Season 15: Episode 2 - Dominion Rising part 2

[Lorut Vila]

Day 3, Breen Ship.

"No, Ensign.  We can't risk you at the moment.  Nor do I think 'sweet-talk' translates well into Breen.
Wait here with O'Brien, Willard and Gohun.   If any of you have a way of blocking the local communications down here that would be useful, but otherwise, leave the guards to us." .... We will approach the pair as if we are a patrolling unit - just like we practiced in the holodeck - then once we are passing in front of them, we engage and hit hard.  They cannot be allowed to sound an alarm.  No energy weapons usage or sensors will detect the discharge.  Understood?  Good.  Form up!...This is the last door between us and the computer core.  Get it open and get us inside, by any means.  We're out of time and we just lost the element of surprise.

She fell back a little when her CO said she shouldn't proceed. She sighed loudly, but she did understand. She didn't want to die, and she didn't want to risk others' lives. It was one thing for her to be cavalier on her own ship, but quite another in a dangerous situation. Finally, they caught up to her.

She used her decoupling device to break in to the door, along with her ID badge. It was a trick she'd learned int the Academy-a grounded pilot who was only a few years older than her and she had often had rendezvouses and had to break into places to do so. "See, Gohun? Stick with me, kid, you'll learn some stuff," she said. "What now?"

A sound came over the intercom. Ow, what the hell? She couldn't really make it out, but was soon assured that it was OK. She stood at the door to let the others do their work, alert to danger, phaser up and raised, ready to do battle if necessary.

[Lek]

[Sickbay --> Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek awoke with a start and a thunderous headache. He winced and deeply regretted having opened his eyes, so he closed them and just listened. What he heard troubled him. The warp engines were still offline and the impulse engine was clearly out of alignment.

He kept his eyes closed as he did a self check to make certain his limbs functioned. When he was sure they did, he sat up. There was a bout of vertigo, but that passed and that was all he needed to know that he was reasonably safe from dying.

He forced his eyes open, wincing as he did and carefully sneaked out of Sickbay, the ship wasn't working right and that meant they were in trouble. There was no time to argue with doctors about what was and wasn't recommended regarding his health.

He reached the turbolift and got to engineering. It wasn't quite chaos, Gianetti was too good to allow that, but things were 'sub-optimal' as one of his Vulcan instructors at the Academy used to call things that weren't up to specifications.

"T'Farr! Grab a flux coupler and get on the plasma flow! Flanagan, realign the plasma injectors! Gianetti on me, you replace those dilithium crystals and I'll re-initiate the warp core! We are still getting pummeled and until we can warp out, that's not going to change. Move it people, Discovery needs us."

He managed to shout without croaking and lurched to the pool table. He knew he wasn't 100%, but he was close enough and that had to be enough. He was not going to sit idly by and let his ship get shot out from under him.

[Tekin Nevir]

[Bridge | USS Discovery | Day 3 1630]

"œYeah. That might just work. If we make sure to also target their exhaust ports to disable them, we could fry them like rotisserie chicken. Or at least overload the warp core." Dem paused, ethically debating the question. He did take a hypocritic oath, but he also has a responsibility to the safety of the ship. He looked to Tekin for a nod of approval. "œOk- Alex, prepare the cocktail we are going to throw at them. I'm thinking proton torpedoes to disable the exhaust vents, and a wide beam phaser to cook the ship. Do you think that's good? You are the tactical officer after all" Dem winked, disregarding his professionalism. In times of crisis, he had always found that a lighthearted tone calmed his nerves. "œMoon, bring the ship about and prepare to run at their exhaust ports." The ship started to turn, making the pin pricks of starlight on the viewscreen turn into streaks as it started to pan across. Dem questioned the stakes of his decision. Moving to an aggressive attack posture would put the ship in considerable risk, but he hoped the rewards would be worth it. The ship must turn around at some point. Dem could feel his heartbeat getting faster and his fight or flight response kicked in.

The Breen ship fired 3 shots directly at Discovery, and while the sleek ship attempted to roll, two torpedoes glanced of the hull sending tremors through all decks. Dem winced, fearing the worst, letting a few Bajoran curses slip through his teeth. He hoped the captain didn't hear him. Dem didn't even know if Tekin realised he was not a "œreal" Bajoran. The shaking had subsided, meaning that they had survived it. An uncanny sense of relief filled Dem even though they had yet to achieve anything. The worst was yet to come.

[Bridge]

The ship shook again., sending one of Kinley's consoles dark.   Kinley looked at the damages the ship was reporting. The eps conduits weren't too much lower.  Several confirmed hits and hull breaches. All looked like they were evacuated at this point, thankfully.  12 reported casualties, so far. She tried bringing up the tactical scans. Nothing. It was dead. Probably hit in the last blast. This is fine. She thought.  "œ EPS is stable at the moment. We've got several hull breaches that have been sealed off for now, decks 5, 8, 9, and 16.  At least 12 casualties reported at the moment, but several more wounded. And we lost the primary tactical scanners. She took a breath, taking a moment to smile at the slight humor Dem was trying to keep, before focusing on the matter at hand.  " We're going in blind. Might as well make it count."

