Captains Log, Stardate 67872.4. 18 years, 9 months, and 28 days is how long the ship would take to return to the nearest Starfleet deep space outpost. We've been in the Delta Quadrant for two days without much incident. When we initially got here, some Hirogen warships hounded us but they had quickly decided it wasn't worth it to fight us. I just hope they don't try again. I hate to make some enemies the first day of class. We've just entered an uncharted planetary system and detected a M-class planet amongst four other uninhabitable planets, gas giants. Sensors indicate its uninhabited and our science personnel have been frothing at the bit to go down planet-side. Given that the planet is the size of Neptune and its got two Pangea-sized super continents with a smattering of islands, I think I will authorize some time for them to check out the planets surface.
Endeavour entered orbit over MCP-2219 fourteen hours ago, at least thats what the computer designated the planet. The planet was currently in a period of time similar to the Paleozoic Permian era of Earth only with supercontinents. The system didn't even have a name, like the planet, it just had a number. Roughly the size of Neptune, quite large for an M-class planet, had several animal species that was detected. Its island masses were a super-massive archipelagos. Fortunately there were a couple "uninhabited" islands where the animals were not detected but there was plenty of flora, so Alona authorized some geologists, botanists, and other scientists use of a type-11 shuttle for study of the planet as well as to shuttle down equipment. Under no circumstances were they to land on any island with an animal populace much to the scientists complaints. As big as the planet seemed, there was a possibility that sentient life may evolve on this planet and she wanted to keep her footprint as small as possible.
The various studies turned out that they were going to take a few days time to complete, with LT T'saal supervising the teams on the ground while Viir-Keim and Colonel Reed both provided the required protection while planet-side. Since the ship would be in orbit for a few days Alona had decided that it would be a good time for the Osprey wing and its CAG or Commander Aerospace Group, some time to stretch its legs, get some flight time in and to meet the CAG. Endeavours CAG was a Denobulan Commander named Toom.
Like most Denobulans, Commander Toom was almost always and sometimes unnaturally cheerful with most of the other crew. He had light brown hair and was slim, almost lanky. His eyes, like other Denobulans changed color with his mood, had a sharp nose and prominent ridges along his face. He never raised his voice nor severely reprimanded them, even when angry, he typically told them to simply try harder and do better. Alona hadn't met him yet due to the work of getting the ship to the Delta Quadrant. Now that they were here, she had a little more time on her hands.
"Flight Deck" Alona said as her and Kim entered the Turbolift.
"Have you met him yet?" Alona asked.
"Sort of, he's a Denobulan, have you dealt with that species before?" Kim replied.
Alona nodded and he continued, "I pretty much got them settled in quickly when they came aboard, then came back to the bridge, I remember thinking, we need to get going and fast. It was like you and I were running from the Federation because we stole the ship or something"
"More like we had a few admirals kicking us in the ass and telling us to get going. I never seen admirals act that way before, not even when I was working with Admiral Janeway"
He shrugged, "Me neither, but, now we're here and we're doing the easy part of this mission"
"I wouldn't be so sure that this is the easy part of the mission. At least we can hit up some systems that the admiral had decided to skip past. I am frustrated that we're 49,000 light years from home, but, here we are, gotta make due with the hand we're dealt with"
The doors opened and they stepped out into the corridor. Alona followed Kim as they walked into the area of the ship they called the "Flight Deck". The Aerospace Group didn't necessarily take up an entire deck, but they did take up a nice sized chunk in and around the secondary shuttlebay turned Hanger Bay. Also called the "Hanger Deck" the secondary shuttlebay was retrofit before they departed Utopia Planetia to house 18 Peregrine-class space-superiority fighters or 14 Osprey-class multi-role aerospace craft.
While only having 14 "birds" available the Aerospace Group compliment is 80 strong, including support staff, maintenance crews, ordinance handlers and the pilots themselves. While not maintenance intensive, the Osprey-class multi-role aerospace craft was a versatile craft capable of both space and atmospheric operations and is capable of being loaded with Q-IV Heavy Quantum Torpedoes and specialized T-II Transphasic Torpedoes. Commonly called "Shipkillers" these specific load-outs for the aerospace craft are for operations against larger vessels and capital ships, typically used to support the mothership in combat against said vessels. Normal operational load-outs allow for micro-photon or micro-quantum torpedos to supplement the relatively powerful type-8 pulse phaser cannons the birds used.
