Episode 1: Search for Roosevelt
Part III - The Messiah of Taabras and The Fall of OB-501
The Draan had lived in the galactic east of the Outback, in the region that was yet to be explored by Jenolan Alliance ships. While the Firebase pIn tlhoy' of KDF 52nd Legion was the closest of Alliance installations, the existence of Draan Republic went unnoticed. They had colonised only a handful of planets in the vicinity of their home system, and had yet to develop subspace telecommunications. The technology was still in its infant stages and it was seldom used between the Draan homeworld and their colonies.
A decade ago, the Draan engineers had finally developed warp 4 propulsion and a few months after that, they launched an expedition towards the system Starfleet came to know as OB-501. One planet was found suitable for colonisation by Draan, sparking a debate in the Republic Council whether the system should be claimed or not. Many of the councillors claimed new colonisation efforts would be disadvantageous in the long term as the Republic barely held its influence over the existing colonies, and the current economic situation would not be able to support such an endeavour. The proponents, on the other hand, claimed that the colonisation would, in fact, rekindle the overall industry as the new world would be visited, explored and settled - all of which required resources, workforce and planning. In the end, the Council, as well as the individual colonial governors, gave their approval and support to settle this new world, named Taabras, which was loosely translated as "a distant home", as it was further away than any other previously settled by the Draan Republic.
Taabras City was bathed in the sunshine of a lazy summer afternoon. On a normal day, it was teeming with people selling their goods at bazaars, children playing in lush parks, old people leaning over the windows to warm their old bones in the sun, young Draan women walking down the wide streets in the light dresses, coloured aesthetically to distract equally young Draan men.
But it wasn't a normal day.
"And it will never be again.", said Fierian Kost, chief of Taabras City defence militia, as he looked over dozens of reports flooding his office and his staff. Forty seven hours earlier, a huge vessel, unlike anything encountered by the Draan before, entered the Taabras system. Without provocation, warning of any other message, the vessel obliterated all orbital installations the planet had and began landing troops. By the time USS Dawn Treader reached them, over three quarters of the population were unaccounted for.
"Sir, sector BE-58 reports they have moved out, but they couldn't have evacuated everyone.", said one of Kost's subordinates.
Kost raised his head, pulling his gaze away from the reports, frowning. "Progression rate?", he asked simply.
"I don't know, sir. Those… things are not showing up on our sensorts, but I estimate we have one hour before they reach the City."
Kost shook his head. "Dispatch all the information through the experimental FTL comm system to the homeworld. If we are to meet our end here, at least the homeworld should be properly informed."
"Yes, sir. I will commence the transmission at once.", said the subordinate. As he acknowledged the order the communication console sent out a high pitch sound warning. They had received a message. For a moment, Kost believed it was Death itself calling him.
—
Dawn Treader, Fearless, Fulcrum and Lightning warped into OB-501, a few million kilometres from the colony that sent out the distress call, and proceeded at full impulse. Aboard the Dawn Treader, the mixed provisional-regular crew had discussed their options, with the holopresence of Commander Ricky Wilson, commanding the Fearless. Captain MacAuliffe gazed over the entire bridge, rubbing his wide, manly chin. As far as Yorkin was concerned, there was something childishly curious (or perhaps, mischievous) in his eyes - something Yorkin couldn't quite grasp yet.
"How are we standing?" MacAuliffe asked nobody in particular.
Lieutenant T'Val, his chief engineer, was first to respond. "Still in the green for EPS distribution, sir, but just barely."
"Captain, what are the orders for air support?" asked Lieutenant Commander Molanna Tiran, fighter team lead.
MacAuliffe, still focused on T'Val, turned his head slightly, and responded over his shoulder. "Keep them on Alert Five and work out the tactics we need in case of Scourge engagement. I'm not going to launch them on a suicide mission.", he paused and sighed shortly. "I'm guessing close air-to-ground support might be useful."
Tiran tapped a few orders on her station and then frowned at MacAuliffe. "Understood, but with all due respect, sir, fighters won't be much use against the Scourge."
MacAuliffe quickly turned his attention to Tiran, taking a stern posture, shaking his head. "They'll be plenty useful against Scourge ground forces because, believe me when I say, even rifles on maximum kill won't do the job."
Wilson raised his brows. "Just what in the devil are we dealing with?"
