Season 15: Episode 1 - Dominion Rising pt 1

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Bridge]

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

Nevir had a frown on his face listening to the call with the other officers of both ships.  It wasn't bad enough they were asked to do the improbable.. but they couldn't even agree on the method of execution.  He could feel the frustration from Ian as it matched his own... not to mention the fact that his computer in his ready room was still giving a countdown.

"I think Captain Galloway has the right idea.  We need to work together, but Lek has the experience and the expertise of working with a slipspace drive.  If he feels his idea is better than the Admiral's... I frankly will lean on him more." he stated, calmly.

"Especially because we do not have that much time."

With both Captain's in agreement on going forward with Lek's plan, Rayek nodded towards Tekin and finally acknowledged Galloway's order over the comm.  "Yes sir. I will inform the Department Heads."  No doubt they would not be pleased.  "tr'Lhoell out."

He cut comm and then opened a new comm to the previous Department Heads team.    "The Captains have looked over Lieutenant Commander Lek's plan and are overriding the previous plan.  Call in all off-duty engineers to assist in the build, we have forty minutes to connect the two ships. tr'Lhoell out."

Another comm switch and this time he contacted the Challenger's XO.  "Commander Said, the Captains have opted to forego the Admirals suggested method of 'guided slipstream using the Scott's specs to hold open the slipstream, and instead we will be connecting the two together via their ablative armor - making the two ships essentially one large ship.  I need you to have your helmsman position your ship directly behind Discovery so the engineers can begin building the physical connection.   I'm sending you Lieutenant Commander Lek's proposed plan."

As he spoke, his fingers were tapping at his PADD preparing the file and sending it.  "If you have questions regarding the plan, I direct you to contact Chief Lek."

With the orders amended, Rayek's part was done.  It was up to the Engineers, Operations and Science to make this plan happen.
.
.
.
[Forty minutes later]

Rayek had long since left his seat and instead was circling the bridge, glancing at each station's console on his tour, ensuring everything was in readiness for the upcoming slipstream jump.

Admiral Gillespie had called over to the two ships shortly after Challenger began maneuvering to dock behind Discovery.   His question of 'what the 'bloody hell' they were doing?', was heard throughout the bridge, before Torra hurriedly forwarded the call to the Captains' Ready Rooms.  It was an easy deduction to make that the Admiral was not pleased with them for not following his orders.

But in the end, they were permitted to continue and now as the hour deadline was running down, the work was nearly complete.

As Rayek completed his tour ending back at his seat, he looked over to Broadshire, who still observing the Bridge.

"Lieutenant, have both ships' stations report their readiness to us."

[Dem Broadshire]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Bridge]

With both Captain's in agreement on going forward with Lek's plan, Rayek nodded towards Tekin and finally acknowledged Galloway's order over the comm.  "Yes sir. I will inform the Department Heads."  No doubt they would not be pleased.  "tr'Lhoell out."

He cut comm and then opened a new comm to the previous Department Heads team.    "The Captains have looked over Lieutenant Commander Lek's plan and are overriding the previous plan.  Call in all off-duty engineers to assist in the build, we have forty minutes to connect the two ships. tr'Lhoell out."

Another comm switch and this time he contacted the Challenger's XO.  "Commander Said, the Captains have opted to forego the Admirals suggested method of 'guided slipstream using the Scott's specs to hold open the slipstream, and instead we will be connecting the two together via their ablative armor - making the two ships essentially one large ship.  I need you to have your helmsman position your ship directly behind Discovery so the engineers can begin building the physical connection.   I'm sending you Lieutenant Commander Lek's proposed plan."

As he spoke, his fingers were tapping at his PADD preparing the file and sending it.  "If you have questions regarding the plan, I direct you to contact Chief Lek."

With the orders amended, Rayek's part was done.  It was up to the Engineers, Operations and Science to make this plan happen.
.
.
.
[Forty minutes later]

Rayek had long since left his seat and instead was circling the bridge, glancing at each station's console on his tour, ensuring everything was in readiness for the upcoming slipstream jump.

Admiral Gillespie had called over to the two ships shortly after Challenger began maneuvering to dock behind Discovery.   His question of 'what the 'bloody hell' they were doing?', was heard throughout the bridge, before Torra hurriedly forwarded the call to the Captains' Ready Rooms.  It was an easy deduction to make that the Admiral was not pleased with them for not following his orders.

But in the end, they were permitted to continue and now as the hour deadline was running down, the work was nearly complete.

As Rayek completed his tour ending back at his seat, he looked over to Broadshire, who still observing the Bridge.

"Lieutenant, have both ships' stations report their readiness to us."

[Bridge | USS Discovery]
As an officer who was privy to all the action on the bridge, he was remarkably confused. This Admirals plan seemed outright strange, and much later after significant debate, Lek's plan seemed just as out there. Realising he was called for, Dem instinctively responded with an authoritarian "œAye Sir" before his better senses could stop him. Now he had the interesting task of making both ships stations report to us. He reached out to a nearby console and decided the best way to do this was to inform the challenger's chief of operations to inform him if their side was ready. Additionally, Dem had to also collect information from the ship his standard issue boots were mounted on. Realising that Gohun was still on the bridge, he inquired to him. "œAt what point shall the modifications done by Lek's team be completed on our end Zavrol?"

[Lek]

[Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek was very concerned that his plan was going to be turned down because it was untested, fortunately, the Captain of the Challenger and then Captain Tekin had overruled Rayek and ordered his plan implemented to his great relief.

