The Nemesis

[Scribe]

STARDATE: 10112170

The ship was silent in the space over Gaia, waiting patiently for its crew.

She was two hundred meters in length, capable of reaching Warp 6 at maximum, with two torpedo tubes and with mutli phasic shields capable of defending against Dominion photonic phaser fire. With a designation of NCC-001, she was the first of the constellation class starships to be built post in Xindi War era. With a crew complement of 250 and incorporating elements of Gaian, Vulcan and Bajoran ship building technology, the ship was the future of Starfleet.

She was called Nemesis.

"There she is folks," Ensign Nunez looked over his shoulder at the Sharks that he was delivering. With commissioning of the Nemesis, the ship now awaited its crew. Once fully complemented, she would be on route to Dominion space, Nemesis' assignment would have the ship keeping guard of the border between the Dominion and the Federation territories. She was built to fight Jem'Hadar.

"That's a nice ship," Luke Randolph said looking through the view screen as they approached the vessel in the distance. Now a full Corporal, Luke like his brother had been sad to leave Gaia. They had been for as long as their career in the Sharks, ground pounders. However, now, they were going to be spacers. Leaving their mother and their friends had been hard but as Colonel Merrick had said to them, it was always inevitable that the lambs would leave the flock.

And then in his own charming fashion, he had aded, "now get the fuck out of here and go give someone else an ulcer."

Nice.

If there was one consolation to be had in this, Cori Harwood and Mackenzie Brooks had also been given the same posting. They were now part of the Starfleet Marines on the NCC-001 Nemesis.

"Do you know anything about the captain in charge of the Sharks?"


"Only be reputation," Luke explained. "He's only just made Captain, spent a lot of time in space though."

"Wow...." Leaning over Mack, Cori looked past her friend to get a view of the new ship.. of their new home. As a boomer, she'd grown up on and around spaceships and yet was still impressed by the Nemesis. Her lines were graceful, like a ballerina but damn, if she didn't look like she could seriously kick some ass. Glancing at Mack, she grinned at her friend and looked over to Sean. "What do you know about him? Heard anything in the Sargent's circles?"

Sergeant. Sean was still getting used to that. Yet as proud as his mom was of that, Sean never downplayed the promotion of his brother or the girls, who both sported Lance Corporal stripes. "Not really," he answered, eternally glad that both his brother, his friend and his girlfriend were all stationed with him.

"Just that he's pretty hardline." Sean shrugged, glancing over the rest of the team, the same attention to detail that made him sergeant doing a once over of everyone's uniforms and kit. Catching Mack watching him for a moment, he winked at her.

Mack gave him a little smile back and reminded herself that they'd really need to watch the relationship stuff now that they were on the starship. Captain Rickman had been pretty good about it because he'd been there from ground up but she didn't want to think her sole purpose of being on the Nemesis was the Sarge's lay. Oh God, she did love Sean but as a shark, she needed to prove her own credibility to those who didn't know her.

"Hardline?" Luke snorted, "after Rickman, I think we can handle anything."

Ensign Nunez was listening to the conversation and almost tempted to add a little something about their suppositions regarding the Shark Captain, but he didn't. It was worth the price of admission to see the looks on their faces when they finally met.

"Nemesis, this is the shuttle Murray-Darling coming into Bay 2." Nunez spoke into his communicator, notifying Nemesis of its eminent arrival. He kenw for a fact that Captain Starkova wanted to meet her new recruits.

"You are cleared for landing, Murray-Darling." A voice returned promptly.

"We'll soon be there folks, I guess this is your first time in space?" Nunez asked as he looked to his passengers. "Yeah we seemed to be getting a lot of that on the Nemesis. Your captain is new and so its the Captain Riggs."

"Well, it's their first time in space," Cori replied, straightening back up to look over at the Ensign. "I'm a boomer," she said, wide eyes a little older than they should be though out of the entire shuttle, the only three that knew why were sitting here beside her.

