I've just finished chapter 4, the final part of the first mission. I hope you enjoy it.
Thanks for the review StevenM.
"Go to yellow alert, there's no telling what we will find when we drop out of warp" Captain Frost Commanded.
"Aye sir, yellow alert" Commander Vohl responded.
"15 seconds until we arrive" the Helmsman said.
The Probationer dropped out of warp. The space they were looked most like a spatial wasteland; several asteroids, some intact and some shattered, and remains of destroyed ships floating in between.
"Any sign of the Transport?" Captain Frost asked.
"Well there's a lot of wreckage here, but most of it doesn't match any federation configuration" Lieutenant Muller replied, "But there's a lot of wreckage here so our scans could take several minutes".
"Any sign of the attackers?" Commander Vohl Inquired.
"Sensors haven't picked up any active ships nearby commander" Lieutenant Muller answered. "So far it seems to be safe here".
Several minutes passed. The Probationer was moving at low impulse, scanning anything around them for signs of either the transport or the attacker. Tension rose as there was no sign of either, until Lieutenant Muller suddenly screamed.
"THERE!" She screamed at a volume that wasn't considered humanly possible until that moment.
Commander Vohl jumped up and Captain Frost looked like he just saw an entire parade of ghosts passing by.
"I've found our transport, sending position to the helm" Lieutenant Muller said, while the bridge crew were thankful she lowered her voice a bit. "It has taken an enormous amount of damage but it's still holding…. … barely".
"Move towards it" Captain Frost commanded, "Any survivors?"
"I'm reading 17 life signs, of which 3 in critical condition" Commander Vohl answered. "But most of their systems are down, life support is active but their communications are an entirely different story".
"What do you recommend? Attempt repairs or beam everyone onboard of our ship?" Captain Frost inquired.
"Well, their ship is pretty damaged. We might be able to save it but I see no reason to be safe and beam the survivors on board first". Lieutenant Muller responded. But suddenly her face changed to an expression of shock, "Captain we have an incoming ship, I will put it on the main screen".
"What kind of ship are we looking at?" Commander Vohl asked anxiously.
"Unknown hull configuration, the ship is not in our database". Lieutenant Muller responded. "It is coming straight for us and it is charging weapons."
"It must have been hiding behind one of the larger asteroids" Commander Vohl said.
"Red alert" Captain Frost shouted. The alarm sounded throughout the ship while weapons were brought online, "and try to hail the ship"
"They are opening fire", Lieutenant Muller yelled.
A green energy beam struck the shield of the Probationer. The blast shook up everyone onboard of the ship. The attacker
"Shields down to 83 percent" Talia reported. "It looks like they're armed with disruptors".
"They are coming around for another attack" Lieutenant Muller alerted the others.
"Well, let us not sit by idly while they destroy us and the transport" Captain Frost said, "Return fire! Try to disable their weapons"
The unknown attacker came in for another run and both ships exchanged fire, phaser and disruptor beams colored the space between them. Several hits were taken on both sides until finally a phaser blast downed the attacker's shields.
"Their shields are down" Lieutenant Muller reported just before the probationer took another hit from the enemy's disruptor.
"Shields down to 7 percent" Talia notified the bridge crew.
"Target their disruptor banks!" Captain Frost instructed "Hopefully they'll be more willing to talk when we have them disarmed".
A well placed shot from the Probationer's phaser banks silenced the unknown ship's attack, but once the Probationer tried to hail the other vessel once more it went to warp.
"Should we go after them, Captain?" Commander Vohl inquired.
"I doubt, we will be able to track them for long", Lieutenant Muller said "their current heading suggests they are moving towards a nearby nebula. The high amounts of radiation there will mask their ion trail".
"Besides, not only might we be unable to track them, they may be setting up another ambush there" Captain Frost thought out loud "No, let us not take any unnecessary risks here. Besides our mission was to find the transport and rescue it if possible, and they are still drifting out there between the asteroids. Move towards the transport, we should make sure we get it home safely before more trouble arises".
And so the Probationer flew back towards the transport. On Lieutenant Muller's suggestion an engineering crew was beamed over to the transport, making the repairs required to tow the transport back towards the starbase, where the repairs could be completed at least a month faster. Most of the transport's crew was transported aboard the Probationer, except from one engineer that was helping the repair crews. The wounded were transported directly to sickbay, the others were sent towards the mess hall for the time being. As soon as the transport was stabilized, the Probationer commenced towing it.
"Approximately 90 minutes until we reach the starbase, Captain" the helmsman reported.
"Captain, I'm picking up an incoming vessel at high warp" the officer who had taken Lieutenant Muller's previous post reported, "its hull matches the vessel we encountered in the asteroid field.
"Go to red alert! I doubt they've come back to apologize" Captain Frost said. He then activated his combadge "Captain Frost to Lieutenant Muller, the unknown ship has returned, does the transport have any defenses ready?"
"I am afraid not, the shields still need several hours of work, and the weapons need nothing short of a miracle to become operational again" The Lieutenant responded.
"Tell everyone to prepare for a breakout, it is much safer on the Probationer if they decide to open fire again" Captain Frost instructed.
"Affirmative, I will tell everyone to get ready for transport as soon as possible" Lieutenant Muller replied and closed the link.
