STO-licious
Hey look! Imma writin' again.
Ground Zero
Captain's log. The Hobus supernova is one of the greatest tragedies in centuries. The strange behavior of the exploding star led not only to the loss of one of the most well-known heroes of the Federation, but the destruction of Romulus and Remus and the deaths of countless billions. The Federation has tasked the Wanderer with the job of conducting a survey in the Hobus system, in hopes that we can discover why the supernova converted its planets into energy, and then shunted that energy through subspace. Perhaps we can finally gain some closure for all sides of this, though under the watchful eyes of the Romulan quarantine, I cannot shake the feeling that some deeper truth lurks here.
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"Do not gloat, Commander. Your victory will be short-lived. If you value your life, you'll leave this system immediately."
Wayas grimaced. The Wanderer had survived the onslaught, but the attack had come without warning from the decloaking Reman ship. She glanced around the bridge at her officers. Everyone was sharing the same significant looks - something here was very, very deeply wrong. Ampaak was the first to speak. "Recommend we examine the two remaining planetoids, sir. There is obviously something here that Commander Karatek doesn't want us to find." She nodded, leaning slightly to one side in her chair. "Aye. Take us to the next planet, one quarter impulse. Remain at yellow alert."
The mission had begun... well, as normally as it could. When they arrived in-system, the Reman ship Sithesh had been waiting for them. Its captain, Commander Karatek, waited around just long enough to admonish them to approach only the third planet of the system, collect their scans quickly, and then get out. And then the ship had cloaked. Right off the bat, he'd worried Wayas, but she had written him off as a bureaucrat more interested in his race's pride than any sort of real answers.
However, after detecting traces of protomatter in the planet's core, they'd gotten odd readings from some nearby asteroids, silvery in color and shaped almost like thick chips. When they approached the asteroids, the Sithesh had decloaked and opened fire without warning. It wasn't a match for the Wanderer by any stretch, but the attack in and of itself was alarming. Something was going on here that they were trying to cover up.
And now, they were approaching Hobus II. As they came within range, Sivak and Stassinos were already hard at work running scans, collecting all the data they could. After a few moments, Sivak looked up, reporting in his usual monotone, "Hobus II shows signs of a protomatter explosion, and debris on the surface that could have come from some sort of processing operation gone wrong. I recommend we take a sample for further study." Wayas nodded. "By all means." The prevalence of protomatter was worrisome.
Before she could muse on it further, though, Sivak spoke up again. "Scanners are detecting some kind of shield covering a large crater on the surface of Hobus I, captain." He quirked an eyebrow at her, before returning his attention to his console. "This may be what Commander Karatek didn't want us to discover." He was probably right. "Take us in at full impulse, Ydam." "Aye, captain." As they worked their way inward through the asteroids of Hobus II, however, sensors pinged another enemy contact; a single Bird of Prey. Wayas wasn't fooled. Where you could see one, there were always two lying in wait.
The ship prepared an overwhelming opening strike; the moment the first ship decloaked, it was met with a blistering torrent of firepower that ripped through it before it could mount an effective defense. The other two ships proved to be thoroughly outmatched by the cruiser's heavy firepower, and Wayas found herself once again impressed with the sheer toughness and meanness of the chimera of a vessel Starfleet had put together. She definitely had fight in her. It was a good thing, too; a second Reman patrol was in evidence not long after the first, and the same tactics served them quite well. The Commander couldn't keep the frown off her face, in spite of the relatively easy battles. They really didn't want the Wanderer getting to Hobus I's remains.
Of course, when they arrived, she began to see why. Sivak's report was worrying. "There are strange energy signatures coming from the surface of the planet," he declared evenly. "I'm picking up deposits of protomatter, decalithium and tekasite, and equipment that could be used to process those materials." He looked up at her, and his face was, she was startled to discover, full of concern. "Captain... in sufficient quantities, those three substances could be combined to create an explosive device of massive power. If it were loaded into a probe and sent into a healthy star, it would create a supernova."
