Episode 2: Requiem of Retribution
Stardate:
97685.8
Directed by:
@Maikull
Location:
Archanis Sector; Ajilon System
Chief Engineers Log: Stardate 97685.8
We have been hard at work manufacturing the components we received from Drozana Station. With such a surplus of raw materials, it was hard to nail down just what exactly we needed to create. Captain Barron and Zach settled down on; Shield Generators, Force Field Generators, Support Drones, Transport Inhibitors, and holographic emitters. Even with full teams working round the clock, and the captain’s slow choice of speed, there is no way we are going to covert all the components in time. I have designed easy tutorials for the colonist to follow to create what they need with materials on hand once we arrive. Till then, Captain has given us a reprieve, suggesting we take the time to relax before things get…hairy. I have scheduled time on the Holodeck for a very important test I have coming up.
“I just need you to stand there and watch me, that it! For moral support!” Kiff begged his friend. Lt.Cmdr Southerland and Lt.Cmdr Brannigan walked down the corridor together, the Andoiran looking a little miffed. “I don’t see why, I mean you’re going to have to do it by yourself eventually!” The Chief Tactical officer argued. “Yes, but you can critique me afterwards and let me know what I can do better for the real thing!” At this Zach bellowed at the Bolian Officer. “Trust me, there is NOTHING you can do to ‘better prepare’ for this.” The two came to a stop at Holodeck 1 as Kiff manned the control panel. “That’s weird, theres already a program running…” Kiff stated looking at the data on the screen.
Brannigan got close, reading the program description, “Twilight Risan Sands? Sounds Sexy…I wonder who’s getting freaky on th—” Zach started, but stopped himself as both officers jumped. The Door to the Holodeck suddenly opened, and Lt.Cmdr V’era stood in the doorway. The glare of her eyes barred down on the other two officers with murderous intent. She was sweaty, out of breath, and clearly annoyed. “V’era! Sorry! I didn’t know anyone had reserved the holodeck for this time block!” Kiff apologized. V’era took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from her brow, “No its fine…I noticed no one had locked it in earlier and tried to run a program.” Brannigan perked a brow “Spicy night on Risa? I can dig it!” he said with a smirk. The cold glare returned to the Half Romulan as she turned her eyes to Zach “I chose the scenic view for a jog, to help work off some stress…not that it f***ing worked.” she growled as she pushed past the two off to her quarters.
After watching her disappear down one of the hallways, Zach turned to Kiff “Is it just me, or has she been getting more and more moody lately?” Kiff shrugged, “Rumor mill says she snapped at one of her Ensigns the other day. Somethings up for sure.” Trying to shrug off the encounter and change the subject, Brannigan laughed “So we gonna do this or what?” Kiffs eyes lit up as he turned back to the Holodeck’s Command terminal, but just as he began to load his program, a ship wide broadcast rang out.
“Now Hear This, Now Hear This. All Senior Bridge Officers Report to Your Stations. All Senior Bridge Officers Report to Your Stations.”
Kiff rested his head against the terminal as Zach slumped at the call. “Sorry bro, duty calls. We probably reached the Ajilon System.” Kiff nodded and cleared his command from the terminal, “Yea, I might as well head to engineering.”
On the Bridge; A Few Minutes Later
“Sir, systems show the colony has received our hails, but still hasn’t responded. Should we keep trying?” Pi asked from his station. “I’m detecting a subspace distortion field, it could be interfering with communications.” V’era cut in. Pi reviewed his console for a moment, “Looks like it’s coming from a debris field just ahead.” Barron took a deep breath, the look on his face was one of uneasiness. Picking up on this, Stern reached over, and placed her hand on his “We know what that is…on screen.” The screen blipped onto the new image of the region before them, everyone on the bridge went silent. Mai’kull took another moment before standing up from his chair to face his past. Brannigan could be heard mouthing “What tha fuuuu—” before their Commanding Officer announced, “Welcome to Ajilon Outpost.”
Barron turned to face his crew, clearing his throat before he began his depiction.
“About 47 years ago, in an effort to destabilize the Federation/Klingon alliance, the Dominion convinced the Klingons to ‘take back what’s theirs’, prompting them to launch a full-on invasion into the Archanis Sector. They captured the Archanis system and we pushed them back in the Ganalda System which brokered us a Cease Fire. The Klingons violated that cease fire and invaded Ajilon Prime in one of the shortest but most brutal skirmishes of that conflict.
We gave up most of the sector, but we kept Ajilon Prime, and we rebuilt. Ajilon Outpost was constructed to make sure what happened before never happened again, gave us a listening post in Klingon Space. When J’mpok declared war on the federation 15 years ago, they came to finish what they started. Ajilon Outpost stood as a blockade, to slow the advance of the Klingons to the colony, giving civilians the chance to evacuate or prepare. It was a back-and-forth conflict. Klingons would take the station, bolster their resources before heading to the planet, then the Federation would show up and take it back; off and on without respite, with each encounter getting more and more desperate.
A Orbital Mining Station and Minor Shipyards were constructed to give the controlling fleet a means to try and regain their footing after an encounter, but even they became targets for the opposition. Once the war was called off…well, you can see. Barely anything left worth saving. With resources stretched through conflicts with the Borg, Undine, Vaadwaur, and Iconians, it was all Starfleet could do just to get the needed aid to the colony, let alone try to salvage all of this.”
