Episode 6

*Rivers and the squad geared up and headed into the shuttle bay. The oncoming ship was unresponsive, and their shields were up. Rivers sat down at the shuttle's helm control*

Shadow, this is Shuttle craft Diego ready for departure!

*The squad sitting in the back were loading and checking their weapons*

Terra, any Id on that oncoming vessel yet? Is it Berges'?

Terra: Main sensors are still offline from the temporal distortion, we are unable to get a proper ID

Me: Very well. Borego, prepare the Darkwing for launch, get it ready as soon as possible, and make ti a priority to find out why the Darkwing's re generators are malfunctioning, we shouldn't have lost power in the battle over Vixeria. OK ladies and gents, Shuttlecraft Diego departing in 3,2, 1

*The Diego lifted off of the landing platform and glided into space. Vixen shuttles were always so much more elegant than Fed shuttles, and they were far superoir in every respect. Rivers silently guided the shuttle on an intercept course for the incoming vessel*

Alex leaned back in the padded chair. He readies his rifle for a quick exit, standing guard at the hatchway.

I was frenetically messing with the weapons console... there was so much information to be processed in so little time... Weapons loaders, phaser capacitators, Warp Core Soubroutines, Dinamic Thrusters Subroutines, Sensors Subroutines...
"What's happening to subroutines?" Though I, while messing around with much more speed... "A virus? How, from where?" I imediatly deleted the file... and run the recuperation program around all subroutines...
"Sir..." Said I "This is Darkwing... We never had a power failure in the traditional sense of the word... The generators are working fine! We had a computer virus that scrambled almost everything on the ship... We indeed still have half of the Quantum payload and 3/4 from the photon torpedo payload! We even have one Transphasic torpedo! We only have liught fisical damage on phaser capacitators and Torpedo loaders... five minuites and the Engineering team will get it over... And we will be ready to launch!"

*Rivers heard this over the comm unit*

Borrego, complete system shutdown! If we didn't detect it before, who knows what has infected the computers. Also, have Terra check the shadow, if I am not mistaken the computer cores on both the Darkwing and Shadow are similar, if it infiltrated the Darkwing, there's a good chance that the Shadow's been infiltrated as well!

"Aye, sir... running now secondary computer core..." Said I "Terra, we need you to make a complete run on the Shadow... Berges got an PC Virus into our computers, so you might be infected as well..."

*Suddenly, the shuttlecraft Diego lurched*

Shadow, I'm losing control of the shuttle! Helm not responding! Switching to auxiliaries! No effect! Shadow, I have lost complete control of the shuttle, we are changing course!

Tracker 1: Sir, our core!

*Rivers spun around in the chair. The core was glowing red*

Shadow, this is Rivers, our core is going to overload, repeat, core is about to overload! Requesting emergency beam out! Shadow, do you copy??

*Aboard the Shadow, a Vixen shook her head*
Sorry ma'am, their signal has been completely lost

*James belted down the hall to his ship. Now was no time for mistakes, they wanted Rivers alive, not floating in a mess of debris in the middle of no where. It seemed ironic to him that he should be saving the life of the person he intended to capture later...*

"Repairs are now finished..." Said Someone...
"Good..." Said I "Terra, release the clamps!"
"Ok..." Replied Terra
The ship got released... We exit the deck...
"Put us between Rivers and the unknown ship!" Said I
"Aye, Commander!" Said the ensign...
The Ship placed just between Rivers and the Unknown Ship...

Terra did a complete system scan on the Shadow. If any virus was in their systems, it wasn't showing up. The Shadow was watching the shuttlecraft.. something was wrong.
"Rivers, if you get this message, buckle up. We are activating the tractor beam." The Shadow fired a warning shot over the Unknown ships hull, barely scraping the shields. The ship stopped and seemed to float in space. Another broken message came through the comms on all three ships.
-V- Enemy... it.. *static* looks like friendly... *static* Open.. fire *static* We're losing all systems.. ram their hull *more static.. messgage ends*-V-
Helm: M'am.. it seems to be an old message.. and that unknown ship does have some hull damage.. Shall we open fire?
Terra: Contact the Darkwing to protect Diego.. get the shuttle into the hangar bay and get the drones ready.. Everyone.. this is our day of reckoning.

*Rivers heard cackling over the comm. He thudded his fist on the panel cursing to himself*

Comm's out! We're going to have to make a break for it! Grab helmets and oxygen tanks! Suit up, you have 30 seconds!

