'After The Storm', 3.1 - Season 3, Episode 1

Burgess watched in stark horror from his place down below the mountain as his crewmates plummeted off the side.....after it had been blown out from under them.

He knew the Liberator had lifted off just prior to the end of the battle.....with plans to provide air support. But....there was no possible way to beam everyone who'd been up there to safety. There were too many targets...and...well....that just wasn't a viable option in the alloted time....

Unless.....

"Burgess to Liberator......USE THE BLOODY TRACTOR BEAM! Lower the power output and dispearse the beam. That will allow you to stop their descent and beam them back to the ship!"

The engineer could only hope someone aboard the ship could get the the job done in time....

The falling sensation was the strangest part; everyone had fallen out of a tree or off a wall in their youth but this was most definately the strangest. It was simply because there didn't seem to be an end to the fall, the bottom of the mountain seeming endless.

Ofcourse, there would be an end... a bloody and painful one. An end that was be quite literal for those that hadn't been already blown to bits by the explosion.

There wasn't any time to think, no time to quickly nip over to the Liberator and grab one of Mally's grav boards to ride the fall. Instead he just fell, feeling Mally's grip and giving the grip in return.

As quickly as they found themselves in their predicament, it would ultimately end.

Truely end.

The seconds seemed to drag on forever, a cruel twist when they all knew the end was inevitable. Their was no surviving this plunge of doom. All they could do was fall and fall until the ground finally put a violent - and messy - end to it all.

There was a sudden rumble from the heavens, only noticed by a few of those in free fall. They paid it little attention. Rain or shower, it wasnt going to make a damn bit of differance to any of them soon.

But upon closer inspection, it didnt really sound like thunder at all.

It sounded more like a sonic boom, a thunderous explosion of sound somewhere from within the upper atmosphere. Traditionally caused by something entering a planets atmosphere from space at exceptional speeds.

That 'something' made itself known in no time at all. A black form appeared through the upper layers of the clouds, like some kind of ominious giant bird. The first thing everyone thought was that the Vectari had returned.

As if the Starfleet crew falling to their doom wasnt bad enough, they had now come back to shoot them out the sky like helpless fish in a barrel. Well, things were going from bad to worse at warp speeds, so why not?

But luck was something that was about to dramatically change.

The shape in the cloud smashed through the white fluff, revealing a small vessel. Sleek and compact, it never slowed and came tearing towards the falling people. A few of the more technical minded among them admired the construction, noting that it was more a little similiar to Starfleet standards.

It was a striking and unique looking craft of course but there were the tell tell signs. Clear signs of a deflector dish, nacelles housed within the wings and bridge in the standard position. And then they saw it. It was more than just the design ethic.

There was a logo painted onto the hull. The distinct insignia of Starfleet.

It could have come from the Ferengi for all they cared at the moment. If they were here to help then that was all that mattered. And - answering more than a few panicked prayers - that was exactly what they had come to do.

The craft shot across the plains of Narden, sometimes just skimming the tops of the mountains. Alarmingly, it didn't actually seem like they were going to slow down as they got closer either. They were pouring on the speed like maniacs, the impulse thrusters working overtime.

Now so close you could admire the paintjob, a glow of energy began to form just beneath the vessel. It suddenly expanded and shot outwards, growing and growing until it formed a giant square of pulsing blue. It glided forwards, right into the path of the falling.

Sailing down on top of it, each and every person passed through the blue glow and promptly vanished. All that was left was the faint trace of sparkling energy. It kept going, passing through each person in one wide procession until everyone had been snared by it. All that was left afterwards was a half dozen, shining sparkles of what had just been a doomed group of men and women.

The craft now broke off, banking sharply up.

In order to help save everyone, they had come deep in the valley of the mountains. Only by pulling up fast would they now avoid flying smack into those same mountains. With another defeaning boom, the ship narrowly edged over the peaks of Narden and shot safely into the sky once more.

Carlos and the others had no time to appreciate this example of crack piloting. They were still trying to get their bearings, having been plucked from their fall and seemingly transported to some kind of room aboard their saviours vessel.

