[Blaster]

USS Ares
Deck 1 - Bridge

Tess nodded at the order.

"Aye sir. I will take three fighters and investigate." she said, before saluting and heading to the turbolift.

Tapping on her combadge she said, "Ensigns, Jamie, Jess and Henry as well as Shalik and Ellie meet me in the armoury."

USS Ares
Armoury

"Alright men, I'll explain everything in the hangar. For now, Everyone grab a phaser rifle and lets go." she said.

Tess walked over and picked up a sniper from the rack. "This will do nicely" she said to herself.

"Alright everyone. Lets get to the hangar."

USS Ares
Hangar Bay

"Ensign Jake, are the fighters ready," Tess inquired.

"Aye Ma'am. All set and ready to go." He replied with a salute.

"Good. Lets get this going"

She turned to face the pilots before saying, "There is a crashed ship out there. We will be going to find out whats happened, and land to look for survivors if needed. To your fighters men."

Tess walked over to her Fighter before sitting in the pilots seat. Ensign Henry sat down beside her.

"What do you think caused it Ma'am," he inquired.

"Logically, probably some kind of attack. The Nausicaans can be quite deadly" she replied.

"Understood. Powering up the fighter now."

"Jamie, Jess. Are you ready." Tess inquired.

"Aye Ma'am!" Came the reply from both of them.

"Submit codes to leave."

"Fighters, this is ATC. You are cleared to depart." Came a voice from the speakers.

"All fighters. Take off!" Said Tess.

Dorvan V
Airspace

"Clearing planets atmosphere now, should be clear from here on out," said Ensign Jess.

"Copy. Ensign Falora, can you give us the coordinates and what the suspected damage is." Tess said.

"Aye, Coordinates have been transmitted. Damage is a warp core explosion. Something ruptured the hull. You should be near it." The ensign said.

"We are near. Commander, what do you advise" Tess said.

[LogicalLeopard]

"We are near. Commander, what do you advise" Tess said.

USS Ares
Deck 1 - Bridge


R'Turan leaned forward in the captain's chair, watching an image of the fighters approaching the site on the forward viewscreen.

"Approach with caution. Scan heavily for hidden weapons emplacements, Lieutenant. This could be a trap," he added with a snarl. He didnt like this at all. His hackles rose as if he were out there in a fighter himself. A sudden thought occured to him. "I would also advise spreading out your formation."

(((Tag: Blaster)))

- - - Updated - - -

Dorvan V
Somewhere in the mountains...




In the middle of the Dorvan night, shortly before second moonrise, a quartet of shadowy figures moved stealthily through the woods toward the foot of a mountain range.

Mostly stealthily.

"Oh, no....we have to climb too?"

Ensign Brag Malin wheezed out his protest in a hoarse whisper, regarding the mountain with great apprehension. The comical sight of the winded Bolian caused Petty Officer Bintou Keita to stifle a grin behind her hand. A woven poncho covered his uniform, and his normal vibrant blue skin was heavily daubed with clay to avoid detection should the moon rise. Combined with his bulky backpack, he looked more like a Parallaxian mud merchant than the leader of their expedition. Most of that leading had been from several yards behind the rest of the team.

Senior Chief Lien Huong Tran was considerably less amused. At least it appeared so on the surface. "Are you tired, sir? The workout regimen for security officers on the Lakota was rather intensive. I designed it myself. I could carry you, perhaps," she offered in a laconic tone. The Chief was a recent transfer, and an accomplished war veteran. A model of physical fitness, it appeared that she hadn't so much as perspired during the journey.

Brag summoned every bit of dignity he could, straightening his posture. "I will have you know, Chief, that I am in superior physical condition for a Bolian male my age...its just...the long march, and my....the air here..."

"...contains 3% more oxygen than standard environmental protocols," Lien finished. "And the gravity..."


"It makes no sense for all of us to climb," interrupted Wakaro, their guide. "Give me the devices. I have made this climb dozens of times, since I was a child."


Brag unshouldered his pack and reached inside, removing a smaller satchel. He handed the satchel to Wakaro. "Be careful, those are...."

"I know what they are. And I know what is at stake," Wakaro responded, lifting his chin proudly.

Brag nodded silently. This was, of course personal for Wakaro. His people were trapped inside of the cave. His knowledge of the area had been an enormous boon. It was he that led them to the vent that apparently linked with the cave system holding the hostages. It was about a ten meter climb, and they could just make out the trickle of water dislodged from it's small mouth, gleaming in the starlight.

It was also Wakaro that provided them with another invaluable aid - their ponchos. Woven inside of the fabric were thin rings of kelbonite. "We are subjects of the Cardassian Union, and they diligently look after us...but sometimes it is better that they don't see us, and everything we do," he had explained. The ponchos served as homemade sensor cloaks. They weren't perfect by far, but they could obscure the life signs of a small party. They could also help scatter active scans of some equipment. As there was no Nausicaan welcoming party to meet them, they seemed to be doing their job.

Wakaro made his way up the cliff, moving as nimbly and quickly as a local life form. It wasn't such a difficult climb, Ensign Malin thought as he watched. In no time, he reached a small outcropping and side stepped over to the entrance.

Petty Officer Keita removed a special tricorder from her pack, which was low powered and tied to the objects in Wakaro's satchel. Wakaro opened it presently, and released twelve small objects which unfolded themselves and began scampering into the vent. The "crawlers" were sensor probes mounted on robotic legs, and covered in a "skin" to make them appear to be a spider-like creature found in the mountains. They could observe and report findings, sending low energy streams of information. Some of the crawlers would span the length of the vent to relay the information outside to a transmitter Wakaro placed at the mouth. That transmitter in turn shuttled information back through a series of low profile relays that the team had left in the woods, which ultimately was tight beamed to the Control Center at the Embassy and up into orbit aboard the Ares.

