The Ascent

Posted on Mon Oct 14th, 2024 @ 12:39am by Lieutenant (J.G.) Zomuul jav Ghul & Crewman Zod Drixx & Lieutenant Commander Ash Randall & Lieutenant Alexia Toryn & Commander Zhora zh'Roothi

4,277 words; about a 21 minute read

Mission: Pilot
Location: Runabout Sol / Jem'Hadar Derelict
Timeline: 2439-03-09, 07:00

Navigating through the crystal lattices was far more difficult than it should be, but Crewman Zod Drixx was able to deftly pilot the Runabout Sol through the small openings toward the underside docking port of the Jem'Hadar vessel. The Sol Class had been purposely designed with a universal docking port capable of interfacing with almost any other outer hatch, but one could only hope that it would be capable of allowing a connection with a Dominion craft. Adjusting the course, speed, and pitch of the craft as delicately as he could, the Bolian pilot was somehow able to connect the two ships.

"I don't know how, but somehow we've completed docking," Zod said turning away from his station after placing the engines at station keeping. Rising from his chair, the Crewman walked toward the door to the aft section. "If you'll follow me, I'll get your doors open."

Lex moved towards the docking port with her tricorder at the fore. "Well, my tricorder indicates the ship is under constant stress, Power's boosted to the structural integrity field. Atmosphere is nominal inside the ship."

"Hardly surprising consider their situation," zh'Roothi nodded before opening the weapons locker. "Keep the setting to stun and only fire if utterly necessary," she instructed. "This is rescue mission not a dog fight or chance of opening old wounds. Understood?" The Commander questioned, her gaze once again falling up Toryn.

"The war is over, if they are Jem'hadar, they are soldiers. Don't go for your weapon and they won't go for theirs." Lex noted. "The Jem'hadar are not a concern, it's their masters that concern me."

Ash eyed the contents of the weapons locker and declined to arm herself. "Jem'Hadar shrug off the heaviest stun setting and are tough to take down even with a phaser set to the highest kill setting. Unless we're sporting heavy weapons, we may as well not have any." The Tuansee observed, quietly. "Hopefully, we won't have need of them."

"I hope you're right, however this is all we have," zh'Roothi commented to the engineer in an equally quiet tone as she pondered if she was leading them to a violent death.

"Lieutenant, my house resisted the Dominion invasion of Betazed, and we paid a steep price for freedom, in full. We all have our scars. They are soldiers, but the Jem'hadar learned not to force good people to go to war. That's what happened with my House. We were a peaceful people, that were invaded, then they started dissecting us during their short occupation." Lex added. "I respect the Jem'hadar as soldiers because I know they are slaves, but the Founders and their Vorta minions. There is a special place in the four Hell's for them."

Standing near the hatch, Crewman Drixx pondered the gravity of what the Science Officer had been saying. There had been so much death and destruction during the Dominion War that they still felt the scars now, nearly fifty years later. Betazoid was still recovering, as was his own world, so perhaps those scars would never truly heal. Even though they all needed them to.

While the Bolian pilot mullled over Toryn's words of choice zh'Roothi begun to wonder if it was best she stayed behind and a very long distance away from a weapon or any Dominion personnel.

"Lieutenant," the turned to the Science Officer and squared her narrow shoulders. "Let me repeat myself: this is a humanity mission. I trust you can control yourself throughout, if not then remain here until further notice."

"Very well, Commander." Lex noted.

Reaching the hatch, Drixx reached up to the control interface. Pressing a series of buttons the hatch slid open and a ladder descended toward the deck plate. The Crewman motioned, "One small step?" It was an odd joke coming from a Bolian, referencing Earth's own moon landing, but Drixx had a quirky sense of humor.

"It's not the fall, it's the sudden stop at the end..." Ash replied, being a bit quirky herself.

Commander zh'Roothi rolled her eyes at the humour and stepped toward the short ladder, sliding down the rail a fluid motion.

A moment passed and the exterior hatch of the Jem'Hadar fighter began to cycle with a loud clank. As the doors slid apart the realization that she wasn't in what you'd call a good shape became an understatement. The shiny interior of the craft had lost its luster long ago and broken touchscreens were far more numerous than the non-broken ones. A few crates and barrels marked the corridors, but they were just as haggard looking as their mothership. The air was stagnant, like the smell of a dead animal slowly rotting away. It was enough to make the strongest stomach upset.

