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Stardate: 940717
Location:
DragonCon, Atlanta
From
the moment the crew of the I.K.V. Blackfire arrived at this all-important
meeting there was treachery afoot. A festering wound was not healing on that
once great ship. An atmosphere of political intrigue had prevailed for some time
and was growing like a well-fed Rigellian port rat. Most of the crew was looking
forward to some well-deserved shore leave and some honest fun, but this was
destined not to be. The away team, led by the legendary Kasak found the scene to
be one of confusion and there was a dangerous lack of security. They sought out
the commander of the Shadow Rider and reported their findings to him. He
informed them not to worry; all was being taken care of.
Immediately, K'raggk, Chief of Security for the Blackfire assigned
members of the away team to protect Kasak, as he is a member of the Klingon
royal family and vulnerable to attack. It was not known that the attack would
come from within the royal family itself.
Later
that first evening, there was a meeting of all commanders of the Klingon ships
that had arrived. Kasak was not informed of this meeting. In fact, he had been
told there was no meeting, it had been canceled, and all that was happening was
a social gathering and there was no specific time set for anyone to attend.
Kasak would have attended this meeting on time if there had been an honorable
announcement. Since there was none, he decided to attend the "social
gathering" after finding something suitable for he and the away team to
eat. When Kasak announced he was going to eat, K'yo, Doq', Kveqlargh, and Modaw
declined, this left K'raggk, Kctamacch, Gelly and Katta to accompany Kasak for
dinner.
After
dinner, this small band returned to the convention area where they were informed
that there was a commanders meeting with the Deep South Quadrant Commander and a
very high-ranking Admiral. They were also informed that K'yo had gone to the
meeting. After finally finding the meeting (they were wrongly informed as to the
location),it was mostly over. Kasak asked the DSQ Commander what was expected of
the Blackfire crew. The DSQ Commander stated K'yo had all the information. Kasak
asked K'yo for the information, and K'yo shoved a stack of papers at him and
said, "That's all I know." This was a direct affront to Kasak from one
of his subordinates. This, although not known at the time, was a portent of
things to come.
The
next morning, K'tag, Captain of the Blackfire, beamed down to the convention. He
was given the papers Kasak had received the night before. After a meager
breakfast (the Terran staff did not know how to properly feed Klingons yet), the
entire crew went to the convention center and met with the crews of the other
Klingon ships in attendance. K'raggk was placed in overall charge of security
for the Klingon contingent, supposedly with the help of the other ships crews.
The crew of the Blackfire while performing these duties missed many important
functions. The poor attitudes of the other ships crews toward the honorable
performance of duties were noted by many of the crew of the Blackfire.
Later
that day, an awards ceremony was held, and many Blackfire crewmembers received
promotions, awards, and honorifics. This ceremony was a complete farce and an
insult to the true warriors of the Blackfire. Kasak was given a blank piece of
paper as his promotion certificate, a piece of paper with only another warrior's
name on it as his honorific certificate. Kctamacch
and Katta were not publicly promoted, but were informed of their promotions in a
whisper on the side by K'taj, as if he were ashamed of promoting two such
warriors. Shortly after the ceremony, K'taj stealthily approached K'raggk and
stated he had tried to block the promotion of Kasak to Lt. Commander. K'raggk
asked, "why?" This was yet another sign that there was treachery
afoot.
A
true Klingon party was announced for later that night and all were looking
forward to it. When the time arrived for the party, K'raggk was suffering from
an old war wound to his leg, so he did not attend, and stayed in his quarters
watching old Terran hologram programs. It was at the party that the full scope
of the treachery was unveiled. Kasak was asked to resign his post as first
officer of the Blackfire due to the fact he had been accused of being a
Federation spy. Kasak vehemently denied these charges and refused to step down.
It was demanded that he resign, at which time he said "I will not only step
down, I will resign all rank, position, and membership in such a dishonorable
group of cowards!” and departed. Kctamacch, Gelly and Katta also resigned due
to the dishonorable treatment of Kasak and left with him to return to their
quarters.