They werent left in confusion for too long. Someone was there to greet them, a young ensign in a Starfleet uniform. After having spent over two years in Sector D4 with no one else but themselves, it was an odd sight to meet a fresh face. He stepped forward, doing some quick checks with a medical tricorder.

"I'm not detecting any serious injuries." He revealed, snapping the device shut. "You all might want to take a few minutes to recover. You were all beamed aboard by a 'transmat'. It's new technology and can leave people a bit disorientated at first. Headaches and dizziness are normal side effects."

He then smiled at them all with a sense of relief. "But you're all safe. We got to you in time."

"Holy frell..." Ops muttered, letting go of Ensign Avakar and stretching her battered fingers that had been holding on way too tightly. "Thank you god for the backup." Mally stated looking up. It was only fair since she had prayed just moments ago and now were whole... somewhere.

Blinking, she whistled to herself at how 'shiny' and 'like new' this area was. "Ensign," Walking over to the young man who had spoken to them. "What's the designation of this ship?" Almost wanting to pop panels and see what was inside but knowing all too well that'd be rude. Pushing hair out of her face again trying to contain it.

[OOC:Skylar MacKenzie autoed with permission :end OOC]


It seemed as though time was on fast forward for the Bridge Crew on the Liberator.

For a time the pitched battle on the planet dragged on. Seamus had the Comms officer inform Carlos they were lifting off and headed for a support position in orbit.

**********Skylar reported =/\= Captain, Lieutenant Harper wishes to inform you we are making preperations to get underway. We're headed for a static orbit over the Vectari troopships so we can utilize the ships' weapons. =/\=

That last statement, she knew, was fairly redundant. After all, the Captain would know the Vectari didn't have any other craft in the air. They had either been shot down by the Liberator or landed of their own accord to disgorge troops.**********

Then, almost suddenly, it was over and the Vectari were retreating.

"The Vectari are retreating, Sir" Seamus heard from behind him.

Seamus continued to monitor the ship's 'getting-underway' from the Captain's chair when he said "very well. I still want this ship in orbit in less than two minutes."

As the ship climbed for space they detected a small Vectari scout vessel approaching what could best be described as a Starfleet firebase where most of the crew had been fighting the Vectari troops that had landed on the surface.

"Enemy craft approaching!"

Seamus looked at the screen and exclaimed "where the Hell did HE come from!" Turning to Tom Granger who was at the Operations console, he said "Target him! I don't give a damn if they are retreating. Weapons free!"

"I can't get a lock. He's too close to the ship" Ensign Granger replied.

Seamus grumbled and said "the Hell with that! Disengage the safeties! I want that ship blown outa the sky!"

The small Vectari scout fired missiles at the firebase.

"I can't do that, Sir!" Ensign Granger said in a strained voice.

Seamus shot a look at his Ship's Weapons specialist and fired back "do it, Tom!"

"They're too close not only to us. They are too close to the firebase on the surface" Ensign Granger reported. The look on his face indicated just how helpless the situation had become.

Seamus looked back at the viewscreen and the color drained from his face. It was bad enough not being able to save his Father those many years ago. He was now witnessing what could become the final moments of those he felt were his best friends.

Suddenly the comm channel screamed:
"Burgess to Liberator......USE THE BLOODY TRACTOR BEAM! Lower the power output and dispearse the beam. That will allow you to stop their descent and beam them back to the ship!"

Seamus looked to Ensign MacKenzie and asked "what the Hell is he.......?" He trailed off and looked back to the viewscreen. Seamus could see the mountainside had been blown to bits and ordered "MAGNIFY!" The viewscreen magnified the image to show officers and crew plummeting to their deaths. The Chief Engineer fell back in the Captain's chair and the color drained from his face even more. He looked down right frosty now.


continued. . . . .

Surprised was an understatement.

Annie was downright shocked.

She looked around rather shakily at everything... and nothing looked recognizable, though there was a definite Starfleet feel to the whole room.

"I'm not detecting any serious injuries. You all might want to take a few minutes to recover. You were all beamed aboard by a 'transmat'. It's new technology and can leave people a bit disorientated at first. Headaches and dizziness are normal side effects."

