Chapter 3:

Nightmares Abound

6th December 2378,

1854 Hrs,

Flight Deck one

Ever since the briefing, Flight deck one had become incredibly alive. In preparation of their first combat sorties and deployments, Flight Chief Su'Vek had ordered for all crews to do double shifts, since most of the fighters save one or two would be deployed immediately upon entry into Xevenya. As such, all the fighters and bombers needed to be armed with their respective ordinances and prepped for simultaneous launch from all four flight decks. With the crews working double time, the fighters had been prepped almost six hours ago and kept ready, after which most of the crew had gone to rest for a few hours before the actual launches at 2000 Hrs.

However, the key saying here was most of the flight crew. A small few had to stay behind to keep watch and help with the launch of the Silver Scythes, who were slated to deploy and do recon a little under an hour earlier – at 1905Hrs, to be precise. Checking the time, Daniel just sighed as he sat in the cramped cockpit of his Night watcher stealth fighter.

When he had first heard the fighter was cramped, he hadn't believed it really was this cramped. The cockpit resembled that of the 20th century fighters that Daniel had read quite a bit about, with an exception being that there was actually a walkway next to him. It led to a small compartment in the rear that had a toilet and an equally cramped bunk that had been placed there especially for long-range operations. However, since life-support systems would compromise some amount of stealth, it was almost always off, and the pilots were in environmental suits instead. When they went off-duty, a force field would activate behind the cockpit and the rear area would become habitable.

As small as the cockpit was, it actually took a significant percentage of the fighter itself. It was actually very tiny when compared to the other fighter craft here. Overall, it was just eight meters long and four meters high. The hull was in an oval shape, with the top-middle section growing into elongated wings that curved downwards. The nose was curved downwards as well, in a beak-like manner, as was the rear. Several extensions from the wing reached downwards and held detachable micro-torpedo racks underneath. Apart from the racks however, there were no other protrusions or oddities to mar the incredibly smooth, black surface of the Night watcher. All the impulse engines and nacelles were completely internal and squeezed in as small a space as possible, while weapons systems were limited to two Type U Pulse phasers that would pop out of the nose.

A marvel of Federation engineering they said…yet still, they couldn't have at least squeezed another few centimeters into this cockpit somewhere. Daniel didn't complain out loud though. He knew that as cramped as he was in here, it was still nothing compared to how badly Moray had been cramped in the fighter right behind his. Looking to his right, Daniel could see Ashter sitting in her fighter and performing the pre-flight checks on the various systems. She then noticed he was looking at her and then shot him a glare. Her expression was clearly visible through the helmet's visor, though, and Daniel quickly looked away and back at his own systems. Skier and Moray were both behind his and Ashter's craft respectively, and would launch immediately after them. Ahead of him four similar rows of craft, all lined up and ready to take off once they were given clearance. His wing would be the last to depart, with Bishota going first in Kappa wing.

Instead, he looked at his displays. There were five total; the one to his right displayed his ship's current status and shield integrity, along with other vital data related to the warp drive. The one two his left displayed information on his current target, and its status. On the screen now was an external image of the USS Persistence and the its current systems status. Everything was 100, as it should have been. Pressing the controls next to the pad, he switched the display, dividing it into three rows, each one displaying a current readout on each of his wingmen. It wasn't really necessary, actually, as the monitor right next to the HUD showed a similar display – except not as in-depth. That one was primarily meant for a full-squadron status display, though, as opposed to just his wing, and as such didn't have as many details. It also served as a de-facto communications control panel. The display on the opposite side of the HUD held the long-range sensor analysis controls – basically the eyes and ears of the craft, as it were.

The central most display was just in front of the flight control stick, though – and was more of a holographic three-dimensional representation of the space around him, with several icons indicating what kind of craft, as well as other valuable tactical data.

The most interesting feature was the actual control joystick, though. Starfleet's engineers had borrowed heavily from the Delta Flyer's system of control for its fighters, going back to its roots in the 20th and 21st centuries. It had actually two system of control: the traditional touchpad and co-ordinate feeds, meant primarily for warp combat or long-range accuracy, and the joystick/foot pedals for close-range impulse combat, which allowed for more fluid motion and control by the pilot. The interface had a similar blend of old-and-new technologies, with their being both touchpad controls, as well as old-fashioned switches.

Looking through the square sights in the middle of his HUD, Daniel sighed again as he checked the time.

