S2 - M11 - The Gathering of Angels

[Don Damien Addams]

[Katra Station ]

Ensign Jimrec to Captain Solluk, sir we have visitors  He was on top of the newly arrival. The other intruders was shot by his team. They are high alert waiting for any to appear out of nowhere or find the military enemy beaming into walls, ceilings and floors or inside the bulks.

They are blindly beaming in! Stay still!  He said the last part to his assault. Solluk would hear the infliction tone by the security officer.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Lt Cmdr. tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Deck One - Bridge] (Rearguard position)

Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Bridge]

"Lay out your plan, Captain. We will do anything we can to support you."

Rayek expressed his fear and anger quite verbally while Tess tried to appear as normal as possible. Truth was, they both were scared as hell for the life of their baby. Rayek urged her on to focus on the battle but that was easier said than done.

An unfocused Captain wasn't good, even less in a battle. Reports from the various stations rang through the air. Though even that was not enough to focus Tess' attention entirely back on the battle when she heard Rayek speaking urgently, almost pleading, in a language even the UT struggled to translate completely. Tess gathered as much that Rayek was asking Commander Tomax of the Romulan Ambassador ship for help. Would they help? Tess prayed they did. However, seconds later Rayek's cry of horror froze her in equal horror. No ... no please ... "Rayek?", she gasped, but instead of hearing a reply from him another urgent voice finally got through to her.

"Commander!" Tess turned her head to find her father glaring at her from the science console. She knew he wasn't upset at her but had seen no other way to get her attention. "We need your orders!"

"Evasive pattern delta five! More energy to the forward shields! Once we come around, prepare attack pattern alpha one, but wait on my mark before engaging!"

Then there was movement in the vanguard, the Discovery retreated from this battle scene to probably move to another, at least they were heading back to Katra and the Challenger was on her own in the front row. Captain Galloway was in charge now. Their orders remained the same. They would not let any of these fighters get past them.

When Tess had a second to breathe, she called up the data for the section where the convoy was with dread. A gasp of relief escaped her when she found the Wonderland still on the monitor. Tess looked over to Rayek who was actually crying. She'd been on the verge, too, but seeing him like that made it extra hard not to give in.

The relief didn't last long though, the monitor still showed the Wanderer squadron - though one seemed to be missing. And did she have the readings of the Ooroyan there?? She looked to Rayek. "Did the Nei'rhh respond?", she asked.

It took a moment for Rayek get himself somewhat together... he'd seen the powering up of the Wanderer's weapons.. they'd been but moments from... No, don't think about it!    He swallowed back another swell of emotion before looking to Tess .  She'd asked him a question... about the Nei'rhh; asked if they responded.   Rayek's expression darkened and he shook his head.  "They did not."

He probably should say more tell her what had happened but he was becoming aware of their own precarious situation.
"At present the Wonderland is safe."  Rayek could only hope that Urulei would remain in the area and continue to safe-guard the freighter from any other attack.  The Ooroyan's well-timed arrival could not have been better and Rayek wondered if it had sensed his distress.   While normally he would be disturbed by being 'read' by another telepath... if that were the case in this instance, Rayek could only hope the creature could sense his gratitude as well.

Rayek turned his gaze away from his wife back to his chair's display to study the battle once more... if the Nei'rhh was refusing to lend aid, Rayek needed another to ensure Fvienn's safety.   Fvadt!  Why hadn't he gone with Tess' original plan to have Fvienn on the Tempest? Why did he ever believe he could trust the freighter Captain merely because he was a distant relative of Tess' adoptive father? It was stupid of him!

Evacuee Convoy, just outside of the Trialus system

The two Tholian cruisers assigned to escort the convoy interjected themselves in harm's way, firing their energy weapons to excellent effect.  They were hardier than the smaller Tholian attack ships, and weathered the Wanderer assault with more fortitude.  Still, there were many, many Wanderer ships.

Captain Noh'ves new ship- one of the Republic of Kahless' cruisers- suddenly decloaked.  Its forward tube glowed red as it launched the first of several torpedoes.  This ship was hardly state-of-the-art, but it was two generations newer than the old D7 Noh'ves used to Captain.  Its presence on the battlefield began to shift the balance of events.  But until the Romulans entered the fray, success was far from certain.

The Wanderer energy weapons continued to pummel the defending ships, and the shields on one of the Tholian vessels faltered.  It was all the opening that the Wanderers needed to send in two squads of Marines.

Unfortunately, the Wanderers had not been fully briefed on the Tholians, and did not know they would need environmental suits on the inside of the pressurized vessels.  The Wanderer marines died screaming as they burned, the Tholian crews looking on in a mixture of satisfaction and lamentation... the warrior caste had been hoping for a fight.

The bulk of the Wanderer attack ships had concentrated on the convoy and the battle there was just as fierce as it was here.   Perhaps more so given the most of the small freighters had very few weaponry - unlike the Kosst Holana - which Rayek missed sorely.  He knew he could have relied on Captain Arrun to watch over his son competently.

At the moment, there looked to be nothing threatening the Wonderland directly and Rayek fervently hoped that the stupid little ship would take advantage of the chaos and hide.

Because he knew, if he didn't get his own act together and focus on assisting Tess, someone would report his actions and he'd be busted back down to Ensign again this time permanently...  so after setting proximity notification on his computer (anything got within torpedo range of the Wonderland - and he'd be alerted) Rayek turned his attention back to the Healy's own battle.  Tactical was doing well, yet the dozen magnetized torpedoes he'd prepared earlier were gone and they didn't have the time while dealing with the phasers to add advantage to their torpedo shots anymore.

The ship was taking a beating.  While Discovery and even Challenger had the new Point of Impact shielding upgrades, Healy had to stand on her own with just her gravimetric shields.  Which while sturdy, were no match for the pummeling the Wanderer attack ships could deliver if not dealt with swiftly.  Damage reports had been stockpiling while he had been focused on his son's safety.  Rayek began reviewing these now.

"Overall shields are down to 47%.  We lost starboard shield temporary and took a direct hit to the starboard nacelle - we have impulse engines only until repair teams can access the area in drydock.   Hull damage starboard side Decks 9, 13 and 14.  Transporter room 2 is down and aft torpedo launchers." It was clear that the torpedo launchers had been the intended target for the both hits.  It was just the helm's evasive maneuvering that took the hit to the transporter room and enlisted living quarters (thankfully vacant during Red Alert) rather than the forward torpedo launcher as well.

NPC Cathy Daniels

[Wonderland ] (Fleeing solo)

NPC Juraan Ren
[Wonderland]

Unfortunately his work on the bio-electric field had been to no purpose at all. Either the Wanderers had some manner to detect the evacuees life-signs despite the shielding field or or they didn't care if they destroyed a simple freighter no matter what.

Juraan was stunned when out of nowhere something that looked like a space whale appeared and swallowed the whole ship. "I hope that whale has a lot of appetite", he remarked dryly, his gaze fixed on the sensor readings that showed 25 more fighter ships approaching. "I'm sorry my plan didn't work.."

He looked to Finn. "Let us return to the convoy before it's too late."

Cathy looked over to Juraan and reached out a hand towards him to give his hand a reassuring squeeze. "It's success had been a longshot in the best of scenarios." she commented back.  When he suggested returning back to the convoy, Cathy nodded looking back to her console.  But then her face blanched at the ongoing battle there.   "I'm not so sure going back is the best thing  either."

[Wonderland]
There was very long, painful moment when the alerts inside the cockpit went off because live weapons had been aimed at the freighter. Everyone was sure they'd be fired upon. The Wonderlands shields would not be able to protect them.

But then a strange space creature simply gobbled up the Wanderer ship.

