The Fiery Crucible (Part 1 of 2)
Posted on 18 Nov 2024 @ 5:16pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant JG Rafe Caradec & Lieutenant JG Serran & Lieutenant JG Sofie Ullswater & Lieutenant JG Nusien & Lieutenant JG Selon Illialhlae & Ensign S'Ers-a M'Lyr'Zor & Ensign Tora Zalos & Ensign Amanda Turell & Petty Officer 3rd Class Yasmin Aquino & Master Chief Petty Officer Toren Vral
3,486 words; about a 17 minute read
Mission:
Episode 20 - Reconstruction
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 5, Holodeck 2
Timeline: MD 03, 1803 hrs
[ON]
The darkened interior of USS Galileo-A's primary command chamber produced a pacific and reposeful atmosphere disturbed only by standard-running computer chirps emanating from the various stations' LCARS terminals. Ambient overhead lighting within the bridge was dimmed to highlight the displays' yellow, blue and silver user interfaces and symbology while the large main viewscreen displayed a streaking star field while the vessel traveled at low warp through its designated patrol zone along the Federation-Tholian border.
The small Nova-class' bridge complement consisted of an unorthodox mixture of both seasoned and new officers and NCOs. Whether or not those present were familiar with the science vessel's operational intricacies was now irrelevant; the thick and terse atmosphere within the bridge permeated all of those present while they awaited an unknown form of adversity.
Sera took her position at the engineering station. It did not feel comfortable. An engineer should be in engineering, but the Chief? Well...here she stood, tapping purposefully on the LCARS screen in front of her and brought up the numerous systems that were under her purview. The board was green. It was satisfactory.
When Yasmin entered the simulation, she was unsure as to why she was there. However, it quickly became known to her that she would be needed at a station that she was very familiar with. After all, she had been in Star Fleet for years, so she more or less knew what she was doing. However, she also knew that she would need to approach this situation with care, and, with the overwhelming fear to not mess anything up!
Nusien entered the bridge and made for the Science III station as ordered. With a few quick taps on the console he had it up and running. Data routed from Sick Bay about the state of the current patients, bed availability and the status of the Sick Bay staff came pouring in. It never struck the Edosian why medical would be required on the Bridge. However, it was not his position to reason it all out. "Sick Bay is standing by." He reported from his station.
Toren leaned back in his seat, getting comfortable. His keen eyes flicking across the room, lingering on each officer as they went about their work. He'd been involved in countless simulations in the past and no two were ever the same.
There was always a sense of foreboding when called to the bridge, even a holographic one. The feelings were still the same, a nervous excitement, that little flutter in your stomach of what might happen. Saelihn was no different. Taking that seat, changing the console to conform to a tactical layout always gave her a little flare of goosebumps as Humans called them. It would be interesting to see how this simulation would go, how real it would feel.
Being in this Scenario brought back... interesting memories for Selon, ones of him and his cadet cadre trying to 'game' it, to avoid the central conceit of the Kobayashi Maru, or rather what they thought was the test. An "unwinnable" situation. And they missed what that it was designed to test them on.
Serran had heard about the impossibility of succeeding the Final Exam and had seen the logic of putting cadets in such a situation. That hadn't meant he had liked it.
Now, he found himself in another simulation, he just hoped this one went better than the Academy one had.
He approached the Operations Station while keeping an eye on the view screen in the middle of the Bridge.
As her preferred role was more 'shoot stuff with a hand phaser' Amanda didn't often find herself behind what counted for a tactical station onboard the small science vessel but she still knew what she was doing. She looked over her shoulder towards the center chair where the Akkadian woman sat, it was going to be interesting to see how a former chief medical officer handled the Kobayashi Maru.
"Captain, we are approaching the Tholian border, warp 1. Slowing to impulse.", Rafe said. Of course, he didn't want to break treaty and run headlong into starting an interstellar war.
Perched on the edge of the XO's chair was Lieutenant Ullswater, it was her first time on this particular chair and she'd be enjoying it a lot more if it wasn't for the alert message which jubilantly declared their proximity to the Tholian border. Hopefully, this would not be another Latari.
At the very least that was the only major warning that appeared on the XO's screen. As for the rest she was able to report "All systems functioning and within normal parameters."
