Star Trek - Fanfic - Harsh Reality of Command - Part 1
Alright, I have had this done for a long time and posted several places on the net.
I figure it was about time I posted it here. This is my own characters in the Trekverse, feel free to comment.
"Captain's log, Stardate 598091.0...no that's not right. Computer, restart." Trell Kisad said.
"*Beep* Restarting." The computer said.
"Personal log, Stardate 598091.0. This is Trellian Kisad of the former Nebula Class Starship USS Agincourt NCC 72415. It's been four months since the court martial. I have been living back on the Trill home world until I figure out what I want to do. I can still remember when it all first started."
I was on Earth to receive my new orders from Starfleet Command. The Agincourt was in a spacedock stationed above Italy getting an upgrade to the HAWK Cannon pod, and any refits for a Nebula class vessel. The crew was on shore leave at the time. The ship was only eight months old, but already some new technology was available for the ship's design. After transporting down to security checkpoint Alpha, I decided to take the monorail tram to Starfleet Headquarters. The trip wasn't bad. And it was nice to see the ocean after so long. Along the way I thought about the Dominion War. New reports of massive casualties caused by the war with the Jem'Hadar were coming in every day. Hundreds of vessels, both new and veteran were being destroyed or lost. It’s classified information that we are starting to loose the war. As I thought about the war and the dangers echoed in it’s possible outcome, the tram arrived at the main entrance for Starfleet Headquarters, drawing me out of my own thoughts. I entered the building and took the turbolift to the 23rd floor. I walked down the brightly-lit hall and approached the young blonde woman dressed in a uniform with Yeomen rank on her collar, sitting at a desk. After finishing a small section of the paperwork she was reading she looked up and smiled.
"May I help you?" She said.
"Captain Trellian Kisad, here to see Admiral Thompson." I said.
"One moment." She pressed into a comlink, repeated the message and got a response.
"Go right in, she's expecting you." she said.
"Thank you."
I walked pass her desk and through the sliding doors and into the Admiral’s large office. She had an exquisite view of the bay through the large windows that seemed to encircle her office. The warm sun filtered in giving her office an inviting, almost friendly feel. As the chair turned it revealed a slender middle aged woman with the look of a person who has earned her confidence and position through many trials. She pulled her chair up to the desk and looked me straight in the eye, waiting for me to speak.
"Captain Trellian Kisad, reporting as ordered, sir."
"Please sit down Captain," she said in a high, but confident voice.
"Thank you, sir." I sat down in the chair she indicated.
"The reason I asked you to come is command feels we need someone to do some reconnaissance work. We have been informed of a Jem'Hadar outpost near the Cardassian Border. Since they have a non-aggression treaty with the Cardassian, we have been anticipating this possible situation. All you have to do is go in and report what you find. There is also a possibility that this outpost is a refueling station for Jem’Hadar alliances, because of this we aren't sure what ships might be there." She slid a Personal Access Display Device unit across the desk. "If you accept the mission, this PADD will provide you with all the information we have on the outpost, at this time.”
As I took the PADD, I read the mission outline. Even though this sounded like a short mission, I would have to cut into my crew’s shore leave.
"Admiral, I will accept the mission. Just give me twenty-four hours to get my ship and crew ready for departure."
"Good, now that you have accepted the mission, I should tell you that it is strictly a black ops situation. Only command and myself will know your true purpose. For anyone concerned, your cover story is that you were on a training exercise, lost navigation and floated into Cardassian territory. You can still turn down the mission, if you want.", she said with a sly smile.
"Yes, I still want the assignment." I said with a slight chuckle. I slipped the PADD inside my uniform.
As she stood to shake my hand she said, "Well, ok there is no turning back then, so good luck and good hunting."
I stood and snapped to attention.
"Thank you, sir." I then did a sharp turn on my heel and started for the door. Just before walking out of the office, I turned to see the Admiral staring out over the bay in thoughtful contemplation. I gave a slight smile and nod to the Yeoman at her desk as I waved goodbye. I got onto the turbolift and began to think about the responsibility I had just accepted. When I reached the ground level, I got out and walked around outside. The air seemed to turn cold with apprehension right then and there. I shook off the feeling of uneasiness as I walked to the nearest tram and took it back to the shuttle port. I checked in with Security and tapped my combadge.
"Kisad to the Agincourt." I said.
"Agincourt here." A deep male voice replied.
"One to beam up."
"Aye, Captain."
I felt a familiar tingling sensation, and the sight before me changed from the security checkpoint, to the transporter pad. I smiled when I saw a Bolian behind the transporter controls. The lights gleaming off his blue skin. The Transporter Chief gave the all-clear signal and stepped out from behind the controls to face me.
"Hello Chief D'ack."
"Hello, sir." He said standing at attention.
"Everything on schedule?"
"Yes, sir. Transporter upgrades will be finished in eight hours."
"That's good to hear, carry on."
"Yes, sir."
I turned away from D'ack and headed toward the turbolift. I stepped onto the nearest turbolift and headed towards my bridge. As the doors opened and I looked out onto my bridge, there were several people moving about and I could see several spacedock personnel working on the bridge systems. An Ensign noticed my presence.
"Attention on deck!" she said.
The entire bridge froze and everyone snapped to attention.
"Captain on the bridge!" The Ensign continued.
"Thank you Ensign, everyone back to work." I said.
The entire bridge went back to what they were doing. I walked down the ramp to the command chair. My Executive Officer Sarah Peterson had already stepped away from the chair.
