Luck, Strategy, Diplomacy. Part I of III

Posted on Sat May 5, 2018 @ 3:27am by Captain Maritza Soran & Commander Caleb Ryan & Commander Amia Telamon M.D. & Lieutenant Liam Reynolds & Lieutenant Annora Tessaro & Lieutenant Alanna Wells & First Lieutenant Gordon Blue
Edited on on Sat May 5, 2018 @ 3:29am

1,659 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Victory Conditions
Location: DS5 Local Space
Timeline: MD08 1100

[ON]

Six hundred million kilometers from Deep Space Five, the USS Svikiri was manoeuvring into its start position, along with the vessels making up its group, including DS5's own Ararat. Solstice, an Akira Class, and McBride an Intrepid, were slowly forming up on the Prometheus' flank, the smaller Intrepid falling in on Svikiri's left. Ararat was half the size of the larger ships and looked quite outclassed as it chugged into position.

Another half a billion kilometres away, practically nothing in space terms, the massive Galaxy class Challenger had taken up position facing the Svikiri. The two Nebula class ships, Resolute and Manifest Destiny, were almost as big. It was a daunting display of muscle against the smaller ships. As a test, it hardly looked fair. And they topped the the insult with the addition of another Intrepid, Koxinga. The huge ships loomed over their end of the arena.

From Maritza's perspective, it looked like a curb stomp. By the numbers, Challenger and its squadron should wipe the cosmos with Svikiri.

Once they were all in place, Martiza knew it was time to start. She opened a comms channel. "All ships report readiness, then test fire phasers then torpedos."

All the ships had had their weapons disabled. Attempting to fire them would only send a report to DS5, where the computer would calculate the effect and tell the ships what damage they had sustained. Firing weapons shouldn't do anything but produce screen readouts.

She looked around Ops at the crew there, and waited as the reports rolled in.

Blue was taking up the station of Strategic Operations for this mission. He had been through tactical school in the Corps and been on the bridge of ships with Marine resources deployed and worked with the smooth operations between his air and ground forces in tandem with the ships of the line. His strong Communications and Cryptics background also helped with the parameters of this operation.

"All telemetry systems are online and computer recording systems are linked, Commander," Blue reported.

This whole test was linking the combat system data from the ships on the two sides with the station. This is the Communications Officer's Heaven, with all the synchronized data streaming from all angles.


USS Ararat

Alanna was monitoring both the effects of the weapon on the area around the ships and the damage done to the target itself. She was still concerned about the science behind the weapon, but she needed more data than just what she could get from the Svikiri's computer.

“Ya’ll heard the lady. Fire away,” Caleb ordered from the center chair. He sat forward, staring ahead at the screen. He listened to the alerts go off that indicated the weapons had fired, and glanced at the screen on the arm of his chair to watch the readouts.

Liam sat at ops, deciding to try another station out he didn't normally. He kept an eye on power levels, making sure enough was allocated to the shields and weapons. Spotting Alana, he telepathically relayed what he had learned earlier at the comms station to her.

Alanna was fascinated by the information from Liam, and grateful that he shared it with her. She sent back several quick images of her work with the computer and how the two pieces of information corroborated each other. Although her data was more theory and testing, his information basically added to it and gave her more concerns she would have to explore when this test was over. Thank you.

Annora decided to sit at an auxiliary station handling the defensive systems.

Amia looked around and decided on the helm. She had thought she would like to try the comms, but when it came to it, she saw the helm was vacant, it suddenly seemed that was what she would have wanted to try all along. She smiled, wondering if the baby would grow up to be a pilot like her dad had started out. Perhaps that was what was drawing her, perhaps the both of them, to the helm. She sat down a little awkwardly as she was beginning to need wide seats these days. Okay, baby! she thought to herself and her unborn child. How hard can this be? Daddy was good at it. Maybe mummy might be too?

Caleb glanced at Amia sitting at helm. He walked over and put a hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “Ya sure ‘bout this, Doc?” He spoke quietly so no one else on the bridge would hear. “In yer condition, yah could sit this out.” Of course, she wouldn’t be in any real danger, otherwise he wouldn’t have even contemplated it.

"I'm very sure about it, sir," Amia answered the Executive Officer. "We both are." She smiled up at him with a sparkle in her eyes. "I'm pregnant, not retired. Well, not yet, sir."

