Cadet Vakai
JShepard
Member
[Starbase Bravo]
[Holodeck Twelve]
[1122 Hours]
[Re-Assessment Training]
Each step that he took were slow, non-existent, as if he didn’t exist. Of course the carpeting of a Starfleet Vessel helped minimize the sound of an approaching target, or in this case, an officer who is in the process of launching a surprise attack on the invaders. On board the Prometheus Class starship, the vessel was undergoing a testing procedure when it was captured by Tal Shiar operatives. Vakai was the only officer left, that he knew of, that had not been caught by the enemy and his job was to eliminate them and recover the vessel at all costs.
The thing that bothered Vaka the most was the program that was chosen for his Re-Assessment Training, but it is a question that he plans to ask his instructor as soon as he completes it. Vakai is on his way towards Main Engineering where he would regain control of the ship and shut down life support everywhere but Main Engineering. Everyone was dead anyways, except for him, there was no reason to be merciful to those who have no empathy for others but themselves.
Armed with a phaser pistol in his right hand, tricorder in his left, he began to run the plan through his head of how he would enter Main Engineering and take out the agents within. He approached the main entrance but stopped at a safe distance to prevent the sensor from detecting him and automatically opening the door. Using the tricorder, he was able to pick up four agents in Main Engineering. Two at the primary center console, one moving back and forth between a console on the starboard section of the room and the center console with railing attached around the warp core. The fourth one, after adjusting the sensory image to more three dimensional, was on the upper floor. That one would be the first to take out, Vakai figured.
Vakai quickly maneuvered to the maintenance shaft, where he would take a ladder to the next deck above and pressed himself against the wall by a smaller door that led to the upper level of Main Engineering. Of course this was the primary engineering of the vessel when it is whole, and why there were agents here at all was indeed curious to him as the report on the Prometheus Recovery was that there were only agents in sickbay and main bridge. But Vakai assumed it was because they wanted to make it a little easier on the cadets. Storming the bridge by yourself when there are four or eight agents is a little suicidal. Of course Vakai knew that with a proper agent from sickbay, he could just insert an airborne drug that would simply knock them all out. But Vakai knew little of medicine, so he was not going to risk it by guessing.
By tapping a command into the door panel, he disarmed the sensors and released the door completely so he could step in and slide the door open slowly on his own without alerting the singular agent. From there, it was easy for him to slip inside quietly, and approach the agent silently with his tricorder closed and tucked away to eliminate any noise that would give him away, while raising his right hand to aim the pistol at the back of the agent’s head. The moment he was about to pull the trigger, an image of his mother’s face flashed before his eyes and he nearly stumbled back. Luckily he was not too startled but he quickly had to control his breathing as to not alert the agent before him. Vakai immediately knew that it was just a figment of his imagination that made the face of his mother appear before him, a warning as it were. Vakai swallowed hard as he knew exactly what it meant, so he pulled his right arm back, rolled his wrist to the left to reveal the settings on his pistol and adjusted the settings from kill to stun at a level of five, to ensure that the agent would be out cold for several hours.
Once he had adjusted the setting on his pistol to non-lethal, in one quick motion he properly aimed his pistol at the agent, extended his arm and fired, but at the same time that he fired, he moved in quickly, grabbing the woman before she fell to the floor. He caught her and eased her down gently, as to keep his presence unknown to those below him. He pulled his tricorder out to recheck on the life signs below and noticed that one of the two at the central console had moved to a maintenance shaft. This was the moment to strike and strike quickly.
Vakai closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, emptied his mind and selected the best course of action from his training. The second his eyes opened, he walked around the console, grabbed the railing and climbed over it, allowing his left hand to fall from the top bar to one of the legs, sliding down to the bottom, at the same time he aimed his pistol at the agent on his way to the console on the starboard section, which left his back to Vakai and his attack surprising. One shot and the agent was down, unconscious. In that same moment that he pulled the trigger, he let go of the leg, dropped all the way down and landed on his feet and in the same motion of falling, he redirected his right arm at the one agent on the central console, at the end of his arm was his hand with the pistol now pointing at the man, and a simple, quick compression of the trigger released another bolt of energy that struck the shocked man in the chest, sending him to the floor, unconscious. The second Vakai aimed his right arm at the very door that led to thee maintenance shaft the last agent went into, was the second the door opened, and the moment Vakai saw any piece of him, an arm, he compressed the trigger and sent a bolt of energy right into the woman’s shoulder, watching her fall to the floor unconscious.
Vakai quickly holstered his pistol as he approached the central console and began entering commands to redirect all control of the ship to Main Engineering, cutting off all commands from the entire vessel. Once he accomplished that, he locked down the Main Bridge and Sickbay before adjusting force field settings, just to activate them and compress them just enough to surround each and every Tal Shiar agent on board and the moment they touch the force field was the moment they would be induced enough shock that would knock them unconscious for several hours. Once he was finished with that, he moved over to one of the stations, repurposes it for Communications and sent Distress Call on Starfleet frequencies only before going to the station beside it, repurposing it for Flight Operations and Navigation, inputting a new course before executing the change, where the ship will drop out of warp, do a full one eighty and zip back into warp speeds, reaching the maximum output the ship can safely travel.
“Cadet Vakai.” a woman’s voice echoed throughout the ship, only the ship began to dissolve and disappear before Vakai’s eyes. “Report to your instructor for assessment.” She said as she held out her hands.
Vakai removed the holster from his thigh that held the compression pistol, and removed the tricorder from his back pocket with his other hand, only to place them in her open hands, returning the property in which he was loaned for this training.
Now, fifteen minutes later, Vakai stood at-ease before his instructor in his office while the instructor went over the footage of Vakai’s Re-Assessment Training, as well as re-reading some of the files that were provided in order for Vakai to take this training.
