Chapter 12 - Piggyback

Diederick looked around the bridge, the Starfleet officers were in shock at the sight of what had just happened. Petra, who was starting to get used to this sort of thing happening, continued moving the debris into neat piles. "OK folks" He started "Unless you want to go climbing ladders for ten decks to get to main engineering, we need the comms back up. Sharp, any suggestions?"

Sharp snapped out of his stupor and focused his attention back on the MSD "From the looks of it Darth" James tapped the screen and looked for a way round the issue "We could bypass some of the faulting EPS relays until crews can replace them. The signal may be spotty, but it should be OK."

Diederick was surprised at the skill of the crewman to suggest a course of action which was outside of his training but kept his face neutral "Do it" Sharp nodded and after a few moments Sharp reported "OK, go for it."

"Bridge to Engineering" Diederick stated

"Torres… Here?" Her voice sounded confused, clearly not expecting the Sith's voice or the internal comms to be working yet.

"Torres. The Doctor has relieved Janeway of her duty and placed me in charge of getting the crew back until she's fit again. Are you OK?" Diederick asked

"A few cuts and scrapes but I'm OK. Is Janeway OK?" She asked with concern, relieving a captain of her duty on medical grounds was no small matter.

"We found her in a less than ideal state but she's in good hands now. She was in shock and wanted to still run around like nothing had happened, so we had to intervene." He told her matter of factly "How's the ship?" He asked, changing the subject to be more constructive.

"We're pretty banged up. Luckily, the industrial replicators are working still so it's just time before we've got Warp power back. Impulse power is tricky as I'm having to bypass more EPS regulators than I would like to. The Deflector shields are destroyed so I'm not sure how to fix that with just me here and subspace comms are down. Transporters are working though, so there is that…" She reported.

"You can take the two guys I have with me to speed things along. How long until any of those are fixed?" The Sith asked whilst rubbing his temples as if he was trying to get rid of a headache.

"As long as the automated worker bees are still working, we should have warp power back in the next hour. Impulse should be another two, shields unknown and transmissions with sensors, half an hour." She replied "Bearing in mind, these are patch jobs. I need my team back to put in the proper fix"

"It's my belief that the Kazon poached the escape pods after they were jettisoned. So that they have a workforce that can make the tech you use for their benefit. It's unlikely they'll kill anyone, unless they try to escape on their own. Once sensors are back, we'll plot a course for the nearest known Kazon planet and pay them a visit." Diederick said with a sadistic grin.

"I'll let you know when sensors are back. Torres out" after that the comms went dead.

Diederick turned his attention to Sharp and Cross "Get to Engineering and help put this ship back together. We need the crew back, sooner rather than later." Diederick barked and the two security officers ran to the nearest transporter. He now turned his attention to Petra "Lets clean this place up." Petra nodded and then said, "What about the Talaxian?" Diederick paused, sighed then looked up "Bridge to mess hall" he said tiredly.

He had observed the Talaxian a few times before he left for Petra's training. He was a quirky character who was acting as cook and Voyager's official guide to the Delta Quadrant. Just from the few times he saw him he knew he was a tiresome individual who had a possessive and greedy tendency that would flare up if anyone spoke to or was too close to his Ocampan girlfriend. No threat to the Sith but none the less, a definite irritant.

"Neelix here, to whom am I speaking?" A skittish voice replied almost immediately

"This is Darth Diederick. I am acting as commanding officer until Janeway is back on her feet. Can you get to main engineering or the bridge? Diederick stated flatly.

"I don't know my way to engineering on my own yet Mr Darth, but I can get to where you are."

"Great, as soon as you can please Mr Neelix" he then shut off the comms. He glanced at Petra who was smirking at the interaction. Shaking his head, he started to clear the rubble away.

Half an hour later Torres reported the sensor grid was back online and that subspace communications were online again. With the new help she had, she was confident that the engines will be online within the hour.

