When dealing with deceit...be deceitful - Part 2

Posted on 09 Nov 2009 @ 12:44pm by Commodore Da`nal of the House of Varal

1,588 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: M2: Aggressive Negotiations
Location: USS Freedom - Romulan Space
Timeline: Current

[USS Freedom]

Jessica swallowed hard from her place behind the Ops console, "Channels open sir."

~Here we go~ Da`nal thought. “MAYDAY….MAYDAY! To any vessel, this is the Federation Star Ship USS Freedom. We were attacked by the escort vessels that were to take us to Romulus. We have been unable to stabilize our warp core and our escape systems are malfunctioning. We need immediate assistance!â€

To her credit Jessica was distorting the visual transmission just enough to add to the effect.

[IRW Mosaram]

Darok had served under Llaiir t'Khellian for the best part of a century and never before had he known her to participate in such an elaborate scheme. As was his right as first officer, he had advised against it, but as was hers Llaiir had overruled him and now Darok was the only person on board the Mosaram who knew of the deception.

He appreciated the trust his commanding officer continued to place in him, but until she was back on board he was the one who was going to have to deal with the shock that was bound to rip through the ranks on board; he did not doubt that they would continue to function - grief was an emotion to be experienced in private and with those close, not a cause of dereliction of duty, but still he wondered how they would react.

As the call came he raised his head, "On screen!" and the appeal for assistance came. "The Hru'Hfirh and her heir are aboard that ship," he stated, injecting his tone with concern and urgency, "Move in but keep your eyes on the hostile vessel too. Federation Star Ship USS Freedom, you have the assistance of the Mosoram. Update me on the status of the Hru'Hfirh t'Khellian."

[USS Freedom]

“The Commander is fine and we are attempting to force launch our aerowing class vessel. However the ambassador has suffered major injuries.â€

"We have another anti-mater containment issue, coolant pressure is increasing, if we're going to do this we need to execute it in three minutes or we'll have a real explosion on our hands!" Silonez said silently cursing the captain for not listening to his warnings.

[IRW Mosaram]

Darok heard the sharp hissed intakes of breath around him, "It is imperative that they are returned to us safely. Direct your efforts to that end. We are readying a support team to assist in the stabilization of your vessel."

[USS Freedom]

"Acknowledged." Da`nal replied with vexation. He was, after all, a Klingon asking for help from Romulans.

"We are making preparations to receive our people, have your medical team provide details of the Lady's injuries, Commander." Darok paused and briefly spoke with another officer before continuing, "our support team is ready to transfer."

"The Ambassador is already being cared for. We are ready to receive your support team once you are in range."

[Liberator]

Llaiir t'Khellian had one ear on the communications that were going back and forth; she had every faith in Darok, but she remained apprehensive about the necessary deceit of her entire crew, many of whom were members of her extended family. They would rightly be reluctant to leave the scene without destroying the other Romulan vessel, but they would if she made them. She chewed on this as she stared at the officer the Klingon had left her with.

"What's our status, Ensign?" Fienneman asked, hovering behind her and reviewing the console over her shoulder.

"Well, from the look of it," She replied slowly, "with a lot of luck we can pull this off. I'd still feel better with Kristere at the controls though. I mean, yeah, she's crazy, but she can fly."

[Bridge – USS Freedom]

"Matter Anti-matter control failure in twenty seconds, venting protocols are will not engage secondary systems not responding" he paused as his screen went red "EPS explosion on deck 6 the repairs didn't hold there's a plasma fire, damage control team is enroute."

[Liberator]

=^=“Commander get our guest out of here now! =^=

"Roger that, skipper. Ensign, Now!" Andrew replied quickly.

Without hesitation the Ensign subbing for Wandella punched the throttle as hard as it could go, launching the Liberator forward at an alarming, and exhilarating rate of speed, ~Oh, yeah!!!!~


[Bridge]

The moment her console beeped, informing her that they had reached the coordinates, T'Pal beemed the debris and bodies around the decoy, in a spread appearing to be battle damage.