A few moments later the attacker dropped out of warp. Their disruptor's still were not operational, but their shields were back up and they moved directly towards the Probationer and the transport.
"They are targeting the transport" Commander Vohl shouted.
"Beam everyone of that ship now!" Captain Frost responded.
As soon as Captain Frost gave that command, the attacking vessel fired two plasma torpedoes directly at the transport. The bridge crew of the Probationer saw the transport being consumed in a explosion as soon as the torpedoes hit the hull. The attacker wasted no time and went back to warp, apparently unwilling to attempt another exchange of fire with the Probationer.
"Transporter room, did we get everyone?" Captain Frost inquired over his combadge.
"I've got 13 people here, our entire repair crew has returned safely" the response sounded.
"And the engineer that was helping them?" Captain Frost asked.
"He's not here, I'm sorry sir".
"Sir, the attacker has left but we can still pursue them", Commander Vohl said.
"I think we have seen enough of them for now", Captain Frost shook his head "We weren't send out to chase raiders. We were sent here to help the ship and we simple aren't prepared for any prolonged missions. Let's get back to the starbase as soon as possible."
"With all due respect sir, what if they decide to raid the next transport they encounter" Talia uttered.
"I see your point, but they'll have to repair their damage first before they can go raid again. By the time they are done there should be more federation ships in the area" Captain Frost calmly explained "Send our sensors logs of our encounter and the last known heading of the ship to Starfleet".
Talia nodded, she wasn't fully pleased that the Captain wouldn't pursue the ship, but she could agree with his reasons to do so. She send the data on the encounter to Starfleet as she was ordered. Lieutenant Muller entered the bridge, she looked troubled.
"It is good you got us out there in time, still it bothers me Jenkins wasn't that lucky" she softly said "He was trying to make sure their data on the attack would not be lost. He must have been on his way back when the ship exploded. But there is something that disturbs me more…".
"What is it?" Captain Frost asked, he sounded a bit nervous.
"I am not sure yet, I have not had much time to check, but." she stared grimly "I believe those were Romulan disruptors, as in the ones currently being used on most new Romulan ships."
Walther suddenly shared Lieutenant Muller's troubled mood. Was this just a coincidence or are the Romulans involved in this? If they were, why? What would they be up to? If the Romulans were indeed involved here this could have far reaching consequences for the Federation, or even the entire quadrant. He looked at Talia and from the expression on her face he deducted he wasn't the only one having troubled thoughts.
The remainder of the voyage back was rather uneventful. They arrived at the starbase and the Probationer docked. When the ship docked the crew started offloading while Captain Frost and Commander Vohl were summoned to the admiral Praxton's office. They entered the office and sat down for debriefing.
"First off, I would like to congratulate you on your first mission's success, from my own experience I know that the first is always a bit more difficult, and especially under these circumstances:" Admiral Praxton said "If it wasn't for you things could have gone a lot worse for the transport's crew. It's a shame you couldn't capture the raiders but you took the right decision."
"What happens now? Is Starfleet taking actions to catch them?" Commander Vohl asked.
"The U.S.S. Enterprise and U.S.S. Songbird are searching the area as we speak but their last communiques tell us they haven't found the ship itself. It looks like they decided it was best to get out of there. The U.S.S. Songbird will remain in the area for a prolonged time to monitor the situation".
"One more thing, Lieutenant Muller thought the weapons the raiders used were Romulan" Captain Frost informed.
"Romulan? Well it could be someone bought, stole or mimicked their weaponry but it is something we should investigate further if it is true. I will contact Lieutenant Muller in light of this matter. But for now there's nothing we can do and even if the Romulans were involved they would no doubt deny it as long as we cannot prove anything", the Admiral sighed "So for now the only thing left for you to do is wait for your crew to arrive here, the Probationer should be ready to move out in three days. I think exploration will be a nice change of pace. So, if there's anything else you'd wish to discuss?"
"No sir" Captain Frost replied. He looked at Talia but she seemed not to have anything else either.
"Well then, you are dismissed" the Admiral sent them off.
Walther and Talia went back to the Probationer. On their way to the ship they ran into Lieutenant Muller who had just been summoned by Admiral Praxton, and didn't have much time to talk at the moment but would contact them later. A few minutes later Walther and Talia arrived at the ship.
"So, you're going back aboard again?" Talia asked.
"Well, it is our home now, isn't it? I might as well get used to it as fast as I can" Walther responded to her question.
"I guess you're right about that. Yet the idea still seems a bit strange to me at this point" She replied.
"You'll get used to it, I'm sure".
"I guess so. Well I better get some rest it has been a rough night even though we managed pretty well. I'm looking forward until we can head out, though I hope it won't always be this tense"
"That makes two of us. Now if there's anything you need I'll be in my quarters on the ship, I still have some calls to make."
"Goodnight Captain".
"Goodnight Commander".
They both went their separate ways. Walther went straight to his quarters He was still thinking about what happened and wondering how today encounter would unfolds. He then decided he shouldn't bother at this time, for he still had some calls to make. He sat down for a call with his wife that would take almost two hours, after which he went to bed, dreaming of the adventures that lay ahead.
