Star Trek: The Quadratic War

[Comrade Tortoise]

Alpha Quadrant
USS Immortal

Captain Vladstok had arrived on the bridge without any sort of fanfare. He had arrived in the docking bay on his ship's Danube runabout as it made its third trip ferrying over engineering and science teams to the Saehir, and then waded through the battle damaged sovereign to the bridge. No use wasting the energy or risking disruption to transport, or go on his own trip. Too inefficient.

He calmly listened, with typical Vulcan detachment.

That was until Riov Cretak made the futile attempt to read his non-existent body language. One did not need to be a telepath to know what that look was, though it helped, and even though Vulcans did not display emotions, even those with weak or non-existent telepathic skills were somewhat empathic and sensitive to the emotions of others--even if they were an Outside Context Problem for his people if they did not spend time around other species. Romulans were difficult to read that way, but the curiosity combined with pensivity was unmistakeable. Though his posture did not change in the slightest, nor his face flicker with what anyone could consider to be expression, Tlorn was somewhat amused by the idea that a Rihannsu would attempt to read him. He should have known better.

"The S'harien saved this task force roughly a day via its transwarp. Give me twice that time and all the people that your ships can spare to work alongside and under the direction of the engineering teams of the task force. I have given Captain Leyton whatever relevant information I had available about the Saehir and her sisters in the hope that such information would expedite the restoration of the vessel. I am prepared to share this information with anyone that requires it. If after two days the Saehir is not capable of surviving a trip out of the badlands then we may have to scuttle her and move on towards Bajor. I also ask for the permission to conscript as many able bodied men and women from the surviving ships that were part of its task force in order to aid in this endeavor. A partly restored Saehir will be able to hold many of them and will allow us to transition towards Bajor far more effectively than escorting all of the surviving ships alongside us."

And then it came. The opportunity to set forth the backup plan.

"Captains, Riov Cretak sent my ship the relevant data as well, an hour prior to this meeting. My own ship is currently operating on a Skeleton crew, with the rest having gone over to the I.R.W. Saehir to assess damage to the Shields, Engines, and Power Distribution systems and determine if they can be repaired. We have also deployed sensor probes to give us advance warning if the Borg begin to approach our position. If they arrive, we will have an hour to evacuate assuming the badlands do not interfere with communications between probes. If any of you wish to contribute to the sensor net, the increased redundancy would be helpful. That said, there may be a way to take the Saehir with us, even in the event that she cannot be repaired to marginally operational status."

He waited for a moment, to let interest peak.

"We can tow it through warp. The power required for warp travel scales exponentially with the speed of travel. The badlands do not permit us to travel at high warp, thus giving each of our ships the power required to extend their warp field a considerable distance. If we can attach ourselves with tractor beams, we may be able to merge all of our warp fields. Mass is another consideration. The ship is too massive for our engines to actually move it. Given that, if our engines are not powerful enough to move a given mass, we can always use our deflector arrays to artificially decrease the mass." With that, he pulled out a small holographic emitter and set it down on the table in the conference room.

The emitter came to life, showing a three dimensional diagram of the positions of each ship, as they would need to be placed in order to accomplish both tasks, with both fields emanating from their ships nacelles and deflector dishes--along with a dizzying array of mathematical equations annotating the whole thing.

"These calculations are somewhat, to borrow a human expression... back-of-the-napkin" which was somewhat insane given their complexity "but doing both is theoretically possible. The main obstacle would be synchronizing our warp fields and deflector arrays. The tolerance for error is, to put it mildly, minuscule. However, doing so is less manpower intensive than repairing the Saehir in the badlands, and once everything is in place requiring only enough people to manually configure the deflectors and calibrate the warp fields and coordinate between ships to ensure compatibility, allowing us to both attempt to repair the Tender, and have a backup plan in case the Borg arrive an hour's travel away. It may not work, but if so there is no risk to our ships. We can simply leave as we would anyway after resetting our Warp Fields, something that takes mere seconds if the original configurations are saved."

[Josh]

Alpha Quadrant
USS Immortal

Having doffed their suits after exiting the voided shuttle bay, Shirazi and entourage were escorted through the battered Sovereign.

"When you decide to make weapons instead of thin-hulled science vessels, the Federation can build good warships," M'Lara observed. "Too luxurious, though."

"I wouldn't mind a real meal," Yhrea said. He was behind Frank, but Frank was certain that the intelligence officer's eyes were roaming as they always were, studying and absorbing every detail.

