Topic: Sword and the Targ

[Lieutenant_Q]

Seventeen Years Earlier

"Captain's Log, 3 March 2249: Starship Saladin on search pattern for Starfleet Freighter Tanaka, last reported position Gamma Hydra, Section fourteen.  She reported that she was under attack.  Attackers were unknown."  James Atkinson slapped the voice recorder off with a grunt.  Then pulled up a strategic map on his private viewer.

"Leaving section fourteen for section thirteen.  Deja vu eh Captain?" Cindy Kaponen, a fit, but somewhat bulky human fidgeted around at the Helm station.  She was fresh out of the Academy and was referring to the Kobayashi Maru scenario that places the cadets in the same sector, searching for a missing civilian freighter.  Most of the time the scenario ends when the ship crosses the border and gets the bejesus blasted out of it by a trio of Klingon D7 cruisers.

"Indeed, anything on the other side of the border?"

"Affirmative, I am detecting a F5 frigate approximately one light hour inside the Klingon border.  She appears to be paralleling our course." Tenis, a petite Andorian female was the ships science officer, but despite being smaller than Cindy, she was stronger.  The two excercised together regularly and while Cindy did it to keep herself fit, Tenis did it more to show off.  Tenis was only the second Andorian to go through Starfleet Academy, all the other Andorian members of Starfleet were trained on their homeworld.

"Any ID on the Klingon?"

"Not from this range." Tenis paused before adding,  "Sir...I have the freighter, Gamma Hydra section twelve, it's drifting, in another hour it will drift across the border."

"Then let's get there before it does."  James turned towards the dual helm and navigation station. "Cindy, increase speed to Warp seven, Will, lay in an intercept course."

"Course computed." William Clarke, a tall and lanky human was seated at the duel tactical and navigation station, his specialty was tactical, but he could navigate a ship fairly well.

Cindy's hands worked over the console, "Estimating two minutes to intercept."

"Aspect change on the Klingon, she is closing on the border."

"Alert Status, Condition Yellow.  Will, Shields up."

"Shields up, shall I charge weapons?"

"No, not yet. ID on the Klingon?"

"Affirmative, Ship is designated Dark Fire."

"I know that ship, Open a channel."  James waited on the communications officer before beginning. "Klingon vessel Dark Fire, this is Captain James Atkinson of the Federation Starship Saladin...we are on a search and rescue mission.  We have no hostile intentions, but we will defend our border if you attempt to cross."

"Incoming visual communication sir."

"James Atkinson, I am glad to see you have been given a command of your own.  While I would relish a rematch, my orders appear to be the same as yours, and do not involve combat with your ship," Klandathor's expression turned into one of accusation, "Unless your ship is responsible for the destruction of six Klingon Freighters."

"Good to see you again, Klank.  You're missing some Freighters as well?  We've lost five in the last two weeks."

"We do not lose ships, human.  Our ships are destroyed in combat.  If your Federation cannot keep track of it's ships, how can you call yourself galactic power?"

"We do not assume that every ship that we lose is destroyed in battle, there are thousands of hazards in space, some of which can take down even a cruiser."

"Which is why we avoid those hazards whenever possible.  It is foolish to risk ships in an attempt to find out what their place is in the galaxy.  If it can be destroyed, it will be destroyed, if not, it will be ignored, that is the way of things in the Empire."

"We're getting nowhere here."

"I agree, I will leave you to your Freighter.  But do not attempt to cross the border, My disruptors are itching for revenge, and I would hate to have to wreck that new ship of yours."

"He closed the channel Captain."

"We're entering sensor range of the Freighter, same as before, no life signs and no cargo."

"Damn..."  James breathed, "Can we salvage it?"

"Would be more effort than its worth sir."

"Very well, power up the foreward Phaser bank.  Lock Phasers, and fire when ready."


***


"Entering Gamma Hydra, section ten sir.  We will be leaving the Gamma Hydra Sector in one hour at present speed."  Cindy broke the silence on the bridge since the discovery of the Tanaka.

"Anything of note in the Beta Hydra sector Tenis?"

"Nothing so far, however the Civilian Freighter, Gotterdammrung's flight plan indicates that it should be in this sector, en route to deep space station K-4."

"Bait, Lieutenant?"

Tenis shrugged, "It may be the only way to catch this marauder."

"Sounds like a plan...Increase speed to warp six."

"According to the Gotterdammerung's flight plan, she should be currently located in Beta Hydra, section twenty-seven."

Will broke in, "At warp six, we can be in that section in two days."

"Wait...section twenty seven, thats almost five light-years from the border.  Every other freighter has been right on the border."

"That's true sir, but the Gotterdammerung is also carrying the same cargo that the previous five freighters have been carrying." Tenis turned around to offer her explanation, "The only difference here, is the Gotterdammerung's master, this is his first run along the border.  It is only natural that a newcomer to this region would stay as far away from the border as possible for his first run."

"Captain, I'm picking up a distress call...on an open frequency.  It appears to be a Klingon Freighter."  The Communications officer interupted.

"Locate it."

"Beta Hydra, Section eight."

Tenis spoke up first, "That is in non-aligned space sir, we could respond."

"And give the Klingons a reason to accuse us of attacking their freighters?"  Will snapped back.

James held up his hand, "Will...how long to intercept at warp eight?"

"Forty two minutes."

"Well then, we're going to be arriving too late to do any good, but we might as well take a look anyway.  Lets get there people."  James opened an intercom channel, "Bridge to Engineering, Mr. Tompson, I need all the power you can give me."