Wide eyed Finn stared outside at it when it wound its way through space.
"What just happened?" He had seen a few crazy things on cargo runs but never anything like this. It was the kind of creature that made all other species, especially mankind, seem ridiculously small and unmighty.

"Am I the only one, who can see this?"
And suddenly it lit up and was gone.

Finn blinked a few times unsure whether Lubys pain shots had given him hallucinations.

The alarm was off now but the fight between the wanderers and the fighters, protecting the convoy, just starting.

"Nonono. What am I stupid? I'm not going back to the convoy. Check the screen. A giant whale just saved us....that has to mean something."
He directed the Wonderland away. Then he shut off the engine just floating Through space at steady speed now.
"We're garbage....hopefully. If we shut everything off, they might miss us."

Cathy winced at the suggestion.  If Finn was wrong they would have no chance whatsoever if one of the Wanderer ships decided to attack to be sure against such a ruse.

"We can't just shut off everything... the bio-electric field hiding our the extra life-signs takes power.  Life support takes power... cycling the air,  heating the ship... if we 'played dead' they'd just see our life-signs - all 143 of them.. and destroy us."

[Paul Wessex]

Nei'rhh - leaving the convoy>

NPC Commander Tomax

The command centre was thick with silent accusation and borderline mutiny. Commander Tomax, once proudly of the Imperial Star Navy, but now a mere goat-herder to the weak-spirited, ignored it all as the Nei'rhh slipped away at medium sublight.

They didn't understand. They never understood.

His eyes narrowed at the secured screens on his elevated chair, displaying the overall field of combat. The incoming fighters seemed to have been unable to detect this cloaked craft, and were bearing down on the convoy. It would seem it would be over shortly.

And then a Klingon battlecruiser appeared to meet the fray, and the situation changed...in favour of the Nei'rhh. Now was the time. "Directional Control: turn us towards the rear of the enemy, and increase speed to flank; Offenses: prepare what passes for firepower this ship has. Defenses: Stand by to drop cloak and raise shields."

Confused mumbles accompanied obedient action, and Tomax straightened in his chair like days of old.

To believe he had been fleeing like a Ferengi misunderstood the true beating heart of the Sundered. They would never understand the Way of D'era. But until he left this plane of existence for the enduring promise of the Endless Sky, he would show these quasi-Vulcans what it was to have been Romulan.

Like a green spectre, a bird of terror, the Nei'rhh rippled back into sensory vision behind the largest gathering of Wanderer fighters and opened up with vivid green streams, virescent bolts of venom, and viridescent balls of angry energy. Plasma, he scoffed to himself. If these Wanderers wish to play with plasma, then they will know plasma from those who truly make it an artform.

***

Lt Paul Wessex

Finally, to Wessex, "Is there a way we can scramble those Wanderer transporter signals?  If just one of these boarders gets into a sensitive area..."  He trailed off.  Wessex didn't need to be told.  "Lieutenant Lek, I'm sure any of your thoughts are welcome, as well."

Parsing all the several elements going on around him, Wessex tried to organise his thoughts to Captain Solluk's request, while not looking up from his board. This, however, was a matter he had some useful experience in, given the NavPat's understandable omission of shields in subship construction and operation- thus, lack of shields required other means of baffling transporter signals from raiders and other parties that took advantage of such. "In the Naval Patrol, we block unwanted transports by alternating hull plating polarity with a oscillating EM harmonic; but I don't know how we can initialise that from here, and I don't know if this station has the conduits to do it." He risked a glance over to Lek then Ops. "Or", he considered, "I also perhaps suggest activating all transporters aboard Katra in a maximum-power permanent activation cycle - the targeting scanners covering all the critical areas - without actually beaming anything through; the competing signals may be enough to disrupt any incoming hostiles."

[Tess tLhoell]

Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Bridge]

Ian watched the Discovery disable the parasite leader and it took every fiber of his being to not scream in frustration. Livid, he tamped all the anger down into his clenched fists and spoke in a deadly quiet tone.

"Helm, your course is now 86 mark 15, keep us between the parasites and the station. Tactical, your orders remain the same terminate those attack ships by any means available."

Ian then spoke into his comm panel.

"Galloway ta Healy, my plan has been overtaken by events for now. As flag, I have ta wait until we're certain the station is safe. If'n the Discovery returns in a timely manner, then we can implement my plan. I will send you the rough outline of my plan in a file shortly. Challenger out."

The file is a simple system plot showing the Challenger and the Healy driving directly on the Wanderer mothership, Thatch Weaving if necessary until the Challenger makes a strafing run down the length of the carrier. During the run she rolls to one side and dropping a stick of twenty quantum torpedoes as free fall bombs with the Healy flying close escort during the bombing run.

Lt Cmdr. tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Deck One - Bridge] (Rearguard position)

It took a moment for Rayek get himself somewhat together... he'd seen the powering up of the Wanderer's weapons.. they'd been but moments from... No, don't think about it!    He swallowed back another swell of emotion before looking to Tess .  She'd asked him a question... about the Nei'rhh; asked if they responded.   Rayek's expression darkened and he shook his head.  "They did not."

He probably should say more tell her what had happened but he was becoming aware of their own precarious situation.
"At present the Wonderland is safe."  Rayek could only hope that Urulei would remain in the area and continue to safe-guard the freighter from any other attack.  The Ooroyan's well-timed arrival could not have been better and Rayek wondered if it had sensed his distress.   While normally he would be disturbed by being 'read' by another telepath... if that were the case in this instance, Rayek could only hope the creature could sense his gratitude as well.

Rayek turned his gaze away from his wife back to his chair's display to study the battle once more... if the Nei'rhh was refusing to lend aid, Rayek needed another to ensure Fvienn's safety.   Fvadt!  Why hadn't he gone with Tess' original plan to have Fvienn on the Tempest? Why did he ever believe he could trust the freighter Captain merely because he was a distant relative of Tess' adoptive father? It was stupid of him!

The bulk of the Wanderer attack ships had concentrated on the convoy and the battle there was just as fierce as it was here.   Perhaps more so given the most of the small freighters had very few weaponry - unlike the Kosst Holana - which Rayek missed sorely.  He knew he could have relied on Captain Arrun to watch over his son competently.

At the moment, there looked to be nothing threatening the Wonderland directly and Rayek fervently hoped that the stupid little ship would take advantage of the chaos and hide.

Because he knew, if he didn't get his own act together and focus on assisting Tess, someone would report his actions and he'd be busted back down to Ensign again this time permanently...  so after setting proximity notification on his computer (anything got within torpedo range of the Wonderland - and he'd be alerted) Rayek turned his attention back to the Healy's own battle.  Tactical was doing well, yet the dozen magnetized torpedoes he'd prepared earlier were gone and they didn't have the time while dealing with the phasers to add advantage to their torpedo shots anymore.

The ship was taking a beating.  While Discovery and even Challenger had the new Point of Impact shielding upgrades, Healy had to stand on her own with just her gravimetric shields.  Which while sturdy, were no match for the pummeling the Wanderer attack ships could deliver if not dealt with swiftly.  Damage reports had been stockpiling while he had been focused on his son's safety.  Rayek began reviewing these now.

"Overall shields are down to 47%.  We lost starboard shield temporary and took a direct hit to the starboard nacelle - we have impulse engines only until repair teams can access the area in drydock.   Hull damage starboard side Decks 9, 13 and 14.  Transporter room 2 is down and aft torpedo launchers." It was clear that the torpedo launchers had been the intended target for the both hits.  It was just the helm's evasive maneuvering that took the hit to the transporter room and enlisted living quarters (thankfully vacant during Red Alert) rather than the forward torpedo launcher as well.

It was almost unbearable for Tess to see Rayek so upset, that he didn't even care that his emotions were on display for everyone to see. It spoke volumes of how concerned he was about Fvienn. It only added to her own fear for him and it unsettled her. Then, unexpectedly, Rayek said that the Wonderland was safe for now. She knew anything could still happen, but for now it took a lot of weight off her.

