From: V. Rahul Chandra (vrccan_at_gmail.com)
Date: Mon Mar 03 2008 - 22:35:57 PST
==========
“Fury of the Storm”
Continued from Naomi’s “Storm Rising”
==========
Location: DOMINION BATTLESHIP
Stardate: 2424 [2.8] 0303.0228
Scene: Detention Area
Daniel paced back and forth in his holding cell, periodically sitting down
only to get up again after just a few moments of sitting. He was restless
with a million and one questions floating through his head. Thoughts of his
wife, the other marines and the PATRIOT’s crew were at the forefront of his
thoughts and he wondered whether they had managed to recover the rest of the
away team and escape.
He had tried to engage the guard in conversation a dozen times over the last
few hours and each time he was coldly rebuffed by a mere sentence. He
wasn’t sure why he kept trying, aside from the fact that if he sat down and
didn’t try to do anything, he was quite sure that the incessant waiting
would drive him insane.
He wished (not for the first time) that he had some indication of what was
happening; that he had some clue of what the other Starfleet personnel were
attempting to do. If he knew for sure that they had all managed to escape,
then he could begin to prepare himself for eventual interrogation and living
in a Dominion prison camp. However, if there were still people on the
planet and the PATRIOT was still lurking in the nebula somewhere, he could
try and escape.
He frowned. **Even if they were there, there’s absolutely nothing I can
do,** he thought to himself bitterly. **I’m trapped like a fly in a jar.**
He sighed, sitting down (not for the first time) and then getting up a few
moments later (not for the first time). Crossing his arms and looking
around the cell, he noted with grudging admiration that the cell was
constructed perfectly. There were no holes or crevices to take advantage of
and there did not appear to be any power panels inside the cell. There were
no water amenities as were available in Starfleet holding cells and the only
way Daniel could get any was to ask for it from the guard.
Even if he asked, the guard was only likely to get it for him if there had
been a suitable break from his last request.
Sighing again, Daniel approached the forcefield. “Excuse me!” he called to
the guard on duty. The guard continued working at his console, apparently
ignoring the young marine.
“Hey!” Daniel said, trying to get under the Jem’Hadar soldier’s skin. “I’m
trying to talk to you!”
The Jem’Hadar soldier raised his eyes. “Speaking is not permitted,” he
answered, before going back to his work.
“So you told me the last time,” Daniel muttered, sitting down on his bed
(although calling it that was being extremely generous) and morosely hanging
his head in his hands. “And the time before that.”
==========
Time Index: Simultaneously
Scene: Bridge
“What is our status First?” the Vorta asked, emerging onto the bridge and
looking questioningly in the direction of the new Jem’Hadar Commander of the
vessel.
“We are continuing to monitor the nebula for the same signals that we
received before sir,” the First answered. “However, as of yet we have not
found anything that is similar.”
“I do not understand,” the Vorta muttered to himself, putting on the headset
and staring out into the vast nebula expanse that the ship was currently
skirting. “The Founder should have arrived on the PATRIOT by now.”
“It is possible,” the Second suggested, although tentatively. “That the
Founder was unable to reach his destination before being discovered.”
“Impossible!” the Vorta declared, glaring at the Second. “The Founder had
the perfect disguise and circumstances to inspire trust in the people he was
travelling with. There is no way that he could have been discovered.”
“These Federation officers have proven very resourceful when the need
arises,” the First observed, turning his head to view a different section of
space outside the confines of the ship. “It is possible that they may have
discovered another way to track the Founders in spite of their shape
shifting abilities.”
“I will not believe it,” the Vorta declared. “And I will brook no more
discussion on this topic. Continue scanning the nebula and inform me the
moment the signal starts up again.”
“As you wish,” the First replied.
==========
Location: USS PATRIOT
Scene: Main Bridge
“All hands, report in,” Kenta said, seated in the command chair on the
bridge of the USS PATRIOT.
[[STAR RIDER ready,]] came the voice of his Executive Officer over the comm.
Link. It was echoed by similar calls from the other three runabouts and
each of the fighter craft, showing that all of the Starfleet vessels had
assumed their positions.
