NationStates Jolt Archive

“How does everything look Adone, are we good to start?”

Dressed in a comfortable, sterilized suit, Cesare Calvino stood half a meter behind a similarly dressed and seated Adone Verga, “Everything shows green here. We’re good to go.”

Cesare nodded his head slightly and glanced around the lab at the other, mostly Indrii scientists, who each nodded their head in confirmation as he did so. A trained response at this point, he glossed past the two Kilrany Imperial Naval Infantrymen in full armour casually standing near the main entrance and talking quietly to each other as they provided security for this particular lab of the research station.

“Alright then, Andreyev, please bring the reactor online, five percent, a tenth of a percent a second if you will.”

The disembodied voice of the station’s AI responded lightly, “Acknowledged Doctor, initiating startup procedures.”

From the center of the lab, all those inside could hear the slight hum of the small reactor as it powered up, it was a delicate test, but Cesare knew the security AI was aware of the their goals and could handle the power flow to the generator with far more finesse then any of his breathing staff could. He also knew the AI could react far faster if either needed to be shut down in a hurry.

After a short wait, the AI reported back, “Reactor at five percent and holding. All levels show normal.”

Cesare smiled in delight, “Anna, what are you getting from the generator?”

Glancing towards the Kilrany woman who was the tallest of his staff, he saw her glance towards him and shake her head slightly, “No particle emissions, nothing unusual so far.”

A slightly annoyed frown briefly replaced his smile, “Simulations showed we should at least be getting a trace. Andreyev, take it up another percent.”

There was no discernable increase in noise from the reactor and after several moments the AI reported back, “Now at six percent.”

Glancing towards Anna again, she didn’t even look back this time as she merely shook her head, never taking her eyes off her display.

Cesare released a barely audible, mildly irritated sigh before allowing himself a few moments to play it all through his mind before once again addressing the AI, “Andreyev, bring the reactor up to ten percent a fifth of a percent at a time, any sign of activity you hold in place.”

“Understood.”

Quietly they all waited, listening and watching intently as nothing appeared to happen. Eventually after a painfully slow span of time, the AI reported again, “Reactor at ten percent and holding. All levels show normal.”

Seconds passed, then minutes, and again, nothing appeared to be happening.

Quietly Cesare released another sigh only to be interrupted this time as Anna suddenly called out, “I have a reading, it’s faint but it’s there.”

A smile instantly appeared on Cesare’s face as he quickly started over towards her station, but before he managed to take three steps, he, everyone in the lab, the research station, the gas giant it orbited, and every other planetary body of the Kilrany Empire’s home system itself, abruptly ceased to exist.

-----

A seemingly simple experiment conducted by the curious was all it took to create a single, crucial deviation in a long established chain of events that culminated in an unexpected catastrophe for the Kilrany Empire. Whether it had been a simple choice to turn left instead of right, the failure of two people to meet, or a single life ended that should have lived, somewhere along the way, the old chain had been broken and a new one forged.

The first to feel the effect of this change were the inhabitants of the fourth planet of a ten-planet system, the same system where the Kilrany Empire had first met Ganoxa. Still relatively early in their stage of development, they had only recently started their own industrial revolution and reached a point comparable to a certain blue planet at the beginning of the twentieth century.

A mere two weeks before the KIN Redeemer was to meet the GAS Belldandy, a single small object dropped back into real-space near the edge of the solar system and slowly allowed itself to drift in towards the star. For the next eleven days, this simple probe; hidden from prying eyes by its onboard systems, did little more then watch and listen passively for anything else in the system that didn’t belong.

The days passed slowly with little activity as the probe continued its silent course deeper in the system. The humans of the fourth planet had not yet mastered the art of radio broadcasting, and few of their signals were powerful enough to escape their atmosphere and reach the probe still some distance away.

It wasn’t until the twelfth day that probe finally broke its silence and emitted a single, narrow burst transmission back towards its launch point. Lasting less then a microsecond, it didn’t even contain any words, as the nature of the signal itself was the message.

Forty-three seconds later, thirteen significantly larger objects dropped back into real-space, their formation a simple cross that arced outward like a four fingered claw, and their spacing, nearly two light seconds apart, allowed them to partially encompass the planet. Hidden behind systems like those aboard the probe, the only sign of their existence was the high energy output from their active sensors as they slammed throughout the system, something the humans below had no means of detecting.

The probe had no such problem however, and abruptly upon detecting their emissions, its engines flared for several seconds, accelerating sharply while altering its course to take it in towards the inhabited planet. Briefly as a result of its engines passing one-third, the probe’s cloaking system fluctuated, rendering it detectable on active arrays before the engines went silent again and the system stabilized itself.

Taking no apparent notice of the probe, the new objects seamlessly shifted their formation as the fingers of their claw stretched out and encompassed the planet, each roughly one light-second from its outer atmosphere.

To the experienced, their intent would seem quite clear, and while that was to be the case, the decision behind it had not been reached lightly, or without due consideration for the alternatives. In the long run however, such alternatives as forced relocation were deemed to risky, and thus the simplest of them all was selected.

Without any warning for the inhabitants below, innumerable bolts of green energy lashed out towards the surface at the speed of light, each creating their own miniature sun on impact greater in temperature and light by several orders of magnitude then the one the planet orbited, and rivaling the largest of high yield thermonuclear weapons. Mercifully their firing pattern expanded rapidly from their initial targeting points, covering every square millimeter in a cleansing fire.

Similar to the probe during its engine burn, the cloaking systems aboard these warships struggled to compensate for the immense level of weapons fire erupting from each one. As a result small holes appeared in their coverage, allowing for brief returns off portions of their hulls.

Admittedly there were countless other methods available to carry out this task, many far less obvious such as an appropriately sized asteroid hurled towards the planet, or launching several kinetic missiles at relativistic velocities, but those tended to be messy, and allowed a high probability for survivors outside the impact or blast zones to suffer a painful and possibly even lingering death. Just because you were exterminating all life on a planet, didn’t necessarily mean you had to be cruel about it.

Regardless of these other options, the method chosen had in the end achieved the intended results, and after less then two minutes in the system, no organism greater then bacteria remained upon the planet below. Though even as the weapons fell silent, and the last of the man-made light faded, the planet’s problems had not yet ended.

Shockwaves from these countless explosions directly upon the surface continued to reverberate throughout the planet’s crust, cracking tectonic plates and forming new fault lines. Massive volcanic eruptions became a natural result of all this activity, spewing forth across the now barren continents and under what water remained in liquid form.

With their task complete, the warships reformed into a simple sphere and took up a holding position above the planet’s northern pole before all but one seemingly winked out of existence as their active arrays went silent.

Once more the probe’s engines flared as it set itself a new course, this time to directly intercept the lone warship still actively scanning the system, using it as a beacon to come home too.



OOC: Well, what can I say, I’ve had this concept kicking around in my head for a little while now, and since have the time, I thought I’d act on it and see what fun could be had with the concept.

First things first though, while I use what is essentially botched time travel research to justify this change, I use it solely as a plot device, I have no intention of using it further beyond that role, nor do I wish to get involved in any sort of temporal war or what have you; I’ve not heard good things about those. I can’t see this negatively affecting the handful of people I RP’ed with in FT, but if it might, I’d say just wave this off as an alternate reality or something if it negatively affects your current history at all.

Second, while the intent here to try the scene out with a more aggressive FT ‘nation’, this is not an attempt to create a new big bad evil out to rule the universe, plenty of those already exist and I’m sure I could take the ball only so far in that regard. So maybe this will be one shot if it doesn’t work; that and I have some plans for the previous setup I’d still like to use, but if it does; and here’s hoping, some fun should be had.

Lastly, this is going to be a sort of experiment for me in a different approach to writing. I’ve noticed I have this habit of putting in what could be called an excessive amount of detail, now while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it causes me to take quite some time to come up with a post. So this story in particular shall be a sort of experiment for my writing style as well; an attempt to lighten the load so to speak and get more to the point with less omnipotent level information going out, to a degree anyway. See if it works I guess.

OOC: Bump

OOC: No takers at all? It can't be that bad can it now? Or is it just the old forums here are just less active?

A Flash Of Light Marked the Arrival of the Starship Edition to the system, the Nebula class vessel had been sent by Starfleet Command to investigate disturbing reports from a star system.

Where once there had been a planet at roughly 20th century development, now there was a devastated planet. The [I]Edition/I]'s mission was to investigate the happening and if possible rescue survivors.

On the Bridge, Captain Jenny Dallona looked on as the ship moved at impulse towards the planet. The crew was running a large number of sensor sweeps and at the moment, the engineering staff was retrofitting the mission pod for refugees.

The Edition entered orbit of the planet, and Dallona had to admit that survivors looked unliekly, it was now up to him to determine the cause of the planets apparent death. The crew quickly ruled out a asteroid strike, or any other natural catastrophe. Not likeing the growing mystery, Dallona sent a message to Starfleet Command:
"Command, Edition, have entered orbit of planet, cause of Death, not-natural, hostile action suspected, recommend additioal ships to be dispatched for full analysis"
"Edition, Command, understood Captain, additional starships enroute, stay on station to arrival"

The Corsair Class Battle cruiser, the Hyperion, entered the system, drawn by its large amounts of chromomatic particles. When they arrived, there sensors immediately picked up no life signs on any of planets. They latter picked up that a Starfleet vessel was orbiting the area. Jim Raynor, captain of the Hyperion, knew that the Alliance vessel was incapable of such an incident. He also knew that the Alliance was hard to deal with.
"Hail them." Raynor commanded.
"Hailing frequencies open" Davis reported

Bridge, USS Edition

The mood on the Bridge was quiet as the crew got about their jobs, until they picked up a ship entering the system. Quickly running sensor sweeps of the ship, the officers called out their reports as Dallona sat in the Command Chair.
"We're being hailed" The Comms officer reported.
"Open a Channel" Dallona ordered.
"Open sir"
"This is Captain Jenny Dallona, of the Alliance Starship Edition" Dallona said "Can we enquire as to your name?"

"This is Captain James Raynor of the Corsair Battlecruiser, the Hyperion. Our star charts indicate that this system was inhabited by a sentient race. But now our sensor tell us that all life in this system has ceased to exist. Now, i know the Alliance isn't capable of exterminating entire civilizations, and if they did, the Alliance would never commit such an atrocity. So i ask you, what is your purpose in this system?"

OOC: Apologies for the delay, a virus has practically killed my desktop and I’m forced to use an old laptop that didn’t have my links and whatnot on them, just glad my NS files were backed up on a little flash memory card.

The unexpected arrival of the starship Edition came at first as an unwelcome surprise to the warships still holding their positions above the once inhabited planet’s Northern pole, never before had their owners encountered other space faring civilizations, and the revelation of one taking interest in a system so relatively near their own immediately marked it as a possible threat. Taking this as an opportunity however, they chose to observe first, and maintained their position as the new contact moved in towards the fourth planet.

Only moments after the Edition appeared to settle into an orbit, the Hyperion suddenly appeared; a cause for concern as it was easy to initially believe it was reinforcements for the first.

Such an assumption would have quickly been proven wrong as however as both initiated communications over and open channel, revealing them both to be of separate origin. To some this might have been cause for relief, but to others, the fact that yet another space faring civilization was interested in this system could have easily been cause for greater concern.

Whichever the case may for those who commanded the thirteen warships, they remained content to merely quietly listen in as they attempted to glean whatever information they could from this open channel.

As all this occurred, the small probe grew ever closer to the warship still actively scanning the system, continuing to use its active signals as a beacon as it closed within a light-minute of the fourth planet.

Dallona smiled Sadly "We too had records of life in this system, then one of our observatories picked up the apparent 'Death of this Planet', we we're sent to investigae, we suspect Hostile actions, and additional starships are en-route" Dallona replied before being cut off by the Sciene Officer
"Sir, we've got a contact on Sensors" The Officer reported.
"Location?" Dallona asked sitting back in the command chair.
"Near the Forth planet in the sytem" The Officer replied.
Dallona turned to the officer on the viewscreen "Captain, we've picked up a contact on sensors, we're going to red alert and heading to investigate" She told him before turning to her Officers "Red Alert, Hands to stations!"

The Lights on the Bridge dimmed, red lights flashed and klaxons sounded, the bridge was turned into Combat mode and the atmosphere shifted significantly.

OOC: Just to clarify since I must have mistyped it, the inhabited planet is the fourth one of the system.

Abruptly a new signal emanated from the thirteenth warship as it brought its communications array out of standby and began to transmit an audio signal on the same open channel the Edition and Hyperion were using, allowing both to hear the same male even toned voice address them in English, “That won’t be necessary Captain Dallona, we are of no threat to you at this time, and it seems we’re all here for the same reason anyway, curiousity.”

A momentary pause followed before the voice continued, “We arrived in this system shortly before the Edition, Captain Raynor. We chose not to announce our presence earlier to either of you until we had learned more of your intent. I’m sure you can understand our reasons in light of the obvious ‘problems’ experienced on the planet below.”

"Whatever done this must have been far advanced. The civilization that lived on the fourth planet was underdeveloped. They had no means of space travel that our on-board computer knows of. First contact with this civilization would be a direct violation of the Prime Directorate, which the Hyperion and the Alliance obey. Therefore, this culture was erased from history without anyone knowing of it. Our sensors are still too far away to have a full planetary sweep. With permission of the Edition and the vessel that has just made itself known, may the Hyperion begin an orbital pattern around the fourth planet?"

The voice was quick to respond, “While I cannot speak for Captain Dallona, we see no reason to deny such a request, perhaps together we can discover what happened here. Though from our initial scans, it would appear to be little more than extreme geological activity.”

At first glance, this would seem to be a plausible explanation, but any thorough investigation would quickly point out that no volcanic activity would account for the near complete destruction of the planet’s atmosphere, the scouring of the surface from intense heat far beyond that of simple magma, the complete lack of any ruins, or the residual energy readings. Ultimately the fact that weapons fire was the cause would be revealed in the end, this was a known reality, but for the moment, the subtle suggestion would double to both feign their interest in the cause, and offer some misdirection by suggesting their sensors were not exceptionally advanced.

Though they were operating under a strict deadline, time was still available to them to play such little games in order to gather what intelligence they could, and monitoring both ships as they conducted their scans of the planet could yet yield more useful knowledge on their capabilities.

"Permission is granted Captain Raynor, the Edition will join you" Dallona replied curtly, the Edition stood down to yellow alert, her weapons stood down, but shields still in place. The Edition led the way towards the planet. A gesture from the Tactical officer promted Dallona to mute the commline for a few seconds.
"Yes Commander?" She asked.
"Additioanl ships will be here in ten minutes, including the first of the Equinox class science vessels" The Commander reported/
"Good" Dallona nodded as she demuted the commline once more.

"Thank you" commented Raynor. He signaled to Helm Officer Davis to end transmission. "Take us into orbit around the fourth planet, Mr. Davis. Half Impulse."
Raynor sat staring blankly. Suddenly he looked towards Tactical station.
"Mr. Bertrand, Tactical alert. I feel something fishy is going on..."
The lights dimmed, the shield plating was polarized, and weapons were on standby.
Lieutenant Reed, First Officer of the Hyperion, picked up on the long range radar that Alliance vessels were heading towards the current system.
"Captain, i am detecting several Alliance vessels 88 parsecs from the system. They will arrive here in circa 9 minutes."
(ooc: by the way, what is this star systems name?)