The
morning of the third day K'raggk was informed of what had happened. He
immediately swore allegiance to Kasak, as did Katta, Gelly and Kctamacch. Later
that morning, Modaw also joined them. This left the group without a ship, a
small triviality they would soon rectify.
Rebels,
rogues, pirates, mercenaries, whatever the name, this small group were now
outcasts of their own choosing. They, as a group despised their dishonorable
former leaders. They were all honorable warriors of legendary status and refused
to associate with cowardly space scum. In all the universe no more formidable
groups of rogues has ever been known. Their exploits will be sung for a thousand
generations.
It
only took a few moments to become familiar with the controls, and soon the group
was ready to depart. Kctamacch set the heading and programmed the computer to
leave Earth. He announced all was ready. Kasak gave the order to engage the
impulse engines, and Kctamacch pressed the proper button. Absolutely nothing
happened. "May the blood fleas of a thousand targhs infest my battle
jacket!" Kctamacch exclaimed, "This thing has a pass code interlock,
and we don't know what in Klinzai it is!" Kasak said, “Well, don't just
sit there cursing, do something! "Katta provided a solution. "Here on
Earth, there is a certain element of society that do what is called 'hot-wiring'
when they steal a ship. "You mean bypass all the safety interlocks and
over- rides?" K'raggk asked. "Exactly!" Kctamacch exclaimed, and
with that he dove under the control panel. Soon relays, wires, optical cables
and other such items soon began flying from under the panel. After a few seconds
work Kctamacch reappeared and stated he was ready to try again. Kasak pushed the
button and this time the ship lifted off and headed out on the proper course.
"Warp six, that's all this thing will do is Warp six!?!?" K'raggk
cried. "A cadet loop ship does warp seven! This thing moves slower than a
Regulan slug-mole! A broken itinerant trade ship could overtake us!!"
"Take it easy K'raggk, I happen to know of a discreet salvage yard where we
can upgrade this ship and really make it move." Modaw said with a smug look
on his face as he tried to calm his shipmate. "I certainly hope so Modaw,
and we need to get there fast before those Federation slime worms catch
us." K'raggh replied. "We are only fifteen parsecs away from it now.
Just be patient, You'll like what you see."
Shortly afterward, the tug slowed and locked into orbit around a medium
sized asteroid just outside Orion space. K'raggk groaned as a holographic sign
focused in front of the ship. "By Kahless!! I'll be the uncle of a Romulan!
I thought he was dead. In any case
he should have been beheaded years ago." "HARRY MUDD & SON, SPACE SALVAGE. OUR BEST
DEAL IS YOUR STEAL" The hologram was one of those garish ones, done in
bright obnoxious colors with no concern for artistic merit. It got ones
attention, but also made one wince at the same time. As the ship was settling on
a badly pitted pad the crew could see a very obese man with stubble of a beard
hobbling toward them from the vicinity of a shelter. "Hail noble warriors
of Romulus, I, the one and only Harry Mudd welcome you toooooo..."his words
trailed off as he realized he was speaking to Klingons and not Romulan. "I,
uh, beg your forgiveness.... I thought I saw Romulan markings on your ship, so I
naturally assumed you were... ahh,
but you're not...are you?" Kasak
looked down at the human and said, "It is of no concern of yours what
markings are on our ship. We have come to refit it and you will help, won't
you." "Why, heh, heh,
heh, yes, of course. Myself and all I have are at your service. Harry Mudd
doesn't ask unwanted questions, no sir, I know when to leave well enough
alone...Could I interest you in some Regulan Fire Wine?"
Kctamacch and
Modaw were busily refitting the tug with some of the latest in weaponry and
sensor arrays when Harry Mudd walked up. "Hmmm. Klingon Vortex warp
engines. They have lots of power, but no speed. If I don't miss my guess, you'll
be wanting power and speed, won't you?"
