S2 E5 Remnants of War

[Rayek trLhoell]

[Shuttle Scobee]

Relegated to taking a passenger seat behind Commander Vaughan, Rayek brought forth his PADD and by entering the proper system authorization got access to the ships sensor readings.  These were the same readings visible to Ensign Bradley and Commander Vaughan as pilot and co-pilot, but whereas they interpreted the readings in a navigational manner, Rayek did so looking for tactical advantage.

Shuttle Scobee

Lizzie. sitting next to the pilot gave a nod.

"Lay in the course and engage. We want to do this as quickly and quietly as possible." She ordered.

She then turned to the rest of the team.

"No active scans, passive ones only. We get in, get Captain Torngate and get out."

Rayek frowned at the lack of detail in the Commanders plan, but acknowledged her order to him and Ensign Abisa with a nod and "Yes, ma'am."  He double checked to be sure that the readings he was receiving were only from passive sensors - nothing active.  He didn't like going in half-blind like that but he understood her reasoning.  The sensors would also be rather useless once they got near to the coordinates anyways.

He waited until her communication with the Challenger had ended before speaking again.

"Commander, given the preciseness of Torngate's meeting coordinates and the lack of any astronomical body at that location on Federation record, I took the liberty of running the coordinates through a copy of a Romulan starchart program I have in my private possession.  Initially, my results were the same with nothing showing at those coordinates."

"However, my copy is 5 years out of date... and I noticed on a second check of the location that it is possible that it is in the path of a rogue K-class planet that drifts through this section of space."

[Lizzie Vaughan]

[Shuttle Scobee]

Relegated to taking a passenger seat behind Commander Vaughan, Rayek brought forth his PADD and by entering the proper system authorization got access to the ships sensor readings.  These were the same readings visible to Ensign Bradley and Commander Vaughan as pilot and co-pilot, but whereas they interpreted the readings in a navigational manner, Rayek did so looking for tactical advantage.

Rayek frowned at the lack of detail in the Commanders plan, but acknowledged her order to him and Ensign Abisa with a nod and "Yes, ma'am."  He double checked to be sure that the readings he was receiving were only from passive sensors - nothing active.  He didn't like going in half-blind like that but he understood her reasoning.  The sensors would also be rather useless once they got near to the coordinates anyways.

He waited until her communication with the Challenger had ended before speaking again.

"Commander, given the preciseness of Torngate's meeting coordinates and the lack of any astronomical body at that location on Federation record, I took the liberty of running the coordinates through a copy of a Romulan starchart program I have in my private possession.  Initially, my results were the same with nothing showing at those coordinates."

"However, my copy is 5 years out of date... and I noticed on a second check of the location that it is possible that it is in the path of a rogue K-class planet that drifts through this section of space."

Shuttle Scobee

Lizzie looked at Rayek and raised her left eyebrow.

"A Rogue planet!" She  replied. "Well that would make sense. Especially if it is uncharted. Ideally we'll beam him up if he's on the surface as we don't want to land unless there is no other option."

She paused for a moment as she remembered something.

"Captain Torngate had something of a colourful history before joining the fleet." She continued.  "If he has given us the co-ordinates of a rogue planet, it s highly probable that he knows the area well. In all probability, far better than any of us. Let us hope there are no more surprises." She finished, sitting back and going over the various scenarios in her head, with the added complication of a surface rescue.

[Rayek trLhoell]

SCPO Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Shuttle Scobee]

Shuttle Scobee

Lizzie looked at Rayek and raised her left eyebrow.

"A Rogue planet!" She  replied. "Well that would make sense. Especially if it is uncharted. Ideally we'll beam him up if he's on the surface as we don't want to land unless there is no other option."

She paused for a moment as she remembered something.

"Captain Torngate had something of a colourful history before joining the fleet." She continued.  "If he has given us the co-ordinates of a rogue planet, it s highly probable that he knows the area well. In all probability, far better than any of us. Let us hope there are no more surprises." She finished, sitting back and going over the various scenarios in her head, with the added complication of a surface rescue.

