Star Trek Aegis Chapter 15, a startrek: other fanfic

Fifteen

Stardate 59436.3, System RSS-2398, USS Aegis shuttle Trident

"Incoming torpedo!" Contreras shouted!

"Saying it louder won't make me dodge better!" Mok shouted back.

The small shuttle was making a dash straight back toward Aegis. It was the most they could do as the two, heavily armed Mogai-class warbirds opened fire. Bright bolts of green energy continuously snapped at their shields as Mok evaded as many as she could.

"Try hailing the lead vessel again." Mok ordered.

"I've been sending out a constant hail, the only answer we get is more disruptor fire." Contreras answered.

"Is that what that is?" Mok said with a tight grin.

"The lead warbird is closing."

"Hang on!" Mok said.

As the lead ship closed to within a few hundred kilometers of the shuttle Trident for a better firing solution, Mok engaged full impulse. The shuttle was already much more maneuverable than the warbirds, but with the sub-light engines at full, she took the nose of the craft straight up to fall on it's back and accelerated toward the ship.

"Stand-by for a strafing run." She said.

With the warbird so close, it didn't have time to react. Mok was too close within their firing arcs, and once they were in range, Contreras let loose a salvo of phaser fire along their lateral shields.

"Minimal damage to their shields." He reported.

"But they are dropping back." She said.

"That still doesn't take care of the other-"

A disruptor bold found them, and rocked the shuttle violently. There were console explosions and small fires burning in the cabin.

"That shot brought shields down to 15%. I'm detecting a massive build up in the main EPS grid, it's cascading. If I don't get it under control, the feedback could destabilize anti-matter containment." Contreras reported.

"Let it go." Mok said.

"What?!"

"Let the overload happen. I'm setting a course right down that warbird's throat!"

"…aye ma'am." He said.

True to her word, Mok aimed straight for the warbird. She dove and tumbled, weaving through multiple disruptor blasts. Finally she was beyond the firing arcs, and the ship tried to turn, it's impulse engines igniting brightly along both wings.

"Get ready to drop shields, I've aimed us at their reactor."

"Yes ma'am…thank you," Contreras said, "for everything, it's been an honor."

He tapped the controls and shields were lowered. As the green hull filled the screen, he didn't close his eyes. Whatever happened next, he wanted to see. Contreras could have sworn he saw the moment of impact, and everything went white. He didn't feel discomfort. Not cold nor warm, but suddenly the white resolved into shapes. Shapes and sound that he recognized as the bridge of the Aegis.

"We're…we're alive?" He asked aloud in confusion.

"Of course we are." Mok said. She walked over and relieved the helmsmen. "I sent out a burst transmission for help."

"…And the Romulans were only jamming subspace frequencies, not those that travel at the speed of light!"

"We kept an eye on you two, monitoring those frequencies. No information was needed, just a signal flare." Goritan said.

The ship rocked, impacted from disruptor fire.

"Take your station, Ensign." zhNon ordered. "Any response from the Romulans yet?"

"None." Goritan said. "But I think they're upset that Mok just crippled their partner with that crazy stunt."

Another hit.

"Shields down to 95%, armor at 83%, minor damage to secondary hull." Carver reported.

"Reroute auxiliary power to structural integrity." zhNon said.

"We need to wrap this up Commander." Goritan said. "If they're bold enough to attack us up here, then I'm really worried about what's going on down on the moon."

"Agreed." She said. "Notify the onboard MACO's to prepare for landing. Helm come about, evasive pattern Beta-7. I want this over yesterday Goritan, burn the weapons double hot, attack pattern Gamma-1. Transfer all available power to forward shields."

The Aegis swung wide and came about. Under Mok's expert hands the ship avoided most of the weapons fire. She brought the ship in close, and at less than 8000km, Goritan unleashed the full arsenal of the escort vessel. Quad-pulsed phase cannons hammered the enemy's shields, while twin forward phaser arrays focus on one portion. It was a relentless assault, and then a full spread of quantum torpedoes streaked forward and slammed in the ship's already weakened shields.

"Direct hits." Goritan said.

"I'm detecting massive damage to their power grid. Shields, weapons, and main power offline." Carver reported.

"They're hailing us." Goritan said.

