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Literary Challenge #10 : Replicator Rations

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,018 Arc User
edited January 2012 in Ten Forward
Hello and welcome to another edition of our writers' challenges! :cool:

Today we start the two-week run of the tenth Literary Challenge: Replicator Rations
After an incursion with the Breen in the Orellius Sector Block, your ship has been left severely damaged and most of your systems are offline -- this includes the Warp Drive, which is irreparable due to the destruction of your port nacelle, and Communication Array, which was also destroyed. Since you were only to be conducting routine patrols in the sector, and your ship was only to be away from Starbase for 5 days, energy supplies are running low and you must enact rationing of the replicators. Reports suggest that it will take you several weeks to limp home. How did you explain this to the crew? Did you put a chef in place
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  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    Captains Log : U.S.S. Black Swan, SB Commanding

    Computer replay Situation Report
    ]Thinking to myself reminding me of situation war gaming solutions based on survival training ]


    <Working>
    "Replicator Rations

    After an incursion with the Breen in the Orellius Sector Block, your ship has been left severely damaged and most of your systems are offline -- this includes the Warp Drive, which is irreparable due to the destruction of your port nacelle, and Communication Array, which was also destroyed. Since you were only to be conducting routine patrols in the sector, and your ship was only to be away from Starbase for 5 days, energy supplies are running low and you must enact rationing of the replicators. Reports suggest that it will take you several weeks to limp home. "

    End Replay"

    We fared poorly against a whole Task Force of Breen vessels damage wise .We were able to extend our hand of friendship once again to-our Deferi host and save several of their poorly armed Patrol Frigates and transport craft.

    Reviewing our after actions report and damage board in my Command room I have gone to my Cabin for a more detailed status board in my Corridor and room proper desk. We are off the gird for updates to known enemy positions and allied forces.

    I will soon convince a Command Staff Briefing in the Ready Room .
    Prior to doing so I will form a priority list and options and weigh them with my well informed and skilled crew.

    I record this log for a worst cast scenario; that we cannot personally transmit it to Star Fleet Command.
    It is my hope that we can form a sort of "Three Stones" Meal as our hydroponics research department has exhibited success using samples of native tubers and discovered cave food stuffs from our Zaria mine Rescue. Deferi Space authority at Deferi Prime is not up to Star Fleet Engineering standards but i should be able to supplement this ships medical staff for any injuries we do not wish to risk on a sub warp escape.

    As we are a Variant of the Voyager Ship Adm Janeway commanded .. I will reference some data on ships computer to her crews dilemma and correlate it to what i know of this area.

    Priority One is the safety of this ship and we are unable to use some of our best skills without a Deflector dish. DS-9 is the nearest capable facility of the repair level required of us. I have talented Engineers and good morale in my favour. but destroyed Nacelle would cause issues and danger if we could attempt a warp bubble. I will set a priority on the Impulse drive systems . .We have an excellent Aegis system IO am a research Scientist. and a good amateur cook I can craft up some simple broth from my own herb box
    and save my allotted rations for the injured. .

    Before calling the conference I will leave the Second officer with the Bridge and walk the ship again with the Executive Officer. .see appendage for Crew Citations for this action.. We are not giving up.. we want no Star Fleet facility named in our Memory. I must cancel the Holosuite use to conserve energy and tonight's poker tourney these items will ding morale.. So Im breaking out a crate of floor hockey kits and will do an impromptu lesson in Hockey to divert worries.

    We have options to relay messages via shuttle..I have my captains Yacht a Delta Class and F class available that are still space worthy.. I will re check our staffing board and assign missions on a volunteer basis to reach Deferi areas and relay alerts to us..
    "Code Rudolph One"
    Things to do
    Establish COMM with Star Fleet and request assistance Find any Deferi patrol vessels to escort us
    Based on medical needs formulate a ration matrix Grams per Crew
    Recommend Staff go short rations for injured.
    Prioritize Repairs
    if we can avoid Breen intercepts to compound danger prioritize Mask energy signature and give Lt Dufur our Ferringhi a chance at a lead role on the bridge rotation
    Conserve energy and close areas and consolidate staff. Break out surface sleeping devices and sleep more in my cabin. consult water filtration recovery systems osmosis controls..re-inspect air filter environ .
    Limit hours on mess hall . get security team focuses on anti boarding party and core security.
    <Computer end log record statis..prepair emergency beacon to eject with life pods as needed>

    <working>

    Time to walk the ship.. Change to work casual wear.
    Transfer command controls to my Medcial Sick bay console..im goign to duble shift in medical until the crissis is over..
    <end log>
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    Captain's Log StarDate xxxxxxxx

    During a routine patrol in the Orellius sector, we were ambushed and attacked by a group of Breen raiders. We managed to fight them off but we lost our Communications array and Port Nacelle in the battle.

    Chief Engineer Zhang informs me that we will need at least 3 weeks in Space Dock before we can restore warp power and at impulse speeds we are predicting 3 weeks before we can reach the nearest starbase.

    Energy reserves are low and we have had to implement replicator rations to insure that we can last until we reach starbase. The crew has performed admirably and are handling the entire situation like true StarFleet Officers. Special Mention to first officer Konom, he has kept the crew busy enough that they cannot focus on hunger.
    Science Officer Nimi has a plan to deploy a makeshift solar sail to try and increase our energy reserves.
    I am concerned that we may be attacked again. I have launched several probes broadcasting a general distress call but we are the only starship scheduled to be in this sector. We have a run-about in our shuttle bay, but if I send it out to try and get help, we will be defenseless if the Breen decide to show up again.
    Captain’s Log Stardate yyyyyyy
    The Breen came back to try and finish them off. It is a good thing I kept the run-about in reserve as we were able to drive them off and only sustain minimal additional damage. Phasers are down, but we have still have quantum torpedoes. The run-about took some damage and is no longer capable of warp travel, so the option of sending it for help is out of the question.
    Sensors have detected a large power output from a moon in a nearby uncharted system. I am assembling a team to take the run-about and see if the residents are able to provide any assistance.
    Captain’s Log Stardate zzzzzz
    It has been three days since the away team has been gone. With no communications it is impossible to know if they have been able to find help or if they are even still alive. The most we can do is continue on and hope for the best.
    There have been no additional signs of the Breen and I think we have shaken them. I hope so anyway – one more battle will deplete our energy reserves and we will not make it back to Starbase.
    Excerpt from the LightBlade’s Bridge Security Logs StarDate aaaaaaaaa
    Lt. Cmdr Iliana: “Captain, I am picking up several warp signatures heading our way. Sensors are not functioning well enough to determine what type of ships they are.”
    Lt. Cmdr Pirayr: “The Breen may be returning.”
    Vice Admiral Palermo: “Shield’s Up! Load Quantum Torpedoes. Zhang – get down to engineering and see what you can squeeze out of these impulse engines for me.”
    Zhang: “On my way sir!”
    Vice Admiral Palermo: “Iliana, put the signatures on the screen - let’s see what we are up against.”
    Four Breen warships appear on the view screen, heading towards the LightBlade.
    Vice Admiral Palermo: “Pirayr – target the lead ship and prepare to fire all available weapons.”
    Iliana: “ Sir- I am reading 6 more warp signatures approaching. There is no way we can hold off 10 ships!”
    Vice Admiral Palermo: “Set a course that will put us right in the middle of the 4 ships ahead. Maybe we can get close enough that they cannot target us effectively.”
    Iliana: “Sir – the 6 signatures are Federation Starships! Cmdr Ojpen must have gotten help! I read the run-about is there as well! The Breen are warping away sir!”
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    Captains Log, supplemental:

    While on routine patrol in Deferi space, the Epyon was attacked by Breen vessels. Unable to shake the vessels as a whole, I ordered the crew evacuate to the saucer section, and further ordered the activation of multi vector assault mode, with the intention of sacrificing the beta and gamma vectors if necessary.

    Fortunately my bridge crew were able to fend off the breen vessels remotely long enough for all vectors to escape, and I ordered that each vector would maintain a close but distinct course until we had enough distance to safely stop for damage assessment and re-integration.

    "Computer, Halt recording."

    Amuro Ray,Tapping the combadge: "Amuro to Nuzuri, what is the status of vector beta?"
    Nuzuri: "Captain, beta is in critical condition. The EPS conduits are in ruins, and we won't be able to make field repairs. I would advise against re-integrating with the vector in its current condition."
    Amuro: "Very well, have your teams repair what they can over there and await further instructions. Try to shore her up for possible re-integration. Ray out."

    I stepped out to the bridge, "Zazhid, damage report for vector Alpha."

    Zazhid: " Main power offline; weapons disabled; shield disabled; replicators offline; deflector offline; hull breaches on decks 4, 5, 7. Main computer offline. Backup power is holding. lower nacelle critical, upper nacelle destroyed."
    Ray: "Damn, if Gamma is less than peachy we are pretty much stuck here. Open a channel."

    Eibeist: "Eibeist to Alpha; Gamma vector is in poor condition."
    Amuro: "Eibeist, tell me what you know."
    Eibeist: "The warp core has been shut down to prevent breach. Replicators offline; Life support minimal. Structural integrity is 60%, the starboard nacelle has been destroyed, and the port nacelle has fused coils."
    Amuro: "Damn... okay, Eibeist, order your repair crews to make repairs, focus on re-integration. I want you to beam back here, we need to discuss strategy. Amuro to Nuzuri, have teams focus of making re-integration possible and beam back, I'm calling a senior staff meeting."

    *Later, in the ward room*

    Amuro:" So lets get this straight, across the vectors, we have all we need to haul ouselves back to spacedock, but the way its spread out, we effectively have no warp drive?"
    Nuzuri: " I'm afraid so... We'll be lucky to get impulse power up and running again, provided we can successfully re-integrate the vectors."
    Amuro: "Drive issues aside, we also have a potential failure of long range comms, otherwise we'd have a tow already, heh. What is the status of replicators? As we are going to be out here for weeks more than we're meant to be."
    Jelun: "Replicators are offline across the ship, but there is enough in the pantry to last a week, but Six believes she can get the replicators back online, but we'd have to enact rationing to prevent an overload, as the EPS conduits are barely holding together."
    Amuro: "Right, First, lets get this ship back in 'one' piece, get underway, then deal with the supplies. I'll break it to the crew when we get underway. Dismissed."

    *1 hour later*

    Amuro: "Open a channel throughout the ship."
    Zazhid: "Channel open."
    Amuro: "All hands, this is Ray. We are about to perform a risky remote re-integration of the ship, brace for hard impacts. Unfortunately, I am forced to order the enforcement of rationing protocols due to EPS damage. Jelun will be taking up full-time chef duties while the replicators are offline, so we'll be having a burns supper this evening, and taking suggestions on the future menu which has not been set as of yet. With any luck, we'll make it back to spacedock in a little under 67 days.
    Ray out."
    *Channel closed*

    Amuro: "I'll be in my ready room, let me know if anything changes from our predictions. You have the bridge, number one."
    Zazhid: "Yes, sir."

    So I sit down in my chair, reflecting on the events of the day
    " Computer, begin recording."
    -Recording-

    Captain's log, supplemental.

    The Epyon has been thoroughly trounced, and we are now undergoing reformation to be able to return to spacedock 'intact'. This should provide a good tale for the family, and a setback for my career. I never wanna see a transfer order to a desk assignme--

    "Pause recording. Report!"

    Zazhid: "Captain, gamma vector failed to re-integrate. She has just exploded!"

    Amuro: "TRIBBLE!! If you need me, I'll be in engineering."
    Zazhid: "Sir?"
    Amuro: "I may wear red, but I'm still a damn good engineer! Now, leave me be, an' git oan wi' command while I'm doon there!"
    Zazhid: "Yessir"
    *under breath* "why does he descend to that accent when hes frustrated? Human Scotsmen are strange..."
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    "Warning: Internal Chronometer offline. Stardate unavailable."

    Captain's Log, Defera Front

    I must commend those on the ship who fought valiantly in the latest skirmish with the Breen. The sacrifice of the twelve officers we have lost will not go unnoticed, will not be ignored. At this time, we must attend to the living. I wish the news were better.

    The loss of our port nacelle caused a power surge the likes of which I have never seen in all my years aboard a starship. The resulting damage destroyed the galley on board as well as the circuitry controlling all replicators, even those in the crew quarters. To make things worse, the emergency supply of foods in Cargo Bay 2 was lost in a hull breach. At 08:00 hours this morning, I made a formal announcement to the crew to break out the emergency rations, which we will take count of and distribute accordingly. There can be no hoarding. It is times like these, times of peril, that we are our most human. We must act together to survive.

    A meal plan has been created by the officers in charge of the galley. Normally the crew would eat at their designated off times unless following another plan for dietary concerns. However, at this time the crew has taken a consensus vote to eat at 09:30 and 19:30 hours to help ration the food. Those with aforementioned dietary requirements will have to be supplemented by vitamins provided by the Medical Bay.

    At this time we have no indication that Deferi supply ships will be crossing this region of Orellius nor any Federation Starships. With the starboard impulse manifold in need of repair, Helmsman Ward expects that it will take approximately five weeks to return to Deep Space Nine. With no form of communication we have set our course and are preparing to face whatever awaits us on our journey.

    We only have two functional torpedo bays, both aft, leaving a wide blind-spot on this nigh maneuverable vessel. The three forward phaser arrays left are only operating at forty percent efficiency. Tactical Officer McConnell believes if we take two offline we may be able to use the power to overload one of the beam arrays, bringing it to one-hundred twenty percent. However, others believe that targeting using three beam arrays to fire simultaneously will allow us to do greater damage if enemy vessels choose to attack. A meeting for that subject is scheduled at 14:00 hours.

