Earth
A few months later
The U.S.S Saturn and the U.S.S Enterprise-E were floating in Earth orbit. After the Romulan raiders stole a number of upsilon devices, Starfleet Intelligence made a number of efforts to discover where the devices had been taken and what the Romulans were doing with them. The Romulan government denied all knowledge of the attack, as expected. Starfleet had managed to locate the locations where the attacks originated, and Captain Picard was ordered to command a task force sent to destroy these bases. The ships in the task force, besides the Enterprise-E, included the Saturn and two Akira-class ships. Special long range tactical missiles designed with upsilon technology would allow the group to attack the Romulan bases from afar. Only the two Sovereign-class ships were being loaded with these weapons. The other two were part of the task force to provide some protection to the Enterprise and Saturn from any Romulan warbirds that may be sent to intercept them if they should be detected. Two squadrons of Egrets, Alpha and Nova, were on standby to provide additional support if necessary, but they would have to use their enhanced warp drives to reach the task force. No one expected the task force to need assistance however.
U.S.S Saturn
Azalea beamed to her ship after she left the mission briefing at Starfleet Headquarters. The ship was still being loaded with the weapons and more supplies, and most of the crew was on the surface. There was an entirely different feel to the ship when it was virtually empty. She ran into no one on her way to her quarters, which involved a walk down two long corridors and a ride in the turbolift. When she got to her quarters, she went in, took off her shoes, brushed some of her long blonde hair out of her face, and sat down in a chair. She crossed her legs in her chair so that she was sitting on them. Azalea was often more comfortable in this position than sitting normally. She remembered the fish tank that Picard had in the wall of his ready room. That was cool. I'll have to get one of those, she thought. Azalea picked up a padd that contained the design schematics of the Egret and began looking through them. Even as a little girl, she had always known space combat to be between two large starships. The idea of space fighters was a cool knew concept to her. She remembered reading in a history class she took in high school about the way combat was three hundred years ago. Atmospheric craft would shoot projectile weapons at each other and drop explosive charges to destroy targets on the ground. She had an amount of respect for those who fight in craft that had no shields to protect them from enemy fire and one hit could kill you. She found the measures they took to avoid detection especially interesting. Imagine design a craft with the sole purpose of being sneaky, she though. If only they had cloaking devices!
Azalea set the padd back on the table that was next to her chair and glanced around the room. Her eyes landed on the small black furry creature that lay sleeping on her bed. She enjoyed having the cat in her quarters. She never had a pet as a child, but there was a cat that wondered around her neighborhood and she was the only one who it didn't run away from. She walked over to the bed, sat down next to the animal, and began stroking him. She had named him Fluffie because that was the first word that came to her mind every time she thought of him. Her petting him woke him up, and he stood up and brushed his head against the side of her body. Fluffie then turned around, climbed into her lap, and closed his eyes again. "You sleep too much," she said to him.
Her combage chirped. "Captain, the supplies are all on board. Captain Picard has told us to prepare to leave orbit," Walters told her.
"Okay. On my way," she said. She picked up Fluffie and placed him back on the bed. He meowed, and then jumped down from the bed. As Azalea was putting her shoes back the cat went over and drank some water from his bowl which Azalea had placed in the corner of the room away from the door. She sometimes worried that he would wonder out of her quarters and get lost in the ship. This was the reason that Fluffie wore a collar with a tracking device in it. Azalea left the room and proceeded to the bridge.
* * *
"Keep a look out for the defense drones," John told the rest of Alpha Squadron.
"Copy that, John, but I haven't seen any for a while," Fred replied.
"According to the mission briefing, they are normally in the upper atmosphere. If we stay below forty thousand they probably won't notice us. I don't think they're programmed to check that low."
"Good idea."
"Catch that, Cil?"
"Yep," she answered. They were flying through the atmosphere of a Mars-type planet. The terrain had the reddish color of iron oxide, and there were geological formations punctuating the ground. Sylvia watched the small number for AGL go up on the display as they passed the point where a plateau dropped off forming a cliff. There was a deep ravine ahead. She enjoyed the view of the landscape from the Egret, something that would be missed if they were operating in space or at a much high altitude, as was usually the case. As the formation flew over a field of volcanic craters and steam vents, they turned to port, following their flight path.
"Okay, gang, it's just up here aways," John told them.
"Guys, drones," Fred said. "155 mark 4."
"I see them," Cil said.
"One of us should go for the target and the others should get the drones," Fred suggested.