“V’era, Scan the Communications Array, I think that’s one of the only things that still work, could explain why the Colony isn’t answering our hails.”
The Science Officer attempted to comply with the order given, but her terminal just reported error signals. “There is too much magnetic distortion around the arrays sir, I don’t even see how they could get anything in or out” Stern chuckled some, “They are six times the size of our ship, and calibrated in such a way that they can cut through the interference. When the Klingons took the station, Starfleet set the distortion field around the satellites to try and prevent them from tampering with them. They responded by simply putting their own next to ours.”
“With 6 Satellites of their size, it would take us a couple of hours to run a diagnostic, let alone re-align them by ourselves. That would be pushing the Tractor Beam WELL past integrity thresholds.” Pi added. Barron took his seat, “We can always come back, their not going anywhere. I want to get to the Colony and see what’s going on before we spend any more time out here, Zach, set a course for Ajilon Prime.” The Andorian nodded, “Aye sir.”
In Orbit Around Ajilon Prime
“Ahh, Sun-Zoo! Welcome to Ajilon Prime. I’m terribly sorry about the comms, we are experiencing some sub-space interference. We can receive messages, but its hard to get them out past the orbital satellites! What brings you to our little neck of the stars?” A very posh looking Orion spoke on the view screen. Barron remained seated as he addressed the woman, suppressing the nerve that twitched when she mispronounced his ships name. “Ahh, well, as our previous transmissions explained, we are here to provide colonial, and defensive provision to the colony, given the current political atmosphere In the Beta Quadrant.”
“Oh my! Did something happen?” the woman asked, looking a bit shocked. Barron looked over at Stern who glanced back with a raised brow shaking her head. “Well, I’m not sure if you have been told yet, though it’s been all over the Federation News Network, but the Klingon Empire has been engulfed in Civil War. Were here just to check up on our boarder colonies, and ensure the fighting doesn’t spill over. I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”
“OH! That’s right, where are my manners. I am Ajilon Prime’s Resource Manager, Adria.” She explained with a proud gleam. There was another slight pause and sideways glance before Barron responded “What happened to Axel?” There was a slight facial tic at the name, but Adria appeared to remain unphased. “Oh, Axle, yes…were you friends?” she inquired. Barron stood firm “We were old acquaintances during the last War, I thought he was the Resource Manager for the Colony.” Adria nodded and smiled, “Oh he was, but he has since retired. War took a toll on him and he just couldn’t keep up anymore! ANYWAY, if you’d like to come down, we would love to receive the provisions the federation has brought us!” she said, returning to her cheerful demeanor.
Barron returned the smile, “Yes Ma’am, our away teams will be down shortly! Sun-Tzu out.”. At the commanders’ words, Pi cut the transmission to the colony.
Barron’s face drew cold as he continued to stare off at the view screen, “Scale of one to ten?” he asked aloud. Most of the bridge officers were confused at his question, but Stern replied. “She’s so full of shit, I can smell her from up here. But she wasn’t lying about being the new Resource Manager.” Barron started slowly rocking in place, a nervous twitch of his. “Axel wouldn’t retire, He lived through both Klingon Incursions, he’ll be damned to let old age keep him from his home.” “She did seem to be baiting for information before making any statements.” V’era pointed out.
Barron nodded. “Yea, somethings not right. Stern, you have the Bridge, Pie, Roptojmey with me.” He started to head to the turbolift as he tapped his comm badge. “Southerland and Mark-0 to Transporter Room 2. Jess, hold out here while we look around, but after a bit, I want you to check on that Communications Array.” Stern nodded at the orders as the Three officers entered the Turbolift.
Transporter Room, USS Sun-Tzu
Pi and Southerland both stood ready on the Transporter Pad as Commander Barron, Commander Roptojmey and Lt.Cmdr Mark-0 huddled together at the end of the steps having a hushed conversation. Looking a little concerned, Southerland leaned over to Pi, “Uhh…should we be listening in to that?” he whispered, sounding a tad bit hesitant. Pi shook his head, “If he wanted us to know, he would have called us down there.” The Cyborg responded. Kiff shifted uncomfortably in place, “Yea, but I mean, were all going down there, shouldn’t we all get the same brief?” Pi chuckled at the Bolian. “Cap use to be SFI, He still operates like that from time to time. If he has a plan, the less we know, the less likely we are to get in its way.”
Roptojmey nodded and gruffed at the Commander before taking his place on the transporter pad, pushing past Southerland. The Trio then observed as Mark-0 handed his Comm Badge to the Commander, and dematerialized before him. Southerland looked a bit shocked, and headed down the ramp towards the Commander. “Im sorry sir, is there something wrong with his Mobile Emitter? I can try and take a look at it and fi–” he began to ramble, but Barron held up a hand to silence him. “Relax Kiff, Mark-0 wont be joining us today.” He said with a smirk, as he slid the Chief Security Officers Mobile Emiiter/Comm Badge into his pocket and headed up the ramp. “You coming?” Barron asked as he turned to see Kiff still standing there a little dumbstruck.
Pi and Roptojmey chucked a bit as The Engineer walked back onto the Transporter pad, thoroughly confused. “Chief, Light Us Up!” the Commander ordered, as the Transporter Officer hit the controls to send the away team down to the Surface.
Ajilon Prime, Resource Headquarters; Tananda Bay
The Receptionist at the desk was quite pleasant and apologetic as she assured for the 4th time that Miss Adria would be ready for them soon. Barron kept his cool and assured here they were in no rush as Southerland stood by awkwardly, and Roptojmey was taking random scans.
