- CHAPTER 6 -
- Former Klingon Space, Alpha Quadrant, That Same Time -
Cerulean blue nebula gasses swirled off of the tiny speeding ship's wings, creating spiral vortices in its wake. Despite its best efforts, the fleet K'Vort class vessel was steadily loosing ground to its pursuers. Its ancient impulse drive, while fleet of foot, just couldn't overcome the advanced design and sheer brute strength of its enemies STL drives. It was a loosing battle, yet it still drove headlong deeper into the nebula. The two Defiant class ships and single Steam Runner class ship chasing it knew that they would eventually force the raider to turn and fight. And then they could kill it and return to base. They had been chasing the ancient Klingon rust bucket for almost six hours, and the pursuit had become tedious. The range finally closed enough to open fire, and pulse phasers lashed out at their cornered quarry.
The ship rocked as a full barrage of pulse phaser shots hit its stern, causing the shields to crackle with dissipated energy. The battered impulse drive housing could take no more and started venting sickly orange plasma. Pursuing Imperial warships, like sharks homing in on blood in the water, closed in for the kill.
- IKV Bo'Par, Main Bridge -
The tactical officer smashed his fists on his panel in frustration as the small vessel was jostled by another volley of phasers impacting his rear shields. In an angered voice he snarled, "Rear shields down to 20% sir! One more volley like that and they will be gone! The impulse engines are leaking drive plasma. We can only maintain current speed for another minute at most before they burn out completely!" He silently cursed the long dead engineer who had designed the K'Vort class with virtually no rear firing arch. But then he wasn't really that big of a ship, relying more on his speed and maneuverability to bring his weapons to bear than wide angle firing arcs. He wasn't made to run from a fight, yet that was exactly what he had been ordered to do.
"Remain steady on course. Divert emergency power to rear shields." The powerful, yet feminine voice of the ship's mistress cut through the wail of the battle stations klaxon. Luza smiled a toothy smile at her ships view screen. It showed the three ominous charcoal gray silhouettes of the Imperial vessels closing on her small command from behind.
That's right you sniveling pahtks! Keep following me. Just a little further and the hunter shall become the prey and you will be gutted like that targ we had for dinner! The ship shook again, and fresh damage exploded on the bridge. Acrid smoke began to stream from a busted conduit overhead and the communications console exploded in a shower of sparks. Bits of molten control panel and razor sharp shards of displays flew into the com officers face and the arms he had thrown up to cover it. To his credit, he didn't scream. Instead he merely staggered off of the bridge towards sic bay.
"Rear shields down sir! Hull integrity is failing in compartments A4 to A8!"
"Range to the rendezvous!" She barked to her tactical officer.
"100 kellicams! We will reach the rendezvous in five, four, three, two, one."
Luza laughed heartily and brought her fist into the open palm of her left hand. The pursuing Imperials were as good as dead and they didn't even know it. "Bring us about, target the lead Defiant and fire all weapons!" The entire bridge crew growled hungrily. They were true warriors, and as such they detested running away from a fight. Now it was time to turn the tables on the Imperial scum. The Bo'Par had been bait in a well thought out trap, but they were bait no longer.
The battered ship flew through an arbitrary point in the nebula. Finally it turned its shredded rear shields away from the enemy, bringing its still fully charged and more powerful forward shields and its own weapons to bear at last.
- Negh'Var class IKV Sword of Kahless, Main Bridge -
General Worf turned to the only non-Klingon on his flagship's bridge. His eyes fastened on the inscrutable being that stood with easy grace, its features hidden behind its helmet and breath mask.
"Your new wonder weapon had better work!"
The being merely turned and stared at him with hidden eyes, neither saying or doing anything. Worf would have loved to wage the silent battle of wills with his new ally, but there wasn't time for such things just now. Spitting on the floor he turned to his communications officer.
"Orders to the fleet, decloak and attack! Great songs will be sung of this day! For the glory of the empire and of Kahless, VICTORY!" Behind him, the environmental suit cloaked being turned his attention back to the view screen.
- Steam Runner class ISS Gnasher, Main Bridge -
Captain Giles smiled a tight smile. So the terrorist raider had finally decided to turn and fight. This was good because the chase had lasted much longer than it should have. His lean frame leaned forward in his chair, hinting at his eagerness. He spoke without taking his eyes off of the rapidly growing frigate on the view screen. It spat dual streams of green disruptor bolts at the Gnasher's escorting Defiant's, causing its shields to shimmer as they absorbed and redirected the energy away from the hull.
"Target that trash hauler and wipe it."
