S3:E7 Predator and Prey

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - Deck One - Bridge]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Lek had remained on the bridge to monitor the probes and because no one had said anything about reporting to the transporter room yet. When Lahr stated that they'd been spotted, he acted immediately. Lek ordered the ignored probe to go to full power to maximize its impulse signature as it moved away from the ship that was closing. He hoped that might lure it away again, if not, he had another idea, but this would require the captain to agree.

"Ma'am, we can roll quantum torpedoes out the aft launcher. If we set them to not engage their propulsion, but set their warhead detection radius to maximum, they will act like mines. We'll have to reduce our power output to minimum and move only via thrusters to remain undetected as we lay our minefield. A dozen quantums will give them enough of a reason to have to slow to a halt while we make our final approach."

Lahr had been expecting a reply from the Captain or the XO, not the chief engineer.  Yet watched as Lek upped the power output on the probe.  Smart...

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

"Damn, but least it's only one of them at least!" the Captain said to Lahr.

She listened to Lek's idea then turned to Kyle.  "That sounds like a good plan to me, what do you say Mr. Briggs?  If so... do it, like yesterday!"

Turning to the helm she winked at Litt.  "Mr. Litt... get ready to show me those evasive manoeuvres! Go to red alert."

At the order to go to Red Alert, Lahr hesitated a fraction of a second.. because their 'stealthy' silent running would be completely blown the moment they powered up their shields.. but then again... facing down one of Leyton's ships without shield didn't seem all that bright either.

"Yes ma'am." the Andorian acknowledged as he activated the alert system.  Then on his own initiative, he opened ship-wide comms - which cut through overtop of the klaxxon of the Alert.  "Red Alert!  All hands to duty stations! This is NOT a drill."

[Bridge]

"If you think he can handle it, Kyle. This is going to be like throwing them in the deep end and expecting them to swim. Approved." he said, pausing for a moment to add "Loop 'em in and let them know the situation" he informed, his attention was then drawn to Ops to announced that one of the ships seemed to be heading their way.

Ruth had already called for Red Alert, which no doubt raised their visible energy signature for the benefit of fully powered shields and weapons systems. "Kyle, once you are done the minefield, I want every torpedo tube armed and ready with phaser banks on standby. Let's aim to disable to the highest degree. Takedown their shields then move to engines. Ops, I want a way to jam their communications so they won't be able to call for help." he ordered, moving around the aft of the Bridge. He found that it was best to command from a position where he could see everything and, given the mission, he would use everything at his disposal to gain an edge.

Hearing Commander Waring's order to jam communications, Lahr was puzzled for a moment.   He'd only ever learnt the techniques for breaking a jamm or working around one..

"Um... yes sir. I'll get right on that.." His reply didn't hold it's usual certainty.

It took a moment for Lahr to call up on his console the instructions on how to do a jamming signal.  From what he read, one sure fire way to jamm a signal was by flooding the 'airwaves' with other signals so that everything else got lost in the sheer volume of it.   This gave him an idea.   The Captain had suggested a battle song after all.

Lahr called up the 'Ride of the Valkyries' in the ships' database and overlaid it atop the standard white static jamming signal.  He then began broadcasting it on all frequencies and bandwidths, subspace and hyperspace.  He even linked to the probes and had the probes emit the same signal... the damned Nebula was jammed now!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NPC Crewman T'Varn
[USS Challenger- A Cargo Bay]

[USS Challenger- Cargo bay and telepathic conference)

They were indeed a good sport. He had put all his effort to hear them all and remember everything. =/MD\= Sounds good. I want to share this to the Captain. That explains her last name must be heritage to Vikings. Let me see if she agree on your plan. Love and Prosper, please hold until What the Captain will say. =/MD\=

Jasper tapped his com badge and explain everything to the Captain,  Is there anything you want me to send to them? Any additional cause I asked them to wait.

T'Varn and the others continued offering their support to the Science officer who was in contact with the prisoners on the asteroid.  A plan was being worked out and only needed the Captain's approval to move forward.

[Lek]

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

"Damn, but least it's only one of them at least!" the Captain said to Lahr.

She listened to Lek's idea then turned to Kyle.  "That sounds like a good plan to me, what do you say Mr. Briggs?  If so... do it, like yesterday!"

