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Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

Episode 04: Simulcast | Chapter 05 "Battle of Starbase 84"

"Whenever death may surprise us, let it be welcome if our battle cry has reached even one receptive ear... and another hand reaches out to take up our arms."
- Che Guevara

[ Captain Ives | Vector 01 | Main Bridge | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

The battle for survival was fully under way. Vector 02 and its dedicated wolves had attempted to take out Starbase 84's tactical array. Unfortunately, it had merely taken some damage, appearing largely intact.

"Report," Ives had said, her teeth clenched, fearing what Trent might say. One of the fighters had been destroyed. Unless she'd managed to eject somehow, it meant another wolf dead. The tactical array was likely still operating, so if the pilot had died, she'd died in a failed assault.

[Allegiant to Theurgy. Deploying the TPS probe now. Target; that tactical array,] It was Lieutenant Commander Dewitt, taking the initiative after the first assault had failed. It seemed the Black Opal's CO did not lack for bravery, that was certain, much less the Allegiant's new dedicated pilot.

"Acknowledged, Allegiant. We'll try to draw the fire," Ives turned her head and saw the scoutship changing course, heading towards the starbase. The Manta-class scoutship would be able to take more hits than a Valkyrie could, and if the probe hit correctly, then they would have a painted target for all to concentrate their fire on. "Ives to all Vectors, move in! Draw the attention away from the Allegiant! Then fall back once she's made her pass."

"Aye, Captain!" called Aisha S'Iti from the helm, her lightly scaled finger quickly tapping in the new course heading. "Engaging Beta 1-4-0 evasive manoeuvres for the approach!"

Said and done, they shot forth towards the base and initiated a series of rapid turns to throw off the phaser fire that followed their trajectory. Vectors 02 and 03 moved in as well, acknowledgement heard from their respective bridges. Even the Lone Wolves moved in with the Vectors, firing against torpedo launchers and phaser banks on the starbase in hope of penetrating the Orunal-class spacedock's shields. Most importantly, the Allegiant did not draw all the fire from the base, and allowed it to shoot past the tactical array. With her heart beating fast, Ives waited for the acknowledgement from the Allegiant that the probe had been deployed, and that they had a tetryon marker for the array to concentrate their fire upon.

As the bridge shook from the bombardment, Jien saw something else as they drew near. One of the bay doors on the mushroom head of the base was blown apart and sent adrift - apparently destroyed from within the spacedock. As alarming as the sight was, knowing how there was an entire Air Group of interceptors commissioned to the base, it had been expected that they'd get out eventually. Things would become a great deal more difficult, so it was imperative that the base's own tactical systems were impaired. Without word from the Allegiant, Ives' eye was kept drawn to the opening of the spacedock. She expected to see the black and white swarm of interceptors spilling out into space, but instead...

...she saw the damaged hull of a Luna-class starship. She remembered Trent mentioning the USS Resolve earlier, the ship believed lost beyond Romulan space, and while she had not counted on the ship to be the first contender they faced from the starbase, she suspected it was just the beginning. For indeed, right behind her swarmed the interceptors, darting out from behind the Resolve and engaging the Lone Wolves Squadron, the Allegiant and the Theurgy's three vectors.


[ Lit Cmdr. Miles "Iron-Fox" Renard | Wolf-01 Cockpit | Outside Starbase 84 ]Attn: Lone Wolves Squadron & the Allegiant

Game's fate was still uncertain, but it was evident her Valkyrie was destroyed. When the orders came that they were supposed to draw attention away from the Allegiant, Renard bit his teeth together against the trepidation of a close pass. Nevertheless, he opened the squadron channel and spoke.

"This is Wolf Leader. Morrigan, you and Husker join Outrider and guard Vector 02. The rest of you, stay with your Vectors as they move in towards the base. The objective is to draw fire from the Allegiant. Target launchers and phaser banks on the base, and while you won't likely get through the shield, you are to be noticed and draw attention. Wolf Leader, Out."

[This is Morrigan,] said Fasha, breaking off from Vector 01 as ordered, [acknowledged. Changing Vectors and moving in.]

[Outrider here, acknowledged. I'll fall in on Husker's six.] Miles heard how Outrider was shaken by the loss of Game, but her death was not yet verified.

[This is Ghost, acknowledged!] came the reply from Rawley, [Staying with Vector 03 and making bloody some noise!]

When the last pilots had reported in, all three Vectors were converging on Starbase 84.


OOC: This chapter features the Battle of Starbase 84, meaning that unlike Chapter 02: Crucible, all the writers with characters on the Resolve will be posting in this thread as well. Here is the posting order for the different ships in this Chapter as of its beginning:

Vector 01 of the Theurgy| Main Bridge: 1) Natalie Stark + Sarresh Morali 2) Carrigan Trent 3) Tovarek

Vector 02 of the Theurgy | Main Sickbay: 1) Doctor Maya taking command 2) Heather MacMillan 3) Hylota & Vinata Vojona 4) Hayden O'Connor

Vector 03 of the Theurgy | Main Engineering: 1) Lin Kae 2) Rihen Neyah + Carla Abner 3) Nolak Kalmil

Lone Wolves Squadron: 1) Husker 2) Goldeneye 3) Iron Fox & Ghost

USS Resolve | Main Bridge: 1) Derik Veradin 2) Six & A'vura 3) Tristan Kendrick 4) Keval ch'Rayya 5) Depends on Development

USS Resolve | Fighter Assault Bay: After Kendrick's/Keval's post 1) Havenborn 2) K'Ren 3) Krystal Tancredi

USS Allegiant: 1) Sithick 2) Jaya Thorne

Some locations are not listed, but nor are they forgotten. Check PMs in that case. ;) Happy posting!

Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

Reply #1 –
[ Ens Derik Veradin | Bridge | USS Resolve ] Attn: Resolve Crew

Derik had been sitting in silence for the last little while, steeling himself for his next steps. While the parlay had been going on, he'd kept his mouth shut, itching for the order to take them finally out of this cursed docking bay. Despite plenty of room on the Resolve bridge, he'd started to feel a growing sense of claustrophobia, as if he was experiencing the ship's own stress and desire to leave the bay as well.

Finally the talking had ceased and the order was given. Responding with just an, “Aye, sir,” Derik executed the commands he'd already lined up to take them out of the base. It was still a tight fit having just the charred piece of the one door open and out of the way, but they made it out, followed by dozens of the interceptor fighters.

He glanced at a secondary screen showing him warp status from Engineering. Everything was green. Their course would look, at first, like they were heading straight out to battle the Theurgy, but when they cleared the base’s shields, he angled them just a few degrees off, clear of the other ships present and brought his hand down to execute the jump to warp.

Nothing happened. Well, that's not exactly true, things were starting to happen all around them as it would be obvious to all observers that their new course was an escape vector… but the warp drives didn't take them to warp.

He stared in disbelief at the console and tried hitting it again. Again, nothing. “Sir… the warp field isn't stabilizing and taking us to light speed. Veradin to Engineering, our warp engines aren't working!”

Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

Reply #2 –
[Lt. JG. Suq | Main Bridge | USS Resolve ]

Suq was happy to see Derik as alive. It cut the edges off his tension. He could feel the muscles in his back release slowly and thought he could feel them roll over his shoulder bones. He carried a shudder across his upper back.

But then he heard Drauc's voice. That Romulan voice. There was nothing actually wrong with the voice itself, really, he had a nice voice as far as Suq was concerned, but the words he carried made him want to close communications, cover his ears, scream, anything to stop the bad news. He stood stock still. The tension rose right back up to his shoulders. Worst of all, he felt hatred for Hawthorne. Hatred like a horrible poison in his chest. A great hungry soulless black hole.I'm home to a lot of those these days.

He was not religious but found himself thanking the spirits anyways. Kendrick had given the order to scram and Suq no longer felt any moral obligation to stay. He kept his eyes locked on the engineering console as the Resolve eeked out the bay doors. He didn't like how close they were coming to scraping the paint off, not that they had much left to scrape, and god he wished those stupid Interceptors would just leave the big girl alone while she eased herself out of the bay. She was like a wounded whale surrounded by parasites waiting to feast. Go away, he wanted to shout. Shoo.

They made their slow, limping way to the shields. Suq vividly remembered seeing the shields on screen and thinking he was about to come home. Never this. Never being made to be a gladiator. He saw Derik prepare her for warp, he sighed in relief, they were gone...

Wait a minute. The viewscreen still showed the Theurgy, mocking them by looming so quietly. There were still Interceptors buzzing about. This wasn't right. Most importantly, there was this god-awful whine. A high pitched sound clearly coming from the engines, a sound that was not there the last time they tried warp and a sound that he's sure a healthy ship should not be making.
"It's my professional opinion,"He spoke out loud, his voice wavering, but he tried to keep his confidence up, he was, after all..."as head of engineering," He took large steps over to Derik's console, looking at his readings and confirming them with his. His mind processed them all rapidly, and he had to double check the numbers. This...This was beyond words. "That we're not at warp. But we should be. Because these numbers say we're at warp. We're using power like we're warping. We have the power to warp in the first place. We're not making our subspace bubble-thing. Oh god, look at these numbers, slow her down, our matrix compositor will fuse!"

His voice went from calm, to loud all within a few seconds. Without knowing where the failure was taking place, any number of disasters could occur. Anything from conduit explosions to a warp core containment failure could happen if the engine stalled like this. Worst of all, the ship was, to put it kindly, shit. He had no way of knowing if it was one of the many jury-rigged fixes put in place, just to hold them until they got home, or if it was something more sinister...

It could be the borg woman, he thought. She was in engineering, he was not, and she was borg. But that didn't make sense. Chances were very good she wanted to get out of here as bad as they did, and if she wanted to ruin them, she could've done so back in the docking bay. Conflict blossomed across his features, he buzzed her with his combadge. "Suq to engineering. We're not entering warp. What's going on down there?" There shouldn't be anything wrong, he thought. He maintained the warp core. He ran checkups just before they got here. The only people who would've touched it between then and now is--

And then, with his combadge link still open, and all of bridge watching his slow descent into his odd state of tightly controlled panic, he stood ramrod straight, face pale, and voice startlingly calm.


"It's sabotage."

Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

Reply #3 –
[ USS Resolve | Main Bridge | Deck 01 ] Attn: All Resolve Bridge Crew

After the Efrosian made his announcement, another hail came to the Resolve. Once it was opened, Ian Hawthorne's face was seen on the viewscreen.

"Going somewhere, Kendrick?" he said, but there was no jest in his tone - the words belying the darkness in his stare. On the contrary, the fact that the Resolve had tried to flee the battle had been apparent on Starbase 84's sensors, and he did not stay the Sword of Damocles. "You should have surrendered when you had the chance."

Then, the transmission ended, with no chance for a reply.

Within five seconds, the first Interceptor opened fire against them. Then the second, and the third. In short order, the Resolve's shields were bombarded by pulse phaser cannons, Interceptors sweeping across overhead and carving lines into the dorsal hull when the emitters couldn't regenerate the shield quickly enough. Five Interceptors became ten, then fifteen. A whole squadron had made its pass, cuttings its mark, a whole pack tearing at the Resolve with its teeth. Within thirty seconds, when the first squadron had made its pass, a second squadron followed. Sixteen more interceptors going for the ventral side of the already damaged Luna-class ship, releasing photon torpedoes into the deflector dish and the starboard nacelle. Without mercy or delay, Commander Jared Salazar had ordered his pilots to take out the Resolve...

...and unless something was done quickly, the shield generators would not keep up, and the ship would be destroyed within a minute.

The lights flickered on the bridge with each jarring impact. Hull breaches sprung where the shields failed all across the ship. Life-signs vanished from the internal sensors. Consoles detonated in bright conflagrations. Sparks rained from the ceiling like sediment sinking to the bottom of a glass. Smoke from fires welled up, and burning plasma shot from the bulkheads. The noise on the bridge was deafening, and warning klaxons were heard on all decks.

On Starbase 84, Captain Hawthorne watched the viewscreen that showed the Resolve's plight - hiding a faint smile as he watched its dance of death.

Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

Reply #4 –
[Jaya Thorne |  USS Allegiant Bridge] Attn: Auctor, Kaligos, Allegiant Bridge Crew, Every ship drawing fire away from the Allegiant

Jaya compensated for a further weapons range than expected by moving to her maximum distance, but even this far away the Starbase still fired the occasional potshot in their direction.  But those shots weren't connecting, which meant at this distance they couldn't be reliably targeted.  Unfortunately, the Allegiant would be rendered useless at this distance as well, unless those wolves could get in there and get the job done. 

That's when they saw the torpedo impact one of the fighters.  Jen had ordered fullscreen magnification, but no one on the bridge knew if the pilot made it out or not.  It was a sobering moment.  The kind where you realize what sort of stuff you're made out of.  Those without the proper stomach for battle always broke down in some way, but a Starfleet crewman was called to be better than that.  And so was Jaya.  But the crew was already shaken from the presumed loss of the pilot and the failed first plan.  Jaya knew what that meant: back up plans were now in full gear.  And Commander Dewitt wasted no time in implementing the next one.

"Thorne, we are going in. New course; One-Zero-Niner, mark Four. Employ whatever tricks you know, but you must take us that close before we launch the probe. We will be far inside the base's weapons envelope, to keep the probe from being shot to pieces before its activated. Do you understand? That targetting array must be destroyed."  Commander Dewitt's orders were clear.

"Aye, Commander!  Inputing new course, One-Zero-Niner, mark Four.  Course Set."  With the Starbase still operation, this was basically a suicide run and everyone onboard had to know that.  Sure, if the probe was fired and it actually hit the targetting array, their sacrifice would not be in vain, but even if they made it in that close, they wouldn't make it back out again.  The Starbase's weapons would make sure their ship was destroyed.  But Jaya had flown against impossible odds before, and she'd done it with far worse technology at her fingertips than the Allegiant had to offer.  A particular mission run came to mind and she suddenly knew what she needed to do.  Jaya looked over her shoulder at her CO.  "Commander, I might have a way to make this work, but.. it's not exactly protocol.  And I'll need help from Tactical and Engineering.  I can't fly this baby entirely by myself."  She flashed an overconfident grin and waited for Commander Dewitt to give the OK before adding, "Oh, and this might get a little bumpy." 

"Bridge to Petty Officer Sithick. Stand ready to release the clamps and deploy the sensor probe through the airlock. Deployment is imminent. Dewitt out."  Commander Dewitt issused another order, this time to Sithick.

Despite Jen's legitimate reasons for wanting Sithick to have an accident by the airlock, now was not the time to think about her would-be-assassin-roommate.  Not with everyone's lives on the line.  Jaya's brown eyes focused back on her console as her fingers tapped again and a warning box appeared in front of her.  She acknowledged it, and looked back to the viewscreen which now showed the Starbase growing larger in the distance.  "Rogers, track those bursts and tell me when to adjust." 

"Torpedos incoming!  Calculating.  Now!"  Rogers had done his part, now it was up to Jaya.  She watched the flashes of light from the Orunal-class station and glanced to her console.  She made a series of quick adjustments and the Allegiant pitched up and rocked left, allowing the shot to miss wide to their right.  She grinned.  The trick wouldn't be dodging their fire.  No, it was going to be choosing which blasts to take.  She knew the Allegiant would last longer than a fighter, but at the range they would need to be at to launch the probe, everything would be targeting them.  All the fancy flying in the universe wouldn't get her out of this one.

Jaya glanced across to the Tactical Officer.  "Ensign Rogers, I'm gonna need you to alert me to incoming fire and to field the torpedos that I can't dodge.  Once your power returns, you'll also need to shield us before we take a hit.  Trust me, once we're in range for the probe, there will be a lot of torpedos and hits."  She pivoted in her chair slightly to catch the eye of the Acting Chief Engineer.  "And Ensign Felr, I'm gonna need a power cycle between the shields and the thrusters.  In order to dodge the blasts as we get closer, I'll have to borrow some power, but we also can't afford to take too many hits.  So I'll need you to count down my bursts and then shield where we need it."  Jaya refocused on her console and exhaled.  "I've got a computer prediction on their torpedo paths and I'm going to get us out of the way.  If this works, we'll get in, take a few hits and get out without being blown to bits.  Everybody ready?"  Nervous affirmations resounded from all stations.  "Ok, here we go."

The next few rounds of torpedoes were easy enough for Jaya to duck, roll and dodge with Rogers giving her the necessary data and timing, and Felr cycling her thrusts to literally push the Allegiant out of the way with the course corrections.  Now that she had this information coming at her from the other two Officers, Jaya could bank, dive and pitch like the Allegiant was a fighter ship.  It took several minutes of the fanciest flying she thought the Allegiant had ever seen, but finally Jaya had come into her own.  Her piloting skills, in conjunction with the other two Officers helping her, were keeping their ship unscathed while pushing deeper into enemy territory. 

But they had now crossed a little over half the necessary distance and not only were the torpedo arrays were coming faster but the margin for error had significantly dropped.  When Jaya's correction was 2 milliseconds late and the shields weren't coming up in time, Rogers jumped in and had the ship's phasers destroy the torpedo before it could damage them.  The resulting explosion showered the viewscreen in orange sparks, but the ship remained otherwise unharmed.  "Nice work Rogers!  You saved us there!  Let's go though, this is no place to be resting!"  Jaya congratulated her Tactical Officer as Felr counted down to the next thruster cycle.  It was working exactly how it was supposed to, at least so far.

[Engineering to bridge! Whatever you are doing is overheating the conduits down here, and I am alone!]

"Alright, Morwen, take over for Felr and field Thorne that cycling countdown.  Felr, I need you down in Engineering while Sithick is launching the probe."   Commander Dewitt announced to her bridge crew.

The second half of the journey was considerably more harrowing, but Morwen proved to be just as good at the power cycle as Felr was.  Which Jaya was grateful for because her course corrections were coming so quickly, she had to focus only on keeping up with the changes while Rogers double focus became targeting incoming torpedo fire and raising shields up when he had them.  Unfortunately, even with the Allegiant's ducking and weaving, and their attempts to blast out the extra torpedoes, they were still taking hits.  Each one had so far been deflected by some portion of the shields, but each blast also weakened the shields and thus lessened the amount of power  Jaya had at her disposal.

Thank god for the Wolves and the other countermeasures to draw the fire away.  As the Allegiant neared the launch point, their personal fire decreased enough that they could raise shields and prepare to launch the probe.  Commander Dewitt then tapped her comm. 
"Bridge to Petty Officer Sithick.  Probe deployment on my mark. in three, two, one, now!"
"Relationships are not my strong suit; I deal in evenings."
 - Jaya Thorne, Asst. Chief CONN Officer, Ensign [Show/Hide]

Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

Reply #5 –
[ Captain Tristan Kendrick | Bridge | USS Resolve ] Atten: All

'Schrodinger's warp field' Kendrick took a deep breath they were both at warp and not, it was perhaps the worst situation they could be in, and he would leave it to the current team of engineers to get the problem settled. His chief engineer could worry about what they needed to do in order to get this ship moving he on the other hand had to work on some way to save this ship, as it shook and took fire Kendrick needed a plan.

"Scramble our fighters yesterday, get them back in the air now, prioritize Starbase targets." He gripped his chair. Looking at the view screen there were two enemies they would have to face, the starbase behind them, and the theurgy in front of them, but the Theurgy hadn't fired on them yet.

He was banking on a very old human addage, there was no keeping the enemy out of this fight, but they couldn't survive a fight on two fronts. So he had to cast his lot with one of two sides. "Maximum impulse Veradin. Get us as much distance from the starbase as possible."

"Keval, load aft torpedo banks lock onto the CAG, and fire everything we can towards him. Take down the head of the fighter squadron, maybe a lack of command for a moment will slow them down. All banks ignore the Theurgy, and it's fighters."

He leaned back in his chair it was a stupid plan, he was banking on confusion, and perhaps a little more, be it a thought of mercy from a ship that was a traitor but more than that he was hoping that firing on the starbase openly would earn them an ally because the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

And for the moment he desperately needed a friend.

Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

Reply #6 –
[ Lt. Cmdr. Natalie Stark and Lt. (jg) Sarresh Morali| Main Bridge | USS Theurgy ]

Re-configuring her console to include comms monitoring, Natalie reached into a small compartment on the underside and fished out an earpiece. A throw back to an older time, she slipped it into her right ear and let the stream of comm traffic babble in the background. At the moment it was a simple din of distress as the base went to red alert. Certainly nothing was directed at the ship itself - it was all internal back and forth comms leakage from vessels around and inside the confines of Starbase 84.