As Crewman Drixx was about to suggest that they close the door and fly away, a form came into view through the shadows dressed in a large, ornate uniform outlined in gold. The Jem'Hadar warrior looked upon the Starfleet personnel from inside his vessel. He crossed his massive arms, his aged figure apparent even through the darkness of the remains of the Dominion vessel. Of interest was the lack of a tubule for the Ketracel White on the Jem'Hadar's shoulder, an oddity to be certain.

As the hatch opened to review the gloomy and dank environment of the Jem'Hadar vessel zh'Roothi's fingers lightly feathered her stowed phaser as if seeking comfort from its presence even if it was woefully under-powered against their potential foe. There was no going back, she reminded herself with a level of determination. This was quickly tested as she received a full face and lungful of the stagnant air. Gagging slightly her antennae twisted at the soft footfalls of the approaching warrior and her frame visibly stiffened at the sight of his bulky fame. Though his arms were drawn across his wide chest he made no attempt to attack or stop them as they team stepped aboard.

"Greetings," zh' Roothi willed her mouth to move and for the tension throughout her body to ease. "I'm Commander zh' Roothi, and these are Lieutenant's Randall, Toryn and Moore. We observed your stranded vessel and like to offer aid."

"I am Elder Dutan'laz," the Jem'Hadar introduced himself to the away team. He uncrossed his arms, motioning into the depths of his craft, "Please, join us. We could use your help to restore our craft to escape from this world."

This stunned Lex, but she centered her emotions quick. She decided to be direct with the Elder. "A Jem'hadar elder. You are quite rare sir. And you in particular, rarer still." She mentioned.

The Jem'Hadar studied the away team quickly, his trained strategic brain ascertaining the entire group. His age helping him to understand the dynamics of the group as he walked with them. "My being an elder is precisely why I am here on this ship today," he said in a surprisingly deep, soothing baritone. "My people have a short natural lifespan, far shorter when you consider our purpose within the Dominion. I have lived for over 25 of your years in service to the Founders, seen many battles, and I still live. The crew of this vessel all serve the Dominion, but our mission is far beyond what they would be defined as."

"Tell me Elder. How is it that you have not completely lost your mind due to ketracell white withdrawal." Lex mentioned.

Ash followed along with the rest of the away team, listening, and arched an eyebrow at the question from Lex. It was a good question but time and observation would probably have answered it. The Engineer shrugged, mentally, and continued to listen and watch while she, mentally, reviewed what she knew of Dominion ship design and technology as it seemed she was going to have work to do.

While they kept walking toward the control center, the Jem'Hadar answered, "Few of my species are naturally able to produce the enzymes obtained from the White, and I am one of them. It was only by what you would perceive as luck that I learned I wasn't addicted as I still took the drug on a regular basis. If not for being shipwrecked when my vessel was lost in combat, I would not have learned of my independence."

zh' Roothi eyes flashed with annoyance in the gloom as they walked at the Science Officers line of questioning. Fortunately, their host was willing to answer such a personal question without complaint. "How did you become stranded here?" the Commander asked.

The Jem'Hadar paused as if he were trying to determine just how much he could, and couldn't, say. The alien warrior relented a bit, "We were investigating this world and its history as part of our pilgrimage. We were studying the crystal structures when we were attacked by a creature living within the atmosphere of this planet. We were able to scare it off, but they've severely damaged our vessel and, thus far, our engineer has been unable to restore the ship. We've been beached on this crystal for days with very limited power and no defense should it return to finish the job."

The open door to the Command Center of the Jem'Hadar fighter was a shock. The central hub for the starship, it was just as decrepit as the rest of the vessel. Lights were dim inside the room and control consoles flickered on and off with intermitted surges of power. The most surprising thing wasn't the status of the vessel though, it was that there were no other Jem'Hadar within the room. Rather, a diaspora of aliens were gathered throughout the room working at the various workstations. Dosi, Drai, Karemma, Rakhari, T-Rogoran, Teplan, even a Tosk were working on restoring the craft to working order.

The Dosi was the first to speak, "What are they doing here?"

"It's alright, Sadiki, these are crew from a Federation vessel. They're here to help us," the Jem'Hadar explained.

