The Grand Opening: Fly the Colors


 * Gerhardt RahnerThe Grand Opening: Fly the ColorsMain Engineering

It wasn’t often that Gerhardt could walk through the doors into his domain without at least one person stopping him to ask his approval for this report or that action. Perhaps it was the bounce in his step, or the air of purpose around him, that kept everyone at arm’s length. Or perhaps it was the devilishly maniacal grin plastered across his face.

Without delay, he marched to the MSD, punched in the commands to pull up the launch-readiness checklist, and entered a few more commands. The checklist had been edited to include the additional requirements of the station’s crew, though they had been input in a nauseating off-mauve color as a show of protest: it wasn’t much, but it was an engineering thing. All of the normally-colored items which the Atlas crew had added to the list were completed; most of the off-mauve ones remained. At the top of the list, in the order deemed most important by Lt. Commander Helmsley, the very first item faded out and struck-through as Gerhardt proudly pounded out the commands: Re-install and integrate the Engineering Holographic Unit.

Gerhardt stood back, crossed his arms, and looked around, clearly pleased with himself. Ayla Cressida stared up at the MSD screen. “Alright, sir, I’ll ask,” she said slowly. “What the hell?”

“What?” Gerhardt shrugged innocently. “I have complied with the standards laid down by our superior officers and that one jackass, and I have taken us one step closer to launch-readiness. And we have Cadet Wolfe to thank for it. Even in a coma, that young lady is outshining us.”

Ayla could only sigh. She’d learned by now to just accept certain things about her boss, especially those things that probably wouldn’t kill everyone. “Well, that should bring us close enough to launch-readiness to get us out of here. Assuming you aren’t just bullshitting everyone with this EHU fix, we can finish the rest in flight. Shall I inform the bridge?”

“Allow me,” Gerhardt said, tapping his commbadge. “Rahner to the bridge. Engineering is ready to roll.”
 * 04-10-2012, 23:29Christopher VaughnReady Room

They had been at warp for about 4 hours, the crew going about the normal tasks of a large Federation cruiser traveling at high warp. Of course, everyone knew what they were scheduled to do, and so it wasn’t the most ideal ambush. Everyone was watching for it. It had been a long discussion between Tom and Lt. Solari, the chief of science, to not use the advantage of knowing the ambush is coming to their advantage. Though Tom wanted to beat Robinson at his own game, he still understood the value of testing and evaluating the crew. The palpable level of tension seemed to permeate every corridor, and though there were movies and other leisure activities scheduled, there was no way to lower the feelings of anxiety amongst the crew.

Tom and Chris had been working separately on different assignments since the ship had gotten underway, but now, Tom really wanted to get with his XO. The strategy for the war game was fairly set already but there were a few particulars that needed to be discussed. So, now he sat waiting in the Ready Room for another meeting. It was days like this that made being a Starfleet Captain seem almost not worth the trouble.

“The departments seem to be running smoothly. Wish we were able to take on a full crew before the games but so be it.” Chris swirled his coffee cup in hand before taking a sip. Chris inhaled sharply and let out a long sigh. “So, we are armed with more information than Robinson is aware of or would like. What’s the plan captain?”

"The plan is to win, Chris." Tom picked up the padd from his desk with the projections he had been running. "We are evenly gunned, but outnumbered. The only real disadvantage we have to overcome is the fact there are three targets for us, and only one for our friends. Hopefully, the things I've gone over with P'Rim will help in that respect. Have you thought of anything that will help us weapons wise?"

“With the crew still being understaffed we are going to have to rely on automation for the fire control systems more than I would like.” Chris tapped his PADD to display a holographic image of the Atlas with its various firing arcs. "The Sabre’s can’t take the sort of beating we can so my advice would be to focus on one ship at a time to maximize the firepower and take it out quickly. They wont last long to a concerted barrage and we have the shields and hull mass to win a slug fast as long as we don’t dally.”

Sipping his coffee he changed the holograph to display the attack pattern his ’recon’ had provided. “We know the attack patterns they will use and we know the captains we are up against. “Your Vulcan friend is going to be the biggest threat so I would focus on his ship first. Captain Tredana is going to be suffering a massive hangover so we hit Captain Bishop and mop up Tredana last.”

"This ship is going to be rotating a lot, giving the Sabres different looks while trying to maneuver us into broadsides for our phasers. I agree that Sonnek will be the most dangerous, but he is rigid. He makes quick decisions, but is not terribly creative." Tom rose from the desk and went to the replicator for another cup of coffee. "The computer will be simulating damage to put stress on engineering and damage control. Also, certain people will be tagged by their communicators to be casualties. Robinson came up with this to test all our systems and personnel. I hope he ends up a casualty."

“Well, we have no choice.” Chris got serious and straightened himself in his chair. “We’ll have to kill the old bastard. And stuff his body in the bilge. We will report it as an unfortunate training accident.”

Tom started to laugh for a minute, and then looked up at his friend when he realized Chris wasn’t laughing. “There is no way we can get away with that. I think if we win this, he will have nothing to say. Unless you have an idea that doesn’t involve disposing of his body...”

“Well shit.” Chris exhaled sharply he watched the light dance across the surface of his dark coffee. "Why not put a few pilots in our shuttles and have engineering modify the warp field to make it look like each of them is a Vesta class as well. it might only fool their sensors for a minute or two but that would be enough time to nail one or two of those Sabers. They would never see it coming.” Chris smiled. “We can keep the pilots in the shuttles and the shuttles on a hot standby. If Gene wants to stack the deck then we will just learn how to deal from the bottom.”

"I like it. Give P'Rim the notes and have him make it happen." Tom sat back in his chair and propped his feet on the desk. "Now, what are you going to do about this mess in Engineering?"

Chris rubbed his temples. “That Charlie Foxtrot with Adam’s and Miller and the hired mercenary engineers?” Tom nodded, although the term mess in engineering couldn't hardly be anything else. “I’m going to wait until this wargame is over, then I’m going call the three of them to my office and shove a warp manifold up each of their asses.”

"Works for me. I guess I'll see the paperwork afterwards." Tom checked his PADD and was surprised they had finished the list. "I guess that's it. Unless, you have anything else."

“I’ll make the arrangements for the shuttles.” Chris stood and left.

A JP with el Captain 
 * 04-11-2012, 21:11Gronthor na'YotGronthor made his way through the corridors of the ship, his eyes studying the walls around him. When he reached a split in the corridor the Daugoff Rho stopped, glancing down each new path in turn. His assignment had been abrupt, to say the least, and he had not had time to study the schematics of the ship and now he was lost. He eyed a computer panel on the wall, knowing it would be a simple matter to call up directions, but in the end shook his head and chose a direction at random, rounding the corner quickly to see where it would lead him.

Selina bounced happily down the corridor, her natural ebullience enhanced by the coffee. She felt as if the time with Jacey was, well she could tell that she would not be her first choice of companion, ''that’s alright, she was nice enough to offer. Who knows what the future will brriinn...'' “YOWZA!” She yelped as she almost collided into the Daughoff Rho and the PADD almost flew out of her hand. “I had NO idea you guys were on starships yet. Welcome!”

The Daugoff Rho brought himself up short to avoid the collision. He looked down at Selina, surprised to be welcomed so enthusiastically, especially after nearly running into her. “Thank you.” He said with a small nod of his head. “And please accept my apologies. I shall have to be more careful in the future. I am Gronthor na’Yot. Cadet.” He hesitated before he remembered to extend his hand for the woman to shake.

Reaching out she felt her hand enveloped by his huge one and it made her feel all warm and fuzzy at the memory of meeting the Svet Moz. “Do you know Shurik? I met him a while ago and liked him very much.” She began eagerly as she continued to shake his hand. “Oh! My name is Selina...Selina Vimes.”

Gronthor let his lips twist into a smile, glad at the the fortune of meeting a human that knew so much of his people. “Yes, indeed. I have the honor--” The Daugoff Rho stopped suddenly as her name sunk home, his red eyes going wide. “You are the Selina Vimes? Truly?” Without waiting for her answer Gronthor bowed low to her, his hand touching first his chest and then his forehead. “It is a very great honor to meet you, Selina Vimes.”

“Uhhhh...” Selina’s mouth gaped open and then a ringing laugh filled the corridor. “are you sure you know who I am?” She had met the Svet Moz, but not done much beyond drag poor Shurik around willy nilly.

The Daugoff Rho straightened and nodded his head, his face in a grin. “Of course. You were a part of Admiral Pev’s team that freed the Svet Moz and the rest of our shamans. You are a part of our histories. Your names are taught to our children.” Gronthor paused for a moment before continuing. “The Svet Moz was my teacher after the war, to prepare me for this assignment. He spoke of you as well.”

“Wow.” Selina was overwhelmed and it made her miss the Ark and Pev even more. “I mean wow..you join Starfleet hoping to make a difference, and well...wow.” She swung and clapped him on his massive shoulder. “through nothing I really did, just being at the right place in the right time, I got to.” Then she grabbed his hand again. “But you, you are really doing something. Are you the first?”

Gronthor tilted his head curiously as she clapped him on the shoulder. It was an odd gesture but he didn’t want to seem rude and so reached out gently and touched her own shoulder, not wanting to hurt her with an actual clap. “Do not be so modest. The Svet Moz tells that it was you that led to the first talks between our people. That is something.” His smile faded as he answered her question. “The first and only, for now.”

“Whoa! Heavy load!” She laughed. “And you have already witnessed how much I can talk, that is pretty much all I did with your people. Pev did the rest. Have you met anyone on board yet? Are they excited?

“A heavy load, indeed.” He agreed with a small smile. “I have not been on board for long but I have met a few of the crew and I do not believe that they are at all excited. The Captain in particular seems opposed to my being here.”

“Huh. Totally weird.” I mean she could understand if you hadn’t encountered one before how the first look could be startling, but really how many species could you say that about? Much better to be fascinated, Selina thought to herself. “I am sure that will be forgotten when he gets to know you.” She assured him. “I mean, the war is over. We killed Xul and you are still coming here.”

“I hope you are right. Helping those in the Federation that fear or hate us to change their mind is what I am here for, after all.” In truth he wasn’t worried, from the horror that had been inflicted in the war, on both sides, the relationship between the two races could only get better. “A great deal of the Daugoff Rho has changed since our people met.”

Selina sighed happily. “If everyone..and I mean everyone,” she gestured to indicate the ship...the Federation. “was more open to change and the fact that others can, uhhh...well, it would be awesome.” She randomly bounced, as if to launch the serious thought. “So what are you going to do here?’

