Season 15: Episode 1 - Dominion Rising pt 1

[Alexander Graham]

[Bridge-Gamma battle bridge-USS Discovery]

Alex sat back in his chair as he was prepared to do evasive manuevers on the off chance that they were fired upon. He had full trust in the second officer to command them through the troubling situation. He watched closely as the standoff unfolded. He hoped that if they were fired on that he could get them through it safely.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck 6 - Battle Bridge (Beta Hull)]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian mentally kicked himself for excluding Discovery's First Officer from his call to Captain Tekin.

"It's nae like we're hitched ta Alpha hull dammit."

He growled internally before switching his comm settings to include the commanders of all three of Discovery's hulls.

"Commanders, I'm fine with puttin' our bulk between that bloody station and those freighters, but I think it's barkin' mad ta try and fight a Nor-class with what we have. I believe if'n we fire enough proximity photons, we can bugger up their targetin' system long enough for all of us ta do a runner."

Rayek was both surprised and relieved to hear the suggestion put forward by Galloway.

"I like that plan."

The Romulan really didn't want to get into any sort of extended battle here.  Tess and Fvien were on board, tucked away in the securest section of the ship, near to Sickbay.  Yet even so, any battle posed risks. So if he could avoid a fight altogether that would be best.

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

Tapping her comm badge, she called tr'Lhoell: "Commander tr'Lhoell, our tactical officer is standing by..."

Rayek looked over to Lieutenant Ruiz - who nodded.  She took was ready.

[Engineering - USS Discovery - Beta Hull]

Lek concurred with Rayek's suggestion, the extra power to the structural integrity field needed for the burst of warp travel was now desperately needed to protect the linked ships. The only concern he had was how would the Point of Impact shielding react to the hybrid hull form. He tapped his combadge to speak to the Challenger's chief engineer.

"Commander Tharn, given the ODN cables we used to link our computer cores for the slipstream, that should allow our Point of Impact systems to merge and share power throughout both hulls. However, as the designer of that system, I never imagined such a use, so we will have to have Ops monitor the power transfer manually while we do the same in engineering."

"More work I do not need Commander, but as we haven't got choice until those freighters are safe. I agree. Let's get to it."

On getting Tharn's concurrence, Lek switched channels.

"Engineering to Lieutenant Banan, we're about to link the Point of Impact systems of the two ships. In order for the system to work right, you are going to have handle the power transfer manually. We are ready on our end and the system is at your discretion."

The Chief of Operations realized quickly that he alone wouldn't be able to do the manual transfer so he called on Challenger Ops personnel to assist.  Organizing the assistance took only moments and just as the connected ships were arriving in position, Operations were in place

"We're ready, Commander Lek."   Banan replied.  Then he and the other Ops personnel on Challenger manually did the power transfer from structural integrity to the shields.

[USS challenger-bridge]

T'prith acknowledged lieutenant junior grade Mcnair as she went back to viewing the screen at her station. She proceeded to shunt the power from the integrity fields to the shields. She figured that the situation must be rather dire if the power had to be moved to the shields. If there was any other actions that needed to be taken then she would be prepared to act accordingly.

Rayek sat alertly at the command seat of the Beta Hull as the ship came to a gradual halt under the careful hands of their Bolian flight officer. He'd 'parked' her directly in the way of any weapons fire towards the fleeing trader ships.

The ship came out of warp with a moan. The cables that connect both ships were causing stress on the hull. Looking at the sensor data Gohun noted that the cables were putting an increased pressure on the hull and that was causing the structural integrity to go down. Gohum transferred power to structural integrity to compensate.
"Gohun to Lek. The cables are causing stress on the hull. I am increasing the structural integrity field"

Rayek's attention unfortunately wasn't on the engineer behind him calling Lek and doing actions counter to what Rayek had just ordered.  No, the Romulan's attention was turned to the viewscreen as suddenly it came to life, even though he knew Banan hadn't had any opportunity to hack the call... that meant it was being sent to them.

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

In point of fact, it didn't take long at all for hailing frequencies to be opened. In fact, the call was received at an instant; the viewscreen flickered on to show a gruff old man for a Cardassian.

"Captains. Allow me to introduce myself," Nehor drawled. "I am Gul Sherem, director of the Cardassian Intelligence Bureau. At least, until my office was liquidated by some upstarts under the thumb of that traitor Damar. And this...this is my masterpiece, Melek Nor. The only mobile station you will ever find. I'm sure your sensors will have noticed Borg signatures here. No, I am no Borg King, I just love the implementation of Borg technology."

Gul Sherem!?  Jael's father?  He recalled that she'd tried to forewarn that her father might somehow be involved yet he'd dismissed it as more just familial egotism and paranoia on her part.  Apparently, he'd been mistaken, and she correct.

