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

[Derek]

U.S.S Chimera, ‘Diplomatic’ missions in Beta Ursae

Incoming transmission Captain; it’s from Valhalla

Sounds like they got the message "Give me a summary Raseph, what do we have?"

"Starfleet has mobilized the 12th, destination Hromi Sector; RY8-894 system, Klingon disturbance. The rest of the message is encrypted for your eyes only Sir."

"I’ll read the rest later, set course for Valhalla. Engineering?"
"Yes Sir", Bandar’s voice is echoed by a strange purring noise
"I want full speed on this trip, don’t spare anything"
"Yes Sir!! I’ll have the warp core working overtime for you."
"Oh, and Bandar?"
"Yes Sir?"
"Send the tribble out aft tube 3; all of them"
"Yes sir, they will be gone before we hit our destination."

"Raseph, send out a message to Alpha, advise them that Section 31 got it right finally and to move to Valhalla for final coordination, more to follow. Also, advise Commodore Pasternak that the Chimera is in route. I’ll be in my room. Birgre, you have the Con."

Derek heads from the bridge to his chambers
"Sir?"
"Yes T’Piri?"

"Our current assignment; should I contact Mr. Drake and advise him of our orders?"

"He is aware of our situation. Contact Bradley 42 in the Aroura and have him replace us. I will brief him on what he needs to know. Do contact Captain Gorah and advise him that Bradley is in route to his location and will assist in the mission"
"Aye Sir, transmitting now"

"Lights!" Damn motion sensor is on the fritz again

Derek’s quarters slowly illuminates as he heads over to his desk.
"Access transmission log from Valhalla, security code Delta-Epsilon-Three-Five-Three-Seven-Two"

Several minutes later

“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!”

Great, just what we need, the Klinks getting all defensive. What happened to the good ‘ol ‘Shoot first, shoot again, and ask questions’?

He turns to look out the window, stars rushing by like snowflakes in a windstorm. Reaching across the desk, Derek picks up what looks like a black ball with the number ‘8’ etched in the top. Turning it over, the words “Ask Again Later” appear.

Typical

Across the room, on the wall is a D’k tahg, a beautiful gift from a friend from years ago. Derek removes the weapon from the wall, and twists the pummel.

“Greeting Brother, how may I assist?” A throaty sound eminates from a projection of a Nausican

“Greeting Mnemic, it has been a while. Your services are needed once again. What can you tell me of a transport inhibitor?”

“Ah yes, I have heard mention of these, large structures that have the chance of preventing any molecular transportation in a given area. Unfortunately, I am not trusted enough within the KDF to know more, but I can find out. Why do you want to know anyways?”

“You know better than to ask, let’s just say that I have heard rumors.”

“Say no more, I will learn soon enough anyway. Shall I send findings to your ship or to the secondary channel?”

Send it to the Secondary, this way I can brief my command on what has been gathered. I need you to get on this as soon as possible, lives depend on it.”

“I will do it in haste, until next time.” The projection fades. Moments later the comms begins to beep

“Captain Derek?” Raseph’s voice sounds slightly shaken, “Mr. Drake is contacting you on your secure channel.”
Derek chuckles, “Patch the sourpuss in. Good Afternoon Mr. Drake, How are you?”

“Don’t ‘How are you’ me! Do you realize that every time I have to call you it is because you have either done something that is so close to insubordination or you have raised so many red flags at Starfleet that I spend weeks trying to keep you out of losing everything you own?!?”

“Good to hear from you too. I know that you are aware of our change in assignment; we are in route to meet up with our fleet. This one goes above even you Frank, get over it. I have passed the word out to my contact, and he will be able to piece together any missing schematics that you don’t already have on the inhibitors…or is there something else that I need to know?”

“I got your comms on that, and as soon as more information filters down, I’ll pass it through your chain. What I need YOU to explain are why there are roughly 500 tribbles floating through Beta Ursae? Normally I don’t ask these questions from you, but a couple of them seem to have the ability to phase in and out of objects, and they all have a tag that reads ‘Have a nice day…Chimera’.”

