Closing in

Posted on Thu Oct 23rd, 2025 @ 12:06am by Commodore Sureth & Captain Shauna Vehn & Captain Jamie O'Connell & Captain Rogue "Ro" Kudo {Meji Master} {Flt. Cpt.} & Captain Sean Loewen {Meji} & Commander Angel Devroe & Lieutenant Commander David Wallace & Lieutenant Jynxza Dahl {Meji} {AKA: Toots} & Ainkara "Kara" Ski'a {SIS} {SoB}

Mission: The Inner Flame
Location: Various
Timeline: ==90 minutes to Cascade's arrival==

OOC: Add in anyone relevant

On:

About thirty minutes after the Cascade had departed it's mission David was back in the Cascade ready room, he keyed in the computer commands to open a subspace channel too the starbase. The screen again showed the Please stand by screen screen. David had managed to review the reports of the attack on the station, along with other events the data was a bit of a wash in his mind, now this new discovery just dumped more fuel on the fire, he sat up as the screen resolved.

< Starbase M-69 Auxiliary Command >

Sureth had made his way to the Command center relieving Captain Vehn when he opened the channel to Wallace

" Report Commander." Sureth replied.

== Cascade Ready room ==

"We're around ninety minutes out, we completed our mission." David started "I'll fill you in on those details when I arrive, the ferry crew should have USS McCook there in about thirty minutes, and task group seven seven is on standby if needed."

[ Perhaps so . Captain Kingston has ordered two of his cargo carriers to be converted to life support boats. That will help with the civilian population. We are fortunate that we only had about a 1000 civilians. Commander I look forward to your report." Sureth replied.

"I could can call in a favour with the Admiral and have three more ships there in two hours or is the situation more serious?" David knew it was a gamble but had to ask.

[ Let's save our favors Mr Wallace. We are pressed but as the personnel have coined we are 69 Strong. When you get here we will meet with the Captain's of the Peel and Capernum." Sureth replied.

David shifted his eyes too the progress display, "We'll push to warp nine point five and try to be there inside of an hour, we can take take on a limited number of people if needed as well, if you need us there sooner I'll risk engaging the new drive system again to get there."

[ We are in clean up mode. Be prepared to receive crew upon arrival. Captain Vehn is handling crew placement. I was just about to call the Peel and Capernaum.] Sureth replied.

David keyed a message too his chief to prepare for new arrivals, "We're now at warp nine point seven five, estimated arrival time is now twenty six minutes, I've got two of my lead chiefs prepping facilities right now."

Sureth quickly dispatched a hail to both Peel and Capernaum.

[ This is Commodore Sureth. I need a meeting with your Captains please aboard the USS Peel .]

< Peel Bridge >

Captain O'Connell tapped his comm "Understood Commodore, it would be our honor, we'll have things ready upon your arrival; O'Connell out." Turning to his Number One "Commander I'd like you to see to things personally for our guests."

"Rising from her chair "It would be my pleasure Captain; I'll set up the Conference Room with some refreshments for our guests" Angel replied with a smile then exited the Bridge to start getting things ready.

==Cascade bridge==

David looked to the viewer as he walked back on to his bridge, "We're eighteen minutes out, keep the coffee hot."



The USS Capernum went up and over the damaged Valdore Warbird, the cruiser following the same basic trajectory of Captain Kudo and Lt. Jynxza in their fighters. Kara was going far on the outside left/port. Ro and Jynxza split apart dead ahead as three new vessels appeared out of cloak, another Valdore class warbird, and two escort Tvaro class Birds of Prey. The Valdore fired all its forward cannons at the damaged Valdore, blasting it apart and scattering any debris away from the center of the explosions. The new Valdore was plowing the field for a straight attack run at the station. A large ball of energy plasma began to build up and grow in size ahead of the Valdore as the BoP's took over plowing the field ahead. When all large debris had been cleared the Valdore released its plasma cannon shot on a direct heading for M-69.

