From: Ranjani Sabarinathan (rantrek_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Sun Jun 29 2008 - 20:13:37 PDT
“Operation Mirror Chasing’
(contd from Shawn’s ‘Hide and Seek, Part 2’)
Location: USS COMMENDATION
SD: 2.90629.1310
Scene: Bridge
Fifteen minutes were past since Lieutenant Crichton implemented his plan of flushing the SHIV out. Anaqueen glanced at her CEO, a young Bajoran woman with pitch black hair, cut short in the style of a bob and queried. “Any progress with finding the pirate ship?”
“Negative, Captain,” Lt. Polairis Arisa answered promptly, her eyes fixed intently on the readings and prayed to the prophets for the success of Jake’s scheme. The CEO of the GATEWAY had estimated the time till the SHIV would experience a power drain to be fifteen minutes.
Ana sighed inwardly, while Daisy quietly suggested. “That crew in the rogue ship is smarter than we expected.”
“Yes,” the Trill CO agreed. “They’re evading us as much as possible but I doubt they can last much longer.” Spankryz hoped she was right and that the mirror universe vessel would eventually get detected. What none of the Starfleet officers and SHIV crews alike knew were a game of hide and seek was waged between the two Crichtons and one wondered which version was going to come on top. Both men were highly skilled engineers and would try to come up with innovative ways to attain their respective goals.
Well, it would only take another extra five minutes to find out the winner of the game. Lt. Polairis reported, beaming. “Captain, I’m picking up a blip on the sensors moving towards the interior of the nebula.”
“Their location?” Spankryz inquired, peering sideways at the CEO.
Arisa replied. “A short distance from the CHANTICO’s starboard side.”
Before Ana could say anything, Matthew announced. “The CHANTICO is already on their trail and should reach that ship in no time.”
The Trill Captain immediately proceeded to contact the MATACO regarding their progress in tracking the SHIV’s position. The two ships decided to join the CHANTICO and surround the pirate vessel, preventing them from escaping.
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Location: USS CHANTICO
Scene: Bridge
“ETA?” The Scot inquired, pacing about the room. Ever since the beginning of the mission, MacNeil questioned the wisdom in placing her in command of the escort destroyer. Kate was nervous, the acids in her stomach churning. She had never expected to be participating in a search and capture mission, possibly leading to battles with the SHIV and the Dominion fleet by sitting in the bridge of a ship. At the moment, the woman trained to be a doctor, wished she was in sickbay, making preparations in case of medical emergencies like how she did prior to the suspension of her medical license.
Kate longed for the days of being just a simple CMO and wished she could be in sickbay, working with Grace, but the hybrid had a job to do as ordered by her friend and CO. She tried to appear calm and professional, but deep down she was anxious and hoped her lack of experience in command did not lead to the failure of the mission.
Currently the CHANTICO was taking the lead in apprehending the SHIV because they were the closest to the pirate vessel with the COMMENDATION and the saucer section of the MATACO following her.
“ETA 1 minute and 45 seconds,” Stephens replied quickly, his concentration heavily fixed on maneuvering the ship towards her target. The CHANTICO in no time would catch up to the SHIV and hoped to do so before they went any further inside the nebula. The escort destroyer had caught up and hovered over the pirate vessel. The COMMENDATION flew just a couple of meters from the SHIV’s port bow, while the MATACO floated under the enemy ship. The century class vessel overtook the SHIV easily and positioned itself in front of the pirate ship, causing the latter to slow down.
----------------------------
Location: USS COMMENDATION
Scene: Bridge
Daiuon announced. “Receiving a hail from the rogue vessel.” The Betazoid woman then nodded, peeling her attention briefly away from the console. “They haven’t hailed the CHANTICO and the MATACO. Apparently they think we’re the lead vessel.”
“Put them on hold,” the Trill ordered and immediately set off to contact the MATACO on a secure channel. A minute passed by before the Captain of the century class vessel received orders from her superior in the flagship.
