Marquis mercenaries steal the old Nevada. Time for the Nevada-A to get in action for the first time.

Grand Theft Starship

Written by

The Crew of the USS Nevada

Captain Martok, Cmdr. Wee Harry, Cmdr. 1 of 1, Cmdr. Lirala Jal, Cmdr. John McDuff, Lt. Rick Sharpe, Ensign David, Counselor Grace Mitchell

The crew was sitting around chatting between themselves. Some were still joking about Acting Ensign David running into the post in the recent holo-deck tournament. The now irritated David was turning every which way to explain what happened but no one was paying attention. Most were to busy trying to guess what the Captains big news was. Some thought it was a new crewmember. But he was unlikely to make such a big deal about that. Could be they had received a commendation from Starfleet. But they hadn’t done anything recently that would merit such an honor. Harry sensed the growing tension in the room and leaned over to his captain.
“The troops are getting restless, maybe we should tell them about David while we’re waiting for John?”
Martok “Good idea no.1”
He stood up and took the podium.
“If I could have everyone’s attention”
He waited as every settled down
“While we wait for commander McDuff to arrive, I have some other news to announce. It gives me great pleasure to inform you all that Acting Ensign Davids promotion has come through.”
There was a flood of congratulations and hand shakes as Ensign David made his way through the row of seats and stepped up next to the Captain.
Martok took his hand “Congratulations Ensign. Number 1”
Harry stood up next to the two and handed Martok a small box. He took Davids hand “Well done David”
David “Thank you Commander”
Martok removed the pip from the case, and taking his old cadet pips from his collar, replaced them with it.
Martok “By order of Starfleet Command I hereby promote you to the rank of Ensign. And bestow upon you all the privileges and responsibility of that rank.”
As Martok stood back and clapped a huge cheer went up from everyone in the room.
David once again thanked his commanding officers and took his seat.
Harry whispered that John still wasn’t here. Martok let out a Klingon exclamation and the two walked over to the corner of the room.
 
=^=Martok to commander McDuff. What’s your status=^=
No response.
Martok looked at Harry
=^=Harry to McDuff, come in=^=
Nothing
=^=Martok to the Nevada, respond=^=
The two exchanged looks and Martok hit his commbadge again
=^=Martok to Ops=^=….
 
 On the Nevada lt. cmdr. John McDuff was walking down corridor 12-B towards transporter room 2. In a fresh uniform he was on his way to the station. When he turned the corner he noticed a power junction exposed. Curious, he walked over to see what work was being done, and to find out who had been responsible for such a blatant breach of protocol. There was a lot of raw energy flowing through that junction. It was dangerous to leave that panel open. Upon inspection he noticed that the relay had been reconfigured. It wasn’t servicing the systems it was supposed to. The power had been diverted. In an instant his photographic memory of the ships power distribution relays told him there was no longer any power to the transporter rooms, or the communications systems. Concerned he hit his commbadge and hailed the station. No response. The ships communications array was down but surely his badge should work? Checking a panel above the console he learned that there was a low level electromagnetic field around the ship, reflecting the transmission. Adding to his concern he noticed the E.M.F. relays had just constricted and locked down. The ship was powering engines. The Nevada was about to go into warp.
 
David turned to see a group off people standing around him, they were all giving him there Congratulations and shakin his hand....
David turned around and looked at the captain, he was standing in the corner of the room with Harry and both had consurned looks on there faces.....
 
McDuff was thinking as fast as possible after spending a whole afternoon in a 1 by 1,5 meter engineroom. So the comm and transporter systems were taken offline and the ship was powering warp while it was supposed to stay in spacedock for at least another week, that didn't add up... "What the hell is going on here" McDuff mumbled to himself. Then he heared footsteps in the corridor in front of him. He stepped back into an intersection an listened where the sound was going. It seemed to stop where he was standing minute ago. McDuff looked around the corner and saw an unknown civilian working on the conduit, there weren't too many civilans aboard the Nevada, and he didn't recognise this guy. It looked like he was closing the panel. Then he hit a comm device on his left arm, =*= McCool to Liah, comm and transporter systems wired, nobody is coming or leaving =*= He said.
Now McDuff really started to worry.
=*= Alright, we're taking over the bridge as soon as you're here. =*= A woman's voice replied.
=*= Be there in a minute =*=
"The bridge, a group of cadets is training ops there, damn I've got to warn them.", McDuff thought. He slowly walked away until he couldn't be heared anymore and then he ran to his quarters. "What was the name of that lieutenant who is leading the training team" McDuff thought while running. A corridor later he remembered and tapped his combadge
=^= lt. commander McDuff to lt. Forester, come in =^=
no response
=^= Forester, this is urgent, come in =^=
still no response.
"Computer, location of lt. forester"
>> Lieutenant Forester is on the bridge <<
"Why can't I reach him"
>> All communications to the bridge are blocked, training simulation in progress <<
"Override bridge communications lockout, authorisation McDuff zeta 314"
<<>>
=^= McDuff to Forester come in" =^=
Again no response, McDuff entered his quarters and locked the door.
"Computer, why can't I still reach lt. Forester"
>> Lieutenant Forester's combadge signal not found <<
"Damn!" McDuff shouted. He walked over to a closet to get his sidearm, the he saw the spacedock's walls moving past his window. "Shit, they already have the bridge" he said to himself. He sat down behind his console and accessed the external sensors. The Nevada was moving towards the spacedock doors, which were slowly opening. They must be quite well organised, someone was opening those doors on the station. McDuff turned around to a larger console behind his desk. "That does it, let's do something about these guys, nobody is stealing a ship while I’m on it. Computer, engineering controls to this station"
>> Unable to comply, starfleet voice access had been disabled <<
"Damn these guys work fast"
McDuff turned back to the sensor display, it was black. He tried to access it again, but he couldn't , nor the internal sensors, nor any other systems. Then all consoles in his quarters went black. The computer was locked out.
McDuff fell back into his chair, what could he do without the computer, he'd need internal sensors to see how many hijackers were on board and where the the training crew was. Except for them and McDuff there was no starfleet personnell aboard, he’d be needing their help. He picked up his tricorder and phaser from his desk, the tricorder couldn't scan beyond one deck above and below him and three sections on the deck he was on, that wouldn't help him very much. Enough to know if he was in any immediate danger of getting cought, but he wouldn't be able to know where they were going or what was happening on the rest of the ship. No he needed the ship's sensors, or....
"That's it", McDuff said to himself. "The Valiant's sensor array". He jumped up from his chair and left his quarters for the shuttlebay.
 
Martoks hail was answered by Admiral Jack W. Clark, CO, Starbase Bellicose.
=^=Martok “Sir, I can’t get through to the Nevada. Is the station having comm difficulties?
Clark “Negative. I think you’d better come up here captain”
 
Less than a minute later Martok stepped off the turbolift along with his senior staff.
Clark glanced at them briefly and then turned back to his station. He was with several other station personnel; they were all working furiously at their controls. Martok and Harry stepped down next to him.
“What’s going on Admiral?”
“See for yourself”
The view screen activated and the Nevada could be seen sliding through the huge space doors.
Harry “What the hell is going on!”
Martok “Tractor beam?”
One of Clark’s officers looked up. “It’s been disabled, that’s what we’re trying to fix”
Martok “Sabotage?!”
Clark “It’s too early to say”
 
By now the Nevada had cleared the space doors and was accelerating towards warp speed.
 
Clark “Lock phasers and fire, target their starboard nacelle, disable them”
The Lt. At tactical entered the command, immediately there was a huge power surge all over the station as the primary phaser array blew out. Consoles all over the command centre blew out in a hail of sparks. Fire erupted around the tactical station, the Lt. Was killed instantly. Emergency fire containment units activated and the flames were put out. Commander 1 of 1 rushed over to the charred station and placing the Lt on the floor took control of the station. The Nevada crew spread themselves around the damaged Ops centre and tried to help out.
 
Clark “Report!”
The Vulcan commander Kutal answered “The phaser array has been destroyed. Main power is offline; the primary computer core has been disabled. Switching to back-up processors. Internal sensors are coming back online. He paused for a moment. Heavy damage to decks 13 through 19, deck 15 has been obliterated. All critical systems are off-line, life support at 30% Casualty report coming in from all over the station”
Clark looked stunned, as was everybody else.
Martok “The Nevada?”
Commander 1 of 1 “Last sensor logs show she entered warp the instant the phasers discharged. She’s gone sir.”
 
The shattered Command centre of Starbase Bellicose was littered with repair crews and officers of all ranks and uniforms. Clark had recovered quickly from the shock of the devastating blow to his station and the loss of over 200 people, he gave quick, efficient orders. Martok was impressed with the composure of the crew.
The power relays for the main phaser array ran through deck 15, and the resulting explosion had destroyed the entire level with all hands. 85% of the casualties had been located in the area. The resultant secondary explosions had brought the station to the brink of collapse. But the crew had worked constantly for 8hrs to restore full life-support to all but a few decks. The others had been evacuated. The cargo bays became makeshift medical bays. There were hundreds of wounded, some seriously flooding into these havens only to be left waiting hours unattended because of the strain on the medical teams on 40 strong. The USS Hope, a medical ship would arrive in 12hrs to ease the tension, until then they were on their own.
 
Martok was helping ensign David in his efforts to get the sensors back online so they could try to locate the Nevada, while Harry organised the Nevada’s crew to help in the repairs.
 
Martok approached Clark “Admiral, one of my men was on board the Nevada, when she took off.”
Clark “Do you think he was involved?”
Martok “No, no, absolutely not. But I’m anxious to get him back.” He gave the Admiral a look he seemed to understand.
Clark “Well she suffered some damage from the explosion as well. And I can’t spare any of my people help fix her up.”
Martok “I understand sir, but my people will take care of that”
Grace, who overheard the conversation, queried what they were talking about.
Martok gathered his senior staff around him.
“I was hoping to announce this under better circumstances. However the current situation demands I get straight to it. So without further a due…..Harry”
Harry worked with the control to restore power to the view screen. At first the image was distorted. But with a few well- chosen commands he was able to clarify the image and the view screen surged to life. The crew looked in awe at what they saw before them.
Lirala “It’s beautiful.”
David “Is it?”
Harry “Ours? Yes Ensign”
Martok “Friends, I give you the USS Nevada, A”
Grace “It’s enormous”
Clark who had wondered over stepped in
“That she is. Newly commissioned. The most advanced in the fleet. Sovereign class. Maximum speed warp 9.93. 700 crew. 24 decks, spanning 685m in length. And most importantly. She’s being equipped with a cloaking device, courtesy of the Klingons, although it won’t be ready for 2months.”
Commander 1 “My visual implant is detecting imperfections in the ablative armour and hull plating. The vessel is damaged”
Martok “Yes she is. She took a beating during the explosion. The sensors are down, so is the weapons array. But most importantly the warp core is offline. And without McDuff, it’s not going to be easy to get it up and running. David I want you to make that your top priority. Lirala, get working on those sensors. Harry I want every member of this crew to familiarise themselves with that ship, see to it. 1, your assignment is obvious, I want that tactical system back online.”
Clark “Actually captain I’d like to requisition commander 1 of 1. I could use his expertise in tracking down our saboteur.”
Harry “So you do think it was sabotage?”
Clark “The space-doors were opened for them. The communications were cut. The tractor beam was disabled. The phasers set to overload. I think it’s a safe bet. We haven’t been able to get the main computer back online so communications with command have been severed, but I think that when they are restored, we’ll find that starfleet had never heard of that trainee group. As far as I know the cadets check out.”
“They do Admiral”
They turned to see someone walking down the short stairway towards them. Dressed in black he gave a smile that was so lacking in sincerity it would put commander 1 to shame.
Clark “And you are?”
Clade “Fredrick Clade, section 31”
Everyone in Ops suddenly tensed up
Clark kept his composure “Section 31 agents don’t usually just announce themselves upon arrival. It tends to defeat the purpose of being a spy wouldn’t you say?”
“Ordinarily yes, but current circumstances demand we act now, the target has already struck. We didn’t expect an attack for at least 48hrs”
Martok “You mean you knew someone was on board?”
“Yes”
Martok “You knew there was a spy on the station, and you did nothing!! You informed no one! Over 200 hundred officers have lost their lives!”
Clade “That is incomparable to the number of lives that will be lost unless this agent is found. I’m going to take command of the investigation.”
Clark “I don’t think so. Commander 1, escort this man to a holding cell.”
As one lead him away he turned back to face them.
Clade “I’ll be out in 5hrs. You won’t find him without me.”
 
When he had gone Clark turned to Martok “That’s all I need”
Martok “Well he can’t do much in the brig”
Clark “That was just to give us some breathing space. You don’t just arrest a member of section31. He’ll be out as soon as communications are re-established.”
Martok “Well, I have complete confidence in commander 1. He’ll do everything he can to track the person or persons responsible”
As Clark returned to his work co-ordinating the repairs Martok turned back to his senior staff.
“Harry, it looks like the tactical system is in your hands. Grace, I’d like you to stay on board the station. See what you can do in the medical bays. And keep your mind open for anything suspicious. Well let’s go everybody, we have a lot of work to do if we want to catch up with the Nevada before she gets too far away. I want progress reports on the hour.”
 
As the crew began to organise the repairs to their new ship Martok paused for thought. His CEO and friend was still on the Nevada. He hoped he was ok. He had faith in his abilities as an engineer as well as a tactician, but the odds were against him. And the further away from the station they got. The less likely he would survive.
 
