S2E9 Overlord

[Mondo'li Nari]

USS Challenger - Bridge

Mondo glanced to the Flight Officer and made a nod of appreciation for the man's support.  He had held some trepidation about how well he would galvanize with a new ship and its crew.  It seemed his concerns were unwarranted.  These Challenger people were welcoming and cooperative, and seemed to value his input.

At Commander Vaughan's go-ahead, Mondo turned his attention back to his station.  He had launcher control from the auxiliary tactical panel, so he went ahead and prepped the probe for firing.

"Aye, Sir.  Probe is being configured and loaded for launch..."  There was a brief pause, then, "...And it is now ready for firing at your command."

He positioned his finger above the launch icon, and would press it as soon as Vaughan gave the final go-ahead.

[Lizzie Vaughan]

USS Challenger - Bridge

Mondo glanced to the Flight Officer and made a nod of appreciation for the man's support.  He had held some trepidation about how well he would galvanize with a new ship and its crew.  It seemed his concerns were unwarranted.  These Challenger people were welcoming and cooperative, and seemed to value his input.

At Commander Vaughan's go-ahead, Mondo turned his attention back to his station.  He had launcher control from the auxiliary tactical panel, so he went ahead and prepped the probe for firing.

"Aye, Sir.  Probe is being configured and loaded for launch..."  There was a brief pause, then, "...And it is now ready for firing at your command."

He positioned his finger above the launch icon, and would press it as soon as Vaughan gave the final go-ahead.

Bridge

Lizzie gave another nod.

"Launch the probe." She ordered.

She didn't say anything else but her sense of unease was growing.

[Jehamy Jex]

[USS Challenger - Astrometrics]

Jex stood at the large astrometrics suite, gathering sensor data using the secondary array on the large comet. The sensible notification for a sensor probe came in from Tactical, and the Science Officer ensured the correct package was installed before being sending to the firing tube, returning final control to the bridge.

[Alexa Costa]

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

Lex had been part of the shift change and had relieved Hammond Oftex of his station with a muted exchange. Normally the pair would banter, their repartee often sounding argumentative to anyone unused to the unusual dynamic of their friendship, but the atmosphere on the bridge, along with Pinky's loaded gaze, gave her pause. So she took her place at Ops I with minimal fuss and listened intently at the muffled handover instructions.

She too had been surprised at the amount of unfamiliar faces on the Bridge. The Second Officer. Dr. Vaughn, she recognised. Likewise the Risan at the helm, due to the deliciously boozy party he'd thrown as soon as he arrived onboard. A petty officer, apparently present on Lahr's orders, arrived and took his place at Tactical. She was grateful for each crewmember's quick, collected thinking as they organised and fired a sensor probe toward the comet.

Lex would ensure that sensor data collected would be available in realtime for both the Bridge crew and Astrometrics simultaneously. The Challenger boasted learned Bridge personnel indeed, but none would have eyes as sharp as a science officer's in this case.

She couldn't help but share her colleagues' apprehension. She took the opportunity to update the Revere and Stalwart in attempt not only to ensure they understood the potential danger, but also to distract herself from the growing feeling of concern in the pit of her stomach while they waited for the probe to start transmitting telemetry.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO2 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 10 - Transporter Room 1]

After being dismissed by the Admiral, Lahr stopped by the armory to gather up his own weaponry and double-check that Mr. Nari had done everything that had been assigned to him; which Lahr quickly discovered the Hupyrian had.   Good.

Lahr then made his way to the transporter room to check on the Security teams waiting there to be transported aboard the Starbase to key strategic locations.  In addition there were several shuttlecraft loaded with teams and ready to launch at the first sign of an opening.

In anticipation for this assault, Security/Tactical numbers had been bolstered at their last starbase stop, as had their armory stores.  Enlisted numbers were now up to 160 from their usual 110 - mostly crewmen and a few petty officers.  Most of which were being sent out on the assault.  Only a dozen or two were being held back to remain on the ship as its defense against a similar boarding tactic.