“KID!” the Klingon Barked, causing Kiff to jump some. “Do something useful, see if you can pull up a colony map so we can figure out where to offload the supplies.” Kiff stammered for a second, looking at Barron for confirmation, only to received a wide-eyed ‘Hes not wrong’ look from him. “Uhh, right! Sorry!” he said, before heading off to the nearest terminal access. As Roptojmey continued to scan around, he leaned in towards Barron muttering in Klingon (1)“ Val da De’wl’. Yay’ da puq” Barron stifled a snicker before responding in kind(2)“ Nob ghaH ghor!”
Translation
(1) Roptojmey Says: "Smart as a computer. Dumbfounded as a child…”
(2) Barron Says: "Give him a break!”
Translations made Circa https://hol.kag.org/
The Receptionist looked up at the two a little concerned, “Im sorry, I didn’t know you spoke Klingon…” she said a little bewildered. Barron turned to face her and gave her a grin, “Well, him for obvious reasons, but I learned it back in the war. Kind of a mandatory study.” The receptionist smiled a bit and nodded, looking to Roptojmey, “And what house are you from?” she inquired to the doctor. Roptojmey looked to Barron for a second, before clearing his throat, “No offence, but, that’s classified information.” he gave her a small wink. Initially a harmless means of deflection, but to both the Starfleet Officers surprise, the Receptionist winked back “Oh, I think I understand!” she said with a smirk.
She leaned in across the counter as the two joined her, whispering “We didn’t expect your family to come aboard a federation ship, let alone so soon, though I can understand the need for cover. We thought you were Starfleet, so I was supposed to stall you, but Ill buzz you into Miss Adria right now! We apologize for the delay, and mean no disrespect by it! Cant be too careful!” Barron and Roptojmey both held their composure and smiled, nodding and thanking the woman before heading off towards the offices. Barron waved down to Pi who was examining a computer terminal to join them.
As the three headed for the office section, Roptojmey whispered to the Cyborg, “Hope you got a built in recorder in that head of yours, I think we just stumbled into some serious shit.” Pi nodded, and with a twitch of his neck, he confirmed to the other two “Recording now.”
Ajilon Prime, Resource Operational Manager’s Office
“Commander Barron, I do apologize, your sudden appearance had us all scrambling! We had no idea K’hugoq would even respond to our offer, let alone send a Federation Starship for negotiations.” Adria said, standing and shaking the officer’s hands before taking her seat. “Well, as you can imagine, things are quite hectic right now. Cant be showing all the cards in our hand.” he bluffed. The Orion woman chuckled, “Oh that reminds me, I need to call off my contact! You had us so scared, I called in for a Destroyer to come deal with your ship!” she chuckled as she picked up a PaDD. Roptojmey’s Tricorder made a few beeps, and the Klingon withdrew it, growing at the results. “That idiot Bolian went and got himself lost…Looks like there is plenty of people here to handle this, Ill grab him and head back to the ship.” Barron nodded to Roptojmey, “Yea, get the cargo bay prepped so we can start unloading the supplies. Need to make this trip look productive while we talk.” Pi had been watching Adria the entire time, and had noticed that though she grabbed her PaDD, she had made no attempt to type anything.
“Oh, so you did bring provisions?” Adria asked, setting her padd down as Roptojmey walked out of the office. Barron nodded, “Yes, Starfleet’s been fortifying the boarder worlds, worried that either the civil war will flood over, or after wards another empire expansion would occur. That’s what took us so long to respond, had to wait to pick up the assignment, as to not raise suspicion.” As he spoke, Adria looked at Pi more intently. “And who is this fine young man?” Pi did not change his facial expression, and spoke in a very monotone voice, “This unit is designated Three of Fourteen, ” “He’s just an XB, more Robot than human now, made him easy to reprogram. Damn thing glitches though whenever there is an EMP.”
Adria hit a few buttons on her PaDD on the table before continuing, “So, I assume my offer to your house is acceptable?” Barron took a moment, staring into Adria’s eyes before beaming back to her, “Not Quite. The old Resource Manager, Axel. He was a War Hero in the last War over Ajilon. Before anything further is discussed, we need to know that Stubborn Ass Andorian has been dealt with.” Adria’s lips pursed once more at the mention of Axel, clearly a sore topic for the woman. She leaned back in her chair, “I’ve infiltrated Resource over many months. Bribed, Blackmailed, or Beaten almost every influential person to get where I am. No one will dare speak out against me, I can assure you I -HAVE- total control over this colony. Not even the federation is aware of what’s going on here.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.” Barron affirmed. Adria threw up her hands in frustration “Look, I don’t know! I managed to get the council to vote him out on a vote of no confidence and instill me as the new Manager, but when my operatives tried to capture him at his home after the meeting, he had vanished. Probably fled the planet by now. We now have tight control over off world transports and are monitoring and censoring communications, nothing indicates he’s here, coming back, or even calling for help. It’s one man, how much harm could he really be?” she snapped.
“ Kahless is one man, but invoke his name and you can rally an army to your cause.” Pi spoke, once again keeping with his monotone guise. Barron pointed and nodded to the Cyborg. “We have worked too hard to allow any slip-ups. Before we continue further, I want to see his old dwelling, see if we cant find any clues as to where he could have gone.” Annoyed by the proceedings, Adria snarled “We have torn his house apart already and found nothing of use! But Fine! Ill arrange a transport if it means we can proceed with this deal.” Barron nodded, and both he and Pi stood “We will wait outside, Thank you Miss Adria.”
