Episode 3.1.8: Dark Matter

## S3, E1, Act 1: Once More into the Fray

Commander Mayla Vree

Ty'Gokor

Stardate 2010.04

Mayla saw the look on Lazarus' face before she turned to her team, making a quick decision.

"Thompson and Beckett will be on the liaison team. The rest will be on the extraction team." She turned back to Lazarus and gave him a nod all the while switching over to subvocal communications.

"I want Five and Nine to monitor Krang's signal constantly and use the flagship's sensors to be our overwatch." she said, heading off any rebuff they may have. "I want our best engineers on that ship to coordinate any external threats with the *Resurrection* while we attempt to get on board."

"So we are going to attempt an extraction?" Raillius said. "That ship is rather large."

"If I had it my way, I'd extract the high value individual (HVI) and destroy the ship."

"That is an ambitious goal," Lazarus said. "If you can bring their shields down, we can beam in a nested egg."

"As if tensions weren't already high between us. If the Klingons find out we destroyed their new ship on purpose…" Sh'avelith commented.

"A nested egg is too obvious. Martok's ship will detect that we transported a torpedo into engineering." Mayla added. "We can do it the old fashion way and just plant a strategic explosive device to their warp core to cause it to breach. If we use a Klingon made device, nothing will lead them back to us."

"And let's not forget Jack Dark. If he's anywhere in the vicinity, we're going to come across tech we've never seen before." Jahkar said.

"We can figure this out back on the ship," Lazarus said.

Thompson piped in. “About that...Beckett and me were just figuring out scenarios to protect us against or even bring down Dark. We were interrupted because of the transfer of Krang. Also, you need a proper hacker to get access to that dreadnought. With all due respect, I’m your best man for that. But I need to be on the *Resurrection* for that. “

Mayla looked from one team member to another. It did make more sense to keep him on the *Resurrection* if there was any way for him to hack into a new state of the art warship. There was only one person left in the team that would create the least amount of friction being present on the Klingon flagship. This would be the first time she would have to sit on the sidelines on an away mission.

"Alright then, I'll be the liaison and stay with the Klingons. Raillius and Jahkar will lead the away team to recover the HVI and disable the ship as a secondary, Assuming the exchange doesn't go well." she said over the subvocal. Her glance fell briefly on Sh'avelith who looked like she had a worried look on her face. Mayla gave her a reassuring nod before turning to Martok, who was more than patient for the past minute or two.

"Chancellor, I will be the liaison. I will need to return to our ship for some gear and I will return in fifteen minutes."

"Be quick about it, Commander. Or we leave without you." Martok barked an order to allow the *Resurrection* crew to leave.

Lt. Daryl Thompson & Lt. Cody Beckett

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2010.07

Once back onboard, Thompson and Beckett quickly stored their weapons in the armory. Outside, Daryl contacted his AI Persona mentally for a status check. The data from the Klingon dreadnought was just being sent over from the Klingon flagship. “Cody, can you handle the work with the madcaps to find ways to neutralize Dark?“

“Sure thing, Daryl.“ Cody nodded.

“I need to start analyzing the computer systems and security measures of the dreadnought to see if I can find one or more attack vectors to get inside. I’ll be on the bridge, I will join you in a bit when I’ve started up some simulations.”

Colonel Jahkar

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2010.07

Jahkar and Raillius beamed back to *Resurrection*. As the entire team stepped off the transporter pad, Raillius looked to Ryramorl and Reepchip. “You two, with us. Jahkar, assemble a security team and have them join us in the armory.”

The Klingon/Romulan nodded and opened a channel in his subvoc, “Jahkar to McGuire. Assemble a security team, eight total, join us in the armory..”

“Acknowledged,” McGuire responded before the transmission ended.

Jahkar looked to Raillius, “With McGuire and her team, you and I and the Carnora, that’s 12 total.”

“That should be sufficient. That dreadnought has a crew of 3,000, but I’m going to surmise that Kre’tok is operating on a skeleton crew,” the Romulan woman said. “The Iomqa’ Clan’s numbers are questionable. I doubt they have that many Klingons to crew that ship.”

Jahkar nodded, “If we’re able to piggyback our transporter beam on the one they’re using to transport Krang, we will need to put ourselves in an area of the ship that is not heavily crewed.”

“Science labs, stellar cartography, cargo bay,” Raillius confirmed as they arrived at the armory. “Lower deck crew quarters perhaps, they aren’t likely to place crew in lower decks if they don’t have to.”

Jahkar grabbed a suit of Type XII Polyalloy Weave Body Armor from a rack in the armory, “Full armor, weapons, keep the bag of tricks at a minimum.”

The marine suited up and then began to assist the arriving security force while Raillius, Ryramorl and Reepchip began to arm themselves.

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

Armory, *USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2010.11

Ryramorl got into his full battle gear.  Reepchip also got ready.  He had his phaser, Scorpion Dagger, and blowpipe, but most of the weapons in the armory were too large for him to carry.  Ryramorl made a mental note to ask the Madcaps to come up with miniature versions of the rifles.

Commander Mayla Vree

Armory, *USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2010.11

"You're going over there fully armed?" Lazarus asked as he watched her attach a brace of throwing knives to her body armor. He sensed, and knew, she was uneasy being left out of the primary mission. He had to gauge her the same way he used to gauge her father in situations like this. The older Vree had been a solo operative for years and had a difficult time returning to work within a team. The *Resurrection* captain stood by her locker as Jahkar and Raillius also suited up for a possible assault on the dreadnought.

"Just enough if I have to take on any Klingons." She put her Min fighting stick into a pocket at her belt. "Or Jack Dark."

"Don't even think about taking him on by yourself. You call for backup if you come across him, that's an order."

She also added a personal cloak and the holographic imager on to her belt, along with several magazine clips of ammunition for her rifle and pistol. Additional items she added were two sky eye nanoprobes attached to her armor at her lower back, and several small blocks of KV explosives and their detonators.

"Did you hear me?" Lazarus said more sternly as he watched her strap on the Draconian spring loaders to the back of her wrists.

"I heard you, Captain. I don't intend on leaving Martok's ship."

"You are there as a liaison only; not a combatant."

Mayla looked at him and almost gave him a pouting look out of habit whenever he used that tone with her. Instead, her eyes turned cold that took the rest of her demeanor with it. She pulled on a hypoglove with several vials of injectors. "He killed Sorvek."

The icy comment chilled the air and all the emotions that came with that simple statement. Lazarus felt the bombardment and stood to his full height.

"The only way we're going to get Dark is together. Not just you, not just me, but together as a team. None of us could take him alone."

"I've fought worse." She checked the charge on her phaser and placed it back into its holster on her left thigh.

"But not with this much emotion attached to it."

"If I had any more emotion attached, I'd put a nested egg inside Krang."

Lazarus was taken aback by the cold and callousness of the comment. Even her father wouldn't have made a suggestion like that. At least not outloud for the team to hear. "You'd better not have-"

Mayla slammed her locker door closed, cutting him off. She fitted the sling attachment to her rifle and then adjusted the strap to fit alongside her single katana that was strapped across her back. With the rifle mounted across her abdomen at all times, she could easily bring either weapon to bear quickly. She stood at attention in front of him with a deadpan look on her face.

"Let's not keep the Chancellor waiting."

*USS Lexington-C*

Turkana IV

Stardate 2010.11

Task Force Alpha led by the *USS Lexington* dropped out of warp, the eight vessels in the battlegroup appearing in a series of flashes near the former colony world of Turkana IV.  The Wanderer-class starship was commanded by Captain T’Sai, a Vulcan woman who had served with Starfleet for more than 60 years.

T’Sai was commanding a task force of eight ships, sent to Turkana IV to investigate and potentially deal with the Legion threat believed to inhabit the shattered former Federation colony there. Besides *Lexington*, a relatively new heavy cruiser just three years out of the Beta Antares shipyards, there were seven additional ships – one of which was the *USS Denver*, a transport ship carrying 750 Federation Marines who were ready to land on the war-torn colony world.

“Captain,” Lt. Merrick at tactical reported as *Lexington* approached Turkana IV. “Sensors indicate there are six ships in orbit above the planet.”

T’Sai looked at the holographic display and saw two Klingon Birds of Prey, three Peregrine-class fighters (Maquis Raiders) and a formerly decommissioned Steamrunner-class starship were all parked above Turkana IV and the group of ships immediately began to raise shields and ready weapons.

“Open a channel,” the captain ordered.

“Channel open,” Merrick said.

“Unidentified vessels, this is Captain T’Sai of the *USS Lexington*. You are ordered to lower your shields, power down your weapons and prepare to be boarded,” she said. “You will not be given a second chance.”

As *Lexington* awaited a response, T’Sai sent word to the rest of the task force. She ordered the ships to move to intercept the orbiting craft, while *Lexington* covered the landing of the troops aboard the *Denver*.

The six vessels supporting T’Sai and the marine transport were two Luna-class starships, the *Oberon* and the *Callisto*, along with an older Nebula-class starship, *USS Ulysses*, and two Defiant-class refits – the *USS Wolverine* and the *USS Sioux*.

The enemy craft were caught by surprise. All were in the process of transporting personnel and cargo from the surface. The only ships ready to face the incoming Starfleet task force were the old Steamrunner-class starship and one of the Birds-of-Prey.

The Steamrunner-class ship swung around to face the oncoming ships, raising shields and powering weapons, while one of the two BOPs cloaked.

“Identification on the main ship?” T’Sai asked.

Merrick shook his head with a half-grin, “It’s the *USS Agamemnon*. Retired from service four years ago, last reported to be mothballed at Surplus Depot Z15 orbiting Qualor II in Sector 213.”

T’Sai raised an eyebrow, “Apparently it is no longer there.”

The *USS Agamemnon* then opened fire, blasting the incoming strike force. The two Maquis Raiders then raised shields and moved to combat the attacking Starfleet ships. *Lexington* and *Denver* streaked past the battle and moved into orbit so the *Denver* could begin sending down Marine dropships. *Lexington* assumed position above the transport, ready to open fire on any ships that tried to prevent them from landing troops.

Commander Sienae Tal'Aura

*Tachi Koma*, Turkana IV

Stardate 2010.11

"Captain, Starfleet ships approaching the planet at high warp," Marcus reported from his usual station at the primary helm. "Marking eight ships."

"Keep a close eye on those six in orbit," Sienae ordered Lennier who was at a secondary station behind her captain's chair. Zhaan was sitting at the comm station with Chani standing behind her. They didn't have to physically be present as their AIs were always running and on call anywhere on the ship. But their visual presence was more for their captain to give her the semblance of a real present crew.

The *Tachi Koma* had arrived yesterday under cloak and during that time they had quietly and stealthily deployed microprobes as they performed a circular pass of the Turkana star system. Released at intervals from a hidden hold, they deployed a few hundred of the three centimeter sized spheres that held one of Starfeet's most advanced sensor/surveillance probes. Entirely autonomous and tapped from Shadow Operations nanoprobes with a limited AI, each one can surveil a vast location as it drifts and send its data via a subspace burst transmission tuned to mimic the ambient static interference from the current system's star. Powered by collecting electron particles from the solar wind, it gave the small probe nearly unlimited power as long as it stayed inside the star's solar influence. As the probes fall into their own orbits in the system, they would continue to map and track everything that occurs within the system. Small enough to avoid detection and mimicking space debris, it was nearly the ultimate technology in star system monitoring.

Within twenty hours, they had already compiled a full sensor package on each of the unsuspecting ships orbiting Turkana IV. These six ships were older, so the *Tachi Koma'*s computers were able to extrapolate each one's weaknesses due to either their design or inherent flaws in their systems. Of course, Lennier helped with identifying other unique aspects to each ship. The longer they watched, the more data was compiled about the functioning of each ship, their weaknesses, and systems status.

As for scanning the planet, the analyzed data didn't look well. Even from more than half a million kilometers away, the ship's extensive surveillance package could still see that the surface was still devastated after nearly a century of civil war. There were no buildings left standing intact in the post-apocalyptic scenery. The two factions had continued with a cold war, prompting skirmishes at their underground borders. One side apparently had made a deal with those in orbit and had been ferrying personnel from the surface.

"One of the Starfleet ships is hailing them."

"Let's hear it."

“Unidentified vessels, this is Captain T’Sai of the *USS Lexington*. You are ordered to lower your shields, power down your weapons and prepare to be boarded. You will not be given a second chance.”

"Mark Alpha 1," Sienae ordered them to label the Wanderer class starship as the *Tachi Koma*'s sensors analyzed the signal to give them the source. "Mark the rest sequentially." She turned in her chair and looked at Zhaan, who was sitting at the communications console. "Have you tapped into Starfleet's comm channels?"

"I'm working on it," the blue bald delvian priestess responded verbally. But she just sat at the station unmoving while she worked linked to the ship's computer and accessed Starfleet Intelligence's library of encryption codes.

Chani was looking over her shoulder watching the displays flash various pieces of data. "Here," she pointed to one wave form amongst many. "Subspace theta band at 725.82gHz."

Zhaan nodded and began calibrating their instruments to that encrypted frequency. "I'm receiving their signal. Searching for encryption handshake protocol."

"I can assist with that," Chani said. "It looks like they are using Crimson 90210 encryption pattern seven."

Sienae just nodded and wondered briefly how would a hospitality program know how to break encryption? Or identify a Starfleet one? But her attention was suddenly pulled away at Lennier's next announcement.

"Tango 4 is cloaking. And Tango 1 is turning to engage."

"Display the tactical arena." Sienae sat forward in her captain's chair as the holographic grid of their current area of space appeared in the air in front of her. From the *Tachi Koma*'s sensors poured in data on every aspect of their surroundings; including all the ships and their vectored movements in real time. Using her hands, she made a few gestures in the air to zoom into various aspects of the soon to be battlespace in front of her.

"Track Tango 4's position," she ordered. Watching the bird of prey for the past day, they had detected a very small plasma leak from that ship's impulse engines. The leak is so small that normal ship sensors wouldn't have been able to detect it. But the *Tachi Koma*'s sensors were sensitive enough to use it to track the cloaked ship. "Let me know if it leaves the area."

"Tango 1 has opened fire on Alpha 1," Lennier reported calmly. "Tangoes 2 and 3 are moving into attack positions."

"I see them," Sienae responded while watching the two maquis raiders start their attack runs. She had intimate knowledge of those types of ships as one was part of her former command when she was in Shadow Operations before she joined Bravo Squad. The *Soulseeker* was a good ship. She wondered briefly where it was now.

Staying way beyond the range of the battle, the *Tachi Koma* remained in stealth to pursue any runners. And watched the battle unfold.

Madcap Engineers

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2010.11

The Madcaps greeted Cody as he joined them.  As they talked about ways to neutralize the ship, Aaron Turner that he and Bryan had come up with in their Academy days.  “Francium Bomb,” he said, which clearly disturbed the other madcaps.  “What Bryan and I worked out was you hack into the replicators and make all the replicators on a ship create a cube of pure elemental Francium about 10 centimeters on a side--a bit bigger than a coffee mug.”

Bryan nodded.  “Francium, astatine…  either will work, because they’re so radioactive that if you ever got a sample big enough to see, it would vaporize itself.  Now--two and a half kilograms?  In every replicator in the ship?  Not only would the ship be useless, it would be suicide to board that ship for years to come.”

Lt. Cody Beckett

*USS Resurrection*, Engineering

Stardate 2010.14

Beckett looked at the twins. “I think this plan might be used as a backup plan. Radiation hazards are easily contained these days. Also, Lazarus, and for that the Federation, would rather see the dreadnought destroyed than it being a nuclear relic drifting in space. Also, I don’t think standard replicators would be allowed to produce this kind of matter. We would need to hack AND override the wetware in the replicators to make this happen.”

Aaron raised an eyebrow.  “That much radiation in one spot won’t set off the kind of sensors that would be around a replicator--it would straight-up cook them before they could go off.  As for overriding the wetware…”  Aaron grinned viciously and mimicked cracking the knuckles of his fist--it seemed he and Bryan had worked that out already.

Beckett went on.  “That takes too much time. Also, we should focus on defending ourselves against Jack Dark. Daryl worked out some basic scenarios which we could work out in greater detail. He would lead the engineering team for that, but he is preparing for the confrontation with the dreadnought, so for now, I take over that role. “

Cody looked past the twins, who seemed a little disappointed, to see if he saw Lt. Daven Corhees. Daven was standing behind a terminal, his arms raised. Virtual braces around both his hands showed all kinds of data, interacting with the virtual HUD in front of him.

“Excuse me” Beckett said to the twins and walked along to the Lieutenant. “Lt. Corhees, I am taking over for now from Daryl. He has other work to do. How far did you come with the scenarios against Dark?"

Corhees looked up from the HUD. “Well, with the data we had, we were able to set up a few simulations." Corhees gestured with his arms, and some animated diagrams showed the scenarios. The first was a kind of a landmine that, once activated, be it on a timer, proximity sensory or telemetry from a nearby probe, would generate a huge amount of EM radiation, with a focus on the low frequencies of the alpha- and theta  frequencies, as well as a large magnetic field, with superimposed EM spikes. “Simulations show a success rate of about 50 to 60 percent. Dark probably has countermeasures in place to protect him for this. But at least, it should hamper him.“ Corhees said.

The second scenario was the same, but with what looked like flash bang grenades. Besides the visible flash of light, they would emit a short burst of very high amplitude alpha and theta radiation, as well as the same magnetic field as the landmine. “Success rate, 30 - 50%,” Corhees said once more.

The last scenario was interesting. It showed a device that could either be fired from the PR-226 or just be thrown by hand. It was a small container, containing nanites. The nanites were reprogrammed and static, meaning they couldn’t be altered in function. They would react on Dark’s DNA profile and were programmed to destroy everything and attack all other nanites that came in their path, like the ones Legion had used to destroy equipment. “This one has the highest chance of success, 60 to 80 percent. Based on the data we have, of course.” Corhees stated dryly.

“Good work lieutenant,” Beckett said. “How many grenades can we produce with the nanites we have?”

Corhees looked a little nervous to Wong, who had been working on the terminal beside them. “Erh...we took the liberty to modify the stasis chamber you used to store the nanites. We kind of changed it into a nanite factory, with the sample data Sh’avelith and you got from that Cardassian.“ Corhees smiled a nervous smile.

Wong added into the conversation “Since you were busy and we are on a tight schedule, I thought we were allowed to do so.”

Cody sighed. “Well. Since we need the nanites, I am OK with that. But I wonder what Lazarus would say…Guess we will find out soon when we unfold our plans,” Becket said, a wry smile on his face. “When do we have enough nanites produced to create the ‘nanite-grenades’?“ he asked Wong.

“Second batch is almost ready. First batch is being produced right now. First batch can fill six grenades, sir”. Cody nodded. “See what you can produce until we go in.  We will be at the rendezvous point in about an hour. Everything should be ready by then. I will inform the extraction team.“

“Oh, because the radiation can also harm others in the vicinity as well, I will send you a small list with modifications for the personal shielding devices. You need them, otherwise you will knock yourself out when you fire a grenade,” Corhees added as Beckett walked away. Cody turned around and gave a thumbs up, then moved out of Engineering. Before he walked out, he grabbed a datapadd, and made a few gestures.  “Beckett to Raillius. Before we board the Dreadnought, I have some new gadgets to add to our layout for some protection against Dark.”

“Acknowledged. We are gearing up in the armory. “

“On my way, Beckett out” he replied.

Lt. Daryl Thompson

*USS Resurrection*, Bridge

Stardate 2010.14

Daryl entered the bridge and headed for a console in the back of the bridge. As he sat down, it automatically reconfigured to his needs. Quickly he called up the data from the dreadnought. His AI persona had already created a thorough analysis of the ship and it’s weaknesses, based on the design blueprints they got from the Klingons. In the data was even a database with lots of detailed testruns of the computer systems. It said something about the hopelessness of Martok, giving this type of sensitive data to a 3rd party.

The AI had used the data blob to create a detailed overview of the setup of the computer systems themselves and it’s connections to primary and secondary systems, as well as a whole lot of subsystems. About 80 % was still Isolinear based.

The system had only 2 main computer cores. One main for engineering and one main for the rest of the ship. However, the Main core for the ship itself had about 30 to 40 sub cores available, all redundantly connected to the primary systems. Another 20 sub cores tied to the secondary systems. The engineering core had a few big subcores. In between both cores was a ODN (Optical Data Network, connected to several dozen Bio-Neural packs. Daryl found that an AI lived there, nicknamed “Shroud of Kah’Less”.  Furthermore, almost all software routines that formed the base operating layer where available. Data that wasn’t available had been extrapolated based on known intelligence of Klingon computer systems. It gave Daryl a pretty good idea what the ship was capable of, but it also posed a risk, as other design decisions might have been taken, while the info from Intelligence said something different…

The AI was still parsing, and with the minute, the overview got more details. Yet, this wouldn’t be a simple task...But he needed only a small flaw in the routines, or a socket, or a port that was left open or needed for one thing or the other. He doubled the calculation speed by giving the AI more resources of the ship’s computer cores. At the moment, this was possible, as the ship was preparing for the upcoming mission, and most of the non-critical calculations had been postponed anyway, so he had enough power to his avail.

In a few minutes, the 15 minutes Martok had given Vree would have passed, so he expected Lazarus back on the bridge any moment. He looked at the calculations that the AI was performing, so far, there was already a list of exploits. Even if he couldn’t get into the main systems, he was able to at least make life on that ship a lot less comfortable. For as long as the *Resurrection* would last against the behemoth, that was. For now, the most important thing would be to be able to beam the extraction team on board, and perhaps, try to disable the cloaking device, propulsion and weapons system. Daryl took a deep breath and went to work....

*USS Resurrection*

Ty’Gokor

Stardate 2010.14

Aboard *Resurrection*, the team was ready to go within the 15 minutes allotted to them by Chancellor Martok. Meanwhile, on Ty’Gokor, Martok and his command crew, joined by Mayla Vree, beamed over to the *IKS Rotarran II*. It was a Negh'var-class heavy cruiser renamed for the vessel Martok had commanded during the Dominion War.

“We will be joined by two support craft, upgraded Vor’cha-class ships, they will remain cloaked while I take the *Rotarran* in for the rendezvous with the *Charghwl’*,” Martok explained to Vree as they arrived in the transporter room. “The rest of my fleet will remain here to defend Ty’Gorkor, in case they attack while we are at the meet.”

“At the meeting, I will turn Krang over to Kre’tok in exchange for my wife,” Martok said bluntly. “If you can offer a better alternative, Trill, I will listen. But the return of Sirella is my utmost priority.”

Commander Mayla Vree

*IKS Rotarran II*

Stardate 2010.14

She could tell Martok's personal guards weren't at all comfortable to have someone so heavily armed and so close to the Klingon Empire's high chancellor who wasn't part of his personal guard. She followed close to him as they walked the dimly lit corridors to the bridge. She looked so out of place among the towering Klingons. She drew looks, and even snarls, from the crew as they passed by corridor after corridor. Martok had voiced his thoughts to her as they navigated through his flagship.

"We should prepare for treachery, Chancellor. Legion's track record has shown us they seem to always be several steps ahead of us. And that makes me nervous and suspect of everything they do or say." She kept up with the Klingon entourage easily and talked along the way.

Martok growled at that. "No honor in them."

"None, sir. Not even Kre’tok and those who kidnapped your wife." Mayla answered without a beat. "They attacked the ship that was bringing Krang to you in hopes to retrieve him before even allowing you to exchange him for your wife. It seems to me he had no intentions on returning Sirella back to you."

That nearly stopped Martok in his tracks at the realization of the events that unfolded up to this point. "And if your *Resurrection* wasn't there to take custody of that targ Krang, Sirella might already be dead if Kre’tok had taken him."

Mayla gave out a sigh. "I'm afraid so sir."

He slammed a gauntleted hand onto a bulkhead. "We are at his mercy!" He nearly wailed in anger and despair.

"If she is alive, my team will get her out if the exchange doesn't go well," Mayla said confidently.

He glared down at the trill woman. "You are so certain of it."

"I'm certain they will try their best." She said as the heat of anger from Sorvek's death rose in her chest. "I want to see Legion destroyed to the last man. And anyone who sides with them. Which includes Kre’tok and everyone on that dreadnought."

"I want to be clear," he said as he began walking again. "Regardless of Starfleet's goals to destroy this Legion, I will not jeopardize my wife any further."

"Then might I suggest you perform a deep scan of her body for any explosives embedded into her at a nano level before beaming her over. They might be using her to get to you. Maybe even with a proximity detonator tuned to your DNA." Mayla's voice remained steady and analytical as they reached the bridge threshold. "Legion is attempting to sow dissent in every empire towards civil war. I have no doubt this is what's happening here."

Martok stopped with a thump of his staff, halting the entire entourage again. "I will take it under advisement. I see working in the shadows has given you a vast perspective of paranoia."

"It keeps me alive."

He looked down at her for a few moments, pushing aside for the time being his growing dischord with the Federation if this Trill's team could return Sirella to him unharmed. "You will remain at my side as advisor during this exchange to relay to me any possibilities of treachery you are so adept at foreseeing. I will not take any chances with my wife."

"I will do my best to serve, Chancellor."

The Chancellor was then announced and the large door to the bridge opened as everyone inside came to attention in the large bridge. A path was created to lead towards his command chair. Mayla continued to follow him until he told her otherwise. He sat down and rapped the butt of his walking staff on the deck, creating a loud reverberating clang to get everyone's attention on the bridge.

"This is Commander Mayla Vree of Starfleet." His voice boomed to every corner of the large bridge as he gestured in her direction. "She will be my liaison for a few days. As such she will be accorded full command rank of respect as a dignitary representing an ally of the Empire. Anyone who disobeys that, she will inform me and I will give her permission to kill you." He gave her what seemed like a smirk but looked more like a wide-eyed scowl. Mayla gave him a respectful nod of her head.

"General Kraven," Martok bellowed. "Set course for the rendezvous site, warp 6."

Lt. Cody Beckett

*USS Resurrection*, Armory

Stardate 2010.15

Cody walked in the armory, and saw Jahkar, Raillius, Sh’avelith and the two Carnora – Rayral and Reepchip – getting suited up in full gear.

“I’ve got some updates to our gear,” he stated, as he was already uploading the firmware that his AI had created based on the list Corhees gave him to the personal cloak’s, which, in this case would also function as a shield. “Within the hour, additional gear will be added. The engineering team came up with a new type of grenade, a type of device which functions as a land/personal mine and a new type of flashbang grenade. All is meant to hamper or slow down and maybe incapacitate Dark if we engage him. However, since the bursts also will impact us, Madcaps have created some additional changes into the personal cloak, effectively switching into a personal shield, absorbing any radiation emitted from the devices. Read the notes I sent to you all. Success rates are ranging between 50-70 percent, depending on the range and the ability of Dark to countermeasure.”

“If you have any questions, let me know.” Cody said, while opening his own locker.

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## S3, E1, Act 2: Word Travels Fast

Commander Sienae Tal'Aura

*Tachi Koma*, Turkana System

Stardate 2010.16

"Shut down tertiary systems," Sienae ordered and watched the power fluctuations fall below nominal levels again to maintain their cloaking device and sensors.

"We will lose subsystems throughout the ship, including life support on all decks." Lennier said methodically.

"Shut down life support everywhere except the bridge. If we still need power, I'll get into an environmental suit." She let out an angry breath. One of Gaish's 'new' power relays failed again, causing a draw that surged power away from primary systems. The only thing they could do was to shut down the faulty relay and reroute the power through other relays to spread the load until they replace or repair it.

The red alarm dissipated and normal lighting illuminated the bridge and most of their status consoles. Sienae turned back to the holographic battlespace, but it was gone. It was considered one of the subsystems.

"Marcus, statrep on the battle?"

It had only been six or seven minutes, but in pitch battle, that could be an eternity. "Dropships from Alpha 7 have landed at the primary location. Turkana IV governments on both sides are hailing Starfleet demanding they leave immediately or they will be fired upon."

"Those six ships can't win against Alpha," Sienae said. "Are any of the Tangoes showing any indication of withdrawing or running?"

Lennier spied one ship. "Yes, it seems all Tangoes are shielding Tango 1 from any primary attack. I believe they are preparing to make a run for it."

"Alphas 5 and 6 have just taken out Tangoes 2 and 3." Lennier reported almost happily. Sienae just nodded as she knew a maquis raider wouldn't last long up against a defiant class ship whose just as maneuverable.

"Tango 6 has been destroyed."

For some reason, that bird of prey didn't use it's best advantage with a cloaking device to avoid being attacked. Their scans didn't indicate there was anything wrong with their cloaking device. Now it was going to be easier for Alpha group to end the battle quicker as there were only three ships left. Suddenly there was a burst of static over the Starfleet channel that Zhaan and Chani had tapped into.

"Alpha 8 seems to have been destroyed." Lennier stated calmly. The computer had identified it as the *USS Antioch*, a Springfield-class ship, with a crew complement of 372.

Sienae stood up from her chair in shock. "How can that be?"

A visual display appeared on the viewscreen to replay the scene. The remaining bird of prey decloaked and fired some sort of slow moving green torpedo at the *Antioch* as it moved into position to block Tango 1's escape. The green glowing torpedo seemed to go straight through the *Antioch*'s shields and impact the main hull. Blue arcing fire seemed to snake through the hull where the warp drive would be. Lights throughout the ship flickered and the ship seemed to implode at first, then exploded outward, obliterating the entire ship.

"What kind of weapon was that?" she asked.

Lennier's holographic image flickered. "Computers are analyzing the data we have on the systems status of the *Antioch*. But no ordinary torpedo, photon or quantum, should have penetrated their shields like that. Let alone cause a catastrophic explosion of that sort. It doesn't match any weapon type in the computer."

"Do we have the full spectrum data of the explosion?" Sienae asked.

"We do. We can use it to analyze the precise components-"

"Alpha 1 is ordering all Alphas to pull back and regroup." Zhaan interrupted as she continued to listen in on the Alpha Task Force communications.

"Alpha 1 has begun bombarding the landing zone."Lennier said, pushing aside the analysis of the *Antioch*'s demise. "Tango 4 has cloaked again."

"I believe Alpha group may be in a spot of trouble." Marcus said.

Being a surveillance ship, it was often difficult to stand by and watch a battle go badly for people who could have been her shipmates. Sienae looked at Lennier. "Get that relay replaced. We may have to go into battle. And track Tango 4. If you find it, relay targeting solutions to the Alphas on an encrypted priority text channel only."

Colonel Jahkar

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2010.19

Jahkar and Chas’naH finished suiting up in the armory, both wearing armor with weapons strapped on and slung over their shoulders. Chas’naH looked to Jahkar and smiled, “Just like old times,” she grinned.

“Seems like it,” he said. “This is going to be a bloody battle. These Klingons are vicious, cruel and without honor.”

“So expect the unexpected,” she said.

He nodded. As they started out the door, behind the others, Jahkar stopped and leaned in to Chas’naH, “I am glad to be fighting at your side once more.”

The two then kissed and when they parted, Chas smiled, “I love how sentimental you are when it comes to killing.”

Both half-Klingons laughed and followed the rest of the team on to the transporter bay.

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2010.25

Ryramorl, now fully suited up, walked to the transporter.  Reepchip, as he did when he was feeling a bit nervous, was riding on Ryramorl’s shoulder.  Ryramorl rumbled to him in his own language, and Reepchip sheathed his Scorpion Dagger.

The small Muran watched Chas’naH--another Klingon--and his tail twitched.  Jahkar, at least, knew Reepchip could hold his own, but how this newcomer would react to him he didn’t know.

*USS Denver*

Above Turkana IV

Stardate 2010.25

From the surface of Turkana, a ground-based heavy phaser cannon began to unleash firepower on the nearest orbital craft…the *USS Denver*. Weapons fire slammed the *Denver* as it attained orbit and began to prep its landing craft.

*Lexington* opened fire on the ground-based defenses and pounded them heavily with phaser and quantum torpedo fire, devastating the Legion defenses down on Turkana IV. As soon as the heavy fire stopped, the dropships began to fall out from the belly of the *Denver* and plummeted through the atmosphere toward the war-torn surface of the planet.

*Denver* landed about 500 troops, all from the 305th Infantry Division, while another 200 were dropped with 10 pieces of artillery – tanks and troop carriers. Finally, a squad of 50 Recon Marines were deployed with the purpose of infiltrating the Legion compound and trying to arrest the leadership and seize any data they could obtain.

The troops deployed to form a perimeter around the central Legion complex, which was a new, multiple story structure at the center of the former Federation colony, which was now nothing more than ruins. The idea was to keep the warring factions on Turkana IV from advancing on the central compound while the Recon Marines went inside.

Immediately, as they deployed, there was little or no resistance. The Federation hadn’t been here in more than 30 years and in that time, the warring factions had done a good job of decimating one another. What few survivors remained in the Turkana Colony were in separate factions but had remained in a state of truce for some time.

Once the perimeter was established, the squad moved in, splitting into two groups to infiltrate the center compound…

Commander Mayla Vree

Bridge, *IKS Rotarran II*

Stardate 2010.25

She remained by Martok's side as the helm officer announced they were ready to depart. It took less than five seconds to coordinate with the accompanying cloaked ships before the small task force went to warp in a loose formation. Mayla watched her surroundings carefully and kept a map of paths she could take to escape, or to protect Martok if that ever needed to happen. Even on his flagship, his personal guard did not become complacent and stood in a protective ring around the Chancellor. Her eyes continued scanning their surroundings in case Legion, or Kre'tok, had infiltrated Martok's inner defensive circle. Her paranoia reminded her this exact same thing could still happen on the *Resurrection* with one particular crew member.

She received a message over her subvocal from the *Resurrection* to inform her they were also at warp heading in the same direction as the fleet. She internally keyed her subvocal.

"Sullivan, this is Phoenix One," she subvocalized.

