End Game (Part I of III)

Posted on Tue Jun 5, 2018 @ 2:37am by Captain Maritza Soran & Civilian 'Key Holder' Dorian Gabriel & Commander Caleb Ryan & Commander Amia Telamon M.D. & Lieutenant Liam Reynolds & Lieutenant Annora Tessaro & Lieutenant Alanna Wells & First Lieutenant Gordon Blue

1,717 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Victory Conditions
Location: DS5 local space
Timeline: MD08 1200

Previously on Luck, Strategy, Diplomacy

There was nothing obvious to see. Only the warping of light around it marked its passage. The whole ship looked suddenly warped, as if seen through a distorting lens, then there was a flash of darkness. Nothing, not even starlight, could be seen where its midsection had been. And suddenly the Cardassian lead ship was in two pieces. Its midsection had been completely obliterated. Only the bow and stern were left, one hundred meter chunks from either end, venting gases and furniture and supplies and bodies. Three hundred meters of mid section were just gone.


And Now the Continuation

"No," Alanna whispered, but there was no denying the evidence on the viewscreen. She looked down to her station, grateful to see that the ship was still scanning, and that the data was being transmitted to the command center and the science department on DS5. "Commander, was that their plan all along?" she asked Caleb. It had to be. That was too precise to be an accident.

There was a shimmer that rippled out from the former midsection. The two remaining parts appeared to shiver, and then they were sucked into the center and disappeared.

Caleb stared in shock. “That couldn’t be,” he told Alanna. “That’s an act of war. Hail the Svikari!” Caleb snapped to Liam. “Tell them ta stand down an’ fall back! Then contact the other ships ta form up. Helm, take us out ta the edge of our space. Tactical, power up phasers. If that weapon powers up again, take it out.” The damn weapon wasn’t supposed to be live!

"Yes, sir," Alanna said, holding tightly to her left hand that had begun to tremble. "I believe they planned on using the weapon against the Cardassians, and that is why this whole exercise was such a farce. I hope the data DS5 is collecting from the Svikiri will prove it."

Along with everyone else, Annora watched as the Skivari jumped into the gathered Cardassian ships. Accident or not, this didn't bode well for relations with the Cardassians. The war games now over, she complied with the order to power up phasers for real. She didn't like to fire on a friendly ship, but considering the circumstances, they ceased to receive protection.
"Aye, sir. Weapons hot. Plotting a firing solution on the weapons array on the Svikari."

Liam winced slightly at the cold anger and shock from Caleb. Everyone else was just as stunned at this turn of events. "I have tried all frequencies, sir, but the Svilkiri are not responding. Do you wish to broadcast any further message? Other ships are coming into formation. ETA four minutes."

Caleb said. “Lieutenant Wells, do you still have that worm into the Svikari’s astrometrics? Try to contact them that way and get them to stand down.”

Caleb looked back to Liam. “Broadcast on all frequencies.” He waited for Liam’s go ahead. “This is Commander Caleb Ryan on the USS Ararat to the USS Svikari. Power down your weapons and return to station space. I repeat, power down, or we will be forced to fire upon you. Cardassian vessels, please stand down and move out of the area for your own safety. Let us handle the Svikari.”

Caleb wasn’t going to have the next war start here, at his doorstep.

Amia had to blink to be sure she had seen what she thought she had. She looked instinctively over at Caleb, and the look on his face told her she had. Then he broadcast his message and she swallowed hard, making her throat reopen itself, then she closed her gaping mouth as well and blinked back flood of emotions. All those lives! This was meant to have been a game! What in Hell's depths had gone wrong on that stupid secret experimental ship? This whole situation had stunk from day one. She was stunned.

Liam winced again as his empathic senses picked up the full spectrum of Amia, who was, as with everyone else, struggling to understand the turn of events. He closed his eyes for a moment and reinforced his internal shield, then replied back to Caleb, "Message has been sent, sir.”

***

The warship Beldon led the Cardassian Kel'elk, or Wing. The subunit of the 127th Tactical Wing was comprised of seven vessels. The Kel'elk was comprised of several Hideki, Legate, and Galor vessels. The lead vessel, the Keldon-class warship Beldon, led the Kel'elk, and its purpose was to oversee the successful deployment and retrieval of the expedition team that was going to enter the time portal on Pangaea.

But the Beldon no longer existed.