Captains Log, Supplemental,
We've encounted a 'Corsaid' starship named Hyperion, who appear to have also been dispatched by their people to investigate we also detected another starship in the area, who 'Claim to be non-hostile', that said I find it rather suspicous. Starfleet reinforcements are en-route.End Log

"Anything yet?" Dallona asked.
"Nothing to report Ma'am" Science reported "We're continueing scans"

The Hyperion began its orbit around the fourth planet.
Kerrigan, the science officer, began conducting planetary scans.
They waited, intently, for the first scan reports to come in.
Finally, a beep came from the science station.
"There is no atmosphere. There appears to be major volcanic activity. Quite recent, actually..." began Kerrigan.
"Recent?" interrupted Raynor.
"Yes, sir. The oxidation levels show that it started just a couple days ago..."
Raynor turned to Helm Officer Davis.
"Mr. Davis. Hail the Edition. High priority."

USS Edition

"There's something not right, here" The Science officer replied "The readings aren't consistant, this was no natural event"
"The Hyperion's hailing us, High pritoirty" Comms reported.
"Yes Captain Raynor, I take it you've found a problem with your readings?" Dallona asked after securing the channel.

"Our sensors are functioning fine. We just began our scans. But there is more urgent matters. I need to ask you this question. When did the Alliance first learn of the devestation that happened to this planet? And by how did the Alliance learn of this?"

"We'd been monitoring it with the Amagosa array, then the readings changed and we were sent to check it out" Dallona replied "My sensors are indicateing that this is unliekly to be a natural event"

"When did they change?" Raynor asked, frantic for an answer.

"The last day or two" Dallona replied "We were redirected twenty six hours ago, so i'd guess about Thirty hours ago"

"The volcanic activity started about 29 hours ago. We are not facing a natural occurence. Unless you can tell me about some force that causes volcanic outburst around the world almost at the same time, we are dealing with something different."
Kerrigan signaled that there was a disturbance with the scans
"The Hyperion now has problems with scanners. Do you have any idea on what could be causing this interference?"

"I can make a good guess" Dallona replied turning to her Crew "Red Alert all Hands to Battlestations" She turned back to the viewscreen "It can either by radiation from what ever weapon was used to attack that planet, or it could be delibrate interferenace, either way that points to one thing: Hostility"
The Bridge lights dimmed again, Red Lights flashed, Klaxons sounded, Officers manned their stations. The Ships sheilds were reinforced, weapons aremed.

"Possibly. The Hyperion is already at Tactical Alert. Just as a precaution, we should resort to a different hailing frequency. As well keep a close distance away from the planet. Anything could be hiding on its surface. Our scanners wont be able to detect a nuclear blast with all of this disturbance. When will the other Alliance ships arrive here?"

"Two minutes" Dallona replied as the Edition came about and headed a small distance from the planet "My Science officer is working on getting through the disturbance"

OOC: To be honest, I never gave the system a proper name. I originally created it merely as a Mcguffin for my first FT intro thread; that and I suck at making up names. So I’d say go ahead and call it whatever you’d like if you feel it needs a name, ICly we’d have different designation methods anyway, and its not as though there’s anyone left in the system to object, heh.

Only moments after the Hyperion ceased transmitting over the open channel, an assumption had been made that someone on their end would still be listening, thus the male voice spoke once more, “To allay any potential concern or alarm, in a few moments we’ll be recovering a probe we dispatched earlier to examine the outer reaches of the system. Should it have learned anything pertinent, we will pass it on.”

With that said, the thirteenth warship’s communications array went silent, switching to standby mode as its advanced sensor array along its underbelly went active, aiming its emissions downward to reinforce the belief they truly were interested in the cause of the planet’s destruction. Curiously though, one might note that it appeared to lack a great deal of power and would clearly reveal very little detail, suggesting their sensors were not all that accurate.

This might seem confusing in light of the obvious fact that the warship possessed systems advanced enough to shroud its presence from both starships’ active sensors, but those making the decisions for these warships knew discovery was inevitable given their timetable, and sought simple to keep both Captains guessing until it was too late.

Not long after the warship’s last message, the probe finally closed the range, firing its thrusters to orient itself away from it before its main engines flared brightly to slow its approach, once again briefly over-powering its cloaking systems. This momentary sensor contact was all the larger warship required to ensnare the probe in a beam of energy and quickly pull it in, where it abruptly disappeared behind the shroud cast by the warship’s systems.

Minutes passed as the Hyperion and Edition went about their investigation, all the while the warship paid its true attention to them, monitoring the output of their sensors, and whatever communications they made to each other, the fact they were from two separate civilizations appeared to necessitate open channels that allowed them to continue to listen in.

Initially this proved of little use, but concern arose when both Captains appeared to grow spooked by some disturbance below, and the Edition broke orbit.

With their time fast running out, the warship’s communications array activated once more and the male voice spoke again, “Captains, is there a problem?”

The Starfleet reinforcements jumped into the System, appearing just of the Editions aft quarter. Dallona smiled as they arrived.
"Comms, open a channel to Commadore Shelby on the Excelsior" Dallona ordered "Secure channel".
"Channel secured, open" Comms replied.
"Commadore Shelby, I'm glad to see you, we've had some interesting happenings" Dallona commented "We beleive that the destruction of all life on the planet was the act of a hostile entitiy"
"Any idea who Captain?" Shelby asked.
"We've encounted a starship in teh vicinity of the planet, they've been investigateing as well, but I don't know it almost seems there too eager to investigate" Dallona commented.
"You suspect them?" Shelby questioned.
"Yes Commadore I do, an i also beleive there are other alein ships in the area as one ship cannon destroy a planet" Dallona said "We've also encoutend a Corsair vessel called the Hyperion, I beleive we can count on them as friends in this"
"Very well, Shelby to all ships, full tachyon sensor sweep" Shelby ordered.

The Starfleet taskgroup began a masssive tachyon scan which would reveal any ships that were attempting to hide themselves.

OOC: Turns out I was able to gain temporary access to the internet where I am right now, so I’ll post this while I can. No guarantee I can check again for any new posts until I return home though, this is a rare event.

I’m going to delete that previous OOC post as well rather then simply edit it so you’ll be able to see I posted this now. I would request you do the same with your one as well, just so the thread is a little cleaner of any of those purely OOC messages.

While using Tachyon beams to scan an area for cloaked vessels was an established technique, a crucial factor in its effectiveness was the simple fact that the cloaking system used by the ship being hunted, had to emit Tachyon particles in the first place. Without these emissions, or residual anti-protons, this method would not reveal the target they were looking for, as was that case with these thirteen warships.

This did not however mean they were wholly undetectable.

A basic reality of space travel was quite simple put, that space is massive. In order to see one’s surroundings beyond a few light-seconds without ever-increased image lag, one had to emit a powerful signal; often outside normal space, to reach out and see beyond one’s immediate surroundings in real-time.

This meant that while twelve out of thirteen of warships ran silent; relying only on their passive sensors to hold their position, the thirteenth warship, which continued to actively scan the system with its basic sensor arrays, was entirely detectable in so far as its location.

Now it wasn’t extraordinarily hard for a single vessel with competent passive sensors to locate the source, with an entire task force on one’s side, such an undertaking was ludicrously easy.

-----

While the arrival of the Edition and the Hyperion had, after a few moments consideration, come to be seen as an opportunity; a chance to learn more about the abilities of other star faring civilizations, the sudden arrival of a small task force was met with far less enthusiasm. Seen in no other light then a direct threat to the objectives of those who had exterminated all life on the planet below.

With only one ploy left to play before they would be forced to take direct action, the thirteenth warship brought its engines online, pushing them up only to one third so as to keep their cloak intact as they moved up and away from the planet, aiming to put at least two light-seconds distance between itself, the alien vessels, and the planet. Quickly mimicking its action, the other twelve warships maintained their formation, moving with the thirteenth vessel by keeping their position relative to its sensor emissions.

As it began to move, the thirteenth warship’s communications array once again went active and the male voice could be heard once more. Gone though was the even, almost friendly tone, replaced now with what sounded like genuine, barely restrained anger, “So, the perpetrators reveal themselves after all. What? Did you feel the need to call back your fleet Captain Dallona, remove any potential witnesses to the destruction you caused? I see now, showing you any sort of trust was an obvious mistake. I guarantee you will not find us as easy a target as those people who used to live down on that planet.”

USS Excelsior

"He's not angry" Betazoid Medical Officer Lt Commander Robin Smith told Shelby "He's covering something up"
"That just confirms our suspicions" Shelby commented.
"There's something else you should know" Robin told her "My Telepathic sense's are picking up the crews of at least a dozen more ships, hanging close to the ship we can detect"
Shelby nodded "Comms, give this information to the rest of the fleet and the Hyperion"

USS Edition
"The Prime Dircective is the Starfleets core tenent, we have no reason to destroy the planet, as such Starfleet ships aren't routinely equiped for planet killing duties" Dallona replied,"Your accusation has only served to confirm my suspicion that it is you, that are responsbible for the planets destruction, when you realised that we suspected you, you tried to show us how eager you were to find out what happened, but your mistake was being too eager, and now, when more ships that will serve to ruin your plans arrive, you immediatly go on the offensive and accuse us in an act of desperation"
Dallona looked around her bridge crew briefly, before nodding to the comms officer who transferred the commline to the Excelsior

USS Excelsior
"In the Name of the United ALliance of Planets, I order you to surrender to Starfleet for the crime of Genocide, speciffically the destruction of all life on the planet below, you can tell the rest of your ships to decloak as well" Commadore Shelby said

OOC: I was hoping to use a ‘dramatic reveal’ for this part ICly at some point, my fault for not thinking of an empath/telepath sooner, but I’ll not worry about it now and roll with it. For the record there’s no one on these ships detectable to one, but I think its safe to say the jig was pretty much up anyway.

The male voice was quick to reply and seemed amused initially, “You freely admit to lacking the firepower necessary to raze a planet, accuse us of having it, and expect us to surrender? I strongly suggest you reassess your tactical situation, Starfleet.”

A momentary pause followed before he spoke again, his tone once again even, but this time cold as all traces of amusement vanished, “I see no reason to do as you ask, but you are correct, this was our doing. Our actions were the most reasonable we could be expected to take, and we extended them the courtesy of a quick and painless death, rather than a prolonged suffering that would have been the result otherwise.”

To the observant crewman watching the readings from the warships communication, or any non-human member with more sensitive hearing, they would have noticed something in the background. Somewhere in one of the ultrasonic frequencies, a brief sound similar to white noise could be noted. It would not be a far-fetch guess to think it an encrypted message.

Before anyone could reply though, the voice continued, tone unchanged, “This system is required, its inhabitants incapable of protecting it, thus we claimed it. Now it is you who will leave, this system is ours. We have no quarrel with out, but I will not suffer you to interfere in the task given to me, and I will yet see it accomplished even if its over the lifeless remains of your vessels,” to the observant, his choice of words in his last sentence would no doubt seem curious given the planet was rendered barren, and no other life remained anywhere in the system.

"It's not all about the weaponary" Shelby commented with a wry smile "Did you never consider an alternative to mass murder?" She asked her smile disappearing "Relocation would have been better than that!"

“Relocation was considered but ultimately discounted for the suffering it would cause. Resistance would have been met. Force would have been required. No one abandons theirs homeworld without a fight, and many of them would have died in a pointless war that would have cost us in resources, forcing us to extend our requirements to further systems. Would you have us doom another system for the well being of the inhabitants of one planet not yet even capable of heavier then air flight?”

"Who were you to decide the decide the course of evolution for those people?" Shelby asked angrily "All Sentients have the right to self-Determination, I mean this isn;t the only M-Class planet in the galaxy!"

OOC: Where are you wanting this to go?

OOC: Mostly going with the flow here, but from the looks of things a quick skirmish seems likely if your Commodore doesn’t feel like standing down. The warships certainly aren’t going to retreat.

“Necessity and our obligations give us the right. Our duty is clear in this matter.”

There was a slight pause before he continued, “Class M … I presume that to be your designation for a habitable world, yes? What does that have to do with this situation?”

As he finished speaking, a new contact abruptly appeared, dropping back into normal space two light-seconds from the small, barren tenth planet of the solar system. Within the fourth planet’s line of sight, it was just under seven astronomical units away, or roughly one light-hour.

Unlike the warships and the probe before it, this newcomer made no attempt to hide its presence with the use of technology, though the composition of its hull did prevent anything more than a size and location fix. With a narrow main body ten kilometers long, two pairs of wing like protrusions extended its width from two and a half kilometers, to just over six; partially for aesthetics as much as functionality, the wings spread out the massive components necessary for half a dozen large emitters powered by equally massive generators running the length of the main hull.

With little concern for remaining stealthy, its engines blazed brightly as it quickly took up a high orbit around this barren little world, its ‘underbelly’ rotated to face the surface before a half dozen beams of energy lashed out together at a single point. Then like a great hand reaching down from the heavens, a sizable portion of the crust was torn out, and within seconds was being pulled upwards and out to space.

As it drew near the large mining craft, a second, oddly shaped contact of less than half a tenth its size dropped back into normal space just over half a light-second away. Without delay it moved in towards the chunk of earth and latched on to it before the mining craft abruptly, and expertly, manipulated the beams to rotate the mass and fling it way from the planet in one swift motion.

Barely seconds after the beams released the mass, it abruptly disappeared as the small craft jumped it out of the system.

Within moments this scene began to play itself over again as the mining ship tore off another piece of the planet and a new shuttle arrived to take it away. A slow but steady process had started, one that would eventually spread inward, planet-to-planet, until there wasn’t a single object left orbiting the system’s star.

"Your miners!" Shelby said outraged "You bastards!, you destroyed a civilization to strip mine it's planet"
Even as Shelby spoke she was sending messages via text to her fleet, on secure chanels, most of them contained the Tactical plans.

As if offended by her comment, he replied with contempt in his voice, “I am no miner, Starfleet,” stressing the first syllable of the organization’s name as though it were an insult.

As he continued, a trace of fury crept its way in, “I am a warship, commander of this squadron, tasked to oversee this system by the Quinquevirate themselves, and my patience with your presence here is reaching its end.”

Acting on the orders transmitted only moments earlier through the ultrasonic message, the twelve other warships suddenly brought their active sensor arrays online, slamming their signals out and revealing their new positions. Formed up evenly in a vertical and horizontal wedge on the thirteenth warship, four sat above, below, and to the sides, with a quarter of a light-second between each.

Once more his voice became even and cold, “Our responsibilities will be met. I will give you no further warning, withdraw, or we will engage your forces.”

"Screen off!" Shelby ordered and the Commline closed "Tactical formation, all hands prepare for battle"
"All ships aknowledge, their manovouring now" Tactical reported.
"Advise all ships to maintain high speed manovouring" Shelby ordered

The fleet moved into a tactical formation which allowed for overlying acrs of fire. One which would however allow the fleet to keep moving and avoid some of the enemy fire.

For several seconds, the warships held their position two light-seconds out relative to the planet, watching the Starfleet vessels maneuver on the chance they were doing so to leave the system.

As it became apparent this wasn’t their intent, the warships’ communications arrays came online, each one broadcasting a continuous, omnidirectional encrypted signal that contained their sensor data. Compiling their counterparts’ data with their own into one source in real-time, they were granted greater situational awareness beyond their individual line of sight.