"Aye sir."  Tompson called back on the Comm.

"Cindy, give me warp eight for as long as you can hold it."

"Warp eight, aye sir."

"Will...take all remaining power, even the Batteries, and start putting it in the Phaser Capacitor.

"It will take fifteen minutes to charge the Capacitor at that rate!"

"And it will take us more than thirty minutes to arrive, that's plenty of time, Will."

"I just don't understand, why the rush to respond to a Klingon distress call, its not our responsibility."

"Will, if your neighbors cat was being attacked by a stray dog, wouldn't you go over there and protect it?"

"Yes, but the Klingons aren't exactly what I would call good neighbors."

"It has to start somewhere, why not start with us responding to their distress call?"

"They wouldn't lift a finger to respond to one of ours."

"Well, maybe this will be a good first step."

"I still think we're wasting our time."

"Maybe, but I decide how we use our time."


***


"Now approaching the Freighter sir.  The Dark Fire is here as well, she looks a bit beat up."  Tenis announced their arrival on scene.  On screen was the Klingon Freighter, damaged, but still intact, hovering, or more appropriately drifting near by was the F5 Frigate Dark Fire.

"Any sign of the bandit?" James asked.

"Negative, they left our sensor range ten minutes ago, it appears that our arrival may have scared them off."

"Can you raise the Dark Fire?"

"No response on any frequencies sir."

"Life Signs?"

"Seventy, a few short of its known standard complement."

"No surprise, they've just got the crap kicked out of them. What about the Freighter, can you raise it?"

"No sir, but I know their Comm is working, they're just ignoring us."

"How..."

"They've been trying to raise the Dark Fire for the last five minutes."

"The bandit ran into Klingon Space to avoid us, and now the Dark Fire won't respond, any reason why?"

"The easiest explanation is that the Dark Fire's Communications transceiver is damaged."

"Well, I suppose its better than them shooting at us." Clarke piqued from his station.

"Keep trying to raise the Dark Fire.  Do what we can to help the Freighter, but do not attempt to board it."

"Klingon Freighter, this is the Federation Starship Saladin, we are here to render assistance, please respond."

James left the Communications officer to his work, and called Ensign Clarke over to the science station.  "What do we know about the bandit?"

Tenis spoke up first, "The ship appears to be an Orion design, we we're unable to get a good sensor reading of the ship before it moved away, but by the vessel's size, it would appear to be the equivilant of a Cruiser."

Clarke nodded in agreement, "Most of the Orion fleet vanished days after the Federation charter was signed by Orion.  Except for a few ships that have turned up here and there, most of them are still unaccounted for."

"The Orions were pirates and slave dealers for a long time, far longer than Earth has been space capable.  It's possible that many of the various sects in Orion society did not like what the Federation was going to bring to their sector...stability."  Tenis added.

"The overall design of the Orion ships emphasized modularity.  Since most of the Orion ships were expected to see decades if not centuries of service, the ship builders made sure that their ships could keep up with the technological advancments of their neighbors without the need to build more modern ships.  It allowed the Orions to field a massive fleet, a fleet that rivaled the Klingons in numbers." Clarke waved his hand towards the Klingon ships on screen.  "While the Orion government has officially disowned any of these freelancers, as they call them, there has been a recent investigation of a few influential members of the Orion Government that appeared to be supporting the freelancers."

James thought on that point for a moment before responding, "So while this ship we're hunting down is fifty or sixty years old, it's probably more than a match for us.  We are near what was once Orion territory.  Is it possible that they are operating out of an old Orion Base somewhere in an adjacent sector?"

"It seems more than likely sir," Clarke ran his fingers through his sandy brown hair, something he did when he was nervous, "Sir, this ship can outrun us, outgun us, and outwit us.  It knows this region of space better than we do, it's capable of warp nine, and its obviously got, if not better weapons, more power to arm those weapons.  We are seriously outclassed here, I recommend we call for back up, the Lexington is only ten days away."

James looked to Tenis, but before she could voice her opinion, the communications officer broke in, "Sir, I have the Dark Fire."

James turned and jumped back up into his command chair. Clarke returned to his stations as well. James glanced over to the Communications officer, "On Screen."

"Captain, state what you want and be quick about it, I have little time for this."

"Commander, we came to see if we could offer assistance to you or the freighter."

"What kind of assistance did you have in mind?"  Suspicion crept into Klandathor's words, but he managed to keep his expression neutral.

"Oh I don't know, parts, supplies, more weapons to hunt this bastard down."

Klandathor roared a hearty laugh, "You are asking if you can join us in the hunt?"

"This ship is obviously more than either one of us can handle. If we work together, we can catch this marauder before it can do any more damage."

"If you are asking to enter our space, your request is denied." Klandathor paused to let the previous statement sink in before relenting just a bit, "However, while we are both in this disputed section of space, I see no reason why we cannot...cooperate."

"That is all that I ask, do you have need of any repair parts?"

"No, we have no need for your parts." The blunt denial didn't surprise James at all, "I will, as part of our cooperation effors, send you our sensor readings of the raider."

"Thank you Commander, I'll let you get back to your repairs."  After the channel was closed, James turned to Tenis, "Well?"

"The Ship does indeed outgun us, her phasers are the same as the Klingons, which means we have an advantage over them in terms of targeting.  Six Phaser 2s, Four Phaser 3s, Four Disrupters, apparently Type 3s, and a Pair of Photons."

"It doesn't outgun us by much then."

