ORIGINS: USS Hood May 2010

ORIGINS: USS Hood Story Posts
Last Updated: 2262.059

Total Posts: 420+

June 2009 - 36 Posts
July 2009 - 20 Posts
August 2009 - 7 Posts
September 2009 - 12 Posts
October 2009 - 19 Posts
November 2009 - 68 Posts
December 2009 - 46 Posts

January 2011 - 11 Posts
February 2011 - 15 Posts
March 2011 - ? Posts

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Escape?

by Andy Catterick

SD: 2261.124

Scene: Shuttlecraft STORM

“Engines online and powering up. Ready for launch in 17 seconds.” Sean reported from the co-pilot’s chair of the shuttle. His voice was as calm as it would be for any shuttle departure. Which was remarkable given that he had never been inside a shuttle sitting on a flight deck that was literally exploding around them. Between HOOD’s attack, the sabotage and the impending self-immolation that TSS HOOD was steadily counting down toward, things were getting very interesting.

Jack’s hand was poised over the throttle ready to gun the small crafts engines and get them out into the safety of space. “Gar are you ready on the doors?” There was a brief silence. “Gar? Doors?”

“Yes sir.” Gar replied with a trace of frustration in his voice.

Jack looked back to the main flight deck doors which stood firmly secured. “Good. I think you can open them down.”

Gar swore in his native tongue. “The override isn’t working. Stand by I’m on it. He knelt down and yanked a panel off the console base.

“Don’t know what yer all playing at but if my counting is correct the ship is going to blow in less then 60 seconds.” Stile called from aft.

“Lifting off now.” Jack said as he powered the thrusters and brought the ship off the deck.

“Almost there.” Gar reported.

“Lights!” Sean suddenly shouted the stress of the situation finally appearing. “Lights on the doors!” The doors lurched apart a few metres and then ground to a halt. He looked over at Jack. “Big enough?”

“Its going to have to be. Gun it Sean!”

Merrick slammed down on the throttle and the shuttle sprang from its hover as Jack rotated to port. “Hold on they’re starting to close!”

<<<NRPG>>>

Will we make it out before the ship explodes? Will we splatter against the flight deck doors? I hope someone has those answers.

Its not quite summer yet, lets not get into the doldrums too soon!

Respectfully,

Andy

CAPT Jack Steele

CO, USS HOOD NCC 1703

STARFLEET: ORIGINS

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Cornered?

by Andy Catterick

SD: 2261.124

Scene: Jeffries Tubes, Junction 23-AH4, USS HOOD

Lieutenant Rick McDonald cursed to himself as he examined the tricorder readings. They could move ships through warped space but they couldn’t make a silent tricorder. They were getting close to their escapees and the damn whistle of the tricorder was probably going to give him and his security detail away.

It had been quite the hunt he acknowledged with a grimace but as skilled as the three officers where they just couldn’t continue to evade the number of security and general ship personnel who were tracking them down. It had only been a matter of time he thought as he snapped the lid back down on the tricorder and let it rest on his hip. The black strap fitting snuggly across his chest. He nodded to his team and they all raised their phasers. He didn’t expect them to put up much resistance. If they were going to there were certainly a number of ways they could have boobytrapped the endless Jefferies Tubes they had been crawling though. No for whatever reason the fugitives were purposefully keep things nonviolent. He didn’t know if it was for some altruistic belief or they just didn’t want to up the stakes. But whatever the reason it was fine by him. As long as they didn’t screw it up as they neared the end of their journey.

He looked up at the hand gesture from one of his men. With a nod in acknowledgement his grip tightened on his phaser. Please he though staring down at the great that was quietly being moved. Don’t come out shooting.

<<<NRPG>>>

Brian/Steve/Scott: I leave it to you guys as to whether you are surrendering (and how) or about to spring a cunning plan ;-)

Respectfully,

Andy

CAPT Jack Steele

CO, USS HOOD NCC 1703

STARFLEET: ORIGINS

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: A Promise of Vengeance

by David Kiel

SD: SD 2261.125

TSS Hood: Deck Nine

[Auto-destruct in 4 minutes 29 seconds.] "Cedria." Corbett implored. "Go," Cedria shouted at the doctor. "Preflight the shuttle, just in case I can't make him do what I want." "I won't leave without you." "Don't be stupid. A lot of people are counting on that shuttle being ready." She snapped back at him. "Beside this is between Trills and not for outsiders to see." <and now>

Cedria drew a second blade from the sheath on her thigh. A non poisoned blade she had carried for just this moment. "I gave you my word, Arcturus. I am sorry it took this long to follow through."

"I take it we've met before."

"Not you Zade." Cedria spat at him, flipping the knife in her hand and pressing his jaw tighter with the other.

Arcturus followed her eyes as she waited for the Terrans to get clear of the corridor. For the first time he wished he had allowed more of the hosts presence to manifest itself. But the symbionts did not share consciousness with the feeble humanoids they chose to dominate. There was something in the hosts memory, something he had been hiding. What had this creature been hiding from him?

He stood in a clearing, in the hill lands of Trill. The green lands stretched into the distance, the white lines of the ice caves at the very limit of the horizon. An arch had been set up and decorated with wildflowers. It was a ceremony, a gathering, Terran styled. Her choice, he suddenly remembered.

Arcturus turned, emotions surging, Zade crouched in the shadows of his memories and took it all in. The humanoids were prone to overemotional displays, their short and tenuous lives demanded it really. His hosts gaze settled on one person in the gathering of onlookers and Zade began to understand.

Cedria Vylex stood, clad in flowing white, a small wreath of flowers at her hands. Zade twitched at the baseness of Arcturus memories, the pride and humility the assassin felt as he watched his chosen mate walk forward to the joining ceremony. He remembered the day.

Zade was somewhere overhead, his host bleeding to death at the edge of orbit. As these two embraced and the ceremony began he was above, giving instructions to prepare the new host. Someone with the skills for assassination, and a personality he could dominate. At the very moment that the ceremonial master was pronouncing the two of them wed, Zade was giving the orders to find Arcturus Quall and have him prepared for joining.

Quall, a name he'd read once in his life, while dying, and discarded from his memory just as quickly. Sometimes the simplest of things proved to be important.

[Auto destruct in three minutes eleven seconds.]

Zade twisted and jerked, arm snapping to disarm the treacherous bitch his host had married. The poisoned blade clattered to the deck and skittered down the corridor. He aimed a second blow targeted to disable her. She blocked it smoothly, having sparred with Arcturus for years. He countered and so did she.

It was the other blade that struck, the non poisoned one, a smooth slice straight across the lower abdomen. Her free hand struck a most unpredictable blow. His hands moved up to block air protecting the neck and head while her hand wrapped around the symbiont and jerked. Arcturus dropped to his knees stunned mouth gaping in disbelief. He saw the blade flash and then nothing, the symbiont itself was blind outside of the pools.

Cedria set the wriggling slug shaped creature on the ground and stabbed, and again, and again. Six times she drew the blade through the foul creature before leaving her knife embedded in the corpse.

"Cedria."

She looked up and saw recognition in his eyes. She had passed him in the corridors of Hood thirty-one times, never once was there a glint of it, Zade had had complete control. "I'm sorry, I couldn't get to the chamber to stop them. By the time the order released me, Zade had gone. You were gone."

He brushed her hair back from her face, wiping away some of her tears. "You did well. You saved me."

"You'll die without the symbiont."

"But, Ill die free." He kissed her, for only the second time as man and wife. "You have to go."

She shook her head, her eyes locked on his. "I c-cant."

[Auto destruct in two-minutes thirty-four seconds.]

"You must." Arcturus slumped to the deck. "Hood must die. If you stay I will have to cancel the destruct. We will lose our chance."

"Arc." She ran her fingers along the side of his face, trying to burn it to her memory.

"Go, now." He smiled, and leaned back against the wall.

[Auto destruct in two-minutes seventeen seconds.]

Cedria leaned in and kissed her husband goodbye and then turned, blinking and began sprinting for the hangar bay.

Respectfully submitted;

David Kiel Lt Cedria Zade, NAV, USS HOOD NCC-1703 ASR: ORIGINS

Cedria Quall Trill Assassin, The Resistance

Arcturus Quall Freed Host, The Resistance

Zade Dead Symbiont Acting CO, TSS Hood

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: I Hope That Wasn't Your Ship

by Andy Catterick

SD: 2261.127

Scene: Bridge, USS HALIFAX

"You wanted to see me captain?" Lieutenant Commander Payne said as he walked off the turbolift onto the cramped bridge of USS HALIFAX.

Commander Hutcheson gestured to the viewscreen. We might have a problem transferring you to your new ship Rick."

Payne's eyes moved to take in the viewscreen and he gasped in shock as he watched a CONSITUTION class starship in its death throes. The great ship was racked by explosions trailing down both primary and secondary hulls as precious few life pods raced away from the discussion. Suddenly in a blinding flash of light it was over as the mighty ship overcome by its failed warp core. "Was that HOOD?" Payne asked, knowing the answer as the vastness of the death and destruction began to catch up with him."

"Reduce magnification." Hutcheson ordered and suddenly another starship joined the picture. "Thats HOOD." Commander Hutcheson confirmed. "But according to visual scans so to was the ship that blew up."

"None of the life pods survived the core breach. " The executive officer reported quietly. "Wait one. Yes, there is a shuttle craft tumbling in the debris. Multiple life signs but failing power levels. Should we move to assist skipper?"

"Let's hail the starship first and see what the hell is going on here." Hutcheson said with more bravado then he felt. If that starship was had destroyed the other one and turned its guns on his destroyer...well it would be a quick death at least.

<<<NRPG>>

Just a quick one to end TSS HOOD and get out NPC SEC on the scene. Lots of room to backpost the ship's final minutes as well as to see who got on the shuttle and if everyone made it.

Respectfully,

Andy

CAPT Jack Steele

CO, USS HOOD NCC 1703

STARFLEET: ORIGINS

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: The Bridge is Where the Action is!

by Harry Iha

SD: 2261.128

SCENE: Bridge

MD: ?

The bridge was a picture of studied concentration. Every station was busy following LT Zade's instructions or supporting the Science station, which was busily scanning the anomalous ship for signs of the away team. Baker's fingers were flying furiously over the helm as he tried to maneuver HOOD's enormous mass to simultaneously match the TSS HOOD's erratic course and circle it to allow the sensors to probe every cubic centimeter of the enemy vessel.

Although he was not assisting with the sensor scan, Tamura was himself overwhelmed at the communications station. The board was flooded with signals from the enemy vessel. The alternate universe crew seemed to be panicking. From what he could piece together, the escape pods were malfunctioning on a grand scale, and frantic people were trying to identify where to go in order to escape the doomed vessel. At the same time, security was relaying updates as they continued the search for the escaped prisoners.

"Anything yet?" asked LT Zade, pacing around the captain's chair.

'Oh crap,' thought Tamura. While focusing on keeping up with all the comm traffic, he had lost track of situational awareness and had no idea what LT Zade had asked him to look for.

