The Archanis Campaign: USS Devastator

capierno · February 2021

Closing up a panel in his ready room, the newly minted commanding officer of the Devastator braced himself on his chair before pulling himself up. "Computer, hot apple cider." He said out loud, staring at the replicator behind his desk. The familiar chime of the computer working chirped and soon after a white mug emblazoned with the starfleet delta materialized. Visual steam could be seen reflecting against the light. With eager anticipation, Scotto reached for the beverage and brought it to his nose. Smells right. He thought.

Taking the first sip, at last the familiar taste he expected hit his tongue. The captain spent the last few minutes fighting with the replicator to get the taste right for his favorite hot beverage. The old girl was nowhere near reaching the limit of her usefulness, but, she wasn't exactly up to snuff. Several years of acting like a starbase in orbit of Raeya III had treated her like an overworked science station on an Oberth-class starship. And, to top it all off, there wasn't exactly time to get things in order before she was shipped off on this important mission.

Settling down at his desk, Captain Scotto reviewed, for another time, their mission parameters and replayed a portion of Admiral Beckett's message.

‘Make no mistake: Starfleet is alone in responding to this threat. The Klingon Empire will not help us bring their rogue citizens to heel. Unprovoked, the Hunters are here to indulge their hunger for battle and hatred of the Federation, while sacking our worlds and people for resources. Our local task group is outmatched by the strength and numbers of their ships, and so it falls to us, Bravo Fleet, to defend our borders.’

Scotto had never met the man, even in his time working at Intel HQ. However, he had heard stories - not particularly good or bad - but, he sounded like someone who one wouldn't want to double cross.

The Devastator was headed to the Meronia Cluster as directed by Captain Dex and Task Force 93 Command. She was escorting several Federation mercy ships to provide relief to the stricken colonies suffering from both ecological issues and intervention from the Hunters. The ships were adequately protected by the Dev, but the captain still would've prefered that they weren't drawn into combat - not yet at least. This was basically a second shakedown cruise after sitting like an old car in garage.

Taking a long drag from his cider, Scotto swiped down the display and turned to look out the window. As the stars zoomed by he felt that usual pain in his neck. Feeling a sharp shooting pain again, Captain Scotto placed his cup of cider down hard on his desk and shuffled through a drawer looking for the familiar hypospray.

Placing it to his neck, the instant relief made the captain relax slightly back into his chair. However, his moment of bliss was soon interrupted by the dreaded chime from the bridge. "Captain Scotto to the bridge." He heard. Scotto's eyes sparked open and he stood up without a second thought. He ran two hands through his hair before pulling down on his tunic and stepping out onto the familiar bridge of a sovereign-class starship.

"Report." He commanded.

His hand-picked Andorian first officer, Commander Sera Zh'rhaohross, stood up from the center seat and stepped aside before placing her hands behind her back in attention. "Sir, the Sagittarius has picked up some unusual readings several hundred kilometers ahead, they think it could be a cloaked vessel." She said with a hint of concern in her voice. "I've pulled up the data sent on an encoded channel, per your orders."

Scotto, still somewhat unfamiliar with most of the bridge crew slowly walked towards the center of the bridge and reviewed the telemetry that was on the viewscreen. "Can we verify their readings?" He asked.

"Not yet, sir. We will be within range in approximately five minutes." The science officer replied from behind.

Captain Scotto had ordered that the runabout Sagittarius be sent out in front of the convoy to scout anything along their route. "Go to red alert and inform the mercy ships. Drop us out of warp when we reach the sagittarius's last position. Order the mercy ships to stay within our weapons range."

Scotto took his seat and soon was handed a PADD to review the data more closely. Sera also took her seat and turned to him. "Could be nothing." She said. Charles looked up from the PADD and said, "You would say that. Don't try to manage my mood, Commander." He gave her the usual look before returning to the data on the PADD. "Could definitely be a cloaked ship. We're close enough to the Meronia Cluster that perhaps they are trying to cut us off at the pass." Scotto said.

After what seemed like an eternity, the Dev arrived at the designated coordinates. Dropping out of warp, they encountered a debris field.

"Shit." Said the captain.

capierno · March 2021

The familiar red tint of the Devastator's alert status filled the bridge as the helmsman delicately piloted the vessel to avoid any large chunks of debris in their way. Captain Scotto along with his first officer and other bridge crew assembled in the back section of the bridge to review scans of the debris field.

