Marauder (Part 1 of 3)

Posted on 17 Jul 2022 @ 5:31pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & Senior Chief Petty Officer Goldie Brown & Cadet Senior Grade Jemima de la Coeur & Petra Varelli Ph.D. & LuAnn Lovegood PhD & Viola Avalon PhD & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Ensign Mimi & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Alexion Wylde & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Oliver Sylver & Chief Petty Officer Afthinam Naime & Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark & Petty Officer 1st Class T'Lin & Petty Officer 1st Class Ember Locksley & Petty Officer 2nd Class Leon Inaros & Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeysa Zeror & Petty Officer 3rd Class Helliun 'Hel' Inant & Petty Officer 3rd Class Raine Ni-ya & Verity Thorne

3,552 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: Alcyone Sector, USS Galileo-A
Timeline: MD 10, 1245 hrs

Previously, on Marshal (Part 2)...

The trap was set and ready to be sprung. What Galileo would soon discover was a mystery to even Commander Tarin. The heart of deep space was cold and uninviting at the best of times - and outright perilous under the current circumstances. The Nova-class' crew was alone, isolated and operating on a hunch. Only a Klingon warrior destined for Sto-vo-kor could derive enjoyment from such unknowns.

"Petty Officer T'Lin...transmit."

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

T'Lin replied, "Acknowledged," before moving her fingers to initiate the pulse.

Once the lateral arrays were ready, Jemima began to scan. "Woah," she said a minute later, then bit her lip. She shouldn't say something like that out loud. "Ma'am, we got another one. This one is only 1,000 kilometers off starboard."

T'Lin doubled-checked. "Acknowledged, we indeed have contact, nine hundred ninety-eight point eight to starboard."

Commander Tarin's eyes grew large and she gripped her seat's armrests with tightened fingers. Galileo was almost right on top of them and within of minimum safe operating distance. The volume of her terse voice rose as she blurted out several critical orders. "Helm, mark that contact! Roll-axis rotation eighty degrees to port..." She looked down to the center console to confirm the bearing. "Ops, engage tractor beam. Now!"

"Confirm, roll-axis rotation eighty degrees to port, Captain," Sylver said, automatically doing it as he spoke. Speaking back the order was habit now, and he fell into habit as adrenaline spiked through him, narrowing the world to this moment.

"Engaging tractor beam." Mimi said after a few moments as the ship's movement bought the potential target within the arc of the forward tractor beam emitter. The wide blue beam leapt from the emitter searching for something to lock itself on to. "I have.... something." She eventually said. "Beam is stable."

Galileo's tractor beam emissions illuminated the underside of her own hull with bright, fluctuating azure hues. And on the receiving end, a cloaked and unknown starship started to materialize under its grip. A slow shimmering wave of translucency became visible followed by a large, crescent moon-shaped object. Its maroon coloration was instantly recognizable. Perhaps more discerning was the sight of an entire heavy cruiser which began to de-cloak. A thick structural neck was joined to its rear hull, and after several seconds, a forward pronged section of the starship became visible. Scorpion-like in appearance, it could only belong to one spacefaring government.

"Power signature increasing, they are decloaking." Mimi announced, she switched the viewscreen to show the vessel quickly revealing itself. "It is a..... Ferengi cruiser." She added, the surprise quite evident in her voice.

"I believe that is a D'Kora class." T'Lin deadpanned.

Sylver looked at the screen, opening his mouth and then closing it. It's the bloody Ferengi... the thought came in with some disbelief. Who would have thought it?

Jemima whistled softly under her breath. Who would have thought a Ferengi ship would be following them, cloaked...and looking more like something the Romulans would come up with. It was impressive in a scary sort of way.

Morgan slowly rose from the captain's chair. Her sharp hazel eyes locked on to the image of the new vessel on the main viewscreen while she scanned its silhouette and surface hull details. As hard as she tried to not believe what they were seeing, it seemed impossible to refute. "Tactical analysis!" she called out. It appeared the Nova-class had gone fishing and caught something bigger than her line could handle.

Aria looked at the screen, taking in the information with a frown on her brow, eyebrows drawing together to create little devil horns between them. "It's a D'Kora class Ferengi Maurader," she said, knowing that it was obvious with what they were seeing. "Crew compliment of 390 as standard. It has ten high power phaser banks, total output 20,000 TeraWatts. Two torpedo tubes, sort of like our rapid fore photon torpedos. Standard 120 rounds. Shields capacity is 1,350,00 TeraJoules. It's got a Duranium/Tritanium double hull, can do warp 9." In other words, decently armed, decent defence and they couldn't outrun it.

