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1 "The ship's remaining warp core has been ejected." Ensign Wen reported.
"She's on auxiliary power." Delaney announced, "Her shields are holding at a fraction of their previous strength. Disruptor banks across the ship are powering down."
"Flight Ops, place Alpha and Gamma flights on stand-by." McKinley ordered, "And someone call off the Romans."
"Time for diplomacy." Johnson said wryly, "Here's where I take over, Jim."
"It's all yours, Admiral." McKinley deferred.
"Oy vey," T'Kir moaned, "did someone get the number of that truck?"
"It was a wall." Danan grumped, "Can we get a little light in here? The only things I can see are my instrument panels."
"T'Kir, emergency lights." Macen ordered, shrugging out of his crash harness.
T'Kir tabbed a control on her board and red back-up lights came on across the ship, "Here ya go. Annoying colour though."
"We seem to be settled." Macen stood, "But we're listing to one side."
"I tried deploying the landing pads but they were sheared off." Grace explained, "And then the engineering hull dragged along the surface for five thousand metres or so."
"I bet that was noisy down below." T'Kir remarked as she shed her own harness.
Macen tapped his comm badge, "Joachim, what's our status?"
"The warp core spiked and automatically shut down like I'd instructed it too." Dracas explained, "We still have the impulse reactors and we're on auxiliary power."
"Can you give me shields?"
Dracas laughed, "Not a chance in hell."
"What about phasers?" Macen enquired.
"As long as you don't use too much power, we should be fine."
"I just want to clear the sky for our air support." Macen informed him.
"If you limit it to a half dozen quarter yield shots, we'll do okay."
"Copy that. Macen out."
Hannah was stretching next to her board and Macen approached her, "Are you in any shape to fly the Waverider?"
"I'm fine." Grace assured him, "A little shaken, but who isn't? The question is, will she fly?"
"T'Kir?" Macen prompted.
"The shuttle suffered no damage in the crash. The wall is behind her and she seems able to decouple. The forward torpedo launchers, sensor pallets, auxiliary deflector array and primary deflector array are toast though." T'Kir reported, "Besides the Waverider, the impulse reactors and the computer system, only Sickbay seems to be operating at maximum capacity."
"What about the auxiliary shuttlebay?" Grace enquired.
"Shut down to conserve power."
"Can we power it up and launch the Type 9s?" Grace wondered, "We could get Captain Riker and Ceryx to fly them and provide additional air support."
"Good thinking." Macen patted her on the arm, "Contact Riker and Ceryx, see if they're up for it. Then call Dracas and have him divert the necessary power."
"D'you think Tom will do it?" T'Kir asked.
"Why wouldn't he?" Macen asked in reply.
I shouldn't do it. Riker thought, I should tell Macen where to stick it. Unfortunately, Riker knew his actions could ultimately save lives so he was honour bound to accept the mission. He might feel slighted by Macen's dismissal of his command decision but that was no reason to take it out on the crew.
He had to seriously consider his future though. He couldn't have Macen undermining his authority all the time. He was still essentially a glorified XO. Macen had even announced his intention of reclaiming the captaincy. So where did that leave him?
Riker needed to seek direction. He needed to talk with Lisea Danan. She was a trained impartial observer. She'd help him sort things out.
Riker made his way to the shuttlebay and met Ceryx there. The reptilian member of the crew still made many crewmembers uneasy but Riker rather liked him. He was affable and easygoing. He was a philosopher and tended to take things in stride.
"Sorry to hear how brief your promotion was." Ceryx cut to the chase, "It is understandable though. Commander Macen is not one to relinquish control of a situation, no matter his intentions."
"So you think he honestly wanted me to be captain and found himself trapped by his own nature?" Riker asked, somewhat in disbelief.
"Commander Macen believes in control." Ceryx replied, "As long as he's aboard, there will only be one commanding officer of this ship and that officer is not you. The question before you is whether or not you can live with that?"
Riker nodded, "Thank you Ceryx. You've helped put things in perspective."
"My pleasure, Captain." Ceryx bowed his head, "Now if you excuse me, my shuttle is ready."
Riker saw that his own shuttle was ready and climbed aboard. Riker was flying the Eclipse. The shuttle was named after the ship Riker had commanded back when Macen's Mission Commander and Captain arrangement still worked. Riker could still see it working, he just had to straighten a few things out with Macen…and win the confidence of the crew.
