Threats from elsewhere (Part I)
Posted on Thu Jun 11, 2020 @ 9:53pm by Civilian 'Key Holder' Dorian Gabriel & Charghwl'IH of the House of Soval
3,964 words; about a 20 minute read
Mission:
Et In Arcadia Ego
Location: Tarelis System
Timeline: SD 6 0630
Tags: Raddon, Tarelis, Klingon, Human
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Dorian sighed as he observed the orbital construction drones moving along their pre-determined route. Dorian had been on Orbital Station Halcyon for nearly two months overseeing the construction of the joint Federation-Klingon mining facility over Tarelis IV. Lasuma Enterprises had managed to out-manuver the Raddon Corporation and score a lucrative deal with the Imersa Council. A deal that saw the Federation, and by extenion, the Raddon Corporation only receiving 60% of the dilithium from the soon-to-be establishd facility. The remaining portion would be given to the rampaging collective known as the Klingon Empire.
If you could even call it some as organized as an Empire. In Dorian's experience the entire collective seemed ot be nothing more than a random smattering of ravenous Houses all vying for control. . .power and. . .Honor. Melvyn Raddon had managed to reach out to the Federation Council and arrange for his company to take the lead on developing the Federation side of the facility and handle administrative actions on this side.
Unforuntately, that meant that Dorian had been dispatched as Melvyn's "eyes and ears" while things were coming together. He was not entirely alone, he had been delivered to the facility onboard the USS Langston Hughes, which remained within the system to provide logicistical support . Dorian understood the significance of his mission, but he still would much rather be anywhere else other than sharing a station with Klingons.
His thoughts were interupted by the arrival of his Klingon counterpart on the mission.
Korvaq saw the human sulking again as he watched the station come together and he took a place next to him, folding his arms over his chest. "With the station nearly operational it won't be long before you will be able to leave and return to Deep Space 5. I too long for a thrill assignment. Overseeing the construction of a processing station is not a job for warriors."
"I'm too old for thrill assignments," Dorian responded without any sign of humor in his voice. "My work on Deep Space Five is to protect my company and prevent something like this from happening to us again." He said with obvious venom in his voice.
" 'Like this', what do you mean?"
"What do I mean?" Dorian asked rhetorically without shifting his gaze. "This is what I mean. . ." he said, letting his voice trail off. "This drug-deal of an arraignment that was put together behind our back." He said as he continued to gaze at the worker-drone continuing its route towards the docking pylon. "I've seen Orion's with more integrity than that sonovabitch Lasuma." Dorian said mirthlessly.
"I was under the impression you and your employer had been made aware of the circumstance of Mr. Lasuma's involvement? Your bitterness would be better directed to the Imersa Council than Lasuma; your 'company' was too closely tied to the Federation for their comfort. Besides there is more than enough dilithium here to exceed this station capabilities. But if the transporting of the dilithium from this station is so important perhaps Lasuma will let you buy him out. His trade agreements here far exceed any profit earned hauling ore."
Adding before Dorian could reply. "The Federation should have never allowed a third party to control their supply of dilithium in the first place."
"The Raddon Corporation has been one of the leading producers of refined dilithium for decades because the company damn-near wrote the book on the process. It was this company that created the theta-matrix compositor." Dorian retorted. "That device allowed Federation ships to recrystallize dilithium crystals while they were still in the articulation frame of a warp core." He said.
"Thanks to our company, re-crystallization process became at least ten times more efficient than any leading Alpha Quadrant race." He said, looking at the Klingon. "That backstabbing bastard and his company didn't inform us about this crooked deal because he knew that there was no way we'd every agree to him using the Federation's dilithium as leverage for the benefit of his. . . whatever illegal operations he runs." Dorian said with obvious disgust in his voice.
"As far as Lasuma's ownership. . .buying him out will be the least of his concerns." He said ominously.
Korvaq laughed heartedly. "No one has claimed Raddon has not improved the refining and recrystallization process. But having a outside party controlling a vital resource is a weakness. One that can and has been exploited. Those achievements fade as you whine like a petulant child. I don't know, nor care, if this is what you are being told or what you truly believe, so either you or your employers arrogance is laughable!
