Hunting the White Whale

 On the main viewer of the USS Alsea, the image of the large egg-shaped scaled alien vessel against a background of utter darkness shifted to that of the blue-white blazing display of the galactic barrier. As everyone took back his own seat, Kheren addressed Jureth.

''Well Captain Sir; seems now is the time to plan our hunt and how we are going to net this big fish in all this snowstorm.'

Jureth's outlook was somewhat grim. They were hunting what the humans liked to call the needle in the haystack except it was a large needle in an infinite haystack. He didn't know how they were going to track the Achilles and even if they found her how they were going to gain control. Even in multi-vector assault mode the Alsea was no match for the fearsome dreadnaught. It was going to take all of their skill and a whole lot of luck to send Khan packing.

"Yes," he replied as he faced Kheren "we are hunting one ship, controlled by an insane hologram, in an area of space we don't even have navigational charts for....big fish in a snowstorm might be putting it lightly." 

The Andorian crossed his muscular arms on his wide chest, antennae wobbling.

''I see only two options; either we go after it... or we make it go after us.''

He then pointed to the stoic Vulcan at the science station.

''But there are two things we have that he doesn't and, moreover, is not even aware of; metaphasic shielding and the Syntron space sonar.''

On the main viewer, he projected tactical data of the Alsea and the Achilles side by side along with data collected from the energy field surrounding the galaxy.

''That's what protected us when we went through instead of burning all our circuits and gel-paks... and our neurons. I suspect that, if the sentient hologram is still active, it's only because of the heavy armor plating and deeply ensconced and armored main bridge of the Achilles; plating which should be in a state of degradation after this long being exposed to the barrier.  As for the upgraded sensor system, and with the very inventor of it working the controls, it may not give us full scanning power within the energy barrier; but it will make us short-sighted while he is completely blind.''

"Like playing a game of hide and seek with x-ray vision." Jureth stated "I agree with your summary, we either become the hunter or the hunted...though we do have one thing that Khan might want...you. You've managed to best him twice, his superiority complex would no doubt lend itself to another round." 

"Agreed," Syntron concurred as he actively maneuvered his fingers across the science console controls. "Khan the augment was blinded by a sense of superiority and driven by unbridled rage and revenge. Baiting him with our Andorian counterpart would logically be most effective though a dangerous approach to expeditiously drawing him out of the void."

Syntron turned to face Kheren. "Perhaps broadcasting a personal message mocking his superior intellect and strength would trigger an immediate reaction from our holographic nemesis."

The Andorian's antennae curved sharply inward as he let go a short dry laugh.

''How did that Earther writer, Edmond Rostand said it? Ah yes; you don't abdicate the honor of being a target.''

He sighed but his deep tone was no less resolute.

''I'm no Cyrano de Bergerac, never mind my duelling past; but I agree. This should trigger the program sure enough. As soon as we are all ready, gentlemen, I shall... spill my blood in the water for the shark to come.''

"Perhaps shifting into multi-vector mode at an opportune moment once the predator arrives could offset  his game plan, or at least leave him uncertain in which shell his target is residing within," Syntron added to Kheren's declaration; knowing that they needed to utilize every opportunity to anticipate and counteract the holographic archenemy's expected attack.

Jureth nodded "A good idea. we can run all three sections from this bridge. I've unfortunately done it enough times to know that it works well. We should also probably alert our new friends over there that we intend to intentionally bait a madman in to targeting us in case they wish to cloak or leave the area." 

Kheren's antennae wobbled a bit.

''Hmmm... that would require to send a false lifesign signal along with the controlling emission. Even then, it will not take long before his sensors detect that those two other hulls are actually empty. Do not forget that he is highly intelligent and much more experienced with space battle tactics. He should play three-dimensional chess like a master by now.''

Rather than ordering Sorripto or Kheren to do so Jureth tapped the console on the command chair arm rest an opened a channel to the Iconian vessel

"Iconian vessel, this is Captain Oseno. I wanted to make you aware that we intend to lure the other vessel to us and battle the Khan hologram for control of it. We wanted to inform you so that you could cloak or distance yourselves from the area if you wish to." 

The eerie multivoice reverberated through the speakers.

''We will follow your advice and stay in contact.''

On screen, the egg-shaped multifaced behemoth suddenly vanished from view. Sensors also lost track of it's mass, movement and energy output.

