Chapter 1.1

Posted on Mon Apr 10th, 2023 @ 11:12pm by Willian Targaryen & Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Aiden Crowe & Captain Nathan Bishop & Commander Ash Randall & Commander Nathan Hawkins & Lieutenant R'relle & Lieutenant Paisley P'rar & Warrant Officer Harris Zim

3,643 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Remember Everything
Location: Main Bridge, Starfleet One
Timeline: 3189-03-17, 06:30

"Starship Anesidora coming around for another pass," Lieutenant Aiden Crowe announced from the Helm.

Captain Willian Targaryen rose from his seat, "Evasive pattern Alpha Two, Lieutenant. Try to keep us out of their crosshairs."

"If this weren't a whale of a ship that'd be easier, Captain," the man from Titan protested. Running his fingers over the interface, the youngster adjusted the Enterprise's course and speed trying to keep them ahead of the smaller scoutship. Shortly after dinner, the Captain had informed them that Starfleet had locked on to the shuttle carrying to stolen command codes for Battle Group Omega and that they would intercept early in the morning. Urging everyone to get some rest, at 04:30 the ship went to red alert because three ships from Battle Group Omega (the Anesidora, Kraken, and Nostromo) were on approach. Refusing to answer hails, they immediately opened fire.

"You are more than capable of avoiding these ships, Lieutenant," Galatea interrupted from the railing based workstation.

Altering their speed, "Tell that to them."

"Zim, full phaser spread toward the Anesidora," Willian ordered as he approached the forward stations. "Target their engines only. We don't want to destroy them. But, Science Officer P'rar try to find Zim something to shoot at."

The half-Bajoran, half-Cardassian woman muttered something about him shooting HER, but then nodded and spoke up. "I'll look." She scanned the upcoming horizons; her eidetic memory came in really handy in situations like this. "Engines to the left flank, one at the right, perhaps a missile dock at the back flank." She reported. "That's my left and right, sir," she noted, as she was behind him and the XO.

"Aye sir! Firing now." All of the Enterprise's phaser arrays erupted at once and lanced out toward the Anesidora. Within seconds they hit their marks. "Direct hit to their port side nacelle. Their warp and impulse drives are offline." Zim turned to look toward P'rar. Zim retargeted the phasers this time for that missile dock and fired again. A small eruption could be seen on the viewscreen. "Well, that depleted some of their torpedoes. Great idea Lieutenant."

The ship rocked from an impact, "Hawkins, reroute all available power to the defense systems. Then see if you can find a way to get around their cloaks," he ordered remembering his Operations Manager started in tactical.

"Rerouting power," Hawkins acknowledged the request.

"We may need to regroup," Willian said to his XO, "any objections, Number One?"

Bishop shook his head, "No sir. I think it is a prudent move. After all, discretion is the better part of valor as we're still not entirely sure what we are dealing with in regard to the Federation of this era."

"Agreed, Exec, Ash," Willian wondered how his Chief Engineer was handling herself, but couldn't ask right now, "How much time do we need to spool up the Coaxial Drive to try to get ourselves out of here?"

The Chief Engineer glanced the direction of the Captain. "Without, potentially, folding local space into an origami crane? Thirty seconds, minimum." She answered, quietly and then looked to Galatea. "The ships attacking us are capable of fully, autonomous, operation, correct?" She asked the former AI of the Enterprise. "No crew needed and NO reason to leave them alive if you've taken remote command of the ships." She pointed out, to no one in particular.

"Not 100% accurate, but close," Galatea answered as she typed on the archaic interface. "The AIMS Program that I was part of closed as part of the Interstellar Coalition debacle of the 25th Century. The Federation ruled that AI programs were to be limited on Federation ships after that out of concern for the safety of the Federation itself as the network could be infiltrated and disrupted, plus several vessels installed with the program did develop autonomous thought that ran counter to Federation and Starfleet policy."

Crowe reset their heading, "So are we warping out of here or what?"

"Ash, prepare the Coaxial Drive," the Captain ordered. "P'rar and Zim how's are attack going?" The Captain asked as the ship rocked from another impact.

"Already on it. Coaxial available in fifteen seconds." The Chief Engineer announced.

Paisley responded. "Direct hit to the right flank, minor hit to the missile dock." She couldn't see it as well as she'd like; Zim's damn big ears were in her way. "Zim got a direct hit on the left. They're good as gone, Sir." She sighed. He KNEW she hated combat. She liked to be tucked away in her labs, staring down at dilithium crystals, trying to figure out a medical use for them.

"We'll need some distance from the Nostromo, and company, or they're going to get a bit smashed when we engage." Ash advised, with a little glance the direction of Galatea and a shrug.