"Um, how 'bout not," John said.
"Why not?" Fred asked.
"Because the target may have its own defense's and we don't want to be sending somebody to their death."
"Crap."
"We'll all engage the drones, and then proceed to the target. This is why is usually good to send two groups on a mission."
"Really," Sylvia commented. A cluster of three defense drones was approaching. The group altered course to intercept them.
"We'll each take one," John declared. He picked out a target and went for it. Fred and Sylvia did likewise, but made sure to each select a different one. Fred approached his target, fired two shots from the Egret's phasers to disable the drone's shields, passing it in the process. He then doubled back and destroyed the target with a few more phaser hits. Sylvia did the job the easy way by firing three quantum torpedoes and watching each smack into the drone until there was nothing left of it. John fired one torpedo while he was still some distance away from his target, then used phasers to finish it off when he drew closer to it. "Nice work, guys," he said when they were finished.
"You know it'll never really be that easy," Fred pointed out. They again headed for the mountain where their primary target lay.
"Approaching the target," John announced. "Everybody scan it, just in case one of us misses something or our scanners aren't working right."
"Alright," Sylvia answered, "scanning."
"I don't really see much. Minimal energy readings."
"Yeah? Look again," Sylvia said.
"What the hell? This thing like… just came alive."
"I told you it'd probably have its own defenses," John said.
"That's why you were made squadron leader," Fred said. Two phaser turrets rose up out of the ground and began firing at the Egrets.
"Try to evade their fire, don't just let your shields take it all," John told them. "If you take too many hits, it'll affect your performance rating."
"Aw, damn."
"Cil, you can take the target. We'll kill the defenses," John said.
"Roger," she replied. John and Fred each broke off and fired quantum torpedoes at each phaser turret while Sylvia proceeded to the target and fired two torpedoes when the computer told her that she was in range. Her sensors detected the explosions of the defense turrets. When it no longer registered on the sensors, she broke left and rejoined the rest of the group.
"Well guys, that's it" John said. "All targets destroyed."
"It's nice that we could do the mission without going to a different planet," Fred said.
"Yeah, this is a cool planet," Sylvia said.
"Base to Alpha squadron. Mission completed. Good job. RTB," came the message from Starbase 1194.
A few months later
The U.S.S Saturn and the U.S.S Enterprise-E were floating in Earth orbit. After the Romulan raiders stole a number of upsilon devices, Starfleet Intelligence made a number of efforts to discover where the devices had been taken and what the Romulans were doing with them. The Romulan government denied all knowledge of the attack, as expected. Starfleet had managed to locate the locations where the attacks originated, and Captain Picard was ordered to command a task force sent to destroy these bases. The ships in the task force, besides the Enterprise-E, included the Saturn and two Akira-class ships. Special long range tactical missiles designed with upsilon technology would allow the group to attack the Romulan bases from afar. Only the two Sovereign-class ships were being loaded with these weapons. The other two were part of the task force to provide some protection to the Enterprise and Saturn from any Romulan warbirds that may be sent to intercept them if they should be detected. Two squadrons of Egrets, Alpha and Nova, were on standby to provide additional support if necessary, but they would have to use their enhanced warp drives to reach the task force. No one expected the task force to need assistance however.
U.S.S Saturn
Azalea beamed to her ship after she left the mission briefing at Starfleet Headquarters. The ship was still being loaded with the weapons and more supplies, and most of the crew was on the surface. There was an entirely different feel to the ship when it was virtually empty. She ran into no one on her way to her quarters, which involved a walk down two long corridors and a ride in the turbolift. When she got to her quarters, she went in, took off her shoes, brushed some of her long blonde hair out of her face, and sat down in a chair. She crossed her legs in her chair so that she was sitting on them. Azalea was often more comfortable in this position than sitting normally. She remembered the fish tank that Picard had in the wall of his ready room. That was cool. I'll have to get one of those, she thought. Azalea picked up a padd that contained the design schematics of the Egret and began looking through them. Even as a little girl, she had always known space combat to be between two large starships. The idea of space fighters was a cool knew concept to her. She remembered reading in a history class she took in high school about the way combat was three hundred years ago. Atmospheric craft would shoot projectile weapons at each other and drop explosive charges to destroy targets on the ground. She had an amount of respect for those who fight in craft that had no shields to protect them from enemy fire and one hit could kill you. She found the measures they took to avoid detection especially interesting. Imagine design a craft with the sole purpose of being sneaky, she though. If only they had cloaking devices!
