12 Star Trek SID Cat & Mouse
The Burnett rushed into the system at full impulse. As soon as she was in range, the Cheyenne-class cruiser unleashed a volley of quantum torpedoes. They bracketed a single Warbird. The other two Warbirds separated away from the stricken Warbird to minimize oncoming weapons' fire and to bracket the Burnett in a crossfire. Serenity and the Obsidian joined in the fray. The Warbird closest to the station broke free from the loose formation angled for a better attack on the space station.
"That is Commander Rejik's ship," P'ris informed Riker, "He is Donatella's second. He's the most experienced in ship to ship combat next to Commander Donatella herself."
"Who's the weak link?" Riker asked grimly.
"The wounded ship hosts Commander Sheyla. She is new to her post and most adept at boarding and occupation maneuvers," P'ris supplied the requested information, "She is Tal Shiar, not Imperial Fleet. She is best suited to skullduggery not open combat."
"Jaycee?" Riker suddenly said.
"Yessir?" she rejoined.
"Did you catch all of that?" he inquired.
"I was a little busy shooting at the enemy, sir," she quipped, "You'll have to run it by me again."
"Commander, will you?" Riker asked with a pained expression.
P'ris smiled warmly, "Of course."
She moved to Miller's station and began giving her instruction. Soon, Miller was focusing on the ship otherwise protected from the Burnett and held back from the station. The two gunslingers were meant to batter the station's defenses and pave the way for Sheyla's ship to move in and transport an occupation force aboard.
As Serenity's shields became increasingly porous, the more the Obsidian began to feel the incoming barrage. The Outbound Ventures crews were under another constraint as well. Starfleet regulated how many photons could be stored aboard a civilian station, even one run by a security agency. The station was desperately low on ordnance by now. The truly sad part was that the Obsidian had begun with more torpedoes than the more vulnerable station could be called a travesty.
As it was, the Obsidian was purposely built as a scientific vessel. Its description as a surveyor was completely accurate. The Nova-class had replaced the venerable, but long lived, Oberth-class science ships. While it was true that the Nova-class was better protected than the nearly unarmed Oberths, it was still lightly armed compared to a ship of the line. The entire class was designed to conduct in depth surveys after the exploration ships had passed through and other cruisers had secured the operational theater.
The Obsidian had faced unspeakable forces and triumphed over impossible odds while surviving horrendous damage. The truth was, she's simply been lucky to survive Macen's captaincy. The El-Aurian had a rather checkered past when it came to command. He'd lost the Hydra-class escort USS Odyssey, the Blackbird-class scout SS Odyssey, the Ju'day-class raider SS Eclipse, and the Blackbird-class SS Solstice. That didn't include the original Danube-class runabout SS Corsair. The Obsidian had just proven tough enough, and stubborn enough, to endure until Riker assumed the captaincy.
Of course the original Corsair had been replaced by a namesake. The Solstice had also been succeeded by the Solstice-A. The runabout served as the Obsidian's primary support craft while the scoutship was Macen's personal ship. She was housed in a massive underground hangar complex at the Outbound Ventures HQ.
With her had been the Skylark-class SS Idiot's Delight. Macen had shipped the craft off to Vulcan. It was the one tangible link T'Kir had with her past and Macen felt she should retain that since the ship had been her personal baby. Of course, the newly dispassionate T'Kir would probably be revolted at the emotional connections that the ship would replay for her but Macen didn't care. He couldn't bear to have the ship nearby if T'Kir wasn't there with it.
All said and done, the surveyor was giving as best she could but she was caught in a crossfire and taking a beating.
"Jaycee, firm up those damn shields!" Riker ordered.
"Don't yell at me!" Miller squawked back, "Chew on Parva's ass for a change."
Riker shot a disgruntled look towards Forger. His XO decided to take matters into her own hands and commed the ship's Orion Chief Engineer. After a moment, she signed off with a resigned expression on her face.
"Parva's got her hands full," Forger reported, "She has as many damage control teams deployed that she can spare. The warp core's starting to hiccup and she's even called in McMasters to help.
"Ouch. That had to hurt her pride," Riker winced.
"That's why I'm not pressuring her. She's getting the job and no one else can do it better," Forger reminded him.