Once they had reached a quiet corner, Barron sat down next to Pi, “They’re going to come for us soon, Mark-0 signaled that Rop and Kiff got onboard, but someone tried to stop them from leaving. Once they realize were not the agents of whoever the hell collaborated this they’re going to come for us.” Pi wondered how he knew this, but remained focused, “Alright, so do we try to beam back up? I don’t think she called off that ship.” Barron shook his head, “Nah, Sun-Tzu’s shields will be up dealing with that, or she’s already on their way to the Comms Array to get word back to the Fleet. We need to uncover and expose what’s going on down here.”
“Ok, I can hack their network easy enough, but I can’t do it and avoid capture.” Pi stated. Barron placed his hand on Pi’s shoulder. “That’s why were going to let them capture us. Don’t have time to explain, but were going to play -Andy’s Coming-. Their most likely going to hit you with an EMP Blast, I want you to pretend like it worked and feign unconsciousness. Ill signal you when the coast is clear.” Pi understood now why the commander had made the comment about an EMP to Adria, though Pi was fully shielded against most EMP wavelengths. “What about you sir?” Pi probed, concerned for his Commanding Officer. Barron smiled, “Lets just say, I have a Guardian Angel watching over us.”
As the two finished talking, a round ball rolled into the foyer which caught their eye. At the same time, the door frame leading back into the main hall lit-up, as if a Forcefield had been activated. “DOWN!” Barron managed to yell as the ball exploded in a flash of bright light. The lights in the area flickered and died, and the whole area had filled with a flash of smoke. Barron coughed and felt around, feeling Pi laying on the couch, not moving. “Three!” he hacked, as the smoke cleared, he shook his officer, but the Cyborg did not respond.
Two Orion Males bearing rifles entered the small room and aimed their weapons at Mai’kull, who turned to face them. One spoke up chuckling “She said the EMP would work on the borg!” , the other one grunted, thrusting the barrel into Barrons chest. “Adria would like a word with you, Commander.”
USS Sun-Tzu; In Orbit around Ajilon Prime
“Commander, Southerland and Roptojmey have returned to the ship.” Lt.Cmdr V’era announced before the comms channel opened. “Roptojmey to Bridge, Raise Shields, we have company in-bound!” Stern looked over to V’era with a concerned look, which the officer was already working on her console “Long Range Sensors do show a ship on course to the planet. Though, I don’t think we would have spotted it if we weren’t directly looking for it.”
Stern acknowledged the report, “Zach, Raise Shields, see if we can’t find out who’s coming to the party.” After a moment, the Turbolift doors opened, and Commander Roptojmey entered the bridge. “Report?” “Captain’s staying on the planet, that new Resource Lady is up to something shady as hell, and sent a Destroyer after us. ” There was a moment of pause on the bridge at the Klingons words, before Brannigan confirmed. “Looks like it’s a Vandal Destroyer, Nausicaan Build, coming in hot. 90 seconds before their in weapons range.”
“V’era, any word from the colony, or from the away team?” “No Ma’am, tried hailing them but no response.” Roptojmey growled, “Bottle of Bloodwine, that green bi**h down there has rigged the comms somehow.” “Contact, 10 seconds.” Brannigan announced. Stern looked to the viewscreen, “Yellow Alert”. The hue of the Bridge changed to a dull medallion yellow as the screen showed the Nausicaan Ship drop out of warp.
“Sensors show the Destroyer’s weapons are primed” Vera revealed. “Probably taking in the realization their sitting Infront of a Federation Battlecruiser, open a channel.” Stern proclaimed. “Channel Open Ma’am.”
“ Unidentified Vessel, This is the USS Sun-Tzu. You are in orbit over a Federation Colony, power down your weapons and explain yourselves.”
There was a few moments of silence on the bridge as everyone waited to see what was going to happen. “No Response.” Zach informed. Vera turned from her station to Stern, “Ma’am, the ship’s registration does not match any KDF registration patterns, and there is no House Markings.” “Good, that means their freelance, and we don’t have to worry about red tape when dealing with them. Send the message again, and this time…” Stern began to say, when the ship rocked from disruptor Fire from the Nausicaan Ship. “Nevermind! If that’s how they want to play this FINE! Red Alert, Return Fire!”
The USS Sun-Tzu Powered her Forward Arrays, and fired blue phaser beams towards the enemy ship, which immediately broke off and headed away from the planet, it fired a few more shots at the Sun-Tzu before taking off at Warp. “Shields Holding, No Damage or Injuries Reported. Looks like their heading towards the Ajilon Outpost.” “Peruse Course, All hands to battle stations!” Stern Ordered. Roptojmey settled down in the chair next to Stern, “If this don’t have trap written all over it.” Stern concurred with the doctor’s belief, “I picked up panic from them when they dropped out of warp, I don’t think they expected someone capable of fighting back.” The USS Sun-Tzu turned about from the planetary orbit, and raced after their quarry at Warp.