Azalea set the padd back on the table that was next to her chair and glanced around the room. Her eyes landed on the small black furry creature that lay sleeping on her bed. She enjoyed having the cat in her quarters. She never had a pet as a child, but there was a cat that wondered around her neighborhood and she was the only one who it didn't run away from. She walked over to the bed, sat down next to the animal, and began stroking him. She had named him Fluffie because that was the first word that came to her mind every time she thought of him. Her petting him woke him up, and he stood up and brushed his head against the side of her body. Fluffie then turned around, climbed into her lap, and closed his eyes again. "You sleep too much," she said to him.
Her combage chirped. "Captain, the supplies are all on board. Captain Picard has told us to prepare to leave orbit," Walters told her.
"Okay. On my way," she said. She picked up Fluffie and placed him back on the bed. He meowed, and then jumped down from the bed. As Azalea was putting her shoes back the cat went over and drank some water from his bowl which Azalea had placed in the corner of the room away from the door. She sometimes worried that he would wonder out of her quarters and get lost in the ship. This was the reason that Fluffie wore a collar with a tracking device in it. Azalea left the room and proceeded to the bridge.
* * *
"Keep a look out for the defense drones," John told the rest of Alpha Squadron.
"Copy that, John, but I haven't seen any for a while," Fred replied.
"According to the mission briefing, they are normally in the upper atmosphere. If we stay below forty thousand they probably won't notice us. I don't think they're programmed to check that low."
"Good idea."
"Catch that, Cil?"
"Yep," she answered. They were flying through the atmosphere of a Mars-type planet. The terrain had the reddish color of iron oxide, and there were geological formations punctuating the ground. Sylvia watched the small number for AGL go up on the display as they passed the point where a plateau dropped off forming a cliff. There was a deep ravine ahead. She enjoyed the view of the landscape from the Egret, something that would be missed if they were operating in space or at a much high altitude, as was usually the case. As the formation flew over a field of volcanic craters and steam vents, they turned to port, following their flight path.
"Okay, gang, it's just up here aways," John told them.
"Guys, drones," Fred said. "155 mark 4."
"I see them," Cil said.
"One of us should go for the target and the others should get the drones," Fred suggested.
"Um, how 'bout not," John said.
"Why not?" Fred asked.
"Because the target may have its own defense's and we don't want to be sending somebody to their death."
"Crap."
"We'll all engage the drones, and then proceed to the target. This is why is usually good to send two groups on a mission."
"Really," Sylvia commented. A cluster of three defense drones was approaching. The group altered course to intercept them.
"We'll each take one," John declared. He picked out a target and went for it. Fred and Sylvia did likewise, but made sure to each select a different one. Fred approached his target, fired two shots from the Egret's phasers to disable the drone's shields, passing it in the process. He then doubled back and destroyed the target with a few more phaser hits. Sylvia did the job the easy way by firing three quantum torpedoes and watching each smack into the drone until there was nothing left of it. John fired one torpedo while he was still some distance away from his target, then used phasers to finish it off when he drew closer to it. "Nice work, guys," he said when they were finished.
"You know it'll never really be that easy," Fred pointed out. They again headed for the mountain where their primary target lay.
"Approaching the target," John announced. "Everybody scan it, just in case one of us misses something or our scanners aren't working right."
"Alright," Sylvia answered, "scanning."
"I don't really see much. Minimal energy readings."
"Yeah? Look again," Sylvia said.
"What the hell? This thing like… just came alive."
"I told you it'd probably have its own defenses," John said.
"That's why you were made squadron leader," Fred said. Two phaser turrets rose up out of the ground and began firing at the Egrets.
"Try to evade their fire, don't just let your shields take it all," John told them. "If you take too many hits, it'll affect your performance rating."
"Aw, damn."
"Cil, you can take the target. We'll kill the defenses," John said.
"Roger," she replied. John and Fred each broke off and fired quantum torpedoes at each phaser turret while Sylvia proceeded to the target and fired two torpedoes when the computer told her that she was in range. Her sensors detected the explosions of the defense turrets. When it no longer registered on the sensors, she broke left and rejoined the rest of the group.
"Well guys, that's it" John said. "All targets destroyed."
"It's nice that we could do the mission without going to a different planet," Fred said.
"Yeah, this is a cool planet," Sylvia said.
"Base to Alpha squadron. Mission completed. Good job. RTB," came the message from Starbase 1194.