“Okay,” Ana decided. “Audio only and keep this channel open to the CHANTICO and the MATACO so they can listen in.” She glanced briefly at Daisy, feeling concerned for the impact meeting her alternate would have on her friend.
Captain Byrne remarked sarcastically amidst background noise caused by the nebula’s interference. [[Tractor beams won’t work on us.]]
Daisy’s heart skipped a beat at listening to her alternate again. There were so many questions the GATEWAY CO had for the other woman such as was she a clone or a alternate dimension doppelganger? What was her purpose at the station? Was her ship responsible for the destruction of the TUSCACORA and the INSHALLAH? Most of all, where did they come from? Another universe? While the SHIV was confirmed to have arrived or brought from another dimension, it was still not certain whether it was the case for the crew.
Anaqueen responded calmly. “Unknown vessel, this is Captain Anaqueen Spankryz of the Federation Starship USS COMMENDATION. You’re surrounded and it would be in your best interests to surrender and prepare for your vessel to be boarded.”
Laughter was heard from the Captain of the rogue ship and that ingratiated on everyone’s nerves. Daisy’s hands gripped the chair handles tightly and her jaws were clenched in anger. Her palms were beginning to sweat.
[[Oooh, so it seems in this reality, Anaqueen never ran away from joining with that…symbiont.]] The blonde sniggered. [[This is priceless!]]
Ana warned coldly. “We not only outnumber yours but our firepower is more powerful. We don’t want to damage your ship or harm the crew. So if you just surrender peacefully, it would prevent the unnecessary losses of lives a battle between us would result.”
A half a minute later, Byrne sniped. [[Over my dead body.]]
“Oh you wouldn’t want to do that, Daisy,” Davidson spoke, surprising everyone in the room.
[[Lo and behold, look who’s here, a clone of me,]] Byrne cackled, pouring more oil into her alternate’s anger.
Davidson growled, getting up. “I am not a clone, though I’m not sure I can say the same for you.” That statement stung Byrne very badly, after all she was a clone of the mirror version of Daisy. Captain Daisy Byrne was hurt after all she believed people didn’t love or appreciate her because she was a clone, when in reality it was due to her mental instability. But Byrne was in denial over that aspect.
Ana interjected abruptly before the conversation went out of control. She whispered harshly in her fellow CO’s ears. “Commander Davidson, now is not the time for this.” She could hear Daisy breathing heavily in silence. “Sit down, Commander. That’s an order,” the Trill commanded.
[[Tsk Tsk,]] Byrne chided. [[If my Anaqueen ordered me like that, I would have her severely punished.]]
The mention of an alternate Ana lingered uneasily in the Trill Captain’s mind for a brief moment but Spankryz shoved it aside to focus on the current situation at hand. Ignoring Byrne’s remark, the COMMENDATION Captain issued another warning. “Escape will be futile as this sector is heavily patrolled by the Dominion fleet. You won’t last even for a second against one of their ships.”
[[They won’t find us not as long as we stay here in the nebula,]] Byrne quipped in defiance.
“You won’t last very long in this nebula and will have no choice but to come out,” the Trill stated icily. “And in the worst case scenario, run into a vast Dominion fleet waiting outside to ambush you. The conditions for a prisoner of the Dominion are very unpleasant.”
[[I’ll take my chances,]] the blonde growled and immediately cut off communications.
“Enemy vessel powering their weapons,” Lt. Cmdr. Haley reported, without glancing away from the console. “What are your orders?” The half-El Aurian inquired, turning his attention to the two COs.
[[MATACO to COMMENDATION,]] Commodore Kenji Necarra’s voice came through the comm. system.
“Spankryz here,” Ana responded.
[[Captain Spankryz, Commander Davidson. After this operation is finished, you will explain to me as to what is going on with that rogue vessel,]] the Commodore stated firmly.