This
caught Kctamacch ear, "What do you have in mind Mudd?"
Oh just a little jewel
I, uh,'salvaged' a while back. Care to take a look?"
The three of them went to a large shelter in a back corner of the yard.
Once inside, they saw Mudd's "jewel", the remains of a Romulan
prototype gunship and mounted in it was a completely intact Romulan Singularity
Drive Engine. "Islands of
Klinzai! We have to have that engine," Modaw exclaimed. Kctamacch was a little more reserved, having dealt with
Mudd's type before. "Yes, it would be nice to have, what is your price
Mudd?" Mudd scratched his chin
and said" Not much, only both of your Vortex engines... and, uhh, shall we
say twenty bars of platinum gold?"
Both
Mudd and Modaw were astounded that the normally reserved Kctamacch would make
such a hasty deal. As the crew were removing the old engines and installing the
singularity drive, Modaw and the rest discovered why he had made the deal. On
the Romulan gunship there were two rail guns each capable of hurling a mass
weighing one ton at near light velocities. There were also two long range
disruptor cannons and two photon torpedo tubes along with a supply of fifty new
Romulan Mark XXXXVIII torpedoes. These were not part of the deal, but became part of the ship
through Klingon trade "superiority"
During their
stay at Mudd’s, the crew had learned to make unobtrusive take-offs by
reversing the polarity of the ships powerful tractor beams as replusors. Once
free of Mudd and his asteroid the crew tried out their new engine. Almost
immediately upon engagement of the engine, they were astounded to find that
while traveling at Warp fifteen they still had power to spare.
Testing by Kctamacch revealed that the ship could tow a Galaxy Class
Starship at Warp twelve After much discussion among the crew, they took a vote on the
name of their new ship. The unanimous choice was "ROGUE PHOENIX"
There my friend
is the story of how the Rogue Phoenix came to be. There is one sad note in this
story; K'raggk was killed in a battle with the Blackfire. He died a true
warriors death, and he will be remembered. K'raggk has been replaced by a
warrior of no less ranking. Though he is not a full-blooded Klingon, he fits in
the crew just as well. He is part Klingon, part Orion, part Romulan, and part
Terran. He is all warrior, he is Trakk.
There are many
adventures of the Rogue Phoenix. I will endeavor to relate them to you from time
to time. Until then remember the axiom of the Rogue Phoenix...
Journal
of the Rogue Phoenix
Part
II
"Sweet
Justice"
At the time of
the writing of this installment of the journal, the Rogue Phoenix and her crew
has gone through some adjustments in their lives. A loose alliance has been
formed with the Federation of Planets and Starfleet.
This alliance allows for mutual protection in time of trouble and gives
the Rogue Phoenix access to Federation space.
The crew has been successful in providing tows for disabled passengers.
All would seem well for any other ship, but then they do no have a crew
like the Rogue Phoenix.
"By the
wounds of Kahless! I am going out of my mind with boredom!" Kctamacch was
pacing the bridge like a chained tiger. "You know what we have become? A
fat, lazy crew on an intergalactic wrecking vessel, that's what!
Need a tow sir? Yes sir, K’raggk will be happy to transport over and
fix your faulty toilet system." "I do not fix broken toilets!"
snarled K’raggk as he looked up from the navigation console, "that is
work for a kuve not a warrior."
"Some
warriors we are!" continued Kctamacch; "We haven't even been in a
decent bar fight in months!"
"Settle
down Kctamacch, you are as grumpy as a Gorn with a toothache." Kasak
growled sitting relaxed in the captain’s chair peacefully eating a dish of
Gaak.
Ketta came onto
the bridge, "What is the problem? I could hear Kctamacch complaining all
the way back in engineering."
This gave
Kctamacch another opportunity to begin anew. "In
all the known systems and probably a few we don't know about, there is not a
sadder bunch of warriors as inhabits this ship!" He was on a roll now.