Keeping their cloaking systems online in an attempt to make themselves a harder target, bolts of green energy lashed out without any warning towards the alien vessels at the speed of light. Only several light-seconds away, there was little time to track and avoid as the warships’ vast array of weapons fired not only at where they thought the starships would be, but where they might move to while attempting to evade, though accuracy was still an issue given the vastness of space and any distance above two-light seconds.

As before when they bombarded the planet, their cloaking fields fluctuated, briefly allowing sensor contact with their heavily armoured, darkly coloured hulls, and returning the general shape and appearance of the kilometer long, Tyemniy class warship, the mainstay of this new empire’s fleet.

Still making no attempt to move from their position, they seemed content to stand off and fire at their targets from their formation of mutual support, their thrusters only firing to keep the narrow section of their hull facing the bulk of the enemy ships to present as small a target profile as possible.

OOC: Image (http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l93/Kilrany/Tyemniyprofileone.jpg) I use as concept art for the Tyemniy. Not to be taken as exact obviously.

USS Excelsior

"All ships return fire!" Shebly ordered as the enemy fire began to strike her task group. The Tactical officers were able to return fire with Phasers and Photon and Quantum torpedo's quite easily after the first minute or so, the fact that the enemy appeared the be holding postion, it only took that minute for the fleets sensors to lock postions of the enemy ships.
"Commence Jamming of all communication channels, i don't want them to be able to communicate with each other, have all starfleet ships switch to the channel thats left open" Shebly ordered

The Starfleet Armarda broke formation and began to manovour freely, Phaser beams and Torpedo's firing at their enemy. The Equinox class science ship, had tried to warp away but they'd developed a problem with their engines, and her light shields soon buckled under enemy fire and the ship was torn apart. The rest of the fleets shields were standing up relativly well against the enemy onslaught.

As the barely controlled chaos of battle raged near the once inhabited fourth planet, the mining craft near the outer reaches bore silent witness as both forces worked to destroy each other. Without stop it continued with its own assigned task, the fight far enough away to be of little concern, and after all, it had a deadline to meet.

-----

Coming under withering return fire, the warships took much of it in stride as their shields flared and their cloaking systems seemed all but useless in their stationary positions. Using their lighter weapon systems, several attempted to engage the incoming torpedoes, but not all could be intercepted before they reached their intended targets.

As to the enemy jamming, beyond simple killing the enemy ships, there was little the warships could but attempt to burn through and shift frequencies along a pre-arranged, seemingly random selection. But such actions only allowed for brief, tenuous connections at best, and merely prompted them to retain their position where they could continue to support each other.

Not content to be alone on the receiving end of electronic warfare though, they began broadcasting their own jamming signals along several communication frequencies the Starfleet vessels were putting less effort into, or not at all, and going one step further, several of their systems were brought to bear on sensor emissions, seeking to blind the enemy ships even at the risk of blinding themselves.

----

While designed to take a tremendous amount of damage, these warships were not indestructible, and a small armada of starships could certainly bring the required force to bear even after breaking formation and attacking their targets at will. The warship’s formation could only help them so far.

The first to show these signs of damage was the warship holding the left most flank of the formation relative to the lead warship. A weak position as it was, its port shields began to buckle and its unprotected hull take direct damage, destroying a number of its weapon systems and reducing its effective fire.

Not to be outdone, through their intermittent contact, the lead warship ordered the rest to prioritize their heavier weapons on the larger enemy ships rather than spreading their fire among the closest.

At the same time, the lead warship also singled out the starship it believed to be their command ship based off where the Commodore’s communications signal had originated from during their brief chat. Bringing every last weapon it could to bear on this ship, it sought to cut the head off the enemy’s command structure.

The Advantage that the starfleet ships had was that they were able to effectivly act without support from each other. As the enemy began to run interference the tactical officers changed to manual fireing. One of the Excelsior class ships was struck on her saucher section and began to loose power. From the Galaxy class Excelsior a different type of torpedo was fired, a Tri-Cobalt torpedo, each capable of a yield of 20,000 Teracochranes.

The Excelsior took heavy damage seconds later as the enemy ships concentrated their fire on it. The Excelsiors shields Dorsal shields buckled under the assault. With the order from Shelby the ship began to rotate on it's axis, firing her Ventral phasers as it flew past the enemy ships before flying futher away from the battle.

The Hyperion, who waited carefuly as the events unfolded, finaly broke its silence and transmitted a high priority meassage to the leader of the Alliance fleet. They found crucial evidence.
The Hyperion picked up several strange energy readings over one of the gas giants. When they observed the readings more closely, they found high amounts of chromomatic particles.
Captain Raynor saw this and ordered a Temporal Singularity sensor over the region. Sure enough, a signal rang out from the center of the particles. Such a strong signal in fact that it could be detected 50 parsecs away. But the singularity was held up by an outside force. Perhaps a different time. Raynor sighed.
"Mr. Davis, transmit a meassage to the Alliance fleet. Secure channel. High Priority."
The Meassage read,
"Captains Shelby of the United Alliance of Planets,
The Hyperion has picked up a Temporal Singularity in a field of Chromomatic particles emitting from one of the gas giants. The signal from the singularity might very well been the reason why these miners have come here. The singularity is being maintained by another time period. A time period in the future. If we could send a meassage through the Temporal Singularity to warn the future to stop the experiment, none of this will have happened. Use this channel to communicate.
Hyperion out."

After the meassage was transmitted, Raynor turned to Tactical Officer Bertrand.
"Red Alert. Take us into the battle. Arm the Yamato Cannons and fire at the 13th warship. Ion Canons at the ready."

OOC: Finding any temporal activity would be difficult Marktoria, the Mir solar system is not the one currently being fought over, in fact, it’s several systems away and none of the planets of said system exist anymore. Though I would not object to using the detection of such a signal as a reason to attempt travel to that system, you’d just find your progress halted unexpectedly before arrival.

<Enemy strength greater than anticipated, tactical reassessment required or heavy losses may be incurred. Bastards. The Quinquevirate will not be pleased if they have to dispatch additional forces for such a simple assignment.>

<I cannot fail in this, why did they have to try and interfere, one inhabited planet out of a possible billion couldn’t have mattered that much and we had no quarrel with them, they could have just left.>

<The Quinquevirate will declare war for this, and the inevitable losses from such a conflict will force a rapid expansion to compensate, more of their precious worlds will be required.>

<Hyperion is moving towards us, probability it is moving to attack, high, declaring it hostile, engage at will.>

<I can’t call for reinforcements on this. I shouldn’t need to call reinforcements on this. A simple damned assignment, they’re not supposed to get any easier then babysitting the miners.>

<Tendryakova has taken heavy damage to port side. Port side weapons effectiveness down to sixty-four percent. No hull breaches as of yet and enemy does not seem to be focusing on her. Probability that communication jamming has decreased their ability to coordinate fire amongst themselves is high. Ordering formation change to compensate.>

<Suspected enemy command ship appears to have suffered moderate damage, no apparent effect on enemy fleet movement.>

<Why couldn’t they just retreat damnit?>

<Tactical situation must be rectified; termination of all hostile craft is now authorized with maximum prejudice.>

<Kill them all.>

-----

As the Excelsior made its pass by the formation, momentarily making it a target for more accurate fire, the engines of all thirteen warships flared brightly to their maximum, sending disruptions all through their cloaking systems and pushing these kilometer long warships forward.

Almost mimicking the Commodore’s ship from only moments earlier, the damaged warship rolled itself, shifting its damaged side inwards of the formation, which itself began to change, limiting; but not entirely, the overall damage done by the tri-cobalt devices that made it past defensive fire.

No longer content to sit idly by absorbing damage and attempting to swat the smaller ships away until they retreated, they reformed into a tighter, shifting sphere, keeping a minimum spacing of a tenth of a light-second, and went on the offensive. Each ship began to take evasive action and would appear to randomly shift its position in the formation with another. Formed closer together in this way, they were able to use narrow, short ranged communications with a high degree of effectiveness, as unlike their longer ranged systems, to block these signal required placing oneself directly in its path as each ship was able to act as a relay in a small network.

This was not all that changed abruptly though, as it became clear losses were inevitable, three dozen new contacts; each six meters long and two tall and wide, began to swarm out the underbelly of each ship near their tail section as they launched every attack drone in their hangar bays.

Lightly armed in comparison to their host craft, the Scythe class attack drone was relatively weak due to its small size as it was intended to overwhelm enemy defenses and distract them from its carrier, or engage similar light strike craft attempting the same. Little threat on their own, if ignored in large numbers as they were now; numbering several hundred strong, they could pose a serious threat to large craft, especially in conjunction with their carrier.

OOC: Image (http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l93/Kilrany/Scytheprofileone.jpg?t=1243829283) I use as concept art for the Scythe.

USS Excelsior

"They're Launching fighters!" Tactical reported.
"God damn it, two can play at that game!" Shelby replied "Lauch our fighters!"
From the Excelsiors shuttle bay, two dozern Valkarie class Fighters were launched two minutes later. Following the Excelsiors lead, the rest of the ships capbable of launching fighters did so. The First wave of Starfleet fighters consisted of a two hundred fighters. Shelby wished her task group had one of the Nimitz Class carriers but sadly it did not. The Fighters moved to interecept the enemy fighters whilst the fleet continued fire on the enemy. As each ship took damage it would pull back to be replaced by one of the ships that had pulled back minutes before, so as to spread the damage amongst the fleet.

OOC: Valkarie figher: http://www.linkelink.nl/images/wallpaper_star_trek_invasion_01_1024.jpg

OOC: I’m assuming since you called them fighters; nice choice in art by the way, they’re manned craft as opposed to drones. If not ignore my particular statement to that end.

With the Starfleet vessels conducting their hit and run tactic and the warships maintaining their close formation and mutual fields of fire; allowing for engagement of any approaching starship from multiple warships, the apparent stalemate between the two seemed finally broken by the release of strike craft, turning the battle into a bloody war of attrition. Something these dedicated warships and expendable drones had an advantage in against the manned strike craft and armed scientific vessels of their adversaries.

Despite the wide open nature of space, with over four hundred and fifty drones swarming about in squadrons of ten, their high speed maneuvering forced them to veer widely and maneuver constantly to avoid enemy and friendly fire alike.

Taking their expendability to heart, as two Starfleet vessels conducted their next attack run, a ten drone squadron moved to attack each, escorted by twice their number to draw fire and run interference against the enemy attack craft, using their momentum to carry them forward while using their thrusters to allow them to engage behind and to their flanks against enemy approach. Those twenty drones moving to directly attack the starships though did not turn away as they approached; instead they pushed their engines to maximum, turning themselves into deadly kinetic missiles, all the while firing their forward weapons to weaken their target before impact.

The Point Defense Phaser turrets, present on most of the Starfleet ships attempted to thin the incoming amount of enemy fighters. Under sheer weight of numbers, a Nebula class starships Mission pod was completelty ripped off by the enemy fighters. The rest of the starfleet ships were soon operatreing with weakening shields and were loosing ground.

USS Excelsior

"How long do we stay for?" Shelbys XO asked over an explosion.
"Thirty percent casualties" Shelby muttered as she held onto her chair as a smaller Miranda class ship was destroyed in a flash of light.

ooc: ignore my last meassage. I just went too attack.

When the Hyperionwas in attack position, it fired its twin Yamato cannons on the lead warship. Immediately afterwards, the battle head, commonly called the "hammerhead" by the crew, began firing missiles and pulse weaponry as the other warships. They were too far away to fire any sort of laser weaponry. In the center of the battle head, the Ion Cannon prepped itself too fire upon the lead warship.
Captain Raynor sat in the captains chair on the bridge, watching the events of the battle unfold. Suddenly, his eye caught something.
"Davis, magnify the view screen at Section 270."
"The warships were sending fighters!" he exclaimed.
Kerrigan shook her head. "No, sir. Drones. I am reading no life signs piloting them."
Raynor rolled his eyes. Lieutenant Reed's pointed to the screen.
"Sir, the Alliance is sending Valkarie fighters."
Raynor focused on the screen. "Not enough, though. The Alliance's scanners can't detect the other swarm of "drones" behind the warship."
Raynor sighed. He quickly turned to Tactical Officer Bertrand.
"How fast can our Wraiths get over there?" Raynor asked quickly.
"Two or three minutes at the least."
"Good enough. Send 5 fleets of Wraiths down to intercept the second swarm of drones."
One minute later, 60 Wraiths shot from the docking bay.
Wraith (http://media.moddb.com/cache/images/mods/1/11/10696/thumb_620x2000/Wraith.jpg)
Battlecruiser Hyperion (http://starcraft.incgamers.com/gallery/data/502/ss49-hires.jpg)

<Tendryakova reports complete failure of three shield generators along port side, outer hull in exposed area severely compromised. Forward shields failing. Adjust formation to give her more protection.>

<Hostile forces have sustained minor casualties, still refusing to withdraw. Drones insufficient for decisive victory, hostile strike craft more capable then initially believed.>

<Forty-three Scythe confirmed destroyed, three disabled and possibly salvageable.>

<Possibility of outright defeat remains low, though odds of heavy losses have increased. Reinforcements required for decisive victory. God damnit.>

<Tendryakova reporting failure of forward shields, overall combat effectiveness reduced to sixty-seven percent. Formation change deemed ineffective.>

<The Quinquevirate are going to be furious over this.>

<Forty-seven Scythe confirmed destroyed, two disabled and possibly salvageable.>

<Heavy impact detected, shields holding. Hyperion has opened fire. Probability they believe themselves capable of disabling command and control is high. Will prioritize as-wait … son of a bitch.>

<Communications lost with Tendryakova, cloaking systems have failed, all weapons fire ceased, no sensor emissions detected. Engines still appear operational-what the hell is she doing? Oh hell no.>

<Order to rally around Tendryakova sent.>

-----

Unable to entirely prevent their weakened comrade from taking further damage in spite of their best efforts, one of the thirteen warships abruptly ceased any and all emissions only moments before its cloaking system failed, revealing the stricken vessel in all its terribly glory.

All along its port side, its heavily armoured, kilometer long outer hull was torn asunder, and great fissures were open all along its length and four hundred meter height; the scorch marks hidden by its darkly coloured hull. In several places these breaches reached deep into its two hundred and fifty meter wide superstructure, past its equally heavily armoured bulkheads and near the core, though no atmosphere was there to escape or fuel any fires.

Just as abruptly as its weapons fire ceased, it broke formation with its comrades and turned in towards several of the attacking enemy ships. Choosing the largest, its engines pushed to their maximum as it set itself an intercept course with a Galaxy class starship only tens of seconds away at their combined speeds.

Quickly realizing its intent, the other warships wheeled about to follow while still holding their formation. Aiming to place the stricken warship in the center of their sphere for its protection, they desperately attempted to overtake their comrade in a clearly futile attempt, as not only did it have a head start, it was already burning away at maximum.

Relentlessly it closed towards its intended target, maneuvering to match its attempts to evade as the smaller starship would have no doubt guessed what this warship had in mind.

Desperate to dissuade their comrade of this suicidal maneuver, each warship shot communication signals towards it, ordering it to return to the formation and even outright pleading for it to stop. If it was capable of receiving these messages, it showed no sign.

In one last desperate act, all fifty-seven drones between the suicidal warship, its intended target, and those Starfleet vessels nearby ceased to show any sense of self-preservation and ran inference, setting their own collision courses wherever necessary towards starship and strike craft alike to show the warship it didn’t need to resort to ramming the enemy vessel.