But more important than that was the man's reference to Borg signatures on the Nor station.  He motioned Banan to be sure his end was muted and looked over towards the Vulcan Science officer.

"Lt Savel, what is he talking about.  What Borg signatures is he referring to?" Rayek demanded to know.

Old man Sherem continued speaking and, at the same time, mocking the other ships. "I admit, I was surprised to see a simple formation. And I suppose you were expecting less. I expect no less than a tickle, especially you two hugging it out."

The Cardassians around him laughed; the Jem'Hadar, being bred professional soldiers, did not.

"At least Daddy is separate from the rest of the herd, am I right, Bajoran," added the old man, looking particularly at Tekin. Nira cringed a little; the way he said "Bajoran" at Tekin, he was saying it so scathingly it was like the name "Bajoran" was on par with a derogatory insult. On the other hand, he looked old enough to be a veteran of the Bajoran Occupation. She looked at Captain Galloway with a little worry in her face.

It was impossible to miss the taunt.  Rayek could only hope the Bajoran Captain wouldn't rise to the bait, because if the Alpha Hull moved in to attack, then the rest of the ship would be obligated to follow suit. 

[Dem Broadshire]

[Gamma bridge | USS Discovery (Gamma hull)]
Dem sat forward on his chair as a response to the hails was headed. After informing the Ops officer to put it on the main viewscreen, he looked at the face that met them. A Cardassian male. Typical old officer running renegade in the quadrant. But then his conversational tone surprised him. Nothing however to the shock of him being Sherem's father. He would not fire on his daughter's ships, right?

He glanced down to observe is knuckles going white, gripping the triangular protrusions on the end of the chair that contained basic readouts. He needed something to soothe his nerves.
"œDersch, tactical readout on the station."

[Tekin Nevir]

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

In point of fact, it didn't take long at all for hailing frequencies to be opened. In fact, the call was received at an instant; the viewscreen flickered on to show a gruff old man for a Cardassian.

Nehor Sherem certainly showed his age; aside from the wrinkles, he would've been a typical middle-aged Cardassian. He wore no armor, though he certainly didn't look to need it. Stealth and subterfuge was her forte, as Jael remembered; armor was only an attention-grabber. His eyes were cold and piercing, and his expression so neutral he'd probably be twelve percent Vulcan if it wasn't for the scowl forming in his mouth.

On his ear was a device that bore quite a resemblance to a Terran hearing aid, but Nehor Sherem was never deaf; quite the contrary, his hearing was acute for a Cardassian. He had the device ever since he was a boy and took pleasure in pretending to be deaf so as to listen in on secrets, but that was before even the Obsidian Order caught on to him, but nowadays, one of the greatest fears about Nehor Sherem was that one never knew if he was listening. In actuality, when he was a great deal younger, he lost a part of his ear in a street fight. The "hearing aid" that he had implanted on his lobe acted as a sort of miniature computer, a connection he has to the Cardassian network. Later, in the Dominion War, he never left home without a visor of the style of what Dominion officers would wear on their ships, almost like a mechanical monocle extended from his shoulder and collar bone. If he had his armor, with that visor, all that would've been needed would've been a few Borg implants on his face and he'd look the part of the very cybernetic collective he had studied. It used to scare Jael so much when she was little, she practically ran into her mother's arms and was sure she never left her embrace when Rahab Sherem took her in her arms and made for Federation space in her-then Hideki-class ship.

Fortunately, thank the Prophets, Nehor Sherem had dispensed with the visor and scowled at Captain Tekin from his own Ops, where in the background, other Cardassian officers, also former and fellow members of the Cardassian Intelligence Bureau, plus plenty of Jem'Hadar guards around the bridge, scowled at the viewscreen on his end.

A moment later, the old man turned his scowl upward into a mocking grin. It made Jael flinch; she had come to associate that smile with impending misery, at the very least. Nehor Sherem smiling was just as unnerving as a Vulcan losing emotional control.

"Well, I know about empty-nesters, but certainly a big baby certainly doesn't want to let any of the family go," he said; he spoke with a slight drawl, indicative of his native Mekar, having been born a virtual country boy in the Mekar Wilderness.

"Does mommy dearest need to keep giving baby a hug?" Nehor squealed a little, and chuckled. In the background, his henchmen, at least the Cardassians, laughed along with him; the Jem'Hadar, naturally, didn't.

"You're one to talk, old man!" snapped Jael. "This was pretty much the last time I saw you! Prophets damn you for insulting the ships with that comparison!"

Nehor stopped laughing long enough to get a good look at Jael.

"Well, I'll be damned," he said. "My little Jael...it has been a long time, look how much you've grown. You've become exactly like your mother...along with her religious affiliation," he added sourly, like the memory of his wife's conversion was still fresh in his mind. "However, father dearest is not speaking to you now..."