"The Federation Captain in charge of the mission that led to all this could not contact your companies leadership. The ruling body of this system refused to deal with anyone directly tied to the Federation, so they wouldn't have negotiated with your employer anyway. For all this you blame the man that got pulled in at the last minute for no other reason than that he was in the sector, available, and an accomplished businessman. Seems he was just in the right place in the right time.
"You impugn his integrity all while benefitting, though only partially, from this 'drug deal'. You accuse him of 'backstabbing' your employers company, but to do so would mean he owed Raddon some kind of loyalty in the first place. You have made him an enemy in your own mind...perhaps you should stop whining and make an ally of him. Would that not be more profitable for you both?"
Dorian laughed softly to himself, "I don't fucking believe this..." He said, shaking his head. "I'm being lectured to about profits by a Klingon. . ." He huffed. "Save the speech Kahless for someone who actually believes any of that bullshit." He said as he walked around to the a nearby communication console.
=/\= "Halycon to Forward Unit #12, re-direct drones 18 through 24 to sector G. We're building a sophisicated mining facility here, not another Terok Nor slave-mining facility." =/\= Dorian said frustratedly as he continued to monitor the channel.
Korvaq huffed for he could see the irony as well, and once his counterpart was done issuing his instructions he replied. "Well I had the misfortune of having to work as liaison to a Ferengi delegation to the Empire. In order to...deal with them I learned some of their ways as I tried to teach them of ours."
Dorian's eyebrows furrowed when he did not receive a response. Normally he would at least get some perfuctory apology or acknowledgement that the station had received the message. However, there was nothing said in response.
=/\= "Halycon to Langston Hughes" Dorian said, this time deciding to reach out to the Raddon Corporation security vessel that had been dispatched for the mission. "Forward Unit #12 is not responding to station hails and its designated drones are not operating correctly. What the hell is going on out there?" He asked.
Halcyon
Captain Kalinda Dulla listened intently as the message came through crisply over the vessel's comm units. It was not uncommon for a construction drone to go sideways and not respond to proper controls; however, it was not normal for a Forward Unit to go completely dark as well.
=/\= "Langston Hughes to Halycon, we're tracking. We'll swing out and have a look at what is going on and follow-up." She responded. She stood and immediately began to dispatch orders to her gathered crew at their assigned stations. The vessel was one of the leading vessels representing the Raddon Corporation's interest to the outside galaxy. Not just the Corporation's interests, but Human interest as a whole. While Kalinda did not share all of Raddon's more forceful opinions about outside races, she did recognize that Humanity was slowly becoming crowded out as the Federation became more and more focused on the wants and temper tantrums of other non-founding races.
"Ma'am, within visual distance of Forward Unit #12," Stated her Navigation Controller.
"On screen" She said as she took her seat. As the screen came into view, her eyes widened in shock. Before she could even properly sit in her chair she leapt to her feet again.
"Damnit! Comms, get the Halycon back on the line!" She ordered; however, she knew that it was a futile gesture considering what was on the screen before her.
"I can't! Comms are being flooded with theta band distortion radiation!" Reported her Communications Controller.
The screen before her showed the floating remains of the Forward Observeration and Control Unit as it drifted listlessly and in several dozen large portions. Plasma disruptions could still be viewed as the Breen fighters continued to take parting shots as they cleared the wreckage. The destruction explained why the post had gone silent. It had subcomb to a surprise Breen attack.
"Sarah, get us the hell out of here! Kevin, get through that distortion and get my comms working!" The ship's Captain demanded as she read the information being displayed on her command chair. Fortunately, the Breen fighters had not yet gotten within weapons distance of the Langston Hughes, despite the communications jamming taking place.
The ship shuddered as a disruptor blast struck the aft section of the vessel.
Spoke too soon. . . Kalinda thought as she gripped her chair.