“Okay, we’re going to do this nice and easy,” Ben said, standing up and
staring at the expanse of the nebula on screen. “I don’t want anyone
getting lost in this nebula. Even if we somehow managed to survive the
battle completely intact without having to run for our lives, it would take
a long time to find you again. So make sure you maintain visual contact
with at least two other ships; the formation has been set up to facilitate
this easily.”
After waiting for a string of acknowledgements from the other ships, Kenta
turned around, walked back to his chair and sat back down.
“Helm,” he said, directing his comment towards the officer that had replaced
Corwin at the helm. “Take us out.”
==========
Location: DOMINION BATTLESHIP
Scene: Main Bridge
“I have completed another scan of the nebula,” the First answered. “I see
nothing that would suggest that another signal is present.”
“Impossible!” the Vorta exclaimed, shaking his head. “Is it really possible
that our Founder has failed in his mission? I can not believe that…”
“We still have the last known coordinates from the last scan sir,” the
Second pointed out. “We could always begin our search at those coordinates
within the nebula.”
“That is a possibility,” the Vorta agreed. “Very well, but first we will
ensure that the Federation can not gain a tactical advantage over us. Head
back to the planet and transport all Starfleet and Dominion forces onto the
ship. Then, set a course for the last known coordinates from the carrier
signal.”
“As you wish,” the First said, before nodding to the helmsman to carry out
the Vorta’s orders.
==========
Location: USS COUNTERSTRIKE
Scene: Bridge
{{This is going to be a very delicate operation,}} Kenta announced to the
Colonel over the COUNTERSTRIKE’s visual display. {{Your ship is in the lead
and will emerge from the nebula first.}}
“I’m aware of that Captain,” Maverick replied neutrally. “We will be
required to find the Dominion ship before it finds us.”
{{I’m glad we understand each other Colonel,}} Ben said with a slight
inclination of his head. {{I want the ship’s coordinates to be known to the
PATRIOT’s tactical officer by the time the ship emerges from the nebula.}}
“Acknowledged,” the marine replied, before cutting the communication with
the PATRIOT and turning his attention back to the task at hand. “Helm,
increase speed to one half impulse. I want to make sure we clear the nebula
with an extra few seconds to spare in case it takes that long to find the
Dominion ship.”
“Aye sir,” replied the helmsman.
Maverick shot a glance over to the tactical and OPS stations. “You heard
the Captain,” he said. “Whoever finds the ship first sends the coordinates
to the PATRIOT’s tactical station, at which point they will be relayed to
the rest of the fleet.”
“Aye sir,” both stations replied in unison.
Maverick turned his attention back to the front of the ship, where the folds
of the nebula were beginning to thin. He anticipated combat shortly and
having been on the battleship personally he knew that the fight ahead of
them would not be an easy one. Even in the best of times a Dominion
battleship was a difficult prey to tackle, but doing it in a way that
ensured the return of his exec as well as the prisoners still on the surface
made the problem just that much more difficult.
==========
Location: DOMINION BATTLESHIP
Scene: Bridge
“Sir!” exclaimed the Second as he checked his sensors. “I am detecting a
ship emerging from the nebula!”
The Vorta and First simultaneously turned their attentions and headsets away
from the planet and back to the nebula, where the emergence of a ship was
unmistakeable.
“That is most definitely a Starfleet vessel,” the First calmly announced.
“A runabout, if I am not mistaken.”
“They have spotted us!” announced the Second, getting excited at the
prospect of the upcoming battle. “They have altered their course to
intercept. Wait…I am reading more Federation energy signatures.” He looked
up from his console. “More ships are emerging from the nebula!”
“An attack force?” the Vorta asked.
“I do not believe so,” the First answered, tapping some buttons on his own
console. “They appear to be more runabouts and fighters. Very likely these
are support vessels that were on the PATRIOT when it arrived. While they
may outnumber us, even attacking on multiple vectors they do not possess the
weaponry to defeat a Dominion battleship.”
