Fighting Off Trouble (part 1)

Posted on Tue Jul 31st, 2018 @ 5:16am by Lieutenant JG Juanita "Puma" Sanchez & Ensign Maria Delgado & Lieutenant JG Talia "Phoenix" Richards & Commander Hans Munich & Lieutenant Yui Hirasawa & Lieutenant JG Annie Dixon & Ensign Jared Murphy

1,256 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Pulling Together
Location: USS Calypso

ON

Phoenix took her fighters off to starboard to pull attention away from Leroy and his package. "Spread out. Pattern Viper. Take out weapons and shields first, engines second."

Puma rattled off a colorful series of threats in what amounted to pigeon Spanish. Fortunately, the universal translator only got half of what she said. "I will strafe the belly. Come on, Jelly, you're with me."

"That's Jelico," a male voice chimed in. "Not Jell-O."

"Prove it, Gringo. Keep up with me and I will call you Jelico."

"No being hotshots," Phoenix cautioned. "I want all of you to come back with your birds intact."

Puma just laughed. "I always do, jefa."

[Bridge]

Yui arrived back onto the bridge of the Calypso. She moved instantly to the helm and relieved the pilot there.

"We've got partial impulse back and full thrusters," she reported. "I think we're in good enough shape to help our fighters out," she said.

"Helm do what you can to help," Munich took the Captain's seat. "If we

Maria looked up from science and smiled. They could use some good news right now--however minor.


[Engineering]

Annie took the liberty of a breath as she hid in a nook created by two bulkheads meeting at a sharp angle. The past few hours were enormously hectic, and tested her patience and anxieties. But they got through it. She got through it. Yui was surprisingly helpful, and they got thrusters back online, and impulse partially. There was still work to do, however.

Annie took another deep breath before ducking back into the fray of Main Engineering, her PADD tucked against her chest like a safety blanket. She gravitated to the systems status table and ran through the engineering reports. She frowned at the impulse display - only 20% availability. "Um," she said to nobody in particular.

Her eyes flicked back and forth before settling on Ensign Murphy. "Um," she repeated as she awkwardly stepped into his way.

Jared pulled up short and offered her a brief smile before looking beyond her to the console he was heading to. "Yes, ma'am?"

Annie instantly regretted her decision, pulling nervously at a stray lock of hair at her temple. "I... need your help? B- but if you're busy..." she trailed off lamely.

Jared paused a moment, then turned a kind smile to her. "What do you need?" The analysis he was doing could be completed later, or by someone else. He made a mental bookmark.

Annie breathed and swept a hand over the status table's display. "Any way we can get more power out of the impulse drive?"

Jared made a face as he reviewed the data. "Probably not, the fusion connection is jury-rigged, and that's our only power generation until the core is restored."

Annie nodded, though she knew this already. She bit her lip as she thought of other possibilities. "We are running the shields off it too, right?"

"Yes, that's part of why so little is getting to the drive."

She nodded and turned to the display, rapidly coding a simulation of various polyhedrons. Jared's eyebrow quirked in curiosity. "What are you doing?"

"Simulations."

"Well, yes..." he shook his head to prevent himself from laughing. "More specific?"

"I have an idea..." she trailed off while she iterated her simulation a few times. "...to get more shields..."

He narrowed his eyes at the display, then he got it. "Oh... Oh! That might just work... you have to-"

"-slave them to the ship, yes."

He nodded. "They need more power though..."His eyes strayed to his old destination, realizing she didn't really need him after all.

"I know." Suddenly she grinned widely, pointing at the display. She then tapped her commbadge. "Engineering to Bridge. I have an idea..."

"What's your idea?" Targalia asked from the bridge.

"Uh," Annie began, trying to get her chaotic thoughts in order. But then she decided to just launch into it. "The fusion reactors aren't enough to run everything in combat, even running power through the nacelle coils to amplify it. So, what if we launch more parasitic craft - shuttles and fighters - and have them provide defense. If we arrange them in a icosahedron pattern around the ship we only need twenty such craft. Slave them to the ship so we can keep formation and can randomize their common flight, and cut every system but shields and max those out and extend them. We don't even need pilots. We will get a shield bubble big enough to cover the Calypso so we don't need our own shields. I can then crank Impulse power to about 80%, though if you want phasers we will have to cut engines to fire them."

She paused in her explanation as a thought came to her suddenly. "Oh! And we can do the same to make a warp bubble!"

[Bridge]

"As long as it gets us safely home," Anli replied. "I'll inform the commander."

Munich waited to hear the options that were presented.

"Get us shielded and some maneuvering."Munich said with grin. "You did very vell. You will get first leave rotations if this works?" He told them.

[Engineering]

"Y- yes sir. Give us... fifteen minutes?" Annie replied with a complete guess. Her heartbeat accelerated in anxiety and excitement.

Jared echoed her thoughts, "Now you have to actually do it," he said with a grin and friendly pat on the shoulder.

"I- I know," she said as her fingers hovered over the status table. Her eyes were saucers and she was having trouble forming her thoughts at the moment. Then, glancing at her simulation, she knew what to do. Her fingers danced across the interface as she began programming the flight subroutine for the slaved shuttles.

"What can I do?" Jared asked while she worked.

"Get the shuttles prepped. Bring some people with you to speed up the reprogramming. The warp core repairs can wait for now." While she was focused on her work, her usual nervous stutter vanished. Her mind occupied, it wasn't able to overwhelm her with anxieties.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied with a half smile, glad she was coming into her own in the Chief Engineer position at last. At least until Lieutenant T'Pral returned. He proceeded to tap a few select people before tasking someone to continue the monitoring he had been performing prior to her orders. He grabbed a toolkit and tricorder before heading out.

Annie glanced to the empty doorway he had just vanished through and muttered, "Hurry, we don't have much time."


[Fighters]

Puma and Phoenix circled around behind the Calypso to target one of the smaller ships. "Shoot to disable, not destroy," Phoenix said. "We need to find out who these people are and why they're attacking us."

"Where is the fun in that?" Puma asked with a laugh. "Yes, I know. I know. But if they do not give up, I will kill them."

Phoenix couldn't argue with that. But she did have an idea. "Phoenix to Calypso. Can you lock on to the life signs in one of the ships and beam them directly to the brig?"

Anli smiled when she heard the idea. "I think we can do that. I'll alert security that they're going to get visitors."


(To be continued...)

Lieutenant Talia "Phoenix" Richards
Flight Leader

Lieutenant JG Juanita "Puma" Sanchez
Fighter Pilot

Jelico
Fighter Pilot

Lieutenant Yui Hirasawa
Chief Flight Control Officer

Commander Hans Munich
Executive Officer

Ensign Maria Delgado
Science Officer

Lieutenant JG Annie Dixon
Assistant Chief Engineer

Ensign Jared Murphy
Engineer

 

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