The final statement filled the bridge like the ringing of a funeral bell. Oh god. The Remans did it themselves. They set Hobus off, Rylia realized with slowly growing horror. She kept her feelings off her face, however. "I recommend we collect samples, sir," Sivak noted. "We need to know more." Wayas nodded her head. "Do it. And watch out for the Sithesh. She'll be around here somewhere. We're too close to the prize for Karatek to let us go." As if on cue, Ampaak spoke up over a beeping at his tactical readout. "Captain, the Sithesh has returned!" Wayas turned to face the viewscreen, her face hardened. "Open fire!"
Once again, the skirmish was brutal but brief, and ended with the Wanderer pounding the Sithesh until the Reman ship disappeared, driven off as before. And just as before, Sivak spoke up as it cloaked. "The Sithesh is hailing us again, captain. Putting it on the main viewscreen now." She found herself facing Karatek, her face a careful, stern mask. "Karatek, that's twice now you've attacked us unprovoked, and twice now we've driven you off. I'd strongly recommend you reassess whether whatever you're trying to cover up here is worth your life." But the Reman only snarled. "This is not over! I will have your head mounted on my wall!"
She switched the screen off without a second thought. "Amp, Sivak, T'Raal, Ydam. We're going down to the surface. They've attacked us and endangered my crew four times now. We need to find out just what it is they're trying to protect. Lieutenant Chmielowiec, you have the bridge. Ensign Agayer, take the helm." The five officers headed for the turbolift quickly, every one of them grim to some degree or another. This wasn't going to be easy.
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"This is clearly some kind of mining operation," Sivak observed. They were down under the shield on the chunk of planet. "Based on what we've seen thus far, I'd say the Romulans don't know about it and the Remans want to keep it that way." Wayas nodded to him, shifting her sniper rifle in her grip. "That sounds about right. They're desperate to make sure we don't get out of here."
Sivak looked over his tricorder, then closed it and shifted his own weapon to the ready. "We should collect samples of the elements they're processing here as evidence. We will be able to compare them to the energy signature of the supernova and determine if material from this planetoid was used to create the cataclysmic explosion." He paused, and then added, "I also recommend that we scan each of the power conduit hubs in this area to learn more, sir. There is something strange going on here." She nodded her head lightly. "Then that's what we'll do. Alright, team, let's move."
-----
The fighting was bitter, the Remans dug in firmly on the planetoid and unwilling to give ground. They had some of their best warriors down there, and by the time Wayas and her crew had collected all the info they needed, they had also collected a nice assortment of cuts, bruises and plasma burns. However, Sivak was on his game, already working on the problem - and the solution. "I've analyzed the data from the conduits and the samples, and I've reached some conclusions, sir. First, the Remans' method of mining is causing the planetoid to be extremely unstable. In fact, the situation is critical. If we don't do something, this planetoid could become another Praxis."
Praxis. The ultimate example of mining gone awry. The Klingons had very nearly doomed their race by overmining their own homeworld's moon so badly it had torn itself apart in a catastrophic explosion. Wayas looked around, a frown on her face. "Is there anything we can do to fix it?" Sivak nodded. "I think I can alleviate the problem, but we will need to disable the northern conduit and reduce the power moving through the western one. Once we've done that, we will need to increase power to the eastern conduit. That will stabilize the power flow."
The Commander had to fight back a sigh. Here they were, trying to save an already-shattered planet from the people who may well have shattered it to begin with, and save those people in the process. My life just keeps getting better, doesn't it? "You said you had other conclusions?" she asked, almost afraid of the answer. He nodded. "Secondly, the signatures of the samples match that of the supernova. Material from this planetoid was used to create it." The bottom dropped out of her stomach. That means it's deliberate. The deaths of billions of Romulans were murder. Oh god, this will tear the Romulan empire in half!