“That is the answer I was hoping for,” the Vorta answered. Both Vorta and
First could clearly see the PATRIOT now, having emerged from the nebula with
the rest of the fleet. “Move to intercept the vessels and hail the PATRIOT
when we are in range.”
==========
Location: USS PATRIOT
Scene: Main Bridge
“Sir!” the tactical officer’s voice registered surprise. “We are being
hailed by the battleship.”
Ben frowned, standing up. “On screen,” he said. “And patch the hail
through in objective mode to the other ships.”
Momentarily, the image of space was replaced by the smiling face of a Vorta.
{{Greetings again to you PATRIOT,}} the Vorta said with a slight bow of his
head. {{I am relieved to see that you were not permanently damaged by our
firefight earlier.}}
“Not at all,” Ben replied with a slight smile of his own. He was tempted to
say something else, but decided to wait and see what the Vorta had to say.
{{I regret the hostilities that have been entered into between our two
vessels,}} the Vorta continued. {{Of course you must understand that with
the Dominion in a state of war with the Federation I had no choice but to
ensure the sovereignty of Dominion space.}}
“I was not aware that the LIOUN system was in Dominion territory,” Kenta
answered. “The most recent information from Starfleet Intelligence
indicates it to be outside territory claimed by the Dominion.”
{{Your information is out of date, I assure you,}} the Vorta informed him.
{{However, that is beside the point right now. The point right now is that
we appear to be on the brink of another firefight, one that you have no hope
of winning.}}
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Kenta said. “After all, we outnumber you by
a margin of fifteen to one.”
{{In this case, those statistics do not tell the whole story,}} the Vorta
replied dryly.
“Perhaps not,” Ben said. “Do you have a proposal?”
{{Only this Captain,}} the Vorta answered. {{You and your ships leave the
LIOUN system now and we will let you leave in peace.}}
“And my people on the planet and on your ship?” Ben asked.
{{They will be taken to a Dominion holding facility where they will be held
as enemies of the Dominion,}} the Vorta answered. {{Once hostilities
between our people cease they will be returned to you.}}
“After a thorough interrogation no doubt,” Kenta continued.
{{No doubt,}} said the Vorta, a smile on his face.
“I am afraid that’s not acceptable to us,” Kenta said. “If you wish to
return all of our people to us then we can end this peacefully, but nothing
else is possible.”
The Vorta’s face darkened. {{Then prepare to meet your death Captain,}} he
said, before the screen went blank.
“Raise shields and signal the fleet,” Kenta said, sitting back down in his
chair. “It’s time to fight.”
==========
Location: USS COUNTERSTRIKE
Scene: Bridge
“Prepare for a run across the ventral bow of the ship,” Maverick ordered.
“And instruct both fighter wings to follow us.”
“Aye sir,” the helmsman Brian Dirak replied, pressing a few buttons on his
console. A few minutes later he reported that the fighters were standing
by.
“Engage,” Maverick ordered. He felt Dirak evade to counter the weapons fire
from the battleship and then saw brilliant flashes of light emanating from
the COUNTERSTRIKE as well as from the nearby fighters which overtook the
runabout as they targeted the shielding of the battleship and then split off
into groups.
“We’re clear of the first run sir,” Michaels reported from tactical. “The
battleship’s shields are holding.”
“They won’t forever,” Maverick said, tapping his comm. Badge. “You still
with me Catherine?”
[[On your six as ordered sir,]] came the woman’s response. [[Don’t make
this too easy for me.]]
In spite of himself, Maverick smiled. “The next run won’t be,” he promised.
==========
Location: DOMINION BATTLESHIP
Scene: Holding Area
Daniel felt a slight rumble and lifted his head up from the bed that he was
sitting on. “What’s going on?” he asked, standing up and looking at the
guard.
“Speaking is not permitted,” the guard answered, without pausing in his
work.
“No,” Daniel answered. “Of course it isn’t. But I’m going to keep bugging
you until I get some answers.”
“Do not cross me human!” them Jem’Hadar soldier answered fiercely, glaring
up at Daniel before returning to his work. “Or live with the consequences.”
