Topic: ST:Tigermoth - Silent Enemy

[James Smith]

See, this is the problem with Tigermoth fics. We all know that the Klingons have to come in, kicking ass. I haven't actually decided how I'm going to get TacFleet out of the hole the Fed council just dug them....maybe it'll be Klingons to the rescue, maybe it won't. Just gonna have to wait and see what happens 

[Grim Reaper]

or a hit and run tactic? If their travelling speed is any indication those guys aren't too fast... Alpha strike and go. And perhaps the klingons are occupied elsewhere with a fleet of enemies of their own?

[Scottish Andy]

24th January, Smithy? C'mon, give us more! This is a good story, and you're keeping up the Brit side of things. You're a good storyteller, and I love your Spaceballs references and your Red Dwarf signature (one of my favourite ever Red Dwarf scenes, btw).

I'm telling you, we want more, so get on it! And don't give us any of this "real life" malarkey! (j/k)

PS. How are you getting on with your exams, projects--and that go-cart?

[James Smith]

***sneaks into the thread*** Been a while hasn't it? 

Silent Enemy 2 - Zero Hour

*************
USS Tigermoth-A.
Conference Room.

"If the Defiant groups can stay tight with them then great, we can leave cruiser and Galaxy wings to act effectively as mobile weapons platforms."

"Sabre and Longbow wings can team up with the Defiants, they're in about the same size class."

"Right. Did we get word from the Klingon fleet yet?"

Sheehan glanced up from his PADD. "No numbers yet, they said that the fleet would be 'sizeable'."

Harriman nodded. "Good. This formation looks like it should stand half a chance of lasting longer than 5 minutes."

"Half a chance is right." Lisa glanced over at Smithy. "Have the carriers reported in?"

"Yeah. We have 250 Peregrine and Eagle fighters ready to launch. If they can stay in close with the enemy ships, run in behind the Defiant groups, then they should be able to deal some damage."

"Good." Harriman glanced at the board. "Here they come. Stations."

*************

USS Peacekeeper.
Bridge.

"Report battle readiness."

"All sections, all decks responding ready sir."

S'Taelh sat back, studying the Tactical plot and inputting data. "Helm, follow this course. Tactical, provide torpedo cover for the Defiant wings as ordered. Ops, how far away are the Klingons?"

"10 minutes. Still no indication of their numbers, sir."

"Well, we shall have to let Admiral Harriman worry about that, it is not our job to do so."

*************

USS Tigermoth-A.
Bridge.

"Helm?"

"Ready, sir."

"Ops?"

"Standing by."

"Tactical?"

"Phaser banks charged. Torpedo turret loaded, secondary tubes loaded. Shields to maximum, armour deployed."

"Engineering?"

"Damage control teams on standy. Intermix set for maximum power generation."

Harriman nodded, then tied into the fleet comm. system. "All ships, prepare to engage the enemy at will as they come out of Warp."

Everyone on the bridge steeled themselves. Smithy stared at the Tactical plot, a thought nagging at him. He shook his head, trying to clear it, but it wouldn't leave him. Lisa glanced at him, concerned.

"What's wrong?"

He looked at her, a smile just creeping onto his face. "It's alright. Don't worry. Lets go to work."

*************
14:52

"Defiant wings, fighter wings, engage."

"Cruiser wings are taking up their positions, Galaxy wings moving forward to provide torpedo coverage."

The bridge rumbled underneath them, as the blue streaks of weapons fire flashed across the space between the fleets. Harriman glanced over at tactical, the glance he got reassuring him that the shields could handle the weapons at least as well as they handled most. "Fire at will, but do try and concentrate on the cluster of ships in the centre."

"Aye, sir."

"We're losing a lot of fighters sir. Defiant wings report that at least 20 have been destroyed."

"Have the fighters get tight in with the enemy ships. And I mean tight, I want those pilots to be able to see in through the windows."

"Relaying the order, sir."

Harriman moved across to the engineering stations. "Smithy, how's the grid holding?"

Smithy glanced up from his work. "So far, it's holding but it won't for very long. I'll have to cut back on the power eventually, so be prepared to lose the secondary torpedo tubes and some phaser coverage when I do have to drop the power down a few notches."

"Alright. But keep her in maximum power mode until you absolutely have to cut back."

"Will do."

Harriman sat back in his chair. "Any word on the Klingons yet, Tactical?"

"They're coming in now, sir. I read 250 ships."

"That'll have to do. Signal the Klingons that we welcome them, and invite them to engage wherever they like."

"Relayed, sir."

Another hit shook the bridge, this time much harder. "Report."

"Shields at 59%. We can't evade their fire, there's kust too many of them."

"Well, do your best. We won't last long if those shields start to get below 30%."

Lisa glanced over. "I'm re-routing power from the batteries to stabilise the shields."

The Ops officer half-turned, a look of alarm on his face. "Sir, the Peacekeeper is having to withdraw, they have a coolant leak. The Klingons have lost 22 ships, we've lost nearly 40 and 36 fighters. And another wave of enemy ships is coming in!"

Harriman stared at the Tactical plot, his face unreadable. "Smithy, time for that plan B you talked about 2 hours ago. How soon can you implement it?"

"Right now. But...."

"But?"

"We'll lose a lot of systems temporarily. And if the shields go down, then we'll be a sitting duck."

Harriman looked at the Tactical plot, then back to his friend. "Implement it."

"Aye."

*************

A probe launched out from the Tigermoth's port torpedo tube. It passed by some of the enemy ships, who left it having bigger targets for their weapons. It reached the centre of the enemy formation and then stopped.

On the Tigermoth's bridge, Smithy began rerouting all available power to one system:  the Deflector dish.

The last thing that many of the enemy craft saw was the dish on the Tigermoth lighting up and a blue beam firing from it. It struck the probe.

*************

Bridge.

"Sir, the weapon detonated successfully. Reading massive losses in the enemy fleet, it caught them completely off guard."

"How soon until those other enemy ships get here?"

"10 minutes at maximum."

Harriman nodded, then went over to Smithy. He could see from the board that things weren't entirely okay with his ship now. "Lets hear it."