"With the amount of damage they can inflict under the control of an enemy force I think we should inflict as much damage as possible before departing," the former AI noted.

Crowe sounded the alarm at that moment, "They're trying to cut us off!" His fingers raced over the display at a speed that shouldn't have been possible. "Nostromo's coming up to forward, Kraken and Anesidora from behind!"

"Evasive!" The Captain demanded.

At that moment each of the vessels launched a full spread of Quantum Torpedoes directly for the Enterprise's aft quadrant. 21 glowing silver spheres of energy dashed toward their Engineering Section, each targeting the same location on the hull. The shields absorbed the majority, but three got through and slammed into the power transfer conduit for the nacelle.

The ship rocked from the impact as overloads from the influx of plasma caused uncontrolled energy increases. Lights flickered and consoles sparked as the systems tried futilely to compensate. Galatea gripped the side of the railing to steady herself as she typed with her other hand, "Direct hit to the port plasma conduit. We're venting drive plasma. Warp Drive offline! Engineering is significantly damaged. Emergency protocols engaged."

Willian had, somehow, remained in his chair the entire time. Surprisingly, his first order wasn't to the Chief Engineer but rather the Counselor, "R'relle, they're going to need help in Sickbay. Ash," he looked at his Chief Engineer, "see what you can do."

"Ok Captain. I'll head down there immediately." R'elle headed to the turbolift and onto sickbay. She understood the captain reasoning. Counselors have some medical training . If they really needed help, then she was the one to do it. besides, not much use for a counselor right now. Soon she was at the doors to Sickbay. She went in. :Hi Cyrus. Captain wanted em down her to help. "So how can i help?"

"Yes sir. Coaxial is still on line and ready. We can still engage and survive transit with the one nacelle but our jump will be destructive to local space and we will not be able to control where we go or how far." The Chief Engineer announced, laying the option out for the Captain.

Willian considered the option of engaging the engines. If they did try to jump to Coaxial Warp the Enterprise would be able to survive, for a time, but the risk to the surrounding space was far too much to contemplate. The ship was nearing the Hekaras Corridor, the only route in the Hekaras sector that was free of tetryon fields and the only safe way to cross the region at warp. If they destroyed space here the Hekarans would be permanently ripped away from the rest of the galaxy. "Disengage the Coaxial Drive, Commander."

"Nathan, get me as much power as you can to the defense systems," Targaryen continued. "We need to keep shields online as long as we can. Take the power from where ever you can."

"Yes, sir," Hawkins nodded as steady stream of damage reports across the aft section continued to pour across his console. It would be futile if he couldn't keep the shields in place to offer some sort of protection from another bombardment.

"Sirs," Galatea was being polite today, "We have a much bigger problem." The viewscreen switched to an exterior view of the Engineering Hull. Not far from the damaged power transfer conduits, the interior of the ship visible on the display, an undetonated Quantum Torpedo was lodged in the hull.

Crowe interjected, "If that detonates it'll destroy the ship in our current state!"

"Zim," Willian rose, "transfer Tactical to Ops and you're with me. Number One, you're in command until I return. Keep the ship together and moving. Try to put distance between us and the Starfleet vessels, but no more kid gloves. Destroy them." He looked at the Science Officer, "Lieutenant, let them know the weakest of the three and focus your efforts there."

"Yes sir." Bishop answered firmly. "We'll keep the ship safe and take them out." He looked to the bridge crew. "We have work to do. Let's get to it."

Ash looked to Bishop. "Coaxial is out until the torpedo is dealt with. It would, most certainly, go off." The Chief Engineer advised him. "We're two minutes from automated, repair systems nailing down the drive plasma leak but, getting the port plasma conduit functioning is not happening until the torpedo is dealt with. It's right in the middle of everything." She added.

Zim keyed in his access code and transferred his console to Ops. He was not sure what the Captain had in mind as of yet but he was sure it would be something big.

Paisley nodded but responded. "Understood. Seems the Anesidora is the weakest. I've got eyes, will hit at your order." She waited a moment; she knew better than to engage without a direct command. Her eidetic memory would let her know the exact location it had been when she asked. When the order was given, she hit the button for the torpedoes. "Direct hit to the left flank. Don't know what exactly I did hit...oh, looks like I took out part of their warp nacelle." Nice! She still did have a bit of her father's Cardassian buried in there, deep down. "Will keep eyes on it."

"Nicely done," Hawkins commented as the wounded ship fell away from the fight.

Lieutenant Crowe looked carefully at the Helm interface as the two other ships altered their course and heading, "The Nostromo is on direct course for us! I'm having trouble shaking them."

Galatea interrupted, "If the Nostromo and Kraken focus their assault upon the undetonated torpedo they could destroy the entire ship. I would recommend that Commander Hawkins focus his attention on the Nostromo and that the Science Officer focus on the other two," the android proposed. "We must keep the aft flank away from the combatants."