"We're also picking up traces of EV suits in the debris." The science officer on duty stated dourly. "Which means, we can assume that maybe the crew was trying to escape." Scotto noted. The science officer nodded, "Indeed, sir. However, there is evidence that the suits were targeted by the same Klingon weapons used to destroy the runabout." She said.

"So, they weren't just making a point, they were here to murder." Sera stated as her antennae reacted to the news.

Captain Scotto turned to give his first officer a look of concern before continuing. "Any way of tracking them?" He asked.

The science officer pulled up a new display detailing a trail towards the Meronia Cluster. "Whoever they are, their ships are in disrepair. We were easily able to track their movement, even while cloaked. They are leaking some kind of ionized gas." She continued, "Scans show they have vacated the immediate area."

Scotto placed his hands on his hips and looked back towards the viewscreen which showed the debris field. "Let's remain at red alert. Commander, would you see to the retrieval of any remains and have them properly stored. Please have their service records transferred to my office when complete." He asked sadly.

"Aye sir." Sera responded.

"Mr. Kilmer, please inform starfleet command of this event and send them any data we have over encoded frequencies. Unless the Klingons have declared open war on the Federation, we can only assume we just missed these Hunters that we've been hearing about." Scotto walked away from the group and took up his position in the command chair.

"Once Commander Sera finishes, and we have sent our data, please be sure to--" A sharp pain in the captain's neck caused him to wince out loud, stopping his command. After a brief moment he refocused and continued, "be sure to destroy any sensitive equipment." Several bridge officers were now staring at the captain, undoubtedly wondering what ailment he was suffering from. Scotto motioned with both hands to get on with their tasks, breaking their gazes.

Rubbing the back of his neck, the captain tried his best to relax into the chair as the crew went about their duties.

===

Onboard the USS Asclepius, Captain Horgoth had many items to prepare before they reached their final destination. As a medical ship, their armament was low and relied heavily on those starships escorting them. Situations like this never sat well with him.

"When are we getting underway?" He snorted while tapping his fingers on the edge of his armrest.

"The Devastator is reporting no more than 10 minutes, sir." Responded the helmsman.

Horgoth, a Tellarite, was known for being impatient. But this time, he was more nervous than anything. "I think we should arm the doctors when we arrive at the colony." He said out loud to no one in particular.

Sensing his anxiety, the Kelpian Chief Medical Officer, and de facto first officer, turned around from the display she was reviewing and tilted her head slightly. "Captain," she said as she began to approach the center of the bridge,"Perhaps that is something we should discuss with the medical staff themselves?" Keiralu made eyes at her old friend encouraging him to save it for later.

capierno · March 2021

The Devastator-led convoy of Mercy Ships arrived in the Meronia Cluster where several planets throughout the cluster were home to Federation colonies. On the planet that the Federation has classified as Meronia IV, the largest colony was not only dealing with some kind of virus spreading through their crops, but it was also concerned about further attacks from the Hunters. The main colony, despite their best efforts, had lost contact with their, smaller, sister colony on Meronia II only two days ago. Nothing had been heard from them since.

Captain Horgoth was taking stock of the situation down on the surface. The big concern was whether or not the virus has jumped into the water supply, which could lead to it jumping into the local population. "We have brought the best scientists in the quadrant to deal with this, I assure you Governor Dr'dan." He said. Motioning his hand up to the skies, the Tellarite continued. "And, the Devastator will be on patrol for any unwanted activity. We have full trust in Captain Scotto and his crew."

Governor Dr'dan expressed gratefulness through her facial expressions, while her concern came through in the tone of her voice. "Thank you, Captain. But, what about our people on Meronia II, we have family members here who want to know whether or not their children, or their parents are still alive?"

===

In a high orbit of Meronia II, the Danube-class runabout Euphrates was attempting to evade detection by masking their signature between the planet's moon and their northern pole. Long range scans from the Devastator detected traces of the D'Ghor ships from their earlier almost run-in. Those scans brought them here, where the crew was getting ready to plot a touchdown and scout out the colony.

"Euphrates to Devastator." Commander Sera spoke as she reviewed the touchdown scans.

"Go ahead Euphrates." Captain Scotto responded.

"We're ready to touchdown and begin scouting. Aiming for a kilometer outside of the main colony." She stated.