"Just look at you Ketta, wearing those disgusting Vulcan robes, they do not
even allow the smallest bit of cleavage to show. It's so...so...un-Klingon to
wear things like that!" If looks could kill, the one Ketta gave him would
have diced, sliced, and fried Kctamacch.
"Your
trouble is that you are too traditional, you have all the culture of an
Axxnarian dung eater!" scolded Ketta.
"Culture!?....
Culture!?.... I am a Klingon warrior I'm not supposed to have any culture! If I
need culture, I go out and conquer it!" concluded Kctamacch.
This little
disagreement lasted the better part of five Terran time cycles. The final
result, none, in fact all that came of it was it made everyone on the ship so
hungry they went to the galley and ate the ship's entire stock of chocolate.
The next few
weeks passed uneventfully, until at one point the crew got some entertainment.
The ship made a short stop a Deep Space Nine where Kctamacch worked out
some of his energy fighting a battle in on of Quark's holosuites with a
Kinshaya. Then he and the rest of the crew worked off some more by
getting into a bar fight of epic proportions and very nearly destroying Quark's
bar. After a three-day stay in a detention cell and paying for damages and
medical treatment for those unfortunate beings that happened to disagree with
them, Constable Odo escorted all but Modaw back to the Rogue Phoenix. He
informed them that in no uncertain terms how displeased he would be if they
returned in the foreseeable future.
Modaw remained
behind after swearing on his honor he would not cause trouble.
You see, Modaw had met this particularly alluring Cardassian female and
he wanted to get to know her better.
While on DS9, a
rather strange person booked passage on the Rogue Phoenix.
He did not give a name, nor was one asked for.
He was unusual in the fact he was human but wore traditional Klingon
battle armor. The stranger retired to his sparse cabin and did not come out
until much later in the journey. They
had also picked up a very old cryogenic capsule of the type once used to place
humans in cryo-suspension. Oddly
enough, both the stranger and the cryogenic capsule were to be taken to a remote
outpost on Delta Khinah II.
As the Rogue
Phoenix was passing through the Beta Quadrant they received a sub-space message
from the Governor-General of the planet Kannaga asking if they had room for a
passenger who was being deported from that planet. "What is the nature of
this person's offense?" Kasak asked.
The
Governor-General seemed both surprised and pleased to see that Kasak was a
Klingon. "Well captain, the
passenger is one of your race, a Klingon."
"That is
interesting sir, but what is his offense?" Kasak repeated.
"Ah yes,
his offense is a rather delicate matter, do you have a closed link in your
communications system?"
"Yes we
do, however, I do not think it is necessary in order to book passage."
"Captain
please humor me, I believe you will understand."
Kasak gave the
order to switch to a closed channel, the Governor-General re-appeared on the
screen.
"Now what
is so delicate we had to go to such extremes." Kasak demanded.
"Captain
you must first understand this planet has a very strict set of laws and to break
them is to suffer deportation. That includes citizens born here."
"That is
of no concern of ours sir, you are trying my small reserve of patience, WHAT DID
THE PASSENGER DO?"
The
Governor-General winched at Kasak's outburst. "Suffice to say he broke our
most serious economic law, he formed a monopoly."
"Then sir,
I would expect he is as anxious to leave your planet as you are to get rid of
him. Send the coordinates and we
will transport him aboard immediately."
"K'jev at
your service." Gelly was
surprised to see the new passenger was Klingon but not your average Klingon.
He did wear the battle armor of a Klingon warrior, but it was the
gold-pressed latinum decorations on the armor plates that really set him apart.
He bounded from the transporter and handed Gelly a set of coordinates. "My
ah,, baggage is waiting here, would you be so kind as to transport it directly
to a discreet area of your cargo hold?"
Gelly
did as requested and then escorted K'jev to his cabin.
A bruised and
battered K’raggk stumbled onto the bridge and slumped into the navigator's
chair.