    I can only expect the unexpected at this point, but hope for the best.

    End Log

    Captain Nidran Malibur - U.S.S. Sabian - N.C.C. 102611 - Galaxy Class
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    Captains Log, encrypted authorisation Song Zeta 491

    We have suffered tremendous damage to our ship during a Breen incursion, and with limited supplies on board, I must now enact certain measures I would not normally ask of my crew. The damage is irreparable in this part of space. I have plotted a course back to Starbase 5 at our current speed we should return within 19 days, in all my service i never been in this bad of a situation and now I must inform the crew. - Admiral Song, U.S.S. Traveller

    "End Recording". Song enters the bridge. “Computer open all internal channels”

    “Channels Open”

    “Captain Song to all crew members. It is with much sadness that I must inform you of our current situation. I feel your worry, your fear, and your pain but please do not give up hope. We still have power, and we still have the impulse drive online. Yes, it may take us longer to get home than planed, but, we will get there, and we will be stronger for it. External communication is down but we are working on a plan. We are also regrettably having to initiate room sharing to conserve power, speak to the duty officers if……….. if you have preferences but after today we will … assign anyone who………. who has not volunteered……….. Do not….. give up hope……. we will soon be home…… Captain out.”

    Sivak, Song’s first officer, approached her “River……Admiral, are you hurt?”

    “No old friend, it’s the crew, their pain and fear, it just got too much. I am ok now. The Borg implants are helping me to adapt.”

    “I wish you did not under go that procedure, it was illogical you did not need it to help Six.”

    “It was my decision and most of my other officers stood by me, I no you do not understand my kinds need for emotion and the order I feel through the Borg implants; but at times like this it helps me more than any Vulcan training could.”

    “Very well captain. I may have a plan for our communication problem. If we were to modify a communication probe and launch it on a parallel course to our own, set to transmit on all federation frequencies, we could monitor them with a small shuttle craft.”

    “We do not have the power to mask the shuttle or fight off another attack should anyone attack the shuttle. I have launched a distress beacon encrypted with my own Admiral Security codes so that only Starfleet should be able to locate us. Our first priority is to get the deflector back up to full power and so we can maintain the structural integrity and then transfer the battery power to the remaining nacelle, we may be able to establish a small warp field.”

    At which Six approaches, “Captain if I may. The deflector should be operational within 48 hours, however, the sensors indicate that the aft cover plate has been damaged and we are slowly leaking antimatter from the warp core. I have activated an emergency shield to prevent any more loss from the warp core. I have locked it in place with Borg algorithms so they can not be removed, however, I do not know how long we can maintain a level 10 structural shield at these power levels.”

    “Very well get the deflector back online and use any able crewmen, and, Sivak ... have science teams working on the shields, the weapons systems will have to wait. We will be in federation space within 5 days providing we can reach maximum impulse by tomorrow 0900 hours. You have your orders. Dismissed.”

    The bridge officers leave.

    River returns to her desk in her ready room. “Computer, open a channel to all crewmen.”

    “Channel open.”

    "At this time, we are going to have to initiate emergency rations as soon as we start to get more systems online we will be able to sort out a more amicable solution, however, for the time I ask that you pull together and help your fellow crewmembers in their tasks. I thank you for you valiant service during the battle and again do not give up hope when we reach the federation boarder we may even find another ship waiting to tow us home.”
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    Captain's Log

    Due to an unfortunate and unforeseen error with the Universal Translator, we're kinda screwed. What started as a routine charting mission in Defera Space has quickly dissolved what I can only accurately describe as an utter disaster. On only our second day out from the nearest Starbase, we encountered a lone Breen cruiser, the kind we've routinely crushed with nary a thought or ounce of effort dozens of times in the past. No one was worried. And besides, their ship had apparently suffered moderate damage.

    We were hailed when we came out of warp. They informed us that they were part of a separatist movement from a fringe colony. Though not interested in any sort of relationship with the Federation, they desperately sought asylum.

    It was at this moment I first realized something was amiss. I informed the commanding officer that we would gladly escort them back to nearest station, and even offered a small repair crew to aid them with their "borrowed" cruiser. Rather than react with the expected reserved gratitude, the leader behaved as though I had offended him. My fears were confirmed when he responded angrily about not tolerating such insults to his mother and sister, and that he would take pleasure in using "that same horse" to perform indecent acts upon myself and my crew. Needless to say, we were all very confused. Except my newest bridge officer, Ensign Gorfug, who seemed incredibly amused by all this.

    The details of the following exchange are in my full report. The gist of it being, after insinuating my father smelled of elderberries, they opened fire. The damage is truly frightening. Holodecks are down, The Alpha Section's replicator network is fried, the MVAM docking systems are fused, two of our three warp cores had to be ejected, and the third warp core had to taken offline to prevent plasma from flooding the deck. Three of the nacelles are basically gone anyway, so even if we do get the tertiary warp drive functional again, we're still not going anywhere.

    However, there is a bright side to all this. Despite my quarters taking a direct hit and now being half exposed to empty space, my Emergency Vulcan Love Slave Hologram (EVLSH) survived. It may be a week before we're found, but it won't be a lonely week. For me, at least.


    ADDENDUM

    Shortly after recording the previous entry, our extensive witch hunt- I mean, um, investigation, has found Ensign Gorfug guilty of tampering with the UT. He was tried by a jury of his peers, sentenced in the way traditional to the Federation, and summarily demoted straight out the air lock.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    That was an interesting story, and only mildly disturbing. Let me say that, with all due respect, if I was to be marooned with you on an alien world, I’d seriously consider the alternative of taking a walk out an airlock first.

    Now, I do have one question. Did you ever get that taste out of your mouth? No, please. On a second, and better thought, I’d rather not know after all.

    It does bring to mind a recent incident of my own where the dangers of starvation loomed, at least for a little while.

    I was commanding the Lewis & Clark—still am, unless I’ve been replaced without my knowing. She’s a Galaxy class, modified for our particular brand of missions. No families on board, or else they’d be asking awkward questions I’m sure.

    We’d been in Deferi space on a mission of some consequence, when we were ambushed by the Breen. Now, we held our own, but only after losing one of our nacelles and having to eject the warp core. We’d been expecting to be home in a few days, but, without warp drive, that short trip back to civilization stretched into weeks.

    There was talk of rationing, of spending time in shuttles to save on life support, of abandoning the ship at the nearest barely inhabitable piece of rock we ran across, even of mutiny, though to be fair, I was mostly responsible for the last.

    I called an emergency meeting of the command staff to consider our situation. I can see them all there now, furrowed brows, wondering how we’d get by.

    And then it occurred to me. I should have thought of it sooner, or someone should have. You’d think someone on the ship would have known a little something about physical law.

    All we had to do was to get up to a decent veolocity, something close to the speed of light, and a few days for us would be a few weeks for the rest of the universe.

    It took a bit of work. The impulse engines had taken a few hits, and even in the best of times, they could only get us to about 0.9c. We needed something more like 0.97, and that 0.07 didn’t come easily. It took some serious modification of the main driver coil, but nothing we couldn’t handle.

    We got up to 0.968c, good enough to make the four week trip back take about 7 days. We still had to tighten our belts a little, but a little deprivation can do the soul some good.

    And all thanks to Saint Albert!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    Captain's Log, Stardate 89628.11
    Starfleet Inteligence encryption protocol 2365 series 2

    SI Mission Summary: Preemptive strike on Breen staging area prior to Starfleet/Deferi joint strike.

    Fleet Admiral De'Liah, commander Lost Fleet of the Valkyrie, commanding USS Ta-Sardar-Gor

    Our attack was a success, the Breen were caught unaware by our attack and are sufficiently scattered and confused to ensure the main task force will completely destroy them.

    Unfortunately the cost was too high. Our raid complete, my ships dispersed, warping out to predetermined vectors. My ship warped into a trap. Three Chel Gret cruisers were waiting in ambush and attacked as soon as we came out of warp. Their attack was relentless, our shields wilted in the onslaught and I was forced to activate our ablative armor. We fought off the ambush, destroying two of the ships before our port nacelle was destroyed and our armor generators failed. We took refuge in a nearby nebula, jettisoning debris to simulate our destruction. With the debris we launched shuttles, powered down. When the Breen closed to investigate the shuttles powered up and launched every weapon they had. The Breen ship was caught by surprise and was disabled. We were Victorious!

    The damage to the ship is extensive. The warp core was severely damaged and is shut down. Long range communication is also destroyed. I have secured all non essential ship's operations until a department head meeting is held to determine our next course of action.

    Suplimental Entry:
    Physical Discipline was necessary to maintain order in the meeting. One of my officers became hysterical and verbal orders became ineffective. Our situation is grim. My engineer reports propulsion is limited to 1/2 impulse and power generation is extremely limited. I have limited replicator use to freshwater production only. Use of fresh water is to be used for crew rationing and the arboretum/hydroponics labs. The Arboretum is to be utilized for oxygen production and the Hydroponics lab is to be used to produce food. The head of the Hydroponics lab has produced an edible algae paste capable of sustaining most of the crew. We have set course for DS9, at 1/2 impulse we will arrive in five weeks.

    Suplimental Entry:
    I cannot digest this revolting paste! I cannot even taste it without feeling an overwhelming need to vomit! I am far from the only member of the crew to experience this. Those of us with a carnivorous background will not survive on this diet for long.

    Suplimental Entry:
    With the aid of my first officer I have come to a solution. Within a few days travel there is an uninhabited class M planet, we have changed course for it now. There I will assign hunting and gathering parties to forage for supplies. We will stock up for as long as it takes to make for the next planet in our path. I am anticipating this greatly. It has been many years since I have hunted outside the Holodeck. My blood surges at the though of stalking prey, to feel that rush again, to feel Klingon again, to run free and wild!

    Captain's Log, Stardate 89629.33
    The foraging missions were successful. We took on a great deal of supplies, water, meat and an array of vegetation for the plant eaters. Out outlook is improved but still troubling. We have a great deal of space to cover before we return to DS9. I have heard some of my crew comparing our situation to that of the USS Voyager, a natural comparison as the Ta-Sardar-Gor is based on the Intrepid design. I will look into the historical files of the Voyager. Perhaps her Captain has some wisdom that may be of value here. I also recall her Cheif Engineer was half Klingon. So few of us has served in Starfleet, maybe I may find some kinship with her.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    Captain’s Log, Stardate 85692.3: I thought this assignment was pointless. When Admiral Quinn ordered the Traverse to patrol the Orellius Sector Block I protested. The Borg are the primary threat, not the Breen, but the Admiral insisted that the presence of a Venture class starship would show them how serious the Federation is about defending out new Deferi friends. It seems that wasn’t enough.

    Our patrol had taken us to the middle of the Raveh Sector when we picked up a distress signal from a Deferi freighter. Of course we altered the ships heading to intercept. We arrived just in time to see the freighter explode under Breen weapons fire. My science officer detected Deferi life signs on the Breen ship so in wanting to preserve as much life as possible I attempted to negotiate a deal with the Breen captain. I had forgotten how stubborn Breen captains can be. He insisted that the Deferi were guests on his ship, even forced one to attest to that claim, and then said he’d trade them for gold pressed latinum. Obviously we don’t have latinum onboard so then offered the Deferi for 50 canisters of bio-mimetic gel, which was, of course, also impossible. My science officer managed to come up with a more unorthodox option. By remodulating the main deflector to emit a high frequency pulse we were able to scramble the Breen’s sensor for a short time. We hoped it would be long enough to beam all the Deferi prisoners over. It wasn’t.

    The Deferi were all beamed aboard, but before we could get our shields back up the Breen managed to get their sensors back online and fire on us. Their first salvo disabled our warp drive before we could get our shield back up. We were able to fight the Breen ship off, but he had backup. Four additional ships were apparently hiding in the Kelvani Belt. We managed to destroy all four ships, but Traverse took a heavy beating. Main power is offline. We don’t have weapons or shields to defend us if the Breen come back. The ship took major structural damage, there are hull breaches on eighteen decks, and the port nacelle was completely blown off its pylon. Worst of all, the communications array was destroyed in the battle. With no warp drive, no communications, and only emergency power we’re essentially stranded. Our next check-in with Starfleet isn’t for a week, its going to take us months just to get to the nearest inhabited system without warp drive, and emergency power will only last another six days at our current rate of power consumption.

    I’ve ordered the ship into grey mode. Non-essential areas of the ship have been evacuated and shut down. Areas where the hull has been breached have also been evacuated. Rationing of replicator usage is in effect. The crew’s efforts are currently focused on reconstructing the communications array with components from the comm. systems on our shuttles, but the odds of that working are looking slim, shuttle parts just aren’t designed to handle the amount of power used on a starship this large. I am still considering another course of action however. My chief engineer informed me that though we’ll never get warp drive back on our own; there is enough power to get us very close to light speed with starboard nacelle and to power enough stasis chambers for the entire crew. The obvious problem with that is that with us accelerating so close to the speed of light without breaking the warp barrier relativity starts to take effect. We could make our way to Defera in five days, at least, five days for us. Years would pass by for the rest of the universe. Support for this option was surprisingly high among the crew.

    Our calculations predict that the trip would take just over three years to get to Defera at just under the speed of light outside the ship. That’s a long time, but not terribly so. A lot can change in three years. We could arrive to find the war with the Klingons is over and that the Borg have been repelled from Federation space. Then again, we could also arrive to an assimilated Defera. Sensors won’t be able to get through the relativistic effects, so there will be no way of telling what’s going on in the galaxy during transit. I’ve decided to put it to a vote among the crew and out Deferi guests. Do we spend three years safe close to light speed with everyone but the senior staff and me in stasis, or do we keep trying to get communications back online before our six days of emergency power run out? The crew will decide.

