"Damn, a clear case of Klingon ferocity it seems."
T'rela folded her hands against each other. Subcommander Ramek turned away from Ops and looked her in the eye.
"Now what? Knowing Kurn, this is gonna end in a massacre for one of the sides. He will destroy every evidence we need to continue our campaign against the Tal Prai'ex."
T'rela sat there. She closed her eyes. Considering different scenarios. Estimating the risks. After about a minute, she opened her eyes again.
"If Kurn is willing to destroy the evidence we need, we should prepare to stop him. Target all of the R'kota's forward cannons on his ship. Target shields and weapons, I don't want the Klingons destroyed. Subcommander, can you send a hail for the Raptor Star? I heard that she is in the area."
"Will we engage, Admiral?"
"Not yet. Remain cloaked for now. Let Kurn be the first to fire, only then decloak. Stand by emergency medical and engineering teams to assist that B'rel that has Romulan lifesings on it. Keeping that ship alive is a top priority."
The Mogai repositioned, ready to unleash a heavy barrage on the Klingon ships. Waiting for the outcome of the hails.
Datlh'LaH was about to respond to the Romulan when the comm interrupted.
"Bridge to Briefing room...We are being hailed by another Klingon Vessel, a captain Kurn. Should I relay the message?"
Datlh'LaH raised a single eyebrow. He knew of no Kurn in the Order of Watchmen. Nor did he know of how Kurn would have found them. He gave the affirmative and the message played through. Datlh'LaH listened and frowned.
"Damn fools," He muttered, "Open a channel. Route it here"
There was an affirmative at the other end and Datlh'LaH moved to a small console in the corner of the room and responded to the captain outside. "Captain Kurn. I will have you know the two captains you just so insolently called Ptahks, happen to be esteemed Generals of the Empire. I am General Datlh'LaH, the other is General Hegh'yIt. Power down your weapons. Our, meeting, is for the interest of the Empire. If you wish to discuss it further, I am certain Hegh'yIt will allow you to beam a representative on board. If you open fire, I assure you, you will regret it."
Datlh'LaH was about to respond to the Romulan when the comm interrupted.
"Bridge to Briefing room...We are being hailed by another Klingon Vessel, a captain Kurn. Should I relay the message?"
Datlh'LaH raised a single eyebrow. He knew of no Kurn in the Order of Watchmen. Nor did he know of how Kurn would have found them. He gave the affirmative and the message played through. Datlh'LaH listened and frowned.
"Damn fools," He muttered, "Open a channel. Route it here"
There was an affirmative at the other end and Datlh'LaH moved to a small console in the corner of the room and responded to the captain outside. "Captain Kurn. I will have you know the two captains you just so insolently called Ptahks, happen to be esteemed Generals of the Empire. I am General Datlh'LaH, the other is General Hegh'yIt. Power down your weapons. Our, meeting, is for the interest of the Empire. If you wish to discuss it further, I am certain Hegh'yIt will allow you to beam a representative on board. If you open fire, I assure you, you will regret it."
He ended his message and waited for a response.
Kurn listened to their message. "Was it true?" Kurn thought, "Was their secret meeting actually for the good of the empire?" he paused, "With ROMULANS?" The last thought brought him a bad taste. Not because he disliked romulans, he honestly did not. Kurn had learned to allow the green bloods to prove their worth. There were even two serving on his ship. On his very bridge no less, and they has curtainly proved their worth. If he have seen their medical scans he would have thought them Klingon warriors in disguise by how much honor he had seen them fight with. But these other romulans.... They held this meeting in the blackness of space. If they truly meant the empire good why meet way out here?
Ambassador Worf hadnt said with they were here, only that Kurn SHOULD be here, that he would be needed and despite Kurns demands Worf would say no more and Kurn honored his elders.....when they deserved it.
"Open a channel-" Kurn started, "No! If they do not mind if we beam over, than we WILL beam over." Kurn declared with a grin. "Maintain weapons lock. If you do not hear from me in five minutes, destroy them," Kurn finished.
"Sir," Denra'nrava, one of his romulan officers began., "I dont know why my people are here, but there are two Klingon ships here other than us sir and there only one romulan ship."
"And? Ms. Revon? I do not fear them." Kurn returned, then jokingly said "Do not be afraid, i will not let these Klingons have their way with you."
"They could try...." Denra'nrava thought. Out loud she said, "That isnt the point sir. My people are cautious, calculating and covert by nature. They wouldn't knowingly enter the area, decloak, and sit waiting to be ambushed like young epoch. There may be another romulan ship out there. We should be careful too."
"Well, you have been correct about this sort of thing in the past but-"
"Sir," Rekel, Denra'nrava's older brother and the only other romulan serving cut in, "i may be able to find any cloaked ships out there but the odds are small. Klingons arent the only ones to advance their tech."
"What are your thoughts B'Ellera?" Kurn asked.
"It is what i would do, had we not been sent here alone," B'Ellera, Kurn first officer spoke, "But it is possible that the ambassador sent us here to aid these warriors. If he intended us to fight i do not think we would of sent us alone."
"Perhaps," Kurn thought, "BUT he could have felt only one ship would be enough. We have them out gunned. we will be cautious like our weapons officer thinks we should be. I will beam over with a group of warriors. THAT will be our reply to them," Kurn then turned to the Romulan siblings, "Denra'nrava you will come along. That way they will not think we romulan hating d'bloks. You do not have a problem shooting other romulans if you have to do you?" Kurn said joking again.
"Good thing i dont. Otherwise those Talshiar back on Dera 2 would have made more than a scar on your arm..." Denra'nrava delivered with her usual deadpan manner.
"HA!" Kurn grinned, enjoying their friendly banter, "I was only seeing if you WOULD fire."
"The way you hit the floor for cover suggested otherwise..."
"Only a foolish warrior stands in the way of the storm! I remember killing more than you that day," Kurn then spoke to he brother, "You will remain here, no fun for you.....Try finding any other ships," The kurn spoke to B'Ellera, "After we beam aboard, if they try anything-"
"Yes, I know," B'Ellera interupted, "Next sector."
"Raise the shields as soon as we are there. If i do not contact you in five minutes, release an opening volley destroying what you can, THEN jump to warp and report to Ambassador Worf." Kurn ordered, joking finished.
"You want us to RUN?!" B'Ellera exclaimed.
"No. I want the empire ready for whatever they may attack us with. fightingand winning a battle while losing an empire is no victory."
"...and losing a battle to save an empire is no defeat..." B'Ellera finished, "What if the reason for our being here is to help them? What if theyre reasons are the same as ours, for the GOOD of the empire?"
"THEN," Kurn spoke without turning more than his head, back still towards B'Ellera, "It would mean that there is a problem to both the romulans AND the empire. It would mean that there is a threat so grave, so dangerous, that most on both sides may not believe it so they meet here in secret to marshall the forces needed to fight, even if we must fight in shadow."
"So then you think it may be THEM?" B'Ellera asked.
Kurn's only reply was a grin. He enjoyed joking with his crew, but if it was who he thought it was, WHAT he thought is was... Only the BEST and most honorable could defeat them. And his crew was the best he had served with. He respected them and they, him. He trusted them with him life and many of them had saved him and his ship more than once and when the time came, they did their duty with honor. Headed for the turbolift he ordered two others to follow. By the time he reached the transporter, eight warriors stood ready. That made a group of ten counting himself and Denra'nrava. He ordered their weapons to the ready but told them not to fire first. He ordered to have the coordinates set for the strange looking Bird-of-prey. Its shields were still down. Either he would take that ship or they would tell him a damn good reason for being here. Either way Kurn was about to find out which.
Kurn wondered why Worf felt he should be here but would not tell him why. Out loud he spoke one word, "Energize."
"The Raptor Star has responded, Admiral. Commander H'tan will be here in thirty minutes."
T'rela listened to the news of Ramek. Some positive thoughts entered her mind. H'tan may be old, but he was cunning.
Ramek again looked at T'rela. "Admiral, we are detecting transporter signals coming from Kurn's ship."
So, the Klingon decided to spare the Tal Prai'ex and their associates for the time being. However, as fierce as he may be, he stood not a chance at what was against him. Two Klingon ships, one of which was heavily modified, and a Romulan ship. He was going to a meeting he did not understand. Why would one Romulan ship meet up with two Klingon ships? Especially if the Romulan ship was a Star Empire vessel?
"Subcommander, can you open a scrambled channel to Kurn's ship? I don't want to give away our position."
"I can, Admiral. Opening the channel now."
"I.K.S. Seraphim Shadow, this is Admiral T'rela of the Romulan Republic vessel I.R.W. R'kota. Forgive me for not being out here in the open, and staying under cloak and scrambled. We are here to observe this meeting. Republic Command believes that the Romulan vessel is a Tal Prai'ex vessel, a lesser known organization of the Star Empire, but as effective as the Tal Shiar. They have been pulling power towards them ever since the death of Hakeev and the disappearance of the Empress.
We have been observing the entire meeting. My men have been able to beam over a cloaked microphone, which is relaying us all that happens in that room. I am willing to forward this information to your commanding officer, which, if I am correct, just beamed over to join the meeting. He will know what is going on.
However, it is imperative that you DO NOT engage these ships. We need this meeting to reach a conclusion. Right now, all that has been said is mere speculation. We need them to sign an accord, so that we finally have the evidence to take down this threat to the Republic.
The reason I am contacting you about this is that you can play a part in getting the agreement done. Think of it as a covert action. You surely must have doubts about a secret meeting. Especially since deals in the dark never worked between the Star Empire and the Klingon Empire. Just think of the Narendra accords that failed, the assassination attempts around the first Khitomer accord, the involvement of the Tal Shiar during the Civil War.
We are trying to end this past, and move on to a policy of openness. We will need your support for this. T'rela out."
She folded her hands again, awaiting the Klingon reply.
Rekel worked quietly at him station. It was a strangle sensation for him. Here he sat, is sister working on a Klingon away mission while he sat on a klingon bridge working the controls looking for possible romulan ships under cloak. From time to time he would chuckle to himself. Life on a Klingon ship had been full of irony but he was glad the romulan republic allowed him and his sister to serve on a Klingon ship. He learned a lot from his captain about his former enemies and now had a respect for them. Though after everything, the last thing he found himself calling them was "enemy." He had been looking for the tale tell signs of a cloaked ship when the funniest thing happened... He found one or rather, it found them. there was a covert signal coming through. he listened closely. In surprise he began to understand something. It his captain was in danger and while he knew, and shortly so would the rest of the Seraphim Shadow's crew, as well as the captain himself, those on the ships before them would not know they knew. Rekel chuckled again.
"What is SO funny?" B'Ellera asked. She stood up from the chair and moved over to Rekel.
He liked how she moved. There was a grace in her movements as thought she wasnt a skilled warrior but a risan dancer. He had almost forgot he even spoke, "I found a romulan ship," he told her, eyes still sliding over her form.
"How?" she asked, noticing his gaze.
"Well, it contacted us. I was just getting ready to report-"
"When you were captivated by my glory?" B'Ellera glared. It was no secret to the crew that the two of them were involved. She was simply playing a role, trying to hide it. The only secret was kept from the two of them. The crew had known the truth after their first night. Rekel's injuries were the proof.
"No sir!" Rekel responded, trying to sound formal, "i was recording the message and preparing a data burst for the captain."
"Send the burst then play the message on speaker."
Rekel did as he was ordered. Kurn, like ALL the command crew, Rekel included all had covert implants allowing them to recieve coded messages. These implant would recieve the message and display them to the owner via an optic nerve connection. The owner would see the message as though he were looking at a screen. The Seraphim Shadow was a covert Operations vessel. It was assigned to go places, see things and find out things any normal ship wouldnt ever be able to find out. Rekel has seen Tal Shiar ships less stealthy. After the bridge listened to the message B'Ellera cursed their timing. if only the captain has been able to hear this before going over.
As the group materialized Kurn pointed his weapon and placed his hand on his Mek'leth. He looked around taking in their suroundings. "Parameter! Now!" Kurn ordered. As the warriors set up, a data burst appeared is his vision. As he waited for his host to show up, he read the message. went it was over, he looked to each of them. They nodded, a sign that they would follow his lead on this, that the mission had just changed. Denra'nrava understood as well, they were no longer in a battle ready mindset, but one though still cautious and ready to fight, was one of information gathering. They were going to get as much intel as they could before choosing a course of action.
Kurn was enjoying the change. It meant he could play the role of the blood thirsty klingon, battle hungry and ready to fight all the while listening to every word these Peta'Q would say. Something bothed him though. There was a cloaked warbird out there looking to catch them doing whatever it was these people were out here doing. that ship claimed to be here preserving the peace. No, "Threat to the republic," is how it was put while those on this ship claimed their meeting was, "for the interest of the empire." which meant the warbird either was working against these klingons and an enemy or was working against these klingons and was a friend. It all fell down to what he was about to be told. He prepared a return data burst and sent it. Then, keeping to his "bloodthirsty role" bellowed, "Were is the Pata'Q who commands this barge?! Show yourself! True Klingon warriors," Kurn paused seeing Denra'nrava, "and one honorable romulan demand to know why you meet in shadows!"
"Sir," Rekel reported, "I've recieved a coded data burst from the captain. He says to use the warbirds signal to triangulate its position but to then do nothing that would show we have found them."
"Have you found them?" B'Ellera asked, maintaining their secret or, trying to.
"I have not yet determined its exact location but i have a general idea. they are to our port flank. we are unable to fire on them without moving the ship."
"And they would then know something is up."
"Yes."
"Well then i have an idea. Remember the Black Star?"
"You mean do i remember nearly getting blow away when we were all still serving on the old Bird-of-prey? Yea i remember." When Rekel was referring to one of his first missions with Captain Kurn. Back them they were still convert Ops, but they didnt have the state of the art Mogh class they now had. they used an old Brel which was always falling apart at the seems. On this particular mission, the cloak had failed and Kurn decided to continue with the mission, spouting something about honorable completing the mission and what not. They were hiding the ship is an asteroid field when they were jumped by an unknown vessel. It disabled them but but they were able to hide the ship within a asteroid. Then, by Denra'nrava's suggestion, they removed torpedo warheads and hid them out among the floating debris. They then sent a distress signal, know the unknown ship would track it and return to finish them. when it tried just that, they detonated the warheads destroying the ship. Now, the Seraphim Shadow carried mines so they wouldnt have to disassemble torpedos, but how could they use them in this situation?
"Good," B'Ellera began, "You continue finding the warbird i want its exact position. when you have it sent the data down to the shuttle bay. we will take a shuttle and mine the area around the warbird."
"...oh my," Rekel caught on, "that COULD work, but only if we used-"
"The cloaked tractor mines deployed from a cloaked shuttle." B'Ellera finished.
"Im on it. The Captain's message told us to stand down from the whole 'Next sector' thing. But he wants us to keep the weapons charged and locked....to, as he put it 'play the role'. What does that mean?" Rekel asked. He had never gone on away missions with the captain.
"He means we are now bluffing but keeping a good, what was it the Titan's captain called it, a poker face."
Rekel recalled the Starfleet crew the met at Deep space nine. It was the same crew that aided the romulans after the Shinzon fiasco. It was a Luna class ship commanded by a cunning yet chariming fellow who had taught some of the Seraphim Shadow's crew the an earth game called poker. He had said it wasnt the first time he had played it with a Klingon.
"There! 327 mark 458 at 42 hundred kellicams" Rekel reported, finding the warbird, "Good thing we acquired that Long-range tachyon scanner."
"Good. Signal the shuttle crew to begin. Make sure they assume the warbird is of the old D'Derdrex class. It may not be that type but if we assume it is the biggest of the warbirds, they wont be crashing their cloaked shuttle into the cloaked warbird..." B'Ellera ordered. If it all plays out well, they will have control of the entire situation. "I then want you to signal the warbird. tell them WE have informed our captain and that we demand more information about those they wish to catch. Tell them we need to know what they know."
Ofcourse they had. It was left there purposely for them. To create a warp shadow using the singularity core was a simple trick. To cloak it as well required a bit more cunning, but that was a quality not unfamiliar to the R'kota. A converted beacon using a massive distortion field, enough to surround the warp shadow, was a trick not everybody would scan for. It seems that the Klingon crew was cunning as well. Now it was to be expected that the Klingons would prepare a defensive measure without us detecting.
It would not be long, though, before the Klingons realized their mistake. And not contacting them could prove to be disastrous for the trust both parties needed to invest in each other.
"Reopen the channel to the Klingon ship. However, send it through the Raptor Star before scrambling. If they try to clear the scrambling, all they will find is a D'deridex travelling in slipstream to this location."
"Channel open, Admiral."
"I.K.S. Seraphim Shadow, this is T'rela again. I see you have a cunning crew. You managed to find the Warp Shadow to your port that the Tal Prai'ex could not. However, it is nothing more. Our actual location will remain disclosed for now. Our cloak is the newest in the Republic, and will be extremely hard to break, even for a Mogh.
I am only explaining this since I don't want to create mistrust between each other. We are allies after all.
But then, I am not really providing you with any reason to trust me. You know there is an armed warbird with cannons targeted to each ship in this system. To proove my good intentions, I am prepared to beam myself over to your ship. I can stay in contact with my ship through my communicator.
If you wish to accept my offer, turn off all of your scanners for 20 microseconds. My first officer has already encoded a program that will trigger a site-to-site transport, beaming me in just behind your Communications station, in this sensor gap.
T'rela out."
