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Hyperion
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Episode 1: To Boldly go into the future
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Part 2
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Armoury Two
USS Hyperion
Shran materialized in the Armoury closest to the shuttle bay in a shower of blue light. He took a moment to look around and saw Skarvin arrive the same way. The Tellarite threw him a nasty look and looked at the ceiling.
"Hyperion, suit us up."
"Did you get up the wrong way today, Gordin?" Shran asked. "'Hype, suit me up as well."
"I got a message from the family this morning. They're finally over my miraculous return from the dead and now they want to set me up with a 'nice girl', the utter bastards!" Skarvin air-quoted. "I'm a single and proud of it, damn them all!"
"Well, I'm yet to meet mine in person, however my mother did mention something about wanting grandchildren now that I'm alive again the last time I heard of her." Devlin confided.
As they talked, they walked into a set of distinct round platforms and once there robotic arms moved down from a compartment on the ceiling and began placing pieces of armour on their frames. In a less than a minute, both of them were a head taller thanks to the standard issue energy dampening armour – reverse engineered from the suits that survived Hyperion's transition to this time and while greatly inferior to those suits, could still take a full powered phaser shot and have the wearer survive and that was before you took the shield into account. Said shield had a battery pack mounted on the back and emitters built into the armour itself. The armour was a double edged sword however – its allow prevented transponder sensors from locking on the wearer which while helpful to keep an enemy from beaming you somewhere unpleasant meant that unless you had an active beacon on your person there was no way for a friendly beam out. In Shran's personal opinion, the trade off was worth it in spades. After all, when wearing one of those suits you could crush a Klingon or say, Vulcan in hand to hand combat…
"Armour active." The onboard computer announced moments after the helm was in place and locked in. A HUD came to life displaying power level, shield strength and vitals. The robotic arms retracted and Shran went to retrieve the rest of the gear – a medic pack, tricoder and weapons – a phaser pulse rifle and side-arm.
"You done?"
"Naturally. Let's go see what those bastards broke."
They ran to the shuttle bay where a similarly armoured security detail waited for a group of medics in much lighter armour to board the waiting shuttles. Shran and Skarvin boarded after the rescue personnel and the security team went in after them. Once they all were secured in the seats lining up the walls, the pilots launched the shuttles. Thanks to the state of the art dampeners, the passengers felt almost nothing when the small craft shot out of the hangar.
"I can see a docking hatch on the board side. Scanners don't show too much radiation in the nearby compartments. Moving in to latch on." The pilot announced. Less than a minute later a quiet clang sounded as the back of the shuttle touched the freighter's side. "Deflector's up and will keep the air in as long as I'm in place. Good luck."
The security personnel closest to the exit got up, opened the door and whipped out tricoders and began overriding the hatch controls. Soon the airlock slid open and they moved in, side-arms at the ready. Shran and Skarvin followed suit, weapons in hand. The only thing they could see so far was a dark corridor barely lit up by emergency lighting. That issue was immediately solved by changing the vision mode of the armour's helmet and the twilight shifted into high visibility.
"Picking up multiple life signs." One of the security troopers reported. "The radiation is scrambling the readings somewhat however there are Orions nearby mixed with Humans, Vulcans and Bolians."
"Tactical on point, and at the back. Medical personnel, keep your heads down until we secure the area. Move in people, we don't have all day. Our primary objective is to reach main engineering." Shran said. He shouldered his rifle and hooked up his tricoder to it thus linking it up to the armour's HUD. A small screen opened in the upper right showing a diagram with detected life signs. The cluster surrounding him were in bright green.
"Orions, two compartments over. One Human, not moving." The point man announced.
Shran made a sign with a clenched fist for those behind him to stop. "You two are with me, we're taking them out. Set phasers on stun, mine is on kill setting. If they have shields or armour, I'll provide suppressive fire. If practical, I do want prisoners for interrogation."
"Yes, sir." The troopers chorused.
They moved quietly to the door leading to the compartment with the Orions – not a hard feat even when in armour thanks to the screaming alarms, hiss of venting plasma and an automatic plead to evacuate the ship.
"Ready? On three." Shran used his tricoder to link with the door's electronic lock and began counting.
"One, two," He sent the open command. "Three."
The door opened with a hydraulic hiss and the armoured security raced in shooting. The first ground encounter with the Orions turned out to be underwhelming – the pair of males were too busy securing an unconscious human man and looting to even notice that there was something wrong. They obviously weren't aware their rides home were gone as well.
"We need a medic in here. Get those two secured for transport."