Keita smiled as the data began to stream in. The lead crawlers were mapping the cave system by sonar, emitting the same quiet chitters that the creatures they resembled did.

"Look at this, sir," she said to Ensign Malin, who was already peering over her shoulder." Its a squeeze in places, but so far, I think we can get rescue personnel in that way."

"You're right," Brag replied with a wide grin that uncaked some of the clay around his mouth. "The water level is lower as well, like Wakaro estimated it would be due to the increased mining...."

"And this chamber here," said Chief Tran, pointing from Bintou's left shoulder, "That looks like like an excellent spot to mount a defense from. It should hold the hostages, and our people."

"Right. We have to report this as soon as we get all the data."


After the crawlers finish mapping the cave systems, Ensign Malin sent a burst transmission of the data back along the relay line. The response came back two minutes later, in text form.


Ensign Malin. Situation possibly destabilizing on Dorvan V. Proceed with your team inside of the cave system and establish a forward position. You may be called upon to execute hostage rescue.Take all care to avoid detection. Acknowledge transmission and await further orders. Lt. Cmdr. Biiqs Tarquin, CTO.

Brag's shoulders slumped as he looked from the tricorder screen to Wakaro perched near the mouth of the cave.

"I could carry you," Chief Tran whispered helpfully over his shoulder.

[Blaster]

Dorvan V
Airspace

"Copy that Commander. All fighters, spread the formation out. I don't want us all going down to one explosion." She said.

"Aye, Ma'am." Came the response.

Tess could see the smoke. She wasn't sure what had happened, but she didn't want to end up like that shuttle craft.

"Okay, we're going to circle around the area to get a better look. Then land and check for survivors." She said.

"Errrr, LT. Can you see what I'm seeing?" Ensign Jamie said.

Tess looked towards the shuttle area and was shocked. The area around where it should have been was scorched and the shuttle barely existed anymore.

"Well. We can't salvage that. However, thats not normal for an explosion. Lets land and see if anyone lived. Ensign Jess, said a report to the Commander to say we are landing." She said.

"Done ma'am." Came the reply a few seconds later."

"Touch down in that clearing just there. Its right next to the explosion and will fit all 3 fighters." She said.

Dorvan V
Nausicaan Weapon Platform

Commander Grakan was worried. He hadn't heard back from his team he sent out to check for survivors of the crashed shuttle. To make matters worse. He could see three fighters hovering above the area.

"We are in range sir. Should I open fire?" said his main gunner.

"Negative. We'll send out a security team to kill them." He replied.

"Are you sure sir, we could just kill them now."

"I. Said. No. If we attacked one, the others would notice us and destroy us.

"Okay sir." The gunner said, beaten.

"Send out a team of 12. That should be enough." He said to his Security Officer.

"Aye sir, said his Security Chief.

Dorvan V
Shuttle crash site.

Tess got out of the fighter, phaser ready for any combat.

Looking around, she noticed people had been here. A few disruptors were lying on the ground and scanning equipment was also there.

"Look around everyone. See what you can find. Jess, get a report back to the Commander we have made contact" She said.

"Yes, Ma'am" Jess replied. A few seconds later she said "Ma'am. I can't get a signal out. The area must be stopping communications."

"A dark zone..... no wonder the shuttle crew never got a distress call out."

Suddenly a disruptor beam hit the tree besides her.

Looking around, Tess saw three Nausicaans in the trees, firing on Jamie, Jess and herself.

"There they are." Tess said, raising her phaser and firing. It hit one of them in the chest, and he disintegrated on the spot.

Jess shot one of the others in the head, and he fell backwards. Dead.

The last one took out a grenade and tried to throw it, but was shot before it was even armed.

"What the hell....." Ensign Henry said.

"Ambush. Probably a scouting team." Tess replied.

Looking around, Tess saw that the explosion wasn't natural. Someone trapped the shuttle. She could tell, as there was a scorched corpse at side.

"Someone trapped the shuttle. That means survivors." Tess said.

After a few minutes of searching it became clear it was deserted.

"The survivors must have left before the Nausicaans arrived. We can search in our fighters. Lets go." Tess said.

Then, They heard a disruptor blast, follow by a high pitch scream.

[Redking353]

Ares
Briefing Room

"Good. Lieutenant Rosek, you should know that we plan to break the shield of the island fortress with a tachyon pulse from the deflector dish after the mountain stronghold falls. I trust there are no impedements to that plan?"

Rosek turns to Biiqs
“We should be all good on my end ill be in Engineering preparing for the power transfers”

After The meeting Rosek goes to engineering prepares the transfers himself not wanting to involve the saboteur unintentionally.

TAG: ((Biigs))

[WelshAvenger]

Dorvan V
Forests of Dorvan V


A Joint post by WelshAvenger and Silynn

Attachment 9773

Attachment 9774

They had continued walking through the forest towards the village but it was still miles away. The Chief had found a place where they could get some rest and was, using his words, “defendable as all hell.” Christopher drank cool water from a canteen as he looked around. The location was good. There were plenty of places to take cover behind rocks and the treeline was fifteen metres away giving plenty of clear ground.

Scratching his chin, Christopher spoke his thoughts aloud, “You know, if I lash a laser scalpel about twelve inches off the ground to one of those big trees out there that form the natural exit way from the forest and make a tripwire to activate it, I’m betting that will discourage anyone from running across that open ground.”

Martin was taking a break from the stretcher while the Chief used it to rest his knee, he whistled softly, “Damn, Doc, remind me never to annoy you.”

Jei was listening to the conversation behind her, yet she was intently surveying the open ground from the treeline to their current ‘rock fort’. The dual edge sword of the open ground was it provided a clear field of fire, but it also gave too many avenues of assault. Unless…

“Hey Doc… would you say we can sacrifice the stretcher?” asked Jei.