*The squad geared up in record breaking time. Rivers put a helmet on and closed the visor. The core was at crtitcal now. *

Everyone to the back of the shuttle!

*The squad huddled to the back and Rivers made his way to the hatch*

here, everyone grab a hold of this!

*Rivers tossed a line to each memeber, and they strapped it to their belts. Rivers hit the override and blew the panel open, decompressing the shuttle. The squad blasted out into space, floating a way. Rivers turned and looked back at the shuttle, just as The Shadow activated a tractor beam.*

Shadow, come in, shadow!! Disengage, tractor beam, I repeat....

*The shuttle blew up in a core overload. The energy transmitted back through the tractor beam. Aboard the shadow, conduits blew everywhere. Systems crashed as the power surge took over the ship. The shaodw lost momentary control and started to drift. Rivers and the squad were blasted deeper into space by the shockwave*

Terra cursed her luck. The tech teams were running everywhere repairing broken conduits and getting the systems back online. She looked out the view screen to notice a group of people floating off into space.
"Helm, use personal communicators to contact the drone controllers. Get a few over to those group of people. I bet that's Rivers and the rest of them. Also, Estimated time till we are all back online?"
Helm: 15 minutes at the most. Alright, contacting now

The Shadow drifted a little farther as the back-up power kicked in and the regenerators started to fix any damage done to the ship.

*Static*Terra.....shadow........beam up....power off.....*static*

*Rivers banged the comm unit*

No good, somebody's interfering with it!

*Rivers looked around at the black pit of space. The Shadow was getting smaller and smaller, they must be moving incredibly fast*

*A Vixen got up black and dirty*
Vixen: Try that!

*Somebody hit the transporter, but nothing happened*
Vixen: No good Captain, transporter is just not operational! They;re drifting too far out of range!

Engineering: Captaon, engines won't be online for another ten minutes

*Terra's face appeared on the screen in the Darkwing*
Terra: Borrego, can you get a lock on the Rivers?

*Borrego ran over to the ops control and switched it to transporter control.*
Borrego: I have a lock.....

*Borrego activated the transporter, which upon activation promptly blew up. Borrego kicked the console in anger*

Borrego: Transporter offline!

Drone 1: Coming up on the life signs.. I see them, activate mach 3.
Drone 2: Activated.. Speeding up now
Drone 3: Form phalanx formation... formated active.

The drones raced towards Rivers and the group, their shields raised just in case of an attack.

Drone 1: ETA
Drone 2: 10 minutes at mach 3
Drone 3: 5 if in mach 4.
Drone 1: Keep mach 3.. don't want to overpass.
Drones 2 & 3: Roger.

"Sir, the ship is sending another message... It's in morse!" Said,,, "SOS... large dominion fleet... old federation and Vixen cruisers found... Vixen cruiser shot at us,,, Uss Endeavor evacuating..."
"What? Terra! Stop it! It's a FED!" Screamt I

*Rivers looked, in the distance he could see some small forms coming. Rivers reached down and unholstered his disruptor. He slowly pulled it out, just in case*

The Shadow powered up again. Everything was fixed now and the teams were busy keeping an eye on the ship.
Helm: Lifesigns shown.. They are not firing.. Raising shields just in case.
Terra: And the drones?
Helm: They found Rivers and the team..

--------------------------------------------------

The Drones approached Rivers as they formed a protective ring.
Drone 1: Opening pilot seat.. we can hold up to 4..
The three drones lowered their sheilds and waited for Rivers and the team to get in.

"Ok... lock an tractor beam to any evacuating pod..." Said I "Transport them to the hangar bay and help any one that appears from it!"

*Rivers climbed aboard with the other squad members. The Droneship headed off towards the Shadow.*

Drone, change your course, drop me off on the Darkwing

Drone: YEs sir

*The drone deivated course and headed for the Darwking*

"Sir, the Captain is already on-board... And we're detecting a small wing of dominion ships on Intercept course... The our time federation ships have also appeared... they were hidding behind a moon and are sending us a message... they report they're ok and they will be here to help us..."
"Great! Ask them to Warp to Earth and report! ASAP!" Said I...

*Rivers strode onto the bridge of the Darkwing, helmet in hand. The Darkwing was at half power as more repairs were being conducted*

Status report Borrego, where are we on the repairs?