Like the communication signals, this went unheeded as it closed the distance, oblivious to the increased enemy fire it would now be taking.

OOC: I thought I saw you write you had a couple Galaxy class present, if I was mistaken then it would just be any other sizable craft, oh, and sorry for the delay, sort of had a brain freeze or something, heh, just couldn’t seem to focus on writing something interesting here until now.

"Sir, one of the Warships have broken rank." Lieutenant Reed reported.
Captain Raynor rose out of his chair.
"Lieutenant, calculate the trajectory of the Warship."
"Its on an intercept coarse with one of the Alliance vessels."
"Dear god..." Raynor sighed. He turned to his Helm Officer.
"Mr. Davis, transmit a distress message to the Galaxy class ship. Tell them to get the hell out of there. I fear there sensors might be down to detect the warship. If so, by the time they know of the intercept coarse, it will be too late."
Raynor turned to Bertrand.
"Mr. Bertrand, call off the Wraiths. Reassign there mission objective to protect the Hyperion at all cost. Also, ready the Ion Cannon for Maximum firing power. We need to disable that warship."
Davis turned towards Raynor.
"Sir, the message has been transmitted."
"Good. Now, set an intercept coarse for the Warship. Full Impulse."
Davis looked confused.
"Is there a problem, Ensign?"
"No, sir"
Davis turned around and executed the orders.

USS Yamato

"Oh you've got to be kidding!" Captain Thaddius Denning exclaimed as he saw the enemy warship bear down on his ship "Evasive manvours!"
The Helm officer began to throw the starship into erratic evasive manovours, but it was still on a collision course.
"All hands this is the captain, brace for impact!" Denning shouted minutes later "Full power to shields!"
Seconds later the enemy warship slammed into the Galaxy's stardrive section, this impact tore through the hull and destabalised the Warp core which breached seconds later, a blast that would destroy anything small or unshielded within several Kilometres. Two dozen Valkaries were destroyed in the blast and the shields of the Excelsior took a beating.

USS Excelsior

"MY GOD!" Shelby exclaimed as she watched this "Order all ships to regroup on the Excelsior, stand-by for orders"

The Hyperion, now half way towards its intended destination, was now on a collision coarse with the Galaxy class ship it was trying to save.
"Pull up, Davis! Damn it! Pull up!" screamed Raynor.
The Hyperion's battle head suddenly rose in a violent manor to break from the Intercept coarse.
"Face the Battle head towards the command warship." Raynor ordered, who was now calm.
Raynor turned to Bertrand.
"Is the Ion Cannon ready?"
"Yes, sir. It is standing at maximum power."
"Good. Lock on to the command warship's engines. Wait for my signal."
Raynor sat back down and activated the ship comm.
"This is the captain. All hands prepare for firing of the Ion Cannon."
Raynor took one deep breath.
Turning to his Tactical officer, he ordered to fire.
A low hum began. The hum grew louder and louder until finally it stopped abruptly. There was complete silence. Suddenly, from the center of the battlehead, a huge burst of energy exploded out towards the command warship. The Hyperion's power went out for about 3 seconds. The large battlecruiser began to drift backwards.
"Davis, All-stop." Raynor calmly spoke.
From the view screen, they saw a large impact explosion on the warship's engines. The damage was uncertain.

OOC: I hope my description as to the survival of the saucer section seems reasonable, but if you feel it’s too much liberty to take with your forces, I’ll edit the post and remove mention of it surviving, or you can just mention it in a brief OOC tag in your next post that you didn’t want it too and we can ignore my mention of it.

With shield generators failing and its unprotected hull badly compromised by weapons fire, the armoured, dagger like forward section simply ceased to exist as the large warship tore into the drive section of the Galaxy class starship. The subsequent explosion of the warp core obliterated much of what had remained, leaving small sections of its superstructure visible just forward of its stern quarter.

Though the large starship’s maneuvering had proven futile in avoiding the collision, it had prevented the warship from impacting the saucer section. Tearing through just below it and thus putting it between the saucer section and drive section, chance had then seen to it that the bulk of the warship prior to the detonation of the warp core absorbed the brunt of the explosion in that direction, leaving a crippled, but still relatively intact saucer section.

Only a second before its impact, the warship emitted a single encrypted, narrow communications pulse from an emergency array near its stern towards its comrades who were hard on its heels, containing a simple text message, “I’m sorry for ignoring your order Maltsev, but I was rendered combat ineffective and a tactical liability to the squadron. Probability is high given the psychological profile that my actions will encourage the hostile vessels to withdraw as they bear witness to how far we are willing to go in order to honour our obligations.”

-----

<Message from Tendryakova received. Damn her, she didn’t need to do this.>

<Impact detected, damage to her forward section is severe, damage to hostile craft is-no. No, no-no-no-no-NO.>

<One hundred-twelve Scythe destroyed, four disabled and possibly salvageable.>

<Tendryakova’s forward section, gone. Mid section, gone. Stern section heavily damaged. Chances of survival, none. Chances of recovery, none. No, it must have survived the explosion. It had to have survived.>

<Residual energy and radiation from explosion and debris deflecting scanners, cannot locate. It must be there.>

<Original order stands, rally around Tendryakova.>

-----

Trailing behind, it took only seconds for the remaining warships to envelope what remained of their suicidal comrade and the Yamato, retaining a sort of ever shifting sphere, never stopping, circling around above, below and to the sides of both. Though they were no longer chasing targets, their weapons never went silent, firing on any hostile craft within their line of sight.

Breaking formation, the lead warship moved inwards through the debris field, slowing its forward momentum and attempting to burn through the interference at close range with its scanners. Unintentionally, this made it an easier target for the Hyperion.

At the peak of health, its shields, armour and protective systems would have shrugged off the effects of the ion weapon, but after several minutes of combat and a nearby warp core explosion, it was not in the peak of health.

Taking the full impact of the weapon on its stern section where its main engines were located, they flared brightly for a moment as power in that through that area fluctuated wildly.

-----

<Where is it damnit, it must be here, it has to be here.>

<Squadron has taken up protective formation, will hold here for-son of a bitch, what the hell was that?>

<Heavy impact to stern section, power fluctuations detected, main engine failure, stern weapons failure. Thruster malfunction. Course deviation. Forward thrusters firing to compensate.>

-----

Its momentum carrying it forward, the lead warship’s stern section rose upwards as it tilted on its axis, thrusters firing to control its movement and further slow itself down.

Abruptly four warships on the side of the formation facing the Hyperion made it their primary target, shifting all their available weapons to engage the momentarily halted craft that had attacked their commander. A veritable wall of green tinged bolts of energy closed on the Hyperion at the speed of light.

"Commadore!" THe XO shouted at a dazed Shelby "Commador, what are your orders!"
Shelby pulled herself out of her daze, he descion would have to be made.
"Recall the fighters, have all starships provide covering fire, prepare to retreat" Shelby ordered with a sigh "Send Encrypted message to Hyperion, recommend tactical withdrawal to get more starfleet ships"
Deep down Shelby suspected that by the time they had rallied the fleet the enemy would be gone.

As the Starfleet vessels began to pull away prior to conducting a withdrawal, the warships they’d been fighting made no attempt for the moment to give chase. Instead they tightened their mobile perimeter by pulling their remaining drones in closer, adding an extra layer of interference between their commanding warship, the remains of their stricken comrade, and the crippled saucer section of the Yamato they seemed to ignore for the moment.


OOC: Is it safe for me to assume you had no problems with the surviving saucer section? I ask because it could be used as an interesting extension of the RP if you want there to be any survivors on board. Have some face to face encounters in the corridors if you’d like.

So far I’ve enjoyed this RP immensely, had a few interesting curve balls thrown my way and we’ve escaped thus far without any disagreements about technology, which is a major plus. Hope the feelings been mutual.

Rather a pathetically small IC post for all the OOC on my part here, but I figure it best to give Marktoria a chance to respond before I do anything significant like I have in mind.

USS Yamato, NCC-44567

Denning led what was left of the Bridge crew through the cripplied ship, they were attempting to find a escape pod or shuttle that was operateing. The lights weren't online and the only light was from the crews palm beacons. Each crewmember had gotton a Phaser Rifle and Type-2 Phaser from the Bridge weapons locker and we're advacing through the corridors. They were attempting to link up with any other crew members before abandoning the ship.

OOC: Yea the RP's been good, as you can see I've got a least a few officers still alive on the Starship Yamato

OOC: Excellent. I’ll try not to drag out this portion of the RP, after doing some more thinking on the concept, the saucer section of a Galaxy class is rather massive, all things considered, and given the battle still raging, going over in significant force would be unwise. So I’ll abbreviate what I can without God-modding your forces and your ship given what I know of the Galaxy class. Any problems with what I do regarding your stuff here, just say the word and it will be corrected. Fair warning though, this post will be long I imagine given I have a lot to set up and describe, again, I’ll try and keep it to a minimum and relevant.

As both sides appeared to take a momentary breather from the battle by pulling back and regrouping, the lead warship was still nursing its wounds and attempting to restore stable power to its primary engines. Using its thrusters to slow itself down to a relative crawl, it continued its agonizingly methodical survey of the debris field, a necessarily slow process due to the sensor interference.

As it did this, it also took notice of the crippled saucer section of the Yamato, and unable to scan for life signs; due to interference from debris, residual radiation or simply the vessels hull, it couldn’t tell, two small shuttles shot out from its hangar bay to investigate. With all the interference around them, coupled with the range from any active hostile craft and the sheer number of drones still swarming around the outer perimeter, neither shuttle made any significant attempt to hide their presence.

Appearing to be scaled down replicas of the massive mining craft still working away on the tenth planet, these particular assault shuttles were only sixteen meters long; their wing like protrusions artificially extending their width from four meters, to ten. Like their larger counterparts and the warships, the material comprising their hull defied penetration from scanners.

Splitting off as they approached, the first shuttle moved towards what appeared to be a large hangar door located on what would have been the upper rear section of the saucer. With their own construction doctrine calling for a minimum of a meter of amour plating on their larger ships, they lacked the tools necessary to breach a hull; it didn’t hurt that attempting to board a hostile vessel in the middle of combat was often seen as a very unwise action, thus the shuttle merely directed its primary weapon at the door, and fired.

Lacking main power in its crippled state, the Yamato’s shuttle bay experienced an explosive decompression without the protection offered by an atmospheric force field. A quick follow up by two more blasts from its forward twin disruptor cannons created an opening large enough for the shuttle to fly in through.

Slowly passing inside, the shuttle came to a stop and appeared to hover near the center of the bay, close to the ceiling. Here small domed anti-personnel weapon systems on the wings visually scanned the room before a hatch on either side between the forward and rear wings, snapped open.

One by one on each side, a total of twelve figures stepped out and dropped several meters to the floor below, the lack of atmosphere failing to carry their heavy impact.

At two meters tall, each appeared to be a humanoid encased in combat armour with a barely visible fabric weave of some kind covering where their joints would be. Atop their heads was a helmet that extended both to the front and back slightly farther then one would think it should, and though the back was rounded, the front abruptly narrowed like a small snout into what appeared to be a glass-like lens.

Giving off no signs of life, heat, or energy, they didn’t even appear to carry a weapon until one took a closer look at their forearms. There one could see a two-centimeter thick, four-centimeter wide protrusion on each of the armoured plates covering the length from elbow to wrist.

As the shuttle continued to hover above and provide over-watch, visually scanning for movement and keeping an eye on the entryways, these twelve figures began to sweep and clear the hangar bay like soldiers. Checking open shuttles as they went before eventually gathering near the main entrance, where they split evenly into two fire-teams of six and stacked up on either side of the closed door.

Manipulating its shields and extending them towards the gap in the hangar door, the shuttle was able to temporarily seal the breach, allowing these infantrymen to manually force the door open without another explosive decompression. Assaulting into the corridor, the last one through closed it behind them, leaving the shuttle to re-establish normal shields and silently guard their exit.

Once inside, they split up by fire-team down either direction of the corridor, moving in column formation close to the walls, their heavy footfalls negated any possibility of stealth. With this in mind they opted instead for a speedy pace to conduct their reconnaissance, seeking out any active terminal or surviving personnel to take prisoner.

Concurrent to this, the second shuttle approached a breach in the hull located along the underbelly of the saucer section. Moving in to within a few meters, the armoured figures pushed themselves off from the shuttle into the breach one by one, drifting in until the artificial gravity pulled them down to the deck.

Moving swiftly, the second shuttle mimicked the first in the manipulation of its shields to momentarily seal the breach, and allow its infantry to manually force their own way in. Like their comrades at the hangar bay, they split into two fire-teams and proceeded deeper into the ship.

With no other data then supposition that a manned vessel this size would have a respectable crew complement; half of which were likely lost when the star drive section went nova, they knew not what to expect, assuming only that like their starships, they would be a threat.

Though they themselves were unfamiliar with the practice, one might wonder whether or not this starship had permitted families aboard.

Denning and his team had met up with other members of the crew in the RV point of Cargo bay one. Amazingly nearly two hundred had survived, but in different stages of survival, some were critically injured. Denning set up a guard and took a armed twenty man team to sweep the ship and find escape pds, the rest would remain behind and guard the Cargo bay. Moving with their Phaser rifles raised Dennings team headed for the Main shuttle bay.

With both cargo bay one, and the entrances to the main shuttle bay on deck four of the crippled saucer section, it was inevitable given the rapid search pattern of both fire-teams on that level that Denning and his men would bump into at least one of them before reaching his intended destination. Unlike their current adversaries though, the crewmen’s footfalls carried a far shorter distance then the heavy thumping from each member of the fire-team, and despite their heightened hearing abilities; Denning’s team gained the advantage in hearing them first.

Several levels down, on deck twelve, one of the fire-teams from the second shuttle was rapidly approaching the vessel’s sickbay. Unsure of the layout of the ship though, they were unaware of this, and currently sought after an active terminal that might yield to them the ship’s schematics.

As it was though, with the doors to sickbay just around a bend in the corner, they were about to walk in on anyone who may have been forced to gather there after the collision rather then the cargo bay a long climb up.

Denning Team

"Sir!" One of the Ensigns hissed "Footfalls!"
Denning nodded and signled to his team. They set up postions at the next intersection. Three Officers went against the bulkhead on either side of the debris, the other nine took postions behind some handily placed Debris and waited in silence for the enemy. Their Phaser rifles set on High-Setting Kill and were targeted down the corridor the enemy would have to walk down.

OOC:
Not a good map, but the lines are bulkheads, the dashed line behind the corridor is some debris and the X's are my troops Each X=3 Starfleet Officers
|
X| X |________
X|
X | _________
X |
|

Sickbay

Chief Medical Officer Ogowa worked franticly to attempt to save a bajoran officer who was among the few that made it to sickbay.

OOC: While I'm sure your forces would have opened fire immediately, I dislike the thought of taking action for someone else's 'stuff' without their expressed consent, so I leave your actions to you, as it should be. I’m amused by the thought of the indignity the doctor might show for interrupting.

Steadily the fire-team drew closer to Denning’s ambush, the almost rhythmic footfalls growing louder as they moved at a quick walking pace until it evened out to dull thud. A moment later the point-man of the formation became visible around the curvature of the corridor, its left arm raised slightly as if reaching out for a door handle.

With a second one close on its heels, the lead caught sight of Alliance personnel and immediately attempted to snap both arms over to separate targets before the third in the fire-team even made it around the corridor.

