NationStates Jolt Archive

SFV Prometheus
Senyar Shipyards, Planet Shalcoria

Admiral Stephen McClellan accepted the salutes of the Shalrirorchian officers with a nod, absently running a palm down the side of his finely-pressed dress uniform. The civilian workers hustling up and down the hall didn't extend him the same courtesy, but then again they were civilians...the Admiral hardly expected them to practice military courtesy. He smiled slightly as he spotted one officer in particular approaching down the well-lit corridor and offered a handshake.

"Captain Salvatore." he greeted.

Salvatore nodded her red-haired head in return, shaking his hand firmly before responding. "Admiral, I apologize. I had no idea you were coming aboard...I would have had an appropriate reception...."

"I do not stand on ceremony, Captain." McClellan replied. "I wanted a good look at our newest addition to the fleet. And let me say, Captain, that you have a fine ship here."

Salvatore's chest puffed slightly with pride. "Yes, sir." she agreed. "When she's cleared for service, Prometheus will be the most advanced starship in the Fleet. I have complete confidence that we'll break all the FTL drive records within a week...the engines alone on this vessel are simply so much more advanced than anything anywhere else in the Confederation."

The Admiral paused before the airlock door where his shuttle was waiting patiently for him. "Captain Harrison might disagree with that." McClellan rejoined. "

Salvatore coughed, covering her mouth with the back of her hand to cover her reaction. "Captain Harrison." she said through thinned lips. "Don't get me wrong, Admiral, but vessels like this are meant to replace vessels like the Excalibur. Our drives, armor, shields...I mean, it makes everything that came before obsolete."

McClellan noted the emphasis on "obsolete" chuckled and climbed into the airlock. "I'll tell him that....Excalibur is the next entry on my itinerary...she's in Stardock for a refit on her drive core." the Admiral noted.

Salvatore smiled humorlessly and clasped her hands behind her back. "The captaincy of a starship is an elite brotherhood, Admiral." she replied. "What would a club like that be like without a little sibling rivalry?"

Admiral McClellan rolled his eyes and boarded his shuttle.

SFV Prometheus
Senyar Shipyards, Planet Shalcoria

John Cole swore at his luck.

He had spent the better part of two years maneuvering his team into a position aboard the Prometheus project...it had taken a great deal of jockeying to keep his people in the same workgroup. They'd survived the security screenings, the bureaucratic red tape, everything.

"Dammit, John, an admiral!" spat Tvorak. "Can you imagine how valuable he would have been as a hostage?"

Cole shook his head sharply, and continued assembling the pulse rifle. It had been brought aboard in pieces in a utility case. To sensors, it would read as nothing more than diagnostic equipment...only a visual inspection would reveal the true purpose of it. No such inspection had occurred....the Confederation had gotten sloppy with security. Peace, Cole thought, made you soft, made you flabby. The Fleet had lost its' killer edge.

Throughout the cargo bay, the rest of his team were likewise constructing their armaments. "We couldn't risk moving then, Tvorak." he replied calmly. "We weren't ready. If we'd moved then, there was every possibility that the crew would have overpowered us."

Tvorak muttered quietly under his breath, clearly unhappy with the situation. Cole made a note of it...he was the leader of this little band, united by a wide variety of dogmas. Some were simply hired guns, others anti-Confederation militants who wanted to make the Confeds bleed. Cole was a capitalist, motivated by the prospect of profit. So were most of the people on his team. It took a strong will to control all these people, which was why Cole had been chosen to lead.

He stared down Tvorak for a moment, daring the lizardlike alien to do something about his unhappiness. Cole was under no illusions that Tvorak would win in a hand-to-hand fight...he'd seen the Vari rip a man's arm off before.

That assumed Cole would allow the lizard into melee combat, of course. Cole was a solid gunslinger....and both men knew it. It maintained the uneasy peace between them.

"All right, people!" bellowed Cole, and the idle chatter across the bay faded away as all heads turned to him. "Johan! Your team down to Engineering, as we planned. Overrides on blast doors and shut down all crew lifts except for three and four. Seal the bulkheads below deck four...if we give the crew time to figure it out, they'll outnumber us. Tvorak, armory. As soon as this goes down, any Confeds who shake free are gonna go for a gun. Greet them appropriately. Bridgit! You're with me, up to the bridge. Salvatore gets taken alive if at all possible. Victor, same for you...last check, Commander Paston was in the forward computer core. Get him. Lock the prisoners in the brig...I checked this morning and it's operational. Got it?"

A chorus of "yeahs" assaulted him. He slammed a magazine into his weapon and then shouted. "All right, let's move!"

SFV Excalibur
Senyar Shipyards, Planet Shalcoria

The bridge of Constellation-class heavy cruiser was, Harrison thought, more than a command center, more than a simple compartment in a ship. It was, the captain thought, a canvas. No two were alike because the bridge crews were different. Harrison preferred a respectful but relaxed atmosphere on his ship, and his subordinates mirrored that attitude.

"Sir, Admiral McClellan's shuttle on final approach." his tactical officer Breckenridge noted, breaking into his reverie.

"I wonder what the visit is for..." Harrison wondered aloud, drumming his fingers on the armrests of his command chair.

"Do you think he's still angry about Tau Ceta Three?" asked one of the science staffers in the back of the bridge. It was a weak attempt at a joke...Tau Ceta Three had been a disaster that had almost gotten the entire ship destroyed.

"Everyone's still angry about Tau Ceta Three." the first officer, Pollard, replied. "It was a major intergalactic incident, Phyllis." As he spoke, the forward screen flickered to life and showed a panorama of the interior of Stardock. A large, sleek starship....Harrison eventually recognized it as the Prometheus....centered on the screen, and then the computer's automatic zoom feature kicked in, focusing on the incoming shuttle as it looped around the other cruiser and closed on Excalibur.