Ajilon Prime, Resource Operational Manager’s Office
“Commander Barron, so glad I caught you before you ran off, seems there was some miscommunication earlier that I wanted to clear up.” Adria stated as Commander Barron was escorted back into her office by the two armed Orion Guards. “Yea, no, your EMP Flash Bang cleared up that pretty well.” he grunted, rubbing his ears to try and relive the ringing. “Where is my officer?” he snapped, looking around and seeing they did not carry Pi in with him. “Don’t worry, you’ll be joining him soon enough, I just needed to ask a few more questions. Take his Comm Badge.” Adria ordered, and at her word one of the guards ripped Barrons badge off his uniform.
“You have caused a great deal of irritation Command…” Adria began, but the terminal at her desk began to chime. “Excuse me a moment.” she walked around her terminal and seeing who was hailing her, placed a device in her ear before answering.
“What is it?”
“Yes, I know it’s a Federation, do what I paid you to do and take care of it!”
“What do you mean it’s a battleship? Wa…”
Adria moved the device from her ear and looked over the screen to Barron. “Commander, what class starship did you come here in?” “Oh, that would be an Avenger Class Battlecruiser parked outside…” he said with a facetious tone. Adria slowly fell into a face palm before placing the device back into her ear.“Lure it out to the old Outpost and destroy it there! Yes, Ill double the price, just get it done!” she snapped before shutting off the terminal.
“What was I saying before? Oh yes…a great deal of irritation.” “Well, we do what we can. What was the plan, wait till the civil war came to ahead and sell the colony to the highest bidder?” Adria scoffed at Barron’s evaluation. “Let’s not be naive Commander, the Klingons want the rest of the surrounding sectors, and are willing to go back to war over them sooner or later. By tactically annexing the colony to the most influential side, everyone wins! The Klingons get the last corner of the Archanis sector. The colonist avoid yes another bloody conflict. And I get paid in power and influence within the Empire. See? Win, Win, Win.”
Mai’kull laughed at the Orion,“Cept for the small hiccup that they never answered you huh? That’s why you were so willing to talk to us about it.” “I knew this was going to be a long-con, the early bird reaps the worm.”"Unfortunately, Klingons don’t work like that, they want something they would rather take it than be handed it without a fight. Not an honorable –kill- to claim. Not to mention they probably wouldn’t have believed you anyway?” “You sound like your friend Axel.” “We got to know each other really well in the last war. How’s the old coot been lately? Real pain in the ass huh?”
“Well with you being such good friends, he should be inclined to try and rescue you then! With him finally dealt with, and you ship destroyed, you can remain our guest incase the Federation starts snooping around again.” “I couldn’t begin to tell you the number of ways that’s not going to happen, but I guess we will just have to wait and see huh?” “ENOUGH! Take him and his broken droid to the brig. Seal them up tight, hopefully that damn Andorian will slip up and we can end all of this!” As the two Orion Guards began to drag Barron away, he smartly remarked “Id get an exit strategy planned if I were you…”
Ajilon Outpost
USS Sun-Tzu dropped out of warp just outside of the former Starfleet Station, Shields and Weapons flaring back up to maximum. “Scanning the area.” Brannigan Reported.“Sensors indicate the Naussian Ship flew into the magnetic distortion around the arrays, probably to try and mask their trail.” V’era added.“Take us in. Broadcast on all channels for them to stand down. Zach, what do we know about that type of vessel?” Stern asked.
" Nausicaan Vandal Destroyer, Very Small Forward Profile and very agile. We outclass her in every aspect except turn rate. Probably hoping to use the sensor distortion and her maneuverability to her advantage." The Tactical Officer reported. “Impact of our tactical sensors in the magnetic distortion?” Stern queried. The internal communications chimed on from the Engineering Department, "Commander, I’m boosting the sensor array from the Quantum-Phase Converter. We should only see a 10% drop in effectiveness from sensors."Lt.Cmdr Southerland reported. “Good Job Kiff. What would it have been without the extra power?” She inquired.“60-75% Loss” The Chief Engineer answered.
There was a light rock as the USS Sun-Tzu was struck with disruptor fire. “Port Shields Holding, Down to 90%. Looks like their making full speed passing runs to try and hit us and get out of weapons range.” Brannigan Conveyed. “Bring us about! Zach, Attack Pattern Lambda, Fire at will!” Stern ordered.
As the Destroyer lined up for another pass, the USS Sun-Tzu had turned her port side to the ship, and unleased a broadside stream of blue phaser fire, striking the Naussian vessel’s forward shields several times. In return the enemy vessel hailed disruptor cannons on the USS Sun-Tzu’s Port shields before zipping past her at full speed.“Port Shields at 75%. We hit her, but it didn’t seem to do very much.” " Vulnerability Assessment Sweep shows the Enemy’s focusing most of their power to their forward shields." “Focus Fire after they pass us, hit them in the aft section where their shields will be weakest.”
As the Naussian Destroyer flew past again, firing a barrage of disruptor fire on the USS Sun-Tzu, Brannigan held his trigger until just after it passed, firing Starboard arrays at the aft section of their enemy. Three Beams struck true, and nearly collapsed their Aft Shield Grid, but the ship managed to get out of weapons range before another hit could be made. “Port Shields at 60%. Looks like we almost got them, but she got out of range.” Brannigan Recounted.
“Alright, evasive maneuvers, bring us to bare on them. Let’s see how they like a full frontal assault. Arm Cannons!” Stern continued.