"The ship's taken an interest in us, Captain," Sylver called out from the helm. "It's manoeuvring to face us dead-on."

"Whatever they've got, they're increasing power to use it," Jemima said, staring wide-eyed at her monitor. "This doesn't look good. Power levels still rising." She turned to security, who would have a better idea of what the Ferengi ship was activating. Her bet was on shields and weapons.

"The ship's raising shields and powering up their weapons," Rice called out, seeing the warning on her own console. "Looks like they want to fight." Let's see who wants to tickle the dragon's tail today, she thought, her stance changing slightly without her even realising it. Grounding herself for the fight.

Commander Tarin's rational brain struggled to understand how or why a Ferengi vessel had made its way so far from the Ferenginar homeworld and to the almost-exact location of a secret, highly-classified Federation cold station. Undetected. None of it could be a coincidence, she speculated, which threatened to lead her down an unpleasant rabbit hole. Unfortunately, the element of time and due diligence wasn't currently on their side. "Red alert!"

Upon the captain's voice command, Galileo's alert strobe lighting changed from yellow canary coloration to bright crimson red. Overhead ambient lights throughout all corridors and compartments dimmed in order to highlight the LCARS consoles throughout the ship, and the distinctive alert klaxon blared then repeated for 20 seconds.


Deck 3 - Sickbay

Locksley looked up from the notes on her PADD as the red alert flashed its warning through Sickbay. She straightened up with a frown, rolling her shoulder unconsciously. This was her first time back on duty after her injuries that battle stations had been called. It was an uncomfortable feeling, an unsettling one, but she glanced to Nurse Leon Inaros as she moved to clear her research away.

Leon let out a breath before he gave her a small smile, moving to her side to help her secure her research. "We got this, Doctor," he said, his voice light. Red alerts didn't bother him, it was just strange to be here without a weapon.

Alexion Wylde was still doing his uniform jacket up as he moved into Sickbay, shaking his head with a frown. "One day, the red alert siren won't go off when I'm eating or sleeping," he murmured. He cast his eye around who they had in, glancing back over his shoulder as the Chaplain followed him in. "Let's get the medkits ready for the emergency calls..." he was already striding across the compact sickbay to gather up equipment and vials.

"Yes, sir," LuAnn replied. "We're pulling supplies to set up a triage station so we can take a bit of the load off sickbay." There would always be personnel who weren't seriously injured that needed a little bandaging. If nothing else, they could prioritize the wounded for the doctors.

Leon looked over at her, giving a nod before he went to pull the medkits, double checking them before placing them down. "Colour tag system for triage?" he asked, unsure what was standard on the ship and decided to rely on what the more experienced medical staff knew.

"No," Wylde said quickly, the word escaping sharply and before he realised it had even come out. He met Leon's eyes before lifting his hand slightly, shaking his head. "No colour tags. For now, serious cases will be treated with us over here, less serious cases over there..." he motioned to the other side of the bay where Locksley was. "If we need more room, we'll have to take over Holodeck One; Lovegood and Locksley, be ready to take the bigger medkits down there if we get to that point."

Leon gave a simple nod of acceptance of the order, looking around to commit it to memory, so he would not get confused. Hopefully, all they would get would be broken bones and concussions.


Deck 7 - Main Engineering

In the heart of the ship Naime burst into main engineering still fastening up her uniform. Yellow alert had interrupted a perfectly wonderful lunch but as yellow alert turned to red the thought of wasted cake instantly faded from her mind. She glanced round to the rest of her assembled team, they all knew their roles in the case of a red alert but she called them out just in case. "Hollenday, you're on damage control. Inant, the warp core. Are we all clear?"

John indicated he understood. "Yes ma'am, but tell you the truth, we ain't even had a proper shakedown cruise, then pushed this ship way past what it should have been, doing a high warp run. Best you let the higher-ups know that we could have critical system failures easily."

With a grim look on her face Naime confirmed "I submitted a report to the captain about the state of the ship a couple of days ago. Of course this is some sort of critical mission though, I really hope she understands that she's playing with fire here."

Hel looked at her and smiled easily. "I'll grab the quick seal, just in case something springs a hole..." she moved to the console, her eyes going as always to the warp core. Despite the smile, the easiness, she breathed a soft prayer to the warp core, to stay strong.


Deck 4 - Science Lab

Viola Avalon secured her work and logged out of her console as soon as the red alert sounded. There was no need for a marine biologist so she quickly made her way to main science to assist anywhere she could be of help.

As a civilian, Petra was supposed to report to her quarters, but she was a scientist and the department was short-handed right now, so she made her way to the main science lab to see if there was anything she could do. At this point she wasn't sure, but there was always need of someone somewhere.