In its place were smaller, barely identifiable pieces of metal and streaks of plasma, spinning lifelessly. The cold and brutal attack had come so suddenly that the vessel had not even raised shields before the Svikari had carried out the swift and still indescribable attack.


[Deep Space Five Ops]

Maritza was frozen for an instant as she could only watch Svikiri destroy the Cardassian ship. Then her mind started spinning. That was an unprovoked attack. A rogue ship? Or an act of war? Only one person in the vicinity could tell her. "Admiral? Your orders?" She turned to T'Vel, but the admiral seemed just as shocked, and did not reply. She turned to Blue. "Get everyone after Svikiri. Claude! Contact Ambassador Turvan and tell him there's been an incident, and his presence is requested in Ops."

With the first movements after the attack, Blue had the combined resources of the station and the starship's telemetry all being fed to his console. Blue could be in a position to get the ships organized. He started by releasing all the controlled war game protocols, which meant the simulated damages to each vessel no longer registered.

"Releasing all ships from simulation," Blue relayed. "All ships converge point Svikiri." he instructed, feeding the targeting transponder information. The connection to the now rogue vessel was relayed to all the other ships from both sides of the simulated fight. "All ships, contain and secure the USS Svikiri by all possible means," Blue sent over the united circuit. The coding would allow the target vessel to know it is going to be targeted, but no data relayed to that ship.

"All forces have the Svikiri’s position and vector information,” Blue relayed. "Checking the coordinates and transmitting to DS5 fire control," Blue reported.

Brianthe couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Did they just..." But clearly they had. She checked the data still streaming in from the Svikiri in short transmission bursts. Alanna would want to see that. She made sure to send everything first to Science, then to the backup computer. The main computer was still lagging, and it concerned her. But right now, she needed to focus on work, to block out the horror of what was happening, until she got back to the arboretum and could walk barefoot under the trees.


CUV Traxell

Gul Veshur sat in her command chair as she looked at the viewscreen. The warship Traxell was only intended to provide logistical support to the Beldon while it observed the deployment of the time portal expedition and carefully observed the Starfleet war games. However, the female gul now found herself and her Galor-class vessel Traxell not just one of the surviving vessels of the Kel'elk, but now the lead vessel.

"Wh-Where did the Beldon go? Wh-- Scan for survivors!" Gul Veshur ordered as she stood up and began to assess the situation. "Send word to the rest of the wing informing them that the Federation has launched an unprovoked attack!" she said.

Her crew moved with dedicated intent across the bridge of the Traxell as they carried out the gul’s orders. “Ma’am! We have obtained a firing solution on one of the attacking vessels,” Glinn Dema reported from the Tactical station. “The USS McBride appears to be forming up with the remaining vessels and preparing to escape!” Glinn Dema said with heightened alarm in her voice.

Gul Veshur returned to her seat and calmly shifted her gaze from the Tactical console to the view screen. A certain calmness came over her as she made her command decision.

“Fire,” the Cardassian gul ordered.

Within moments, the remaining six vessels of the Kel’elk concentrated their attention on the single Federation vessel as it began its movement back into the collective group of vessels. Unfortunately, it had found itself several klicks away from the other Federation vessels as it performed simulated repair on itself. Although the simulation restrictions had been released, it still was in the process of converting back into tactical mode.

The momentary delay gave the Legate-class vessels the necessary time and distraction to lock on and begin their bombardment on the Intrepid class vessel. The other vessels used the opening salvo to allow them enough time to maneuver into position to release a devastating barrage on the lone vessel.

“Direct hit!” Glinn Dema reported. “They’re beginning to leak coolant from their antimatter containment matrix. Catastrophic core breach is imminent, they’re beginning evacuation procedures. Should we dispatch the Hidekis to engage the escape pods and shuttles?” she asked, ready to finish off the fleeing enemy.

“No. Signal for the other vessels to fall back and regroup with the remainder of the wing,” Gul Veshur ordered. “We will be back for the rest of them at a later time,” she said.


To Be Continued

---

Commander Maritza Soran
CO
Deep Space Face

Captain Hayashi Tetsuro
CO
USS Svikiri

Lieutenant Annora Tessaro
Asst. Chief Security/Tactical Officer
DS5

Lieutenant Alanna Wells
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant Liam Reynolds
Chief Counselor

Cmdr Amia Telamon
Chief Medical Officer, DS5

Gul Veshur
CO
CUV Traxell

Cmdr Caleb Ryan
XO
DS5

First Lieutenant Gordon Blue
Marine Commander
DS5

 

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