War in Practice (Part 2 of 4)

Posted on 31 May 2015 @ 3:36pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Luke Wyatt & Commander Andreus Kohl & Ensign Annikafiore Szerda & Captain (HoD) Valkris & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Commander Norvi Stace

2,401 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 08 - NIMBUS
Location: Sector 053 - Various Starships
Timeline: MD 02 - 1518 hrs

Previously, in War in Practice (Part 1)...

"Thank you Cadet. Tie in our deflector control to the Galileo - if she's going to be leading the pack then it makes sense for us to follow her lead. Advise the CO aboard however that we will at some point be making use of our cloaking device, and as such will have to shut down our deflector."

Holliday replied looking down at the readout to his right. The fleet was moving itself into a standard grid formation with the intention of projecting a tachyon field between the vessels. The Defiant-class would be able to contribute as long as she remained decloaked, but the minute the tactical advantage presented itself, she would have to depart.

"Aye, sir," Yuulik replied. She inputted the necessary commands on her interface panel. "Deflector control," Yuulik reported, "transferred to Galileo, sir."

=^=Holliday to Sickbay - Lieutenant Voutilainen - I presume your team is ready to go? =^=

=^=Of course, captain,=^= replied Tuula. =^=Let's just hope my services aren't necessary -- either simulated or real.=^=

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

USS Aventia - Bridge

Luke stood in front of his seat on the bridge of his new Akita class cruiser and was staring tentatively at the view screen, scanning the area where several of the klingon ships had disappeared. He was surprised that he was asked to command the Aventia but he was also honoured. "Confirm simulation weapons systems ready" he asked the tactical officer.

"Simulation weapons systems ready," T'Vanna replied from OPS, having tied in tactical to her station until the security officer would show up for duty. "Torpedoes are loaded and ready on your command."

"Good" he said and related the message to the flagship through a few simple touches on the captain seats command panel.=^= The Aventia is green across the board and are battle ready=^= Pride boomed as he sent the ship readiness to the admiral. "Bring us into formation, shields up, red alert all hands to battle stations"

Luke looked across to T'Vanna "Tie in with the other operation officer across the fleet and set up the grid" he finally sat down, resting his head on a clenched fist. Luke planned on winning this fight and anything that could give the federation a better chance against the Klingon he'd take it with grace. "When the fighting begins we should try to avoid engaging the Klingon ships head to head, their forward weapons are superior to ours but they have very little rear" he explained to his bridge staff.

T'Vanna nodded in response to the order and started to initiate their part of the grid. "So basically you want us to hang back and shoot them in the ass?" she asked, grinning at her CO. "I kind of like that idea..."

Luke grinned "No one said anything about hanging but but shooting them in the ass is exactly what I plan on doing, We'll kick their ass all the way back to Kronos" He boated hoping to increase the morale of his bridge crew. It was no hidden fact that the klingons ships were more powerful but with a bit of but with a bit of luck and cunning tactics they could win.

"As long as I get to help..." T'Vanna answered sharply. "Why do we always have to prove ourselves the warriors. Why can't they show that it isn't all about battle...that there's more to life than bloodshed."


USS Nautilus - Bridge

When Zhao's message to assume standard defensive formation reached the USS Nautilus, Lieutenant Commander Andreus Kohl was standing behind the executive officer's console to receive it. The longer he stood there, Kohl could only assume the bridge crew were fifty-fifty split on his state of mind. He imagined half of them suspected he forgot he'd been promoted to command Nautilus, and he imagined the other half of them knew he was fearful to take his post. In either case, receiving orders from the flagship had been fortuitous. It gave Kohl something to do, something to occupy his mind from the sheer terror. It gave Kohl direction.

Kohl rounded the freestanding console and he took a fateful step into the command well. "Helm, hang back from our task force," Kohl said, giving broad instructions for his officers to interpret based on their own expertise. "Position us at the aft of a standard defensive formation."