Deck 3 - Security

Gabriel Stark headed into the Security Office with firm, fast strides, heading straight for the locker. He glanced around, taking in how eerily quiet it was in there; it was just him and the red light. He shook his head as he grabbed a phaser rifle, securing it over his shoulder. Yeah, that was better. Turell was on an Away Team, Rice was on the bridge...that left him to defend the ship should they be boarded. He didn't exactly need his skill at the gaming table to crunch the numbers of those odds. But hey, at least now he had a phaser rifle...ho, ho, ho...

He moved to the desk, sending a message through to Aria to check in...and to let her know that he and his rifle were ready to be in five places at once.


Deck 1 - Bridge

Department status confirmations swiftly came through Galileo's internal comms and were noted by the commanding officer. It was a welcome background noise against the multitude of chirping LCARS consoles and alert notifications on Tarin's command terminal. With a Ferengi heavy cruiser bearing down on them, there was little time for delay. "Ops, disengage our tractor beam! XO, load quantum torpedoes in both launchers and reinforce forward shields."

"Aye Sir." Quickly deactivating the tractor beam, Mimi shifted the power once supplied to it towards the shield generators for Aria to reinforce them with.

Rice moved her fingers quickly, already on it. "Forward shields reinforced, quantum torpedoes loaded and armed, ready for your command," she called out, watching the familiar screens telling her that the Galileo was ready for a fight.

Morgan's hand slapped the commbadge on her breast. "Engineering, bridge. We've just encountered a Ferengi heavy cruiser...what's the status of our warp core?" If the Nova-class was forced to fall back and retreat, Tarin needed to know if they could sustain another max-velocity warp run without damaging the ship.

From the bowels of the ship Naime quickly responded, with a short glance over to Hel before saying anything "Warp core functioning within the normal parameters but I do not recommend pushing it too hard sir, we've still been having some issues." The idea of throwing the ship through another battle before her team had finished their shipwide assessment was worrying Naime more than her voice let on "I wouldn't trust the ship to be pushed past normal operational limits for any length of time."

"Understood. No promises, chief." Unseen by the rest of the bridge crew, Tarin nervously bit her bottom lip again. Her starship was ready for combat yet their small science vessel was severely outclassed by the larger and more robust Ferengi starship. Her apprehension quickly converted to anger at the apparent intelligence failure. "Since when did the Ferengi acquire cloaking devices?! Hail them again. Get me through to their captain." she demanded.

T'Lin sat quietly but her mind could not help but begin to calculate the odds of the ship surviving a fight with such a ship as presented itself. There was no doubt that things definitely were not in their favour.

"Hailing...." Mimi said, she hoped they'd respond; not liking the ships chances if things devolved into shooting. "...They are responding." She announced after several long seconds then switched the viewscreen to a visual comm channel.

Galileo's large holographic viewscreen quickly blinked and changed its display. Where there was a recently a view of the outside stars and the D'Kora-class marauder, now a supersized image of an unknown Ferengi commanded the display for all of the Nova-class' bridge crew to see. His dark beady eyes were dominated by his species' prominent brow ridge and large multi-wrinkled ear lobes. Creases of disdain appeared on his forehead just below two distinctive cranial bulges; one marked with a symbolic tattoo of an unknown Ferengi glyph. The man bared his teeth and revealed a row of sharp yet crooked denticles.

Tarin stepped forward from the command alcove and stopped just behind the bridge's conn station. Her discerning gaze took in the entirety of the male Ferengi in front of as well as those in the background who were seemingly manning their own respective stations. Diplomatically, she stood tall and clasped her hands behind her back. "Ferengi vessel, I am Commander Morgan Tarin, captain of the Starfleet vessel USS--"

Her introduction was rudely interrupted by the man on the other side of the viewscreen. "I know who you are, Star-Fleet," he hissed. "You harass us with your hails then have the audacity to assault us with your sensor scans... And now you lay a tractor beam on my vessel?!"

Tarin took a breath and retained her composure. If there was any species more capable of verbal manipulation than the Ferengi, she'd yet to encounter one. "I assure you, it is not our intention to provoke you. You didn't respond to our hails and your presence here is in violation of Federation territorial boundaries. Can I ask your name and why you are here in this sector...hundreds of light years away from Ferenginar?"

An ambivalent scowl graced the Ferengi commander's face at first. "I am DaiMon Nok. Our business here is no concern of yours..." The transmission's audio suddenly muted from the D'Kora-class as one visible subordinate exchanged words with the captain. The audio relay resumed, then the man smiled with uncertain genuity. "We are here as explorers. Business explorers, of course. Prospecting is a lucrative endeavor in these times, as you know. We are not aware of any Federation statement declaring sovereignty in this sector."

