Roman Candle

 Episode Name:  Roman Candle

   Written By:  Belgarath

         Cast:  Belgarath, Dakin, Havaris, Idrani, Nilee, 
                O'Rielly, Ttomak and Turtledove.

  Produced By:  Starfleet

  Directed By:  Belgarath

     Aired On:  Thu Sep 02 03:50:01 2004

     Stardate:  54357.5

Time: Thu Aug 26 20:49:46 2004

Stardate: 54342.4

Idrani sits at the Ops console, doing one of her rotations to keep her certifications current, as well as working on new ones. Operations is not her usual spot. She touches a button on the console. "Incoming subspace message from the Romulans, just outside Federation space in the Neutral Zone. Priority alert status."

Nilee moves into the science station, relieving the officer that was already there. The Trill fluidly begins to go about his business and routine, transferring some data to and from his PADD, indicated by his switching between the two interfaces. His attention perks as he hears news of the hail, his hands continuing to work, but his eyes glancing towards the operations officers and Dakin.

Dakin is watch commander this evening, though his armrest consoles are configured to allow him to get some Security work done as well. And given current happenings, there's a lot of that. Still, he raises his head towards Idrani at her pronouncement. "On screen, Lieutenant." He rises to his feet, tugging down the hem of his jacket.

Monitoring sensor and probe data at Tactical, Havaris is lost in his own theoretical world of incoming information when word of the Romulan hail comes in. He clears his terminal and brings up the long range sensors and tactical data. He's sitting there, might as well be of some use. "Which Romulans becomes the question."

O'Rielly sits down at the communications console down in the ops pit, though it is slightly modified. He looks almost anxious as the message should be coming on screen.

The image of a Romulan male appears on the viewscreen, a look of concentration on his face as he appears to be multitasking. "I am Sublieutenant Ttomak, Tal Diann. I request permission to enter Federation space to track down criminals of the Star Empire. Before you deny my request, allow me to say that these criminals are as much a threat to you as they are to us. You may come along with me if you so wish."

Dakin frowns. "Stand by, Sublieutenant." He looks to Idrani and flicks a thumb past his throat in silent signal to mute the audio.

Idrani puts Ttomak on 'hold'.

His visage disappears from the viewscreen.

Dakin looks to Nilee. "Mr. Nilee, go to long-range sensors, pinpoint TTomak's location, verify his ship's bonafides against what we have on file." Then to Havaris, "Kusto, full tactical analysis of the surrounding area. Anything smells off, I want to know about it."

Nilee nods his head quickly and gives a quick, "Aye sir." In response before setting his PADD to the side and getting to work on what was requested.

<CONTEST> Idrani contests her Computer (Research) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

O'Rielly says, "Commander, Tal Diann is their Internal affairs, basically Ttomak would be the Star Empire's equivilant of my own job. It's likely they're chasing Tal'Kaden.""

<CONTEST> Nilee contests his Shipboard Systems (Sensors) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Dakin says to O'Rielly. "Or they might *be* Tal'Kaden, Lieutenant. Safer to make sure before we allow them passage."

Turtledove is performing quietly at Security --- monitoring comm traffic, presently. She casts a quick glance between Dakin and O'Rielly, then resumes working quietly.

<CONTEST> O'Rielly contests his Computer (Research) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

Idrani quirks a small smile, tapping in the console. After a moment she notes, "Sir, there are some Federation records on Sublieutenant Ttomak. He served during the Cardassia invasion, traffic analysis intel, where his information was beneficial to the Alliance. What we have on Romulan files state he is a good and loyal officer. I could run his name past Sublieutenant Palra or the Romulan Embassy, sir."

Havaris settles back into his bridge chair and ticks a brow at the Romulan on the screen. Well, that's something. Shrugging, he turns his attention back to the terminal before him, poking at the controls.

Dakin nods to Idrani. "All right, that's something at least. Mr. Nilee, Mr. Havaris, keep at it. Lt. Idrani, resume."

Nilee nods his head slowly as the readings begin coming in, "It's a Romulan shuttle. Everything checks out, Commander. They're bearing 42 mark 6. Just inside the Neutral Zone."

Idrani hits the 'thank you for holding' button, resuming the connection.

Havaris notes back over his shoulder, "His vessel checks out from this end, Sir."

Once Ttomak returns to the screen. "My apologies for the delay, Sublieutenant. Given current happenings, we have to take extra precautions. Who exactly is it you're pursuing? And you're correct that we'd care to render assistance."

O'Rielly sends a text message to Dakin's console. 'Also has a note in his file for stopping a major Tal'Kaden attack several years ago.'

A curt nod from Ttomak. "They are a Romulan radical group calling themselves the Tal'Kaden. I believe you are familiar with them, as they have recently struck the Federation."

Dakin nods. "The precise reason for the extra precautions I spoke of. I'll need to run this past my commanding officer for clearance. Again, I'm sorry for the delay." He gives the hold signal to Idrani a second time.

Idrani puts the Sublieutenant on 'hold' again.

Dakin taps his com badge. "Lt Commander Dakin to Captain Balin."

Over Dakin's com badge, someone says, "Go ahead."

Into his com badge, Dakin says, "Sir, sorry to disturb you, but I have a Romulan Tal'Diann shuttle on approach requesting entrance into our space, claiming orders to pursue an element of the Tal'Kaden. I've had his bonafides triple-checked; as far as we can tell, he's on the level. Requesting permission to allow him passage."

<CONTEST> O'Rielly (claiming advantage) contests his Intellect skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

Over Dakin's com badge, Balin says, "Tal'Diann is Romulan Military Intelligence, Mr. Dakin. You're absolutely sure that he can help you track down the Tal'Kaden?"

O'Rielly looks back to Dakin and nods himself in response to the Captain's question.

Into his com badge, Dakin says, "I do, sir. I don't think it's a chance we can afford to pass up."

Idrani listens quietly, her expression neutral.

Over Dakin's com badge, Balin says, "Permission granted, then. Be sure to check him out as much as he's checking us out. Balin out."

Dakin's com badge clicks as Balin drops off channel. The channel closes.

Havaris glances Idrani's way for a moment before resuming his attentive regard of the terminal before him. The Captain's proviso merits a slight quirk at the corner of Kusto's mouth.

Dakin looks to Idrani. "Get him back on, Lieutenant."

Idrani nods. "Aye, sir." She resumes the comm connection.

Dakin straightens and speaks to Ttomak as he reappears on the viewer. "Sublieutenant, you're cleared for approach into Federation space. Please allow us to view your orders and flight plan so that we may be of aid to you."

"Thank you," says Ttomak. "We will rendezvous with you. Prepare a ship to meet us when we arrive, and I will transmit the information I have. I would prefer not to give away anything over long-range communications." He looks away to the side, then back. "We are entering Federation space now. There is little time to waste. I will speak with you shortly?"

Dakin nods. "Agreed. We'll launch a ship as soon as possible. Station 419 out." He nods once to Idrani.

"Sir, we have a danube prepped and ready. An X-a as well could make that hop, but if we have to do any prolonged warp travel, we'll be at a disadvantage in either. Thomas Paine is still in dock awaiting refit, but we could have her cleared for debarkation in under ten minutes." Havaris turns about in his seat and raises a brow Dakin's way.

O'Rielly says, "sir, I can do my job aboard either, though the Paine would make it easier I'm sure."

Dakin thinks for a moment. "We'll take the runabout. A lot can happen in ten minutes and we've kept Ttomak waiting long enough. And I've a feeling we've got a trip ahead of us. Notify Commander Poole and relief personnel to assume control of Ops." To the room at large, "Full combat loadout, plus whatever else you feel you need to bring."