"Brek, page Lieutenant Command Sahara." Harrison interjected. "Have Security prepare to receive the Admiral in Shuttle Bay 1. Full honor guard, the usual. McClellan doesn't have much use for the trappings of rank, nor do I, but appearances have to be maintained." the captain said, rising up and turning on a heel. "I'm going to go throw on a dress uniform before I meet the Admiral. Have.."

"Sir, LOOK!" interrupted Breckenridge.

Harrison was about to snap back at being cut off, but something in the tactical officer's voice just caused him to crank around and follow Brek's pointing finger, back to the screen. The Admiral's shuttle was spinning out of control, corkscrewing through space.

"What the hell?" someone shouted. "What the hell happened?!"

"Discipline, people!" snapped Harrison, marching back over to his seat. All business now. "Pollard? Brek?"

The tactical officer punched a button sharply. "It was Prometheus, sir!" he said in shock and disbelief. "She fired her main impulse drive as the shuttle was passing by....Admiral McClellan got caught in the wake! Shuttle is crippled, sir."

The screen zoomed back out to focus on Prometheus, which was even then beginning to drift from her moorings, now detached.

"Prometheus is not cleared for active duty, and wasn't supposed to be put out for field tests until next week." said Harrison, feeling an odd, panicked feeling. He suppressed it. "Hail Prometheus. Now. Brek! Get a security team in a shuttle right now and go collect the Admiral."

Stardock Command and Control
Senyar Shipyards, Planet Shalcoria

Yellow alert. Yellow alert. All hands to duty stations. Yellow alert. Yellow alert. All hands to duty stations.

"What the hell!! The Prometheus is leaving." Commodore Haulter said, looking out over the vastness of Stardock. Sure enough, the sleek, advanced vessel was drifting away from moorings, her thrusters glowing brightly. The Commodore tapped his control console, opening a channel. "Prometheus, this is Stardock Command. You are not cleared for departure. Reverse course immediately, acknowledge."

No response.


SFV Prometheus
Senyar Shipyards, Planet Shalcoria

"Prometheus, this is Stardock Command. You are not cleared for departure. Reverse course immediately, acknowledge."

The helm officer turned to look over her shoulder, but Captain Salvatore shook her head. The plasma pistol resting at the side of her head did not waver. "No response!" spat Cole. "No funny business or you die!" he added with a dramatic gesture.

"Believe me, I am not in a rush to die." Salvatore replied. "You're crazy, however, if you think that you're just going to walk out of Stardock with a Confederation starship. The main doors are open, but the forcefield is still up. Even I cannot lower it...that is something that only Command can do."

"You leave that part to me, sweetie." Cole snarled. He glanced at his technician, Betros, and nodded.

SFV Excalibur
Senyar Shipyards, Planet Shalcoria

"Excalibur, this is Stardock Command.the emergency channel signaled. "Commodore Haulter speaking. The Prometheus is reading active on primary power. Repeat, her main reactors have been brought online. It appears that Prometheus is being hijacked. You are ordered to pursue and apprehend. Stardock Command out."

Harrison rose from his chair. "Engineering, bring the Mains online immediately. Cast off all moorings."

"Sir, main reactor core is still in service mode." Pollard interjected. "We'll have main power in fifteen minutes."

"Too long." replied Harrison. "Status of auxiliary power?"

"100% sir. Moorings are detached." Pollard updated.

"All ahead, one quarter." ordered Harrison. "Order battle stations."

Immediately, the red-alert klaxon howled for attention, and the bridge lighting dimmed and changed, going from pure, comforting white to bloody, pulsing crimson. "Brek!" he said. "Status on particle cannons?" he asked. The tactical officer manipulated his console and then popped back, "50% charge on capacitors is the best I can do, Captain."

"Even 50% will cripple Prometheus if we hit them in the right place." replied Harrison. "Brek, work out a firing solution to hit them...priority target is FTL drives. Be prepared to hit them the moment they're in open space. I won't risk a shot inside Stardock."

Brek's confusion registered on his face. "Sir, the force-field is up. Prometheus is locked in with us." he observed, but further commentary was stifled by the grim look Harrison bestowed upon him.

"Not for long, I suspect." Harrison corrected. "Because if I were going to steal a starship, I'd already have that figured out."

SFV Prometheus
Senyar Shipyards, Planet Shalcoria

"Sir, ninety seconds to space doors." the helm officer reported. Salvatore straightened her uniform, glancing aside to Cole. She weighed the possibility of taking the weapon from him, but she knew immediately that he was too alert to be taken by such guile...and even if he was distracted, he had armed friends ringing the bridge. "Steady as she goes." Salvatore instructed.

The screen flickered suddenly, switching to a panel marked "Reverse-Angle Cam", and Cole found himself staring at another Confederation starship. "Ma'am..." the comm officer chimed in. "Excalibur has detached moorings and is in pursuit."

"So they send the Confederation's flagship after us?" Cole asked.
"So it would seem." Salvatore confirmed.
"Fire on them." instructed Cole.
"Go to hell." replied Salvatore succinctly.

A moment later, she found herself on the floor, head ringing from the backhanded blow Cole had delivered to her. The big man loomed above her, pistol pointed at her face. "You do as you're told, or I swear to the gods that I'll blow your damn clever head off your shoulders, lady." he snapped. He turned to the tactical officer, growled. "Lock particle cannons on the Excalibur."

The tactical officer hesitated, and the hijacker grabbed Salvatore and shoved the emitter of the plasma pistol into the side of her head roughly. "DO IT OR SHE DIES!" screamed Cole.

The tac officer narrowed his eyes, and tapped his control panel. "Plotting firing solution on Excalibur."