Admiral Kanda'
Scattering probes with shuttles looking for any movement. Then making a slow drifting movement into the area that you knew was safe for the moment. The Prowler had made its way deep into Tholian territory. Deeper than any Klingon ship had ever penetrated before. Sliding past outposts and the ever present patrol cruisers under sublight impulse power. The warp engines turned off. If even one Tholian ship were to discover the Prowler the mission would be over and they were surely dead. The Tholian Vessel accelerated into a tight turn and headed into a sweeping arc. "It's looking for more probes captain." Khalin the sensor chief noted. "It suspects that something is amiss. If they analyze the signal strength, they could figure out that we are close."
"We've done this before Khalin." Replied Kanda', "The Drones are Kzinti types and are running under enertia only, they will think that they are duds or misses from a battle close to the border. The type III hulls would indicate a longlance dead run. and the broadcast signal is encoded and of short duration. well enough for our needs but not enough information to give the crystal spiders any great concern. See it found another there." Kanda' pointed to the tactical display where the Tholian had run apon another of the sensor drones. The brief squawk of the drone could be interpreted as a standard drone attempting a lock on. The Prowler however, was monitering these squawks as sensor information. A brief flash of Phaser energy cut off the signal as the drone died. The Tholian vessel made it's way away from the Prowlers location at warp speed. The bridge crew of the Prowler breathed a little easier, though none showed any outward sign.
"Ready another shuttle with three drones." Ordered Kanda' into the arm of his command chair. "Navigator, come to heading 221.43 speed warp one impulse power only. Move us into that belt of asteroids." The Prowler followed the Belt for two weeks, gaining deeper into Tholian territory.
"Web at 310 mark 2, Two Patrol cruisers at 120 mark 65 and 115 mark 43." called out the navigator. "Range 320,000 kilikams and closing. New target, Large signiture, possibly heavy capital ship, 110 mark 3 range 413,000 kilikams speed warp 2.4 and closing. New targets three patrol cruisers bearing 260 mark 7 speed warp 2.7 heading 115 mark 6. Captain, it looks like a training manuever."
"Good, they may not notice us then. Full stop, scanners off, sensors only, keep an eye on your displays. Security, full shutdown of all non essential systems, rig for silent running." Kanda' Chopped out the orders. Luck now would determine if they lived or died. Discovery was death. The Asteroid belt covered them only from the most persistant scanner probes. They watched the manuevering ships in silence. Four days later, they could continue. Kanda' thought on how far they had come into Tholian territory. The mission. Infiltrate the Tholian border, procede into Tholian territory, Investigate the Tholian home world and trade routes, make no attempts at disruption, do not be discovered, learn as much information about the beasts as possible and then make it back to report.
There had been three other attempts at this mission. None of the other ships had ever made it back. The Tholians knew that there were constant attempts from the klingons to gain intelligence on them. It was a fact of war that both races needed to know as much about the other as they could gather. The Tholians however had no need of infiltrating the Klingon Empire, wanting only to keep the klingons out of their territory, they limited themselves to patrolling the border. The Prowler had made it past the patrols undetected obviously. The Tholian Home world loomed huge in the tactical monitor. A massive crystaline structure of spires radiating out from the central mass. The night sky around the mass dotted with the firefly lights of moving ships. Kanda' looked on seething at his orders to not make trouble. Thoughts of Planetary bombs exploding on and around the cystal sphere, reducing it to shards of glass were his only consolation. They hid like vortas, a small mammilian rodent indiginous to the Klingon worlds known for it's stealth, in the asteroid belt of the Tholian home system.
Waiting and watching. The scanners recording all energy radiations. The computers counting the ships as they moved to and from the planetary mass. Tracking the warp signatures, making plots of speed and range. Mapping the Tholian rear area movements. The data was invaluable to the Klingon high command, and every day they spent here, watching, more was learned. Kanda' was absorbed in the watching. The hunter studying his prey. He pondered the signifigance of his actions and thought of the rewards that would be heaped apon him if he was successful in bringing the ship out and back to klingon space. A greater command. A more powerful ship, a battle fleet possibly, maybe even the rank of admiral. This action would be the greatest of coup. If, he reminded himself, he got the ship out in one piece.
