Kearsage and Avenger

Posted on Thu May 2nd, 2013 @ 12:58pm by Commodore Andrew Clifford & Brigadier General David Hurd Sr & Captain Torilla Yamaguchi & Commander Tressa Brislan & Lieutenant Saith i-Ki Baratan & Sergeant Maal son of Torg

2,336 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Mission 82 - The Aggressor
Location: Cestus III
Timeline: mission plus 44 hours

On the bridge of the Kearsarge they watched the shuttle launch and head off towards the fast approaching USS Saratoga.
Andrew order the view screen back to forward view, "Right everyone, lets get the away team back on board and get over to the Avenger."

The Avenger had not responded to hails and was drifting off course, hanging in space.

Lt Maxwell sitting at ops looked up from his console, "Captain, I'm not sure the Avenger is going to be able to respond to our hail. Apart from their loss of power, I'm getting some strange sensor readings in the vacinity of the ship. It could be some form of jamming, or it could be the output from a cloaked ship. If it is a cloaked ship it is pretty crude, because from here it's pretty easy to detect, although I can't 'pinpoint' the source. Do we have any knowledge of the Gorn experimenting with cloaking, Sir?"

Andrew shook his head, "Not that I'm aware of Lt. However, that doesn't mean they aren't. Keep scanning and let me know if you locate anything. Keep an eye out for them attemping to contact us using non standard means. I know some of those officers and they can be very imaginative when they like".

To his front the Helm officer chipped in, "ETA with the Buraq, 15 seconds, Sir"

"Understood. Mr Maxwell, get the away team back here."

Maxwell acknoledged the order and contacted the away team.

Away Team

Tressa watched as the Lieutenant Quan boarded; he was the last to do so.

<<"Kearsage to Away Team, are you go for departure.">>

<<"Affirmative Kearsage, Shuttle Four is en route, ETA 8 minutes. Package is on course.">> Tressa responded. She piloted the ship out of the Buraq's dock and back towards their ship. You're on your own for now, she thought, as the Buraq appeared on screen.

Kearsage

He looked towards the captain, "They'll be 2 minutes, Sir, they are now boarding the shuttle. The Buraq is set on course for Federation space and will engage impulse as soon as they leave"

Andrew smiled, "Excellent. As soon as the shuttle is docked get us over to the Avenger, Warp 8"

Shuttle 13

Meanwhile. Aboard the Shuttle, Torilla raised an eyebrow as she requested clearance for depature which Operations quickly gave her. "Confirmed. Shuttle Three is ready to roll."

"Copy that," came the Ops Officer. "Proceed at your disceation."

"Roger, Seeya next time..." and with that Torilla activated the engines as she gently drove the shuttle out of the hanger and with that she was free in space as she took a quick scan as she noticed the quickly approching USS Saratoga, she took a moment to admire the clean lines of the larger Akira class ship which was one of the most well armed in the fleet, next to the Galaxy class and its various members.

She tapped her com. "Shuttle Thirteen to USS Saratoga. Request premission to land?"

"Copy that, is Actual aboard?"

Torilla turned her head as she looked at Hurd, clearly she wanted him to answer that question.

Lt.Col Hurd spoke up in a loud voice, and said, "Roger that, Actual is aboard, requesting clearance to dock."

"Roger that, you have clearance... activating marker... land in the Portside hanger please...we will remain on station untill you land.."

"Understood. " Yamaguchi responded, all busness..

Col. Hurd turned to Commander Yamaguchi, and said, "Commander, as soon as we are aboard, call a meeting of the senior staff, and have them bring systems reports on their respective areas of responsibility." Pausing for a moment he continued, " Also, from now untill further notice, all personell are required to carry side-arms, because the way this situation has played out thus far, i do do belive we are likely to see Battle, and i want to he ready for all possible contingencies."

Yamaguchi raised an eyebrow as she focused on the landing approch as the shuttle entered the hanger of the Akira class ship and with smooth grace, she landed the shuttle and with that, she secured the shuttle. "Welcome aboard Captain, Commander."