"I am Tosk," the Tosk greeted welcomingly.

The Drai sighed as he worked a control interface, "Of course you are." It was strange to see the two together on the Bridge of the Dominion vessel. Any other time the Drai Hunter would be stalking the Tosk as prey. It was unusual to see them together as partners, even if they were sniping at each other.

The Tosk answered, "I am Tosk."

The Karemma spoke next, "What will the Founder think of this?"

"The Founder trusts my judgement, Wothyx. I believe that the Starfleet crew are here to help us. That will be good enough for the Founder," Dutan'laz answered. The Jem'Hadar looked at the away team, "Wothyx is the science specialist for this mission, Sadiki our security, while Dolnis is our pilot. Tosk is our resident biologist and healer." He didn't get into the identities of the others.

Lex was intrigued. "A creature you say? Very fascinating. We've found single celled organisms in gas giants before. But this is unprecedented."

"Believe it," Wothyx grunted. "We're lucky to be alive. If it wasn't for Sadiki, we probably wouldn't be here." It sounded like a compliment, but the way it was shared it seemed more like a frustrated annoyance. "The Captain didn't come out unscathed though."

Seeing such a wide variety of crew members was unexpected to zh' Roothi as she listened to them react to their presence. It was comforting that they appeared to be willing to accept aid and the Elder's judgement. Perhaps the arrival of the creature Dutan'laz mentioned had the unified in fear on this pilgrimage. She wanted to ask more and why their journey had bought them into the Brown Dwarf but her thoughts were interrupted by the news they'd Captain had been injured during the attack and that a Founder was potentially aboard.

"Your Captain was injured?" she asked the Elder and glanced towards Tosk. "How badly? Perhaps we could aid his recovery along with your ship repairs." It might be a step too far but given their situation the ragtag crew may feel the restoration of their Captain's health could unite them once more into saving themselves. Of course, the Captain may not welcome the Federation aid and have them quickly assassinated in an instant the Commander grimaced.

Ash crouched down so she could dig through her, now open, 'doctor bag' that she used as her engineering kit. "Elder Dutan'laz, my name is Ash and, as you may have already discerned, an engineering officer. With your permission, I'd like to get a detailed, engineering, scan of your vessel to get a better idea of how to proceed with repairs." The Tuansee Engineer stated while she removed a soda can sized cylinder from her bag along with a PADD.

The Jem'Hadar looked at the away team from the Enterprise carefully. The leader in him was supportive of the offer of help from the Federation Away Team, but the soldier in him was incredibly protective of the Dominion and the protection of their state secrets. The craft they were aboard at the moment was an older one, but it was still tactically and technically sound. Then, there was the safety of the Founder as well. If the Federation Away Team wanted to do so they could take action against the entire Great Link like they did at the time of the Quadrant War.

It wasn't an easy decision. Far from it.

Instead, he decided to go the middle of the road route. Looking at the Mission Commander, the Jem'Hadar spoke supportively, "This mission is appreciative of the offer of support to our efforts." He noted the coloration of the uniform of Lieutenant Toryn, "Should you wish to meet with the Founder to try to ascertain his status, I will arrange it." Next he looked to Ash, "Your efforts to repair this vessel are welcome, but I request that you erase any recorded data at the conclusion of our repairs. Our vessel may be older and on detached duty, but it is still property of the Dominion." 

He looked back to the Andorian Commander, "Do we have an agreement, Commander?'

zh' Roothi glanced towards both Toryn and Randall and nodded firmly. "Yes, these terms are agreeable. We will respect your boundaries and comply with the request." She wanted to take the Science Officer aside and discuss her harboured bias against the Founder as demonstrated on the runabout and the potential of having Lieutenant Ghul conducting a assessment on the Founder for the sake of peace, however Toryn spoke again addressing their host.

"Elder..." Lex noted. "I have a question." Lex noted.

Dutan'laz looked toward the Science Officer, "Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Why did you enter the Brown Dwarf's Atmosphere?" Lex inquired. So far she didn't tell this Dominion Crew she was a Betazoid, and she wanted to keep that little revelation to herself. "Either you entered this situation by accident.. or on purpose." She focused her unique senses on the crew. Truth or lie.