Serran looked up from the console he'd been hunched over and focusing on. He checked the screen again to confirm that he'd actually witnessed, what he thought he had.
He turned to the Captain's chair and loud enough so that everyone within earshot could hear reported. "We're receiving a distress call. They have declared an emergency and are requesting our assistance."
Hearing Serran's voice, Yasmin started to do her job. She was gathering the information and trying to figure out what as going on. Her station began to tell her what she was needed to tell the crew. Her eyes narrowed as she had to push the idea in the back of her mind of just how tiny she is compared to the station in front of her.
"It is the civilian freighter, SS Kobayashi Maru. Sensors detect main power is offline and hull failures are in progress. Position:..."
A hard swallow silently escaped her throat.
"Within Tholian space, outside of the Federation border."
"Raise shields. Take us to yellow alert. Take us toward the border, warp 1, and make sure we stay on this side. Science I want every scan you can think of to see if there are any other ships in the area near the freighter. Assessment, how far across the line are they?" Allyndra stood as she gave the commands. To her, standing from her counselor days indicated engagement.
Nusien took the moment to alert Sick Bay for the possibility of incoming wounded both from the Galileo and Kobayashi Maru. He also took the initiative to clear holodeck 2 and prepare it as a secondary Sick Bay if needed.
"Raising shields." Amanda called out, the lighting on the bridge changed slightly as she activated the 'yellow alert' setting. Shield generators came online and projected their fields against the hull and the ships weapons systems came to hot standby ready to come to action at a few moments notice.
It'd been a long, long time since Tora had last touched a bridge station. Her specialty was in the field, with a tricorder and her eyes, not at a console, after all.
"Tactical, please work with science for sweeps as we get close. While there is no indications that Tholians have cloaking I want a sweep of gravitational disturbances. Communications, other than the Maru, is there anything else that you are picking up?"
Rafe increased the speed back to warp 1, "Warp 1, aye.", acknowledging the command. "One minute, 40 seconds to the neutral zone, Captain!."
"Aye Sir," Amanda replied. She shared the tactical sensors data to Lieutenant Illiahlae's science station. "No gravitational disturbances that I can detect."
"Thank you. Keep scanning," Allyndra replied.
The science console fluttered with activity and Selon cast his eyes over the readouts. "Captain there are several hull signatures in the immediate vicinity of the Kobayashi Maru based on their deployment they could be interdictor vessels or mines." Selon poured over the sensor readings on his console. While they did not immediately read as 'ships' they were far too large and regular to be debris. Either something was interfering with their sensors or they were encountering something new.
Without looking up from his console, Serran responded. "There has been no communications from any vessel. If there are any ships out there, they are, as the old Terran phrase says, 'maintaining radio silence.'"
It'd been ages since Tora had last stood on a bridge (albeit a simulated one, on the Academy holodeck) and used a science officer's station. She'd come into Starfleet thinking that she'd be doing a lot more fieldwork, after all. That was why she'd been very surprised upon receiving the summons to the bridge in order to act as a substitute bridge officer - though she'd always suspected there was a little more to it than she was being told.
Nonetheless, she'd come as asked and done what she was trained to do - though she wished (just an eensy bit) that things were a little easier on her. "Kobayashi Maru is... inside Tholian space, Commander. One million kilometers inside." She reported, glancing down at her station.
As Galileo edged closer to the border more of the ship's sensors came to bear, building up a picture of what was going on. "We have a visual now." Ullswater reported "Putting it on the viewscreen."
With their current distance, the freighter still appeared small amidst the inky blackness of the rest of the viewscreen display. However, the lights of the vessel weren't the only things making it stand out. A lattice of thin strands were encompassing it as a geometric cocoon of light bathing the little freighter in a menacing yellow glow. The Kobayashi Maru was trapped in a Tholian web.
Ullswater didn't need to wait for the sensors to confirm what this was. She'd seen it before when she was on the bridge at the first of the battles at Latari. "An energy filament lattice, sir. The same thing that caught Trial." She quietly added that last bit as something of a reassurance to the commander, this crew had rescued people from one of these webs before and they could do it again.
Amanda couldn't help but look at the viewscreen, her body tensed as she looked at the energy web surrounding the freighter and painful memories quickly came to the forefront of her mind. Easy Amanda she told herself.
