Season 1 - Mission 4: The Spider’s Web

[Hrafn Falleg]

[Asteroid field]

If the two asteroids that flew overhead was not evidence enough of what happened to the destroyed vessel, what happened next should be.   From the left and from the right, motion could be detected.  On both sides a blue light caught onto a nearby asteroid and started to move it from one place to another.

[Bridge]

Kiork's left eyebrow rose when T'Koris walked onto the Bridge.  He was about to ask her how the visit with Kintiss had gone, but was interrupted by the activity on the Sec/Tac Duty station.  "There is another power build up, 049 mark 27 and 288 mark 17."

Kirok tapped some buttons.  The image on one side appeared on the screen.  It looked like an asteroid was being loaded into a launching device.  "What do you make of this?" he asked.

Bridge

"Canonball?!" Hrafn suggested.  "I don't really know."

[Bridge]

This wasn't quite the first bridge shift she had imagined. As a matter of fact that was a bit of an understatement. She always assumed that her first shift on the bridge would be nice and relaxed. But unfortunately, it seemed anytime she got near the command staff for missions something dramatic happened. Although, an asteroid field was absolutely nothing for her. This was the easy part of her job. Even if they WERE being moving in their direction. She moved the ship with "ease" although, it probably wasn't all that fun for the ships passengers. But still, the ship was repetitively safe at her control.

While she marvelled at the flying skills of Ashley she was glad that she was sat down at the Science console and she never suffered from motion sickness.

As the helmswoman deftly wove through the asteroid belt, Hrafn hoped that Evie had scooped up the twins up and put them in their playpen rather than crawling everywhere.  The woman was a gem, she just hoped that if and when she put in a transfer to be with Nevir again and bring all the family including Ruthie '...and whatever she's finally called the cat...' she thought to herself, together, that Evie would finally see the good side of Nevir and accept that he was still a good guy.

Inwardly she smiled to herself.  The ridges had their uses and possibly... just possibly...

She was jolted out of her reverie by the ship tilting again.  Ahhh... she missed Nevir.  She'd have to send him a message when all of this was done and appraise him of the new words that Nerys and Tidu were saying, and send one to Ruthie trying to persuade her to write to 'Papa Ridgey-Nose' as she called him!

[Archangel Koris]

Kiork's left eyebrow rose when T'Koris walked onto the Bridge.  He was about to ask her how the visit with Kintiss had gone, but was interrupted by the activity on the Sec/Tac Duty station.  "There is another power build up, 049 mark 27 and 288 mark 17."

Kirok tapped some buttons.  The image on one side appeared on the screen.  It looked like an asteroid was being loaded into a launching device.  "What do you make of this?" he asked.

[Bridge]

The captain's words brought Archangel out of her consideration of the wrecked ship and she turned to glance at him before turning her attention back to the screen and the image that he had brought up on it.  One upswept eyebrow lifted slightly as she took it in, her engineer's mind still engaged and analysing.

The device looked familiar, but trying to place it was difficult.  Frowning slightly, she took one hand off the top of her cane, tapping the console and enlarging the image.  "This looks... It looks like something from Seika's homework.  An ancient human weapon.  A catapult?"

[Non-Playing Character 1]

[Quarters]

Despite not yet being on duty, the summoning of medical personnel still came hrough on Zero's commbadge, rousing her from the fascinating process of painstakingly alphabetising her collection of journals and textbooks.  With Callion still fast asleep and Ghost watching over her, the Augment brushed off the knees of her uniforms from the invisible dust that must have collected in the fabric while she had been kneeling on the deck, and tapped her commbadge.

=^= "Alpha to Kintiss.  I will report to the transporter room and inform you of the situation," =^= she said, pausing for a moment to pick her medkit out of one of the boxes before leaving her quarters.

Her arrival in the transporter room was swift, and it only took a second between Zero laying eyes on the three casualties that had been beamed over from the damaged ship and her making a decision of what to do with them.

"Transport them immediately to sickbay," she told the transporter chief.  =^= "Alpha to Kintiss, I have given orders for the casualties to be beamed to you.  Prepare for their imminent arrival."=^=

[Transporter Room]

Before they were beamed to Sickbay, the Vulcan tried to tell Zero something.  "Dis..ess ..all" he whispered.  His voices dry due to lack of hydration.  "Disco" he added before he disappeared.

