Star Trek: Perdition's Flames (Inactive)

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8 Threat, 5 Momentum

Slowly but inexorably, the Actium drags the Bastion beyond the range of the planetary systems. Nearly 18 hours later, beyond this star system, the Bastion hangs in interstellar space. The Bastion is severely damaged.

Kestra lands the Actium back into the Bastion and then makes her way to the bridge and she retakes her position at the Conn relieving her second shift replacement.

She says, "Captain may I suggest we work on getting the warp core operational and getting ourselves to the closest station for repairs?"

"Before we leave, I think we should modify a probe a emit a warning signal so no other ships run afoul of the system satelites."

T'Karra also returns to the bridge and resumes the engineering station and takes a look at the readings to see what repair crews are where and what her skills would be best deployed doing

"Mr. th'Chiaquis, program a warning beacon to warn ships of the asteroid moving satellites and launch it. Mr. T'Karra, as of now, I grant you a field promotion to Lt. Commander, and I am naming you Chief Engineer. Clearly, your expertise with the systems of this aged vessel and the rapid pace with which you are acclimating to the more modern systems makes it clear that you are the most qualified for the job. I order you to get this ship back to warp capacity so that we can reach Starbase for repairs. I trust that the information in your personnel file that I can't access will not come into play under my command. If that is not the case, speak now. Dr. Beam yourself down to sickbay and see about getting every able-bodied crewman back to their station. I am going to retire to my ready room to try to write an action report for this mess. Lt. Commander Takezo, I intend to include in my report a commendation for your work coordinating the science teams. Mr. Jok'kem, you have the conn."

MacLeod manages the tactical station as long as needed during the long trip out of the trap, just in case he needs to hit another of the satellites.

Now that it's complete, he smiles and nods the captain, "Aye sir." He steps aside before tapping his communicator and requesting a site to site transport.

Hmm, maybe the Captain does not like me...

She says, "Shall I maintain course and heading, sir?"

The XO will take the captain's chair and run a diagnostic to see what exactly has happened to the ship.

T'Karra is a commander already

yes sir I will go immediately to the engine room

And T'Karra departs taking the most direct undamaged route as to be able to effect repairs on the warp engines

Actually it seems like the Captain gave you a battlefield demotion to Lt. Commander...

T'Karra is a commander already

yes sir I will go immediately to the engine room

And T'Karra departs taking the most direct undamaged route as to be able to effect repairs on the warp engines

When T'Karra arrives in engineering she logs in to chief engineer per the captains orders and then says please give me a full report of damage to the ship and specifically the warp core.

The ship is in bad shape. Several decks are currently mostly open to space. The warp engines are damaged, and the port nacelles are both damaged, eliminating their redundancy to some degree. At best, you are capable of about Warp 5.

The Captain orders the Kestra lay in a course to Starbase 234, and you limp toward the starbase for days, engineering teams attempting to get the ship back together as best they can.

Relaunch Episode 3: Border Dispute
CAPTAIN’S LOG STARDATE 48326.3
We are en route to the Romulan Neutral Zone after receiving a sub- space transmission from Admiral Moss at Starfleet Headquarters. It appears that one of our ships, the U.S.S. Nightingale has suffered a navigational error and entered the Romulan Neutral Zone. By the terms of the treaty made after years of conflict with the Romulans, this may be considered an act of war. The Romulans have already fired on the Nightingale, crippling her on the wrong side of the border, and claim the crew are now prisoners of war. As the nearest ship to this critical situation, we have been ordered to assist the Nightingale
and defuse the situation whatever way we can. But it is going to be difficult as Admiral Moss was clear that we are not to enter the Neutral Zone ourselves unless it is a dire emergency. I will have to hope the Romulans are feeling charitable enough to let us beam over to the Nightingale. This couldn’t have come at a worse time, diplomatically. The Federation badly needs the Romulans to come to their aid in the war with the Dominion. Unfortunately the Romulans will know they have the upper hand in any negotiations and will probably make use of that. But our main concern is to avoid another war, and to protect the lives of the Nightingale crew. What worries me is that this is an aggressive stance for the Romulans. Are they gunning for another conflict with the Federation, or is there more to this situation than meets the eye?