“Science Department,” Gronthor said with a tug at the fabric of his blue Starfleet uniform. “In my spare time I will be trying to learn as much as I can about the Federation and my new shipmates. With all of the different races and cultures on board I should have plenty to keep me occupied.”

“Sounds like a good goal,” Selina’s head tipped back to look all he way up, was it the height distance that had made her not bother to look at the blue or natural spasticness? “I have only met two people myself. I bet the war games will help, we will be thrown into stuff.”

The fact that Starfleet called their battle exercises games did sit well with Gronthor, let alone that they were apparently going to be hurling the ship against objects, but he nodded his head calmly. “Perhaps when these…drills…are complete we can organize a gathering. To meet more of the crew without being ‘thrown into’ anything.” Strange battle drills indeed.

“Yes!” Selina shouted enthusiastically. “That is a great idea! We can invite everyone!” It was unlikely everyone would come, but it would show both of their willingness to play.

Gronthor’s smile brightened and he nodded. “Excellent. I shall look forward to it.”

=/\=Selina Vimes to the shuttle bay=/\= The chirrup of her commbadge made her jump, then jump again as the joy of having something to do suffused her entire body. “Yeah, Shuttlebay!” She knew there was no way she was going to get a crack at main helm during the exercise, but this sounded promising. Wanting to share her joy she raised her hand and jumped to high five the incredibly tall Gronthor...

Gronthor watched her closely as she leapt into the air, wondering what she was up to. The wondering stopped abruptly as her hand collided with his forehead, making him draw back, shocked and uttering a sound in his throat that was half growl half grunt of surprise. He took a step back from her, one eyebrow raised in her direction as he rubbed his forehead gingerly.

“OhmygodohmygodImsorryImsorryImsorry....” Selina burbled as the humiliation began to shift into hysterical laughter. “What a dumb thing for me to DO!” Her hands covered her face as the laughter made tears come to her eyes. “High five.” She gasped out. “I wanted to high five you...” She reached out to take his hand...gingerly...then put it up against hers, then did it again to make a clap sound.

The Daugoff Rho watched her cautiously as she demonstrated a high five with his hand. When she showed him the second time he thought he understood and his face broke out into a grin. “I see. I will be ready next time. I should not keep you from your duties in the shuttlebay.” He paused for a moment before raising his hand for her to slap with a small chuckle.

With an answering grin that stretched from ear to ear, Selina smacked his large hand with her comparatively small one. “YES!” One more, a little more enthusiastic and she danced down the corridor yelling over her shoulder. “Don’t forget, party after!”

Gronthor watched Selina go down the hall and disappear around a corner before he remembered that he had been trying to make his way to the Science department. He glanced back down the corridor and began walking. Regardless if corridor was the right way it had decidedly been the correct choice. Gronthor smiled to himself as he rounded a corner and continued on his journey.

A JP with the Spectacular Selina Vimes ​ Tom sat on his chair, which was high up on the Bridge, and watched as the crew continued through the typical procedures of what it mean to run a starship at warp. Since they had left, things had gone relatively smoothly. Capt. Robinson had stayed out of the way, and now he was busying himself at one of the consoles at the rear trying to keep up with his communications from Earth. Tom was monitoring his actions from the controls on the arm of his chair; passively keeping tabs on what systems and actions were being accessed. Simply, Tom didn't trust him. ​ Eduardo Solari was in control of the Science stations on the left side of the Bridge, and his voiced broke through the vocal silence. "Captain, we have a long range contact bearing 225 mark 135. It is moving on an intercept course." ​ Johanna Mari picked up where her colleague from Sciences left off. "It is a small vessel moving at high warp. It's power signature is that of a Bolian private transport ship." ​ "Narrow the resonance field on the long range sensors and boost the gain," Solaris said to his assistant at the other console. Once the information was clear, he spoke up to the rest of the people on the Bridge. "Sir, it's a ruse. Our more powerful sensors show that it is one of the Sabre-class ships that has modified it's warp signature. We have 3 minutes to weapons range." ​ Tom swiveled his chair toward the Solari, but meant for everyone to follow his orders. "Where are the other ships? There are three." ​ ​String of "Unknowns" came back from the different departments. They were laying a trap, and now it was his turn to figure out how the Atlas was going to respond. "Maintain course and speed. Go to Red Alert, but keep the weapons cold. I don't want them spooked. Make sure the shuttles and their pilots are ready. We will deploy in 60 seconds.
 * 04-12-2012, 15:30Tom O'FlaghertyBridge
 * 04-14-2012, 13:40Selina Vimes::USS Atlas::
 * Shuttlebay::

Selina darted over to her assigned shuttle and draped herself across the nose, flinging her arms out in a giant hug. “Hiya Hermes,” She whispered “Selina Vimes, we are gonna go for a ride.” Pushing herself up on her hands, she petted it happily. “And you get to be in disguise! It will be totally great and I promise to treat you right.” Nothing made her happier than getting to meet a new partner, and that was exactly how she thought of flying anything.

Not knowing much beyond that they were to be a surprise, but only if needed, Selina gave Hermes one last pat and hopped in the cockpit to run through her pre flight check list. “Mmmm hmmm, looks good...looks good...goooood, they take good care of you!”

Your shuttle will need to mimic the movements and maneuvers of a larger ship to make a good decoy for the Atlas, Selina reminded herself of the most specific of her orders.

“Be the Atlas...beee the Atlasss....”

“coming through, coming through.” Katie yelled as she ran across the shuttlebay to the shuttle she was assigned to. In one hand her jacket and the other a bottle of water she ran across the ramp, almost tripping over the threshold. “I’m here!” she said when she slipped behind the tactical console.

“Yes, yes you are.” Selina was delighted at the entrance that was possibly even more out of control than one of hers. “This is gonna be fun.” She stretched out her hand. “Selina Vimes. pilot....obviously.” She added as she gestured to the cockpit.

“Katie Banninga, Security” she said as she stood up. After shaking the womens hand Katie corrected her clothing and put on her jacket. “Any idea what were gonna do? I didn’t get time to ask.”

“Backup, I gather.” Selina answered with a smile. “If they decided they need us we are going out, but disguised!” She patted the console happily. “Hopefully, they will think we are the Atlas...or another Atlas...or at least another Vesta class.”

“Serious, this little shuttle is going to pretend to be a vesta class. Cool!” she said. “What do you need me to do?”

“I am hoping we are not just a decoy and will be given targets,” A sly smile greeted the security woman. “the fact that you are here makes it more likely, I would say be ready for anything, lets assume you are on tactical. And if I start to fly too close, botching our cover...you are allowed to smack me.”

“No problem.” Katie emptied the water bottle and put it aside. “this is going to be fun.”

There was a soft knock on the door. “I..Uhm..” started a shy women standing just before the threshold. “I suppose to report to Lieutenant Vimes” while looking at the ground.

“HEY!” Selina jumped out of her seat and grabbed the young human’s hand and shook it firmly as the engineer seemed to try to shrink into her shoes. “Nice to meet you! Yo, Katie, this is our disguise! Awesome!”

“Mmm.” Kara pulled her hand away from the enthusiastic grip. “I should get to work.” She mumbled into her shoes.

“Whatever you need, let us know.” Selina tagged Katie on the shoulder. “All female shuttle crew...GIRL. POWER!”

“This is going to be so much fun!” Katie said a bit louder than usual. Selina’s good mood was effecting her mood. In a good way. She turned to the engineer. “Do you know what our mission is?”

Kara continued getting the shuttle ready for launch while she answered. “I’ll be converting the shuttle’s warp field to that of a Sabre class. That combined with special maneuvering will look like we are a Sabre class”

Katie looked at Selina with a grin. “I think that’s a yes”

“Can’t wait!” Selina grinned back and bounced in her chair. “Let us know when you are all set!” She called out, then looked back to Katie. “Waiting for the go is going to be haaaaaaarrrrrdd.”

JP with the FABOO Katie!! Sickbay'''
 * 04-16-2012, 09:38Adina Wolfe'''USS Atlas

After Aelan had finished with the samples he was working on, Adali had asked him to check on Cadet Wolfe after it turned out that the medical crewman with her was not a member of staff, but actually a hologram, so someone needed to tend to the Cadet. He approached cautiously, unsure as to what she had been admitted for. Picking up Adina’s chart from the edge of the biobed, he quickly scanned the text.

“Cadet Wolfe? Can you hear me?” Aelan asked, unsure of what to say. He looked to the hologram, hoping for some sort of verification that he was doing the right thing.

Rube simply shrugged, “I think the lights are back on, but she’s not answering the door, if you get my drift.”

Aelan nodded slowly. "I heard what happened to her. Did you know her friend, too?" he asked. It seemed odd talking to a hologram, but right now, that's all he had. According to her charts, Cadet Wolfe was a picture of health.

“Mainly through word of mouth.” Rube admitted with a shrug, “I was still very much a new project at that point, more mouthy EMH then the friendly face you see now...Adina once told me she created my physical parameters from a collection of scans of her classmates and a ...Scrabble set. So it’s possible there’s bit of Rial in here somewhere too...”

"I suppose that says a lot about their friendship, then.. Has the counsellor seen her yet?" Aelan asked, watching Adina closely.

The hologram shook her head, “Considering we can’t even get her to respond to the simple things I reckon throwing a Counsellor at her won’t advance her anywhere.” Rube tapped her head lightly, “Besides, the ol’ EMH subroutines up here are telling me this is one of those things she has to break out of herself...”

"You used to be an EMH?" Aelan asked, his attention now on Rube.

“A Mark Two, yeah,” Rube chuckled. “Adina here salvaged me from the Sickbay of the Kentucky when they pulled into McKinley to upgrade their Sickbay. Of course she completely rewrote the personal subroutines before she even turned me on, I’ve seen one of the Mark Twos in its standard configuration...” The Hologram offered a exaggerated shudder. “No thank you.”

"I can see why you prefer Adina's programming," the Skorr responded with a smile, "It's funny- looking back to who we used to be.." His thoughts turned to the scared little kid he has been when he first arrived on Starbase 97. He shook his head, as though to banish the thought. "Well, I don't think there's anything I can do for Cadet Wolfe other than monitor her condition," Aelan stood and replaced her charts. "Can you let me know if anything changes?"

“Of course.” Rube smiled, “I’ll be here until she’s up and better again.”

"Thanks. It's nice to meet you..." his voice trailed off, realising he didn't know her name.

