Bridge - Deck 1

The Captain saw the image of Como Carpathia fill his Main Viewscreen and stood up as well and straightened out his uniform! Daqtorgh was surprised to hear what the Commodore had to say, but was pleased as well.

Capt Daqtorgh: Hello Commodore, Sir. Thank you for such kind words. I did it because, if I was one of the Marines, I would hope I would have air cover if needed. It gives us a distinct advantage as we have ground and air covered. I have ordered all security teams to all decks with flame weapons and with orders that if any Xenomorphs get aboard to use fire on them and contain them behind a Level 10 Force Field. I suggest all ships in fleet do this. Once again, thank you Sir. You're are a man of honor. Daqtorgh out!

The Klingon CO didn't mean to cut the conversation so short, but he wanted Lt. Mitchell concentrating on listening for any communications from the surface that the colonists are ready to be evacuated from the planet so they can be relocated temporarily aboard SB34 when they arrived and outfitted with the tools they would need to build a new colony on the new planet they would have after the Genesis Weapon was used to create a new inhabitable world by Adm Arayuss.
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Captain Daqtorgh
Commanding Officer, USS Whitestar

ISSCV - Themosphere of New Bajor

As Shane looked over to her left, she saw MCpt Lopez wave back at her as he responded to the SA-43X pilot's call to the ISSCV. This brought a smile to MCpt Vansen's face as she listened to what he had to say.

MCpt Lopez: Captain Vansen, this is Captain Lopez of Infiniti's I-Double-S-C-V. We acknowledge your assistance and wish to express our gratitude to you and the rest of the Wildcards for your support. We're awaiting a transmission from the survivors hiding in the depths of the catacombs beneath the city. As soon as we get one, we'll touch down and setup a base of operations in the clearing, east of the mouth of the cave entrance. So that's our plan, Captain Vansen.

The Marine Captain pilot tapped her Companel to reply to MCpt Lopez...

MCpt Vansen: Roger that, Captain Lopez! I think everyone is waiting to hear from somebody down on the surface. We'll be monitoring your progress from our escort positions. Vansen out.

The Hammerheads stayed with the ISSCV through the long descent in the thermosphere as they slowly entered the mesosphere. There was a lot of cloud cover down there over New Rakantha due to the storm generated by the malfunctioning weather array. There was going to be quite a lot of turbulence the closer they got through the stratosphere towards the troposphere. The SA-43X was designed for space and atmosphere, as was the ISSCV, so neither vehicles should be in any danger of losing control of their flight capabilities. As Shane continued flying her craft on the starboard side of the Marine cargo vessel, she would on occasion look into the cockpit of the ISSCV and give a nod to the pilots as a way of showing comradery towards fellow pilots in the Starfleet Marine Corps.
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Marine Captain Shane A. Vansen
Deputy Detachment Wing Commander, USS Whitestar

USS Whitestar - Bridge - Deck 1

As LtCol Carrera monitored the descent of the ISSCV and the SA-43X's, it was hard not to notice as they entered the troposphere that the 6 vessels were experiencing severe turbulence and due to a lightning strike upon the ISSCV, they lost their inertial dampening system. This means they would have to slow down their descent to avoid injuring the occupants inside, even in their protective harnesses. Rafo made an announcement to Capt Daqtorgh so he would know what was happening with the extraction team.

Lt. Colonel Carrera: Captain Daqtorgh, Infiniti's I-Double-S-C-V has been struck by lightning in the troposphere and it took out their inertial dampening system! Even in their protective harnesses, they need to decrease the descent to the extraction site with all the turbulence they're experiencing. I'm sure Infiniti knows about it as well, but I wanted to make sure you were aware, Sir.

The Marine Detachment Wing Commander continued to monitor the 6 Marine vessels slowly descending through the troposphere to the extraction site where they will begin the process of beaming the refugees up from the surface and safe from the Xenomorphs. Rafo could see the concern on the faces of the officers on the Bridge and it match the expression on his own face. It was extremely dangerous for a ship like the ISSCV to travel through such a rough patch of turbulence, especially with no inertial dampening system. A strong jolt from another lightning strike could cause severe neck injuries. LtCol Carrera hoped all the Marines on this mission would return to Infiniti and Whitestar safely.
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Lt. Colonel Rafael L. Carrera
Marine Detachment Wing Commander, USS Whitestar

Daqtorgh turned to look at LtCol Carrera and gave him an order in hopes of protecting Infiniti's ISSCV, it would be without honor to sit back and do nothing while they were in peril.

Capt Daqtorgh: Colonel, please have the Wildcards en circle the I-Double-S-C-V, creating a barrier of protection around the Marine Cargo Vehicle. Commander Skonch, any way to deter the lightning from hitting that ship? We need ideas sooner than later. Mr. Mitchell, wait on Mr. Skonch's ideas for implementing a lightning deterrent, we need to keep those Marines safe. Also once we have the manifest from the Spaceport in hand let's start running ship passengers, crews and cargo....and Mr. Mitchell, open a frequency to Commodore Carpathia.

The CO waited in his chair on the Bridge for his orders to be carried out. The Klingon Captain really wanted to make sure the Marines aboard the ISSCV were safe passing through the troposphere and landing optimally on the extraction site.
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Captain Daqtorgh
Commanding Officer, USS Whitestar

Hearing what Capt Daqtorgh ordered, LtCol Carrera sent a message to MCpt Vansen to have the SA-43X's en circle the ISSCV as a way of protecting them from further lightning strikes. It wouldn't be long before the Marine vessel was down on the surface, so with a little luck, the Hammerheads would prevent the ISSCV from being hit again.

Lt. Colonel Carrera: Aye Sir, message sent to Captain Vansen.