"A Tholian web. Can you tell if it has been completed?" Allyndra asked. She knew that once the web was completed it was self-sustaining.
"It looks to be." Ullswater checked the sensor panel by her side looking for the low-level verteron emissions that characterised the still not fully understood process by which the webs maintain their integrity. "Confirmed by sensors, the lattice is complete and now self-sustaining."
Nusien took a look at the data on his terminal, among that data was information on the crew of the Kobyashi Maru. Something alarming caught his attention. "Commander the crew of the Kobyashi Maru has taken injury and is need of medical attention. Their life support is failing." As he reported he sent the same information to Sick Bay so they would be ready for the incoming injuries.
"How much time to life support failure?" Allyndra asked.
All nine of Nusien's fingers danced around his console as he answered requests on medical status. His unique physiology allowed him to turn around and face the Commander as he did this. "By all readouts they have five minutes."
"Ensign Turell, take us to red alert. Shields at full."
"Lieutenant Caradec, keep an eye on how close we are to the border. We do not cross without my express permission."
"Aye, Captain. Approaching neutral zone", Rafe said. He continued at warp 1, now moving parallel to the neutral zone, yet still getting closer to the Kobyashi Maru. Once he was perpendicular to the ship, he dropped them out of warp and came to a full stop. "Full stop, Captain, maintaining 10,000 meters from the neutral zone. The Kobyashi Maru is exactly 1 million and 10 kilometers away."
"Lieutenant Ullswater, any experience with Tholian webs beyond what is in the books? As you mentioned you were familiar with them with the Trial"
Sofie glanced around the room, perhaps looking for Mimi or Varelli, anyone who had been on Virginia that day. There were none though, There was Amanda, who had been on Trial but as for the Galileo crew it was just her and Warraquim. "Virginia was able to rescue survivors from Trial's crew by transporter. They were undetected and able to get sufficient sensor data on the web that Ensign Mimi could compensate for the interference and get people out. It isn't something we could repeat exactly, but it could be a starting point for a rescue."
"I am not sure we could get sufficient data and remain undetected. Those Tholian ships might have picked us up by now," Allyndra said. A weird thought crossed her mind and she had the strangest sense of deja vu for a moment. She pressed the communication. "Engineering, get some engineers to the shuttle deck to prepare a shuttle for a warp core overload. Lieutenant Serran, I want you to work with engineering to get that ready and a remote control. Lieutenant Caradec, turn us about and take us back half a light year. Then turn us about again. Ensign Turell, prepare all torpedoes, fore and aft. Any questions?"
Caradec's hands moved across the NAV console quickly as he responded to the XO, "Aye, Commander, ETA just over 1 hour, 20 minutes." The Galileo banked a very small turn radius and ever so slowly picked up speed to warp 5 and began its journey.
"We have the capacity to increase our speed to maximum warp. It would cut our arrival time by 39.372% while only negatively affecting our consumption by 17.42%."
"Belay that, Lieutenant Caradec. Scans indicated the Maru only has five minutes or less of life support." She pressed the comm button once more. "All hands, battle stations."
"Take us to maximum warp toward the Maru. Tactical I want targeting on the Tholian ships but not to fire unless they do so first. Primary target is the holes in the web and the Maru. As soon as we pass we turn and try again if not successful and run for the border."
"Weapons charged and ready Sir." Amanda reported, even though she knew it was only a simulation she was itching to get into a fight against the Tholians.
"Aye, Commander!", Rafe responded, his hands already moving across the console. The ship leaped forward, then disappeared among the stars, overtaking the neutral zone in no time. The urgency of the moment forced Rafe to laser focus on the trajectory and make sure it was absolutely the fastest way to get there, taking into account space debris of any consequence.
"Science, I want you to work with ops and try to get locks, if possible, on any personnel on the Maru as we pass. We will have one attempt before we sweep by and return. Tactical keep tabs on the Tholians and keep them targeted. When we make our turn, we do wide burst torpedo fire to disrupt their sensors. Let's make this happen everyone," Allyndra said. She then leaned over to Sofie. "Any questions or suggestions, we don't have a lot of time."
"If the Tholians start firing on us on the initial pass do you really think we'll have time to make a second flyby? Their ships are more manurable than ours, we might have the element of surprise at first but they will react quickly sir." Ullswater leaned in to confer with the captain, swiftly making her suggestion before turning to the on duty operations officer. "Check Virginia transporter logs around stardate 69015, they successfully beamed through a web before, it might help to calibrate transporters similarly."