"What
happened to you?" Ketta went over to the battered warrior.
"I am not
sure.....I was in the cargo hold looking to see if I could find any chocolate we
might have forgotten, when suddenly I was under an avalanche of heavy storage
cases." He groaned as he shifted his body into a more comfortable position.
"I must have been in the right place at the wrong time, because when
I regained consciousness I could swear I smelled chocolate. But we won't find it until those cases are removed from the
hold, they fill the place up!"
"All the
chocolate is gone K’raggk, we ate it all." Ketta was applying an
antiseptic spray to a cut on K'raggk's head as she spoke. "We will have to
wait until we visit another Star Base to restock because out here, chocolate is
more valuable than Latinum."
"I know
that Ketta, but I swear I smelled chocolate in the cargo hold."
Both passengers
were seemingly content to stay in their cabins for the next few days.
If the truth were known, the human was in a deep trance-like state in his
cabin. As For K'jev, he was happily drinking Regulan ale and eating
chocolate while he planned out his next financial maneuver.
The crew
continued to perform their duties while under way. K’raggk always seemed a
little nervous each time he passed the cargo hold, as if he was waiting for
something to fall on him.
"Kasak, I
am receiving a sub-space distress call from a Federation ship!" Ketta
announced as she was working to clear the message through a lot of static.
Kasak leaned
forward in his chair, "On Screen." A faint picture of a Starfleet
captain could be seen. He was on a bridge that looked like a pack of wild targhs
had been let loose on it. "This
is Captain Brian Ingermann of the U.S.S. Eisenhower, we are under attack by a
L-42 Klingon Bird of Prey!" The screen sparkled with interference, then
cleared again. "Shields down, impulse engines only." More
interference. "Any ships in this quadrant come..."
"What are
his coordinates, and are there any other ships in the area?" Kasak had the
look of a fierce warrior on his face as he spoke.
"He is
close, near the neutral zone. There
are two other ships in the area, both Starfleet. They are also responding."
reported K’raggk.
"Very
good, now Kctamacch may be happy.... for a little." Kasak settled back in
his chair, he radiated his confidence in being victorious. "We need Modaw,
why did we leave DS9 without him?"
Kctamacch was
concerned; Modaw was without a doubt, the finest weapons officer in the galaxy.
"All
weapons ready sir," Gelly was visibly nervous; this was her first time to
act as weapons officer.
"Good,"
replied Kasak, "activate cloaking device."
"Fifteen
seconds until arrival." K’raggk reported.
"Bring us
to within five thousand kehlikhams of the L-42." Kasak ordered, "Then
uncloak and fire both rail guns."
"The two
Starfleet ships will be here within ten seconds," K’raggk stated.
The Rogue
Phoenix dropped out of warp. Fifteen thousand meters to her port lay the badly
damaged Eisenhower; she was trying to maneuver tactically using only her impulse
engines. The L-42 was tracking her
every move, waiting like a cat toying with a mouse before the kill.
"By the
naked Stars!!" Ketta exclaimed. "That ship is the Backfire!!"
Kasak stared at
the view screen in disbelief. "Thank you, whatever powers brought this to
be. Revenge is now on our table, and it is perfectly cold." Kasak was
smiling the particularly frightening smile of one who has been given the
opportunity to avenge an injustice. He gave the order. "Decloak, fire both
rail guns, aim for the Backfire's reactors."
Aboard the
Backfire M'nom Muwi picked up the Rogue Phoenix on sensors as soon as she
started to decloak. "Unknown ship decloaking captain, I have it on screen
now." K'taj looked with amusement as he saw the Rogue Phoenix appear.
"What in the oceans of Klinzai is that."
"It
appears to be a Romulan tug, but there is something very wrong about it."
K'yo was correct in his assessment, but there was only one person on the bridge
of the Backfire who knew the whole story, that person was Modaw.
