T'leera gave him a small nod. "Carry on, Commander. Once you've purged the malicious code then we'll run a test on the new systems. The alert from the Horizon indicated the ambushing craft was still in the vicinity."

“Very good, Captain” Iren replies.  “Let us go.”  He turns to the communicator. “Mr Norn, please meet us in the Auxiliary Bridge where we will combine our efforts against the computer sabotage.”

—> Auxiliary Operations Systems
This message was last edited by the player at 21:27, Fri 01 Apr 2022.

Aye Commander

Norn swiftly made his way to the aux bridge to work this mess out.

@Tleera

=^= Sub-Commander Calaar to the Captain. I trust things have settled down and I could not help but notice that we have altered course. I will need to provide an update to the High Command. Can I trouble you for some details? =^=

From: Security

Lieutenant Serrano stepped off the Turbolift and relieved the officer covering her station as she resumed her place at Tactical.

"Captain, I now see possible hostile ship engagement as part of the ongoing Yellow Alert. I apologize, I was supervising my staff and making several sensitive inquiries. What is the situation?" she asked, quickly trying to discover the possible danger.

"And I can report my team's findings, and the result of my inquiries to you hear or in private at your convenience," Valéria asked, after she had made sure Security was forwarding her details liked she had asked.

=^= We've received a distress signal and have changed course to provide aid. =^=

She looked up when Lt. Gomes spoke and gave her a small nod. "No need to apologise, Lieutenant. We received a distress call from the USS Horizon and have moved to provide aid. Their message indicates they were set upon by an unknown vessel and have lost their sensor array, warp, and impulse."

She stood and walked for her ready room. "My ready room, please. I am interested to hear what you found."

To: Ready Room-------->

This message was last edited by the player at 17:42, Sat 02 Apr 2022.

"Aye Captain," Lieutenant Serrano replied, immediately turning her station back to the lower Tactical Officer.

She followed the Captain to the Ready Room without further comment.

To: Ready Room

@Tleera

=^= Very well. I should hope that I will be able to add detail to explain our delay to my government. I will let them know once we resume our primary mission. =^=

Phoenix speeds toward the Horizon's distress call, dropping out of warp on the edge of a densely packed system around Lilsis. Over two dozen planetoids and moons are jammed around the star into a section of space no larger than the distance between Mercury and Earth. Keeping your distance outside the orbit of the outermost planets, there are flashes of hot gas and crackling ionic lightning as volatile tekasite asteroids collide in the rings of the largest planet, Lilsis 26.

Without any efforts, you detect a debris trail, it's clear that a ship was badly damaged, but it doesn't seem to be enough debris to indicate that a ship had been destroyed. There is no sign of Horizon.

"Raise shields," T'leera called out as they arrived at the destination. "Scan for the Horizon, please."

"Aye, aye, Captain!" Kotar replied, already scanning the local region of space for any objects of interest.

A quick button combination brought the indicator lights and display of a fully functioning defensive shield.

"Shields up Captain. Shall I charge Phaser banks and load Photon Torpedoes?" Lieutenant Serrano asked with the same casual tone that someone might inquire as to what lunch a friend was getting from the Replicator.

"Yes, please," T'leera responded to Lt. Serrano as she made some calculations as to where the Horizon could go given the amount of damage it sustained and the fact that their warp drive was offline.

She pressed a panel on her chair and brought up the internal comms. "All hands to action stations, this is not a drill. All hands to action stations."

She turned to look at her bridge crew and nodded. She was satisfied by what she saw and sensed amongst the officers and ratings on the bridge.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:19, Fri 22 Apr 2022.

Without comment, Lieutenant Serrano entered the series of commands in order to make it so. As she did, she felt the thrill of immanent danger flood through her body, and it was all she could do to suppress a grin. This is where she belonged. She didn't seek violence, but she thrived when it happened. Honestly, she completely understood the Klingon's eternal search for glory, even if she thought it was antiquated. She would rather protect than conquer, but she understood the addictive nature of star-ship battle.

Almost as an afterthought, she keyed Security to battle stations and emergency protocols. They might have casualties teleporting aboard soon, after all.