Riker knew that was certainly true. The Obsidian had had three Chief Engineers so far. Parva had been the first but she'd stepped down when Hal Dracas rejoined the team. She stepped up again when he resigned and rejoined Starfleet. She stepped down after being gravely injured. Her physical wounds had healed fairly rapidly but brain damage had been inflicted and it took a long series of re-education course to restore her skills. In the interim Dracas' clone, Joachim Dracas, had assumed the mantle.
Joachim's death coincided with Parva's return to the ship. Truth be told, Riker was happy to have her back. Hal Dracas had been competent and Joachim had been inventive but Parva was inspired. The ship was running better than ever. Of course, Parva had swallowed her pride on occasion and asked for the SID Engineer's help on occasion.
Eric McMaster's may not possess Parva's intuitive genius but he was a wonder to behold when it came to drive and weapons systems. This is what had made him the Maquis' chief refit artist. After serving his stint on a penal colony for his part in the Maquis, he'd set up shop customizing racing platforms and hot-rodding shuttles and runabouts. If anyone could offer Parva fresh insights on how to keep the warp core intact, he would be the one to do it.
Riker began issuing order to Miller. P'ris watched the activity with obvious disapproval. Macen noted this.
"You disagree?" he asked.
"We need to maneuver," P'ris replied, "If we stay in this crossfire we will be destroyed."
"What was that?" Riker asked sharply.
P'ris hesitated and Riker used a softer voice, "If you have any suggestions, Commander, I'm open to hear them."
"Sitting here is going to get us all killed," P'ris ventured, "You need to maneuver, not only for your sake, but also to draw off fire from the station."
"Jaycee, what's the status on Serenity's shields?" he inquired.
"They're collapsing as we speak," she grimly reported.
"Rhiann, get us the hell away from her and see if you can get both Warbirds to follow you," Riker ordered, "Jaycee, fire at will."
"Why would I take a potshot at your brother?" she asked.
Riker glared at her. She turned back to her console, "Try to have a sense of humor, geez."
Rhiann started accelerating right for Donatella's ship. At the very last second she veered off and made a pass at Sheyla's. Miller unloaded phasers and photons at both ships. She laid into Commander Sheyla's Warbird. The Obsidian broke free and headed for the Warbird engaging the Burnett.
The Cheyennes were designed as light cruisers. She was giving the Romulan hell but like the Obsidian, the Burnett was heavily outgunned. A volley of torpedoes from the surveyor caught the Warbird cold. Her commander had rerouted all power to the forward shields and left his aft quarter undefended. The unprotected hull ruptured under the antimatter bursts of the photons and the Warbird was venting atmosphere as the Obsidian raced by.
The Warbird's shields faltered and the Burnett's next salvo inflicted heavy damage. By this time, Donatella was in pursuit of the Obsidian. The Burnett engaged her and the battle resumed while the damaged Warbird desperately tried to make repairs.
Sheyla's Warbird engaged Serenity again. The Obsidian came about and hammered the beleaguered ship driven by an inexperienced commander. Rhiann literally flew circles around the Warbird. Riker was desperately trying to give the station's engineering staff time to erect the shields. If Sheyla got troops aboard, things would get ugly.
"Tom!" Danan yelled, "The Warbird has initiated transporters."
"Damn it!" Riker snarled, "Rhiann, take us in close. Jaycee, unload everything you have."
The Obsidian flew down the Warbird's throat and made it choke on several photons. Rhiann pulled away and made to come about. Riker asked Miller for a damage assessment.
"Of us or them?" she asked.
"If I wanted a report on us I'd be talking to Ephrim," he snapped, referring to Ephrim Zimbalist, the senior OPS Officer, "What's going on in that damn Warbird?"
"Their shields are fluctuating," Miller began to report, "We may be able to squeak some torpedoes through the gaps and really do some damage."
"Do it," Riker ordered.
"But there's a problem," she warned.
"And that is?" he calmly asked.
"We only have a dozen warheads left," she explained, "We were never intended for such a prolonged engagement so our magazines are teensy weensy."
"Just get ready to do some damage," Riker counseled.