"No, but it has more than enough power to charge them all.  We have to come to almost a complete stop to do the same."

"But we have a range advantage."

"A slight one."

"hmm...It can outrun us, so we need to get it to come to us, how do we do that?"

Clarke spoke up, "The Gotterdammerung sir."

"What about it?"

"The Orion Nebula is twelve light-years from here sir, we convince the Gotterdammerung captain to go near it, and then have a mechanical problem.  The raider surely wouldn't pass on that opportunity.  Meanwhile, we hide in the Nebula, when the raider takes the bait, we jump on it.  Full Overloads, crack its hull open and try to disable it's engines."

James nods, turns back to Tenis, "Opinion?"

"The Orion Nebula is outside of the Raider's current operating sphere, however, we may be able to make the Gotterdammerung a target that's just too tempting to ignore.  We change it's cargo manifest to something a little more, enticing, than food stuffs and repair parts, how about, six class four Phasers?"

"Obstinately to upgrade K-4s weapons array?" James thought on that comment for a few seconds,  "I like it...can you make it look convincing?"

"Yes sir."

Clarke spoke up, "Do we inform the Klingons, sir?"

James stroked his chin a couple of times, "Yes."

[Grim Reaper]

Ahhh, now I get the title...

[Lieutenant_Q]

Yep.  Klandathor (Klank) is going to be a recurring character.  The only section I don't currently have him set to make an appearance of some sort is 11 Years Earlier and One Year Earlier.  But One Year Earlier is just going to be "The Ultimate Computer" from the perspective of the USS Excalibur.  Also expect to see a lot of Captain/Commodore Wesley.

[CaptJosh]

Good pacing. Believable characters. Minor nitpick. You meant "Ostensibly," not "Obstinately."

Keep up the good work.

[Lieutenant_Q]

(This is a much shorter one, but I didn't really want to drag the battle out longer)

"Captain's Log: 22 March 2249:  The Master of the Gotterdammerung has...reluctantly, agreed to our plan.  Lieutenant Tenis has made the appropriate modifications to the Gotterdammerung's Cargo Manifest.  Now all we have to do is sit here and wait, and hope the Orion takes the bait.  Saladin is at Battlestations, weapons are charged and shields are charged, but not up.  We're only going to get one shot at this, let hope it works."

"The Gotterdammerung is entering sensor range, cruising at Warp 2.  She will reach the target coordinates in fifteen minutes.  The sensor probe we placed on her shows the immediate area is clear."  Tenis was hunched over at her station, the blue glow from the scanner was just a slight shade different than her normal skin color.

"Sir, when we clear the Nebula, we're going to have about fifteen seconds of vunerability, more the longer we stay here." Will voiced his concern for what seems like the tenth time in the last hour. "The static charge of the Nebula is going to cling to the ship and disrupt our shield generators."

James responded testily, "If you find a way to compensate, let me know, if not, will you please stop bringing that up?"

"Aye, sir."

"I knew it was a mistake to move completely away from Hull Armor."  James muttered under his breath.

"Sir!" Tenis almost shouted from science, "We have a problem...the Orion has taken the bait, but they're too early.  They'll intercept the Gotterdammerung in five minutes!"

"sh*t! Cindy, get us out of here, best possible speed. Will, time to intercept?"

"Eight Minutes."

"Drop the shields, put that power into engines.  Do we gain anything?"

"Ninety Seconds."

"Can the Gotterdammerung get any extra speed?  I want her exposed to as little fire as possible."

Tenis started to shake her head, but then stopped and said with less concern, "Gotterdammerung is increasing speed to warp 2.3, at that speed she'll be exposed to twenty seconds of fire before we enter range."

"Let's hope her shields hold that long."

****

The freighter dropped out of warp, plasma trailing from its port nacelle, a few seconds later the Orion followed suit, pouring disrupter fire into the stricken freighter.  Four Photon Torpedoes strikes the Orion on her Dorsal and Aft-Port shields.  The Saladin begins to slow and fires her Phasers as she overruns the Orion.  The Four Phaser beams find holes in the Orion's shields, but damage only hull armor.  The Orion ship banks to Starboard and fires its Phasers at the interloping Federation Starship.  The Phasers wash over the Saladin's shields doing no real damage, but the Orion became real dangerous as it brought its Starboard side Photon launcher to bear.  Two torpedoes leapt from the launcher, striking the Saladin on her already weakened Starboard shields.  They held, barely.

"We need to manuever, take the Port Torpedo Launchers offline.  New Course, one-five-nine mark seven-two.  All possible speed.  How long til the Gotterdammerung can warp away?"

"Two Minutes."  Came the answer he really didn't want to hear.

"They're bringing their Port Phasers around, if we don't finish this turn we're going to lose the number 6 deflector!"  Will was almost frantic, his hands hovering over the Phaser Control panel were sweating bullets.

James held his breath as the Orion finished his turn first, three Phaser beams lanced out at his vunerable Fore-Starboard deflector.  One missed, but the other two boared through the shield and struck hull, niether one did anything more than sorch paint. The Orion launched a pair of drones and kept turning to bring the other two photons to bear.  "They're having a field day with us! Defensive Tractors! Watch for a Scatterpack!"

"Got it, Orion shuttlecraft just cleared the bay, probably a scatter.  Locking phasers."  Will moved his hands to change the targeting lock.

"Transporter Room, drop a mine at the following coordinates." James countermanded the phaser order and punched in the coordinates for 100 kilometers between Saladin and the scatterpack, "Lock Phasers on the Orion, or take the two that are in our tractors.  Cindy, do what you can to get us on his rear port, or above him, its the only way we're going to hurt them."