She looked at Ramek, and he understood what she wanted from the Subcommander.
To maintain position, keep weapons armed, maintain a scrambled link to T'rela, be prepared to assist any ship that takes damage and to await the arrival of the Raptor Star.
Of course they had. It was left there purposely for them. To create a warp shadow using the singularity core was a simple trick. To cloak it as well required a bit more cunning, but that was a quality not unfamiliar to the R'kota. A converted beacon using a massive distortion field, enough to surround the warp shadow, was a trick not everybody would scan for. It seems that the Klingon crew was cunning as well. Now it was to be expected that the Klingons would prepare a defensive measure without us detecting.
It would not be long, though, before the Klingons realized their mistake. And not contacting them could prove to be disastrous for the trust both parties needed to invest in each other.
"Reopen the channel to the Klingon ship. However, send it through the Raptor Star before scrambling. If they try to clear the scrambling, all they will find is a D'deridex travelling in slipstream to this location."
"Channel open, Admiral."
"I.K.S. Seraphim Shadow, this is T'rela again. I see you have a cunning crew. You managed to find the Warp Shadow to your port that the Tal Prai'ex could not. However, it is nothing more. Our actual location will remain disclosed for now. Our cloak is the newest in the Republic, and will be extremely hard to break, even for a Mogh.
I am only explaining this since I don't want to create mistrust between each other. We are allies after all.
But then, I am not really providing you with any reason to trust me. You know there is an armed warbird with cannons targeted to each ship in this system. To proove my good intentions, I am prepared to beam myself over to your ship. I can stay in contact with my ship through my communicator.
If you wish to accept my offer, turn off all of your scanners for 20 microseconds. My first officer has already encoded a program that will trigger a site-to-site transport, beaming me in just behind your Communications station, in this sensor gap.
T'rela out."
She looked at Ramek, and he understood what she wanted from the Subcommander.
To maintain position, keep weapons armed, maintain a scrambled link to T'rela, be prepared to assist any ship that takes damage and to await the arrival of the Raptor Star.
"It is a WHAT?" B'Ellera demanded.
"Its...a warp shadow..." Rekeal answered. He was so prideful to have found the warbird and that pride ha gotten the better of him. He should have known what he was looking at. While still aboard a romulan ship, he had used the trick himself.
"So then THAT," she pointed to the screen, "...is NOT the real location and we are mining a ghost?
"It would appear so."
"Well then, it is a good thing we used the tractor mines. They have a good range and arent meant to damage ships but to hold them. Order the shuttle to return via micro burst and activate the mines. At least if a cloaked ship should roam too close they will be caught. And," B'Ellera paused brushing Rekel's ear, "Do not feel bad. It doesnt appear the other ships even found it at all."
"There is one more thing. Another message from the warbird. They are resquesting to speak to us, IN PERSON."
"They wish to transport HERE?"
"They have sent instructions to signal our agreement."
"How?"
"They are using some sort of scrambled comm beam. It is somehow untraceable. but i believe i can recreate it. I cant however establish return com without knowing their true location. I must admit, ive not seen this before and i was Covert Ops for the Romulan Republic."
"One thing in strange to me," Growla started. She was the Seraphim Shadow's Science officer and B'Ellera's younger sister. She usually reminded silent, only speaking when there was something important to say. When she spoke, because she applied great thought beforehand, other listended and were fools not to. Rekel and B'Ellera turned to hear her.
"What bothers you?" B'Ellera asked.
"Well," Growla started, "This cloaked warbird has sent messages and once I cleared the scrambling, they APPEAR to be still en route here, in slipstream."
"They could not drop a warp shadow here unless they were HERE." Rekel informed.
"Its not only that," Growla continued, "They have too much information for a ship that is not yet here. Also, remember what the message from them said. The transported a mic-"
"Which," B'Ellera cut her off, "Would not be possible unless they were here which means-"
"There are," Growla finished, "TWO warbids at least. one here observing the situation and one en route. But thats not all that bothers me. if they are here wishing to catch a Tal Prai'ex ship, who does that make THEM. The Tal Prai'ex worked against the Tal Shiar, it stands to reason the Republic should ally WITH them, not against them."
"True..." B'Ellera remained thoughtful. She was no more a fool than Kurn and she knew how to play a role, and when to fish for information. Now was the time for the latter. She continued, "Very well, signal to the warbird. Allow them to beam over. Order warriors to the bridge. i dont want any surprises when they appear. Set weapons to STUN. i dont want to kill whoever they send over should they prove, distrustful. Also, try to trace the ship when the transport occurs and one more thing-"
"Scan for the phase shift of a cloaked ship dropping out of slipsteam. I am on it." Rekel said.
"No," Growla interupted, "They MEANT for us to know that ship was on its way, why else relay their message through it? dont scan for one ship, scan for many. Scan for the ships they DONT want us to know about."
"Good point my sister," B'Ellera praised. as she didnt four warriors entered the bridge. B'Ellera reminded them to put their weapons on stun and told them to position themselves behind the comm station, where the visitor would appear."Also, since we ARE alone here, send a signal to your Older Brother. Tell him we may the help of a pirate. "She paused, "Send the signal," She ordered, "Let us see what they have to say."
OOC: My two Rommies, T'rela and Ramek, fly the Mogai I.R.W. R'kota (yes, based on my account and main character name. It sounds ok, and I love basing ship names cross-character) and the D'deridex I.R.W. Raptor Star. And I do have a boff named H'tan. So that explains the names xD.
IC.
T'rela was standing, ready to beam over. Suddenly, the sensors showed that the Mogh had deactivated its scanners. A green light brightened the bridge, as T'rela saw it disappearing. Only microseconds later, she saw the Klingon bridge appear.
Four armed guards were pointing their disruptors in her direction. The rest of the bridge crew looked at T'rela: a set of Klingons, but most notably, a Romulan. Why did they choose to join the Klingon Defense Force, she wondered. But now was not the time for that conversation.
"Commander, I am Admiral T'rela of the Romulan Republic Flotilla. As you can see, I came unarmed and unaccompanied. I am here to demonstrate my good will. I assume you have a lot of questions for me. We can discuss them on a place of your convenience. However, I have to relay an order first."
She tapped her wrist, opening a scrambled channel to the R'kota.
"Subcommander, relocate the R'kota, make sure you keep all forward cannons targeted on the Tal Prai'ex vessel. They might have found our location, and I don't want to give our ship away."
OOC: My two Rommies, T'rela and Ramek, fly the Mogai I.R.W. R'kota (yes, based on my account and main character name. It sounds ok, and I love basing ship names cross-character) and the D'deridex I.R.W. Raptor Star. And I do have a boff named H'tan. So that explains the names xD.
IC.
T'rela was standing, ready to beam over. Suddenly, the sensors showed that the Mogh had deactivated its scanners. A green light brightened the bridge, as T'rela saw it disappearing. Only microseconds later, she saw the Klingon bridge appear.
Four armed guards were pointing their disruptors in her direction. The rest of the bridge crew looked at T'rela: a set of Klingons, but most notably, two Romulans. Why did they choose to join the Klingon Defense Force, she wondered. But now was not the time for that conversation.
OCC: please remember only one romulan is on the Shadow's Bridge. the other is with Kurn on the other ship.
"Commander, I am Admiral T'rela of the Romulan Republic Flotilla. As you can see, I came unarmed and unaccompanied. I am here to demonstrate my good will. I assume you have a lot of questions for me. We can discuss them on a place of your convenience. However, I have to relay an order first."
She tapped her wrist, opening a scrambled channel to the R'kota.
"Subcommander, relocate the R'kota, make sure you keep all forward cannons targeted on the Tal Prai'ex vessel. They might have found our location, and I don't want to give our ship away."
B'Ellera had sat back down before the Romulan beamed over. Still she sat, taking her time studing the new creature which dared to appear on what was right now HER bridge. She had no reason to trust the woman. In fact there were somethings that did not add up. She ordered the four warriors to give the romulan space, but to not go too far and to keep their eyes on her. Slowly she stood and walking over to the romulan. B'Ellera enjoyed this part. The acting, if it was acting. Half the time the crew couldnt tell which is was, whether she was serious or not. It was a standing joke that Rekel was rubbing off on her. She closed to distance as though she were stalking prey, coming so close to the romulan, it would have made her uncomfortable, at less it SHOULD have. This romulan simply stood and in return, studied HER! She grinned, a sign meant to startle the romulan but in truth it was B'Ellera enjoyed this sparing of minds. She could tell this one would give information freely, not even by mistake. Anything this romulan said would all be on purpose and anything B'Ellera, or anyone for that matter found out would be meant to find out. Rekel has told her that at times, Romulans would drop bits of information, hidden, simply to test their opponents, to gauge their abilities. B'Ellera wondered if they had passed such a test and if so, so many. Was THIS another?
B'Ellera grinned again, as though she was approving the romulan. Of course she didnt, it was all a show. She slowly trued returned to the captain's chair. She sat before speaking. Once sat she, She eyed the romulan a bit more then said, "Who are you romulan? Who are you REALLY?" She knew she would not get a true answer, but it was the lie that told her. It wasnt what was said, but HOW it was said. She continued, deciding to put the cards on the table, "We KNOW there is at least one other warbird en route, and we know THAT is not the ship you came from. We KNOW there are at least, two of YOUR warbirds. We know that you are either Tal Shiar or a good lair," She grinned showing her teeth, "...or BOTH. We know that warbird," she pointed to the view screen in dramatic Klingon fashion, keeping to her role, "...is a Tal Prai'ex vessel. but THEY work against the Tal Shiar and supported the legitimate Romulan government. THAT means if you work against THEM, you are most likely working against the Republic." B'Ellera motioned with her finger in a circular gesture to Rekel. He understood and began rotating their shields. "And one more thing," B'Ellera calmly questioned, "How did you transport through our shields?"
OOC: Improved my previous post due to your part in red. My mistake!
IC.
T'rela observed the Klingon. She judged her as a fierce warrior, but smart. This one would not march anywhere without a good disruptor, but would not fire it too soon. Nor too late. She listened calm to her words. The accusations, the questions, the revealing of information. She made one thing out of her words: the commander thought T'rela to be Tal Shiar. Explaining that she wasn't would be an effort in its own.
"Legitimate questions, Commander... I didn't entirely catch your name. But as I promised, I will answer them.
Yes, it is true there is a second Republic vessel slipstreaming to our location. It is the D'deridex class Raptor Star, under Commander H'tan. I called to my old friend when you first arrived. Because let us be fair, you would have destroyed anything in the system if they did not act as you wished them to act. And what is at stake here is more valuable to us.
I can confirm that at this moment, the R'kota and the Raptor Star are the only Republic vessels within light years. This is a rather remote location, and the Republic does not send that many patrols to this area.
As for me, I am exactly who I claim to be. I am Admiral T'rela, Commanding officer of the Seventh Republic Patrol. I was born on Rator after the destruction of the homeworld, and was part of the original fleet under Kererek that broke away from the Star Empire to form the Republic. I was present when the alliance between my people and yours were signed, on Khitomer. I was present during the Battle of New Romulus, holding the line against the Elachi onslaught. All of this is information you should be able to confirm through your own computers.
I am not your enemy, Commander, I am your ally.
Your next question is why the Republic would be fighting the Tal Prai'ex, when we have the Tal Shiar as a common enemy. You could also ask why we would fight the Tholians, or the Voth, when we have the Borg and Undine as common enemies.
Ever since the death of Hakeev and the disappearance of Sela, the Star Empire has been crumbling down. The Tal Shiar lost its command and has taken serious hits. The Tal Prai'ex is moving in this vacuum to claim power for themselves. They are a dangerous organization, that intends to continue the civil war my people have fought in for the past year.
They are nothing like the Republic. Today should prove that: they are making deals in a remote sector, in secret. This is not how the Republic works. We have an alliance with the Empire through an open meeting, and we have continued to talk together in the light of the stars, not in the shadows of nebulas.
The Tal Prai'ex most likely met with warriors of the Empire to strengthen their numbers. What the motives of your generals are I cannot confirm, but I do not think they are here to represent the High Council. Otherwise, we would not be having this conversation.
And how I transported through your shields is quite simple, really. Your shields were locked in a single frequency. We had ample time to scan your ship, and to determine your frequency. I assume that that circular gesture you just made means you are rotating frequency now. A smart decision, one that I would have made myself. I cannot beam out again now. There is a limit to what the R'kota can do.
Now, let me ask you a question. The way you talked to me, looked at me, grinned at me, I suppose that was to bring me off my watch? Because if it was, it did not work. I have had diplomatic meeting for my people with yours before. I am not unfamiliar with Klingons, if I may say so.
But the main thing I would like to know now: are you willing to trust me, or would it be wiser for me to request a beamout? If you have any more questions, I will gladly answer them. This is why I am here."
T'rela looked at her wrist again. A set of coordinates. She knew where the R'kota was now. Exactly in the position she had hoped Ramek to move towards. The man, of which nobody knew what species he exactly was, would make a fine Commander in time.
"My brother was once a part of the Tal Prai'ex," It was Rekel who spoke this time to Admiral T'rela, "He hates the Tal Shiar. its why he joined them. He is no longer a part of them now...." Rekel's voices trailed off, as if he was remembering a distant pass, "But he knows some of what you say is true. The Tal Prai'ex was a part of the Romulan navy and apposed the Tal Shiar. When it was revealed that Sela had been working with the Tal Shiar, My brother found out that the Tal Shiar had operatives within the Tal Prai'ex and possibly the republic itself. ...its why he refused D'tan's offer to join. I say all that to say this: YOU could be a Tal Shiar spay within the republic who is simply trying to finish and old enemy and somehow a high ranking Klingon ambassador has asked us to come here WITHOUT telling us why. We trust only those who show themselves worthy of trust. You have only came here and answered question you could have done over coms, granted something must be said for your willingness to come to our ship."
"He is right," B'Ellera agreed carefully not to use his name. She wasnt ready to give that information yet. Besides, if she knew who Rekel was, she might of heard of his pirate brother... That might cloud thing for now and a cloudy situation can be a deadly one. B'Ellera continued, "You may be turthful, but WE have no way to confirm or deny your story. What we DO have, is a knowledge of covert operations. Since we are, what is the human expression-"
"Putting our cards on the table," Rekel reminded B'Ellera, thinking of the Titan's captain.
"Yes," B'Ellera continued, "SINCE we are putting our cards on the table, I will tell you that we are a part of Klingon Intelligence. So we know that while it is more honorable to work in the light, there are times when the shadows CAN be your friend. Since you has access to the meeting, will you share this access? will you tell us all you know of there meeting? what are their goals, their wants. you may not know what the Klingons there want but you should know what the Romulan commander wants," B'Ellera paused to gather her thoughts, "Also, why would the Tal Prai'ex wish to continue a civil war? Why prolong the conflict when only those who owrk against the peace can profit from this? Namely, the Tal Shiar, the iconians, the undine..." the 'THEM' Captain Kurn referred to, "Why continue the fighting?"
B'Ellera wondered what was truly going on, she didnt like having the captain there, off ship with so much going on. and she couldnt tell him or allow him to hear or see this meeting through his implant in real time. Such a signal would be detected. But he WAS being updated from time to time through data burst. He was probley getting a laugh from the show. Then a reply came over data burst. Kurn wanted them to beam him back when they droped shields to allowed Admiral T'rela to return. So...he didnt plan on keeping her here. WHAT was going on down there?
OOC:Is the other person able to flesh out that the happening of the other ship where the meeting is occuring?
T'rela looked at the Romulan male. Somebody who had a past. A brother that joined and left the Tal Prai'ex. At least one of them joining the KDF. This looked like a man who just wanted to get away from all the bloodshed. Somebody that grew tired of the civil war. But both he and the Klingon crew were not fully informed over the situation in the Empire. Maybe a brief lesson?
"You speak of the Tal Prai'ex the way they used to be. Nothing more than an Intelligence Service. They transformed. Similar to how the Tal Shiar transformed between the Dominion War and the events of the past year.
With the Tal Shiar loosing its, to stay in terms of that human game you seem fond off, ace cards, they are loosing ground rapidly. That organization is coming down. The Tal Prai'ex is moving in the power vacuum. They are taking control of the Star Empire. Other groups try as well, but are not as organized and effective as the Prai'ex.
I spoke about continuing the civil war. This is very simple; as long as the Star Empire exists, there will be war with the Republic. They will never acknowledge our existence. To them, we are rebels and terrorists. The civil war can only end with the Star Empire dissolving and its members joining the Republic, out of their own will. We have come to a point in which the Flotilla can attempt to conquer Rator, but this would not solve anything. If we force people in the Republic, they are going to rebel against it.
The Tal Prai'ex knows that it will loose much of its power should they join the Republic. For this, they remain a faction apart from it. we already have reports of skirmishes at our borders. Not a full scale invasion yet, but the situation is far from peaceful.
The Romulans that you see on that viewscreen are here to back themselves up. An alliance with factions of the Empire would increase their power, and thereby their claim to the Star Empire. My crew has been monitoring them for long. If we can get a treaty signed, we can expose the Prai'ex for what they truly are. This will most likely lead to the downfall of that organization, after which the Star Empire does not have any faction strong enough to bid for power. This could proove to be the end of the civil war, with the Star Empire joining the Republic.
Ow, and as for checking me up, try your computers. You should be able to confirm I was at Khitomer, that I fought at New Romulus, that I was part of Kererek's fleet.