The young woman seated at the flight control console responded with a, "Yes, sir." Although her hands moved over her LCARS interface with confidence and grace, Kohl couldn't help noticing her voice quavered. She sounded more afraid than Kohl had appeared by standing behind his old post. The vantage displayed on the holographic viewscreen shifted as the Miranda-class Nautilus assumed its position behind the other vessels.

It only took a few more steps until Kohl came to stand in front of the Captain's chair. He settled his boots, but he maintained a few paces of open air between himself and the chair. "Ensign Szerda," Kohl said to the Operations manager. In his formal timbre, Kohl requested, "Report on the status of our weapons systems."

Annikafiore Szerda inclined her head at the Captain's attention, but held back on a response until she'd taken another look at the information on her operations console. "I've confirmed, sir," Szerda reported, "only training ordnance has been prepared and loaded. All weapons parameters have been reconfigured to- -"

Szerda's report was interrupted by the sound of the flight controller emptying the contents of her stomach all over the CONN. The flight controller doubled over in her chair and retched out another blob of vomit onto her lap. As she continued to be sick, Kohl sprinted forward and crouched beside the console. He called out, "Red alert," and he waited for a brief lull between klaxons wailing to speak out to the comms. "Bridge to Sickbay. We have an officer taking ill on the Bridge," Kohl reported. "Send a team. Send a team now." He put firm hands on the sides of the flight controller's head and inspected her mouth to be sure her airway was remaining clear.

"On my way," Naois replied, grabbing a medkit on the go as well as signaling a nurse to follow. He ran to the nearest turbolift, to have himself and the nurse transported up to the bridge. Instantly, he saw the ship was now without helm. "You take care of the pilot," Naois ordered, then crossed gazes with Kohl. "I will take the helm."

Competing priorities fought for dominance within Kohl's mind and within Kohl's heart. His command training ran a blade through his nurse practitioner certification. Kohl stepped back from the CONN, allowing the nurse to take charge of caring for the flight control officer, who smelled of nothing but bloodwine. He watched the two women retreat to the turbolift. Kohl moved to stand by the command chair, and he said, "I've read your service jacket, Mercy. I know you're certified for bridge duty. But do you still remember how to fly?"

"I have not flown anything outside a holodeck since the incident at the academy a few years ago," Naois answered, "but yes I remember how to fly. I promise I will not pancake this vessel against a starbase sir."

"Oh, Mister Mercy," Kohl said dryly, "There are no starbases in sight. I trust you can avoid crashing into a stationary object. It's evading the Klingons we're worried about today."

"I can most certainly try commander," Naois replied with a slight smile, while sliding into the pilot's seat. "Klingons, starbases....piece of cake, as the Humans say. My hitting the starbase was not pilot error by the way, it was equipment malfunction."

"No malfunctions today, Mister Mercy," Kohl said with more than a small measure of confidence. "These Miranda-class cruisers are tried and tes--"

From Operations, Ensign Szerda interjected with, "Captain, we're receiving direction from Lieutenant Emmarie on our contribution to forming a tachyon grid within our task force." Szerda cleared an area of her display to expand the full message that had been sent from Emmarie. "I'm studying the calibration now."

"Prepare the deflector, Ensign," Kohl said, encouraging Szerda to continue her preparations. He stepped closer to the Operations post, but held back from standing over her shoulder. "Engage the tachyon beam as soon as we get the go ahead from Atlas."


IKS HarqSith

Valkris had ordered the ship to cloak before they had even set up formation. The other ships but the flagship had done the same as well. Now she sat observing the Federation ships form up.

"Too steady, too confident," she murmured. "Helm, set course on 170 Mark 30. Prepare simulated weapons." She gave out the commands. Simulated weapons indeed, that was idiotic in her opinion. One did not play with dull batleths, only the sting of the cut would remind a warrior of the consequences of failure but these Federation types were not made of stern stuff.

"Captain, our course will take us toward an asteroid." The helmsman said.