He looked to Forger, who was barely able to contain her mirth. He still saw her in a different light than before. He didn't mean to but it totally changed his whole outlook on her. Fully transitioned transgender woman were one thing, he had several amorous encounters with such woman, but a pre-op transsexual? He hadn't known people stayed that way.
It wasn't like he'd entertained fantasies about sleeping with her, but still; such a thing was totally out of the question now. It wasn't so much that he'd wanted an opportunity as an opportunity had died with his newfound knowledge.
Danan had told him that some men preferred women like her. He'd found that hard to believe until McMasters had apparently hooked up with her over their recent vacation time. Both seemed blissfully happy with whatever had happened between them. He was happy for them, especially for Shannon because she'd been waiting it out waiting for just the right man to come along and McMasters might very well be the candidate she'd hoped for.
"Rhiann, set 12 mark 5," Jaycee requested.
Rhiann set the course and barreled in. They began taking disruptor hits she couldn't evade. The Romulan gunner became bolder and began to lay in particle beam fire. Jaycee suddenly released four torpedoes.
"Break away! Evasive action," Riker ordered.
Rhiann pirouetted away and then jigged and jagged her way away from the Romulan ship. Explosions rocked it near its engine compartment.
"Yes!" Miller cried out, "They're now on auxiliary power. Wait…even that's failing due to secondary explosions. They're running on fumes, sir."
"Meaning they're down to battery power," he surmised.
"Exactly," she said with self congratulatory pride.
"Good shooting, Tex," Riker praised her and also referenced her origins, "Now hail Serenity and find out if they need help containing the boarding party."
"Oh shit," Danan suddenly exclaimed.
She took over the viewer and switched its view to further out in the system. Two more Warbirds decloaked and began their approach.
"Oh, man. They are pissed," Miller commented.
"Belay that," Riker commanded, "What's their status?"
"They're running weapons hot and their targeting sensors are looking to acquire," she summarized. A ding from her console made her swear, "They've locked onto us."
"Waitaminute!" Danan cried out, "We've got a third ship decloaking and coming in hot. It's the Defiant!"
Riker was incredulous. For the Defiant to transit across two sectors in this amount of time meant that Captain Ro Laren had stripped off the safeties and nearly overloaded her engines. Still he could believe it. Macen and Danan were family to Ro. Her cell had supported his abortive venture into Cardassian space but he hadn't met the woman herself until years later after signing up with the SID.
"How many torpedoes do we have?" Riker wondered.
"Eight," Miller said with her usual gusto.
"Rhiann, take us in. Let's show Captain Ro that we've still got some fight left in us," Riker instructed.
Rhiann wore a Cheshire grin, "Yes sir!"
The Defiant opened up with pulse phasers and quantum torpedoes. The closest Warbird was completely pummeled. The starship kept at it, never relenting, and the Warbird's shields soon buckled. Rather than finish off the Romulan ship, Ro opted to rescue the Obsidian.
Riker had unleashed every last photon at the remaining Warbird. The phasers continually fired afterwards to keep the pressure on. However, the Obsidian was swiftly reeling as the Warbird concentrated all of its formidable firepower on her.
The Defiant intervened and finished off what the Obsidian had begun. The two ships were damaged but they still had auxiliary power and their impulse engines. Nearby, the Burnett had severely damaged Donatella's ship as she committed to riskier and riskier moves as her desperation mounted. The Defiant's pulse phasers made short work of her.
Ro hailed the Burnett's Captain. After conferring with her, she turned her attention to the Obsidian, "Hello Tom. Is Brin around?"
"Let me shift the viewer pick up to wide scan," Riker said, "Better?"
Ro peered at P'ris, "So you're the reason I was dragged two sectors away from my designated patrol zone."
"A distinct pleasure to meet you again, Ro Laren," P'ris smiled gratefully; "I see you have made Captain."
"I have the feeling you already knew that," Ro retorted. P'ris didn't deny it so Ro persisted, "Nechayev has been chewing my ass off. She wants you to accompany me and head for Sector 001."
"You're kidding," Macen remarked.
"No," Ro grated, "She was quite insistent."
"What about Serenity?" Macen wanted to know.
"The Burnett will be on station. Elements of the 9th Fleet are en route to relieve her," Ro replied, "We're to depart post haste."