Christopher frowned at first but knew that the engineer had something interesting to suggest. “What do you have in mind? “

“Well, wouldn’t it be beneficial to influence our attacker’s approach? Like putting the stretcher out there as something to draw them. And if Martin or the Chief could spare their battered and bloody uniforms, we can use these tree leaves and what not to stuff said uniforms. Make it appear we desperately abandoned a dead comrade,” explained Jei.

Chief Hayes scoffed. “That is the oldest trick in the book… no way anyone would fall for that.”

“When did you last see a Nausican read, Chief?” reasoned Christopher.

“I don’t expect them to believe it… but, it would at least put them along that tree line there,” clarified Jei. “You see, the trap wouldn’t be the stretcher per se… it would draw them into those trees were we can rig the remaining grenades from Amita’s pack. The toe poppers I rigged, we can place in and around the stretcher.”

Martin looked at the Chief, then Christopher, before looking at Jei. “Doc… Jei...I wish to amend my earlier statement. Remind me to never annoy either of you.”

“You're clearly the wisest man in Starfleet security, Martin.” Christopher joked.

The Chief looked at Christopher and Jei then piped up, “While you two are MacGyvering your way into the Starfleet Security handbook, Martin and I can set up an intersecting fields of fire from behind the rocks either side of here. You two,” he pointed at Christopher and Jei, “can remain here using the rocks as cover and make sure that the Nausicans come towards you.”

Martin nodded, “It’s a fine plan, Chief, I’m in.”

The Chief actually smiled, “Aye lad, I knew you would be.”

Realisation hit Christopher like a photon torpedo. “Wait guys, you’re not serious, are you? Martin’s running a concussion that’d make a Klingon cry and you can hardly walk. Neither of you is in any fit state to be making a run to regroup with us if things go South!”

Jei ardently shook her head, agreeing with Christopher. “Chief, if you and Martin stay, I’m staying. No more sacrifices, noble or not. We… I can’t…. No…” interjected Jei as her eyes began welling up.

She recognized Chief Hayes grim determination. She had seen it too many times to count in her young life. Tavo the tellarite engineer who sacrificed himself to save her from capture at the hands of nausicaan pirates. Chief Reliath, the andorian away team leader who sacrificed himself so Jei and three others could escape the Jem’Hadar on Chin’Toka. Lieutenant Nukzegi, the saurian security officer who used his body to shield Jei from a grenade blast. She understood the resolve and the look in Chief Hayes eyes, but she did not want to accept it, not when she could still do something.

“I appreciate the thought, lass, but the plain fact is that we’re slowing you down.” The Chief stated sadly. He looked at the anguish on Christopher’s face, limped over to the young Doctor and laid a hand on his shoulder, “Look, son, you’ve done your best to get us this far and you’ve both come up with brilliant ideas to slow down our hunters. Now stop trying to be in command for a moment and let an old soldier take things from here.”

-----------------------

Aktackaek motioned his troops to move forward cautiously. After the carnage at the shuttle site, they had been warned to be more careful. He could hardly believe that their orders were still to capture the Starfleeters alive. His blood burned for revenge as they moved deeper into the forest. Keisanke, his scout had moved forward to where the gorge narrowed and was giving him the all clear signal. Aktackaek made a cutting motion with his hand and the group moved forwards. Too late, they heard the soft chime of the tricorder and the fast whine of an electric charge building up before the air was filled with mist. Keisanke dropped his weapon and fell to the ground as if she had been shot. Aktackaek’s vision was blurry as he scanned for enemies among the trees. He couldn’t believe that they had been duped, even as his world turned to black and he fell to the forest floor. As he hit the ground, he screamed in frustration and his fingers convulsed on the grip of his disruptor, the shot firing harmlessly into the air.

--------------------

Christopher had finished rigging up his trap with Martin’s help. The man had been strangely solemn since the Chief’s decision and he walked slowly towards the stone where he would assume his firing position.

Moving back to the makeshift camp area behind the larger stones, Christopher noticed that the stretcher was gone and so was the Chief. He looked at Jei, “Did you get everything set up?”

Jei nodded solemnly. “The stretcher and the decoy body are sitting where they need to be. The remaining toe popper mines are being set by the Chief. I rigged three grenade drops in the trees closest to the stretcher. I marked them so the Chief or Martin could shoot them to trigger them.”

Jei took a breath and looked at Christopher, her eyes pleading. “Can’t you order the Chief against this course of action? Sacrifice isn’t the way. We can figure something else out without losing anyone else. Maybe someone saw our shuttle’s warp core explosion? Help could be on its way… we…”

“I don’t like his plan either,” Christopher said, “and if he thinks we’re leaving them, he’s crazier than a Ferengi with an Oomox addiction.”

She looked up at Christopher’s eyes and expression. He had confidence in his statement and that reassurance washed over Jei like a blanket on a cold night. “So what’s the play?”

“Honestly? I have no idea what…” Christopher stopped as the unmistakable sound of a disruptor being discharged echoed across the clearing. “It would seem that we don’t have a lot of time to come up with that plan either.”

Jei picked up the tree branch she had dropped nearby and began sweeping it along the ground to mask her and Christopher’s footprints and trail as they quickly made their way back to the planned ambush spot.

Christopher settled with his back against one of the large rocks that constituted their cover and looked at the sky, noticing that there was a weather front moving in. Hopefully it brought nothing but rain as that would only hamper their hunters. His thoughts turned to practicalities, They were all exhausted, scratched, battered and in the Chief’s case, in need of surgery. Christopher tossed a ration bar to Jei and raised his canteen in a toast. “Here’s to the terrible revenge we’re about to exact for Amita.”