Turning to the helm she winked at Litt.  "Mr. Litt... get ready to show me those evasive manoeuvres! Go to red alert."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

"Aye Ma'am!"

Lek replied and immediately began to work. Starfleet torpedoes were purposely designed to be multi-functional, so all it took to turn one into a mine was to deactivate its propulsion system and to program each torpedo's warhead for proximity detonation.

His fingers flew across the engineering console and quickly had twelve torpedoes programmed and loaded into the aft launcher. He then reduced power to all systems to minimize the ship's signature in hopes that the approaching ship would reacquire the probe. Once the helm got the Challenger moving via thrusters, Lek ejected the mines, one at a time, with a one minute delay before they activated, which would give them time to get out of their detection range. When the last of the mines were placed, Lek backed out of the weapons system and returned full control to tactical.

"Mines emplaced Captain."

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

[USS Challenger- Cargo bay and telepathic conference)

They were indeed a good sport. He had put all his effort to hear them all and remember everything. =/MD\= Sounds good. I want to share this to the Captain. That explains her last name must be heritage to Vikings. Let me see if she agree on your plan. Love and Prosper, please hold until What the Captain will say. =/MD\=

Jasper tapped his com badge and explain everything to the Captain,  Is there anything you want me to send to them? Any additional cause I asked them to wait.

[Challenger - Bridge]

Thank you Ensign Meltem, nothing further to add from me other than 'Good Luck!'.  Also good work, to all concerned down there, well done! Given the circumstances, even with the numbers involved, please advise Drs. Briggs and York, both of numbers and the plan over all, given there might be significant phaser burn injuries, and potential deaths. Bridge out. 

Grimly she turned to Will and said "And on that note, we bring them all back.  Preferably alive but if there are fatalities, we still bring them back.  They'll deserve a proper funeral.  But looks like they're going to help as much as they can, we need to give them as much of a chance as we can. And we now have numbers, and a semblance of a visual 'map' of the asteroid chambers, at least the ones we need to worry about."

She took out her PADD and quickly finger-drew her interpretation of the info gleaned from the Vulcan Admiral via Meltem and the rest of the team.

[Bridge]

"If you think he can handle it, Kyle. This is going to be like throwing them in the deep end and expecting them to swim. Approved." he said, pausing for a moment to add "Loop 'em in and let them know the situation" he informed, his attention was then drawn to Ops to announced that one of the ships seemed to be heading their way.

Ruth had already called for Red Alert, which no doubt raised their visible energy signature for the benefit of fully powered shields and weapons systems. "Kyle, once you are done the minefield, I want every torpedo tube armed and ready with phaser banks on standby. Let's aim to disable to the highest degree. Takedown their shields then move to engines. Ops, I want a way to jam their communications so they won't be able to call for help." he ordered, moving around the aft of the Bridge. He found that it was best to command from a position where he could see everything and, given the mission, he would use everything at his disposal to gain an edge.

The Captain nodded approvingly at Kyle and her XO furthering the training of Crewman Gohun.  He was shaping up a little but still making some elementary mistakes.  'Still,..' she thought to herself, 'I took dynamite onto my first ship, so who am I to talk!'  The inward grin showed in a twinkle of her eyes but nothing more.

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - Deck One - Bridge]

Lahr had been expecting a reply from the Captain or the XO, not the chief engineer.  Yet watched as Lek upped the power output on the probe.  Smart...

At the order to go to Red Alert, Lahr hesitated a fraction of a second.. because their 'stealthy' silent running would be completely blown the moment they powered up their shields.. but then again... facing down one of Leyton's ships without shield didn't seem all that bright either.

"Yes ma'am." the Andorian acknowledged as he activated the alert system.  Then on his own initiative, he opened ship-wide comms - which cut through overtop of the klaxxon of the Alert.  "Red Alert!  All hands to duty stations! This is NOT a drill."

Hearing Commander Waring's order to jam communications, Lahr was puzzled for a moment.   He'd only ever learnt the techniques for breaking a jamm or working around one..

"Um... yes sir. I'll get right on that.." His reply didn't hold it's usual certainty.

It took a moment for Lahr to call up on his console the instructions on how to do a jamming signal.  From what he read, one sure fire way to jamm a signal was by flooding the 'airwaves' with other signals so that everything else got lost in the sheer volume of it.   This gave him an idea.   The Captain had suggested a battle song after all.

