Lurking Shadows

Posted on Sun Jan 9th, 2011 @ 12:05am by Captain Vorn Krace & Commander Acle Walex & Commander Jordan Gunning & Lieutenant Commander Sara Archer & Lieutenant JG Christopher Rogan

Mission: Shadows Fall
Location: USS Iapetus - Bridge- Various
Timeline: MM2 MD27 2326hrs

On:

Gunning wheeled round to face the viewing port. Where once the gleaming hull of the Marconi had hung peacefully in space there was now spiraling debris. He could barely form words, "Christ."

Jourdan looked straight at her sensor readings. "How the hell did that happen?" She asked out loud to her console. But there was very little information.

Acle looked up quickly from the PADD that he had been reading whilst sitting in the captain's chair. Instead of the rather tranquil vision that he would assume would be on the viewing screen, he instead saw a drifting cloud of debris and explosions where the Marconi should have been at. Instincts kicked in before conscience thought had a chance.

"Red Alert!" Acle called out. "Shields to maximum power, arm phasers and set torpedoes ready."

Vorn lead the way at a run out of the conference room, the others all in tow or heading away to their designated red alert stations as the ship got itself rapidly and efficiently into the state that they had all trained endlessly to get right. The turbolift up to the bridge was overly full, but it wasn't slowed down any, and the group of officers were soon spreading out into the command centre.

"Report!" Vorn barked out.

"I'm detecting trace Kelamite in the debris, Captain!" Jordan called out across the bridge. "I have nothing on tactical sensors. It's as if it came from inside the Marconi itself."

"Confirmed Captain. The explosion originated from inside the secondary hull" Jourdan reported. "However this wasn't a core breach or self destruct sequence"

"Agreed, Captain," Sara replied from her bridge station. "Kelamite is often used in explosive devices, most commonly by the Breen, Romulans, and Ktarians."

Kaldor stood from his seat in the guest chair. His face had gone completely pale and his eyes had sunk back into his head. From the Conference Room to the bridge, the Captain of the Marconi had become like a walking corpse. A reflection of his crew. They were gone. All gone, like a flash. In a flash. Just like that. "Who the hell did this?! I need answers!"

"We'll get them, Captain," Vorn responded, before turning and focusing his attention on his own officers. "Start running sensor sweeps for escape pods, shuttle crafts - anything that may indicate survivors," he ordered. Turning to Gunning and Valera, he continued. "I want to know if there is any cloaked ship in the area, and I need to know it ten minutes ago. Get to work."

Jordan's hand fell on the scanners as he focused his efforts on finding something, anything. A life sign, a body at the very least. "I don't see anything. I don't think they had time to escape."

"Fire an anti-proton burst," Vorn ordered, walking down towards the front of the bridge, eyes intent on the viewscreen. "It may reveal if there is a cloaked ship in the area."

"Captain, I think I've got an idea." The CT/SO shouted. "If I can take three of our phaser banks offline and realign them then I can hook them through the deflector grid and project an Anti-Proton net across. It should show them up longer."

"Do it," Vorn replied. "Acle, Abigail, Jourdan. I want all your eyes on the sensors; I want to spot anything the moment it shows up. Jordan, make sure we can still fire if we find something hostile."

Gunning's hands fell to the console as he began to deactivate the phaser grids across the saucer section. It took him less time than expected to flick the deflector controls through his controls and activate the grid. None of his colleagues had piped up yet. "It's ready, sir. I hope it works. Either that or we're going to blow our phaser emitters to sundry."

"Do it Mister Gunning," Krace said, moving back to his chair to keep one eye on the sensors himself, whilst keeping the other eye on the viewscreen.

Jordan all but punched the console as the visible blue of the anti-proton net shot out from the deflector dish and the phaser arrays. Space remained inky black as the net moved slowly across the vicinity surrounding the vessel. Suddenly, the net impacted upon something and began to creepingly reveal the fuselage of a ship. The green hull was almost instantly recognisable as a Romulan configuration but no-one on the bridge had seen such a ship before.

"Romulans!" Captain Kaldor shouted jumping forth from his chair.

Sara checked her displays. "It is not a configuration I have ever seen, Captain, but I do agree that it is Romulan."

"Hail them," Vorn said, his anger evident in his voice. What the hell were Romulans doing cloaked, and in the middle of the Regulus system? Especially when right now they seemed to be the only culprits for the explosion of the Marconi.

"They are not responding to our hails, Captain," the intelligence officer reported.

"Captain," Chris chimed in, "There's nothing in the known Romulan databases that identify this ship. Either it's a completely new configuration or, a ship they don't even know it exists."

"Just because it's not in the database doesn't mean the Romulans aren't aware of the ship's existence. It doesn't even mean that Starfleet is unaware. It just means that no one on this ship has the access to see that information." Archer states this information matter-of-factly, as if she expected everyone to understand the nuances of her profession.

"It doesn't matter whether it's in the database or not," Vorn said, cutting out the chatter. They could discuss the intricacies more when they know they're not in danger from the same fate as served the USS Marconi. "Tactical analysis, Mister Gunning."

"First impressions look good for us, Captain. My instinct tells me that this is a ship designed not to be detected. The ability to transport under cloak seems to reinforce that idea." The Tactical officer took a glance at the newest data coming in before speaking again. "I reckon we're looking at a light destroyer. Certainly not a match for the Iapetus in open combat."

Lieutenant Biggins, who had replaced Abbott at Ops called across the bridge, "I'm detecting almost eighty lifesigns aboard the vessel, Captain. Possibly troops. It seems odd that a ship of that size would have so many crew members."

"Why are they just sitting there?" Vorn pondered aloud, resting his chin on his hand as he stared across at the viewscreen and the Romulan vessel. "Any signs that they know we've seen through their cloak yet?"

Sara started to respond, but didn't get a chance. The Romulan vessel adjusted it's position on the view screen, shifting away from the Iapetus's scans. "It appears that they've caught on, Captain. It may not be so easy to reveal them next time."

"Keep track of them!" Vorn called out, quickly processing in his mind the actions they should take, envisioning the outcomes of any options and thinking of the tasks they now needed to complete. All this he did rapidly in his head, picking out the option that he felt best suited the situation. "Get me a damage report of what the Marconi's explosion did to us. Helm, wait until the Romulan ship is just within sensor range, then match their course and speed."

Acle had been monitoring the scanning displays as ordered when an unusual reading came up. It took just a second for the computer to correctly identify it.

"Klingon ship just uncloaked!" Acle called out. "She is directly astern of where the Romulan ship was Captain."

"What? What are the Klingons doing here?" Vorn asked. It was times like this he wished he could just slow everything down, give himself time to think.

Jordan thought better of passing up the message. "Captain, the Klingon vessel is requesting we identify. Shall I open hailing frequencies?"

"On Screen," Vorn replied, nodding.

----------------

Captain Vorn Krace
Commanding Officer

Commander Acle Walex
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Commander Jordan Gunning
Chief Tactical/Security Officer

Lieutenant Commander Sara Archer
Chief Intelligence Officer

Ensign Christopher Rogan
Chief Diplomatic Officer
USS Iapetus