You also requested to be shared the information we have already unraveled today. I will only share this information with you, Commander. Your Captain knows of everything that happened, and you may. Of my crew, only my first officer knows exactly what is happening. This due to security reasons. I trust my crew, but some of them have enough reasons to discharge all of my plasma weapons should they know what happened on board of that B'rel. And I don't want that to happen."
OOC: Will await the other posters reply before continuing, unless it takes too long.
B'Ellera listened to to the Admiral's words. There was a since to them. If the Tal Prai'ex HAD lost its way, its honor, then things would be bad for both the republic and for the peace with it. Then she thought, it ALL made since. There have been parts of the empire who seen the current state of affairs as one turning the empire into something they didnt recognize. Allying with the Romulans, ending the war with the federation. If the empire was to make friends with everyone, then how would a warrior earn their honor? Some of these dissidents wanted a return to the old ways. The idea wasnt all that bad B'Ellera thought but then she remembered what her father had told her long ago, "Honor IS earned on the battle field. THAT is where a warrior is strongest. BUT there are other types of battlefields and other types of battle. The farmer battles with the land. The lawyer battles with the law to attain justice," her father then paused, a toothy grin, "and i battle with your mother!" he bellowed with laughter. "TRUE honor," her father continued, "can be attained by anyone, warrior and non-warriors alike. The way to ture honor is is service of ones house and the to empire."
"If these Klingons seek a return to the old ways, they may be using the Tal Prai'ex to that end. If this is the case, if they will truly side with them, to continue the civil war, to bring Klingon forces in on the side of Tal Prai'ex," B'Ellera stood, "then they have no more honor than...." She looked to her sister who shook her head in shame as they remembered their Grandfather Duras. "NO!" B'Ellera continued, "my family has known no honor until Ambassador Worf asked on our behave to fight for the house of Martok. I will NOT allow these PetaQ to dishonor my people." B'Ellera Declared.
"Admiral," Rekel began, "The Captain of this vessel is man i am honored to serve with. He has said on many occasions that this ship and its crew earn their honor by ensuring the peace continues. If Klingon forces are brought into a fight for the Tal Prai'ex, against the Republic it would threaten that peace. My sister and I serve here to understand our new allies. THAT is our first purpose here because true peace cannot be kept through force. Only through understanding." Rekel stopped as a signal alerted him. He went to see the cause and his eyes went wide. There was surprise, then confusion, and then alarm as he remembered all the details of the conversation. He drifted from the console trying to think quickly.
"What IS it Rekel?" B'Ellera questioned. Her tone more of worry than of annoyance. She had seen that look on his face before and when he has that face it means things were about to get complicated.
"HE is here. NOW. He sent a coded message." Rekel informed.
"He...?" B'Ellera thought. the only one coming was... But he was last reported in the eta eradani sector. "How? Even at maximum warp it would have taken a few hours and caused a bit damage to a ship that old."
"The message reads: Hey, got here faster than i thought. this NEW ship it better than i thought. Youre not going to believe what it is. There were smiling faces following the message. "
"That human woman is having a bad affect on him," B'Ellera admitted, "But to be here now, he would of had to have a ship FULL of brog tech including transwarp to get here THAT fast....."
"Well he IS here. and that means, once he knows what we do....."
"He will blow that Tal Prai'ex Warbird into the next sector," B'Ellera finished then remembered there was still an admiral waiting, AND listening. It really WAS time to put the cards on the table. "You know our captain so you know he is a skilled warrior. It was HE who lead the attack on the Federation fleetyards. It was HE who fought off the Undine and Aided Tuvok in the dyson's sphere all with ONE ship....until help arrived. Our captain is a cunning and honorable warrior. But even here does not enter a situation like this one with out calling for back up....not usually. That signal-"
"Was my brother," Rekel cut in, "You said youre with the republic, then I KNOW youre herd of him. He is Former Admiral T'rell Revon of the warbird Heartless. He has been attacking Orian Syndicate ships. Being a pirate to the pirates as it were...Thinks he a bloody Robin Hood. He HAD a modified Mogai/Valdore hybrid powered by an old D'derdirx core. As yoy know, a ship like THAT couldnt of gotten him here so soon. My brother HATES the Tal Prai'ex. He, like the pirates of old Values freedom above all else. He seen the Tal Prai'ex becoming much of what youve said. He even dubbed them the Shiar Prai'ex as a joke. If he is here, the Seraphim Shadow is the least of your worries. You had better get back to your ship."
Just as B'Ellera was about to order the shields dropped to allow Admiral T'rela to return, and massive ship began to decloak right at the normal position T'rell used get into to protect his little brother and sister.The ship was NOT what they were used to seeing. This ship was long and jagged. its hull was black. but not black like the shadow's. Were the shadow gleamed, this ship loomed. It sat there dominating the surroundings. As Rekel looked at it, his eyes seem to slide off it, and the feeling it gave him... It made him want to jump into a hole and pull the ground in over him. It looked like a spiky death. there two long...arms...that were attached towards the rear of the ship and ran the entire length and swung down and beneath it. Rekel moved back to the console to see the strange ships through the Seraphim Shadow's eyes. Much of the sensor beams bounced off, penetrating the hull was impossible but the energy signature was a cross between Romulan and Borg. To think a ship with THAT much power could even hide all its energy.... Rekel checked for a transponder signal and sure enough, he found what he thought he would. the transponder didnt read as a friend OR a foe and all it gave was one word for identification.
HEARTLESS
"What IS that?" B'Ellera asked.
Rekel turned to face her, "Looks like my brother is here with his new ship. He is right. I not only dont believe it, i dont even know what it IS!"
OCC: the ship that just decloaked is my other toons' Tal Shiar Destroyer, which from a story point of view, he stole and escaped in it during the mission where the Tal Shiar kidnaps the player. (Romulan storyline) His persona is like a cross between captain Harlock and Han Solo. just FYI. He is the Older brother of the two romulan officers who serve on the Seraphim Shadow.
OOC: I said that I would wait a little while. But this is simply too much fun to write. So sorry guys, but I'm just gonna continue. As far as I'm concerned, the events taking place on the modified B'rel can be written, since they do not seem to affect the secondary plot.
IC.
T'rela thought about the words she had just heared. T'rell Revon had again emerged. A man that was still wanted for defection and desertion. But again, those were discussions for another time. This meant that she was talking to his younger brother Rekel. Were her sister was was unknown to her for now, but irrelevant anyway.
"That..." said T'rela while pointing her finger to the viewscreen, "is a modified Dhelan Warbird. We refer to them as Tal Shiar Adapted Destroyers. The result of experiments with Borg technology. That ship packs a punch greater than this Mogh can hope to give. I must return to the R'kota at once."
T'rela made three taps on her wrist, after which a green hue brightened the Shadow's bridge. Only microseconds later she stood on her own bridge.
"Change of plans. Hiven, open a channel to the Mogh. We won't need to fear them anymore, so don't bother scrambling it. Ramek, relocate all weaponry on that Tal Destroyer. That ship poses a real threat to the Prai vessel."
"What about the Mogh, Admiral?" Ramek asked.
"Well, they are on our side. I managed to gain a certain amount of trust from then. They won't interfere beyond tolerance. That Tal thing out there however is captained by a man with a grudge against the Prai. Which could prove desastrous to our operation. Hiven, is that channel open?"
Hiven nodded.
"Commander, this is T'rela. Can you try to defuse this situation? That Destroyer will already alert the delegates into the meeting, so it may already end here. But if T'rell opens fire, I am afraid I will have no choice than to intervene. Please try explaining him what is going on, and remember that we still have a chance to defeat the entire Tal Prai'ex instead of just one ship."
Again she folded her hands together. Damn. As if that Mogh had not disturbed the operation enough. If the Prai'ex would not reckognize T'rell, they would only see a Tal Shiar ship. In any way, they would respond hostile. It would all depend on how T'rell would act. Otherwise, months of work could be undone, and a military campaign could be the only way to defend the Republic.
H'tan looked at his viewscreen. The slipstream was filling all of it.
"Faster.... faster...."
"Sir, we are already pushing the core to the limits! If we increase power even more we risk the singularity pulling us in!"
"Pull her in then!"
OOC: I said that I would wait a little while. But this is simply too much fun to write. So sorry guys, but I'm just gonna continue. As far as I'm concerned, the events taking place on the modified B'rel can be written, since they do not seem to affect the secondary plot.
IC.
T'rela thought about the words she had just heared. T'rell Revon had again emerged. A man that was still wanted for defection and desertion. But again, those were discussions for another time. This meant that she was talking to his younger brother Rekel. Were her sister was was unknown to her for now, but irrelevant anyway.
OOC: Concerning the "again" in red. should this suggest a possible past between the T'rell and T'rela? Should/can i run with that?
"That..." said T'rela while pointing her finger to the viewscreen, "is a modified Dhelan Warbird. We refer to them as Tal Shiar Adapted Destroyers. The result of experiments with Borg technology. That ship packs a punch greater than this Mogh can hope to give. I must return to the R'kota at once."
T'rela made three taps on her wrist, after which a green hue brightened the Shadow's bridge. Only microseconds later she stood on her own bridge.
"Change of plans. Hiven, open a channel to the Mogh. We won't need to fear them anymore, so don't bother scrambling it. Ramek, relocate all weaponry on that Tal Destroyer. That ship poses a real threat to the Prai vessel."
"What about the Mogh, Admiral?" Ramek asked.
"Well, they are on our side. I managed to gain a certain amount of trust from then. They won't interfere beyond tolerance. That Tal thing out there however is captained by a man with a grudge against the Prai. Which could prove desastrous to our operation. Hiven, is that channel open?"
Hiven nodded.
"Commander, this is T'rela. Can you try to defuse this situation? That Destroyer will already alert the delegates into the meeting, so it may already end here. But if T'rell opens fire, I am afraid I will have no choice than to intervene. Please try explaining him what is going on, and remember that we still have a chance to defeat the entire Tal Prai'ex instead of just one ship."
Again she folded her hands together. Damn. As if that Mogh had not disturbed the operation enough. If the Prai'ex would not reckognize T'rell, they would only see a Tal Shiar ship. In any way, they would respond hostile. It would all depend on how T'rell would act. Otherwise, months of work could be undone, and a military campaign could be the only way to defend the Republic.
OOC:I dont intend on T'rell disliking the republic. His reasons for NOT joining D'ten hinge on his love for freedom and hie suspicions that the Tal Shiar have infiltrated it, same as the Tal Prai'ex. His main purpose is first to safe guard is brother Rekel, who doesnt get along with him, and his sister who usually stand between their arguments.
H'tan looked at his viewscreen. The slipstream was filling all of it. "Faster.... faster...."
"Sir, we are already pushing the core to the limits! If we increase power even more we risk the singularity pulling us in!"
"Pull her in then!" OOC: if only Sulu WAS romulan!
OOC: i love this. you do good writing sir! Favorite parts in green commits for the sake of story telling in red. I am waiting for the others but i SOOO wanna continue.
OOC: i love this. you do good writing sir! Favorite parts in green commits for the sake of story telling in red. I am waiting for the others but i SOOO wanna continue.
OOC as well.
I have not yet decided on a T'rell/T'rela past. Ofcourse if you start writing, I will jump on the possibility, but the word again was originally intented to state that a missind person had been found.
T'rell can like or dislike the Republic. I am usually very cautious to write for somebody else character. I only suggested that T relll was acting against the interests of the Republic by arriving in a Tal Shiar vessel at this meeting. Whether this was intentional or not (I suspect not) is something I leave up to you.
And yes, if only Sulu were.
Anyway, as I stated, if the other guys want to write a flashback as to what happened on the B'rel, I am perfectly fine with it. Meanwhile, seeing this thread has had a period of being abandoned (around 5 months between page 3 and 4), I am just gonna continue with the fun we are having here. Not sure if the others are gonna return.
Ow, and my hat is off for your storiwriting as well, my good sir!/OOC
I have not yet decided on a T'rell/T'rela past. Ofcourse if you start writing, I will jump on the possibility, but the word again was originally intented to state that a missind person had been found.
T'rell can like or dislike the Republic. I am usually very cautious to write for somebody else character. I only suggested that T relll was acting against the interests of the Republic by arriving in a Tal Shiar vessel at this meeting. Whether this was intentional or not (I suspect not) is something I leave up to you.
And yes, if only Sulu were.
Anyway, as I stated, if the other guys want to write a flashback as to what happened on the B'rel, I am perfectly fine with it. Meanwhile, seeing this thread has had a period of being abandoned (around 5 months between page 3 and 4), I am just gonna continue with the fun we are having here. Not sure if the others are gonna return.
Ow, and my hat is off for your storiwriting as well, my good sir!/OOC
OOC: Well, considering it could be a while, i will continue. I am enjoying the writing. Also, i will write around the meeting, defining and outcome os that we can continue but i will leave it open so detail about the meeting can be filled in.
.....Last time on Star Trek: Enemy of my Enemy:
*Goes over recap montage of prior events*
...And now, the continuation:
IC:
T'rela had reutrned to the R'kota. Why they remained cloaked, and unable to raise shields was a question to be asked when the universe didnt seem intent on ending lives in an orgy of death and disruptor fire. B'Ellera was siiting at the Captian's chair staring at a ship she has never seen but had heard stories of and while a part of her dreading entering battle with such a powerful ship, she was Klingon. B'Ellera knew there would be songs written about the coming battle. Shame the battle would be classified and only people to hear or even sing of them would be the Seraphim Shadow's crew and even then, only on the ship. Rekel was again Alerted to a signal.
"WHAT now?! Did the Federation show up and demand we make a committee to decide what to do fro here? B'Ellera said, her frustration beginning to show.
"No," Rekel begin to report, "Captain Kurn has returned. He has with him the two klingon generals and a Tr'Rllailiiu. With him who are all being taken to the brig. "
"Good. Are all members of OUR crew accounted for?"
"There were reports of a brief fire fight after the meeting. It seems our Captain allowed the meet to go on as planned and even aided them in coming to an agreement where both sides agreed to join forces. It was then that he, in typical Captain Kurn fashion, pulled out his pistols and arrested them. There was a fight and some of our people were hurt, but none killed."
Just as Rekel finished his report, Kurn and Denra'nrava came out of the turbo lift entering the bridge. The two of them were laughing about the goings on of the meeting. It was nice to see her smiling and jokking again after Hfinar... It may have been a reman settlement but there were romulans there too. Including Denra'nrava's and Rekel's father, who didnt make it out. Rekel didnt think Denra'nrava would be the same after losing their father. she was all about duty and commitment.
"...and then i HIT him," Kurn was saying as he and Denra'nrava entered the bridge, "His eyes went so wide. he must of thought himself dead!"
"But you didnt see Tr'Rllailiiu's aid coming to stab you in the back! Thats the tenth time Ive saved your life!" Denra'nrava laughed, her smile wide and genuine.
"Ninth time! That business on Deferi doesnt count!" Kurn returned, "Not need to report. i was monitoring the data bursts. Open a channel to the Heartless."
"That must be why you werent paying attention," Denra'nrava jokingly jabbed as she took her station, "Channel open."
Kurn looked to say something to her but realized the channel was open and decided an, 'Ill get you later' look would have to do. Denra'nrava smiled again and nodded to the screen. "T'rell! Is THAT you? Where did you steal such a ship?! The empire would pay handsomely for such a warship!"
"I am sure they would," T'rell repsonded as his image appeared on screen. It had been a short while since the two saw each other. T'rell was the reason Rekel and Denra'nrava were selected to join Kurn's crew. Kurn and T'rell had become friends during the events of Kitomer and after the officer exchange program was extended to the republic, Kurn asked to have him serve with him. If T'rell hadnt refused to join the republic, he might of been on the Shadow already. Kurn then setting for Rekel, T'rells brother. Denra'nrava came some months later. "Tell me my friend," T'rell continued, "What is going on here?"
"Not Sharing are we?" Kurn commented, "Fine, it has taken me until shortly ago to fine out what was going on here. Ambassador Worf asked me to come here and it appears it was a good thing to do so. These pataQ would seem to have been trying to subvert the empire in an attempt to return us to the old ways. I have taken those responsible into my custody."
"And you asked me here why?" T'rell sounded annoyed and seeming have his time wasted.
"The Tal Shiar maybe HERE."
"I see." T'rell said, finding a reason for his presence, "Show me."
"I cannot. You know how the Tal Shiar is. They are honorless, hiding in the shadows while they manipulate the situation."
"True. I do have a question my friend. Why is the Republic warbird R'kota targeting me? Isnt T'rela still commanding her?
"You KNOW that romulan?" B'Ellera asked in the back ground.
"I do. We have...met before. I had thought we parted on good terms but i may be wrong." T'rell answered.
"Why dont you ask her. This IS an open channel," Kurn looked to Denra'nrava, "Is it not?"
"It is," Denra'nrava said, "Hello Brother. It is good to see you," she added as she came into veiw.
"Denra'nrava, it is good to see you as well. You look more and more like mother every time i see you. This Klingon is keeping you safe i assume?" T'rell asked.
"Not exactly... I appear to keep HIM safe." Denra'nrava joked, "For the tenth time..."
"Ninth!" Kurn cut in laughing as he said it, "Your sister appears to enjoy tormenting me T'rell. Did your parent teach her about honoring you superiors?!"
"She only does it because she likes you Kurn," T'rell informed, "If her didnt she would save you at all," T'rell finished with a sly grin. "To the business at hand. You say the tal Shiar might be here. You KNOW what my response is going to be dont you?"