--------------------------------
Location: USS CHANTICO
Scene: Bridge
“The renegade ship is powering up their weapons,” Eishnala Kor announced coolly. “It looks like they’re going to make an attempt to break free using fire power.” At that moment, Kate was conversing with the COMMENDATION and MATACO on how to coordinate the attack on the SHIV. Having listened in on the conversation between the COMMENDATION and the SHIV COs, the crew was in slight disbelief upon listening to a voice that sounded exactly the same as their own Commander. Some wondered if this was all Dominion treachery, aiming to lure them into a trap by possibly using clones traveling in a ship that could have accidentally landed on the Dominion’s lap from another universe. But if the operation went well, the truth behind the SHIV crew’s origins would be revealed.
“Here are our orders.” MacNeil informed after concluding her audio meeting with Daisy and Ana. “Our task is to find a way to disable its shields with only minimal to no damage to the vessel.” Taking in a deep breath, the Scot continued. “The COMMENDATION and the MATACO will be busy distracting the rogue’s attention away from us and fend off their assault.”
Crichton questioned, raising an eyebrow. “Commander, how much time do we have?”
“Not long, I’d say ten minutes,” the Nuimon hybrid replied, producing a weak smile. Addressing Eishnala and Jake, Kate ordered. “You two are tasked with the job of formulating such a plan.”
“Yes Commander,” the two officers complied in unison and began work on their task.
-------------------------
Location: SHIV
Scene: Bridge
Crichton mused, his lips curling into a sarcastic smile. “With copies of both the Captain and Anaqueen, I just wonder if the engineering genius who successfully foiled my plans is this reality’s version of me.” He smirked at the blonde CO who was stalking the room like a hungry lioness ready to pounce on her prey. She was fuming over getting ambushed by the Starfleet taskforce and kept yelling at her tactical crewman to continue attacking.
It was getting very difficult for the poor young man at tactical to fend off strikes from both the COMMENDATION and the MATACO. He was curious over the CHANTICO not attacking but was too pre-occupied to pay much attention to that little fact. He didn’t want to reveal that piece of information to Daisy for fear of her ordering him to focus on the CHANTICO as well, which would be next to impossible for him and was unwilling to admit that to the irate Captain.
Anaqueen kept running over in her head about Captain Spankryz and was burning with fury. Spankryz in her reality brought chills down her spine and she had never regretted abandoning the joining ceremony over a decade ago. But obviously her version commanding the COMMENDATION had apparently gone through with the joining. The unjoined Trill woman, a resistance fighter against her homeworld’s rulers, did not realize the Trills here were different from those in her own universe. She rued the loss of Anaqueen’s individuality to the symbiont, not knowing it was not the case at all for Captain Spankryz.
“Crichton!” Daisy barked, grabbing the young man’s arm. “Do something! Find a way out of this or else!” The ship shook violently causing the Captain to nearly lose her balance and if not for holding Crichton’s arm, the blonde would have fallen to the floor with a thud. How embarrassing would that have been for her?
“Shields are down to 60 percent,” the tactical crewman reported, before getting slapped by the Captain. At that moment, the shields’ power decreased to 58 percent and did not stop its downward spiral. Daisy then bellowed at the engineer.
“Crichton, boost power to the shields now!”
“Working on it,” Jake replied casually, dancing his fingers on the buttons of his console and thinking of a way to increase the power of the shields as well as find a way to escape from the Starfleet vessels.
Ana announced, peering cautiously behind her. “That lead vessel is hailing us again. Audio only.”
“Put them on!” Byrne shouted. Immediately Captain Spankryz’s voice reverberated all over the room.
The Trill Captain informed sharply. [[Your shields are losing power rapidly. The smart choice is surrender before your ship is annihilated.]] Ana was bluffing at the annihilation part but the SHIV bridge crew didn’t know that.
“Go to hell, Captain,” Daisy shrieked, shoving Ana aside and ending communications rudely. “I guess the poor thing’s got the symbiont talking for her no wonder she’s so aggressive with us,” she cooed, pretending to feel sorry for the COMMENDATION’s Captain.