"We need to report our findings to Starfleet," Sivak said in a quieter tone of voice. "Recommend we adjust the power conduits quickly and get back to the ship." Wayas nodded. It was an ugly job... but the truth needed to get out. "Alright. Everyone, fall in. Let's finish the job down here."
----
"You just couldn't leave like you were told, could you? Typical Federation stupidity! You had your chance. Now you've learned too much!"
Wayas had to grimly admit that she wasn't surprised. They'd just finished adjusting the eastern conduit hub when the Reman commander and a large number of troops beamed down. The five of them barely avoided the opening barrage, and from there it was a firefight. But for all their numbers, the Remans fell behind the five Starfleet officers in both training and technology, and between them they were able to slowly whittle down the numbers. Karatek himself was the toughest customer, though, able to hold the five of them off alone for over a minute before he finally retreated.
And just as they were relaxing, Lieutenant Stassinos hailed them. "Captain, Commander Karatek has beamed back aboard the Sithesh and has powered up his disruptors! Please return to the Wanderer immediately!" She frowned. The girl sounded a bit panicked. "Take it easy, Stassinos. We're on the way. He won't be able to stop us." She looked between the four with her, who all nodded. "Wayas to Wanderer, five to beam directly to the bridge. As soon as we're on, go to red alert."
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Sitting in the captain's chair with her combat armor still on was uncomfortable, but Wayas had no time to worry about it. Ampaak was at his station and working overtime already. "Captain, Commander Karatek has cloaked and called in for reinforcements!" Shit. He was hoping to let the other ships soften the Wanderer up and then swoop in for the kill. Crafty Reman bastard. He had to know he was sacrificing the ships, and everyone on them, just for his shot at them.
"You know what to do, Ampaak. Hit 'em hard and fast!" The Klingon nodded, his face grim and determined. She could tell he'd been itching for this the whole way, and she didn't blame him. She wanted to take the Commander down herself. What they'd done here was beyond appalling.
The Wanderer came about, laying into the three Birds of Prey that appeared with quite possibly more weapons than any two of them had together. Four phaser banks, two fore and two aft, with enough firepower among them to noticeably drain the power in their weapons systems - not enough to cause a problem, but more than enough to register. The first of them was obliterated near instantly, its shields torn apart by the phaser broadside, leaving an opening both for those selfsame phasers and the high-yield quantum torpedoes fired from the ship's aft tube.
As the Wanderer came about to face the second and third, the first was already gone. Neither of them lasted long at all, managing to cause only superficial damage to the ship. Its hazard emitters kicked in, a new system designed to take the strain off the crew and keep the ship running longer in a battle; plasma fires all over the ship's hull went out, and even some of the hull damage was repaired well enough to hold up until the crew could get to it. By the time they finished the third Bird of Prey, the other two almost might as well have not attacked.
Three more warped in, and it was the same song. The Wanderer was a slow beast in space, but she was a beast, and whatever angle the ships approached from, they regretted it. When the Sithesh finally decloaked, Wayas's face was a near scowl of determination. "You are not getting away today," she muttered. With its captain actually standing and fighting, the Sithesh was a much more dangerous beast. Like a cornered cat, it clawed hard. They were a match for it, but only just, and more than once a shield was battered down enough to allow a stray plasma torpedo graze to set parts of their hull alight. But the hazard emitters held, the engineering crews kept the ship together, and the weapons the ship bore proved superior. With one final torpedo, the Sithesh exploded in space.
"The Sithesh has been destroyed, captain," Sivak reported. "We need to report what we've found to Admiral T'nae. Command will want to investigate in more detail." Wayas nodded somberly. "The people who did this should be made to answer for what they've done," she said. "Alright. Ydam, lay in a course for 39-Sierra, warp 7. Sivak, open up a channel to Admiral T'nae. Let her know we're coming in with some... pretty major findings. And Stassinos?" The younger science officer, Sivak's direct subordinate, squeaked when addressed. "Y-yes, sir?"
Wayas smiled. "You did good, kiddo. Relax." Relief flooded the girl's face. "Yes, sir!"