1900 hours…just another five minutes to go. He couldn't wait to get flying…yet, at the same time, he had to squelch a feeling of dread about the entire thing. There was something…wrong with the entire deal and the mission, yet Daniel couldn't place his finger on exactly what. His thoughts were interrupted suddenly, however, when the display on his upper right switched from the squadron's status to that of Lt. Commander Bishota's face. The female Andorian had the same dour look on her face that she wore pretty much everywhere as she spoke.

"All wings, perform your pre-flight checks, activate your warp cores, shields, stealth and torpedo systems."

The channel then cut as Daniel sighed. He keyed the panel next to the communications display and opened a line to the fighters around him. Speaking into the channel he began to perform his own pre-flight checks, flipping the switches on the various consoles to bring the engines, shields and torpedo racks online, as well as conduct the warp core diagnostics. The processes began to run on his screen and the results displayed one by one as he spoke.

"Ok guys and gals, you heard the lady. Preflight checks please."

The comms. screen flickered once more, and Ashter's face appeared on the channel as she did her preflight checks.

"Alpha 2 here. Preflight checks complete, I've got green lights across the board and the Warp core's running smoothly."

Daniel reached up to the right of the display and pressed a series of switches that controlled the coolant valves. He opened up all of the feeds into the warp core before attempting to activate it. Behind him, he could hear the humming of the engine come online and a slight vibration coursed through the hull and the cockpit as it did so. The screen flickered again, and the masked face of Skier came on.

"Alpha 3 reporting. Most of my systems are green here as well. I've got a power line to my Holographic generators edging a bit towards the yellow, though."

Daniel frowned. Although not very indicative, it was always safe to check. He opened a new line to the flight crew and replied.

"Copy that Alpha 3. Did you get that flight control?"

This time the reply was audio only as Flight Chief Su'Vek replied.

"Affirmative Alpha wing, we copy and have the feed on sensors. The discrepancy is well within operational parameters – you should encounter no problems with it out in the field."

Daniel gave an internal sigh and shook his head as Su'Vek's face disappeared, to be replaced with Skier's.

"Sorry about that, Sir. All other systems are green light – I'm good to go."

"Relax, dead man. We'll have it checked out when we come back. Do your job right and you probably won't need to use them. What's your status, Moray?"

The display changed to show a rather close-up view of a very cramped Moray coiled up in his cockpit. His scales shimmered with the bright blue aura of the life-support field surrounding him. The camera was centered at Moray's head and rather large teeth. It was so close that Daniel could see the water cycle through the eel's gills inside the force field.

"All systems are green - ready for launch at your discretion."

The double reply came over the translator. Daniel could hear the metallic grating noise beneath the translated voice-over, though. He ignored it, and instead nodded as the screen switched off. He re-opened the channel, this time audio only, to the Flight crew and Lt. Commander Bishota.

"Kappa 1, this is Alpha 1 reporting. Alpha wing is all clear and ready for launch."

"I read you Alpha wing. Flight control, this is Kappa 1. We're ready for deployment at your command."

The display flickered, and a different face appeared on the screen. This time it was that of Flight Coordinator Simmons – Su'Vek's assistant. His British origins became abundantly clear as his deep, accented voice filled the comms. line less than half a second later.

"All wings prepare for liftoff. Kappa wing, you have clearance."

Past the fighters in front of him, Daniel could see Bishota's fighter rise off the deck as the anti-gravity generators came online before it moved forwards quickly. The force field at the exit of the runway flickered as the first two fighters flew through it, quickly followed by the next two. Simmon's face appeared on the display once more as he spoke sharply.

"Zeta wing, go."

Then the wing in front of him moved off, taking less than five seconds to clear the hangar. It left a ripple of heat in the air behind it as it did so, however. And as soon as the fighters was out of the bay, he noticed that it rippled again as holographic projectors converted its exterior into looking completely black, matching the surrounding space it was in. Daniel tensed a bit. It was their turn now.

"Alpha wing, you have clearance. Good luck out there, pilots."