“For a moment there, Cadet, I really had thought you had full intention to kill those Tal Shiar agents when you had changed the setting on your pistol to kill at the beginning of the program. But then, right before you pulled the trigger on the first agent, you changed the setting to stun. Why is that?”
Vakai looked at his instructor, of course that answered Vakai’s question on why that particular simulation for his re-assessment training. “One of the things that my mother taught me, my biological mother, is to not hold grudges. She said, be better than them, and so I fell back on my Starfleet Training and did what was right. Tal Shiar prisoners are far more valuable to Starfleet Command than dead ones.”
The instructor nodded his head, “Good answer. So I am going to be blunt with you, Vakai. Starfleet was very concerned with you ever since the incident you had with the Tal Shiar. Medical records stated that your brain had suffered quite a bit of trauma from the virtual interrogation that they put you through. So Starfleet Intelligence had monitored your activities very closely and do you know what their reports have to say?”
Vakai frowned and was going to ask but stopped himself, realizing that it may have been a rhetorical question.
Instructor shrugged his left shoulder, he didn’t care if Vakai had asked or not. “You’re in the clear. Nothing out of the ordinary. If they had left something behind, Starfleet would have detected it. Tal Shiar likes to think that they are completely invisible to us but they are not. Your counselor also states that you have indeed recovered both physically and mentally, and that her scans also indicate no risk of relapse or psychotic behavior.”
Vakai was still frowning, “Why are you telling me all of this, sir?”
“Because Cadet, you deserve to know the truth. Honestly I don’t know how anyone could have handled anything the Tal Shiar puts them through, especially what you went through. But Starfleet did confiscate your personal items and from what the report says, the devices that were found in the Romulan Datapad, acted as virtual training. I assume that is what helped you get through this?”
Vakai nodded his head. “I am a little disappointed that Starfleet would pry into my private life but yes, they did, sir.”
“Believe me when I say this, it was nothing personal, Vakai. You are a Romulan and the Tal Shiar were interested in having you as a spy in our ranks. That made Starfleet very concerned, about their own security as well as the safety of everyone else. They did what they felt was necessary to ensure that no safety or security was compromised.”
Vakai sighed with another nod of his head. “I do understand, sir.”
“Good. Starfleet has returned all of your items, you will find them in your locker where they belong and I assure you, none of them have been tampered with. Starfleet has no need for Tal Shiar technology that they do not already have, but they were rather curious because pretty much everything we get our hands on that is Tal Shiar property is normally destroyed by some self destructive program or device to keep their secrets from us. But we’ve gotten lucky on a number of occasions. Now with all of that said, your assessment. You passed. You are free to return to full active duty and resume whatever training you wish to continue in order to proceed within Starfleet. Although I have one final question: Will we be seeing any more dealings with the Tal Shiar from you?”
Vakai pondered on that question for a moment before shaking his head. “I made it very clear to them that I have no interest in serving them and that I would rather die than serve them. I told them, the next time they come after me or anywhere near me, I will see to it that they are exposed for what they are to every high power in both Alpha and Beta Quadrants. They love to work in secrecy, in fact they cherish it. These devices that my parents gave me helped me not only to protect myself from their methods but to also protect my mind from their memory wipes, and because it was a virtual attack on my mind, they couldn’t give me the drug they wanted that would have wiped my memories completely. Fact is, sir, the agents they sent for me failed in their mission, and what is worse, they failed to silence me. They won’t dare make another attempt for a long, long time and not without making the same mistake.” Vakai took in a deep breath and sighed heavily, “With that matter aside, sir. I just want to do my part and serve.”
The Instructor nodded his head, “All right. You’re dismissed, Cadet Vakai.”
Vakai shifted to attention and then stepped out of the office before relaxing as he headed off to Vandorin’s Bistro where he ordered a sushi combo platter and a cup of Sencha tea. Once he got his order, he moved to sit at an empty table and ate in silence. Vakai knew that spending every minute he had available to use those virtual training devices had pulled off, just as his biological parents had predicted in their letters they left for him in his Romulan Datapad. They were concerned that they would come after him and they were right to be concerned. Of course, Vakai has no idea who his biological parents are, just that the letters in the pad say that they are. No names, no clues of who they are. Which was probably the best thing to do, if Vakai has no clue on who they are, no clue what features or personalities, then there is no way for the Tal Shiar to know who betrayed them. Which means Vakai has a chance of finding his parents, hopefully alive and well. He just needed to graduate and hope to get assigned to the right Task Force that would have more dealings with the Romulans than anyone else in the Fleet. But his odds of that are slim, the Fleet was vast and he’s certain he’d wind up somewhere else. One thing is for certain, he focused entirely on Security throughout the Academy and passed up on the Command courses, by doing so he has chosen not to have a Command of his own, even if he were to get that far in the Fleet. Vakai just does not believe he should have that responsibility, so any chance it is offered, he planned on turning them down. Of course he was thinking far too head into the future, the plan now is just to graduate and find his footing and hopefully find more friends than enemies.
Suddenly a human male sat down on the other end of the table and was smiling from ear to ear. “Vakai! There you are!” The smiling buffoon was Cadet Jeffrey Ryker, no relation obviously by the different spelling but he was a buffoon nonetheless. “Didn’t you grow up in southern Florida? Because you sure don’t eat like one.”
Vakai stared at the man, does he not remember the last time they had this conversation? “Yes, I did and my foster parents were Japanese. I learned much from them, especially from my foster father.”
“Huh, interesting. Hey, since you’re here, that means you passed your reassessment right?”
Vakai sighed, that’s why. He doesn’t very well listen when he has no interest in the conversation but his own agenda. “Yes. I have.”
Ryker smiled, “Great!! Hurry up and eat, I need a co-pilot.”
“What about Cadet Michelle Dawson? She’s more fluent in Flight Operations than I am.”
