The Federation Tribune - August 2004

Sat Aug 14 16:47:45 CEST 2004

                  ==== The Federation Tribune ====
                           ==== August 2004 ====

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Academy Status Report, by Rob Versteegt
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Current stardate: 2387.08.30. (No list yet)

==================

Instructors: (6)

Instructor Joran Moore, played by David Susman.
Instructor Vivienne Creenan, played by Rob Versteegt
Instructor Randy Orsolo, played by Dennis Church
Instructor Miranda Winter, played by Ben Versteegt
Instructor Patrick Kelly, played by William Lea
Instructor T'Pott, played by Bram Peeters.

Instructors on LOA: (3)

Chief Instructor Sedaq, played by Ardian Rodd
Instructor Sophie Jaune, played by Rob Verlinden
Instructor Leal, played by Kelley McKinnon

Instructors gone: (3)

Instructor Jonathan Rooms, played by Wes Buchanan
Instructor T'Raysa, played by John Wenerowicz
Instructor Solian Rixx, played by Mike Smith

==================

Lost cadets:
Cadet Anestasia V'rele, played by Jack Katsikaris
Cadet John Janssen, played by John Janssen
Cadet Derrick Lim, played by Derrick Lim
Cadet Michael Borg, played by Michael Borg
Cadet Airika Calhoun, played by Rachel Cruz

==================

New Signups: (18)
7 useless, leaves 11 new cadets.

Individual cadets: (11)
Cadet Abe Fadell, played by Awal Kumashi (Bobby)
Cadet Andree Dothan, played by Kenneth Martin (Dennis)
Cadet Callum Robinson, played by Callum Robinson (William)
Cadet Daryk Berlyn, played by Derrick Larsen (Ben)
Cadet Peter Franken, played by Peter Franken (Bobby)
Cadet Ritarin, played by Kall. Shakespeare (Dennis)
Cadet Samual Darius "Mac" MacKenzie, played by Ken Clench (William)
Cadet Shane Moore, played by Jeremy Shaffer (Bobby)
Cadet Tsssarvk, played by Jacob T. (Dennis)
Cadet Zim Tannan, played by Mike Tipy (Bobby)
'Cadet' Skrill Torvan, played by Reed Aiken (Bobby)

==================

Graduates: (4)

Cadet X'ox PaRel, played by Rick Clogston => ACSO USS Valkyrie
Cadet Julius MacPhelsmore, played by Patrick Buidin => ACSO USS Calhoun
Cadet Valarion Hawksly, played by Wuli Pawlat => ACOUNS USS Calhoun
Cadet Majok Denton, played by Matt Brown => ACEO USS Valkyrie

==================
End of status Report.
==================

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USS Calhoun Status Report, by Kelley MacKinnon
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STARDATE:  2391.04.09

STORYLINE :

As the crew slowly returns from thier seperate away mission a short peace
ascends the ship. Tugg leaves and Captain Sarin is temporarily re-instated.
Dawn rescues her children with an added propostion to join a group of Bounty
Hunters known only as the Agency. After a short battle Qar dies of his
injuries. Meanwhile the Calhoun goes to investigate an unknown ship that has
emerged from the transporter only to find itself under attack. Heavily
outarmed the Calhoun is quickly damaged and left floating in space as the
Borg suddenly appear and capture the alien ship dragging it away. During the
battle Captain Sarin is injured and left in a coma and Commander Peters
killed. With two out of three of the Command staff left the Calhoun is left
in disarray.

Can the crew pull together to save the ship and the station from these new
alien attackers.... stay tuned for next month....

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USS Odyssey Status Report, by Dennis Church.
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STATUS REPORT: USS Odyssey

Stardate 2391.04.14

Events on the Odyssey and Titanic have both hit a climax; The Titanic has
hit the iceberg, but the Odyssey bridge crew have managed to make it to
lifeboat 7 (not to be confused with lifeboat 47), where they will soon
depart their doomed ship, and the program will (hopefully) come to an end
soon.

Simultaneously, the Odyssey has managed to collide with a rogue comet (the
Titanic could not steer the Odyssey out of the way fast enough), causing
severe damage and increasing the risk to Nurse Alvas considerably; with no
warp drive, the Odyssey has no chance of getting her to safety.  And it's
hard to go to warp when you've just hit a comet, however small it might be.