The Gorn security officer ushered them into the turbolift, whose lights flickered uncertainly as it shuttled them up. Frank repressed a grimace- the Starfleet he'd been a part of would've pulled a ship in this condition off the line for a proper overhaul. A vessel in this condition was more familiar from his time among the Maquis than anything else.

But the Starfleet he'd been in no longer existed, and the remnant had been reduced to a resistance force.

This was uncomfortably like coming home in more ways than one.

The doors slid open and the universal translator converted the Gorn's hissing speech into an approximation of standard English. "This way, please," the Gorn said politely, gesturing with a taloned hand. They stepped around a working party rerouting a plasma conduit to the accompaniment of the creative swearing that was universal among engineering crews of all species, in Frank's experience.

At the door, Frank glanced back at his people. "Tiptoes and best behavior," he cautioned quietly.

M'Lara smirked, the flesh crinkling around the plasticized portions of her face. She jerked her head toward Yhrea. "Tell him, he's the rowdy one."

Yhrea's response was just a subtle raising of a single eyebrow, a gesture that was so Vulcan in nature. Frank often wondered how often Yhrea had been called upon to imitate his cousins in his previous duties.

Not a question he'd ever ask, or expect an honest answer to.

[rhoenix]

After three more ships were escorted back to the gathering area, the Gilgamesh glided closer to the much larger Immortal. Being designed as it was to have oversized claws and fangs, a ship such as the Gilgamesh lacked small luxuries, such as a holodeck, a proper bar, or more pertinently, a shuttlebay.

As a consequence, permission was requested and granted to have the Gilgamesh's Captain and XO transported to the nearest habitable area close to the shuttlebay used for receiving visitors, the Gilgamesh's transporters and computers syncing with the Immortal's to accomplish the task.

Then again, such were many things in these times, thought Commander Inzeti, as she and her Captain were escorted by a Gorn who was large and bulky even for his species to the meeting area. The two walked purposefully, and in sync, showing that the two had worked together for a few years now and had long since grown used to how one another operated and thought.

The two received some appraising glances from those gathered already in the meeting room, but the two took their spots as the meeting was about to begin.

Captain Solheim spied a few new faces at the gathering, and unobtrusively gathered their biometric data from his implanted eyes - the data would be matched with the records on hand once he returned to the ship. Meanwhile however, discussions were already being had as to what to do with the newly-captured Romulan fleet tender.

It was after the almost-emotionless Captain Vladstok gave data for a proper backup plan that Captain Solheim decided to speak up. "It would be a damn shame to have found a tender, here of all places, and then have to leave it. I can spare a few engineers from the Gilgamesh for assistance with getting the fleet tender at least mobile again, if not functional."

Commander Inzeti nodded at this, picking up right where Captain Solheim left off. "Despite the recent events occurring in the Badlands," she said, showing her under-used gift for political understatement, "the Borg will undoubtedly investigate at some point. Since early warning systems have been already deployed, we should endeavor to get the fleet tender mobile under its own power as soon as we can. While Captain Vladstok's suggestion has great merit as a backup plan, such a configuration would restrict the top Warp speed of all ships involved, should it occur within a worst-case scenario."

Nodding at this, Captain Solheim then continued. "The Gilgamesh may not have the best sensors out of our little fleet here, but she's fast, she has some probes left, and can perform patrols quite well in the meantime. I can make sure we stay on the lookout for other civilian stragglers we might've missed, or any Borg that decide now's a good time for a brisk jog across the Badlands."

Of those that were gathered in the room, it would take a keen observer of people to notice the very brief look of exasperation crossed with amusement move across Commander Inzeti's face, before her face returned to its normal relaxed (and impassive) state.

[General Havoc]

Thus far, in the discussions, Lt. Commander Ereshal had sat quietly on the side of the room, saying nothing whatsoever, partly due to her position here as a fill-in, partly because she was uncertain she would be able to speak coherently. Had anyone with experience of Aenar physiology been present, they might have noticed the paler-than-average complexion and twitching antennae that indicated very bad things inbound. Aenar were a telepathic race, and right now, the telepathic equivalent of a screaming tirade was fading in and out of the room, detectable by any Betazoid or Vulcan who might happen by, or happen to be sitting next door.

