UT: TFV - Operation Vanguard

[Count Zero]

An interesting start. I like the idea of the engineering crew being awake while the rest of the crew sleeps and also the scope of the story. I'm looking forward to learning more about the space nomads but I suspect there will be some twists in the story before that happens.

 

[Angry Fanboy]

That's fantastic you should be writing this stuff for money. The story sounds orders of magnitude more interesting than half the books I've read!

 

[Gibraltar]

I think you did the right job with bringing in a Luna class starship. Plus the mention of the Akira class's spare parts was a nice touch too. Can't wait to see what happens next.

Thanks! Here's hoping they won't have to cobble a makeshift drive system... but knowing their luck...

An interesting start. I like the idea of the engineering crew being awake while the rest of the crew sleeps and also the scope of the story. I'm looking forward to learning more about the space nomads but I suspect there will be some twists in the story before that happens.

I'm glad you're liking the concept, CZ. And I anticipate there will be plenty of twists before all is said and done.

That's fantastic you should be writing this stuff for money. The story sounds orders of magnitude more interesting than half the books I've read!

Wow, thank you for the kind words, Angry Fanboy. I'm pleased to have you along for the ride on this adventure.

 

[Gibraltar]

TFV - Operation Vanguard (Chapter 2 continued)

Sandhurst walked into Sickbay, his head still reeling after the unexpected direction his conversation with Admiral Brandies had taken. He caught Lieutenant Taiee’s attention as he walked over and seated himself on the primary examination table without being asked.

Taiee approached, frowning at the saddle bags under Sandhurst’s eyes and his overall pallor. “Let me guess,” Taiee said as she began scanning him with a sensor wand from her medical tricorder, “nightmares again?”

“Yes,” he said with a sigh. “I don’t get it. Those suppressants you gave me after my ordeal at Pierosh II worked just fine in controlling my REM-state dreams. This time though, no such luck.”

“We can try increasing the dosage again, but I’m worried about interrupting your REM cycle entirely, which would leave you even more exhausted than you are now.”

Sandhurst rubbed one eye tiredly. “It’s hard to believe that’d be possible.”

Taiee frowned at the readings on her tricorder, and gently pushed Sandhurst down into a reclined position on the exam table. “Were you this chipper for the admiral?”

“Every bit,” he answered disconsolately. He craned his head up, looking around to make sure there was nobody else within earshot. “This is just between you and me for the moment, Doc, but we’re being assigned to the task force aboard a new ship.”

Taiee moved over to the large viewscreen set into the interior bulkhead, calling up a scan of Sandhurst’s neo-cortex as the overhead medical sensor suite scanned the captain. “Really? That’s a shock. The whole crew is transferring over?”

“Yes, and we’ll be bringing on close to two-hundred additional personnel, so there’s lots of changes in the works.”

As a cross-section of the captain’s cerebellum rotated on the viewer, Taiee paused to absorb the news. “Am I wrong in supposing that with a deep-space exploration mission, a newer ship and a larger crew that we’ll be assigned a full-fledged physician as Chief Medical Officer?”

Sandhurst turned his head to look over at her from where he lay. “That’s almost a certainty,” he admitted. “And I’m ashamed to say it hadn’t occurred to me until you just mentioned it.”

She nodded fractionally, staring at the image on the viewer without really seeing it. “Understood, sir.”

“Look, Doc, I’m sure I could pull some strings and see if we couldn’t keep you—“

“No, Captain,” she protested, turning back towards him. “We’re talking about a mission with multiple First Contact potential, and that means a whole panoply of new viruses and bacteria, and though I hate to admit it, I’m not qualified to take on that kind of challenge.”

“But we have the EMH programs, Lieutenant,” Sandhurst posited.

Taiee smiled wanly. “Captain, I myself have learned not to depend on the EMH as a crutch. The 24-hour Quarantine Protocol Scenario is designed to teach that over-reliance on any of the ship’s computer systems by the CMO can prove fatal to an entire crew. And need I remind you that I still have yet to pass that test successfully, sir.”

“It’s not a requirement of your position, Doc.”

“Perhaps not as the CMO on an escort ship within a few days travel time of a starbase, sir. But the chief medical officer on a deep-space explorer has to be able to problem solve that kind of riddle with her eyes closed.”

Sandhurst nodded reluctantly, hating that he had to accept the validity of her words. “I know how difficult it was for you to take a back-seat to Dr. Murakawa on the Briar Patch mission. Are you willing to remain with the crew as chief nurse?”

“I’ll have to give that some thought,” Taiee said as she turned back to give his neural-scans her full attention.