“Ah, my names Rube.” The hologram offered with another smile, “Don’t ask where it comes from, I don’t think even Adina knows for sure, though I think she mentioned coming up with it at a Stag do somewhere....”

A JP with Aelan and Adina!
 * 04-16-2012, 13:51Tom O'FlaghertyBridge

“Status on the Longbow.” Tom was leaning forward in his chair, his eyes glued to the tactical display to the lower right of the main viewer.

Lt. James Wexall, the Chief Tactical Officer, piped up from his station just in front and to the left of Tom. “Status unchanged. They seem to believe we have bought their ruse. Commander Sonnek’s ship will enter weapons range in about two minutes.”

“Why are you waiting?” Captain Robinson wasn’t waiting to be asked. After ceasing his work at the rear computer console, he had moved next to the Operations section to get Tom’s attention. “You have identified a hostile target. You should engage. And forget about these shuttles, they are not part of the simulation.”

“Captain, I will ask you to stay out of the way,” Tom said. “This is my ship and my orders. Lieutenant P’Rim, remind the shuttles to maintain a defensive posture. We have to draw out those other two ships, and if they are hit, the jig is up. Also, maintain scrambled communications with them to coordinate traffic.”

“Aye, sir.” P’Rim never ceased his work, instead Samson Berry, the Ensign in charge of guidance, began the work of setting up the communications network.

“Communications ready, sir.”

“Good. Helm, drop us out of warp and bring us about. Hold the shuttle launch till my order. And someone find me those other two ships.”

'''USS Longbow Bridge'''

“Sir, the Atlas is dropping out of warp and changing course. It seems they are turning into us.”

Lt. Commander Sonnek sat back in his chair on the bridge with a look of complete passivity. His mind calculated the tactics and possibilities for the changes he was seeing. “Raise shields and prepare an attack vector.”

“Aye, sir.” Suddenly the image of the Vesta-class vessel on the viewscreen split into six ships. “Sir...I don’t know what ‘s happening.”

Sonnek’s eyebrow hiked ceiling-ward in the most Vulcan of expressions. “Execute defense pattern Sisko Omega 3. We are now outnumbered.”
 * 04-19-2012, 12:05Kate Banninga Beeee the Atlas, beeeeeee the Atlas..maintain a defensive posture... Selina tried to fly ‘lurky’ she kept a picture of her new friend Gronthor in her head, trying to loom like he would loom without even trying. “Now what?”

“Uhm.. “ Katie started. They deployed a minute after the red alert claxon sounded. As soon as they were cleared Selina had took the most right position. “I suppose they want us to scatter as most as possible, so the other ship have to choose who to follow.”

Selina nodded, and banked starboard...lumber starboard..llooommm starboard, and saw the other shuttles move as well, all flanking the Atlas. “Whaddaya think? Should we try to look more threatening or just lurk?”

"Threatening off course" Katie said, almost shouting. " I love a change to test my tactical abilities!"

Kara rolled her eyes before replying. " I would suggest to play it save. There is no reason for risk it."

With a chuckle Selina edged the shuttle forward, trying to be careful to remain aware of how big she was supposed to be. Leaning forward in the pilot’s chair she made what she thought was a threatening face. “Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.”

Kara sighed, as long as what that pilot deemed threatening was to snarl where they couldn’t hear her, no harm was being done.

As they loomed forward Selina impulsively took the pseudo beefed up shuttle around toward the Longbow’s aft. “Whoa...” Sensor readings started to go a little wacky. “Is there another ship out here?”

Katie had received the same readings as Selina and was already trying to decipher them. “It’s not the Longbow, I’m just not sure jet what ship it is. Maybe one of the other two enemies?”

“Where the heck are they?” Selina asked. “Kara? Can you help?” Selina hunched over the console like a cat creeping up on a mouse. “Come out, come out, whoever you are.”

“Dammit” Katie shouted and slammed her hand to the console. “It doesn’t make any sense. My console says it’s just a audio signal, but I can’t unlock it. It’s to heavily encrypted. Why would they encrypt a simple message so heavy?”

“Because they reaaaally don’t want us to know they are here?” Selina surmised. “But where are they? Can we just fly until we bump into them? A stellar game of Marco Polo?” She edged the shuttle further and shouted “MARCO!”

“Well, boom is ho.” Katie thought out loud. “Kara, can you help me? Maybe if we both work on it we can beat the encryption.”

Kara looked up, “sure” then began to tap away at her console. “I am not very good with words.” She murmured in what seemed like an apology.

“I think maybe we should tell the Captain we think something is here. Or will we just sound flaky if we don’t know where.” The pilot asked.

“I think it’s better to know what it is. You know it’s the first thing he will ask.” Katie replied.

Kara looked up. “But what if we run in to problems? We’re only three women.”

Selina looked up in confusion. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Katie laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you!. By the way, it’s just a game. They won’t really kill us.” Than her console suddenly gave a double beep. “Yes, I got it!” and she played the message.

<''Lt. Commander Sonnek, we are in position. At your word.''>

“Crap!” Selina shouted. “I will open a channel to the Atlas, can you get their coordinates from the message?”

“Sorry, that not possible. I can’t get any more info from the transmission.” Katie said as she continued to press buttons on the tactical station. “The Atlas can probably find the location, if they now where to look. They are close to our location, because they couldn’t have send the transmission over a long distance.”

“Okay...okay...” Selina started to open a channel than thought that if the Longbow’s stuff was coded then theirs should be too...but didn’t think they had the time.

=/\=Captain O’Flagherty=/\= She whispered.

=/\=Caaptaaain O’Flagherty...this is the Hermes, we are detecting..er something really big just beyond the Longbow, in the same plane as our location.=/\=

She waited a second then made a face and hissed again.

=/\=Just thought you should know.=/\=  A JP with Selina  Bridge'''
 * 04-25-2012, 23:14Tom O'Flagherty'''USS Atlas

“Captain, the Hermes reports an anomalous reading beyond the Longbow on their plane.” Lt. Mari snapped from Operations.

So far, the confusion of the decoys had forced the Saber-class vessel into a defensive posture, but they couldn’t just sit there and make circles at each other. “Conn bring us out of the formation and make an attack run on the Longbow, pattern Jellico Alpha 9, then get us back into the formation.”

“Target their engines with a Delta-3 phaser spread,” Chris piped up. It seemed they were doing a good job of thinking alike.

The shark-like Atlas pitched hard toward the much smaller Sabre-class ship and three simultaneous beams of phased energy lanced out from her saucer, striking the escort ship on the ventral side. The Longbow pitched hard to starboard and accelerated away, leaving two more ships bearing down on the Atlas, that unleashed a barrage of pulsed phaser fire.

The bigger ship nosed under the two Sabers, grazing shots hitting the primary hull. Unfortunately, one of the shuttles was too close, trying to confuse the attackers and was hit. It’s engines unable to maintain the mirage anymore, it darted away out of the battle area.

'''USS Wildcat Bridge'''

Clayton Bishop seethed in her seat. Watching the Atlas maneuver like that, and then get away with barely a scratch made her blood boil. “Find a way to figure out which one is the real one. We need to stop tiptoeing around now that we are in the open. Science, get on it!!”

The small ship darted away from the churning mass of Vesta-class ships, hoping not to get into the line of fire of the real Atlas. “Helm, coordinate with Scimitar and the Longbow. Get me an attack vector. Ops contact those ships, I want the COs on the screen in 10 seconds.

'''USS Atlas Bridge'''

“What are you doing? You know where the ships are. Remove your shuttles from engagement, now!” Robinson was standing at Tom’s side, leaning on the arm of his chair with both hands to put his nose directly in the younger man’s face.

“Is this still my bridge, Captain?”

Robinson’s eyes widened in rage at Tom’s short question. “For now.”

“Then you will get out of the way while I conduct a combat simulation.” Tom’s voice was low, with a hint of menace to his tone.

“You are clearly taking an unfair, and unnecessary advantage, Commander. The use of your shuttles to provide decoys was not put in the orders for this simulation.” Robinson could barely contain his anger as the bridge crew continued to maneuver the ship and carry on their duties around them.

“There is no such thing as a fair fight, sir. You seem to very adept at knowing that.”

Robinson backed down from the Captain’s chair, and Tom had a holographic image projected to display the entire battle ground. All of the ships and their positions were presented in three dimensions for him to study by the projector between the two Operations consoles. “Flight Ops, bring the shuttles in tighter, we need to be able to completely confuse the enemy. I don’t want them to know which one of the ships is real, but keep our position in such a way we can respond quickly if they try to take a target.”

Meanwhile, Robinson moved back to the console at the Aft section of the Bridge, and started to tinker with the communications frequencies. He accessed Ensign Berry’s protocols and began to modulate the frequencies, breaking the coded transmissions without raising immediate questions. One way or another, he will learn his lesson.
 * 04-30-2012, 20:59Gerhardt RahnerMain Engineering

The MSD showed the surrounding sector with Atlas as the middle focus point. A bright green grid of thin lines showed the spacetime distortions caused by the Atlas’s warp core and those of the five shuttles with warp signatures shifted to appear to belong to Vesta class ships. The entire display was changing in real-time to show the positions of the six ships as they moved through space. The Captain had issued a red alert thirty minutes before, and between the flashing red lights, the multiple warp signatures, and the normal buzz of a single, massive ship in the midst of battle, even mock battle, Gerhardt was sweating. Profusely.

“Problem, sir?” Ayla asked him as she approached the MSD terminal.

“Huh? It is... no, damn it, not there!” Gerhardt stammered, his eyes locked on the screen. One of the shuttles was moving closer to one of the others, but not too close.

“Sir, what’s wrong with that position?” Ayla asked. “That’s far enough that it won’t appear that two Vestas have collided.”

“Yes, but there are six... now five, massive warp fields out there, and those two almost got close enough to throw this maneuver off and rain hell on this whole sector,” Gerhardt snapped immediately. His eyes didn’t break away from the display, but his whole demeanor softened. “I do not know... Ayla, there is a reason we do not fly maneuvers this close with frigates or larger. I need help. Call everyone.”

“Everyone?”

“Everyone. Every engineer on this ship who is not currently at station, every scientist who has experience with warp fields and astrophysics. We have need more eyes and minds on this situation.”


 * Jacey’s Quarters::

“Finally...” She unzipped her uniform and imagined how nice the sonic shower and her bed would feel.