LT Hemux's immediate response saved Tamura from the embarrassment of admitting his waywardness. "Nothing definite. Even with the differences we've identified, our people pretty much look like their people." Without lifting her eyes from her scanner, the CSciO added, "And it doesn't help that they're all running around the ship like mating Shinka Beetles."

Tamura breathed a sigh of relief then opened a private channel to the communications center located deep in the secondary hull. "Senior Chief, you there?" he whispered.

[Where else would I be?] ITCS Jefferson answered testily.

"I need help. I can't keep track of all these signals."

An amused chuckle answered his plea. [Don't you worry, Ensign. I got your back. You just look for the big events and we'll take care of the small shit for you. Just watch your display; I'll highlight anything you need to know about.]

A ton of weight suddenly lifted from the new department head. "Thanks, Senior. I owe you one."

[Damn right you do.]

SCENE: Bridge MD: ?

Four and a half minutes later, the division of labor paid off. "Lieutenant, new signals coming in," reported Tamura. "I'm picking up telemetry from a shuttle prepping for launch."

Zade shot up to the science station and stood impatiently next to LT Hemux.

"Scanning now," the Denobulan announced after a few seconds. "There they are.... Human...Human...Trill...Human...and Human. Hmmm. Two of them are female, and no Andorians. I would guess that is not our away team."

"Damn. Okay, keep looking." Zade returned to the command well and forced herself into the center seat.

Tamura looked closely at the scanner readout. He had patched into the scanner circuit in case he needed to forward the coordinates to the transporter room. Tamura was amazed at the information Hemux was able to gleam from the scan. The five people were apparent enough, and one of the five was clearly different from the other four. That was about as far as he could discern. How Hemux was able to figure out the species and genders from the gobs of data was beyond him.

A change in the telemetry switched his attention away from the sensor scan. "Lieutenant, telemetry shows the shuttle is launching."

"Very well. Helm, keep a lock on that shuttle. If it tries to go to warp, disable its engines."

"Aye aye, Ma'am," answered an overeager Baker. He made no effort to conceal his trigger happiness.

Something odd caught Tamura's attention. "Uh, Lieutenant. There's a problem. The hangar doors haven't opened."

"On screen." The main viewer zoomed in towards the aft section of TSS HOOD. The angle obscured the hangar bay doors, so they could not verify Tamura's information.

"Should I swing back to bring the hangar bay into view?" asked Baker.

"Hold your course, helm. Finding our people is the priority here."

"Wait," interjected Tamura. "They're opening now. The shuttle is heading out. Hold on!"

Multiple heads turned at the comm officer's outburst. Tamura pushed the Feinberger deeper into his ear and stared intently at his screens. "The doors are closing. The shuttle's at full thrusters. They're making a run for it!"

All eyes turned to the viewscreen. A moment later a tiny speck of tumbling space ship bounced away from TSS HOOD. Tamura vocalized the data he received. "The shuttle is intact.... Life support steady now, on emergency power. Main power down; computer's rebooting trying to get the inertial dampeners back on line.... No good, they're dead in space."

A light on the comm panel interrupted the play-by-play. "Lieutenant, thirty seconds until self-destruct."

"Hemux, you found them yet?"

"Looks like that may be them on the shuttle after all. I'm now reading seven passengers, including an Andorian."

"Transporter room, seven to beam aboard from the shuttle."

[Stand by.]

"Twenty seconds," prompted Tamura.

[Bridge, I can't get a lock.]

"Go to wide beam. Grab them all."

There was an ominous silence. "Transporter room, did you get them?"

[Negative, bridge. They're leaking plasma. I can't isolate them.] Trying to beam aboard uncontained plasma was a recipe for disaster. The plasma's high energy state usually dropped to lower states in the nanoseconds during matter reconstitution. Those drops were characterized by high releases of energy--high enough to crumple two or three decks of starship into a mangled wad.

"Ten seconds."

Zade had only one option left. She quickly spun on her heels. "Helm, tractor beam, then get us the hell out of the blast radius." Baker, now sweating profusely, complied. The whine of the engines filled the bridge as they were asked to simultaneously power the tractor beam and move HOOD away from the imminent fireball.

A bright light filled the bridge as TSS HOOD mixed matter and antimatter and flared into a mini nova. It passed in a couple of seconds; the viewscreen showed an empty space field.

"Do we still have them?" asked Zade.

"Negative," reported Baker. "I lost them when the explosion hit."

"One moment." LT Hemux's hands danced around the scanner controls. "One shuttle, bearing 114 mark 13. All systems are down, but I still read seven life signs aboard."

Finally, some good news. "All right!" exclaimed Zade. "Helm maneuver us into transporter range."

The good news was cut short by a beep on Tamura's board. "Uh, Lieutenant. USS HALIFAX is hailing us. They're sending a command challenge." A command challenge was a set of personal recognition codes uniquely chosen by the captain and first officer. It was used by Star Fleet captains to help identify personnel in the event the officers' identifies were in question. A proper response theoretically identified the proper person; a special improper response indicated the person was under duress; and of course an improper response meant the person was an imposter.

"And they're coming in with shields up and weapons hot," noted Hemux.

NRPG:

David: I couldn't find where Hemux was, so I put her on the bridge with us. If she's elsewhere, sorry...and that was someone else manning the scanners.

Respectfully Submitted, ENS Yoshi Tamura

Communications Department Head

USS HOOD NCC-1703

ITCS Sheila Jefferson

Communications Department LCPO

USS HOOD NCC-1703

http://boi.alt-starfleet-rpg.org/ORIGINS:_USS_Hood

Harry I. Iha

hiha_asr@...

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Rough and Tumble

by Scott Lusby

SD: 2261.129 Setting: Shuttlecraft STORM

<<snip- from Andy's post, entitled "Escape?")

Gar swore in his native tongue. "The override isn't working. Stand by I'm on it. He knelt down and yanked a panel off the console base.

"Don't know what yer all playing at but if my counting is correct the ship is going to blow in less then 60 seconds." Stile called from aft.

"Lifting off now." Jack said as he powered the thrusters and brought the ship off the deck.

"Almost there." Gar reported.

"Lights!" Sean suddenly shouted the stress of the situation finally appearing. "Lights on the doors!" The doors lurched apart a few metres and then ground to a halt. He looked over at Jack. "Big enough?"

"Its going to have to be. Gun it Sean!"

Merrick slammed down on the throttle and the shuttle sprang from its hover as Jack rotated to port. "Hold on they're starting to close!"

<<end snip>>

Had it not been for the inertial dampeners present on the shuttle, the 7 inhabitants of the STORM would definitely have felt the lurch forward.

Gar pushed himself up off the floor. "I've done all I can; let's hope they don't figure out what I've done--"

Suddenly, a couple of warning lights began flashing and chirping wildly from Merrick's console, and Gar noticed the shuttlebay doors slowly creeping closed again.

"Merrick..."

"I see them!" the First Officer shouted.

The doors seemed to take forever to reach as cavernous as the CONSTITUTION-class ship's hangar bay was. Still, the doors did grow on the viewscreen...and with each passing second, they also grew closer together.

"Merrick!" cried Steele.

"Rotating shuttle!" he replied, punching a few buttons. "If this doesn't work--"

"I don't want to hear it- just go!"

Gar cringed as the small shuttle passed between the doors; as he did, the shuttle was jolted by a powerful impact.

"Report!" Steele shouted.

And suddenly none was needed; consoles sparked and blew apart, throwing burned plastic, insulation and acrid smoke into the air. The lighting flickered and died, flickered again as emergency systems tried to come on-line, and died again as they failed. They had also lost their inertial dampeners; as such, despite being strapped into their seats, they were now spinning wildly out of control.

"Gar- get us back under control!" Steele shouted, stifling a choke on the smoke that had filled the cabin.

The Andorian focused himself on his console- the part of it that hadn't eaten itself a moment ago. "I'm on it," he said, and his blue fingers flew around the console, sealing ruptures in the EPS relays and rerouting power through secondary, even tertiary backups. Once done, he started a fresh reboot of the shuttle's onboard computers.

As the system came back on-line, emergency lighting on the shuttle returned, and environmental systems began clearing the cabin of smoke.

"Emergency power restored, Captain," Gar said. We must have hit the doors on the way out; we won't get main power back without a repair team," he said. He paused for a moment, then dropped his bombshell. "Navigation is destroyed, Captain; I can't restore her. Not here."

They all understood what that meant. "How long until self destruct?" Steel queried.

Merrick looked at him. "Thirty seconds, Captain," he said softly.

Steele nodded his head slowly, and then glanced at Corbett. "Got any of that tequila on you?"

<<NRPG>>

All- Just extending Andy's post and tying it in with Harry's last one. I have a second part coming out shortly.

Respectfully Submitted,

-- Scott Lusby

/\ LCDR Gar Th'elenth

Chief Engineer

USS HOOD NCC-1703

Task Force 6

STAR FLEET: ORIGINS

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Into the Fire

by Scott Lusby

SD: 2261.129

Setting: Shuttlecraft/Deathtrap STORM

<<snip- from my last post>>

The Andorian focused himself on his console- the part of it that hadn't eaten itself a moment ago. "I'm on it," he said, and his blue fingers flew around the console, sealing ruptures in the EPS relays and rerouting power through secondary, even tertiary backups. Once done, he started a fresh reboot of the shuttle's onboard computers.

As the system came back on-line, emergency lighting on the shuttle returned, and environmental systems began clearing the cabin of smoke.

"Emergency power restored, Captain," Gar said. We must have hit the doors on the way out; we won't get main power back without a repair team," he said. He paused for a moment, then dropped his bombshell. "Navigation is destroyed, Captain; I can't restore her. Not here."

They all understood what that meant. "How long until self destruct?" Steel queried.

Merrick looked at him. "Thirty seconds, Captain," he said softly.

Steele nodded his head slowly, and then glanced at Corbett. "Got any of that tequila on you?"

<<end snip>>

Suddenly, Gar felt a tingly sensation come over him, one with which he was imminently familiar. However, instead of the normal brief moment of discontinuity followed by re-integration, nothing happened.

"Someone's trying to beam us off the shuttle," Gar said.

"So what's the problem?" Merrick asked.

"I don't know," Gar said, as he felt the tell-tale tingle again. This time, however, he noticed that everyone seemed to shimmer for a moment.

"That was a wide-beam attempt," he said. He looked down at his console, and his blue hue paled about his face. "Captain, the HOOD's about to blow!

At that moment, the shuttle lurched again; for a brief moment, the force of the lurch overwhelmed the weakened inertial compensators, working now on only emergency power, and every person on board were slung sideways over their seats, with only their belts saving them from being tossed around like so much flotsam and jetsam.

As they began to right themselves, another impact slammed into the unprotected shuttle, and threw them forward. This impact was not so gentle as the last one, and all of the repairs Gar had just finished making seemed to come apart in a half-dozen explosions and small fires within the craft's cabin.