"Incoming Photons!" Will shouted as the Orion loosed a pair of torpedoes, "One missed, foreward shields are down to sixty percent."

Saladin managed to slip in behind the Orion again, where four phasers savaged the Orion's armor, finally piercing it and taking out two of it's defensive phasers.

"I can't keep us here, he's turning."

"Then get above him, Photon status?"

"Firing Photons..."

Two Photon Torpedoes detonated against the Orion's port nacelle, the damage caused the nacelle's glow to dim considerably, but not nearly enough to slow them down.  The Orion snared the Saladin with a tractor beam, then spun around hard.  Disrupters pulverized what was left of the foreward sheilds, Phasers sliced into the hull like a scapel.  The Gotterdammerung powered up her warp engines and warped away.  Two Phasers from the Saladin did nothing but dent the Orion's foreward shields.

"She's away!" Tenis proclaimed at long last. "She'll need three minutes to clear the area."

"If we don't break that tractor lock we aren't going to last three minutes."

"Almost there..."  Cindy braced herself for the jarring that was bound to happen when the Tractor lock broke.

"As soon as we break free, lock port and starboard phasers on their engines, we'll fly over them and try to take them down a few warp factors."

The Ship shook harder, harder than it did when they first snared Saladin with the tractor beam. "We're free!"

"Firing Phasers," Clarke held his breath as he waited for the firing pattern to finish, "Solid hits...I think we did some damage."

"Let's find out, shift all power to engines, course one-nine-seven mark one-eleven, maximum warp."

Clarke almost rejoiced as he spoke, "The Orion is declining pursuit."

"Let's not do that again... Damage report Tenis?"

"Hull breaches on decks two and three, we're down a photon and two phasers, both bow phasers.  Engines operating at 92%." She paused as she looked over her panel once again,  "Casualty reports have not yet come in from sickbay."

"Signal the Lexington, we need another plan."

[Grim Reaper]

Me like. And kudos for actually having them failing in their plot. Shows the Orions isn't as stupid as they planned. Where's the Klingon?

[Lieutenant_Q]

Next Chapter.

As I was writing this chapter it never even had occured to me that success was an option, even had the Orion fallen into the trap.  I just don't think that a F-DD can beat an O-CA without some help, even if the F-DD were to get the drop on them.

[Commander La'ra]

As I was writing this chapter it never even had occured to me that success was an option, even had the Orion fallen into the trap.  I just don't think that a F-DD can beat an O-CA without some help, even if the F-DD were to get the drop on them.

If they could get the drop on them in a way that involved a four overload alpha strike into one shield, it'd probably happen.  Orion ships are kinda glass jawed.

[Scottish Andy]

Good couple of scenes there, Q, though I still don't get the title. Unless the F-DD is the sword and the K-F5 is the targ... even then, I still don't get what you mean.

I like the use of the STII terminology, it gives the story a good feel. The comparison of the Klingon and Fed way of doing thing was nice, if a little stilted, and the comparison of the DD and Orion ship capabilities was well done too.

Good battle scene, and I agree with Grim that you did well by having the Feds misjudge their plan of attack and barely escape with their hide intact. Nice touch in having a torp tube shut down on the DD too, for increased speed & manoeuvreability.

Looking forward to more.

[Lieutenant_Q]

The Targ is in reference to the Klingon (he wont be in an F5 forever), the Sword is in reference to...well... Its still 17 years before the main story begins.

Edit: but if you really want a hint, read the preview for this thread in the ST:XI post. 

[Lieutenant_Q]

"First Officer's Log: 35th day of As'shara, 672: Captain Atkinson has informed me of Captain Wesley's response.  'We're on our own.'  The Lexington is engaged in a delicate matter that requires her full attention, the closest Starship available is the Enterprise, but it will take her two months to arrive to help.  The Captain has asked me to determine a way to catch this marauder when it is most vunerable.  While he follows up on his cooperation proposal with Commander Klandathor.  I don't know which one of us has the more difficult task."  Tenis wandered between computer terminals in the science lab, she had dismissed her staff twenty minutes ago, so the room was completely empty.  No one to complain when she reduced the ambient temperature to ten degrees.  She always thought the standard issue Starfleet Uniforms were too heavy, designed for Human and Vulcans, both species were used to far warmer temperatures than Andorians.  When she first came on board last year she had sought and received permission from the captain to wear a lighter uniform when on duty, thinner and slightly more revealing than the turtleneck sweaters worn by the other officers, but far more comfortable for her in the hot humid air on board the starship.  She always made sure her uniform was not considered obscene by the other members of the crew, although more than a few male heads had been turned when she walked by them the first time.  "Looks like the Orion Ship's rear shields are its weakest point, additionally, the ship was not designed to carry Photon Torpedoes, it appears that the ship has to drop its aft sheilds to vent the Photon exhaust."

***

"...It is only speculation, but it appears that the Orion raider has to manually lower its aft shields to fire its Photon Torpedoes.  Otherwise the exhaust from the Photon launcher would damage the ships rear sheilds.  As you know our shields and exhaust system were designed that the exhaust can pass through sections of the shields without compromising shield integrity."  Tenis finished her report and waited for the Captain to respond.