"Resch!" Loewen called out from the Captain's chair. "Split fire. Try to disrupt that plasma torpedo and rake that Valdore. Torpedoes, full spread."

Griffon took it in. "Aye, Sir. Splitting fire now." Phaser beams and bolts reached out from Capernum and struck not only the plasma missile, to no effect, and the Valdore class. The Warbird's shields were holding for now.

==USS Cascade==

"fourteen minutes!" The helm called out

David looked at the readouts, "Push it to warp nine point nine five, Red alert!"

***

Captain Ro Kudo, with Lt. Jynxza right on her ass, reached out through the Force and letting it give her a guide as to where to go and when to maneuver. She voiced all this to Jynxza as they went, telling the subordinate to follow her and not to deviate unless needed. They got passed the Valdore class, coming up and over the top of the ship. Unfortunately for the Milky Way galaxy, fighters had never been considered that big of a threat, so there were no point defense cannons or auto turrets to try and upset the plans of fighters. Keep them running and it was hard for them to be effective unless in pairs or groups. "Trust your instincts, Jynxza. Gut feelings as to when to turn, dive, fire--whatever. Trust those feelings and you will find that your skills as a pilot are far from complete. Follow me, destroy what I destroy. Use the Force Jynxza; trust your feelings." She then went back to the business at hand. ""Cosmo, are we set for one ion torpedo and one proton torpedo?" He said they were set, all she need do was fire it.

Jynxza took in what Ro was saying. She had always had a weird ESP/perceptional awareness that was far more than just good reflexes and astute observation. Now, hearing what Master Ro was saying, Jynx gave in to the feelings and began to follow where it led her and guided her. To her amazement it seemed to be working. She could feel where the next shot would come from and where it was going before it even fired off, which allowed her to easily outmaneuver the energy thrown her way.

< USS Peel >

Sureth arrived on the Peel and hasted to go directly to the Ready Room but paused. Turned around he looked toward the center seat. " Permission to use your ready room Captain?" he addressed O'Connell.

"Actually Commodore, I took the liberty of setting up the Conference Room for your meeting" O'Connell replied as he stood. Turning "Commander you have the Conn" before walking over to Sureth "Sir allow me to show you to the Conference Room" he stated as the two Officers left the Bridge.

" I can not tell you how much I appreciate you and your ship and crew. I certainly did not realize the Remans had such grandious plans. I will fill everyone in when the others get here." Sureth replied.

"Thank you Sir, I'll be sure to let my Crew know and the replicator is at your disposal if you'd like something to drink" O'Connell replied then grabbed a seat waiting for the other Captains to arrive.

David arrived at the lounge, "That was fun." he commented

Sureth almost smiled but composed at seeing David Wallace arrive. Now all that remained was Captain Shauna Vehn and the Capernaum cadre and Commodore Sureth would begin.

Seeing David, Jamie spoke up "Commander Wallace, I don't think we've formally met. I'm Captain Jamie O'Connell C.O. of the Peel, nice to finally meet you" he stated with a smile as he extended his hand towards him.

"Yes finally good too meet you too." David said shaking hands "Looks like we're right into the thick of things though."

With a grin "That's usually how things work when you're out in the middle of nowhere" O'Connell replied with a slight chuckle.

David switched gears, "So how deep are we in this one?"

“That’s what I’d like to know” Shauna added as she joined in via a patch through from the station.

Sureth looked at the screen and then began.
" It has been discovered that the Remans have uncovered the Romulan DNA archives. An archive that was designed and stored in the event of a catastrophic event to replenish their species. But rather than rebuilding the Romulan Star Empire SubCommander Evoch has decided to activate it and enslave those who once enslaved the Remans. Two in particular are Commander Terrh and Seroxa the DNA clone of our officer Lt Kah’lyn Chiara-Rivers. " Sureth began.

“Which automatically puts Kah’lyn at risk, Seroxa already tried to take her from the station and replace her on staff.” Shauna responded. “Fortunately we know about Seroxa now.”