The ship shuddered violently as it took another hit, as if the Wanderer fighters tried to gain back her attention; several consoles beeped wtih angry warnings. "Damage report!"

She listened to Rayek. The damage was bad, but didn't leave them inoperable. "Shut off life support of all unused sections and reroute energy to the shields."

"Healy to the Fleet, we took a bad blow and are left with impulse engines only. We'll try to keep up our shields as long as possible by rerouting energy."

To the bridge crew she said, "Let's try to take out as many of the fighters as possible. Do we have an indication of how many more fighters we have to expect? Or is this all we're dealing with?" Tess didn't try to show it but if the mother ship had more of those fighters in store, it would become pretty hard to prevail here.

NPC Juraan Ren
[Wonderland]

[Wonderland]
There was very long, painful moment when the alerts inside the cockpit went off because live weapons had been aimed at the freighter. Everyone was sure they'd be fired upon. The Wonderlands shields would not be able to protect them.

But the a strange space creature simply gobbled up the Wanderer ship.

Wide eyed Finn stared outside at it when it wound its way through space.
"What just happened?" He had seen a few crazy things on cargo runs but never anything like this. It was the kind of creature that made all other species, especially mankind, seem ridiculously small and unmighty.

"Am I the only one, who can see this?"
And suddenly it lit up and was gone.

Finn blinked a few times unsure whether Lubys pain shots had given him haluzinations.

The alarm was off now but the fight between the wanderers and the fighters, protecting the convoy, just starting.

"Nonono. What am I stupid? I'm not going back to the convoy. Check the screen. A giant whale just saved us....that has to mean something."
He directed the Wonderland away. Then he shut off the engine just floating Through space at steady speed now.
"We're garbage....hopefully. If we shut everything off, they might miss us."

NPC Cathy Daniels

[Wonderland ] (Fleeing solo)

Cathy looked over to Juraan and reached out a hand towards him to give his hand a reassuring squeeze. "It's success had been a longshot in the best of scenarios." she commented back.  When he suggested returning back to the convoy, Cathy nodded looking back to her console.  But then her face blanched at the ongoing battle there.   "I'm not so sure going back is the best thing  either."

Cathy winced at the suggestion.  If Finn was wrong they would have no chance whatsoever if one of the Wanderer ships decided to attack to be sure against such a ruse.

"We can't just shut off everything... the bio-electric field hiding our the extra life-signs takes power.  Life support takes power... cycling the air,  heating the ship... if we 'played dead' they'd just see our life-signs - all 143 of them.. and destroy us."

Juraan still stared at the whale or whatever this creature was. "Where did it even come from? Can we communicate with it? I hope it doesn't declare us food as well."

Calls came in that some passengers started to feel unwell - headaches, nausea, fainting. "I'll take care of it", he said and stood up. "It's the bio-electric field, I couldn't adjust it to everyone. Should it remain up or do you want me to shut it off?"

NPC Ensign Roberto Padrini (Medical)
[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay]

Roberto noted the tension between Dranik and the Caitian. Somehow the man had taken offense of his words. The Italian trusted that the other medical officer from the Discovery would have an eye on them and on Dranik especially since he seemed to start to feel unwell as well.

When Grithaw pulled him aside, Roberto listened to him with interest while he took the PADD from him. Grithaw was commenting on what he saw and Roberto nodded his head. "I think you're right." His eyebrows furrowed. "I'm afraid I have to disappoint you, but I don't know either of the two. But we'll figure this out." He nodded at Grithaw, hoping he would join him as he returned to Dranik and Ciavil.

Although the matter was urgent, Roberto spoke to the pair calmly. They needed to know the truth after all. "It turned out that the life-signs of one of your babies is very weak. This is an emergency situation and we have to get both babies out as quick as possible to prevent something really bad to happen." He looked at her sympathetically. "We should start the procedure immediately. Then everything will be okay, I promise you. It was good you came her right away."

[Ian Galloway]

"Healy to the Fleet, we took a bad blow and are left with impulse engines only. We'll try to keep up our shields as long as possible by rerouting energy."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian winced at the report, but given the intensity of the fighting compared to the size of the Healy, that she'd taken heavy damage wasn't a surprise, she simply wasn't designed for heavy fleet combat.

"Understood Healy, if'n you need assistance let us know. The parasites are concentratin' on the station and make for fine target practice at the moment. You can drop back for repairs should you require."

[Lek]

Lt Paul Wessex

Parsing all the several elements going on around him, Wessex tried to organise his thoughts to Captain Solluk's request, while not looking up from his board. This, however, was a matter he had some useful experience in, given the NavPat's understandable omission of shields in subship construction and operation- thus, lack of shields required other means of baffling transporter signals from raiders and other parties that took advantage of such. "In the Naval Patrol, we block unwanted transports by alternating hull plating polarity with a oscillating EM harmonic; but I don't know how we can initialise that from here, and I don't know if this station has the conduits to do it." He risked a glance over to Lek then Ops. "Or", he considered, "I also perhaps suggest activating all transporters aboard Katra in a maximum-power permanent activation cycle - the targeting scanners covering all the critical areas - without actually beaming anything through; the competing signals may be enough to disrupt any incoming hostiles."

[Operations Control Center - Katra Station]

Lek was surprised by the station commander's touch because Vulcans were not known to be tactile, but despite his surprise, he nodded in gratitude at the Captain's comments. When the tactical officer made his suggestion, Lek was rather crestfallen as he thought he had a good idea as well, but didn't think anyone would listen given he was an intruder on the station.

"I was going to suggest inverting the shield's polarity and then flood them with positrons. If the attackers attempt to beam through the shields, the positrons will infiltrate their annular confinement beam and initiate at cascade failure within their transporters. If we get lucky, it will completely destroy them, if not, at the very least, it will cause them to have to re-initiate them and will shut them down for several minutes."

[Finn Moreno]

[Wonderland]
So shutting off everything was only an option if they wanted to kill all the evacuees and therefore not an option.
"We'd better keep the most important systems running." Finn rolled his eyes at Cathy, who had pointed out the obvious. "I was talking about the engine, communication...anything super obvious."

Again he stood up to pace back and forth a little wrapping his arms around himself as if that could protect him from a wrong decision. Tess was in the back of his mind because her and Rayeks son was on board but also everyone else on the Wonderland. That was a shitload of responsibility for someone who usually didn't fly around live cargo.

As Juraan said some people were getting sick, Finn nodded. "Go, take care of them...but keep the disguise up, unless it's seriously endangering someone. If you see a baby name Fvienn, make sure he's fine. He's my nephew." If it hadn't saved them so far, it still might. "Perhaps it's the reason the Whale wasn't interested in us."

As Juraan left Finn sat back down leaning his elbows on the console. "Fuck Cathy, how do we save these people?"
The convoy was under heavy fire by the Wanderer fighters.

On his screen he saw something, that could give them a bit of protection.
"Let's fly closer to that rock..."

[Solluk]

The Evacuee Convoy - Just Outside the Trialus System

The Tempest was doing its best to pour firepower into the Wanderers, but its limited mobility meant that it could not cover as much ground as effectively as it wanted to.  It was all the Type 6 shuttles could do to keep the saucer moving, and that was only possible because they'd been modified with enhanced tractor beams to act as effective tugs.  Half of the shuttles had been deployed by the Tempest herself, while the other half were loaners from Katra.  Each was pushing itself to maximum capacity to perform a job that they were not really meant to do.

Meanwhile, the Wonderland was limping away from the fray, trying to look inconspicuous as it edged towards a convenient rogue asteroid.

