The Call to Battle – Part I

Posted on Tue Feb 6th, 2018 @ 1:09pm by Captain Alistar McKeon & Chief Petty Officer Malcolm Reynolds & Commander Isabella dei`Silvisi & Lieutenant Commander Akira-Ri Sato
Edited on on Tue Feb 6th, 2018 @ 1:09pm

1,087 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Memento Mori
Location: USS Endeavour, D-5

~~ Bridge, USS Endeavour ~~

“Sir, long range sensors are detecting several ships approaching the area,” Chief Petty Officer Reynolds reported from the Security and Tactical station. He normally didn’t man the bridge station much, since his specialty and career focus was in security, but it was good to stretch out and bring his skill set up to date every now and then. While the senior officers were out, he had decided to take the chance to man the bridge station and earn some points. It never hurt since he was hoping for a good review at his next promotion hearing.

Alistar glanced up but he wasn’t at all that concerned. D5 was a station, and ships came and went all the time. “Track them and see if you can get an ID on them,” he said casually.

Isabella looked up from the science station and listened for a moment before she turned away. There hadn’t been any concern in the captain’s voice, and she herself hadn’t heard anything to warrant the Endeavour to take any special attention to the incoming ships. More than likely, it was an incoming civilian convoy, and those were common enough that there was no need for the ship to rush to alert status.

“Sir, the lead ship identifies as a Starfleet Defiant class ship. She’s some distance in front of the main group of ships and I’m waiting for a transponder code, but I thought you’d want to know,” Reynolds said.

Isabella stood and walked across the bridge to sit down next to the captain in her seat. Leaning over, she frowned as she spoke. “Is it normal for a Defiant class ship to play pilot ship to a convoy?” she asked. It was a simple enough question, as her career track had been science and medical and she knew little to nothing of senior command matters.

“If the convoy’s route is similar to the ship’s patrol route, or if the captain of the ship just wants to, then it’s not unheard of,” Alistar replied. “Most convoys are eager enough to have an escort ship, and sometimes a captain knows that there might be some extra R&R and possible shore leave if they provide convoy escort. It’s a way of bending the rules without really violating them. They’re still upholding their mandate orders, so no harm done. Depending on how long they’ve been covering that convoy, I’m sure the crew of that Defiant is ready to grab some shore leave.”

“IFF codes coming in now, Captain. She’s registering as the USS Shadow. Her codes are current. Shall I open a hailing frequency?” Reynolds filled in.

Alistar sat up straight in his command seat and frowned. “What ship did you say that was?” he asked.

“According to the IFF code she’s broadcasting, the Defiant class is identifying as the USS Shadow,” Reynolds answered.

“Is there a problem?” Isabella asked, concern showing on her face as she watched McKeon closely. She had served with him long enough to know that his response was far from good.

“Not at all, except that the USS Shadow is supposed to be at the Io Reserve Yards, tethered to Buoy Station Theta 2195,” Alistar said in a tight voice. Turning to tactical, he nodded. “Get a confirmation on that IFF transmission. Now.”

“Endeavour to Sato,” Isabella said as she tapped her comm-badge. “Be advised we might have a situation.”

~~ Science Station D5 ~~

Akira’s head shot up at the mention of the word ‘situation’. It was bad enough for that word to be used at all, considering the Endeavour’s history, but for the first officer to use it spoke volumes of impending bad news. Tapping her comm.-badge, she started walking out of the station’s security offices and towards the docking port where the Endeavour was. “I’m on my way to the ship. Do we need to recall the away teams?” she asked.

~~ USS Endeavour ~~

Isabella hid a smile at Akira Sato’s instant reaction and response. Like everyone else who had served on the Endeavour for any length of time, the chief of security and tactical knew very well that there were certain words that had hidden meanings when used. Turning towards the captain, Isabella caught his attention and raised an eyebrow to punctuate Sato’s question.

Alistar glanced up from the console between his and Silvisi’s command seats and nodded stiffly as he absorbed the information he had just read. His recent secondary position appointment as a task group commander gave him access to some information that made him even more concerned that he would have been normally. He usually kept up to date on starship deployments and movements across Starfleet and the Federation in general, but unfortunately, the USS Shadow was officially assigned to the task group he had been assigned as senior commander of, and the most recent report had indicated that the ship was indeed at Io in the Sol System undergoing a full renovation and refurbishment that had been stalled due to the fact that the ship was on the reserve list. There was no way that the ship approaching could be the Shadow.

“Commander, recall all crew and prepare for immediate departure and action stations,” he ordered. He started to reach for the console to show the commander the information he had just read when the deck tilted slightly and the ship rocked to the side, throwing him sideways and against the armrest of his seat. Alarms started ringing out, and he knew that his concerns were true. “Report!” he barked.

“The Defiant just fired on the station. She’s using half powered shots from her pulse phaser cannons, but the station’s power grid is fluctuating,” Reynolds reported.

“Red alert! Recall all hands to the ship! Prep for immediate uncoupling and prepare to pull away from the station at full combat readiness,” Alistar ordered.

Isabella nodded and stood. She knew that the Endeavour was about to enter combat, and her usual place had become sickbay. McKeon could handle the bridge, and there was no need for science during combat in most situations. The medical department had been short staffed for some time, and the way this fight looked to be starting Isabella knew that sickbay would need as many helping hands as possible. Dashing towards the turbo-lift, she quickly ordered a command override to sickbay and waited.


To be continued

 

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