"And a pain in the ass," Sean joked, chuckling as Cori stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm not sure about first time in space. We were on the Surak during the Xindi war," he told the Ensign, who was possibly younger than he was. Whoa..

"Yeah I read about that in school," Nunez threw back with a grin.

"Real funny Ensign," Luke chuckled, deciding he'd like this kid.

"So what about the Captain of the Nemesis?"

"Oh you mean Captain Riggs?" Nunez declared. "Well he's just made Captain too, served as the exec on the Excalibur I think. Nice guy, shoots from the hip a little and doesn't always play by the book I hear but supposedly one hell of an officer. Rumour is, he lost his captain at Azati but managed to get the ship out. He was pretty banged up. Been recovering for the last year. I guess this was his reward."

It felt a little comforting to Mack to know that they were all going into this fresh, with everyone on a level playing field so to speak.

"The Excalibur?" Cori glanced at her friends, Luke in particular because while she'd moved on, she still felt the loss of Alexandra Styles and he knew how deeply. Still, Azati had lost everyone friends and without even meeting the man, Cori felt a connection. Had he and his captain been close? Friends even? "That's good," she continued. "Means he's got experience and hasn't been flying a desk his entire career."

Sean grinned, quite used to Cori's outspoken ways. Just like Mack, she tended to say what she thought although it did seem the last year or so, she was learning to filter what she said and when.

"Nicely put Cor," Luke shook his head. He adored the woman but sometimes that mouth...

Nunez gave the girl a look. "That's not the way it seems to work on the Nemesis it seemed. The focus is on new but smart. They say she might take the Enterprise' place as the flagship."

"Never happen," Mack spoke up. "Enterprise is like...THE SHIP."

"Totally," Cori said, giving Nunez a doubtful look. Sean only sighed in long suffering patience as he settled back for their approach. ''

******

The shuttle arrived in the spacious landing bay of the NCC-Nemesis a short time later. The bay like everything else on the Nemesis was larger than most and was capable of comfortably housing at least three or four shuttle depatures at a time. Captain Tate Starkova stepped onto the landing bay the instant she had been informed the ship was arriving. Being her first command, she knew that she was probably overcompensating.

Blei, she thought. Just calm down.

Truth was, she hadn't expected a command and still wasn't sure how she felt to be in charge. Being a Shark, it had been difficult enough trying to keep up with the men and not appear weak. She hadn't realised that she'd been doing such a good job that someone felt that it was time for her to be in charge. She'd been too busy ensuring that everything didn't go to hell and that she got out with her neck intact.

As the shuttle came in, Tate wonderered about her Sargent. The recommendation from Colonel Merrick had been glowing. All four recruits had seen action. They were close which helped when this was a new ship and bonds needed to be forged to get the comraderie in place. Oddly enough her Sargent was a twin and while one would have expected the one with genius level intellect to make sargent grade first, it seemed that Sean Randolph had managed it because he was good with taking charge, with thinking fast and ensuring that everyone else were focussed. The other one, Luke was also good but was more of a thinker. In the situations that Sharks were more likely to encounter, Sean Randolph was the one who would get people out of immediate danger while Luke would consider how to save their skin after. Harwood had a reputation for being mouth any Tate had to confess a soft spot for MACO women who knew how to speak their mind. Too many of them just tended to fold under the sway of their male counterparts.

Altough Tate would never sway. She was a statuesque, 5'10 with blue eyes and hair that had been cut short into a page boy cut. She was originally a blond but had dyed it black in an effort to be taken seriously. Boot had been sheer hell for her. A tall, blond was guaranteed to be hit on by any thing with penis. *Bekaopors*, she snorted.

The shuttle (who the hell named it Murray-Darling, Cori wanted to know) touched down lightly enough, barely sending any warning through the deck plating into their boots. "Nice landing," Cori remarked to Mack.

