Heading out

Posted on Thu Jan 9th, 2025 @ 4:58pm by Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Commander Jennifer Baldric & Commander Jenna Ramthorne & Commander Savar cha'Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen & Commander Dean House & Lieutenant Commander Aurora Vali & 2nd Lieutenant Connor McQueen & Lieutenant Commander Rynn Upland & Lieutenant Commander Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell
Edited on on Thu Jan 9th, 2025 @ 9:15pm

Mission: Ramant
Location: Sunfire

The crew had returned from leave without hassle and were currently manning Alpha shift. The final diagnostics had taken place and they were to depart DS9 shortly for a survey mission.

"Ops, signal DS9 and request clearance for departure"
Commander Jennifer Baldric asked as the crew settled themselves ready for whatever the universe tried to throw at them this time.

"DS9 advises we are cleared to depart" Ops announced.

Savar was seated in his familiar XO seat to the right of the seat currently occupied by Commander Baldric. He leaned towards her, "What are the particulars of our mission orders Commander?" he inquired, trying to keep a stoic expression while admittedly curious of what was next for the crew.

"Routine survey mission of the Masimal Cluster. No-one's been that way for a while and I think Command are trying to give us a more cruisey mission this time" Baldric explained as Jenna reversed the ship away from the station and swung her around.

"Set a course, 143 mark 56. Warp 4" Jennifer ordered.ey

"Aye." Jenna acknowledged, "143 mark 56. Warp 4 ready on your mark."

"Take her out, and let's hope next time we come back we're not beaten to within an inch of our lives" Baldric added with a shy smile. The last mission had been exilerating, dangerous and completely unplanned. Just as she liked them. It tested their metal and made them think on their feet.

From the rear of the bridge Captain Kaylen spoke up from the mission advisor's station..it felt good to be back on the bridge again, albeit not in command.

"I must remember to thank Command for their consideration especially if this mission is as cruisey as you hope Commander." Savar replied as he looked to the rear of the bridge where Captain Kaylen stood at mission advisor's station stood. It was good to see her back on the bridge where in his opinion she belonged. Her presence had been missed especially by him. In particular the talks they had on a variety of topics. His eyes caught hers as he gave her a nod that conveyed welcome back, and a friendship renewed.

Aurora arrived on the bridge offering a warm smile to Rhenora as she saw her. “It’s good to see you back on the bridge Captain” She took her seat smiling to Savar before she sat down, at six months pregnant she was well and truly blooming. Getting comfortable in her seat was another thing entirely.

Rhenora smiled and nodded, turning her attention back to the panel in front of her ad the particulars of their new mission came through from Command. She couldn't help but watch as the ship wheeled from DS9 and left the Celestial Temple behind them.

Baldric noted the deference of authority and mentally thanked Kaylen for not overshadowing her role. The woman was nothing but respectful to the new CO whilst still acknowledging that this was her own stomping ground.

Savar looked at Aurora and he returned her smile with one of his own though it was not as brilliant as Aurora's as she settled into her seat, trying to get comfortable but was having a tough go of it.

The Sunfire jumped to warp, completely unaware that their every move was being tracked by the scientific vessel from Ramant. The signal was biological in nature, and was the child born by Aurora. The child was Ramant, but as the Federation hadn't met any of their species yet, they had no idea what he actually was.

Savar looked for Ronson and after a few seconds located the yeoman. "Mr. Mitchell, could you fix a cup of tea for Commander Vali as well as a cup of coffee for Captain Kaylen?" He looked to Baldric, "Commander, would you like something to drink as well?"

"Of course Commander" Ronson hurried off the bridge, already knowing Baldrics standard choice of beverage. He took her nod as a yes.

He returned a short time later with refreshments and drinks, offering them around the Bridge crew as the stars streaked by on the viewwcreen.

"Where are we heading?" He asked as he reaching the centre chair.

"Masimal Cluster. Just a survey mission. I think Starfleet want to keep us 'safe' and out of their hair for a while" Baldric chuckled. "We should get there in two days"

******
Meanwhile on board the Ramant vessel two tracking beacons were illuminated against the Starchart on the viewscreen.