Rayek quirked an eyebrow of his own at Liz's comment about Captain Torngate.  Colourful history?  Rayek could believe that - what little Rayek had managed to find on the man in his initial search of the Captain nearly a year ago had many vagaries in its reports compared to what he knew of the man from first hand experience.  He refrained from asking for details - surely she would share more if the details of such would be pertinent.

Liz's reasoning regarding the Captain familiarity with the location was sound, and if the Captain had a greater familiar with the terrain then it gave Torngate an advantage over them.  The likelihood of this being a trap or ambush increased dramatically in the Romulan's suspicious mind.

When she suggested they 'hope' for no more surprises, Rayek gave a slight wry laugh.  "That would be quite optimistic."

[Shuttle Scobee - 3 hrs later - on approach to rogue planet]
Rayek alternated between watching the rogue planet grow larger out the shuttles window, and looking over the skant information the ships passive sensors were able to pick up as they displayed on his Padd.

"Without proper scans, the most I can tell is that her atmosphere is not breathable consisting of over 90% carbon dioxide, 5% nitrogen and only minute traces of oxygen and other inert gases.  Also there is a lot of ionic radiation.. even with an active scan of the surface, I doubt we would be able to detect a solitary life-sign. Transporting someone up from the surface without a communicator lock will not be possible.  We will either have to take the shuttle down or transport down with an additional communicator and maybe a set of pattern enhancers."

As he suggested these options, Rayek noted a small satellite moon that orbited the rogue planet.  Would his paranoia be too obvious if he requested a quick fly around the planet and moon to scout for other ships before committing to either course of action?  Likely, but then his precautions were often what kept him alive.

"I recommend before we do either, that we scout around the backside of the planet and moon."

[Lizzie Vaughan]

SCPO Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Shuttle Scobee]

Rayek quirked an eyebrow of his own at Liz's comment about Captain Torngate.  Colourful history?  Rayek could believe that - what little Rayek had managed to find on the man in his initial search of the Captain nearly a year ago had many vagaries in its reports compared to what he knew of the man from first hand experience.  He refrained from asking for details - surely she would share more if the details of such would be pertinent.

Liz's reasoning regarding the Captain familiarity with the location was sound, and if the Captain had a greater familiar with the terrain then it gave Torngate an advantage over them.  The likelihood of this being a trap or ambush increased dramatically in the Romulan's suspicious mind.

When she suggested they 'hope' for no more surprises, Rayek gave a slight wry laugh.  "That would be quite optimistic."

[Shuttle Scobee - 3 hrs later - on approach to rogue planet]
Rayek alternated between watching the rogue planet grow larger out the shuttles window, and looking over the skant information the ships passive sensors were able to pick up as they displayed on his Padd.

"Without proper scans, the most I can tell is that her atmosphere is not breathable consisting of over 90% carbon dioxide, 5% nitrogen and only minute traces of oxygen and other inert gases.  Also there is a lot of ionic radiation.. even with an active scan of the surface, I doubt we would be able to detect a solitary life-sign. Transporting someone up from the surface without a communicator lock will not be possible.  We will either have to take the shuttle down or transport down with an additional communicator and maybe a set of pattern enhancers."

As he suggested these options, Rayek noted a small satellite moon that orbited the rogue planet.  Would his paranoia be too obvious if he requested a quick fly around the planet and moon to scout for other ships before committing to either course of action?  Likely, but then his precautions were often what kept him alive.

"I recommend before we do either, that we scout around the backside of the planet and moon."

Shuttle Scobee

Lizzie had been quiet for most of the trip, lost in her own thoughts about the problems they would be facing. When they dropped out of Warp, she listened to Rayek's report and gave a nod.

"Good thinking Chief." She replied before turning to Bradley who was seated at the helm. "I want you to make several orbits of the planet and of the moon. We need to make sure there are no surprises before we attempt to find Captain Torngate." She ordered.

[Dylan Torngate]

[Space- USS Challenger]

It appeared that the Challenger's decoy had not been entirely successful. As the shuttle entered the atmosphere of the planet, two starships jumped into orbit just outside of weapons range. They hadn't detected the Challenger yet, but they would in mere moments. A quick registry check would show the ships as the USS Setlik and the USS Bunker Hill, both ships allied with the rebellion.