What consoles had been working were no longer.

More importantly, what power there had been was no longer either...which meant no lighting, no engines...and no environmental systems.

But they were still alive.

Gar quickly unstrapped himself once the ship had settled some, and climbed under his console; opening the access panel simply produced another arc of electromagnetic plasma, barely missing his exposed hands.

"That's it, captain- I can't do a thing with her," he groused.

Gar got up, and coughed as he waved away some of the smoke from his face. "So why are we still here?" he asked, eyes towards the Captain. "Where's OUR HOOD- you know, with transporters, the whole 'cavalry over the hill' thing you pinkskins are so fond of making movies about?"

Steele coughed a couple of times himself. "I don't know, Gar," he said, glancing at the dead viewscreen in front of him.

"Wherever they are, I hope they get here soon."

Stile waved away more smoke. "Truer words were never said, sar," he said.

<<NRPG>>

OK- this brings us to exactly the same time as Harry's post. We're all together now.

Now...who is going to beam us off the shuttle before we choke to death or run out of oxygen? :)

Respectfully Submitted,

-- Scott Lusby

/\ LCDR Gar Th'elenth Chief Engineer

USS HOOD NCC-1703

Task Force 6

STAR FLEET: ORIGINS

[ORIGINS] TSS HOOD: Is this the end…

David Martens

SD: SD: 2261.130

Scene: TSS HOOD, Science department

Hemux was in the science lab monitoring events on her wide spread spy cam network as things started to go wrong. The Trill woman clearly had made some adjsutements to the sabotage. She cursed out loud and threw a cage with a Centaurian ghost monkey through the lab. Those weaklings of this pathetic universe seemed to have triggered a whole set events that had not been included in Hemux' her plans.

Suddenly the warning sign of the self destruct sequence started to sound throughout the ship. She slammed her fist on the table "NO, NO, NOOO!" Not the self destruct, how should she get home to the Souvereignity if the TSS HOOD blew up?

She had not much time, not much option, lucky she had been prepared for a quick escape. She rushed through the lab, pulling out memorycards and tossing them in her bag, some of her most precious discoveries should not get lost. Also she dragged out a big memory core from the science central computer, this held a vast amount of knowledge about the Souvereignity, shis specs, weapon and shield configurations, tactical assets, some things should have to be vaualble. With only two minutes left she grabbed the cage with her favorite Demonian Firebeetles and went to the back of the lab. There she opened a hidden hatch and stepped into a life pod. It was adjusted to her own needs, larger food and air supply, a better lifesupportsystem, but, most important, a stasisfield that concealed the whole lifepod.

Hemux stepped in, adjusted the main computer of the lifepod and launched it. She plotted a course to, where she suspected it would be, the Ferengi empire. Ferengi, curious critters, looking to exploit every possible profit. She programmed the stasisfield to disengage every 48 hours if the external stituation was safe, offcourse. Then she stepped on the biobed and engaged the pod.

As soon as she left the ship it was rocked by some small explosions, but Hemux was pretty sure things would go right. Then the stasisfield activated, everything stopped. From the outside the pod looked lifeless, the stasisfield covered up every leakage of hath or power. Just a dead object among the rest of the debris. Then the core of the ship exploded, the shockwave pushed the lifepod away from the remains of the proud ship. Slowly it floated through space…

<<<NRPG>>>

Sorry for the long silence, but real life is killing me, anyway, Evil Hemux seemed to have escaped… Maybe we'll meet her in the future again!

Respectfully,

David Martens

Lt ARr'Rhiana `Evil' Hemux

CSciO , TSS HOOD NCC 1703

ASR ORIGINS

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Capture

by Andy Catterick

SD: 2261.130

Scene: Jeffries Tubes, Junction 23-AH4, USS HOOD

<old>

He looked up at the hand gesture from one of his men. With a nod in acknowledgement his grip tightened on his phaser. Please he thought staring down at the grate that was quietly being moved. Don’t come out shooting.

<new>

When the mesh grate had moved about a third of the way he decided it was time and nodded back to his team to be ready. Gripping the phaser even tighter he lapsed into a firing position. “You in the access corridor.” His voice suddenly boomed out. “You are to come out slowly and immediately surrender yourself. We have cut off the other end of the tube so there is no escape. If you do not exit the corridor within ten seconds we will use deadly force to extricate you.” That wasn’t entirely true McDonald thought. What they would do was throw a stun grenade in and then drag them out if need be. Hopefully the fugitives would be smarter. He looked up at Ensign Reading who stood poised with the grenade in her hand. It was almost comical the look of determination that was on the young woman’s face. She was going to be seriously disappointed if she didn’t in fact get to lob her grenade in.

After a few seconds a muffled voice game from the tube. “Alright we surrender and we will come out as directed.” Seconds later two blue hand slowly emerged from the shaft followed but the rest of the Andorian engineer. The security team didn’t have to wait for McDonald’s orders as they pulled him to his feet and put him into wrist restraints as the rest of the team covered him with their phasers. Thrity seconds later Merrick and Corbett stood next to gar similarly restrained while McDonald did his best to ignore the gawking glances of his team who were wondering why they had just detained three of the ship’s senior officer. It had all happened so fast that still only a few had been informed of the nature of the fugitives.

“Take them to the brig and don’t let them out of your sight.” McDonald commanded. He watched the small party head off down the corridor before he moved in the opposite direction and jabbed at the comm. Panel. “Bridge.”

[Bridge. Lieutenant Zade.] Came the calm reply.

“Lieutenant McDonald, security ma’am. I’m calling to report the re-capture of the three fugitives. They are under restraint and heavy guard and are currently being transferred to the Brig.”

[Good work lieutenant. Zade out.]

Respectfully,

Andy

CAPT Jack Steele

CO, USS HOOD NCC 1703

STARFLEET: ORIGINS

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Salutations and Delivery

by Brian V. Mansur

SD 2261.131

MD End of Mission

[30 Minutes Prior]

Scene: Engineering, TSS HOOD

With the confrontation between the HOOD crew and Anti-Hemux over, everyone began to leave the engineering compartment that housed the Tholian device. Suddenly, Jeri took Seans's hand, and told him, "Wait a minute." She looked around and led them into a corner office. She shut the door, leaving Sean in bewildered anticipation of what she was on about.

She looked at him with deep concern in her face. "You said, 'this time'. What happened to me ... I mean her?"

Sean gazed into her eyes, his features suddenly pained. "What happens to two people in love when they don't learn to bend. We broke. And by horrible happenstance, my Jeri died on her way back home."

He looked away for a moment, tears welling in his eyes. "I ..." he caught his breath forcing back a sob. His mouth was dry. "I ask her to forgive me in my prayers."

Jeri regarded this mirror of her husband and felt a mixture of pity and gratitude towards him. This Sean was very much like her's: at heart a decent man.

"Any children?"

"No. We never decided ... for the best I suppose."

Jeri nodded slowly. Had she and her Sean really been the lucky ones despite all that was wrong with their universe? Warmly, she put a hand on his shoulder. She could not absolve him of his sins. But she knew she could give him something.

"If she loved you, then you must know that she would have wanted you to find peace."

Sean bobbed his head. "Yeah. It has taken me a while to believe that. But yeah, you're right. I know."

She turned his face to her, holding his cheek at arm's distance. "You are still a young man. When this is over, go and live Sean Merrick. Do good things with your life." She paused to consider her last words. Then she smiled tenderly and nodded gently at him. "Marry again."

Her hand fell to his shoulder. She squeezed it once and left. Sean stood there for a minute longer composing himself, watching the doorway that Jeri had left through. Sniffing back the last of his tears, he quietly said, "Thank you Jeri. I will."

[Present Time]

Scene: TSS HOOD Shuttlecraft

Merrick waited as the cold inevitably crept in. Through the flickering of a few barely functional control boards and emergency bulbs, he caught Jeri's eye. He smiled. They'd be fine. It was just a matter of time before they were picked up. The earlier tingle of the transporter attempt meant that the HOOD knew roughly where the derelict shuttle had to be.

As Gar and Steele worked to get a lazy transponder going, he looked over to the other end of the cabin. There was the device that would send Jeri and the precious few Sovereignty survivors back to their own universe. He hadn't had time to process the news when Corbett had told him. If Jeri didn't go away, she'd die. What a cosmic irony. She had died before because she *had* left.

At least this Jeri would not be alone this time. The other Sean would still be aboard the USS HOOD. They would find their way back, he was sure.

The previous days had changed Merrick in ways he had only begun to process. Oddly, he felt happier. Happier and more at peace than he'd been in years. Which was a strange thing considering how many people had just died on Anti-HOOD. But there it was.

"There, got the damn tracker going," Gar finally said.

"Was there any doubt," Merrick cajoled.

Steele, who seemed in no mood, made a zipping motion across his lips. A good point. Oxygen was in decidedly short supply. There was nothing to do but wait. He looked back to Jeri again. There was room to sit beside her but he wasn't going to move. It wasn't his place. And that was ok. He settled back to wait. By chance, he looked back at Jeri.

"I'm pregnant."

She barely whispered the words across the tiny space. Between the buzzing shorts and a stuttering environmental fan, Sean doubted any of the others had heard her. He might not have noticed it himself except that he had seen her mouth the words. And just in case he hadn't caught it, she put a hand to her abdomen.

He smiled warmly and nodded.

"I'm glad," he whispered back.

There was nothing more to say after that. They just waited. Merrick couldn't see, but he was fairly sure Corbett was occasionally sipping from his tiny flask of tequila. Gar and Steele watched out the viewport for signs of another ship. Although it must have been mere minutes, it seemed like hours before the friendly tingle began to tickle his spine again. And like Dorothy on a wish, they all found themselves back home aboard the USS HOOD.

NRPG: I think I'll get Sean a girlfriend next mission. He's earned her don't you think?

Respectfully Submitted,

Brian V. Mansur

LCDR Sean Merrick

FO, USS HOOD NCC-1703 ASR ORIGINS

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: A Chief to the Rescue

Harry Iha

SD: 2261.136

SCENE: Communications Center, Secondary Hull

MD: Once HOOD stood down from GC

"Okay, Sunshine," barked ITCS Sheila Jefferson. She was talking to the Leading Petty Officer, IT1 Stuart Backner. No one knew how it started, but somewhere during his time aboard HOOD he had acquired the nickname "Sunshine." Of course, only the Senior Chief dared to call him that to his face, which made it even more humorous and humiliating. "Our new butter bar is ready for relief."

"Ah, come on Senior, you're not really gonna make me finish that shift?" Backner had already been working 15 hours straight.

"Hey, hey, hey!" barked Jefferson. "A bet's a bet. You lost fair and square." They had wagered whether ENS Tamura would call the comm center from the bridge to ask for help. Backner was positive that the new department head would tough it out and not admit defeat. Jefferson was certain that the green ensign would be overwhelmed, but would not let his pride endanger the ship. That was the mark of a good officer--an officer she could respect and train--and despite his newbieness, Tamura appeared to be a good one.