“Just my crew doing what was asked of them. I’ll tell you more once I am on station, Derek out”

“I’m not finished…” The channel goes silent

Have a nice day…Chimera. Well, at least they didn’t sign my name to it; that one took weeks to clean up.

With a smirk, Derek heads back to the bridge, eagerly awaiting the view of Valhalla on the view screen.

[Keyes]

==U.S.S. Agincourt, en-route to Eriksson rally point==

As Malcolm walked from his ready room towards the centre of the bridge, Tellah rose from the captain's chair and handed him a PADD.

“There's been a change of plans sir, all ships at the rally point have been ordered to move directly to RY8-894 without waiting for the rest of the fleet and all ships en-route have been ordered to proceed directly to the system” she explained.

“Someone really needs to think of a better name for that” he replied.

“Quite right sir, RY8-894 is to long to say in normal conversation” Tellah answered, sitting in the first officer's chair, next to the Captain.

“Is that all Commander?” Malcolm asked.

“One more thing sir, we've been instructed to meet with the U.S.S. Locksley , its a tactical escort retrofitted with a cloaking device, under Commander Grant Anderson.”

“Excellent, that cloak could come in very useful, Mer has some ideas about a stealth infiltration ans I was going to use MVAM and take down the main hull section but a cloaked tactical escort would work much better.”

“Now, computer, download personnel files for Commander Grant Anderson and all files pertaining to the U.S.S. Locksley to my terminal” Keyes ordered.

“Sir, course and speed altered to rendezvous with the Locksley, we'll be alongside them within the hour” K'Rona reported from her helm station.

“Slan, how have you and Nerean fared with those inhibitors?” Malcolm asked, taping his combadge.

“We have made some progress sir, but at the moment I’m not sure we could counteract them for long enough to transport a person, let alone an away team, if we had some schematics we might be able to do more” he replied.

“Understood Lieutenant Commander, keep me appraised.”

“Fleet command reports that the majority of the battle-group is in position outside RY8-894, however they are still waiting on a number of ships, including the flagship” Durat explained from communications.

“Seems we won't be late after all, ensign” the Captain replied.

[Shaker]

[OOC: Participation in this RP does not coincide with Priority One Distress Signal in Exploration Division]

U.S.S. Eldridge
En Route to Starbase Valhalla
Engineering Deck

Lieutenant Commander Seven of Seven, a Liberated Borg human female, was staring intently at a diagnostic screen that was monitoring the status of Ensign Finnegan's current tweaking of the Eldridge's newest modification.

"Ensign," the former Borg intoned, "if you route power through your current configuration, you will destroy half of the ship."

The Ensign froze in place, "Ma'am, I know this looks unorthodox, but I'm positive this will work. Channeling the cloak field through the secondary shield emitters will provide us with limited protection from weapons fire."

"I don't disagree, Ensign. What I have issue with, is your siphoning power from the ships fusion reactors that power the impulse engines. That amount of power draw won't leave enough to allow the ship to move and will cause a cascading power surge that will follow this path to the warp core, causing a breach." Seven traced her finger along a circuitous route along Finnigan's schematic.

After a minute of triple checking Seven's argument, Ensign Finnigan blew out an exasperated sigh. "Ok Commander, I see where that would cause some concern. What would you recommend we do to get this power routed?"

"I see no problem with the cloak running this way, just the power routing. We can't run it through both power sources utilizing these junctions. Not with your Orbital Insertion Device powered up at the same time. There isn't much use of this type of cloak without that system you devised." Seven could see the defeated look in Finnigan's eyes, "An impressive system to say the least."

The Ensign smiled at his supervisor, "Thanks Commander. I'm going to go back to the schematics and try to find another way to get the power to both systems at the same time without turning the ship into a pretty pyrotechnics display." He gathered his PADDs and walked back to his work area.

Seven found herself staring at Finnigan as he left, and forced her mind back onto her problem at hand.

U.S.S. Eldridge
Captain's Ready Room

Commander Sylix sat across the mahogany desk from Captain Alexander. He had given the Captain his requests for a command crew on the Salt Lake City, taking care to be the only one of Captain Alexander's own command to transfer.

"Sylix, this group you have assembled seem to be mostly junior officers and only a couple have experience in battle. Are you sure about this list?"