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USS Valkyrie Status Report, by Brandon Allard:
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(] Current Situation [)

Stardate: 2391.04.25

The medical staff of the Valkyrie managed to both diagnose and cure the
unknown ailment affecting the crew by the time Pandora station was reached.
Although it's possible some lingering side effects may be lurking about,
with the frequency most members of the crew seem to appear in sickbay, they
won't go unnoticed for long. Though not all the crew was lucky enough to
come out of the ordeal unscathed. The still recuperating Captain was once
again removed from active duty. Along with the first officer. Both are to be
transferred to Pandora station and then on to specialists on Betazed. The
sudden gap in the command structure, along with the recent expulsion of the
acting second officer from his home service prompted StarFleet in it's
infinite wisdom to push forward the application for officer training made by
CSO Maiek. For whatever the real reason, the visiting Romulan was not only
accepted into the Federation on equivalent rank, but also given a field
promotion to help compensate for the added burden of the crew he was stuck
with. (heh heh) On reaching the station, a new captain will be transferred
in to shoulder the full weight of command.

Elsewhere, our recently de-borgified guests are eagerly awaiting their
respective futures. Some expecting to return to their past lives, some
wishing to rejoin the collective, and lastly, some wishing only death. The
counseling staff will have it's hands full clearing them for departure, but
with the help of the local therapists no substantial problems are expected.
The remaining drones not falling into the "easily classifiable" category are
another story. The Orion known as Nasiva has expressed a strong desire to
retain her "super powers" and not be altered by the doctors. It remains
unclear if she desires to rejoin the collective or just live as a
disconnected drone. For the moment the doctors have cooperated, removing
only her transceiver nodes which would otherwise provide a link back to the
collective. While Carrie, the younger of the two, has been given only
limited data regarding her previous existence. As such she is taking
somewhat longer than the others to return to her individuality. With time,
and a steady diet of Federation brainwashing, they are both expected to make
a complete recovery.

It should also be mentioned that the visiting Tyksonian ambassador has
departed back to her home planet with no doubt some interesting stories to
tell. Even after assuring her repeatedly that daily life in the Federation
does not include almost getting assimilated and attacks on the senior staff,
it was indeed a test in non-interference to allow her to return home knowing
that her own take on the situation may have been biased. Biased, of course,
in that she was actually there to experience it.

Lastly, rumors of a possible mutiny have been spreading through the
underbelly of the ship. Given the nature of the rumor, it's most difficult
to verify the source. As always, information exposing trouble makers is
appreciated.

(] Other Comments [)

The Valkyrie finally managed to move ahead in time. A small but important
accomplishment. Not to mention increase it's monthly posts by 20! That's
almost double. Well sorta. If you're really bad at math it's double. Anyway,
still a huge improvement, though a good deal below the norm.

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Pandora Station Status Report, by Bram Peeters and Rob Versteegt.
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(] Current Situation [)

Mission 7 - Road to Perfection

Stardate: 2391.04.25
Location: Pandora Station, in orbit of Pandora II in the Pandora System

A few of the Kotarrani now believe the Borg are not the Holified Ones
from their religion. The Kotarrani leader however does not believe the
'lies' told by the Pandora crew and has returned to their ship.
Meanwhile, the USS Valkyrie has docked at Pandora, unaware that the
Kotarrani vessel has detected the Borg drones aboard the Valkyrie...

(] Mission Summary [)

Nothing seemed to be able to convince the First that the Borg were not
the Holified Ones. Not even horrific images shown by Virt, about the
atrocities the Borg had done. Not even a simulated assimilation attempt,
or some very convincing talks could convince him, the Second, or the
Fourth. However.. the Third and Sixth switched sides, and joined the
Fifth in his little rebellion against Kotarrani beliefs.

ACOUNS Tek had also convinced the Seventh that the Borg weren't the true
Holified Ones, using parts of the Kotarrani's own Sacred Scrolls to
convince her. When he tried to do the same with the First, Second, and
Fourth however, it didn't work: they simply refused to accept these
'lies', as they called them.

The First got so angry, that he, together with the few followers who
were left, walked away from the conference room, to beam back to their
ship. Tek however, didn't give up that easily, and tried one last
possibility: the Right of Assessment. It was an ancient Kotarrani law,
mentioned by the Sacred Scrolls, which enabled Kotarrani to challenge
the leadership of the leaders, if those leaders were proven to be fools.
Yet, the First, and his followers, didn't see the First as a fool. Not
even the Seventh, who now went by the name of Tin'rala, saw the First as
a fool. So unfortunately, this law only made the First more angry...

