Gambling It All

Posted on Fri 17th Jan, 2025 @ 3:24pm by Commodore H'tek

2,582 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: The Phoenix Gamble
Location: Suv’Wi (H’tek flagship)

-Start-

{Bridge- Suv’Wi}

The battle had turned so quickly H’tek felt his sanity slip away in rage. His ship could only do so much, the whale in their midst was just too much. H'tek had been warned too many times, this was too much for their resources, it was an over reach that could see them lose too much. Anslo sounded retreat and finally H'tek listened, but his mind was stuck in the accounting of it all.

Despite their best efforts, somehow the day had seen them burned, hungry, and holding nothing for their efforts. The Thunderchild should not have been so able, or even to have gotten there so quickly. It had fired with full power and even blown out a relay in their ferocity, unlike any other measured encounter. The Akira class was maneuverable but that ship seemingly shimmered into place from one graceful shifting motion to the next. The gentle never ceasing motion had an almost organic quality to it, like the beating of wings or undulations of a snake.

“Thunderchild is not in pursuit, cloak is operating, we are clear sir!”

H’tek threw his mekleth into the view screen, a well worn divot marking the usual place this happened. The Mad dog used Alloys harder than Duranium, could slash through hull plating if he set his mind to it. As such the dagger embedded a half inch into the bulkhead.

“We come away with nothing!” H’tek tamped it down, a tantrum served nobody. “Anslo, what of the Shrike raider?”

Ready for this, Anslo immediately answered, “Still captured in the mobile refit station, it’s out of our reach. They’ll tow it all to SB109 for repairs and debrief. Estimate it will take eight hours."

"They know nothing of our operations, it is the captured boarders who will reveal our secrets."

Anslo agreed, "The Romulans will be a diversion for sure. Tal Roko aren't a real concern, but connected to this they'll provide a genuine distraction. There are seventeen crew missing, five confirmed deaths from the total group, making possibly twelve prisoners on board the station."

H’tek pondered, “So we must impair this behemoth before they arrive, before they repair their Thunderchild, before they arrive and transfer the prisoners. Gather our forces and strike while they are in transit and wounded… and recover our brethren. Contact Kr’togr, recall all fighting ships tol rally at the Hub, and we must strike this convoy in three hours time."

J'raal was one of the chieftains of H'teks vanguard, a bodyguard and weapons officer combined, he spoke before Anslo could, "You're recalling the whole fleet? What of the Strategy?"

Anslo knew J'rall was walking that tightrope well, posing an innocent question rather than daring to outright question.

"No, the smaller ships are not needed, have them swap to harassment, theyll keep our progress alive. Leave the merchants scratching their heads, destruction, over plunder. Recall anything with guns to bring to the table for the Thunderchild."

J'raal continued his tightrope, employing flattery to say, "Sire, your robust fleet is wide spread, this will take more than three hours-"

H'tek knew how to elicit performance, "I am holding you responsible J'raal. I want at least fifty damned ships here with guns and men to fight. If they aren't here in three hours I'll empty your shares to the common pool."

One thing to never do was threaten to remove a Pirates income lightly. Tell a raider that you intend to put his share of the pie back on the tin so others could eat it, well you might lose the pie and the hand that reached for it. J'raal made a face, and H'tek wisely followed up, "Do this and I'll add a hundred bars from my stocks to your next payout."

J'raal snorted, "I shall do it sir, the impossible is is yours to ask for."

When H'tek disarmed immediately Anslo realized in an early way how dangerous life had just become. Handling H'tek was the only reason a Klingon crew tolerated him. Was his replacement here, a Klingon with wiles enough to sway the beast?"

The old mad Klingon stared at the Trill to his side, "For you Anslo, I have a mission.”

Such words accompanied certain death usually, Anslo dreaded the moment he had known was coming, when old allegiances would finally be put to the test.

“Anslo, I wish you to use your best skills to board that station. I have had enough of operating in secret, of my prey having a home to run to where I cant follow. You are to head directly to the Starbase 109, and place a the green bomb along the reactor wall of their fusion generator.”