"Yes, Captain. Each officer has a history of following orders without question, and yet they can each show an autonomy of thought and is more than capable of taking command should the need arise. They all have demonstrated the ability to 'think on their feet,' as you would say, and come up with novel approaches to various situations."

"Okay then, I will trust your judgment and approve the list. We will arrive at Valhalla in a few hours. I still haven't heard from 12th Fleet Command as to whether they approve of my mission profiles of special ops insertions." Aiden tossed his PADD onto his desk, stood up and walked to the star streaked window.

"Captain, perhaps they haven't responded yet because they don't know about our Orbital Insertion apparatus. There isn't much history with orbital 'base jumping' since the advent of transporters, let alone a military use for the sport."

"Perhaps that may be so. I think we may be close enough to risk a transmission to Valhalla to share the schematics. We'll use a tight beam subspace carrier to transmit the data. Only a ship in direct line of sight can intercept it. Full encryption just in case. In fact, I have just the idea of who to send it to in order to get the system perfected..."

Sylix responded, "A wise precaution. A note to have work started on the Salt Lake City would accelerate our departure to the front. I have studied the Excelsior refit designs and found little I would need modify from it's current configuration. It is a sturdy ship and should fare well in combat."

Captain Alexander smiled and clapped one hand on his first officer's shoulder, "I'll be sure to tell them, number one. You're a fine officer and a sound tactician. I have no doubt you and your crew will do quite well."

"Thank you, sir. I will relay your encouragement upon my arrival." Sylix turned and walked to the door, a slight hint of a smile breaking through his Vulcan impassivity.

Captain Alexander sat down at his desk and activated the subspace relay network. Setting it for tight beam transmission, he included full schematics of the Orbital Insertion device and composed the Priority-Urgent message directly to Colonel 'Angel' Davis. At the head of the message was a simple text only note that asked, "Can this be of any use?"

[Forge04]

Mark read the report from Alexander and continued walking to the lift, resetting the gear in his other hand on his shoulder.

He rode the lift down to E deck with over a dozen MACO soldiers. They saw his rank and uniform and regarded him with respect, as they should have. But Angel felt the difference in attitude.

Aboard the Locksley and Tal'Afar, the Prowlers were used to him. They were used to the Starfleet officers as well. These soldiers were not.

As they filed into the hall, Angel skirted around the outside rim of the massive room, acknowledging the senior officers of various companies and battalions as he did.

In this room were some 2,000 soldiers, all at the higher end of the chain of command. Anywhere from E5's and O1s to E9s and O5s.

He was looking for several people in particular though, none of whom he saw. So he then continued all the way around and up to the podium, dropping his gear off at the side of the small stage.

"Good Morning MACOs," he said proudly.

The thousands of faces were intent on him, sensing his words before he said them.

"HOOAAH!" they yelled back at him with vigor and pride, heart and soul.

These were soldiers, drilled to follow orders and accomplish objectives, no matter the cost. They were trained to think under the chaos of combat, to win.

"I'm Colonel Mark Davis, but most everyone calls me Angel. If anyone has a problem with my name come on up and I'll beat that problem out of you."

He kept his face straight and serious though he was snickering inside his own head.

The roomful of people hushed as he did so, unsure of this man's humor.

"This briefing is not classified, though I would ask that you don't go and tell your KDF buddies right after we leave."

That got some chuckles in the room.

"The Klingons have taken over a system in the Hromi Cluster and the Federation wants us to take it back. We'll be split up between two main theaters of operations; Charlie and Beta. Two drastically different war zones. Charlie will most likely be where we hit dirt first.

The objectives are five Decathium mines that have Beta's civilians being shipped in as we speak. There are transport inhibitors that prevent the beaming up or out of anyone on the surface. There are three different climates we'll have to deal with.

It's not gonna be easy folks.

Intel has been able to furnish us with images from the surface already."

The panel behind Angel lit up suddenly, displaying an image.

"What you see here is the Generator facility for the northern mine. Notice that there is a main barracks building with soldiers and techs living in it, then the generator to the north.

And the ground view.