Sean's grin dissolved into Mr. Serious. Despite the rank, he was still quiet and kind of formal around new places and people. "Showtime," was all he said, all he really expected to have to say. Around him, the lower-ranking sharks got themselves together and when the heads up came from the cockpit, all of them were on their feet, untethering their seabags and hauling them up.

As the hatch popped, Cori felt her ears do the same, the pressurization changing a bit. She swallowed, tilting her head slightly to help her ears and quickly squeezed Mack's arm.

Sean made his way to the front of the line and as the hatch lowered to the deck with a soft thud, he found himself staring at a gorgeous woman. Okay. Mack was his baby, his one and only but the woman in front of him was... striking, to say the least.

And she looked like she could crush him in a heart beat. And, his mind belatedly came to realize, she was wearing a Shark uniform.

Woah....babe! Major babe! Luke Randolph's mind found himself thinking the minute he laid his eyes on that impressive...well everything.

Until he got closer.

And realised that she wasn't major....not she was Captain. His Captain.

Very different from Captain Rickman but the look of her was to say the least, formidable. She could kick all their asses from here to the Klingon Empire. Trying to remind himself that if he hit on her he could get spaced, Luke was unable to hide the fact that he was measuring her by the same yard stick as he did any woman. With a yard stick that had only three letters. S - E - X.

"Mouth close," Mack teased as she stared at the woman, just as awe struck as the rest of them.

"Sargent Randolph," Tate walked over to the young man who was gaping and wondered for a moment, whether he had a problem working with women or did he eye everyone of them the way his brother was leering at her now. "Captain Tate Starkova." She greeted. "Welcome aboard."

Sean blinked for a second. Tate... like.. a guy named Tate. Not a woman? "Thank you," he remembered to say after a moment, face going back to all business as he snapped to a salute quickly. "Sergeant Sean Randolph, ma'am. Corporal Randolph, Lance Corporals Hartwood and Brook...." he continued, introducing the handful of others exiting the shuttle after Mack. "Reporting as ordered."

"At ease Sargent," she said approving his quick recovery and let her eyes moved over the rest of her new Sharks. They looked every bit the sharp, raw soldiers she needed for the frontier assignment they'd pulled.

Shifting her bag, Cori used to bump into Luke and give him a look that said you're drooling, Romeo.

Luke gave her a look to say no I wasn't but in truth, he was a little. Still the woman was smoking hot.

Mack wondered who would name a kid Tate? And then realised that they were probably the same as the kind who would name a kid 'Mackenzie.'

"As you can see, the Nemesis is one of a kind and you will be the first Sharks to fly with her. Our mission is high risk and our opponents most likely the Jem'Hadar," Tate spoke as she glanced over them. "You are here because I wanted the best and your record until now certainly indicates it."

"Yes ma'am." Sean gave her a nod. "Our training was adjusted for their abilities." Short and sweet. Or awkward.

With the exception of her accent, Captain Starkova reminded Cori of Alex. Confident, with that ballsy, take no prisoners air that she hoped to cultivate one day.

Tate expected that. She had read the report from Colonel Merrick and the directive that changed their training regimen into something hardier. Word was that Captain Merrick had actually asked for Klingon assistance. The Klingons were so amazed by the sheer audacity of it, that they permitted Merrick permission to enter Klingon space, to watch their warriors train. What he learned was incorporated into MACO training because Merrick believed and rightly so, that they were facing a new and meaner army.

"Alright, let's get you people settled." Tate declared. "I'll show you to your billets and you can have the next 24 hours as furlough. We still have personnel joining the ship so I would advise you take the time to familiarize yourself with the lay of the land."

"You got it," Sean replied with a nod. "What about decks that are off limits? That kind of thing? And I understand us sharks have a deck all to ourselves?" Such a thing was unheard of. Usually, their spaces were crammed in next to flight decks or as close to the warp core as one could get and still produce viable offspring in the future.