Paired with this was the output for the MVAM sequence that Thea had triggered on Captain Ives' request. She watched as power was redistributed among the multiple cores, cutting off the over all ship flow and rerouting to the three vectors instead. Each would manage its own power from there on out, though Natalie would still see distribution readings and be able to monitor the status of each of the vectors from her console.

There was the chirp over the comms from the launch of the Allegiant and the brunette found herself smiling. That little ship had been - technically - Natalie's first command, and she was understandably fond of it as a result. "Allegiant is underway," she chimed in, not the only one to make note. Silently she wished Lt. Cmdr Dewitt luck, and hoped she'd take care of the yacht.

As the situation unfolded before them, Sarresh turned his full attention to the read outs for the drones.

"Mister Tovarek, most of your drones will be deployed as a distraction during our escape, but with the base detecting us this early, we might need them before then. How many are fitted with hardpoints?" A good question to be sure, but not one directed at him, and so Lt. Morali kept his mouth firmly shut. Worry trickled down the back of his neck and he half wondered if soon he would be hit by another one of those 'insight seizures' that the reprogramming his brain had underwent sometimes inflicted upon him. They granted both a moment of clarity and insight, as well as intense discomfort and pain. All the misery of a hangover without any of the fun of drinking.

But so far, as he monitored the drone's, the only sensations he had were of worry and anxiety - normal, under the circumstances. Certainly not a forewarning of impending doom or future insight. He perked back up when Ives replied to Tovarek's assessment of drone count, but before he could say anything else the base was hailing. Lt. Cmdr. Stark was beat to the punch by Thea with the announcement. She kept her eyes on the console as the voice came in over the channel, but Sarresh looked up towards the main view screen.

He got an excellent view of the starbase opening up fire, streaks of phased energy and spreads of torpedoes ripping out towards them. He also saw Ives make her way over to the ops station, placing a hand on the back of Stark's chair and leaning forward slightly. From where he was, Sarresh could still easily make out the Captains words to the COps.

"Hail them, and if they won't heed, send this message: The Theurgy is not here to harm anyone on the base. We must defend ourselves, but we have not come to do battle. The boarding teams only have the objective to ensure the most minimum of casualties in this operation, where we hope that you will listen to us, and understand that we are truly not the enemy you have been led to believe. Cease fire, and hear us out."

"Aye aye, Captain," Natalie replied, keeping her voice steady, buoyed by the other woman's calm presence despite the rather drastic odds they seemed to be facing. She set about hailing the starbase, and unfortunately, Ives suspicion of no reply was confirmed. So Natalie broadcast the message at the station any anyone who could pick it up anyways, though part of her greatly doubted it would be well received when it was followed up with a tactical spread of quantum torpedoes.

Sarresh was still watching the captain as she turned back and looked directly at him. He was no people person, but even he was able to translate that look. He gave the smallest shake of his head, side to side. Nothing was cropping up yet, at the very least. No temporal incursions, no sudden interference, and as far as Sarresh could tell, no oncoming seizures. Annoyingly enough, however, he couldn't shake the feeling that, despite how subtle the exchange was, he was being watched by multiple sets of eyes. It was certainly unpleasant.

But they all had something to swiftly distract them from any exchange between Captain and TAO - the shuddering of the deck under their feet as Vector 01 took the first new round of hits, lashing out from the Starbase. Knowing that reinforcements were on the way - for the starbase - only made the nerves on the bridge seem to skyrocket. Natalie found herself gripping tighter to her console, and forcing her breath to come slow and regular, falling back on newly gained experience. Despite the failure to destroy the tactical array of the starbase, they still had to press forward. And it was her job to make sure they kept at it.

"Damage reports coming in from all three vectors, Captain," she called out, her own voice joining the mix, even as on the screen, Vector - 03' shields flared, bleeding off the energy of a phaser blast, rippling out across the blue shell. Any more words cut off from the brunette as the clamshell doors of the starbase opened, forcefully. She could hear someone swearing behind her, but didn't dare look away.

In the back of the bridge, Sarresh spared a glance to his own console, as the sudden appearance of the Luna-class spiked his curiosity, and his concern. "What the hell?" He muttered as the swarm of fighters seemed to flow in the wake of the damaged ship. There was something cold about sending a ship that had - supposedly - been lost behind enemy lines for three years out to attack an oncoming threat. It made Sarresh wonder just what kind of man Captain Hawthorne was - and what threats Sel was dealing with just then. Which was a very much unbidden thought, catching him by surprise.

"CAPTAIN!" Stark called out, shock clear in her tone, to the point that she turned from her own console, back to Ives, and drawing everyone's attention,  "The fighters...they're targeting the other ship!"

Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

Reply #7 –
[ Lt.Com. Martin | Bridge | USS Resolve ] Attn: Resolve Bridge Crew
[Show/Hide]

Martin's head was spinning. She had arrived from the Starbase and travelled directly to the bridge just in time to hear Drauc's reveal. She had remained silent, trying to understand the events while the ship began to fall apart. Sabotage to the warp engines, Commander Hawthorne's determination to see them fall, and the starship full of traitors, the USS Theurgy, moving in like a pack of sharks. She had thought the long night over, she had thought they would finally be able to return home, that she would once again see the serene mountains of Edessa. That she would see her family again. She tried to peel herself away from her shock and focus on reality, she tried to put herself in the moment and focus on the situation at hand. It was then that she heard the captain again.

The Resolve was dying, that much was apparent. It was only a matter of time before the destruction consumed them all. Martin quietly felt into her pocket, squeezing an isolinear chip she had stored data on for the past three years of the Resolve's journey and stood to face the rest of the bridge.

It was then that she heard the captain's voice pierce through the commotion. "...down the head of the fighter squadron, maybe a lack of command for a moment will slow them down. All banks ignore the Theurgy, and it's fighters."

Martin hesitated, confused. The Theurgy were traitors weren't they? With the revelation of Captain Hawthorne's treachery, the idea had occurred to Martin that Hawthorne and Ives might even be in league with each other. But there was something odd about the situation, had the Theurgy made any hostile actions against them? She had to admit to herself that it had been difficult to keep track of the situation as it occurred. Nonetheless, she made her presence known on the bridge as she spoke up. "Captain... I'm not sure I understand. Why ignore the Theurgy?"

Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

Reply #8 –
[Lieutenant Keval ch'Rayya| Resolve Bridge]
Attn: All on the bridge & Resolve fighter elements

Before Kendrick's words had finished leaving his lips, Keval was already back at his tactical station with his azure skinned fingers quickly flying over the tactical controls.

"Keval to Salvo, remember how I said to keep all of your birds at ready deployment stations..well now it's time for a mass deck clearing. Resolve Actual's orders are thus-full scale fighter deployment with all Starbase elements to be considered fully hostile and to be dealt with, Theurgy elements not to be touched at all but the Captain wants starbase crit locations as priority targets which I am uploading to you now." Keval said into the channel. "From this moment on, all Resolve fighter elements to use Tactical Channel Three, if anyone is contacted from TC One then consider them hostile as all Resolve communications will come from TC Three."

Keval then double checked his torpedoes and started to mentally do the math that would enable him to track the smaller craft used by the starbase's CAG as he reconfigured the phaser banks to auto ignore the Theurgy and focus solely on the starbase and it's forces, thus ensuring a lack of accidental fire without his manual "say so".

Keval heard Martin's question and turned his head just enough to give the pinkskin a slight look of dark amusement. "Because my dear, the plot is afoot." Keval said as he continued to do his mental math and started to input it directly into the firing and tracking systems. "The captain and I had a meeting with base's commander who then proceeded to spin quite the yarn about the Theurgy plus doesn't it seem quite strange that we return and suddenly there just happens to be an attack on the station which one of our officers, an Orion officer at that, is located near by?"

With his gut still yelling at him that he was missing something important, Keval kept at it and then checked his math one more time before inputting the targeting and firing solutions that would enable his first torpedoes to do what Kendrick needed of them. "In short, Commander, we are ignoring the Theurgy because they are not the traitors here but the commander of this starbase is and I can tell you from a special operations point of view, Hawthorne's ploy was clever and I do look forward to having him explain things to me and the captain.." Keval continued, mentioning the little known fact that he had once served in the fleet's Special Operations branch to Martin as a way to validate his understanding of the depths of what Hawthorne had done but his look of dark amusement became one of extreme cold. "...right before I hand him his lying tongue."

It wasn't easy to anger Keval, among his people he was a little bit more.."laid back" for all intents and purposes but when it came to his people, those that traveled the long hard road out of hell to get back home again-he viewed them as a kind of "Family" (even though he had deeper feelings for one or two especially in a less than "familiar" sense) and that this Hawthorne had the audacity to pull this stunt was enough to make his cold blood run hotter then the height of summer in the Forge on Vulcan.

"Oh and by the way, I'm sending the base's CAG a lovely parting gift from us, Kendrick. I hope you don't mind that I didn't wrap these gifts." he added, a twinge of dark humor in his cold, cold expression as he launched his specially calibrated photons at the hostile CAG. 
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

[ Chris "Husker" Slayton | Wolf 04 | Space around his assigned element | USS Theurgy ]
Attention: Star-fighter related

Husker ignored the possible loss of "Game" and focused on how busy the squadron was suddenly as he quickly shifted his fighter out of the line of the interceptor's pulse fire as it roared past him. "Noy Jitat, I thought those lines looked slightly familiar. Frakken interceptors..." he growled as he banked his Valk left to start chasing after one that had slipped on a downward-left angle towards the element.

<I agree with you, Husker. But do you think they're any tougher then our fighters?> Outrider asked over the comm.

"Not a chance in frak, Outrider. They might be designed to do one kind of game while our's have multi-function." Husker said as he lined up his phasers and then let loose with a burst of pulse fire which red-lined the interceptor's shields before following it up with a beam blast that swatted the hostile fighter away but didn't destroy it.

<Are you toying with our enemies, Husker?> Morrigan asked, her tone was calm even in the midst of a fight.