The two vessels faced off, and charging full speed unleashed a volley of Cannon Fire at one another striking several times, before The USS Sun-Tzu pulled off, firing Port Phaser Arrays at the Destroyer. “Direct Hit. Forward Shields down to 80%. Looks like theirs took a beating too.”
“Good, bring us around for another run. Weapons Room; Arm two V.A.T.A. Warheads, Tachyon Emitter Payload, and place them in the Shuttle bay and ready for decompression.” Stern Instructed.
“Shuttle bay?” V’era questioned.
Brannigan chuckled, knowing what Stern was up too. “Fire them now, the enemy will detect them and possibly intercept. Suck them out the suttlebay and they will sit there till we activated like a mine trap. Tachyon beams will destabilize their shields giving us a softer target.” he explained.
The two ships made another pass at one another, and as before exchanged cannon fire before veering off. The USS Sun-Tzu depressurized its Shuttle bay flinging the two Variable Auto-Targeting Armament Warheads into space.
“Forward Shields holding at 60%”
“Alright, set a collision course with the Destroyer! Divert power to the Aft Phaser Arrays. As soon as they pass, activate the warheads, then when they veer off, fire at their aft section and disable their engines!” Stern decreed
“IF they veer off!” Roptojmey grumbled, looking for the seatbelt in his chair.
Realizing their enemy was now charging directly AT them, the Naussian Ship appeared to hesitate for a moment before pressing on their assault. The USS Sun-Tzu maintained course as the Destroyer unleashed a rapid fire of its Disruptor Cannons. Just before it went to change course, the Warheads activated firing two Tachyon beams at the ships Aft Section, both striking true. As the Destroyer veered away, the USS Sun-Tzu also turned her aft section and unleashed its Phaser Fire, breaking through the enemy’s shields and striking her engines in an explosion of special flames.
“DIRECT HIT!” Zach cheered. “Destroyer is losing velocity” V’era announced as the federation ship flipped around to face her pray. “Target her weapons systems!” Stern ordered, as the USS Sun-Tzu surgically fired at the Destroyer. “Weapon systems offline, Engine Capacity at 15%, Shields offline.” V’era reported. “Bring us in, and lock a tractor beam.” Stern finalized.
“Damage Report Brannigan?” Stern asked, taking a sign of relief things were over. “Negligible, Forward Shields are down to 40%, Port Shields holding at 65%, Minor Thermal Damage on the main hull, but that’s about–” “MA’AM! Massive Energy build up coming from the Destroyer!” V’era shouted. “She’s overloaded her warp-core! We need to back off NOW!” Southerland shouted over the comms from Engineering. “ZACH!” Stern cried out.
The USS Sun-Tzu had disabled the tractor beam just as the Vandal Destroyer Self-Destructed, not 6KM off the ships Port-Bow. The USS Sun-Tzu rocked violently as a few terminals overloaded on the bridge. As the dust settled, the USS Sun-Tzu remained intact. As the bridge officers regained themselves, Stern called out,“Damage Report?!”
Brannigan got up off the ground and checked his terminal. “I managed to activate the secondary Ablative Hazzard Shield Grid just before it blew, looks like it absorbed most of the impact. Minor Damage reported on decks 4 through 8. No casualties, but several injuries are being reported.”“Ill head to sickbay.”
“What the hell was that? Was that us?” Stern posed. “No ma’am, it looks as if it were deliberate, there was no indication of power build up or fluctuations until after we locked the tractor beam.” V’era commented. “No capture, no surrender…” Brannigan said softly.
Shaking off the shock, Stern composed herself and took her seat once more.“Set course to the closest Satellite. We need to restore communications and get back to Commander Barron as fast as possible.”
Ajilon Prime, Underground Detention Center
Barron leaned back in his holding cell as he watched the Orion mess with the controls before leaving the room. After giving it a few minutes he called out.“Pi? You there?” there was a moment of pause before he tried again. “Three point one four, one five, nine two, six nine, three five.” Another moment of silence before he heard the reply,“Its Six Five…” Barron chuckled, “Just making sure you’re paying attention. You doing ok?” “Yea, they were rough, but nothing compared to Doc’s Bedside manner.”
“Alright, sit tight, He’s going to get out of here in a minute.” “Gotcha. Wait, who?” Pi queried looking out of his cell seeing the room was empty. Commander Barron whistled loudly from his cell “Ay! Bruce Banner! You forgot something!” A moment later, the Orion Guard walked back into the holding area, disgruntled and glaring at Barron. “Keep it down Human!” he snarled. Barron held up his hands to indicate complacency. “Look, I get it, your just doing your job, but I don’t want you to get in trouble over this.” “Over what?” Barron pointed to his shirt where a Comm Badge was pinned.
“Adria told you back in the office to take this off me, she finds out you left it on, she’s going to be super pissed.” The Guard leaned in closet to get a better look, a bit stunned and confused. “I thought I did take it off? How did that get back on there?” he asked. “This is why you leave the thinking to the women. Don’t feel ashamed, my first officer is a woman for that exact same reason, I can barley remember what I had for breakfast! Speaking of, do we get complementary lunch in here?”