He then smiled at them all with a sense of relief. "But you're all safe. We got to you in time."

Thank goodness headaches and dizziness were normal, because Annie was about ready to split open her skull and yank out her brains. She leaned against the wall and sank to the floor, putting her head in her hands.

"Well... I guess that's some comfort," Duo said. "I was beginning to wonder when the room would stop spinning." He rubbed his forehead a second and then blinked. Since no one else seemed ready to chime in, he looked up at the guy standing before them. "So... Just what is this ship and who do we owe our lives to this time...?" he said with a slight sigh.

All these close calls... Duo was beginning to wonder if he *had* made a deal with the God of Death as a kid...

As Charlie landed on her bum, she opened her eyes. It had been too soft of a landing for the fall she had taken. Confused and ... oh dear, really dizzy, she looked around and saw that they were on some kind of ship.... and there was an Ensign saying something... she really couldn't make it out. As the room spun around and around, she tried to find Duo... not being able to lay her eyes on him right away she closed her eyes and was about to mentally call to him when she heard him clearly.

But he seemed so far away. Placing her hand on her stomach she lay down on the floor. "Duo?" she whispered his name. She could sense that everyone was alright, a lot of confusion on their parts, but physically they were fine.

As luck would have it, they were next to each other, so, when Duo heard Charlie call his name, he was able to reach over and take her hand to let her know he was okay and that he was there for her.

'You okay?' he asked her privately while he waited for the person standing there to tell them what was going on.

Dizzyness and headaches, huh? Did near death experiences count? That in itself was enough to give Sakaki a ringer of a headache to remember... not just some 'transmat' device thingy that saved their lives. On his hands and knees, he did just what the person had suggested and took that moment to pull himself back together.

After all, not only had they all just accepted the fact that they were moments from death, but they had just been snatched from that particular situation by some strange device that left people with dizzyness and headaches.

Sakaki was *not* feeling okay. Sure, he was uninjured for the most part (not counting the few cuts, scrapes, bruises, and burns from the explosion he'd just been almost in the middle of), but the whole moment had really thrown off his balance.

He was starting to think he was gonna need more than a moment...

"You okay?"

She heard him ask as she felt him take her hand. A smile crossed her lips.

"yes... just very, very dizzy, disoriented... " She replied in the same matter as she squeezed his hand.

"Do you know where we are? Who that Ensign is? He's wearing a Starfleet uniform... but I thought we were out in this sector on our own..." Her mind filled with questions, and just as suddenly she felt more than guessed.

"Intel... he's from Starfleet Intel."

Luckily, Kendra was together enough after they reappeared in relative safety to stop Aehallh from lashing out protectively at the people around them.

The emohawk made agitated chittering noises, giving everyone a glaring eye as the doctor tried to find her bearings against the splitting headache that threatened to pound a hole in the back of her skull.

Duo frowned at Charlie's revelation. Having someone there from Intel was never an easy matter to deal with. Still sitting on the floor next to Charlie, he glanced over at Carlos.

"Friends of yours?" he asked. It was no real secret anymore that Carlos had been out there before any of the rest of them on an Intel assignment... He was hoping Carlos would say, 'yes'... because Duo didn't really want to have to kick ass if one of them happened to be associated with the particular branch that practically kidnapped Charlie when the Endeavour had returned to Sector 001.

'Intel?' Miho thought, also hearing Charlie's small announcement.

"Weren't we out here alone?" she asked quietly. It was more rhetorical than anything else, but it wouldn't have surprised the security officer if she got an answer anyway.

"Fast ship!" Mikey said, seeing the streak that flew almost through the explosion, leaving a trail of strange sparkles that almost looked like the smoldering remains of ancient pyrotechnics. Pressed to the transparent aluminum that sealed the windows of the Liberator as the two Starfleet vessles ascended to orbit, Mikey watched in awe as the ship came into the scene, banked its turn, and made it back out into orbit in less time than it took the Liberator to finish her escape from the atmosphere.

"WOW!!!" he said, still blissfully ignorant in his childish innocence of what truly almost happened.