The conversation turned to the tender, of course, and to the means of recovering it. The Vulcans had an idea that involved linking warp fields and deflector duties to tug the thing out of the badlands at warp. Ereshal's background was engineering, and she could see the merit in the suggestion, but right now, frankly, it was difficult to concentrate on something like this

""The Gilgamesh may not have the best sensors out of our little fleet here, but she's fast, she has some probes left, and can perform patrols quite well in the meantime," said Captain Soltheim of the USS Gilgamesh. "I can make sure we stay on the lookout for other civilian stragglers we might've missed, or any Borg that decide now's a good time for a brisk jog across the Badlands."

"Tell them I don't recommend it."

The voice was horrible. A raspy growl torn out of a throat half-clogged with something that sounded rather unpleasant. And as the door slid open, in walked a vision to match.

Commander Kalpov looked downright awful. Half his face was plated over in medical patches, micro-regenerators and other such devices. He'd changed into a fresh uniform, but the hands sticking out from the sleeves were bandaged up, the tissue between raw and inflamed, and covered in third degree burns. One eye was covered in a patch, a breathing tube fed into his nose from a medical pack mounted on his back, and he carried a four-footed cane in one hand, which he leaned upon as he hobbled into the room.

He stopped, taking a deep breath and coughing deeply, bringing his other hand up to his mouth for a moment before speaking again, in a voice only slightly less awful than the previous one was.

"Captains," he said, "sorry for being late." He took another long, slow breath, his unpatched eye roving until it found Anderson. "I was delayed," he croaked, staring the other cyclopian captain square in the face. "The Empyrean managed to... minimize the damage. Please continue."

With, Kalpov shuffled over to one side, even as Ereshal stood up, her expression blank as ever, but her antennae pointed in Kalpov's direction like a human's stare. She fumbled for words as she tried to answer the others.

"The... the Argonaut's sensors aren't working well at all in this soup," said the first officer of the ship in question. "I know the probes will have better sensor packages, but there's a chance they'll miss any Borg that show up. The tender's power systems are completely offline, and getting enough power back to run the warp engines AND the main deflector... I don't know if we have that kind of time. If we... concentrate on just getting the deflector back on line and use Captain Vladstock's suggestion for pooling our warp bubbles, that might be the best chance we have of getting the tender out of the badlands before the Borg come. Otherwise it could be days before we're finished."

Ereshal sat back down, sliding the seat next to her out as Kalpov collapsed into it with a sigh. Her blind eyes still focused forward, she whispered to him out of the side of her mouth.

"What the are you doing here?"

"Attending a meeting," came the reply. "How bad was it?"

"We took five casualties. All minor. No damage. The pirates targeted the other ships. What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Find out what the plan is to be first-hand...." came the raspy reply, "and making certain you don't do something we're all going to regret."

Ereshal fell silent, remembering at last to turn her eyes back to face the other captains as the discussion continued.

"Did you hit him yet?" asked Kalpov quietly, gesturing with the slightest head nod at Captain Anderson.

"I was waiting to see if you wanted to," whispered Ereshal back. "You're the one who wound up taking a spacewalk."

"More than that," said Kalpov. But when Ereshal turned her antennae, he made no further comment.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Commander Inzeti nodded at this, picking up right where Captain Solheim left off. "Despite the recent events occurring in the Badlands," she said, showing her under-used gift for political understatement, "the Borg will undoubtedly investigate at some point. Since early warning systems have been already deployed, we should endeavor to get the fleet tender mobile under its own power as soon as we can. While Captain Vladstok's suggestion has great merit as a backup plan, such a configuration would restrict the top Warp speed of all ships involved, should it occur within a worst-case scenario."

Tlorn gave Captain Solheim a look. A look that was the closest Vulcans ever came to saying 'what the fuck?". When he spoke it was as flat as it always was.

"Perhaps the excitement of the last several hours has caused you to forget the nature of the badlands Captain. Anything above Warp four is dangerous. Anything above Warp Six is tantamount to suicide. Higher than Warp Four, and you begin outrunning subspace sensors, which are restricted by subspace distortions to a slower sensor band, and are effectively flying blind into whatever happens to be in your way. Above Warp Six, and those same subspace distortions interact with the frequency of your warp field and feed back into your warp core. If that happens, one is fortunate to only lose power. At least, that is what we deduce from astrophysics and warp field theory. No ship or sensor probe used to test the hypothesis has survived to bring back the data." he cut off before he could continue, a bit abrupt, but nothing that would not be mistaken for simple abruptness.

His entire body stiffened as a wave of bilious red-hot anger and rage blasted through his emotional threshold and his Metacerebral cortex tried to compensate. Probably not noticeable to any but the most attentive, or telepaths.

Thoughts not his own rampaged through his mind, desires not his threatened to take control.