Aboard the Cape Fear, the Starfleet officers intercept the Romulan shuttle and, as promised, the Romulans began transmitting information over a secured connection. On the small viewscreen of the runabout, the sublieutenant supplements the data by saying, "I have reason to believe that they are targetting Fimdari, one of your colonial worlds. I would advise against contacting them, lest you alert the Tal'Kaden that we are attempting to thwart them."

Dakin nods in agreement with Ttomak. "Agreed." Over his shoulder aimed at Havaris, "Mr. Havaris, passive tactical sweep. Give me a reading on any and all ships heading in the direction of Fimdari."

<CONTEST> Havaris contests his Shipboard Systems (Sensors) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

Havaris has fingers moving in prediction of the order and is nodding his head shortly after Dakin's order is processed. "I have one Andorian Freighter proceeding down a registered trade-line for Fimdari, moving at low warp. Though we have no reason not to imagine the Tal'kaden wouldn't be operating in a cloak capable Romulan vessel, Sir."

Idrani speaks up, "Sir, I have to disagree with the decision not to notify Fimdari of the Tal'Kaden threat." She touches a few buttons on her console.

Nilee quietly monitors sensors from the auxiliary console for the moment, listening intently to the reports and conversation around him, gathering data.

<CONTEST> O'Rielly contests his Computer (Research) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

O'Rielly looks over his auxiliary console, which seems to have a PADD attached to it. He looks to Havaris when the Ops chief speaks, does something at his console for a moment, and then calls, "Unfortunately, I actually have to agree with the Commander and the Sublieutenant's assesment. We need this capture real bad, though we should be ready to warn if we start seeing signs of activity..." And then he returns to looking over the console.

Turtledove glances quietly to O'Rielly. She keeps him in her purvue for a moment. Her eyes shift to the view screen, then she resumes monitoring of internal sensors, system status, and other features of Security duty.

"Chances are they have a cloaked vessel," says the sublieutenant. "They are much more resourceful than I would have thought that they'd be. Upon approach to the Fimdari system, my ship will drop out of warp and enter the system under cloak in an attempt to find them. The problem here is that your ship is incapable of cloaking."

Dakin replies to Ttomak, "Our ties to Fimdari make one Starfleet runabout on casual approach somewhat commonplace, Sublieutenant." He then says to Idrani, "I don't like it either, Lieutenant, but notifying Fimdari would undoubtedly tip off the Tal'Kaden and speed up their intended plans. Not something I feel like jumpstarting." A pause. "Mr. Havaris, passive scans on the freighter, just in case. Anything out of the ordinary pops, fill us in. Mr. Nilee, do a sweep for ion trails. *Carefully.*"

<CONTEST> Havaris contests his Shipboard Systems (Sensors) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

Idrani nods. "Aye, sir," she says in her detatched, professional tone. Ttomak's comment causes her to lift her gaze briefly from her console, to the viewscreen, then back again.

<CONTEST> Turtledove contests her Computer (Research) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

GAME: Nilee spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Nilee (claiming advantage) contests his Shipboard Systems (Sensors) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

Havaris sets about his orders and mutes his terminal in order to offer some advice back Nilee's way, "Galen, you might want to try a gravimetric scan as well. There's a chance if you can't find an ion trail, you can find a massive object out there that shouldn't be. We've had some limited luck with that in the past." He turns back about and concludes his work on his own terminal. "Nothing out of the ordinary, sir. Light point defense weapons, minimal defensive capability. Lots of cargo. A modest crew, all Andorian according to what I can see."

Nilee quirks his lips to the side as he examines the sensor readouts, "I am registering several recent ion trails leading into the Fimdari system... however, it's not possible to distinguish if any of them are Romulan nessecarily. I could cross reference with 419's traffic control to determine if any of them aren't on registered flight plans..."

GAME: O'Rielly spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> O'Rielly (claiming advantage) contests his Espionage (Covert Communications) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

O'Rielly starts to look over things, "Commander, I would advise against much more activity until we are closer to Fimdari. It is likely that if we are being monitored by the veseel, more activity that doesn't fall under a routine patrol could tip them off. I am however trying to establish a covert link with relays in the system to find out flight plans and other stuff."

Turtledove works quietly at the auxilliary console, meanwhile --- her fingers quicken as her attention shifts, divided between tasks.

"Good," says Ttomak. "I'll be transmitting my coordinates to you at all times. If I detect them, it may be our only opportunity to catch them, and I may have to open fire immediately."

Dakin nods to Ttomak. "Understood, Sublieutenant. Mr. Nilee, run your scans through 419's flightplan database, but kill all ongoing sensor scans beyond passive. That's to everyone. Kusto, standby to go weapons hot on my order. Everyone else..." A pause as he gazes out into the inky black through the forward viewport. "...stay sharp."

Idrani keeps the Cape Fear's course steady, but remains alert in case evasive action needs to be taken immediately.

Havaris gives Idrani a glance with a slightly furrowed brow as the 'shoot first, ask questions later' methodology passes muster as A Good Idea. He keeps his mouth shut for the time being, however, and nods twice in understanding of his orders. "What weapons we have, Sir, will be at your disposal on your request. Standing by."

Nilee glances to Dakin as he hears the order, "I'll need to make a transmission to 419 in order to get them to transfer us that required data... if we want to keep this quiet..." he shifts his glance towards O'Rielly, "Will your link be able to get me that information, Mr. O'Rielly?"

O'Rielly looks to Nilee, "Yes, though there is limited information we can pass through it at a time. Go ahead and send your request through. Though it may take a few moments, as we're linking to relay stations to contact the station."

Turtledove's fingers slow down as she shifts from a secondary task to focus on the primary task --- presumably Security things.

"Meanwhile," continues the Romulan, "also be on the lookout for anything else out of the ordinary. Even if we don't arrive too late, we can still assume that all the parts of their plan are already in place. If you have anything to discuss, just contact me. Out." He disappears from the screen.

Dakin frowns and leans forwards in his seat as Ttomak cuts the channel, peering out into the void as though he could find a cloaked vessel just by looking for it. "Mr. Nilee, notify me the instant you have the information from Four One Nine."

Idrani says quietly, "Sir, I have a few concerns here."

Nilee nods his head to Dakin and a few moments later he nods, "Commander... I've isolated an ion trail that doesn't match up with the records I received from 419. Someone is out there that didn't file a flight plan. They came from a coreward direction, that's about as specific as I can get right now..."

O'Rielly nods in response to Nilee providing the information, and begins to work on something at his console.

Turtledove remains steady at her designated auxiliary console.

Dakin says to Nilee, "Keep an eye on it, Lieutenant. Passive scanning only." Then he looks over to Idrani, "I'm listening."

<PROVE> Nilee has the merit of Scientific Genius at 3.

<CONTEST> Nilee (claiming advantage) contests his Physical Sciences skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

"I've a concern or two as well, Sir, come to that. But I think the Lieutenant and I have much the same worries. I'm keeping my eyes open for unusual activity and standing by." Havaris' protest, such as it is, is quite calmly voiced. His moral sliderule seems to have plenty of swing room where the Tal'kaden are concerned.

Idrani speaks slowly, dispassionately, "The Tal'Diann is, like Lieutenant O'Rielly said, the military intelligence branch of the Star Navy, whereas the Tal'Shiar is a civilian organization. With the current chaos in the Empire, the Star Navy has done what it can to stay neutral, not wanting it to turn into a military takeover. However, the Star Navy is now spread very thin and likely, Sublieutenant Ttomak hasn't had much contact and support from his superiors. Now, that said, he will continue to act on his last orders, which appear to be related to tracking down the Tal'Kaden. He has crossed into Federation space, in a shuttle, obviously underpowered for a mission like this, unless he has cloaked support that we don't know about. He wanted us to accompany him. He needs the extra firepower. I am concerned that he may try to pull us into something that we may not be prepared for. I am urging caution here, sir. And since he is a member of the Allied military, he is bound by Alliance treaty to follow the orders of the most senior officer in the Allied military, for purposes of this task force. That would be you, sir."