The Jem'Hadar paused a moment as he considered how much to reveal. It was a fair question, and a valid one, but he wondered how much the Founder would share. Considering the Founder's experiences with the solids of the Alpha Quadrant he chose to ignore discretion and give reality, "Our investigation into the origins of the Dominion is a study of the Founders and their origins themselves. Ancient texts give mention to a world that meets the characteristics of this planet, but they are fragmented and warped. We were studying this planet when we were attacked by the creature and pulled into the atmosphere."

The Elder's answer was intriguing to the Commander and again had lead to more questions she wished to ask - questions it seemed Toryn shared. However, given the continued mention of a unknown creature lingering close by that had been attracted by the Dominion ship, it wasn't a stretch to believe the arrival of the Starfleet runabout with its pulses stumbling in the gloom would attract its attention. They may not have long before it tracked them down.

The momentary peace that had surrounded them was interrupted by the voice of Lieutenant Zomuul jav Ghul aboard the runabout, "Sol to the Away Team. We're picking up something on the SONAR. It's a big blip and its closing fast."

"It would seem that the creature has returned," the First barely got it out before the Jem'Hadar vessel violently shook from an impact.

Instantly zh' Roothi lost her footing as the small vessel pitched from the impact and hit the deck with a thud. "Ghul, Drixx, disengage the docking ports," she instructed with a gasp before both ships became critically damaged.

"Commander, what about you and the rest of the away team? Do you want us to wait for you?" Drixx asked over the comlink, wondering if they should try to evacuate the Dominion vessel rather than try to save it.

"Negative. Get clear," the XO ordered. "No point losing both vessels, we can reassess once the danger has passed." She hoped she hadn't just committed them all to a painful end as the Runabout broke free. Considering the number of crew onboard and the unknown condition of the Founder she was concerned they wouldn't have been able to evacuate in time.

"Aye Commander!"

Lex suddenly turned and looked at a bulkhead, literally sensing a presence move by towards the ship. "Commander." She got Zhora's attention.

zh' Roothi clawed herself upright again turned towards the Science Officer . She then braced for Lex's opinion of be offloaded onto her without hesitation: "Yes?" the Commander asked sternly.

"It wants something, or someone here." Lex noted. "I believe it communicates through telepathy."

The Commander's brow crinkled with thought. "Interesting, can you elaborate?"

Ash had kept hold of her black bag as the ship was bounced by the, mystery, creature and settled down into a seated position while she put away the PADD and 'soda can' and waited to react to what happened next.

"Away Team," the voice of Lieutenant Ghul came through their communicators on a priority call, "...eing the creatu... viewports... ng is huge... st 10 kilometer... be even larger... grabbed... inion ship... ke it's trying to pull... ystal structure. Comm... ooks like the crys..." The channel went silent.

The Jem'Hadar ship rocked violently and Sadiki, the Dosi Security Officer, spoke out, "We can't take much more of this. We have no weapons, nor shields. Ablative armor's down to 12%!"

The Karemma Engineer interrupted, "If we get pulled much lower the ship will implode from the stress."

"We would appreciate any help you could provide," Dutan'laz interjected before building off of Lieutenant Toryn's comment, "We must protect the Founder."

"Sol," zh' Roothi tried the comm fruitlessly before shaking her head in frustration.

Ash picked herself up from her seated position on the deck and looked to the Karemma engineer. "No weapons and no shields...do you still have an operational tractor beam and plasma that can be vented." She asked, and looked to zh' Roothi. "Lets see if we can sting this thing and drive it away again. Long enough to get the drive systems on line and get out of here." She expressed.

"Lieutenant Randall." Lex added. "I can sense it, its thoughts are strange to me. Like trying to understand the barking of a Earth dog. But I do know, it communicates via telepathy, and it has a perception of sound. I believe we can overload it's senses using something similar to the sonar we've used to find this ship."

Dutan'laz looked between the two officers and questioned, "What is the risk to this ship and the creature on your plans? I am unfamiliar with this SONAR system you mention, though we do still have the ability to generate a tractor beam and vent our warp nacelles." The Jem'Hadar asked as Engineer Javaduz returned to his station.

Lex spoke. "On Earth in the Twentieth century, the humans created seafaring vessels that could submerge themselves. They used echolocation to locate and navigate underwater. They called it Sonar. I believe we can modify your ship deflector to emit an ultrasonic pulse on the upper frequency range of the creatures hearing it may startle the creature and drive it off. I am sensing it has a very developed survival instinct, like an earth cougar. Make enough noise, and the cougar will retreat."