"I guessed....same as last time right?" Kurn asked.
"Yes but first i have to clear a few things up." T'rell paused, "T'rela of the R'Kota, I assume youve been listening. I SEE you ya know. Why are you targeting my ship? Is that how you greet me? I thought we were on good terms."
OOC: IF only Obi Wan would be a Klingon.......... you know of what lines I am speaking xD
Ow, and just noticed that our Romulan captains are Spanish. T'rel with an el (male) ending, and with a la (female) ending.
IC.
T'rela had listened to the conversation between T'rell and Kurn. And then the words T'rell spoke to her. She puller her finger past her throat, signaling to mute the channel.
"How did that Destroyer break our cloak? The Tal'Shiar nor the Borg have technology advanced enough for that!"
The crew just stared at her, not knowing what went wrong.
T'rela folded her hands together. "Reopen the channel.
T'rell of the Heartless. Your assumption was correct. We have been observing everything that has happened in this remote sector of space.
Why am I targeting your ship? I guess that an intelligent man such as yourself should be able to guess this. You posed a real threat against Republic interests by showing up in this system, with a meeting going on. However, since that meeting is now concluded, you do no longer poose an immediate threat. It was a precaution in case your reputation of not being on the best of grounds with the Tal Prai'ex would get the best of you. It was imperative to keep every ship here alive. Even if that means disabling the weapons of an old colleague. So that explains thats.
However, we have other matters that still require settling. I am still an Admiral in the Flotilla, and I do have standing orders. In this case, they are to arrest you. You know that you are accused of desertion in wartime, defection to pirate organizations, stealing a Republic Warbird, namely the R.R.W. Heartless and two accounts of attacking Republic Warbirds, namely the T'varo class R.R.W. Yhsal and R.R.W. Ehlian. So technically, I have orders to bring you in.
However, today's situation is more complex than finding a fugitive. With the help of the Klingons, we got everything we need to take down the Tal Prai'ex once and for all. So I might let you slip through my fingers.
Captain Kurn, on behalf of my government, I request you to turn over Tr'rllailiiu to my custody. He is wanted for questioning. Depending on his willingness to speak, today may be the beginning of the end of the civil war. Although the accord already is solid evidence, the more we can show the population of the Star Empire, the more will join the Republic.
There is another favor I would like to ask. Capturing a Tal Prai'ex vessel would be a very welcome addition to today's victory. Depending on your cooperation, we might disable the Klingon and Prai'ex vessel, after which each government can take their respective ships.
However, I would like to have your support before decloaking with cannons blazing."
T'rela typed in a few quick commands in her chair console. The R'kota repositioned. Its forward batteries were now targeting the D'deridex. A model of that ship appeared on viewscreen, with target indicators for the weapon hardpoints on the head of that ship. Attack Pattern Kota 4. Something that she learned from the fight against the Undine on Qo'noS from a Starfleet Admiral.
"ETA?"
"Two minutes, Commander."
Excellent, thought H'tan. Sometimes, overpushing the engines was a risk worth taking.
"Prepare all beam weapons. Increase the yield of our Plasma Torpedoes. Prepare to lock on tractor beam on the modified B'rel. And make sure to disable its weapons with a Viral Matrix. An old tactic perhaps, but one that still works and is lethal enough."
"Well now," T'rell said, surprised with T'rela's glibness, "You arrest ME?you are either joking, or youve gone space happy." T'rell stood up and approached the screen. He was tall for a romulan. and his dark skin looking like brown smooth clay. his clothing, casual yet functional hung from him with folds and pockets hiding more weapons than a good security officer would catch. T'rell stopped a few feet from the screen and made ready to say something profound, "First off, When a man sees himself surrounded by enemies with in his own home, that man must decide if he should either remain home, living with his enemies or find a new home. I choose to leave because i seen what the Tal Prai'ex was becoming." T'rell's face twisted with disgust, as though his thoughts had become an offensive smell, "The Tal Prai'ex was infested," he spat, "the very people we were charged to stop were now our superiors! how could i stay?! As for that "standing order it CAME from those tal shiar agents within the Tal Prai'ex and as for the republic, i REFUSED to join, as in i was NEVER a part of it. I simply worked with them when doing so meant hurting the tal shiar. You cant very well consider following tal shiar orders now can you? And i didnt "join any pirates," T'rell chuckled at the thought of it, "When our brethren Seen i was willing to FIGHT the Tal Shiar and they seen that i COULD, they joined me in droves. I didnt have to join a group. I made my own. There is still room for you ya know.... The Heartless, yea i stole her. How could i not?!" T'rell laughed again, "But i stole her from the Tal Shiar. NOT the republic. Thus if you want to persue me for THAT, i would wonder why you seem so intent on following TAL SHIAR orders... And lastly the Yhsal and the Ehlian. they were following those "tal shiar" orders you yourself seem fond of. They fired first. it was a mistake, one they paid for with their lives. I trust you wont do the same." T'rell paused to drive that point home before continuing, "As for the ships here, i claim them for my own. they will make fine additions to my fleet."
Kurn considered these words. The two klingon ship did belong to the houses of the generals who sat in his brig. there would be a trial and afterward, they would be striped of their honor and executed. that meant the ships would be either taken or destroyed in the fighting over the lands and properties of the dishonored houses. He didnt see much point to claiming them his own House Noggra did not need them. His was a strong house. He had all that he needed and it was his friend's showing up with provided the distraction needed for that. All and all, kurn had made out pretty well in this mission. But the romulan in his brig...that would be a problem. He was a criminal and a witness. he would be needed for the trial. Kurn could not give him up just yet. Kurn came to the screen, "I cannot give him, the romulan to you. WE will need him for the trial. He is a witness. Considering i have him and YOU sat behind your cloak, i see no reason to give you the fruits of MY conquest. The romulan IS going with us. I will however transmit the meeting in its entirety, recording by my implant. THAT should be ample proof for your republic. As for the ships, i see no reason to claim them. I think my friend can do as he likes. Know THIS, we stand with T'rell. Attacking him will call down the wrath of us both." The Seraphim Shadow then went full power to weapons and shield. Armor closed and the ship went to combat stations. She could drop the shields of Any ship with her opening volley and With the shields down, any ship would be left open to Heartless's attack. Many battles have ended just that fast when Kurn and T'rell worked together.
T'rell nodded in thanks to Kurn then said,"Same as last time Kurn," reminding him of past battles they shared, then looked to T'rela, "The ships are mine. Please, lets not fight over them. those ships are sitting ducks, My shields are up and you know full well you ship is no match for mine. We were friends once, at least i thought of you as such, dont end our friendship over ships the republic doesn't need. " As T'rell spoke, three small craft emerged from the Heartless each other headed for the ships, "Ignoring T'rela, T'rell spoken to the other ships. Birds of prey, romulan warbird. Your commanders are in custody. Abandon your ships in the life boats and you will not be harmed. On this you have my word as a Free Romulan. Leave those ships and keep your lives. Stay, and your lives are forfeit. You have 60 seconds to comply, then the fun starts." T'rell then spoke to the R'Kota, "You have all they proof you need. Let us leave here as friends, this isnt a fight you, OR that slipstreaming warbird can win," T'rell said as he targeted the engines and weapons of the R'Kota," i wont try to kill you. but if your engines are gone and the weapons dont work, you would be able to stop me. all you could do is sit and watch me have my way. With that other warbird rushing as it is, it wont have engine either...if they can even repair them." T'rell pleaded with T'rela, "Go, take your proof and go. After the generals trial, the Klingons will have no use for Tr'rllailiiu. I am sure you can have him then, hell, we leave here on good terms they might even allow the republic to send a representative to attend the trial. you could record THAT and have even more to bring people into the republic."
"That slipstreaming warbird is no longer slipstreaming."
H'tan spoke these words quietly as the Raptor Star left warp. A mighty D'deridex. Reinforced with armor plates along the exterior hull. Additional bulkheads inside to minimize battle damage. Cargo bays converted into shield generators. Refitted with Dyson technology. A feathered pattern, two powerful warp nacelles and an intimidating head section.
The R'kota decloaked as well. Her weaponry had relocated towards the Heartless. The green/brown feather pattern showed agility. The sleek central section had received additional armoring to prevent easy destruction of the neck. Yet the weapon hardpoints were clearly visible. And they were armed. Plasma torpedoes were awaiting with increased yield, cannons showed a build up of energy, ready to scatter and hit anything in front of the Mogai.
T'relas next move was unexpected. In a matter of seconds, she beamed the entire Tal Prai'ex crew on board of her ship.... and Tr'rllailiiu. Ever since the Mogh dropped shields to allow T'rela to beam back, they had stopped rotating shield frequency. The same weakness that allowed T'rela to beam in, allowed the Romulans to beam Tr'rllailiiu out.
"Gentlemen, I do not intend to fight. The Republic and the Empire are allies, and as I stated, I don't think Command will demote me if I fail to bring in a futigive. I am not here to arrest you, T'rell. This is something I leave up to my colleagues. I do respect you, even though our paths have separated.
But I am taking Tr'rllailiiu, his crew and his ship with me. They are vital to the success of the Republic in the civil war. A goal that I praise more worthy than bringing in two dishonorable Generals. They, and their crew, are in your hands. But you won't need a single Romulan to testify. Your word, along with the data records, should provide all you need to strip them off their honor and sentence them.
Don't make me show my determination on the matter. Even though you have two heavily armed ships, you underestimate us. H'tan, deploy."
A sudden change was noticeable in the D'deridex. Along the central top section, two giant doors were pulled aside. A large array appeared. A Plasma Lance. Experimental Republic weaponry, designed in cooperation with the Federation and their Galaxy-X. But this one was enhanced with dyson technology. A weapon that could potentially blast any ship to bits if its shields were to fail.
Both Warbirds entered Red Alert. Engineers moved towards damage control positions, power was rerouted from all nonessential systems to weapons and shields, torpedoes saw their yields being increased, marines moved towards boarding transporters. Scorpeions were launched, weapons relocated.
"As you can see, I command a vast amount of firepower here. I do not want to use this against you. All I want is for you to grant me a safe path back to Mol'Rihan. You can do with the Klingon ships as you please. However, if you do not grant me this wish, I can assure you that the Republic will reevaluate its current relations with the Klingon Empire."
She send a signal to H'tan. Just three words. Attack Pattern Kota. H'tan understood them. Both Warbirds set all weapons to disable enemy weapon systems. The R'kota was prepared to destroy any incoming missile with a massive burst of scattered fire, while the Raptor Star had its weapons ready to overcharge at the Heartless' missile launchers.
Two ships, ready to defend the captured Tal Prai'ex to any cost. Their value was simply too high to not risk the safety of two crews and the relation between the Republic and the Empire.
"The game's a foot," T'rell grined. While he orderd the shields on constant rotation, he didnt seem the slightest bit Surprised at the Raptor Star's Plasma lance. It was after all, His own design, well, thats not REALLY true. During a raid it which the R.R.W. Ehlian responded to the distress signal of an orian "cargo vessel" what they didnt report was the the "cargo" was nothing more than captured romulans to be sold into slavery who would of THEN ended up in Elachi vats. During the battle, Before T'rell owned his current Heartless, he commanded the salvaged and renamed Romulan warbird Heartless. In that battle, T'rell focused a beam of high energy plasma into the Orian battleship which showed up. the ship was destroyed but the deflector was burned out. it was then the R.R.W. Ehlian attacked. T'rell responded with disruptor fire which destroyed main power. he left the ship in space after all, it wasnt the republic he was after. It seemed they LIKED his idea enough to turn it into a weapon, a weapon now pointed at HIM. But his new ship was far more powerful than his last and he would of been rattled, excpet that his ship employed the Borg defense system. Upon returning to his home base with the Heartless after escaping the Tal Shiar so weeks later, his crew had been SO shaken that they fired the modifed plasma lance again...at point blank range. nearly tore the Heartless in half. Took it months to heal and when it did, it seemed completelt immune to plasma damage. Typical borg adaptation. That was but of one "aces in the hole" and T'rell ALWAYS stacked the deck.
"Unlike my rather reckless friend there, you dont think i would Show up alone did you?" T'rell laughed and as he did, two heavy modifed Arkif tactical carriers declocked. their singularity ports open, annihilation mode active and charged. One each behind the republic warbirds. "i will commend your cunning in taking the romulan prisoner and the crew. Youve saved the life pods for me. I DID dread replacing them. But this game is over. you COULD fire. and you MIGHT damage the Shadow. Youre lance wont even tickle while MY arkifs, yea THOSE I DID steal from the republic, will disable you quite swiftly...IF your fancy armor can survive the combined blasts. I knew that warbird was close, and my ships have positioned themselves ready for an assault. Why dont you-"
"I DEMAND THE RETURN OF MY PRISONER!" Kurn bellowed. You think this is a NORMAL Mogh?! it has borg components itself, with Apadtive shielding and engines. and it can target the hairs of targ at 12 lightyears! You will- "
"My friend, T'rell broke in, "they out foxed us with the prisoner thing but she IS right, we dont need him anymore than they do to prove your case. she even let you have the ships and their crew. I would call that a compromise. But the warbird IS mine and its Four ships to your two...at least, those are the number you SEE...." T'rell puased to let that implication sink in. "I never wanted the crew," he continued, "All i want out of this IS the ships. The republic has HUNDREDS and i only have a handful. What more, i dont even plan to point them at the republic, so long as you stay out of my way. In fact you, leave me the hell alone and you may find this tal shiar problem may just disappear. Now wouldnt THAT be nice? Your problem could be gone and you wont have to fire a shot. After wards, you would have a shadow fleet making sure everything stays out of your way. A silent protertor as it were," T'rell's voice became stern, "All you have to do is take what you have and go but LEAVE the warbird." T'rell paused again to allow his words to simmer, "What i do, what i steal, what i destroy, is ALL in the name of protecting our new homeworld. So i dont play by YOUR rules... I NEVERD DID! You yourself called me...what was it, The "Kirk of Romulus." I do what needs to be done. Im not nice, in not pretty and i will TRIBBLE of a lot of people on the way, but i get the job done. But i do it MY way." A signal diverted T'rell's attention, He crews he sent to the ships has managed to bring the warbird under control. With no crew to stop them, it was easy. One of the brels was under control and ready as well, but only because it was the meeting sight and Kurn had already killed most of its warriors. only the last brel remained. that brought the total to 6 verses 2, at least, that was the visible count. There was no telling how many other ships T'rell brought with him. For the most part as a pirate, he stayed mobile. His entire fleet could be here. and while he came the Heartless, the R.R.W. Heartless Had yet to appear... Why?
"You are out numbered and the question of who should get the warbird is now moot," T'rell said, "YOU removed its crew AND any resistance i would of dealt with in taking it. You GAVE it to me by doing so. Now do you REALLY intend on destroying a popssible friendly asset, endangering the truce with the klingons, AND risk the destruction of your ships in a 3 to 1 odds fight all for a warbird which is already out of your control? T'rela i know you better than that. Following this path is reckless and nothing more than you trying to save face. I beg you, do not make me destroy you. You and H'tan may go, now, freely. I suggest you do so. One more thing. if your engines dont power up and your ships jump to warp in the next 30 seconds, i WILL fire with the goal of disabling you. Then my newly acquired warbird, the Heartless, and my arkifs will depart. I am not about to risk anymore of your ships showing up."
"We MUST stop!" It was Growla who spoke this time. the entire Seraphim Shadow crew faced her to listen, her speaking a rarity. She was a small petite klingon, one who didnt seem built for fighting. Her eyes shined bright with smarts and thought. She was a thinker. "Cant you ALL see?!" she began, "THIS is what the Tal Shiar wants! What the undine want! The inconians! Those masters of the Tal Shiar! They want this and we are giving it to them! Klingon against romulan, romulan fighting amongst themselves, Klingon killing klingon! The more we do this the stronger our enemies become. Admiral T'rela, Commander H'tan. you can easily report the warbird missing. the crew of the warbird can be told to keep their mouths shut, after all, they CAN be charged with the same crime as their captain otherwise. We have all WE need and all T'rell wants IS the warbird, which his crew is ready controlling! There is now reason for this! See reason. We can still leave here as FRIENDS! And with the coming storm, we will all needs as many friends can we can get. T'rela, you NEED eyes out here in the places light does not follow. T'rell can BE those eyes. T'rell you are only trying to protect the romulan people, even from themselves. SO IS THE ADMIRAL! You two should be working together! We even helped each other get this far, Amassador Worf wouldnt of sent us here if he didnt hear about from someone withing the Republic chain of command. And an Admiral COULD of let something slip to he during the meeting after saving homeworld from the undine attack. You WERE there Admiral, i remember seeing you." Growla was then distant, deep in thought, Speaking to herself and under her breath "Why wont she let the Warbird go? What is it about that ship...what am i missing, what didnt i account for? What variable did i miss...."
"There is wisdom in that one," Kurn said more calmly, " You see why i keep her around. Kahless said Destroying an Empire to win a war is no victory. And ending a battle to save an Empire is no defeat. T'rell is right, do not force us to fight a battle when the spoils have already been decided. Doing so will only cause us both to lose more than the spoils themselves."
Kurn nodded to T'rell with the respect and honor of friends forged by time, trust, and combat. The kind of trust only two men who shared the trenches knew. T'rell then looked to T'rela. He thought of their past and peered into her eyes trying to see what she was thinking. would she allow their friend to continue? Or would she throw it away for a warbird he already controlled. T'rell was more than ready for the latter, but hoped for the former.