=/\=Ensign Adams - report into engineering=/\=

Jacey’s hand stopped on her zipper, “Seriously...” With a groan she moved it back up into place and adjusted the clothing. Tapping her badge she acknowledged the voice. Glancing back at her bed, only momentarily, she wished she could crawl into it. However that moment ended and with a shake of her head she left for engineering.


 * Main Engineering::

“Chief?” Jacey said with a raised brow, “What are we doing?”

“An excellent question.” Gronthor interjected as he ducked his head through the doorway. With another stride he was in the room and looking between the officers gathered there as he made his way to where they stood. “The Science Department asked me to report here but they did not mention why.”

Jacey jumped, noticeably. , “I...” First there was a bird on their ship that talked and now there was a talking...cat? And this cat’s stature dwarfed the Chief’s normally formidable presence, “I’m sure there..is a reason...” She said slowly.

Gerhardt turned to the two newcomers and jumped at the sight of Gronthor. His hand shot to his hip, but there was no phaser there and he was immediately glad for that, if embarrassed. He remembered the situation with the Daugoff Rho, that they had sent an emissary to their ship, and he realized the officer had just reported in from the Science Department: hardly a threat, unless he was the type of scientist who felt superior to engineers. “I apologize for my reaction,” Gerhardt humbly said. “I am pleased to have you aboard, though I am afraid I do not know your name.”

The Daugoff Rho nodded his acceptance of the apology with a small smile. It was hardly the first time since his arrival in Federation space that someone had reached for a firearm at the sight of him, after all. “My name is Gronthor na’Yot. I am pleased to be here.” He glanced over to the monitor showing the seven ships flying in formation and their warp fields. “How may I be of assistance, Chief?”

Gerhardt grinned. “I am afraid I must humbly admit that I have reached a limit within myself. As you have seen on the display, we are tracking seven near identical warp fields around us: the Atlas’ field and the six shuttles’ fields. They are staying in close formation, roughly 200 km between fields, and someone has to coordinate that formation. On top of that, we are at red alert and are preparing for battle. On top of that... well, we are a Vesta-class starship and that is a balancing act in and of itself. I need someone to take over the formation coordination, or maybe two someones.”

“Does that encompass the two people standing closest to you at the time you make that decision?” She took a step back, “Or the two people best suited to the job. I mean, given my track record I think I’m best served..in a corner.”

"Damn it, Adams, you are an officer and your ship is going into battle," the older man said, trying to engender confidence and responsibility without terrifying the poor girl. "You know our systems, you know our shuttlecraft, and between you and our new friend here, I think you can--"

A barely noticeable rumble shook the ship and the computer’s calm voice interrupted him,, =/\=Commander Rahner, report to sickbay. You have been injured.=/\=

“What the hell?” Gerhardt mumbled before slapping a few commands in the MSD console. A small window opened up at the bottom left corner showing an almost empty list of simulated injuries with one entry: Rahner, G. Plasma conduit explosion, severe damage to face and left shoulder.

“I have been... Plasma conduit... WHAT?!” Gerhardt sputtered and roared his frustration. “What plasma conduit? Those conduits are perfect! This is all that McKinley bastard’s doing!”

=/\=Commander Rahner, report to sickbay. You have been injured.=/\=

“Shut up! Cressida, take charge until I can figure this out. Adams, you and Gronthor keep those shuttles from tearing this sector apart with their warp--”

=/\=Commander Rahner is unresponsive. Initiating emergency medical transport.=/\=

“Oh for f--” His words cut out as light shimmered around him and he faded away.

Almost the exact moment the Chief vanished from view, a woman with a head of bright red hair decked in a medical uniform fuzzed into view with the hum of activated holo-emitters... Looking more then a little bit confused.

“What in the name of the Googleplex am I doing here?” Rube asked, her equally bright green eyes catching sight of the Warp Core.

“EEH was activated upon critical injury of the Chief Engineering Officer.” The computer replied helpfully.

“Well bugger, I knew I should have looked through all the protocols before letting them into my system...” The hologram muttered before turning towards the crowd assembled around the MSD. “Oh...Hi folks!” She waved with a smile.

Jacey waved back, “Please don’t tell me that you’re now in charge.”

“Me?” Rube answered with a worried point in her own direction before looking up at apparently, nothing. “No...no! Thankfully the chain of command is still running, I’m just here to keep the numbers up.”

Gronthor cocked an eyebrow at the holographic girl before shaking his head slightly. This new ship was certainly going to take some getting used to. His red eyes swung from the screen displaying the seven warp fields to Jacey. “It would seem that we have a job to do, Lieutenant Adams.” His lip quirked into a small smile and he gestured grandly with one hand to the console.

Rube stepped forwards and peeked at the MSD, “Okay...where’d we get that many Vesta’s from? No, wait, computer’s filling me in... Shuttle’s tagged to put out Vesta sized warp fields. Well that’s clever, somewhat dangerous and potentially explosive rolled into a convenient package .” The hologram paused, a small smile creeping across her features. “Sounds like our illustrious Chief has been busy without my lil girl to keep his plans somewhat sane...”

A JP with half the damn ship -- Thanks Jacey, Gronthor, and Adina as the incorporeal Rube. Bridge'''
 * 05-08-2012, 23:34Christopher Vaughn'''USS Scimitar

Lt. Commander Tredana sat on the edge of his chair and tried to organize his people quickly, making adjustments for the swarming mass of identical ships that darted across the screen. “Chuvi, get those sensors figured out. Jansen, tell the Wildcat we are almost in position and will begin our attack run in 10 seconds. Zelk, start your firing solution and coordinate with flight ops.”

“Sir, I’m picking up ship-to-ship communications. It seems the Atlas is using their shuttles to create decoys, but I can’t figure out which one is the real ship.” The Ensign manning the Operations console continued to tap commands into the computer as fast as her hands would move. Parsing the different points of origin between the moving objects made the task almost impossible.

“Coordinate with one of the others and triangulate the lay-out.” Tredana stood from his chair and walked towards the viewscreen, the swirling mass of ships appeared almost like a living organism just off the bow of the ship. “This is our opportunity to pick O’Flagherty apart. How’s it coming?”

The Ensign sitting at the Operations console looked very frustrated. “Sir, all three of the ships can catch glimpses of the Atlas but we can’t pick them out.”

The Arkenite CO slapped the side of the helm console. “Tactical coordinate our attack with the others, and pick us out a clean target. We are going to start clearing out the trash. Target the engines of any opportunity and tell the others to do the same.”

USS Atlas

“Sir, the enemy ships are all making simultaneous attack runs.” Eduardo Solari almost came unglued at his position.

“Helm, intercept course!!! Chris, defend those shuttles!!!”

As Tom was shouting orders to helm Chris was barking commands to the tactical officers, “All starboard batteries unison fire minus 35 degrees from center. Port phasers covering fire for the shuttles. Forward torpedoes, put them right into the center of their formation to break them up and target lateral phasers on whichever ships flank up.”

in a flash all of the attacking ships cut loose with their phasers, a split second before the Atlas was able to initiate their response. Phased energy beams exploded across the backdrop of space. The shuttles all broke away from the action, for a moment it was a chaotic mass of duranium turning in innumerable directions. The Longbow was barely able to avoid one of the fleeing shuttles as its false warp field came close to colliding with the war ship. It's false image faded and the small craft shot from the scene.

Fire from the exchange took out two more of the shuttles as they hurriedly tired to get away. As the formation regrouped, only the Jason and the Hermes were left. Tom assessed the situation on the holographic display, "Report! What the the hell just happened?"

Johanna Mari was the first to respond. "We've sustained only minor damage, but that is more from the chaos of the moment than anything. The Sabers weren't targeting us. They intentionally went for the shuttles. The Longbow has sustained heavy damage and is on reserves for most of her systems, but the other two are only showing minor injuries."

"Chris," Tom turned to his XO, who was standing just behind the chief tactical officer. "What do you think they are after? That made absolutely no sense to just charge in like that."

Before Chris could respond, the enemy ships turned and started a second attack run. "Sir! They are coming straight for the Atlas and avoiding all of the decoys."

"Evasive maneuvers, fire weapons!!" Again, phased energy lit local space as four ships all fired on each other. The Sabers began to swarm around the larger Atlas as all of her phaser emitters attempted to drive them off. Shields rippled and on the bridge, alarms began to sound as the cruiser took her first real damage of the engagement.

"Evasive pattern, Rogers 1-7. Get us some distance, P'Rim!! Damage report!"

Stations all over the bridge began to respond in almost unison. "Sir, EPS grids on decks 12 and 13 have ruptured, we have cascading plasma fires." "Sir, shields are holding at 70 percent.". "We've lost port thrusters, and one of the impulse manifolds has sustained minor damage."

“Covering fire, Zulu-Seven arc fire.” Chris snorted almost as an afterthought. What the hell is going on? He cast about the bridge watching as Tom plotted evasive manoeuvres. The Sabers were completely avoiding the decoys...but how. Another volley came at the Atlas and past the defensive decoys. The Sabers even seemed to evade Chris’s defensive fire.

“Son of a bitch.” he mumbled watching the Sabers gracefully slide past the phaser blasts.

Tom's mouth hung open in shock. "What in the name of..."

They new exactly... “Tactical, time for an agonizing reappraisal of the whole scene,” he looked around the bridge as he spoke. “Defensive fire, Pattern Vaughn Wine Women and Song.”

There was a moment's hesitation from tactical before he heard the expected, ‘aye sir.’

As the weapons acquired targets Chris watch Robinson at the after auxiliary communications panel started keying in a message. Looking over the tactical officers shoulder he toggled the controls to display a mirror of the text being sent from Secondary Communications.

[Vaughn - Wine - Women - Song - Defensive Pattern]

Turning back to the viewscreen he saw the Sabers slide away from the Atlas’s firing zone safely. ‘Oh God, we are all going to die.” he whimpered. “Tom, do something....evasive.”

Tom looked at him quizzically before coming up with something. "Helm, evasive pattern...Delta 1-7-8 Alpha."

As Tom spoke Chris walked to the bridge weapons locker, carefully watching Robinson tapping away another message to the other ships. Unlocking the locker Chris took a Mk. 23 phaser and set it to the lowest stun setting - little more than a glamorous burn really. Tapping his combadge, =/\= This is Commander Vaughn, I’m going to need two security officers on the bridge..” he turn toward Robinson who was only just noticing him. “And also a medic.=/\=

“What the hell are you...” Robinson started. Chris fired off a quick burst into his throat. “Ahhhooww. Jesus...what the..” Chris fired again and again.