Fortunately, this was the moment that the Romulans chose to enter the fray.  Decloaking and firing fierce barrages, they managed to obliterate two of the Wanderer ships immediately.  The Wanderer squadrons faltered while the Wonderland was able to interpose the asteroid between itself and danger.

With the formidable Romulans joining the Tholians and Klingons and the Galaxy Saucer, the calculus of battle began to change.  The attack ship crews began to contemplate retreat.  A signal from the mothership confirmed it.

Turning, they engaged maximum warp away from the battlefield.  Some of them had taxed their engines for too long, and the drive systems broke down.  Three Wanderer vessels were left stranded- immobile and helpless as their power cores suffered emergency ejections.

Katra Station - Operational Control Center and Beyond

Solluk listened to Sirol as she described what he hoped were reinforcements, and not conquerors.  In the end, he had to trust that Eydis and her people had not received some unexpected offer from the Thinkers that might entice them.   Shi had been true to her word all this time.  "Make sure no station personnel interfere with the Tholians.  We could use the help with our boarders."

On that topic, he listened to both Wessex and Lek.  "Combine the plans.  Flood the shield perimeter with positrons.  But also engage internal transporters to set up an interference effect.  Between the two approaches, we should be able to keep successful intrusion to a minimum."

The issue of the sub-Delta wave transmission was not yet settled, but events were transpiring too quickly to dwell on it just yet.

Outside, some of the Wanderer ships despaired of escaping the web of destruction that was protecting the station.   Centering their transport signal on the enhancers carried by downed boarders, they began to initiate transport of their entire crews to the station.  For them, it seemed that their only remaining avenue to success and survival was in taking the station.  Their ships would shortly be left adrift and helpless in orbital space as they made a final thrust towards Katra's heart from within.

... but they had no idea that Lek and Wessex were on the cusp of closing the proverbial portcullis upon their heads...

[Luby Wentock]

The Hirogen turned to look at Grithaw and simply nodded. "I'm her...uh...I believe the correct word is Fiancee. I am concerned though. Normally her skin is not quite that pale. She didn't tell me why she went to the restroom but in all honesty, she didn't look as though she was feeling that well when she went."

He turned to look at T'charr and for a brief moment he considered sizing him up as he considered who would win in a fight between himself and the Caitian but he decided against it. Now was not the time for humor or jokes. "I've been...better to be honest. I thought I would have another month before our child would be born. There were some things I needed to tell Ciavil but I was too afraid to tell her. Now I fear I may have made a mistake in not telling her sooner.

Dranik closed his eyes for a moment as long repressed memories began to rise to the surface of his mind. He could remember the screams and the sounds of weapons fire and laughter. Quite a bit of laughter. He shook his head as he forced them back down.

NPC Ensign Roberto Padrini (Medical)
[Katra Station - Deck 22 - Sickbay]

Roberto noted the tension between Dranik and the Caitian. Somehow the man had taken offense of his words. The Italian trusted that the other medical officer from the Discovery would have an eye on them and on Dranik especially since he seemed to start to feel unwell as well.

When Grithaw pulled him aside, Roberto listened to him with interest while he took the PADD from him. Grithaw was commenting on what he saw and Roberto nodded his head. "I think you're right." His eyebrows furrowed. "I'm afraid I have to disappoint you, but I don't know either of the two. But we'll figure this out." He nodded at Grithaw, hoping he would join him as he returned to Dranik and Ciavil.

Although the matter was urgent, Roberto spoke to the pair calmly. They needed to know the truth after all. "It turned out that the life-signs of one of your babies is very weak. This is an emergency situation and we have to get both babies out as quick as possible to prevent something really bad to happen." He looked at her sympathetically. "We should start the procedure immediately. Then everything will be okay, I promise you. It was good you came her right away."

[Sickbay - Deck 22 - Katra Station]

[As NPCs Nurse Grithaw Rag, Lt.j.g. T'Charr from Discovery and unnamed female medical orderly from Katra]

"Ah yes, I believe either Nurse Donaghue or Cadet Wentock would have been dealing with you since they are better at midwifery... I could try contacting them see if they can give any insight but I'm afraid time is of the essence.  Since you're her fiancÁ©, I'm not going to shoo you off, tho!" Grithaw said to Dranik with a kindly smile.

He turned to the Nurse who had got Ciavil prepared and into a gown was gently rubbing the poor woman's back.

"OK... prepare for foetal transport..." Grithaw said.

"Don't worry this is a normal procedure for us Mr. Dranik..." T'Charr said in a soothing voice "...it will enable us to get your twins out of your fiancÁ©e's womb as quickly and safely as possible, then if we need we have enough medics around to work on each separately as needed.  I'm sure everything is going to be fine! If you're feeling a bit ropey I can get you a chair?  I know you want to support Ciavil, but having you flake out on us isn't going to do our rep or your health any good."

"Locked onto the baby's co-ordinates, Nurse Rag, are we cleared to initiate umbilical separation.  I'm doing this separately to minimise possible transporter issues." the female orderly said quietly.  "And because I've never done this before.  I've got the weaker one first."

"Good takes seconds anyhow.  As you're ready, do the first one and then work as normal on the child with Ensign Padrini, I'll take the 2nd with Lt. j.g. T'Charr. If that's ok with you Ensign?"

[Tekin Nevir]

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

There was a power flux and shudder in the ship as power was rerouted in an unorthodox method, but the ship remained at warp.  The deflector dish started emitting the quantum particles in front of the ship, creating the quantum field that would act as a spear; piercing through the quantum barrier.  As soon as it was larger enough to engulf the ship, it was dense enough to be visible as a blue hued plasma tunnel, and the ship lurched forward as it entered the stream.

Inertial dampeners struggled with compensating for the increased speed, and the crew found itself forced back for a few minutes, as the ship shuddered violently.  In main engineering the refit crew worked as they could to try and stabilize what was a smaller drive for a larger engine.  Ten minutes went by with the ship feeling like it was about to break apart, and the stress on the hull did exceed maximum tolerance, but it was the will of the prophets that Discovery held together.  That, and Lek's redesigned shields.

Finally the shuddering faded slowly, and the hull integrity returned to normal use.  Outside the viewscreen was just a field of blue swirling like liquid around the ship in waves as the ship traveled through the tunnel.  It was honestly quite awe-inspiring if it wasn't so dangerous.

15 minutes into their travel the alpha core started giving warning as the slipstream drive strained to hold such a large vessel in comparison.  The Enginering teams did their best to hold it together, but it was clear they had to drop soon.  The Captain ordered to hold course... just a little longer... and the ship was starting to shudder again.

[Around Tralis's star]

By a miracle, a distortion field formed near the sun with a blue hue, and Discovery shot out of the tunnel, dropping very quickly to normal space.  This was sharp enough for the crew to feel it, but aside from any major injuries, they would have to wait.  The Conundrum was in sight near them, while what was detected as an anomaly was forming nearby.

"Target the ship's engines and disable them.  Engage tractor beam and hold them tight.  Helm, pull us away from the star.  Engineering, do what you can to fix the drives.  I want to know what they are doing, and how to stop or reverse it." he said, turning to his XO for that one.

Every instinct was telling him to neutralize the ship and hurry back for the Healy... but he couldn't afford to make whatever was happening worse.  The scientist in him knew much, much better.

[Sirol]

< Katra Station / OCC >

At this point, Sirol had placed investigating the anomaly into secondary relevance.
While she was still checking for updates on the Tetryon and Chroniton readings, and was ready to inform Hrafn and Solluk, as soon as any change would occur, she had also come to the conclusion, that at this point, there was little other left than waiting.
Waiting for the Discovery to hopefully be able to intervene.
Instead Sirol had settled with following her last orders; doing what she had been best at anyways: Observing and deciphering. She continued monitoring the Tholian boarding party and their progress through the base.