"What the Hell do you think I'm trying to do, Galatea?" Crowe asked as he pressed the button to switch to a new offensive pattern.

"Easy there Crowe," Hawkins commented looking up from his console toward the young pilot. "Stay focused. We're not done yet."

Paisley's blue eyes, now darkened to a pale teal shade, as they did when she was feeling strong emotions, scanned the screen in front of her. "I have a direct line the the Kraken's Warp Core." She sighed. She did NOT like this feeling. She hoped she wouldn't vomit. "Sir?"

Seated in the center seat Bishop listened and correlated the information he was hearing around him. "Mr. Crowe, just tend to your duties." He looked to Hawkins, "Nathan, take out the Nostromo." He said firmly: "Paisley, take the Kraken's core offline anyway you can."

"Adjusting automated repair priority so the quantum torpedo does not get encapsulated before it can be attended to." Ash announced, quietly, while she routed the additional power elsewhere.

"Aye Sir," Crowe finally answered as he focused on his workstation. "I'll do my best to keep the enemy ships off of us, but they're more maneuverable than this old bucket."

"This old bucket as you call it Mr. Crowe has seen its fair share of battles and always gotten through in one piece. I expect this will be the same. Nonetheless, do the best you can." Bishop replied.

"Take FULL advantage of the structural integrity and inertial dampening fields, Mr. Crowe. She'll take a lot more structural stress than you're currently putting on the space frame. There are no extra points for a smooth ride." The Chief Engineer advised.

While Ash offering words of wisdom to the helm Hawkins had acknowledged Bishop's order with a hint of displeasure - firing to cause extreme damage and potential destruction to another Federation starship felt treacherous even in their predicament. The Nostromo was agile as it eluded his efforts to disable it and continued to hound them hungrily.

Galatea looked at the Sensors, "Science Officer, how are your efforts to interface with the warp core?"

Paisley sighed. "This one is good; she's dodging my efforts, but I don't quit, sir. I am working on it," at that, she fired again. "Direct hit finally. But she's still airborne." Her eyes didn't flicker as she pressed more buttons, data crawling across the screen. "One more hit...." she held her breath a moment. "She's down, sir. For now." Now it was on the others to take down the Big Boy. She let out the breath she'd been holding, and let her mind wander for a moment. She wondered what Ramat was doing in Medical, if he was ok.

With the Kraken and the Anesidora licking their wounds but not completely out the fight the Nostromo redoubled it's efforts to trigger the torpedo lodged in the aft section. The Enterprise trembled under the hands of Crowe as he tried to keep their exposed section away from pressing danger and Hawkins continued to assault the second ship with phasers and torpedoes.

His concentrated efforts were beginning to pay off as the Nostromo changed tactics turning itself from hunter to the prey. Pressing the the new found advantage it would only be a matter of time before the Nostromo's shielding failed exposing a weakness to exploit as they continued to bombard it - sure enough with a tell-tale flicker and screech of scorched metal the moment arrived. However, the Nostromo wasn't about to go without a fight.

The ship lurched under the death volley from the Nostromo as she threw the final dice. The bridge flickered momentarily, sparks danced the ceiling and fresh wave of damage reports quickly flooded in. Ahead, the viewscreen flashed brightly as the noble Nostromo exploded.

Galatea watched as the flash of light filled the Bridge of the Enterprise, the Nostromo erupting into a ball of flame as she looked. Internal explosions continued as the Eisenberg Class ship broke to pieces, portions of its hull flying forward toward them. "Crowe?"

"Adjusting course to miss the larger debris," the man from Titan's fingers danced over the control interface for the Helm, trying to keep the Enterprise away from the larger pieces of the doomed ship. Most of it was easily missed, but a large component struck against the port aft saucer and bounced back toward the nacelle.

The Soong Type Android checked the readouts on the console, the panel flickering as a variety of letters and numbers scrolled over the screen before they reset to a traditional LCARS interface. She sighed, the emotion chip simulating irritation at their situation. The Kraken and Anesidora were still out there and now, more than ever, they'd be out for blood.

Much to Lieutenant P'rar's dismay, the Kraken reappeared in airspace; they must have a full crew or something. "The Kraken has been unleashed!" Ok, ok, she knew it was a bad time for jokes, but it was true. "I'm giving him all I have but....I need more." A quick shift of her eyes told her that their reserve weapons were still full, and she was fine to engage. A few more presses of the launch button went out; the Kraken took one but only to a wing. She could maybe hope to cause enough damage that they'd have to turn around just to repair but they really need to haul ass out of here.

"Easy Lieutenant," Hawkins warned as she ate into their weapon reserves. "Have patience and wait for the opportune moment."

