Captain's Log – Stardate 0015.22
The ship is ongoing repairs. The work is moving along at a rapid pace, due to Lt. Commander Sullivan's exceptional work. His aptitude for the position of Chief Engineer is constantly shown in how he deals with his subordinates and at the rapidity that the systems are being repaired at. We have not encountered any Vissian vessels. We are continuing to explore the nearby systems, in order to find any means to return us home. Lieutenant Cal is modifying existing torpedoes to further increase our supplies of transphasics. However, I hope to use these as a last resort........
Ensign Vivian Talsy nervously shifted before the Captain's ready room. She had thus far not had the inevitable conversation with the Austin regarding her performance during the battle. It was a meeting she was not looking forward to; taking a deep breath, she pushed the panel notifying Austin of her presence.
"Enter," resounded a voice.
She meekly entered the ready room; looking around, she noticed Austin had placed small trinkets throughout his ready room. He was quickly modifying the room to his tastes, placing Captain Bates's personal belongings in storage.
"Aust.....Captain" she greeted. She still could not refer to Austin as Captain Peters. A little over a week and a half ago, she was playing poker with him, and now he was the commanding officer. Despite her difficulty, she knew the crew was slowly adapting to the young captain, establishing an equilibrium with him.
"Vivian, please sit down," said Austin, as he motioned to the couch. He watched her, and could tell from her body movements she was extremely tense. He knew he had to lighten the mood and the environment if he was going to get her to relax; he could not have his senior officers feeling uncomfortable around him. Noticing that her attention had been drawn to the model, he began, "Beautiful ship isn't it?"
"Yes sir, though, I don't recognize the class."
"That's because it hasn't been created yet," he chuckled, "Meet the U.S.S. Excalibur. It's basically been my hobby since I arrived aboard. Call it my ideal, perfect ship. I designed her to have top class luxuries, all the while maintaining a high warp profile, and be well armed, all the while being aesthetically pleasing. I based her after the Sovereign-class, mixed in with a bit of the Prometheus and several other classes. Its still a work in progress, but it makes this room feel more like home. I had hoped to submit the designs to Starfleet once I had finished, but looks like that project will have to be put on hold for now."
"Yes sir, but hopefully not for long. But I doubt you asked me here to discuss ship designs, sir" replied Vivian.
Austin smiled, "Always on top of things, eh, Vivian? I'm not one to beat around the bush, and I'm sure you know why I called you here."
"I think I have an idea."
"Ok, let's get straight to the point. I need to know why you froze during the attack."
"Sir, that was my first live firefight sir. I.....I.....I was so terrified. We are so far from home, and I.....I...." Vivian was on the verge of breaking down.
"Vivian, you're going to have to learn to face you fears. We're far from home, and it's going to take a while to get home. I can't have my senior officers freezing in the middle of a battle. You graduated pretty much at the top of your class. Your going to learn to have to trust yourself. All that discipline you learnt with all that martial arts you do, just apply here. I know I can count on you."
"Yes....Yes sir. I swear it won't happen again."
"Excellent. Then I won't keep you from your duties Lieutenant."
"Yes sir," she replied. As she exited the ready room, she realized that she did not need to feel uncomfortable around Austin. He was still the same old kid, except now she could look to him for guidance and leadership. He may not be experienced, but she knew he would make an excellent commander, and she would never need to question his command ability. Lost in thought, she made her way to her ready room, and got some much needed rest.
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First Officer's Personal Log- Stardate 0020.09
The crew is slowly becoming accustomed to Captain Peter's command style. His informal, friendly basis, is winning him the crew's loyalty, and his cool nature under fire has gained him the respect needed to command. The Captain and I have had a discussion regarding my questioning his orders in public, and he has made it apparent that he will not tolerate it again. I let my fear get the best of me, and will not do so again. Lieutenant Commander Sullivan is making due process with repairs and we should be fully operational within the next few hours. Lieutenant Cal and I have been discussing multiple tactics in case we run into any more hostile species along with ways to modify shielding and phasers. We hope any hostile encounters will be short and few, but until we find the means to home, we must remain vigilant to any threats....