"Sullivan here, sir."

"Are you with him now?"

"We are on the Bridge. I have eyes on him."

"We may be at a critical junction in our mission. I need you to watch him carefully. Keep your sidearm on stun if he does anything out of the ordinary."

"What's 'out of the ordinary' for you?"

"Anything that endangers the ship and crew foremost. The next would be anything that would jeopardize the mission."

"Aye."

"One, out."

Then another voice sounded in her ear. "One, Leader. Have you killed anyone yet?" She heard the gruff voice of her captain.

"Not yet, but Martok said he would give me permission to if anyone crosses with me." Mayla said while taking another slow calculating look around the bridge.

"I want you to get access to their computers. Starfleet has tasked us to destroy the *Charghwl’*."

"Someone has some common sense," Mayla almost smirked. "With the way things are going with the Klingons, someone is bound to remove Martok from power after this incident with his wife. Many will see this as a weakness in their high chancellor." She looked at Martok with a sad face. The chancellor had a glorious career that propelled him into the highest Klingon office of power. "It won't be easy to hide it from the Klingons that we destroyed it."

"That's why I want you to gain access and see what their sensors can see." Lazarus paused for a moment. "You may need to plant some false readings to throw them off our trail if anything points to us."

In her eyes, she already had several screens opened and searched for an open wireless signal someone may have carelessly left open and unencrypted. After all, she is on the bridge of the ship. They should feel ultra secured here and computer access might be a bit lax. "I'll try to find something. Any progress on a plan on how to destroy that ship?"

"They're working on it. Can you ask the chancellor if he would be willing to give up Sirella's DNA information so we can scan for her presence on the ship?"

"Standby," Mayla said and stepped forward to get Martok's attention. "Sir, would it be possible for you to provide us with Sirella's DNA markers so we can try to isolate her location on the *Charghwl’*?"

The klingon eyed her carefully and nodded. He gestured to an aide. "Get her what she needs."

"And a terminal." She added.

Martok just waved, agreeing with what she asked. She could clearly tell he was distracted with the upcoming prisoner exchange. The aide led her to an unused terminal in a remote corner of the bridge. She sat down and looked over the Klingon computer terminal as the aide tapped keys at several different locations and brought up Sirella's DNA information. "You will find everything you need there." He said with a slight growl. Then he left to get back to Martok's side.

"Havoc, I'm sending you the DNA information." She reconfigured the terminal and sent the information over to the Resurrection while eyeing the klingons sitting closest to her.

"We are receiving it. I'll give this over to the team. Havoc, out."

Her fingers didn't stop as she could immediately tell that the aide had left himself logged in on her station. Her fingers paused for a brief moment as the screen indicators in her eyes notified her an open wireless signal was present. She looked it up on her terminal and so it was. Using the terminal access, the limited AI embedded in her head tapped into the open signal and accessed the ship's computer through several gateways to hide her tracks. Mirroring the klingon terminal she was sitting at in her eyes, she quickly created a new open access and coded it for herself, adding the various encryptions the Klingons had, and an additional one of her own. Just because she had access, she also copied the formulas used for their encryption for communications. Never knowing when they might come in handy.

When her AI was securely connected to the ship's computer, she applied a program that would cloak her presence within the system. With that done, she gave herself access as high as the aide's account could give her. As her final move, she planted several of Jackson Bryce and Jonathan Tran's small watchdog programs to keep watch for anyone sniffing around the new access she created for herself. If any were detected, the watchdogs would throw them off by rerouting the searchers to something else within the system.

She returned the screens to the DNA profile for Sirella and got up from the terminal to return to Martok's side. She stood there unmoving as if she was staring out the large viewscreen at the mesmerizing stars streaking by. But in actuality, she was building a profile for a fictitious low status Klingon maintenance worker assigned to the *Rotarran II* to hide behind as a backup to her cloaked access. Within 20 minutes, she was carefully and slowly working her way through the Klingon flagship's computer systems.

Colonel Jahkar

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2010.25

Once everyone was suited up, Jahkar assembled the team in the War Room aboard *Resurrection*. They were joined by Lt. Daryl Thompson and Captain Lazarus, who took his seat at the table, but turned the briefing over to the half-Klingon. He and Commander Rallius had already collaborated on the plan, but she was turning the reins over to the Marine.

Jahkar looked around the room once the team was assembled and he activated the holographic projector above the table and brought up a floating hologram of the *IKS Charghwl’*. It loomed there, hovering in the air over the tabletop, like a wicked bird about to swoop down and snag its prey from the ground.

“This is the *IKS Charghwl’*,” Jahkar began. “It is a prototype Klingon dreadnought designed for one thing…destruction. We got a brief glimpse of this vessel during its attack on the *USS Invincible*, so you are all aware of what we’re dealing with. Slipstream drive, phased cloaking device, regenerative hull armor and massive firepower. She’s state-of-the-art, the epitome of Klingon technology. Yes, Klingon ships usually don’t come with many frills, they are built to fight and fight only. *IKS Charghwl’* is no exception, she is built for battle and the Klingons have spared no expense with the bells and whistles.”

The colonel allowed his words to sink in for a moment, then he continued, “We need to get aboard that ship at the exchange. We are operating under the assumption Lord Kre’tok will take his father from Martok and refuse to hand over Sirella. Regardless, we will infiltrate the ship and be there to either rescue the chancellor’s wife and/or do whatever we can to bring down her defenses so *Resurrection* and the *Rotarran* can bring this ship to its knees and recapture it.”

Lazarus cleared his throat, interrupting the meeting. He looked around at everyone, then spoke, “Your mission has been altered, slightly.”

Jahkar raised an eyebrow, as did Rallius. “Sir?” Jahkar questioned.

“If you’re able to get aboard, then we want you to see to it the *IKS Charghwl’* is destroyed,” Lazarus said. “You will be taking along explosive charges to place on her warp core before beaming back to *Resurrection*.”

Rallius looked up at the captain, “I was under the impression Martok and his military commanders want that ship back in one piece?”

“They do,” Lazarus agreed. “But we have orders from Starfleet that say otherwise.”

Jahkar was taken back by the announcement. He directed his stare at the captain and shook his head, “Sir, this will infuriate the Klingons. Does Starfleet wish to jeopardize our relationship with the Klingon Empire?” Jahkar asked.

“Starfleet and the Federation Council view *IKS Charghwl’* as a violation of the Khitomer Accords and, frankly, Martok is not getting any younger,” Lazarus said. “When he dies it is likely the Chancellery of the Empire will go to an individual from a House with far less goodwill toward the Federation than the House of Martok.”

Rallius raised an eyebrow herself, “Starfleet doesn’t want the Klingons to have a warship like the *Charghwl’* in the event a hostile regime takes over the Klingon Empire.”

“Those are your orders,” Lazarus said. “You may continue with your briefing, colonel.”

Jahkar collected himself, then returned to the holographic image of the dreadnought, “Computer, display secondary image.”

A holographic model of the *Rotarran* appeared floating next to the *IKS Charghwl’.* Then a model of the *Resurrection* appeared. “After arriving at the rendezvous site *Resurrection* will move beneath the *Rotarran* where we’ll re-phase, maintaining a distance of about 10 meters between ships, so *Rotarran* can conceal the *Resurrection*.”

Lazarus nodded, “That means *Rotarran* will need to orient itself at a negative level in relation to the *Charghwl’,* so it can shield us from the dreadnought’s sensors and visual displays?”

“Yes,” Jahkar said.

“We can do that,” the captain confirmed. “Continue.”

“When *Rotarran* transports Krang to the dreadnought, *Resurrection* will beam the away team to here,” Jahkar said, indicating a section of the *IKS Charghwl’*s lower decks. “In our earlier encounter with the dreadnought, sensors showed a minimal crew in this portion of the ship. There’s a cargo bay there, it was empty on our last scan. That’s where we’ll beam in.”

Thompson spoke up, “Before Krang is beamed over, we should phase cloak, align the *Resurrection* besides the dreadnought and launch a few nanoprobes inside the shields of the dreadnought. Once they leave the phase cloak perimeter, they rematerialize inside the shields. That gives me some more playroom to get everyone safe onboard. Beckett, once onboard, you can help me to get deeper into the ship's systems. Make sure you bring along enough probes and some ODN kits.”

Beckett nodded. “No problem!” he answered.

"The assault team would consist of Jahkar, Chas’naH, Tiri, Rallius, Ryramorl, Reepchip, Beckett, McGuire, and eight security officers: Ensign Aurelia Sentaa, Ensign Kyle Rolston, Ensign Eula Auriak, Lt. Earl Stone, Ensign Grop, Lt. Marina Sellac, Ensign Vorak and Lt. Jason Kapello.

“Chalk One will consist of myself, Ryramorl, Reepchip and Auriak. Our target will be main engineering aft section deck 15 to plant charges. We can take down the ship’s engines, power, just about anything from there.

“Chalk Two is Rallius, Sh’avelith and McGuire. Your objective will first and foremost be locating and extracting Lady Sirella, in the likely event Kre’tok doesn’t hand her over at the exchange,” said Jahkar. "We should also ask Martok for Sirella's DNA signature so as soon as you beam on board, we can release a dozen sky eye probes to go search for her. Have the nanoprobes armed with an isolinear tag so as soon as they find her, shoot it into her and get her beamed off the ship immediately if possible. It's this team's responsibility to get her out safely.

“Chalk Three will take out the phase cloak, located here on deck 27. This team will consist of Chas’naH, Rolston and Grop.

“Chalk Four will be Lt. Marina Sellac, Ensign Vorak and Beckett. From inside the ship Cody can get access to their computers and get the shield modulation formula the ship is using, and have another nanoprobe continuously relay that information to the *Resurrection*.

“That would be great. In that way I have direct access to at least tertiary systems and can work to distract and confuse the Klingons.” Thompson added.

Jahkar nodded, and continued

“Also, Chalk Four can find out where Sirella is held, and use a site to site transport to get her to your location.

“Chalk Five will be Stone, Sentaa and Kapello. Your target will be taking out the ship’s weapons system by knocking out fire control on deck 23.”

“Questions?” Jahkar asked.

Sentaa, a young, bald Deltan woman, raised a hand, “Colonel, if you’re successful and get charges on the warp core, what does it matter if we sabotage weapons and cloak?”

“Taking down weapons and the cloak are going to be less complicated than getting into engineering and reaching the warp core,” said Jahkar. “The sooner we lessen *Charghwl’*s bite the better off *Resurrection* and *Rotarran* are going to be.”

Beckett raised his hand. "What do we do if we run into Dark? Since his objective is the same as Kre'toks, it's possible they work together. I guess we need a plan for that right?"

Jahkar gave a sharp exhale and slowly nodded, “Good point. Thompson, Beckett, were either of you successful in developing anything to counter Dark’s nanites? Anything we could take along on the mission?”

Lt. Cody Beckett

*USS Resurrection*, Warroom

Stardate 2010.27

Beckett sat right up. “The Madcaps team have come up with some gadgets. I already sent the whole team a note about it. It boils down to three devices.” Cody made a swiping move with his hand, and new data appeared on the holographic viewscreen.

An animation showed the three scenarios. “The first is a landmine-type of device that, once activated, be it on a timer, proximity sensory or telemetry from a nearby probe, would generate a huge amount of EM radiation, with a focus on the low frequencies of the alpha- and theta  frequencies, as well as a large magnetic field, with superimposed EM spikes. Simulations show a success rate of about 50 to 60 percent. Dark probably has countermeasures in place to protect him for this. But at least, it should hamper him.“ Beckett stated.

The second scenario was the same, but with what looked like flash bang grenades. Besides the visible flash of light, they would emit a short burst of very high amplitude alpha and theta radiation, as well as the same magnetic field as the landmine. “Success rate, 30-50 percent,” Beckett said when the animation showed.

The last scenario was the most interesting. It showed a grenade-type that could be fired from the PR-226. It was a small container, containing nanites. The nanites were reprogrammed and static, meaning they couldn’t be altered in function. They would react on Dark’s DNA profile and were programmed to destroy everything and attack all other nanites that came in their path, like the ones Legion had used to destroy equipment. “This one has the highest chance of success, 60 to 80 percent. Based on the data we have, of course.”

Lazarus sat right up in his chair “Did you produce these nanites ?” he asked, in his usual gruff voice. “No sir, the Madcaps did. They told me afterwards they modified the nanite stasis chamber into a mini-nanite production factory, with the data and samples we got from Rit. But I take full responsibility for that, sir. I brought these nanites on board, together with Sh’avelith.

Lazarus grunted. “Would’ve been nice if I had known upfront what is going on my ship!"

“I am sorry sir, there was only little time…."

“Proceed!” Lazarus barked, cutting of Beckett’s apology

Cody sighed, collected himself and continued. "For the landmine and the flash-bang, additional measures are taken on the personal shield/holographic imager. It needs to be active. If exposed to the EM field and brainwave frequencies, heavy disorientation and nausea will occur, even seizures are possible." Cody said. "I don’t know how it will influence the Carnora, as I am not well informed about their physiology. His gaze locked shortly on Reepchip and Ryramorl. “Once more, the personal shielding should be active. Modifications have been done already. Any questions?” Beckett looked around, waiting for anyone to raise a question…

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2010.27

Reepchip--perched on Ryramorl’s shoulders--listened, but telepathically said to Ryramorl, [I wish there were more than one of me.  A bunch of Murans could hijack that ship, and deliver it to the OverKings.]

Ryramorl’s face remained neutral, but he instantly quashed the idea.  [The Klingon Empire would tear the Antevas System apart from Carnor itself to the Endless Lonely Worlds to get that ship back.]  Personally, he was happy to be working with Jahkar, as they’d worked well back on Andoria.  And Reepchip could sneak into spots that nobody else could.  He pondered Cody’s ideas--at least they hadn’t come up with something that required him to be berserk.

He nodded calmly to their partner Auriak, as Reepchip sent a telepathic greeting.

Inverness

New Paisley, Caldos Colony

Stardate 2010.28

The intelligence analyst blinked twice and then rubbed his eyes. He was exhausted. He had spent almost a week pouring over transcripts of decrypted messages between a pair of Nausicaan drug cartels leaders and a Ferengi arms dealer who was clearly pitting his customers against each other in the name of profit. The intercepted communications had been obtained through back door channels and forwarded to the analyst by the owners of a mining colony on Coltar IV. The owners were fearful that the cartels were acquiring weapons in preparation to seize the colony and turn it into a narcotic distribution center.

Of course, the owners paid a very high price to retain the analyst’s employer - Inverness. The security and intelligence firm was less than a decade old but had quickly earned a reputation for providing reliable and discreet information on a variety of matters. It employed over one hundred individuals in a variety of roles, including weapons analysis, security tactics, counterintelligence operations, corporate espionage, and cyber disruption tactics. Most of its clients were corporations, private security firms and venture capitalists, but Inverness was rumored to hold contractual relationships with several governmental organizations as well.

The analyst stood up from his desk and stretched. As he plopped back down into his chair, he watched as Inverness’s executive assistant walked confidently past his station. Even though she was 37 years old, Sarah Pickering was still a sight to behold. Long blond hair, blue eyes and legs that ...well...she had great legs. He watched her longingly from behind as she strode towards her desk, sighed, and then returned to reviewing transcripts.

As the analyst scanned through the third page of a transmission from the summer, he perked up in his chair. He stopped reading, looked around at the nearby analyst stations and then resumed reading. When he encountered the same name for a second time, he pushed his chair back, retrieved a nearby padd and began to scan through key phrases and words that required the immediate notification of Inverness’s owner. Afterward, he began to feverishly scan through the text of the document and discovered the same name appeared at least a dozen times.

“Sorvek”

The analyst downloaded the transcript onto his PADD, stood up and raced towards Sarah Pickering’s desk. As he approached the executive assistant, he felt himself become uneasy and distracted by her beauty. He stumbled once, regained his composure and continued to walk towards her. When he reached Sarah’s desk he cleared her throat. She looked up from her screen and eyed the analyst in silence with her deep blue eyes. She smiled thinly, knowing that the young analyst was enamored with her. She leaned back in her chair and slowly crossed her legs.

“What do you want, Daniel?” She softly purred.

“I believe you need to bring this to the boss’s attention.” He quickly blurted out as he held up the PADD.

“Do I?” She retorted as she gazed at the analyst. Sarah really did enjoy tormenting the younger members of the staff.

Daniel loudly gulped and then nervously handed his PADD to her. She casually scanned the PADD in silence for a moment before looking up wildly at Daniel. She quickly waved him away, stepped back from her desk and walked down a long, mahogany-paneled hallway that was decorated with artwork and artifacts from Earth’s 17th through 19th centuries. When she reached a doorway at the end of the passage, she quickly pressed a chime. The door slid open.

The room was dimly lit and Celtic music played softly in the background. Inverness’s owner sat behind a large cherry wood desk, his face and upper torso shrouded in darkness.

“Good morning Sarah, what can I do for you?” He asked with a thick Scottish brogue.

“One of our analysts was reviewing intercepted transmissions on the Paxxon account just now. He came across multiple references to Admiral Sorvek in an early August communication and brought it to my attention.”

“Oh? Well I’m glad our analyst followed protocol. Be sure to follow company policy. Make a copy of the communication, as well as our analytical conclusions, and forward it to Sorvek’s team for review.”

“Sir, it’s not that easy.” Sarh softly replied with a hint of sadness. She had interacted with Admiral Sorvek at several business meetings and found him to be a genuinely sincere man. He always went out of his way to speak with her and on one particular occasion, he spoke at great length about her brother’s honorable service with Marine Ops Force Alpha. Now she struggled to find the words. “Sir, the transcripts say Admiral Sorvek was murdered.”

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. Sarah started to repeat herself when Iverness’s owner gestured for her not to speak.

“Do we know if the transcripts are accurate?” He asked after some hesitation.

“It’s an authenticated transcription.”

The man sighed for a moment before speaking. “Try to connect me to either Sorvek’s aide, Lieutenant Commander O’Shaughnessy, or Admiral Janeway so I can verify this information. Janeway owes Inverness more than a few favors.”

“Yes sir.”

“How did we miss this Sarah?” He asked with a tone of disappointment.

“I don’t know. Starfleet is keeping the news close to the vest.” She answered as she scanned through Federation news reports on her padd.

Inverness’s owner sighed a second time. “Starfleet isn’t going to tell us what happened. Order all of our analysts to stop whatever the hell they are doing and start working on this. Have them search all of our databases for any recent chatter about Starfleet Intelligence and check with our back channels to see if we can piece together what happened.”

Yes sir.” Sarah replied with a curt nod. She spun on her heels and started to walk towards the door.

Inverness’s owner leaned forward in his chair. A beam of light from a nearby lamp spread across his face, revealing a middle-aged man with thick brown hair, blue eyes and beard. A very faint childhood scar could still be seen on his cheek.

“Sarah?” William McCulloch called out to his assistant as she neared the door.

“Yes sir?” Sarah replied as she looked over her shoulder.

“I am going to be giving you a list of some of my former associates. Tell Shess Ch'taolnos to quietly start working on it. I want to know their current status and whereabouts. If Sorvek is dead, there is a good chance they may be in danger as well.”

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## S3, E1, Act 3: And So It Begins

Commander Mayla Vree

Bridge, *IKS Rotarran II*

Stardate 2010.29

A screen popped open in her eyes showing that the *Rotarran* was approaching the rendezvous point in the remote uninhabited Klingon star system only designated as Q845-Z103. The M type star was an ancient red giant and had stripped off the atmospheres of the four only planets in the system thousands of years ago.

But instead of just the four planets showing up on the sensors, another object was  detected. The *Charghwl'* was already there, ominously waiting just beyond the fourth planet. The *Rotarran*'s sensors easily picked up the sensor reading and identified the ship. She watched and listened as the *Rotarran* came out of warp at a respectable distance; way beyond transporter and visual range. She could feel a marked change in the air on the bridge.

The *Rotarran* continued towards the stolen dreadnought unabated. When they were close enough to gain a visual, what they saw was not the Klingon dreadnought. As soon as they realized the bird of prey in front of them was sending out active sensor readings to identify itself as the *Charghwl'*, General Kraven ordered evasive maneuvers to port. Mayla was starting to have a bad feeling about this meeting.

The bird of prey was a decoy to draw the Rotarran in so the *Charghwl'* could position itself into a strategic offensive position; probably behind them. With a sharp bark, Kraven ordered lateral thrusters to turn the ship to face the way they came. When they finally turned the massive ship around, the dreadnought decloaked now in front of them. Kraven ordered all stop and to ready weapons.

Mayla placed a hand on Martok's shoulder, discreetly attaching one of Shadow Ops' small isolinear tags to him. "You can count on them having more than just one ship here," she said out loud. She looked at the sensors which now show the real *Charghwl'* in front of them, and the decoy bird of prey behind them. "We need to be in a position to block their view of the *Resurrection*."

"General, move us 5,000 kellicams to port. I want both of those ships in front of us." Martok ordered.

As the *Rotarran* slowly moved, they were hailed.

"So, the Federation lapdog has arrived," came the sneering voice of Kre'tok over the speaker. A moment later, Kre'tok's holographic image appeared in front of the Chancellor's chair on the bridge.

Martok stood up to his full height. "We have your father. Where is Sirella?"

"She is here."

"If you have permanently harmed her in any way, I will mount your head on my bat'leth and let prey vultures peck at it until it rots to the bone."

"Small words from a small man doomed to lose his grip on the Empire."

That riled up Martok and a few of the other klingon officers on the bridge.

"*Rotarran*, we are in position," the *Resurrection*'s announcement came over another channel.

General Kraven stood in his captain's position where he was surrounded by screens monitoring the critical systems of the flagship. "Stay clear of our baffles, we may crush your ship by mistake," he said with a slight sneer.

As long as they kept between the *Charghwl'* and the *Resurrection*, only a close visual would be able to detect the Vigilant-class ship when it decloaked. It was tiny compared to the Klingon flagship.

Lt. Daryl Thompson

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2010.30

The probes had been launched. The helm officer had shown off his skills with the *Resurrection*, and Daryl was impressed. The Klingons hadn’t had a clue. Daryl was now waiting for the probes to start sending data. It could take a while as they first had to figure out the rotation frequency of the shields. In the meantime, the *Resurrection* had come around and positioned itself behind the *Rotarran*. The bridge followed the conversation between General Kraven, Martok and Kre’Tok over audio. Daryl heard the Klingons teasing and bickering before he concentrated on the tasks at hand. Still no data….All kinds of scenarios popped up in Daryl’s head. He pushed the thoughts away, and focussed on the virtual HUD in front of him. Then, the HUD lit up, and data started pouring over the screen. It was from one of the probes. Then the second one. And the third….and fourth…..Daryl’s AI started analyzing the data coming in. Within seconds, strategic and tactical information was extracted and moved to the central core for further processing.

“Thompson to Lazarus,” Daryl opened a channel over subvoc.

“Lazarus here. “

“We are receiving data from the probes. It’s a bit slow, since they are piggybacking the data on the same frequencies as the default output from the ship’s systems to prevent detection. I should get more information within minutes and from there trying to get access to the ship’s systems.”

“Good job. Keep me posted. Lazarus, out.”

Lord Kre’tok

*IKS Charghwl'*

Stardate 2010.30

Kre’tok stood on the bridge of *Charghwl'* and reached down to his left to pet the head of one of his canine beasts. He nodded to Kraven to reopen the channel to Martok, “Chancellor, here is how this is going to go. You are going to transport my father to this ship and I will transport Sirella to you. We will confirm each of their transporter signals in our respective buffers and then complete transport so they arrive simultaneously.”

Martok slowly gave a nod, “Very well. But if you betray me I…”

“You’ll what? Attack me?” Kre’tok grinned. “Let’s face it, chancellor. You are massively out gunned here. Of course, you and I know you have other ships nearby, cloaked. Possibly even that little Starfleet ship. But ask yourself, do I have cloaked ships also watching?”

“I do not care what kind of force you’ve brought with you, Kre’tok,” Martok muttered. “I just want my wife back and you can go on about your business.”

Kre’tok laughed, “Oh yes, it will be that simple. I’m sure. But in order to give us assurances of safe passage when we make this transfer, I will ask for one more consideration.”

Martok’s eye narrowed. “What more do you want, son of Krang?”

“When you beam over Krang, you will also beam yourself over, chancellor,” Kre’tok said with a smile. “Do you understand?”

“That was never part of the deal!” one of the Klingon aides to Martok protested.

“It is now. The reign of the One-Eyed Giant is over,” Kre’tok said. “Come along peacefully old man, and I will spare your wife and your ship.”

Martok stood up from his chair and glared at the holographic image of Kre’tok standing on his bridge. “Very well,” Martok said. “I will transport with Krang. But I will not tolerate any deviation from this arrangement.”

“Of course,” Kre’tok said. “We will make the exchange in 10 minutes. Charghwl out.”

William McCulloch

New Paisley, Caldos Colony

Stardate 2010.30

The Scot waited patiently for the view screen on his desk to activate. Sitting across from him was Sarah Pickering, armed with a PADD and ready to start taking notes as soon as the meeting began.

As the pair waited, the silence was broken by a loud chirp. McCulloch looked towards his office door and then pressed a button on his desk. The door quickly slid open and Inverness’s chief intelligence officer, an Andorian named Shess Ch'taolnos entered. He walked towards his employer and tossed a PADD onto his desk. The Scot eyed Shess, leaned forward and pulled the PADD towards him. He started to scan the contents displayed on the device.

“Will, it took a little digging through declassified materials in Starfleet archives, but we were able to identify the status of nine Shadow Operation personnel on your list. Five are dead. Four others remain classified.” The Andorian reported.

McCulloch looked down at the list. His stomach turned as he read the names.

Ayer – Classified

Dara Ilia – Deceased

Elizabeth Wilson – Deceased

Jackson Bryce – Classified

James Doblin – Deceased

Kindred Dakota – Classified

Kyril Vree – Classified

Mark Agrippa – Deceased

Suvok Jefferies – Deceased

Three of the names on the list, James Doblin, Ayer and Elizabeth Wilson, had served extensively with McCulloch in the Shadow Operations program. A fourth, Dara Ilia, had served with the Scot on the *Repulse*. The remainder served with the Scot as part of Bravo Squad when he betrayed Starfleet. Of those, two were dead.

The Scot tossed the PADD aside in disgust and looked up at his chief intelligence officer. “Thank you, Shess. I appreciate your help.”

The Andorian nodded, spun on his heels and quickly exited the office.

The Scot turned his attention towards Sarah but before he could speak, his desktop monitor beeped ... He was receiving a secure transmission from Starfleet. He tapped the screen twice. Afterwards, Admiral Janeway appeared on the screen.

“Admiral Janeway. Thank you for agreeing to speak with me.” McCulloch announced.

The admiral stared in silence at the Scot for several seconds before clearing her throat. “Sniffing around and asking about Admiral Sorvek is something you do not want to do Mr. McCulloch.”

“I understand, but Sorvek was one of the few people who consistently supported and believed in me, even when I faltered.” McCulloch softly noted.

Again Janeway stared at McCulloch in silence as she contemplated how to best respond. She clenched her jaw, relaxed and then finally spoke. “Mr. McCulloch, you are the last person to demand anything from Starfleet. But in light of your organization’s service to us, I am going to let this conversation go just a little further, but if you think I am going to divulge classified secrets, you are insane.”

“No ma’am” MCCulloch conceded. “I completely understand.”

“When was the last time you saw Sorvek?” The admiral asked.

“A few months ago when he asked Inverness to analyze a pair of Breen electronic warfare systems. He asked us to provide tactical scenarios under which they could be modified to operate on a Klingon vessel.”

“Did Sorvek ever tell you about any other matters he was working on?” Janeway demanded.

“If you mean did he speak with me about an organization called Legion then the answer is yes. We provided corroborating intelligence to Sorvek shortly after Daryl Thompson first reported the existence of this group.” McCulloch answered.

“I see.” Janeway muttered as she looked down at her hands and exhaled softly. She realized McCulloch knew just enough to possibly recognize that Starfleet was in over its head. Worse, she knew it was only a matter of time before Inverness would discover just how bad the situation truly was.

Janeway hesitated for a moment. At the end of the day Inverness was an ally … an occasionally expensive ally, but an ally nonetheless. The organization’s work with Starfleet was painstakingly discreet. On the other hand, the company was owned by a convicted felon who betrayed the Federation seventeen years earlier.

Sorvek repeatedly vouched for William McCulloch and asserted he was a reformed man. But there was no guarantee that McCulloch would not use the news of Sorvek’s death as a justification to go on a killing spree in the name of revenge or worse...sell it to the highest bidder.

After a moment of internal struggle, the admiral finally relented and decided to provide the Scot with just enough information. Admittedly, Janeway hoped the gamble would spur Inverness to dredge up additional intelligence that could prove to be useful to Starfleet in its efforts against Legion.

“Mr. McCulloch, the chatter Inverness analyzed is accurate.” Janeway announced. “Sorvek was recently murdered by a former operative you once served with … Jack Dark.”

Turkana IV

Former Federation Colony

Stardate 2011.01

A short but intense battle took place in the ruins of the Turkana Colony after the Marine force landed. It appeared that the remaining cadres on the planet had agreed to support Legion’s base on the former colony by providing security in exchanges for food, supplies and weapons. The arrangement had worked well for the past seven years -- but up against the heavily armed and well-trained Federation Marine Force, the two factions were quickly handed a defeat.

Forced back into their underground dwellings, the cadres had abandoned the Legion. This cleared the way for a Marine push from the streets of the Turkana capital city into the base established on the planet by Legion.

The 305th Infantry took care not only of the Turkana fighters, but they took down the planetary based phaser cannons Legion was using to attack the orbiting ships. Once those threats were neutralized, the Recon Marine squad penetrated the base defenses and were soon inside fighting in the corridors of the facility.

The base was modestly protected by Legion members. There was a smattering of people there with the majority of the organization’s forces spread across the quadrant. Still, the ex-intelligence and special forces operatives put up a strong defense to the attacking Marine force, but it wasn’t long before they were overrun.

Most of the Legion personnel were stunned and captured. However, the Marines weren’t prepared for the suicide-nanites implanted inside each one of the Legion’s people. Not long after the Marines claimed victory in the base, there was a chain-reaction among the prisoners and within minutes they were all dead.

At the same time the facility’s computer system began to experience a catastrophic failure as millions of nanites swarmed through the network and began to destroy the components of the computers.

Lt. Zebulon Murasky and a team of Marine tactical computer specialists went to work trying to isolate and download as much data as they could from the computer system and the nanites went to work obliterating everything in the network.

Murasky watched as the four operators worked frantically to save as much data as they could from the Legion network and found themselves in a race against time. It wasn’t long before the techs had to detach their portable computers from the Legion equipment to avoid having their system slagged as well. When it was over, the Legion base’s entire computer network was destroyed -- useless fried systems and burned out isolinear rods.

“What did we get?” he asked his team. Corporal Bailey looked up from her station and shook her head, “Not much sir. Some data on their ships, some more files on contacts they have in the black market world, but not much more.”

“Corporal N’ja,” Murasky asked a Bolian woman in a Marine uniform. “Anything?”
“A partial list of terrorist cells Legion is funding on about six different planets in the Federation and Romulan Empire,” she reported.

“Anything else?”
The Bolian shook her head, ‘Negative sir.”
Murasky frowned, then looking to a young human male, “Corporal Berger, report?”
“Specs on their starship refits,” Berger said. “Some banking information in the Ferengi Alliance and on Naausica. And something called the Reckoning. The data is fragmented, but it seems to indicate the Legion has some sort of Doomsday Plan in the event they were to be overrun by an enemy.”

Murasky raised an eyebrow, “Any details?”
“There’s some....it’s very fragmented. I’d have to take some time to pour over the data,” Berger admitted. “It talks about having nanites planted in the communications grids across the quadrant, also makes mention of galactic leaders who have been….infected.”

“Infected with what?” Murasky asked, urgently.

Berger shook his head, “Not sure, sir.”

“You, N’ja and Bailey, get on that data and find out what the Reckoning is,” the lieutenant said. He then turned to the last Marine on the team, Corporal Volek, a Vulcan. “Volek, anything?”

“Sir,” Volek said with a raised eyebrow. “I have some data here that seems to indicate Legion has weaponized these nanites. The leader they call Archangel found a way to use them in the warheads of torpedoes.”

“Details?” Murasky demanded.

“There is little more here,” Volek said. “However, based on what we’ve seen the nanites do to technology here in this base I would say a nanite infested torpedo could cause the breakdown and decomposition of the hull of a starship if struck in battle. The torpedo would need to be used against a ship with shields lowered or damage.”

Murasky looked grim, “Help the others with the Reckoning data. Get me the *Denver* and *Lexington* on the communicator, ASAP!”

Commander Mayla Vree

Bridge, *IKS Rotarran II*

Stardate 2011.01

Mayla had stepped away from Martok when the holographic communicator was activated. She watched with a calculating mind as every word Kre'tok said spoke volumes of the scope of what he was capable of doing. And that made Mayla even more suspicious.

When the comms were closed, she stepped back to the Chancellor's side. "Sir, if he already suspects the *Resurrection* is here, that means he would have set a trap by changing the terms in the last minute. As I mentioned before, you cannot trust anything he says. He will clearly kill you as soon as he can."

"I hear you, Commander. The worse Klingon is a lying dishonorable Klingon; the embodiment of a fearful coward. But I have no choice. Sirella must be saved."

"That's what I'm saying. He might have planted something in her to kill her as soon as she rematerializes on a transporter pad."

Kraven walked over to stand in front of Martok and didn't bother acknowledging Mayla. "We can thoroughly scan her buffer image for any foreign substance they may have placed in her."

Mayla nodded. "I would also have two of your ships decloak and redirect her transporter beam to one of them if you can. As soon as they are in possession of her, they will take her immediately away from here. In case we go into battle."