Sirin showed up at the bridge and immediately went to the engineering console.

He made sure someone was at the main engineering "pool table" as well.

"You heard the lady, Red Alert!" Brynn said checking the ship's status on her command console.

@Brynn, @Serrano

Red Alert 14:29, Today: Starfleet, on behalf of Commander Rebbek Brynn, rolled 7 using 2d6+2 ((2,3)). WEAK SUCCESS Hold 1

Shields at 100%, Phaser arrays charged and ready, all combat systems nominal.

---

@Norn Power distribution in Sickbay is back to normal and while there are still some power fluctuations impacting on minor subsystems, it's nothing that stops Phoenix from being combat ready.

Engines at half impulse and purring like a tribble.

Phaser banks, torpedo launchers, sensors and the cloaking device mounted in the pod are all operational.

---

@Krenn

Perform a Scan 14:23, Today: Starfleet, on behalf of Kotar Krenn Sogh, rolled 10 using 2d6 ((5,5)). STRONG SUCCESS
Hold 2 and I'll answer 'What just happened here?'

Sensors are picking up a moderately size debris trail. Based on the composition of the metallic alloys in the debris, you easily determine that it comes from a Federation ship. Several larger pieces of debris obviously came from a Federation ship's warp nacelles confirming the message in the distress call that Horizon is dead in the water.

With the interference from the tekasite and the time that has passed since the attack, you aren't picking up any lingering energy patterns that might identify a weapons signature and the carbon scoring on the debris is consistent a number of energy weapon systems but the thermal residue on several sections of what looks like Horizon's warp nacelles could only have been caused by Federation photon torpedoes.

Could Horizon have been attacked by another Federation ship?

Kotar plots the debris trail to determine the likely position of the Horizon based on the vectors of the expelled detritus. He also sets his sensors to sweep along the trail for signs of life.

Kit at receives an intercom call from Iren The worm is proving a little troublesome.  Assistance would be welcome

From Stellar Cartography

"Bring the extra sensors up and scan the debris field, please," the Captain calmly called out. The thought that a Federation vessel had attacked Horizon was troubling but assuming, making calls was not the Vulcan way. She needed data before she concluded anything. For now all they could do was continue and hope there were survivors.

Sadly hope was not a plan.

T'leera was well-known for being very powerful in the telepathic arts used by her people. She was also one of the few vulcans capable of telekinesis which, whilst useful, was rather draining. Scanners could be beaten or avoided but there was no hiding the amount of minds present in a starship which she looked for; casting her mind into space in an attempt to find the Horizon and/or her attacker.

“Aya, aye, Captain,” Kotar acknowledged, continuing his sensor sweep of the area.

@Kotar The debris trail leads deeper into the system, but conclusive results are difficult due to tekasite interference.

If you do something to counter that interference, spend hold and tell me what you find in that sensor sweep.

---

@T'leera Your mind stretches into the void of space. Even in these relatively tight astronomical confines, the distances are incredibly vast. But, there is something out there. Hundreds of minds, out there in the cold and dark, huddled together, afraid.

"The crew of the Horizon is out there. Alive, cold, and afraid," the Captain called out. "I'm attempting to ascertain their location. Stand by to make course changes."

She continued searching for them, attempting to narrow down where they were and if there was something else out there, waiting to strike.

He was no tactical officer, but he'd literally lost his mother to a situation like this.

He didn't really have time to mess with the stellar cartography worm, as that would require him to be there. Instead, he downloaded the sensor readings from science and put them through his tactical database.

Torpedos had their own distinctive markings from their detonations. A skilled science officer like Kotor could figure out a lot from reading the energy patterns, work out the explosion patterns, and extrapolate what happened.

But an engineer like Norn could do other things.

Now that he had access to the readings, Norn could examine the sensor data and apply his own knowledge of both Starfleet ship systems and modifications. Such as the infamous Orion engine doubling phenomenon, or dangerous "overloaded" torpedos, proximity detonators, or even faked damage.

Scan 22:23, Today: Lieutenant(jg) Sirin Norn rolled 6 using 2d6+3. Eww!

OOC: He'll do that. No idea how.