Solluk listened to Sirol as she described what he hoped were reinforcements, and not conquerors.  In the end, he had to trust that Eydis and her people had not received some unexpected offer from the Thinkers that might entice them.   Shi had been true to her word all this time.  "Make sure no station personnel interfere with the Tholians.  We could use the help with our boarders.

Sirol calmly nodded without looking up from her terminal.
She did not exactly like this approach.
In her opinion, both Station personnel and Tholian personnel would have had higher success chances when working together. Not to mention that although, yes, the Station could have used all help, indeed, but what about the Tholians? They were only a handful against an unknown number of potential opponents"¦
Sirol squinted, but did not say anything, In the end, she concluded that Solluk knew his personnel's capacities better than she did; that he knew what had to be done.
"œWorking on it." She replied, and opened a new file on her terminal and began to type.
Instead of sending a conventional audible announcement over the internal communication, and potentially warn any unaware Wanderers of the Tholians' presence, Sirol decided to take a more subtle approach.
A silent, incoming PSA, to be read at all public access points.
She speculated that the Wanderers would not notice yet another blinking blip, unlike the station personnel, which would instantly be able to identify the notification as PSA.

To: All Katra Station Personnel
From: Ens. Sirol

On behalf of the CO >> Do NOT attack, interfere with, or hinder the progress of the Tholian task force.

"œDone." She eventually spoke calmly.
As she sent out the PSA, it also popped up on every terminal on the OCC.
She gave her superiors a slightly apologetic look, yet remained silent, and then returned to monitoring the progress of the Tholians again.

[Azsayak]

Eydis had order the acrux to remain around the station and keep swatting any wander craft it could. Successfully seeing a few wanders craft destroyed before the general retreat order is seemingly given. Abroad the station the crystalline Dane axe wielding tholian warriors were heading to the command center. Four warriors enter the command center past bewildered federation security personnel.

Skaldyr would survey the room and those in it as if doing a body count. Speaking in tholian to the other warriors. Skaldyr would remain behind and nod to both commander Solluk and nodded to zex. The others would turn around and head out from the command center. Skaldyr would turn and stand next to the door to the main entrance of the command center. His bulky armour clad , axe wielding form would be the first and likely last sight for any hostile meaning to get into the command center. The large crystalline axe head was in the pattern of a Dane axe but head jagged chipped edge like that of obsidian blade. It left little doubt that skaldyr could remove even medium armoured  limbs with relative ease.

Splitting into two pairs one going right and the other left down the hallway. The warriors moved slowly down the hallways. Pausing as if waiting for something. Occasionally the warriors would happen upon a security team. Looming around a corner and likely giving a few a fright.

Uamee and akrona were still holding a good majority of the wander forces at bay and the web had been completed around good chunk of the wander attack craft, nearly 40 percent of the initial craft had just had the rug pulled out from under them. The tholian energy web ensnared their craft and the remaining ones were being dealt with by a combination of the romulan courier vessel and uamee, arkona. Along with the dead and dying wander marines abroad the arkona the tholians were taking prisoners.  The two tholian orb weavers would now begin to approach the tholian web trapped chunk of wander attack craft. It would literally be like shooting fish in a barrel. Yet no withering tertyon beam fire came from the two cruisers. Who just parked themselves with uamee imposing most of itself in front of the damaged arkona. It would only take the cruises a matter of seconds to vaporise those in the web.

You can not escape and your destruction would be pointless waste. Power down your crafts now, and you will be turned over to federation. Do not foolishly give up your lives. It will accomplish nothing. You may be returned to your people even, or decide to join the Cosmos as meaningless wreckage. This hail was sent to the trapped wander attack craft in the tholian web
Eydis hir fury having subsided a bit sense the battle started. Was being to think more tactical. Hir murderous rage fueled by the immature grafted crystalline entity on hirself had been Controlled. Shi watched hir command crew move as the acrux along with the station fended off the small wander attack aircraft. With hir calm thought space shi would reach out over the lattice to hir deltan friend. "œ Tholian forces have secured some prisoners. Inform commander Solluk some of the prisoners are badly burned and will not last much longer abroad the arkona. Federation medical personnel will be needed. The enemy soldiers boarded the arkona without proper protective suits. "œ

[Hrafn Falleg]

< Katra Station / OCC >
Sirol quickly looked up to Hrafn and instinctively nodded.
She had not been expecting this sort of question, but understood well enough that her reaction towards seeing the destroyed ships most likely must have been noticed by someone.
"œI am"¦ Working on it..." She truthfully answered. She was not alright - in fact, she had felt heartbroken at the sight, yet there was no time to process these emotions right now, and neither was there time to discuss them...
Sirol just quietly raised an eyebrow, her eyes moving fort and back between Hrafn and Solluk. There was a lot of cryptic information wrapped in her sentence - enough to trigger her curiosity.
Hunching over her console again, Sirol began to search for information on the Astrocetus, and her eyes seemed to widen. The wonders of space seemed to show up at the most inopportune times, or didn't they?
Instead she looked up at Hrafn again.
"œI am not sure whether a resonance cascade can be stopped at that point, but the damage might be minimised if the Conundrum could somehow be removed from it's position"¦
At the cost of the Tetracellium, that is."
Sirol had expected many things, yet certainly not a speech. Especially not a speech to mean something to her.
"˜You are the immortal soul of Katra Station.' The words seem to echo through her mind.
Strangely enough it had been one of the most uplifting; inclusive things she had heard in a very long time"¦
She calmly nodded into Solluk's direction, then acknowledged the speech the only way she had learned, with a slow and honest Romulan salute towards him, followed by her rotating her chair back to her terminal, and pulling the life feed of the combat orbiting Katra onto one of her viewscreens.Seeing the destruction; unwillingly putting herself into the shoes of the people in those ships; the people dying and/or losing their crews still disturbed her, but she saw sense in Solluk's words.
Katra station; This here, was her new home now, making the people out there part of it.
No matter how she felt; they had it worse right now, and even though Sirol was unable to help any of them, she would at least pay them the respect and see them...

With a deep inhale she had calmed herself down again, straightened her pose and checked the countdown, then had a look on the status of the conundrum again."œConundrum itself seems dormant, but the resonance cascade is about to hit critical levels.
The Trialus sun is now sufficiently triggered and the process might become irreversible, Sirs."
She turned around to Hrafn, exchanging serious looks, then she took the latest readings of the freighter, and sent them - next to the countdown - onto the display havering over the holo table.
She then focused her own terminal again, as the cloaking Nei'rhh on her viewscreen caught her attention...Sirol's eyes narrowed, and she quietly hissed at her terminal. Was this what it looked like? Now? In the middle of an emergency?!
"œInconsiderate coward!" She whispered in a bitter tone. "˜I can only hope you have your ship filled to the brim with refugees and run on limited resources.' She thought by herself, but, truly, she saw no legitimate justification for Tomax; for anyone"¦ To run away and leave it to the others"¦
Sirol forced herself to focus on other things in the feed, yet could not help but shake her head with a mix of anger, disappointment and second-hand embarrassment...Raising an eyebrow at the docking ship on her screen Sirol ran a quick scan. No wanderers, no attack"¦ Not the boarders that had been announced, but potential assistance instead.
Looking at both, Hrafn and Solluk, Sirol spoke up in a slightly confused tone.
"œOne of the Tholian ships has docked"¦ And I read seven life signs making their way in..."

Katra Station - OCC

Solluk arched a brow in surprise when Sirol saluted him.  It seemed a genuine gesture, as unexpected as it was welcome.

When Lek minimized his own contributions, Solluk reached out to clap the Ferengi on the back, in a way uncharacteristic of Vulcans but increasingly common from this particular Captain.

"I feel certain we'd be a strip short of a bar if not for your help, Lieutenant."

But unfortunately, there was little time for celebration.