However, getting his plan approved when all he had was the scratching on his PADD was a minor thing compared to putting his scheme into reality. The engineering teams of the two ships did a remarkable job of working together to devise a means to physically link the two ships. He had Lieutenant Gianetti leading the Discovery crew for the physical connections as Ops worked out the cabling between the two computer cores.

Lek was frantically re-configuring the Discovery's structural integrity field to interface with that of the Challenger. He didn't have to do anything to link the ablative armor of the ships because as soon as the field formed, the frequency of the field, which Lek was manually adjusting, would create a resonance with the crystal lattice structure within the armor naturally. Between the linked fields and the armor behaving as a single unit, it would create the illusion of the two ships being a single ship that would ensure the quantum corridor would be stable.

"At least that's the theory. In theory, communism works. In theory."

He muttered as he worked through the last part of his calculations. He looked at the chronometer and saw he'd finished with seven minutes to spare. He ran through the Discovery's status board and found everything was ready. All systems indicated everything was nominal. He tapped his combadge.

"Engineering to bridge. We are ready to slipstream on your order."

[Zavrol Gohun]

Bridge
Gohun was on the bridge at the engineering section on the bridge. He was thinking about the upgrades to the ship and how the engineering staff was looking over every weld and upgrade.
Speaking of welds Gohun received a work order form. This can't be right they want to weld both ships together. This has to be a prank. Am I on that Ferengi reality show that gets people to do weird things for platinum. " I'd buy that for a latimun strip." Gohun smiled and looked around. No one else was smiling.
Ok if he looked at the hull images he would find.
That on the outside the ship Gohun saw the cable and the welding so no this was not a joke. This makes no senses why would they weld the ships together just make a warp field large enough for both ships. This must be some kind of experiment.
Location shuttle bay
With that Gohun was assigned to team welding. He had never used the welding suit before he adjusted really fast.  After putting on the space suit Gohun remembered the time that he made everyone angry and he had to walk on the hull hitting it with a hammer. Now he is welding cables to the ship. Was he is trouble again? With that the order to return to ship came in. Gohun was curious about the probability of success. With that he entered the ship and noticed that he was on the Challenger now.

[Tekin Nevir]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Bridge]

With both Captain's in agreement on going forward with Lek's plan, Rayek nodded towards Tekin and finally acknowledged Galloway's order over the comm.  "Yes sir. I will inform the Department Heads."  No doubt they would not be pleased.  "tr'Lhoell out."

He cut comm and then opened a new comm to the previous Department Heads team.    "The Captains have looked over Lieutenant Commander Lek's plan and are overriding the previous plan.  Call in all off-duty engineers to assist in the build, we have forty minutes to connect the two ships. tr'Lhoell out."

Another comm switch and this time he contacted the Challenger's XO.  "Commander Said, the Captains have opted to forego the Admirals suggested method of 'guided slipstream using the Scott's specs to hold open the slipstream, and instead we will be connecting the two together via their ablative armor - making the two ships essentially one large ship.  I need you to have your helmsman position your ship directly behind Discovery so the engineers can begin building the physical connection.   I'm sending you Lieutenant Commander Lek's proposed plan."

As he spoke, his fingers were tapping at his PADD preparing the file and sending it.  "If you have questions regarding the plan, I direct you to contact Chief Lek."

With the orders amended, Rayek's part was done.  It was up to the Engineers, Operations and Science to make this plan happen.
.
.
.
[Forty minutes later]

Rayek had long since left his seat and instead was circling the bridge, glancing at each station's console on his tour, ensuring everything was in readiness for the upcoming slipstream jump.

Admiral Gillespie had called over to the two ships shortly after Challenger began maneuvering to dock behind Discovery.   His question of 'what the 'bloody hell' they were doing?', was heard throughout the bridge, before Torra hurriedly forwarded the call to the Captains' Ready Rooms.  It was an easy deduction to make that the Admiral was not pleased with them for not following his orders.

But in the end, they were permitted to continue and now as the hour deadline was running down, the work was nearly complete.

As Rayek completed his tour ending back at his seat, he looked over to Broadshire, who still observing the Bridge.

"Lieutenant, have both ships' stations report their readiness to us."

[Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek was very concerned that his plan was going to be turned down because it was untested, fortunately, the Captain of the Challenger and then Captain Tekin had overruled Rayek and ordered his plan implemented to his great relief.

However, getting his plan approved when all he had was the scratching on his PADD was a minor thing compared to putting his scheme into reality. The engineering teams of the two ships did a remarkable job of working together to devise a means to physically link the two ships. He had Lieutenant Gianetti leading the Discovery crew for the physical connections as Ops worked out the cabling between the two computer cores.

Lek was frantically re-configuring the Discovery's structural integrity field to interface with that of the Challenger. He didn't have to do anything to link the ablative armor of the ships because as soon as the field formed, the frequency of the field, which Lek was manually adjusting, would create a resonance with the crystal lattice structure within the armor naturally. Between the linked fields and the armor behaving as a single unit, it would create the illusion of the two ships being a single ship that would ensure the quantum corridor would be stable.

"At least that's the theory. In theory, communism works. In theory."

He muttered as he worked through the last part of his calculations. He looked at the chronometer and saw he'd finished with seven minutes to spare. He ran through the Discovery's status board and found everything was ready. All systems indicated everything was nominal. He tapped his combadge.

"Engineering to bridge. We are ready to slipstream on your order."