"Afternoon, sir." She said with a smile.
"Afternoon, care to follow me into the Ready Room, I got new orders."
We walked to the left of the bridge, through the doors and into the Ready Room. As I moved around my desk Sarah moved with precision and ease to the seat facing me. She sat and looked at me with admiration.
"So, what are the new orders? Sir."
I handed the PADD unit across to her.
As she read I began to explain, "The Admiral wants us to head out to an outpost and do some reconnaissance. The mission should be simple enough, but the entire thing will be a Black Ops."
With just a hint of sarcasm she said, "Figures, they always want everything to be a Black Ops, any other inspiring news?"
"Yeah, we have to recall personnel, we leave in less then twenty-four hours."
"Just lovely...what a way to end shore leave." She sighed.
"I understand the frustration Sarah, but it's something that needs to get done."
"Yes, sir. I will have all personnel recalled and back on full duty status immediately."
"Good. Now, let’s talk about something more encouraging. How are the upgrades going?"
"We should have all systems done by tomorrow before launch, the upgrade to the HAWK will be in my report."
"Ok, let's get to it. I want the briefing for this mission for the senior staff at 0900 tomorrow before we launch. I still have some personal business left to do before we leave."
"Yes, sir." Sarah got up, left the PADD on the table and walked out of the Ready Room to resume her duties.
I secured the PADD and slipped it back inside my uniform. I stood and looked out of my window and saw all the ships arriving and leaving spacedock. I wondered how many of these vessels would ever return. I decided to get busy, and left the ready room. As I expected the bridge was still busy with personnel. I got into the nearest turbolift and headed down to Security on Deck Eight. I got out and walked down the hallway. The door to the armory opened for me and I noticed my security Chief inside.
"Greetings, Lieutenant Larson." I said.
He snapped to attention.
"Hello, sir."
"At ease."
He relaxed his stance.
"Did we receive the new compression phaser rifles?"
"Yes, sir. I also ordered a new type of weapon from Starfleet Research and Development."
"Oh? What is it?" I said, with interest.
He went over to a wall panel, placed his hand on a panel and it opened up. He pulled out the weapon and held it like a prize. I carefully took it out of his hands and admired it.
"It's called an X-895 Type 5 Railgun Rifle. I pulled it out of the history books from 220 years ago." He beamed.
"Why did you order such an archaic weapon?"
"I was reviewing the reports from Captain Picard's previous encounters with the Borg, I noticed that in one report, he mentioned using a Tommy gun of the late 1930's to kill two Borgs on the holodeck. It got me thinking that if an old fashion slug thrower could do that, why not something a little bit more powerful, but not necessarily an energy based weapon like our phasers. So I had the computer do a history search with the parameters I specified and it came up with this rifle." He smiled, very proud of himself.
"Nice thinking, how many of those do we have?"
"20 for right now. I was going to get more in the next couple of days."
"Well, try to get more, we are shipping out in less then twenty-two hours."
"What do you mean twenty-two hours? I thought we had four days."
"That changed, there will be a briefing at 0900 tomorrow."
"Ok, I'll try to get more rifles."
"Ok. I'll see you later."
I left the armory and headed toward my personal quarters. In case of any situations that might arise I had my made my quarters on the same deck as Security. I walked in and checked for any messages. There were five waiting for me. All five of the messages were from different members of my family. One from my grandmother, two from my younger brothers, another from my sister all of them were wishing me well and good luck on the new launch. The last from my mother telling me that even in deep space I could find love, and when would she have grandchildren, being the romantic that she is. I smiled at the thought of finding love amidst the daily routines of a ship’s captain. He would always consider his ship his true love. I turned off my viewscreen, left my quarters and headed back to the bridge. My combadge chirped.
"Kisad here." I said.
"Sir, this is Engineering two. We are having problems bringing the second warp core online to interface the HAWK Cannon." Lt. Jer'ring said.
"Ok, I'm on my way." I tapped my combadge.
I turned around and got into a turbolift and requested the Engineering level in the Pod stem.
This area of the ship connects the Pod unit to the main hull, in case of emergency we can eject the Pod. With the HAWK Cannon being installed, most of the Pod stem was reconstructed to fit a second Warp Core. The Agincourt is the first one with this refit. The second Warp Core will power the HAWK Cannon, and increase the shield’s strength. The HAWK was developed at Starfleet Research and Development. The name stands for Hanson's Accelerated Wave Kinetics. The Pod was refined from an idea that Commander Riker and Commander Shelby developed on the Enterprise. They used the deflector dish to send a concentrated energy pulse to damage a Borg ship. Although, the idea was ingenious it needed some refining to turn the idea into a unique weapon. It only took four years for Starfleet R&D to improve the design and renamed it. I was honored that Professor Hanson choose to install the first of its kind on my starship. Last time I saw the prototype, it was installed on the Runabout USS El Nino. That was an impressive test run. Our HAWK, was simply stunning by comparison.
I arrived on deck and noticed Lt. Jer'ring tapping furiously on a keypad. She seemed to be getting a little bit frustrated. It never ceases to amaze me how Klingons are great warriors but lousy engineers, well, sometimes. I went up to her carefully and cautiously. You don’t want to be at the receiving end of a Klingons’ frustration.
"Lieutenant?" I said, gingerly.
She abruptly turned and saw me. "Uh, Hello, sir."
"I see that the keypad is getting a through testing." I said while smiling.
"Yes, sir. I was trying to get the system to response, but it keeps eluding me."