Shields were already down to less than fifty percent but the tactical crewman was too fearful to let the Captain know. He kept reporting the shields held at sixty percent but Jake chuckled to himself knowing the other man was clearly lying. Suddenly the young engineer frowned upon noticing flashing lights all over the screen of his console. Apparently he was outsmarted and immediately set off to remedy the problem. He was not going to let that other engineer, if it was who he thought doing this, win.
“Captain…” the tactical crewman slowly spoke up. “Shields went off-line.”
Daisy growled, rushing to the man’s side, his knees were shaking. “That can’t be!” She proceeded to punch him, causing the latter to fall behind and hitting the bulkhead. “You said the shields were holding steady at 60 percent. How could you lie to me?” She was breathing rapidly not realizing the man went unconscious due to head trauma.
Crichton explained quietly. “It was the engineer in the third ship that isn’t attacking us. Looks like we’ve been outplayed.”
------------------------------------------
Location: USS CHANTICO
Scene: Bridge
“It worked.” Crichton informed, smiling with satisfaction. “Their defensive capabilities have been taken away.”
“The enemy ship’s shields are not operational,” the Andorian woman reported.
Kate sighed with relief and beamed with pride at her fellow officers. “Good job all of you,” she congratulated. Throughout the onslaught on the SHIV by the COMMENDATION and the MATACO, the Scot had temptations to bite her nails, out of anxiety for not only the success of the mission but also the time constraint Jake and Eishnala had been given for coming up with their plan in destroying the shield emitters. But the two officers came though admirably and the SHIV was rendered powerless.
Cochrane questioned. “Commander, what’s going to happen now?”
“The crew of the rogue ship will be beamed to the COMMENDATION and held in detention there for the duration of our return journey back to the station,” the half-Nuimon explained. “Once everyone there is removed, the marines from the MATACO will board the vessel and take control. I’ve been told some of the MATACO crew including the Commodore himself will transport to the renegade vessel and coordinate everything from there.”
[[COMMENDATION to CHANTICO,]] came Daisy’s voice.
Kate acknowledged. “CHANTICO here. What can I do for you, Commander Davidson?”
[[Kate, inform Lt. Palandora to organize a security team and have them standby for further orders,]] Davidson informed. [[Once the marines have secured the vessel, Trella’s team will join up with the MATACO’s security teams and investigate the entire ship.]]
MacNeil nodded. “Yes ma’am.”
[[Good. COMMENDATION out.]]
Tapping the comm. panel at the side, the Scot began. “MacNeil to Palandora.”
[[Palandora here,]] the security chief responded.
The Human/Nuimon relayed her CO’s orders. “Commander Davidson wants you to organize a security team and standby until receiving further orders.”
[[Acknowledged, Commander,]] the Vissian complied.
-------------------------------------------
Location: USS COMMENDATION
Scene: Bridge
Lena informed, peering behind her shoulder at her CO and Commander Davidson. “Captain, Commander. Transport of the rogue ship’s complement comprising of forty members to the main brig has been completed.”
Ana contacted the MATACO to let them know the transport of the SHIV’s crew was done and that they could send in the marines to secure the vessel. Her husband was already down in Deck 22, where the main brig was located, making sure the lockdown procedures were going smoothly. The Trill CO ordered the SHIV crew to be placed under quarantine until medical had confirmed they didn’t possess some deadly disease. The MATACO had already begun evacuating their crew to the COMMENDATION, CHANTICO and the SHIV.
Daisy looked behind her and yearned to head down to the brig to see her alternate face to face. But the Commander had to wait till the medical department completed their work before she could see Captain Byrne. She had ordered Mowree to work with the COMMENDATION Counseling department and interview the prisoners after medical finished its scans. Drake was working with the intelligence department, finding ways to determine whether the SHIV crew originated from another universe. Zel was currently somewhere in the ship watching over Cade Foster hoping the cantankerous doctor was not going to get into any mischief.
-------------------------------------------
TI: Minutes later
“Captain,” the Betazoid Ops officer informed. “The marines report the acquisition of the renegade vessel has been successful. Commodore Necarra and his senior staff are transporting down there right now.”
