USS Stealth - Mission One - Kahgal Date: Sun, 9 Feb 1997 00:42:09 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/En Route to EpSeven

Lt. Ayer Bridge of the USS Stealth Stardate 9702.08

Ayer was as surprised as everyone else on the bridge when the admiral gave the order to head towards Klingon border. What kind of mission was it that it dealt with the Klingons? Of course, there was that mission when a Starfleet team was sent to the Klingon homeworld, perhaps that's what they would be doing, revealing a changeling prescense. But somehow, despite the appeal of it, it is highly doubtful that Starfleet would send a team of newly trained officers to deal with such a big threat.
Turning back to his station, he began to monitor Federation frequencies and the sensor readings. There was quite a lot for him to do so he started right away. The controls onboard the Stealth was quite different from other Federation ships. There were more options and the controls were a lot more specific giving the user peak efficiency at operations. This was one of the things which the Federation was changing within its frontier. They were more concentrated on efficiency and optimal performance now than they were before. The Intrepid, Defiant, Sovereign, and Canada class ships were part of a new breed of ships that the Federation is making. But with growing threats from Federation enemies, it is hopeful that these ships would be able to defend the Federation.
After staying at his station for more than five hours, Ayer was able to know his station quite well. Since they were still in Federation space, Ayer decided to read up on the Klingons before they reach their destination. He brought up the LCARS on the Klingons and started reading. In the middle of his reading, Ayer looked up. He thought he heard his name being called, but looking around the bridge, everyone was busy with their own business. He made eye contact with the Bolian who was talking with the commander but the Bolian quickly shifted his eyes away. Ayer thought there was a familiarity with him but shrugged it off, to him, all Bolians looked the same. He has never personally meet a Bolian before but he did remember the the name Mr. Mott a lot. If he's not wrong, Mr. Mott is the Bolian barber onboard the old Enterprise-D, gives the best haircut but only if you can stand his chattering.
Ayer turned back to his station and closed the LCARS. Since his shift was over, he decided to head to the Lounge and relax.
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Ensign Jake Winefield USS Stealth Stardate 9702.08
Jake was nearly flying when he left the bridge after his shift. First to be aboard his first vessel and then to be at OPS -- life right now was great for Jake. Jake made his way back to his quarters but instead of heading right to his computer Jake changed cloths and headed for the Holodeck to work out. After his SO training and the influences of Tyrian, Ayer and Ki'lal, Jake had decided that his physical body had to be keep in shape as much as his mind did. Finding the Holodeck Jake went right in and decided to practice some of martial arts Ki'lal had instructed him in. Jake new that this assignment was not going to be easy but he was going to enjoy it.
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Commander Sortha Bridge of the Stealth Stardate 9702.08
Sortha sat in the large command chair on the bridge of the Stealth. He liked his new commander very much, a practical human. Jaeger did not have extensive starfleet ship experience and had not let his ego stand in the way. He had wisely put Sortha in command of the ship. Very logical Sortha thought. It boded well for their mission.
Although not as important, Sortha also appreciated the larger than standard issue command chair that Admiral Jaeger had installed while in spacedock. Sortha smiled to himself, otherwise he would have been wedged into the command seat pretty tightly.
Absently Sortha reached up and played with the third pip on his collar. As soon as he was off duty, he would send a communique to the Gorn Homeworld to inform his father of his promotion. He would be proud, and Grandfather would be even more proud. The thought made the Gorn rumble with pleasure.
With one curved claw the Gorn activated the comm, "All handss, this is Commander Sortha. Prepare for sshakedown exercises." Now that he was captian of the Stealth, he would see just how good the ship, and crew, were.
"Engineering, slow to 1/2 impulse." As soon as the ship had decelerated, Sortha ordered "helm bearing 00-mark 90, maximum warp. Engage!" With a wrench that even the inertial dampers couldn't quite negate the Stealth stopped dead in her tracks and headed straight "up." "Tac deploy target drones. Security assume control of the drones, and keep them with us with tractor beams. Attack us."
With that, so began a running battle toward their destination at an average speed of warp 8. Over the next few days the crew and ship would receive thorough drills in all areas of starship tactics including simulated casualties and intruder alerts. Different Lieutenants were placed in command of the ship at different times to assess their command abilities.
Shuttlecraft were prepared and loaded for away missions, launched and recovered. Although the crew was getting tired, Sortha could see the improved confidence in their eyes as they coped with one difficult situation after another. They would receive 8 hours of R&R right before they came on station at the Klingon border so they would be well rested if they had to start a mission immediately there.
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Stealth crew Conference Room Stardate 9702.08
Admiral Erik Jaegar and Commander Sortha were seated near the head of the table as the Shadow Ops crew entered the conference room. Stealth was just over one day out from Earth on course for the Klingon border. The crew was a little tired from the drills Commander Sortha had been putting them through, but at least they couldn't complain they were bored.
Once everyone was seated, Jaegar activated a viewscreen on the wall behind him which displayed the Shadow Ops emblem. He then looked around the room at each agent and cleared his throat to speak
"It's time we discuss your first mission aboard the Stealth. As you know we are on course for Starbase Epsilon Seven, which is located on the Klingon border and what used to be the Federation controlled Arcanus sector, before the Klingon's invaded and occupied several of our colonies there six months ago.
"EpSeven will only be a stop off point. From there we will be proceeding into a region of the Arcanus sector still controlled by the Federation. Consider it the front line if you will. We're going to go looking for something in there, something and someone causing the Federation a great deal of trouble in recent months."
Jaegar tapped a button on the console built into the table in front of him and the viewscreen image dissolved from the Shadow Ops symbol to the face of a scowling Klingon warrior.
"This is General Kahgal. Until three months ago he was the head of Klingon Imperial Intelligence and was responsible for coordinate much of the Empire's covert and intel-gathering operations during the invasions of the Cardassian Empire and the Arcanus sector," Jaegar continued.
Tyrian Summers took advantage of a pause in the admiral's presentation to speak: "You said he WAS head of intelligence. What happened?"
Jaegar smiled, "Three months ago Kahgal and the crew of his command ship, a Vorcha-class battlecruiser, ended all communications with the Klingon Empire and went into silent running. They have refused to answer all transmissions from Klingon High Command. At first, the Klingons merely assumed he was on some kind of secret mission, but then his ship began making unauthorized strikes into Federation territory."
"Strikes?" Sholek asked. "But that would violate the current cease fire being observed by both the Federation and the Klingons."
"Precisely. In a short message Kahgal left for his son, he apologized for any dishonor he had brought his family, but he said that he and his crew could not abide by the 'cowardly' cease fire and claimed they would not rest until the Federation was driven back from the edge of Klingon space.
"The Klingon High Council has stripped Kahgal and his warriors of their honor and consider them dead. We have asked Gowron to aid us in stopping Kahgal, but he refuses and says that they will not stand in our way if we wish to get the job done ourselves -- but will not join the hunt themselves. Only if Kahgal is found in Klingon space will they move against him.
"Kahgal has made four strikes against us so far. He's destroyed a supply convoy and its escort, the Miranda-class starship U.S.S. Forrestal; a Federation supply depot that was feeding supplies to our troops on the front lines in the Arcanus conflict; Outpost 209 which was a scientific and research facility in the Gurread system; and most recently he attacked a diplomatic envoy bound for the Klingon Homeworld. In that attack he destroyed a Klingon Bird of Prey that was escorting our diplomatic vessel and would have destroyed that ship as well if two more Klingon ships in the area hadn't of come to the rescue.
"The Federation Council wants Kahgal stopped before he threatens this unstable peace we have with the Empire any further. Major diplomatic talks are scheduled to take place on Koltak Kor, a Klingon Stronghold used by the High Council and Gowron as a command post in this sector. Those talks are in one week and will be headed up by a very important Federation diplomatic envoy. We believe Kahgal will do everything in his power to disrupt those talks in some way."
Ki'lal seemed troubled by the news of renegade Klingons. "Sir, how do we find someone as cunning as Kahgal, especially when he's in a cloaked warship?"
"That's where this ship and her powerful sensors and Shadow Ops agents will come in. Kahgal must have hiding places in this sector he is probably receiving some kind of help from sympathetic Klingons who are giving him supplies, weapons and allowing him to conduct repairs in their ports. Possibly some of the Klingon border colonies who don't like being so close to the Federation in the first place. These are the kind of things we're going to have to check out. But somehow, we must find him and stop him from taking any more Federation lives.
"Are there any questions?"

END TRANSMISSION
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 01:57:05 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/On Course

FROM THE GM: If anyone has any questions about the mission, now is the time to ask. Otherwise, I will post the conclusion of the admiral's briefing Monday night.
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Lt. Tyrian M. Summers Onboard the U.S.S. Stealth Stardate 9702.09
Tyrian watched the giant forward viewscreen as the Stealth glided its way past the other ships in Spacedock and slowly exited through the opening bay doors into the blackness of space. Tyrian changed his screen at the tactical station to give him an aft view, the large Spacedock and the earth were getting smaller and smaller as the ship got closer to its destination..............Epsilon Seven.
The Stealth crew was continually subjected to drill after drill, outlining major strategies to be used in combat. Tyrian slowly perfected his ship to ship targeting skills, eventually becoming able to expertly target objects manually without the help of the ships targeting sensors. He was far from the best, but he wasn't medeocre by any stretch. He had always been a good marksman growing up, going on simulated hunts with his brother and father, when his father had actually been around. The admiral was observing the bridge crew most of the time during the drills, and had commented on Tyrian's reflexes and coordination, telling him that he had good skills but that he would get even better in the near future.
After endless sim after sim, Tyrian's shift was relieved and he retired to his quarters for some much needed rest. He really didn't want to sleep because he wanted to practice some more in case he would be called upon to defend the ship.......which he may be in the near future.

END TRANSMISSION
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 23:57:59 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/En Route to EpSeven

USS Stealth Conference Room Stardate 9702.10
Hearing no further questions, Admiral Jaegar slowly nodded and leaned back in his chair. "Very well. Commander Sortha, continue with the battle drills. We will arrive at Starbase Epsilon Seven in two days. There we will obtain the latest intelligence from the front lines and talk to starbase personnel to determine where Kahgal might be hiding. From there, it's into the Arcanus sector where we'll begin our hunt."
"Sir, isn't there a Shadow Ops team stationed at EpSeven?" Tyrian asked.
"There is, but that team is led by Lt. Commander Argonne Jasid and is currently away from the station on assignment. Unfortunately they won't be any help to us on this mission," Jaegar confirmed. Sortha nodded at hearing Jasid's name. He had worked with Argonne before, before they both joined Shadow Ops. It was too bad they wouldn't get the chance to meet again and catch up on old times.
"Ssir," Sortha said. "What other sships are in the ssector that we might expect to receive asssistance from?"
"There are 15 Federation starships spread throughout the sector. Most are engaged in defending the remaining Federation colonies that weren't invaded by the Klingons the first time around. The rest are usually on patrol along the disputed boundaries. There are probably about eight to ten ships we can call on assistance from, depending on what part of the sector we find ourselves in. I'll see to it Mr. Ayer, our strategic operations officer, receives a report on which ships those are."
Sortha nodded and Jaegar took one last look around the room. "If any of you have further questions, relay them through Commander Sortha to me and I'll try to answer them for you. Dismissed."
Jaegar got up, gathered his stack of padds, and hurried out of the conference room to attend to other business. Sortha got up with the rest of the crew, but raised a hand to halt their departure.
Sortha continued: "Two thingss. Firsst, I want everyone to report to Dr. Ming during the course of the next two dayss for a quick physsical. I want to make ssure everyone is in good health before we begin thiss misssion. Thiss will include the general crew as well. Ssecondly, I want Lt. Summers to run a level one ssecurity sscan of the sship. We are an intelligence and sspecial operationss sship, therefore we must maintain a high level of ssecurity at all timess. You may all proceed."
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Lt. Ki'lal Stealth Briefing Room Stardate 9602.10
As Jaegar breathed the name "Kahgal", Ki'lal had all he could do not to shudder. Not only was Kahgal a renegade now, but he also had many clues as to Ki'lal's family.
Since Kahgal was the former Intelligence Minister, he had access to classified info that Ki'lal was not allowed to view. Ki'lal knew that if the Stealth crew were to capture Kahgal, Ki'lal would have a chance to find out more about his family. It may not be all of the information he needed, but it would be a step forward.
When Ki'lal was doing extensive research on his family, Kahgal refused him any access to documents. Ki'lal had grown to hate the man and looked forward to battle with him.
As the meeting ended, Ki'lal left the room and headed straight for the holodeck. He programmed the computer to have 10 Klingons attacking him at once. Of course the difficulty setting was at maximum. Ki'lal killed all of the Klingons in a matter of seconds, using his bat'tleth and bare fists. He was angry and desired more. It was time to settle the score between himself and Kahgal.
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Ensign Thoraz Brynaziir Sick Bay Stardate 9702.10
Internal Message
From: Ensign Brynaziir, ship's counselor
To: Lt. Ki'lal

Lieutenant Ki'lal, please report to Sick Bay, Counsellor's Office after your duty shift, Thank you.
[later]
"Ah Lieutenant, nice to see you. I would like to brush up Klingon culture before we reach the border. Would you be able to spare some time to help me?" queried the Betazoid as the Ki'lal entered Sick Bay.
(FROM THE GM: Thoraz, you may want to make up this Klingon culture briefing because Ki'lal will be out of the game the rest of the week, but will hopefully be back early next week.)
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 1997 00:55:01 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/En Route to EpSeven

Lt. Ayer After the conference Stardate 9702.11
After the conference, all of the officers entered onto the bridge. Ayer headed straight to his station and performed some diagnostic check-ups. He was especially interested in the new holo-communicators that Starfleet has just installed onboard the Stealth before they had departed. Apparently, all Federation ships were equipped with one of these. It should be interesting to see how they work.
Ayer called up the LCARS again and this time, he looked up as much information as he can on Kahgal. Most of the information on him were vague and there were only a few files on him. "Kahgal must be a pretty good former intelligence leader to have covered so many of his personnel file," he thought. Nevertheless, despite what little information they had, Ayer knew they were going to need every single detail in order to capture him.
He downloaded the files into one of the PADD to store for future reading. Then, he called up the ship's sensor systems and information on Klingon cloaking devices. The Stealth's sensors must be pretty good to be able to trace cloaked ships. Yet, the sensors weren't flooded with tachyon particles that were usually needed to detect cloaked ships. Instead, he detected a slight trace of anti-protons in the sensors. Starfleet's research into the Jem'Hadar ship must be going quite well in order to gain this technology (FROM THE GM: Good description of the sensors, but they aren't quite good enough to see a cloaked ship. They can, however, under the right circumstances detect a cloaked vessel, but it's not one-hudred percent accurate.)
Ayer accessed the LCARS again and looked up the Arcanus sector. There were quite a few class-M planets in this sector. Seven of which housed Klingon colonies. Furthermore, four of them were heavily fortified but the rest of the colonies were still armed with formidable defenses. If even two of them were to aid Kahlag, the mission would be getting a lot tougher than they'd like. Checking on the navigation maps, Ayer confirmed the fact that there were 15 starships in the area. If the Stealth comes under attack by more than three warbirds, they're sure to need some assistance. Warbirds aren't really that powerful but when you combine them with a Vor'cha attack cruiser, things would start to really heat up. Since Ayer hadn't received the reports on the Federation ships yet, he decided to wait before planning on how to proceed in finding Kahlag.
His shift was over by now so he took his PADD and headed towards the lounge. When he got to the lounge, he sat in his usual spot beside the window and started reading on facts about Kahlag. After a while, Tyrian came up and sat with him. "So, how'd you like your station?"
"Quite interesting actually, and yours?" Ayer asked.
"Couldn't be happier. I think we all got what we wanted," Tyrian paused for a moment, looking out at the stars then turned back. "It's a pity we're not going to Dominion space, I sort of looked forward to fighting with the Jem'Hadar."
Ayer looked at him, "Don't worry about it, for all we know, Kahlag might be a changeling himself but if he is, that would make it much more deadlier. Do you really want to fight the Dominion that badly?"
"My father was killed by the Dominion and I have hated them ever since, especially the Founders. They are the main cause of this and one day, I will make them pay for what they've done." He then noticed Ayer was reading from his PADD again. It seems he is always attached to it. Curious to know what was so interesting, Tyrian asked, "What are you reading up on? Our mission briefing?"
Ayer shook his head, "No, this is the files I've accessed from the computer about Kahlag. Did you know he was captured by Cardassians during the Occupation and was interrogated for three days and what was worse was that the person doing it was Gul Yerad, former head of the Obsidian Order."
"Must've been quite painful for him. How'd he escape?"
"On the fourth day, before Gul Yerad arrived, Kahlag made a bomb from one of the access panels and implanted it into his right arm. Then, when Gul Yerad came in, Kahlag grabbed him. The Klingon was implanted with a nerve-shock device which the Gul attempted to activate. When it was activated, the jolt of energy triggered the bomb and the Gul along with Kahlag's right arm, was blown up. Despite his injuries, Kahlag managed to escape from prison, steal a shuttle, disable the Cardassian planetary security system, and manage to get out from Cardassian space with only one arm." Ayer placed the PADD down on the table, "This is definitely no ordinary Klingon we're talking about. He could be the most cunning and deadliest person anyone has ever met. Even if we manage to capture him, we still have to worry about him escaping from his cell."
Tyrian noticed the hopelessness of his voice, so he said, "Hey, cheer up, we have the best team in all of Starfleet and I'm sure along with this new ship, we'll be able to get through anything." With that, he stood up, smiled and left.
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Lt. Jake Winefield USS Stealth Stardate 970211
Most of Jake's non duty time is being spent eather working out with holodeck characters or in practice with Ki'lal.
Jake eats with the crew but seems distant. Ayer sat down at Jakes table and asked "well how do you like being out in space I understand its your first time."
The voice of his fellow team mate woke Jake from his day dreaming.
"Oh...Ayer I'm sorry my mind has been spinning ever since we came aboard. I knew I would love ship board life but I never realised how relaxed I would be in my job."
Ayer smiled he had seen other "newbies" experience the same feelings that Jake was on their first voyage. Jake continued to talk to Ayer about the sounds and feelings of both the Ops job and the life abord the ship. Finally, with the meal finished Ayer excused himself for duty and Jake began to sit by himself watching the room.
"Well Jake you need to find someone to talk to about your computer program. The question is who can you trust. Also who has the experience to help you with this." Jake thought about his fellow team mates and one of them was perfect "Sholek" he had the experience and knowledge with computers he was sure to be able to help him."
Jake decided to post a note on Sholek computer asking him to meet at Jakes quarters tomorrow after his shift.
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Lt. Tyrian M. Summers Bridge of U.S.S. Stealth Stardate 9702.11
"Security scan complete sir, nothing but a few infractions to take care of." Commander Sortha walked over to the tactical station, looked down at the display and said, "What minor infractionsss would thosse be, Lieutenant?"
Tyrian looked up at the big Gorn and said, "There appear to be a couple of unregistered weapons in two of the crew quarters, and also I picked up a faint life sign moving through the access tunnels, probobly a rat or something like that."
The Gorn's face didn't change as he said, "Lt. Kilal is busy so take a couple of sssecurity officersss with you and take care of it asss sssoon as posssible, I want everything done by the time we reach our desstination."
"Yes sir", Tyrian replied leaving the bridge as an ensign took over for him at tactical. The three men met at the first quarters and opened the door and started searching the room. Ensign Romez was rummaging through some drawers and found a Ferengi energy whip. Tyrian paged the crewman who was assigned the quarters and informed him that he wasn't allowed to have the weapon while onboard the ship and that it would be confiscated until they made it back home.
Tyrian confiscated another weapon from another crewman without incident, an energy pistol of unknown origin. Then the fun part began, each man started at a different tunnel and started scanning as they moved through the ship. After about two hours of searching, Tyrian's tricorder picked up a faint sign ahead moving towards him. He set down his tricorder and pulled out his phaser. As the large rat came around the corner, it saw Tyrian and tried to turn around, but Tyrian shot it, vaporizing it.
What fun Tyrian thought sarcastically as he put away his tricorder. As he started to turn around, he noticed a panel was ajar in the tunnel ahead. Tyrian went up to it and checked it with his tricorder, nothing seemed wrong, but Tyrian was no expert, he would have to have Lt. Winefield check it out later. He put the panel back on and left the tunnel to report to Commander Sortha.
(FROM THE GM: Send me a post describing any unusual scars, injuries or other medical conditions your character may have. You may also post your visit to Dr. Cassandra Ming, but receipt of your medical history will suffice. Everyone must visit the doctor, by Sortha's order.)
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 1997 22:05:47 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/Arrival at EpSeven

Lt. Ayer Deck 11 - Stellar Cartography Stardate 9702.12
"Computer, enhance on the Turan system." The image in front of Ayer zoomed in to reveal a system of planets orbiting a dying sun. "Computer, are there any nebulas in this system which might conceal the presense of any ships?"
"There are two nebulas within the system, both of which are Type 12's." The computer answered.
"Give me a record on this system." Ayer said.
"Command is being processed. Please stand by." The computer said. Ayer leaned back to relax for a while. Since the start of 0800 this morning, he had spent more than five hours trying to find places which the Klingon may hide in. There were already a couple of good hiding places but there were still some undiscovered areas. His thoughts were broken when the computer made a sound and displayed the records in front of him.
Glancing through them, he began to get an idea of where to go. He checked on the Klingon colonies and compared the scans from today to previous records. It seemed one of the colonies has just recently received some equipments brought in by a Tellarian freighter. Since the Tellarian deal mainly in arms trade, there is a high chance of finding Kahlag here or if not him, then a clue to his whereabouts.
He called up a record of the colony but instead of receiving any information, there was an error message. Puzzled, he tried to switch back to his previous information but the same error was present. Apparently the systems must be down. Ayer tapped his commbadge, "Ayer to engineering. The computers are down in Stellar Cartography. Please send someone to deal with this problem."
Since he couldn't do anything here, he decided to head to the Lounge. Although he has only been here for a short time, he had already established his space in the Lounge. Everytime he's here, the table beside the windows is always unoccupied. Sitting back at his usual spot, he began making his plans. While in the processed of it, he realized he still hadn't received the reports regarding the surrounding Federation ships. As Ayer tapped his commbadge, he said, "Ayer to Admiral Jaegar." When he heard the 'go ahead', he said, "Sorry to interrupt your work but when will I receive the reports on the Federation ships in the Arcanus sector?"
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Report on the Arcanus Sector Starfleet Deployment/Sector Overview Stardate 9702.13
The Arcanus sector was colonized by the Federation in 2342 after the Klingon Empire reluctantly gave up its long-standing claim to the region as part of the final Khitomer Accords and the subsequent Klingon/Federation alliance.
The sector contains 32 star systems and some 256 planets. Of those 32 systems, 19 contain habitable worlds, 15 of which were colonized by the Federation from 2342 until 2371. The Klingon invasion of 2373 brought about the loss of seven of those colonies which were attacked and occupied by Klingon forces. The Klingons also seized the four uncolonized M-class planets and the every uninhabited star system in the sector. They are still disputing the Federation's claim to the remianing colonies, though negotiations are underway.
The Arcanus sector also contains two prominent asteroid fields and one Class V nebula. The Orekta asteroid field is located within Klingon controlled space as is the Hafti Nebula. There are also two Type XII nebulas in the Turan system. The Gradusian asteroid belt is within Federation controlled space.
Starfleet's current presence in the Arcanus sector consists of 15 starships, 5 medical ships, 17 transports and 5 scout vessels. The roster of starships in the region, and their deployment is as follows: Task Force One (deployed in the Jeraat system, considered the front line with the Klingons)
USS Yorktown (command ship)
USS Horatio
USS Gettysberg
USS Havana
USS Pasteur (medical ship)

Task Force Two (located in the Dhakari system, along Klingon occupied space)
USS Nimitz (command ship)
USS Phoenix
USS Denver
USS Salk (medical ship)

Task Force Three (patrolling five of the Federation held systems)
USS Cairo (command ship)
USS Ranger
USS Kyoto
USS Curie (medical ship)

Task Force Four (patrolling four of the Federation held systems)
USS Ethan Allen (command ship)
USS Cyprus
USS Wounded Knee
USS Viggo (medical ship)

Task Force Five (unnamed patrol route)
USS Discovery (command ship)
USS Hornet
USS Gupta (medical ship)

END REPORT
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Commander Sortha In his quarters Stardate 9702.13
Commander Sortha laid on the large table-like hot-rock in his quarters. It was his sole exception to standard Federation furnishings. The temperature in Sortha's cabin was approximately 10 degrees celsius above standard, and he enjoyed the more comfortable temperature in his off hours. He had been stationed on Vulcan for a short time and had thoroughly enjoyed the nice temperatures there.
Sortha reviewed the information he had assimilated about the Arcanus sector. It was a large expanse of space with many planets, and many places for a wily Klingon captain and his ship to hide. It might prove to be too difficult to find the Klingon, however it might be easier to bring the Klingon to him.... "Computer" Sortha intoned, "Full biographical profile on Kahlag, Klingon database." Gorn strategic doctrine calls for full knowledge of ones adversary. In the long historical war with the Romulans, the Gorn had learned to exploit the autocratic nature of the Romulans. A Romulan Captain held full command of his ship, know the Captain, know the ship. The Klingons were similar in that regard. A Klingon captain brooked no defiance of his orders, his rule was law. The day it wasn't was the day he died. As long as this Klingon was no changeling, the Gorn would have him. It might take time....but the Gorn are patient, if it was a changeling.......well the Gorn were also very patient.
Already a plan was forming in the labyrinthine corriders of the Gorn's mind, and his tongue flicked in excitement.
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USS Stealth Arrival at Starbase Epsilon Seven Stardate 9702.13
Commander Sortha came to the bridge after Ensign Nash announced the ship was nearing Starbase Epsilon Seven. The Gorn officer walked from the turbo-lift across the bridge to his chair. The admiral was busy coordinating other Shadow Ops business and had already indicated he would not be coming to the bridge. In fact, he intended to remain at Starbase Epsilon Seven for the rest of the Stealth's mission, utilizing the Shadow Ops facilities there and giving Sortha a chance to flex his muscles as commander of the ship.
"Sir, we're entering the Epsilon Vega system," Nash announced from the helm controls.
"Slow to impulse," Sortha ordered. Nash brought the ship to sublight speeds and soon the seventh planet of the uninhabited star system appeared on the viewscreen. As the ship got closer, the image of a huge Federation starbase could be seen orbiting the brown, crater marked surface of the planet Epsilon Seven.
"Hail Starbase Epsilon Seven," Sortha said.
"Channel open," Tyrian announced from tactical.
"Thiss iss Comander Ssortha of the Federation sstarship Sstealth," the Gorn said.
The screen's image switched from that of the starbase to the face of a human male in his late fourties. "Greetings Commander Sortha. I'm Commander Michael DeSalva, commanding officer of EpSeven. Lt. Commander Jasid has told me a great deal about you when you and he served together on the frontier."
Sortha recalled the USS Hood's brief assignment to the Federation frontier a year earlier, where he met and worked with Jasid at Starbase 210. Ironically, a year later, they had both ended up in Shadow Operations as command officers, quite a change of pace from their previous assignments with Starfleet.
"I undersstand Argonne iss away on a misssion?" Sortha asked.
"That's what I'm told. I know very little about what Jasid and his crew do here on the station. We just try to cooperate in any way we can. Hell, I wanted him and his team out of my hair so badly, I gave them run of deck 80 here on the station, which was unused until they cleaned it up and turned it into a command center for their Shadow Ops business," DeSalva said. "Now I hardly see them. Anyway, you're cleared for docking in the main bay. My chief of security, Lt. Diana Travis, and my first officer, Lt. Commander Vanash, are available with any information you require about current activity in the Arcanus sector, fleet deployment information and Klingon movement in the area."
"Thank you," Sortha said. "Sstealth out."
Once the comm-line was severed, Sortha turned to Nash. "Enssign. Bring uss into the main hangar bay and prepare the sship for docking. Ayer, Ssummers and Ki'lal are with me. We'll go meet with DeSsalva's sstaff to find out the latesst about the Arcanus ssector. The resst of the crew hass limited accesss privledgess to the station. I don't want everybody over at EpSseven. We may need to depart here in a hurry."
A few moments later the Stealth entered the enormous hangar bay and docked with Starbase Epsilon Seven.
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 23:48:29 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/At EpSeven