"Change course and speed to match, engage stealth mode" the Caprain ordered, sending the crew scurrying. They would not let this one and only hope for the survival of their species go to waste. "Prepare the weapons for a secondary assault if necessary"

"Yes Captain" the crew chorused and went about their tasks.

********

"Computer systems fully operational. Engineering reports engines operating at 103% efficiency. All systems, all decks report full readiness, Commander." Bonnie reported. Her face contained a broad smile as though the downtime had done her some good. In truth, other than the night of drinking, she had spent much of her time casually just hanging out. Reading took priority for a change. It also helped her to avoid Dean or rather her embarrassment for how she had acted with him.

Aurora, who had finally managed to get comfortable, sipped her tea before pausing a frown on her face. “Is there anything on sensors? Actually...no, forget I said anything.” She gave an embarrassed smile.

Jennifer turned her head curiously. "What's on your mind counselor?" She regarded the other woman with a raised eyebrow. It was long known that those of specific species carried unique abilities, the making of a good Captain was to utilize those abilities.

Savar looked to Aurora, he knew if she spoke up about sensing something it was more than just a feeling. "Aurora. are you sensing something out of the ordinary?" His voice showing traces of concern.

“It’s probably nothing, don’t worry about it” Aurora offered Savar a smile, her pregnancy related hormones had been affecting her control of her abilities somewhat.

"What in the hell did they do to my damn CRPW!?" Dean's voice sounded out as he stepped off of the Turbolift onto the Bridge.

"CRPW?" Bonnie asked, now dropping all pretenses out of sheer curiosity.

Dean gave a glance to Bonnie, "The Chain Reaction Pulsar Weapon. One I came up with years ago that we've been running as an experimental device. We've used it more than once."

Baldric span around as Dean entered and kept her face completely neutral. "Something on YOUR mind Commander?" She asked him directly with a healthy dose of curiosity.

"So... not Betty?" Bonnie recalled the kinetic bouncing torpedo they had worked on together. Something they had given the name 'Bouncing Betty'. "Something with a much sillier name, it seems."

Savar was silent. He was mildly interested in the CPRW of Commander House and what exactly had been done to it along with some curiosity of its name.

"I have no idea what either of those things are" Baldric replied honestly, giving them both a curious look. "Care to elaborate?"

"Yes, I confess to a certain amount of curiosity. especially on this CPRW weapon of yours Mr. House." Savar replied in his usual cool tone.

Connor stepped onto the bridge with a sense of quiet resolve. A glance around revealed the familiar faces of Alpha shift in their usual positions. A calm before the storm, he shrugged, though the storm might look different this time.

Commander Baldric was seated in her Captains chair, he nodded quickly as he adjusted the rifle across his back and walked to stand near the back hands folded behind him. He wondered to himself if the Commander had received a similar message from Star Fleet and made a mental note to have a conversation with her later. As the minutes ticked by, Connor couldn’t help but feel an odd sense of anticipation. The bridge had a different energy today. Everyone was calm, but something felt...off. Maybe it was just the weight of added responsibilities settling in on his shoulders, or maybe the universe was simply waiting for the right moment to test them. Whatever is was he got the familiar tingling sensation starting up inside his brain

Commander Baldric returned his nod, she had received the notation from Commander amidst the plethora of others regarding crew changes and transfers and was confident McQueen would shine in the elevated role.

As the bridge crew settled again and the stars slipped by the Ramant ship, cloaked and invisible to the Sunfire's scanning technology drew closer and closer before finally matching their course and speed.

"Yes, it's Bouncing Betty, sweetheart." Dean looked to Savar a moment, and then he explained what it does. "It charges it's yield the more it can bounce off of a target. The more targets it still damages them, and then the final target it drops the full yield onto them. We took out three ships by using it."

"Interesting" Baldric mused as Captain Kaylen gave a proud Mumma type smile. "I'd like to see the schematics, we may be able to integrate something into our existing weapons systems"

Corrected and now flustered at being called sweetheart on the bridge she asked, "Okay, so are you going to tell us what they did to Betty that has you so uppity?" Bonnie watched Connor walk by and slip into the background as a chameleon would before turning back to Dean and giving him a stern yet concerned eye.

"Betty....is the bouncing torpedo..yes?" Baldric questioned, trying to keep up.

"Correct," Dean looked to Bonnie, "They completely removed all of the warhead guidence systems you and I set up for the torpedoes for the thing to work."