He looked over at Captain Tekin and scowled long and hard at him. Jael thought she knew that look; one of the only times she and he were together was when she walked in on him torturing a former Bajoran resistance member he still had prisoner, and when he saw her come in, he practically threw her from the room, but not before she had seen enough to get nightmares, to be outright disturbed by what she had seen.

"But first, I think I need to speak this out to your little baby still hugging you," Nehor said, still mocking but full of wanton spite. He nodded, and a hail was sent over to the Challenger. Once he had gotten online with the Challenger, he spoke.

"Captains. Allow me to introduce myself," Nehor drawled. "I am Gul Sherem, director of the Cardassian Intelligence Bureau. At least, until my office was liquidated by some upstarts under the thumb of that traitor Damar. And this...this is my masterpiece, Melek Nor. The only mobile station you will ever find. I'm sure your sensors will have noticed Borg signatures here. No, I am no Borg King, I just love the implementation of Borg technology."

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

Tekin kept his own equally hard look.  A mobile Cardassian station firing on the Federation was a non-starter for him.  He couldn't help but think about his own children, seeing this man basically taunting his daughter right in front of her commanding officer.  Oh how much he wanted to give an outburst at the man... but he was a Starfleet captain.  He had to be diplomatic.  Only a twitch in his eye gave any indication that he reacted to the taunt.

"How about we show each other some professional courtesy, Gul Sherem. You have already broken a couple of treaties merely with your actions. And you are risking open war with the Federation..." he stated, looking behind the old Cardassian to see Jem'Hadar.

"But I'm guessing that is what your intention is, isn't it?  Bait the Federation into attacking Cardassia?  But why?"

[Emperor J.B Dersch]

[Brige "" Gamma Battle Bridge | USS Discovery]
"œOh Crap" was Dem's first thought as Tekin gave the order for him to command gamma hull. However, Dem returned to his forged "œcaptains voice" as soon as the was information processed. "œGraham and Dersch, will you please join me in the gamma bridge?" Dem gave a curt nod to the captain as he departed though an emergency turbolift.
Emergency turbolifts were some of the fasted moving machinery on the ship, because with only three destinations and the most direct route they could hit 100 kilometres per hour. This was a fundamental problem for Dem who was anticipating time to collect his thoughts before continuing.
The doors opened with a hiss, and he saw the bridge that he was destined to command. He walked over to his chair and met it with a smile on his face. He rotated towards an ensign who had assumed operations. "œOps, make sure everyone is at their gamma stations. Dersch, run some diagnostics on phasers and proton torpedos. Graham, prepare for separation" A moment later, the captains voice dispersed around the stark grey battle bridge, and they had separated.

Broadshire was flying by the seat of his pants, and now he is in command of a ship.

"œGraham, maintain course and speed of the alpha hull, with a 500 meter gap."

Dersch started to run diagnostics as the ship detached and he watched as the scans showed what was happening and looked up to Broadshire and said "Can this really Be happening?"

[Lek]

The ship came out of transwarp with a moan. The cables that connect both ships were causing stress on the hall. Looking at the sensor data Gohun noted that the cables were putting an increased pressure on the hull and that was causing the structural integrity to go down. Gohum transferred power to structural integrity to compensate.
"Gohun to Lek. The cables are causing stress on the hull. I am increasing the structural integrity field"

[Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek heard Gohan's report with great annoyance. He was manually adjusting the power flow between the merged point of impact shields of the two ships, an action the system he invented was never designed to do, and it was delicate work. He really didn't have time for complications, so when he replied, he did so in a tone he wouldn't have normally used.

"Draw power from Challenger's secondary core!"

He snarled quickly and returned to keeping the point of impact shields from turning on each other.

[Alexander Graham]

[Brige "" Gamma Battle Bridge | USS Discovery]
"œOh Crap" was Dem's first thought as Tekin gave the order for him to command gamma hull. However, Dem returned to his forged "œcaptains voice" as soon as the was information processed. "œGraham and Dersch, will you please join me in the gamma bridge?" Dem gave a curt nod to the captain as he departed though an emergency turbolift.
Emergency turbolifts were some of the fasted moving machinery on the ship, because with only three destinations and the most direct route they could hit 100 kilometres per hour. This was a fundamental problem for Dem who was anticipating time to collect his thoughts before continuing.
The doors opened with a hiss, and he saw the bridge that he was destined to command. He walked over to his chair and met it with a smile on his face. He rotated towards an ensign who had assumed operations. "œOps, make sure everyone is at their gamma stations. Dersch, run some diagnostics on phasers and proton torpedos. Graham, prepare for separation" A moment later, the captains voice dispersed around the stark grey battle bridge, and they had separated.

Broadshire was flying by the seat of his pants, and now he is in command of a ship.

"œGraham, maintain course and speed of the alpha hull, with a 500 meter gap."