When the First, Second and Fourth had beamed back to their ship, they
saw that Pandora Station had send them information about the Borg.
Quickly deleting this messages as 'lies', the First kept the rest of his
crew believing in the Borg as the Holified Ones...

Meanwhile, in Sickbay, Dr. Vok, Mr. Ja'al and Ms. Zang find a possible
way to slow down the nanoprobes they have discovered in the First and
the Second. However, Ms. Zang suffers from a Telepathic Memory Rape,
accidentally caused by Mr. Vankirk, who was just trying out his
telepathic powers. Ms. Zang almost falls into a coma...

After this busy morning, a shuttle arrives, carrying Captain Main, his
son Toad, and Ensigns Denton and Kaeter.. they arrive at Pandora Station
because the USS Valkyrie is going to dock there. Captain Janssens and
Captain Main went to the messhall, and discussed the situation that was
going on on the station right now. However, they should have done that
at a different location, because now the ears of a very curious reporter
were listening along..

That afternoon, at about 1600 hours, a message is received that the USS
Valkyrie will arrive. Captains Janssens and Main await the coming of the
Valkyrie, along with Lt.Cmdr Jalando, who would like to meet the
Valkyrie crew. When the Valkyrie is finally docked, and the airlocks
finally open, they see a group of 2: Commander Maiek, and Lt.Cmdr
Al'Evering... both from the Valkyrie. They came on board with only 2
persons, because they've seen the Borg/Kotarrani ship orbiting Pandora
Station...

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USS Atlantis Status Report, by David Susman.
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Stardate 2391.03.28 - 2391.04.18

The Atlantis has completed her second mission, Sphere of Influence and is
now in orbit around Tau Epsilon 4 for the dual purpose of a Planetary
Survey and, more importantly, shore leave for the crew.

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Public Relations Status Report, July 2004, by Rob Versteegt.
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This month was an important month for the Chief PR... this month was the
month in which some Dutch people, together with a French, and a Swedish
person,  went to the FFteling. So... the Chief of PR
put on his Frontierfleet shirt, and joined them, hoping that it would
attract attention. It did. Although not as many as I wanted it to be, but
still.. we got at least 1 Dutch signup.. ;-)

(Photo's are available in the upcoming online edition of the Federation
Tribune.. <G>)

Anyway.. the signups: This month, we got 18 of them. Where did they all find
us?

2: www.startrek.pagina.nl
7: Google
1: Unknown
1: Startrek top 50 (come on people! Vote more! ;-) )
2: Through a friend. (Thanks!)
2: Browsing the web
1: www.pbem.com
1: a link from www.startrekpbem.net
1: Banner exchange.

Again, most of the signups found us at Google. But still.. at least 6 found
them because PR had either put a link, ad or a banner at that site. I think
this proves that PR can definitely have some impact on the flow of
signups...

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"Dead poets are stardust" by Aidon 'Stardust' Danga. (aka Walter Flaat)
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We live in a time of peace, having fought countless wars and uniting
not only regions, nation-states but entire planetary systems.

This did not come easy, but we tend to forget the struggles of the
past, regarding pre-23rd century humans as barbaric, war-driven
neanderthalers..  a disgrace to the "homo sapiens".

I am here to change that! We should venerate these people (that's what
they are: people) and keep their tradition alive!

This is a culture column, dedicated to the echoes of the past.. Words
from those that have died long ago, their legacy, and their molecules
are all part of us.

Today, I'd like to focus on the 19th century.. Now: some scribbles of
these backward(?) years!

"It was the best of times; it was the worst of times, it was the age
of wisdom, it was the age of fooisness, it was the epoch of
incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of
Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, whe
had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going
to heaven, we were all going direct the other way", so wrote Charles
Dickens in 'A Tale of Two Cities'.

These words are recognized as the most appropriate and 'on the mark'
description of human affairs in the 19th century, and far beyong that.
For most of us, it's exactly how we look at those turbulent and
explosive ages we so desperatly want to forget.

Yet even these words were written as a complaint to the state of
affairs at the time (which was some decades before they were written).
How can we resist such an eloquent description?

 Obscurest night involved the sky,
          Th' Atlantic billows roar'd,
        When such a destin'd wretch as I
          Wash'd headlong from on board
        Of friends, of hope, of all bereft,
        His floating homes forever left.
  -- William Cowper, the Cast-away, stanza 1. 1803

Poetic lonelyness, and as applicable to star travel as anything can
ever be.