[Sickbay]

The sound of Alpha's voice made him do a double-take. So, the Augment was back on the ship. It only now occurred to him that he had never told Alpha that he knew what she was. She'd left before he had a chance. Maybe, when the opportunity presented itself, he would let her know, but right now he had to focus on the incoming patients.

"Acknowledged, Alpha,"=/\= Kintiss replied as he and two other medical crewmen began to program biobeds for the patients, taking particular care to increase the sensitivity of the bio-scanners. He wanted them to pick up any sort of anomaly, including any trace of Earth First's viral agent, since the patients were apparently non-human.

[Sickbay]

"vered" he finished.  He looked around to see he was in a new place.  "Graveyard" he said.

[Kirok]

[Bridge]

This wasn't quite the first bridge shift she had imagined. As a matter of fact that was a bit of an understatement. She always assumed that her first shift on the bridge would be nice and relaxed. But unfortunately, it seemed anytime she got near the command staff for missions something dramatic happened. Although, an asteroid field was absolutely nothing for her. This was the easy part of her job. Even if they WERE being moving in their direction. She moved the ship with "ease" although, it probably wasn't all that fun for the ships passengers. But still, the ship was repetitively safe at her control.

[Bridge]

Kirok instinctively grabbed the bar on the duty station when he saw the view on the view screen start to shift.  He moved his body from left to right with the ship - thought he did not need to.  "Good job, Ms. Weir" Kirok called out.

Bridge

"Canonball?!" Hrafn suggested.  "I don't really know."

While she marvelled at the flying skills of Ashley she was glad that she was sat down at the Science console and she never suffered from motion sickness.

As the helmswoman deftly wove through the asteroid belt, Hrafn hoped that Evie had scooped up the twins up and put them in their playpen rather than crawling everywhere.  The woman was a gem, she just hoped that if and when she put in a transfer to be with Nevir again and bring all the family including Ruthie '...and whatever she's finally called the cat...' she thought to herself, together, that Evie would finally see the good side of Nevir and accept that he was still a good guy.

Inwardly she smiled to herself.  The ridges had their uses and possibly... just possibly...

She was jolted out of her reverie by the ship tilting again.  Ahhh... she missed Nevir.  She'd have to send him a message when all of this was done and appraise him of the new words that Nerys and Tidu were saying, and send one to Ruthie trying to persuade her to write to 'Papa Ridgey-Nose' as she called him!

[Bridge]

"No, I don't think so. Along those lines maybe" Kriok replied.  He looked at the object a bit longer.  "Can you inform the Away Team to be on the look out, Ms. Falleg?" he asked.

[Bridge]

The captain's words brought Archangel out of her consideration of the wrecked ship and she turned to glance at him before turning her attention back to the screen and the image that he had brought up on it.  One upswept eyebrow lifted slightly as she took it in, her engineer's mind still engaged and analysing.

The device looked familiar, but trying to place it was difficult.  Frowning slightly, she took one hand off the top of her cane, tapping the console and enlarging the image.  "This looks... It looks like something from Seika's homework.  An ancient human weapon.  A catapult?"

[Bridge]

"It does have that quality" Kirok agreed.  The blue light pulled the asteroid into a launcher.  "It could be a modified mass driver" he speculated.

[Zero Alpha]

The sound of Alpha's voice made him do a double-take. So, the Augment was back on the ship. It only now occurred to him that he had never told Alpha that he knew what she was. She'd left before he had a chance. Maybe, when the opportunity presented itself, he would let her know, but right now he had to focus on the incoming patients.

"Acknowledged, Alpha,"=/\= Kintiss replied as he and two other medical crewmen began to program biobeds for the patients, taking particular care to increase the sensitivity of the bio-scanners. He wanted them to pick up any sort of anomaly, including any trace of Earth First's viral agent, since the patients were apparently non-human.

[Sickbay]

The transporter chief had acted quickly, beaming all three casualties and the doctor to sickbay where the patients were directed to biobeds and helped to lie down.  Looking around for the medical officer on duty, Zero's grey eyes fell upon Kintiss.  A very familiar face, and one that she considered to be a friend after the amount of time he had spent putting her back together following her stay with a terrorist group.  She nodded to him, acknowledging his presence and authority.

