Complications

Posted on Sun Feb 2nd, 2020 @ 9:14pm by Commodore Jacob Kane & Ensign Alex Brewster & Commander Taeler Santu M.D. & Lieutenant Dessame Sar & Lieutenant Noah Reed M.D.

Mission: In the Family
Location: USS Athena - Bridge
Timeline: MD-06
1766 words - 3.5 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Kane drummed his fingers against the armrest of his command chair a little impatiently. It had been days since they'd been diverted from their duty route. The demands of the Lady Hortensia had begun to grate on just about every member of his senior staff. He was getting close to filing a commendation for each of them for their patience, though they still had a ways to go yet.

"ETA to Paratus system, Ensign Brewster?" he inquired.

"Dropping out of warp momentarily, sir," the young Ensign at the helm responded. Kane leaned back with his eyes closed, thankful that they were at least arriving and might not have to put up with the Ambassador for too much longer. He could feel the ship dropping to impulse, the subtle sounds and motions of the ship now familiar despite the inertial dampeners. He liked being able to feel her little nuances like that.

"Captain, reading a number of small vessels on approach."

Kane opened his eyes.

"A welcoming escort? What are we expecting here?" he inquired, glancing around the bridge for anyone who might be able to tell him.

Peter looked up from his console, trying to draw the security chief's attention. "I am reading weapons signatures captain," he said, "though I doubt they're a real threat to us, I still recommend caution." He paused, now locking eyes with Dessame. "However I defer to the security chief for further recommendations."

On the starboard side of the bridge, Lieutenant Mortigar had been monitoring the situation from his science station. As soon as the Athena had dropped out of warp, he ran a series of scans to get recent data on the Paratus star system. With the arrival of the small ships though, he turned his attention to the problem at hand and ran their configuration through the Federation database. When the result of the search came through, Morty scrunched up his face. "I am unable to identify those vessels, Captain," he said aloud.

"Take us to yellow alert," Kane noted. "Open a hailing frequency."

Dessame nodded as she raised the Athena's shields and monitored the incoming vessels.

"No response, sir," the Ensign at Ops responded. Kane glanced at Taeler and Horn, the two most likely to be able to offer input.

"We're on a diplomatic escort. These could be an honor guard, or they could be a threat. Your thoughts?" he asked.

"I say we continue on course until we see a reason to change it," Doctor Reed said as he walked leisurely to stand next to the captain's chair. It seemed to make the most sense, given that the other ships weren't responding to hails but didn't seem to be threatening.

"If they attack the Ambassadors vessel they will most likely suffer severe damage. They do not have the same defensive capabilities as we do... weaker shielding, minimal weapons." Dessame offered. "I appreciate we are a diplomatic escort but a small number of ships on an intercept course when we have no notice of such gives me pause. I suggest we move to cover the Ambassadors ship. If they attack we will take the brunt of hits but they are quicker than we are and will move round us quickly."

"Like an annoying clutter of mosquitoes," Peter offered, "when they are few they will barely dent our shields, but in a larger swarm they may yet take us."

Taeler's eyes narrowed, why did this give her an uneasy feeling? Even if it was a squadron bent on attacking them the Athena would easily be able to take them. The feeling came from occupation stories. The Bajorans never had much in the form of a space fleet but the small fighter craft were used to great effect even against the large Galor classes simply because it was near impossible to lock onto them. And it is what Commander Horn said, enough pinpricks is enough to draw blood, "Put us in between the Ambassador and the fleet."

The Helm officer complied, rolling the Athena into a covering position on the near side of their escortee.

"Get me the Glory," Kane said, waiting a moment for the screen to change to the youthful aide to the Ambassador, whose name Kane didn't recall. "This is Commander Kane. We're detecting a small number of ships approaching. I wasn't told to expect company. Does the Ambassador want to grace us with her diplomatic presence?"

"Uh..." The young envoy glanced nervously off-screen. "She's asleep at the moment. I'm not sure it's a good idea to wake her..."

"Asleep!?" Kane frowned, his voice climbing. He had to take another breath to bite back a few choice words. "Tell me, does your ship have defensive measures? Shields?"

"Nothing like the ones on your ship, I'm afraid," the envoy responded. "Part of the reason why we needed an escort. Lady Hortensia doesn't like weapons, you see. Probably best we don't start a fight, especially while she's asleep..." With that, the image winked out.