"Not at all, ma'am. I'm experimenting with a couple before I start doing the hard work." Husker explained as he realigned his weapons onto another interceptor and quickly switched the width and bandwidth settings on his phaser bank before repeating the process with the second interceptor.

<Hm, very well but remember that this is your first real test..Harbinger.> Morrigan stated simply before terminating the line.

<Man..you ever gonna live that connection down?> Outrider quipped.

Husker didn't say anything as he noticed another fighter was starting an attack run on the element and then quickly dropped his right wing to allow it fly past him as he spun his fighter quickly and then opened fire on the enemy fighter, scoring several hits in quick order before it was ashed due to it's pilot had chosen to keep his shields double front for maximum effect rather then keeping them in a normal configuration.

"I honestly don't know, Outrider..you tell me." Husker said, his tone now utterly professional as he went about his dark work.
////////////////////////////////////////////

[Provisional Ensign Lin Kae/ Vector 03 Main Engineering/ USS Theurgy]
Attention: Rihen, Carla, and Novak.

Kae was too busy being focused on the various readouts that he didn't see the system couplers starting to spark until suddenly a pair of strong hands pulled him away before the station exploded.

The young half-breed blinked away the spots in front of his eyes a couple of times as he watched an actual ghost as he watched Chief Nolak walk through the room, making a comment which Kae had a slight problem hearing through the ringing in his ears.

He then simply nodded to the man's comments but was unable to speak at the shock of seeing someone that he thought had been killed a short while prior walking around again as he got up and went over to a new station to resume his work.

Kae attempted to keep his focus solely on the situation at hand as he quickly made adjustments to the primary systems of their Vector as the battle roared around them in the cold of space.

"I picked the wrong day to give up sweets..." Kae muttered darkly as he noticed a system error in the code for the ventral shields and started to quickly address it before rolling his eyes in frustration. "Fucking hell!!"

Kae then shifted his work to a different station with a bigger access panel and started working there. "Rihen, I'm doing some calibration modifications to the ventral shields. For some reason the coding for the shield's refresh rate has been slightly corrupted due to all of the havoc we've put the ship through over the past few months." he explained as he manually made the corrections as he spoke.

His dark eyes flicked up to the Risan woman and gave her a slightly embarrassed smile. "Don't worry, I won't let you all down again. I'm on this!" he said before lowering his eyes and quickly starting to refresh the code portions as soon as the damaged ones appeared. "Just let me know when something else comes up!"

"Come on Kae, stop thinking like that..people are depending on you." he snapped at himself as he went back to trying to keep the code up to date.

Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

Reply #9 –
[ PO2 Sithick | USS Allegiant | Air Lock ] Attn: Auctor, Angles

The probe wasn't arming, Sithick tapped away at the device like he had done in the simulations, and he was finding the device to be infuriating to work with. It was free it was moving so he had to use some of his strength to hold it while his other claw did what it could to steadily tap at the controls and get the thing to work. Of course the one device they actually needed on this ship wasn't going to work.

He muttered small cusses in his alien tongue the translator filling the air with half strung sentances that seemed to melt into inane gibberish as he worked against time limits. He hated time limits, he wasn't fast though he certianly wasn't slow, he liked to consider his work 'proficient'. and he felt like he was burning precious minutes with each delay the probe sent him.

Finally he decided that if the controls weren't working he was just going to do this the hard way, and qiuckly ripped the front panel off the probe exposing the wiring, and probably some radiation. This wasn't the time to consider the future hatchlings that he would never actually have because this was a human ship, and he had never actually bothered to check in with the doctors about genetic compatability between him and any other living species.

Sithick simply went to work bending down and finding the disobedient wires, and quickly performing a reroute to make the damn thing function. He quickly slapped it back together and dusted his claws.

He was out the door of the airlock and back inside the ship proper as quick as his claws could carry him. Tapping his com badge "Probe ready for launch."

With some minor damage that he wasn't going to bother reporting. It was probably nothing, and the next part he had to do was simple enough, blowing the airlock doors remotely he watched as the probe was ejected into space, and felt some amount of peace before he quickly started back towards engineering. There was a lot of work to be doing.

Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

Reply #10 –
[ Ens Derik Veradin | Bridge | USS Resolve ]

Luckily for Derik, the console exploding near the helm covered the slew of profanities he was allowing to come out of his mouth. They were all kinds of fucked... but then again, things had seemed this way before and they'd survived somehow. He wasn't sure The Resolve would this time, but who knew. He doubted anyone on the bridge would have cared about his breach of professionalism in that moment, but he was taking it as a good sign, one of the few he could grasp onto.

In the seconds after the first interceptor attack run, many things happened all at once. He took in the Captain's orders and paid attention to Keval's targeting and piloting instructions. "Full impulse, aye."

Everything else he tuned out immediately. Time seemed to slow as Derik took in the sensor data and his mind began plotting possible paths to take through the chaos, trying to determine which was the best option he could see. He dialed down the warp engines before they burned out as Suq had warned him about while slamming the ship to full impulse and beginning those evasive maneuvers. The interceptors were swarming around them like angry hornets once again, only this time they weren't worried about their survival, they were worried about killing the Resolve.

Damaged though she was, under Derik's deft controls the Resolve began to dive, turn, juke, literally anything to give them any kind of edge possible. He also made a point to swing the aft of the ship towards the enemy CAG, giving Keval the best shot possible. It also allowed their fighters to launch somewhat unmolested.

So far from what he could tell, the Theurgy was not yet attacking them either, so chalk one up to one more small silver lining.

Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

Reply #11 –
[ Commander Trent | Vector 01 | Main Bridge | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

The moment he saw the icon for one of the Valkyries disappear on his screen, Trent's breath caught in his throat, but only for a moment.  Where there had been the symbol for a fighter making an attack run, he could instead see the one for an ejected pilot drifting away from the wreckage.  And to that, there was only one thing he could say.  Speaking into the boom of his headset, he called up the Allegiant, given it was already headed in that direction even as he highlighted the ejected cockpit in the overall plot to make targeting easier.  "Allegiant, we have one ejected pilot in close proximity to the Starbase.  Perform a combat rescue while you're dropping the TPS probe." 

Battle was ever a chaotic environment, but at his place at Tactical, the Executive Officer was talking quietly into his boom mike, either directing the fire of the other two vectors or interacting with members of the crew, particularly his EW officer as he was slowly but carefully bringing up the power levels of the barrage jammer and ensuring the sensors of the fighters and the other vectors remained in sync with that particular system.  If the algorithm on any of Theurgy's support craft went out of sync, they would find their sensors blinded and pretty much useless.  And to remind Yukimura to keep the reactive jammers under wraps for now.  After all it would not do to show all the cards that were on the table just yet...

But when the doors blasted open and a ship, under heavy fire came out, the situation got even more chaotic, especially as masses of fighters were starting to pour out, first engaging the ship, which happened to be the Resolve, and making their way in overwhelming numbers towards Theurgy's vectors and her fighter element.  Stark's own call in itself was evident of her surprise, but that could only mean one thing: the Resolve had been missing for years, since before the rot at Starfleet Command had become more active, according to his own research.  And given their long absence, they would be quite likely to sense something was off...

And given the amount of effort deployed against the Resolve, that the commander of the Starbase was one of the true enemy.  "Captain, there's only one person on that Starbase who could order that kind of force deployment, and the tone of voice he used... Ensign Henshaw could be headed towards one of the enemy."  Trent's tone had been flat and calm, but it was hard and unyielding even as he assessed the tactical situation.

But at this point, there was something he could do.  "Mister Yukimura, bring the barrage jammer to full power, reactive jammer is authorized.  All Vectors, no more deceptive fire, point-defence to maximum efficiency; priority is self-defence but let's try to give the Resolve some cover.  Shift phaser-fire to cover her, torpedo fire to remain directed at the Starbase."  But that was not all.  He knew Ives trusted him and his instincts, so in the wake of the message sent to all ships, he opened a direct link to the Resolve, audio only.  "Resolve, this is Theurgy Tactical.  We can provide you with cover so you can withdraw.  But if you would rather stand with us, we can make room for you in our formation where you'll be covered by our point-defence net."

But that did not solve the issue of the fighters coming at them.  And that left Trent with one option, one he could not enact on his own given the rules of engagement.  "Captain, that fighter element coming for us is damn heavy.  Request permission for a double-broadside from the pods to prune them back."

A double-broadside; emptying the pods from both port and starboard at the same time for a heavy punch.  No careful laying, just the space engagement equivalent of discharging both barrels of an old side-by-side shotgun.  But instead of lead pellets, it would release hundreds of Type V microtorpedoes.  Individually, they would not knock out even a relatively fragile Knight-class interceptor and there would be plenty that would wander off-course, hit debris, or even each other in flight.  But several hits could cripple or destroy a fighter (or just cause enough damage to drive it off or make it combat-ineffective) and that single concentrated punch could be enough to disorganize the incoming fighters. 

Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

Reply #12 –
Ensign Six | Engineering | USS Resolve ] Attn: All on the bridge and inside Engineering

"Fault-tracing already, Mister Suq," Six had said when the Resolve's Chief Engineer contacted her from the bridge, and she did everything she could to reconfigure the warp drives so that they would actually work, but nothing she did seemed to be helping the matter. Even with her borg interfaces rerouting power and struggling to bypass the commands that had them showing as online but neglected to let them run nothing seemed to happen except for the warp cores to go into overdrive and eventually get to the point of overheating. Eventually she stopped and hit her combadge to the bridge. "Six, to bridge, Suq, we have absolute power in the warp field, but it's not doing anything. The power is there but the energy isn't going anywhere. If we don't stop trying we're going to overheat the warp core and that would be disastrous. You mentioned something earlier about some sort of upload into your computer systems. It is my belief that this is the core of the problem. Whatever the Starbase uploaded, is preventing the warp from occurring."

All the while she could feel the ship lurching and shuddering from the impact of phasers and photon canons. She readjusted her link to the ships computer and went from forcing the warp to move to stabilizing the shields and keeping them up as high as she could. Every ounce of energy she could spare or muster went into that act. But the bombardment was great, and for every percentage of shielding she got back to the Resolve, 5% more was taken away little by little, chiseling away at the shields that were keeping them safe. "Captain I don't know how much longer I can keep these shields up. I'm rerouting power to our weapons. Something spectacular needs to  be done, and fast!"