If you are a science officer, I'd like to challenge you to read the
following poem out loud, the next time you have to run a sensor
analyses on a star;

 Bright star! would I were steadfast as thou art -
  Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
        And watching, with eternal lids apart,
         Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,
        The moving waters at their priestlike task
         Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
        Or gazing on the new soft fallen mask
         Of snow upon the mountains and the moors -
        No - yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
         Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,
        To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
         Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
        Still, still to hear her tender taken breath,
        And so live ever - or else swoon to death.

         -- John Keats, 1838

Now tell me you don't still feel your internal romantic stirr! Good,
now get back to your spectral analysis!

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Behind the Scenes Facts by Clare Bradley
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Why do Bajorans only have ridges on their nose? When Michelle Forbes was
hired on the Next Generation as Ro Laren, Rick Berman told make-up Designer
Michael Westmore that he hired a pretty girl, and he wanted to keep her that
way.

The distinctive square glasses frequently used in Quark's bar aren't glasses
at all? They were manufactured as candleholders, but a prop designer for the
show turned them upside down and made them into a glass.

The Captain's name on the Original Series changed three times. In the first
outline for the pilot, the Captain's name was Robert April. In a second
revision some months later, it was changed to James Winter. It was finally
changed to Christopher Pike, but after the pilot, it was changed yet again
to James T. Kirk. The script for the pilot "The Cage" also went through a
name change. In the second revision it was entitled: "Voyage One: The
Menagerie."

The Cardassian neck was created for Marc Alaimo. His neck was long enough to
do a shoulder, something that make-up designer Michael Westmore hadn't been
able to do on other actors. A painting that Michael Westmore saw in a
gallery in Studio City inspired the Cardassian forehead. It was an abstract
painting of a woman with a spoon in the center of her forehead.

Is Borg Technology for the birds? In the movie First Contact, the
communications array the Borg construct on the Enterprise's deflector dish
was constructed using bird feeders and cigarette lighters that held
miniature red LEDs.

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All that Glitters, part 2, by Bram Peeters.
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All That Glitters

(] Summary [)

Starfleet and civilian scientist had established an outpost on the planet
Din'ghes VII to research the large deposits of green crystals. The crystals
emitted various toxic gasses which required the use of environmental suits
outside the outpost.
Civilian Dr. Moebius and Lt. Commander Kane had been on the planet for two
weeks when an away team discovered that people had been to the planet
before: they had found the remains of a crashed shuttle. It was decided that
an investigation on the crash site would be started the next day.

(] Chapter 2 - Glitter and Growl [)

June 6, 2386, 09:45 - Din'ghes VII outside, 7 km south of Tiber Station

"So this is were you found that shuttle..." Moebius said and he looked
around. "I wonder why they landed here, in the middle of this crystal
field..." He turned back to the Andorian security officer.

"Maybe they didn't have another choice," Bor said. "Or this field wasn't as
big then."

Moebius nodded. "That is a possibility. We already know that these crystals
contain materials from the shuttle, so these crystals here must be newer..."
Moebius looked at the crystals near him. They were quite big, but it wasn't
impossible that these crystals had grown so fast. The only problem was that
the circumstances on this planet weren't enough to explain it. To his right
Moebius saw some sparkles of light. "Did any of you see that?"

"No..." said Krel, looking up from his tricorder. The doctor had joined the
away team to be able to identify possible remains of the shuttle's
passengers.

"What did you see, sir?" the Andorian asked.

"Must have been reflections from the sun," Moebius said, looking to the
northeast. "Unless there *are* life forms on this planet."

"We didn't detect any from orbit," Krel said. "And I am not detecting
anything now... well besides ourselves of course." The Trill doctor grinned.
"So it's not a tricorder malfunction either."

"Commander Kane to away team," a voice was heard from the communicator
inside the environmental suit.

Moebius tapped the button on his wrist to answer. "Go ahead commander, have
you found anything about the shuttle or its passengers?"

"No, I didn't find anything. And that is what I wanted to report..." Kane
said. "The database search was completed. No shuttles have been reported
missing in this area for the last 300 years."

"Odd..." Moebius said. "Well, we'll report back if we find anything. Moebius
out."

"Could it have been an unmanned shuttle that crashed onto this planet?" Krel
asked when Moebius had closed the comm link.

