<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.7600.16853"></HEAD>
<BODY style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" id=role_body
bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 rightMargin=7 topMargin=7><FONT id=role_document
color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial>
<DIV>~~~Freighter Oregonian, Xantia Sector~~~</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The freighter Oregonian slipped silently into the Xantia system,
her<BR>scanners actively searching for any signs of what the Romulans
might<BR>be doing in such an out of the way place. Somewhere behind,
the<BR>Intrepid, Yorktown, and Andorian task force sat ready to pounce on
a<BR>moment's notice.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Further into the system the little ship traveled, trying to look
as<BR>inconspicuous as possible. Suddenly, the sensors began to react,<BR>coming
alive with contacts.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>[ Control Bridge ]</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Ethan took the transport out of warp as steadily as was possible.<BR>Since
the engineering team had gone to work on the engines things have<BR>improved
considerably from his perspective at the helm console. His<BR>navigational
sensors were immediately flooded with signals from other<BR>ships and
fluctuations which looked like warp signatures from ships<BR>recently
departed.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Mendez quickly adjusted his earpiece, and receive some data from
the<BR>Oregonian's systems. "I'm picking up a huge comm traffic in the
area,<BR>sir. The patterns match with Romulan signatures, but it is
probably<BR>heavily encrypted. And... well, there isn't much I can do with
these<BR>computers here", he said with a mix of fear and disappointment.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"There's hundreds of them here" Ethan said. Normally he'd
be<BR>exaggerating making a statement like that but this time he
actually<BR>meant it. On the view screen they could see ships of all shapes,
sizes<BR>and classes heading in and out of the system. Larger groups would
go<BR>to warp whilst new arrivals would warp in. "If we are hailed, try
and<BR>return in Nausicaanan. Keep them confused for as long as we
can."<BR>Ethan responded to the comms officer as he prepared to set a
reverse<BR>course. They had to get what they could and get the hell out of
there.<BR>The odds were overwhelming.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"Aye, sir", replied Mendez.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"All stations get any data you can right now and prepare to relay it<BR>to
the Intrepid and Yorktown." Ethan ordered. As soon as they released the<BR>data
they'd be found out so they had to keep quiet until they found as<BR>much as was
useful. He turned to tactical. "Mr Bolenski, what can you<BR>tell me about that
.. hub they are coming from. The moon there?" he<BR>asked, hoping the freighters
sensors would be up to it.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Bolenski examined the sensors "Well Captain Armstrong..." his
voice<BR>trailed off as he checked the notes on his PADD "Well
Captain<BR>Armstrong..." scribbling furiously and looking at his face
as<BR>different emotions crossed it- Mac never played Poker and was
always<BR>useful in first contact situations because anyone who could read
body<BR>language knew exactly what he was thinking. "Captain Armstrong
the<BR>tactical situation is as follows- sorry it took so long I wanted
to<BR>make sure I was giving you solid data. First its like any other
large<BR>shipyard military or civilian in that its got ships partially
built<BR>all over the place in orbit. Instead of Star Fleets technique
of<BR>building units on the ground then sending them out into space and<BR>orbit
for final assembly they seem to just build the space frames<BR>completely in
orbit." Bolenski tilted his head sideways and spoke to<BR>himself "I wonder how
they can weld that way and have the liquid steel<BR>make solid joints?"</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Shaking himself to concentrate "Because of all the construction
and<BR>scrapping they've got the place highly ionized with heavy
metal<BR>gasses- if we slow down fast enough, if nobody has seen us we might
be<BR>taken as a dense cloud of gas." Studying his PADD and doing a
few<BR>figures and cross checking it with the displays "The moon itself
works<BR>in our favor- not only do they have damaged vessels crash or
landed<BR>on it, but they've got shot up junk in orbit around the moon.