The Osprey is also capable of operating over long distances without the support of the mother ship. Capable of warp flight, its maximum speed is warp 6.5 for a four hour duration, afterwards the ship must slow to sub-light speeds to allow the systems and engines to cool, while normal cruising speeds is warp four to warp five. Faster than both a type-11 shuttle and a Danube-class runabout, the Osprey is also capable of supporting more than just the pilot. With enough space for three people including the pilot, the tiny aft cabin has three bunks, a small desk, and a small food and beverage replicator making the craft quite versatile and semi-self sufficient for extended operations away from the mothership. In an emergency, the small craft can squeeze in five people, although its quite uncomfortable and in those cases, its standing room only.
"Still, I was lost once out here, I really don't like the fact I am lost again out here" Kim said. He was smiling but Alona could tell it was more forced than genuine. She didn't blame him for feeling that way.
"I understand how you feel, perhaps we can head to a holosuite after you get off duty, I know a couple good programs to take your mind off things" Alona said.
"Maybe later, both of us still have plenty of work to do and we need to make sure the crew is mentally sound before we start playing ourselves"
Alona nodded as they turned down another corridor, "Fair enough, but if you seem like your getting too stressed out, I am sending you to sickbay, Jan will get you sorted out"
Kim chuckled as they entered the hanger bay.
When they entered the bay, a flight deck member shouted, "Officer on Deck!" and came to attention. "Carry on" Alona said, and they did so. Alona stopped the nearest Airman and asked for the CAG.
"The CAG is in the flight line, getting himself and some others ready for flight operations, this way ma'am" the young airman said and lead them to the flight line, originally a few connected storage rooms turned into a briefing room, locker room, and offices for the CAG and his cadre. The CAG was at his desk getting flight plans ironed out when the airman chimed his door.
"Enter"
The door opened, Alona and Kim entered. Toom looked over his shoulder, then stood to greet them.
"Ah Captain, I was wondering when we were going to meet finally! Commander, good to see you too" Toom said with a grin, extending his hand.
Alona shook his hand and grinned back, man, this guy is contagious, "Please to meet you Mr. Toom, I apologize for not meeting with you when you got on board but we were under a tight time schedule to get the ship to where we are now. So, I am trying to make up for that now that we're settled for the most part and in the Delta Quadrant" she said.
"Apology accepted, I hear we're actually deeply lost in the Delta Quadrant, is that true?"
"Well, that depends on your definition of 'Lost'. So to answer that question, I would say: Yes and no. Technically, we are much deeper in the Quadrant than we where we were supposed to exit to from the transwarp corridor"
"How far out are we, how far off course?" Toom asked.
"We're 49,870 light years from the nearest Federation outpost, around 36,920 light years off course. That's about the extent of the bad news. The good news is that we're in the same area that Voyager was in so, we have some information on the area, albeit 13 years old but we can follow the same route Voyager took to get home"
Toom nodded, he seemed unfazed at the information. Well, at least hes taking it well, that's good. I don't know how well hes going to take it after a few months of this information settling in. Hes going to be away from his family for nearly 20 years, just hope he can handle it. It was a known that it wasn't wise to bring a Denobulan on deep space assignments, which made Alona wonder why he came along in the first place.
"Tell me Mr. Toom, why did you volunteer on this assignment? Even if we didn't get lost we still had a long to take to get home" Alona asked.
"I was assigned this mission. No one wanted to take the mission as CAG or any other position. Something about a green captain and a green crew on a mission that will result in the destruction of a perfectly good Sovereign-class ship"
"Did you refuse the mission as well?"
"As I said ma'am, I was assigned this duty. When I arrived back from being on leave they told me I was being assigned as a CAG, on board a starship. The flight crew was still being assigned, so I picked some of my pilots. When you swung by Neptune, is when I found out about the mission. I assumed it was going to be a five year mission, so it didn't bother me that much"
"I see" Alona said, then looked at Kim who nodded.