The ships began to move closer to the planet. Was it a trap, or was it mere coincidence that the ships had shown up at the same time as the Challenger?

The ships moved forward, scanning the wreckage of the shuttlecraft in orbit. The Challenger had the first advantage, but also the first option to flee.

[Surface - 19 Hours post Insertion - Dylan's vantage point]

Dylan had abandoned his post lying by his phaser. He figured that if a shuttle did indeed show up, it'd make enough noise for him to get into position. So instead, he'd fallen into the age-old habit: counting rocks. He'd stacked rocks. He'd thrown rocks. He'd cataloged in his mind the different colors of rocks (red, red, and off-red), he'd drawn images in the dirt with his finger. All of that, for 19 hours. His 5-hour warning remained on his O2 supply, and so here he sat, waiting for the whine of an engine to break the sound of the wind howling along the valley.

He opened his controls and began fiddling with the oxygen makeup down 2%. It'd give him a little more time, but he was worried. He'd stranded himself here, and the Challenger was overdue, as far as he could tell. He knew his coordinates were accurate, but now his fate was out of his control.

[Solluk]

USS Challenger - Bridge

The Challenger had been holding position on the 'loyal' side of the contested border for the past three hours.  The shuttle Scobee, equipped as it was for stealth, had long since disappeared from the ship's sensors.  However, based on the estimated travel time at the Scobee's maximum speed of Warp 6, she would have arrived at the destination planet by now.  There was a tension on the bridge as everyone imagined what challenges and risks were being faced by Commander Vaughan's team.

Ensign Oftex spoke from the Operations station, "New contact on long-range sensors, Captain.  It's the USS Setlik and USS Bunker Hill.  These ships have been identified as being loyal to the Leyton faction.  They are nearing the rogue planet and are engaging scans of the area."

Solluk leaned forward in his chair.   If these ships were at the planet and not at the border, then it meant that at least part of their deception had worked.  Otherwise they'd be investigating an enemy ship on the border of contested space.

Or... this could have been a trap to capture the extraction team.  Several high-ranking Challenger officers were aboard, with a potential wealth of information that could be taken from them during interrogations.

And yet Solluk didn't think that was the case.  Leyton already possessed so many Starfleet assets, the intelligence to be gained from the Challenger crew did not seem to be worth this deception.

"I believe the time has come to draw attention rather than to avoid it.  Drop our chameleon settings.  Flash our proper identifier codes.  Red Alert.  We need to pull those ships away from that planet before the extraction team is noticed and intercepted."

"Aye, Captain.  Red Alert.  Official transponders now active."

"Hopefully, they will bite, and head this way for an easy kill," Solluk said.

And then what?

Well, it would take them some time to get here.

One step at a time...

[Jettis Jyur]

[Bridge]

After completing the work on the shuttle, Jettis had meandered until he was needed on the bridge. Very little could be done to help down in the labs - at least, not until something physical came in to assess. And since that was unlikely...

Here he stood, staring at a useless scanner. It was times like these he wished he'd chosen a more eventful career path. Something like Engineering, or Ops, or even Medical. He could've studied alongside Schatzi, at least for the time he was aboard the Discovery. Every so often he found himself wondering what had become of his brother, it'd been a year since their last meaningful contact. Hopefully he was an accomplished Doctor somewhere, on a Galaxy class starship. And here Jettis stood, with his own kind of success, although nothing to flaunt.

The voice of the away team pulled him back to his duties, glancing over towards the Captain momentarily. They were simply signing off, signalling that they were ready to depart. Noting the time, Jettis wondered just how long they would be sitting there before results came. They had only a mere 24 hours to get in, get what they need and get out. A long day.

[Three hours later...]

Silence. The bridge had been mostly sullen for the first few hours of their post. Sensors were lifeless, as was the viewscreen. Pride could be felt at the success of the Scobee's stealth fittings, as it quickly went undetected, of even the advanced radar of the Challenger. No doubt it would give them an advantage against any possible enemies.
And enemies there were. The El-Aurian's attention was piqued as an ops officer spoke up, bright eyes turning to listen. Ships on the scanner? A quick check of his own doubled down on that, and he nodded to the Captain.