"A bit of unknown, Commander. They share some similarities with the Borg. But instead of assimilating technology, they tend to harvest biomatter. They are old and dangerous, perhaps even sentient."
As MacAuliffe was explaining, Commander Farah issued several orders over her console, Lieutenant Fortune scanned for Scourge ships but found none, and T'Val was bickering with Dawn, ship's advanced AI, who reappeared at the main engineering console. "Starfleet Corps of Engineers determined EPS flow was better handled by an AI due to the precision needed, but I'm sure I can find a suitable task for the Lieutenant to assist with.", said Dawn.
"I… don't… need… a computer… telling me how to keep this ship flying.", T'Val responded with irritation. "Besides, the engineer who wrote the manual for this particular EPS must have been a half-brain dead Bolian who got lost in Jeffries Tubes during the Academy training. Now, Dawn, go away!" she said menacingly. That said, Dawn popped out of existence again. MacAuliffe was going to say something, but was interrupted by Fortune: "We're being hailed."
"Open the channel. This is Captain MacAuliffe of USS Dawn Treader, Starfleet, we are receiving you."
The viewscreen shifted from a slowly nearing planet to the image of a beleaguered alien of grey skin, dark eyes and gentle ridges running up his brows. He was wearing what could have been a service uniform, with similarly dressed people frantically hurrying in his background. "I am Fierian Kost of the Draan civil defence militia. Are you responding to our distress call?"
"We are. What's the situation?"
"Thank the Ascended. We've been attacked by some sort of… entities. They already destroyed our planetary defences and the few vessels we had in orbit. My militia have stopped fighting and are only trying to manage as many evacuations as they can. We are losing contact with outer colony sectors by the minute. I don't think we will last much longer.", Kost reported in one breath.
"Are any ships still in orbit?"
"The vessel that attacked moved off We lost contact after they began landing those… things. We are left with only a few tender vessels, but the docks are overwhelmed."
"Send us the data you have, Mr. Kost. I'm hoping we've dealt with the vessel that attacked. We'll be on scene shortly."
"Transmitting now. Thank you, Captain. Kost out."
The moment the alien terminated the link, MacAuliffe turned to Fortune. "Fill us in, Lieutenant."
Fortune quickly looked over the data, tapping a few buttons on her LCARS interface. "It is not the same type of vessel we engaged in. It's much bigger."
"Bigger?" Wilson asked.
Fortune tapped a few more commands and transferred the image from her console to the main viewer. The image resolution was grainy, as Draan sensors were inferior to that of Starfleet vessels, but some features were recognizable. Multiple sharp and spindly arms that reached forward around a central structure, similar in a fashion of rib cage. Its aft end was a cluster of glowing ion drives. Fortune overlayed the previously encountered vessel, which was roughly five times smaller.
"By the Elements, how are we going to beat that?" Yorkin spoke for the first time since they arrived in the system.
"We don't have the necessary level of information to make an accurate judgement of its capabilities." Fortune replied.
"Let's err on the side of caution and assume we are not even in the same league with them. Captain, permission to launch alert fighters in patrol formation." Farah said.
"Permission granted, Commander. Deploy the MACO. It's not a military spec, but considering our adversary, I'm not sure the Hazard Teams will be enough. Commander Tiran, attacks fighters on the double. Inform Mr. Kost help is coming. Prepare our ship for evacuation protocols."
"Fearless can ferry 1000 people at best, but even that is stretching it.", Wilson said over holopresence. "Provided we vent out some cargo bays. I suppose you won't need spare parts."
"I am afraid not, Commander. Please proceed."
Throughout the Dawn Treader, various crew groups were pacing down the ship's corridors, carrying PADDs with schematics, orders and supplies' requests. Torpedoes were prepared, checked and positioned. Auto-loaders were cleared and inspected, crew chiefs went through pre-engagement checklists before reporting ready on their stations to the junior officers who reported more upstream the chain command. The ship's flight deck was in a similar state of activity, as Peregrine fighters were rolled to the flight line. Molanna Tiran climbed into her craft and started pre-flight protocols, followed by several other pilots under her command.
MACOs geared themselves up, as their commanding officer, Kasseret R'Rwo, briefed them on the conditions. "Presence of the Scourge land forces has been indicated. Colony has about 3000 people left, but their numbers are dropping. Remember, priority is on the evacuation."