"We've lost all weapons except for the Quantum torpedo turret temporarily. Warp drive is offline for the moment, that'll be back in a minute. But shields are down to 10%, and I can't regenerate them yet."

Harriman nodded, and tapped a button on his chair. "Peacekeeper, are you still in the field?"

"Confirmed, Admiral."

"S'Taelh I need you to swing by here, get most of our crew off as we discussed."

"We will be there in a few seconds Admiral."

Harriman closed the comm link, and pushed for the internal link. "All hands, this is Admiral Harriman. Those of you grade 2 and below, report to transporter rooms. Sickbay, that goes for you all too. Get yourselves and any wounded over to the Peacekeeper."

"Transporter control here, sir. We're commencing evacuation to the Peacekeeper."

"Good." Harriman shut off the comm link, and glanced at Smithy. "Anything?"

"Shield regen just isn't happening. There's too much interference from the deflector dish to re-establish a graviton flow." He glanced up from his work. "You better hope the armour can hold for a little while."

*************
*************

[Grim Reaper]

« Reply #20 on: 26-01-2005, 19:51:31 »

« Reply #23 on: 26-05-2005, 16:55:32 »

***sneaks into the thread*** Been a while hasn't it?

No it hasn't.

It's been f*cking long!



Good to see you again m8. How's life? Where have you been?

[James Smith]

I've been various places. Mostly concentrated on Uni work for a while, and sorted out bits on the Oldsmobile while trying to occasionally find time to write. As you might have guessed, I didn't find much in the way of time....

Oh, and then there was the hospital stuff. I ended up in there 4 times last month with fairly major trouble in my left knee. An old injury that just wouldn't heal properly got worse rather quickly, and I had some blood-flow problems through it. 'Tis on the mend, but it shall be a while yet and I probably need it operated on. One word sums up my feelings about all that:



Bugger.



I made a decision when I eventually found some time to write more of this fic to take it to a fairly dark place with regards to events in my version of the Trek universe. I'm not sure just how far I'll take it yet, but I do feel like taking the bodycount even higher than I have before.... 

[Grim Reaper]

Oh, and then there was the hospital stuff. I ended up in there 4 times last month with fairly major trouble in my left knee. An old injury that just wouldn't heal properly got worse rather quickly, and I had some blood-flow problems through it. 'Tis on the mend, but it shall be a while yet and I probably need it operated on. One word sums up my feelings about all that:

Sounds f*cked. Get well soon I'd say but it seems i'm late. Still, get better.

I made a decision when I eventually found some time to write more of this fic to take it to a fairly dark place with regards to events in my version of the Trek universe. I'm not sure just how far I'll take it yet, but I do feel like taking the bodycount even higher than I have before..

mmmm... Sounds rather promising

[Scottish Andy]

Damn, Smithy, I'm real sorry to hear about the troubles you've got. I hope your knee straightens itself out (or gets straghtened out) soon. My Dad has a knee problem too. It can really screw you up, so take good care of it.

As for your story: nice installement, but I'm not really sure about the really high body count... With all these types of fics around, Starfleet will run out of ships all the way from the NCC-7xxxx's down to the Daedalus-class NCC-150's  in a year!

Have bad, dark stuff happen to your characters, not your Empire!

[James Smith]

More from the demented JRS writing labs.

*************
USS Tigermoth-A.
Bridge.

"Alright then. Helm, we have minimal shields so I want to avoid as much weapons fire as possible. Don't worry about putting us out of firing range or attitude, we only have one weapon working anyway."

"Aye, sir. Any particular evasive pattern?"

"Something......creative."

Raising a smile from the helm officer Harriman turned to Ops. "Lieutenant, get down to the shuttlebay and prepare Lancaster 1 and 2 for launch. Just in case. Lisa, take over at Ops."

"You got it." Lisa nodded at the Ops officer as he hurried to the turbolift. "I'm tracking incoming hostiles, the Klingon fleet is turning to engage them head on.....I think they're trying to break the enemy formation."

"Well, we better help out I guess." Harriman tapped the fleet comm button on his chair. "All ships, engage new hostile contacts. Galaxy and cruiser wings, go wider this time and fire torpedoes with proximity warheads. Defiant wings, follow the Bird of Prey squadrons and do as much damage as possible."

"Fleet is moving. Enemy will be in weapons range of our forces in 2 minutes."

Harriman hurried back to the engineering station. "Anything?" The look he got told him not to expect good news. "This isn't anything the simulations predicted. Why?"

"I don't honestly know. Maybe the shield harmonics are slightly out of spec, or the regen emitters are out of sync, or the deflector dish is holding some residual charge somehow. But I cannot get any kind of reinforcement to the shields at all. I don't know, maybe we made a mistake in the settings for the graviton beam somewhere."

"I don't think we could have. Lisa wrote the program, you checked it and then I did as well. I doubt all three of us missed a duff calculation. Keep trying anyway."

Smithy nodded. "Listen Dave. I just remembered something - keep a watch on the two Negh'Vars. Thulinuk mentioned something about a new trick they'd found in the Klingon Labs of Doom."

Harriman raised an eyebrow. "When did they start calling the weapons factory that?"

"I'm not sure. I don't really think I want to know what goes on there though, knowing Thulinuk."

A flash on the viewscreen returned Harriman's attention to it. "Report?"

Lisa glanced at her board. "The Klingon fleet has engaged the enemy, Defiant wings are following them in as ordered."

Harriman sat back. "Helm, take us in on an erratic course. Tactical, fire Quantum torpedoes in bursts of four. Smithy, do we have phasers yet?"

"Just the forward banks."

"That'll have to do. Shield status?"

"Still low. One hit and they'll be gone."

"Helm, make it very erratic."

*************
IKV Mortum Hesta.
Bridge.

Sheehan stepped out onto the bridge, having just arrived from the Peacekeeper. He immediately went to the centre chair. Thulinuk glanced up, and grinned a particularly toothy smile even by his standards. "We're just about to head right at them. The Negh'Var and Voodieh are falling back to ready their little disruptor surprise. I doubt it will be as effective as the Tigermoth's little stunt but considering the numbers we face anything would help."