Ceryx flew the Equinox. This shuttle was named for the ill-fated Nova-class ship that had been drawn into the Delta Quadrant like the Voyager. It was Macen's way of trying to redeem the once proud name of a disgraced ship and crew. Macen could be surprisingly sentimental, Riker mused.
The two pilots ran their final checks and double checked the atmospheric seals of their respective ships. Giving the controller a green light, the bay depressurised. The outer doors opened and the open sky stretched out before them. A blast shield arose, separating the two shuttles. Ceryx throttled his ship to full impulse and launched.
Riker activated the shuttle's antigrav and hung in the air while the blast shield descended into the deck. When it was clear, he also exploded out of the bay at full impulse. He brought the shuttle around and could see the damage done to the Obsidian. There was a good chance she'd never be spaceworthy again. That saddened Riker but he cleared his thoughts and focussed on the mission ahead.
"Thank god they're willing to surrender." Johnson said as he sat down in the Mission Specialist chair.
"Thank god there's only three hundred of them aboard." McKinley added, "Between the Romans and our Security forces, we should be able to contain them."
"We also need an engineering detail to go over and review their technology." Johnson insisted.
"I'm sure Caplan will want to lead that detail personally." McKinley said dryly.
Johnson laughed, "I'm certain you're correct."
McKinley turned to Striker, "Jonathan, I want you to lead this mission."
"With pleasure." Striker replied.
"Pilfer their database." McKinley ordered, "See how that monstrosity was built."
"I'm your man." the Intrepid's resident computer genius assured his CO and made to leave.
Delaney started to rise but McKinley stopped him, "Sorry Mr. Delaney. I need you to coordinate the dirtside occupation."
"It's okay." Delaney said, looking forward to the greater challenge.
Daggit's relief had arrived and now sat at the Tactical station. Macen leaned over her. She still seemed rather shaken by the crash.
"Take it easy and concentrate your fire on the phaser emplacements you can target." he advised.
"Don't worry, sir." she replied, "I'm all right. I'll get the job done."
"I know you will." he said and gave her a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder.
"Hannah, proceed to the Waverider and prepare her for decoupling and launch." Macen ordered, "The rest of you to the armoury to grab what you need. This includes you Lees, as well as Kort and Joachim."
"I'll let `em know." T'Kir announced, "Dracas is going to be pissed though. He and his team are inspecting the damage to the ship."
"Don't worry about it." Macen counselled, "His entire staff is about to get reassigned."
The Dreadnought lowered its shields and Striker and a team of Security officers materialised on the bridge. Caplan's team of engineers and Security officers simultaneously appeared in Engineering. There less than half a dozen men and women on the bridge, all from various species.
"Who is the Captain?" Striker asked.
A scarred Bajoran stepped forward, "I am. Jokarr Merrit is my name."
"Well, Captain Jokarr, I'm Commander Jonathan Striker. I'm the XO of the USS Intrepid. By order of Starfleet regulations and Admiral Robert T. Johnson, I'm placing you and your crew under arrest."
"But we merely defended ourselves." Jokarr protested, "That other Starfleet vessel and those other ships fired first."
"That will be taken into account at your tribunal." Striker assured him, "But your particular crime is conspiracy to commit murder and acting as an accessory to murder."
"Cardassian!" Jokarr cursed.
"I've been called worse by better, sir." Striker calmly replied.
On board the Intrepid, Johnson surveyed the scene, "The Romans have finished shuttling over their occupation crews. Let's send some help Macen's way."
"Good idea." McKinley concurred, "Flight Ops, reroute your squadrons dirtside to give the Obsidian some support."
"You got it." came Liefers' chipper reply.
"I wonder how they're doing down there." Johnson mused.
Macen and T'Kir joined the SID team in the armoury. Macen had donned his flight jacket and T'Kir her coat. They wouldn't be carrying any weapons other than their sidearms so their presence was necessary for other reasons.
"Abby," Macen addressed Collins, "arm the entire crew. Everyone. Be prepared to repel boarders. With the shields down, they can beam in anywhere they want."
"I was thinking that, sir." Collins confided, "Frankly I'm surprised they haven't already begun."
"Right now they're dividing their forces between boarding parties and internal security teams." Macen replied, "Remember, this is largely an administrative post."
Daggit arrived and went straight for his locker. Macen pulled him aside, "How's Parva?"
Daggit lit up, "Happy as a lark in summer. She was shaken by the impact but they have her triaging the incoming patients and applying first aid. She's really learning to move around in those braces of hers."
"What are the casualties like?" Macen worried.