"I don't think so," Bor answered. "The remains of the shuttle didn't look
like they crashed on the planet. If it had, the debris would have been
scattered over a large area and we probably would never have found it. This
shuttle landed here, but it could have been unmanned..."

"Even unmanned shuttles would be reported missing," Moebius said.

"It wasn't unmanned," Krel suddenly said, looking at his tricorder. "I think
I found something."

"What?" Moebius almost shouted and walked over to the doctor. "What did you
find?"

"I'm picking up some traces of organic matter a few hundred meters in that
direction," Krel said and he pointed to the east. "It is not a very clear
reading... but it's worth investigating, don't you think?" Krel showed the
tricorder readings to Moebius.

Leaving the Andorian security officer near their shuttle pod, Krel and
Moebius slowly walked to the east, slightly hindered in their movements by
their environmental suits and also the 10-30 centimeter high crystals. "We
should almost be there," Krel said. "Yes, this is the location..." He paused
and looked at his tricorder for a while. "Strange... I don't detect it
anymore. Hold on, I'll try to increase the sensor resolution."

The Trill pushed some buttons on his tricorder. Not much later the tricorder
started to beep. "This can't be right," Krel said. "The signal is slightly
north of us, and... It is moving!" He showed the tricorder to Moebius. A
blinking dot was moving away from them.

Moebius looked at Krel. A living being, on this inhospitable planet? "What?
Are you positive?"

"Absolutely. It seems to be moving to the shuttle pod."

Moebius tapped the comm button on his wrist. "Moebius to Bor. Lieutenant,
something is heading in your direction."

"Something? What do you mean, sir?" Bor replied.

"Those readings Dr. Krel picked up... They are moving," Moebius said. "It's
in that lower area to the north..." Moebius looked in the direction of the
shuttle pod. "I can't see anything though.."

"It stopped moving," Krel said. "Near those large crystals over there." Krel
pointed at several crystals that were about fifty centimeters above the
surrounding terrain. Suddenly the dot on the tricorder speeded towards the
shuttle pod's location.

"Bor!" Moebius shouted, but all they heard was a dog-like growl through the
communicator before the comm link was severed. Krel and Moebius ran back to
the shuttle pod, their phasers ready. When they returned there was no sign
of whatever had attacked Bor. The lieutenant didn't appear to be badly
injured, but he seemed to be unconscious.

"Where did it go?" Moebius asked.

Krel looked on his tricorder. "I have no idea. We must have scared it away."
He quickly walked over to Bor. "He's unconscious, and his suit has been
damaged... He must have been exposed to the gas, we have to get him back to
base immediately."

Together they carried the Andorian to the shuttle. When the hatch closed
Krel took off his helmet and started to scan Bor. "He has indeed been
exposed to a high dose of Tiberium gas..."

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Promotions in July 2004, by Rob Versteegt.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

>From Cadet to Ensign:

- Cadet X'ox PaRel, played by Rick Clogston => ACSO Ensign X'ox PaRel, USS
Valkyrie.
- Cadet Valarion Hawksly, played by Wuli Pawlat => ACOUNS Ensign Valarion
Hawksly, USS Calhoun.
- Cadet Majok Denton, played by Matt Brown => ACEO Ensign Majok Denton, USS
Valkyrie.

>From Cadet to Lieutenant Junior Grade:
- Cadet Julius MacPhelsmore, played by Patrick Buidin => ACSO Ltjg Julius
MacPhelsmore, USS Calhoun.

>From Ensign to Lieutenant Junior Grade:
- Ensign Malpaq Lilist to Lieutenant junior grade Malpaq Lilist, on the USS
Calhoun

>From Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander:
- Lieutenant Lorvok to Lieutenant Commander Lorvok, on the USS Calhoun.

>From Lieutenant Commander, to Commander:
- Lieutenant Commander Luke Callahan to Commander Callahan, on the USS
Calhoun.

Congratulations all of you!

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The Alpha Centauri Mystery - Part 14 - Hunter and Prey, by Ben Versteegt.
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After a Romulan attack on the Starfleet base on a planet in the Alpha
Centauri system, Ensign Sandra Burke escaped the system on board the
Federation Starship Aquinas, after having caught (with the help of her
Ferengi friend Zaag) a Cardassian who also wanted to steal the samples. The
Aquinas was subsequently attacked by another Federation Starship, a
Prometheus class. The Aquinas was all but destroyed. A vengeful Captain Ayer
has now joined forces with the same Romulans who attacked Alpha Centauri, in
order to find the samples that the Prometheus class vessel has stolen, as
well as Sandra, his niece, who has been abducted. As time passes by, Ayer
begins to realise the implications of what he is doing... But there is no
turning back anymore.