Ensign Thoraz Brynaziir Stardate 9702.13 Turbolift
As the Stealth approached the Starbase, the turbolift hum was faintly heard under Sortha's communication with the Station Commander.
Thoraz appeared, stepped out of the lift and silently went over to the station at the back of the bridge where he sat while on the bridge. Those near him saw a look of silent concentration on his face, but waited for the commander to leave before asking questions.
=============================================================
Lt. Jake Winefield USS Stealth Stardate 970214
It never mattered if it was a male or a female doctor Jake hated physicals. Even after having had so many to get into Starfleet and during his Academy training there was still something about having someone else say how healthy you are that bothered Jake.
"Lt Winefield have you heard anything I've been saying?"
Jake snaped up realizing that he had been day dreaming.
"Uh... Yes ma'am ... I mean no ma'am I was really just day dreaming."
"Well Lieutenant, what I was saying is I'm done and your in good health except for..."
Jake spoke up quickly "I knew it. Ive got Andorian blood plague or Vulcan phase fever."
"Enough Lieutenant, you just need to eat right. I have checked your dietary records and you need to eat more then just one meal a day or so. I have had the computer write up day menu for you and I expect you to follow it," Dr. Cassandra Ming said.
Jake half smiled "So this means I'm not going to die?"
Dr. Ming smiled as she moved back to her office, "only if I find out your not following my orders"
Jake slipped off the med bed and half skipped out of sickbay happy to have yet another physical done.
=============================================================
Commander Sortha Stealth, before going aboard EpSeven Stardate 9702.14
Sortha had gathered all the senior officers in the small conference room just off the bridge. Rumour had spread that the new C.O. was about to annouce who would be serving as first and second officers on the ship.
An air of anticipation hung in the air, and built as Sortha walked into the room. Not one to mince words, Sortha immediately made the announcement as soon as he sat down.
"Effective immediately, thiss sshiip's first officer is Lieutenant Winefield, Second Officer is Lieutenant Ssummers." Sorrtha continued on with a briefing , preventing any buzz of gossipping among the crew.
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Lt. Ayer Starbase Epsilon Seven Stardate 9702.14
Once the briefing had ended, Ayer, Tyrian, and Ki'lal immediately followed Sortha into the turbolift. Within a few seconds, the door slid opened to reveal the grey interiors of the starbase. Without a pause, Sortha started walking towards the end of the hallway. The others immediately followed though they had to walk faster than usual in order to keep up with their CO's rapid stride.
As they kept walking, Ayer took the time to look at his surroundings. Occasionally, black scorch marks would show on the walls and on the doors. Apparently the starbase suffers quite a lot from Klingon attacks. However, the structure was not the only thing that drew his attention. There were civilians walking past the hallways, some were known to him but others came from worlds that were unknown to him. He found them quite intriuging and decided to look up their origins later.
They took the starbase's turbolift to Deck 1 where they met with Commander DeSalva and two other personell. "Commander, welcome to Epsilon Seven," DeSalva said. "May I introduce my first officer, Lt. Vanash and my chief of security, Lt. Diana Travis."
Sortha nodded his head to each of them then introduced his own officers. DeSalva similarly inclined his head to each of the officers then said, "If you'll follow me." He turned and walked towards the back of the bridge. The door slid open and all of them walked into the conference table. After the officers had taken their seats, DeSalva said to Lt. Diana, "Proceed."
The chief of security stood up and walked towards the front of the room where she tapped a few commands into the panel. Immediately the screen beside her switched on to reveal a map of the Arcanus sector. "As you can see, the Arcanus sector is quite large, with 32 star systems and over 250 planets. Luckily, we have done extensive research on this area and we have narrowed the possibilities of where Kahgal may be found."
After she ended her sentence, the screen automatically circled three areas in the sector. "These circles shows the Orekta asteroid field, the Hafti Nebula, and the Turan system. It is in these areas which we believe Kahgal is hiding in. The Hafti Nebula is a good hiding place. Sensor scans are limited to a range of 30 km but with your ship's new sensors, I believe you may get a better reading. There are two Klingon colonies in this region, both of which are capable of supplying Kahgal with whatever he needs, weapons, ships, even mercenaries.
"The Turan system is also a good spot. There are over twenty planets here, most of them are capable of supporting life but are not occupied as yet. However, there is a major Klingon colony in this system. Just a few days ago, a Tellarian freighter was detected delivering cargo to the colony. Our sensors couldn't pick what kind of cargo it was but they did detect traces of Peregon."
The first officer turned towards the Shadow Ops team and said, "Peregon is usually a very safe substance but when it is mixed with oxygen, it releases corrosive gas so strong even a duranium hull, the strongest metal which we know of, will not be able to stand up to it."
Lt. Travis continued, "Kahgal may be trying to build a biogenic weapon to stop the diplomatic talks that is due in five days. We're not sure if he's received these shipments yet but he could be hiding in the two nebulas in the system. However, the third area is our main cause of concern. The Orekta asteroid field is the closest to Koltak Kor, the stronghold in which the diplomatic talks are to be held. This area is the best hiding place possible. All of the asteroids are composed of lithium, niongen, and tetryon, all of which are capable of blocking out sensor readings. For all we know, Kahgal may already have a base set up in one of these rocks. Koltak Kor is only a few light years away from the field, a ship travelling from the field at warp 9 could get there in less than 10 minutes."
Ayer shook his head, "In order to completely scan each area will take us two weeks. Even with the Stealth's sensors, there is no way we can search all three areas within a period of five days."
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 1997 00:15:12 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/EpSeven continued

FROM THE GM: This post should take place after Sortha announces that Winefield and Summers are his first and second officers...
=============================================================
Commander Sortha Briefing continued Stardate 9702.15
Sortha continued on with the briefing.
"Lieutenant Ayer, pleasse conduct an analysis to determine the most likely place where we can find General Kahgal. Lieutenant Ki'lal I would like you to conduct battle drills and holodeck ssimulations in which we defend Sstealth against a Klingon boarding attempt. We know that Kahgal likess to board enemy sships. Dr. Ming, pleasse investigate if there is any antogyn that we can replace the nethizine gas with that will have the effect of affecting Klingon physiology but not Stealth crewmembers, Lieutenant Ki'lal excluded of course. Otherwise, crewmwmbwerss will keep gass massks with them during alert status. The Vor'CHA class will outnumber us 7 to 1, and they are trained Klingon warriors. If we are boarded without them receiving very ssignificant cassualties, we will be overwhelmed. We may have to rely on gass or sshipss defensive systems. I want other alternativess, sso pleasse feel free to ssuggest any. Lieutenant Ssholek, pleasse make sure the engines are at peak efficiency and develop any way to improve shield power that you can. Feel free to make contingency plans that include violating Sstarfleet ssafeguard protocols to do thiss. Runn holodeck ssimulations to tesst. Also develop a ssytem that will route emergency power to esstablissh a separate sshield system. It won't be enough to keep out weapons but it will dissrupt transsporterss. We may need it.
"Counsssellor, the first thing I want from you with any contact with Klingonsss, iss a sscan to determine if they have normal Klingon emotionss. I want to know if we are dealing with any Changelingss immediately. Lieutenant Summers, I would like you to find me two things. A cargo ship that we may either appropriate or buy in the name of Sstarfleet, and the nearest supply of chemical explosive compoundsss. I want a mixture that is stable with separate components, but explosive when mixed. If there are no questions...... You have your assignments, ...execute. "

(FROM THE GM: Everyone, please write your upcoming posts to resolve the various jobs given to you by Sortha...)
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 1997 23:23:43 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/At EpSeven

Lt. Tyrian M. Summers Onboard Station Epsilon Seven Stardate 9702.16
Tyrian had his orders so he departed with no delay, he had plenty of work to do. He had heard he could make contacts in the nightclub to find the required materials. As he walked through the station he noticed how bleak it seemed for a Starfleet facility, dimly lit with many scorch marks on the walls. Of course it was pretty far out here in space, and right on the border, without the benefits of Earth nearby like spacedock.
Tyrian walked into the crowded bar, noticing how much darker it was in here. There was many different species around in here, many of whom Tyrian had never seen before. As he walked through, he acquired his target, three Ferengi arguing about something over in the corner. Tyrian walked up to the table they were seated at and said, "I need to speak with you." not talking to any of them in particular.
They all looked up and without hesitating, all bolted in different directions. Tyrian grabbed the nearest one as he tried to get by him and thrust him down into a chair, and then sat down in the chair next to him. Tyrian, lying, said, "I have been told that you can supply me with the materials I need, I want a three part explosive mixture, stable in their basic componants, but extremely explosive when mixed."
The ferengi looked at him and smiled deviously as he said, "I don't know where you heard this, but I am just an honest........."
Tyrian interrupted and shouted at him, "Don't play with me, I can make sure you don't leave this station's brig for years if thats want you want!" The Ferengi looked a little shaken and said, "Let me see what I can do, I'll be in touch in the next hour." The Ferengi quickly left the bar. Tyrian went up and sat at the crowded bar, pushing his way in between a couple of Nausicans and ordered a drink.
The Nausicans looked a little upset at Tyrian's aggresive nature of getting to the bar and started staring at him from both sides. Tyrian didn't feel like starting a barfight right now so he pulled out his phaser from inside his uniform jacket and set it on the bar and kept it under his right hand as he held his glass with his left. After another minute or two the Nausicans could tell if they tried something one of them would probably die, so they left and went to another part of the bar.
After a couple more synthahols, another Ferengi came up to Tyrian and said, "Follow me, human." Tyrian put his phaser back inside its holster inside his jacket and followed the ferengi through the station. They took the turbolift down to deck 75 and then the Ferengi got out and beckoned Tyrian to follow. Tyrian followed the Ferengi up a couple of shafts, climbing by ladder. He knew the reason they couldn't take the turbolift up here was probably because it was a restricted area, but he didn't care, he had business to take care of.
The Ferengi walked into a cargo bay up ahead, the whole deck was extremely dark, jammed with containers. Tyrian saw the ferengi whom he had spoken with earlier. Before he could say anything, the ferengi smiled widely and said loudly, "Welcome, I think I have exactly what you require, and for a reasonable price....." Tyrian replied, "If you have what I need then you will be paid fairly for it, but that has yet to be seen." The Ferengi walked to a nearby metal box and opened the top, revealing the contents inside. Tyrian looked inside and turned to the Ferengi, grabbing him by the throat and lifted him off the ground, he said to the Ferengi as the little creature squealed like a woman, "I said a stable compound, not this unstable biohazarard, what are you trying to pull on me?" With that Tyrian threw the Ferengi onto the ground.
He looked around, his friend had apparently run off when Tyrian got violent, and said, gasping, "You are obviously smart, human, please forgive me, I think what you need is over there." He pointed towards the far wall, Tyrian drew his phaser and kept it trained on the Ferengi's head as he walked over to the crates over there. Tyrian opened up the nearest crate and examined the interior......he paused for a moment and then said to the Ferengi, "This is more like it, ferengi, there will be no bargaining, you will accept my price or you will spend the rest of your meaningless life in prison."
The Ferengi was not happy with this deal, but could do nothing about it. Tyrian arranged payment and then had the Stealth beam it aboard a secured cargo bay, and ordered it under guard.........he figured the less people who knew about it was better. He had acquired enough explosive compounds to demolish a small moon.
For his next assignment, he went back aboard the Stealth to his quarters and sat down in front of his personal computer terminal. He accessed the station's computer and started looking over the log's showing which ships were currently docked. After he found what he wanted, he sent a message to a few of on duty security officers to meet him in the transporter room. The four men materialized in front of the closed airlock that connected the station to the medium sized cargo transport ship.
He used his tricorder to open a channel to the ship. Tyrian spoke into the tricorder, "This is security officer Lt. Summers, I am coming aboard." B efore anybody on board could respond he opened the airlock, he told the three ensigns who had accompanied him to follow him in. They were quickly met by six Klingons, five young ones and one old rough looking one, by the way they were dressed they appeared to be smugglers or pirates.
The old one growled at Tyrian, "What is the meaning of this? Our ship is empty, we have already dropped off our cargo yesterday and are ready to leave. I will not allow you to search my ship for no reason, we will die first."
Tyrian smiled with a confident grin and said, "Actually captain I have been given the authority to appropriate your ship in the name of Starfleet, and since you are operating in Federation space, there is nothing you can do but comply." Tyrian knew what was coming, he ducked as the old Klingon threw the punch, and caught him with a knee, doubling the old Klingon over and then elbowed him in the back of the head knocking him to the ground.
The other Klingons attacked, drawing their large combat knives. Tyrian and the other three officers drew their weapons quick, but the Klingons were already on top of the security team. Tyrian shot one of the klingons with his phaser on stun, dropping him to the ground. The other one tackled Tyrian, sending them both to the ground. The klingon was on top of him with his blade held over his head ready to stab Tyrian, but he managed to roll the klingon off him quickly and wrestle the knife away from him and threw it aside. Tyrian repeatedly struck the klingon in the nose with heavy elbows causing the back of his head to keep bouncing off the floor until he was uncouncious. Tyrian got off him and felt that someone was behind him.........he turned quickly and deflected the knife blow from the old captain who had gotten back up. Tyrian threw him aside into a wall and drew his own commando knife from his back under his uniform jacket where he always kept it sheathed.
Tyrian and the old Klingon squared off, each with knife drawn, they exchanged swipes at each other, until Tyrian knocked a blow aside and caught the old klingon across the face with the blade of his knife. The blood spurted into his eyes, blinding him, he kept swinging wildly at Tyrian nonetheless. But Tyrian easily incapacitated the Klingon with an expert kick to the front of his knee, breaking the joint, and then a elbow blow to the back of his head that finished him off for a while. Tyrian looked up and saw the other three officers had defeated the remaining klingon as they all lay on the floor of the cargo ship. One of the security officers had a nasty looking cut across his arm. Tyrian told him to get back to the Stealth to have the doctor fix him up. He told the other two to replicate shackles and leg irons and secure the klingons in one of the cargo bays aboard the cargo ship and then to conduct a search of the ship. While they did that, Tyrian tapped his comm badge to report in to the Commander.
"Lt. Summers to Commander Sortha. I have appropriated a Klingon cargo ship, the crew did not seem willing to go along with it, and attacked my security team. The Klingons were defeated with only a minor injury to my team and are now secured in one of the cargo bays aboard this ship, I wanted to keep this quiet to the rest of the station. What are your orders?"
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Wed, 19 Feb 1997 01:20:14 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/Preparing for Battle

Lt Winefield USS Stealth 970218
Jake was in shock. The idea that he would be named first officer had never crossed his mind, Ayer or Ty for sure, Ki'lal maybe, but Jake Winefield never. Still if that was the Commanders choice then maybe the Commander saw something that Jake did not yet see in himself.
Well the first order of buisness was to ensure that the orders that the Commander had give where being worked on. Catching up with Ty Jake recieved a full report on the success of locating and obtaining the explosive and a ship to carry it on.
To himself Jake thought "Ty is a little unorthodox in his approach, but man can he deliver what he is asked to."
"Well, Ty you did great I figured it would take you a lot longer but as you knew time is the enemy.. Right now why dont you head a team to ensure that the new ship is safe and if necessary make repairs as needed. I'll talk to the Commander and see what our next move is."
Jake left Ty and moved on to locate Ayer an Ki'lal to see how their tasks where progressing on his way way Jake stopped at Dr. Ming office.
"Doctor, I was wondering how things where going and if there was anything I could do to help you?"
Dr. Ming smiled and said, "No lieutenant, my staff and I are still working, but so far we have not come to any conclusive results on a chemical which can debilitate a Klingon warrior, yet not in some way effect other races.We will keep working on it though thanks and congratulations on your assignment as first officer."
Jake smiled as he left the doctor's office "First Officer Lt. Jake Winefield -- it had a nice ring to it." Picking up his pace Jake went to find Ayer and Ki'lal.
=============================================================
Lt. Ayer Epsilon Seven Stardate 9702.18
After the meeting had been dismissed, Ayer and Lt.Travis walked onto the bridge. The chief of security had been asked by Commander DeSalva to see if she can help Ayer to cut down on the time needed to find Kahgal.
Lt. Travis walked towards her station and called up the station's database. "As noted earlier, it would take too long to go to all three areas. However, ever since the Klingons broke the treaty with the Federation, this place has been swarming with people. There are quite a lot of people here who can provide information on Kahgal but most of it are probably rumors. But there is one person whom I can refer you to." Diana called up a picture of a Cardassian. "This is Terek, a former agent of the Obsidian Order until he was exiled from Cardassia. We've been doing business for more than a year now and he's proven to be quite a valuable asset to the Federation. I'm certain he knows of Kahgal's whereabouts. Let me check the logs to see if he's onboard.....there he is, Deck 6, Section 7 Alpha."
Ayer looked at Lt. Travis, "Thank you, you have been most helpful."
When the turbolift doors opened on Deck 6, Ayer was surprised to see this area clean of any scorch marks. The walls glistened in the light and the floor was spotlessly clean. Apparently all the store owners had hired their own repair crews to fix the problems on this deck rather than wait for Starfleet officers to do the job. He supposed that if they wanted to attract customers, they have to make it as appealing as possible.
Deck 6 had all kinds of store and people were rushing everywhere to get their needs met so it wasn't until fifteen minutes later that he found Terek. It wasn't hard to spot the Cardassian. He had no hair, he still wore a black uniform which bore the emblem of the Obsidian Order, and he had four arms -- apparently some kind of genetic defect or mutation. As Ayer started walking towards him, Terek looked up and noticed the intruder but didn't say a word as Ayer came up to him. "May I have a seat?"
Terek gestured to the empty seat next to him and Ayer sat down. Without wasting time, Ayer introduced himself along with how he knew of Terek. When he mentioned Diana Travis's name, the Cardassian nodded and spoke, "If you're from Travis, then you can be trusted. Well, human, what do you want?"
"I only have two question. The first of which is out of plain curiosity. What are you doing in a Bajoran restaurant?"
The Cardassian smiled and said, "Since the Occupation, I've acquired a taste for Bajoran food, especially for their Gurian Tiger pie. I find it quite intoxicating. I believe that answers your first question, what is your second?"
Ayer was surprised to hear such a blunt response from the Cardassian but believed he was hiding more than he was saying. "The second question deals with a Klingon. His name is Kahgal and we have reasons to believe he is planning to disrupt a diplomatic conference and I believe you know where he can be found."
Despite the fact that the Cardassian was exiled, he was still a Cardassian. "Are you sure of this? I never knew Klingons would have it in them, of course there are times when you must forego peace and go to war but I thought Klingons were more interested in honour and courage. Perhaps time has dull my senses, I would be willing to help you but it was so long ago. Maybe if you tell me more of what you know about this klingon and what he has done, I may be able to remember."
Ayer smiled, "I'm sure the Federation would be more than happy to provide you with information but that is one thing which we need from you, not the other way around. But perhaps I can make an offer to you. I'm aware of how much attention those arms of yours can draw and in a profession of which we're in, it's not an asset, it's a death wish. There is a way to remove the extra appendages, it's call biogenic technology. Federation scientists has discovered how to bond techonology with the body and if you're willing, they can help you out. What do you say? Information in exchange for life?"
Terek's face remained emotionless but his eyes betrayed his feelings of hope. Speaking in a low tone, he said, "Do not play games with me, human. Many have done so and none lived till this day. Be sure you are able to deliver what you promised."
"Trust me, you will be normal again. But first, you have to give me your information before I can relay you to the Federation Medical Research Facility."
The Cardassian nodded, "Very well." The deal was made and Terek started to tell Ayer everything he knew about Kahgal. When he was finished, Ayer said, "Thank you for the information. It will greatly help Starfleet and the Federation. Now as for my end of the bargain, contact the Pluto Medical facility and ask for Dr. Gail. She will tell you all you need to know and when you've made up your mind to go with it, she will send you to a secret location where the operation will be performed. The location may not be revealed unless the comm channel is secured or else there is a risk of the technology being detected by unwanted people." Ayer bid goodbye to the Cardassian and headed back towards the Stealth.
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Commander Sortha Bridge Stardate 9702.19
Sortha to Lieutenant Summers:
"Place the Klingons in the brig for public intoxication and brawling. Make the charges stick for at least two weeks. Beam the explosives you appropriated into separate holds of the Klingon ship. Take five crewmwmbers to operate the Klingon ship and report when the Klingon ship is ready to depart. Rig the ship for computer operation as much as possible."
Sortha to Starbase Epsilon Seven:
"Please place any possible freighters or starfleet cargo vessels that you can spare under the command of U.S.S. Stealth. Condition of the freighters is not a factor."
Sortha to remaining officers:
"Maintain Stealth readiness and prepare the ship for combat. Continue drills to repel Klingon boarders. Be ready to depart Epsilon 7 at any moment. Lieutenant Ayer, please finish your estimate of where General Kahgal is hiding.
=============================================================
USS Stealth Bridge Stardate 9702.19
Commander Sortha sat in his command chair finishing a series of orders to his senior officers, when suddenly he heard a chime sounding from Tyrian's tactical station. It was a transmission.
"Sir, incoming message from Outpost 1021," Summers reported.
"On sscreen," Sortha hissed.
The screen reverted from an image of the inside of Epsilon Seven's docking bay to that of a frightened looking man in a Starfleet uniform. Smoke whirled around him and his face was blacked with soot.
He began to speak, his message broken by static. "This is Out--st 1021, we are ---- attack by Klingons. Plea---, we need assistance!"
Before the man could say anything else, the blurring image of a humanoid appeared behind him, weilding a bat'leth. As the figure came into view, it was a Klingon who swung his blade hard and drove the weapon into the Starfleet officer's back. The man screamed and fell forward into the communication screen on his end, and then the transmission ended is a burst of static, followed by the Starfleet emblem.
Sortha looked around and the crew looked visibly disturbed. "Lt. Ayer, what kind of an outpost is this and where is it located?"
Ayer checked his computer and turned to the Gorn officer. "Outpost 1021 is a small Federation supply depot and listening post located in the Obedai system. Odd, that's in Federation space, and its nearly a six hour trip from anywhere near where the diplomatic envoy will be traveling -- in fact, its almost 12 hours from Koltak Kor. Why is Kahgal so deep in Federation space?"
"What else is nearby Obedai?" Sortha asked.
"A Federation colony on Varan III and a Starfleet Detention Center in the Sastus system," Ayer confirmed. "That's about all there is."
Lt. Diana Travis, who had been aboard the Stealth working with Ayer, suddenly looked concerned. "The Sastus Penal Facility. There are approximately 75 Klingon POWs being detained there after the Arcanus battle. Outpost 1021 serves as the eyes and ears for the detention center, which is built deep inside an asteroid in the system. Without that Outpost, they are blind to what's going on around them."
Sortha looked ahead at the viewscreen and frowned. If Kahgal was anything, he was certainly unpredictable.
(FROM THE GM: I'd like to hear from Ki'lal, Sholek and Brynaziir soon...)
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Sat, 22 Feb 1997 20:43:44 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/Hunt for the DoHQay

Lt. Jake Winefield USS Stealth Stardate 9702.22
Jake was nervous. The mission was sure to be a hard one and though he did not fear for his own life he knew the importance of the misson to Starfleet. Sitting in the meeting room Jake listeined to the commander's plan one he had finished Jake brought up a point.
"I see only one problem. Once the Stealth is hurt and retreats back we are assuming that the DoHQay will go for the damaged freighters. If they choose instead to finish off the Stealth there is no way this ship could stand up to them. I recommend that should the DoHQay not go for the freighters both Lt Summers and myself use our ships to ram the DoHQay mixing the explosive just seconds before impact. Of course this will not do the same damage that could be gotten if the freighters where close and the DoHQay had their shields down but it still would be a significant amount of damage"
[after meeting]
Jake returned to his ship. Once aboard he and the ensign engaged the engines and followed the Stealth at warp 3. The young ensign asked how the meeting went. Jake realized that Ensign Downer, whom he had become good friends with over the last week, was as nervous as he was. Jake hoped to releave not only Jim Downers fears but also some of his own.
"The Commander gave us his orders and I believe that his plan is very sound. I think that we have great chance of seeing just enough combat to make our records look good but not enough to get "really " hurt."
Both of the young men laughed. Downer spoke up sounding a little less nervous
"Yeah, I don't want my mom hearing I got hurt on my first mission she's the type to walk right in on the Admirals and give them a peace of her mind about he son getting hurt out their in space"
Jake thought of his own mother and how he had not taken the time to see her before leaving Earth. "I understand completely Jim not lets keep our eyes and ears ready the DoHQay could attack at any minute."
=============================================================
Lt. Ayer Klingon Freighter Stardate 9702.22
Ensign Resh reported, "I've restored the ship's engine back to normal performance. This old freighter should be able to last until the mission's over."
"Good," Ayer said. "What's the status of the weapons?"
Ki'lal, who had been fine tuning with the weapons, turned around and said, "I have successfully divert life support power systems to the weapons. This will give us a few extra shots that we need if we are to fight the Vor'CHA battlecruiser."
Since the Stealth was already a short distance away from the Klingon freighter, Ayer decided it was time to go. "Mr. Garen, set a course so that we are heading in the same direction as the Stealth but make it appear as if we're not following them."
"Aye, sir." Garen tapped in a command and the freighter lurched momentarily as it headed to warp. The ship was barely holding and they had to get a new power console for the warp engines before it could go at maximum speed. Ayer didn't mind the condition of the ship; instead, him, along with the other humans were distracted by the stench. Whatever the Klingons were carrying onboard the freighter definitely left its mark very clearly. Ki'lal, however, did not mind the smell. Obviously an attribute gained by the Klingons from the food they eat.
Since they couldn't afford to let down their guard even for an instant, the ship was under a constant red alert condition. Everyone was at their station and were preparing the ship for battle readiness. Ayer turned towards Ki'lal and said, "Well lieutenant, is today a good day to die?"
Ki'lal looked back and smiled, "It is always a good day to die. But not for us. Today, we will shed the blood of many traitors to Kahless where he will cast them down deep into the sea of blood where they will drown."
Ayer could never understand Klingons. He had spent several years with them before joining Starfleet but he could never fully understand them. There was something about them which he assumed can only be understood if you are a Klingon yourself. "Well, let's hope for the best. Ensign Yerla, I want you to monitor the Stealth at all times. If you pick up anything at all, report it."
The young female Uridian nodded and began her sensor scans. Ayer was still unsure of the plan. It was so complex and dangerous but it was the only possible way. And if there were casualties, Ayer just hoped it wasn't on their side. Looking back at Ki'lal again, Ayer said, "Do you think it will work?"
Ki'lal grinned broadly, "It is a brilliant plan! Even a person as skilled as Kahgal would not be able to see through this plan. It will work. I can feel the force of Kahless shine on us all." The deep flashes of red, which occasionally show red alert condition, blinked on the Klingon's face. It had the distinct impression of turning him into a blood-thirsty monster especially with the grin.
Ayer knew he had to get a grip on reality so he turned towards his own panel and looked over the plans. Despite Ki'lal's reassurance, Ayer still felt uncomfortable. 'What if it doesn't work?' He thought. 'Then both of us will have to board the Klingon ship. Of course I can get onboard safely but what if that doesn't work? What then?' Shaking his head from those thoughts, he turned away from his panel and looked at the main viewscreen. All he can do now is wait.
=============================================================
All Ships En Route to the Penal Colony Stardate 9702.22
The trip had so far been uneventful. Sortha and his appointed commanders were all on the bridges of their various ships, waiting for Kahgal to make his move.
Two hours from the penal colony, something finally happened.
With most of the command crew gone, Sortha had brought some of the junior officers -- Starfleet regulars -- from other posts to fill in on the bridge. A young human female officer, Ensign Jayne Nekel, was at Ops and a Bolian male known as Ensign Harka was manning tactical. Ensign Nash was still at helm.
Harka's tactical board suddenly emitted a shrill warning which everyone on the bridge recognized as sensor contact with another vessel -- close sensor contact. Sortha spun in his chaier to face Harka and receive his report.
"Sir, a Klingon of Prey has decloaked off our starboard side," Harka reported. "He is bearing two-one-two, mark three seven on an intercept course."
Sortha frowned, "Red Alert! Shields up." What was a Bird of Prey doing here? And why was he moving into an attack formation?"
Another warning indicator sounded. "Sir, second vessel decloaking near Lt. Winefield's freighter! Transponder signal confirmed. It's the DoHQay!"
The Gorn officer glanced at the viewsceen and saw the Bird of Prey bearing down on the Stealth. The smaller ships twin disruptors began to blaze and the energy bursts slammed into the Stealth.
"Shields holding, commander," Harka grinned.
"Lock weapons," Sortha ordered. "Prepare to fire."
"Sir!" the young ensign at ops, Nekel, shouted. "That second ship. the one with the transponder signal of the DoHQay, its not a Vor'CHA class ship. Its another Bird of Prey!"
"What!?" Sortha roared. What the Hell was going on? Sortha's mind raced, but he realized he still had to contend with two Bird's of Prey at the moment. Still, he wondered what Kahgal was up to. Where did these two new ships come from? Why was one of the two ships using an altered transponder code to impersonate Kahgal's ship? And where was the DoHQay?
Questions aside, Sortha was ready to deal with the problem at hand.
"Fire!" said. And the battle began....