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

The Captain was still wincing a bit at the tongue-lashing both himself and Ian received from the Admiral.  He had to hold his tongue to keep from saying something that would reflect poorly on his ship, and luckily the Admiral accepted their plan.  Or wanted to see if it would fail.  Probably the latter.

Nevir entered the bridge after that call and the countdown was on its last legs.  Rayek had already made sure everything was good, and from Lek's report, they were ready.  He silently moved to the big chair and took his seat.

"All hands, this is the Captain.  We are about to attempt something highly dangerous.  I need full alerts from all teams as we attempt a multi-ship slipspace jump.  I will not lie, the odds are not in our favor, but I have faith in both my crew, as well as the crew of the Challenger, lead by a former first officer of this ship.  Whatever the path forward holds for us, know that I am honored to serve with each and every one of you.  Prepare for quantum slipspace."

Once the call was completed, it was time to be the stalwart captain the ship needed.  "Ops, give me a direct channel to the Challenger.  Engineering, bring the quantum slipstream online.  Helm, set a course for AR-558.  Science, activate the sensor merge for the two vessels, and tactical, bring the ablative armor online."

As the bridge crew reacted to his orders, he waited for the viewscreen to show the bridge of the Excelsior class ship, with many old faces staring back at him.

"Captain Galloway, Discovery is standing by for transwarp.  Just waiting on you."

[Danjar-Torra Addams]

NPC Lieutenant Danjar-Torra Addams
[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Bridge] (40 minutes to deadline)

The Grazerite had passively listened to the Department Chief as they worked out their plan to physically connect the two ships.   Part of that connection was not just the ablative hull, but also their computer cores.  This required running optic cables between the two cores and syncing them.  Whereas the hull connection was the purview of the Engineering department, the computer cores was the responsibility of Ops.  And Lt Banan assigned Torra the task of getting done on Discovery's side.

First, she requisitioned the industrial replication of optic cable long enough to reach from the Discovery's aft most directline dataport to Challenger's fore most directline dataport into order to connect the two cores. A directline dataport was a exact that a direct connection to the computer core allowing for upgrades to added while docked at a Starbase.  Fortunately, the Discovery's unique three hull design meant that she had a directline access not just at her front airlock (which was typical) but also at her mid and aft airlocks.  This meant that the cable could be easily laid out along the docking tunnel between the two ships.

She sent message to the Challenger's Ops Chief informing Lt Commander Catalan of her plan on to how to connect the cores.  She received back the barest of acknowledgements.

Once receiving word, twenty minutes later, that her cable was nearly ready (there was a bit of a wait due to the fact that the industrial replicators were being used to replicate the tie-points and cables connecting the two ships), Torra handed the Ops console over to a junior officer as she left the Bridge to go pick up the cable.  After that all she had to do was connect the cable to the two directline dataports and then sync the two cores.

With Challenger actually docked to the Discovery's emergency aft airlock, there was no need for Torra to get into her uniquely designed EV suit.  No, Torra was able to simply connect the cables to the dataport in the airlock and then make her way through the pressurized docking tunnel over to the USS Challenger and connect it to their airlock's directline dataport.  Simple.  Easy.  Done.

Torra was back at her console 10 minutes later... with 10 minutes to the deadline.   She started the sync, but for some reason was running into authorization problems.  It was like Challenger hadn't authorized her to do the sync.

She called over to Challengers' Ops department.

"Lt Addams to Challenger Operations.   Requesting check and fix on my clearance to run the sync between our two cores.  Lt Commander Catalan had approved this earlier, yet I am unable to complete the sync due to clearance issues.."

Getting clearance to do the core sync was relatively easy but with the deadline looming under 10 minutes away, Torra felt a sense of urgency.

[1 hr deadline]
Torra sat attentively at her Ops console.  The sync had been done... not so much by her but by the Operations personnel on Challenger... but that was fine, as long as it got done.  Now the entire bridge of the Discovery was waiting on pins and needles for Challenger to state they were good to go.

[Dem Broadshire]

[Bridge | USS Discovery] (At Deadline)

Soon enough, the Challenger bridge operations officer had reported back saying the modifications were finished on their end. Lek cut Dem's train of thought and answered Discovery's readiness before Zavrol could. Additionally, he observed the electronic message he sent to all departments apart from engineering, and the moment they all reported in, Dem hastily stated "All stations report ready sir" to not get undercut by the variety of orders being issued.

As soon as the captain assumed command, the bridge was electric with anticipation, as different officers bustled around shouting different commands. Sure enough, after a surprisingly potent pep talk, the conjoined ships were ready to enter slipstream.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Bridge] (At 1 hr deadline)

[Engineering - USS Discovery]

"Engineering to bridge. We are ready to slipstream on your order."

Getting confirmation from Lek that Engineering was ready to go, Rayek felt a bit of tension drain from his shoulders.  He had been concerned that the initial delay might have set them behind schedule; but the crews of both Challenger and Discovery proved themselves up to the challenge.  If they survived this, Rayek would put in a request for yet another commendation for the Ferengi engineer, and the engineering department as a whole.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

The Captain was still wincing a bit at the tongue-lashing both himself and Ian received from the Admiral.  He had to hold his tongue to keep from saying something that would reflect poorly on his ship, and luckily the Admiral accepted their plan.  Or wanted to see if it would fail.  Probably the latter.

