The Archanis Campaign: USS Yorktown

teylasramar

Far from Federation space, and several hundred light-years from the Archanis Sector, the starship Yorktown orbited a small class P moon. Although still within the first few months of her multi-year, deep space assignment, the Yorktown received word of what was going on back home and was given, of all things, a mission to complete. Captain Jerok sat in the command chair watching as his officers put the finishing touches on their assignment.

Commander Branson, sitting next to the captain, leaned over, "The away team reports that they'll be ready to return to activate the array and beam back in about ten minutes."

"Excellent," the captain responded.

"How is this going to help again, sir?" Lieutenant Zemess asked with an almost dismissive tone.

"The Hunters of D'Ghor keep destroying defensive infrastructure in the Archanis Sector. Faster than Starfleet can put new ones back up. The idea is that with this deep space array so far out, Starfleet will be able to point it towards the Archanis Sector. The resolution won't be the same, but they might at least get some advanced warning," the captain elaborated.

"And with the Hunters attacking civilian targets, any warning is better than none," Commander Branson added.

"Indeed. And hopefully with it under a kilometer of ice, it'll go undetected this far away," the Romulan captain added.

"That's assuming the Hunters aren't this far out. Starfleet has no idea where they're coming from, where they operate out of... nothing," Ensign Thomas interjected with a worried tone.

"Easy, Ensign. For now, let us just finish the assignment and continue our own mission," Captain Jerok smirked at the young ensign's seemingly irrational fear.

The first officer, with impeccable timing, noted, "Sir, the away team just beamed back and everything is good to go. Ensign, activate the array."

"Yes ma'am," Ensign Thomas responded as his hand slid across his console punching in commands. "Array active, and link established with relay stations. Starbase 27 should be getting live sensor results in right now."

"Good. Helm, get us back on course," the captain ordered.

"Hold on, sir. I'm picking up a contact on sensors heading straight for us. Can't make it out quite yet," Zemess surmised.

"Well, that can't be a coincidence..." the first officer trailed off.

Jerok looked at her in agreement, then let out a little sigh. It looks like the exploring would have to wait for another day, yet again.

____________________________________________________________

In this release:

• The Yorktown is diverted from its normal mission, a multi-year deep space mission, currently several hundred light-years from the Archanis Sector.
• The ship is ordered to construct and deploy a deep space telescope/array, hidden under a kilometer of ice on an uninhabited class P world. The goal of this array is that it'll be able to give Starfleet some eyes in the sector without it being in the direct path of the Hunters wrath.
• After the array is activated, a ship is detected on sensors heading right for the Yorktown/array. Clearly not a coincidence.

teylasramar

"Sir, we're in position directly above the pole," the helm officer turned his head slightly towards the center of the bridge.

"Between the strong magnetic field coming from the pole and all the ionizing radiation in the planet's upper mesosphere, we should be completely invisible to sensors," Zemess clicked out of his Saurian mouth.

Jerok stood from his command chair and walked towards the center of the bridge. The tension was beginning to build. The captain could feel it. As the ship approached, the Romulan stood behind the helm station, placing his hand on Lieutenant Thav's shoulder. The helmsman was visibly nervous, but the captain had a stoically calm demeanor about him.

"Captain, the ship is in range. There is a lot of interference from our positioning, but it appears to be a Klingon Vor'cha-class cruiser," Zemess reported.

Commander Branson stood from her chair and took her place next to the captain. Jerok could also sense her nervousness, but it was much more heavily steeped in frustration. "Concerns?" the captain asked.

"Just... a Klingon battlecruiser this far out? And clearly not a KDF cruiser - they knew exactly what we were doing out here and why," the first officer elaborated.

"Are you thinking D'Ghor?" the Romulan shot back, almost playfully challenging his first officer to defend her position.

"There is one way to find out," Lieutenant Thav blurted.

The captain and first officer took their respective positions in the command chairs again. As the captain crossed one leg over the other, he agreed, "There is only one way. Lieutenant Thav, please pull us to a higher orbit and set an intercept course for that cruiser."

"What if it is a D'Ghor cruiser?" Branson asked bluntly.

"Red alert."

____________________________________________________________

In this release:

• The Yorktown hides in the atmospheric pole of the planet they put the deep space array on, waiting for the incoming ship.
• The ship arrives and appears to be a Klingon battlecruiser investigating the strange readings coming from the array. However, the KDF was aware of Yorktown's mission and would have no need to investigate something they already knew about.
• Red alert.

teylasramar

"It doesn't look like they've detected us, captain," Zemess clicked his tongue as his hands were gliding across the tactical arch's consoles. The Saurian input several commands, adjusting the tactical view several times. Jerok could hear the computer accepting the commands, almost with deafening silence on the bridge other than the noise of the console's beeping taking up the air. 

"Have they detected the array?" Branson asked as she stood from her seat in the command center and walked towards the viewscreen.

"It would appear so. But I'm not sure they know what it is yet, other than strange readings," the tactical chief responded.

"They haven't started blasting it yet. So I would agree with that assessment," the Romulan captain said, also standing from his command chair. 

After a few short moments of silence, which seemed to be forever as far as Jerok was concerned in the tense moment, a flurry of bridge consoles began to come to life with alarms. "Lieutenant?" the captain queried. 

"We've been detected, they're getting ready to run."