Anger. Rage. Phaser. Kill.... Anderson....

NO!

It was not a deliberate attack. If it was, the mental defenses he erected would have had to be more complicated. As it was, it was just a strong telepath with poor control blowing past his standard blocks meant to keep from violating the privacy of non-telepaths. It was dangerous, because without strict logical control and discipline, Vulcan emotions could become overwhelming in their intensity.

His Metacerebral cortex however, was basically a super-super-ego and allowed him to maintain control long enough to wall off the source of those rampant emotions with a stronger block.

When Commander Kalpov walked in, another blast of emotion hit him, but this time did not overwhelm his defenses and the unguarded surface thought behind them could be gleaned from the noise.

How is he still alive?. Knowing he has been exposed to the Badlands unprotected was one thing. Seeing the damage was another. But... how had he survived at all? Fifteen seconds in standard vacuum was all that a human could be exposed to and live. Longer than that, in the badlands? That should not be possible.

Still, this could not continue, and it was not his place to pry. Much more of this, and others might be affected. He gathered his will and sent a telepathic message across the conference room.

'Lt. Commander Ereshal, please keep your emotions under control.. Such things are dangerous to Vulcans--and others--coming from an Aenar powerful enough to communicate over interstellar distances. If an outburst is too sudden, you can overwhelm our standard blocks. I almost shot the Commodore under the influence of your errant thoughts.'

"Commander Kalpov, it is agreeable to see you alive. I rarely attribute anything to the human concept of luck, but I admit to being at a loss for other explanations." When his first officer spoke again, he weighed the options. One system was easier than two all things being equal, it would be faster and nothing was stopping them from working on the Tender while at warp. He reached a decision

"That said, your first officer has a keen mind. Lt. Commander, your suggestion is not one I had considered. The end result does not maximize our gains, but it also has a reasonably high chance of success, and may give us a head-start that working until the last hour in an attempt to get the engines running... would no give us, and relies less on detection of the Borg by our sensor net--which grows more likely by the hour. It also wont strain our own power systems as much. My crew is also particularly good at modifying deflector systems and power relays. It plays to our strengths. It is a good option if we wanted to 'hedge our bets', given that our engineers have not reported back on the feasibility of restoring other systems."

[White Haven]

Leyton, at a glance, didn't look like a captain. He was an older man with grey hair just dark enough to still show its original black coloration. His red-shirted uniform bore the pips of a mere lieutenant commander, marking him as perhaps an aide to one of the actual captains present. Add to that the fact that he'd avoided drawing attention to himself, and the assembled officers could easily be forgiven for not realizing he was even here representing Scylla.

If anyone present had known Admiral Leyton, the family resemblance would be difficult to miss.

After the Vulcan's proposal, he started gathering himself to speak, when a burn-ward refugee in most of a uniform walked in. That was new. Leyton, along with most everyone else present, just stared at Kalpov. Clearly, he'd missed some details during Scylla's arrival.

During a subsequent lull, he cleared his throat and stood; first introducing himself before moving on, "Lieutenant Commander Jason Leyton, in command of U.S.S. Scylla. I'm afraid I don't know all of you yet, and we clearly have much business to discuss, so I'll be brief. Captain," he nodded towards Vladstok to indicate who he was referring to, "I believe your plan to be...overly optimistic. You yourself admit that it has a minuscule tolerance for error, which would have been perfectly workable eight years ago. Now? I can't name one ship present that isn't in dire need of six months in the hands of a proper shipyard, just from casual scans. I'd have to speak with my own engineers to get hard numbers, but experience tells me that at some point along that trip, at least one of our ships' deflectors will fail, or fall out of synch, or there'll be a datalink failure and the coordination necessary will no longer be possible, or...any of a number of things. Any plan that has that low of a margin for error and that much of a price for failure is, I believe, impractical. It would be tantamount to just firing the ship ourselves, only with eight times the work and none of the salvage."

He took a deep breath and glanced over towards Riov Cretak before continuing, "I already have a large engineering contingent aboard the...Saehir, and I am fully willing to assist in either salvage or repair attempts."

With that, he seated himself again.

[Cynical Cat]

"I find your evaluation overly pessimistic," said Kadon. "Linking warp bubbles to tow prizes is an established Klingon technique and I believe Starfleet up to the technical challenge. A serious failure while maintaining the bubble will merely cause the bubble to fail and if that happens the anticurve-, I mean the warp bubble can be reestablished. I have heard no reasons not to go forward with this plan. My congratulations on your survival Commander Kalpov."