“Fair enough,” Sandhurst replied.

*****


The bridge of Europa was substantially larger than Gibraltar’s, and was laid out much like that of the Sovereign-class. The captain’s chair was flanked by the XO’s seat and one for a mission specialist, each chair equipped with its own LCARS interface panel.

Operations and Flight Control were forward in fixed positions, without the swing-arm consoles that had nearly become ubiquitous over the last half century. The curvature of the forward consoles harkened back to 23rd century design aesthetics, and Sandhurst took a moment to savor that bittersweet irony.

He walked a slow circuit around the bridge, running his hands over the various work stations and safety railings as if trying to get a feel for his unanticipated new charge. Though the ship was in drydock and receiving power via umbilicals, it still seemed to Sandhurst like Europa was without a beating heart, absent the steady pulsing of a warp core that transformed a starship from a fixed object to a limitless conduit to the stars. He knew it was only his imagination, his subconscious’ way of coping with the fact that his new command was incomplete, still partially unrealized as it lacked a working drive system.

Sandhurst was chuckling at his own maudlin, romanticized notion of space travel when the lift doors parted to admit T’Ser into the command center. She favored Sandhurst with a curious smile, uncertain as to what had tickled him so as she walked across to examine what would be her post. “Hard to believe,” T’Ser offered, leaning across the back of the XO’s seat as she glanced around. “After Bluefin and Gibraltar, this is positively spacious.”

“I know, right?” Sandhurst responded, his amusement still evident.

They stood in silence for a few moments, both alone with their thoughts.

Finally, Sandhurst spoke. “I want you to know there’s still time to bow out, Commander.”

She looked to him in something akin to shock, startled by the statement. The very idea was clearly alien to her. “Sir? Why would I want to do that?”

“We’re going to be out there for five years or longer, T’Ser. If you remain here, earning a captaincy sooner than that is almost a certainty given your abilities. I want to make sure I’m not short-changing your career.”

“I want to go,” she said quickly. “I have to go.”

“Why?” he asked, posing the question before he realized he’d even intended to speak.

“It’s important. Maybe the most important thing I’ve done since I joined the service.” She paused and struggled to articulate her feelings. “I saw action during the war, of course, but not any of the major fleet engagements. So, now I’m finally in a position where I can make a real difference, and here I come to find out we’ve been chosen to participate in this incredible odyssey, the kind of mission they write history books about.”

“So,” he pressed, “you have no greater career aspirations?”

T’Ser shrugged lightly. “I’m Vulcan, I have the luxury of time on my side.” She favored him with a confident smile. “Besides, if we do our jobs right, the Federation won’t be going anywhere, and the experience I gain on this assignment will make me a better captain when the time comes.”

He smiled appreciatively. “You are indeed wise, XO. And for the record, I’m damned glad to have you aboard for this little crusade of ours.”

She inclined her head. “Thank you, Captain.” T’Ser glanced over at the engineering console before looking askance at Sandhurst. “Have you told Ashok yet?”

“No, not yet,” he responded. “And heavens help me, but this isn’t one of those times that I can afford to hand-hold him and ease him into the idea. If he’s not onboard one-hundred percent with this, I’ll have him transferred over to the Border Service and he can stay on as Gibraltar’s engineer.

T’Ser bobbed her head as she pursed her lips in an unconscious grimace of expectant discomfort. “What’s his primary malfunction, anyway? I’ve always meant to ask.”

Sandhurst snorted at that, shaking his head ruefully. “Same as nearly everyone else in Starfleet, XO. Daddy issues.”

*****

 

[TheLoneRedshirt]

Troubling meeting between Sandhurst and Taiee. How many others of Gibraltar's crew will fall short in the experience / competency area for this new billet? Going from an 80+ year old Connie to a state-of-the-art death tra . . . Luna-class ship is a tall order, even for Sandhurst. Yeah, how is Ashok going to take the news? (Daddy issues, indeed!)

Liked the little scene between Donald and T'Ser. Don't you just love that new starship smell?

Hard to believe my little T'Ser is all grown up and already thinking about a captaincy. *Sniff* I'm so proud.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Wow...I really find myself wondering how many more people are going to transfer to the Border Service. I don't think people have had to cope with such long deployments (5 years with NO break?! Even TOS' five-year mission was broken up with stops on Earth) for a very, very long time. I'd be having serious reservations myself, which would suck given that I do like Sandhurst and the Gibraltar crew.

 

[Dnoth]

It's certainly a commitment. But not since, Voyager will there be a better opportunity to sail into the unknown. This could really be a long, but interesting ride.