Sorripto kept the ship steady and coordinated flight and targeting controls through to each applicable section of his console. Hopefully it would not come to that, but as the only member of Starfleet to ever defeat a Zakdorn grandmaster at Strategema, Sorripto knew his reflexes and multitasking would be pushed to their limits.

"Ready to taunt... err send the message at your command." Sorripto said waiting for the next move.

Kheren nodded.

''Captain, I suggest Commander Rogers prepare immediately for transport. I shall join him shortly once I bait Moby Dick. Then, while you and Lieutenant Commander Sorripto man the oars and throw harpoons, Syntron hopefully will find a way to either bypass her shields. Or maybe get help from Jonas in the belly of the whale; Admiral Redding's hologram.''

 David glanced once at Kheren and, with a resigned sigh, nodded agreeably. Quickly grabbing a spare phaser from the small drawer under his station, David rose from his seat and made his way toward the bridge transporter. Stopping on the leftmost pad he turned and glanced over at the others as they continued their strategy.

"Pulling up the prefix codes for the Achilles now," Syntron noted as he perused through a digital lexicon of starship schematics. "We are proceeding on an assumption that these codes have not been modified by the holographic augment since the vessel had been commandeered," he added dispassionately.

Kheren grunted.

''Since he has access to Starfleet's database up to the end of the Dominion war, my guess is that he did. He is certainly well aware how he, or rather his organic namesake, was bested by Admiral Kirk a century before. Most of his sentences actually sound like recordings of that historical encounter. I'm afraid our only chance to drop his shields, short of firepower, is Admiral Redding's hologram.''

Once the five-digit number (17221) was saved, he set up a one-touch transmission sequence to implement access to the USS Achilles' shields from his console at an opportune point when they somehow managed to precariously position themselves within range of the potentially lethal ship. Syntron then created a complex coded message in the chance that their holographic counterpart was still activated somewhere on the renegade ship. He then looked up from his console.

"If we are able to disable the Achilles' shields, we may have the option to transport our small task force aboard to manually seize control of key systems. However, we will need to create a viable distraction first. For example, with a barrage of targeted focused fire intended not damage the ship in any serious manner, we could distract their sensors long enough to complete a transport. In addition, if the Redding holographic officer does not respond to the encoded message that will be transmitted, it may be possible to reactivate this program from within the ship."

“I have an idea for that.” Sorripto interjected.

“One of the advantages of a multi vector vessel is a larger than normal reaction chamber. I could easily modify the forward cannons to release an antimatter barrage.”

Gesturing to the viewscreen Sorripto continued.

“This would create quite the lightshow and cause shield interference while causing minimal damage. I can coordinate here from helm so that we can fire when the ship is in exactly the right spot.”

Kheren nodded towards the Cardassian.

''Always listen to the experts.''

The Vulcan then gazed around at his fellow bridge officers.

"Logic dictates that it will take our forces combined with virtually flawless timings to increase our odds, in any significant way, to wrest control of the ship from the holographic nemesis. This in turn will obviously be a crucial factor when confronting the doomsday devices afterwards... which continue to approach our sector unabated."

Kheren's antennae curved in the peculiar Andorian smile.

''Could not have said it better myself. As soon as Commander Rogers is in position and you give the order, Captain, I'll throw the bait, then join with him. The rest will be in your capable hands, gentlebeings.''

Jureth nodded in approval toward his makeshift crew of rebels and a smile slowly crept over the Bajoran's features. "Well done gentlemen...let's run up the black flag then. Time to steal another starship." 

Sorripto looked over at Rogers and smiled.

"What is this for us? Two or three ships in the same mission. That has to be some kind of record?"

David smiled back at the Cardassian. "Yes well, we all know about records. They're made to be broken!"

David then struck a relaxed combat stance and waited for the action to start. With a sudden thought he then retorted back to Sorripto, an easy smile upon his face.

"Just don't splatter us into the side of the enemy's hull, okay?"

Silence gripped the bridge of the Alsea as Kheren waited for Sorripto to start their approach to the galactic barrier. He then opened a channel he knew from memory the Achilles would monitor and stood straight behind his console as his deep voice boomed across the void.

''This is Kheren of the USS Artemis and the US Horizon, on board the USS Alsea, with her commanding officer Captain Jureth. Well Khan, are you game for a rematch?''

The silence froze and the void was still. The Andorian's antennae curved inward.

''Khan; I'm laughing at a superior intellect.''

Like a great white shark breaching the waves, the torpedo-shaped hull of the massive USS Achilles emerged from the blue and white haze of tthe galactic barrier, coming straight at them all guns blazing.