[rhoenix]

Seeing Captain Solheim struck silent by Commander Kalpov's entrance was a moment Commander Inzeti would have cherished and gloated over, had she also not been shocked by his condition.

"It is good to see you alive, Commander Kalpov," Captain Solheim said, echoing the sentiment stated a moment ago by Kadon. "And Kadon now has me thinking - maybe we should tow out our prize now to a stretch of space that's less unfriendly than here, and then see if we can attempt some field repairs on it in peace before we get to New Bajor. Having it along with us will help our cause by quite a bit, and not just with ship repairs."

[LadyTevar]

Kalpov stepped in, and Eoife's shock was plain.

"Commader Kalpov, maybe you should be The Kirk. Only he would be stubborn enough to walk in while that badly wounded." James Kirk had been stabbed in the back by a Orion agent, and yet took the Enterprise into a fight against the Orion's vessel and won. It was said McCoy kept him in sickbay for a week afterwards, but why spoil a good story.

"Capt. Kadon, you will near no disagreement from this one," Eoife continued, using his phrasing. "Knowing it can be done with smaller ships also makes me eager to try it now. However, I'm not sure moving out of the storm is a good idea. The storm is still giving us protection from the Borg for now."

[Cynical Cat]

"The storm is temporary protection from the Borg and time is running out. They will arrive at the site of the destroyed cube and they will be able to ascertain we headed towards the Badlands. We must move and the sooner the better.

"Extra shield generators have been marked from the salvage aboard Riskadh as part of our own repair priorities. If we focus our efforts on the structural integrity field generators, inertial compensators, and rigging a functional deflector system the we can use the combined power of our capital ships to drag the tender into warp. I have heard no reason not to do so."

[Marcao]

Alpha Quadrant
USS Immortal, Official Meeting

His eyes did not manage to see a great deal from the assembled leaders of the task force. There was a certain amount of disappointment in that knowledge but not to use any and all tools available to someone in his position was foolish. The arrival of Kalpov was met with a nod of his head acknowledging his entrance to the meeting. A part of him was grateful that Kalpov still drew breath given that his safety had been his responsibility during the failed negotiations with the IRW Saehir. He listened to the conversations that arose after his proposal. The survival of the Saehir was in everyone's best interest. In the end, a consensus seemed to have been reached. When Captain Kadon spoke as expected from a Klingon he went to the very heart of the matter.

"Captain Kadon's approach along with Captain Vladstok is likely the one most likely to bear fruit. The engines of the Saehir should be a secondary concern. The structural integrity and deflectors will likely bear the most fruit at this time given our time table." The concerns of Captain Leyton were heard but realistically, he would clutch at any straws that he had to in order to salvage the fleet tender. If the ship could be towed effectively, it was enough for him to try to do so. He sat back down and waited for someone else to bring a concern to the meeting. He reached for his PADD and quickly began to send orders to the S'harien indicating the presumed planned of action.

[rhoenix]

Commander Inzeti's eyes met with Captain Solheim's for a few moments, their facial expressions changing slightly, indicating a wordless discussion occurring.

After a few seconds of this, Captain Solheim faced the other Captains and spoke up, after crossing his arms thoughtfully. "I'm not sure the Gilgamesh would be able to help much with shield coverage or towing with the tender, but we can fly escort around the formation. It would help if we had a ship with better sensors than ours out in front, though."

[Comrade Tortoise]

"My ship is probably not large enough to be of a great deal of assistance extending a warp field directly. Only so many ships will be required, possibly only one, I still need to finish the power calculations." he said, not looking up while his hands danced over a PADD, checking for algebra errors in the large-yet seductively-elegant equations needed to calculate what ships in the taskforce would be needed to extend or combine warp fields.

" It is possible that one of the larger ships could do it on its own. However, it is unwise to add more ships than required, given the number of points of failure that are added. If multiple ships are needed, my vessel is well equipped to act as a control and coordination ship, relaying changes in warp field telemetry between ships to enable manual compensation for the interaction between warp fields and subspace distortions. Our sensors are also considerably more powerful than those aboard the Gilgamesh, and the computing power required to process that data--even while coordinating warp towage--is well within the bounds of that possessed by the Humbolt."

[Josh]

Having just taken his seat, Frank perked up slightly at the mention of forward reconnaissance.

"The Meh'Ta has a regulation sensor suite, but with our cloaking capabilities we can range further forward. If necessary we would also be willing to act as a decoy in order to protect the salvage operation."