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

The last hit was one of the worst, and for not the first time in his career, he looked around the bridge, remembering his authorization code for the self destruct, or to prepare to abandon ship.  It would be the worst timing... the ship was recently refitted.  And now it was actually possible that he could lose it.  It was the Discovery-A all over again.

"Divert shield strength to the forward shields.  Use all auxiliary power.  At least we don't have to worry about a warp core breach.  Begin the run- wait!  Brace for impact!" he shouted, as he saw the torpedo sail right at them.  Too late he realized it was aimed up.. not right at them.  Which meant...

BOOM!

The bridge shook and console after console sparked.  He shielded himself the best he could, but the feel of wetness on his forehead told him what he needed to know... debris had hit him.  He was able to ignore the sharp pain at least, and looking around he made sure his officers were still alive.  There were at least one or two who were not moving.

Warning, structural integrity of Deck 1 is failing.  Complete failure in 45 seconds.

This time he gave an audible curse.. in Bajoran no less.

"Alright people, we're evacuating the bridge.  Let's go!" he shouted, standing up and gesturing to get everyone out.  He was not about to lose more crew than was necessary.

"Bridge to Engineering, I'm transferring command access.  We are about to lose the main bridge. Set a run on the Breen ship and get us into manual targeting position... now this is personal.  Tekin out."

"Come on people!  Move! Dem, Kinley, get down to comms and try to find a way to get a message out.  Alex, you and I are going to Main Engineering to kick those Dominion loving wraiths to the Temple."

With that, after making sure he was the last one on the bridge, he stepped into the turbolift just as the warning said structural integrity failed, and the doors closed just as the top of the bridge opened into space.

[Lek]

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

The last hit was one of the worst, and for not the first time in his career, he looked around the bridge, remembering his authorization code for the self destruct, or to prepare to abandon ship.  It would be the worst timing... the ship was recently refitted.  And now it was actually possible that he could lose it.  It was the Discovery-A all over again.

"Divert shield strength to the forward shields.  Use all auxiliary power.  At least we don't have to worry about a warp core breach.  Begin the run- wait!  Brace for impact!" he shouted, as he saw the torpedo sail right at them.  Too late he realized it was aimed up.. not right at them.  Which meant...

BOOM!

The bridge shook and console after console sparked.  He shielded himself the best he could, but the feel of wetness on his forehead told him what he needed to know... debris had hit him.  He was able to ignore the sharp pain at least, and looking around he made sure his officers were still alive.  There were at least one or two who were not moving.

Warning, structural integrity of Deck 1 is failing.  Complete failure in 45 seconds.

This time he gave an audible curse.. in Bajoran no less.

"Alright people, we're evacuating the bridge.  Let's go!" he shouted, standing up and gesturing to get everyone out.  He was not about to lose more crew than was necessary.

"Bridge to Engineering, I'm transferring command access.  We are about to lose the main bridge. Set a run on the Breen ship and get us into manual targeting position... now this is personal.  Tekin out."

"Come on people!  Move! Dem, Kinley, get down to comms and try to find a way to get a message out.  Alex, you and I are going to Main Engineering to kick those Dominion loving wraiths to the Temple."

With that, after making sure he was the last one on the bridge, he stepped into the turbolift just as the warning said structural integrity failed, and the doors closed just as the top of the bridge opened into space.

[Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek was stunned to see just how bad things had gotten while he was out. He'd never lost a bridge before and it stung to know that he couldn't say that any more. It was clear that continuing this fight was pointless. He wasn't a great tactician, but he was a Ferengi and he knew the value of knowing when to run. He bypassed most of the standard procedures of warp core initiation in order to make the process go as quickly as possible. He risked causing a breach, but at the rate they were taking damage, it was even odds as to whether he caused the breach or the Breen did. He connected the last of the relays and looked up to see Giancarlo give him a thumbs up on the dilithium crystals. It was now or it was time to head for the escape pods.

The warp core crackled in a most alarming way and even threw off bolts of ionic discharge as power flowed in faster than the intermix chamber was meant to handle. Lek's hands flew across the pool table as he balanced the mind numbing amount of power radiating from the core. Outside the ship's the nacelles didn't flicker to life, they flared to life and made the ship seem like the core had breached for a moment. But the core did not breach, the warp engine thrummed with only just barely restrained fury.

Lek immediately shunted power to shields, structural integrity, and to movement. There was no need to try and run faster than the limits imposed by the nature of the space in the Badlands, thus, establishing and maintaining warp five only created a small demand of 10% of the overall power. The chief concern was stopping the damage they were taking from the Breen weapons, so Lek even channeled life support into the shields.

"We have two hours of residual heat and an hour before oxygen levels become a problem. We need shields now, so there is a later for air and heat."

The shields then spiked from 22% to 140% as the entire output from the fusion reactors, the impulse drive, and 70% of Discovery's combined warp core surged into the shield emitters. Lek knew there would be hell to pay for pushing that much power into them, but again, survive now, so there could be repairs later. The remaining 20% of the warp core went into reinforcing the structural integrity field to keep the ship from suffering further damage to the hull from the pounding she'd already sustained.

The Discovery was now warp capable and could escape. That was all Lek could do at the moment, as he saw the Captain and a flight officer he didn't know enter Engineering, the surge of adrenaline that had kept him on his feet finally ran out and he slumped to the deck next to the pool table.

