Bravo Fleet
Commanding Officers’ Log:
The past few days have been relatively uneventful, as the Fox has been given patrol orders around Deep Space 47. Not sure if it’s because of the ship’s class, or the untested merit of her captain, but I feel like we’re being walked on a short leash. Though I can understand Command’s hesitancy to set an unvetted asset loose so soon, cabin fever is starting to set in. With no activity and no real crew to manage, I find myself spending more time sleeping or on the newly installed holodeck than I am at the helm of my own vessel. How can I prove myself if I have nothing to show for it? Granted, this is probably the kind of stagnation that senior captains dream of, but still…
I don’t want to jinx myself, but damn, I wish something would happen already…
[USS Fox; Bridge]
“Bridge to Commander Angelus,” Archie called out over comms.
“Go ahead,” Michael responded. The sounds of explosions and gunfire could be heard in the background. Unphased by the background noise, Archie continued, “Sir, we picked up a distress signal from a system on the edge of Cardassian Space.”
The ambient noise in the background immediately ceased. In a very calm and professional tone, Michael responded with a “That’s clear, I’m on my way.” Yet as the channel closed, there was a faint, yet echoing ‘FINALLY’ that could be heard reverberating off the starship’s hull.
Romen and Yeager stifled chuckles in their seats. Archie, too, held a small smirk on his lips as he shook his head lightly. It only took a few moments for the Commanding Officer to leave the Holodeck and report to the bridge, clear that his Uniform Jacket was just hastily thrown on. “Sorry, what’s the status?” Michael asked, panting.
“Cardassian Distress Signal, sir, no audio or video, just an automated data burst,” Yeager reported. “From initial glance through, it appears the ship in question is a Cardassian Hideki Class. Manifest shows 5 aboard: one Captain, one security, and three scientists.” Archie followed up.
Michael crossed the bridge to the Science Station to review the findings with Archie. “Does it say why it needs help?” he asked, his eyes darting across the information wildly as if looking for the solution to a word puzzle.
Archie points to the screen, further down. “Here, apparently, they lost navigational control and fell into the gravitational pull of a nearby planet.” Michael’s brow furrowed. “Any answer from the Cardassians?” Yeager tapped his console, throwing up a galactic map on the main viewer. “No, sir, looks like the closest Cardassian Ship is 23 hours away.”
“That’s not the worst part, sir,” Romen interjected. Yeager, Archie, and Michael turned to the Tactical station, “Look where they presumably crashed.” The main viewer changed to a closer map, highlighting a K-Class star system with a single habitable planet in orbit—the name of the system ominously illuminating the bridge:
-KAVARIA-
[USS Fox; Kavaria System]
The Aquarius-class starship was racing at max warp towards the M-Class planet, and all stations were now seated on the bridge. “Any word from the Cardassian Union?” Michael asked.
“They have not verified the distress signal themselves, but are sending a ship to investigate. They report 8 hours out,” Trixie replied. “*cough*bullshit*cough*” Yeager hacked, rolling his eyes at that estimate, knowing full well there was no Cardassian ship anywhere near their location.
“And Starfleet?” Michael inquired. “Have been advised of the situation,” Archie responded.
“Doctor, let’s get Sickbay prepped and ready for any incoming casualties,” Michael ordered. And without another word, Doc zapped off the bridge to begin work.
“Mr. Yeager, any word?” Michael continued to direct. “No, sir, but there is a slight transponder signal I’m picking up on the planet’s surface. We will be in range in 15 seconds.”
Michael took a deep breath. 15 seconds counted down like an eternity as the starfield zooming past on the view screen popped out of existence, revealing the M-class planet Kavaria. In the brief moments of null-time, he contemplated his desire for ‘something to do’, feeling a tinge of guilt as now he got what he asked for, and lives were on the line because of it.
“I have an ion trail, sir, confirming a planetary trajectory,” Archie reported from the Ops station. “And it lines up with the transponder I was seeing, I think I got them, sir—ohhh…” Yeager began to report, his tone shifting hard from customary to concerned.
“What?” Michael probed.
“Good news, and Bad news, sir.” Yeager hesitated. “Good news is, they managed to make a mostly controlled landing and are in one piece.”
“And the bad news?” Michael egged.
“Bad news is, it looks like they crashed into a bat mound…” Romen reported from Tactical.