Lahr called up the 'Ride of the Valkyries' in the ships' database and overlaid it atop the standard white static jamming signal.  He then began broadcasting it on all frequencies and bandwidths, subspace and hyperspace.  He even linked to the probes and had the probes emit the same signal... the damned Nebula was jammed now!

The twinkle became a genuine laugh, actually from the belly and she turned to Lahr and beamed.

"How very apt Petty Officer!  I might have to make you an honourary Viking for that!" she grinned, the smile splitting her face from ear to ear!  She was not just pleased by that but the efficiency of her bridge crew.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

"Aye Ma'am!"

Lek replied and immediately began to work. Starfleet torpedoes were purposely designed to be multi-functional, so all it took to turn one into a mine was to deactivate its propulsion system and to program each torpedo's warhead for proximity detonation.

His fingers flew across the engineering console and quickly had twelve torpedoes programmed and loaded into the aft launcher. He then reduced power to all systems to minimize the ship's signature in hopes that the approaching ship would reacquire the probe. Once the helm got the Challenger moving via thrusters, Lek ejected the mines, one at a time, with a one minute delay before they activated, which would give them time to get out of their detection range. When the last of the mines were placed, Lek backed out of the weapons system and returned full control to tactical.

"Mines emplaced Captain."

"Thank you Mr. Lek now we'll see some fireworks I hope! But it'll be them going 'bang' not us!"

[Kyle Briggs]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

"Damn, but least it's only one of them at least!" the Captain said to Lahr.

She listened to Lek's idea then turned to Kyle.  "That sounds like a good plan to me, what do you say Mr. Briggs?  If so... do it, like yesterday!"

Turning to the helm she winked at Litt.  "Mr. Litt... get ready to show me those evasive manoeuvres! Go to red alert."

Kyle worked in concert with the Engineer and they were able to get the torpedoes out in no time. He thought a dozen was a bit over kill for one vessel but hey. You never know. With that done, Kyle looked up as he heard Will mention his name.

[Bridge]

"If you think he can handle it, Kyle. This is going to be like throwing them in the deep end and expecting them to swim. Approved." he said, pausing for a moment to add "Loop 'em in and let them know the situation" he informed, his attention was then drawn to Ops to announced that one of the ships seemed to be heading their way.

Ruth had already called for Red Alert, which no doubt raised their visible energy signature for the benefit of fully powered shields and weapons systems. "Kyle, once you are done the minefield, I want every torpedo tube armed and ready with phaser banks on standby. Let's aim to disable to the highest degree. Takedown their shields then move to engines. Ops, I want a way to jam their communications so they won't be able to call for help." he ordered, moving around the aft of the Bridge. He found that it was best to command from a position where he could see everything and, given the mission, he would use everything at his disposal to gain an edge.

His hands danced over his console before answering.

"He's gonna have to swim, Commander. It's time he took his floaties off." he replied. "And torpedoes are loaded and phasers ready. Currently targeting weapons and shields as ordered."

He then slapped his comm and called for Gohun.

Crewman Gohun. Report to the Bridge ASAP. 

[Kyle Briggs]

[Bridge - USS Falcon]

[As NPC Captain Martin Tennant and Commander Debra Marchetti, XO]

"Indeed Tennant.  And if it happens to be that meddlesome redhaired girl that likes playing at Starfleet, take her, and her crew out... use whatever force necessary.  That is all." He killed the transmission.

Normally, Tennant would have been pissed about someone cutting the transmission so abruptly but it was Leyton. And the man was a genius so Martin wrote it off.

"Helm. Lay in a course for intercept." he said as he began issuing orders. "Weapons. I want everything hot and ready for action as soon as we are within range."

"Sir. The Poseidon is slowing down." called out the Ops station.

"Helm. Stay on course. Raise the Poseidon." he ordered the Ops officer.

"No response, Sir."

Tennant had already been given his orders. The Challenger and it's crew needed to be extracted from the equation.

"Stay on course." he said.

A few moments later, Ops spoke up again. "An incoming message from the Poseidon. Audio only."

"Play it."

"Poseidon to Gol and Falcon.  Pro [zzzzz] to location [zzzzzzzzzfkczz] to intercept Cha[buzzz].  Will RV with you af[zzzzd] once we get [brrrrpt]"

"Can we clear that up?" the Captain asked.