"Let me take a look." I scanned what she was reading and I found out the problem of the alignment and tapped a few commands and the second warp core linked up with the HAWK.
"There was the problem Lieutenant. The Plasma relay was influxing to the primary center line, I relayed it to a secondary line, plus insert some backup commands to help with the excess energy flow and it should run without any problems." I said.
"Thank you sir. I should have noticed it, I'll keep my eye on it." Lt. Jer'ring said.
"I was expecting to have this problem. Other then this, is everything else running smoothly?"
"Yes sir. The primary warp core is functioning fine with the secondary. Shield strength has already increased by fifty percent. I can't wait to give her a test drive."
"Be careful what you wish for Lieutenant. I will be going now." I said with a slight feeling of dread.
"Yes sir and thank you again." Jer’ring said.
"Anytime Lieutenant." I smiled and left Engineering to head toward the bridge.
As the doors opened, I noticed that there were more people working around the bridge. Sarah's message had already been delivered. Which didn’t shock me in the slightest, knowing how efficient she was. I decided to leave everyone to their work and went into my Ready Room. I sat down and noticed several more messages waiting for me. I skimmed through each one and either answered or took notes on them. I made sure to contact the galley to have a bottle of champagne ready for tomorrow after the morning meeting. I figured with the upgrades, the ship might as well be re-christened; she will be a brand new vessel again. I pulled the PADD from my uniform and unlocked it. I separated the mission specs into their appropriate departments. Then, without revealing more than they needed to know, I sent out requests to each department to have several specific items ready for the mission. Most of my crew had come from my previous vessel the USS Turner Joy. They were accustom to taking my orders and respected my judgement. Once that was done, I realized that it was nearly 1800 hours, and that the crew would be eating dinner soon.
I got up and headed for the galley. Being this close to Earth, I should at least eat one meal on the surface, but I thought, since we are on recall and alert status, I shouldn’t be the only one to have dinner away from the ship. I always enjoyed eating with the rest of the crew. My Captain's Dinner Table was only used for diplomatic relations. Although some of my senior officers could not understand it, I never felt the need to separate myself from my crew. I wanted to be considered approachable for anything at anytime, even during dinner. It made my connection with the crew much stronger, and I found that it opened channels of communication that might have gone unused. I got to the galley and looked over most of the crew that was already there. After saying hello to several crewmembers, I noticed Sarah sitting by herself at a table. I got my meal and went to sit with her.
"Evening Sarah." I said pleasantly.
"Evening sir." She said with a smile.
"May I sit with you?"
"Please do." She waved with her hand.
"Thank you." I then sat down.
"Anything on your mind Captain?"
"Not really, just getting things squared away with Starfleet Command for our departure. How about yourself?"
"So far everything is moving along smoothly. Most of the crew has already returned from their shore leave. The department heads are battening down the hatches for our departure. We will be leaving on time tomorrow."
"Good, I also ordered a bottle of champagne for tomorrow's launch. I will re-christen the ship. That way she gets a proper send off."
"That's very nice, I'm sorry I was not there for the first launching."
"That's alright Sarah, you're here now and that is what matters."
"Thank you sir. I appreciate that."
We finished our meals and she excused herself. I sat a little bit longer and watched Earth from the galley windows. Sarah has been a great asset to the ship. She arrived less the four months ago but seemed to have made the adjustment very well. Her last vessel was an Excelsior Class Starship called the USS Kennedy. Her captain gave her high marks on her abilities. I am just sorry my last Executive Officer had to leave when he got his orders for his vessel. He was extremely happy to get command of the USS Alabama. Since it was another Nebula class, he already knew her systems inside and out. He is now stationed on the front lines and trying to survive. I cleaned up my dishes and headed out of the galley. I went down to holodeck 5 and entered it. I requested Kisad5 program and the scene changed to a forest setting. This is as close as I can get to really being home. I sat down on a rock and meditated. A few minutes passed and my combadge chirped. I tapped the combadge.
"Kisad here."
"Sorry to disturb you sir. I have an incoming message from Admiral Thompson."
"Alright, reroute it to holodeck 5."
"Aye sir."
A few seconds passed and a monitor appeared in front of me. The usual UFP symbol was on the screen and then the comlink opened.
"Greetings Admiral, what can I do for you?"
"I am sorry to disturb you Captain. I received new information from Starfleet Intelligence. They reported that a Galor Type Cardassian Warship was sighted in the area. This has Starfleet Command worried. If that site is being used as a staging area, then your mission has changed slightly, you will need to destroy the outpost but you have to make it look like a Jem'Hadar attack. That way the Cardassian treaty may dissolve quicker."
"That's a tall order Admiral, do we have any equipment that may help us in this illusion?"
"Yes we do, I am having a shuttle transport some spare parts to your cargo hold. Just replicate more parts and change you phaser settings to a Jem'Hadar frequency, that should convince anyone investigating that what happened at the outpost was not a Federation incident."
"I understand Admiral. The rest of the vessel is on track for departure at noon tomorrow."
"Very good Captain, once this mission is over, I promise to give your crew a very long shore leave."
"Thank you sir."
"Godspeed in your endeavor."
The screen then went blank and the monitor disappeared. I quickly shut down the program and tapped my combadge.
"Kisad to Peterson."
"Peterson here, sir."
"I got some more news, meet me in the ready room." I said with slight sarcasm.
"Aye, sir. I'll be there in five minutes."
"Thank you."
