Kr’togr meets Quinton Beck

Posted on Sat 18th Jan, 2025 @ 5:01pm by Commodore H'tek
Edited on on Wed 22nd Jan, 2025 @ 9:42pm

1,749 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: The Phoenix Gamble
Location: 1.7 LY from SB109

Somewhere in the triangle between the Delavi expanse and SB109…

{FMS Calliopa- Bridge}

The hulking behemoth of a Beemer class Super Tanker “Calliopa” fell from warp, narrowly missing the Tholian Web scattered in their path but trashing the hull integrity in such a sudden deceleration. From the bridge her Captain witnessed the crumpling and collapse of huge swaths of hull plating. She was feeling panic that the superstructure had twisted to and fro, and the breaks in her cargo linkages were mounting. Emergency cords and tractor holds kept several cars together, but if they hit power failure, the cords wouldn’t be sufficient.

That’s a feature, not a bug

Dropping Cargo for them to pick apart wasn’t an option. They carried Rubidium Re-crystallization matrices, a hard to manufacture industrial replicator component needed in the fringes of Federation space. Even one missing piece, could mean a colony fails.

They had fought so hard, but now the deed was done, and they all felt the looming threat. It was evident from sight alone the depth of hurt Calliopa was experiencing, and somehow, its power remained.

Captain Tpfelia knew the crew was Ferengi, but seeing how they held their posts made her feel pride. An Orion of no small stature herself, the other Orion among the crew felt superior but today showed otherwise. From the functioning power plant she knew not one of them left their post, despite fire and sucking air. This battle so far had only seen a pack of Klingon dogs trying to disable the mighty vessel, but it was working. They had slowed to Warp four, and shields had buckled in several zones. Redundant internal field scramblers kept the boarders from beaming over, but leechcraft could intercept below warp five usually.

Kr’Togr had fooled them, his mighty plasma cannon attracting attention while a "harmless" circa 22nd century Raptor snuck into position and fired the Tholian web directly in their path, caught by the other three and pulled wide. Though their ships were paltry, they were put to good use. These pirates knew how to play a sneaky game. They might not carry much weaponry but they were tough and fast. A Raptor was still relevant and Kr’togr played them as harmless pests. Pests which deliver venom directly to your ear.

Tpfelia ordered her executive officer, “Keep sending distress calls, Power to shields, cover engines and get us going past Warp Five before they swarm us!”

“None are getting through, shields maxed, shifting to cover engines!”

Then she consulted the display, seeing the merchant-class merculite torpedo racks nearly exhausted and cobbled a plan together.

She yelled at her Officer, "Damn it, Lopak! Send another distress call, carrier pigeon it if you need. We've traveled from their last attempt to jam; we could get through to someone!"

Lopak Skor responded, "Sending packet in probe, covering fire. Launched!"

She signed gratitude at him, hoping the call would be answered. "Get us in line with this Kroger guy. It's the only big gun they've got that can dent our shields. Plot a collision course and fortify forward shields. He wants to play Chicken I'm game. When they break course, fire every last Torpedo as a cluster we've got at their engines, if they can't tow it they can't have it. Wait til he yields and changes course, otherwise we hit hardened shields.

Lopak stared at the conn stared before asking, "... what if they don't yield?"

Today was not the day for a test like this, Captain Tpfelia had worked her whole life in merchant societies and climbing ranks to get her own command. She wasn’t giving up anything and was ready to fight, "Then we brace for impact and see who has better hull design. Let's get going!"

*

They could menace the Raptors with their phaser strips, who were a bigger threat for the small craft, but two Zakdorn Cruisers patrolled at the perimeter, their precise long range phaser accuracy legendary. Even at fifteen hundred KM, three times the weapon ranges of the Calliopa, the poor oblong cargo craft took glancing blows.

Their charge against Kr’togr ended when the bastard cloaked and broke off his run. The Raptors didnt let there be any break, defeating them one cut at a time. The Zak Cruisers were holding their escape at bay, preventing a rally or charge, and Kr’togr was flying free, firing off a plasma cannon that could hull them in a single half measure shot. They were being bled, to spare the cargo, not their lives.

{FMS Calliopa}

From her chair on the bridge Tactical was under her control. She took an opportunity to team fire another Raptor, but repeated strikes to their shield grid drove them back from their charge. They had been forced off course, away from help and the shipping lanes. For some reason, the watchdog ship of the sector, Thunderchild, wasn’t even responding to distress calls. Their ship was out of order, and her shields down, the realization of boarding was upon her, but thankfully the defenses were built in.

