Originally posted by mf_luder
Engineering, prepare a shuttle for rescue and haul the damaged drop ship off our port bow back into the launch bays. On the double men, we are running out of time.

A shaking Studious could barely work. The metal felt as if it burned when he touched it, a cold burn. Worse he kept running into metal because it was pitch black. To make matters worse the Colonel had great difficulty breathing as the life support system had failed on this little dropship.

Studious thought said to himself ""If the rest of our people were treated like that, why would I even be rescued. If they actively killed the others why not passively si.....sit back and watch me die." The Colonel's voice studdererd and he could see each breath he look. This was getting desperate.

Studious wanted to give up but then remembered, if this never got reported the one's responsible could never be punished. They had to pay.

With that he stood and kept working, near the front cockpit windows. Anywhere else there was darkness.

Then a loud clang was heard, metal on metal. Studious jumped up worried that the small aft crew section might be being punctured by the debris now floating everywhere. Or maybe the Penelope had come by firing, ready to finish the job. Suddenly the ship began to move to a jerk. Studious wondered if the debris had knocked the ship moving. Oh great the dropship was headed strait for the Penelope. On a collision course. Studious laughed to himself, "Well it looks like I'll get my revenge on the Penelope."

But taking a closer look Studious realized that they were headed for one of the open Launch bays, either this the hand of God or.... Maybe I'm still unconscious.

The dropship entered the launch bay and landed gently. Studious tried to open the door but the controls were non-responsive. Undoing a panel nearby Studious plugged the power source from his stun sidearm into the circuit. It had not enough power to even open the door an inch. Marines standing in the bay then pulled the door open, desperate to find their comrades.

When they opened that door however all they found alive was one bloody, cold and irate Marine Colonel.

The Colonel then walked up to Lieutenant Jones who was among the Marines.

Still snapping a salute even after all that, the Colonel said "Lieutenant give me your sidearm now."

"Sir you are in no condition to...."

Studious cut him off with "I understand your concern, but that is an order."

"Sir you're still bleeding, you could..."

"Now lieutenant."

The Lieutenant handed Studious a weapon. The Colonel had only one thing in mind, punish those responsible.

Before Studious left the launch bay he turned and told the lieutenant, "Take care of these....."

The Lieutenant could see the pain in the Colonel's face and cut him off saying
"We take care of our own sir. You don't have to worry."

Studious smiled and walked away thinking.
"Maybe the rest of the Navy had forgotten that, but the Marines sure did not."

The Colonel raced toward the bridge. That is where these [a small explosion of the debris was heard outside.] were.

The cold Colonel after running was now red hot and angry. When he entered the bridge he saw Seeker and the Captain.

As Studious raised his weapon and aimed it at the Captain he asked "WHAT THE HELL........was that sir" The Colonel was trying to catch his breath. Sir was used in a way that showed no respect. Studious still kept verbal protocol, even after all that had happened, but the protocol's never stated what inflection had to be used.

As he asked, a drop of blood fell to the floor of the bridge.


[edit on 23-3-2009 by Studious]

Originally posted by mf_luder
"I know you probably think I ordered you fired upon out there, but that is not the case. There was a severe miscalculation to the potency of our new weapons systems on the part of our weapons control officer. It was never intended to do what it did."

"With all due respect sir, 7 of my men are dead. I watched one of them die right in front of me. I am the one who is going to have to write 7 letters home...... to their families. What am I going to tell them, sir" Studious said wanting to fire but holding back. He could tell the Captain was lying.

Studious thought back to the man and the picture of the woman. Would she really except "a weapons miscalculation" as the reason her husband was dead?

Another drop of blood dripped to the floor.


[edit on 23-3-2009 by Studious]

"Seeker Lost CONTROL!!!!" The bloodied Colonel said. The anger rising in his voice.

"Where is he now, he had better be in the brig."

"A full report of this.......will....be" The Colonel was losing consciousness again but moved to support himself against a column.

Studious left the bridge without another word. As he left he ran into 3 Marines who had arrived worried about where their commanding officer had been going.

"Detain the captain in the bridge and give me an earpiece, I'll stay in touch"

With that the old Colonel walked off toward sickbay a trail of blood following him.


[edit on 23-3-2009 by Studious]

[edit on 23-3-2009 by Studious]

Luder watched the enraged man leave the bridge. He overheard the order to the marines, who all looked a bit skeptical in the Colonel's wake. They eyed the security personnel, who eyed them right back. Two of Neno's men blocked entry to the command center.

Engine room, full power to the wormhole drives.

"We're getting the hell out of here." Luder said, strapping himself in.