"Time to call Admiral, and we have a straight flush, Spades, Ace through 10," Kurn released, clearly tired of the stakes raising, tired of talk and craving action, or an end, "Now why dont you fold 'em so we can go home?"
The situation had changed indeed. Outgunned, outnumbered. No reinforcements in the area.
"Considering the words you have just spoken, I am willing to make one last compromis. You can have the warbird, but. Allow my engineers ten minutes on board to download its entire computer. All those files about Tal Prai'ex movement would help the Republic in ways you cannot even begin to imagine. Grant me this wish, and we will be on our way. Don't, and you will find that disabling me will not help you."
Attack Pattern Kota. It seemed time to accept it would be the full attack pattern. It was not merely trying to disable your enemies. It was designed to even odds in an unfair battle. There migh be only a single option should the Klingon and Romulan refuse. And that was making use of the 900 meter span of the wings of the R'kota. A full impulse from this location would tear the starboard wing right through the Mogh, with the port wing still hitting the Destroyer. A charge that would destroy the R'kota. But also allow H'tan to beam over all on board of the R'kota and get the hell out of here. With two Ar'kifs locked in an attempt to save as many lives as possible, the D'deridex would escape.
T'rell never knew T'rela in her most dangerous state. He had seen her as a calculating person, taking in all the risks before making a rational decision. Flying a Mogai down the throats of her enemies was something T'rela would not have done in the old days. But after everything she saw during the Battle of Sol and the Battle of Qo'nos, something had changed. Some things were worth taking tremendous risks for.
If the other side would reply in a way T'rela did not like, their ships would be torn in half in only a blink of an eye.
T'rell bursted out in laughter, he couldnt believe this. It was unthinkable. The data!? It was the data? All this posturing and calculating so they could have the data? It hadnt even occured to T'rell that the data would be important, that they would be willing to kill friends, to DIE of it. To be willing to go SOO far. It was too much for him to take with a straight face. T'rell tried to compose himself once, twice, thrice! and on his fourth try, though still grinning ear to ear, he managed some giggle infested speech, "T'rela! My friend," he paused to giggle, "I told you, ALL i wanted was the damn ship! If you wanted the data, all you had to do was ask! I am far more willing to have my people transmit the ships files to you, in their entirety. I hope you wont mind if i keep a copy for my self, even if the data is of no use to me, i MUST know why it was so important to you, if for nothing else than i laugh. I mean come on, you REALLY thought i would keep that from you?!" T'rell paused again, unable to contain the giggles, "R'max and R'mora, stand down, but we will all keep our shields up....in case she is willing to die over the drapes too!" The Heartless powered down its weapons, but it sheilds remained up and rotating, Curiousity had gotten the better of him and T'rell couldnt wait to see, "Tell me Admiral, JUST what worth dying for is in those files? you secret recipe for viinerine? Ive had youre viinerine, that IS a secret worth taking to your grave!" T'rell joked, "Ok..ok... Really, what IS in those files?
"That is just the thing, T'rell. We have no idea what exactly we will find. We do know that this is one of their flagships, so what we can expect, are fleet movements, intelligence files, other diplomatic meetings, anything. Major things to give the Republic an advantage in blocking their attacks and finally ending them. We are talking about saving thousands of lives here. That was worth risking the 2500 men and women under my command for.
The reason I want my own engineers there though is that they have experience with Tal Prai'ex encryption keys even you don't have. They have been changing a lot since you left. A single mistyped password, and we are dealing with Viral Matrixes on each of our ships, total data erasing, and possibly a singularity breach. My crew has TRIBBLE Prai'ex computers regularly lately, so they are the only ones I can trust in completing this task. I would not even trust myself at the consoles.
Ofcourse, we will only copy the data, not erase it. You can have it as well."
The Raptor Star saw its Plasma Lance lowering. Both ships were powering down weapons. Shield remained up at full strength, and Scorpion fighters kept flying around the escape pods.
"I may have left them," T'rell started, giggles coming under control, "But i have been fighting them and the Tal Shiar. Ambushing them, trapping them and surprising them. What makes you think i DONT have the current codes? How do you think me were able the control their warbird so fast?" T'rell stopped at another signal. The data transfer was ready. He ordered that it begin downloading the warbird full contents to the R'kota. There were no system traps, or viruses. The pirate were good at what they did. They HAD to be, not being good meant they could not do their mission and lives WERE at stake. T'rell didnt want to risk a single life because he didnt know something he should of. As the files transfered, he skimmed other them and as he did so one caught his eye, "Stop." HE ordered, selecting the file, "Open" he pointed, directing the computer to display the selecting file. There was no more laughing. The file's title contained the words 'Imminent' and 'neutralize'. There were fleet movements showing a build up of ships in the mutara sector. And there was a time table, a course vector beginning in the mutara sector and a countdown, which would be ending within a few hours...
It appeared to be an attack plan.
"Well T'rela," T'rell began, face cold as ice again. She HAD to see this NOW, "What do you make of THIS file?"
The file detailed a plan of attack which, according to the time stamp would be under way in hours. This warbird was meant to finalize an agreement intended to lull the Klingons into a false since of security so they would be open to attack. But the insidious part was an attack on The Klingon's ship yards, THAT was meant as a diversion. The REAL target: The Vault. The Tal Shiar was using the Tal Prai'ex as a "fallguy." They would use the Tal Prai'ex forces they have been able to take control over to attack the Klingons acting as a diversion. Being the that Tal Prai'ex was a part of the Romulan navy, they would consider it and hostle attack by the Republic, forcing them to aid the Klingons in order to save face. All while the real Tal Shiar forces retake the vault. They could rebuilt thier fleets full on adapted warships with in a year.
"You see T'rela! THIS is why I left," T'rell snapped, "THIS is proof the Tal Prai'ex is working not WITH the Tal Shiar, but FOR them. They are one and the same. THIS data IS important to me. It proves what i have been saying for years. It proves i what right. The Tal Shiar are responsible for the lost of romulus and the deaths of billions. NOW they wish to continue their conquest and if they can hold the vault... Building ships like my Heartless...a fleet of them... Can you imagine what they will do? We MUST DO somthing!"
((I have to stop you two right here OOCly. The Order and the RPG (now part of the IRF) RPed the rest of the story ingame, before either of you tacked on to it. If you want to continue it, that is fine, it just won't be in the "canon" timeline of STO.))
OOC: took some time with my response due to a massive headache, could not really think straight. Also, it seems we have multiple timelines here, but I'm just gonna continue on this story. Because in one way or another, this is a fanon timeline. A fanon forum timeline. Nothing here is gonna be canon anyway xD
IC.
"T'rell, a few minutes please."
The R'kota ended the communication. T'rela walked off her bridge. Entered the turbolift. Left at deck 4. Walked the corridor to the last door. There she had a prisoner waiting for her.
"Tr'rllailiiu, this won't be a time for games. You might expect the Republic to treat its prisoners with respect. But I was once part of the Star Empire Navy. I know how to get you talking. I'm just wondering how much you can withstand."
Her eyes were full of fire, and she reached for a very simple pair of forceps. A nail could only withstand so much.....
After four minutes, she left the room again. The fear she brought into the prisoner had saved her from torturing the Romulan. She was again on her bridge. Channel was reopening.
"T'rell, Kurn. I know the full strength of the hostile navies. I am transmitting the data now. We are prepared to accompany you to the Ganalda Shipyards. The Republic will have to send other forces to the Vault. Uhlan, prepare to go to warp."
OOC:
I'm now suggesting us to create a new thread. This chapter of our story seems to have been finished, and continuing this story in a new thread might draw more people into joining. Fresh characters are never a bad thing. We can start with our respective fleets warping towards Ganalda, joining in the defense, and continue from there on. All of this is a mere suggestion ofcourse.
OCC:
I will start a new thread. I will assume, T'rell, T'rela, Kurn, and forces jumped to warp. New thread will start with them dropping out of warp at the vault.
OOC: I'd say us warping out at Ganalda, the Klingon Shipyard, would proove more logical, due to this quote of me
We are prepared to accompany you to the Ganalda Shipyards. The Republic will have to send other forces to the Vault. Uhlan, prepare to go to warp."
Lets drop out of warp at Ganalda, and then, depending on how the story progresses, continue to the Vault.
Also, don't forget to give a brief OOC explanation of the situation in the new OP. Linking them to this thread is kinda annoying for everyone to read up all that we have written here.
OOC: I'd say us warping out at Ganalda, the Klingon Shipyard, would proove more logical, due to this quote of me
Lets drop out of warp at Ganalda, and then, depending on how the story progresses, continue to the Vault.
Also, don't forget to give a brief OOC explanation of the situation in the new OP. Linking them to this thread is kinda annoying for everyone to read up all that we have written here.
OCC: Too late, i had other forces join us en route. I left the force small, so that other may join us. buti have written in, many opening for the story to go many different places. link above.
i also didnt want to write for T'rela, so what forces she has hidden is up to you. As it stands now, the only ships she has are those that she already had with her. While T'rell has taken lead, i am sure she, being an admiral, will take command of the defending forces already there.
Comments
T'rela folded her hands against each other. Subcommander Ramek turned away from Ops and looked her in the eye.
"Now what? Knowing Kurn, this is gonna end in a massacre for one of the sides. He will destroy every evidence we need to continue our campaign against the Tal Prai'ex."
T'rela sat there. She closed her eyes. Considering different scenarios. Estimating the risks. After about a minute, she opened her eyes again.
"If Kurn is willing to destroy the evidence we need, we should prepare to stop him. Target all of the R'kota's forward cannons on his ship. Target shields and weapons, I don't want the Klingons destroyed. Subcommander, can you send a hail for the Raptor Star? I heard that she is in the area."
"Will we engage, Admiral?"
"Not yet. Remain cloaked for now. Let Kurn be the first to fire, only then decloak. Stand by emergency medical and engineering teams to assist that B'rel that has Romulan lifesings on it. Keeping that ship alive is a top priority."
The Mogai repositioned, ready to unleash a heavy barrage on the Klingon ships. Waiting for the outcome of the hails.
Join the Deltas today!
"Bridge to Briefing room...We are being hailed by another Klingon Vessel, a captain Kurn. Should I relay the message?"
Datlh'LaH raised a single eyebrow. He knew of no Kurn in the Order of Watchmen. Nor did he know of how Kurn would have found them. He gave the affirmative and the message played through. Datlh'LaH listened and frowned.
"Damn fools," He muttered, "Open a channel. Route it here"
There was an affirmative at the other end and Datlh'LaH moved to a small console in the corner of the room and responded to the captain outside. "Captain Kurn. I will have you know the two captains you just so insolently called Ptahks, happen to be esteemed Generals of the Empire. I am General Datlh'LaH, the other is General Hegh'yIt. Power down your weapons. Our, meeting, is for the interest of the Empire. If you wish to discuss it further, I am certain Hegh'yIt will allow you to beam a representative on board. If you open fire, I assure you, you will regret it."
He ended his message and waited for a response.
Kurn listened to their message. "Was it true?" Kurn thought, "Was their secret meeting actually for the good of the empire?" he paused, "With ROMULANS?" The last thought brought him a bad taste. Not because he disliked romulans, he honestly did not. Kurn had learned to allow the green bloods to prove their worth. There were even two serving on his ship. On his very bridge no less, and they has curtainly proved their worth. If he have seen their medical scans he would have thought them Klingon warriors in disguise by how much honor he had seen them fight with. But these other romulans.... They held this meeting in the blackness of space. If they truly meant the empire good why meet way out here?
Ambassador Worf hadnt said with they were here, only that Kurn SHOULD be here, that he would be needed and despite Kurns demands Worf would say no more and Kurn honored his elders.....when they deserved it.
"Open a channel-" Kurn started, "No! If they do not mind if we beam over, than we WILL beam over." Kurn declared with a grin. "Maintain weapons lock. If you do not hear from me in five minutes, destroy them," Kurn finished.
"Sir," Denra'nrava, one of his romulan officers began., "I dont know why my people are here, but there are two Klingon ships here other than us sir and there only one romulan ship."
"And? Ms. Revon? I do not fear them." Kurn returned, then jokingly said "Do not be afraid, i will not let these Klingons have their way with you."
"They could try...." Denra'nrava thought. Out loud she said, "That isnt the point sir. My people are cautious, calculating and covert by nature. They wouldn't knowingly enter the area, decloak, and sit waiting to be ambushed like young epoch. There may be another romulan ship out there. We should be careful too."
"Well, you have been correct about this sort of thing in the past but-"
"Sir," Rekel, Denra'nrava's older brother and the only other romulan serving cut in, "i may be able to find any cloaked ships out there but the odds are small. Klingons arent the only ones to advance their tech."
"What are your thoughts B'Ellera?" Kurn asked.
"It is what i would do, had we not been sent here alone," B'Ellera, Kurn first officer spoke, "But it is possible that the ambassador sent us here to aid these warriors. If he intended us to fight i do not think we would of sent us alone."
"Perhaps," Kurn thought, "BUT he could have felt only one ship would be enough. We have them out gunned. we will be cautious like our weapons officer thinks we should be. I will beam over with a group of warriors. THAT will be our reply to them," Kurn then turned to the Romulan siblings, "Denra'nrava you will come along. That way they will not think we romulan hating d'bloks. You do not have a problem shooting other romulans if you have to do you?" Kurn said joking again.
"Good thing i dont. Otherwise those Talshiar back on Dera 2 would have made more than a scar on your arm..." Denra'nrava delivered with her usual deadpan manner.
"HA!" Kurn grinned, enjoying their friendly banter, "I was only seeing if you WOULD fire."
"The way you hit the floor for cover suggested otherwise..."
"Only a foolish warrior stands in the way of the storm! I remember killing more than you that day," Kurn then spoke to he brother, "You will remain here, no fun for you.....Try finding any other ships," The kurn spoke to B'Ellera, "After we beam aboard, if they try anything-"
"Yes, I know," B'Ellera interupted, "Next sector."
"Raise the shields as soon as we are there. If i do not contact you in five minutes, release an opening volley destroying what you can, THEN jump to warp and report to Ambassador Worf." Kurn ordered, joking finished.
"You want us to RUN?!" B'Ellera exclaimed.
"No. I want the empire ready for whatever they may attack us with. fightingand winning a battle while losing an empire is no victory."
"...and losing a battle to save an empire is no defeat..." B'Ellera finished, "What if the reason for our being here is to help them? What if theyre reasons are the same as ours, for the GOOD of the empire?"
"THEN," Kurn spoke without turning more than his head, back still towards B'Ellera, "It would mean that there is a problem to both the romulans AND the empire. It would mean that there is a threat so grave, so dangerous, that most on both sides may not believe it so they meet here in secret to marshall the forces needed to fight, even if we must fight in shadow."
"So then you think it may be THEM?" B'Ellera asked.
Kurn's only reply was a grin. He enjoyed joking with his crew, but if it was who he thought it was, WHAT he thought is was... Only the BEST and most honorable could defeat them. And his crew was the best he had served with. He respected them and they, him. He trusted them with him life and many of them had saved him and his ship more than once and when the time came, they did their duty with honor. Headed for the turbolift he ordered two others to follow. By the time he reached the transporter, eight warriors stood ready. That made a group of ten counting himself and Denra'nrava. He ordered their weapons to the ready but told them not to fire first. He ordered to have the coordinates set for the strange looking Bird-of-prey. Its shields were still down. Either he would take that ship or they would tell him a damn good reason for being here. Either way Kurn was about to find out which.
Kurn wondered why Worf felt he should be here but would not tell him why. Out loud he spoke one word, "Energize."
T'rela listened to the news of Ramek. Some positive thoughts entered her mind. H'tan may be old, but he was cunning.
Ramek again looked at T'rela. "Admiral, we are detecting transporter signals coming from Kurn's ship."
So, the Klingon decided to spare the Tal Prai'ex and their associates for the time being. However, as fierce as he may be, he stood not a chance at what was against him. Two Klingon ships, one of which was heavily modified, and a Romulan ship. He was going to a meeting he did not understand. Why would one Romulan ship meet up with two Klingon ships? Especially if the Romulan ship was a Star Empire vessel?
"Subcommander, can you open a scrambled channel to Kurn's ship? I don't want to give away our position."
"I can, Admiral. Opening the channel now."
"I.K.S. Seraphim Shadow, this is Admiral T'rela of the Romulan Republic vessel I.R.W. R'kota. Forgive me for not being out here in the open, and staying under cloak and scrambled. We are here to observe this meeting. Republic Command believes that the Romulan vessel is a Tal Prai'ex vessel, a lesser known organization of the Star Empire, but as effective as the Tal Shiar. They have been pulling power towards them ever since the death of Hakeev and the disappearance of the Empress.
We have been observing the entire meeting. My men have been able to beam over a cloaked microphone, which is relaying us all that happens in that room. I am willing to forward this information to your commanding officer, which, if I am correct, just beamed over to join the meeting. He will know what is going on.
However, it is imperative that you DO NOT engage these ships. We need this meeting to reach a conclusion. Right now, all that has been said is mere speculation. We need them to sign an accord, so that we finally have the evidence to take down this threat to the Republic.
The reason I am contacting you about this is that you can play a part in getting the agreement done. Think of it as a covert action. You surely must have doubts about a secret meeting. Especially since deals in the dark never worked between the Star Empire and the Klingon Empire. Just think of the Narendra accords that failed, the assassination attempts around the first Khitomer accord, the involvement of the Tal Shiar during the Civil War.