In the meantime, Dr. Paltra Nerot had prepared a triage in several locations near sickbay.
—
As the fighters entered the atmosphere, the MACO complement beamed outside of the command centre. The scenery, to those who had visited Earth before, resembled a typical European capital after the finals of some big sports event. Rivers of people were pushing the security lines nearby, as the defence militia were struggling to keep the peace. To R'Rwo, it was a complete chaos.
A visibly overworked Kost approached the new arrivals, not very much surprised they appeared out of thin air. "Starfleet? Which one of you is in charge?"
R'Rwo turned to Kost. "That would be me - nominally.", R'Rwo said with a deep voice, turning to his subordinates for a moment. "Someone get scanning, see if you can locate the nearest Scourge. How can we assist, Mr. Kost?"
"We are doing what we can to load these people, but the tender crews are saying they're already at capacity and it's getting ugly. If we can't calm them down, we're going to have a riot, and nobody is leaving."
R'Rwo shook his head. "Understood, Fates know diplomacy isn't my strong suit, but we'll make it work. Do what you can to keep them moving steadily." He climbed up on top of a bench nearby, and looked down upon the masses. What came next was, as far as Kost was concerned, a messiah-alike moment. Whether it was R'Rwo's over-six-feet height, his deep voice, reflection of a red sunset from his MACO armour, the weapon he carried or combination of all those, the Draan evacuees, scattered in their movements and thoughts up to that moment, were now listening to a giant anthropomorphic feline warrior, forged in many wars against Klingons, Undine, Iconians and Terrans. Message was stoic and polite, firm but not violent. "Everyone, proceed in an orderly fashion. The situation is under control, you WILL be kept safe. Stay calm, do not rush." Within seconds of him speaking, the front ranks of the crowd silenced, and like a wave of obedience, they hushed down those behind them, to stop and listen with intent.
One of the Human MACOs, deployed from USS Destiny, liking the whole moment to biblical encounters, approached R'Rwo and whispered: "So, Jesus... got any bread in that pouch of yours?"
"Wine too, if you help us pull this off." R'Rwo replied briefly.
A gentle voice reminded him: "Recommend only letting zis get to your head after we have completed our objective here."
R'Rwo gave one of the rare smiles he was not known for. "What do you have for me, Doctor Aelae?"
"I was able to triangulate ze area of what might be ze Scourge, but ze signals are fluctuating. Here are ze coordinates." Aelae replied, showing her tricorder scan results. "Zeese lead outside the city centre."
R'Rwo tapped his combadge. "MACO Team to Treader Actual. We narrowed down the region where the Scourge force might be, but we need confirmation from the air support."
"Dawn Treader here. We read you, MACO." MacAuliffe's voice could be heard. "Treader Actual to Alpha Flight. We have positive contact, bearing 165 mark 88 for 900, intercept and identify but avoid engaging."
—
Aboard Dawn Treader, beaming out had begun. Men, women and children, all carrying little or none of their personal belongings, were redirected to the various parts of the ship. The free room was growing smaller and smaller. Even with the coordination between Dawn Treader, Fearless and Fulcrum, the evacuation seemed to have progressed slowly. That would soon be the least of MacAuliffe's concerns, however.
"Alpha Flight to Treader Actual. This is Tiran. We are on the far edge of the system and we have some bad news. There is an enemy contact, warping in. Permission to return."
MacAuliffe sighed before responding. "Permission granted. How long, Commander?"
"Ten minutes, at best, sir." Tiran replied.
MacAuliffe slammed the armrest of his command chair. "Inform the away team. Fortune, we need something to distract the enemy contact."
—
The MACO team advanced to the designated coordinates. It was getting dark. The sun was setting, and the walls of the buildings began to cast long shadows. Soon, it was pitch black.
"Switch to enhanced low-light, make sure polarised function is engaged." R'Rwo ordered over the comms, as the MACO Teams 30 and 31 closed their helmets.