"They're now done, but the transporter is malfunctioning..." Said I... "We're tracking the escape pods and driving them here... We're facing a fed vessel..."

( I am on the Darkwing am I not. sorry I was unable to post for a while)

*James walks onto the Bridge*

"oh briliant just briliant you finaly got a ship. well at least you still have one at the moment. what is the problim this time?"

*Rivers rolled his eyes*

Still so sarcastic James? I thought you had overcome that by now. Yes actually, I have a ship and it works quite fine, isn;t that right Borrego?

*Borrego was caught off guard*
Borrego: Uh, um, yeah, right, sure... I think...

Me: Right, well, Borrego, have the rest of the crew transported aboard, and direct all sensor beams on the Endeavour, are their any life readings? What condition is it in, is it in fact the Endeavour we left behind for the Darkwing Mark 2?

"well no I never got passed it. anyway did john ever get rid of that rubbish beard?"

"Sir... Too darn diferent... it's similar in many ways, but... I really don't know..." Said I "The last life sign just disappeared... they're all on the escape pods... I think..."

*speaking with Rivers*

"sir is now a bad time, I was just wondering what would happen to me. it seems Ive seen much lately"

*Rivers went over and sat down into his command chair, hardly hearing Leach*

Borrego, try hailing the escape pods

*Borrego tapped some buttons and shook his head*

Borrego: No good sir

James, I'm a little shortlisted for crew, mind helping out with helm control, you remember the basic starfleet helm controls right?

*James nodded his head and took the helm, Leach still stood there impatiently.

Rivers shifted his weight in the chair, watching out of the viewscreen*

And you're sure there are life forms on the escape pods?

*This was puzzling, most puzzling. Suddenly, an alarm went off. Rivers looked down at the command console. The proximity alarm was flashing*

Those escape pods aren't stoppping!

*Suddenly, an escape pod rammed into the hull of the Darkwing. The ship lurched from the impact. Another one hit, and another*

James, evasive maneuvers! Borrego, why aren't my shields up?

"They're up sir! They're just passing by!" Said I "Charging phasers for defensive patern... Ready to fire... Sir... the life signs have disappeared..."

Alex jogged by various red lights and alarmed crewmen. He skidded to a stop near a manual fire control station and entered his identification.

Bzzhhh... User identified. Alexander Alexander Jones, first lieutenant. Opening control room doors. Bzzhhh...

The doors slid open and Alex walked in and entered his command code again into the defensive Phaser array. The computer accepted, and he overrided the automatic firing controls. "Sirs? I'm in a firing control room. I'll be out of contact for a while." He turned off the comm and swiveled the chair around to face the control panels. "OK, here we go! Phaser energy is high, sensors report functional, everything else is in the green. Target practice is a go..." Alex turned to the targeting panel and powered up defensive phasers. A dozen escape pods were in the firing line of Alex's phasers. He locked on to one, and it went into a barrel roll to throw off his aim. He tried a pair of shots than stopped, frowning. The escape pod had jerked to a stop, as had the others. He blew it to dust, then checked the computer. The rest of the ships were moving again, but in a much tighter standard grid formation. He fired off a few blasts, and the ships swerved in a standard evasion pattern. Alex tightened his fingers on the triggers, and a trio of phaser blasts ripped one apart. The ships settled in a standard maneuver to cover the gaps in their formation. Every time he did something, they countered him with something standard. Everything they did was programmed into a ships AI computer!

*Rivers watched the escape pods being taken out one by one by Alex, each time a different formation was being performed. Rivers looked down at his command console, a new wave of escape pods had just appeared on the sensors*

What the...?

*Rivers jumped up from the command chair*

Borrego, you have the Bridhe, I'm going to assist Alex

*Rivers exited the bridge and headed for the secondary fire control station*

"Aye, sir" Said I "Helm, evasive maneuvers... Sensors... I want all the possible information available on those pods, and I want a long range ping on the area..."
"Aye, sir..." Replied them...

Three guards came up behind Maleuri and restrained him
"By order of Queen Terra, you are to be restrained and put on trial for crimes against the crown. You will come with us now, or be taken by force. Do you comply?" Another guard came up behind him and hit him with a modified stun rifle. The Guards dragged Maleuri to a holding cell and locked him in, and kept him under 24 hour guard.

-V- Rivers, we have Maleuri.. He is in the holding cell.-V-
Terra took of her guard outfit and sighed.