"Mostly ligament pulls and bruises from not properly securing their crash harnesses." Daggit reported, "Two major concussions, a fractured skull and a few other broken bones from not strapping in at all."
"So," Macen was philosophical, "we got off lightly."
"Pretty much."
Macen turned to Forger, "It's your job to rally the troops and keep the ship secure. I'm counting on you, Shannon."
"You can rely on me." Forger assured him.
"I knew I could." Macen sincerely replied and then turned to address the others. Collins and Danan were helping Radil shrug into her cannon harness. Daggit was replacing his single holster for the one containing the grenade launcher. This was a newer model launcher, designed by Parva just prior to the last mission. It was smaller, half the size of the pump action model. It was a two-barrelled breach loader. It hung in the holster like an oversized pistol.
Macen handed out padds displaying a face and a bio, "This is our query. His name's Hiram Zeist. He's the Operations Manager for Solarian Security Systems and the man responsible for hiring the Iotians to strike Outbound Ventures. We want him alive for questioning. Any questions?"
Dracas fingered his holstered phaser and glanced down at his Bajoran phaser rifle, "Yes, I do. Why am I coming along for this raid?"
"Earlier, I explained to you how we often hire out to Starfleet. The branch of Starfleet that employs us is known as the Special Investigations Division. It is part police department and part covert operations intelligence agency. Most of the people in this room comprise this ship's SID team." Macen revealed, "You're being invited to join that cadre."
"What would my role be?" Dracas asked, "And who else is in it and what are their roles?"
"You would be the team's Engineering Specialist." Macen explained, "Daggit there is the Strategic Operations Specialist. Lisea Danan is our Sciences Specialist. Kort is the Medical Specialist. T'Kir is the Operations Specialist. Captain Riker is the Starship Operations Specialist and I am the Mission Commander and Intelligence Specialist."
"Is Tom still Captain of the ship?" Danan asked archly.
"That depends on whether or not he recovers from his tantrum and still wishes to serve in that capacity." Macen replied.
"I don't see how his protesting your usurping his authority could be called a 'tantrum'." Danan argued.
"You're hardly neutral, Lees." Macen revealed, "You forget, I'm an empath. I can feel your conflicted emotional state regarding this matter."
"Excuse me," Dracas demanded, "can we get back on topic? Why are you offering this to me? You barely know me."
"I've seen what you can do." Macen revealed, "You're a proficient engineer. Not the best I've seen but you're good. You also have military skills. Your Emperor told me you were the finest Centurion in the Star Legions. From what the log recorders showed me of your actions during the attempted take over, I can see why he'd make that assessment. I need team members that can think on their feet and lead others when called to. You qualify on both counts."
Dracas still looked dubious and Macen heaved a sigh, "Look, I only had the luxury of intimately knowing T'Kir, Danan, and Daggit before they joined. Riker was an acquaintance. Every one else was a complete mystery. I'm willing to give it a try. The question is: are you?"
Dracas met Macen's gaze and nodded, "I never refuse a challenge. This seems like the greatest challenge aboard."
"You have no idea." Macen grinned and shook the Roman's hand.
Macen looked around, "Now, shall we be on our way?"
There were general nods and murmurs of assent as the group filed out of the armoury. They proceeded to the turbolift and got off on Deck 4. They walked down the corridor until they reached the airlock door leading to the Waverider shuttle. The name Paladin was emblazoned the door. It slid aside upon request.
Grace was already at the Paladin's helm. All the primary systems were up and running. T'Kir slid into OPS. Dracas took a seat at the Engineering station. Macen took the command chair located between all the other stations. Everyone else found a passenger seat to occupy.
The Waverider was intended for ferrying larger groups of scientists dirtside to a planet. It doubled as the Captain's Yacht. It was unarmed but it did possess warp drive. Located in the underside of the primary vessel's saucer section, the Paladin mated virtually seamlessly into the hull. Since typical shuttlecraft could generally handle the personnel load, the Waverider was rarely used.
"Hannah, what's our status?" Macen enquired.
"We lucked out really." Grace turned to face Macen, "Penetrating the wall merely scraped the lower hull and that of the whole lower saucer section. There's been no buckling of the outer hull."
She took a deep breath and plunged on, "Where we really lucked out is when the primary deflector array pushed through the wall, it cleared all obstacles out of our path. We're powered up and ready for deployment."
"Good work, Hannah." Macen said encouragingly, "Let's get underway."
Grace swivelled her seat around to face her controls and murmured to herself, "'Let's get underway'. Just like we didn't go through a fortification."
From her left, T'Kir gave her consoling smile, "At least we're still flyin'."