Lirala enjoyed her new science station. Although the old Nevada had been a good ship, the new one was quite something. Sovereign class...wow. She thought that the captain had arranged the kidnapping in order to get a better ship jumped into her head quickly and she smiled. Good thing klingons weren't telepathic, or she'd have to fear for her life now. But there was another thought that crossed her mind, if the got the old ship back, would they have to give back the Nevada-A? Hopefully not. She just liked her new big science lab with her own private office too much. And somehow the chairs felt more comfortable. Or was she just imagining things now?
Only the thought that McDuff was still on board the stolen ship made her want to find it very quickly, she couldn't imagine that he was too happy to find himself on board with a former section31 agent or whoever that person was who stole the ship. Also who knew what he would do, even a steamrunner class ship could do some bad things if it got into the wrong hands. So although she liked the new ship so much she didn't want the old one back, she did her best to work quickly so they could start the search. She got science ready and had found what was left of the warp signature, they could be staring to trace the Nevada as soon as they could get out of the dock. But it would have to be soon, or after a lightyear or two the track would be gone. Therefore she decided to go down to engineering to lend a hand, now that McDuff was gone they could use all the hope they got.
 
Grace was in a shuttlebay doing what she could with the injured, there were so many she had lost count. All the time she kept her mind open even though the station's crews thoughts were creating a lot of pain she stayed with it.
Grace was reading a medical tricorder when "Wait, what was that I just heard? Or did I imagine it?" Grace put the tricorder down, went into the corridor where it was quiet keeping her ears and mind open, "Yes, there it is again"
Grace touched her comm badge
=^= Counselor Mitchell to Captain Martok =^=
=^= Martok, here. What is it, Grace? =^=
=^= Captain, I believe I have picked up a voice confirming deaths of 200 crewmembers on the station. =^=
=^= Have you been able to localize the voice =^=
=^= Sorry, sir, not yet. The most I can tell you is that the voice is close to my location, how close I can't be certain about. =^=
=^= Thank you, Grace. I will inform 1, he may want to talk to you. =^=
=^= Very well, Captain. Sorry it isn't clearer information, I am keeping my mind open, Mitchell out. =^=
 
After he recived his orders from Martok, David looked over the station and saw that the Nevada A's transporters were still workin, Good he thought, =^=David to Nevada, one to beam aboard=^=
As he beamed aboard the new ship the first thing he noticed was how much bigger the transporter room was, he thanked the ensign that beamed him over and made his way down to engineering. This was the first time that David had set foot on a Sovereign Class starship before, but at the Academy they had studied them in great detail and he was sure he would be able to remember the way there.
As David walked into engineering there was a handful of officers working at different stations,
"Report" David said
One off the officers stood up "Sir the sensors are back online but the weapons array and warp core are still offline"
"Right lets make the warp engingins our top priority"
As David and the other engineering staff got to work Lirala walked in.
"David is there anything I can do to help?"
David handed her a tricorder and asked her to watch the power output as he restarted the engines, nothing happened!
David looked at a crewman working at a station "What’s wrong?"
"Nothing sir" he said "Everything seems to be working fine, we just can’t get the warpcore to power up"
=^=David to Martok=^=
David told the captain their status and how everything was working fine but the warpcore just wouldn’t power up.
=^=Sir is there any way that the person that sabotaged the station could have done the same here, or even could be on this ship now?=^=
 
All that could be seen of Harry were his legs as they stuck out of an access panel while he worked on the tactical systems. His blue hand appeared as he gestured to the ensign assisting him to hand him a different tool. The ensign looked worried as Harry cursed loudly in Bolian. Climbing out and standing up, he went to the console and punched in some commands....then the console went black.
'Damnit!' he muttered, then tapped his comm badge,
=^=Harry to Martok=^=
=^=Go ahead, Harry, and it had better be good news=^=
=^=I'm afraid not captain. I've been working on the tactical systems for some time now, and everything I've done seems to have made things worse...standard procedures aren't working. I think it's safe to assume that whoever sabotaged the station has been over here on the new ship.=^=
=^=I'm on my way, Harry, let's not discuss this over an open channel=^=
=^=Agreed, I'll keep working on the weapons systems=^=
 
A short time later Martok walked up to Harry ... 'how are we doing commander?'
'I've managed to get power to the forward phaser banks, but the targeting systems are completely off line... they're about as much use as a Trionian humpbacked vole with a hypospray!'
Martok looked quizzically at Harry...'yes, whatever Harry. Anything else?'
'As a matter of fact there is,' Harry said, handing Martok a circuit board he had removed from the tactical station, 'definitely the work of our sabotuer...see how the relays have been fused, that could only have been done by hand. There's no telling how many of the ship's systems have been sabotaged, but we can't leave spacedock until we're sure that we've found every last one of them.'
Martok gave a frustrated growl... 'honourless scum!'
'I agree, captain,' he lowered his voice 'but how many people knew that we were taking over the Nevada A? You told me just before we arrived on base for shore leave, but none of the other crew....did the admiral tell many people?'
'I don't know, Harry, but you're right I think....they knew our timetable, they were able to infiltrate the old Nevada, and they were able to sabotage both the Nevada A and the starbase.... whoever they are ... they have the run of the starbase.'
'What about our friend from section 31?'
'they're a bunch of dogs...but they do think they act in the interests of the federation... I don't think blowing up a starbase is their style...even if doing nothing to prevent it is!'
Harry beckoned over the ensign who had been helping him.. 'ensign millgan, this is a sabotaged circuit panel...climb in there and find every other one that's been tampered with.'
'Aye sir!'the ensign replied enthusiastically, climbing into the access panel while Harry and Martok walked away together...
'Well, captain, it seems to me that we need to try and flush this saboteur out into the open...force him to make his next move'
'...and quickly, Harry, because every minute we spend here is too long for John.'
 
Grace was in the makeshift medicalbay with an injured crewmember when she was struck with a vision. The nurse working alongside her, immediately was alarmed but Grace came out of her vision just as suddenly.
"Nurse, this patient needs better attention then I an give him, please summon a doctor!" "Aye, sir." the nurse replied. Grace walked away where it was quieter and decided against using her comm bagde this was too important for discovery, opening her mind she directed her thoughts to one person, Captain Martok.
"Captain, the sabateur is on the Nevada, now. Where, I am not sure but I am sure he/she is on the ship. I recommend very secure communications. I am unable to leave the station until the USS Hope arrives and I'm not able to be telepathic with 1, due to his implants"
 
Harry tiptoed around the component littered bridge, dodging tool kits and legs which disappeared into bulkheads. Arriving at the ready-room door he pressed the button.
"Nice room" he muttered as he looked around, "much more spacious than the old one"
Martok "Harry a Klingon is never concerned with comfort. Would you like to sit on my Trialian leather couch?" he said with a grin.
Harry "Of course not sir. Shall I have someone remove the cosy furniture?"
Martok "We'll see how it goes. Anyway, down to business. Grace is convinced that the saboteur is on the Nevada, I want you to beam over to the station and find 1.”
Harry “That’s not going to be easy, you know he works alone. He could be anywhere on the station looking for our guy. And with internal sensors and comms down over there”
Martok “I’ve already thought of that. Take one of the type VI shuttles, scan for his cranial implant, you should be able to find him quick enough. Locate Grace and ask Admiral Clark if he can spare a few people to help in the search over here. Inform him of our suspicions. He should be able to lend a few security teams.”
Harry stood up “I’ll be back within the hour.”
Martok “Good, I’ll work on securing the Nevada. If he is here. I don’t want him getting off this ship.”
 
Martok entered engineering. “Report”
A very dirty and extremely agitated ensign David walked up.
David “Not good sir. I still can’t get the reaction started. Every time we get one system back up, another one goes down.”
Martok “Grace suspects the saboteur is on the Nevada at the moment. So we’re changing tactics. I want the entire ship locked down. Every access hatch every Jeffries tube every crawl space every docking port. I don’t want anything to open or close without our knowing about it. I want him trapped, and if he feels trapped, he might make a mistake.”
David “That won’t be easy without comms”
Lirala walked over “Not to mention the amount of man power we’d need”
Martok “I’m hoping to get reinforcements form the station, but for the moment you’ll have to make do with what we have here. All other priorities are rescinded. Lirala, you’re in charge of the operation till 1 gets back. Coordinate the security teams on all major corridors. Work from deck one down, sealing everything on the way and posting security teams. David monitor here progress from here. Use thermal sensors if you have to.”
David “They won’t be much good near power conduits of relays.”
Martok “I know but it’s the best we can do for the moment.”
 
Martok left engineering for the bridge to work on getting the sensors back online and left his two exhausted officers to begin the almost impossible operation of locking down a ship this size.
Lirala “I hope 1 comes back with a few Borg tricks up his sleeve”
David “If not we could be here for hours, even days, there’s a lot of places to hide on a ship this big.”
Lirala “John doesn’t have days. Get to it Ensign”
David “Yes M’am”
The two headed off with a renewed drive, ignoring their bodies’ screams for rest. As Martok entered the bridge and began working on the computer, Harry’s shuttle was beginning disembarking procedures.
 
As Harry's shuttle approached the station he activated the sensors, looking for borg implants...there it was....1 was making his way quickly along a corridor to a cargo bay. Adjusting the sensors, Harry saw that 1 was in a relatively quiet part of the station, not many other life-forms.
Keying in his commands, Harry sent the shuttle to dock at the stration, then takling a tricorder set to scan for borg signatures he headed towards 1's last known position.
 
In the makeshift medical bay, the injured were all being attended and the USS Hope was only an hour away. Grace approached the doctor in charge "Request permission to return to the Nevada, sir." Dr Dooley looked up from her patient "Permission granted and thank you for your help, Grace. How long have you been studing medicine?" "I haven't studied, Doctor, it just came naturally, I guess, and I was only to happy to help." Grace replied, then left the shuttlebay.
She turned down a corridor and saw no one around closed her eyes and began to search with her mind for McDuff "John, can you hear me? Are you alright? Do you know where you are?"
 
1 walked down the corridors of the now deserted Nevada.
Or at least it was supposed to be.
he had picked up voices further up the corridor and was now making his way towards them. but the voices drew no nearer.
everytime he came upon their last known location, the voices had reappeared further up. it was no figment of 1's imagination as the Borg had none. the things picked up by the implants of the borg had to be there unless there was a malfunction, of which at current there was none. 1 was wondering what it could be when suddenly the whole corridor plunged into pitch darkness. and in that pitch darkness a red beam suddenly appeared. "you can run, but you cannot hide. Resistance Is Futile"
1 continued his way down the corridor, searching for fleeting phantoms.
 
Meanwhile John stepped in his shuttle on the old Nevada's shuttlebay. He powered up the cabin's systems and the sensor array. He made sure the illegally strong sensors were at their lowest power output so they wouldn't be picked up by the Nevada's internal sensors. John entered a few commands and a holographic image of the Nevada appeared on the astronavigational HUD, with lifeforms displayed as dots on the different decks. It appeared that there were four people on the bridge, five in engineering, two in different corridors and seven people in the brig. The brig was going to be his priority, he'd need the help of those trainees. After entering another set of commands a plan of the brig appeared on a display besides the front seat. John saw six people in three cells and one guard. Then John set up a link between the Valiant's sensors and his tricorder, he also checked if it was still masking his biosignature. Then he left the shuttle for the brig.
 
John planned his route to get past the armory a few corridors before the brig. He opened a few equipment cases and picked up a backpack. He filled the backpack with six type II phaserrifles, six tricorders, a medkit and some more stuff. He took a compression rifle from the rack and grabbed a handful of power clips from a box. He picked up the backpack, when he swinged it around his shoulders he almost fell back. "Damn, that's heavier than I thought", he muttered to himself. "Why the hell does this have to happen to me anyway." He picked up the compression rifle and walked towards the door again, just when he was about to leave the room he thought of something. All the weaponry was fine, but if they wanted to get this ship under control, they needed to operate a little more covertly. They were outnumbered and these hijackers were pro's. Shooting their way through should be a last resort. He walked back in and looked through the rest of the equipment. He knew he could fight if nessecary, but he didn't know if the trainees had any experience beyond their starfleet training in hand to hand combat. "Hey... this is useful", John said while taking a box with hyposprays from a shelve. The sprays contained a strong anaestetic, ideal for taking out people quietly. He also found a knife which he put on his belt. Now he felt a lot more ready, when he was about to leave the armory his tricorder started beeping, when he took a look at it he saw three lifesigns coming towards him. He jumped towards a jeffriestube entry in the armory and climed in as fast as he could. When the hatch closed the armory door opened. Three men came in. John was listening at the other side of the hatch, he recognized one of the voices.
McCool - "Okay load the cart, we need riffles, clips and combat medkits for 35 men, get to it."
- "Something is wrong, some stuff is missing"
McCool - "Define 'stuff' Jonesey"
Jonesey - "Some phasers and tricorders. Yoou see anything more missing Jace?"
- "Well it's a mess in these boxes, I don't know what was supposed to be inside, so I don't know what's missing either"
McCool - "It's not supposed to be a mess in those boxes..."
=*= McCool to bridge, Liah some weapons are missing from the armory, I think we've got some stowaways on board =*=
=*= We'll track them down later, get the things we need. The plan goes first. =*= The woman who apparantly was in charge replied.
John was done listening, he needed to get to the brig fast now, so he quietly crawled through the jeffriestube, he could get out ten metres from the brig's door.
 