Attachment 9774

[Blaster]

Dorvan V
Shuttle crash site.

Jess and Henry looked at each other and said "Ellie" before running towards the scream. Tess picked up the grenade from the fallen Nausicaan and followed them.

Once they arrived at the site where Jamie, Shalik and Ellie's team was, they saw the disruptor shots.

Jamie was firing his phaser into the trees, and Shalik was shielding Ellie, who Tess saw had taken a disruptor to the chest.

Henry and Jess started firing their phasers, but Tess knew the enemy were using the trees to not be spotted.

"Jess, move back" Said Tess.

"Why Ma'am?" Jess asked.

"Well, unless you want to get thrown into a tree by a grenade explosion, you might want to" She replied.

Jess moved back without saying anything. Tess armed and then threw the grenade at the trees.

She heard a cry as it detonated, and half the disruptors stopped.

Then, before she could move, a disruptor bolt hit her in the left part of her upper chest, and she blacked out,

Jess was stunned. She watched Tess get hit and fall down by a disruptor.

She raised her rifle and fired into the trees. She heard a cry, signalling she had hit something.

She saw 4 figures appear, all firing disruptors.

Jamie, Shalik, Henry and Jess opened firing. Killing them in a few seconds.

Then they could heard a cry of pain. And then "I...... Surrender......"

Jamie moved closer to investigate. "What the hell...." he said.

He came back, a female Orion behind him.

"What the hell!" Jess exclaimed. "An Orion?"

"Yep. No clue why shes here." Jamies replied.

The Orion sat down near one of the trees, placing a hand over a burnt part of her leg, the grenade explosion.

"Shalik, watch the Orion, Jamie, Henry, help me move the Lt and Ellie. Don't want them to die."

A few hours later...

Tess woke up to the sounds of a fire crackling.

"Ah, your awake" Jess said.

"Indeed. What happened?" She said.

"You got shot. Badly. I fixed you up with a med kit and Ellie's fine too. Ellie's getting her rest though." Jess replied.

"Good. Did you get them all." Tess asked.

"We killed 5. Your grenade killed 6. We have one prisoner, an Orion." Jess said.

"I see some group of them got involved with the Nausicaan raiders" Tess said.

"Yep, I have a question. How did you survive, that shot would have gone through your heart." Jess said.

"Vulcan's hearts are in a different place to humans. Its useful really" She replied.

"What do we do now?" Jess asked.

"We head back to the ship with the Orion. Is Ellie gonna be able to do her job?" Tess inquired.

"She will, ah look, shes awake." Jess said.

Ellie walked over, grinning despite the bandage over her wound.

"Can we go yet Ma'am? I want to get back to base." She said.

"Sure, get everyone on the fighters. The Orion can go in ours." Tess said.

They moved to the fighters got in, the Orion got in behind and sat down.

"All fighters, take off." Tess said over comms.

They took off, and started heading back towards the ship.

[LogicalLeopard]

Ares
Briefing Room

Rosek turns to Biiqs
“We should be all good on my end ill be in Engineering preparing for the power transfers”

After The meeting Rosek goes to engineering prepares the transfers himself not wanting to involve the saboteur unintentionally.

TAG: ((Biigs))

Sounds good, Mr. Rosek! I'll promise not to drain the ships resources dry!


An hour later...

USS Ares
Deck 4 - Security Briefing Room


"This...this is insane."

Lt. Steven Kurts' smile widened. "Its good sir, isn't it?"

"It's insane," repeated Biiqs, arms folded. A HALO jump right into the energy shield...."

"Well, sir...the plan is to go through the shield, actually." Kurts smile stretched just a few millimeters wider. Biiqs was beginning to detest that smile.

"But even still, if something goes wrong..."


Kurts toned down his grin, straightening his form and puffing his chest out a bit. "Sir, we're MACOs...We are the something that goes wrong for other people. You've seen my file, you know I can do it."

He was right. Although Kurts struck Biiqs as being sort of a irreverent jerk, his file was impeccable: Advanced Tactical Training with honors, Dominion War service with decorations and distinctions. From the looks of it, this wasn't the craziest thing he'd ever done, and he was successful before.

Kurts had approached him after a general briefing Biiqs conducted with the security staff, prior to the upcoming mission. There was apparently a modifier to the plan that the Captain hadn't had time to brief him on directly.

Lt. Kurts and the members of Phoenix Team, the undercover MACO force on the Ares, were to deploy from the Argo shuttle in low orbit to avoid detection, dropping down through the shield seconds after the deployment of the tachyon pulse. Their mission was to serve as a guard against the very real possibility of the Nausicaans activating transport inhibitors. The elite security officers could identify and subdue the Nausicaan leadership, tagging them with isolinear tags to thwart the inhibitors and beam them away. It was a good plan, but daunting, due to the number of things that could go wrong. Kurts' file said he could do it. But his cavalier attitude did not ease Biiqs' mind

"I don't doubt your skill, Lieutenant," replied Biiqs, "Or the skill of your team. Frankly, though, I'd feel a little more confident if you had more reservations."

Kurts' brow furrowed in confusion for a brief moment, and then anger lit in his eyes. "If you think I'd ever risk the lives of my team..."

"I don't know what to think, Lieutenant," Biiqs responded, with an unexpected smile of his own. "So, I'll trust instead. I'll trust the faith that the captain has placed in you. I'll trust the faith that you've earned in your years of distinguished service. We dont know, each other, you and I. But we've been suddenly thrust into a dire situation where many lives are at stake. I find that in those situations, it's best to be honest about how we feel about each other, and then put those feelings aside and trust each other.