Ryker sighed loudly, “She’s too busy with her studies. She wants to be at the Helm as a secondary job. Her primary is science...SCIENCE man! Like c’mon, who cares about that stuff.”
Vakai deadpanned. “Oh, I don’t know… Like the entirety of Starfleet?”
Ryker rolled his eyes. “That’s what the Science division is for, man. You have many different divisions for jobs that do not involve science.”
“Except that everything we do leads towards science.”
Ryker shook his head, “Not everything. Look, point is, she can’t come. And I need a Co-Pilot to finish my last flight training. C’mon man, I really need this.”
Vakai let out a quiet sigh. “Fine.” Quickly he ate and gulped down his tea before getting up and followed the chatterbox all the way to the shuttle bay to grab themselves a training shuttle. Vakai was not looking forward to this with this man.
Comments
[Starbase Bravo]
[Training Vessel]
[Challenger Class]
[0823 Hours]
Vakai walked through the corridor on deck four, simply finishing up his security rounds before reporting to the bridge where he would be taking over the tactical station, part of his secondary training course through the Academy. It’s not that all Security must know how to operate the Tactical station, certain they could all be full Security or even have some medical training or engineering training. But Vakai wanted to remain traditional.
“Yo! Vakai!” Vakai sighed as the most familiar, and unsettling, voice he heard came from behind, along with the heavy ‘thumping’ of Cadet Ryker running to catch up to him.
Ryker slapped Vakai’s left shoulder and chuckled. “Aww man. Thank you so much for being my Co-Pilot the other day. If ya hadn’t, man I would not be here manning the helm station here in about ten minutes.”
Vakai let out a sigh, “You’re going to be on the Bridge in less than seven minutes?”
“Yeah man, why ya ask?” Ryker asked as he stepped into the turbolift, which Vakai hesitantly stepped in right after. “Noooo waaay… You’re going to be on the Bridge with me too?! Sweet!”
Vakai sighed again and then became stern. “Bridge. Look, Ryker. Do not humiliate us, you hear me? Being on the Bridge is not only an honor but is also a very professional environment.”
Ryker stared at the man for nearly the entire ride to the Bridge and just as the door slid open, he patted Vakai right on the upper back of his right shoulder. “Don’t sweat it, man! Relax.” He grinned and shook his head before stepping off of the lift to walk to the front of the Captain’s chair and stand at attention. “Cadet Ryker, Flight Officer, reporting for duty, sir.”
The Captain raised a brow and as Vakai approached to do the same, he held his hand up. “No need, Cadets. Just report to your stations. Your space combat training is about to commence.”
Vakai nodded his head and proceeded to the tactical station at once, while Cadet Ryker took his seat at the helm. The training vessel was a sector away from Starbase Bravo in an area designated for training purposes such as these and the vessel’s assigned crew had been deploying combat drones for better part of the day yesterday, making sure that they were operating efficiently, no errors or anything of the sort. They were equipped with old Type Six phaser banks, so not a lot of damage will be done to the shields of the training vessel but it would still give the Cadet some decent combat experience. But like anyone would say, nothing can prepare you for the real thing. Doesn’t mean they cannot try.
The Captain sat up straight in his seat and spoke loudly. “All right Cadets. There are ten combat drones out there, all programmed to be our enemy. They are also equipped with holo emitters, so as soon as my Number One here activates them, we will be engaging Jem’Hadar attack ships. They also have minimum shielding, so you will be encountering some resistance. Their phaser banks have also been modified to appear as Polaron beams, for realism of course. Let the training begin, Red Alert!”
As Ryker was busy bringing the ship up to speed and engaging evasive maneuvers, Vakai was getting a sensor lock on the closest one before firing fully charged phasers from the array at them. His board indicated that the first target’s shields dropped all the way down to twenty percent. The Captain wasn’t kidding at just how minimum the shielding was. Vakai sent the tactical data to the helm and just as Vakai hoped, Ryker was lining the ship up with a clean shot with a photon torpedo, which Vakai launched and witnessed their first kill.
“Not bad. But we still got nine more to go.” Said the Captain as the ship’s shields took more hits from the drones ‘polaron beams’. This would go on for at least half an hour, Vakai would take some out with torpedoes, and then take others out with overcharged phaser strikes. Once he eliminated the final drone, Ryker brought the ship to a steady course and reduced the speed to one quarter.
“All right. Now if you think that’s all we are going to do, you are wrong. We have holo emitters placed throughout the ship, and as of this moment, we have hull breaches on Decks Two, Three, Seven and Eight. We are also receiving an intruder alarm on Deck Five. Turbolift system is offline and transporters are down.” Said the Captain.
Vakai spoke up, “I will take a Security Team and take care of the intruders, sir.”
“Good. Take Cadet Ryker with you too.”
Vakai eyebrow twitched but he nodded his head to acknowledge the order before walking over to one of the emergency hatches that led to a jefferies tube, where he would take it to get to Deck Four so that he could get himself and Ryker armed. Ryker was just above him as they climbed down and through the jefferies to make it all the way to Deck Four, carefully exiting a maintenance section to make sure there were no surprises. Even if the intruders were reported on Deck Five, doesn’t mean they had not made it to other Decks yet.
“So is this really all we are going to end up doing once we graduate?” Ryker asked as Vakai led the way to the armory.
“What do you mean?” Vakai asked as he entered his security clearance at the door panel once they arrived.
“I mean, lately in our training it has been mostly combat drills and simulations. Thought we were an Organization of Exploration, not Military.” Ryker said as Vakai handed him a rifle before grabbing his own rifle. Though they were training rifles that the Chief of Security was handing out to them.
Vakai sighed as he powered up his rifle after doing a weapons check on it. “Of course Starfleet is all about Exploration. But you have to realize that we’re about a lot more than just that. We provide humanitarian aid for those in need. We patrol our own borders as well as ensure security among those who ask for it. We conduct diplomatic, scientific and research operations. But you have to remember, the past experiences in the last fifteen...twenty years...the Federation is not taking anymore chances. So they want us to be prepared for anything. Even if it is just a bunch of holograms.”