R'Rwo saw it first. The shadow that moved in the dark. Maybe he was born with it, maybe it was his MACO training, but the clattering & skittering noise he was familiar with matched with a blur of shadow on the roof that seemed to catch the light. The shadow moved, inclining itself in a position to launch off on to MACO officer Zandra Tumin below. R'Rwo knew he only had one shot. As he rolled forward, pushing Tumin away, adrenaline kicked in. The advanced MACO suit, a piece of engineering seemingly juicing up its wearer for extra movement, activated. The monster was about to fall towards his comrade. He engaged the suit's juggernaut system to intercept, relying on the suit's mass to carry it clear of the falling trooper. R'Rwo's massive form smashed into the falling 'thing' and speared it just off enough to deflect it from impaling Zandra's head through its talon-like limb. There was a bone chilling shriek of protest from the Scourge, as the ground trembled beneath the team's feet. As it pummelled the pavement, with clicking and whirring clatter of servos, the creature staggered to its alien limb and turned towards the MACOs. Hulking, step by step. One thump at the time.
Its shoulders low, and its frame physically configuring itself as its limbs fanned out into bladed spindles of neutronium alloy. It was only when it passed out of shadow that the team finally saw its body was not quite mechanical. Each and every strand of mechanical fibre and hydraulic servo has been woven with nightmarish precision with biological flesh and muscle tissues - augmenting its structures, and wrapping it in meat.
"MACO to Treader Actual. We found that missing muscle tissue." R'Rwo said.
Zandra Tumin blinked in disbelief for a second at what she just saw, but wasted no time snapping onto the target centre mast, firing bolts of phaser shots into it. Aelae went with a slightly different approach, lining up her shot calculatively. She waited until the blades were splayed wide, and shot when the organic matter was finally exposed. The creature staggered briefly, and then leaped forward and slashed at one of the accompanying Destiny MACOs. The soldier didn't even scream as he was cut in two - where his legs disappeared to, none of his comrades could possibly say. The creature screamed and levelled its second arm, unfurling a dark matter gun that lit up and sent fire scorching past Aelae's head.
R'Rwo and Aelae both saw the second shadow that almost imperceptibly fell across the ground beneath them, which meant only one thing.
"Contact above us!"
"Move it! Move it! Undercover!"
The second Scourge landed with a mechanical "CLACK" as it elegantly unfurled its own limbs - its red eyes tracking the MACOs as if sizing them up through their armour. It whirred and growled, taking up a flanking position next to its companion. Then a third one landed, sliding into position on their right.
Suddenly, a saviour from the sky came.
"MACO Team, this is Alpha Flight. Air support incoming!", they heard Tiran's voice over the comms.
"Alpha, this is MACO, painting targets! Squad, mark 'em!", R'Rwo acknowledged.
Two fighters dropped into the atmosphere at a steep dive and armed their cannons and micro-torpedoes. The Peregrines screamed down through the cloud layer at a speed better than Mach 2. Riding the shockwave of the sonic boom was the "Rifle", micro photon torpedo as the Dawn Treader's pilots call it, and unloaded with frightening cool on the targets. Some of the MACOs considered they were about to die as the Scourge prepared to launch themselves forward. And then…
Boom.
The MACOs were all stunned for a moment, and the world went white in a bone chattering explosion that ripped up the catwalk ahead of them. The photon torpedo landed on target, with no margin of error. There were two Scourge units left, thrown aside by a blast - and a crater.
"Fall back in stages, keep suppressing fire active! Give as little ground as possible. Grit up and get it done!"
The Destiny MACOs focused down on one of the two Scourge that were left - though they appeared to have been damaged by the photon strike. There was another blood curdling scream in the distance - another Scourge dropped in on the catwalk. And soon, there were five. Four advanced, as the fifth remains to examine and 'work' on the remains of the slain MACO, dismembering the rest of the body.
The second two fighters came in low and from behind the MACO and opened fire at the Scourge with their cannons, hovering in place to give the MACO the time they need. The cannon fire ripped up the street, damaging and knocking back one of the Scourge - hammering it, almost literally, into the shattered concrete. Its comrades, however, whirled around with seemingly impossible speed, and snapped their cannon-arms up, away from the MACO team. With alarming precision, they sent a ripple of dark matter plasma fire whirring through the skies. It hit the tail of one Peregrine as it climbed away and out of the attack run. Tiran's cockpit began blaring master alarms.
—
"Damn. Alpha Leader to Treader Actual. These damn things are fast. I've taken damage, seriousness unknown, I have to return to the hangar." Tiran's voice was resonating across the Dawn Treader's bridge.
