What's Next
Posted on Mon Sep 16th, 2019 @ 11:58pm by Admiral Paka Larem & Captain Elus Kidex & Captain Alden Carthen & Commander Matan Djurat & Commander Maka Raam & Lieutenant Commander Jerad Tarak & Lieutenant Sophie O'Connor & Ramis Beil
Edited on on Sun Feb 16th, 2020 @ 5:15pm
3,165 words; about a 16 minute read
Mission:
[M] New Horizons
Location: USS Martinsson; Kartelan Sector
Timeline: MD01 || 0830
0830, Sunday 27 August 2389
“And what ships are still in S-H-twenty-two?” Admiral Paka Larem asked Bolian Captain, Pava Malap. The officers were in the observation room on the USS Martinsson. Assembled were the Captain and XO of Station on the planet below, the Captains of the Pequod and Ker, Lieutenant Governor and Support Liason of Ourea Colony and the Freighter group commander who was from Starfleet Logistics.
“The Ascella, Desabla and Tampa are still in SH-22 with Hephaestus and the Veldar. The dilithium deposit the Thrymr found was a much larger deposit than they first thought. The Gadila is due to arrive there tomorrow morning too, taking some more mining equipment, and replacing the Ascella.”
“How much deuterium ore do they have already?” He asked Pava, before turning to Morva Rian, the Lieutenant Governor of Ourea Colony. “And the ore processing plant is up and running?”
The Bolian spoke first. “They have around 80,000 metric tons. They also have around 100,000 tons of duranium ore, which they found on one of the orbiting moons.”
The Colonies Lieutenant Governor spoke next. “The processing plant is running around 85% efficiency. Though there is ample space for processing both the dilithium and duranium.”
The Admiral nodded and looked back to the Bolian man. “How many moons? I don’t think I have seen any updated scans of the system.”
“Six planets, two D-class, one M-class, two K-Class and one J-class. One of the D-Class, designated S-H-twenty-two-beta, has a huge deuterium presence. Estimates from the deposit we are currently mining are it contains between four and six million metric tons. When the Hephaestus arrived, it performed a full system scan, and of the 4 moons in orbit of the planet, 2 were rich in duranium. As they had the extra staff on board, given its SCE fitting, they were able to build the mining facilities on the planet, and then the moon, basically doubling what we thought was there, hence why we are sending the Gadila too.”
“That’s excellent news Captain. Do you have the manpower for full-scale mining on both the planet and moon?” The Admiral responded.
“We aren’t operating at 100%, but I have spoken to both Governor Rian and Ramis Beil, and we can probably get some help from the colony. Shouldn’t need more than 150 more people. And there are around 300 qualified on the colony. So that should be more than sufficient. It’s only 6-day trip there and back, in our slowest ships.”
The Bajoran Admiral looked Captain Alden Carthen, the CO of the Galaxy-class USS Pequod. The Pequod was chosen by Admiral Paka Larem to be the area coordinator for all the ships in and out of the DQ. “We have 4 Luna class in the DQ. How many are based within the vicinity of S-H-twenty-two?”
The Captain looked on the PADD in his hand and tapped a few buttons. “Two, Kerberos and Thrymr.”
“Ok.” He thought for a few moments. “Can you rotate them, so they can go from Ourea to the S-H-twenty-two maybe twice a day? It would take what, six, no seven hours there, seven back?” The Captain nodded. “Ok, let's make that happen then. Gives us a steady convoy, getting people where they need to be. And get in contact with the Hephaestus, use the Lunas to transfer equipment for the time being. Waiting for the freighters to get there takes too long, and we don’t want to sacrifice efficiency.”
“Aye Sir, I’ll make the arrangements.” He replied.
“Excellent.” He checked his PADD, reading through his agenda. “How is the Colony doing, Governor? Are they handling the expansion of the industrial zone to accommodate the refineries?”
“They are, Admiral. As mentioned, around 300 are qualified for the likes of mining, so they were prepared. We just didn’t think it would happen so quickly. But if the Luna class ships are going to ferry them that should make it easier for rotation, so families won't be split up for more than a day or two, which should improve morale.” The Trill Lieutenant Governor replied.
The Admiral smiled. “Glad to have helped then. Speaking of families, any issues Ramis?”