The view screen lit up with a magnified view of the planet’s surface. On screen, Michael could see a smoking husk of the small Cardassian ship, half the size of his own, sitting in a smoldering dirt crater of its own making from the impact. Proceeding it was the skid marks leading back to a large, almost 20-story-tall dirt pillar that had a Hideki-sized hole punched through it.
This naturally appearing dirt mound looked almost like an oversized termite mound on Earth, but it was not bugs that were spewing forth from the structure. Large bats, standing half the size of a standard human, just as long as one wing-tip to wing-tip, with orange and black stripes across all of their bodies, were crawling and flying out in droves in response to their home being disturbed.
“Kavarian Tiger-Bats.” Romen finished.
Michael almost stood in amazed horror at the sight before him. Kavarian Tiger-Bats were galactically acknowledged to be among the fiercest natural predators in the galaxy. This species alone had repelled colonial efforts from the Cardassian Union, and occupation from the original Maquis who tried to use the planet as a staging base in their campaign against the Cardassians.
“Sir, there is too much interference coming from the Hideki, and too many life signs around the ship for me to get a positive lock on any Cardassian life sign,” Archie reported.
“Shit…Options?” Michael asked.
“We could fly down there.” Yeager proposed.
“Even with shields, the Kitsune would be torn apart by those monsters…” Romen dismissed.
“No, I mean the Fox. She’s capable of an atmospheric landing. And our shields are way better than the shuttle. We could fly over the Cardassian ship, extend our shields, and try to beam them onboard that way.” Yeager defended.
Finding that his navigator’s logic was sound, Michael secured himself in the Captain’s chair, “Make for atmospheric entry Mr. Yeager.” He began. “All hands, hold fast, we’re going to experience some turbulence!” the Commander announced over the ship’s intercom.
The Fox dove gracefully into the thermosphere of the planet. Due to the speed of their descent, there was relative resistance, but the shields and inertia dampeners held fast under the watchful eyes of Trixie. Yeager, however, seemed to be having the time of his life as the ship fell further past the stratosphere. “Yeeee Hawww! Man, some Tom Petty would be good to put on right about now.” The Navigator called out in excitement. His burst of enthusiasm under the circumstances was a bit unusual, but it had a somewhat calming effect on Michael.
The Fox settled in the skies over Kavara as her impulse engines and ventral thrusters pushed her towards the crash site. Her appearance, though menacing, was not unnoticed by the almost cloud-covering swarm of Tiger-Bats that were now in the sky. The creatures that circled the Cardassian ship screeched and yipped towards the Federation Starship as it made its approach.
“Ease in Yeager, we don’t need to paint the hull red,” Michael warned. As the Fox drew closer, she slowed to almost a crawl through the skies, tiger-bats already ripping towards her to ward her away from their homes. Their protests came in vain as the starship’s shields effortlessly repelled the creatures who bounced off the forcefields and tumbled through the sky, rolling desperately to re-stabilize themselves in flight.
The closer the Fox came to her target, the more the shields began to shimmer as the native creatures continued to defend their home, easily being ‘parted’ away from the crash sight. “Report?” Michael’s words came as their eyes were still fixed on the screen.
“Shields holding at 99%, they’re definitely testing the threshold limits, but we can keep them off,” Trixie confirmed.
“I’m still having trouble locking onto the Cardassians. Scans indicate a high concentration of Delta Radiation coming from the ship’s warp engines that’s blocking my efforts.” Archie called out.
“Hideki Class vessels have oversized engines for their size, if that thing goes up…” Trixie began.
“How long do we have?” Michael cut her off. “Without knowing specifics, minutes to hours.”
“Romen…ever been base jumping?” Michael turned to ask the Security Officer.
“Hell yeah!” Roman interjected, rising from his seat. Michael nodded, “Bridge to Doc, Meet me and Romen in the Shuttle Bay. Bring a handful of Emergency Transport beacons.” Michael called out.
“Sir, I must protest!” he began, but Michael had already anticipated this, holding up his hand to stop the First Officer. “I’m taking Romen and a big gun with me in case there are creatures onboard. I’m taking Doc and an Exo Suit due to the environmental hazards present. And I’m going, just in case the radiation interferes with the Mobile Emitters and prevents the first two from completing the mission. If you have any better ideas, I’m all ears; otherwise, I don’t have time to argue.”