[Hotfoot]

Alpha Quadrant
Badlands
Immortal Meeting Room

When Captain DuBois entered the room with Lieutenant Fenas and Commander Kalpov, he expected Kalpov to get most, if not all of the attention, and that was just fine by him. He began to go over the reports and suggestions made by the assembled lords of the void with dispassionate eyes. The Tender was badly damaged, towing it or fixing it both had their own dangers, but it was too valuable to leave, even he could see that, though the benefit to him directly was negligible unless the Romulans had managed to get their hands on top-end Federation computer networks. He began doing calculations on his PADD and eyed the numbers. Once he had done enough figuring, he spoke up.

“Towing it is the best option as far as having a better chance of avoiding the Borg, even if we only manage to tow it a few light years. I’ve done some additional calculations based on the engineering reports, our own scans, and the general assumed capabilities of our assembled group. We’re looking at anywhere from two to four ships being involved, spreading warp fields over the tender. The downside is that with the interference of the plasma storms, we’ll have to extend shields as well, and any irregularities in either will mean we’ll have to find a way to make sure the ship doesn’t just break apart, which means serious Structural Integrity Field enhancement. It’s doable, but any ship engaged in the tow will need to focus on those thing to pretty much the exclusion of all else. That said, I may have a solution to ease the burden. We can link those systems on each towing ship to the Empyrean, which would give us better reaction time to handle variations in the load through our computer, though any engineering teams on the other ships would have to keep up should things get dicey. Additionally, we can more easily scan ahead for plasma surges and adjust the towing group’s heading away from major swells. It will diminish our ability to scan for Borg, and I doubt I’ll be able to engage the sensor camouflage we’ve been using up to this point without dropping out of warp entirely, but it’s a workable plan, and one that doesn’t keep us next to the beacon we just lit for the Borg to follow,” He eyed Captain Tlorn from across the table, his expression calm, almost unnaturally so for a human. “ The Humboldt can likely also act in a similar fashion, should it be necessary for the Empyrean to handle forward sensor operations and early Borg detection as per our previous formations.”

As the Captain of the Meh’Ta spoke up, DuBois raised an eyebrow, “Your ship is capable of cloaking in the Badlands? Interesting. We may have to take you up on that.” Cloaking devices had numerous technical issues that prevented normal starship operation while they were in use. Weapons could not be fired or even properly charged for some time. Shields, by their nature, had to be down, and Warp travel mitigated the concealment most cloaking devices offered. Still, he recognized the man as Maquis, as so few of them were left after the purge, and if anyone knew the dangers of the Badlands, it was a former Maquis. Whatever sort of system he had put together would probably hold up just fine in the plasma storms. He would not have lasted this long were he a fool.

[White Haven]

"I feel more confidence in Captain Kadon's suggestion," Leyton nodded towards the Klingon, "That we retrofit shields and deflectors we know are functional onto the tender as a stopgap measure. Diagnostics and repairs on the tender's systems will take time we can't be assured of having right now. My crew has extensive experience with networking multiple, parallel shield generators into a cohesive whole; that's basically what Scylla uses herself."

[Comrade Tortoise]

"I have finished my calculations" Tlorn said without any sort of pride or sense of accomplishment in his voice. Something that deep within his brain was not at all true. "Within the badlands, we will require three ships at minimum to tow the Saehir, four to give some margin of safety and redundancy if a tractor fails--the risk of not being able to maneuver around an obstacle outweighs the failure-point problem. Outside the badlands, only one of the larger ships would be required." a little chirp piped up from his PADD. He read the message and spoke again.

"My engineering teams are reporting back. Tactical and engine systems are irreparable under field conditions given our projected time frame. There is a major coolant leak in the warp core. Most of the fusion reactors are down, however one can be brought up to sixty or seventy percent output. I have already issued an order to initiate that project. Life support is operational on forty percent of the ship, and the deflector array is undamaged. However, one half-functional reactor is not enough to power the deflector and life support alongside the Structural Integrity Fields, and Inertial Dampening. The Structural Integrity Field Generators are badly damaged. Many will need to be replaced and others repaired. If we can find additional generators, it will take approximately thirty hours to conduct the necessary repairs. I have ordered my crew to begin that work, and coordinate with the other teams from your ships.

In summary: we need spare Structural Integrity Field Generators from your ships, and any we can scrounge from the other ships in the pirate fleet. We will also need to supplement the power supply aboard the tender. Emergency Generators might serve that purpose for a while, I have a small number but other options will need to be considered. My engineers are still calculating the energy shortfalls"

[Cynical Cat]

"My Marine contingent includes engineers and generators for semi-portable force field systems," said Kadon. "We should begin immediately."