Chris smiled and popped off a stun shot each time Robinson tried to speak. “Tom, it seems part of the simulation was having a spy on the bridge. Gene, here has been texting the other ships each of our plays.” Looking over to Captain Robinson Chris shook his head and shot him again, “Honestly, Gene. I thought we had something special. I think its time for us to start seeing other crews.” Bumping the phaser to full stun Chris put one shot squarely in the older man's chest sending him slumped onto the floor.”

Tom seethed, his breathing heavy. It took him a moment to realize he was standing from his chair. Finally, once the security officers had carried Robinson's body off of the bridge, he turned back to the rest of the crew. "Helm, attack pattern Lambda 1-4. Berry, tell the remaining shuttles to get out of the way."

JP with the Skipper 
 * 05-09-2012, 11:09Selina VimesShuttle Hermes

Selina worked at ‘lumbering’ as she sung a song from an old Terran vid called the Jungle Book.

“What are you singing that for?” Kara piped up from behind.

“It is the Elephant Song, I think it helps me fly,” Selina said with a grin. “but I like the bear song better.” She started to bounce in her seat. “Its just the” *bounce* “bear necessities.. the *mumblemumble* bear necessties, forget about your worry and your striiiiiife.” As her voice and the bounce picked up, the shuttle began to shift its way in the formation, coming a little too close to one of the others, then veering out again.

“I love that song, my mother used to sing it to me and my brother, she loved all those old Disney songs” Katie said while her mind was visiting memories of that time long a go.

“Watch out!” Kara yelled from the engineering console. But it was already to late. The enemy ships had started a simultaneous attack and only the fast calculations of her positronic brain kept them from sustaining heavy damage, but unfortunately the quick maneuvers had the shuttle rocking heavily causing Katie to launch from her chair,hitting her head before hitting the ground.

“Crap!” Yelled Selina. “Kara, check on Katie.” Still bobbing and weaving like a Terran prize fighter, the pilot thought ‘screw this.’

“She seems okay, just unconscious.” The engineer called out.

“Good, get up and back in position, on my signal I want you to drop the warp sig and give me everything you have got in the engines.” Kara scrambled back and gave a nod when she was ready.

“We might be nothing more than an annoying insect, but it is better than being a sitting duck. NOW”

Looping back into position, Selina went full throttle for a strafing run across the backside of the Scimitar. “Nyah nyah!” She yelled out gleefully. “Mosquito bit ya in the aaaassssssssss.”

JP with the lovely (but oh so busy) Katie!
 * 05-17-2012, 21:52Tom O'FlaghertyTom had prepared for it, studied it, and tried to make plans, but no amount of words could truly describe how agile and quick the small Saber-class vessels really were. The three ships swarmed around the Atlas as she tried to maneuver. Phaser beams shot out from the large ship in every direction, trying to swat the small attackers away like a horse warding off flies. Tom called out new courses to the Flight Controllers and directed damage control teams in a stream of words. Reports were coming to him just as fast.

“Sir, aft, port shields are down to 70 percent. Make that 67.”

“We’ve lost a shield generator on the starboard bow, it’s cut the strength down by half.”

“Focus repair teams on the shield generator. Combat pattern O’Flagherty three. Get the Scimitar out from under the nacelle!” Tom tried to keep the priority list in his head, but it was every changing. Oh, how I wish I were an android right about now...or a Vulcan.

Chris turned to see the unconscious body of Captain Roberson being hauled off the bridge as the ship rocked from the repeated beatings. Stepping over to the controls he shout out to Tom, “I have a plan, stand by for Attack Pattern Papa-Golf 93 but focused on the starboard flanking Sabre only.”

The text channel Robinson had been using was still open, carefully Chris punched in a message and sent it.

[[ Attack Pattern Yankee three - Chekhov....]]

A second later the Sabre’s scattered to avoid an attack that wasn't coming. “All forward and port weapons on the flanking Sabre NOW!” The Atlas lurched and fired, a second later the targeted Sabre flickered off the sensor scope to a wave of cheers across the bridge as the other two vessels banked away in confusion. Chris flashed Tom a lopsided smile, “I don’t know if that will work again but one down.”

'''USS Wildcat Bridge'''

Clayton Bishop slammed her fist against the armrest of her chair. “I guess that means our insider has gone quiet.” Hanging in the middle of the viewscreen was the USS Longbow. Sonnek had taken the first barrage from the Atlas, and since that moment it had only been a matter of time. Bishop had watched as the maneuvers became slower and progressively more sluggish until that last shot had caught her directly a midships.

“Bring us about, and coordinate another attack run. We have to keep the larger ship swarmed so she can’t maneuver into a torpedo solution. Make sure to stay on her dorsal side.” The sturdy little ship was still operating at near peak efficiency and darted back towards Atlas with the Scimitar closing from the other side.

USS Atlas

“Here they come! Helm, set course for the Wildcat. Pattern O’Flagherty Alpha two.” The long, slender ship turned into the Saber. Both ships bore down on one another, each closing at almost half the speed of light. Just as the smaller ship began to fire, the Atlas pitched up, her underside turned completely toward the small ship. Her phasers cut loose at the same time, followed immediately by a barrage of five torpedoes from the turret under her saucer.

The Wildcat tried to quickly dart along the length of the Atlas and away. The maneuver caused three of the torpedoes to miss, but a phaser blast and two of the torpedoes collided against the dorsal shields. They flickered and then failed as another phaser strike raked her hull. Sensors told the Atlas that she had lost her targeting scanners, dorsal shielding and starboard maneuvering thrusters. Coupled with a dramatic loss in speed, and now the Wildcat was little more than a sitting duck.

“That helps a bit.” Tom said without thinking, but it was a short lived victory.

The Scimitar raked her phasers along the secondary hull as the Atlas tried to recover from its maneuver. A new set of alarms sounded off as the computer simulated the damage. “Sir, aft shields are down to 40%. Aft targeting scanners took a hit and have been severely limited. One of the aft torpedo launchers is also damaged.”

“Tell them we surrender, and we will heave to for boarding.” Chris said looking to Tom.

Tom’s eyes went wide, shock filled his face, and the bridge went dead silent. “Are you serious?”

“About telling them we are surrendering - absolutely.” Chris moved closer to the command chair. “Get them to drop shield for boarding operations and open fire with everything we have.”

Tom looked incredulously at his first officer. “You want me to lure them in with a false flag of surrender?”

“Yes.” Chris replied as if discussing plans for dinner. Seeing the look on Tom’s face he gave a slight shrug, “Oh what?! You don’t pay me for ethics you pay me for tactics. You want to win this thing?”

Tom turned his chair and faced Johanna Mari. The Operations officer looked up at him as if seeing her father commit a crime. “Lieutenant, I want you to program a cascading failure of all non-essential secondary systems. Make it look as if we are crippled trying to repair their damage.”

Mari didn’t move in her chair. She continued to stare at him with eyes the size of saucers. Chris moved past the lieutenant toward communications giving a dumbstruck Mari a sharp look, “Move It!”

Mari began to program the sequence, and when she executed the command, a growing buzz of power could be heard and felt throughout the ship until the computer began to shut down the systems. “Cascade failure complete. We appear dead in the water, but retain full control of the ship.”

Tom looked back at Chris. “Here’s how you are going to play this. Audio communications only, and you are the one who is going to do the talking. I’m ‘dead’ according to the simulation. I’ll give the command to fire once they drop the shields.”

“Pffst.” Chris snorted. “You look pretty sprightly for a dead guy, but you're the captain.”

“Just get this done, alright?”

“Dead guy that talks a lot to.” Chris mumbled thumbing on the audio channel. “This is Captain Chris Vaughn, Prince of Honor and Virtue signaling the attacking ship...we surrender...I say again we surrender. Shit is all smashed to hell over here. The bigscreen is gone, the skippers dead and I wet myself.”

There was a long silence as the Scimitar hung in the middle of viewscreen. Finally, the voice of Commander Tredana came back over the channel, albeit very tentatively. =/\=OK...I guess..you should heave-to and prepare to be boarded.=/\=

Chris turned to Tom with a massive grin and tossed him a wink and a thumbs up. “Oh, thank God, Scimitar. I will ready the crew now...and...can I ask as a personal favor we keep the fact I wet myself just between the two of us?”

There was no response over the channel as the Scimitar began to maneuver closer. The ship was just off the bow of the Atlas when she settled into position and began to lower the shields. Tom gripped the arms of his chair, and he knew what he was about to do was a mistake. “Fire!”

Every phaser emitter on the ship and both forward torpedo launchers cut loose with a full onslaught. The smaller ship was caught completely unawares as every shot landed home on the hull. In seconds, the viewscreen, interpreting the simulation, registered a massive explosion, completely vaporizing the Scimitar. Then, the computer signaled the end of the war game simulation and everything returned to normal.

Seconds later, a hail came through to the Atlas. Tredana’s face appeared on the screen, and it was obvious to everyone on the Bridge that he was in a complete rage. “What the hell was that!!! You had surrendered!!!! This is insane!!!”

“Nooooo, noooo.” Chris smirked. “You only thought I surrendered - and very evidently I did not. That my friend is called the Art of Closing the Deal.” Chris inhaled deeply. “Your welcome.”

“Where is Captain Robinson?” Tredana said. “I want to file a formal protest.”

“You can file yours as I file mine,” Tom responded.

“Robinson?” Chris piped up. “Ah, Gene. Well he is sleeping off his treason comfortably in our brig.”

“It was Robinson who was sending you the messages. And since we caught the saboteur in the act will in the midst of combat...we shot him.” Tom cut loose with a wolfish grin. He hadn’t like Tredana since the two had met. “If he can play dirty...so can we.”

Chris raised his hand meekly. “I’d like to jump in here and point out I actually shot Gene. I expect full credit for that kill.”

Tom then had the other two captains pulled into the conversation as well. Everyone looked very worn by the simulation. All accept for Sonnek, who always maintained his Vulcan serenity. “I believe it is time that we all head back to Caloris station,” Tom said. “This simulation is over, and since Captain Robinson can’t be here, I would like to thank you for your participation. Also, I would like to invite you aboard for a drink in the Captain’s Mess once we are all docked and squared away.”

“I would also like to thank you all, for being so gullible.” Chris have an approving nod. “It greatly facilitated my...our...victory. Also, you can have your captain’s chairs transported over to the Atlas at my earliest possible convenience. Which will be,” he checked his watch. “Lets call it five minutes. It will take me about that long to get to the transporter room. Thanks for playing.” He tossed the view screen a ‘peace’ sign.