" It also puts us in particular at risk. The Remans have badly damaged our station. Were it not for the arrival of the Peel and then the Capernaum they would have finished M-69 off. But morally should we come to the aid of these clones?" Sureth replied.

Listening to the conversation O'Connell spoke up "With respect Commodore, I'm not totally convinced morality enters into the equation. These beings are merely copies of the originals. Most societies, including the Federation, are opposed to the whole concept of cloning, and from what we've witnessed firsthand, when fallen into the wrong hands can have devastating results" he stated with conviction.

" As a scientist I might be inclined to agree. But as a Vulcan I have to consider that the Romulans are kindred beings, even the clones. When a person utilizes a transporter the being is disassembled and reassembled some place else. The original is destroyed and a new one recreated. Is that morally wrong Captain O'Connell?” Sureth replied.

“I can’t say I’ve ever thought of using the transporter in such harsh terms before Commodore.” Shauna added. “The same molecules that make up my bodies, my symbiont and I, are reassembled at the end of transport. I’m not a new person, I’m the same one put back together.”

" Morally perhaps but in reality are we? I urge both of you to study up on your transporter science you seem to be rusty.The new Morale Officer T'Vorissh feels these beings have a soul good or bad they are sentient. As far as us mounting a rescue that is not my goal. The old station and the perimeters of this station were too vulnerable to attack. Captain Kingston and Lieutenant Commander O'Neil are rebuilding this station with greater security features. Harder materials and less vulnerability. The nearby black hole has a plethora of remarkable ores for the taking and will be used to rebuild this station." Sureth replied.

Jamie couldn't help but take notice of Sureth's argument " You make a good point Sir, although that is what my Gram would refer to as 'splitting hairs.' We could discuss this point I suppose well into the night but we certainly do have more pressing matter to attend to" he replied then continued "If you need anything material and/or supply wise to rebuild the Station please know the Peel is at your disposal.

" Commander Wallace gives us a report." Sureth then changed the subject.

David set a pad down on the table, linking it to the other view screen in the briefing room, "I was asked by Intelligence to investigate a series of weak signals emanating from a near by system, the premise of the mission was to verify if the signals were of a classified in nature, we arrived in system conducted the scans only to discover a signal beacon from a Galaxy class starship, USS Olympia." David scrolled to the MSD of the Galaxy class ship, "USS Olympia is officially listed as lost, unofficially they went rogue." he saw some reactions.

"The beacon is in the cargo hold aboard the cascade, we have confirmed it's from the Olympia and Intelligence is enroute to further the investigation, based on the file this might not be a coincidence, unfortunately I can't conduct a briefing over a subspace com due to security matters that are linked with the file, when the smoke clears we will all have to sit down around a table." David finished.

" I know we are busy but how can the station help?" Sureth replied.

David keyed up the next slide in his briefing, "this image was taken a few days before the attack, The human female is the first officer of the Olympia, the people she's meeting with are Reman." David said looking to the commodore, "I'm still trying to find a connection, let alone where they fit in, maybe medical supplies."

" Perhaps for the cloning facility? Interesting. If the First Officer of a Federation ship is involved with the Remans perhaps the Olympia is too. Commander Wallace what are your thoughts? Sureth replied.

David shook his head, "The Olympia has been on the run for twenty plus years, this could be them looking for their own needs and since its not difficult to get medical supplies from any federation facility isn't exactly the most difficult thing." David paused "Back in twenty three seventy two when Admiral Leyton staged his coup it was assumed that the Lakota was the only ship involved along with a few other sympathetic officers, this has been a very poorly kept secret that there are others who've shared his feelings about the Federation, it's well known that the Lakota was one of the ships, the kicker has been within hours of the coup being put down the Olympia ran, sightings were a rarity during the Dominion war, although they've been directly and indirectly tied to a number of thefts and other things, such as the break in at the main campus of Daystrom in twenty three seventy four, the theft of beninite crystals from starbase thirty, and a number of other thefts over the last three decades, so why not trade with the Reman's, the concern is ow they found a functional Scimitar class ship."