Pi held in a snicker at his Commanding Officers sly remarks. It was rare to catch Commander Barron ‘out of uniform’ but there were a few occasions that they had caught some of his more humorous side, clearly the man was acting in his former element. The Orion growled in frustration and walked over to the control panel, aiming a disruptor at Barron with his free hand. “Shut up and stand against the wall, don’t do anything stupid!” Barron complied and leaned his back against the wall, standing on top of the makeshift bunk. “Oh don’t worry about me! Ill behave!” he commented as the Orion dropped the force field around his cell. “Him on the other hand, I’d watch out for…”
Pi watched as behind the Orion, a shimmer appeared, and out of the shimmer emerged a large metal rod that struck the guard against the head knocking him to the ground. The rest of the shimmer dissipated, and there stood an aged Andorian Male, a little out of breath looking at the two. “Took you long enough!” Barron nipped as he walked out of his cell. He reached over and hit the control panel on Pi’s cell which dropped the force field as well.“Damn klahz(3)!” The andorian barked back, leaning down and collecting the Orion’s disruptor. “Help me get this oaf in the cell before you get all emotional on me.”
Translation
(3) Axel calls Barron a “klahz” which is Andorian for (an animal known for its careless way of moving) – Circa Memory-Beta
As Barron and the Andorian grabbed the Orion, Pi crossed over to the control panel, and as soon as they tossed the guard inside, he raised the force field. The two men caught their breath and looked at each other before embracing in a brief hug. As they separated, Barron explained. “Pi, this is my friend Axel. Axel, this is my second officer, Three of Fourteen, but we call him Pi.” "Second officer? Whos the first? Not that damn Klingon I hope?"Barron chuckled, “Nah, Remember Jessie?” Axel’s eyes grew wide at the name, “And they call me a sly dog, look at you!”
“Sir, how did you know he was here?” Pi inquired, rightfully so as the whole plan seemed to have hinged on Axel. “Remember when Roptojmey’s Tricorder went off? Before we beamed down, I had him scan for trace Graviton particles. When I worked in Intel, just before I got transferred from working on the Ajilon Conflict, I had set up a shipment of Portable Shroud Generators to be sent to Axel, as a going away present. Figured if he had managed to escape, he would probably be using them to evade detection. Because no way in hell would this stubborn old fool leave the planet.”
“Anyway, we got plenty of time to catch up once we sort this mess out. Pi, see if you can hack into the central computer core from here.” “I wrote half the subroutines for the damn system, but Adria set up an encryption which has kept me from getting in and doing anything” Axel added.“I can break the encryption, give me a few minutes.” As Pi went to work on the terminal, Axel checked the door to ensure they were clear before returning to Barron.
“So what the hell happened?” The commander asked. “I’m a soldier, not a politician. Adria came in sweet-talkin her way up the ladder. By the time I realized she was a snake, I was already in her strike zone.” Axel exhaled deeply as he leaned against the support beam, his age was showing.“Rebuild after the ‘alliance’ started wasn’t nearly as bad as what we had when I was a kid, they elected me to Resource Manager because of my time and contribution keeping everyone alive. But once she got her claws into everyone, she started convincing them. He’s too old. He’s too militaristic. Need to focus on the future not the past. And the worse thing about it all, she wasn’t wrong.”
Barron had a worried look on his face as he watched his friend unload what must have been months of isolationist despair. Axel looked up to his friend, his eyes glistening from held-back tears. “I cant keep doing this Maik. I mean, run out by a damn Orion is one thing…but now the Klingons are back at each other’s throats, who knows what the victor is going to do. I…I can’t do this a third time, I don’t have it in me anymore.” Pi had stopped typing, but remained quiet, unsure he wanted to disturb the somber moment or not. Barron took notice and nodded. “Sir, I broke the encryption for you.” he said softly, which seemed to snap Axel back into focus.
“Right, damn your good kid. Let’s see. Need to access her personal files, and see just how far down the rabbit hole she’s gone.” Axel said, pushing Pi away from the console. “Whatever it was, she must have hit a dead end, she was desperate to believe we were sent to negotiate with her.” Barron added, as he peered over the console as well
Axel growled, “She was trying to sell us out to the Klingons, but she was sending the offers to some of the more mundane houses. Mar’voga, D’Ewos…none of these have much standing within the Council.” “Council has dissolved, J’empok has declared himself Emperor. Right now all the houses are picking a side vying for power and influence.” "Capturing Ajilon for the Empire might be a good stepping stone for some of these more unknown houses. Thankfully it looks like none of them responded back. Though in the spirit of the alliance, none of them reported this to the Federation."Barron remarked.
“She’s made me out to look like a paranoid pariah. I come forward with this, she’ll just spin it around and claim they were doctored.” Barron and Pi looked at one another and smiled. "Oh I think we got that part covered."Pi’s right arm melded into a stream of Nanites that formed a connection between him and the console. His eyes glowed green as he made the connection. “Sir, I have connected to the communications network. As you thought, Adria was filtering everything through her office, both outgoing and incoming messages. However it looks like…wait…standby.”
A small view screen popped up on the terminal, and on it showed the bridge of the USS Sun-Tzu."Stern! Good to see you. How’s the ship?"Stern smiled seeing the Commander on the view screen “She’s good, shields are a little wobbly, but all is good. We just re-aligned the communication arrays out here by the outpost, but Southerland said there was an encryption on the controls. Take it you cleared that up on your end?” Barron nodded. “Don’t got much time, Pi is going to transfer you some files. I need you to upload it to the Satellite Array and broadcast it across the whole Colony. Priority one. Then head straight back here.” “Receiving files now.” V’era confirmed from the bridge.
“We will be there as soon as we can. You need any back up?” Stern Inquired. “Nah, we just got a flight to catch. Barron Out.”