"Roger that Euphrates, you are a go. Good luck and maintain communication." Scotto commanded.

The Andorian looked back to the away team assembled and looked for the affirmative nods she was used to. She began revving up the impulse engines to pilot them through the atmosphere. As they began to encounter the familiar resistance, she balanced things out with thrusters and coordinated with the other officers as they descended towards the planet surface. Soon, the green hills and grey mountains began to appear as Sera monitored for their landing site.

"Picking up bio-signs one point five kilometers away from the landing site. Can't tell from here what kind." Ensign Hunter reported.

Commander Sera engaged landing thrusters as the runabout came to a jolted landing in a valley surrounded by local plantlife. The computer chirped to indicated a hard connection with the ground and began to run through its protocols for landing. Sera spun around to the crew, "Atmosphere here should be plenty safe for us. Let's make sure we're armed. Ensign Hunter and Lieutenant Froth, please make sure we bring medical equipment and emergency transporters." She stood up and began walking towards the back of the craft, "Let's move." She ordered.

===

"We should let our targhs feast off the remains of your younglings!" Yelled I'krath, one of the Klingons standing in the way of freedom from their imprisonment. It had been nearly 48 hours since any of the colonists still alive saw the light of day. This particular comment was in response to the request from the captured to attend to their dead, littered throughout the village.

When the Hunters arrived, the colonists were taken by surprise. Dealing with an enemy invasion force was not exactly what they were preparing for while dealing with an agricultural crisis. Too many lives were lost, without the opportunity to even fight back. What was left of their village was shoved into these caves, waiting for something to happen. It wasn't clear what the end goal was. Klingons attacking a Federation colony was an event from what seemed like another age.

Phaser fire could soon be heard from beyond the opening of the cave. I'krath turned away from the prisoners to see what was going on. As he took one step away from them a rock came flying from the back of the assembled colonist, hitting I'krath in the head. Instantly after, several colonists at the front of the group lunged for the Klingon, knocking him to the ground.

As three or four of the colonists tried to subdue the Hunter, a shot rang off followed by a loud scream. Smoke and mist appeared as one of the would-be heroes was vaporized.

Another colonist was able to smash I'krath's hand with a boulder, causing him to release his weapon. Kicking it away, a Starfleet officer picked it up. "Enough!" The Andorian yelled out as the rest of the Devastator's hazard team had their weapons pointed at I'krath. Commander Sera stepped in to pull the Klingon up to his feet. "Let's go." She snarled as the team placed constrictors on him and led him out of the cave.

Addressing the rest of the colonists, Commander Sera assured them that they would be taken care of. "We have scanned the area and things seem to be safe, no other Klingon signals. We will get you back to the Devastator and eventually reunited with the rest of the colonists." She had to acknowledge the gruesome scene beyond the cave. "I'm terribly sorry for the losses that I'm sure many of you have endured. I only wish we could have been here sooner." She stated.

"Starfleet's always a day late and a dollar short." One of the colonists said, clearly emotionally charged.

Another member of the team took a step towards Commander Sera in a clear move to protect if things started going south. Instead, Sera motioned him back. "Again, we'll get you out of here as soon as possible. As soon as my team has taken care of the scene outside, we will start getting you out. None of you need to see what it looks like out there..." She trailed off.

===

Captain Scotto tossed the PADD down on his desk, furiously, "How did you not scan him for something like this?!" He asked angrily.

Commander Sera looked down as she defended her team. "Sir, I'm sorry, but we wouldn't have been able to identify the capsule anyway. It was grafted into his inner cheek. We couldn't have known." Looking up, empowered, she continued, "He was already dead before we took off from the planet, sir."

Scotto picked up the PADD again to read it. "I expect a full report on my desk within the hour. I'll need to forward it on to HQ." Looking back up to his first officer he relaxed his brow, "I apologize, but, Starfleet is looking for a break here and all I have to give them is some backwater Orion communication mentioning an attack on the Federation/Klingon border." Tapping the PADD on his desk, he looked out his window. "I just wish we had more." He said.

TL;DR

The Devastator's Hazard Team rescues colonists who were captured by the D'Ghor Hunters after a gruesome attack on their colony.
The crew discovers a communique from the Orion Syndicate to this group of Hunters regarding an impending attack on the Federation/Klingon border.

The Archanis Campaign: USS Devastator

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