Makes<BR>sense if your tech base is based on repair rather than innovation
like<BR>Star Fleets." Mac's nose was almost pressed against the monitors
as<BR>he made more notes "Apparently the ships that are wrecked or
heavily<BR>damaged are put into orbit around the moon then they use tugs
with<BR>magnetic clamps to latch on, and fly them to the surface of the
moon<BR>as required- which makes sense as a compromise between
being<BR>weightless which is hard on a crew, and the full gravity of a
planet<BR>which is hard to manufacture large parts into starship
hulls."<BR>Scribbling furiously on his PADD Mac made a few more notes "I
don't<BR>or can't see any signs of short range fighters and there's so
much<BR>ionization and junk floating around out there they might not be
able<BR>to see us" Thinking out loud "Skip, if we got some kind of
liquid<BR>gases down in the hold- is there a way we could intentionally bleed
it<BR>and claim battle damage to buy us some time so we don't have to use<BR>the
phase cannons?" Mac looked at Captain Armstrong and chewed his<BR>lower
lip.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"We have 6 small shuttles on this ship- what would happen if we
backed<BR>out, programmed one of the shuttles to fly out, fly underneath
the<BR>plane of the ecliptic with a bunch of random Orion smuggler
trade<BR>language and we come in above the plane of the ecliptic- and we
sneak<BR>in and hide behind all the ships on the moon that's in its
orbit?<BR>That's where they've parked their junk ships they're rebuilding
or<BR>cannibalizing and since form follows function some of these
Romulan<BR>freighters are almost identical in size to ours. There's a real
strong<BR>chance they won't even see us- after all, who does an inventory
on<BR>something that's already scrapped and damaged?"</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"See what we have in the hold regarding the gas. We might be able to<BR>use
that idea as a diversion later on. I can take us slowly to the<BR>outskirts of
the moon where the wrecked ships and try to maintain a<BR>trajectory that looks
like we are being dumped there for salvaging. As<BR>long as no-one does a
detailed scan - or the dilithium we are carrying<BR>will stand out like a sore
thumb." Ethan mused. "I'm reluctant to use<BR>those shuttles" he said, they
weren't much larger than an escape pod,<BR>"But if we sent a couple out ahead of
us as we get closer, it might<BR>look like a more convincing 'escort'. So lets
do it".</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"Yes Sir- moving out like I have a purpose in life" Bolenski said<BR>out
loud as he ran for the door thinking.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>[ Deck Jumping ]</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"All right- this will be pretty easy actually. Tell the shuttles to<BR>stay
10 Kilometers off the port and starboard bow separated by 120<BR>degrees
centered on the ship- easy sneezy". Panting from trying to<BR>sprint 295 meters
plus jumping between decks gets exhausting real<BR>quick like. WAIT- STOP! Mac
looked past the machine shop, into the<BR>ships store of raw materials. Copper
wire,,,,,,I NEED COPPER WIRE!!<BR>Grabbing two each 500 foot spool's Mac grabbed
both of the then<BR>threw it on the deck as hard as he could shattering the
plastic<BR>spool's the wire had been neatly wrapped on. COMPUTER! DISABLE
FIRE<BR>SUPRESSION SYSTEM FOR THIS DECK FOR 15 MINUTES he shouted.