    End log.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    The Assignment:


    After an incursion with the Breen in the Orellius Sector Block, your ship has been left severely
    damaged and most of your systems are offline -- this includes the Warp Drive, which is
    irreparable due to the destruction of your port nacelle, and Communication Array, which was also
    destroyed. Since you were only to be conducting routine patrols in the sector, and your ship was
    only to be away from Starbase for 5 days, energy supplies are running low and you must enact
    rationing of the replicators. Reports suggest that it will take you several weeks to limp home.
    How did you explain this to the crew? Did you put a chef in place
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    "Sir, our shields have been breached! Incoming torpedo!"

    The Bridge of the Blacksabre-E shook violently in the wake of a Breen torpedo, alarms were blaring and sparks flew from consoles struggling to keep thier own integrity.

    It had been an easy mission in theory, patrol Deferi space for any remnants of Breen insurgents and deal with them as necessary. The original idea had been to be part of a taskforce of several ships, but the other two ships, the Grendel and the California, had been forced by the schedule given to split up to cover a third of Deferi space each, the Blacksabre was given the furthest from Federation territory owing to it's engine advancements, and as such had found more Breen strays than either of the other two had reported.

    Unfortunately, the relatively large kill count did not prepare them for a trap as elaborate as this, apparently, the Breen had gotten hold ofa civilian freighter and got it to send out a distress signal for us to pick up nd investigate, only to be ambushed by a small taskforce of five frigates, three cruisers and a dreadnought, as well as the swarm of fighters between them.

    The Blacksabre managed to kill almost half of the fighters, as well as destroy two frigates and a cruiser, the last frigate was listing with disabled engines and weapons, which left the Blacksabre with the second cruiser and the dreadnought to deal with. The Blacksabre lits it's engines and soared towards the two ships, the aft beams picking off any fighters it could target as the Blacksabre opened fire on the cruiser, Antiproton cannons firing a hail of shots towards them, the Blacksabre had sustained heavy damage and small fires had begun to break out in certain areas of the ship, boarding parties had begun beaming aboard, but Kri'gak, the Klingon head of Security, was holding off the boarding parties, along with the Communications Officer, Dale, and the Breen refugee, Kel.

    The attacks from the Blacksabre hit the cruiser's shields hard, the cruiser had sustained it's fair share of damage and was losing power from a plasma leak, the cruiser's energy dissipators fired at the Blacksabre time and time again, but effects were minimal at best. The Blacksabre flew past the cruiser and fired with it's aft weapons, impacting against the cruiser's shields rythmically, causing the ship to shudder with each impact.

    "Dorryd, bring us about for another run, ready the new torpedoes!"

    "Aye sir, Vilscaran Witch Torpedo armed and ready!"

    The Bridge was a cacophany of alarms, sparks and the hissing of of the environmental systems trying to quench the flames, the Bridge Officers were forced to shout over each other to make sure they could be heard. A final shot from the Blacksabre's beams before they were no longer within firing arc managed to bring down the cruiser's shields, the cruiser, who had had little luck with firing back due to a disabled targeting system, began to try and move in the opposite direction, aiming to move away from the Blacksabre's range and possible initiate warp sequence, but the Blacksabre was too fast and was in perfect position before they could escape.

    "Cruiser in range sir, cannons ready!"

    "Aim for their engines with the cannons and then pierce their Bridge with the Witch torpedo, all forward weapons, FIRE!"

    Small spots on the Blacksabre's front began to dimly glow a hellish red for a few moments before unleashing it's full force on the cruiser, with no shields, the Cruiser's hull crumpled like paper before the onslaught, explosions spreading across the hull and tearing the main engines to pieces, stranding the doomed cruiser. The Blacksabre was still firing when a large purple glow shot out from it's torpedo bay, emanating from a rocket shaped object that was now speeding towards the cruiser's Bridge.

    "Witch Torpedo launched sir!"

    "Bring us out of explosion range, we only have a few seconds!"

    As the Breen inside the cruiser scrambled to the nearest escape pod, the Witch Torpedo's conical nose began to segment and open into six segments, inside the nose was a smaller conical object, as the Torpedo neared the cruiser, the object shot out, revealing itself to be a smaller torpedo, the smaller torpedo reached the cruiser first and exploded, knocking a hole in the ship's hull, the larger torpedo passing through just before the forcefields kicked in.

    The Blacksabre began maneuvering away from the cruiser, turning around to face the ship once it was out of range. The Witch Torpedo had embedded itself deep into the Bridge, having crushed the Captain's left leg, pinning him there. A few seconds later, a high-pitched sound could be heard from the Torpedo, it quickly gained pitch for a second, and then the cruiser was engulfed in a bright purple explosion, wreckage spewing out in every direction.

    The Blacksabre was about to move when a large piece of the wreckage impacted on the strut for it's lower port nacelle, the entire ship lurched violently, inertial dampeners struggling to stop the crew from being slammed against the walls. On the Bridge, Krovennan grasped onto his chair to keep balance as Tallasa and Dorryd were thrown from their seats, the others kept some amount of stability but one or two of the others who were standing had fallen to the ground in a less ceremonial fashion than Tallasa and Dorryd had.

    Krovennan straightened himself up and stood up, helping Tallasa to her feet while Dorryd was helped by Drehera, who had been sitting beside Krovennan all this time. The others stood up of their own accord and checked themselves for injury, thankfully, no-one seemed to be injured in any real capacity.

    "What happened? Engineering, status report!"

    "Some of the wreckage hit us sir, the lower port nacelle is not responding properly."

    "Saavip, switch to port view and focus on the lower nacelle."

    A nod from the Vulcan woman signalled her understanding, a few presses on the console and the viewscreen changed to the port nacelle, a massive gash was rended in the strut and the engine's glow was flickering, as Krovennan tried to think of what to do there was a grinding scrrech heard throuighout the ship, followed by a small explosion from within the strut. A few moments later, the nacelle blew off and began drifting away from the vessel before exploding.

    "Well thats not good, Engineering, can we still go to Warp?"

    "I think so sir, I'll just need a minute to bypass the broken nacelle and boost the surviving port nacelle to compensate."

    "Get on it, we need to get out of here befo-"

    Krovennan was interrupted when the ship was lurched sideways again, then lurched again, and then again, Krovennan managed to keep his balance as he returned to his chair to steady himself."

    "Computer, display threat!"

    The viewscrren lit up to an image of the Breen Dreadnought opening fire on the Blacksabre, the Dreadnought had been hanging back and waiting for its time to attack, with the loss of their nacelle, the ship's crew had been too occupied to keep an eye on the Dreadnought.

    "Sir, our shields are still down, and that Dreadnought's attacks have knocked out our weapons, we're target practise until Gyzit gets Warp up again."

    "Engage impulse Dorryd, get us right underneath the spinal strut of that thing, prepare the IPS for discharge!"

    "Sir, the damage we have already sustained means that we ccannot maintain the IPS as we normally could it'll knock out our Warp Core's higher functions!"

    "Knock them out then! Take power from everything, we have to do this or we'll not survive long enough to see warp! Dorryd, full impulse, get us where we need to be!"

    The Blacksabre's impulse engines roared into life, propelling the ship forward, thankfully the neacelles did little at Impulse speeds, so the ship's turning ability was unmarred. The Blacksabre roared past the Dreadnought's side and parked itself underneath the spinal strut, just behind the main body.

    "Now Gyzit, activate the Inverse Phaser Shockwave, rip that thing in two!"

    The Blacksabre's deflector began to crackle with energy, occasionally flashing at random intervals, a field around the Blacksabre began to form, energy from the ship's old Phaser coils was being forced into an oval bubble around the ship, fed into the bubble through the specially reinforce deflector and held in place by specialised emitters, the field grew in intensity until it seemed as if the Blacksabre was surrounded by orange lightning clouds, the field began to lose coherency slightly, indicating it was at critical mass and the emitters were sturggling to hold it in place.

    "Now, discharge!"

    At the press of a button in Engineering, the polarity of the emitters was inverted, meaning that instead of holding the field in place, the emitters began to propel it outwards in a massive shockwave, which hit the Dreadnought before the slow behemoth could react. The shockwave impacted the Dreadnought heavvily, causing the spinal stru above the Blacksabre to shudder violently, and eventualy, the strut was torn off and began floating in space.

    The Dreadnought's body was also hit, the shockwave tearing into anythng it could reach, disabling pieces of the ship that werent destroyed and annihilating the crew. The shockwave rapidly dissipated, but not before tearing a hole in the Dreadnought's Engineering, subjecting it's crew and the Warp core to the vacuum of space, with the damage from the shockwave, no fircefields went up, sending the Engineering crew to it's inevitable death. The Warp Core was unable to last against the vacuum and developed an emormous plasma leak, flooding the Engineering bay with searing Plasma, the Dreadnought's power levels were fading and eventually the ship shut itself down, the rest of the crew losing life support in minutes.

    Krovennan breathed a sigh of relief, the ship's power had gone out, but Life Support was at least working, Krovennan pressed his combadge, hapily they werent tied to the ship's power.

    "Darksabre to Yvoli, status Gyzit."

    "Yvoli here, the Warp Core is reduced to basic functions, Warp Drive is out of the question unless we can get it repaired at a Starbase."

    "How long would it take us to get to the nearest friendly Starbase at full Impulse?"

    "A long time, 3-4 weeks at least."

    "3-4 weeks?! We only have enough replicator provisions for another 3 days. We'll need to figure something out, call a meeting of senior officers, I'll be in my Ready Room."

    "Aye sir, though I advise we make it quick, the Warp Core has very little power left in it, it'll go out by midnight unless we can find a source of power."

    "Noted, call the meeting, Darksabre out."
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    Half an hour later, the usual collection of senior officers were seated in the Conference Room, Dale and Kri'gak were sporting some wounds, without power, Sickbay couldn't patch them up properly, so they'd be in triage bandages for a week at least. The officers had all been informed of the situation, they knew that if something was not done quickly, then they would al suffocate in their sleep.

    "Alright, so we know that the Warp Core will go out in a few hours unless we give it some power, suggestions?"

    "We could take power from another system, feed the Warp Core just enough power to maintain itself long enough to reach the nearest friendly station."

    "Unfortunately Drehera, the Warp core is the very thing powering those systems, the Warp Core will be unable to take power from that."

    "Exactly Gruturu, so I suggest we take the Breen Frigate we disabled, we can fix Life Support, clear out the bodies and warp away."

    "Tallasa, the Frigate is simply not big enough to handle the entire crew, and even if it was, we cannot abandon the Blacksabre, it has too much experimental technology to be taken or destroyed, no, we bring it back with us."

    "Aye sir, so what does that leave us?"

    The officers pondered in silence for a moment before Gyzit raised his hand in sudden realisation.

    "Sir, the Replicators, one of the recent advancments is the Replicator network works on it's own isolated power, it would still be working. We can siphon power from it to power the Warp Core and limp home."

    "I see, do you think you could do it before the Core shuts down?"

    "Easily, I could have it done in half an hour."

    "Wait a minute, then what about food? The Crew need the replicators to make 70% of the ship's food supply, the chef cannot cook for 450 crew members on his own."

    "Your right Anderson, besides, most of his ingredients are replicated anyway, we'll have to be efficient about this. We need to use the Replicators as little as possible to feed as many as possible."

    "Sir, if it helps, the Breen ships will have had emergency rations of their own, we could send a retrieval teams to the more intact ships to scout for anything edible."

    "Good thinking Tallasa, I want you and Kri'gak to assemble a team each, you will handle the decks of the Dreadnought that still have containment, Kri'gak, your team will handle the frigate."

    "Aye sir."

    "Yes sir."

    "Drehera, Gohlren. See what you can do about finding some volunteers to help the cook, as well as finding recipes that will do as much with as little as possible, the ship's water supply should still be working, tell him to take from that instead of replicating it, we should still have plenty."

    "Yes sir."

    "Yes sir."

    Gyzit, under no circumstances is there to be any unnecessary use of the ship's power, dim the lights, lessen the artificial gravity, Turbolifts are to be shut down, we'll use the Jeffries Tubes, divert anything spare to the deflector and the engines, set a straight course for the nearest allied station, no deviation for anything."

    "Aye sir."

    "Saavip, we'll need to lower the shifts as much as possible, just point the ship in the right direction and let it handle the rest, get people to sleep as much as they can since we won't be using the Holodecks to keep people occupied, Drehera will have to put anyone who cannot return to active duty before we reach the station into stasis, be sure to let everyone know that individual Replicator use is off limits."

    "Yes sir."

    "Grillemar, I want you to start collecting anything you can break down to make more Replicator rations, plants are a good way to get what we need to replicate more vegetables. Anything you can use , but do not start taking things that the crewmen object to getting rid of, last thing we need is a mutiny because you took everyone's plants."

    "Yes sir."

    "Dale, I want you to brief the crew on the changes, and then to cut off ship-wide communciations, combadges only until we reach the station."

    "Aye sir."

    "Good, I think that is everything, if I did not call your name, help one of the others in any way you can, dismissed."

    True to his word, Gyzit had the Blacksabre set up in half an hour, the salvage teams had returned just as they left, they were now using the small craft's power supplies to help feed the Core, it would be close, but it just might be enough to haul the Blacksabre home, they even recovered some of the wreckage from the lost nacelle to help repair it.

    Krovennan was sitting in his Ready Room going over casualty reports from the battle, thankfully the boarding parties did not survive their attack on the Blacksabre, last thing they needed was prisoners to look after in this state. Twenty minutes into the journey, Tallasa, Saavip and Drehera all entered the Ready Room.