The Klingon leader looked down at the Trill before gesturing to Kraven. "Do as she says. This Trill commander has a good perspective on chicanery scenarios. You will heed her advice, General."

Now Kraven looked down at Mayla and she could see one corner of his mouth almost raising to a sneer. "Yes, Chancellor."

"Commander, tell your team Sirella is their top priority. If they can save me, then do so."

Mayla bowed respectfully. The man was going to sacrifice his life and empire to save his wife. There could be no doubt Kre'tok would kill the chancellor as soon as he is able to. She opened a channel to the Resurrection.

"Havoc, One. Are you monitoring?"

"One, Havoc. We heard. I'm ordering the team of the additional high value individual they must try to extract."

"Martok has ordered me to inform you that Sirella is your top priority. He is secondary. I've secretly planted an isolinear tag on him. I'm sending you the frequency code now."

"Good, we can yank him back here once we get an advantage," Lazarus said. "One more thing. You can bet Sirella is boobytrapped. Jahkar informs me that a cowardly lying Klingon is dangerous. He plays by no rules but his own, and with a Klingon's blood wrath. This will be Kre'tok's chance to kill both the chancellor and his wife."

"I think my idea of a nested egg in Krang sounds even better now." Mayla said.

"Too late for that now. Havoc, out."

Mayla looked back to Martok and gave him a nod. Now Kraven interjected. "Chancellor, I cannot allow you-"

"General, you will do nothing. I will transport over with the traitor and I want you to be sure Sirella is safe. You will then leave and not endanger her or myself by provoking Kre'tok to act. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Chancellor." Kraven said with as much muster as he could. If the chancellor dies, he will lose his family honor in handing over the great Martok to die a tortured prisoner's death.

High Chancellor Martok seemed to take one last look around the bridge before resigning himself. "Prepare Krang for transport."

William McCulloch

New Paisley, Caldos Colony

Stardate 2011.02

McCulloch stood at his office window, silently looking out to a nearby loch that bordered Inverness' property.

*Jack Dark … Jack F’ing Dark*. That was a name McCulloch had not heard uttered in more than a decade.

The Scot had first met Dark when he was assigned to the *Repulse*. At the time Dark was romantically involved with another *Repulse* officer, Taryn Kane.

Dark and McCulloch initially despised each other. The Scot found him arrogant, deceitful and manipulative. On the other hand, Dark found McCulloch to be irrational and impulsive. It took three missions and the efforts of Kane for the pair to finally be civil to each other. After a year and a half of service together, the tensions subsided.

And then Jack Dark just up and disappeared...McCulloch’s best guess was sometime around Stardate 0003. He said little to the crew of the *Repulse* other than he was going to “find himself”. Worse, he completely abandoned Kane, leaving McCulloch to clean up the mess.

Taryn Kane...The Scot missed her terribly. Even when the pair became romantically involved, she rarely spoke of Dark. On the occasions that she did, Taryn described him as possessive and somewhat “intense”.

Now, somehow, Dark had resurfaced from whatever rock he had crawled out from under and had murdered Sorvek. But why?

Janeway gave McCulloch little information, forcing the Scot to turn to his intelligence analysts to piece together whatever information they could find.. At least his employees were damn good at that task.

The Scot turned around and walked across his office to the doorway, exited the room and continued down the long hallway past Sarah Pickering’s station. He crossed a second hallway and entered a large, well furnished conference room. There, Shess Ch'taolnos and two other senior intelligence analysts were waiting for him.

McCulloch nodded at them and then sat down at the conference room table. Before speaking, he held up his left hand and signalled everyone to remain quiet. After keying in a numeric combination on a nearby padd, there was a brief whirring sound and then silence.

“The dampening field around this room has been activated.” McCulloch announced. “What have you found on Jack Dark?”

Shess Ch'taolnos cleared his throat and then looked over at his employer. “Even with the information and leads you provided us, we couldn’t find much on this individual. Unsurprisingly our best source of information was Starfleet Archives.”

Every year, Starfleet declassified thousands of documents, reports and accounts and stored them in their archival center, which was available for the public to access.

While the site was generally ignored by the public at large, the archives became a treasure trove for Inverness. It allowed the company to lawfully collect older military intelligence and data, which in turn, was used by company analysts as the foundation to resolve current intelligence issues on behalf of their clients.

“What were you able to find Shess?” McCulloch pressed.

The Andorian nodded and continued. “Dark served in an intelligence gathering and analysis capacity for Shadow Operations until about ten years ago. He then spent a year on a sabbatical of sorts, traveling the quadrant seeking other other telekinetics so he could work to better control his abilities.

“He resurfaced after and returned to Shadow Operations. There is no report about what he may have been doing during his sabbatical,” Shess continued. “Not long after his return he rejoined Shadow Ops and was named the commanding officer of the *Repulse*. There is also a personal log here that indicates he and Commander Taryn Kane were engaged shortly after his return.”

“This would have been after my service with Taryn Kane’s mercenary program and during one of my many alcoholic benders.” The Scot quietly noted.

“It would have.” Shess conceded. “Which explains why you were not aware of Dark’s activity. Of course, our use of the archives rarely focused on Starfleet’s hierarchical command structure, so it was unlikely we would have been looking for Dark either.”

“What else have you found?” McCulloch inquired.

A female Bajoran named Wenn Hikri continued. “We were able to access declassified casualty reports from the *Repulse*that indicated Dark and most of his crew died on a mission in the Kazis system. Including Commander Kane. According to the files, Dark sacrificed himself to get the last survivor of the conference off *Repulse*…Federation Councilman Aaron Gant.”

McCulloch shook his head, “The same Councilman Gant who about one year later won the presidency of the Federation?”

Wenn nodded. “The same. Also the same President Gant who oversaw the dissolution of Section 31 and Shadow Operations as one of his first acts as president.”

“Wenn, do you think Starfleet is dealing with a clone of Dark?” The Scot asked with concern.

“I don’t think so. Another declassified report I stumbled across suggested that at the time just before Dark’s death, his ability with nanites had increased exponentially.” The Bajoran responded before trailing off.

“And?” Shess demanded.

“Based upon the limited intelligence reports I was able to access, I believe he used nanites to somehow stage his death.” Wenn answered coldly.

McCulloch let the information sink in for a moment. As he recalled, the operative was quite adept at using nanites for healing, strength enhancement and cyber hacking. It appears Dark may have evolved even further.

After a moment of reflection, McCulloch looked at his team. “Do we know where Dark is now?”

“It’s unclear.” Shess reported. “Since Janeway didn’t disclose to you the circumstances surrounding Sorvek’s murder, we are left to mere speculation.”

“Suggested course of action?”  The Scot asked.

“We would recommend communicating with our intelligence sources outside the Federation.” Wenn replied. “I would also recommend we data mine back channels utilized by the Orion Syndicate. We might be able to piece together some information about Jack Dark and his current location.”

McCulloch nodded in the affirmative. “Do it. I’d like to forward whatever we find to Starfleet sooner rather than later. I owe Sorvek that much.”

The Scot and his team rose from their seats and started to leave the conference room. As they did, Shess signaled for McCulloch to stay behind.

Moments later, Sarah entered the room and handed a padd to the Andorian. The Andorian scanned the device and then looked up.

“Will, there was something else we discovered during our analysis of Jack Dark. I would suggest that you sit back down.”

Lt. Cody Beckett & Lt. Daryl Thompson

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2011.03

It was crowded in the transporter room. Lt. Corhees and Ensign Wong had just distributed the last of the EM-based grenades and devices, nicknamed “Dark-devices” by Ensign Wong, to the teams.

“Beckett, Thompson here,“ came Daryl’s voice in his ear. “Probes launched. Telemetry and data are pouring in. I was able to inject several AI hacker units via the probes into tertiary systems of the dreadnought. The Rotarran is preparing the beamover.

“Roger that.” Cody replied. “When we get onboard, I’ll deploy more probes. Speaking about that….did you manage to find a way to get us safely onboard?“

“Working on that. Almost there” Daryl replied. “Opening a channel to the whole team. This is Lt. Thompson. Just a note of precaution to you all...We will piggyback the transporter signals along with Krang and Martock’s signal. However, standard piggybacking won’t work here. The Klingons would just cut off the signal or flush the transporter buffer. I am scattering the transporter signals all over the ship. Also, I need to keep the ACB window open long enough to get you all through. The probes we launched have transporter emitters and small buffers, but not enough to hold you all safely for long. So the transport will take longer as usual as you will be redirected several times. That might feel a bit odd...so be warned. Thompson out.“

“That is reassuring,” Ensign Rolston mumbled to Ensign Grop. “Laying our lives in the hands of Thompson.“

Cody turned around and looked at Rolston. “Shove it, Rolston. Just do your job and shut up. If there’s one man who can pull this off, it’s Thompson.“

Rolston opened his mouth to reply, but a look from Grop, shaking his head slowly, made him stop. With a last angry look ar Rolston, Beckett turned around…

Ensign Tiri Sh’avelith

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2011.03

Tiri stood outside the door to the transporter bay. With as many people as they needed to beam over, she was starting to think they should use the cargo transporters. She was poured into her black polyalloy armor, the helmet currently deactivated. She had a phaser strapped to one hip, a rifle slung over her shoulder and she carried a med-kit over her back.

She accepted the “toys” given to her by Wong and Corhees and attached them to her utility belt where they would be easily accessible.

The Andorian woman then looked to her Shadow Ops colleagues and waited for the word to go…

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2011.04

If Cody’s glare at Rolston was angry, Reepchip’s was as cold as the Thousand Lonely Worlds.  A hint of bared teeth was his only reprimand to the ensign, though if they all survived this, he had in mind to have a word with Rolston.

Ryramorl calmly thanked Daryl for the “toys”, and tucked them right behind his revolver.  Reepchip only had room on his belt for two or three.  The Carnora were ready to go.

Lt. Daryl Thompson

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2011.04

Daryl’s hands flew through the virtual hud swiftly. The probes had gathered enough data for Daryl and currently his AI routines were calculating the optimal routes for the transporter beams. The most risk was in keeping the ACB window open. With the secondary beam-in of the teams, Daryl would send a tight-width polaron beam along, which would keep the ACB window in the shields open for a mere 10 seconds. That would be tight, but should be possible. He hoped the Klingons wouldn’t pay attention to that….As Daryl got confirmation from the AI’s that all was set, he opened a channel to Lazarus.

“Sir. all is ready to beam the teams over along with primary transport of Krang and Martok.”

*IKS Rotarran II*

Rendezvous

Stardate 2011.05

Martok and his aides arrived in the transporter room aboard the flagship *Rotarran*. As they stepped into the room, they saw Krang, dressed in his prisoner uniform, hands shackled to a belt around his waist, ankles chain together so he had to shuffle when he walked. The Klingons knew how dangerous he was…they were taking no chances.

Krang displayed no anger or dismay, only a glorified grin spread across his face. He was getting exactly what he wanted and soon, he knew he’d be back in the company of his son and his clan. Martok looked at him with disgust as his aides surrounded him to make one last plea for him to remain behind.

“Chancellor,” General Kraven said. “You know as well as I do Kre’tok will kill you the minute you arrive on the Chargwh’l. This is suicide.”

“I will not allow my wife to die at the hands of Kre’tok and Krang,” Martok hissed. “My days are at an end. I would rather die in glorious battle than to die in my sleep.”

“You think your death is going to be swift in battle?” Krang laughed from across the room. “My son and I are going to spend hours tearing the flesh from your bones, old man. You will live in agony, one hour for every year I spent in that Federation prison.”

Martok surged past the guards and his aides and slammed the heel of his hand hard into Krang’s face, snapping his head back and causing the old Klingon to stagger back against the bulkhead. Martok stopped himself short of pummeling Krang and stepped back. The white haired former general looked at Martok with blood trailing down from his nose and he cackled.

“Look at you! Like a toothless old targ!” Krang laughed. “Come on, let’s get on with this. I yearn to be among true Klingon warriors again…not Federation lapdogs.”

Martok turned back to Kraven and gave him a cold stare, “Remember. Whoever ascends to the chancellorship, urge them to maintain the alliances our people have sustained all these years. Remind them we would not have beaten the Dominion unless we had all worked together for that common goal.”

Kraven gave Martok a curt nod and then stepped toward him, grasping his hands in a final farewell. As he clutched the chancellor’s hands, he placed a d'k tahg in the older warrior’s hand, his back blocking Krang’s view. Martok felt the blade and recognized the lightweight construction and strange texture of the blade.

He smiled a toothy grin to Kraven and nodded, “I will see you in Sto-vo-Kor my friend. I will be there with a keg of blood wine awaiting your arrival.”

Kraven nodded, “Qapla! May Kahless smile upon you, Martok.”

Martok slipped the blade into the waist of his pants and turned to step up onto the transporter pad. Once in place, Krang was brought up and stood next to him. Once the guards had stepped away, Martok looked to Kraven and nodded.

“As soon as the transporters are linked, energize,” Kraven told the transporter operator. A moment later the console chimed that a link on Lady Sirella was established and the transport began, the simultaneous transfer of Krang and Martok to the dreadnought as Sirella was beamed to Rotarran.

A moment later Martok and Krang were enveloped in the transporter beam and disappeared from the pad, followed immediately by the shape of a Klingon woman which began to take form on the transport pad as a swirling pattern of light…

On the bridge of the *Rotarran*, Commander Vree stood by a Klingon officer who was looking over a holographic display and he turned toward the Trill, “We appear to have Sirella in the transport buffer, she is alive though weakened,” he paused a moment and forced the next words out of his mouth only because Martok had told him to, “What are your orders, Commander?”

Commander Mayla Vree

Bridge, *IKS Rotarran II*

Stardate 2011.07

Mayla was coordinating with the *Resurrection* on the nanoprobe that Thompson had attached to the hull of the Chargwl' to track the ship over subspace when the Rotarran bridge officer asked her for her orders. She suppressed her surprise and walked over to the Klingon's station.

"Did you scan her pattern thoroughly for any foreign substances as General Kraven ordered?" she asked.

"I am scanning her!” he barked. She could tell he wasn't happy at all deferring to her. The Klingon’s brow furrowed. “I’m detecting a nanite infestation! She is carrying a nest of nanites inside her!”

Mayla moved in closer, almost pushing the Klingon aside. “Filter them out.”

“I’m working on it…give me time woman!” he growled. Finally, he completed his task and exhaled sharply. “The nanites are purged.”

"What about comparing her pattern with a previously stored pattern?" She now stood behind his chair and looked at the holographic screens he had floating in front of him.

"You can see for yourself." The Klingon grunted halfheartedly and got up from his station.

Mayla took the seat and opened up a new terminal screen in the air. There was no way anyone could make the comparison by eye. Starfleet computers usually did that for them. She immediately opened up a screen in her eyes and pulled the information into her AI with her still having access to the Rotarran's computers. The comparison didn't take long, but the results were surprising, nevertheless.

DNA markers were all the same and didn't indicate any tampering or additions. Even when she applied her identifying markers algorithms from the nanites in her own body as they can be camouflaged to look like the host body's own DNA. There was no indication of any stealth nanites present, but there was one difference in Lady Sirella's physiology from the last time she used the transporter.

"Give me access to her original pattern code," she ordered. The officer hesitated for just a moment and then tapped his way through the computer to bring it up on the screen. She created a side by side comparison on the screen and went to a specific marker that patterned Sirella's brain. All of Legion's operatives had explosive implants in their heads. She needed to see if they had implanted something similar in her.

Fortunately, there wasn't. Most of the patterns were the same as brain patterns usually change due to constant memories being created. No nanite traps or implants. Her AI ran through the rest of her body and didn't indicate anything except for a large piece of data in her abdomen that wasn't the same.

Sirella was pregnant.

Whether Martok or any of this crew knew, she wasn't going to reveal that to anyone. It wasn't her place. Maybe this was why Martok was willing to sacrifice his life for the safety of his wife who was bearing his child. She wondered briefly if Kre'tok knew about the pregnancy.

The Klingon officer watched her as she scrolled through the pattern buffer slightly amazed at the young Trill woman, not knowing that her personal AI in her head had done all the work. In her eyes, she looked at the Rotarran's virtual tactical battlespace arena Klingons used and saw the actual list of ships that had accompanied them. Despite the fact Martok told them only two Vor’cha-class ships were coming along, there were also three bird of preys prowling around them under cloak. She briefly looked at the orders and saw it was General Kraven who ordered the additional ships. She got up and relinquished the station back to the Klingon officer whose name she still didn't know.

"Have both the *Y'Tau* and K'Vaknoth decloak behind us," referring to two of the bird of preys. "Transfer the transporter pattern in the buffer over on a tight beam transmission to the Y'Tau and rematerialize her pattern in their sickbay. This will prevent anyone else from detecting any transmission had taken place."

The officer quickly complied as his hands were moving fast with a clear purpose. Mayla continued giving orders.

"Then both are to recloak and the *Y'Tau* is to make way to Qo'nos immediately. They are to run a full body scan on a nano level, just to be sure there is nothing we missed, and attend to any wounds she's received as soon as possible. I want status reports on her condition every 10 minutes on an encrypted channel." Her rapid fire orders were overheard by General Kraven who walked over.

"Commander," he said suspiciously as she had given orders to two of the bird of preys that not even the Chancellor knew were there. "We should turn our attention on recovering the Chancellor."

"Understood. But the Chancellor's orders were clear, we are to withdraw and allow the *Charghwl'* to leave." She reached down and entered Krang's iridium chip frequency into their computer. "Krang was outfitted with an iridium tracking chip he is unaware of. We can pick it up on the sensors as long as he stays in range." She left out telling them the isolinear tag she had put onto Martok. They didn't need to know about that yet. "Have the *Tor'Vok* keep that signal on their sensors and follow Krang if the *Charghwl'* leaves the area. They are to report their position to us every 10 minutes." Mayla looked at the weapons status of the Vor’cha-class ship. If they had to pursue the *Charghwl'*, having an attack cruiser already there would be helpful. The crew complement would also be large enough to mount a boarding assault if Phoenix Team needed the back up.

"Lady Sirella has transported into the *Y'Tau*'s sickbay," the Klingon officer still seated at his station reported. His tone had changed to a slightly more pleasant, less disgusted Klingon one.

Mayla looked over to Kraven. "She's aboard. Send the signal to *Charghwl'* that transport is complete. And that we're withdrawing."

General Kraven gestured to the comms officer. Mayla opened the subvocal channel to the *Resurrection*. "Havoc, One. Lady Sirella is safely aboard and away. Statrep on the away mission?"

Back to top

## S3, E1, Act 4: Battle for the *Charghwl'* Begins

William McCulloch

New Paisley, Caldos Colony

Stardate 2011.06

The Scot and his team rose from their seats and started to leave the conference room. As they did, Shess signaled for McCulloch to stay behind.

Moments later, Sarah entered the room and handed a padd to the Andorian. The Andorian scanned the device and then looked up.

“Will, there was something else we discovered during our analysis of Jack Dark. I would suggest that you sit back down.

“What’s going on?” McCulloch cautiously asked Sarah and Shess as he sat back down into his leather chair.

Sarah quickly strode over to a nearby bar, poured a glass of whiskey and brought it over to the Scot. She placed it on the table before him and looked directly at him.

“Will, I think you are going to need this.”

Shess and Sarah both sat down across from McCulloch. The Andorian exhaled and then broke the tense silence.

“Will, I just made a few comments about Taryn Kane regarding her status. I have to admit I am somewhat surprised at your … professional… reaction to this news.”

The Scot paused for a moment, looked away from Sarah and Shess in embarrassment and fought back tears. He was trying desperately to digest what had just been reported to him. His understanding about Kane’s demise has just been shattered. “I didn’t want the other members of the team to see me break down.”

“It was an impressive bluff Will.” Shess conceded before continuing. “Why don’t you tell me about Taryn Kane.”

McCulloch cocked his head slightly to the side in confusion. He visibly struggled not to break down. “Taryn Kane? What would you like me to tell you?”

“Tell me what you know about her death.” Shess asked.

“You mean disappearance.” McCulloch instinctively corrected the Andorian.

“Very well, disappearance.” Sarah retorted. “What did you know prior to what was said today?”

The Scot sadly sighed at the thought of having to recount what he had believed was his love interest’s demise.

“It was probably about a month after our mercenary operations unit was disbanded by Starfleet. Taryn was to be transferred to Deep Space Nine for a command assignment. Both Sorvek and Taryn tried to get permission for me to go with her but Starfleet denied the request.”

“What were you told regarding the circumstances of her disappearance?” Shess prodded.

McCulloch paused for a moment as he recalled walking Taryn to the transport ship and kissing her goodbye. She had tearfully promised it would only be a brief separation and she would find a way for the pair to be reunited.

“Taryn entered the shuttle and I never saw her again.” The Scot sadly declared. “I was contacted two days later by Sorvek. He told me the transport ship experienced a significant power failure near DS9, drifted into the Bajoran Wormhole and was never heard from again. All lives on board were presumed lost.”

Shess and Sarah looked at each other with concern.

After a brief pause, Shess spoke as he passed a padd across the conference room table to McCulloch “Will, here are the declassified Starfleet reports that state Taryn Kane did not perish on board that transport as you believed. Instead she returned the Repulse. I thought it was only fair that you see these documents with your own eyes.”

As he read the declassified reports and stared at Taryn’s file image, the Scot felt as if he had just been punched in the gut. He turned pale and felt his breath shorten. He tossed the padd aside and simply gaped at Shess and Sarah for several seconds.

McCulloch’s mind raced. *Why had she never tried to contact him? Was the separation her idea? After all this time why didn’t Sorvek tell him the truth?*

“Will, I also told you that at some point after Taryn’s return to the *Repulse,* it appears she once again became romantically involved with Dark.” Shess stated softly as he avoided eye contact with his employer. “How are you handling that revelation?”

McCulloch felt nauseous and lightheaded as he contemplated Jack Dark and Taryn Kane resuming their relationship.

“Why are you asking me these things?” The Scot defensively asked.

“Because we need to know your state of mind before moving forward with the Sorvek matter.” Sarah interjected.

After a tense moment of silence, the Scot simply broke.

“Oh God!” McCulloch cried out in despair as he lowered his head to the conference room table and started to sob. As he tried to suppress the wave of emotions he was feeling...anger, betrayal, sadness and despair… he sat back up, wiped his eyes, seized the glass of whiskey and quickly downed it. He gestured for Sarah to pour him another glass.  After she did, he turned his attention back towards the Andorian.

“She was alive and returned to Dark?” He roared as tears rolled down his cheeks. “She went back to that manipulative, psychotic son of a bitch?”

Shess simply nodded in the affirmative.

“Are we sure she is dead? I mean if Dark staged his own death, maybe he staged Taryn’s?” McCulloch desperately asked. “Maybe she is alive and he’s manipulating her with those damn nanites.”

“According to the declassified reports as well as the opinion of your science analyst, there is no evidence of that.” Sarah calmly replied.

“Shess?” Will asked, hoping for a different answer.

“Taryn Kane is dead Will.” The Andorian answered. “Sarah and I have seen the declassified casualty reports, watched the memorial service for the crew of the *Repulse* and viewed the probate claim filed by her nephew on behalf of her estate. There is no scenario where Taryn survived.”

“Leave me.” McCulloch coldly stated before downing another glass of whiskey.

*IKS Chargwhl'*

Enroute to Rendezvous

Stardate 2011.07

Two hours before the exchange…

Jack Dark entered the brig aboard the dreadnought *Chargwhl'* and found a couple of medics tending to Lady Sirella while two guards looked on. The older Klingon woman looked weary, one of her eyes blackened and swollen, while a swollen, split lip was beginning to improve under the attention of a dermal generator.

The Iomqa’ Clan lieutenant assigned to oversee Sirella was H’rak, son of Rohk. Dark approached him and smiled, “Is she going to be all right for the exchange?”

“She’ll be fine,” H’rak smirked. “What do you want here?”

“I’ve just come too see how Lady Sirella is doing,” Jack offered. “May I have a moment with her?”

H’rak frowned, “Why? Lord Kre’tok said nothing about you speaking to the prisoner.”

“Aren’t we allies here?” Dark countered. “I’d just like to speak to her for a moment. I’m not going to hurt her or help her escape.”

The Klingon grumbled under his breath. “Very well. Five minutes.”

H’rak and thee medics turned and exited the cell, leaving Jack Dark with the Klingon woman. Dark sat down beside her and offered a smile, “It appears you haven’t been treated very well. I’m sorry.”

“What does it matter? These animals know nothing of respect or civility,” Sirella scoffed. “And why should you care, you are aligned with them, are you not?”

“I am,” he nodded. “Still, having you beaten…there’s no excuse for that. I’m sorry.”

“What is it you want?” Sirella asked, suspiciously.

“You’ll be returning to your people soon,” he said. “I have a feeling my people will be at the exchange site. I wish to impart something with you to send back, but I feel badly that it is something you will most likely be unwilling to return with.”

Sirella’s face formed a scowl, “What are you talking about?”

He reached over and placed a hand on her stomach and she recoiled, nearly drawing back to swipe at Dark, but she stopped and uttered a gasp. Dark appeared to be concentrating as he held his hand firmly on her abdomen, then his gaze met hers.

“Tell them this…I am truly sorry for the death of Sorvek and for the other deaths and destruction I have caused. Tell them what I have imparted upon you, Lady Sirella, is the collective of everything I am, what I have learned and what I had hoped to one day become,” Dark told the Klingon woman. “I only wanted to make this universe a better place. Perhaps this gift will be the contribution I’d hoped to make.”

He pulled his hand back from Sirella and she looked at him strangely, then slowly closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. He helped her onto the bunk and then stood and left the cell, leaving her to rest prior to the upcoming rendezvous.

Lady Sirella

Aboard the *IKS Y'Tau*

Stardate 2011.08

Doctor Kresh aboard the *Y'Tau* had to run the scans twice to be absolutely sure.

“Impossible!” Kresh balked. He looked over the readings again. “K’van, what is Lady Sirella’s age again?”

“She is 68, doctor,” the medical assistant barked from his console. “Her medical records indicate she was diagnosed with menopause 17 years ago by the Chancellor’s physician on Qo’noS.”

Sirella looked around from the biobed, confused. “You’re saying…I’m with child?”

Kresh appeared flabbergasted, but then slowly he nodded, “Indeed, Lady Sirella. You are at least three months along. But according to medical records you long ago reached the Age of…”

“I’m aware, doctor!” she snapped.

“Dr. Kresh,” K’van said. “Transporter logs from her last transport have been sent by Qo’noS. Two weeks ago she was not with child.”

Kresh and Sirella looked at one another, both dismayed. She finally took in a deep breath and asked, “I-Is it Klingon?”

The doctor sighed, “It shows Klingon DNA, but the child is a hybrid with something else, a race I am unfamiliar with. It also shows the fetus is developing at an abnormal rate. You will give birth in a matter of an hour…maybe two at most.”

K’van stepped up and appeared to have a very rigid look upon his face, “Doctor, Lady Sirella, we must consider this to be some sort of alien being gestating inside you. It should be removed and destroyed, immediately.”

Kresh appeared like he was going to agree, but Sirella suddenly drew her blade and shoved it up to K’van’s throat. “You will do no such thing! The child is mine, no matter where it came from, I am carrying it and it has Klingon DNA. That’s all I need to know.”

“As you wish, milady,” Kresh bowed. He gave K’van a stern look and the Klingon medical assistant stepped back.

Kresh looked to K’van. “Tend to Sirella’s other needs. I will be back momentarily.”

The doctor then stepped into his office and activated the comm, “This is Dr. Kresh aboard the *Y'Tau*, get me Commander Vree and General Kraven…it is urgent.”

Commander Mayla Vree

War room, *IKS Rotarran II*

Stardate 2011.08

"That is not possible," Kraven said after he listened to the doctor on the *Y'Tau*. "Lady Sirella has already-"

"Yes, yes, I know." Kresh interrupted impatiently on the large screen inside the privacy of the General's war room. "She has already gone through menopause and is incapable of producing any more offspring. But the scans show she is with child. It's abnormal growth rate leads me to believe it is not naturally conceived."

Mayla already had the scans from the *Y'Tau* in her eyes and looked at the transporter buffer again. It finalized the fact that she was already pregnant before transport, so they didn't perform any sort of manipulation while she was in transport. Kre'tok could have done this to try to further his line and add to insult to Martok's rule. She analyzed the DNA from the growing fetus and it had genetic markers in it as a hybrid. Quickly, she ran a simulation of a genetic joining of the one and only person she could think of who may have been able to do this. And there was a match. Frell.

"Doctor," Mayla interrupted with a hand. "Did Lady Sirella say who did this to her?"

"I did not ask. I wanted to contact you first before-" He suddenly stopped as there was a commotion behind him. Sirella was yelling.

"Is that my husband? Where is he? Why isn't he here!?" She yelled with so much authority as if she was high chancellor of the Klingon Empire.

The monitor turned to show her lying on the medical bed. The doctor rushed over. "Get me a sedative!"

"You will do nothing of the sort!" Sirella yelled. Then saw who was on the screen. "Kraven, where is my husband?" she demanded loudly.

The Klingon general of the Chancellor's flagship didn't cringe nor shrink from the tone. "He is currently in a meeting at the moment. I'm sure he will attend you as soon as-"

"Who is that with you?"

Kraven made a face and gestured to Mayla. "Commander Mayla Vree of Starfleet."

"Lady Sirella." Mayla took a small step forward and bowed. "Chancellor Martok assigned my presence as a Starfleet liaison to assist with your safe return."

Her eyes became unfocused and then closed. "He gave me a message to give to you." She then spoke as if reciting from memory. "I am truly sorry for the death of Sorvek and for the other deaths and destruction I have caused. Tell them what I have imparted upon you, Lady Sirella, is the collective of everything I am, what I have learned and what I had hoped to one day become. I only wanted to make this universe a better place. Perhaps this gift will be the contribution I’d hoped to make." Her eyes opened and she calmed down into a sleep.

Mayla quickly opened a channel to the Resurrection. "Havoc, One. Be advised, I have confirmation that Jack Dark is on board the *Charghwl'*. I repeat, Jack Dark is on board the *Charghwl'.*"

"One, Havoc, message received. We are relaying." The Resurrection responded quickly.

Then she opened a private channel to Lazarus. "Leader, One. I'm sending you a copy of a message Dark just sent to us through Sirella. It seems he has impregnated her with a hybrid of some part of himself and her. The fetus is developing at an abnormal rate and will be born in a few hours at most. That's what the message means by leaving what he is in her."

"What the frell?" was Lazarus' response. "Dark just doesn't let up."

General Kraven tapped her on the shoulder. "What do you suggest we do with the child?"

Doctor Kesh was still on the screen. "Lady Sirella was adamant about keeping the child if any part of it was Klingon. And our genetic scans show that it is. It is the other parts we are uncertain of."

"I need to talk to her," Mayla said to the Klingon doctor, but kept the channel open with Lazarus.

Kresh walked over to Sirella's bedside and shook her awake. "Lady Sirella, someone wants to talk with you."

She groaned with discomfort with her internal organs and bones being pushed aside as the fetus continued to grow inside her at an unnatural rate. "My husband?"

"No, Lady Sirella. It's Mayla Vree."

"What do you want, Starfleet?"

Mayla told her everything about Jack Dark and Legion's goals; minus the existence of Shadow Operations. She described the man Sirella was able to confirm as the one who impregnated her. She told her what the man could do and what the child growing inside of her was capable of if it was any part of the man. Kraven and the doctor also listened closely as everything was revealed and how far reaching Legion was and the technology Dark held.

After she was finished, there was a minute of silence. A tone over her subvocal told her that Phoenix Team's away mission had commenced. In a few status screens in her eyes, she could monitor the Rotarran and what was going on on the bridge.

Sirella's face turned hard. "What would you have me do?"

"I cannot tell you. I can only give you all the information that I have about the man who did this to you, and what the other half of that fetus could be. It is your decision what is to be done with the baby." Mayla said with a tone of neutrality.

"Milady," Kraven said. "Whatever might be born, it will never be accepted into Klingon society. It will never have the recognition nor respect of the House of Martok. Is that how you wish your offspring to grow up and live? To go through that prejudice, discrimination, and ridicule? Where is the honor in that?"

Sirella's head began to sway from side to side. "I cannot kill my own flesh and blood; my child. Where is the honor in killing an innocent child? But what kind of life will it have?"

"Not a warrior's life," Kraven said. "Batlh gha'H," he stated. Life with no honor.

"Tell her to give the child to us," Lazarus' voice suddenly came over the subvoc.

Mayla's eyes suddenly showed surprise. "What?"

"Just tell her."

"I hope you know what you're doing," she responded with. Then outloud to Sirella. "jI'Qamta'H vI'S qo'noS'Daq jI'chegh," she said slowly and clearly.

Both Kraven and Kresh looked at her, then at Sirella. She stared at Mayla in return, surprised at her usage of Klingon.

"Pagh qogh dajatlh'bogh but'lh hajmo'Hbogh bIquvHa'qang'a'?" She said with a suspicious but earnest tone. On your honor you will protect the child?

Mayla had to think carefully of a response for a few moments as it may have profound consequences if something were to happen to the child under Federation protection. But what was Lazarus thinking of offering to take the child off their hands? This was breaking new ground with unforeseeable future events.

"I have been ordered by my commanding officer to make the offer to take the child to the Federation. As a Starfleet officer, I am bound by rules and regulations to relay that message. On a personal level of honor and respect for the great House of Martok, I will protect the child the best I can, whenever I can."

"Simple and empty words, Commander." She said, scoffing at the hollow promise.

"Milady," Kraven interjected. "Chancellor Martok gave her yu' chora'Q. He must have some trust in this Starfleet officer." He said with nearly a sneer that the Chancellor gave her the authority of an honorary command and advisor to the office of the high chancellor; if only temporary.