_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ensign A'vura Zeshryr | Main Bridge | USS Resolve ] Attn: All on the Bridge

A'vura listened on the bridge as everything happened. Orders were quickly dispatched to the Grey Wolves and the Tribble Squadron to launch. Their Chief Science Officer had arrived, and Keval brought her up to speed. All the while, the creeping feeling that the Resolve was beyond saving couldn't be ignored.

It wasn't until Six's communications came in that it dawned on her that indeed, the ship had been compromised and potentially sabotaged. "Captain I wouldn't put it past the Captain of the Starbase to do such a thing. We've already witnessed to what extent he will go in order to frame us. This is only further proof of that. He's trying to keep us here and fighting. There is no doubt in my mind that Captain Hawthorne is wanting us to take the brunt of all of this to save his own skin."

In the meantime she held fast to her computer console for dear life. Lights flickered and sparks flew as they continuously took on damage from the squadron of interceptors. "Captain there has to be something we can do. We managed to maneuver around them in the docking bay. Perhaps we can swing behind the Theurgy and hail them for assistance? I'm finding it harder and harder to believe the story Captain Hawthorne spread about them when we know for a fact that he is a traitor in his own rights. How do we know that he's not trying to frame them as well?"

That was when another hail came, this time from the Theurgy, an audio transmission, and A'vura glanced towards Kendrick before she patched it through.

[Resolve, this is Theurgy Tactical.  We can provide you with cover so you can withdraw.  But if you would rather stand with us, we can make room for you in our formation where you'll be covered by our point-defence net.]

"It seems as though the Theurgy has beat us to the punch Captain. Personally I think we should take them up on their offer. Since we can't warp out of here at the very least we would have someone to have our back in this mess. If all else fails The Theurgy can start beaming our crew on board so they're not killed if this ship goes down. Six seems to be doing her best to keep the shields up but slowly but surely they're depleting them little by little. It's only a matter of time before we start taking on some real damage."
"You wish to knock over cows? What is the significance of this? Do you derive pleasure from such things?" - Ensign Six

Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

Reply #13 –
    [ Cmdr. Jared "Deadline" Salazar | CAG 23rd TacCONN Air Group | Interceptor Cockpit ][/color] Attn: Resolve crew & Grey Wolves Squadron

    To the Resolve's credit, and despite how the it looked like it might fall apart any moment, it sure still could fly, defying swarm that gave it chase.

    Jared glared at it as it tried to make a run for it, but it was his prey. No, not just him. It was the prey of all his fellow officers in the 23rd. Because of these traitors to the fleet, so many of their friends had just died in the spacedock. No... Not a single one of Jared's subordinates were going to let the Resolve escape. Between all the survivors that hounded the Luna-class ship, there was not a single merciful soul.

    Leading two Wings of the Air Group during the pursuit, the third went for the Theurgy and its fighters.  Jared sent squadron after squadron to bombard the Resolve - coughing pulse phaser fire as they overshot the crippled beast. After one squadron passed, the next would follow, not letting up on the diminishing shields. The starship might spin and dive, dodge and roll, but his pilots continued the assault regardless - their staccato cannon fire flaring against Jared's visor. Malestrom Squadron gave way to the Shadows, followed by the Red Lancers and the Griffins. The Raptors came in from below, followed by the Eagles, the Knighthawks and the Rooks. When the shields could not compensate for the collective yield of their coordinated assault, they made the prey bleed plasma and loose hull  plating.

    It had been a mere question of 'when' the Resolve would fire its aft torpedo bays. Jared saw the weapon signature and broke away. His interceptor screamed warnings, and he knew he had the torpedoes in his wake. They were meant for him, as much was clear. Diving into a barrel roll, he released countermeasures. "Besa mi culo, puto!*"

    For a moment, he thought the torpedoes would ignore the ECCMs, but when the detonation came, he immediately resumed the chase.


    [ PWO Rihen Neyah | Main Engineering | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: MasterRat & DocReno

    When Vector 03 took a direct hit and threw people off their feet, Rihen ended up on her belly - almost hitting her head in the process. "Oh, my..." she said and climbed to her feet, dusting off her tight uniform's front with her hands. She saw Lin Kae getting back to it seamlessly, and it was almost as if the newly arrived veteran hadn't lost his footing at all - already making himself useful. Rihen could but rake her hands through her short blonde hair and snap to it, and she heard how Kae had found a malfunction.

    "Are you sure you can fix all that?" she asked with wide eyes, since a projection fault in the ventral shield emitters was quite serious given the battle and all, but when Kae reassured her that he was on top of it, she was relieved, swallowing as she kept an eye on her readings and calibrated plasma output through the EPS grid.

    Close by, Abner sent away Koizumi and Rodriguez with teams to quench plasma fires outside engineering. Then, Rihen heard her answer Nolak Kalmil. "I will make sure to let you know, and we do really need another set of hands," called Ensign Abner to the former Chief Engineer with a wry expression, and to her merit, she did not seem like she had taken offence at the suggestion to be relieved of command. "From what I've heard, you are supposed to be quite the shaman yourself!"

    No more had she spoken than another barrage of torpedoes slammed into Vector 03's shields. Unfortunately, they struck the ventral side of the hull. After the hit, it seemed like the turbulence never ended, and even if Rihen had managed to stay on her feet, holding on to her console for dear life, she realised that the g-forces were just getting worse.

    [Inertial dampeners are offline,] explained Thea tonelessly on the intercom, which meant that with each toss and turn the Vector made, they all felt it quite keenly.

    "What do we do?" called Rihen, shrieking when she lost her grip and was sent rolling across the walkway.

    "Kalmil!" called Abner, and in the havoc, Rihen saw the blonde woman holding on to the railing of the walkway that led to the warp core. The next moment, she lost her grip, and screamed as he flew sideways across engineering... and then down towards the decks below.

    OOC for all: Since we have events playing out across a lot of places, I feel that we need to try and establish a chronological sequence of events between some of you who are about to post. Therefore, here is a posting order to preserve the space-time continuum and make it easier to write for for everyone, and I have/will have contacted these writers so they know what's afoot:

    Current Posting Order
    • USS Theurgy's 3 Vectors, the Allegiant & the Lone Wolves:
      1) Doc M. w. Maya + Tessa 2) ch'Xinya w. Shall
    • USS Resolve & the Grey Wolves Squadron:
      1) Havenborn + FollowTomorrow w. Suc + Arista w. Parnak & Ejek (no order set between them, then...) 2) Kaligos w. Kendrick
    When all the above have posted, I will post with Ives and advance the story to the next phase! *grins in excitement* Then, below, we have ad hoc posters at this short juncture, which can be found below. So, these characters can chime in whenever their writers deem fit during the above order, adding upon the development in the story however they wish. I am available for brainstorming too, of course.

    Ad Hoc Posting:
    • Vector 01 of the Theurgy| Main Bridge: Tovarek
    • Vector 02 of the Theurgy | Main Sickbay: Triage, The Counselor & Zenozine w. MacMillan, O'Connor and the Vojona siblings (after Doc M. has posted with Maya)
    • Vector 03 of the Theurgy | Main Engineering: MasterRat w. Nolak Kalmil & DocReno with Lin Kae.
    • USS Allegiant: EAC w. Jaya Thorne & Kaligos w. Sithick
    • Lone Wolves Squadron: DocReno w. Husker
    • USS Resolve | Main Bridge:  Hastata-Nerada w. Vivian Martin, Mathis w. Derik Veradin, Vystori w. Six & A'vura
    • Grey Wolves Squadron: Triage & SummerDawn w. Tancredi & K'Ren (only after Havenborn)
    Looking forward to all your posts!

    * "Kiss my ass, Bitch" in Spanish

    Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

    Reply #14 –
    He heard Six speak from somewhere in the vicinity of his chest. It must be his combadge.

    "Six, to bridge, Suq, we have absolute power in the warp field, but it's not doing anything. The power is there but the energy isn't going anywhere. If we don't stop trying we're going to overheat the warp core and that would be disastrous. You mentioned something earlier about some sort of upload into your computer systems. It is my belief that this is the core of the problem. Whatever the Starbase uploaded, is preventing the warp from occurring."

    Sabotage, as he had thought. All those paranoid thoughts he had entertained before, now they're all real. Cool. Suq heard many people talking, one over another, but he could listen to them all relatively easily. One voice caught his ears more than the others, by coincidence...

    "Six seems to be doing her best to keep the shields up but slowly but surely they're depleting them little by little. It's only a matter of time before we start taking on some real damage."

    And then the full spread of torpedos, a gift from the starbase, hit the Resolve.

    Suq had gotten the hang of the Starfleet Shuffle by now. When the shields took a heavy hit, the ship would always lurch in about the same way, and without ever truly knowing how he knew, he could counterbalance himself in turn. He had a feeling most people aboard could do the same. Something about the way the shields distributed the impact, power fluctuations in the grav-plates, yadda yadda.

    This was not the Starfleet Shuffle. This was the Stafleet Shitstorm. This was an entire array of torpedos all hitting at once, this was taking out a whole nacelle, this was ripping the ship in half, this was plasma leakage so high that it could be considered pollution.

    Of course, none of that could be confirmed until he got his readings. It was all just a gut feeling and he hoped he was wrong. Suq had hit the ground hard with the jolt, if it could be called that. He was sure he'd bruise, but that was for another time. Now, he jumped to his feet and threw himself back over to his console to keep an eye on engineering. His panic melted away completely, all he had now was cold analysis. Ironically, this is how he knew he was really and truly panicking, when he no longer felt it.

    "Damage report," Suq announced, "Starboard nacelle severely damaged, may be detached altogether, Plasma surges intermittent across the entire ship, plasma leakage from where our starboard nacelle used to be. Structural integrity field in place at 43% and failing. Switching to single-nacelle navigation now. Shields hovering at about 0.025%. Lost plating across starboard and ventral, multiple hull breeches across starboard and at least one going all the way through to port side, multiple fires reported across ship, we're leaking atmosphere and power. Computer unable to give accurate readings on leakage, still recalculating with the loss of our nacelle. Just had someone punch a few ventral holes, structural fields going up, more reported fires. Fire suppression system can't keep up."

