Fighting Off Trouble (part 2)
Posted on Sat Sep 29th, 2018 @ 5:47am by Lieutenant JG Ronnie Wolfe & Lieutenant JG Juanita "Puma" Sanchez & Ensign Anli Targalia & Lieutenant JG Talia "Phoenix" Richards & Commander Hans Munich & Lieutenant Yui Hirasawa & Lieutenant Rembrandt 'Remy' Batiste & Lieutenant JG Annie Dixon & Ensign Jared Murphy
918 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission: Pulling Together
[CONTINUED]
[OLD]
Anli smiled when she heard the idea. "I think we can do that. I'll alert security that they're going to get visitors."
[NEW]
A minute later, Anli replied. "We got them. Please take care of the ship so it doesn't hit something it shouldn't."
"On it. Thanks. Phoenix out." It didn't take her long to blow up the ship now that no one was shooting at her. That wasn't really the problem, though. Phoenix was more interested in giving Command someone to interrogate than in self-preservation.
Puma, acting as her wingman, just shook her head. "Now can we fight?"
Phoenix chuckled. "Yes. Follow me." The two veered off and headed for another small ship.
[Shuttlebay]
Jared Murphy unplugged his PADD from the shuttle's interface. The shuttle's small warp core was maxed out and the EPS power was pumped entirely into shields; even emergency systems and life support were shut off. Navigation would be entirely controlled from Engineering with Annie's subroutine. Flight controls were already slaved to that system.
He smiled to himself, allowing a moment of satisfaction before proceeding to button up the access panel.
"How are we doing?" Annie's voice came over the comm, "Everyone's getting antsy."
Jared tapped his commbadge as he jogged out of the shuttle and went to the next. "We are making good time." He glanced across the shuttlebay at his small crew working on the other shuttles. Those with ramps up were done, and that was more than half now. "Five more minutes."
[Astrometrics]
Ronnie tried to focus on work, but she was keenly aware that the ship was in trouble, Sam was still on Vulcan, and there were people out there shooting at them. Before, she would have been fine, but this was the first time the ship was under attack and she had a baby in the nursery. She wanted to go to her, to make sure she was okay, but Ronnie knew she was being overprotective. If the ship were in any real danger, the kids would all be evacuated.
She turned back to the console and used the long-range sensors to monitor the activity from the hostile ships. They could really use some good news right now.
[Engineering]
Annie bit her lip as her hands were a blur across the console, wrapping up the code that would control the randomized common shuttle flight. They would remain equidistant from each other to maximize shield coverage, acting like a swarm of bees. It wasn't entirely automated - she would still have to monitor each shuttle's shield strength so as to keep any that took damage away from any enemy fire.
She put the finishing touches on the code and was about to comm Jared when his voice came up. "We are done here. Launch when ready."
"Thank you, Jared," she replied, unusually using his first name rather than rank and surname. It was an artifact of how occupied her mind was with the task. "Come back down." She then killed the connection and started a new one in the same motion. "Engineering to Bridge, we are ready with Operation Swarm."
"Launch the shuttles."
Annie's finger paused in doubt for a split second above the button that would begin the program. What if something went wrong? What if her program wasn't perfect and she left holes that could be exploited? Her hand shook before she steadied it and speared the green button.
Twenty shuttles rapidly exited the Main Shuttlebay five at a time, as the computer could coordinate much more efficiently than a human, with much closer separation. They split off neatly, falling efficiently into the icosahedral pattern around the Calypso at precisely three kilometers. Their coordinated swarm flight then commenced.
Annie glanced at the readout from her program and managed a small smile. Everything was green. The shuttle shields were active, and while not as strong as the Calypso's own matrix at full strength, it was a hell of a lot better than what they had right now. With that confirmed, she sidled over to the master system access and turned the Calypso's shields to minimum. She didn't want to completely disable them, just in case something went awry. She cranked up the impulse and phaser power as much as she could.
"Engineering to Bridge, you have impulse power at thirty percent nominal, and phaser power at fifty."
"You hav earned your pay for da week." Munich complemented then moved to the Center chair. "Helm you have some maneuvering power, use it to keep us from sitting duck." He glanced over his shoulder. "Tactical, make your shots count."
"Aye, sir."
[Horus]
Remy broke the stratosphere of the planet and made his way to the Calypso. He maintained complete control of the Delta Flyer Runabout just as the space battle formed in front of them. "Looks like we have company." Remy said firmly, adjusting his course slightly, before coming to a complete stop. "Captain, I would like to remind you that while the Horus is more than capable of handling itself. I can keep us out of sight for the time being or keep join in the jamboree. You decide."
(To be continued...)
Ensign Anli Targalia
Communications
Lieutenant Talia "Phoenix" Richards
Flight Leader
Lieutenant Juanita "Puma" Sanchez
Fighter Pilot
Ensign Jared Murphy
Engineering
Lieutenant JG Annie Dixon
Assistant Chief Engineer
Lieutenant JG Ronnie Lancaster
Assistant Chief Science Officer
Commander Hans Munich
Executive Officer
Lieutenant Yui Hirasawa
Chief Flight Control Officer
Lieutenant Rembrandt "Remy" Batiste
Chief Intelligence Officer
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