You seem like you like straight talk. So, I'll be honest. That cavalier, cocky swagger that you have about yourself does unsettle me, as it pertains to this mission. Maybe that's just your way. I've known men like you, good and bad. I am an Advanced Tactical Training graduate as well. And I know cowboys. I've got a little of that in me. But these are impressions, not truths. I'm sure you have impressions about me as well."

"You seem too fat to be an ATT grad," Kurts remarked, frankly.

"I will have you know, Lieutenant, that I am in superior physical condition for a Bolian Male of my age," Biiqs replied with mock indignation. "And...the Academy was eleven years ago. But you've had courses in Tactical Assessment and Analysis for Varying Species, you can't trust a simple thing like mass distribution."

Both men laughed, and Biiqs continued. "I realize that this mission depends on you to trust me just as much as it depends on me trusting you. So let's trust each other, put these impressions aside, and get to work, shall we?"

"Yes sir," replied Kurts, with a genuine smile and a sharp salute. "We'll get the job done."

"I trust that you will. From experience, make sure you consult with Meteorological Sciences before you jump. I had to jump onto Ronara Prime. They say the suits can deflect lightning, but I swear you can feel it in your teeth for weeks... "

[Blaster]

Dorvan V
Space.

"Alright, we are clear of the atmosphere, making approach to Ares" Said Tess.

"Copy that" Replied Jamie and Jess.

"I'm going to contact the Commander and get a cell set up for this one." Tess said.

Tess nodded at Henry, and Henry then proceeded to open a comms channel to the Ares.

"Commander, this is Tess. We are returning" She said.

"Copy that, why did you not contact us?" Came the annoyed reply.

"The area the shuttle crashed in was a comms dead zone, no way to contact you. We got attacked by Nausicaans while looking for survivors" She said.

"Anyone hurt?" Said the Commander.

"Ellie and Myself were hit, but patched up" Tess said, "We also took a prisoner, an Orion female."

"I'll have a security detail meet you in the hangar, Commander R'Turan out" He said, irritated.

"All fighters, spread out along a line, begin landing procedures." Tess said.

The fighters spread out at normal distance, and submitted their landing codes.

"This is ATC, all fighters are cleared to land" Came the response.

The fighters landed, Henry and Tess got out, with Henry pointing his phaser at the Orion

The security team came, and took the Orion away.

"I'm gonna get back into uniform and then head to the bridge, do what you want for now" Tess said.

They saluted and then left.

Dorvan V
Tess's Quarters.

Tess entered, and changed into her standard uniform. She placed the phaser down and filed a report before heading to the bridge

Dorvan V
Deck 1 - Bridge.

Tess exited the turbolift and stood next to the Captains chair.

[Asteropax]

Dorvan System
Captain’s Yacht Eris

The yacht gave Captain Teriir a slight jolt as it slid back into place on the underside of the Ares’ saucer. He let out a sigh of relief at the thought of being home. Leaning back in his seat, he thought through the events of the last few days.

The Lakota was needing some assistance with some of the defensive satellites they were working on constructing for the colony. Specifically, they were having some trouble with getting the first one they’d made operational and syncing them to the Cardassian computer system. He decided to join them as he had prior experience with both during his time as a Tactical officer. It took a little while but they managed to get everything going. He stayed long enough to watch the full system’s test before departing just about an hour ago to return to the Ares.

The sound of the airlock opening at the back of the Eris made him turn around in his seat. A few of the technicians stepped on board to do some post mission maintenance, with Lieutenant Vars peering in from the corridor beyond. He stood up and nodded a greeting to the technicians before moving to board his ship.

“Welcome back, Captain!” Lieutenant Vars greeted him cheerfully, “Did everything go alright?”

“Thank you, it looks like we’re in business,” he answered while stepping into the familiar corridors of the Ares. Looking around, Teriir glanced over to her, “What’s the news on this end?”

“Well,” she hesitated before continuing, “One of our shuttles went missing enroute to one of the outlying settlements. Our recently arrived Fighter Pilot CO, Lieutenant Tess, went out on a search and rescue mission along with some of the other pilots. They got back a short while ago with an Orion prisoner.”

“An Orion?” He repeated, his lips forming a subtle frown, “That’s strange. Although I remember hearing about some of them forming an . . . alliance with a band of Nausicaans during a security briefing on DS9, I didn’t hear anything about them being involved here.”

“Perhaps this is the very group you are thinking of?” Vars suggested.

“Could be. I’ll have a chat with our new friend after I’ve checked in with the other officers,” Teriir decided. He focused back on the Lieutenant, “Was there any sign of our people?”

“Nothing,” she replied with a shake of her head, “The shuttle was destroyed but it’s too early to know exactly what happened. All five of the shuttle’s occupants are missing.”

“I want a full report on what happened as soon as possible,” he instructed Lieutenant Vars.

She nodded in the direction of the turbolift at the end of the corridor, “Lieutenant Tess is likely on her way to the bridge to fill Commander R’Turan in by now. If you hurry, she won’t have to tell the tale twice.”

“Understood,” he replied and hurried off in the direction she pointed. He needed to get involved as soon as possible to find the missing crew members. Upon entering the lift, he requested for the bridge and began waiting.

Thousands of thoughts started racing through his head. He recalled his own time when he was stranded on Aureum and his fight to survive. It was likely the officers on the ground, if they were alive, were also experiencing such a fight. The numerous rescue missions he’d performed and participated in over the years also jumped into his mind. This was the first time he’d be dealing with a situation like this as a Captain. He gave himself a small shake and straightened his uniform to push the thoughts away.

The turbolift finished its journey and the doors opened to reveal the familiar sight of the bridge. He stepped out onto the bridge quietly. He watched as a Vulcan Lieutenant got off the other turbolift and moved over to where Commander R'Turan sat in the Captain's chair. Realizing this was Lieutenant Tess, he remained where he was and began listening to the two of them.