"Sir, multiple ships decloaking all around us!" His tactical officer interrupted with growing panic. Captain Giles' head whipped around to the tactical station to his right. He saw the raw terror on the officer's face and instantly knew that the small ship had merely been bait. Bait to lure his ships into an ambush. He leapt out of his chair and bolted towards the helm station, as if that would make his commands happen faster.
"Helm, hard about! HARD ABOUT!!"
He knew that he was hovering over his helmsman like a worried mother, but for once in his life thoughts on appearances were the last thing on his mind. And as he watched the view screen with morbid fascination, he knew that it was already far to late. First, small ships, much like the pursued K'Vort appeared, then more massive ships began to appear. Their profile was unlike any ships he had ever seen, and they were on par size wise with a Sovereign class. Their blade like curves and talon like weapon emplacements made them look more like raptors than starships. Ship after ship of dark green, emerald green, even sand color appeared on the viewer.
With those ships slightly smaller ones appeared, the metallic look yet organic in nature gray of their hulls gleamed dully in the light of the nebula. Their silhouette made them seem lopsided, not possessing the customary symmetry of a starship. It was from these vessels that the attack came from. Blue white bolts of energy spewed from them, hitting the trio of Imperial vessels with at least two shots each. And when those shots hit home, all energy coming from the Imperials abruptly dropped off completely. Without power for their impulse drive, the three ships that had been in the process of a hard 180-degree turn continued to spin out of control. They were adrift, lacking even power for station keeping thrusters to right their tumble.
- IKV Sword of Kahless, Main Bridge -
There were cheers all around the bridge. The Breen officer turned again to stare at General Worf. Feeling the beings eyes on him, even though they were hidden behind his environmental suit's helmet, he turned to regard him again. In spite of the beings environmental suits facemask, Worf could tell that he was sending an I Told You So look to him.
"Your new weapon does indeed work as you have said. On behalf of the Alliance, I give you our thanks and extend to your people our full partnership."
The Breen said nothing for a second, then nodded at Worf. Not much of a talker are you Worf thought. Oh well, since your weapons work, I suppose you are of some value to the Alliance.
"Orders to the fleet, deploy boarding parties!"
- ISS Gnasher, Main Bridge -
Now they will attack us, and we are dead Captain Giles thought. But they didn't attack. And seconds later, he knew the reason. The wine of a transporter beam cut the sudden silence that had gripped the bridge. The wine died but was replaced by a blood curdling war cry. Giles was still in the process of drawing his phaser, spinning to face his target, when the first disrupter bolts cut him down. As he fell, his vision tunneling to darkness, he saw the rest of the bridge crew being hit and slumping across their consoles or down to the deck. The last thing his eyes saw before the black claimed him was the bony brow ridges of a Klingon warrior above the brownish red disrupter pistol pointed at his head.
The Klingon boarder surveyed the bridge, letting out a satisfied grunt of approval. His team had done an excellent job. Only a few shots had missed and done merely aesthetic damage to the bulkheads. He reached to his utility belt and pulled out his communicator.
"Major Kurn to General Worf. I am pleased to report that all resistance on the Steam Runner's bridge has been eliminated."
"Excellent brother! Let me know when the rest of the ship is secure. Once it and the other two are taken, we will repair their cloaking devices and tow them to the nearest Alliance shipyard."
"Understood, Kurn out." He turned to the rest of his assault team. "Well, what are you standing around for? You heard him, we have the rest of the ship to take. The one with the most kills gets a full case of your favorite drink when we return to the ship." The wager had the desired effect. Shouting their war cry, the mix of Klingon, Cardassian, and Romulan boarders charged towards the bridges turbolift doors. Each had dreams of an entire case of Blood Wine, Romulan Ale or Kanar filling their heads.
- IKV Bo'Par, Main Bridge -
"Sir, we are receiving a transmission from General Worf."
"On screen!"
"Well done Captain Luza! It is due to the glorious actions of you and your crew that we now have three front line Imperial vessels to study. And once we have their secrets, they will make fine additions to the fleet."
"I thank you on behalf of my crew General. But they are warriors, and chafe at having to capture Imperial vessels. They and I both would be much happier if we could actively engage them in true ship to ship combat!"
"I understand their feelings, they are ones I myself share. But the time is not yet right for the Great Alliance to strike boldly. Soon though Captain, we shall be free to smash any Imperial vessel that would dare stand in our path! Soon we shall strike a mighty blow for our people, and the mighty" his words literally dripped with sarcasm, "Terran Empire will be powerless to stop us!"