"Helm, set an intercept course. Tactical, disable their warp engines," the Romulan released quick, decisive commands as he returned to the command chair. The Yorktown emerged from the planet's atmosphere, phasers firing relentlessly on the Vor'cha-class cruiser. The Yorktown's hits were pinpoint and accurate, hitting the Klingon cruiser directly in her starboard nacelle with multiple shots. As the Yorktown came aside the Klingon vessel, Jerok asked, "Why aren't they firing back?"

"We may have a problem. It looks like an overload is building in their warp core," Ensign Thomas reported from the front helm station.

"Back us off," the first officer ordered.

Jerok turned his head back to the tactical station and locked eyes with Lieutenant Zemess, "A lucky shot?" he was genuinely curious.

"Or a self-destruct..." Zemess responded as the entire bridge was filled with the light of the Klingon battlecruiser exploding in front of them.

"I think it is a safe bet that was a D'Ghor vessel. Can we trace their warp trail and find out where they came from?" the captain asked.

"I believe so, sir. We should be able to follow their path. If I'm reading this right, it looks like their last destination was a planet about 3 light-years from here," the helm officer reported.

"Zemess, drop a probe set to scattering mode on the planet. That should disperse any errant signals and keep any more unwanted guests from arriving. Ensign Thomas, set a course for that planet," the Romulan captain ordered.

"Aye sir," the helmsman responded. Sliding his hand across the large helm console, he punched in several commands preparing the ship for warp. "Course laid in sir, ready whenever you are."

"Engage," Jerok ordered. The ship came about as it left the high orbit of the array's planet, the icy glow of the planet's surface behind her. As the ship climbed and climbed it blew the debris of the Klingon cruiser past it. Finally, the nacelles gave a sharp glow as the ship disappeared into subspace.

____________________________________________________________

In this release:

• The Yorktown is spotted by the Klingon cruiser and is forced to engage it before it runs.
• The Klingon cruiser is hit critically, but not mortally wounded. An apparent self-destruct is activated.
• The Yorktown is able to scan for the ship's warp trail and track where it came from and is now setting course for that planet.
• The Yorktown also left a probe set to scattering mode so that no more unwanted guests will be able to pick up and investigate the array's abnormal readings.

teylasramar

"What do we have, Zemess?" Aylen asked as Jerok watched her slowly pace the center of the bridge in front of him, her eyes locked to the view screen. A dead planetoid moon blocked half the view screen, but beyond it was a small, blue sphere; the D'Ghor ship's warp trail led the Yorktown directly back to that planet.

"Standard Class-M planet. Oxygen, nitrogen, plenty of water, no signs of intelligent life. The surface seems pretty unremarkable, but I am picking up underground structures. It looks like a small area of one of the continents contains some sort of network of underground... factories?" was the tactical officer's guess.

Jerok raised an eyebrow and asked, "Anything more than that?"

Zemess clicked his tongue in the typical Saurian fashion before elaborating, "Sensors are picking up large amounts of duranium alloy and antimatter. It would appear there are a great many number of torpedoes on this planet."

"Is it a stockpile or a factory?" Ensign Thomas wondered out loud, but Jerok had been wondering the same thing.

The captain stood from his command chair and walked next to Commander Branson, "Could this be where D'Ghor is getting their munitions from?"

"That would appear to be a safe bet, captain. I've confirmed that the structures underground are more than just for storage. I believe this is a munitions factory," the Saurian voice came from behind the captain.

"Any defenses?" Branson asked.

"Not that I can detect," Zemess quickly shot back.

Jerok sighed, "There could be cloaked Klingon ships as a defense. But this is also so far out of the way that D'Ghor probably never suspected anyone would find it. Let alone a ship that actually has the sensor capabilities to figure out what they're doing. What are the chances?"

"I could prepare a salvo of photon torpedoes which should be able to collapse and then destroy the entirety of the facilities, even underground," Zemess offered.

"Do it. Helm, get us out from behind this moon and take us to within range of the planet. Tactical... whenever you're ready," the captain ordered as both he and Commander Branson returned to their respective command chairs.

"Red alert!" Branson ordered as the bridge dimmed towards darkness. 

The Yorktown came out from behind the dead moon and quickly made haste to the planet as the blue orb grew in the view screen. After a few tense moments, Zemess finally confirmed, "Firing!" In a flurry, almost a dozen photon torpedoes launched from the underbelly of the Yorktown and made their way to do the planet's surface. So far, Jerok thought, no defenses or other ships was a luck of the draw. The entire bridge crew watched as the precision hits from the torpedoes began throwing dust into the atmosphere and creating craters where the underground structures once were. A few secondary detonations could even be seen from space. The job was done.

"Get us out of here before we get some unexpected guests," the captain ordered.

"Aye sir," Ensign Thomas responded as the ship whipped around and entered warp.

Turning to his first officer, Jerok asked, "And send a subspace message to Admiral Beckett. Let him know we believe we've just eliminated a main munitions supply line for D'Ghor. Hopefully, that will help with the problems back home."

____________________________________________________________

In this release:

• The Yorktown followed the D'Ghor ships warp trail back to a Class-M planet
• Sensor readings indicated that the planet had underground factories which were developing photon torpedoes for D'Ghor
• The Yorktown was able to successfully destroy the facility, and because it was so far out of the way and hidden, there was no resistance or defenses
• A victory that will trickle back home to Archanis!
• This concludes the Yorktown's story in the Archanis Campaign, as small and out of the way as it was!