Lahr did a quick check over the teams and wished he had some motivating words to say but that just wasn't the Andorian... his idea of motivation was to raise a glass and toast to their success.  Not quite the motivation they needed right now.

He gave Burke, his closest friend on the ship, a manly shoulder clap and told him to watch his back, before turning to head up to Bridge.

[Mondo'li Nari]

USS Challenger - Bridge

Mondo paused to share a nod of appreciation for the science officer on the bridge, who had swiftly rendered assistance on the preparation of the probe.  Then he launched the device per the Commander's instruction.  Ops directed the data on a live feed to multiple stations, ensuring everyone got the information at the same time in the format they were most able to use.

Seconds passed, as the probe neared the distant comet.  For a moment, the automated defenses of the perimeter installations took no notice of the device.  The tactical screen lit up for one brief instant with a potential contact.  Then a micro-torpedo sailed out of an asteroid-mounted launcher, quickly ending the career of the probe.

But not before the computers had registered an oddity beyond the comet's tail.

"Sir!  Detecting twelve potential contacts.  No reliable energy readings, but based on outline, I anticipate that the contacts include ten Federation heavy fighter craft, one Soverign class, and one Ambassador class vessel.  The readings aren't clear enough for me to make out names or registries.  I also can't be entirely certain there aren't additional vessels, as our feed was cut off very quickly after making contact."

He looked to the science station, to see if there was anything that could be done to clean up the resolution of the images they had managed to receive.

[Lizzie Vaughan]

USS Challenger - Bridge

Mondo paused to share a nod of appreciation for the science officer on the bridge, who had swiftly rendered assistance on the preparation of the probe.  Then he launched the device per the Commander's instruction.  Ops directed the data on a live feed to multiple stations, ensuring everyone got the information at the same time in the format they were most able to use.

Seconds passed, as the probe neared the distant comet.  For a moment, the automated defenses of the perimeter installations took no notice of the device.  The tactical screen lit up for one brief instant with a potential contact.  Then a micro-torpedo sailed out of an asteroid-mounted launcher, quickly ending the career of the probe.

But not before the computers had registered an oddity beyond the comet's tail.

"Sir!  Detecting twelve potential contacts.  No reliable energy readings, but based on outline, I anticipate that the contacts include ten Federation heavy fighter craft, one Soverign class, and one Ambassador class vessel.  The readings aren't clear enough for me to make out names or registries.  I also can't be entirely certain there aren't additional vessels, as our feed was cut off very quickly after making contact."

He looked to the science station, to see if there was anything that could be done to clean up the resolution of the images they had managed to receive.

Bridge

Lizzie, who had been watching the feed from the probe, frowned as the signal was suddenly lost. Most likely because the probe itself had been destroyed. That would indicate that the ships, at least 12, had hostile intent. Assuming there were no more ships hiding, something was was not comfortable doing, then the three of them could probably handle those 12. The Stalwart and the Challenger could probably handle the Sovereign class and the Ambassador class between them, leaving the Revere to take on the fighters, as that what she was designed for. Problem was, they had no way of knowing there were not more ships hiding out there. She turned to Mondo.

"What is your analysis Mr Nari?" She asked the Petty Officer.

[Mondo'li Nari]

USS Challenger - Bridge

Come back with more ships, was Mondo's initial thought.  But he chose not to voice that sentiment.

"Sir, I estimate that once we engage the defensive perimeter installations, these craft will leave their cover and begin firing upon us, trying to ensure we are flanked by fire on all sides.  When they come out from behind cover, I expect the fighters to approach in a tight, professional formation, intending to concentrate their fire.   I suggest we respond with full volleys of torpedo fire at maximum yield, maximum dispersion, with proximity warheads.  This may be enough to seriously blunt or even destroy the fighter squadrons.  Then... I recommend we retreat."

Using his console, he indicated a spot beyond the reach of the defensive perimeter.