Pulling<BR>the coil's of wire apart intentionally making a mess, he took out
his<BR>laser pistol setting the aperture on wide beam then fanning the
copper<BR>wire's where the plastic insulation immediately burst into flame
into<BR>a charred mess. PERFECT! Mac smiled. Grabbing disposable
machinest<BR>gloves Mac grabbed the still smoldering wire tangled messes of
the<BR>former reels and hurried across the Shuttle bay. Throwing one
reel<BR>into each of the two ready launch shuttles and kicking them into
the<BR>back Mac quickly went through the pre launch sequence. "C'mon! BOOT<BR>UP
NOW!" Slowly the shuttles warmed up as they did the preflights Mac<BR>finished
the programming.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"Shuttle bay to Captain Armstrong- Shuttles 1 and 2 ready to launch
on<BR>your command- moving to the gas storage for plan "B" as in
"Gas<BR>Bottle". Not waiting for a reply from the Captain Mac ran out of
the<BR>shuttles just barely clearing the airlocks doors as the air
pumps<BR>began to depressurize. "I need to work out more!" Mac thought
to<BR>himself running "Or I need to be assigned to a MUCH smaller
ship!".<BR>Fortunately whoever designed the Bison class freighter realized
the<BR>ships stores, the shuttles, the machine and electrical repair
shops,<BR>and freight all needed reasonable access to each other.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"Battle damage,,,I need to emulate battle damage" scrolling down
the<BR>list of gasses "OK, we're going to vent some oxygen, some
nitrogen,<BR>we'll scavenge some fecal mater from the reclamation units to
emulate<BR>dead people." Mac chewed his lip and scratched his nose
while<BR>thinking "And lets throw in some hydraulic oil" Smiling "OK,
this<BR>will work" taking a breath "Bolenski to Captain Armstrong-
shuttles<BR>primed, gas discharge primed- anything else Sir?" Mac laughed
and<BR>waited for the response, giggling at the burnt copper wire</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>= Better get back up here, we can trigger it all from the bridge = Ethan
replied</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>[ Control Bridge ]</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Realizing they'd entered Rommie territory, Mike made ready for a<BR>fight.
He awaited his orders. Ethan noticed the Ensign tense up.<BR>"Stand by Ensign,
two phase cannons isn't going to do much if we stir<BR>up this lot! But if we
are found out we can try and hold them off<BR>until help arrives." as he
finished he saw Bolenski had returned to<BR>his post.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"Yes Sir" Mac grinned evilly "I'll do what I can to make us look like<BR>a
hole in space" pausing "Or did you mean the other Ensign?"</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Mike smiled and replied, "Yes sir." He tried to relax and waited to<BR>see
what happened next.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"Perhaps you can assist Mr. Bolenski in configuring these
shuttles.<BR>We'll need someone to remotely pilot them?" Ethan suggested.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Mike nodded and replied, "Aye sir." He went to assist Bolenski.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"Engineering, we may be in for a rough ride. What is the status of
the<BR>hull plating?" he queried. He knew the supporting systems had
been<BR>operational but had no idea to what level they would be protected.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"It's at 100%... such as it is." Yearly said into the comm. "This isn't
<BR>exactly a fleet vessel, so it's not rigged for sustained combat. Even with
the <BR>enhancements that the Lieutenant and I have come up with, she won't be
able to <BR>stand up to much." </DIV>
<DIV><BR>Once the shuttles had been launched and positioned just ahead of
them,<BR>controlled by Ensign Chester from the bridge, Ethan took the
Oregonian<BR>closer to the moon and began to get stronger and more
detailed<BR>readings. As they flew closer he noticed changes in the paths of
ships<BR>around them and it became clear they had been noticed.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"Sir, we're being hailed - it's from some sort of traffic control",<BR>said
Mendez before continuing "I'll ask them about docking<BR>instructions, to give
us some extra time. Any other instruction?"</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"Inform them we are here for salvaging, we've taken damage, in<BR>Nausicaan
or Romulan if your up for it?" Ethan said and nodded to<BR>Bolenski. "Now would
be a good time to release that gas, for show", he<BR>said. He doubted they'd be
convincing for much longer but it would buy<BR>them more minutes. He kept the
reverse course programmed in.<BR></DIV>
<DIV>Mac pressed a few commands into the computer system, which in turn released
huge billowing clouds of gas on either side of the ship. "I've got an idea!
Tell'em we just lost containment in a panicked voice over the com's system that
we've had gas bottles break!" Mac dumped as much gas as he could making little
clouds of frozen oxygen, nitrogen, trace elements and fecal mater.</DIV>
<DIV><BR>Mac's terrible habit of singing 20th century television show tunes- or
humming- to relieve stress as the Romulans approached to attack kicked into high
gear as he sang the following song: </DIV>
<DIV><BR>The end of the Civil War was near <BR>When quite accidentally, <BR>A
hero who sneezed abruptly seized <BR>Retreat and reversed it to victory. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>His medal of honor pleased and thrilled <BR>his proud little family group.