[Josh]

Frank looked at M'Lara. "Chief Hantle and the Bo... Binars, as well as our spare generators. Make it happen. Also, inform Mr. tr'Valdran to prepare the cloaking systems for local operations."

"At once, captain," she said. Lurching to her feet she gave a formal salute in the fashion of the Imperial Marines, the first time she'd ever rendered the gesture in his presence. He nodded solemnly and she pivoted smartly, forcing her gait smooth in the fashion that he knew was extremely painful and taxing for her.

She must be happy to be back with a real military operation after dealing with Starfleet weekenders and a partial crew of civilians, he mused as he turned back.

[LadyTevar]

Eoife opened a channel to the Spector. "Lt. Serin, get any emergency generations we have on hand ready to transport to the Saehir ASAP. If we have any spare Structural Integrity Field generations, have them prepped as well."

She could see his eyebrow raise even without being there, but his reply was a crisp acknowledgement. "Shall I have the replicators begin producing parts, Captain?"
"No, not yet, we're not sure what we need. Kirk Out."

Eiofe looked to T'Lorn after her conversation. "What parts need fabricated, Capt. T'Lorn. As I've said, I have two large scale replicators aboard the Spector, which can just as easily make small parts as they can make torpedos."

[rhoenix]

Captain Solheim smiled grimly for a moment. "There's also the number of crippled ships left in the area from our recent battle. By my ship's count, there's about ten relatively nearby. If those ships have any crew left aboard, they might not take kindly to us taking a look around - but they're liable to still have parts we can use to fix up the tender," he said, leaning back in his chair.

"You'd need marine contingents to secure the ships properly of course," Commander Inzeti added, raising an eyebrow at Captain Solheim, "but once a given ship is secure, you can beam in engineering crews to extract any useful items. The Gilgamesh unfortunately does not have much in the way of crew to spare for such a task - however, our ship is one well-suited to continued patrols of the area to help ensure against unwelcome surprises for the next solar day or so while we repair the Saehir."

After saying this, the Commander leaned over to whisper softly into Captain Solheim's ear, speaking in Rihannsu. "Reminiscing a bit, are we?"

(edit: removed additional dialogue)

[Comrade Tortoise]

"What parts need fabricated, Capt. T'Lorn. As I've said, I have two large scale replicators aboard the Spector, which can just as easily make small parts as they can make torpedos."

"Those should be able to manufacture several Structural Integrity Field generators. Do you have any Peregrines in your bays that are too badly damaged to use, but might still have useful parts? They have structural integrity fields, they have emergency power supplies, plasma conduits. A great many of the parts we might need. In fact, there may be a solution to the power supply problem. All of us have sensor probes that each carry on board a small fusion reactor--or even small warp core--that is used to power the engines, computers and other systems. We also all have the capacity to make more. The parts are easily replicated by design so they can be manufactured from our standard torpedo loadouts. They are man-portable and their power systems are modular. It will take time to integrate them into the Saehir's power systems, but unless anyone has a better idea, it is better than nothing"

Then... Captain Solheim opened his mouth. He was being fairly sanguine about the prospect of stripping ships bare and leaving not just the slavers--something Tlorn had no inherent problem with were it just death--but the slaves to die. Or worse, Assimilation, something that he would not even wish upon slavers. Then, his first officer asked him a question. Universal translation was in ubiquitous use and the comm badges possessed sensitive microphones. He was Reminiscing? He could hear the word, but not parse the intonation even universal translation had its limits and it was a whisper. That smile on his face just before he spoke. It was grim, but the negative emotions were belied by the smile itself.

The whole exchange was simply incongruous. From a Starfleet officer, talk about stripping disabled ships full of people for parts was...rare, and only done under extreme duress. An option, certainly, but one only to be considered when all other options were exhausted. To discuss it casually as if it was a good option and not one of last resort was not only in violation of both Utilitarian and Kantian ethics (human ethical philosophy was something Tlorn respected humans for) but almost pointedly in violation of Federation principles.

There was a critical question that needed to be answered. What sort of person was Captain Solheim that he jumps to that option, with a smile on his face, and reminiscing about times gone by? It was not as if Tlorn's hands were completely clean. Real practical limitations had prevented him from saving every person from the Borg, billions had to be left behind. He helped his own homeworld annihilate its own population to avoid assimilation, but those were the best of nothing but bad options at the time. They had better options, so why even suggest this one unless the better options fail? Was it just a matter of not realizing the consequences for the very slaves who's state precipitated the recent conflict, or was it something worse than that, which made him a moral and physical hazard to the task force?