The first volley shook the Alsea but not the Andorian who moved with a calm but determined pace towards the turbolift.

''Consistent as ever.''

Sorripto kept the ship steady and brought it around as per the original plan.

As the nemesis ship veered its course from the hazy barrier then barreled toward them, Syntron engaged the prefix code program for the Achilles as it moved within range. As predicted, nothing happened. The codes had been altered from their designated sequence.

While the battle around him ensued, the Vulcan remained focused on his next option: establishing contact with the Redding holographic officer believed to still be present in some capacity aboard the attacking vessel. He added a specific frequency to use other than a standard communication line so that Redding had the option to respond verbally or with a binary message. Their ship shook violently as the message was transmitted.  

"Get to your stations," Jureth ordered the remaining crew as the Alsea shook beneath him "We will begin the separation immediately as soon as everyone is in place."

“Separation protocol ready” Sorripto responded as he quickly coordinated the systems to the central controls.

The Bajoran moved from the command chair to replace Kheren at the ship's tactical station.

"Meanwhile, I will give him something to think about." 

Jureth's fingers bounced lightly over the panel and the Alsea responded with phaser fire and quantum torpedoes toward the behemoth looking very much like the hero in the mythical human story of David vs Goliath. 

Unfortunately, it looked like it would take more than one shot of a sling to bring down this fearsome enemy.

Although many of the shots impacted the shields of the giant destroyer, it's flat, low, shark-like profile proved an elusive target even for their upgraded targeting sensors. The heavy armoring of the siege destroyer shrugged off whatever energy managed to go through. And with it's short, powerful nacelles and the utterly empty vastness around them, it quickly opted to warp combat instead of impulse.

At supraliminal speed, it proved as maneuverable as it was at impulse; as any of the Alsea's much smaller separated hulls. Worse beam weapons became much weaker, as warp power was now needed for maneuvering. It was forcing a torpedo engagement where the Achilles had the obvious upper hand. She was able not only to shoot forward and back like the Alsea with multi-launching tubes, but its phalanx system allowed for broadsides of devastating quantum micro torpedoes.

The question was now who would run out of ammunition first; the very ammunition that was needed to destroy the three monstrous planet-killers on their way.

Jureth watched the readings on their massive opponent's shields and knew that the phasers weren't doing much good. He pulled power in from non-essential systems to try and boost their output while also rotating their frequency hoping he might get a lucky shot through the Achilles shields. He was also acutely aware of the Alsea's torpedo complement; he was her captain after all, and knew they needed to save something for the planet-killers if they could. The Bajoran tapped his combadge as the Alsea rocked again under another salvo.

"How are we coming gentlemen? We cannot keep throwing haymakers with that thing all day!" 

Kheren's voice answered over the comm.

''I told Rogers to reconfigure the transporter on automated activation and linking them to Syntron's sensors. We will be transported the moment there is enough of a fluctuation in the Achilles'shields to allow us...''

The rest was lost in the hum of a transporter beam.

On the Vulcan's readouts, the shields of the Achilles had done exactly that; fluctuate barely long enough to allow a transporter signal to go through. Twice. It happened not because of the Alsea's fire, but when the Achilles itself was firing; as if she too was drawing all available power and more to boost it's already frightening firepower. The Alsea's shields dimmed also for a moment and the hull reverberated as if pounded on by giant fists.

Out in the open, at warp speed, they were getting outmaneuvered and outgunned.

Syntron's intraship sensors confirmed him that no Half-Romulan or Andorian lifesigns remained aboard. All comm signals were also lost.

He could not find them on board the Achilles either.

The Alsea buffeted again under fire from the behemoth as Kheren and Rogers transported from the ship. Jureth returned fire as he looked to the Vulcan for some type of confirmation.

"Did they make it?" the Bajoran asked.

Regardless of the resounding turbulence occurring ship wide, Syntron maintained vigilance at his station. He repeatedly reconfigured the scanners in attempt to get a lock on their biosigns aboard the attacking vessel.  He then increased the search parameters to expand into the void of space surrounding their vessels. Moments later, he looked up then addressed the Bajoran commanding from the center seat.

“I can confirm that they are not present on this ship nor are they anywhere in the surrounding space. I cannot confirm at this time that they arrived safely within the Achilles. Logic however would deduce the only option would be that they are on the ship, somewhere. Records indicate that there were two separate transporter signals that occurred within seconds of each other. This may indicate that each was transported separately, perhaps even to different locations on the vessel.”