"Man. How did you know?"

"I keep telling you pups, you don't mess with a chief. They don't give us these anchors for nothing. They teach us telepathy and telepsychic-ness, and shit like that."

Backner nodded skeptically. "Right."

"No shit, Sunshine. I can see the future...." Jefferson held her fingers to her temples and squinted into the foggy mist in front of her eyes. "I see...." She broke her trance and looked straight at Backner. "I see that if a certain IT1 ain't on the bridge in two minutes, he's gonna get his ass kicked from here to the Woren Wormhole!"

The whole comm center, including Sunshine, laughed at that one. "You win. I'm on my way."

SCENE: Tamura's Office, Communications Center

MD: Two hours later

"That about covers everything, Ensign."

Tamura shook his head. He thought his head had come close to exploding on the bridge during combat and the aftermath. Senior Chief Jefferson had just crammed every spare nook with more information during the two-hour debriefing. Everything he did right; everything he did wrong; things he should have done; things he could stop doing; ways to improve efficiency and situational awareness; etc. It was good information, to be sure, but he felt even more overwhelmed than before.

Jefferson saw the vacant look in his eyes and took pity on the new department head. "Don't worry, Sir," she reassured him. "You'll catch on quick enough. Just keep running through those simulations I loaded for you and you'll get it. And now that you've done it for real, it'll be a lot quicker, too."

A faint smile found its way to Tamura's lips. "I appreciate your help, Senior. More than you can imagine."

Jefferson laughed. "Don't thank me yet, Ensign." She retrieved a large box full of data tapes and plopped it on his desk. Here's all the paperwork you need to review."

Tamura's jaw dropped. He was a wet-behind-the-ears ensign, supposedly assigned to lead the small technical team aboard HOOD. How did he find himself on the bridge during combat, in two-hour debriefings, and buried under a ton of paperwork?

Jefferson laughed again. "Ensign, the look on your face is _priceless_!" She shook her head in amusement. "Okay, here's the scoop. The only real important one is the updated duty roster. You and Sunshine'll be switching off 12 hour shifts on the bridge. You need the face time and I need the time to get another body qual'd. Most of that shit I've already taken care of. Look it over if you want and sign it. The rest you need to take care of. You got any questions, just set it aside and we'll go over it tomorrow. Good to go?"

The department head managed a smile. He had always heard that chiefs ran the fleet. He had not fully comprehended what that meant until now. "Good to go."

The LCPO nodded and headed out of the office. Before she made it out, Tamura called behind her. "Senior Chief." She turned. "Thank you again."

Jefferson gave her boss a warm smile. "No problem, Sir."

NRPG:

Not sure where we're all at with the end of the last mission, so just a little SCD to keep me from doing homework. :)

Respectfully Submitted,

ENS Yoshi Tamura

Communications Department Head

USS HOOD NCC-1703

ITCS Sheila Jefferson

Communications Department LCPO

USS HOOD NCC-1703

IT1 Stuart "Sunshine" Backner

Communications Department LPO

USS HOOD NCC-1703

http://boi.alt-starfleet-rpg.org/ORIGINS:_USS_Hood

Harry I. Iha

hiha_asr@...

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Captain's Log

by Andy Catterick

SD: 2261.137

Scene: Ready Room, USS HOOD

“Captain’s log stardate 2261.137. I am more pleased then I would have imagined to report that HOOD is underway and leaving the Celes System behind her. The meeting with our doppelganger from the multiverse was an eye opening experience to the say the least but, in the end, it ended well enough. Command has clamped a security blanket down on the whole mission which given the relatively few numbers of crew members who actually saw anything, or saw enough of anything important, the secrecy might even last. For awhile at least. And with the destruction of the TSS HOOD we were able to complete the milk run portion of our ‘official’ mission which, happily, included several days of shore leave for the crew.

As far as the crew goes we have had the usual round of comings and goings with two notable exceptions. First, Lieutenant Kim Steering was poached out from under us while she was on a mission to take the prize ship in. Apparently LEXINGTON’s new captain pulled some strings and command approved the transfer. I don’t know Captain Octavian or why it was so important he steal my helmsman but I’m less then pleased to lose such a fine officer, especially one we had invested so much in. This leaves a big hole at the helm and I will be meeting with Commander Merrick later in the day to discuss options for doing so.

Next, Chief of Security John DeSimms was transferred back to Special Ops. It was probably the best move for all. I had concerns when he initially requested a fleet berth that someone with his skills and mission experience would have a hard time adjusting to life in the ‘real’ navy. I can’t say if that’s why he opted to transfer back but I was certainly surprised at how fast the actual assignment was approved after he requested transfer. Fortunately we were able to acquire a replacement officer in the form of Lieutenant Commander Rick Payne. I haven’t been able to spend much time with him since he came aboard but his record certainly speaks for itself. As does some of the changes he has already implemented.

In terms of our current mission, well as far as I’m concerned we haven’t really received one yet. Officially we are enroute to sector 7GY2 where we are to begin a standard patrol. I’m don’t think it likely that ‘Fleet will leave a CONSTITUTION class starship stooging around examining space dust overly long. I just hope out next mission is a bit different then the past few. I’ve had my fill of political intrigue and fights to the death.

End Log.”

Respectfully,

Andy

CAPT Jack Steele

CO, USS HOOD NCC 1703

STARFLEET: ORIGINS

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Discoveries

by Andy Catterick

SD: 2261.137

Scene: Engineering

Jack waved to a small repair team who looked up from their console that was in several dozen parts on the deck as he strode in to main engineering. “Where’s the boss?” He asked and nodded his thanks at the chief who appeared to be watching her juniors repair the console pointed over to the Chief Engineer’s office. He paused to take a look at the mayhem on the deck and then looked back at the chief. “Good luck.” He said with a grim.

“Thanks captain. I think I need it.” Shsaid with resignation.

Zane tapped on the door frame as he paused at the entrance to Commander Gar’s office. “Is this a private party?”

Gar and Commander Merrick looked up the Andorian’s desk terminal where they had been engrossed. “Afternoon captain.” Gar said and gestured to a seat.

“We’re just looking over the fleet update.” Sean added. “Do you know Admiral Corrigan?”

Jack dropped into the seat a look of surprise at his first officer’s question. “Admiral Corrigan, from the Academy,Admiral Corrigan? I know him by reputation, but never met him why?”

“You haven’t seen the update?”

“No, I’ve spent most of the day surveying the kingdom.” He replied. Jack liked nothing better to periodically roam the decks of his command stopping into the various departments and crew hotspots whenever he could spare the time. He felt it was good for morale and even more to the point he enjoyed interacting with the crew.

“He’s just been appointed Fleet Commander.”

“What about Admiral Carstairs?” Jack asked completely surprised.

“Transferred to BuPers.”

Jack winced at the news. Carstairs couldn’t be too happy about that. He knew the admiral had caught a lot of flak about how Jack and Hood had handled the emergency mission to Velorum IV, to say nothing of their public destruction of the space port on Arcturus. He’d hoped that hadn’t been the cause for Carstairs removal.

“You hadn’t heard sir?” Merrick asked surprised. “I’ll have a talk with Ensign Tamura.”

Jack nodded his thanks. It wasn’t a huge crisis. But news like that should have had the new comm. officer contacting the captain directly rather then just forwarding it to all the senior staff. Fortunately he found out fairly quickly and from his first officer. That was much less embarrassing then one of the crew mentioning it to him and him having to look back with a blank stare. Still he’d been an overwhelmed ensign once. “Well make sure the message gets delivered, but go easy.”

“I’ll try.” Sean grinned.

He looked at Gar and pointed to the terminal. “May I?”

“Of course.”

“Computer?”

“Working.” Came back the metallic voice.

“Display image Steele Two Seven.”

“Acknowledged.” The computer replied.

“What do you think of that?” Jack asked as both men looked at the image that appeared.

Finally Sean spoke. “It looks like a lamp my Aunt Bertha had in her parlour, with less dust.”

Jack chuckled. “It does have the family heirloom feel doesn’t it? That gentlemen is the First Federation Ship FESARIUS.”

“Its frakkin ugly.” Gar replied as he gave it a second, more appraising look.

“I agree. It was a first contact with one of our sister ships a few months back. I just got the report this morning. Oh and it’s highly classified so it doesn’t leave this room. But I thought as engineers you’d both be interested.”

“Why?” Gar answered plainly unimpressed.

“ Computer superimpose an image of USS HOOD on to the image displayed. Make it to scale.”

“Working.”

Sean whistled as the image changed. “Its massive.”

Jack nodded. “Just short of two kilometers in diameter.”

“That’s quite a first contact. Friendly I hope.” Gar said.

“Hope so. The report doesn’t say too much. But what a chance for that captain and crew to make.” He added wistfully. “That’s why we’re out here!”

<<<NRPG>>>

Harry: Sorry, I hope Sean isn’t too hard on Tamura! ;-)

Respectfully,

Andy

CAPT Jack Steele

CO, USS HOOD NCC 1703

STARFLEET: ORIGINS

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Running the Gauntlet

by Andy Catterick

SD: 2261.138

Scene: Sickbay

“Afternoon Mother. Is the good doctor in?”

“I don’t know anything about ‘good’ doctor but if you are looking for lazy doctor yes he’s in.” Jack grinned not knowing exactly what to say in reply to that. His dilemma was solved as Mother, shaking her head in disapproval of a captain who couldn’t make snap decisions took charge and added. “He’s in his office pretending to write his report for Starfleet Medical.”

“Thanks.” Jack replied hastily and retreated to the safety of Dr. Corbett’s office.

“Afternoon cap’n.” Stile said without taking the cigar from his mouth as his fingers flew across the keyboard. “I see you survive the gauntlet.”

Jack pretended to shudder. “She scares me. How do you manage with her?”

“Not a problem sar. I just understand where she is coming from.”

“Where is she coming from?” Jack asked trying not to chuckle at the gleam in the doctor’s eye.

“Well you have to understand she is an excellent nurse but even with all that skill she is a bit daunted by working with an exceptional healer such as myself. Its really just a defence mechanism.”

“Careful cowboy I can hear you out here.” Mother called from the other room.

“That’s as it should be my dear, my deepest wish is for you to understand the nature of our relationship and learn from it.”

“Keep it up cowboy and they’ll never find the body.”

Stile grinned at Jack. “See its working already!”

“You’re a braver man then I.”

Stile shrugged as he poured the captain a drink. “You get used to it. So what brings you down to my humble abode.”

“Just making my tour. So, what’s new?”

Respectfully,

Andy

CAPT Jack Steele

CO, USS HOOD NCC 1703

STARFLEET: ORIGINS

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Genetic or Environment?

by Andy Catterick

SD: 2261.139

Scene: Sickbay

<old>

“Ah huh,” Steele said reluctantly sitting back down. “How the hell did you get through the academy?”