The Guard chuckled to herself.
"Sorry you little traitor. You won't see her till the trial. And don't think of trying to escape. Look around your cell.. you have a bed and a place to do your business. Nothing else. Food will be brought to you via armed guards."

"Come above!" Said I... and the ship made a loop, avoiding collision with at least three pods...
"Sir, we've got several ships firing those pods... wait! They're not pods! They're magnetic torpedoes!"
"What?" Said I "Darn... the Federation must have come very low to use escape pod similar torpedoes..."

The Guard giggled again.
"Your not family anymore. If I recall as well, the Queen told us to keep you in your cell till trial...."
Terra walked up to the guard and said a few words and was let inside.
"You have fifteen minutes to explain your whereabouts. If you do not explain where you have been, then I'll be forced to have you executed for crimes against the royal family.. and that law about family does not apply to you. You are not of the royal family."

"Set course to one of the cruisers!" Said I while messing up in my console... "keep evading from those torpedoes..."
"Aye,sir"
When we arrove nearby them... there was a cruiser similar to a Nova Class... They were firing more and more torpedoes against them
"Scan them!" Ordered I

(I really would like to jump in but it is hard to do. I have tried, and been shot down. Just throw me in the story, any where. PM me with ideas on what i could do in the story line.)

The Darkwing shuddered as another pod smashed into her hull. A quick glance at his tactical display confirmed it: the Shadow wasn't doing anything. Alex gunned another two pods down and opened a comm link to the Shadow's bridge. "Do something, please! You might have a few laughs over this later, but if we do die, my ghost will hold a grudge against your species!!! I will ascend, then... Oops... But that's not the point. Help!"

(call me in when you need me...)

(hmm, ok) *rotakon looked around.* clone: everything is secure. me: excellent. its time. -V-all ships, warp to these coordinates 234,318.-V- *2000 ships, which had traveled through the timehole, warped to the warzone.*

"Loading Quantum torpedoes... Helm place yourself in a good position to shoot a payload of quantums... main target... Warp drive!" Said I
"Aye, sir" The Darkwing come above and get behind the huge cruiser... Three quantums are fired, hitting the cruiser... by some weird motive, they stop... like the other one did... Suddenly, Three more ships entered in the scene and surrounded the Darkwing... They hailed us...
"Enemy vessel, this is Federation battlegroup 225... surrender or we will crush you immediatly..."
"This is the USS Darkwing MkII... We're from the United Federation Of Planets, Black Ops division..." Said I... pressed the silence button... "Hope they swallow this..."

*Rivers swerved his gun around, blasting another three pods out of existence. Something started bleeping. Great, conduit overload. Rivers pushed himself away in anger and hit his commbadge*

Alex, it's all you, this circuit has blown! This ship isn't ready for combat yet, we're overloading the circuits

*Rivers then had an idea*

Leach, you any good with engineering? I need somebody in the engine room now to regulate power and keep things from blowing up!

*Borrego's voice came over the comm*

Borrego: Sir, vessels warping in, lots of them!

Me: I'm on my way!

*Rviers took off at full sprint for the bridge, ducking as a beam fell out of place from a minor explosion. Rivers stopped and turned back. That wasn't a noral combat explosion......

Suddenly, a group of infiltrators beamed aboard. One of them quickly pointed a weapon at Rivers and fired it.....*

"Battledrones are detecting several marines boarding... They're fighting them..." Said one of the security officers...
"What? Go after them!" Said I...
"Sir, enemy ships are firing regular quantum torpedoes!"
"What?" Several shakes go through the ship "Retaliate! Terra, we need you!"
We were outnumbered by a lot...

*The marine looked astonished as Rivers stood up. Sure, his robotic hand had just been disentregated, but that never stopeed him before... or had it, he'd never had a robot hand so he didn't know, but Rivers took advantage of the situtation, plowing into the bewildered guards, knocking them all to the ground*

"Uhh... I guess Ive had enough training to watch the engines."

*I quickly run to the engine room and realize i don't even know what kind of engine this is. I look around and finally see something i recognize. the temp gauge.*

-V-sir temp is in the red, i don't know anything about this ship but that seems like a bad thing.-V-

*I try and find some parts, I do. I quickly make a vent (learned from my time as a prisoner. Read my Bio.)

"not much but it will have to do."

*I attach the vent and the engine cools slowly*

-V- Sir. I was able to cool the engine down. Slowly dropping. Out of the red! -V-