    "Report on the current situation, what did the salvage teams manage to find?"

    "Kri'gak's team had little ground to search, but managed to find the emergency rations as well as some of the crew's personal rations, we had enough to disperse to the crew, that should help for a couple of days, my party was more successful, the huge crew of the Dreadnought had a larger supply, we're holding the majority of that in reserve for now, the cook thinks the could use them and perhaps make them last longer."

    "I see, thank you Tallasa, what about the cook Drehera, whats the situation in the Mess Hall?"

    "We were able to find some volunteers to help, the cook has found some soup recipes he's using to stretch out the ingredients, the crew seem reasonably content with the current situation, but we'll need to change things up eventually or we'll be facing unrest."

    "Make a note to Kri'gak to keep his force ready in case of an altercation. Saavip, anything to report on the shift changes?"

    "The crew seem tolerant of the changes, however, they cannot sleep indefinitely, its logical to assume that they will be restless eventually, we'll need to find something to occupy them."

    "Thank you Saavip, I'll think of something, also, make a note to Gyzit, life support in any deck that has no life in it or the adjacent decks is to be shut down, might be able to give us another light year or two. Dismissed."

    The trio saluted the Vice Admiral before leaving the Ready Room. Krovennan continued to look through the reports for another hour before leaving. Krovennan lay in his bed and knew that the next couple of weeks would be difficult, but what choice did they have?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    “Where’s that torpedo?” Pii asked over his shoulder to his tactical officer.

    “It’s coming, Pii,” Jorg cried out as a shower of sparks burst from the console behind her. The Klingon woman pounded on the console as if she can beat the computer into submission.

    The bridge of the USS Copernicus was smoky, fires burned, consoles exploded, bulkheads and optical cable hung from the ceiling, and was on the verge of complete structural collapse. Another torpedo volley rocked the ship.

    “We’ve got hull breaches!”

    “Evacuate those areas,” Pii ordered as he picked himself off the floor and back into the chair.

    “Got it!” Jorg exclaimed when the torpedo icon on her panel indicated that it was ready for one last ditch effort.

    “Fire!” Pii announced as he rose from his seat and stared at the sputtering view screen. The torpedo appeared at the bottom of the screen and crawled toward the massive Breen Capital ship. Everyone on the Bridge held their breaths and watched it—silently urging it to find its target. As it approached their opponent, it grew smaller and smaller. Pii walked over to his helmsman and placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a triumphant squeeze when the torpedo struck its target. The bridge exploded in gleeful cheers and shouts of joy.

    “Captain …,” Goshen gasped from the Science station. “The torpedo did more than just disable the Breen ship. We’ve got secondary and tertiary explosions. Its warp core is going critical.”

    “Evasive Maneuvers. Get us out of here,” Pii ordered.

    “Aye, Captain,” Lorpa announced with a flurry of gestures across her console. Pii watched the slowly disintegrating ship creep away from the center of the view screen as the Copernicus came about.

    “We’re not going to make it,” Goshen called out prophetically, just as the Capital ship erupted. Still within the expanse of the viewer, the ship disappeared in a blinding flash of light and fire. A massive shockwave followed on its heels.

    “Brace for impact!” Pii cried out. It was too late. The ship rocked violently as it came in contact with the front. Sparks showered down from the ceiling as another bulkhead collapsed and landed across the captain’s chair, knocking it over. Panels cracked, consoles erupted, and crewmen were tossed around the bridge like rag dolls.

    Pii found himself on the floor again. His palms hurt. He looked at them and found shards of broken glass and debris criss-crossing them with blood running down his arms. He tore the sleeves from his tattered uniform and wrapped his hands with it. He forced himself to his feet and took inventory of his bridge crew. “Report.”

    From all around him, a cacophony of voices responded as the crew also found their feet and returned to their stations.

    “I’m alright, Captain.”

    “Same here.”

    “I’ve seen better days, but I’ll live.”

    “I wish I had stayed on Risa …”

    “Damage Report,” Pii ordered with a cough as the smoke began to irritate his eyes and tickle his throat. The sound of consoles being activated and status reports correlating on the shattered panels was the immediate response. “Is there something wrong with the Environmental systems?”

    Finally, from the Ops station, Lt. Remmy Smith, began to detail the ship’s status. “Sir, we have hull breaches on decks 22 through 14, 10, 6, 4, and … 1? Emergency bulkheads have engaged and are holding, but power reserves are low. Warp drive is offline – structural damage to the … port nacelle. Engineering reports that once they get the engines back online, we shouldn't go faster than warp 3. Any faster, and the nacelle will break free from the ship, if we don’t blow up first. We’re leaking deuterium.”

    “Is there any good news?” Pii asked.

    “I’m afraid not, sir,” Smith continued. “Port side shield emitters are fried. The communications array is gone, and I mean that quiet literally. Life support is operating at 26% of efficiency. Sick Bay is reporting in with heavy casualties.”

    “Thank you, Lt.”

    “Captain, there’s more.”

    “Send it to my Ready room. I’ll review it later.”

    “Sir, that’s just the thing. You don’t have a Ready Room anymore.”

    “What?”

    “The hull breach on Deck 1 …”

    Pii slumped his shoulders and hung his head. He straightened up immediately and hoped no one noticed his momentary lax of concentration. His alcove was in his ready room. It had been almost 36 hours since he last regenerated and was beginning to feel fatigued. No rest for the weary, he thought to himself as he turned back to Lorpa at the helm. “We’re not going anywhere Ensign; report to the shuttle bay and take a shuttle back Defera.”

    “Sir …”

    Pii turned towards the irritating little Englishman. “What is it Lt. Smith?”

    “The shuttle bay was targeted by the Breen. We can’t get the doors open.”

    “Cut through them by hand if you have to, but I want a shuttle launched as quickly as possible.” Pii watched as Lt. Smith relayed the orders through his panel.

    The ship was in bad shape. No warp drive, dwindling power reserves, and no way to communicate with Starfleet. This was not looking good. Pii quickly estimated that it would take the Copernicus 6 six weeks, 2 days, 18 hours, 47 minutes, and 23 seconds to reach Defera. He doubted that he or the crew would be around that long. The Copernicus had been assigned a patrol route – a quick jaunt through Defferi space. They left Defera with minimal supplies. They would be lucky to last a week with rationing.

    “Are there any inhabitable planets, moons, or asteroids – anything nearby?

    Goshen pulled up a star chart and studied it. “There’s a small M-class planet three light years from here. It’s uninhabited, but it has an abundance of resources, and edible plant and animal life. We will be able to wait for rescue or at least resupply our food and fuel reserves before heading to Defera.”

    “Lorpa, set a course for that planet,” Pii ordered.

    Lorpa nodded and took her seat. She laid in a course. “Warp engines are still offline.”

    “Of course they are … Coordinate with Engineering. As soon as engines are back online, set a course for the planet, as quickly as our broken little ship can go.”

    “Aye, Captain,” Lorpa replied. She rose from the conn, hurried to the turbolift, and stepped inside. “Engineering,” she said before the doors closed.

    Pii turned to Jorg. “Can we launch a probe?”

    Jorg growled. “The launchers are still offline. We had to launch that last torpedo manually. I can get one launched, but not from here.”

    “Get on it, Jorg,” Pii ordered.

    Jorg nodded and turned away from her console. She adjusted the fit of her prosthetic leg. It was uncomfortable, but she hadn’t selected this particular prosthetic for comfort. From mid-thigh to knee, the prosthetic limb resembled and functioned as any normal limb would. However, from the knee down, it tapered to a slender stump with a heavy metal stud that she wielded as a lethal weapon in hand to hand combat. It thudded against the deck as she made her way to the turbolift.

    Pii turned to his science officer, “Goshen, I need you to cram a subspace transceiver into a type two probe. Do you think you can do it?”

    Goshen thought about it for a moment, and nodded. “If I pull the sensor and propulsion packages from it, we’d have at least a subspace beacon. I can program it to transmit a weak distress call at best.”

    “Do it. Include in the message where we are going. Hopefully, by the time we reach the planet, rescue will be waiting for us.”

    Just as Jorg reached the turbolift, Lt. Smith cleared his throat and said, “Turbolifts just went offline.”

    “BaQa,” Jorg mumbled under her breath and glared at Lt. Smith. She went over to an access panel, removed it, and exposed the Jeffery tube. “Don’t touch my leg …,” she threatened, still looking at Remmy, before kicking it off. He responded with a sarcastic smile as she crawled into the Jeffery tube and disappeared.

    Goshen and Pii approached the open Jeffery tube. Goshen was about to follow Jorg, when Lt. Smith said with a cheshire grin, “The turbolifts are back online.”

    Pii had seen this before. “Mr. Smith, are you trying to get your wife angry at you again?”

    “Yes, Captain,” he said with a sly smile. He averted his eyes.

    “This is not the time to spice things up in the bedroom.” Pii knew that they were trying to have children.

    “Yes, Captain.”

    Pii shook his head and approached the turbolift. The doors opened. “If you need me, I’ll be in Engineering giving them a hand.” Before stepping inside, he asked, “Lt. Smith, are there any systems on this ship that are working?”

    Lt. Remmy Smith replied, “Replicators, sir.”

    A smile crossed Pii’s lips at the irony. “Too bad, we’re having emergency rations tonight and for the foreseeable future. Inform the crew that replicators will be off limits for the time being. We’re going to need them to stitch this ship back together again. He stepped inside. "Engineering," he ordered as the doors closed.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    Captain's Log Supplemental.

    "It's been three days since our encounter with the Borg. Damn close fight." Mirmulnir gave sitting in the Captains ready room "What became of our sister ship, the Var'Kai IV, I'll never know. All I know is that the Draco Ardere has been severely damaged, and we are currently running on emergency power. A fleet went in, for a patrol close to what was suspected to be a Borg transwarp gateway, very few ships made it back out. Probes, Cubes, what have you... It was a nightmare." The large Gorn leaned back, the light in his ready room near off due to the lack of power "Computer end log."

    A confirmatory chime.

    "Damage report."

    A holographic image appeared before him a female nursing her arm "Captain." She nodded before opening another hologram, showing a significantly damaged Draco Ardere "As you can see, Captain, that assault has done significant damage, so much so, that the most I can give you is emergency power. At current, we are limping back towards Defera Prime on impulse, in the hopes that we might be able to get towed back to Qo'noS where I can get all the repairs I need." She said, wincing slightly as she knocked her arm, a representation of the lost nacelle. "Permission to speak candidly?"

    "Granted."

    "Why the hell did the chancellor order us to do this? We were perfectly fine in our current assignment."

    "Iizgaafzin, You know I cannot deny the transfer, but I wished I denied the mission... I shouldn't have put you in harm's way like I did." The gorn replied softly, the hologram sighed and walking towards him, before plopping down on his lap

    "Love, there wasn't anything you could do. I was not performing at peak."

    Mirmulnir chuckled "one of the best parts about you, is that you cannot lie about what you can and cannot do. You were running at better then your best, It was my commands that brought us down. If I didn't give the order to break away at the insistence of General Odahviing, then we wouldn't be here to talk about your damage. Either way, you still managed to get us outside the danger zone, even on impulse. That is a feat in itself."

    "I try my best."

    "So you do... Now, on to the next matter on the table, With us running on emergency power, how do you expect we ration replicators?"

    "Considering I can only run the system on 25 percent power, else we start taking from life support, We replicate only the stuff we need. I know a couple chefs who are quite talented, and we have enough food in the hydroponics bays to last us until we make it to Defera, where I can at least have the power systems repaired." The holo-gorn replied, leaning on his chest as he kissed her/it.

    "Then we don't have much to worry about there do we? Glad you thought of this before we left Qo'noS."

    "I'm a computer, love. I project all possibilities, and decide the best course of action."

    "A course that saved us all."
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    Lieutenant Commander Kala Lahal sighed and sat down at the table in the mess hall. She spied two junior logistics officers glancing at her direction with eyes that seemed to wonder why the Stellar Drift's Chief Engineer was eating dinner instead of crawling through access tunnels to get the main power supply back on. She flashed them an icy glare and turned to her husband, First Officer Commander Soral. He averted his attention from the paintings on the starboard bulkhead to his beloved wife.

    "I believe you will once again find today's meal unsatisfying." The Vulcan man said, glancing at the pile of purpleish brown mush on her plate.

    "It's better than nothing I suppose." The red haired Bajoran looked at Soral and rubbed her abdomen and shrugged. "I am beginning to feel thankful for that arboretum that the Captain insisted on having. Things could be a lot worse."

    "How close are you to getting main power back?" Soral asked.

    Kala shrugged, grabbing a fork and stabbing the mush hesitantly. "That last torpedo blast literally fused the main power coupling to the bulkhead, and the fire on Deck 8 completely destroyed the primary EPS junction along with the starboard back up power relays on that deck. I don't know who designed those two systems to be so close together, but they should be shown to the next airlock. Without those relays on deck 8, our auxiliary power is at best 68% of what it should be, and we are only getting half the cycle rate. Unless we get help from another starship, it will take us at least 2 weeks with us limping along at full impulse before we get everything back."

    "You mean, until we put in to Starbase." The Vulcan scooped some of the mush off his plate and chewed, suppressing an expression of displeasure.

    She sighed feeling guilty and nodded. "We just don't have the components on board at the moment. That's what we get when Starfleet demands us offload essential equipment to ferry their useless contraband."

    "I don't consider medical supplies to be useless contraband."

    "I do when it's trigger components disguised as medical supplies." Kala held her breath and shoved a fork full of mush into her mouth. She looked over at the kitchen area and watched Chef Rolot slop some mush onto Lieutenant Ziri Olio's tray, and then drop three ripe Bolian plums on top of it. She made a face at it, which caused the Chief Engineer to chuckle. Bolian plums were Ziri's favorite.