“Simple sar, I used brains, style and of course blackmail. However, I sense that is not the purpose of your visit. So come clean, are you blowing off steam in which case I prescribe copious amounts of alcohol until we can no longer speak, or are you seeking council.”

<new>

"Just was touring the ship and thought I'd make a brief stop in here to see if all is well." There was a long pause as neither man spoke. "So how'd you like meeting your evil twin?" The captain finally said.

"Well now," Stile blew a willowy smoke ring up towards the ceiling extractor. "I can't say the man was evil, anyone with good lucks such as his can't really be all that nefarious. I sense the man was the product of his environment more than anything else. He seemed decent enough under it all."

Jack nodded. "I got that sense too." He took another sip of his tequila. "Same too for Sean and Gar."

"Perhaps you should review the Great Brig Escape. They seemed to take great glee in gunning their captain down."

"I did." Jack agreed. "But I don't think I'd call it ruthless or over the top. They saw an opportunity and they took it. Oh sure I think they enjoyed it but, they only stunned him. They could easily have killed the man."

"How's the report going cowboy?" Mother called out. "I am NOT going to write another one for you just so you can sit in all there all day and spin out your folksy wisdom."

"She exaggerates." Stile smiled. "So Jack what did you think of your doppleganger?"

"Well if we say that the doctor, Sean and Gar weren't necessaryily evil more the product of their environment, I'd have to say that the captain created the environment that made them evil. Or made them have to do evil things."

"He was quite the piece of work." The doctor agreed. "And I see that worries you."

"Worries me? Why would you say that?"

<<<NRPG>>>

Psychobabble 101 :-)

Respectfully,

Andy

CAPT Jack Steele

CO, USS HOOD NCC 1703

STARFLEET: ORIGINS

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Nature Verses Nurture

by Steve Apple

SD: 2261.139

Scene: Sickbay

<<Snip from Andy’s post “Genetic or Environment”

"Well if we say that the doctor, Sean and Gar weren't necessarily evil more the product of their environment, I'd have to say that the captain created the environment that made them evil. Or made them have to do evil things."

"He was quite the piece of work." The doctor agreed. "And I see that worries you."

“Worries me? Why would you say that?"

>>End Snip

“Well sar I had a chance to review the bioscans from the security holding cell.” Corbett said taking a long puff on his cigar. “And well both of you are identical down to the molecule. There were slight chemical variations, but they can be accounted for by the stress of the situation. What I’m getting at is that in the nature verses nurture argument there were no genetic abnormalities that could account for Black Jack’s psychotic personality.”

Jack took a long sip from his glass. “So you think what?”

“It’s not me that’s doing the thinking it’s you.” Corbett answered. “It’s not often that a man is confronted with the evil he could have become. I suspect you’re concerned that with the right push you might take the fall into madness like your counterpart.”

“I didn’t no psychiatry was a specialty of yours.” Jack said taking a puff on his own cigar.

“Every doctor has to dabble in it when the voodoo beads and rattles fail. I think you wonder how easy is it to fall victim to the power and terror your other self wielded. It’s natural, but I think given that you even question the motivation behind his actions makes you the man you are and keeps you on the safe side of humanity. There are questions you need to ask yourself, could you kill a man in cold blood and not feel remorse, or worse yet not feel pleasure at doing so.”

Jack looked over at his friend and frowned. “Of course not, I’ve spent the better part of my adult life trying to live up to the ideals set forth by Star Fleet.”

“Then there is your answer sar. Somewhere along the way Black Jack lost the ability to keep his baser self in check and let it consume him. You on the other hand temper yours with restraint and good ole humanity. So my final argument is just because his pile of chemicals and water are identical to yours do not make you the same man. However I think somewhere you already knew that and are just looking for confirmation.”

Respectfully Submitted,

Steve Apple

Stile Corbett, MD

CMO, USS HOOD NCC 1703

ASR: ORIGINS

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: The Tour Continues

by Andy Catterick

SD: 2261.138

Scene: Science Lab One

Jack strode into Science Lab One only to find Lieutenant Hemux bent over some sort of equipment and peering intently into it. He didn't want to disturb her so instead leaned against the wall and surveyed the large lab. Some of the equipment he could probably name, and of that small group he could likely explain the function of a much smaller handful. If he really put his mind to it. In all reality, however, this part of the ship was alien to him. He had never had a mind for science and it had been a real struggle through the Academy. He had spent many a sleepless night trying to understand what for many seemed basic scientific concepts while his friends did their best to drum the answers into him. If he had not excelled so highly in other areas of the curriculum he likely would have washed out.

"Excuse me captain I hope I didn't leave you standing there too long. I'm afraid I was engrossed in my work."

Jack knew the polite thing was to ask what she had been working on but to be honest he didn't want to stare blankly at the explanation, and Hemux, like most scientists enjoyed her work immensely and had a tendency to make rather indepth explanations. "Its I who should apologize for interrupting you. But I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me captain?" She asked in confusion. "For what?"

"You're discovery of a way to track the TSS HOOD quite probably saved a lot of lives, lieutenant."

Hemux waved him off. "I was just part of the team captain. Cedria was in command she is the one that deserves the thanks."

"Absolutely." Jack agreed. "But you were an important part of the team and your efforts as part of that team made the mission a success. I've included that in my report to Command and I've had a commendation placed on your record. That was some damn fine work lieutenant."

"Thank you sir." The Denoublean grinned.

"So," Jack asked hoping he wouldn't regret it. "what re you working on?"

Respectfully,

Andy

CAPT Jack Steele

CO, USS HOOD NCC 1703

STARFLEET: ORIGINS

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Carry the News I

by Dave Kiel

SD 2261.140

<snip from `Where the Action Is'> "One moment." LT Hemux's hands danced around the scanner controls. "One shuttle, bearing 114 mark 13. All systems are down, but I still read seven life signs aboard."

Finally, some good news. "All right!" exclaimed Zade. "Helm maneuver us into transporter range."

The good news was cut short by a beep on Tamura's board. "Uh, Lieutenant. USS HALIFAX is hailing us. They're sending a command challenge." A command challenge was a set of personal recognition codes uniquely chosen by the captain and first officer. It was used by Star Fleet captains to help identify personnel in the event the officers' identifies were in question. A proper response theoretically identified the proper person; a special improper response indicated the person was under duress; and of course an improper response meant the person was an imposter.

"And they're coming in with shields up and weapons hot," noted Hemux.

Cedria looked to Tamura. "Send the request to the Captains console." She walked over to the chair and leaned over to tap in the required codes. They would identify her as acting CO while letting Halifax know the ship was at least presumably under federation control.

"Hail them."

"On screen, lieutenant." Tamura indicated.

Cedria turned and looked, a smile of recognition on her face at the sight of the middle aged captain of the Halifax. "Little Stevie, how long has it been?"

The flustered CO of the Halifax looked positively nonplussed by the strange young woman in command of Hood. He assumed his hearing was faulty and tried to assert control of the situation. "Ahm, yes, this is Captain Steven Morris of the USS Halifax,…"

"Lieutenant Cedria Zade, acting CO, USS Hood. You knew me as Prime Minister Devan Zade, I worked with your father on Federation matter on Trill. You stole a tongfruit from my desk."

She saw a snicker from one of his officers in the background as he stared bewildered at her and attempted once more to alter the tone of the conversation to one more suited to the aftermath of a battle. "I, uh, where is Captain Steele."

"We aren't sure yet." She stepped down to the nav console and looked over the readings. "Your sensors should detect a shuttle warp signature at one six eight five two by aught four four six four. That shuttle could be carrying Federation crew under duress, Im sending you logs and sensor info now so you know what you might be dealing with. The enemy looks a lot like us, more so than you would expect. We will handle rescue efforts here if you can find that shuttle, sir." She added that last part as deference to his obviously rattled sense of decorum.

He looked to his con, Cedria heard the phrase `confirmed the warp signature' as Captain Morris looked back. "Very well, we'll fetch your shuttle for you."

The screen resolved back to the dying alternate Hood and the Halifax, turning its single nacelle powering to life and launching it out after the shuttle. Cedria looked over at Hemux, see if you can get a lock on the people in that shuttle.

The science officer tapped her display and muttered and then looked up for a moment. "Transporting now—hold, Im showing a massive power,…." A blinding white light flashed and new klaxons sounded as TSS Hood obliterated herself.

Suddenly, Gar felt a tingly sensation come over him, one with which he was imminently familiar. However, instead of the normal brief moment of discontinuity followed by re-integration, nothing happened.

"Someone's trying to beam us off the shuttle," Gar said.

"So what's the problem?" Merrick asked.

"I don't know," Gar said, as he felt the tell-tale tingle again. This time, however, he noticed that everyone seemed to shimmer for a moment.

"That was a wide-beam attempt," he said. He looked down at his console, and his blue hue paled about his face. "Captain, the HOOD's about to blow!

At that moment, the shuttle lurched again; for a brief moment, the force of the lurch overwhelmed the weakened inertial compensators, working now on only emergency power, and every person on board were slung sideways over their seats, with only their belts saving them from being tossed around like so much flotsam and jetsam.

As they began to right themselves, another impact slammed into the unprotected shuttle, and threw them forward. This impact was not so gentle as the last one, and all of the repairs Gar had just finished making seemed to come apart in a half-dozen explosions and small fires within the craft's cabin.

What consoles had been working were no longer.

More importantly, what power there had been was no longer either...which meant no lighting, no engines...and no environmental systems.

But they were still alive.

Gar quickly unstrapped himself once the ship had settled some, and climbed under his console; opening the access panel simply produced another arc of electromagnetic plasma, barely missing his exposed hands.

"That's it, captain- I can't do a thing with her," he groused.

Gar got up, and coughed as he waved away some of the smoke from his face. "So why are we still here?" he asked, eyes towards the Captain. "Where's OUR HOOD- you know, with transporters, the whole 'cavalry over the hill' thing you pinkskins are so fond of making movies about?"

Steele coughed a couple of times himself. "I don't know, Gar," he said, glancing at the dead viewscreen in front of him.

"Wherever they are, I hope they get here soon."

Stile waved away more smoke. "Truer words were never said, sar," he said.

The little shimmering beads of transport energy returned, curling around their bodies at that moment. After a bit-parcel of cold oblivion they rematerialized in transporter room four on the USS Hood.

Respectfully submitted;

David Kiel

Lt Cedria Zade,

NAV, USS HOOD NCC-1703

ASR: ORIGINS

Cedria Quall

Trill Assassin, The Resistance

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Carry the News II

by Dave Kiel

SD 2261.140

Cedria met the harried new Security chief on her way down to the transport pad.

"We've found the escapees, sir. They took you up on your surrender offer."

"Excellent." She said, looking at him as he fell into stride next to her. "I think we've found our crew members and I had this vision of one of them getting into a wrestling match with their twin and all of a sudden we wouldn't know which one of them to shoot. I hate it when that happens."

They walked into the transporter room to see Steele and the Doctor she was sure had been poisoned to death by a killer bunny. "Are you fit to return to command, Captain?"

