The Big Snake of the Night Sky

[Gideon Drake]

[OCC - NPC Alpha Adrai]

Alpha could be seen in the viewscreen.  He looked confused by the half Vulcan's request.  The Hunter had apparently not expected an invitation to 'come to dinner.'

A female Tosk stood off to one side.  She appeared to be with child.  She kept her eyes pointed down.  Four other Hunter's were seen worked at various stations.

"I am Lead Hunter Alpha Adrai.  I am not opposed to sitting down with you.  We have more ships on the way, bigger ships, and we are serious about your need to move your station.  If our conversation does not result in our desired outcome the consequences will be grave" he said.

Kirok offered the man a small bow.  "We will open a window in our shields.  Then I will meet you at the docking ring.  We were just preparing to launch our ship, so please give us a few minutes so that we can coordinate both events at once.  Agreed?" he repled.

"That will work for us" Alpha replied.  Then the view screen went blank.  Kiork then turned to Kyle.

"We had talked about testing the capabilities of the Seleya.  Now seems like an opportune time to stretchy her wings.  As a bonus, our new friends can get a closer look at the most tactically able ship in the fleet" Kiork suggested.

[Katra - OCC]

Kirok offered Kyle a nod.  He knew the man had been itching to take a ship out for a spin.  Him and several others, no doubt.

After some of the staff departed, he looked to see who remained.  Then considered what needed to be done before the guests arrived.  What their needs may be.

"Mr. McKenzie.  Can you tell us how many people I should expect to see when the lead ship arrives?  Mr. Ferris, I'll need an escort to the docking ring.  Will you come along or will it be Mr. Drake?" he asked.

Finally he tapped his badge.  -//-OCC to Diplomatic Officer Zex.  You are needed on the bridge-\\- he said.

[Ensign Gideon "Gryphon/Griff" Drake | Operational Control Center | Deck One | Katra Station]

Griff looked on in interest. Hostile as they are, these people looked like they were reasonable to have a word with.

He perked up with interest that Captain Kirok would potentially want him. It was, after all, logical; if Commander Briggs was heading for the Seleya, and the Captain needed to negotiate, the most logical person to remain in command was Lieutenant Ferris, and that's assuming Lieutenant Conely was manning the Seleya. Griff felt better behind a cockpit rather than a helm of a bigger ship, anyway.

[Hrafn Falleg]

[Katra - OCC]

Kyle listened with fond memories of his own young days when Ensign King came in. She was definitely a smart one. He'd have to keep an eye on her. He turned his attention to the viewscreen when their visitors appeared and agreed to the Captain's proposal. Once the connection was closed, Kirok asked Kyle about the moment he had been waiting for.

"I'd be more than happy to take her out, Sir." he said.

He had wanted to take the new ship out ever since its arrival. Now he was getting the chance. He sent out message for the crew that would be joining him.

Flight - Lt Ser Conley
Sec/Tac - Ensign Jimrec
Eng - Ensign Riss
Science - Lt Falleg
Med - Doctor Xiiv
Ops - Crewman Kimball

"I'll take care of her." he added as he headed for the lift once more. He made his way to the docking ring and boarded the Seleya. He looked around as he made his way to the Bridge. When the lift dropped him at the Bridge, the first thing he noticed was the single seat in the center.

"As you were." he said as he stepped out when he an officer near the lift snap to attention as if he were about to announce Kyle.

"Mister Conley. As soon as all departments report ready, take us out." he said as he sat down.

[OCC > Seleya]

Hrafn winked at Kyle.  "You could have just said but suppose this is what officialdom does to you!" she said with a grin. "I'll be there in 2, I'm just going to ping my Nanny with my pre-prepped message, it's something we used for when I went out on the Healy."

To: Crista LePrant
From: Hrafn Falleg-Tekin
RE: It's Battle Stations!

Nothing currently to worry about, we're going out on the Seleya to meet our 'visitors', it's a test run for the new ship too, so to speak and we should be fine... You know the drill.  P.S. Tell Tidu I'll take notes so he can drool over them when I'm back!

~ Hrafn

<>

Hrafn's fingers flew over her PADD finding the file, editing the name from 'Healy' to 'Seleya' to reflect the new ship and sent.  She knew that she could trust Crista to look after the kids, especially after more recent events.

[USS Seleya - Bridge]

Hrafn sat and tried to familiarise herself with the new Bridge, the console controls were pretty much the same but she logged in and configured the interface to how she preferred to work.  She noted the readiness and got her normal array of scans - again pre-programmed for the area as a programme she just had to run from her files, then turned.