Momentarily stunned by such an emotional response, Daniel felt himself at a
loss for words. Either the Jem’Hadar soldier was not a very experienced one
or else something big was going on that had trapped most of his attention
and made him feel under pressure. Or maybe it was some combination of both.
Whatever the answer, Daniel saw an opportunity and he was not about to let
it slide.
“And what consequences might those be?” he asked in a mocking tone of voice.
“Do you think you could actually subdue me?”
The Jem’Hadar soldier slowly looked up at Daniel for a long time. “Do not
try my patience human…” he started.
“Or face the consequences,” Daniel interrupted. “Yeah yeah blah blah I get
it. You’re all talk and no action, just like all Jem’Hadar.”
“That’s enough!” the Jem’Hadar declared, raising his weapon and walking over
to the forcefield. Just as he reached for the button to deactivate the
forcefield, the ship was rocked with another impact, this time shaking quite
severely and knocking the soldier off his feet. Daniel was able to maintain
his footing by grabbing the edge of the cell and almost immediately he
launched himself at the Jem’Hadar soldier. Still woozy from hitting the
ground hard, the soldier was unprepared for a battle and Daniel was able to
come up with the soldier’s weapon, which he quickly used to dispatch the
Jem’Hadar.
Quickly whirling around, he saw that he was alone in the detention area.
“Not for long I bet,” he muttered and quickly went over to the console the
soldier had been at, tapping a few buttons in on the console. From the
orders that had been going over the comm. System, he was able to guess
pretty accurately that the ship must be engaged in a firefight.
“Good,” he muttered to himself. “A firefight means a better chance of my
escape being undetected.”
“Computer,” he said. “Where is the nearest shuttle bay?”
[[Three decks above current position,]] came the emotionless reply.
“And how many lifeforms are between here and there?” Daniel asked.
[[Eighty three,]] came the second reply.
“Well, that rules out that plan,” Daniel muttered. While he might have been
eager to get off the ship, he wasn’t particularly inclined to try and sneak
around or fight through eighty-three personnel to get to a shuttle bay.
“If they truly are in a firefight,” Daniel said to himself. “I should find
a way to expedite their loss if I can.”
He tapped a few buttons on the console. “Computer,” he said. “What systems
can I access from this console?”
==========
Location: USS PATRIOT
Scene: Bridge
“Manoeuvring around the battleship is proving to be harder than I expected,”
the helmsman reported at the PATRIOT rocked as the shields absorbed a
Dominion disruptor impact.
“Direct hit!” came the hurried report from tactical. “Forward shields down
to 87%”
“The Dominion ship is matching us move for move, making sure that they
remain between us and the planet,” the helmsman reported. “I can’t get
around them.”
Another disruptor beam hit the PATRIOT, rocking the bridge even harder this
time and causing a console explosion towards the bridge rear. Kenta held
onto his armrest for dear life to avoid being thrown from his chair and when
he had caught his breath hollered out for a report.
“That last blast brought our forward shielding down to 67%!” reported
tactical. “Forward dorsal shielding is starting to buckle on some decks.”
“New heading!” Kenta ordered, tapping buttons on his console as he spoke.
“270 mark 42. Keep our port shields on the battleship.”
“Aye sir,” the helmsman replied. “The battleship has matched our course and
speed; they are still preventing us from reaching the planet.”
“We need to disable their engines,” Kenta muttered. “Otherwise this plan
isn’t going to work. Is there any weakness in their shield grid at the
moment?”
“None sir,” the tactical officer replied, referring to the last comment.
“Very well,” Kenta said, tapping his comm. Badge. “Kenta to the fleet.
Continue the attack and concentrate your efforts on their starboard hull. I
want a hole punched through their shields and I want it as soon as
possible.”
===========
Location: DOMINION BATTLESHIP
Scene: Detention area
[[This console is equipped for use with detention cell energy control,]] the
computer informed him.
“No kidding,” Daniel replied, tapping some buttons and then holding the
console to keep from falling over as the ship was rocked with further
blasts. “Can I access shields or weapons from this console?”
[[Negative,]] came the reply.