"No, sir. That's it."

He had heard the word "Intercept" so he took it as his cue to continue.

"Stay on course. Orders stand." he said.

He could feel his XO's eyes burning holes in the back of his head. If it came down to it and she turned out to be a bother, he felt no qualms about having to end her life as well as those on the Challenger.

"Captain. We've got the Challenger on our sensors. We'll be within firing range in seven minutes."

"Fire as soon as you get a lock." ordered Tennant.

Seven minutes later, he heard and felt several torpedoes leave the ship.

[William Waring]

As Captain T'Mivur and XO Keranat

[USS Gol]

It appeared the Gol was already steps ahead on the order to intercept the Challenger. They were just about in weapons range when the Ops reported some kind of noise being broadcasted on all frequencies.

"Very well. Tactical, have the full capabilities ready to be utilized once we enter weapons range. It seems an element of surprise is no longer in play, necessitating a more bold opening move" T'Mivur ordered, which was quickly fulfilled by her Bridge Officers.

"Well well, this is shaping up to be quite the hunt! I'd say they are worthy adversaries but I think we both know that it was simply luck that brought them this far!" The jovial XO stated, causing T'Mivur to give him a glance before returning to the task at hand.

"I think we have a lock on their weapons, Captain" Tactical reported, finger hovering over the launch command.

"Fire at will. Operations Management, do try to send a communication to our ships in the area."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

[Challenger - Bridge]

The Captain nodded approvingly at Kyle and her XO furthering the training of Crewman Gohun.  He was shaping up a little but still making some elementary mistakes.  'Still,..' she thought to herself, 'I took dynamite onto my first ship, so who am I to talk!'  The inward grin showed in a twinkle of her eyes but nothing more.

The twinkle became a genuine laugh, actually from the belly and she turned to Lahr and beamed.

"How very apt Petty Officer!  I might have to make you an honorary Viking for that!" she grinned, the smile splitting her face from ear to ear!  She was not just pleased by that but the efficiency of her bridge crew.

"Thank you Mr. Lek now we'll see some fireworks I hope! But it'll be them going 'bang' not us!"

As Captain T'Mivur and XO Keranat

[USS Gol]

It appeared the Gol was already steps ahead on the order to intercept the Challenger. They were just about in weapons range when the Ops reported some kind of noise being broadcasted on all frequencies.

"Very well. Tactical, have the full capabilities ready to be utilized once we enter weapons range. It seems an element of surprise is no longer in play, necessitating a more bold opening move" T'Mivur ordered, which was quickly fulfilled by her Bridge Officers.

"Well well, this is shaping up to be quite the hunt! I'd say they are worthy adversaries but I think we both know that it was simply luck that brought them this far!" The jovial XO stated, causing T'Mivur to give him a glance before returning to the task at hand.

"I think we have a lock on their weapons, Captain" Tactical reported, finger hovering over the launch command.

"Fire at will. Operations Management, do try to send a communication to our ships in the area."

"We have weapons fire, Captain.  We've been fired on by the Gol, ma'am!  And a second ship is fast approaching."

[Bridge - USS Falcon]
[As NPC Captain Martin Tennant and Commander Debra Marchetti, XO]
"Captain. We've got the Challenger on our sensors. We'll be within firing range in seven minutes."

"Fire as soon as you get a lock." ordered Tennant.

Seven minutes later, he heard and felt several torpedoes leave the ship.

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Kyle worked in concert with the Engineer and they were able to get the torpedoes out in no time. He thought a dozen was a bit over kill for one vessel but hey. You never know. With that done, Kyle looked up as he heard Will mention his name.

His hands danced over his console before answering.

"He's gonna have to swim, Commander. It's time he took his floaties off." he replied. "And torpedoes are loaded and phasers ready. Currently targeting weapons and shields as ordered."

He then slapped his comm and called for Gohun.

Crewman Gohun. Report to the Bridge ASAP. 

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

The Captain  listened to the chat between her XO and Chief of Ops and silently agreed.  The crewman wasn't progressing as well as she'd expected, maybe it was time...when they were back at Innominatum, to have a little chat, find out why he didn't seem settled yet, see if they could find a solution.  Without hearing it from the man himself she'd never know.