Mimi's ears and nose twitched, she wasn't a fan of Ferengi. They smelt bad, the frequency of their voices made her ears ache and one once tried to buy her as a pet.

"DaiMon Nok...while I respect your desire to conduct business in this part of space, this is indeed Federation territory." Tarin attempted to remain respectful while trying to navigate the complexity of Starfleet's current operations within the Alcyone Sector. "Your people are welcome within all Federation borders as long as you abide by honest and sincere trading policies. But these policies do not include the use of cloaking devices which we have observed from your vessel." A pause followed the acting captain's statement while she considered an additional line of questioning. "Furthermore, I must ask you...how or from where did you acquire cloaking technology? You're a smart man, DaiMon Nok, and you surely know that free and open trade must be transparent to be successful." There was more to this than they were being told, Tarin was certain.

The DaiMon scrutinized Galileo's commander through the viewscreen. "Our technology belongs to us. It helps us avoid...unpleasant rivals...and facilitates our trade endeavors. That is all you need to know."

"I see." Tarin remained unconvinced by anything the DaiMon had so far told her, and folded her arms across her chest to visibly convey as much. "And what exactly are you 'prospecting' here, near this asteroid field?" She extended an arm out to sweep the bridge. "There are no habitable planets or starbases in this sector. And your vessel doesn't appear to be configured with any mining rigs." The Ferengi almost never mined or engaged in hard labor - it was far more lucrative for them to source the minerals they needed or simply oversee the operations.

The Ferengi captain's sharp crooked teeth bared again as his lips curled back. "We are seeking...components. Of the technological variety. Those with a very high resale value." Snickering could be heard from the other Ferengi on the D'Kora-class' bridge. It sounded ominous. "Perhaps...special Starfleet technology from a hidden base nearby. Or from a small science vessel with advanced sensors able to penetrate a cloaking device..."

T'Lin turned in her seat to look at Commander Tarin. She did not say anything since the viewscreen and communications were on, but two things went on in her mind. First, how had the Ferengi figured out a base in the area, secondly the captain of the Ferengi ship had made a direct threat.

Jemima's eyes widened. Ferengi pirates. Well, Ferengi WERE pirates, but this... She shook her head. This was Ferengi on crack. Wasn't that the old terminology? Her next thought was even more scary. They weren't likely to let the ship and crew escape. Not with this knowledge and information. They wouldn't want Starfleet to know about their ship and their tactics. Just in case, she surreptitiously sent the sensor data to astrometrics. She hoped they'd understand why.

The acute hazel irises of Galileo's captain narrowed and focused completely on the DaiMon. Tarin's arms fell to her side and she stepped forward in front of the bridge's helm station to speak to the man as up close and personal as she could through the viewscreen. "If you fire on my vessel, you will destroy decades of peaceful cooperation and trade business between the Ferengi Alliance and the United Federation of Planets. I'm familiar with Grand Nagus Rom's administration and I promise he does not authorize your actions or presence here. Furthermor--"

The Starfleet captain's rebuke was cut off by the Ferengi captain. "Rom." He grinned then laughed with a high-pitched squeal. "You mean the engineer-brother of Quark, who was never born with the lobes for business? The one who allowed his own son to join...Starfleet?!" DaiMon Nok's facial features conveyed disgust at the thought. "We don't recognize his new 'vision' for the Alliance. At least under Zek we could still conduct our regular business. But now? ...All these new rules of acquisition...."

T'Lin swiveled back around just in time. "Captain, power surges to the Ferengi ship's weapons. They are preparing to fire."

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CMDR Morgan Tarin
Acting Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Saalm]

LT Aria Rice
Chief Security Officer
USS Galileo-A

PO1 T'Lin
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Warraquim]

ENS Mimi
Deputy Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

CWO2 Oliver Sylver
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

CDT(SR) Jemima de la Coeur
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Sandoval]

LuAnn Lovegood
Counselor
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Sandoval]

PO1 Ember Locksley
Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Blake]

PO2 Leon Inaros
Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

CWO3 Alexion Wylde
Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Blake]

CPO Afthinam Naime
Acting Chief Engineer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Ullswater]

PO3 John Hollenday
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Warraquim]

PO3 Helliun Inant
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

Viola Avalon
Marine Biologist
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Sandoval]

Petra Varelli
Archaeologist
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Sandoval]

PO1 Gabriel Stark
Security Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Blake]

DaiMon Nok
Captain
Ferengi Marauder
[PNPC Saalm]

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