"Shuttle Thirteen confirms. Out." and with that she severed the comline, also
she knew that the Commander of the ship, regardless of his rank and title was addressed as 'Captain.'

She smiled as she opened the massive hatch at the rear of the shuttle, she lifted her duffel as she proceeded to walk off of the shuttle and into the busy hanger deck.

Avenger

Glancing again to the center chair Saith noticed the Captain and XO reading reports and, with heads together, having a quiet discussion. It was more than she could stand. “Favdt!” Saith was beginning to lose her temper, her adrenaline pumping, “get on that communication system! We need a voice and ears!” she yelled towards the com station.

Moving over to the Engineering station she pushed the officer aside and looked at the nearly dead board. Emergency power was all they had. Glancing over her shoulder she yelled at her own officer, “get to that station,” she indicated Security, “and keep an eye on it. I don’t want ANY surprises. GOT IT?” the officer nodded.

Saith grabbed the Engineer she had previously pushed aside and shoved them back to their station. Moving forward to the Operation station she grabbed the young officer by the arm and pulled him close to the console. “Ops you track down that anomaly; I don’t care if you have to hold your breath and swim over there! We need to know if that is a ship or something else. Gorn don’t have cloaking devices, but they are part of the Typhon Pact now and it could be an ally or someone completely different.” She angrily jabbed at the part of distorted space she had seen earlier.

“I’m leaving the bridge,” she suddenly announced. She turned and headed for the Jeffries Tube well aware her angry outburst had gained the attention of the Captain. He watched her leave the bridge in a stunned silence.

She angrily crawled through the Jeffries Tube, swearing again when she banged her knee on a rough spot and tore her uniform. At one point her weapon caught on a corner and she nearly did a face plant into the wall. “FAVDT!”

She kicked the plate out of the way and stood in the hallway, a security detachment nearby looked completely unalarmed, “we heard you coming” one said as the team snickered. She shook her head, it was true she had made plenty of noise coming through the tube.

“Where is Sgt. Maal?” The officer pointed and Saith headed that direction. She saw him point at something and the young woman he was talking to nodded and moved off. “Maal, this is such, such . . . Hnaev (crap).” Her face was flushed and she was shaking with anger and exertion.

Taking a deep breath she attempted to calm down as she told him what she had done on the bridge. “How can we just be sitting here and no one seems concerned? I am so going to the brig.”

Maal stood there looking at Saith as she vented her frustrations."One of these days maybe you will learn a little patience."

Just as she spoke her Com badge beeped. Her officer at the Security station on the bridge reported, “The Kearsage appears to be headed our way." “Good.” Replied Saith, she glanced at Maal, he outranked her but then again so had the Captain. That had never stopped her before, of course that was part of why her file was so damn thick. Her penchant for bad language was another reason. [In for a penny in for a pound] she thought, “Get Ops and Com working together to signal the Kearsage, use the exterior lighting if you can.”

"Don't worry things down here in engineering will be handled and my team will keep an eye on things just in case Gorn get stupid. Now relax and get back up to the bridge."

"That is one of the reasons I came down here," Saith expelled her breath slowly calming down. "I am not convinced it is the Gorn, or at least not just the Gorn." She frowned as she thought about it. "There was a distortion that indicated a possible cloaked ship, or a hiding spot, but that is not typical Gorn behavior and so far as I know they don't have cloaks."

She looked up at Maal, "the Rihan do though," she said quietly. "The Gorn are now part of The Pact, so it is possible their, . . . our, . . . their new friends do also." Saith cast a glance around to see if she had been overheard. "I wish I knew more about Engineering, do you think we can bounce the jamming signal back to where it is coming from? Would that disrupt it? Can we convert the energy they are using to jam us to jump start us back up?" She knew she was grasping for straws but they were up the proverbial creek without a paddle, and she needed to get back to the front of that damn canoe, the bridge. She wondered how mad the Captain was at her, another mission, another write-up to be sure. Her thoughts went to her counseling session with Dallas. She cringed and looked at Maal waiting for his opinion.