"Get us out of here!"

He growled at Tekin as the room began to fade again.

"Aww dammit, not again."

Lek mumbled as the room went dark.

[Zavrol Gohun]

Gohun kept downloading data. The next phase of the virus should be in play. Phase two was disruption of communication. It was going to be done in three, two, one. Gohun felt the panic on the ship as the communications went down. "Communications are down all over the ship I can sense them emphatically". The only way they could communicate is through non wireless sources. Suddenly a council in the room light up and started making ringing sounds like an old rotary phone. Well that's not good at all.
Ring, ring

[Jael Sherem]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Breen Base - Corridor outside the Computer Core entrance] - AWAY TEAM (DAY 3 16:45 hrs)

The combat at the computer core entrance was swift from Rayek's perspective.  One moment, Rayek was engaged in melee combat, using his armored fist and Vulcanoid strength to hit hard and fast into the suspected 'weak points' in the Breen armor with Commander Sisko as his partner instead of the expected Jael; the next moment, the guard was down.  The Romulan looked around to take stock of the rest of the battle and saw that somehow Gohun, their engineer, had gotten involved in the battle and had to be saved by the Hirogen, Dranik, while dealing with two additional guards that had unexpectedly arrived on scene.

Dersch and Jael were on the last guard and before Rayek could question what the hell she was doing, Jael fired on the guard point blank with an energy weapon; something he had tried to drill into the team to not do, in order to avoid setting off any potential weapon discharge alarms.  Had she been paying attention at all during their training sessions?!

The Romulan grit his teeth inside his Breen mask as he tamped down on the urge to knock some sense into the Cardassian there in the hall, as not only did she fail to follow orders, but she mocked those who did.  Fisticuffs indeed.  His fist clenched... but the area was barely secure and more guards were likely on their way now because of her thoughtless action.  This was not the time nor the place for a physical reprimand.

The fuming Romulan looked towards the two engineers and ensign Lorut.  "This is the last door between us and the computer core.  Get it open and get us inside, by any means.  We're out of time and we just lost the element of surprise."

"Lieutenant Sherem, hand over your weapon to Petty Officer Dranik." His tone was abrupt with her.

"Dranik, Dersch, you will keep this corridor clear of all who approach." he ordered, before adding a slight warning.  "Her weapon's discharge may have activated a silent alarm, so you can thank Lieutenant Sherem if more guards show up here ready for a fight.  No matter what, they can't be allowed to get past you."  he emphasized the importance of this.  "Use whatever force is necessary."  He was certain they both knew what that meant.

The Romulan turned lastly to Sherem. "Your job now is to protect these three" Rayek indicated O'Brien, Gohun and Lorut,  "while they get into the computer core and upload the database.  Is that simple enough for you to understood?" He doubted it.  The Cardassian had a penchant for doing the opposite of his orders.

Well, not for long, if he had any say in it.

While the others attended to their tasks, Rayek began securing the Breen.  Three were unconscious.  However, the one that Jael had blasted point blank, Rayek could get no lifesign reading from.  Had the weapon been set on a lethal setting from the start?

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Breen Base - Corridor outside the Computer Core entrance] - AWAY TEAM (DAY 3 16:50 hrs)

Rayek noted the security team's positions and nodded.  They seemed as ready as they could be.

Seeing his engineering wasting time with a disruptor rifle, Rayek moved to the man's side and held out his hand for the weapon.  "I think you forget what department you are in Mr. Gohun.  Your focus should be that door.   My men will keep you safe.  Trust them."

Once he had Gohun's attention back on the door and the weapon secured in his own hands, Rayek took up a guard position directly in front of those working on the door.

The Romulan nodded at the Hirogen's affirmation.  Time would tell if his team could live up to that statement.

Unexpectedly, an electronic squelch sounded from the helmet of one of the down guards.  Rayek frowned, looking to Gohun.  He had thought the engineer had set up a scanner to block transmissions. However, his keen eye noted that the engineer's scanner appeared damaged - likely from the scuffle with the Breen.

"Did anyone catch what that transmission said?" Rayek asked as he turned back on his translator - mentally berating himself for turning it off in the first place.

It was Rebecca who answered.  "They were calling for a status report.  They got a report of weapons fire... and something about rebellion on Melek Nor??"

Rayek considered that a moment - rebellion might be Nira and her team trying to complete there own mission - and being discovered. The Romulan then pointed Jael towards the downed guard.  "Sherem, you caused this mess.  Fix it.  Answer them with a lie that explains the energy signature."

While Jael attempted that, the doors were finally opened to the computer core.  Thankfully the room within was empty.  No techs, no guards just row upon row of Breen computer systems.  It was time for the Ops and the Engineers to do their stuff.   Downloading the entirety of the Changeling database.

"Acknowledged.  Dranik, Dersch fall back to the core room."    Anything outside the room would soon be having difficulty with gravity.

[Lieutenant JG Jael Sherem | Corridor near the Computer Core Entrance | Breen Base]

Jael cringed. Then again, maybe she had allowed her bias against Breen to get the better of her. She didn't forget the drills, but her hatred of Breen...