[Bridge-Gamma bridge-USS Discovery]

Alex's initial thought when he was called to the gamma brudge was that he was in trouble with the second officer. However he gave Doctor Lieutenant junior grade Broadshire as he worked on the preparations for the separations. At the speed of the alpha hull he maintained course as he kept a 500 meter gap.

[Jael Sherem]

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

Tekin kept his own equally hard look.  A mobile Cardassian station firing on the Federation was a non-starter for him.  He couldn't help but think about his own children, seeing this man basically taunting his daughter right in front of her commanding officer.  Oh how much he wanted to give an outburst at the man... but he was a Starfleet captain.  He had to be diplomatic.  Only a twitch in his eye gave any indication that he reacted to the taunt.

"How about we show each other some professional courtesy, Gul Sherem. You have already broken a couple of treaties merely with your actions. And you are risking open war with the Federation..." he stated, looking behind the old Cardassian to see Jem'Hadar.

"But I'm guessing that is what your intention is, isn't it?  Bait the Federation into attacking Cardassia?  But why?"

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

Jael watched as some occasional officers quipped and her old man would turn briefly, like an apparent Cardassian officer on the Challenger, somebody named Nural who sounded like her father was an intelligence worker - Prophets forbid he used to work for her father.
"Ah. Nural. The suck-up who always hid in his hole. Can never decide which side he can stay on...as far as I know..."

For the first time since he started insulting, Jael could see some uncertainty...okay, so perhaps he didn't know this Nural very well...

Turning back to Tekin, Old Man Sherem's scowl further deepened. "To answer your comments, Bajoran," he replied scathingly - Nira wondered how much grief the Bajoran Resistance gave him during the Occupation - "I left my professional courtesy piece by piece back on Terok Nor, and your fellow ragtag renegades, no matter where or your relations were, took it a piece at a time, along with the dignity of many, from S.G. Dukat to Kotan Pa'Dar. The humiliation at Minos Korva was the last straw."

Jael knew what he was talking about: Cardassia, for the most part, never accepted that the Bajoran Resistance had forced them out of Bajor; in Cardassian eyes, it was their failure to annex Minos Korva that prompted their withdrawal from Bajor. Jael could certainly recall hearing from her father before Mother defected was that Dukat had yearned for the power to reclaim Bajor, and he thought he achieved that with joining Cardassia with the Dominion. Jael can certainly recall her father equally yearning to return to Bajor to give many Bajorans that had given him grief what-for.

"And open war with the Federation?" Old Man Sherem let out a mirthless bark of a laugh. "The war with the Federation never ended. At least to me, to my colleagues, and to my friends in the Dominion still here in the Alpha Quadrant."

Jael furrowed her brow. So he was admitting thus? She had heard from the pirate underlings from her father that he still sheltered Dominion officers and technology, but was this true? Was he confirming?

"What, did you think all the Dominion forces withdrew back to the Gamma Quadrant?" he said with a chuckle; Jael was sure he was trying to imprint in his mind as many surprised reactions as he could. "Many remained. Many are still here. I speak not for my government; my Cardassia is gone. Why bait the Federation into attacking Cardassia just because I personally attack them? You don't know piracy when you see it."

"Is piracy also an excuse for savage behavior like what you display?" Jael knew that voice; was that Nira calling out at him? "A gul would have to know proper decorum, as any good officer would."

"Girl, I'm no more an exile than that fool Elim Garak," growled the old man. "The difference between him and me is our respective levels of aggression."

Jael felt so absolutely helpless; in fact, she never felt this helpless around her father since she was very, very little. And she hoped Rayek and Doctor Broadshire, who she heard was in training to be Second Officer, won't do anything rash with their respective hulls.

[Dem Broadshire]

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

Jael watched as some occasional officers quipped and her old man would turn briefly, like an apparent Cardassian officer on the Challenger, somebody named Nural who sounded like her father was an intelligence worker - Prophets forbid he used to work for her father.
"Ah. Nural. The suck-up who always hid in his hole. Can never decide which side he can stay on...as far as I know..."

For the first time since he started insulting, Jael could see some uncertainty...okay, so perhaps he didn't know this Nural very well...

Turning back to Tekin, Old Man Sherem's scowl further deepened. "To answer your comments, Bajoran," he replied scathingly - Nira wondered how much grief the Bajoran Resistance gave him during the Occupation - "I left my professional courtesy piece by piece back on Terok Nor, and your fellow ragtag renegades, no matter where or your relations were, took it a piece at a time, along with the dignity of many, from S.G. Dukat to Kotan Pa'Dar. The humiliation at Minos Korva was the last straw."