[Bridge - USS Falcon]

[As NPC Captain Martin Tennant and Commander Debra Marchetti, XO]

Normally, Tennant would have been pissed about someone cutting the transmission so abruptly but it was Leyton. And the man was a genius so Martin wrote it off.

"Helm. Lay in a course for intercept." he said as he began issuing orders. "Weapons. I want everything hot and ready for action as soon as we are within range."

"Sir. The Poseidon is slowing down." called out the Ops station.

"Helm. Stay on course. Raise the Poseidon." he ordered the Ops officer.

"No response, Sir."

Tennant had already been given his orders. The Challenger and it's crew needed to be extracted from the equation.

"Stay on course." he said.

A few moments later, Ops spoke up again. "An incoming message from the Poseidon. Audio only."

"Play it."

"Can we clear that up?" the Captain asked.

"No, sir. That's it."

He had heard the word "Intercept" so he took it as his cue to continue.

"Stay on course. Orders stand." he said.

He could feel his XO's eyes burning holes in the back of his head. If it came down to it and she turned out to be a bother, he felt no qualms about having to end her life as well as those on the Challenger.

"Captain. We've got the Challenger on our sensors. We'll be within firing range in seven minutes."

"Fire as soon as you get a lock." ordered Tennant.

Seven minutes later, he heard and felt several torpedoes leave the ship.

As Captain T'Mivur and XO Keranat

[USS Gol]

It appeared the Gol was already steps ahead on the order to intercept the Challenger. They were just about in weapons range when the Ops reported some kind of noise being broadcasted on all frequencies.

"Very well. Tactical, have the full capabilities ready to be utilized once we enter weapons range. It seems an element of surprise is no longer in play, necessitating a more bold opening move" T'Mivur ordered, which was quickly fulfilled by her Bridge Officers.

"Well well, this is shaping up to be quite the hunt! I'd say they are worthy adversaries but I think we both know that it was simply luck that brought them this far!" The jovial XO stated, causing T'Mivur to give him a glance before returning to the task at hand.

"I think we have a lock on their weapons, Captain" Tactical reported, finger hovering over the launch command.

"Fire at will. Operations Management, do try to send a communication to our ships in the area."

"We have weapons fire, Captain.  We've been fired on by the Gol, ma'am!  And a second ship is fast approaching."

"Litt, evasive manouevres pattern Parris beta 4, Tactical find me the best solution for the 7-10 split.  Ops keep an eye on how our 'mines' function.  Commander Waring, Lt. Lek any other ideas I need them and fast, also Will, scan for any other ships, friend or foe in the area, other than the Tal'Bath." Ruth commanded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Meanwhile on the Tal'Bath]

[As Hecate, Ops, Helm]

"Ma'am, the Challenger is under fire from the Gol and the Falcon!" Ops called from his position.

"How quickly can we reach them?" Hecate answered. "I know we're supposed to be going in from the other side but since the decoys only lasted so long.  Get over there a.s.a.p. acquire a firing solution, and only raise our cloak at the very last minute.  I know this means showing our hand to Leyton but a 2 on 2 fight is far more viable."

"Yes Ma'am, about 10 mins at current speed.  We can cut it down to about 7 if we step on the gas!!" the human helmsman said.

"Do it!" Hecate agreed.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck One - Bridge - Ops]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

"Litt, evasive manouevres pattern Parris beta 4, Tactical find me the best solution for the 7-10 split.  Ops keep an eye on how our 'mines' function.  Commander Waring, Lt. Lek any other ideas I need them and fast, also Will, scan for any other ships, friend or foe in the area, other than the Tal'Bath." Ruth commanded.

Lahr's antenna were erect and alertly pointed towards his console as he studied the readouts, even as the Captain gave her orders.  "Yes, Ma'am!" he called back to her not turning his eyes from the screen.

"The Gol's current path is right on course of the first line of 'mines'.  But if we veer off too much in our evading then they may follow, and which could move them out of range of the mines." He explained hoping Litt was listening and taking that into consideration with his evasive maneuvers.   "Detonation of the first line in 15 seconds....10 seconds...."

[William Waring]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

The Captain  listened to the chat between her XO and Chief of Ops and silently agreed.  The crewman wasn't progressing as well as she'd expected, maybe it was time...when they were back at Innominatum, to have a little chat, find out why he didn't seem settled yet, see if they could find a solution.  Without hearing it from the man himself she'd never know.