On the holo-display, it was clear that the initial group of the Wanderers who had penetrated the Oort cloud were retreating back to their mothership.  If Solluk had to guess, he'd guess that the Wanderers were beginning a general withdrawal.  It made sense.  They might still possibly defeat the Federation and Allied forces, but at what cost?  There'd be little left of their fleet.  The initial group of fifty vessels had been whittled down to less than half that number.   The twenty-five who'd assailed the station were now down to twelve, as the Challenger and Healy arrived to pour additional fire into them.  But rather than get shot trying to escape, they were doubling down, sending marines into Katra.

The vessels near the convoy did not seem poised to retreat.  Not enough pressure was being placed in that quarter, apparently.   Where were the Romulans?  It would be terrible if they'd evacuated the station only to make the evacuees into a smorgasbord.

Sirol shouted something, but before Solluk could see what had angered the officer, Wessex reported both on the arrival of additional boarders... and a strange signal within the OCC.  It seemed that such a thing could only be the product of a spy or surveillance device!

"Computer," Solluk ordered, "Reset the Holo-Display to project a red arrow pointing at the source of the sub-Delta-wave transmission."

The red arrow manifested itself, and pointed directly at Zex.  Solluk's brow furrowed.  Perhaps the computer had misunderstood, and instead of pointing at a sub-Delta transmission, it had pointed at the Deltan instead.

But new news came from Sirol.  The Tholians had managed to dock with the station before the shield envelope had been completed.  They were boarding with shock troops.

"Lieutenant Falleg, the computer seems confused.  Get me a fix on the source of that transmission.  Someone or something in the OCC may be sending intel to our enemies."

As Hrafn worked on her problem, she would find the unlikely answer that the source of the signal was, in fact, Zex herself.

Then Solluk looked to Sirol, "Make sure those Tholians are friendlies.  This would be a bad moment for an unexpected coup."

Finally, to Wessex, "Is there a way we can scramble those Wanderer transporter signals?  If just one of these boarders gets into a sensitive area..."  He trailed off.  Wessex didn't need to be told.  "Lieutenant Lek, I'm sure any of your thoughts are welcome, as well."

[OCC - Katra Station]

"We do have a Tholian Embassy here and I'm... well I'm not sure if 'friend' is the right word but on friendly terms with, Ambassador Eydis.  Ensign Zex is hir preferred contact but..." Hrafn whispered to Sirol.

When Solluk called on her to find the sub-Delta-wave transmission she frowned.  Did he mean what she thought she was getting from the Urulei or ??

"Sir, working on the sub-Delta problem, however ... since our friendly Astrocetus has shown up I have one idea we might manage but we'd have to work exactly, now...you know I can talk to her, I've done it before, you know I have.  Since she seems to be a bit ah...hungry, perhaps she could get the Conundrum and deposit it elsewhere, it would either stop the cascade or at least direct it away from our ships and the station? If I ask nicely?" the CSO offered.

She turned to Sirol, speaking out of the corner of her mouth quietly.  "Yes, before you ask, I have some limited telepathic ability.  My father is half Minardan." she offered by way of explanation and also a look as if to say 'Now's not the time to elaborate, but later... sure!'

"Regarding the sub-delta-wave transmission, it does seem to be emanating from around Ensign Zex's terminal, I'm not accusing you of anything Zex..." she added quickly. "I'm sure we all trust you. I'm just wondering if someone has planted something.  I've just recently had my knee fixed from my last attempt at Engineering, so... Lt. Lek, if you're not busy or if we could get Lt. Goodspeed or Gramps or someone to come and see if something's been planted or whatever? Or could it be some Tholian method of communication?  Zex?"

< Katra Station / OCC >

At this point, Sirol had placed investigating the anomaly into secondary relevance.
While she was still checking for updates on the Tetryon and Chroniton readings, and was ready to inform Hrafn and Solluk, as soon as any change would occur, she had also come to the conclusion, that at this point, there was little other left than waiting.
Waiting for the Discovery to hopefully be able to intervene.
Instead Sirol had settled with following her last orders; doing what she had been best at anyways: Observing and deciphering. She continued monitoring the Tholian boarding party and their progress through the base.Sirol calmly nodded without looking up from her terminal.
She did not exactly like this approach.
In her opinion, both Station personnel and Tholian personnel would have had higher success chances when working together. Not to mention that although, yes, the Station could have used all help, indeed, but what about the Tholians? They were only a handful against an unknown number of potential opponents"¦
Sirol squinted, but did not say anything, In the end, she concluded that Solluk knew his personnel's capacities better than she did; that he knew what had to be done.
"œWorking on it." She replied, and opened a new file on her terminal and began to type.
Instead of sending a conventional audible announcement over the internal communication, and potentially warn any unaware Wanderers of the Tholians' presence, Sirol decided to take a more subtle approach.
A silent, incoming PSA, to be read at all public access points.
She speculated that the Wanderers would not notice yet another blinking blip, unlike the station personnel, which would instantly be able to identify the notification as PSA.

To: All Katra Station Personnel
From: Ens. Sirol

On behalf of the CO >> Do NOT attack, interfere with, or hinder the progress of the Tholian task force.

"œDone." She eventually spoke calmly.
As she sent out the PSA, it also popped up on every terminal on the OCC.
She gave her superiors a slightly apologetic look, yet remained silent, and then returned to monitoring the progress of the Tholians again.

Hrafn got the message on her terminal and nodded her approval at Sirol, so far she was impressed with the young woman.

"Good thinking... gives the Tholians tactical advantage still if the Wanderers are unaware they are here!" the CSO winked.

[Solluk]

Katra Station - Operational Control Center

Solluk nodded to Sirol in acknowledgement of the notice she'd put out.  He'd have a talk with Eydis later about barging shock troops onto the station without asking first.  But right now, he didn't want an unintended conflict between the Tholians and station personnel.  He hoped he wasn't making a misstep.  He hoped he could count on the Tholians to remain friendly.

When Hrafn offered her telepathic ability to send a message, Solluk shook his head, "I'm not sure it would work at this range, Lieutenant... and I'm not sure I should be asking an endangered creature to make additional combat interceptions.  We will trust in Captain Tekin.  He'll get it done."

Trust your Wingman.  An old axiom in flight operations, and it held true even when scaled up to the fleet at large.

Trialus System - at the Discovery and Conundrum

The Discovery activated its tractor beam, pulling the Conundrum out of its close orbit of the Trialus sun.  It did this just as the Tetracellium crystal on board went critical.

A blue light exploded from the Conundrum.  The light engulfed the Discovery, and extended at faster-than-light speeds through the entire Trialus system.  It consumed Katra and the ships in orbit of Meridian.  It consumed Meridian itself.  As the blue glow pierced each object and solar body, the matter was thrown out of alignment with the normal universe.

Every piece of matter entered a universe of pure energy.  Every person became pure consciousness.  It was an experience unlike anything that anyone in the solar system had ever endured... except for the Meridians themselves.  They knew this place well.  It was the universe of consciousness that they had once periodically transited to.

The Thinkers had found a way to activate the anomaly again- but rather than merely shift Meridian itself, they had shifted the contents of the entire solar system.  Katra, Meridian, and the assembled forces of Starfleet ceased to exist in the normal universe entirely.

On Katra, Solluk felt his mind as though it was a floating bundle of thought.  Discrete, yet able to interact with neighboring thought-spaces.  He felt Hrafn, Sirol, Wessex, Zex, Lek, and the others present close-by.   He felt the thought-groups of other officers and crew on the station, like that of Catherine Goodspeed and Kal Jimrec.

The thought-zones of the intruding Wanderers were there, too.  The utterly alien thought-structures of the Tholians.  Even the friendly thought-bubbles of the station animals, be they Vulcan, Terran, or Cardassian former-furballs.