“That’s right,” Tate nodded as she lead the troop out of the shuttle bay into a corridor. Other crewmembers were moving up and down the hallway, going about their business, like busy worker bees in the hive, all with their own duties to attend. “We’re in the deck below the Fleeters, they’ve been calling it the Shark Tank, so I guess that sort of fits. It’s a good location though, one deck away from the OB deck and the galley.”

"Great." Cori grinned at Mack. "The boys won't have far to go to fill up those bottomless pits they call stomachs."

"Ignore her." Sean was teasing although his tone to Captain Starkova was deadpan. "We all do."

Tate threw Cori a little smile and then added. “I did put that recommendation in when it was being decided where we were going." Tate had dealt with MACO males too

“Captain,” Luke spoke up, “I’m the comtech, is there a spare area I can use as a workshop? I like to reconfigure my own equipment.”

Tate had heard about the genius corporal she was getting and was pleased that he did not disappoint. “That can be arrange, put in a request as to how much space you’ll need and I’ll see if the Chief Engineer has some space for you in Engineering.”

“Great,” he thought happily.

Glancing at Luke, Cori gave him a smile. His own workshop, he'd be in heaven and the only way they'd get him out was with lace-clad estrogen.

"Thanks, Captain," Sean told her, with a nod. "Hartwood's our medic so at some point, she'll make herself known in Sickbay." If they were lucky, she wouldn't give the CMO a heart attack with her methods that were so screwy they worked. "And she's been doing it for a while. She's not squeamish." He'd seen Cori bled on, puked on.

"Good," Tate nodded in approval. "This isn't the place to squeamish. Not where we're going."

Luke could understand that. "So how close to Dominion territory are we approaching?" He inquired as they stepped into a turbo lift.

"We will be just beyond their borders," she explained. "We've established a buffer between Dominion and Federation space, a neutral zone if you like. We can't cross it without it being an act of war and vice versa for them."

Mack shuddered. "Are they likely to cross it?"

"I'm not sure," Tate replied and held up her hand a moment for all to be silent. "Deck 4 please." She told the the computer before resuming her conversation. "They've been quite vigilant about keeping in their own space but part of our mission will be survelliance. We still don't know where they come from."

"What about the lines, Captain? Of the neutral zone? They get fuzzy at all?" Sean asked, mostly because some races liked to claim that extra few feet of territory just to be pains in the asses.

"No fuziness," Tate shook her head. "From all reports, the instant a ship strays into their territory, Jem'Hadar attack ships are on hand and ready to attack. They don't tolerate the fuzzy at all."

"Gotcha. Anyone got any other questions?" Sean glanced around at his team.
Speaking up, Cori picked that one up. "We've seen the Jems using anti-coagulants in their weapons but not all of them. What have you heard on that front?"

"At this stage not much else," Tate replied, impressed by the question. "We know that they used phased poloron energy and when they fired, the beam works on two fronts, first to destroy biological tissue and then to introduce the anti-coagulants. We've also detected circuit in try uniforms which allowed them to penetrate force fields to a degree and emit some kind of cloaking field."

"Great," Cori remarked dryly, earning a dead look from Sean. "So they're invisible and shock-resistant. New tactic, Sarge. We should just use concussion grenades. Save ammo that way." She grinned at Mack.

Chuckling, Sean grinned back at her and then at Mack, where he sent another barely discernible wink in her direction.

Luke considered, wondering if it was possible to configure the phasers so that they could generate some kind of disruption field. He didn't know that much about poloran energy but he planned on finding out.

"What about the Bajoran people?" Mack inquired, remembering that world from her early years as a shark. "Do we have any intel on how they're faring?"

"We get bits of information occassionally," Tate answered as the turbo lift came to a halt and the doors opened to empty them down a corridor where other Sharks were walking about, going to and fro their business. "The resistance if pushed pretty far underground and from I understand they're putting up a fierce fight, but they're using stone knives to fight a blaster. Its ugly."