And now the continuation...

"We're entering weapons range!" the Romulan at tactical reported. The
Romulan warbird had closed in on the Prometheus class starship. This hadn't
been hard to do at all. After all, the Federation starship's engines were
damaged when the Aquinas had detonated its warp core. When it came to speed,
the Prometheus class starships were usually the fastest in the fleet, and
could outrun a Romulan warbird easily. But now that its engines had been
damaged, the roles were reversed.

The Romulan commander looked up from his console. He had been looking at the
schematics of the Prometheus class that had been -- reluctantly -- provided
by Captain Ayer. Now, the look in his eyes betrayed that he was enjoying
this moment. The damaged Prometheus class was no match for a Romulan
warbird, armed with the knowledge of the Starfleet ship's weaknesses.

"Should we decloak, sir?" asked the subcommander at tactical.

"Not yet. I want us to stay under cloak until we are right on top of them."

The Romulan subcommander frowned at this unconventional strategy (usually
bombarding the enemy from a distance was enough to sufficiently damage or
destroy them), but he didn't speak up.

Ayer did. "Is there a reason why you want to decloak so close to the ship?"

Seemingly annoyed, the Romulan commander turned to the Captain. "From a
close distance, we can target the weapons array and shield generators more
easily. It will be easier to disable our target and beam back the samples."
He smiled. "And your abducted crewmember of course."

Captain Ayer didn't return the smile but just kept looking in the Romulan's
eyes for signs that there may be other reasons. He found them. "But you
don't need to be so close to the ship to hit those targets."

The Romulan's smile turned into a broad grin. "I do when I want to
efficiently disable that vessel with as few shots as possible. It's a matter
of honour, you wouldn't understand." He turned back to his tactical officer
before Ayer could respond. "Status?"

"We're right on top of her, Commander. It's now or never."

"Then by all means..." he said, fixing his eyes on the viewscreen.
"Decloak."

Light filled the Bridge as the warship declaoked right above its target.
Immediately, two bright green beams surged from the warbird to the Starfleet
ship's already damaged engines. It didn't take long for the Prometheus class
vessel to be forced out of warp; armed with the knowledge of the Prometheus
class' engines, it was all too easy to disable them in a few shots. The
Romulan warbird dropped out of warp as well and continued its barrage. The
next target were the shield and weapons systems.

The Starfleet ship didn't have time to recover from the attack at its
engines, but it seemed that whatever crew manned it, did a great job. The
moment they dropped out of warp, they fired phasers and torpedoes at the
warbird, seriously rocking the ship. Even though the shields absorbed most
of what the Federation ship threw at the warbird, nobody on the Romulan
Bridge could remain standing without considerable effort.

"Their weapon systems appear to be fully functional, still," the Romulan
commander said as he pushed his fingertips against each other and observed
the other ship's tactics. "Tactical, what's the status of their shields?"

"Weakening, sir. We'll have destroyed their shield generators in just a few
moments." Thanks to the data Captain Ayer had provided, they knew exactly
what parts of the shields to target.

"Excellent. What about their weapons? Do they pose a threat?"

"Our shields are down to 78 percent, commander. Their weapons are strong,
but we will be able to take them out before they do any significant damage."

Just as the tactical officer had predicted, the Federation ship's shields
had been disabled within moments. Ayer realised there was nothing he could
do but watch, but if there was a chance -- any chance at all -- to convince
the Romulans to stop their attack now (which Romulans weren't particularly
known for), then he had to try it.

"Just beam Sandra and the samples over to this ship and let's get out of
here," insisted Ayer.

"They seem to have some sort of transporter inhibitors installed on several
decks," the science officer said. "We can't beam anything or anyone in or
out."

A sly smile appeared on the Romulan commander's face. "Then I guess we'll
have to do it the hard way." As another torpedo barrage hit the Warbird's
shields, the commander of the Romulan vessel turned around to his tactical
officer. "Target their Bridge. Full disruptor power."

"What?" Ayer screamed in protest. "You can't do that! Those officers on that
Bridge will die!"