In front of the door he took one of the tricorders from his backpack, he held it closed in his hand and placed the pack against the wall. He picked up his rifle and just walked in.
The guard who was sitting behind the console jumped up, "Who the hell..."
"Here catch!" John said while throwing the tricorder towards the guard. The guard cought it and looked at it with a dumb expression on his face. When he looked up he got a very close look at McDuff's fist.
John grabbed the guy's communications device and the tricorder and then deactivated the forcefields. The five young cadets who watched the whole thing happen stood up now and walked towards the console in the middle of the brig. A lieutenant already walked up to John immediately when the forcefields went down.
McDuff - "Quick and quiet, we don't have much time" He got the backpack from outside the door and threw it to one of the cadets. "Hand these out, set the tricorders to mask you biosignature" He gave the lieutenant the tricorder he was holding. "Forester, right?"
Forester - "Yes sir, what is it you want mee to do"
McDuff - "Well first we...."
The Nevada dropped out of warp. McDuff looked at his own tricorder and pushed a few buttons. "There are two larger shuttles at our port side, they are moving towards the shuttlebay, I think they're troopships."
Forester - "Troopships?"
McDuff - "Yes, they're inside the shuttleebay now, I'm picking up 35 life signs in the shuttles.... They're garrisoning the ship."
Suddenly McDuffs tricorder started to beep again, and at the same moment some men came in. McDuff and the trainees jumped for cover. Forester hesitated and got vaporized a millisecond later.
 
“…And we’ve secured all decks besides the lower 5”
Harry “Good work Lirala, I’ll inform the Captain”
 
“Enter” Martok barked as Harry hit the buzzer to the ready room.
Harry “I have an update on the repairs.”
Martok “How’s it all coming together?”
“Lirala and David have nearly completed locking down the ship. 1 and Grace are back on board. And 1 has nearly completed his efforts in restoring power to internal sensors. I’ve managed to restore partial shields, but the launchers and phaser banks are still down. No use to us if we have to engage in a fire-fight with the Nevada.”
“Very good commander, now I think your top priority should be restoring power to the-“
 
Harry pulled his phaser ready to fire the instant he saw the transporter beam begin to materialise in front of the desk.
 
Martok stood up from his chair.
“How the hell did you get onto my ship”
Clade “I told you I’d be out in 5hrs Captain. Actually it only took 4. Forgive my delay in arriving, but I had to procure this little device. He held up a peculiar gadget.
Harry “A site to site transporter.”
Clade “Hmm, very good commander, you’re brighter than you appear.”
Harry moved towards him
Martok “Commander, not now.”
Martok “So Mr. Clade. What makes you think I’m not going to throw you in the brig?”
Clade “Let’s not go through this again Captain. The simple fact is you need me. We both want to capture the saboteur.”
Martok “We’re perfectly capable of completing that task ourselves.”
Clade began to wander around the room, looking at the various pictures on the wall. Martok hadn’t had time yet to redecorate.
“True, you’ll get him eventually. But I think what’s more important is not the end result, but the timeframe. The Nevada has been gone what, 26, 27 hours? Which means it could be nearly 4.5 light-years away by now. That doesn’t help John much. And how much longer till you actually catch him, and then there’s all that repair work….I’d give him 1 chance in 30 at best.”
Martok “What do you suggest?”
Clade “Allow me to search for him. I’ve been tracking him for many months now; I know his habits, his techniques. I could have him within 4hrs.”
Harry “You think we’re going to just let run around this ship? Unescorted? Why don’t we just give you the self-destruct codes and get it over with!”
Clade “You want your Chief Engineer back, I want that spy. It’s a reasonable deal.”
Martok had been listening to both of them argue the merits of his suggestion for some time before he made his decision.
Martok “Alright, Mr. Clade. I’ll give you access to the ship. But I have a couple of conditions. 1) My Chief of security Commander 1 will accompany you everywhere you go”
Clade “I really work better alone, I have to say that-“
Martok “These conditions are non-negotiable. 2)When the spy is apprehended. You will turn him over to Commander 1’s custody. I’ve heard too many cloak and dagger story’s about 31’s system of justice.”
Clade “Agreed”
Martok “One last thing. I you endanger anyone on this ship, section31 will have another nameless picture on the memorial wall. Understood?”
 
They both turned to leave but Martok called Harry back
“That was too easy number 1. Section31 doesn’t just agree to surrender someone they’ve put their time into tracking.”
Harry “You don’t think he’ll hand him over?”
Martok “I’m not sure, but I don’t trust a man who would let 200 people die to confirm a theory. He has no honour. Don’t turn your back on him.”
Harry was at the door
“Tell David to turn his attention to getting the warp core back online. I want to be ready to go the moment this guy is caught. No excuses number 1, see to it.”
“Yes Captain”
 
Martok turned back to his window. He thought about his friend. Hold on John, we’re coming.
 
Grace was in sickbay helping the Doctor assemble emergency supplies for when they engaged the Nevada. She was feeling sad for her inability to contact John.
Doctor "Excuse me, Counselor, but is there something wrong with your hearing that I should look at?"
Grace "Sorry, Doctor. I was just thinking about McDuff, wondering if he was alright."
Doctor "Grace, you are always the one to 'look on the bright side', maybe you should do that now. Haven't you told me before that you need a clear mind and heart to contact people, perhaps you should try that then attempt a contact again."
Grace "Your right, I need to clear my mind (and heart) but there are too many repairs that need to be done before we can get underway. I just don't feel right not helping."
Doctor "I would think trying occasionally would be the most helpful you could be right now. Why don't you go to your new office and try some meditation and attempt again. Besides, I imagine you are curious about your new office."
Grace "Perhaps you are right, it couldn't hurt for me to try. And, yes, I am very curious about my office, I haven't even taken time to locate it. Alright I'll go, but please let me know if you need my assistance." That said, Grace walked to a control panel to locate her office and left the sickbay.
As she entered her office, she thought it could use a few 'homey' touches, other then that it was beautiful and spacious. It looked more like living quarters then an office, which makes it easier for her to counsel if the crew feels comfortable.
Grace sat on the couch which faced the stars, looking at the stars always calmed her. She closed her eyes and cleared her mind of all thoughts but John McDuff. Grace was having difficulty attaining full meditation and started to wonder what was the cause of it, then she heard a noise from the adjacent room. She had her phaser in her hand then cried out "Is someone there?" She waited a moment no answer, she touch her comm badge and whispered
=^= Counselor to 1 =^=
=^= Yes, Counselor =^=
“I think someone is in my office. I am investigating. Keep an open comm link for now.“
-“I am listening, and Grace, be careful.”
“I will try”.
Grace slowly approached the room, suddenly someone came running at her, knocking her down. She got up and ran into the corridor, it was empty.
"Damn"
=^= Counselor, what is going on? =^=
“Sorry 1, he knocked me down, by the time I got to the corridor, he was gone.”
-“That's alright, Grace. Are you damaged? “
“No injury. I am walking the corridor, maybe I can sense something.”
-“Do not take any chances Counselor, I am on my way. 1 out.”
 
Harry had gone back to fixing the ship's tactical systems and with Ensign Millgan's help they thought they had it just about sorted. However, the incident with Clade was niggling at his mind. He tapped his comm badge....
=^= Harry to Martok, could you come here please...the tactical systems are just about repaired, but I want to talk to you about something. =^=
=^= Acknowledged, Harry, I'm on my way =^=
 
The captain and first officer were walking the corridors, overseeing the final repairs on their way to see David in engineering.
Harry was saying...'captain, our second encounter with Clade has been bugging me,'
'In what way, commander?'
'He seems to know a lot about our saboteur and his friends on the old nevada, but he hasn't given us any idea who it is so that we can assist. Do you think there's some sort of cover up happening considering he hasn't divulged the identity of our saboteur or hijackers?'
'It's possible...perhaps they are starfleet personnel, or maquis.'
'Hmmmm....you could be right captain.'
'Whatever Mr Clade's intentions are, I have every confidence in 1of1 keeping him under control,' the captain said as they entered engineering. They saw David working feverishly at a console, ordering his staff around authoritively and punching in commands.
'Ah...captain...you're just in time,' he turned and gave an order to an ensign, 'Watson, initialize the warp reactor,'
..the ensign punched in some commands while David scrutinized the display on his console.....'captain, we seem to be back in business... I have a stable warp field....give me a moment and you can have warp speed at your discretion.'
'Good work, David, we'll be under way shortly,' Harry said, 'but captain, I recommend a few test firings of the phasers and torpedoes before we engage the Nevada,'
'Sorry, Harry, we don't have the time. John has been left at the mercy of our hijackers for long enough...we're leaving as soon as commander 1of1 helps Mr Clade apprehend our saboteur. Come on, let's get to the bridge...'
 
John pulled out his handphaser and noticed he wasn't out of danger yet. He made a big leap to one of the cells, a phaser beam hit the wall next to the entrance. Two cadets were hiding behind the console in the middle of the room. A joung vulcan was in the cell with McDuff, John couldn't see the other cadets.
The Vulcan cadet came standing next to McDuff with his back to the wall. "Sir may I suggest laying down defensive fire?"
- "Right, you'll stand I'll kneel, on my mark"
The firing from the door stopped.
"NOW!!"
McDuff and the cadet jumped out of cover and fired at the door. They hit the two men that were just entering the room. McDuff quickly ran towards the door panel. He closed and locked the door.
"Everybody into that jeffriestube there! Quick!"
The two cadets behind the console stood up and started opening the hatch and throwing in some equipment. One of the cadets had taken a hit in the leg, a girl was helping him into the jeffriestube. McDuff entered last behind the vulcan cadet and quickly closed the hatch.
 
McCool was angry. Some asshole was running around the ship interfering with his work and now he put him behind a closed door. Those incompetent guys had been trying to open it for at least half a minute now. The prisoners had all the time they'd need to coordinate their defence in there. He pusched a few buttons on his thoronrifle.
"Get out of the way damnit!"
The men were barely half a meter away when a big blast blew out the door. McCool shouted some orders and four men entered the room shooting into the smoke. The shooting stopped quite quickly when the smoke cleared and McCool walked in. The room was empty.
 
1of1 was walking the corridors with Clade, who was scanning the area using a tricorder that didn't look like standard issue.
'Mr Clade, what is the nature of the scanning device you are using?'
'I'm afraid that's classified information my borg friend,' Clade laughed, at which 1 gave him a withering look.
'Whatever its origin, is it any closer to finding the intruder?'
'I believe so, commander 1. His encounter with Counselor Mitchell was his biggest mistake ... we have a trail to follow, and we should catch up soon.'
1of1 tapped his comm badge, =^= Captain, this is 1of1. Mr Clade reports that we will apprehend the intruder imminently. =^=
=^= Keep me informed commander =^= came the reply.
Suddenly, Clade stopped in his tracks outside the entrance to an engineering access grid.... '1, he's behind this door.'
1of1 drew his phaser, while Clade removed his own phaser and another piece of equipment that 1 didn't recognise.
'Mr Clade, what...?'
'Don't ask commnader, classified section 31 issue. Get the door.'
1of1 stood by the door controls and keyed in the instructions. The door slid open, and there was someone, in standard starfleet uniform, but 1 didn't recognise him....the saboteur!
The man who appeared to be human wheeled around from whatever piece of damage he was trying to cause, reaching for his phaser, but too slowly, as he was stunned by phaser blasts from both his pursuers, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.
1of1 tapped his comm badge, =^= Captain, we have the intruder =^=
=^= Good work, 1, escort him to the brig =^=
'I'm afraid I can't allow that Captain Martok,' said Clade sinisterly, tapping a control on the other device he held. 1of1's cybernetic implants glowed and sparked, and he went rigid, falling to the floor. Clade continued, 'Unfortunately I have had to incapacitate commander 1 using a small toy we devised when there was a more serious threat of Borg invasion. He's quite alright, and is fully conscious and aware of what's going on, he just can't do anything about it. We can't allow our friend here to fall into your hands...we have other plans for him. Until we meet again, captain.....'
With that, Clade activated his site to site transporter, both he and his prisoner disappearing....
...on the bridge Martok roared...'trace that transport!!!'
'I'm sorry captain, we can't! Clade is jamming our sensors!' shouted the crew member manning ops.
'Damnit!' Harry cursed. 'Get a medical team to 1of1's position.'
Martok growled... 'we don't have time to look for him. Bridge to engineering, David, are we ready to sail yet?'
=^= That's affirmative, sir. We have warp speed at your discretion.=^=
'About time too,' said Harry, going over to the navigation console, 'Sir, permission to leave starbase?'
'Confirmed number 1. Follow the Nevada's last known trajectory, as soon as we clear the starbase, go to maximum warp.'
'It would be my pleasure sir,' Harry replied, guiding the ship out of starbase, then punching in commands as the maiden voyage of the Nevada-A finally got under way as with a whoosh she went to warp.
Martok glared at the viewscreen as the starfield flashed by...
'...hang on, John. We're coming!'
 