His peace was shattered by the Red Alert claxon. For an instant he was afraid. The Adrenaline rush that followed snapped him into action. The fear dissapeared it's usefulness ended. Something had triggered the tripwire behind them in the asteroid belt. It's sensor receiver had reached threshold and triggered a subspace frequency blast. The passive sensors on the Prowler caught it and responded with the red alert signal. The tactical Display came up.
"By it's warp signiture, it's small." Noted the Navigator. "Not any bigger than a patrol cruiser, though it's power curve is smaller too. Could be a freighter, or a tradesman. Might even be unmanned, a mining drone, or a navigating beacon. Bearing 186 mark 2 speed warp 1.5 Heading 357 mark 4. Directly behind us and closing on our tail. If we move and it's manned then they will see us, range 10,000 kilikams and closing. If we sit, they will pass close enough to pick us up on short range scanners and they will know that we are not a rock."
"Weapons, Power up the Stasis Field generator. Energize phasers but not disrupters. We don't want then seeing the glow. Helm turn us slowly to face them manuevering jets only, don't up our power signiture yet, when they close to 48,000 kilikams pop them with the SFG and make heading 92.4 speed maximum impulse power. No warp signature. Shuttlebay, ready the Drone rack for a multi warhead type IV fast low energy signiture ATG to release at 30,000 kilikams." Kanda' rattled off the orders and settled back into the armored command chair.
"Sensors show no active responce to the tripwire. It's still moving same heading, same speed, range 75,000 kilikams and closing. No increase in energy signature. It just passed the second tripwire. Again, no responce, It's right on top of it, it had to have heard it!. range 60,000 kilikams, we are coming to bear on the target. Range 50,000 kilikams, SFG is ready and on line. Captain, we will have to activate scanners to get a lock-on."
"Activate scanners, Weapons as soon as we have a lock, pop him with the SFG. Helm be ready for impulse manuevers. When he wakes up, we want to be lost in those rocks." Kanda' ordered. The Ship responded beautifully, the scanners snapped up and the image of the enemy vessel appeared on the tactical display. A robot freighter making it's way through the asteroid belt. Scanner data flooded in, no weapons, no long range scanners and more importantly no subspace beacons goings.
"Belay all firing orders! Helm manuever around behind the tug, engineering, start up the warp engines, that thing will cover our signature and let us get farther into the system. Helm slap a tractor beam onto the last pod and let it tow us into the system. As soon as we are in tow, shut down the warp engines again. Divert all power to the tractor beam. Weapons, stand down from red alert, transfer power in the phaser capacitor to batteries." This was their ticket into the system. The tug was mindlessly towing a string of pods through the asteroid belt on it's way to some mining station somewhere in the system. They attached themselves to the train and it dutifully increased it's power to maintain speed. For two hours they drifted with the tug into the system, closer to the fourth planet that was the Tholian home world. If the computers could feel they would have screamed with ecstasy at all the data they were collecting. Kanda' was pleased. This mission had been easy. The computers couldn't feel but the DSF intelligence officer assigned to his command could and he WAS screaming in ecstasy. When the tug started to slow down, the Navigator reported that they were closing on a mining platform. Kanda' Ordered the tractor beam disconnected and they drifted off behind the train of pods back into the jumble of asteroids on the outskirts of the belt.
Much closer than they had previously been able to approach. Though now they were in far greater danger of being discovered. If the mining platform had scanners and looked, they would stick out among the rocks because of their bright energy signature. Even a ship with every system except life support turned off is brighter than cold rock. They waited for hours, the time passing slowly. Every eye of the bridge crew turned on the sensor displays. Watching the energy tracks that showed passing ships and scanner flashes.