"We do not want to engage the defensive installations at the same time that we engage the defending ships.  If we bloody them, they may be tempted to pursue us beyond the defensive perimeter.   Then we can engage them piecemeal.  But Sir... if I may say so, Admiral Leyton is an aged and experienced Admiral with a history of duplicitous actions and misdirection.  We probably have only just begun to taste the poison he has planned for us."

[Lizzie Vaughan]

USS Challenger - Bridge

Come back with more ships, was Mondo's initial thought.  But he chose not to voice that sentiment.

"Sir, I estimate that once we engage the defensive perimeter installations, these craft will leave their cover and begin firing upon us, trying to ensure we are flanked by fire on all sides.  When they come out from behind cover, I expect the fighters to approach in a tight, professional formation, intending to concentrate their fire.   I suggest we respond with full volleys of torpedo fire at maximum yield, maximum dispersion, with proximity warheads.  This may be enough to seriously blunt or even destroy the fighter squadrons.  Then... I recommend we retreat."

Using his console, he indicated a spot beyond the reach of the defensive perimeter.

"We do not want to engage the defensive installations at the same time that we engage the defending ships.  If we bloody them, they may be tempted to pursue us beyond the defensive perimeter.   Then we can engage them piecemeal.  But Sir... if I may say so, Admiral Leyton is an aged and experienced Admiral with a history of duplicitous actions and misdirection.  We probably have only just begun to taste the poison he has planned for us."

Bridge

During Mondo's succinct analysis of the situation Lizzie found herself agreeing with everything he said. She gave several nods.

"I agree. We need to draw the ships out from where they are hiding and engage them before we attempt to tackle the station." She replied, then an idea occurred to her. "What size charge on a torpedo would you say would be sufficient to cause enough damage to the comet to force the hiding ships out into the open?" She asked.

[Dylan Torngate]

PO2 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger -  Deck 9 - Forward Torpedo Bay Control]

Lahr walked a pace behind the Admiral, as Captain Torngate performed his inspection on the readiness of Torpedo room and its personnel.  Lahr's own security team had been split with their numbers joining other teams to form a defense squad which would remain on the ship and assist tactical and the more numerous offensive team.  Skarggarg, Burke, zh'Tianihr, Tragnar, Stull, M'lenda, Gnarld and Jengas all were on the offensive team which would be boarding the enemy controlled starbase.  This left Jonston, Rolands and Tim - the 'weaker' of his team on the ship to be their defense against retaliatory boarding.

As he followed behind, Lahr struggled with what to do with the new guy Nari.  Physicallly the Hupyrian was best suited for joining the Boarding team, but the man had just returned to active duty following a major combat injury that left the man without his left arm.  A bionic replacement had been made for the man but Lahr had to believe that there was going to be some mental scarring as well.  He'd tested the petty officer as best he could when he was first assigned to the ship less than a week ago, but Lahr wasn't quite ready to put him out in the field, if he wasn't going to be out there along with him.. and at the moment it seemed like Lt. Taray had decided to keep Lahr, on the ship.

Lahr's thoughts on what to do with Mr. Nari were cut short when the Red Alert klaxon sounded throughout the bay and a moment later a call came in for the Admiral.  It seemed like the inspection was over.  Lahr waited on the Captain before heading for the Bridge as well.

[Torpedo Bay]

As Dylan finished his inspection, he thought inwardly to himself. Was it enough? Was it safely secured? Had any of a thousand things gone wrong before now? It was too much to bear, yet bear it he had to. Where his focus really lay was the crew. Today, there was no shifts. Every crewmember on the ship was awake, at their station, and ready for battle. It would play hell with the efficiency of the crew later, but at this point in time what was more important was getting through this - alive. If anyone was to die today, it wouldn't be in their sleep. Every station on the ship was manned, every Damage Control Party full up. Guards and Borders, Engineers and Doctors. Those who would take life... and those who would save it. Those who would find weaknesses in their enemies, and those who would patch those weaknesses in their own.