The Captain has called senior staff to the briefing room and explained the situation. You are still limited by the damage from the previous mission. This is an opportunity to ask questions and come up with a plan. Momentum and Threat are reset as this is a new mission.

Did we make it to 234 or were we preempted because of the situation?

You did not make it to 234, where you could have received substantial support and repairs. These orders come in as you are limping toward starbase.

Kestra says, "The Bastion is a great ship but we are limping hard. Their ships have cloaking technology and we need to be very clever or diplomatic. Do we know who the Captain of the Nightingale is? What kind of ship is she? Do we know anything about key Romulan officials in this sector, if so, who are they, what is their deal and what would they typically want? The Romulans are cagey."

The XO will ask, if possible, to see a schematic on the Nighten Gale.

The captain stands and moves to a large viewscreen. He punches some icons, "Admiral Moss included the following in his briefing package. This is all classified at the highest level. You need to know that operations are currently underway to bring the Romulans into the Alliance against the Dominion. We cannot allow this situation to escalate. I'm not here to appease the Romulans, but avoiding hostilities is paramount. The Nightingale is a Nova Class science vessel conducting planetary surveys while keeping a weather eye on the neutral zone. Her captain was Laura Blake, a veteran of the Cardassian War. We know that Blake was killed in the attack. Laura was a good woman, a clever tactician, and a hell of an officer."

It is obvious that he is restraining himself, but the tension in his jawline reveals his anger. "This is the transmission that alerted us to the trouble..."

On the screen, you see a woman of about 30 years in a command uniform with Commander pips on her collar. Behind her is a badly damaged bridge, "This is Commander Alison Lewis of the Federation starship Nightingale. A navigational error has caused us to enter the Neutral Zone and we have exchanged fire with a Romulan warbird. Captain Blake was killed in the attack and we have lost main power. Warp drive is offline and ships systems
are down but life support is good and holding. Repairs are underway but we have lost most of our engineering crew. The Romulans are claiming we are now prisoners of war and insist they will take us to Romulus for trial once their ship is repaired. We don’t want to give in to their demands, but we also don’t want to start another war. Starfleet, please advise.”

As the transmission ends, the Captain turns to you. "OK, people, what are our options..."

You have access to whatever information you want about the Nova Class and the Nightingale.

"I'd like to see if there are any Klingon ships in the area. No good dragging in a hotheaded captain but a more seasoned officer will understand the need for restraint with the Romulan's at a time like this."

"If diplomacy isn't working out it could provide us with options. For example if we could maintain the attention of the Romulan vessel, use our clear battle damage as an advantage. A well timed radiation leak might give enough time for a Klingon vessel to decloak and transport over a small number of crew and supplies. There's little chance we could extract dozens of crew in such a time period but if we can get over enough people to get the Nightingale underway by it's own power that'll look a lot better than any overt direct intervention."

Gareb leans back in his chair and sighs "If we were fully repaired the Romulan's would adjust their position. They'll try and get as much advantage from this as possible. I suspect they don't care all that much about the crew. Legally acquiring a modern starfleet vessel in somewhat reasonable condition is probably something they'd be more than happy with behind closed doors but they'll haul off with the crew if left unchecked. If diplomacy is going well they're probably intending to release them for some concessions. Ruthless but cunning, I'll give them that."

He then furrows his brow. "Even if we can't get the Nightingale moving under it's own power one transporter pad might be enough. They could lock on to the position of a cloaked klingon vessel and slowly start evacuating." He raps his knuckles on the table "We can lock on and transport them back here. We can scuttle the ship. Nova class are only a few years old, a group of Romulan engineers pulling her apart could learn a hell of a lot more than I'd care for them to know even if they joined the Alliance."

"But without assistance, we can look into boosting out tractor beam. The Romulan's would probably complain but if we can give the Nightingale a tug to get it moving back to Federation space. That said anything we attempt they'll complain about."