"I will
not allow a Romulan tug to interfere with my game. Fire a wide spread at it and
it will leave us alone." No sooner than K'taj had those words out of his
mouth Gelly fired both rail guns of the Rogue Phoenix. The impact destroyed the
port reactor and ripped through the port wing of the Backfire.
The Backfire spun violently; M'nom Muwi was hurled from his station and
impaled on a structural beam that had been ripped loose.
"That is
not a tug! Modaw, bring all weapons
to bear on that ship and fire!" K'taj was visibly shaken at the surprise
the Rogue Phoenix had delivered.
Modaw appeared
to do as K’taj ordered, but he had reduced the power output of the weapons
system when it became obvious he was fighting his friends.
He fired a full salvo of all weapons the Backfire had.
Gelly fired the
rail guns again and added a burst from the mega-disrupter for added effect. Both
ships were hit simultaneously.
The effect of
the Backfire's weapons, though not at full strength, did considerable damage to
the Rogue Phoenix. Both her rear
tractor beam generators were destroyed; the starboard rail gun was torn from its
mounts and hurled off into space. The
cooling coil for the singularity drive was damaged, and Gelly was knocked
unconscious by the attack.
"Kctamacch,
take over the weapons station!" Kasak was obsessed with the battle.
As Kctamacch
turned to go to the weapons console he was startled to see the strange human
standing on the bridge. "What are you doing here?" demanded Kctamacch.
"You need
help, I know these weapons and am not afraid of death. Kasak heard the exchange
and allowed the human to take over the weapons console.
The Rogue
Phoenix apparently had inflicted more damage to the Backfire. Its port weapons
pod was destroyed, and a direct hit had been scored on its starboard wing pivot
severely reducing the Backfire's maneuverability.
Unfortunately,
the battle had just begun...
Journal
of the Rogue Phoenix
Part
ll
"Sweet
Justice"
(Chapter
2 )
The
Blackfire was maneuvering to bring her weapons to bear again. It's course was
wider and she was moving much slower with the damage inflicted by the Rogue
Phoenix. "Kasak! They are preparing to fire again!" K’raggk shouted
above the systems alarms.
"Turn
and fire rail guns! Aim at the bridge!" Kasak ordered. The human prepared
to arm the guns, an enunciator alarm sounded. "RAIL GUN NOT ARMED...INSUFFICIENT
MASS AVAILABLE..." The human turned to Kasak, "switching to photon
torpedoes... rail gun is down." The absolute calm in this strange human's
voice surprised Kasak. "Fire torpedoes, then activate reverse tractor beam,
maximum power." Kasak started planning his next move. "K’raggk,
Kctamacch!! Go fix the rail guns, we will need
Them."
Just as the two warriors moved to respond to their captain's orders, the human
fired the torpedoes. The Blackfire maneuvered just enough for both torpedoes to
miss their target. "Tractors enabled, reverse thrust now!" The human
engaged the tractor beams. It was simply a matter of bad luck combined with poor
timing that the Federation ship Magellan chose to drop out of warp directly in
the path of the reverse tractor beam.
The
immensely powerful beam hit the Magellan and hurled it away from the battle as
easily as a Klingon kicks a tribble. "Stars of Klinzai!!" Ketta
exclaimed. "That was a Federation ship! I suppose we will not need to
expect any help from that crew." Kasak mused more to himself than anyone
else.
The bridge of
the Blackfire was a smoke and wreckage filled mess. K’taj was livid. K'yo was
stunned to think that a lowly Romulan tug had done so much damage to his beloved
ship. M'nom Muwi was dead. Modaw was proud of the way the ship he had helped
build was proving to be all that the crew of the Rogue Phoenix had hoped she
would be. He was busily entering commands to the Black fire’s computer,
preparing for the event he knew would soon come. K’raggk and Kctamacch were in
the tangled mess of the rail gun bay clearing debris and searching for any
sizeable mass to place in the
gun's
loading mechanism. "This looks like Quark's bar after our little
fight." Kctamacch observed. "No this is much neater than what we did
there. "K’raggk was feeling the joy of a warrior as he stated the last
comment. Kctamacch looked around the bay and said "Nothing here we can
use."