Once the screen went dark, Tom looked over at Chris. “What captain’s chairs are you talking about?”

“Oh, I wagered that if we won they have to give us their captains chairs for our officers mess and if we lose you have to give yours to them. Or something like that. But we won so it doesn't really matter whatever I wagered for.” Chris raised his arms in a deep stretch. “We’ve needed new seating for a while now so I took some initiative and look what we will have now!”

The bridge was silent for a few seconds. Just long enough for a feeling of awkwardness to set in, then Tom burst into laughter. “You have got to be kidding me. Once you get those things aboard. We are getting the hell out of here. Helm, set course for Caloris Station, and once the transporter room gives you the ‘all-clear’ engage at warp six.”

A JP with our...illustrious XO...Chris Vaughn.
 * 05-22-2012, 20:17Gerhardt RahnerDespite the start of the simulation, sickbay had remained relatively quiet. There had been no new patients, and Cadet Wolfe’s condition had not changed. It was therefore quite unexpected when a man cursing in German suddenly transported into the centre of the room.

=/\=Commander Rahner has been injured by a plasma conduit explosion. =/\= the voice of the computer stated. Aelan quickly stood and moved towards Gerhardt. “Can I help you?” he asked timidly, clearly startled by the sudden appearance of the man.

"Yes, you can clear my medical status so I can throttle Robinson!" The old German didn’t wait for Aelan to respond, but walked straight for the main door. The doors swooshed open and Gerhardt tried to walk through, but a loud buzz and a flash of blue light later he found himself looking up at a force field. It crackled a few moments more, then blinked out. Gerhardt glared at it suspiciously, pushed himself to his feet, and ran a hand towards the door. The force field reinitialized and shocked his hand. He snarled viciously.

“It would seem I am trapped here for the duration of a simulated treatment,” he said maliciously and turned toward Aelan. “I suppose you will be my doctor, ja?”

The young cadet glanced over to Chief Petty Officer Fuqua at the desk in the office. "I'm not dealing with him," she stated before turning back to her console.

"Then I suppose I am. I'm Cadet Aelan. And I gather you're Commander Rahner?"

“Ja...” Gerhardt mumbled absently as he dragged his fingers over the doorway, testing the place where the force field reinitialized. Another flash of blue light and he pulled his hand back, but this time with a look of demented joy. “Ja. I mean, yes. I am Commander Rahner. Let us get to work, Cadet Aelan. I believe I am supposed to have received a plasma blast to the face.” Though his voice was fully invested in the conversation, his eyes wandered around the edges of the room, seeking something important.

Aelan could tell the man’s attention was far from being on him. Nevertheless, he had a job to do- even if that job was dealing with imagined plasma burns. “Could I get you to sit on the biobed, please, sir?” he asked timidly, guiding the Commander to the nearest bed. He picked up a tricorder and scanned Gerhardt. The device had been programmed to pick up the simulated wounds, and confirmed that he had severe plasma burns to the left side of his face and neck and his left shoulder. He gave Gerhardt what would have been an injection to treat the pain and an antibiotic before placing a burn pad on the man’s shoulder. "How are you feeling?" he asked, feeling a bit ridiculous about the entire procedure.

“Perfect,” Gerhardt answered, jumping off the biobed. “I feel great. Seriously, you are some kind of wizard. And I know that if this had been a real injury, you know exactly how to handle a plasma burn. Excuse me.”

He ripped off the burn pad and grabbed the tricorder out of Aelan’s wing... hand... phalange... thing. He crossed to the door and started scanning intently with the tricorder. Aelan watched him, his eyes as wide as saucers, unsure what to do. Although the Commander was acting oddly, he was a superior officer. And humans are a strange species anyway.. the Skorr thought.

“Just as I suspected,” Gerhardt muttered over the tricorder, “not one of ours. Doctor, do you happen to know the combined penalties under Starfleet code for installing unapproved force field technology on a Starfleet vessel and for blocking the main entrance to sickbay?” He handed back the tricorder and started rolling up the burn pad.

"No, Sir," Aelan replied, hoping it wasn't a rhetorical question. "But Commander.. How would it have gotten there? And why would someone want to put an unauthorised force field up?"

“Obviously someone who would want to keep someone in or out of a place,” Gerhardt replied with a touch of snark. “As to the first, that is what I intend to find out, just as soon as I...”

He stopped talking abruptly. Either what he had been doing worked, though he hadn’t gotten around to doing it, or he was no longer confined to sickbay, though he hadn’t been there long enough for a full recovery. So that must mean... he thought.

=/\=Simulation complete. All hands return to duty stations.=/\=

“Oh, well then, I suppose I will not be needing this,” Gerhardt tossed the burn pad back to the avian doctor.

"I suppose not. Well, umm.. It was nice to meet you?" Aelan said, not sure he really believed it. As Gerhardt was about to respond, Adali interrupted from the desk.

“Apparently our wonderful XO has shot someone. Seeing as you’re done with the Commander, I’d like you to go tend to him,” she said, clearly not impressed with the situation.

“So we all have somewhere to be. Wonderful! Who has the XO shot this time, may I ask?”

“Why not? Report says someone named Gene Robinson,” Adali answered somewhat disheartedly.

“Captain Gene Robinson?” Gerhardt gawked. “Well, that cuts my to-do list in half. Good day to you, doctors.” With a half salute, he set out for engineering and more adventures.

"There is clearly something wrong with that man's head.." Adali stated. "Now come on. Our prisoner isn't going to treat himself." Aelan nodded, grabbed a med kit, and headed out the door.

A JP with the good doctor, Aelan
 * 05-24-2012, 13:43Gronthor na'YotEngineering

It was over. For some reason the entire simulation had felt like an over exaggerated needle. You wince, you whine and then ….it’s done.

“How you doing over there big kitty?” Jacey asked with a raised brow.

Gronthor lifted his head out from under the conduit he was making repairs on in the aftermath of the training simulation. “Kitty?” He shook his head, being referred to as a terran feline wasn’t important at the moment, however confusing. “I am well. This conduit is repaired.” With a grunt he shimmied his way out from under the conduit and stood. Not for the first time he wished the ship weren’t built quite so small.

“What would you prefer I call you? Given your size, I’d rather prefer you not wishing to take a swipe at me.” Jacey smiled, “Not that you would.”

“Gronthor or Cadet would be fine, Lieutenant. And you can be assured that I, in fact, would not ‘take a swipe at you.’” Gronthor’s lips twitched into a small smile. He glanced around Engineering, surveying the controlled chaos of the situation before returning his gaze to Jacey. “Where else may I be of use?”

“Well, as the ship is fine I would, in any case say that -”

The sound of a klaxon interrupted her sentence. Engineering fell silent, all eyes looking about for what the cause of the alert could be.

“What?” She checked a nearby panel, “Oh god no...please not another thing ..” With a swing of her leg she gave the panel a good hard kick. The claxon stopped momentarily, “Works every- “

The sound resumed. This time with a countdown.

“Warp core ejection in twenty seconds.”

“Please tell me this is part of the simulation...”

“I think the ship does not enjoy being kicked...” Gronthor strode calmly over to the console and looked over the information scrolling across the screen. “The warp core is undamaged. The matter/antimater ratio is within tolerance. There seems to be no reason for the core ejection.”

“Normally a good kick sorts it out...”She scratched the top of her head, “Stupid simulation. Do you think this could be a part of it still?” Jacey raised her brow.

Gronthor shook his head. “I do not believe so.” His fingers moved along the console, quickly bringing up a detailed diagnostic of the warp core. “Nothing appears to be catastrophic within the core itself yet the ship seems to believe a breach is imminent. It would seem that either the entire diagnostic system has failed and is showing normal readings for a breaching core or the warp ejection system is simply malfunctioning.” His eyes shifted to Jacey. “I have found that the simplest answer is most often true.”

“So..we ignore it?”The klaxon was grating enough on anyone’s nerves, “Do you think we can at least mute it?”

“Ignoring it would be problematic. I do not believe the Chief would appreciate his warp core being ejected.” He grinned quietly before gesturing to the console. “If I may?” Gronthor waited for her nod before rapidly entering commands. “I am creating a feedback loop within the warp core. If the ship believes a breach will occur, we will show it that it is wrong.”

As he worked the diagnostic screen’s readings one by one turned red and began flashing warnings. Gronthor seemed not at all concerned even as the countdown continued to wind down. As the ever present hum of the core began to rise in pitch, a sure sign of something horribly wrong he entered another series of commands and quickly each of the readings leveled off and then began to return to normal.

“There now, my friend,” the Daugoff Rho said, looking very much as if he was talking to the warp core itself. “Look again. All is well.”

As the last of the diagnostic readings returned to normal the klaxons shut off, the countdown stopped and the lighting in the room returned to normal.

“Breach averted,” the pleasant female voice of the computer announced. “Warp core ejection, cancelled.”

“I..” Jacey eyed Gronthor, “I’m impressed. I’d like to say I could have done that but I’m pretty sure I’d be lying. Although I am pretty sure that the warp core ejection wasn’t part of the simulation.”

Picking up her PADD, Jacey tapped into the simulation program, “This program was uploaded to the Atlas right before we left the Station. It’s what was used to coordinate our consequences while out during the combat part of our little fun journey. As far as I knew the computer randomly picked the people and the sections that were destroyed based off the damage fictionally incurred by our attackers. From what I can see the damage we ‘apparently’ recieved would not have resulted in a core ejection.” She scrolled down the list, “At least not until...until the computer was accessed right here.”

Highlighting the small list on the PADD, “ See.”

Gronthor looked over the list and nodded. “I see. So the simulation was modified to include a warp core ejection? Is this a common element of Federation war games?”

“Not that I’m aware of - perhaps I should ask the Chief...”Jacey paused, “Maybe if I do something right the Xo won’t maim me as much later on.” She offered for him to hand her the PADD back, “Are you staying down here?”

“No, I believe I should report back to the Science Division.” He handed the PADD back with a small smile for the Lieutenant. “It has been a pleasure working with you, Lt. Adams.”

Jacey smiled, “I don’t believe I did much...” Accept the compliment stupid, “But thank you, it was interesting having you down here. Please, call me Jacey.” Hugging the PADD to her chest she waved goodbye and ran out of Engineering, heading to Sickbay for the Chief.