John looked up from his tricorder, staring at it's small display that long gave him a headake. They were sitting in a large intersection a few decks from the brig. John had been scanning the ship with the Valiant's sensors, it all looked pretty grim. The ship was well garrisoned, armed guards on every deck and searchparties in the jeffriestubes. He knew a little more about the cadets now. The wounded kid was Ryan deSoto, he was training to be a starship pilot. Then there was Jason Bixby, he was a security officer, he was doing command school to be a CTSO. Ray Barclay was a nephew of a part-time instructor from whom John had comm tech lessons, he seemed to have the same nervous touch as his uncle. He was an engineering assistant, training for department head. He hadn't talked to the girl much, she was a junior ops officer. Her name was Jenny but John didn't catch her last name. She was quite upset about the whole ordeal. After escaping the brig she'd had a panic attack, but Jason managed to calm her down, they seemed to be acquinted. The vulcan cadet was named Jaroq, he was very bright, even for vulcan standards. He was the team's CScO.
John took another look at his tricorder, he let the Valiant scan outside of the ship. If only he had an idea where they were going... Well, time to get moving again.
"OK people, I know we're outnumbered but we have to try and stop these people. Their leaders took over the bridge, any impressions" John started .
Jason was the first to reply - "They are well organized, that's for sure.".
- "And well armed" Ryan added.
"They must be some militant organisation, their leader is a woman." Jaroq mingled in the conversation.
McDuff - "Liah, I heared this guy McCool call her that. McCool is the one that's tracking us down, I think he's her right hand or something. Well we need a plan and some space to execute it, we need some tools first. I want to disable the locator in some combadges and scramble their frequencies so we can use them undetected and unmonitored. I've got one of their comm devices, we need to decode it so we can monitor their comm traffic, those are our priorities for now. Then we've got to think of some..."
John stopped talking when they heared a plasmaconduit in the jeffriestube going quiet.
"We're dropping out of warp" John said. He opened his tricorder and scanned outside the ship.
"We are entering a nebula, they are hiding the ship!"
Jason - "Hiding it? What for?"
McDuff - "I don't know, but we now know oour next objective...making sure starfleet detects us"
 
Commander 1 “They’ve locked on”
Harry “Evasive manouvers!”
Martok “Pattern Alpha 6”
Lirala “I’m detecting a power surge in their forward phaser array, I think it’s-”
The bridge of the Nevada-A rocked with the impact as her sister ship pounded into her forward shields.
Martok “Come about to 367, 215”
Commander 1 “I have been unable to lower their shields, they must have changed the command codes.”
Martok “Load forward torpedo launchers”
1 “Torpedoes loaded and armed. Incoming torpedoes”
Harry “All hands brace for impact!”
Consoles exploded on the bridge, Lirala was thrown from her station, a deep cut in her throat.
1 “Shields down to 54%”
Martok “Fire torpedoes!”
1 “Torpedoes away”
Martok watched helplessly on the view-screen as the torpedoes missed their intended target and flew harmlessly away
1 “Targeting sensors are not functioning”
Martok “Manual targeting, fire phasers!”
 
The Nevada-A let out a spectacular spray of phaser fire that, of the 13 high-energy busts released, only two hit the target.
 
1 “Their aft torpedo launcher is down, and their shields have been weakened. But they’re still coming.”
Another volley shook the mighty Sovereign class vessel.
1 “Shields down another 10%. Pahsers are offline”
Martok “Ready quantum torpedoes, manual targeting.”
Harry looked as his commanding officer. He couldn’t believe he was about to destroy his own ship. Kill his Chief Engineer.
1 “Captain?”
“I can’t allow the Nevada to continue with Terrorists at the helm! Fire”
1 “Launchers are off line! They’re preparing another spread of Torpedoes”
 
The Nevada was rocked heavily with the continuing impact of high yield torpedoes on the shields and hull.
 
Harry “Casualty reports coming in from all over the ship”
David “We’re loosing main power”
Harry “Captain”
Martok punched his fist down on his armrest “Helm, come about, get us out of here, warp 3”
 
The Nevada turned and warped away from danger
Harry stood up and casually stepped over Lirala =^=computer end program=^=
 
Stepping out into the corridor he took a pad from a passing ensign and thanked her for the report.
“We have to get those targeting sensors back online or we’re going to have a real problem” he mused the problems to himself as he made his way to the bridge and the captains ready room
 
“The lateral sensor array should be up by the end of the day. David’s team has pulled three double shifts to get the system back. And Lirala has been working non-stop on the problem with the targeting sensors. I’ve run a few simulations, and we stand to take quite a beating unless they’re fixed before we encounter the Nevada. So I’ve increased the personnel available to Lirala and she says they should be back up by 16:00”
“Any word on the search”
Harry slumped down in a chair opposite Martok. “I’m afraid not. Star-Fleet has dispatched two Venture class scout ships to help in the search, but there’s a lot of space cover. Lirala estimates that they could be in one of two dozen systems by now. It’d help if we knew where they were headed.”
“Well we may have some good news on that front. Have a look at that.” Martok slid the pad he had been reading over the desk.”
Harry began to read through it “So Starfleet is claiming it had no knowledge of Mr. Clade. Hmph. I suppose they’re still refusing to acknowledge S31?”
Martok “Unfortunately yes. But Starfleet intelligence has confirmed that the training crew which boarded the Nevada were part of a Renegade organisation known as “New Maquis” so it’s safe to assume that our saboteur was one of them.”
Harry looked at him a little surprised “New Maquis?”
Martok “They’re a bunch of extremists sprung from the shattered remains of the old Maquis.”
“But I thought that the Maquis were destroyed by the Dominion”
“Not all of them, the one’s which weren’t captured or imprisoned by Federation set up their base on Dremtack, an isolated world on the fringe of the Federation.”
“What’s their agenda.”
“Simple, revenge. According to intelligence they’ve vowed vengeance for the annihilation of the Maquis by Cardassia and her allies. But with Cardassia under Federation-Romulan-Klingon control, and the Dominion back in the Delta quadrant, they have no one to attack. Except of course for-”
“The Breen.”
Martok sat back and stretched his hands behind his head. “The Breen”
Harry sat forward “But the Breen entered the war towards its end. The Maquis had already been dealt with by then.”
“True but they were allied to the Dominion and Cardassia and according to the New Maquis, hold an equal share of the blame of their allies. Besides, they’re angry. Their reasoning my be questionable but their feeling is not.”
“I know, I read the reports. Labour camps, torture, mass executions.”
Martok “And now they’re angry. Most importantly their angry with the Federation for doing nothing to prevent it.”
Harry “But they’re still Federation citizens. Surely they wouldn’t attack a federation outpost?”
Martok “I hope not. But they were willing to kill 200 people on a Federation space station. And once they see us coming for them, who knows what they’re liable to do.”
“There are 2 Breen stations within Range of the Nevada, one is a mining station on Calac II, and the other is a colony in the Dracarin system.”
“That’s our top priority, preserving the Cease Fire agreement with the Breen. I don’t want to see a Federation vessel armed with tri-cobalt torpedoes attacking a Breen outpost. It could drag us into another war.”
Harry “The colony is 6 days away at warp 7. The mining station is less than 3”
Martok “Then that’s our destination. I want those weapons ready by the time we get there commander.”
Harry “Sir, even at Maximum speed we won’t arrive there before the Nevada does.”
Martok “I know Harry, let’s just hope that’s not where they’re headed.”
 
=^= Mitchell to Captain Martok =^=
=^= Martok here, Grace do you have anything? =^=
=^= I have had a vision, sir. It is of John and a nebula, and Captain, he's alive =^=
=^= Well done, Grace. Martok out. =^=
Martok "Harry, have Lirala scan for a nebula in the vicinity of both the colony and the mining station."
Harry "Right away, Captain."
Harry left the ready room with a lighter heart, knowing that John was still alive.
 
McCool looked at the reflectoin his face in a panel in a corridor on deck six. He felt his scar ache, it always did when he was in a bad mood. Not his normal everyday bad mood but when something or someONE was really ticking him off.
"We haven't got a clue where they are sir, internal sensors aren't picking up anything", the mercenary walking next to him said.
- "Then send more people in the jeffriestubes DAMNIT!!! Kill those kids, every one, got it?!"
"Eh...yes sir", the now lightly troubled soldier replied.
- "But try to keep their commander alive, I want him myself..."
"Yes sir"
- "THEN GET TO IT!"
The mercenary almost ran away to a nearby turbolift. McCool continued walking, he was on his way to torpedo storage to see how far the men were with the package.
=*= Bridge to McCool, have you dealt with those troublemakers now or not? =*=
McCool =*= They're playing hard to get, but I'm on top of it. I don't think they're much of a threat though. There isn't much they can do in their position. Has delivery boy arrived yet? =*=
Liah =*= You just worry about getting the package ready in time, ok? And I don't care how harmless these assholes are, just get rid of 'em. =*=
McCool's face now ached even more.
 
 
In the meantime McDuff started making plans
McDuff - "Okay, first things first, we neeed tools, some combadges and a better hidingplace. I've been monitoring the hijackers search efforts. They just searched the port nav-thruster maintenance room, so they won't be coming back there for a while. It's only two or three sections from here and it's one of the most remote subsections of the ship. I've got some tools on the Valiant and I can get combadges in the supply room next to the shuttlebay. Jaroq, take the lead here, go to the nav- thruster and hold there. Jason, Ray, you are with me.
Jaroq crawled in a jeffriestube armed with his phaserrifle, Jenny helped Ryan up and through behind him. While John was working on his tricorder Jason closed the hatch behind them.
McDuff - "Ray, take my tricorder and givee me yours. I've plotted a route around the seachparties, but keep an eye on them, Jason take the rear. Our path is a little longer, we might get in a fight."
- "Yes sir", Jason replied while picking up his phaserrifle.
"Ray?"
- "Eh...yes...yes sir, scan for searchparties, will do."
John left his compressionrifle behind, it was way too bulky to carry in a jeffriestube. Instead he pulled out his phaser. Then they started moving to the front of the ship. After a few minutes crawling a hatch suddenly opened next to John. When he looked in it's direction he looked right into the nozzle of a phaser. In a reflex the arm with his phaser had moved to the hatch. A young man in a starfleet uniform was looking in the nozzle of John's phaser.
"Who the hell are you?" McDuff asked.
- "Same question", the guy replied.
Barclay - "Sir, I can't see him on sensorss"
John saw an opened and active tricorder on the man's belt. "That's because he's masking his biosignature too." McDuff said while putting down his phaser. "So, it looks like you don't want to be found too...eh...ensign?"
The starfleet office lowered his sidearm too.
- "...Rick Sharpe, Nevada's CNO. I was looking for someone to report in to when I got into this...situation."
McDuff - "Well you can hook up with us thhen, we're heading towards the shuttlebay for some combadges and tools to scramble them".
Sharpe - "OK, thank you sir."
A minute or five later they exited the jeffriestubes in the corridor behind the shuttlebay. After getting the combadges they entered John's shuttle.
Sharpe - "Why are all this shuttles systeems on?"
McDuff - "It's been sending sensor data tto my tricorder. We've been spying on the hijackers"
Ray and John sat down at the small table behind the cockpit and started working on the combadges and the hijacker's comm device McDuff picked up earlier. Sharpe and Jason kept an eye on the shuttlebay from the cockpit. When John and Ray were almost done all the lights in the shuttlebay went on. Jason called John. Mercenaries entered the bay with antigrav lorries carrying what looked like big torpedo's.
McDuff - "Computer blind windows"
Valiant's windows turned black before anyone noticed the men in the cockpit. The hangar door opened and a large shuttle entered the bay.
"What's that?" Ray asked.
Sharpe - "Some kind of cargo shuttle?&quoot;
Jason - "Heavily armed for a cargoshuttlle"
Sharpe - "Suits their profile..."
McDuff - "That's not what worries me, butt those are the tricobalt torpedos!"
Sharpe - "Now that's bad."
The mercenaries started loading the torpedos in the shuttle.
McDuff - "We need to know where they're ttaking those tricobalt torpedos, Ray, Jason, the side hatch is out of their sight. Take the combadges and the hijackers' comm device and get into the jeffriestubes through the hatch behind the shuttle. Go back to Jaroq and the rest. Ray, you should try to find a way to increase the range of your tricorder, it'd be safer to know where the searchparties are going, take some of my tools with you. Don't try to do anything else, we'll send help to take back the Nevada.
Sharpe - "Oh, we're leaving?"
McDuff - "Yes, we're gonna follow that shhuttle, a problem?"
Jason - "You're just gonna fly this shipp out the shuttlebay and follow them, just like that?"
McDuff - "That's the idea".
Sharpe - "You do know what kind of weaponn a federation starship carries?"
Ray - "And have you seen the turret onn that shuttle?"
McDuff - "They've got to see us first. Thhe Valiant's hull is coated with a sensor refracting layer. It's as good as a cloacking device for sensors. Now get moving, before they leave"
Ray grabbed the stuff from the table in the back cabin and put it in a backpack. Then he and Jason left and crawled into the jeffriestube. John had another look at the mercenaries. A man with a big scar on his face was shouting orders, they were loading the last of the torpedos. When that was done the man left the shuttlebay. The cargoshuttle left the bay.
McDuff - "Rick, get into the copilot seatt behind me."
Sharpe - "Yes commander"
McDuff - "Computer, emergency power-up&quuot;
With a humm all systems came on line and the shuttle started hovering above the shuttlebay floor. The few men still working there turned around shocked. One of them ran towards the bay constrol station. John steered the Valiant to the middel of the bay in launch position, but the bay door was closing.
Sharpe - "We're not gonna make that."t;
McDuff - "They want it the hard way, arm phasers. Sorry Nevada, this is gonna hurt just a little bit."
A phaser beam from the Valiant shot a small hole in the door. The decompression caused the door to blow out entirely. The Valiant and a few men who didn't make it out of the shuttlebay in time blew out into space. John engaged the impulse drive to pursue the shuttle.
McDuff - "Where are they going Rick?"t;
Sharpe - "I can't see a thing in this nebbula, I don't know"
McDuff - "The sensors are still at 5%, I didn't want them to be picked up by Nevada's internal sensors. Set them to full power, trust me, you'll se them."
Sharpe - "OK. They moving to the perimeteer of the nebula. There's another ship there, a small starship. The shuttle is docking there. Wait a minute... The Nevada is powering it's engines, it's moving to the other side of the Nebula. They've engaged warp and are moving towards the Calac system at warp 8."
McDuff - "What do we do now? Check out thhese guy here or follow the Nevada?"
Sharpe - "Donno...it's your call."
McDuff - "I'm setting a course for the Caalac system, we can't leave those trainees. If we lose the Nevada out of our sight now we may never see it again."
The Valiant moved out of the Nebula and engaged warp.
McDuff - "We can only do warp 7. Whateverr they're planning, we'll be to late to stop them. Open a channel to the starbase, at least we can try to warn someone and keep an eye on them."
 