“What about engines?”
[[Negative.]]
“Life support?”
[[Negative.]]
“Auxiliary power?”
[[Negative.]]
“Well,” Daniel muttered. “You’re not very helpful.”
[[Please restate request.]]
“I wasn’t talking to you!” Daniel said, before sighing. He was getting
nowhere at the moment and needed to approach the problem from a different
angle. “Computer, do you have a protocol of the ship’s automated systems?”
[[Affirmative.]]
“Can I see it on this console?” Daniel asked. An affirmative beep later, he
was looking at a list of all of the systems set to automatically engage or
disengage and what it was that triggered those systems. Not being an
engineer severely limited his abilities to do anything in this situation,
but with luck he thought he might come across something that he could do.
“Wait a second!” he said suddenly, scrolling back to see a particular item
on the list. “Computer! Am I right in assuming that any potential
bio-contaminant would result in an automated containment field being put in
place at the sight of the contamination?”
[[Affirmative,]] came the computer’s reply.
“And where would the power for such a field come from?”
[[The vessel’s backup power systems,]] the computer answered.
“Would the anti-clotting agent in a Dominion weapon qualify as such a
contaminant?” Daniel asked.
[[Affirmative.]]
“Okay,” Daniel said to himself. “Now I can do something. Let’s just hope
that this surprise throws the bridge crew off long enough if they need to
reinforce their shields.” Walking to one end of the room, Daniel set the
Dominion disruptor to overload and then quickly went to the other end,
crouching behind a couple of crates and hoping that the blast would not
encompass him.
============
Location: USS PATRIOT
Scene: Bridge
“Ensign,” Kenta said, tapping a few buttons on his arm console and directing
his comments towards tactical. “I’m detecting a fluctuation in the
battleship’s aft dorsal shielding. Do you read that as well?”
“Confirmed sir,” the Ensign responded after a few moments of tapping buttons
on his console. “It appears to be the result of the latest volley of fire
that the BOSPHORUS unleashed on them. It is possible that if all of our
ships concentrated their fire on that location that we might be able to
punch a hole through their shields long enough to hit their engines and
rescue the Major.”
Kenta nodded. “My thoughts exactly Ensign,” he said. “Open a channel to
the fleet.”
=============
Location: SPACE
The firefight up to this point had been difficult to follow as runabouts and
fighters attacked the battleship haphazardly, ensuring that there was no
large body of ships for the battleship to aim at. At most, a wing of
fighters and a runabout would engage in a strafing run across the ventral
areas of the ship, harassing the ship and drawing fire.
Momentarily however, the chaotic battle suddenly became orderly as all of
the Federation ships turned in unison and started focusing their fire on one
specific part of the battleship’s shields. Impacts against the shields were
too fast for the eyes to follow and the weapons fire was so concentrated
that the aft dorsal shielding of the battleship was clearly visible. The
buckling of the shields in that are were also visible as the first weapons
began to work their way through the shield grid.
=============
Location: FIGHTER
Scene: Cockpit
Catherine adjusted the viewfinder on her craft before banking in low behind
the COUNTERSTRIKE as both vessels fired on the newfound hole in the ship’s
shielding. Seeing a porthole relatively unshielded, Catherine swerved
towards it sharply, unleashing the ship’s weapons onto that section of the
battleship with all the enthusiasm of one with no love for Jem’Hadar
soldiers.
As she looked on, the porthole exploded, sending a half dozen Jem’Hadar
soldiers sailing out into the cold darkness of space. There was no chance
for the soldiers as the explosive decompression of that part of the deck had
happened too fast for anyone to be able to react.
As she watched the soldiers blown out into space and being carried into the
nebula by their own inertia, the sides of Catherine’s lips twitched upward
into a very slight smile that was gone a few seconds later as she resumed
her position behind the runabout.
=============
Location: DOMINION BATTLESHIP
Scene: Bridge
The explosions rocking the ship had thrown everyone off their feet but the
Vorta and the Jem’Hadar First, who was now looking at the console in front
of him disbelief.
