Sokoth Qultuq - A Shipwrecked Crew - A short story

[thevidiot]

STAR TREK: DARK ANGEL

“A Shipwrecked Crew”



A short story by: Daniel Ratterree



Synopsis: The crew of the Dark Angel have been tasked with patrolling the shipping lanes near the Cardassian border. A nice break from the normal ‘not coming back from this one’ missions they have been sent on. They come across an opponent that they nearly cannot defeat, and in the process suffer a grave loss due to a defect.



This story is based on the last Sim Chain that the crew of the original Dark Angel embarked on and at an equally turbulent time for the simming group in which we chose to rebuild the ship, and give us a pseudo fresh start. We also had one of the most hilarious Sims during this time frame when we literally had a “Tom & Jerry” moment while on our stay at the Starbase awaiting our new assignment. Anyhow. Since I don’t have the log to do a direct re-write I just wrote.



Character Guide – USS Dark Angel Crew

So’koth Qultuq – Commanding officer

T’lok – Executive Officer

Van Terry – Flight Operations Officer

Chance Furlong – Flight Officer

JayKumba – Flight Officer

Kestra Oliver – Chief Medical Officer

Andy Hanmore – Medical Officer

Vorgon – Medical Officer

Lynna – Chief Engineering Officer

Zach “Mart” Martin – Assistant Chief Engineer

Cody Arnold – Engineering Officer

Mia Braddock – Senior Operations Officer

Ian McCaig – Chief Science Officer

Aj Halliwell (Hologram) – Science Officer

Nate Horn – Chief Tactical Officer, Head of Security



The Night Hunters

Kazok – Orion

Hargog – Nassican

[thevidiot]

A Tremor ran through the deck plating under So’koth’s feet causing him to look up at the viewscreen. The ship was at its normal cruising speed of Warp Six as they transited to their next patrol area. They had actually been given something simple to do for a time, he was happy that they had some pseudo down time as the ship was still recovering from its last major engagement. They took quite a pounding in a major fleet action in the Kalandra system, and in true form the Dark Angel was immediately assigned a patrol route in the Arathar system near the badlands. They were to safeguard the shipping lanes in the area which had recently become a breeding ground for pirates.


“Mr. Martin, I thought you guys had a team looking for the cause of that!” So’koth said looking up from his feet toward the engineering station.


Zach Martin looked up from his console with that ‘Deer in the headlights look’ written on his face. “Um. Yeah, about that.”


“You cannot find it?”


“Nope. Structural integrity has been fluctuating so it might be related. Could be a field that’s out of alignment just causing a bit of stress on the hull.” Mart said glancing back down at his console. “We have not found the malfunctioning unit yet though either.”


“One more engineering mystery to solve.” So’koth muttered. “Have they shored up that repair job on deck four yet? That breach in Sections twenty-two through twenty-six?” So’koth’s eyes found the main viewscreen.


A beeping from the operations console brought his attention away from the streaking stars. Mia turned to look back over her shoulder. “Captain I’m getting a distress call from the S.S. Churchill. She’s a Dilithium freighter.”


So’koth nodded. “On Screen.”


The viewscreen flared with static as the connection was made between the two vessels. A fire was burning in a console in the background. “This is the Churchill, we are under attack by an unknown alien vessel and have been boarded. Our shields and weapons are offline and our Warp Drive has been disabled. Pleas.” The screen flared as an explosion ripped through the back of the bridge and the screen flared with static and reverted back to stars streaking by.


“I’ve lost them!” Mia said.


“Red Alert, all hands to battle stations!” So’koth said without hesitation. “Mr. Terry, adjust our heading to intercept. Maximum Warp!”


The red alert klaxon began to ring out all over the ship as the alert was passed. Nate appeared at his station from the shadows behind it in his usual fashion taking his position without a word. T’lok appeared shortly after from the observation lounge with the ships science officer Ian McCaig who likewise took their stations. So’koth nodded to himself, good response time.

“ETA Mr. Terry?”


The Lieutenant at the helm glanced over his station briefly. “Twelve minutes.” He said.


“That’s an eternity.” So’koth said flatly.


T’lok glanced up from his console. “An unfortunate situation considering that Starfleet has chosen to entrust this patrol to just a single vessel. It is a lot of space to cover.”


So’koth nodded to his first officer. “Isn’t that the truth. Story of our lives.” He turned back to the viewscreen and hit his intercom button on his chair console. “Bridge to engineering!”


“Engineering here!” Lynna’s voice called over the speakers.


“Lynna can you give me anything else from the Warp Drive? We’ve got a ship in distress.” He said.


She scoffed. “There’s always a ship in distress when were around. You’d think it was on purpose!” she said. “I’ll see what I can do, engineering out!” the intercom abruptly closed.


“Captain I’m picking up debris on long range sensors.” Mia called out.


“Confirmed!” Nate said from the tactical station.


So’koth’s frown deepened, “Let’s hope they left survivors.” He said somberly.


“ETA is now four minutes.” Van called over his shoulder at the helm.


“Take us out of Warp at five hundred thousand kilometers, let’s get a good look at the situation before we go charging in.” So’koth said shifting in his chair. “Mia check for survivors first.

Are we picking up any automated distress beacons from escape pods as of yet?”


“Nothing yet sir.” She said nodding.


“Depending upon what hit them, may not be any.” Nate said glancing up from his console.


“Dropping out of Warp!” Van called a few moments later. “Five Hundred Thousand Kilometers.”


“On Screen!” T’lok said.


The image of what was left of the freighter spilled over a few kilometers of space filled the viewscreen. The debris cloud was still expanding slowly. The ship was in several large pieces as if it was blown apart from the inside. “Life signs?”


“Indeterminate.” Mia said. “There is a lot of Radiation present in the debris cloud it could be interfering with our scans.”


He glanced over at T’lok, whom simply nodded to him before he looked back at the screen. “Ahead half impulse power. Let’s take this nice and slow.”


“You believe it’s a trap?” T’lok said stating the obvious.


So’koth nodded. “Pirates have a tendency to do exactly this.” He pointed to the debris cloud. “There is radiation present, yet their cargo was Dilithium. The Warp Core didn’t explode or the debris would be smaller. It’s very clear that the ship was blown apart from the inside, an obvious well planted series of charges.” He looked back at his first officer.


