Tantamount to the Rescue

Posted on Wed Feb 20, 2019 @ 8:23pm by 2nd Lieutenant Gage Aravan & Lieutenant Commander Arrda & Lieutenant JG Logan Hunter & Major Kasia S'er'in'e & Lieutenant JG Lucia Cusack & Ensign Kenneth Henderson

Mission: On Slippery Ground
Location: Runabout Tantamount
Timeline: MD 1 || 1300 Hours

Second Lieutenant Gage Aravan led a squad of elite Marines to the Tantamount where they boarded the Danube class runabout and took their seats in the back of it. "When we board, we'll have no idea who or what we'll be up against, so phasers u on stun only," he instructed them. A round of "Aye, Sir!" followed with the Marines checking their weapons.

The newly married Major boarded the runabout after checking her gear, then looked toward Gage. "Have you told the others no hostile force?"

"I have, Major," Gage responded.

Kasia nodded her approval and moved to sit with the rest of her Marines. She didn't know what was going to be waiting for them, but the Major her done her level best to prepare herself, and her people for a few different possibilities. A very large part of her, though, hoped there wouldn't be any explosions. She'd had enough of those.

Arrda examined his Security team before boarding the shuttle, making sure each one was ready and alert. "When we do board the Apollo, we don't know what to expect, so be alert, keep your wits and set your phasers to stun. Any questions?"

Ensuring her rifle was set to stun Lucia looked at Arrda and shook her head. This was an unexpected away mission to say the least - however Martha had always told her wife to expect the unexpected and be prepared for the worst.

"No questions" Lucia replied.

Getting similar indications from the rest of the team, Arrda indicated for them to enter the shuttle and take their places. He followed behind them, securing the door, and then took his own seat.

The pilot, a Bolian female that held the rank of Lieutenant, powered up the Tantamount and requested clearance.

"You are clear for launch," came the voice of the Flight Control Officer and looked back at the others. "We'll be going in hot, so everyone buckle in."

"Do you think we should split up?" Kasia asked. She didn't have any issues working with Starfleet Security like other Marines did. After all, they shared a common goal. "It may not be the best idea to go in as a large group. That will only draw more attention to us, which may not be a good thing considering we don't know what we're walking in to."

Arrda considered the marine XO's words thoughtfully. "You're likely right." he agreed after a moment. "Perhaps two waves then?" he suggested.

Logan watched The Tantamount exit the runabout bay. He pulled his Valkyrie alongside the portside. "Runabout Tantamount, Valkyrie escort is coming alongside your portside."

"Two waves," the Major confirmed.

"I agree, Major." Arrda told her. "Would you prefer separate teams or mixed?" he asked, not minding either way.

Kasia looked thoughtful for a moment. She didn't mind a mix of Security and Marines, but the question was... would the others? They all had a common goal, and if anyone stepped out of line, they would be dealt with. "A mix would work well in our favor, I believe. Most people believe that Marines and Security can't work together. I am not one of those people."

The Italian security officer sat in her seat in the shuttlecraft with the butt of her rifle resting on the floor.

Lucia nodded. "I agree with the Major. The mixed teams I have been a part of have worked very well"

Arrda glanced at his officer and nodded with a slight smile. "Thank you, Lieutenant." he said, returning his attention to the marine major then. "I also happen to agree. Each section stresses different skillsets. This can be very beneficial. How would you like to divide our people up?" He could have given his opinion, but he didn't know her people as well as she did.

"I'm not sure that matters as everyone here is a more than competent officer," the Russian woman replied. "I'd like to hear your opinion."

The Boiian pilot looked over her shoulder and waited for one of the officers to give her the go ahead to launch.

"Affirmative, helm. Take us out," Kasia ordered. She had no other excuse in not giving the order aside from being a bit preoccupied with what could possibly happen.

Kenneth's fighter pulled up along side the runabout. The mission seemed easy, a milk run. Escort the marines to their destination. He maintained radio silence, it was not really his place to say anything. He was the wingman for Logan and providing security. He had trained in the simulators for combat piloting maneuvers, for scenarios like the badlands.

Being in a simulator was one thing. He was trying to convince himself this was a milk run. He had run several simulations of combat drills through the badlands, with a success. However being near the badlands, his stomach started to feel heavy, and he was nervous. He tried to blow it off, trying to allow his ego to tell himself, you got this.

