From: V. Rahul Chandra (vrccan_at_gmail.com)
Date: Thu Feb 07 2008 - 02:23:42 PST
========= “Tactical Mistakes” Continued from my own “Strategic Complications” ========= Location: USS PATRIOT Stardate: 2424 [2.8] 0207.0328 Scene: Main Bridge Lieutenant Commander Gorman looked up from the PADD he was reading as Captain Kenta made his way onto the bridge from his ready room. “We’ve managed to procure all requested supplies sir,” Jeff said, getting out of the centre seat and making his report. “All stations report ready for launch and the CABOT is standing by for our signal. According to Lieutenant Corwin’s calculated flight plan and the fact that our best choice for speed is transwarp one due to the CABOT’s limitations, estimated time to arrival at LIOUN V is approximately fifty four hours, fifty minutes from departure.” “Thank you Commander,” Kenta said, turning around and facing the viewscreen. “Let’s hope this is a quick and easy mission and that we can get back and get some real repairs instead of all this patchwork stuff.” “Sounds like a plan,” Jeff agreed, taking his seat in the ExO chair. Kenta took his own seat. “Open a channel to the CABOT,” he ordered. “Channel open sir,” came the reply from one of the bridge officers. “CABOT, this is the PATRIOT,” Kenta said. “We are about to disembark and start our journey. Keep your sensors on us and follow our course and speed when we jump to transwarp.” [[Acknowledged PATRIOT,]] came the reply. [[We’ll be standing by for your mark.]] “Okay Lieutenant,” Kenta continued, addressing the helm once the channel had been closed. “Take us out of drydock, nice and easy.” “Aye sir,” Corwin answered, deftly manipulating the controls on her console. “Detaching from the drydock now.” A slight rumble in the ship occurred, but was quickly corrected for technologically as the viewscreen started to show movement in the starship’s position. All was silent on the bridge save for the tapping sound of electronic buttons being pressed as the PATRIOT slowly made its way away from drydock and out of the system it was currently in. “The CABOT is maintaining a constant distance two kilometres behind us,” Lieutenant Kimmura Sanba reported from the operations station. “We are clear of drydock and surrounding starships,” Corwin added. “We can make the jump to transwarp at any time.” “Go to transwarp,” Kenta ordered. “Aye sir,” Corwin replied, carrying out the order. =========== Location: SPACE The drydock and the ships around it had slowly witnessed the move out of the PATRIOT and CABOT from the system, their paths remaining identical to one another as the CABOT followed in the PATRIOT’s wake. As the ships started to get smaller in their further distance, suddenly the PATRIOT’s image expanded and then disappeared as it entered a transwarp state. Less than a second later, the CABOT followed, its bright exit from the immediate area around drydock followed by the space regaining the calm tranquility it had before the two ships had accelerated. The mission to the LIOUN system had begun. =========== Location: USS PATRIOT Scene: Main Bridge “We are now at transwarp,” Corwin reported, tapping a few buttons on her console. “Our course and speed are holding steady and it should be smooth sailing from here on in provided we don’t run into any unwelcome guests.” “The transwarp field is holding steady and all of the drive’s parameters are normal,” Suvak calmly added from the engineering station. “What about the CABOT?” Kenta asked, directing his gaze across to the Andorian sitting at ops. “They made the jump to transwarp approximately 0.7 seconds after we did sir,” Sanba reported, after a brief glance at the sensor logs. “They have matched our speed and are currently travelling seven kilometres off our port bow.” “Good,” Kenta said, nodding his head in approval before turning to Gorman. “You have the bridge for now Commander. I want a senior staff meeting in the observation lounge in one hour.” “Aye sir,” Gorman answered, nodding his head as Kenta got out of the centre seat and headed for his ready room. ========= Time Index: 1 hour later Scene: Observation Lounge “Okay ladies and gentlemen,” Kenta said, taking a seat at the head of the table. “We are about fifty three hours away from entering the LIOUN system and I want to make sure everyone knows exactly what they are doing so that we have no delays in setting up the two facilities.” “The first part of the mission will be overseen by Lieutenant Commander Gorman, so he will brief you on exactly what the details will be,” Ben added, nodding to Jeff that he could begin. Jeff cleared his throat a bit nervously, taking one last look at the PADD in front of him. This was the first time he’d done such a thing and he wanted to make sure he didn’t screw up the instructions. “As the Captain said, we are currently about 53 hours away from reaching the LIOUN system,” Jeff said, looking around at the assembled senior staff. In addition to the crew that had been there for awhile, the new transfers were also present as their departments would be called upon during this mission. “Once we get there,” the PATRIOT’s Executive Officer continued. “Our first course of action will be to establish an orbital sensor array in a geosynchronous orbit around the solitary satellite of the fifth planet in the LIOUN system. The array is not that large, but it is large enough that it is currently sitting in three pieces aboard the CABOT.” “Will the CABOT’s crew be assembling the array?” Suvak asked. “Yes,” Jeff answered with a nod of his head. “HORNET class vessels are equipped with five workbees that will be doing the work of actually putting the sections of the sensor together once they