Ash nodded, slowly. "If we vent plasma and use the tractor beam to, quickly, funnel it away from the ship, it will ignite a metreon cloud and produce the, desired, noise to startle the creature. We can try to reconfigure the main deflector to emit a high frequency pulse, if it is functional. There are risks with detonating a metreon cloud but it is a plan that can be implemented immediately. The high frequency pulse poses no, inherent, risk but will take time to implement." The Chief Engineer stated, detailing both options.

The Jem'Hadar ship rocked from another impact caused by the alien creature, causing sparks to fly from one of the wall mounted workstations as it winked out of existence. The Dosi slammed his fist against the console, bringing it back to momentary life.

"If we have time," the alien security officer grumbled.

Dutan'laz weighed the options being presented, listening carefully to the description being provided. The soldier in him went toward the tactical option, releasing drive plasma and then using the Tractor Beam to fling the energy toward the creature. The leader in him went for the safer option of using the echolocation sensor to draw the creature away. Either led to a simple, if not damning, question, "What do we do after we use either option? We have no engines at the moment. Which option will keep the creature away?"

"I can modulate the ultrasound frequency to confuse it's echolocation after it has retreated. That should give us some time to perform emergency repairs, then I suggest promptly leaving the atmosphere, as this ship will have superstructure damage. It was not a good idea I'm entering this Maelstrom. If we lose main power, the radiation will kill us before the hull collapses." Lex noted.

"Our engines are practically a lost cause," the pilot interrupted. "I think even if you spent a month working on them it wouldn't be enough!"

"We currently have two options, each with their own complications. First; we can use this ship to broadcast the ultrasound, and use the runabout to tow this ship out of the atmosphere. Second; we can send the runabout to signal the enterprise to come to this location so we can evacuate this ship." Lex mentioned. "Either way, time is short "

"Neither will matter until we can be free of this creature," zh' Roothi cut across them both. "Randall, vent the plasma and use the tractor to ignite the metreon cloud to scare it away. Toryn, start work on the deflector and the high frequency range to keep it at bay. Moore, try to establish communication with Sol."

The Elder looked to his own crew this time, "Work with the Starfleet away team. Give them your full support. Engineer Javaduz, work with Randall to vent plasma."

Ash removed a tri-corder from its place on her utility belt, moved over to Javaduz and applied the device, to the workstation, the tri-corder emitting a little beep as it stuck in place and interfaced with the Dominion systems. "This will take a few seconds." She informed the engineer and had barely finished saying so before the device beeped again and projected a holographic interface with the current status of the ships systems and estimated time of repair. The Tuansee engineer tapped the nacelles and popped them loose and to the side, in their own interface, before doing the same with the tractor beam. "Looks like, if we can keep that thing at a distance for a few hours we could coax, one quarter impulse, out of what's left of your impulse engines, but, first things first." She advised, looked to the Dominion display. "Ten percent of your remaining plasma will do the job, nicely, and will leave enough to hot start impulse if our runabout isn't able to do more than keep us from descending further. You release, I'll funnel it away to go boom." She finished while she expanded the tractor beam projection into a control interface.

The Karemma looked at the information that was being displayed on the holographic interface, more perplexed by what what being displayed than anything. The alien engineer was impressed by the equipment that the Starfleet crew had brought with them, but it was all for nothing if they weren't able to drive the creature away for that long. The Karemma sighed at the display, thinking out loud, "Why aren't we just using the metreon gas to try to destroy the damned thing? It'll just keep coming back."

Ash looked to Javaduz and nodded a couple times. "I understand the sentiment." She replied and nodded a couple more times. "However, there's a reason you all are here and this creature may be that reason. Besides, if we go too big we could initiate the collapse of this ball of gas and, as interesting as it would be to see, we're not in a good place to witness such an event." Ash explained, with a little bit of a toothy grin.

"Sadiki, work with Toryn to remodulate our deflector. Dolnis, help with communications."

Elder Dutan'laz watched as his crew and the Away Team from the Enterprise worked together to escape from the Hellhole they'd all found themselves in. For the first time since they were trapped here, he felt hope.

 

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