Ryker shrugged his shoulders, “I just rather be piloting a Sovereign Class vessel through the vast space, exploring and meeting new people.”
Vakai smirked, “Spoken like a true Starfleet.” He said as they returned to the jefferies to reach Deck Five.
“What about you, Vakai? What do you want?” Ryker asked as they reached the deck and huddled up by the door.
Vakai hesitated to say but sighed. “I just want to serve and show that not all Romulans are sneaky, untrustworthy trolls. And to hopefully one day show my people that they can operate without the Tal Shiar controlling their lives.”
Ryker raised his brows. “Huh. Big goals. All right, Mr Security. What do we do here?”
Vakai pulled out his tricorder and checked the corridor just outside the door. “We’re clear. Let’s go.” Through the door they go to find and eliminate the intruders.
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[Starbase Bravo]
[Training Vessel]
[Challenger Class]
[1211 Hours]
Vakai sat down at an empty table and immediately started eating his bowl of rice, sprinkling some soy sauce and grabbing some pieces of beef strips to eat along with. Although, his peace was disturbed when Ryker sat down across from him with his triple cheese burger with bacon and extra pickles and grape juice. “It sure has been one heck of a day.”
Vakai turned his eyes back onto his own food, not wanting to lose his appetite by the choices his colleague has made for cuisine. “The day isn’t over yet.”
“I know, we still got the other half to deal with but still. What else do you think they’re going to put us through?” Ryker asked before taking a large bite out of his burger.
Vakai shrugged his left shoulder while taking a sip of his tea. “Probably the minor stuff. We’ve, how do you humans say it, already gotten through the meat and potatoes, now we’re just working on the sides. It won’t be long till we graduate anyways, so who knows what’s coming. Aside from the training schedule that was given to us this morning.” He squinted at Ryker.
Ryker stopped mid chewing to think before letting out a small chuckle. “Oh yeah! I knew that.”
Vakai sighed some, “I doubt you did. But let me refresh your mind anyways. We’re going to be doing normal duties like on any star ship. You do whatever it is you're assigned to do, and as for me, I will be making more security rounds, weapon inspections, verifying security codes…” Vakai shrugged his left shoulder again and resumed eating his lunch.
“All right, well where do you hope to be assigned to when you graduate?” Ryker asked.
Vakai thought about that as he ate and then shrugged his left shoulder again. “I will go wherever the Fleet needs me.”
Ryker smirked. “Typical Vakai. I personally would love to pilot a Sovereign Class Starship and-”
Vakai pretty much drowned him out at this point, as this was nothing more than a repeat from earlier today. Maybe things would be different if he had made actual friends here, but this guy...this guy was a chatterbox that needed a mute button.
[Starbase Bravo]
[Training Vessel]
[Challenger Class]
[Near the Klingon Border]
[1432 Hours]
Vakai was just doing his normal rounds around the ship per duty schedule, when Cadet Ryker came up behind him in a quick stride. “Hey, Vakai.”
“Yes, Ryker?” Vakai stopped to pull up a terminal on the wall and started running some security checks.
“So do you know any reason why we’ve traveled so far just to be this close to the Klingon border?”
Vakai shrugged his left shoulder, the security checks coming up clear so he stepped away and resumed his walk to the next checkpoint. “I am not at the tactical station every day, Ryker. So your questions are as good as mine. But it is safe to assume that it is likely part of our training exercise. Just something to add more under our belt before we graduate.”
“Yeah, I suppose so. Makes sense. So you’re doing your rounds?”
Vakai smirked. “No, Ryker. I’m just walking.”
Ryker chuckled. “All right, I get it. I bug you. Well I best hurry up. I got some manuals to read.” Then he quickened his stride, disappearing down the corridor.
[Meanwhile…]
The man behind the desk grunted as he grabbed a handful of gagh, worms wiggling lively in between his fingers before being shoved into his mouth, chewing happily and loudly with a mouthful of his people’s favorite food. As he was finishing off his plate while reading a technical report on his Attack Wing, the door from his ready room to the bridge had opened up, and his First Officer approached his desk. He grunted when she stopped just inches away. “What is it, Nawa.”
“My lord. I believe we have found a suitable target for your Attack Wing. I believe it will help execute your plan.” She exclaimed.
He tilted his head some in curiosity before setting the padd down on his desk and shaking whatever worms were left on his feeding hand. He stood up from his chair and with heavy footsteps, he walked around the desk and stepped through the doorway after the sensor picked him up and pulled the doors apart. He approached his command chair but only stood before it as he brought his attention to the main viewer. There, he saw a starfleet vessel, with a saucer section, two nacelles, one dorsal and one ventral. “Identify.”
Nawa moved quickly over to the weapons station and pulled up the sensor data. “It is a Challenger Class vessel, six energy beam weapons, two torpedo launchers, one forward and one aft, and sensors pick up about a hundred lifesigns.”
The Science Officer rose from their station. “My lord. House intelligence says that this vessel is just a training ship, with mostly cadets on board.”
He growled with much joy, as the thrill of battle and that he was indeed about to finally put his plan in motion. “Yeesss...a ship full of non-experienced starfleet. Will not be as glorious as fighting more experienced crew, but as the humans say...beggars can’t be choosers. Battle stations! Order the Attack Wing to remain cloaked, we will begin the first phase of the plan.” Then he sat down in his seat, gripping the ends of his arm rests tightly as he growled in excitement.
“Disruptors and Shields are charged and on standby. Torpedo launcher loaded and ready. By your command, My Lord!” barked Nawa.