He looked at her. "Any damage to my ship, lieutenant?"

"Not so much as a scratch, sir." She turned hearing a very oddly familiar voice.

"I'm the one who kicked Zade's ass?" Cedria Quall walked up to where Cedria Zade stood, both women dressed in skirted gold uniforms. Cedria Zade noted the midriff baring design of her counterparts outfit and the lack of the telltale `X' shaped scar that marked a Trill as joined. She looked into matching blue eyes and marveled at the exactness of the other universes duplication; the same eyes, same smooth skin, same light auburn hair, same tiny little scar from that tree when she was nine, and the same coppery shade of lip gloss she had chosen that morning. It made all the bewildering differences almost hard to believe. Then Cedria remembered that this was technically a first contact mission and there were decorum's and protocols that were to be followed.

Zade however was a corrupting influence, and the corners of her coppery lips turned in a wry bit of mischief. "You're kinda hot."

* *** * *

It was only seventy-five minutes later when the crewman from the alternate universe settled into a borrowed shuttlecraft for the journey home. Jeri, Cedria and Cedria had worked out settings to get them back using the Tholian device that would also short out the connection between universes. Knocking the two Branes reeling away from each other.

The settings they had to input had the side effect of overloading any nearby warp core to the point of a sudden and spectacular breach. Gar stood by ready to shut down the shuttles core at the right moment to spare them a frightening and sparkly death.

Captain Steele of the other universe had been remanded into the custody of alternate Commander Merrick with the caveat that he was not to be executed in Federation space. Steele was still shackled in arm and leg irons after his daring three feet of escape earlier that day.

It was agreed that Hemux was the likeliest candidate to be the occupant of the missing shuttle, but Halifax had not found a trace of her after losing the trail a mere parsec away. As each minute in this universe was degrading their molecular cohesion even further the decision was made to launch then. After all if anyone could find a way to prevent their cells from turning into goo, it was the molecular exobiologist.

Jeri said a final goodbye to this universes version of her husband and climbed aboard. The shuttle doors closed and the bay doors opened. Cedria lifted off and glided smoothly out and away from USS Hood. She settled into the vector of their return course and waited until they were safely away from Hood.

"We should make sure we don't emerge near any other ships, away from star lanes lest the surge destroys any passing ships. A light year should be sufficient." Gar offered.

Cedria looked over her course and smiled as she engaged the warp engines. "I'm sorry sir, but that is not the plan."

Dr. Corbett chuckled and drawled. "Welcome to the resistance, folks."

The shuttle hit warp and the Tholian device thrummed to life for the final time, it surged and Gar hit the emergency shutdown of the shuttles power core. A blazing blue light enfolded them and their stomachs twisted as the shuttle bridged the dimensions and shot back into its crews original universe,… right between the nacelles of the TSS Constitution.

"Emergency power to engines."

"Im already reading a warp core breach."

"Aft shields, lets get the hell out of here."

Captain Steele looked out the rear viewport at the shuddering ship of his archrival. "Ha ha ha ha! Suck that, Veld!" A hammer to the right of his jaw sent him into a blissful slumber.

Commander Merrick returned to his seat next to Jeri, rubbing his fist. "That's still fun the second time around."

NRPG: A proper sendoff to the survivors of TSS Hood and a tying up of a few loose ends.

Respectfully submitted;

David Kiel

Lt Cedria Zade,

NAV, USS HOOD NCC-1703

ASR: ORIGINS

Cedria Quall

Trill Assassin, The Resistance

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Pushing Mother to the Edge

by Andy Catterick

SD: 2261.138

Scene: Sickbay

<old>

Jack looked over at his friend and frowned. "Of course not, I've spent the better part of my adult life trying to live up to the ideals set forth by Star Fleet."

"Then there is your answer sar. Somewhere along the way Black Jack lost the ability to keep his baser self in check and let it consume him. You on the other hand temper yours with restraint and good ole humanity. So my final argument is just because his pile of chemicals and water are identical to yours do not make you the same man. However I think somewhere you already knew that and are just looking for confirmation."

<new>

"I suppose I was." Jack sighed. "Its just a hard thing to see. And it gets you to wondering, what would push a man, would push me, to turn in to that." He shook his head at the thought not wanting to really think about it but being unable to stop.

"Like I said, it would be unnatural not to consider it."

Jack nodded. "Fair enough. But look there was an official reason I came to see you and as unpleasant as it will be for some I'm afraid its something that I can't neglect."

Stile frowned at the captain unsure what he meant. "Ok, go on."

"I'm going to let the Maxwell thing slide, I mean I can't really reprimand you, after I've, uh, sampled the wares as it were. Doctor you've become a good friend and a trusted advisor over these last months, you've made the job of being captain of this circus that much easier and I want you to know I appreciate that. But I do have to worry about crew morale and military correctness." He paused to wave down the remark that was about to spring forth from Corbett. "I know you're a doctor and in large degree separate from the military aspect of this ship. But you still are a commissioned officer in Starfleet and must adhere to the rules and regulations of the military code. As must I. So, like I've said I'm going to let the contraband slide but I can't allow you to wander the ship and perform your duties when you are not fully compliant with the regs on uniform."

Stile looked back at the captain with a combination of bewilderment and rising anger. "Surely Sar you can not mean my hat. I thought we had agreed when I arrived here it was not to be a problem."

"No, no the hat is fine. Actually its so much a part of you I forget its even there."

"Then what may I ask is this transgression that can no longer be tolerated. I assure you I wash and deodorize when ever needed."

Jack pointed. "Its the sleeves. You can't be expected to be afforded the courtesy of lieutenant commander when you're still sporting lieutenant stripes. If you don't rectify that by the end of the watch I'm going to have to put you on report."

Stile stared back in shock until Mother's voice rang out from the other room. "Oh my God they've promoted him. Saxman get me a phaser I think I'd rather shoot myself then call that man commander!

<<<NRPG>>

Congrats Lieutenant Commander Corbett!

Respectfully,

Andy

CAPT Jack Steele

CO, USS HOOD NCC 1703

STARFLEET: ORIGINS

[ORIGINS] USS HOO: Off to see the NAV

by Andy Catterick

SD: 2261.139

Scene: Navigation Office

Jack always liked walking into the Navigation Offices. This was one of the few places on the ship that really gave him the explorer spirit. The main room was filled with large screen monitors on the walls where new courses were plotted and improved upon. Inevitably someone's desk would have an old fashioned telescope, another would have an ancient sextant. On one of Jack's first ships they actually had dozens of star charts rolled up on paper! Decades of course changes still marked on them by hand. He remembered the joyful fascination he had when the chief navigator had made him actually roll one out and solve a tricky route through some gravitational anomalies without the aid of a computer. It has taken the better part of the day but he had enjoyed it immensely. And it had given him a better insight into the true strengths of a good navigator.

"Can I help you captain?" A junior non comm said with a smile.

"Looking for Lieutenant Zade."

"She's in her office looking over the new downloads."

Jack nodded his thanks and made his way over to Cedria's officer and found her scrutinizing the newest starcharts on her own wall sized monitor. "Anything interesting?" He asked from the door way.

"Good morning captain." Cedria replied as she invited him in to the office. "Unfortunately no. Well not in terms of is there a clue to our next mission. They're just general upgrades of database information."

Jack nodded. The new Starship Program has certainly done a great deal in pushing back the Federation frontier into uncharted space. Star charts were updated on an almost daily basis. Which didn't stop them both from hoping that the latest download would contain some specific information on a particular area of the quadrant. Special downloads were generally the first step in new mission orders. He still couldn't believe that command would leave HOOD floating around a quiet sector in explored space. "Lieutenant I get the sense that you're not someone who generally likes to stand on a lot of ceremony. Am I right?"

"Well captain I adhere to military protocol as proscribed in the code, but no I can't say I'm for all the pomp and ceremony."

"Good." He tossed her a small black box.

Her eyes widened slightly as she opened it up and examined the contents. "Thats the Bronze Star Medal."

"So it is. Congratulations lieutenant."

"I'm not sure I understand sir."

"All I had to do is append your action after report, and those of the bridge officers under your command, along with my own recommendation and Command signed off on the medal. You didn an outstanding job juggling several important balls while I and the other senior officers were off the ship. That medal is well deserved."

<<<NRPG>>>

Congrats David! I tried writing more but it started to sound overly cliche...so I quit while I was (somewhat) ahead. And I hope I played your character ok.

Now just gotta write something for the new SEC

Respectfully,

Andy

CAPT Jack Steele

CO, USS HOOD NCC 1703

STARFLEET: ORIGINS

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: You Got Me There...

by Andy Catterick

SD: 2261.139

Scene: Security Central

"Hiya Rick!"

"Captain! Come on in." Lieutenant Commander Rick Payne said with a grin. "Good to see you again sir." Ensign Rick Payne had served under Security Squad Leader Lieutenant Jack Steele back on USS DAUNTLESS. "I knew they'd eventually put us back together. Someone has to keep an eye on you." Payne had saved his commander's life on two separate landing parties.

"I'm glad you're here Rick I'm only sorry I couldn't snag you earlier. I tried to nab you when I was XO but Captain Sinclair had his own ideas. Tried again when they gave me HOOD but Admiral Palmer denied it. Said you were needed where you were."

Rick nodded. "I was, at the time. We were in the middle of some things and there was no way Captain Reynolds would have let me, or any of her other officers for that matter go. And to be honest there was no way I would have left. I couldn't have."

"I understand how it works Rick. But you're here now."

"And not soon enough!"

"Meaning?" Jack asked with a slight frown.

"Well let me first ask you for your autograph." He smiled innocently.

"My autograph?"

"Well I see you made yourself a vid star after that a debacle on Arcturus."

Jack just shook his head and sighed. "That could have gone better."

"Lets see you've had a brig breakout and my personal favourite escaped killer bunnies. Jack you came up in security I can't see this happening. What the frak is going on here!"

Jack rubbed his forehead. "Look the responsibilities all stop with me and no excuses but there more then a few extenuating circumstances." He paused as Rick made a 'go on' gesture. "Arcturus was a disaster before we ever even left, yes the withdrawal was not exactly text book but we salvaged what we had. The brig break, well given the individuals involved and the special knowledge they had, it was probably inevitable."

"And the killer bunnies?"

There was a long pause. "Ya, you got me there."

Respectfully,

Andy

CAPT Jack Steele

CO, USS HOOD NCC 1703

STARFLEET: ORIGINS

USS HOOD: Since you're asking...

by David Martens

SD: 2261.138

Scene: Science Lab One

Hemux waved him off. "I was just part of the team captain. Cedria was in command she is the one that deserves the thanks."

"Absolutely." Jack agreed. "But you were an important part of the team and your efforts as part of that team made the mission a success. I've included that in my report to Command and I've had a commendation placed on your record. That was some damn fine work lieutenant."

"Thank you sir." The Denoublean grinned.

"So," Jack asked hoping he wouldn't regret it. "what re you working on?"