<BR>While pinning it on some blood was spilled <BR>And so it was planned he'd
command F Troop. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Where Indian fights are colorful sights <BR>and nobody takes a lickin'
<BR>Where pale face and redskin <BR>Both turn chicken. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>When killing and fighting get them down, <BR>They know their morale can't
droop. <BR>As long as they all relax in town <BR>Before they resume with a bang
and a boom <BR>F Troop! </DIV>
<DIV><BR>"Strange" Mac thought to himself "I have the overwhelming urge to kick
a cannon carriage wheel" <BR>"GAS RELEASED, SIR!" Mac gave Captain Armstrong a
half smile and grin. <BR>"Aye, aye, sir...", answered Mendez, just before
replying the Romulan<BR>communication in their own language. He had decided to
reply in<BR>Romulan, throwing in some expressions in Nausicaan, hoping that
the<BR>bad guys would thought that he was some kind of regular and
somehow<BR>dumb pirate. If wasn't for the tense situation, he would have
laughed<BR>at his twisted impersonation. A couple of seconds passed. "We
were<BR>ordered to wait at this position, sir".</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"That seems fairly ominous." Ethan said and bought the freighter to
a<BR>standstill. He saw on navigational sensors one small ship pull away<BR>and
toward them. Switching it onto the viewer the bridge crew watched<BR>as it
seemed to delay by running a scan on the gas they had released<BR>into space. It
turned about and went back where it came from, but<BR>before anyone could speak
three other slightly larger ships began to<BR>break free from the back and head
purposefully toward them.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"Uh oh... It seems that our cover up is gone! They are hailing us again.
And.. they demand us to stand down and surrender.", announced Mendez. <BR>"Hey-
I have an idea! If they want us to stand down ask if they're going to send over
repair teams" Bolenski said "Can't hurt if we pretend to misunderstand them in a
safe way, right?" <BR>"Damn." Ethan engaged the engines again and prepared for
evasive<BR>maneuvers, if such a thing were possible in a hulk their size.
"All<BR>hands. Tactical alert!" </DIV>
<DIV><BR>"Captain Armstrong- I've targeted the two closest ships with the phase
cannon. Or would you rather I aim both cannons at the same ship?" Bolenski
looked at the monitors "I have them on passives with a good solid lock. It could
be argued either way based on their hull polarization Sir which is better. How
do you want this done, Sir?"<BR></DIV>
<DIV>Cmdr Ethan Armstrong<BR>Commanding Officer<BR>ESS Intrepid, NX-07
<DIV> &</DIV>
<DIV>LtJg. Arturo Mendez<BR>Comm Officer<BR>ESS
Intrepid<BR>
&</DIV>
<DIV>Ens. Mike Chester</DIV>
<DIV>Armory Officer</DIV>
<DIV>NX-05 Yorktown</DIV>
<DIV>apb</DIV>
<DIV>Lt.Cmdr. Nat Cameron</DIV>
<DIV>CAO</DIV>
<DIV>NX-05 Yorktown</DIV>
<DIV>The Fighting Lady</DIV>
<DIV>
&</DIV>
<DIV>Ensign Mac Bolenski (and Patterson)</DIV>
<DIV>Armory Officer</DIV>
<DIV>NX-05 Yorktown</DIV>
<DIV> &</DIV>
<DIV>CPO Michelle "Firecracker" Yearly (apb Leo)</DIV>
<DIV>Warp Core Reactor Chief</DIV>
<DIV>NX-05 Yorktown</DIV>
<DIV>The Fighting Lady<BR></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 size=2 face="Franklin Gothic Demi" FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0 color=#000000 size=2 face="Times New Roman"
FAMILY="SERIF" PTSIZE="10"><I>You ever dance with the devil in the pale moon
light?<BR>I always ask that of all my prey...<BR>I just like the sound of
it.....<BR><BR></I>Jack Nicholson- Batman</FONT></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>