Captains Personal Log:

To be told that a man I’ve known more than half my life, a friend I’ve trusted and worked with, is the very same person I’ve been hunting is a shock.  That they’d been working hand in glove with the very sort of criminal we’d both been intrusted to seek out and defend the citizens of the Federation, against; a bitter blow.  But to discover they had deliberately set out to kill me during my final assignment; that is totally unforgiveable.

Therefore I will give them the same chance of survival they afforded me.

<End Log>

The USS Valparaiso was fast approaching its destination; the Hydra Cascade.  From a distance and approached from the correct angle, it looked just like a cascading waterfall, which was basically how its name had come about.  Another one of the may magnificent wonders the Universe had to offer; and another place that just loved to play havoc with ships sensors.  But this, if Chameleon’s last message was to be trusted, was the hiding place of the Norway-class vessel they were hunting.  For Captain Robert Eglin this had become very much personal, the man out there in command of that ship had made it so.

“Bridge to the Captain, we are now approach the Cascade.” Came the as always; slightly nervous voice of his first officer.

“On my way.” He replied, standing up and grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair and exiting his ready room.  Once on the bridge he ordered them to drop out of warp and approach at impulse speed.  At a distance of three thousand metres the Valparaiso came to a complete stop.  “Right I want a complete and detailed scan of the Cascade and any data gathered from previous missions conducted in and around it.”

“Do you wish me to launch a probe?”  The Chief Science Officer enquired.

“Negative Mr. Orkyra.” Eglin answered. “Don’t want to give them too much warning of our arrival, do we?”

“As you wish.” Orkyra mumbled, before starting his scans.

**********

It was an hour before the Chief Science Officer felt confident enough to give a detailed report on the Hydra Cascade.  Visibility and scanning ranges within the gaseous cloud would be limited, but he was unable to detect anything that would prove a danger to the ship or its crew.

Captain Eglin ordered the ship to red alert and move into the Cascade.  It was at this point his XO finally made some attempt at questioning whether it would be more prudent waiting for additional support.  Rather than head in alone.

“Are you saying this ship and her crew can’t handle themselves?” Eglin yelled at him. “Well Mr. Roberts.”  It was the kind of thing he always did; intimidate other officers and force them to back down.  So many were scared of him and would back down immediately when they faced if full wrath, and none had yet been brave enough to report him.  This was his ship, and his rules, and everyone knew it.

“N…no S..Sir.” The man stuttered, taken aback by the Captains rage.

“Take use in one quart impulse.” Eglin ordered.  “Unless anyone else here; cares to express their concerns?”

No one did; so the ship slowly the cloud of pinks, purples and blues enveloped the vessel as they swirled around it.  Somewhere within this cloud of gas was the USS Stavanger with its crew of pirates, and Captain Eglin was going to find them.

The USS Valparaiso progressed deeper and deeper into the cloud formation, her scanners piercing into the gloom.  Sometimes the distance they could detect objects within was down to half a kilometre others, as much as 7 kilometres.  But other than a few small rocks and a number of crystalline structures a few metres across the place seemed empty.

“Vessel baring 047 mark 060.  Range 4.3 Kilometres.” The Science Officer called out, the first to notice the large object ahead of them.

“Confirmed.” The Tactical Officer added. “One Norway-class vessel, currently stationary and bow on relative to our position.”

Captain Eglin had thought long and hard about just opening fire the moment he was close enough to do so, which is exactly what his mind was screaming at him to do, right now.  But this crew would never allow him to carry that out, even if they knew what Armitage had done.  He really hoped Armitage was on that ship right now.  A bonus would be if Navaar Orci         the Orion boss of this little organisation was there to.

“Hale them and order their immediate and unconditional surrender.” He called across to his Communications Officer.

“No response Captain.” He replied after trying multiple frequencies.

“What are you playing at Armitage, what is your game?” Eglin muttered to himself. Then he carried on, loud enough to be heard by everyone on the bridge.  “Are your sure there is nothing else out there?”

“Other than a few minor energy fluctuations and some background radiation, I’ve got nothing.” His Orkyra Science Officer reassured him.

“Fire a warning shot!” Eglin called out, both hands gripping the edge of his armrests. Eyes glued to the view screen.  “Then try and raise her again.”

A single beam of energy cut through space; passing the starboard side of the USS Stavanger by a mere 50 metres.  Almost the second the ship had fired, proximity alarms sounded a warming.  “I’m picked up an anomaly baring 220 mark 015.”  The Tactical Officer announced.  “Romulan cloaked mine, just gone active!”

“How the hell did you miss it?” The Captain yelled.

Before answering the Tactical Officer opened fire on the mine, destroying it on his second attempt.  The mines detonation made the ship shake violently from the explosion.  “No idea Sir.  Shields holding.”

A second mine appeared, this time on the other side of the ship, and that to was swiftly dealt with.  Then three more of them winked into existence; it was like their on-board sensors were activating the mine on detection of the phaser fire, and once operational they were heading right for the ship.  Two more were targeted and destroyed; the other was in a blind spot.  Helm frantically turned and rolled the ship to give a firing solution.  When finally the mine was hit, it was right next to the hull. The Valparaiso rocked violently throwing crew and any loose object around.

“Server hull damage decks 21 and 22, sections H.” The First Office shouted out as the information flashed up on the screen next to him.

“Shields at 57%.”  The Tactical Officer called out, as he frantically searched for any more mines.

All the time during the chaotic onslaught the USS Stavanger had been moving and it was at this point she struck.  The first of the two photon torpedoes was enough to severely weaken the shielding around the saucer section, the second hit home with deadly force.

**********

Lieutenant Giovanni Agusta had never been in a real life combat situation, holodeck simulations could never truly prepare you for the real thing; and being part of the Science Department, meant he had no control over any part of the situation.  There hadn’t even been much of a warning before he’d felt the first explosion, others had followed rapidly.  He knew the drill however; certain sections of the ship were much stronger than other, so in an emergency situation, unless otherwise instructed, head to the nearest one.  He hadn’t even reached the door when the ship shuck again.  More followed as he exited into the corridor, he could sense the deck move, as is the Valparaiso was fighting to turn, another minor tremor followed.  Then he was violently flung into the wall, and before his body had even hit the deck everything seemed to lurch away from him.  Total darkness and a crescendo of noise enveloped him.  As emergency lights came on, he could just make out some of the damage, but knew there was far worse beyond his gaze. When the emergency force field dropped into place less than 5 metres from where he lay; Giovanni realised that quite possible the room he’d been in moments before had been badly damaged.

What he wouldn’t discover until much later, was that there was now a gaping hole where his room and the two adjoining it had once been.