The comlink went dead and I left the holodeck. I went to the nearest turbolift and headed to the bridge. I got out and went to my ready room. As I entered, Sarah was already waiting for me. I sat down behind my desk. She did not look to happy.
"Sorry about this Sarah. I hope I didn't interrupted anything."
"It's ok sir. What news did you receive?"
"Admiral Thompson informed me that a Galor Type Cardassian Warship was sighted in the area of the outpost and that the mission specifics have changed slightly."
"This does not sound good." She cringed.
"The Admiral has requested that we destroy the Outpost and make it look like a Jem'Hadar had attacked them."
"Oh, I knew this was not going to get any better. Anything else they want us to do?"
"We have to lay some Jem'Hadar debris in the area and leave Jem'Hadar disrupter trails."
"They always make it sound so simple on the PADD." She put her head in her hands.
"I know, but we have to complete this mission. Other vessels depend on us, if this a staging area, there will be more casualties in this war. I'll let you in on a secret; the war is not going well. Starfleet feels if we take anymore more damage out on the front lines there won't be a Earth to come home to."
"I understand sir. I will do whatever is necessary."
"That's the spirit. By the way, the launch will be at noon tomorrow."
"Understood, any other business?"
"No, hopefully that should be it for now."
"Ok, sir."
She got up from her seat and left the ready room. I added more details to my discussion for tomorrow's meeting and I left the ready room. I acknowledged the night watch commander and entered the turbolift. I went straight to my quarters. I checked for any more messages and then went to sleep. I woke up and freshen up for the meeting. I left my quarters and headed to a turbolift. I got to the bridge and went to the Operations Lounge located behind the bridge. As I enter, I noticed my Department Chiefs were already there. Sarah was already standing next to my chair. Everyone saw me and snapped to attention.
"At ease everyone and have a seat."
Once everyone seated themselves and settled down, I stood up and began my briefing.
"First off, I do apologize for the short shore leave. Starfleet Command has requested that the Agincourt leave immediately to test out her new refits and the HAWK Cannon. We will be arriving near Sector 21560-Alpha, close to the Cardassian Demilitarized Zone, now that is the cover story. The primary mission is to get as close as we can to Outpost 469. Starfleet Intelligence believes that it will be used as a staging area, there is already one Galor Type Cardassian Warship sighted at the outpost. We have to gather as much data as we can and then eliminate the outpost. Here is the catch, the outpost has to be destroyed and made to look like a Jem'Hadar attacked it. The entire mission is considered a Black Operations. Part of our cover story and this has to be entered into official records is that our monitoring shuttles lost navigation and drifted into Cardassian space, and we were initiating a rescue mission. All the required information for completing this mission is downloaded into your PADDs. No one else on board this ship can know what is going on. We only know the true story. Is that understood?"
Everyone nodded his or her heads.
"Is there any questions?"
"Will we have any support, in case we run into a situation?" Lt. Yona, Chief of Tactical asked.
"The USS Langford will be close by to monitor our testing. The Captain knows our true mission. Hopefully we will not get into any situations. Lt. Larson will be in charge of the away team that will gather the information, as soon as he is clear, then we will begin the elimination of the primary target. Larson will take two shuttles over to the nearest asteroid and use that as a staging area to get to the outpost. We will stay near the border and monitor for his signal. Once that has been received then we will go in and finish the job. Larson, I will authorize the use of the Pulse Rifle for the mission. Since we are the first to have them, no one would suspect Starfleet at this time."
He nodded his head and tapped something into his PADD.
"Any other questions?" I said.
Everyone shook their heads no.
"Ok, then, good luck in your assignments and be sure to be on the bridge at noon. I am having a re-christening of the ship and thank you again. Dismissed."
Everyone got up and left for their respective departments. Sarah stayed behind and looked a little worried. I sat down in my chair.
"Something on your mind Sarah?"
"I just have a bad feeling about this mission, that's all. Something just doesn't seem right."
"How so?"
"Why doesn't Starfleet send in an Intrepid class vessel? They are smaller and can hide easier inside an asteroid field."
"Well, my first thoughts are that there is no one else available. Besides, we have enough firepower on board that I am not worried. The HAWK Cannon has proven that it can take down a Galaxy Class vessel and that was on a Runabout test bed. I also know it sounds cold hearted, but if the mission fails, Starfleet Command would rather lose two shuttlecrafts then an entire starship. We have a fine crew on board our vessel, I am sure we can handle ourselves."
"Understood, sir. Thanks for help easing my mind."
"Not a problem Sarah, remember, the crew looks up to us for guidance and strength. That is our pillar for making the right decisions."
She nodded and smiled.
"If there is nothing else, we have a launching to get ready for."
She nodded again and got up from her seat and headed out of the Operations Lounge. I looked out into space and saw several vessels leave for the front lines. I wish I was going with them. I know that the HAWK Cannon could be a turning point for the war, but orders are orders, I sighed and left the Operations Lounge. I got into the nearest turbolift and headed to my quarters. Dress uniform would be appropriate for the launching. I went inside my quarters and changed into my uniform. I made sure I had my sword on correctly. I had a replica made of the Battle of Agincourt Sword, for the first time the ship was launched. I always believed in upholding old naval traditions and wearing a sword with a dress uniform was one of them. I contacted the galley and made sure the champagne was delivered to Transporter 5. I had my speech ready and headed to the bridge. On the way there, I met Lt. Commander Daniels, Chief of Operations. He was wearing his dress uniform and looked a little uncomfortable. Those things were always a bit itchy. We both entered the turbolift and got to the bridge.