have been deployed into space, but at the same time I want the PATRIOT to monitor the construction in order to react if anything happens to go wrong during the actual construction.” “That’ll be the responsibility of Ensigns Suvak and Ivanovich,” Gorman continued. “And it is your only responsibility while the array is being constructed.” “Aye sir,” both Ensigns replied simultaneously. “The sensor, once put into place,” Jeff said. “Will act as the primary mode of surveillance, transmitting down to the planet where the crew manning the planet side station will then be collating that data and transmitting it back to one of our forward command centres.” “And once that part of the construction is complete,” Kenta jumped in. “Then the real fun begins. The CABOT is carrying all of the materials necessary for the construction of the base on the planet, but unlike with the orbital facility the PATRIOT’s crew will be closely working with that of the CABOT during the construction.” “I want most of the senior staff to beam down to the planet,” Ben continued. “Take your best teams with you so that the work gets done as quickly as possible. The less time we actually spend in the LIOUN system before leaving, the better off we’ll be.” “Colonel Maverick,” Kenta said, turning to the man sitting on his right. “I want the area surrounding the base secured. We don’t have much in the way of intelligence regarding the wildlife situation on the planet, but I want your marines to sweep the area and neutralize any threats that might exist within striking distance of the base. Take as many marines down as you need in order to complete the job.” “Counsellor Tam,” Kenta continued. “Because Ensign Dugan is remaining on the PATRIOT in case we need to beam someone out with a medical emergency, I want you to head up the medical team that we’ll be beaming down to the planet. Pay particular attention to ensuring that adequate supplies are available for the team.” “The process of actually building the base will be left up to the CABOT’s crew and the eventual crew of the array, but I want us to monitor their efforts across departments just in case we are needed to step in and lend a hand.” “Those are the extent of the instructions,” Ben said, looking around the table. “Are there any questions?” =========== Time Index: 53 hours later Scene: Main Bridge “We are nearing the LIOUN system,” Corwin reported from her station. “Drop to impulse,” Jeff ordered, getting out of the command chair and standing in the middle of the bridge. “On screen.” The viewscreen flashed and directly in front of them two planets could be seen. One very large in the foreground and one significantly smaller in the background. “Those are LIOUN II and LIOUN VI,” Sanba reported from the ops station. “The other planets are at parts of their orbit that would preclude them from being in the view from the front of the ship.” “Okay,” Jeff replied by way of acknowledgement, looking at the two planets on the screen. “Let’s get to work. Helm, take us between LIOUN V and its satellite, maintaining an orbit that keeps us in the same position relative to both bodies.” “Aye sir,” Corwin replied. “ETA is thirty-five seconds to LIOUN V.” “Sir,” Vasquez called from the tactical console. “The CABOT has sent us a message. They have already reached the planet and are deploying the parts of the sensor now.” “Can we get those on screen?” Jeff asked. “Yes sir,” came the reply from Sanba at ops. “Switching views now.” Presently, the view of the two planets was replaced by a view of three pieces materializing into space. A few seconds later, five worker bees entered the picture and started locking the fragments together to form the sensor array. “The CABOT reports that the structure will be whole in approximately 3 minutes,” Vasquez reported. “Then they will tow it into the proper orbit, which shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes.” “Acknowledged,” Jeff replied, before tapping his comm. Badge. “Captain Kenta to the bridge, we are almost ready to move on to stage two of the mission.” A few moments later, Captain Kenta made his way onto the bridge and took charge of the situation. The work on the sensor array was uneventful and the towing even more so, all of it being completed about a minute ahead of schedule. [[PATRIOT, this is the CABOT,]] came the voice of the CABOT’s Commanding Officer over the comm. Channel. [[We are beaming supplies and equipment down to the surface now along with the construction crew and base staff.]] “Acknowledged CABOT,” Kenta said. “PATRIOT away teams, prepare to move out.” =========== Time Index: 10 hours later Location: LIOUN V Scene: Surface outside planetside listening post Construction had proceeded largely without incident, as the away teams that were sent down to the surface had carried out their assignments with the high professionalism that Starfleet was known for. “Well,” Daniel said, shouldering his phaser rifle and coming to a halt next to Maverick and Catherine. “If there are any lifeforms on this planet, they aren’t anywhere near the post. All of the teams have reported in and we seem to be okay for the moment.” “That doesn’t mean they’re not out there,” Catherine replied. “It just means we haven’t found anything yet.” “True,” Daniel agreed, turning to Maverick. “Should I order another sweep?” “Not yet,” Maverick answered. “But we’ll eventually get to it. For now, let’s go in and make sure that the shield modifications can handle stray projectiles that are shot out by the volcanoes.” ========== Time Index: Simultaneously Location: SPACE The PATRIOT and CABOT were both in a geosynchronous orbit around LIOUN V, having completed the task of putting