despite his inner turmoil.

"Lalhas, have the technicians from the Aegis project finished installing the new impulse engines?"

"We just completed final integration, Sir" his chief engineer replied.

"Excellent, as soon as my briefing finishes I want your team to bring them offline."

"Sir?"

"Starfleet needs us in the Hromi Cluster, fast. Get ready to bring the borg modifications back online. Don't worry though, we'll re-integrate our new components when we arrive, we'll certainly need the maneuverability.

Sylla, plot a transwarp course to the Pi Canis Sector Block, then on to the Hromi Cluster at warp 14."

"Aye sir" the Andorian Shen responded.

"Report to the cargo bay when the course is laid in, I want everyone aboard to know what we're getting into," Broccan finished. Let's hope this doesn't turn into a good day to die, he thought to himself as he entered the turbolift, tugging his beard feverishly.

***

“By order Romeo 8574 of the Federation Council and Starfleet Command, I hereby order the 12th Fleet to use any and all means necessary to enter the RY8-894 system in order to rescue the Poighet, take control of the various resources of the system and destroy the occupying Klingon force. Dismissed!”

"So," Broccan addressed his crew, assembled in front of him in the large cargo bay of the Excelsior class vessel "You can appreciate the gravity of the situation. I would like all non-Starfleet, non-MACO personnel to disembark the Chapman upon completion of this brief. All children, spouses and independent researchers are to beam down to Memory Alpha where they may await transport to their homeworlds or our eventual and successful return.

And let me assure you, we will return, and we will be successful. No ship in the fleet is sturdier than ours," he smacked a bulkhead with closed fist.

"No crew more reliable," his hand, open now rested on the shoulder of a crewman in the front rank. "And no force in the galaxy is enough to put us down."

The crew, his crew stood straighter than they had a moment to go. Chests puffed with pride, grins began to creep across faces.

"Go see your families, tell them you'll see them soon," He finished. "Dismissed.

"Sylla, return to the bridge, when we have confirmation that all civilians are ashore, break orbit and open the transwarp conduit. Sin, take the bridge, I'll be in my quarters."

The crew bustled out of the cargo bay, departments took up individual cheers and comrades clasped hands. Still though, murmurs of doubt could be heard amongst the cacophony of assembled officers, soldiers and crewmen. Doubts echoed in Broccan's own mind.

[Shaker]

[OOC: I'm going with Nishka's idea that Valhalla could be considered K-7, or at least close by. Also participation in this RP does not coincide with Priority One Distress Signal in Exploration Division]

U.S.S. Eldridge
Starbase 39, Sierra Sector

Captain's log:
"The Eldridge has had an easy couple of days here at Starbase 39. The crew seem to be resting well and the repair and replenishment of the ship is proceeding quite smoothly."

Captain Aiden Alexander shifted in his seat on the bridge before he began again, "Today I have noticed an odd assortment of uniforms heading to various docking platforms. It seems that the Federation is planning an invasion of some sort. I know we have some flash points across our space, but this seems quite off to me. I haven't heard any news of renewed conflict flaring up badly enough for this."

As if on cue, Commander Sylix, the Eldridge's executive officer, walked up to his captain and leaned in close, "Sir, I apologize for the interruption, but I have a priority one emergency recording waiting for your review. Shall I pipe it to your ready room?"

The Captain let out a sigh. "Computer, end log." Hearing the computer's confirmation tones, Captain Alexander turned to his XO, "It sounds important. Whatever it is, you should hear it as well."

A few minutes later, both officers were staring at the display screen as the recording ended, “By order Romeo 8574 of the Federation Council and Starfleet Command, I hereby order the 12th Fleet to use any and all means necessary to enter the RY8-894 system in order to rescue the Poighet, take control of the various resources of the system and destroy the occupying Klingon force. Dismissed!”

After the recording finished, Aiden leaned back in his newly replaced leather chair. "What do you think, Sylix? How should we offer our services?"

Sylix pondered the question for a few moments before answering, "I believe that the Eldridge won't fare too well in direct combat. With the Aegis system finally working correctly and the, 'other' modification still having some issues, I would recommend we connect with Valhalla on the way to our target system. We offload all non-essential gear and personnel and press our engineers to make our modification more... reliable. We could accommodate approximately two-hundred MACO's and support equipment. With these changes we could also re-equip two or three science labs into medical bays."

Aiden was rarely impressed by his first officer anymore as he had recently gotten used to it. "Sylix, I like the way you think. Lets get started on the modifications and see if Starbase 39 could use some of our equipment in the labs or anything else we plan to offload. Offer this place as a disembarkation point for the non-essentials and anyone wishing to stay out of harm's way. And Sylix, I want you to select a command crew. Bring it to me before dinner so we can go over it. I want you by my side out there, but on the bridge of the Salt Lake City."