His heart rate accelerated as he kept a tight control over the consoles, he tapped on the communications channel. "Gryphon to Zorro, I am in optimal position. Ready to kick the tires, and light fires." He said, with a little humor. He was trying to pump himself up for this mission.

Logan peered out the canopy to Kenneth's starfighter. He detected the eagerness in his wingman's voice. "We stay tight in on the runabout, find the Apollo, provide cover for the boarding operation."

"Aye, Major," the Bolian responded before taking the runabout to warp on the trail of the Apollo as it entered The Badlands. For a few minutes, the area remained clear, then a plasma tornado spun up out of nowhere, forcing the Tantamount to veer off to port so hard that the inertial dampeners strained to compensate.

Gage was nearly slammed into a bulkhead, but managed to grab ahold of a seat before he pulled himself into it. "A little warning next time!" he called out.

"There was warning, Mister Aravan," Kasia stated.

Arrda shifted his feet, bracing himself and thus keeping himself in his seat. This was nothing to the crash of his ship so long ago, so he rode the wave easily enough. His mind was working on the teams. "Well, in truth, you're correct. It doesn't make much difference." He glanced over the people around them for a moment, then divided them up to create a balance of Security and Marines as well as a balance of male to female officers. He tried, in fact, to create as much of a balance as he could with what he knew of them. He then looked back to the lady Marine to see her reaction to his split.

He was not thinking of the thousand and ten things that could go horribly wrong or even the thousand possible things that might greet them. The simple fact was that there was no way for them to know, so all he could do was prepare for anything and adapt to what came. And now I sound like Dekotah or Varra. he mused to himself, the Seeker mentality of adaptation having presented itself.

Kasia nodded her approval. These were teams that could be worked with. "The only adjustments I have would be 2nd Lieutenant Aravan with you, and Lieutenant Cusack with me."

Arrda nodded. "Agreed." Cusack was one of his top people, and Aravan was likely one of hers; so it made sense to swap them. He looked to Lucia. "You'll be with Major Petrova's team."

"Take us to the Apollo," the Major ordered. "Shields up, just in case they're not feeling very welcoming. We'll cross any further bridges, if there are any, when we get to them."

"Lieutenant..Major," the Bolian pilot said. "We're receiving a data packet from the Triumphant. It looks like an upgrade to the sensors, Sirs."

Arrda looked over, standing and approaching the pilot's position. "Double check that the origin credentials are indeed Triumphant, and if they are, install it." he told the Bolian, watching over the pilot's shoulder.

"Confirmed," he said. "Doing so now."

=^=Mother Goose to Valkyrie One. What's your status?=^= came the Commodore's voice to the fighters.

=^=Mother Goose, Valkyrie One. All systems nominal. There's some bounce back with the active sensors, but I think it's distortion from the plasma field coming up on the port side. How copy, over?=^=

=^=Mother Goose copies five by five=^= came the response as the Bolian pilot began to close the distance to the Apollo, then hesitated.

"The sensors are picking up two other ships," he said. "However, I can't determine what class or who they belong to at this range."

Kasia arched a brow. There weren't supposed to be any other ships as far as she knew. Could one of them have been the Victorious? It was possible, but they wouldn't know for sure until they were closer. "Two others not including the Apollo, or is it one of them?" she asked as she rose to her feet to move toward the front of the runabout. It was time for her to see some of this for herself.

Logan saw the two unidentified craft on his sensors at almost the same time as the Tantamount. There was very little chance the new players were friendlies, but he didn't want to engage unless it was confirmed they were hostiles. =^=Mother Goose, Zorro. Two bogies at bearing 345 mark 290, distance 4000 kilometers. Request permission to close and identify. Gryphon can close the gap on Apollo and still maintain position to cover you or back me up as needed.=^=

=^=You are clear for weapons free=^= came the Commodore's response to Logan.

"Two ships and the Apollo," the Bolian pilot responded to Kasia.

That's what she was afraid of. What the hell could they do in a runabout? Not much. "Arm weapons in case we need them," she ordered.

Arrda was no happier than the Major was. He frowned, but she had given the right order, beating him to it by seconds. He looked back to the others in the back of the runabout. "Everyone ready. This may get a bit... touchy."