“It’s most certainly a trap.” He grinned. “I bet they didn’t expect us to show though.” He turned back to the viewscreen and stood. “Open hailing frequencies!”


“Frequencies open.” Mia said.


“This is Captain So’koth of the USS Dark Angel. It’s likely with the current state of the quadrant you didn’t expect a Starfleet response to this distress call. I’ll give you a chance to hand over the crew you’ve taken and leave with your cargo and your vessel. All I ask in return is that you give your word you’ll leave the system, and not return. “he stood in silence watching the viewscreen.


It was several long minutes in fact before a vessel appeared from behind a holographic cloaking field, it was heading for the Dark Angel. That was obvious too So’koth but they made no other signs of aggression. “Dark Angel, standby!” a deep voice called back over the intercom.


“Very well, standing by!” So’koth said watching with mild amusement now. He knew that class of vessel, it was very old but very customizable. But even in the best configuration he’d seen it was no match for the Dark Angel, but he didn’t want to push his luck.


“Captain, they’ve opened their cargo bay. I’m detecting a half dozen escape pods launching.” Mia said looking up at the viewscreen. She caused it to zoom in on the pods as they maneuvered away.


“You’ll keep your word Captain?” the deep voice asked.


“Your free to go as long as you give me your word you’ll leave this place.” So’koth repeated.


“Agreed, you have my word. Though I warn you, were not the only hunters out here. Good by!” the voice said. A slight pop signaled the communication channel was severed. The small vessel rotated in space and jumped to warp heading towards the badlands and likely Cardassian space.


“All in a day’s work.” So’koth said. “Stand down to yellow alert.” He said settling back into his chair.


“Why not detain them?” T’lok asked, an eyebrow rising out of curiosity.


So’koth pivoted his chair. “Just a bunch of misguided people trying to make a living in a time when things are so uncertain. Didn’t seem an efficient way of handling things. He won’t come back, not while were in the area anyhow. Besides, one good hit from us and that little tin can would have crumpled.”


T’lok nodded, “Indeed.”


“Mia, let’s get those escape pods stowed in Cargo bay two. Then send a message off to Starfleet letting them know there is a mess here and to send a salvage vessel.” He nodded to T’lok. “Mr. Terry, as soon as our guests are aboard go ahead and continue our patrol.” He spun in the chair. “Mr. McCaig, leave a sensor buoy warning of the Navigational hazard here.” He took a moment as they all went to work and hit the intercom. “Bridge to Sickbay.”


“Kestra here, go ahead!” the doctors voice came over the intercom.


“Doctor, were about to have injured delivered to Cargo Bay 2, please send a medical team to greet them.” He glanced over at Nate. “Mr. Horn, please see to our guests, and that they don’t go astray.”


Nate nodded, and then disappeared back into the shadows behind his console.

=============== =/\= ========== =/\= ================

[thevidiot]

“Have they seen us?”


“No.” our cloak remains stable.


Kazok flexed his hands trying to loosen the tension. “But those scum warned them about us?”


“Yes.”


“Change course, let us go teach those scum a lesson.” Kazok said tightening his grip once again on the edges of his seat. “People will learn to fear us.”


“Yes!” his subordinate said with enthusiasm.


“Once we destroy that Starfleet Vessel, we shall be remembered for all time!” he said raising a fist.


“Yes!” his subordinate stood and thrust a fist into the air. “They shall fear us!”


“The night hunters!”


“NIGHT HUNTERS!” the others on the command deck cheered, their blood was pumping now.


Kazok turned around in his chair and grinned listening to them cheer. “ETA?”


“They only just got a head start on us, we will overtake them in three minutes.” Hargog said turning to his captain from the vessels helm which was at the front of the command deck.


“Good, we shall follow them until the time is right Hargog. Then we will strike!” Kazok said leaning forward and standing to his full seven-foot height. He was massive even for an Orion. He turned and walked out of the command center down the cramped walkway of the old bird of prey. His family had liberated the old bird of prey and he had spent the last decade preparing it for this moment. He had increased its effective Armor, upgrade its power systems including the addition of a much large warp core, and upgraded impulse engines giving the old bird of prey surprising speed and agility. Though with all its upgrades it made the space inside very cramped and nearly the entire crew was forced to share bunk space or hot bunk.

Kazok stepped through the door to his private cabin which was still cramped but he and his first officer were the only ones with private quarters. He stopped and hit the button on the display on his wall and waited for the image to change, a dark figure appeared only his outline obvious.


“We’ve located the Dark Angel.” Kazok said.


“Good. When do you suspect you will strike?” the voice came through the speakers was distorted.


“We will spend a few days trailing them, examining the vessel for weaknesses. That’s the biggest problem most pirates have is they are impatient. My crew and I will find their weakness and strike. They won’t expect it!” he said through a devious grin.


“Good, but do not underestimate these people. Others have tried and failed.”


“Understood, we will be calculating, and resourceful in this kill to say the least.” Kazok said flatly, the grin fading from his lips.


“Good. Contact me when the deed is done!” the screen returned to its normal stand by state.


Kazok leaned back against his bunk, in quiet contemplation. He wanted to just destroy that Starfleet vessel and what it stood for. It would make him famous, not to mention well paid once the deed was done. He could buy a fleet of vessels for what his employer was paying. It excited him to no end, almost to the point of bloodlust.


“Captain, were in position behind that Marquis ship now!” the voice of his helmsman and first officer suddenly called over his intercom.


He stabbed the button on the wall next to his door. “On my way!” he snapped and departed his room heading back for the command deck. It was a short walk. He stepped back out onto the command deck and pushed through the cramped space of the bridge to his chair and dropped into it heavily.


“Analyze their ship. Find the sweet spot!” he said, his elation growing. It was time to kill. He watched the small antiquated vessel on the screen. The image shifted to a closer view. There was a green line running through both wings, a yellow dot, then finally another red dot which was brighter.


“We’ve located the most effective position. Hitting this location should do maximum damage.” One of the science officers said from his left. “The round should pass through their warp drive and through the entire vessel on this trajectory.” And a dotted line appeared showing red, followed by a green which indicated their current aim.


“Adjust our course, begin charging the rails!” he said, hitting a button on his console which caused the targeting reticle to start to come down from above. “Send targeting data here.” He said pulling the device to his face. He leaned on it draping his arms across the two handles. “Match speed!” he said.