USS Challenger - Bridge
"I believe the time has come to draw attention rather than to avoid it.  Drop our chameleon settings.  Flash our proper identifier codes.  Red Alert.  We need to pull those ships away from that planet before the extraction team is noticed and intercepted."

Tilting his head, his lips quirked at Solluk's solution. Quick and hopefully effective, he seemed quite on the ball. A good quality in a commander. "Our sudden willingness to be found might arouse suspicion, Captain," he offered up the obvious, though not disapproving. "If you believe we need further distraction, I can muster up a convincing reason to reveal ourselves. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help." He let the offer hang, as he returned to his scans, to make sure he could follow up on what he'd offered. A burst of energy or radiation might convince them their ship was injured - it might not fool them, but it would distract them nonetheless.

[Solluk]

USS Challenger - Bridge

Solluk turned to regard the Science Officer.

"If you have any ideas that improve our chances to draw the enemy away from the extraction team, I am interested," he said.

Any improvement to the situation would be a welcome one, as far as Solluk was concerned.

[Lizzie Vaughan]

[Space- USS Challenger]

It appeared that the Challenger's decoy had not been entirely successful. As the shuttle entered the atmosphere of the planet, two starships jumped into orbit just outside of weapons range. They hadn't detected the Challenger yet, but they would in mere moments. A quick registry check would show the ships as the USS Setlik and the USS Bunker Hill, both ships allied with the rebellion.

The ships began to move closer to the planet. Was it a trap, or was it mere coincidence that the ships had shown up at the same time as the Challenger?

The ships moved forward, scanning the wreckage of the shuttlecraft in orbit. The Challenger had the first advantage, but also the first option to flee.

[Surface - 19 Hours post Insertion - Dylan's vantage point]

Dylan had abandoned his post lying by his phaser. He figured that if a shuttle did indeed show up, it'd make enough noise for him to get into position. So instead, he'd fallen into the age-old habit: counting rocks. He'd stacked rocks. He'd thrown rocks. He'd cataloged in his mind the different colors of rocks (red, red, and off-red), he'd drawn images in the dirt with his finger. All of that, for 19 hours. His 5-hour warning remained on his O2 supply, and so here he sat, waiting for the whine of an engine to break the sound of the wind howling along the valley.

He opened his controls and began fiddling with the oxygen makeup down 2%. It'd give him a little more time, but he was worried. He'd stranded himself here, and the Challenger was overdue, as far as he could tell. He knew his coordinates were accurate, but now his fate was out of his control.

Shuttle Scobee

Lizzie had only just finished speaking when the panel in front of her lit up. Examining the data, she gave a sigh.

"Two ships bearing Federation signatures have appeared in orbit, We can't get any more information using only passive systems and active ones would reveal our location. I suspect they are not friendly, we should do nothing and see what they do. If they are looking for us, we will find out soon enough. If not, hopefully they will soon leave and we can go on with the rescue." She said, making her decision known. Their only weapon was stealth, especially against two starships!

[Jettis Jyur]

USS Challenger - Bridge

Solluk turned to regard the Science Officer.

"If you have any ideas that improve our chances to draw the enemy away from the extraction team, I am interested," he said.

Any improvement to the situation would be a welcome one, as far as Solluk was concerned.

[Bridge]

His comment had gotten him noticed, so now Jettis had to continue with his train of thought. Glancing back up to the Captain, he locked eyes for a moment, before glancing at the viewscreen. "We could always project a signal, trick them into thinking we're hurt. It won't be very convincing, but it might work for distracting them." Stopping himself there, he waited for an affirmative or a negative, more ideas flitting in and out of his mind dismissively.

[Solluk]

USS Challenger - Bridge

Solluk nodded as he listened to Jettis.  The premise was sound:  Give a reason for their sudden appearance on sensors.  A reason for them to believe what their proverbial eyes were telling them.  To Solluk's mind, when prey presented itself, the predator already wanted to believe.  It wouldn't take much.