Ben Waters strolled through the ship. He was amazed how quickly the crew had bonded. There had been some minor scuffles and arguments, but as a whole, the crew was bonding, adjusting to the ever-changing environment. They had not encountered any species since the encounter with the Vissians, nor had they found any type of spatial or temporal apertures or anomalies to return them home. The most they had been able to determine, was that the gravimetric eddy that sent them here appeared at random, and would reappear somewhere in the surrounding region of space; however, that included over 10,000 light years, an area far to vast to cover in a single ship. Crewmembers had been working round the clock to determine ways to discover where the eddy would reappear, but emphasis had been placed on getting systems repaired for a possible repeat of the Vissian encounter. Ben was shaken out of thoughts by a loud claxon.
"Red Alert, all senior officers report to the Bridge!"
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Captain Peters hurried out of his ready room. "Report!"
"Sir, we're receiving a distress call, audio only. It's less than a light year away. I don't know how sensors didn't pick them up earlier," replied Vivian.
"On speakers"
"Argsho...comrf....any Parados vessel. Und.........Vissian..."
"What's the status of the engines?" asked Austin.
"I can give you Warp 8, maybe 8.5," replied Chris.
"Set a course, give me everything you have."
"Yes sir"
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"ETA?" asked Austin.
"We'll be there in less than 5 minutes, sir," replied Andy McKinley.
"Sir, I'm still not reading any vessels. If there are any, our sensors still aren't picking them up."
Ben looked up from his console, "So basically we're going in blind. John, how many transphasics do we have?"
"We've got 6, two more can be ready within the hour."
"Go to battle stations," ordered Austin. He was not at all comfortable going in blind, but they had little choice. This was the second time they were answering a distress call. They had to help this ship, if it was indeed being attacked by the Vissians. If they could save, they might be able to determine the current situation. They had failed the first time when they tried to save the freighter; he would not allow it to happen again.
"Captain, we are entering the system. We are detecting three vessels. One is a Vissian ship, unknown type. It's over 3 times larger than the one we encountered; it's heavily armed. The other two ships are of an unknown design, but they're definitely out-classed."
"Sir, the Vissian cruiser is turning about, they're heading toward us," said John.
"Open a channel," replied Austin.
"They're responding..."
"We are the Vissian Battle cruiser Vortox. You will surrender, and prepare to be boarded. You will pay for your crimes against the Deathhead!"
"This Captain Austin Peters of the Federation Starship Phoenix. The Deathhead attacked us with provocation. We are not here to fight, we are..."
"Sir, they're firing!"
"Evasive maneuvers! Target they're weapons systems, fire phasers and photon torpedoes!"
The Phoenix and the Vissian battleship began their deadly dogfight; both firing bright beams of light. From a distance, it would almost look like a dance, except this was one dance with fatal consequences.
"Captain, our weapons are not doing any damage. The other two vessels are approaching; they're targeting the Vortox. We're not doing any damage to them sir. Should I load transphasics?"
"Bring us about. Commence attack pattern Alpha-two. Fire a spread of Transphasics!"
The Phoenix broke off, and came about. Firing a deadly salvo of yellow- green spheres of light, it swooped over the Vortox, leaving a trail of damage in its wake."
"Sir, the Vissian ship is breaking off, they're retreating!"
"Damage report!"
"Sir, main systems are on line. They're some minor buckling throughout the secondary hull; no major casualties have been reported; looks like Andy was able to keep most of they're heavy weapons from hitting us," replied Ben.
"Nice work, Andy," commended Austin, "Now, open a channel to the other two ships."
"Channel open."
"This is Captain Austin Peters of the Federation Starship Phoenix."
"This is Parados vessel Dregon. We thank you for you assistance. We have not encountered your species before."
"That is because we are not from this region of space. Perhaps you would like to come aboard, we can discuss this face to face."