This view offered him a unique perspective. He could see without the filters provided by the viewscreen. The warp field effect flickered in his reticle, but he could see the vessel. See just over the angry glow of its engine cones and the rusty spot on the hull where the targeting data said this was the sweet spot to hull the entire vessel in one shot. “give me control!”

Kazok shouted. His blood began to boil at the thought of destroying these people.


Kazok wrapped his fingers around the trigger mechanism and slowly guided the craft to the right position, and held. “Weapon status?”


“Fully charged!”


He squeezed the trigger, and waited the full three seconds watching the hardened metal rod penetrate through the hull with a mere spark. It seemed for a moment that nothing had happened, but another second later the scope flushed white as the vessel erupted in matter anti-matter release. “Evasive!” he said aloud.


“Hard to Starboard!” his first officer called, and began cranking the wheel yawing the craft hard to starboard.


“Lay in a course for the Dark Angel. It’s time for the biggest hunt of them all!” his grin nearly encompassed his entire face, ear to ear.



=============== =/\= ========== =/\= ================

[thevidiot]

“Lynna, your telling me that you cannot find whatever this thing is that keeps causing tremors to run through my ship?” So’koth followed the engineer around the ships Warp Core intent on getting an answer.


“I don’t have time for this So’koth!” she said through her teeth.


So’koth stopped near the front of the core. “This thing is getting on everyone’s last nerve!” he said. “What if it’s something catastrophic about to fail?” he pleaded.


“We’ve been looking for a week and a half now, if it was something like that we would likely have found it by now! It’s likely just one of the Inertial dampening generators that’s out of sync with the rest causing a temporary hiccup.” She stopped her diagnostic scan of the magnetic constrictors. “Seriously, I know it’s been at least a few days since someone tried to kill us, but give me a break” she flipped back on the scanner pointing it higher at the core. “We finally have a chance to get something done!”


He nodded knowingly. “True.”


“You need to relax, when’s the last time you took some time to yourself to just unwind.” She asked eyeing the scanner.


“When’s the last time you did?” he said absentmindedly.


She stopped her scan a moment actually taking a moment to think about it. “I don’t know.” She said trying to think back to the last time she had some free time that someone wasn’t trying to kill them.


“Holodeck 2, in an hour?” he asked looking over at her.


She frowned. “So’koth I’ve got work to do!”


“Your crew’s going to mutiny if you don’t get some down time yourself.” He said with a grin. “Take your own advice, come have some fun!”


“Doing what exactly?” she asked in mild curiosity.


He shrugged. “I’ll think of something, hopefully if not we can figure it out when we both get there.” He turned and started to leave, stopping as yet another one of those tremors ran through the ship. He sighed, and continued out of the open doors to engineering into the corridor. He noted that Mart was on his way in, he looked pretty ragged himself.


“Captain,” Zach Martin said and nodded as they passed.


“Mr. Martin. “So’koth likewise nodded. He turned the corner and stopped nearly running into the ships chief medical officer. “By Kahless. You nearly just sent me to Sto-vo-kor!” he said holding his chest. She had indeed gotten him that time.


“Good!” she snapped, then poked him in the chest. “Your way overdue for your physical!”


“Doctor,” he started but she abruptly stopped him.


“NOW!” she barked and pointed to the turbolift.


So’koth smiled, and started walking towards the turbolift. “Who’s the Captain again?”


“Doctor trumps captain when it comes to health and fitness!” she quipped.


His smiled deepened. “Fair enough. Though I have a date with a Holodeck in an hour, think we can bust through this?”


She nodded. “As long as you cooperate!”


“And the ship doesn’t explode?” he asked jokingly.


“Aye, and that!” she said as the two of them stepped into the lift. “Sickbay!” she said.

He leaned against the side of the lift. “How are things down in sickbay?”


She glanced over at him. “Overcrowded.” She shook her head. “I still have people in recovery, and a long list of people who still need minor things looked after.” She sighed. “Doctor’s work is never done.”


He nodded. “I can relate. I have a stack of padd’s on my desk that could rival a mountain.” He shook his head thinking about it.


“Perhaps you should find the time to take care of some of that mess then.” She said.


“Hard enough with all the letters I have to write to families and important memos, crew transfers.” He frowned, and stepped off the lift as they arrived. “Have to prioritize, and that’s not easy considering how active we are. This is a nice break from the usual running this patrol route.”


“Indeed. I do need to talk to you about something, with our recent activities I’m starting to get low on medical supplies.” She said as they passed through the doors to sickbay. “Were going to need to find a way to resupply very soon!”


So’koth nodded. “I’ll send a message over to fleet and see if we can get a cargo drop. In the meantime, if we run across any freighters you might try trading with them to supplement our current supplies for the time being. Chief’s already got permission to do the same for raw materials and spare parts.” He slid up onto the biobed and laid back.


She began scanning him with a tricorder. “Any issues of late?”


So’koth shook his head. “Nothing.”


“Any relapse with you know what?” she asked quietly.


“No, all quiet for the most part.” He said glancing up at the ceiling.


She shifted a bit uneasy. “For the most part?” her eyebrow rose.


“Nothing out of the norm. It’s not talking to me, no loud voices. Just the occasional whisper.” He laid back on the biobed as she prompted him to do so.


She nodded, and continued to scan. “You will tell me if something changes.” She said, her voice was a bit sterner.


He nodded. “Of course.”


“I’m not kidding!” she looked down at him with a very serious look, one he didn’t see from the young woman that often.


He nodded again. “You have my word; you always have on that subject!”


She nodded satisfied with that response. “You’ve aged.” She said flatly.


“What?”


She set the tricorder aside and began scanning him another tool. “About two minutes!” There was a certain level of annoyance in her voice.


“Two minutes?” he frowned. “Seriously?”


She shrugged. “One would think that’s good.”


“Yeah but in what, six months?” he sighed. “I suppose I should be grateful. But no, I’m not. Maybe if I had a choice in the matter, but no!” he started to sit up but was forced back down onto the bed.


“Don’t make me restrain you!” she snapped, holding a hand to his chest. She set down the scanner, and picked up another device designed to monitor neurological activity and placed it on his forehead. “Let’s take a look under the hood.”


He shifted on the bed. “You talk to the councilor recently?” he asked.