I figure it was about time I posted it here. This is my own characters in the Trekverse, feel free to comment.
"Captain's log, Stardate 598091.0...no that's not right. Computer, restart." Trell Kisad said.
"*Beep* Restarting." The computer said.
"Personal log, Stardate 598091.0. This is Trellian Kisad of the former Nebula Class Starship USS Agincourt NCC 72415. It's been four months since the court martial. I have been living back on the Trill home world until I figure out what I want to do. I can still remember when it all first started."
I was on Earth to receive my new orders from Starfleet Command. The Agincourt was in a spacedock stationed above Italy getting an upgrade to the HAWK Cannon pod, and any refits for a Nebula class vessel. The crew was on shore leave at the time. The ship was only eight months old, but already some new technology was available for the ship's design. After transporting down to security checkpoint Alpha, I decided to take the monorail tram to Starfleet Headquarters. The trip wasn't bad. And it was nice to see the ocean after so long. Along the way I thought about the Dominion War. New reports of massive casualties caused by the war with the Jem'Hadar were coming in every day. Hundreds of vessels, both new and veteran were being destroyed or lost. It’s classified information that we are starting to loose the war. As I thought about the war and the dangers echoed in it’s possible outcome, the tram arrived at the main entrance for Starfleet Headquarters, drawing me out of my own thoughts. I entered the building and took the turbolift to the 23rd floor. I walked down the brightly-lit hall and approached the young blonde woman dressed in a uniform with Yeomen rank on her collar, sitting at a desk. After finishing a small section of the paperwork she was reading she looked up and smiled.
"May I help you?" She said.
"Captain Trellian Kisad, here to see Admiral Thompson." I said.
"One moment." She pressed into a comlink, repeated the message and got a response.
"Go right in, she's expecting you." she said.
"Thank you."
I walked pass her desk and through the sliding doors and into the Admiral’s large office. She had an exquisite view of the bay through the large windows that seemed to encircle her office. The warm sun filtered in giving her office an inviting, almost friendly feel. As the chair turned it revealed a slender middle aged woman with the look of a person who has earned her confidence and position through many trials. She pulled her chair up to the desk and looked me straight in the eye, waiting for me to speak.
"Captain Trellian Kisad, reporting as ordered, sir."
"Please sit down Captain," she said in a high, but confident voice.
"Thank you, sir." I sat down in the chair she indicated.
"The reason I asked you to come is command feels we need someone to do some reconnaissance work. We have been informed of a Jem'Hadar outpost near the Cardassian Border. Since they have a non-aggression treaty with the Cardassian, we have been anticipating this possible situation. All you have to do is go in and report what you find. There is also a possibility that this outpost is a refueling station for Jem’Hadar alliances, because of this we aren't sure what ships might be there." She slid a Personal Access Display Device unit across the desk. "If you accept the mission, this PADD will provide you with all the information we have on the outpost, at this time.”
As I took the PADD, I read the mission outline. Even though this sounded like a short mission, I would have to cut into my crew’s shore leave.
"Admiral, I will accept the mission. Just give me twenty-four hours to get my ship and crew ready for departure."
"Good, now that you have accepted the mission, I should tell you that it is strictly a black ops situation. Only command and myself will know your true purpose. For anyone concerned, your cover story is that you were on a training exercise, lost navigation and floated into Cardassian territory. You can still turn down the mission, if you want.", she said with a sly smile.
"Yes, I still want the assignment." I said with a slight chuckle. I slipped the PADD inside my uniform.
As she stood to shake my hand she said, "Well, ok there is no turning back then, so good luck and good hunting."
I stood and snapped to attention.
"Thank you, sir." I then did a sharp turn on my heel and started for the door. Just before walking out of the office, I turned to see the Admiral staring out over the bay in thoughtful contemplation. I gave a slight smile and nod to the Yeoman at her desk as I waved goodbye. I got onto the turbolift and began to think about the responsibility I had just accepted. When I reached the ground level, I got out and walked around outside. The air seemed to turn cold with apprehension right then and there. I shook off the feeling of uneasiness as I walked to the nearest tram and took it back to the shuttle port. I checked in with Security and tapped my combadge.
"Kisad to the Agincourt." I said.
"Agincourt here." A deep male voice replied.
"One to beam up."
"Aye, Captain."
I felt a familiar tingling sensation, and the sight before me changed from the security checkpoint, to the transporter pad. I smiled when I saw a Bolian behind the transporter controls. The lights gleaming off his blue skin. The Transporter Chief gave the all-clear signal and stepped out from behind the controls to face me.
"Hello Chief D'ack."
"Hello, sir." He said standing at attention.
"Everything on schedule?"
"Yes, sir. Transporter upgrades will be finished in eight hours."
"That's good to hear, carry on."
"Yes, sir."
I turned away from D'ack and headed toward the turbolift. I stepped onto the nearest turbolift and headed towards my bridge. As the doors opened and I looked out onto my bridge, there were several people moving about and I could see several spacedock personnel working on the bridge systems. An Ensign noticed my presence.
"Attention on deck!" she said.
The entire bridge froze and everyone snapped to attention.
"Captain on the bridge!" The Ensign continued.
"Thank you Ensign, everyone back to work." I said.
The entire bridge went back to what they were doing. I walked down the ramp to the command chair. My Executive Officer Sarah Peterson had already stepped away from the chair.
"Afternoon, sir." She said with a smile.