He took in a deep breath, savoring the anticipation before the battle before exhaling, letting it all go, bringing his senses to full. “Drop the cloak and send a volley of disruptor fire across their bow.” He watched as his commands were followed, hearing the sound of the cloaking generator dialing back as their cloaking shields were dropped. Then he could hear the shield generators working as the shields went up, and watched as twin disruptor bolts, one...two...three pairs left the cannons and splashed onto the hull while his ship charged and passed over the Starfleet vessel in the first attack run.
“Starfleet vessel have raised their shields and are powering weapons.” Reported Nawa as the ship rocked when their shields were struck by phaser fire.
The Comms Officer then spoke. “They’re trying to contact, My Lord.”
He smirked. “So predictable. Let’s hear them identify themselves and demand why we attacked.”
The intercom chirped as the link was established. “Klingon vessel. This is a Starfleet Training Vessel from Starbase Bravo. Cease your attack and explain why!”
He grunted, “Hmph. Are you taking notes, First Officer?”
“Always, My Lord.”
He grunted again. “Good. Bring us about and fire at will. I will respond to their demands as I see fit.” He watched as his vessel swooped around, bringing the Starfleet ship back on main viewer, and watched as once again, twin disruptor bolts left the barrels of their cannons and zipped across space, a volley of four pairs this time, followed by two torpedoes. All splashing against the Starfleet vessel’s shields. All at once, he also witnessed the Starfleet vessel firing back, one...two...three beam strikes to his ship’s shields, along with a photon torpedo exploding in proximity to deal more shield damage.
[Back on the Training Ship]
On the bridge of the ship, the Captain watched as the B’rel class Bird of Prey pulled away from their hit and run tactic, allowing them to chase the vessel and launch a series phaser and torpedo volley’s at their rear.
“Captain, I’m detecting a power fluctuation in their power grid.” Announced the Tactical Officer.
The Captain frowned, “Did we do that much damage to their aft shields already?”
“There appears to be battle damage on the ship, most likely from previous engagements. It is possible that with lack of repair facilities and the strain of our attack on them has caused a temporary repair to backfire.” Reported the Science Officer.
“Sir, the ship is slowing down, they appear to be stopping.” Said Tactical.
“Helm, full stop. Keep us on their rear. Maybe they are more willing to talk now. Hail them.” Said the Captain.
The view screen then blinked to show the face of the Klingon man sitting in his command chair, while some sort of smoke was spewing off in the corner of the screen, coming from somewhere in the ceiling of the bridge.
“Klingon Commander, Identify yourself!” The Captain bellowed.
“All in due time, Captain. To answer your previous question of why we attacked. Yes...that is a good, good question. We need your ship.”
The Captain raised a brow and smirked. “You are in no position to make demands, Commander. You appear to be unable to continue the fight that you started. Nevertheless, the Klingon High Council will get a formal complaint about this.”
The Klingon threw his head back and laughed loudly, his crew joining him almost immediately after. As soon as they stopped, the Klingon acted like he was wiping a tear out from under his eye. “We do not serve the High Council. They are without honor.”
The Captain sighed heavily. “Are you serious? Another group who wishes to plunge the mighty Klingon Empire into another civil war and then turn all their weapons on the Federation...again? What House are you from, Commander?”
His smile disappeared from his face and snorted. “The House is not important. To you anyway. As you and your bridge officers will soon be dead. BaH!”
The viewscreen then blinked back to the rear of the klingon vessel, only to start hearing warning alarms coming from the tactical station. “Captain! Detecting two klingon ships decloaking off our port bow!”
“Evasive Man-” Captain was cut off when the ship was heavily barraged by disruptor fire and torpedoes from the two BoP’s, the deck sweeping from under his feet as the lights flickered and one of them exploded in a shower of sparks.
“Shield generators overloading! We got gaps, Captain!” Yelled the Tactical Officer who was holding onto his console while reading off the display. Suddenly the intruder alert klaxon went off while the Captain managed to get himself back onto his feet when the deck stopped trying to shake him.
Suddenly six Klingons transported onto the bridge at key strategic locations where each one had perfect line of sight on their targets, disruptor pistols in hand and when they finished materializing, their arms outstretched, aiming at their targets and fired. Disruptor bolts flying across the bridge, smacking and burning holes into their targets, Officers dropping one by one. The Captain was about to reach for a phaser pistol in a hidden weapons compartment in the side of his chair when a new Klingon transporter beam appeared before him. Seeing the face of the Klingon Commander before he fully materialized, he started to swing his right fist to land a punch in timing with the transporter. But the Commander was prepared for that, as after he materialized, he blocked the Captain’s fist and in one swoop, pulled out his D’k tahg and shoved the entire blade into the Captain’s stomach and then jerked it up to slice up into the Captain’s heart.
He grinned from ear to ear at the look on the Captain’s face, the look of pure shock and surprise. Surprised that his life was ending, there and now, and shock that it happened to him. The Klingon exhaled a huge breath into the Captain’s face as he chuckled heavily. “My name, Captain, that you will surely die with...is Vok. I thank you for handing your ship over to me….” And with that, Vok yanked his dagger out of the Captain and let him go, watching him fall over and land on his back, limp after his life had ended.
Vok stood there as he looked around, then he raised his left arm and tapped his communicator. “Gather them all up and take them to the cargo bay.” He hit his communicator again to close the link before pointing at the helm station. “Set a course for the nearest habitable planet.” Then he turned and pointed at one of his troops. “Get to the communications station and hail my ship.”
He turned back towards the main viewer and waited until he saw his First Officer’s face. “Nawa! I have claimed command of this vessel and will transfer my flag to it. Once we drop off the excess crew, we will begin the second phase of my plan.”
“Yes, My Lord!” Nawa said, as Vok can see the damage that they faked disappear from the viewer, which was merely an illusion from a holo-imaging device. Simple put, they faked the power fluctuation and deceived the Captain of this Starfleet ship.