The door to Martok's ready room chimed,
'enter' the klingon said, looking up from the padd he was reading as Harry walked in.
The Bolian first officer stood to attention...'sir, repair teams report that the malfunctioning weapon systems are operating at 80-85 per cent efficiency. We have full power to the phasers and should have full torpedo capability within the next hour. It's the targeting scanners that are still a problem. Without any testing we can't be sure of their reliability.'
'We don't have the time to waste testing them Harry, every moment we waste endangers John, the cadets and the cease fire with the Breen. I'm afraid we're going to have to take our chances when we engage the Nevada.'
'Unfortunately, captain, I agree.'
Martok scowled thoughtfully, 'time to arrival?'
'30 minutes,' replied Harry.
'How is Lirala doing scanning for a nebula?'
Harry tapped his comm badge =^=Harry to Lirala, can you join us in the captain's ready room with a report on your progress=^=
 
=^= On my way Sir =^= Lirala said. She hit a few buttons in order to copy her collected data to a Padd that she was going to bring to the captain.
She had spent the last several hours in the science lab and she was rather tired. But she knew she wouldn't get to sleep much until they had found the old Nevada and safed McDuff. At least she now had evidence on where they were going...
When she reached the ready room the captain and Cmdr. Harry were waiting for her already.
"Well, what have you found Lirala?" Martok asked her.
"At first I didn't find anything" Lirala said. "I spent hours recalibrating the long range scanners and searching through the database for a nebula close to the mining station or the colony."
"So you think they didn't go there?" the first officer asked her.
"No Sir, I said at first I didn't find anything. Until I realized my mistake. I had just searched the immediate surroundigs of the locations, including the direct way there. There is no nebula anywhere to find. But if we assume that they didn't take the directest way, but more a way around so they will approach the station from a different side, then there is a nebula."
"But why should they take a detour? They must know we are following them." Martok said.
"Yes, but they must also know we are quite far behind. They had the time to rendez-vous with a ship, or pick up any supplies they would need for whatever reason, or they just wanted to get us off track by not heading to their final destination on the most direct way. I can see various possibilities for a detour."
"So if they have passed that nebula when the Counselor had her vision, where would you assume they are now?"
"Unfortunatley that nebula is not too far away from the mining station. If they passed it by the time the counselor had her vision, and if they won't do another detour, they will very shortly reach the mining station and there is no way we can get there in time to stop them!"
Martok sighed, although he was glad that they now knew where to go, it might also be that when they got there it would be way too late already and the Nevada with McDuff on board would be heading to their next target, wherever that might be.
=^= Martok to the bridge, keep direct course for the mining station, maximum warp =^=
=^= Aye Sir =^= came the reply from Helm.
In that moment David called over the intercomm.
=^= Captain Martok, we are recieving a distress signal from the mining station. They are under attack! =^=
Martok, Lirala and Harry all walked on to the bridge.
"Report David" Martok barked
"Sir we just picked up a signal form the breen mining station, audio only."
>This is the mining station.....< The signal fadded.
"David sort that out" Martok said
"Workin on it" David replied
>We are under attack from an unknow ship, shields are failing, we need help right.....<
"David???" Harry asked
"Sir, they have stoped transmitting, thats all we got"
"Scan for the station on long range sensors" Harry said
"Its hard to tell whats going on sir, i cant get a clear reading... but i am picking up tricobalt wepons fire"
Martok slammed his fist on the arm of his chair "ETA ensign" looking at the young ensign at the helm.
David looked at his readout...
'ETA to the mining colony in 15 minutes'
Martok's brow furrowed in concentration,
'Engineering, reroute power to the warp drive, I want everything we can get from these engines! Get us there as soon as you can!!'
=^=Acknowledged, captain, we're working on it!=^=
David spoke up, 'captain, receiving another message from the mining station,'
'On speakers'
>'This is mining station Arkon....we are under attack by a federation starship! Repeat...we're being attacked by a federation vessel! Any Breen ships in the area please respo...<
The speakers hissed with static as the transmission ended abruptly, and there was a stunned silence for a moment on the bridge as the impact of the Breen message sank in.
Harry broke the silence... 'David what's our ETA now?'
Nervously, David replied '7 minutes'
Harry turned to Lirala, 'You'd better get those long range sensors scanning for Breen ships approaching our location Lirala.'
'Aye sir,' the Trill replied, setting about her task urgently, then almost immediately....'sir, there's something on sensors,'
Martok whipped around to face her, 'the Breen?'
'Negative, captain,' she replied, checking her readings again, 'It appears to be a federation shuttlecraft!'
 
Sharpe - "Channel open commander"
McDuff =^= This is the SS Valiant for starbase Bellicose, priority one. =^=
Bellicose =^= Valiant? From the Nevada? What is your status? =^=
McDuff =^= The hijackers of the Nevada have offloaded Nevada's tricobalt torpedos on a small battleship. It is currently arriving in the Calac system. I am in pursuit and will arrive there in 5 minutes =^=
Bellicose =^= Co-ordinate with the Nevada, they are on their way towards you. =^=
McDuff =^= The Nevada? I just came from the Nevada! It's been hijacked! Don't tell me you didn't notice THAT!"
Bellicose =^= Oh believe me, we've noticed. Hail the Nevada-A, they'll explain, Bellicose out. =^=
McDuff - "Nevada...A....ohh-kay....Rick, hail the Nevada-A"
Sharpe - "Channel open"
 
Martok was walking back and forth over the bridge, enfuriated by his inability to act for the next 5 minutes.
Lirala - "Captain, we're being hailed, itt's the Valiant!"
Martok - "Valiant?! On screen!"
John's face appeared on the screen, suprised when seeing his shipmates on the bridge of the new Nevada.
McDuff - "I get the feeling I've missed ssomething, did I miss any staff meeting lately?"
Martok - "Later commander, report"
McDuff - "We're in pursuit of a small batttleship carrying Nevada's tricobalt torpedos, it's attacking a station in the Calac system. I'll be arriving any minute now."
Martok - "Try to divert their attention ffrom the station, keep them occupied until we arrive."
McDuff - "Will do, but hurry. This thing outguns me and is faster in warp. Valiant out"
Martok - "Let's hope we make it before thhe station falls. Helm, accelerate to warp 9.991! "
 
Martok continued to stare at the view screen.
Harry "Life-signs?"
Lirala "None sir"
The scene was one of complete devastation. The wreckage of the station still smouldering 50 miles below them. They were helpless to prevent it. Helplessness, the feeling which soaked the bridge.
Martok “How many people unaccounted for?”
David “According to the Data-base, a typical Breen mining facility would house up to 1500.”
Commander 1 entered a command into his console. “The weapons signature is a match. It was the Nevada.”
Martok stood up and walked towards the view screen. “How could we have let this happen?……1500 people”
Harry stood up and walked up to him
“Sir, there was no way you, or anyone else could have-”
“Damn it number 1 it was our ship! My ship!”
David “Captain the Valiant just dropped out of warp”
Martok started towards his ready room “Signal the Breen government that they will receive a full report on this incident and have commander McDuff report to me as soon as the shuttle is docked!”
Harry’s eyes followed him until the doors closed behind him. “Stubborn as a Klingon” he thought as he took his seat.
=^=Nevada to Valiant, begin docking procedures. Shuttle bay two
Mc Duff “Acknowledged commander”
“Good to have you back John”
“Good to be back sir, McDuff out=^=
 
Mc Duff “Permission to come aboard commander”
Harry turned and smiled “Permission granted. Good job John. I see you’ve brought us our new helmsman?”
Sharpe came quickly to attention “Ensign Rick Sharpe reporting as ordered sir!”
“Better late than never eh Rick?”
“Yes sir, sorry sir. Got kinda held up back there.”
Harry smiled, “take your station Ensign”
“John, you’re wanted in the ready room”
Walking by Ops David gave him a nod “Welcome back Chief”
 
After ten minutes the two emerged.
“The Chief has informed me of who we’re dealing with. I would appear that we have more than one rogue Starfleet vessel. The Nevada’s tri-cobalt torpedoes have been offloaded onto another ship. We must re-aquire them. In Maquis hands they could cause tremendous damage.
But we must also prevent the Nevada from destroying the colony at the Dracarin system. To that end I’m sending Mc Duff back in the Valiant.”
He turned to face John “John, your orders are to secure the torpedoes, or destroy them. Choose your team.”
Mc Duff “David, Rick. With me”
Harry “Sir, I recommend we upgrade the Valiants weapons systems. She doesn’t pack much of a punch at the moment”
Martok “1?”
Commander 1”I could increase phaser power on the Valiant by 26% and supply it with a complete of 4 quantum torpedoes. However the necessary modifications would take at least an hour.”
“Number 1, what is the earliest time the Nevada could reach the Colony.”
“4hrs”
“Time for us?”
“2.5”
Martok considered his options for a moment- “Do it.”
One, David, Rick and John left the bridge. Martok sat in his seat.
“Number 1, can we expect the targeting sensors to be back up in 3.5hrs?”
“It’ll be close captain”
“We must then prepare for the possibility that we will be engaging them with unreliable weapons. Your best recommendation in one hour.”
 
McDuff and one were busy in the shuttlebay putting the torpedo pod on the Valiant.
McDuff - "Do you think the captain would let me keep this thing? It's sure beats my mini photons"
1 - "I do not think the captain woulld permanently supply a civilian craft with quantum torpedos"
McDuff - "Hm, well I can ask him to lend it to me sometimes. OK, that's it, let's test the interface and we can get going."
McDuff and One climbed off the Valiant's roof and stepped inside. McDuff started up the tactical systems. The targeting controls and the HUD came on-line, as well as a manual targeting stick.
1 - "A holographic windows overlay, impressive."
McDuff - "And practical. I can hit more wwith manual targeting then the Nevada's computer can. Well, all systems check out. The pod isn't loaded yet is it?"
1 - "No the torpedo's will be transpported to the shuttlebay momentarily"
McDuff - "Good"
He locked his weapons on a shuttle in front of him and fired torpedo's. They heared a click in the pod.
McDuff - "Yep, it works"
1 - "You sure have a curious way of doing diagnostics"
McDuff - "There were no diagnostic subrouutines in shuttle computers when this shuttle was built. I have a new computer, but the parameters needed for such a programme for this shuttle don’t exist. But I like the manual way better anyway, it keeps you closer to the ship."
=^= McDuff to bridge, captain we're done here. Where's my copilot? =^=
 
A short time later, the ensign who had taken over at Ops spoke...
'Captain, incoming message from General Farnoj, Breen High Command.'
'On screen'
The image of a Breen warrior filled the viewer... 'Captain Martok, you expect us to believe your reports of a hijacked starship? Do you take us for fools! It is quite obvious this attack has been masterminded by Starfleet as retaliation for our part in the Dominion War without ending the so called cease fire!'
'I can assure you General, as one warrior to another, that I would not risk my honour in such subterfuge. The report is truthful.'
'Lies!!! Klingon dog, you are nothing but a pet of your federation masters.'
Harry could almost see the veins pulsing on the captain's neck, so decided to speak up... 'General, my captain tells the truth. We only seek to end this situation as swiftly as possible. We are willing to accept any co-operation you wish to offer.'
'You think me foolish, blue skin? You would blow from the stars any 'assistance we send!'
'Not at all, general.'
'We will be sending ships, but not to assist your alleged attempts to help us....I will be leading an assault....on you!'
With that the screen went blank.
'Ensign, get him back!'
'He isn't answering hails, sir!'
Harry cursed, while Martok sat in his chair, looking as if he would like to tear someone to pieces with his bare hands.
Grace said, 'I couldn't sense anything from the general, sir. The Breen are practically unreadable to telepaths. Things seem to be going from bad to worse.'
 
race thought for a moment the said "Captain, maybe we could find away to diffuse this situation just a bit."
"Do you have an idea, counselor?" Martok replied.
Grace "Well, can the EMH's physical appearance be changed?"
Harry "Yes, it can. What do you have in mind?"
Grace "If we change the EMH's appearance to look and act like a Breen, perhaps he could convince General Farnoj that some of the Breen are aiding the Federation in this situation and that we do not want an isolated incident to end the ceasefire. The worst that could happen is the Breen will think we are breaking the ceasefire, which is what they already think is happening. The very best we can hope for is a chance to talk to them and get them to work with us to stop the Nevada."
 