. o O O'Rielly suddenly imagines himself sitting in a shuttle, hunting the maquis or some other random federation terrorist group, heading into Romulan territory.

Nilee tilts his head to the side slightly as he attempts to multitask. Both listening to the conversation at hand and trying to examine and interpret the sensor readings he's receiving. "The trail is complete, Commander. Meaning it has an end. I can't pinpoint the location, or how old it is, exactly. Just that it's relatively recent compared to the others coming into the system."

<CONTEST> O'Rielly contests his Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

O'Rielly suddenly shudders in his seat for no apparent reason, then looks back to his console. "Commander, the vessel is aware of Starfleets and SI's sensor capiability, and is purposefully maneuvering around it. I'm going to try and see if I can project their continued course." He returns to working hard over his console.

Turtledove shifts a glance to O'Rielly, but returns dutifully to her work at the console.

. o O Turtledove thinks "They could already be on Fimdari, if that's their goal. Perhaps the Sublieutenant wanted our assistance because we could get out here faster..."

Dakin frowns at the news from O'Rielly. "No change in activity, people. We play dumb for now." Then jointly to Havaris and Idrani, for which he swivels his chair in their combined direction, "I share your concerns more than you realize. This entire thing in my opinion has stunk since Ttomak threw us a hail. I'm still not entirely convinced this isn't a lure into a Tal'Kaden ambush. But if he *is* on the level and they are out there planning an attack, our presence is very necessary. Nevertheless, as I said, I share your concerns and agree that every caution should be held to."

Havaris takes his hands off of his terminal to keep from accidentally sparking off something that is not, in fact, par for the course. He folds up his arms instead and gives a glance back Dakin's way, "I'm more worried about the fire-first, ascertain-later idea. Not that Idrani's off her mark at all, that just itches the part of me that abides the book. He can't order us to open fire. Heck, if he opens fire on the Tal'kaden before they've done anything wrong, they could request assitance and we'd be obliged to render it. It's sticky."

Idrani nods in agreement with Havaris. "It could turn very sticky, yes."

Nilee falls silent as he works with sensors as best he can, keeping everything passive. Which doesn't gleen all that much information.

O'Rielly frowns at his seat, "Sir... I have a really bad feeling about this. We need to find out how old that ion trail is."

GAME: Nilee spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Nilee (claiming advantage) contests his Computer skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Turtledove looks up over her console, speaking quietly. "If we ascertain that they are not lawfully in Federation Space, then as a Starfleet vessel we can order them to heave-to for inspection --- if we find ourselves in the position to fire upon them. In that case, we could fire a warning across their bow. If they refuse inspection, fire back, or try to flee, we are then lawfully permitted to attempt to disable their ship."

As the two ships approach the Fimdari system a long time later, the Romulan vessel drops out of warp and cloaks as it heads in. A tightbeam transmission keeps the Cape Fear apprised of the location of the Romulans.

Dakin sighs as the runabout drops to impulse. "Tera, notify Fimdari Command of our presence and notify them we're assuming standard orbit to effect repairs on malfunctioning systems. Nothing that'll take too long." He then says to Nilee, "Can you rig the active sensors to do something appearing like a diagnostic test sweep, while still collecting data? So that you can get a better idea of that stray ion trail's pedigree without causing too much of a stir?"

Havaris moves his hands back to his terminal and begins a routine systems check and even goes so far as to poke his nose out and have a glance at the local space. Keeping it by the book for the moment.

Idrani brings the Cape Fear into standard orbit.

Nilee nods his head towards Dakin, "Already ahead of you Commander. I've managed to program the computer to cross reference the logged flight plans with the ion trails that are identified. Using their decays I've managed to isolate a rough time frame for the unidentified vessels arrival. About a day ago. Can't get any more exact." He pauses and then adds, "I'll see what I can do get some active sensors running without making it look suspiscious."

<CONTEST> Nilee contests his Systems Engineering (Sensors) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

O'Rielly stays ready at his console, just in case he needs to leap into action.

Turtledove gives Dakin a slight smile. "Message sent, Commander. Awaiting confirmation."

After a few hours of waiting, a text message comes in from the Romulan shuttle:

Anomaly detected. Cause uncertain. Intercepting.

Along with the message is the coordinates of the shuttle and the coordinates of the anomaly.

Dakin blinks at the text message and looks over towards Turtledove. "Tera, notify Ttomak he via text message is to hold fire until my express order or unless provoked, then contact Fimdari and thank them for allowing us the layover. Idrani, break orbit and set course for Ttomak's coordinates, plus bearing 10 degrees so it doesn't look like we're bee-lining to the anomaly, three-quarter impulse. Kusto, standby on weapons. Nilee, maintain your scans and tell me anything that pops up at those coordinates. O'Rielly, stand by to shoot Fimdari and Four One Nine calls for assistance should this be more than we can chew."

"Charging phasers, prepping shields, priming minitorpedoes. Weapons ready on your mark, Skipper." Havaris goes through the motions of bringing his tactical terminal to life, and stands by for the order to fire on... Whatever it is that may require blowing up. Tactical. It's a very simple post.

Idrani taps her console. "Course laid in. Three-quarter impulse, aye. Engaged."

Nilee nods his head slowly, "I've got the sensors rigged to use active scanners in a rotating modulation so it appears that were running diagnostic tests, but I can't get very much of anything without loosing the ruse and giving away our knowledge."

O'Rielly nods in response to Dakin, and sends a message to his console.

Turtledove works at the console. "Advising Sublieutenant Ttomak via tight-beam message, sir." Her eyes shift to the another screen. She grins quietly. "Fimdari bids us a safe and happy journey."

"We may lose sensor lock on the anomaly if we do not act quickly," comes the return tightbeam text message.

Dakin looks at his console briefly, then to O'Rielly, then punches in a short set of commands. To Nilee: "Do your best, Lieutenant. Upon reading the text message, he shoots to Turtledove over his shoulder, "Tera, assure the sublieutenant we have no intention of slacking off on this and that we are moving to join up at best speed."

Idrani comments, "Sir, at this course and speed, we will reach them in fifteen minutes." She touches a few buttons on her console.

Nilee nods his head slowly, "We're not going to get much until we get closer Commander. I'll keep on eye on things though... and keep things ready to turn active should we need them."

O'Rielly nods to Dakin as the response to his previous message is responded to in the affirmative. He taps a few things at his console and prepares himself.

Turtledove nods readily to Dakin, and moves quickly to relay the message. "Can we can pick up the anomaly on our sensors? If so, it would not seem suspicious, I believe, for us to investigate it. Also, if the anomaly is related to the projected Tal'Kaden mission, we might want to keep a scientific distance between us and it."

"Acknowledged," is the text reply. After a couple of minutes, another written message comes in, "Movement patterns of the anomaly is becoming erratic."

Dakin nods in agreement with Turtledove. "Idrani, increase speed to Warp 2. Bring us within 100,000 kilometers of the anomaly. Tera, message to Ttomak: 'Define erratic.'"

"You know, if we're maxing best time in this thing's direction, it's pretty obvious what we're up to. No sense not to go live at this point." Havaris glances to O'Rielly to see if he concurs before looking aside to Dakin. "This obviously isn't something we want to come into blind."

Idrani punches more buttons on her console. "Increasing to Warp 2, aye. Coming to 100,000 kilometers of anomaly."