"Good work, but the Orion can get it's shields back up before one ship can manuever to get to that vunerable quadrant." James paused before continuing,  "Which leads to what I've been working on.  Captain Wesley gave me broad authority to deal with the Maruader. I want to keep this between the two of us at this moment, because it's going to cause quite a stir amongst the crew.  I've talked to the Klingons, and granted the Dark Fire permission to enter Federation Space for the duration of this mission.  I'm going out on a limb here, but working with the Klingons seems to be the only way to stop this Marauder."

"Agreed, what is this mission?"

"We cripple the Marauder, and follow it back to its base of operations, and then destroy them both."

"And if it's base of operations is in Klingon Space?"

"The Klingons have, reluctantly, granted us permission to enter and destroy it.  They're too busy with the Hydrans to divert a Cruiser to tracking down this Bandit."

"But if the Klingons discover that we're aiding the Hydran resistance while we are in their space..."

"They won't, we've taken the precaution of working through the Kzinti with the Hydran aid."

"The Klingons could rescind that permission and attack us once we have finished the job."

"They could, but I've hedged against that."

"How?"

"It's best if you don't know, for the moment."

***

"Approaching the Klingon Border, Captain, shall I reduce speed?"  Cindy spoke her question like it was a retorical question and had already moved her hands to reduce speed.

"Negative, take us in."

More than one gasp escaped the lips of the bridge crew, only Tenis kept the look of shock off her face, replaced instead by the look of sheer amusement.  Cindy though, was not one to question orders, "Aye, sir."

Clarke however, was, "Sir, entering Klingon territory could be construed as a declaration of war..."

"I'm aware of that Ensign."

"Then why..."

"Sensor contact, bearing one-four-nine.  Klingon F5 frigate, it is the Dark Fire sir."  Tenis interrupted.

"Shall I go to Battlestations sir?"  Clarke whipped around in his seat, but not before sending an accusing glare back at the captain.

"Negative.  Remain at condition green."

"They are charging their weapons, sir.  Shall I raise shields?"

"Stand by."

"Incoming communication sir."  The Comm officer was a welcome break from Clarke's decidedly hostile tone.

"On screen."

"Let's get this over with Captain."  Klandathor didn't look any more pleased about this arrangement than Clarke did.

"Agreed Commander, lead the way."

"They've closed the channel."

"Follow them Cindy.  Alert Status, Condition Red."

"Course two-three-two, mark twelve, Warp six sir."  Cindy's hands flew across the console and the ship accelerated after the Klingon.

"Speed has priority Mr. Clarke."

"Aye, sir."

***

"Detecting two ships dead ahead, a Klingon Freighter, and the Marauder.  The Marauder is attacking the Freighter, and the Freighter is not returning fire."  Tenis voiced her confusion over the scene ahead.

"That's because the Klingon Freighter is unmanned." James answered,  "Mr. Clarke, target the Marauder, Ms. Kaponen, keep us at least 50 thousand kilometers from the Freighter at all times."

"Target locked, firing torpedoes."

"Remember, we want to disable it only.  It has to lead us back to its base of operations, or we're going to be here for months trying to find it."

"The Dark Fire is manuevering to herd the Marauder closer to the freighter, rather than away from it.  I thought we were here to protect the freighter?"  Clarke's question was not of confusion, but of disgust, disgust that the Klingons seemingly didn't care about the cargo of their freighter, only that they get the Marauder.

"We're not. We're here to make sure the Marauder is close enough to the Freighter that when it explodes it forces the Marauder to retreat towards its base."

Clarke and Kaponen both shouted at once, "Explodes?!"

"The Klingons packed this freighter full of antimatter explosives." James hurriedly explained, "The idea was that when the Marauder tried to transport anything to or from the Freighter it was going to explode and take the Marauder with it.  However, the Klingons agreed with us that the Base needs to be tracked down and destroyed as well, so they've modified the plan to force the Marauder to lead us straight to it.  And who knows, maybe if this mission turns out for the best, it will thaw our relations a bit."

"The Marauder has turned its back to us, and is targeting the Klingon.  Range to Marauder is now 200,000 Kilometers."

"Wait for it, Will..."

"150,000 kilometers."

"Wait for it..."

"100,000 kilometers, they are firing torpedoes at the Klingon."

"Fire all Phasers!"

"Six direct hits...it's like their shields weren't even there!"

"They had to drop them to vent the Photon exhaust. Target Analysis Tenis?"

"Their defensive Phasers are out, and one of their disrupters are gone, reading a slight power drop, looks like we hit their Impulse reactor.  The Klingon ship has released a shuttle craft, it appears to be a scatterpack."

"Bracket the Orion, I want us opposite of the Klingon." James toggled his intercom switch, "Transporter Room, place mines above and below the Orion."

"The only way they can go is the Freighter..."

"Exactly."

"Detecting a tight beam transmission from the Dark Fire to the Freighter."

"Divert all available power to the foreward shields."

The Freighter exploded with the fury of a newborn star, the Orion's shields failed as the explosion ripped and bent the ships foreward superstructure.  The Drones from the scatter pack reached the Orion ship, four of them were snared by defensive tractor beams, while the other two ate holes in the Orion's Warp Nacelles.  The tractor holding one drone went out and that drone slammed into the rear hull of the Orion ship.  The Orion continued on its course, released its tractor beams and jumped to warp.

"Pursuit course, Warp six.  Execute."

"The Klingon is right beside us sir.  The Orion is altering course."

"Stay with them."

***

"Now entering Federation space sir." Everyone seemed to let go a sigh of relief as Cindy announced that they had left Klingon Space.

"The Marauder appears to be heading to an asteroid field directly ahead, it almost seems too easy..."