"Afternoon, care to follow me into the Ready Room, I got new orders."
We walked to the left of the bridge, through the doors and into the Ready Room. As I moved around my desk Sarah moved with precision and ease to the seat facing me. She sat and looked at me with admiration.
"So, what are the new orders? Sir."
I handed the PADD unit across to her.
As she read I began to explain, "The Admiral wants us to head out to an outpost and do some reconnaissance. The mission should be simple enough, but the entire thing will be a Black Ops."
With just a hint of sarcasm she said, "Figures, they always want everything to be a Black Ops, any other inspiring news?"
"Yeah, we have to recall personnel, we leave in less then twenty-four hours."
"Just lovely...what a way to end shore leave." She sighed.
"I understand the frustration Sarah, but it's something that needs to get done."
"Yes, sir. I will have all personnel recalled and back on full duty status immediately."
"Good. Now, let’s talk about something more encouraging. How are the upgrades going?"
"We should have all systems done by tomorrow before launch, the upgrade to the HAWK will be in my report."
"Ok, let's get to it. I want the briefing for this mission for the senior staff at 0900 tomorrow before we launch. I still have some personal business left to do before we leave."
"Yes, sir." Sarah got up, left the PADD on the table and walked out of the Ready Room to resume her duties.
I secured the PADD and slipped it back inside my uniform. I stood and looked out of my window and saw all the ships arriving and leaving spacedock. I wondered how many of these vessels would ever return. I decided to get busy, and left the ready room. As I expected the bridge was still busy with personnel. I got into the nearest turbolift and headed down to Security on Deck Eight. I got out and walked down the hallway. The door to the armory opened for me and I noticed my security Chief inside.
"Greetings, Lieutenant Larson." I said.
He snapped to attention.
"Hello, sir."
"At ease."
He relaxed his stance.
"Did we receive the new compression phaser rifles?"
"Yes, sir. I also ordered a new type of weapon from Starfleet Research and Development."
"Oh? What is it?" I said, with interest.
He went over to a wall panel, placed his hand on a panel and it opened up. He pulled out the weapon and held it like a prize. I carefully took it out of his hands and admired it.
"It's called an X-895 Type 5 Railgun Rifle. I pulled it out of the history books from 220 years ago." He beamed.
"Why did you order such an archaic weapon?"
"I was reviewing the reports from Captain Picard's previous encounters with the Borg, I noticed that in one report, he mentioned using a Tommy gun of the late 1930's to kill two Borgs on the holodeck. It got me thinking that if an old fashion slug thrower could do that, why not something a little bit more powerful, but not necessarily an energy based weapon like our phasers. So I had the computer do a history search with the parameters I specified and it came up with this rifle." He smiled, very proud of himself.
"Nice thinking, how many of those do we have?"
"20 for right now. I was going to get more in the next couple of days."
"Well, try to get more, we are shipping out in less then twenty-two hours."
"What do you mean twenty-two hours? I thought we had four days."
"That changed, there will be a briefing at 0900 tomorrow."
"Ok, I'll try to get more rifles."
"Ok. I'll see you later."
I left the armory and headed toward my personal quarters. In case of any situations that might arise I had my made my quarters on the same deck as Security. I walked in and checked for any messages. There were five waiting for me. All five of the messages were from different members of my family. One from my grandmother, two from my younger brothers, another from my sister all of them were wishing me well and good luck on the new launch. The last from my mother telling me that even in deep space I could find love, and when would she have grandchildren, being the romantic that she is. I smiled at the thought of finding love amidst the daily routines of a ship’s captain. He would always consider his ship his true love. I turned off my viewscreen, left my quarters and headed back to the bridge. My combadge chirped.
"Kisad here." I said.
"Sir, this is Engineering two. We are having problems bringing the second warp core online to interface the HAWK Cannon." Lt. Jer'ring said.
"Ok, I'm on my way." I tapped my combadge.
I turned around and got into a turbolift and requested the Engineering level in the Pod stem.
This area of the ship connects the Pod unit to the main hull, in case of emergency we can eject the Pod. With the HAWK Cannon being installed, most of the Pod stem was reconstructed to fit a second Warp Core. The Agincourt is the first one with this refit. The second Warp Core will power the HAWK Cannon, and increase the shield’s strength. The HAWK was developed at Starfleet Research and Development. The name stands for Hanson's Accelerated Wave Kinetics. The Pod was refined from an idea that Commander Riker and Commander Shelby developed on the Enterprise. They used the deflector dish to send a concentrated energy pulse to damage a Borg ship. Although, the idea was ingenious it needed some refining to turn the idea into a unique weapon. It only took four years for Starfleet R&D to improve the design and renamed it. I was honored that Professor Hanson choose to install the first of its kind on my starship. Last time I saw the prototype, it was installed on the Runabout USS El Nino. That was an impressive test run. Our HAWK, was simply stunning by comparison.
I arrived on deck and noticed Lt. Jer'ring tapping furiously on a keypad. She seemed to be getting a little bit frustrated. It never ceases to amaze me how Klingons are great warriors but lousy engineers, well, sometimes. I went up to her carefully and cautiously. You don’t want to be at the receiving end of a Klingons’ frustration.
"Lieutenant?" I said, gingerly.
She abruptly turned and saw me. "Uh, Hello, sir."
"I see that the keypad is getting a through testing." I said while smiling.
"Yes, sir. I was trying to get the system to response, but it keeps eluding me."