Jael knew what he was talking about: Cardassia, for the most part, never accepted that the Bajoran Resistance had forced them out of Bajor; in Cardassian eyes, it was their failure to annex Minos Korva that prompted their withdrawal from Bajor. Jael could certainly recall hearing from her father before Mother defected was that Dukat had yearned for the power to reclaim Bajor, and he thought he achieved that with joining Cardassia with the Dominion. Jael can certainly recall her father equally yearning to return to Bajor to give many Bajorans that had given him grief what-for.

"And open war with the Federation?" Old Man Sherem let out a mirthless bark of a laugh. "The war with the Federation never ended. At least to me, to my colleagues, and to my friends in the Dominion still here in the Alpha Quadrant."

Jael furrowed her brow. So he was admitting thus? She had heard from the pirate underlings from her father that he still sheltered Dominion officers and technology, but was this true? Was he confirming?

"What, did you think all the Dominion forces withdrew back to the Gamma Quadrant?" he said with a chuckle; Jael was sure he was trying to imprint in his mind as many surprised reactions as he could. "Many remained. Many are still here. I speak not for my government; my Cardassia is gone. Why bait the Federation into attacking Cardassia just because I personally attack them? You don't know piracy when you see it."

"Is piracy also an excuse for savage behavior like what you display?" Jael knew that voice; was that Nira calling out at him? "A gul would have to know proper decorum, as any good officer would."

"Girl, I'm no more an exile than that fool Elim Garak," growled the old man. "The difference between him and me is our respective levels of aggression."

Jael felt so absolutely helpless; in fact, she never felt this helpless around her father since she was very, very little. And she hoped Rayek and Doctor Broadshire, who she heard was in training to be Second Officer, won't do anything rash with their respective hulls.

[Gamma Battle Bridge | USS Discovery (Gamma hull)]

Dem wiped the sweat from his brow as he watched on this terrifying conversation. He had barely said two words to Jael on his time om discovery, and he was surprised to learn of her past. He looked down on his console and realised that names were placed in the Bridge layout schematic. The operations officer's name was Tara Merat. He committed it to memory, realising that he may later rely on her. Dem was a little bit helpless. This was all happening so far away, as the tension intensified around this precarious situation. Dem half hoped Tekin would hurry up and fire a torpedo. He reluctantly looked down back at the schematic. Which was not a good idea when it spitefully revealed to him that that there were 57 officers on board. 57 seven officers counting on him. He just wanted this to be over.

[Emperor J.B Dersch]

[Gamma Battle Bridge | USS Discovery (Gamma hull)]

Dem wiped the sweat from his brow as he watched on this terrifying conversation. He had barely said two words to Jael on his time om discovery, and he was surprised to learn of her past. He looked down on his console and realised that names were placed in the Bridge layout schematic. The operations officer's name was Tara Merat. He committed it to memory, realising that he may later rely on her. Dem was a little bit helpless. This was all happening so far away, as the tension intensified around this precarious situation. Dem half hoped Tekin would hurry up and fire a torpedo. He reluctantly looked down back at the schematic. Which was not a good idea when it spitefully revealed to him that that there were 57 officers on board. 57 seven officers counting on him. He just wanted this to be over.

Dersch looked over to the Docter and decided he should give some Encouragement mean't since he was sweating like he once was when he was on his way to be on the Discovery he looked up from his console and spoke "Docter, Your Doing fine, If we do get in a Fire Fight, There already gonna have a hard time keeping track of the 3 parts of the ship, the other reason is this is one of the most fastest's ships Star Fleet has ever put into Service, Even if they can track us fast, Our Weapons will give them some lessons to learn from." He then went back to his console hoping that had cooled his nerves for a bit

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck 6 - Battle Bridge (Beta Hull)]

Rayek left the comm muted.   Gul Sherem was directing his taunts to Tekin so there was no need to for Rayek to speak out.  Romulan was even tempted to blank out his video as well, but knew that would only draw suspicion and attention more than him just sitting quiet.   Instead, he had Banan leave the video active in the standard video conference set up.  Half the screen showed the currently speaker, while the other 3 incoming feesds played off to the right-hand side in a stack.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

Tekin kept his own equally hard look.  A mobile Cardassian station firing on the Federation was a non-starter for him.  He couldn't help but think about his own children, seeing this man basically taunting his daughter right in front of her commanding officer.  Oh how much he wanted to give an outburst at the man... but he was a Starfleet captain.  He had to be diplomatic.  Only a twitch in his eye gave any indication that he reacted to the taunt.

"How about we show each other some professional courtesy, Gul Sherem. You have already broken a couple of treaties merely with your actions. And you are risking open war with the Federation..." he stated, looking behind the old Cardassian to see Jem'Hadar.

"But I'm guessing that is what your intention is, isn't it?  Bait the Federation into attacking Cardassia?  But why?"