"Science is at 100%, Sir! All systems green, passive scans running.  There's a list of which accessible on your arm console, and you can view them in real time.  Just press the button 'Science-y Stuffs'!" she said with a wide smile!

[Rinaya Riss]

[Katra Station | Engineering]

"And this concern stems entirely from the description of a rock?"

Serena chuckled at the inside joke and waved her hand, before reassuming her professional air. "What you're proposing will work, quite well. The problem is, a passive field... It's conversion efficiency." She paused to tap a few equations into the console. "To get the strength and density, we'd have sharply diminishing returns. You can drop a stone into the pond, but the ripple-wave it forms is going to spread out so far it'll just stop. It's very much a workable concept, though as you mentioned, they're going to brute force us and we're going to have to brute force back."

She looked thoughtful. "It's a neat trick though, I didn't think the way you did. I'd say start with your concept first. If they get past that, we can always throw a graviton beam at them. We technically don't need to stop them cold, only disrupt any Transporter's Annular Confinement Beam enough. Hmm. We've got to get together to challenge ourselves when it's not a crisis."

[Katra, main engineering]

"œHm"¦I see your point." Rinaya tilted her head at the numbers rapidly populating the display as Serena took over using the console. "œWe'll have to find a happy-medium between the density of  a stabilized tetryon field, the shield frequency we'd need to maintain integrity, and not cooking ourselves with tetryon radiation"¦"

Deep in thought and calculations, the Caitian jumped when her combadge chirped, alerting her to her new assignment. The Seleya! Rinaya had only heard of the feisty ship, but not actually been anywhere near it yet. She was itching to get her claws into that ship's systems"¦

Another thought flitted into her mind and she pulled up a brief summary of the ship's systems. "œHm, I might be able to modify the deflector array on the Seleya if need be, too, if it comes down to it. Looks like I'll be there anyway. Good luck here, and," a small chuckle escaped the Caitian at the thought of a challenging game, "œagreed, a friendly challenge sometime would be great fun."

Hesitating for only a moment, she hastily tapped in a few more numbers into the console that Serena may find of some use and checked to make sure she had finished with what she could before needing to leave. Satisfied, she turned neatly on her heel to head down the corridor, tail snaking behind her as she disappeared quickly around the corner.

[Seleya, engineering]

The ship hummed. A low, confident, powerful sound, the systems noises alone told her exactly what she was dealing with. Most would be drooling over the weapons systems, but not Rinaya. No"¦the weapons were nice, but she was more enthralled with the power and efficiency of the ship to back those weapons up. She ran her hand affectionately along the main console of her department, purring in excited anticipation.

With a satisfied sniff, she tapped her combadge.  "œEngineering to bridge. We're ready down here."

[Kirok]

[Katra - OCC - Zex & EQ]

EQ logged out of his station.  He offered the officers a nod.  Then followed Kal to the new ship.

"I've been waiting for this to happen.  The shake down cruise, not the potential attack by Hunters.  Just to be clear" he said with a smirk when they were in the lift together.

Zex arrived just after they departed.  "I'm here Captain.  How can I be of assistance?" she asked.  Then she tried to contact Eydis over the lattis.  'Are you there?" she asked.

[Kirok]

Kiork turned slightly toward the Diplomatic Officer.  "We have guests arriving.   We need a spread of food laid out for them in the conference room" he said.

Then he turned to Mr. Drake.  "Can you work toward getting coordinates for the best exit point for the ship and the best entrance point for the Hunters?  It should be the same point in our shields" he asked.

[Gideon Drake]

[Katra - OCC - Zex & EQ]

EQ logged out of his station.  He offered the officers a nod.  Then followed Kal to the new ship.

"I've been waiting for this to happen.  The shake down cruise, not the potential attack by Hunters.  Just to be clear" he said with a smirk when they were in the lift together.

Zex arrived just after they departed.  "I'm here Captain.  How can I be of assistance?" she asked.  Then she tried to contact Eydis over the lattis.  'Are you there?" she asked.

[Kirok]

Kiork turned slightly toward the Diplomatic Officer.  "We have guests arriving.   We need a spread of food laid out for them in the conference room" he said.

Then he turned to Mr. Drake.  "Can you work toward getting coordinates for the best exit point for the ship and the best entrance point for the Hunters?  It should be the same point in our shields" he asked.

[Ensign Gideon "Gryphon/Griff" Drake | Operational Control Center | Deck One | Katra Station]

"Yes, sir," replied Griff, and he set to work. He remembered having this subject covered at the Academy; everybody in flight school, even the Academy, had to know about docking procedures, regardless of size of the ship, although the bigger the ship, the more you had to learn about it, and the more care you had to take. Hell, he knew plenty of workers in the family company who worked in docking procedures, making sure the ship docked properly.

