Game session: ?/2007
Sisko greets Saval and Cidhela and then gives a quick review of the Saber before turning the briefing over to Lt. Commander T'vala. Before the stern Vulcan can begin, however, Alberic interjects and tells her that SI's security may have been compromised, as he managed to learn some salient points about the mission already. He passes over the PADD containing his sacrificial lambs, and T'vala takes careful note before resuming her briefing. Tuvonn recalls that T'vala may have connections to the Vulcan Intelligence Network, although he's pretty certain Saval does not.
T'vala gives a brief synopsis of the current political situation between the United Federation of Planets and the Cardassian Union, covering the war, peace treaty, and the creation of the Demilitarized Zone and the subsequent recent rise of disaffected former Federation colonists now calling themselves the Maquis. She outlines the recent Maquis activity against both the Federation and Cardassia, including the destruction of the Cardassian freighter Bok'Nor and the kidnapping of Gul Dukat, and the intelligence that suggests the Maquis are amassing a small fleet of rag-tag couriers and auxiliary ships. She then explains their mission: recently, a decorated and efficient human officer named Chakotay resigned his commission and left Starfleet. Chakotay's home world is one of the affected colonies, and Starfleet Intelligence is concerned that he has joined the Maquis as a traitor, something seen more and more often in Starfleet's ranks. SI believes the Maquis cell Chakotay may be joining to be meeting in the next few days on a rumored criminal outpost called Kel Nor. Both Alberic and Marik realize that 'Kel Nor' is a bastardization of the Cardassian tongue and probably not the original station name, it translates roughly to 'Dark Hole' or 'Black Hole.'
The Saber's mission is to infiltrate the Badlands, locate the station Kel Nor, and determine if Chakotay has in fact turned traitor. Information is the primary mission, but if a chance to capture Chakotay or any Maquis rebel arises, they are to take it. The Saber was chosen due to its small size – larger ships attract the plasma storms of the Badlands, its subspace-safe warp engines – they're not bound by the Warp 5 "speed limit", and an experimental warp masking system, that once activated will make their warp signature appear to be a simple freighter. T'vala admits the system is only partially tested, and only works for a few hours before the system fluctuates. The Enterprise and the Bellephron will be in the Bajor Sector for backup, but due to their larger size they won't be able to enter the Badlands safely. Above all else, however, the Saber crew is to avoid extensive contact with the Cardassians and maintain the peace treaty.
T'vala opens the briefing up to questions and general discussion, and clarifies a few points. Tuvonn suggests replacing one of the Saber's three shuttles with a courier that might pass as a Maquis ship. Alberic supports the idea and makes a note to follow up on that. Throughout the briefing, T'vala has been giving Saval pointed glares and the occasional deliberate snub, but Saval has not responded until she raises her hand to ask a question. Reluctantly, T'vala nods, and Saval starts to ask a question about a sensor probe when T'vala suddenly turns and leaves the conference room abruptly, startling everyone. Saval offers no explanation, but seems oddly satisfied. Bemused, Sisko leaves as well, telling them they may remain in the conference room as long as they like to plan.
Left alone, the new command crew introduces each other, and Saval greets She-Who-Swims as an old friend. Saval and Cidhela explain that the warp masking technology is wreaking havoc with the EPS grids, hence their tardiness, and that a generator blew up in Cidhela's face earlier. Luckily, she escaped injury. Since a great deal of time this past month was spent escorting the Xyrillians, there wasn't much time for repairs at a true starbase, so the Saber is running off of DS9's power grid at the moment while they fix the EPS and warp engines. Alberic gives Cidhela twenty-four hours to get her repair work done, which earns her goodwill as she stated she could do it in eighteen hours, but will take the extra time to make sure things are right. Saval also adds that due to She-Who-Swims and her Arcadian physiology, a few modifications have been made to the Saber, such as a double-Olympic sized swimming pool and water channels cut into Sickbay. However, only she, Alberic, and She-Who-Swims will be getting individual quarters, everyone else must double up. Alberic suggests that they all head for the Saber for a tour.
As the officers file out, Mel can see Saval's eyes are almost completely green due to being bloodshot. Tuvonn hangs back and contacts his squad to be ready as an honor guard at Upper Pylon 3, where the Saber is berthed. The officers walk slowly to accommodate for She-Who-Swims; the Arcadian is bulky and slow out of water and must move by hands and tail. They reach Upper Pylon 3 and find the five Marines in full honor guard. They pass by a DS9 Starfleet Security officer who surreptitiously scans them as they pass to ensure their identity; Alberic and Mel approve while the Marines smirk. Once aboard, Alberic formally assumes command and relieves Saval. The docking port itself is on Deck Five, and Saval outlines what's on this deck and explains that due to space constraints, the Marines have been given Security's reception area as a practice dojo; Tuvonn promises Mel they'll keep out of her way. The walls are industrial Starfleet gray with LCARS panels every few feet, and the carpet is a deep Federation blue.