[Bridge / USS Challenger]
As she stepped out of the turbolift onto the bridge, she stopped short to see Sherem on the view screen. Alongside him and his troops were soldiers of Jem'hadar. Why? Cardassians never forgave what they did during the end of the war. Something was up.

She had to play it cool. She had to maintain herself. Do not give anything away. She walked over toward Nira and made a motion to offer her the PADD. "œCommander, I have those medical diagnostics you asked for." She looked over at the view screen and smiled, bringing the PADD behind her back. "œOh. I apologize. Gul Sherem, it is very nice to see you again. It's"¦.been a long time since I last saw you. I don't know if you remember me. I'm Kina, Nural's daughter."

[Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek heard Gohan's report with great annoyance. He was manually adjusting the power flow between the merged point of impact shields of the two ships, an action the system he invented was never designed to do, and it was delicate work. He really didn't have time for complications, so when he replied, he did so in a tone he wouldn't have normally used.

"Draw power from Challenger's secondary core!"

He snarled quickly and returned to keeping the point of impact shields from turning on each other.

The Ferengi's snarled order over the comm to his junior caught Rayek's attention and he briefly looked over to see Ensign Gohun.  "Is there a problem, Ensign?"   Ideally, he shouldn't need to involve himself, but since the station wasn't firing on them and Tekin and this other - Kina - seemed to be engaging the Gul in conversation, that left Rayek with a moment to spare for the engineer.

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

"Ah. Nural. The suck-up who always hid in his hole. Can never decide which side he can stay on...as far as I know..."

Turning back to Tekin, Old Man Sherem's scowl further deepened. "To answer your comments, Bajoran," he replied scathingly - Nira wondered how much grief the Bajoran Resistance gave him during the Occupation - "I left my professional courtesy piece by piece back on Terok Nor, and your fellow ragtag renegades, no matter where or your relations were, took it a piece at a time, along with the dignity of many, from S.G. Dukat to Kotan Pa'Dar. The humiliation at Minos Korva was the last straw."

"And open war with the Federation?" Old Man Sherem let out a mirthless bark of a laugh. "The war with the Federation never ended. At least to me, to my colleagues, and to my friends in the Dominion still here in the Alpha Quadrant."

"What, did you think all the Dominion forces withdrew back to the Gamma Quadrant?" he said with a chuckle; Jael was sure he was trying to imprint in his mind as many surprised reactions as he could. "Many remained. Many are still here. I speak not for my government; my Cardassia is gone. Why bait the Federation into attacking Cardassia just because I personally attack them? You don't know piracy when you see it."

"Is piracy also an excuse for savage behavior like what you display?" Jael knew that voice; was that Nira calling out at him? "A gul would have to know proper decorum, as any good officer would."

"Girl, I'm no more an exile than that fool Elim Garak," growled the old man. "The difference between him and me is our respective levels of aggression."

Jael felt so absolutely helpless; in fact, she never felt this helpless around her father since she was very, very little. And she hoped Rayek and Doctor Broadshire, who she heard was in training to be Second Officer, won't do anything rash with their respective hulls.

[Bridge / USS Challenger]
Kina forced herself to smile. Sherem was one of those stuck in the old ways, the old Cardassia. But her home changed from the war, it was different, better. He wanted to return Cardassia back to a Dominion stronghold, and she would first break her oath and kill every single Jem'hadar with him than let Cardassia go back to the way it was.

She looked at him and kept her calm. "œThat's rather humorous, because from what I am seeing, my father is the only one not talking in insanities. However given the company you're currently keeping, one would have to assume you are." She gripped the PADD tight, anger was flowing through her. She was ready to snap, and when he spoke down to a hero, it happened.

Kina's eyes and voice became hard as she glared at Sherem. "œElim Garak is more of a Cardassian than you will ever be. And my father stood up against the Dominion when our people attacked Rodman III. My father proved his loyalty to our people. As well as every Cardassian who died freeing us. And you stand there with the same"¦..things that killed our people. You are no Cardassian."

Rayek still listened to the conversation and he even glanced back to the viewscreen altering the main focus to that of Challenger to get a better look at the Cardassian crewmember who was arguing with the Gul.  That Galloway hadn't shut her down already was something impressive.  He probably was tolerating it because it was keeping Sherem distracted from the fleeing ship.  Mind you a station capable of moving through transwarp... distance was no concern.  A frown tugged at the corner of his lips and his drawn down brow made the classic V-ridge on his forehead show even more.

Turning to look towards the Science console, Rayek regretted assigning Saqa7 to the Alpha Hull.  He really could use her inventive thinking right now, but no instead, he got stuck with a Vulcan.  "Savel, if that Nor-class station has transwarp capabilities, we need a way to prevent her from accessing it.   Given me options.  What things can we do from here to keep her from entering transwarp?"