“We have lost dorsal shielding on the starboard aft quadrant sir!” he
reported, pressing a few buttons. “I am unable to reroute power from
backups!”
“Explain,” the Vorta said, turning around to the First.
“There appears to be a containment field over a biogenic compound in the
detention centre,” the Jem’Hadar First reported. “It will take me a moment
to override the automated system commands.”
“We don’t have a moment!” the Vorta hollered as another series of weapons
hit the ship, sending both of them off their feet.
==============
Location: BOSPHORUS
Scene: Cockpit
“I’m bringing the ship around for another pass,” Lieutenant Corwin
announced, as the she expertly handled the controls of the runabout. “Get
ready to fire again,” she added over her shoulder to the weapons officer on
the ship.
“Wait a second!” Tam called from another terminal, drawing the Flight
Control Officer’s attention. “I’m picking up a human life sign on the
ship.”
“That must be Major Clarkson,” Corwin said. “Can you get a signal lock on
him?”
“I think so,” Tam said. “The transporters have been fine tuned enough that
I think I can get through all the nebula interference, but we’re going to
need to get in very tight to the ship for me to get a lock.”
Corwin grinned. “You just spoke my language,” she said. “Hold on, this
might get a little rough.”
A few seconds later, both the weapons officer and Niala were forced to grip
the sides of their consoles tightly as the sudden shift in direction and
speed of the runabout was too large for even the ship’s inertial dampeners
to compensate for. Corwin dodged weapons fire from the other runabouts and
the battleship as she manoeuvred the BOSPHORUS so close to the battleship
that they could see some of the detail work in the hull.
“Can you get a lock now?” Corwin asked, orientating the runabout so that the
distance between them and the hull was kept constant.
Tam worked at the console, tapping a few buttons to find an answer. “I
think so,” she said. “Energizing now.”
A few moments later, the prone form of Daniel Clarkson appeared on the floor
of the shuttle and Tam quickly moved to scan him with a tricorder. “He’s
unconscious, but otherwise fine,” she reported. “Looks like he was hit by
some sort of concussive shock wave.”
“We’ll have time to solve that mystery later,” Corwin replied. “For now, we
better get past their shield perimeter just in case they’re able to
re-establish them.”
==========
Location: DOMINION BATTLESHIP
Scene: Bridge
“I have re-established our dorsal shielding,” the First reported. “Impulse
engines are offline as are disruptors. In this condition, we are no match
for the Federation ships.”
“Where is the PATRIOT?” the Vorta demanded.
“Moving to the planet,” the First answered, briefly glancing around at the
dead bridge crew before continuing with his report. “It appears as if a
number of shuttles have been launched from the ship and are running ahead of
the PATRIOT, which is now turning back towards out position.”
“Can we attack those shuttles with torpedoes?” the Vorta asked.
“Negative,” the First answered. “Automatic locking mechanisms are not
functional as well. Only manual targeting capabilities.”
“Very well,” the Vorta answered. “Fire a spread of torpedoes on the planet.
Demolish all of the personnel on it. I want this victory to be a hollow one
for the Federation.”
“As you wish sir,” the First replied.
===========
Location: USS PATRIOT
Scene: Bridge
“Shuttles are en route to the planet sir,” came the report from tactical.
“As for the battleship, they’re dead in the water. Shields and partial
weapons are still functioning, but we managed to take out their impulse
engines when their shields went down.”
“Let’s punch another hole in those shields,” Kenta said, tapping some
coordinates into his console. “Signal the fleet to aim all weapons on these
coordinates.”
“Sir!” the tactical officer reported. “The battleship is firing torpedoes
on the surface!”
“What?” Kenta asked, genuinely surprised. “Destroy them!”
“I can’t get a lock sir!” tactical replied. “They’re too small; energy from
the nebula is interfering with the targeting mechanisms.”
“Then fire manually!” Kenta ordered.
“Aye sir,” the tactical officer answered. A few moments later, he sighed.
“I was able to shoot down two of the torpedoes sir, but the rest struck the
surface right at the location of our base camp. I am detecting no lifeforms
on the planet.”