Nevir entered the bridge after that call and the countdown was on its last legs.  Rayek had already made sure everything was good, and from Lek's report, they were ready.  He silently moved to the big chair and took his seat.

"All hands, this is the Captain.  We are about to attempt something highly dangerous.  I need full alerts from all teams as we attempt a multi-ship slipspace jump.  I will not lie, the odds are not in our favor, but I have faith in both my crew, as well as the crew of the Challenger, lead by a former first officer of this ship.  Whatever the path forward holds for us, know that I am honored to serve with each and every one of you.  Prepare for quantum slipspace."

Once the call was completed, it was time to be the stalwart captain the ship needed.  "Ops, give me a direct channel to the Challenger.  Engineering, bring the quantum slipstream online.  Helm, set a course for AR-558.  Science, activate the sensor merge for the two vessels, and tactical, bring the ablative armor online."

As the bridge crew reacted to his orders, he waited for the viewscreen to show the bridge of the Excelsior class ship, with many old faces staring back at him.

"Captain Galloway, Discovery is standing by for transwarp.  Just waiting on you."

Rayek sat at the very edge of his seat as he listened to the Captain issue orders to the various bridge personnel to get them ready to slipstream.  He heard Torra acknowledge the order to open a direct channel to the Challenger; which she did.

[Bridge | USS Discovery] (At Deadline)

Soon enough, the Challenger bridge operations officer had reported back saying the modifications were finished on their end. Lek cut Dem's train of thought and answered Discovery's readiness before Zavrol could. Additionally, he observed the electronic message he sent to all departments apart from engineering, and the moment they all reported in, Dem hastily stated "All stations report ready sir" to not get undercut by the variety of orders being issued.

As soon as the captain assumed command, the bridge was electric with anticipation, as different officers bustled around shouting different commands. Sure enough, after a surprisingly potent pep talk, the conjoined ships were ready to enter slipstream.

Then, heard junior Lieutenant Broadshire call out that 'All stations report ready'.  Rayek looked to Challenger now showing on the viewscreen.  The Bridge waited for their acknowledgement and their readiness status.

[Ian Galloway]

A hail from the Discovery... on screen to show the bridge of the Prometheus class and Captain Nevir in the big chair...

"Captain Galloway, Discovery is standing by for transwarp.  Just waiting on you."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian replied immediately to the call from Captain Tekin.

"Given you're the engine and we're just the bloody caboose in this affair, we're ready for the ride whenever you are Captain."

[Savel]

Ensign Savel
[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge]

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

The Captain was still wincing a bit at the tongue-lashing both himself and Ian received from the Admiral.  He had to hold his tongue to keep from saying something that would reflect poorly on his ship, and luckily the Admiral accepted their plan.  Or wanted to see if it would fail.  Probably the latter.

Nevir entered the bridge after that call and the countdown was on its last legs.  Rayek had already made sure everything was good, and from Lek's report, they were ready.  He silently moved to the big chair and took his seat.

"All hands, this is the Captain.  We are about to attempt something highly dangerous.  I need full alerts from all teams as we attempt a multi-ship slipspace jump.  I will not lie, the odds are not in our favor, but I have faith in both my crew, as well as the crew of the Challenger, lead by a former first officer of this ship.  Whatever the path forward holds for us, know that I am honored to serve with each and every one of you.  Prepare for quantum slipspace."

Once the call was completed, it was time to be the stalwart captain the ship needed.  "Ops, give me a direct channel to the Challenger.  Engineering, bring the quantum slipstream online.  Helm, set a course for AR-558.  Science, activate the sensor merge for the two vessels, and tactical, bring the ablative armor online."

As the bridge crew reacted to his orders, he waited for the viewscreen to show the bridge of the Excelsior class ship, with many old faces staring back at him.

"Captain Galloway, Discovery is standing by for transwarp.  Just waiting on you."

There was a lot about this plan that made Savel... uncertain. Though there was nothing about it that he felt the need to speak up about. The decisions had been made, and the orders were given. When an order was directed at his station, he got to work. He began to tap at a few of the buttons on the console in front of him that controlled the ship's sensors.

After ensuring that the sensors were still in proper working order, he activated the merge between them and the Challenger. Everything on his consoles reflected an all-around success in that particular matter. Once it was done, he turned to face Captain Nevir.

"Sensors have been merged, Captain."

[Jael Sherem]

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

The Captain was still wincing a bit at the tongue-lashing both himself and Ian received from the Admiral.  He had to hold his tongue to keep from saying something that would reflect poorly on his ship, and luckily the Admiral accepted their plan.  Or wanted to see if it would fail.  Probably the latter.

Nevir entered the bridge after that call and the countdown was on its last legs.  Rayek had already made sure everything was good, and from Lek's report, they were ready.  He silently moved to the big chair and took his seat.

"All hands, this is the Captain.  We are about to attempt something highly dangerous.  I need full alerts from all teams as we attempt a multi-ship slipspace jump.  I will not lie, the odds are not in our favor, but I have faith in both my crew, as well as the crew of the Challenger, lead by a former first officer of this ship.  Whatever the path forward holds for us, know that I am honored to serve with each and every one of you.  Prepare for quantum slipspace."

Once the call was completed, it was time to be the stalwart captain the ship needed.  "Ops, give me a direct channel to the Challenger.  Engineering, bring the quantum slipstream online.  Helm, set a course for AR-558.  Science, activate the sensor merge for the two vessels, and tactical, bring the ablative armor online."