“Actually earlier this morning, she’s been helping out where she can. People are certainly ducking her worse than me.” Kestra said watching the monitor on the wall. She picked up another device and attached it to his forearm.


“My favorite part!” he said and let out a hiss as the thing punctured his arm allowing the scanning device to penetrate into his arm.


“It’s the only way we can check on things.” Kestra said, “You know the drill.”


He nodded. “I know. Does not make it any better!”


“Well, let’s see what’s going on inside.” She said peering at the monitor on the wall. “They certainly look normal. Cellular regeneration seems to be functioning just fine.” She pressed a few buttons and watched as a sample was extracted. “And…death of a nanoprobe.” She nodded watching the probe on the screen freeze, then fall to pieces.


“So, working as intended.” He muttered.


“Yes. Working as intended.” She said flatly removing the device from his arm, and forehead. “I expect that you will complete your physical activity on the holodeck within the next two weeks.” She asked staring at him giving him that hard stare letting him know she was serious.


He nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” He slowly sat up and swung his legs over the side of the biobed.


“You can go, but I’ll be watching.” She said elbowing him as he stood. “Go have some fun!” she moved away to check on a patient.


He watched as she went about her business, he was proud of how she had grown here on the ship. He knew that her time was slowly coming to an end and soon much like some of the lucky ones, she might make it to a transfer off the Dark Angel. He felt a bit of sadness at that thought but it was the way things went. He headed for the door stealing one last look behind him as he exited. She felt much like a younger sister to him since she’d come on board.


‘Don’t make attachments So’koth.’ He heard the voice of the captain of the Lexicon ring in his ears. Reminding him of a conversation he had with his old captain. ‘They will just serve to bring you heartache and hesitation. A captain must be decisive!’


He stood waiting for the turbolift to open, he shook his head. He couldn’t imagine not making attachments with his screw. Some of the best decisions he had made had been for his crew over the last year. He felt the exact opposite, it made him stronger. Though it did come with heartbreak, he wouldn’t give it up. Helped keep him grounded.


He stepped into the turbolift, “Deck 5!” he said moving to the side of the lift joining the rest of the crew on the lift. They acknowledged him with a nod but kept quiet the rest of the lift ride. He took a few moments to get changed, and then left the room heading back towards the turbolift. “Deck 15!”


He stepped off the lift on deck fifteen and walked slowly down the corridor, he spotted Lynna standing outside of Holodeck two waiting. “You came!”


“It seemed important.” She said offering a smile.


“Did you decide on something to do?” he asked stepping up to her.


“Something fun!” she said hitting the button on the holodeck controls bringing the program online and the doors opened.


“Fun it is!” he said following her in.



=============== =/\= ========== =/\= ================

[thevidiot]

Kazok sat in quiet contemplation watching the grey line in the distance on the viewscreen. They had been trailing the Dark Angel at a safe distance for the better part of a day now, scanning, analyzing. They had found many weaknesses but nothing that was a killing blow as of yet. Scanning passively was not an easy task it took time and patience, he knew this.

Though it wasn’t something he enjoyed.


“They are changing course.” Hargog said, glancing back at Kazok.


He shifted in his chair. “Continue pursuit. Keep our current distance. We do not want to tip our hand just yet.” He smiled. “Were close. I can feel it!” he stood.


“As ordered!” Hargog said.


“You have command. Call me if anything else changes, I must update our employer.” He stepped through the doors to the command center and walked the short distance to his quarters.

He dropped the seat from its stowed position and settled down in front of the screen on the wall. He hit a button allowing the screen to come on and connect.


“Status?” the distorted voice called.


“We are still in pursuit, scanning.” Kazok said.


There was a long pause between them. “You must act quickly. Time is sensitive. Make it happen Kazok or I will have to be forced to intervene in this. You assured me your people could make this happen!”


Kazok started to say something but stopped. “It will be done.”


“You have twenty hours!” the screen blinks and goes blank.


Kazok sat back in the chair. It was uncomfortable, but it served a purpose. He hated being pushed, this was literally an exact science. Because the projectiles they were firing were done so via a magnetic accelerator they could fire their weapon without a chance that the enemy would ever fire a shot in return. This vessel was by far something different. It was not a typical Starfleet Vessel. Nor was it in any similar configuration to the standard Akira Class vessel.


“Command to Kazok.” The intercom came alive.


He reached over and hit the button on the wall. “Go!” he said.


“The Dark Angel has changed course, another distress call from the boarder of Cardassian space.” Hargog’s voice came through the intercom.


“Stay with them!” he pondered the implications. Might actually make their job easier. He stood returning the chair to its stowed position. “I’ll be with you shortly.” It was coming down to this. Regardless of the outcome of what happens in the Dark Angel’s response to this event, it was time. He left his quarters heading for the command deck and destiny.



=============== =/\= ========== =/\= ================

[thevidiot]

So’koth stirred hearing the alert klaxon, his eyes slowly focused and he slid his legs over the edge of the bed. As he suspected, the night shift supervisor’s voice called over the intercom. “Bridge to Captain!”


He picked up his communicator badge and pressed it. “So’koth here, go ahead!”


“Captain we’ve picked up another distress call from a freighter along the Cardassian border. I’ve got us on course, we should arrive in twenty-seven minutes.” His voice came over the intercom a bit shaky. “They have advised they are under attack by two Jem’hadar vessels!”

“Good job Lieutenant, I’ll be up shortly.” He said standing, and pressing his badge to close the channel. He crossed the room to his closet and pulled a uniform out, and started pulling on his trousers. “Lynna!” he called.


“What?” she said groggily.


“Time to go to work!” he said tossing his shirt across the room at her.


She gave him a dirty look and pulled herself out of bed, and began pulling on her uniform. “Never fails!” she growled.


“Fleet life,” he said starting to pull on his shoes. “Gotta love it!” he stood up in time to catch her night shirt in the face. “Really, what would you be doing if not for this!” he asked.


“I don’t know!” she said pulling on her boots.


He finished tying his shoes, “Lock up on your way out?” he said standing next to the door.


She offered him a dirty look. “You still owe me!”


He laughed and headed down the hallway out of site. It only took a moment for him to get to the turbolift. He stepped into the lift joining both T’lok and Van Terry the ships helmsman.