We are trying to end this past, and move on to a policy of openness. We will need your support for this. T'rela out."
She folded her hands again, awaiting the Klingon reply.
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"What is SO funny?" B'Ellera asked. She stood up from the chair and moved over to Rekel.
He liked how she moved. There was a grace in her movements as thought she wasnt a skilled warrior but a risan dancer. He had almost forgot he even spoke, "I found a romulan ship," he told her, eyes still sliding over her form.
"How?" she asked, noticing his gaze.
"Well, it contacted us. I was just getting ready to report-"
"When you were captivated by my glory?" B'Ellera glared. It was no secret to the crew that the two of them were involved. She was simply playing a role, trying to hide it. The only secret was kept from the two of them. The crew had known the truth after their first night. Rekel's injuries were the proof.
"No sir!" Rekel responded, trying to sound formal, "i was recording the message and preparing a data burst for the captain."
"Send the burst then play the message on speaker."
Rekel did as he was ordered. Kurn, like ALL the command crew, Rekel included all had covert implants allowing them to recieve coded messages. These implant would recieve the message and display them to the owner via an optic nerve connection. The owner would see the message as though he were looking at a screen. The Seraphim Shadow was a covert Operations vessel. It was assigned to go places, see things and find out things any normal ship wouldnt ever be able to find out. Rekel has seen Tal Shiar ships less stealthy. After the bridge listened to the message B'Ellera cursed their timing. if only the captain has been able to hear this before going over.
As the group materialized Kurn pointed his weapon and placed his hand on his Mek'leth. He looked around taking in their suroundings. "Parameter! Now!" Kurn ordered. As the warriors set up, a data burst appeared is his vision. As he waited for his host to show up, he read the message. went it was over, he looked to each of them. They nodded, a sign that they would follow his lead on this, that the mission had just changed. Denra'nrava understood as well, they were no longer in a battle ready mindset, but one though still cautious and ready to fight, was one of information gathering. They were going to get as much intel as they could before choosing a course of action.
Kurn was enjoying the change. It meant he could play the role of the blood thirsty klingon, battle hungry and ready to fight all the while listening to every word these Peta'Q would say. Something bothed him though. There was a cloaked warbird out there looking to catch them doing whatever it was these people were out here doing. that ship claimed to be here preserving the peace. No, "Threat to the republic," is how it was put while those on this ship claimed their meeting was, "for the interest of the empire." which meant the warbird either was working against these klingons and an enemy or was working against these klingons and was a friend. It all fell down to what he was about to be told. He prepared a return data burst and sent it. Then, keeping to his "bloodthirsty role" bellowed, "Were is the Pata'Q who commands this barge?! Show yourself! True Klingon warriors," Kurn paused seeing Denra'nrava, "and one honorable romulan demand to know why you meet in shadows!"
"Sir," Rekel reported, "I've recieved a coded data burst from the captain. He says to use the warbirds signal to triangulate its position but to then do nothing that would show we have found them."
"Have you found them?" B'Ellera asked, maintaining their secret or, trying to.
"I have not yet determined its exact location but i have a general idea. they are to our port flank. we are unable to fire on them without moving the ship."
"And they would then know something is up."
"Yes."
"Well then i have an idea. Remember the Black Star?"
"You mean do i remember nearly getting blow away when we were all still serving on the old Bird-of-prey? Yea i remember." When Rekel was referring to one of his first missions with Captain Kurn. Back them they were still convert Ops, but they didnt have the state of the art Mogh class they now had. they used an old Brel which was always falling apart at the seems. On this particular mission, the cloak had failed and Kurn decided to continue with the mission, spouting something about honorable completing the mission and what not. They were hiding the ship is an asteroid field when they were jumped by an unknown vessel. It disabled them but but they were able to hide the ship within a asteroid. Then, by Denra'nrava's suggestion, they removed torpedo warheads and hid them out among the floating debris. They then sent a distress signal, know the unknown ship would track it and return to finish them. when it tried just that, they detonated the warheads destroying the ship. Now, the Seraphim Shadow carried mines so they wouldnt have to disassemble torpedos, but how could they use them in this situation?
"Good," B'Ellera began, "You continue finding the warbird i want its exact position. when you have it sent the data down to the shuttle bay. we will take a shuttle and mine the area around the warbird."
"...oh my," Rekel caught on, "that COULD work, but only if we used-"
"The cloaked tractor mines deployed from a cloaked shuttle." B'Ellera finished.
"Im on it. The Captain's message told us to stand down from the whole 'Next sector' thing. But he wants us to keep the weapons charged and locked....to, as he put it 'play the role'. What does that mean?" Rekel asked. He had never gone on away missions with the captain.
"He means we are now bluffing but keeping a good, what was it the Titan's captain called it, a poker face."
Rekel recalled the Starfleet crew the met at Deep space nine. It was the same crew that aided the romulans after the Shinzon fiasco. It was a Luna class ship commanded by a cunning yet chariming fellow who had taught some of the Seraphim Shadow's crew the an earth game called poker. He had said it wasnt the first time he had played it with a Klingon.
"There! 327 mark 458 at 42 hundred kellicams" Rekel reported, finding the warbird, "Good thing we acquired that Long-range tachyon scanner."
"Good. Signal the shuttle crew to begin. Make sure they assume the warbird is of the old D'Derdrex class. It may not be that type but if we assume it is the biggest of the warbirds, they wont be crashing their cloaked shuttle into the cloaked warbird..." B'Ellera ordered. If it all plays out well, they will have control of the entire situation. "I then want you to signal the warbird. tell them WE have informed our captain and that we demand more information about those they wish to catch. Tell them we need to know what they know."
Ofcourse they had. It was left there purposely for them. To create a warp shadow using the singularity core was a simple trick. To cloak it as well required a bit more cunning, but that was a quality not unfamiliar to the R'kota. A converted beacon using a massive distortion field, enough to surround the warp shadow, was a trick not everybody would scan for. It seems that the Klingon crew was cunning as well. Now it was to be expected that the Klingons would prepare a defensive measure without us detecting.
It would not be long, though, before the Klingons realized their mistake. And not contacting them could prove to be disastrous for the trust both parties needed to invest in each other.
"Reopen the channel to the Klingon ship. However, send it through the Raptor Star before scrambling. If they try to clear the scrambling, all they will find is a D'deridex travelling in slipstream to this location."
"Channel open, Admiral."
"I.K.S. Seraphim Shadow, this is T'rela again. I see you have a cunning crew. You managed to find the Warp Shadow to your port that the Tal Prai'ex could not. However, it is nothing more. Our actual location will remain disclosed for now. Our cloak is the newest in the Republic, and will be extremely hard to break, even for a Mogh.
I am only explaining this since I don't want to create mistrust between each other. We are allies after all.
But then, I am not really providing you with any reason to trust me. You know there is an armed warbird with cannons targeted to each ship in this system. To proove my good intentions, I am prepared to beam myself over to your ship. I can stay in contact with my ship through my communicator.
If you wish to accept my offer, turn off all of your scanners for 20 microseconds. My first officer has already encoded a program that will trigger a site-to-site transport, beaming me in just behind your Communications station, in this sensor gap.
T'rela out."
She looked at Ramek, and he understood what she wanted from the Subcommander.
To maintain position, keep weapons armed, maintain a scrambled link to T'rela, be prepared to assist any ship that takes damage and to await the arrival of the Raptor Star.
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"It is a WHAT?" B'Ellera demanded.
"Its...a warp shadow..." Rekeal answered. He was so prideful to have found the warbird and that pride ha gotten the better of him. He should have known what he was looking at. While still aboard a romulan ship, he had used the trick himself.
"So then THAT," she pointed to the screen, "...is NOT the real location and we are mining a ghost?
"It would appear so."
"Well then, it is a good thing we used the tractor mines. They have a good range and arent meant to damage ships but to hold them. Order the shuttle to return via micro burst and activate the mines. At least if a cloaked ship should roam too close they will be caught. And," B'Ellera paused brushing Rekel's ear, "Do not feel bad. It doesnt appear the other ships even found it at all."
"There is one more thing. Another message from the warbird. They are resquesting to speak to us, IN PERSON."
"They wish to transport HERE?"
"They have sent instructions to signal our agreement."
"How?"
"They are using some sort of scrambled comm beam. It is somehow untraceable. but i believe i can recreate it. I cant however establish return com without knowing their true location. I must admit, ive not seen this before and i was Covert Ops for the Romulan Republic."
"One thing in strange to me," Growla started. She was the Seraphim Shadow's Science officer and B'Ellera's younger sister. She usually reminded silent, only speaking when there was something important to say. When she spoke, because she applied great thought beforehand, other listended and were fools not to. Rekel and B'Ellera turned to hear her.
"What bothers you?" B'Ellera asked.
"Well," Growla started, "This cloaked warbird has sent messages and once I cleared the scrambling, they APPEAR to be still en route here, in slipstream."
"They could not drop a warp shadow here unless they were HERE." Rekel informed.
"Its not only that," Growla continued, "They have too much information for a ship that is not yet here. Also, remember what the message from them said. The transported a mic-"
"Which," B'Ellera cut her off, "Would not be possible unless they were here which means-"
"There are," Growla finished, "TWO warbids at least. one here observing the situation and one en route. But thats not all that bothers me. if they are here wishing to catch a Tal Prai'ex ship, who does that make THEM. The Tal Prai'ex worked against the Tal Shiar, it stands to reason the Republic should ally WITH them, not against them."
"True..." B'Ellera remained thoughtful. She was no more a fool than Kurn and she knew how to play a role, and when to fish for information. Now was the time for the latter. She continued, "Very well, signal to the warbird. Allow them to beam over. Order warriors to the bridge. i dont want any surprises when they appear. Set weapons to STUN. i dont want to kill whoever they send over should they prove, distrustful. Also, try to trace the ship when the transport occurs and one more thing-"
"Scan for the phase shift of a cloaked ship dropping out of slipsteam. I am on it." Rekel said.
"No," Growla interupted, "They MEANT for us to know that ship was on its way, why else relay their message through it? dont scan for one ship, scan for many. Scan for the ships they DONT want us to know about."
"Good point my sister," B'Ellera praised. as she didnt four warriors entered the bridge. B'Ellera reminded them to put their weapons on stun and told them to position themselves behind the comm station, where the visitor would appear."Also, since we ARE alone here, send a signal to your Older Brother. Tell him we may the help of a pirate. "She paused, "Send the signal," She ordered, "Let us see what they have to say."
IC.
T'rela was standing, ready to beam over. Suddenly, the sensors showed that the Mogh had deactivated its scanners. A green light brightened the bridge, as T'rela saw it disappearing. Only microseconds later, she saw the Klingon bridge appear.
Four armed guards were pointing their disruptors in her direction. The rest of the bridge crew looked at T'rela: a set of Klingons, but most notably, a Romulan. Why did they choose to join the Klingon Defense Force, she wondered. But now was not the time for that conversation.
"Commander, I am Admiral T'rela of the Romulan Republic Flotilla. As you can see, I came unarmed and unaccompanied. I am here to demonstrate my good will. I assume you have a lot of questions for me. We can discuss them on a place of your convenience. However, I have to relay an order first."
She tapped her wrist, opening a scrambled channel to the R'kota.
"Subcommander, relocate the R'kota, make sure you keep all forward cannons targeted on the Tal Prai'ex vessel. They might have found our location, and I don't want to give our ship away."
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IC:
B'Ellera had sat back down before the Romulan beamed over. Still she sat, taking her time studing the new creature which dared to appear on what was right now HER bridge. She had no reason to trust the woman. In fact there were somethings that did not add up. She ordered the four warriors to give the romulan space, but to not go too far and to keep their eyes on her. Slowly she stood and walking over to the romulan. B'Ellera enjoyed this part. The acting, if it was acting. Half the time the crew couldnt tell which is was, whether she was serious or not. It was a standing joke that Rekel was rubbing off on her. She closed to distance as though she were stalking prey, coming so close to the romulan, it would have made her uncomfortable, at less it SHOULD have. This romulan simply stood and in return, studied HER! She grinned, a sign meant to startle the romulan but in truth it was B'Ellera enjoyed this sparing of minds. She could tell this one would give information freely, not even by mistake. Anything this romulan said would all be on purpose and anything B'Ellera, or anyone for that matter found out would be meant to find out. Rekel has told her that at times, Romulans would drop bits of information, hidden, simply to test their opponents, to gauge their abilities. B'Ellera wondered if they had passed such a test and if so, so many. Was THIS another?
B'Ellera grinned again, as though she was approving the romulan. Of course she didnt, it was all a show. She slowly trued returned to the captain's chair. She sat before speaking. Once sat she, She eyed the romulan a bit more then said, "Who are you romulan? Who are you REALLY?" She knew she would not get a true answer, but it was the lie that told her. It wasnt what was said, but HOW it was said. She continued, deciding to put the cards on the table, "We KNOW there is at least one other warbird en route, and we know THAT is not the ship you came from. We KNOW there are at least, two of YOUR warbirds. We know that you are either Tal Shiar or a good lair," She grinned showing her teeth, "...or BOTH. We know that warbird," she pointed to the view screen in dramatic Klingon fashion, keeping to her role, "...is a Tal Prai'ex vessel. but THEY work against the Tal Shiar and supported the legitimate Romulan government. THAT means if you work against THEM, you are most likely working against the Republic." B'Ellera motioned with her finger in a circular gesture to Rekel. He understood and began rotating their shields. "And one more thing," B'Ellera calmly questioned, "How did you transport through our shields?"
IC.
T'rela observed the Klingon. She judged her as a fierce warrior, but smart. This one would not march anywhere without a good disruptor, but would not fire it too soon. Nor too late. She listened calm to her words. The accusations, the questions, the revealing of information. She made one thing out of her words: the commander thought T'rela to be Tal Shiar. Explaining that she wasn't would be an effort in its own.
"Legitimate questions, Commander... I didn't entirely catch your name. But as I promised, I will answer them.
Yes, it is true there is a second Republic vessel slipstreaming to our location. It is the D'deridex class Raptor Star, under Commander H'tan. I called to my old friend when you first arrived. Because let us be fair, you would have destroyed anything in the system if they did not act as you wished them to act. And what is at stake here is more valuable to us.
I can confirm that at this moment, the R'kota and the Raptor Star are the only Republic vessels within light years. This is a rather remote location, and the Republic does not send that many patrols to this area.
As for me, I am exactly who I claim to be. I am Admiral T'rela, Commanding officer of the Seventh Republic Patrol. I was born on Rator after the destruction of the homeworld, and was part of the original fleet under Kererek that broke away from the Star Empire to form the Republic. I was present when the alliance between my people and yours were signed, on Khitomer. I was present during the Battle of New Romulus, holding the line against the Elachi onslaught. All of this is information you should be able to confirm through your own computers.
I am not your enemy, Commander, I am your ally.
Your next question is why the Republic would be fighting the Tal Prai'ex, when we have the Tal Shiar as a common enemy. You could also ask why we would fight the Tholians, or the Voth, when we have the Borg and Undine as common enemies.
Ever since the death of Hakeev and the disappearance of Sela, the Star Empire has been crumbling down. The Tal Shiar lost its command and has taken serious hits. The Tal Prai'ex is moving in this vacuum to claim power for themselves. They are a dangerous organization, that intends to continue the civil war my people have fought in for the past year.
They are nothing like the Republic. Today should prove that: they are making deals in a remote sector, in secret. This is not how the Republic works. We have an alliance with the Empire through an open meeting, and we have continued to talk together in the light of the stars, not in the shadows of nebulas.
The Tal Prai'ex most likely met with warriors of the Empire to strengthen their numbers. What the motives of your generals are I cannot confirm, but I do not think they are here to represent the High Council. Otherwise, we would not be having this conversation.
And how I transported through your shields is quite simple, really. Your shields were locked in a single frequency. We had ample time to scan your ship, and to determine your frequency. I assume that that circular gesture you just made means you are rotating frequency now. A smart decision, one that I would have made myself. I cannot beam out again now. There is a limit to what the R'kota can do.
Now, let me ask you a question. The way you talked to me, looked at me, grinned at me, I suppose that was to bring me off my watch? Because if it was, it did not work. I have had diplomatic meeting for my people with yours before. I am not unfamiliar with Klingons, if I may say so.
But the main thing I would like to know now: are you willing to trust me, or would it be wiser for me to request a beamout? If you have any more questions, I will gladly answer them. This is why I am here."
T'rela looked at her wrist again. A set of coordinates. She knew where the R'kota was now. Exactly in the position she had hoped Ramek to move towards. The man, of which nobody knew what species he exactly was, would make a fine Commander in time.
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"He is right," B'Ellera agreed carefully not to use his name. She wasnt ready to give that information yet. Besides, if she knew who Rekel was, she might of heard of his pirate brother... That might cloud thing for now and a cloudy situation can be a deadly one. B'Ellera continued, "You may be turthful, but WE have no way to confirm or deny your story. What we DO have, is a knowledge of covert operations. Since we are, what is the human expression-"
"Putting our cards on the table," Rekel reminded B'Ellera, thinking of the Titan's captain.