"We need
something about two and a half meters in diameter that is heavy." K’raggk
commented. "Like I said," Kctamacch sat dejectedly on a pile of
debris, "nothing here we can use." "Cargo! We have cargo! Lots of
cargo! And it's the perfect size!" K’raggk was literally dancing with joy
at this realization. "Hope the transporter works." Kctamacch replied.
"Let's make it happen!" Both warriors went to the transporter room.
Though the room was full of smoke, the transporter was still in working order.
They transported the containers of K’jev personal goods to the rail gun bay.
They then loaded the containers onto the loading ramp of the working gun.
"Kasak, rail gun two is now in working order." K’raggk reported to
his captain. "Fire rail gun, aim at will!" Kasak knew victory was in
his grasp.
As the rail gun
fired, the Blackfire launched a photon torpedo. The mass from the rail gun hit
the Blackfire amidships finishing off her reactors. The torpedo from the
Blackfire hit the rail gun bay. The bay was instantly transformed into a flaming
hell.
Both
K’raggk and Kctamacch were consumed in those flames. "Destroy
them!!"
K’taj
raged. "Bring all weapons to bear on that ship and turn it into dust!"
As
he spoke, the view screen came to life. On it was the image of Kasak. Suddenly
it all became clear to K’taj. "You! You are responsible for this! You and
your rabble of traitors will pay dearly for this Kasak!" "Old friend,
you are welcome to accept my invitation to your own death." Kasak was as
cold as the polar regions of Ios. Both commanders simultaneously gave the same
command "Fire all weapons!"
The two ships
reeled as the power of the weapons impacted. Half of the
port wing of the Blackfire was blown off. The ship staggered as if it were drunk.
The Rogue Phoenix had her forward tractor arms ripped loose. The hull
was breached in the cargo bay. Worst of all, massive damage to her weapons
control rendered her weapons useless. The strange human who had
bravely manned the weapons was killed in the exchange. It is sad the crew of the
Rogue Phoenix never knew name, but he will be remembered with the highest of
honor. The Rogue Phoenix was a sitting duck.
K’taj, though
stunned, was determined to the point of obsession to make an
end of Kasak and his crew. "WEAPONS STATUS?!" he barked at Modaw.
"Only
forward disruptor." Modaw answered. "That will do. Kasak, the
invitation has been returned. only it is for your own death!" K’taj was
near insanity.
"Modaw!
Destroy them now!" As he brought the Rogue Phoenix into his sights Modaw
pressed a button on his weapons console. A "squirt" message was
transmitted to the Rogue Phoenix. Ketta was startled when the message overrode
her computer screen. Kasak! A message from the Blackfire, with Modaw's I.D. It
says hard starboard now." Kasak simply ordered "Do it now!" The
ship veered wildly, nearly out of control. Modaw fired the disruptor, the shot
missed by a scant margin. As soon as the shot had been fired, the weapons
console of the Blackfire self-destructed in a shower of sparks and flame,
exactly what Modaw had programmed into the computer.
The Blackfire
was now also without weapons. Both ships were heavily damaged,
the Eisenhower was limping away from the battle, the immediate area
was littered with debris of the conflict. The captain of the Blackfire was
beyond reason now. He knew he had no weapons to bring to bear, his ship was
crippled, yet he pressed the attack intent on ramming his antagonist though it
would in all probability mean his and the crew of the Backfire’s death also.
The Blackfire bore down on the Rogue Phoenix; only a few thousand meters
separated the two ships. K’taj began his desperate run. He was so intent on
his fatal mission he failed to notice new events unfolding around him. First, a
group of shipping containers from the Rogue Phoenix was drifting toward him at
an alarming rate of speed. Second, Modaw was no longer on the bridge of the
Blackfire. Third, there were two ships that had suddenly appeared on the scene
as if from nowhere. Kasak did notice all these events and sat watching,
helpless, but absolutely fascinated.