Sylix seemed confused by this pronouncement. "Sir? I'm not familiar with that vessel."

"Understandable. I recently had it removed from Starfleet's reserve 'mothballed' fleet. In exchange for a not insignificant amount of latinum, I convinced Quinn to reactivate, re-equip, re-arm and place the Excelsior-class refit under my command. I had to call in a few favors, but she's all mine. I trust you will take care of her?"

"Yes sir, I am grateful for your trust. I will have a command staff list ready for you shortly."

"Dismissed, number one." The Captain watched as Sylix turned and left the ready room. Chuckling to himself, he wondered if anyone else could see the anticipation and excitement show in the Vulcan's face.

"Computer, record and send message using a very secure channel to Valhalla Command, priority one." The computer chimed and responded with a ready. "Valhalla Command, this is Captain Alexander of the USS Eldridge. We are currently offloading equipment and personnel not considered vital to the current operation.

"When we arrive at Valhalla, I will transfer some officers to the USS Salt Lake City and both ships will be prepared to receive MACO ground forces and supplies. Eldridge will be available for special forces infil/exfiltration missions pending 12th Fleet approval. We are currently in the process of converting our shuttle bay to provide for individual orbital insertion of special forces while keeping space for two shuttles. I have appointed Commander Sylix temporary command of the SLC, and he will tailor the ship as he sees fit for likely missions. We will be underway in approximately three hours.

"One of my junior engineers came up with the idea for the orbital insertion mechanisms, and we have done limited tests on the pods themselves. They do show promise and currently have a 72% success rate. We have the designs ready for dissemination to the rest of the fleet as well as replicator schematics for new pods. In light of the current situation, I will transfer the designs directly upon arrival to Valhalla. Eldridge out."

The computer chimed in response and an indicator light on the display showed that the message was sent to Valhalla's busy message queue. The Captain stood up and walked to his cabin window and gazed toward the bustle of starbase activity.

"Computer," a soft chime, "a root beer please."

[Sullivyn]

U.S.S. Scavenger - Captain’s Ready Room – Deep Space 9

Zedd sat at his desk staring at the dozen strips of Gold-Pressed Latinum that lay stacked in two piles in front of him. On the other side of the desk stood an official Marauder Mo action figure.

“One for me, none for you.” Zedd would say to the action figure as he moved a strip of latinum from one pile to the other.

“One for me, none for you… One for me, one for you… just kidding, none for you!” He remarked smiling at his cleverness as if he outwitted the real Marauder Mo. Suddenly, his ready room doors effortlessly slid open to reveal his Chief Medical Officer.

“Captain, you have an incoming priority message from Admiral Quinn.” Advised Lieutenant Emily Belloma. Zedd quickly backhanded the Marauder Mo action figure from his desk and sent it sailing across the room and behind his holo-emitter fish tank.

“Uhh, thank you Lieutenant. He said with an embarrassed smile. "I’ll take it in here… your dismissed.” He said as he waved her off. The Doctor stood looking at the fish tank for a second before she nodded, then turned without a word. Seconds later the doors slid closed leaving Zedd alone with his Latinum and abused Marauder Mo action figure.

Zedd watched the transmission with passing interest, and was sure to fast forward only the boring parts. When the message finished, he leaned back in the plush chair and pondered the situation for a moment. Then he carefully gathered the stacked latinum strips and put them back on the anti-grav display case with the speed and precision of well trained athlete. Once he was satisfied with the display of floating precious, he headed towards the bridge.

“Lieutenant Bon, set a course for the Hromi Sector. Lieutenant Glaxx, find out the major imports for system RY8-894. Those people are probably running low on supplies and we are just the ship to sell, I mean bring them what they need.”

“Aye Captain.” The two Bolian men said in unison.

“Well Lt. Belloma, this maybe my chance to sell those crates of Klingon-Be-Gone spray." Remarked Zedd.

“Sir, your novelty aerosol can is nothing more than harmless methane gas. It doesn't make Klingons go away. The locals may not find it amusing.”

“But Klingons sure do hate the smell. I thought I would have to buy that Klingon in engineering a new hat.” Laughed Zedd.

“Sir, that was not a hat, it was his forehead. And I believe he found it offensive when you sprayed it, then called it a hat.”

“Well he showed great restraint. I admire him for that.”

“Yes sir, we all do.” Replied the CMO.

Zedd ignored the last comment and looked at the helm.

“Make the sale Lt. Bon.” Ordered Zedd as he sat down in the captains chair and adjusted the beaded seat cover.

“Aye sir.” replied the purple skinned Bolian as the U.S.S. Scavenger put DS9 to her six.