"I understand we have some flight operations in the agenda today captain?" Toom asked, changing the subject.
"Yes, we're going to be in orbit over this planet for the next couple of days, so I figured you and your people could stretch their legs, get some practice in working the Ospreys, run some combat patrols and whatnot. Interested?"
"Most definitely, if you excuse me, I have to finish finalizing these flight plans and get flight orders out to the pilots"
"Of course, if you need anything, please let me know" Alona said, shook Toom's hand again and departed with Kim.
On the bridge, the watch crew were calmly doing their duty, maintaining a mid-range orbit over a planet is very simple. A couple adjustments were made and the ships computer did the rest. Sensors detected no vessels within the 23 light year envelope of the ship, the hourly away team report in was due in three minutes. Endeavours bridge watch was broken into three eight hour shifts: Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie, unless there is another situation going on, a bridge watch is always on duty. Everything was calm on the bridge, the XO was the OOD for the shift, everything was going by as routine. Three minutes passed and the away team reported in all ok, no issues had arisen and they watched on sensors as twelve Ospreys launched.
While not directly in command of flight operations, the bridge still kept them on sensors in case of anything. Flight operations control is ultimately managed by the CAG, however, he himself was out with this flight, and his second, Lieutenant Commander Sayuri Yamashita, a human, was commanding the flight from the TFIC or Tactical Flight Information Center. The TFIC is a space located near the Hanger Deck where all Osprey flight operations are handled, from search and rescue to combat operations. Typically the CAG is in charge of this space, unless the CAG is out in his craft, then the DCAG or Deputy Commander Aerospace Group commands the TFIC. While the TFIC handles all operations, it also reads the status of the rest of the ship as well, such as shield status, weapons, propulsion, structual intregrity, sensors, warp field status and so on to provide relevant data.
In an emergency, bridge control could be relinquished to the TFIC and Endeavour could be commanded from the TFIC, however, some systems the TFIC does not have the capability to monitor or control, such as weapons control. CMDR Yamashita watched on the Ouija Board as the flight designated Baker Wing perform various maneuvers. Modern "Ouija Board", an old earth slang term for a lighted flat table used to manage flight operations on an aircraft carrier, now display sensor data on what the birds are doing such as speed, heading, and weapons fire relevant to Endeavour. Each Osprey was designated as a small blue diamond with the pilots call-sign next to it. Enemy ships would come up as a red square with the origin species and class of the ship next to it, smaller targets such as fighters would come up as red diamonds.
"OOD, sensors picking up some strange readings by the second moon, light tachyon emissions and a slight subspace distortion" an ensign manning science one.
"A cloaking device?" Kim asked.
"Thats what the sensors are indicating"
"Very well, helmsman, plot and intercept. Lieutenant, please inform Baker Wing that we're on an intercept of a possible cloaked ship" Kim said, then tapped his combadge. He had opened his mouth to say something when he was interrupted.
"What the hell?" another ensign said, "Weapons fire detected on the planets surface!"
Kim looked towards the voice, it came from the communications/sensors station, "Get ahold of the away team, find out whats going on"
"Sir, they're reporting weapons fire from unknown number of sources, weapons appear to be a variant of a disruptor. Two security officers are injured and requesting immediate beam out to sickbay. The marines have formed a perimeter and are returning suppressing fire" the ensign said.
Kim opened a comms channel from the armrest command console, "Endeavour to Baker Wing, Commander, the away teams are requesting air support and overwatch"
"Acknowledged, be advised Endeavour, Baker Wing is operating with varied weapons. Either minimum required weapons loadout or no armaments" a voice stated over the comms.
"DCAG receives, Baker Wing, training birds return home. Grandmaster and Wizard have minimum required weapons load-out, proceed planet-side for air support operations" another voice said over the comms.
"Thanks for the information, Baker Wing, Endeavour out" Kim said and closed his end of the comm, other orders from the TFIC were going out but he wasn't hearing them. He tapped his combadge, "Captain Benson, your presence is requested on the bridge"
"On my way" Alona replied.