The transmission Rebecca got certainly gave her pause. "Rebellion?" she said. "Legate Nural mentioned having a man there...it's possible he couldn't be the only one. That's going to make things interesting for Nira."

She nodded at Rayek's order and took over the intercom. "Repeat that, we didn't acknowledge you."

"What just happened down there?" came the reply.

Jael was inwardly surprised; most of the away team had been having trouble with their translators, but somehow, hers was the only one that worked properly.

"Energy discharge near the computer core," she answered. "We're rectifying the problem now."

"Ensure the security, we're sending troops to Melek Nor as we speak to reinforce our Dominion allies," came the reply. "What caused the energy discharge?"

"Conduit overload," Jael answered.

"Again?" If it was possible for a Breen to sound exasperated, even in the translator, it could be it. "We keep telling Sherem that we have too much power in utilizing Borg technology. It's just as well we stopped accumulating our fleet recently, we would've lost power a long time ago with combining our technology, those of the Dominion and the methods Sherem showed us in Borg Technology, even if there had been doubts about our building our station around a Borg ship."

Jael had to bite her tongue to keep from yelping in surprise. "Well, the power in our hands can guarantee our place to rule the Alpha Quadrant, wouldn't it?" she answered coolly.

"Regardless, if some men can be spared from the Computer Core, Thot Malgh will need troops to join him on Melek Nor."

"We'll do what we can," Jael said. "Out."

She then scrambled back over to Rayek, now that they were in the computer core. In a whisper, she replied, "Commander...the transmission gave some interesting tidbits. This station has a drydock, but they stopped increasing their fleet recently. What's more, the station is built around a Borg ship. As to the external situation, Thot Malgh is heading to Melek Nor with Breen reinforcements. He'll want some guards from the computer core 'if they can be spared.' Thot Malgh, the Breen head honcho here, the Breen expert on the Borg?"

[Emperor J.B Dersch]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Breen Base - Corridor outside the Computer Core entrance] - AWAY TEAM (DAY 3 16:50 hrs)

Rayek noted the security team's positions and nodded.  They seemed as ready as they could be.

Seeing his engineering wasting time with a disruptor rifle, Rayek moved to the man's side and held out his hand for the weapon.  "I think you forget what department you are in Mr. Gohun.  Your focus should be that door.   My men will keep you safe.  Trust them."

Once he had Gohun's attention back on the door and the weapon secured in his own hands, Rayek took up a guard position directly in front of those working on the door.

The Romulan nodded at the Hirogen's affirmation.  Time would tell if his team could live up to that statement.

Unexpectedly, an electronic squelch sounded from the helmet of one of the down guards.  Rayek frowned, looking to Gohun.  He had thought the engineer had set up a scanner to block transmissions. However, his keen eye noted that the engineer's scanner appeared damaged - likely from the scuffle with the Breen.

"Did anyone catch what that transmission said?" Rayek asked as he turned back on his translator - mentally berating himself for turning it off in the first place.

It was Rebecca who answered.  "They were calling for a status report.  They got a report of weapons fire... and something about rebellion on Melek Nor??"

Rayek considered that a moment - rebellion might be Nira and her team trying to complete there own mission - and being discovered. The Romulan then pointed Jael towards the downed guard.  "Sherem, you caused this mess.  Fix it.  Answer them with a lie that explains the energy signature."

While Jael attempted that, the doors were finally opened to the computer core.  Thankfully the room within was empty.  No techs, no guards just row upon row of Breen computer systems.  It was time for the Ops and the Engineers to do their stuff.   Downloading the entirety of the Changeling database.

"Acknowledged.  Dranik, Dersch fall back to the core room."    Anything outside the room would soon be having difficulty with gravity.

Dersch looked to the commander and said "Copy that, Dranik Lets go" Dersch said as he started to fall back while keeping his eyes to Corriodor just in case, and Covering Dranik while he fell back as well. Once in the Room the door shut and Dersch Let some of the tenseness go But kept most since they were still on the mission

[Dranik]

Dranik
Core Room

"Acknowledged.  Dranik, Dersch fall back to the core room."

"Yes sir."

"Copy that, Dranik Lets go"

Dranik checked his rifle once again to make sure it had a full charge as he and Dersch entered the core room. He kept a careful eye on the corridor to make sure they weren't being being watched by anything or anyone.

He looked at the away team as he thought of Ciavil and his children. I hope they are safe. Perhaps once this mission was over, he and his wife could talk about taking some shore leave and visiting Ciavil's family. They weren't overly hostile to him anymore and he already knew that they greatly enjoyed seeing the children. Ciavil's sister however, wasn't his biggest fan and on more then one occasion she had threatened to kill him if something happened to her sister. She had come up with some very inventive methods that Dranik was slightly ashamed he hadn't thought of first when hunting.

I very much hope she has forgotten the one involving rabid tribbles.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Breen Base - Computer Core room] - AWAY TEAM (DAY 3 16:50 hrs)

Dersch looked to the commander and said "Copy that, Dranik Lets go" Dersch said as he started to fall back while keeping his eyes to Corriodor just in case, and Covering Dranik while he fell back as well. Once in the Room the door shut and Dersch Let some of the tenseness go But kept most since they were still on the mission

Dranik
Core Room

"Acknowledged.  Dranik, Dersch fall back to the core room."