Jureth nodded an acknowledgement.

"Okay that will have to be good enough. We need to separate the Alsea and may Khan may ignore the other two sections if he figures out there is not on aboard. So I'm going to need the two of you to each take a section. I will remain on the main bridge." 

Sorripto quickly readied the console commands for separation.

"Separation in ten... nine..." Sorripto reported.

“I will command the gamma vector,” Syntron stated as he began transferring data to the lower vector’s command module. “It will afford me the opportunity to utilize the modified deflector system as we challenge our holographic adversary.”

"I guess that leaves me with Beta. My favorite." Sorripto quipped.

"She's the tactical section anyway, finally gives me a chance to play with those new targeting parameters I was working on."

As the sound of blue alert filled the bridge the remaining three men readied their stations as the transfer commands Sorripto sent converted their consoles. The bridge shook slightly as the sections began to separate and now each man was, while together, very much on their own.

On the screen, the Achilles for a moment seemed to poise itself for a strafing run when the Alsea separated. Then suddenly, she turned hard about, sending full volleys of phasers spread at each modules before rushing back towards the galactic barrier.

Just as the gamma vector completed separation from the other two segments, an array of phaser fire from the Achilles struck its shields and sent the small ship module spiraling out of control. Despite the initial disorientation, Syntron swiftly regained command of the nimble ship, engaged evasive maneuvers then prepared a salvo of weapons fire in response.

The attacking ship however suddenly turned about as it reoriented itself toward the galactic barrier once again. Knowing the likelihood that his fellow officers were onboard the ship somewhere, he could not allow that menacing vessel to escape undetected into the haze of the barrier ahead of them. He engaged thrusters and accelerated the vector on an intercept course with the much larger and more powerful ship. How he would effectively engage the adversarial ship upon arrival had not yet been determined, which seemed a rather unconventional move for an experienced Vulcan Starfleet officer. He also recognized that at this moment, he was not a Starfleet officer. He was a civilian proceeding in his former capacity. One of the many lessons he learned during the Horizon anomaly and other challenging missions was that there were circumstances in which an officer had to act and proceed immediately without the benefit of a full-fledged plan. If not, circumstance could shift unfavorably while a plan was being developed. Accelerating toward the Achilles, Syntron was determined that his actions would not devolve into a Kobayashi Maru scenario.

What his instruments showed him at the moment was unexpected. Not only there was no targeting scanner aimed at his craft anymore, but not even standard sensors. The fleeing siege destroyer was utterly ignoring his presence; or that of all three parts of the Alsea for that matter. It was simply fleeing, and in a straight, undeviated manner, not even any evasive maneuvers. It was flying more like a probe than a starship.

Intriguing, Syntron contemplated as he opened communications to the other two vectors.

“It appears that the Achilles offensive posture has been nullified, at least for the time being,” he noted as his ship veered closer to the fleeing vessel.

“Perhaps the away team has wrest control from the virtual augment. How would you recommend we proceed?” he inquired.

"One way to find out." Sorripto responded.

The beta section turned towards the Achilles and fired a barrage of phaser fire striking various outer points. This salvo was a combination warning shot and attention getter to maximize attention while minimizing damage.

On the main bridge of the Alsea's triangular saucer Jureth watched as the Achilles turned away from the Alsea. He also initiated a pursuit course and was now trying to figure out why the hulking beast was running from what was a much lesser foe.

The beta section's attempt at drawing attention had failed. The fleeing ship appeared to have no interest in combat.

"We can't lose her, I'd say target her engines but we probably won't do any good even with the Alsea's considerable firepower. We need to stay with her, let's pursue in a loose formation. If we stop to reassemble she'll get away.  I'm open to other ideas but we could send a repeating message to Rogers tricorder and see if we can get him to answer. We could rotate the coding of the transmission from Starfleet standard so it decreases the risk of interception. That shouldn't give away his position In the event they are not in control of the ship"

"Use the deflector." Sorripto suggested.

"I can keep up the most fire with beta and you can use gamma to send the pulse through the deflector. It will give the strongest concentration and minimize the chance anyone figures out what we are doing because the energy surges from our ship should hide it."

“Reconfiguring the main deflector now,” Syntron confirmed as his digits tapped out a complex sequence of commands at lightning speed. “Messages to Rogers complete and ready to transmit via a rotating pulse,” he announced moments later.