Two Klingons and a Trill awaited her decision….

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

*IKS Chargwhl'*

Stardate 2011.09

As the team materialized on the *ChargwhI',* Ryramorl found himself agreeing--partially--with Reepchip; even at a glance he could see that this would be a fine ship to bring home.  But it would be like bringing a wild and bawling horghenhar calf into a camp--as the mother would stop at nothing to retrieve her offspring (and would destroy the camp in the process in her rage), the Empire would do likewise to retrieve their ship--that, and Admiral MacLeod would have a fit if the two tried.

He looked at Jahkar, awaiting his orders.

Colonel Jahkar

*IKS Chargwhl'*

Stardate 2011.10

Chalk One materialized in the lower decks of the dreadnought, the team wearing armor and cloaking generators. Jahakr gave the command for the team to move out, headed toward its destination in engineering. On the way, Resurrection relayed two important messages...one, that Sirella was successfully beamed back to the Klingons and two, Jack Dark was aboard the *Chargwhl'*.

Jahkar felt his adrenaline surge at the news. Once the information had been conveyed to the Chalk teams, he opened a subvocal channel to Chalk Two.

“Chalk Two, this is Phoenix 3,” Jahkar announced. “With the target safe, coordinate with Chalk Four to locate and retrieve the chancellor.”

“Acknowledged,” Rallius’ voice replied. That meant they would try to locate and extract Martok now, since Sirella was safe.

“Roger that,” said Beckett.

They continued along dimly lit, unoccupied corridors through the dreadnought. If this ship had been with its full complement, there would be Klingon warriors everywhere, but instead in these unused decks of the ship, there was nothing to encounter...nothing to get in the way.

“Twenty-five meters ahead there is an access point into a maintenance shaft that will take us up to 15,” Jahkar told his team as they moved silently along the corridor.

He immediately wondered if Ryramorl would fit in the shaft, but it was too late now to sweat it. Maintenance shafts on Klingon ships were bigger than standard Starfleet vessels -- so with all due luck the big Carnora would be able to make the 10 deck climb.

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

*IKS Chargwhl'*

Stardate 2011.13

Reepchip was the first up the shaft, scaling it with the ease of a squirrel up a tree.  Before long, he was out of sight.  A few moments later, he climbed back into sight and tentatively tried to joke.

“You big people really can’t climb, can you?”  he said softly, hanging from a rung by his feet.

Ryramorl sighed inwardly.  Trust a Muran to show off his climbing skills.  He was the last in the group; the shaft was a squeeze for him, but not unmanageable.  He was grateful that he wasn’t wearing his Carnoric Armour, otherwise he’d be screwed.

Colonel Jahkar

*IKS Charghwl'*

Stardate 2011.10

Jahkar led his Chalk to deck 15. When they reached the deck in question, Reepchip was the first through the hatch and he signaled back that everything was clear. The rest of the team made it up to his location and found themselves in a maintenance corridor off engineering.

Once they were all up and in place, Jahkar moved to the door and deployed a nanoprobe to skirt between the door panels and check out the area beyond.

He confirmed they were in a corridor directly outside main engineering. There was activity in the corridor, Klingons walking back and forth, going to and from the engineering compartment. Two warriors were posted about 10 meters from the door, standing guard outside the door to main engineering.

Jahkar gave the others a hand-signal advising them to be ready to move. Crouching by the door, he reached up and tapped the opening button, causing the door to slide open. He then motioned to Ryramorl and Reepchip to go out the door and deal with whatever was to the left, while he and Ensign Auriak took the right – which was where the two warriors were posted.

When they were ready, he gave the hand signal to go and the four came out, weapons leveled, ready to engage….

Lt. Cody Beckett

*IKS Chargwhl'*

Stardate 2011.10

Chalk Four materialized in the midsection of the dreadnought, deck 39. The transport indeed took a hell of a lot longer than normal. The corridor was dimly lit and empty. Immediately Beckett released a nanoprobe to scan the surroundings. It was quiet, no alarms, and no horde of bloodthirsty, raging Klingons closing in. Yet. In his field of view, two messages from Jahkar appeared: Lady Sirella had been successfully beamed over, and Jack Dark was on the ship. That meant that, together with Chalk Two, they would start searching for Martok.

Cody took a deep breath before he spoke. “Sellar, Vorak, keep an eye out while I fix access for Thompson.”

“Aye sir," was the short response of both officers. Beckett checked the telemetry of the probe to find a suitable ODN circuitry to hack for Thompson. Within seconds, he got what he needed, and walked towards a panel, which he grabbed on both sides. He pulled softly, and the magnetic clamps that held the panel opened with a soft click. Setting the panel aside, Beckett’s eyepiece quickly scanned the systems that were revealed. He found what he was looking for and quickly grabbed his toolkit to create a bypass in three places. Each bypass was connected to a blackish ODN processor. Cody worked quickly and the job was done within a few minutes.

“Phoenix 9 to Phoenix 5,” Beckett stated.

“Phoenix 5 here. “

“I created the bypasses. You should be able to get into their systems now, as long as they don’t find the bypasses” Beckett replied, as he moved back the panel.

“Awesome work Phoenix 9. Connecting now…standby”

Beckett checked if the panel had been reseated correctly and nodded.

“I can give you a few more access points. We will make our way to Martok now. When I get the chance I will place some more ODN relays for you. Phoenix 9 out”

Cody looked at his armpadd, and saw that the Chancellor’s signal was moving. “Let’s move and close in on the signal. “ he said to Sellar and Vorak. Carefully, they moved along through the corridor….

Ensign Tiri Sh’avelith

Commander T’Aayla Raillius

*IKS Charghwl'*

Stardate 2011.10

Raillius and her Chalk listened to the transmission from Jahkar and the half-Romulan nodded, “Acknowledged, Phoenix Three. Phoenix Two out.”

Raillius looked to Tiri and the rest of the Chalk, “New orders. Ensign, do you have a lock on the chancellor?”

Tiri consulted the HUD inside her helmet visor. “Tricorder has him on deck five, in transporter room one. The tracking device is working and is fully functional.”

T’Aayla grimaced. Sirella was off the ship and Martok was here...and likely surrounded by many Klingon warriors. She pondered what to do.

“Let’s continue heading forward toward the bow,” Raillius said. “Try and put ourselves directly below Martok and then work out way up several decks.”

Tiri nodded, “That will put us closer to him in case we need to go after him directly.”

“He can likely be extracted by transporter,” said Raillius. “But we’ll be in place in case we have to go get him.”

The team moved along, navigating the corridors of the dreadnought, hoping they wouldn’t encounter any resistance on these lower decks of the ship.

William McCulloch

New Paisley, Caldos Colony

Stardate 2011.10

McCulloch’s head felt as if a large railway spike had been driven through his temple. His stomach was sour and his body shook.

He always hated hang-overs.

The last thing he remembered was downing his 4th or 5th glass of whiskey and then slumping to the floor of the conference room to black out. It took him only a few moments to recall why he went on his drinking binge - Jack Dark, Admiral Sorvek and Taryn Kane.

He felt a wave of sadness and anger wash over him. He could not, under any circumstances, comprehend why Taryn did what she did. *Was she ordered to abandon him? Was it her idea? Did she do it to reunite with Dark?*

McCulloch slowly pulled himself up and sat in his bed. He looked around and blinked painfully. His stomach gurgled and his mouth soured as bile crept up his throat. He steeled himself, loudly exhaled and then slowly slumped back down into his bed.

As he wallowed in self pity and stared at the bedroom ceiling, Sarah Pickering entered the room. The previous evening she and two junior associates helped carry the Scot back to his home located across the loch from Inverness corporate headquarters.

His executive assistant scowled in disappointment before touching a keypad next to a large bay window. The windows brightened and natural, morning light swept into the room. McCulloch yelped in pain before cursing at Sarah and rolling over in his bed.

Sarah ignored his diatribe, walked over to the bed, hoisted a pillow over her head and whacked Will in the head as hard as she could.

“Get up!” She barked. “You have a company to run.”

McCulloch looked up and growled at Sarah.

He had hired the executive assistant almost seven years ago when he launched Inverness. At the time, McCulloch was in need of an assistant and was contacted by Kathleen Fraser, a childhood friend and Major in Starfleet’s Marine Corps.  According to Fraser, a bunkmate in Marine Ops Force Alpha, Amanda “Ducky” Düklinqik-Pickering, had a sister-in-law that was seeking employment and would be a good fit for his needs.  After a series of interviews and full disclosure of McCulloch’s personal history, Sarah quickly accepted the position.

As the years passed, Sarah quickly established herself as the backbone of Inverness. She was a consummate professional with clients, charmed government officials, managed the company’s staff with brutal efficiency and carefully guarded Inverness’ innermost secrets.

In short, William McCulloch needed Sarah Pickering and she knew it. He slowly sat back up, swung his legs to the side of the bed, stood up and immediately vomited.

“Oh for God’s sake Will.” Sarah exclaimed. “I am not cleaning that mess up. That is not in my job description.”

Will nodded silently and started to softly sob as he thought of Taryn. *Why? Why did she abandon him?*Sarah clicked her tongue and shook her head in disagreement.

“C’mon Will. You need to get cleaned up and figure out what you are going to do. Feeling sorry for yourself is not going to help. I let you get drunk last night because you just got hit with some pretty shitty news. But you need to move on and decide what you are going to do next.”

“We’re not doing anything.” McCulloch muttered as he looked around at his own vomit on the floor. “What we discussed yesterday regarding Sorvek and Kane is over. Inverness is moving on to other matters.”

Pickering eyed the Scot for a moment and then shrugged her shoulders. She walked over to a dresser drawer, pulled it open and tossed a towel at him. “Clean yourself up Will. I’ll be waiting with Shess and Wenn in the kitchen.”

Almost an hour later McCulloch emerged dressed for the day. He was still hung over and in a foul mood. He glanced briefly at the trio assembled in his kitchen before retrieving a glass of whiskey from a nearby bar.

“Oh for crying out loud.” Sarah muttered. “Will, at least mix that with some orange juice or something. We need to have a serious discussion.”

“Well, speak quickly, I have important business with this bar today.” McCulloch responded as he gestured towards the several bottles of alcohol nearby.

“Will, we don’t have a complete picture of Sorvek’s death and we certainly don’t have a firm understanding behind Taryn Kane’s disappearance years ago.” Shess announced.

“No longer my problem.” McCulloch responded sullenly.

“Will, please listen.” Sarah pleaded. “We think Starfleet Intelligence owes you an explanation. There has to be more to this story than simply Taryn Kane leaving you in the lurch and faking her death. Sorvek had some role in this and there has to be some record explaining why this was done.”

“And you think Starfleet is simply going to hand that over to me? To us?”

“They will when we show them this.” Wenn responded as she held up a padd.

McCulloch eyed the Bajoran for a moment before gesturing to hand him the padd. As the Scot started to scan the data on the device, Shess spoke.

“We were right to monitor Orion Syndicate back channels. We mined significant chatter from the past month about Legion, Sorvek and...nanites.”

“Nanites?” McCulloch asked with a slight tone of surprise.

“It appears that the Syndicate is not a fan of Mr. Dark or his pets either. Apparently he’s used his talents with nanites to cheat the criminal enterprise one too many times.” Shess replied. “When we cross referenced all the chatter and data we recovered, we found three possible locations where Dark could have gone to hone and improve his command over these little monsters.”

“Well?” McCulloch demanded as he topped off his glass with more alcohol.

“One was inside Federation space, but as far as we can tell the site no longer exists. The other two are outside of Federation territory.”

“It’s a lead that could generate a trail to Dark.” Wenn interjected. “We don’t think Starfleet has this information yet.”

“Will, they would have to give you something on Taryn and Sorvek in exchange for this information.” Sarah argued.

The Scot studied his senior team momentarily before putting the padd down. He was slightly humbled by their loyalty. But he also recognized the futility of the effort. There was no way Starfleet was going to give him the closure his team so desperately wanted for him.

“No. It’s over.” McCulloch softly announced as he sipped his whiskey.

There was an awkward, momentary silence. Wenn eventually cleared her throat and addressed the Scot. “Will, we disagree. This is an opportunity for you and for Inverness.”

“Ah, there we go!” McCulloch exclaimed, growing slightly annoyed. “This idea of approaching Starfleet isn’t for my closure, it’s for profit!”

“Of course it is.” Shess answered matter-of-factly. “But our motives are secondary to your well being. Will, you are entitled to answers.”

“Will,” Sarah continued. “The circumstances of Taryn’s ‘disappearance’, Sorvek’s actions of helping you get back on your feet and his subsequent dealings with you and Inverness all don’t add up. There has to be a bigger picture.”

McCulloch contemplated what his team asserted before speaking. “Or, they could be completely separate and unrelated matters. Perhaps Sorvek deemed it best to keep me away from Taryn and out of the picture for as long as possible.”

“It could be.” Shess conceded. “But do you want to spend the rest of your life second guessing what the answer could be?”

After several moments of silent contemplation, the Scot finally nodded in agreement. “What do you propose?”

A mischievous grin spread across Sarah’s face. “Road trip.”

Transporter Room One

*IKS Chargwhl'*

Stardate 2011.10

Kre’tok stood with the transporter operator and two warriors who were armed with disruptors as the patterns of Krang and Martok began to materialize on the pad. The transporter tech had been instructed to check Martok for weapons, tracking devices and communications equipment and to disable anything in transport.

The superior Shadow Ops technology used in the tracking device Mayla had attached to Martok had prevented its detection during transport. The scan revealed nothing else, including the stealth composite knife the chancellor had hidden inside the long armored robes he wore. Once the two Klingons were standing on the pad, Krang let out a roar of delight upon seeing his son.

“You did it, Kre’tok!” Krang bellowed. “I’m free!”

Kre’tok smiled and glanced to the guards, completely unaware of what was about to happen, “Seize the chancellor and take him to the brig.”

Martok suddenly produced the matte black d t’kagh and with a wicked grin proclaimed, “Yes, Krang, you truly are free!” He swung the blade and drove it deep into the unprotected chest of Krang, piercing between his ribs and driving straight through the artificial heart the Federation had given him.

“NOOOOOO!” Kre’tok roared, charging forward with the two warriors. The guards went to tackle Martok, who slashed the first one on him and gashed his throat open, killing him on the spot. The second warrior lunged over the body of the first and tackled Martok, slamming him hard against the bulkhead and jarring the weapon from the chancellor’s hand.

Kre’tok reached Krang and knelt beside him, recognizing immediately his dire condition. The knife was buried hilt deep in his chest. Blood gushed from around the wound and the life had begun to fade rapidly from the old man’s face.

“…n-not…supposed to…happen…like…t-this!” Krang managed to say as the guard wrestled nearby with Martok. Kre’tok took his father’s head and held it up off the floor as he looked around frantically to see what was going on.

“Medical emergency, transporter room one!” Kre’tok announced, tapping his communicator. “Hurry!”

The guard and Martok struggled, until the warrior was finally able to beat him down and knocked him unconscious. As he wearily got to his feet, he looked over at Kre’tok and Krang and saw the general’s blank stare.

“My lord,” the warrior said. “Your father…is dead.”

Kre’tok looked at his father’s face and he shook his head, “No! This can’t be! Why didn’t you detect the knife in transport?”

The transporter operator, still at his post, looked around bewildered. “There was nothing in the scan. Nothing my lord.”

Kre’tok reached to his father’s face and peeled open his eyes so the corpse was looking straight up, then a low growl began deep in Kre’tok’s chest. He looked up and a loud roar came from his mouth as he warned the other Klingons in Sto-vo-Kor that General Krang was on his way to join them.

When he was done, Kre’tok looked to the warrior who had subdued Martok and he gave a repulsed look at the unconscious chancellor. “Bring him! I’m going to let my hounds tear him apart for what he’s done.”

Joined by the transporter operator, the guard lifted Martok from the floor and they began to drag him away as the team of medics arrived…too late to save the fallen general.

Chalk Five

*IKS Chargwhl'*

Stardate 2011.13

Lt. Jason Kapello, Lt. Earl Stone and Ensign Aurelia Sentaa materialized in one of the smaller cargo bays on deck 19. 4 Klingons where hauling some crates on the other side of the bay. The three crouched quickly behind the crates they materialized besides.

“Now what? “Stone muttered under his breathe to the others. “Easy does it” Kapello replied. “Now be quiet before we blow our cover.”

The Klingons continued their business under loud swearing now and then, until the crates where hauled of the maglev trolley and they disappeared through the large entrance door.

Kapello exhaled and checked the readings of the tricorder. The Klingons were moving away. He looked for the fastest way to get to deck 23 and nodded with satisfaction when the PADD showed a map within seconds.

“Let’s go” Kapello said, as he got up and started moving towards the smaller personal entrance of the cargo bay. Stone and Sentaa swiftly followed. The door swooshed open, revealing a large corridor. Even though the tricorder readings didn’t show any lifesigns nearby, they were careful and peeked around the corner of the door into the corridor before moving on. They approached an intersection, and after checking the vicinity to be clear, they moved on. Some 20 meters after the intersection, Kapello hand signaled to stop. He slung the rifle he held over his shoulder and started tapping on the console in front of him. Besides the console, a hatch opened, revealing a maintenance tube, going up and down.

Sentaa looked up and down, slung also the rifle over her shoulder, grabbed the ladder and started climbing down. Stone quickly followed. Kapello was last, and just as the hatch had closed again, two Klingons showed up around the corner of the intersection, both their weapons drawn “I heard something here” one of them said. The other scoffed. “You are seeing ghosts. There is no one here. Let’s go” and he moved on already. The Klingon walked forward a few steps, to reassure there really was no one, then he grunted, holstered his weapon, and moved after his fellow officer.

In the meantime, Chalk 5 team had climbed down two decks already. In between deck 22 and 23, a lot of maintenance shafts came together in what looked like a small junction room. Carefully, Sentaa moved down and stepped into the junction room. She scanned the environment visually, and hand signaled the other, followed by a soft “Clear”. Then, out of nowhere, a bulky Klingon appeared from the side, and Sentaa was too late to react, as the Klingon punched her on the jaw with his armored fist. Pain flashed through her face, and she felt the crunching sound of bones snapping under the sheer force as she was sent to the other side of the junction room.

Blood splattered around, as the armor pierced through her skin and flesh. She was sent sprawling to the floor and in that split second, Stone and Kapello reacted, shooting the Klingon with their rifles, vapourizing him instantly. Then they helped up their fallen comrade. The side of Sentaa’s face was pretty messed up. Stone grabbed in one of the pockets of his backpack and got the medkit.

Sentaa was moaning, trying to keep her posture as Stone injected her with a hypo against the pain. Then he quickly grabbed a few pieces of regeneration tissue and put it on the side of her face. With a dermal regenerator he was able to patch her up, that at least, she didn’t bleed any more.

Then a Klingon voice growled through the intercom. “What is going on down there? We saw a surge of energy at your position. We are sending a team” Kapello hit the button to reply and yelled back in Klingon “That is not necessary. Everything is under control. I hit a plasma tube with the welding torch but contained it quickly. “

The voice on the other side bellowed some insults, before the comm was cut off. Stone exhaled and looked at Kapello “Your Klingon sounds pretty decent. Well done!” Kapello smiled. “Thanks.” then he looked at Sentaa. “Can you continue? We are almost there. Once we are in  fire control, we can lock ourselves up and wait until we are beamed back” Sentaa looked pale, but nodded. “Just give me a few minutes.”

Kapello nodded. Stone was scanning her with a medical tricorder. “She needs medical attention. The bone around her eye socket is smashed. I’ve given her something to prevent internal bleedings, some painkillers and a boost of adrenaline so she stays on her feet, but let’s make this quick.

Lt. Cody Beckett, Chalk 4

*IKS Charghwl'*

Stardate 2011.13

Cody checked his PADD. The isolinear tag had stopped moving. The Chancellor was on deck 44. The AI automatically mapped the location against the blueprint schematics. It was the brig. It was extra secured. “Great” Cody thought. He passed by another panel, and his AI responded with a short series of augmented flashes in his view, pointing towards a specific panel.

Cody frowned, and moved towards the panel. Checking the data, the systems behind the wall appeared to be secondary systems. Then he figured, and grinned. He grabbed the panel and pulled it away. As he worked to insert the ODN relays for Thompson, more flashes in his view. Someone was moving onto their position. “We are getting company soon” Ensign Vorak said, as he sought for cover. Lt. Sellar did the same. Cody cursed inwardly. Frantically, he continued. He was just putting back the panel, as the door, some 30 meters ahead, slid open. A company of five Klingons passed through, walking towards the three Starfleet officers.

In a split second, Cody activated his personal cloak and the next moment, he was gone. “Stay low” he whispered to his teammates, who were still hiding behind the extensions of the bulkhead. The Klingons came closer but didn’t seem to be aware of anything strange. Vorak and Sellar pushed themselves as far as possible in the corners of the bulkhead. It seemed to work, the Klingons passed, minding their own business.

IKS Charghwl'

Rendezvous with *Rotarran*

Stardate 2011.13

Kre’tok stormed off the turbolift and onto the bridge of the dreadnought. Behind him, two Klingon dragged the struggling form of Chancellor Martok onto the bridge and threw him down on the deck at the fore section of the bridge.

Nearby, Kre’tok’s wolf-like beasts, his Yevolki hunting dogs, sat up and watched the chancellor intently, sensing they were about to be fed.

“Status report?” Kre’tok demanded.

“Rotarran is still sitting there,” the tactical officer reported. “The other ships with them have recloaked.”

Kre’tok sat down in his chair and looked around, “Where is Jack Dark?”

“Wandering the ship last I knew,” one of Kre’tok’s warriors reported. “Shall I get him…”

“No!” Kre’tok barked. Then he smirked, “Battlestations! Raise shields. Arm weapons!”

The red alert klaxon sounded throughout the ship and the lighting turned crimson as Charghwl's weapon systems and shields came to life.

“Hail *Rotarran*!” Kre’tok demanded.

“They are responding,” the tactical officer replied. He brought up the holographic image of Kraven over on Rotarran as his bridge appeared frantic behind him with news of the dreadnought prepping for battle.

“You have what you…” Kraven began.

“Someone armed Martok. He killed my father!” Kre’tok snarled. “First you will watch my Yevolki tear him apart…then I will annihilate you!”

Kre’tok looked to his hunting dogs and with the sweep on his hand, announced: “Kill him!”

Meanwhile…

Jack Dark entered the auxiliary bridge of the *Charghwl'* and looked around, the various consoles and lights coming on as he entered the room. Dark used his nanites to seal the door behind him, then he sat down in the captain’s chair.

Dark smiled as one of his many nanites notified him that a Shadow Operations team was aboard the dreadnought. He acknowledged the report with his mind but made no effort to notify the bridge.

He then began to lock out all the auxiliary bridge access points, controls and functions, blocking computer access using the abilities of his very sophisticated nanites. As soon as the auxiliary bridge was locked out from access by the rest of the ship (and the Shadow Ops team), Dark accessed the ship’s communications array and began to establish access with multiple communications array around the quadrant.

Kre’tok would keep them busy while he set about initiating the Reckoning. Soon, eight years of planning and preparing would finally pay off…

Back to top

## S3, E1, Act 5: Carrying Out Orders

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

*IKS Chargwhl'*

Stardate 2011.13

Reepchip was near Ryramorl’s feet as he and Ryramorl turned to the left.  With Jahkar and Auriak dealing with Klingons to the right, Ryramorl and Reepchip looked to the left.  A Klingon lunged at Ryramorl with his bat’leth, which Ryramorl parried with his rifle.  Reepchip--who had gone unnoticed, sprang onto the Klingon’s back.  A swipe from his claws, and the Klingon’s eyes were destroyed.  At the same time, he ripped the Klingon’s throat wide open with his scorpion dagger, before hopping off the falling Klingon’s body.  At the sight of more warriors coming their way, he gave a warning chattering sound, his fur frizzed in fearful aggression.

Colonel Jahkar

*IKS Charghw’l*

Stardate 2011.16

Jahkar and Auriak moved right and rushed the two Klingons guarding the entrance to engineering. Jahkar’s cloak was disrupted as he charged up on the unwitting Klingons and he brought down one of his 'obmaQ hand axes on the head of the first Klingon he encountered. As the dead Klingon sagged back against the wall, Ensign Eula Auriak decloaked and shoved her knife into the chest of her targeted warrior.

The Klingon snarled and backhanded Auriak, then raised his rifle. The young Betazoid staggered back, brought up her own phaser and sent a blast into the Iomqa Clan warrior, bringing him down.

Jahkar was already on the door, using a knife to pop open the panel beneath the door opening keypad, which was currently locked out. Once he had the panel open the marine set to work on trying to bypass the door controls to get inside engineering.

“Ready with stun grenades,” he told the rest of his Chalk team members. “This door opens, put in grenades and wait for them to detonate.”

A moment later he bypassed a couple of isolinear rods and the heavy doors slid open to reveal the engineering room of the mighty dreadnought…

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

*IKS Chargwhl'*

Stardate 2011.17

Ryramorl got his grenade ready.  As soon as the door opened, he threw one in, then positioned himself to shield the small Muran, knowing Reepchip would be more vulnerable to a stun grenade than the others.

Commander Mayla Vree

Bridge, *IKS Rotarran II*

Stardate 2011.17

As the trio waited for Sirella to decide the fate of the child rapidly growing inside her, an alarm from the bridge came over the comm system.

"General, the *Chargwhl'* has powered up weapons!"

"Battle alert!" Kraven immediately responded. "Lady Sirella, we are going into battle. We will finish this conversation later." He turned and left the war room and onto the bridge. Mayla followed him in as she watched alert statuses come in from all over the *Rotarran*.

"*Charghwl'* is hailing us," the comm officer announced.

Kre'tok appeared on the holographic comms in a fit of rage.

“You have what you…” Kraven began.

“Someone armed Martok. He killed my father!” Kre’tok snarled. “First you will watch my Yevolki tear him apart…then I will annihilate you!”

Kre’tok swept his hand to expand the holographic image to include Martok who was on the ground. “Kill him!”

"No! Wait!" Kraven yelled. "We did not arm the Chancellor!"

Mayla immediately gave an order over the subvoc to the Resurrection, hoping Kraven's plea would buy them a few seconds. "Havoc, One. Emergency transport for Martok immediately! Get him off that ship now!"

"One, Havoc, their shields have gone up. Trying to locate their shield harmonic frequency from the nanoprobe." It was the calm voice of Lieutenant Darht.

"You dishonor yourself by lying to me!" Kre'tok bellowed on the bridge. His image warped by some sort of interference. The image rezzed out.

"Shields at full. All weapons ready!" Kraven yelled along with a Klingon battle cry. Then he turned to Mayla. "Tell your people to save the Chancellor."

In her eyes, she saw the Rotarran's sensors picking up massive amounts of comm traffic coming out of the *Charghwl'*. It had used the shields to amplify its signal. She quickly moved over to the comm station.

"What is that?" she pointed to an obscure monitor showing the frequency spectrum around them.

"I don't know. I've never seen anything like that before, even at a subspace hub relay station." A shorter statured Klingon said while tapping other consoles to try to run an analysis. All of the chairs on the bridge were now stowed away into the floor, allowing free movement to any console during battle.

"Havoc, One. Something is going on aboard the *Charghwl'*. It's sending out signals on a wide frequency band not used by Starfleet or the Klingons."

"Our comm systems are having problems staying connected to the Starfleet cloud. They could be trying to jam us." Lazarus said

"Or all of the frequencies are being hijacked," Mayla said as she continued to study the hills and valleys of the signals. "Suggest we try compensating for it, or even jamming it. Something's just not right."

"If you jam it, we lose comms with the away teams."

"We'll lose comms anyway if this signal continues grow. It's increasing in amplitude."

Lazarus hesitated for a moment before making a decision. "Alright, we'll signal Crimson Nova to the team. Do what you can with that signal. Havoc, out."

Mayla pointed at the comms frequency monitor. "We need to jam this signal. Is there anything on this ship that can do that?"

"I don't even know what the source of the signal is," the Klingon officer said.

"It's taking over all the frequencies in this spectrum. Something is happening over there. And from my current experiences, it's probably not anything good." She said simply and then hurried over to Kraven.

"General, it seems the *Charghwl'* is hijacking all of comm frequencies in the spectrum. It's doing something we're not sure what, but we must stop it. In minutes we will lose all communications. The disruption will also prevent phase cloaking and the transporters."

He didn't tear his eyes away from the tactical arena. "What do you suggest, Commander?"

"We need to disable whatever it's doing." Mayla took a breath. "Order all of your fire stations and ships to concentrate fire on the port nacelle to destroy it. If needed, have one of your Bird of Preys ram the *Charghwl'.*"

William McCulloch

New Paisley, Caldos Colony

Stardate 2011.17

Shess Ch'taolnos, Sarah Pickering, Wenn Hikri quickly crossed the landing pad as they advanced towards Inverness’ Raven Class transport, the *SS Kinsale*. William McCulloch trailed about 100 feet behind the trio. He was sporting dark sunglasses, casual attire and carried a large pack in his left hand and glass of alcohol in his right. Behind him, a pair of Inverness employees monitored a pallet with a pair of cargo crates as it glided across the landing pad.

Sarah was the first to reach the *Kinsale* and quickly ascended a set of stairs and passed through the entry hatch. Shess and Wenn quickly followed. When McCulloch reached the same set of stairs he paused, loudly belched, staggered slightly backwards and then slowly ascended towards the hatch.

When he entered the interior of the ship, the Scot observed Shess speaking with the ship’s flight crew. McCulloch turned to his left, found an empty leather chair towards the middle of the cabin and quickly sat down. He took the pack he had been carrying and placed it gently on a nearby table.

Sarah and Wenn watched the Scot as he slowly opened up the case, revealing a case of expensive whiskey, several glasses and an oak cigar box. The Scot pulled out a glass, set it on the table and then retrieved one of the whiskey bottles.

Sarah seethed as she read the Whiskey label - *Pickering Whiskey.*

Sarah Pickering was the youngest sister of Sergeant Major Robert Pickering and the sister-in-law of Lieutenant Amanda “Ducky” Düklinqik-Pickering. The couple served together as part of Marine Ops Force Alpha One. Robert and Ducky became romantically involved, after one Jamie Marcus broke her brother’s heart and chose a Starfleet promotion over him. Sensing an opportunity, Ducky quickly moved on Sarah’s brother. Following a three year courtship, the pair retired from Marine Ops Force Alpha and married.

Since their retirement, the couple have owned and operated a rum and whiskey distillery along the Atlantic Coast in Northern Massachusetts.

“You have to be kidding me.” Sarah hissed as the Scot poured a large glass of whiskey for himself. “It’s bad enough that you are going to be drunk for most of this trip, but you have to do it off of my family’s name?”

“My compliments to your brother and Ducky!” McCulloch retorted as he raised the glass.

“Oh for God’s sake.” Sarah snorted in contempt.

“Hey!” The Scot quickly answered as he swirled the contents of his glass. “This is what got me to agree to this trip and this is what will get me through it.”

“Is everything alright?” Shess inquired as he entered the cabin and looked around.

“Oh, this trip is going to be just lovely.” Wenn whined.

“Tell me Shess,” McCulloch asked as he lit a cigar and blew heavy white smoke into the interior of the cabin, “Where are we off to?”

“Starbase Umbra Three.” Shess replied. “It’s a two-day trip.”

Both Wenn and Sarah groaned and cursed loudly. The Andorian eyed the pair and then continued speaking.

“Umbra Three is a supply and intelligence hub for Starfleet. It would be a good place to start looking for the person we have to speak with.”

“You have a specific person in mind?” Wenn asked with a hint of curiosity.

“William knows who we have to speak with.” Shess calmly replied as he glanced over at the Scot.

McCulloch slumped back into the soft leather chair and took another sip of his whiskey. He swished the contents in his mouth before swallowing the alcohol. Afterward, he reflected in silence for a brief moment before looking up his companions.

“We need to find Vice Admiral Ian MacLeod.” The Scot announced with a thin smile. “He’s the only one who can receive the intelligence we have on Dark and answer my questions about Taryn and Sorvek.”

“Will he speak with us?” Sarah asked.

“After he shoves his fist up my arse and pulls my insides out, perhaps.” The Scot replied matter-of-factly.

“Is MacLeod at Umbra Three?” Wenn asked nervously as she contemplated a Starfleet Admiral disemboweling McCulloch.

“He’s not.” Shess replied. “His location is classified, but I’m hoping we can be pointed in the right direction.”

McCulloch eyed the trio for a moment before taking another large gulp of whiskey. He put the glass down and began to chew on his cigar. “Well, let’s go and find Admiral MacLeod.”

Ty’Gokor

Klingon Empire

Stardate 2011.17

About the same time as fighting broke out at the rendezvous site, all hell broke loose at Ty’Gokor. Twenty-two ships serving the Iomqa’ Clan and its allies decloaked and attacked the central command of the Klingon military.

Martok’s fleet at Ty’Gokor responded with fierce resistance and a massive battle began for control of the station and the system it was a part of. Martok had left 18 warships behind, plus the massive firepower of Ty’Gokor itself, were all that stood between the followers of Krang and victory over the military command center of the Empire.

In the midst of the battle, as the tides were turning in favor of Krang and Kre-tok’s warriors, the Ty’Gokor force tried to drive the invaders back, the ships holding the line against the attacking fleet.

As this battle raged, another ship suddenly decloaked, coming in fast toward the fight. Aboard Ty’Gokor, one of Martok’s generals, Krev, watched the battle being waged on a holographic screen and that’s when he saw the mystery ship appear and begin firing on Iomqa’ Fighters.

“That is not one of ours!” Krev growled, looking for the identity of the incoming vessel. “Identify that ship.”