The pilot armed the single torpedo launcher and powered up the Type IX phaser array. "Weapons are armed and ready," he confirmed as he messaged the fighters. =^=Tantamount to fighters. We are on approach to Apollo.=^=

"Hail the Apollo," the Major ordered.

Logan brought his Valkyrie in at a 60 degree offset to the lead bogie's intercept with the Apollo. Short range sensors identified the craft as two Corsair class Orion interceptors. He brought up a magnified image on his HUD and noticed each one fixed with two dorsal mounted cargo pods.

Logan hailed the Corsairs. =^=Unidentified Corsair-class vessels, this is Lieutenant junior grade Hunter from the USS Triumphant. You are ordered to change course and land aboard the Triumphant. I will disable your vessels if you fail to comply. How copy?=^=

Response from the Corsairs was immediate, but not all together unexpected. Both vessels initiated an attack run on Logan's Valkyrie. Weak phasers were no match for the shields of a state-of-the-art starfighter.

Kenneth was directly at Logan's ten o'clock. He was listening in, waiting for the go ahead order to engage. No official order was given, but the Peregrines had opened fire. Kenneth and Logan's ships took evasive action. "Gryphon to Zorro, request weapons free, we have been fired upon?" He asked, making sure to follow protocol and his chain of command.

Logan put his Valkyrie into an evasive series of twists and high-speed turns. "Gryphon, Zorro you are weapons free. Time to smoke there bastards." He pulled about an went for missile lock on the trailing Corsair. If he could take out the wingman, the leader would have little chance against two Valkyries.

Kenneth synced his attack with Logan's, they were both aiming for the support ship. Just as soon as they got a lock, a new warning indicator went off. Kenneth looked at his screens.

The Bolian pilot opened a hailing frequency "USS Tantamount to USS Apollo. Please drop out of impulse and explain yourselves."

The channel crackled with the interference from The Badlands, but the response came back. "We owe you no explanation, Federation. Stand down or prepare to be destroyed!"

Kasia frowned. What the hell was going on. "Identify yourself," she ordered.

Instead of responding, the Apollo fired a single photon torpedo and the Bolian pilot swerved the runabout hard to port and accelerated. "The hard way," he muttered.

The Major sneered. They wanted to play dirty? "Petrova to Triumphant, we're being fired upon."

=^=Acknowledged, Tantamount. We'll be there soon.=^= Came the response.

Arrda frowned as he braced himself. The Bolian was very good, he noted. His eyes flicked to Petrova as she spoke to the Triumphant. She was also very good. Perhaps he should have been quicker on that response, but there was nothing for it now. Instead, he moved to take the weapons. "I can try to knock those out before they reach us." he suggested as he configured the board and watched the Apollo to see if they would fire again.

"Zorro the Tantamount, is under attack. Do we pull back or stay on primary target?" Kenneth asked, the fighters now had a target lock on the support fighter. He was curious to see what Logan chose to do.

"Gryphon, fall back and support the Tantamount. Target the nacelles and prevent Apollo from going to warp." Logan got tone indicating he had a good missile lock. "I'll keep these guys busy and join you in two minutes." He cut loose with a pair of missiles on the trailing Corsair.

Kenneth did not like the idea of leaving the CAG, he was the wingman. But he understood the stakes. "Roger that Zorro, beginning my attack run now." Kenneth said, as his fighter came about, and went after the USS Apollo. He gained a target.

After a few seconds, his fighter's weapons were now locked on the Apollo. "Have a lock, commencing attack run." Kenneth called out, feeling a little out of place. He did not like attacking a Federation ship, but he really did not have a choice. He was given direct order.

Kasia turned her attention to Arrda. "Lieutenant, I believe this is your area of expertise. We have no choice but to return fire," she said, looking to the pilot. "Evasive maneuvers. We needs to keep ourselves in one piece until backup arrives."

Arrda sighed. He hated the idea of firing on another Starfleet ship, but he had been given no choice. "May the Mother Creator forgive me..." he muttered to himself as he locked his weapons onto the fleeing Apollo, targeting its weapons systems, and fired.

The Apollo didn't try to dodge, but the phasers of the Tantamount hit the shields without penetrating.

The pilot closed the distance while continuing to maneuver before something caught her eye on the sensors. "There's a plasma tornado spinning up in her path," she said. "Try a torpedo off her nose to get her in that direction."