The Lieutenant Colonel looked over towards Cmdr Skonch to see what his suggestions would be as well as looking over towards Lt. Mitchell to see him opening a frequency to Como Carpathia aboard Infiniti. Rafo was curious to hear what Capt Daqtorgh was going to say to the Division 1 Commander. LtCol Carrera knew it had to be important, since the Captain didn't call people just to chat.
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Lt. Colonel Rafael L. Carrera
Marine Detachment Wing Commander, USS Whitestar

The Vulcan Scientist quickly accessed Whitestar's data library to look for ways of deterring the lightning in the storm from striking the ISSCV again and found a way that may work. Mr. Skonch spoke aloud to the Captain and Lt. Mitchell so they would know the solution discovered by the Commander.

Cmdr Skonch: I've found a solution to the lightning dilemma, Captain. But it would appear the I-S-S-C-V will have landed before it could be implemented. However, they can utilize it for their return to Infiniti. We can beam down a lightning deterrent array after it's quickly manufactured by Mr. Cypher and his Engineering crew. I have the schematics on my console that I can transfer directly to him, Sir.

The Chief Science Officer was ready to send the diagrams and schematics to Cmdr Cypher as soon as Capt Daqtorgh gave the word. The ISSCV would be already at the extraction site by the time the Engineers finished the array, so what the Captain suggested was the best course of action at this time. With the SA-43X's circling the Marine vehicle in a constant circular motion, they would be able to deflect the lightning from striking any vulnerable areas of the ISSCV.
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Commander Skonch
Chief Science Officer, USS Whitestar

Cole listened to everything said on the Bridge by Capt Daqtorgh, LtCol Carrera and Cmdr Skonch. As the Lieutenant prepped his console for the arrival of the manifest for the vessels that interacted with New Bajor, Lt. Mitchell opened a frequency to Infiniti and hailed Como Carpathia.

Lt. Mitchell: Channel open, Captain!

The Chief Operations Officer switched the image of New Bajor off the Main Viewer where they could see the storm clouds over New Rakantha and replaced it with the live image of the Bridge of the USS Infiniti. There they could see the Commodore and his XO sitting in their chairs. The Captain could now speak to Como Carpathia!
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Lieutenant Cole S. Mitchell
Chief Operations Officer, USS Whitestar

Daqtorgh was pleased with the response from his Vulcan Science Officer and turned towards him as he spoke.

Capt Daqtorgh: Thank you, Mr. Skonch.

The Klingon Captain stood up and walked to the front of Main Viewscreen while looking at the Bridge of Infiniti and spoke to Como Carpathia.

Capt Daqtorgh: Greetings, Commodore. I called to let you know the Hammerheads have the I-Double-S-C-V surrounded to prevent it from lightning strikes. We have come up with an idea to disperse the lightning on the ascent back to Infiniti. Mr. Skonch has the schematics for a lightning deterrent array which would disperse the lighting from the cargo vehicle. My Chief Engineer, Mr. Cypher, can assemble this array and we can beam it to their location for installation on the Marine's vessel. If your interested, I'll get Engineering right on it.

The CO waited to hear back from Como Carpathia while standing on the Bridge between Lt. Mitchell at the Ops Console and Lt. Thomas at the Flight Control Console. Daqtorgh felt bad for Mr. Thomas since other than maintaining a steady geosynchronous orbit above New Rakantha, there really wasn't much for him to do.
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Captain Daqtorgh
Commanding Officer, USS Whitestar

The Lieutenant sat at the Ops Console and watched the Main Viewscreen for Como Carpathia's response to what Capt Daqtorgh had told him. It didn't take long before the Commodore spoke and gave his reply to their Klingon Captain.

Como Carpathia: That is a very sound idea, Captain! You have my full support, make it so! We've been contacted by people on the surface and they seem to be mostly children, about a thousand of them! The one who contacted us says he's got a manifest from the Spaceport on a PADD so as soon as Captain Lopez gets it in his possession, they will transmit the data to Whitestar.

The Chief Operations Officer was happy to hear the Spaceport's manifest was in the possession of one of the refugees. But then Cole realized the survivors were mostly children and that saddened him. Their parents must've died trying to protect them from the Xenomorphs and that saddened the Lieutenant even more, so Lt. Mitchell wondered how Capt Daqtorgh was going to take the news regarding the orphans.
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Lieutenant Cole S. Mitchell
Chief Operations Officer, USS Whitestar

The Captain heard the Commodore sign off on his idea, so he started giving commands immediately to follow through on his proposal. Daqtorgh felt really bad for the child refugees and hoped they knew their parents died honorably, sacrificing their own lives so the children would have a chance to survive.

Capt Daqtorgh: Mr. Skonch, transfer the array diagrams and schematics to Mr. Cypher in Engineering!

Tapping his Combadge, Daqtorgh called down to his Chief Engineer.

Capt Daqtorgh: Daqtorgh to Engineering! Mr. Cypher, please have an Engineering team build the array Mr. Skonch has sent you the data on and when the Marines are on the surface beam the array down as soon as possible.

Turning towards the rear of the Bridge, the Captain spoke to LtCol Carrera.

Capt Daqtorgh: Colonel Carrera, please contact the Detachment Commander of Infiniti's Marines and inform them to install the array as soon as they can, before they disembark from the surface.

The CO turned back to the Main Viewscreen and nodded to the Commodore to indicate the array was now in progress and would get done quickly by Cmdr Cypher and his team of Engineers. Daqtorgh returned to his seat on the Bridge and waited to hear the responses of Cmdr Skonch at the Science I Station, Cmdr Cypher down in Main Engineering and LtCol Carrera at the rear of the Bridge. The Captain knew he had an efficient crew and looked forward to hearing back from them.
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Captain Daqtorgh
Commanding Officer, USS Whitestar