- Former Klingon Space, Alpha Quadrant, That Same Time -
Cerulean blue nebula gasses swirled off of the tiny speeding ship's wings, creating spiral vortices in its wake. Despite its best efforts, the fleet K'Vort class vessel was steadily loosing ground to its pursuers. Its ancient impulse drive, while fleet of foot, just couldn't overcome the advanced design and sheer brute strength of its enemies STL drives. It was a loosing battle, yet it still drove headlong deeper into the nebula. The two Defiant class ships and single Steam Runner class ship chasing it knew that they would eventually force the raider to turn and fight. And then they could kill it and return to base. They had been chasing the ancient Klingon rust bucket for almost six hours, and the pursuit had become tedious. The range finally closed enough to open fire, and pulse phasers lashed out at their cornered quarry.
The ship rocked as a full barrage of pulse phaser shots hit its stern, causing the shields to crackle with dissipated energy. The battered impulse drive housing could take no more and started venting sickly orange plasma. Pursuing Imperial warships, like sharks homing in on blood in the water, closed in for the kill.
- IKV Bo'Par, Main Bridge -
The tactical officer smashed his fists on his panel in frustration as the small vessel was jostled by another volley of phasers impacting his rear shields. In an angered voice he snarled, "Rear shields down to 20% sir! One more volley like that and they will be gone! The impulse engines are leaking drive plasma. We can only maintain current speed for another minute at most before they burn out completely!" He silently cursed the long dead engineer who had designed the K'Vort class with virtually no rear firing arch. But then he wasn't really that big of a ship, relying more on his speed and maneuverability to bring his weapons to bear than wide angle firing arcs. He wasn't made to run from a fight, yet that was exactly what he had been ordered to do.
"Remain steady on course. Divert emergency power to rear shields." The powerful, yet feminine voice of the ship's mistress cut through the wail of the battle stations klaxon. Luza smiled a toothy smile at her ships view screen. It showed the three ominous charcoal gray silhouettes of the Imperial vessels closing on her small command from behind.
That's right you sniveling pahtks! Keep following me. Just a little further and the hunter shall become the prey and you will be gutted like that targ we had for dinner! The ship shook again, and fresh damage exploded on the bridge. Acrid smoke began to stream from a busted conduit overhead and the communications console exploded in a shower of sparks. Bits of molten control panel and razor sharp shards of displays flew into the com officers face and the arms he had thrown up to cover it. To his credit, he didn't scream. Instead he merely staggered off of the bridge towards sic bay.
"Rear shields down sir! Hull integrity is failing in compartments A4 to A8!"
"Range to the rendezvous!" She barked to her tactical officer.
"100 kellicams! We will reach the rendezvous in five, four, three, two, one."
Luza laughed heartily and brought her fist into the open palm of her left hand. The pursuing Imperials were as good as dead and they didn't even know it. "Bring us about, target the lead Defiant and fire all weapons!" The entire bridge crew growled hungrily. They were true warriors, and as such they detested running away from a fight. Now it was time to turn the tables on the Imperial scum. The Bo'Par had been bait in a well thought out trap, but they were bait no longer.
The battered ship flew through an arbitrary point in the nebula. Finally it turned its shredded rear shields away from the enemy, bringing its still fully charged and more powerful forward shields and its own weapons to bear at last.
- Negh'Var class IKV Sword of Kahless, Main Bridge -
General Worf turned to the only non-Klingon on his flagship's bridge. His eyes fastened on the inscrutable being that stood with easy grace, its features hidden behind its helmet and breath mask.
"Your new wonder weapon had better work!"
The being merely turned and stared at him with hidden eyes, neither saying or doing anything. Worf would have loved to wage the silent battle of wills with his new ally, but there wasn't time for such things just now. Spitting on the floor he turned to his communications officer.
"Orders to the fleet, decloak and attack! Great songs will be sung of this day! For the glory of the empire and of Kahless, VICTORY!" Behind him, the environmental suit cloaked being turned his attention back to the view screen.
- Steam Runner class ISS Gnasher, Main Bridge -
Captain Giles smiled a tight smile. So the terrorist raider had finally decided to turn and fight. This was good because the chase had lasted much longer than it should have. His lean frame leaned forward in his chair, hinting at his eagerness. He spoke without taking his eyes off of the rapidly growing frigate on the view screen. It spat dual streams of green disruptor bolts at the Gnasher's escorting Defiant's, causing its shields to shimmer as they absorbed and redirected the energy away from the hull.
"Target that trash hauler and wipe it."
