Prepare for Ramming Speed!

Posted on Sat Sep 30th, 2023 @ 10:14pm by Commander Amaya Lance & Commander N'Garzi Zora & Lieutenant Alexis Ryan & Ensign Quinn Alka-Sutton

Mission: Wrath of the People
Location: Main Bridge, Alpha Section
1381 words - 2.8 OF Standard Post Measure

There had been no time to caution her fellow teammates on the likelihood of disorientation after an emergency transport under duress. Years out from the marine drills that had prepared her for all sorts of similar scenarios, Alexis materialised amidst a wave of nausea that she could only assume was twice as bad for those she'd allocated as escort. Added to the confusion was misplaced expectation, as the world around her reappeared at the last place she would have recommended as an ideal deployment zone.

"Hold fire!"

Her voice found volume instantly, the command given with equal caution to both sides. An immediate scan presented no viable threats and Ryan frowned, as much at the lack of retaliation as Saghir's slight miscalculation, which barely counted as a problem given the skill it had taken to get them aboard to begin with.

"Commander?" The Science Chief's quizzical gaze fell on the startled Lance, querying the unexpected lack of pirates.

"Lieutenant..." Amaya looked up from the business end of a hand phaser. "You're late." It was relief that drew out the brevity more than anything else. "The pirates outside?" she asked, motioning to the fuzzy viewscreen.

"We were more concerned with the pirates inside but it looks like you have those under control." With a nod, Ryan dismissed her security detail to report to Zade and then gestured with her head for Quinn to follow her to approach the Commander.

Quinn exhaled a breath they didn't know they were holding; they had been nervous enough transporting across into who-knows-what and, now that the adrenaline was wearing off and relief was setting off, their hands shook slightly. They followed the security chief, taking the few steps across the bridge to stand before Commander Lance. Before they even had a moment to truly take in everything that was happen, Lieutenant Ryan had started speaking again.

"We've got them confused but it's only a matter of time before they figure out what we've done." In brief terms, sidestepping any reference to where she'd learned the trick, Alex outlined the strategy that had bought Gamma Section time to intervene. "Bailey is out there playing cat-and-mouse with them as we speak. Beta Section is attempting to limp back to the outpost, so whatever we're going to do, it's just us."

"We used anaesthezine to disable anyone not on the bridge. That'll include some of our own people, but...it was necessary." The phrase felt alien coming out of Amaya's mouth, but it was true nonetheless. "We need to regroup the different sections of the ship as soon as possible; combine our efforts and put an end to things." She motioned towards the rear of the bridge. "We should have main power back soon, at which point we can coordinate with Lieutenant Bailey to turn the tables on the vessel out there."

The hitch of an eyebrow didn't condemn so much as empathise. From the sounds of things, Alpha Section had been forced down a similar mentality to her own command efforts. Alexis dipped her head in agreement and then turned her gaze towards the viewscreen. "Running distraction is one thing but that ship, as far as we've been able to tell, is utilising shield harmonics that are a little outside regulations." It made sense, given the hostile environment the pirates salvaged in, but didn't make dealing with them any easier. "We won't make a dent in them unless we can find a way to target their generator."

[[Zora to Alpha]] Her voice chimed over the comm system, [[please tell me we have the ship?]] She asked, worry etched in her already strained voice.

"Zora. Lance here," Amaya responded. "Your timing is almost as good as Lieutenant Ryan's. We have the ship, for the moment."

Zora breathed an audible sigh of relief, she didn't have it in her to try and take back the Alpha section from pirates as well. [[I'm so relieved to hear your voice, what's the situation?]]

"We're in control, but there's a pirate ship out there that could still cause us some problems. If you're positioned to offer support, it would make our life easier," Amaya replied.

[[Oh! I think I can help you there.]] Zora replied before the commline went dead. Less than a minute later the Commander reactivated the connection on a more secure line. [[Sir,]] she started, addressing Lance, [[I'm going to transport everyone here back to you, except Henry, that should help with the repairs and the injured. Ensign Wrea has also been able to hack into the ship's systems and we have full tactical data on the pirate mothership, you're welcome!]]

"If you're telling me we can bring down that pirate's tactical advantage before we re-engage them..." Amaya glanced at Ryan. "It's turning into a party."

[[There's three of us to their one,]] Zora replied, referring to the Alpha section, her borrowed pirate ship, and Leiko's shuttle. [[Did someone say multi-vector assault mode?]] The joy in her voice was undeniable. After suffering for days at the hands of these pirates, she was looking forward to giving them a bloody nose for once.

"Make that four," Ryan piped up once clarification had omitted to mention her own presence, not at all displeased that Gamma Section's subterfuge had masked them from even their allies. The Science Chief eyed Quinn thoughtfully and then turned her attention to Lance. "If I might make a suggestion, Commander, Quinn can replicate what we did with our buoys to expand that number even further, overload them with more targets than they can focus on. I'd also propose I return to Gamma." Given the relative security of Lance's control, Alex found it hard to justify leaving Bailey to bear the brunt of direct combat, especially if Saghir's gastro-intestinal issues had not abated.

The young half-Bajoran science officer gave a quick nod, "Y-yeah, that should be easy enough to do." They thought for a moment, "Err... if I can use the connection back to Gamma used to coordinate the multi-vector mode, I should be able to network all the buoys together without too much trouble. Including the buoys from Alpha... we should be able to give them..." Quinn did some quick math, "Well, more than a dozen targets."

"And this, Ensign, is why science officers are always needed on a warship," Amaya nodded approvingly. "I wish we could see their faces when all those ships appear on their screens." She returned to the command chair, brushing some of the dust off from the recent assault. Then she touched the comm. "Lieutenant Ryan, Commander Zora. Once Ensign Quinn has signaled ready, we'll coordinate the counter attack from here."

With the Commander's leave, Ryan reached out to give the Bajoran a pat of encouragement and disappeared via the turbolift to the transporter room, already transferring coordinates for the actual location of Gamma Section to facilitate a summons. Teleporting back would be marginally less risky given the confirmed lack of hostile engagement but over-confidence sounded like a perfect recipe for failure.

Realizing exactly what was being asked of them now, Quinn gave a quick nod and smile to the science chief at the pat and moved quickly to the console matching the one they'd used on Gamma what felt like forever ago now. With a deep breath, they set to work; now that they knew exactly what they were doing, the process was much quicker. Now, however, instead of trying to mirror the exact signal to each buoy, they put a variation to the signal - to anyone not looking closely, it would seem like a half dozen Federation ships had appeared in the nebula. "Well, as long as they don't know transponder codes well."

The half-Bajoran let out a sigh as they finished the work, glancing around the bridge, suddenly nervous, "Err... Alpha's buoys are reprogrammed and I-I've got a connection back to Gamma and its buoys. Umh... well, I can't say how long it will fool anyone but it should buy us some time."

[[Let's give them hell,]] Zora said over the comm. [[Awaiting your signal Commander.]]

"Roger, Commander." Amaya pursed her lips momentarily, glancing around the bridge that had seen slightly better days. Be strong. "Let them have it."