Arr'Rhiana's face brightened up and she turned to the device she was working on. "Since you ask, Sir, This is something I am working on since we discovered where out counterpart was coming from." She turned to him with twinkling eyes from excitement. "We knew their shields and weapons where more powerful and versatile then ours. I have been studying their gaseaous trails and emitions from their impulse engines and the energysignatures from their shields. Also we where able to salvage some of the debris after the destruction of the TSS HOOD. I was able to analyse someof it and my preliminary research has given me some clues."

Hemux strode to a table, searching through a pile of papers, notes and PADDs untill she dreww a small bundle of papers out waving it to the Captain.

"Here, you see, this equation shows it clearly. It seemed the differences in physical laws, certainly on the subatomic levels and the Heisenbergh uncertainties made an unusual and remarkable situation possible where the anti-matter from their universe, mixed up with the matter from our universe created a higher energy yield then the normal matter - anti-matter reactions. Thus given them the advantage of a higher powerboost, higher energy-weapons, more power to shields, better range in sensors and so on."

Taking a deep breath and ignoring the rather stupidious look in Steele's eyes she continued "And now it get's really exiting, Sir. Take a look at this formula, the equation here and here, and this diagram. You see it?"

Steele only nodded and wanted to interupt but, caried on by the baility to vent her enthousiasm to public, Hemuw already kept talking. "The real interesting part is that I was able to determine the exact compositioin of the matter from their universe, down to the subatomic level, down to the Heisenbergh uncertenties!"

Hemux spun around to Steele, staring him in the eyes for a few long seconds... Then she sihghed "You don't get it, right? Iam sorry, Sir, Do you understand it... Sir?" she repeated a bit more polite and with some more respect. Looking to Steele as if he was a litle boy in first grade taking in his first math lessons.

"Maybe if you try me without all that physical crap, doctor?" Steele sighed also, rubbing his temple, really regretting he had ever asked...

Hemux shriugged her shoulders and nodded "To put it simple: with some luck and better equipment we might be able to replicate matter with the composition from the alternate universe. If we then would use that type of matter in our matter - anti-matter chambers, we could increase our energy output with about 20 to 25 %."

Steele nodded "That sounds amazing, any drawbacks?"

Hemux grinned "Ofcourse, the created matter would be highly unstable, it could not be stored from longer then hours, maybe days. And we have no idea what it would do to our engines or the warp signature it would create. It could turn out that if we use that new mixture for our warpenige, we create an instant black hole, launch our ship into some other dimension or just blow up the ship."

Turning back to her notes for a moment she then smiled to Steel "But the possibilities are amazing, I am sure that with more research it will bring up some great possibilities for engines and who knows what. And if not that, then it just might be good enough to get me into the StarFleets Science magazines"

Steele nodded "uhmm,... Yes weell, Keep up the good work, doctor. I am sure it will be usefull for someone, one day. I have to check in on some others, if you don't mind..."

Hemux blinked her eyes to the Captain "Oh, no ... Ofcourse not, Ia lready have taken enough of your time, Sir. And there is so much more I need to checkin before I even can think about writing that paper."

She turned back to her tools and PADD's and notes and kept mumbling to her self.

Steele ruhsed out the lab, scatching his head as soon as he was out and looking up to the skies making a promise to himself not to ask Hemux ever again about what she was doing..., he just would send Stile to her next time he wanted to know what she was doing... With that idea in his mind and a smile on his face he went on to check on his next visit.

<<<NRPG>>>

Andy, nice to have Steele visit the poor doctor. I sure hope he doesn't regrets it to much...

Respectfully,

David Martens

Lt ARr'Rhiana Hemux

CSciO

Sovereignty Fleet

USS HOOD NCC 1703

ASR ORIGINS

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Subspace Streams

by Dave Kiel

SD 2261.143

Jack nodded. The new Starship Program has certainly done a great deal in pushing back the Federation frontier into uncharted space. Star charts were updated on an almost daily basis. Which didn't stop them both from hoping that the latest download would contain some specific information on a particular area of the quadrant. Special downloads were generally the first step in new mission orders. He still couldn't believe that command would leave HOOD floating around a quiet sector in explored space. "Lieutenant I get the sense that you're not someone who generally likes to stand on a lot of ceremony. Am I right?"

"Well captain I adhere to military protocol as proscribed in the code, mostly, but no I can't say I'm for all the pomp and ceremony."

"Good." He tossed her a small black box.

Her eyes widened slightly as she opened it up and examined the contents. "Thats the Bronze Star Medal."

"So it is. Congratulations lieutenant."

"I'm not sure I understand sir."

"All I had to do is append your action after report, and those of the bridge officers under your command, along with my own recommendation and Command signed off on the medal. You did an outstanding job juggling several important balls while I and the other senior officers were off the ship. That medal is well deserved."

"Awww, that's so sweet."

The Captain looked taken aback slightly by the not so protocolish response, but recovered seamlessly. "Well, I appreciate knowing the ship is in good hands when I'm not around."

He looked around the office she'd only just had time to start decorating, stepping over to a display where she had a pair of subspace stream maps of core Federation space side by side. He turned back and smirked. "Really? Sweet?"

"Sorry, sir. I meant to say something like `It is an honor to have ones accomplishments, no matter how trivial they may have been recognized and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to serve this ship and through it the good citizens of the Federation, sir." She snapped her hands behind her back and clicked her boot heels together at attention, for a moment.

"Much better." He turned and examined the first map. "Subspace streams?"

"Yes," Cedria stepped over to the wall display. "Flows of subspace that can amplify warp signatures by anywhere from a factor of two to a couple orders of magnitude. That's sector zero zero one there."

"I recognize it." He stepped to the second display. "I haven't seen this one to my recollection."

"It's from the data you collected. The same sector in the other universe, sir." Cedria pointed out the major systems. "The subspace streams are like old time dirt paths. If not used they flow and change. In Captain Archers day there was a naturally occurring stream from Earth to Qo'noS, allowing travel to the Klingon homeworld in four days at warp 4.5. With the relations between the Federation and Klingons what they are that stream dissipated completely twenty years ago. The stream from Earth to Vulcan was even stronger. That trip could be made in four minutes, but the new singularity and lack of travel is already causing it to degrade."

She moved to the second display. "In our counterparts universe, no real exchange of culture between Earth and Vulcan happened. Theres no travel stream at all. It would take them five days pushing their engines to get to Vulcan. In some ways the similarities between universes were staggering. In other ways it's the differences that are staggering."

The Captain looked back and forth between the two. "So tactically speaking this information is,…?"

"Absolutely worthless, sir."

"Excellent work then, Lieutenant." He smirked again and she joined him.

"Thank you, sir."

Respectfully submitted;

David Kiel

Lt Cedria Zade,

NAV, USS HOOD NCC-1703

ASR: ORIGINS

[ORIGINS] USS HODD: "Trouble Behind, Trouble Ahead"

by Scott Lusby

SD: 2261.144

MD: Between missions

Setting: Chief Engineer's Office, USS HOOD

<<snip- from Andy's post "Discoveries">>

"Computer?"

"Working." Came back the metallic voice.

"Display image Steele Two Seven."

"Acknowledged." The computer replied.

"What do you think of that?" Jack asked as both men looked at the image that appeared.

Finally Sean spoke. "It looks like a lamp my Aunt Bertha had in her parlour, with less dust."

Jack chuckled. "It does have the family heirloom feel doesn't it? That gentlemen is the First Federation Ship FESARIUS."

"Its frakkin ugly." Gar replied as he gave it a second, more appraising look.

"I agree. It was a first contact with one of our sister ships a few months back. I just got the report this morning. Oh and it's highly classified so it doesn't leave this room. But I thought as engineers you'd both be interested."

"Why?" Gar answered plainly unimpressed.

"Computer superimpose an image of USS HOOD on to the image displayed. Make it to scale."

"Working."

Sean whistled as the image changed. "It's massive."

Jack nodded. "Just short of two kilometers in diameter."

"That's quite a first contact. Friendly I hope." Gar said.

"Hope so. The report doesn't say too much. But what a chance for that captain and crew to make." He added wistfully. "That's why we're out here!"

<<end snip>>

Gar leaned back in his chair. "Why don't I know who the First Federation is?"

Steele shrugged. "No one seems to; in fact, had the RUTLEDGE not run across one of their marker buoys a few days ago, we might not be going to meet them now."

Merrick glanced at Steele with a raised eyebrow. "Something up?"

Steele nodded. "Seems RUTLEDGE destroyed the marker buoy, and they sent FESARIUS to investigate. A short skirmish ensued, and RUTLEDGE is now being 'held' by the FESARIUS- literally: they've got RUTLEDGE in a tractor beam, and she can't break free with the damage she's sustained. And so Starfleet is sending us."

Gar pursed his lips. "Figures- once again, we're going in to clean up someone else's mess."

"That's why we get paid the big bucks," Steele quipped.

"How long until we arrive?" Merrick asked.

"Two days- if Gar's engines can sustain warp 6," the Captain replied, eying the Andorian engineer out of the corner of his eye.

"I'll get you there- you just worry about getting the RUTLEDGE out of trouble." Gar paused, then added, "I'll get a emergency response team together to help out, assuming you DO manage to secure RUTLEDGE's release."

Merrick sighed, then, afterwards, allowed a thin smile to cross his lips. "Well, I suppose it wouldn't be Starfleet if we had any idea of what we're about to face."

Steele returned the cynical grin. "Truer words were never spoken, Commander."

<<NRPG>>

This is the best I could come up with. Sorry if I threw in some details you hadn't been planning on...but I wanted to give us a little extra to do, make the stakes a bit higher. ;)

Respectfully Submitted,

-- Scott Lusby

/\ LCDR Gar Th'elenth

Chief Engineer

USS HODD NCC-1703

Task Force 6

STAR FLEET: ORIGINS

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Every Ship Needs a Trill Girl - JP

by David Kiel and Brian V. Mansur

SD 2261.141

MD Post Mission

Scene: NAV's Office, USS HOOD

Sean felt better than he had in years. Though the bittersweet taste of saying goodbye to the mirror Jeri lingered, she had given him an unexpected blessing with her kind words. He felt at peace. Finally, he knew he could move forward with his life.

It didn't take Sean long to realize that he had not had found the time to acquaint himself with either their new NAV or their COMM officer. Cedria, being the decidedly more attractive of the two, earned her the first stop.

Walking into the NAV's office unannounced, he was surprised to see the Captain just leaving.

"Ah Sean, come pass on congrats to Zade?"

"Huh? Oh did you get her the Bronze Star then?"

"Yes indeed."

"Well good for her," Sean said genuinely pleased. "Which reminds me. I'll have to stop by sickbay sometime here and say hola to the new Commander. You know it really is going to suck that I can't pull rank on him anymore."

"Like you could before?"

"Whenever he's wasn't acting under the direct orders of my senior rater." Sean eyed his old friend severely. Steele slapped him on the shoulder and laughed.