He stood there listening to her:"It is possible that we could try that and see what could happen. We have to talk with the Captain about it and see what he thinks before we go through with it."

Saith nodded. "I am not sure what his plans are, he and the XO were discussing something. I guess I will have to go back and talk to him." Saith sighed, how she managed to always get her backside in a sling she didn't know. She just wondered if Counselor Dallas was right and the Federation officers saw something worthwhile in her.

"If you want I can go up to the bridge with you to speak to the Captain"

Saith smiled up at Maal, "No. If I want to be in Star Fleet I need to be able to talk to my supervising officers," she consciously did not use 'superior' as her anti-authority personality kicked in, "but I love that you offered."

"Keep in touch," she said as she turned and headed back to the hallway and the Jefferies tube. She had plenty of time to think about her conversation with Dallas as she crawled back to the bridge.

Once she arrived on the bridge, Saith quickly outlined her ideas to both the Engineer and the Communication officers to get their thoughts on them. After they weighed in, she approached the center chair, "Captain, I have a plan. It may or may not work, but it seems like it will. I already have Security, Communications, and Engineering on contacting the Kearsage of our difficulties." She was keenly aware that she had overstepped her station with that, but she continued, "We also have an idea that might expose whomever is in that quadrant." she pointe to the screen Ops was watching.



Saratoga

As Lt. Col Hurd exited the shuttle, he was met by 3 of his Marines, one of them a Staff Sgt. Looking at the Col., the man saluted and said, ''Welcome aboard the Saratoga, Captain.'' Returning the salute, Col. Hurd said, ''Staff Sgt., What is current ready alert state of the the ship?'' Pausing, the man said, ''Sir, the ship is ready in all respects, awaiting final approval from the Xo and you sir.'' After a moment, the man continued, ''Sir, these two Marines are your personal bodyguards while aboard, Sir.'' Col. Hurd looked at him, clearly feeling inside that he did not need bodyguards aboard ship, but he decided to go along with it anyway. Saluting the other two Marines, he said, ''Alright men, lets get to the bridge''. With that, they fell into step behind him as Lt. Col. Hurd walked to the nearest Turbolift, walked in, and said, ''Deck one, Bridge.''.

As the Turbolift doors opend on deck one, the Officer of the watch said, in a sharp tone, ''Captain on the Bridge!''. Col. Hurd walked out, saluted and said, ''At ease''. As the on-duty Bridge crew set back to work, his Bodyguards walked to their positions on the bridge. Col. Hurd walked over the center chair, sat down, and said, ''Comm, open a channel to Captain Clifford.''

Kearsarge

Andrew heard the brief charge of static then the voice of the comm officer from the Saratoga.
"Saratoga to Captain Clifford"

Andrew tapped his comm badge, "Clifford here"

''Sir,'' the Col. began, ''Myself and the Commander are aboard, and i am requesting further orders''.

"Understood Colonel. Continue the search for the crew of the Buraq. They were out there in two shuttles, so the shuttles must be somewhere nearby. "

The Col. replied, in a confident voice, ''Sir, you have my word that we will find them, and bring them home'', he paused for a moment before continuing, ''Alive or dead sir, we will bring them all home.''

"Acknowledged, Kearsarge out", Andrew leaned back in his chair for a second. Maxwell on ops didn't let him wait long, though.

"Sir, the Shuttle is now back aboard"

Turning to face Maxwell he smiled grimly, then got up from his chair again, "Have them report to the bridge, and arm the forward torpedoes. I want a full spread set for minimum yield. Helm get us over to the Avenger, bring us to a halt 100km from them. "

Tressa and the team were on the bridge moments later.
“Captain Clifford, how can I assist you?” she asked.
Andrew smiled, "Just being back on board is fine for the moment, Tressa."

Even with the inertial stablisers on he felt the suptle shift as the ship went to warp, heading towards the Avenger.

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