"On screen."

The screen flashed and they were once again face to face with someone they had already met.

"daise C'Ulos?" Goritan said.

"That's twice you've beaten my people." He said. "But I won't back down, not until you return my sister to me!"

zhNon looked about her bridge and finally back to the screen.

"daise, perhaps you should beam over. We should talk."

USS Aegis

"They did what?!" zhNon asked Contreras.

"I just finished the analysis ma'am and there's no doubt about-"

"That was rhetorical, Ensign." She said. "But I still can't believe even the Romulans would continue on such a reckless path."

zhNon was joined by Goritan and Contreras as they made their way to the mess-hall to meet with daise C'Ulos. Aegis had yet to dedicate space to a fully realized briefing room, and she didn't feel comfortable entering the stack with visitors not cleared by Major Bullock. They had agreed to meet in 1 hour, and during that time Mok and Contreras had brought them up to speed on their findings.

"I honestly wouldn't feel comfortable if they weren't." Goritan said. "Call me paranoid, but they are always looking for the upper-hand. I rather deal with an enemy I know any day."

"But they aren't our enemy." Contreras said.

Goritan shot a frustrated glance at the young man and said, "Take a look around Ensign. Since we've entered this system, they've done nothing but attack us. We drop out of warp, they attack. We beam down to their planet after an invite, attack. And now after investigating another potential threat to our ship, they attack our shuttle and ship directly. There comes a time when even a Denobulan's patience runs out."

"I agree." zhNon said before they could go back and forth. "Contreras, I appreciate your optimism, but the longer we stay here, the more danger we're exposed to from these Lleisetians. I will give them the benefit of doubt, but after we straighten things out were making a straight line to pick up the captain."

They all entered the mess hall to see C'Ulos and two of his officers standing. Security personnel were waiting at the door, weapons holstered. But that didn't seem to deter the Romulan when he strode over to meet zhNon head on.

"Bring me my sister!" C'Ulos demanded.

"If I knew where she was then maybe I would consider it." zhNon said without flinching.

C'Ulos started to step forward but not before Goritan did, a hand on his phaser. zhNon looked to her acting first officer, and then back to the Romulan leader.

"I suggest you take a seat, daise. While the details of your sister's whereabouts are a legitimate issue of concern, it is of no consequence to me."

She straightened to her full height.

"Now before we go any further, you will tell me why you attacked my ship." She said.

"What part of return my sister was lost on you?"

"daise, I assure you that no citizen or any dissidents from your world are aboard our vessel." Goritan said.

"Lies!" C'Ulos spat. "She signaled me herself."

zhNon looked to Goritan and he shook his head.

"zhNon to bridge, have there been any outgoing transmissions that I'm not aware of?"

Carver answered. "No ma'am. We haven't been in contact with anyone aside from the Lleisetians."

zhNon turned to C'Ulos and asked, "Could you be more specific?"

C'Ulos seemed to glower even more but said, "Recalibrate your sensors to search for an energy signal being emitted with the specifications my vessel is currently transmitting."

After a few moments Carver replied, "I've got something. Isolating the signal…it's coming from sickbay."

"On it." Goritan said and left the room.

zhNon wasn't sure what to say. Whatever the signal was that was emanating from sickbay, it had given the Lleisetians enough reason to attack. She wanted to think that this was a simple case of them being caught red handed, but this discovery had complicated the situation infinitely more.

"The second planet in your system, you destroyed it with weapons testing. Why?" zhNon asked abruptly.

C'Ulos seemed taken aback. It was just the reaction she wanted but he still controlled his response in measured tones when he answered.

"That…was an unfortunate accident." He said.

"Your people seem to have a lot of those." Contreras said. He looked to zhNon for approval, and when he had it said, "Those usually happen when conducting tests of weapons meant for mass destruction."

"We've done no such thing!" A Lleisetian officer said.

"I've seen the aftermath up close and personal." Contreras threw back.

C'Ulos stepped forward. "I care not for these baseless accusations. You are holding my sister in illegal captivity. She will be returned!"

zhNon let out a hard breath and asked, "If you weren't conducting weapons tests at the planet, then why did you try to destroy our shuttle?"

"We were trying to disable it." Another officer answered. "With the shields down, we could have transported them aboard."