Staring at the viewscreen "Maybe we need to think like a Romulan. Assuming they're working an angle we can give them something they have little access to. Technical information on the Dominion. They know our design methodologies, they've watched us for a very long time but the Dominion they haven't gotten to seen up close in action. If I was a Romulan officer looking to impress my peers getting some information on Dominion technology might be worth a hell of a lot more than a risky altercation to get some more information on an old enemy... the part that will appeal to them the most will be the Dominion wont know."

Do we know that the Romulans who have attacked the Nightengale are indeed part of the Empire or are they brigands? he queries.

MacLeod is quiet at first, listening to the briefing and then to Gareb's ideas. "I like the Klingon idea. Only if diplomacy doesn't work, but we need some backup plan that doesn't involve us crossing the neutral zone border." He looks to the captain as well, and asks, "Do we know how far inside the Nightingale is? Maybe we could boost our own transporters to reach them?"

The Nightingale is only just over the border into the Neutral Zone, maybe 50,000 kilometers, with the range of your transporters being about 40,000 kilometers.

Do we know that the Romulans who have attacked the Nightengale are indeed part of the Empire or are they brigands? he queries.

To know that for certain, you would need to contact the Romulan High Command.

How far are we from Klingon Space?

Kestra says, "We can contact Romulan High Command to see what can be done or if they are rogues. I think what we could do is have the Commander of the Nightengale try to scuttle her vessel and take off in Shuttlecraft and if the Romulans attack while we are there we would be justified in destroying their vessel."

T'Karra will deduce the amount of time for repairs and maximum effective speed and report those facts at the meeting saying The ship is not at maximum efficiency and any sort of aggressive stance on our part will place ourselves in precarious situation. We are still repairing holes.

You are very close to Klingon Space. You were on your way to Starbase 234, which sits right at the Triangle, a wild region of space where the three borders meet. You can see it in a hot pink callout here.

Kestra says, "Currently, we will have an advantage because if the Romulans were in good enough shape, they would have boarded the Nightengale. I think we should set a course as fast as possible to get to the edge of the Neutral Zone, contact both the Romulans and the Klingons to test out our options. Barring assistance from the Klingons, we should try to have the Nightengale's staff escape via shuttle or Runabout and scuttle their ship."

Yeah I am thinking ST3 here. :)

That may be the most logical course of action but we also need to make sure that we are as prepared for battle as possible. The old Earth adage, we prepare for war that we might have peace, comes to mind. We need to make sure that we are as repaired as possible, states the XO.

Kestra says, "The only problem I see is actually contacting Romulan HQ. If they hear from us they may send more craft. I mean we can always just jump in, hit them with a full spread and grab our people and pretend like we were never there but of course, it is fully plausible that the Romulans would have also called for backup. I just wish we had full warp capability."

What is holding us up, here?

I think the consensus is call the Klingons and maybe call the Romulans. So could you start the convo with the Klingons?

Yeah Gareb's trying to find a suitable level headed Captain who might be willing to help

I want to make sure that we have as many repairs, especially to shields and hull damage, as possible

"Ok, we will see if we can find any help out here among the stars. We shall attempt to out sneak the Romulans. Dismissed. Return to your stations."

The Captain makes his way to the bridge. "Send a message to all Klingon ships, encryption protocol Epsilon-Theta-Four: Warriors of the Klingon Empire, we call upon your honor to aid your allies. We are moving to aid a Federation vessel in an encounter with a Romulan vessel. We would appreciate the assistance of any worthy vessels who can here us."

After a tense several minutes wait, a response comes to the viewscreen:
"This is Captain Nu'Daq, commanding officer of the Klingon attack cruiser IKS Maht-H'a. We are on patrol in the Triangle. We would be happy to assist you against the Romulan scoundrels."

"Captain Nu'Daq we're hoping to get our crew out without further diplomatic incident. There's enough battle in the Jem'hadar without us having to deal with Romulan Warbirds. If we can't handle things diplomatically I had considered that we could transport some crew onto your vessel, have an unfortunate radiation leak long enough for you to drop your cloak and transport an away team over there without the Romulans knowing to get our vessel back across the border under it's own power."