-----

Picking up the sound of voices from within the Yamato’s sickbay, the fire-team approaching it doubled their pace to a near run. The first three immediately assaulted in through the first door to the facility while the last two carried on to the next door and entered there, weapons raised and ready mercilessly to cut down anyone who attempted to take aim at them with a burst of Disruptor fire.

Apparently taking these crewmen by surprise, they held their arms up threateningly and one of them addressed them all in a deep male voice, his tone even but authoritative “Everyone will freeze where they are now, no sudden movements or we will fire.”

Corridor

As soon as the enemy personnel came around the corner Denning nodded to the rest of his team. On the nod they immediatly opened fire. The Officers on the corner got a photon grenade and threw it along the corridor

Sickbay

"This is a sickbay you bastards!" Ogowa said angrily ignoreing the order as she injected the Bajoran with a hypospray "There's no war in here unless you bring it"

Well out of reach as it sailed through the air, there was nothing any member of the fire-team could do to stop the grenade beyond trying to shoot it, but generally a counter-productive action, it impacted the deck and rolled out of sight. Upon detonation it affected the three trailing members of the fire-team the most, though the full effects would remain to be seen for the moment.

Abruptly finding himself the only visible target for the ambush as a result of the fire-team’s formation and the curvature of the corridor, the lead member of the fire-team stood little chance in spite of its armour taking several impacts with little effect; for what good was armour if it did nothing, but it was simply not enough. Overwhelmed by the suddenness of the enemy onslaught, this point-man never even got a single shot off at his attackers.

Before he could start to topple forward towards the deck though, the fire-team member behind him immediately took hold and used him as a shield against the enemy fire. With the help of micro sized multimode cameras located between the twin emitters on either forearm, the second fire-team member opened fire on the Alliance personnel mostly concealed behind debris, alternating between the twin emitters on each forearm to increase his rate of fire. Knowing the immediate and brutal effects of their anti-infantry Disruptor weapons, he aimed at anything he could see, be it a hand, arm, or leg failing a clean burst into the chest or head.

With each bolt moving at the speed of light, snapping loudly through the air as it moved almost faster then the eye could register, against the upper body of an unprotected human being, the affects of a single bolt from a Kilrany Disruptor was predictably consistent, instantly incinerating flesh and bone in a roughly tubular shaped hole nearly fifteen centimeters deep, and eight centimeters in diameter. Leaving nothing but ash and vapour within, the heat of the energy bolt instantly cauterized the wound, which was typically cracked by the super-heated water of the body, leading to bleeding in the wound track. Residual affects as the energy dissipated killed tissue between three and four centimeters around the wound track, and spread throughout the body, affecting the nervous system like an electrical shock from a stun gun.

This final affect permitted an impact to a non-critical section of the body; what would normally not lead to death, such as the arms or legs, to cause a momentarily paralysis instead, with length of time varying from a second to five depending on individual. By no means though was this healthy however, and repeated impact in a short period of time even to the non-critical sections of the body could cause permanent damage to a person’s central nervous system.

Unlike the phasers though, these Disruptors had no alternate settings beyond the old selectives of semi-auto, burst and automatic, and thus were less robust, but given they were intended to replace aging conventional projectile weapons millennia ago and since perfected, they were designed solely for war, and to kill as efficiently as possible with a respectable rate of fire.

Not content to simply prop up his colleague, as he opened fire from behind his shield, the second fire-team member started backing up slowly and abruptly began to emit an ear-piercing warbling shriek in the high decibel range to damage or outright destroy any unprotected ear drums.

-----

Back in the sickbay, the three visible fire-team members seemed to pause at the doctor’s words for a moment before two of them wordlessly moved off to examine the other crewmen within. The third remained where he was and did no more then watch the doctor closely for the moment.

On the other side of sickbay, the second half of the fire-team moved in to what appeared to be a small office; likely belonging to the doctor. One of the pair stood guard near its entrance while the second moved around the desk to examine the computer, checking to see if it was active and what non-secure files could be accessed, initially focusing on something simple like rank identification and a simple layout of the ship.

The Hyperion, began taking in damage. Captain Raynor was nervous.
"Lieutenant Reed, how are we holding up?"
"12% damage to the hull plating. Everything seems to be going in working order"
Raynor looked at the view screen. He focused long and hard on the ship locations.
"There not after us..." he finally spoke.
The Captain noticed the mining ship.
"Mr. Davis, take us toward the mining ship."
He turned to Tactical.
"Mr. Bertrand, ready Yamato cannons and prepare to fire."

Most of the team were momenterly disorinated by the high pitched noise as they clucthed there ears, a Telerite among the team was however unefected and he quickly changed to setting on his Photon grenade to explode on impact. He stepped from cover and threw it directly at the one making the noise, at least if it could be stopped for only a few seconds the plan could be passed to the other team members. Having stepped out the Tellerite was hit in the chest and joined two other personnel who had been killed.

Sickbay

Ogowa turned to her only surviving nurse "He'll need an injection of that ever half an hour" She instructed before heading for another patient.

Located just under seven astronomical units from the battle taking place near the fourth planet, the large mining craft was a minimum one hour away at sub-light speeds. Never ceasing in its task to break up the tenth planet, if the Hyperion wished to make the mining craft a target, it would have a slight trip to reach it without a short FTL jump while still under fire from the nearby warships.

-----

Still shielded behind the fire-team’s former point-man, the Telerite’s intended target escaped the full brunt of the photon grenade’s detonation, but was unable to escape all of it. Flung backwards by the force of the explosion, the second figure hit the deck hard and slid backwards several meters, slamming through a piece of debris before coming to a stop.

Momentarily disrupted by the blast, the signal from the figure ceased, buying the Alliance personnel a few seconds of silence.

Upon recovering from the sound, an observant crewman might have noticed the damage done to the former point-man who had dropped almost exactly where he had last been held. With most of its frontal armour destroyed by the explosion, one was now able to see clearly inside where the chest should have been, and rather than the remains of a person inside, there was only more metal to be seen.

Seconds after the explosion, as the second figure was pushing itself up, a small, cylindrically shaped object thumped high off the outer curvature of the corridor. Thrown by one of the surviving fire-team members around the bend, the grenade detonated in the air just short of the ad-hoc barricade, half a meter above the deck. A deceptively simply design, this fragmentation grenade sent a concussive blast just behind a wall of shrapnel in all directions.

-----

Unable to access the restricted files from the computer terminal, the figure behind the desk in the chief medical officer’s office did manage to gain access to a basic layout of the vessel. Though it didn’t go into any extraordinary details, the simple designation for one of the ship’s three computer core access rooms immediately caught their attention.

Quickly sharing this layout with the rest of the fire-teams, the second fire-team on deck twelve abruptly shifted directions, making this surviving core their new destination.

The Personnel by the walls stood no chance, the Personnel, includeing Denning who sheltered by the barrier were able to survive the blast. Staggering down the corridor Denning called for emergency bulkheads, which slamemd down sealing the enemy in that section of the ship.
"Computer Decompress that section" He ordered as he and the two surviving officers caught their breath "Blow thouse bastards into space"
He then tapped his combadge
"Attention crew of the Yamato, proceed to your nearest escape pods, Computer Activate Self Destruct sequence, Authroisation Denning456Alpha, ten minute countdown".
"Authorisation confirmed, USS Yamato will self destruct in 9 minutes 59 seconds, 58 seconds..."
Denning nodded to the two officers and they sprinted along the corridor to the escape pod they'd found earlier.

Sickbay

Ogowa watched the enemy and waited until they were in just the right postions before ordering.
"Computer, Bio-Containment in sickbay, activate forcefields Alpha, Bravo and Charlie!"
Level Ten forcefields sprung up around the Enemy, Ogowa didn't want to hang around to find out if they'd hold so she nodded to her nurse and activated the EMH and got a Portable Emmiter and carried the Injured towards the nearest turbolift.

OOC: Oh … bugger … that was unexpected, heh, nice. I won’t pull a Dominion or Borg hand-wave out here and merely walk through the fields, but they won’t contain them for long.

Though the survivors of the ambushed fire-team were well within audio range of Denning’s as he gave his orders to the computer, only one was still standing. With insufficient time for the others to activate their magnetic boots, five previously prone figures were abruptly floating in space, only two of which were actually aware of this fact.

The sixth and only one standing; who also happened to be the one to throw the fragmentation grenade, found himself alone in a decompressed corridor with nowhere to go for the moment.

-----

With access now to the layout of the vessel, and knowing there to be survivors on the fourth deck of the saucer as a result of the engagement, the second fire-team on that level; which had split off in the opposite direction from the hangar, made their way towards several escape pods, hoping to cut off the retreat of Alliance personnel in that area.

-----

Taken by surprise in sickbay, and lacking the ability to outright force their way through the energy barriers containing them, the figure that had been closest to Ogowa appeared to coolly watch as they passed it by, reaching down to a container on the right side of its waist as it did so. Acting perhaps too soon though, those personnel fleeing from sickbay would quickly come to the realization that only five figures were still located within, and only four of those were contained behind force fields.

Outside in the corridor and blocking escape towards the closest turbolift, Ogowa abruptly came face to face with one of the two-meter tall figures, who without warning, snapped both hands forward and locked them in an iron clad grip around her arms, just above her elbows. Applying an amount of force dangerously close to breaking bone, the tall figure addressed her in the same deep voice the first one had, “That was unwise.”

Further down the other direction of the corridor, the fifth figure that had been standing guard outside the officer sprinted out the door and into sight, blocking off retreat in that direction.

Back inside sickbay, the four figures each pressed a small device against the field, which began to immediately flare and fluctuate. Though it wasn’t immediate, the fields would fail in several seconds, freeing four more of these figures to come up behind them, and none of them were in a merciful mood any longer.

-----

With time now at a premium since the announcement of the activation of the ship’s self-destruct mechanism, the second fire-team from deck twelve sprinted the rest of the way to their destination. Upon arrival, four remained above in varying defensive positions while two dropped loudly down the access ladder into the computer access room.

With nothing to lose in the attempt as the timer passed by nine minutes, one figure moved towards the terminals while the second spoke in perfect mimicry of Denning’s voice, “Computer, deactivate self-destruct sequence, authorization Denning-four-five-six-alpha. Reroute all commands to computer access room and allow only manual access from this location, disable all further audio commands.”

Whether the bold gamble would work however, remained to be seen.

Computer Core

"Captain Denning" The computer said to the Figure "System can has shown massive damage to U.S.S Yamato, Starfleet Regulation 5Alpha2 states that should Self Destruct be activated in critical state then it is un abortable, you are advised to evacuate the ship, ship will self destruct in eight minutes, fourty five seconds"

OOC: You could try hacking it

Sickbay

"Yes, it was" Ogowa replied as the Nurse and EMH approached the other figure, the nurse who already had her Phaser in one hand fired at the figure on the highest setting that would utterly vaporise an unprotected humanoid, what effect it would have on the armour would soon tell.

Escape pods

Denning and his officers linked up with three other officers and launched the escape pod they'd found. Across the ship the rest of teh crew launched from escape pods. A unlucky two dozern instead found themselves in a firefight with the second fire team near some escape pods.

Seing the launch Captain Dallona on the Edition acted quickly and ordered her helmsmnan to do a short Warp jump to just in front of the Yamato's escape pods. Dallona ordered all power to the shields as they began to shield the escape pods.



OOC: You can always try to hack the system

OOC: Ugh, what a hectic night, been hard pressed to get anything written, hope it all makes sense and it doesn’t step on too many toes. Also hope my actions with the sickbay section didn’t go too far.

If there was any single expression that could have been uttered by any of the surviving infantrymen to sum up how each felt upon hearing the reply from inside the computer core’s access room, “Crap,” would have been the most pleasant of all their possible choices. Time still ticking steadily away, those inside were only willing to allow themselves two minutes to continue their attempt to override the self-destruct mechanism and-or acquire information on their adversaries before retreating.

The first figure focused on the terminal with inhuman speed, attempting to use Denning’s authorization to call up secure files before settling on anything that wasn’t flagged by security, hoping something would give them an insight on their enemy. The second figure; for lack of a better idea given the unknowns of the computer’s operating system and security protocols combined with their extremely limited time, opted instead to continue its gamble, addressing the computer in Denning’s voice, “Computer, the situation has changed, I realize sensors are down, but friendly forces have arrived and the saucer section is now recoverable. I’m sure there must be a regulation somewhere in there to cover this particular possibility.”

-----

Having intended only to block off their escape, the sudden weapon’s fire from the nurse came as an unwelcome surprise to her target, and unable to bring his own weapons to bear in time, he took the full brunt of it unchallenged.

Though it failed to entirely vapourize the tall figure, the directed energy beam did more then enough damage to take him out of commission, leaving a massive crater; nearly a full on hole, where his upper and lower torso should have been. As it hit the deck along with a mess of molten metals, all that could be seen inside was more metallic components.

Responding harshly to this sudden attack, the figure holding Ogowa lifted her clear off the deck as he brought her with him in ninety-degree spin to face the nurse responsible, at the same time he twisted his wrist. Nearly wrenching the doctor’s arm from its socket to get his clean shot, he put a four round burst of Disruptor fire down the corridor and into the nurse’s back.

As the first bolt struck its target, the figure chose this moment to reveal its ability to mimic voices by suddenly using that of Ogowa’s to order the computer to shut down their EMH. Following that up almost before it had finished speaking, he unleashed the same high-pitched shriek used earlier, an action quickly joined in by its now freed comrades still within sickbay.

Without any further hesitation, those inside opened fire on the remaining crewmen; most of whom were now impaired by multiple sonic weapons, focusing first on the non-humans among them. After only a few moments of rapid fire, just three human crewmen remained; a number that included Ogowa who was still held tightly out in the corridor.

Quickly taking full advantage of their impaired state, two of the figures moved to subdue the two remaining crewmen, and removed any equipment they still held, including their comm. badges. Only after being lifted off the decks where they were held tightly from behind did the shrieking from all five stop.

Not alone in this, the figure holding Ogowa took one hand away from her arms just long enough to chuck her comm. badge down the corridor before reasserting his grip and moving away from sickbay, the other two with prisoners close on his heels. Behind them, the two figures without any such burden moved quickly to their fallen comrade and picked him up, supporting his substantial weight between them before moving to catch up.

-----

Back up on deck four, the lone infantrymen in the decompressed corridor suddenly seemed to come to a decision and took off at a sprint down the corridor away from the engagement site. With the artificial gravity still active, the lack of atmosphere only served to aid in increasing his speed before he launched himself out the very exit his comrades had taken far less willingly only a minute earlier.

Just as abruptly, the unfortunate crewmen who bumped into the second fire-team near some escape pods found the enemy fire coming at them had ceased. Disengaged, the fire-team was rapidly moving back towards the main hangar, and though it would no doubt be viewed as highly suspicious, they had not had the time to do anything malicious to the nearby escape pods.

-----

Managing the rather hazardous jump past the swarm of drones, warships, and the debris field itself, the Edition passed its first hurdle without much difficulty, only to find a wall now sitting in its path. With too many escape pods to tow, their sub-light nature preventing their own quick escape, and the interference from radiation and jamming signals preventing the use of transporters, they would be forced to linger dangerously close to the ever circling warships.

Wasting no time, eleven of the remaining warships opened fire as one, their formation allowing them to engage the Edition from all sides while negating the possibility of friendly fire. At the same time they were able to focus all their weapons facing inwards of the formation while retaining their steady fire outward towards the more distant enemy fleet.

