First Wave
Posted on Thu Jul 24th, 2014 @ 8:40am by Lieutenant Lynsi Mason & Commander Brian Ratchford & Lieutenant Colonel Edward Maxwell
Edited on on Thu Jul 24th, 2014 @ 11:08am
Mission:
Vagrants, Vagabonds, and Thieves
Location: Ops; Outer Patrol Zone
"Commander?"
Brian looked up at the sound of the voice through the comm. system, through the glass doors of Captain Von's office to Station Ops, looking for the voice of the officer who had called for him. With the captain off the station and him in command, he had decided to move his day-to-day activities into the captain's own office; blessed as it was with a clear view over the operations centre, and the more direct and secure interfaces with Starfleet's Command and Strategic operations. It was a right he was entitled to as the acting commander, though it still felt more than a little weird to be sitting on this side of the desk of such a large office. Stranger still was the knowledge that, for he first time since being posted here, he would be in command of such a large station; the responsibilities for the lives aboard entirely on his shoulders.
"Go ahead, Ensign," he said, picking out the individual standing in the centre of the pit that held the operations consoles.
"I think you need to come out here, sir. Long-range sensors are detecting multiple ships in-bound."
That was all the queue he needed to stand and make his way through the glass doors and over to the situation table. Past the master systems display, he could see that the large viewscreen in front of the two tactical stations was also tracking the incoming ships. He had a litany of questions he instantly wanted the answers to, and most he could find the answers to with a glance at the data on the tactical screen; the ships were still far enough out that the station's sensors couldn't get a visual on them, nor could they open a hailing frequency. The heading they were on indicated that they had either come from one of the three worlds recently taken by the Ritorian/Sojourner alliance as part of their territory... or else from the alliance itself. "Can we identify them?"
Ed was looking over training reports when he heard a ruckus erupt in Flight Ops. He was about to speak up himself when he heard himself being summoned by the Watch Officer.
"Major we've got multiple inbounds on station sensors. Looks like a mishmash of civilian ships."
"Any wolves amongst the sheep?" Ed asked as he tossed the training report aside and stepped out into FOps.
"No way to tell for sure at this range Major. They're barely inside the detection zone."
"Warrant, is Station Ops aware of this?" Ed asked looking over to the Andorian Warrant Officer who was in charge of the sensors in Flight Ops.
"Yes Major. We were alerted at the same time."
"Tell Mason's Pythons to send a flight of four birds out to intercept the incoming. I want eyes on 'em before they're in range to do anything if there are some wolves out there."
"Aye aye Major."
"Ops this is Maxwell. I've got four birds moving to intercept those incoming ships and get eye's on them. I'll be able to tell you what we're looking at in a few minutes."
"Thank you, Major," Brian answered over the comm. He briefly considered asking the CAG to join him in Station Ops to coordinate efforts from one place, but decided against it, knowing that Maxwell would be better able to coordinate his pilots from the dedicate flight operations centre. Instead he ordered one of the operations officers to split the tactical screen with a visual from flight ops, keeping the two centres linked. "Tie the station's sensors into the flight squadron's telemetry," he said as well, hoping to use the planes as remote sensor stations to increase the starbase's range. "The moment our sensor resolution is high enough, I want numbers, and then I want identifying marks."
From the cockpit of her Viper, Blaze acknowledged her new orders and adjusted her flight path. "Blaze here, Command. We're moving to intercept. Pythons 3, 4, and 7, form up on my wing, standby guns in case we have to go hot." As her squadronmates took up formation behind her, Mason instructed her navigation system to plot an intercept course. Like many pilots, Lynsi preferred to fly on manual as much as possible, and only used the computer generated flight path as a guide. She reactivated her comm to the station. "Blaze to command, intercept course laid in, estimate ten minutes until sensor range." The sensor suite on the fighters was sophisticated enough for the small craft, but it didn't have a huge range. In most situations they operated near the base, or in tandem with a larger starship that would enhance their range. But in this case, despite the long range of the station's sensors, her fighters were sent to intercept and assess long before they could reach the station. A few fighters were a small price to pay for early warning against a threat to the starbase.