Next is the mine itself. It is surrounded by sentry towers, though at the moment the enemy is facing inward more than out. A small contingent of soldier resides in the barracks.
And the surface of the tower . . .

and of the barracks and mine.

Now we move onto the middle region mines, which are located in the deserts of Charlie.
Here are the generator units . . .


And then the mine.


Now that is all a cakewalk compared to the middle mines, where the KDF has decided to set up their HQ. One mine is like the others in a pretty standardized configuration, but this one is way different.


Notice the massive administration building, the huge barracks and training areas. This will by far be the toughest nut to crack folks.

Now that you have an idea of what we're facing, get with your battalion commanders for further instructions. I do need to personally see Major Allen from 1/89th though, right up here. Prowlers will meet me on the Tal'Afar. Dismissed."

As everyone filed out of the hall slowly, Major Allen, a human man much taller and stockier than Angel came up.

"Major Allen Sir."

"At ease Major, I need you to to take your most capable platoon from the 1/89th and meet up with the USS Eldridge, whenever she puts in. Capt. Alexander will be your immediate commanding officer. He informed me of an, unconventional approach to get planetside, and you and the 1/89th are going to be the first to try it out."

"Yes Sir!"

"Move out Major."

The man took a step back then turned and jogged away. Angel grabbed his gear from where he'd left it, again looked around for Boss, Vox or Anubis and went out the back door by the stage, heading off to the shuttle that would take him to the Tal'Afar, which was getting unpacked from storage.

[Black_Astral]

Starbase Valhalla

The doors to conference room 5 swished open to reveal….nothing. There was absolutely nobody in the room. Paltio actually stuck his head back out the door to assure himself that he was in the right place. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Pal crossed over to the replicator and ordered his guilty indulgence: A tall glass of hot cocoa with a shot of espresso. He had come to love the human confection while spending time aboard the Lenova those many years ago. Sitting back down at the table, he had just brought the cup to his mouth when the viewscreen came to life.

“Ensign Neovo!”

“Gyeaaahh!” Paltio jerked upright and bit off a curse as hot liquid splashed down his scales. “Commodore Pasternak, how wonderful to see you again sir.”

“Mmmhmm I can see that. By the way, you have a whip cream moustache. Anyway, I’m sorry I can’t be there in person for this, but a situation has arisen and the entire Fleet has been called out. Due to you not currently having your own vessel, you’re the last Intel officer we have at HQ. And before you ask, there is a ship being built for you but it will take some time before its ready to leave drydock. Take a look at this, it’s a recording of the briefing Admiral Quinn and Col. Davis from MACO gave at Earth Spacedock.”

The file started playing going over the situation in the Hromi Cluster. All Paltio could do was stare in wonder at what was going on. When the briefing concluded, Commodore Pasternak’s image reappeared.

“You’ve seen what we’re up against Ensign. You’re going to be Intel’s conduit. As you know, we have certain… assurances that our division’s communications are not intercepted easily. And you also know that it’s a pain in the ass to disable those assurances so instead, what we’re going to do is send our scouting reports through our usual channels and you’re going to relay those to our Fleet-mates. Expect the first reports to start coming within the hour, and start decrypting them soon as possible. Colonel Davis’ first officer, Commander Grant Anderson will be accepting the reports and distributing them as need be. Oh and one final thing, you’ve proven yourself to be a valuable member of the Fleet and Intel division and as such, it is my honour to announce that your Fleet rank is now Lieutenant and you will be reporting to Captain Neospectrum in Gamma Squad. Congratulations Lieutenant, Pasternak out.”

Paltio gave a quick salute to the Commodore and when the screen switched to the 12th Fleet logo, signifying the end of transmission, he left the conference room and headed to his quarters. There was a 400 year old (at least technically) bottle of an Earth liquor called Southern Comfort waiting for him in a hidden refrigerated panel. It was a gift from a friend in Starfleet’s temporal division that was dropped off last week. This seemed like a perfect time to enjoy a shot of it mixed with some cola.

[Inry]

The Admiral Kulakov sitting in Space Dock.