END TRANSMISSION
Date: Sat, 22 Feb 1997 00:23:50 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/Sortha's Plan
FROM THE GM: Everyone read this post carefully, for it contains Sortha's plan for capturing Kahgal and orders for most of the crew...
=============================================================
Commander Sortha Bridge of the Stealth Stardate 9702.22
Commander Sortha sat in the command chair aboard the U.S.S. Stealth and calmly gazed out at the retreating sight of Starbase Epsilon 7. Dispassionately he thought that it could be the last time he would see anyone besides the crew members onboard the Stealth. The idea of going up against a Vor'CHA class battlecruiser did not sit well with him.
A Vor'CHA had the firepower of Starfleet's most powerful ships, the Galaxy class cruisers, and were commanded by Klingon warriors, not cautious Starfleet captains.
On the aft view sensors Sortha viewed the odd assortment of ships that he had become commodore of. There were two Starfleet transport vessels, Balor-class, these small transports consisted of a cylindrical hull terminating in a spherical crew quarter section. Used for carrying armaments, the craft were old but still spaceworthy. The third ship was an old Klingon independent trader that Lieutenant Summers had appropriated.
The Klingon ship was an odd collection comprised of a freighter hull, that had apparently had pieces of decommissioned ships welded on in various locations. Two bird-of-prey nose sections protruded out of the front of the boxy freighter, while the freighter's impulse engines had been augmented by what had once been the auxiliary drives of a K'tanga class battlecruiser about 80 years old. The inside of the ship had, unfortunately, looked worse, and smelled Much worse, than the outside.
Of the two Federation cargo vessels, Lieutenant Summers commanded one, while the other was commanded by Senior Lieutenant Winefield. The Klingon ship was commanded by Lieutenant Ayer, with Lieutenant Ki'lal. Each Lieutenant had two ensigns to help crew the ships, that were largely rigged for automatic operation. The explosives that Lieutenant Summers had procured from the Ferengi trader were now securely deposited in the holds of the two Federation ships.
"Sship-to-sship," Sortha proclaimed, as the tactical officer hit the communications pad and established a link between the vessels. Sortha could see the bridges of all three ships; the small groups had set up sleeping bags on their respective bridges so as to be ready for action at a moments notice. Sortha looked at each of the Lieutenants, "Pleasse join me on the Sstealth now," Sortha intoned gravely, "we have much to disscussss."
Onboard the Stealth.....0900 hours
Sortha slowly paced the conference room, gathering his thoughts. Outside the starfield streaked by silently, majestically. The command crew of the Stealth sat expectantly around the table. If they had known Gorn physiology, they would have detected the telltale signs of nervousness in the Gorn. Fortunately for all, they only detected an air of contemplation. It was the Gorn's first independent command with his own ship, excluding the Battle of Wolf 359. The task of capturing or killing a Klingon commander in a cloaked Vor'CHA battlecruiser was not one to be taken lightly, and Sortha could not fail. The Stealth was no match for an uncloaked Vor'CHA, much less one that could make a surprise attack. Sortha reviewed his plan mentally once more and could find no fault, it was risky, but considering the circumstances, necessary.
Sortha turned to the expectant crew and adjusted his uniform slightly.
"I will brief you on my plan for dealing with this renegade," Sortha began. "We could usse all the Sstarfleet ressourcess in thiss area for yearss hunting for a cloaked Klingon sship commanded by a captain ssuch as Kahlag. We will therefore disspensse with ssuch foolisshness and bring him to uss."
Sortha looked around the room for reaction and detected none except Sholek who had slightly raised one eyebrow.
"I have requested that Commander DeSsalva of Epsilon 7 send the following message to the penal colony," Sortha keyed a button and a communication sprang to life on the screen. It showed split screen, on one side a worried looking Commander DeSalva sitting at his desk, on the other an expectant Starfleet Lieutenant Commander.
The Captain began speaking to the other man, "Commander I believe that you may be the next target of General Kahlag. I am dispatching a relief force to assist you. It is comprised of the U.S.S. Stealth and two cargo vessels carrying photon torpedo launchers and a supply of 200 quantum torpedoes. Once you get those installed, you should feel much better."
The other Starfleet Officer smiled and said "that will certainly make me sleep better Commander."
"Very well, good luck to you. Stealth is on the way now. Out," DeSalva said finishing his message.
Sortha flicked the screen off.
"That transsmisssion was ssent to the penal colony sshortly before we left the sstation. It wass ssent ussing encryption code deltatwentyseven, priority two transmission. Knowing Kahlag's background in intelligence he sshould with ssome work be able to decipher that code. It is a priority two messssage, which sshould get his attention, ssince that is a very high priority Sstarfleet priority level. As you know, code one is for an attack distresss call or planetary emergency. Sso he will know we are coming. And he will find uss."
Sortha looked around the room for reactions: The humans and Lieutenant Brynaziir looked nervous now, while Sholek looked thoughtful, and Ki'lal was grinning a menacing toothy Klingon smile.
"Thiss iss my plan, you sshould know in case I am incapacitated. We will proceed toward the penal colony. One of our shuttlecraft will be in tow at all times, close by Sstealth. Our sshieldss will be set at maximum. At ssome point, I expect that we will be ssurprissed by the DoHQay. We will take the initial attack from the DoHQay which according to my calculationss will reduce our sshields to 60 percent almost insstantaneously. We will respond with a maximum photon torpedo sspread, which if all hit will knock their sshields down approximately 10 to 15%.
"The DoHQay will then most likely take a couple of sshots at the transports that will disable their sshields and enginess. They will mosst likely hit uss again, knocking our shieldss down close to twenty-five percent. At this point we will retreat. The sshuttlecraft will transsport the freighter crews off before they are captured, sso that we can maintain our sshields. The sshuttlecraft will stay behind the Sstealth for protection.
"Quantum torpedoes are hard to come by, sso it iss likely that we will be a target too hard to ressist. The Klingons have a saying: Happiness is a full torpedo bay. Alsso quantum torpedoess musst be manually loaded due to their inherant insstability during transsport. The DoHQay will have to bring the freighters close in to unload the cargo, at which point we will activate the mixing of the explosive chemicals by remote control. The chemicals by themselves are sstable, so if they are sscanned thay will not automatically trigger a warning with the Klingon's tactical officer. The ressultant explosion should take out the Vor'CHAs' sshields and damage other ssystems. At this point we will return and engage the DohQay. It will still be a hard fought battle, but at least we will sstand a chance. In addition, we will maintain a comlink with the freighters and will be able to manuever them by remote control if necessary.
"The Klingon freighter will be in the area. There are two possibilities, depending on circumstances. If our plan iss unsucessful, the freighter can make contact and Ki'lal can join or infiltrate the crew. Lieutenant Ayer has means of infiltrating the ship as well. Once aboard, your primary misssion will be to lower the Vor'CHA's shields. If we are successful, join us in the fight, but be ready to transport to the shuttlecraft at moment's notice. Or you may need to kamikaze the DoHQay if the freighters don't hurt it enough. We can beam you off at the last second. Or, if necessary, Ki'lal can challenege Kahlag to a personal duel, if we are in a bad situation. According to Klingon law, the General was responsible for transgression againsst Ki'lal's family, and by right, Ki'lal may challenge Kahlag, who must accept or violate Klingon cusssstom. If necesssary, I will also make a challenge. It will be hard for a Klingon to not accept a personal challenge from a weak Sstarfleet Captain-," at this point the Gorn smiled. "I don't think he will expect me. By last record, Admiral Jaeger still commands the Sstealth. This produced an even larger grin from the Gorn, as he paused once more, Are there any questions or suggestions? I expect to hear from all of my command crew on improvements to my original plan, esspecially for thosse parts you must carry out.
FROM THE GM: Send any suggestions::
ORDERS FROM SORTHA
Lt. Winefield asssume command of your freighter.
Lt. Ssummers asssume command of your freighter.
Lt. Ayers, assume command of your freighter, and take Lt. Ki'lal with you for support. Sstay at a distance within communications range. Make ssure it looks like you aren't following us.
Helm: Take us to Warp 3 as ssoon ass they are aboard.
Chief Engineer: I want us running at ssafe levels now, but be ready to go to improved levels at any moment. Good job lieutenant. I saw your sschematics, very logical. Very good. Now to your posstss. Execute!
Counselor: Thoraz, I want a full report on the mood and morale of the crew...
Commander Sortha's Quarters, 1200 hours
Commander Sortha went over the suggestions his command crew had given him, despite their inexperience, they had made good suggestions. Sortha reflected on his thoughts for the upcoming battle. It was likely that some of them would not make it through the coming engagement. Despite his plans, Sortha knew that almost anything could happen, and that if it deviated from his plan significantly, there could be a bloodbath.
Sending a ship the size of the Stealth to tackle a Vor'CHA begged for a disaster, but what else could Starfleet do? If they sent a force that could really challenge a Vor'CHA, Kahlag would simply cloak and attack a weaker target. It was ironic in a way. Well, Sortha thought to himself, there wasn't much else to do. He keyed his computer off, and changed into his workout attire. A simple loincloth type garment, and he put on a white terrycloth robe for his walk to the Stealth holodeck. He carried his rakesh's with him in a gymbag. When he arrived at the holodeck, it was unoccupied.
Stepping in he ordered: Computer, Program: Worf Boarding Party 1." The simulation designed by Lieutenant Commander Worf of DS9 for Starfleet for training purposes sprang into frozen life. It was the bridge of a Klingon Cruiser. Sortha pulled the rakesh's out of his gym bag. The rakesh were two gloves that covered the Gorn's arms up to his elbows. Above the back of each of his hands, four wicked pronged blades protruded out with a flick of the wrist extending about a foot. Along the arm a 1 inch wide blade projected along the length of the arm which could be used for blocking or cutting, and it terminated in a four inch slightly curved spike at the elbow. A traditional Gorn weapon that mimicked the longer claws his ancestors had once had thousands of years ago, Sortha had been training with these since he was a little Goreen.
"Computer, level 3, ssssstart" he said solemnly. Sortha was soon enveloped in a swirling battle with very angry Klingons.
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Sun, 23 Feb 1997 22:55:13 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/A Good Day to Die

Lt. Ayer Enroute to Penal Colony - Battle Site Stardate 9702.22
"Sir, two klingon ships have just decloaked," Ensign Yerla said. "It is the DoHQay and another bird of prey. They are attacking the Stealth."
"Raise shields, power up all weapons," Ayer ordered.
"Sir! The DoHQay...It's not it." Garen paused as all eyes turned towards him. He swallowed and restated his comment, "The DoHQay is suppose to be a Vor'CHA class attack cruiser but according to the sensors, a bird of prey is carrying the transponder codes of the DoHQay."
"What!" Ki'lal raged.
"Confirmed," Ensign Ghomez said. "There are no Vor'CHA attack cruisers in this area. There are only two klingon birds of prey."
Ki'lal was enraged at the sudden turn of events. Turning towards Garen, he said, "Take us into battle immediately."
Ayer was dissatisfied with how things had gone out as well but he was still wondering about something. When he heard Ki'lal gave the order, he interrupted, "No wait! Kahlag may be hiding somewhere and if he is, we don't want to be discovered as an ally of the Stealth. Ensign Yerla, I want you to scan the surrounding area of space, check to see if there are any more ships and also note any tachyon build up. The DoHQay may be here somewhere, hiding until the two bird of prey has weaken the Stealth enough for it to finish the job. Mr. Garen, full stop." As soon as the order was out the ship lurched to a stop. "How far are we from the Stealth?"
Garen looked at his panel and reported, "At warp 5 we will reach the Stealth in 10 minutes." Ayer didn't like the sound of that and waited to see what Yerla had found.
A few seconds later, Yerla looked up and said, "Sensors did not detect any other ships in the area and the tachyon scans came out negative."
The DoHQay wasn't around here then so it was safe to join the fight. "Ensign Garen, take us to the battle site. Maximum warp."
The ship lurched with such force that the resulting effects were explosions from wall conduits. The ship stopped instantly. Ensign Resh, who had control of engineering, called over the comm, "Sir, the power console we've installed has just been damaged. I believe it wasn't fully compatible with the klingon engine. This freighter uses a different energy source than ours. When we installed our power console, it never was fully working and when we went to maximum warp, the power console overloaded and fused its main coupling."
This wasn't getting good, Ayer thought. "How long will it take to fix it?"
"I have to reroute power to the secondary and third coupling and I have to purge the power console from its energy and replace it with the one the Klingon uses. It shouldn't take more than thirty minutes."
"Get started," Ayer said. "Mr. Ghomez, send a message to the Stealth, inform them of our delay. Ensign Yerla, monitor the battle, I want to know the instant anything goes wrong. Ensign Garen, I want you to go to engineering and help with Resh, see if you can cut the repair times down. Ki'lal..."
The klingon interrupted, "I am already working on the weapons. I'll see if I can increase its efficiency and power output."
Ayer nodded and begin his own job. Switching to the navigation panel, he called up the map of the surrounding area and sectors. 'Now,' he thought, 'Where would Kahlag be?'
=============================================================
Commander Sortha Bridge of the Stealth Stardate 9702.23
As the bridge rocked with the disruptor blasts from the two Birds-of -Prey, Sortha's mind raced. Two Birds-of-Prey were not powerful enough to destroy the Stealth unless she had been caught with her shields down. A cold feeling flowed through Sortha's bones, if these two ships were working with the DoHQay, and that ship was close by somewhere.... Well perhaps today was a good day to die...
"All ships, bearing 00 mark 180! Freighters 3000kph, Stealth 1000 kph, execute!" The three Starfleet vessels dropped straight down, with the freighters leading the way, as the two birds-of-prey blasted the area of space where the ships had just been. "Ayer, Summers, keep the Stealth between you and those birds!"
Tactical Lock photons and phasers on Bird bearing 80 mark 80 fire! Concentrate your fire on that ship"
A spread of photon torpedoes streaked out for the agile little Klingon ship. Two missed but two hit slamming into the Klingon's shields which flared brightly. The ship recovered but it was hit by concentrated phaser fire from the Stealth. The Klingon's shields flared brighter.
"Tactical, report!"
"We hit them good sir, their shields are down fifty percent!" Sortha didn't have time to be happy, the other Bird-of-Prey was rapidly circling down beneath the Stealth heading for the weak freighters. Sortha hoped that Winefield, Ayer and Summers could hold out. Sortha was now faced with a dilemma, finish off the weakened Klingon, or protect the freighters. He didn't really have a choice. Helm 220 mark 200 flank speed!" The Stealth dove away from the original Klingon ship toward the other menacing the freighters.
"Load quantum torpedoes, aft bay overload configuration!" Sortha roared.
"But Sir.... " the ensign started to say. Their target was in front of them and overloaded torpedoes had very short range.
Sortha turned and hissed "execute now ensign! Helm intercept Bird two! Full power to forward shields, divert 75% power from aft shields." The bridge crew, mostly inexperienced, hesitated for a second, fear on their faces at these unusual orders, but Starfleet training prevailed and the Stealth was soon heading to cut off the second bird-of-prey that was getting within firing range of the freighters.
"Sir!" the tactical officer replied, the first bird is following us down!"
"Good!" replied Sortha. "Our weak rear is too tempting a target! Screen, show tactical." The starfield was instantly replaced by an image of the Stealth heading toward the lower left hand corner of the screen where the freighters were, while the second bird-of-prey was heading from the upper left corner toward the freighters. The first Bird-of-Prey was rapidly closing on the Stealth's weak rear.
"Come on, you want to get closer Klingon" Sortha breathed as the distance between the Stealth and the first Bird-of-Prey rapidly narrowed. Counselllor what do you sense?
Lieutenant Brynaziir who was sitting next to Sortha replied instantly, "He's gloating sir, he thinks he has you."
"Weapons, transfer weapons control to me!" Counting to himself silently, Sortha waited....waited..... "come on" the Klingon was almost within point blank range. "Now!" Sortha said as he fired the full spread of overloaded quantum torpedoes just as the Klingons own torpedo bay started glowing red. The four unstable photon torpedoes arched out from behind the Stealth and slammed into the Bird-of-Prey without the other ship even having taken evasive action. The first two torpedoes collapsed their forward shields, and the others arriving split seconds later tore through the unprotected hull of the Klingon. The Stealth rocked with the force of the explosion as the Bird-of-Prey was blown apart violently.
"Sir incoming!" the Ensign yelled. The Klingon had managed to get two torpedoes off before being destroyed and these now slammed into the Stealth. Rocking the ship violently.
"Damage Report!" Sortha ordered.
Lieutenant Brynaziir was reading data from his console, "Aft shields down sir. Scoring on our ablative armor, but nothing got through."
Good Sortha thought. Bless the Federation engineers who had developed ablative armor. The thrill did not last long however, as the Stealth had intercepted the other Bird-of-Prey by now. The Klingon, upset at the evasive maneuvers the freighters had somehow managed to pull off, unleashed the full force of its attack on the forward shields of the Stealth. Torpedoes and phaser fire enveloped the Stealth forward sections, makiing the screen flare brilliantly on the bridge. Even the compensators could not keep the light intensity down at the viscious barrage. Fortunately, the forward shields had been reinforced and were able to take the onslaught as the Stealth and the Klingon blew past each other within 200 meters of each other.
Both ships now peeled off to come around and face each other. Sortha ordered "Status"
Lieutenant Brynaziir reported: "Sir forward shield down to 78 percent, aft shields remain down. Aft torpedoes being reloaded, forward ready, phasers charged."
"Engineering!" Sortha yelled into the intercom, I want those aft shield up now!" If anyone could get some shielding up, he knew Sholek would.
"Helm, don't let that targ behind us! And don't give him line-of-sight to our aft section, I don't want even a single Klingon beaming aboard." The bird-of-prey and the Stealth were now closing. Sortha didn't like what was happening. By all tactical doctrine that second Bird-of-Prey should have cloaked and retreated. Not doing so raised the spectre of the DoHQay sitting by somewhere cloaked.
"Freighters, stay close by our rear." Sortha ordered. Not only would that keep them safe , but would also protect that weakened area of the Stealth. The Klingon ws coming in again and the Stealth and freighters were pivoting to meet it. Suddenly, the Klingon took a shrieking turn that must have come very close to destroying his engines, headed over the Stealth and dropped on one wing down close by the freighters.
"Helm!" Sortha roared, don't let that happen again. For several moments the Bird-of-Prey had shots on the freighters and Sortha could see both freighters responding with evasive actions and even firing their type III phasers at the Klingon. Summers freighter took a solid hit and spun out of control for a moment, while Ayers freighter was also hit, and its shields dropped for several seconds. Both ships recovered. Sortha could imagine the events on the freighters bridges but he was too busy to think for long. The Stealth was now close on the Klingons tail. The Klingon would pay for those shots he had on the freighters, his momentary distraction had allowed the Stealth to move into an advantageous position.
"Phasers, Fire!" Sortha ordered as both dorsal and ventral banks opened up on the Klingon. After about five full seconds of firing the Klingon's aft shields collasped, but he pulled another radical maneuver and rolled out of the Stealth's line of fire. "Curse those Birds-of-Prey" Sortha thought, "they were too damned maneuverable!" The two ships were now a distance apart and were closing on each other.
"Sir!" the science station reported, "he's leaking drive plasma and his warp core is becoming unstable!"
"Sir!" Lieutenant Brynaziir reported, "He's feeling suicidal!"
Damn Sortha thought, he's going to ram! Lieutenant Nash, listen carefully. Right before we close I want to fire all maneuvering thrusters at 00 mark 180 for .5 seconds, then I want aft thrusters to continue firing while the forward thrusters fire at 00 mark 90. Understand? "
Nash thought a moment, then smiled, "yes sir!"
The two ships closed on each other rapidly. "Hold your fire" Sortha said. Ready forward photons and phasers."
The ships closed, closer and closer, the Klingon firing disruptors as he went. Right before impact the Stealth dropped out of the way, and as the Klingon passed by heading for the freighters, the Stealth pivoted end over end, it's forward saucer section tracking the Bird-of-prey as it passed overhead. It was a gut wrenching maneuver, and the inertial dampeners didn't quite keep up, but tactical was able to comply with Sortha's next simple order...."FIRE!"
Four photon torpedoes and a full barrage of phaser caught the Bird-of-Prey in the belly and in the rear. The Bird-of-Prey exploded instantaneously. The explosion rocked the Stealth violently, throwing most officers out of their chairs. Then it was over. The Stealth, now "upside down" remained in position.
"Damage Report!" Sortha yelled.
"Aft shields still down, forward shields reduced to fifty percent, lateral shields at 86 percent. Forward torpedo Bays empty, phaser banks empty, aft bay reloaded."
Damn! Sortha thought. Now we're ripe pickings. Then the thought that had been brewing in his head throughout the battle coalesced. "Comm, send to all ships. Warning! We have a warp core breach in progress. Sholek, run up those engines to max, make it look like a warp core breach. Aft Bay, overload and link those torpedoes with timed fuses, 7.7 seconds. Turn us toward those torpedoes. Full power to the forward shields. Sholek tell me we have aft shields."
"Sir" Sholek's voice replied from engineering 'We now have those auxiliary boarding party shields up."
"Good job Sholek!" The Gorn replied. "Now tactical release those torpedoes, normal drift, don't fire them" Release every other escape pod! Crew: Jettison all personal items and cargo. Comm send to all ships: Clear the area. Helm, erase the last minute and jettison log recorder" Within seconds all these orders were carried out.
"Rig for silent running. Prepare for shield modulation, .. Execute" Sortha breathed....
7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0
...and the Stealth disappeared in a fiery explosion.
Red lights filled the bridge of the Stealth with a hellish glow. "Damage Report" Sortha breathed quietly.
"Sir, Forward shields are at 25%, Lateral shields at 57%, Aft Shields at 5%. Torpedo bays are being reloaded manually. Phaser banks are leach recharging, they'll be ready soon. Shield modulation is working. We are cloaked."
"Engineering, get us back to normal ASAP. I want you to pull a 'Scotty' Lieutenant Sholek!"
"Tactical, let's put those sensors to work. Full scan. Search for the DohQay. Helm, where's our shuttle?"
"It's still attached to us sir, but it had a hull breach during the engagement. I'm afraid Ensign Amos is dead sir."
The Gorn didn't have time for remorse, "transporter room, be ready to get those crewmen off those freighters. Be ready to drop aft shields for a split second and beam them off. Doctor Ming, casualties?
"Mostly bumps and briuses sir, a few broken bones, and some radiation sickness for five crew in the aft shuttlebay. They'll be treated and released."
Sortha waited...and reflected about the events that had just occurred..... many questions sprang to mind, questions he would seek answers to.... unless the DoHQay materialized.
=============================================================
USS Stealth After the Battle Stardate 9702.23
As the ship began repairs and proceeded with the transfer of officers back to the ship from the freighters, Ensign Nash, who was working at one of the aft bridge stations, came to report to Sortha.
"Sir, I have been able to establish the identity of the two Brids of Prey we destroyed -- they were the Qul and the HohJi, both belonging to the House of K'Tharn," Nash reported.
"Any significance?" Sortha asked.
"Very much so, sir. Both ships were reported destroyed within the past six months. The Qul was involved in an ill-fated raid against the Cardassians and the HohJi was reported destroyed in a battle against the Federation during the Arcanus invasion.
"I checked with Ki'lal on the Klingon freighter, which is effecting repairs as we speak, and he provided me with further details of this House of K'Tharn. Apparently a Klingon warrior named Murrog, who was a member of that house, was involved in a scandal 16 years ago which put the House of K'Tharn to shame. General Kahgal interveined and helped restore honor to the House. As a result, they have been indebted to the general since. He must have asked for two Birds of Prey from that house and gotten them."
Sortha frowned. "Good work Ensign."
As Nash returned to the helm, Ensign Harka -- the Bolian manning tactical -- spoke up. "Sir, incoming distress signal on all channels. Audio only."
"Now what?" Sortha muttered. "On speakers."
"....this is the USS Ethan Allen....Task Force Four is under attack...cloaked gravetic mines...We were en route to rendezvous with the Federation diplomatic envoy aboard the USS Potemkin...escort to Koltak Kor...USS Cyprus lost...USS Wounded Knee disabled....require assistance. Wait a minute....ship decloaking...need shields now! Raise them! Rais....." the transmission then ended.
"What class ship is the Ethan Allen?" Sortha asked.
"Nebula-class starship. The Cyprus was a Miranda-class and the Wounded Knee is an Ambassador-class," Harka said.
"Location of the Potemkin?" Sortha asked.
"I don't know sir," Harka said, frustrated. "Her route is classified. Task Force Four were the only ships in the sector with that information."
"Damn," Sortha hissed. "Any other ships near Task Force Four?"
"Task Force Three commanded by the USS Cairo under Captain William Jellico," Harka said. "They are approximately two hours from Task Force Four's last known coordinates. We are four hours away."
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 1997 22:06:26 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/
FROM THE GM: Forgive Brynaziir and Summers' posts -- both have had e-mail problems and are a little behind. But I say better late than never...
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Ensign Thoraz Brynaziir Counselor's Report -- BEFORE the battle Stardate 9702.24
"Commander, the crew are uneasy and nervous. They have not had time for a proper shakedown, nor to get to know their captain. They are well trained, butthere could be indecisivesness among them for these reasons. They need to feel 'connected' to their Commanding Officer. Most are unacustomed to Gorns in general and are unsure of your motivations and expectations."
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Lt. Tyrian M. Summers Onboard freighter bridge Stardate 9702.24
Sitting in the command chair onboard the old Starfleet balor-class transport, he looked at the viewscreen which had nothing but space on it, as it had for some time now. The skeleton crew was still executing repairs that needed to be done on the old ship, mechanically it was sound, but weapons were a joke and shields were barely working, that was the main thing Tyrian was worried about, the Stealth would provide firepower but he needed shielding to last through a battle, and right now the old circuitry was not allowing the shields to stay up for a steady length of time, they kept fading on and off and it was driving him crazy.
The only operable weapons the frieghter was equipped with was a type III phaser array......Tyrian had more confidence in firing a slingshot out of a porthole at a would be attacker.
Suddenly, Tyrian was brought out of his deep thoughts as the crewman at tactical informed him of a decloaking bird of prey and the DoHQay! Tyrian stood up and said, "Shields up, red alert, get the rest of the men off repairs and to battle stations!" Harmon, the crewman at tactical, corrected his report, saying it turned out to be two birds of prey. Tyrian's face remained unchanged as he thought that they could be in some trouble, the birds might be a distraction as the Vor'CHA class lay in wait to observe before moving in.
There were five men on the bridge as they came back from conducting repairs, Ensign Weiss informed Tyrian that Sortha was giving coodinates to follow. Tyrian told the ensign to follow his instructions and move to the coordinates as he ordered. The battle waged on, the frieghter not sustaining any damage as the klingons concentrated on the Stealth, Tyrian felt as though he had his hands tied, being on board this spaceworthy junkheap.
As he observed the pounding the Stealth was taking on his viewscreen, he pondered what would happen if it was lost......he would probably not be taken prisoner. The Stealth then scored a glorious hit on the Bird of Prey attacking its aft, and the Klingon ship exploded, momentarily blinding the crew on the freighter's bridge. The other bird had started concentrating its attack on the two freighters. Tyrian ordered that they fire the one working phaser at the ship, if for any reason, just for the hell of it! It hit but had hardly any effect on the birds shields.
The ship responded with disrupter shots, the shields held.......then dropped, going offline. Tyrian started to really worry, he yelled at Ensign Weiss to take evasive manuvers and not worry about lining the ship up for any more shots at the klingon ship. But the Klingons were too manuverable, the Starfleet ship couldn't shake them as they fired disruptors, tearing into the rear spherical section of the ship, shooting metal debris out into space, another shot ripped into one of the nacelles, destroying it.
Explosions erupted all over the bridge from overloaded conduits and stressed support beams. Tyrian's chair gave way and fell over sideways, sending him in midair across the bridge. The crew on the bridge were thrown all around as the ship spun out of control away from the other ships. Where was the Stealth? Summers thought as he clung to the panel he had been thrown out of his chair into.
The ship finally stopped spiraling, and Tyrian yelled for a report. Ensign Harmon said, "Hull breach on decks three and four, port nacelle destroyed, main power offline, inertial dampeners offline, weapons offline......." Tyrian interrupted, "What DO we have??"
Harmon replied, "Life support and partial impulse........and the shields just came back online." Tyrian looked around the bridge, the forward viewscreen was blank, smoke was all over coming from all the panels, conduits and wiring were hanging out everywhere. Two of the ensigns were injured, unable to perform thier duties anymore, the ship was a sitting duck.
Tyrian said, "Get the viewscreen back online, now!" Thirty seconds later, the screen came back on just in time to see the klingon ship explode in front of the Stealth. Tyrian sighed relief, but it didn't last long as they received a transmission to clear the area, that the Stealth had a core breach! Tyrian ordered the transport out of the area at best possible speed, which wasn't fast. He watched on the viewscreen as the specks that were lifepods shot rapidly out of the ship, and then there was a big explosion. Tyrian said, "Open a channel to Lt. Winefield and Lt. Ayer, lets see how they fared in this battle." Then Tyrian felt himself dematerialize for some reason. A moment later he found himself beamed aboard the Stealth...
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Commander Sortha On the Stealth Stardate 9702.24
Sortha sat in the captain's chair on the bridge of the Stealth. Lieutenants Ayer, and Summers had been recalled. The freighters had been crewed by three fresh ensigns, while Lieutenant Ki'lal followed with two ensigns in the Klingon pirate freighter. The ships were at full warp and damage to shields were being affected.
So, General Kahlag had managed to summon help, and possibly more than just the two birds-of-prey. Task Force 4 had not been heard from and Sortha cringed at the thought of all three ships being destroyed by Kahgal. Despite having destroyed two birds-of-prey with only a single fatality, Sortha was depressed. The larger game had escaped, and his adrenaline high from being mentally prepared to go up against the DoHQay after the birds-of-preys had been dispatched had worn off, leaving him in a state of post-battle depression. The battle against the DohQay would have been worthy of many stories for many years to come.
The Stealth was currently heading toward the last known coordinates of Task Force 4. Captain Jellico had been contacted and knew that Stealth was on its way. So Kahgal's next target could be the Potempkin.... but where was it. Even if the Potempkin could not be contacted, it could monitor communications and would know that its escort, Task Force 4 had been destroyed.
The crew was quiet, it didn't need telepathy to sense its commander's grumpy mood. Three ensigns who didn't have repair duties had quickly replicated two bird-of-prey emblems approximately 10 feet across and had attached these to the side of the engineering hull, just aft of the comm dish. Obviously, they had been reading about Gorn culture, it was custom for Gorn ships to display their "kills" on the exterior of their hull as a status symbol. Sortha had performed the service for the single fatality, but as yet had to write the condolence letter.
Moving out of his grumpy mood Sortha turned to Summers, as he returned to the bridge, and Ayer at Tactical: "If you were the Potempkin and sstill planned on making it to the peace conference, what course would you sset to get there? Find me the ssafest course- possibly through nebulas or other phenomena that would help hide the ship. Helm, plot a search pattern using Lieutenant Ayer and Lieutenant Summers data."
The doors to the bridge slid open and Lieutenant Sholek appeared. "Sir, I have restored shields to 100%, All weapons are charged, torpedoes are locked and loaded. Warp efficiency is above 100% rated, and we've done a level 3 diagnostic on all systems, and they check out."
"Very good Lieutenant. I want you to work with tactical configuring our ssensors to find the Potempkin who may be trying to hide, and also try to ssee what you can do about finding that bloody cloaked Vor'CHA. "
"Communicationss, ssend to Captain Jellico: Am proceeding to rendezvouss with Potempkin as contained in contingency order 5001.30. Do you have any further orderss. Out."
"Sir I thought nobody knew where the Potempkin was?" Brynaziir said.
"Quite true Lieutenant, but hopefully Kahgal does not know this. And 5001.30 is Captain Jellico's birthdate, so he will know what we are up to."
If he thinks we know, he might come after usss. Sortha just hoped that none of the command crew of TF4 had been captured... otherwise they would tell Kahgal where the Potempkin was... of that he was sure. Well now Kahgal will be really low on torpedoes. Let's give him one more crack at us, while we move to protect the Potempkin as well. Now he really wanted to come to grips with this Kahgal!
"Ssenior sstaff to the conference room. Let'sss hear your ideass."
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 1997 23:40:26 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/Thoraz's plan