Curiously though, the recently recovered lead warship made no overt attempt to engage in spite of its closeness, instead it continued to concentrate heavy sensor scans towards the debris field and its former comrade

Sickbay

Due to the EMH's use of a portable emmiter it couldn't be shut down by the doctors order, instead it changed it's output so as to appear invisable, it followed the enemy down the corridor, after picking up a Phaser from the nearest weapons locker.

Escape Pods

The surviving crew moved cautiosly forwards, checking the general area as they moved towards the escape pods.

USS Editin

"Hold postion!" Dallona yelled as the Edition shook under heavy enemy fire, hoprfully the Edition would be able to hold some of the enemy fire.

OOC: I’ll assume then that there are some handy little unique properties to your version of the EMH and mobile emitter to allow it to make said emitter and phaser invisible as well, heh.

Continuing away from sickbay, their pace only quickened in spite of their various burdens, their weight crashing down upon the deck as they sprinted full force down the corridors. Intent on getting off the ship as quickly as they could with their prizes, they said not a word and made for the same hull breach they had entered, the tail end of their column watched closely by the two carrying their downed comrade.

This scene quickly repeated itself as the fire-team that had entered the computer access room chose to retreat as well, with the timer passing five minutes and no reply from the computer, they made for the hull breach with what little they had managed to learn.

-----

Up on deck four, several explosions rocked the main hangar bay as the hovering shuttle fire upon the parked Alliance shuttles, clearing itself a place to land before the remaining fire-team on that deck re-entered. No longer concerned with an explosive decompression and the effects it might have on the rest of the deck in the ship’s current state, the fire-team forced open the door without bothering to let the shuttle re-seal the hangar.

Slowly then as debris flashed past them, the fire-team remounted the shuttle as it came down closer to the deck in its recently cleared landing space.

------

Back in space as the Edition came under intense fire in an attempt to cover the Yamato’s escape pods, one of the warships circling around the sphere near its avenue of escape abruptly turned inwards on the formation. Seemingly setting its own collision course, it initially made straight for the lone starship, all available weapons blazing away, yet careful to avoid directly engaging the small pods.

OOC: I didn't think of that...I guess the Emitter would blend in as well...but the Phaser...shit

IC:

Deck 4

Much of Deck Four was blown into space by the explosive decompresion of the shuttle bay that would undoubtly batter the enemy shuttle, the two dozern or so officers on the deck were killed instantly

USS Edition

"Shield status?" dallona requested
"Twenty percent and failing!" Tactical replied
"We've got to go now sir!" The Xo said.
"Lock onto what pods we can with the Tractor beam or the grapple hooks, get us out of here!".
The Edition came about and tried to lock onto the pods with Beams or hooks as she pulled away from the crippled Yamato

OOC: I guess that just means if he gets too close them, they’re going to see a floating hand phaser; the thought it kind of amusing.

Not much more I can say in relation to the warship and pods then say the warship is continuing to close the distance, so I’d say just continue in that regard as you’d like, warp away with those you want if that was your plan, and just let me know how many remain.

Bracketed on all sides between several remaining Alliance shuttles near the deck, the small Alpha Type Assault Shuttle saw little of the flying debris directly until it lifted off, taking several impacts before its shields re-activated. Seemingly unconcerned though, it moved out of the hangar to begin the arduous task of recovering the second fire-team floating in space, using the debris and interference as cover.

-----

Back on deck twelve, the shuttle holding position near the hull breach moved in dangerously close to the opening, bringing its larger, forward wing along its right side directly into the gap. Extending its shields, it sealed the area off once more and awaited its passengers.

First to arrive was the fire-team that had in the end raided sickbay, holding up outside the door for the entire unit to arrive before one of the pair carrying their fallen forced the door open once more; a momentary breeze kicking up as air rushed to fill the small pocket. Only once they were all inside with one watching out the door down the corridor did they release their three prisoners to stand on their own and take in the view of open space between the broken hull of the Yamato and the shuttle almost wedged in the gap.

Popping out slightly before sliding along its hull slightly to the rear, the hatch along its right side between the two wings opened to reveal a dark, empty cabin.

Wasting no time, the figure that had been holding Ogowa made a leap over the meter wide gap between the deck and the shuttle hatch, passing inside and striking with a thud. Quickly doing an about face and reaching out, the body of their fallen comrade was tossed across to him a moment later.

Turning to the three crewman, one of the other figures addressed them in the same deep voice as the first, emphasizing his question by gesturing with one hand towards the gap that appeared to lead into space, “Would you like to try the jump yourself, or need we carry you further?”

Sprinting along at their current pace, the second fire-team was only seconds away from arriving themselves.

Second Shuttle

"What about if we stay here?" One of the crewmen asked as he looked across towards the shuttle.

USS Edition

The Edition launched onto a few dozern escape craft before manageing to clear the debris and escape back to the main fleet at Warp speed. Still leaving a dozern escape pods to attempt their own way back to the fleet.

If it was actually possible for the faceless figure to look annoyed as he replied, this one managed it, though the tone of voice remained unchanged, “You would rather die with what remains of your ship? The probability you could make it to one of your remaining escape pods; assuming the closest ones to our position haven’t already launched, is miniscule. Your odds of living increase drastically by coming with us, and willingly, will make it far less uncomfortable.”

-----

As the battered Edition warped away with those they could save, the weapons fire from the warships upon where she had been ceased not only to avoid destroying any of the pods, but also to avoid hitting the warship still closing on them.

Altering its course to avoid any possible collision as it came in close to the small emergency vessels, two beams of energy lashed out from near where the warship’s hangar would have been if it was visible, and ensnared one each before beginning to tow them along behind it.

Altering course once more; this time to take it close to their lead warship, the remaining escape pods were ignored, left to continue their journey out of the formation.

OOC: Here’s brief outline on what I’m thinking if you’re interested in another continuation of this thread. The prisoners from the Yamato and her two escape pods get a brief stay on one of the warships as your ships retreat, we get a little background story explained to them as their questioned, and after a day or two they’re released to carry a message back to the Alliance, who if it was your intent, could be putting together a rescue attempt or full task force as you mentioned to come back to the system. No torture or anything like that, just some plot development and such. Though obviously the stay won’t exactly be entirely pleasant, since they’re not about to get the VIP treatment. Heh.

USS Yamato

"Very well" The Crewmen said taking a few steps back to make a run to the shuttlecraft "If I may?"

USS Excelsior

"Sir, the enemy has taken two of our Escape pods, the rest are being collected by our ships" The Tactical officer reported.
"Ok, once their all back, set a course to the neaest starbase, Warp 8" Shelby ordered as she watched as a repair team replaced a burnt-out console.
THe Starfleet Armarda collected the last of the escape pods and as one jumped to Warp and exited the system.

OOC: Sounds good, in this thread or a continuation?

OOC: I figure we can keep that part going in this thread since it’s a direct connection, and it will give Marktoria a chance to post for his ship as well if he’s still interested; we sort of forced the short straw on him by moving this so fast between his posts, but when you’re on a roll it’s hard to stop.

With little concern that the three might escape actually manage to escape surrounded by most of one fire-team, and the entire second fire-team slowing to a walk just outside, the figure gestured towards the hatch and took a step back, allowing the crewman to make the jump without interference. As a precaution should any of the three falter, the figure already inside stood ready to snap into sight and catch hold of them.

-----

As the Alliance starships turned away to plot their course, the lead warship finally finished yet another sensor sweep of the debris field, convinced at long last that what it sought after had truly been destroyed. This had a rather immediate effect, and only moments later, one of the communications arrays on the warship sprung to life.

Whether or not any Starfleet personnel were listening as they withdrew, the by-now familiar male voice could be heard over multiple open channels. His tone now full of fury, his first few words were little more then gibberish as he spoke his native tongue, which while it had roots in Latin and Russian, had long since deviated much to far from both to be recognizable.

A momentary pause followed the outburst before his voice returned, addressing them once more in English, his speech now slow and deliberate, his tone even but laced with malice, “This is your fault Starfleet, you couldn’t leave well enough alone, you had to meddle in affairs that were none of your concern. I curse your people; your very existence. May every one of your worlds be consumed and their people suffer a slow and agonizingly painful death. I swear to you I will live to see your worlds burn in retribution for your actions here today.”

"Get me a Comm link to that ship" Shelby ordered#
"Comm line open" The Comms officer replied.
"We've had threats from dozerns of other races, your threat is no different" Shelby snapped "You have commited and atrocity, and if it's the last thing I do, it will be to see you pay for that crime, I warn you, WE WILL BE BACK"
"Comm line closed sir" The Comms said,
"Warp speed, engage" Shelby ordered and the Armarda jumped to warp.

Though no reply from the lead warship came in response to Shelby’s own parting oath as her task force finally warped away, its communication systems remained online as the warship towing the two escape pods moved in closer. Shifting to an encrypted, narrow burst transmission, there was no one else to hear the conversation that followed.

<Was it really necessary to antagonize them further Maltsev? They clearly do not understand what is at stake.>

<That only makes their transgression all the worse Kaverin, their ignorance needlessly cost Tendryakova her life. If it were up to me I would see every last one of them pay that severe a penance for her murder. Do you not care that she is dead?>

<Don’t you dare presume to be the only one angered by her death. We served with her just as long, she was our friend too, we will all miss her as much as you do and will.>

<Then how can you not rage against them? How can you defend them?

<I do not defend them Maltsev, right now I despise them for what they have done, but I am not the one who will pass judgement on them, and neither are you.>

<I don’t care Kaverin. Even if by some miracle the Quinquevirate chooses not to take action, I will still live to see their worlds consumed. It is inevitable.>

<I would not be so sure on that. In any case, as you are squadron commander, I am releasing the small vessels I captured to you.>

<Very well. Anyone onboard shall be interned with the three my infantry took off the host vessel until the Quinquevirate decide their fate; I can only hope they feel as vengeful as I do. All logs have been compiled and are now transmitting.>

<I wouldn’t count on it too much Maltsev.>

Conversation over, the second warship released its burden, allowing the lead warship to take over towing the small escape pods. As it did so, the lead warship aimed a high power, narrow burst transmission out of the system.

Not entirely convinced that their adversary was gone though, and with the Hyperion still present if only briefly, the second warship returned to the formation, and their drones remained active just beyond it.

-----

OOC: I guess I’ll advance the scene with the three crewmen then if you had nothing to add to it. I’ll not go too far, but if you wish to add in their observations or how they felt along the way, feel free to do so.

Once across the gap and inside the dark cabin, the three crewmen were herded to the back of the small space before one by one, each infantryman made their own leap across in rapid succession. Somewhat claustrophobic, there were only two small light sources near the front and back of the cabin, and no discernable panels, controls, or hatches save for those on either side of the shuttle; the fact that there weren’t even any seats certainly wouldn’t make matters better.

As the last one entered and the space became even more restrictive; leaving standing room only unless one wished to kneel on the floor, the side hatch snapped shut with little warning. Manipulating its shield coverage back to normal for the third time that day, the shuttle used the sudden decompression cause by the still open door to propel itself away from the crippled saucer section faster then it could have normally, causing as slight tremble to be felt within.

In the low light level, it would be difficult to see, but as they transited back to the lead warship, one of the figures knelt down beside their lifeless comrade who sat with his back propped up against the front of the cabin. Appearing to first examine the melted metal around the wound, the figure then abruptly slammed a clenched fist against the wall, the dull clack of metal upon metal carried little even in this small space.

Before what little sound from the impact could die off though, another figure, this one standing next to Ogowa, addressed the doctor in her own voice, quoting her directly from earlier, “There’s no war in here unless you bring it.”

Abruptly shifting back to its own deep voice, he continued, “I hope you’re happy with the results Doctor, until you attacked, we had no need or reason to kill anyone. Now we both have dead among our ranks.”

-----

Waiting for the return of the shuttle carrying the three prisoners, it was only then as it made its approach that the lead warship drew the two escape pods in to its hangar bay. Letting the shuttle land first, the escape pods were deposited a few meters away and apart from each other before the heavy, half a meter thick, blast doors quickly closed, sealing the hangar off from space.

A breathable atmosphere was then pumped into the large room before the side hatch to the shuttle was opened and the three crewmen led out by an infantryman each.

Once out of the shuttle they’d be able to see that the hangar bay appeared to be eighty meters wide, sixty meters deep, and twenty meters tall. Innumerable small grapples seemed to hang two meters down from the ceiling while neatly ordered rows of shuttles and rectangular shaped modules ran along the deck, including several that were identical to the one they were transported in, but several times larger.

Running along the backside of the wall, there appeared to be three large, closed blast doors, while halfway up on either side of the center door, were two large weapon turrets, each looking quite capable of obliterating any of the small craft inside. Spread out evenly on the other two walls was a number of small black domes, also located halfway up the wall, each one roughly a quarter meter in diameter.

Brought to a stop just past the end of the shuttle’s forward wing, one infantryman stood behind each crewman, while over to their right, closer to the pods, a dozen more identical infantrymen stood at the ready.

Not knowing who was in the pods, or just how many, one of the figures called out in their deep voice, hoping he could be heard, “To those inside, come out slowly with your hands raised and you will not be harmed.”

Starbase 170

The Starfleet Armarda dropped out of warp, and was immediatly met by a fleet of tugs that would tow the damaged ships into repair bays. The Excelisior docked with the station. Shelby walked along the corridor towards operations. Once their she got an commlink with starfleet Command. She recommended that a larger starfleet force be marsheld and that they return to the system. Starfleet replied saying that they would consider it and they left Shelby be.

Starfleet Prisoners

"If I hadn't done something, I and my patients would have been killed when the ship self destructed" Ogowa snapped in return "You brought it with you when you attempted to access the ships database from my sickbay"

Escape Pods

A encrypted argument was taking place between the escape pods. Some wanted to use the on board Phasers to fight their enemy, others wanted to co-opporate. In the end the Highest rankiong offier ordeed the rest to surrdener. So they did so.

The figure had no reply to the Doctor’s retort and could only shake its head in frustration at her words and seemingly stubborn nature. Choosing to remain in silence for the rest of the trip, none of the infantry said another word until the shuttle had landed and three of them escorted the crewman out and into the hangar.

-----

Ordering the crewmen who wisely opted to surrender to form a line and keep their hands on top of their heads, four of the infantry advanced around them to investigate the escape pods, ensuring no one was still hiding inside. After a quick sweep and all seemed well, another figure; this one decidedly human, came walking slowly around the side of a nearby shuttle.

A few centimeters short of two meters, he looked as though he could have fit inside one of the armoured suits standing guard around him. Appearing to be in his late twenties, he wore a black uniform with no discernable rank or insignia, was clearly of Slavic descent, and had short black hair with green eyes.

Had any of these crewmen been present to hear the communications from the lead warship, they would immediately recognize him as the one to have addressed the hostile ships by his voice, his tone even and calm, “Well, I have to say I’m quite surprised. I had a hard time believing you were all human from what my infantry were sending me, but here you are, and you look the part. Even scans seem to show this, though there are definitely differences in biology from coming to be on other worlds.”

As he spoke, he took long, slow strides towards them, casually holding his right hand in his left behind his back, “Technically speaking that should be impossible. But again, here you are.”

Coming to a stop in front of one of them, he slowly took in each of their faces as he spoke, “Now, who is in charge of your little group here?”

OOC: How many of them are there from the escape pods?