"Good work Torres. Bridge out" Diederick said and closed of the channel. Looking around the bridge, it looked better but there was still blackened consoles and lights not working. They needed more bodies to fix this mess but that would now have to wait.

Walking over to the helm he started looking at the data the sensors were picking up on, Petra was hovering behind him, wanting to understand better for future instances "So these are what they're calling warp signatures…" Diederick mused to himself out loud for Petra's benefit "Computer. Analise this warp data and plot a trajectory that takes it close to any hospitable planets and present on the main view screen" He ordered. The computer acknowledged and then displayed the results on the screen, there was around twenty planets displayed on the large screen at the front of the bridge. It was at this point the resident Talaxian made an appearance "Ah Mr Neelix, good timing. As Delta Quadrant guide, I deferring to your expertise." Diederick smirked at the exhausted Talaxian "What sort of people are the Kazon?" Neelix looked at the Sith a little confused but then as if a penny had dropped in his mind he said "They were originally a slave race of the Trabe that then broke free and formed tribes and sects once they managed to build their own starships and weapons. They're now a nomadic race that go around stealing and being a general nuisance. If you're looking for the crew, look for the planet with the most Kazon ships in orbit. This will be their biggest catch in some time so many will come for the advanced technology" Neelix surmised.

Diederick nodded then looked towards the celling "Torres" He called out "What state are the weapons in?"

"Darth, Phasers and launchers are offline. I'll need a day to get them operational again. Do you want me to prioritise them?" Torres questioned.

"No, carry on with the repairs to the engines. We'll need to be able to go past warp seven and half impulse power at a minimum" He commanded

"Aye" She said tirelessly then the comms clicked off. Diederick turned back to Neelix "Do you know any of these planets?" and gestured to the viewscreen. Neelix narrowed his eyes and concentrated "The third planet…I think there is a large manufacturing plant and auction house there. If they're going to start making and selling things, I guess they'd initially go there" He answered confidently.

"Good start" Diederick grumbled "Computer. Plot a course to the third planet in this list and engage when warp engines are available" The computer executed the orders and primed the ship for warp travel.

"Erm" Petra spoke "What are we going to do when we get there? I may have come from a planet that its people haven't left its own star system yet, but even I know that if you're going to get into a brawl you'll want to be able to punch back or, at least, protect your face" This got a chuckle from the Sith "Oh my apprentice, there are more ways to win a fight than throwing a punch" After he said that he sat at the helm and started looking over sensor data about the star system they were going to be going to. Petra frowned in confusion and continued to watch and read what her master was reading.

"Torres to Bridge. Warp core is back online, fixes will hold for a few jumps but ideally, we need a day to be fully working, I recommend not exceeding warp seven. Impulse is only capable of one quarter power; they took a real beating" Torres reported.

"Noted Chief. We're going to warp now. ETA on any shields or weapons?" Diederick asked

"With just myself and these two making repairs it'll be a couple of weeks and an EVA" she reported.

"Don't worry then. Get ready for silent running when we come out of warp" Diederick stated

"Aye sir"

As Voyager jumped to warp the hull creaked and moaned in defiance of its newfound momentum. Petra and Neelix looked nervous whilst Diederick typed in some more commands into the helm "Be there in a couple of hours." He mused "Hey Torres. Is the core still with us? We're currently at warp seven" He asked over the comms

"Running a little hot and structural integrity is weakening, ideally we would have the deflector to negate that effect but other than that we're OK. I'll get working on what I can do to fix the shields in the meantime" She reported.

"Thanks. We'll be at the Kazon planet in a couple of hours, give me an update before we get there. Bridge out" Diederick cut the comms and rose from the helm, walked over to the captain's chair and sat on it "I see why they like it so much…" He mumbled to himself and started to go through the other alerts on the captain's computer.