Harry got to work altering the appearance of the EMH, who was none too pleased.
'Really, commander. I find this to be an absolute infringement of my liberty...'
'Computer....mute EMH program.'
Now that he had some peace and quiet, Harry got on with the modifications. Once finished, he returned the power of speech to the EMH.
'Now, doc, you know our current situation. We need you to assure General Farnoj that we are assisting the Breen, not attacking them...'
'Understood commander, the EMH said irritably.
Checking finally the mobile emmiter, Harry took the EMH to the bridge, where the image of Farnoj filled the viewscreen... Grace trying her best to persuade him of the Nevada's good intentions, without much joy. However, his curiosity was aroused by the sight of a fellow Breen entering the bridge.
'Good luck, doctor' Grace whispered.
Adopting a confident posture, the EMH spoke... 'Greetings General!' he boomed a bit too theatrically.
'What is this? Have you been taken prisoner?' the general enquired.
'Not at all, my brother! The federation crew have been most hospitable! We are currently en route to engage the hostiles who attacked our mining station. With your assistance we will destroy our enemies and then toast their deaths with our new found friends!'
Farnoj looked puzzled, mulling over what he had heard...
'How did you come to be aboard the federationvessel?'
'I was one of the survivors of the mining outpost'
'Then please, my friend, tell me... do you have any news of my brother Vindor - he was stationed with you aboard the station?'
The EMH stammered....'
 
David and 1 sat in the jefferiestubes working on getting the tactical sensors back online. David had never seen someone like One before
"Sir...." David started because neither of them had said anything in ages ".... what was it like being Borg?" This question had been playing on his mind since he first met 1.
One looked up "Ensign I don’t think this has anything to do with what we are trying to do here"
"Sorry sir" David replied in a soft voice.
They both got on with what they were doing and nither of them spoke.
10 or so minutess later 1 looked up "I have finished repairs on the tactical sensors, they are working now. David will you report to the captain and inform him that we are finished?"
"Yes sir" And with that David made his way to the bridge
 
EMH "I am sorry General, but I was the only survivor, all others perished. Your brother died valiently as did the whole station compliment. I was far away from the station when the attack came, I regret I did not die with them."
General Farnoj "Why were you so far away from the station and by what do we call you?"
EMH "I was on a scouting mission, looking for an area for expandsion of the station. I have always responded to Mesir, my brother."
General Farnoj "Tell me Mesir, what untruths have these humans, klingons and blue people told you?"
EMH "General, I witness the destruction from long distance. These people brought me on their ship, at first, I thought they were the destroyers, but the klingon and blue-skin and woman have shown me what caused the destruction. My brother, I feel you should listen to what they have to say, there isn't much time and I fear for my people."
 
Lirala was at her station trying to go about her duties, but the tension of the deception was distracting her. She hoped it would work, but she felt uneasy about what they were doing. She knew they were trying to avoid another war, and she hoped the ends would justify the means. Something caught her eye. Her console beeped for her attention. Checking it she was pleased to see the targeting sensors were coming back online. Commander 1 and David had just about finished repairs. She decided to run a quick diagnostic of their work. The pathways looked fine, target recognition was functioning, good work..... now, the power conduits. Looks like they had the re-route some power relays; temporarily anyway...hold on. She entered a few commands, somewhat hastily. No, not the EPS manifolds on deck 4, not from the....she tapped her comm badge, =^=Lirala to 1, don't-=^= too late. The computer flashed up the sum of her fears. Over-ride confirmed. Lirala watched helplessly as the power from three secondary systems, was re-routed to the tactical system, the replicators on deck 10, the anti-grav units in cargo bay two and the holo-emmiters in sickbay....Harry’s console flashed a warning. Grace in sickbay looked at the doctor....His matrix went static for a moment before disappearing. The Breen General had inexplicably disappeared. His counterpart on the doctor’s console starred at the empty space and tried to assimilate what had just happened.
Martok monitoring the conversation from the bridge stood up in horror. “Harry, quickly, transfer the channel to the view screen.”
The General now took up the entire screen. Martok tried to salvage the situation, but it was too late. The Breen uttered some last words in his native language and cut the connection.
Martok turned to Harry; they both turned to Lirala; they all turned to David as he stepped onto the bridge.
David quite merrily “The targeting sensors are back on line captain, we’ve had to temporarily take power from other systems, but it shouldn’t have a big impact”
The bridge was silent. David looked around and saw 9 sets of eyes staring at him in astonishment. “What?”
 
After a moment, Martok, with clenched fists and with the capillaries in his eyes visibly pulsating, spoke through clenched teeth “No. 1. When this mission is over, I want a complete over-haul of information exchange, and maintenance procedures on this ship. I wouldn’t expect a blunder like this from a bunch of raw cadets on the Hepta!
Staff meeting, in the briefing room immediately! I want every-ones best suggestion on how this crisis can possibly be resolved. It seems that a confrontation with the Breen is inevitable.”
With that he entered walked briskly into his ready room to appraise Starfleet command of the situation. He hoped the council could contact the Breen high command. How was he going to explain this one?
 
"Captain, wait up! Do you need Rick and me in the meeting or can we get going?"
Martok - "Go John, we need those torpedoss back without more screwups. Get back there as fast as you can." With that the doors closed behind him.
John and Rick left for the shuttlebay and there they quickly entered the Valiant's cockpit. John sat down in the front seat and started her up. Rick quickly reviewed the flight plan on the navigation computer.
McDuff - =^= McDuff to bridge, we're set to goo, permission to leave the shuttlebay =^=
cmdr. Harry - =^= Granted commander, good hunting out there =^=
When John slid the impulse controls up the Valiant bursted out of the bay and went into warp.
Sharpe - "OK, we're on course for the nebbula. So, what's the plan?"
McDuff - "Donno, let's have a look at whaat they're doing first, then we'll plan."
 
In the briefing room, Martok was asking for suggestions. As everyone was began making one suggestion after another, Grace sat staring. Lirala was closest to her and tried to get her attention "Grace, don't you" before Lirala could finish her questions Lirala noticed Grace wasn't really there. Then Lirala heard Grace whisper "Breen need help. Out gunned. Breen need help."
Lirala "Captain, I believe Grace is having a vision."
Martok "Did she say anything?"
Lirala "Yes. Breen need help, out gunned Breen need help"
 
Martok and Wee Harry exchanged looks. The Breen needed help? It had appeared more that they would need help themselves when the Breen attacked...
"Counselor" Martok said
Slowly Grace came out of her trance and looked at the captain.
"Yes?"
"Do you know why the Breen need help?"
"No...no I don't know. They must have been attacked, but I'm not sure."
"The Nevada couldn't have made it to the colony already" Lirala said. "We were at least one hour ahead. They lost quite some time with the rendez-vous in the Nebula."
"Are there any other Breen ships around that could have been attacked?" Martok asked.
"I don't know" Lirala said.
"Lets stop the meeting here and check what happened" Harry suggested so they all left the briefing room and stepped on the bridge. Lirala immediatley checked long range sensors.
"No Breen ships on sensors Sir, but I also don't get a sign of the Nevada, they must be too far away from us yet."
"Could they have changed their mind and are heading somewhere else than the colony and they encountered Breen somewhere?" the first officer asked.
"I don't know. I usually tend to trust in Grace's visions, but if we change course now and they _are_ heading for the colony, then they will be ahead of us and we can't risk it" Martok replied.
"So what are we going to do...?" Lirala asked.
 
Grace began to doubt her own vision when another one came upon her "Breen, Nevada, Valiant. Breen, Nevada, Valiant." Harry was looking at Grace during her vision and heard what she said, but he couldn't make heads or tails of what it meant.
Grace came out of her vision "Hail the Valiant, find out where they are. The Nevada has engaged a Breen ship and the Valiant is almost there."
Harry "You heard the commander, hail the Valiant."
Martok "Also, use the cordinates for the Nebula and head in that direction at warp 9.9. McDuff will try to engage the Nevada and he may only get one shot. Engage!"
 
1of1: “In our current state, we might have a tough battle with the Nevada. Our primary aim is to recapture it and the tricoblat torpedoes along with our man.
i will link up directly to the computer with my nanoprobes.
this will enable us to lock on and fire within a much smaller window.
security teams will be on standby and ready to be beamed over to the nevada to recapture it if the marquis refuse to surrender.”
 
The Valiant dropped out of warp near the nebula.
Rick: "Nobody's here. Didn't expect them either."
John: "No, what's the point in loading tri-cobalt torpedos and then not using them. Anything useful on the scanners?"
-"I've found their warp trail."
"We'll follow it, it's our only lead."
-"Yeah, they probably won't be back here soon."
The Valiant set for a new course and warped to continue its journey.
 
After about 20 not very interesting minutes of travel they picked up a message.
"Audio only," Rick said.
John: "Let's hear it."
An unknown language was spoken when the message played.
John: "It sounds like Breen to me."
-"I'm trying to locate the source..." Rick said, "Got it. Two ships, not too far away. The one is Breen, the other is our target!"
"A distress call! I'm changing our course."
The Valiant hurried to their destination and two minutes before arrival, John made a basic plan.
"We should get one shot before being detected, so I'll target their weapon systems to prevent them to use our missiles."
"Wait a minute, our torpedo pod doesn't have this special coating, does it?" Rick asked.
"No," John replied, shocked when he realized the consequences, "So much for our surprise."
 
"Contact the High Command."
"Channel open."
The face of General Farnoj appeared on the screen.
"General," the Captain said, "we have completed the sweep of the area and we have found no Federation vessels. We await further orders."
"Stay at your current location, Captain," Farnoj answered, "The Hysdegt is on its way towards you and I will leave the starbase soon on the Fut Iburj to join you. There's a Souvereign class starship in Breen space and we'll hunt it down."
"Understood, General. Captain Gefgid out."
Only seconds after the transmission ended, a console started to beep.
The Tactical Officer reported: "There is a Federation vessel approaching, arriving in one minute."
"Prepare for combat," the captain ordered, "and hail them when they are here, maybe they'll surrender."
When the 'Federation' ship dropped out of warp, it had already powered it's weapons. It didn't answer any hails, but immediately opened fire.
"Federation scum!" the Captain shouted, "Return fire!"
The Breen's energy dampening weapon had no effect, and a fierce battle began. The ships fired upon eachother and the mercenaries quickly gained the upperhand.
"Send a distress call."
The distress call was transmitted and within a minute the message was played in a small ship which was 'not too far away'.
"Captain, another Federation ship is nearing, it's a shuttlecraft."
 
John wasn't very happy when he discovered that their cloack was gone, or better, was never there. The absence of the special coating on the torpedo pod made them clearly visible for any working sensors.
"We'll now have to hope they are too busy fighting to pay attention to us. Rick, what is the status of those two ships?"
"The Breen ship has taken severe shield damage, which won't hold much longer. John the Nevada is a light cruiser, it easily outguns that ship, it’s only a corvette or something. The Nevada has some minor shield damage”
"Hail the Breen, maybe we can co-ordinate something with them."
"No response."
The Valiant dropped out of warp.
"Power the weapons. I'll try to hit the torpedo launcher and hope they haven't noticed us yet."
The Valiant flew straight at the Nevada ship. As the Valiant neared the saucer, Rick noticed a warning on sensors.
“John the phaser array is targeting us”
-“I see it”, McDuff said looking at the big warning on the HUD. “Spare me some extra power for the boosters”. The Valiant fired a torpedo at Nevada’s launcher and then banked hard, with the impulse boosters blazing she steered clear of a phaser beam.
Sharpe – “You missed”
"Knock it off, that was close enough," John said, "Try to hail the Breen again, maybe they'll listen now."
When Rick hailed the Breen, the mercenaries fired two photon torpedoes at the Breen ship. The ship was hit in the rear section and a few seconds after the impact, the ship exploded.
Rick: "What! They've hit the warp core! Those bastards! They must have killed almost 2000 people now!"
John: "And as the number of Breen casualties increases, the situation gets worse. This was our best opportunity to convince them we're not attacking them. These mercenaries will pay for it!"
-"The Nevada is targeting us again."
"No problem. I used to play mock battle games with Morath, Nevada’s targeting sensors can’t keep track of us if we stick close, Valiant is too fast.
“Okay let’s go then, that quantum torpedo of ours did weaken the ventral shields”
The Valiant manoeuvred at full impulse around the Nevada and managed to get under it.
John: "I'm targeting the fusion plants."
John fired a quantum torpedo and it flew towards the Nevada and hit target.
Rick: "Direct hit, their shield are down."
The Valiant turned to make a new approach. When she was about to face the enemy ship, an ion pulse eminated from Nevada’s main deflector.
Rick: "Shields are failing, sensors, weapons, propulsion... all down."
John: "How did they do that?"
"I don't know. But it did spread through our systems very quickly."
John and Rick saw the mercenaries engage warp.
"And why are they leaving, I wasn't finished with them yet!" John shouted angrily.
 