"Litt, evasive manouevres pattern Parris beta 4, Tactical find me the best solution for the 7-10 split.  Ops keep an eye on how our 'mines' function.  Commander Waring, Lt. Lek any other ideas I need them and fast, also Will, scan for any other ships, friend or foe in the area, other than the Tal'Bath." Ruth commanded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Meanwhile on the Tal'Bath]

[As Hecate, Ops, Helm]

"Ma'am, the Challenger is under fire from the Gol and the Falcon!" Ops called from his position.

"How quickly can we reach them?" Hecate answered. "I know we're supposed to be going in from the other side but since the decoys only lasted so long.  Get over there a.s.a.p. acquire a firing solution, and only raise our cloak at the very last minute.  I know this means showing our hand to Leyton but a 2 on 2 fight is far more viable."

"Yes Ma'am, about 10 mins at current speed.  We can cut it down to about 7 if we step on the gas!!" the human helmsman said.

"Do it!" Hecate agreed.

[Bridge]

"Aye Captain. I'll see what I can make out of our readings." Will said, as the gears in his mind started turning. Two ships closing, one of which was already engaging them. The Challenger would need a way to create some breathing room if it was going to be a fair fight. "Mr. Lek, can we blind them? Not physically of course but couldn't we overload their sensors. We create a 'thing' that overloads their sensors with more information then they are ready to handle. A newer ship would be able to compensate but according to the databanks, the Gol is an older design. We use the Deflector and create an entity that would only exist on sensors. We could compensate because we would know what is coming but for them, it may be like throwing a stun grenade into a closet. It could give us a few shots before they have automatic targeting operational. Thoughts?" he asked, pushing the list of ships in the area to the Captain's console and beginning his work on the parameters necessary to overload the Gol's sensors

[Zavrol Gohun]

As Crewman Gohun diligently watched the guests he decided to make himself useful and scan them to see if they had any hidden weapons.  Not that they were not already checked but doing it again could not hurt. Just as he finished his combade chirped.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]
Crewman Gohun. Report to the Bridge ASAP. 

With that Gohun slapped his combade. "Acknowledged Gohun out." With a little bit of puzzlement Gohun heads towards the bridge. Puzzlement because he sensed that the caller was excited at the prospect of seeing Gohun. With that Gohun drops off the phaser rifle to supply because it was literally on the way and arrived at the bridge three minutes later and with confidence and authority presented himself to the person that hailed him.

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

[Meanwhile on the Tal'Bath]
[Ops, Tactical, Hecate of the Tal'Bath]
With the first 'mines' going off the Gol was rocked off course, minor damage to her shields and hull.  She fired a volley of torpedoes, slightly of course that hit the Challenger's starboard nacelle.

The Falcon was coming up fast but knowing that they were coming up to the point that they would have to de-cloak the Ops Officer turned in his seat to Hecate.

"Ma'am, the Challenger has taken fire, damage to her starboard nacelle." he reported.

"Come to red alert, full volley spread and take out the Falcon first, message the Challenger to tell her that we'll hold them off and keep them busy this side of their 'minefield' then follow them in once we've got rid of this lot.  Tell Captain Sigurdsdottir to make a run for it, we'll hold them here." Hecate ordered.

"Yes Ma'am!" came from both Ops and Tactical as they prepared for battle.

=/TB\= Challenger this is the Tal'Bath, we are aft of you and preparing to fire on the USS Falcon, decloaking imminently.  Captain Hecate says we'll keep them busy here then follow you in, please go ahead to mission objective.=/TB\=

After sending a message, they were ready.

"Decloaking in 3...2...1..." announced the Ops Officer, "Torpedoes away, 3 hit..." replied the Tactical Officer.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

"Looks like you might not need a special ploy just avoid hitting the Tal'Bath.  That's evened things up a little.  Mr. ch'Verret kindly keep open the channel to the Tal'Bath, Mr. Briggs liaise with their Tactical to ..." Ruth began as the junior security crewman arrived on the Bridge.  She'd have to have a chat with him sometime soon, about his future and how he felt on the Challenger, but not in the middle of a red alert.