The tactical officer interrupted them. "Sir, Squadrons 1 through 9 ready to execute their run. The Negh'Var and Voodieh are in position."

Thulinuk leaned forward. "Begin the run. Disruptors to full, pulse firing mode. Be ready on my signal to move quickly out of the way."

He watched as enemy ships disintegrated under the disruptor fire. He also spotted pulse phaser fire. "Tactical, transmit to our Starfleet friends that they may need to move out of the way on our command."

"Signalled, sir."

Thulinuk watched as the enemy continued to rain fire down upon the Klingon and Starfleet ships. He turned to the Tactical station. "Well?"

"Not yet.....wait, message coming in. They're in position."

"Helm, hard over. Signal the fleets!"

*************

USS Tigermoth-A.
Bridge.

A massive green flash lit up the viewscreen. Harriman immediately turned to Lisa. "That was the Klingon surprise I guess?"

"Yeah, a massive disruptor pulse. Actually more like a wave....reading a lot of enemy ships damaged or destroyed, but more keep coming in." She looked up at him. "We can't keep this up, we may have to fall back."

"Agreed. But we don't really have many places to go back, unless we make a stand near Sol."

Smithy turned to face his CO. "Better than staying here. And it would give us some time to get our shields working again."

Harriman nodded. "Alright." He tapped his fleet comm panel. "All Starfleet ships, this is Admiral Harriman. Prepare to fall back to TacFleet RV point A1A." He glanced back at Tactical. "Put me through to the Klingon lead ship."

"Aye, sir. You're on Admiral."

Thulinuk appeared on the viewscreen. "Admiral, we are preparing to withdraw to rendez-vous with more of our forces. We shall meet you at Sol."

"Okay. See you at the next party." Harriman switched back into the Starfleet channel. "All ships, head for A1A. Any ship requiring major repairs should head for Utopia Planitia first." He turned his attention to the helm. "Set course for Utopia Planitia. Maximum warp."

*************
*************

[James Smith]

And more.

*************
Utopia Planitia Observation Platform.


Harriman stared out of the window at his ship, reading the report on the PADD in his hands. He turned as Smithy arrived. "Any luck?"

"No. The regen system is fried, the radiation from the deflector dish damaged several key circuits. I've powered the shield grid off completely, but as you know it'll take at least an hour before we can bring them back up with any kind of field strength."

"Okay. Admiral Wallace has asked me to assume command of the Victory so he can stay on Earth to co-ordinate the TacFleet forces with the rest of Starfleet. The enemy fleet appears to be preparing to warp to Sol soon, our spotters show them to be readying their formation. The Klingons are arriving here now, they have 380 ships."

"Right." Smithy turned to leave, but couldn't hide the fact that he was limping. Harriman stopped him. "You been looked at yet?"

"I'm alright."

"No....no, you're not. Sit down a second." Harriman grabbed the first aid kit off the wall and waved the medi-tricorder over his friend. "You've been going well past the exposure limit for theta radiation. How long have you been experiencing symptoms?"

Smithy sighed. "About a month. Look, it's not affecting me too badly yet."

"Yes, it is. You're heading for permanent damage if you keep this up. Now, I'm heading over to the Victory - you are staying put. And thats an order."

*************

USS Tigermoth-A.
Bridge.

Smithy sat at his station, monitoring the shield grid status, his thoughts on the battle about to take place just outside the Sol system. No word from them yet, but they must be getting close now. He turned as the turbolift doors opened to admit Lisa.

"Hey kid. What are you doing still here?"

Lisa tossed a sandwich to him and leant on the bridge rail. "I figured you would need some company. Why didn't you tell me you were ill?"

Smithy took a bit out of the sandwch, and swallowed. "I didn't want to worry you. You have enough to keep you occupied without having to think about my health."

"You're really dumb sometimes." A rueful grin lit up her face. "Come here."

The two embraced, holding each other tightly. Lisa gazed up into her husband's eyes. "Promise me. No more triple shifts, no more avoiding medical check-ups, no more disobeying orders to stop working."

"I promise." He hugged her tighter. "I suppose we'd better find out what the fleet is doing."

FLASH

"Sir, the Voodieh has been destroyed!"

"Evasive action!"

"Hull breach!"

"New contacts, bearing 213 mark 14. It's...."

"Withdraw to..."

"Did they make it?"

FLASH


"James? James?"

FLASH

Faces blurred, swam. Explosions. Time itself blurring.

FLASH

Smithy blinked. "I think something's happening. Take the helm, I'm engaging the automation controls."

Lisa dashed to the helm, and brought the engines online. "Where are we going?"

"Take us to the Earth defense squadron. I need to talk to Wallace and the Council."

*************

Earth orbit.

"We've lost contact with the Klingon and TacFleet forces, the enemy appears to be jamming us."

"Sir, I recommend that you fire up the Sol Defense Network. The enemy would need much more firepower than they appear to have right now if they want to crack that. We'll take the ED squadron out to RV with the fleet and lend a hand."

"Very well. Good luck Captain."

*************

USS Victory.
Bridge.

Harriman watched in satisfaction as three more enemy ships crumbled under the Victory's phaser barrage. The bridge rumbled underneath him, a brief shower of sparks jumping from a few auxilliary control boards. "Shield status?"

"Down to 42% Admiral. More enemy ships are coming in!"

Harriman gripped the arms of his chair as more shots landed on the Victory. A massive explosion lit up the viewscreen. "Report!"

"Sir, the Voodieh has been destroyed! The Klingons are taking heavy losses!"

"Evasive action! Try and draw some of the enemy fire away from the Klingons to allow them time to regroup. Are comms still jammed?"

The reply was swallowed up by a huge bang reverberating through the ship. Everyone hung on as the Victory keeled over to port, the intertial dampening field lagging behind the sudden change in direction.

"Hull breach! Sections 21 through 25 on decks 3 and 4!"

"Seal off those sections, use the emergency transporters to get anyone out of there."

"New contacts, bearing 213 mark 14. It's the Earth Defense squadron, sir. The Tigermoth is with them."