Archie stood there, dumbfounded for a moment, the look of defeat permeated across his face. “Just…please be careful, sir.” He finally let out. Michael nodded in agreement. “You have the bridge number one.” He affirmed as he headed for the turbolift. With the commanders’ backs turned, Archie looked to Romen desperately, his eyes flashing a hue of gold. The tactical officer could only shrug and hold his hands up in defeat, shaking his head before zapping off the bridge himself.
[Kavaria Crash Site]
(10 min later)
Donning a radiation suit from Engineering and sporting a Phaser on his hip, Michael had rappelled down from the loading bay at the Aft of the Fox, Doc and Romen right behind him. The screeching from the Tiger-Bats was deafening on the outside as still the beasts from land and air clawed and lunged at the shield that held them at bay. The Fox held her place 20 meters over the crashed Cardassian ship as the trio made their way to an access port.
Michael kneeled next to a hatch, flipping out his tricorder to try and override an opening as Romen stood point, his Phaser Rifle in hand. There was still power through the ship, and luckily, they were able to brute-force their way through the Cardassian security system to get it open, not like they were trying to be subtle.
As the door hissed open, Michael swapped his tricorder for his phaser and pointed it down the dark opening. Seeing no movement, he motioned for the other two to follow him in.
The primal screeching was muffled by the hull of the Hideki, allowing normal conversation again. “Delta Radiation levels are spiking, sir. But your suit should offer sufficient shielding.” Doc reported.
“Good to know. This seems to be deck 1, so with any luck, the crew will be up here. Tag anyone you find for transport, even the dead.” Michael directed as the three headed down a corridor. The Cardassian ship was literally half the size of the Fox, the first deck slated for the cockpit and crew quarters, so it was their best bet to find any survivors. Due to the multitude of layouts for this particular class of starship, it was a wildcard guess as to what would be located where.
They found their first survivor in one of the crew sections. He was alive, but unconscious and bleeding profusely. Doc took several minutes to try and stabilize him with his med kit before he was comfortable to transport. Once the first Cardassian was off the ship, the three continued to the cockpit.
Here, two more Cardassians were found, both Doc and Michael tended to the wounded while Romen stood guard at the door. The first was transported safely by Doc, while Michael’s patient had sporadic life signs. Doc moved over to assist when the Cardassian’s eyes snapped open, his hand flew across, grappling Michael across the shoulder. “HRNGGG!” he spat, shock and anger in his eyes.
“Hay! Relax! We’re with Starfleet! We’re Here to help!” Michael called out, reaching out to break the man’s hold on him.
It appeared as if his words hit home with the Cardassian, as he loosed his grip on Michael, though his eyes remained just as wild. “They went to engineering!!” the man grunted, “The warp core….” He tried to continue, before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he began to convulse in his seat. “Shit, he’s going into shock!” Doc called out, pulling a hypospray from his bag and injecting the man. “I can’t transport him until his vitals come down some.”
“Stay with him, and transport back when he’s stable. Only two left, Romen and I will head down to Engineering and try to find the rest.” Michael ordered. As he stepped over the chair, Doc reached out, “Sir!”
Michael looked back at the physician, “I know, I’ll be careful.” He reassured him.
Michael and Romen locked eyes and, in unison, raised their firearms down the hall, heading the opposite way they came. Given the clothing the first three were in, they were scientist. Clearly, the crewmen of the ship knew the extent of the damage and must have gone down to try and stop it.
The Engineering section was on deck 2 of the ship, behind a large cargo bay. As the two entered, they noticed the absolute disarray of the room, wondering how anyone could navigate to the other side safely. Then they saw it, a Cardassian officer lying facedown in a pool of his own blood. Romen was closest and moved to check, turning the officer over to assess his wounds. But as the Cardassian was turned onto his back, it was clear the crash was not what killed him. Deep claw marks were embedded in his chest and neck…A Tiger-bat did this.
Romen slapped the homing beacon onto the officer’s body; dead or alive was the order, and moved to Michael’s side. “I bet it’s still in here…” he whispered to the C.O. The two men moved to place their backs against one another, to remove any potential blind spots as they scanned the room. It was dark, but the emergency lights were still active, covering the room in a dark yellow shade. “We can only hope the radiation killed it by now…” Michael whispered back.