“The torpedoes killed all of our people?” Kenta asked, disbelievingly. “The
sensors must be faulty.”
“I don’t think so sir,” Sanba said at the operations console. “The comm.
Badges allowed us to keep tabs on our people on the planet. That we are not
detecting them any longer suggests that they have all been destroyed by the
torpedoes.”
“Sir,” reported tactical. “We are being hailed by the Dominion.”
“On screen,” Ben said, for the moment controlling his anger at what the
Dominion had just done.
The image of the battleship was replaced by the face of the Vorta and a very
ruined looking bridge behind him. {{PATRIOT,}} he said. {{You have won
today, but I think you will agree that I have made your victory a hollow
one.}}
“There was no need to fire on the planet,” Kenta answered. “Those people
were defenceless. You killed your own soldiers on the planet!”
{{Their deaths were glory to the Founders,}} the Vorta answered. {{As ours
will be too.}}
“Your deaths?” Kenta asked.
{{We will not allow you to capture this vessel’s technology,}} the Vorta
announced, before cutting the link off.
“I’m detecting a build up in the vessel’s core,” the officer at tactical
reported.
“A self-destruct?” Kenta asked.
“It could be,” Sanba agreed. “With their engines off, there is no way for
the battleship to execute a suicide run. The next best thing would be to
ensure that they are not captured by the enemy.”
“I guess that makes sense to the Dominion,” Kenta answered. “Get us out of
here and signal all ships to rendezvous outside of the blast radius.”
As they watched from a distance, the battleship exploded with fiery
brilliance, a shockwave from the blast just barely reaching the PATRIOT and
causing a slight rumble to everyone on the bridge.
Kenta shook his head slowly. “Ops: oversee the docking of all ships,” he
ordered. “Helm, once the ships have docked I want you to take us into orbit
of the planet to search for survivors.”
=============
Time Index: 30 minutes later
Scene: Ready Room
“Come in,” Kenta said in response to the door chime. Looking up, he nodded
as his Executive Officer walked in holding a PADD.
“We’ve completed our sweep of the planet,” Jeff answered, handing the PADD
to his Commanding Officer. ‘There were no survivors. We can do a more
detailed sweep with an away team if you wish, but considering that the
Dominion now knows the Federation’s interest in this system I recommend that
we leave now.”
Kenta looked over the PADD before slowly nodding his head. “Very well
Commander,” he said. “Give the order.”
“Aye sir,” Jeff said. He hesitated for a moment, before turning around and
heading for the exit.
“Was there something else Commander?” Kenta asked, having noticed the
hesitation.
Gorman paused at the threshold for a moment, before turning around. “Why
did the Dominion do what they did?” he asked. “The destruction of those
people on the planet…it was so senseless.”
“From the point of view of the Dominion, it made sense,” Kenta answered,
after putting the PADD down on the table. “If they couldn’t win the
conflict, they wanted to mar our victory in some way. Killing everyone on
the planet was the only way they could do that with what was available to
them at the time.”
“But they killed their own men!” Gorman exclaimed.
“So I reminded the Vorta when I spoke with him,” Kenta answered dryly. “But
that is how the Dominion do things.”
Jeff thought about it for a moment, before shaking his head. “I still don’t
understand it,” he said.
Ben regarded the other officer carefully. Even though there weren’t that
many years between the two of them, that statement made the ExO seem a lot
younger than he was.
“Let’s hope you never do Commander,” he said finally. “Because that type of
understanding has a price attached to it.”
=============
NRPG: Phew! And that brings us to the end of our mission. Hopefully I
managed to cover all the loose ends that were left in the mission.
So, from this point the PATRIOT is now on its way back through the wormhole
and to the Alpha Quadrant.
And, as of right now, we are on an R&R period that’s going to last for about
a week. More on that in an NRPG to come.
=============
Rahul Chandra <vrccan_at_gmail.com>
Lieutenant Commander Jeffrey Gorman, MD
Executive Officer
USS PATRIOT
&
Major Daniel Clarkson, MD
Marine Executive Officer
USS PATRIOT
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