To anyone not used to watching sensor monitors, the amount of stray scanner energy seemed incredible. An experienced scope man is used to the constant flashes as hundreds or even thousands of ships in the system send out their own beams into the endless night. Normally you just ignored it while you were in system and the computer filtered out just about everything but your own beams, the Prowler, relying on stealth, was not now broadcasting, it was listening and to everything. The constant flashes of scanner beams on the scopes was nerve racking, not knowing if that flash was the one that spotted you, giving away your position to the too many enemies that you were hiding from. It was little comfort to know that they probably weren't looking for you, but everyone likes to believe that they will be the one who notices the unusual. The Prowler would certainly look unusual. A hot spot sitting among the rocks. Even with the warp engines turned off, they were still pretty bright.
At last, the Intelligence officer reported that they had accomplished what they had come here to do. "We can leave now. We have enough information. The data banks are crammed full." Kanda' felt excited. Now they would have to run. But now they could be as visable as they liked at least in a few hours, when they were out of the system. "Helm retrograde into the asteroid field for ten hours under impulse power half speed. Try to look like a freighter outbound. Scanners on, shields on minimum, Engineering, warm up the warp engines, Weapons, trickle charge all systems, keep them warmed up but don't draw any more power than you have to to maintain a low energy signature. Engineer, I want to be able to go to full warp speed within ten hours. We are going home and we may just have to make a run for it. I want to be prepared."
They were out of the asteroid belt. Moving at warp 6 towards the Klingon border. In four hours they would be safe across their own lines, heading back to starbase 17 to make their report. In a few days Kanda' would be an admiral. A hero of the Empire. The Only captain to ever successfully infiltrate and escape the Tholian Home system and return to tell about it. Even if they saw him streaking towards the border now, they couldn't prepare enough of a defence to stop him. A few more hours and he would broadcast the extraction signal that would bring the second Tholian border fleet into the pickup zone. Any chasing ships would have to fight their way through the fleet to get him. Kanda' was very pleased. His carear was going to procede at warp speed.
The Prowler rocked under impact. The bridge crew was staggered by the sudden assualt. Kanda' was thrown from his command chair onto the deck. He quickly regained his feet and looked up at the tactical display. He couldn't believe what he saw. The navigator was reeling off the situation, "Web blocking our path, front shield collapsed on the impact, speed reduced to warp 1.3, we broke through, but we took some damage. Damage control reports a fire in the shuttle bay, controlled, but it will be some time before any shuttle is ready to launch, the bay crew is fighting the fire. Weapons reports that the phaser capacitor discharged its load into the fire control circuits and is working on replacing the modules. Status III can be reached in 10 minutes."
The Com Station officer was next, "Communications coming in on subspace ship to ship channel 4."
The Scanner station officer, "Tholian Cruiser bearing 210 mark 5 range 320,000 kilikams, speed warp 2.4 closing, full shields, weapons armed and ..."
Kanda' cut him short. "Damage control get to work on the front shield, shuttle bay, do you still have that last shuttle armed with the scanner drones and is that drone rack still armed with the type IV?, Weapons, get the phaser capacitor recharged and activate all weapons systems, Helm come to 63.2 mark 34 accellerate to warp 2.4 watch for web. Communications pipe that message in."
"Greetings to the Klingon Commander. I am Scyntle Captain of Tholian Vessel. I see you are returning from your journey into our home system. Welcome back but do not expect to escape with information."
"What makes you believe that we are coming from your home system bug?" asked Kanda' The Shuttlebay chief reported that the fire was out and that the crews would be ready to lauch the shuttle craft within minutes. Weapons reported full readiness. Damage control had the shield repaired but only temporarily.
"Captain, We have been monitoring you since you crossed our border 3 weeks ago. It was my ship who found your sensor probes, your race has tried this before, you are not the first that I have trapped. Your last vessel got as far as two hours from the border before I caught him. You have not done as well I'm afraid. I will offer you the same terms I offered your Captain Kang before I destroyed his ship, Surrender now and you and your men will be interned on Beta Gamma 5."