The Nevada continued at high warp towards the Nebula.
Martok "Location of the Valiant?"
Harry "They should be engaging them now"
Martok "I hope I haven't sent them on a suicide mission"
1 "Although Commander McDuffs methods are; unusual. They are effective. They will prevail"
Martok "Borg wishful thinking?"
David "Captain, we're receiving a signal from the USS Vigilant.”
Harry “Captain Bolmars ship”
Martok sighed “This man could bore a Ferengi with his incessant talk. On screen”
The blue face of the Bolian captain appeared.
“Greetings Captain Martok, I see you’ve upgraded to a newer model”
Martok “Yes, well I thought that considering the nature of-“
Bolmar “Ha Ha, how typically Klingon of you! Always thirsting for bigger engines, bigger weapons, why I remember-“
Martok “CAPTAIN!….Captain. We are quite busy. Is there anything I can do for you?”
Bolmar “No no my long haired friend. More what I can do for you. I’ve located something which belongs to you. Specifically 20 tri-cobalt torpedoes?”
Martok and Harry stood up “You’ve found them?”
Bolmar “We intercepted a small vessel a few hours ago. It’s weapons signature seemed a little too high for comfort. So we persued them. And locked them away in our shuttle bay.”
Martok “Helm, come about set course for the Valiant, maximum warp.”
Bolmar “I read your report to Starfleet. Good luck Captain. The Vigilant will be in the area is you require our assistance.”
Martok “Thank you Captain. Martok out”
 
The Nevada dropped out of high warp next to the Valiant.
Martok “Signal the Valiant, tell them dock, and tell them to be quick about it.”
1 “Sensors indicate a number of Breen vessels on an intercept course. Three lightly armoured Keptal class cruisers and two heavily armoured warships. They’ve powered weapons”
Martok “That’s a small fleet”
Harry “ETA?”
1 “Less than 10minutes”
Harry “Red alert!”
The bridge lights dimmed as all stations indicated the highest alert status.
Martok “Any sign of the Nevada?”
Lirala “Negative, but there are several planets and small moons in this system they could be hiding.”
Martok “Hail the Vigilant, tell Captain Bolmar wed like to take him up on his kind offer of assistance. And contact command. Tell them we to send any and all ships in the area.”
Harry turned to Martok. “It looks like a war could be a forgone conclusion.”
Martok “I’m not going to loose two ships in one day commander. We’ve got to end this without further loss of life. The Federation isn’t strong enough to fight another war.”
 
"The blast just overheated every system on the ship. Comm and computer are already coming back on-line, proximity sensors too now." Rick said while looking at a damage report on his console. Suddenly a warning indicator flashed on John's HUD.
McDuff - "There's a large ship passing uss by."
Then they saw the Nevada-A slowly passing in front of the window.
=^= Nevada to Valiant. Start docking operation immediately, we have a small Breen fleet incoming =^=
McDuff looked at the impulse indicator stuck at zero with a long face.
McDuff =^= I'd be happy to captain, butteh, do you have a few minutes? By the way, why dock? We've still got two quantum torpedos and my systems are already coming back on-line, we can be fighting in a minute or two =^=
Martok =^= We don't want to look too agressive John, we must still avoid this fight if we can. We could easily start a war here. We have five ships incoming John, I don't want you out there. =^=
McDuff =^= Okay i'm... =^=
Sharpe - "Wait!"
McDuff =^= Hold on captain =^=
Sharpe - "The sensors picked up the ship''s warp vector before they were fried."
McDuff - "They are faster then we are, wee can't intercept them, but...yes!". =^= Captain, we have the old Nevada’s warp vector, if the Nevada-A intercepts them, the Breen might understand what's going on.=^=
Martok looked at the image of John and Rick on the screen, then he looked at his first officer. "What do you think Harry?"
Harry didn't need to think for too long.....
=^=Rick, get your asses back here as quick as you can...then we head after the Nevada. Hopefully the Breen will think we're making a run for it and chase us, then when we engage the mercenaries they'll hopefully see our intentions are honourable=^=
'I agree, number one,' said Martok, 'Helm, as soon as the Valiant is docked, set intercept course with the Nevada, maximum warp'
 
A few minutes later, they were underway. David spoke up from Ops... 'sir, the Breen fleet have changed course and are pursuing'
'Good,' hissed Martok, 'we will make those dogs pay. Commander 1, have all available weapons ready to engage the Nevada.'
At this point, a very worried looking Grace caught Harry's attention... 'sir, I know our priority is to prevent a war with the Breen and stop the mercenaries...'
'Yes, counselor, go on'
'Well, sir, what about the remaining cadets being held on board the Nevada?'
"Counselor, we will do everything we can to disable the Nevada and try for a surrender from the mercenaries." Harry responded.
"I understand that is standard procedure but I am very sure the Breen will not feel that way and I am fairly certain the mercenaries will not surrender. Where does that leave the cadets?"
Martok "Good question. I am open to suggestions from anyone on how to save the cadets?"
John and Rick just arrived on the bridge and overheared the last conversation.
Harry - "Can we beam them aboard"
Lirala - "I'm quite sure they changed thee shield modulation"
Rick - "Hey John don't you have that thhing on the Valiant to scan for..."
- " Shut up Rick" John hissed before Rick could end his sentence while giving him a too visible nudge."
Martok - "John?"
McDuff - "Eh, well, eh...(with an angry llook at Rick)... I have this slightly illegal shield modulation scanner on the Valiant which I got from a ferengi as compensation for some business on which I think I shouldn't go into detail about and well... We can scan the Nevada's shield modulation with it."
Martok - "Should we have a engineering crrew look over that shuttle of yours for more of these...gadgets?"
John - "Ehm, I think I'm out of surprisses...Yes, you know about the sensor refracting layer and I'm pretty sure you noticed the impulse boosters. And the overpowered sensor array is..."
Lirala - "Sensor array?"
John - "Okay, you didn't know about thaat yet, but..."
Martok - "We'll talk about that later Johhn, for now just be sure you give back that torpedo pod ok? With the torpedos!"
John - "Eh, yes captain."
Martok - "OK, take the pod off, we need yyou to be invisible. Launch as soon as we drop out of warp. Rick we might get into a fight, I need my senior helm officer."
With that McDuff left for the shuttlebay again and Rick took his station behind the helm.
Martok - "ETA?"
Rick - "Intercepting the Nevada in 2 miinutes"
Harry - "Any ideas how we're gonna forcee the Nevada out of warp?"
 
David stood up and walked over to the computure, on it appeared a picture of a Steamrunner class starship, with what looked like a warp field around it
"Sir as all of you know for a ship to travel at warp it has to creat a warp field, in turn this temporarily reduces the mass of the starship alowing the ship to travel faster then light."
"Ensign, I do know how a ship travels at warp" Martok said, "But how does this help us?"
"Well sir with John's sensors and the Cadets onboard the Nevada
it could be as simple as just colapsing the field."
"He's right" Lirala said. "A warp field isn't all that stable, and we should be able to let it collapse from the outside. When we intercept the Nevada and in the second we drop out of warp we emit a concentrated tachyon pulse onto their warp drive. As you know tachyons travel faster than the light, they will interfere with the field, that also travels with overlight-speed and through this the field should collapse."
"Should?" Harry asked, not too satisfied with this perspective.
"Nothing is certain in warp-mechanics Sir" Lirala replied with a smile. "But the probability that it will work is quite high. I can let the computer calculate it up to however many decimals you'd like."
"Thank you Commander, an estimated integer will be quite sufficent" Harry replied.
"Alright Sir"
Lirala tapped around on her station and a few seconds later she had the result. "Sir the probability of a success lies at 90%"
"I'd say that is high enough" Martok said. "ETA?"
"30 seconds Sir"
"Alright, prepare everything" Martok ordered. =^= Martok to Valiant, as soon as they are out of warp scan the shield modulation =^=
"Sir..." Lirala interrupted.
"What is it Commander?" he asked.
"The only problem this brings is that we won't be able to create a stable warpfield ourselves until the tachyon pulse has completly faded. That will take at least ten minutes..."
"Sir, interception in 10 seconds" Rick said and everyone waited for the command.
Martok hesitated for seemed an eternity to the bridge crew. What would the decision be? If they went ahead and tried to rescue the team they would have to be prepared to fight not only the Nevada, but also the Breen. There was also the problem with their own shields...
Martok quickly issued the orders.
"David, open a channel to the Valiant"
David “Open”
“This is the sequence of events. The instant we drop out of warp the Valiant will scan, and transmit the frequency modulation of the Nevada’s shields. Lirala will activate the tachyon pulse. Commander 1 will drop the shields whilst simultaneously firing phasers at full power, targeting their weapons array. David will transport to the cadets aboard and 1 will re-raise the shields.”
The everyone nodded in compliance.
“Intercept in 3 seconds” Harry reported from his chair.
Martok “Helm, drop to impulse. McDuff, Lirala; go!”
The ships dropped out of warp and the Valiant flew out of the shuttlebay.
McDuff =^= Scanning, I’ve got it. Their shields are modulating at 324.679 =^=
Lirala “Calibrating the Tachyon pulse to match, 324.679”
An orange pulse erupted from the Nevada-A’s main deflector array.
Martok “David, 1; now!”
An impressive spread of fire hailed from the Nevada, registering hits on her sister ship through the shields.
David “Transport underway”
Lirala “The Nevada’s re-modulating the shields”
1 “It is of no consequence, their weapons system have been crippled”
Martok “The cadets?”
David “I was able to get most of them. There are still three left on board captain”
Martok punched his armrest.
Harry “There are three ships entering the area. It’s the Breen”
Martok =^=Nevada to the Valiant can you re-aquire their shield modulation?
Mc Duff “I’m afraid not, the Tachyon pulse knocked out half the systems on the shuttle”=^=
=^=Martok to transporter room two, beam John aboard=^=
Commander 1 “He’s on board Captain”
“Raise shields. Full power to defensive systems. Helm assume a defensive posture. Position us between the Breen and the Nevada.”
 
1of1: "Sir, I request an away mission. if we turn around and fire on the Nevada just enough to drop their shields for a beam in, I can transport aboard and recapture the ship. Their weapons might do a little damage, but I will adapt fast enough. Losing one is better than losing a whole ship."
 
Harry turned to 1... 'permission denied commander. The Nevada has been disabled, we'd be better off concentrating on the three Breen ships that are approaching.'
'Understood, sir'
The captain said 'hail the mercenaries again,' when the channel was open, he announced '...surrender yourselves to us now and release the remaining starfleet cadets you're holding. There are a number of breen warships approaching our position, with every intention of blowing you from the stars. Your weapons have been disabled...you are defenceless.'
 
No reply.
 
Grace looked up thoughtfully... 'I can sense a lot of doubt and fear from the mercenaries, but their surrender seems unlikely at this time.'
'Thank you counselor,' Harry replied, then to Ops.. 'ETA for the Breen?'
'Less than two minutes sir'
'Position of the USS Vigilant?'
'They're approaching our position at high warp, but they won't arrive for at least twenty minutes.'
'Suggestions, people?' the captain asked.
 
Sparks flew from damaged panels on the bridge of the Nevada. Liah looked around her... the plan had seemed foolproof no hitches were expected, now it had collapsed around her. Well, it wasn't going to end like this.
'The Nevada-A is hailing us again'
'Let that klingon fool waste his breath. Get me some weapons on line, we're not going out without taking them with us!'
The tactical readout showed the Breen ships were nearly upon them, but Martok had placed his ship between them ... how noble! The fool...if the positions were reversed she would leave them to be slaughtered. Still, this nobility that Martok was exhibiting...could that be used against him. She hit the comm controls, 'McCool, how are repairs going?'
The gruff sounding voice of her second in command replied 'Better than I thought... I think we may have phasers back soon.'
'Good work, McCool. How many starfleet cadets are there still on board?'
'Three, and we have them again. Once the Nevada's engineer left them they were directionless... they're back in the brig.'
'Excellent. Bring one of them to me on the bridge. The youngest, I think, female preferably.'
'Why?'
'Bargaining power, my friend,' she replied coldly, while absent-mindedly fingering the trigger of her phaser rifle.
 
Mc Cool navigated the corridors of the Nevada, along with scattered emergency lighting; the red lights of red alert were the only illumination in the corridor. The Nevada-A had given them quite a pounding, and the lights on this deck had no power. Still, she had held up pretty well all this considered, a tough little ship. That's was one of the few things Starfleet did right he mused. Entering the brig he found the cadets working on the lighting control inside the brig. They were trying their best to get out. Mc Cool let out a small laugh.
"You'll never get access to the force-field controls from there. This is a brig. It's supposed to keep you in, not give you an easy opportunity to escape." He paused, suddenly remembering something. He looked around the room, and then back at the three cadets, each wearing the uniform of the three different departments.
“Where’s the guard?”
The youngest. Ensign Kalayna, a Bollian technician nodded towards the desk.
Mc Cool slowly looked behind it. The plain clothed guard was lying on the ground, eyes open. His head leaning slightly towards the wall. Clearly dead he looked around to find his killer. He didn’t have to look far. A ruptured power conduit on the wall behind the desk. Must have blown during the fight with the Nevada-A. He considered the body before him. That made three. Three deaths on this mission alone. So far. His mind began to wander back to previous campaigns. He’d lost many friends. Many loved one’s. Images of soldiers, Cardassian, Jem’Hadar, warships, pursuits, death, the futility of their plea’s for mercy. He was tired of the killing. Tired of the war. Everything was gone, he had nothing left worth fighting for. Except his hatred; his loathing of his oppressors. But as he looked down on another fallen comrade his doubts began to resurface, what ere they going to accomplish on this mission, how could it bring back the loved and lost? He wanted time to sort things out. He needed time figure out what he wanted to do with his life. The Maquis had given him a lot, a home, something to believe in, something worth defending. But everything he’d fought for, everything he believed in had all been sweaped away in an instant by an unstoppable foe.
He reached down and shut the young mans eyes. Standing up he entered a few commands into the computer and the force-filed dropped. The cadets attempted to rush him but his removed his phaser from his holster in an instant and they were deterred. He motioned the technician out away from her friends. The tall youth in the command uniform, he human, blond hair, well built, with a confident expression on his face which concealed his true feelings of fear. He suppressed the lump in his throat and spoke.
“Cadet Holbey, first class”
Mc Cool “What is it cadet?”
“Take me sir? I’m, their commanding officer.”
Mc Cool “Your loyalty to your men is admirable Mr. Holbey. But unwarranted. He motioned him to step back into the brig.”
“A commanding officer is more valuable a hostage” he called pathetically.
Mc Cool turned around and looked at the boy he saw before him. Not unlike he in his youth. Confident, idealistic, loyal. Loyalty was something he respected, something he admired, in everyone who demonstrated it, regardless of what side they were on. He looked at him for some time before raising the force-field once more. As he led the frightened cadet away he turned back once to give Holbey, on last, cryptic look and left.
 