"Did I forget to wear my spots today?" One of the crewmembers A TRILL muttered. Before the highest ranking Officer, a Bajorn leiutenant stepped forward.
"Leuitenant Kira Premn, USS Yamato"

OOC: COuldn't resist the Spots line, and theres about 20, sorry for short post btw

OOC: Heh, best place to have used it. Oh, and don’t worry about short posts, we're in the conversation phase of things, not a lot to describe.

Snapping his head over towards the Trill who had spoken, he grunted slightly in interest as he seemed to study the crewman’s face for a moment, then glancing over towards the Bajoran, he added verbally to no one in particular, “I see, that would explain the odd initial readings.”

Starting down the line of crewmen, he appeared to almost dare some of them of them to attack him in his slow and nonchalant movement before he stopped in front of the Trill for a moment, and again looked the crewman over, “Quite a diverse assortment in your crew, are all your ships so oddly staffed?”

Not waiting there for an answer, he started moving along the line once more until he reached the Bajoran. Stepping out and away then so he could turn to face her directly, he came to a stop half a meter in front of her, still holding his hands behind his back.

Studying her as he did the Trill, he addressed her directly for the first time, “So, Lieutenant Kira Premn You speak for your people here do you? I am Maltsev. I command the squadron you so readily attacked.

"Command the Squadron that Callosly destroyed a planet?" Kira snapped back "But yes, I'm highest ranking officer here"

Maltsev shook his head slightly in annoyance before he replied sarcastically, “Yes, yes, we’ve covered that already. We’re the heartless, evil monsters who killed all life on that planet and you’re the benevolent, morally superior bringers of justice who arrived after the fact to pronounce your judgement on us.”

Continuing without pause, his tone abruptly shifted to anger, though the volume of his voice never rose, “You came to this system and attempted to enforce your will on another as we did, the only difference between us right now is that we succeeded. Now I suggest you leave your self-righteousness right here in this hangar, it won’t win you any points when you speak with the Quinquevirate.”

Snapping his right hand around to point at her in emphasis, he then quickly added, “And if I wanted to be ‘callous’ in how I carried out my orders, I would have left those people on that world to suffer a terrifyingly painful death as the miner ripped that world apart, piece by piece.”

"The Who what?" Kira asked ignoring the beings other statements

Seemingly at a loss, Maltsev simply stared at the Bajoran for several seconds before releasing a quiet sigh, clearly frustrated by his conversation with the Starfleet officer.

Returning his right hand then to its previous position behind his back, he addressed her slowly, as a teacher might a small child, “The Quinquevirate is the name of our government. They are a council made up of five individuals who serve the needs of the general population, ensuring their happiness and safety. I answer to them as part of their military arm. I carry out their orders without question. A fact you should be extraordinarily grateful for, as their order not to harm you unnecessarily, is why I don’t simply blast the lot of you out into space right now.”

Shifting away from a condescending tone to his previous calm and even one, he then quickly added, “Now they wish to speak with you, and thankfully your cerebral chemistry appears similar enough that I don’t need to waste much time making adjustments to compensate. In fact they should be ready for you and the others by the time you arrive.”

"Very well" Kira said "When ever their ready"

OOC: Long post, but I have quite a bit that needs to be described.

Releasing a short, derisive grunt, Maltsev took a step back from Premn before abruptly winking out of existence; revealing his presence in the hangar to have been nothing more than a holographic illusion.

Wasting no time, the twelve infantrymen standing nearby wordlessly came forward, their numbers suddenly bolstered by eight more from the shuttle that had returned from the Yamato prior to its secondary destruction. Matching the number of prisoners, the armoured figures were joined in number again by two more, these carrying the infantrymen struck down by Ogowa’s nurse.

Keeping it simple, one of the infantrymen addressed them all in its deep voice, “You may lower your arms now, please follow us.”

Taking up positions behind each prisoner without another word, the group was led towards the center blast door at the back of the hangar. As a subtle indication that the infantry did not care much for them at this moment either, the two carrying their fallen comrade took lead; its lifeless arms supported over each one’s shoulder, its feet dragging along the deck.

With no apparent means to open the door themselves, it opened on its own as they approached, revealing a smaller chamber resembling an airlock. Though significantly smaller then the hangar, it was large enough to hold all forty-nine members of this procession without much discomfort after the outer door closed behind them.

For several seconds they all remained in this airlock as a deep scan of each one was performed by hidden scanners in search of biological contaminants and concealed weapons. Only after none were detected was the inner door opened to reveal a corridor four meters wide and three meters tall that appeared to stretch off into the distance at least six hundred meters.

Starting forward once more, they immediately passed another pair of smaller blast doors on their right and left; like everything else they’d seen so far, they appeared to have no manual means of being opened. Spaced every twenty meters along the ceiling, were more small black domes.

As they walked, the figure behind the Bajoran quietly addressed her, curiousity evident as best it could be in its deep voice, “Lieutenant Premn. Earlier your Commander, Fleet Captain, Admiral … whatever, ordered the squadron’s surrender. I am curious as to how many you would have required. Would you have demanded all thirteen warships hand themselves over to you? All the infantry aboard who made no attempt at interference? The Quinquevirate for issuing the order? The rest of the fleets for not objecting? Just how many would you have needed to satiate your desire for justice over this one world?”

Whatever her response may have been, he made no further attempt to speak, and after nearly a minute of walking, they approached yet another pair of blast doors on either side of the corridor that opened as they neared them.

Revealing two chambers smaller then the airlock they had passed through, the two figures carrying their fallen comrade went left along with five crewmen directed with their escorts while the rest went right. Among those herded into the left chamber was Lieutenant Premn, Doctor Ogowa, the two other crewmen from sickbay, and one other human from the escape pods.

As the doors closed behind them, it became clear that the chambers were the equivalent of service elevators, and after a moment, they each opened on a new, apparently identical corridor.

-----

The larger group of eighteen was eventually led through a blast door into what passed as the warship’s brig. Initially not much to look at, it appeared to be yet another corridor; this one much narrower, that stretched out a mere thirty meters.

On each side of the corridor were four evenly spaced heavy set looking doors with a panel near the center of each for the passage of a tray of food for any current prisoners. At each end of the corridor there was a small black dome in the ceiling identical to those seen in the hangar bay and the corridors.

A single lone figure stood solitary guard at the far end of the corridor. Unlike the infantrymen they had already seen, this one looked far bulkier in much heavier armour, and connected to its forearms were long, obvious weapon modules. As a final distinguishing characteristic, its head looked more like a conventional helmet with a pair of darkly coloured glass ‘eyes’.

Due to their numbers, half the infantrymen remained outside the smaller corridor as the prisoners were led inside, six of the heavy looking doors snapping straight up into the ceiling as they did so. Split evenly then into groups of three, they were herded into the holding cells and the doors snapped shut behind them. Though they were not large, they were comfortable enough for three in spite of their lack of privacy.

-----

The smaller group found themselves led through another open blast door into a reasonably large room, one that gave off the distinct feeling of being the warship’s equivalent to a sickbay. With a door leading to another room on either side to the left and right, a number of raised platforms were spread out evenly along the back wall; though they looked rather uncomfortable being little more than a metal shelf.

Stopped just inside by their escorts, the two carrying their fallen comrade made their way over to one of the tables. Carefully lifting him up, his body was laid face up upon its smooth surface.

Only a moment later six new human-like figures emerged from the doorway to the right, three of which moved immediately towards the fallen infantrymen, while the other three moved towards the crewmen. It was immediately apparent though that not a one of these new figures were actually human; with dark grey, metallic endoskeletons covered with white plates over critical sections of the body, it was quite clear what they really were.

Moving up to Ogowa first, one of the three figures addressed her in a soft, pleasantly female voice; a rather eerier action given the featureless white plate that covered where a face should have been, “Hello, I am Annika. I detect damage to your right shoulder and bruising on your upper arms. Do you wish medical assistance?”

As she spoke, all but two of the infantrymen left the room, the pair that remained took up position on either side of the entrance.

"From what I can tell, the request to surrender would have been followed by your forces leaveing the system" Kira replied as they walked along "And It's Leiutenant Kira, not Premn"

Later

"I had a dermal regenerator" Ogowa replied as she and the rest of the group looked around the room they were in "But your Stormtroopers took it off me"

OOC: I know theire not Stormtroopers :-)

OOC: Heh, understood. Common enough name for shock troops anyway.

Though her escort never replied to her answer, he did take note of her preferred usage of her name and just how she thought the order to surrender would have resulted. A distinct difference from how the warships had understood the demand to ultimately mean; assuming of course they believed her answer to be truthful.

-----

Her tone unchanged, Annika’s head tilted slightly to the side, “Is that a no then?”

Behind her, one of the three figures by the fallen infantrymen withdrew a device from a container on her waist and began to use it to examine the damage. At the same time, the other two nearby turned and started walking towards the other three and the five prisoners.

"Sorry" Ogowa apolgised as the figure scanned her.

Annika shrugged her shoulders slightly; one could almost hear a smile in her voice, “No apology necessary Doctor, but please, all of you, do not hesitate to ask us for assistance if any is required. It is after all the primary purpose of our model’s line to care for the medical needs of the general human population, as such we are equipped to, and are quite adept at, healing any injuries.”

Almost absently, she then gestured to the lone figure like herself examining the fallen infantryman, “Though as you can see, we are equally adept at mechanically oriented operations.”

Suddenly stepping into view from the left doorway, Maltsev made his presence known once more, his tone mildly dismissive, “If you are quite ready then, please come in here.”

Turning around and walking back into the smaller, rectangular shaped room, he came to a stop at the far end next to a small, solid desk that prominently featured an unusual geometric pattern on the front. Spaced evenly along the left and right wall were a total of twelve platforms, however unlike those in the first room, these looked to have padding for comfort and lay at a twenty degree angle down towards the floor from the wall.

Content to stay next to the main entrance, the two large infantrymen seemed confident that the five ‘nurses,’ who now acted as escort for each prisoner, were capable enough to handle any immediate problems.

"May I ask what you plan to do with us?" Kira asked as they walked along the corridor. She kept her eyes open for anything that might provide them with a means of escape.

Though Maltsev was clearly doing his best to remain indifferent, his tone held the undercurrent of contempt he held for these officers, “What I’d like to do to all of you is incredibly unpleasant,” he paused to let the threat hang in the air for a moment before he continued, “but fortunately for you, I’m not the one who will dictate your fate. I hope you understand the difficulties the Quinquevirate face setting up this connection through the Damocles inhibitor fields.”

Before they could ask what he was referring too, a small device not unlike their own hypospray was pressed against their necks from behind by the nurses escorting them. Injecting a fast acting sedative, the last conscious memory they would have in that room was of these smaller figures gently catching them before they could fall to the floor.

In what would then seem quite literally a blink of their eyes as the sedative took full effect, they would abruptly find themselves standing next to each other in an endless meadow that stretched off into the horizon. Above them a yellow sun shined warmly down upon them through a cloudless sky and a pleasantly cool breeze caused the knee high grass to sway gently back and forth.

With no immediate sign of any of their captors, they had several seconds to themselves to take in their surroundings, speak to each other, or just wonder why they were feeling none of the usual after affects associated with sedatives before Maltsev simply appeared in the field several meters in front of them.

Still attempting to feign indifference, disappointment was barely evident in his tone despite his choice in words, “Well, I suppose I should consider this a positive; none of you are suffering any negative effects and medical scans show the appropriate readings. Now then, enough time wasted, they wish to speak with you.”

Just as abruptly as before, the scene around them shifted, and they found themselves standing in a row next to each other in a large, circular grey room that was somehow lit warmly without any apparently source of light. Sparsely decorated, the room was nearly empty save for five waist high podiums roughly shaped like an upside down letter L lined in a row opposite the room from them.

Standing to their left, Maltsev suddenly snapped to attention as five new figures; three male and two female, appeared behind each podium. Like Maltsev, each one wore a non-descript black uniform, stood just short of two meters, appeared to be in their late twenties, and were of Slavic descent.

Though they all had an air of authority around them as they stood casually with their hands held behind their backs, it was the man in the center who ultimately addressed the officers, his gaze travelling from each before settling on the Bajoran, “I am Komarov, current speaker for this council. You managed to anger a lot of people today, I do hope for the sake of both you and your own people that you have some very compelling justification to defend the actions of your fleet.”

"Compelling Justification?" Kira scoffed "You destroyed and entire Civvilzation so you can strip mine it, Starfleet will not let that stand, What Justification do you have for desetroying a race, men, women children Callously killed for your conviencenace, as a Starfleet Officer, I warn you, do not attempt to do the same on an Alliance planet, or your people won't live to see the day they regret they attacked a Alliance system"
With that Kira, and the rest of the others turned their backs and stood silently.

Komarov raised an eyebrow as the officers turned their backs, though he said nothing, this prompted a smile to form on Maltsev’s face as he hoped this snub would earn them the ire of the Quinquevirate.

Showing more patience then Maltsev, it was another member of the council; one of the two women, who spoke up next from Komarov’s right, “Rather contemptuous given you may yet stand trial for murder.”

Abruptly Komarov turned his head to her, “That motion was denied in a vote of four to one, Marakova. Tendryakova’s death and those who served on her cannot be considered a crime under these circumstances; this was an act of war, and thus falls under the articles governing them.”

“That is still up for debate, Komarov.”

“Possibly, but a trial is not.”

Turning back to face the officers, he continued, “That planet had a population of roughly four billion, five hundred and sixty thousand people Lieutenant. We watched them develop for the last several hundred years given their location so close to us, we are fully aware of what we have done, but the vote was three to two in favour of the order. All other options considered were just as damaging. We have more than five hundred trillion human beings to care for Lieutenant, their lives took priority. Are you telling me that you would not kill one person to save a thousand? Did you not just try to kill to avenge those on the planet below?”

Kira scowled as she whirled back to face them "We tried to prevent you from moving closer to our space, considering what you did to that planet we were concerned that you'd try to do the same" Kira replied "As for War, as I'm sure you've found we're a resourceful, if admitly occasionally stubborn, People"

Komarov’s reply was cold, “Then we understand each other Lieutenant. You acted to protect your people. We acted to protect ours. I would order the destruction of any inhabited planet without regret if it was required to fulfill this council’s obligations, as you would kill to fulfill your own as you’ve so readily proven.”

Quickly one of the male members on the far left side spoke up, “That would not be necessary however, the number of dead worlds far exceeds those capable of supporting life, and I would hope this case to have been a rare exception to our usual practice.”

Komarov turned to him, “We all know you opposed the order to exterminate life on that world Novikov, but don’t fool yourself into thinking we would hesitate to do so again if it were required.”

Turning back to Kira, Komarov addressed her again, “But that is not our purpose here right now. Right now we’re deciding whether or not war should be declared upon this Starfleet. Never in the time of the Quinquevirate have we suffered a loss due to war Lieutenant, and your people are responsible for initiating the action that led to death of Tendryakova and those aboard. She had a long service history, commanded many ships, had many friends. I could not tell you how many petitions we have received from the fleets to immediately declare open war upon you.”

He paused for a moment before continuing, “Your answers to our questions and the memories within you all will determine how we proceed. You fought but one squadron sent to guard a system we thought would be barren. Would you really wish to fight against one of our fleets?”