Nilee is continuing to monitor his sensors, fingers slowly moving across the controls as he adjusts a setting here, tweaks a modulation there. Then suddenly he stops, "Commander...." The Trill says in that tone that can only mean something's wrong, "A ship just decloaked, Romulan scout..." he pauses and then says quickly in an alarmed tone, "They're opening fire on the coordinates of Ttomak's cloaked shuttle!"

O'Rielly was just about to nods in concurrence with Havaris, when Nilee makes his announcement. "Waiting permission to engage sir..."

Turtledove taps at the console. "We have lost contact with the shuttle, Commander." She looks up. "I believe this qualifies as an unlawful presence."

As the Cape Fear zooms toward Ttomak's position, a lance of green disruptor fire hits an invisible object. The cloaking device on the Romulan shuttle goes down as the damaged part of the hull begins breaking up from small explosions. Another two shots from the unidentified scoutship sets off more flames within the shuttle. The scoutship disappears back into the blackness of space as the shuttle drifts, structural integrity seconds away from being compromised.

Dakin snarls and barks to Havaris, "Nilee, lock onto Ttomak and beam him directly to the aft compartment! Kusto, weapons live and fire to disable! Tera, hailing frequencies to the hostile! Idrani, stand by on evasive!"

With the ship cloaked, it's all Havaris can do to squeeze off a torpedo pattern and a few likely lances of phaser fire. He manages to light the void up rather nicely, and does lay down some coverfire for the Ttomak's shuttle, but he hits a whole lot of nothing. "Negative impact, sir."

Idrani brings the Cape Fear close to the disabled Romulan shuttle, using the other craft as cover from the hostile's last known location. As soon as the transport is complete, she moves away from the shuttle.

GAME: Nilee spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Nilee (claiming advantage) contests his Shipboard Systems (Sensors) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> O'Rielly contests his Shipboard Systems (Sensors) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

Nilee grimaces as his fingers start flying across the console in front of him, "I can't get a lock Commander. There's more than one Romulan life sign aboard Ttomak's shuttle... that and there's some major interference... I think I can get through, but it's going to take me a minute to break through." He pauses for a few seconds, "There! I can get a solid lock now... hold."

O'Rielly frowns as he works over his console, though he seems to change what he's doing in midstream. "Sir, can't get any trail on them. I hate to say this, but if we can get them to decloak, if only for a few seconds again, I can get to work." His hands are very close to certain buttons on his console now, he seems ready for something, that's for sure.

Turtledove works her console, unsurprised. "The Romulan Scout is not responding." A quiet glance to O'Rielly, then to Dakin. "Based on their last position, we might be able to use our forward deflector to send out a nutrino pulse that should destablize their cloak... if we are close enough and pointing the right way... It might not destroy their cloak, but it should cause it to flicker."

With one last blaze, the shuttle erupts into a fireball, sending large chunks of debris flying in every direction.

Dakin looks to Turtledove. "Do it, Lieutenant." At that moment, he looks out the viewport to see the Tal'Diann shuttle explode. Without looking towards him, he says to Nilee. "Mr. Nilee. Tell me you have them."

<CONTEST> Nilee contests his Shipboard Systems (Transporter) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

"Sir, we have two objects exiting the blast radius. They could be escape pods. Could be carrying payload. They came away ventral, aft. Free floating, they don't look to be propulsed." Havaris, eyeing the field of debris, asks a prudent question. "Shields up, Sir?"

Nilee hasn't stopped running his fingers over the controls in front of him. He was briefly fazed by the explosion, but it was only for a split second. "I couldn't get them before they lost structural integrity, but I've got the escape pods, Commander. One is severly damaged, beaming aboard survivors now." His hands slide up the controls on the console in front of him as he attempts the transport.

O'Rielly seems almost to have tuned everything else around him out, he is sitting very still at his console, each of his fingers over a different button on the strange configuration he has it in, ready, just waiting.

Turtledove is working her console. "There's too much demand on the forward deflector. I can't get enough power to creat the pulse."

Two Romulans appear on the transporter pad. One, whose upper body is mangled from pieces of debris, simply collapses limply to the ground while the other manages to get his hands out in front of him before his face gets planted into the floor.

. o O Turtledove thinks "Maybe we should've grabbed a medic en route to the shuttle bay."

Dakin nods once to Kusto at his request for shields as he climbs out of his seat to check on the arriving Romulans. "Just wanted to make sure we got the survivors. Idrani, move us off from the blast zone so the forward deflector has enough power to try this. Lt. Nilee, bleed nonessential reserves to the forward deflector. Tera, you get your power, fire the pulse. Note that I need this done fast, people." All this while checking the vitals on the two Romulans. What a guy.

GAME: Turtledove spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Turtledove (claiming advantage) contests her Shipboard Systems (Tactical) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

"Shields up," Havaris reports once the shields are, in fact, raised, "weapons reloaded and recharged. Standing by at Tactical, Sir."

Idrani touches the console, moving away from the wreckage. "Aye, sir."

Nilee nods his head, with the transport complete, he gives a quick, "Aye sir." To Dakin at his new orders and begins working, "Transferring non essential auxiliary power to the forward deflector..."

"Firing pulse." Turtledove looks up at the view screen, to survey the scene... alas, there is no sign of anything.

The Romulan on his knees looks up, revealing the face of Ttomak with a bloody gash across the forehead. He then looks to the other Romulan and asks, "How is he?"

Dakin has just gotten through checking the Romulan's pulse, then turns to Ttomak and silently shakes his head. "Talk to me, Turtledove."

<CONTEST> Nilee contests his Shipboard Systems (Sensors) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Nilee runs his fingers over his controls and then stops, shaking his head and pursing his lips, "Gravimetric scans aren't detecting the Romulan vessel's presence... though that doesn't nessecarily mean they aren't here..."

"There is no sign of the scout ship, Commander --- they may have moved out of range." Turtledove looks to the newly arrived Romulans, nods then down, to Dakin. "Terrorists tend to be passionate people, within a certain sphere of discussion. If they are still around, we might be able to draw them out with an old-fashioned taunt." She shifts a glance to the Romulans, inviting them to interrupt if they feel so inclined.

"I lost three good officers. This wouldn't have happened had I opened fire first," Ttomak says directly to Dakin, trying to keep his cool. He then stands up, wavers and holds onto the wall with one hand for support, and limps toward the cockpit. "I take it you haven't been able to find them? I'd like to have a look at the sensor readouts. If we can't locate them, then we must figure out what they were trying to do here and make sure that it doesn't still happen. What she says," he lifts his chin toward Turtledove, "may work. Though unlikely. They'll be risking too much to respond to a taunt."

Dakin gives Turtledove's suggestion a second's thought. "Mr. Nilee, make our sensor readings available for the sublieutenant's analysis. Tera, O'Rielly, send the following message on all subspace bands." A brief pause. "Tal'Kaden vessel. This is Lt. Commander Dakin Rann, commanding the Federation starship Cape Fear. Three good officers of the Romulan Star Empire lost their lives because of your cowardly acts of terrorism. Their lives were not lost in vain, rather sacrificed for the goal of making you turn tail and run home. And it is because those three men and all like them, for all those you have slain from the comfort of the shadows in which you like to hide, what happened today stands as evidence positive that the Tal'Kaden will wither and fade into nothing. Which we will not allow to happen for no other reason that to see you all hunted down like the neutered hora cats you so emulate. Transmit message."

Standing by at Tactical, Havaris can only tick an eyebrow and comment, "Neutered Hora cats?" A slow, thoughtful nod of the head follows. "Nice touch."