"Yes," B'Ellera continued, "SINCE we are putting our cards on the table, I will tell you that we are a part of Klingon Intelligence. So we know that while it is more honorable to work in the light, there are times when the shadows CAN be your friend. Since you has access to the meeting, will you share this access? will you tell us all you know of there meeting? what are their goals, their wants. you may not know what the Klingons there want but you should know what the Romulan commander wants," B'Ellera paused to gather her thoughts, "Also, why would the Tal Prai'ex wish to continue a civil war? Why prolong the conflict when only those who owrk against the peace can profit from this? Namely, the Tal Shiar, the iconians, the undine..." the 'THEM' Captain Kurn referred to, "Why continue the fighting?"
B'Ellera wondered what was truly going on, she didnt like having the captain there, off ship with so much going on. and she couldnt tell him or allow him to hear or see this meeting through his implant in real time. Such a signal would be detected. But he WAS being updated from time to time through data burst. He was probley getting a laugh from the show. Then a reply came over data burst. Kurn wanted them to beam him back when they droped shields to allowed Admiral T'rela to return. So...he didnt plan on keeping her here. WHAT was going on down there?
OOC:Is the other person able to flesh out that the happening of the other ship where the meeting is occuring?
"You speak of the Tal Prai'ex the way they used to be. Nothing more than an Intelligence Service. They transformed. Similar to how the Tal Shiar transformed between the Dominion War and the events of the past year.
With the Tal Shiar loosing its, to stay in terms of that human game you seem fond off, ace cards, they are loosing ground rapidly. That organization is coming down. The Tal Prai'ex is moving in the power vacuum. They are taking control of the Star Empire. Other groups try as well, but are not as organized and effective as the Prai'ex.
I spoke about continuing the civil war. This is very simple; as long as the Star Empire exists, there will be war with the Republic. They will never acknowledge our existence. To them, we are rebels and terrorists. The civil war can only end with the Star Empire dissolving and its members joining the Republic, out of their own will. We have come to a point in which the Flotilla can attempt to conquer Rator, but this would not solve anything. If we force people in the Republic, they are going to rebel against it.
The Tal Prai'ex knows that it will loose much of its power should they join the Republic. For this, they remain a faction apart from it. we already have reports of skirmishes at our borders. Not a full scale invasion yet, but the situation is far from peaceful.
The Romulans that you see on that viewscreen are here to back themselves up. An alliance with factions of the Empire would increase their power, and thereby their claim to the Star Empire. My crew has been monitoring them for long. If we can get a treaty signed, we can expose the Prai'ex for what they truly are. This will most likely lead to the downfall of that organization, after which the Star Empire does not have any faction strong enough to bid for power. This could proove to be the end of the civil war, with the Star Empire joining the Republic.
Ow, and as for checking me up, try your computers. You should be able to confirm I was at Khitomer, that I fought at New Romulus, that I was part of Kererek's fleet.
You also requested to be shared the information we have already unraveled today. I will only share this information with you, Commander. Your Captain knows of everything that happened, and you may. Of my crew, only my first officer knows exactly what is happening. This due to security reasons. I trust my crew, but some of them have enough reasons to discharge all of my plasma weapons should they know what happened on board of that B'rel. And I don't want that to happen."
OOC: Will await the other posters reply before continuing, unless it takes too long.
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"If these Klingons seek a return to the old ways, they may be using the Tal Prai'ex to that end. If this is the case, if they will truly side with them, to continue the civil war, to bring Klingon forces in on the side of Tal Prai'ex," B'Ellera stood, "then they have no more honor than...." She looked to her sister who shook her head in shame as they remembered their Grandfather Duras. "NO!" B'Ellera continued, "my family has known no honor until Ambassador Worf asked on our behave to fight for the house of Martok. I will NOT allow these PetaQ to dishonor my people." B'Ellera Declared.
"Admiral," Rekel began, "The Captain of this vessel is man i am honored to serve with. He has said on many occasions that this ship and its crew earn their honor by ensuring the peace continues. If Klingon forces are brought into a fight for the Tal Prai'ex, against the Republic it would threaten that peace. My sister and I serve here to understand our new allies. THAT is our first purpose here because true peace cannot be kept through force. Only through understanding." Rekel stopped as a signal alerted him. He went to see the cause and his eyes went wide. There was surprise, then confusion, and then alarm as he remembered all the details of the conversation. He drifted from the console trying to think quickly.
"What IS it Rekel?" B'Ellera questioned. Her tone more of worry than of annoyance. She had seen that look on his face before and when he has that face it means things were about to get complicated.
"HE is here. NOW. He sent a coded message." Rekel informed.
"He...?" B'Ellera thought. the only one coming was... But he was last reported in the eta eradani sector. "How? Even at maximum warp it would have taken a few hours and caused a bit damage to a ship that old."
"The message reads: Hey, got here faster than i thought. this NEW ship it better than i thought. Youre not going to believe what it is. There were smiling faces following the message. "
"That human woman is having a bad affect on him," B'Ellera admitted, "But to be here now, he would of had to have a ship FULL of brog tech including transwarp to get here THAT fast....."
"Well he IS here. and that means, once he knows what we do....."
"He will blow that Tal Prai'ex Warbird into the next sector," B'Ellera finished then remembered there was still an admiral waiting, AND listening. It really WAS time to put the cards on the table. "You know our captain so you know he is a skilled warrior. It was HE who lead the attack on the Federation fleetyards. It was HE who fought off the Undine and Aided Tuvok in the dyson's sphere all with ONE ship....until help arrived. Our captain is a cunning and honorable warrior. But even here does not enter a situation like this one with out calling for back up....not usually. That signal-"
"Was my brother," Rekel cut in, "You said youre with the republic, then I KNOW youre herd of him. He is Former Admiral T'rell Revon of the warbird Heartless. He has been attacking Orian Syndicate ships. Being a pirate to the pirates as it were...Thinks he a bloody Robin Hood. He HAD a modified Mogai/Valdore hybrid powered by an old D'derdirx core. As yoy know, a ship like THAT couldnt of gotten him here so soon. My brother HATES the Tal Prai'ex. He, like the pirates of old Values freedom above all else. He seen the Tal Prai'ex becoming much of what youve said. He even dubbed them the Shiar Prai'ex as a joke. If he is here, the Seraphim Shadow is the least of your worries. You had better get back to your ship."
Just as B'Ellera was about to order the shields dropped to allow Admiral T'rela to return, and massive ship began to decloak right at the normal position T'rell used get into to protect his little brother and sister.The ship was NOT what they were used to seeing. This ship was long and jagged. its hull was black. but not black like the shadow's. Were the shadow gleamed, this ship loomed. It sat there dominating the surroundings. As Rekel looked at it, his eyes seem to slide off it, and the feeling it gave him... It made him want to jump into a hole and pull the ground in over him. It looked like a spiky death. there two long...arms...that were attached towards the rear of the ship and ran the entire length and swung down and beneath it. Rekel moved back to the console to see the strange ships through the Seraphim Shadow's eyes. Much of the sensor beams bounced off, penetrating the hull was impossible but the energy signature was a cross between Romulan and Borg. To think a ship with THAT much power could even hide all its energy.... Rekel checked for a transponder signal and sure enough, he found what he thought he would. the transponder didnt read as a friend OR a foe and all it gave was one word for identification.
Rekel turned to face her, "Looks like my brother is here with his new ship. He is right. I not only dont believe it, i dont even know what it IS!"
OCC: the ship that just decloaked is my other toons' Tal Shiar Destroyer, which from a story point of view, he stole and escaped in it during the mission where the Tal Shiar kidnaps the player. (Romulan storyline) His persona is like a cross between captain Harlock and Han Solo. just FYI. He is the Older brother of the two romulan officers who serve on the Seraphim Shadow.
IC.
T'rela thought about the words she had just heared. T'rell Revon had again emerged. A man that was still wanted for defection and desertion. But again, those were discussions for another time. This meant that she was talking to his younger brother Rekel. Were her sister was was unknown to her for now, but irrelevant anyway.
"That..." said T'rela while pointing her finger to the viewscreen, "is a modified Dhelan Warbird. We refer to them as Tal Shiar Adapted Destroyers. The result of experiments with Borg technology. That ship packs a punch greater than this Mogh can hope to give. I must return to the R'kota at once."
T'rela made three taps on her wrist, after which a green hue brightened the Shadow's bridge. Only microseconds later she stood on her own bridge.
"Change of plans. Hiven, open a channel to the Mogh. We won't need to fear them anymore, so don't bother scrambling it. Ramek, relocate all weaponry on that Tal Destroyer. That ship poses a real threat to the Prai vessel."
"What about the Mogh, Admiral?" Ramek asked.
"Well, they are on our side. I managed to gain a certain amount of trust from then. They won't interfere beyond tolerance. That Tal thing out there however is captained by a man with a grudge against the Prai. Which could prove desastrous to our operation. Hiven, is that channel open?"
Hiven nodded.
"Commander, this is T'rela. Can you try to defuse this situation? That Destroyer will already alert the delegates into the meeting, so it may already end here. But if T'rell opens fire, I am afraid I will have no choice than to intervene. Please try explaining him what is going on, and remember that we still have a chance to defeat the entire Tal Prai'ex instead of just one ship."
Again she folded her hands together. Damn. As if that Mogh had not disturbed the operation enough. If the Prai'ex would not reckognize T'rell, they would only see a Tal Shiar ship. In any way, they would respond hostile. It would all depend on how T'rell would act. Otherwise, months of work could be undone, and a military campaign could be the only way to defend the Republic.
H'tan looked at his viewscreen. The slipstream was filling all of it.
"Faster.... faster...."
"Sir, we are already pushing the core to the limits! If we increase power even more we risk the singularity pulling us in!"
"Pull her in then!"
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OOC: i love this. you do good writing sir! Favorite parts in green commits for the sake of story telling in red. I am waiting for the others but i SOOO wanna continue.
OOC as well.
I have not yet decided on a T'rell/T'rela past. Ofcourse if you start writing, I will jump on the possibility, but the word again was originally intented to state that a missind person had been found.
T'rell can like or dislike the Republic. I am usually very cautious to write for somebody else character. I only suggested that T relll was acting against the interests of the Republic by arriving in a Tal Shiar vessel at this meeting. Whether this was intentional or not (I suspect not) is something I leave up to you.
And yes, if only Sulu were.
Anyway, as I stated, if the other guys want to write a flashback as to what happened on the B'rel, I am perfectly fine with it. Meanwhile, seeing this thread has had a period of being abandoned (around 5 months between page 3 and 4), I am just gonna continue with the fun we are having here. Not sure if the others are gonna return.
Ow, and my hat is off for your storiwriting as well, my good sir!/OOC
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OOC: Well, considering it could be a while, i will continue. I am enjoying the writing. Also, i will write around the meeting, defining and outcome os that we can continue but i will leave it open so detail about the meeting can be filled in.
.....Last time on Star Trek: Enemy of my Enemy:
*Goes over recap montage of prior events*
...And now, the continuation:
IC:
T'rela had reutrned to the R'kota. Why they remained cloaked, and unable to raise shields was a question to be asked when the universe didnt seem intent on ending lives in an orgy of death and disruptor fire. B'Ellera was siiting at the Captian's chair staring at a ship she has never seen but had heard stories of and while a part of her dreading entering battle with such a powerful ship, she was Klingon. B'Ellera knew there would be songs written about the coming battle. Shame the battle would be classified and only people to hear or even sing of them would be the Seraphim Shadow's crew and even then, only on the ship. Rekel was again Alerted to a signal.
"WHAT now?! Did the Federation show up and demand we make a committee to decide what to do fro here? B'Ellera said, her frustration beginning to show.
"No," Rekel begin to report, "Captain Kurn has returned. He has with him the two klingon generals and a Tr'Rllailiiu. With him who are all being taken to the brig. "
"Good. Are all members of OUR crew accounted for?"
"There were reports of a brief fire fight after the meeting. It seems our Captain allowed the meet to go on as planned and even aided them in coming to an agreement where both sides agreed to join forces. It was then that he, in typical Captain Kurn fashion, pulled out his pistols and arrested them. There was a fight and some of our people were hurt, but none killed."
Just as Rekel finished his report, Kurn and Denra'nrava came out of the turbo lift entering the bridge. The two of them were laughing about the goings on of the meeting. It was nice to see her smiling and jokking again after Hfinar... It may have been a reman settlement but there were romulans there too. Including Denra'nrava's and Rekel's father, who didnt make it out. Rekel didnt think Denra'nrava would be the same after losing their father. she was all about duty and commitment.
"...and then i HIT him," Kurn was saying as he and Denra'nrava entered the bridge, "His eyes went so wide. he must of thought himself dead!"
"But you didnt see Tr'Rllailiiu's aid coming to stab you in the back! Thats the tenth time Ive saved your life!" Denra'nrava laughed, her smile wide and genuine.
"Ninth time! That business on Deferi doesnt count!" Kurn returned, "Not need to report. i was monitoring the data bursts. Open a channel to the Heartless."
"That must be why you werent paying attention," Denra'nrava jokingly jabbed as she took her station, "Channel open."
Kurn looked to say something to her but realized the channel was open and decided an, 'Ill get you later' look would have to do. Denra'nrava smiled again and nodded to the screen. "T'rell! Is THAT you? Where did you steal such a ship?! The empire would pay handsomely for such a warship!"
"I am sure they would," T'rell repsonded as his image appeared on screen. It had been a short while since the two saw each other. T'rell was the reason Rekel and Denra'nrava were selected to join Kurn's crew. Kurn and T'rell had become friends during the events of Kitomer and after the officer exchange program was extended to the republic, Kurn asked to have him serve with him. If T'rell hadnt refused to join the republic, he might of been on the Shadow already. Kurn then setting for Rekel, T'rells brother. Denra'nrava came some months later. "Tell me my friend," T'rell continued, "What is going on here?"
"Not Sharing are we?" Kurn commented, "Fine, it has taken me until shortly ago to fine out what was going on here. Ambassador Worf asked me to come here and it appears it was a good thing to do so. These pataQ would seem to have been trying to subvert the empire in an attempt to return us to the old ways. I have taken those responsible into my custody."
"And you asked me here why?" T'rell sounded annoyed and seeming have his time wasted.
"The Tal Shiar maybe HERE."
"I see." T'rell said, finding a reason for his presence, "Show me."
"I cannot. You know how the Tal Shiar is. They are honorless, hiding in the shadows while they manipulate the situation."
"True. I do have a question my friend. Why is the Republic warbird R'kota targeting me? Isnt T'rela still commanding her?
"You KNOW that romulan?" B'Ellera asked in the back ground.
"I do. We have...met before. I had thought we parted on good terms but i may be wrong." T'rell answered.
"Why dont you ask her. This IS an open channel," Kurn looked to Denra'nrava, "Is it not?"
"It is," Denra'nrava said, "Hello Brother. It is good to see you," she added as she came into veiw.
"Denra'nrava, it is good to see you as well. You look more and more like mother every time i see you. This Klingon is keeping you safe i assume?" T'rell asked.
"Not exactly... I appear to keep HIM safe." Denra'nrava joked, "For the tenth time..."
"Ninth!" Kurn cut in laughing as he said it, "Your sister appears to enjoy tormenting me T'rell. Did your parent teach her about honoring you superiors?!"
"She only does it because she likes you Kurn," T'rell informed, "If her didnt she would save you at all," T'rell finished with a sly grin. "To the business at hand. You say the tal Shiar might be here. You KNOW what my response is going to be dont you?"
"I guessed....same as last time right?" Kurn asked.
"Yes but first i have to clear a few things up." T'rell paused, "T'rela of the R'Kota, I assume youve been listening. I SEE you ya know. Why are you targeting my ship? Is that how you greet me? I thought we were on good terms."
Ow, and just noticed that our Romulan captains are Spanish. T'rel with an el (male) ending, and with a la (female) ending.
IC.
T'rela had listened to the conversation between T'rell and Kurn. And then the words T'rell spoke to her. She puller her finger past her throat, signaling to mute the channel.
"How did that Destroyer break our cloak? The Tal'Shiar nor the Borg have technology advanced enough for that!"
The crew just stared at her, not knowing what went wrong.
T'rela folded her hands together. "Reopen the channel.
T'rell of the Heartless. Your assumption was correct. We have been observing everything that has happened in this remote sector of space.
Why am I targeting your ship? I guess that an intelligent man such as yourself should be able to guess this. You posed a real threat against Republic interests by showing up in this system, with a meeting going on. However, since that meeting is now concluded, you do no longer poose an immediate threat. It was a precaution in case your reputation of not being on the best of grounds with the Tal Prai'ex would get the best of you. It was imperative to keep every ship here alive. Even if that means disabling the weapons of an old colleague. So that explains thats.
However, we have other matters that still require settling. I am still an Admiral in the Flotilla, and I do have standing orders. In this case, they are to arrest you. You know that you are accused of desertion in wartime, defection to pirate organizations, stealing a Republic Warbird, namely the R.R.W. Heartless and two accounts of attacking Republic Warbirds, namely the T'varo class R.R.W. Yhsal and R.R.W. Ehlian. So technically, I have orders to bring you in.
However, today's situation is more complex than finding a fugitive. With the help of the Klingons, we got everything we need to take down the Tal Prai'ex once and for all. So I might let you slip through my fingers.
Captain Kurn, on behalf of my government, I request you to turn over Tr'rllailiiu to my custody. He is wanted for questioning. Depending on his willingness to speak, today may be the beginning of the end of the civil war. Although the accord already is solid evidence, the more we can show the population of the Star Empire, the more will join the Republic.
There is another favor I would like to ask. Capturing a Tal Prai'ex vessel would be a very welcome addition to today's victory. Depending on your cooperation, we might disable the Klingon and Prai'ex vessel, after which each government can take their respective ships.