 

[Gibraltar]

Wow...I really find myself wondering how many more people are going to transfer to the Border Service. I don't think people have had to cope with such long deployments (5 years with NO break?! Even TOS' five-year mission was broken up with stops on Earth) for a very, very long time. I'd be having serious reservations myself, which would suck given that I do like Sandhurst and the Gibraltar crew.

That’s undeniably true, Nerys, but as T’Ser herself points out, it’s the mission of a lifetime.

In its own way, serving on TFV could prove as important to the long-term security of the Federation as fighting in the Dominion War was.

And this isn’t the 23rd Century, either. These ships are equipped with holodecks and presumably, there will be opportunities for shore leave in some of the more advanced star systems in the region.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

A delightful little segment, Gibraltar.

The piece between Sandhurst and Taiee in sickbay was almost heart wrenching, after all she has done and worked so hard for, she faces being replaced as CMO. There are times I forget she isn't a Doctor.

Lots for good back-and-forth between Captain and XO as well, they will make an excellent pairing for this epic voyage.

Have to ask Gibraltar, with the ship now changing, will you be changing profile name to match?

 

[Gibraltar]

A delightful little segment, Gibraltar.

The piece between Sandhurst and Taiee in sickbay was almost heart wrenching, after all she has done and worked so hard for, she faces being replaced as CMO. There are times I forget she isn't a Doctor.

Lots for good back-and-forth between Captain and XO as well, they will make an excellent pairing for this epic voyage.

Have to ask Gibraltar, with the ship now changing, will you be changing profile name to match?

Thanks for the comments!

Alas, no, the name Gibraltar is as set in stone as the rock whose name it bears.

 

[Gibraltar]

Nyberrite Defense Cruiser Eternity's Grasp
Nyberrite Alliance Periphery Zone

The Nyberrite cruiser Evolving Soul had been rent asunder by the collision, and Sub-Uttan Mohat Al-Faisal found himself troubled by the scan’s conclusions. A two-billion metric ton slug of solid neutronium approximately the size of an old Federation Oberth-class science ship had split Evolving Soul stem-to-stern, striking the vessel at approximately Warp 5.

It was such an elegantly simple weapon, utilizing nothing more than hyper-relativistic mass. The task force of eight ships led by Evolving Soul had survived for less than two hours after drawing their figurative line in the sand. Even more tragically, the enemy had never even come within effective weapons range of the Nyberrite defenses before it was over.

Bullets, the former Starfleet officer wondered to himself, they shredded our intercept contingent with nothing more advanced than bullets.

Al-Faisal turned back to make his report to the first officer of Eternity’s Grasp, Over-Commandant Yerid, a majestic three-meter tall Alshain warrior with dun-colored fur clad in the austere white uniform of the Nyberrite Naval Cadre. “Scans indicate no survivors.”

Yerid emitted an irritated growl that started somewhere deep within his throat and echoed throughout the command deck. “Location of their vessels?”

“Two-point-seven light-years distant, and still on course for the Camerrisian home system.” He looked from Yerid to their captain, Shipmaster Novek, a stern featured Romulan. “ETA to system boundary one hour, forty-nine minutes.”

Novek, his face elaborately tattooed with Romulan grief-glyphs closed his eyes for a fraction of a moment as he muttered a silent prayer to manifold deities for the burgeoning population of Camerris Secundus and its terraformed Class-M moons. Some sixteen billion souls were now dependent upon a mishmash of Nyberrite, Klingon, and Orion frigates and a paltry few dozen orbital defense satellites to safeguard them from twenty-one Kothlis’Ka generational seedships.

Each of the mighty seedships was more than fifteen kilometers in length, and housed scores of city-sized robotic harvester drones that would drop into the atmosphere of any life-supporting world to plunder the ecosphere for bio-mass, water, atmospheric gasses, and assorted subsurface mineral deposits. The planets would be rendered unsuitable for life in less than two weeks.

The Nyberrite Navy had fought mightily to defend the far-flung colony on Hestravar from the seedships when they’d first approached the alliance’s periphery. Nineteen capital ships had been sacrificed in that engagement, buying time for a few thousand civilians to be rescued from the depredations of the harvesters. Nearly a million others had not been as fortunate, and had been reduced to their constituent biological components in order to feed whatever life forms inhabited the sensor-impervious interiors of the gargantuan vessels.

The only way they’d even known what to call the invaders was the result of a particularly clever shipsmaster who’d managed to shuttle a strike team onto one of the harvesters just long enough to hack into its automated control systems. The team had succeeded in downloading a few scant megabytes of data to their ship before the harvester self-destructed, taking a sizeable chunk of the planet’s largest populated island chain with it. The other robotic devastators on Hestravar immediately updated their defenses, and all subsequent Nyberrite attempts to repeat the operation met with abject failure.