Ensign Thoraz Brynaziir Counsellor's Report Stardate 9702.26
"Commander," Thoraz spoke up after Sortha was finished assessing the damage.
"Yesssss Ensssign?"
"I have some information that may help. I was scanning the Klingons during the battle. I believe that those that attacked us did so reluctantly, probably repaying an old debt. They were only a distraction. Kahgal seems to have enough resources to disrupt the Conference in several different ways."
"As we try to find the Potemkin, I will randomly scan outward to fullest extent of my abilities to try and locate the presence of either Starfleet or Klingon personnel. I may be in a trancelike state, so you may have to physically regain my attention, if this is acceptable sir."
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 1997 21:47:12 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO:Stealth/Internal Conflict

USS Stealth Hallway outside the Conference Room Stardate 9702.27
Ensign Thoraz Brynaziir was running a little late getting to the meeting Commander Sortha had called. He had been working on mental conditioning and relaxation techniques that might allow him to perform the equivalent of "telepathic surveillance" on the Klingon when they next confronted Kahgal's forces.
As he rounded the corner into the hallway outside the conference room, he stopped dead in his tracks as he witnessed what looked like a standoff between Lt. Summers and Lt. Ayer. Summers appeared to be seething with anger and ready to attack Ayer, while Ayer was in a semi-defensive posture, he appeared to be trying to avoid a confrontation.
Brynaziir could empathically feel that Summers was angry, almost to the point of being in a rage. Ayer, on the other hand, was a little more difficult to gauge. He seemed concerned and even a little frightened, but Ayer had always been difficult for Thoraz to read.
"Guys," Thoraz said. "Everything OK?"
"Its fine!" Summers snapped, jabbing a finger against Ayer's chest. "This isn't over."
Tyrian then turned and walked a few steps until he entered the conference room. Ayer sighed and followed. Thoraz wasn't sure what had just taken place, but he was very concerned.
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Lt. Ayer Conference Room Stardate 9702.27
As Ayer walked into the room, he took the seat closest to the windows. He had always felt an attachment to space as if his life belonged somewhere beyond Earth. Thoraz was sitting at the other side of him and was looking at him, a questioning look in his eyes. A minute ago, Thoraz had witnessed a confrontation between Tyrian and Ayer out in the hallway. Thoraz opened his mouth, as if wanting to ask Ayer a question but Tyrian shot him a harsh glance and he shut his mouth. The second officer was glaring at Ayer as he sat directly opposite of Ayer. Thoraz, who was seated beside Tyrian, leaned over and whispered something to him. Tyrian shook his head and said, "I don't wish to discuss it." With that, he continued glaring at Ayer.
Ayer kept his face still and worked on his report. The other senior officers were already there and they were looking giving the two wary looks. Apparently, whatever it was that was going on, they don't wish to be caught in between. A few minutes later, Sortha walked into the room. He took a seat at the head and started immediately, "The Stealth is currently under a search pattern given out by Ayer and Summers. Would one of you like to show the rest of the crew where we're going?"
Without waiting for Tyrian, Ayer tapped into his panel. Immediately, the panels in front of each officer had a map displayed. "We're currently two hours away from the last known co-ordinates of TF4. However, once we've reached that co-ordinates, we will be sweeping into the Gradusian asteroid field. This area is under Federation space and it is close to the location of TF3 so it is unlikely we will be attacked by the Klingons. If we do not find the Potemkin in this area, then our search will direct us into the Orekta asteroid field. As you all know, the asteroid field blocks most of the sensor system. It is also close to Koltak Kor, a perfect route if you're going to attack it but also a perfect place to hide in. But it is risky if the Potemkin is hiding in this area because this area contains Klingon military prescense."
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Lt. Tyrian M. Summers Conference room aboard U.S.S. Stealth Stardate 9702.26
Once Ayer was finished with his report, it was Tyrian's turn.
"Commander, in light of our recent hard fought battle against the two small birds of prey, I have doubts about our ability to fight both a Vor'CHA class ship in addition to an unknown amount of ships it may be escorting, it seems to me that tactically, we are too overmatched. Even with the explosives working, and severely damaging the Vor'CHA class, if it has escorts we may find that we have bit off much more than we can chew. If we can reach the Potempkin in time, and are not detected, the odds would be different.......but who knows if it will still be there when we arrive?"
"I also have another idea, a long shot, but an idea nonetheless. Kahgal knows the Federation has a task force against him, hes too smart not to. He may be wary of our decoy ships as far as what is on board, if he takes extra measures to scan the ships and detects something is funny, many will die. My plan is if we encounter another bird of prey, that we try to incapacitate it if possible. Kahgal may be looking for others to join his cause. If we surgically alter a complement of men to crew the bird of prey and make it look as though the ship is badly damaged, we may be able to get all of the men on board the Vor'CHA class. If this is achieved we would be in a great situation, and have many options. This would be very dangerous for the men involved if detected before the mission can be carried out."
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Sat, 1 Mar 1997 00:23:53 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/Searching for TF4

Lt. Ki'lal U.S.S. Stealth Stardate 9702.27
Ki'lal was very keen to the idea of boarding the Vor'CHA. He would get an opportunity to teach these people how to be a Klingon. Ki'lal looked forward to teaching them how to eat gagh (even if it wasn't necessary).
Even more important though, Ki'lal looked forward to a chance to find more information on the Vor'CHA. Maybe Kahgal kept info on his parents, who knows?
Ki'lal spoke up at the meeting, "Sir, I agree with boarding the ship. Although it might undermine honor, which is important, we still would stop this traitor to Kahless. He must be stopped and we probably don't have basic firepower. But, remember, Pung ghap'hos...Mercy or power!"
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Commander Sortha Conference Room Stardate 9702.27
1500 Hours
Sortha stood up and paced several steps before turning back to his officers. The Gorn spoke carefully, "I hate to admit it, but Lieutenant Summers is right. The Sstealth is no battleship. If we caught the DohQay by ssurprise with our freighterss and damaged it ssignificantly, we would have an even chance of defeating it...and living. However if it has esscorts we would be sseverely outmatched. In light of the information that we haven't heard from TF4..... well ssuffice it to say that TF4 had ssignificantly more firepower than we do....ssignificantly more.
"Lieutenant Ssummers your ssugestion is rissky, but I believe any plan we embark on will be rissky. Everybody be prepared to implement it, sshould we encounter additional Klingon sships. Remember that very few Klingon sships have ever been captured however... they tend to self destruct or kamikaze first. Lieutenant Ssummerss, pleasse refine your idea." The Gorn paused again, gathering his thoughts.
"Our current coursse will put uss in the vicinity of TF4. I will ask Captain Jellico to delay his arrival to arrive shortly after we do. TF3 will be within attack range sshould the DohQay come after us. We will be there in 2 hours. We will give the DoHQay time to attack us, but if they don't materialize, TF3 will rendezvouss with us and we will ssearch for the Potempkin, sending the freighters back to Epsilon 7. Lieutenant Brynaziir will mentally scan for Klingon thoughts. If we don't detect any, we will cloak during our search with TF3. That way we may surprise the DohQay if they attack TF3. Captain Jellicoe has seniority and will be in command of our joint Task Force.
"As per Lieutenat Ayer's and Ssummers' plan, we will then proceed into the Gradussian assteroid field. If we do not find the Potemkin in this area, then we will proceed to the Orekta assteroid field and then to Koltak Kor. Lieutenant Ki'lal will continue to shadow us in the Klingon freighter. In the two hours we have I want everything operating at 100% efficiency or above. Dismissed."
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Ensign Thoraz Brynaziir After the Conference Stardate 9702.28
After the meeting, Thoraz remained seated as all the rest left for their respective duties. The Commander noticed this and asked
"Ensssign, isss there sssomething you need?"
Thoraz instantly snapped back to reality and responded," Yes commander. I find myself in an awkward situation. Perhaps you could provide some guidance for me? As a Starfleet Officer, it is one's duty to hold the mission foremost, yet how do you broach a sensitive subject with someone who seems out-of-sorts? I am not versed in professional counselling techniques, yet I find myself in the position of giving guidance to others.
"I am sure that protocol would require me to report such a situation immediately to my supervisor, but I am unsure if that would necessarily help the situation. I am sorry, I know I am being vague about all this, but an incident has just recently been brought to my attention and I would like to correct it in the best manner. Both to show you and the crew that I am a valuable and trustworthy addition to this mission and ship."
Thoraz fell silent after having spilled his quandry out in the open, as it were.
But Thoraz didn't need to say more -- Commander Sortha was already aware of what the counselor had been talking about. He had sensed the tension between two of his officers earlier and soon, Thoraz filled in the blanks, providing him with a better idea of what was going on.
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Ensign Sholek In Engineering after the meeting Stardate 9702.28
"Sholek to the Captain. During our recent run in with the Klingons I analyzed their weapons. Based on my analysis I have concluded that the have increased weapons power to give them an edge. The positive side of this is that I can alter shield frequency to decrease damage done if we are hit by the Klingons' powered up weapons. Sholek out."
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Commander Sortha In his Ready Room Stardate 9702.28
1510 hours
Lieutenant Summers comm badge beeped. It was Commander Sortha: "Lieutenant, pleasse join me in my ready room."
1511 hours
Lieutenant Ayer's comm badge beeped: "Lieutenant Ayer, pleasse join me in my ready room."
Lieutenant Ayer and Lieutenant Summers arrived at Commader Sortha's ready room at the same time. Looking at each other warily, they entered the room. Sitting sternly at his desk, with Lieutenat Brynaziir standing slightly to his side and behind him, Sortha started without preamble: "Explain your hostilities to me....that is an order."
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Sun, 2 Mar 1997 00:53:19 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/Internal Conversation continued
FROM THE GM: Right now, only the four of you are receiving this message. Ayer, if you want to reveal any more information to the rest of the crew, you may do so.
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Lt. Tyrian M. Summers Ready Room Stardate 9703.01
(Internal Conversation)
As Tyrian stood in the turbolift with Ayer on the way to the ready room, he tried carrying on a conversation with Ayer, but he remained pretty much silent. Tyrian said as the turbolift hummed, "I want you to know one thing Ayer.........I could have killed you, do'nt think that the thought did'nt cross my mind, I could have gotten away with it too. I could have claimed that I thought a shapeshifter assumed your true human identity, and shot you to save my ship, hell, I might even have become a hero because of it...........but I did'nt........I'm not sure why. If I had'nt felt some sort of friendship towards you, you would not be standing here now." Ayer glanced over at him but did'nt say anything as the doors opened.
Tyrian stood silent next to Ayer as he asked permission from the Commander to disclose his secret to Ensign Thoraz. Tyrian was'nt sure what he wanted from Ayer, he just felt betrayed, and wondered about what he should say.
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Commander Sortha Ready Room Stardate 9703.02
The Gorn stood up and walked over to Lieutenant Ayer. Looking down at him the Gorn said slowly: "Lieutenant, as Commander of thiss team and of this vesssel, Sstarfleet informed me of your true race as ssoon as you were assssigned."
Looking directly at Lieutenant Brynaziir and Lieutenant Summers, Sortha said "Lieutenantss, Sstarfleet is based on open acceptance of all who come to uss. We have Klingonss sserving in the fleet, we have Romulanss sserving in the fleet, ass well as Ferengi. Their common denominator? They all believe in the principless of the Federation. We don't fight racess, we fight governmentss and individualss. Lieutenant Ayer and Ssecurity Chief Odo are both changelingss and are both working for the Federation. Lieutenant Ayer has graduated Sstarfleet Academy and hass been granted the rank of Lieutenant. He will be accorded the privilige and resspect due that rank by all officerss and crew. His identity has been kept confidential for ssecurity purposes. Lieutenant Ssummers you found out. Lieutenant Brynaziir, you have the right to know based on your position as sship's counsellor, ass do the rest of the command crew, who will be informed by me perssonally. If anyone feelss that their prejudice against Lieutenant Ayer will interfere with their dutiess, I will arrange a transsfer to the Cairo immediately. I expect everyone to keep thiss information to themsselvess and to treat Lieutenant Ayer as a loyal Sstarfleet officer unless he provess otherwise, in which case...I will kill you perssssonally, do not believe that Ssssstarfleet has neglected to give me the ability to do thisssss" Sortha added looking directly at Lieutenant Ayer, "ass I will any other member of this crew who betrayss the Federation" Sortha continued looking at everyone with unreadable reptilian eyes. Lieutenant Ssummers, can you resolve your differencess with Lieutenant Ayer ssuch that it will not affect your dutiesss?"
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Sun, 2 Mar 1997 00:55:35 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/Closing on TF4

Lt. Jake Winefield USS Stealth Stardate 9703.01
Jake left the comanders office and went about making sure his orders about having the ship at 100% where being followed. Though the rumors of problems between Ayer and Tyrian bothered him.
They seemed close during our training on earth and Jake wondered what could have happened which might have effected their friendship.
Going from department to department Jake checked in with each department head on their progress. In a way he felt somewhat out of place as the activities of this mission seems to be leaving him behind. Yet Jake said "I have a job to do and being the 1st officer I have to make sure the Commander's orders are being carried out. Still it would be nice to be part of Summers Klingon crew. Come on Jake keep your mind focused and get the work done no use day dreaming."
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Sun, 2 Mar 1997 20:55:04 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/Internal Conversation

Lt. Tyrian M. Summers Ready Room Stardate 9703.02
Tyrian replied to Commander Sortha, "Of course I will not let something like this affect my duties.
"Also, I have given thought to working out the kinks in my plan. If we cloak the Stealth and lay out the Klingon transport as damaged bait, we may be able to get our altered crew onboard the Bird of Prey, the odds would be about even except that we would have the element of surprise, we should be able to take over the bird without doing any external damage in the ideal scenario.
"If this were the case, we could fly the bird of prey with Kahgal's ship for a short while as the Stealth follows closely until an opportunity arises that we can attack the Vor'CHA class with the element of surprise, possibly using the federation ships with explosives as per our original plans. If it does'nt work out like this, then the Stealth will have to come to our rescue before we are destroyed aboard the cargo ship........it will be difficult to disable it, but possible. As far as the self destruct........I suggest having a boarding party waiting to beam directly to the bridge........the countdown can be stopped, but only by a skilled technician, who is versed in Klingon systems. When the ship is taken over it will be in too bad of shape to be any use in battle most likely, so we should use the plan of boarding the Vor'CHA directly. These are my suggestions, somewhat risky, but possible."
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Sun, 2 Mar 1997 20:55:06 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/Sholek's idea
Ensign Sholek Engineering Stardate 9703.02
"Commander Sortha. This is Sholek. I believe I have discovered a weapon we could use against the Klingons that would give us an emence advantage. There called interdementional transporters and they can transport through sheilds."
"Enssign," replied Sortha, "interdementional transporters are dangerous to organic tisssue."
"I know, but it can be used to transport nonorganic material over to the Klingon ship. We could transport nanites to diable their systems and take over their ship. Antimatter could all so be transported over if you wish to destroy their ship."
"Very good Sholek. A very logical ssolusion. I would like to see the sspecss on this in one hour. Ssortha out."
One hour later.
Sholek enters Sortha's ready room.
"Here are the specs you requested. As you will see this method of transport has been way over looked. Because it was dangerous to organic tissue the Federation abandonded their research on it. It still can be used as an effective way to transport non organic materials or used as an emergency transport through sheilds."
"You are most intelligent. Obviously more inteligent than Federation scientists."
"Actually the idea came to me as a suggestion from a freind, Stephan Koopmans, while I was on Vulcan. I believe he deserves credit for this."
(FROM THE GM: Using this tech is your call, Commander Sortha.)
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 1997 23:49:55 -0600 Subject: Internal Conversation
Lt. Ayer Ready Room Stardate 9702.28
>(Internal Conversation)
> Lt. Ayer looked at Tyrian, then clearing his throat, he said, "Commander, just before the conference took place, Tyrian asked me a question. It was a very private question and I was deeply shocked that he would ask it. I would like to tell everyone in this room what he had asked but I'm not sure if Ensign Thoraz has the authorization to hear it. It dealt somewhat with my heritage and my background. Restating the question here to Ensign Thoraz could give panic to the crew."
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 1997 01:44:02 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/Graveyard

USS Stealth Approaching Remains of Task Force 4 Stardate 9703.03
Commander Sortha strode onto the bridge from his Ready Room after Lt. Summer announced the ship's approach to the last known coordinates of Task Force Four. The Gorn officer took his seat and watched the viewscreen, waiting for his officers to report.
"We just entered the last known region of space the task force was in when we received their distress call," Summers said.
"Red alert. Sshields up," Sortha hissed. "I don't want uss running into any cloaked miness. I want an intensse sscan of the area."
As the crew began to scan the area, an alarm at tactical suddenly let out a shrill whistle. Summers analyzed his readouts and frowned, "Sir, I got what looks like a pretty large debris field ahead. There's what appears to be a ship amid the wreckage."
Sortha stiffened in his chair. "On sscreen."
The screen flickered and the image of a battered Federation starship, surrounded by chunks of debris ranging in size from tiny pieces to huge sections of what looked like the hull of an unfortunate vessel.
Summers focused on the intact ship and the crew nearly gasp aloud. It was the U.S.S. Wounded Knee, an Ambassador-class starship. The ship looked as though it had been through a war and back. Sections of hull were peeled back exposing entire decks and one of the warp nacelles were gone. Electricity sparked from some of the fissures in the hull, especially from a huge gaping hole in the side of the engineering section. The bridge, atop the saucer section, was also torn open, its interior exposed to the vaccuum of space.
"I am confirming that is the Wounded Knee. The ship appears to have barely contained a warp core breach by ejecting its warp core. But most of the remaining decks are flooded with residual radiation. It's making it hard for me to get an accurate reading," Winefield reported from ops.
"What about the other debris floating around here?" Sortha asked.
Winefield grimaced. "Scans indicate these are the remains of the USS Ethan Allen and the USS Cyprus. I'm detecting a few lifepods in the area with confirmed survivors."
"Sstandby on a resscue effort," Sortha said. "What about the Wounded Knee?"
"The engineering section is almost completely breached.There's no one left alive down there. Total vaccuum. Decks five through eighteen in the saucer section are relatively in tact. The bridge and the four decks below it are gone," Winefield explained. "I'm detecting several clusters of life forms in those areas of the saucer section still habitable. But the radiation leakage is making it impossible to determine individual readings on the life forms or their conditions."
Sortha issued a low rumble from his chest. "Where is the Viggo?"
"Sir?" Tyrian asked.
"The Viggo. The medical sship with Tassk Force Four. No ssigns of wreckage from that sship," Sortha said.
"Unknown sir, maybe it escaped," Ayer proposed.
"Doubtful," Sortha said.
"What caused all this?" Thoraz Brynaziir asked as he entered the bridge from the turbolift and looked out at the debris field.
"I'd say Klingon cloaked gravitic mines," Winefield muttered. "They must have ran right into it without warning."
"I'm also picking up some disruptor and photon torpedo damage to the hull of the Wounded Knee," Summers reported. "Mines alone didn't cause all this. But my guess is the mines contributed. Probably took out one of the smaller ships like the Cyprus, but that a ship finished the job."
"Your impressions Ensign Brynaziir?" Sortha asked.
Thoraz reached out with his telepathic abilities, "I feel that there are people on the Wounded Knee who are in fear. Many are in pain and dying. I also feel anger, exhiliration and anticipation. Even...impatience."
"Sir, incoming message," Summers reported. "It's a distress call from the Wounded Knee, they're asking for assistance."
"Status of the Cairo?" Sortha asked.
"Still about fifteen minutes away," Tyrian said.
Sortha sat and considered the situation for a moment. He had to now decide what to do...
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Wed, 5 Mar 1997 23:38:02 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/Search for Survivors
Lt. Tyrian M. Summers Stealth Bridge Stardate 9703.04
Tyrian stiffined up as he looked at the viewscreen, all the scraps floating around the derelict Ambassador class ship made him tense up. He continually went over his screen at tactical to make sure that he would not get caught off guard by an attacking ship.........there were too many lives at stake to take a chance of that.
Tyrian didn't like coming out of "cloak" like this, enemy ships could be cloaked nearby waiting for a rescue team...........he felt that they should have waited stationary under cloak to avoid hitting a mine until the Cairo, who was only 15 minutes away could arrive to back them up.
But the Commander didn't ask for suggestions from his command crew before giving the order......Tyrian wouldn't challenge his order, he still felt Sortha knew what he was doing, even if he would have done something different.
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Lt. Ayer USS Stealth - Bridge Stardate 9703.04
"Commander," said Ayer, "according to the sensors, I'm detecting ion trails."
Tyrian spoke up, "It could be the trail that the Klingons had left when they detected our ship and decided to escape."
Winefield, who was standing beside Sortha, frowned, "That doesn't make sense. The Klingons attacked TF4 several hours ago. Why would they need to stay behind and wait for us, and then leave?"
"According to my studies of the Klingons, they sometimes do hide at the site of battle to hunt for other scavengers," Thoraz said.
As soon as Thoraz was finished, Ki'lal spoke up, "The Klingon ship may only have travelled out of sensor range and waited for the time to strike at any ships that tries to rescue the survivors."
Ayer then thought of something, "Commander, Thoraz said he sensed exhiliration, anticipation, and impatience when he scanned the ship. He also suggested that there may be a Klingon boarding party on the Wounded Knee. This could be true and act as a diversion for us so that when we board their ship to look for survivors, we would be attacked and keep us distracted enough that the Klingon ship could then attack the Stealth.
"Of course the Stealth could withstand a surprise attack and will retaliate. However, with the possible prescense of cloaked mines in the area, the Klingon boarding party may have a remote control which they may use to set off the mines when the Stealth lowers its shields to board the Wounded Knee."
Sholek who had just appeared from the turbolift said, "Klingon mines are amed with plasma-ion charges. If we are even within the blast range of their mines, the ship will take extensive damage."
"Commander, I suggest we don't lower the shields until either the Cairo arrives or we get a better idea of what is going on," Jake suggested.
Sortha did not seem pleased with the idea, "There may be ssurvivorsss on that ship. I don't want to leave them in anymore pain than is necessary. We have to rescue them, but your suggestion does have some truth to it. We will keep the shields up for now."
"I believe I may be able to use this transporter," Ayer said. As the Gorn turned towards him, he continued, "During my childhood years, I caught an Atarian Fly Syndrome. My skin was mutating to look somewhat similar to a reptilian hide. Luckily, my parents were able to bring me to Starfleet Medical where I was cured of this condition, however, my condition had deterioated so badly, that they needed to do a polaron treatment on my body. It was risky but I managed to survive. However, the polaron radiation was left in my body. I believe the effects of the radiation could perhaps counter the effects of the transporter."
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Ensign Thoraz Brynaziir Bridge Stardate 9703.05
"Commander, the feelings of impatience and anticipation may be Klingons on board laying a trap for us. I cannot be certain, of course." Thoraz added.
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Commander Sortha Bridge of the Stealth Stardate 9703.05
After listening to suggestions from his officers, Sortha viewed the incoming reports:
Status Report: USS Ethan Allen.......Destroyed
3 lifepods, 20 survivors
Status Report: USS Cyprus.......Destroyed
4 lifepods, 24 survivors
Damage Report: USS Wounded Knee
Warp Core....ejected
Decks... flooded with residual radiation.
Engineering section:
Total hull breach, no survivors
Saucer Section:
Decks 1-4 Destroyed
Decks 5-18 minor damage, undetermined amounts of survivors
Status Report: USS Viggo:
unknown
Sortha looked at the ship on the screen one final time, "It sseems that we are in a no win sscenario, we can't help the ssurvivors unless we lower our sshields, and if we lower our sshields we may ourselvess be incapacitated. Well, ass I learned in Hisstory 333 at the Academy, a former Sstarfleet Captain once ssaid: If you can't win the ssscenario...alter the conditionss of the tesst."
Snapping his head to tactical, Sortha ordered: "Tractor Beams, lock onto the Wounded Knee. Engineering, vent drive plasma under pressure. Tactical, as the plasma vents, mark locations of any unexploded mines, ...or cloaked ships...they will be visible for a brief period as black areas without plasma residue, debriss will sshow up as debriss. Helm once the mines have been plotted, chart us a course away from them. I want a Class 1 shuttle launched to beam out the people in those lifepods. One pilot, and I want a Volunteer.
"Lieutenant Winefield, analyze those ion trails, I need to know how old they are, and if they terminate abruptly. I want to know if there are any cloaked ships out there."
Lieutenant Summers reported: "Sir, Tractor beams locked onto the Wounded Knee."
Sholek soon reported from engineering: "Sir, I have vented drive plasma, and have increased pressure by constricting the plasma vents, the plasma should disperse further now sir."
Winefield looked up from his viewer, "Sir, I just checked the structural integrity of the Wounded Knee. They can maintain 1000 kph safely, possibly up to 1550, beyond that we risk causing further damage."
"Very good Lieutenant" Sortha replied quickly, as he glanced at tactical. Soon Summers had put a schematic of the area on the bridge viewer. It showed numerous unexploded mines arranged around the area including several around the Wounded Knee. Helm responded quickly as well, as Lieutenant Nash reported: "Sir I have plotted a course which should keep us out of the immediate blast range of the mines."
Sitting back in his chair, Sortha said "Launch Shuttle. Move us into position, as soon as we are clear, start towing the Wounded Knee, 1000 kph. If I'm not mistaken...that should produce a reaction somewhere. Security, prepare boarding parties if we need to board the Wounded Knee. Lieutenant Ayer, you will be in command of the boarding party. Tac, what is the position of Lieutenant Ki'lal and the Klingon freighter?
"Approximately 1.5 minutes away at his maximum warp," Summers responded instantly.
"Cairo's ETA?" Sortha demanded.
"Twelve minutes!"
Sortha toggled a button on his command chair, soon a view of Captain Jellicoe appeared. "We're attempting to rescue survivors, we may be in the thick of things anytime ssoon. Ssuggest all sspeed ssir."
The no nonsense Jellicoe replied dourly:"We won't miss the party Commander, Jellicoe out."
As things started moving, Sortha reflected: The Viggo-- a Starfleet medical ship....captured? It would be perfect for biogenic weapon productions..."
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Thu, 6 Mar 1997 23:51:40 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/Towing the Wounded Knee
Lt. Jake Winefield USS Stealth Stardate 9703.06
Jake went about having the sensors on maximum checking all ion trails. Speaking up Jake said "None of the ion trails are showing signs of a cloaked ship remaining in the area, I'll continue to scan."
Just as he stoped talking Jake realized that he was still sounding like a unsure ensign. To himself Jake thought "you have to stop it and start sounding like the first officer of a starship."
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USS Stealth Towing the Wounded Knee Stardate 9703.06
Sortha sat patiently in his command chair as the Stealth moved out of the minefield with the U.S.S. Wounded Knee in tow with the tractor beam. So far, there had been no activity in or around the crippled ship.
Once they were clear of the minefield, Winefield looked up from his station. "Sir, those ion trails Ayer detected that I've been scanning. I can't tell what kind of ship made the first trail, but that one seems to be on a heading deeper into Federation space. The second trail is definately that of the U.S.S. Viggo. It left on a heading toward Klingon space. Considering the jump it had on us, I'd say its probably nearing the border as we speak."
Sortha frowned, and then Tyrian Summers reported from tactical. "Sir, the Cairo and Task Force Three has arrived. Captain Jellico is hailing us."
"On screen," Sortha said.
"Commander Sortha," the white haired captain said sternly. "Status report?"
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Sat, 8 Mar 1997 00:59:04 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/To Board or Not to Board
Commander Sortha Bridge of the Stealth Stardate 9703.08
Sortha responded smartly to the stern Captain Jellico, "Ssir, we have towed the Wounded Knee out of the minefield. It and the Sstealth are in no danger from the miness. My counsellor, a Betazoid, reports feelings that might be Klingon on the Wounded Knee, I suggest we send heavily armed away teams in case there are Klingons aboard.
"The crew must be evacuated by shuttle due to the large amounts of radiation leaking from the Wounded Knee that are interfering with a solid transporter lock. According to my medical officer we have about one half hour before radiation levels cause permanent damage to the crew of Wounded Knee. We have beamed the survivors in the life pods onto one of our shuttles."
Sortha paused only briefly, "It appears that the attackers of Task Force 3 captured the Viggo, and are taking it into Klingon space. According to my tactical officer they should be nearing the Klingon border. Wasn't General Kahgal interested in biogenic weapons? Another ion trail from an unidentified ship leads deeper into Federation space. What are your orders sir?" Sortha waited expectantly as Captain Jellicoe scrunched his forehead in thought...
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USS Stealth Stardate 9703.08
"We'll each send three security teams over. They will secure the ship before we dispatch a medical crew from the Curie," Jellico said. "My people will take decks 5-11, you take 12-18. We should be able to override the Wounded Knee's exterior airlocks and dock with them using shuttles."
"Agreed," Sortha said. "We'll get started immediately. Sortha out."
Sortha turned to his crew. "Alright. Team one will be led by Lt. Ayer. Summers has team two and Ki'lal commands team three. You each should bring five officers from the general crew -- three security, one engineering and one medic. Everyone armed with phaser side arms and phaser pulse rifles."
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Ensign Sholek Turbolift Stardate 9703.08
"Commander Sortha," Sholek said as came off the turbolift. "Since there are no signs of any cloaked ships nearby, the logical course of action would be to board the Wounded Knee. Many of her systems are damaged. I suggest you send and medical team and an Engineer, specifically me."
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USS Stealth Stardate 9703.08
The other officers on the bridge grinned among themselves as Sholek entered halfway through the conversation. This forced Sortha to back up for a moment.
"We've already decided to board the Wounded Knee," Sortha explained. "However, we believe there may be Klingons aboard her. I'm sending in three teams to secure the ship, along with three from the Cairo. And since you're volunteering to go, ensign, I'm putting you with Lt. Summers group. Assign two other members of your engineering staff -- one to Ayer's team and one to Ki'lal.
"Sortha to Dr. Ming," the Gorn said.
"Ming here," the asian medical officer replied.
"We need three members of your medical staff for an away mission.Have them meet in the shuttle bay."
"On our way, sir," she replied.
"OK, dismissed," Sortha said. The teams then dispursed leaving Sortha, Winefield and Brynaziir as the only command officers on the bridge. The others headed to the armory to suit up and then on to the shuttle bay to set out for the crippled Ambassador-class ship....