“Nothing so far. A few cases of being homesick, but that’s to be expected. The Counselors we brought have helped of course. We normally bring one per 250 colonists but with the uniqueness of this colony, the distance, it is basically one per 100. They have gone through a majority of the colonists, but it’s time-consuming. The goal is to visit each family at least once every two months, and that schedule…”
He was interrupted by comm system chirping. “Bridge to Admiral Paka. Our relay station by the gateway is showing a subspace rift forming approximately 1500 meters from its aperture.”
“Has anything emerged?” He quickly thought to himself what it potentially was. Subspace rifts were usually a precursor to a Borg ship appearing.
“Nothing so far… wait...two ships, approximately seventy meters in length. Make that six, no eight.” He paused, waiting for the ships to finish appearing. “Fourteen ships, Sir. Four of them are aligning to the gateway, the other ten are creating a defensive perimeter.”
“Any ID on who they are?” The Admiral asked.
“Aye Sir. They are registering as Vaadwaur.” The Captain of the Martinsson replied.
“Captain Daryos, Commander Wrexham, you better get back down to the station. Captain Carthen, please report back to the Pequod.” The officers left the room. “Captain Malap, please escort Miss Beil, and Governor Rian to their quarters please.” The Bolian nodded in the affirmative and directed them out of the observation room. Normally he wouldn’t escort them to quarters, but he was well aware of the potential danger the Vaadwaur could cause.
A short moment later he reached the bridge. “Report Captain. What are they doing?”
“The four ships are directing some sort of resonance field to the vicinity of the gateway.”
“Isn’t a resonance field the reason we couldn’t use the gateway the last three times? And our scanners couldn’t detect anything causing it?” The cogs of his mind turning away. “Could they be related? Could it have been the Vaadwaur that disrupted it the last 3 times?”
“It was a resonance field, but I don’t have the data available right now to make that determination.” The Captain replied. “But this field seems to be a field of much greater magnitude. It’s producing some strange readings from the gateway. It’s… I don’t know. Lieutenant Collins?
The shy looking human woman at the science station was already tapping furiously at her console. “I’m working on it, Captain. The field intensity is extremely high, not quite off the charts, but as much as the sensor buffers can handle at this range, using the relay we have in place. If I’m reading this right, if the field keeps up at this intensity, the residual EM radiation it appears to be leaving behind will render the gateway unusable.” She looked to her Captain, then to the Admiral.
Two years ago, the thought of being stuck in the Delta Quadrant without the gateway would have been quite disconcerting. However with the new quantum slipstream drives, in 4 of the ships in his Task Force, it just meant transit to and from the quadrant would take seven or eight weeks instead of the thirty or so seconds. So they weren't as isolated. And they could probably deploy a few relays, so communication would only take a few hours, instead of a few decades. But that’s planning for another time.
“Captain, open a channel, priority one.” He ordered the Captain.
“Channel open Admiral.”
“This is Admiral Paka to all Starfleet ships in the vicinity of HQ. Your existing orders are postponed. You are to go to yellow alert and pull back to HQ at maximum warp. Paka out.” The lighting on the bridge changed. “Send a message to Ourea Station and instruct them to go to yellow alert.”
“Sir, there is a massive EM spike coming from the gateway. I’m also reading increased amounts of tetryon radiation.” Her screen went blank. “I’ve lost the feed. The radiation has overloaded out relay. Long-range sensors do show some form of tetryon… explosion, for lack of a better word. It looks like the gateway erupted then collapsed in on itself. It looks like it’s closed, for how long though I can’t be sure, not without more scans.”
The Operations Chief interrupted. “Sirs, subspace rift forming, bearing three-zero, mark three-four-zero. Range, 140,000 kilometres. Sensors show ships emerging, same configuration as the Vaadwaur ships.”
Though the Captain Elus Kidex was the commanding officer of the Martinsson, in certain circumstances like these, Admiral Paka would take direct command. “Captain Kidex, get me the Pequod.”