<CONTEST> Nilee contests his Shipboard Systems (Sensors) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

Idrani's antennae quirk at the challenge laid down by Dakin. "Well, even if they do not know exactly what a Hora Cat is, I believe they will understand the gist of your statement, sir." She is somewhat amused and a little curious to see if the Tal'Kaden will respond.

Turtledove's mouth tilts into a quiet grin as she taps on the console. "Transmitting."

O'Rielly still keeps his hands over his console, ready to triangulate the location such a response from the Tal'Kaden might come from, and to possibly try and stop whatever their continued actions may be.

Ttomak looks over his shoulder at Dakin, arching an eyebrow at the Bajoran's usage of his three dead officers to bait the Tal'Kaden. He returns to looking over the sensor readouts provided by Nilee, waiting for Dakin's speech to be over before he says, without taking his eyes off of the console in front of him, "Would someone please put the uhlan somewhere more...dignified?"

No response comes in from the Tal'Kaden.

Dakin nods to Ttomak and looks to Turtledove. "Lieutenant, arrange a site-to-site transport for the uhlan to the aft compartment please. Mr. O'Rielly, sensors on full gain, not only to locate the Tal'Kaden vessel, but any ADF starships currently spaceborne and in the vicinity."

Idrani touches a few buttons on her console. "Continuing along last known trajectory, sir."

"Locking on, sir." Turtledove pushes a sequence, watching the read-out, to engage the transport.

O'Rielly nods to Dakin, "There is one ADF vessel heading towards us at max impulse. The Andorian Freighter is still on its course, and I believe it's time we warn Fimdari sir."

. o O Turtledove thinks "Hrm. He's doing what sounds like the 'right' thing, and yet I still don't 'trust' him."

Ttomak continues looking over the sensors, going back and forth between different readouts to try and find anything. He gives up with a shake of his head. "I can't get anything from these sensors. We should figure out what they had planned to do here."

Dakin nods to Ttomak. "Agreed. Mr. O'Rielly, hail the incoming ADF vessel. Idrani, come about and brake to all-stop." Back to Ttomak, "Has the Tal'Kaden made any sort of pronouncement about what they intended on Fimdari? Bragging beforehand's their usual M.O."

Idrani touches a few buttons on her console, "Coming about. Full stop, aye." Her antennae flick in the Romulan's direction, interested to hear his response.

Turtledove glances to Ttomak, curious as well.

O'Rielly nods, "Aye sir, hailing them, will transfer to your screen when they answer. Getting ready to message Fimdari control as well."

Ttomak looks up momentarily, giving that a thought. "I don't recall any, no. Bring up the files I transferred to your ship. There may be something in there that I missed."

<CONTEST> O'Rielly contests his Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

GAME: Dakin spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Idrani contests her Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Dakin (claiming advantage) contests his Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Dramatically Fails!

Dakin nods. "Everyone, pour into those files, if there's something to be found, I want to know about it." Once he sees the comm channel has been opened, he speaks, "Andorian vessel, this is Lt. Commander Dakin Rann, commanding the Federation starship Cape Fear. We require assistance. We believe the Tal'Kaden are planning some form of assault on Fimdari. Please respond."

<CONTEST> Turtledove contests her Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

Idrani brings up the files on her terminal. Her antennae move slightly as she considers the information. "Hmm."

Turtledove also scans the data, her eyebrows knitted thoughtfully.

<CONTEST> Idrani contests her Behavior Modification (Resistance) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

O'Rielly pulls up the data on his console as well, but seems to be placing his concentration on other duties that he needs to be working on.

<CONTEST> Ttomak contests his Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

Ttomak shakes his head slightly as he too tries to find something new.

"This is Captain Prakal of the ADF vessel Narani," comes the response. "What kind of attack, Lieutenant Commander?"

Dakin explains, "That's what we're trying to find out, Captain. We detected one of their ships just as it destroyed an allied Romulan scoutship. Have you registered any odd sensor readings or run across any ships that shouldn't be where they are? Anything out of the ordinary at all?"

Idrani comments quietly, "There seems to be a reference here to five.... something. Whatever that is, it seems important." Her gaze flicks up toward the viewscreen and the Andorian captain.

Havaris gives a glance back to Ttomak, then to Dakin, then back to his tactical terminal to resume the monitoring of his station. "We should likely contact the ground, Sir. If Mister O'Rielly is correct, we're looking at a suborbital threat."

Turtledove's eyes shift, focusing darkly as she looks from Havaris to Dakin. "Commander, I think they're planning to up the ante this time. A planet-wide strike, in lieu of their usual small-scale actions."

<CONTEST> O'Rielly contests his Computer (Research) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

O'Rielly glances slightly surprised towards Lt Havaris for a moment while his terminal is calling up information. "Lt Idrani, can you show me what you mean by te reference to 5?" His terminal beeps, "The colonies on the surface are surrounded by... Ice and snow..." With his finishing this, his eyes go wide.

Ttomak's head snaps toward Turtledove. "Are you certain? They have never done this before. Nor do I see how they possibly can..."

"Only the recent weapons fire coming from your bearing," says the Andorian. "Is Fimdari aware of this threat?"

. o O Havaris thinks "You've got a lot to learn about me, Mister O'Rielly, if you imagine I'll sell out a planet over my ego. Well. That. And you really don't pay attention much. Speaking of..."

Dakin whips his head around to O'Rielly, his eyes going wide as well. "O'Rielly, notify Fimdari control to commence evac procedures!" Back to Prakal, "Captain, we think the Tal'Kaden are going to try to melt the ice and snow surrounding the colonies... Fimdari's being notified, but we need to get down there now!" To Idrani, "Set course for Fimdari, warp 5, and prep us for atmospheric insertion!"

Idrani taps buttons on her console. "Setting course. Warp 5, aye." She sends her information to O'Rielly's terminal, highlighting the references she has mentioned.

. o O O'Rielly thinks "If only we brought the Paine..."

Turtledove's eyes shift to Ttomak momentarily, then return to her console as the situation kicks into high gear.

<CONTEST> O'Rielly (claiming advantage) contests his Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

"Navigational shields to full, preparing orbital thrusters for insertion." Havaris gets his side of matters squared away, caps the torpedo tubes, and settles in for the drop through the thick of an ionosphere. Good times. "While I'm sitting on my backside, mind if I take a look at those files?"

O'Rielly gets to work on the message, barely looking over what Idrani sent to him. He opens a wide-band broadcast channel. "Attention Fimdari Control, this is Lt JG O'Rielly of Starfleet Intellgence, you are under iminent threat of Tal'Kaden attack, proceed with a level 1 evacuation of the planet. I repeat, imminent threat of Tal'Kaden attack, proceed with level 1 planetary evacuation."

+info intellect

<CONTEST> Ttomak contests his Intellect (Logic) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Fails!

<CONTEST> Idrani contests her Computer (Research) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Fails!

Ttomak's eyebrows furrow upon hearing the theory as his eyes go distant, but nothing comes. He rests his chin on a hand, whose elbow is supported by his other hand, and mulls over it some more.

The anxiety in the Andorian captain jumped a level. "What can I do to help?"

. o O O'Rielly thinks "That's a first... never had to order the evacuation of an entire planet before..."

. o O O'Rielly feels kinda fuzzy, and not the warm good kind of fuzzy. More like the cold, bad kind of fuzzy. Better yet, let's just call it numb.

GAME: Turtledove spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Turtledove (claiming advantage) contests her Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Succeeds!

Dakin says into the comm channel as he climbs back into his seat. "We need every transporter-equipped ship in the sector to converge on the planet. If we can't stop this thing, we'll need all the help we can get to get the population off-world. Also, we need help with sensor sweeps, in particular towards the largest ice formations on the planet... the ones that could do the most damage if collapsed." Then to Idrani, "Engage, Lieutenant." Without skipping a beat: "Kusto, once we're in atmosphere, shields up, weapons hot. Tera, have transporter on hot standby."