(FROM THE GM: As you each write about your teams, go ahead and create some NPCs to act as your other team members. These individuals will be ensigns or lieutenants in rank. Dr. Ming will be with Ayer's team. As you create these NPCs, remember their names so we can use them as recurring characters beyond this. Also, let me know if you're taking anything "special" with you besides the standard weapons.)
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Sun, 9 Mar 1997 00:28:25 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/Hell Breaks Loose
Commander Sortha U.S.S. Stealth Stardate 9703.08
Sortha called Lieutenant Winefield over to his command chair, "Lieutenant, I want you to coordinate the boarding teams as they proceed onto the Wounded Knee. They'll be limited to tricorder searches over there...try to use our sensors... and Lieutenant Brynaziir here," Sortha said indicating the other Lieutenant, "to keep them working together and out of traps."
The Gorn started giving orders to the ensigns that were filling in for his command crew as he paced the bridge. Reluctantly he sat back down in his chair, wishing that it was him going over to the Wounded Knee. Just in case he had his body armor and personal weapons in his ready room. Expectantly he waited to hear back from his teams. Their orders had been to lock down the radiation leaks, help the survivors to the shuttles, capture any opposition (phasers set on heavy stun), and stabilize the ship. The order in which that was done he had left to the lieutenants on the scene. They would earn their pips today he mused to himself.
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Lt. Tyrian M. Summers Stealth Shuttle Bay Stardate 9703.09
Tyrian walked quietly down the corridor to the turbolift followed by the rest of his team, ensigns Ramirez, Anderson, Hanson, and Ramsey. Ramsey was a human female medic, Anderson was a Bolian male, and the other two were human males, all security officers.
Ensign Sholak was meeting them in the shuttle bay. All members were equipped with tricorders, phaser pistals, and new pulse phaser rifles. Tyrian was carrying his commando style knife under his uniform jacket as always.
As the team entered the shuttle bay, Tyrian saw that the other teams were also preparing to depart aboard the other shuttles, Tyrian nodded to Ki'lal across the bay. Tyrian was not fully comfortable about the dangers of this mission, if attacked while away from the Stealth, they would be sitting ducks in the shuttles. The team started preparing the shuttle for launch. Sholek was already on board preparing the systems, Tyrian greeted him and took a seat in one of the forward chairs.
After a while, Tyrian recieved a transmission that all teams were ready to depart. Tyrian tapped the comm panel, "Team one ready to depart, requesting permission." After a few seconds, the Commander gave clearance and Sholek started to pilot the shuttle out the opening bay door. The shuttle rocked a little as it exited the bay into the blackness of space. Tyrian looked out the window and felt a coldness take over his body as he saw the devastated remains of the U.S.S. Wounded Knee and all the space debris floating around it. They would be within docking distance in a matter of minutes.
The shuttle approached the airlock on the hull just below the saucer section. Sholek piloted the shuttle, turning it around and slowly backing it into the big ship. The shuttle jerked as it locked itself into the ship, shaking the crew onboard around a little bit. Tyrian ordered all the men to point phaser rifles at the door, and to be ready for anything. The door slid open.........nothing but darkness and silence ahead. The five men and one woman slowly started to exit the shuttle and entered the ship......emergency lighting was on.........dimly lighting the passage ahead. It was empty except for the blown out wall panels, burnt out wiring coming out of the walls and ceiling, and metal support beams broken out from the ceiling coming down to the floor. Tyrian ordered the team ahead, with himself in the lead. All had phaser rifles drawn and pointed forward as they entered the derelict ship.
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USS Stealth Stardate 9703.08
As he probed the darkness beyond the Stealth with his telepathic abilities, Thoraz Brynaziir suddenly was hit with an overwhelming feeling of dread....
"Lieutenant Winefield," Thoraz said, bolting from his chair. "It's a trap..."
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USS Wounded Knee Stardate 9703.08
Once all the shuttles were docked and the crews had boarded the nearly destroyed Ambassador-class starship, they proceeded cautiously into the vessel. It wasn't long before Sholek made the first startling discovery.
"There's no radiation leak over here," Sholek said, checking his tricorder scans. "It's some kind of scattering field that is giving off the same characteristics as the residule effects of a reactor leak. Somebody did not want us scanning this ship, or beaming in or out."
"Damn," Tyrian hissed as he tapped his communicator to pass that information along to the other Stealth and Cairo landing parties. "This doesn't feel right at all."
"Stealth to boarding parties," Winefield's voice sounded across the communicators. "Be advised. Ensign Brynaziir feels there is a trap set for you on the Wounded Knee. Acknowledge."
Almost as if that were the cue, chaos erupted all around the landing parties. One of the Cairo teams was the first to suffer. "Cairo Away Team One. We are under attack on deck seven..." the transmission ended aburptly.
Then, from all around them, using internal site-to-site transporters not affected by the scattering fields, Klingons appeared around Ayer, Summers and Ki'lal's teams. Armed with bat'leths and disruptors, the screaming Klingon warriors attacked without mercy....
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Sun, 9 Mar 1997 23:13:14 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/A Good Day to Die
Lt. Ayer Wounded Knee Stardate 9703.09
Ensign Yerla was the first to be hit by the Klingons. The disruptor tore through her heart, leaving a huge scorch mark on the Uridian's chest. The team immediately ducked behind the corner and returned fire.
Lieutenant Giurn, a Bajoran security officer, was more rash in his actions though. He turned back and fired as many shots as he could at the Klingons, not caring if he got hit and knelt down beside Yerla. Ayer ordered the other security officer, Ensign Trel, to keep the Klingons busy.
He then ran towards Giurn and helped him retrieve the wounded officer. Trel was especially skilled with his markmanship for he managed to stun two of the Klingons that were trying to shoot at the rescue officers. Rounding back to the corner, the two officers gently set Yerla down on the floor. Dr. Ming already had her medi-kit open and began scanning her.
Ayer noticed Giurn looked very distressed and seeing that he was of no use here, ordered the Bajoran back to assist Trel. When Giurn was gone, Ayer leaned down to talk to the doctor. "How is she?"
Dr. Ming switched off her tricorder and began putting her equipments back in the kit. Looking back at Ayer, she said, "The disruptor impacted on her left ventricle. Her heart was charred the instant it happened. I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do."
Before he could respond, a disruptor beam struck a panel located beside Dr. Ming. Looking up, Ayer saw there were more Klingons coming from behind their cover. They were surrounded. Seeing no hope of escape, Ayer was ready to order them to stand and fight when Ensign Utte, the Bolian engineer, cried out, "Over here! I found a way out!"
She had managed to disable the door near their cover and the team immediately rushed in. Ayer stayed back to provide some cover for the escape and the team was almost cleared when Lt. Giurn saw the body of Yerla laying on the floor. Crying out, he rushed towards the corpse but was intercepted by Ayer.
"You can't leave her here!" The Bajoran yelled and tried to force Ayer away. The Bajoran was strong but Ayer was stronger and managed to push him through the door. As soon as they were in, Utte closed the door and sealed it with a magnetic constrictor. "There, that should hold them off for a while," the Bolian said.
After the initial rush of events, the team was relieved they now had time to think. Looking around, they discovered they were in the lounge. However, due to the damage the Wounded Knee had suffered, the lounge was a chaotic place to be. There were bodies everywhere, some were Klingons and others were humans. The doctor took out her tricorder and began scanning the bodies. While she was doing that, Ensign Utte was busy trying to rig the door for better defense.
The Klingons were pounding heavily on the door and dents were made faster than could be repaired by Utte. Ensign Trel, the Vulcan, was more calmed in his manner and searched the room for a possible escape route. However, what worried him the most was Lieutenant Giurn.
Looking at him, Ayer discovered the Bajoran was assisting the engineer. He was cutting panels off the wall while Utte uses them to seal the dents. Relieved, Ayer was glad Giurn didn't concentrate on his personal feelings at the moment. Ever since the Stealth had been first boarded, it had become a known fact that Giurn and Yerla had a relationship together. They were always together and since they were both in security, they work closer than partners.
"Lt. Ayer, over here," Ming called out. Ayer walked towards the doctor, "What is it?"
"This human, he's alive."
Ayer looked down and noticed what she was talking about. There was a boy there, fifteen years old judging from his face though it was hard to tell since blood was running down his face. Dr. Ming carefully sealed the wound and cleared the blood of his face. "How bad is his injuries?" Ayer asked.
"Aside from the wound which I've just healed, he's only suffered minor injuries, bruises, scratches, and the like."
"Can you wake him?"
"I wouldn't advise it. You see, the female beside him is his mother," Ming shook her head for she knew what he was going to ask. "She was caught in the blast radius of a plasma grenade."
"And you think if we wake up the boy, he might.." Ayer trailed off.
"Suffer severe trauma injuries," Ming finished off.
"Lieutenant!" Utte cried out. Ayer, Ming, and Trel turned around to look and was shocked to find what was happening. The Bajoran, who had lost his emotional control, was now bent on the destruction of every Klingons. He had his phaser rifle out and was shooting at the door, madly trying to get to the Klingons behind it.
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Lt. Jake Winefield USS Stealth Stardate 9703.09
Jake looked over at Ensign Brynaziir, "Shit! We should have been better prepared. Bridge the away teams are under some form of attack we need to provide them with assistance has our sensors detected the Klingon ships they should have uncloaked to beam over their crew. What our your orders comander?"
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Lt. Tyrian M. Summers Onboard U.S.S. Wounded Knee Stardate 9703.09
After a while searching the desolate, damaged hallways of the U.S.S. Wounded Knee, Tyrian's team had made its way up to the saucer section in hope of finding some of the wounded crew. They were currently in a long hallway that was as battle damaged as the rest of the ship, tricorder readings had not been accurate, so they were going room to room.
Sholek had been going over his tricorder the entire time onboard, finally, he stated, "There's no radiation leak over here, its some kind of scattering field that is giving off the same characteristics as the residule effects of a reactor leak. Somebody did not want us scanning this ship, or beaming in or out."
Tyrian went to tap his comm badge as he said, "Damn, this doesnt feel right at all. Winefield's voice came over the team's comm badges that Ensign Brynaziir felt there was a trap set for them. Tyrian told everybody to find cover and reinforce their position until they could get some decent readings from their tricorders on the threat factor.
Before the team could get settled behind the support beams and doorways of the long corridor, Klingons started to beam in all over the place up and down the hallway. Tyrian ordered everybody to shoot to kill. The team opened up on the appearing figures, thier pulse phasers lighting up the corridor. The Klingons were appearing faster than the Starfleet team could shoot them, they started getting into positions up and down the hallway on both sides of the team, fireing disrupter shots wildly at them.
Tyrian was half in a doorway to one of the crew quarters, holding his rifle in one arm and his pistol in the other firing down one side of the corridor. He had hit quite a few Klingons, but they kept appearing, now they were appearing farther down the hallway, enabling them to fully transport safely. Tyrian saw that ensigns Ramirez and Ramsey were pinned behind support beams in front of him as the disrupter shots kept hitting walls all around, creating smoke that was starting to fill the hallway. Tyrian had lost track of Sholek and the others in the smoke, and he didn't feel like sticking his head out the doorway to look over in that direction.
Just then Tyrian had to dive into the crew quarters as disrupter shots started to find their mark on the doorway he had been standing in. The doorway and nearby walls were exploding debris all over the place as Tyrian got up and picked up his pulse phaser rifle that had been knocked out of his hand, he didnt know were his pistal had gone. To his horror, he realized that klingons were beaming into the room he was standing in alone. He blasted the first one to appear, desinigrating him completely.
Tyrian turned in the direction of the other three who had just appeared, he nailed one with a pulse shot as the other two jumped at him as their friend disappeared. Tyrian clocked one of the Klingons in the nose with the side of the rifle, knocking him backwards. The other Klingon yelled as he swung his bat'leth at Tyrian, who ducked and swung his rifle up to block the blow, the bat'leth stopped the blow, but was sliced up pretty well and was rendered inoperable.
Tyrian threw the rifle aside as he leg swept the klingon, taking him to the ground. He drew his knife from inside his jacket and flung it across the room at the other klingon. The knife hit the Klingon in the chest solidly, dropping him backwards, dead. Tyrian looked the remaining Klingon in the eyes as he rose back up and faced off with him. The Klingon charged him, bat'leth up in the air over his head, as he brought it down at Tyrian, who was ready to deflect the blow, the bat'leth got caught in a cable that was hanging out of the blackened ceiling.
The Klingon looked up with surprise at the stuck weapon, and then his eyes quickly went down to Tyrian who was smiling. Tyrian caught the Klingon warrior with a high kick directly to his throat, causing him to let the weapon go and put his hands around his damaged throat area. Tyrian kicked him again in the chest, hard enough to send him careening backwards into the hallway. A disrupter shot caught him as he went out into the crossfire, vaporizing him. Tyrian picked up a disruptor pistal off the one fallen Klingon in the room.
He returned to the doorway to continue the battle, he looked out into the smoke, he saw that Ramsey was on the ground, hit, but he couldnt tell how bad. There was still no sign of Sholek or the other two. He could hear Starfleet phasers coming from the other direction though, so he knew someone was still alive over that way. But the amount of Klingons was growing by the moment, Tyrian knew that the team might not be able to last much longer............hopefully the Stealth or the Cairo could help them somehow, he thought as he fired disruptor blasts at the oncoming Klingons through the dense smoke.
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Ensign Sholek Onboard U.S.S. Wounded Knee Stardate 9703.09
The Klingons began to appear in large numbers. Sholek charged them knowing they could never win unless they could catch the Klingons off guard. He pulled out his knife he had hidden in his boot at started dicing up the Klingons as they appeared.
They were greatly out numbered but the Starfleet officers never gave up. Sholek tryed to find a way out of the main fight to see if he could find the scattering field and deactivate it so that they could transport out and the Stealth could scan and transport out any survivors that may have escaped the Klingons.
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U.S.S. Stealth Bridge Stardate 9703.09
"What the hell!" Ensign Harka yelled from tactical.
Sortha, who had been monitoring transmissions from the battle on the Wounded Knee from his command chair, turned to look at the Bolina tactical officer. "What iss it?"
The Bolian didn't look up as his fingers danced across the tactical board frantically. "Our shields are dropping! Someone on the Wounded Knee has accessed the Stealth's command console. They're ordering our computer to drop shields," Harka explained, trying to get the shields back up."
Sortha slammed a huge fist into the armrest of his chair. "The prefix code! Hail the Cairo! Warn them."
"Cairo's shields are also down!" Harka shouted. "Wounded Knee scattering field is gone."
Just then, Sortha heard the telltale sound of transporters and the shapes of five Klingons began to appear on the bridge....
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 23:52:57 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/One more post
FROM THE GM: Missed this post from Ayer in the last mailing. It fits in after the transmission from Ki'lal to Summers...
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Lt. Ayer Wounded Knee - Lounge Stardate 9703.10
"Ensign Trel, hold him down," Ayer ordered. The Vulcan was already running towards the Bajoran and pinned him down. Trel was barely able to hold him down despite the superior strength which he possessed. Ming and Ayer rushed forward to assist with the Vulcan. Utte immediately turned towards the door and tried to repair whatever damage had been done.
Ayer turned a furious gaze at the Bajoran. "Just what do you think you're doing, lieutenant! Do you realize what you could've done! Your life, our lives could've been in danger, all because of one irrational act!"
Pausing for a moment to take a deep breath, Ayer continued in a softer but firm tone, "I know you're upset with the loss of your friend, but that is no reason to sacrifice anymore of them. I know it's hard to control the rage inside yourself but trust me. I've been where you are now and it is a battle to be fought but remember this, your friends are all around you. We are here to help you through this. I know you're not seeking compassion or care so I give you this promise. Before we reach the end of this mission, I swear we will make the Klingons pay for what they've done to us, to you, to Yerla."
Thankfully, the words had an effect on Giurn and was calmed enough to think better. Taking a deep breath, he said, "I'm sorry, sir. I realized the disaster which I could've brought to all of us but my revenge isn't fulfilled. I will contain myself and know that Yerla's death will be avenged since I trust your word."
"Sir..." Utte said in an unsure manner, "I think we should go." Everyone turned to look at the door and instead of seeing dents being made, the whole door was glowing red. Apparently the Klingons were tired of trying to break in with their bat'leths and were now using their disruptors which proved to be quite efficient.
"Sir, I've found an access corridor which should provide an adequate escape," the Vulcan said in a calmed manner. He walked towards the far end of the Lounge and took out the grate which covered the route. Ayer motioned all the officers to go through and had Trel take the boy. The other officers were through but before Ayer could make it, the Klingons burst through the door and started firing randomly. When they noticed the escape attempt, they started firing at Ayer. The lieutenant rushed into the corridor but before he was completely safe, a disruptor beam hit his shoulder. Wincing in pain, he hurriedly crawled ahead and turned the corner. Then setting his phaser rifle on the floor, he adjusted the setting for automatic fire and aimed it at the entrance. Turning back, he followed the rest of the team.
After about five minutes, the team settled down at a junction. Tricorder scans revealed no signs of life within the vicinity so it was relatively safe. Utte, Giurn, and Trel, along with the boy he was carrying, were sitting at one corner, talking amongst each other while Ayer and Ming was sitting opposite of them. Ming was breathing heavily and managed to turn to look at Ayer, "Close call, wouldn't you say." She smiled slightly but her gaze then dropped to his shoulder. Her smile wiped off immediately. "Your shoulder, what happened?"
Ayer looked down and saw the wound. However, instead of red blood, the color of the wound was yellow. He knew Ming was worried so he provided the answer to her unspoken question. "Ever since I was born, my blood had always been yellow. The doctors that diagnosed my condition couldn't tell my parents or me why that was so. However, they did agree that it was blood but just of a different color. I've never really told anyone for I knew some would consider it a strange event and may start something."
Ming nodded and said nothing afterwards. Everyone was apparently well rested now. Ayer turned to Trel and asked, "Ensign, do you know how to get back to our shuttle?"
The Vulcan nodded.
"Good, I want you to lead everyone else back to the shuttle and stay inside. See if you can find a way of rescuing the away teams or stopping the Klingons from beaming in. I'm going to the bridge to see if there is anything I can do there." Ayer then added in with a final thought, "Good luck." With that, he headed forward and disappeared into one of the endless corridors.
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 23:48:12 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/Die Klingons Die!
Commander Sortha Bridge of the Stealth Stardate 9703.10
"What the hell!" Ensign Harka yelled from tactical.
Sortha, who had been monitoring transmissions from the battle on the Wounded Knee from his command chair, turned to look at the Bolina tactical officer. "What iss it?"
The Bolian didn't look up as his fingers danced across the tactical board frantically. "Our shields are dropping! Someone on the Wounded Knee has accessed the Stealth's command console. They're ordering our computer to drop shields," Harka explained, trying to get the shields back up."
Sortha slammed a huge fist into the armrest of his chair. "The prefix code! Hail the Cairo! Warn them."
"Cairo's shields are also down!" Harka shouted. "Wounded Knee scattering field is gone."
Just then, Sortha heard the telltale sound of transporters and the shapes of five Klingons began to appear on the bridge....
Sortha almost welcomed the chance to tear into some of the Klingons personally, however he took care of urgent matters first. "Sortha Alpha One command overide" he yelled, "Raise shields!" As the computer recognized his voice and shifted all command functions to his personal voice command only, he saw the green lights surrounding the Stealth once again on the ship's shield display. The Klingon boarding party was here to stay, but the shields were back up for now.
The Klingons had materialized and took only a split second to find a target, each of them going for a bridge officer. One large Klingon, the leader of the group, came directly at Sortha in the command chair. Standing up quickly, Sortha brought the armrest of the bridge chair with him, having easily detached it from the rest of the chair as he rose by simply not letting go of it. The Klingon swung his bat'leth in a wide overhead arc bringing the weapon down toward Sortha's left shoulder. Sortha intercepted the Bat'leth strike with the chair arm, deflecting it to one side. With his other hand he reached out and grasped the Klingon's neck firmly in a clawed grip. The Klingon's eyes bulged as he considered his predicament and his impending death became apparent in his mind.
Sortha lifted the Klingon off his feet and the sound of vertabrae popping and fracturing filled the bridge. Sortha flung the limp form of the still twitching Klingon at two other Klingons who were running at Ensign Harmon, who was at the helm. They went down in a tangled heap. Behind him, Sortha heard a Klingon charging after Harka who narrowly evaded a sword blow by ducking under the tactical station.
The fifth Klingon was grappling with Ensign Susan Weiss, who was stationed at Ops. She was holding her own through sheer force of will. Sortha took one quick leap over to Weiss and standing behind the Klingon, encompassed the top of the Klingon's skull in one of his large reptilian hands. Jerking his arm violently he broke the Klingon's neck cleanly and whipped him away from Weiss. He didn't have time to mess with these vermin.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Harmon kick one of the Klingons in the head who was struggling to his feet. The Klingon went down on his back. The other Klingon managed to get to his feet but was immediately tackled by two ensigns from science and engineering. Meanwhile, Harka was kicking at the Klingon's legs as the warrior tried to pull him out from under the Tactical station. The Bolian's cries of desperation filled the bridge.
Standing to his full height Sortha bellowed "Cowardly Klingon pah'takh, fight me!" The Klingon snorted in disgust one last time at the hiding Bolian, and drawing his blood knife jumped to the top of the tactical station and leapt at Sortha. With surprising agility, the huge Gorn turned to one side, and backhanded the Klingon as he flew by, adding the force of his blow to the already considerable momentum the Klingon possessed. He slammed headfirst into the navigation station, and slumped to the deck, bleeding profusely and unconscious.
On the other side of the bridge, one of the ensigns was bleeding from a stab wound, but Harmon and Weiss had managed to neutralize the other two Klingons.
Running to Tactical Sortha called up the schematics on the ship as he broadcast over the ship "intruder alert, intruder alert, armed Klingons aboard." His first task was to see what was happening in engineering, besides the bridge, that would be the Klingon's next priority target. At the same time he ordered Winefield to scan the surrounding area for Klingon ships, and Harka to determine what was going on with the other ships, (the Cairo and the Wounded Knee.)
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Lt. Jake Winefield USS Stealth (secondary bridge) Starbase 9703.10
Over the open channel to the bridge Jake heard that the scattering field around the Wounded Knee was down as well as the Stealth's shields. Immediately Jake called to the transporter "get a lock on our crew as well as any living Wounded Knee crew and beam them back over the the Stealth."
Turning to Ensign Brynziir Jake asked "Do you know if any of the away teams are still alive? And if so what are they doing?"
Just as Jake asked the Ensign he could hear the sounds of transporter beams over the bridge intercom and his mind begain to race,"Oh no their coming aboard, transporter room send a fully armed security detail directly to the bridge RIGHT NOW"
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Winefield and Brynaziir Stealth Stardate 9703.10
As the two officers contemplated what to do, they heard alarms sounding all over the ship and reports of Klingons on the bridge, in engineering and scattered in a few other places on the ship began to come in.
They knew Sortha and Ensign Harka, the fill-in tactical officer could manage things on the bridge, but engineering was short handed right now as Sholek and several of his engineers were now over on the Wounded Knee helping with the Away Teams there (and dealing with Klingons not doubt).
Then, the voice of Sortha broke though on the intercom and made up their minds for them, "Winefield and Brynaziir. Gather a ssecurity team and head to engineering. The bridge iss ssecure."
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Stealth Bridge Stardate 9703.10
Ensign Harka, still shaking from his nearly fatal encounter with a Klingon warrior, worked the tactical station trying to raise the Cairo. Suddenly, the viewscreen image changed and Captain Edward Jellico appeared. The captain looked a bit shaken, with sweat dripping down his face and a bleeding cut across his left temple.
"Damn Klingons," Jellico muttered. "We've got our bridge back, but be warned Commander Sortha. They tried to get a strike team into engineering. They have explosives, looks like they were trying to detonate our warp core but my security teams stopped them. We still have a few Klingons scattered around the ship we're trying to lock down. Better secure your engineering situation before they can get to your reactor."
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U.S.S. Wounded Knee Stardate 9703.10
"Ki'lal to Summers," the Klingon called over the comm-badge.
"Summers here," Tyrian replied as he continued to shoot it out with the Klingons.
"We found approximately 30 survivors locked in a holodeck on deck 18. We can't get to them, however. The Klingons have about eight warriors posted in and around that room, guarding their prisoners," Ki'lal said. "What are your orders?"
(FROM THE GM: Feel free to jump in anytime here Ki'lal.)
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 1997 01:01:38 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/Retaking Engineering
Lt. Jake Winefield USS Stealth Stardate 9703.11
Following orders Jake and Brynaziir gathered three security officers and headed to engineering. Once there The engineering doors opened and inside could be seen 3 Klingons in the process of placing explosive devices around the warp core.
Moving in Jake gave orders to his team, "Ok spread out try drawing the Klingons away from the core and what every you do don't hit the core with your phaser fire."
Jake moved in and found some cover behind one of the control consoles. A quick look at the control panel showed that the Klingons had not attempted to make any changes, they seemed to have just come to plant the bombs. Several Stealth engineering crew lay unconcius or dead on the floor. Suddenly before all of his team had moved in one of the Klingons spotted them and disrupter fire began.
Jake leapted up and fired his phaser at one of the Klingons nearest to the bombs. At the same time he yelled to his team, "Phasers on stun remember the warp core."
Disrupter and phaser fire now filled the engineering room for the next few seconds. Two of the security officers where hit by disruptor fire and fell from his position Jake could not determine if they were dead.
Brynaziir fired his phasor and hit one of the Klingons. The shot was square in the chest and the Klingon fell stuned to the ground. Another of the Klingons took the chance to rush security officer Hanks the last of the three security teams that came in with Winefield.
Raising his phaser Jake tried to hit him before he made his way to Hanks but the Klingon proved to be to fast. The Klingon drew his d'k tahg and slamed it into the security officers chest just as Hanks fired his own phasor at point blank range killing the Klingon as both figures collapsed onto the deck.
Jake was about to fire on the last Klingon when he noticed that he was not aiming his disrupter at any of the Starfleet personal but at the warp core.
Loudly Jake tryed to get his attention. "Stop you coward. Are you afraid to fight a lowly human must you kill yourself out of fear?"
It worked. The Klingon turned towards Jake and pulled his d'k tahg reholstering his disrupter. Jake raised a hand for Brynaziir to hold his fire and placed his own phaser on one of the console. Moving close the two figures begain combat. With well placed strikes the Klingons blade cut at Jake, it was only the intense training Winefield had gotten from Ki'lal that keep the Klingon from making a death strike. Jake moved and twisted throwing a kick towards the Klingon every now and then to keep the battle going. Each step moved the battle away from the warp core and towards a large area of engineering.
Just as the battle started to go bad for Jake and the Klingon began a more aggressive fight they had moved into the area Jake wanted them in. Yelling loudly Jake leaped across one of the consels. "Computer set up a level 4 containment field in area 6-1-3.5."
The force field surronded the Klingon who began pounding on the shields screaming with rage. Jake smiled and continued with his plan "computer fill containment field with neuropen gas"
The Klingon screams slowly died out as he lost consciousness. "Bridge this is Lt. Winefiled engineering is secured. Sickbay we need medical teams in engineering we have several wounded. Security send teams down to secure Klingon prisoners. Winefield out." With that done Jake helped Bryaziir who was already tending to the wounded.
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 1997 01:08:53 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/Pinned Down
Lt. Tyrian M. Summers Onboard U.S.S. Wounded Knee Stardate 9703.10
Tyrian ducked as another disruptor shot slammed into the wall, sending sparks raining down on him. He was in the middle of firing his captured klingon disruptor at the Klingons down the hallway and talking to Lt. Ki'lal over his comm badge. Tyrian yelled over the disrupter and phaser shots to Ki'lal, "I would love to help you Ki'lal, but we have problems of our own up here, we are pinned down on deck seven and cut off on both sides of a corridor by about twelve to fourteen klingons on one side, and I ca'nt see through the smoke to see how many are on the other, but I suppose about the same. Our medical officer is down and I can only see Ramirez, I dont know where Sholek and the other two are exactly, but I can hear Starfleet phasers to my right, but I cant tell how many of them are left."
Tyrian dodged to his left, away from another disrupter shot, "Ki'lal, if your team is secured, see if you can access the ship's scematics and see if there is an escape route near here, that way some of us might actually live and be able to rendevous with your team, and make a stand with better odds against these klingons. But hurry up about it, we cant last much longer here."
Tyrian glanced over to his right as he kept firing shots at the klingons, most who had secured positions behind support beams that ran up and down the hallway, Tyrian saw Anderson and Hanson running towards him through the thick smoke. Anderson yelled at him, "We ca'nt hold them, they're going to overrun us!!, we lost ensign Sholek, he disappeared in the smoke and gunfire and I dont know where he could be."
Just then, Ramirez started pulling the fallen Ramsey through the door. Tyrian said to the team members as he sealed and locked the door to the crew quarters, "We cant last any longer here, shoot the floor, and try to make a passage down to deck eight, there might not be any klingons down there to fight, I am wary of doing this, because we might cause further structural damage and bring all this wreckage down ontop of us, but we have no choice.
Tyrian tapped his comm badge, "Tyrian to Sholek" "Tyrian to Sholek" "Damn...........he wont answer, or he can't answer". The men concentrated their weapons on the floor and fired, after a few seconds, the floor dissappeared in a rough circle. The klingons were already pounding at the door. Tyrian bent down to Ramsey who had a bad leg wound, and asked her, "Can you make it?" She said she thought so. Tyrain and Anderson lowered her down to deck eight and then the rest of them followed. Tyrian was the strongest of the group, so he picked the petite medical officer up and put her over his shoulder. The team started running towards the nearest Jeffrey's tube to the lower decks. Tyrian hit his comm badge again, "Summers to Ki'lal, we have eluded the klingons at the moment, but they are on our tail, where do you want to rendevous?"
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 1997 22:21:07 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SO: Stealth/Big Bang!
Commander Sortha Bridge of the Stealth Stardate 9703.12
Sortha kicked an unconscious Klingon off of the navigation console with a snort of disgust. "Lieutenant Winefield, Sstatus?" he ordered to the air.
Within seconds, Winefield's voice came over the comm system: "Sir we have managed to retake engineering and have defused the bombs the Klingons were in the process of deploying. We have casualties, and some captured Klingons."
"Excellent work Lieutenant. Sstay down there with your ssecurity teams. Make ssure engineering is fully functional and defended. There may be other Klingonss aboard."
"Aye Sir" Winefield breathed. He sounded tired, but in control, and not too excited. Sortha was glad he had chosen him as executive officer.
"Harka, I want a level 1 ssecurity scan of the ship. I want any Klingons found." Just then a security team reached the bridge. "Take the ssurviving Klingon to the brig, but sstun him again just for good measure."
As the security team started for the Klingon, Sortha joined Harka at tactical. Keying several panels, Sortha brought up the schematics of the Wounded Knee. The Klingons had once again raised their dampening field, making it all but impossible for the Stealth's sensors to get solid readings on anything.
Just then Jellicoe's face appeared on the screen "What's your status Commander?"
"Bridge and engineering are secure, we are searching for Klingon stragglers" Sortha responded.
"As are we" Jellicoe concluded. "It appears that we can't get any sensor locks on the Wounded Knee."
As he looked at Jellicoe, Sortha opened a communications line "Lieutenant Ayer, Ssummers or Ki'lal, your top priority is to take out the Klingon'ss dampening field generator. We can't locate it here, but you sshould be able to from inside the sship. Locate it and desstroy it."
Over on the Cairo, Captain Jellicoe was giving identical orders to his personnel. Sortha grimaced, a hand-to-hand battle against Klingon warriors with their backs against a wall was a losing proposition.
"Enssign Weisss, play back the ssensor logs from the time the Klingon dampening field dropped." Sortha looked at the readings, there were approximately 20 personnel from the Stealth aboard, some with fading life signs, either wounded or cooling corpses. In addition there were about 50 people from Jellicoe's ships aboard, 50 survivors from the Wounded Knee and approximately 100 Klingons. The dampening field generator was located in what appeared to be a holodeck. It was surrounded by 10 Klingon life signs and 20 starfleet personnel, most likely captured members of the Wounded Knee's crew. Sortha relayed the location to his and Jellico's away teams.
"Sir!" It was Harka, I've detected 5 Klingons on various parts of the ship, all seem to be engaged with crewmembers.....2 Klingons dead, 3 crewmembers ...............wait, they got two more Klingons. One to go. I lost track of him, somewhere in Turboshaft 1."
Sortha walked over to tactical and started configuring phasers for sustained cutting mode. If the teams on the Wounded Knee couldn't take out the Klingon dampening field, he might have to resort to cutting it out. With the Wounded Knee's shields down, it would be like slicing through butter with a warm knife... but the 20 hostages around the dampening field generator would have to be sacrificed. Sortha hoped his teams could take it out first..... Come on Ayer, it's time for some of your trickery, Sortha thought to himself.