Petra sat in the chair next to the Sith and spoke "So what's the plan? As good as you are, I'm finding it hard to believe this ship and us, can take on a Kazon sect when four of their ships managed to do this" She waved her hands around the area they were sat in "When it was fully manned"

Diederick glanced at her with a raised brow "There's a tidally locked moon, Voyager will hide there whilst we either beam down and get the crew or take a small shuttle and break them out, killing as many as possible" he explained. Petra furrowed her brow "That's it? There must be at least 4 ships, that we know of, in orbit. If one of them spots us as we come out of warp and that's it for this ship" She exclaimed "Why not come out of warp on the edge of the system, fly a shuttle so far then drift to the moon, land and then transport as many people of possible. Once full Voyager transports them from the shuttle and continue until we have everyone!" Petra suggested. The Darth frowned and thought about it for a while "Sure, do it your way then. Since it's your idea you can be the one to carry it out!" He smiled and watched Petra's face pale in realisation that she'd just volunteered herself.

Voyager came out of warp just on the edge of the solar system, Diederick ordered the Torres to turn the warp engines offline and distribute the power to the transporters and communications. Petra and Cross exited Voyager in a shuttle then performed a short jump to warp to the moon, avoiding detection from the Kazon ships.

"Shuttle two to Voyager." Petra's voice came over the comms

"I hear you Petra" Diederick replied

"We're now on the dark side of the moon. Shuttle now going dark, get ready for transports." She reported in a calm tone.

"All ready. Voyager out" Diederick raised from the Captain's chair and walked over to operations and started scanning the Kazon ships in the area. There were twelve ships in orbit, all classed as Kazon Dreadnoughts. Their shields were down, and they didn't seem to be aware of the derelict ship on the edge of the system. He smiled at their hubris and started tapping away on the terminal; chuckling to himself every so often Neelix felt a chill, as if this was an omen of what to come.

<Shuttle two>

"Me and my big mouth…" Petra bemoaned whilst helping to put the shuttle into silent running mode. Aidan who was also applying settings looked over at her "It's a good plan Petra. You've adjusted amazingly fast from where you came from" He complemented her in an attempt to cheer her up.

"OK, we're now in silent running mode" Petra ignored the complement and now switched to a scanning application on the terminal. Aidan smiled mirthlessly and looked over the scans "I see where they're being held. We'll have to be really quick to get one hundred and forty seven to a shuttle designed to carry six…" He said trying to work out how this plan was going to work with math like that.

"I'm assuming there is a way to delay the transport so we can transport six at a time?" Petra asked

"Yes, I believe so. But won't the Kazon notice something's up when people start disappearing?"

"We'll just have to watch and see how everyone interacts and moves for now. We'll transport when ready. Let Voyager know." Petra ordered and Cross relayed what the plan was back to the Sith "Sharp's on standby. Try not to make us wait too long Petra" Diederick said flatly and then the comms was cut.

Sharp and Petra spent the next few hours watching the scan results to build a picture of how people moved about on the planet below. The Kazon seemed to move groups of twenty at a time to large areas for an hour at a time then they moved back to what they assumed where holding cells. "What do you think they're doing?" Aidan asked

"Looks like an auction…" Petra said flatly, Aidan's face snapped to look at Petra horrified "Seriously?" He asked

"Why not?" She asked back in confusion "They're nomads with sects that live for fighting each other but now there happens to be twelve heavily armed ships around this one planet? With so many Starfleet crew down there, the other sects will want the new technology that your people will provide them, a golden age of advancement and make their sect the most powerful." Aidan's face grew angry at the thought of his friends and fellow crew members being sold off as chattel "We need to get them out of there" He spat in anger.

"Agreed" Petra smirked at the screen "OK that group must have been sold off already as the Kazon hasn't come to them in over two hours, that will be group one. Followed by this group…" Petra listed off the groups and rooms that she could see once finished she sent a message to Voyager to prepare for transports, only by text as Aidan mentioned that too many normal comms here could give away their position.

Checking over the map again for a further few minutes to steel her nerves, she looked at Cross and said "OK. Start the transport."