“Is there any point in our pursuing them?” Novek asked his senior officers.

Guilty and fearful looks were exchanged by the department heads, and it fell to Yerid to openly speak the words they were all thinking. “Shipmaster, our five craft will ultimately make no difference in the outcome for the peoples of the Camerrisian system.” The Alshain moved a furred hand to press an actuator that called a star map to life on the command center’s tertiary viewscreen.

“In fifteen days, another alien flotilla will pass within five parsecs of this location. Should they prove more diplomatically inclined than the Kothlis’Ka, we might convince them to go around Nyberrite space. They might also have greater knowledge regarding the Kothlis’Ka threat that could be of benefit to us.”

Novek digested that in silence.

“However,” Yerid continued, “should you choose to pursue and engage the seedships, I will follow you to an honorable death that will glorify my Sept for centuries to come.”

That brought a grim smile to Novek’s face, the first in many long weeks. “That was never in question, old friend.” He turned in his seat to inspect the faces of his senior officers. “Yerid is correct. Engaging the seedships at Camerris Secundus would be folly. That system is lost to us. We have the rest of the alliance to think of now.”

He motioned towards the flight officer’s station. “Set a course to engage the next formation of incoming vessels. Route all reconnaissance probe telemetry to tactical-sciences, and begin threat assessment.”

“Shall we notify Alliance Command?” Al-Faisal inquired.

“Negative, not by subspace. After what happened to our defense fleet here, we must assume even our most encrypted communications have been compromised. Send a warp-buoy to our outpost in the Trela system, they can download the message directly when it arrives.”

“At once, Shipmaster!”

Novek turned his attention back to the viewscreen, consciously forcing his thoughts away from the teeming billions in one of the alliance’s central star systems that were now huddled in terror, doubtless praying, beseeching gods whose benevolent intervention would not come in time to save them.

*****

 

[TheLoneRedshirt]

Not exactly the first contact one would hope for. These Kothlis’Ka seem disinclined to talk, instead stripping planets of their essence while destroying defending vessels with slugs the size of starships.

And more are on the way.

I hope TFV has a few elaborate secret weapons in their cache, otherwise this epic saga is going to turn into a short-story.

Oh, and excellent writing as ever.

 

[Dnoth]

wow, I did not see that coming. Poor Sandhurst can't get break. He'll be starting off with some bad-a** aliens...I wonder if they're the bullies of the bunch or just a taste of things to come. ??

 

[BrotherBenny]

Excellent writing as always.

All I have to say is: Damn the bullets, maximum warp ahead.

 

[Count Zero]

Oh, wow, I had hoped for the aliens to be less.. well, evil. As usual, you're painting a detailed picture of the Nyberrite crews with only a few brushes. I also find the Nyberrite navy an interesting concept.

 

[CeJay]

OK, I think we have now sufficiently established that these refugee fleets pose a "clear and present danger" to Federation security. The only good news is, that every fleet is likely to be different and the folks of the Nyberrite Alliance probably came across one of the most extreme examples.

Either way, this aint gonna be a walk in the park for our brave task force.

Really liked the scenes on Gibraltar and Europa as well. Nicely done, sir.

 

[Gibraltar]

Not exactly the first contact one would hope for. These Kothlis’Ka seem disinclined to talk, instead stripping planets of their essence while destroying defending vessels with slugs the size of starships.

And more are on the way.

I hope TFV has a few elaborate secret weapons in their cache, otherwise this epic saga is going to turn into a short-story.

Oh, and excellent writing as ever.

Thanks for the comments. Yes, the Kothlis'Ka represent one end of the 'friendliness spectrum' where the incoming alien fleets are concerned, but as for where they're ultimately headed... that remains to be seen.

wow, I did not see that coming. Poor Sandhurst can't get break. He'll be starting off with some bad-a** aliens...I wonder if they're the bullies of the bunch or just a taste of things to come. ??

Unfortunately for the Nyberrite Alliance, they didn't see that coming, either.

Excellent writing as always.

All I have to say is: Damn the bullets, maximum warp ahead.

Well, we might want to leave just a smidge of power for the forward shields in their case.

Oh, wow, I had hoped for the aliens to be less.. well, evil. As usual, you're painting a detailed picture of the Nyberrite crews with only a few brushes. I also find the Nyberrite navy an interesting concept.