Commander Matan Djurat appeared on screen. “Admiral, the Captain is on his way to…” He paused as the turbolift behind him opened, out of which came Captain Carthen. “One moment please Admiral.” He turned and faced the Captain. “A subspace rift has appeared 2.25 million kilometres away. There are Vaadwaur ships exiting.”7
“You know as much as us now. Thoughts Captain? Because I have one, but I don’t like it.” The Admiral asked Captain Carthen.
“Then I think we are having the same thoughts. The Vaadwaur destabilise the gateway, they don’t want Starfleet here. Do you think they may attack the Starbase?
“The thought had crossed my mind. I want you to coordinate evacuating the starbase if necessary. Pequod, Martinsson, Loki, Narcissus and Ker to defend the Chang Teh and Descartes. Order the Maggiore and Pinciana to fall back to Ourea. If our only transit back to the Alpha Quadrant now is the quantum slipstream drives, they need to be as far away from this as possible.”
“Agreed Admiral. Good luck. Pequod to all ships, red alert. Send word to Ourea, red alert. Maintain battle stations. Pequod out.
“How many ships have come through the singularity Captain?”
“Around 60 of the fighters, plus four larger ships. A profile we haven’t seen before. They seem to be a more up to date, larger version of the fighters. Around the size of a Nova class.”
“Get me Captain Carthen.” Whose face appeared on the screen. “Captain, I don’t like these odds. We know from past altercations with the Vaadwaur fighters can swarm, and overload a ships shields in a matter of minutes. Between the Martinsson, Pequod, Chang Teh and Descartes, we have around sixty fighters between us. That would even up the numbers.”
An alarm appeared from the Pequod tactical officer’s console. “The Vaadwaur have raised their shields and charged weapons. They are now on an intercept course and targeting the fleet. Approximately thirty seconds to intercept.”
Captain Carthen turned back to the viewscreen. “Agreed Admiral, have your squad C-O maintain a channel to us, we will coordinate with the other ships, keep the fighter screen there as long as possible.”
“Bridge to Commander Garall, launch both squadrons. Once you’re in the air, open a channel to the Pequod. They will provide further instructions.”
“Aye sir, launching now. Garall out. The fighter group commander replied.
“So.” Admiral Paka faced the Captain on the viewscreen once more. “Are they going to go for the base or for the orbiting ships.”
“Could be either. I would suggest we evac the base and see what happens. Admiral.”
“I agree. I defer to your judgement here Captain. I made you area coordinator for a reason.”
The Pequod’s bridge shook, as the first shots were fired by the Vaadwaur ships. “Very well Admiral.” He turned to his operations officer. “Contact the base. Order an evacuation. The Chang Teh and Descartes to take on the fighters from the base, and to beam up. Maintain open channels to all ships. Chang Teh and Descartes will have their shields down. All ships are to prevent any Vaadwaur getting though. Use the fighter screen. You have your orders. Another shake almost took him off his feet. He turned around and sat in his command chair. He looked to his screen. Admiral, please hold the Martinsson back. I’m not saying stay out of the fight, I doubt any of us will have that luxury, but as the ship contains you, I want you to have the ability to fall back to Ourea if needed.”
“Aye aye.” He replied, somewhat more sarcastically than he intended. “Good hunting Captain.” The screen shut off, showing the battlefield. The Vaadwaur were swarming the ships like someone who hits a liccie bug nest. The Martinsson shuddered, itself now under a barrage of fire. Between the sixty fighters launched from the fleet, and the five other ships not evacuating the base, it had evened the odds somewhat.
“Admiral, Maggiore and Pinciana have slipstreamed away. They should arrive at Ourea in a few minutes.” Lieutenant O’Connor reported from the ops station.
Another shudder. “Report Commander Tarak.”
“The fighters are helping. They are keeping the Vaadwaur away from the evac team. There are eleven fighters converging on us.” Another sharp jolt. “Shields at eighty-four percent. We have disabled three of the fighters within our perimeter.” A beep from the tactical console drew the Trill officers attention. “Ker has engaged M-VAM”
“That should even the odds a little more.” The Admiral replied.
The Captain spoke next. “Admiral, evacuation is around forty percent complete. Estimated completion, around one minute twenty seconds.”
“Thank you, Captain.” Another violent jolt.
“Shields at sixty-seven percent. We have disabled another figh… three of the fighters have made it through the screen. The Descartes has taken a volley to her weapon pod, multiple hull breaches of the pod.”