The Captain had that right, Cori thought, having read medical reports in the first few weeks of her training. While Sean was right, she wasn't squeamish, this anticoagulant business was just... evil. Even winged, a person could still be in serious trouble. Gave her nightmares about her friends bleeding out in her arms and she was helpless to stop it. Still, Cori felt confident in her abilities, especially with all the recerts and extra training in up to the minute tips and tricks from the combat zone. Well. Confident and exhausted. So much so, that she'd fallen asleep two nights in a row fully dressed, right there on her desk.

Sean nodded to another sergeant who passed them, again feeling like he was too young to wear these stripes. Well. Sort of. He was glad to have them, confident but damn, he felt like he was barely old enough to shave compared to some of these guys.

They arrived in the middle of the hallway, next to a computer terminal. "Your room designations should be listed here," Tate replied, sensing that enough had been said to assist them with their orientation. "Its two to a room and there'll be a briefing at 1900 hours tonight after dinner, just to catch us up and all new personnel joining us."

Turning to Sean she added, "Sargent, I assume you're able to get everyone settled?"

"Yes, Captain," Sean nodded, glancing at the terminal. "1900 hours, we'll be there." And he wouldn't have to prod any of his people or remind them either.

Even as Sean was answering, Luke was taking a look at the terminal and brought up their names. As expected, he was bunking with his brother. Looks like nothing much was changing there anyway. They were still as joined at the hip now as they had been since birth. Nor was it any surprise that Cori and Mack were roomed together. "You and Mack are in Room 3," he remarked to Cori and Mack.

"Cool," Mack smiled as she saw Captain Tate walking away, leaving them to their own devices.

"And I'll have to put up with your toxic farts for another few years," Luke grinned at Sean. "We've got Room 7."

"Mine? It wasn't my room that had to be repainted after Chili Night," Sean retorted, back to his usual self now that it was just them.
Rolling her eyes, Cori shouldered her seabag again. "C'mon Mack. Let's find our room and get settled before those two start discussing Luke's fart theory," she joked, glancing at the placards on the wall to get her bearing. "Three..and Seven this way..." she said, pointing out

"Yeah, I'd like to leave some mystery in our relationship," she winked at Sean as she followed Cori towards Room 3. Their things had already been transported aboard and were most likely in their rooms waiting for them.

Laughing, Cori turned to face front just in time to avoid stepping on someone. "Excuse me," she grinned, moving back to let the person pass. "Let's go unpack," she told Mack. "Then I'm going to find Sickbay. You wanna come with?"

"Sure," she replied, wanting to take a look around the ship. "Let's check this place out." She winked.

"I'm going to head down to Engineering," Luke declared, "what are you going to do?" He asked Sean. "Show off your Sargent's stripes that the big dog is in da house?" He teased.

"Of course," Sean grinned, makinjg a show out of buffing off the patch on his uniform. "No, I'm going to write Mom and find the galley. I'm starving."

"Ooh.. galley sounds good... here we are, number 3," Cori said, giving Sean and Luke a wave before disappearing inside.

Leaving them to their own devices, Sean winked at Mack. "1900 hours... we should probably go in together, the four of us, so let's meet here at 1845. That cool with you, Luke?"

"Sounds good to me," Luke replied, eager to make his own exploration of the ship.

"See you Sarge," she teased as she turned to follow Cori.

"Damn." Sean sighed as his eyes followed Mack until she disappeared. "I was hoping it wouldn't sound so sexy when she was in uniform..."

Luke laughed, slapping his brother on the back. "Suffer like the rest of us." He retorted. "Catch you later bro."

"Later." While Luke went off, Sean could hear Cori and Mack talking in their new room. Smiling to himself, Sean went to the room he would share with Luke. Which would feel all the more like home with his brother and his girlfriend there.