OOC: This all takes place FAR away from where the Charon is.
IC [About 4 weeks prior to Charon's current predicament]:
[ITV Koragh]
"Drop the cloak and raise shields!"
The Klingon tactical officer smiled at the human captain without turning to face him. He quickly did as he was told, and it was only a few moments before the Koragh was rocked by the first volley of hits from the pirated Romulan vessel.
Before the Romulans could put too much thought into strategy, the Koragh had knocked out her shields and disabled the ship's ability to cloak, as well as their ability to run. Captain Hauptmann addressed the eager boarding party, led by his counterpart, HoD Tora.
"Bridge to boarding party - you're clear to proceed. Good luck."
The mix of Klingon and Starfleet personnel materialized aboard the Romulan ship and began their sweep for survivors, combatants, but most importantly, the Zum Viig.
"Drop the cloak and raise shields!"
The Klingon tactical officer smiled at the human captain without turning to face him. He quickly did as he was told, and it was only a few moments before the Koragh was rocked by the first volley of hits from the pirated Romulan vessel.
Before the Romulans could put too much thought into strategy, the Koragh had knocked out her shields and disabled the ship's ability to cloak, as well as their ability to run. Captain Hauptmann addressed the eager boarding party, led by his counterpart, HoD Tora.
"Bridge to boarding party - you're clear to proceed. Good luck."
The mix of Klingon and Starfleet personnel materialized aboard the Romulan ship and began their sweep for survivors, combatants, but most importantly, the Zum Viig.
The Andorian artifact known as the "Zum Viig" was an instrument of unspeakable power. It was used only once in history - and the result was the annihilation of an entire race of beings. Now these Romulan turncoats were attempting to sell the artifact to Breen agents. It was unknown if these Breen were acting on behalf of their government, or alone. But the threat was still there, and the Breen could NOT be allowed to possess the Zum Viig. For months, the Koragh and her sister ship, the Andropov, had been hot on the heels of the Romulans; and it all came to a head here and now. The Andropov was close behind, but there was no time to wait, the Koragh had to act immediately.
After nearly an hour of searching the small vessel, it was exceedingly clear that the Romulan traitors had done a brilliant job of hiding their precious cargo. HoD Tora was getting more incensed by the moment - and was quite prepared to kill one in order to get the other to talk. But he had a little surprise for the only pair of Romulans left alive after the encounter...a human who had a well-earned reputation as the most effective interrogator in the quadrant; the Klingon's called him "wIch" - which roughly translated to "The Myth". It seemed there was a story from their teachings about someone who could make anyone reveal even their darkest secrets. That certainly described the man now walking toward the Romulan captives.
"My name is Vladimir Alexei. Now, my friends...you will tell me what I need to know. Not because I say you will - but because you will want to tell me; you will be compelled to tell me. When this is over, you will be happy to tell me all that I desire, and even much more than I desire. Time is short - let's get started, hmm?"
It had been nearly two hours since the boarding party beamed over. Hauptmann was clear about Volodya doing his work aboard the Romulan vessel for as long as could be allowed; since that removed the Starfleet Captain's personal responsibility toward whatever methods were employed. As an alert sounded, he knew before being told what was happening - and he hoped to himself that the talk over on the now derelict ship was done.
"Sir! We have two ships entering the system. ETA is nine minutes." The Klingon tactical officer seemed more excited than anything. Hauptmann, on the other hand, was anxious. "Configuration?" He asked even though he already knew. The answer came anyway, "Breen, sir. Cruisers."
At least they hadn't sent large warships. Perhaps the Koragh could hold out, but the risk was too great. Getting the Zum Viig to safety was the most important task. Hauptmann contacted the boarding party. "HoD Tora, I hope you have good news, because the news I have isn't so good."
The Klingon captain answered in a grunt, "Breen", then spoke up, "Yes, Captain Hauptmann - we are tearing out a section of paneling. The Zum Viig is within our grasp."
Augustus Hauptmann breathed a sigh of relief. "We've got less than five minutes. Let's get all non-essential personnel from the boarding party, as well as our prisoners, back over here. As soon as you have the artifact, we will get you out and hopefully have time to scarper."
As the Breen vessels were bearing down upon the Koragh, the last of the boarding party arrived; consisting of HoD Tora, a few Klingon officers, and Volodya. Hauptmann was about to engage cloak when the ship took a massive hit. The word came all too quick. "Cloaking device offline! Engineering crews working to repair. Shields down to 89 percent."
Damn it all. "So, it's a fight they want!! Toss over an assload of torpedoes at the lead ship, and fire all disruptor banks! Aim to kill, don't worry about disabling them!"
"My name is Vladimir Alexei. Now, my friends...you will tell me what I need to know. Not because I say you will - but because you will want to tell me; you will be compelled to tell me. When this is over, you will be happy to tell me all that I desire, and even much more than I desire. Time is short - let's get started, hmm?"
It had been nearly two hours since the boarding party beamed over. Hauptmann was clear about Volodya doing his work aboard the Romulan vessel for as long as could be allowed; since that removed the Starfleet Captain's personal responsibility toward whatever methods were employed. As an alert sounded, he knew before being told what was happening - and he hoped to himself that the talk over on the now derelict ship was done.
"Sir! We have two ships entering the system. ETA is nine minutes." The Klingon tactical officer seemed more excited than anything. Hauptmann, on the other hand, was anxious. "Configuration?" He asked even though he already knew. The answer came anyway, "Breen, sir. Cruisers."