A Klingon posted at a tactical display, checked sensor readings and frowned, “It is a Starfleet ship, registration NCC-32603...*U.S.S. Fearless.*”

Krev watched the holographic display as the image of a Sovereign-class starship materialized and began a strafing run against a formation of Iomqa’ Birds of Prey. After two BOPs were destroyed, Ty’Gokor received a transmission from the Starfleet ship.

“Put them through!” Krev said, looking toward the holographic communicator in the command center of Ty’Gokor. The hologram of a white-haired Starfleet officer in a black and red uniform appeared, the man seated in the captain’s chair aboard the Starfleet ship.

“General,” the man said. “Admiral Ian MacLeod. Can we be of assistance?”

Krev smiled and gave a great laugh, “Of course, admiral! Feel free to indulge yourself.”

MacLeod gave a nod and *Fearless* resumed it’s free-for-all on the attacking Klingon ships…

*IKS Charghw’l*

Klingon space

Stardate 2011.17

Kre’tok stalked the bridge of the dreadnought in a rage. His father, who he had spent countless hours planning for his return from his Federation captors, was dead, killed in an instant by the very Klingon he had brought to the *Charghw’l* to use as a bargaining tool.

Martok, now in binders, was on his knees on the bridge, the two Yevolgi hounds circling him as they snarled and growled. Two warriors stood nearby, ready with disruptors in the event the chancellor tried to get up and run...not that he could go anywhere.

Meanwhile, *Charghw’l* blasted the *Rotarran* with a salvo of torpedoes and pulse disruptors, slamming the smaller ship hard with the full brunt of its massive firepower. General Kraven ordered the Negh’var-class ship to return fire as she attempted to maneuver away.

“Order our support to attack!” Kraven barked. A signal was sent and 12 additional Klingon ships decloaked nearby and conversed on the dreadnought.

Kraven looked to Mayla and gave a toothy grin, “I hope you didn't think we wouldn’t come here prepared?”

Before the small task force could strike at *Charghw’l,* alarms sounded across the bridge of *Rotarran* and on the holographic tactical display eight more Iomqa’ Clan ships decloaked, quickly joining the fray. Kraven’s face took on a dour look as she surveyed the battlefield and realized his surprise hadn’t gained them as much leverage as he’d hoped.

“Order all ships to engage,” Kraven barked. “Have the *Ch’tang*, *Dovoras* and *T’kahn* form up on *Rotarran* to move against *Charghw’l*. *Hor’Cha*, *Toh’kat* and *Koranga* take the left, attack pattern *Vagh*. *ShiVang*, *Pagh*, *Vorn* and *Malpara* go right, attack pattern *Chorgh*. *Qu’vat* and *P’Rang* move to flank the *Charghw’l,* attack pattern LoS.”

Kraven looked to Mayla, “I’ll leave *Resurrection* to you, commander.”

Ensign Tiri Sh’avelith

Commander T’Aayla Raillius

*IKS Charghw’l*

Stardate 2011.18

T’Aayla and Tiri led their Chalk up several decks, climbing up a Jefferies tube which took them from the lower decks of the dreadnought up to about two decks below the bridge.

“We can’t reach the bridge from here,” Raillius confirmed, looking at a miniature holographic map display projected from a palm device. She studied the schematic of *Charghw’l* as she hung from the rungs ascending up the shaft to another deck above.

The half-Romulan looked down at Tiri, who was beneath her on the stairs, and frowned. “If we get off here, we’ll be in a maintenance bay located near crew quarters. If we need to get to the bridge we will have to leave the bay, travel 55 meters down a corridor through the crew quarters and take a turbolift to the bridge.”

Tiri gave a frown, “Well, good news would be no one should be in crew quarters right now.” Another blast shook the dreadnought as the ship continued in battle with the *Rotarran*, *Resurrection* and the task force.

“If we have to go to the bridge, it will be a bloodbath,” Raillius warned Tiri and Lt. Commander Darva McGuire, who was bringing up the rear. “Kre’tok and his inner circle will be there. They will be merciless.”

Tiri and Darva nodded grimly. “Let’s just get in position. We’ll worry about it when we get the orders.”

They moved up the rungs and arrived in the maintenance bay. It was unoccupied. The team crouched beside the door and deployed a nanoprobe into the corridor outside to see what was going on in the barracks. Empty, as Tiri had predicted.

Raillius opened a channel to the rest of the team, “Chalk Two in position on Deck 2, directly below the bridge. Ready to move on your command.”

Lt. Daryl Thompson

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2011.19

Once Beckett had placed the second relay hack on the dreadnought, Daryl gained more access. He uploaded crawler AI’s to index the systems with their security measures, open relays and ports, watchdogs, etc. But it went slowly, too slow for his taste. Daryl looked at possibilities to gain more access, or to help out the teams. But at the moment, there was not much he could do. On the mainscreen, he saw that the dreadnought was hammering the Klingon fleet. He cursed, frustrated that he couldn’t do much more at this moment.

Chalk Four

*IKS Chargwh’l*

Stardate 2011.19

Beckett and his team had quickly progressed through the dreadnought without being noticed. With the exception of the small Klingons squad, the hadn’t seen a single Klingon. They had found the main maintenance shaft in the front section of the ship, which went straight up to deck 2, just below the bridge, and they were now climbing up the ladder. The ship shuddered now and then, the battle had apparently begun.

“Chalk 2, this is Chalk 4. We are on our way to deck 2. “

“Chalk, this is Chalk4” Beckett heard Raillius reply. “We are already at Deck2. How long before you get there?”

Beckett looked around and found the deck number. “Deck 7. Almost there”

“Affirmative. We will wait for you and make a plan to extract the Chancellor if needed”

“Aye, see you in a minute. Beckett out”

Captain Quentin Lazarus

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2011.19

The battle was intense. The Iomqa’ Clan Klingons fought savagely, and the Imperial forces were giving it right back to them. The true challenge of the battle was *IKS Chargh’wl.* Every time her disruptor banks and torpedo arrays unleashed, it destroyed or seriously damaged whatever it hit. Four of Martok’s ships were destroyed, three were seriously damaged, including the *Rotarran*.

Then, something happened. *Charghw’l* fired on a damaged Klingon Bird of Prey, its disuptors collapsing the ship’s shields. Then *Charghw’l* hit it with one of the torpedoes altered by Jack Dark.

The torpedo hit the BOP midship and when the torpedo exploded, the ship was suddenly infested with nanites. At first, the captain of the Bird of Prey assumed the torpedo had only struck them in a glancing blow, but then the ship’s systems suddenly started to fail systematically.

Two more Klingon ships were infested in a similar manner before *Resurrection* figured out what was happening.

“Are you sure?” Lazarus asked Dahrt, who was at tactical.

The young Iotian nodded, “Massive shipwide failures on all three ships. It sounds like Dark’s nanites…the same effect they’ve had on other technology they’ve come in contact with. Malfunctioning systems, computer stations turning into slag. They are also reporting hull breaches…the nanites are literally deteriorating the ships they’ve infested.”

Lazarus frowned as *Resurrection* came out of a sharp turn, on the tail of an Iomqa’ Bird of Prey, the ship trying to shake them as Lt. Darht locked weapons on it and fired.

The phaser pulse cannons ripped through the raven black BOP and blew it into a million pieces. The Resurrection then flew through the debris cloud and came about in search of another target.

“Sir,” Darht announced. “Incoming transmission. It’s General Mitras of the Federation Marines hailing us from the *USS Denver*.”

Lazarus gave a slight frown, “I hope this is important. Put him through.”

A holographic representation of a Tellerite in a Marine officer’s uniform appeared on the bridge. Mitras looked at Lazarus with a dire expression on his furry face.

“Captain,” he said. “My troops are involved in a ground invasion of Turkana IV. We have taken the Legion base there and…well…we’ve found something of interest.”

A blast rocked *Resurrection* and Lazarus grabbed the armrests before shooting a glare at the Marine commander, “Please…spit it out, General. I’m a little busy at the moment.”

“In the ruins of the base we found files, fragmented data, all of it having to do with something called the Reckoning,” Mitras said. “Apparently Archangel, the leader of Legion who I’m told is this Jack Dark, used his nanotechology to leave a trail of sabotage across the Federation the past eight years.

“Beside infecting communications relays, which I’m told your people discovered and neutralized, he’s also infected computer archives, cores and, it seems, key individuals in the Federation, Klingon Empire, Romulans Empire and so forth,” Mitras said. “If he can send a signal out across the quadrant, its possible he could destroy huge amounts of data, disrupt planetary operations and kill scores of leaders from many Alpha Quadrant governments.”

Lazarus let out a sharp exhale and shook his head, “Christ…can this get any worse? Do you have any more than that?”

“We’ll transmit all the data we have to you,” Mitras said. “We’ve already contacted Starfleet Command and given them a similar warning.”

“Thank you general,” Lazarus said. “Hopefully we can stop this Reckoning. *Resurrection* out.”

Lazarus turned to Darht, “Get Vree on the comm. Transmit her the data from the *Denver* ASAP. We’ve got to make sure Dark doesn’t send a signal.”

Chalk Five

*IKS Chargwh’l*

Stardate 2011.19

Lt. Kapello looked around the corner. Behind him, Lt. Stone was helping Ensign Sentaa out of the maintenance shaft. They were on deck 23, the fire control room was just up ahead.

No guards, but probably the room was well guarded from the inside. Kapello checked his tricorder and saw that the deck was almost empty. On the other side of the ship, a few Klingons were scanned, but on this side of the deck, only the fire control room was occupied. He counted 8 Klingons, 5 of which were probably guards.

“Stone, get that door overridden. “Sentaa, once the door opens, we throw in 4 flash bangs each. After that, we bring them down”

The ship rocked back and forth. Kapello looked at Stone and Sentaa, and they both nodded. “Let’s go. “ Kapello and Sentaa both positioned them self each on one side of the door, as Lt. Stone popped open the panel to override the door function. Kapello grabbed his flash bangs, and activated them.

Sentaa did the same. “Door open in 3...2...1…” the door slid open, and both Kapello and Sentaa threw in the four flash bang grenades. Then they ducked back against the bulkhead. The Klingons in the room yelled and growled, as four bright flashes and a loud bang blinded and disoriented them. Four more grenades clattered over the floor and more flashes followed. The three operatives entered the room, crouched. Two of the Klingons where on the floor, as they took the full brunt of the grenades. Others were wildly firing around them, they were quickly taken out by Kapello and Sentaa. Stone ran around the bulky computer consoles and floored another Klingon who was swinging his bat’leth around.

Within seconds, it became silent. All Klingons were down. Stone quickly sat down behind one of the console, while Kapello ordered Sentaa to guard the door. She hit the button to lock the door and took a step back. “Seal it” she said. Stone nodded and hit a few buttons. “Done. I think”. Kapello sat down as well. “Now what? Can’t we just blow up this whole room?”

Stone scoffed. “I wished it was that easy. We need to disable it and then lock it. I think we need Thompson. Kapello nodded and opened a channel “Chalk Five to Phoenix 9, come in”

“Phoenix 9 here. What is it Chalk Five”?

“We need some help here. We are in the fire control room, but we don’t exactly know how to disable it permanently. “

Thompson scoffed “Let’s see. I don’t have access to there yet. You need to help me get there “

“OK” Kapello replied. “I’ll set up a connection from here. Where are you?”

“Beckett placed an ODN relay on deck 39. Set up a connection to that. “Got it, give me a few secs” Kapello replied. Stone was already working on it. His virtual HUD automatically translated everything back and forth into Klingon. Interfacing had come a long way. Quickly, Stone setup a connection to the designated ODN relay and activated it.

“Thanks” he heard from Thompson. “Give me a few secs.” A loud thump on the door and Klingon yelling made the three look up. “Guess we don’t have much time, we get a visit soon” Kapello said. “

“Working on it” Thompson said. Suddenly a lot of noise came from the adjacent room. The whole room started shuddering and rocking. “Thompson what the hell are you doing!” Stone exclaimed. “Blowing up the fire control relays.” Thompson stated dryly. “Stay in the room. It is armored and should survive the explosion.”

“What ?!?!” Kapello exclaimed

“Just hold on there.” Thompson said. “Shutdown in 4..3..2..1..” A huge rumbling, awfully loud and painful to the ears emerged, followed by the sound of several explosions. The room shook and lurched as if it was thrown aside by something. All consoles flickered on and off, large sparks flying through the room. Then it went silent and all went dark.

On the bridge of the *Resurrection*, Daryl looked up. “Captain Lazarus, I assisted Chalk 5 with disabling fire control of the dreadnought. “

Lazarus looked up towards Thompson, then he looked at the viewscreen. The dreadnought indeed didn’t fire anymore…

Chalk Three

*IKS Chargwh’l*

Stardate 2011.19

Chalk Three materialized on deck 29, two decks below the phase cloak control room.

Chas’naH immediately scanned the environment, as Ensigns Grop and Rolston checked both sides of the corridor. She launched a nanoprobe, then the team started to make their way to deck 27. Also, here, it was quiet, the corridors dimly lit. They moved quickly to a nearby turbolift. The door whooshed open and Chas’Nah checked if the decks above were empty...she didn’t want to run into a trap with only support from two ensigns. Within seconds, they arrived on deck 27. Another quick scan revealed the phase cloak generator to be about 100 meters away. There was some movement there.

“Straight ahead. Pay attention” Chas’naH addressed both ensigns. “There is a bit of movement here” Chas’nah moved on, with the two ensigns in her wake. The corridor split to the left and the right and went around what seemed to be some kind of mini-engineering section. Scanners indicated that several guards where on watch. She counted four of them and three engineers. There were two entrances.

“Grop, you go to one entrance and get their attention. “As she saw the face of the young Bolian ensign paling she shook her head and sighed. “Take Rolston with you. I’ll handle it from the other side. Be aware that these Klingons are hardened warriors and probably don’t care too much about stun settings. She was aware that she put the ensigns in harm’s way, but there was no other easy option to get inside.

*IKS Charghw’l*

Auxiliary Bridge

Stardate 2011.20

Jack Dark had erected a holographic array of screens around him, where he sat in the captain’s chair. The door to the aux bridge was sealed and he had raised a number of forcefields around him to keep anyone out. In the meantime, he had accessed the ship’s subspace transmitter and was tapped into other ship’s systems.

He was aware when the ship’s firing controls were taken offline. He had expected it, the minute his nanites informed him the Shadow Ops team was aboard *Charghw’l*. He probed the firing controls and decided it would be hard to reroute disruptors through the aux bridge, but he saw a possible way to give *Charghw’l* use of its torpedo arrays.

With his modified torpedoes, that was all Kre’tok needed – assuming the smug Klingon could figure that out. He used his nanites already in *Charghw’l*’s systems to reroute torpedo controls to the aux bridge and then resumed his work to send out a massive burst transmission that would eventually make its way from one end of the Alpha Quadrant to the other, initiating the Reckoning. It was what he should have done from the beginning. His decision to only trigger the destruction of the communications relays had been stupid. He had been weak and thought maybe rendering the Alpha Quadrant unable to communicate would be enough to create the collapse he wanted. But Shadow Operations had thwarted that. He’d acted too slow and the delay cost him.

Now, what he had left would mean the destruction of computer networks across the galaxy and the death of dozens of government officials from many cultures. People he’d infected with his experimental bio-nanites over the past eight years. During meetings and diplomatic missions, he had used his abilities to implant the nanites in galactic leaders. Now, with one signal, he could order those nanites to execute their hosts. The thought of killing so many people, many of them kind, peaceful beings, was not pleasant for Jack. It’s probably the reason he had opted not to carry out this plan sooner – but now, the situation was dire. He needed to do this if he was going to have any chance at success.

He’d been sloppy. He’d hesitated when he should have taken action. He’d acted irrationally in his encounter with Sorvek and he’d done the unthinkable. When this was over, he needed time to mediate and seek to control himself better. He needed to be in complete control to move ahead with his vision of how the galaxy should be.

Jack returned to his work on the dozen or so holographic screens and hoped he’d been able to give *Charghw’l* the time it needed to wreak as much havoc as it possibly could while he carried out his plans.

Back to top

## S3, E1, Act 6: Final Confrontation Begins

Commander Mayla Vree

Bridge, *IKS Rotarran II*

Stardate 2011.20

Mayla held on to the back of the tactical officer's chair as the ship rocked from several volleys of disruptor fire. Just then she received a download from the *Resurrection* about the assault at Turkana IV. Then a loud voice sounded over her subvocal.

"Commander, there's some sort of torpedo that just completely disintegrated a bird of prey," Thompson said. "Looks suspiciously like something Dark would have come up with."

"Some sort of nanite torpedo?" Mayla said while taking a glance at the *Rotarran*'s sensors of the disintegration of a damaged bird of prey. Then went back to reviewing the *USS Denver*'s report on the Reckoning.

"Looks like it. We need more ships." Thompson said with frustration. "Gaining access to their computers was more difficult than I anticipated."

"Whatever access you do have, disrupt anything you can. Life support, fire suppression system, put up forcefields in the halls, override and open airlocks, activate the transporters, power up shuttlecraft and launch them in the bays, turn off or reset systems, anything to cause havoc to distract them. There is a signal build up from what looks like Dark is going to activate his nanites throughout the quadrant. He has to be stopped."

"I'm doing the best I can," Thompsons said with a slight tone of futility. "His nanites are just too advanced, and that damn dreadnought is powerful too."

"Do what you can. I need to talk with the General."

"What are you going to do?"

"Whatever I can. Vree, out." In her eyes, she looked at the *Rotarran*'s flight inventory and counted forty two shuttlecraft. She walked over to the Rotarran's first officer while linking the shuttles for remote access in assigned squadrons of five. She looked up at the klingon officer named K'Dahr.

"Commander, we need more ships out there." Mayla said to him. "Even fodder as a distraction."

"You state the obvious, Commander." he said with nearly what sounded like a Klingon scoff. "The General has called in a carrier task force. But they might not make it here in time."

"Give me command of all of your shuttlecraft. I will remote pilot them into the battle."

"You can do that on your own? I will have someone assigned to help you."

"Any help is better than no help. We still need to jam all comms coming from the *Chargwh’l*. I just received a report that a massive attack on every empire in the quadrant will be propagated from that ship by signal." Mayla said calmly and succinctly.

K'Dahr's eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

He stared from her to the report he just received from Ty'Gokor. WIth multiple attacks occurring at the same time, they may have been just a distraction from what was really about to happen. "I will give you full access to the shuttlecraft." He paused for a moment thinking whether he should reveal a top secret prototype they had on the Rotarran and no other ship in the Klingon fleet. "I will also give you ten of our prototype attack fighters."

"You have fighters and you haven't launched them yet?" Mayla said, trying to access anything about them in her eyes, but found she didn't have access at her current level.

"We have the fighters, but no pilots. As I said, they are all prototypes and we have not trained pilots yet on their unique capabilities."

"I need computer access to them too," she said as she sent commands to the shuttlecraft to power up.

K'Dahr tapped a few keys on his padd and in her eyes, she instantly had access. "Please advise the General that I will be contacting my superiors for Starfleet's help. We need more ships."

He snapped a look at her and slowly nodded his head. "Discreetly, Commander Vree."

"Aye," she answered with a slight bow. She thanked him and ran back to a station another Klingon was gesturing to her.

"My name is Behaz, Commander K'Dahr ordered me to be your aide."

She quickly glanced over to K'Dahr and realized he had just so ordered it to keep her out of his Klingon hair. "Can you remote pilot shuttlecraft?"

"Yes, I am rated." he said, setting up his own station.

"I need all of the shuttlebay doors opened, including the prototype fighter flight bays. I need access to the transporters, and activation codes for torpedoes in weapons stores."

Without waiting for a response, she opened up the holographic tactical arena battlespace and watched for a few seconds while Behaz gave her access. As soon as he did, she began transporting two torpedoes into each shuttlecraft and powering up the fighters while perusing the technical specifications for the fighters, codenamed Valkyrie. No wonder they were prototype. And explained the reason in K'Dahr's reluctance to reveal them to her, let alone give her access. Each one had a prototype battle cloaking device. Additional tactical features include dual disruptors and minimal defensive shields while cloaked. Only three of the fighters also included a forward torpedo launcher. She started downloading all of the specs and plans into her AI and redirected her attention to the status of the fighters which were now powering up.

"Leader, One. I have permission to call in discreet Starfleet reinforcements." She reported to Lazarus over the subvocal while she began to load copies of her AI into the shuttlecraft computers. "We need more ships. Send out the call before our comms are jammed." A high priority message suddenly appeared in her eyes as the message read out in text. It was word of another attack in Klingon space. "We received a message from Ty'Gokor. They are under heavy attack from the Iomqa’ Clan. Losses are mounting."

"I'm contacting Admiral MacLeod right now." Lazarus said. "Those nanite torpedoes are decimating this fleet."

"I'm launching over 40 shuttlecraft on remote AI. Maybe they can be a distraction and intercept those torpedoes. I also have ten cloaked fighters that will concentrate fire on the bridge and their communications array. As soon as either of us can get a lock on Martok's tag, get him out. One, out."

The eight squadrons of five shuttlecraft each had now completed their load of torpedoes along with their activation codes. She immediately launched them all. The fighters came next.

Behaz watched her hands perform complex gestures as fast as the computer could keep up. She had launched all of the shuttlecraft and prepared the two available squadrons of Valkyrie fighters.

"Keep these squadrons of shuttles spread out around the *Chargwhl'* and redirected all nonessential power to the engines to give them more maneuverability." Using her limited AI in her head, she gave each ship the order to intercept any torpedo fired from the dreadnought. She kept two shuttlecraft in reserve for special tasks. Now, most of her attention could be directed to command the Valkyrie fighters. Hopefully, sacrificing the shuttlecraft may prevent any further swift catastrophic losses of ships. "I'm loading a small AI program into them to give you some help."

"You can do that?" He asked, suddenly taking his hands from the controls as the flight of shuttlecraft maneuvered on their own.

"You only need to instruct them, not actually fly them. But you have an override at any time to do so." Mayla stated while the programs continued to load and take over the shuttlecraft and Valkyrie fighters. Loading each fighter with a limited tactical AI, they would be able to evade incoming fire while she could concentrate on offensive maneuvers. SImilar to the limited AIs in Shadow Ops' Sky Eyes nanoprobes, the fighters could now at least perform hit and run maneuvers with her giving them targets. In her eyes, she located the communications array from the technical plans and compared it to the sensor readings of the *Chargwhl'*. She directed one squadron of fighters to concentrate all fire on the communications array, and the other squadron on the bridge of the dreadnought in hopes to bring the localized shields down long enough to beam Martok out.

William McCulloch

*SS Kinsale*

Stardate 2011.21

The *Kinsale* glided silently through space as it continued on it’s journey towards Umbra Three.

Inside the ship’s cabin, Wenn quietly dozed in a corner while Shess and Sarah scanned through several padds containing the intelligence Inverness had collected on Jack Dark. Near the front of the cabin, William slowly divided his time between chewing on his cigar and staring out the cabin window into the darkness of space.

His mind wandered between  the time he had been with Taryn and imagining the woman he loved in the arms of Jack Dark. When the memories became too difficult to handle, he would simply down another glass of whiskey.

Shess and Sarah watched their boss with growing concern. Since their departure from Caldos, Inverness had forwarded two additional intelligence reports to the *Kinsale*. The first was intercepted chatter about a rumored military engagement taking place inside Klingon territory. The second was an updated report on Jack Dark that included new information obtained from Ferengi and Lurian sources.

“He’s getting worse as the day goes on.” Sarah complained as she watched McCulloch from her seat.

The Andorian looked up from his padd, glanced over at the Scot and then nodded in agreement.

“What do you suggest?” he asked.

“He’ll probably black out within the next few hours. If you need to update him on these intelligence findings, I’d do it now.” Pickering announced as she shook her head from side to side.

“Very well.” The Andorian replied.

“This is bad. I don’t think I’ve seen him like this in a long time.” Sarah whispered ina  low tone.

“You’ve seen this behavior before?” Shess replied.

“When a close relative died six years ago, he went into a similar slump. But it only lasted for a few weeks. But this….this is, concerning” Sarah answered before trailing off.

Shess studied his coworker for a moment before standing up and walking over to McCulloch. The Andorian sat down across from McCulloch and placed a padd on the table between them. The Scot ignored Shess and continued to stare out the window.

“How are we doing Will?” He quietly asked.

McCulloch didn’t answer at first. Instead he took a large gulp of whiskey and continued to stare out the window. Shess cleared his throat and slid the padd across the table. Eventually, the Scot sighed loudly and turned his attention towards the Andorian.

“What can I do for you Shess?” McCulloch inquired.

Shess chose not to address the current level of McCulloch’s sobriety and instead focused on the two intelligence reports at hand.

“Inverness is receiving multiple reports of a rumored military engagement inside Klingon territory. Shall we continue to monitor and perhaps see if some of our sources within the empire can further elaborate?”

McCulloch silently nodded in the affirmative. Shess had hoped the report would have triggered a better response from the Scot but given his quickly deteriorating level of sobriety, he knew such an outcome was unlikely.

The Andorian continued. “Will, we also have an update on Jack Dark. Tell me a little bit about his talents with nanites.”

McCulloch rubbed his eyes. His mind was foggy and he was growing tired from his day of binge drinking. After a tedious delay, the Scot finally answered the question. “From what I can recall, he was able to utilize the nanites to bypass security firewalls and hack into a variety of databases. His little devices were also pretty efficient at enhancing his strength and healing abilities.”

“Do you recall if he ever used the nanites on others...for good or malevolent purposes?” Shess inquired.

Again, McCulloch struggled to remember. “I don’t recall. He may have utilized his nanites during missions to patch up combat wounds until we could return to the *Repulse* but nothing stands out to me.”

Shess nodded. “So if he did use nanites on others, it was only at close range?”

“I’d have to say so Shess.” McCulloch answered.

“Will, we received an incident report from one of our Ferengi sources. Approximately seven years ago, there was an event where several clients of a Bolian weapon’s dealer were killed under unusual circumstances.”

“Unusual?” McCulloch slurred as he struggled to stay focused.

“According to our source, all of the victims were at a social gathering and interacting with a man I believe was Jack Dark.”

“Why” McCulloch asked.

“Because the next day they all died simultaneously and in the exact same manner. Curiously, three of them were light years away from each other.”

McCulloch felt the hairs on his arm stand up. “Do we know who the Bolian weapons dealer is?”

“Was.” Shess corrected him. “He died under very similar circumstances two years later.”

“It could have been someone else.” McCulloch countered.

“I took that into consideration and looked further into the findings of this group’s collective deaths.”

“And?” McCulloch pressed.

Shess continued. “We have a second unconfirmed report from a Lurian source.”

“Go on.” William replied as he refilled his glass with more alcohol.

“Just so you know, the Lorian account has been discredited by some of our own employees. I overruled their findings.”

William refilled his glass with more alcohol and gestured for the Andorian to continue..

“A private coroner was hired to examine the cause of death for three of the victims. The investigation took some time, but in her findings, the coroner speculated the three victims may have been killed remotely through a variety of methods, including nanite technology.”

“She said that?” McCulloch exclaimed.

“It was only one of her many theories, Will, but she referenced it.” Shess coldly announced. “And there’s more. Our Lurian sources insist the autopsy reports, as well as the forensic material tested, still exist.”

“If Starfleet can get to the reports and forensic material, they could gain an understanding into the extent of Dark’s capabilities.” McCulloch speculated.

Shess studied his employer in silence for a moment before finally speaking. “Will, this rumored incident was from seven years ago. You and I both know that is a long opportunity to improve nanite technology even further.”

The color in the Scot’s face quickly drained. “Dark truly has evolved.”

“He has.” Shess agreed. “I suspect this group execution was an experiment by Dark to test the ability of his little companions.”

“No one would miss Bolian weapons dealers.” The Scot mused.

Shess nodded in agreement before clearing his throat. “Will, we can’t wait until we arrive at Umbra Three to track down MacLeod. We need to make attempts to get a message to him now.”

McCulloch pondered the request for a moment. “How far out are we from Umbra Three”

“Thirty-two hours”. The Andorian replied.

“You have my permission to try and get a message to MacLeod. I’m in no condition to relay anything to him.” McCulloch ordered.

The Andorian studied the Scot for a moment before continuing. “Will, MacLeod’s location is classified. I can’t get a message to the Admiral unless I know where he is. I can find out one of two ways. You can point me towards a person or place I can contact or I can have our Cyber Security Team hack into Starfleet’s database to ascertain his location. Suggestions?”

The Scot contemplated Shess’ proposal before waving his hands. “No, no hacking!”

“Then what do you suggest?” The Andorian asked.

McCulloch leaned forward in his chair, softly hiccupped and then spoke. “Try contacting the commander of Klingon Imperial Battlestation 21. Tell them the man who stood side by side with them in two glorious battles needs information. That should motivate them to give you a lead on MacLeod or hopefully put you in direct contact with him.”

The Scot watched as Shess got out of his chair and returned to Sarah. He picked up his glass and sucked down its contents in one swift motion.

“Jack Dark. Jack F’ing Dark.” He muttered to himself as he started to drift in and out of consciousness.

Commander Sienae Tal'Aura

*Tachi Koma*, Turkana IV

Stardate 2011.21

The 'crew' of the *Tachi Koma* watched the battle unfold carefully as the remaining Legion ships attempted an escape from the Starfleet task force.

"Alpha 7 is reporting they have secured their base of operations," Zhaan reported from the comm station.

"What's the status on Tango 1?"

"It's leaving orbit with the Tango 5 covering its retreat," Marcus reported calmly. "Alphas 4 and 5 are in pursuit."

The *Ulysses* and the *Wolverine* accelerated in pursuit of the *Agamemnon*, firing their deadly phaser cannons to prevent the enemy ship from too many evasive maneuvers. In a burst of light, the last maquis raider was destroyed. But the two Defiant-class ships did not let up and now the *Agamemnon* was taking hit after hit until the shields went down.

"Tango 5 has been destroyed. Tango 1's warp engines are now offline. Alphas 4 and 5 are converging and blocking their escape."

"Where is Tango 4?" Sienae asked, searching for the cloaked bird of prey.

"We can only speculate residual reading in the area," Lennier said.

"Intercepting communique from Alpha 7 to the *USS Resurrection*," Zhaan said.

"On speaker."

The frantic voice of General Mitras came over the speaker and Sienae listened carefully to the report. "Do we have a copy of that report about the Reckoning?"

"We do. Transferring to your station."

“Tango 4 has appeared, attacking Alpha 4. Tango 1 has reversed course, heading back to the planet. It's on a collision course with Alpha 1."

Colonel Jahkar

*IKS Charghw’l*

Stardate 2011.21

The grenades were released through the doorway to engineering as the doors slid open, Jahkar and the rest of his squad engaged their helmets, the visual filter activated to block the flash from the stun grenades. As they detonated, several Iomqa’ warriors were knocked down, blinded and stunned.

Jahkar and the Chalk waded into the engineering room, phasers blazing as they blasted the dazed and confused Klingons. Once they were through the first eight warriors, the remaining contingent in engineering was relatively unaffected by the flash-bangs and they were itching for a fight. Another eight Klingons came at the team, some brandishing disruptors, others opting for bladed weapons.

Jahkar gunned down another Klingon and then ducked an attempted blow from a bat’leth. He turned to face the attacker and managed to use his rifle to block the next couple of attempts on him by the Klingon wielding the weapon.

The Marine’s rifle was pulled out of his grasp when the Klingon managed to hook the phaser with his bat’leth, allowing him to yank it away. The Klingon grinned at Jahkar as the marine retracted the helmet back into his armor, revealing his face and head.

“Prepare to die, half-breed!” the Klingon sneered.

“Bring it on!” Jahkar snarled, drawing his 'obmaQ axes from his dual hip sheaths. The Klingon came at him with a lunge and Jahkar used the axes to block the strike. He and the warrior then continued to swing on each other, exchanging blows and parrying moves.

Auriak managed to hold onto her rifle, despite a similar attack by a bat’leth wielding warrior. She evaded his attack, stepping under the swipe of the blade. She vaulted forward, then pivoted to bring the rifle to bear on the Klingon just before shooting him in the side. As he went down, a disruptor blast from the tier above that surrounded engineering struck Auriak in the leg, causing her to cry out as she dropped to one knee.

Jahkar deflected two more strikes by his Klingon attacker, then managed to block the bat’leth with one axe and he swung the other axe low, bringing it up into the Klingon’s gut. The warrior gasped, dropping his bat’leth as Jahkar pushed the ax head deeper into his abdomen. Seeing another Klingon coming across engineering toward Auriak out of the corner of his eye, Jahkar yanked the ax from his opponent’s stomach, turned and threw one of his 'obmaQ which spun end over end until it slammed hard into the side of the Klingon’s head, killing him within feet of Auriak.

Jahkar looked around to assess what Ryramorl and Reepchip had been doing…

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

*IKS Charghw’l*

Stardate 2011.21

Reepchip leaped and clung to the ceiling, where he hung by his feet.  He shot down one Klingon, but the next Klingon managed to evade Reepchip’s next shot and grabbed him with one hand, *d’k tahg* in the other, yanking the Muran from the ceiling and causing Reepchip’s phaser to clatter to the floor, behind the Klingon. Reepchip clung to the warrior and blasted him with a defensive shriek full in the Klingon’s ear.  The warrior staggered back, cursing and stepping on (and breaking) the phazer. Reepchip clung on, clawing at the Klingon’s throat and stabbing with his Scorpion Dagger until the warrior fell.