Ground Zero
Captain's log. The Hobus supernova is one of the greatest tragedies in centuries. The strange behavior of the exploding star led not only to the loss of one of the most well-known heroes of the Federation, but the destruction of Romulus and Remus and the deaths of countless billions. The Federation has tasked the Wanderer with the job of conducting a survey in the Hobus system, in hopes that we can discover why the supernova converted its planets into energy, and then shunted that energy through subspace. Perhaps we can finally gain some closure for all sides of this, though under the watchful eyes of the Romulan quarantine, I cannot shake the feeling that some deeper truth lurks here.
-----
"Do not gloat, Commander. Your victory will be short-lived. If you value your life, you'll leave this system immediately."
Wayas grimaced. The Wanderer had survived the onslaught, but the attack had come without warning from the decloaking Reman ship. She glanced around the bridge at her officers. Everyone was sharing the same significant looks - something here was very, very deeply wrong. Ampaak was the first to speak. "Recommend we examine the two remaining planetoids, sir. There is obviously something here that Commander Karatek doesn't want us to find." She nodded, leaning slightly to one side in her chair. "Aye. Take us to the next planet, one quarter impulse. Remain at yellow alert."
The mission had begun... well, as normally as it could. When they arrived in-system, the Reman ship Sithesh had been waiting for them. Its captain, Commander Karatek, waited around just long enough to admonish them to approach only the third planet of the system, collect their scans quickly, and then get out. And then the ship had cloaked. Right off the bat, he'd worried Wayas, but she had written him off as a bureaucrat more interested in his race's pride than any sort of real answers.
However, after detecting traces of protomatter in the planet's core, they'd gotten odd readings from some nearby asteroids, silvery in color and shaped almost like thick chips. When they approached the asteroids, the Sithesh had decloaked and opened fire without warning. It wasn't a match for the Wanderer by any stretch, but the attack in and of itself was alarming. Something was going on here that they were trying to cover up.
And now, they were approaching Hobus II. As they came within range, Sivak and Stassinos were already hard at work running scans, collecting all the data they could. After a few moments, Sivak looked up, reporting in his usual monotone, "Hobus II shows signs of a protomatter explosion, and debris on the surface that could have come from some sort of processing operation gone wrong. I recommend we take a sample for further study." Wayas nodded. "By all means." The prevalence of protomatter was worrisome.
Before she could muse on it further, though, Sivak spoke up again. "Scanners are detecting some kind of shield covering a large crater on the surface of Hobus I, captain." He quirked an eyebrow at her, before returning his attention to his console. "This may be what Commander Karatek didn't want us to discover." He was probably right. "Take us in at full impulse, Ydam." "Aye, captain." As they worked their way inward through the asteroids of Hobus II, however, sensors pinged another enemy contact; a single Bird of Prey. Wayas wasn't fooled. Where you could see one, there were always two lying in wait.
The ship prepared an overwhelming opening strike; the moment the first ship decloaked, it was met with a blistering torrent of firepower that ripped through it before it could mount an effective defense. The other two ships proved to be thoroughly outmatched by the cruiser's heavy firepower, and Wayas found herself once again impressed with the sheer toughness and meanness of the chimera of a vessel Starfleet had put together. She definitely had fight in her. It was a good thing, too; a second Reman patrol was in evidence not long after the first, and the same tactics served them quite well. The Commander couldn't keep the frown off her face, in spite of the relatively easy battles. They really didn't want the Wanderer getting to Hobus I's remains.
Of course, when they arrived, she began to see why. Sivak's report was worrying. "There are strange energy signatures coming from the surface of the planet," he declared evenly. "I'm picking up deposits of protomatter, decalithium and tekasite, and equipment that could be used to process those materials." He looked up at her, and his face was, she was startled to discover, full of concern. "Captain... in sufficient quantities, those three substances could be combined to create an explosive device of massive power. If it were loaded into a probe and sent into a healthy star, it would create a supernova."