Beta Gamma 5 had changed hands during the Klingo-Tholian war many times though the Klingons rarely took prisoners, they often found captured Klingon prisoners on the planet. Often they were dead, or worse. They always had tales of torture. It took a lot to horrify a Klingon. "We do not surrender ourselves to anyone" Kanda' informed the Tholian.
"That is what Kang said, before I vaporized him." Quipped Scyntle. The channel was closed. Kanda's Reply was a muttered, 'He was right.'
The Tholian cruiser charged after the Prowler. Kanda' increased speed keeping out in front far enough away that the tholian couldn't effectively fire on them and maintain speed. The Ship Rocked again. The front shield collapsed again and the weapons panel exploded. Kanda' regained his feet shouting questions, "Status report! what the hell was that?"
"Another web sir, it didn't appear on the scanner display, it just appeared in front of us! Uhm.. Speed stopped, front shield gone, right warp engine damaged, 80 percent output, forward phaser mounts have been sheared, the rear phaser mount is arcing due to strong residual energy flux and the aft disruptor bolts are winding down. Losing power fast. The hull has taken some strain and minor damage. The boom locks held but seperation would be risky considering the damage. All other systems are functioning nominally." Reported the engineer.
"Weapons, shut down all damaged systems including the forward phaser mounts. Damage control get on that shield, if we have to turn into the tholian I want something in the way of it's weapons. Shuttlebay, ready the scanner probe armed shuttle with a pilot, I want him to launch when I give the order. and prepare to fire that drone. Weapons, get the SFG warmed up, we are going to bake us a spider." Kanda' motioned the command crew into the ready room.
The Neo-Tholian cruiser closed the distance. The Klingon appeared dead after hitting the cast web at full power. Scanner showed heavy damage to it's limited weapons systems. Scyntle knew that the Klingon was not yet defeated however. He approached with caution. Suddenly The Klingon ship whipped around and there were drones everywhere! How had the klingon gotten out all those drones? His colony mind was buzzing, the tracking scanners had lost lockon temporarily for an instant and now showed The Klingon ship, a shuttlecraft and nine drones! Scyntle was startled, the drones were closing fast, one of the drones lost tracking and went ballistic, dropping to sublight, it would take days to reach their position, but eight others would impact in seconds. He ordered his phaser crews to lock on to the drones and destroy them when they approached to minimal range, there was no danger from the Klingon as the scanners still showed that his weapons were inactive. We will take our time and destroy them totally. The sensor panels went white. His crew was at a loss to explain what had occured but they all knew why the ship was rocking and the display crystals were overloading. The drones had struck their target. Many of the phaser crews had been killed. The number 1 shield was down, there were uncontrolled fires raging in the crew quarters. The sensor panels flickered back on and the klingon opened up with short range phaser fire. Just one but at this range, it did fair damage. The shuttle was firing also. It's phaser III was gutting Scyntles ship. "Hard about he ordered, best speed ...." his thought trailed off. The Klingon ship had dissapeared. The Shuttles were gone.
"Behind us, four drones approaching high warp speed! There the flesh bodies ship it must be behind us! Where did they go?"
"Emergency power to rear shields, turn away from them, phasers kill those drones!" Scyntle was frightened now, The Soft ones had some sort of displacement device, that allowed them to move about at will. Though the Klingon ship was seriously damaged, they were pounding his ship with an amazing amount of firepower! The drones flaired as the phasers lanced out at minimal range and vaporized their targets. "Scanners have returned lockon! The Softbody ship is dead ahead where it was before! How are they doing this scyntle? Moving around us at such fast speeds and then Stopping and firing? All phasers have fired and recharge is underway. They are Firing AGAIN! Impossible so soon!"