Currently, Dylan had pulled up a quick schematic and realized something he wanted to do. The Bridge was simply too exposed for an event like this - open to almost a full range of attacks. So many species of the galaxy left their command center exposed, and the logic of it had rarely made sense to Dylan. The Defiant, he thought, was a better but not perfect design of a warship. Enclosed, entrenched.

Dylan also had to realize the practicality of their enemy - this was not some faceless enemy, this was Starfleet. They would not be so easily fooled by the profile of the Challenger. What may look like an ageing heavy cruiser on sensors they would know was a formidable enemy with teeth. Teeth that would be put to the test. If they were successful, the first step toward finding and ending the insurrection would be at hand. If they failed... it wouldn't be their problem anymore.

The Alert klaxon sounded, as Dylan wiped the screen back to how it was and looked over. "Godspeed, everyone," he said, before tapping his commbadge and beginning to issue orders.

Computer. Mute red alert until further notice, he said, ending the sound and leaving just the pulsing light remaining. Everyone knew what was up. They didn't need a sound to remind them.

He followed up the command with a message out to the crew on deck one and the supplementary personnel. Bridge crew, report to Battle Bridge, All boarders to your stations, he said. The Battle Bridge was a more shielded, central location. Ideal for if you expected your ship to be leaking air quickly.

Bridge

"Red Alert. Raise shields and ready all weapons." She ordered. "Signal the other ships to do the same." She then activated the internal coms system.

Bridge to Torngate. Admiral, we are approaching the Rebel Station and I have ordered the group to Red Alert.

Understood. I will meet you on the Battle Bridge, he said, nodding to nobody in particular as he pivoted on his heel and marched quickly toward the turbolift. Outside, action spread as the crew prepared, grimly, for what was to come.

As he arrived on the battle bridge, the room powered up at his presence, taking over command and seamlessly taking over from the main Bridge. He sat in the chair, which was quite a bit less comfortable compared to the bridge. He opened a channel to the whole ship, the bosun's whistle indicating his address. Crew of the Challenger. Today is a day a long time coming - a day when we finally begin to take back what was taken from us. Starfleet is counting on us to do our duty, and perform our task no matter the cost.  You've trained for this. You're ready for this. Stand to your duties, trust your fellow shipmates, and we'll all get through this. Further updates as they come. Thank you.

Part of the glory of the battle bridge was that Dylan had a small table in front of him, from which he could coordinate the entire fleet's operations. Although it was a small fleet, it still was in need of coordination. Dylan received the reports from the Bridge before the handoff, and was able to form a rough plan. 12 total ships, plus the Starbase. A spy placed on the Starbase had promised Starfleet he could lower the shields of the base for 12 seconds - and 12 seconds only. In these 12 seconds, the Challenger would have to lower her shields and transport the boarding crew, who would then knock out power to the station and establish a foothold. After that foothold, it would be up to the boarding crew to take back as much of the base as they could, until they were either successful or expended. This was the duty of Tactical, to ensure success at all costs.

The Challenger would make a mad dash past the defenses, in a near warp-speed jump directly to the beam-in point. Hopefully, this microjump would be enough to avoid most of the perimeter defenses, at least until they were shut down. At the same time, the Defiant and Centaur-class ships would split off and fly interference, with a decoy drone launched from the Challenger before the jump making a sensor ghost of the Challenger, making her seem to be in two places at once. Although the manuvering would be difficult to perform, Dylan was confident his Helm crew could do it. Maintaining the sensor ghost and electronic countermeasures would be the duty of his Science crew.

Engineering would be responsible for keeping the air pumping and the power flowing. The Challenger was about to go up against some of the toughest challenges she'd ever faced - and Dylan expected her to perform. Operations would need to help, as well as help coordinate the movements of all three of the ships. Medical of course, would need to keep as much of the crew operational as possible - through thick or thin. Dylan expected casualties. Casualties was a part of war. That knowledge didn't make it easier.