As the bridge crew reacted to his orders, he waited for the viewscreen to show the bridge of the Excelsior class ship, with many old faces staring back at him.

"Captain Galloway, Discovery is standing by for transwarp.  Just waiting on you."

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Bridge] (At 1 hr deadline)

Getting confirmation from Lek that Engineering was ready to go, Rayek felt a bit of tension drain from his shoulders.  He had been concerned that the initial delay might have set them behind schedule; but the crews of both Challenger and Discovery proved themselves up to the challenge.  If they survived this, Rayek would put in a request for yet another commendation for the Ferengi engineer, and the engineering department as a whole.

Rayek sat at the very edge of his seat as he listened to the Captain issue orders to the various bridge personnel to get them ready to slipstream.  He heard Torra acknowledge the order to open a direct channel to the Challenger; which she did.

Then, heard junior Lieutenant Broadshire call out that 'All stations report ready'.  Rayek looked to Challenger now showing on the viewscreen.  The Bridge waited for their acknowledgement and their readiness status.

[Admiral Hamish Gillespie | Bridge | Deck One | USS Legacy NCC-75001-B]

Three...two...one....the countdown was completed, and Gillespie ordered a hail to the rest of the fleet.

"All ships, prepare for slipstream on my mark...Mark!"

The Legacy had its slipstream portal opened and proceeded inside with the Intrepid and the Eagle in its wake. The Scott proceeded in with the Carlson following.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

A moment later, the order came from Gillespie to drop out of slipstream and the compliance came when the merged ships dropped into regular space. And there they were.

AR-558. The site of a major battle...no, make that siege. In light of the end of the war, the planet, barren as it was, looked relatively peaceful.

A moment later, Gillespie called in the fleet.

"Well done, everybody," he said. "We made it. We'll be holding here for a couple of hours while we give the slipstreams a chance to rest. Meantime, we'll be waiting for more ships to join us to Deep Space Nine. But for now, take a breather."

Once the call ended, Nira breathed as well. "Well, let's see how all departments are doing with our trip through slipstream..."

Just then, Ops called out something: A distress signal. Put on speakers, it sounded garbled, but the callers were in a panic.

"This...trade fleet...kalia Triang...under attack...can't expl...how...daschian pirates...I repeat..."

The distress call, certainly picked up by the rest of the fleet, was sent to Admiral Gillespie, who called the ships...though particularly the Discovery and the Challenger.

"Cardassian pirates," he said with a scowl. "It's been a while since the Tarkalia Triangle had been raided. And it was mostly by Tzenkethi. They've mostly been discouraged away since that trading fleet had security beefed up. On the other hand...it's disturbingly similar to what transpired...that little job I had Miss Sherem infiltrate...but the Klingons were way on the other side, in an entirely different neighboring quadrant, and it's taken them how the hell long to get all the way to unclaimed space in proximity to Tzenkethi territory...?"

He pursed his lips in a worrying expression...

"Tekin, Galloway," the admiral ordered, "yeh two head over to their position and help them. Help any other starships escorting that fleet to drive away the pirates. Take the Intrepid with yeh to back yeh up."

[Lieutenant JG Jael Sherem | Bridge | Deck One | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Jael could understand the refusal about the call. Maybe, just maybe, when they got to Deep Space Nine for potential shore leave, Jael will call her mother.

She had to admit, she was feeling nervous. From what's understood, they were spreading ablative armor from cables to Challenger and then towing the thing. This is going to get interesting.

Throughout the whole journey through slipstream, Jael was nervous. But not for her ship. Through the whole of sixteen minutes, she muttered a rapid prayer to the Prophets for the safety of the Challenger crew. And being a prayer to the Prophets, it was something she was sure Captain Tekin is going to somewhat understand.

After exiting slipstream, Jael breathed a sigh of relief, taking a look at the sensors and seeing Challenger was all right. But then came the distress call.

Jael just stood there rigidly. And when Admiral Gillespie called, she nodded at him from Tactical when he mentioned the infiltration job when she infiltrated a pirate ship working under her father, only to be ambushed by a Klingon ship where Nira was serving as part of the Officer Exchange Program. But it was all the way over in Klingon space...

An inkling was forming in Jael's mind... "It couldn't potentially be him," she said under her breath. "They would've taken Prophets know how many months to get all the way here...maybe even a year or two...unless...well, we'll know when we get there."

She looked down at the long range sensors and pursed her lips.

[Ian Galloway]

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Nira, like everybody else on the bridge, braced themselves for the transwarp journey. Naturally, as the Discovery opened its slipstream portal and pulled them in, she could feel the occasional shaking and slight creaks like a galleon was plunging along a forty-degree waterfall.

For the whole of sixteen minutes, everybody was riveted to the viewscreen, at least everybody in the bridge. Of course, Nira was very sure she was feeling exhiliration from as much of the crew below the bridge as well as within as much as she could detect.

Nobody's used to slipstream like I am, thought Nira to herself. Then again, they're more used to this old ship and not the latest technology.

A moment later, the order came from Gillespie to drop out of slipstream and the compliance came when the merged ships dropped into regular space. And there they were.

AR-558. The site of a major battle...no, make that siege. In light of the end of the war, the planet, barren as it was, looked relatively peaceful.

A moment later, Gillespie called in the fleet.

"Well done, everybody," he said. "We made it. We'll be holding here for a couple of hours while we give the slipstreams a chance to rest. Meantime, we'll be waiting for more ships to join us to Deep Space Nine. But for now, take a breather."