After a moment, he picked a likely spot, close to the docking saucer, and said, "Okay, Captain, I found a spot. The coordinates are in front of the docking saucer doors, they should at least fit inside."

[Kirok]

[Katra - OCC]

Kirok then turned to Kyan.  "Is there any information you can share about the Hunters?  Or the Tosk?" he asked.

Then he tapped his com badge.  -//Ms. King and Ms. Sirol.  Please report to the OCC-\\- Kirok requested.

[Amarande Xiiv]

[Katra - OCC]

Kyle listened with fond memories of his own young days when Ensign King came in. She was definitely a smart one. He'd have to keep an eye on her. He turned his attention to the viewscreen when their visitors appeared and agreed to the Captain's proposal. Once the connection was closed, Kirok asked Kyle about the moment he had been waiting for.

"I'd be more than happy to take her out, Sir." he said.

He had wanted to take the new ship out ever since its arrival. Now he was getting the chance. He sent out message for the crew that would be joining him.

Flight - Lt Ser Conley
Sec/Tac - Ensign Jimrec
Eng - Ensign Riss
Science - Lt Falleg
Med - Doctor Xiiv
Ops - Crewman Kimball

"I'll take care of her." he added as he headed for the lift once more. He made his way to the docking ring and boarded the Seleya. He looked around as he made his way to the Bridge. When the lift dropped him at the Bridge, the first thing he noticed was the single seat in the center.

"As you were." he said as he stepped out when he an officer near the lift snap to attention as if he were about to announce Kyle.

"Mister Conley. As soon as all departments report ready, take us out." he said as he sat down.

[Medbay - Seleya]

"Amarande Xiiv and Medbay, reporting in. Ready here and looking good," she said, reporting from the Seleya's shipboard communications as she glanced out the window at Katra Station. She'd been aboard ships before, this wasn't new, but it was exciting to see the new ship off as part of the crew. There was a sense of newness to it she found herself enjoying.

That and her cup of raktajino.

[Sirol]

< Katra Station / Simulation Lab >

Mostly unaffected by and oblivious to the recent events outside, the scientist had made herself an almost even cosy, sheltered spot.
The lab had been quiet and dark for the most part of the day, and no one seemed to really need her service. It was understimulating, but at least it had let her some time to continue and narrow down her search for suitable candidates.
Sitting in her dark little corner, leaned over the hexagonal workstation,  Sirol listened to the narrators of a podcast discussing the political model of technocracy, as well as cultures that served as examples"¦
Only ever when the sound of her communicator interrupted the flow, Sirol instantly straightened up and tapped her comm badge.

Then he tapped his com badge.  -//Ms. King and Ms. Sirol.  Please report to the OCC-\\- Kirok requested.

Sirol quietly raised an eyebrow, then got up from her chair and responded while she was walking out of the lab.
"œUnderstood, Captain. I am on my way." She neutrally answered, although the way he addressed her did not sit well with the scientist.
As usual, she did not say anything, yet she felt a wave of"¦ Almost eve disgust...
Ensign. She was an Ensign! It was a low rank, yes,  but it was hers and she rightfully earned it"¦
While on the other hand her marital status or physiological attributes were of no concern in official matters.
She really did not understand the Federation's obsession with those things, but people calling one another Ms. or Mrs. in public was simply repulsive to the Romulan...

As she stepped into the lift she almost bumped into another officer, yet both could quickly enough evade to avoid"¦
As the doors closed, Sirol eventually straightened her uniform and checked her hair.
Her appearance was still orderly and representative of a proper Galae officer. Good.
Her being called to the OCC, in the middle of Alpha shift and despite Hrafn having bridge duty though"¦ That left a lot of wiggle room for speculations as to what was about to go either right or wrong"¦

< Katra Station / OCC >

As the doors opened and she set foot into the OCC, she quickly had a look around and nodded at the currently present personnel, then focused Captain Kirok.
"œHow can I be of assistance, Captain?" She asked; quickly getting to the point and hoping that the answer had nothing to do with impending doom...

[Ser Conley]

[Katra - OCC]

Kyle listened with fond memories of his own young days when Ensign King came in. She was definitely a smart one. He'd have to keep an eye on her. He turned his attention to the viewscreen when their visitors appeared and agreed to the Captain's proposal. Once the connection was closed, Kirok asked Kyle about the moment he had been waiting for.

"I'd be more than happy to take her out, Sir." he said.

He had wanted to take the new ship out ever since its arrival. Now he was getting the chance. He sent out message for the crew that would be joining him.