He was still pulling on his uniform. “Mr. Terry,”


Van looked up, stopping what he was doing. “Captain!” he said.


So’koth grinned and laughed. “As you were!”


T’lok’s eyebrow rose. “Curious.”


“What T’lok?” So’koth said glancing over at his executive officer.


“There is something funny about Mr. Terry’s lack of preparedness?” he asked flatly.


So’koth laughed again, and nodded. “Aye Mr. T’lok there is.” He looked back as Van was just standing up having finished tying his shoes. “I suppose it has something to do with irony.”


“I fail to see the Irony in the subject.” T’lok said.


The turbolift doors opened admitting them onto the bridge, the three men filed out onto the bridge heading for their stations. “Perhaps another time.” So’koth said as he dropped into the command chair. “Thank you Lieutenant.”


“Were at Maximum warp, about eighteen minutes to arrival.” Van said checking over his console.


He glanced over to see Nate standing at the Tactical Station in his pajamas. “Bit informal for bridge duty Mr. Horn?” he asked.


Nate looked up from his console, then down at his cloths. He steps back into the shadows behind his station and then steps out in his usual attire. “Better?”


So’koth grinned. “Very good!” A shudder ran through the ship just then causing him to glance about the bridge, this one was worse than the others. “Still...”


“There was a momentary fluctuation in structural integrity and inertial dampening.” Mia called out from OPS. “It seems to have returned to normal.”


“Any idea what the root cause is?” he asked, an eyebrow piqued.


Mia ran her hands across the console, and shook her head. “No sir.”


“Damn!”


“Captain, I believe I’ve found something.” T’lok said looking up from his console.


Swiveling in his chair. “Out with it Mr. T’lok.”


“I’m detecting micro fractures in the hull.” His eyebrow rises. “And I believe it goes deeper.”


“Not entirely if you consider our situation.” T’lok said looking up at him. “Our activities are entirely damaging to this vessel. It’s not unheard of for there to be some issues with the hull and some of the structure but thus far it seems to be ship wide.”


“There are ships that have been in service longer and taken more damage over time than we have.”


“You sure about that?” Nate piped in.


So’koth looked across the bridge and frowned. “No, not entirely.” He glances back down at T’lok and his console. “Keep scanning, see if there is anything else that might indicate why this Is happening.” He settled back into his seat. “ETA?”


“Twelve minutes!”



=============== =/\= ========== =/\= ================

[thevidiot]

“They are twelve minutes from their target.” Hergog said. The vessel was shaking and rattling all around them. Though the ship was capable of moving along at high warp, it did its best to try and throw itself apart.


“Bring us out of warp at Maximum Range.” He said. “Overcharge the magnetic constrictors, and put the cooling pumps into overdrive!” he hit the button and the aiming scope began to descend from the ceiling. “Greatness is upon us!”


Hergog looked back. “They will likely stop at five hundred thousand Kilometers or so away to get a feel like most Starfleet vessels do.” He waited to see what his leader was going to advise.


“Good observation.” He peered around the scope. “Put us at one hundred thousand kilometers.”


“Aye!” Hergog said, and turned back to his console and started to adjust their course and speed.


Kazok peered through the scope, his thumb pressing the zoom button bringing the Dark Angel closer in the reticle. Tactical data began to overlay showing all the points the science team had identified. All the weak spots. Perhaps not critical but good enough.



=============== =/\= ========== =/\= ================



Another tremor ran through the bridge, So’koth glanced over at T’lok. “Is it my imagination or are they getting worse!” he asked, a little concern filling his voice.


“Yes,” T’lok stated flatly. “They are getting worse.”


So’koth turned back towards the engineering station. “Mr. Martin, can you do anything to shore up Inertial dampening and structural integrity to get us through this?”


“I’ll see what I can do!” he said looking up from his station.


Mia looked briefly over her shoulder. “Captain, I’m picking up a strange reading aft.”


So’koth spun around. “What kind of reading?”


He blinked, “Anything showing on sensors?”


“No, nothing at this time however I do have two Jem’hadar vessels assaulting a freighter dead ahead.” Nate looked up. “The freighters are losing.”


So’koth nodded. “Keep an eye on it Mia.” He looked to the viewscreen. “Van drop us out of warp right on top of them!”


“Aye sir.” Van called out over his shoulder.


“T’lok?” So’koth asked, looking over at him.


“I do believe I have the root cause. It is not as suspected. Though I will need to do more in depth analysis at a later date to say for certain.” The Vulcan stated. “We should focus on the task at hand.”


So’koth nodded. “Aye. Let’s make that a priority.”


“Dropping out of Warp!” Van called.


So’koth looked back to the screen as the stars returned to pin points, and the tail of a Jem’Hadar vessel appeared large as life. “Fire!” So’koth barked. Immediately the Dark Angel’s weapons played over the vessels hull and several torpedoes impacted the hull visibly jostling the vessel.


“Direct hits!” Nate called with glee.


“Continue firing.” So’koth said, “Stay with him Van!”


The ship shook hard, and an ear shattering sound echoed through the ship, metal straining against metal. Louder than anything So’koth had heard, followed by a hard shake. “Hull Breach, deck 15!”


“Stay with him!” So’koth barked. “Mia, what was that?”


Mia was running her hands across her console, the vessel shook several more times as the other Jem’Hadar vessel began firing at them. “I don’t know sir. It passed right through Deck 15. Entirely kinetic!”


“Kinetic?” So’koth blinked.


“Best I’ve got at the moment, I cannot find the projectile, but it carved a hole through the ship!” Mia said as the vessel took another hit.


“Shields are at ninety-one percent!” Nate called. “Target alpha’s hull is failing….” He grinned. “Scratch that, target alpha has been destroyed!”


The Dark Angel shook hard as the Jem’Hadar vessel erupted in a ball of expanding gasses and debris. Sparks flew from the helm causing Van to dive away from the helm. The vessel shook hard, and a sound like a banshee ran through the vessel.



=============== =/\= ========== =/\= ================



“Direct hit!” Hargog called out in excitement.


“Damage?” Kazok asked.


One of the science officers spoke up. “The first passed through Deck fifteen, superficial. The second just went into Deck three, hit a structural beam and bounced. Damaged two decks.” She said, her own excitement echoing in the small room.


“Charge?”


“Just now to full, overload in twenty seconds!” his Weapon specialist said.