" There is always two . The prototype and the one that follows it. The one that attacked us is probably the prototype. Captains we are the first line of defense for the Federation. All ships under this command will have to have a double mission to keep an eye on the Reman front. Captain Kingston will get the Capernaum refit as fast as he can with the slipstream system. Wallace is your ship slipstream equipped?" Sureth replied.

"Yes sir, third generation systems with Toroidial enhanced fusion reactors and the new Beninite stabilization matrix, we're a little lean on staffing but ready to go." David said.

" So yours was fitted prior to coming to the station. Here I hoped to be ahead of the curve." Sureth replied.

"Yes, it was fitted during construction." David said.

" Let me not hold everyone up much longer. I do not mean to interfere with the commands of each ship but until the station is repaired enough to bring back the essential staff to duty I will need you help in housing said staff. Captain Vehn will help correlate that. Lt Commander Wallace thank you for bringing us this data. Does anyone else have anything to add?" Sureth asked.

David tapped the table unconsciously as he spoke "I'll hold back on follow up concerning the sighting of Commander Fein until things settle down here and I'll be making the VIP quarters aboard the Cascade available to the any of the senior staff, they're not the biggest but we have working showers."

Thinking for a few moments Jamie offered a suggestion "We could turn part of our Cargo Bay into temporary quarters; we could probably house about thirty or so of your Crew if need be."

“That sounds like a great idea Captain” Shauna smiled as she spoke up across the comms. “It would help not to be so crowded while repairs are ongoing.”

"After we're finished here I'll have my Operations Officer get started on the temporary quarters right away. Captain Vehn I'll contact you when we're ready for guests" Jamie replied with a smile.

“I’ll be waiting Captain” Shauna smiled warmly.

" I will have all of the Operations Officers coordinate with one another and keep this station moving. Does anyone else have anything to add?" Sureth asked.

"I'm good" O'Connell replied eager to get to work on the task at hand.

"If possible can I forward the sensor logs from the battle to someone? I want to get them in the hands of someone who is familiar with the nemesis incident I want to cover a couple of scenarios." David said hoping this would wrap up the meeting.

" Of course. Send my regards to Admiral Wallace while you are at it. This concludes this briefing . If I am needed I will be in the Auxillary Command Station. Dismissed." Sureth replied.

After being dismissed, O'Connell figured Sureth would beam back to the Station, he left the Conference Room heading towards his Ready Room as he tapped his comm "Lieutenant Albo, please report to my Ready Room immediately" came the order wanting Johan to start on the temporary quarters in the Cargo Bay right away.

***

M-69:

As soon as Ro Kudo had dropped off her daughter Yui for Manfred 'Manny' Mann to watch over while she went into battle, Manny had made a choice. Club Bliss was empty, the klaxons clearing out all patrons the moment they sounded. Manny told the staff still in the club to grab what they needed, gather their families and loved ones, and meet him at the SS Harbinger. Kara had taken the time to transporter tag everything important to Club Bliss, the Saints of Bliss, and Federation Intelligence; anything that would allow the SoB's to set up shop anywhere else in the galaxy in a minimal amount of time. He sent the order to the ship's computer and all items within that purvue were immediately transported to the cargo hold for SS Harbinger, locked away from prying eyes in coded security cases and lockboxes.

With that done, and gathering Yui, who simply smiled at him as a baby, Manny giving her a smile and grin back. "Come on, kiddo. If I don't save your butt there will be nowhere I can hide in the galaxy from the wrath of your mother. Time to disappear for a bit." Manny left the club and headed for the bay that Harbinger was landed in. A lot of the fighting had not happened yet, and the station was being rocked by light attack runs as he got himself, Yui, and his 'family' on board Harbinger, leaving Yui with a few of the female servers as he went to the Bridge. The station began to vibrate and rock a bit more as the attacks began to intensify. Lifting off and hovering in place, Manny activated the Harbinger's cloaking device and then left the docking bay and out into chaos. Steering immediately away from the main area of battle, Manny simply got Harbinger far enough from the base that if it blew apart then Harbinger would not suffer any damage from the concussive forces that would come from that much energy being expelled. Parking in a dead area of no traffic, spinning the ship around to face the now heavily damaged station, Manny got up and went to check on those aboard.