"Fimdari has been the site of various subspace anomalies since the end of the Dominion War, Sir. One took out the K'lia glacier, destroyed the whole settlement. I think Idrani was on that mission." Havaris glances to the Andorian for confirmation before nodding back Dakin's way. "The Merimac managed to put it back together again, but something like that-- it had the capacity to do what we're saying might happen. And I believe it was a collapsing singularity drive that caused the anomaly in the first place." Havaris gives that little memory jog, then nods his head flatly. "Aye, sir. Standing by."

Idrani nods, remembering that mission. Almost falling off a glacier into the frozen depths of hell isn't something soon forgotten. More button pushing. "Aye, sir." As the Cape Fear streaks toward Fimdari, she continues. "It could be a strike against political targets, sir. Or large cities. The possibilities are vast. We need to narrow the search a little. Figure out what the reference to 'five' would be."

<CONTEST> O'Rielly contests his Computer (Research) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

Turtledove, eyebrows knitted quietly again, looks to Ttomak, then to Dakin. She nods crisply to the order, and proceeds to work the console, speaking as she does. "From what I can gather, Commander, the data seems to suggest that the Tal'kaden plan has something to do with stolen Romulan military equipment."

O'Rielly glances back towards Ttomak, "Stolen Romulan Military equipment? Since time is of the essence, care to elborate?"

GAME: Ttomak spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Ttomak (claiming advantage) contests his Intellect (Logic) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

And it dawns upon the sublieutenant. "A while back, a small shipment of plasma torpedoes along with its escort mysteriously disappeared. We were never able to determine what happened to it." He looks to Dakin, "If your theory is correct, then there would be enough plasma yield in that stolen freight to melt every single icecap on that world."

"Understood," said the captain. "Narani out."

Dakin shakes his head. "Prophets guide us... all right." A pause, then, directed to O'Rielly, "Start sensor scans of the five largest icecaps on Fimdari. Prioritize the one Havaris mentioned. Look for any signs of Romulan-grade plasma yield." He looks to Idrani, "You remember how to get to the K'lia glacier, Lieutenant?"

GAME: O'Rielly spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> O'Rielly contests his Shipboard Systems (Sensors) skill vs a difficulty of Impossible and Fails!

GAME: Havaris spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Havaris contests his Shipboard Systems (Sensors) skill vs a difficulty of Impossible and Succeeds!

Idrani nods. "I do, sir. Laying in a course."

Havaris spends a few moments working his sensor terminal, giving a glance now and then to the navigational sensors to make certain he's got time yet before having to switch over to atmospheric weapons and the like. With a slight grin, Havaris taps his terminal and shucks a rotating planetary map over to the command console. "Sir. I've detected five likely objects dispersed across the planet. All are buried under a few feet of ice. They've been sensor masked, but they're there." The map lights up with five reticles displaying the telemetry data for the areas the sweep picked up. "There may be more. But that's what I've found thusfar. We can pass over these sensor hits to the planetary authorities. Have them perform wider scans on the same data. See if we can't uncover more."

Turtledove shifts a quick glance to Havaris, then returns to the read-out on her console.

O'Rielly tries to scan the planet as well, but isn't getting the luck Havaris had. He turns in his seat to look at Ttomak (after making sure his earlier evacuation order is continuing to send). "I know you may not want to share this, but is there anyway to get in contact with those torpedos, either to disable or to otherwise communicate with them?"

Ttomak shakes his head at O'Rielly before taking a look at the map. "The torpedoes aren't designed to accept commands from an outside source other than the vessel launching them. Hmm...five objects... They wouldn't be clustering the torpedoes, if they're using them to melt the ice. That's an inefficient use of the energy dispersal." He looks over to Havaris, "Well done, there. Are you able to get any more information out of that scan? Mass? Volume? Density?"

Dakin looks over to Havaris, adding, "And transmit our findings to the Narani and Fimdari Control while you're at it, prefaced with the need for demolitions disposal teams."

<CONTEST> Havaris contests his Systems Engineering (Sensors) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

"Odd. I'm not detecting mass or volume signatures in the ice. I'm working on the sensor masks, but they don't appear to be your standard ECM or interference emitters. It might require a ground crew on site to get a more accurate appraisal of just what we're looking at." Havaris glances back to Ttomak, then gives Dakin a nod, switching over to his communications console. "Fimdari Control, this is the USS Cape Fear. We're sending you sensor telemetry of five objects believed to be plasma torpedoes concealed in your ice pack and shielded by sensor masks. Please keep us appraised on evacuation procedures and notify us of your best time for ground response to these locations. Further, use this sensor telemetry to perform ground scans locally. There may be more objects on the ground." This message is broadcast to the Narani, similarly.

Turtledove taps on her console, and pulls up a new data window.

O'Rielly still watches Ttomak. "It's unlikely that these torpedos were ever launched out of a vessel? What reaction would our trying to access them have if unsucessful?"

. o O Havaris thinks "Boom, genius."

Ttomak looks back at O'Rielly. "Hmm? Oh, I doubt they've been fired out of a ship, if that's what the Tal'Kaden are using. If they were, they would have exploded and now be useless." He looks back at the scans. "And I wouldn't recommend trying to tap into the torpedoes. The risk of setting them off is extremely high."

. o O O'Rielly thinks "There has to be a way to use the torpedos to find the Tal'Kaden ship, there just has to be..."

Dakin then asks Ttomak, "How would you recommend we shut them down then?"

"Sir, I've heard back from the ground. The evacuation is tying up all of their ground patrols. They're too busy, they say, for tracking signal ghosts. We need solid data on the ground if we're going to divert Fimdari from evacuation in favor of attempting to stop the attacks." Havaris pauses before adding, "And the ADF vessel in the area reports they're taking on refugees and are unable to assist directly at the moment. We're it, Sir."

Idrani asks, "Can we get a transporter lock on the torpedos? We could put them in the buffer, then simply clear it."

<CONTEST> O'Rielly contests his Shipboard Systems (Communications) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

"That is not advisable." Turtledove replies to Idrani, as she considers her console. "Modern plasma containment usually employs directional variation of a magnetic field. Engaging the device in a transport beam, or even beaming the plasma out directly, is likely to result in instability, with dire consequences."

O'Rielly works over his console for a moment, "I'm searching for any 'unique' ways to disable those torpedos in the meantime."

. o O O'Rielly thinks "You know, for Romulan Military Intelligence, you're not making yourself very useful here."

Ttomak props his elbow up on the console and rests his chin on his balled hand. "They're cloaked," he says. "That's why we're having such a hard time getting a sensor reading. She's right," Ttomak tilts his head toward Turtledove. "We'll probably just end up accelerating their plan. And knowing the Tal'Kaden, I would say that their devices are trapped to prevent tampering anyway." He looks to Dakin, "If we are to disable it, we need to get closer. A lot closer."

Dakin frowns, then nods to Ttomak's recommendation. "Idrani, best speed to the torpedo site with the largest possibility for collateral damage."

"We'll need articware and Type III's," Havaris reminds, being the Mission Ops Mother To All Away Teams fellow that he is, "and everyone remember to go before we suit up. You'll thank me later."

Idrani brings up some planetary data on Fimdari. After a moment's consideration, she adjusts her course. "Aye sir."

Turtledove quirks a wry grin and glances to Havaris. She taps her console and looks to Dakin. "Permission to leave the 'bridge' to prep the gear, Commander."

The runabout screams through the Fimdari atmosphere, moving towards lands covered in fresh snow, blindingly bright in the sunlight. It slows to a stop as it reaches the first site where the odd readings are being detected.