"While I do not mean to be rude, Captain, we are in the middle of a war, I cannot just transport over to an unknown vessel. Perhaps you would be generous enough to come aboard our vessel?"
"That can be arranged."
"Excellent, I will expect you here within the hour. Dregon out."
"Sir, is this such a good idea, transporting to an unknown vessel? For all we know, they could be hostile too," said Ben, a worried look on his face.
"I'll be fine," replied Austin, "John, Vivian, you're with me. We go unarmed, no need to make any more enemies. Commander, you have the bridge."
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Twenty-minutes later, the group of officers transported to the Parados vessel.
"I am Captain Austin Peters. This here is my ops officer, Lieutenant Vivian Talsy, and my Chief of Security: Lieutenant John Cal."
"I am Mithraw Dregon, of the house of Dreka. Follow me."
Austin noted as they walked through the corridors, that the ship was being held together by makeshift repairs. Arriving at what appeared to be a briefing room, the away party took their seats.
"Captain Dregon, perhaps you could explain to us, about this war that you mentioned about."
"You amuse me, Captain. How could you not know about the war, it has lasted for over a century."
"As I said before, we are not from this region. Some sort of gravimetric eddy transported us here. We are, from what we can determine, from a different time and dimension," replied Austin.
"As far as we can determine, we're from 100,000 years in the past and from some sort of parallel dimension. We've been stranded here two weeks, and are just trying to find our way home," cut in Vivian.
Dregon looked at them with amazement, "Cuu was correct. Incredible! I cannot explain anymore. You must leave immediately. We will escort you to the Overlord and Cuu. Only they can answer you questions."
"Very well," replied Austin.
Transporting back to the Phoenix, Austin mulled over his thoughts. This Cuu character, seemed to be the one to know everything. Looking over to Vivian he said, "Assemble the senior staff for a briefing in an hour."
"Yes sir," she replied.
Austin headed to his ready room, and pondered when he would be able to get his crew, and it was now his crew, home. His gut told him, however, things were going to get a lot worse, before they got any better.
The ship is ongoing repairs. The work is moving along at a rapid pace, due to Lt. Commander Sullivan's exceptional work. His aptitude for the position of Chief Engineer is constantly shown in how he deals with his subordinates and at the rapidity that the systems are being repaired at. We have not encountered any Vissian vessels. We are continuing to explore the nearby systems, in order to find any means to return us home. Lieutenant Cal is modifying existing torpedoes to further increase our supplies of transphasics. However, I hope to use these as a last resort........
Ensign Vivian Talsy nervously shifted before the Captain's ready room. She had thus far not had the inevitable conversation with the Austin regarding her performance during the battle. It was a meeting she was not looking forward to; taking a deep breath, she pushed the panel notifying Austin of her presence.
"Enter," resounded a voice.
She meekly entered the ready room; looking around, she noticed Austin had placed small trinkets throughout his ready room. He was quickly modifying the room to his tastes, placing Captain Bates's personal belongings in storage.
"Aust.....Captain" she greeted. She still could not refer to Austin as Captain Peters. A little over a week and a half ago, she was playing poker with him, and now he was the commanding officer. Despite her difficulty, she knew the crew was slowly adapting to the young captain, establishing an equilibrium with him.
"Vivian, please sit down," said Austin, as he motioned to the couch. He watched her, and could tell from her body movements she was extremely tense. He knew he had to lighten the mood and the environment if he was going to get her to relax; he could not have his senior officers feeling uncomfortable around him. Noticing that her attention had been drawn to the model, he began, "Beautiful ship isn't it?"
"Yes sir, though, I don't recognize the class."
"That's because it hasn't been created yet," he chuckled, "Meet the U.S.S. Excalibur. It's basically been my hobby since I arrived aboard. Call it my ideal, perfect ship. I designed her to have top class luxuries, all the while maintaining a high warp profile, and be well armed, all the while being aesthetically pleasing. I based her after the Sovereign-class, mixed in with a bit of the Prometheus and several other classes. Its still a work in progress, but it makes this room feel more like home. I had hoped to submit the designs to Starfleet once I had finished, but looks like that project will have to be put on hold for now."