"Let me take a look." I scanned what she was reading and I found out the problem of the alignment and tapped a few commands and the second warp core linked up with the HAWK.
"There was the problem Lieutenant. The Plasma relay was influxing to the primary center line, I relayed it to a secondary line, plus insert some backup commands to help with the excess energy flow and it should run without any problems." I said.
"Thank you sir. I should have noticed it, I'll keep my eye on it." Lt. Jer'ring said.
"I was expecting to have this problem. Other then this, is everything else running smoothly?"
"Yes sir. The primary warp core is functioning fine with the secondary. Shield strength has already increased by fifty percent. I can't wait to give her a test drive."
"Be careful what you wish for Lieutenant. I will be going now." I said with a slight feeling of dread.
"Yes sir and thank you again." Jer’ring said.
"Anytime Lieutenant." I smiled and left Engineering to head toward the bridge.
As the doors opened, I noticed that there were more people working around the bridge. Sarah's message had already been delivered. Which didn’t shock me in the slightest, knowing how efficient she was. I decided to leave everyone to their work and went into my Ready Room. I sat down and noticed several more messages waiting for me. I skimmed through each one and either answered or took notes on them. I made sure to contact the galley to have a bottle of champagne ready for tomorrow after the morning meeting. I figured with the upgrades, the ship might as well be re-christened; she will be a brand new vessel again. I pulled the PADD from my uniform and unlocked it. I separated the mission specs into their appropriate departments. Then, without revealing more than they needed to know, I sent out requests to each department to have several specific items ready for the mission. Most of my crew had come from my previous vessel the USS Turner Joy. They were accustom to taking my orders and respected my judgement. Once that was done, I realized that it was nearly 1800 hours, and that the crew would be eating dinner soon.
I got up and headed for the galley. Being this close to Earth, I should at least eat one meal on the surface, but I thought, since we are on recall and alert status, I shouldn’t be the only one to have dinner away from the ship. I always enjoyed eating with the rest of the crew. My Captain's Dinner Table was only used for diplomatic relations. Although some of my senior officers could not understand it, I never felt the need to separate myself from my crew. I wanted to be considered approachable for anything at anytime, even during dinner. It made my connection with the crew much stronger, and I found that it opened channels of communication that might have gone unused. I got to the galley and looked over most of the crew that was already there. After saying hello to several crewmembers, I noticed Sarah sitting by herself at a table. I got my meal and went to sit with her.
"Evening Sarah." I said pleasantly.
"Evening sir." She said with a smile.
"May I sit with you?"
"Please do." She waved with her hand.
"Thank you." I then sat down.
"Anything on your mind Captain?"
"Not really, just getting things squared away with Starfleet Command for our departure. How about yourself?"
"So far everything is moving along smoothly. Most of the crew has already returned from their shore leave. The department heads are battening down the hatches for our departure. We will be leaving on time tomorrow."
"Good, I also ordered a bottle of champagne for tomorrow's launch. I will re-christen the ship. That way she gets a proper send off."
"That's very nice, I'm sorry I was not there for the first launching."
"That's alright Sarah, you're here now and that is what matters."
"Thank you sir. I appreciate that."
We finished our meals and she excused herself. I sat a little bit longer and watched Earth from the galley windows. Sarah has been a great asset to the ship. She arrived less the four months ago but seemed to have made the adjustment very well. Her last vessel was an Excelsior Class Starship called the USS Kennedy. Her captain gave her high marks on her abilities. I am just sorry my last Executive Officer had to leave when he got his orders for his vessel. He was extremely happy to get command of the USS Alabama. Since it was another Nebula class, he already knew her systems inside and out. He is now stationed on the front lines and trying to survive. I cleaned up my dishes and headed out of the galley. I went down to holodeck 5 and entered it. I requested Kisad5 program and the scene changed to a forest setting. This is as close as I can get to really being home. I sat down on a rock and meditated. A few minutes passed and my combadge chirped. I tapped the combadge.
"Kisad here."
"Sorry to disturb you sir. I have an incoming message from Admiral Thompson."
"Alright, reroute it to holodeck 5."
"Aye sir."
A few seconds passed and a monitor appeared in front of me. The usual UFP symbol was on the screen and then the comlink opened.
"Greetings Admiral, what can I do for you?"
"I am sorry to disturb you Captain. I received new information from Starfleet Intelligence. They reported that a Galor Type Cardassian Warship was sighted in the area. This has Starfleet Command worried. If that site is being used as a staging area, then your mission has changed slightly, you will need to destroy the outpost but you have to make it look like a Jem'Hadar attack. That way the Cardassian treaty may dissolve quicker."
"That's a tall order Admiral, do we have any equipment that may help us in this illusion?"
"Yes we do, I am having a shuttle transport some spare parts to your cargo hold. Just replicate more parts and change you phaser settings to a Jem'Hadar frequency, that should convince anyone investigating that what happened at the outpost was not a Federation incident."
"I understand Admiral. The rest of the vessel is on track for departure at noon tomorrow."
"Very good Captain, once this mission is over, I promise to give your crew a very long shore leave."
"Thank you sir."
"Godspeed in your endeavor."
The screen then went blank and the monitor disappeared. I quickly shut down the program and tapped my combadge.
"Kisad to Peterson."
"Peterson here, sir."
"I got some more news, meet me in the ready room." I said with slight sarcasm.
"Aye, sir. I'll be there in five minutes."
"Thank you."