Once the call ended, Nira breathed as well. "Well, let's see how all departments are doing with our trip through slipstream..."

Just then, Ops called out something: A distress signal. Put on speakers, it sounded garbled, but the callers were in a panic.

"This...trade fleet...kalia Triang...under attack...can't expl...how...daschian pirates...I repeat..."

The signal became cut off, but Nira was sure what it was saying. It was somebody from a trade fleet operating the shipping route between Tarkalia, Denobula and Vega, hence the name: Tarkalia Triangle, although it often headed along past the triangle's route to other places, like to Trill and to Bajor. As for the pirates, Nira was sure the signal was crapping out, getting slurred sounding, but it sounded like they were attacked by Cardassian pirates.

"Cardassian pirates?" said Nira to the Captain. "Funny, if the Tarkalia Triangle were to be attacked...well, the closest known border is the Tzenkethi Collective either in one direction...second closest wound be the Breen, but it's a lot farther away..."

The distress call, certainly picked up by the rest of the fleet, was sent to Admiral Gillespie, who called the ships...though particularly the Discovery and the Challenger.

"Cardassian pirates," he said with a scowl. "It's been a while since the Tarkalia Triangle had been raided. And it was mostly by Tzenkethi. They've mostly been discouraged away since that trading fleet had security beefed up. On the other hand...it's disturbingly similar to what transpired...that little job I had Miss Sherem infiltrate...but the Klingons were way on the other side, in an entirely different neighboring quadrant, and it's taken them how the hell long to get all the way to unclaimed space in proximity to Tzenkethi territory...?"

He pursed his lips in a worrying expression...Nira knew that look very well, she's made that expression when she's suspecting something.

"Tekin, Galloway," the admiral ordered, "yeh two head over to their position and help them. Help any other starships escorting that fleet to drive away the pirates. Take the Intrepid with yeh to back yeh up."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian cringed when Gillespie ordered Discovery and Challenger to respond, as it pointed out a very glaring flaw in Lek's otherwise brilliant plan. With the two ships physically connected, they were configured for optimal slipstream travel, they were in an abysmal configuration for a fight. After having T'Kel reply to Gillespie that they would respond, he then ordered her to open a channel to the Discovery.

"Captain, we are royally buggered if'n we have ta fight. It will take at least half an hour ta separate our ships. My best response for our situation is for you ta Multi-Vector and Alpha and Gamma hulls ta deal with the problem. Challenger and Beta hull will have ta follow at best speed after you."

[Emperor J.B Dersch]

[Lieutenant JG Jael Sherem | Bridge | Deck One | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Jael could understand the refusal about the call. Maybe, just maybe, when they got to Deep Space Nine for potential shore leave, Jael will call her mother.

She had to admit, she was feeling nervous. From what's understood, they were spreading ablative armor from cables to Challenger and then towing the thing. This is going to get interesting.

Throughout the whole journey through slipstream, Jael was nervous. But not for her ship. Through the whole of sixteen minutes, she muttered a rapid prayer to the Prophets for the safety of the Challenger crew. And being a prayer to the Prophets, it was something she was sure Captain Tekin is going to somewhat understand.

After exiting slipstream, Jael breathed a sigh of relief, taking a look at the sensors and seeing Challenger was all right. But then came the distress call.

Jael just stood there rigidly. And when Admiral Gillespie called, she nodded at him from Tactical when he mentioned the infiltration job when she infiltrated a pirate ship working under her father, only to be ambushed by a Klingon ship where Nira was serving as part of the Officer Exchange Program. But it was all the way over in Klingon space...

An inkling was forming in Jael's mind... "It couldn't potentially be him," she said under her breath. "They would've taken Prophets know how many months to get all the way here...maybe even a year or two...unless...well, we'll know when we get there."

She looked down at the long range sensors and pursed her lips.

Dersch watched and looked out the view screen as they Completed the jump, Before they had jumped he had been really tensed in the Body but now that they were out he slowly untensed the body, All while watching Sherem work the Console

[Tekin Nevir]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian replied immediately to the call from Captain Tekin.

"Given you're the engine and we're just the bloody caboose in this affair, we're ready for the ride whenever you are Captain."

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

"Very well Captain.  Stand by." the Captain stated, as all systems were ready to go.

"Alright, activate the quantum slipstream.  Let's ride." he stated, giving his order for the ships to go to slipstream.  Almost immedaitely he noticed how difficult this thing was.  The ride to Ferenginar was steady, peaceful... this one was not.  It was back to their testing phase.  He had to grip his chair.  But to his amazement, the journey was thankfully fast and both ships exited the stream.

"I want a complete systems check while the fleet recharges.  The Admiral is probably wai-" he didn't get to finish the sentence as Ops noted a distress signal.. followed by the Admiral hailing them.  Of course he wanted the two of them to investigate.  He was sure he was on the Admiral's shit hit list right now.  But the Admiral's order opened a giant glaring issue with Lek's plan, one that Nevir realized about the same time as Galloway did.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian cringed when Gillespie ordered Discovery and Challenger to respond, as it pointed out a very glaring flaw in Lek's otherwise brilliant plan. With the two ships physically connected, they were configured for optimal slipstream travel, they were in an abysmal configuration for a fight. After having T'Kel reply to Gillespie that they would respond, he then ordered her to open a channel to the Discovery.