A JP Featuring Jacey Adams!
 * 05-27-2012, 17:12Tom O'FlaghertyChris had invited the senior staff to have a drink in the Officer's lounge, but Tom had a stop to make first. And so, he found himself on the lower decks, heading for the Security Office. Turning the last corner, he almost barreled over Lt. Lebowski, who was heading the other way. "Excuse me, sir. I thought the party was in the Officer's lounge."

“It’s quite alright, Lieutenant,” Tom responded. “Mr. Vaughn’s get-together is still in the Lounge, but I need to make a stop by the brig to see our ‘guest.’”

“Do you need me to be present, Captain,” Lebowski’s brow rose in a bit of surprise. He hadn’t been informed that Tom was coming down and felt somewhat slighted by that.

“I think the sentries will be sufficient. You can continue on to the gathering, and I will be there shorty.” Tom avoided eye contact with the man and didn’t wait for him to reply. Instead, he continued past his Security chief without another word.

As the doors to the brig opened, Ens. Takong stood at the ready. He was behind the monitoring station with all of his attention focused on the door where Tom walked in. Once he saw teh captain, he snapped to attention. His back was as straight as a board and his chest stuck out with such pride that Tom thought he was going to explode. “Sir, I didn’t know there was a surprise inspection, but the brig is ready.”

“You’re dismissed, Ensign.” Tom looked the large Klingon directly in the eye. When the junior officer didn’t move, the captain crossed towards him. “Did I stutter?”

“No sir,” Takong responded quickly. “I will be in the office should you need me.”

Once the hulking mass of security officer left the room, Tom found himself alone with their “guest.” Eugene Robinson was laying on the small bunk inside of the forcefield confined space. His eyes were open, and Tom could tell he was staring at the ceiling to purposefully ignore him. So, the young captain stepped forward and brought himself to within one meter of the cell. “I’m sure you have heard, but the simulation is over.”

“How long?”

“We finished off the Scimitar thirty minutes ago. After the final tallying of scores and the reseting of computers, we are on course back to Megiddo Station.” Tom moved over the couple of steps to the panel on the wall and deactivated the forcefield. The room instantly darkened when the power of the field deactivated. “Once we arrive at the station, the CO’s of the ships are all gathering in the Officer’s lounge there for a drink on me.”

“How nice.” Tom let the silence hang in the air, Robinson didn’t say anything else. Instead, he continued to lay, unmoving, on the bench.

Finally, Tom couldn’t wait any longer, his temper slowly rising until he had to respond. “You honestly have nothing to say to me? How about to the rest of this crew?”

“You? I should not have to explain myself to you. And as for this crew, it is a disgrace. The senior officers are blind to what is going on under them, and in order to correct thier shortsightedness have to use phasers. In fact, using a phaser is the only way the people on this ship seem to know how to confront problems. Your XO is an absolute disgrace in that manner. I’ll have him brought up on charges for what he did, and as for you...” Now, Robinson finally got up. His voice became a menacing growl as he faced Tom. “You will never have another command. I’m going to recommend your transfer and possible demotion. If I can secure it, I’ll get you out of Starfleet.”

“Well...I guess you had something to say after all.” Tom smiled calmly as Robinson continued to glare at him. “I’m not too worried about your complaints. In fact, with the data recording of the bridge from the simulation, I will also be filing a complaint. Now, it is your word against mine, but I think I have the evidence on my side...especially considering you only have uncorroborated hearsay.”

“You little shit!” Robinson exploded. “I swear that I will take this to the highest authority in Starfleet! Every admiral I’ve ever known will hear about this!! You’ll be finished!!”

“Go ahead, and use all of your favors. I’m done being concerned about what you have to say. My record in Starfleet and what I’ve done in the line of duty speaks for itself.” Then, Tom closed the distance. His eyes narrowed and his voice lowered, though there was no one else in the room. “You go back behind your desk...and leave me the hell alone.”

“You’re an even bigger failure than your father. If I’d been on the Thunderchild, it would have survived the Dominion.” Robinson crossed his arms over his chest knowing he had landed a serious blow. The smug expression on his face showed how he was willing to make this personal. In fact, it had been personal all along.

When Tom didn’t say anything, Robinson continued. “You see, his fault was that he never took anything seriously. He was too busy living up to his Irish heritage to focus in combat. He may have beaten me in every piloting race, but he was woefully out-classed when it came to concentration in battle. His recklessis what got all those people killed.”

Tom charged into the small cell, his hackles clearly raised. Stopping only a centimeters from Robinson’s face, he could see the fear of physical confrontation in the Captain’s eyes, though he was keeping it from his face. So, when his words came out they were a menacing growl. “At least he actually saw combat. You stayed on Earth watching simulations while he and his crew died out there. He may have been quick with a joke, but he handled himself alright, according Admiral Leibmann. She says she would have been dead if not for his actions. Can you boast the same? Did your split-second analysis of developing situations in the heat of battle save the lives of a crew in immediate danger? Or did you sit behind a desk and go to briefings to plan long-term strategy? How was your tour in the Chintoka system?”

Robinson was stunned. He didn’t know what to say anymore, but he had recovered from his fear and now his anger was at its boiling point. The captain stood there and silently fumed at Tom, breathing heavy. He looked like a snorting bull, but his horns had been blunted. The anger inside him raged so furiously he couldn’t form thoughts into words. Tom considred him with cold speculation, and when he decided there was nothing more to say, he turned and left while Robinson continued to huff and puff pointlessly.
 * 05-28-2012, 06:10Kate Banninga They just came in firing range when Kara shouted “Wait... that can’t be” she rechecked her instruments. “The Atlas is showing a cascade failure...” She looked up. “Ma’am, they’re dead in the water.”

“SONOFABIIIII.” Selina stopped herself hearing her mother’s voice in her head. You curse far too much, it makes you sound as if you have a tiny vocabulary.

They weren’t the only once that noticed the Atlas’s bad luck. The Scimitar immediately began to maneuver closer to the Atlas. “We need to do something, we can’t let this happen” Kara said as she watch the Scimitar getting ready to start boarding.

“Okay, okay...” Selina turned the tiny shuttle around, not really sure what she was going to do, it wasn’t as if they had the firepower to even get the bigger ships attention.

Then before they could act the Atlas began firing on the Scimitar with all they had. The Shuttle rocked heavily from the shockwaves having come far too close to the fray. Before they could react everything stopped. “Now what?”

“Can you check on Kate while I bring the shuttle around and see if they will let us return to the bay?”

Kara walked back to the tactical station and look at Kate. “Ma’am, she’s still unconscious, I think we need to get her to Sickbay”

“Got clearance, looks like we won!” Selina flashed a smile that faded quickly as she saw the limp form of Kate.

=/\=Shuttle Hermes coming in for a landing, we will need an immediate transport to sickbay.=/\=

“It’s alright Kate, we are almost home.”

Part Four of the JP with Selina

 * 05-28-2012, 15:42Jacey Adams Atlas

“Hey Adams!”

''Seriously? ''Jacey contemplated walking on, pretending she’d not heard him call her name. Then again, he’d probably noticed her physically wince when his british accent crossed her ears. Stopping her feet she turned, “Do you not have a job to do or something to entertain your time? We just finished the game and Engineering is a bit of a mess. I’m rather busy.”

“Hold up just for a second, please,” In a few quick strides he’d caught up to her, “Have you thought of what you’re going to say to the XO once we dock?”

“Vaughn?” Jacey’s brow rose, “I...”

“Exactly. Do you have any idea how much trouble you are actually in. Word gets around fast and you’re entirely unprepared for it. If you want, I can have a word with him before you do. You were following your Chief...”

Jacey put up her hand to stop him, “I don’t know if I’m hallucinating honest concern or if you’re just trying to freak me out so we can analyse my response during our next fun session of digging inside Jacey’s head but - “

“There are parties interested that would like you to remain in Starfleet with an untarnished record. The counselor shrugged, “I can’t help it if you refuse though.”

“You could just say that my father is paying you. No reason to beat about the proverbial bush.” Jacey took a step back, “I’ll take whatever the XO has for me and I’ll be honest about my involvement. If my record shows a bit of a smudge, I’ll at least sleep with a clear conscience.”

“I look forward to our session after that conversation,” He shrugged again, “Now, as you said, you’re busy.”

Jacey watched as he headed down the opposite end of the corridor. When he’d first arrived his comments and attitudes had shocked her. Maybe she even slightly cared what he thought - but now...she just turned around and carried on her way. His opinions were sometimes helpful. Othertimes, it was just like talking to her own father.
 * 05-30-2012, 23:05Gerhardt RahnerJacey had to do a double take as she was walking down the corridor, “Chief?” Her brow raised, “Got tired of Sickbay?”

“Oh I am quite sure I had at least a few more interesting minutes left,” he responded sardonically. “But as it seems we have won the simulation, I thought I might take a stroll. How is my Engineering Department? And where are you going?”

“Honestly, to find you.” She held up her PADD and offered it to him, “Engineering is alright, misses you and in need of some love.”

As Gerhardt glanced over the PADD, his brow furrowed deeper with each line. “Warp core ejection? And you kicked it, right? Yes, I see that here. Hmm... Gronthor... But, why would... hmm... What do you make of this, Jacey? Based on our current setting?”

“Me, I …”The stutter caused her to stop momentarily, “I think someone tampered with the coding for the game.”

“Oh, that is good. I was worried I had become overly suspicious.” Gerhardt tapped out a message to the Captain and forwarded the report along with it. “I really want that to be the end of this. I do. I really want to believe that simply sending in a report will fix this and see the responsible parties brought to justice.”

He started to stroll down the corridor, Jacey matching his stride.

“Sir..”She followed suit, “I was curious if...well someone asked me if I know...or knew how much trouble I was in from the holodeck/Miller smuggler...thing. Do I need to be worried?”

This brought Gerhardt to a halt. He looked at the young engineer with a concerned familiarity. “Jacey,” he couldn’t remember the last time he’d used her first name, “I fear I have placed you in too many precarious positions for your career. I think my current musings may be dangerous for you, so let me answer your question and then I must speak with... I am not sure who I will go to with this.”

He lightly rested a hand on each of her shoulders. “I will do everything to keep your position safe regarding the... Miller incident. I need you to do one thing to help me, though. Repeat after me: I followed orders; no one got hurt.”

“I..”Jacey furrowed her brow, “I don’t think they’ll buy that, Sir.”

Gerhardt tossed his head side to side non-committedly. “Well, perhaps. But if they will not accept that along with my official report and the confession Miller will be providing under oath... Perhaps we can go into business together when they hurl us out of Starfleet?”