"But will the Obsidian ever lift again?" Grace asked plaintively as she began her checklist.
"Time will tell." T'Kir replied philosophically and began her own checklist.
Dracas ran through his list while prompted by a padd. Finally all three reached the point where it was time to detach the shuttle and fly free. T'Kir detached the air and power umbilicals. Dracas primed the shuttle's antigrav and impulse drives. Grace held her hand over the release control.
In normal spaceflight operations, the Paladin would be manoeuvred away from the main ship by thrusters upon release. In a gravity release, they would plummet for nearly thirty seconds before the antigravs kicked in. After that, it was merely engaging the impulse engines and going forward.
"Release on my mark." Grace said and began a countdown, "Five...four...three...two...one!"
She hit the release control and everyone suddenly felt the ship drop. Although it was only for a few seconds, it felt longer to people used to inertial dampeners. Grace and T'Kir both wore childlike smiles of delight. Macen wore an amused grin as he lounged in his chair. Soon, all too soon for some, the antigravs kicked in and the ship slowed to a halt and hovered in midair.
"Where to, Captain...Commander...whatever you're calling yourself right now?" Grace asked.
"Aim for the corporate headquarters." Macen instructed, without answering the query regarding his title.
"Are we going to ram a building now?" Grace asked plaintively.
"No, Hannah." Macen replied, "We are not going to ram the building. We are, however, going to be falling through it."
Grace looked over at T'Kir, "Do you have any idea of what he's talking about?"
T'Kir shook her head and wore a manic grin, "No. But it should be fun finding out."
Grace shook her head in disgust, "You two are sooo made for each other."
"Ain't it great?" T'Kir responded perkily.
"Don't you two ever not get along?" Grace asked as she cut in the impulse engines...
"All the time." T'Kir smiled, "We just try to keep our fights between us."
"Good." Grace said, "Too much perfection is annoying."
"That include you?" T'Kir queried.
Grace ignored her and hailed Shannon Forger as the Obsidian unleashed another brace of phaser blasts at an air defence tower. Rather than aim at the phaser bank itself, Forger had opted to blow up the base of the tower. It collapsed, gauging into the Solarian base of operations as it went down.
"Hey Obsidian, you about done? We've deployed and are headed for the primary structure." Grace asked.
"I see you, Paladin." Forger replied, "That was the last tower within range. The Eclipse and the Equinox are already ahead of you, holding the potential boarders at bay."
"Roger that, Obsidian." Grace acknowledged, "I have a visual of the situation."
"Be advised Paladin, the shuttles are being overwhelmed." Forger informed her, "I don't recommend a landing at this time."
"Acknowledged Obsidian." Grace said, "Paladin command concurs. We are attempting an alternative method of landing."
"What kind of 'alternative' Paladin?" Forger asked.
"I have no idea." Grace admitted, "But it's sure to be memorable with the way today's going."
Forger laughed, "Roger that, Paladin. Keep safe."
"Plan on it, Obsidian, thanks." Grace cut the circuit and called out to Macen, "We're coming up on the building's outer walls. What do we do?"
"Climb above the roof." Macen ordered.
"And land on the roof." Grace said with approval. She touched the controls and brought them above the roof, and directly into the sights of the remaining air defence phaser arrays. They immediately opened fired and Grace quickly plunged the shuttle below their line of sight.
"Shields are nearly gone." T'Kir reported.
Ozone filled the air and Dracas announced, "Several subsystems have been fused."
"Bring us level with the 14th floor." Macen ordered.
"I don't like this plan already." Grace muttered.
"Wait for it, then decide." T'Kir suggested.
"Level with the 14th floor." Grace reported, "May I ask why?"
"According to Solarian's own advertisements, the 14th floor contains the heart of their operations centre." Macen explained, "We're going to enter here and storm the centre."
"May I point out that there is an entire wall of glass separating us from the interior of the building?" Dracas pointed out.
"Which makes it a time for bold initiative, wouldn't you say?" Macen asked in reply.
Dracas settled down, a tight smile forming on his lips. Grace turned around, "How are you planning on wrecking my shuttle?"
"First I want you bring us in closer, nose first." Macen explained, "Then I want you to swing us about, gauging the plate glass with the wing and giving it a direct blast from the impulse thrusters. Next, we'll withdraw away from the hole and come alongside. Using the impulse thrusters you'll wedge us into that hole. That done, we'll just pop the main hatch and enter the 14th floor."
"Are you insane?" Grace asked, "No, wait, you've already proven that today."