The final statement filled the bridge like the ringing of a funeral bell. Oh god. The Remans did it themselves. They set Hobus off, Rylia realized with slowly growing horror. She kept her feelings off her face, however. "I recommend we collect samples, sir," Sivak noted. "We need to know more." Wayas nodded her head. "Do it. And watch out for the Sithesh. She'll be around here somewhere. We're too close to the prize for Karatek to let us go." As if on cue, Ampaak spoke up over a beeping at his tactical readout. "Captain, the Sithesh has returned!" Wayas turned to face the viewscreen, her face hardened. "Open fire!"
Once again, the skirmish was brutal but brief, and ended with the Wanderer pounding the Sithesh until the Reman ship disappeared, driven off as before. And just as before, Sivak spoke up as it cloaked. "The Sithesh is hailing us again, captain. Putting it on the main viewscreen now." She found herself facing Karatek, her face a careful, stern mask. "Karatek, that's twice now you've attacked us unprovoked, and twice now we've driven you off. I'd strongly recommend you reassess whether whatever you're trying to cover up here is worth your life." But the Reman only snarled. "This is not over! I will have your head mounted on my wall!"
She switched the screen off without a second thought. "Amp, Sivak, T'Raal, Ydam. We're going down to the surface. They've attacked us and endangered my crew four times now. We need to find out just what it is they're trying to protect. Lieutenant Chmielowiec, you have the bridge. Ensign Agayer, take the helm." The five officers headed for the turbolift quickly, every one of them grim to some degree or another. This wasn't going to be easy.
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"This is clearly some kind of mining operation," Sivak observed. They were down under the shield on the chunk of planet. "Based on what we've seen thus far, I'd say the Romulans don't know about it and the Remans want to keep it that way." Wayas nodded to him, shifting her sniper rifle in her grip. "That sounds about right. They're desperate to make sure we don't get out of here."
Sivak looked over his tricorder, then closed it and shifted his own weapon to the ready. "We should collect samples of the elements they're processing here as evidence. We will be able to compare them to the energy signature of the supernova and determine if material from this planetoid was used to create the cataclysmic explosion." He paused, and then added, "I also recommend that we scan each of the power conduit hubs in this area to learn more, sir. There is something strange going on here." She nodded her head lightly. "Then that's what we'll do. Alright, team, let's move."
-----
The fighting was bitter, the Remans dug in firmly on the planetoid and unwilling to give ground. They had some of their best warriors down there, and by the time Wayas and her crew had collected all the info they needed, they had also collected a nice assortment of cuts, bruises and plasma burns. However, Sivak was on his game, already working on the problem - and the solution. "I've analyzed the data from the conduits and the samples, and I've reached some conclusions, sir. First, the Remans' method of mining is causing the planetoid to be extremely unstable. In fact, the situation is critical. If we don't do something, this planetoid could become another Praxis."
Praxis. The ultimate example of mining gone awry. The Klingons had very nearly doomed their race by overmining their own homeworld's moon so badly it had torn itself apart in a catastrophic explosion. Wayas looked around, a frown on her face. "Is there anything we can do to fix it?" Sivak nodded. "I think I can alleviate the problem, but we will need to disable the northern conduit and reduce the power moving through the western one. Once we've done that, we will need to increase power to the eastern conduit. That will stabilize the power flow."
The Commander had to fight back a sigh. Here they were, trying to save an already-shattered planet from the people who may well have shattered it to begin with, and save those people in the process. My life just keeps getting better, doesn't it? "You said you had other conclusions?" she asked, almost afraid of the answer. He nodded. "Secondly, the signatures of the samples match that of the supernova. Material from this planetoid was used to create it." The bottom dropped out of her stomach. That means it's deliberate. The deaths of billions of Romulans were murder. Oh god, this will tear the Romulan empire in half!