The security personnel wasted no time in binding the captives before slapping transponder beacons on them. A medic followed the same procedure after performing a first aid and the party moved in deeper into the ship. They encountered two dead crew-members. One had obviously gone down fighting – he had a phaser next to his corpse and very nasty disruptor burns on the chest. Further down the corridor they encountered another casualty – this one from a breached plasma conduit that was blocking their way.
"Skarvin, bypass it." Shran ordered. "Slap a beacon on the body once the plasma is gone. We're bringing everyone back either safe or for a proper burial."
On the way to engineering they had to bypass two more breached plasma conduits and ran into multiple injured crewmembers. Thankfully none of them were too far gone for the medics to help. A party of Orions rummaging through a cargo hold deep into the ship proved more troublesome, however none of them had armour nor shields. A couple of stun grenades and a rush of armoured security personnel had them dispatched and ready for transport to the brig in moments and the way to the engineering was clear.
When they reached the door, the security personnel took breaching positions, while the medics and Chief Engineer hung back.
"This is Acting Captain Devlin Shran from the USS Hyperion answering to your distress call. We took care of the four Orion Raiders and my people are currently securing your ship." Shran shouted to be heard over the alarms. "Please open the door and do not shoot at us."
Two tense minutes followed. While according to the tricoders there were no Orions in the engineering, the radiation levels there were dangerous and rapidly rising towards lethal. Shran was ready to order a breach when the door slowly opened. An exhausted crew of Vulcans and Humans could be seen with their Captain closest to the door. All of them had some king of weapon pointed at the entrance and were crouching behind whatever cover was available. When they saw the armoured figures, all of them tensed.
"Captain Broth, its good to see you're still in one piece." Shran greeted.
Only now did Azura's crew notice the Federation's symbol painted on the armour's chest plate and shoulders and they sagged in relief.
"Thank you!" The Bolian's shoulder's slumped. "Those bastards did a number on us. The Warp Core lost magnetic containment due to damage and we had to shunt power from the shields to prevent a breach. Then they beamed on board… The rest of my crew..."
"My people are retrieving everyone they can find. Skarvin, see what you can do about the core." Shran said.
The Tellarite sprinted into the engineering room, got to a console and began working.
"We have transponder beacons for you – the radiation is preventing us from simply beaming everyone to safety. Please get get one so our medics can treat you. The radiation in here is less than healthy. We'll do what we can to save your ship, Captain Broth."
The security personnel distributed beacons to the Azura's crew and soon the engineering room filled with the familiar sounds and cascading light of mass teleportation.
"Can we actually save the ship or should we run after getting as many people out as possible?" Shran asked.
"I'm not sure." Skarvin grouched. "The pirates did a number on the ship. I'll do my best however I might not be able to stabilize the core before it goes critical. Get everyone out just in case."
"Roger that. Two of you, cover Skarvin. The rest are with me – were continuing SAR operations." Shran ordered.
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Bridge
USS Hyperion
"XO, we've got ghost readings on the sensors. They're a match for the Klingon Birds of Prey we met above P'Jem – same type of cloak."
"Tachyon pulse, now! Get us beside the Azura and extend our shields to cover them and our shuttles! Hyperion, you've got weapons – if we're fired upon, nail them immediately!" Tarsi bared her teeth at the main screen that still showed the tactical situation.
"Detecting transponder signals! Some made it before we managed to cover the Azura! I've got a lock on two cloaked sources to our starboard side!" T'Met reported.
"Hyperion, fire at will!" Tarsi ordered. "Comms, advise our boarding parties that they have company."
"Targets locked. Firing." Torpedoes and phasers lanced at the cloaked Klingon ships and struck before they could raise shields or even try an evasive manoeuvre. The effect of cruiser grade weaponry on the small ships was devastating – the phasers shredded them to pieces and the torpedoes provided a fitting funeral pyre. There were no survivors.
"Targets neutralized." Hyperion declared coolly. "First Officer, those Klingon ships shouldn't have been able to get this close without detection even if my sensors aren't up to speck."
Which was another way to say that in the transition critical components got fired and currently the Federation's tech base wasn't up to making proper replacements.
"We'll get you back to fabric specifications eventually, 'Hype." Tarsi said in a soothing tone. "T'Met, keep sending tachyon pulses as fast as practical."
"I hope so."
"Aye." The Vulcan responded. "There's and interference on long range sensors. It looks like ECM."
"More company. Put us between the Azura and the newcomer. Keep our shields extended. Hyperion, go into Defensive Configuration." Tarsi ordered.
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Part 3
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SS Azura
Captain Shran's boarding party was still busy rescuing anyone who wasn't beyond help when Tarsi broke the 'good' news.