The comlink went dead and I left the holodeck. I went to the nearest turbolift and headed to the bridge. I got out and went to my ready room. As I entered, Sarah was already waiting for me. I sat down behind my desk. She did not look to happy.
"Sorry about this Sarah. I hope I didn't interrupted anything."
"It's ok sir. What news did you receive?"
"Admiral Thompson informed me that a Galor Type Cardassian Warship was sighted in the area of the outpost and that the mission specifics have changed slightly."
"This does not sound good." She cringed.
"The Admiral has requested that we destroy the Outpost and make it look like a Jem'Hadar had attacked them."
"Oh, I knew this was not going to get any better. Anything else they want us to do?"
"We have to lay some Jem'Hadar debris in the area and leave Jem'Hadar disrupter trails."
"They always make it sound so simple on the PADD." She put her head in her hands.
"I know, but we have to complete this mission. Other vessels depend on us, if this a staging area, there will be more casualties in this war. I'll let you in on a secret; the war is not going well. Starfleet feels if we take anymore more damage out on the front lines there won't be a Earth to come home to."
"I understand sir. I will do whatever is necessary."
"That's the spirit. By the way, the launch will be at noon tomorrow."
"Understood, any other business?"
"No, hopefully that should be it for now."
"Ok, sir."
She got up from her seat and left the ready room. I added more details to my discussion for tomorrow's meeting and I left the ready room. I acknowledged the night watch commander and entered the turbolift. I went straight to my quarters. I checked for any more messages and then went to sleep. I woke up and freshen up for the meeting. I left my quarters and headed to a turbolift. I got to the bridge and went to the Operations Lounge located behind the bridge. As I enter, I noticed my Department Chiefs were already there. Sarah was already standing next to my chair. Everyone saw me and snapped to attention.
"At ease everyone and have a seat."
Once everyone seated themselves and settled down, I stood up and began my briefing.
"First off, I do apologize for the short shore leave. Starfleet Command has requested that the Agincourt leave immediately to test out her new refits and the HAWK Cannon. We will be arriving near Sector 21560-Alpha, close to the Cardassian Demilitarized Zone, now that is the cover story. The primary mission is to get as close as we can to Outpost 469. Starfleet Intelligence believes that it will be used as a staging area, there is already one Galor Type Cardassian Warship sighted at the outpost. We have to gather as much data as we can and then eliminate the outpost. Here is the catch, the outpost has to be destroyed and made to look like a Jem'Hadar attacked it. The entire mission is considered a Black Operations. Part of our cover story and this has to be entered into official records is that our monitoring shuttles lost navigation and drifted into Cardassian space, and we were initiating a rescue mission. All the required information for completing this mission is downloaded into your PADDs. No one else on board this ship can know what is going on. We only know the true story. Is that understood?"
Everyone nodded his or her heads.
"Is there any questions?"
"Will we have any support, in case we run into a situation?" Lt. Yona, Chief of Tactical asked.
"The USS Langford will be close by to monitor our testing. The Captain knows our true mission. Hopefully we will not get into any situations. Lt. Larson will be in charge of the away team that will gather the information, as soon as he is clear, then we will begin the elimination of the primary target. Larson will take two shuttles over to the nearest asteroid and use that as a staging area to get to the outpost. We will stay near the border and monitor for his signal. Once that has been received then we will go in and finish the job. Larson, I will authorize the use of the Pulse Rifle for the mission. Since we are the first to have them, no one would suspect Starfleet at this time."
He nodded his head and tapped something into his PADD.
"Any other questions?" I said.
Everyone shook their heads no.
"Ok, then, good luck in your assignments and be sure to be on the bridge at noon. I am having a re-christening of the ship and thank you again. Dismissed."
Everyone got up and left for their respective departments. Sarah stayed behind and looked a little worried. I sat down in my chair.
"Something on your mind Sarah?"
"I just have a bad feeling about this mission, that's all. Something just doesn't seem right."
"How so?"
"Why doesn't Starfleet send in an Intrepid class vessel? They are smaller and can hide easier inside an asteroid field."
"Well, my first thoughts are that there is no one else available. Besides, we have enough firepower on board that I am not worried. The HAWK Cannon has proven that it can take down a Galaxy Class vessel and that was on a Runabout test bed. I also know it sounds cold hearted, but if the mission fails, Starfleet Command would rather lose two shuttlecrafts then an entire starship. We have a fine crew on board our vessel, I am sure we can handle ourselves."
"Understood, sir. Thanks for help easing my mind."
"Not a problem Sarah, remember, the crew looks up to us for guidance and strength. That is our pillar for making the right decisions."
She nodded and smiled.
"If there is nothing else, we have a launching to get ready for."
She nodded again and got up from her seat and headed out of the Operations Lounge. I looked out into space and saw several vessels leave for the front lines. I wish I was going with them. I know that the HAWK Cannon could be a turning point for the war, but orders are orders, I sighed and left the Operations Lounge. I got into the nearest turbolift and headed to my quarters. Dress uniform would be appropriate for the launching. I went inside my quarters and changed into my uniform. I made sure I had my sword on correctly. I had a replica made of the Battle of Agincourt Sword, for the first time the ship was launched. I always believed in upholding old naval traditions and wearing a sword with a dress uniform was one of them. I contacted the galley and made sure the champagne was delivered to Transporter 5. I had my speech ready and headed to the bridge. On the way there, I met Lt. Commander Daniels, Chief of Operations. He was wearing his dress uniform and looked a little uncomfortable. Those things were always a bit itchy. We both entered the turbolift and got to the bridge.