"Yes sir."

"Copy that, Dranik Lets go"

Dranik checked his rifle once again to make sure it had a full charge as he and Dersch entered the core room. He kept a careful eye on the corridor to make sure they weren't being being watched by anything or anyone.

He looked at the away team as he thought of Ciavil and his children. I hope they are safe. Perhaps once this mission was over, he and his wife could talk about taking some shore leave and visiting Ciavil's family. They weren't overly hostile to him anymore and he already knew that they greatly enjoyed seeing the children. Ciavil's sister however, wasn't his biggest fan and on more then one occasion she had threatened to kill him if something happened to her sister. She had come up with some very inventive methods that Dranik was slightly ashamed he hadn't thought of first when hunting.

I very much hope she has forgotten the one involving rabid tribbles.

Rayek gave a nod to his security team as they made it back to the Computer core room before the random gravity fluctuations began.

[Breen Ship]
[As Kirayoshi]

Kirayoshi was typing furiously as he disabled the many, many firewalls in the Breen computers. "œOy. Could they have at least put just a little less effort in these computers? he asked, more as a hypothetical than anything. Time was of the essence, and unfortunately, the computers were taking their sweet time to become vulnerable. "œI'm almost done. How's the virus goin' on the downloadin' side? His Dad's accent was sneaking through there a little.

From the doorway where he was keeping watch, Rayek glanced back towards the three officers working together to access the Breen central computer core, so that the team could download what was believed to be Dominion plans for some manner of offensive against the Federation.    To ensure they didn't miss anything, the team was ordered to download the entire system.

At the same time to aid in their task a virus was being uploaded to the Breen systems to cause havoc and eventually wipe their entire system.   Timing was crucial so that the virus didn't wipe information before they had the chance to download it.

Day 3, Breen Ship.

She fell back a little when her CO said she shouldn't proceed. She sighed loudly, but she did understand. She didn't want to die, and she didn't want to risk others' lives. It was one thing for her to be cavalier on her own ship, but quite another in a dangerous situation. Finally, they caught up to her.

She used her decoupling device to break in to the door, along with her ID badge. It was a trick she'd learned int the Academy-a grounded pilot who was only a few years older than her and she had often had rendezvouses and had to break into places to do so. "See, Gohun? Stick with me, kid, you'll learn some stuff," she said. "What now?"

A sound came over the intercom. Ow, what the hell? She couldn't really make it out, but was soon assured that it was OK. She stood at the door to let the others do their work, alert to danger, phaser up and raised, ready to do battle if necessary.

[Lieutenant JG Jael Sherem | Corridor near the Computer Core Entrance | Breen Base]

Jael cringed. Then again, maybe she had allowed her bias against Breen to get the better of her. She didn't forget the drills, but her hatred of Breen...

The transmission Rebecca got certainly gave her pause. "Rebellion?" she said. "Legate Nural mentioned having a man there...it's possible he couldn't be the only one. That's going to make things interesting for Nira."

She nodded at Rayek's order and took over the intercom. "Repeat that, we didn't acknowledge you."

"What just happened down there?" came the reply.

Jael was inwardly surprised; most of the away team had been having trouble with their translators, but somehow, hers was the only one that worked properly.

"Energy discharge near the computer core," she answered. "We're rectifying the problem now."

"Ensure the security, we're sending troops to Melek Nor as we speak to reinforce our Dominion allies," came the reply. "What caused the energy discharge?"

"Conduit overload," Jael answered.

"Again?" If it was possible for a Breen to sound exasperated, even in the translator, it could be it. "We keep telling Sherem that we have too much power in utilizing Borg technology. It's just as well we stopped accumulating our fleet recently, we would've lost power a long time ago with combining our technology, those of the Dominion and the methods Sherem showed us in Borg Technology, even if there had been doubts about our building our station around a Borg ship."

Jael had to bite her tongue to keep from yelping in surprise. "Well, the power in our hands can guarantee our place to rule the Alpha Quadrant, wouldn't it?" she answered coolly.

"Regardless, if some men can be spared from the Computer Core, Thot Malgh will need troops to join him on Melek Nor."

"We'll do what we can," Jael said. "Out."

She then scrambled back over to Rayek, now that they were in the computer core. In a whisper, she replied, "Commander...the transmission gave some interesting tidbits. This station has a drydock, but they stopped increasing their fleet recently. What's more, the station is built around a Borg ship. As to the external situation, Thot Malgh is heading to Melek Nor with Breen reinforcements. He'll want some guards from the computer core 'if they can be spared.' Thot Malgh, the Breen head honcho here, the Breen expert on the Borg?"

With his keen Vulcanoid hearing, Rayek had been listening to the Breen transmission with a growing frown.  That the station was built around Borg ship was of tremendous surprise.  Did it also have transwarp capabilities?  That thought was worrisome.

Initially, the mission plan had been to just download the Dominion plans, and implant the computer virus to wipe the plans from the computer and so that during the chaos they could escape.  Now Rayek was thinking that to ensure the safety of all Federation planets that this base would need to be completely destroyed just as much as the Cardassian Nor station.   But how to do so, if at the core of the base as a Borg ship?

