Moving to Intercept (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on 18 Nov 2015 @ 3:53am by Queen Regent Lirha Saalm & Commander (La) Flektor Stace & Lieutenant Commander (La'Hom) Gerrin illm Warraquim & Lieutenant JG (SoghHom) Jynn & Warrant Officer ('etlh Suvwl') Keval Grayson
Edited on on 18 Nov 2015 @ 3:57am

1,211 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 09 - Empires
Location: IKS Saalm - Deck 1, Bridge
Timeline: MD 08 - 1445 hrs

Previously, on Moving to Intercept (Part 1)...

The queen regent looked down at her tactical display and watched as the small armada began to assume formation and prepare for warp. The journey itself would not be too long, and glory awaited them within 24 hours.

Gerrin just made a bow as though to comply. What the ship would do he would not say, for he was not its commander.

And Now, the Conclusion...

[ON]

18 hours later...

Under cloak and running minimal power signatures except for their warp drives, the KCA assault force dropped out of warp just inside the outer edge of the Nimbus system and slowly began to rejoin in a tactical formation. Inside the IKS Saalm's bridge, the dim interior of the vessel was illuminated by a foggy red hue which projected the battle-readiness of the dreadnought and its personnel.

"Report!" barked Lirha, her green fingers gripping the edges of her armrests with anticipation.

Stace eagerly awaited the report as well. A bubbling of anguish and excitement had started to well in his belly as the thought of the attack now filled his consciousness. The Stace symbiont hankered for the strategical dog-fight in space, whereas the host enjoyed the bloodshed and now both side were satiated.

With a quick inspection of navigational readiness Jynn chimed in with a brief report on Saalm's flight readiness. “Everything's ready to go! She's hot and bothered and ready for action!” His assessment was a perfect reflection of all the Saalms he knew. He was ecstatic to be in the control of one of them while being commanded by the other, squirming in his seat as he prepared for another exciting firefight. “Just lemme at 'em!”

"Scanners are showing nothing your grace," the Betazoid former slave reported as he kept checking sensors over and over. "There's nothing there....nothing..."

Lirha grumbled to herself wit dissatisfaction before looking towards Gerrin. "More of your people's 'excellent' intelligence on display?" she said dryly before looking down at her tactical display to survey the details of the solar system.

If there was any place for a secret base or group of starships to be hiding, it would most likely be within one of the large asteroid belts, of which the smaller one on the inner half of the system had more density and cover. If Lirha wanted to hide her battle group from any suspecting eyes, that would be the most likely location she would have chosen.

"Set course for the inner asteroid belt, full impulse," she commanded. "Remain under cloak and instruct the fleet to minimize all power signatures."

Gerrin continued to watch. He was getting feed now from his own ship which had phased within a convenient asteroid. It would remain there for now, undetected and untouchable while this little scene played out. What had caught the attention though mostly was the puzzling signature that the Fold Ship had picked up earlier. It was like Terran but not exactly and like nothing they had encountered before. Thus a curiosity that would cause them to linger for their own purposes.

Keval Grayson was just a cog in the KCA machine. He was after all merely a warrant officer, but he didn't want to stay that way forever. He had plans big plans and if meant kissing the Queen's ass, so be it. It was a small price to pay for advancement, or for that matter simply staying alive.

He turned deferentially towards her. Toying with his Ushaan-Tor he said to her, "Your highness, I'd like to be part of any boarding party. I'm hungry for some blood."

Gerrin was interested as well. The Fold Ship had used its rather more advanced technology and it had detected the presence somewhere inside the base of an Akkadian. What an Akkadian would be doing there was beyound what any of them could figure out. However, the fact that there was one and in Terran hands was enough for the ship's mother to be concerned.

"Your Majesty, I as well." He smiled but showing those sharp inner teeth going into a role. "If there is blood to be spilled might as well enjoy the feast to be had."

"And I," Tyrion chimed in.

“Well if we're all going out then I might as well come along, Queen,” the Saalm's feisty Deltan pilot chimed in. “Though my taste for blood may not be as strong as the others' on this bridge I fear even a few minutes of loneliness on this ship would be a far worse fate than anything that may await a boarding party. Besides, there could be treasure to plunder or booty to pillage!”

The queen regent looked from face to face and nodded to all of those who had stepped forward. It gave her a sense of pride to know that her band of misfit warriors were up to the challenge and welcomed the glory of facing their enemy in person. She, too, would participate, once the time came. "Very well," she agreed. "But first we must find and defeat the Terrans. If they are here in this system...they will no doubt have defenses that we will have to penetrate before we can strike at their heart.

From the shadows of the bridge, a lone Human slave stepped forward, his head bowed in submission. "I go where my queen goes," Rheneas murmured, "unless my queen orders me to stay here. I don't wish to be tempted but my place is with my queen, to see to her needs. That is all I desire. I belong here..."

"Back your chambers," instructed Lirha when she saw the man on the bridge. How he had managed to get to the ship's command center with limited security clearance was troubling to Lirha, and while she admired his desire to assist her, his place in her regime was as a sex slave. Nothing more and nothing less. "If you wish to serve me, you may prepare for my return after battle."

Rheneas' face flooded with relief at those orders and he gave her a look of pure gratitude and admiration. "Gladly, my queen," he answered, then hurried away.

"Who was that?" Tyrion asked, while watching the handsome Human disappear, "and how did he get here? Does her majesty want security increased?"

Gerrin only glanced that way and dismissed it. Whatever the Queen wanted with the thing was not his concern. In fact, nothing was much his concern now except figuring out where that Akkadian was exactly.

Lirha nodded towards Faye without saying a word. An increase in security was apparently prudent at this juncture, for what she had in store for the Terran Empire would no doubt test the resolve of them all.

[OFF]

--

QRGT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
IKS Saalm
[PNPC Saalm]

Tyrion
Freed Slave/intelligence
IKS Saalm
[PNPC Tyrion]

Rheneas
Queen's personal slave
IKS Saalm
[PNPC Tyrion]

Keval
PNPC Jared
IKSSaalm

SoghHom Jynn
Chief of Flight
IKS Saalm
[PNPC played by Jynn]

La'Hom Gerrin illm Warraquim
Akkadian Military Observer
IKS Saalm
[PNPC Allyndra]

Commander Flektor Stace
First Officer
IKS Saalm
[PNPC Stace]

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