    "Kala." Soral said, leaning over the table and quieting his voice. "I don't like you drawing such conclusions. I looked at the manifest itself, and the cargo scans and it's nothing more than a few hundred medical kits. I can tell you, the people on Colius II will be more than grateful."

    "I'm telling you, I have seen my share of medical hauls and this one is atypical. Go over it again and break down the components in a more basic manner. Plus, this is a lot for one medical haul. Enough, that we have to dump essential components from Cargo Bay 1 when half the ships available are sending medical supplies their way. Also, why the trip to this sector? Colius II is way off in Romulan space, not here. On top of it our normal patrol is in Iota Pavonis."

    The Stellar Drift's First Officer shrugged his shoulders dismissively. "I wouldn't trouble yourself so much with unnecessary suspicion. I recall you once suspecting Commander Sevak to be an Undine, which turned out to be extremely false, but not without damage to her reputation as well as yours. If the Captain wishes to reveal it's something other than medical supplies, she will. Until then, we're carrying medical supplies."
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    Captain's Personal Log: Stardate 88955.9.


    With us on minimal power, I am doing this the hard way: On paper. I think this is the first time in perhaps nearly 200 years a ship's log has been written on paper.

    Where do I begin? This mission has been nothing short of a nightmare. I should have known better than to trust Admiral Suret with what should have been a simple supply pick up. Well, she put it that way, but I think that stale air over at Starbase 43 has made her forget what life in space is really like.

    My engineering staff has been working their little fingers to the bone to preserve what we have, and try and fix the primary EPS junction before we get back. Lest we run into more trouble, which we have been thus far been lucky to avoid. When we finally do get back, I am putting them all in for a commendation. Especially Kala. I don't think there is a finer Chief Engineer in Starfleet, and perhaps she is right about me pushing the ship a bit too hard.

    This debacle now has the crew are starting to ask questions-- theorize about what we are doing in this sector when we are to be transporting medical supplies to Colius II.

    I wish I could tell them the real reason we went to K-7. The real reason we passed through Orellius, and that it has to do with more than just Colius II. More is at stake than Colius II.

    No, the mission we are on could change everything: Save the Romulan Star Empire, shift the balance of power in both the Alpha and Beta Quadrants for the better--


    The ship jolted violently. Kim threw down her pen and was out of her chair before the red alert klaxon had time to sound.



    “Two Klingon warships decloaking, port and starboard!” Lieutenant Thulvius shouted from Tactical. The young Andorian officer's hands flew up his console, searching for any more enemy targets.

    “Evasive maneuvers and return fire!” Commander Sevak ordered. The Vulcan woman gripped the command chair tightly as the ship shuddered again.

    “Shields down to 23%, and we have a breach on deck 4. Emergency forcefields are offline.” Lieutenant Commander Thol reported from Operations, curling his antenna protectively around his head as a power conduit in the overhead sparked.

    “Get everyone off that deck and seal it. Divert all power to the shields!”

    “Report!”

    Sevak turned her attention to the turbolift door, and Admiral Sharp who hurriedly made her way to the command center. She rose, gripping the arms tightly, nearly stumbling off her feet as the ship jolted under several more direct hits.

    “We got jumped. They just decloaked out of nowhere. No hails, not even ship identification.” Sevak said to Kim.

    Blood ran down Sevak’s face from an open wound on her forehead. Suddenly, the room changed and filled with smoke and fire. She recognized the bridge, but it was one to an Akira class starship, not the Drift. Instantly, she remembered where she was. The Oregon. Julie…. Kim turned from the helm console and stared back at Tactical as a fire raged behind the console and the young, redhaired human officer gripped the sides of her station, still firing off shots at the Dominion warships that closed in on their position.

    “Captain, more ships are decloaking.” Lieutenant Falor reported from helm.

    Admiral Sharp looked from the Betazoid man and around the bridge. "Where's Commander Soral?"

    "I don't know." Sevak replied. "Last I checked he was on Deck 4 with Kala...." Her voice trailed off as she felt a cold chill wash over her. Blinking away a sudden rush of tears, she moved to return to her station and was caught on her arm by Kim. Frowning, she turned to her.

    “I need you to get off the ship.” Kim said quietly.

    The ship shuddered again.

    “Admiral!” Thulvius shouted.

    “Keep returning fire, Lieutenant. Target the closest vessel and give them all we have!”

    “You’re crazy.” Sevak said quietly. "I can't leave. With Soral gone that means I'm the next in line."

    “This ship is lost. I want you to get into a shuttle or an escape pod and head to Starbase 23. Take as many as you can."

    “Kim, I’m not leaving.” The Vulcan woman said in a firm tone.

    “Sevak, don’t argue with me, just go!” Kim shouted, gripping onto her tightly as the ship shuddered again.

    Realizing that her statement was heard by everyone else, she turned and looked at each of her bridge officers, who stared back at her puzzled.

    “You heard me. Abandon ship!”

    Admiral Sharp moved to bring up the auto-destruct prompt.

    “Sir!” Lieutenant Thulvius exclaimed and pointed to the screen.

    Kim paused and looked up to see an attacking Bird of Prey take several cannon hits and burst into flames, while a second one began taking phaser array hits. Her eyes went wide in both surprise and excitement as a Prometheus and a Trident class starship swooped into the view screen display.

    “Vai and Liara.” Kim breathed.


    “Sir, the Stellar Drift has taken severe damage. I am reading shields at 3%, and their hull integrity is down to 15%. I’m also showing main power is offline, and Auxiliary is down to 35%.” Ensign Sikini said, glancing up from the science station at Captain Liara Bain.

    “Extend our shields around them, and transfer them some of our reserve power.”

    “I am not sure we are configured to do that, Captain. At least not while in combat.”

    The redhaired Malcorian turned to the young, green officer and smiled. “Sure we are, Ensign. All you have to do is take one of the internal nodes offline, and activate an external node in the main deflector, then use the targeting sensors to find the Stellar Drift.”

    She walked around Sikini’s console and typed on the keypad, reconfiguring the Kookaburra’s main deflector.
    The Prometheus class starship shuddered under a torpedo hit.

    “Shields at 74%.” Commander Jala said, her Bajoran first officer eyeing Liara.

    “There! Now, begin the transfer.” Captain Bain said, meeting Jala’s gaze and smiling cordially.

    Miquiti’s brows raised and she typed on the console, diverting power from non-essential systems to the external node and transferring it to the damaged Luna class starship.

    “Helm, keep us close to the Stellar Drift. We don't want to give the Klingons any more open shots. Mr. Plala, open a channel to the Starfinder, and make sure that we are coordinating our attacks with them. We want to take advantage of Captain e’Hvalli’s talents.”
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    'The Pool'
    Author: XR-377

    “I say we break into 'the pool'.”

    “No,” Specialist Hauser didn't even hesitate.

    “Think about it,” Ezeni continued, “there has to be enough there to at least make the rationing a little more bearable. We can distribute it evenly among the crew if it makes you feel better.”

    The specialist didn't dignify the statement with a response.

    “I'm sorry, 'pool'? Did I miss something?” asked Petty Officer Yonus, finally turning away from his console.

    “No, you're just new,” Kasyd Ezeni quipped as the rest of the bridge shift crew chuckled. Their ship's primary operating hours were based on the 3rd shift clock, mimicking the prime hours of east asia on earth. The result was that this particular shift was the first of the night watches and comparative to the late night, despite being what would be considered by the rest of starfleet to be early morning. Like all the shifts the duty officers involved had grown accustomed to one another, and being a new transfer to both their ship and shift Trill Petty Officer Yonus naturally felt out of the loop quite often.

    “Cut him some slack Kasyd, it's not like you weren't new once,” Evangeline Barthell called back from the conn, “Although, he probably could use someone else's guidance rather than yours. What was it you did during your first week again to put you on this shift? Something about running off to enter an unsanctioned combat arena?”Ezeni reached up and rubbed one of his antenna, the scar that marked where it had to be re-attached stuck out like a sore thumb.

    “Alright, point taken,” he shrugged light-heartedly and then leaned up against his console to casually address the new-bee. “So, Yonus, you seem to be an observant fellow. Have met Security Chief Bovard yet?”

    “I'm operations staff, so I haven't been introduced to her no...”

    “But you've seen her?” asked Ezeni with a grin.

    “W-well,” the image of the dark skinned and physically fit woman strutted through his mind. It absent-mindedly flicked the hair alongside her neck revealing the sleek tattoo while passing. “Y-yeah, I saw her,” Yonus tried to say without croaking. Ezeni chuckled knowingly and the rest of the crew was unaware of Evangeline rolling her eyes up at the conn.

    “Tell us, how much do you know about Lt. Commander Mary Celeste Bovard?”

    “I'm not sure I understand the question?”

    “Despite what you think Ezeni, not everyone at the academy is taught obscure lore about former students.” Ernie Hauser added to the conversation as he typed away at his work, his VISOR never leaving it.

    “I swear, what do they teach kids these days?”

    “ 'These days'?“ came the voice of Ensign Terrok, a Cardiassian tractor beam specialist and the only member of their shift who was an actual bridge officer. “If I recall Kasyd you're less then a year out of the academy yourself?” Ernie, looking up from his work, was the one who finally chose to relieve Yonus's confused look.

    “Lt. Commander Bovard has a bit of a history from her academy days that Kasyd apparently thinks everyone who goes to the academy knows.”

    “Hey I heard it, that's all that's important to me.”

    “Well then why don't you be kind and share?” Ezeni made a flat expression at the back of his shift compatriot, then again shrugged before he began to type at his own console.

    As he did he spoke, “Well, as it turns out, the Lt. Commander was actually almost expelled from Starfleet Academy in her third year, for an incident that is rumored to be the sole reason why the Captain applied for her to be added to the crew.” This curiosity caught Yonus's attention. “The story goes that while out on a date in San Fran with a fellow cadet three men in a bar began to bother them. Witnesses say the two tried to ignore them until eventually one of the men went to strike her date. The subsequent conflict resulted in significant property damage and the urgent need to rush all three accosting gentlemen to emergency medical treatment.”

    “It sounds like it was justified,” Yonus defended, “Like they had it coming to them. Why was she almost expelled for that?”

    “Oh no, it wasn't that. She was almost expelled for what happened after.” He began to smirk again, “Apparently, after it was said and done, her date put his arm around her, leaned over to her ear and whispered something. After which she promptly broke his arm in two places. That is what she was almost expelled for.”

    The new crewmen gave a surprised whistle.

    “Yeah,” the storyteller bemused, “In the end the charges against her were dropped at the other cadets request, claiming that he 'probably deserved it'.” That said Ezeni stopped typing and leaned forward on his console. “It's also now said that like the ship, 'Mary Celeste' Bovard is cursed. And any man who rid-”

    “Okay, that's enough of that,” Barthell interjected from up front, “unless of course you want me to turn on the ship's intercom?”

    Ezeni just leaned closer and at a whisper gave the end of the sentence, “... never seen again.” He waved his fingers eerily just for the sake of it.

    After a little time to allow for the snorts and snickers Yonus returned to his original inquiry, “So what's this have to do with that pool you mentioned?”

    “Well,” Ernie Hauser answered, “Shortly after Ms. Bovard joined the crew someone decided to start a betting pool based on the concept of what it was the other cadet said to get his arm broken. For the cost of one replicator ration you can put your guess for the offending comment into the pool. If and when the answer is found out, the winner takes the pot of ration withdrawals. It will be split up evenly among the winners in the case of a tie.”

    “That's it? It's a ration betting pool?”

    “Basically.”

    “But isn't betting aboard a Federation Starship a violation of-”

    “Yep.”

    “So then why are you doing it?”

    “Because, we honestly want to know and it's pretty harmless. There is a good chance the Lt. Commander knows about the pool herself, but hasn't stopped it since it keeps the speculation off her back.”

    “And the rumor and relative fear it provides is just enough to keep most of the male crew from giving her 'unwanted attention'.” Barthell added.

    “If the captain wanted it stopped he would do so,” Ernie returned to the head of the conversation, “instead I'm just waiting for him to throw his own lot in.”

    “My bet is he's waiting till he actually knows the answer,” Terrok added, “it sounds like something he'd do.”

    “So it's more a ship's joke than a betting pool? Do people even participate?”

    “We're up to 648.”

    “This is a Long Range Science Vessel!? There is only a crew of 200!”

    “Multiple entries. 'Johnny' Cutts down in medical has put in over 38 alone.”

    “How long did you say this has been going on?”

    “I hear since shortly after she joined the crew. About, a little over a year now,” Ezeni explained. “Ernie Hauser here is in charge of the pool. He inherited it when Ensign Smith...”

    A silence drifted into the room at the mention of the name. Eventually Ezeni returned to the original topic in order to lift it.

    “But yeah, I say we break into the pool in order to spread some of the rations around. That way some of us can have three meals a day instead of just two with the current rationing in place.”

    “Kasyd, you know it doesn't work that way. The pool is just a tally of unclaimed withdrawals. With the energy supplies limited and the active replicator rationing in place by the captain even if one person had access to all 648 claims he couldn't actually collect more than two a day.”

    “Not true! While you are right that you wouldn't be able to get all of the pool's worth of rations you would be able to get at some. Until the system rebalances itself at a starbase any new additions to the pool are in a state of 'energy limbo' with no one to claim them. Right Petty Officer?” All the eyes on the bridge fell on Yonus, who was indeed a system's engineer.

    “It is pretty sound logic...” he shrugged.

    “So! All that matters is if anyone has come to Ernie with any new ideas in the last week. Well?”