"Ensign, find that damn ship, we had it a moment ago" Kim said.
"Aye sir" the ensign said.
A LTjg manning the communications asked aloud, "How do you think they got this close to the planet?"
"Aside from using a cloaking device? They probably used the moon to mask their approach, hide their warp trail and mask their emissions enough to where our sensors didn't pick them up right away" The helmsman said.
"Figures, the shit has to hit the fan on my shift" Kim said to himself.
Meanwhile, planetside...
"Watch your left flank!" Viir-Keim shouted over the weapons fire, he had hunkered down with the marine perimeter LP/OP or Listening Post/Observation Post. While armed and returning fire, it was the main location on where the away teams commander had hunkered down against the incoming fire. Forming a horseshoe shape around the non-combatants and their equipment, the perimeter had mixed security and M.A.C.O. forces returning fire at whatever had begun shooting at them. They had been forced back to a large beach, a couple hundred meters from their original landing zone. Fortunately, the beach was partially rocky, providing cover and there was space large enough for a runabout to land in.
T'saal tapped his combadge, "Away teams to Endeavour, we could use an emergency beam out of all personnel on site and our equipment"
"Away teams, this is Endeavour, we're unable to beam you out, theres some sort of distortion field preventing transport. Look for a transport inhibitor. Baker Wing is also inbound to provide air support and rescue of most injured, ETA 2 mikes. I need information Lieutenant, tell me about the attackers" Alona said, she had just stepped onto the bridge a moment before.
"Whomever they are, they're using some sort of personal cloaking technology similar to Jem'Hadar cloaking fields, however, they are able to fire and remain cloaked. We're shooting at ghosts Captain. We were quickly forced back onto a beach about 213 meters south from our landing zone. They hit us so fast we had to abandon the shuttle Captain" Viir-Keim said as he fired his pulse phaser rifle, then a thought hit him.
"Colonel, are your marines carrying concussion grenades?" he asked.
Reed was using some more exposed rocks as cover away from him but within shouting distance, of all of them she was closest to the tree-line, "Yes, why?"
"Have them start throwing them at where the incoming fire is coming from. The concussions should disable their cloaking fields, then we can bring them down" Viir-Keim said.
"Good idea" she said and began informing the marines.
Loud, low, throaty thumps from the concussion explosions rocked the area, followed by roaring screams from overhead as the Ospreys came down peppering exposed enemy areas with pulse phaser fire. One Osprey set down behind the perimeter line, the wind from the turbines, jets and engines on it knocked equipment down, but that wasn't important. It was the CAG's Osprey, "Grandmaster" was scrawled across its side, with a painting of a bald, largely bearded, old human wearing what appeared to be a dress or some sort of robe, Viir-Keim couldn't tell. The human was sitting with his feet crossed, hovering over the ground near the nose of the bird.
"Get the wounded aboard" Toom said excitedly, his Osprey had begun to take fire, its shields shimmering, easily absorbing the small arms fire. Soon, the three injured were aboard and Toom lifted off, spitting pulse phaser fire as he rose into the air. As he took off, the shuttle they abandoned took off and followed Toom into the sky.
"Grandmaster to all ground teams, Runabout Kamehameha will be landing in 3 mikes to pick up all non-combatants" Toom said, just as he begun to break orbit. His bird rocked at phaser fire hit along his stern. He looked back as he saw Wizard coming in behind the Type-11 shuttle and begin firing.
Reed's voice came over Viir-Keim's and T'saal's combadge, "Baker Wing, ground teams are pinned down hard, request strikes in the locations being uploaded at this time. Endeavour, when the transport inhibitors are knocked out, request M.A.C.O. reinforcements ASAP"
"Baker Wing to ground team, Wizard is currently engaging the abandoned shuttle, Grandmaster is unavailable at this time. Also Endeavour's sensors report a cloaked vessel in vicinity. Air Support is unavailable at this time, the other birds are getting ammoed up and ready for launch. Orbital Strike options are available" a voice replied over their comms.