Although dangerous, the fighters were not the biggest concern at hand. If they had the chance, the Challenger could easily dispatch them with either shuttlecraft or a few well-placed shots of the weapons grid. It would be mostly up to the Operations officers to determine the best placement of ships. Or, perhaps some of the officers on the Bridge had other ideas that might be worth putting into play as well.

Dylan waited for the rest of the Bridge crew to arrive, and for the war to end it's cold period.

It was time to make some noise.

[Jehamy Jex]

[USS Challenger - Bridge/Science Station I]

Jex had moved from Astrometrics to the bridge, maintaining close contact with sensor returns en route with a PADD-link; it was an efficiency tip he had picked up from the now-departed, in a literal sense, First Officer. A loss indeed.

The request from Tactical to clear up the resolution gain came in as Jehamy entered the bridge. Making his way over to the Primary Science Station, the spotless Trill put the imaging through a multispectral codex, using as much passive-sensor processing from the astrometric computers as the system would allow. Results were then sent directly to Tactical for Threat Assessment Analysis - it would do no good for Jex to interpret the data himself: while he was competent in many fields, today was not a good day to tip his toe into such matters. The symbiote would certainly object to taking an interest in the topic, too.

Then Admiral arrived on the bridge, and gave - what Jehamy deemed to be - an excellent speech about the gravitas of imminent action. The Ensign could not disagree; it was practical and pragmatic to end this pointless conflict, so that he could get on with more crucial work...the very work he had joined Starfleet to achieve.

Duty expectations came in, and Jex received his orders: to manage and maintain the ship's countermeasures before and during engagement. While Engineering would have to play their role in keeping the Challenger's warp-core signature as subdued as possible, it would be down to the Science Team (Jex wondered where Chief Science Officer Jettis had go to) to reduce that further with traditional and novel tricks to baffle, confuse and outright deceive the enemy, allowing Tactical to get on with the more...active aspects of their role.

[Lizzie Vaughan]

[Torpedo Bay]

Bridge crew, report to Battle Bridge, All boarders to your stations, he said. The Battle Bridge was a more shielded, central location. Ideal for if you expected your ship to be leaking air quickly.

Understood. I will meet you on the Battle Bridge, he said, nodding to nobody in particular as he pivoted on his heel and marched quickly toward the turbolift. Outside, action spread as the crew prepared, grimly, for what was to come.

Bridge

Before Mondo had a chance to respond, the Red Alert Klaxon silenced and Dylan transferred control to the Battle Bridge. It made sense, it was in the centre of the ship and much more shielded that the Main Bridge. She knew why the Bridge was always located on deck 1, except for rare occurrences, it was a fallback to Earth Naval history. Dylan then told her to meet him there so she immediately headed for the dedicated turbolift that would take the Bridge crew to the Battle Bridge.

Battle Bridge

Lizzie exited the turbolift and, not surprisingly, found that Dylan was already there. She walked straight over to him.

"Have you received all the tactical updates Admiral?" She asked. "Specifically those regarding the at least 12 ships hiding behind a comet." She added.

[Lek]

[Engineering]

The red alert klaxon made Lek cringe. It always did because it was pitched for hyoomon ears and the volume was painful to Ferengi ears. He muted the alarm and still cringed inside. He hated battles. Mainly because it meant casualties and he hated having to write to the families of the fallen more than any of his responsibilities as an officer.

Battles also meant damage to his ship. The captain might command the ship, but keeping her operational was Lek's responsibility and he felt a deeper connection to the ship than any captain would ever feel, which made Challenger, his ship.

Lek went through his mental and procedural checklists to make certain everything he could do prior to the battle was at readiness. He was especially glad that the inspection of the plasma conduits was complete. It had taken days and required the entire engineering staff to ensure that the one flaw from the shipyard was just that, one flaw. Now, it was time for ensuring the Challenger would have power, shields, maneuverability, and weapons.

"Point of impact shields?"

Lek called out.