Caleb chuckled. “Just like mah wife. Don’t let this ol’ cowboy keep ya outta the saddle,” he said, patting her shoulder and turning back to the bridge.

“Lieutenant Tessaro.” Caleb turned to his assistant chief of security. “Take the Tactical station. Let’s see how good that shootin’ finger of yours is.” He flashed her a smile. “Lieutenant Milarno, you’re XO in this scenario. Keep these folks in line.” Another smile.

Ryan nodded slightly. "Aye, sir. I'll do my best."

"Aye, sir." Annora secured her auxiliary station and moved over to the main tactical station. She felt more comfortable behind a phaser rifle than the control panel of a starship. However, as she knew controlling a ship's weapons came with being a Starfleet security officer, Annora did her best to stay up to date on that particular skill set.

Caleb turned to his people, looking around the bridge. “Ah know it’s been a while since some of ya’ll’ve been at a ship station. Hell, been a few years fer me, too. An’ yah may be on a new or unfamiliar station, an’ we ain’t had time ta practice an’ become a well-oiled machine. But do yer best, ask fer help if needed, an’, for the love of God, have some fun.” He chuckled. “How often do ya get ta break one a Starfleet’s toys?”

Alanna smiled. She definitely preferred breaking a toy to watching that toy kill someone. She did not trust the new technology being tested and really hoped they could break it. She would do her best to comply with Commander Ryan's request.

Liam grinned at Caleb's choice of words. He could sense Alanna's distrust, but also other personnel's trust and faith in Caleb. Settling back in his chair, he waited for the excitement to begin.

Ryan smiled. It hadn't been all that long ago since he had served aboard a starship, so this wasn't all so new as it was to some of his other colleagues.

Blue was monitoring all the channels and checking the connections as the Svikiri was opening the channel for his squadron.

"Commander, the Svikiri is hailing all her assets." He keyed the Operations view screen to the channel. "I have it on scrambler so the opposing force will not get anything from us, sir," Blue assured.

Captain Hayashi appeared on screen. "Good morning. My strategy for this morning is to use Svikiri to cut a path to the target and keep the opposition at bay, whilst you and your crews attempt to reach and destroy the target. Any questions?"

Alanna raised an eyebrow and made a note of what the plan was so she could monitor it correctly.

“Understood, Captain,” Caleb replied.

Caleb turned back to his team. “We’re small an’ outgunned,” he told them. “But we’re quick an’ maneuverable. We ain’t gonna be goin’ punching up against the heavyweights. Tessaro, keep track of where ever’one’s at. Ah wanna know as soon as there’s an openin’. Helm, keep us right up on Svikari’s keister, right in her sensor shadow, if ya think yer up ta it. Use that bulk ta mask our approach. She’s the lineman an’ we’re the runnin’ back.”

"We'll be so close they'll need a surgical incision to remove us, Commander," Amia replied, and tried to remember all the so-called tricks Cade had shown her when they'd been first dating. She missed life on board a ship, but there were advantages to a station, and the XO was right, how often did a doctor get the chance to play at something else?

"Aye, sir. Keep an eye on all the players and look for a chance to strike. Will do." Annora quickly reconfigured her panel to show a tactical map of the area. She still had access to shields and weapons, but currently she was more worried about where everyone was.

Liam pulled up the interlink between his station and Annora's weapons to ensure he could divert enough energy for whatever she needed. "American football?" Liam queried with Caleb just to check he was on the same page as everyone else.

Caleb grinned at Liam. “Th’only kind, Lieutenant.”

Deep Space Five cut in with an all ship broadcast. Commanders Soran’s voice came across the radio. "Everyone is in position. You have two hours to defend or take the target. Begin."

To Be Continued

Commander Maritza Soran
Commanding Officer
DS5

1st Lieutenant Gordon Blue
Marine Commanding Officer
DS5

Lieutenant Liam Reynolds
Chief Counselor
DS5

Commander Amia Telamon
Chief Medical Officer
DS5

Commander Caleb Ryan
Executive Officer
DS5

Lieutenant Alanna Wells
Chief Science Officer
DS5

Lieutenant Annora Tessaro
Asst. Chief Security/Tactical Officer
DS5

 

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