    Specialist Hauser didn't look up from from his work, but he did stretch his neck uncomfortably, “12.”

    “Ha ha! There we have it! It may not be enough to feed the whole crew but... it would be enough for two extra rations for everyone here listening in providing they stay quiet. Plus one extra as a finders fee for me and one for Ernie as gatekeeper.”

    “Well that's a rather deceitful of you,” Evangeline quipped.

    “Yeah, well I'm hungry, and I get a little testy when I'm hungry.” After this point, for some reason, everyone looked to Ensign Terrok as if being the one Bridge Officer among them he would be able to pass a final word of yay or nay. Instead all he provided them with was his continuing chuckle at Ezeni's emotional response to having an empty stomach.

    “I wouldn't worry about it so much,” he eventually said to the silence, “Sure our communications are down and we're weeks away from repairs at a starbase while on impulse but isn't like we need to find a vast floating interstellar farmer's market to stock up at. All we need is a little energy and some matter to rearrange. Voyager did it for what, seven years, without breaking a sweat? Granted... they had warp.”

    “Not to mention the Captain also sent his first officer and some others in one of the shuttles to get in contact with Starfleet,” the shift crew sighed at the recollection brought on by Ensign Barthell's memory. His own excitement curbed Kaysd Ezeni began to slump against his console. “We may not be able to talk to anything or go at warp but they can. I'm sure we'll be resupplied and have starfleet support within a week.”

    “There you have it Kaysd,” Ernie said, finally smiling over at him, “Honor and integrity win the day. Besides, Christmas is more fun if you don't peak at your presents early.” Ezeni merely mumbled something about Andorian holidays.

    “So, about the pool...” The rest of the crew stopped to stare at the Trill, Yonus just smirked. “I'm going to go with, 'You're going to have to show me that High-kick again later'.”

    There was a mutual amount of nodding done by the rest of the group before someone said, “Good answer.”



    .
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    ...Light. Stunning light. He closed his eyes to let the darkness comfort him. He opened his eyes again, slowly this time to allow his vision to focus. He was low to the ground, sitting by his chair. Why am I sitting?

    ...He saw beams of metal erupting from the walls and decking, cutting across the room like a maze, fountains of sparkling light flowed from the consoles as smoke filled the room. Where am I?

    ...He could smell singed flesh and the stench of death he had come to know. He shook his head to clear the chaos in his brain to fully understand the chaos around him.
    What happened?

    ...A blurry figure walked towards him as he tried to regain his focus.

    ...“Easy, sir.” Came a sharp voice. “You took quite a bump.” He looked up to see Commander Jenne standing over him, her hand placed gently on his shoulder.

    ...“Report commander.” He ordered, trying to exert his authority and at least maintain the illusion that he had any idea what was happening.

    ...“They hit us hard sir. A Breen ship dropped out of warp right on top of us. Blew our port nacelle to pieces. Phlax said warp drive will be out for months unless we can get to a starbase.”

    ...“What happened to the Breen ship?” he asked, taking in deep breaths.

    ...“The second volley caused several EPS relays to overload. One went off in front of you. I took command and managed to take out their forward cannons, more a lucky shot than anything in truth. After that, they warped away. We still have our weapons so if they come back for us we can at least defend ourselves. Shields are at fifty percent and communications are down.”

    ...“Good, well done commander.” he said, gingerly rising to his feet. She took his arm to provide some support.

    ...“How many people are hurt, how many dead?” he asked sombrely. He could already see two crew members who had not been as lucky as he.

    ...She took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. “As far as we can tell, twenty wounded and seven dead.”

    ...He shook his head. It never got any easier losing someone. “Damn it, those Breen are getting bolder by the day. With our forces tied down with the Borg they have become more brazen every day.”

    ...“I know, there little more than thugs and pirates.” she said angrily. He could see the rage building up behind her blue skin. Andorians always keep their emotions near the surface and Jenne was not one to shy away from letting them out for some fresh air every now and then.

    ...He decide it was best to keep to business for now. There would be plenty of time to grieve and be angry later. “What’s the food situation like?”

    ...“Replicators are off line. We have some food rations, enough for three or four days. Starbase forty-seven is two weeks away.”

    ...“Two weeks!” he sighed. “Wonderful. Looks like will be tightening our belts for awhile. Any M-class planets nearby?”

    ...“Only Tridor Six, and there is a known True Way base there. I don’t think we will find much help there.”

    ...“Agreed. That’s far too risky. Starbase forty-seven it is. See if you can get external communications up and hail the base. Perhaps they can dispatch rescue ships to meet us half way?” He nodded to her and mobbed back to his chair. After cleaning some fallen debris from the consoles he checked the keys to see if they still worked. It was important that
    That he let the crew hear his voice. To let them know he was okay and the command structure was still in place. Being a Starfleet officer did not totally remove the sense of fear and confusion that an attack likes this brings. He cleared his throat and drew a deep breath to help clear his mind and then activated the intercom.

    ...“This is Admiral Tanar, to all hands. We are battered and beaten but we are still here. We are on course to starbase forty-seven. At best speed it will take two weeks to reach them and we have to make do with what food and medical supplies that we have. Your department heads will draw up ration plans to see us through until we can reach help, or help can reaches us. Please submit this reports to commander Jenne within the hour."

    ..."The next two weeks will be tough, but nothing we can’t handle. You all have my full confidence that we will come through this, as we always do. There is a reason this ship is called The Relentless. She never gives up on us and we won’t give up on her, or each other. We will pull through this. Tanar out.”
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    U.S.S. Pathrunner
    Captian-Ambrose Cross Walker
    Stardate: 2409119.6


    His ship had been through thick and thin with the Kligons but never the Breen. Now because of his foolish decsion both his ship and his crew were to suffur, on the upswing there was no families on board. He has learned well at the acamedy from the battles with the Borg that having families on board boosted morale but was far more dangourous. He learned this from his father who had survived the Borg attack on the Enterpirse E.

    Computer: " Captian Walker, morning staff meeting in 5 minutes,"
    "Thank You," I said.

    My ready room wasn't so bad just a few plaques knocked off the wall and a computer panel or two that needed to be fixed. I slowly got up and walked to the door of my ready room. I couldn't bear to look at my bridge because half of it was missing and all you could see was space. I was not on bridge when the Breen attack I had been having lunch with the Doctor discussing the latest disease. My Commander at the time only got the word attack out before half the bridge was destoryed. We fought the Breen off but at a heavy cost, 250 men and women dead, most of the fresh form the acamedy. I made my way across to the confrence room and sat at the head of the table, me being the late one.

    "Morning everyone, Engineering report," I said.
    "Extensive damage through out the ship both inside and outside, we have repaired all that can but the rest we gonna need a spacedock. The wrap core is the only thing still being worked on, and it will take atleast take two weeks on that. The aft nacelle is gone there is nothing left of it. The only other thing to report is that I manage to switch Life support to the Aux battery so the warp core won't shut down when we go to impluse." The chief engineer reported.
    "Alright do what you can, Doctor?" I Said
    "The dead have been place in the cargo bay 3 and its temprature brought down til we can convert some torpedo tube into statis chambers. There is 300 injured but because of the expanded sick bay we are able to house them. Other then that its going as smooth as it can." The Doc Said with a bitter tone.
    "Zac how long will it take to prep all 4 shuttles plus the runabout, yahct and delta flyer?" I asked
    For a monment the engineer fumble but recovers quicklly.
    "Give or take 5 hours why, sir?" He questioned
    "Split the remaining replicator rations among the ships and begin filling them up with personnel. each department will volenteer a skelton crew for each department and the rest will leave, understood. Doctor you will be in charge of bring them to the nearest federation outpost." I commanded.
    "Sire, with all due respect only shuttle bay two is operational the other one is..." Zac said
    " I will help on that, don't worried after the shuttles are gone we will get baby limped home. and if we should get into a fight we'll go down swinging. Doctor, You will have a bead on us, if you should run across a federation ship, sent it our way. Dismissed." I said with a sad tone.
    Am I doing the right thing? Sending the shuttles out who only have a marginal chance more success than us at getting to an outpost. Who know but like my father I will not abandon a ship who has been good to my crew. This war is changing for better or worse I cannoit tell.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    USS Elsternwick, Captain Tim Kingston.

    Captain’s Personal Log, supplemental.

    We are currently three weeks into our five week long limp back to Deep Space Nine. Could do with a wormhole right now, or even a couple of minutes in Slipstream.

    Morale on the ship is still acceptable, given the sacrifices that everyone have had to make. It’s a testament to the character of our crew, and the abilities of Command Ta’lis to maintain order and civility.

    After the Breen ambush just outside the Kelvani asteroid belt, we lost warp drive and communications. Thankfully, our sensors are still online so at least we’re not blind out here. The port nacelle was lost in the battle, cleaved off at the pylon. Commander Kingston is particularly upset about that one, but there’s not much he can do about it until we get back to Federation space and can be towed to a drydock. Paul keeps muttering something about using ensigns and “duct tape.” I think he’s angry that I damaged “his” ship.

    Lt Commander D’lesch is still trying to work on the communications array, but it’s not looking promising. The array itself was completely overloaded, and needs to be ripped out. He proposed using the comms array in our shuttles to contact Starfleet, but unfortunately we are just too far out into unfamiliar territory. If we broadcast now, we could attract more Breen hoping to avenge their brethren, or much worse.

    We initially set course for Deferra Prime, as it’s the nearest planet that we’re on remotely friendly terms with. A few days away from approaching Deferra, we picked up Borg transwarp signatures on long range sensors. It seems that Deferra is currently under attack from the Borg, their latest incursion into the Alpha Quadrant. We were in no condition to fight the Borg or assist in any way, so we did the only thing we could and set an immediate course for Deep Space Nine. We haven’t seen any indication that the Borg detected the Elsternwick, but we’re keeping vigilant. Four of Twenty has been keeping a close eye on long range sensors, foregoing regeneration cycles on several occasions.

    Ta’lis has probably had the hardest task of all. A Vulcan, in charge of safekeeping the emotional well-being of the crew. He’s done an exemplary job, and been remarkably considerate of the crew, despite his particular… circumstances. Due to the attack, our reserves are severely depleted. Any energy we can spare has been devoted to impulse, sensors and life support. Everything else at this stage has become a luxury, including replicators, holodecks and sonic showers. Ta’lis has listened to feedback and suggestions from the crew, setting up several poker tournaments, dramatic performances and concerts. Crew members, devoid of latinum, have started betting replicator rations and personal affects.

    Ensign McClorey suggested revisiting a tradition called “movie night” that an ancestor of his participated in during the very early days of Starfleet on the NX cruisers. The choice of recording has not always been particularly popular, but it seems to provide some much needed escapism for the crew.

    The mess hall has been busier than usual, due to the additional kitchen staff being employed to help provide additional meals to the crew given what foodstuffs we were carrying in our cargo bay. Like the movies, the meals haven’t always been popular, but it beats emergency rations when replicator privileges are used up. It’s been a welcome change of pace for the kitchen staff, who mainly see action for diplomatic events that are few and far between lately.

    As for me… I’ve been keeping up with my appointments with Counsellor Tiran. It’s been good to get so many things of my chest. Of course, Paul tends to gloat that he was right, again. Tiran is a fine counsellor, and even the detection of Borg activity in the sector hasn’t had the effect on me it once would have. I credit her for that. I’ve asked that she talks to Paul about the loss of the port warp nacelle, as his emotional reaction has been interesting. She promises me that she’ll arrange an appointment with him soon.

    In the meantime, there isn’t much to do but wait. The ship is as well repaired as it’s going to get outside of a space station or drydock. It’s going to be a long trip.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    “Captain’s Log: Supplemental
    Secure Encryption
    Computer, set time limit to 10 minutes.
    File Subject: Personal observations of Vice Admiral Markus Sheppard. Not for appending to official log.

    This certainly could have gone better. Admittedly, things could be much worse. I have drafted the official report of events but I feel the need to just vent. I am squandering our most precious resource, energy, for this so I better damn well feel better after it… especially since I am using tonight’s meal ration for this report instead of my food.

    I cannot believe how careless I was. I just got the Hagen retrofitted with all the very best technology and now half of it is scattered across the sector. This was meant to be a 3 hour cruise and instead “old one eye” is living up her name. Still, at least there is some small comfort in that I am in the Hagen. She is a lot larger than the Defiant retrofit I have been using until recently. I hope whoever is in the chair of the Relentless is fairing better than we are.

    Note to self for future reference, assuming there is a future to reference: shakedown on not – make sure the vessel is fully stocked before leaving dock.

    Second note to self: before jumping into what appears to be a fire fight make damn sure of what you are jumping into before attempting to render assistance. Now because of my misplaced sense of… of… I don’t know, call it honor, chivalry, nativity, stupidity, whatever… because of it; out of 200 crew, I have over 35 missing or dead and 87 near or totally incapacitated crew with all remaining 78 crew being walking wounded… including me. Literally everyone took a hit.

    Third note to self: the newer the technology, the harder it is to replace in the field. These upgrades are actually hampering our repairs because no one has the parts or experience with them.

    Fourth note to self: Short jaunts, such as a shake down, do not require slipstream to be tested. It takes you too far away from base too quickly.

    I am so angry. And I know I am not alone. I think I learned some new Klingon swear words from Chief Engineer Vulkrath. A few of them were directed at me too. Ah… it was probably a fair call on her behalf. I am sitting here in the dark, shivering in the cold, half floating because we cut back on gravity and metaphorically kicking myself. 35 of my people are dead.