"Their mistake for getting in our way of the samples," the commander of the
Warbird replied, as if it were a normal thing. "Besides, it is the fastest
way to end this battle."

Despite the horrifying, but at the moment, very real prospect of the
Prometheus class' Bridge being blown off, Ayer couldn't help but feel
impressed at the strategy the Romulan Commander was using. In destroying the
Bridge, the Romulans would have made sure that chaos would ensue on the
Starfleet ship for the next couple of minutes. After all, with the senior
staff gone, the rest of the crew would have to reorganise and take their
orders from someone else. The time for them to get reorganised would be
plenty of time for the Romulans to literally tear the ship to pieces, if
they wanted to.

"Disruptors fully charged, commander." The tactical officer sounded excited,
as if he couldn't wait to destroy the Bridge of the enemy.

"Wait!" Ayer shouted. "My crewmember could be on that Bridge!"

The Romulan commander didn't seem impressed by Ayer's argument. "It would
make no sense to keep prisoners on your Bridge."

"You're having prisoners on your Bridge," Ayer replied with a sparkle in his
eyes.

The Romulan in charge couldn't argue with that. Still, he seemed determined
to destroy the Starfleet vessel's Bridge. "Then your crewmember will die."

Ayer was shocked by this remark, but didn't let it show. "What about the
samples?" he countered. "What if they're on the Bridge, like they were on
our ship?" He paused, and took a few steps towards the command chair. "You
wouldn't want to blow up the samples along with the Bridge, would you?"

The commander clenched his teeth. He hated it when Ayer was right. He had so
desperately wanted to blow up a Bridge -- what a spectacular sight that
would be. But no, his chance to blow up a Bridge had been ruined by this
Starfleet Captain. "Target their weapons!" he burst out. "Cripple them!"

If the tactical officer was disappointed at not having been able to blow up
a Bridge, he didn't show it. He seemed equally happy with destroying any and
all weapon systems the Starfleet vessel had locked on the warbird. Flashes
of green and orange filled the Romulan Bridge as the two vessels exchanged
weapons fire.

"Their weapons are disabled, commander," said the tactical officer after a
few minutes. "Their ship is disabled."

"And how about us? What's our status?"

"The damage to our ship is minimal."

"Very good." The commander sat back in his chair. "Can we disable their
transporter inhibitors?"

"We can, sir..." the tactical officer began. "We can just target one of
their transporter inhibitors with our disruptors and fire. Our disruptors
would tear right through their hull and destroy that particular transporter
inhibitor, breaching their inhibitor field."

The commander seemed to like that idea. The same sly smile as a few minutes
ago came over his face again. "Proceed."

"There is... one problem, commander," the tactical officer said in a
wavering voice, obviously afraid of the punishment he would receive if he
defied his commanding officer.

His commander shot him a glare. "What?" he asked simply, his voice betraying
his annoyance.

"It appears that our sensors cannot locate the samples," came the nervous
reply. "If we start to randomly destroy a transporter inhibitor, we may
accidentally destroy the samples as well."

The look of the commander's face said it all. He wasn't happy with this
news, to say the least. "Is there a place on that ship which is *not*
protected by that transporter inhibition field?"

He received an affirmative answer. It appeared that there were no
transporter inhibitors present in the shuttle bay and in several cargo bays,
as well as in a few corridors and quarters. Apparently, this transporter
inhibition network had been set up in a hurry.

"Very well... if we can't beam up the samples, we'll have to get them
ourselves." The commander stood up. "Subcommander, assemble a team to beam
over to that ship. I will be joining you."

The subcommander knew better than to question his commander's orders, so he
just nodded and began to signal other crewmembers to join him in a
transporter room.

Ayer had walked over to his officers. Watters and Zaag had been joined in
the back of the Bridge by Zjavick, the Chief Engineer of the Aquinas, who
had been stunned. He had just recovered, but had gathered enough strength
already to glare at Captain Ayer with a look that said it all. He still
didn't approve of them helping the Romulans.

"When do we leave?" Ayer asked the Romulan commander.

"*We* don't leave, Captain Ayer. *I* leave with my team. And you, dear
Captain, are not in it."

This surprised Ayer. "But what about my crewmember? We have to save her!"

"When we see a captured Starfleet officer, we'll bring her back to the
ship." The commander smiled. "In the meantime, you will be treated as...
guests... on board this ship." He turned to one of the Romulan crewmembers
on the Bridge. "Centurion, escort these prisoners to the brig."