Tuvonn dismisses the rest of the squad to report to Security and joins the others at the turbolift. Two trips later, and the officers are on their new Bridge. The few junior officers manning the Bridge stiffen to attention before Alberic orders them at ease. They then explore their new command center. Mel meets Ensign Virgil Thon, the Trill second Security officer, who shows her the double Security/Tactical panels and how to configure them. Daphne settles into Conn and examines the controls even though the ship is at Station Rest and immobile. Marik starts configuring Science I and II for his purposes while Cidhela checks the Master Systems Display and makes a few tweaks from Engineering I. Saval heads over to Ops to check the systems there while Alberic settles into his command chair for the very fist time. Tuvonn settles into a guard position by the turbolift door. Saval asks Marik to act as backup Ops officer when she is busy as Executive Officer; he accepts.
Checking his Command systems in the arms of the chair, Alberic realizes that Saber will be able to travel under her own power in about four hours. He calls for a sensor scan of the system, looking for an opponent willing to "spar." Tuvonn asks Ensign Thon for permission to leave the Bridge, the Trill looks blankly at the Marine before nodding in confusion. Tuvonn heads below to rejoin his Marines.
Marik finds an aging Klingon Bird of Prey about six hours out, heading for DS9. A quick tactical analysis shows that the Bird of Prey would be no match for a fully-powered and operational Saber, but in a low-powered war game, its maneuverability will make the confrontation a challenge. Alberic hails them; a female Klingon captain answers, and demands to know what they want in typical Klingon "courtesy." Alberic makes his pitch in Klingon for a simulated war game, which she smiles ruthlessly and accepts. She introduces herself as Captain Kla'vach but doesn't give a House or ship name. Tuvonn pages the Bridge and asks about boarding actions in the wargame; Alberic passes the question to Captain Kla'vach whose smile grows wider and she signs off. Taking that as tacit acceptance, the Saber crew begins to plan.
Daphne immediately heads for a holosuite to run more simulations while Marik takes over Operations. He finds that the power transfer efficiency ratio between DS9 and the Saber is at 97.02 percent, much higher then he expected considering the Cardassian systems. Saval drags Cidhela off the Bridge, as they both desperately need sleep. Mel leaves Thon on the bridge and heads down to Security on Deck Five to examine it and Tuvonn and the Marines start drilling. Mel orders the rest of her Security contingent to report, and soon meets Roya the female Deltan tactician, Threy'shaan the male Andorian martial artist, and Chilp, the male Bolian weapons expert who's disassembling a live phaser as he walks in. Chilp explains that he's trying to improve the rate of fire on the phaser, without much success, but he's pretty confident he's figured out a way to disassemble a phaser in such a way that its components won't trigger weapon alarms. They discuss tactics and Threy'shaan asks about hand-to-hand combat. They page Captain Selense and realize that wasn't discussed, so they'll use blunted weaponry. While the three Security enlisted personnel plan and share jibes with the Marines, Mel heads into her new office to catch a quick nap. Cila and Senior Chief Petty Officer Biayoh Corr decide they "like" Chilp and Threy'shaan respectively – and by "like" they mean "lust after."
Alberic leaves second officer Lt. Thomas Atherton in command while he and She-Who-Swims head down to Sickbay on Deck Four. The water in the channels is slightly green, but She-Who-Swims immediately slides into one and discards her moisture suit with a contented sigh. The channel is circular, allowing her access to any part of the room, and has one offshoot that heads into the CMO's office. Computer controlled floor panels can cover the channel for ease of traversing for two-legged life forms, although the channel is only a foot wide and maybe two feet deep. The greenish tinge to the water is because Starfleet attempted to duplicate the waters of Arcadia Prime exactly, even down to specific bacteria and nutrients. However, She-Who-Swims assures Alberic that the water is safe for humanoids, and is actually good for their skin. Once partially immersed, She-Who-Swims moves significantly faster and she circumvents Sickbay and then enters her office. Alberic heads off and uses his connections to find a Bolian attaché with a courier shuttle in-system. He contacts the Bolian to offer the swap, the attaché gleefully accepts and promises to be there in twenty-five minutes. Alberic pages Engineering to strip all Starfleet-grade weaponry off of one of the shuttles. He then takes a nap.