"I have observed primarily burns and major fractures, although there may be more that I have not observed."

Before they were beamed to Sickbay, the Vulcan tried to tell Zero something.  "Dis..ess ..all" he whispered.  His voices dry due to lack of hydration.  "Disco" he added before he disappeared.
[Sickbay]

"vered" he finished.  He looked around to see he was in a new place.  "Graveyard" he said.

Looking at the Vulcan being helped onto a bed by one of the nursing staff, Zero raised an eyebrow.  "Perhaps it would be wise to count concussion amongst the list of possibilities also."

[Hrafn Falleg]

[Bridge]

"No, I don't think so. Along those lines maybe" Kriok replied.  He looked at the object a bit longer.  "Can you inform the Away Team to be on the look out, Ms. Falleg?" he asked.

[Bridge]

The captain's words brought Archangel out of her consideration of the wrecked ship and she turned to glance at him before turning her attention back to the screen and the image that he had brought up on it.  One upswept eyebrow lifted slightly as she took it in, her engineer's mind still engaged and analysing.

The device looked familiar, but trying to place it was difficult.  Frowning slightly, she took one hand off the top of her cane, tapping the console and enlarging the image.  "This looks... It looks like something from Seika's homework.  An ancient human weapon.  A catapult?"

Bridge

"Catapult, that's the word I was looking for!" Hrafn ejaculated excitedly.  And it sounded like something Seika would have for homework.  She must see the girls again, she missed them!

"And yes sir, right away." she added to Kirok.

=/\=Phoenix to Shuttlecraft Bruegel.  Please be on the look out for.... Hrafn paused not really sure how to describe it...she opted for saying ...power build ups, 049 mark 27 and 288 mark 17. Something which appears to be asteroids being loaded into a firing device as a ballistic weapon.  Phoenix out

[Ashley Weir]

[Bridge]

Kirok instinctively grabbed the bar on the duty station when he saw the view on the view screen start to shift.  He moved his body from left to right with the ship - thought he did not need to.  "Good job, Ms. Weir" Kirok called out.

[Bridge]

"No, I don't think so. Along those lines maybe" Kriok replied.  He looked at the object a bit longer.  "Can you inform the Away Team to be on the look out, Ms. Falleg?" he asked.

[Bridge]

"It does have that quality" Kirok agreed.  The blue light pulled the asteroid into a launcher.  "It could be a modified mass driver" he speculated.

[Bridge]

A small smile appreared on Ashley's face as she heard the praise from the captain. She wouldn't let it distract her from the job at hand, but it was nice to hear that she was actually doing her job properly.

[Kintiss]

The transporter chief had acted quickly, beaming all three casualties and the doctor to sickbay where the patients were directed to biobeds and helped to lie down.  Looking around for the medical officer on duty, Zero's grey eyes fell upon Kintiss.  A very familiar face, and one that she considered to be a friend after the amount of time he had spent putting her back together following her stay with a terrorist group.  She nodded to him, acknowledging his presence and authority.

"I have observed primarily burns and major fractures, although there may be more that I have not observed."

[Sickbay]

For a moment, Kintiss was happy to see a familiar face. He was glad to see that Alpha was still alive, if nothing else. Then the anger came back. The anger at her for not telling him what she was, and a bit of anger at himself for not doing anything about it. Now, however, was not the time to let the personal override the professional. He had a job to do.

"You may be right. Wouldn't want them to be hiding sssssomething important, now, would we?" he replied, giving the Vulcan a quick once-over with a medical tricorder.

"Third degree plasssma burnssss, fractured ribssss, minor dehydration," he read as the tricorder picked them up. "ssslight tearing of...damn! Thissss one hasss an internal hemorrhage!" Setting the tricorder down, he grabbed a hypospray and sedated the Vulcan. "Get me twenty CCs of dermaline and bicaridine!"

[Archangel Koris]

"It does have that quality" Kirok agreed.  The blue light pulled the asteroid into a launcher.  "It could be a modified mass driver" he speculated.

[Bridge]

Archangel continued to observe the weapon as it drew another asteroid into the cusp, her upswept brows drawn together in a frown.  Something like that could certainly have caused the damage that had been seen on the derelict vessel.  It was also a rather curious device.  Her inner engineer wanted to get a hold of it and take it apart to see how it worked.