Ajilon Prime; Resource Shuttlebay
The Video Recording of Adria admitting to her plot had been blasted on every screen and terminal in the entire colony. The people were in an uproar demanding Adria to respond, however she had no intention of answering them. Instead she took her personal teleporter to the Shuttlebay and fired on the platform preventing anyone else from using it to follow her. Drawing her dual disruptors, she aimed at any flight crew personnel who tried to get in her way, carving a path to a shuttlecraft she intended to use to escape, but as she rounded the back end to the access door, she stopped in her tracks and drew up her weapons.
Axel stood with his disruptor at the ready, Pi too with a Rifle in hand, and Barron stood between them, his arms crossed. “Going somewhere?” he teased. "These are Mark 15 Disruptor Pistols, re-engineered for maximum damage. I assure you ‘Commander’ I will tear through your personal shields before your friends have a chance to stop me."Adria snarled.
Barron smiled. “Mark 15? That’s a good Series. I mean really, that is some impressive hardware you have there, probably the best gold-pressed latinum could have bought. We are clearly outmatched. Gentlemen, lower your weapons.” Barron decreed, as he took off his comm badge and tossed it past Adria, holding his hands in the air. Adria remained still, confused as to what was going on “What game are you playing at?!” she shouted. Barron lowered his arms and pointed his right finger at Adria. “I just wanted to test my weapon against yours. Do you like it?” he said waiving his finger in the air, still pointing at her.
Aggravated, Adria charged her weapons “I don’t have time for your games human, move or die!” But Barron didn’t move, "Oh I assure you, I’m not playing anymore. See, every Starfleet Commander is issued one of these. I like to call them ‘Finger of Authority’. They work wonders, we just point them and what we want gets done. It may not be Mark 15, but can you guess what series they issued me? "
Adria aimed her pistol at Barron’s head, “Use your last words to enlighten me!” she snarled. A malevolent grin flashed across Barron’s face Barron: “Mark-0!” Before she could squeeze the trigger she felt the tip of the rifle press against her back.
”Polo!” The Sun-Tzu Photonic Security Chief, Mark-0 had materialized from the Holographic-Emitter Comm Badge that Barron had tossed behind her. “And since were sharing weapons, Mine is a T-116, it’ll make your personal shields feel like your wearing wet paper. Now drop it.”
“Lady Adria, Your under arrest.”
Captains Log: Supplemental
Adria of the Orici Crime Syndicate has been taken into custody, and being held in the Colony’s Brig pending judicial review. After revealing her plot, the Resource Committee has elected to restore Axel’s place as the Colonies Resource Manager. Southerland and Pi have begun transferring our Cargo to the surface, and instructing the settlers on manufacturing models. More review into the Klingon connections (if any) will come at a later date, I however have to catch up with an old friend…
((Back on the Sun-Tzu, Crew Lounge))
Barron and Axel looked out from the Officers Lounge Window together. “I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t stumble in when you did.” Axel began. Barron took a sip from his drink and shrugged off the complement. “You would have been fine.” he tried to assure, but Axel just looked at his drink. “No…you don’t get it. I’m tired Maik. Tired of always fighting, tired of always worrying when the sky is going to burn green again with Klingon Orbital Strikes.” Barron thought for a moment to interject, but thought against it, and let the old man continue.
“This Colony, these people are all I have left. I have no living family here, and I was so busy working or training to stop and try and have a life of my own. When Adria overthrew me, I felt as though I lost the only thing I had left that was important to me. I thought so many times about just letting her put me out of my misery.” Barron placed a hand on his friends shoulders,“Then why didn’t you?” Axel snorted and took a drink “Fought against countless blood-thirsty Klingon warriors in my life, I wasn’t about to let some green twig with tits do me in.” The two men shared a laugh at the joke, but the gravity of the topic weighed them down.
“I can’t do it a third time Maik. I still have nightmares from the first time they came to our home, let alone the bloody memories of the second time.” “Then don’t. You don’t have to be the one to lead Resource, you still have time to go out there and find yourself. Go Visit Andoria!” “Bah! Too Cold.” “Find a nice fossil your age to settle down with and enjoy the remaining days. No-where is safe anymore. Hell; Earth has been attacked 3 or 4 times in the last decade. All you can do is make the best of the time you have, till shit eventually hits the fan. If its not the Klingons, then the Iconians, or hell the Q Continuum might sneeze and turn us all to slime. Leave the worrying to the young guys. Gods know you got enough winkles as it is.”
The two men looked out into the stars again as they enjoyed the rest of their drinks. “You know I’m going to build a big ass orbital laser with all them components you gave us!” “For the record, I didn’t hear that!” Barron laughed.
TO BE CONTINUED
OOC Hey Guys! Thanks for giving this a read, I know it’s a long one, but its one I had a lot of fun working on (despite the drain it put on me). Don’t worry, I think I have learned my lesson, and will try to trim down the next episode some. I want to give a special thanks to @Mudd who guest starred as our Nausicaan Vandal Destroyer, and helped me get some good shots for the story! Id like to give a shout out as well as @Katriel and @Kermit who I bugged relentlessly in Discord Tickets about cannon and lore regarding the location! Hope you all enjoyed it! The 3rd Episode will be the closer to the “series” I have build up, followed by some outside DM’d RP that I might have opened up to others joining in! So stay tuned, and critiques or questions are always welcome!