"Captain, we are royally buggered if'n we have ta fight. It will take at least half an hour ta separate our ships. My best response for our situation is for you ta Multi-Vector and Alpha and Gamma hulls ta deal with the problem. Challenger and Beta hull will have ta follow at best speed after you."

"That's probably why the prick ordered our two ships to respond.  Prophets..." he responded, shaking his head. He turned to his science officer.

"Bring up the current ship layout on screen." he ordered, as the image of Galloway was replaced with a schematic of Discovery, highlighting the points of contact between her and the Challenger.

"We lucked out... if the lower arms were one deck lower, Gamma would be out of commission.  Inform the Challenger that we will separate and go on ahead.  We'll keep Lek on the upper engineering deck and see if he can figure out how to quickly disconnect the Beta hull and reattach it.. or if we should return to the Admiral's plan.  I will take Gamma remotely with us, and then Mr. Broadshire, you will be assuming command of Gamma.  Rayek, you will take Beta once it arrives."

"Bridge to Engineering.  Lek, we've discovered a flaw in your plan, and we've been ordered to respond to a distress signal.  I'm separating Alpha and Gamma hulls to go on ahead with the Intrepid.  Beta and the Challenger will have to act as one until we can disconnect the ships. I want you to stay on Beta and work on a solution.  Bridge out." 

"Well, Mr th'Lhoell, Mr Broadshire.  You get to see a close up of the Prometheus class's claim to fame." he stated, standing up.

"Computer, activate multi-vector assault mode.  Begin separation sequence.  Automate Gamma hull.  Voiceprint authorization Captain Tekin Nevir."

The computer chimed its acknowledgment and the lights on the ship dimmed to a blue hue.

Multi-vector Mode has been enabled.  Initiating decoupling sequence. Auto separation in ten seconds. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

Separation sequence in progress.

The ship shook as it separated, with both the top and bottom sections moving away from the center.  The Ops station showed the sequence as complete and was able to confirm that Gamma Hull was remotely taking orders from the Main Bridge. The Captain turned back and took his seat.

"Helm, set a course for the source of the distress system.  Maximum warp." he stated, as both Alpha and Gamma hulls turned in unison and activated their own different warp engines.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Bridge]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian replied immediately to the call from Captain Tekin.

"Given you're the engine and we're just the bloody caboose in this affair, we're ready for the ride whenever you are Captain."

[Admiral Hamish Gillespie | Bridge | Deck One | USS Legacy NCC-75001-B]

Three...two...one....the countdown was completed, and Gillespie ordered a hail to the rest of the fleet.

"All ships, prepare for slipstream on my mark...Mark!"

The Legacy had its slipstream portal opened and proceeded inside with the Intrepid and the Eagle in its wake. The Scott proceeded in with the Carlson following.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

"Very well Captain.  Stand by." the Captain stated, as all systems were ready to go.

"Alright, activate the quantum slipstream.  Let's ride." he stated, giving his order for the ships to go to slipstream.

Almost immediately he noticed how difficult this thing was.  The ride to Ferenginar was steady, peaceful... this one was not.  It was back to their testing phase.  He had to grip his chair.  But to his amazement, the journey was thankfully fast and both ships exited the stream.

"I want a complete systems check while the fleet recharges.  The Admiral is probably wai-" he didn't get to finish the sentence as Ops noted a distress signal.. followed by the Admiral hailing them.

Considering how smooth the previous slipstream was, Rayek opted not to use his chair restraints this time.  A decision he nearly regretted given his on the edge of his seat position.  The first jostle came out of the blue and almost unseated him.   Rayek quickly pushed further back into his chair and, like the Captain, grip at chair to keep seated.

He wondered if the other ships were having as rough a ride as they?

The sixteen minutes it took to travel the just over 80 ly seemed to drag for the Romulan in comparison to the travel to Ferenginar.  At any moment was expect to hear an alert klaxon warning of a catastrophic failure of the slipstream.  Thankfully that did not come to pass.  They exited the slipstream where expected, near to AR-558, none the worse for all the shaking.

He glanced about the bridge about to call for status updates, when a distress signal was picked up.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]
AR-558. The site of a major battle...no, make that siege. In light of the end of the war, the planet, barren as it was, looked relatively peaceful.

A moment later, Gillespie called in the fleet.

"Well done, everybody," he said. "We made it. We'll be holding here for a couple of hours while we give the slipstreams a chance to rest. Meantime, we'll be waiting for more ships to join us to Deep Space Nine. But for now, take a breather."

Once the call ended, Nira breathed as well. "Well, let's see how all departments are doing with our trip through slipstream..."

Just then, Ops called out something: A distress signal. Put on speakers, it sounded garbled, but the callers were in a panic.

"This...trade fleet...kalia Triang...under attack...can't expl...how...daschian pirates...I repeat..."

The signal became cut off, but Nira was sure what it was saying. It was somebody from a trade fleet operating the shipping route between Tarkalia, Denobula and Vega, hence the name: Tarkalia Triangle, although it often headed along past the triangle's route to other places, like to Trill and to Bajor. As for the pirates, Nira was sure the signal was crapping out, getting slurred sounding, but it sounded like they were attacked by Cardassian pirates.

"Cardassian pirates?" said Nira to the Captain. "Funny, if the Tarkalia Triangle were to be attacked...well, the closest known border is the Tzenkethi Collective either in one direction...second closest wound be the Breen, but it's a lot farther away..."

The distress call, certainly picked up by the rest of the fleet, was sent to Admiral Gillespie, who called the ships...though particularly the Discovery and the Challenger.