Just then the turbolift doors opened, everything started to move in slow motion, a huge, muscular and wild looking Klingon emerged out of the turbolift and aimed his disruptor at Sortha's back. With a wild cry, Harka launched himself at the Klingon. Sortha turned around just in time to see Harka take a fully charged disruptor blast in the chest, his dissipating form still carrying itself to the Klingon as he dematerialized. The Klingon raised his disruptor again, but by that time Sortha had closed the distance, and slammed into the Klingon.
The Klingon's disruptor was knocked to the deck as Sortha and the Klingon tumbled together back into the turbolift. The doors closed after them. Sortha was filled with a red rage. As a rule the Gorn were very steady and levelheaded, but Sortha had just seen a loyal officer give his life to save him from this stinking '"rackleth.''
They were both laying on the floor of the turbolift. He felt the Klingon deliver a series of well aimed powerful blows to his head, which served to release whatever civilized restraint Sortha had, and he reverted back to a buried primal instinct. Gripping the Klingon in a tight bearhug on the ground, he quickly kicked his boots off and started raking the Klingon's stomach area with rear claws as he held him tight with his arms. The armor only lasted so long. Soon his sharp toeclaws were ripping into the exposed belly of the Klingon. His mouth found its way to the Klingon's neck, his pulsing jugular, and with carniverous frenzy the razor sharp teeth tore at the Klingon's neck. Claws were employed, teeth rendered flesh, muscle and tendons were stripped from bone. After a minute, Sortha came to his senses. Blood covered the turbolift. Pieces of Klingon were strewn about in a random pattern. His uniform was covered in, and was slick with blood.
Surely the entire bridge crew had to have heard the agonized bestial cries of the dying Klingon. Sortha hesitated to emerge back onto the bridge, the veneer of civilization had been stripped away from him and he felt ashamed for reverting to the old ways of his ancestors... He was needed on the bridge, there was no escaping the situation. At least no one had seen him in the turbolift. He tore off his blood soaked shirt exposing his scaly reptilian hide. He placed his commbadge on his pants. As he stepped through the turbolift doors, all eyes on the bridge turned to him. If he could have read the human eyes, he would have seen understanding, but he could not. Stiffly, he walked over to tactical and stared at the readouts, the dampening field had not been lowered. Five minutes, he'd give Ayer five minutes...
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(FROM THE GM: Ayer, I changed your post to being set on the auxiliary bridge. Remember in the initial description of the Wounded Knee I said the ship's bridge was torn open and was in total vaccuum?)
Lt. Ayer Wounded Knee - Access Corridors Stardate 9703.12
Ayer was flying through the corridors and it didn't take long for him to reach the auxiliary bridge. Taking out his phaser and setting it at level 10, he vaporized the door panel blocking the exitway and crawled out. Looking around, he found himself in the conference room.
There was no other way to get into the auxiliary bridge since all access corridors ended before reaching it. The only way to get to the auxiliary bridge was either through the turbolift, the conference room, or the captain's auxiliary ready room, or using the transporter. The transporter was most likely damaged (FROM THE GM: Actually, most of the transporters are back online. That's how the Klingons are beaming all over the place) and using the turbolift could mean announcing his arrival to the Klingons. Ayer slowly walked towards the door and adjusted his phaser to send out a small size beam. Using the phaser, he managed to cut out a spy-hole and peered through.
There were Klingons everywhere in the room. Ayer guessed there were at least ten Klingons present on the auxiliary bridge. Most of them were busy with the ship's systems. However, one of the Klingon was sitting in the captain's seat, giving out the orders. Ayer guessed that he was Commander T'Waq. Terek, the Cardassian spy Ayer had met on Epsilon Seven, had told him about this Klingon. T'Waq was one of the first officer to join with Kahgal when he left the Empire. Kahgal was impressed by the officers action and had decided to make T'Waq his first officer.
If T'Waq was here, then Kahgal must be nearby. Tapping his commbadge, Ayer attempted to contact the Stealth to let them know what he had found. However, instead of hearing a beep from the badge, there was nothing. Desperate, he tried again and again. When he received no response, he attempted to contact the other away teams but the badge failed. Either the badge was broken during the fight with the Klingons or there was a scattering field nearby. Not knowing what to do, Ayer decided to keep observing the Klingons.
One of the Klingon officer was standing beside T'Waq at the time when he said, "Sir, we have managed to gain control of the mines during the boarding attempt on those Federation ships. During the moments of distraction, the mines were steered into position along those ships. Shall I have the mines set off?"
T'Waq was smiling at what the Klingon had said. Nodding his head, he said in a rough voice, "Set them off. Let's see what those cowardly humans would do." With that, one of the Klingon officer tapped in some commands into his hand-held controller and watched the viewscreen.
Holding his breath and also looking at the viewscreen, Ayer expected the ships to be destroyed. One by one, the mines were set off along the bows of the ships of Task Force 3 and the Stealth. Intense shock wave radiated from the explosion and brief flashes of fire could be seen. When the flames settled, all of the Klingons had a look of pleasure on their face. However, when all traces of the explosion was cleared, the Stealth along with some of the ships of Task Force 3 were still there. They were in a broken formation and some ships were damaged but overall, the mines didn't do as much damage as expected.
Letting go of his breath, Ayer watched the reactions of the Klingons. Some were still in shock while others were enraged. T'Waq, on the other hand, had pulled out his disruptor and shot it at the officer who told him about the mines. Shooting at the corpse a few more times, he then settled down to think about his next move. Slowly, he raised his head up and addressed the Klingons in one brief sentence, "Today is a good day to die." Turning to his own command console, he tapped in a command. The computer then spoke, "Auto-destruct sequence initiated. Fifteen minutes before core breach."
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U.S.S. Stealth After the Explosion Stardate 9703.12
The Stealth was rocked by the explosion of the mines, but the weapons did little more than shake the already exhausted crew. Sortha had expected the mines to be detonated at some point, which is why they had tractored the Wounded Knee out of the mine field to begin with.
It looked as if though Sortha was going to have to go ahead with the surgical removal of the dampening field generator afterall. Moving beside Ensign Nash, who was now at tactical replacing Harka, Sortha began to give the Vulcan officer the exact settings he wanted for the phasers when an alarm on the tactical console went off.
"Sir, there is a warp core breach in progress on the Wounded Knee. It looks like an auto-destruct sequence has been initiated."
Sortha let out a low growl. "It lookss like our Klingon friendss ssee that they have losst and are planning to desstroy the sship before we capture or kill them."
"It would appear as if their mission was a success, however," Nash noted, insightfully.
"What mission would that be, enssign?" Sortha asked.
"I think the Klingons left on the Wounded Knee have served as a distraction. An effort to prevent this task force and the Stealth from continuing its pursuit of Kahgal," the Vulcan explained calmly. "I believe this was all done to buy time for Kahgal."
"I think you may be right," Sortha rumbled. "Get ready to fire. We have to be careful, we jusst want to remove that holodeck where the dampening field generator iss."
On the Wounded Knee, alarms sounded throughout the battered ship. Then the ship's computer confirmed the worst. "Warning. The auto-destruct sequence has been inititated. Warp core breach in 15 minutes."
Tyrian Summers grimaced and tapped his open comm-badge. "Hurry up Ki'lal. We don't have a lot of time left!"
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 1997 22:48:34 -0500 (EST) Subject: SO: Stealth
Commander Sortha Bridge of the Stealth Stardate 9703.13
Sortha and Nash had the coordinates fed into the targeting computer. The firing pattern was designed to cause the least amount of damage to the Wounded Knee as possible, yet still take out the dampening field generator. They still had 13 minutes until the self-destruct went off. The bridge doors opened and Winefield and Brynaziir took their places on the bridge, now that a security team had been established in engineering.
"Lieutenant Winefield, pleasse tractor our shuttles back to the Sstealth. Make sure they don't have any stowaway Klingons onboard. Lieutenant Brynaziir, try to let me know what's going on in the Wounded Knee. We have to rely on you since sensors are not effective. Are any of our officers experiencing feelings of achievemnt, are they getting close to taking out the dampening field? Also do either of you have any ideass how to get that field down so we can beam our people off?"
Sortha sat back down in his command chair. The ships had now moved to maximum transporter range in case the Wounded Knee prematurely self-destructed. He'd give his teams until the five minute mark before self-destruct. He had good people, they'd get the job done Sortha thought to himself....either that or I'll have to kill 20 innocent StarFleet officers to save the rest of them.
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Lt. Ayer USS Wounded Knee - Conference Room Stardate 9703.13
"Damn Klingons!" Ayer muttered angrily. He knew he should have acted when he had the chance, now there was no way to stop the Klingons. He thought of disabling the auto-destruct sequence, but with new systems implemented into Federation ships, the only way to stop the countdown was to have the person who activated it to call it off. Although he practiced a lot, he didn't have enough voice information to mimic T'Waq. The only thing he could do now was to leave the ship but with the dampening field all around him, he couldn't even do that.
The only way to leave was to deactivate the field but first, he needed to know the location of the field generator. Little did he know how important destroying the generator would be. As Ayer was thinking of how he could find the location of the generator, the computer's voice spoke, "Twelve minutes to warp-core breach."
The Klingons on the bridge had left their post and were now talking aloud amongst each other. Thinking they will die honorably for the Empire, they started to brag about their skills and triumph before they cross over the Sea of Blood and join with Kahless in the Hall of Warriors. However, T'waq had other concerns. He pulled aside one of the Klingons and whispered something to him. Ayer was too far away to hear but a few quick changes solved the problem. Tuning in, he began to pick up on the conversation. "Set'Lath, I want you to go to the holodeck and tell the guards there to kill the prisoners. It would be an insult to die at the same time as they do. We must triumph over our enemies before we cross the Sea of Blood!"
Set'Lath nodded his head, bowed to T'Waq, and left the bridge. Ayer quickly slid through the floor and followed Set'Lath. He may not be able to find the generator but at least he could rescue the survivours. "Good one Ayer," he thought to himself, "save the survivors from the Klingons so that they could get vaporized when the warp-core goes." There was only one holodeck left intact after the battle so it was easy to follow Set'Lath. Set'Lath was apparently hurrying towards his objective but before he could get there, a phaser blast vaporized him.
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U.S.S. Wounded Knee Holodeck Stardate 9703.13
The Klingons in front of the holodeck were standing stifly at attention when a Klingon appeared from around the corner. Without pausing, the Klingon newcomer walked straight into the holodeck.
The holodeck wasn't activated as shown by the display of the grids both on the floor and the walls. There were eight Klingons inside, along with 20 other Starfleet personnel, all of whom were either unconscious, or close to dying. When the sound of the holodeck door opened, the Klingons turned to look at the intruder. When they saw who it was, they stood stifly at attention. One of the Klingon walked towards the newcomer, who then had a talk with him. After a few seconds of discussion, the newcomer motioned for four of the Klingon guards to follow him. They comply immediately and followed the Klingon out of the holodeck.
The Klingon led them into the turbolift and when the door slid shut, a few thumping sounds were made but thankfully, there were no one to hear them.
=============================================================
Lt. Ayer USS Wounded Knee Stardate 9703.13
With two accurately aimed phaser shots, Ayer was able to take out the two guards guarding the holodeck door. Walking towards the door, he adjusted the phaser setting to maximum stunned to prevent harming any Starfleet survivors, and charged in. There were only four Klingon guards inside and he was able to pick two of them off instantly.
The other two guards reacted instantly and dodged behind a large device located in the center of the holodeck. They started firing back at Ayer and forced him to run aside. There was no cover available for him except for the prisoners, and that was out of the question. Luckily, he had a phaser rifle and was able to shoot continuosly at the Klingons, keeping them distracted enough to not fire back.
Firing at the Klingons with one hand, Ayer unholstered the smaller phaser with his other. Adjusting the setting on that to the maximum, he fired it at the device. It only took a two second sustained phaser shot to destroy the device. The debris from the explosion were sent flying into the two Klingons and threw them back against the holodeck wall. As they slump back to the floor, they gave no signs of life.
Just as Ayer was about to talk to the survivours, a sound from above made him glance up. To his horror, he discovered the ceiling was slowly being sliced away.
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 1997 01:40:54 -0500 (EST) Subject: SO: Stealth/End of the Wounded Knee
Lt. Tyrian M. Summers Onboard USS Wounded Knee Stardate 9703.14
"Ki'lal, Ki'lal, can you hear me, where are you?" Tyrian yelled into his comm badge as his team was crawling thier way through one of the small access tunnels. Tyrian turned his head back to the others and said, "We've lost contact with him for some reason."
Ramirez looked up at Tyrian and yelled, "Sir, we have a new problem, I've just detected a self-destruct countdown, we have ten minutes." Tyrian stopped crawling and thought to himself, damn, only Sholek has the technical expertise to stop it, all I have is a group of security officers and a wounded medic. He looked back to the others and said, "We have to get back to the shuttle,we have no time to disable the dampening field and no capabilities to stop the self destruct. Ensign, find us a route back up most likely not to cross the Klingons on our tail."
After five minutes of running through debris ridden halls, access corridors, and Jeffrey's tubes, the team had reached the docking port. As they boarded the shuttle, Tyrian looked at the scanner readout and saw that the Stealth was using phasers on the Wounded Knee.
"They may be saving us as we speak, we appear to have more time." Just then, Ramirez said, "Perhaps not, lieutenant, the Klingons have apparently caught up with us, they are rapidly approaching our position. Tyrian started giving out orders, Ramsey, get the shuttle ready to launch, the rest of you set up positions in the hallway and suprise the Klingons as they round the corner while I work on the airlock for a second. He ripped open the control panel and started messing with the interior circuits.
Tyrian heard phaser fire as his team started nailing klingons as they ran around the corner. But they quickly recovered, and disruptor fire began filling the hallway. The klingons began advancing on their position, Tyrian finished up with his work and yelled for them to get on board. The team ran into the shuttle and Tyrian closed the airlock behind them. Ramsey launched the shuttle, and started towards the Stealth, but Tyrian told her to stand by.
Tyrian said to himself as he pressed the control on the small device he was holding, "Goodbye." Just then the airlock exploded, metal debris and sparks shooting out. Tyrian held a steady look on his face as the Klingon warriors shot out into the vaccuum of space, killing all of them. It was a sobering experience for some of the men to see the agonizing Klingons floating helpless in space.
Anderson said, "Serves them right, thats exactly what they did to most of the crew of the Wounded Knee." Ramsy, grimicing with the pain of her leg, said, what are your orders, sir? Tyrian replied, "Fly us above the engineering section and hold position. Anderson, contact the Stealth, inform them that we have one wounded officer, and that Sholek is missing in action. Tell them of our position and that we will be standing by, and ask if he has any orders for us besides that.
=============================================================
Commander Sortha Bridge of the Stealth Stardate 9703.15
Time had run out. He would have to do it Sortha realized. He checked with Nash, "all sset?"
"Yes Sir" Nash responded.
"Have Security teams standing by in Shuttle bay 1, as ssoon as the field drops, beam all Federation personnel there. Have a containment forcefield in place. Alternatively raise and lower shields between beam outs, I want there to be a good chance that any unauthorized beamout from that ship will run ssmack into our shields."
Soon Nash was busy, carefully directing the beam into the Wounded Knee. Suddenly a panel on the Tactical display lit up."Sir!" Nash yelled, "the generator is down,.. but it wasn't me."
Sortha wasted no time, "Stop cutting, beam survivors now!" he ordered. Immediately, all transporters on teh Stealth and the other ships of the task force were in action beaming survivors and crew back to the Starfleet vessels.
On the Bridge of the USS Stealth....
"Status Report!" Sortha ordered again.
Lieutenant Nash responded, "Sir, we have our people back on board....Sickbay reports.... seven fatalities, nine wounded, 1 missing. Lieutenants Ayer, Summers, and Ki'lal have all reported in.
"What about Sholek?" Sortha asked.
"He's been recovered, but has apparently been wounded."
"Survivors?" Sortha inquired.
"32 survivors, including several children.
Sortha thought: We sent over 4 teams each with a lieutenant, an engineer, a medic and five security personnel, 32 in all. Seven fatalities was too high, but, it could have been worse, and they had rescued 32 people. Sortha eyed the Wounded Knee slowly drifting in space, Fires could be seen burning inside and Sortha wondered how the Klingons trapped inside felt right now. "Time to Sself-desstruct?" Sortha inquired.
"two minutes sir" an ensign replied.
The Federation ships had moved out of blast range of the Wounded Knee and hovered with shields raised and weapons charged, just in case the Klingons had any more nasty surprises.
On the Bridge of the Cairo
Captain Jellico reviewed his casualty report, which was similar in proportion to that of the Stealth's. Too many Starfleet officers died today he thought. Task Force 3 had been decimated, and some of his own crew had just died as well. That, did not please him. General Kahgal would pay.... of that he was sure.
Auxiliary Control, The Wounded Knee
T'waq howled in frustration and banged his fists on the console. This was no way for a warrior to die. Besides, General Kahgal had promised to be cloaked ready to pounce once the Federation ships had lowered their shields. T'Waq realized he had been duped. Kahgal had used him as a delaying tactic so he could make a clean escape. T'waq howled once more. Around him, other warriors joined in his lamentation. He tried the controls once more....to no effect. The Wounded Knee was a pile of debris with no weapons left, not even power to ram. Taking out his dagger he did the only honorable thing, he plunged it forcefully into the front of his neck. His officers followed him moments later.
The Bridge of the USS Stealth
Lieutenant Summers, Ki'lal and Ayer had joined Sortha on the bridge. All watched as the pitiful remains of the Wounded Knee blew up in an unimpressive series of small and itfull explosions. All bowed their heads as they thought of the dead crew of that Starship.
The Sickbay of the USS Stealth
"Computer, activate emergency medical holograph program!" Dr. Ming ordered. She was bleeding herself and was in no shape to do much.
The holograph sprang to life: "Please state the nature of the emergency."
Dr. Ming had just enough energy to say: "nine wounded, all multiple lacerations, cuts, and or disruptor burns, three unconscious" before she fell unconscious herself.
"Well, I guess that makes four" the hologram muttered to himself. He looked around the room, there were only two orderlies, "I see Starfleet is skimping on medical personnel again," he dryly muttered to himself as he started his triage. He assigned the medics to take care of most of the wounds, which were easily treatable basic wounds. However Ensign Georda had major internal injuries from a bat'leth wound which were untreatable, and he died. Ensign Sholek appeared to be in a coma, and he could not revive him, nor could he establish a reason.
After an hour Dr. Ming was able to function, and she consulted with the EMH. Neither of them could revive Sholek. They would have to wait and see.
(FROM THE GM: Sholek, when you are ready to post, go ahead and have your character awaken in sick bay.)
=============================================================
USS Stealth Stardate 9703.15
Captain Jellico appeared on the viewscreen of the Stealth. "Commander. We're about done here. If you require the services of our medical ship, the Curie, feel free to transport any wounded there before we depart."
Sortha nodded. Both officers were interrupted by their bridge crew about the impending destruction of the Wounded Knee. Both switched to an exterior view and they watched as the warp core breached on the dead vessel and it exploded in a blinding flash. A moment later, nothing remained of the Wounded Knee.
The viewscreen returned to the image of Jellico, and the tough Starfleet captain looked angry. "It's time we put an end to this, Commander Sortha. Listening Post 23 has reported a neutrino surge in sector 321. If that neutrino surge is the cloaked DoHqay, then Kahgal is on a direct intercept course with the Potempkin. I'm transmitting the Potempkin's heading to you. Prepare to join my task force and let's go find that Klingon bastard."
Sortha nodded. "How far is he from the Potempkin?"
"Not far. But the Potempkin has been warned. As long as Kahgal isn't jamming their communications they should be ready for him," Jellico said. "We still haven't been able to raise the Potempkin, but that's not a bad sign. She's been running silent since the Klingon threat was identified."
"Sir," Tyrian reported from his post. "Incoming coded transmission from the Klingon/Federation border. The USS Viggo, task force four's missing medical ship, has been found and captured by a Klingon Bird of Prey just inside Klingon space. It was on a direct course for Koltak Kor and was armed with a tactical anti-matter device that would have decimated the Klingon stronghold. They were trying to pass themselves off as the Federation ambassadors ship.
"Klingons were reportedly found onboard, as were Starfleet prisoners. Those Klingons are now dead and the Viggo is in tow. The Bird of Prey that intercepted it has been ordered to bring the captured ship to Koltak Kor and turn the ship and surviving crew over to the Federation envoy when it arrives as a gesture of good faith by Gowron.
Tyiran then smiled and added, "With the exception of finding the DoHQay and Kahgal, looks like the threat to the conference is at least over."
Jellico took in the report and nodded, "Whenever you're ready Commander Sortha, the task force is ready to move out. We've got some hunting to do."
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 1997 00:58:50 -0500 (EST) Subject: SO: Stealth/The Hunt Resumes
Commander Sortha USS Stealth Stardate 9703.16
Sortha sat in the command chair, which had been repaired, and scanned the latest reports. They were on a direct intercept course with the Potempkin. The members of Task Force 3.1 were: the Cairo- Captain Jellicoe's flagship (Updated Excelsior class), the Stealth (Canada Class), the Ranger (Updated Miranda class ie Reliant), and the Kyoto (Constellation ie Stargazer Class).
The Stealth was the only modern Starfleet vessel of the lot, although the other ships had extensive upgrades. The Potempkin was an Ambassador Class (ie Enterprise C) and the same class as the Wounded Knee. If they were able to rendezvous with the Potempkin they would have a sizable force. Jellico's medical ship had been dispatched to Epsilon 7 with the wounded, after having been stripped of replacement crew for the other ships in the task force. Still, they were not up to full crew compliment.
They were scheduled to meet with the Ramses, a Starfleet troop transport ship that was currently reassigning officers within the sector. It had been diverted by Captain Jellicoe to meet TF3.1 and replenish the crew compliment. Although most of the officers aboard the Ramses were fresh out of the academy, they would be a welcome addition to the force.
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 1997 23:17:46 -0500 (EST) Subject: SO: Stealth/Closing on the DoHqay
Lt. Ayer Bridge Stardate 9703.17
The crew from the Ramses weren't due to arrive until another 4 hours. Task Force 3 has been travelling for roughly two hours and still hadn't received any reports from Kahgal. Despite the superior advantage the task force held, Captain Jellico and Commander Sortha were still on the edge, both knowing the Klingon renegade is capable of anything.
All the senior officers were on the bridge, with the exception of Sholek who was still in a coma. Both Dr. Ming and EMH had tried everything they could but they still couldn't revive the Romulan.
"Funny," Ayer thought to himself, "these Romulans can be tricky at times." Turning back to his station, he discovered nothing interesting on the sensors and with things relatively quiet, he decided to fix a problem which had been troubling him for some time now.
Standing up, he approached the tactical station and said, "Tyrian, I need to speak with you." There was a formal ring to the words. Ever since their confrontation, both had tried to avoid each other as much as possible without blocking their duty. With the crisis which had occured, there was no way for them to settle their peace, now the time had come.
Tyrian looked first at Ayer then turned his glance to Sortha. The Gorn nodded his head in permission and turned back to his work, he had full confidence in the ability of both of his officers to settle their dispute. Thoraz was looking at them ever since Ayer left his station. He seemed almost as if wanting to follow the two but Sortha shook his head, "Not now counsellor."
The Betazoid turned his glance away from the turbolift and looked at the commander then acknowledges the comment with a slight nod. He seemed to understand what was happening between the two. Lt. Winefield, however, was concerned for the two. He had been observing everything that had transpired between these four officers but felt left out from it.
Despite the fact that he was first officer of the ship, there were things that still escapes him. A thing which he found a little disconserting. All the other officers were ignoring the events, at least seemingly, although most if not all were observing through the corner of their eyes.
Ayer and Tyrian dissapeared into the turbolift, leaving many wondering what was or would happen between the two.
=============================================================
Ensign Sholek Sick Bay Stardate 9703.17
Sholek woke up from his coma in a cold sweat. He was greeted by the EMH doctor.
"Well Ensign, it's about time. Due to a lack of knowledge of Romulan anatomy I was unable to assess the reasons for your coma."
"My Katra was troubled."
"Whatever," the doctor remarked sarcastically. "But I'm afraid you can't leave. I need to do some tests."
"Where is Dr. Ming."
"She went to bed, and so should you."
"Computer," began Sholek, "deactivate Emergency Medical Hollographic Program."
"But I have work...," said the doctor as he disappeared.
As Sholek left he said, "Computer reactivate Emergency Medical Hollographic Program in 30 seconds."
Sholek went to his room as read the mission report from his computer terminal. Then he meditated.
=============================================================
USS Stealth Bridge Stardate 9703.17
Commander Sortha sat quietly in his command chair, brooding in anticipation of what lay ahead. There was no telling where and when they would encounter the renegade Klingon general and his Vor'CHA-class battlecruiser. Things were getting back to normal aboard the Stealth, but the mood among the crew was still tense.
The silence of the bridge was interrupted when Sortha's comm-badge chirped. "This is the Emergency Medical Holographic Program. I'm looking for the captain."
Sortha tapped his badge. "Commander Ssortha here. What iss the problem?"
"The problem is one of my patients just deactivated me and left sick bay without my permission," the aggrivated EMH told Sortha. "It seems our comatose Romulan officer decided to turn me off so he could walk away. I have been unable to recall him to sickbay since."
Sortha sighed. "I will talk with him doctor. How iss Dr. Ming?"
"She's much better. With any luck she'll be able to resume her duties tomorrow so I can return to the ships computer. At least there I know my patients aren't simply going to switch me off when they don't like my advice. I'm a doctor, not an appliance," the EMH complained further. "And by the way Commander, perhaps you should stop by sickbay and allow me to examine you. I'm concerned about that lisp you have when you talk. It seems a remedial speech class when you were a child would have cleared that impairment up."
Sortha growled and switched on the viewscreen to sickbay. Bringing his large reptillian head closer to the screen. "Do you have a problem with the way I sspeak, hologram?"
"I see. I should have accessed your medical files. I wasn't aware a Gorn was serving on the Stealth," the EMH said. "Still, that hissing sound could be corrected with a slight...."
"Enough! I will sspeak with Ssholek!" Sortha snarled. "Bridge out!"
Just then a signal chimed from tactical. Ki'lal was at tactical and checked his monitor and looked up. "Sir, incoming distress signal. It's the Potempkin! Audio only."
"On speakers," the Gorn replied.
"....This is the U.S.S. Potempkin. We have contact with the Klingon battlecruiser DoHqay. They have decloaked and fired on us. Shields are holding. Request assistance."
"Position of the Potemkin?" Sortha asked.
"Bearing zero-zero-two, mark eight. Just outside long range sensors," Ki'lal replied. "Cairo has received the same message. They are going to warp 9."
"Helm, engage at warp nine on an intercept course," Sortha said. "Red Alert. Battle stations. Ayer, Summers and Brynaziir to the bridge.
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 1997 22:53:12 -0500 (EST) Subject: SO: Stealth/Heading into Battle
Ensign Thoraz Brynaziir Counsellor's report (Moments before contact with the Potempkin) Stardate 9703.18
"Commander, I have been scanning the Klingon prisoners in the Brig. They are feeling great regret and shame at the Dishonor. However, they still have an air of pride about them. It seems that the trap and boarding attempt are part of a much larger plot. I sense that we are being lured farther away from Klingon Space purposefully," Ensign Brynaziir said when he arrived on the bridge. "Sir, should I try to probe deeper to gain more informatioon? I know it is not standard Starfleet Operation Procedure, but under the circumstances ...."
=============================================================
Commander Sortha Ready Room Stardate 9703.18
Sortha met with Thoraz Brynaziir alone in his ready room.
"Ensign Brynaziir, I not only encourage you to probe the Klingonsss as deeply as posssible, I expect you to," the reptilian commander said staring intently at Brynaziir. "When we meet new races, you sshould of course use only passive probess, but conssidering we are about to go into a combat ssituation, I tend to view Federation protocolss on intellectual property rightss in a more liberal manner."
The Gorn waved a huge scaled hand in the air "In the days of my father, the Federation was not sso concerned with standard operating procedures, and there were were not that many standards anyway" the Gorn added with a devilish grin.
"Had it not been for one of your Starfleet officers demonstrating original thinking, cunning and strategy, we would possibly be enemies right now" the Gorn said leaning close to Brynaziir for effect. "Let me tell you a story from the 23rd century. Cestus III, where I was born by the way, was a Gorn planet. The Federation moved in and colonized the planet. After having dealt with the Romulans for so many years we assumed that this new group, the Federation, was hostile, --after all they had taken over one of our planets. Naturally we attacked and destroyed them. The Federation ship that responded was the Enterprise, under the command of James Kirk. It pursued the Gorn vessel back into Gorn space, but before the Gorn could bait a trap, a strange alien presence teleported the Captain of the Gorn ship, Sokar, and the Federation captain to the surface of a nearby planet.
"The alien said that the two captains had to fight to the death. The one who won would go free, the loser would be destroyed. There, despite being physically weaker, (Kirk tossed a rock the size of a human head and hit Sokar in the chest and it didn't even phase him, as well as hitting him with a 4" wide club -it broke over Sokar's arm and didn't even phase him) Kirk managed to make a cannon out of materials on the planet, and blasted Sokar, wounding him. Kirk could have then killed him but he refused to play by the alien's rules. He spared Sokar's life.
"Later on, we found out that Kirk defeated the Romulan's new weapon- the cloaking device. We gained respect for humans through our encounters with Kirk, we negotiated a treaty with the Federation, and welcomed the Federation as fellow warriors in the fight against the Romulans. Why do I tell you this story?" Sortha asked. "Because I expect the same kind of initiative from my officers. I don't want desk bound paper pussherss."
Brynaziir thought a moment and smiled, "Well something told me you'd feel that way. What ever happened to Sokar?"
Sortha leaned even closer to Brynaziir, almost touching the humans nose with his own, and said "he went on to become a Fleet Commander and Governor of Cestus III, and had a son -----who joined Starfleet."
Brynaziir smiled again, "thank you sir." He left the ready room, heading for the brig, and happy that his commander had confided in him. The Betazoid thrived on personal connections, and felt he had just made one with Sortha.
=============================================================
Lt. Tyrian M. Summers USS Stealth bridge Stardate 9703.17
"Red Alert. Battle stations. Ayer, Summers and Brynaziir to the bridge." Sortha's voice hissed from the bridge. Ayer and Tyrian jumped out of their seats and headed for the door of the lounge. They said little as they ran towards the bridge through the flashing red alert lights and sirens.
When they made it to the bridge, Tyrian was updated as he took tactical from Ki'lal, who really wanted to stay there, but knew his duty and surrendered it and prepared to defend the bridge if necessary.
Tyrian saw that the Potempkin was just now coming into long range sensor range. He made sure all weapons systems were armed so they could come out of warp firing if necessary, as he felt it would be. Tyrian looked at the commander, he looked tense, of course he always looked tense, he was a gorn. Tyrian knew this battle would probably be the decisive one, and he planned on winning it, he had to...........there was still the Dominion to take care of...
=============================================================
USS Stealth Bridge Stardate 9703.18
"Five minutes to intercept. The Potempkin and DoHqay are in visual range," Summers reported from tactical.
"On sscreen," Sortha said.
The screen flickered and an image of the Potempkin and DoHqay, exchanging weapons fire, appeared.
"Potempkin reports her shields at 45-percent. Warp drive and impulse are both damaged. Aft phaser array is also destroyed. The Vor'Cha battlecruiser is exposing the weakened aft shields by concentrating her attacks there," Summers reported. "The DoHqay's shields are holding at 75-percent. No significant damage so far from the Potempkin."
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 00:45:59 -0500 (EST) Subject: SO: Stealth/The Battle is Joined
Lt. Tyrian M. Summers USS Stealth bridge Stardate 9703.17
Tyrian looked up from tactical, "Somethings wrong commander, I believe this may be a trap. The DoHqay obviously knows of our presence and that we are almost on top of them, there must be more of them laying in wait, it took more than one ship to destroy the task force, and those additional ships are probobly nearby. I think we should go into silent running and flank them as the rest of our ships run straight at them, that way we can suprise them if they do have a surprise for us."
=============================================================
Ensign Sholek Engineering Stardate 9703.18
Sholek pressed his commbadge. He had a habit of monitoring the bridge and heard what the Commander had told Brynaziir about scanning the minds of the Kingons. "Commander," he began, "I offer you assistance with scanning the minds of the Klingons. I have mastered the Vulcan mind meld and would like a chance to test my expertise."
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USS Stealth Bridge Stardate 9703.18
"Five minutes to intercept. The Potempkin and DoHqay are in visual range," Summers reported from tactical.
"On sscreen," Sortha said.
The screen flickered and an image of the Potempkin and DoHqay, exchanging weapons fire, appeared.
"Potempkin reports her shields at 45-percent. Warp drive and impulse are both damaged. Aft phaser array is also destroyed. The Vor'Cha battlecruiser is exposing the weakened aft shields by concentrating her attacks there," Summers reported. "The DoHqay's shields are holding at 75-percent. No significant damage so far from the Potempkin."
Tyrian looked up from tactical, "Somethings wrong commander, I believe this may be a trap. The DoHqay obviously knows of our presence and that we are almost on top of them, there must be more of them laying in wait, it took more than one ship to destroy the task force, and those additional ships are probobly nearby. I think we should go into silent running and flank them as the rest of our ships run strait at them, that way we can suprise them if they do have a suprise for us."
"Show tactical on screen" Sortha ordered. Tactical sprang to life.
Tactical 1410 hours, Magnification 10
=============================================================