One thing at a time... First the download, then the virus, then destroy the station.  "Thank you, Lieutenant Sherem.  Run a scan.  See if you can find where the nearest weapons' bay might be.  Large ordnance - torpedo warheads and the like."  They would need large explosives to take out this base.

Gohun kept downloading data. The next phase of the virus should be in play. Phase two was disruption of communication. It was going to be done in three, two, one. Gohun felt the panic on the ship as the communications went down. "Communications are down all over the ship I can sense them emphatically". The only way they could communicate is through non wireless sources. Suddenly a console in the room light up and started making ringing sounds like an old rotary phone. Well that's not good at all.
Ring, ring

The odd and out of place noise drew Rayek's attention.  "What sort of alarm is that?"

His attention however didn't stay with odd sound long as it was then that another roving patrol appeared around the corner and saw their fellow Breen guards trussed up in the hallway.  Seeing the open door that Dersch and Dranik were keeping watch through, they raised their weapons and fired at those inside the room.

Thankfully however, their attempts to call for backup met with silence.

[Kinley Garrison]

[Main Engineering]
[ As Lt. Josh Bryant]
He did it! The Chief did it! The ship was running well enough, at least to get them out of there. However, there was no time for celebration. He saw the Ferengi go down again. Holding up his unconscious boss, he quickly hauled him to the medbay.

[As Steve]
[near medbay]

Steve wasn't officially a part of Starfleet, but as the emergency warnings were called, he immediately scurried into the medbay as an aspect of his Therapy training, helping to calm down some of the injured crew as they were waiting in triage. Just then, he saw an engineer, carrying in the unconscious Chief Engineer. "œThe warp core's fixed, but Chief's out like a light again. That wasn't good. He needed to be out fixing the ship. Giving a nudge to the nurse, he hopped on the table and began hopping around to bring attention to the knocked-out Ferengi, among others who could be quickly treated.

[As Nurse R'Lyah]
The Andorian nurse looked around, immediately bringing some more hyposprays from the replicators. Luckily those were still working, but for how long as the ship was being slammed was anyone's guess. she thought. More patients were coming in, and fast. One by one, she organized each of the nurses and handed out hyposprays. Her antennae twitched, and out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Steve, the hologram, bringing her attention to one particular patient that one of the engineers was carrying in. Very well then She thought as she went over. The Chief Engineer was back here again. Overall, the Chief Engineer's lifesigns were alright enough. Definitely would need bed rest after this battle was over, but right now, she figured that he would be better awake fixing the ship.  She administered a hypo to him. Give it a couple of minutes to activate.

[Kinley Garrison]

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

The last hit was one of the worst, and for not the first time in his career, he looked around the bridge, remembering his authorization code for the self destruct, or to prepare to abandon ship.  It would be the worst timing... the ship was recently refitted.  And now it was actually possible that he could lose it.  It was the Discovery-A all over again.

"Divert shield strength to the forward shields.  Use all auxiliary power.  At least we don't have to worry about a warp core breach.  Begin the run- wait!  Brace for impact!" he shouted, as he saw the torpedo sail right at them.  Too late he realized it was aimed up.. not right at them.  Which meant...

BOOM!

The bridge shook and console after console sparked.  He shielded himself the best he could, but the feel of wetness on his forehead told him what he needed to know... debris had hit him.  He was able to ignore the sharp pain at least, and looking around he made sure his officers were still alive.  There were at least one or two who were not moving.

Warning, structural integrity of Deck 1 is failing.  Complete failure in 45 seconds.

This time he gave an audible curse.. in Bajoran no less.

"Alright people, we're evacuating the bridge.  Let's go!" he shouted, standing up and gesturing to get everyone out.  He was not about to lose more crew than was necessary.

"Bridge to Engineering, I'm transferring command access.  We are about to lose the main bridge. Set a run on the Breen ship and get us into manual targeting position... now this is personal.  Tekin out."

"Come on people!  Move! Dem, Kinley, get down to comms and try to find a way to get a message out.  Alex, you and I are going to Main Engineering to kick those Dominion loving wraiths to the Temple."

With that, after making sure he was the last one on the bridge, he stepped into the turbolift just as the warning said structural integrity failed, and the doors closed just as the top of the bridge opened into space.

[Bridge]

They lost the bridge.
Kinley picked herself up off the ground and nodded to the Captain as he ordered everyone to evacuate the bridge. Her ears were ringing, but one look at the shambles of the room was pretty apparent. It was a miracle that most of them were alive.
The last thing she saw as she evacuated the quickly-failing bridge was a flash of light as the blast doors closed behind them. But they couldn't stop now. They had to get help, and fast, or else none of them would be making it out of this alive, much less the Away team they were trying to wait for. Fortunately, this terminal still worked, so she tried hailing the Challenger. "œDiscovery to Challenger and all other Federaton ships. We need immediate assistance if you can help.  Repeat, we need assistance.

Gohun kept downloading data. The next phase of the virus should be in play. Phase two was disruption of communication. It was going to be done in three, two, one. Gohun felt the panic on the ship as the communications went down. "Communications are down all over the ship I can sense them emphatically". The only way they could communicate is through non wireless sources. Suddenly a council in the room light up and started making ringing sounds like an old rotary phone. Well that's not good at all.
Ring, ring

Day 3, Breen Ship.