***

Aboard the USS Capernum, Loewen watched a small monitor in the bottom right corner of his viewport, seeing the tactical relay of where that giant plasma ball was headed when it came to the starbase. The moment it impacted M-69 a large section of superstructure and internal machinery blew out into space, the plasma not only exploding but effectively cooking the metals and weakening their tensile strength when it came to being able to withstand further damage. Just as that one hit and exploded, Sean saw that the Valdore that had fired the last was now building up another round. "Borelli!" Loewen said to his helm officer. "When that plasma bolt is released you WILL put us directly in its path and take the hit. Understood?"

"Aye, Sir!" Tom Borelli began to set himself up for playing tight end. The quarterback was already wounded but still in the game, so Borelli had to play lineman with Capernum to prevent the quarterback from getting hit again. Not something he wanted to do, but something Thomas Borelli had sworn to do when he entered Starfleet; sacrifice himself to save others.

On screen, and through the viewport, Loewen could see that Captain Kudo, Jynxza, and Kara were playing hell with the Tvaro birds of prey, and by the way the BoP's were maneuvering and reacting to the small craft, they were absolutely confused by the effectiveness of the X-wings. Sean did note that those Ion Torpedoes the X-wings were firing were quite affective at causing power fluctuations in shield systems, allowing the follow up proton torpedoes to pass through them and impact the hulls directly. Because he was Meji, and in the know on 'Meji' tech, Sean was well-aware of just how deadly the proton torpedo was. Proton torpedoes possessed an explosive warhead which was fired from specialized launchers, that upon impact expelled clouds of high-velocity proton particles to devastating effect, were capable of incredible maneuverability, such as making a 90-degree turn within a turning circle of one meter. They could penetrate ray shields but were stopped by particle shields. Hence, the need for the Ion Torps.

Resch spoke up. "Second plasma cannon shot released, Captain!"

Loewen stood up with his eyes on the screen. "Mister Borelli, bring us about at zero-six-three mark two-five, half impulse. Put distance between us and that torpedo as we head back towards Sixty-Nine. Half impulse." The orders were acknowledged and followed, with Capernum now heading back towards the starbase, and putting several thousand kilometers between themselves and the plasma ball. Once an adequate distance had been set in Sean's mind, he then changed his orders to implement his plan. "Tom, swing around and face that torpedo, maintain speed. Griffon, all power to forward shields. Sheyla, have the crew brace for impact." Again, all was acknowledged and done. The tactical screen in the bottom left corner showed where Capernum was, where the plasma torpedo was, and that they were on a collision course. The tension on the Bridge was so high one could have cut it with a knife.

"Incoming impact in ten seconds," Resch announced. He gripped the edge of his console and prepared for the rodeo they were about to endure. In mere seconds the deck plates would be rocking and bucking like a wild bronco. "Three-two-one. Hang on!" Everyone braced, with Sean sitting down and activating the seat restraints to keep him in the captain's chair. He saw his Bridge crew all doing the same. Then, all hell broke loose.

Consoles sparked and spewed smoke, power fluctuations causing blow outs randomly, with the deck seeming to come alive and bucking as the ship was struck along the port bow, shields only slightly affective. The hull was taking damage but, this was a guardian class cruiser and her ablative armor would take most of the plasma damage, leaving the under armor more-or-less intact. It still did not do away with the fact that explosions happened around the primary hull from the power overload, with internal damage still being quite serious yet not detrimental to the ship's survival, or the crew aboard. The impact had been so severe that it had caused the USS Capernum to divert from her flight path until the flight computer corrected it. The station had been saved from the second plasma torpedo, but even Loewen could tell that M-69 was not doing well and appeared to be coming apart at the seams slowly.

***

Tbc