"For what purpose?"

"As leverage." C'Ulos said. "We trade two of your officers, for my sister."

Just then, Goritan came back into the mess-hall with Doctor Utan in tow. In his hand he held a small case designated as a supply transport for the medical department and he place it on a table in view of everyone so they could see before opening it to reveal several spent hypospray casings.

"Do you know what this is?" Goritan asked.

"I oversaw the administration of medicines your doctor provided." C'Ulos said. "We took random scans of the serums to ensure they were safe."

Doctor Utan said, "Then you know, that my intentions were only to provide medical attention."

He nodded, and Utan continued.

"I enlisted the help of a few of your citizens. Those with medical training helped to dispense the doses, as well as collected the materials to bring back."

Goritan held up an empty vial. He twisted the bottom, and removed an insert that proved to be a miniature transmitter. Its diodes blinking vibrant oranges to indicate it was working properly. Clearly of Romulan design.

"Whoever returned this to the Doctor, they added this transmitter. My scans show it's only been active for an hour or so."

One of the Lleisetian officers stepped forward and took it from Goritan. "That would coincide with the timing we first received the transmission, daise." She said.

zhNon cocked her head toward C'Ulos. "It would seem that someone has manipulated us."

"This makes no sense!" C'Ulos growled.

"I understand your frustration-" zhNon started.

"You do not!" C'Ulos cut her off. "I told your captain that the wilds of this world can be dangerous. My sister often ventures out on expeditions, and as a precaution, I gave her an emergency signal that I would get no matter how far we are separated."

Contreras went to the officer who had taken the transmitter and ran his wrist tricorder over it serval times.

"Commander, this signal works by exciting particles in a quantum entangled state."

"Which means that it couldn't have been duplicated." She said. "daise, you said that you weren't conducting experiments on the planet. Can you say your sister wasn't?

Romulan Moon Lleiset, Location Unknown

"I almost can't believe we're doing this again." Bullock said.

"At this rate, I would almost prefer looking for an actual needle in a haystack." Theus said back to her.

"Sirs, what is hay?" V'Riss asked.

Theus smiled lightly and continued his scans. After beaming back down to the surface of the moon with V'Riss, they had met up with Major Bullock and Sergeant Hightower. Joining them also was a Kelpien Petty Officer named Daro. He was recommended by Bullock not only because of his extensive training in field trauma and medicine, but also because he had excelled in all of his MACO ground side qualifications. Earning the coveted title of Doc.

They had proceeded in a Hercules deep into the forest, and after driving through some difficult terrain, found themselves at the base of a larger hill. It was mostly soil and rock, with overgrown vines and plants covering it and the surrounding area. No entrances were visible or detectable, but they needed to exhaust all options before continuing.

"I actually think you'll like it." Hightower said.

"If we ever leave this place." Daro mused with an agitated click.

"Keep at it." Theus said. "We're at the exact coordinates Keln sent before going silent. We know the Romulans use some sophisticated cloaking tech here on the ground. They won't be able to hide from us for long."

"That's what worries me." Bullock said.

"Major?"

"I would just feel more confident if you let me bring down a whole squad instead of just a fire team."

Theus could understand her concern, but her MACO's were some of the most heavily armed troops the Federation produced. They all wore a full combat load-out, their weapons brimming and shields fully charged. He wanted them to be secure, but not appear to be looking for a fight. Which is why he wore a different science module-kit, in addition to having his own personal shield generators.

"No matter what, we have to come in peace at first." Theus said.

"But they don't, contact!" Daro said and raise his weapon.

The other MACOs did the same and took up tactical position in what little cover the trees provided.

"What contact?" Theus asked. "I'm not detecting anyone on scans."

"But my thread ganglia are, sir." Daro answered.

Before Theus could go on, bright streaks of green disruptor fire slashed past him.

"Return fire!" Bullock ordered.

Immediately, the forest lit up as the MACOs let loose salvos of crimson phaser fire. They couldn't see the enemy, so they fired toward the direction of the disruptor blasts.

Theus made some adjustments on his tricorder and a holographic microphone speaker materialized in front of his mouth to amplify his voice. "This is Commander Eridos, cease fire and we will do the same!"