She fell back a little when her CO said she shouldn't proceed. She sighed loudly, but she did understand. She didn't want to die, and she didn't want to risk others' lives. It was one thing for her to be cavalier on her own ship, but quite another in a dangerous situation. Finally, they caught up to her.

She used her decoupling device to break in to the door, along with her ID badge. It was a trick she'd learned in the Academy-a grounded pilot who was only a few years older than her and she had often had rendezvouses and had to break into places to do so. "See, Gohun? Stick with me, kid, you'll learn some stuff," she said. "What now?"

A sound came over the intercom. Ow, what the hell? She couldn't really make it out, but was soon assured that it was OK. She stood at the door to let the others do their work, alert to danger, phaser up and raised, ready to do battle if necessary.

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Breen Base - Computer Core room] - AWAY TEAM (DAY 3 16:50 hrs)

Rayek gave a nod to his security team as they made it back to the Computer core room before the random gravity fluctuations began.

From the doorway where he was keeping watch, Rayek glanced back towards the three officers working together to access the Breen central computer core, so that the team could download what was believed to be Dominion plans for some manner of offensive against the Federation.    To ensure they didn't miss anything, the team was ordered to download the entire system.

At the same time to aid in their task a virus was being uploaded to the Breen systems to cause havoc and eventually wipe their entire system.   Timing was crucial so that the virus didn't wipe information before they had the chance to download it.

With his keen Vulcanoid hearing, Rayek had been listening to the Breen transmission with a growing frown.  That the station was built around Borg ship was of tremendous surprise.  Did it also have transwarp capabilities?  That thought was worrisome.

Initially, the mission plan had been to just download the Dominion plans, and implant the computer virus to wipe the plans from the computer and so that during the chaos they could escape.  Now Rayek was thinking that to ensure the safety of all Federation planets that this base would need to be completely destroyed just as much as the Cardassian Nor station.   But how to do so, if at the core of the base as a Borg ship?

One thing at a time... First the download, then the virus, then destroy the station.  "Thank you, Lieutenant Sherem.  Run a scan.  See if you can find where the nearest weapons' bay might be.  Large ordnance - torpedo warheads and the like."  They would need large explosives to take out this base.

The odd and out of place noise drew Rayek's attention.  "What sort of alarm is that?"

His attention however didn't stay with odd sound long as it was then that another roving patrol appeared around the corner and saw their fellow Breen guards trussed up in the hallway.  Seeing the open door that Dersch and Dranik were keeping watch through, they raised their weapons and fired at those inside the room.

Thankfully however, their attempts to call for backup met with silence.

[Breen Base]
[As Kirayoshi]

The last firewall crumbled as he finished typing in, letting the computer get the full viral payout the team had prepared. "œWe're in! Phase three is downloading as we speak!." he whispered. Suddenly, a ringing noise came through, causing Kirayoshi to jump, just a little. What was that? An alarm? He tensed, grabbing his weapon just in case. The computer flashed and showed the virus had finished downloading "œVirus is in. We should probably get outta here."

[Dem Broadshire]

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

The last hit was one of the worst, and for not the first time in his career, he looked around the bridge, remembering his authorization code for the self destruct, or to prepare to abandon ship.  It would be the worst timing... the ship was recently refitted.  And now it was actually possible that he could lose it.  It was the Discovery-A all over again.

"Divert shield strength to the forward shields.  Use all auxiliary power.  At least we don't have to worry about a warp core breach.  Begin the run- wait!  Brace for impact!" he shouted, as he saw the torpedo sail right at them.  Too late he realized it was aimed up.. not right at them.  Which meant...

BOOM!

The bridge shook and console after console sparked.  He shielded himself the best he could, but the feel of wetness on his forehead told him what he needed to know... debris had hit him.  He was able to ignore the sharp pain at least, and looking around he made sure his officers were still alive.  There were at least one or two who were not moving.

Warning, structural integrity of Deck 1 is failing.  Complete failure in 45 seconds.

This time he gave an audible curse.. in Bajoran no less.

"Alright people, we're evacuating the bridge.  Let's go!" he shouted, standing up and gesturing to get everyone out.  He was not about to lose more crew than was necessary.

"Bridge to Engineering, I'm transferring command access.  We are about to lose the main bridge. Set a run on the Breen ship and get us into manual targeting position... now this is personal.  Tekin out."

"Come on people!  Move! Dem, Kinley, get down to comms and try to find a way to get a message out.  Alex, you and I are going to Main Engineering to kick those Dominion loving wraiths to the Temple."

With that, after making sure he was the last one on the bridge, he stepped into the turbolift just as the warning said structural integrity failed, and the doors closed just as the top of the bridge opened into space.

[Bridge "" Comms | USS Discovery]
The next few events happened very fast. He was sitting, leaning forward in anticipation for their run at the Breen ship when the computers voice echoed around the bridge. Tekin gave his orders and Dem ran into the turbolift, pressing his back into the far wall to allow for as much space as possible for fellow fleeing officers. The doors were closing but Dem could see the beloved and newly refurbished deck one being ripped out into space before they were fully sealed in. Dem's breathing was still rapid from their narrow escape, but he made sure his nerves did not get in the way of what had to be done.