Around 1400 hours station time, Engineering finishes the repairs and upgrades to the warp core, allowing them to separate from DS9. Daphne immediately heads to the Bridge and disengages the Saber from the station to test how the vessel actually maneuvers. The first few minutes are a little jerky as various piloting systems come online, but soon she's doing barrel rolls and figure-eight flips with the Saber – and waking napping Captains and Security Chiefs with her vertigo-inducing stunts. Alberic and Mel return to the Bridge. Mel passes on the current idea from Security and the Marines – stage a weak spot in the shields to entice a Klingon raiding party, with Security waiting. They choose Deck Six as their ambush point, and arrange to have someone from Operations convert the cargo transporter on that level to serve as a personnel transporter in case the plan changes. Contingency plans are discussed and considered as the Saber starts to head for the edge of the Bajoran system, while the rest of the senior staff gets ready. Saval returns to the Bridge looking far more rested. Cidhela returns to Engineering while She-Who-Swims stands ready in Sickbay, prepares to treat the simulated (and possibly genuine, considering Klingon temperament) injuries. The Marines station themselves on Deck Six and watch over Cloudwalker, the Amerindian enlisted who converts the transporter. Marik uploads a program to assist in beaming off the Saber in the split-second of power refresh when her shields flicker. He also loads a program that will drop the shields as if they had suffered damage, and then immediately reenergize the shields.
The Saber reaches the outskirts of the Bajoran system and settles into the very edge of the gravitational pull of Bajor's star, thus making it harder for the Klingons to detect her. On long-range sensors, the Klingon ship suddenly overflows with energy, apparently from an overloading plasma relay, but Marik swiftly realizes that it was a ruse and the Bird of Prey cloaked amidst the power surge. The hunt is on.
Alberic orders the Saber to hold fast and try to locate the Bird of Prey on sensors; Marik manages to lock down a tachyon leak from the older cloaking device and triangulate its general position. The Klingons close to weapons rage swiftly. Alberic orders the Saber to close as well, and once Marik locks onto their position he orders the Marines to beam over. Marik activates his program, and Cloudwalker beams Tuvonn, Cila, Tarnoc, Biyaoh, and Petty Officer Second Class Silam Voton aboard, leaving Ganth in reserve just in case. The Marines beam safely into the Klingon Engineering room undetected, and Tuvonn immediately drops one unsuspecting Klingon engineer with the Vulcan neck pinch. Voton stuns a second Klingon while Cila starts hacking into the Bird of Prey's computer. The Klingons realize they've been boarded, and try to neutralize the Marines with anesthazine gas, but the five Marines slap on re-breathers and Cila manages to gain access.
The Bird of Prey decloaks and does a strafing run of the Saber, scoring a direct hit near the starboard nacelle. The Saber's shields hold, and Alberic orders pursuit. The Klingon shields are coming up when Alberic gives the order to fire; Mel manages to score a direct hit on the Bird of Prey's unprotected dorsal hull, which severely rattles the Marines in Engineering. Cila drops the shields, but the Klingons manage to raise them again. The Saber and the Bird of Prey engage in a dogfight of twisting and turning and evasive maneuvers that see-saw back and forth while Klingons beam into Engineering. The Marines snap-fire and manage to hit five out of the six Klingons, but all five manage to remain upright. Their return fire is hampered by shaking off their collective stun effects, but their squad leader fires and catches Tuvonn right in the chest. The Vulcan stumbles but remains upright.
The Klingons close to melee and hand-to-hand combat. Unfortunately for Tuvonn, the last thing he sees is the Klingon squad leader barreling into him. He goes flying, and blacks out. However, his squad finishes off the five stunned Klingons easily, and then gang up on the squad leader to take him down. Alberic orders the Saber to come to a full stop and for Mel to target the Bird of Prey's shields; both maneuvers are successful and the Klingon shields collapse. Realizing her shields are gone and Starfleet forces have taken and held Engineering, Captain Kla'vach grudgingly conceded defeat. The exercise ends and the Marines beam out, but not before Tarnoc scrawls out in chalk what explosives would have been used in Engineering if this was an actual firefight. Tuvonn is sent to Sickbay and revives with She-Who-Swims looming over him; she informs him he'll be fine. He had three cracked ribs and the imprint of Klingon forehead ridges on his face…
Alberic and Captain Kla'vach speak in Klingon and discuss tactics, and he asks if she would join his crew for dinner at DS9. She accepts, but only after insisting bloodwine be present. Alberic decides to bring all seven senior officers and Tuvonn, and Kla'vach chooses to bring the same number. The two ships set course for the station and start repairing the minor damage inflicted while Alberic hails a "friend of a friend" stationed on DS9 and learns that Quark is the Ferengi to go through to acquire Klingon bloodwine…
Recap originally published on Livejournal.