    When that nacelle tore loose mid emergency slipstream it didn’t even have the decency to just fall off… Oh no! It had to twist and buckle first. It rammed straight into the damn main hull and then it proceeded to tear open multiple decks and only THEN did it sheer off. I lost over a dozen crew then and there with absolutely no chance of saving them. Of course, that dumped us out slipstream and into deep space. Sure, emergency slipstream, got us out that ambush and probably saved what is left of the ship and crew but still, we didn’t need that nacelle ripping off after the existing battle damage. The loss of those extra lives really hurts.

    Good news: our ambushers have no idea where we are which is good since we are in no condition to fight. Bad news: no one else knows where we are either…. Except us and we are without comms and limping slowly to DS9.

    Focus. The clock is ticking. If we don’t make it back the official report has everything you need. This is about how people are handling it… not the official stuff but the human element.

    To recap: We have no warp, slipstream or transwarp. Impulse is sketchy at best. We took what we think was a torpedo straight into the flight deck (don't ask me how) - everything in there is a near total write off. Hull damage is extensive and even most of the escape pods are unsafe, destroyed or un-launchable. Power rationing and diversion is in place. This means that the replicators, when they are used, are primarily for replicating parts to hold us together. There is no point eating if the ship falls apart because we damn well can’t get out and walk.

    Rule of thumb is you die in 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food. Admittedly, that is a human guide but it is good enough for generalization. We need what little the replicators can spare to generate life support in pretty much that order: Air, then water and lastly food.

    I explained it to the crew. They all grudgingly understood the need for that order of rationing. That does not mean they liked it or me. In fact, explaining why some species of crew get more food or less food than others has proven to be much harder than I at first thought. Metabolisms differ and I don’t want my Klingon crew starving to death before my Vulcan crew. Still, maintaining order is proving to be a challenge. Logically it makes sense but I am starting to fear some Lord of Flies situation developing behind my back.

    Realistically I had to tell them. It’s not like the crew would not have worked it out within a day. Still I think the right thing is to be honest up front.

    Helm tells me that we are probably three to four weeks out from DS9. The exact time depends on how the Hagen holds together. We might not make it at all. At least we don’t have to deal with the Bad Lands. That would have been…. Umm… bad.

    Doctor Rothchild tells me that apart from a handful of crew we could theoretically make a month without feeding anyone. Theoretically. It wouldn’t be smart though. Assuming everyone was supportive, and they wouldn’t be, our ability to actually hold the ship together would be significantly impaired and that would further imperil everyone. I consider that unacceptable so the alternative is rationing. At least no one seriously suggested we resort to cannibalism. I won’t have that. I even had to stop a few crew joking about it. Even jokes like that are unacceptable.

    The Hagen is an escort. We don’t have those extensive resources of the Cruiser Classes nor the fancy labs of the Science Vessels. We were built for war and that really puts us on the back foot in this situation. We can’t even run guerilla tactics or live off the land. I can’t launch any small craft. Transporters are offline and the energy requirements make it out of the question anyway. Landing the Hagen could only happen if we wanted to make ourselves a shooting star and then a big crater.

    So that leaves us here. Pushing the Hagen as fast as we can and dare. The last thing I need is for the deflector dish to fail and some speck of dust to finish us off.

    Okay. Time for the upside.

    The situation is grim but not beyond hope. We are relying on training and skill not blind luck. The crew is well trained. The ship is as tough as nails. We’ll get there. We will mourn and honor the dead. I have seen some unlikely crew raise to the occasion. When we get back, we’ll all be stronger and smarter for it. We have to be, or else all this work and those 35 lives will have been wasted.

    Computer, end log and state elapsed time.”

    The computer reported just over eight and half minutes. That left some of his ration unused. Not much but a little. Admiral Sheppard mulled options over. He knew what he really felt like. Let the diplomats have their tea and the engineers their Klingon coffee. He did the maths in his head. It should work.

    “Computer, 10 year old port, one glass.”
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    Krovennan was working at the desk in his quarters when the call sounded, he was needed urgently in the Mess Hall. Dropping the PADD he had been working on he bolted from the chair and ran for the door, picking up his Manna'gahr along the way and affixing it to the arm slot on his combat gear, which he had been wearing for Weapons training a few minutes ago to hold it in place.

    As Krovennan passed through the doors of his quarters he was almost immediately flanked by Kri'gak and several of his officers, the group of five rushed to the Turbolift and one of the officers called for the Turbolift to head to Deck 4, where the Mess Hall was, just in time to enter before the doors shut on him.

    "Status report Kri'gak, what happened?"

    "Apparently an accident occured, someone fell and knocked a crewman's food onto the floor, the crewman did not take to it well and began hurling insults at the one who tripped, then proceeded to rile up some of the others while begin insulting the rest."

    "Seems rather disproportionate to the circumstances, we've only been rationing for ten days."

    "Yes sir, apparently this crewman has a mental disorder that makes him prone to such outbursts over trivial matters, suffice to say, the instigation has blown into a full blown riot, Kel was in there and tried to calm the men down, with the fact he is a Breen and the situation we are in being caused by the Breen. It would appear this crewman has slipped into a psychosis and is no longer thinking rationally, he has engaged Kel"

    "Kel is tough, but he won't last forever."

    "Aye sir, Thankfully it's only started recently, the Cook has taken a few of the bystanders and barricaded them with him in the kitchen, if we can detain the uprisers, the situation will calm down."

    "Agreed, we don't know exactly what will happen in here, once we get in, I want you to assess the situation in the Kitchen immediately, the rest of you, weapons on high stun, you may only use stun grenades if absolutely necessary, we do not want to catch innocents in the altercation, do I make myself clear?"

    "Sir!"

    "Yes sir!"

    "Crystal sir!"

    "Good, here we go, no wasting time, get in there!"

    "The Turbolift's doors opened and the group rushed out, Krovennan taking the lead with the others right behind him, the lights and gravity had been reduced, allowing the group to run faster than normal, already they could hear a commotion of shouts, screams of pain, and sounds of fistfights. The group burst into the Mess Hall to witness anarchy, the rioters had dispersed, a few braver crewmen holding them away from the weaker or younger crewmen, not to mention any of their families.

    Kri'gak headed to the Kitchen, which had been sealed off by a Duranium shutter, and knocked on the door, the chef, a pudgy old Human man, opened the door to let Kri'gak in to assess the ones inside, shutting the door immediately, the three security officers were busy breaking up the fights as best they can, using their pistols to stun the rioters. Krovennan sccanned the area and noticed, hidden among the throng, the unmistakeable sound of a Breen vocal communicator.

    Kel had been cornered by the one who instigated it all, a tall, burly Trill Engineer, the Trill and Kel were surrounded by a section of the outside-facing wall and a close-knit semi-circle of crewmen, some were cheering on the fight, others trying to push their way through to stop it. Kel knew he could not reason with someone he could barely communicate with, so he had no choice but to hold his ground.

    The Trill had been completely overcome by his anger, apparently setting into a psychosis, Kel defended himself as best he could, but the Trill attacked with the savagery of a wild animal, kicking and punching wildly with no intention of easing up, Krel took several hard hits, grunting through his suit's communicator each time he was hit. For most people, this was the most they had heard the normally stoic Breen say.

    Krovennan assessed the situation quickly and came to the conclusion Kel was going to lose, the Kitchen's shutter had been opened to help ferry the bystanders out of the Mess Hall, a young blond Human woman, bearing the mark of the Astrometrics Department, was hiding under a counter, she was being coerced out when she tripped over herself in panic. Before the woman could get up, a rioter kicked one of the defenders into a large pot of boiling water, the water cascaded downwardsand completely covered the woman.

    Krovennan almost cringed at the girl's screams of agony, the boiling water had completely covered her in large burns and she had taken to shaking uncontrollably from the pain, the water still burning her as Kri'gak called in a medical emergency and rushed to aid her. Krovennan had to end this, and the only way he could do that was detain the one who instigated everything, and from the looks of his brutal attacks on Kel, he would have to be quick, readying his weapon, Krovennan pushed through the crowd, using the flat sides of the weapon he was able to push the crowd aside, but it began to thicken as he neared Kel. Krovennan doubled his efforts to push through, having to knock out a couple of officers as he pushed through.

    Kel was sitting on the floor, the Trill Engineer having beaten him hard, but for some reason had walked off suddenly, Kel thought he may have found a new target for his anger, but it was not to be. Taking advantage of his own strength and the low gravity, the Trill had picked up one of the tables ad was carrying it over his head towards Kel, Kel knew exactly what he planned to do with that, but was unable to move from the beating he had already received.

    The Trill readied the circular table, grasping it's singular leg like a mace, with encouragement from the crowd he began to raise it over his head in readiness to strike, the shouting increased as reinforcement Security officers arrived, the sound of stun Phasers going off in the distance. The Trill began to bring the table down, but before he could hit Kel, there was a glint of metal and the table was seperated from the leg in one motion, the table flew off into the crowd, thankfully not heavy enough to cause any damage with the low gravity.

    Krovennan had made it just in time, Manna'gahr severing the table in one go, before the Trill could properly react from the sudden action, Krovennan placed his arm in front of him, horizontal so that the Manna'gahr acted as a makeshift riot shield, Krovennan ran forward a couple of steps, barging into the Trill, forcing him to drop the table leg nearby. The Trill was stunned and glared at Krovennan in anger.

    "Crewman! Stand down!"

    All the response Krovennan got was a roar of anger as the Trill rushed Krovennan, the man aimed a wild punch at Krovennan, which he deflected to his right with his left hand, before using that same hand to backhand the Trill, spinning him around to face the other way, Krovennan, already incensed at this man, grabbed the back of his collar and the back of his belt. Using the low gravity, his Vilscaran strength, and his own anger, Krovennan threw the man away from Kel, the crowd, which had now almost totally died down upon seeing the spectacle (and fearing they would be next), parted to make a path between Krovennan and the temporarily flying Trill.

    The Trill crashed into a nearby table that had so far survived the riot, knocking it over and falling into a heap behind it. Krovennan rolled his shoulder, resulting in a series of cracks from his neck.

    "I will not say this again crewman, Stand down! That is an order! Stand down or I will MAKE you stand down!"

    The Trill merely stood up again, knocking the table aside and screamed at Krovennan as he charged him again, his mind completely lost to the psychosis. Krovennan sighed, he realised he would have to incapacitate this crewman in a more direct manner. He only hoped that when this was over, the man would calm down enough to be reasoned with.

    Krovennan entered a combat stance and waited until the Trill was almost on him, then brought his weapon down at a diagonal angle, the weapon's edge cleaved into the Trill's right shin, leaving a thin gash across it, as the shock and pain took hold of the man, forcing him to clutch his leg and stop his charge, Krovennan moved his Manna'gahr up and to the left, before bringing the rear point down sharply onto the Trill's left foot. As the man was effectively pinned by the weapon, Krovennan disengaged it from the slot on his combat kit with a flick of his arm, before the Trill could react, Krovennan delivered a right cross to the side of the man's head, knocking him out cold.

    Krovennan removed his weapon from the Trill's foot and shook the droplets of blood of the weapon, it was an unfavourable action, but the man had been consumed by his own rage and Krovennan had no choice. as the Mess Hall fell silent Krovennan called Sickbay to prepare for the new patients, the Mess Hall was in tatters, and it had all started over a spilt dinner and frayed minds. Krovennan found a long table and pulled it upright again, he began to stand on it as the last of the rioters was detained, he began to address everyone assembled there.

    "Starfleet Officers, I am disappointed, no, worse than disappointed, I am disgusted! You allowed your anger, your fear, to get the better of you and look at what has been done, we are scraping the barrel as it is, to spend more resources to feed you after this is an abhorrent insult to myself and every innocent officer on board this ship!

    Kri'gak, throw the instigators in the brig, they are to receive half their normal rations in there, and also, unless they are in danger, they will not receive treatment for their wounds, we will save that for the innocents that were hurt today."

    As if to emphasise his point, the young woman who had been burned was being carried out by two of the Security Officers. A few of the rioters stared at the floor, unable to lift their heads. Krovennan did not require them to, they only had to hear what he was saying.

    "The rest of you, you will find yourself one meal less thanks to your friends who will be staying in the Brig for the remainder of the voyage, if I hear of such a riot again, you'll look back at this punishment as lenient, understand? On a Vilscaran Vessel, such behaviour would have gotten these rioters stripped of their military status on the spot, so be thankful this is not a Vilscaran Vessel.

    Everyone but the wounded and medical personnel, you are dismissed!"

    The crowd hurried out of the Mess Hall, they knew not to argue, Krovennan stepped down from the table and approached Kel, who was being scanned by Drehera's Omni-Visor.

    "You alright Kel?"

    Kel merely nodded in response, Krovennan walked out and headed back to his quarters, he would have to assess the situation later, right now he had to figure out how they were going to recover from this.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2012
    I am really, really impressed by the stories told from this challenge. I thought it was tough to write the challenge, but you all made it seem like a piece of cake to write about -- amazing job, Captains.

    I am going to unsticky this now as I prepare to post #11. If you have not had a chance to post your entry yet, feel free to still do so.

    Cheers,

    Brandon =/\=
  • zidanetribalzidanetribal Member Posts: 220 Arc User
    Literary Challenge #10: Replicator Rations

    LC10: Stopped Cold
    Captain's Log, Stardate 88587.52. A recent resurgence of Breen attacks on Deferi vessels has concerned Starfleet Command enough to send the Lord English to the Orellius Sector Block to show the flag. For our part, we will remind the Breen that the Federation will not abandon the Deferi in their time of need.