"Yes sir, but hopefully not for long. But I doubt you asked me here to discuss ship designs, sir" replied Vivian.
Austin smiled, "Always on top of things, eh, Vivian? I'm not one to beat around the bush, and I'm sure you know why I called you here."
"I think I have an idea."
"Ok, let's get straight to the point. I need to know why you froze during the attack."
"Sir, that was my first live firefight sir. I.....I.....I was so terrified. We are so far from home, and I.....I...." Vivian was on the verge of breaking down.
"Vivian, you're going to have to learn to face you fears. We're far from home, and it's going to take a while to get home. I can't have my senior officers freezing in the middle of a battle. You graduated pretty much at the top of your class. Your going to learn to have to trust yourself. All that discipline you learnt with all that martial arts you do, just apply here. I know I can count on you."
"Yes....Yes sir. I swear it won't happen again."
"Excellent. Then I won't keep you from your duties Lieutenant."
"Yes sir," she replied. As she exited the ready room, she realized that she did not need to feel uncomfortable around Austin. He was still the same old kid, except now she could look to him for guidance and leadership. He may not be experienced, but she knew he would make an excellent commander, and she would never need to question his command ability. Lost in thought, she made her way to her ready room, and got some much needed rest.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------
First Officer's Personal Log- Stardate 0020.09
The crew is slowly becoming accustomed to Captain Peter's command style. His informal, friendly basis, is winning him the crew's loyalty, and his cool nature under fire has gained him the respect needed to command. The Captain and I have had a discussion regarding my questioning his orders in public, and he has made it apparent that he will not tolerate it again. I let my fear get the best of me, and will not do so again. Lieutenant Commander Sullivan is making due process with repairs and we should be fully operational within the next few hours. Lieutenant Cal and I have been discussing multiple tactics in case we run into any more hostile species along with ways to modify shielding and phasers. We hope any hostile encounters will be short and few, but until we find the means to home, we must remain vigilant to any threats....
Ben Waters strolled through the ship. He was amazed how quickly the crew had bonded. There had been some minor scuffles and arguments, but as a whole, the crew was bonding, adjusting to the ever-changing environment. They had not encountered any species since the encounter with the Vissians, nor had they found any type of spatial or temporal apertures or anomalies to return them home. The most they had been able to determine, was that the gravimetric eddy that sent them here appeared at random, and would reappear somewhere in the surrounding region of space; however, that included over 10,000 light years, an area far to vast to cover in a single ship. Crewmembers had been working round the clock to determine ways to discover where the eddy would reappear, but emphasis had been placed on getting systems repaired for a possible repeat of the Vissian encounter. Ben was shaken out of thoughts by a loud claxon.
"Red Alert, all senior officers report to the Bridge!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------
Captain Peters hurried out of his ready room. "Report!"
"Sir, we're receiving a distress call, audio only. It's less than a light year away. I don't know how sensors didn't pick them up earlier," replied Vivian.
"On speakers"
"Argsho...comrf....any Parados vessel. Und.........Vissian..."
"What's the status of the engines?" asked Austin.
"I can give you Warp 8, maybe 8.5," replied Chris.
"Set a course, give me everything you have."
"Yes sir"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------
"ETA?" asked Austin.
"We'll be there in less than 5 minutes, sir," replied Andy McKinley.
"Sir, I'm still not reading any vessels. If there are any, our sensors still aren't picking them up."
Ben looked up from his console, "So basically we're going in blind. John, how many transphasics do we have?"
"We've got 6, two more can be ready within the hour."
"Go to battle stations," ordered Austin. He was not at all comfortable going in blind, but they had little choice. This was the second time they were answering a distress call. They had to help this ship, if it was indeed being attacked by the Vissians. If they could save, they might be able to determine the current situation. They had failed the first time when they tried to save the freighter; he would not allow it to happen again.