At least they hadn't sent large warships. Perhaps the Koragh could hold out, but the risk was too great. Getting the Zum Viig to safety was the most important task. Hauptmann contacted the boarding party. "HoD Tora, I hope you have good news, because the news I have isn't so good."
The Klingon captain answered in a grunt, "Breen", then spoke up, "Yes, Captain Hauptmann - we are tearing out a section of paneling. The Zum Viig is within our grasp."
Augustus Hauptmann breathed a sigh of relief. "We've got less than five minutes. Let's get all non-essential personnel from the boarding party, as well as our prisoners, back over here. As soon as you have the artifact, we will get you out and hopefully have time to scarper."
As the Breen vessels were bearing down upon the Koragh, the last of the boarding party arrived; consisting of HoD Tora, a few Klingon officers, and Volodya. Hauptmann was about to engage cloak when the ship took a massive hit. The word came all too quick. "Cloaking device offline! Engineering crews working to repair. Shields down to 89 percent."
Damn it all. "So, it's a fight they want!! Toss over an assload of torpedoes at the lead ship, and fire all disruptor banks! Aim to kill, don't worry about disabling them!"
The initial explosion was incredible. The Koragh's triple-fire torpedo banks spit out nearly a dozen torpedoes in a matter of seconds - sending the lead Breen ship careening out of control as most of her systems took damage. The shields on these cruisers were formidable, though. Injured, but not out of the fight, the lead ship fell back and allowed her companion to bring the attack home to the Koragh. Just as HoD Tora was arriving on the bridge, there was a great jolt as the ship seemed to leap out from under their feet. Tora watched in horror as the chair which held his counterpart was torn from its base, sending Hauptmann flying through the air. The human captain landed in a heap on the opposite side of the bridge. Meanwhile, the chair - not wanting to lose this one chance at freedom - made the best of the situation...throwing itself into the back of the Koragh's tactical officer, who took the brunt of the chair's force on his back and left shoulder. He fell to one knee, then groaned in what seemed to be satisfaction at the injury, before getting back up and resuming his duties one-handed - as his left shoulder was now dislocated along with several broken bones in the upper arm.
Tora pointed to Hauptmann and snapped in Klingon to the closest officer. "See to him!" He got into his own seat, which was now alone in the center of the bridge, and assumed overall command. It was not Klingon protocol to worry about medical teams until a battle was over, but he grinned to himself as one of the bridge's Starfleet officers made the call to sickbay for him. He knew Hauptmann would be taken care of. In the meantime, there were two Breen ships to handle.
"Sir! Another ship entering the system..."
[USS Andropov]
"Bring us out of warp, Lieutenant. Coordinate attacks with the Koragh."
Oberic Sierra sat in the captain's chair - recently promoted and placed in command of the operation to recover the Zum Viig. While he was not the CO of the Andropov, his role as operational commander meant he got to sit in the big chair for this. He turned to the captain, and nodded curtly. "Status."
"One Breen ship heavily damaged but still active. The Koragh's shields are down to 64 percent. Apparently they can't cloak. But they have the artifact." Oberic stood up, and addressed the communications officer. "Open a channel to the Koragh." Once he saw the Koragh's bridge and HoD Tora, he spoke, "This is the Andropov. Would you like a hand there, sir?"
[ITV Koragh]
"Ha! The Andropov! Helm, bring us about heading 1-7-1 mark 2-3." The voice of the El-Aurian came across and filled the Bridge. His face was stern but somehow at ease. Tora wondered if being several hundred years old meant nothing excited the man anymore. He answered the offer for help with a respectful grunt and a nod of his head before closing the channel. "Tactical, fire all disruptors! I want nothing but bits of wreckage left of that ship!"
The command was taken rather seriously by the younger Klingon officer. With the combined firepower of both the Koragh and Andropov, the initial lead ship of the Breen pair was demolished in a hail of phaser fire, disruptor fire, and torpedoes. the Andropov swept above and past the Koragh, taking the point as to assure both survival of the Klingon vessel, as well as the safety of their cargo. Just as another attack was being coordinated, the second Breen ship, seemingly aware that it was well outmatched, turned and disappeared in a flash of light as it broke into warp. There was no request from the Koragh's bridge crew to pursue the ship; they knew that the artifact was more important than a total victory.
[Four hours later...USS Andropov]
HoD Tora, along with his command staff, had beamed over to the Andropov with the Zum Viig and were now in the conference room sitting across from their Andropov co-parts. Oberic sat at the head of the table, and was addressing the assembled crews.
"We are en route to the nearest starbase. We should arrive in a couple of hours. The artifact has been contained, and the prisoners are safely tucked away in the brig. The Koragh will see to repairs at the starbase. Estimated time to completion is about a week. Captain Hauptmann sustained some minor injuries and will recover quickly. All-in-all, there were sixty-eight injured aboard the Koragh, none dead and all expected to recover nicely. I am going to call this operation a complete success. I recognize and admire the bravery and initiative of the Koragh's crew, and thank you. Most of the galaxy may never know what we did here today, but they all have you to thank for their very lives. Even if they don't know that, you do. I hope that will be enough. Besides...it was indeed a tidy little battle, was it not?"
The meeting was followed by a banquet. It took some convincing to get HoD Tora to relax about the Zum Viig's guardians. Oberic had to explain thoroughly why having a team of Vulcans looking after it was in everyone's best interests. After everyone had said their good-byes and broken up, Oberic went back to his quarters. It was still fairly early in the evening, and he had one more thing to take care of before wrapping things up. He pressed his combadge and spoke, "Sierra to Brevard. Please meet me in my quarters immediately."
[END]
Intelligence Officer