As Crewman Gohun diligently watched the guests he decided to make himself useful and scan them to see if they had any hidden weapons.  Not that they were not already checked but doing it again could not hurt. Just as he finished his combade chirped. With that Gohun slapped his combade. "Acknowledged Gohun out." With a little bit of puzzlement Gohun heads towards the bridge. Puzzlement because he sensed that the caller was excited at the prospect of seeing Gohun. With that Gohun drops off the phaser rifle to supply because it was literally on the way and arrived at the bridge three minutes later and with confidence and authority presented himself to the person that hailed him.

"Oh hello Mr. Gohun.  Kindly work with Mr. Briggs for now, keep your eyes and ears on the battle." she greeted Zavrol with.

"...let them know what we've been doing." she finished her sentence to Kyle.  "Let's get this wrapped up then Mr. Litt, we want full steam ahead to that asteroid. Warp 8, we're going in.  Be ready with those magnetic torpedoes."

Bridge to Medical.  Stand by, we will be arriving at the asteroid, assuming our magnetic torpedoes work, in around 10 minutes. Mr. Waring... she turned and gave Will a look, it was all she needed, he was asute enough to pick up on the 'And you'd best be ready to move on the nail...otherwise, axes might be involved!'  will be in the transporter room with the team ready to go down, Captain out. 

"Mr. Briggs I'll leave it to you to decide what weaponry you deem best for the operation, remember there are a lot of cadets lives at stake here, and senior officers. Oh and I stand by what I said, any fatalities, even those obviously on Leyton's side, you bring them back.  Their families deserve to have them for a proper send off." the Captain said.

[Lek]

[Bridge]

"Aye Captain. I'll see what I can make out of our readings." Will said, as the gears in his mind started turning. Two ships closing, one of which was already engaging them. The Challenger would need a way to create some breathing room if it was going to be a fair fight. "Mr. Lek, can we blind them? Not physically of course but couldn't we overload their sensors. We create a 'thing' that overloads their sensors with more information then they are ready to handle. A newer ship would be able to compensate but according to the databanks, the Gol is an older design. We use the Deflector and create an entity that would only exist on sensors. We could compensate because we would know what is coming but for them, it may be like throwing a stun grenade into a closet. It could give us a few shots before they have automatic targeting operational. Thoughts?" he asked, pushing the list of ships in the area to the Captain's console and beginning his work on the parameters necessary to overload the Gol's sensors

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Lek thought feverishly to come up with something, and he did, he knew it wasn't his best as it was an on the fly sort of thing, but it would have to do.

"We can have the probes all go to maximum output, it will destroy them, but with us at minimum power, they will stand out like torches and they won't know who to target. The probes will only last about 20 seconds before they burn out, but by that time, we can have the aft photon launcher programmed to burst fire a half dozen quantums. That much energy will scramble everything within 200,000 kilometers. The bad news is that will include us and Tal'Bath."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - Deck One - Bridge]

[Bridge]

"Aye Captain. I'll see what I can make out of our readings." Will said, as the gears in his mind started turning. Two ships closing, one of which was already engaging them. The Challenger would need a way to create some breathing room if it was going to be a fair fight. "Mr. Lek, can we blind them? Not physically of course but couldn't we overload their sensors. We create a 'thing' that overloads their sensors with more information then they are ready to handle. A newer ship would be able to compensate but according to the databanks, the Gol is an older design. We use the Deflector and create an entity that would only exist on sensors. We could compensate because we would know what is coming but for them, it may be like throwing a stun grenade into a closet. It could give us a few shots before they have automatic targeting operational. Thoughts?" he asked, pushing the list of ships in the area to the Captain's console and beginning his work on the parameters necessary to overload the Gol's sensors

Commander Warring's question to Lek, had Lahr pondering as well as he counted down the seconds to the Gol's moving in range of the torpedo mines.  Lahr looked over his sensor screen to see the results.  It was definitely less than what he'd been hoping for.

[Meanwhile on the Tal'Bath]
With the first 'mines' going off the Gol was rocked off course, minor damage to her shields and hull.  She fired a volley of torpedoes, slightly of course that hit the Challenger's starboard nacelle.
.
.
.
=/TB\= Challenger this is the Tal'Bath, we are aft of you and preparing to fire on the USS Falcon, decloaking imminently.  Captain Hecate says we'll keep them busy here then follow you in, please go ahead to mission objective.=/TB\=

After sending a message, they were ready.