Harriman stared at the screen. "What's the shield status of the Tigermoth?"

"Can't get a precise reading, but if they were at full power we'd be able to tell. They aren't."

He watched as the Tigermoth spat a burst of quantum torpedoes at a group of enemy ships, socring multiple hits. The ship managed to evade most of the return fire. Looks like Lisa's on the helm, I don't know anyone else who flies like that.

*************
USS Tigermoth-A.
Bridge.

Lisa frowned. "They're closing in on us, I'm running out of room to work with." The bridge shook underneath them. "Hang on." She put the ship into a sharp drop.

Smithy gripped the edges of the Tactical console. "Nice. Remind me to add that one to the library of evasive patterns."

"Do you see the Victory?"

"Yeah. She's got a hull breach, not lost too many systems though. I'm reading heavy losses in the Klingon fleet. Looks like the Voodieh is gone."

"What about the Hesta?"

"Don't see her....there's that much interference I can't pick out anything that small." He looked up. "We've got even more ships coming in. Where the hell are they all coming from?!"

Lisa threw the ship into an erratic, weaving course trying to avoid the weapons fire that the new arrivals were unleashing. She was only partially successful, several bursts finding their mark. "Dammit, these guys are everywhere!"

"Shields are losing power....I'm diverting as much power as I can to them. Hope it's en-"

He didn't get any further, as a huge explosion rocked the bridge. He was dimly aware of Lisa hanging onto the helm console fighting to regain control of the ship. "James! I need some extra power to the impulse engines!"

"Diverting!" The shaking eased as he watched Lisa smooth out the ship's course. "We took several hits to the port nacelle, we're venting drive plasma. I'm trying to shut the valves off.....there, got it." He read the screen, not liking what he saw. "Port nacelle is heavily damaged. Switching the warp entry program to account for that if we have to move."

Lisa nodded, then turned back to her console as it beeped. "I'm picking up a hail....I think it's Dave. Putting it on speakers."

"All ships, this is Admiral Harriman. Withdraw to.......BP.........sec....23. Repeat, withdraw to....."

"Lost him again. The jamming must have been reinforced."

"Doesn't matter. See if you can spot the Victory and follow her."

"Got her, she's going to warp. Following."

Smithy heard and felt the familiar sounds of the warp drive powering up. Something sounded off though.

"We're at warp 3, best we can manage on one nacelle."

"Do you hear that?"

Lisa turned. "Yeah. What is that?" She got her answer soon enough. On the screen a shimmering tunnel appeared. "Wormhole!" She began trying to bring the ship out of warp, but the time distortion affected her immediately.

Smithy looked around. He wasn't affected by wormholes the way most lifeforms were, a happy by-product of his El-Aurian genes. His vision was still affected, but his perception of time remained normal. The ship pitched around underneath them, throwing Lisa out of her chair. He ran down to the helm, and began trying to shut off the starboard nacelle. "Come on, shut down dammit." With a resounding thud, the ship dropped out of warp and back into normal space. He bent down to check on Lisa.

"Lisa, can you hear me? Lisa?"

Her eyes struggled to focus on him. "What....?" She passed out.

Smithy thought for a second. "Computer, is the phase cloaking device online?"

"Affirmative."

"Cloak the Tigermoth."

"Done."

"Right." Smithy looked down at Lisa. "Lets get you to the medical bay." He picked her up and carried her to the turbolift. "I doubt that little wormhole trip did you any good."

*************

Sickbay.

Lisa's eyes fluttered open. Her vision blurred, then cleared. "What happened?"

Smithy smiled down at her. "The ship was pulled into a wormhole when we went to warp. Your brain couldn't cope with the temporal distortion, and you bumped your head when you fell off your chair." He helped her to sit up. "How d'you feel kid?"

"Bloody awful. Where are we?"

"Sickbay." He was rewarded with a light punch on his chest. "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. The computer says we're holding position near the Karlon system. But sensors aren't picking up any ships, any Federation markers, any comm. relays. It's odd. The computer is running a diagnostic on the sensors now. Trouble is.....I think they may be accurate."

"What do you mean?"

Smithy stared at a computer screen. "I can't feel anyone near our position. I should be able to.....but it's like there's no-one out there." He looked back to Lisa. "Are you well enough to move?"

"I think so."

"Come on then, lets get back to the bridge and see just what's going on here."

*************

USS Victory.
Bridge.

"We've arrived at the Briar Patch entry marker, sir."

"Good. Ops, scan for the Tigermoth. Did they make it?"

*************
*************

[Grim Reaper]

WTF What in the name of Luc happend?

[James Smith]

WTF What in the name of Luc happend?

 

You may find out later.

[James Smith]

**************
USS Victory.
Observation Deck.

Harriman stared out at the vast clouds of the Briar Patch. Temporary box docks had been set up since they entered the region 3 weeks ago, and ships were moored in them getting repairs. He turned as a young lieutenant entered. "Report."

"There's still been no sign of the Tigermoth, sir. The probes that were sent out found no trace of wreckage along our course. More Starfleet ships have arrived back here, they met up with the 7th fleet after the last engagement with the enemy."

"And what about the enemy ships?"

"They appear to be holding position outside the Sol system. Their fleet keeps increasing in size, they're coming out of the Gatrellus Nebula in groups of around 40." He shifted nervously. "They outnumber us now 16 to 1, Admiral."

Harriman sighed. "Thank you lieutenant, but I didn't require the reminder." He turned to the window again. "Do we know if the Sol Defence Network is still up?"

"The probe didn't get that far. We would need to cloak it to get past the enemy fleet..."

"And it wouldn't be able to scan properly if it was cloaked." Harriman finished for the younger man. "Very well. Inform me when the 4th fleet is ready to depart."

**************
USS Tigermoth-A.
Bridge.

"Level 4 diagnostic complete. No errors found."

"Computer.....is there any chance that you're wrong?"

Lisa was rewarded with a fairly confused beeping. "I'll take that as a 'don't have a clue what you're on about' then."

She turned as Smithy exited the turbolift. "I tell you what, you can make great time down those corridors when there's no bugger on the ship. I just eyeballed all the sensors. Let me guess, level 4 found nothing."