"Captain, we are entering the system. We are detecting three vessels. One is a Vissian ship, unknown type. It's over 3 times larger than the one we encountered; it's heavily armed. The other two ships are of an unknown design, but they're definitely out-classed."
"Sir, the Vissian cruiser is turning about, they're heading toward us," said John.
"Open a channel," replied Austin.
"They're responding..."
"We are the Vissian Battle cruiser Vortox. You will surrender, and prepare to be boarded. You will pay for your crimes against the Deathhead!"
"This Captain Austin Peters of the Federation Starship Phoenix. The Deathhead attacked us with provocation. We are not here to fight, we are..."
"Sir, they're firing!"
"Evasive maneuvers! Target they're weapons systems, fire phasers and photon torpedoes!"
The Phoenix and the Vissian battleship began their deadly dogfight; both firing bright beams of light. From a distance, it would almost look like a dance, except this was one dance with fatal consequences.
"Captain, our weapons are not doing any damage. The other two vessels are approaching; they're targeting the Vortox. We're not doing any damage to them sir. Should I load transphasics?"
"Bring us about. Commence attack pattern Alpha-two. Fire a spread of Transphasics!"
The Phoenix broke off, and came about. Firing a deadly salvo of yellow- green spheres of light, it swooped over the Vortox, leaving a trail of damage in its wake."
"Sir, the Vissian ship is breaking off, they're retreating!"
"Damage report!"
"Sir, main systems are on line. They're some minor buckling throughout the secondary hull; no major casualties have been reported; looks like Andy was able to keep most of they're heavy weapons from hitting us," replied Ben.
"Nice work, Andy," commended Austin, "Now, open a channel to the other two ships."
"Channel open."
"This is Captain Austin Peters of the Federation Starship Phoenix."
"This is Parados vessel Dregon. We thank you for you assistance. We have not encountered your species before."
"That is because we are not from this region of space. Perhaps you would like to come aboard, we can discuss this face to face."
"While I do not mean to be rude, Captain, we are in the middle of a war, I cannot just transport over to an unknown vessel. Perhaps you would be generous enough to come aboard our vessel?"
"That can be arranged."
"Excellent, I will expect you here within the hour. Dregon out."
"Sir, is this such a good idea, transporting to an unknown vessel? For all we know, they could be hostile too," said Ben, a worried look on his face.
"I'll be fine," replied Austin, "John, Vivian, you're with me. We go unarmed, no need to make any more enemies. Commander, you have the bridge."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------
Twenty-minutes later, the group of officers transported to the Parados vessel.
"I am Captain Austin Peters. This here is my ops officer, Lieutenant Vivian Talsy, and my Chief of Security: Lieutenant John Cal."
"I am Mithraw Dregon, of the house of Dreka. Follow me."
Austin noted as they walked through the corridors, that the ship was being held together by makeshift repairs. Arriving at what appeared to be a briefing room, the away party took their seats.
"Captain Dregon, perhaps you could explain to us, about this war that you mentioned about."
"You amuse me, Captain. How could you not know about the war, it has lasted for over a century."
"As I said before, we are not from this region. Some sort of gravimetric eddy transported us here. We are, from what we can determine, from a different time and dimension," replied Austin.
"As far as we can determine, we're from 100,000 years in the past and from some sort of parallel dimension. We've been stranded here two weeks, and are just trying to find our way home," cut in Vivian.
Dregon looked at them with amazement, "Cuu was correct. Incredible! I cannot explain anymore. You must leave immediately. We will escort you to the Overlord and Cuu. Only they can answer you questions."
"Very well," replied Austin.
Transporting back to the Phoenix, Austin mulled over his thoughts. This Cuu character, seemed to be the one to know everything. Looking over to Vivian he said, "Assemble the senior staff for a briefing in an hour."
"Yes sir," she replied.
Austin headed to his ready room, and pondered when he would be able to get his crew, and it was now his crew, home. His gut told him, however, things were going to get a lot worse, before they got any better.