After what felt much longer than ten minutes, Mason's flight neared the incoming ships. "Blaze to Command, we're nearing the potential bogies."
"What's your threat assessment, Lieutenant?" the first officer asked over the open comm. channel, watching the ever-changing tactical display as the ships drew in closer. His voice remained at a constant, calm level, pleased with the fact that the number of ships coming in seemed to be manageable for the moment, even with the station's stretched limits. "Are we looking at refugees here, or a prelude to another Sojourner attack?"
"I wouldn't say that it's a Sojourner attack. If it is, Command, then they've really let themselves go. I've got six ships, appear to be transports of some sort. None of them are without damage, some of them hit pretty bad. Based on their markings, I'd say they're N’Veci. Armaments are pretty light. My wingmen and I could probably take the lot of them."
"Blaze this is Reaper." Ed said over the open channel. He had his own callsign and he chose to use it rather than his official designation. "Escort them to the outer marker and have them hold there for inspection. If it's a ruse I don't want them getting close enough to do any damage if something explodes."
"Willco, Reaper. We'll herd them in for you." Mason signalled to her wingmen and transmitted the standard submit to escort and inspection messages that had been all the rage as of late. The lead ship seemed to be hesitant at first, but no doubt gave in after their own assessment that they were outmatched by the military craft. They took up the formation indicated by the standard greetings and followed Blaze and her fighter to the outer marker. "Reaper, this is Blaze. We've got them practically hogtied for you, over."
"Copy Blaze. Maintain a standard orbit around their holding zone." Ed said with a small breath of relief. "Ops, this is Maxwell. Request inspection teams be deployed to the holding vessels."
"Send three runabouts out with orders to inspect each of those ships," Brian ordered. Usually he would have given the names of the specific runabouts designated for this shift's inspection teams, but with 80 Danube-class runabouts alone, he was at a loss to remember which were assigned to which teams, and trusted the Operations staff to be able to make the correct links. "And somebody get me a hailing frequency to one of those ships. Let's try to find out what they're here for."
The operations staff nodded and went about the tasks as ordered. Now that the vessels has been brought in to the outer marker, they were in range of the station's own sensors and communications arrays. Though that meant that the link didn't need to go through the open comm. line with the fighters escorting the ships, Brian made sure that they were receiving the signal too.
The viewscreen in Ops came alive, revealing a battered bridge, and an almost more battered captain. The comm signal was not strong, presumably a problem on the transport's end.
"I am Commander Brian Ratchford, of Federation Starbase Three-Three-Two. May I ask to whom I am speaking?"
"I am Captain Tel'Narnic of the N'Veci transport Ord'No." The viewscreen flickered as he talked. Static interfered with much of the transmission, but the audio was coming through clear enough.
"Greetings, Captain Tel'Narnic. As I am sure you are now aware, you have approached the defensive perimeter of this facility. Can I ask what your intentions are in the Archa system?" Brian was glad that the freighter captain at least seemed to be more than willing to talk to him, and answer any questions he put to them. Though he would still wait for he report from the inspection teams, it went some way to assuring the commander that these ships, such as they were, weren't a threat to the station's safety.
"Our people have been attacked by the Sojourners. They have been targeting ships that did not surrender to them. We are just trying to escape and find someplace safe to rest." Despite the errors in the transmission and the effects of the universal translator, Tel'Narnic's words sounded sincere.
"Understood, Captain. I'm sure we can find a place for you to rest temporarily until the repairs are complete on your ships. However, we do ask that you submit to a standard inspection before docking. We are sending inspection teams over now to board your vessels. Please allow them access to anything that they request to see."
Tel'Narnic seemed disappointed that they would have to be boarded first. "Commander, I assure you that we are not trying to hide anything. An inspection is not necessary."
Ratchford shook his head. "I'm sorry, Captain, but it is standard procedure. All visiting ships are subject to inspection. Comply with the inspection teams and the process will go quickly."
The N'Veci captain seemed annoyed, but he relented. "Very well, Commander. We will comply with your search." With no other words, he closed the channel.
Commander Brian Ratchford
Executive Officer
Major Edward Maxwell
Commander, Air Group
Lieutenant Lynsi Mason
Squadron Leader, "Pythons"