Ana nodded. “Thank you, Commander.”
“The Commodore also has orders for the CHANTICO to sweep the area outside the nebula for any Dominion forces after dropping Lt. Palandora and her team in the unknown vessel,” Lena added.
“I’ll let Kate know,” Daisy decided, before proceeding to open a channel to the CHANTICO.
--------------------------------------------
Scene: Main Brig
The area was crowded with everyone who had served on the SHIV. Confusion spread amongst the inmates as most could not understand how they had managed to be transported from what they believed to be an impenetrable ship to the strange and unknown starship. In one particular cell, Daisy fumed and kept banging the walls as Crichton and Anaqueen watched her in silence.
The alternate Kathryn MacNeil was busy glaring at the wall in silence, her dog nestled against her. She sat in a corner all by herself and shared the cell with Thomas Varn, the one who came from this dimension. The alternate, the research specialist sent by the SHIV, was back in the station’s station, recovering from third degree burns. The GATEWAY crew was still unaware of the switch that took place between the two Varns.
P’Trella and Jobilo were the other occupants in the cell with Varn and MacNeil. In the next cell, three Andorians were put there and two of them were brothers and one was alternate Eishnala Kor. The alternate Cade Foster was in a different cell with Sylvia Warren and another person.
-----------------------------------
Location: USS CHANTICO
Scene: Bridge
TI: A few minutes later
Cochrane had slowly and cautiously piloted the raptor class vessel out of the nebula. Kate inquired. “Any sign of the Dominion?”
Kor reported, inclining her head slightly towards MacNeil. “Negative Commander.” She could hear the former CMO sigh with huge relief. “I would suggest we wait a few more minutes just to be sure,” the Andorian proposed.
“Agreed,” the Scot nodded. The room was silent but Kate was becoming nervous. She hoped the COMMENDATION and the MATACO would finish their work soon and get out of the sector before the Dominion appeared. She jumped up when Eishnala announced, her tone grave.
“Commander, I’m reading enemy vessels approaching our position, ETA 15 minutes 25 seconds.”
Kate questioned, her purple eyes suddenly changing to hazel widening. “How many?”
“Ten,” the Andorian answered.
“Alright,” Kate quickly decided. “I’ll need to inform the COMMENDATION and MATACO right away and advise them to leave immediately.” The Scottish half-Nuimon transmitted a message to both ships alerting of the Dominion’s arrival and urged them to depart soon. She then ordered. “Commander Kor, activate cloak.”
“Yes Commander.” A minute later, she alerted. “Two Dominion vessels have suddenly appeared out of the nebula.”
“What! How is that possible?” Kate exclaimed, standing up.
Jake suggested. “They were hiding in the nebula, hidden from our sensors.”
“They must have called for reinforcements while we were occupied with the capture of the rogue ship,” Stephens chimed in.
************************************************************************
NRPG: The SHIV crew has been caught and held in the COMMENDATION’s brig for us to bring back to the station, which will be a chance for our characters to finally interact with their alternates, something I’m sure you all have been waiting for :). The Dominion reinforcements are close to arriving and either the taskforce engages them in battle before heading back home or they leave prior to the Dominion’s arrival though there are those two ships that came out from the nebula. I will leave that up to you.
I would also like to remind you of an nrpg Ken sent a while back and I remember Kim reminded of the same thing as well before. Ken mentioned Makinis Ugeen still being on the GATEWAY looking for a piece of the SUTTNER, which he thinks could help them get back home. The SHIV arrived in our dimension after hitting another piece of that same ship. There is also the alternate Thomas Varn still in sickbay and the dark lord. So lots to go in this mission still :)
Ranjani Sabarinathan
Speaking for...
[/\]o..
Lieutenant Commander Kathryn MacNeil, MD
Executive Officer
GATEWAY STATION- 2
and
[/\]....
Captain Anaqueen Spankryz
Commanding Officer
USS COMMENDATION, NCC-10021 (Non RP ship)
__________________________________________________________________
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