However, I would like to have your support before decloaking with cannons blazing."
T'rela typed in a few quick commands in her chair console. The R'kota repositioned. Its forward batteries were now targeting the D'deridex. A model of that ship appeared on viewscreen, with target indicators for the weapon hardpoints on the head of that ship. Attack Pattern Kota 4. Something that she learned from the fight against the Undine on Qo'noS from a Starfleet Admiral.
"ETA?"
"Two minutes, Commander."
Excellent, thought H'tan. Sometimes, overpushing the engines was a risk worth taking.
"Prepare all beam weapons. Increase the yield of our Plasma Torpedoes. Prepare to lock on tractor beam on the modified B'rel. And make sure to disable its weapons with a Viral Matrix. An old tactic perhaps, but one that still works and is lethal enough."
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Kurn considered these words. The two klingon ship did belong to the houses of the generals who sat in his brig. there would be a trial and afterward, they would be striped of their honor and executed. that meant the ships would be either taken or destroyed in the fighting over the lands and properties of the dishonored houses. He didnt see much point to claiming them his own House Noggra did not need them. His was a strong house. He had all that he needed and it was his friend's showing up with provided the distraction needed for that. All and all, kurn had made out pretty well in this mission. But the romulan in his brig...that would be a problem. He was a criminal and a witness. he would be needed for the trial. Kurn could not give him up just yet. Kurn came to the screen, "I cannot give him, the romulan to you. WE will need him for the trial. He is a witness. Considering i have him and YOU sat behind your cloak, i see no reason to give you the fruits of MY conquest. The romulan IS going with us. I will however transmit the meeting in its entirety, recording by my implant. THAT should be ample proof for your republic. As for the ships, i see no reason to claim them. I think my friend can do as he likes. Know THIS, we stand with T'rell. Attacking him will call down the wrath of us both." The Seraphim Shadow then went full power to weapons and shield. Armor closed and the ship went to combat stations. She could drop the shields of Any ship with her opening volley and With the shields down, any ship would be left open to Heartless's attack. Many battles have ended just that fast when Kurn and T'rell worked together.
T'rell nodded in thanks to Kurn then said,"Same as last time Kurn," reminding him of past battles they shared, then looked to T'rela, "The ships are mine. Please, lets not fight over them. those ships are sitting ducks, My shields are up and you know full well you ship is no match for mine. We were friends once, at least i thought of you as such, dont end our friendship over ships the republic doesn't need. " As T'rell spoke, three small craft emerged from the Heartless each other headed for the ships, "Ignoring T'rela, T'rell spoken to the other ships. Birds of prey, romulan warbird. Your commanders are in custody. Abandon your ships in the life boats and you will not be harmed. On this you have my word as a Free Romulan. Leave those ships and keep your lives. Stay, and your lives are forfeit. You have 60 seconds to comply, then the fun starts." T'rell then spoke to the R'Kota, "You have all they proof you need. Let us leave here as friends, this isnt a fight you, OR that slipstreaming warbird can win," T'rell said as he targeted the engines and weapons of the R'Kota," i wont try to kill you. but if your engines are gone and the weapons dont work, you would be able to stop me. all you could do is sit and watch me have my way. With that other warbird rushing as it is, it wont have engine either...if they can even repair them." T'rell pleaded with T'rela, "Go, take your proof and go. After the generals trial, the Klingons will have no use for Tr'rllailiiu. I am sure you can have him then, hell, we leave here on good terms they might even allow the republic to send a representative to attend the trial. you could record THAT and have even more to bring people into the republic."
H'tan spoke these words quietly as the Raptor Star left warp. A mighty D'deridex. Reinforced with armor plates along the exterior hull. Additional bulkheads inside to minimize battle damage. Cargo bays converted into shield generators. Refitted with Dyson technology. A feathered pattern, two powerful warp nacelles and an intimidating head section.
The R'kota decloaked as well. Her weaponry had relocated towards the Heartless. The green/brown feather pattern showed agility. The sleek central section had received additional armoring to prevent easy destruction of the neck. Yet the weapon hardpoints were clearly visible. And they were armed. Plasma torpedoes were awaiting with increased yield, cannons showed a build up of energy, ready to scatter and hit anything in front of the Mogai.
T'relas next move was unexpected. In a matter of seconds, she beamed the entire Tal Prai'ex crew on board of her ship.... and Tr'rllailiiu. Ever since the Mogh dropped shields to allow T'rela to beam back, they had stopped rotating shield frequency. The same weakness that allowed T'rela to beam in, allowed the Romulans to beam Tr'rllailiiu out.
"Gentlemen, I do not intend to fight. The Republic and the Empire are allies, and as I stated, I don't think Command will demote me if I fail to bring in a futigive. I am not here to arrest you, T'rell. This is something I leave up to my colleagues. I do respect you, even though our paths have separated.
But I am taking Tr'rllailiiu, his crew and his ship with me. They are vital to the success of the Republic in the civil war. A goal that I praise more worthy than bringing in two dishonorable Generals. They, and their crew, are in your hands. But you won't need a single Romulan to testify. Your word, along with the data records, should provide all you need to strip them off their honor and sentence them.
Don't make me show my determination on the matter. Even though you have two heavily armed ships, you underestimate us. H'tan, deploy."
A sudden change was noticeable in the D'deridex. Along the central top section, two giant doors were pulled aside. A large array appeared. A Plasma Lance. Experimental Republic weaponry, designed in cooperation with the Federation and their Galaxy-X. But this one was enhanced with dyson technology. A weapon that could potentially blast any ship to bits if its shields were to fail.
Both Warbirds entered Red Alert. Engineers moved towards damage control positions, power was rerouted from all nonessential systems to weapons and shields, torpedoes saw their yields being increased, marines moved towards boarding transporters. Scorpeions were launched, weapons relocated.
"As you can see, I command a vast amount of firepower here. I do not want to use this against you. All I want is for you to grant me a safe path back to Mol'Rihan. You can do with the Klingon ships as you please. However, if you do not grant me this wish, I can assure you that the Republic will reevaluate its current relations with the Klingon Empire."
She send a signal to H'tan. Just three words. Attack Pattern Kota. H'tan understood them. Both Warbirds set all weapons to disable enemy weapon systems. The R'kota was prepared to destroy any incoming missile with a massive burst of scattered fire, while the Raptor Star had its weapons ready to overcharge at the Heartless' missile launchers.
Two ships, ready to defend the captured Tal Prai'ex to any cost. Their value was simply too high to not risk the safety of two crews and the relation between the Republic and the Empire.
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"Unlike my rather reckless friend there, you dont think i would Show up alone did you?" T'rell laughed and as he did, two heavy modifed Arkif tactical carriers declocked. their singularity ports open, annihilation mode active and charged. One each behind the republic warbirds. "i will commend your cunning in taking the romulan prisoner and the crew. Youve saved the life pods for me. I DID dread replacing them. But this game is over. you COULD fire. and you MIGHT damage the Shadow. Youre lance wont even tickle while MY arkifs, yea THOSE I DID steal from the republic, will disable you quite swiftly...IF your fancy armor can survive the combined blasts. I knew that warbird was close, and my ships have positioned themselves ready for an assault. Why dont you-"
"I DEMAND THE RETURN OF MY PRISONER!" Kurn bellowed. You think this is a NORMAL Mogh?! it has borg components itself, with Apadtive shielding and engines. and it can target the hairs of targ at 12 lightyears! You will- "
"My friend, T'rell broke in, "they out foxed us with the prisoner thing but she IS right, we dont need him anymore than they do to prove your case. she even let you have the ships and their crew. I would call that a compromise. But the warbird IS mine and its Four ships to your two...at least, those are the number you SEE...." T'rell puased to let that implication sink in. "I never wanted the crew," he continued, "All i want out of this IS the ships. The republic has HUNDREDS and i only have a handful. What more, i dont even plan to point them at the republic, so long as you stay out of my way. In fact you, leave me the hell alone and you may find this tal shiar problem may just disappear. Now wouldnt THAT be nice? Your problem could be gone and you wont have to fire a shot. After wards, you would have a shadow fleet making sure everything stays out of your way. A silent protertor as it were," T'rell's voice became stern, "All you have to do is take what you have and go but LEAVE the warbird." T'rell paused again to allow his words to simmer, "What i do, what i steal, what i destroy, is ALL in the name of protecting our new homeworld. So i dont play by YOUR rules... I NEVERD DID! You yourself called me...what was it, The "Kirk of Romulus." I do what needs to be done. Im not nice, in not pretty and i will TRIBBLE of a lot of people on the way, but i get the job done. But i do it MY way." A signal diverted T'rell's attention, He crews he sent to the ships has managed to bring the warbird under control. With no crew to stop them, it was easy. One of the brels was under control and ready as well, but only because it was the meeting sight and Kurn had already killed most of its warriors. only the last brel remained. that brought the total to 6 verses 2, at least, that was the visible count. There was no telling how many other ships T'rell brought with him. For the most part as a pirate, he stayed mobile. His entire fleet could be here. and while he came the Heartless, the R.R.W. Heartless Had yet to appear... Why?
"You are out numbered and the question of who should get the warbird is now moot," T'rell said, "YOU removed its crew AND any resistance i would of dealt with in taking it. You GAVE it to me by doing so. Now do you REALLY intend on destroying a popssible friendly asset, endangering the truce with the klingons, AND risk the destruction of your ships in a 3 to 1 odds fight all for a warbird which is already out of your control? T'rela i know you better than that. Following this path is reckless and nothing more than you trying to save face. I beg you, do not make me destroy you. You and H'tan may go, now, freely. I suggest you do so. One more thing. if your engines dont power up and your ships jump to warp in the next 30 seconds, i WILL fire with the goal of disabling you. Then my newly acquired warbird, the Heartless, and my arkifs will depart. I am not about to risk anymore of your ships showing up."
"We MUST stop!" It was Growla who spoke this time. the entire Seraphim Shadow crew faced her to listen, her speaking a rarity. She was a small petite klingon, one who didnt seem built for fighting. Her eyes shined bright with smarts and thought. She was a thinker. "Cant you ALL see?!" she began, "THIS is what the Tal Shiar wants! What the undine want! The inconians! Those masters of the Tal Shiar! They want this and we are giving it to them! Klingon against romulan, romulan fighting amongst themselves, Klingon killing klingon! The more we do this the stronger our enemies become. Admiral T'rela, Commander H'tan. you can easily report the warbird missing. the crew of the warbird can be told to keep their mouths shut, after all, they CAN be charged with the same crime as their captain otherwise. We have all WE need and all T'rell wants IS the warbird, which his crew is ready controlling! There is now reason for this! See reason. We can still leave here as FRIENDS! And with the coming storm, we will all needs as many friends can we can get. T'rela, you NEED eyes out here in the places light does not follow. T'rell can BE those eyes. T'rell you are only trying to protect the romulan people, even from themselves. SO IS THE ADMIRAL! You two should be working together! We even helped each other get this far, Amassador Worf wouldnt of sent us here if he didnt hear about from someone withing the Republic chain of command. And an Admiral COULD of let something slip to he during the meeting after saving homeworld from the undine attack. You WERE there Admiral, i remember seeing you." Growla was then distant, deep in thought, Speaking to herself and under her breath "Why wont she let the Warbird go? What is it about that ship...what am i missing, what didnt i account for? What variable did i miss...."
"There is wisdom in that one," Kurn said more calmly, " You see why i keep her around. Kahless said Destroying an Empire to win a war is no victory. And ending a battle to save an Empire is no defeat. T'rell is right, do not force us to fight a battle when the spoils have already been decided. Doing so will only cause us both to lose more than the spoils themselves."
Kurn nodded to T'rell with the respect and honor of friends forged by time, trust, and combat. The kind of trust only two men who shared the trenches knew. T'rell then looked to T'rela. He thought of their past and peered into her eyes trying to see what she was thinking. would she allow their friend to continue? Or would she throw it away for a warbird he already controlled. T'rell was more than ready for the latter, but hoped for the former.
"Time to call Admiral, and we have a straight flush, Spades, Ace through 10," Kurn released, clearly tired of the stakes raising, tired of talk and craving action, or an end, "Now why dont you fold 'em so we can go home?"
"Considering the words you have just spoken, I am willing to make one last compromis. You can have the warbird, but. Allow my engineers ten minutes on board to download its entire computer. All those files about Tal Prai'ex movement would help the Republic in ways you cannot even begin to imagine. Grant me this wish, and we will be on our way. Don't, and you will find that disabling me will not help you."
Attack Pattern Kota. It seemed time to accept it would be the full attack pattern. It was not merely trying to disable your enemies. It was designed to even odds in an unfair battle. There migh be only a single option should the Klingon and Romulan refuse. And that was making use of the 900 meter span of the wings of the R'kota. A full impulse from this location would tear the starboard wing right through the Mogh, with the port wing still hitting the Destroyer. A charge that would destroy the R'kota. But also allow H'tan to beam over all on board of the R'kota and get the hell out of here. With two Ar'kifs locked in an attempt to save as many lives as possible, the D'deridex would escape.
T'rell never knew T'rela in her most dangerous state. He had seen her as a calculating person, taking in all the risks before making a rational decision. Flying a Mogai down the throats of her enemies was something T'rela would not have done in the old days. But after everything she saw during the Battle of Sol and the Battle of Qo'nos, something had changed. Some things were worth taking tremendous risks for.
If the other side would reply in a way T'rela did not like, their ships would be torn in half in only a blink of an eye.
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The reason I want my own engineers there though is that they have experience with Tal Prai'ex encryption keys even you don't have. They have been changing a lot since you left. A single mistyped password, and we are dealing with Viral Matrixes on each of our ships, total data erasing, and possibly a singularity breach. My crew has TRIBBLE Prai'ex computers regularly lately, so they are the only ones I can trust in completing this task. I would not even trust myself at the consoles.
Ofcourse, we will only copy the data, not erase it. You can have it as well."
The Raptor Star saw its Plasma Lance lowering. Both ships were powering down weapons. Shield remained up at full strength, and Scorpion fighters kept flying around the escape pods.
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It appeared to be an attack plan.
"Well T'rela," T'rell began, face cold as ice again. She HAD to see this NOW, "What do you make of THIS file?"
The file detailed a plan of attack which, according to the time stamp would be under way in hours. This warbird was meant to finalize an agreement intended to lull the Klingons into a false since of security so they would be open to attack. But the insidious part was an attack on The Klingon's ship yards, THAT was meant as a diversion. The REAL target: The Vault. The Tal Shiar was using the Tal Prai'ex as a "fallguy." They would use the Tal Prai'ex forces they have been able to take control over to attack the Klingons acting as a diversion. Being the that Tal Prai'ex was a part of the Romulan navy, they would consider it and hostle attack by the Republic, forcing them to aid the Klingons in order to save face. All while the real Tal Shiar forces retake the vault. They could rebuilt thier fleets full on adapted warships with in a year.
"You see T'rela! THIS is why I left," T'rell snapped, "THIS is proof the Tal Prai'ex is working not WITH the Tal Shiar, but FOR them. They are one and the same. THIS data IS important to me. It proves what i have been saying for years. It proves i what right. The Tal Shiar are responsible for the lost of romulus and the deaths of billions. NOW they wish to continue their conquest and if they can hold the vault... Building ships like my Heartless...a fleet of them... Can you imagine what they will do? We MUST DO somthing!"
Tal'Shiar/Reman Resistance/Romulan Nemesis uniform, pls.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7403/13262502435_5604548f2c_o.png
IC.
"T'rell, a few minutes please."
The R'kota ended the communication. T'rela walked off her bridge. Entered the turbolift. Left at deck 4. Walked the corridor to the last door. There she had a prisoner waiting for her.
"Tr'rllailiiu, this won't be a time for games. You might expect the Republic to treat its prisoners with respect. But I was once part of the Star Empire Navy. I know how to get you talking. I'm just wondering how much you can withstand."
Her eyes were full of fire, and she reached for a very simple pair of forceps. A nail could only withstand so much.....
After four minutes, she left the room again. The fear she brought into the prisoner had saved her from torturing the Romulan. She was again on her bridge. Channel was reopening.
"T'rell, Kurn. I know the full strength of the hostile navies. I am transmitting the data now. We are prepared to accompany you to the Ganalda Shipyards. The Republic will have to send other forces to the Vault. Uhlan, prepare to go to warp."
OOC:
I'm now suggesting us to create a new thread. This chapter of our story seems to have been finished, and continuing this story in a new thread might draw more people into joining. Fresh characters are never a bad thing. We can start with our respective fleets warping towards Ganalda, joining in the defense, and continue from there on. All of this is a mere suggestion ofcourse.
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I will start a new thread. I will assume, T'rell, T'rela, Kurn, and forces jumped to warp. New thread will start with them dropping out of warp at the vault.
EDIT:
new thread HERE
Lets drop out of warp at Ganalda, and then, depending on how the story progresses, continue to the Vault.
Also, don't forget to give a brief OOC explanation of the situation in the new OP. Linking them to this thread is kinda annoying for everyone to read up all that we have written here.
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OCC: Too late, i had other forces join us en route. I left the force small, so that other may join us. buti have written in, many opening for the story to go many different places. link above.
i also didnt want to write for T'rela, so what forces she has hidden is up to you. As it stands now, the only ships she has are those that she already had with her. While T'rell has taken lead, i am sure she, being an admiral, will take command of the defending forces already there.