Nor was Ryramorl idle. He’d managed to down one Klingon with his rifle, but as he wheeled to face the next, the Klingon fired at Ryramorl with his phaser.  By sheer luck, the beam hit Ryramorl’s rifle, rendering it useless but saving Ryramorl’s life. Ryramorl came forwards, moving side to side to make aiming difficult, and bashed the Klingon across the face with his rifle.  As the Klingon was knocked aside, Ryramorl dropped his rifle, grabbed the warrior’s hair and the collar of his armoured vest, and bit down on the back of the neck, crushing the spine, before using his grip to rip the head the rest of the way off. He was grateful that Reepchip’s hellish shriek was so focused and short-ranged; otherwise Reepchip would have deafened everyone.  Still, it was like the Fires of Agavan to the ears.  He glared around for more opponents before retrieving his rifle and turning to Colonel Jahkar, awaiting orders with Klingon blood still soaking his muzzle.

Colonel Jahkar

*IKS Charghw’l*

Stardate 2011.21

Engineering belonged to Chalk One. Jahkar moved into action immediately.

“Auriak, get that door sealed and stand guard. Get nano-probes outside every entryway to engineering in case anyone tries to retake it,” he told her.

Limping, she made it to the door and began to type commands into the keypad.

Jahkar looked to Reepchip and tossed him a pack that was attached to his belt. “Reepchip! Explosive charges for the warp core, get on it!”

He then turned to Ryramorl, “Find shields, get them down. I’ll work on trying to reroute control from the bridge to engineering. Let’s move!”

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

*IKS Charghwl'*

Stardate 2011.21

Reepchip caught the charges and zipped over to where the warp core was. Knowing he had only a limited supply, he scurried into the nooks and crannies that only a Muran could fit into, using his knowledge of Klingon engineering that he’d gotten from Starfleet Academy and his Madcap Engineering training to place the charges in the place where they’d do EXACTLY the most damage, starting with the most sensitive places first. He was even able to squeeze behind panels and right into some of the consoles to set the charges. He quickly set them out, then rejoined Jahkar to see if he could help.

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

*IKS Charghwl'*

Stardate 2011.21

Ryramorl glanced down at the consoles, and found the one that dealt with shields.  It was more advanced than what he was used to, but he did his best to bring the shields down.  He ignored a mild tenseness in his gut; he had a job to do.

Colonel Jahkar

*IKS Charghw’l*

Stardate 2011.21

Shields were down. Engineering was under their control. Jahkar looked over the Klingon holographic displays in the compartment and immediately located and shutdown the ship’s propulsion systems. Warp drive, impulse and thrusters were all off-line.

He then studied the readouts and discovered all communications, control of internal forcefields, life support and the ship’s torpedo controls had all been diverted to the auxiliary bridge. Jahkar’s brow furrowed as he checked internal sensors and confirmed the auxiliary was occupied by one individual...humanoid lifeform, not Klingon.

“Phoenix Three to Phoenix One,” he said, keying the subvocal communicator. “We have control of the ship, with the exception of several systems that have been diverted to the aux bridge. One life form, not Klingon, is holed up there. The place is locked down with forcefields and scattering fields. They have control of communications, life support and the torpedo launchers.”

Jahkar paused a minute, then added “Phoenix One...I think it’s Dark. Permission to take elements from Chalks Two and Four and head to the aux bridge?”

"Take what they can spare. They're assaulting the bridge to try to extract Martok and take the Bridge."

Jahkar acknowledged and turned to his team, “Reepchip and Auriak, hold engineering. Seal off all entry points and keep any Klingons from trying to retake it. I think we’re clear, but we can’t be sure. Things get rough, beam back to Resurrection.”

The Marine took one of two detonators for the warp core demolition charges, He left the other one with Reepchip, “Ryramorl, you’re with me.”

They headed out the doors from engineering, engaging their cloaking fields as they made their way through the Charghw’l toward the auxiliary bridge. Enroute, Jahkar realized Chalks Two and Four were on their way to the bridge.

He looked at Ryramorl, seeing him through the visor on his helmet as they were both cloaked, “I think it’s just going to be you and I, Ryramorl. Dark will be ready for us, so stay alert and follow my lead.”

Lord Kre’tok

IKS Charghw’l

Stardate 2011.21

Kre’tok was prepared to give the order to his pets to kill Martok when suddenly a warning chime from the tactical station sounded. He turned toward his tactical officer and saw the panicked look on the warrior’s face.

“What?” Kre’tok demanded.

“Fire control is down! We have no weapons!” the Klingon responded.

“How is that possible?” he barked.

“Fire control is not responding,” the warrior said. “No response.”

Kre’tok snarled in anger. “We haven’t sustained damage. Failure of firing control must...it must be sabotage!”

He slammed his hand down on the armrest of his command chair, “Bridge to security! Send a team to firing control. We may have uninvited guests!”

Kre’tok then looked to Martok, still standing in the open space of the bridge between the forward ops and helm consoles and the holographic viewscreen at the front. “Time to die, chancellor.”

Kre’tok looked to the Yevolki hounds and grinned wickedly, “ghaHvaD HoH!” He ordered them to kill Martok and the beasts turned and charged at the bound chancellor.

William McCulloch

*SS Kinsale*

Stardate 2011.21

McCulloch struggled to wake up. Once again his head throbbed and his body trembled. His eyes pulsated in pain as he blinked repeatedly.

As the Scot looked around the *Kinsale*’s cabin, he saw Shess and Wenn advancing towards him. He looked to his immediate right and saw Sarah sitting directly next to him. She was staring adoringly at him. It unsettled the Scot and he shifted slightly in his chair to move further away from her.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” He demanded.

“I knew William McCulloch had fought side by side with Klingons, but I never knew he was a revered hero from the Battles of KIB 21.” Sarah purred as she eyed the Scot suggestively.

“Stop that!” McCulloch retorted as his voice cracked and he looked awkwardly at her.

“I had quite the conversation with General Gruhoss Thass of Klingon Imperial Battlestation 21.” Shess announced with a grin. “Sarah is correct, apparently you are revered in segments of Klingon society for your service in the Battles of KIB 21.”

“You are making a big deal out of nothing. I merely did my duty while assigned to the *USS* *Renegade*.” William pleaded as his body continued to shake. He felt as if he were going to vomit.

“You are being too humble.” Sarah replied with a wink. “Two medals of commendation from the Klingon Empire, no less than four Klingon Houses still sing songs of your valor and House K'toh-maag considers you an honorary member.”

“General Thass told Shess that you personally saved his two younger brothers from certain death at the hands of the Jem'hadar and Breen. Apparently between the three brothers, five of their children bear your name.” Wenn gushed.

The Scot felt his stomach gurgle and cramp. He took several deep breaths and then raised his hands in protest. “I really don’t want to talk about my service at KIB 21. Just tell me, did you make any progress?”

Shess smiled broadly. “I made tremendous progress.”

“Explain.” McCulloch replied as he stood up and made his way over to the *Kinsale’s*replicator. Moments later, a large glass of orange juice materialized. The Scot quickly drank it and then requested a second glass.

“Like it or not, your service on KIB 21 helped me tremendously during my conversation with Thass. Did you know the general is also a member of House K'toh-maag?”

“No.” McCulloch replied sourly as he contemplated whether or not he should have the replicator produce pancakes and sausages or haggis.

“Well he is. And over half of KIB 21’s garrison are either members of or have pledged loyalty to that house.” The Andorian announced. “Your reputation carries a lot of weight.”

McCulloch instantly knew where the conversation was going. “Shess, what did you promise I’d do in exchange for information?”

“He promised you would visit KIB 21 and party with the garrison.” Sarah giggled.

“You...wait, what?” The Scot exclaimed.

“Sarah is technically correct.” Shess conceded. “You are going to have to visit the garrison at KIB 21 after we complete this trip.”

McCulloch stewed over the announcement for a moment before returning to his seat. He eyed his executive team as he spoke. “So were you able to generate a lead on MacLeod?”

“I’ve done better.” The Andorian proudly declared. “We now know where MacLeod is.”

The Scot instinctively shook his head in confusion. “You - You found MacLeod? Where is he?”

“Thass indicated the Admiral is participating in the battle we keep receiving reports on.” Shess replied.

“The general said he is dispatching a Bird of Prey to take us to MacLeod.” Sarah announced with a sense of excitement. She was acting like a teenager who had just learned that she was going to meet her favorite celebrity.

“But we’re not in Klingon territory.” The Scot protested. “We’re en route to Umbra Three!”

“We were. But while you were passed out in yet another one of your drunken stupors, we changed course.” Wenn replied. “We will be at the rendezvous point with the Bird of Prey *Suvwl* in two hours.”

McCulloch was horrified at the announcement. He quickly chastised his team. “Absolutely not. We are not boarding a Klingon Bird of Prey and advancing into a hostile combat situation. I am the only one of this team that has combat experience. Trust me, none of you will fare well, especially on board a Klingon Bird of Prey.”

The Bajoran smiled thinly. “General Thass has told Shess that the *Suvwl*is currently held in reserve and will most likely not join the battle. Besides, the Bird of Prey is only going to take us as far as the Klingon perimeter lines. We’ll wait until the engagement is over. Afterward, the *Suvwl* will take us to MacLeod.”

“You and I both know no Klingon vessel will sit idly by if it has an opportunity to join a battle.” McCulloch barked as he banged the table. “This is too great of a risk for all of us.”

Shess nodded in understanding before answering. “The Klingon captain will listen to you William.”

“Why would the Captain listen to me?” McCulloch answered with a tone of exasperation.

“Because he is also a member of House K'toh-maag.” The Andorian replied.

“The Bird of Prey is attached to KIB 21?” The Scot inquired, already knowing the answer.

“The *Suvwl*is attached to KIB 21.” Sarah announced gleefully.

“$%&^ me!” McCulloch blurted out in disgust. “Someone get me the latest guide to Klingon protocol.”

Commander Mayla Vree

Bridge, *IKS Rotarran II*

Stardate 2011.21

In randomized strafing runs at the Charghwl's bridge, the five cloaked Valkyrie prototype fighters concentrated their firepower at the bridge to try to weaken the shields enough to get a transporter signal through. The technical specifications of the defenses around the bridge indicate an independent shield generator complementing the shields of the rest of the ship, making it twice as difficult to penetrate. It also had two independent disruptor banks directly connected to a console on the bridge, bypassing the main fire control. One of these tracked the source of one of the Valkyrie fighters and destroyed it. Then one of two of the shuttlecraft Mayla had held in reserve swooped in and rammed into the shields just below the bridge. The massive explosion with two torpedoes inside enveloped the entire bridge section of the ship, bringing the shields completely down for the briefest moment and damaging one of the disruptors.

Before the fireball even dispersed, Mayla ordered the other shuttle to transport Martok out before power could be rerouted to restore the shields. Confirming transport was complete and without a moment to lose, she directed the shuttlecraft to flee with three of Valkyrie fighters decloaking to escort it back to the Rotarran while the other two provided cover under cloak.

"Behaz! Get a medical team to the Bridge, fast!" She yelled at him in Klingon, making sure he heard her as she didn't know what condition the Chancellor was in. She quickly calibrated the shuttlecraft's transporter with the rotating shield frequency of the Rotarran and beamed Martok directly to the bridge as soon as the shuttle was in range. "Incoming transport to the Bridge!" She yelled again in Klingon as loud as she could.

Seven Klingons of bridge security drew their weapons as a figure materialized standing in front of the Chancellor's chair. At that moment, a medical team ran through the door.

"Chancellor!" General Kraven roared. "But how-?" He looked over to Mayla's station. But Behaz just gestured to Mayla, who was still completely focused on controlling the several squadrons of shuttlecraft and Valkyrie fighters.

Eleven of the shuttlecraft had already been destroyed either by intercepting torpedoes fired from the *Charghwl*', or shot down. While the escort fighter squadron turned around back towards the dreadnought, she sent a short text message to the Resurrection to inform them that the HVI had been extracted. Now she focused on the communications array and brought the full firepower of all 10 Valkyrie fighters to bear.

Martok immediately recognized the bridge of his flagship and sat down into his chair. "Not a moment too soon, Kraven. Kre'tok was just about to feed me to his hounds when Starfleet stormed the Bridge." The medical team began scanning him and backed away when Martok batted them off. "Where is Sirella?"

Kraven quickly brought up the tactical battlespace holograph in front of Martok's chair. "Aboard the Y'Tau on its way to Qo'nos." He said, leaving out her condition on purpose. He needed the Chancellor's mind focused on the battle at hand.

"Very good. Give me a status report. I'm going to send that petaQ Kre'tok to Gre’thor (Klingon hell). Today is a good day for him to die!"

Ensign Tiri Sh’avelith

Commander T’Aayla Raillius

*IKS Charghw’l*

Stardate 2011.24

Two turbolifts fed into the bridge of the Klingon vessel. Chalk Two came up one shaft, while Chalk Four made its way up the other. Both were in position outside the door, having climbed up the lift tubes from lower decks on the massive ship.

On each door, one member of each team planted an explosive charge, shaped to detonate blowing the door debris onto the bridge.

Raillius had ordered her team to move to the turbolift shaft and go up when they realized the bridge was a target of the battle outside, not to mention the imminent threat to Chancellor Martok.

Coordinating with Chalk Four, the two teams ended up at the top of the turbolift shaft, ready to rush in and save Martok from certain death. When the charge on the door blew, sending the pieces of the door and other debris flying onto the bride, Raillius and Tiri led the way in, phaser blazing.

Tiri’s first shot took down one of the Yevolki dogs, but the other broke off its attack on Martok and careened off course, coming toward Chalk Two. Raillius shot at it, but missed, giving the dog the chance to strike. It pounced on the half-Romulan, knocking her to the deck and the phaser from her grasp. The hound then tried to get it’s wicked jaws locked around Raillius’ neck.

Raillius held the beast off with one arm while she drew a dagger from her belt and rammed it repeatedly into the hound’s gut, causing it to whimper in pain.

Meanwhile, Tiri and Darva fired with accuracy and precision at the Klingons on the bridge, taking down a couple more before they began to return fire. Among them all, Kre’tok jumped behind the tactical station and found he suddenly had access to torpedoes again -- so he began firing the modified torpedoes at the attacking Klingon ships and Resurrection.

As the battle raged, Chalk Four joined the fray…just as the Bridge was rocked violently and power fluctuations shimmered throughout the consoles. At that moment Martok was beamed away.

Lt. Cody Beckett

*IKS Chargwh'l*, Bridge

Stardate 2011.25

Cody entered the bridge right behind Tiri and Raillius and moved around to the left, immediately opening fire on the Klingons who were caught by surprise, but quickly recovered. Beckett sat on one knee, keeping the Klingons hiding behind the consoles and terminals.

Ensign Vorak moved ahead, giving additional fire, so Cody could move on. Cody got up, and saw movement on the right. He aimed and fired on the bulky figure that was hiding behind a pillar. The Klingon grunted and ducked away, dodging the phaser fire, but then dodged forward, swinging his bat'leth towards Vorak. Vorak saw the movement and instinctively jumped away, rolling over his shoulder. The bat'leth cut through the empty air. But the Klingon turned around and made another swing at the Starfleet ensign, only to be toppled by Beckett, who lunged at the Klingon, grabbing him by the middle and pulling him down. The Klingon cursed as he hit the ground hard, while Beckett rolled over and got in a split second.

The Klingon got up as well, raised his bat'leth above his head, attacking Beckett with a high blow on the head. Cody stepped towards the Klingon, blocked the attack, and hit the Klingon full in the groin. The Klingon groaned, while Beckett grabbed the both as of the Klingon, and twisted them, making the Klingon turn around, and dropping to the floor on his back. The Klingon tried to get up, but Beckett kicked the Klingon in his face with his boot. The Klingon's head snapped back, and he sunk back to the floor.

*USS Fearless*

Ty’GoKor

Stardate 2011.25

The battle at Ty’Gokor had not gone well for the Blood Clan. The loyalist forces to Martok, along with the superior firepower of the Sovereign-class *USS Fearless*, brought about heavy losses for the renegade Klingons. Near the end of the battle, two different Birds of Prey commanded by Krang loyalists attempted to ram the Ty’Gokor station with their badly damaged ships, but were vaporized in a hail of weapons fire from the station and the surrounding ships.

Admiral MacLeod brought *Fearless* around for another sweep of the system as the targets dwindled. The *Fearless* had sustained some damage, but was holding together well. On the bridge, MacLeod turned to his tactical officer and called for a report.

“Imperial forces are boarding four crippled renegade ships,” Lt. Creese reported. “Three remaining Birds of Prey just cloaked after sounding a retreat. That leaves the Vorcha-class cruiser fighting with two of Martok’s BOPs at zero-two-four mark five-zero. The remaining Imperial force is moving to intercept.”

MacLeod stood up and studied the holographic tactical map displayed in the front of the bridge. He was considering options when a Bird of Prey suddenly decloaked and rammed the *IKS Rahk*, a Negh’var-class cruiser belonging to forces loyal to the chancellor. MacLeod grimaced, “Bloody hell. The remaining Krang ships are….”

“They’ve gone kamikaze,” Commander Alantris muttered from her chair. “There are two more cloaked ships hiding out there.”

MacLeod whirled on her, “That we know of...Creese, engage the phased cloak!”

“Admiral! Neutrino surge off our port bow!” Creese shouted.

“Evasive!” MacLeod barked.

The black Bird of Prey decloaked and swooped toward *Fearless*, looming off the port bow like a giant, menacing raven. The helmsman turned the ship hard to starboard to avoid the BOP while Creese attempted to engage the phased cloak. The suicide vessel crashed into Fearless’ shields on the port side, buckling them, its hull then colliding with the Federation ship hard, the impact sending sparks and coolant spewing for ODN conduits around the bridge, and knocking MacLeod and much of his crew to the floor.

It was, fortunately, a glancing blow. The Bird of Prey swiped across Fearless’s hull midship and tore a gaping hole in her side, depressuring several compartments. The heavily damaged Krang ship tumbled away from Fearless, one wing torn from its hull, as aboard the vessel its captain ordered the ship to self-destruct.

“Creese!” MacLeod bellowed as he got to his feet. “Phased cloak!”

“Not responding!” the tactical officer barked.

Alantris vaulted over the nearby railing and ran up to tactical, pushing Creese aside. She knew what needed to be done, before MacLeod could shout his next command. The Betazoid locked weapons on the Bird of Prey and unleashed Fearless’ massive firepower, destroying the ship and stopping it from activating a warp core breach.

“Nice work, commander,” MacLeod told his XO as he hobbled back to the captain’s chair, a little banged up but otherwise unharmed. “Damage report.”

Creese resumed his station and checked the incoming data. “Hull breaches on deck 8, 9 and 10. Sick bay reports 27 casualties...seven of those dead. Shields at 15 percent. Phased cloak is off-line, so is warp drive.”

MacLeod frowned, “Keep a lookout for that last Bird of Prey, lieutenant. I doubt we could handle another impact like that.”

Creese nodded and looked over the holographic display and kept watching for another sign that the last of Krang’s vengeful bunch was going to attempt another ramming…

Commander Chas’naH

*IKS Charghw’l*

Stardate 2011.25

Chas’naH, Rolston and Grop stood over the bodies of six Iomqa’ warriors sprawled on the floor of the phased cloak chamber on Deck 27 of the dreadnought. Rolston was favoring a slash to his right bicep, but otherwise the three were unharmed.

Chas took down the phased cloak controls and severed the ability of any other station on the ship to access the device. She then slapped an isolinear tag onto the cloak, the magnetic side of the tag clamping to the Klingon device.

“Chalk Three to Resurrection,” she said, opening a channel through her sub-voc. “Phased cloak disabled and tagged.”

Lazarus’ voice replied, “Tagged? You mean…”

“If you want to bring it back with us, Starfleet might be quite appreciative,” the half-Klingon smiled.

“Not a mission objective, but not something I’m not opposed to doing,” Lazarus responded. “We’ll need it completely disconnected from the ship to properly beam it out.”

Chas looked to Grop, “Ensign, get on it.”

The Ferengi officer gave a nod, “Aye, commander.” He began to go to work, using his phaser to sever the connections from the cloak to the ship.

“Chalk Three to all Chalks,” she said, opening the sub vocal device again. “We stand ready to assist wherever needed.”

He and Ryramorl continued on their way to rendezvous with Chas’naH and go on to face Jack Dark…

Back to top

## S3, E1, Act 7: One Down, One to Go

Lord Kre’tok

*IKS Charghw’l*

Stardate 2011.27

Kre’tok set the torpedo controls to fire randomly at enemy targets, drew his dual mek’leths and looked around to his remaining brethren. Three Iomqa’ Klingons armed with disruptors and bath’leths joined Kre’tok as they surveyed the rest of the bridge together.

A female Romulan-Human was sprawled on the deck near one of Kre’tok dead pets. An Andorian female was tending to her wounds -- a particularly nasty tear to her throat which was close in proximity to her jugular.

A human male just kicked his weapon’s officer, Groth, in the head, sending him into unconsciousness, while a Vulcan male and a human female aimed rifles at them and began to shout orders for Kre’tok and his warriors to surrender.

K’hray, one of his three remaining Klingons, fired a shot from his disruptor and struck Ensign Vorak in the right shoulder, the blast mostly absorbing on his armor, before it spun him around and flung him to the deck.

Kortag, the second of his three warriors, dodged an ill-aimed shot from Lt. Sellar, before coming up out of a roll and firing his own disruptor -- the shot striking Sellar square in the chest, knocking her down, a smouldering hole in the breastplate of her Shadow Ops armor suit.

The third Klingon, Valtress, a female wielding a bat’leth, charged Beckett and came at him with a deafening roar, weapon raised.

Kre’tok estimated the human would likely kill or incapacitate Valtress, simply because she was charging him in a reckless manner, giving him ample time to react. This would give them a short window of opportunity. He nodded to K’hray who trained his weapon in Beckett’s direction but held his shot because of Valtress’ proximity...but he was ready to dispatch the Shadow Ops commando as soon as he was a clear target.

Kre’tok then moved, running to his right to attempt to come around circling the bridge in a charge at Raillius and Sh’avelith where the Andorian was tending to the commander’s injuries…

Lt. Cody Beckett

*IKS Charghw’l*, Bridge

Stardate 2011.27

Beckett stepped over the Klingon he just kicked unconscious, and saw a female warrior charging at him from behind the corner. Behind her, he saw Kre’tok moving away, in the direction of Sh’avelith and Raillius. He had not much time, as the female warrior approached him quickly, the bat’leth over her head. In the split second he had, he thought why Klingons, though fierce warriors, were so reckless, without proper defensive stances or attacks, to prevent opponents taking advantage from that. And that was exactly what he did.

He evaded the predictable attack by simply stepping aside and planting the butt of his rifle between her ribs as hard as he could. The female warrior groaned and roared it out from the pain this caused, and immediately threw an attack with the bat’leth to the right, trying to hit Cody where she could. Cody blocked the attack with his rifle and kicked her again hard in the ribs. The female Klingon staggered backwards. Cody could see the hate in her eyes, as she quickly recovered and charged again, this time with another high attack, spinning around, trying to decapitate him. Cody countered once more by moving down, spinning around, locking the rifle to one of her legs and pulling her leg underneath of her.

She crashed to the ground, yelling and groaning in frustration. Cody, out of her direct reach, aimed his rifle at her, as she scrambled up her feet. Without hesitation, she attacked, and Cody pulled the trigger. The phase beam hit her square in the chest, killing her instantly. Quickly Cody turned around, assessing the situation on the bridge...

William McCulloch

*IKS Suvwl*

Stardate 2011.27

The Klingon Bird of Prey *Suvwl* decloaked off of *Kinsale*'s starboard side. Sarah watched with fascination from one of the cabin’s windows as the vessel positioned itself within a few hundred meters of the civilian transport.

Shess and Wenn also eyed the warship cautiously, knowing it’s full combat capabilities and the potential damage one of these vessels could do to an enemy.

“That is a D12 class Bird of Prey. I’m surprised to see one.” Shess announced as he studied the *Suvwl* closely.

“D12’s are the backbone of the Klingon Empire. They’re small, fast and can cause a significant amount of damage.” McCulloch responded as he joined Shess and Wenn,. He was still intoxicated but was slowly sobering up. He gestured towards the vessel. “Once the empire figured out how to fix the faulty plasma coils, they reintroduced the D12 class back into the Klingon fleet. Just in time to cause havoc on the Jem'hadar during the war with the Dominion.”

Sarah listened to her employer with keen interest as she gazed at the blood red feathers painted on the *Suvwl*’s wings. Her brother had often told her about Klingon Birds of Prey, but she never imagined she would see the vessel up close.

The *Kinsale*’s second officer emerged from the vessel’s cockpit. The arrival of the Klingon Bird of Prey hadmade him somewhat anxious. Nevertheless, he did his best to conceal his unease. “Mr. McCulloch, Captain Klaa Onaak of the *IKS Suvwl*has hailed us. He is ready to transport you and your executive team to their ship.”

“Thank you, Mr. Waltz.” McCulloch softly replied as he continued to study the Klingon ship.

“Sir, are you sure you want to do this?” Waltz asked.

The Scot nodded in the affirmative and then briefly thanked the second officer for his concern. As the two spoke, Wenn silently advanced towards McCulloch and pressed a hypospray against his neck. McCulloch jerked in surprise and loudly cursed.

“What the hell?” He blurted out as he glared at the Bajoran in anger.

“We’re about to go onto a Klingon vessel. We do not need you drunk.” Sarah announced as she turned away from the window and walked towards the Scot. “Tell the *Suvwl*there are four, as well as their personal belongings, to beam aboard.”

“Is the whiskey packed?” The Scot demanded as he watched Waltz walk away.

“No.” Sarah coldly replied.

“We’re going to need it.” He answered.

“No, *you* are going to need it and that is not going to happen.” His assistant retorted.

“Have you ever consumed Klingon blood wine?” McCulloch quickly snapped back. Shess nodded in agreement and gestured to Wenn to retrieve the case of*Pickering Whiskey.*

The four were enveloped in a blood red light. Seconds later, they rematerialized on the bridge of the *IKS Suvwl.*McCulloch looked around the dimly lit room and saw no less than a dozen Klingon warriors staring in silence at him. Shess and Wenn said nothing, while Sarah shifted slightly and started to question her judgement in agreeing to join the others on board a Bird of Prey.

The silence was broken when a large warrior stood up from the captain’s chair and started to walk towards the four.

“Are you the warrior William McCulloch?” Captain Klaa Onaak demanded as he stood before the Scot and eyed him menacingly. “Hero of the Battles of Klingon Imperial Station 21 and honored member of House K'toh-maag?”

“Aye, that is me.” The Scot replied with a low growl. He took a step towards the captain, who returned the growl.

After a moment of tense silence, the Klingon embraced McCulloch and the warriors throughout the bridge let out a loud roar.

“The warrior McCulloch honors us by joining us on this bird of prey!” Onaak announced as he looked around at his cheering crew. “For years we have sung songs of his valor in battle against the Jem'hadar and now he is standing on the bridge of the *Suvwl.”*

*“*The honor is my mine as the valor and glory of the *Suvwl* is known throughout the quadrant and beyond.” The Scot replied with a broad smile.

“I’ve never even heard of the *Suvwl*until today.” Sarah whispered to Wenn.

“Shut up.” The Bajoran muttered underneath her breath.

Captain Onaak gestured for a young Klingon officer to come and stand by his side. “Do you recognize this young lieutenant McCulloch? He was but a mere pup during the Second Battle of KIB 21. He and other Klingon children were trapped inside a training room at the height of the second battle when four Jem'hadar burst into the room to slaughter them. You arrived and killed every enemy with nothing more than a dirk knife.”

McCulloch vividly remembered the ugly and brutal struggles of both battles onboard the Klingon battlestation but had no memory of saving Klingon children. Nevertheless, he chose not to correct the Captain and turned toward the young lieutenant.

“Your name.” The Scot growled.

“I am D’asak, son of El’az. I pledge my blade and my life to you!” The lieutenant instinctively barked.

“I will always be successful with a noble warrior like you by my side.” McCulloch instinctively responded.  D’asak stiffened and appeared to beam with pride.

The Scot turned his attention back towards Captain Onaak, who was quietly studying the Inverness team. McCulloch cleared his throat and introduced Shess, Sarah and Wenn to the Klingon.

Onaak softly grunted and turned back towards the Scot. “McCulloch, the Andorian and Bajorian will fare well on board this vessel. But the human female is a scrawny, thin little bird. I fear she may not enjoy the comforts and lifestyle of a Klingon warship.”

“I am right here and I can hear you.” Sarah hissed. To her embarrassment, more than a few Klingons snickered at her response.

“I assure you, she comes from a warrior family.” McCulloch answered. “Her brother and sister-in-law served with honor during the Dominion war and her older sister died honorably during the Breen attack on Earth.”

The captain considered the Scot’s words, but still expressed hesitation. “McCulloch I have my reservations.”

“Consider her my adjutant. She is necessary to my mission.” McCulloch quickly answered.

Onaak reluctantly nodded in agreement.

“How long before we reach the battle front?” William asked, changing the subject.

“Six hours. Our forces have just engaged Lord Kre’tok and his dogs in battle. We will take you as far as our piquet line and hold there until the engagement ends in our favor. Afterwards we will escort you to Admiral MacLeod.” The Captain replied before looking over at Sarah with a wild grin. “Of course, there is always the possibility the *Suvwl*will be called forward to assist in glorious combat.”

Sarah turned white momentarily before regaining her composure. Afterward, she turned towards Shess and whispered “What is a piquet line?”

Without taking his gaze off of the Klingon bridge crew, the Andorian answered. “The piquet line is located on the outskirts of a battlefield. Usually a small number of Birds of Prey will man the line to prevent a surprise enemy attack from behind or to prevent an enemy warship from breaking through the main battle line to escape capture or destruction.”

Sarah gulped twice.

Captain Onaak returned to his command chair, quickly sat down and looked over at his four guests. “I have ordered a barrel of our finest blood wine to be opened shortly. You will honor all of us if you will drink to the success of the coming battle.”

There was another loud roar that echoed throughout the bridge.

“You still have that hypospray right?” Sarah asked Wenn nervously. The Bajoran nodded in the affirmative.

“Ensign, activate the cloak and set coordinates to the battlefront. Maximum warp!” Onaak barked as his warriors returned to their stations. “Today is a good day to die!”

The *Suvwl* quietly rolled away from the *Kinsale* and shimmered as its cloaking device activated. Moments later, the Bird of Prey was racing towards the pitched battle between Martok and Lord Kre’tok.

Commander Mayla Vree

Bridge, *IKS Rotarran II*

Stardate 2011.27

She instantly saw it when the shields of the *Charghwl'* went down and her Valkyrie fighters' continuous bombardment began striking the hull of the ship. Volley after volley blasted through the thick armor, blasting compartments into the vacuum of space. Off in the corner of her holographic display in front her, she saw the strange signal frequency suddenly stop increasing and nearly disappeared altogether as the *Charghwl'*s communications array was destroyed. She moved the fighters off and just then one of them exploded, struck by an errant torpedo. From her sensor readings the *Charghwl'* had only been firing torpedoes for the past few minutes. She directed a squadron of the Valkyrie fighters to begin firing at targets she had designated. The remaining fighters began attacking the ship's various functions like the sensor array, power relays to the transporters, and nacelles to try to bring main power offline.

"Their shields are down. I'm targeting the torpedo launchers. Keep intercepting those torpedoes the best you can," she ordered Behaz in Klingon, making note that less than a dozen of the shuttles were left.

"lu', qaH," he responded as his eyes constantly shifted from the individual shuttle controls and the battlespace. He kept track of each of the Chancellor's ships and placed shuttles in between them and the *Charghwl'*.

Now that the shields were down, she was able to locate each member of the away teams. And with the Rotarran's extensive sensor suite, she was even able to monitor their lifesigns. She contacted the *Resurrection* to get a status on their progress.

The *Resurrection*'s comm officer relayed whatever information they had on the Chalk teams. Chalks 1 and 3 were converging on the auxiliary bridge where they believed Jack Dark was located. Chalks 2 and 4 hadn't taken the bridge yet and were reporting wounded while having Kretok pinned down. Her eyes narrowed as she looked over at the controls of the last shuttlecraft she had in reserve and located the coordinates of an iridium chip on the sensors.

She beamed the body of Krang to the center of the *Charghwl*'s bridge in hopes of distracting Kre'tok long enough for the Chalk teams to take him down.

Ensign Tiri Sh’avelith

Commander T’Aayla Raillius

*IKS Chargwh’l*

Stardate 2011.30

Tiri looked up from Raillius’ gashed neck wound and saw Kre’tok charging around the circumference of the bridge, his gaze locked on the Andorian and half-Romulan. Beckett was otherwise engaged with a female Klingon charging him, while Sellar and Vorak were both down with injuries. Nearby, Lt. Commander McGuire was locked in a brawl with a Klingon she was exchanging blows with.

Just when she thought no one was coming to the rescue, a transporter beam appeared in the middle of the bridge. Kre'tok looked in that direction for just a moment.

Whether help was coming or not, Tiri knew she had to act quickly. Kre’tok recovered and was nearly upon them, so she stopped treating Raillius’ wounds, drew her ushaan-tor from the back of her belt. She moved into a crouch and as Kre’tok came in with his mek’leths raised to strike.

She sprung up at him, ducking under his first swing and using the ushaan-tor grippe in her right hand to block the other mek’leth.

The young Andorian then rammed a shoulder hard into Kre’tok’s solar plexus, knocking him off kilter and sending his careening into the bulkhead. Tiri gave out a shriek as she came at him swinging the weapon that was essentially an Andorian ice pick.

Kre’tok stepped toward Tiri and deflected her attacks with his blades, but he found her vicious, relentless attacks almost more than he could keep up with.

Finally, he managed to knock her back. And then came back in with the Klingon short swords, one slashing across her armor which took damage, but did not allow the blade to cut through. Tiri ignored the slash, moved into his reach and blocked his next attack before gashing him across the right side with the ushaan-tor.