"Decloaking in 3...2...1..." announced the Ops Officer, "Torpedoes away, 3 hit..." replied the Tactical Officer.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

"Looks like you might not need a special ploy just avoid hitting the Tal'Bath.  That's evened things up a little.  Mr. ch'Verret kindly keep open the channel to the Tal'Bath, Mr. Briggs liaise with their Tactical to ..." Ruth began as the junior security crewman arrived on the Bridge.  She'd have to have a chat with him sometime soon, about his future and how he felt on the Challenger, but not in the middle of a red alert.

"Oh hello Mr. Gohun.  Kindly work with Mr. Briggs for now, keep your eyes and ears on the battle." she greeted Zavrol with.

"...let them know what we've been doing." she finished her sentence to Kyle.  "Let's get this wrapped up then Mr. Litt, we want full steam ahead to that asteroid. Warp 8, we're going in.  Be ready with those magnetic torpedoes."

Bridge to Medical.  Stand by, we will be arriving at the asteroid, assuming our magnetic torpedoes work, in around 10 minutes. Mr. Waring... she turned and gave Will a look, it was all she needed, he was astute enough to pick up on the 'And you'd best be ready to move on the nail...otherwise, axes might be involved!'  will be in the transporter room with the team ready to go down, Captain out. 

"Mr. Briggs I'll leave it to you to decide what weaponry you deem best for the operation, remember there are a lot of cadets lives at stake here, and senior officers. Oh and I stand by what I said, any fatalities, even those obviously on Leyton's side, you bring them back.  Their families deserve to have them for a proper send off." the Captain said.

Lahr reported out their first line of mines results.  "Minor damage to the Gol's shields and hull."  The mines hadn't gotten close enough to make much of an impact.  And unfortunately now that the Gol and Falcon knew that there were mines out there they'd be more cautious in their movements.

The Andorian was considering how else to put distance between them and the Leyton ships, when an incoming call came from the Tal'Bath.

Lahr looked to sensor data just after the Romulan announced they would intervene.  Sure enough there was the Tal'Bath uncloaking.  "The Tal'Beth is uncloaked and engaging enemy ships ma'am"

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Lek thought feverishly to come up with something, and he did, he knew it wasn't his best as it was an on the fly sort of thing, but it would have to do.

"We can have the probes all go to maximum output, it will destroy them, but with us at minimum power, they will stand out like torches and they won't know who to target. The probes will only last about 20 seconds before they burn out, but by that time, we can have the aft photon launcher programmed to burst fire a half dozen quantums. That much energy will scramble everything within 200,000 kilometers. The bad news is that will include us and Tal'Bath."

Hearing Lek's statement, Lahr couldn't withhold his blurt out. "Blinding them does us no good if we and our ally end up just as blinded...  unless we have some means prepared for us to ... read Braille."

Lahr looked to Lek hoping that what he was suggesting was possible.  "Have our back up systems and those of our allies powered down just before and ready for a manual start up the moment after the explosion."

[Olivia Briggs]

[Bridge - USS Challenger

Bridge to Medical.  Stand by, we will be arriving at the asteroid, assuming our magnetic torpedoes work, in around 10 minutes. Mr. Waring... she turned and gave Will a look, it was all she needed, he was asute enough to pick up on the 'And you'd best be ready to move on the nail...otherwise, axes might be involved!'  will be in the transporter room with the team ready to go down, Captain out. 

[Cargo Bay - Challenger]

Aside from going through the inventory and staying in close proximity of those using their telepathic abilities, there was little for Liv to do other than wait and observe. It was something that couldn't be avoided given their circumstances. However at least the medical team were in the right spot, especially if any of the crew or those from the Tal'Bath experienced any issues due to what they were attempting until they arrived at the asteroid.

Still from what she could tell there had been some success when Meltem contacted the Captain, which was reassuring. But then came the red alert, followed by the Captain's call. Listening as she informed them to standby as well as what was about to happen and Liv knew that it wouldn't be long before the cargo bay began to fill up.

" Okay everyone, you heard the Captain, remember your tasks as things are about to get hectic and we need to be focused".

With that Liv double tapped her badge to acknowledge the call, then moved back to the triage station, ready to deal with any incoming injuries.