The USS Titan
Disclaimers: DC comics and all that jazz. Hope you're enjoying the story so far, now it's started going somewhere. Sorry about the amazingly English way the characters have of speaking. I just can't write American accents.
Chapter Five: Different Paths
Commander Donna Troy awoke early next morning. As she was about to open her door, she heard the outer door open and close quietly. Thinking that it was their breakfast being delivered, she was surprised to see Dick creeping into his room, still wearing his clothes from last night. She frowned, but decided to leave it for the moment. She went back into her room to read the files they had about Tamaran.
There was not much known by the Federation about the reasons for the battle starting, but it seemed to be for personal motivations. Intelligence hadn't even been able to discover who the rebels' leader was, though it had seemed from yesterday's conference that the King and his family knew something about that. Maybe with some persuasion.
Having scoured the notes for any useful information about the rebels and finding little, Donna gave up and went to get her breakfast. She found the others already eating theirs, Dick having changed into a clean uniform and shaved.
"We'll leave as soon as we've eaten," he said.
* * *
The Hyperion left the base by a discreet route. Inside were Dick, Donna and Garth. They followed the route that the rebels had given them yesterday, to a pre-arranged meeting place where they would be met by a flyer. This flyer would escort them to the base.
"I'm not overjoyed by this arrangement, cap'n," Garth said softly, "suppose we're being led into a trap?"
"I'm not thrilled myself, lieutenant, but this seemed the best option," Dick shrugged, "I've done all I can to make this as safe as possible. Wally knows what we're doing, and don't forget that there's a tracer on this shuttle. Plus, we've got Roy back on the Tamaranian base. He'll be able to radio Earth if something happens to both us and the Titan, which hopefully won't happen."
"Sounds like you've covered all the bases," Donna smiled.
"I hope so."
* * *
On board the USS Titan, the bridge crew were monitoring the progress of the flyer on the main screen. Lieutenant Wally West frowned as he watched the small red dot moving across the representation of the land below. He was uneasy about this mission, especially as they knew of the Gordanian involvement. The Gordanians had reputations as slavers and mercenaries, with no loyalties except to money. Moreover, they had been known to attack Federation ships if they were interfering. Wally's uncle, Barry Allen, had been captain of the USS Speed Force. That ship had been destroyed by a fleet of slavers, and all aboard were killed.
"Lieutenant, I've got seven ships coming up from behind," Ensign Gar Logan reported, "they look to be Gordanian, sir."
"Show them on screen," Wally ordered the green-skinned crewman. Gar's skin colour had been turned green by a contaminated bacta tank, which he was in after having suffered a childhood illness.
The main screen filled with the darkness of space, interrupted by the globe of Tamaran, the stars, and the menacing shapes of the battleships. The crew shifted, growing uneasy at the sight of the seven ships approaching them.
"Hail them," Wally addressed Ensign Emerson, who immediately did so.
"They're not responding, sir," he said a moment later.
"Should we attack?" Ensign Cody Driscoll asked. "They came straight for us last time."
"No," Wally decided, "you heard the captain yesterday; we're here on a diplomatic mission. But make ready with the shields anyway."
"Doing that, lieutenant," answered Ensign Bette Kane, adjusting the instruments on her panel.
"Keep trying to hail them, Grant," Wally instructed.
"They're firing, sir!" Cody shouted from his panel. Wally hit the buttons on his in the nick of time. The ship shuddered as the bolts impacted against the shields, causing the crew to grab the nearest steady object.
"Gar!" Wally called, "try contacting Roy on Tamaran, and let him know we're being attacked."
"Yes, sir," Gar responded. His hands flew over the switches. "All I'm getting is static, sir."
"Try getting in touch with the nearest Federation ship."
"Which one is that, sir?"
"Uh, the League of Justice, Captain J'onnz's ship." More shots shook the ship as they waited for any response.
"No answer, sir," Gar said eventually, "nothing at all, in fact. They must be jamming our transmissions."
"Looks like it's just us then," Wally said, looking worried.
* * *
The meeting place was a ruined hall, just behind the rebel front lines. There was another flyer waiting for them, heavily armed.
"That doesn't look particularly friendly," Donna remarked uneasily.
"They said that if any Tamaranian craft followed us, they'd shoot," Dick explained.
"Them or us?" Garth put in. Dick shrugged.