(( TAG: Tess ))

[Blaster]

Dorvan V
Deck 1 - Bridge.

"Sir, all the fighters are back, everyones safe." Said Tess.

"How did the Mission go LT?" Said R'Turan.

"Pretty successfully, everyone survived and I think we could get some intel from the Orion." Tess replied.

"Can I have the full report now?" R'Turan said.

"Aye sir. What I've figured out is that part of the area is a "Dead Zone" for communications. Anyone that goes down in their is unable to communicate and basically if anything bad happens they can't call for help." She said.

"That explains why the shuttle didn't send out a distress call." R'Turan said.

"The shuttle on the other hand, I believe most of them lived." Tess said.

"How do you know that?" Said R'Turan.

"The shuttle didn't explode on impact or that scouting team wouldn't have been there when we landed and also, the explosion was massive, I believe they rigged the shuttle to explode if anyone went inside it. Logically thats why the scouting team was only three people instead of 6 or 7" Tess said.

"And what about the security team that attacked you?" R'Turan said.

"Twelve soldiers. Ellie got shot first, shes fine now, but I took 6 of them out with a grenade, they had bunched up to concentrate fire. Eventually we got them all and the prisoner. Also sir, I recommend being careful near the prisoner. She knows shes more then capable of escaping." Tess said.

"How, shes behind a force field?" The Commander said.

"Orion females have the ability to plant suggestion in males minds. Females get a headache from it, and Vulcans are immune" Tess said.

"Of course you are...." R'Turan said grumpily.

[WelshAvenger]

Dorvan V
Forests of Dorvan V


A Joint post by WelshAvenger and Silynn

Attachment 9773

Attachment 9774

Evening had come and gone without incident and night had finally fallen on the bedraggled group of survivors. They had been catching naps in a rotation but they had done little to dispel the deep fatigue that had settled in. Christopher peered up, the sky above them gave just enough light for them to see approaching enemies and he was struggling to stay alert.

The evening sun had warmed the large rock Christopher sat behind and it had slowly released its heat, keeping the chill away from him as the night had worn on. He looked at the horizon which was only just starting to show daylight and then over at Jei who was asleep, her care worn face now peaceful. Tapping her on the shoulder, Christopher gently whispered, “Jei, it’s time to wake up. It’ll be dawn soon.”

As Jei’s mind stirred her senses told her that she was not in her bed. The situation flooded her and she suddenly sat up and surveyed her immediately surrounding then let out a sigh. “Thanks, Doc… I was just about to enjoy a nine course meal at a very chic restaurant on Risa. They even had lobster… like real lobster, not the replicator ones…” admonished Jei as she stood-up and stretched out her aching muscles and body.

Christopher noticed that the lines of worry had reappeared on Jei’s face but he was glad that her sense of humour hadn’t vanished, “Well, madam, Chez Cushing can offer such fine culinary delights as…" he peered at the rations bars, “Iron rations bar - dried meat and vegetables while for dessert, our chef has created Iron rations bar - dried fruit. All to be washed down with a canteen of freshly purified water.”

Jei clapped her hands and emoted an exaggerated cheery mood. “Oh goodie, and here I thought we only had the plain dull flavor of iron rations bars. Thank you, Doc,” expressed Jei.

Christopher bowed slightly, “I’ll take some ration bars to the Chief and Martin. I’m amazed that the Chief’s stomach hasn’t brought every Nausicaan on the continent to us with all the growling.”

“Better check on his leg too, Doc, as I am sure I heard his groaning… the painful kind, during the night.” informed Jei.

“He’s certainly a tough one. I’ll check it out but I hope we get some help from the ship soon.” Christopher said. He tucked the silver foil packs into his tunic, wondering why emergency ration packs were bright silver on the outside when all they would do is make anyone very visible to hunters. Perhaps starfleet thought that being spotted by rescuers was more likely. Moving cautiously around the rock formation, he crouched low to the ground and started to make his way to the Chief.

Knowing that Christopher would have protested, Jei made sure Christopher was far enough away before she grabbed her backpack. She had a strong need to check her various traps she had laid out in the treeline to her and Christopher’s rear. Checking again that Christopher couldn’t see her, she leapt over the rocks and began working her way to the treeline going in the opposite direction of Christopher.

Christopher hadn’t got more than a few metres when there was a blue flash in the treeline followed by a gut wrenching scream. For a second, Christopher didn’t know what was happening, then he realised that someone must have triggered his laser scalpel trap. The forest went quiet apart from the anguished moans of the person who had likely just lost their feet from the ankles down. Then a single disruptor blast rang out into the night and the moaning stopped. No Nausicaans burst from the trees and Christopher assumed that their leader was now being very cautious. They were going to need some incentive to come out. Christopher could see the chief laying in the grass making furious ‘take cover’ signals.

Sifting through his memories, Christopher tried to remember if he had ever heard any Nausicaan insults. He was slightly proud of the fact that he could curse in seventeen dialects and it was all thanks to serving with a Tellarite. A phrase burst into his head and he yelled it without even thinking, “Manjara wuk Bokliok su Miop’ar!” Christopher heard some gasps so clearly they had heard him. He needed them to come out towards the rocks where Jei was currently hiding so he tried again, “MANJARA WUK BOKLIOK SU MIOP’AR!” This time there was a bellow of rage from the treeline and the Nausicaans boiled out towards Christopher as he ran for the safety of the rocks.

Jei instinctively took cover when she hear the disruptor shot. Her eyes looked back at her camp and she suddenly realized that the campfire was still glowing. In her haste, she forgot to extinguish it. Before she could fully reflect on her error, two loud thumps in the far treeline near Chief Hayes and Martin were heard. The thumps were followed by two arching projectiles that in a blink slammed into the camp she and Christopher just vacated. The rock fort erupted into a huge apocalyptic explosion that vaporized the area turning it into a huge blackened crater.