Inry watched from her Ready Room as various ships from the 12th got underway and left Space dock. She sighed and walked back to her desk, covered in various reports, mostly updates on the repairs being made to the Kulakov following the action in Sector X. It had been several weeks since they had been towed into the Dock and the crews have been working hard as possible to repair the damage done. While most of the hull damage was repaired the warp engines were still offline. Inry sighed as she picked up a report and started to look through it resigning herself to missing out on whatever the fleet was up to.

[OmegaXII]

Ships Log:
The USS Snekke was in trans warp from Memory Alpha to Star base 39. The crew was going to finish the installation of the aegis deflector at Starbase 39. The USS Snekke is still in the process of completing upgrades.

This excelsior ship retro fit has been a on going process. Since my fathers tweaked with blending the warp core with a shot of photonic technology traces. The new warp core has made the trans warp more reliable and increased the power out put.

But that's another log input ....

(As the USS Snekke has started docking procedure, a sub space message was being received from Admiral Quinn's office. )

Science Officer - Commander T'Ros
"Sir, A message from Admiral Quinn's office."

I will take the message in the captains ready room. Continue with docking procedures with Star base 39.

Tactical Officer - Commander Jaros
"I, sir "

OMEGAXII - WALKING TOWARDS THE CAPTAINS READY ROOM >>>
{My personal thought ....As I was walking to the captains ready room. }
Now what! ... what does Star Fleet have going on .... we are due to stand down for crew rest .....we have been so busy getting this ship in shape.... more battles with the Romulans or Borg again? ...... what about those transmissions on the Klingon front.... hhhmm....}

ENTERING CAPTAINS READY ROOM >>>
{Dam romulan cold .... what I need is ... Ah! ... A good old shot of my grandpa's cough syrup (GCS) ...(Southern Comfort) ... ..{pouring a 1/4 glass of Southern Comfort}

>> MESSAGE COMING THROUGH <<

Admiral Quinn
Ah! ...Captian OmegaXII glad to see you. Oh boy!....Captain! ... Do you still have that nasty romulan cold?

Omega XII
Yep! but I have the old ancestors remedy ... GCS!

Admiral Quinn
GCS?

OmegaXII
Yep! ..Grampa's cough syrup.... Southern Comfort , sir.......So, what seems to be troubling Star Fleet admiral?

Quinn
Seems to be the Klingon Defense Force have enter and started a invasion force in the Hromi Cluster.
They seem to be hell bent on capturing the facilities and not destroying everything.

OmegaXII
I see .... I have been monitoring Star Fleet communications on and off, while making our way to Star base 39. The crew was due for stand down & crew rest, but looks like we will be cutting that time short with good byes.

Sir, I have been pushing the crew into a hurry mode with final check out of weapons, since our travel from Memory Alpha. I thought there might be trouble with all the transmissions from Klingon home front space.

What we could grab of the Klingon messages intercepted and translations.....that they are planning to drop some anti-transport devices on the surfaces.... What we could not find out from the transmission was the location of the invasion? ..... I wasn't sure of who they where attacking and where .... I thought they might be hitting the Gorns planet with all the Gorn messages intercepted.

Klingons are hitting Hromi Cluster with anti - transport devices. HHhmm ..... this could be trouble with the ground force counter attack & defensive measures for the 12th Fleet and Star Fleet Command.

The Snekke will bring extra ground support equipment and medical staff. Could be a allot of space and ground battles. 12th Fleet must be prepared for the long haul.

Quinn
You are right on the number with your last statement. We must act quickly, but not to hasty. Preparation for the long battles and counter offensive, must be the utter most importance with the attack side of the 12th Fleet.

We must also not to forget to evacuate the Pioghet population from the planet and relocate them. We have a long road ahead. So get your ship in top shape. There will be less returns to Star bases. We will be under a war front with the Klingons, Gorn & Orions fleets.

OmegaXII
Admiral, please note that the Snekke - H weapons seem to be fully operational. And that all hull plating is up to Star Fleet Commands schedule. We will be ready for those Klingon battle cruisers and carriers.

We do need a short time to stop at Star base 39. We will be bringing the aegis deflector to fully operational status. We will pick up supplies and meet the 12th Fleet at the Hromi cluster. We will leave one cargo bay open for rescue operations of the Pioghet population.