[Bridge]

They lost the bridge.
Kinley picked herself up off the ground and nodded to the Captain as he ordered everyone to evacuate the bridge. Her ears were ringing, but one look at the shambles of the room was pretty apparent. It was a miracle that most of them were alive.
The last thing she saw as she evacuated the quickly-failing bridge was a flash of light as the blast doors closed behind them. But they couldn't stop now. They had to get help, and fast, or else none of them would be making it out of this alive, much less the Away team they were trying to wait for. Fortunately, this terminal still worked, so she tried hailing the Challenger. "œDiscovery to Challenger and all other Federaton ships. We need immediate assistance if you can help.  Repeat, we need assistance.

[Breen Base]
[As Kirayoshi]

The last firewall crumbled as he finished typing in, letting the computer get the full viral payout the team had prepared. "œWe're in! Phase three is downloading as we speak!." he whispered. Suddenly, a ringing noise came through, causing Kirayoshi to jump, just a little. What was that? An alarm? He tensed, grabbing his weapon just in case. The computer flashed and showed the virus had finished downloading "œVirus is in. We should probably get outta here."

Dem and Kinley made it swiftly down to comms, and Kinley sent a message to all nearby ships. "œOh, you will need an authorisation code so they can check the validity of the message. I think I have one as second officer"¦ Let me think for a second"¦" Dem remembered reading it a few days ago along with his briefing package. Eventually, he located the digits in his mind and typed them in on the display. "œWell, I suppose we should get back to engineering then".

[Dranik]

Dranik
Computer Core Room

His attention however didn't stay with odd sound long as it was then that another roving patrol appeared around the corner and saw their fellow Breen guards trussed up in the hallway.  Seeing the open door that Dersch and Dranik were keeping watch through, they raised their weapons and fired at those inside the room.

Dranik immediately pointed his rifle at one of the Breen firing into the Core room and upped the setting on it to maximum stun before taking carefully aimed shots at the Breen guards in an effort to force them to take cover so they wouldn't be able to fire constantly into the core room.

"Come on..." He growled as he lined up a shot on one of the Breen guards and managed to get a shot that hit him straight in the helmet.

One down.

[Lek]

[Main Engineering]
[ As Lt. Josh Bryant]
He did it! The Chief did it! The ship was running well enough, at least to get them out of there. However, there was no time for celebration. He saw the Ferengi go down again. Holding up his unconscious boss, he quickly hauled him to the medbay.

[As Steve]
[near medbay]

Steve wasn't officially a part of Starfleet, but as the emergency warnings were called, he immediately scurried into the medbay as an aspect of his Therapy training, helping to calm down some of the injured crew as they were waiting in triage. Just then, he saw an engineer, carrying in the unconscious Chief Engineer. "œThe warp core's fixed, but Chief's out like a light again. That wasn't good. He needed to be out fixing the ship. Giving a nudge to the nurse, he hopped on the table and began hopping around to bring attention to the knocked-out Ferengi, among others who could be quickly treated.

[As Nurse R'Lyah]
The Andorian nurse looked around, immediately bringing some more hyposprays from the replicators. Luckily those were still working, but for how long as the ship was being slammed was anyone's guess. she thought. More patients were coming in, and fast. One by one, she organized each of the nurses and handed out hyposprays. Her antennae twitched, and out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Steve, the hologram, bringing her attention to one particular patient that one of the engineers was carrying in. Very well then She thought as she went over. The Chief Engineer was back here again. Overall, the Chief Engineer's lifesigns were alright enough. Definitely would need bed rest after this battle was over, but right now, she figured that he would be better awake fixing the ship.  She administered a hypo to him. Give it a couple of minutes to activate.

[Sickbay - USS Discovery]

Lek's eyes fluttered open and immediately he though he was hallucinating as the first thing he saw was a giant carnivorous lizard standing over him. He shrieked in a pitch that only a Ferengi could manage as he rolled off the biobed to get away from the creature.

"Is anyone else seeing this? Or am I already in the Divine Treasury!"

He shouted as he backpedaled from the lizard until he was pinned against a bulkhead in abject terror.

[Kinley Garrison]

[Sickbay - USS Discovery]

Lek's eyes fluttered open and immediately he though he was hallucinating as the first thing he saw was a giant carnivorous lizard standing over him. He shrieked in a pitch that only a Ferengi could manage as he rolled off the biobed to get away from the creature.

"Is anyone else seeing this? Or am I already in the Divine Treasury!"

He shouted as he backpedaled from the lizard until he was pinned against a bulkhead in abject terror.

[Medbay]
[As Steve]
Steve was peering at Chief Lek when suddenly, the Ferengi woke up with a start, and shrieked in fear, almost sending the little raptor flying halfway across the medbay. He wasn't expecting to spook anyone, for sure, so he cocked his head inquisitively. At least it looked like he was feeling better. There were a bunch of people who looked like they needed help.
Nurse R'Lyah jumped a little as Chief Lek woke up, very loudly. "œYou're not dead yet," she stated, scanning him with a scanner. Life signs appeared pretty good, asides from a mild concussion.  "œ You look alright enough," she noted with her clinical gaze. "œYou aren't seeing things. That's Steve. He's a therapy raptor, according to Lieutenant Garrison."