"Weapons, target the lead fighter, targeting pattern Beta-12." Kalinda ordered as she looked towards her Navigation Controller. "Sarah, full power to thrusters, reroute from secondary systems if necessary." She ordered. However, Kalinda had served with Sarah long enough to know that the former Starfleet Helms(wo)man was skilled enough to handle the ship correctly.
The ship shuddered again as its weapons discharged and lanced out towards the pursuing fighters. The blast was enough to create more distance between the Langston Hughes and the Breen fighters.
"We're clear!" Reported Kevin, the Communications Controller. "Signal is open!"
Halcyon
"Breen? How the hell did a Breen fighter make it out here without being picked up on Forward Unit 12's long range sensors?" Dorian said, obvious alarm in his voice.
=/= "The how is irrelevant, what is important is that Fighters don't travel alone. There is probably an attack force on the outer-edge of the system gathering its forces and preparing to move to engage."=\= Captain Rahmel said, anger and aggravation obvious in her voice.
=/="They're outside of the system, but it won't take long for the corresponding fleet to begin heading towards Halcyon now that we're aware of them."=\= she reported.
Dorian shook his head as his brain tried to process the information flying in. He looked at the Klingon. "That puts them at least several hours away. What about your vessels? Are they capable of handling a Breen strike force?" He asked.
A snarled grin spread over his face. "That is what we are here for." Korvaq responded.
Korvaq turned slightly and pulled his communicator from his belt. These Federation types got so jumpy at the mere hint of battle. Opening the channel to the Klingon forces assign to secure the system and protect the mining operations. "Bokrath peQ, mIchHom nughoS breen raD. tIQaq". [General Bokrath, Breen forces are approaching the area. Destroy them.]
"Rowland, get word to Commodore D'Myr on the Nightwolf, tell him that a Breen strike fleet is preparing to launch an attack. We need them to intercept the fleet before they can make it to the station or Tarelis IV." Dorian said to the Strategic Operations Officer.
The Nightwolf was the lead vessel of the Starfleet Task Group that had been assigned to provide security along with the Klingon fleet. The Task Group was patrolling a neighboring sector of space. The Langston Hughes was unable to send a message to the TG to notify them of the destruction of the Forward Unit due to the Breen Fighter.
"Commodore D'Myr has acknowledged receipt and his Task Group is en route to intercept." The comms operator responded.
The main screen switched to a sensor view of the arriving Breen Strikeforce and the Starfleet Task Group quickly moving to intercept and stop them from getting close to the inner Tarelis worlds.
Dorian continued to watch the main viewer intently. It still did not make any sense how a Breen fleet was able to get so close the Tarelis System without being detected. Not just their arrival, but several fighters were able to take out a Forward Unit before they were able to know what was going on. Clearly the native government was too incompotent to defend themselves, but this was worse than even Dorian could have imagined.
As time passed, Dorian studied the tactical console. The Langston Hughes had managed to transmit information back to the Halcyon on the Breen Fighters they had encountered. As he studied the initial readings, he narrowed his eyes and focused on the report detailing the propulsion capability.
"Commodore D'Myr is engaging the Breen fleet!" Rowland reported to the assemebled individuals in the station OPS. "The USS Highwind, Chattahochee, and Tyco are engaging the capitol vessels in the Breen fleet on the outer edge of the system" The Strat Ops officer relayed.
While the fight raged one, Dorian continued to study the console before him. Dorian was far from being a qualified Starfleet Engineer, but he was familiar enough with Breen capabilities to know that their Fighters were and were not capable of. What made this report stand out was what appeared to be the subatomic decay of benamite crystal. Breen Fighters were incapable of producing that much of a subatomic decay due to their lack of a warp drive. To have that type of readings, the Breen Carrier that it traveled inside of would have to be responsible for the readings.
More importantly, the Breen Fighter would have had to travel inside of a Breen Carrier traveling at a high rate of speed.
". . .what the hell!? They just disappeared!" The Strat Ops shouted from his console. Dorian immediately looked up towards the viewscrreen and saw that at least three of the Breen vessels had disappeared from senors. Not destroyed, just simply. . .gone.