“Hold course!” Kazok said as he peered through the scope, shied away as the Jem’Hadar vessel the Dark Angel was perusing exploded. He immediately pushed his face into the scope and aligned the aiming reticle again, waiting. He watched as the Dark Angel finished its turn, lined up and fired again. It took a moment and he saw the silver blur punch through the vessels shields and in a shower of sparks through the ship’s hull.”


“Scanning for damage!”



=============== =/\= ========== =/\= ================



The bridge shook as the Jem’Hadar’s weapons played over the Dark Angel’s shields. The sound of something penetrating the hull again set everyone’s ears on edge. “Report!” So’koth Barked.


“Hull Breach, decks two and three!” Mia called out.


“That one hit something, shields just dipped down to sixty-two percent!” Nate called out.


T’lok looked up. “Transferring Auxiliary power to shields!”


“No good, connections severed!” Mart called from his station at the back of the bridge.


“Mr. T’lok, find whatever the hell is shooting at us. Right now!” So’koth barked. “Nate, can you put an end to that Jem’Hadar ship. Stop playing with it!”


“Aye,” Nate said frowning. “Van, hard starboard! One, two, zero!”


“One, Two, Zero Degrees, Aye!” Van called out settling back into his chair. The viewscreen started to spin to starboard.


The Jem’Hadar vessel suddenly appeared coming right at them. The Dark Angel’s weapons lashed out, for a split second they could see the Jem’Hadar vessel split right down the middle, then exploded spectacularly. “Bravo Down!” Nate said.


So’koth nodded. “Good!”


“Mr. T’lok?”


“Working sir!” the Vulcan said. “Mr. McCaig, your assistance please. Scan our starboard arc!”


“Aye sir!” Ian said going to work.


“Van, evasive action!” So’koth said turning back toward the viewscreen. “Mia, what’s the status of the cargo vessel?”


“They’ve sustained heavy damage, their anti-matter containment has been compromised. We’ve got about twenty minutes to retrieve the crew before it goes critical.”

So’koth turned back towards the viewscreen, watching as the stars moved by. He was being fired at by something he couldn’t see. They couldn’t leave the crew of the cargo ship stranded. Options were looking pretty slim. “Mia, have you been able to determine what they are using?”


“No sir, they move so fast and once they enter the ship we can only track the damage path.” She said glancing over her shoulder. “If someone can actually locate a piece of it, which might give us an idea of what’s being used.”


“It’s bypassing our shields all together, moving at that rate of speed and doing Kinetic damage.” Nate said glancing up from his console. “It’s a rail gun!”


“Rail gun?” So’koth asked.


“Yes.” Nate said nodding.


“What makes you so sure?” So’koth shifted his chair to get a look at his Tactical Officer.


Nate stood to his full height. “I’ve seen one before. Used one a few times a long, long time ago.”


So’koth’s eyebrow rose at that comment. “Ok, how do we defend against such a thing?”


“Our hull is not designed to stop it, it’ moving too fast, and is too small for the shields to do anything but slow it.” Nate shook his head. “We don’t have conventional means.”


“How about polarizing the hull?” Mia asked turning in her chair.


Nate pondered the idea moment. “Couldn’t hurt to try, but it may only slow them down. Wont stop them.”


“Do it!” So’koth said just as the ship rocked hard again, the ear wrenching sound of metal straining rang through the ship. For a moment everyone felt their stomachs roll as gravity suffered a momentary hiccup. So’koth grabbed his chair as the vessel shook a second time.


“Aft Torpedo control just went out!” Nate called.


“Van, get this bucket dancing!” So’koth shouted.


Van was hard at work at the helm controls. “I’m trying! Those things are too fast!”


“Options!” So’koth called out over the commotion on the bridge.


“Polarizing the hull had little effect, neither of those rounds cleared the ship, but still penetrated deep!” Mia called out shifting her position in the chair. “That last one hit a gravity generator below decks.”


“T’lok?” So’koth asked turning in his chair yet again. “Mr. McCaig? Please tell me you’ve got something?”


Ian simply shook his head. “For a moment, a magnetic pulse appears on sensors when they fire, but it so brief that we couldn’t use it to pinpoint their position.” He ran a hand back through his air clearing from his eyes.


T’lok looked up from his station. “The Lieutenant is correct. Pinpointing it by weapons fire is not going to succeed.” He glanced at the chronometer at the front of the bridge just above the viewscreen. “Were running out of time to save the crew of the freighter.”


He spun in his chair. “Nate, let’s give them something else to think about. Launch our alert five, spin up the rest of the jocks, perhaps we can put them on the defensive by threat of additional assistance!” So’koth said.


“Aye sir, launching the alert five!” Nate said as he keyed up a channel down the flight deck. “Bridge to Flight Deck, launch alert five!”


So’koth turned back to the main viewscreen and watched as the Freighter once again slipped passed the view, the vessel straightened out as Van anticipated the launch but the vessel jumped under their feet as another round passed through the ship, this time there were explosions that lifted them out of their chairs and spun them to the floor. A fireball rushed forth from the ship on the viewscreen, the operations console exploded pitching Mia back up and over her chair. “What the hell was that!” he said scrambling back into his chair.


“Alert five’s gone!” Nate said from his console having regained his footing as well.


“What?”


He looked up from his console. “Hit them as they were moving through the tubes!”


“That’s not possible!” So’koth said in disbelief. He considered his options again as everyone got back to their stations. He saw T’lok kneeling over Mia checking her vitals, he called for a medical team. The Vulcan too had been injured, green blood was running down the side of his head. “Nate, lower the shields. Start beaming the freighter crew aboard!”


“Aye sir!” he didn’t even hesitate, the shields went down and the transporters went to work. “Shouldn’t take but a few moments.”


“income…” another hit, this one was close, the sound was deafening as metal stressed, and the round passed through bulkheads. The bridge jumped again under their feet, this time it didn’t stop moving and shaking.


Mart’s was the first voice So’koth heard. “Direct hit to one of the IDF generators!” he could hear the man’s hands going to work on the console. “Structural integrity is also dropping.
Were down to eighty one percent!”


“Do what you can!” So’koth said crossing to the Tactical Station. “There’s got to be a way to pinpoint this bastard. How far away is he shooting from?”