Blood rushed into Anslo’s ears at the order, Tol knew it better than Anslo did, the "green" bomb was a reference to the nastiest piece of tech he had ever seen, a truly eldritch weapon whose glowing aura was indelibly green. Strange Matter, The remnants of Neutron stars whose infectious particles ever so rarely encountered ordinary matter and converted it into more Strange Matter. How in the hell did a lowly pirate get their hands on what the Q even feared? Legends existed that “green matter” tech was so extraordinarily dangerous even experimentation was forbidden in any culture who discovered it. Even the Borg couldn’t contain the explosive and unusual results of “Strange Matter."

Anslo visibly blanched, “You have a Strange bomb?”

H’tek grinned at the thought of the mayhem, “Yes, it’s sat on my shelf long enough. I want this station, I want the Thunderchild, and I want the freighter who can give me a private colony world serving my interests. This is the haul of our year Anslo, it will not escape me. The cost of my ultimate weapon will be the destruction of the mightiest fortress Starfleet has built outside of Earth, and the conquest of this sector under a new mighty command vessel. It is satisfying to my sensibility.”

Anslo had to be careful pushing back, H’tek was still trying to win, a preferable state of mind over raging that he lost. How could he have such a weapon?

“Sire, I know little of it, how to install it or safely handle it for instance.”

That was all it took. That one moment of push back started the thread in H’tek that Anslo was no longer loyal. He growled, “I would think you are trying to find excuses, are you not thrilled at the prospect of that Starbase falling, opening up the entire sector for our plunder?”

Savvy enough to stay the voice of reason but not balking at the notion of mass murder, he retorted, “Also creating an inquiry at Starfleet command to be answered by a task force which could root us out. We wanted to stay small enough to not warrant such attentions and spread out our effects-“

H'tek wore his emotions on his sleeve, “That Starbase has kept us from operating in the entire Triangle, and will soon secure our wounded prey. They are building their discovery on us again, we have lost before and will lose again. We will not lose this. We will take over this entire sector if needed. They have no concept of our portal network, and will chase our shadows.”

“The same portals which they will inevitably discover and dismantle the moment they are aware of it, our secrecy is our greatest defense…"

H'tek smiled a cannibal's smile, "Our offense will be our greatest Defense!"

Anslo almost whimpered, "There’s a quarter million people who will die, the response… I just…”

“You are unfamiliar with the technology, a thousand pardons.” H’tek developed a whimsical tone, as though telling a beloved tale to a child eager to listen. “The man I took this from begged me not to use it, said the chain reactions could eat whole solar systems, infect our galaxy like a plague. It is a slow inexorable death. The people will have no choice but to evacuate, there is no ejecting their Fusion Reactor."

Anslo knew Strange Mattter and strangelets well enough, but to make a bomb out of them? “How did you obtain such a device? Surely it will cause mass death across the sector? What good is it if we cant navigate without encountering stranglets. Even one gets past our shield perimeter we will have excise a quarter of the hull."

“Deflector pulses nullify it on contact."

"But the converted materials will explode."

Anslo didnt reply with the usual Aye Sire so H’tek leaned in, menace dripping from each word. “I have given you my orders Anslo.”

Again, the Trill felt horror at the notion of doing this in a populated space.

The hesitation was all H’tek needed to descend into rage once more, “THEY ARE THE ENEMY!”

He nearly backhanded Anslo, who also realized the moment had arrived. J'raal was smirking, the bastard.

Without defiance or emotion, he simply replied to the Captain, “…you’ll need someone else for this mission.”

Having already come to this conclusion, the cruelty in H’tek’s madness crawled out and he bellowed, “YOU WILL DO AS I ORDER.” Both men eyed the room to their rear, the targ pit kept in the wardroom was for feeding prisoners and today the recalcitrant Trill who defied orders.

Anslo knew it could very well be the last thing he said, “I cannot.”

H’tek snorted, “Then I’ll need someone else entirely.”

The moment Anslo was sweating bullets over had arrived. The cup game of hiding his integrity to save his skin had concluded. H’tek would do anything in his rages, but regret it later. That self awareness was the only thing holding the lash back, preventing Anslo from being fed to the Targ.