"Its a brand new century and we're still dealing with murderous Klingons." Devin's antennas twitched in irritation. "Master Chief, remind me again, is this the second or third war we're fighting against the Klingons after we were supposed to be allies? I'm still trying to wrap up my head around the insanity that masks as history these days."
"That depends on how you count them, Captain." Master Chief Gordin answered with a distinct Russian accent that made his voice unmistakable. "My armour just tagged two new high-energy events, most likely our guests. One is thirty meters that way," the NCO pointed at the bulkhead separating them from the main corridor leading to the Engineering room. "The other is near one of our shuttles."
"Hyperon Actual to all Away Teams – be advised, we have a Klingon infestation. Security teams, move in to intercept. Shuttle crews – detach from the Azura and wait further orders. Chief, lets go greet the party crashers. People, I want a few prisoners for interrogation." Devlin retrieved his rifle from its magnetic clamp on his back and nodded at Gordin.
"You heard the Captain. Steve, take point, I'm right beside you. Staggered formation, point-men stun setting, the rest of you, set up on high. Captain, I'll appreciate if you stay behind us. When all is said and done, it's not really your job engaging Klingons in close quarters." He left unsaid that Shran should even be on board of the freighter but safe and sound back on the Hyperion. However, in old Starfleet tradition pioneered by the likes of Archer and cemented by Kirk's generation, nothing really stopped Captains from trying to get themselves killed.
Three armoured figures piled into the corridor just in time to see a group of Klingons and Targs of all things march towards them. When the newcomers saw how the Starfleet personnel were outfitted, that gave them pause. While the typical outfits the Klingons wore offered suitably better protection than standard Starfleet uniform no matter the century, they were most definitely outclassed in the protection department especially when it immediately became obvious that the boarders were armed only with disruptor pistols and various close combat weapons.
"I'll give you one chance to surrender." Shran shouted loud enough to be heard over the still blaring alarms and the various sounds that the damaged ship produced.
Predictably, the Klingons paused for a moment to process the ludicios suggestion before either laughing or roaring in anger. The one in front spat a long curse Shran wasn't familiar with and pointed his pistol at the Starfleet personnel. The results were again, predictable. Without proper armour or shields, wide beams swept over Klingons and Targs alike and knocked them all out, but not before the closest Klingon managed to snap a couple of shots. One missed and the second impacted Steven's shield, causing no harm to the heavy armoured trooper.
"Shap beacons on them too and make sure they're all beamed to the brig. I want them disarmed and stripped of any unpleasant surprises." Devlin ordered. He knew it won't be long before everyone began crash programmes to outfit their people with modern armour and better weapons but until then, he was going to ride the current advantage Starfleet possessed for all it was worth. "I want the second Klingon group detained if practical. Move it, people."
"What about the Targs?" Gordin asked.
Shran looked critically at the sleeping hounds. "Beam them up if we have any spare beacons left and have the engineers set up space for them in the hangar. If not, put them down."
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Main Engineering
SS Azura
The roar of the alarms would have been damn distracting if it wasn't for the smart sound-dampening feature of the armour Skarvin wore, which would have made his current job even more difficult. If he only had a few more people and ten, perhaps fifteen minutes, the Chief Engineer was sure he would have been able to save the ship. Or perhaps if the bucket of bolts was built to a standard even vaguely approaching that of Starfleet's pedantic engineering.
Instead, he had to content with an ancient piece of junk that lacked many of the safety and redundancy systems that became a standard on any Starfleet ship in the aftermath of the Dominion war over forty years ago. Well, the Azura for one was much older – pushing hundred and fifty now and while he could see that the owners and their engineers had offered satisfactory maintenance to the Warp Core, that didn't change his current predicament.
"Can you feed any more reserve power into containment?" Skarvin asked one of his minions. "I need five more minutes to re-crystallize the dilithium matrix – that will buy us more time to fix and reinforce containment."
"Emergency power is down to five percent and dropping. If I push more into anything, we won't last a minute much less five!"
Skarvin's eyes darted wildly over the console he was working on, he called up various diagnostic functions and blanched. "One of you, keep feeding power to the containment field! The rest, get a beacon on us and then beam out! Captain, Skarvin. We're about to lose containment here. I might be a miracle worker, however I do need something to work with! Two, perhaps three minutes and this wreck is going to receive an anti-mater enema. Make sure everyone's off it by then. I'll buy you as much time as I can. Skarvin, out."
"Hyperion Actual to all Hyperion personnel. We're pulling out, now. Get beacons to anyone you can reach in the next minute and beam out. I say again, beacon everyone you can reach within sixty seconds and beam out! Skarvin, Hyperion Actual, make sure your furry ass is off this tub before it goes up."