DohQay
==. o=
USS Kyoto
| }--0 =-O 0--= USS Cairo
==' USS Potempkin o= USS Ranger



o-== USS Stealth



=============================================================
"You may be right, Lieutenant. They certainly sshow no ssigns of sslowing down. Perhaps he is just cocky, but as likely, he may have reinforcements cloaked. Keep in mind. task force 4 did run into the minefield and that invariably caused some damage. Sstill discretion may be usseful. Engage Stealth mode!" Sortha ordered. Soon the Stealth disappeared from the tactical tracking screens of the other Federation ships. On the bridge of the Cairo, Captain Jellico merely grunted and nodded his head. He knew what Stealth was up to.
"Helm, increase speed to Warp 9.9, bring us on a heading of 340 mark 00. Tactical, time to intercept?" Sortha inquired.
"Approximately two minutes. It looks like it will be a close thing for the Potempkin. Their aft shields are down to 10 percent" Tyrian responded. Just at that moment the tactical showed the Potempkin turning to face the DohQay. It presented the undamaged front shields of the Potempkin to the DohQay. There was a furious exchange of shots. The Potempkin was taking a beating, but Captain Seldar had kept his shields up. Relief would arrive soon.
Suddenly, the DohQay started to cloak. Sortha started out of his chair 'Ssssssssssss!" he exclaimed in frustration. However before the DohQay could cloak, Captain Seldar locked the Potempkin's tractor beams onto the DohQay. Seldar had executed the exact strategy that Sortha had recommended to Captain Jellico. The DohQay cloak flickered for several seconds, fading in and out, and then the DohQay solidified as the energy from the tractor beam framed it for sensors to see.
Tactical 1413 hours, Magnification 10
=============================================================

DohQay
==. o= USS Kyoto
| }--0 O-= 0--= USS Cairo
==' Potempkin o= USS Ranger

o-== USS Stealth


=============================================================
Sortha sat down slowly. Soon he thought, soon we will lock battle with this Klingon targ! The Stealth was as ready as she ever would be. All torpedo banks were locked and loaded with Quantum torpedoes at maximum charge, phaser banks were fully charged, Shields were operating at 110% and warp efficiency was at 112% thanks to Ensign Sholek, now operational again. All crew members wore sidearms, type II handphasers, and security were stationed throughout the ship in full bodyarmor and with phaser rifles locked and loaded. Sortha wore his own personal Gorn armor, with his personal weapons close by....just in case.
Lieutenant Summers was ready at tactical, Nash manned the helm. In the seat to his right Lieutenant Winefield sat, analyzing incoming data, while Lieutenant Brynaziir sat to Sortha's left, attentively. Lieutenant Ki'lal bristled in his well polished Federation battle armor and looked ready for anything as he hefted his phaser rifle. Lieutenant Ayer was next to Summers at tactical, watching readouts shoulder to shoulder. Down in Engineering Ensign Sholek manned the warp engines, ready to repair any possible damage. Down in sickbay Doctor Ming was ready for casualties and had the EMH up and running.
The Stealth was now within firing range, the rest of the fleet would be in 30 seconds..... Sortha waited for the battle to commence!
On the bridge of the Cairo, Jellico said "Send to Starfleet Command....We have engaged the DohQay, repeat we have engaged the DohQay." Across the Quadrant, listening posts, starbases and other ships listened in on the now open channel. On Epsilon 7, people froze in midsentence as the announcement was played over the base's PA system, and waited, listening as the battle commenced.
Tactical 1415 hours, Magnification 50
=============================================================

o= USS Kyoto
o= USS Ranger
0--= USS Cairo
==.
DohQay | }--0 O-= USS Potempkin
=='

o-== USS Stealth


=============================================================
USS Stealth Entering the Battle Stardate 9703.20
Just as the Stealth entered firing range, Summers intercepted a message from the DoHqay. It was General Kahgal.
"On screen," Sortha hissed.
The image of the grey haired Klingon appeared, dressed in full battle armor and flanked in his command chair by two warriors. "This is General Kahgal. I will not let these peace negotiations go forth. The Federation will learn its lesson for opposing us during the invasion of Cardassia and during our conquest of Arcanus. There will be no more talk, humans. But when I am through you will listen...."
The transmission ended abruptly, before anyone could speak or respond to Kahgal. But beside Sortha on the bridge, Thoraz Brynaziir looked puzzled....something wasn't right.
Just then, as the crew watched, the DoHQay unleashed a volley of plasma torpedos that ripped through the Potempkin, buckling her shields and sending the Ambassador-class ship spinning off helplessly away from the Klingon battlecruiser.
"DoHqay is locking disruptors on the Potempkin," Summers reported. "I don't think she can take another hit."
"Mr. Summers," Sortha began. "...Fire!"
Then as Tyrian reached for the firing controls, the Stealth moving up on the Vor'CHA class battle cruiser from behind, the DoHqay's aft torpedo launcher suddenly fired and a stream of no less than five photon torpedos came screaming out, straight at the Stealth....
Nearby, Captain Jellico was also in for a surprise as a Klingon Bird of Prey decloaked and swooped in on Task Force Three. Kahgal had backup afterall, and they seemed to mean business as they opened fire on the Cairo....
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 1997 01:02:04 -0500 (EST) Subject: SO: Stealth/The Battle Progresses
FROM THE GM: Let me say that this was one of the hardest postings to put together. Everybody had their own version of the battle so if you'll all notice I made some changes throughout to everyone's posts to keep things flowing a little more smoothly. One thing you all need to be reminded of is not to post too much about the actions of your fellow players -- particularly Commander Sortha. There were three different versions of the battle going on with three different sets of commands from Sortha being written. From now on, remember that Sortha is in command of the ship so decisions about what course of action the ship itself takes are up to him. There rest of you should concern yourselves with the actions of your characters and how they respond to the situations Sortha leads you into. Otherwise, these were good posts, just difficult to follow.
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Lt. Jake Winefield USS Stealth -- BEFORE THE BATTLE Stardate 9703.19
Winefield performed his duty but the troubles of the ship the mission and between the crew kept him thinking. During his off duty time Jake continued to investigate information about the Jem Hedar. The idea of a required drug addiction had to be of use to Starfleet. The question is how?
The trouble between Ty and Ayer worried Jake. Not only as the first officer but as their friend. Maybe if he could find some quite time he could take to both of them and see how he could help.
Returning to duty Jake informed the commander "all repairs to ship systems are going according to schedule. Wounded crew personal have returned to duty or are on bed rest. It looks as if we are ready to continue the mission."
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Lt. Ayer Bridge Stardate 9703.20
The ship rocked hard as two of the torpedoes came rushing through while the Stealth was taking evasive actions. The shields of the Stealth flashed violently as it tried to repel the massive discharge of energy, a feat which it successfully did.
"Sir, Bird-of-Prey is making a run at the Cairo," Ayer reported from tactical. Tyrian added, "he's coming in fast."
"Helm, intercept that ship!" Sortha ordered. "Keep us out of DohQay's plasma torpedo kill zone."
With the new change in direction, the Stealth was outside the DohQay's weapon range. The Vor'CHA class ship was now attacking the Potempkin with full force. Blast after blast, the disruptors constantly hammered the Potempkin.
"Sir, the Potemkin's shields are failing!" Tyrian reported as he scanned the tactical sensors.
"What's our status, Mr. Summerss?" Sortha asked.
"Our shields are down to 67% but all phaser banks are fully charged and torpedo launchers are all armed."
The Gorn seemed pleased, this ship was holding better against Kahgal's attack than previously thought. Soon, the Stealth was tangling with the Bird-of-Prey as the Cairo engaged the DoHqay.
The Potemkin, glad to be out of the center of attention, decided to withdraw from the battle. It fell back a few thousand kilometers where it could watch and assist in the battle if necessary. The Stealth, now having to bear the grunt of the attack, took it relentlessly as it fired its own weapons. Beams after beams of phasers burned through the Bird of Prey's shields, almost penetrating but not quite. It stayed like that for quite some time, both ships attempting to penetrate the other's defenses first.
Inside the bridge, Ayer didn't seemed pleased with what he was reading on the sensors. "Commander..." He had to pause for a while as the ship took a hit by a plasma torpedo. "Commander," he started again, "according to the sensors, the DohQay doesn't fit into the description of a Vor'Cha class attack cruiser. This ship has better upgraded weapons, Type III plasma torpedoes, and a greater shield intake capacity."
Jake looked towards Sortha, "We can't stay in this for long."
The Kyoto was backing off from the fight but the Cairo and the Ranger were rushing forward to continue the battle. Flashing their weapons, they launched everything they have at the Bird of Prey and the DohQay.
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Commander Sortha USS Stealth Stardate 9703.20
Captain Edward Jellico's face went a livid shade of red as the Potemkin was hulled by the plasma torpedoes from the DohQay. The normally very controlled man rose out of his chair and exclaimed: "Dammit! That's enough!" The Cairo, Miranda and Constellation had come up and around to the port side of the DohQay, out of the firing arc of the dreaded plasma torpedoes. The Potempkin had paid a price, but it had distracted Kahgal long enough for the Federation ships to flank him.
Jellicoe was pissed. After seeing task force four destroyed, and now the Potempkin heavily damaged, he wanted blood....Kahgal's blood.
"Jellico to Fleet, lock onto the port side of DohQay and keep yourselves there," he said. All three ships locked tractors solidly onto the DohQay and came into point blank range. In old navy terms, Captain Jellico had brought his ships alongside and grappled with the enemy.
"FIRE AT WILL!" Jellico yelled.
The photon torpedoes launchers of the three Starfleet ships glowed incandescent blue, andswarms of Quantum torpedoes sprang out. A barrage of 14 quantum torpedoes slammed into the port shields of the DohQay, followed by volumes of phaser barrages.
Tactical 1416 hours, Magnification 50
=============================================================
-<
Bird-of-Prey

USS Miranda
USS Kyoto o= o= 0--= USS Cairo
==.
DohQay | }--0
==-o =='
O-= USS Potempkin
USS Stealth


=============================================================
Bridge of the USS Stealth................................
"Photon torpedoes! Bearing 00 mark 0!" Tyrian yelled from tactical.
The Gorn grimaced. "Full reverse! Evasive maneuvers! Drop Stealth mode- go to normal shields," Sortha ordered. Agonizingly the Stealth reversed direction as the photon torpedoes homed in gaining on the Stealth... for several seconds the torpedoes were faster, but the quick reaction and gyroscopic maneuvers of Lieutenant Nash paid off as the Stealth slowly pulled away from the deadly torpedoes. In the end only two hit, and the shields held. However it also brought them out of firing range of the DohQay. Bird-of-Prey is making a run at the Cairo Sir Ayer reported from tactical. Tyrian added, "he's coming in fast."
"Helm, intercept that ship!" Sortha ordered. "Keep us out of DohQay's plasma torpedo kill zone."
The bird-of-prey closed in on the Cairo and delivered a blast to the rear shields of the Cairo. Jellico ignored it, concentrating all available firepower on the DohQay. Sortha vowed, that would not happen again.
"Helm, bearing 70 mark 10!" Sortha ordered. The Stealth closed in on the bird-of-prey as it was swooping away from its attack on the Cairo. Closing rapidly, the Stealth delivered a barrage of quantum torpedoes into the aft shields of the bird-of-prey. The bird-of-prey careened wildly, emitting sparks and venting plasma.
"Sir, we hurt them badly Tyrian said, their aft shields have collapsed, and most of their weapons are offline.
Sortha smiled to himself. This time there were no freighters to protect and only one Bird-of-Prey. It was no match for the Stealth. However he had bigger fish to fry. "Life signs?" he ordered.
"Sensors report 15 klingons alive, 5 dead sir," Ayer reported from tactical.
Sortha turned to K'lal who smiled immediately as Sortha made eye contact with him. Sortha ordered: "Security teams two and three prepare to beam over to the bird-of-prey. Computer, site to site transport. Lieutenant Ki'lal and security teams 2 and 3 to the bird-of-prey, bridge and engineering . Execute! "
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Lt. Ki'lal Bridge of the Stealth Stardate 9703.20
Ki'lal balanced himself after the hit by the torpedoes. The Stealth had taken some damage and he knew that it would probablytake a whole lot more. Summers yelled to Sortha, immediately after the hit, "Shields down to 70%."
Ki'lal tapped his comm badge, "Ki'lal to all pre-arranged security teams, get to your posts now and respond when in position." Ki'lal had prepared his security team for such events as this. They were posted at major relay stations, engineering, and of course, the bridge.
"Alpha squad in position, sir." And the teams continued to report in.
Ki'lal trusted his teams with the ships safety, he knew that if anything happened on the ship, he could trust them with ship's safety. It was time for Ki'lal to do what he felt he had to do.
"Captain, I must report to engineering, Theta team reports a possible problem," said Ki'lal.
"Find ssomeone else to do it, lieutenant," Sortha said. Summers then reported that the Bird of Prey that had joined the attack was damaged and its shields were down.
Sortha turned to K'lal and ordered: "Security teams two and three prepare to beam over to the bird-of-prey. Computer, site to site transport. Lieutenant Ki'lal and security teams 2 and 3 to the bird-of-prey, bridge and engineering . Execute! "
"Aye, sir," said Ki'lal reluctantly. He had been planning something else, something that was risky to his career, but necessary for him to solve a longtime mystery. But he now had orders to transport to the Bird of Prey.
At Sortha's orders, a transporter beam enveloped Ki'lal and his security team and deposited them in the transporter room of the badly damaged Bird of Prey. Assessing the situation, Ki'lal directed his men to various locations throughout the Bird of Prey and once they were gone and he was alone in the transporter room, he decided to go ahead with his original plan.
Ki'lal had figured a way to transport to the Do'QHAY through the hole in its aft shields. He entered the coordinates into the Klingon transporter computer and stepped onto the pad. He slapped a transporter transponder on his arm to accomplish the transport. A moment later he dematerialized from the pad, phaser rifle in hand, and bat'leth strapped to his back.
Back on the bridge of the Stealth, Summers yelled to Sortha, "Captain, there was just a transport from the Bird of Prey to the DoHQay."
"Sortha to Ki'lal, come in." No answer.
"Sortha to security team two and three. Where is Lieutenant Ki'lal."
Ensign Jackson, one of Ki'lal's security officers on the Bird of Prey, responded. "He was last seen in the transporter room. But we can't find him now."
"Blassst it," said Sortha, "I ssshould have ssseen it coming, he's gone to get Kahgal. Ki'lal is going to try to find out about his family before we destroy Kahgal!"...
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USS Stealth Tactical 1420 hours, Magnification 50
=============================================================
USS Stealth ==-o.......#>-
Bird-of-Prey

USS Miranda
USS Kyoto o= o= 0--= USS Cairo
==.
DohQay | }--0
..............................