    He was on autopilot, reading things out as he saw them and working to find a solution. If he stayed like that, he'd never stop reading disaster reports and searching for a solution that'd never come, but what else could he do?

    "Mass reported casualties, the numbers rise too fast to give a count, we're closing in on one hundred quickly, secondary sickbay disabled due to fires, primary sickbay losing power due to plasma surges in the area, no communications from several personal quarters areas, may have mass casualties there."

    At least, he thought, he could be thankful that he did not have to figure out what to do. Silver linings, or something like that.

    "Taking all power from life support to shields. Shields raising to 30%. That'll buy us a few minutes but we can't continue in sustained fire and another array of torpedos aimed at either us or our former nacelle will end us. Make a choice and find some gods to pray to."

    Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

    Reply #15 –
    [ LT Daniel Havenborn & Eric Randall | Fighter Assault Bay | USS Resolve ] Joint-Post by Auctor Lucan & Havenborn Attn: Triage, SummerDawn, Auctor

    "Chief Randall, get me everything you can about the Theurgy's fighter element."

    Both Eric and Liam stepped out to Havenborn's Valkyrie, following the SCO and watching as he got back into his cockpit. Eric had a bad feeling about the development, the hairs on the back of his hands on edge as he lowered his PADD. He cleared his throat. "Well, the Theurgy Project was all the rage back when we encountered the space anomaly, and it was due to launch on October 9th that year, so I only know the hearsay from those days. They are not flying Mk IIs, that much is certain. the Theurgy was picked to be the base-ship for the Valkyrie Program's latest fighter - the Mk III - and I only saw the same images you likely saw. The specs were yet to be released, but rumor has it that it was so advanced they eliminated the need for a RIO. Sounds like a lot of computer assistance, but I can't say if it's a liability. Moreover, there was something odd about the ventral side of the hull, as if it housed some large cannon that could fold out."

    Liam spoke up, weaponry being his forte. "My best guess is that it was a tetryon pulse cannon they installed, sir, since I have heard it wa-"

    They were interrupted by Kendrick's voice on the PA system in the Fighter Assault Bay, and the Captain explained the reasoning behind his orders. He spoke of the starbase's commanding officer, his treachery and the implications of what he'd done. It was a harrowing thought, that they had just returned to witness the onset of a new galactic war, and Eric was stunned, eyes traveling the still flight hangar as the words from Kendrick ceased to be heard. K'Ren was back in her cockpit, and Eric still couldn't shake his nerves about the situation. The plan was good, he supposed, given the shitty situation they were in. His thoughts went to their First Officer, and hoped for the best. It was, indeed, the best course of action to escape the base and spread the word about Hawthorne's treason.

    After Kendrick had finished his second speech Daniel put his helmet back on and activated it once more.  Hopefully they'd be able to run and the starbase wouldn't get a tractor beam lock on them as they tried. However if they did he knew his pilots would be up to the chance to take it out.  Hopefully they wouldn't have to go up against the Theurgy's fighter element, what little info they had might be out of date nowadays but at least it was something to go on if they had to fight them.

    Suddenly, deck shook... and Eric Randall's eyes went wide. Liam nearly lost his balance, but they both quickly scurried away, clearing the deck. That was when the new order's came. Once they cleared the deck, Liam's eyes rested on Neko's fighter for some reason, and Eric wondered what could be going on between Liam and the Caitian.

    Daniel took a moment to himself as he listened to Lieutenant ch'Rayya's orders over the intercom.  He'd never have thought that he'd be fighting against other Starfleet elements before but they were shooting at them and were now his enemy and he'd treat them as such no matter what uniform they wore.

    "Understood Lieutenant, Tactical Channel Three only."  Daniel said into the intercom before switching to the squadron channel.  "Grey Wolves we are going to be launching two at a time in a staggered formation, Tribbles will follow suit.  All pilots are to use Tactical Channel Three and consider all requests from other channels to be hostile.  All starbase elements are to be considered hostile while Theurgy elements are to be considered allied."  Daniel said as he began to upload the starbase's priority targets to the squadron's battle net.  "Priority targets are being uploaded to you, feel free to take targets of opportunity as well.  Prepare to launch on my mark.  Salvo out"

    As Daniel closed the squadron channel he prepared the two EMP torpedoes, hoping to catch some of the enemy interceptors in the blast zone so that his fighters and shuttles had a chance to fully clear the launch bay. "Knight I want you to launch the EMPs as soon as we clear the bay, I want a 5-second timed delay detonation.  Coordinates as follows."  Daniel said as he punched in the coordinates to show up on Knight's screen. "Got it Salvo, ready to fire."  Daniel nodded and opened the squadron channel again.  "All squadrons... Launch!"

    Daniel pushed forward on his control stick and felt the fighter's thrusters kick in launching the small fighter out of the bay and into the large vacuum of space.  "Knight, fire."  He said as he got an affirmative from Knight and watched as both EMP torpedoes fired from the fighter heading towards a group of interceptors making another attack run on the Resolve.
    Defeat, Genocide; why quibble with semantics.

    Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

    Reply #16 –
    [ Maya | USS Theurgy | Vector 02 | Deck 11 | Main Sickbay ]

    "Uhm...who's Herbert and Maal?" Heather McMillan asked.

    "Maal is the Klingon," Maya replied.  "Nurse Herbert is new.  He arrived from the Harbinger..."

    [All hands, this is Arisaka. We have orders to make an assault on the base, the objective being to take out its tactical sensor array. Brace yourselves.  Arisaka out.]

    The chief medical officer went to the viewscreen on the wall to check on the battle and what he saw alerted him placed an expression of alarm on his face that even someone as unskilled at reading faces could recognize.  "Secure the patients! Hold on to something!" Lucan cin Nicander shouted before moving to assist the pregnant Hylota.

    The shaking of the ship and the sounds of the space battle had temporarily sent the little Vulcan back to the Battle of Cheron in the Earth-Romulan War over two centuries ago, the battle that ripped a hole in time and space, cost the NX class frigate USS Discovery forty seven lives and stranded Maya of Vulcan two hundred and twelve years in the future.  She staggered forward and placed her hands against the wall of the corridor to steady herself when the torpedo hit.  In the meantime, the chief medical officer was sent sprawling sideways into the nurse's duty station and got a rust colored gash on his head for his troubles. 

    Thanks to her discipline and training, the mesiofrontal cortex in her Vulcan brain reacted by suppressing her emotions with the same intensity of her fear.  Enlisted humans called situations like this 'sphincter tightening' moments, but for Maya the 'tightening' occurred in her brain rather than her anus.  During situations of intense stress, her normally smooth and languid movements became quick and jerky and her voice was nearly a monotone.  Her face became as unreadable as a cat's and to an observer's eye she seemed either distracted or incredibly focused, depending on who one asked. 

    By the time Maya returned to reality, Lucan had returned to his feet.  "Prepare for arrival of injured personnel. Clear the last beds in the ICU and prep the ER. There are still beds available in the Recovery Ward. I will return shortly," Doctor Lucan cin Nicander ordered his hand instinctively went to his wound.  "Doctor Duv is on standby for beaming onto the base, so you are in charge, Doctor Maya," he said as the doors to sickbay hissed open and the wounded began to arrive. 

    "Yes Doctor," she replied in a strangely distant voice as rose from her crouch with an eerily fluid movement before she turned her attention to the job at hand.  "Bring the patients into the intensive care unit until we can diagnose their injuries according to severity," she announced in a crisp clear voice at a volume that was likely the loudest most people in the vicinity had ever heard her speak during the entire time she had been aboard.  "The overflow will go into the primary care unit until we can treat them.  The most severe injuries will be treated first.  Orderlies will be on stretcher duty until notified otherwise."   Most of her announcement was unnecessary for the experienced medical personnel of the Theurgy but with all of the new people from Black Opal and the  Harbinger, not to mention the untrained volunteers such as Heather McMillan, the ritual of the announcement would bring some order to the chaos that had arrived. 

    As the volunteers and orderlies helped their patients into the intensive care wards, Maya and her fellow doctors descended on the wounded like the Valkyries of Norse legend.  "Cracked clavicle," she said as placed the fingertips on the back of a groaning patient's neck.  "Surgical Suite Two."


    [ Tessa May Lance | Wolf 07 | Outer space | Within phaser range of Starbase 84 ] 

    Speaking of Valkyries...

    "This is Goldeneye," Tessa reported.  "Leaving Vector Three as ordered!"

    [This is Hurl], came a familiar voice in her headset.  [Acknowledging order.   We're with ya, Commander,] her wingman announced confidently before alarm appeared in his voice.  [Torpedoes!  Torpedoes incoming!]

    "Deploy tetryon pulse phase cannons!" Tessa ordered.   "Confuse their sensors and try to get in formation!" 

    As the two pilots struggled to evade the torpedoes and get join the rest of their squadron, they came dangerously close to the Allegiant, just in time to see the Manta class yacht launch tetryon pulse sensor probe.  If the sensor probe performed as advertised, it should mark the starbase's tactical array for bombardment while emitting tetryon pulses that would flush out any cloaked vessels that might be hiding in the area.  As if displayed on a special viewscreen just for her, the vision of the probe through Tessa's canopy window soared through the void, avoiding the photon torpedoes and the AC-347 Knight-class interceptors to hit the station's tactical sensor array, neutralizing it with an impressive display of cerulean lightning bolts.  

    Elated over fortune favoring the Theurgy for a change, Tessa contacted her mothership's bridge.  "Goldeneye to Mission Ops, probe deployment successful!  I repeat, probe deployment successful!  The target is lit!" she repeated as she glanced at her panel to see the array appear as a tetryon- painted mark in her cockpit's targeting systems.  "We can commence firing!"

    [Goldeneye, another ship's in the area!  It came out of the station], Hurl's voice informed her.  [And it's bringing a barge full of fighters with it!]

    "Just what we need, another capital ship," Tessa grumbled as she viewed the scarred hull of the Resolve and the Knight interceptors swarming around it like angry bees.  "Hey wait a minute.  Why are the station's fighters attacking it?"

    Then it hit her.  Whoever commanded that Luna class starship wasn't part of the Big Scary Conspiracy that had taken over Starfleet.   Either the crew of that ship had just found out and had to be silenced, or they had planned their own attempt to take over Starbase 84's subspace communication array and had inadvertently put the station on the alert.  Who knew how many little rebellions were happening all over Starfleet?

    Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

    Reply #17 –
    [ Lt.Com. Martin | Bridge | USS Resolve ]
    [Show/Hide]


    Martin's thoughts raced when Suq read out the damage report. In a strange way, the entire situation was almost excruciatingly ironic, that the one thing to finally seal the fate of the Resolve and her crew was not the terrors that plagued them in their departure, but the very Federation they had all sought to return to, that had welcomed them. As the ship rocked around her, she began to utter a quick prayer in Hebrew before an idea wormed it's way into her mind.

    "I think..." She said, putting the pieces of the situation together in her mind. "We can still do some damage before divine intervention becomes necessary."
     
    Martin rushed over to a nearby console, making sure to step over a pile of rubble which had fallen from the ceiling of the bridge. "Captain, there might be a way to deter the fighters while giving us additional momentum." Looking over the tractor beam systems on the console, she singled out a remaining emitter that might still be functional enough for her plan. With luck, they should be able to create a graviton beam which not only repulses or disables much of the fighters, but also push the Resolve ahead of any other pursuers. "If we're going to do this then Suq, I'm going to need some additional power to the tractor beams and Keval, we're going to need our fighters to stay out of the way."

    Martin's fingers flew over the console's controls, making the necessary modifications. She stood up and wiped her brow of perspiration before motioning to the helm. "Mr. Veradin, for this to work, you'll need to aim one of the rear tractor beams at the starbase's fighter wings, as wide a spread as you can muster."

    She turned and addressed the rest of the bridge. "This might be something we can only do once, the power conduits leading to the emitters might rupture." It might buy them a few extra minutes, but it was all she could think of at the moment. She looked around at the rest of the bridge, at all the faces she saw, hoping beyond all hope that they survive this.

    Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

    Reply #18 –
    [Zelosa Ejek | Bridge | USS Resolve] Attn: Kaligos, Mathis, Vystori, FollowTomorrow, Hestata-Nerada, Auctor Lucan, Anyone else

    The force of the impact sent the bridge rocking, upon which both the Cardassians present clung for dear life. Parnak to the console in front of him and Ejek to the chair in which Silim sat. While the elder male had managed to centre himself, Ejek's grip upon the seating slipped, causing her to tumble to the floor. Sighing, she rubbed her left eye ridge. She had caught herself on the back of her own damn chair on the way down. Internally, Ejek hoped that she was lucky and wouldn't bruise. If she was truly lucky, she added as a sombre afterthought, they all wouldn't be atomized by another salvo of torpedoes from the base. Scanning the room, Ejek searched for her dear friend Suq. When she found him pulling himself back to the engineering console, Ejek smiled, although her grin soon turned to ashes in her mouth as he gave the damage report. So many hurt. Her heart ached for her friends, co-workers and comrades who were injured. If they were to survive this, her schedule would no doubt be filling up.

    Martin surged to life, laying out a plan. Grace under pressure, Ejek had come to expect nothing less of the stalwart science officer. Even though she was one of the most unexperienced officers on the bridge, Zelosa couldn't help herself as the words came tumbling from her lips.

    "Might I suggest that if we are to do something, then we should get on with it while we are able ..."

    Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

    Reply #19 –
    [IrnaShall ch'Xinya | Stellar Cartography | Deck 15 | Vector 3 | USS Theurgy]

    The response from the Bridge wasn't unexpected, Captains always wanted more information than was immediately available.  Shall resisted the urge to roll his eyes and bit back a sarcastic remark.  "You'll have it as soon as I do Captain! Cartography out."  Resetting the display to show subspace distortions, the Andorian zoomed in on the source of the ion bloom he first picked up.  With all of the excitement going on outside there wasn't much to see: at six light years even a fleet of ships would barely register unless active sensors pinged them, and then there was all the "hash" thrown into the sensors thanks to the raging battle outside.  It would take quite a bit of work and a lot of luck to parse out anything useful, but that's why Shall was here.

    Tuning out everything but that one point in space, the Andorian pulled out every trick he knew on how to parse out every gram of data.  Parallax stutter to pinpoint individual sources, multi-geometric overlap to find simple shapes among a larger conglomeration, even the subspace equivalent of wiggling the lens for finding the warp field blob when it got lost in the background clutter came into play.  Of course it would be much easier to do this highly detailed work if the ship weren't constantly moving and shaking.

    Gripping the console to keep his seat yet again, Shall decided he had enough to report, these conditions weren't going to let him dig any deeper, and if his numbers were right somewhere between 17 and 23 ships of various classes were on the way.  "Stellar Cart..." he started to comm the Bridge but then something happened.  One part of the warp field conglomeration split off from the others, just far enough to have a distinct field.  A few moments later the warp field changed, a massive burst of energy accompanying the metamorphosis.  "What in the name of Uzaveh..." Shall muttered, antenna turning forward in curiosity.  It seemed that the ship's warp bubble was now much slimmer than the norm.

    The reason was obvious a moment later, that ship just got a massive increase in speed. A quick bout of arithmetic caused the Andorian's heart to sink and his antenna rise.  "Oh not good...Stellar Cartography to Bridge, one of those incoming ships must be brand new since it has a higher maximum warp factor!. New ETA, less than two minutes.  As for the rest, we're looking at around twe..."

    A massive hit cut Shall off and threw him from the chair.  Hitting the deck, the pitch slid him into the railing at the edge of the walkway, and hard.  Biting back a cry of pain, Shall grabbed one of the rail's supports as extra insurance, it was nearly a full deck to the floor below.  "Inertial dampeners offline." Thea's automated voice droned over the speakers.

    "Oh this just got much more interesting..." the Andorian hissed, pulling himself away from the rail and back to his console, staying as low and wide as possible.

    Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

    Reply #20 –
    [ Captain Tristan Kendrick | Bridge | USS Resolve ] Atten: All

    Kendrick's chair was rattled, and he himself was almost thrown out of it by the force of the damage to his ship. He gripped his arm rest for dear life as he looked to Suq for the damage report and what he heard was that his ship, the Resolve was hanging by a thread. All of the years trying to get back to Federation space, and it would end up being their own people that destroy it. He cussed for a moment hating everything about this plan.

    At this point they had no reason to write the Theurgy off as anything other than the Calvary to their aid. They already had an offer to join them, but the Resolve was too heavily damaged. Suq was already getting rid of life support and a hundred of his children had died, probably more. After all the struggles, and all the damage he couldn't exactly let everything end here.

    When Martin spoke up he turned to his Chief Science officer and felt some amount of hope return to the situation. A few minutes and some more momentum was all they really needed, and in the moment it was critical that they got it. "Martin, do it. Put every resource you can towards it, Suq give her what you can, take power from any non-essential still running. All I want on this ship, is shields, momentum and weapons. if you can turn that useless warp core into a battery fucking do it."

    Cause they were out of power otherwise, and going to run low on air. "Derik use Martin's repulsors to get us behind the Theurgy and her complement of fighters, get us as close to them as possible."

    Finally there was a deep breath. "We won't be joining the Theurgy in battle." putting himself on shipwide for the third time in one day. He gave one of those orders that a captain could only give once in a career. An order he hated, and never thought he would have to give. They weren't going to survive this battle on the resolve.

    "All hands, prepare to abandon ship." With the order given they would be more vulnerable then ever needing a way to secure help for the life boats he knew there was pretty much only one chance for the survival of his crew. While he didn't know what Ives plan was, and hadn't really intended to be their ally rather just ignore them, that was no longer a possibility. Using the armrest com system he opened a link to the Theurgy unsure if they would listen to his request it was kind of dangerous after all.

    "Resolve to Theurgy we have undertaken massive damage and casaulties, we need to abandon ship, if one of your ships could break their formation protect us and pick up my crew I would be eternally grateful." This was the kind of order that ended a career, which was fine, his was long over he was supposed to retire from all of this after what happened. He was content with not serving. "Once were in position I want all of you gone. The Resolve will be fine, I'll stay here man the weapons and keep firing at any projectiles that might try to get at the life boats. Once our shields are down I'll hit up a transporter pad, and if we are all lucky enough we can have drinks after the battle is over."

    Without all the bodies taking up precious air the bridge alone had enough to last a day or two, he would be fine, and he would catch up with the crew once they were safe.

    Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

    Reply #21 –
    [ Simon Tovarek | Vector 01 | Main Bridge | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

    Tovarek looked at the carnage unfolding before his eyes, he followed the Resolve on the viewscreen as it seemingly limped out of the starbase. The Xo had given the Resolve a chance to stand with them yet as the fighter squadrons took up most of the viewscree, Tovarek looked back at his console as there was an abundance of information slipping through. One message stood out as he read that initial scans showed that the Resolve was unable to assist in combat with them. The damage they had taken was just too great. Logically, he figured their next order would be an evacuation order.

    The troublesome thing was however that Resolve was a prime target for being hounded by hostile fighters. Even with their combined space squadrons, there wouldn't be enough cover to be somewhat safe. Tovarek looked at the XO as he requested permission for a broadside on the fighters. It would hold off the bulk of them but who knows for how long. He looked over at Jien "Captain, permission to launch drones. It won't be much, but I guess every help is needed if we are to protect the Resolve for now. 15 elements are now armed and ready to launch."

    With a simple nod of Jien the order was sanctioned. Tovarek relayed the message to the CONN officers who were prepped for flying the drones as well as the hangar bay. "Attention, drone pilots, fire up your ships and prepare to fly out to ensure protection of Vector 1. Protection of Vector 01 as well as Resolve is paramount. Good hunting." With the order given, it didn't take that long before the signatures appeared on numerous radars as the drones begun their maiden voyage into the hostile space.

    Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

    Reply #22 –
    |MCPO  Nolak Kalmil | Main Engineering | Vector 3 | USS Theurgy | Attn:All

    Master Chief Kalmil smiled at being called a shaman of engineering. He was about to make a reply but was suddenly cut off before he could speak. He had taken only a few strides before the ship suddenly rocked with the force of a hurricane from another direct hit from the Starbase. From the sound of the impact and feel of the ship’s movement he could tell that the ship shielding was compromised.  As the ship’s internal dampeners shut down the movement of the ship now affected crew and equipment, making a dangerous combination of free moving body and debris.