'Orbital Strikes? Are they nuts?' Viir-Keim thought. You never used orbital strikes except for when you need to hit a super-hardened target like a mountain bunker or an underground targets and never for surface strikes because starships couldn't adjust their weapon power levels enough not to drill a small hole in the planet. Torpedos were out the question because their yields were too powerful, at least for use at the distance from where they were standing.
Kamehameha landed and a half dozen marines poured out followed by a few Starfleet security force personnel, they didn't run over to support the marines, but they ran over and began to push and shove the scientists and other non-combatants into the Runabout. The runabouts shields would shimmer occasionally as small arms fire hit it, after a few moments, all the non-combatants were aboard and it lifted off. Kamehameha fired a couple micro-photons into the tree-line. Neither T'saal or Viir-Keim could see what they were firing at but they hoped it was the inhibitors.
Viir-Keim's combadge chirped, then said, "Warning! Incoming orbital strike, all combatants hit the deck" as two Ospreys sped by firing micro-quantum torpedoes into an exposed target.
"Who the fuck ordered an orbit strike?" Viir-Keim yelled into his combadge.
"Firing" a voice said through his combadge, then a bright red-white flash lit the area, followed by a short but continuous deafening roar, and the ground shook as if there was a heavy earthquake happening. The concussion from the impact blew Viir-Keim off his feet. He landed was in the water, fortunately it was enough to break his fall, mostly. Where he landed wasn't too deep and aside from getting the wind knocked out of him, he was relatively uninjured 'That was one of Endeavours phaser arrays' he thought absently as he swam back to shore.
Viir-Keim looked up when he had gotten back to the beach and saw a large column of smoke rising into the air all along and behind the tree-line when his vision filled with shimmering blue light, next thing he knew he was standing, dripping on a transporter pad. By the looks of it, he was in transporter room 6, quickly, Viir-Keim thanked the transporter operator, then headed for the bridge. As he walked up to the turbolift, Endeavour rocked and shuddered. The ship rocked, shuddered, and bounced several more times before he walked onto the bridge. Alona glanced back at him as he stepped onto the bridge then over to his station.
"I trust the injured were not too serious" she said turning back to the viewscreen.
"No ma'am, Dr. Novana should have them back up soon" he replied, then stated, "Another Hirogen warship decloaking, its off out port-quarter"
Endeavour was outnumbered, four ships had decloaked were trying to surround her. Endeavour quickly rolled and shifted starboard, then broke orbit at full impulse as soon as the away teams were aboard. When they attempted to jump to warp but her warp core had suddenly dropped offline and the Hirogen fired on her. The Hirogens disabled her phasers, torpedoes and limited impulse a maximum speed of half impulse, Endeavour was essentially dead in the water with four predators circling in.
"We're being hailed" Radis said.
"On screen" Alona said, stood and took a couple steps forward.
A Hirogens head appeared on screen, he did not have his mask on and he grinned as Alona appeared on his screen. "Ah, the daughter of Captain Janeway I presume?" the Hirogen asked.
"No, my name is Alona Benson, I am captain of the-"
"Yes, Yes, captain of the Federation starship Endeavour. A Sovereign-class warship. Tell me Captain Benson, what is the Federation doing back in our space and what are you doing on one of our hunting preserves?"
"We didn't realize this was a Hirogen hunting preserve, otherwise we would've left this planet alone, we were conducting surveys and scientific studies on the planet"
"We were there though, and captain, you violated our territory. Do you know what the Hirogen Hegemony does to those that violate our territory?" The Hirogen captain asked as Hirogens began decloaking on Endeavours bridge.
'They were already on board' she thought.
Quickly looking around, she counted eight. "End Transmission. Computer! Red Alert, Intruder Alert, all hands to battle stations!" she shouted as disruptor and phaser fire erupted around her. She then spun to the nearest Hirogen and knocked the disruptor out of his hands. After a couple quick jabs and a snapping cross that put the Hirogen on his knees, she physically picked up Hirogen off his feet, then rammed him head first into the deck, denting the deck plating and breaking the poor bastards neck.
'Thats how you're gonna beat 'em Alona, these motherfuckers keep underestimating you' she thought as she got her hands on another Hirogen.