"Where the hell did the larger vessels just go?" Dorian asked as he walked around the console and looked at the sensor readout. "How could three vessels like that just disappear? They couldn't have jumped to war---" Before Dorian could finish his sentence, the station klaxons activated signalling a tactical emergency.
"T--th--THEY'VE JUST REAPPEARED! The--ther---they just jumped directly to us!" The Strat Ops said incredulously. "Three Breen Carrier vessels have just jumped within the system and are setting course towards the station." The Officer said, still struggling to comprehend what he was seeing on his screen.
Dorian was in disbelief, how the hell were the Breen able to perform such a manuver. They had never demonstrated any type of advanced navigation capability throughout their short appearance in the Dominin War. Now they had managed to jump across an area of space that should have ordinarily taken hours to cross. Instead, the 3 Breen vessels had done it in the span of several minutes. Several minutes that had now found the Halcyon completely off-guard.
"It should have taken hours for them to cross that large of an amount of space. . ." Dorian said incredulously as he stared at the view screen before him.
Dorian dove towards a nearby connsole and tried to ascertain what vessels were in the immediate vicinity that could provide assistance. Unfortunately, the Starfleet vessels were still engaging the Breen vessels lightyears away on the edge of the system.
"It was a trap. . .they purposely engaged our fleet on the outside of the system just to draw them even farther away from the Halycon Thankfully, his desire for assistance was answered by the shouting voice of the Start Ops Officer.
"Klingon vessels decloaking off the lead Breen vessel's port bow." He announced.
Dorian watched on the main viewer as the IKS Buruk, G'Moth, and Vk'Tar decloaked in formation and immediately began to engage the Breen vessels as they set course to the orbital mining facility and the planet of Tarelis IV. The Birds-of-Prey immediately opened fired on the carriers, causing immediate damage throughout their aft and port bow sections.
General Bokrath sat in command of his task force as the first wave of ships inflicted damage to the attacking vessels. He had seen the carriers vanish and reappear but they would have to learn how latter. "Take us in. Set course to 168 mark 49 and decloak the ship!"
The Negh'Var class wIH swung around to cross over and abeam to the three Breen carriers. As it approached the formation it decloaked and its weapons, all of them, opened fire.
The lead Breen vessel, Gor Portas, had altered its course and had begun to engage General Bokrath's vessel. It immediately opened fire, targetting the Klingon vessel's propulsion systems. While its phasers lanced across space and into General Bokrath's shields, the other two vessels broke off into separate directions.
"The Breen vessel closest to Tarelis IV has launched fighters! They're heading towards the planet." The Strat Ops Officer reported. "It's the....Gor Bahk, they're heading towards the southern hemisphere, densely populated and its where the capitol is located." He relayed.
"Damnit. . .they're millions of lives in that part of the planet." Dorian said as he looked at the main viewer and observed the Breen vessels begining to separate.
"The last ship. . .identified as the Gor Puht has opened fired on the orbital construction site." The Officer said. "Automated defenses are coming online now."
Unlike the planet of Tarelis IV, the mining facility had been outfitted with orbital defense platforms to give an extra layer of protection from outside threats. Fortunately, the Halcyon station was able to bring the weapons online and it target the Gor Puth before it was able to get within firing range. The orbital platforms immediately recongized the Breen identification code and processed information between one another in anticipation for the attack.
"Tri-colbolt torpedoes locked on and firing!" The Strat Ops Officer reported as the platforms worked in a tactical symphony as it targetted the incoming vessel and surrounded it in a barrage of torpedoes.
Dorian watched on the main viewer as the Breen vessel took the brunt of the assault and tried, weakly, to manuver out of the way of the second wave of fire.
"There's something wrong with its engines. . .usually Breen vessels are much more manuverable than this. They never just walk right into a buzzsaw of fire." Dorian said as he tried to do a quick analysis of the particular Breen vessel's systems. "Engines are barely functioning. . .something must've gone wrong with the jump it performed." Dorian noticed aloud. "It can't maneuver away, so why is it still engaging the station?" He asked.