Dakin nods to Tera at her request. "Granted, Lieutenant." As the Cape Fear touches down on the frozen terrain, he rises from his seat and heads to the aft section to help Turtledove with the equipment loadout.

Havaris hits the head. Because it's just sound advice. When he emerges, he makes a good deal of ado in putting on his cold-weather uniform, complete with handy face mask and nifty goggles. He wiggles the latter down over his eyes before slipping on his marksman's gloves and grabbing a Type III from the rack. "Well, if you have to die in a flood caused by superheated plasma, do it at distance that'll vaporize you before you boil alive and subsequently drown. Who wants point?"

. o O Havaris is actually rather chipper about it all. Field work! It's been a while.

Idrani gets up from her seat, after landing the shuttle. "I can do it, Lieutenant. Unless Lieutenant Turtledove would be better suited." She begins donning the cold weather gear.

GAME: O'Rielly spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> O'Rielly contests his Computer (Research) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Turtledove suits up, having taken Havaris' prescient wisdom and gone with it, so to speak. Her attention shifts to Idrani, and she offers a slight smile. "Your familiarity with the area might put you in a better position to take point, Lieutenant. My general MO is stealth and environment assessment. In this case, speed is of the essence." That said, she looks to Dakin, as she continues to suit-up.

GAME: Turtledove spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Turtledove (claiming advantage) contests her Intellect skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

O'Rielly doesn't even appear close to have started suiting up. In fact, he has yet to leave his console. He is obviously perusing something.

Ttomak goes to suit up as well, cleaning himself up before doing so.

Dakin finishes zipping up his parka and dials his rifle up to setting three. "Idrani, you're on point. Kusto, you've got our six. Tera and I'll take flanking positions." He spies O'Rielly. "O'Rielly, keep looking through the files. Hail us if you anything of use. All set?" He slips his gloves on, secures his mask, and presses the hatch release.

"Aye, Sir. Stay fr-- Uh. Keep your eyes open." Havaris adjusts the strap to his Type III for easier marching and similarly gets his tricorder into easier positioning near his hip. He waits for the group to file out ahead of him before giving O'Rielly a pleasant -- if muffled -- parting, "If you find yourself surrounded by white light and suffused with a feeling of peace and calm, don't worry, you're already dead. Good luck." He pokes the deck controls to close the hatch behind the rest of the group on his way out and hops down to the snow in his rush to get out before the door shuts on him.

Idrani adjusts her snow-goggles and makes sure her blade is within easy reach. Phaser in hand, she steps out of the shuttle.

Turtledove smiles quietly all around, then affixes her own mask and goggles. Her Type III is slung less serviceably, as she favors her tricorder. Her knife is strapped at her side. As she steps into the cold, her eyebrows are tending to knit again. She speaks over her comm. "Something just occured to me, Commander." She eyes the frigid land-scape. "Plasma... is like a charged photon torpedo. You don't want it until you're ready to use it. In other words, it's possible that the torpedo payload is in a pre-plasma state." Her head turns towards Havaris. "Did you identify plasma directly in your scan, sir?"

O'Rielly nods half-heartedly towards Havaris, "Right..." he comments. He taps the comms, "Fimdari control, what is the status of evacuation for all colony sites?"

Ttomak is weaponless. The Starfleet officers would probably have said no if he had asked for one, anyway. So armed only with a tricorder, he begins scanning. "Well, we could always phaser out the cloaking device. That is, if none of you mind setting off the device and vaporizing us all. And yes, we typically don't keep our plasma torpedoes in plasma form while in storage. That tends to get volatile."

Dakin steps off the USS Cape Fear.

Dakin steps out into the snow, his snowboots crunching into the deep powder. He waits for the rest of the team to make their way out. "So the thing's probably got some kind of detonator then... either remote or timed. Either way, we've little time."

Havaris gives his tricorder a cursory glance, keeping his rifle trained away from the column of officers, aimed at the ice a few dozen yards away. A safe place for it to point. He points vaguely into the distance. "That way, Sir. About a hundred meters or so."

<CONTEST> O'Rielly contests his Espionage (Traffic Analysis) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Idrani contests her Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Idrani takes a couple deep breaths. For a brief moment, she allows herself to relish the feeling of setting foot on a planet with a comfortable climate again. She follows Havaris's direction, footsteps sure and steady. She points out possible pitfalls to avoid in trekking the glacier. Eventually, as the group comes upon their destination, Idrani notes, "There's been digging here."

Turtledove considers Ttomak, meanwhile. As she looks towards Idrani's locational projection, she asks the Romulan, "In what form do you typically store the material, Sublieutenant? If we can subvert its energetic potential before it converts, without disturbing its containment fields, for example, by reducing the ambient temperature of the material, might we be able to prevent the plasma conversion without risking tampering with the detonator?"

GAME: Ttomak spends a courage point.

Meanwhile, in the runabout, O'Rielly seems to be working over his console, seeing if he can come up with anything for the team. His console beeps and results are returned, and he sighs, trying to consider his next move.

<CONTEST> Ttomak (claiming advantage) contests his Espionage (Crytopgraphy) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

Ttomak has been busy fiddling with his tricorder the whole time, just minding his own business while muttering about fat gloves that make it hard for him to use the tricorder. "Huh?" he looks over at Tera. "Oh, good idea, but that won't work. The jump to the plasma state is massive and sudden. Cooling down the pre-plasma gaseous state won't make too much of a difference...unless...wait." He stops, and struggles with his tricorder some more. Suddenly, a huge, dark object appears below the snow, only faintly outlined because of the opaque qualities of said snow.

Dakin peers down into the snow. "Okay, everyone, I'd like to hear some suggestions, preferably quickly and before we all get incinerated. Sublieutenant, are there any systems in the torpedo we can safely tap into? Anything at all?"

Havaris glances back to his tricorder and reports, ever so helpfully, "The torpedo is decloaking, sir. I should be able to get a better scan of it with my tricorder. As to ideas? Getting it out of the ice seems a good first step, unless I miss my guess. We can't disarm it without touching it."

Idrani takes some tricorder readings of the area, looking for more information. "What about using a tractor beam? If the Cape Fear can't do it, there are many ADF ships nearby that can."

Turtledove considers Ttomak, clearly overworking her brain. "Unless we reduce it to an extremely low temperature? Like... absolute zero?"

. o O Turtledove feels mildly out of her league, scientifically-speaking.

"Howabout its cloaking device?" asks Ttomak. He then looks down and gives a satisfied nod, "I don't know if I want to do anything beyond that, though. Shutting down a cloaking device is one thing. Tapping into a device designed to unleash fiery death to anyone near it is quite another." He looks to Idrani, "The Tal'Kaden would have backups to ensure against tampering...but they could only prepare for so many eventualities before it becomes too much to handle. Maybe they haven't considered anyone actually discovering these devices - or, at least, they considered it and didn't think it worth all the extra effort needed. So that might work." To Turtledove, he just gives a blank face and shrugs, "I wouldn't know, to be honest. That's in the realm of the scientists."

GAME: Havaris spends a courage point.

Dakin thinks for a moment. "Maybe we don't need to disable them, just put them someplace where they'd do the least damage... Sublieutenant, do the torpedoes have independent propulsion and onboard targeting systems? COuld they be rigged for a launch... say, out of the atmosphere?"

<CONTEST> Havaris (claiming advantage) contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Idrani contests her Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Havaris slings his weapon after taking a few moments to survey their surroundings, then steps forward with his tricorder whirring ahead of him. He stops at the rim of the ice and drops to a knee, plucking the knife from his boot and poking it into the ice pack a bit. "Powercell, sir. Right here. We need to melt down to the torpedo. If we can remove the powercell from the matter injector, there can be no superheating in the EPS nodes. They can press the trigger all they want. No power, no reaction. No reaction, no explosion. I can work on this angle, see if there's any failsafes attached to it, if you want to pursue the orbital approach."