He peered at the human, letting a pinhole section of his barriers partially collapse so he could sense the loud surface thoughts and emotions projecting out of the other officer. Regret hung over Solheim like a raging cloud, and Tlorn concentrated, forming an image of the thoughts associated with that regret--some brief flashes of memory. Fighting, people begging not to be left behind, or not have their ship disabled and left adrift, stripping ships full of innocent people of the means to defend themselves or escape from whatever it was they were attempting to flee. Some known to be innocent, he could tell that much. In the later flashes, less innocent. Less regret from the later images, and a sense of satisfaction at the freeing rather than abandonment of captives. These images could be older, not even related to the Quadratic War, there was no way to tell from a passive read of surface thoughts.

For now, it was logical to conclude that Solheim did things he regretted, and later attempted to atone for. Why he did those things in the first place, he did not know. What he did know is that he had become accustomed to a certain level of ruthlessness that was at odds with the founding principles of the Federation, was certainly not logical from an ethical standpoint, and that caused him a great deal of distress, even if he set it aside.

It was the sort of thing that Tlorn concluded needed correcting, but did not consider it logical to drag the matter into the light of day for everyone to see.

"Captain Solheim. If they were just slavers or war criminals who's ships you propose to cannibalize, I would have little objection. We have no capacity to hold them as prisoners, and permitting them to repair their ships and leave would only result in their subjugation of more sapient life forms. However,innocent captives are onboard those ships who we equally have no way as of yet to evacuate. If we remove those systems for our own use, crippled ships that could be repaired by their crews and escape the Borg will be unable to do so. They would in fact not even be able to flee into the badlands at impulse. They would be enslaved again but this time by the Borg Collective. You have given some thought to the seizure of equipment from those ships, what would you propose to minimize the moral hazard that accompanies it? Would it not be better to exhaust other options first before we resort to your suggested course of action? Or, is it your position that we lack the capacity to repair the Saehir without cannibalizing parts from disabled ships?"

[rhoenix]

"Captain Solheim. If they were just slavers or war criminals who's ships you propose to cannibalize, I would have little objection. We have no capacity to hold them as prisoners, and permitting them to repair their ships and leave would only result in their subjugation of more sapient life forms. However, innocent captives are onboard those ships who we equally have no way as of yet to evacuate. If we remove those systems for our own use, crippled ships that could be repaired by their crews and escape the Borg will be unable to do so. They would in fact not even be able to flee into the badlands at impulse. They would be enslaved again but this time by the Borg Collective. You have given some thought to the seizure of equipment from those ships, what would you propose to minimize the moral hazard that accompanies it? Would it not be better to exhaust other options first before we resort to your suggested course of action? Or, is it your position that we lack the capacity to repair the Saehir without cannibalizing parts from disabled ships?"

The afore-mentioned captain turned to face the speaker, and nodded slowly to the vulcan's words. "Ethical issues aside, those ships should be explored, regardless of what we do afterward. Once we've properly done so, we can fix up the ships that we can, and move the people from the other ships onto the more serviceable ships - and take parts from the ones that can't be fixed. The problem, however, is manpower in the time we have."

Captain Solheim shook his head. "My ship can't spare much in the way of personnel, but I can send about half a team's worth. We're going to have to make plans to do so quickly, though."

[Cynical Cat]

"We do not have the time or the work crews to spare searching the prizes for parts to take. Both are needed to work on the tender." said Kadon. Leave it to Starfleet to know nothing about taking a prize while being easily able to do the math to move one through warp. "Those that can travel move with us. Those that cannot we transfer people off of and strip if we have the time to do so."

"The parts in Riskadh's hull have already been cataloged and checked by my engineers. We use them and your stores because those are the ones that can swiftly be put to use. This is not a walk in the garden. This is an emergency salvage operation in hostile territory."

[Josh]

Frank caught Hizir's eye and gave him a small nod as Kadon finished speaking.

And that's why I miss being in the Maquis. Less Melville quotes and more action, he mused.

He wouldn't exactly extoll the virtues of government by mastery of ridiculously antique weapons, but his time under Captain Kaa'lak had given him a great appreciation for a command structure that didn't attempt to resolve every problem by extended regular meetings in the conference room.