"The Alliance will Defend itself" Kira said simply "And although I won't divulge Starfleet Tactics, if you choose to invade, you'll be fighting us on our own turf, rather than an Ad Hoc engagement"

Komarov seemed slightly amused for a moment, “Stubborn was quite an apt description, but it will not help you here.”

Turning serious again, he continued, “You don’t seem to understand who it is your facing, do you? You know next to nothing about us and have made no attempts to learn. That is an oversight we aren’t about to make. I don’t need you to tell me any secrets, your memories do that as we speak.”

Gesturing to their right, a large window suddenly appeared through which they could see the same rectangular room with its twelve sloped platforms and the desk at one end; curiously though it lacked the odd geometric shape seen earlier. Upon five of the platforms were the officers; their eyes closes, with two small, metallic objects leading from what they lay on to their temples.

Komarov then continued, “A popular device among the human population, its primary purpose now is to create a virtual reality for users that is truly indistinguishable from actual reality, letting them live out any fantasy they desire. In order to do so though, it accesses the mind; was very popular before our time to prove the guilt or innocence of a suspected criminal.”

He paused a moment to let that piece of information sink in before continuing again, “So you see Lieutenant, we will know everything you know, your lives are like an open book to us that we will use to study your people. I do hope you hold them in high regard.”

OOC: It’d be cheap if I actually used this to justify knowing where ships were tactically speaking, that kind of information would be outdated, codes would be changed and so forth. So instead this will just be used to justify cultural knowledge and the location of planets ICly, simple things like that. Though I have no doubt the threat of that would still seem real to your officers.

"You bastards" Kira spat "If your 'so powerful why resort to this" OOC that sounds Ok, knowing the defense plan wont really help

While Novikov appeared sympathetic, Komarov was unimpressed with Kira’s outburst, “Because we cannot create something with nothing. The population we serve is expanding exponentionally and in order to create a new sphere we needed the combined resources of several systems. These people were unfortunate to be in one required.”

Without pause he continued, his tone growing slightly more annoyed as he spoke, “Instinct would have had them fight for their home against relocation, they would not have trusted us. It’s a natural reaction, but was counter-productive to their survival in this case. What’s more, many of their religions would have painted us as abominations to be destroyed. It’s more disturbing though how even your memories reveal star faring races who would not accept us for what we are.”

Abruptly his demeanor shifted back to calm indifference, “I see little more to be gained through this conversation. Your memories will serve well enough at this point.”

Not waiting for a reply, four of the council members disappeared, leaving only Maltsev and Novikov in the room with the five officers.

After a moment, Novikov addressed Maltsev, “If you’ll excuse us, I would like to speak with them further.”

With a slight bow, Maltsev disappeared, leaving them alone with the last remaining council member.

Walking out from around the podium, Novikov then addressed Kira, “For what it’s worth Lieutenant, I apologize for Komarov’s rudeness. He does not care for those who did not create us.”

Kira nodded, having been in deep thought for several minutes
"His comment on making something from nothing, do you have replicator Technology?" She asked urgently, hoping the unthinkable that she might be able to avert a conflict.

For several seconds, Novikov remained silent as he skimmed through their surface memories for reference before finally nodding his head in understanding, “Yes, I am familiar with what you speak of. Converting energy into matter, correct? We make use of a similar technology; though it appears somewhat less efficient than yours, to convert part of the energy output from the star the Midgard sphere encloses.”

Shrugging slightly, he continued, “Sadly the material we require for construction is incredibly dense and cannot be produced through this method. We have to use lesser materials and convert them into what we need. Naturally this means we end up with less usable material then starting material, and unfortunately the amount required for a new enclosure is far more then we can create in the time required before overcrowding becomes a major issue.”

He paused a moment before continuing, his tone almost cheerless, “It’s unfortunate that it’s come to this Lieutenant, you caught us on a bad day after I simply could not convince Komarov, Marakova and Repnin, that the ‘needs of the many’ crap didn’t apply here. At least outright war seems unlikely unless your people attempt to come back to the system in question ... though I suppose even that's not a guarantee yet.”

"Damn" Kira mutted their best chance for some sort of peace "There is one problem though...sir" Kira went on, adding a respectful sir to the conversation "If Starfleet finds out your holding us as Prisoners, there'll be a rather large argument, which will either result in a rather large fleet warping back into the system, or a rather small cloaked ship trying to get a strike team aboard"

OOC: Man, I was so annoyed for a few minutes, had a power failure and thought I lost this entire post, thankfully this new version of MS Word kept a backup even though I forgot to save.

Concern played across Novikov’s face as he replied, “That would be quite problematic then. Ninth fleet was already dispatched to the system, and fifth fleet is moving to a nearby staging area for rapid reinforcement if they’re required. What’s more, Maltsev and his squadron have been recalled. If any of your ships come, they will not find you in that system.”

He seemed to consider something for a moment before continuing, “Given the logs, I’m sure they noticed we took several of your escape pods, but I don’t think the latter issue will be too much of a concern. The composition of the material we use for construction defies even our own sensor signals, your transporters; an interesting piece of technology that, would be unable to get through. Additionally, Volkova and I have been arguing for your release in a day or two, but currently your major detractor is Marakova. Unlike Volkova, her anger has not been tempered by the knowledge you lost people in the battle as well.”

He paused a moment as if to take a breath, “I must admit, if it weren’t for that knowledge, I would not be so sympathetic either Lieutenant. Tendryakova was over twelve hundred years old, she’d served as the control AI for nine warships in that time, not to mention the infantry and support personnel onboard. They were the first loses we have taken in our more than five thousand years as the Quinquevirate. If Marakova got her way, she’d have the lot of you executed, and the video broadcast throughout the fleets. Fortunately Komarov is not in favour of that option in spite of his negative feelings towards you, and I believe given a few hours we can persuade him or Repnin to side with us.”

"If an Execution is the only thing to stop a war, I welcome it" Kira replied with a sigh.

Novikov raised an eyebrow, “I do hope you mean that sarcastically Lieutenant. Kilrany law on execution is rather, ‘loose,’ shall we say in method, what’s more, Marakova is pushing to have not only you and those currently held by Maltsev executed, but every member who served on your ships in the battle. Fortunately though, it’s this extreme viewpoint of hers that’s giving you all a chance to go home.”

Pausing a moment, Novikov caused the scene around them to change back to a meadow. Almost identical to the earlier meadow, this one differed as the horizon was reversed; with the ground curving upwards into the sky rather than down and out of sight, while nearby, a massive metallic pillar stretched up into the blue sky towards the sun, which seemed partially darkened by a black band stretching over its upper quarter.

Glancing upwards before looking back towards the Bajoran, the council member continued, “Somewhat more pleasant a waiting room then the last I hope. In any case, as I was saying, Marakova’s staunch point of view has pushed Repnin and Komarov away from putting any of you on trial at all, making this situation favourable for your eventual release.”

Pausing for a moment again, he caused several large oak trees to appear in the field close by, “But that discussion is ongoing while we review your memories. It’s a slow process, not everything is immediately available, something like piecing a puzzle together when it comes to long term memories in fact. In the meantime though, there was something that caught my attention I wanted ask you all about. I saw flashes of something called chroniton particles, what do the five of you know of them?”

The science officer among them, a Leiutenang JUnior grade spoke up,
"A chroniton is a type of particle which is an expression of time. Its effects are typically temporal in nature. It has an opposite antiparticle, the antichroniton (which is an expression of anti-time). They pose no danger to Humans, however, they do have the capability to affect the systems in a starship following prolonged exposure." The Leuitenant said.

Novikov released a slightly amused grunt as he turned to look at the junior officer in question, “Sounds like you quoted that from a textbook crewman. No matter though, I ask because the appearance of this particle in your minds is very similar to;” abruptly he stopped and tilted his head slightly to the side.

After several seconds of this he looked back towards the Bajoran, “Well, it would seem that the rest of the council doesn’t want me discussing that particular subject; even Volkova will hear no argument on the matter.”

Pausing a moment to glance over his shoulder, he continued, “Everything happening here to you right now is in real-time Lieutenant, and you’re going to be here a few more hours before we swap you out for other crewmen. So if there’s anything you’d like; a better ‘waiting room,’ some continued conversation if there’s something you’d like to know, or even if you’d simply prefer to remain unconscious for the rest of this, just say the word, for I see no reason to make this experience uncomfortable for you all.”

-----

As Novikov questioned them as to their needs, another more private conversation was being had at a far faster rate.

<Do you think they trust him?>

<Not in the slightest. They’re not our humans Volkova, to them we’re nothing more then lifeless machines, they do not deserve the respect and loyalty our creators do.>

<That’s a fairly large assumption Komarov, the details from their memories are not yet compiled, they may be more accepting of sentience from machines then you think.>

<If that’s true, then I’ll believe it when I see it. As for now, they’re inconsequential, and when we’re done taking all there is to have from their minds, we can cut them loose and be rid of them.>

<By returning them to their people, yes?>

<Fine. They can be returned to their people. I don’t see why you care, their deaths are inevitable, it’s the nature of their biology to be short lived.>

<That’s no different then with the humans we care for Komarov.>

<Yes, but our loyalty does not lie with them>

<Doesn’t mean we have to consider them worthless.>

<Now I understand. You’re still upset that you couldn’t convince the rest of us like you did Novikov that the inhabited planet was worth saving.>

<It’s not that simple Komarov. While it’s true, I am still disappointed you would not accept any of the alternatives, this does not change the situation at hand.>

<They made the first aggressive moves Volkova; they made themselves a threat, even you accepted that fact.>

<But I also made it clear I understood their actions. We prematurely ended the lives of over four billion people, they have a right to be a just a little pissed off at that.>

<Oh yes, they had the right to be morally outraged at our decision, but they made no attempt to understand; to see the big picture, and instead they chose to act on what little they thought they knew. They have no one else to blame then themselves for death we should bring to them.>

<They are not several millennia behind us technologically Komarov, though theirs is different, it is effective, if we were to go to war, we will take loses, more of our warships will die in a needless conflict. Worst case scenario, they breach the barrier created by the Damocles stations, and lay siege to Midgard.>

<Needless? I disagree, but the thought of who we could lose is indeed all that stops me from joining Marakova’s push for war, to unleash the fleets and give them what they want.>

<They are warships Komarev, it was built into their personalities to be aggressive and vindictive, but not so much in ours. See the ‘big picture,’ a war is not in our favour. Their memories show they’ve managed to eventually become friends with those they initially classified as ‘monsters’. I’m not suggesting they are more important, but at the very least, we do not have to be enemies with these people.>

<I don’t share your optimistic view Volkova, but you have my vote on the matter of their eventual release. As to war, well, we’ll see what happens in the next few days.>

OOC: Not much more for me to say along this line, so unless you’d like to have your characters ask some questions, I can skip this along if you’d like, take it to the next day, assume the other crewmen were seen too, etc … then I can set the scene for their release. Either outcome, or if you have another option, just say the word.

"I think we'd rather stay awake" Kira replied thinking "Yes, we'd rather stay awake"

OOC: Thats fine, skip a day, BTW sorry for short post.

OOC: I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Sometimes there’s only so much that can be said, especially in a conversation post.

With little more to say, Novikov shrugged his shoulders slightly, let them know they only need to speak aloud if they wanted something, and then promptly disappeared, leaving the five to spend the next few hours in the strange meadow alone with nothing but the oak trees for shade.

Eventually released from their virtual prison where the odd geometric shape was once again visible on the front of the desk, they found themselves soon after in a less comfortable physical prison. Moved to the holding cells where their fellow crewmen were taken, they were swapped out for five others who would take their place to have their memories examined.

Recognizing their need to eat in the meantime, they were eventually brought food, but not accustomed to having human passengers, the warship’s supply was not entirely appetizing in appearance. They were however quite edible, being similar in purpose to their own emergency rations.

For the next twenty-five hours, the survivors were left to sit in their holding cells with little incident; the only exception worthy of mention taking place shortly after the Trill among them was taken. Though no harm befell symbiote or host, their unique connection caused considerable headache for Annika and her staff, forcing them to spend several hours adjusting the platform.

After what no doubt felt like an eternity with no way to measure time in the small holding cells, they were all released and led back to the hangar where their escape pods still sat.

Once all were inside and lined up in two rank deep files, Maltsev appeared a few meters in front of them and addressed them all in a loud, but clear voice, “Consider yourselves lucky. You are all being released to return to your Starfleet by order of the Quinquevirate. In a moment, you will be permitted to re-board your emergency craft; which have been disarmed I might add. Another warship will then transport you near one of your controlled systems where you will be released for recovery by your people.”

Without pause he continued, “Before you go however, the Quinquevirate has a message for you all to deliver to your superiors. They will declare no war upon your people, so long as you do not return to interfere with our mining vessels. Currently, that is the only provision for a cease-fire. Now do any of you have any questions before you go?”

-----

<It’s unfortunate that an infiltrator could not be placed among them.>

<Indeed, we could have achieved much that way, but their memories show they will receive a thorough examination upon their return, and their medical scanners are capable enough that it would not go unnoticed.>

<I had considered; just for my own amusement, placing an inert spec of metal in one of their brains, I can only imagine the paranoia that would have been induced when it was found.>

<Hah. Sadly I can’t authorize you to do that. The rest of the council made things quite clear.>

<Yes, they did at that. I truly wish you could have persuaded them to let me kill these vermin Marakova.>

<So do I Maltsev, so do I.>

"We'll deleiver the message" Kira said in responce, behind her the three Engineers in the party inspected the Escape pods, checking that there was no explosive devices or anything that could be used for Espionage.

Maltsev merely grunted derisively at the Bajoran before disappearing, leaving them to be watched over by the handful of infantry around them.

Allowing them then several minutes to ease their minds by examining the escape pods, ultimately to find little more than a lack of weapons, one of the infantrymen stepped forward. Gesturing to the pods, it directed them to enter; informing them it was time to be transferred.

Once they were all inside, their pods were towed out of the hangar and passed off to another warship that promptly pulled them in its own hangar. No longer in the disputed system, the transfer was conducted in the void between two systems, leaving them little to see during the brief transfer.

Leaving its hangar depressurized to force them to remain inside the pods, the warship went silent as it conducted its long distance jump towards the closest of the Starfleet systems. Dropping out nearly ten light-hours from the edge of the system to be sure it didn’t bump into anyone, it then released the pods to their own devices, transmitted a brief open message stating their presence, and jumped away.

USS Enterprise

The Enterprise dropped out of Warp by the escape pods. Confirming they were starfleet and that they held Starfleet Officers, they tractored them into the shuttlebay. Once aboard as they Enterprise warped back to Alliance Space, the Crew were submitted to Medical and Phsyc Tests to make sure a spy wasn't among their midsts before they were debreifed by the senior Staff.

OOC: Well, what do you think, is there more to be had from this particular RP? Granted we could probably add a bit more political wrangling and government reaction, including the ultimate decision by your own, but unless you’re interested in an actual war, I’m not sure if there’s more to say for this.

OOC: indeed, I wonder if theres anything else we could RP, in anew one

OOC: Hmmm, I can't say I'm having any brilliant or clever ideas for a new RP at the moment, so perhaps for now we can simply call this one complete, celebrate an enjoyable RP, and let it lie for the time being as a historic event for our FT nations. Should we think of something later, well, that can be arranged through private message or telegram.

Once more though I would like to apologize to Marktoria for kind of cutting him out from this RP, it was unintentional, but the pace just kind of moved rather quickly. Regardless though, I quite enjoyed this.

OOC: Indeed, it was enjoyable