“Hmm,” She smiled, “I feel much more comfortable with that backup plan. So,”Jacey straightened her shoulders, “I followed orders and, nobody got hurt. Sound about right?”

“Close, but remember you have to believe it,” he admonished her. Then, growing more serious, he added, “Really, Jacey. You have to believe that. Not just in front of whatever discipline board we may or may not have to face. You need to know that. No one died, no one will be maimed. And you followed the orders of a superior officer who used the high pressure of the situation and, quite frankly, dirty tactics to handle a situation you could not have been prepared for. I am the only one to blame, if blame must be laid. Well, Miller... no, this situation is mine. Repeat it again, Jacey, and let me know you believe it.”

“And what will happen to you if I do?” She took a step back, “You are the Chief, far more valuable than a...drone like me. I enabled Miller and I didn’t do my job when it came to the repair of the ship. I could repeat after you, I could even make myself believe it - but would I be able to live with the consequences of watching you take the fall for...me.”

“The repair of the ship is my responsibility,” he said, shaking his head. “And I should have thrown Miller out of an airlock long before this. As for me, eh, I am an old man, I have plenty of experience and competency, as well as a resplendent war record, but that is only because a superior officer took the blame for certain actions during the Xul war that I still feel responsible for. At worst, they will move me to the Corps of Engineers. Or the Academy. And I would not mind either of those. But if I know the Captain, and if he has any kind of pull in Starfleet, we will still report for duty the morning after the Atlas leaves dock again. Both of us.”

Jacey nibbled on her lip nervously and nodded her head, “Fine. But I won’t be impressed if you do get sent to some random corner of the galaxy and I’ll wind up fretting my pretty little head with guilt over it.” She sighed, “I followed orders, and nobody was hurt. Well..nobody worthwhile,” She cracked a smile, “I’ll leave out the last comment.”

Gerhardt smiled and winked. “That would be better, I think. It would seem we have some malicious code in the system that needs to be cleaned out. There should not be any great need until we make it back to the Station, so go ahead and pull one or two other engineer, as you need.”

“Can do, Sir.” Jacey held out her hand for her PADD to be returned, “It shouldn’t be a problem although, I have a feeling Miller or nobody else in Engineering put those new codes into the scenario. I’m pretty sure it was someone outside of our crew. Should I let the Captain know that as well?”

“Er, let me handle that one. You just get us cleaned up.”

Jacey mock-saluted, “Yes Sir.”

A JP with Jacey.
 * 05-31-2012, 08:54Kate Banninga''“Kate, are you ready for your story” a female voice yelled. Kate looked around her and didn’t recognised the room she was in. She was on a starship, but she didn’t remember this room. She walked over to the mirror to see a little girl with long brown hair in it, waering a pink pajama and holding the bear. When she noticed the bear she dropped it out of shock. She knew the bear. It was hers. It was the only thing she had left from the Firebrand.

“Katie,” a voice from behind her said. “are you ok? Your mother and brother are waiting for you?” Kate looked at the man that stood in the doorway. He was tall and slender and was wearing a red Starfleet uniform. “Daddy?” she said while running towards. He catches her and hold her close. “What’s the matter, Katie?” Katie, the nickname her father gave her. Hearing him say it one more time caused a lump in her throat. Without waiting for a answer he walked to the couch her mother and brother were waiting. As he put her down he said “I have to go, I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

“Please don’t go. I don’t want you to go” Kate yelled, knowing there wouldn’t be a tomorrow. “I’m sorry, sweety, I have to go. Someone has to steer this ship.” She had spend many hours on his his lap in a shuttle. He put her down again and walked out the door of there apartment. “Come here, Katherine” her mother’s voice sounded. “I was about to read the two of you your favorite story. Winny the Pooh and the Hunnyjar.” Still shaking she cuddled to her mother.

Then the room around her started changing. Her parents weren’t there anymore, only David was. They were sitting on a bench close to the window holding hands. A few minutes before they were awaken by one of the civilians on board the ship and taken to a escape pod together with the other children. From there they could see multiple vessels being destroyed by a borg cube.

Across from them were sitting two starfleet officers, talking to each other, not noticing the twins. “I can’t believe the entire senior staff decided to stay on board. The Captain’s order was very clear, everyone was to leave the ship.” “He needed their help. He could never do that last maneuver by himself.” The other women said. On a whispered tone she continued “The chance they will be able to get out on time is slim” and she closed her eyes in an attempt to pray for the lives of the people left on the Firebrand.

Kate stared out the window and saw their first home being destroyed. By now she knew that at that moment her parents died, together with the rest of the Senior Staff. Tears were running down her cheeks. All those years a go she had hoped for months that their parents would still be alive. But they didn't. '' Sickbay:'''
 * 06-01-2012, 02:39Adina Wolfe'''USS Atlas:

The simulation was over, and although klaxons had been blaring the whole time, the ship had been shaken better than the average Martini, and a crazy German had effectively shouted his way out of the room, Adina was just still laying there, wide eyed, staring at the dull, grey ceiling of Sickbay....

Rube sighed as she paced around her friend for the 1083rd time since she’d got back, and the tiny engineer had still barely moved an inch. With a lack of anything else to do the Hologram searched through the entire medical database encased in her program for the fifty-third time in the last ten minutes. And still it gave her the same result;

Nothing.

There wasn’t anything anywhere that explained why Adina was still like this. Medically she was fine. Hell, medically she should have started to become a little more responsive the moment the treatments had been administered when she had been brought down to Sickbay. And yet, still nothing.

“Oh come on girl." Rube whispered, "Wake up. You’ve got work to do, conduits to fix, Chief Engineers to correct, not to mention that lil Crewman Lianna is still waiting for an answer from you.” Rube chuckled, “At this rate I’ll dress you in the lingerie myself and drag you to her quarters....”

For the fifty-fourth time she checked, and for the fifty-fourth time there wasn’t an answer. “Is this payback? You finally getting me back for tempting fate in the Jefferies Tubes? For waking you up just in time to turn up late for your shift unless you run for it? Is that what you want, hmm? You want me to apologise? Fine, I’m sorry sweetie. I put you in the way of an ear bending and I’m sorry. If you ever need me for anything I’m 110% trustworthy, just so long as you wake up and take me back to our quarters...”

Nothing.

Fifty-Five. “Oh c’mon, what else could you want from me? I even got a job whilst you were away. You’re looking at the new EEH Mark R, at least that’s what the engineers are calling me, well the polite ones anyway.” The hologram let slip a small chuckle. “I heard Miller call me the Mark DD-cup. Luckily he’s scrubbing conduits until we get home thanks to a slight tweak on the roster...”

Nothing.

“Sweetie, please. I...I’ve got nothing left to offer you, nothing left to promise. Please baby, just... just wake up. I miss you, hear that? I want you back with us, even if it’s just to shout at me for talking your ear off.” A small tear ran down the hologram’s cheek as she finally stopped pacing and rested her head against the bio-bed. “I need you, that’s all there is to it.”

After a moment Rube stood back upright and made to start pacing again before stopping herself short, spinning to face the prone Engineer. “Come on girl” She growled, “Get up and smell the plasma, rise and shine, upsy-daisy... Damn it Adina! ''Wake. Up''!”

Before she even realised what she was doing Rube had brought her backhand down hard across Adina’s cheek, the loud, sharp slap echoing across Sickbay. “Oh! Oh shit!” Rube managed in a mild panic. “Sweetie, sweetie I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to and I’m sorry!”

Adina blinked.

Once.

Twice...

“Ow....”
 * 06-03-2012, 15:18Selina VimesSelina jogged after the med team, they didn’t seem too panicked, but the pilot felt responsible so she kept pace all the way to sick bay.

“She hit her head.” She said it about six times until one of the team turned around.

“Yes, yes we get it, that is why we are bringing her to sickbay.”

“Just trying to help! She ducked in between the doors just as the started to slide shut. Not that she couldn’t have opened them again...but, well...”YOWZA!” Selina burst out excitedly as the member of the medical team approached them. But her excitement was short lived as the giant bird person quickly ran a tricorder over Kate, pronounced her unconscious but undamaged, then got called away.

Minutes passed before someone took another look. Nurse Sayall looked at the bed’s monitor. “According to the monitor she has a minor cerebral contusion.” She looked at Selina. “Slight bruising of the brain. She probably will gain consciousness any minute now.”

“Pssst, pssssssssst.” Selina leaned over the biobed. “They said you are alright, and....” She tried to think of some enticement. “I hear they have really good cookies here.”

Kate wake up out her dream with a huge headache. She slowly opened her eyes to see her teammate standing over her. As she looked around she noticed she wasn’t in the shuttle anymore, but in Sickbay. “what happened, why am I here?” she asked on a whispering tone.

“Shuttle took a shockwave and flipped, you knocked your head.” Then Selina’s smile lit up as she looked around the room. “I hear we won. It was wild to watch, Atlas looked dead then lit up and blew the Scimitar all to hell.” She could tell by the tight expression on her face that Kate was still in pain. “Do you need me to get you something, hijack a hypo?”

“Anything to get me out of here” Kate said with a small smile. She tried to get up, she could think of thousand places she’d rather be than in sickbay.

“How bout a piggy back ride?” Selina turned around and leaned over.

The idea alone made her laugh. She sat up and put her feet to the site, grabbing her head when another wave of pain ran through her mind. She looked at the nurse and the other medical staff. Luckily they were all busy doing whatever it was the medical did all day. She lifted herself of the bed and leaned against it, hoping the world would stop spinning. “Can you try to find me something for my head. I need to get out of here, but like this I won’t go any far.” she almost begged Selina.

Selina looked around, then with a confident swagger snagged a hypo from a tray. “Pain killers, right?” Then sprinted off as the nurse started to grab it back as she said yes. “Got it!” Foot steps behind her had her administering the medicine before it could be grabbed back.

As soon as the hypo hissed against her neck the pain and the spinning stopped and she immediately went to the door and walked to the nearest turbolift. “I need to get to the Security Office, with the wargames over there must be tons of work to do.” She turned around to face Selina. “Thanks a lot for rescuing me out of there. I owe you one”

A merry wave to the irritated nurse brought a bigger smile to Selina’s face. “Nah, Kara took care of you while I flew, all I did was tag along in the end.” Impulsively, she gave Kate a big hug. “I am really glad we got to meet, now you will have to meet my other friend, Gronthor...he is really nice, just you wait...” Her happy chattering went on as the turbolift door closed in front of them.

JP with the wonderful KATE!!