The Rendezvous - Part VIII - Sensor Shadows

Posted on Sun Feb 23rd, 2025 @ 7:17pm by Captain Robert Burke & Commander Vincent 'Vin' Salvatore & Lieutenant Marques Hunt & Lieutenant Ryssa Dari

1,092 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: EPISODE 1: SHAKEDOWN
Location: Archanis System - USS Cato - USS Hecate
Timeline: MD029 1340 hours

::ON::

[And Now the Conclusion ...]

"There it is." Vincent whispered softly. "The Bitch just flinched." He said as he turned to the Op's Station just as it began to chirp. "I just handed you an unbeatable hand, Captain. All you need to do is sell it."

The Ops Officer tapped on the console and looked over to the Captain. "Sir? Three Klingon Ships are approaching. Long range sensors detect they are coming in with weapons and shields at full."

The Orion woman shoved the male away from her and stood up. Her calm demeanor suddenly shifted to one of confusion and anger. "Summon any Syndicate ships and allies to this sector for assistance!"

"They won't get here in time, Mistress." One of them replied back to her.

"You better hope they do!" She screamed back.

'Now is the time to surrender,' Burke broadcast calmly. 'Starfleet believes in mercy. The Klingons don't,' he looked to his XO. 'My, our alliance with them is so new, I doubt they would hold back out of propriety.' He looked back to the screen, 'the Klingons will be looking to prove their prowess.'

"I imagine it didn't take much convincing." Vincent said boldly, raising his voice as he looked over to the Orion on the main view screen. "After all, this is their territory and this is a battle. All the more reason to come in and show us their force in action." He crossed his arms over his chest and smirked slightly. "If the Hecate can put that much of a dent in your... I imagine three Klingon ships, that were built for war, would have no problem. Provided you see them coming, after all. You won't see them on your sensors until they are right on top of you, and before you have a chance to react, they'll lay in a barrage and cloak again. Like monsters hiding in a dense fog of night." He uncrossed his arms and shrugged a bit, looking the Orion woman in the eyes. "At least we allowed you to surrender. Klingons track record when it comes to such things aren't so good."

The Orion woman stared daggers into the two Starfleet Officers before slamming her fist on the console in front of her. As she looked over to one of her men she gave them a nod, before turning back to the view screen with gritting teeth. "Those barbarians will not be fast enough to help you should our paths cross again." She finally stood up straight and removed a weapon from her side. Just before the screen cut she aimed it at someone off screen and fired. The noise of the weapon discharging was cut off by the screen going black.

Vincent pulled out his com device again and looked over to Burke. "Someone's having a bad day." He said softly before flipping the device open. "Mallard... When the Orion ship is out of range, pull back the curtain."

"You got it, Vin." replied the man on the other end.

"Captain. The Orion ship is pulling off and preparing to leave the system." The Ops Officer said as he looked over to the others.

'Hunt, slow us to a quarter impulse - let's get some space between us and them in case they work out what's going on,' Burke ordered. 'Darri, keep an eye on those Orion vessels, let me know once they've departed.' Settling back in his chair, Burke heaved a sigh. 'Those weren't quite my plans for the day.'

"Dropping down to quarter pulse," Hunt replied as he slowed the ship down.

He motioned at Salvatore, 'feel free to take a station on the Bridge for now. Once the Orions have left, get the Mallard back aboard, and we can have a chat in a more private setting later.

"Aye, sir." Ryssa kept an eye on the ships as she checked for tachyon particles to be sure there was nothing out there trying to hide from them--just in case.

Finally, she was able to verify that they were, indeed, gone. "Orion ships have jumped to warp, sir."

"I'll see to it my people are on board. I would like to request them to have quarters for the time being. They've been on the shuttle for a long time and deserve a break and bigger accommodations. At least for the time being." Vincent asked softly, holding onto his small smile, now that the entire situation has been taken care of. The Mallard team deserved it after their help.

'That's fine - sort it with Operations,' Burke suggested as he got comfortable in his seat.

As Vincent made his way to console in the back of the bridge, he was stopped by the Ops Officer. "Commander, how did you get the Klingon's to respond that quickly?"

Vincent looked around the bridge and finally back to the Ops Officer. "I didn't."

"Well then how did the Mallard do it?" The Ops Officer asked, rephrasing the original question.

"They didn't." Vincent replied as he crossed his arms over his chest. "The Klingon's didn't come to help us, Ensign. They didn't come to our aid at all. The Mallard only used the channel with the Orion Dreadnaught to make them think the Klingon's were on their way. It's a trick they've used once before and may not be helpful the next time we run into that ship again." He continued on his way to the console and added. "And, if my experience with the Syndicate is anything to go by, that threat to cross paths again is not empty."

"What kind of experience have you had with they Orion's, Sir?" The Ops Lieutenant asked curiously.

As Vincent sat down and began to prompt to setup the console for Intel use he gave a bit of a smirk. "You don't have clearance for that story, Lieutenant. Maybe one day, but today is not that day."

'Helm, bring us about, full impulse to Archanis orbit,' he looked over at the Operations officer manning the station. 'We'll tractor the Cato on the way - it'll give the engineers time to start working on her.'

"Aye sir, full impulse," Hunt responded as he did as instructed.

::OFF::

Captain Robert Burke
Commanding Officer
USS Hecate

Commander Vincent 'Vin' Salvatore
Executive Officer/Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Hecate

Lieutenant Ryssa Dari
Chief Science Officer
USS Hecate

Lieutenant Marques Hunt
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Hecate

Lieutenant-Commander Jeremiah McEntyre MD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Hecate

 

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