"It seems that the device uses a tractor beam to draw in its ammunition and then throws the polarity into reverse to turn the pull into a push," she observed, tilting her head to one side.  "Clever.  If we could find a way to interfere with their tractor beam, we could disable the weapon.  Lieutenant Falleg, work with Lieutenant Arthur on that one.  Ensign Weir, can you get us a better look at it without putting the ship in danger?"

[Hrafn Falleg]

[Bridge]

Archangel continued to observe the weapon as it drew another asteroid into the cusp, her upswept brows drawn together in a frown.  Something like that could certainly have caused the damage that had been seen on the derelict vessel.  It was also a rather curious device.  Her inner engineer wanted to get a hold of it and take it apart to see how it worked.

"It seems that the device uses a tractor beam to draw in its ammunition and then throws the polarity into reverse to turn the pull into a push," she observed, tilting her head to one side.  "Clever.  If we could find a way to interfere with their tractor beam, we could disable the weapon.  Lieutenant Falleg, work with Lieutenant Arthur on that one.  Ensign Weir, can you get us a better look at it without putting the ship in danger?"

Bridge

"Yes Ma'am!" Hrafn said semi-automatically.  She was more than happy to work with Gabriel, quite apart from the friendship that had formed over the children, he was a total professional.

"Ok Mr. Arthur... where do we start?!"

[Jiseth]

[Shuttle Bruegel]

Well, time for an executive decision...

The power came back on swiftly as Jiseth's fingers pecked at the controls. Their tumble stopped suddenly as did the hiss of hydrogen escaping from the bussard collectors. The craft rolled three times to starboard to fully exit the cloud it had created by which point the phasers were hot and ready to fire. Under the rules of engagement, she was not able to determine if they had been directly fired on or not. After all, how often were rocks being hurled around in giant slingshots in space?

=/\=Phoenix to Shuttlecraft Bruegel.  Please be on the look out for.... Hrafn paused not really sure how to describe it...she opted for saying ...power build ups, 049 mark 27 and 288 mark 17. Something which appears to be asteroids being loaded into a firing device as a ballistic weapon.  Phoenix out

I see it. Will avoid direct engagement until authorization is given.

She thought the situation over for a moment. If the motion of the probes had triggered this response, then perhaps she could overload the targeting system with chaff until she could at least deploy the away team. With her weapons at full charge, she let loose twin orange streaks into the blackness. The aim was edge of several rock and ice formations to dislodge the material at points on the far side of the power spikes away from their target ship.

The ice flashed white and exploded in clouds of gas as it violently sublimated, sending chucks of debris in many directions. Jamming the throttle forward, Jiseth tried to make as direct path as possible to the wreck without becoming one themselves. The nose of the craft darted around like a hound looking for the scent while flew around, between, and in one occasion right through the asteroids.

With the shuttle now under the belly of the port side, it pitched up and spun around to do its final approach backward. Jiseth kept here eyes focused on her screen which displayed the rear camera views of the rapidly approaching airlock. The proximity alarm began to ping at quickly shortening intervals until they slowed and there was a slight jolt as they made contact. With power being fed from the shuttle, there was a loud clang as the door mechanisms began to move and they had a way into the ship.

"Away team you're clear to proceed, I'll pick you up when you're finished."

[Gabriel Arthur]

[Bridge]

Archangel continued to observe the weapon as it drew another asteroid into the cusp, her upswept brows drawn together in a frown.  Something like that could certainly have caused the damage that had been seen on the derelict vessel.  It was also a rather curious device.  Her inner engineer wanted to get a hold of it and take it apart to see how it worked.

"It seems that the device uses a tractor beam to draw in its ammunition and then throws the polarity into reverse to turn the pull into a push," she observed, tilting her head to one side.  "Clever.  If we could find a way to interfere with their tractor beam, we could disable the weapon.  Lieutenant Falleg, work with Lieutenant Arthur on that one.  Ensign Weir, can you get us a better look at it without putting the ship in danger?"