"Indeed...anything else on sensors Tenis?"

"Not yet."

"Stay alert."

"The Marauder has dropped out of warp, they are entering the field."

"Slow to Impulse..."  James hesitated for a second, "Tenis...launch a class two probe, I want to see just whats in that field..."

"Probe away."

The guided class two probe launched from Saladin's port side torpedo launcher and sailed past the crippled Marauder.  Tenis skillfully piloted the probe from her science console, avoiding the asteroids and dust clouds that would destroy or damage the probe.  It didn't take long though, for Tenis to look away from the station and back to James.  "The Probe was destroyed sir. But before it was, I detected three smaller Orion ships."

"An ambush.  Did you find any sign of a Base?"

"There is a large enough pocket inside the Asteroid field that could accommidate a Base, but no direct signs of a base."

"I see."  James paused while considering his options, "Take us in.  It's time the Ambushees become the Ambushers."

"Two of the Orion ships have appeared from their ambush positions."

"Target the closest one, Will."

"Target locked sir, Torpedoes ready."  Will couldn't help but grin as his targeting scanners indicated a sure lock.  The Orions weren't even trying to jam his targeting scanners. "Range now 150,000 Kilometers."

"Fire Phasers at 75,000 Kilometers, hold on the Torpedoes until 30,000.  I don't want any of them to miss."

"Lead Orion ship designated a Pirate Raider. As is the trailing vessel, no phasers, but both are armed with a triplet of Disrupters, Class ones." Tenis called out her analysis.  "The Third ship has yet to reveal itself, but is armed with phasers."

"Keep an eye on our aft quarter."

"Firing Phasers." The ship shook.  "Both Orion ships have returned fire, foreward shields are down to sixty percent."

"Mr. Clarke's Phaser fire has knocked out the lead ship's foreward shields.  The third ship has revealed itself, aft quarter, designated a Light Raider. Drone Rack, two Disrupters, and three Phasers."

"Maintain course."

"Firing Torpedoes." Two torpedoes leapt from the Saladin's Launchers, both struck and the Raider turned into a rapidly expanding ball of burning oxygen and hyrdogen. "Target destroyed." Will's grin widened into a full smile, "The other Pirate Raider is turning to flee."

"Don't let them."

"Firing Torpedoes."

"Two direct hits, the Pirate raider has been disabled." Tenis called out as the ship reduced its speed to handle the recharging of the torpedo tubes. "The Light Raider is accelerating past us, apparently heading towards the cruiser."

"I wonder what they could be running from?" James laughed sarcastically, "Lets get in and help our Klingon 'Friend' finish them off."

***

The Breifing Room was one of the few differences between the Constitution and the Saladin class starships.  It was small, enough room for five, as long as you didn't mind being elbow to elbow with everyone else.  For that reason James always kept the breifings between three or four members of the crew, this time it was just Tenis and Clarke in the room with him.  Tenis started the breifing, "We were not able to recover much, the Pirate Raider we disabled self-destructed before we could board it."  The Pirate Raider was the only Orion ship to survive the engagement, the rest had been destroyed by either the Dark Fire or the Saladin.  The Orion base hadn't proved to be much of a problem either, but didn't allow anyone to board it either.  "We can hope that destroying that base and the four ships will set the raiders back in this region of space for a while, but we have nothing to base that hope on."

Clarke nodded in agreement before adding, "The Klingons left our space twenty minutes ago, Starfleet's not going to like that we let the Klingons in, nor that we entered Klingon space.  But I suppose the ends justify the means right sir?"

Atkinson shook his head, "Not always Ensign, but I did cover all my bases before we did anything.  Everything we did, I cleared with Captain Wesley.  I had already spoken with the Klingon regional defense commander, a charming man by the name of Kor.  He didn't like the idea that we we're entering his space, but he didn't like the Marauder running around either, it was making him look bad.  I offered to shed our blood to deal with the problem, and he couldn't come up with any reason to say no to that.

"Earlier, you said you 'hedged' against the Klingons rescinding our truce after we destroyed the base, can you tell me how now?"

"Ahh...I think its still better you not know.  Dismissed."

[Grim Reaper]

you wanna share that little bit of info with us right? RIGHT?

[Lieutenant_Q]

What little bit of info, I don't know what your talking about. 

[spoiler]The chapter after next.[/spoiler]

[Grim Reaper]

neat javascript!

[Lieutenant_Q]

Gals, Guys.  I'm going to take this week off from posting.  I'm trying to stay four to five chapters ahead on my computer and just wasn't able to do so last week.  Regardless of whether or not I get another chapter written this week, I will put "11 years Earlier part 1" up next week.

[Lieutenant_Q]

11 Years Earlier

"Captain's Log: 21 September 2255. Orion Activity in the Klingon border region has once again escalated tensions between the Federation and the Klingon Empire.  We have orders to form up with the Starship Lexington and serve as her wing during this operation.  The Operation is three fold, Enterprise leads a small squadron against an Orion base in the Alpha Hydra Sector, Excalibur leads a small squadron against the Orion base in the Mutara Sector, while Lexington, Revere, Roger Young, and Saladin, strike at an Orion occupied planet in the Ceti Alpha system."  James looked up from the computer on the desk in his office, a seldom used space located on Deck 2.  The office was supposed to serve the same function as the Captain's Ready Room did on the Texas Class and earlier Earth and Federation Starships.  It was removed from the Saladin, Hermes and Constitution class designs because Starfleet had launched a study which found that a Commanding Officer spent too much time on the bridge on ships equipped with a Ready Room.  Fatigue and burn out were common problems found by the counselors at all Federation Starbases and Outposts.  Around the fleet, only flag officers used the office more than two or three times a solar year.  Starfleet, however, was steadfast in not returning to the Ready Room design for at least another generation.  Glancing out the window he caught sight of the Roger Young, the Commando ship assigned for this operation.  A smaller ship, cramped, James sometimes wondered how it was supposed to carry the battalion of marines.  It's unarmed, or rather it might as well be, that's how they fit those men and women on it.