On the Nevada-A
 
Grace turned to Martok and Harry "Sirs, I have been searching the Nevada telepathically. Two of the cadets are in the brig, one of them is feeling like he has failed his comrades. He is the commanding officer."
Martok "Thank you, counselor."
One look at Grace told Harry that she sensed more "Anything else, Grace?"
Grace began to talk but it was not her words "That klingon fool, he thinks we'll give up just like that. Bring me that sniveling Bolian cadet, McCool. I'm going to make an eaxample of her!" with that, Grace came out of her trance.
 
On the Nevada...
 
The door to the bridge opened and McCool walked in, pushing the young Bolian cadet in front of him.
'Bring her over here, said Liah authoritively.
The cadet stumbled over nervously. Liah levelled her phaser rifle and pointed it in Kalayna's face.
'On your knees...now'
Fighting back tears, Kalayna sank to her knees...'please...don't'
'Shut up!!' Liah screeched, clubbing the young cadet with the butt of her phaser rifle. 'Where are the Breen?'
'Directly behind the Nevada-A'
'Good. Open a channel to the Nevada-A'
The viewscreen flicked to life, Liah could see Martok and his senior staff, saw their looks of horror at the cadet's predicament.
'Hello, captain Martok.'
'Release that.....'
'You don't talk!!! You listen or she dies!! Turn your weapons on the Breen within 30 seconds, or I will vapourise this wretch. End transmission.'
A bleep came from the ops console... 'they're trying to hail us again.'
Liah turned on her accomplice, hate burning in her eyes... 'let them cry all they want. Do not answer them.
 
- - -
 
Martok “Open a channel all frequencies, I want both the Breen and the Maquis to hear this”
David “Channel open”
Martok stood up and approached the view-screen “This is Captain Martok of the Nevada. We have detained the renegade ship and are preparing to return to Federation territory. Stand down you weapons. Your government will receive a full report on this incident. And please accept my sincerest regrets at the loss of you people.”
There was a momentary pause and the view-screen flashed to life.
The commander of the Breen lead ship spoke “Captain Martok, your weak and fruitless words cannot beguile us from the anger we have suffered at the hands of these terrorists. I’m afraid we can accept nothing less than the total and unconditional surrender of the Nevada and her crew.”
Martok “I’m afraid that won’t be possible. There are federation hostages on board the Nevada, I need to ensure their safe return. And the Nevada is a Federation Star ship, I cannot hand it over to you. As I have said we, have disabled their weapons systems, they are no longer a threat. We will tractor them back to Star base where I can assure you they will be punished for their crimes.”
“Federation prisons are as pleasant as Risa Captain. I’m afraid I must insist on this point.”
“Martok I cannot allow you to attack that vessel, I have-“
The screen went blank.
David “He closed the channel”
Martok sighed and returned to his seat.
1 “2 Breen warships and 3 heavy cruisers are converging on the Nevada, the lead ship is firing”
 
- - -
 
The bridge of the Nevada rocked under the fire, Mc Cool rocked in his chair as Liah fell heavily on the floor, dropping her phaser. As the Maquis crewmembers report multiple hits and damage to almost every system McCool barked orders for evasive manoeuvres and for power to shields that simply wasn’t there. He knew the situation was hopeless. As Liah rose slowly to her feet McCool jumped up to assist her, steadying his captain he glanced over at Kalayna, she had not yet returned to her feet. He stepped over to hear and turned her over, he face was covered with burns, and peppered with imbedded fragments from a blown console, she was dead. He felt over-whelmed, not another innocent. He took his seat and leaned over towards Liah. “I think we should surrender”
Liah turned to him in shock as another volley rattled the bridge.
Sparks flew from every power conduit on the bridge, fire-containment systems activated. From the slow pulsating glow of the red alert light the helmsman reported something which no one expected to hear.
“The Nevada’s engaged the Breen!”
 
- - -
 
“Report” Martok barked at no one in particular.
Commander 1 “Minor damage to the lead ships shields, they’re continuing their attack on the Nevada.”
Lirala “One of the heavy cruisers has changed course, they’re heading towards us”
David “I’m detecting some strange….. Quantum torpedoes!”
Martok “Engineering full power to shields, all hands brace for impact!”
The bridge crew of the Nevada braced themselves for the huge impact.
Suddenly an almost giddy Ensign Sharp announced “It’s the Vigilant!”
The Nebula class vessel swooped in and utilising it’ unique countermeasure technology in three quick shots, destroyed the incoming torpedoes.
Harry “We’re receiving a hail from the Vigilant Captain.”
Martok “I never thought I’d be happy to hear from this man” - “Put it through”
The cheerful face of Captain Bolmar appeared
“Greetings Captain, looks like we arrived just in time”
Martok “Many thanks Captain, what’s say you and I teach these Breen a lesson.”
Bolmar “You remember what we did in the Drocarin sector, with those Cardassian Keldon classes”
Martok “I read you loud and clear.”
Bolmar “good luck Captain”
Martok “And to you”
They cut the channel. “Helm, change course, to 632, 75 increase bow to 90 degrees”
Rick turned in his seat “Captain”
Martok “Trust me Ensign”
Sharp entered the commands “Coming to 632, 75”
“Lirala, let me know the moment the Vigilant changes her heading. David full power to inertial dampeners”
As the Nevada climbed in it’s vertical assent, the Vigilant began a steep decline, the Breen warship moved into the space and began firing on the Nevada once more.
Suddenly and without warning the Vigilant came about 180 degrees and started ascending with increasing velocity towards the underside of the Breen warship.
Lirala reported the change in course the Captain Martok ordered Rick to come about, 180 degrees. The town ships rushed towards the mighty Breen vessel.
Martok “1, full spread of quantum torpedoes. Target their port nacelle.”
Simultaneously both ships erupted in a spectacular display of fire, torpedoes rushing from the Nevada’s launchers, phasers flashing from the valiant. Both nacelles were crippled. AS the two ships passed each other and levelled out the Breen ship was already adrift, floating away from the raging battle.
 
- - -
 
Liah sreeched at her remaining crew... 'do we have engines?'
'Impulse only'
'Then about turn and get us out of here NOW!!'
 
- - -
 
Aboard the Nevada-A, ensign Sharp announced, 'The Nevada has turned about, heading away from the battle.'
'Damnit!' thought Martok. They couldn't leave the Vigilant to tackle the Breen by themselves, but he didn't want the Nevada to escape.
'Should I set a pursuit course, captain?' Rick asked.
'Negative,' the captain said with a heavy heart.
The battle raged on, with the two heavily powered Federation vessels eventually gaining an advantage.
Harry said, 'scan for the Nevada, she can't have gone far, and I think the Vigilant can handle what's left of the Breen. Hopefully we can recapture them to prove our intentions to General Farnoj of the breen.'
A very amazed sounding Rick turned and said.. 'the Nevada is returning to our co-ordinates, half impulse. Her shields are down! They're hailing us!!'
'On screen' Harry and Martok exclaimed together.
 
The face of the maquis leader's second in command appeared on screen, while Liah could be seen lying unconscious on the floor of the bridge.
'Captain Martok, my name is McCool. I have decided to relieve my leader of command. This pointless killing has gone on long enough. I wish to offer you our unconditional surrender.'
'I find your terms acceptable,' grinned Martok, 'I will send over a security team to take you into custody.'
He motioned to commander 1 to carry out his orders. As the bridge resonated with activity, Rick excitedly shouted....
'Sirs!! There's a shuttle decloaking just off the Nevada! Unknown class!!' As Harry looked at the viewscreen, the bridge of the old nevada was still visible, and there next to the prone figure of liah, someone was materializing from a transporter beam.
Martok knew immediately who it was, as the familiar grinning face of the devious section 31 operative looked at them....
'Clade!!!'
 
Martok =^=security to the bridge=^= "I've no time for this Clade"
With his phaser locked on the section31 agent commander 1 reported the last of the Maquis safely aboard.
Clade "Congratulations Captain, you’ve saved me a great deal of trouble."
Martok “The Maquis are my custody now, and under my direct protection. They won’t be handed over to you. I’ve seen your methods of “Justice””
Clade “Captain, Captain. I was never interested in the Maquis; it’s the ship I wanted. The Nevada is a powerful ship, she would service the section well. Now that the current tenants have been removed…”
With a strange glow and an unusual transporter beam, he was gone.
David “Sir, Clade’s ship is firing on the Breen, they’re in retreat Captain”
Martok “Good, Lirala, lock a tractor beam onto the Nevada, prepare to-“
Grace “Captain”
Martok looked up at the viewer. The Nevada was beginning to phase
David “Clade’s ship has redirected it’s main deflector, he’s extending his cloak around the Nevada.”
Martok “Fire phasers, target his emitter.”
1 “No effect, the emitter is continuing to cloak the ship”
David “Both ships are almost gone Captain”
Harry “If he cloaks we’ll lose the Nevada”
Martok “Emit an inverse tachyon pulse, try to destabilise the cloak”
Lirala “No effect”
Harry “We can’t let the Nevada be captured”
Martok “If we re-route power to the-“
Harry “Captain!”
This outburst from his First Officer brought Martok back to his senses. Acknowledging what had to be done.
He stood up slowly and walked over to the tactical station. Commander 1 stepped aside as he entered the commands. He was in a daze, he could barely make out the distorted voice of his operations officer telling him that the ship was practically off the sensors.
Looking up he saw his ships fade slowly out of phase. He couldn’t really feel the panel when he hit the button, he was numbed. As he made his way to his ready room the torpedoes were already halfway to their target. Shimmering brightly with blue light they streaked towards his home of many years. Pausing at the door he turned towards the viewer, the first of the volley of five struck the engineering section. He turned back to the door as the second ripped through the primary hull, he was already inside as the remaining 3 peppered the hull of his ship.
Harry stood up as a bright light signalled the demise of the USS Nevada.
 
Grace watched as the Captain fired the torpedos on her first home in starfleet. She knew what was about to happen and she knew what the Captain was feeling, because she was feeling it too! Grace watched Martok walk away and knew she what she had to do, her own grief for the Nevada would have to wait.
 
As the bright light flashed, Grace walked to Martoks ready room. She pushed the door chime, no response. After what seemed an enternity the door opened, Grace stepped through the door walked up to Martok but before she could speak, he did.
 
"Grace, I knew you would be behind me. Even if you weren't telepathic, you would know how I am feeling."
"For what it is worth, Captain, I feel the same way. As do a number of the crew, I sense it. However, she was your first command, and in my experience you are a more sensitive Captain then some humans I have known. For you to destroy her was, I am sure very hard for you. Now that I have said my mind, why don't you say yours?"
 
The captain talked to Grace and she talked to him about the Nevada. Martok reminised about past missions, past comrades in arms, current comrades in arms. In this they were both able to say good-bye to the Nevada, Martok's home and first command, Grace's first ship.
 
It was time to look to the future and the Nevada-A, she was a good ship too, with a good crew. They looked forward to making new memories with this ship and it's crew.
 
The bridge was quiet after the destruction and it seemed like everyone was caught in their own memories and thoughts. Lirala had only been on the old Nevada for a short while but she had gotten to like that ship. It was a pity that it was now no more than dust floating through space.
A sudden glance at the sensor array made her aware that the Valiant was still laying besides the ship, in the confusion about the distruction of the Nevada it had been forgotten. It looked like the shuttle had also been damaged in the explosion, or probably before that in the fight with the Nevada. McDuff would not get to rest...
"David" Lirala said. "Can you get the Valiant with a tractor beam and move it into the shuttle bay?"
David was pulled out of his own thoughts and then he said "Right. The little girl is still out there..."
Lirala watched how a blue glimmer caught the little ship and slowly moved it into shuttle bay of her new mother ship. Lirala was sure the next adventure wouldn't be long to wait for the USS Nevada-A.
Captain Martok and Grace came out of the ready room and Martok took place in his chair. "Ensign Sharpe, set course for Starbase Bellicose, Warp 5. Engage."
And the Nevada-A turned away from the remains of it's precedant and disappeared into warp.