That was all Daniel needed to hear as he opened up on the AG generators and pulled the fighter off the flight deck. With a single nod to Asther in the other fighter, he put the engines to full and then exited the flight deck in one smooth motion. As soon as he was pass the force field, he switched on the stealth systems, and his fighter promptly disappeared from view – as did that of Ashter's. Behind him, as Skier's and Moray's fighters exited the bays, they too disappeared from view. Daniel knew that it was really just an illusion – checking the sensor display, he could still see and make out their low signatures. The treaty with the Romulans banned full cloaking systems based on the similar design as theirs. But Starfleet had gotten around this by just using different stealth technologies, as well as regular signal reduction techniques taken to the extreme. When applied to capital ships, it was useless as the signatures were too large...but when used on small fighters with only a single crew member and no life-support systems, they became almost completely invisible to sensors – almost as if they were cloaked, but not quiet. How effective they really were would be proven by this mission.

Daniel switched the right side display to show the rear camera, and then watched as the other two fighters shimmered and disappeared as well. He could see a distorted image of the rear of the Persistence across where they should be, meaning that the cameras were working. Nodding to himself, he switched the display back and then opened tight-beam comms line just to the fighters around him. It was low enough that it was nearly impossible to detect to sensors, unless you were maybe a hundred kilometers or so away.

"All right Alpha wing, we're all clear. Now uploading coordinates into your Nav. systems, get ready for warp in twenty seconds."

With that, Daniel keyed in his authorization codes, and the computer picked up, sending the coordinates for an edge of the Xevenya system near its last planet – Xevenya XII. A gas giant, the planet was significantly large, and the radiation it emitted served to hide anything within it. According to the list of sites to investigate that Bishota had given Daniel, this was to be the first. Unlike the larger ships, the fighters could warp in-system far, far more accurately, so getting there wasn't much of a problem. However, communications back with the Persistence would be. To minimize the risk of exposure, the fighters had been given specific windows at which point they would burst-transmit their data back to the Persistence and make contact with flight command, before moving onto the next spot. Checking the timer, Daniel noted that it was at least another hour to their next window. Until then, none of the wings that were sent out would attempt to communicate, save for emergencies.

Daniel's thoughts were side-tracked, however, when Skier's face appeared on the display screen.

"Roger that sir. Warp drives ready. About time we got to action."

The screen flickered, and Ashter's face came on this time, her head moving from side to side as she checked the displays around her.

"Cut the chatter, Dead man. Command can hear our communications broadcasts when we're this close, you know."

It then changed back as Skier replied.

"Relax – I doubt they can hear us. Besides, even if they did, what are they going to do? Its not like we're speaking classified stuff over this channel, you know."

Daniel sighed to himself. Command might not do much, but he sure as hell would. He knew Skier was only joking around…but they were about to head into a possible combat situation, and this was no time for Jokes. He opened the channel and let it be known.

"Damnit, Skier! Command might not do much to you, but I sure as hell will once we get back. Now shut your trap and get ready – warp is in five seconds…"

With that, Daniel re-checked the co-ordinates and then nodded.

"…Four…"

He rechecked his stealth and the weapons systems. All was in order, much to his satisfaction.

"…three…"

Next was the passive sensors; again, everything was showing up fine. He could see the faint silhouette of the Persistence behind him on the display, as well as the background subspace fields. All was stable, and the space was clear as needed. His wing only showed on the 3d holographic 'radar' display in front of him.

"…two…"

Daniel took a breath and closed his eyes. Internally, he said a slight prayer, hoping that they wouldn't find anything on this mission. As eager as they had been for action…finding the Jolly Roger was the last thing he wanted today…not because it would be dangerous, but because of the memories that kept on trying to bring their way back into his consciousness. Memories of the dreams and nightmares he had last night…of a subspace vortex, and the metallic laughter of that insane man.

"…one…"

And yet as Daniel opened his eyes and reached for the warp controls…his mind wandered slightly as he remembered the words of that man, the one that had tormented him so much. He questioned this reality as he entered his authorization codes. Had he really woken up from that dream? Or had this – the briefing, the checks, the launch – everything, been just a dream? Would he now go to warp…and then just end up waking up in his bed? Or would the man come again and haunt him in this dream-reality?

Another terrifying thought struck him…one that shook him to the core and made his blood run cold. What if the dream…what if it was the other way around? What if…instead of being a dream…what he had gone through had been so real?

Daniel then snapped himself out of it as the countdown rolled to zero.

It was a dream…nothing more. Damnit…I'm getting to analytical over this. I need to calm down.

Yet, even as he sighed and spoke up, Bosch's words still rang through his head. Closing his eyes, Daniel muttered just one word before pressing the controls that would send the fighters to their destinations.

"...warp."

And with that, the fighters surged into warp, leaving behind the permeated subspace echoes of their warp cores as the only trace of them ever having being there.