Kre’tok gave a grunt and stepped back, trying to put a little distance between them, and nearly stepped on Raillius who was still sprawled on the deck, holding a gauze pack to her neck. She attempted to grab his leg to trip him up, which garnered a kick to the face from the Klingon.

Distracted, Tiri lunged and drove the ushaan-tor into his chest, penetrating into his flesh, but not deep enough to do more than hurt him.

He backhanded her, a mek’leth clutched in his hand, knocking Tiri back and causing her to stumble and fall, sliding on her backside several feet across the deck.

With Tiri down, Darva McGuire, who had since dispatched her opponent, fired at Kre’tok and narrowly missed the Klingon. He snarled and looked at McGuire before taking the mek’leth in his left hand and throwing it, the blade spinning tip over hilt across the bridge before it struck her in the right shoulder, penetrating the armor and sending her tumbling to the floor, the mek’leth sticking out of Darva’s shoulder.

Tiri snapped up from the floor, landing on her feet, the ushaan-tor ready for another run at Kre’tok. She gave a blood curdling cry and rushed toward the Klingon, ready to put an end to him.

Lt. Cody Beckett

*IKS Charghw’l*

Stardate 2012.02

The bridge was littered with bodies. It was a big mess. Cody quickly checked if there were any Klingons left besides Kre’tok, who had a hard time against Tiri. Cody aimed at Kre’tok, and fired, but was tossed against the ground hard by yet another Klingon. The beam hit Kre’tok in the shoulder, making him slam against the bulkhead, giving Tiri an advantage. Cody slid over the floor, his rifle clattering out of reach.

The Klingon towered above him, wielding a mek’leth, evil grin on his face. He yelled something in Klingon, while he raised his hand that held the mek’leth.. Cody sweared, and readied himself for the attack. The Klingon yelled again something in his native language and reached out to grab Cody. Cody reacted quickly, grabbed the hand of the Klingon, and moved one leg up over the chest of the Klingon, locking himself to the upper body of the large Klingon, giving Cody the leverage he needed. The Klingon cursed as he went down, and Cody quickly got up, sitting on top of the Klingon, still holding the hand of the Klingon. Cody grabbed the hand in a lock and twisted it hard, breaking the wrist, and in the same movement he rolled over. The Klingon yelled hard, distracted, which gave Cody the time he needed to get on his feet and grab his small axes from the back of his belt.

He stood ready, as the Klingon got up, snarling and groaning, his damaged hand in front of his chest. He lunged towards Cody, a rough attack with the mek’leth. Cody quickly but easily parried the attack with one axe and planted the other with all his might in the armor-clad neck of the Klingon. Blood splattered around, as the Klingon went down to the floor, gargling. Without time to catch his breath, another Klingon appeared in front of him.

Cody just grinned, swirling around his axes. “Come get some, big boy” he hissed through his clenched teeth, as the Klingon attacked with a flurry of attacks. Cody blocked and parried, counterattacked where he could, but this Klingon was well trained. Yet, Cody saw the chance to hit him twice.

The Klingon retreated shortly, now bleeding out of several wounds on his arm and chest. Cody was getting tired. Beside him he still heard Tiri’s groaning and yelling, meaning she was still alive. Then, the Klingon charged again. Cody was ready, and blocked the bat’leth, locking it with the axes. He pulled hard and snatched the bat’leth out of the hands of the Klingon. It flew across the bridge and clattered on the floor. The unarmed Klingon took on a fighting stance, and looked at Cody.

“You filthy Federation scum” he spat and attacked. Cody blocked the first few blows, then blocked another one, locking the arm. With his other axe, he chopped into the upper arm of the Klingon, who groaned as the axe was buried deep into the flesh and bone. Cody pulled out the axe, tearing the flesh further open, but the Klingon only got mad, and hooked Cody on his jaw. Cody staggered back, seeing stars flickering before his eyes for a few moments, then he recovered. He was starting to get angry and threw away his axes and took on a boxing stance.

The Klingon stepped forward and Cody attacked, left jab, right punch, left hook, right uppercut, sending the Klingon backwards, flying over the console, crashing to the floor. The Klingon tried to get up, but Cody also jumped over the console, and kicked the Klingon in the back, sending him further sprawling over the floor. Cody jumped on top of him, and grabbed the Klingon into a neck lock, and with all the force he had, he yanked the head to one side. He heard a snapping sound, and the Klingon’s head fell on the floor. Cody got up, panting. He looked towards Tiri, who looked at Kre’tok, falling to the floor, in his own pool of blood. Suddenly, from the side, yet another Klingon jumped up from behind a console, charging at Cody. As Cody took on his fighting stance, the Klingon was hit in the back by a phaser beam, and he fell to the floor in front of Cody. Cody looked at Tiri, quasi offended.

“Hey, he was attacking me” Tiri smiled a thin smile, as she moved on to look at the wounded.

“Thanks” he said.

Ensign Tiri Sh’avelith

*IKS Charghw’l*

Stardate 2012.02

Tiri was about to engage Kre’tok once more when Cody blasted him in the shoulder, the phaser searing through the flesh and bone to exit the other side. The shot spun Kre’tok around and sent him tumbling across the deck.

She moved at him as he struggled to get to his feet, his left arm left useless at his side by the painful phaser shot. He saw the Andorian charging him, raised his remaining mek’leth and swung. Tiri sidestepped his attack, then lunged at him with the ushaan-tor, driving it up into his armpit under the arm extended with the mek’leth in it.

The ushaan-tor penetrated flesh and muscle and cut into him deep. Tiri saw the surprised look on his face as she came up close to him and locked stares with Kre’tok. “This is for the Gault colonists,” she muttered, pulling the weapon out of his armpit and bringing it back to slash across his throat.

He gazed at her with shock and disdain in his eyes as he sunk to his knees in front of her, purple blood cascading down the front of his armor.

Tiri stepped back, flicked the blood from her ushaan-tor and looked down at him with contempt as the life ran out of him. She waited for him to drop to the floor then turned, giving a slight grunt as she did as her body began to feel the injuries she had sustained in the battle.

She saw the Klingon charging Beckett, drew her phaser sidearm and shot him in the back, dropping him to the deck in front of Cody.  The bridge was silent now, all of the Klingons were dead.

Tiri moved to McGuire, who was laying on the deck with a mek’leth embedded in her shoulder. She slapped an isolinear tag on her and moved to Raillius, who was still bleeding badly from her throat wound. She secured a second tag to her and opened a channel to *Resurrection*.

“Beam Phoenix 3 and McGuire to the med bay, ASAP,” she said. “Checking on Vorak and Sellar.”

She glanced at Cody as she crossed the bridge to Vorak’s prone body. “You OK, lieutenant?”

Lt. Cody Beckett,

*IKS Charghw’l*

Stardate 2012.02

“All ok. A little bruised up,” he answered, as he walked to Sellar. She was still alive, but barely. “Havoc, this is Phoenix 9, another wounded, directly to med bay,” he said, as he placed an isolinear tag on Sellar’s shoulder. In a whirl of light, Sellar disappeared. Cody grabbed his rifle and opened a channel to the Resurrection. “Phoenix 9 here. Bridge secured. Kre’tok is dead. Do the other teams need assistance?”

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

*IKS Charghw’I*

Stardate 2012.02

“Are we simply killing him?” asked Ryramorl as the two headed for Dark’s position.  He was now more grateful than ever for the bones his granduncle had left him.  Dark’s nanites might be able to absorb the energy of a phaser--let him try with a ballistic projectile.

Colonel Jahkar

*IKS Chargwh’l*

Stardate 2012.02

Jahkar was quiet for a moment after Ryramorl’s question. The two were on a turbolift heading up to the deck where the auxiliary bridge was located and the half-Klingon/Romulan pondered what the Carnora had asked. He and Jack had been friends once. Dark had been with Dara Illia before she and Jahkar met. Jack had helped Illia and Jahkar hide Tajel from his Cardassian father -- could he bring himself to kill his onetime friend?

Then he considered all that Jack had done since his “death” eight years earlier. He’d assumed Aaron Gant’s identity, ascended to the leadership of the Federation and used it to subvert and sabotage everything from the communications grid to arming and helping terrorists overthrow their leaders.

Then he did the unthinkable...he killed Admiral Sorvek. A man everyone in Shadow Operations loved and revered. No, he was no longer a friend, he had become something else.

“If he doesn’t surrender, we kill him,” Jahkar muttered. “He will only be given one chance. If he fails to comply, one of us will bring him to an end.”

The lift deposited them on the deck where the aux bridge was located. When the doors opened, four Klingons stood in the corridor, weapons trained on them. To the Klingons, though, the lift was empty as both Jahkar and Ryramorl were cloaked.

“Go!” he told the Carnora. They charged out of the lift, firing as they emerged, both warriors flickering into view as their cloaks were disrupted. Jahkar’s shots took down the two Klingons on the right while the Carnora dealt with the left.

After they had cleared the corridor, they made their way down to the doors to the auxiliary bridge. Jahkar checked the doors and found them sealed shut and unresponsive to his attempts to make them open. Explosions continued to rock the ship around them as Jahkar withdrew a shaped charge from his satchel.

“I’m going to blow this door and when it goes, toss in flash-bangs,” Jahkar said. “I’ll toss in a couple of these grenades the Madcaps gave us that might work against Dark’s nanotech. Then we go in, phasers ready.”

“What if phasers don’t work on him?” Ryramorl asked.

Jahkar frowned, “Use whatever weapons will work on him.”

Jahkar placed the charges, the two stood back and when he keyed the detonator the door blew inward. The pair tossed in the grenades, waited for the explosions and then waded in.

Jack Dark

*IKS Charghw’l*

Stardate 2012.02

Jack knew intruders were at the door well before they blew it in and he knew who they were before the grenades were tossed. He had set up a shield to contain the grenade blasts, though the specialized grenades designed to counteract his nanites were a bit of a surprise. Admittedly, Jack had figured on Shadow Ops coming in with something to try and counteract his abilities. The grenades made sense, from that standpoint, but he’d been prepared for such an eventuality because it was...well….it was Shadow Ops. He’d have expected nothing less.

Jack had deployed a different variant of his standard nanties in the auxiliary bridge, just in case they had countermeasures. Some of his nanites were instantly eradicated, but most survived and rapidly multiplied in response to the threat.

When Jahkar and Ryramorl came through the door, Jack was standing at the communications console. Moments earlier the attacking ships had taken out the dreadnought’s communications array. Cut off from sending the transmission he needed to send, Jack ordered a batch of his nanites to begin constructing a secondary transmitter utilizing the navigational deflector on Charghw’l. The procedure would take a few minutes -- enough time for him to deal with these two before sending the transmission,

As soon as weapons were raised, Jack directed a pulse of nanites across the room. The microscopic robots attached to all of the weapons carried by both Shadow operatives and they instantly began to reduce the weapons to molten slag.

When the rifles fell out of their hands, Jack looked to them and smiled, “Jahkar! It has been such a long time, friend. And Ryramorl...I’ve read a great deal about you. The pleasure is mine.”

All of their weapons, even Jahkar’s blades and axes, disintegrated from their bodies rendering both soldiers unarmed. Jack gave them a saddened look. “I know you both want to kill me after what happened to Sorvek. Believe me, gentlemen, I feel terrible about it. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way. But I don’t have time to offer explanations or to offer apologies. I have work to do and you two are standing in my way…”

William McCulloch

*IKS Suvwl*

Stardate 2012.02

The *Suvwl*decloaked and slowly came to a stationary position.

On the bridge, Captain Onaak leaned forward in his chair and grinned eagerly. Several of his officers on the bridge growled menacingly. After a moment, Onaak looked over to McCulloch, who was standing to his right.

“We are holding a position in advance of the piquet line McCulloch … a mere ten minutes away from the battle. If the piquet line is called into battle, we will be the first to respond. If the enemy tries to break through our battle lines to flee, the *Suvwl*will be the first to greet them with phaser fire and torpedoes.”

“Congratulations Captain, your ship holds a position of honor. Fortune favors the bold.” The Scot replied as he sipped from his cup of blood wine.

He had tried to pace himself since Onaak cracked open the barrel a few hours ago. Wenn and Shess also successfully nursed their drinks as well. Unfortunately, Sarah passed out minutes after quickly downing her first cup. To the crew’s delight, Wenn and Shess were forced to carry Pickering off the bridge to spare quarters for her to sleep the effects off.

McCulloch ordered the pair to remain with her until further notice.

As Onakk barked orders to his crew, Scot listened intently as the warriors relayed sporadic information on the fight that raged a short distance away. He quickly discovered that two of the main warships involved in the fight were known as the *IKS Charghw’l*and *IKS Rotarran II*. He also heard repeated references to a Federation ship engaged in a separate fight Ty'Gokor, the *Fearless*. The Scot briefly smirked. He instinctively knew that MacLeod was onboard that vessel.

“McCulloch, we are close enough that we can listen in on transmissions from Martok’s forces. Would you like to listen in on the battle?” Onaak asked, already knowing what the answer would be.

“Yes.” The Scot replied with a quick nod.

There was a loud crackle followed by shouts, terse orders and explosions. Seconds later, multiple reports of Birds of Prey making Kamikaze attacks on Martok’s ship quickly came in.

A low, angry murmur began to fill the bridge. Onaak shifted uncomfortably in his command chair. McCulloch clenched his jaw, knowing this battle had just taken a very ugly turn.

Lt. Ryramorl Ra’yral

*IKS Charghw’l*

Stardate 2012.02

Everything was reduced to slag, even the revolver given to him by his tribe.  He growled in fury.  “Work?  You mean reduce the galaxy to squabbling tribes and tenuous alliances at best?  I’ve lived through that chaos, in the days before the Carnoric Republic!  It left us helpless before the Jem’Hadar, because we could not organize into a fighting force, Mr.--” He sniffed--then breathed in deeply, taking in that strange odour.  “Mr. Aaron Gant.  You and your nanites have a very distinct scent, *President*Gant.”

Jack wondered where Ryramorl might have met him before, then he remembered that OverKing Shor-Ghan Roshaigaro always had a cadre of toughs as bodyguards just as burly as the OverKing himself whenever he travelled to any function in the Federation.  Ryramorl had their leader.

Using the subvoc, Ryramorl said to Jahkar, “Say the word, and I will go berserk on him.”  He knew the nanites would tear him to pieces, but he hoped that, in a berserk rage, he’d ignore the wounds long enough to take down Jack Dark.

Colonel Jahkar

*IKS Charghw’l*

Stardate 2012.02

Jahkar gave a nod to Ryramorl and slowly moved forward, beginning a cautious advance on Jack Dark, who had stood up from the communications suite and was now facing both of them.

“Jack, you’re done here,” Jahkar stated firmly. “Surrender and no harm will come to you. This has gone on long enough. Whatever you hoped to accomplish, it's done now. Communications are down, our people removed the nanite infestation of the communications relays and let’s face it...you got sloppy starting with Andoria Prime. What was it? Shadow Ops coming into the picture? The way you handled Thompson’s capture...that was the giveaway. You couldn’t turn him, but you couldn’t kill him either. And now you feel remorse for Sorvek. You don’t have it in you to do these despicable things. So give up and we’ll take you back with us to stand trial.”

Jahkar managed to get within 15 feet of Dark...a little closer and he’d be able to attack.

Jack Dark

*IKS Charghw’l*

Stardate 2012.02

Jack watched Jahkar with amusement. He knew the Marine well. He was attempting to close the gap between them so he could strike. Predicable.

“I admit, I shouldn’t have allowed the reactivation of Shadow Ops. I allowed it because my refusal might have drawn considerable attention. But ultimately, allowing the organization to return proved to be more than I could handle...too many old memories,” Jack said. “I second guessed myself. It was a mistake.”

When he decided Jahkar and Ryramorl were getting too close, he decided it was time for a demonstration of his true power.  With the wave of his hand an invisible force slammed both warriors and knocked them back several feet.

“That’s close enough,” he muttered. “My telekinetic abilities now extend beyond being able to manipulate nanotech. I wouldn’t try anything if I were either of you. I don’t want to hurt you.”

He looked at the readout on the holographic screen beside him and nodded, “In a matter of a few minutes I will be able to transmit.”

He glanced to the Carnora, “OverKing Shor-Ghan Roshaigaro...you served him, did you not? Fascinating people. You’ll be pleased to know I did nothing to your people. I didn’t see them as a threat to the quadrant. You all still have much to learn...perhaps if the Federation is no longer there to influence and corrupt your kind you’ll fare better than the rest of the governments in the quadrant.”

Jahkar got back up and glared at Jack, “What exactly have you done?”

“Over my eight years in the assumed identity of Aaron Gant, I placed undetectable nanites in 137 government officials, aides and power brokers in the collective governments of the Alpha Quadrant. I have the ability to snuff these individuals out with a transmission. Creating more chaos...collapsing governments and creating the turmoil Legion has worked to create since I took it over.”

Dark smiled, “I have also poised nanites for an attack on the central databases of the Federation, Klingon Empire, Romulan Empire and several other major galactic powers. When leadership and knowledge are lost...perhaps the war-like ways of this quadrant will finally be brought to an end.”

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral.

*IKS Charghw’I*

Stardate 2012.02

“I did, as head of his bodyguard,” groaned Ryramorl.  Dammit.  The man was a Shaman of the Hidden hand--and far more powerful than any amongst his people.  “And you didn’t look at the history of the Carnora?  We’ve been through that collapse, right after the damned Great Teaching 500 years ago!  The old Muran Empires practically vanished from one True Night to the next, and it took the personal intervention of the Messengers just to keep the Carnora from wiping each other out!  Only after our encounter with the Federation did our own technology start advancing again!”  He stood up.  “Or did you never question why the Carnora’s space travel seems to be 400 years behind?”  Mentally, he began to repeat to himself the dread phrase MacLeod had admonished him for in the meeting, ready to let loose with a word from Jahkar.

Ensign Reechip Charatetet

*IKS Charghw’I*

Stardate 2012.02

Reepchip picked up a Klingon disruptor to replace the one that was broken and stood guard.  He also had a d’ktagh dagger near his feet.  He and Auriak kept in mental contact as they watched their respective points of entry, ready for anything that could happen.

Commander Mayla Vree

Bridge, *IKS Rotarran II*

Stardate 2012.02

"How many shuttles do you have left?" Mayla asked Behaz as she pinpointed targets taken from the schematics she was studying for her fighters to fire on. One of the nacelles was already destroyed and the dreadnought was beginning to drift. Each explosive disruptor fire striking the hull nudged the ship a tiny bit.

"Seven." He responded. Most of the torpedo launchers had been destroyed. It was almost mesmerizing to him to see a ship that massive venting air and plasma fire from various destroyed compartments.

She almost didn't notice it. The signal build up had appeared again. But this time it was coming from a centralized location at the deflector dish. Without a moment to lose, she ordered three of her fighters to the forward section of the dreadnought while leaving the rest to continue firing on strategic locations of the ship to disable it piecemeal without catastrophically destroying the entire ship with Phoenix Team on it.

"They have venting in seven decks and warp drive is offline." Kraven reported as their fleet continued to bombard the dreadnought to tear away at the thick armor.

"Target their weapons and impulse engines," Martok ordered. "I don't want that ship to go anywhere. And prepare the boarding parties."

In the battlespace generated in front of her, she watched the last of Kre'tok's fleet, as a final act of defiance, attempted to ram into the *Rotarran*. But the *Malpara*, which was the closest ship providing fire support, accelerated and intercepted the suicide ship and both exploded in a blinding burst of exploding light.

Taking advantage of the distraction, she accelerated the two Valkyrie fighters until the deflector dish was within their firing arc and immediately opened fire.

"One, Havoc, Chalks 2 and 4 reporting the Bridge is secured. Kre'tok is dead. Remaining Chalks are engaging the auxiliary bridge."

"Havoc, One, acknowledged." Mayla said over her subvocal as she watched with interest the abnormal strength of the deflector dish since the shields were down. Several volleys should have already penetrated it.

"The *Charghw’l*'s shield is down, can you get a signal or a scan inside the auxiliary bridge?"

Mayla tuned the sensors to that section and saw the jamming. "No, it looks like some sort of jamming defense shield is surrounding the bridge. No scans or signals can get in." She glanced over at the growing signal strength. "What's the status on destroying the ship?" She asked as the once deadly dreadnought was no longer overwhelming them with weapons fire. The remains of the second squadron of cloaked Valkyrie fighters were starting to fire into the vicinity of the warp engines.

Lazarus' voice came on. "It's still the goal. We can see power fluctuations throughout the ship. Their sensors, transporters, weapons, and shields are completely disabled."

"At least they're not firing on you any more," she muttered as it seemed the space battle was winding down. She broke off one of the Valkyrie fighters firing at the rear of the ship with it's remaining two torpedoes and directed it towards the Resurrection. "I have a package to deliver into the shuttle bay. I need you to maneuver the bay doors away from any Klingon ship's visual. And give me remote access to the maneuvering thrusters at your helm."

This required her full concentration in syncing the Resurrection and the fighter together in such close proximity. In her eyes, she deftly controlled one of the still cloaked fighters gently into the shuttle bay of the Shadow Ops vessel. She closed the bay doors shut before decloaking the Klingon's prototype cloaking fighter and shutting down the systems.

"Helm control is yours, Havoc. Have the engineers put up a Class 4 jamming field around the shuttle bay. Did you receive the data packet I sent earlier about their prototype ships?"

"Packet has been received, no one has reviewed it. We've been kind of busy, One."

"Understood. Have the engineers look at it and disable any tracking beacon on it. One, out." She let out a sigh as her attention returned to try to reason out why the deflector dish hadn't been destroyed yet after the continuous bombardment.

Jack Dark

*IKS Charghw’l*

Stardate 2012.02

Dark had prepared a shield powered by his nanites to protect the deflector array. The Valkyrie fighters inflicted a great deal of damage to the shield, but it held. The nanites signaled Jack they were ready to send his transmission, so without further hesitation he acted -- knowing the fighters would destroy the array on their next pass.

“As amusing as this has been, gentlemen,” he said, stepping back to the holographic display. “I have business to attend to.”

He began to input data into the communications console and that was when Jahkar and Ryramorl had to decide their next course of action…

Colonel Jahkar

*IKS Charghw’l*

Stardate 2012.02

Jahkar nodded to Ryramorl and he said, “Together...let’s take him.” And together they charged Jack again. The Marine was counting on him being distracted by attempting to send the transmission so they could perhaps get their hands on him this time.

As they closed, Dark looked up. Jahkar knew he’d try to knock them back again, or perhaps worse. He needed to make himself the sole target of Dark’s response, so he gave a loud roar as he lept over a console and lunged straight at Dark.

The former Shadow operative turned one of his arms into a blade and swung it at Jahkar, attempting to slash him in mid-air. The blade clipped the console beside Dark, gashing open the interface and sending sparks flying as he brought it up and slashed it across Jahkar’s abdomen. The nanite produced blade was remarkably sharp and it cut through the polyalloy armor like it was butter, cutting deep into Jahkar’s flesh and knocking him from the air, sending him tumbling across the deck.

Jahkar looked up as Dark turned toward Ryramorl’s hulking shape and saw he’d bought the Carnora enough time. He was going to be able to get a hold of Dark. But Jack was undoubtedly strong, enhanced by his nanotechnology.  So when he noticed a sparking power coupling hanging from the damaged console, he knew what his next action would be if Ryramorl failed…

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

*IKS Charghw’l*

Stardate 2012.02

The huge Carnora grabbed Jack by the hair and tried to rip out the human’s throat with his teeth--and a telekinetic blast slammed him against the wall.  Ryramorl rose with a dreadful, abyssal howl that had no place in any civilized world, but that most races knew--prayed--they’d left behind in their most ancient, bestial past.

The berserker launched himself at Jack with tremendous power and speed--if Jack didn’t move, he’d be smashed between the communications console and the berserker.  If he did move, the Carnora’s hurtling bulk would do massive damage to the console.

Lt. Daryl Thompson

*USS Resurrection*, Bridge

Stardate 2012.03

Daryl held back his anger. He was frustrated. He hadn’t been able to hack the Klingon dreadnought. It was a formidable ship, with even better computer systems and its electronic defenses were unseen before.

Another frustration was the fact that he wasn’t involved with the battle. And third, he just got word that Darva had been beamed over. She had been wounded by a mek’leth in the battle for the bridge. Nothing life threatening, but still. After pondering about it for a few moments, he sighed deeply and let go of the frustrations.

There was still Jack Dark to be dealt with. As he finally was able to get proper access to the computer systems of the dreadnought once the shields were down, he now had yet another challenge to get through the nanite-strengthened security measures of the auxiliary bridge.

Chancellor Martok

*IKS Rotarran II*

Stardate2012.03

Martok sat uneasily in his chair. His body hurt from being roughed up on the *Charghw’l*, particularly his chest and left arm. He shrugged it off and stood, walking over to the tactical display where Mayla Vree stood.

“Their shields are down, weapons are offline, propulsion is gone,” Martok remarked. “She’s dead in space. Commander Vree, we appreciate your help in bringing the ship under control…but it is time we reclaimed our ship.”

He turned to Kraven, his face displaying some discomfort, “Begin transporting teams over to the *Charghw’l*. Kill any of Kre’tok’s crew that remain. Send reinforcements to help secure the auxiliary bridge.”

Martok knew these Federation folk all too well...Shadow Operations was undoubtedly planning to destroy his dreadnought and he was not going to let that happen.

Back to top

## S3, E1, Act 8: Dark Demise

Commander Mayla Vree

Bridge, *IKS Rotarran II*

Stardate 2012.03

"Chancellor," Mayla interjected, halting Martok's walk back to his chair. "My team still has an ongoing skirmish in the auxiliary bridge of the *Charghw’l*." With a few gestures of her hands, she moved a few holographic screens floating in front of her together. She pointed to the screen that showed the sensor data she was watching while the signal build up was reaching critical levels. "As I explained to General Kraven in your absence, we received intelligence that indicated catastrophic consequences if this signal gets sent out." She quickly explained what she told Kraven earlier.

"Is this true?" The Chancellor growled before looking from the screens to Kraven.

"It is," Kraven said. "This Jack Dark has infiltrated his nanites throughout the empires of the known galaxy and that signal would bring turmoil. We've already seen some of the *Charghw'l'*s torpedoes disintegrate our ships in a cloud of nanites."

"If he really has widely infiltrated key figures and systems, something of this scale can only create a complete breakdown of society everywhere." Mayla said as if a matter of fact. She had no doubt Dark could make it happen after spending years preparing for this moment.

Martok waved a dismissal gloved hand at him. "You underestimate our resiliency. We fought back the Dominion and won."

"But not a nearly invisible enemy who's already infiltrated key elements throughout," Mayla said. "My team is engaging Dark now, let's be sure he is neutralized before you decide that the ship is dead in the water. We have already seen surprises in this battle that had nothing to do with the *Charghw’l'*s original design and abilities."

"Is this what your *Resurrection* is telling you?"

"My team is reporting that Kre'tok is dead and the main bridge and engineering are both secured. The battle in space and vital areas of the ship are secured. But Jack Dark is the  primary target now." Mayla contacted the *Resurrection* to update them on Martok's orders while she waited for his response.

"Bah, their shields are down. Just fire a torpedo at the bridge," Martok gestured to Kraven to carry out the order.

"I've already tried that. The bridge itself has some sort of independent shield surrounding it that is blocking not only energy or even kinetic weapons, but all of our signals to get a transporter beam in." Mayla pointed out the lack of information from the sensors of that area. "Even the sensors and communications cannot penetrate it."

"You suggest we stand by and wait for your team to finish him off before I send in boarding parties?" he growled at her suspiciously.

"Yes. As soon as Dark is neutralized, I will extract my teams and the ship is yours."

Martok looked at her skeptically before turning it into an angry glare. "Commander, I believe you are trying to stall us so your Shadow Operations have unabated access to my dreadnought."

Mayla had enough of this. She pointed at the visual of the deflector dish. "Then explain to me why this deflector dish hasn't been destroyed under continuous heavy fire from your Valkyrie fighters?"

Martok had to admit, there was something strange going on there. A squadron of HIS prototype fighters were constantly firing at the *Charghw’l'*s deflector dish with almost no effect. Even he could see there was something amiss here with the defenses around the dish. And this Trill seemed to know and understand more about the situation than just the battle. "You just want to destroy the ship."

"You may have the Klingon Empire to protect, but we all have a responsibility to protect against chaos on a galactic scale. That outweighs the loss of one ship any day, Chancellor. If Dark has infected that ship in any way with his nanites that can lay dormant until activated, I suggest you don't take that chance of bringing the downfall of the Klingon Empire because of one ship." She turned her attention back to her monitors. "I have advised you to the best of my ability on this matter. Just give my team some time to stop this before it's too late."

    Martok went back to his chair without a word and slowly sank into it. Mayla gestured to Kraven to come to her. "In case we can't stop that signal, I suggest you immediately have the Chancellor scanned for any nanites that may already have been implanted into him. He is considered someone of importance here."

    Kraven didn't bat an eye and just gave her a slight nod. Mayla contacted Lazarus on the Resurrection. "Martok is starting to suspect we're trying to destroy the ship."

"He would be right."

"If Dark has infected the ship with nanites, maybe it's better if we destroy it by warping it into a sun or something similar to vaporize it entirely." Mayla suggested.

"We did secure the bridge and engineering. I'll contact the team and see what our options are." Lazarus said.

"You'd better come up with something soon or extract the away teams. Martok wants to send in boarding parties right now to reclaim the ship." She watched the transporters closely to see if they would begin deploying the heavily armed boarding parties to retake the *Charghw’l*.

Commander Sienae Tal'Aura

*Tachi Koma*, Turkana IV

Stardate 2012.03

"Status on Alpha One?" Sienae asked while standing behind Marcus and watching the two dimensional battlespace on one of his screens.

"Safe." Zhaan said almost with a sigh of relief while still monitoring the comm channels. "Tango 1 has been neutralized, she's adrift and being boarded."

"Sensors concur," Lennier said. "Alpha task force is setting up a perimeter around Turkana IV."

The battle was over. She looked at all the sensor logs compiled from just the past 30 minutes. Even from this distance, they could still see the remnants of the battle above the planet.

"Send a message to the *USS Resurrection.* Inform them that the battle at Turkana IV is over. Legion's presence has been neutralized here." She sat down into her chair and wistfully hoped Zhaan would get her a cup of tea. "Request for instructions."

But it was Chani who appeared beside her with the cup in her hands. "Tea, Captain?"

William McCulloch

*IKS Suvwl*

Stardate 2012.04

McCulloch remained on the bridge of the *IKS Suvwl* and listened over the comm as reports of the battle between the *Charghw’l* and *Rotarran II* continued to pour in. He knew the fight was reaching a climactic conclusion.

The Scot listened curiously as members of the bridge repeatedly announced that Martok’s forces were concentrating their attack on the *Charghw’l'*s deflector dish but were making no progress. McCulloch wondered to himself what the importance of the target was … but before he could speculate further, a Klingon lieutenant commander entered the bridge and approached the Scot.

“The Andorian wishes to speak with you.” The warrior announced with a growl.

McCulloch looked over at Onaak and nodded. Afterward, he departed from the bridge and followed the officer as he escorted him to the quarters where Shess, Sarah and Wenn were staying. Upon arrival, the Klingon saluted the McCulloch, turned and walked away.

William stepped into the chambers and found Wenn and Shess carefully examining data displayed on a padd. Sarah was sitting upright on a steel slab that doubled as a bed. It was clear she was still under the influence of Klingon blood wine.

“She’s still drunk?” McCulloch asked Wenn.

“No only is she still drunk, she’s been professing her love for you for the past thirty minutes.”

“I don’t understand why you are all upset over this Taryn Kane when you could have me!” Sarah slurred as she looked doe eyed at the Scot.

“How much blood wine did she have?” McCulloch demanded as he gestured to his executive assistant.

“Not much.” Shess conceded. “But it was enough to knock her off her feet.”

“William McCulloch, I’ve loved you for so long, you should be so lucky to have someone like me!” Sarah continued between burps.

“Did either of you try to counteract the effects of the alcohol like you did with me?” He asked.

“Twice.” Wenn replied. “She’s slowly sobering up but she’s got a long way to go.”

McCulloch watched Sarah as she started to nod off to sleep and then turned towards Shess. “I was told you wanted to see me.”

The Andorian nodded in the affirmative. “We received an encrypted message from Inverness fifteen minutes ago. It wasn’t easy getting it to us.”

“Encrypted?” McCulloch asked with a tone of surprise.

“The team working on the Jack Dark matter didn’t want this information falling into the wrong hands while we are so close to a battle front.”

The Scot nodded in understanding. “So tell me, what have you found?”

“ As you know we have identified three possible locations where we think Dark enhanced his capabilities with nanites. We also have in our possession an incident report that suggests Dark has evolved to the point he can somehow control his little monsters over great distances. Now, we stumbled across this.”

Wenn handed the padd to McCulloch. The Scot read the report from his bio-security department carefully. Upon completion he looked up in shock.

“Is this report accurate?” He stuttered as he tried to comprehend what he just read.

“It’s a speculative report based on available data and declassified reports.” Wenn conceded.

“We believe the subject was Jack Dark.” Shess interrupted. “The circumstances surrounding this particular accident on Umoth VIII and the resulting death of over 200 people all point to his nanites.”

“Who from *Inverness* came up with this theory?” The Scot demanded.

“Thomas Daughtry from bio-security and Satris Bod from cybernetic intelligence.”

McCulloch exhaled loudly and looked over at Sarah Pickering as she muttered to herself in her sleep. Afterwards, he looked back at the rest of his team. “If this report is correct, you’re telling me that within the last decade Jack Dark somehow lost control of his nanites?”

“That is the theory.” The Bajoran answered.

“How?” The Scot demanded.

“We don’t know and the answer is likely well outside of Inverness’ intelligence capabilities. But if someone can identify the cause, it may cripple Dark’s capabilities.”