The Second volley of phaser fire destroyed the bridge and what was left of the right warp engine. Kanda' was laughing roaringly as the three shuttles emptied their phaser III's into the tholian vessel again. "Keep popping them with the SFG while our weapons recycle, Shuttlebay, get that drone launcher loaded with another MW type IV." Spirits were high on the Prowler. Kanda's Tactic was proving itself. Fire full overloads, launch all drones let the enemy fire all it could fast then hit them with the SFG, pump the power up holding them there, while you recycled your weapons and got ready to fire again, then drop the SFG, fire again for effect and do it again.
"Transporter room. Let's take advantage of our downed shields to prepare a little gift for our guests. A dash of mines in front of them should prove very worthwhile effort. Tractor beam control, prepare to grab that ship for an instant, just to straighten them out. Don't try to maintain the lock just apply enough power to foul up their navigation. Damage control how are the repairs going on the front shield?"
"Scyntle, we must let them go and disengage. We are being battered, the phaser batteries are destroyed, the web caster is damaged, and the engines are going critical. They are firing far too fast and often to deal with, let us get the ship to safety then report to the pickets. We have damaged it, it will be enough. The pickets can take care of it from here." Pleaded Scry, Scyntles first officer.
He made sense. They were getting destroyed sitting there. The Klingons had too much firepower. Dreadnaught firepower coming from a small cruiser. A new Class of ship perhaps, He ordered over the hive mind to disengage, The speed of the ship was high, Accelerate around the Klingon and place him behind. Get between him and the border, make repairs and maybe another shot. They were Four hours from the border, a lot could happen in four hours.
"Release The SFG, Slap that tractor beam on him, save the phaser fire, reenforce that front shield instead of loading the disruptor. Keep an Eye on him, he's moving awfully fast." Kanda' urged the bridge crew.
"He's trying to turn, the tractor beam has him, he's starting to slew, dropping power from the tractor beam." Khalin shouted.
"Tractor Beam from the Klingon has us gripped. Shall I apply power to break it?" Asked Scry, but before Scyntle could answer, the ship wrenched over facing the Klingons and the lock was gone. "We must have broken it with our speed, or they could not maintain the power." Scry sounded pleased, Scyntle thought , but something was wrong. The Klingon had shown that he was a very resourceful and creative commander. He would not have tried to Tractor the cruiser unless he had the power to be successful, unless....
The Scanners erupted first, then massive explosions kicked the Tholian vessel around like a toy. The warp engine containment valve vaporized and the antimatter vesicle ruptured. The chief engineer had enough time to realize that everyone was dead, an instant before it was reality.
"He's trying to turn! Tractor beam wiped out his turning energy, he doesn't even see the mines. He's run over them, There...." Brilliant flashes of energy detonated silently on the tactical display. The Tholian Ship struck the mines physically with no shield to take the energy, the hull of the Cruiser buckled as the bombs overcame the deflectors and ripped away the entire front section of the ship.
Kanda' chuckled as he watched the last remaining phaser and disruptor blast into the Tholian Vessel at 20,000 kilikams. The bridge was lit from the flash, the tactical display darkened automaticaly. The Sensor displays whited out as the Tholian ship disintegrated. "Engineering, make best speed to the border, engage warp drive, secure from red alert."
The Prowler reached the Border four hours later, speeding past the few border patrols at high warp. One patrol cruiser tried to intercept, but Kanda' broadcast the exstraction beacon and elements of the Second Tholian Border Fleet showed up to meet the Prowler. The lone patrol cruiser quickly faded out of the area.
Starbase 17 loomed large in the view screen. The tactical intelligence officer of the DSF assigned to the Prowler, stepped into the transporter beam, holding onto the anti-grav memory cart. The Computer records of all that had occured on the mission since they had left here more than a month before. Kanda' beamed over to the starbase and made his way to the officers lounge. Admiral Kourouse would want to see him after the intelligence officer debriefed him on the mission. Then it was his turn. Meanwhile he might be able to soak up some juice and retvans and breath real air for awhile. after a few drinks he beamed down to Juxan 3, the planet that the Starbase orbited. He stretched out on the grass and looked out over the hills. He thought about how good it was to be a warrior and how glorious combat was. For a while he basked in the light of the star.