=='
O#= USS Potempkin


=============================================================
Commander Sortha Bridge Stardate 9703.20
Unable to concern himself with Ki'lal's actions for the moment, Sortha turned the Stealth back to the battle. The Potempkin was floating in space at a 35 degree angle from the galaxial ecliptic. Sortha glanced at Winefield, "What's their condition? "
Winefield responded: "Their shields are down, warp drive is offline, impulse is operational at 50%. Phasers are offline. Two photon torpedo bays are reported operational. Captain Seldar is dead. Potemkin is now under command of .... Lieutenant Helen D'Angelo. Their bridge was destroyed. Control was switched to Auxiliary control."
Sortha grimaced again. He had respected Captain Seldar. As the Stealth blew past the Potempkin towards the DohQay, Sortha saw shuttles being launched from the Potempkin. The ship was down, but it, and its new captain had some fight left in them. The shuttles of the Potempkin formed a formation behind the Stealth as it bore in on the DohQay.
"Lieutenant Brynaziir," Sortha began. "I want you to scan General Kahgal as intensely as you can. Tell me what you sense."
Brynaziir replied with an Aye sir.
"Lock and load full quantum photon torpedoes-overload configuration" Sortha ordered visciously, then thinking of Ki'lal over there for one moment he paused, but decided he had to press on no matter what. "I want to make a nice announcement to that Vor'cha that we have joined the party! "
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Ensign Thoraz Brynaziir Bridge Stardate 9703.20
"Commander, something is not right about that transmission we received from Kahgal earlier. I don't believe that was Kahgal, I do not sense his presence on the DoHQay. He may have recorded it earlier, if that was indeed him"
Thoraz said looking over at Sortha. "This must be yet one more trap within a trap. I will try to ascertain WHO is in command of the DoHQay and their motivations. I will also try to scan for other Klingon minds that may be on cloaked ships."
=============================================================
Bridge of the Cairo....................................
"DAMAGE REPORT!" Jellico ordered. The forward viewscreen was mostly white reflecting the awesome energies the four ships were trading.
"Forward shields down to 30% his tactical officer replied. "What's the status of the Ranger and Kyoto?" Jellico demanded.
"Forward shields down to 40% and 70% Sir."
"Status of DohQay?"
"Their port shields are at 20%, one more good blast and we should be through sir.
"Continue firing photon torpedoes as soon as they're loaded. Transfer all remaining power to forward shields and the tractor beams, I don't want him moving," Jellico demanded to the fleet.
=============================================================
DoHqay Stardate 9703.21
Ki'lal materialized in a corridor of the Vor'Cha class battlecruiser. The corridor was dimly lit and filled with smoke. He felt phaser and photon blasts rocking the ship as he looked around. Several dead and unconscious Klingons littered the halls.
Once he figured out where inside the ship he'd beamed into, Ki'lal set off for the bridge...
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Sat, 22 Mar 1997 00:36:21 -0500 (EST) Subject: SO: Stealth/Battle Progresses
DohQay Stardate 9703.22
Ki'lal materialized in a corridor of the Vor'Cha class battlecruiser. The corridor was dimly lit and filled with smoke. He felt phaser and photon blasts rocking the ship as he looked around. Several dead and unconscious Klingons littered the halls.
Once he figured out where inside the ship he'd beamed into, Ki'lal set off for the bridge...
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Commander Sortha USS Stealth bridge Stardate 9703.22
Tyrian was furiously tapping the control panel as he had been doing for some time now during the battle. The battle was going good for them now, but Brynaziir had reported some news that he felt Kahgal was not on board the Vor'CHA class ship which shield's were now slowly fading. Tyrian had known there would be more to this battle than originally they had thought, but when and what was going to happen. Tyrian was a little disturbed that Ki'lal had ignored orders and beamed over to the DohQay for personal reasons, although he did'nt know how he might react if their roles were reversed.
But he did know that disobeying Sortha was not a good idea. Tyrian continued tapping the tactical display as the battle continued. He anxiously awaited the surprise that was undoubtedly around the corner. He looked up at his Gorn commander and said, "Sir, should we send reinforcements to aid the other ships as they board the DohQay, and also to get Ki'lal?"
Bridge of the Jar'Kragh (Captured Bird of Prey)
Ensign Jackson led his away team of seven security noncoms bravely onto the bridge of the Bird-of-Prey Jar'Kragh. The six Klingons there were waiting and traded disruptor fire for phaser fire. Three Starfleet security officers were disintigrated, however the phasers set on wide beam stun were more effective in the cramped quarters of the bridge, and soon the Klingons were laying unconscious. The dark skinned Starfleet officer looked upon the littered bridge of his first command with satisfaction.
Down in Engineering, the Starfleet troops fared better as the Klingons were preoccupied with repairing damage done by the Stealth. Ensign Somerset, a recent transfer from the Academy troop replenishment ship, led her team to two points and attacked engineering from two different directions. The Klingons, caught surprised and in a crossfire were quickly mowed down. One Starfleet security officer was killed, and two wounded. Three other Klingons in various locations on teh ship were also killed, however an additional two starfleet security officers were killed in the cat-and-mouse hunt in the bowels of the ship.
"Ensign Jackson to Commander Sortha" Jackson said as he tapped his commbadge.
"Sortha here ensign" Sortha responded. He sounded preoccupied but that was to be expected. There was also considerable static on the line. Sir, We've taken the Bird-of-Prey Jar'Kragh Ensign Jackson said proudly."
"Excellent, Lieutenant junior grade Jackson Sortha responded. If advissable get that sship back into action as the USS Seldar. Sortha out."
Jackson smiled. His commander said a lot with few words. He had said lieuteant junior grade which meant the Commander was mightily impressed and a promotion was in store for him. And, he had said get the ship back in action as the USS Seldar, meaning Jackson was to use the Jar'Kragh to help avenge the death of Captain Seldar in the attack on the DohQay. Yes, Jackson thought, today is a good day.
Bridge of the Cairo
Jellico saw the Stealth coming in fast, and watched with satisfaction as it unleashed a barrage of quantum torpedoes into the weakened port shields of the DohQay. The large Klingon ship responded with massive disruptor fire that made the Stealth glow red, but its shields held. With a final electrostatic discharge the port shields of the DohQay failed and several explosions rocked the massive ship. Jellicoe could see several hull breaches on the port side. Now was the time to finish this. Snapping his head toward weapons control Jellico ordered target their weapon and propulsion systems- selective fire.
Jellico keyed his comm unit and the faces of his fellow Captains appeared on the screen. "I want that ship," Jellico said simply. "Cairo will take engineering, Ranger will take auxiliary control, Kyoto will take the security center, Stealth you have its bridge. Rotating transport schedule, only one ship's shields down at a time. Jellico out." The ships continued their phaser fire for several more minutes, killing additional Klingons and taking out fighting systems, making it easier for the away teams that would soon be boarding the DohQay.
Bridge of the Stealth
Sortha looked with satisfaction on the damage the latest onslaught the Stealth had released on the DohQay. Just then Captain Jellico's image flickered on the screen, giving orders to board the DohQay. Sortha grinned a toothy smile when he heard his ship had been allocated the prestigious bridge attack assignment.
"Lieutenant Ayerss, Lieutenant Ssummers, you're with me" Sortha said rising out of his chair. "Ssecurity teams 1, 4, and 5 to the transsporter room. Remaining Sstealth crew are to double as ssecurity for the Sstealth," Sortha ordered over the intercom. "Doctor Ming, report with a medical squad to the transporter room" Sortha ordered on a line directly to sickbay. "Lieutenant Winefield," Sortha began, "I leave you in command of the Stealth, Lieutenant Brynaziir, you are first officer. Ensign Har... Ensign Jacobs, take the tactical station" Sortha said with a growl. Looking at Winefield he said distinctly, "Keep this ship in one piece until we get back." Sortha, Ayer, and Summers went into the turbolift as Lieutenant Winefield gingerly took the center seat...
Sortha's Gorn body armor, in the scarlet and black of Sortha's family colors, gleamed in the crowded quarters of the turbolift, the Gorn's bulk taking up the majority of the space. The Gorn was armed both with Starfleet hand phasers and had his Rakesh on his arms, ready for deployment. Quietly, Sortha said "this will be a viscious battle. Do not pause if I go down, accomplissh your objective." Looking at Ayer, Sortha added, "do not hesitate to use your abilities Lieutenant. "
As they came off the turbolift, they were greeted by Security team 1 armed to the teeth in transporter room 1. Someone handed Ayer and Summers phaser rifles. The group assumed attack positions on the transporter pads. Summers thought about Ki'lal, where was he and what was he up to? What did he hope to find about his family on that ship? He had taken a risk transporting through the DohQay's up and down fluctuating shields earlier. He had only a 25% chance of a successful transport, but luck was with him. Summers realized just how important the information must be to Ki'lal. For his sake, Summers hoped the Commander wouldn't be too harsh on Ki'lal for disobeying a direct order.
Once the group was ready, Sortha looked at the transporter chief, "Energissssssse ......."
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Sun, 23 Mar 1997 00:04:04 -0500 (EST) Subject: SO: Stealth/Boarding Action
FROM THE GM: Ki'lal, I changed your post slightly so it fit with what Ayer wrote about the fight on the DoHqay's bridge. Make sure you read what I posted at the end of your post also, it gives you important information about what you'll need to do next...
==============================================================
Lt. Jake Winefield USS Stealth (bridge) Stardate 9703.22
Jake sat down in the center seat on the bridge. to himself he thought "Man I wish I was going down there but still it's my job to follow orders and that's what I'm going to do.
"Ensign maintain scans of all members of the landing party and have the transporter ready to get them out of their at a moments notice. Ensign Brynaziir please keep monitering the away team."
Just as Winefield's words finished leaving his lips, Ensign Jacobs registered something on the scanners. "Sir scanners are..." explosions rocked the Stealth causing the crew to bounce around the bridge. As the ship resettled itself Winefield began calling out orders. "Shields up! Jacobs what was that?"
The ensign got up off the floor and began checking his control panels. "Sir its seems to be small hunter probes. Sensors read several hundred orbiting the ship. They seem to have been jettisoned off of the Klingon vessels. It is probably an attempt to stick out on any scavenger ships which would come on a destroyed Klingon vessel. With our shields down they did minor damage to deck 4-6. I have crews already doing damage repair. Our shields are taking their minor charges without any damage however with shields up we cannot beam abourd any of the landing party."
Jake let out a low "damn" which caught the attention of the rest of the bridge crew. "Ok Jacobs begin finding these probes and using a low level phaser bursts to eliminate them. But make sure the other ships know what we are doing I don't need to be shot at by our own troops fearing that we have been taken over and hurry it up I dont want these shields up any longer then they have to." Jake sat back wondering if he should have stayed on Earth.
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Lt. Ayer Proceeding to board the DohQay Stardate 9703.22
Clasping the rifle close to his hand, Ayer waited for the particles in his body to dissolve. Once the group was ready, Sortha looked at the transporter chief, "Energissssssse ......."
His vision was blinded for a moment but when the materialization was complete, Ayer and the rest of the boarding team members found themselves onboard the DohQay. There was no time to look around for as soon as they had appeared on the bridge, the Klingons started firing. All Starfleet members ducked for cover as they tried to avoid the rush of raw energy, pulsating across the room.
The bridge was huge, about twice the size of the bridge on a Bird of Prey. Luckily for the boarding party, the Klingons didn't waste an inch of space and had placed computer panels almost everywhere. The team scattered themselves as far away from each other as they can so that they could have a wider range of targets. Unfortunately for Ayer, he didn't watch where he was ducking to, being caught up in the heat of battle, and crashed into a Klingon. The Klingon wasn't very happy with that and threw Ayer forcefully against a wall. Not even jarred by the attack, Ayer grabbed the Klingon's neck and twisted it.
He let go of the Klingon and picked up his rifle. The setting was set for single-beam firing so as to avoid accidentaly hitting any Starfleet officers. The Klingons were also scattered around the room. This complicated matters since they also have a wider target range. The battle was now getting worse, the Starfleet officers were separated from each other and each having to defend their three sides, their left, right, and straight ahead. The Klingons were also facing the same problem. Ayer threw down his phaser, it wouldn't help what he was going to do. Then, scanning for the shortest route to the farthest Klingon, Ayer dissapeared into the power conduits. The conduits were built rather generically, with no thought of design in mind at all. This allowed him to move swiftly across the bridge and within seconds, Ayer managed to sneak up behind the Klingon.
The Klingon never got the chance to respond as Ayer knocked him out from behind. With the loss of the Klingon, the circle of threat was broken and gave the boarding members a chance to win.
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Lt. Ki'lal Stardate 9703.22 Turbolift on Dohquay
Ki'lal was on his way to the bridge, but he found the lift unable to complete the trip to the top of the ship because of damage it had taken in the battle. What to do, he thought. He knew he had to do what he wanted, but wasn't sure how to.
Ki'lal took the lift downward to engineering. When he stepped off into the main engineering section, he was attacked by two Klingon security guards. He disintegrated them with his phaser rifle. Most of the other Klingons in this area were dead, expect two who were barely alive. Ki'lal approached them, and noticed neither one of them was Kahgal.
"Where's Kahgal?" Ki'lal hissed.
"Who" asked one of the Klingons.
"Kahgal, you Klingon toad. Where is he?" said Ki'lal as he grabbed the Klingon by the throat and picked him up.
Getting the info from the Klingon was easy, he had very little honor. Feeling that the ship was in danger, Ki'lal quickly transported back to the ship. He would have to disclose this information to Sortha, the entire mission, and Starfleet itself, depended on this info, and he would tell it, no matter what the consequences were.
Ki'lal went to transport back to the Stealth, but soon found he was unable to, as the Stealth's shields had been raised. He also learned that a boarding party led my Commander Sortha himself was on the bridge. He now had to decide what to do....
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Sun, 23 Mar 1997 23:47:47 -0500 (EST) Subject: SO: Stealth/Hand-to-Hand Combat
Commander Sortha Bridge of the DoHqay Stardate 9703.23
Sortha and Tyrian both jumped for cover behind the tactical station as disruptor bolts flew overhead. The other members of the boarding party were taking cover wherever they could as well.
Two security people had been vaporized instantly as the Starfleet team beamed onto the bridge. The team traded phaser fire for the disruptor fire for several seconds. Every once in a while a Klingon or starfleet member would yell as they were hit. Sortha had seen Ayer turn to slag and disappear into a bridge conduit, but had not seen him since. Suddenly, Ayer appeared behind two Klingons who had good position and were doing most of the disruptor shooting. The two Klingons were soon on the deck unconscious.
Seeing that their advantage in energy weapons was eliminated, a Klingon made a rush for the security station. He managed to hit the automated bridge defense system just as Tyrian phasered him.
"Quick everyone, drop weaponss" Sortha yelled as the automated firing system descended out of the top of the bridge. Automated tracking disruptors targeted any life form holding an energy weapon and automatically shot them. In the sudden silence on the bridge the Klingons and Federation personnel stared at each other for several seconds.
Then, smiling, the Klingons pulled their knives and started heading for the Federation troops. Just then Ki'lal arrived having run through access corridors all the way from engineering.
"Welcome to the party lieutenant" Sortha said as he flicked his rakesh into place, and the Klingons let out loud war cries and charged the Federation personnel.
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Ensign Sholek Engineering Stardate 9703.23
Ensign Jacobs looked up from the sensor readings, "Lt. Winefield, those torpedoes were carrying a corrosive that is now eating away at the hull."
A message came in from from Engineering. "Acting Captain Lt. Winefield," Sholek said. "We need to remove the sections of the hull that are covered with the corrosive or we risk a severe hull breach."
"Very well," Lt. Winefield said in a rather calm manner. "Get to it, ensign."
"We are going to need to go out in environmental suits. You will need to avoid any attacks to those sections that we will be working on."
"Understood," Lt. Winefield replied closing the comm-link. "Turn our damaged side away from the Klingon ship," he told the ensign at conn.
Out in environmental suits an engineering team, led by Sholek, began removing the affected sections of the outer hull and replacing it with a temporary seal.
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 1997 01:20:12 -0500 (EST) Subject: SO: Stealth/Battle Rages On
FROM THE GM: Notice to players -- Ayer is revealing a secret about himself in this post. Presumably, only the players on the DoHqay will actually know about this at this time. Players who are not witness to these events won't know until the Away Team returns.
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Lt. Tyrian M. Summers Onboard Klingon Ship Stardate 9703.23
Tyrian ducked as the automated blasts came shooting out all over the bridge, there were explosions everywhere as men and klingons were shot by the system. Tyrian threw his rifle down and tossed off his sidearm so the targeting system wouldn't see him as a threat. Sortha, who was nearby readied his gorn blades as Tyrain pulled out his commando knife from under his uniform jacket.
The klingons had already pulled thier knives and were coming at starfleet officers. Tyrian jumped up after everybody dropped their weapons and the automated blasts stopped firing. Tyrian stabbed a klingon in the stomach and pulled out his knife as the klingon fell to the bridge floor. Another klingon came at him with his bat'leth drawn over his head, swinging it at Tyrian. Tyrian caught the blow with his knife and slammed a fist into the klingons face, and followed with a slice across the top of his face, spurting blood all over the klingons face as he dropped his bat'leth and tried to stop the bleeding by covering his face with his hands. Tyrian kicked him in the head, sending him into an exposed control display, electricuting him in a rage of sparks. Tyrian could smell the burnt flesh as he looked around the dimly lit bridge. Sortha was apparently dropping klingons right and left because of the fallen corpses around him. The battle was continuing all over the bridge, Tyrian could'nt see where Ayer had gone, as he was looking around another klingon jumped at him from behind a computer terminal that was free standing off to the side of the bridge. The klingon just missed and caught the sleeve of Tyrian's uniform, ripping it wide open down the entire length. "Damn," he thought. "There goes another one." Tyrian grabbed the klingon and rolled to the floor with him. Tyrian used his wrestling expertise as he quickly locked his legs around the klingon's and put him in a strangle hold until he stopped breathing. Tyrian picked up his knife to finish the battle.
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Lt. Ayer DohQay - Bridge Stardate 9703.24
There was no need to hide it anymore. Some had known of it already and others will soon be made aware of it. He promised to himself that as soon as this was over, he will tell all of his ship's members and hoped that they have the ability to deal with it.
Since the threat of energy weapons were gone, Ayer had no need to fear of conventional weapons. As he stood up from behind his cover, three Klingon guards advanced against him. They had seen what he had done and knew he was a threat. Slipping out their Bat'leths and holding it steady in their hands, they slowly surrounded the Starfleet officer. Ayer wasn't sure if they had seen what he really did but he wasn't about to risk falling for some trap. Closing his eyes, he decided now was the time to use the gift that had been given to him ever since he was created.
As the Klingons watched, they gasped in fear as they suddenly realized they were facing one of the Quadrant's worst enemy. Ayer's uniform melted into his body, along with his communicator. As they merged with the skin, it too began to slowly melt as well. Ayer's arms slowly shimmered and became one with the body as did his feet. His whole body then changed, instead of showing true human skin, there revealed a deep golden color, constantly shifting, as if it was a body of liquid suspended by concentration.
Ayer was a changeling.
The Klingons, caught by surprise, froze for a few seconds. Those few seconds were enough time for Ayer to act. In the instant of his morphing back to his liquid form, he extended three large tendrils of golden liquid which wrapped themselves around each attacker's neck. The Klingons gasped for breath and tried to cut the connection between the tendril and the body but to no avail. With final gasps coming from each Klingon, they slowly fell to the floor as the life ebbed from their bodies.
Releasing his hold on the corpses, Ayer retracted back his projections and morphed back to his original figure. Turning around to look, Ayer saw Tyrian was being attacked by several Klingons. They were pressing heavily on him but he managed to duck behind their blows and delivered a few of his own attacks. As he fought against one Klingon, another had sneaked up behind him and was about to deliver a death blow.
Ayer immediately ran towards Tyrian, as he did so, his feet lifted itself up the floor to merge with the body again. For a split second, there was a mass of golden jelly hanging up in the air. But as it flew across the bridge, it shifted itself to resemble an Andorian Eagle. Flapping its powerful wings, it flewed across the room. The eagle extended its powerful beak and drove itself through the Klingon. Such was the force of the blow that it sent the Klingon through the wall and into the next room.
Tyrian, who had managed to dispatched the Klingon he was fighting, turned and saw a large eagle standing on the floor. As he watched, the eagle turned to liquid and morphed itself back to Ayer. With a tinge of fear in his eyes mixed with the heat of fury in his heart, Tyrian nodded a thanks to Ayer and turned to look for battle.
At last, the battle was soon over. Three other Starfleet officers had died in the close combat but Sortha was surrounded by a pile of dead Klingon warriors. His rakesh dripped with the deep red blood of the Klingons and his armor was stained with blood as well, most likely the Klingons'. As the Gorn looked around the room, he saw many corpses, Klingon corpses. Unable to contain his triumphed any longer, he threw back his head and cried out a warrior's cry of victory. Ki'lal, being a Klingon, enjoyed the fight but was dissapointed it ended all too soon. His blood was still crying for battle but there was nowhere to release it except for one way. Joining in with the voice of the Gorn, Ki'lal also cried his own victory celebration.
The other Starfleet officers, most being humans, were startled at this kind of behaviour. There were a lot of different people in Starfleet, they thought as they looked at the two blood-drenched warriors. Then they turned their attention to Ayer, and as he watched their eyes, Ayer could see fear and distrust in them, all deeply burning within the fires of their heart.
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 1997 22:40:26 -0500 (EST) Subject: SO: Stealth/Aftermath
FROM THE GM: Ayer, take notice that you are being given a direct order at the end of this post. Your next post should reflect how you deal with that situation.
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Commander Sortha Bridge of the DoHqay Stardate 9703.25
For a few moments time stood still as Sortha and Ki'lal bellowed their cries of victory. The heat of battle had elevated their consciousness to a higher plane of existence and the two warriors were reluctant to return to the here and now. But soon they did. The combination of Sortha, a changeling, an experienced martial artist and an even more berserker Klingon had been too much for the Klingon bridge crew. Had they known what they were facing, the Klingons probably wouldn't have engaged the bridge's automatic defense systems, but the proud Klingon warriors had been too arrogant to assume that they might be defeated in open hand-to-hand combat by the Federation fighters.
The rest of the ship would not know of the bridge takeover. Sortha and his officers ran to the few bridge consoles that had not been blasted open by disruptor fire. Fortunately, like Klingon physiology, the Klingon's systems were highly redundant-- at least the security systems were. The officers scanned the other areas of the ship and used the Klingon's own highly sophisticated defensive systems against them, thus making it much easier for the attacking starfleet crews. Klingons alone in compartments were gassed, while others found themselves sealed into rooms, unable to escape. After fifteen minutes, Starfleet was in possession of a VorCHA battlecruiser. To Sortha's knowledge, it was the first time in many years that a Klingon battleship had been captured.
The Klingon's bridge monitor sprang to life with the stern visage of Captain Jellico. He noticed Sortha on the bridge immediately: "Commander, since when do Starfleet captains lead their men in away missions into highly dangerous missions?" Jellico inquired with one eyebrow raised.
"Sir," Sortha began, but Jellico interrupted, "Don't say it Commander, I know you'll start quoting away missions from the 23rd century..... at any rate .....good job. We'll be mopping up. Your men can return to the Stealth."
Internally Sortha grinned to himself, that was as effusive a compliment as the stern Jellico would ever give. Soon Sortha and his crew were back on the Stealth.
As they stepped off the transporter pad, many crew members were giving Ayer inquiring glances, suspicious glances. Sortha noticed and was about to say something... when a message came in over the com... "This is Sholek in engineering, sir, I was able to patch the hull against the corrosive effects of the Klingon's weapons... but we've got a new problem."
"What iss it?" Sortha asked. He had a strange feeling, usually Sholek was full of confidence, but he sounded unsure.
Sholek replied quickly, "Sir the antimatter transducer gave out and we have a buildup to a core breach in progress."
"Replace it" Sortha ordered.
"Replacement parts were destroyed in the earlier battle with the Klingons" Sholek responded.
"Replicate one!" Sortha ordered.
"That's the problem" Sholek said with a slight strain to his voice, "the replicators are offline, they were shorted out by the earlier pounding we took from the VorCHA."
Now Sortha fully understood the magnitude of the problem. The other Starfleet vessels were not as modern as the Stealth, and their replacement parts weren't compatible without modification- which they didn't have time to do. Nor was it possible to replicate one in time, by the time the specs had been downloaded to the other Federation ships, the core breach would have already happened.
Sortha had limited options but he acted instantly, he had been faced with disaster at Wolf 359 before... "Helm, clear us away from the other Federation ships. Attention all crew, except emergency personnel zeta, abandon ship, repeat all hands abandon ship, crew to the lifepods." Even then Sortha knew that most would not be able to make it.
The antimatter transducer was in an access corridor off the main warp reactor room in a sealed chamber. Sortha knew that during a warp breach buildup all sorts of flux and radiation would be filling the chamber. "Time to breach" Sortha demanded. Any crew who could have been paying attention at such a time would have noticed that the Commander's S's were short and clipped.
Time to Warp core breach 37 seconds, the computer intoned tonelessly.
Sortha made a command decision "Sholek, transmit the specs to the Cairo.."
"But sir..." Sholek began.
"DO IT!" the Gorn ordered, "You'll have a temporary replacement part...." Sortha looked directly at Ayer. The two locked eyes for what was in actuality split seconds, but which seemed an eternity to the two different creatures. Ayer slowly nodded his head, almost imperceptively.
"Sortha to transporter room, Site to site transport, Lieutenant Ayer to engineering, Access corridor E3-21, execute!"
As Ayer was enveloped in the sparkling transporter effect, the other crew members stared at Sortha and grasped the magnitude of their commander's orders. He had quite possibly ordered one of his officers to a sure death...
END TRANSMISSION
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 21:50:04 -0500 (EST) Subject: SO: Stealth/Temporary Replacement
Lt. Ayer USS Stealth - Engineering Section Stardate 9703.26
As the sparkling effects of the transporter dissipated, Ayer found himself in a cramped corridor. Power conduits were blown apart from the damages the Stealth had taken. Electrical fields were running wild in the air around him. Carefully avoiding getting caught in the fields, Ayer managed to reach the sealed chamber. The small door leading into the chamber were locked and the panel beside the door was wrecked. There was the option of breaking the door open but that could allow radiation leaks to spread throughout the whole ship. Instead, Ayer opted to use a better option. Morphing back to his liquid state, he slid to the top of the door and into its mechanical systems. After passing through the mechanical systems, Ayer allowed himself to drop through to the other side and into the chamber.
As soon as he was in, radiation waves attacked his body. Ignoring the pain, he slid towards the previous location of the transducer and occupied its space. Then thinking back to his days at Starfleet Academy, he slowly shaped his body to that matching the transponder. Throughout all the noises made by the radiation leaks, he managed to pick up the computer's voice as it continued its countdown, "14 seconds to warp core breach." There was something he wasn't doing right, something which was still causing the buildup. Desperately he tried to remember everything related to the transducer, every detail.
"8 seconds to warp core breach."
"5 seconds to warp core breach."
There! Professor Hemmingway's lecture came back, "You must align the middle valve with the inter-dependent relay systems of the tetryon beam or else the quarantine power cells will not work."
"3 seconds to warp core breach."
Keeping all of his concentration on his work, Ayer realigned himself according to the lecture and as soon as he did that, he could feel the flood of energy rushing past his body.
"2 seconds to warp core breach."
"1..." Ayer felt an intense dissapointment as his efforts proved to no avail and then, "Core breach has been prevented. Warp core is now working at minimal parameters."
With the core breach prevented, Ayer now faced a new problem. The intense energy rush was slowly damaging his systems. Although unnoticable to the eye, a small amount of antimatter had leaked into his systems, mingling with the transponder parts he had become. This was causing serious damage to himself and stealing his concentration away. It seemed an eternity as Ayer desperately cling to his form and tried to hold out against the pressure. Luckily for him and the ship, the replacement came in time.
A transporter beam took him out of the chamber and simetaneously filled in the gap with a real transponder. As Ayer/transponder materialized back on the transporter pad, his mind faded into darkness and with the last wisp of consciousness gone, the transponder desolidified and sunk down into a puddle of shapeless liquid.
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USS Stealth Bridge Stardate 9703.27
Sortha waited patiently as the countdown continued. Stealth was only moments from a core breach and he was keeping his fingers crossed that Ayer would be able to prevent that from happening.
Most of the crew had been evacuated in lifepods and by transporter to the Cairo and the other ships in the task force. But the Gorn was staying put, giving Ayer the time he necessary to effect the temporary repair.
As the final seconds ticked by, Sortha prepared himself for death. After coming so far on this mission, he couldn't believe it was going end like this. Then, as the computer announced one second until a core breach -- the all clear was given. Sortha checked his sensor screens and Ayer was indeed transformed into the replacement part Stealth needed to avoid the breach.
"Stealth to Cairo," Sortha said, tapping a button on the armrest of his chair. "We have that breach contained for the moment. But we need that part immediately."
"Almost ready commander," Jellico's voice replied. "Then we need to talk. There's some news about Kahgal and our captured medical ship."
Sortha nodded. The tone in Jellico's voice sounded upbeat. "We'll discuss it when my ship is out of danger."
More time passed and Sortha became aggitated. How long could a Changeling withstand the radiation he was being subjected to down there? Sortha half expected Ayer to loose his shape and for the breach to resume, but Jellico soon announced he had the part replicated and ready to transport.
"We're ready on this end," Sortha said, personally locking on to Ayer with Stealth's transporters. "Execute transport."
"Locking on with our transporters," Jellico announced. "Energizing."
As the new part beamed in, Sortha beamed Ayer out and directly to sick bay. He then waited to hear from Dr. Ming.
"We have him sir, but he's lost his structure," Ming reported. "I'm activating the EMH. His programming contains data about Constable Odo from DS9. Pehaps he'll be able to formulate a treatment for Ayer's radiation poisoning."
"Execute, doctor," Sortha reported. He then breathed a sigh or relief and signalled for his crew to return to the battered ship.
As the crew began to return, Sortha hailed the Cairo to talk with Jellico regarding the news about Kahgal.
"They nailed the bastard, commander," Jellico said. "The information your Lt. Ki'lal relayed regarding Kahgal's plot to attack Koltak Kor paid off. The Bird of Prey that was working with him was destroyed in battle and the Viggo was ceased. Most of Kahgal's men were killed in battle, but the general himself was taken alive.
"Adding insult to injury, Gowron has decreed that Kahgal will stand trial in the Federation for his unprovoked attack on Task Force Four and Three. To the Klingon Empire he is dead, but they won't allow him the honor of dying in battle," Jellicoe said with a smile. "Kahgal and the Viggo are being returned to Epsilon Seven as we speak. From there he'll be transferred back to Earth to stand trial. So it looks like this thing is finally over."
END TRANSMISSION