"Dawn Treader, position untenable. We will not hold. Team, take the next line. Demolitions, set up charges to topple what you can in our wake." R'Rwo's was reporting in almost simultaneously.
The tension on the bridge was touchable. The enemy contact, the very same ship the colony encountered before, was only minutes away, and the combined crews of four ships ran out of options to delay it further. At Lieutenant T'Val's suggestion, crews rigged the shuttles to imitate large vessels, hoping to distract the ship long enough. But evacuation was still underway and MACOs were under heavy attack.
"Captain MacAuliffe, we are at the point of reaching full capacity. What's your status?", Wilson asked via holopresence.
MacAuliffe slammed the armrest yet again. His executive officer, Commander Farah slightly shook her head. Fortune reported in: "Sir, the enemy ship is approaching the planet. Three minutes."
"We've done all we can.", MacAuliffe said irritatedly and looked at Yorkin. "Fortune, order all fighters to return. Mister Sinderion, set course for departure. I want you to punch that warp the moment the Scourge ship enters orbit. And pay no attention to the transporter room's report. That goes for all of you."
"But…" Yorkin started, then gave up and turned to the helm. "Yes, Captain."
For a brief moment, Commander Farah could swear some ill memory had crossed MacAuliffe's mind, as he responded to Yorkin. "I understand your concern, Commander, but we can't save everyone! I can't place a ship full of civilians between that thing and the colony." He pressed the console button. "MacAuliffe to MACO, we are pulling you out, right now!"
—
Another MACO from Destiny fell - her upper half simply evaporating as the Scourge weapon struck. Her remains slumped to the ground. The MACO's weapons were seemingly less and less effective against the Scourge. Even plinking, deflecting shots like Aelae's, which found flesh components, did nothing to slow them. Commander R'Rwo, sensing the danger of his colleagues, threw, or better say, launched his hulking Ajax suit in front of the round meant for Zandra Timun.
Within the helmet, Zandra just winced waiting for the inevitable round to make contact. No prayers, no regrets. But the shot never arrived. She opened her eyes just to see "God Commander Kass", as she would jokingly refer to it, years later.
Ajax juggernaut armour found its end on the blown-out streets of OB-501. Oddly enough, Kass found the experience of dying in this manner to be somewhat warm and cosy. This is the only thing he would feel as the dark matter round slammed into his centre mass. The armour locked up, and he crashed to the ground as the suit's auto-injectors responded and pumped him full happy cocktails that brought a settling, pleasing sense of warmth to his stomach. Sort of like a really nice whisky, in fact. Looking down at the armour, Kass would see that the armour had been completely fused. But more to the point... he could actually see that it was fused. This meant, the MACO realised with doubtless mirth, he was very much alive. The rest of the away team watched as Scourge units advanced in ever greater numbers towards their position, as the gleaming light of transporter beams whisks them away to the stars.
—
"All ships, fire photon torpedoes, full spread. Helm, escape vector, maximum warp." MacAuliffe ordered.
Fearless, Fulcrum and Lightning jumped to warp, followed lastly by the Dawn Treader who waited until the last possible moment, after firing a glorious spread of photon torpedoes at the estimated trajectory of the massive Scourge ship.
As they moved away from the system, the fleet activated the Slipstream Drive, heading for Starbase 381.
"Sir…", Fortune said at some point, breaking the silence that fell across the bridge. All of the officers turned to her, as she continued. "The final telemetry and EM scan show that the massive ship fired a Dark Matter weapon of some sort. Energy spike was off the charts!"
"How many did we rescue?" Farah asked.
"Roughly 2500 people across all four ships. 500 left unaccounted for.", Fortune replied swiftly, at which MacAuliffe stood up, signalled Farah and retreated to his ready room. Rest of the journey continued with no conversation.
Within a dozen minutes, the ships docked at Starbase 381, and began leaving Draan colonists. As the officers parted their ways, Yorkin approached Farah and offered a handshake. "Commander, permission to disembark."
"Thank you for the assistance, Commander. We've appreciated it. And thanks for keeping her in one piece for us." she winks slyly, unable to not contain her slightly more spry Orion side. For a moment, Yorkin was swept away.
"Any time, Commander, any time." he replied and left the Dawn Treader.
Little did he know this was the first of his adventures under the swift sunrise.