“Inform the Attack Wing to engage cloak, I want this ship to be the only one seen on sensors, but stay close, as you three will be my honor guard.”
“It will be done, My Lord. Qapla’!” She saluted him.
“Qapla’!!” He saluted right back before the screen blinked back to space, watching as his ship disappeared before his eyes as the cloaking generator was engaged.
“Nearest habitable planet found, My Lord. Plotting course.”
“Maximum warp. I want them off of here as soon as possible. Starfleet has a knack of interfering with plans.” Vok ordered as he stood there before the Captain’s chair. “And hurry up with the holoimage! If we get contacted, we need to look like them in order to fool them! And start making repairs at once!”
[Meanwhile…]
Vakai fired his pistol down the corridor towards a group of Klingons before he took off running in the other direction. He was alone, the other security detail he was with were shot or stabbed and now he needed to regroup with someone. He went down different corridors, taking turns here and there to attempt to lose his pursuers, when he ran right into Ryker and a Lieutenant.
“Vakai!” Ryker said in surprise.
“Cadet?” Asked the Lieutenant.
“Klingons, not too far behind me.” Vakai told the Lieutenant, who began to look then pointed to a room, where the three of them went in. The Lieutenant then pressed the close button on the door panel before entering his code to lock the door.
The Lieutenant looked around before going up to the bed and dropped down on his knees to search under it, only to pull out a case where he lifted it up and placed it on top of the bed. “We’re in the Chief’s quarters. He keeps an extra set of tools and equipment in here just in case he needed to bring a project with him when he goes off duty.” The Lieutenant then grabbed their comm badges from their jackets before going back to the case and opened it up, where he started to tinker with the badges.
“What are you doing, sir?” asked Ryker.
“I overheard the Klingons talking before I met up with you Cadet. Their orders are to gather the crew and bring them all to the cargo bay. There is only one reason for doing that. Either we are being held captive for ransom, or they plan on dumping us onto some random planet and use the ship for some Trojan Horse or something.” Explained the Lieutenant.
Vakai nodded his head, “You’re going to use the comm badges to mask our life sign.”
“Very good, Cadet. Unfortunately, it’s going to be a rough modification. We won’t be able to use it to communicate with each other, so we’re gonna have to stick together for the time being, least until we come up with a plan. But after we figure out what the Klingons plan on doing with the crew and with the ship.”
Ryker sighed, “Man...I thought we had procedures for this.”
“We do. It is the Command Staff’s job to destroy the ship in order to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands and being used for their benefit. Or lock out the command functions. Fact that the self destruct has not been activated yet;” The Lieutenant paused as he went to the desk and activated the terminal there to make his inquiry. “And the fact that I can still make command requests, like searching to see if the self destruct was activated or not, means that the command functions have not been locked out yet. Which means-”
Vakai sighed. “The Command Staff are dead. Which also means that this was a very well planned and coordinated attack. The Klingons, their leader, knows what he is doing.”
The Lieutenant nodded his head. “Which makes him extremely dangerous. Someone that we will not be able to negotiate with. Which also means that we cannot stay here much longer. They may be monitoring terminals and by activating this one, I may have alerted the Bridge of suspicious activity, one that says there are still Officers that haven’t been caught yet.” He then walked over to the couch that was up against the wall, only to grab it by the side and pull it away to reveal a jefferies access.
“There’s no jefferies access in senior officer quarters.” Ryker said as he approached the Lieutenant.
“The Chief made some modifications, he was a bit paranoid. But with good reason.” He then handed Ryker and Vakai their badges back. “They should hide our lifesigns. So we need to be very careful and very quiet. Let’s go.” The Lieutenant opened up the hatch and crawled in, Vakai letting Ryker go next before going in after him, pulling the couch back into place the best he can, enough to hide the hatch at least, and then closed the hatch completely before following Ryker who followed the Lieutenant.
[Back on the Bridge]
“My Lord.” The voice of his intelligence officer was always welcomed as Vok knew that she had important information for him.
“Speak.”
She stopped before him. “You wanted to be updated on whether the Klingon Defense Force were going to send a ship to the Triangle to assist Starfleet. Well I have great news.”
“Yes yes. We already know that they are sending a vessel.”
She smiled. “Not just any vessel. A Vorcha Attack Cruiser! And it is undermanned, about less than half the standard compliment. It belongs to a weak house, a house that just spent a lot of their resources to obtain this cruiser, a house in dire need to prove itself to the High Council.”
Vok growled, “A house led by a fool to risk everything for one ship. Perfect. Good thing this habitable planet is just on our path towards our goal. We will put that Attack Cruiser to good use for us.”
[Note: Didn’t even read up about the Archanis Campaign till after I finished this post. So… I don’t know yet but I plan on making the Vok as one of my characters and maybe as a sim. But it’s still a thought process, and will decide whether to finalize it or not.]
[Starbase Bravo]
[Training Vessel]
[Challenger Class]
[En Route to The Triangle -- Intercepting IKS Shadriq]
[1913 Hours]
Vakai leaned against the vertical shaft of the jefferies tube just a couple feet away from the hatch that opens directly to the Bridge behind the two Helm and Navigation stations and in front of the Command chair. He had placed custom made devices that he learned to make from his ‘Tal Shiar’ training from the VR Devices that are placed on ones temples. (Imagine Altered Carbon) // With an earpiece in his left ear, he could listen in and hear every conversation going on on the Bridge.
Vok stood there in the center, arms crossed as he watched the main viewer, while his officers continued to feed him updates on the Attack Wing, the situation going on between Starfleet and the House of D’Ghor but also as well as on the Vorcha Attack Cruiser that they were after.
“The IKS Shadriq is still on course for Starbase 86. They will arrive there within twelve hours.” Reported his intelligence officer.
“At maximum warp, we should intercept the Shadriq in two hours.” Reported his helm.