"It doesn't have to be convincing.  Not up close.  All we have to do is get them moving towards us and away from the shuttle.  Once they arrive, it will be too late for them to change their minds.  If you have a signal that will convince them of some technical difficulties or breakdown on our end, a reason for us to have dropped our ruse, go ahead and transmit it."

[Jettis Jyur]

[Bridge]

Jettis nodded, setting to work contacting Engineering with his plan. "I was thinking we could emit fire Nadion emissions behind us - make it look like we just came from a firefight. It would explain why we would be so close to the border." He looked to the Captain for confirmation before going on.

"As for looking injured - just dimming some of the ship's unimportant systems may convince them we're running low on energy."

[Solluk]

USS Challenger - Bridge

Solluk nodded again.  These were all good ideas.  "Move to immediate implementation on both of those plans.  Subsume whatever resources you need, but let's make it happen quickly.  Those ships will be debating what to do about us appearing on their screens, and they'll be taking a closer look at their long range sensors.  Go ahead and give them something to look at."

With Jettis' good suggestions, there was a good chance that the enemy vessels would be lured out.

Now he just had to figure out how to handle them when they arrived.

[Rayek trLhoell]

SCPO Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Shuttle Scobee]

Shuttle Scobee

Lizzie had only just finished speaking when the panel in front of her lit up. Examining the data, she gave a sigh.

"Two ships bearing Federation signatures have appeared in orbit, We can't get any more information using only passive systems and active ones would reveal our location. I suspect they are not friendly, we should do nothing and see what they do. If they are looking for us, we will find out soon enough. If not, hopefully they will soon leave and we can go on with the rescue." She said, making her decision known. Their only weapon was stealth, especially against two starships!

Rayek's alertness heightened at Liz's report of two starships in the vicinity.  This is where having that cloaking device would have been ideal.   Their presence around the rogue planet might mean that this was a trap... or that Captain Torngate hadn't been successful in eluding those he sought to escape from.  As the Commander suggested, they would have their answer shortly.

While he waited, he looked over what little sensor data they were picking up passively.  Keen Romulan eyes picked up some drifting anomalies near to where the ships were.  Was that debris?

"Commander, we may be too late.  There appears to be a small debris field not far from the those starships."

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

NPC PO3 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Bridge]

USS Challenger - Bridge

Solluk nodded again.  These were all good ideas.  "Move to immediate implementation on both of those plans.  Subsume whatever resources you need, but let's make it happen quickly.  Those ships will be debating what to do about us appearing on their screens, and they'll be taking a closer look at their long range sensors.  Go ahead and give them something to look at."

With Jettis' good suggestions, there was a good chance that the enemy vessels would be lured out.

Now he just had to figure out how to handle them when they arrived.

With the call to Red Alert, Lahr hastened to his duty station - the Bridge.  He stepped out of the turbolift to hear the Captain issuing orders to implement two plans... but what those plans were Lahr had missed.  Not to worry - the Chief would catch him up.

Unfortunately, when the young Andorian sec/tac petty officer turned to his station, he found it manned not by the Chief but some Ops officer.  This was unexpected.  Oh wait... no.. the Chief had gone with the shuttle team. That's right.  Hmph. He wondered why no one from security got called to take over the Chief's shift at tactical? Must have been overlooked.  Ha! - so the Romulan wasn't perfect.

As pleasant a thought as that was, it didn't help Lahr in figuring out what these two plans were that needed to be implemented.  Did they involve anything from tactical?   Lahr's antenna bobbed from side to side in curiosity as he moved to the secondary tactical console.  Leaning over towards the Ops officer in some mild attempt keep his words just between them.  "What'd I miss?"

[Lek]

USS Challenger - Bridge

Solluk turned to regard the Science Officer.

"If you have any ideas that improve our chances to draw the enemy away from the extraction team, I am interested," he said.

Any improvement to the situation would be a welcome one, as far as Solluk was concerned.

[Bridge]

Lek felt uncomfortable on the bridge, he was an engineer, and he felt most comfortable in engineering. However, he'd been assigned to the bridge, so he would do his best to be a bridge officer.

"You could always hail them and taunt them by discussing their personal habits and family relations. Crude, but a properly delivered insult can be most distracting."