While he left the Vulcan to work on that he turned back to the viewscreen and his eye caught on an odd sight in the background of the Challenger Bridge as the Kina woman continued her rant.. off to the side and mostly blurred there were two figures that caught at his attention partially because of the color of one's hair.   For a moment, he was reminded of his time spent on the Lionheart.    Were there children on Galloway's bridge?!

[Ian Galloway]

[Ensign Myne | Bridge | Deck 1 | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

The Ensign was bracing on her knees in the chair as she worked on the science panel doing the scans. Hearing the request she then hit a few buttons she raised up on her feet in the chair balancing to hit the buttons on the top of the panel. Lowering back to a safe spot the Only smiled. Rather than saying aloud with the Cardasian in earshot the girl skipped along as if being casual should the Cardasian see her and raised on tiptoes to whisper to Lieutenant Randell. If she did attract the man's attention it would possibly be thought of as a child playing and telling secrets to a parent the Only hoped. Some of the games the older kids had played on Kirk called 'Foolies'.

"Sir. Bottom segment on the underside of the station has a large saucer-like object at coordinates 37.2.1.6. Above this is a cylinder holding it to the bottom of the station surrounded by six energy transfer pylons. The Transwarp core is there, surrounded by the pylons. If three pylons can be destroyed or the main generator in the saucer nodule disabled the drain from the transwarp core would need more emergency power the station has to function with the normal reactor hampered. Doing this should leave the life support but seriously hamper the station. A resonance pulse set to alternate every six milliseconds should pierce any Borg shielding."

She then giggled cutely as she lowered back down to finish the ruse before skipping back to her station to get back in the chair raised up on her knees.

[Bridge - USS Challenger - Lieutenant Evan Randell]

Randell was about to chastise the new ensign for her behavior, but as she whispered her findings, he held his rebuke in check as the information more than compensated for her actions. He nodded to her and whispered a quick "Good work Ensign." Before sending the data on the station in a coded burst transmission to the Discovery's hulls and the Intrepid. If they could disable the station's transwarp, then the convoy could escape.

[Dem Broadshire]

Dersch looked over to the Docter and decided he should give some Encouragement mean't since he was sweating like he once was when he was on his way to be on the Discovery he looked up from his console and spoke "Docter, Your Doing fine, If we do get in a Fire Fight, There already gonna have a hard time keeping track of the 3 parts of the ship, the other reason is this is one of the most fastest's ships Star Fleet has ever put into Service, Even if they can track us fast, Our Weapons will give them some lessons to learn from." He then went back to his console hoping that had cooled his nerves for a bit

[Gamma Battle Bridge | USS Discovery (Gamma hull)]
"œThank you ensign. We'll show "˜em what we're made of". Dem winced as the kindly officer said that. We he really showing that much worry and fear? From then on Dem committed himself to have a sharper and more conservative exterior. He should be a symbol of hope. The Op's officer, Tara, then cautiously spoke.
"œLieutenant, a coded transmission from the Challenger has informed us of the station's armament. They pack quite a punch."
Dem looked over to the young officer. "œUnderstood. Be ready."

[Tekin Nevir]

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

Jael watched as some occasional officers quipped and her old man would turn briefly, like an apparent Cardassian officer on the Challenger, somebody named Nural who sounded like her father was an intelligence worker - Prophets forbid he used to work for her father.
"Ah. Nural. The suck-up who always hid in his hole. Can never decide which side he can stay on...as far as I know..."

For the first time since he started insulting, Jael could see some uncertainty...okay, so perhaps he didn't know this Nural very well...

Turning back to Tekin, Old Man Sherem's scowl further deepened. "To answer your comments, Bajoran," he replied scathingly - Nira wondered how much grief the Bajoran Resistance gave him during the Occupation - "I left my professional courtesy piece by piece back on Terok Nor, and your fellow ragtag renegades, no matter where or your relations were, took it a piece at a time, along with the dignity of many, from S.G. Dukat to Kotan Pa'Dar. The humiliation at Minos Korva was the last straw."

Jael knew what he was talking about: Cardassia, for the most part, never accepted that the Bajoran Resistance had forced them out of Bajor; in Cardassian eyes, it was their failure to annex Minos Korva that prompted their withdrawal from Bajor. Jael could certainly recall hearing from her father before Mother defected was that Dukat had yearned for the power to reclaim Bajor, and he thought he achieved that with joining Cardassia with the Dominion. Jael can certainly recall her father equally yearning to return to Bajor to give many Bajorans that had given him grief what-for.

"And open war with the Federation?" Old Man Sherem let out a mirthless bark of a laugh. "The war with the Federation never ended. At least to me, to my colleagues, and to my friends in the Dominion still here in the Alpha Quadrant."

Jael furrowed her brow. So he was admitting thus? She had heard from the pirate underlings from her father that he still sheltered Dominion officers and technology, but was this true? Was he confirming?