    ===

    Vice Admiral Remus Lee's thoughts turned to the Kobayashi Maru scenario as he surveyed what remained of his bridge. Much like the infamous test, the day's events started with a distress call from the Deferi freighter Fegtau. When the English arrived at the ship's location, the twenty ships of the Breen Deep Space Fleet turned their attention to the new arrival and within the first thirty seconds, the English had suffered crippling damage to all of its major systems. Forced to choose between the doomed freighter and his own ship, Lee ordered an immediate retreat, stopping only to transport the bridge crew off the Fegtau.

    A few light-years out, the port nacelle of Lord English snapped off, leaving the ship spinning dead in deep space as the nacelle continued its journey back to Federation space. With great difficulty, the crew managed to bring the ship under control. Unfortunately, the ship was still stuck in deep space without faster than light drive or subspace communications, far from any friendly outpost or shipping lanes. Lee had to determine how much of the ship still worked and what can be done to ensure everyone could return home, but first he decided to see if anyone was rescued off the Fegtau.

    "Security teams to Transporter Room 1! We have a situation developing here!"

    Chief of Security Aranea Serket arrived at the transporter room to see a Deferi grappling with a Breen soldier. Fearing for the Deferi's life, Aranea tossed a stun grenade into the room. A bright flash disoriented the two brawlers, allowing security to apprehend the Breen. The Deferi continued to fight regardless, until he was also restrained. Lee arrived as the two new passengers were led away.

    "What is going on over here?" he asked.
    "We beamed a Breen aboard with the captain of the freighter," the transporter chief responded. "Looks like those two are the only ones we got intact."
    "What do you mean by that, chief?"
    "Transporter system was hit during the beamout; I had to reroute the rest of the bridge crew's patterns to Transporter Room 2, but that was heavily damaged in the fighting. The result... well I've already requested biohazard cleanup crews to come..."

    The transporter chief shuddered.

    "We are getting out of this alive, right, Admiral?" he asked.
    "Even if it kills us, Chief," Lee said in a poor attempt at humor. After awkward silences, everyone dispersed.

    ---

    The general mood aboard Lord English was one of cautious optimism, the feeling that survival was possible despite all the difficulties that had happened. Lee had to make sure that the crew continued to believe in success while he and the senior staff dealt with the realities of the situation.

    "We lost 97 crewmembers during the skirmish," First Officer Kay Taylor reported. "Of the other crewmembers, 453 are grievously injured and require medical attention at a starbase."
    "Phasers and torpedo systems are FUBAR, Admiral," Chief Tactical Officer Drevis Nethri warned. "If the Breen come knocking, we won't be able to stop them from attacking."
    "We have lost the port nacelle, and that has caused us to leak a large amount of electro-plasma," Chief Engineer T'Shaanat stated. "Our remaining reserves are contaminated with polarons from the skirmish and may degrade the EPS system faster."
    "The subspace comms relay has been completely destroyed," Chief Science Officer Kira griped. "We won't be able to send out a distress signal that anyone friendly will pick up in time."
    "Sickbay has suffered extensive damage and cannot manage the amount of wounded we have," Chief Medical Officer Four of Thirteen commented. "We will also run out of emergency medical supplies in three days."
    "Most of the ship's systems are barely functioning, but the ones in need of the most immediate response are life support and replicators," Chief of Operations Kovat Vystan noted wryly. "I've been able to stabilize the systems by running connections through what's left of the auxiliary craft, but this is a fragile solution at best."

    Lee grimly absorbed all the information.

    "Do we have any good news for a change of pace?"

    Aranea raised her hand.

    "All security sections are reporting that they are operating normally," she chimed in. Shipboard defenses and the armory also report normal operations, and security condition is normal."

    Just then, a security alert rang out.

    "Security to Cargo Bay 2, repeat, Security to Cargo Bay 2."

    Aranea shrugged in disbelief.

    "Looks like I spoke too soon. That was ill-timed."

    Lee took a deep sigh.

    "Alright, team, back to work. Let's keep the ship from falling apart any further."

    With the meeting adjourned, the officers returned to their posts preoccupied with their own concerns.

    ---

    "Murderers! Killers! Balance wreckers!"

    In the makeshift sickbay that was Cargo Bay 2, security personnel struggled to keep the rescued Deferi from assaulting the captured Breen being treated at the same time. Soon Aranea was on scene.

    "What's the situation? Who is in charge?" she asked.
    "Lieutenant Lennox, reporting," a combat medic replied. "I was treating the Deferi when security brought the Breen prisoner for treatment. The Deferi went berserk and tried to attack the Breen."

    The Deferi struggled against the security officers.

    "These Breen are cold and heartless barbarians!" he cried. "Each Breen life comes at the cost of a Deferi life lost to slavery or outright murder!"
    "Calm down, sir," Aranea responded. "This is no time for hysteria."
    "How can I be calm?" the Deferi retorted. "I have lost three ships and crews to the Breen. My brother was beaten to death in front of me, and my wife is somewhere toiling in a Breen prison camp. Until you find yourself at the mercy of the Breen, you cannot understand anguish."

    Tears flowed from the Deferi as he tried vainly to break free of security. Meanwhile, the Breen prisoner stood impressive, unfazed by the Deferi's emotional outbursts. Aranea turned to Lieutenant Lennox.

    "Can't we separate these two?"
    "Cargo Bay 2 is the only available medical facility," the lieutenant responded. "The only alternative is to leave the Breen untreated in the brig."
    "Would that be allowed?" a wounded security ensign asked. "I think if the situation were reversed, the Breen would surely leave a Starfleet officer untreated in a brig."
    "Stow that talk, ensign," Aranea ordered. "We're Starfleet officers, not Breen. We care for our prisoners. Lieutenant, set up a temporary holding cell for the Breen, and put the Deferi's biobed on the opposite end of the bay."

    Lieutenant Lennox acknowledged her orders and went about implementing them. Privately, Aranea wondered if leaving the Breen prisoner alive was too much of a liability, but decided that unless things were about to get worse, it was not her place to decide.

    ---

    "Things are about to get worse, people."

    Admiral Lee gathered his senior officers around what was left of the bridge's main viewscreen. Prominently displayed was the unmistakable silhouette of a Breen Chel Grett warship traversing deep space for prey.

    "The long range sensors picked up the signal about three minutes ago," Kira reported. "Currently, we are still outside their own maximum sensor range, but without light speed, we won't be able to escape detection. In fifteen minutes, they will detect us. Fifteen more minutes and they'll be on our position."
    "We still have no defense against another ship," Drevis reminded the others. "All the arrays and launchers are scrap, so unless somebody wants to make a giant slingshot and fling quantum torpedoes at the Breen, there's nothing to stop them from shooting out our life support and stealing the survivors as slaves."

    The officers discussed the situation amongst themselves.

    "We have the numerical advantage in terms of crew," Aranea insisted. "The Chel Grett's crew capacity is 650 beings; even with our own casualties, we outnumber them almost four to one."
    "How are we supposed to use our crew numbers against them?" Four responded. "As soon as the Breen notice the threat, they will raise shields and destroy our ship systems before we can get close enough to board their ship."
    "Not to mention that transporters are barely functional and the auxiliary craft and shuttlecrafts are not spaceworthy," Kovat added. "About the only thing left that can fly is the chevron section, but that's about as capable as a pie plate for boarding ships."

    Commander Taylor put in her thoughts.

    "What if we split the crew in half? If the chevron and stardrive sections attack at the same time, one of them is bound to get close enough to land an assault squad."

    T'Shaanat shook her head.

    "The amount of time needed to land a sizable enough force to take a Chel Grett warship is more than the amount of time that warship needs to evade both sections. This plan would only work if the Breen ship was immobilized long enough, but none of the operational systems are capable of such a feat."

    The officers returned to grumbling amongst themselves, until an alert from the bridge brought all discussion to a close.
    "Admiral! The Breen ship has detected us on long range sensors and has changed course to intercept us! ETA 15 minutes!"

    Lee turned to his officers with an air of finality.

    "We have fifteen minutes before the Breen start taking prisoners. I'm willing to entertain any idea no matter how silly. If there is a place and time for creative thinking, it's now, people."

    ---

    Thot Jek, captain of the Breen ship Skotta, was displeased with his share of the plunder from the raid on the Deferi freighter. In anger, he ordered his ship to depart from the Breen Deep Space Fleet so as to hunt for his own prize. Now was his chance to reap untold treasure for himself; Jek's sensors officer reported a Federation vessel disabled in deep space, an easy target for an experienced Breen raiding party. In the electronic series of buzzing that composed the Breen language, Jek ordered the Skotta to intercept the Federation vessel.

    Having sustained heavy damage including the loss of the port nacelle and large amounts of warp plasma and coolant, the Federation ship was in no position to resist the Skotta's approach, choosing instead to separate its chevron section in a vain attempt to outrun the Breen vessel. Thot Jek sneered as much as a Breen could at the futile actions of the cowardly Starfleet officers before ordering an assault. A polaron bolt from the Breen ship struck the chevron's life support system, venting atmosphere and bodies into the cold of space. Jek ordered all personnel to the boarding clamps in preparation for a slaving run, confident that the suffocating crew would put up no resistance to the Breen.

    From the battle bridge of the stricken stardrive section, Lee watched as the Chel Grett clamped onto the chevron. He had gambled that the Breen would go after the chevron first; now it was time for the payoff.

    "Let's kick some ice! Ramming speed!" he ordered.

    The stardrive section of the Lord English roared to life as it aimed itself at the Breen vessel. At the same time, the chevron stopped transmitting the holographic lifesigns it used to fool the Breen and started magnetizing its hull. Its movements hindered by the chevron, the Skotta could not bring its weapons to bear on the rapidly approaching stardrive. With a mighty crash, the two halves of the Lord English messily sandwiched the Skotta, collapsing the Breen ship onto itself and sending debris from both ships everywhere. Without missing a beat, Lee put the second part of the plan into action.

    "All personnel, prepare to board!"

    In the span of five minutes, Thot Jek found himself turning from predator to prey, a fact that made his head spin. The Starfleet officers had sprung a daring trap, and now Starfleet away teams in EVA suits were forcing their way through the numerous breaches in the Skotta's hull and taking control of the vessel. The Breen were unable to withstand the dual shock of the crashing ships and the Starfleet assault. Jek decided to abandon his conquest of the Lord English as well as his crew in the face of the advancing Starfleet force. He activated a personal transporter and beamed off his ship just as the first away teams breached the bridge.

    ---

    Lee was pleased as accounts of the mission's successes poured in from the away teams. Aranea hailed the Lord English from the bridge of the Breen ship.

    "Teams 1 and 2 have secured the bridge, and the other teams are still in contact. Initial reports peg our losses at seven crewmembers, which are much lighter than expected. The Breen have fought to the last man, but the Thot in command is nowhere to be found."

    This last bit of information concerned Lee. Only the most ruthless and unscrupulous Breen spacers could ascend to Thot status, and a Thot backed into a corner would not hesitate to commit acts of barbarism if it offered an advantage. Before Lee could order his crew to keep a lookout for the Thot, Cargo Bay 2 began hailing the bridge.

    "Lieutenant Lennox to bridge! We have a situation here!"

    Her voice was quickly drowned out by pistol fire, angry cries and electronic noise. Lee went to the bridge weapons locker and took out a phaser rifle.

    "Attention all hands!" he proclaimed on the comm system. "We have an intruder onboard! All available security personnel to Cargo Bay 2!"

    Thot Jek sized up the situation he was in. His blind transporter jump placed him in one of the Starfleet vessel's storage rooms where the Starfleet officers had set up a medical ward. He took as a hostage a Deferi that tried to attack him; unwilling to see the Deferi harmed, the Starfleet officers meekly relinquished their weapons and allowed Jek to free the Breen prisoner. Before Jek could leave, however, a Starfleet admiral and two security teams arrived with phasers trained on his head. Jek pointed his polaron pistol at the Deferi's temple.

    "Breen captain!" the admiral ordered. "We have taken control of your ship, so you have nowhere to go. Surrender peaceably and release your hostages."

    Jek was not going to let some Starfleet stooge order him around. He fired into the ceiling before pressing the pistol barrel in the Deferi's flesh, at the same time demanding a shuttle.

    "All our shuttles were destroyed." the admiral replied. "You have nowhere to run anyways. Don't make the mistake your crew made and die needlessly. We will treat you as according to Federation regulations concerning prisoners."

    The last thing Jek wanted was to be a prisoner. He had come this far looking for plunder and he was not going to leave empty-handed. He fired at the young security ensign, hitting him in the leg, before repeating his demand for transport away from the area.

    "Breen captain! Do not mistake our negotiations as a lack of resolve! Any more hostile actions on your part and we will be forced to storm your position! This is your last chance to avoid bloodshed!"

    Jek smirked to himself; the Breen as a species lacked blood, so any blood that was shed would come from the Starfleet peons. He emphasized his little inside joke by strangling the Deferi hostage and leveling his pistol at Lieutenant Lennox. A shot rang out. Clutching at the wound with both hands in a mixture of pained distress and surprise, Thot Jek fell to the floor.

    In his hubris, Jek neglected the cardinal rule of his species: "NEVER turn your back on a Breen". Before his vision faded, Jek saw the Breen prisoner he freed throw away a phaser rifle and ask for asylum.

    ===
    Captain's Log, supplemental. We have been able to cannibalize enough parts from the Breen warship to fashion a long-range subspace relay with which we were able to contact Deep Space 9 and ask for rescue. The Lord English will require extensive repairs at the Bajor shipyards and will be inoperative for at least thirty days while replacement parts are shipped in from Utopia Planitia. On the plus side, we have brought back the Deferi captain and a Breen defector, which will no doubt help Starfleet in building a more thorough intelligence report on the Breen. In the meantime, I've ordered the crew to get some much needed R&R while Starfleet processes my temporary ship requisition forms.
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