“Weapons are fully repaired. Shields have been restored. This ship is battle ready.” Reported his tactical.
“Let us review the plan one more time. Failure is not an option.” Vok bellowed. “As soon as we intercept the Shadriq, we will engage the holofilters to appear as Starfleet. Then we will announce to the Shadriq that we are here to provide escort. They will, of course, refuse to be escorted by a ship such as this, but we will insist that we ‘Starfleet’ fear no battle. Starfleet has learned how to speak Klingon for centuries, it will be no surprise to anyone but the Shadriq should accept our escort by then. Once the Shadriq has laid down their guard, we will position this ship at a tactical advantage to taking out their primary power junction node just at the mid section of the neck of the ship, which will disable their shields, half their weapons, and force them to drop to warp four and unable to go any faster until that node is repaired. They will then attempt to engage us but instead, we will beam on board, to their Bridge and Main Engine Room, where we will activate the entire ship intercom and I will personally announce my challenge to the Captain for the command of the ship. And I will succeed. We will convince the crew to join our cause, and if any show an ounce of dishonor, they will be cut down. The Shadriq will be my new flagship, and we will strike hard at the Federation!” They all bellowed in a cheerful cry before returning to their stations.
Vakai heard enough. He disabled the devices and pulled them out before descending down the tube carefully and quietly. He spent about twenty minutes crawling through the tubes throughout the saucer section of the ship until he arrived at the quarters that he, Ryker and a Lieutenant Patterson were holding up at.
“Password!” Ryker demanded the moment he saw the jefferies hatch open up while aiming the rifle right at it.
“Excelsior.” Vakai answered before opening the hatch all the way when he was certain that Ryker wasn’t going to shoot him.
Ryker helped Vakai out of the tube before closing the hatch. “Welcome back.”
Vakai nodded at him before approaching the Lieutenant. “What have you heard, Cadet?” Patterson asked.
“The Klingons plan on stealing a Vorcha Class vessel that was sent on behalf of the Klingon High Council to assist the Federation with the Hunters of D’Ghor threat.” Vakai reported.
“Well it is about damn time that Starfleet got some help from the Klingon Empire, but definitely not good if these Klingons plan on commandeering the ship for themselves. Have they announced who they are?” Patterson asked.
Vakai shook his head. “No. No mention of what House the Commander is from. No mention of any allegiance that they have. All that I have heard is their distaste of the High Council. It is safe to assume that they have similar goals as the Hunters of D’Ghor and their distaste of the Federation-Klingon Alliance.”
Patterson sighed and nodded his head. “How soon do you know this attack will begin?”
“It will take them less than two hours to reach the ship, IKS Shadriq. Then it shouldn’t take that much longer for the attack to begin. They plan on beaming troops to the Bridge and Main Engine Room of the Shadriq.” Vakai reported.
Patterson frowned as he began crunching numbers in his head. “There are at least thirty Klingons on board this ship. If they send more than three-quarters of that over to the Shadriq, we will have a chance to reclaim the ship and get the hell out of here.”
“And rescue our crewmates.” Ryker stepped in.
Patterson looked at Ryker and nodded his head. “Unfortunately, there is nothing that we can do to stop this Klingon Commander from Commandeering the Shadriq. Strategically, this Klingon should easily lose from attempting to commandeer the Shadriq. But-”
“But the Commander plans on challenging the Captain for Command of the Shadriq and give some sort of speech to the crew to persuade them to join his cause.”
Patterson nodded at Vakai. “We must be ready to retake the Bridge as soon as they transport over. Check your gear, we’re going to stage our attack.”
Those two hours went by real quick, and the ship came up behind the IKS Shadriq, the helm reducing their speed to match the Vorcha Attack Cruiser’s speed. The vessel then slowly moved itself into position where it had the perfect strike at that very spot at the neck of the Shadriq.
"Shadriq is hailing us, My Lord."
"It is Captain now, Lieutenant. Is the holofilters in place?" Vok questioned.
"Yes, My Lord."
"Good. Open the channel." Vok commanded and a short moment later, the view screen blinked to show the Captain of the Shadriq.
"Identify yourself, Starfleet Vessel."
"I am Captain Neilstrom of the USS Vallarta. Starfleet Command felt that it would be wise to escort you to Starbase 86." Vok acted.
The Captain grunted. "A little late, aren't we? We will be there in less than ten hours."
"Of course, Captain. We ran into some trouble along the way, but nevertheless we are here and good timing too. Those damned Klingons like to show up out of nowhere, and a lot can happen in ten hours."
The Captain pondered. "You would be correct, Captain. But Starfleet sends a puny ship to escort my war vessel?!"
Vok smiled. "She may be puny, but she still packs a punch, Captain. We will take on anything these Klingon rebels throw at us, as we will not back down from a fight!"
The Captain laughed. "That is what I like to hear. Then we shall fly together, to Starbase 86."
"Qapla, Captain!"
"Qapla!!" And then the screen blinked, returning to standard forward viewing.
"Torpedoes?" Vok asked.
"Locked on target."
Vok grinned. "Bah!!" And with that order, he watched a single photon torpedo sped out from under this ship only to arch downward right into its target, smacking into the neck of the Vorcha with a small explosion.
"Target hit! Their shield generators are not responding. Less than half of their disruptors are coming online and their warp speed has dropped." Reported tactical.
"Matching speed now!" Reported helm.
Vok growled in triumph. "The five of you remain on the bridge. The rest will beam over as planned. Initiate the next phase of my plan, now!" With that, him and dozens of his warriors were beamed over to their destination.
[IKS SHADRIQ]
[BRIDGE]
"Report!" Bellowed the Captain.
"The Starfleet vessel launched a photon torpedo at us and struck our primary power junction node. Unable to distribute power to necessary systems. Shields not responding, only a few disruptor banks are online and warp speeds reduced." Reported the engineering officer.