A Tamaranian, carrying a gun, stepped out of the flyer. He motioned them to land beside him. When they did, he walked over and stood waiting for them to open the door. Warily, Donna pushed the door control button.
"You will leave the shuttle here," the alien informed them, "we don't want anyone finding us through tracers."
"We weren't told of this," Dick said, not liking the way the gun was casually pointing in their direction.
"It's for our security," came the answer, "her majesty doesn't want any sneak attacks due to your visit."
"Well, as we seem to have no choice." Dick paused. "But if you will give us a few minutes, we have some equipment to collect."
"No weapons," the rebel told them.
"You expect us to go unarmed into unknown territory?" Garth said in disbelief.
"You were the ones who organised this meeting," the alien said, "so if you will come this way, I shall fly you to your base."
The team had no option but to follow, though somewhat uneasily. The flyer was larger than the Hyperion, with another two Tamaranians in the crew. The team sat at the back in the passenger seats, noticing that all the crew were armed.
* * *
Back at the Citadel base, Roy had also been following the shuttle's tracer. Kory sat with him, her face worried. They watched the dot stop.
"Do you think that's where the rebel base is?" Roy asked, noting it's position.
"I doubt it," Kory replied, "the rebels would realise that a Federation vehicle would have a tracer. We have to trust that Dick and the others get back safely."
"Are you worried about him?" Roy looked sideways at her. She blushed.
"Aren't you?" she asked in reply. He smiled and shrugged.
"A bit, I suppose. But, hell, I don't think there's anyone I'd trust more to get a team in and out of something like this. He's good, you know. They all are."
"Yes, but I just." Kory was cut off by Roy waving his hand suddenly for silence. She raised an eyebrow.
"Do you ever get the feeling that someone's listening?" he mouthed.
"They wouldn't be, would they?" she answered, just as silently.
"I'm not sure. Keep talking, and I'll open the door."
"What about?"
"Oh, anything! Talk about Dick, you seem to like that subject." Kory glared daggers at him, but spoke anyway.
"Well, of course I'm worried about him. I mean, he's a great guy, and he's been, uh, nice to me as well."
Roy grinned, then opened the door swiftly.
Disclaimers: DC comics and all that jazz. Hope you're enjoying the story so far, now it's started going somewhere. Sorry about the amazingly English way the characters have of speaking. I just can't write American accents.
Chapter Five: Different Paths
Commander Donna Troy awoke early next morning. As she was about to open her door, she heard the outer door open and close quietly. Thinking that it was their breakfast being delivered, she was surprised to see Dick creeping into his room, still wearing his clothes from last night. She frowned, but decided to leave it for the moment. She went back into her room to read the files they had about Tamaran.
There was not much known by the Federation about the reasons for the battle starting, but it seemed to be for personal motivations. Intelligence hadn't even been able to discover who the rebels' leader was, though it had seemed from yesterday's conference that the King and his family knew something about that. Maybe with some persuasion.
Having scoured the notes for any useful information about the rebels and finding little, Donna gave up and went to get her breakfast. She found the others already eating theirs, Dick having changed into a clean uniform and shaved.
"We'll leave as soon as we've eaten," he said.
* * *
The Hyperion left the base by a discreet route. Inside were Dick, Donna and Garth. They followed the route that the rebels had given them yesterday, to a pre-arranged meeting place where they would be met by a flyer. This flyer would escort them to the base.
"I'm not overjoyed by this arrangement, cap'n," Garth said softly, "suppose we're being led into a trap?"
"I'm not thrilled myself, lieutenant, but this seemed the best option," Dick shrugged, "I've done all I can to make this as safe as possible. Wally knows what we're doing, and don't forget that there's a tracer on this shuttle. Plus, we've got Roy back on the Tamaranian base. He'll be able to radio Earth if something happens to both us and the Titan, which hopefully won't happen."
"Sounds like you've covered all the bases," Donna smiled.
"I hope so."
* * *
On board the USS Titan, the bridge crew were monitoring the progress of the flyer on the main screen. Lieutenant Wally West frowned as he watched the small red dot moving across the representation of the land below. He was uneasy about this mission, especially as they knew of the Gordanian involvement. The Gordanians had reputations as slavers and mercenaries, with no loyalties except to money. Moreover, they had been known to attack Federation ships if they were interfering. Wally's uncle, Barry Allen, had been captain of the USS Speed Force. That ship had been destroyed by a fleet of slavers, and all aboard were killed.