Helm, lay in a course for Earth, quickly, make calculations on the fly if you have to.

Captain Luder retook his place at the command station and cancelled the alert to Neno. Best to deal with that particular sore spot once the ship was safely away from Alpha Centauri. He took the recording tapes from the entire battle, made copies and sent the entire ordeal back to EC in the form of a data packet. Luder felt the Colonel's rage. He still couldn't believe what Seeker did. As Luder thought about it more, it made him even angrier. He picked up his comm

Security Chief Neno, this is the Captain. Consider Colonel Studious rogue until further notice. I need you to remove his marines from the bridge areas, as they and their commander seem to have forgotten they do not police Federation ships, security staff do.

As soon as the ship is/was safely away, Captain Luder left the command center and headed to his personal quarters, offset directly to the command center for some sleep.

"Whiterabbit, you have the conn until I get back." The doors slid shut behind him, separating him from the chaos out there.

He collapsed onto a couch near the viewport and stared out into the void. Tears flowed freely down his face.

72 men were lost today, on their first mission. No. 79 men were lost. - 80. Counting the murder. The letters, he would ensure each were unique to the families of all the men and women killed.

"Theresa, what the hell is going on out here?"

Luder wasn't one to accept failure. They still had not accomplished their original task. There were only four thousand people on that carrier when it blew. Where the hell were the others? God only knew. He laid down on the couch and fell into a fitful, restless sleep...

[edit on 23-3-2009 by mf_luder]

So... perhaps not as much fun as He'd thought. Of all the loose cannons he'd ever seen - and he'd seen more than his fair share in his travels - Colonel Studious had to be by far the most deranged.

Honestly, he'd heard of disobedience, but to have the gall to point a weapon at the head of your commanding officer, that was something new.

And now here he was, twice the responsibility he signed up for, cordoned off into the command center with the captain and seeker. "Like prisoners on our own ship" he thought, and with that thought came an involuntary shudder at the very core of his being. He'd been in this situation once before, and it didn't turn out too well for anyone involved.

It was the main reason that he had taken a hiatus from federation work, too many hotheads with too much firepower, he just wanted to drive. Better to pilot with lower tech than to have your head blown off by a psychopath on a temper tantrum.


At least they still had control of the ship this time.

Originally posted by mf_luder

Engine room, full power to the wormhole drives.

Helm, lay in a course for Earth, quickly, make calculations on the fly if you have to.

"Aye Captain" he said, as he keyed in the coordinates for just inside the kuiper belt. We may not be able to leave this room, but we can sure as hell leave this solar system.

Off we go.


[edit on 23-3-2009 by whiterabbit85]

NATURE

---

---

New Yydryl Orders

Old order rescinded:

The crew of the starship Yddryl is instructed to NOT, repeat, NOT take a detour to Betelgeuse again. Diplomatic relations are still in turmoil from the last unscheduled detour and the Supreme Commander remains upset.

Starship Yydril instructed to make way to Betelgeuse ASAP. Captain Cadbury has been captured by a Betelgeusian rebel force and is being held for ransom.

Galactic Interweb communication:

Manicore alert.

We have Captain Cadbury in temporary stasis.

We will keep him alive as long as our demands are met.

We will trade Captain Cadbury for the removal of the Bencretionist Party from the political landscape of Betelgeuse.

Rigellians have 1/8 standard LY cycle to comply or the Captain becomes food for our pets.

---

---

[edit on 23/3/09 by masqua]

The Colonel stumbled down the hall to sickbay. He reached up to his ear, still bleeding, and called the Marines.

"Sir, the door is blocked." One of the Marines said.

"And that is stopping you!? You were there, you saw the marines in that dropship, didn't you?"

"Yes, sir.....but it's blocked by Security staff sir." The Marine said.

"Very well, stay there I want no more bloodshed today."

"This is just like the Battle of Norfolk. I thought this would never happen again. Our own men......our own men."

Studious then called Lt. Jones over the radio "Get to sickbay with a heavy detail. I am severely wounded and I don't want to 'disappear', and send a data packet to Admiral Gordon.Tell him the Captain or Seeker ordered an attack on our own people which has resulted in the deaths of 80 of our own and all aboard the Nimitz. The Captain appears to be covering this incident up. If I die expect foul play."

With that the bloodied, tired Colonel entered sickbay and collapsed onto a bed. A nurse approached him and began to tend to the wounds.

"Is there a doctor in the house?" The Colonel asked jokingly. Trying to hold back the memories of the Marines he just lost.

The nurse replied. "Sorry I haven't seen the doctor at all but your in good hands now."

With that the Colonel passed out just as Lt. Jones and the Marines arrived.