"The ship's damaged," Macen informed her.
"Can she make warp speed?" Ro wondered.
Macen looked to Riker. He in turn looked to Zimbalist. The OPS Chief nodded.
"I guess we can," Macen said, "But we still need to make repairs."
"Then you can make repairs while you're underway," Ro countered, "Let Parva live up to her reputation as a miracle worker."
"I might be motivated to persuade Tom to send her to your ship and dismantle it," Macen threatened.
"And who'll bail your sorry butt out of trouble next time?" she asked facetiously.
"You're just fishing for a thank you," Macen teased.
"So what if I am?" Ro asked indignantly, "I think I deserve one."
"So you do," Macen conceded, "Thank you, Laren."
"Now that that's settled, are you ready to get the hell out of here?" Ro asked.
"Tom, I'm picking up subspace wakes," Danan suddenly called out.
"How many?" Riker asked.
"Five, and before you ask, they have a Breen signature," Danan informed him.
"Where the hell is the 9th Fleet?" Riker demanded of Ro.
"There're on their way," Ro replied coldly, "They're tracking an entire Typhon Pact armada massed at the border, "The Barrinor system is lucky to be getting any ships at all."
"What about the surviving elements of the 7th Fleet?" he wondered, "They're stationed at Bajor."
"What's left of the 7th, which is made up of three ships by the way, has been reorganized into Picket Force 47, which I command," Ro tersely explained, "Now we don't have time for this bullshit. Go to your maximum available speed and follow me out of the system."
"Hold on," Riker tapped his comm panel, "Parva, I need maximum warp."
"Are you frinxed in the head?" the Orion demanded.
"No," he said dryly, "It's literally a case of life or death."
"That's what I've been trying to tell you," she huffed.
"Parva, five Breen warships are bearing down on us. No one's in a position to fight them so we've been ordered back to Earth," Riker explained.
"Who the hell can give us orders?" Parva protested.
"Brin can and he's ordering us to Earth," Riker lied.
"Tell him I'm going to kill him if we end up dying," Parva growled, "I'll give you Warp 9 but not a microcochrane faster."
"You're a goddess," Riker praised her.
"I know," she said mater of factly.
"Rhiann, lay in a course for Sector 001 and engage for Warp 9," Riker ordered.
"Aye sir!" she crisply replied.
The Defiant followed suit and both ships raced out of the system. The Breen slowed to impulse and traversed the system at sublight. Donatella angrily told them that two starships had escaped and were vectored for Earth. The Breen force set out at their maximum spewed. Fortunately, they'd been slowed by their deviation out of subspace and they'd also been burning their engines at maximum warp for twelve hours to get here on time. They had to reduce speed in order to avoid critically damaging their engines. This ensured that though they would burn the brush and chase the foxes through the fields that they would still arrive after said foxes had made it to their dens.
Ro alerted Home Fleet and the Home Sector patrols. The Breen were running cloaked. Their access to the Romulan cloaking tech was a condition of their joining the Typhon Pact. Little did they realize that the Romulans had given away an older generation of the cloaking tech. The latest generation was being reserved for Romulan ships and would hold the Romulan fleet in good stead should the Typhon Pact splinter.
The Defiant was on its last leg arriving at Earth. Ro had indeed run the engines well past their safety ratings in order to arrive at Barrinor in such record time. Nog was screaming at Ro to drop out of warp for the last thirty minutes of the journey while Ro merely replied with, "Five more minutes."
Those accumulated five minutes had gotten the Defiant within the safe embrace of the the Home Fleet. The Fleet was deployed in order to utilize a tachyon web to detect cloaked vessels. They were prepared for the Breen to try and penetrate the web despite certainty of discovery.
The Obsidian was minutes away from a warp core breach when she finally switched to her relatively stable impulse engines. Parva had threatened to blow the core just to spite them all if they didn't drop out of subspace. When the event finally happened, she angrily commed the bridge.
"It's about time!" she yelled, "Now I can clean up your frinxing mess!"
Riker glanced over towards Forger, "I think I should avoid Engineering for a while."
"Safe bet," she snickered, "And you might want to check the settings on your sonic shower the next time you use it."
"She wouldn't," Riker refused to believe it.