"Zip."

"There is nothing wrong with them. I cleaned them, swapped the coils out for new ones from the stores. They are in tip top condition."

Lisa frowned and dropped into a chair. "So what the hell happened then? Did we rip a hole in space-time and end up in a parallel universe? Because the last thing we need right now is some Imperials after us."

"Yeah, that would be a bit much wouldn't it? No, as near as I can make out we haven't jumped universes. If we've travelled in time it hasn't been far as the star shift isn't pronounced. Now the diagnostic has finished I'll let it run down a star check."

**************

USS Victory.
Bridge.

"Approaching the Sol system, Admiral."

"Drop out of warp as far in as you can. Signal the rest of the fleet to do so." Harriman's gaze was locked onto the main viewer. "Ops, whats the status of the SDN?"

"I'm reading fluctuations in the defense shield over Earth. Ships are pouring out of the Utopia Planitia complex.....they must be launching everything out of the mothball yard."

Harriman jumped to his feet. "Let's see it."  The viewer zoomed in on the ships. "Open a channel."

"Something's blocking us. I'm reading....oh boy."

"What is it?" He got his answer soon enough. The viewscreen changed to a vew of Earth. An Earth obscured by hundreds of ships, all firing on the defense shields. Spacedock II was destroying many of them but more arrived to take the place of any that were destroyed. "My God...helm, take us in! Lieutenant, I need to get comms back. See if you can break through the jamming."

"Working on it, sir!"

Phaser beams lanced out from the Victory, biting into the enemy craft near her. Phaser and torpedo fire poured in from the rest of the 4th fleet and from some of the mothball ships. The bridge rumbled under a brief spatter of return fire, but for the most part the enemy concentrated their attention on the defense shield.

"Sir, I have short range communication back up!"

Harriman sat back. "Open a channel to Command"

Wallace's image appeared on the screen. "Admiral, our sensor grid is being jammed. What is the situation up there?"

Harriman was about to reply, when the image dissolved into static. "Ops?"

"The jamming strength has increased again. Sir, the shield grid. I think it's..."

He didn't get any further, as the viewer told the story. The shield winked out. Several enemy ships moved to a couple of positions over the planet and fired.

Harriman stared. "Ops, where did they target?"

The lieutenant checked the board and slumped. "Starfleet Command, and the Federation HQ in Paris. They're both.....gone."

The admiral wasted no time grieving over what had just happened. "Tactical, target enemy ships and fire at will. Ops, see if you can break the jamming again...as soon as you do, tell all the ships to fall back to the Briar Patch again."

**************

USS Tigermoth-A.
Bridge.

Smithy sat pondering what he'd just found out. Wondering if he should wake his wife to tell her. Probably should let her sleep a while longer. He went over to the engineering station and ran the routine maintenance check of the cloak. Still normal. Good. The last thing I need right now is that breaking.

He returned to the Ops console and re-checked the scan he'd run an hour ago, bringing up the data from the damaged relay satellite they'd come across, hoping it would say something different. It didn't.

**************

Lisa opened her eyes, and glanced at the wall clock. 6:30. 4 hours. Guess James didn't want to wake me. She got up and grabbed one of her off-duty outfits from the wardrobe. Not like I'm on active duty right now. Besides, my shift doesn't even start for another 3 hours.

**************
Bridge.

Smithy turned as the lift doors opened to admit Lisa. "Hey. Sleep alright?"

Lisa nodded. "Yeah. Any news yet?"

"Yes. And none of it good. You better sit down."

Lisa dropped into the helm console chair next to her husband at Ops. "What did you find?"

"A relay satellite. It's been damaged, but the memory banks still function. The star check finished, and I confirmed it with the satellite. We've jumped forward almost 6 years."

"6 years.....so, where is everyone?"

"Thats the thing. I'm picking up no Starfleet communications chatter, no ships. The base in orbit over Karlon 3 is gone. I can't raise anyone on normal frequencies, and we're too far away to try any Klingon ones."

Lisa nodded. "So what d'you want to do then?"

"Head for the Klingon border. I don't want to try Earth.....I'm afraid of what we might find." He got up and began poking at the engineering console. "I've re-written the warp entry program to take into account the imbalance we have in the one working nacelle, so no more wormholes. We're good for warp 5."

"We're a week away from the Klingon border then, unless you want to try that warp 'highway' that Starfleet found."

Smithy mulled it over. "Think the ship can take the strain?"

"Won't know until we try." Lisa grinned at him.

He grinned back. "I love you."
**************
**************

Just a short bit for y'all there.

[Scottish Andy]

Another good installment, Smithy, keep it up!

[Grim Reaper]

Nice posting interval. And I see your getting quite the bodycount in this one... Perhaps we can get a glimpse of the aliens' motivation for this carnage?

[James Smith]

All shall be revealed soon, Grim. Have no fear about that.....I'm currently doing a final edit of the next part so I may throw it on here later if I finish.

[James Smith]

Okay, last night didn't happen as a friend had a small crisis she needed help with. But, onwards. I've brought forward this part a bit, as the next section didn't have much going on and I wasn't that happy with it anyway.

Silent Enemy 3 - The Return
**********
IKV Mortum Hesta.
Bridge.

"Approaching the enemy patrol. Range....5000 kellicams."

"Prepare to go to full impulse the moment we drop the cloak. Target the lead ship." Thulinuk stared at the tactical plot on the main screen. "There are more of them than when we first saw the patrol."

"Range 2500 kellicams."

"Tactical, drop cloak and go to battle status. Helm, full impulse!"

The Hesta shot forward, firing disruptor bolts as she went. Two enemy ships dissolved under the barrage, the rest evading the fire and returning it with interest.

"Shields holding, sir! We destroyed the lead pair, the others are coming about."

"Erratic course. Fire at will."

**********
USS Tigermoth-A.
Bridge.

"Well, she's holding. God only knows how she's managing it though."

Lisa flashed her husband a quick grin. "Whoever built the frame of this ship, I wish they'd been there to do the rest of the assembly."