"Online at 100% and able to surge to 200% at point of impact."

Lieutenant Gianetti replied.

"Backup regenerative shielding?'

"On standby, able to supplement primary point of impact shielding  if needed."

"Secondary core?"

"On standby. able to take over for primary if necessary. Also able to come online to boost total power to a maximum of 180% for up to twenty minutes."

"Damage Control Teams?"

"One through six deployed to critical areas. Seven through ten in engineering ready for deployment."

"Sidearms?"

"All engineering personnel armed with phaser twos."

Lek looked around at the calm professionalism of the engineers around him and felt pride swelling in his chest. They were as ready as they could be and hopefully the Blessed Exchequer would keep everyone save and alive.

[Malik Grippen]

[USS Challenger, Bridge - Helm]

Malik's confidence faltered slightly at the mention of a sovereign class. For the rebels to position one here meant they placed significant value on this base and didn't intend to let it go without significant bloodshed. The arm-chair generals and mess hall banters would often debate the sovereign's formidable capabilities vs other Starfleet ships. Malik honestly didn't know whether the newer Trailblazer was its equal, but they were about to find out.

Listening to the admiral's message strengthened the Risan's resolve. It would be admiral vs admiral in this fight. The enemy had the advantage in numbers and had chosen the battlefield, two battle-winning criteria usually. Grippen hoped Torngate had an ace or two up his sleeve. He followed the commander and the rest of the bridge staff into the turbolift and down into the bowels of the ship.

[USS Challenger, Battle-Bridge - Helm]

Malik took the position at helm, the battle bridge terminal being more or less an exact copy of the regular bridge version. He read his orders and memorised them, linking in with ensign Jex's terminal to synchronise the launch of the probe with the warp-hop. It was a bold move and if timed correctly, the enemy would hopefully be confused enough to prevent them from initiating the attack. It would also allow the Challenger to circle back around to the rear flank of the enemy formation.

Malik entered the coordinates for the jump and spooled the warp drive up, ready to initiate at the press of a button. They wouldn't quite reach the speed of light, but fast enough to cover the distance in less than a second. The deck plating this far down reverberated slightly at the immense power of the antimatter drive preparing to launch. Now science just had to ready the ghost-probe and fire it off at the same time.

"Warp-jump prepared, Admiral. Ready to initiate on your order."

A bead of sweat ran down the side of the Risan's cheek, the pressure was on to perform or certain death awaited.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO2 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - turbolift - Deck 10]

Lahr had just stepped into the lift to make his way to the Bridge when the Captain's announcement went over all the ships comms.  Lahr listened to the man's speech... nodded a bit at the inspirational words.  A lot of it was attitude.  Have a winning attitude and the chances of allowing yourself to lose was reduced.  Lahr wasn't sure how that effected avoiding being hit by particle weapons but he didn't have time to worry about that ...he needed to get to the Battle Bridge.   Or so he thought.

A moment later a comm came through to him on his badge.   It was Lt. Taray.

Change of plans, ch'Verret, you're being reassigned to Away Team #1.  Grab your gear and meet up with you team in transporter room 1

Lahr blinked at the woman's words, before tapping his comm to acknowledge the order. Yes, sir.

After a moment he continued on..  What of Petty Officer Nari? Lahr couldn't help that his tone was a little uncertain. He was assigned as my shadow. I'd sent him ahead to Bridge, so he's likely on his way to the Battle Bridge now.

There was a pause from the other end of the comm for a moment.  He can remain with the bridge crew.  I'll look after him

Lahr nodded a bit in relief.  Bad enough getting sent into the thick of battle but to do so with someone you weren't sure about.  Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.  ch'Verret out

Lahr altered his destination return back to the armory but on additional protective armor and grabbing up a phaser rifle in addition to his Type II phaser.  He snagged a few stun grenades and a smoke grenades as well and prepped himself with an adrenaline shot to counter act at least for the next hour the use of anesthezine against him.

Then with nervous already frayed, Lahr waited for the order.