[Engineering]

"Boatswain's mate Nichols, are the pattern enhancers in cargo bay three up yet?" Chief Flaherty hollered from the catwalk, sealing yet another bulkhead after yet another repair. "Yessir, they're ready to go, as is the 'cargo'." The young BM3 responded, having arrived only seconds ago from completing that exact task of prepping the bodies for transport. Flaherty rapped his knuckles on the panel, surprised that the warped piece of metal was so easily put back in place, "Good, and you've got th' sequence planned an' routed ta the bridge?" The further interrogations made the man stutter slightly, "I, yuh, Yes I did, they've got it, Sir."

Flaherty jumped down from the catwalk, landing hard on the main deck. He bounced back upwards after having bent at the knees to avoid injury, clapping his hand on the shoulder of the young man as he reached his full height "Well done, very well done, now make yerself useful." It was said as a joke, which both men understood, and the enlisted man smiled at the scottish man's comment. MacCallum strode over to the railing around the core, "You got 'er right yet, PS1, or do I need ta come doon there maeself?" The First Class, currently holding a hyperspanner to the underside of the core hollered back with a heavy southern accent, "Ah've got 'er, Sar."

We're almost there. His mind chimed in, hinting at the well known fact that this was going to be a short trip before the whole ordeal was finished. Whether that end came through their death or by escape, no one cared to speculate, but the work was done fervently without question. The ship was in incredibly bad shape, and the chances were good that something would go terribly wrong at about the time they jumped. MacCallum couldn't let the jump go through without a few words, "Ladies an' Gentlemen, It's been my honor to serve with you for the past few days," as he started to speak, people dropped their work and listened intently, "It's been a rough coupla days, but ye've done a fine job, the lot of ye." His mind struggled to find better words, but could not, "I don't know if we'll make it through this last jump, but we will 'ave given 'em a run fer their money. I speak true words to the captain by quoting Montgomery Scott."

"We're given 'er all She's got, ladies an' gentlemen, an' that's a bloody fact." He raised his right hand, still holding a tool from his latest job, " 'ere's ta makin' it to th' other side!"

The crew roared as they collectively raised their own hands, ensuring esprit de corps in the ships engineering section for years to come. "Computer, encode the followin' message to the main viewer with voice-to-text, 'All Ahead Full." He couldn't see the main viewer of course, but he could be sure that those three words had just appeared in bold letters in front of the Captain's eyes.

He could only hope the Freedom was ready.

[USS Freedom]

Da`nal watch the display as the Liberator warped out of the area toward the Commander’s ship.

“Mosaram…your commander is away! Hold your position, we are loosing containment. Qapl….†Da`nal motioned for the channel to be cut and pointed to Silonez. “Now!"

"Helm, get us out of here!"

"Oh, is that all?" Wandella sighed, a little annoyed with the whole thing, ~I can't believe he kept me here for this instead of on the Liberator! A monkey can take us to warp.~

Silonez keyed in the program just as had been discussed, the anti-matter ejected and detonated as planned, "Cloak is online, but we have a problem."

The switch went as planned as the Romulan vessel decloaked, emitting the same signature, as the Freedom cloaked. the decoy erupted in a glorious fireball as the antimatter was exposed. a freaction of a second later the Freedom jumped to warp. Da`nal grimaced as he cursed under his breath, the plans success depended on the cloak functioning, "What is it?!"

"The power drain could cause a system shut down we didn't fix all the bugs that we thought we had, recommend grey mode to keep the power drain under control."

"Do it, keep that cloak up."

The ship dropped from warp after their rollercoaster ride. "Well we didn't fly apart" Tapping his badge. "Well done Mr. Flaherty. Whats your status?"

=/= Just pickin' up th' pieces Cap'n, The cloak is up but the drive'll nae go above warp four, but she'll hold together. I'll appreciate no more surprises if ye dinnae mind, Cap'n, I cannae take any more.=/=

"Very well, continue repairs. 'No more surpises'....you got it. Bridge out."


Looking to the various members of his bridge crew. "Well done all. Continue grey mode and Helm ge us to Cariel III full impulse."

OFF

Cmdr Da`nal
CO

Lt Cmdr Andrew Fienneman
XO

Lt. MacCallum Flaherty
CEO

Lt. T'Pal
CSEC

Lt. Silonez Eircson
CIO

Ltjg "CJ" Dehaviland
CFCO

Isha e-Khellian i-Ramnau t'Illialhlae
Romulan Ambassador

 

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