"You'll make O-5 sooner or later Sean. Then you'll get to see how little respect you really get."

"If I ever make Commander, *I'll* bring the tequila and cigars."

"Bribery will get you no where."

"Bribery? Hardly. More like tempting fate. They have a tendency to make XO's into CO's eventually. If that ever happens, I'm really screwed."

Steele nodded warmly. "Good to see you turned around Sean. I was worried."

"You should be. I found religion again."

Shaking his head and smiling, the Captain left for his next stop.

Sean stepped into Zade's office to see Cedria reading through the certificate of award that accompanied her Bronze Star.

"Congratulations Lieutenant. Well deserved."

Cedria looked somber. Mixed emotions played over her face. "Thanks Commander. Umpteen lifetimes and there are still things to take my breath away." She turned to face the newcomer and her expression switched to one of amusement. "You should read about how heroic I am. It says `heroic and/or meritorious' right there on a certificate no less. I'm thinking of developing a Napoleon complex. I've never had one of those before. It should be a hoot." She flipped her hair back and faced him, hands on her hips smirking.

Commander Merrick smiled at her offsetting sense of humor. "I didn't get the chance to meet you or Mister Tamura before the latest mission so I decided to pay a visit to your respective departments." He stepped forward and offered his hand. "Sean Merrick."

"Cedria Zade." She shook his hand.

He noticed a glossy folder on her desk and picked it up. He was surprised to find an old fashioned wall calendar. "The Women of the Constitution Class?"

"Yes, yes." She said, thoroughly embarrassed that she had left it on her desk the whole time the Captain had been in her office. "A friend shipped one from the Academy. A cadet joke I'm assuming. Apparently I'm July." She looked oddly proud of the last part.

"Oh my freaking gosh," he laughed, then sobered. "You want me to get to the bottom of this?"

"No need, really." She snatched her copy from him and paged to July. "Just cadets being cadets. Besides I look good, don't you think?" She lifted her picture up, it showed her in the skirted version of the academy instructors uniform in Starpoint Park at sunset, hands running through long flowing brown hair.

Now it was Commander Merrick's turn to blush. How had he lost complete control of this situation? He'd only been in the room a minute or two. "Um." He searched for a response that didn't violate any codes of conduct.

She let him off the hook, tossing the Calendar back to her desk with various star charts and duty reports. "After all, you're only twenty eight a couple dozen times, tops. I'd offer you a chair but I haven't requisitioned any yet."

Sean chuckled, glad the calendar portion of the conversation was over. He seized the opportunity to move the conversation in a safer direction. "Now your counterpart was named Quall, right? So Zade is the symbiont and your name pre-joining name was Quall?"

"Quall? Never heard of it." She shook her head, weird universe that other one they had found. "My name was Cedria Vylex when I first started the academy. I was Zade a year later."

"And you aren't an assassin?"

"No, I'm a pilot, and a navigator, and a gymnast. And a bunch of other things by association but not any of them involve killing people."

"Well that's good to know." This Trill did seem friendlier and somewhat less violent than the version he had met on board the TSS HOOD. "I thought perhaps an informal get to know each other session might be worthwhile. After all we may be back to back on some alien world in a fight for our lives against predatory insects someday." He chuckled at the notion until he realized she was staring openly at him.

"That's not our mission is it?" Cedria said genuinely concerned. "I don't like bugs, and alien bugs, they are way worse."

"Um, no, no bugs, I promise." She could be a little bewildering this one. "I was just making conversation…"

"We should make a detailed tactical plan for this possible alien bug invasion. Come on," She grabbed her hand comp slipping it into her skirt pocket and leading him out of her office. "You can buy me some fruit juice at the commissary."

"Hmm," Sean commented. "I didn't know I was expected to buy you things."

She smirked pointing to the bronze star on her desk. "The Captain got me jewelry. You don't want to fall too far behind the curve here."

NRPG: Commissary scene to follow.

Girls of the Constitution class was lifted from a Rob Meier post on the Defiant. I was surprised to hear my character in it so I embraced the idea and worked it into this post.

Respectfully Submitted Jointly,

David Kiel

LT Cedria Zade

NAV, USS HOOD, NCC-1703

ASR ORIGINS

&

Brian V. Mansur

LCDR Sean Merrick

FO, USS HOOD, NCC-1703

ASR ORIGINS

USS HOOD: Hood sweet Hood...

by David Martens

SD: 2261.140

Scene: personal quarters Dr Hemux

Arr'Rhiana took a deep breath of her pipe, the smell of wood, herbs and a strange sweetness filled the air as Hemux smoked her Mushrooms again. A big smile was upon her face as she had the nicest visions of her homeworld, the plains, the flowering meadows and the homelands where she was born, now almost a hundred standard years ago.

Things where going good for her now. She had found a new home on the USS HOOD, a strong, fast vessel that brought her to new worlds and new civilisations. Places no Denobulan, probabaly no member of the Federation, had ever been. She had already made such remarkable discoveries; she had added a few very nice specimens to her insect collectioin and there was so much new data to study.

Arr'Rhiana also felt pleased she had found some new friends on board of the HOOD. Although the men were ... typical men; rough, big mouthed, fast with their mouth and loving the booze, they also had shown to be loyal and friendly and, well, understanding about her little bad habits. She giggled as she lifted the pipe again and took another taste of the smoke. Yes, it had been good decision to accept this assignment.

Hemux blinked her eyes as she remembered some drawbacks on her assignment also. She shivered as she remembered the assault on the security station, where they barely escaped. And more recent, the meeting with her evil counterpart and the TSS HOOD; The cruelty the Evil-Hemux hd shown towards her `pets', the madness to gain new information and new data, how she spied on her crewmembers... It all was so wicked and sick. Hemux had checked the data from the destruction of the TSS HOOD and she was almost certain there where possibilities where her counterpart might have escaped.

She grabbed another bag of mushrooms, she needed something stronger to forget the almost destruction of the HOOD. Aha, yes, the Alterean orange brain fungi, that was a long time ago... She too a breath as the sparks lightened the dried mushrooms, this time a different smell filled the air: stronger, more salty, she nodded and closed her eyes.

She drifted away and noticed Corbet being chased by numerous females and dangerous looking rabbits while he called out for `mother'. She grinned as she turned the corner bumping into Steele who swing a bottle of liquid to her, offering her a glass that floated to her through the air. Taking a sip she walked on and passed a dozen or more duplicates of that Trill woman, Dax? Or something like it dressed up in all kind of outfits, from StarFleet officer over doctor, teacher, barmaid, male, female, but all with the same face.

She turned anther corner and came into a corridor with only one door, a big sign said "Dr Hemux, Alternate Lab". She frowned her brows, but stepped inside. She came in a lab, looking exactly the same as hers, no..., wait a minute, it WAS hers... from out her office came... Herself...

Hemux blinked her eyes looking at her duplicate. Alternate-her tapped a key and a tri-D holo showed up, a newsflash.

[Dr Hemux, the famous StarFleet scientist, assigned on the USS HOOD, has today activated the first multi-dimensional powerplant. Thanks to her continuous investigations and remarkable discoveries this new type of powerplants will give a unlimited supply of power and energy to our worlds. This will start a new Era with unknown possibilities and opportunities.]

Hemux blinked her eyes, a dream? A newsflash from the future? She turned to look again and saw a other alternate, with a more evil grin looking to the same newsflash

[Dr Hemux, the feared and remarkable Sovereignty scientist, assigned on the TSS HOOD, has today activated the first multi-dimensional powerplant. Thanks to her continuous investigations and, although some think questionable ways of investigations this new type of powerplants will give a unlimited supply of power and energy to our glorious army and fleets. This will start a new Era of expansion and unknown possibilities to crush our enemies.]

Hemux shivered as she blinked her eyes; was this what would have happened if the TSS Hood had succeeded in defeating the USS Hood? Would her evil counterpart had managed to use the multi-dimensional powers for the cruel intentions of the Sovereignty?

She faced her alternate self again and saw... A ravaged, old female, sitting in a corner of a lab, heavily guarded by soldiers.

[Dr Hemux, the infamous StarFleet scientist, formerly assigned to the USS HOOD, has today activated the first multi-dimensional powerplant. We now are witnessing the unexpected effects of this event as StarFleet is struggling to survive the forces unleashed by this experiment. Rifts and wormholes seemed to have opened to the multi-universes where Dr Hemux wanted to tape energy from. Already several colonies have been swallowed by such wormholes, outburst of uncontrollably energy-storms are reported and some ships has reported invasions from unknown races from other dimensions. It seems that Dr Hemux has called destruction and havoc upon our head with these questionable experiments.]

Hemux rushed out the lab, tears burning in her eyes and bumped into the wall. Dizzy she dropped down shaking her head. Slowly she stood up and stumbled back to her quarters. She knew that she had to think. What she had seen in the Dreamworld was a warning, maybe even a prophesy. Would her research into the multi-versum be a good thing? Or would it turn out for the worse? Was Starfleet ready to face the possibility of an enemy as cruel and vicious as the Sovereignty?

She reached her quarters and dropped on her bed. She needed sleep, the last mission had worn her out, maybe she was getting to old for his all, who knows. A night rest might give her the answers.

<<<NRPG>>>

some character development, and looking forward to the new mission.

Respectfully,

David Martens

Lt ARr'Rhiana Hemux

CSciO

Sovereignty Fleet

USS HOOD NCC 1703

ASR ORIGINS

Anonymous

Search

ORIGINS: USS Hood May 2010

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Escape?

by Andy Catterick

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Cornered?

by Andy Catterick

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: A Promise of Vengeance

by David Kiel

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: I Hope That Wasn't Your Ship

by Andy Catterick

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: The Bridge is Where the Action is!

by Harry Iha

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Rough and Tumble

by Scott Lusby

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Into the Fire

by Scott Lusby

[ORIGINS] TSS HOOD: Is this the end…

David Martens

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Capture

by Andy Catterick

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Salutations and Delivery

by Brian V. Mansur

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: A Chief to the Rescue

Harry Iha

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Captain's Log

by Andy Catterick

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Discoveries

by Andy Catterick

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Running the Gauntlet

by Andy Catterick

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Genetic or Environment?

by Andy Catterick

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Nature Verses Nurture

by Steve Apple

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: The Tour Continues

by Andy Catterick

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Carry the News I

by Dave Kiel

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Carry the News II

by Dave Kiel

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Pushing Mother to the Edge

by Andy Catterick

[ORIGINS] USS HOO: Off to see the NAV

by Andy Catterick

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: You Got Me There...

by Andy Catterick

USS HOOD: Since you're asking...

by David Martens

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Subspace Streams

by Dave Kiel

[ORIGINS] USS HODD: "Trouble Behind, Trouble Ahead"

by Scott Lusby

[ORIGINS] USS HOOD: Every Ship Needs a Trill Girl - JP

by David Kiel and Brian V. Mansur

USS HOOD: Hood sweet Hood...

by David Martens

Navigation

Wiki tools

Page tools

Categories