Flight - Lt Ser Conley
Sec/Tac - Ensign Jimrec
Eng - Ensign Riss
Science - Lt Falleg
Med - Doctor Xiiv
Ops - Crewman Kimball

"I'll take care of her." he added as he headed for the lift once more. He made his way to the docking ring and boarded the Seleya. He looked around as he made his way to the Bridge. When the lift dropped him at the Bridge, the first thing he noticed was the single seat in the center.

"As you were." he said as he stepped out when he an officer near the lift snap to attention as if he were about to announce Kyle.

"Mister Conley. As soon as all departments report ready, take us out." he said as he sat down.

.

"œAye Commander."  Ser said, smile on full display.    This new ship was amazing.   It even had that new ship smell.  And the helm was a work of art.  One of the better displays he'd seen on a ship.  His fingers brushed over the helm surface in soft circles.

"œHello ship"  Ser said, softly to himself. 

[Kyan Mackenzie]

[Katra - OCC]

Kirok then turned to Kyan.  "Is there any information you can share about the Hunters?  Or the Tosk?" he asked.

Then he tapped his com badge.  -//Ms. King and Ms. Sirol.  Please report to the OCC-\\- Kirok requested.

Kyan nodded. "The Hunters are allies of the Dominion... sort of. The people who make the Jem'Hadar also make the Tosk... with genetic engineering so that the Hunters can be hunting them." Kyan offered. "And they have plasma bolt crossbow things." he added absently, yawned and then trailed off. "I'm going to get one..

It was at that point that a crewman in a red shirt put a steaming mug of something in front of him. "Here." he said knowingly. "I think this might do you some good."

Kyan peered down into the mug at the brown, steaming liquid inside. He smelled it. It had a sort of chocolate aroma, but with something else too. And there was a cream colored foam on top. "What is it?" he asked, looking up at the human grup still standing near his station.

"Cappucino with three shots of espresso. It could wake the dead sir." he smiled. "My mother lives off it."

He didn't know what cappacino was, or espresso for that matter. But if it would help him wake up, because he knew there was no sleep to be had, then he'd give it a try. Kyan shrugged and lifted the mug to his lips and took a big sip.

[Serena King]

[Katra, main engineering]

"œHm"¦I see your point." Rinaya tilted her head at the numbers rapidly populating the display as Serena took over using the console. "œWe'll have to find a happy-medium between the density of  a stabilized tetryon field, the shield frequency we'd need to maintain integrity, and not cooking ourselves with tetryon radiation"¦"

Deep in thought and calculations, the Caitian jumped when her combadge chirped, alerting her to her new assignment. The Seleya! Rinaya had only heard of the feisty ship, but not actually been anywhere near it yet. She was itching to get her claws into that ship's systems"¦

Another thought flitted into her mind and she pulled up a brief summary of the ship's systems. "œHm, I might be able to modify the deflector array on the Seleya if need be, too, if it comes down to it. Looks like I'll be there anyway. Good luck here, and," a small chuckle escaped the Caitian at the thought of a challenging game, "œagreed, a friendly challenge sometime would be great fun."

Hesitating for only a moment, she hastily tapped in a few more numbers into the console that Serena may find of some use and checked to make sure she had finished with what she could before needing to leave. Satisfied, she turned neatly on her heel to head down the corridor, tail snaking behind her as she disappeared quickly around the corner.

[Seleya, engineering]

The ship hummed. A low, confident, powerful sound, the systems noises alone told her exactly what she was dealing with. Most would be drooling over the weapons systems, but not Rinaya. No"¦the weapons were nice, but she was more enthralled with the power and efficiency of the ship to back those weapons up. She ran her hand affectionately along the main console of her department, purring in excited anticipation.

With a satisfied sniff, she tapped her combadge.  "œEngineering to bridge. We're ready down here."

[Katra - OCC]

Kirok then turned to Kyan.  "Is there any information you can share about the Hunters?  Or the Tosk?" he asked.

Then he tapped his com badge.  -//Ms. King and Ms. Sirol.  Please report to the OCC-\\- Kirok requested.

[Katra Station | Engineering]

Serena nodded abstractly, but only because she was deep in thought and didn't notice until after Rinaya took off. Shaking her head with a smile, she saved the work, writing up a quick report to the XO (both their superior as Chief Engineer), giving equal credit for the work so far. Having been summoned to OCC herself, she headed out.

[Katra Station | OCC]

In her crisp, gold utility uniforms, she reentered OCC, pausing briefly at the Flight Control Station to kiss Gideon on the cheek, before heading over to the Captain. "Reporting in, sir."