"Cardassian pirates," he said with a scowl. "It's been a while since the Tarkalia Triangle had been raided. And it was mostly by Tzenkethi. They've mostly been discouraged away since that trading fleet had security beefed up. On the other hand...it's disturbingly similar to what transpired...that little job I had Miss Sherem infiltrate...but the Klingons were way on the other side, in an entirely different neighboring quadrant, and it's taken them how the hell long to get all the way to unclaimed space in proximity to Tzenkethi territory...?"

He pursed his lips in a worrying expression...Nira knew that look very well, she's made that expression when she's suspecting something.

"Tekin, Galloway," the admiral ordered, "yeh two head over to their position and help them. Help any other starships escorting that fleet to drive away the pirates. Take the Intrepid with yeh to back yeh up."

Rayek's eyebrow rose at hearing the Admiral order Discovery and Challenger to investigate.  Had the Admiral note seen the state of their ships?

Of course he wanted the two of them to investigate.  He was sure he was on the Admiral's shit hit list right now.  But the Admiral's order opened a giant glaring issue with Lek's plan, one that Nevir realized about the same time as Galloway did.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian cringed when Gillespie ordered Discovery and Challenger to respond, as it pointed out a very glaring flaw in Lek's otherwise brilliant plan. With the two ships physically connected, they were configured for optimal slipstream travel, they were in an abysmal configuration for a fight. After having T'Kel reply to Gillespie that they would respond, he then ordered her to open a channel to the Discovery.

"Captain, we are royally buggered if'n we have ta fight. It will take at least half an hour ta separate our ships. My best response for our situation is for you ta Multi-Vector and send Alpha and Gamma hulls ta deal with the problem. Challenger and Beta hull will have ta follow at best speed after you."

"That's probably why the prick ordered our two ships to respond.  Prophets..." he responded, shaking his head. He turned to his science officer.

"Bring up the current ship layout on screen." he ordered, as the image of Galloway was replaced with a schematic of Discovery, highlighting the points of contact between her and the Challenger.

"We lucked out... if the lower arms were one deck lower, Gamma would be out of commission.  Inform the Challenger that we will separate and go on ahead.  We'll keep Lek on the upper engineering deck and see if he can figure out how to quickly disconnect the Beta hull and reattach it.. or if we should return to the Admiral's plan.  I will take Gamma remotely with us, and then Mr. Broadshire, you will be assuming command of Gamma.  Rayek, you will take Beta once it arrives."

"Bridge to Engineering.  Lek, we've discovered a flaw in your plan, and we've been ordered to respond to a distress signal.  I'm separating Alpha and Gamma hulls to go on ahead with the Intrepid.  Beta and the Challenger will have to act as one until we can disconnect the ships. I want you to stay on Beta and work on a solution.  Bridge out." 

"Well, Mr th'Lhoell, Mr Broadshire.  You get to see a close up of the Prometheus class's claim to fame." he stated, standing up.

Given the potential for pirates Rayek would have preferred to have all hulls present, to deal with them, but as the separation process left the ship vulnerable, he could understand the need to separate before arriving.

"Aye, sir!"  he said standing up from his chair.  "Lt Addams, site to site transport please. Beam me to the Beta Hull battle bridge.  And send over the it's MVA bridge team."  As he waited for the Grazerite to acknowledge and enact his orders, the Romulan glanced over to the likely overwhelmed Doctor.    "Glohhaasi' mnekha" he said, which translated to good hunting or good luck.

A moment later Torra had him caught up in a transporter beam.

"Computer, activate multi-vector assault mode.  Begin separation sequence.  Automate Gamma hull.  Voiceprint authorization Captain Tekin Nevir."

The computer chimed its acknowledgment and the lights on the ship dimmed to a blue hue.

Multi-vector Mode has been enabled.  Initiating decoupling sequence. Auto separation in ten seconds. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

Separation sequence in progress.

The ship shook as it separated, with both the top and bottom sections moving away from the center.  The Ops station showed the sequence as complete and was able to confirm that Gamma Hull was remotely taking orders from the Main Bridge. The Captain turned back and took his seat.

"Helm, set a course for the source of the distress system.  Maximum warp." he stated, as both Alpha and Gamma hulls turned in unison and activated their own different warp engines.

[Beta Hull - Deck 6  - Battle Bridge]
Rayek was the first to arrive on the Battle bridge.   A short moment later this bridge began to arrive.  Some were beamed over from positions on hulls, others arrived on foot having already been on the Beta Hull.

The countdown for separation was displayed in large numbers at the bottom corner of his viewscreen, then he felt the impressively smooth detachment of the Arrowhead shaped Alpha Hull and the less aesthetic Gamma Hull.  The Romulan watched as the other hulls moved further from them and then an instant later they were at warp.

He looked to his team:

Lt JG Bok-Char at Helm
Lieutenant Raquel Ruiz at Tactical
Ensign Zavrol Gohun at Engineering, though Lek was in Upper Engineering hopefully devising a way to decouple them swiftly.
Chief of Operations, Lieutenant Banan Leon sat at Ops
and, of course the obligatory Vulcan, Ensign Savel.

"Mr. Banan open a channel to Engineering and to Challenger. "

"Captain Galloway as you know we need a way to uncouple Challenger from Discovery's Beta hull swiftly.   I'd like our two crews to brainstorm ideas together.  Are there any ideas at all short of cutting the cables? And if not, how long will it take to cut through the cables?"