There was no color here.  And every color.  'Peering' through this new universe of the mind, he could feel the crews of the surrounding vessels.  He could feel lives and thought-persons all the way out to the sun and the edge of the system.  He could feel Benjin.  He could feel Beja.  The Astrocetus, too, had a consciousness that bobbled in this boundless domain.

Fascination subsided and was replaced by alarm.  If the solar system had been brought to this mysterious dimension, then the Thinkers had succeeded.  They had removed their Starfleet obstacle, and blunted Federation exploration into the Gamma Quadrant.  Who knew what mischief they would engage in, now?

[Danjar-Torra Addams]

Ensign Danjar-Torra Addams
[USS Discovery - Deck One - Bridge]

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

He was not necessarily expecting a large scale battle, but he was prepared for it, and as Discovery shook, the Captain sighed; they were the first to have the new shields ready.  It was the QSD that was still offline.  After the initial volley against Discovery herself was done, and the shields had barely dropped but a few percentages, he actually smiled.

"Remind me to put in a commendation for Lek.  Said, attack pattern Gamma 4.  They may be more maneuverable, but we have a full 360 targeting view." he said, looking at his chair's display as the proximity sensor told of an explosion from behind them... Challenger's little surprise.

There was something that was concerning though.... the convoy was breaking up.. or at lest one ship was.  Every instinct told him to take the ship back there, especially with fighters incoming.  But he had a job to do, and nothing short of a dire emergency will force his hand.

Around them, Discovery's defenses were hit like bug bites, either inflicting no damage or only taking out a percentage or two.  Even with multiple attacks, the new shields were so far able to withstand quite a bit of punching.  Previously, the type of fire that Discovery would take would have brought the shields down at least by a quarter.  But he could hold auxiliary power for other systems now.

A message from Challenger informed them of a priority target; one of the fighters engaged with them might be the leader.  A chance to pull a leader off the battlefield...

"Find that lead ship and des- disable it.  I want the pilot in our brig." he ordered, before Torra notified him of an emergency message.  He instructed Nira to carry out his orders while he listened.

"DAMN!" he said, standing up.  With a fist clenched he called down to the refit team in Engineering.  "Bridge to Engineering... how are we on engines?" 

"We're having difficulty with stabilizing the quantum manifold.  I estimate about another half hour or so before the new drive is online.  You do have full warp, however." 

The Captain grimaced.    "Understood... stand by for high warp."  he said, sitting back down.

"Discovery to Challenger.  We still don't have our new drive.  And you know to obtain our max speed, we need to stay together.  I'm leaving you in charge of the fleet.. we'll be back as soon as possible.  Discovery out." 

"Helm, bring us about, set course for the star.  Maximum warp." he ordered, looking out the screen. The stars would be shifting, and then stretching soon.

"Bring tractor beams online, and hail the Conundrum.  Tell them to stand down and power down." he said, ready to grab the ship as soon as they dropped out of warp.

At the Captain's orders Torra began the process of bringing the tractor beam online.  Then opened a channel for the Captain.  "Channel open, sir."

"USS Discovery to freighter ship Conundrum.  Your actions have been noted.  Stand down all weapons and power down your engines.  Repeat... Stand down all weapons and power down your engines."

She waited moment.   "There's no response, sir"

[Lieutenant JG Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Nira's anger had abated in her face, but they had fueled her reflexes. Her fingers danced on the console with the weapons. Before she knew it, twenty of the attackers were taken out. She was sure Discovery accounted for most of them, thanks to her. What initially surprised her was how the shields had held up against the Wanderers' fire power, barely dropping five percent down. Had all these ships been Jem'Hadar attack ships, Nira was sure the crews of all the ships involved would've been corpses walking. Then again, the Discovery had been undergoing a refit; perhaps the shields would hold even against a Dominion attack. Not to mention...

They definitely have to be pirates, thought Nira to herself. Seems to apply even to pirates of the Gamma Quadrant, too.

Nira had noticed how the Challenger had bore down on the Wanderers. Only Captain Galloway could pull off something like that. Then again, so did Don.

Nira furrowed her brow when the Captain said "full 360 degree targeting view." Then she realized that she was utilizing that to the fullest. The Athena certainly didn't have that, and Nira wondered if she was using it without realizing it. Then again, radial phaser dispersal was helping with that, and Nira was exceptionally clever, often figuring things out. Not to mention she practiced attack patterns whenever she could on the holodecks.

Nira looked up when a message from the Challenger mentioned one of the ships harassing Discovery was the leader. Captain Tekin gave his order to find and disable the ship to Nira just as Torra gave a message. Nira worked as quickly as she could. Nira noticed one Wanderer ship in particular seemed intent on sticking with the Discovery like an incredibly parched mosquito. Even when most of the other ships were withdrawing, this one seemed intent to keep on harassing the Discovery as much as possible. That had to be the lead ship.

Smiling grimly in a "you're mine" kind of expression, Nira targeted the engines. She had heard the Captain correct himself - she heard him almost say "destroy" - but she understood the feeling. She also wanted to take the leader alive. She worked as quickly as possible; she heard something from the Captain that they were heading to warp speed momentarily. That meant she had to stop the leader and get him or her to the brig.

Targeting, Nira hit the engines and, for good measure, took out the shields. The phasers pummeled at the lead ship; she didn't want to use torpedoes, for they would only destroy them. It wasn't hard, anyhow. The lead ship was eventually just a drifting antique. Remembering that the transporter chiefs would likely be helping with evacuations somewhere else in the system, Nira pulled up the transporters at her console and had everybody beamed to the brig.

"Captain, we have the leader," said Nira with satisfaction. And just in time before the ship was about to warp away.

Torra glanced over and gave an appreciative dip of her head towards her friend for picking up Torra's slack with the transporters.

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

Nevir wanted to slam his fist into the arm of the chair... but damn that was still new.  Plus, anger would not be helpful.  So the Bajoran held onto his natural instinct of reacting to frustration, and instead needed to think.  What he would have given to have Lek right now....

The Captain stood up from his chair and almost ran to the Engineering station.  The drive itself was still offline.  They needed it now more than ever... and this time testing was out of the question.

"Dammit... if we had the drive, we could make it in half the time.  Bridge to Engineering, I need to speak to the officer in charge."

"Lt. Commander Tovar here.  Project lead of the Quantum Program.  And believe me, Captain, I know what you are going to say, but we're still at least 30 minutes away.  We can't move any faster without shorting the main drive and blowing up half of the ship." 

Good... maybe they can get out of this yet.  Not about the drive, but that they still had a project lead.  "Mr. Tovar, you're the closest I have to a Chief Engineer right now.  And the truth is in 30 minutes there might not be a system, let alone a ship, to worry about.  If we don't get to the Trialus star in less than 30 minutes, everything we are doing would be for not.  So I understand that we can't get the main drive online.  But we need something.  What about Alpha's core... you have that finished, yes?"

"We do, but we haven't set the auto separation for the cores... and the Alpha hull even with the QSD would take about 20 minutes more." 

An idea popped into his head.  "What if... what if we bring the alpha core online, and feed the QSD through there?"

There was silence, and for a moment he thought the comms cut out, but then the Engineer was back.    "You would be irradiating two decks.  But it might be possible.  It won't last though, and it risks damaging the entire system." 

"Understood... stand by." he said, standing up and walking back to the center of the bridge.  He took a deep breath.

"I'm about to ask you all to risk your lives for a plan that might not work.  If you have any objections, please tell me now, and it will be noted in the log." he stated, looking around at his crew.  They didn't have a choice in the matter, and everyone knew that.. but it was still right for the whole story to be told.