Idrani's antennae shift. She looks at her tricorder reading again. "Sir. There is no torpedo here. It's a shell, with something... or several somethings... inside."

Turtledove's eyes shift from Ttomak to Idrani, then to her tricorder.

"I guess that makes the propulsion question moot," Ttomak says after Idrani's revelation.

Dakin shakes his head. "If Idrani's right, there *is* no orbital approach. All right... Idrani, Turtledove, rifles on medium stun, not so much we'll cook the warhead. Clear us some elbow room for this thing."

<CONTEST> Turtledove contests her Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Havaris (claiming advantage) contests his Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Impossible and Fails!

<CONTEST> Idrani contests her Energy Weapon (Phaser) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Dramatically Succeeds!

<CONTEST> Turtledove contests her Energy Weapon (Phaser) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Havaris regards his tricorder while the team works before clicking it closed, "As near as I can tell, Sir, the power cell isn't rigged for detonation. I'll be able to know more once we've got the case open. We should relay our findings, however, in case this thing goes off while we're working. So the next team doesn't make our mistakes."

Idrani takes aim with her phaser and fires. With almost surgical precision, she melts the ice down to the top of the shell casing. That done, she takes another scan with the tricorder, now that there isn't a layer of ice in the way.

GAME: Turtledove spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Turtledove (claiming advantage) contests her Intellect (Perception) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Turtledove eyes her tricorder output. "I'm reading some electronic devices, computer systems, and multitudes of very compact gases." She lets the rifle hang and unclasps her Type II to help Idrani... not that she needs it. Wow. She is, as they say, on fire.

Out of combadges, "O'Rielly to Away Team--Status."

Dakin nods to Havaris and activates his mask's comlink. "Dakin to O'Rielly. Relay all our tricorder scans and ongoing communication to the Narani and Fimdari Control. Best they know how to do this if we succeed, and how not to if we screw up. Also, lock short-range sensors on us and monitor the warhead's activity. Keep this channel open and notify us of any change." He carefully approaches the bomb and stands ready to help pop the case open. To Havaris, "Ready when you are."

Closing his eyes behind his goggles, Havaris offers a quick prayer, "Prophets, make me useful." Puffing out a sharp sigh, Havaris gives Dakin a quick thumbs up. "Let's do this. The powercell is on the aft end, so we'll need to remove the casing on that end. We need to maintain containment on the gasses." Havaris pops his fingers out of his marksman's gloves and leans down into the ice to help Dakin with the casing top.

GAME: Havaris spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Havaris (claiming advantage) contests his Systems Engineering skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Fails!

<CONTEST> Idrani contests her Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

Idrani steps back, "Sir, I recommend that we get a tractor beam on this and just pull it out of the atmosphere." She scans the item with her tricorder. "Sir, there's a power buildup."

Turtledove answers O'Rielly, over the comm. "The local device has been decloaked and partially de-iced. Lt. Havaris is attempting to remove the device's powercell..." She trails off as Idrani announces a power buildup. "...and we might be needing a lift out of here, really soon."

"Data being transmitted... apparently that was the wrong move. I have a transporter lock on you all, and shields ready... perhaps we can try a different approach to deactivating it?" Comes O'Rielly's voice over the badges.

Ttomak frowns. "That's never a good sign. I say our best option is what she suggests," he nods toward Idrani. He looks to Turtledove, then Dakin. "If we leave now, thousands of Andorians could die. You can't allow that."

. o O Idrani thinks "If I live through this, I'm going to take a class on Bomb Disposal 101 from Hiroshi."

"I didn't say now." Turtledove regards Ttomak with a hard stare. "There are at least four more of these... they could be set to cascade." She looks at Idrani. "A tractor beam might be our only option at this point."

Dakin frowns and nods to Ttomak. "Nor do I have any intention of doing so." He clicks on the commlink. "Dakin to O'Rielly. Standby for emergency beam-out. Beforehand, contact the nearest ADF vessels to each bomb location and have them proceed at best speed to each location and tractor the devices out of atmosphere. If they complain, tell them the clock's ticking down and pretty soon evacuation won't matter. Idrani, I'm counting on you to get the device tractored and us out of here. O'Rielly, energize."

The group rematerializes aboard the Cape Fear.

Havaris says with the sort of calm that comes to a guy crouched over the open face of a fusion plasma detonation device currently priming itself for a very dramatic explosion, "No arguing over the ticking bomb, please." His hands hesitate in their work, but continue working despite. Must. Deactivate. Bomb. When the beamout is ordered, Havaris lifts his hands from the torpedo guts and gives Dakin a pointed, but not unkind stare. "I hope you know what you're doing." No really. He really, really does.

GAME: Idrani spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Idrani (claiming advantage) contests her Shipboard Systems (Tractor Beam) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Idrani gets to the helm seat immediately, getting the shuttle off the ground and back in orbit. She spends several seconds working at the tractor beam before she says, "Tractor beam lock obtained, sir. Lifting the object out of Fimdari's atmosphere."

Turtledove moves up to a console and pulls up a window. "The device is reaching critical..."

The runabout strains upwards and into space, dragging along an ovoid object behind.

GAME: O'Rielly spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> O'Rielly (claiming advantage) contests his Espionage (Cryptography) skill vs a difficulty of Difficult and Fails!

O'Rielly says, "It's going Critical, trying to see if I can shut it down."

"Release it!" Ttomak nearly shouts.

Dakin says, "Havaris, shields up! Idrani, cut it loose and move us perpendicular 500,000 kilometers!"

Idrani taps quickly on her console. "Releasing tractor beam. Changing course." Her voice is as cool and calm as ever.

O'Rielly says, "No luck with the attempt, or at least no visible result."

Dakin says, "Keep at it, O'Rielly... if it works, transmit to the other ADF ships... no sense them playing hot potato if we don't have to..."

"Shields up," Havaris reports promptly, "I hope we've got enough distance, Sir. Or we're in trouble."

With an explosion that lights up the Fimdari day sky, the device releases its pent-up stores of plasma. The Cape Fear is buffeted by waves of energy, rocking violently, but ultimately stays in one piece.

Turtledove grips her console through the turmoil, but remains upright. "Systems are... mostly not destroyed."

<PROVE> Turtledove has the merit of Excellent Balance at 1.

Dakin finishes being violently shaken out of his seat and catches a split-second's breath. "Sensors on full. Give me a condition report on the planet." He hauls himself off the deck and back into his seat."

O'Rielly holds on as the torpedo explodes... He too is interested in the condition, but he's also frowning at the moment.

"The ones that are," Havaris adds with a sigh of relief, "I am not touching. One blinking red light is enough for one day." Havaris reclaims his chair and hits the sensors, appearing oddly at ease now that he's back in the familiar confines of a bridge chair. Oh how the times have changed. "We got the altitude needed, Sir. Some high altitude disturbances, but nothing overly damaging at all. Assuming we get to the others before they're triggered to go off, we can dispose of them out of the magnetosphere. Should be a simple matter from that point."

Ttomak stays on the floor, where the rocking tossed him to, and leans against a bulkhead. His head drops back as he rests, wearied from a combination of his injuries and the near annihilation. "Let's get to it, then," he manages to say.

Dakin sighs and nods. "All right. Good job, everybody. Jaylas, lay in a course for the next device. Full impulse." He eases back in his seat, hoping to the Prophets Bombs #2 through #5 aren't this harrowing.

. o O O'Rielly thinks "We're lucky so far, but I still failed."