the orbital sensor array into place around the satellite. With all of the nebulae activity around them, the scene was quite idyllic and one that a photographer might spend hours on if they had the time. Suddenly, the semi-tranquility of the situation was shattered by a torpedo that came shooting out of one of the clouds of gas, hitting the PATRIOT’s left nacelle. ========= Location: USS PATRIOT Scene: Main Bridge Consoles exploded as the bridge crew were caught completely by surprise by the torpedo. “What the hell was that?!” Kenta demanded, as crew got back up that had fallen and others orientated themselves in their chairs so that they could see their consoles. “A Dominion torpedo,” Vasquez announced, tapping buttons furiously on his console. “It came from one of the nebulae on our port.” “There’s a ship emerging from a nebula now sir,” Sanba reported, pressing a few buttons on her console before looking up again in shock. “It’s a Dominion battleship sir.” “Shields up,” Kenta ordered, his command being carried out just before the ship was hit by another blast. “Shields down to 77%,” Vasquez yelled. “The Battleship is moving off and has locked onto the CABOT.” He looked up at the viewscreen. “The CABOT’s shields won’t be able to withstand that many shots.” “Can you manoeuvre us so that we’re in between the CABOT and the battleship?” Jeff asked, directing his question forward to the helm. “I believe so sir,” Corwin replied. “Then do it,” Kenta ordered. A few moments later, a ship was rocketed by another torpedo. “Shields at 66%,” Vasquez said breathlessly. “Mr. Vazquez,” Kenta said. “Lock phasers and quantum torpedoes on their weapon systems and return fire!” “Aye sir,” Vasquez replied, carrying out the order. On the viewscreen, they were able to see the brilliant beams of light emanate from off screen as torpedoes went crashing into the Dominion vessel. “The Dominion vessel’s shields are holding,” Vasquez reported, just as the ship shook again from another impact. “Shields are down to 49%! We can’t withstand too many more of these hits.” “We’re outmatched,” Jeff said, glancing over at the CO. Ben nodded. “I suspect you’re right Mr. Gorman,” he answered. “Lieutenant Sanba, are there any nebulae that we could take refuge in?” “Yes sir,” Sanba reported. “There is one nearby that is filled with high levels of combustible particles. If those particles were detonated en masse, the resulting explosion would likely encompass the entire LIOUN system.” “Including the Dominion battleship,” Vasquez said, catching onto the idea. “Meaning that they won’t risk firing on us if we enter the nebula.” “That is correct,” Sanba said, nodding her head. “Aren’t the Dominion willing to resort to suicide tactics in order to achieve their objectives?” Jeff asked. “Yes,” Sanba said with a nod. “But not if they don’t have to. They will try other avenues before resorting to suicide tactics.” Another blast rocketed the ship, this one more severe than any of the others. “Sir!” Vasquez said hurriedly once he’d had time to check his console. “That last blast took our shields down to 12%! I don’t think they can withstand another hit. Whatever we do, we’d better do it fast.” “Head for the nebula Lieutenant Corwin!” Kenta ordered, making his decision. “Lieutenant Sanba, inform the surface team and the CABOT of the plan. Tell the away teams that they might be visited by some unexpected guests.” ========== NRPG: Whew, finally! I gotta tell you, it seems as if the gods that be have been conspiring this week to keep me from writing this! It's just been one thing after another, but I finally managed to get it together. You'll notice that I skipped over a large chunk of time in the actual trip to the LIOUN system. This was in the interests of me cutting down the coverage enough to be able to get something out. If you want to back and fill in some of that time with a backpost feel free, but try to focus more overall on what's in front of us. Speaking of what’s happening to us, here is the situation. The PATRIOT and CABOT have taken refuge in a nearby nebula from the onslaught of the Dominion battleship. While the battleship was not able to seriously damage either the PATRIOT or the CABOT, it was clear that if the battle had continued one or both ships might have been destroyed. While the battleship has not taken a move against the orbital sensor facility, one might expect them to do so (wink wink nudge nudge) as well as send some teams down in an effort to look for (remember Naomi’s post, which established that they would need to do this in order to find something?) and capture any technology present. So, from here on in the mission is two-fold. The people on the surface have to survive whatever the Dominion might throw at them, while the PATRIOT has to do the same and also devise a way to rescue their people caught on the surface. On the surface: Maverick, Clarkson, Sterling-Jade and Tam On the PATRIOT: Kenta, Gorman and Corwin So, basically, the rest of the mission is open-ended and anything goes. I’d like to see at least one post from everyone before the end of the mission and since there’s lots to do and approximately three weeks in which to do it, I think everyone should be able to at the minimum get one post out. Just make sure you don’t actually end the mission by blowing up the Dominion ship as that will be part of the closer. I believe that’s everything, although it wouldn’t surprise me if I missed something since I’m trying to get this out as quickly as possible. No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.20/1262 - Release Date: 06/02/2008 9:13 AM From HyperNews_at_youth.net
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