Nate shook his head. “Hard to tell, but he’s close.”


“Ian,” he glanced up at the science officer who was still dutifully at his station holding onto it. “Start flooding space around us with…anything!” it was a desperate decision but he needed to be able to see where this guy was shooting from so they could hit them back.


Another ear shattering hit wrenched them all around on the bridge, sparks erupted from something in the ceiling then sent debris flying across the bridge. The auxiliary station exploded sending a fireball to the ceiling causing both Mart and Ian scrambling away. “Now Mr. McCaig!” So’koth yelled over the commotion on the bridge.


He watched as Ian pulled himself back up off the floor, it was clear that he was a bit singed but he continued his duty even with the console next to his engulfed in flame. “Aye!”


So’koth turned back to the viewscreen and saw static begin to creep into the visual, he looked down at Nate’s console. “Come on you bastard!” he said watching.


The ship bucked hard this time, the sound this impact made was something altogether different, the ship jerked hard to starboard the sound of the impact was muffled and distant this time. But it did the trick, he watched Nate’s hands fly across the console.”



=============== =/\= ========== =/\= ================

[thevidiot]

“Direct hit, they are starting to show signs of structural integrity damage. We just took out one of their generators.” Kazok listened to the science officer read off the damage report.


“Good,” he pressed his face back into the scope and began taking aim at the next point. “No Captain, you may not leave!” he said pulling back on the firing mechanism. The silver blur slammed into the ships port side Warp Nacelle. He knew it wouldn’t penetrate and go through. The shower of sparks and debris however was a delight.


Hargog’s smile was ear to ear. “Direct hit!” he cheered.


“They still have much fight left!” Kazok said as he started sighting in on another shot.


“Commander!” one of the other science officers shouted. “They are flooding space with…” he paused reading the elements showing up. “Everything!”


“What?” he pulled himself away from the weapons scope. “What is he hoping to accomplish by doing such a thing?” his eyes began to slowly open wider as it dawned on him what this would do.


“Sir, they are turning toward us!” Hargog said suddenly.


He slammed his eyes back into the scope, aimed hastily and fired again sending another silver blur at the Starfleet Vessel, it passed through the vessels navigational deflector as if it wasn’t there. Then he saw the red flashes of torpedo fire and pulled away. “Evade!” Hargog was frantically working the helm controls. They managed to evade most of the incoming fire but one torpedo was all it took. The vessel rocked hard sending everyone sprawling to the floor. Kazok pulled himself up off the floor quickly. “Disengage the cloak! Shields up, Evasive manuvers!” he rattled off quickly, the vessel shuddered again a few more times as they all climbed back to their stations to comply.


“Cloak disabled,” his weapons specialist called out. “Shields are up!”


“Damage report?” Kazok called over the ruckus.


Someone he rarely heard from since they never entered into combat in such a way finally spoke. “The cloaking device is offline, hull damage, warp drive are offline!”


“Get me Warp, or get me the cloak!” he barked turning back to the viewscreen. “Hargog, attack!” he said peering back into his scope. “Let us cut the head off the beast!”


“Aye, coming about!” Hargog said spinning his wheel again.


The scope spun in an almost dizzying fashion and the Dark Angel’s hull came into view once again, he brought the zoom back out as the time for precision was past them. He fired the first shot, and watched it pass through the hull right next to the bridge dome. He took great satisfaction at the panic it might cause, but the vessel kept coming. Its weapons now unleashing a torrent of damage on his ships shields, he waited, breathed until the vessel hesitated its dance and squeezed the trigger again.



=============== =/\= ========== =/\= ================



Lynna scrambled around the master situations table and continued dispatching her damage control teams as fast as they could. Their power reserves were already taxed and keeping the force field sup around the breaches was starting to very quickly become a problem. She reached up and hit her communicator. “Team three head to deck two, we just took a hit there.”


“Aye chief, were on it!” she heard one of her officer’s call out.


“Bridge to engineering!” So’koth’s voice called over the intercom.


She hit her communicator once more. “Stop breaking my ship!” she said through clenched teeth.


“Need you to find a way to stop this structural integrity failure or we won’t have a ship to break for long!” he said.


“I’m on it!” she yelled and closed the channel. Pulling up the structural integrity field information she noted that three of the generators were offline, and half of the backup generators power had been severed at this point. Her heart skipped a beat noting that it was down to fifty six percent. She quickly began rerouting power to try and get some of the generators back online, and managed to get two of the backups up in a matter of moments. But it only served to stop the drain.


There was an ear shattering sound, the air in the room felt as if it had been suddenly sucked out, Lynna could feel the heat of something passing by her, the flash it made was blinding and she felt her body tumble across the engineering room floor. The smell of burnt ozone and fire filled her nostrils for a brief moment, then the air suddenly yanked her the other direction as the room began to quickly decompress, but a force field kicked in slamming her into the Warp core railing edge and luckily to the floor and not the bottom of the core.

Lynna laid there for a long moment as she gulped at the air as the room’s pressure equalized.


“Chief!” she heard a familiar voice as a young engineering officer appeared standing over her. He was bleeding from a dozen or so wounds but he was on his feet and holding a hand out to her. She took it and let Cody pull her to her feet. “You alright?” he asked.


His voice came as echo’s from far away just like the rest of the alarms blaring in the room. “Yeah!” she said checking herself for wounds. She didn’t see anything telling as far as an injury. “What happened?” she yelled. She followed his finger as he pointed to the gaping hole in the engine room door which was now part of the corridor bulkhead. “What in Kahless’s beard!” she exclaimed.


“I don’t know, but I think it stopped in that storage room.”


She stumbled over to what was left of the master situations console, and used it to hold herself up and finally heard the other voice. “Bridge to Engineering!” a voice pleaded.


She hit her communicator. “Engineering here. More or less.”


“What’s your status?” So’koths voice became clearer.


She looked around the room noting that most of the consoles were destroyed, or not functional. “Uh, that thing barely missed the Warp Core. Engineering’s…not engineering anymore.” She said tossing something over her should heading for the doors. “I’m heading to the bridge now!”



=============== =/\= ========== =/\= ================

[thevidiot]

So’koth’s relief at hearing Lynna’s voice was obvious, but his expression when she indicated that she was coming to the bridge did not bode well, and any questions or objections he had were cut off by the communications channel closing. The vessel shook under his feet again. “Return fire!” he barked.