"What, did you think all the Dominion forces withdrew back to the Gamma Quadrant?" he said with a chuckle; Jael was sure he was trying to imprint in his mind as many surprised reactions as he could. "Many remained. Many are still here. I speak not for my government; my Cardassia is gone. Why bait the Federation into attacking Cardassia just because I personally attack them? You don't know piracy when you see it."

"Is piracy also an excuse for savage behavior like what you display?" Jael knew that voice; was that Nira calling out at him? "A gul would have to know proper decorum, as any good officer would."

"Girl, I'm no more an exile than that fool Elim Garak," growled the old man. "The difference between him and me is our respective levels of aggression."

Jael felt so absolutely helpless; in fact, she never felt this helpless around her father since she was very, very little. And she hoped Rayek and Doctor Broadshire, who she heard was in training to be Second Officer, won't do anything rash with their respective hulls.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

The Bajoran stood there, defiantly, not speaking and not reacting.  The same defiant stance that many of his people held in the latter days of the Occupation; when the tides had turned.  He took the hits in stride, not even reacting to his own people speaking.  He was just letting the Cardassian coil the rope he was using to hang himself.

"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, Sheram.  Dukat failed to learn that lesson and it cost him his life. You are presently on that same path." he stated, standing at rest as he spoke quietly and carefully.

"As you have stated you are unaffiliated with Cardassia, I no longer have to treat you as a representative of Cardassia.  Which means you are forfeited any and all rights afforded to rogue military elements.  Both the Federation and the new Cardassia have strict laws in regard to pirates.  So I will afford you the opportunity once to leave this system and turn yourself in to Cardassia.  Otherwise, we will be forced to act in defense.  And trust me when I say that Discovery is no mere rebel ship." he said, allowing just that one hint of acid in his voice.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck 6 - Battle Bridge (Beta Hull)]

[Ensign Myne | Bridge | Deck 1 | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

"Sir. Bottom segment on the underside of the station has a large saucer-like object at coordinates 37.2.1.6. Above this is a cylinder holding it to the bottom of the station surrounded by six energy transfer pylons. The Transwarp core is there, surrounded by the pylons. If three pylons can be destroyed or the main generator in the saucer nodule disabled the drain from the transwarp core would need more emergency power the station has to function with the normal reactor hampered. Doing this should leave the life support but seriously hamper the station. A resonance pulse set to alternate every six milliseconds should pierce any Borg shielding."

[Bridge - USS Challenger - Lieutenant Evan Randell]

Randell was about to chastise the new ensign for her behavior, but as she whispered her findings, he held his rebuke in check as the information more than compensated for her actions. He nodded to her and whispered a quick "Good work Ensign." Before sending the data on the station in a coded burst transmission to the Discovery's hulls and the Intrepid. If they could disable the station's transwarp, then the convoy could escape.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

The Bajoran stood there, defiantly, not speaking and not reacting.  The same defiant stance that many of his people held in the latter days of the Occupation; when the tides had turned.  He took the hits in stride, not even reacting to his own people speaking.  He was just letting the Cardassian coil the rope he was using to hang himself.

"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, Sheram.  Dukat failed to learn that lesson and it cost him his life. You are presently on that same path." he stated, standing at rest as he spoke quietly and carefully.

"As you have stated you are unaffiliated with Cardassia, I no longer have to treat you as a representative of Cardassia.  Which means you are forfeited any and all rights afforded to rogue military elements.  Both the Federation and the new Cardassia have strict laws in regard to pirates.  So I will afford you the opportunity once to leave this system and turn yourself in to Cardassia.  Otherwise, we will be forced to act in defense.  And trust me when I say that Discovery is no mere rebel ship." he said, allowing just that one hint of acid in his voice.

Rayek was still pondering the presence of children on Challenger's bridge when Lieutenant Banan called his attention to a recently received coded transmission.  The Romulan nodded and while he listened to the Captain stand defiantly against the imposing threat of the Nor-classed station, he read through the provided data packet quickly.

It gave a summary of what Sherem had been bragging about earlier.  His Borg technology which gave him access to transwarp.  The data packet also noted it's physical location on the station and even suggested best targeting scenarios.

"This could give us a fighting chance to at least escape," the Romulan remarked quietly to himself, as he highlighted the pertinent information and forwarded the data packet onto the Sec/Tac crewman manning the tactical console.    The Hirogen was something of a unique species to Rayek, so he'd studied the man's personnel record carefully when first coming aboard.

"Mr. Dranik.  Be prepared to make use of this information when targeting the station."

Even as he instructed this, Captain Tekin seemed to be wrapping up his oration.  This was the moment when Sherem would either backdown or commit.   The Romulan gripped his armrest.

"Ensign Gohun, how stable are our shields?"   Would the combined shields hold out long enough if Melek Nor did engage?