After he looked at everyone, he nodded.  "Thank you.  Secure all stations.  Seal off decks 5 and 6.  Helm... bring Alpha's engines online... and prepare to engage the quantum slipspace drive.  Engineering, set Alpha core to maintenance mode and lock intakes into the main manifolds.  Shutdown all non-essential systems, and divert power from all but Alpha Sickbay, Bridge, Engineering... and the Brig.  All power." he said, sitting down as his orders were executed.  He waited for confirmation, and then nodded his head.

"Mr Addams... engage the slipspace drive."

[Lieutenant JG Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]
When Captain Tekin made his announcement, Nira replied after a momentary silence, "Captain, at least one ship or one crew in Starfleet out there risk their lives to achieve the impossible. Whether the plan works or not, I stand by you, sir. We all do."

Once he ordered all stations secured, Nira did just that and then braced herself to risk her life with the rest of the crew to boldly go achieve the impossible.

"We are Starfleet. That's what we do," he shared.

The holographic image controls was weird. They are real as one can be. He was adapting fast to them. He placed power to the Alpha engines online.

The button for the Slipstream seemed to be fifty times bigger then itself. The reason it was feeling that way to Don because this could work or not work. Time was slow but his mind was hyped up of not knowing.

"Here goes nothing," he finally said and then he pressed the button and...

Torra dipped her head in agreement with Nira's words and then smiled beside her towards her husband as he shared his own perspective on their duty.

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

There was a power flux and shudder in the ship as power was rerouted in an unorthodox method, but the ship remained at warp.  The deflector dish started emitting the quantum particles in front of the ship, creating the quantum field that would act as a spear; piercing through the quantum barrier.  As soon as it was larger enough to engulf the ship, it was dense enough to be visible as a blue hued plasma tunnel, and the ship lurched forward as it entered the stream.

Inertial dampeners struggled with compensating for the increased speed, and the crew found itself forced back for a few minutes, as the ship shuddered violently.  In main engineering the refit crew worked as they could to try and stabilize what was a smaller drive for a larger engine.  Ten minutes went by with the ship feeling like it was about to break apart, and the stress on the hull did exceed maximum tolerance, but it was the will of the prophets that Discovery held together.  That, and Lek's redesigned shields.

Finally the shuddering faded slowly, and the hull integrity returned to normal use.  Outside the viewscreen was just a field of blue swirling like liquid around the ship in waves as the ship traveled through the tunnel.  It was honestly quite awe-inspiring if it wasn't so dangerous.

15 minutes into their travel the alpha core started giving warning as the slipstream drive strained to hold such a large vessel in comparison.  The Engineering teams did their best to hold it together, but it was clear they had to drop soon.  The Captain ordered to hold course... just a little longer... and the ship was starting to shudder again.

[Around Trialus's star]

By a miracle, a distortion field formed near the sun with a blue hue, and Discovery shot out of the tunnel, dropping very quickly to normal space.  This was sharp enough for the crew to feel it, but aside from any major injuries, they would have to wait.  The Conundrum was in sight near them, while what was detected as an anomaly was forming nearby.

"Target the ship's engines and disable them.  Engage tractor beam and hold them tight.  Helm, pull us away from the star.  Engineering, do what you can to fix the drives.  I want to know what they are doing, and how to stop or reverse it." he said, turning to his XO for that one.

Every instinct was telling him to neutralize the ship and hurry back for the Healy... but he couldn't afford to make whatever was happening worse.  The scientist in him knew much, much better.

[Lieutenant JG Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Nira felt the ship shuddering and she could see the blue tunnel on the viewscreen. She thought it had been especially bad when the missing Starship Burke flung through time and collided with Discovery, and when it entered normal space, things got sharp enough for Nira to be flung from her chair - not like when she was in the turbolift when the Burke collided - but fortunately, Nira was flung only partway and rolled the rest of the way across the Bridge.

Nira staggered up, stretched from the instant soreness, and returned to her station, staggering once or twice on her way back. Nira looked at the ship near the star and the anomaly forming...Nira instantly wondered if it was similar to the ones she had seen on the final days of her time on the Athena, like when they made First Contact with the T'Sari and the T'Kori or when she and the rest of Athena's crew was forced to experience the same half hour over and over and over again in a time loop...but Nira was sure they would've been resolved, nor would they have been conjured up by the battered ship she was seeing like this one. Nonetheless, she was sure it had to be stopped, and the Captain ordered just that.

"Aye, sir," said Nira, and targeted the engines. With the phasers, as with the lead Wanderer ship, she took out the engines. "It's ready for the tractor beam."

Slipstream was something of awe and beauty that Torra felt privileged to have experienced, though she was grateful that she was seated for the emergence or it could have ended with her on floor.   She made a note to forewarn all hands to brace for slipstream from now on.

The Captain called out orders and including a call for use of the tractor beam.  Tractor beams were her thing.  The beam was ready momentarily after the Captain's orders and with it, Torra reached out across the distance to latch onto the Conundrum, just seconds after Nira had crippled the freighter.

"Tractor beam engaged, sir.  We've got her tight." she announced. "Reeling her in."

Katra Station - Operational Control Center

Solluk nodded to Sirol in acknowledgement of the notice she'd put out.  He'd have a talk with Eydis later about barging shock troops onto the station without asking first.  But right now, he didn't want an unintended conflict between the Tholians and station personnel.  He hoped he wasn't making a misstep.  He hoped he could count on the Tholians to remain friendly.

When Hrafn offered her telepathic ability to send a message, Solluk shook his head, "I'm not sure it would work at this range, Lieutenant... and I'm not sure I should be asking an endangered creature to make additional combat interceptions.  We will trust in Captain Tekin.  He'll get it done."

Trust your Wingman.  An old axiom in flight operations, and it held true even when scaled up to the fleet at large.

Trialus System - at the Discovery and Conundrum

The Discovery activated its tractor beam, pulling the Conundrum out of its close orbit of the Trialus sun.  It did this just as the Tetracellium crystal on board went critical.

A blue light exploded from the Conundrum.  The light engulfed the Discovery, and extended at faster-than-light speeds through the entire Trialus system.  It consumed Katra and the ships in orbit of Meridian.  It consumed Meridian itself.  As the blue glow pierced each object and solar body, the matter was thrown out of alignment with the normal universe.

Every piece of matter entered a universe of pure energy.  Every person became pure consciousness.  It was an experience unlike anything that anyone in the solar system had ever endured... except for the Meridians themselves.  They knew this place well.  It was the universe of consciousness that they had once periodically transited to.

The Thinkers had found a way to activate the anomaly again- but rather than merely shift Meridian itself, they had shifted the contents of the entire solar system.  Katra, Meridian, and the assembled forces of Starfleet ceased to exist in the universe entirely.

On Katra, Solluk felt his mind as though it was a floating bundle of thought.  Discrete, yet able to interact with neighboring thought-spaces.  He felt Hrafn, Sirol, Wessex, Zex, Lek, and the others present close-by.   He felt the thought-groups of other officers and crew on the station, like that of Catherine Goodspeed and Kal Jimrec.

The thought-zones of the intruding Wanderers were there, too.  The utterly alien thought-structures of the Tholians.  Even the friendly thought-bubbles of the station animals, be they Vulcan, Terran, or Cardassian former-furballs.

There was no color here.  And every color.  'Peering' through this new universe of the mind, he could feel the crews of the surrounding vessels.  He could feel lives and thought-persons all the way out to the sun and the edge of the system.  He could feel Benjin.  He could feel Beja.  The Astrocetus, too, had a consciousness that bobbled in this boundless domain.

Fascination subsided and was replaced by alarm.  If the solar system had been brought to this mysterious dimension, then the Thinkers had succeeded.  They had removed their Starfleet obstacle, and blunted Federation exploration into the Gamma Quadrant.  Who knew what mischief they would engage in, now?

'Oh dear.  What now...?!' Torra's consciousness thought. 'Don? Are you here?'