"It would have probably solved a few problems." Smithy glanced down at his board. "Hmm. I'm picking up an energy surge ahead. Reads like disruptor fire."

"Uh oh. Are we still under cloak?"

"Yeah, whoever it is won't see us. How long until we can intercept?"

Lisa consulted her screen. "A couple of minutes. Should be getting a visual soon."

"Got it now." Smithy brought up the view the sensors had. "Looks like the Hesta...and a number of those ships. The Hesta is taking a fair old pounding." He got up and hurried over to Tactical. "I'm getting ready to divert power from the cloak to shields and weapons."

"Right. Dropping out of warp in 4...3...2...1...mark!"

**********
IKV Mortum Hesta.
Bridge.

"Shields down to 32%!"

"Evasive action! Concentrate your fire on that ship there!" Thulinuk stabbed a finger at a ship on the Tactical screen and staggered back to his chair on the shaking bridge.

"Captain! New contact! It reads as....."

"What? Who is it?"

The tactical officer simply stared at the main screen. Thulinuk followed his gaze, and his eyes widened. "What in the name of Kahless?!"

The ship on the screen began laying into the enemy ships, who scattered after the opening volley of fire. A few of the stragglers were vapourised, the rest managing to go to warp.

"Captain, we're being hailed..."

Thulinuk stared at the tactical officer for a few seconds. "On....on-screen." The viewscreen showed static for a couple of seconds and then cleared.

"You look like you just saw a ghost."

**********
USS Tigermoth-A.
Transporter Room.

The pad lit up, a blue beam coalescing into the form of Thulinuk. He stepped off the pad, shaking his head in wonder. "You're supposed to be dead, you know."

"Thats right. I just haven't stopped moving yet." Smithy stuck a hand out, the Klingon grasping it in a firm handshake. "See, not a ghost."

"Evidently." Thulinuk looked his friend up and down. "What happened? Harriman told me that you never made it to the Briar Patch...that was 6 years ago. Where were you all this time? And what happened to the 'Moth? She looks a lot more beaten up since the last time I saw her."

"Come on up to the bridge,and I'll tell you all about it. Lisa's waiting for us."

The two men headed for the turbolift. "So, Lisa is with you. You have no idea how much Harriman misses you two. In fact, you probably have no idea whats happened since that battle do you?"

"No. You better fill us in."

**********
Bridge.

Smithy slumped in the centre chair. "So....the Federation as we knew it is gone. Hell, the entire Alpha Quadrant...."

Thulinuk regarded him somberly. "The last we knew, Starfleet had set up temporary home in the Briar Patch. We've seen glimpses of them over the past couple of years, occasionally appearing and attacking patrols." He slid an isolinear chip into one of the computer banks, and brought up it's contents. "We've called these aliens 'Gatreliians', for want of a better name. As Sheehan and I thought when we first encountered them, we believe them to be a Vulcanoid race, similar in many respects to the Romulans. The Vulcans raised the possibility that they are from the original group of Vulcans who broke away to form the Romulan Star Empire."

Lisa gazed at the screen. "So, they settled in the Gatrellus Nebula rather than continuing on to the Romulus-Remus system. Why did they attack when they did?"

"The Apollo. She was exploring the area in more detail than other ships had done before." Smithy shook his head. "But where did they get the materials to build what they have? There is nothing in the nebula to build with."

Thulinuk nodded. "Sheehan proposed that they had help. From the Romulans." He slotted another chip in the reader. "Last year, we took the Hesta into Romulan space undercover....and found this."

Tactical plots sprang up on the screen. Smithy looked them over, frowning. "Lisa, what d'you make of this?"

Lisa zoomed in on the section he was pointing to. "A convoy, maybe? Thulinuk, are you saying that they run cloaked convoys across to the nebula?"

"Not just cloaked. Otherwise the tachyon grid on the border would catch them. We're not sure how they've managed to evade it, but it appears that the Romulans have once again got the edge in cloaking technology."

"So, in exchange for materials to build a fleet....the Gatrellians have swung the balance of power in the galaxy towards the Romulans."

"And no doubt the Romulans will soon be coming in to take over. Vulcan is still unharmed, the Gatrellians haven't attacked them yet. The Antares yards were stripped out by Starfleet and the remains destroyed by the Gatrellians. The Karlon base is gone. We have no intel as to the status of the Sol system, but it appears that after the Gatrellians killed the Federation and Earth leaders they left Sol and concentrated on other targets. Several worlds have been destroyed, the Gatrellians building on the remains. They haven't gone into the Briar Patch yet though. We aren't sure why."

"I am." The two men turned to Lisa. She brought up a tactical display of one of the enemy ships. "Look at the shield harmonic range. It's set up for energy weapons, the navigational shields set up for space dust. Neither shield grid could cope with the gas clouds of the Briar Patch, they're tuned for the conditions of open space and the Gatrellus nebula only."

Thulinuk frowned, confused. "Whats so special about the gas clouds in the Briar Patch? Most of the elements are the same as the Gatrellus nebula."

Smithy grinned, suddenly comprehending. "The metaphasic radiation. We found after the Ba'ku incident that ship hulls are weakened under heavy exposure, thats how the Enterprise-E was able to destroy the So'na ships that pursued her. And since the Gatrellian shields don't block gas...."

"The gas hits the hull and can ignite if it hits a weapons port." Thulinuk finished. "You must go to the Briar Patch and join up with the Starfleet forces there. Sheehan tells me that they've built new ships there with the equipment from the Antares yards. They should be able to patch this old suv'Qa tiger up. Tell Starfleet that the Klingon Empire has readied a large fleet away from the prying eyes of the Gatrellians. We stand ready to drive the Romulans and their allies out of the Alpha Quadrant."

**********
USS Tigermoth-A.
Bridge.

"Right, we're approaching the Briar Patch. Dropping to impulse."

Smithy brought up the visual on the main screen. "Damn....it really is beautiful."

"Yeah." Lisa smiled at him. "Bet Starfleet is going to be a little surprised at us turning up."

Smithy laughed. "Well, let's go surprise them. Take us in, best possible speed."