Christopher stared in horror at the crater where he had just left Jei. The shock of losing another crewmate kept him fixed in place, unable to move for a moment.

With a roar and yell, unable to contain his emotions in check seeing Jei’s position just obliterated by a pair of nausicaan assault missiles, Martin stood up and began firing rapidly in the direction of the launchers origins in the treeline before him. It was part anger, but part distraction as he knew Christopher was caught in the open. Martin’s training overrode the general fear he had at exposing himself to possible enemy fire. His only way to help Chris was placing his own well-being in danger.

Chief Hayes knew exactly what his friend Martin Kowalski was doing. With his usual demeanor he yelled at Christopher. “DOC… GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE NOW! MOVE IT!!!”

Christopher could see the teal blue of his medical backpack over near the Chief. It must have been thrown out there by the explosion. ‘Good thing it’s blast proof.’ thought Christopher as he ran forward to pick it up.

Disruptor fire erupted from the treeline, targeting Kowalski. Chief Hayes took aim at the grenade traps in the trees and fired several aimed shots. Two of them hit their mark as several grenade explosions took place mixed with a few screams of pain.

Scooping up the backpack, Christopher diving into where the Chief had been hiding. “They got Jei, Chief!”

Just as Christopher reached the relative safety of Hayes’ and Kowalski’s fighting position, a flurry of disruptor fire from treeline from a position to the group’s left began cascading all around them. As if on queue, disruptor fire from their front resumed.

“They got us in a cross-fire,” exclaimed Hayes, “Kowalski get down!!!”

Before Martin could react and take cover his body twisted and he fell to the ground.

“MARTIN!!”

Seeing Martin fall to the ground, Christopher acted on autopilot. He rose from the relative safety of the Chief’s firing position and sprinted towards the fallen security crewman. He fired blindly towards the Nausican position, carefully keeping an eye out for return fire. Christopher slid next to Martin, already pulling out his tricorder. Martin hissed in pain and held his hands against his right ribs. Blood was oozing from between his fingers. Christopher immediately gave the man a hypo of pain killer and, when he relaxed, said, “Move your hands Martin, let me see.”

Martin let go of his ribs and Christopher winced. Catching the look, Martin exclaimed, “That good huh, Doc?”

Grabbing an adhesive dressing, Christopher cut away the man’s uniform and slapped it against his skin. “I’ll not lie to you, Martin, if that disruptor had caught you any more than a glancing blow, I’d have to be having a conversation with your wife and kids.” A disruptor shot hit the ground near Christopher, throwing up a shower of earth. Eyeing Martin’s rifle, Christopher snatched it up and started firing back at the Nausicans. “Keep some pressure on that wound, Martin. If it starts to bleed through the dressing, apply another one, got it?”

Christopher could make out a particularly large shape in the treeline. He sighted along the phaser rifle and fired, the bolt catching the figure in the stomach. “One down.” he said to Martin.

The explosion and shockwave had knocked Jei to the ground where she was momentarily stunned.

Christopher glanced back and saw Jei slowly rising, shaking her head, no doubt to clear her ears from the explosion. He shouted her name, very glad that she was alive and pointed to the stretcher. At her confused look, he pointed to the stretcher and then made a zooming motion towards the treeline.

Jei nodded and fumbled for her tricorder, activating the stretcher so the it only rose a few centimetres. With the Nausicans distracted by Christopher’s insult and the thrill of injuring Martin, they didn’t even notice that the stretcher had picked up speed.

As the stretcher reached the treeline, it detonated, throwing trees and Nausicans into the air. When the dust settled, there was no more disruptor fire being aimed their way.

Martin sat up, “Wow!” he breathed.

“Wow indeed.” Christopher stood up and swept his tricorder across the clearing. He could see the Chief’s lifesigns through the dust cloud and Jei appeared to be in good shape. His tricorder beeped in a different tone as Jei approached the pair, “One of them is still alive.” Christopher said.


Attachment 9774

[Asteropax]

USS Ares
Bridge

. . . . .

"Orion females have the ability to plant suggestion in males minds. Females get a headache from it, and Vulcans are immune" Tess said.

"Of course you are...." R'Turan said grumpily.

“Then we’ll use what works,” Captain Teriir stepped in, making more than one officer look over in his direction in surprise. They knew he was back aboard but hadn’t realized he was on the bridge. He continued now that he had their attention, “There are a number of Vulcan Security Officers on board and their natural immunity makes them the best choices to monitor our new prisoner. Although I’m aware of some exceptions to the effectiveness of the Orion’s pheromones, I don’t want to risk someone falling under her influence.”

“Yes, sir,” R’Turan replied as he moved out of the seat to offer it to Teriir, “I believe you overheard the Lieutenant’s report?”

“I did,” he answered while walking over to the chair. Upon sitting down, he glanced around the bridge, “I understand the “Dead Zone” prevents us from communicating with any survivors. Can we pinpoint their location and beam them out?”

“Negative,” Ensign Falora answered from where she sat at one of the science stations, “There are 15 major subterranean Kelbonite formations within a 20km radius of the crash site. As Kelbonite scrambles sensor beams, it is impossible to get a transporter lock.”

“Hmm…” the Captain shot a brief glance at Tess while thinking through this information, reminding himself that the two officers were Vulcans. Why was Tess so different from all of the other Vulcans he’d met? He would bring up the subject later when they had a chance to speak one on one. Looking back to Falora, he brought up something else, “Are we at least able to locate any of the missing crew members?”

Her silence answered his question. Leaning back into his seat, he drummed his fingers on his knees in thought, “Given a hostile party was near the crash site, we can assume the shuttle was shot down. We can’t send more shuttles to search for survivors without risking more people and search parties on foot won’t be able to communicate. Are there other options available to us?”