Patience? She really didn't want to die, at least not like this, but she nodded. "I will try to maintain control, sir."

"Automated repair has the plasma leak nailed down." Ash announced. "Waiting on the disposition of the undetonated quantum warhead." The Chief Engineer added.

Galatea looked at the long range scan data, "We have far more to worry about than just the Kraken. Tactical plot on screen," the viewer changed to display a schematic of the space surrounding the Starship Enterprise. Entering their vicinity, the USS Stargazer was inbound and its weapons were armed. A Merian Class vessel, Stargazer was well armed and capable of inflicting significant damage upon the Enterprise. The fact that Chin'toka was not far behind was even more terrifying. As a Courage Class Destroyer she was a mobile weapons platform.

She was a scientist, not a weapons specialist. Still, she nodded, realizing he couldn't see her. "I am doing what I can...the Kraken ship has a FAST self-repair mechanism," she sighed. "I will just keeping throwing what I can at it." She said, pressing the "fire" button again, scaly finger ready to tap once more. Two blue eyes scanned the horizon, in case the other fallen warbird returned as backup. So far, so good...for three minutes-ish, anyway. Eidetic memories didn't help much when a fighter refused to fall. The Cardassian side of her, though, felt the rush of battle. It caused her stomach to hurt. She HATED that.

"ETA: 3 minutes."

Glancing up at the incoming vessels Hawkins bit his lip in concern: in their wounded state they wouldn't last long against the superior firepower of the of Stargazer and Chin'toka. Their only option was to run but until the torpedo had been resolved that was out of the question.

"Coaxial is available the moment the torpedo is dealt with. We have the trans-phasic, cloaking device we used to hide from the Emerald Chain but it isn't designed to cloak a ship this large. It failed in 32 minutes." Ash advised. "Besides, I don't know if it would be effective against the sensors and weapons these ships are equipped with." The Engineer added.

Galatea, every the optimist, looked at Captain Bishop, "What are your orders, Captain?"

They didn't need them. On her display screen, Galatea got the information that she was waiting for. Typing on her small display screen, almost faster than Human eye could see, the android interfaced with the primary computer system and sent through a command.

Just as quickly as it had all began, everything inside the Bridge began to change. Near instantaneously the entire room went from being awash in chaos back to its more traditional self. While the room wasn't as perfect as it was before their transit to the future, the darkened lights returned to full power as the flashing red alert warnings and klaxons were replaced by their more traditional obsidian coloring. Displays all reverted to their traditional settings, no traces of the enemy vessels (destroyed or otherwise) present on sensors.

"Simulation complete," Galatea's announced as she typed. "Reports will be submitted to all Department Heads on efficiency."

"Excellent." Ash remarked. "Today's simulation has been brought to you by the word, Rodinium and the number 1277." The Chief Engineer added, quietly, to herself.

At his station Hawkins reclined with a sigh both of equal relief and frustration as this served as another reminder how how behind they were against other parties given the age of their vessel.

Transporting into the center of the Enterprise Bridge, Captain Targaryen looked up immediately at Galatea, "Ready Room, now." He started walking toward the door.

Entering data on her panel, "In a moment, Captain. I am collating..."

"Now!" The Captain demanded as he passed through the door.

The former AI turned and followed the Captain, in silence, toward the Ready Room door.

At the Helm, Lieutenant Crowe looked at his display, "If anyone's interested we'll reach the intercept in just a little under half an hour and I wish I were a fly on the wall in the Ready Room right now."

Paisley snorted. "Me, too..." rather the AI than herself, honestly. These exercises were too much for her, but at least they kept her fresh on Bridge stuff, in case she was ever needed in an emergency. "Captain Bishop? Can I return to the labs now?"

Ash watched the Captain exit to his ready room and Galatea follow after him and shrugged to herself. It appeared the Captain was unhappy about something but it didn't surprise Ash that Galatea might be the focus of his ire. The Chief Engineer had her own thoughts on Galatea and the, happenstance, of their current endeavor. She didn't like it, not one bit, but, like with so many things, the Tuansee wasn't going to voice what she was thinking or suspected.

Hawkins shared Crowe's musing and wondered what had put the Captain is such a foul mood - it wasn't often William for to act so hotly. "That was some nice flying Aiden," the Commander nodded to the helmsmen.

"Thank you, Commander," the pilot answered as he adjusted to the real controls before him one again.

Roughly five minutes after the Captain returned to the Bridge Zim materialized. There seemed to be a quiet serenity mixed with a broiling anger within him. Without a word he nodded to the Security Officer how manned the station. "I stand relieved Chief. Welcome back." the young Ensign said. "You are relieved." Zim replied and took his station without a word to the rest of the Bridge crew.

 

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