Quinn
Understood Captain OmegaXII, I will be sending you the whole conference meeting about the Klingon Invasion force at the Hromi Cluster.

Quinn
Here are the 12th Fleet and your orders Captain OmegaXII!

“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!”

Do Star Fleet well captain and take care, Admiral Quinn out.

>> END OF TRANSMISSION <<

{This meeting has been going on for about 1 hour}

OmegaXII walks back to the bridge >>

OmegaXII
Commander Jaros bring the ship to Yellow Alert status ... and open ships PA speakers.

Jaros
Yes, Sir

<< SHIP PA SPEAKER ANNOUNCES .. FROM THE SHIPS COMPUTER >>>>>

"ATTENTION" ... "ATTENTION"... "YELLOW ALERT ... YELLOW ALERT"

Captain breaks in

CAPTIAN OMEGAXII SPEAKING:

NOW HEAR THIS ... DUE TO THE ATTACK IN THE HROMI CLUSTER. ALL SHORE LEAVE IS SUSPENDED. ALL PERSONNEL PLEASE REPORT TO YOUR COMMANDING OFFICER AND BATTLE STATION.

PREPARATION FOR FUTURE BATTLES WITH THE KLINGON DEFENSE FORCE, WE WILL PROCEED BY THE ORDER OF ADMIRAL QUINN STAR FLEET COMMAND. WE WILL BE FIGHTING THE KLINGONS, GORN AND ORION FLEETS.

WE WILL BE MEETING AND SUPPORTING 12TH FLEET OPERATIONS.

MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS! ....... MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS!

THAT IS ALL! .....

SHIP PA SPEAKER ANNOUNCES .. FROM THE SHIPS COMPUTER >>>

ATTENTION ... THIS SHIP IS NOW UNDER YELLOW ALERT STATUS!
ALL PERSONNEL PLEASE REPORT TO YOUR COMMANDING OFFICER AND BATTLE STATION.

WHILE ON THE BRIDGE >>>
OmegaXII
Commanders lets meet at 1900 hours for a commanders briefing. We will meet in the captains ready room. We will be making preparation of the Snekke - H ship battle requirements, specifications and needs of the 12th Fleet Operations.

All commanders response
I,captain

Captain Leaves the bridge >>>

[Inry]

Inry's Ready Room.

Inry sat at her desk looking over more reports, she still had a large stack to go through when her communicator beeped and the familiar voice of her first officer spoke.

"Tala to Inry." Inry tapped her communicator looking re-leaved at the distraction of reports.

"Go ahead Tala."

"Colonel, I think you better come out to the bridge. Nyssos looks like shes about to tear into the two specialist from Starfleet Corps of Engineers."

"On may way." Inry stood up moving toward the door, wondering what had her Chief engineer so upset, granted she was Andorian like Tala, but she never displayed a hint of anger. As she came onto the Bridge she saw Nyssos, clearly angry, pointing at two engineers that she was apparently chewing out. The engineers seemed to be protecting some strange console they looked ready to install. Taking initiative Inry walked over and looked at Nyssos.

"Is their a problem here Commander?" Nyssos nodded with a huff and pointed at the strange console.

"Yes Colonel their is. I refuse to have that installed by these fools. Its likely to kill us all for all we know." Inry looked at the console, while it looked like a normal console she couldn't help but feel something uncomfortable about it.

"And why is it likely to kill us all?" Nyssos pointed at the two engineers.

"Because these two idiots think installing Borg technology will improve the ships combat effectiveness." Inry's eyes lit up and she looked at the two engineers.

"Borg technology? Please tell me you two cleared this ahead of time." One of the engineers stood straight and nodded.

"Of course Colonel, the Starfleet Corps of Engineers has fully cleared this technology as safe for use on Federation vessels of all types, and in all cases we've seen improved combat effectiveness. Theirs no danger from the console or the engines." Inry looked at Nyssos.

"Engines?" Inry heard Tala, hiding behind them, giggle and give her a look saying "your behind on your reports again". Inry gave her a stern look. "Tala is their something you need?"

"Oh no ma'am, I think I'll go check on Talo and Pyr and see how those new Aegis sensors are working out. Pyr had an idea I think you may want to look at later by the way." Inry nodded.