[edit on 23-3-2009 by Studious]

Creeping undetected out of the storeroom proved easier than I’d expected.
As long as my feet remained covered and my skin didn't come into contact with Carpet it lay quiet almost as if sleeping.
Tempted as I was to reach down and brush my hand across it’s silky surface, to ask a thousand questions I had running through my head, it dawned on me (possibly too late), if I was talking to Carpet, so the others might be.
I hoped this wasn’t true. I didn’t want to show myself until I had a better idea what was going on around here and the way things were shaping up then maybe then not at all!

A death by suicide on a near to abandoned ship with No Captain?
Something strange was happening to the Yydryl and I couldn‘t help but wonder if it was fate, coincidence or was there something sinister behind why I’d been Shanghaied and left on this particular Ship.
Yep, like it or not it was time to find the Captains quarters.

After long moments of keeping to the walls it became evident shadow morphing was a waste of time.
The Yydryl lower decks were completely abandoned other than storage drones going about their business tending to the needs of the live vessel.
Moving upward through the vast maze of passageways rooms and corridors a feeling of greater unease seemed to seep from the Ship like something foul you could smell but not tell where it emanated from.

No one was on board, not on the lower decks, not this deck.
That I didn't want to be found went without saying, but the sheer aloneness was beginning to unnerve me.
Best thing I could do was to keep my back to the walls, my antenna first a round corners and hope for the best.
I had to find some clue, something to answer the riddle of the Yydryl.
And though hope had never worked much for me before this time I might get lucky.

The intergalactic Communication which came in with the usual emergency warning alarm made antars hair raise up on her body and a shock race through her veins only to be replaced by the sheer urgency of the message:

Originally posted by masqua
NATURE

---

---

New Yydryl Orders

Old order rescinded:

The crew of the starship Yyryl is instructed to NOT, repeat, NOT take a detour to Betelgeuse again. Diplomatic relations are still in turmoil from the last unscheduled detour and the Supreme Commander remains upset.

Starship Yydril instructed to make way to Betelgeuse ASAP. Captain Cadbury has been captured by a Betelgeusian rebel force and is being held for ransom.

Galactic Interweb communication:

Manicore alert.

We have Captain Cadbury in temporary stasis.

We will keep him alive as long as our demands are met.

We will trade Captain Cadbury for the removal of the Bencretionist Party from the political landscape of Betelgeuse.

Rigellians have 1/8 standard LY cycle to comply or the Captain becomes food for our pets.

---

---

"Yydryl! Locate Special Ops expert Whisper67 NOW!"

""Yes Doctor , she can be found in her quarters presently."

" Yydryl have her meet me immediately on the bridge."

"As we speak".

Changing with nothing more than her intent into a more appropriate battle uniform the white jumpsuit was instantaneously transformed to a jet black flight suit equipped with all of her possible necessities from weapons to health and restorative stones.

For now she will have to take command of the Yydryl and take charge over the rescue of the Captain.

Where is Skyfloating? He was next in command and yet had not boarded yet as far as Yydryl was able to detect, but then he always did have ways and means of getting on and off ships without detection.

One thing for certain he would have to be located and picked up as this was going to be mission his expertise would be tantamount to success.

Taking just a short moment to sense the Captain, antar snapped back from the vision of him that she saw.



It was just a quick flash, but most certainly it was the Captain and he was indeed being placed into the painful state of stasis by the Manicore Rebellion.

This was going to be fierce and manyy lives will be lost.

Leaving the RB and walking swiftly towards the bridge, antar knew what she must become.


[edit on 23-3-2009 by antar]

Abruptly disturbed from his galavanting by a message buzzing in his mind Scurvy quickly slid into his uniform again and excused himself from his present company. As much as it pained him to leave this message was one he could not ignore.

"Officer Scurvy this is Antar, Yydryl's empath and medical officer. Our Captain has gone missing, we are having an emergency meeting on the bridge to decide upon our next course of action. Your attendance is mandatory."

"Aye Empath, I shall be there in 20 minutes."

Picking his way through the labyrinth towards the bridge Scurvy barked into his communicator:

"All security personnel this is Weapons Officer Scurvy, in the absence of a Defense Operations Officer I am assuming control of this post until further notice. Place all Galactichip scanners on high alert, detain anything that moves that shouldn't move. Stay on the ready and await further instruction."

