Run Silent, Run Deep

Posted on Thu Aug 20th, 2020 @ 8:54am by Commodore Jacob Kane

Mission: The Shadow of Arachne
Location: USS Athena - Bridge
Timeline: MD-03
527 words - 1.1 OF Standard Post Measure

The bridge had mostly cleared of the initial haze and chaos that had unfolded when the Pico had been destroyed. Any injured had been taken to sickbay, and relief crew had taken their place. Kane still gripped the armrest of his command chair as he tried not to survey the physical damage to the bridge. A few of the light fittings were out, giving the entire space around him a more subdued and shadowed view than usual.

"Status?" he pressed, glancing around the bridge.

"Shields barely operable, sir. Thankfully the deflector is keeping the worst of the plasma storms off us, but the helm is still showing a little sluggish." the Ensign at Ops reported back. "Could be the navigational sensors took some damage."

"Steady as she goes, helm. We need to clear the worst of these storms," Kane noted. He could feel the minor tremble of the deck plating, indicative of the destructive discharges that were rippling through the space around them.

"Captain, high-energy power reading astern of our position. It might be a ship closing on us." The Ops Ensign didn't sound confident. Maybe it was the stress of the situation they were in.

"Breen?" Kane's eyebrow raised slightly. He wasn't going to take any chances in their current condition. "Show me."

The viewscreen crackled, a burst of static before the purple-orange storms swirled around a singular black dot that seemed to be moving amidst the chaos. The screen magnified a second later, the unmistakable asymmetric form of a Breen destroyer shifting its angle to pursue them.

Kane watched the image with a mix of anger and frustration. He knew that at full-strength they were no match for Athena but right now, with the environmental conditions and the significant damage from the close encounter with an exploding Akira-class starship, the odds were against the Starfleet ship.

"Damn..." he murmured. "We're never going to outrun them here, nor are we going to be able to engage them in this state." He considered their options aloud to himself. No running. No fighting. That left either giving up - not a chance - or finding somewhere to hide. "Ensign, there are star systems dotted about the Badlands, correct?"

"Aye, sir. A few proto-planets and stellar debris in pockets."

Kane moved to Ensign Brewster at the Helm. "Find the nearest one and engage at maximum possible speed. Breen sensor systems aren't quite as powerful as their Starfleet equivalent. If we run fast and quiet, we might have a chance of losing them and getting into less turbulent space to make repairs."

"Second reading, bearing 271-mark-10. Almost identical power readings," the Ensign at Ops reported. Kane felt a millisecond of anxiety, before pushing it quickly to the back of his mind.

"Of course they wouldn't be alone..." he sighed, returning to his seat. "Prepare to power-down nonessential systems and rig external emissions for stealth output. Alert all sections that we're running silent as best we can until further notice. Make sure Engineering gets everything locked-down once they clear up that coolant leak." He went back to gripping the armrest of his chair. "Let's hope it's enough."