"Right." She turned back to Nyssos. "So borg consoles and engines. Whats next?"

"I don't like it Colonel, what if this tech tries to assimilate us or something." Inry nodded and looked at the console intently.

"Well, I don't like it either but we cant argue with SCE. Install it but I want it noted in the log that both the Commanding Officer and Chief engineer disapprove of the technology. "Understand?" All three engineers nodded, though Nyssos still looked disappointed. "Good, now I'm going to go and talk to Pyr about this idea she has. Let me know if theirs any issues." With that she walked to the Turbolift.

[Forge04]

The type 8 shuttle Bruna left Valhalla not from one of it's Cardassian designed docking pylons, but rather from one of the auxiliary shuttlebays from the main super-structure.

Inside the two men sat silently, not having any previous encounters and knowing they would in all probability never see each other again. Though Ensign Yug did know of this man.

Colonel Davis watched the eternally night scene in front of him with intensity as they traveled to shipdock #4, where the Tal'Afar and Commander Valural waited with the rest of his crew. He could also see the many other transports ferrying soldiers and supplies to his ship.

And he noticed the vessel like only a seasoned fighter pilot could. The small science vessel looked just like every other Intrepid class from a distance, but he noticed the blue paint on the dark metal, the different hull than standard.

And he knew only one woman who captained a ship like that.

"Take us to that ship," he told the ensign at the helm.

"Sir?" the Yug asked uncertainly.

"That one, over there, take us to her."

"Aye Colonel."

The Bruna adjusted it's course, slowly curving to intercept, and received a hail a few minutes later.

"Shuttle Bruna, what is the reason for your approach?" the operations officer asked them, to which Angel responded.

"Armenia, this is Colonel Davis. I'm requesting permission to come aboard."

The voice changed.

"Mark, I'm just on orders to deliver some emergency supplies from ESD," came the female voice and Yug could hear a tone of emotion from her.

"That's fine, you can totally do that, but I'd like a moment to come aboard first.”

The ensign noticed the pause and the anxiety of the man beside him as he waited.

“We’ll beam you aboard, Bruna standby until further instructed.”

The channel closed and Colonel Davis went to the back of the shuttle, vanishing into thin air.



The USS Tal’Afar was bustling with action.

Commander Varulal coordinated efforts as best as she could from the command chair on the bridge, the humongous bridge, that belonged to this behemoth of a vessel.

It had occurred to her how the ships under Davis’s command often reflected the different sides of his personality.

The Locksley was the closest thing he could have to a fighter, and therefore is what they found themselves on most of the time.

However, here was the Tal’Afar; big, cumbersome, tough. It was for an entirely different purpose. He used this ship to plow through a battlespace, ripping a hole large enough for a planet to pass through. It’d take a day to turn around, but the hole would be there.

It would impress newly contacted civilizations. Intimidate current or potential enemies. It would take anything anyone could throw at it and keep on going.

Like him.

He came onto the bridge and Varulal sounded off.

“Captain on the bridge!”

Everyone snapped to and the colonel stood in the turbolift door for a moment to regard them.

“Carry on,” he said before coming down the ramp to his chair, which Varulal vacated.

This bridge was another side of him. While the Locksley was a defiant model bridge, it was still cookie-cutter utilitarian and purposeful. This bridge was designed like the Galaxy class; large, ornate wood tactical station. Fine, expensive carpeting. The seats were luxurious and soft at every station. This was the bridge that was Davis’s nostalgic side, indulging his rare want of fine things.

“Report,” he merely said, none of the usual warmth like he used with Anderson. She had understood when she’d been assigned to Davis’s command that the two of them were friends, but she hadn’t expected how close they were.

And now she saw she had a long way to go before he called her ‘Number One’.

“Sergeant Major Ylim reports nearly all of Prowler Battalion is aboard Sir. All supplies, provisions and equipment have been loaded and stowed. All systems are online and at one hundred percent operating capability.

All other MACO units report they are green on green Sir.”

“Very well. Miss K’Runo, take us out of spacedock. Mister Umale, send a message to the Fleet, tell them to converge on the Poighet System and commence planned offensive.”