"Bridge to Captain." The call from the second shift communications officer pulled him away from the window.  He reached over and activated the comm panel.  She must have noticed the circuit go live because she didn't wait for the acknowledgement before she continued.  "Captain Wesley requests that you and Commander Tenis join him aboard the Lexington."

"Thank you Ensign," James mentally made a note of her impatience, but also put it down to her inexperience. "I'll inform the Commander myself. Signal Captain Wesley that we'll be over in ten minutes."  James barely waited for her response before closing the circuit and re-opening it. "Atkinson to Tenis."  A few seconds were sure to pass before she could answer the call.  Captain Wesley was no doubt assembling the command staffs of the four ships for a final meeting before entering the Ceti Alpha system.

"Tenis here, Captain."

"We've been asked over to the Lexington Tenis.  I'm sorry but you're going to have to put on a normal uniform for a bit."

"Understood sir."  Her dissapointment echoed through the comm system.

"I'll meet you in Transporter Room Two in five minutes."

James shut down everything, and noted that he probably wouldn't be back in here for another six or eight months. Thankfully, they found a way to keep dust from accumulating during the long absences.  He walked out the door and started to turn for the turboshaft located only a few meters towards the stern.  Instead he turned and headed towards the bow of the ship and climbed onto the service ladder.  He climbed his way down two decks before getting off on deck four.  From there it was only a dozen meters to the Transporter Room.  Stopping outside of the Transporter Room breifly, he adjusted his collar.  While he did, he felt a pang of sympathy for Tenis.  The standard Starfleet Uniform was uncomfortable even for him, and Tenis' physiology was used to ten degrees Celsius, rather than the twenty for humans and almost thirty for Vulcans.  Satisfied that his appearance was in order he stepped into the Transporter Room.  Lieutenant Clarke and Cheif Tompson were both waiting by the Transporter.  "What are you two doing here?"

Tompson spoke up first, "It's my Transporter, I'll get you over to the Lexington."

Clarke shrugged, "I'm not here for any particular reason."

James grinned, "Liar.  Get out of here before you make her angry again.  Last time it took her two days to calm down. And how long did it take for that bruise to fade?"

Clarke hung his head, "Fine, I wouldn't want to be making a scene again."  He slowly walked towards the door, too slowly.

"Will..." James warned.

"I'm going! I'm going!"

James called out before he opened the door. "Try to be more... tactful... next time."  Clarke nodded with his back turned and walked out into the corridor.  James couldn't help but grin broadly as he turned back to Cheif Tompson.  "My goodness, I have a hard enough figuring out relationships with my own species and Will's trying an inter-species relationship."

Tompson couldn't help but chuckle, "Do you think she's even possibly interested in him?  I was in the rec room when she decked him.  I know I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of her right hook...or her left hook for that matter."

"Its easy to avoid her punches...she telegraphs them.  I think Will's problem was he wasn't looking in the right place, you're supposed to be watching her antenae not her chest..."  Both men had a good chuckle, but made sure to keep it short.  Tenis was due any minute.

Tompson's face became mischevious, "You've been spending quite a bit more time with her yourself, James."

James shrugged, "When Cindy was transferred, Tenis lost her exercise partner.  She had tried two others, both quickly volunteered, I'm sure with the same idea that Will had.  They didn't last a week, both had the tell tale look of bruised egos.  I volunteered afterwards, only to quickly find out that it wasn't an exercise partner she really wanted, it was a sparring partner."

Tompson winced, "Ouch..."

James patted his stomach, "Not really, I'm in better shape now than I was even ten years ago."

A smile crept onto Tompson's lips, "Does she pull her punches?"

James rubbed his chest, "Nope, most of the time she handily hands me my head.  But I can get her occasionally."

"You mean you got me one time."  Tenis called from the open door.  "I was...what is that human expression, under the feather?"

Tompson laughed out loud, James shook his head a bit before responding, "Weather.  The phrase is under the weather." James turned to Tompson, "As soon as you regain control of yourself you can transport us to the Lexington." James and Tenis stepped up onto the platform.

"Aye sir.  Energizing."  Tompson said between snickers.

*****

Upon arriving at the Lexington's Transporter Room, they were directed to the Lexington's breifing room.  Tenis' constant attempts to adjust her sweater were in vain, she finally sighed and concentrated on keeping her antenae upright.  "Are we still sparring tonight?"  James had asked once they entered the corridor.

Tenis' antenae stood straight up in amusement and a wicked grin came across her face, "You sure your ego can handle it?"

James laughed, "My ego doesn't have a problem with getting it's ass kicked by you."

"Really?  Then why did we spend the better part of Friday's session finding a more private spot?"  The grin grew wider, which until then seemed like an impossibility.

James' voice dropped to a whisper, "I know you don't need the answer to that one."

Tenis did the same with her voice, "I know, you got a little excited when I cleaned your clock Wednesday, didn't you?"