What was this all about? How can the Captain have gone missing? The terminal had said the Captain was on board and accounted for. This was pure lunacy. Nothing could have gotten on the ship without alerting the readers. Even more mystifying is how the Cap had gotten off the ship without being noticed, they were boarding for initial launch and the Captain just waltzes off the ship? There were forces far beyond his mundane comprehension playing here and Scurvy wanted nothing of it. He was so absorbed in the ifs and whys and hows that he didn't even realize he had slithered past the bridge door. Shaking the tendrils on his head slowly at his own absent-mindedness Scurvy doubles back and enters the bridge, pointedly observing the Galactichip Reader about this door for tampering or malfunction. He saw no such signs. So much for a clue.

Sighting a unique figure dressed in the pitch-black uniform of an officer Scurvy deduces this must be Antar, the sorceress.

"Ahoy Empath, 'tis a pleasure to meet you. Have the other officers been hailed?"

[edit on 23/3/2009 by Scurvy]

"They have been if they are aboard". "Glad to meet you" as she slid one tentacled limb out to greet her temorary commander.

"Looks like this voyage has started out more than any of us would have antisipated Sir."

Sliding into the coms chair awaiting further orders from Scurvy, antar takes a deep breath closes her eyes and begins to melt her hands onto the systems board.

"Sssst Gawh Betelgeuse Tthtrrs!"

Again she made telepathic contact with Whisper67 or Whisp as she had come to call her.

"Thack allon sst, thwarksst!"

Whisper67 opened one bloodshot eye and began to take a deep breath, Not certain if what she heard was actually antar or just her imagination.

Either way she sensed the urgency to rise from her supine state and release the suction she had on the moist sleep platform.

"So you want me to simply call you scurvy?" she nods her head to agree and continues to attempt telepathic communication with the remainder of the crew members.

"As all the crew members will be within the Orion Nebula, it will be easy to do beams ups once we zero in on their locations sir, scurvy."

Thinking about her last 'visit' to Betleguise, antar pictured the enemy and her Captains captors, it was an unpleasant flash which ended with a paranoid feeling of this being more than what was released in the communicaid sent by the Rigellian High Command.




Fighting the Betleguiseinan underground was not a simple task as they fought on both the physical and mental planes. They were also most adept at utilizing forces from the ethereal realms to cast their evil mayhem on their enemy, and to them anything which represented freedom and harmony was the enemy.

And off to Beetlejuice...

I understand Im second in command. You should understand that I´ve never commanded a battleship before so bear with me.

I will bring us to the edge of the star-system. Thus parked I while use the holosphere to get an overview of the situation while antar employs her psychic means of intel-gathering.

Our Communications-Officer has commit suicide and we dont know why, so for the time being I will handle communication. I will signal that we are willing to abide by the deal...to get rid of....to get rid of those politicians, whatever their names are. That is, we're only saying we will get rid of them, not acting upon that yet.

Scurvy please transmit the message. Antar, remain on deck please. I could use the company of an empath. Im a bit lost here.



[edit on 23-3-2009 by Skyfloating]

The engine room doors opened and in walked six marines. The last marine punched in a code on the door panel and the emergency shutters sealed the room.

“What the?” said John looking up from his computer terminal.
“Sorry Sir, we’ve been ordered to lock down the engine room” replied the marine.
“Why?” said John.
“One of the bridge crew has been murdered.”

John stepped back in shock; the thought of someone being murdered on a federation ship was too much for him to take in.

“Who was murdered?” said the engineer almost afraid to know the answer.
“We don’t know sir, were just following orders.”

John looked on in disbelief. Why didn’t the Captain tell him what was happening. Instead he got to hear the news from a marine.

“It’s time I had a little chat with our Captain” he thought as he pressed the com link on the computer.

“This is Chief Engineer John Q ...” the message went into a feedback loop and kept repeating itself over and over.
“Now what?” said John.
“Engine room communications have been disabled due to damage caused by enemy fire” said the computer.

“Great!” said John in a sarcastic tone “Computer, patch me through to Seeker, he can link me to the Captain”

“Seeker is offline” replied the Computer.

“Computer, explain.” said John starting to get annoyed. The computer showed data of the events that took place, names of the people that died or were missing.

“My god” said John “all those people.”

He couldn’t understand why Seeker would have done this.
“Computer, run a level 3 diagnostic on Seeker” said John.
“Acknowledged” replied the Computer.
John scanned the data as it streamed across the screen, watching for any readings that seemed out of place.

“There... computer what’s that?” he said stopping the scan. The data showed a signal that had been sent to Seeker from cargo bay 37, it simply said “[execute order: Adamant Resolve]”

“Who sent this order?” said John “Computer, who sent it?”
“That information is classified” replied the computer.

Thoughts ran through John’s head “this wasn’t Seekers fault... who sent the message to Seeker?.. what was going on here?”

But more importantly, and what worried him the most was, who could he trust.