Kane scowled and looked at his waiting bridge crew. "Like fighting blindfolded and with both arms tied behind your back," he growled.

"Surely you are not complying with this insane request?" Peter piped up from his station. "If she does not like fighting, why does she want an armed vessel as escort?"

"They need to raise their shields, Captain, and they need to do it now. If those ships have malicious intent the Glory won't stand a chance." Santu looked over at the screen and the readings that were coming in on her console. There was no way the Athena would be able to catch all those ships before they would be able to get through and do some damage to the unshielded civilian passenger transport, "Would it help to activate multi-vector assault?"

Kane stared long and hard at the screen. This felt like Catch-22; if they pre-empted any action they'd be seen as the aggressor. If they sat back and waited, they ran the risk of failing to protect the Ambassador. That said, Santu's suggestion caused a plan to coalesce in his head. "Do it. Separate the ship. Lt Commander Taeler I want you to take remote command of the two other ship sections. Maintain blocking positions as best you can. We're going to move the upper section into a position as close to the Glory as we can and extend our shields to cover them. Hopefully that will be enough to give them the protection they need."

There was a little pang of excitement in Dessame as the ship began to separate, she wouldn't lie. First mission in and the multi-vector assault mode was being activated. This did make her job a little more difficult due to the weapons systems on each of the sections as they needed now to coordinate with each other, but she had been training on this before her posting and still recently.

"They will be in weapons range in 2 minutes Captain." Dessame announced as she watched the tiny swarm approach at some speed. "We will need to try and keep some distance from the ships... as they are small if they get too close to the Athena we will have difficulty getting a weapons lock. However, I believe I can if they get too close to one section of the ship I believe I can use an adjacent section to disable them."

"If you sign over control of one module to me, I can help," Pete offered.

"Releasing third module to you now, Commander." Dessame replied as she gave clearance for third party use of module 3.

“Captain, I may be able to increase the effectiveness of the targeting scanners by firing a charged particle burst from the deflector array. However, doing so while we are in multi-vector assault mode will take Gamma Section out of the fight for at least two minutes.” It wasn’t ideal to only have two thirds of the ship operating if they got into battle but if it enabled them to even out the odds tactically, Mortigar had to suggest it.

"Worth a try here, Lieutenant. Do what you need to do to make us ready for it," Kane nodded.

“Preparations are already under way,” Mortigar responded. He turned towards his console and began entering a series of commands to change the configuration of the main deflector.

Kane's brow furrowed as he eyed the details unfolding on the screen. A half-dozen objects were closing in. Roughly the size of a Runabout, they moved with apparent purpose, though their design was completely unfamiliar.

"Remember, hold off any hostile action until intent is clear," Kane warned.

No sooner had he spoke than the ships broke off into various different vectors, darting around the central section of the undocked Athena and heading directly for the Glory positioned directly beneath.

"Plasma discharges!" Someone piped-up. Kane gripped the armrests of his seat tightly, noticing the energy blasts strike the ship's shields. "Barely any damage to the...hold on-" The Ensign at Ops hesitated. "They're-"

"Making a kamikaze run!" Kane finished for her, realising before she was able to complete her sentence. "Mortigar, burst the deflector. Lieutenant Sar, disable those ships immediately."

He watched as the phaser fire lashed out from two sources, raining devastating damage on the tiny attackers. All but one spun away, disabled or irreparably damaged. All but one... Kane noted with a grimace. Too late for anyone to react, the last small attacker breached their extended shields and slammed into the side of the Glory.

Dessmae slammed her console in frustration. She had one job, to protect the Glory from the small vessels approaching and she had missed one. One. "Glory showing extensive damage, hull breach and structural damage." She reported. She would beat herself up over this but now she couldn't take her eyes off the situation at hand. More trouble might be on the horizon.

Using his controls to maneuver the tertiary section of the ship, Peter did his best to take out as many of what he thought of as annoying mozzies as possible. "I am reading casualties on the Glory," he reported, "I recommend sickbay prepares to either receive them or send a team to investigate."








Commander Jacob Kane
Commading Officer
USS Athena

Lt Commander Taeler Santu
XO


Ensign Alex Brewster
Helm Officer
(NPC)

Lieutenant Dessame Sar
Chief Tactical/Security Officer
USS Athena

Lieutenant Mortigar
Chief Science Officer
USS Athena

Lieutenant Commander Peter Horn
Chief StratOps

Lieutenant Noah Reed M.D.
CMO

 

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