She always hated when Dean played the vague game. "Who did?" She asked, her ire getting the better of her. Afterall they had spent a good amount of time and energy getting the torpedo to work correctly. "Not the DS9 Engineering crews. We did remember to file the RR-Wr9 forms, right?" And by we she meant him.

Baldric hung her head slightly, the DS9 Engineers would have stripped out any non-vanilla componentry from any and all systems as part of the Borg purge. "They most likely thought it was something left behind by the Borg. You've got the schematics though right?"

Savar listened as House explained how 'Bouncing Betty' worked. "Interesting and it would seem successful prototype Mr. House. "A credit to you and Bonnie. Well done."

Aurora smiled as she watched the goings on, but something was still niggling at her senses. “Commander...” she looked towards Baldric. “I’m sensing...something, but I’m not sure what. It’s not something I can put my finger on.”

Jenna had been silently struggling with an issue of her own that now she felt the need to share. "Commander, in the past several minutes I have struggled to maintain a constant velocity. Bonnie, can you check with Engineering to see if they are having power issues?" Her frustration was evident. "It feels like there is something dragging off the bumper, slowing us down."

"On it." Bonnie declared as she contacted Thriss and his team in Engineering. She knew he was probably busy teaching the new Assistant Chief Engineer, but this felt important.

"Slow to warp two and run a diagnostic" Jennifer ordered, wondering if the DS9 team had missed something or something wasn't calibrated properly. They had no set time frame to arrive at their destination but it would be a long haul at warp 2.

Seeing Kaylen's mildly perturbed expression Baldric turned her attention to the counsellor. "Something is very vague, but I understand telepathy isn't an exact science. Are you sensing thoughts, feelings, or intent do you think? Or is it more just a presence?" She mentally smacked herself for asking so many questions about a 'feeling'.

Rynn heard the call from the bridge as she scurried around engineering. She hadn't gotten much time to meet with the other senior officers besides Commander Baldric. "Commander Upland here."

"Commander, We appear to be experiencing some kind of power drain from the warp engines. Commander Ramthorne, could you please clarify more specifics of you can?" Baldric deferred to the head pilot for more detail.

Jenna acknowledged the request while at the same time wondering how she could clarify any further when her only information up to this point was a feeling and some data about the speed falloff. She pulled up the information and transmitted the logs down to Commander Upland.

"Aurora, it must be something for you to pick up on it and cause you even minor annoyance." He looked to Rhenora and then Baldric. "I believe this needs to be looked into."

He stood quietly in the back of the bridge staring out at the vast expanse of stars stretching endlessly before him. The ship’s hum was familiar, comforting even—until it wasn’t. McQueen’s mind was sharp, but it wasn’t the usual tension of a Marine preparing for the unknown that had his thoughts racing. It was something far more personal, something he had never quite gotten used to: his “ability”.

The sensation was subtle at first—a light, almost imperceptible buzz, like static electricity along the back of his skull. But McQueen had learned long ago that the feeling meant something—something was coming. He took a breath, eyes narrowing as Jenna called out, her terminal lighting up like a Christmas tree “We are dropping out of warp…unauthorized transporter signals coming from numerous decks!” His visions weren’t always crystal clear. They came in flashes, fragmented and fleeting—a feeling of dread, a glimpse of faces that hadn’t yet crossed his path, or a single, cryptic moment that seemed out of place in the present. Yet today, the flashes were coming quicker, more insistent. Each one grew sharper, more vivid.

He closed his eyes, focusing. It came again—a flash of images. The Sunfire, a darkened corridor, a crewman on the floor, unconscious, perhaps even worse. Unknown figures, their strange, angular features twisting in his mind’s eye, moving swiftly through the hallways. The unmistakable sound of boots on metal floors, the hiss of doors opening.

The vision dissipated as quickly as it had come, but it left a lingering sensation in McQueen’s chest—a weight of impending danger. He stepped forward, the gravity of the situation settling over him like a shroud. He didn’t fully understand the details of the alien race that was tracking them, but what he had seen in his flash was enough: they were boarding the Sunfire. They were taking hostages.

"Something’s coming," McQueen muttered, still trying to shake the weight of the vision.

TBC