“If this theory is true.” McCulloch reluctantly countered.

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

*IKS Charghw’I*

Stardate 2012.07

As President Gant, Jack Dark had heard that the Carnora still embraced the ancient, barbaric custom of the Berserker.  Now he had his hands full dealing with just such a monster.

The Berserker kept its total focus on his enemy, trying to claw its way through Jack’s telekinetic shield.  It knew there was another in the room, knew this other was Pack--not to be harmed.  Its dreadful howls filled the air as it flung itself over and over at its foe.

Colonel Jahkar

*IKS Charghw’I*

Stardate 2012.08

Jahkar looked up from the floor where he lay, beside the wrecked console, the abdomen of his polyalloy armor gashed open, along with the flesh beneath it. Jack had cut him deep, but not enough to spill his innards...thankfully. Still, he was bleeding from a deep wound on his stomach and he would require medical attention sooner than later.

He watched as a berserk Ryramorl pounded furiously at the mental shield Jack had erected between himself and the Carnora. He could see Jack’s expression -- the former Shadow operative was intimidated by Ryramorl. He knew if the Carnora got a hold of him he wouldn’t stand a chance.

Still, Jack was busy preparing a surprise for Ryramorl. Jahkar could see he held his left arm outward, projecting the nano-shield from his hand, while he kept his right arm behind him, a wicked looking blade forming where his hand was supposed to be.

Jahkar looked over at the wrecked console and saw the exposed power coupling there, still arching blue-white electricity from the broken tip. The Marine reached over, grabbed the cable and yanked it out of the console’s interior. He then took the coupling and shoved it as hard as he could toward Dark, hoping his shield was only directed forward toward Ryramorl…

Jack Dark

*IKS Charghw’I*

Stardate 2012.08

Dark was startled at the ferocity of the beastly Carnora. He’d heard of their berserker rage among their kind but seeing it first hand was nothing short of remarkable. His nanites, swirling in an invisible shield between him and Ryramorl, were barely able to contain him. Jack found he had to divert as much of his telekinetic ability as possible to maintain the shield, leaving his flank unprotected.

“Don’t you both…see…h-how the Federation and the other great powers of this quadrant…how they abuse their power…how they sacrifice lives…like Taryn…like Sontag…like Dara…and for what?” Dark hissed as he tried desperately to hold Ryramorl off. “Aren’t you tired of being their pawns? Join me and we’ll change this quadrant…we’ll make it a better place…”

He had forgotten Jahkar behind him and it was too late when he suddenly realized the half-Klingon/Romulan was there. Jahkar shoved a power coupling from the damaged console against his back, delivering a massive burst of energy from the cable into his body.

Jack screamed, electricity pulsing through his body. The feedback sent Jahkar tumbling backwards to slide limply across the deck. The burst of energy would have killed anyone else, but Dark was only badly injured by it. The effect, however, was the complete loss of his shield and the destruction of nearly all of his nanites – all of them “killed” by the power surge.

Defenseless, Ryramorl’s claws slammed painfully into Jack and tore into his flesh. Jack screamed, looked up into the eyes of his attacker and realized this was the end…

Lieutenant Ryramorl Ra’yral

*IKS Charghw’I*

Stardate 2012.08

The Berserker was aware of its packmate behind its prey, and tried to maneuver their prey so its packmate could go for the kill.  Its packmate struck, and the Berserker suddenly found their prey in its claws.  It immediately latched onto the throat with its jaws, the neck so far into the Berserker’s jaws that its teeth crunched through the prey’s spine.  When the prey sank lifelessly to the floor, the Berserker turned to its packmate--and Jahkar suddenly found himself looking into Ryramorl’s eyes as the Olvern sank to the ground.  “...  by the Fires of Agavan, please tell me I didn’t do that to you,” wheezed Ryramorl, looking at Jahkar’s wound.  He gasped for air, his heart racing as his energy levels crashed.  Finally, he was able to get up on all fours, and ambled over to Jahkar.  “If you can’t stand, I’ll let you ride me,” he groaned.  He looked down, and realized that somewhere along the line he, too, had been gashed open.

Colonel Jahkar

*IKS Charghw’l*

Stardate 2012.10

Jahkar managed to sit up. He looked at Ryramorl and saw his fur was covered with blood. A glance over to Jack Dark and he could see the reason why...Dark was torn to shreds. His bloody, lifeless corpse was ripped apart and Jahkar noted he was in several pieces.

“I think you got him, Ryramorl,” Jahkar groaned. He was still bleeding from the gut wound Jack had given him and now both of his hands were badly burned from the electrical backlash caused by shoving the conduit into Dark’s body.

Jahkar crawled over to a puddle of Dark’s blood, snatching it on a piece of the console he retrieved from the floor. With a blood sample successfully gathered, he turned back to Ryramorl, hands agonizingly burned.

“Do me a favor, big guy,” Jahkar managed a smile. “Don’t ever ask me to ride you again...got it?” He started to laugh as they were both enveloped in a transporter beam and were whisked off the Klingon ship.

Arriving on the Resurrection, they found themselves in the crowded medical bay. The EMH was busy treating Darva McGuire when Jahkar and Ryramorl were beamed in. Nurses got them both onto treatment beds and went to work controlling the bleeding.

“Get this blood sample into a stasis field,” Jahkar told the nurse treating him. “It’s from Jack Dark...we need to confirm it was him.”

The nurse nodded, placed the broken piece of console covered with red liquid into a stasis unit and then went to work on the half-Klingon/Romulan. As the nurse treated him, he keyed his subvocal communicator, “Phoenix 3 to Phoenix 1. We’re in the medbay. I’ve got a sample of Dark’s blood here if you need to confirm his death. There wasn’t enough left to identify any other way.”

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

*IKS Charghw’I*

Stardate 2012.08

Reepchip and Auriak watched the doors of the engineering room.  “If they take us down, they won’t take long to get rid of the charges,” fretted Auriak.

Reepchip snorted.  “I’d like to see them try,” he said.  “Some of the places I put those things were a squeeze for ME.  The Klingons wouldn’t even think to look there.”  His ears pricked up as he heard a distant howling.

    “What was that?!” asked Auriak.

    “A berserker,” said Reepchip, his ears flattening.  “Ryramorl has gone berserk.”

    He didn’t say anything more, though he saw Auriak swallow hard.

    The howling continued as the two watched the doors--and then it died down.  Reepchip chittered.  “Whatever he was fighting, sounds like he won.”

    Suddenly, they found themselves enveloped in the transporter’s swirl, getting sent back to the *Resurrection*.

Lt. Ryramorl Ra’yral

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2012.10

Ryramorl lay on a bed in the medbay.  He looked over at the Klingon/Romulan hybrid, then smiled crookedly as the nurse cleaned blood out from his fur.  “Humans,” he growled.  “Show them... a bit of tooth... and claw, and they go... all to pieces.”  He gave up his struggle against sleep, basically crashing from his lack of energy.

Ensign Tiri Sh’avelith

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2012.11

Tiri was beamed back aboard the *Resurrection* with Cody. She gave him a nod and headed out of the transporter room, heading toward the med bay. She wanted to be of assistance with the wounded there.

Once she arrived, she saw the assortment of crew injured in the battle and members of the Away Team injured in the boarding action. One of the worst injuries was Commander Raillius, who was being tended to by the EMH herself. Tiri made eye contact with Rallius when she arrived and the two nodded at each other.

Tiri looked around and saw Jahkar and Ryramorl, both with slashing injuries to their torsos. The Carnora, she noted, was covered with blood -- more than what his wound should have created. Since Jahkar’s blood was purplish in color, she discounted it as being Ryramorl’s.

She then realized as she got closer to him that he had likely been the one who killed Jack Dark.

“Let me help you there,” she said to the Carnora, as another nurse tended to Jahkar’s wounds. Tiri went to work stabilizing Ryramorl’s bleeding and then started to seal his wound with a dermal regenerator.

Lt. Ryramorl Ra’yral

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2012.11

Ryramorl mumbled something in what might be his own language.  According to the monitors, his energy levels were unusually low, as if he were beyond exhausted.  Before long, the Olvern was fast asleep.

Fortunately, the EMH had a moment to tend to Ryramorl.   When he asked for a hypospray to deal with Ryramorl’s dangerously exhausted condition, the replicator warned him that the drug requested was highly toxic to humans, and so needed an override.  As an added failsafe, the replicators had been programmed so that the overrides had to be given in Plains Olvern (for the medicines Ryramorl would need), or Tet Muran, (for those Reepchip would need).  Of course, being a hologram, the EMH could pronounce those languages perfectly, though nobody else but the respective Carnora could.

    One hypospray later, and Ryramorl’s body could start properly recovering.

Captain Quentin Lazarus

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2012.11

“Captain,” Lt. Dahrt announced from tactical. “Dampening field on the auxiliary bridge is down. Two signals are there, Jahkar and Ryramorl.”

Lazarus nodded, “Lock onto the entire away team. Get me Commander Vree.”

“Vree here,” Mayla responded, almost immediately.

“You monitoring this?” Lazarus asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

“Are you ready for us to pull them out?” Lazarus asked. “We won’t be able to stall a Klingon boarding party much longer.”

Commander Mayla Vree

Bridge, *IKS Rotarran II*

Stardate 2012.11

Mayla continued to monitor the fighters bombarding the deflector shield and just when she looked away at a sensor screen with the signal strength, disruptor fire penetrated the shields. Volley after volley of weapons fire impacted against the now vulnerable deflector dish and utterly destroyed it. When she noticed it she immediately halted the attack but it was too late. The bulkhead surrounding the dish exploded as additional disruptor fire began to tunnel into the interior of the ship. As the final slowest moving weapon, a torpedo, entered the ship where the deflector dish once was.

At that moment, Lazarus contacted her to inform her that the shields around the auxiliary bridge was down, and the sensors were now showing Jahkar and Ra'yral.

And at that moment, the torpedo exploded deep inside the ship near engineering.

"Emergency transport everyone out now and blow the ship," she said urgently over the subvocal. "I'll transport Chalk 1." She had already begun the transport sequence from her last shuttle before she finished speaking as Jahkar, Ra'yral, Charatetet, and Auriak were closest to the immediate path of destruction. Then she yelled out to the *Rotarran* helm in Klingon for all ships to get clear of the *Charghw’I*.

She moved her fighters and shuttle away with a burst of speed, fleeing the proximity as fast as the ships could go. She looked over at the sensors in her eyes and she let out an inward sigh of relief that each member of the other away teams were instantly gone from the dreadnought. The team was safe, and the signal they all fought against had ceased.

Internal explosions could now be seen, threading all the way down the spine from the front to the rear of the ship when the torpedo detonated. Then the charges Chalk 1 had planted detonated. That was when the massive viewscreen at the front of the *Rotarran*'s bridge lit up like a sun for just a moment as matter and antimatter collided together.

She moved the shuttle closer to the Resurrection and transported the four members of Chalk 1 over. Then she quickly decloaked all of the fighters and formed them up into squadron formation. Only six of the prototypes remained to return to the docking bay on the *Rotarran*. On their final approach, she began to clear out all of her programs she used in their computers and let the automatic landing system take over. Once that occurred, she closed out all of her connections with the care of not leaving any traces of her intrusion behind. She took a deep breath and stepped back from her console. She looked over to Behaz who just so happened to be looking at her.

"How many shuttles are left?" she asked.

"Three," he said in Klingon. "They were worth the sacrifice. How many fighters are left?"

"Six. With the battlespace filled with weapons fire, even a cloaked ship would eventually get struck." She glanced over to Martok, who sat back into his chair and allowed Kraven to perform mop up operations.

"You did admirably, Commander." Behaz said, puffing out his chest. "It was an honor to battle beside you, even if it wasn't out in the battlefield."

"The honor is mutual, Behaz." She gave him a respectful bow.

"Commander Vree," Martok bellowed above the steadily lowering noise of battle. He didn't look happy. "So you destroyed my ship."

"Certainly not on purpose. I stopped the fighters' bombardment as quickly as I could when the shield around the dish was down. That final torpedo was already in route. There was nothing I could do to stop it." Mayla explained to him with a steady and calm voice. Behind him, she could see on the viewscreen the debris field that was once the advanced Klingon dreadnought.

"Did your people get out?"

"Just barely. I alerted them as soon as that torpedo entered the *Charghw’I*."

"So Jack Dark is dead."

"Yes, killed right before the deflector shield was destroyed, and the signal stopped."

Kraven brought over a padd and handed it to him before speaking low into his ear. "Kraven tells me you were the one who transported me out?"

"Yes, sir."

"And you sent Sirella away on the Y'Tau to keep her safe?"

"Yes."

"You remote piloted all of our prototype fighters into battle, along with all of our shuttlecraft?" He stated from a padd he held in his hand. Somehow, someone was apparently taking notes of what she was doing during the battle.

"I handled only the fighters. Behaz handled all of the shuttlecraft." Mayla turned to the Klingon who was standing at attention at his station.

Martok gave her a slightly suspicious look with his one eye and grunted. "You handled them well enough." He turned to Kraven. "Contact the *Y'Tau*, I want to speak with Sirella."

Kraven suddenly gave Mayla a look, who now took several steps to stand beside Kraven.

"Chancellor, there's something we need to tell you first about Lady Sirella," Kraven said. "In private."

Chancellor Martok

Private office, *IKS Rotarran II*

Stardate 2012.13

“Pregnant?” a dumbfounded Martok stammered. “But...how? It is not possible!”

“As I explained, chancellor, Dark did something to her, using his nanotechnology,” Mayla explained. “It altered her body to make it possible to carry a child at a massively accelerated growth rate. The child incorporates Dark’s DNA, Sirella’s DNA and some kind of new bio-mechanical nanites.”

“Frankly, chancellor, the medical staff on Y'Tau has never seen anything like it,” Kraven told him.

Martok shook his head, then sank into his chair, again appearing severely fatigued. “This is...unacceptable! This man, who claimed to be the Federation president, has defiled my wife and created this...abomination!”

“As soon as it is born, I will order it killed,” Kraven bowed his head.

“Born? No, I want it removed from her immediately!” Martok hissed.

Mayla held up her hands, “I’ve spoken to Lady Sirella about the child. She was adamant about keeping it. I had offered her the possibility of us taking the child. Starfleet would like to determine just what Dark was thinking when he did this and what exactly the implications of this are.”

Martok scowled, “If word of this gets out, there will be Klingons who want the child dead, those who will make accusations of infidelity against Lady Sirella and those who will want to take the child and experiment with it.”

“That’s why Starfleet should take it,” Mayla persisted. “The child can be studied while it is treated like it should be.”

“A pariah? A creature? How else should it be treated?” Kraven snarled.

“With dignity and care,” Mayla snapped back. “Regardless of what it is, it is still a child. It should be treated as such.”

Martok looked at Kraven with his one eye and saw he was about to lash out at Vree, so he held up his hand, ”Enough,” he said, weariness in his voice. “Commander, how do we even know this ‘child’ won’t grow into an adult in a matter of hours or days after it is born?”

“By all indications, the child’s growth is slowing,” she reported. “It should be born within the next two hours. A short time after, it should stop growing at an accelerated rate and will assume a normal growth pattern.”

Kraven scoffed, “Normal? There is nothing normal about this. The child should be…”

“I said enough!” Martok blurted out. “Lady Sirella. What does she want?”

Mayla sighed, “She is afraid...but she is also torn by her motherly instinct. She doesn't know what to do with the child. I have made the same offer I’ve made to you. We can take the baby.”

“Order the *Y'Tau* to return immediately. I will beam aboard and speak with her,” Martok said. “Whatever she decides is how we will proceed.”

“Chancellor…” Kraven began.

“I...said...enough!” Martok barked, becoming infuriated. He looked at Kraven with a stern glare, “You forget your place! And you….” he looked to Vree, “you are too presumptuous. This is not Starfleet’s decision to make. It will be ours. If we decide to let you take this child, then it will be. If not, then I expect you to take the *Resurrection* and *Fearless* and return to Federation space. Your service here is appreciated…but it is at an end...and be thankful I will not open an inquiry into what really happened to our dreadnought.”

"We were just offering our assistance to you and Lady Sirella. I did not mean any disrespect." Mayla took a step back as Martok rose a little unsteadily to his feet and glared down at her.

"Duly noted, Commander. You will wait here until I have discussed this with my wife. You are dismissed." He gestured with his gauntleted hand for her to leave.

William McCulloch

*IKS Suvwl*

Stardate 2012.13

McCulloch and his team, minus the still intoxicated Sarah Pickering, continued to discuss the Daughtry-Bod Theory of Jack Dark losing control of his nanites and causing widespread deaths in the distant colony of Umoth VIII.  Shess believed Dark had suffered some traumatic event, thereby severing him from his nanites, while McCulloch and Wenn speculated the nanites had somehow rebelled against their master. Regardless, the three knew they were simply making uneducated guesses and the reason behind the accident...if it truly was Dark … was well beyond their collective knowledge and capabilities.

At the height of their debate, Captain Onaak entered the quarters. He took one look at Sarah, who was fast asleep and laughed.

“I told you the human female should not have joined this trip. She cannot even handle half a cup of blood wine!”

McCulloch reluctantly nodded in agreement. The Klingon officer continued.

“The battle between the *Charghw’l* and *Rotarran II* is over. The *Charghw’l* has been destroyed and Martok is victorious! The piquet line has been ordered forward to mop up the remnants of Martok’s enemies.”

“Will the Suvwl be joining in the fight?” Shess asked with slight concern.

“No.” Onaak replied with disappointment. “We need to continue with our mission of delivering McCulloch and all of you to Admiral MacLeod. He is not on this battlefield but there are members of Starfleet present who can bring you to him.”

“Who?” McCulloch asked with curiosity.

“I have been informed that one Commander Mayla Vree is here with her forces. We will be sending a transmission to her and Chancellor Martok momentarily. She should be able to assist you in finding this MacLeod.”

The Scot felt his stomach twist and tighten. The last time he had heard the name Mayla Vree was after he betrayed the Federation. Shortly after his incarceration, his ex wife Victoria McCulloch had formed a close bond with the girl.

“What will the communication say?” The Scot asked.

The Klingon Captain passed a padd to William, who read the contents of the transmission out loud.

“To Chancellor Martok and Commander Vree. The *IKS Suvwl* has been dispatched from Klingon Imperial Battlestation 21 and is transporting the warrior William McCulloch, hero of the Battles of KIB 21. His deeds at both of those glorious battles are still celebrated by many Klingon Households. He carries important information that must only be shared with Admiral MacLeod. The Suvwl requests permission to deliver McCulloch either to the *Rotarran II* or a nearby Federation vessel that will assist him in reaching the Admiral.”

“Well that is one way to get everyone’s attention….Warrior McCulloch” Wenn quipped.

Captain Quentin Lazarus

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2012.13

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Lazarus muttered after Lt. Darht repeated the incoming message a second time. “McCulloch? Here? Now?”

Dahrt had no idea who McCulloch was, but he confirmed the man was on a Bird of Prey that just decloaked. “What do you want me to do?”

“Send to Vree on the *Rotarran*...tell her I’ll deal with this,” Lazarus grumbled, worried  momentarily that a Vree/McCulloch confrontation here could be awkward and messy. “She is to continue dealing with the mopping up effort.”

“Aye sir,” Dahrt said, opening a channel to *Rotarran* to repeat the captain’s orders.

“Bring us within transporter range of the *IKS Suvwl* and hail them.”

Once a channel was open, Lazarus spoke, “McCulloch. Lazarus here. MacLeod is back at Ty’GoKor. May I ask what the reason is for your interest in speaking with him?”

William McCulloch

*IKS Suvwl*

Stardate 2012.13

 “McCulloch. Lazarus here. MacLeod is back at Ty’GoKor. May I ask what the reason is for your interest in speaking with him?”

The Scot felt his stomach turn slightly. Captain Lazarus was one of McCulloch’s direct commanders when he betrayed the Federation so many years ago. After a moment of careful reflection, he steeled himself and turned on the small viewscreen that was in the quarters he and his team were currently sharing.

“Thank you, Captain, for responding to the transmission.” William replied with a slight nod and bow. “I am sure that you are preoccupied with the aftermath of this engagement so I will cut to the chase. I know that Admiral Sorvek was murdered by Jack Dark. My intelligence firm discovered the information by accident a few days ago.”

“McCulloch, if you came this deep into Klingon territory to express your condolences, then it is duly noted.” Lazarus retorted with a slight hint of exasperation.

“I am here because my intelligence team has uncovered information on Jack Dark. Information that I believe Starfleet either overlooked or missed.”

The Captain studied McCulloch in silence for a moment. Finally, he spoke. “Go on.”

The Scot looked over at Shess, who nodded in understanding. Afterwards, McCulloch continued. “We have recently acquired intelligence from sources outside of the Federation. My Chief Intelligence Officer, Shess Ch'taolnos, will be transmitting report summaries to you now.”

“What do you want in exchange for sharing this information? I highly doubt a convicted felon like yourself is doing this out of the kindness of his heart.” Lazarus demanded.

“I want a meeting with MacLeod. I have questions about Sorvek and Taryn Kane and he is the only one who can answer them. If you want the full reports of our findings and theories, I trust you will accommodate my requests.”

Captain Quentin Lazarus

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2012.13

Lazarus contained a crude remark. How dare he come here practically demanding an audience with Admiral MacLeod. After what he’d done...he was lucky he wasn’t rotting away in a Federation prison. Lazarus collected himself after a momentary pause, “I will inform the admiral of your wish to have an audience with him. Meanwhile, if you like to beam over, come unarmed and we’ll find accommodations for you until a meeting can be arranged. *Resurrection* out.”

Lazarus turned to Dahrt, “Have security meet him in the transporter if he beams over. Check him for everything -- weapons, surveillance devices, explosives. It should just be him and his clothing, nothing else.”

Dahrt nodded, “Um...yes sir. May I ask who he is?”

Lazarus snorted, “Children,” he muttered under his breath. “An original Shadow operator who once betrayed the organization. He is to be confined to quarters, no access to ship’s computers, communications or even the replicators. He needs a glass of water, have one of your guards posted at the door go get it for him.”

“Aye,” Dahrt said, eyes widening as he considered everything Lazarus was telling him. “Sir, is he being taken into custody?”

“No. But he is not to be trusted,” Lazarus said. “The only reason I’m allowing this is because...well...because it's what Sorvek would have wanted. For some...illogical reason, he trusted McCulloch even after what he did. MacLeod will likely see him for the same reason.”

Dahrt got the feeling there was a lot to this story he didn't know, and didn’t care to know. He turned to go carry out the captain’s orders, leaving the bridge to tend to security matters while McGuire was recuperating in the medical bay.

William McCulloch

*IKS Suvwl*

Stardate 2012.13

“Are you nuts? You can’t be serious about transporting over to the *Resurrection* by yourself!” Wenn protested.

“You heard the instructions from the *Resurrection*. Only I can transport over. They can’t and won’t do anything to me.” McCulloch calmly announced as he loaded a travel case with padds, two bottle of Pickering Whiskey, a box of cigars and a book. He closed the case and slung it over his shoulder.

“William, at least wear a tracking device so we know you are safe.” Shess pleaded. The Scot nodded in the negative.

Sarah Pickering sat in the corner of the quarters sulking as she started to sober up. Her head throbbed and she wanted to vomit. She looked up at her employer. “This is a bad idea. It is one thing if we all went on board with you, but allowing yourself to be transported over to a vessel commanded by a man you once betrayed is madness.”

“My mind has been made up. I highly doubt Starfleet will do anything to harm me, especially this deep inside Klingon territory.”

“At least carry a tracking device.” Wenn insisted.

“They’ll search me and find it.” The Scot rebutted.

“Not if you ingest this.” Shess replied as he held out a pill shaped device. “You should recognize it as we designed it two years ago for several governments. It was designed to track operatives and monitor their bio signs. It doesn’t collect intelligence or intercept communications. But it would tell us you’re alive. And that would make me feel so much better.”

McCulloch eyed the Andorian, took the pill from his hand, popped it into his mouth and swallowed it with half a cup of Klingon blood wine. He turned and started to walk towards the doors of the quarters. Before he exited he turned to his team.

“Captain Onaak will be taking you back to Federation space. Rendezvous with the *Kinsale* and go to Umbra Three. I will meet you there once I finish with MacLeod.”

McCulloch left the room and made his way back to the Suwvl’s bridge. Upon arrival, Captain Onaak rose from his command chair and strode over to the Scot. He clasped the Scots arm and laughed loudly.

“It was an honor to have you on my ship, McCulloch.” he barked.

“The honor was mine, Captain. I trust you will deliver my team safely back to their ship?”

“You have my word.” Onaak pledged. “But I expect to see you soon at KIB 21.”

“I look forward to that day.” The Scot replied.

“Are you ready to be transported to the *Resurrection*?” The Klingon officer asked. McCulloch simply nodded. Onaak tapped a key on a nearby panel and spoke again. “*Resurrection*, one to be beamed aboard..”

“Thank you Captain.” McCulloch stated with a slight bow..

“Qapla'! McCulloch!” Onaak replied as he saluted the Scot.

Moments later, McCulloch was surrounded by a bright blue light. He rematerialized in the transporter room of the Resurrection. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw four armed security officers waiting for him.

“Only four?” The Scot quipped as he stepped down from the transporter pad. One of the officers stepped towards McCulloch as another nervously grasped the grip of his holstered phaser.

“Mr. McCulloch, your travel case please.” An Ensign demanded with an outstretched hand. “We will return it to you when you depart from this ship.”

He eyed the security officer as he set the bag on a nearby counter, opened it up and retrieved  the bottle of whiskey. The Scot uncorked the bottle and took a long gulp before setting it down next to the bag.. He then retrieved his book and set that down next to the bottle. Afterward, he closed the travel case shut and keyed a security code, thereby preventing it from being accessed. Without taking his eye off the ensign, he tossed the bag to the nearby officer who was nervously playing with his weapon.

The Ensign leaned forward to retrieve the bottle and book, but McCulloch stepped in front of him. “Son, the bottle and the book are coming with me. You want to scan, test or examine both items by all means do it now because both items are going to keep me busy until you take me to Admiral MacLeod.”

Another security officer stepped forward and started to unholster his weapon. McCulloch looked over at him coldly. “Put that damn weapon away. I may be viewed as little more than scum on board this ship but you are in Klingon territory. You do NOT want the Klingon Empire finding out that I was treated poorly on board this ship.”

The security officers looked at each other nervously and in confusion.

Ten minutes later, the Scot was being escorted to his new quarters only with his book. His whiskey, on the other hand, had been seized and was being “carefully examined” by an off-duty security team in their shared quarters several decks away.

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

Lieutenant JG. Daven Corhees

Lieutenant JG. Spargan

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2012.13

“It’s good to see you all in one piece,” said Daven Corhees, as he and Spargan met up with the Muran, who just left the med bay.

Reepchip nodded.  “Nothing more than a few bruises, otherwise, I’m fine,” he said.

“I’m sensing something very strange from Ryramorl, though.  Something that disturbs me.  He feels… different.”

Reepchip looked between them.  “I’ll explain, but in your quarters.  It’s not something we talk about with outsiders much.”

Once in their quarters, Reepchip explained.  “Ryramorl is touched by Agavan, Lord of Fire, Destruction, and Wrath--it means he’s prone to berserk rages.  We train such in the military to control and--if need be--use those berserk rages.  I heard Ryramorl go berserk on our away mission.  I think most of the blood on him is from whoever he fought.”  He looked at Spargan.  “You got a bad enough shock when you mind-melded with me,” he said.  “Don’t EVER try it on him, a berserker’s mind isn’t pretty.”

“I am confused.  What is the logic in still using berserkers?” said Spargan.

“Ryramorl has been prone to berserk rages all his life,” Reepchip responded.  “Just like any other touched by Lord Agavan.  So they’re trained all their lives to control it, even as you Vulcans train to control your emotions.  So when you have soldiers already prone to berserk rages, it makes sense to train them to use them if they’re needed.”

“...how often do they go berserk?  Deliberately, outside of their training?” asked Daven.

“...Almost never.  I’ve seen 30 Passings, and I’ve heard of a Warrior of Agavan driving himself berserk…  maybe twice?  Three times now?  And they haven’t been used in actual battle since--oh, centuries before the Great Teaching.  But the tradition is kept alive because there will always be those like Ryramorl.”

The three looked up as they heard some security officers laughing and joking outside.  When the three Madcaps went to see, he saw they were Ensigns, and had two large bottles of whiskey.  Daven asked the security officers where they’d gotten it.

“Ah, guy named William McCulloch’s beamed aboard.  We had to check everything that came with him.”

“Is he being held in custody, then?” asked Spargan.

“Nah, but the captain doesn’t trust him, so he’s being confined to his quarters, and we needed to examine the stuff he brought with him.”  He grinned.  “Especially this.”

“In other words,” said Spargan, not at all fooled, “you intend to drink it yourselves.”

“Not like we’re drinking on duty.  We just got off.”

“Still, If he is not being held in custody, then you have committed theft,” said Spargan, evenly.  Daven and Reepchip were equally unimpressed.

One of the ensigns looked Spargan right in the eye.  “Are you trying to pull rank on us?  Because it won’t work.  We’re not even in the same division.”

Vulcan and human locked eyes, before the Ensigns turned to enter their shared quarters.  It wasn’t until several minutes after the door slid shut that the ensign who had been carrying the bottles realized he no longer had them.

“Old Muran Shaman trick,” said Reepchip.  “The best place to hide is beneath notice, and all you have to do is convince their minds to completely ignore you.”

“Where will you store this?” asked Spargan.

“I’ll make sure this McCulloch gets it,” said Reepchip.  “If those guys want to get drunk, I’ll get the replicator to make some Ronjaro juice.  I can pronounce the override.”

Spargan raised an eyebrow, while Daven winced.  None of them were concerned about the ensigns complaining.  The captain would likely take a dim view of their theft--or trying to imbibe alcohol while on a mission.

It took a bit of poking around on the computer to find where McCulloch was.  Before long, Reepchip found his quarters, and chittered to the two guards, explaining that some of McCulloch’s belongings had been withheld for extra scanning.  He showed the two bottles, explaining that they belonged to William McCulloch, and asked to be allowed to give them back to the passenger.

William McCulloch

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2012.13

A chime rang at McCulloch’s door. The Scot looked up from the book he was reading, placed it on a nearby table and walked over to the entrance. He pressed a key and the door slid open. His two guards were simply staring back at him.

“Yes?” The Scot inquired.

Somewhat embarrassed, the first guard silently gestured for McCulloch to look down. When he did, he saw a Muran, less than three feet tall, looking up at him and holding his bottles of whiskey. The Scot smiled warmly, stepped back and with a sweep of his arm invited the Ensign into his quarters.

Once Reepchip was inside, McCulloch took the bottles from him, walked over to a table and retrieved two glasses. He filled both glasses to the brim and then set the bottle down. Afterward, he turned to face the Muran.

“ I am pretty sure Captain Lazarus will not be pleased that you delivered my alcohol to me.” The Scot softly stated.

“Why?”

“Because Ensign, I am a traitor to the Federation and a convicted felon.” The Scot announced as he extended a glass to Reepchip. “But your kindness is appreciated. So have one drink with me Ensign and tell me about yourself. Of course, after we are done, I will insist you return the bottles to my travel case.”

Ensign Reepchip Charatetet

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2012.13

Reepchip took the glass with a grateful chitter.  He carefully sniffed it, detecting the scent of ethanol.  “Forgive me if I do not drink it all,” he said.  “Ethanol is a hallucinogen to Carnora, and Murans are particularly susceptible to it.”

He lapped it, as a dog would lap water--then looked up with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.  “I am Reepchip Charatetet, House of Chara, Clan of Tet, though that’s the closest that the Universal Translator can get to the actual terms we use.  “I was born on the moon Agavan--Lord of Fire, Descruction, and Wrath and He who Guards the Prince most closely--about 30 Passings ago.”  He gave a quick rundown of his service, his family, his time in the Muransurak Academy, then in Starfleet Academy--but he was speaking in his own language, letting the Universal Translator keep up with him.  Then he paused, looking up at McCulloch with an amused smile.  “Am I going too fast for you?” he asked in Federation Standard, which forced him to slow down considerably.

He then repeated what he said, this time in Federation Standard, then said he took pride in being able to speak multiple languages--the Carnora Trade Language, Plains Olvern (the native language of Ryramorl Ra’yral), four Muran languages (including those of the reclusive Khassa and the Jirek-Jai), and was hoping to learn Rihansuu.  “My younger brother Ressassa is a disappointment.  He only knows Tet Muran and the Trade Language--and even that, not well.”

He lapped a little more--he clearly intended to take this very slowly and let his tiny body metabolize the drug.  “Technically speaking, I, too, am a traitor, for I supported the movement that brought down the old Carnoric Republic, and gave rise to the Carnora Pentarchy.”  He took a few more laps of whiskey before setting it aside to let his body metabolise it before it made him hallucinate.  “Do you play 3D Chess?” he asked.

William McCulloch

*USS Resurrection*

Stardate 2012.13

McCulloch found the young Muran to be quite interesting. He almost detected an air of innocence about Reepchip as he lapped his drink and recounted his heritage. The Scot was sure to pay careful attention as the ensign spoke in rapid succession and asked many follow up questions.

Eventually, the Muran set his drink aside and asked McCulloch if he played 3D Chess. The Scot leaned forward and chuckled. “3D Chess? No, I am more of an outdoorsman. I hunt, play stone put and will often golf. But I would love for you to teach me if you have the time. But first, a toast!”

“A toast?” Reepchip replied with slight confusion.

“A toast.” The Scot replied as he held up his glass and contemplated what to say. Finally he spoke and clinked Reepchip’s glass. “To traitors. May we be in heaven an hour before the devil discovers we are dead.”

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