**********
Briar Patch Complex.
Control Centre.

"Admiral, reports are coming in from the patrols. The Gatrellians have left the Rigel and Groken systems, they suffered heavy losses against our new ships."

Harriman read the PADD, nodding. "Relay my congratulations to the 8th Fleet."

He stood, staring out into the Briar Patch. The ensign beside him shifted nervously. "Is anything wrong, Admiral?"

"No, no...I just thought I saw something out there." Harriman looked out again, and turned to the Operations controller. "Commander, are you picking up any ships on a course to the station?"

The commander looked at her board. "I'm picking up a fairly small signature....might be a cloaked ship. Shall I raise the defensive screen Admiral?"

"Negative. Where is it now?"

"It's about 500 kilometres away, slowing to a stop. It's decloaking."

The main screen switched to the image of the new arrival. Harriman stared. It can't be! "Ops....magnify the markings on that ship."

The viewer zoomed in. Harriman's jaw dropped.

"Receiving a hail, sir." The commander's face had gone completely pale. "Sir....it's Captain Smith."

The viewer switched images, and the admiral found himself staring at a man that he'd thought was dead.

"Everyone looks like they've seen a ghost today."

**********
Docking Port 1A.

Harriman skidded to a halt just as the doors began to open. Smithy stepped through. "Smithy....how....?"

The two men shook hands, Smithy grinning as he took in the new uniform Harriman was wearing. "I see they haven't improved those at all. And those pips still don't look right on you."

Lisa stepped through and grabbed Harriman in a hug. "Good to see you again Dave."

"Good to see you both as well. I'd thought.....I mean, when you didn't show up at the Briar Patch we scanned for any trace of you. What happened?"

"A wormhole. Listen, we'll tell you all about it over dinner. I for one am starving." Smithy looked around. "Nice place you have here Dave. The admiralty finally get you out of starship command?"

"You're looking at the highest ranking officer left. How much do you know about whats happened?"

Lisa sighed. "Thulinuk told us most of the story, we met up with him before heading here. Got some info from him for you, actually."

"Okay. Come on this way then, lets get you guys some food so you can tell me all about it."

********** 
Rec Hall.


Sheehan strolled into the room. "Hey Dave, hey Smithy." He came to an abrupt halt, realising what he's just said and turned. His eyes widened. "Smithy?"

Smithy shared a grin with Lisa. "Looks like we're three for three on people seeing ghosts." He got up and grabbed Sheehan in a hug. "How are you, mate?"

"I'm....great." Lisa got up and hugged him as well. "What happened to you guys? The last any of us knew, you didn't show at the Briar Patch."

"We got pulled into a wormhole when we tried to warp away from the battle. Ended up taking us all the way to Karlon and dropped us off 6 years after we left." Smithy guided him into a chair. "We took the warp highway from Karlon to the Klingon border where we met up with Thulinuk. Apparently the Klingons are massing a large fleet at Qu'Onos, I think they intend on giving the Romulans some serious pain."

"Which will cut off the materials that we believe the Gatrellians have been getting, and we can then set about removing them from Federation space." Harriman rubbed his eyes. "Well, we can't do any of that until we have our fleet ready. And that means some work needs to be done on the 'Moth. How bad is she at the moment?"

"The port nacelle is scrap. Shield generators will need a complete overhaul, there's blown out PTCs all over the place." Smithy tossed back the remainder of his drink. "What kind of facilities have you got here?"

Harriman and Sheehan's faces lit up. Harriman smiled. "Oh, you are just going to love this..."

**********
**********

[James Smith]

Right, I was going to leave this bit for a while. However, Mr Iceman informs me that it would be cruel not to post what I have if it's ready so here it is. 

**********
USS Tigermoth-A.
Engine Room.

"Lower....lower...woah, stop. That's it." Smithy rubbed the sweat off his forehead. "Lock that down there, guys. Ensign Lomax, go to the environmental controls and start wiring up the temperature control. I'm fed up of boiling in here, and I suspect everyone else is as well."

"Aye, sir."

Smithy turned as the doors hissed open. "Orlatrel!"

The Andorian grabbed his former CO in a hug. "I just got back from a patrol on the Galaxy, the admiral filled me in. I've apparently been demoted from chief engineer back to under you."

"Not exactly. They've got me commanding the 'Moth now, since Dave's officially retired from ship command. You're chief engineer of the Tigermoth-A now."

Orlatrel stared at Smithy. "I....I don't know what to say..."

"Say thank you. And then start ordering this mob."

"Right. Thank you, Captain." He enjoyed the grimace that he got from Smithy and began surveying the state of the engine room.

Smithy leant against a bulkhead as Orlatrel began ordering the engineering team. Lisa came in and joined him. "Is he enjoying himself?"

"As he always does." Smithy turned to her. "The new computer core installed?"

"Yep. And it interfaces with the ship much better than the old one did. Should solve many of the problems we had with speed of response."

"Good." Smithy looked round the engine room. "Unbelieveable what Starfleet managed to do in those 6 years."

"I know. Transwarp drive made practical, new shield technologies, more reliable phaser crystals and coils....I guess they had an awful big incentive to improve their technology." She handed him a PADD. "Latest intel. A probe made it all the way to Sol."

Smithy scanned it. "So, Spacedock II is a total loss but Earth itself was left pretty much untouched after their initial attack. And they didn't even go near Mars or Jupiter."

"Yeah. I wonder why?"

"Maybe they had a bigger target in mind. Not sure what it could be though." He grinned at Orlatrel's ranting about missing components in the background. "I'm not going to miss that game."

"Get off. Of course you are." Lisa put her arms round him. "Mind, I'm not going to miss you playing that game. All that lost sleep, all those missed meals."

Smithy planted a kiss on her forehead. "You seen the bridge yet?"

"They replaced the bridge module?"

"Nah, I made them modify the old one. Wouldn't be the Tigermoth without that carpet. But the new consoles are all kinds of spangly."

"Well, come on then Captain, lets go look."

Smithy winced. "Now I know how Dave feels when I call him 'Admiral'...."