"Those dishonorable petaq! How dare they fire on their allies!" The Captain roared.
Suddenly the intruder siren blared and witnessed Klingons transporting onto the bridge.
"You dare board my ship?!" The Captain growled.
Vok rose a hand, "Hold your tongue, Captain! I am Vok, son of Rektor, of a House long since remembered, House that I intend to restore to its former glory! The House of Duras!!" Vok watched as many eyes grew wide. "I see that the House has not been forgotten. Good."
"That is impossible. The House no longer had an heir. There was no one to claim it." Said the Captain.
"I am also the son of Lursa, the smarter one of the family. She knew better than her brother and sister to have a fall back plan. She knew that she had to have a secret lover to give her a child and when she did, she made my father promise to never tell a soul, to never reveal who I truly was until I was ready. And when I was, I was given everything I needed to know on what I must do to reclaim what rightfully belongs to my family. The House of Duras is no more, that of which I understand. So I am going to restore my family and our great House, under my House, the House of Vok! And you Captain, I see the fear in your eyes… I see that the mere mention of the Remnant of Duras shakens your heart." Vok looks at the bridge crew, seeing that one of his warriors had already engaged the intercom since they beamed on board, his entire speech heard throughout the ship. "I rightfully challenge you, Captain, for the right to command this mighty vessel, to put it to better use than to continue to serve as the Federation's pet! I will take this war ship into true combat against our enemy, our true enemy, and bring glory and honor to every klingon on board! But you, Captain, will not see such honor." Vok pulled out his D’k tahg, only to watch the Captain do the same.
[Meanwhile…]
Two flash grenades, one coming from the starboard aft section of the bridge, the other from port forward, neither Klingon standing a chance to stop either of them when they went off. It was a matter of seconds. Ryker came from the port forward, Patterson from starboard aft and Vakai from the center out of the jefferies tube. Vakai shot the two at the helm and navigation, where Ryker shot the one that was in the command chair manning the conn, and got the two at tactical and comm station.
"Outstanding, Cadets. I will definitely make sure not to leave any of this out of my report." Patterson smiled as he went to the tactical station to check the logs and readouts. "That was it. Five on the bridge, rest went to the Shadriq." Patterson then entered a command to lock onto the five klingons and transport them right over to the Shadriq. "Ryker you better get us the hell out of here."
Ryker hurried over to the helm as Vakai went towards the tactical station so Patterson could man the comms. "Plotting course back to the planet where the rest of our crew are." Said Ryker.
"I am going to try to notify Starfleet of what is going on, and let Starbase 86 know that the Shadriq may end up commandeered by rebel Klingons." Said Patterson.
"The Shadriq is not responding to our sudden change of course and I am not detecting any of those cloaked ships pursuing us, that I am aware of anyways." Said Vakai.
[Meanwhile…]
The fight did not take long, as Vok got the upper hand and shoved his dagger right into the Captain’s heart. "Do not worry, brother. I will endeavor to restore the Klingon Empire back to what it used to be and return to conquering our enemies like the old days...you will be welcomed in sto-vo-kor!" Vok spoke into his ear before yanking his dagger out and stepping aside to allow the Captain’s body to hit the floor.
His men cheered and chanted, "Captain Vok! Captain Vok!" And soon the rest of the crew followed.
"My Lord!" Shouted one of his men, "Nawa is contacting us, she says it is urgent!"
Vok turned to face the viewer as soon as she appeared. "What is it that must disturb my victory, Nawa?"
"The starfleet vessel you captured. It is getting away! I read no lifesigns on board!! The five warriors you left behind are on your ship right now! Should we pursue it?"
Vok thought for a moment then shook his head. "No. It seems that a few Starfleet have found a way to hide their lifesigns. Clever. But there is no honor in chasing a ship so feeble as that. No, Commander. Remain here and guard my new flagship while we make necessary repairs. Then we will return home, where we will execute the next phase of my plan. Capturing a shipyard…" He grinned and let out a hearty laugh.
[Meanwhile… Days Later…]
[Starbase Bravo]
It took over two weeks to return to Starbase Bravo. The ship was now docked and receiving repairs while it's command structure was repopulated by new officers to replace the ones that were lost. Lieutenant Patterson remained on the training vessel, but his report along with Ryker's and Vakai’s not only gave them commendations for what they went through, but also perhaps a concern on this Klingon, or at least something for Starfleet Intelligence to look into.
Nevertheless, Vakai soon received his official orders, along with the graduation and promoted to the rank of Ensign. Despite the troubles he had to deal with, he certainly managed to deal with it. He couldn't wait to begin his next assignment.
[Meanwhile…]
Nawa stepped through the open door to Vok's new ready room and waited for the door to close behind her. "So, My Lord. How much of what you said was true?" She asked as she walked around the desk and then sat down on top of it right next to him.
Vok snorted with a smile and sat back into his seat, making it lean back just a bit. "There is some Duras blood running through my veins but I am not interested in restoring a dead, cursed house. I have my own house to build, a house that will be far more glorious than the House of Duras ever will be."
Nawa smiled, "Was she truly your mother?"
Vok smiled back, "What my father told me, but he tends to lie a lot. Bit of an old fool anyways. Why these questions, Nawa?"
"I just do not want the same reputation that the Duras had. Collaborators with the Romulans and the Tal Shiar. We would be condemned as the House of the Damned." She told him as she slowly got up from the desk.
Vok shook his head. "That was their first mistake, trusting the Romulans. Ha! True they could have won the civil war but Starfleet found a way to meddle in, like they always do. No. We will remain Klingon. Romulans will remain as our enemy, always."
Nawa then climbed onto his lap and grabbed his shoulders. "Good. The answer I expected from my leader, my par'mach'kai." They both chuckled heavily before their lips met and soon a battle of love between the two commenced….
[End of Cadet Vakai, as he will be somewhere else very soon. So will Vok...]