"Eric's down there with her," Forger reminded him. He gleefully noted her usage of McMaster's first name.
"Captain, we're getting a hail," Miller chimed in.
"Put it on screen," Riker instructed.
Admiral Nechayev's hardened features appeared. The blonde woman's hair had started to gray after the Borg invasion. The Argyn debacle had accelerated the process. Riker knew this latest event couldn't be helping matters any.
"Admiral, what a pleasant surprise," he jovially greeted her.
"Spare me the crap, Captain," Nechayev replied, "Is Commander P'ris secured aboard your vessel?"
"Yes, she is," Riker's voice lost all its friendliness.
"You're to put in at Spacedock. I'll have people waiting for her," Nechayev commanded.
"Civilian vessels aren't allowed in Spacedock," Riker archly reminded her.
She gave him a withering glare, "Civilian craft aren't allowed at the Utopia Planetia yards either yet you get tended there all the time on our nickel. You've been cleared. Just dock your damn ship where you're told, Captain."
The screen reverted back to its view of the Sol system. Riker squirmed in his seat. Macen came to stand beside him.
"It isn't worth fighting over, Tom. Alynna is right. We need to make port and make repairs," he tried to smooth things over.
"All right but she'd best remember who it is she's dealing with," Riker huffed.
"She does," Macen dryly replied. Seeing Riker's accusatory glare, "She looks at it this way: she's the boss of our employer, therefore her authority supersedes all others."
"Awfully shortsighted if you ask me," Riker grumbled.
"Have no fears, she won't," Macen remarked.
Riker's expression soured, "I'll let you know when we've docked. You know she'll have a team standing by to retrieve your little friend."
"You do remember the acuity of T'Kir's ears, don't you?" Macen idly wondered.
"Yes, so?" Riker was leery of where this was going.
"P'ris has those same ears," Macen warned him.
"Good. I want her to hear," Riker sniped.
Macen sighed and returned to P'ris and Rockford, "Ladies, I believe we have a date with an airlock."
P'ris looked slightly discomfited while Rockford appreciated the humor to be found there.
The airlock opened to one Commander Michelle Prentiss and a trio of Security officers. Prentiss was an SI agent, formerly in the SID's employ. She'd come up through Internal Affairs, just like Admiral Amanda Forger herself. The Director of the SID had been IA before being recruited by Nechayev to SI. Prentiss had been IA, then SID, and when the SID went over to civilian assets alone, she'd transferred to SI.
"Hello Commander," Macen said peaceably, "I hope you're not here to investigate us again.
That brought a slight smile to Prentiss' lips. Her investigation of Macen's SID team had been one of the most unorthodox experiences of her life, "No, I'm here to collect Commander P'ris."
"Commander Macen and Detective Rockford are coming with me," P'ris insisted.
Prentiss frowned, "That's highly irregular."
"Nevertheless, it will be a fact," P'ris demanded.
"May I ask why?" Prentiss chose to play along.
"Macen is my advocate. Where I go, he goes. Where he goes, I go. Detective Rockford feels the same towards Commander Macen so where he goes, she goes. Simple, no?"
"Hardly," Prentiss snorted. She returned to Macen, "I thought you were married to the Vulcan psi-witch?"
"I was. She died," Macen replied.
Prentiss blanched, "I'm so sorry. I didn't know."
"It's okay. She's alive now and living on Vulcan," he assured her.
Prentiss just stared at him, eyes bulging.
"Trust me, you do not want to try and unravel that particular enigma. I was there and I still don't get it," Rockford offered, "Suffice it to say, T'Kir's out and I'm in."
Prentiss knew Macen would literally fight to the death over this. For all of her relaxed, nonchalant demeanor Rockford had to be the same way or she wouldn't be with him. She knew nothing regarding P'ris but she could easily see the Romulan's steely resolve.
"Let me make some calls," Prentiss relented.
Minutes later she approached the trio, "All right. We'll play it your way but when we debrief her we'll do it without your participation."
Macen knew the comment was directed at him, "May I ask why you said 'we' just then?"
"Because this is my debrief. Admiral Nechayev is sitting in but I'm running the show," Prentiss proclaimed.
Macen knew Prentiss was in for some heartache when Nechayev finally pulled rank.