**********
Briar Patch Complex.
Observation Platform.

Harriman watched as space-suited figures crawled over the exterior of his old ship. She looked different now. In the fortnight since she'd returned, scarred but unbeaten, she'd received a complete refit. New, rounder nacelles for the transwarp drive. A new warp core to power them and a massively uprated power grid. Extensions on her engineering hull to accomodate new systems that had been added. New shields, more powerful weapons, even her paintwork was different. She'd had the undivided attention of the entire engineering team at the Briar Patch Complex. He smiled, thinking about how long the refit would have taken before all this had happened. Still as beautiful as the day Smithy first showed her to me in Spacedock. Seems so long ago now.

His thoughts drifted back to his first ship, the original Tigermoth, lost in the battle to save the Federation from the insanity of Robert Metcalf. He'd let her die with dignity in space rather than return home and get picked apart in some drydock. After what she'd done for her crew she deserved to go out with a bang. He gazed at the ship before him, marvelling at how a ship built in 2250 could still be at the cutting edge of technology. Guess the Klingons have it right after all, no need to replace all those old ships. Just keep refitting them until all that's original is the basic frame.

Harriman turned and headed for the Control Centre. The patrols should be reporting in soon, and the Klingons should have sent a return message....I hope we have some good news.

**********
IKV Mortum Hesta.
Bridge.

"We're receiving a message from Starfleet, Captain."

Thulinuk glanced back at the Tactical officer. "Let's hear it."

"This is Admiral Harriman. We are preparing our forces for an assault on Gatrellian positions in the Alpha Quadrant. We also have a force ready to assist you in the push into Romulan space."

Thulinuk stood. "Transmit to Starfleet, scramble code TH-1B6. We have received and understood message. Suggest that force for Romulan attack rendez-vous with us in Sector 018."

"Transmitting, sir."

The captain nodded. "And now, we wait for the signal."

**********
USS Tigermoth-A.
Bridge.

The sounds of a working ship filled the bridge. The low hum and soft beeps were music to Lisa's ears. She exited the turbolift and stepped down into the command area, looking around.

The bridge now had a full complement. Lt Commander Moss at Ops, Sheehan at Tactical, Ensign Hall at the helm, Various ensigns filled the other stations. She flashed a quick grin at Sheehan. "So, you got lumbered with us huh?"

"Yeah." Sheehan grinned back. "I haven't got the time to rejoin the Hesta, so they're gonna have to do without my sparkling personality for a little while."

Lisa turned, as Smithy stepped out of the turbolift. "Captain on the bridge!" She cringed as several ensigns snapped to attention. I knew that would happen. I swear to God, I don't know why they teach you to do that...

Smithy glanced around. "As you were." He looked over at Sheehan, who could barely contain his glee at seeing him in a captain's uniform. "One word out of you and we'll get to see if keelhauling is possible in space."

"Hey, I'm saying nothing."

Smithy laughed. "Yeah, but you're thinking it." He turned to his wife. "Well, Dave promoted you. I'm sure that makes you one of the youngest first officers in Starfleet history."

"Probably does. Strange times, huh?"

The two took their seats, Smithy noting the change to the comm panel on the arms of his seat. He poked at a control. "Bridge to engine room."

"Orlatrel here, sir."

"Are all your teams aboard now?"

"Confirmed. I'm still waiting on some spare parts, just in case. Should be here in 5 minutes."

"Okay. Bridge to sickbay."

"Thurlok here, Captain. All medical teams are aboard. Our CMO is on his way to the bridge, he wanted to greet you in person."

Smithy shared a puzzled look with Lisa. "Thank you Dr Thurlok." He turned to Lisa. "Who are we getting as CMO?"

"No idea. Dave didn't include the name in the listing he gave me."

The turbolift doors opened, and Smithy stood. His face lit up. "Mack?"

Doc Mackenzie scowled across the bridge at him. "I might have known they'd get you in that damned centre chair one day." He floated across the bridge in his hoverchair, meeting Smithy and Lisa halfway. "You two could drive a man to drink. You disappear for 6 years, suddenly re-appear and I don't even get any word from you."

"You were on the Venture, we couldn't get a message to you." Smithy and Lisa both smiled as Mack launched into a tirade about the state of the sickbay, Lisa only just able to stifle a giggle. Both were thinking exactly the same thing: Same old Mack.

"And another thing....where in the hell are my batteries for this piece of junk?" Mack bashed a fist down on the left arm rest. "I'm not going to last long on this set."

"Relax, doc. I had them sent straight to your office." Smithy turned the hoverchair round and propelled it gently towards the turbolift doors. "Now, report to your post doctor. Thats an order."

"Enjoy it while it lasts, Jimmy." Mack called back at him as he entered the lift. "Because I'm not spending any longer on this bucket of bolts than I have to." The lift doors closed on his scowl.

Smithy turned to Lisa. "Well, wasn't that nice?"

"Just wait till you get to his age and see how you feel about things." Lisa returned to her seat, and glanced at her comm panel as it beeped. "We're being hailed by Dave."

"On-screen." Smithy smiled at the image of his friend and former captain. "Standing by, Admiral."

"Hope you've got everything squared away now, as it looks like the party's starting. Proceed to Sector 18 under cloak. You'll meet up with the Klingon forces there, and a small Starfleet force. You'll be heading into Romulan space to wipe out their cargo lines that the Gatrellians rely on. Meanwhile, the main Starfleet force will concentrate on the Gatrellians themselves."

"Who's leading that force?"

Harriman smiled. "You'll find out, I'll have him hail you once you clear the Briar Patch. Good luck, Smithy."

"To us all, Dave."

The screen faded to black, and then to the visual of the Briar Patch and the docking scaffold. "Engine room, bring engines on-line. Helm, thrusters at station keeping. Lisa, signal the dock that we're ready to depart."

"Signalling.....they confirm, and we have permission to launch."

"Helm....take us out."

The Tigermoth slid forward, clearing the dock and heading out on her way once more.

**********
**********


**edited some of my lousy spelling, any remaining errors are wrong for good**

[Iceman]

Also good to see quick updates. Keep it goin man.

[James Smith]

Going to have to be tomorrow now, was working on a bit but got called away  - some alcohol needed drinking.