His rage was towering, H'tek glowered at Anslo, “You are to stay in your quarters, until I think of a use for you. No provisions, no visitors, you are to be alone, you are to think on being alone, and how the iron claw of my grip keeps you safe in its grasp. I’ve left a trail of bodies in our wake who came for you! I have defended you, you have kept my operations tight, we worked together like G’agh and H’op. (Steak and potato)

To the ‘la at the rear of the bridge, he pointed, “You heard me, do it. Make it unpleasant.”

H’tek had no bodyguards, but truly Anslo had done an excellent job in that role also tripling as Personal Assistant and Secret Agent. Anslo had taken H’tek from a single ship using a single portal array to confuse a few enemies, to a hub of pirates impossible to catch, with segmented cells and compartmentalized departments preventing interrogations from spilling the beans. Over two dozen raider organizations across three quadrants had this shadowy organization backing them. They didn't know where the portals came from or where they went, they just knew H’tek was a mad genius.

But it had been Anslo, Partha his brother and second in the organization, Ckall his Ledgerkeeper and keyholder to the vaults, Kr’togr a fierce captain with results, who had also contributed to the success of this network. Cutting Anslo out meant a loss to the operation they couldn’t bear, but the madman refused to see it.

Anslo lamented that the hands which grasped him so cruelly had been ones he personally vetted and recruited. These two simpletons had no idea who Anslo was, how many times Anslo had been faced with certain death and carved a path to escape for himself. He would not wait for the mercy of a coin flip to madness or whimsy. H’tek owed him life, and that had been repaid in the stayed hand just now.

Fedua, the ‘la to his right was a criminal known for armed assault, the ‘la to his left, Mhjrot had been sentenced to service by a liege lord for leaving a sentry post and allowing a raid through. The intention for both of them was to live a hard life and die penniless, so for Anslo this was as easy as it got.

Between the two of them, Anslo and Tol, a staggering dearth of experience was available. Tol had three lifetimes as an adherent on the path of Trillius whose martial skills and self discipline were renowned. Anslo was in his early thirties, and seen war, trained with Klingons and fought Jem’Hadar. These two brutes were a minor concern, his plans had already gotten him to the captains personal ferry, but no farther. “Explosive bolts” was the closest answer he had to escaping the ships docking controls.

Explosions that likely meant these two would die. However the time to decide was upon him, as Anslo knew his quarters were seconds away. Tol prepared for the encounter claiming anxiety, lifting the prescient experiences into the forethought, and stirring the cauldron of emotions. This was not time for mercy, this operation was about to declare war on the Federation, and take half a million lives in the process. The compulsion to act was innate, not a mandate from Starfleet, or a lesson learned once, it was just a simple emotional truth, I cannot allow this to happen.

So codified, so compelled, Anslo stopped letting them drag his feet, began a twisting action and began the 2/3 of a plan he had worked out.

It had only take a moment to reach the ferry, a warp sled meant to allow the captain to deliver themselves into battle (usually once it was won) but it was docked.

After downloading the Suv’Wi operational data, Anslo activated his command codes, trusting the administrative task of disabling them was not on H’tek’s mind yet. If madness was a gift in so many areas, then it was a curse in regards to proper off boarding of an employee. He hit the wall release and felt the ferry drop out, knowing it would be just a few seconds before getting targeted, knowing there would be just enough time-

Twin bolts slammed into the small cyclinder with wings. Those wings were clipped right away. H’tek had not hesitated one bit.

Anslo felt no panic, realizing now his path had always ended here in one way or the other. At least now, he had the ability to atone for his wrongs, and make a solid impact. He could fulfill the oath of a Starfleet officer after all.

“Launch black box, include message for Starbase 109, “Warning, there is an imminent threat to your station, an agent will place a strange matter bomb on the outer hull of the reactor housing-“

Two more shots claimed the power systems and propulsion, and Anslo felt his world erupt in flame and smoke.

{Starbase 109- OPS}

With the Isolystic explosion so nearby, and the problems at source of transmission, the signal would bounce and degrade, but reach the small freighter Alia, then be retransmitted to Subspace relay 77-ae, and finally to Starbase 109.

Anslo’s face, and sporadic flight data composed itself on screen. Entaaro resolved and extrapolated to the best of his abilities.

…”arning… ris an threat… station, outer hull-“

That was all Entaaro could get.

He pinged her station, and called out “Commander Rex, we have received a priority message.”

-TBC-

 

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