From: Bethany \ (mouse3of3_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Sat Jul 05 2008 - 12:13:15 PDT
"Illumination?"
Cont. from "Firefight"
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Location: USS PATRIOT
Stardate: 2.80704.1645
Scene: Bridge
Time Index: +4.28
Within seconds of the small EON fleet dropping out of transwarp near the third array, an orbit-based one shaped like a disk, they were in a full-out dogfight. The Dominion ships, like their duplicates at the other arrays, had taken only a few seconds to scramble and respond to the initial torpedo blast to the installation. Now their ships, more numerous but caught off-guard, were firing in turn at the PATRIOT and the other two ships. The PATRIOT, for her part, was weaving through the Dominion ships and firing the entire time.
Kenta watched as another colorful phaser arc shot across the view screen, narrowly missing the PATRIOT herself on the way. "What are our shields at?"
"Still holding, sir, at 83%."
"And theirs?"
The officer paused, checking the feed. "76%. Most of the damage seems to have been done with our first attack."
He nodded, tracking the small star of a torpedo as it shot past the Dominion ship off their port bow and blew a hole in the one angling under their starboard bow. "See if we can do that again."
"Aye, sir." Vasquez waited until Tanith brought them to where they had a clear shot at the array, then launched another volley of torpedoes and phaser blasts at the installation; they were rewarded by the sight of the shield flashing from the damage. The small fighter that got in the way wheeling off to the side, a hole in its body, was an added bonus.
"The array is down to 61% of its shields, sir," the Ops officer volunteered.
Still at 61%, and they only had a minute more before they had to move to the next array. Their Marines were still on the second array, and it would take 35 seconds-- probably more—to deploy the fighters again. What now? "When we did the most damage, in those two strikes, where did we target their shields?"
Vasquez hesitated, checking the logs, then said, "During the strikes where we did the most damage, we were aiming at the center of their shields, farthest from the shield generators. It may be a weak point, or it may be the amount of firepower we used on one deployment."
"It can’t hurt to try again," Gorman suggested, looking over at Kenta.
"Tanith, get us as close as possible. As soon as she does, give it as much as we can in one go. Let EON BETA and GAMMA know to try that tactic, next time they get close enough to make a strike." He really hoped it was something that they could use.
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Scene: Sickbay
Tam repressed a groan as she saw another crewmember stumble into sickbay, apparently concussed. For a battle where the PATRIOT was taking comparatively little damage, she was getting a lot of crew suffering from injuries caused by getting knocked off their feet. She detested combat, especially not knowing what was going on and how many casualties she could expect. She could only hope that if they deployed the Marines, they wouldn't encounter much resistance.
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NRPG: Well, they're at the third array. Have they found something useful?
Bethany B.
Ensign Tam Niala
Counselor
USS PATRIOT
From HyperNews_at_youth.net
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