"Easier said than done, blue boy! Why isn't there a tertiary battery for containment, damn your eyes!?" Skarvin did his best to buy as much time as possible, perhaps pull out a miracle.
His best unfortunately, wasn't nearly good enough.
"Get out, now!" The Chief Engineer snapped at his last remaining minion. "We're losing containment!" He added on the general frequency for the Away Teams.
The Tellarite slammed an armoured fist into the console and when even that didn't add more power to the containment field, he activated his beacon. Blue light cascaded around him and the last thing he saw of the Azura was the warp core beginning to glow ominously and crack. Thankfully, he was safe on board the Hyperion when enough radiation to cook him within his armour flooded the freighters engineering room.
"Brace for impact!" Tarsi's voice echoed through out the battle cruiser.
"Boom." Skarvin sighed. This was going on his record as a failure, he knew it. He was still grumbling when the Azura blew up and the resulting blast-wave shook the retreating Starfleet vessel.
"Shields down twenty percent. Minimal bleed-through..."
"Did everyone make it off?" Skarvin asked after nodding to the Transporter chief and heading for decontamination.
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Interlude: Avoiding stupid deaths in the 25th century 1
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I've been around for a long time now. In peace and in war, I've seen all kinds of pointless and foolish deaths. Most importantly, many of them were perfectly avoidable. By writing this memo, I hope Starfleet and her allies might avoid losing people for damn fool reasons.
1. Let me make something crystal clear – on every ship in the fleet, there are multiple people who take Basic Ship Training Qualification courses and train to maintain said Qualifications. You never know when the helmsman would be eaten by the newest weirdness the universe throws at us. Usually, this is a perfectly routine and safe exercise, damn useful too. There are likely hundreds of people doing it weekly without accident. They all have something in common – they don't try to prove they're the next Geordi Laforge by going into the holosuite, disabling the safeties and attempting to show of by pulling manoeuvres that would shear a Galaxy in two! In related news, the holosuite is out of order until someone deigns to mop up the mess and sterilize the compartment.
2. This should be painfully obvious – don't bring contraband on board my ship! On any Starfleet ship for that matter! The Regulations are there for a very good reason, not to make your lives needlessly difficult. That discount Romulan Ale Ensign Redactedbought on DS9 at Quark's was anything but!
It was a blessing in disguise that our new Denubolan Doctor has an odd fascination with odd, obscure and very nasty poisons otherwise we would have lost more than one Ensign! We still have five crew in sickbay and they won't be leaving for a week!
3. This one is related with the above – before buying and drinking or eating anything with questionable origins, like anything that an enterprising Ferengi would gleefully sell you at a discount, make sure to scan it to hell and back, just in case. At best, said Ferengi is merely trying to unload stolen property and that's why its so cheap. At worst, well it took EnsignRedacted six hours to die despite the best the Doctor could do to help him and we had the best medical suite in the whole Starfleet!
4. Another one, which should be obvious. The coolants we use share a few things in common – they're by necessity toxic and very, very cold – they need to be the latter in order to do their job, especially when the ship is using a lot of power and generating tremendous amounts of heat. Even with the best science we have, all the most efficient and useful coolants are very nasty mixtures. When you do a routine assessment of battery coolant performance and if necessary maintenance, you don't check if the toxic sludge is too warm by sticking your hand into it! For that matter, you don't open the coolant line to check if it was full because when touching it on the outside it didn't feel cold enough! I swear, there are days I'm convinced that Starfleet Bureau of Personnel grabbed the first poor bastard they found on the street and shipped them to my ship without giving them any training!
5. Why do I ever bother? EVA training. You don't disregard the warnings your suit is giving you because you know better! You never forcefully shut them down then go out of the airlock to train on the ship's saucer section as if everything was all right! Do you know how I felt seeing one of my people float by the window of my ready room so I could see his contorted, frozen face?
6. Our new armours are tough, very tough indeed, especially when their shields are full and fully operational. Why am I mentioning this? While tough, said armours most certainly don't make you invincible. You don't test experimental assault weapon upgrades by suiting up and having one of your buddies shoot you with a burst at point blank range… at full power. The armour did work as advertised – instead of being evaporated, the former newest addition to our security team first got nicely burned when the shield tanked the first shot, then fried and got most of his bones broken when the second hit the armour and it ablated and melted in a last ditch attempt to save the fool. The next two shots did evaporate most of his torso. At least he died fast. The same thing can't be said for his buddies once the Master Chief got his hands on them.
On entirely unrelated note, now we have four volunteers for the next suicide mission. And the next and the one after it.