There was movement to the back of the room as a cargo container shifted. Already cursing the jinx he placed on himself yet again, the two aimed their phasers in the direction of the sound. “Here Kitty Kitty Kitty….” Romen mocked loudly, hoping to force their pray out into the open.
“IT’S ABOVE YOU!” Came a voice. The two turned to look just in time to see several Kavarian Tiger-Bats hanging upside down from the ceiling. As they locked eyes, the tiger-bats extended their wingspans and shrieked in unison as if bellowing a war cry.
Phaser Fire lit up the room as the beasts descended upon them like an avalanche. Michael and Romen were able to disintegrate three in their first volley before having to dive for cover. Looking for a moment where the voice came from, Michael could see a very weary Cardassian officer huddled under a cargo box on the other end of the room.
“Engine controls?!” Michael shouted out as Romen dove from his cover to fire upon the swooping enemies. “I need cover, they’ll tear me to bits!” the Cardassian Officer cried out. Michael reached into his pocket, removing the Transport Beacon and tossing it to the Cardassian. “GO! And use that as soon as you’re done! We’ll cover you!”
Michael moved from his own cover and fired into the air, taking yet another Tiger-bat off the board as one swooped down, slashing into the back of Romen. On one hand, Romen was a hologram, and the claws cut through him like a simple distortion. However, due to the distortion, he temporarily lost his impermeability, his phaser and hip hip-attached tricorder falling to the floor out of his hands.
Michael dove to a new cover point and fired back at the attacking Tiger-bat, killing it and allowing Romen time to recover. The Commander watched Romen pick up his weapon again and look towards him, but instead of gratitude, his face was full of panic and fear, as he drew his weapon on Michael.
Surrounded by hundreds of thousands of angry creatures, Michael had no choice but to ignore his telepathic senses. And subconsciously, he didn’t want to feel the pain and loss of the crew on board either. Had he allowed himself to be open, he could have sensed the killing intent of the tiger-bat that had climbed its way across to him. The claws slashed into Michael’s shoulder blade like a knife through paper, ripping off a section of his protection suit and spraying blood across the container.
It could have been worse; he could have still been standing. Had Romen not raised his weapon, Michael would have never instinctively started to duck down. The hologram fired his weapon, eliminating the threat only a second too late. “SIR!” Romen cried out. “AWAY TEAM TO FOX, EMERGENCY EVAC!” he shouted into comms, rushing to Michael’s side to apply pressure to the wound before everything went dark.
[USS Fox, Sickbay]
(30 min later)
Michael awoke on the biobed. His head was in a daze, and though there was a faint sense of pain, it wasn’t as bad as he remembered. He…Remembered! His attempt to bolt upright was met with the searing pain he recalled when the Tiger-bat took its swipe. Still not fully healed, his body screamed in protest, causing him to grunt loudly in pain.
“Sir! Relax! You’re back on board!” he heard Doc call out. “You can’t move around just yet; the muscles haven’t fully set.”
“Survivors!?” Michael called out. He could feel Doc helping him back down onto the bed, and an added hypospray to the unaffected shoulder surged pain medicine through his body, dulling the effect of his rashness.
“Three survivors recovered, two deceased,” Archie reported from next to his bed. Michael turned to see his first officer standing dutifully beside him. His face was stern; he was clearly NOT pleased with the outcome, but internally glad Michael was alive. “The first two made it, the third scientist on the bridge suffered cardiac arrest, and was unable to be revived once brought onboard. We received the body of the ship’s captain, and the surviving officer was able to shut down the Hideki’s warp core before transporting aboard. The doctor has him under radiation protocol, and despite the large amount he received, we feel he will recover in time.”
“Thank god…” Michael muttered as the pain medicine continued to wash over him. “If anything is to thank, it’s for your safe return. This…isn’t the time, but I’d like to discuss this incident once you’re medically cleared.” Archie choked.
“The Cardassians?” Michael asked, having heard but choosing to ignore the last part of Archie’s talk.
“We are en route to rendezvous with one of their ships to return their personnel. I’ll withhold reporting to command until you have recovered. The doctor thinks you’ll be back up by tomorrow.” Archie reported.
“Than…” Michael began before the effects of the hypospray fully took hold, rendering him unconscious once more. Archie shook his head, turning and stomping out of Sickbay. The Mission may have been a success, but he sure wasn’t happy about it.