“It doesn’t look like those kelbonite deposits block out everything,” Lieutenant Nagi pointed out from a Conn Station, “We could send down some probes rigged with pattern enhancers into places where there isn’t as much interference. The survivors would have to locate them but we could get a lock on them. Perhaps adding in a radiation source of some kind.”

“Radiation?” Teriir asked with a raised eyebrow at the suggestion.

“I heard some forms of radiation, like neutrinos, can be detected by tricorders with passive radiation scans. If our people have tricorders, they would be able to detect it,” Nagi explained, “If they modify the probe’s signal, we’ll know which one they’re at and we can either beam them out or send someone to pick them up.”

“The landing of all those probes would also draw in Nausicaan and Orions to those areas like signal flares,” R’Turan growled while crossing his arms, “Our people would have a fight on their hands trying to reach the probes, not to mention the free salvage the pirates would have access to if it doesn’t work.”

“Our people are more important than our equipment. The pirates would also be forced to split up, making any sort of fight more manageable for our people,” the Lieutenant argued, “Yes, there’s no guarantee our people will even notice the probes but we can’t just stay here and do nothing.”

The First Officer nodded his ascent, “That’s true, but it doesn’t sound like an easy modification to make. If we’re going to do this we’d better do it soon as it will likely take several hours, perhaps a day, to get the probes ready.”

“Better contact Engineering and have them get started,” Teriir ordered and looked over to the helmsman, “Adjust the ship’s orbit so we are in between the crash site and the planet’s main settlement. A better angle may let us more accurately locate places to land the probes once they’re ready.”

“Aye, sir,” the helmsman replied.

Glancing around, the Captain was feeling more confident as the crew started to carry out his orders. He knew the odds weren’t in the favor of the missing officers but they wouldn’t give up on them. His first officer’s expression caught his attention, “What is it, Commander?”

“While you were away, we began the preparations for the hostage rescue from the Nausicaan’s Mountain Base,” R’Turan informed him, “Commander Biiqs and his people have performed the scouting mission and have a plan. We were beginning final preparations when this happened.”

“One mystery shouldn’t delay your efforts; When everything is ready, go ahead with the rescue,” Terrir replied. He turned his gaze to the Ready Room, “Can you fill me in on everything that’s happened since I was away?”

“Of course,” the Commander said as the two of them headed over to discuss things further.

(( TAG: Tess, R’Turan, Rosek, Biiqs ))

OOC: Trying to be inclusive with everyone. I wanted to make sure it doesn't seem like the ship is hanging out in orbit doing nothing to try to help Jei and Cushings' group out; you can go ahead with everything we're doing as you see fit. Who knows? Maybe you'll have escaped by the time we're ready to launch the probes. I'd like R'Turan's conversation with my character to be a summary of what's been going on in the Roleplay during the Captain's time away on the Lakota. Feel free to join us, Tess!

[Redking353]

U.S.S. ARES
Deck 17-ENGINERING

After making the adjustments for the tachyon pulse Rosek turned his attention to reviewing the overload compactors in case something went wrong.
New orders reached engineering as he was finishing up and the urgent request from Teriir brought a smile to his face. After assigning two teams to the task Rosek made his way to the bridge to take his station.

TAG: ((Anyone))

[LogicalLeopard]

USS Ares
Deck 15 - Combat Information Center





Reports were streaming in from the advance party in the cave system. It appeared that the Nausicaans kept approximately 11 guards in the cave during the night shift, with 6-7 situated near the mouth, and about 4-5 at all times in the rear, to prevent flight further into the caves. Their walk throughs were irregular and sloppy. It was a far cry from an efficient guard detail, but as Biiqs thought about it, he believed that the Nausicaans were actually the hostages to try something. Such would provide individuals to make an example out of, and a bit of sport in hunting them down.

It didn't seem like any were taking the bait, but he wasn't sure they could. The crawlers could not assess medical condition, but from visuals alone, Ares medical staff believed that most of them were ambulatory, but weakened by hard labor and their ordeal.

Commander R'Turan was right. This situation needed to be resolved quickly.

"Fighters incoming," a Petty Officer remarked. Biiqs turned toward the screen to watch three blips approach the computerized diagram of the Ares. The screen shifted to show cameras inside of the bay, and Biiqs was surprised to see the crews disembark not with the shuttle crew, but with an Orion prisoner.

Attracting the attention of a nearby crewman, he said, "Specialist Bekos, could you do me a favor? Intercept Lt. Tess after she's done debriefing with the Captain and Commander R'Turan. Give her my compliments, and invite her to join me in the CIC. Were pushing up the timetable on the rescue, and will need a detachment of fighters."



(((Tag: Blaster)))

[Josh Broughm]

USS Ares
Cargo Bay 3

Max was helping install an air routing system to administer the anestizing gas When the captain & the XO entered to see the progress that Max had made. He noticed the two enter.

- I was wondering when you guys would show up. We're almost ready to test the system.

((TAG Terrir & R'Turan))

- I am sorry that I couldn't get this done sooner. Damned cargo bay was packed full of random crap. It felt like a friggin' junk drawer!!

((TAG Terrir))

- Yeah, I completely understand. I'll try to do better.

Max noticed a crewman give him a thumbs up, signaling to him that the system was ready. He yelled out to the room.

- EVERYONE, CLEAR OUT! I'M GOING TO RUN AN ACTIVE TEST OF THE SYSTEM!

((Tag Terrir))

- Who better to run the system on than me?

((Tag Terrir))

Max walked over to a small crate & pulled out a foam pad, an a rather fluffy pillow.
- I know what I'm doing.....sometimes.

He gave the captain a joking wink.

((TAG TERRIR))