On their fourteenth strafe and plasma discharge the pattern was indelible. It took about a minute for the weapon to recharge, and was mildly ineffective against shields but spread plasma fire over the hull. She gasped when she saw the damned Classic D7 Cruiser fire at her time and again with no shields, the fire spreading over the broken surfaces. The pirates weren't peeling through, they wanted to burn through the armor and pick at the meat.

Rage and panic choked her, Tpfelia realized surrender was becoming the only option. She wanted to escape but she was stuck, she couldn't be in three places at once, and the hull was close to buckling from direct strikes as it was. They had to buy time, hope that help was on the way. She hated the tactic that was necessary but she had forty five seconds until the next strafe, the ship was burning alive as it was.

"Signal surrender. Stand down weapons, secure ship for boarding, play for time. Flop the hell out of it y' know." She said it with defeat, but there was hope for something, to just keep alive was the game now.

Kr’togr hailed, she was ready for it and spared the Lopak the indignity. Placing it on the main viewer, the volume matched the moment.

Handsome, smooth browned, half Human Kr’togr smirked across their channels. "I've chased you for hours now, pecking away, reducing your profile and bleeding the mammoth. How satisfying today has been, Thank you Captain. Your surrender will bring you some mercies."

Tpfelia spat, her defiance no act, "I have a small army of security personnel ready to resist you. And a ship with enough firepower left in it to annihilate everything I’m carrying. I am trying not to have a mass casualty event today though. Take the things which aren't bolted down and get the hell away. You start taking people, our surrender truce turns deadly for you. Despite the fire which rages we can take a dozen more shots before you hit primary systems."

He laughed at her rant the whole time, "Captain we are leaving with your ship, you can take your crew, but this mighty construct will be a crown jewel for my fleet. You can all make your way in escape craft, I’ll allow you to escape.”

She wanted to say "Like Hell!" or "Go %$@# Yourself." Instead, she wisely chose, "No, I've got the crew ready to resist capture. Stick to the hardware and we have a deal. You don't have the manpower to clear these ships, this is too big, you're getting greedy."

Kr’togr considered, "And time is short. Allow me to introduce you to my final surprise then, I would have dosed your vessel with toxic radiation, and towed you to my shipyards for repair. A few might survive finding spots to hide in, but I'd take the numerical advantage long before then… No… instead…I could….Behold!"

A portal appeared, fired from one of the four unidentified ships flanking the Cruiser which Kr’togr sat upon. The rip in space seemed to explode but self contain into a singularity. Four more Raptors appeared, taking tractor hold of the Calliopa and towing it towards the newly formed Portal.

Tpfelia grit her teeth for the hundredth time since breakfast, " Get a full lock on the towing vessels; Fire at will, anything, everything we got!"

***

{Second Star Bridge}

Quinton was in conference with Fala in the lounge behind the bridge, code for “taking a nap”. Othor and Simon had engaged in a lively banter over the nature of an Acamarian manifesto published in the galactic media. Kas, just stayed quiet with her feet propped up saying nothing. Her family life was pure chaos, and the potter patter of gentle words among friends was perfect for a dozing half attention alert status in the captains chair. Much like a twilight sleep, she was aware and could spring to action.

The comm beeped twice, then kept beeping. The chime for a priority message. True to her word Kas sprang into full alert.

“What this then?” She hit the button on her arm pad and the holoscreen answered her.

The image of the Calliopa and its telemetry revealed the whole story in a go.

She was in full command mode, “So it’s pirates. Wake the Captain, prepare an intercept course, and give me a report on our weapons please, Master Steward.”

Othor jumped to his feet, still talking to Simon at Tactical, “Simon, it’s a sign of cultural espionage, not cooperation, is all I am saying here.”

To Kas he said, “Will have it in a moment.”

Kas nodded, opening her mouth before the captain chimed over comms,

“Red Alert, we are responding, like hell we’re leaving them alone.”

She gave a satisfied grin, “Red Alert, set course for intercept.”

The Second Star, in her stately grace as an Excelsior class Starship looked the part of a Starfleet cruiser, but was in fact now a merchant vessel and home to a crew operating a business. Despite no longer being a Starfleet vessel they agreed to answer distress calls when able as part of the transfer of deed. Answering her call, the purple tint of the nacelles glowed bright red as it energized, and they shot off to save the day.

-TBC-

 

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