“Aye Sir,” came the two officers voices, as Angel addressed the entire crew.

“This is the Colonel. Let it be known that as of this moment I am relinquishing command of the Tal’Afar and its crew to Commander Varulal, effective immediately. She is hereby until otherwise relieved the captain of this vessel and everything within it’s proximity. I have every confidence that she will guide you through the field of battle with honor and cunning. Colonel Davis out.”

He hadn’t even sat down.

“Sir?” Varulal asked as he began for the turbolift.

“I know I’ve never given you much praise Var. It doesn’t mean I haven’t been watching. You’re a better leader than Grant. You’re a better soldier than me. You have greatness in you, regardless whether I’ve told you before now or not. All we need you to do is your best, and the battle will be won. Keep her in one piece Var.”

And he was through the door.

[Inry]

Inry entered the Kulakov's sensor array control room and found Tala speaking to Pyr and Talo. They all appeared to be looking over a small handheld device sitting on a one of the sensor consoles. Inry walked up curious to see what Pyr had for her.

"Alright here I am what do you have for me Pyr?" Pyr looked up with a smile on her face that Inry had only seen a few times since the Bajoran woman had come aboard.

"Yes ma'am, I've got something great for you. Its a special targeting device for MACO's planet-side that are in need of heavy support like the kind a starship can provide." Inry smiled at the idea, which could be useful.

"How does it work?" At that point Talo came over and took the small device and demonstrated.

"Its basically has two modes, direct; which 'paints' a target with an invisible laser. And indirect; which uses a holographic map to allow someone to pick targets without exposing themselves to the enemy. Then the ship providing support in orbit can lock on and fire what ever weapons the ground force want, in our case we could fire phasers, quantum torpedoes or even a Tricobalt warhead." Inry whistled at the mention of the tricobalts.

"Wow, crowd pleasers. Any special modifications needed for the supporting ship?" Pyr nodded.

"Yes the targeting arrays need to be specially tuned to the device and our weapons have to be specially modified for passing into an atmosphere. The supporting ship would also have to remain in a geosynchronous orbit while providing support. The ship would be slightly vulnerable but not by much." Inry nodded and looked at Tala.

"Its a shame were stuck here for another week, otherwise I'd send one of these to Colonel Davis, I bet he could use one fo-" Inry was suddenly cut off as the ship shook violently and alarms went off. All four took off with Inry in the lead heading toward the bridge. "Bridge, this is the Colonel whats going on?!" Inry heard Nyssos respond frantically.

"Colonel, its that crazy borg tech, I think its trying to assimilate the ship!" Inry and the others reached the turbolift and got in as another shake rocked the Kulakov.

"Nyssos calm down, what exactly is it doing?"

"It looks like its trying to interface with the borg engines by going through the hull."

"Is it doing anything else effecting any other systems?" There was a pause.

"N-negative not that I can see yet at any rate."

"Alright standby we'll be there shortly." a Moment later the turbolift doors opened and all four piled out, Pyr and Talo instinctively moved to their stations at the helm and conn. Inry and Tala went over to Nyssos who looked nervous. "Report." Nyssos looked up and then at the two SCC engineers.

"I dont know what to do but these idiots say to relax that this is common." Yoksei, turned from her science console and beckoned Inry and Tala over.

"Colonel I think you should see this." Inry and Tala walked over looking at the display Yoksei had it up. It was a damage control display showing numerous orange marks across the Kulakovs hull, Inry recognized all of them as the damage the had received in Sector X. As she watched though she noticed it, the orange marks were shrinking slowly and in some cases disappeared completely.

"What is this, I'm seeing?" Yoksei tapped button on her console that brought up an image of one of the damage hull sections on the display. As they watched the hull seemed to be almost shifting as if it were repairing itself.

"Colonel I believe the interface between the console and engines is effecting the hull, allowing it to self repair like borg ships do. In fact at the rate its going we should be fit for duty in a matter of hours." Inry smiled suddenly with a devious grin then looked at Tala.

"Get Colonel Davis on the comm, and make sure its encrypted." Inry continued to grin as she thought to herself. "Looks like we'll get to play after all."