The containers hit the Blackfire and burst open spewing chunks of a brown substance throughout the immediate area. K’taj was surprised at being hit. Kasak immediately recognized the substance and, in spite of the gravity of his situation, chuckled to himself. "K’raggk was right, he did smell chocolate." Kasak also saw a small ship emerge from the cargo hold of the Blackfire. In that ship was Modaw, he had enjoyed the company of the Blackfire long enough and was now returning to his true friends aboard the Rogue Phoenix.
K’taj
now saw the two mysterious ships that appeared to be readyto defend the Rogue
Phoenix. They were the strangest ships he had ever seen, one dull black, the
other an almost iridescent red. They both had a sleek but almost organic look to
them. He also noticed they were both heavily armed and appeared to be spoiling
for a fight. Obsessed as he was with the destruction of the Rogue Phoenix,
K’taj was not stupid. He ordered K’yo to turn and run, reasoning properly
that it is better to live and fight another day. As the Blackfire departed,
K’taj sent a message to Kasak. "There will be another place and time
Kasak. I will destroy you!" Kasak replied, "I hope so old friend, by
the stars above, I hope so."
Modaw was
holding his position staring at the wonderful but deadly looking ships when the
red one turned and brought it's weapons to bear on him. Modaw waited for the end
he felt was sure to come. A voice came over his commlink "Who are you and
what are your intentions?" The voice had an eerie quality to it as if
emanating from deep in some monstrous creature's throat. "I am Modaw,
friend of the Rogue Phoenix. My only intentions are to join my friends."
The voice simply stated, "Wait." Modaw did exactly that. In fact, he
hardly breathed. He watched the two ships; they seemed to radiate a power of
their own. Suddenly the smaller one, the black one, disappeared. No wavering of
a cloaking device, it just wasn't there anymore. The threat enunciator on
Modaw's ship indicated a hostile ship to his immediate rear. He looked at the
rear view screen and the black ship was directly behind him, about a thousand
meters away. Modaw was impressed even if he was a little unnerved. Katta was
astounded. "Did you see that?" she asked Kasak. "Yes, I wonder
who our benefactors are." Kasak, like both Modaw and Ketta was astounded
and impressed. "Is this one truly your friend?" The strange voice
seemed to come from everywhere yet nowhere in particular. "Yes", Kasak
answered, "He is our friend." "It is odd that a friend would
attack another friend." the voice had a hint of curiosity mixed with
disbelief. "He was forced to attack, he also saved us by informing us when
to move." Kasak defended Modaw; he was unsure what these strange beings
would do. "Yes, we intercepted his message, we are also our friends, though
you do not know us." "Then Modaw may join us?" Kasak asked.
"He may accompany you, but we will not permit him to board your ship. He
will travel with us."
"How will
he do that, his ship has limited range, it is a long way to a facility."
Kasak was losing his patience. "The power he has will be sufficient for
our journey, it is not far." "Where are we going?!" Kasak
demanded.
The
answer was totally unexpected. "The area of space you call the 'OMEGA
QUADRANT''
Ketta, K’jev, and Gelly stared at each other in amazement.
Kasak
put their thoughts to words. "The 'Omega Quadrant' is only a superstitious
fantasy. Every child on Klinzai knows that." "Are we real or mere fantasy?"
the voice questioned.
"I'm not
sure." Kasak honestly answered.” Be assured, we are real. So is
Omega." Rogue Phoenix and Modaw's ship. In a blink the four ships disappeared.
Aboard the Eisenhower, Capt. Ingermann sat not believing what
he had just seen. "They are gone, Poof! Gone. Starfleet won't believe
this
one, even with the computer's records to prove it."