Sounds like a good plan :)

I love how we are bringing in Klingons as a de-escalation!

"Transmit the rendezvous coordinates, and we will join you!"

Kestra sends the Klingons the coordinate and says, "Captain Du'Naq, I am glad that you are able to assist us in counteracting the Romulans and their oddball games. Accoring to our current speed we shall be able to reach that location in... time. Or shall we rendezvous here at this time before we cook the goose?"

I do not know personally what Kestra would know in character.

T'Karra will resume repairs and attempt to repair Shields and as much damage as possible as the ship limps along.

"We can beat your speed to the rendezvous. If you will grant us permission to travel cloaked through Federation space, we will await you."

Returning to sick bay after the meeting, MacLeod starts giving orders to his staff at once. "I know we all just got done dealing with our recent casualties, but we'll probably have more coming in soon. Start replicating supplies, and any remaining patients that can be moved should be transferred to their quarters. I want empty beds and restocked Hyposprays by the time we reach the neutral zone."

Kestra says, "I don't think that shall be a problem. I speak on behalf of the Bastion and her crew and say we look forward to meeting you face to face."

Scene 2: Arriving at the Neutral Zone

As you arrive at the edge of the Romulan Neutral Zone, you are hailed by the Nightingale. On the viewscreen is a human woman you recognize from the distress call as Commander Lewis. "Bastion, it's good to see you. Captain Blake is dead and most of our engineering crew are dead or injured. The Romulans targeted our engineering section. We could use some help with repairs."

Sensor scans reveal that they have no warp power, weapons, or shields.

Shortly thereafter, the Romulan ship hails you. As you accept the hail, a Romulan woman appears on the viewscreen. "Bastion, I am Commander Mheven. I remind you that entering the Neutral Zone will be considered an act of war and that the Nightingale and her crew are prisoners of the Romulan Star Empire."

While firing on the Nightingale was rather agressive, Mheven is within her rights to have done so under the terms of the treaty.

What do the sensors tell us about the Romulan vessel?

1) To Commander Lewis, "Commander Lewis, this is Lt. Commander Kestra of the Bastion, before we speak with the Romulans, we need to know what exactly the nature of your mission was and that it was 100% exploratory. Also, are any of your shuttlecraft functional? How far along are you on your repairs?"

can we share our shields with the Nigjtengale?

"Our mission is planetary surveys along the Romulan Neutral Zone. I assure you that we are involved in no sort of espionage. Our sensors haven't even been trained on Romulan space. We have limited support craft. Two type 6 shuttles, two type 7 shuttles, and the captain's yacht. Not nearly enough to evacuate if that is what you are thinking. We don't have much hope of making repairs any time soon. Most of our engineering crew are lost."

At the edge of the Neutral Zone, you are within transporter range, but not near close enough to extend your shields.

Will the Romulans know we are transporting crewmembers?

Kestra then asks, "How many hands are still with us?"

Is the Romulan ship cloaked? Can we get some sensor readings of that vessel?

A little later, "Commander Mhevan, I am Lt. Commander Kestra of the USS Bastion. We are aware of the fact that you may attack a vessel that has stumbled into the neutral zone but the real question is should you. You were polite enough to warn us not to cross into the neutral zone just now but did you extend the same courtesy to our friends the Nightengale or did you decloak fired at her and the she returned fire? I mean space is an unpredictable place and machines may fail from time to time so. In the spirit of courtesy, how about you let us tow our colleagues back across the border and get them fixed and situated."

I want to use my Empath talent to gauge whether she is forthright or not If I can get an extra die I would take it 3d20 ⇒ (19, 6, 5) = 30

Gareb let Kestra try her gambit... it probably wouldn't work but that wasn't guaranteed. Romulan's were as varied as any other people, their Commander Mhevan just might listen to reason.

T'Karra will get to the transporter room and bring standard engineering repair kits and have crew on stand by. In addition she will see if she can get transporter lock on the remaining crew saying to the bridge we could beam the crew on board and destroy the Nightingale from this side of the zone with torpedoes to ensure no federation technology or files fall to enemy hands