"We need to report our findings to Starfleet," Sivak said in a quieter tone of voice. "Recommend we adjust the power conduits quickly and get back to the ship." Wayas nodded. It was an ugly job... but the truth needed to get out. "Alright. Everyone, fall in. Let's finish the job down here."
----
"You just couldn't leave like you were told, could you? Typical Federation stupidity! You had your chance. Now you've learned too much!"
Wayas had to grimly admit that she wasn't surprised. They'd just finished adjusting the eastern conduit hub when the Reman commander and a large number of troops beamed down. The five of them barely avoided the opening barrage, and from there it was a firefight. But for all their numbers, the Remans fell behind the five Starfleet officers in both training and technology, and between them they were able to slowly whittle down the numbers. Karatek himself was the toughest customer, though, able to hold the five of them off alone for over a minute before he finally retreated.
And just as they were relaxing, Lieutenant Stassinos hailed them. "Captain, Commander Karatek has beamed back aboard the Sithesh and has powered up his disruptors! Please return to the Wanderer immediately!" She frowned. The girl sounded a bit panicked. "Take it easy, Stassinos. We're on the way. He won't be able to stop us." She looked between the four with her, who all nodded. "Wayas to Wanderer, five to beam directly to the bridge. As soon as we're on, go to red alert."
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Sitting in the captain's chair with her combat armor still on was uncomfortable, but Wayas had no time to worry about it. Ampaak was at his station and working overtime already. "Captain, Commander Karatek has cloaked and called in for reinforcements!" Shit. He was hoping to let the other ships soften the Wanderer up and then swoop in for the kill. Crafty Reman bastard. He had to know he was sacrificing the ships, and everyone on them, just for his shot at them.
"You know what to do, Ampaak. Hit 'em hard and fast!" The Klingon nodded, his face grim and determined. She could tell he'd been itching for this the whole way, and she didn't blame him. She wanted to take the Commander down herself. What they'd done here was beyond appalling.
The Wanderer came about, laying into the three Birds of Prey that appeared with quite possibly more weapons than any two of them had together. Four phaser banks, two fore and two aft, with enough firepower among them to noticeably drain the power in their weapons systems - not enough to cause a problem, but more than enough to register. The first of them was obliterated near instantly, its shields torn apart by the phaser broadside, leaving an opening both for those selfsame phasers and the high-yield quantum torpedoes fired from the ship's aft tube.
As the Wanderer came about to face the second and third, the first was already gone. Neither of them lasted long at all, managing to cause only superficial damage to the ship. Its hazard emitters kicked in, a new system designed to take the strain off the crew and keep the ship running longer in a battle; plasma fires all over the ship's hull went out, and even some of the hull damage was repaired well enough to hold up until the crew could get to it. By the time they finished the third Bird of Prey, the other two almost might as well have not attacked.
Three more warped in, and it was the same song. The Wanderer was a slow beast in space, but she was a beast, and whatever angle the ships approached from, they regretted it. When the Sithesh finally decloaked, Wayas's face was a near scowl of determination. "You are not getting away today," she muttered. With its captain actually standing and fighting, the Sithesh was a much more dangerous beast. Like a cornered cat, it clawed hard. They were a match for it, but only just, and more than once a shield was battered down enough to allow a stray plasma torpedo graze to set parts of their hull alight. But the hazard emitters held, the engineering crews kept the ship together, and the weapons the ship bore proved superior. With one final torpedo, the Sithesh exploded in space.
"The Sithesh has been destroyed, captain," Sivak reported. "We need to report what we've found to Admiral T'nae. Command will want to investigate in more detail." Wayas nodded somberly. "The people who did this should be made to answer for what they've done," she said. "Alright. Ydam, lay in a course for 39-Sierra, warp 7. Sivak, open up a channel to Admiral T'nae. Let her know we're coming in with some... pretty major findings. And Stassinos?" The younger science officer, Sivak's direct subordinate, squeaked when addressed. "Y-yes, sir?"
Wayas smiled. "You did good, kiddo. Relax." Relief flooded the girl's face. "Yes, sir!"