[Bridge]

The reports coming from the Bridge had been almost too wacky to believe, so Gabriel had decided to come see it for himself.  A part of him (well, a large part) was relieved to see that, somehow, Archangel had been talked about of going on the away team.  Well, 'talked out of' was likely too light of a term.  It was probably better to say 'cajoled', or 'threatened', or, sometimes, 'sedated'.  Away missions were one of the more dangerous aspects of their life in space, and while he had friends currently seeing to that infernal device floating out there in space, at least one of the people out there wasn't his wife.

"Reversed the polarity, did they?" he asked, strolling around the bridge, close to where she and Captain Kirok were.  "That one's an old standby for a reason, I guess."  Although his expression was a touch playful, he was still well aware of the...er, gravity of the situation.

"Yes Ma'am!" Hrafn said semi-automatically.  She was more than happy to work with Gabriel, quite apart from the friendship that had formed over the children, he was a total professional.

"Ok Mr. Arthur... where do we start?!"

Gabe turned his attention to the Sciences station, reaching up to stroke his chin and lightly tap a few times on his lower lip - a sure sign that he was thinking.  "Well.  Tractor beam ain't nothing but a graviton pulse...in a very basic sense.  I'd say send them an antigraviton shot through the deflector, see if that doesn't kick the anthill."

[Zero Alpha]

[Sickbay]

For a moment, Kintiss was happy to see a familiar face. He was glad to see that Alpha was still alive, if nothing else. Then the anger came back. The anger at her for not telling him what she was, and a bit of anger at himself for not doing anything about it. Now, however, was not the time to let the personal override the professional. He had a job to do.

"You may be right. Wouldn't want them to be hiding sssssomething important, now, would we?" he replied, giving the Vulcan a quick once-over with a medical tricorder.

"Third degree plasssma burnssss, fractured ribssss, minor dehydration," he read as the tricorder picked them up. "ssslight tearing of...damn! Thissss one hasss an internal hemorrhage!" Setting the tricorder down, he grabbed a hypospray and sedated the Vulcan. "Get me twenty CCs of dermaline and bicaridine!"

[Sickbay]

There was no time to catch up, assuming that Zero even knew what 'catching up' meant.  The casualties from the other ship were their main priority and must take precedence over any kind of idle chit chat.  When a patient was close to crashing, any chatter outside of orders being given for drugs or recussitation had no place what so ever.

Without a word, Zero grabbed the two hyposprays, a glance indicating that the dosage on them was correct before she handed them to Kintiss before reaching for a tricorder of her own and the vascular regenerator, scanning the Vulcan in search of the source of the internal bleeding.

"I am detecting lacerations to the liver and spleen," she reported, switching on the regenerator and setting to work.

[Hrafn Falleg]

[Bridge]

The reports coming from the Bridge had been almost too wacky to believe, so Gabriel had decided to come see it for himself.  A part of him (well, a large part) was relieved to see that, somehow, Archangel had been talked about of going on the away team.  Well, 'talked out of' was likely too light of a term.  It was probably better to say 'cajoled', or 'threatened', or, sometimes, 'sedated'.  Away missions were one of the more dangerous aspects of their life in space, and while he had friends currently seeing to that infernal device floating out there in space, at least one of the people out there wasn't his wife.

"Reversed the polarity, did they?" he asked, strolling around the bridge, close to where she and Captain Kirok were.  "That one's an old standby for a reason, I guess."  Although his expression was a touch playful, he was still well aware of the...er, gravity of the situation.

Gabe turned his attention to the Sciences station, reaching up to stroke his chin and lightly tap a few times on his lower lip - a sure sign that he was thinking.  "Well.  Tractor beam ain't nothing but a graviton pulse...in a very basic sense.  I'd say send them an antigraviton shot through the deflector, see if that doesn't kick the anthill."

Bridge

"I see our esteemed Captain's logic is rubbing off on us.  It's almost so simple that it's genius!!" Hrafn responded excitedly.

"Right with your permission, Sir,..." she said deferring to Kirok, "... shall we do just that?"

[Kirok]

Bridge

"I see our esteemed Captain's logic is rubbing off on us.  It's almost so simple that it's genius!!" Hrafn responded excitedly.

"Right with your permission, Sir,..." she said deferring to Kirok, "... shall we do just that?"

[Bridge]

"A good idea, Mr. Arthur" Kirok said.   "I would like to run a scan before we implement the idea though" he added.  He clacked away at his duty station and waited to Weir to get them in position.