JDL | "Cavalry, Interrupted" | Character Introduction

Posted on Tue May 28th, 2013 @ 9:06am by Petty Officer 2nd Class Leto Hawthorne PhD. & Captain Landon Neyes & Admiral Rochelle Ivanova

1,814 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Secret Meetings
Location: Deep Space, En route to Vindicator
Timeline: After Dar is taken to Sickbay

=/\= Stormcrow-Class Runabout Aegis =/\=

"This is not going to work, ma'am." Petty Officer 3rd Class Leto Hawthorne, the worn and weathered science officer continued to work his controls, stating what he felt was obvious anyway. His cropped dark hair cut in tightly, just like his attitude and sense of duty. They had spotted a small unmarked federation vessel moving towards what they had determined was an area near their own destination.

The USS Vindicator.

"We won't catch up with them at this rate, Commander."

Slender fingers tipped in a delicate French manicure paused in their drumming along the arm of a chair. Their keeper's eyebrow lifted and a cold set of blue eyes slowly blinked from the screen in front of her to the haggard features of the man at the helm. "Then I suggest we move a little faster." The woman's lips wrapped around the words with a pert little smile almost Cheshire in nature.

Rochelle Ivanova was an officer revered for her tenacity and zeal -- but infamous for her unorthodox methods that were seemingly backed by an unwavering blood lust... Or so the rumors stated. Her battle pedigree was widely unparalleled and where it began to droop, her command strategies and surprising Scientific knowledge picked it up and ran away on a long track. She sighed, brushing an errant strand of copper from her cheek as she uncrossed her coltish legs, "Hail the runabout." she ordered on that same breath and rose to her feet. "They deserve fair warning."

Leto didn't hesitate, he simply did as the woman asked, "Yes ma'am. Now at warp 7. Channel open."

The redhead simply nodded as she tugged at the hem of her tunic and folded her hands neatly behind her back. "This is Commander Rochelle Ivanova. Be advised that you are being tracked due to your current course taking you within range of the USS Vindicator. State your purpose or alter your course accordingly."

Though her steely gaze remained locked on the screen, visions of a far different nature played in the shadows of her mind. Andrea. She'd be proud to know her favorite pupil had finally learned to extend the provisions of peace before simply jumping for the jugular first. Rochelle would have smiled if it wasn't for the fact she was being watched and was now playing the waiting game with the unknown ship.

A breif, and not entirely unexpected, moment of silence transpired before Leto reported back, "They're not responding. Well...," he corrected, "they've increased speed to keep ahead of us, if you count that as a response.

The Aegis was a sleek vessel, one of the new runabouts designed for deep space missions with larger craft dependent on support craft for mobility, like the Vindicator. She was also fully-armed and combat ready, far above the standard load-out of a Federation runabout. The Stormcrow-class had teeth.

"We'll intercept the Vindicator in 24 minutes at this speed." Hawthorne, while not directly suited for combat missions, was stone-cold determined to complete tasks at any cost to himself. A motivating factor for many of his previous assignments, and this case was no different. Hawthorne was a man driven to succeed, and a good soldier to-boot. If she were to ask him to destroy the ship, he'd do it without a moment's hesitation for no other reason than because she was a superior officer. The chain of command had to be upheld, and the mission was everything.

"How sweet." Ivanova crooned and sighed, giving the motion for the man to cut the link. She spun on her heel in a single, well executed and almost contrite motion to cross back the couple steps to the chair she'd perched in mere moments before. "Transfer tactical controls to me. They've proven their intent." She almost huffed as she sat back down and waited for her demands to be met. This... was the fun part.

Hawthorne cut the channel, then addressed the Commander, "Shall I power weapons?" The statement was clinical in its expression.

"Allow me." As a member of a Command team, Rochelle had been burned and stripped of the vast majority of her more hotheaded and wicked ways -- but where that stripping had happened, new tricks had been learned to make up for the gaping hole in her arsenal. Science had revealed new weapons and far more fun for her to have all in the name of diplomacy. Diplomacy... The word alone nearly made the woman snort in laughter as it raced bare assed through her mind. All the while her fingers feverishly worked across the console demanding that the Aegis build, gather and fire a heavily concentrated ion beam that matched the unknown shuttle's warp frequency.

A cruel smile tugged at the Commander's plush lips as the process cemented itself into reality and forced the shuttle to drop dead in it's tracks. "Ever deal with warp plasma so excited it literally fries every conduit on the ship?" She asked with a certain smugness ripe in her voice. "Hold them and hail Vindicator. We need to let them known we're bringing some very strange and unwilling guests with us to supper."