“Our shields have failed captain!” Nate’s voice called, there was a slight change in tone from his norm. “They still have about twenty percent remaining.”


“I don’t care if you have to blow the phaser coils, I want that ship disabled or gone now!” he barked towards Nate.


Nate simply nodded, and danced his fingers across the console. A single sustained phaser blast reached out from the Dark Angel’s forward hull as the ship swung to port following the enemy vessel, then switching to the lower array, it didn’t stop.


“Warning, phaser coil exceeding rated limitations!” the computer’s voice called out. Then a barrage of torpedo’s reached out and impacted multiple points all over the old Bird of Prey which left it spinning in space burning.


So’koth turned as Lynna walked out of the turbolift and pushed Mart over to the other available consoles. “You alright?”


“No!” she said and started reading over the data.


“They have been disabled.” Nate said stating the obvious.


“Keep a lock.” So’koth said moving back around behind Lynna at the engineering station. “How’s it look?”


“She pointed to the screen and a lot of red indicators.” Her expression was one he had not really seen from her. Fear. “Structural integrity is down to twelve percent but it’s still dropping. The hull is compromised considerably. There’s no way that port nacelle is going to be holding a stable Warp field.” She said somberly.


Mart looked up. “What if we shunt power from weapons over to structural integrity?”


“It’s a Band-Aid.” Lynna said. “At best!”


So’koth’s expression turned grimmer, he was faced with an unbelievable prospect. He felt the anger welling up in him. He wanted so badly to pound the fire button himself on the tactical station. “What’s the status of the enemy vessel?”


Nate blinked. “Sensors are damaged, but from what I can surmise they have no propulsion, life support is fading, and it looks like their weapons are offline.”


“Hail them!” So’koth said.


Nate nodded and activated the ship to ship. It made a strange clicking sound as the channel became active. He pointed to So’koth. “You’re on Captain!”


“This is Captain So’koth of the USS Dark Angel, surrender or be destroyed!” he said flatly.


The bridge stood in silence aside from the occasional spark, the channel on the other end opened, a fire could be heard burning in the background. “You’re in no position to make demands Captain.”


“You’re in no condition to not submit. Enough lives have been lost today, let’s not add more.” So’koth said.


“Captain, your ship’s dying. I die here or die there, it makes no difference. Besides I have failed my master, failure isn’t tolerated. And while I can still fight I shall do so. Goodbye Captain.” The channel abruptly closed.


“Sir?” Nate asked looking up from his console.


So’koth frowned and shook his head. “Leave him to his…” the vessel suddenly exploded but not before a silver streak left the front of the craft. It hit and again the ear wrenching sound echoed through the ship, the lights flickered, and the vessel began to shake, once So’koth was able to get his footing, he could feel the deck plates under his feet shifting, rolling. He looked over at Lynna who was just getting back to her feet. “Status?”


She simply shook her head, and as if on cue a warning klaxon went off and the computer’s voice came alive. “Warning Structural Integrity critical, structural collapse in four minutes.”

“Anything we can do?” he asked, but he could see it in her eyes, let alone the rest of the bridge crew’s faces.


He hit the intercom key on his chair. “This is the Captain speaking. All hands to emergency escape pods. All hands abandon ship!” he glanced around the bridge. “You know the drill. Launch the emergency log buoy.” He moved past the others and looped Lynna’s arm over his shoulder. “Let’s go!”


So’koth pressed his hand against the activation padd at the door to the escape pod and helped Lynna into the pod, allowing both Nate and Ian to follow them into the pod. He quickly helped strap Lynna into the acceleration couch before strapping himself in. Hitting the activation button once he sees that the other two were set. The main hatch closed and hissed as it sealed, the exterior hatch made a loud thud as it blew open. The docking clamps released and the escape pods thrusters roared to life sending the pod out and away from the ship. The damage and scars that were visible as they rocketed away didn’t seem as bad from here but they all knew the vessels fate.


They all watched in silence as the rest of the vessels escape pods bursts free of the vessel, and as if on cue whole entire sections of the ship began blowing out as the hull crumpled and the ship spilled its oxygen into space. A blinding flash ripped through the vessel as the damage reached the ships warp drive and expended its anti-matter.

So’koth felt as if his heart was ripped from his chest in that moment, watching the ship he built from concept to completion gone, Forever.



=============== =/\= ========== =/\= ================

[thevidiot]

So’koth engaged the escape pods ‘Gaggle mode’ allowing the others to dock with him, he overrode the hatch as the seal showed completed between the other pods. The door slid up out of the way to reveal his first officer. “Captain.” He said in greeting.


“Glad to see you alright Mr. T’lok.”


T’lok’s eyebrow rose, “It was a superficial wound.” He straddles the hatchways. “I wish to discuss my finding as I believe they may be incredibly important.”


“Findings T’lok?”


“In regards to our structural integrity problem.” T’lok said flatly.


“Do you really think this is the right time for that now?” Lynna snapped.


“Yes. Our situation would dictate that this information should be shared should something happen to us. Our position near the Cardassian border leaves us vulnerable.” T’lok said.

“Just spit it out T’lok!” So’koth growled dropping into his seat.


“The material used in the spaceframe’s construction was defective.” He waited a moment. “I was not able to scan a sample and should we be rescued and can recover some of the hull and structural fragments I should be able to confirm this.”


“The material was defective?” So’koth stated flatly, more as a comment than a question. He had chosen the materials that were used to build the Dark Angel, the only piece did he didn’t was the primary keels. The samples he was sent were fine, and upon initial scans were indicated as matches. How was that possible? He shifted in his chair, staring out the window at the stars. “Defective!” he muttered.

=============== =/\= ========== =/\= ================



The crew of the Dark Angel spent the next near two weeks floating through space before a ship arrived to retrieve them. Debris was collected from the wreckage of the USS Dark Angel and analyzed and it was found that the material used in the construction of her structural members were actually defective. In fact Starfleet intelligence determined that this was an act of sabotage and that other vessels were afflicted with the same defect, thought a correction was found and this did result in the same fate not occurring to those other vessels.


A newly built Akira Class Variant which was rechristened as the USS Dark Angel NCC-53286-A which was put into the care of Captain So’koth and his crew. But not before spending several months working out of Starbase 232.