The Vulcan steered the gamma vector into position in conjunction with the Beta module as it maneuvered its way around the fleeing hulking nemesis, peppering it with targeted phaser fire. He then engaged the deflector, aiming the pulse to precise locations all around the vessel. The intension was to cover all main regions of the vessel with the potential that at least one transmission could be received by Roger’s tricorder.

That's when, for a short moment, the image of a white-haired, powerfully built man appeared just outside the hull of the Achilles in a swirl of transporter energy, before dissolving into nothingness. Scants seconds later, the mighty warship dropped out of warp and came to a full stop, shields up but all weapons and targeting systems registering negative.

"All stop!" Jureth ordered over the open comm line as he guided the dagger like saucer to a stop. "Hold all fire. Let's see what she does, and if we get an answer from the commander." 

The Bajoran's fingers hovered over the tactical console as he waited sincerely hoping Rogers would answer and considering what they would do if the engineer didn't respond. 

Sorripto brought the beta section around readying a full volley in case what was about to happen went sideways.

After a tense moment of silence, a voice came out of the speakers; that of Kheren through his combadge.

''Alsea! Keep... harassing... Achilles! Keep... him... distracted!''

It came out as if he was panting; he obviously was, except that every bit came one word at a time at precisely one second intervals, right between what sensors recorded as specific phases between a continuous string of site-to-site transport on the warship. 

"Dammit," Jureth muttered under his breath and then out loud he ordered "you heard the man, fire, initiate random attack patterns. Charging forward cannons...firing." 

The Alsea's saucer let loose a barrage from her pulse phaser cannons as well as her forward phaser arrays. The tactical officer pushed his section forward under full impulse power peppering the Achilles shields as he went trying not to target vital systems as they would need them to maneuver the giant once they had her under control and they didn't have time to stop for repairs. Jureth dipped his ship under the massive saucer and swept Achilles underbelly forward to aft with fire before coming back around to repeat the maneuver. 

"On it!" Sorripto yelled.

He pulled the beta section around and fired a barrage of torpedoes. The Cardassian was aiming his torpedo shots to hit exactly where the saucer phaser blasts were landing. It was obvious to him that the plan was to avoid any major systems. Sorripto continued the assault rotating between attack patterns and movement patterns. It was at that moment Sorripto saw the saucer sweep underneath the massive ship.

"I will raise you one there." Sorripto quipped.

As the saucer section went low Sorripto brought the beta section high across the upper sides of the Achilles. Firing a barrage of torpedoes and phaser spreads, Sorripto diverted all power he could to intensify the forward fire power. He attacked with Beta II and then swept back around with attack pattern Omega III. Varying the patterns and hitting the Achilles with everything he had.

For her part, the heavy siege destroyer remained passive, all it's power devoted to her regenerative shielding and forcefields around key systems. Coupled with the thickest armor plating ever put on a starship in both alpha and beta quadrants, up to a meter thick around it's battle bridge deep inside her reinforced hull, it took the brunt of the attack of even the formidable Alsea with frightening stoicsm. The only noticeable activity sensors detected was that of the holo-emitters shipwide grid and a bewildering flurry of transporter activity within the confines of the shark-shaped hull.

How long all this would last, no one could tell.

The first sign was when all transporter activity aboard the destroyer suddenly ceased. Then, it's sensor signals went all passive. The ship powered down and it"s shields winked out as it remained at station keeping in what looked for all intent and purposes at Condition Blue, as if it was in drydock.

A moment later, a deep, familiar voice was heard aboard all the three modules of the Prometheus class starship.

''Alsea, this is Achilles. Ship has been secured. Commander Rogers in full command. Estimating three hours of diagnostics before implementing next phase of operation. This channel will be kept open. Please acknowledge.''

"Achilles this is Alsea, reading you loud and clear, well done gentlemen." Jureth replied with a smile on his face. He was sure it hadn't been easy but Rogers and Kheren had done it. There was little time for celebration unfortunately, they had much larger issues to deal with.

"Commander Rogers, I'd love to celebrate and hear about your and Kheren's ingenuity but we three very large problems to deal with. Let's get the Alsea put back together and then we can discuss the planet killers." 

 "Understood Captain. Estimate twenty minutes to main computer readiness. Once I identify and isolate the Khan memory files this ship should be fit to fly Sir."

And it was at that very moment that, both on the Achilles and the Alsea, all tactical sensors blared an alarm. A large object was emerging from the galactic barrier faster than light itself.

On the battle bridge of the Achilles, Kheren took no time to immediately identify it out loud.

''The Horizon.''