[Eli Ferris]

[Ensign Gideon "Gryphon/Griff" Drake | Operational Control Center | Deck One | Katra Station]

"Yes, sir," replied Griff, and he set to work. He remembered having this subject covered at the Academy; everybody in flight school, even the Academy, had to know about docking procedures, regardless of size of the ship, although the bigger the ship, the more you had to learn about it, and the more care you had to take. Hell, he knew plenty of workers in the family company who worked in docking procedures, making sure the ship docked properly.

After a moment, he picked a likely spot, close to the docking saucer, and said, "Okay, Captain, I found a spot. The coordinates are in front of the docking saucer doors, they should at least fit inside."

Lt. Eli Ferris|Katra Station|OCC

Eli stood to one side, content with the current handling of the situation. The captain had not ordered any launching of small craft but Eli was busy as his station identifying possible countermeasures. Not that they had much to go on, given their visitors demands. Kirok had called it "illogical." Eli had stronger words for it but kept it to himself. Instead he issued orders to the flight deck to prepare for reception of their visitors. He also kept an eye on Drake's analysis and the locale of the ship's egress. His mind was already considering the interdiction necessities at the possibilities of more ships arriving.

[Kirok]

[Ensign Gideon "Gryphon/Griff" Drake | Operational Control Center | Deck One | Katra Station]

"Yes, sir," replied Griff, and he set to work. He remembered having this subject covered at the Academy; everybody in flight school, even the Academy, had to know about docking procedures, regardless of size of the ship, although the bigger the ship, the more you had to learn about it, and the more care you had to take. Hell, he knew plenty of workers in the family company who worked in docking procedures, making sure the ship docked properly.

After a moment, he picked a likely spot, close to the docking saucer, and said, "Okay, Captain, I found a spot. The coordinates are in front of the docking saucer doors, they should at least fit inside."

[Operational Control Center | Deck One | Katra Station]

"Perfect.  Please relay the coordinates to the Seleya.  Ask them to let us know when they need to need us to drop the shields in that area.  After they have passed threw, please inform our visitors of the coordinates" the half Vulcan said.

"Eli.  You will and Zex will join me when we meet our visitors.  Before that, I would like to have the docking area when they arrive to be cleared.  Can you please handle that before they arrive?" he asked the Chief FCO.

He turned to Kyan.  "That was helpful.  We will need to check their weapons when they arrive.  I will need you here to coordinate the drop in shields with the passage of the ships.  I do not want more than the one enemy ship to enter threw that window" the Capatin added as Sirol and King arrived.

He turned and offered them a slight bow.  "Sirol, I need you at the science station please.  I need to know the number of life signs of the lead ship.   I counted six total when they were on the view screen, but there may be a few more.  It was a small ship, so I would think no more than 12" Kirok explained.

"Ms. King.  Earlier, you mentioned that you might be able to counter act their ability to transport threw our shields.  Have you made any progress that regard?" he asked curiously.

[Don Damien Addams]

.

"œAye Commander."  Ser said, smile on full display.    This new ship was amazing.   It even had that new ship smell.  And the helm was a work of art.  One of the better displays he'd seen on a ship.  His fingers brushed over the helm surface in soft circles.

"œHello ship"  Ser said, softly to himself.

[USS Seleya]

Kal had to do it. It was rare for him to do it but someone had done it to him when he was in the Academy. It was a joke and now he understands the humor. Took him all this time to get the joke.

In female robotic sexy voice as he said to Ser, "Why hello?" he was trying to sounds like robot. He quick turned his head at the console behind him as he was checking a status in the system. It was a cover up.

He turned to look at Qball to see what he thought of his joke.

And yes the ship had that fresh smell of newness. It was nice. All new and they see what she can do against the Hunters.

[Serena King]

[Operational Control Center | Deck One | Katra Station]

"Ms. King.  Earlier, you mentioned that you might be able to counter act their ability to transport threw our shields.  Have you made any progress that regard?" he asked curiously.

[Katra Station | OCC]

Serena didn't hesitate: "Captain, Ensign Riss came up with a good idea to modify the shields. In summary, tetryons to negate their anti-graviton field. The problem is field strength. The further away, the weaker the field, the more tetryons we must put out, and that doesn't include potential radiation poisoning. Hers will probably work better, at least to send the message that we can do something. My original idea is deer in the headlights by simply blinding them with a spotlight, in that sense."

She paused to log onto the Engineering station. "At the moment, we have work crews making the modifications so we don't fry ourselves or any other systems. In this context, we should be able to try both by the time your conference completes. Of course, any plan doesn't survive first contact with the enemy... We might have to do a lot of adjustments as both sides react."