"Sir, multiple ships decloaking all around us!" His tactical officer interrupted with growing panic. Captain Giles' head whipped around to the tactical station to his right. He saw the raw terror on the officer's face and instantly knew that the small ship had merely been bait. Bait to lure his ships into an ambush. He leapt out of his chair and bolted towards the helm station, as if that would make his commands happen faster.
"Helm, hard about! HARD ABOUT!!"
He knew that he was hovering over his helmsman like a worried mother, but for once in his life thoughts on appearances were the last thing on his mind. And as he watched the view screen with morbid fascination, he knew that it was already far to late. First, small ships, much like the pursued K'Vort appeared, then more massive ships began to appear. Their profile was unlike any ships he had ever seen, and they were on par size wise with a Sovereign class. Their blade like curves and talon like weapon emplacements made them look more like raptors than starships. Ship after ship of dark green, emerald green, even sand color appeared on the viewer.
With those ships slightly smaller ones appeared, the metallic look yet organic in nature gray of their hulls gleamed dully in the light of the nebula. Their silhouette made them seem lopsided, not possessing the customary symmetry of a starship. It was from these vessels that the attack came from. Blue white bolts of energy spewed from them, hitting the trio of Imperial vessels with at least two shots each. And when those shots hit home, all energy coming from the Imperials abruptly dropped off completely. Without power for their impulse drive, the three ships that had been in the process of a hard 180-degree turn continued to spin out of control. They were adrift, lacking even power for station keeping thrusters to right their tumble.
- IKV Sword of Kahless, Main Bridge -
There were cheers all around the bridge. The Breen officer turned again to stare at General Worf. Feeling the beings eyes on him, even though they were hidden behind his environmental suit's helmet, he turned to regard him again. In spite of the beings environmental suits facemask, Worf could tell that he was sending an I Told You So look to him.
"Your new weapon does indeed work as you have said. On behalf of the Alliance, I give you our thanks and extend to your people our full partnership."
The Breen said nothing for a second, then nodded at Worf. Not much of a talker are you Worf thought. Oh well, since your weapons work, I suppose you are of some value to the Alliance.
"Orders to the fleet, deploy boarding parties!"
- ISS Gnasher, Main Bridge -
Now they will attack us, and we are dead Captain Giles thought. But they didn't attack. And seconds later, he knew the reason. The wine of a transporter beam cut the sudden silence that had gripped the bridge. The wine died but was replaced by a blood curdling war cry. Giles was still in the process of drawing his phaser, spinning to face his target, when the first disrupter bolts cut him down. As he fell, his vision tunneling to darkness, he saw the rest of the bridge crew being hit and slumping across their consoles or down to the deck. The last thing his eyes saw before the black claimed him was the bony brow ridges of a Klingon warrior above the brownish red disrupter pistol pointed at his head.
The Klingon boarder surveyed the bridge, letting out a satisfied grunt of approval. His team had done an excellent job. Only a few shots had missed and done merely aesthetic damage to the bulkheads. He reached to his utility belt and pulled out his communicator.
"Major Kurn to General Worf. I am pleased to report that all resistance on the Steam Runner's bridge has been eliminated."
"Excellent brother! Let me know when the rest of the ship is secure. Once it and the other two are taken, we will repair their cloaking devices and tow them to the nearest Alliance shipyard."
"Understood, Kurn out." He turned to the rest of his assault team. "Well, what are you standing around for? You heard him, we have the rest of the ship to take. The one with the most kills gets a full case of your favorite drink when we return to the ship." The wager had the desired effect. Shouting their war cry, the mix of Klingon, Cardassian, and Romulan boarders charged towards the bridges turbolift doors. Each had dreams of an entire case of Blood Wine, Romulan Ale or Kanar filling their heads.
- IKV Bo'Par, Main Bridge -
"Sir, we are receiving a transmission from General Worf."
"On screen!"
"Well done Captain Luza! It is due to the glorious actions of you and your crew that we now have three front line Imperial vessels to study. And once we have their secrets, they will make fine additions to the fleet."
"I thank you on behalf of my crew General. But they are warriors, and chafe at having to capture Imperial vessels. They and I both would be much happier if we could actively engage them in true ship to ship combat!"
"I understand their feelings, they are ones I myself share. But the time is not yet right for the Great Alliance to strike boldly. Soon though Captain, we shall be free to smash any Imperial vessel that would dare stand in our path! Soon we shall strike a mighty blow for our people, and the mighty" his words literally dripped with sarcasm, "Terran Empire will be powerless to stop us!"