"Lieutenant, I've got seven ships coming up from behind," Ensign Gar Logan reported, "they look to be Gordanian, sir."
"Show them on screen," Wally ordered the green-skinned crewman. Gar's skin colour had been turned green by a contaminated bacta tank, which he was in after having suffered a childhood illness.
The main screen filled with the darkness of space, interrupted by the globe of Tamaran, the stars, and the menacing shapes of the battleships. The crew shifted, growing uneasy at the sight of the seven ships approaching them.
"Hail them," Wally addressed Ensign Emerson, who immediately did so.
"They're not responding, sir," he said a moment later.
"Should we attack?" Ensign Cody Driscoll asked. "They came straight for us last time."
"No," Wally decided, "you heard the captain yesterday; we're here on a diplomatic mission. But make ready with the shields anyway."
"Doing that, lieutenant," answered Ensign Bette Kane, adjusting the instruments on her panel.
"Keep trying to hail them, Grant," Wally instructed.
"They're firing, sir!" Cody shouted from his panel. Wally hit the buttons on his in the nick of time. The ship shuddered as the bolts impacted against the shields, causing the crew to grab the nearest steady object.
"Gar!" Wally called, "try contacting Roy on Tamaran, and let him know we're being attacked."
"Yes, sir," Gar responded. His hands flew over the switches. "All I'm getting is static, sir."
"Try getting in touch with the nearest Federation ship."
"Which one is that, sir?"
"Uh, the League of Justice, Captain J'onnz's ship." More shots shook the ship as they waited for any response.
"No answer, sir," Gar said eventually, "nothing at all, in fact. They must be jamming our transmissions."
"Looks like it's just us then," Wally said, looking worried.
* * *
The meeting place was a ruined hall, just behind the rebel front lines. There was another flyer waiting for them, heavily armed.
"That doesn't look particularly friendly," Donna remarked uneasily.
"They said that if any Tamaranian craft followed us, they'd shoot," Dick explained.
"Them or us?" Garth put in. Dick shrugged.
A Tamaranian, carrying a gun, stepped out of the flyer. He motioned them to land beside him. When they did, he walked over and stood waiting for them to open the door. Warily, Donna pushed the door control button.
"You will leave the shuttle here," the alien informed them, "we don't want anyone finding us through tracers."
"We weren't told of this," Dick said, not liking the way the gun was casually pointing in their direction.
"It's for our security," came the answer, "her majesty doesn't want any sneak attacks due to your visit."
"Well, as we seem to have no choice." Dick paused. "But if you will give us a few minutes, we have some equipment to collect."
"No weapons," the rebel told them.
"You expect us to go unarmed into unknown territory?" Garth said in disbelief.
"You were the ones who organised this meeting," the alien said, "so if you will come this way, I shall fly you to your base."
The team had no option but to follow, though somewhat uneasily. The flyer was larger than the Hyperion, with another two Tamaranians in the crew. The team sat at the back in the passenger seats, noticing that all the crew were armed.
* * *
Back at the Citadel base, Roy had also been following the shuttle's tracer. Kory sat with him, her face worried. They watched the dot stop.
"Do you think that's where the rebel base is?" Roy asked, noting it's position.
"I doubt it," Kory replied, "the rebels would realise that a Federation vehicle would have a tracer. We have to trust that Dick and the others get back safely."
"Are you worried about him?" Roy looked sideways at her. She blushed.
"Aren't you?" she asked in reply. He smiled and shrugged.
"A bit, I suppose. But, hell, I don't think there's anyone I'd trust more to get a team in and out of something like this. He's good, you know. They all are."
"Yes, but I just." Kory was cut off by Roy waving his hand suddenly for silence. She raised an eyebrow.
"Do you ever get the feeling that someone's listening?" he mouthed.
"They wouldn't be, would they?" she answered, just as silently.
"I'm not sure. Keep talking, and I'll open the door."
"What about?"
"Oh, anything! Talk about Dick, you seem to like that subject." Kory glared daggers at him, but spoke anyway.
"Well, of course I'm worried about him. I mean, he's a great guy, and he's been, uh, nice to me as well."
Roy grinned, then opened the door swiftly.