"Ah hell. . .that sonovabitch is going for a suicide run on the facility!" Dorian realized. He looked towards the Klingons, but saw that their battlegroup was still tied up defending the planet surface as well as taking on the Gor Bahk. "Korvaq! You need to divert at least one ship towards the orbital faci---!" Dorian tried to shout from across OPS. He was cut-off by the violent vibration felt by the orbital facility. One of the Klingon defenders had just been obliterated by one of the Breen vessels.
The Breen vessel, the Gor Puth was continuing on its path towards facility, albiet much slower and damaged. However, with every available Klingon vessel still tied up in battle, it seemed as if there were no assests available to divert the incoming suicide run. Dorian closed his eyes and took a deep breathe, bracing himself as he prepared for the inevitable as the Gor Puth opened fire on the facility.
"ANOTHER INCOMING SIGNAL..." Shouted the Strat Ops Officer from his station. "...it's a Human signal...it's the. . ." Before the Strat Ops Officer could finish the report, the facility rocked violently from the shockwave of the explosions coming from the Breen vessel. The Gor Puth was rocked by the incoming volley of disruptor blasts that rained down on it from below.
"...it's a Human signal...it's the. . .Langston Hughes" The Officer reported as the sleek cruiser continued to fire on the Breen vessel. The modified phaser arrays released a constant stream of energy into the dorsal section of the Breen vessel causing an explosion to occur that rippled along its core and rocked the vessel off of its axis. Unfortunately, the explosion caused the starboard nacelle to buckle before tearing off completely from the hull of the ship.
"Where the HELL did they come from?" Dorian asked with obvious relief in his voice.
Unfortunately, before the Strat Ops Officer could finish the report, the starboard nacelle that had detached from the Gor Puth had continued to spin out of control directly towards the Halycon control tower.
"Brace for impac----" Dorian heard from the Strategic Ops Officer right before everything around him went black and he felt himself leaving his feet. The lights flickered and the facility shook violently as the nacelle collided with the facility. Fires erupted throughout the secondary core and support structures of the facility. However, emergency damage control teams and drones were able to respond and prevent the damage from reaching the primary core or essential systems. The violent shaking threw Dorian off his feet, causing him to strike his head on a fallen beam and causing him to lose consciousness.
Korvaq stumbled back to his feet and looked up as another two squadrons of Klingon warships dropped from warp. While the fresh reinforcements mopped up the remaining Breen fighters, the other squadron joined the Buruk, and Vk'Tar in taking up defesive positions for the planet and the station.
The sound of transporter effects drew his attention as General Bokrath and several other of his fellow Klingons materialized. "Korvaq! We have won the day! Now to tend to the wouned.
His warrior spread out checking for survivors and were quickly joind by Federation medical and emergency responce teams.
Korvaq approached the Dorian as he was being treated. "Will he survive?"
"Yes sir. Just a concussion."
"Good. He stood his post honorably." Knelling beside him he look down as they ran their devices and injected him with their drugs. Watch as his eyes slowly opened.
"Get back!" Rowland shouted. "We'll handle our own!" he said as he staggered from around the shattered remains of his console towards the prone form of Dorian. He forced his way between Korvaq and Dorian and checked his pulse.
=/= "Ro--Rowland to Langston," He tried to say while gripping his ribs that he was almost certain were cracked. "Begin medical beam out, we've got 3 dead in OPS, 2 critical. Status of remaining decks unknown." He reported to the Cruiser. Within a few moments he felt the sensation of the demat/remat process as he and Dorian faded away.
Korvaq's hand dropped from handle of his blade as the Raddon lackey was beamed away with Dorian. That petaQ wouldnlive to see another day. With a growling huff he turned, "General, permission to beam aboard your ship. I need to contact the ambassador."
Dorian Gabriel
Security Consultant
Raddon Corp
Kalinda Dulla
Captain - SS Langston Hughes
Raddon Corp
Rowland Ferreo
Strategic Ops
Raddon Corp
Korvaq
Klingon representative
Teralis Dilithium Mining facility
General Bokrath
Area Commander
KDF -Assigned to the Teralis system
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