James shot her an accusing look, "That was the first time I ever needed a cold shower after one of our sparring matches.  I still can't belive you did that."

Tenis whispered back, "You want to know a little secret, you almost had me beat that night.  I don't like to lose, so I did it.  We never did specify any other rule besides trying not to break each other's limbs."

The two of them entered the breifing room, discovering that they were the last officer tandem to arrive, they took the seats at the table that were left for them, Captain Wesley began the breifing.  "Nice of you to join us.  As you all know we are entering the Ceti Alpha system in fourteen hours.  The Orions have established a base, purpose unknown, on the surface of Ceti Alpha Five.  Our sensor probes have determined that five ships are on station.  One battle raider, two light raiders and two pirate raiders.  The plan of attack will be a basic wedge formation.  Lexington will be on the lead, with Saladin and Revere on the flanks.  Nestled between the Saladin and the Revere will be the Roger Young." Captain Wesley turn to James, "Captain Atkinson, once we have broken through the Orion perimeter, your task will be to make sure the Young makes it to orbit.  Once there, you will be responsible for supporting the ground forces landing." He turned to Captain Grall, a Tellarite who looked just as uncomfortable as Tenis in his uniform only he wasn't trying to hide it. "Captain Grall, you and I will be responsible for mopping up what ever is left of the Orion force and standing guard for any potential reinforcements."

"Are we expecting these brigands to call for any?" Grall nearly growled the question.

"It depends on what they are using this planet for.  If its only a staging base, then no.  But if they are using it for a resupply or refitting station, then you can count on it."  Wesley called up a star chart of this region.  "Enterprise, under the command of Captain Pike, has already cleared out their target, it was a lightly defended fuel depot that was nearly empty.  Excalibur, under the command of Captain Roberts, has already reported back that the base they were after was gone.  The Orions had apparently dismantled it and moved it.  They are performing a thorough search of the surrounding sectors."  Wesley turned to Major Tai, "That means what you have to do is very important.  After clearing out the base of personell, you need to crack their database and obtain any information about their activities in this region.  And more importantly, you need to find out how they knew we were coming."

Major Tai bowed his head slightly, "Consider it done, sir."

"Any questions?" Wesley waited to see if any were voiced, then nodded, "then get to your ships, dismissed.  Captain Atkinson, will you and your first officer stay for a moment."  The other five officers in the room filed out, once the door closes behind them Wesley turned back to James and Tenis.  "I'm glad you came over late, it gave me an excuse to hold you here with out Grall being insulted.  I need you to be my second ship, James.  I know you can handle it, I'm not sure about Grall, which is why I'll be keeping him with me."

"I don't think we're going to be encountering any serious difficulties to have to worry about a chain of command, sir."

"Probably not."  Wesley reached over and turned off the recorder, "That was just a formality, off the record, I need you to get in touch with your contact.  I don't think Major Tai will find anything in the Orion's computer bank, but the she might just know something. "

"She will want something in return for any information she'll give us, Bob."

"I know, we'll do the same thing we did six years ago, food and supplies."

"She said the next time it was going to cost a little more than that."

"You know how I feel about giving her weapons."

"I know, but she won't accept just food and medical supplies this time."

"All right, you get in contact with her, find out what she wants, and we'll haggle from there."  Wesley sighed before turning to Tenis, "Commander, I'm going to need you to try and crack the Orion Computer core remotely.  Do whatever you can to get in, or at least keep the Orions from erasing what they have on it.  It's a long shot, but we're going to need a lot of help on this one."

"Aye sir."

"Dismissed."

*****

Cheif Tompson was still at the Transporter console when Atkinson and Tenis beamed back aboard.  While he had stopped laughing, he was still grinning like an idiot.  James nodded to Tenis, and she almost ran out of the room.  Tompson stepped out from behind the console as James stepped down from the pad.  "Something I didn't get a chance to ask you before you left.  If she tele-graphs her punches, how does she beat you every time?"

"It's not her fists that get me...its the rest of her.  The first time she gave me a roundhouse kick she clipped my temple.  I had no idea she was that nimble.  Her range of motion is astounding, and she can change the angle of her attack without adjusting her posture.  I can't block because she'll just hit some place I'm not protecting."  James walked out into the corridor, Tompson followed.  "The best I can do when she comes out kicking is dodge, but you can't win a sparring match by dodging. Even if I tried to dodge the whole time, she can get some quick strikes in that just wears me out.  The only times I was able to get an advantage was when I countered a fist flurry, but she just so damn fast that she recovers and catches me while I'm over-extended.  I'm learning, but every time I seem to learn something new, she finds a new way to turn it around on me."

"Why do you keep doing it if she keeps whupping yer butt?"

"Because I am getting better, and I am in better shape than I was when I was twenty.  So for one hour, three times a week, the XO gets to use me as a punching bag.  But if I run into any kind of hand to hand fight on a future landing mission, I'll be able to take care of myself no problem."

[Grim Reaper]

I like this. Though it borders a bit too being too loose in discipline, i like the family feel they convess.

[Lieutenant_Q]

I have to ask Grim: Which one?  There's two discipline breakdowns mentioned in this chapter, you could make a case for a third.  I just want to know which one you're refering to, because one of them is going to get ALOT worse.

[Grim Reaper]

the TC laughing about his captain was bordering imho and the horny Lt. was nearly over the border.

[Lieutenant_Q]

The Cheif's allowed, he's known the captain for over nine years, could be considered his best friend.  As for the Lt...well, he's young, and he always seems to go after the ones that can clean his clock.