    Nolak’s low center of gravity, and his many years in Starfleet, combined with his love of recreational yacht sailing had conditioned his body to react automatically to the ebbs and sways of the ship. This often helps him keep his footing as the ship pitch at steep angles. This time the ship began to increase at a steep angle as he started to feel his sandals began slip and give way.  As he started to slide across the floor he hear a disturbing noise.

    The sudden alarm cry from Ensign Carla Abner, he looked towards her and saw her lose balance and fall over the railing grasping the rails. He made a desperate lunge towards her while he still had some traction left, sliding across the engineering floor. With one hand he grabbed the railing the other he reached out to try to grab Carla Abner as she fell. Unfortunately he was a moment too late as she slipped from the railing. He felt her fingertips slide through his hand and watched the wide eyed Ensign fall downward. Lucky for her the ships angle was severe enough to prevent her from falling all the way down to the bottom of the warp shaft. However her landing wouldn’t be a skip in the park either. He watched the Ensign bounce off the lower deck flooring and slide into the wall and out of sight. He spared a couple seconds and thought a quick prayer for her safety before drawing his attention back to the crisis at hand.

    Cursing at himself for being too slow to save the young woman he began to work his way up the railing into a standing position. Inching his way along the rails with both hands firmly grasping it he crossed the gangway over to the main computer station by the warp core. Beads of perspiration began to appear on his polished Deltan forehead as he struggled to keep from flipping over the side and down into the decks below. Finally he reached the main terminal safely and hugging it he pulled himself in front.

    Slapping the intercom switch to the battle bridge of Vector 3 he spoke in a calm controlled voice, “This is Master Chief Kalmil in main engineering, I'm trying to stabilize the ship before we barrel roll and bounce around all over the place sending everything and everyone tumbling into space. That last blast damaged one of the massive gyros knocking out the internal dampener, and like your selves we are being tossed around like rag dolls down here. Also try to brace yourselves to accommodate for the sudden loss to ventral shielding to our underbelly, some sort of glitch has happened and we need time to find the cause and fix it, Kalmil out!”

    While he was talking into the intercom he was doing two tasks. First, diverting a little extra power to the maneuvering thrusters and attempting to maneuver the ship to regain control before it tumbles aimlessly in space. He was also pulling up backlog data and shield read out information. However because the ship angle steepened he more or less was more concerned about slipping and joining Ensign Abner somewhere below than the information being displayed.

    Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

    Reply #23 –
    [ Captain Ives | Vector 01 | Main Bridge | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All

    "CAPTAIN! The fighters...they're targeting the other ship!"

    True to Stark's words, the interceptors had suddenly turned hostile against the Resolve, opening fire and making the Luna-class ship's shields flare blue. Seeing all the bright orange beams from the Knight-class vessels blasting against the starship, she ran over to Stark's shoulder and saw the readings - saw the number of life-signs decrease person by person, life by life. How could this be?

    "Captain," said Trent, providing the possible answer, "there's only one person on that Starbase who could order that kind of force deployment, and the tone of voice he used... Ensign Henshaw could be headed towards one of the enemy." And as soon as he said it, Ives knew that it might very well be the case. There were, however, no proof for it yet.

    "Stark, try to reach her..." It would be futile,  but Cam did not know what might have happened to her father.

    Jien saw the lifesigns decrease, and then, when a full spread of torpedoes hit the Resolve and set it tumbling, she knew that whatever reasons Hawthorne had, it did not matter. Trying to save the Resolve was the only option for them, lest they would not live by the tenets of the Federation that they tried to protect. Jien was not alone in this either, the whole bridge around her equal in thought. "Do whatever we can for her! She won't last a minute otherwise."

    Trent was already on it, increasing the jamming signal of their EW suite and distributing firepower to try and save the Resolve. He tried to send them a message too, and when he'd done it, Jien turned her oaken eyes the XO's way. The commander asked to use the pods against the interceptors that came for Vector 01, and Jien nodded. "Give the order to Arisaka, furthermore, the EW suite might make it difficult for them to defend themselves. Identify the fighters and feed them as well as the Resolve with our tactical sensor readings - giving them all the targeting abilities they need. Now!" As she said it, she turned back to see on the viewscreen how the interceptors were just too bloody many. The reply from the Resolve came in, a spoken message rendered into text on the screen, and the reply was the expected from any Captain in the same straits as the Resolve's. Soon, the remaining crew on the ship would be ejected in the midst of the battle, and their chances of survival minimal. In fact, Ives doubted they would have time to abandon ship at all, given the state of the starship and how the interceptors just wouldn't let up.

    Thoughts racing, Ives heard Tovarek and gave her nod of permission. It would likely not matter, since the Resolve virtually had no shields left. Then, she realised that there was a way. It might be too late, but it was likely the only thing that would make a difference. "Lieutenant S'Iti, make way!" called Jien and leaned over the Cardassian woman's shoulder. Knowing that time was precious, there was no alternative but to bring up the procedure on the CONN console, quickly tapping her way through the menu. "The Resolve asked for our aid, and we are going to give it. This Vector is not called the 'helmet' for nothing. Here!"

    Jien tapped the last entry and in the corner of the viewscreen, the procedure was shown.

    [Show/Hide]


    "Send this to the Resolve now, and prepare to dock with her before her shields give out. Send the bearings and align the trajectories."

    Vector 01 was the fortified command ship of the Theurgy, and with the flag bridge on it, the design was meant to accommodate for a docking procedure where the Vector could dock with any kind of Federation starship and escape battle. The docking would extend Vector 01's shields around the Resolve as well, and inside the dorsal ring of the Vector, docking pylons would extend out to the Resolve's airlocks. The dorsal tractor beam would adjust the Resolve to ensure that as many airlocks as possible could be opened, and the Resolve's crew would be able to come aboard.

    "But Captain, I have never done this before!" objected Aisha, "Even if we were not in the midst of battle, I don't kno-"

    "Nor did your predecessors. Now, Lieutenant!" Jien stepped away as Aisha sent the procedure to the Resolve, giving them the data while Jien hailed the ship. "This is Captain Ives to the Resolve, review the data package just sent to you and verify! Vector 01 is inbound, so prepare for docking before your shields fail. Whatever you can do to close the distance to us, do it now!"

    There was no need to explain that the point defence system on Vector 01 would be able to protect them too. At that moment, they would likely be grateful enough for the shields. Jien could but hope they weren't too late, and the Resolve was about to explode.

    Re: Chapter 05: Battle of Starbase 84

    Reply #24 –
    [Jaya Thorne |  USS Allegiant Bridge] Attn: Auctor, Kaligos, Allegiant Bridge Crew, CandianVet, ejected pilot (Game), everyone in the battle

    "Probe ready for launch."

    Jaya heard Sithick's voice on the comms and glanced at her own screen.  In a few more seconds, the probe would be launched and they could get the hell out of dodge.  She should have been more relieved, but at that moment, the Starbase opened up and a large ship exited.  "Aw hell, what now?"  The last thing her team needed was yet another enemy on the horizon.

    "Allegiant, we have one ejected pilot in close proximity to the Starbase.  Perform a combat rescue while you're dropping the TPS probe."

    Trent's voice was heard loud and clear on the bridge of the Allegiant and in that moment everything switched gears.  Friendly or not, that new ship would have to wait.  Jaya's fingers went to work tapping out a new heading to get them in the trajectory of the ejected pilot.  There were two options that she could see: one, take the safest route around fire and pick up the pilot at the expense of time; two, make a beeline for the pilot at the expense of their own safety.  There wasn't a happy middle, and something in Jaya's gut told her that the pilot needed a rescue sooner rather than later.  So she went with her instincts and picked the riskier heading.  She was banking on her skills and Roger's targeting to get them through, but this would be tougher than maneuvering in to launch the probe.

    "Commander, probe is away and operational.  Inputting new heading to rendevouz with Game."  The interceptor fighters swarmed out of the Starbase as Jaya relayed the information to Dewitt.  Things were going to be hard enough without any extra resistance.  She needed that handled now!   "Rogers, I need all the firepower you've got!  Keep those things off us!" But as the Allegiant turned about, they were too close to Starbase 84 to avoid it's fire. 

    The blast shook the ship so hard that Jaya smashed her head off the corner of her console as she braced herself from falling out of her chair.  But her injuries were minor compared to the Tactical Officer at the console beside her.  Ensign Rogers' console exploded into flames and the man was thrown from his chair as plasma spewed from a broken manifold.  The next several seconds were a dizzying blur of action as Morwen rushed to douse the flames and stop the leak, then checked on Rogers.

    Dewitt hit her comm in that instant and hailed sickbay.  "Dr. Hernandez to the bridge immediately!"

    With Ensign Felr in Engineering for the moment and Morwen assisting Rogers, it left Jaya to man the consoles.  Despite the injuries to her crewmen, she knew she had to stick to her console.  They were in the middle of a battle, afterall, and someone still had to fly the ship and man the phasers and check the shields.  She did that now, and transferred view and control of both stations to her own console.  "Shields holding at 60%, but we need to get out of range! We can't take another hit like that!  Moving to dodge incoming fire!  Phasers on-line and ready to engage hostiles!" 

    Jaya was now juggling three tasks and it took all her concentration to do it right.  The Allegiant took heavy fire from the Starbase and a few interceptors, and she reported on their shield status as they fell from 60% down to 22%.  She was doing her best to blast incoming fire before it impacted her ship and dodge out of the way of the torpedoes she couldn't hit, all while keeping shields up when she could and speeding to her destination.  To her credit, she really was a good pilot and despite being a little worse for wear, the Allegiant arrived on location to rescue the pilot.

    "Ready for rendezvous, Commander.  Let's do this quick and get out of here!  The longer we stay here, the bigger target we paint on ourselves!"  Jaya was certain that if she hightailed it back to the Theurgy, she could get them there in tact.  Hell, even if they moved to maximum sensor range, she'd be able to keep the girl afloat.  But if she had to go back into that Armageddon of a battlefield, she had no idea how they would survive.

    Once they arrived in position, Dewitt was back on comms.  "Sithick, I need you in the transporter room.  Get that pilot beamed aboard now!"
    "Relationships are not my strong suit; I deal in evenings."
     - Jaya Thorne, Asst. Chief CONN Officer, Ensign [Show/Hide]
     
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