A tractor beam lanced out from the Aegis, grasping the runabout and holding her close, like a hawk and its prey. Leto wasn't the most skilled pilot, but this ship made him feel like pro. "They're subdued. Hailing the Vindicator."

The grimm face of the Vindicator's Trill Commander, Landon Neyes, resting in the center command chair filled the screen. A sour expression belied his less than ecstatic current mood.

"Hello Commander. Can I help you?" The man asked over the comm channel.

When this was all said and done, Leto would be gifted with one of Ivanova's rare few moments of praise. It wasn't often she was impressed by the skills of an enlisted member of personnel, but the fellow had proven himself quite worthy in his tasks. She nodded to him and watched as the screen came to to life filled with the wrinkled spotted brow of the Trill Commander. "I would imagine it would be considered polite since I just helped you, Commander Neyes." The redhead volleyed back with her usual smirk. "I have in my possession two things that may interest you. The first being a runabout that was headed straight for you and answered my hails with an extremely frantic burst of speed in your direction. I found that peculiar so I took liberties in proverbially hog tying them."

The bright electric blue of her eyes glittered almost playfully as she spoke without the darkening storm of worry that seemed to have fixated itself over the Trill she watched with avid interest. She'd heard many rumors about the integrity of the Vindicator during her time serving as the Griffin's Executive Officer -- even Andrea herself had made a comment or two in passing. And there she was, the great ship looking in the distance, her fresh Commander, however, not quite living up tot he damned near Arthurian images painted into the minds of the people following such tales.

Neyes was pressed for time and patience, having very little of either. He stood on the bridge having been summoned due to the inevitable arrival of what appeared to be two extra officers and a possible criminal element. The Captain had fallen in to a deep, insurmountable coma, and Landon was left with no first officer to speak of, given his need for Williams in security. A creeping sense of irritating paranoia was beginning to work its way up Landon's psyche, preying on his stressed mind. He had been through many things in his lifetimes, but they didn't seem to all happen at once as they seemed to enjoy doing now.

He digressed, "The second being?"

"My orders to be your second fiddle." The smirk turned into a pretty smile complete with the batting of mascara stained lashes.

Neyes couldn't help but smirk a little at the woman's panache. "I didn't catch your name."

His smirk seemed to catch her eye, drawing her attention more towards the lines of his face, "Commander Rochelle Ivanova at your servi--"

Petty Officer Hawthorne's attention shot to an alarm sounding on his console. "Ma'am, the runabout is powering up it's deflector. It's current energy output is at 150% of standard for that model, it looks as if it has been modified somehow." His delivery was still calm as before, reading off the information like a menu at dinner.

Neyes' brow furrowed once again, "What's happening, Commander."

Her mouth gaped open for a moment, maybe two, before she gave one last passing glance to the Commander's bright baby blues and leaped for the controls. She knew what was going to happen, the events of the Starbase Whydah replaying in her frantic mind as she tried, in vain, to diffuse the massive bomb they'd tethered to them. It all made sense in one terrifying moment that set her heart to an out of control gallop against her rib cage. "It's a suici--" she never had a chance to finish her answer.

A blindingly bright arch of blue-green light lit up the space around both runabouts, engulfing them in a halo which quickly shot out in all directions. Following the light was a shrill series of clicks and whistles, all tightly bound into a second of horrible noise that blasted into the runabout like a solid wall. The sound was deafening, and filled the entirety of the cabin. The light slowly faded and the noise whittled down into the distance, once again allowing the two officers on board the Aegis to pry their hands from over their ears.

Leto had just enough time to raise the shields to maximum power before the enemy runabout lit up itself, exploding into a field of debris. The Aegis was hit with the brunt of the explosion and resulting shockwave, and the comm line to the Vindicator cut out.

Landon leaped up out of his chair, "Commander, Ivanova!" His words preceded an uncomfortable moment of static over the now-terminated comm line.

"Vindicator to runabout Aegis please respond."

"Nothing sir, we lost their signal." The comm officer reported.

Neyes slammed a fist down. "Get us over there, maximum warp. If there are any survivors I want them beamed to Sickbay right away." Aside from losing the signal, he saw data scrolling on his screens for a massive transmission just before. He sighed internally, silencing the abysmal lack of drive overtaking him. "Lieutenant Roswell please report to the bridge immediately."

He fell back into the command seat, already feeling his shoulders tighten. "Engage."

The massive Vindicator slowly turned from its sitting position and quickly jumped to warp to come to their would-be savior's aid.

=/\= END LOG =/\=

Commander Landon Neyes
Acting Commanding Officer
USS VINDICATOR

Commander Rochelle Ivanova
RUNABOUT AEGIS

Petty Officer 2nd Class Leto Hawthorne, Ph.D.
RUNABOUT AEGIS

 

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