The surprise in Ayer's eyes was apparent. "Some way to treat your guests,"
the Captain heard Watters say. As they were being led into the turbolift by
a few Romulan guards, Ayer looked at the viewscreen, at yet another damaged
ship, and wondered why the hell he had helped the Romulans.

To be continued...

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Posting Stats in July 2004, by Rob Versteegt.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Top 10 Posters of ST Frontierfleet, in July 2004:

#10: Aaron Langston: 16 (Panda 16)

#9: Aaron DeLay: 17 (Cal 17)

#8: Kelley MacKinnon: 17 (Cal 17)

#7: Martin Miller: 18 (Atly 18)

#6: Sussie Andersson: 18 (Ody 4, Panda 14)

#5: Adrian Rodd: 19 (Cal 9, Valk 1, Panda 9)

#4 Ben Versteegt: 20 (Ody 12, Panda 7, Atly 1):

#3: Bram Peeters: 31 (Valk 10, Panda 18, Atly 3)

#2: David Susman: 36 (Ody 6, Panda 10, Atly 20)

AND THE NR 1 POSTER OF JULY IS:

#1: Rob Versteegt: 71 (Cal 10, Ody 4, Valk 6, Panda 37, Atly 14)

Posting Stats:

#1: Rob Versteegt: 71 (Cal 10, Ody 4, Valk 6, Panda 37, Atly 14)
#2: David Susman: 36 (Ody 6, Panda 10, Atly 20)
#3: Bram Peeters: 31 (Valk 10, Panda 18, Atly 3)
#4 Ben Versteegt: 20 (Ody 12, Panda 7, Atly 1):
#5: Adrian Rodd: 19 (Cal 9, Valk 1, Panda 9)
#6: Sussie Andersson: 18 (Ody 4, Panda 14)
#7: Martin Miller: 18 (Atly 18)
#8: Kelley MacKinnon: 17 (Cal 17)
#9: Aaron DeLay: 17 (Cal 17)
#10: Aaron Langston: 16 (Panda 16)
#11: Laura Elliot: 15 (Cal 15)
#12: Gael Imaddine: 12 (Panda 12)
#13: Dennis Church: 12 (Ody 10, Panda 2)
#14: Matt Brown: 11 (Valk 11)
#15: Jake Hanlon: 10 (Cal 10)
#16: Angelic Noble: 9 (Cal 9)
#17: Patrick Buidin: 8 (Cal 8)
#19: Jeremy Beeler: 6 (Cal 6)
#20: Eric Hess: 6 (Cal 6)
#21: Alonzo M: 6 (Atly 6)
#22: Treassa: 5 (Cal 5)
#23: Rob Verlinden: 5 (Ody 5)
#24: William Lea: 5 (Ody 5)
#25: Jan-Willem Schuurmans: 5 (Ody 5)
#26: Brandon Allard: 5 (Valk 5)
#27: Allesio Arleo: 5 (Valk 5)
#28: Merijn Donders: 4 (Atly 4)
#29: Chantal Marie Sellers: 4 (Atly 4)
#30: Matthew Baldwin: 4 (Panda 4)
#31: Guido Dorssers: 4 (Valk 4)
#32: Jed Cohen: 4 (Valk 4)
#33: Brandon Wooten: 4 (Ody 1, Atly 3)
#34: Dawn Johnson: 4 (Ody 4)
#35: Jonathan Hardy: 4 (Ody 4)
#36: Wuli: 4 (Cal 4)
#37: Dave Church: 3 (Ody 3)
#38: Chris Alexander: 2 (Ody 2)
#39: Mike Sheinin: 2 (Atly 2)
#40: Clare Bradley: 2 (Valk 2)
#41: Dreamer Jopnes: 2 (Valk 2)
#42: Linia Jones: 1 (Valk 1)
#43: Cody Ferro: 1 (Cal 1)

Top 3 posters of the USS Calhoun:
3) Jake Henlon / Rob Versteegt: 10 posts.
2) Laura Elliot: 15 posts.
1) Kelley MacKinnon / Aaron DeLay: 17 posts.

Top 3 posters of the USS Odyssey:
3) David Susman: 6 posts.
2) Dennis Church: 10 posts.
1) Ben Versteegt: 12 posts.

Top 3 posters of the USS Valkyrie:
3) Rob Versteegt: 6 posts
2) Bram Peeters: 10 posts
1) Matt Brown: 11 posts