"No we will only make a run for the border, but we will attempt to destroy the Maru on the way. I had the idea to eject a shuttle warp core to explode to blind them and cover our escape back. Do you think you can work with engineering to do that?" Allyndra gave only a brief glance toward her XO returning to keep focus on the pass toward the Maru
"Aye sir." Ullswater nodded. She turned her head to see where Ensign Sera was seated and quickly hopped up to be next to the engineer. In a hushed voice to avoid interrupting any other bridge operations she asked "How is the shuttle preparation doing?"
"The computer has not deigned to provide me with any data to confirm that the 'orders' were completed. I..." Her eyes went distant for a moment before sharpening on the new XO. Catching herself, Sera dropped her eyes back to her station and responded to the CSO in a soft voice meant only for her ears. "The command staff on this ship continue demonstrate a concerning strategy in destroying the very source of power necessary to maneuver and travel any meaningful distances within the vacuum of space." She didn't realize she was bringing up one of the 'visions' of scenarios that did not happen. Things were getting somewhat muddy in her mind regarding what was real and what was...flight of fancy?
Her station chirped, finally having decided that an acceptable arbitrary time had passed to confirm her orders. Sera lacked the imaginative skills necessary to make this 'feel' real. Nonetheless, she was capable of entering in commands and following directives. It would have to be enough. "I have been given indications that the shuttle core is prepped and ready for detonation. Unfortunate. We were quite close to bringing the small craft back into compliance."
"If we make it out alive there will be many more shuttles to bring into compliance over a long career. I'm sure this one will understand." As she was talking Sofie was looking over Sera's shoulder to review her colleague's preparations. She tried to draw on her experience from Kali when Captain Navrin had had her trying to find weaknesses in the Tholian shields. Frustratingly she could think of no way to apply that to a warp explosion. It was such an uncontrolled and raw kind of explosion, she found it almost distasteful. "It looks as ready as it can be."
Yasmin took a very quick look at the battle tactics of the Tholians. Mercifully, she did not have to look far. The Tholians accomplish their mission by trapping their "prey" in a web, closing it in until their prey is destroyed. Yasmin saw what needed to be done, and that scared her. Her voice, however, spoke as a matter of fact.
"Our biggest danger is if the Tholians complete their web around us, we will be trapped. It looks like we have to remain moving and not establishing a pattern for the Tholian ships to catch us. We have to do the rescue while moving. If we stop or become predictable, we're dead."
Get locks on people while moving? Well, that'd be a challenge and a half to pull off - but Tora's adoptive parents didn't raise a weakling.
"Team, we can do this!" Allyndra stood from the command chair. She opened her wings fully and pointed toward the screen. "Let's fly! Everyone battle stations, take us to the Maru at high warp."
"Aye, Commander.", Rafe acknowledged, his hands moved across the panel and the ship leaped forward with maximum thrust. The stars were an immediate blur as they raced towards the injured ship, it's crew in peril.
Alyndra sat back down. She knew they were committed now. How fast the Tholians would react was a worry.
The small silver-hulled Nova-class starship streaked toward the border at rapid warp velocity while swiftly closing the distance between the Kobayashi Maru and surrounding Tholian vessels. Perhaps too swiftly. The high warp factor would make combat targeting more difficult but also reduce the time available for any actionable transporter cycles and recovery operations. It was certainly a gamble...and one which was responded to without delay. Along the other side of the border, the four Tholian frigates' tetrahedral forms detected the incoming intruder and maneuvered into a spread formation to intercept the detected intruder.
To Be Continued...
[OFF]
--
Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
First Officer
USS Galileo-A
LTJG Sofie Ullswater
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo-A
Ensign Amanda Turell
Security Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Mimi]
Ensign S'Ers-a M'Lyr'Zor
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
CMDR Morgan Tarin
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A
PO3 Yasmin Aquino
Operations Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Kov]
LTJG Nusien
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A
MCPO Toren Vral
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Vala]
LTJG Selon Illialhlae
Anthropologist
USS Galileo-A
LTJG Serran
Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A
LTJG Rafe Caradec
Senior Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A
ENS Tora Zalos
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A