“Redirect our fire to cover them. Ask the Pequod if they can send a fighter squadron to cover them.”
“It looks like they already did. The squadron from the Chang Teh has already been redirected.”
“Is the Descartes still capable of warp?” Getting the staff from the station away from the system had now become an unexpected priority.
“Yes, Sir. It looks like most of the damage was confined to the pod. Evac complete in around one minute.”
More jolts hit the ship. He was watching the viewscreen and saw some Starfleet fighters were hit. Hopefully, there were survivors.
“Shields at fifty-eight percent. Another two fighters disabled.” Tarak replied.
“Evacuation is complete Admiral. We are receiving a hail from Pequod, audio-only.” the Captain replied.
“The evacuation has been completed, all fighters from the Chang Teh and Descartes return to your ships, as soon as they are on board, please warp to Ourea. The squadron from the base, please dock on board the Pequod. All other fighters return to your ships. All ships full defensive perimeter. As soon as the fighters are home on all ships, we warp to Ourea. Pequod out.”
Captain Kidex broke the silence. “You heard the Captain. Prep the ship warp as soon as our fighters are aboard.”
“Descartes and Chang Teh are away,” O’Connor stated. “Our fighters will be on board in twenty seconds.”
Another jolt from the Vaadwaur fighters. They had reduced their numbers by almost forty percent, but they were still a threat.
“The larger ships are targeting us… wait, no. They are targeting the base!” The larger ships had held back for the entire time, only moving toward the conflict now. “Sensors show what looks like gravimetric torpedoes in their tubes. They are firing.”
The torpedoes, with a whitish hue, were ejected from the larger Vaadwaur ships. Passing all the ships and fighters, landing in various positions around the starbase, or rather what used to be a starbase. The explosion was large enough to see from orbit. If there was anything remaining from the starbase, it would be microscopic.
“Admiral, you have an incoming hail. From the Vaadwaur.”
“On screen. Patch the Pequod in silently.
A male Vaadwaur face appeared on the screen. “Greetings Admiral. I am Overseer Gidra. I do hope you realise I let you live. I gave your people plenty of time to remove themselves from our moon.”
“Your moon? We were allowed to put our base there by the native species of this system. What right do you…”
The Overseer held up his hand, stopping the Admiral from speaking. “The native species in this system was allowed to evolve here because we weren’t here to stop it. Needless to say, they will be integrated into the Vaadwaur Supremacy, and allowed to continue their existence.”
“You can’t be serious. What right do you have to claim this system? And why did you collapse the gateway?”
“The gateway was collapsed to prevent any more of your kind coming here. And this system was once part of our great empire. Simply put, we wanted it back. I won’t continue this anymore. You have been allowed to live. You can go back to your little colony. Consider it’s existence a gift from us.”
“How very kind of you.” The Admiral didn’t quite know how to respond to that.
“Indeed. Now, off you go Admiral. As a representative of the Vaadwaur Supremacy, we would advise you to withdraw from our space. End transmission.” The screen went blank. The tension on the bridge was palpable.
“Did you get all that Captain?” He asked the blank screen, which promptly reverted to the picture of Captain Carthen.
“I did. This certainly changes things, a great deal indeed. Orders Admiral?”
“Continue as planned. Withdraw all ships to Ourea. Status on fighters?”
“All fighters onboard all ships. Ready for warp at your orders, Admiral.” The sense of urgency was now no longer as critical, though they still planned to withdraw with haste.
He had barely been in his office on the former starbase for a few months now. He had, rather, fortunately, kept most of his belongings onboard the Martinsson. Now he would never set foot in that office again. And a trip back to Bajor would take fifty days or more. Almost two months just to visit home. The gateway was gone, or at least disabled, but he suspected it was gone. They were basically on their own, for at least the next few months.
Ourea Station wasn’t completed yet, though it was habitable, with most of the living quarters done, and vital systems finished. That will have to be rushed he thought to himself. Now that it’s the command centre of all Starfleet forces within the Delta Quadrant. And now the Vaadwaur apparently held their grudge for hundreds of years. This was a new chapter for Starfleet here. Who knew where it would lead. Because for Admiral Paka, he had no idea what was coming next.
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