"Exactly, though we are cloaked, I trust not that perhaps our 'friends' maybe trying something new. We take advantage of as much cover as possible. When we get there keep up cloak but take us to a dead stop. We wait for them to pass and engage and then swing in hard and fast into their rear."

The helmsman looked at his Captain and then a feral smile showed sharp teeth. When he answered with an "Aye Captain," there was much joy in it.

Valkris had the HarqSith slowly edge from around the asteroid and then called for complete silent running. They would just be able to keep a tab on the Fleet ships. "Everything, but what is absolutely essential, shut down and everyone to keep silent or I will personally toss you out the airlock."

The ship's bridge went almost dark, just a bit of lights from the helm, tatical and engineering along with the viewscreen. It was odd how the tone of the ship changed, one got so used to the various sounds that when they went away did one notice them.


USS Atlas - Bridge

Aboard the Federation flagship, Lirha had approved the request to set up the detection grid. She wondered, however, how effective it would be with both Galileo and Chronos currently in-motion while performing a forward perimeter sweep ahead of the task group, but it did seem to be a rather prudent idea at the time. The darkened ambient lighting and pulsing red alert lights illuminated the Sovereign-class' command center in a hushed and eerie hue, and now it was time to wait as patiently as possible for either a reported signature or incoming weapons fire.


Meanwhile, in open space...

The Klingon task group has essentially split itself into two elements in order to optimize their hit and run capabilities. While the IKS CharghwI' moved closer towards the Federation group, HarqSIj and Qa'rol escorted it maintaining a loose formation which would allow the most versatility once they entered weapons range.

The most important and tactical asset, however, were the two remaining vessels which were now flanking the Starfleet vessels and closing swiftly. The KDF's new battle cloak was equipped on both starships, and its designers had optimized it be virtually undetectable. None of the normal trace particle emissions generated by the energy field, giving them a sound advantage as the two vessels approached the Federation tachyon detection grid without much worry of being seen.

As the seconds ticked by, a visual disturbance took place in the darkness of the cosmos, the only indication that something had penetrated the Starfleet ship's perimeter defenses. With a slight shimmer to the backdrop of the stars and accompanied by an energy surge, a ripple of crimson flares erupted from the forward torpedo launchers of two cloaked vessels, and began to streak at high velocity towards the Miranda-class' saucer section.


USS Aventia

The panel in which Ensign Swatton was manning lit up with six different blips that merged into one large one and hurtled their way towards the formations left flank "Torpedoes on port" He shouted to the bridge officer's "They're on collision course for the Nautilus, impact in Five...Four...Three...Two...One" He looked to the ships captain "They've been hit sir"

The torpedoes screamed their way through the void and slammed into the ventral side of USS Nautilus' shields, just in front of its sensor dome. Luckily, the warheads were disabled and the shell of each torpedo broke up upon impact while the weapons' internal sensors transmitted the data of multiple simulated impacts to the Starfleet ship.

Luke looked over to T'vanna a grim expression on his face "What's the integrity of the tacheon's grid?" He asked knowing if he moved to aid the left flank there right would be let wide open. "Did anyone see where that come from?" Urgency rang in his tone.

"Integrity seems to be intact," she reported, "they sustained heavy damage sir. Warpcore going critical, they aren't going anywhere sir, they seem to be drifting. If they do not correct their course, the grid will be disrupted."

Luke frowned at the view screen of which the USS Nautilus was shown, artificial damage across its hull. "Sir I believe if we fire a volley of modified torpedo's we will be able create an electromagnetic field disrupting the Klingon s ability to use their shield effectively and if we are lucky it might be down some of their other low energy sub systems as well" A young ensign sat at tactical explained.

"Make it happen I want them ready to go as quick as possible" He said now turning back to the view screen "We need to have a plan set and ready for the admiral before we loose this battle before it has even begun!" He said almost with a bark.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

Various Characters aboard:
USS Atlas
USS Aventia
USS Nautilus
USS Chronos
USS Galileo

HoD Valkris
Commanding Officer
IKS HarqSith
[PNPC Warraquim]

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