"Hannah, I'm not insane, merely determined." Macen replied evenly, "You've always trusted me in the past, even when it cost the life of a ship. Ours can rise above and live again. I don't see what your objections are based on."
"I'm just tired of losing ships, even little ones." Grace admitted.
"So am I." Macen revealed, "C'mon Hannah, the Obsidian was my dream command. You don't think I'd cripple her and leave her to rot do you? Would I do that to any of you? That ship's as much a member of this team as any sentient."
Mollified, Grace asked, "When do you want me to hit the building?"
"ASAP." Macen replied.
Grace swung the shuttle out and then brought in closer until the nose was nearly touching the reflective glass panes, "We'll teach them not to use transparent aluminium."
She set the shuttle in a spin and it shook when the wing began its swathe of destruction. The impulse thrusters blew the debris away as the passed. The second wing finished what the first had started and once again the thrusters did their work. Grace then brought the starboard side of the shuttle even with the gaping wound in the side of the otherwise pristine building face.
Directing all of her thrusters sideways at maximum power, Grace hurled the shuttle into the side of the building. It shoved half of itself into the structure and then ground to a halt. Grace shut down her systems.
"You wanted in." she said as she swivelled around to face Macen, "We're in. We scratched the paint but otherwise we came out fine. Of course we'll have to be tractored out of this hole."
Macen smiled, "Excellent work Hannah."
Macen swivelled his seat around so that he was facing the passenger section, "Get ready people, the real work is about to begin."
Macen turned to face Grace, "I want you to come too Hannah."
"Who'll guard the shuttle?" she wondered.
"I'm leaving Kort with the shuttle."
"Here now!" Kort protested, "I'm the field medic. I should be in the field."
"Joachim, is the transporter operational?" Macen enquired.
"It's active." Dracas answered, "I don't see any reason why it shouldn't work."
"What's he know about transporters?" Kort demanded, "The Romans don't have them."
"He's passed Starfleet's examination on transporter maintenance and operation." Macen disclosed, "I don't know how he does it, but as long as he can, I'm going to use it."
"Now you are going to set up a field hospital in here and transport the wounded to you where they can be safely treated." Macen ordered.
"This is because of Parva." Kort said in resignation.
"Partly." Macen confessed, "But mostly it's about you. I want to see how you'll react to the pressures of waiting."
"I won't disappoint you." Kort vowed.
"I don't expect you to." Macen replied, "All right people, saddle up."
"Wait a minute." Grace advised, "Something's coming in over the Starfleet guard channel."
They all listened in to the chatter on the subspace transceiver, "Attention Obsidian forces, this is the Alpha and Gamma flights of the USS Intrepid. We are inbound and we are aware of you situation. Our sensors reveal you have three shuttles deployed. Two are actively engaged in a firefight and the third has collided with the central building."
"We are receiving fire from planetary defence phaser arrays. Alpha flight will deal with these. What requests do you have for Gamma flight?"
Forger's voice replied, "This is Obsidian, requesting that Gamma flight allow our shuttles to withdraw and then proceed with crowd suppression."
"Roger that. We register a large crowd approaching your vicinity. Can you confirm that these are hostiles?"
. "Hostile status confirmed. Obsidian advises heavy stun to neutralise the crowd until ground forces arrive."
"Copy that. Gamma flight will comply. Alpha leader out."
"Now why couldn't they have come ten minutes earlier?" Grace whined, "Then we could have landed on the roof."
"But now you get to brag up how you landed inside a building." Macen grinned, "Now c'mon, we're proceeding with Hiram Zeist's detention and arrest."
Everyone gathered by the door. Daggit and Radil stood to either side of the hatch, phaser cannon and rifle ready. The hatch opened to reveal a wrecked space. Walls had been sheared as well as the outer glass. The debris was all pushed along the opposite wall.
Grace whistled, "I'm glad no one was in here."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that." T'Kir countered knelt down and held up a coffee mug. Its interior was still slick from the liquid it had contained. A streak of spilled coffee pointed towards an overturned table and piled up office chairs, "Looks like they had time to run for it though."
"Remember," Macen advised, "These people were hired to kill us. They may not be using the stun setting on their weapons."
"D'we?" T'Kir asked.
"For as long as possible." Macen half-answered.
They reached the exit out of the room and they had to clear some debris out of the way. Radil and Daggit took up their previous positions. Everyone had their weapons drawn.
"Beyond this is Tholian country." Macen remarked and there were a few smiles upon hearing the old adage.