These newcomers to the Alpha Quadrant represent only one of the forty-three incoming groups identified so far. Here's hoping some of the others are a little more laid back. Oh, and if you're interested in the Nyberrite Alliance, they appear to have had some recent openings in their ranks! Automated recruiters are standing by for your call.

OK, I think we have now sufficiently established that these refugee fleets pose a "clear and present danger" to Federation security. The only good news is, that every fleet is likely to be different and the folks of the Nyberrite Alliance probably came across one of the most extreme examples.

Either way, this aint gonna be a walk in the park for our brave task force.

Really liked the scenes on Gibraltar and Europa as well. Nicely done, sir.

Much obliged, sir. And yes, this will definitely be a significantly challenging assigment for TFV.

 

[Gibraltar]

TFV - Operation Vanguard (Chapter 2 continued)

Sandhurst stood from his seat in the auditorium, tucking his padd under one arm as he drained the last of his now cold coffee in a single gulp. Today’s commanding officer’s logistics symposium was his third and final conference of the day, and his head was fairly buzzing with task lists, strategic plans, mission priorities, and a constellation of other concerns that he would have to address before his head ever came near a pillow again.

He brushed shoulders with Captain Arwen Duparc of the starship Istanbul, who offered a friendly nod. “Congratulations on your new command, Captain,” she said with a mischievous smile.

Sandhurst smacked his lips in a gesture of distaste. “Honestly, I’ll take and operable Connie any day over a piecemeal Luna.”

Duparc stopped in her tracks, causing others to squeeze past her as she leveled an appraising look at Sandhurst. “We’re in a tight spot, Captain. Who else do you think could pull off such a thing?”

He cocked his head, his expression one of confusion. “Don’t you mean which captain is so politically toxic right now that sending him into deep space on a non-functional ship is the best recourse?”

Duparc’s eyes widened with a look of disbelief. “Sandhurst, is that what you think is going on here? Do you have any idea how the commanding officers for this task force were selected?”

“By all means,” he replied, “please explain.”

“The majority of the command billets for this mission were assigned not by the admiralty, but by a selection committee comprised of the senior-most captains in Starfleet. Many of them weren’t actually assigned to TFV, but their collective judgment was solicited to hand-pick those candidates whom they would want watching their backs out there in the thick of it.”

She reached out a hand to lightly and inoffensively prod Sandhurst’s chest. “And in many of those meetings, your name kept coming up as someone who can be counted on in a pinch, someone not afraid to make life-and-death decisions, and as somebody with a knack for getting his people out of tight situations time and again.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “Me?”

Deparc sighed. “Yes, you, Donald. Normally I’d avoid trying to inflate someone’s ego, but in your case I think it’s grossly underinflated, so I’ll do you the favor. You received recommendations from Picard, Rixx, Owens, Ebnal, Aubrey and T’Selk. From the admiralty, Coburn, Leone, Covey, and Glover all threw their weight behind you as well. I myself wasn’t terribly familiar with you, so I did my homework and came to the conclusion that you were, in fact, an ideal choice for the task force.”

Sandhurst was speechless.

“So, I’m going to ask you to pull your head out of your ass where you’ve obviously been ruminating over how terribly unloved you are, and instead concentrate on the potentially mortal threat facing the Federation.” Deparc reached up to brush some imaginary lint off Sandhurst’s shoulder. “Can you do that for me, Captain?”

Unexpectedly, he burst out laughing, blushing fiercely. “Yes, sir, I think I can manage that, Captain, sir.”

She smiled pointedly. “Good man. Carry on, Captain Sandhurst.”

He watched her go and now having met her for the first time Sandhurst understood how Duparc had once caught the eye of her ex-husband, Lucian Ebnal. Completely chagrined, he muttered to himself, “I so need to learn how to do that.”

*****

 

[Count Zero]

A much needed reality check for Sandhurst. A good decision to end any inclinations to self-pity so early on in the story.

Oh, and if you're interested in the Nyberrite Alliance, they appear to have had some recent openings in their ranks! Automated recruiters are standing by for your call.

No thanks, I'm a pacifist, anyway.

 

[TheLoneRedshirt]

My Gawd! First Donald serves under Lucian Ebnal, now he gets the 'pick-the-lint-from-the-shoulder' treatment from the former Mrs. Ebnal. Epic, sir, Epic!

Seriously, that was a nice wake-up call for Sandhurst. Captain Duparc gently but firmly helped Donald get his head screwed on right. Pretty important, considering what he's about to face. Hopefully he'll get over his perception that he's Captain Pariah Toxic and come to grips with the fact that he is a damn good starship captain.