---
"The are forty-seven!" The gruff Andorian
responded to the demand. Kathryn looked forward to face the Nausicaan but
looked unfazed by the revelation.
"My, my. I'm honored you have brought an armada against my lone cruiser. You'll forgive me if I don't tremble in fear."
The Nausicaan Leaderman bristled at Kathryn's grainy image on his main viewscreen, "Captain Beringer, your presence in our sector is at an end. The fact you are also harboring a traitor will make our victory renown within the Klingon Empire."
Kathryn smirked, "So, do you want to find me in the asteroid field or should I try to break out?"
"By all means my dear Captain, I challenge you to attempt an escape." Now Leaderman smiled as wide as his carapace would allow. He signaled his communications officer to break the link and the image altered to one showing the asteroid field his fleet had surrounded. Although his forty-seven ships were the smaller Destroyer Escorts, his numerical advantage was more than enough to defeat a single Federation vessel.
Leaderman sat into his command chair. "Tacticalman, I want to know when and where that witch appears. Our guns will deliver the killing blow."
---
“Senior Officers to the ready room,” Kathryn said calmly toward her badge but briskly walked toward the room. Other officers on the bridge followed suit. Once they settled in their usual seating, Kathryn looked to each of them and stopped at her chief engineer. The Andorian handed his PADD to her.
She reviewed the information quickly. “Thel, this is not good.”
The bulky Andorian nodded gravely. “We need to reach Starbase 39-Sierra for replacement parts. Until then, our Aegis shielding is inoperative. We have internal shields and can polarize the hull as a defense, but that’s simply not enough compared to the firepower out there.”
“Well then, I talked a lot of smack to someone who has the back-up to make me eat my words. Let’s make a miracle or conjure up some magic. I’m open to ludicrous ideas, frankly.”
There was a moment of silence before Karl Melango spoke up. “What about the asteroids?”
Romas Verthir's response came quickly, almost talking over Karl’s suggestion. “We could wait the Nausicaans out, but they’ll come to us eventually.”
Karl persisted, “I mean, why not take the offensive?”
The newest member of the senior staff, a Vulcan named S’Rel, sat back into her chair. “My apologies Romas, but I agree with you that a sit-and-wait posture does not improve our chances out of this situation.”
Karl lowered his head as he decided to wait for others to finish. The Betazoid Science Officer calmly responded to S’Rel, he baritone voice filling the space between the two Officers. “It may not be the most logical option, but I think it has value to state the most obvious available to us.”
“Indeed,” S’Rel nodded.
Kathryn noted Karl's comments and leaned forward. “Karl, what were your thoughts?”
He looked up and tapped some commands onto the table, activating the wall display, then he stood and pointed to a schematic of the Solaris. “What if we were to manipulate the asteroids around us to become our shielding?”
Chief Engineer Thel Ytheysi placed a hand on his chin, “Are you suggesting using the Tractor Beams to hold a wall of asteroids around us as we attempt a break out? The stress on the beam emitters would be intense. Our dorsal and ventral flanks would still be exposed.”
Karl shook his head then looked to Omazei. “Asteroids tend to be solid and large enough to have their own magnetic fields, correct?”
The Trill Science Chief nodded, then her eyes widened as she made a connection. “Do you mean to control their movement via their magnetic fields?”
He smiled and introduced the ships artificial field lines over the schematic. “I’m not really sure this will work, honestly. It just came to mind.”
Omazei smiled wide then she turned to Kathryn. “Actually Captain, the idea has merit. The Transwarp Engine creates a very large magnetic field. We can adjust its size, wave pattern and even rotation to act like a … an … arm.”
Kathryn raised an eyebrow. “An arm?”
Thel spoke up. “I think I see what Omazei means. From Solaris the … arm … would reach out and grab the arm of a nearby asteroid. Both would then move together, the ship being ‘big brother’ holding ‘little brother’ to pull, spin around, or even push.”
“Exactly!” Karl was excited. “But could we do this with more than one asteroid? If we could have a ring of asteroids surround the ship … maybe even rotate it to accommodate various attack trajectories?”
First Officer Anthi Ythysi spoke up finally. “S'Rel, can the main computer handle this type of operation?”
The Operations Officer responded quickly. “Easily enough on the condition that tertiary systems be shut down. I will also need a team from Beta shift to regulate the power flow from the warp core to the main computer conduits on deck seven.”
"Ask for a miracle, and it will happen.” Kathryn smiled at her officers. “Well done team. The Nausicaan ‘traitor’ needs to get to Federation space and we aim to get him there.”
---
A couple of hours passed and the asteroids just floated in place, slowly spinning or bumping into each other without excitement. The bridge crew silently worked at their stations while the ship itself hummed quietly. Leaderman was anxious and he considered ordering the fleet into the field.
Suddenly, the tactical officer became more animated. "Leaderman, the Pishkar is under attack. Twenty-three point five kelicams on route two-two-seven mark two!"
Leaderman became alert. "Good. Helmsman, plot a course, full impulse speed. Commsman, alert the fleet and have them vector towards the Pishkar!" The ship's engines thrummed to life and the image on the screen showed the asteroid field zoom away as the ship turned. The Helmsman piloted the ship to fly in a parabolic arc to avoid the field.
Within several seconds the ship was within visual range of the battle. Many Escorts were involved and a few were burning wrecks. Leaderman expected that: Federation vessels were rarely easy to destroy.
The white-hulled ship was gracefully circling one Escort and beams of light were exchanged. But while the Starfleet weapons stuck the Nausicaan ship, the Nausicaan's beam struck an asteroid. Several asteroids of various sizes were orbiting the Federation ship, spinning in a ring that rotated to intercept incoming beam attacks. As the ship passed other asteroid, it was pulled into the ring to replace the ones that were destroyed. A few Nausicaan beams passed the defense ring and struck directly onto the hull, plating debris trailing the ship.
---
The ship rocked from the attacks that passed the defense ring. "Damage report!" Kathryn's knuckles were white on the arm rests as she watched the battle unfold. The asteroid ring was working beautifully and she was impressed. Omazei told everyone to expect some attacks would be deflected or absorbed, but it still mattered to Kathryn that her ship was taking damage.
"Structural integrity at eighty-two percent." Thel's report was better than it felt as the ship calmed from the latest attack.
Karl barked a warning, "One enemy ship closing proximity!"
Kathryn frowned, "Omazei, is the magnetic coupling strong enough to hold asteroids in place if we fly into the path of the enemy?"
"Yes, Captain, I believe so."
"Helm, fly into their path if we can. Anthi, how are the Spiral Wave arrays?"
Anthi grinned, "for their first use in anger, they are working wonders."
---
The escort ship came too close to Solaris. The ring of rocks battered the hull until it was breached. Explosions erupted and ripped the ship to pieces as asteroids completed the destruction from the outside. The Federation vessel was like a saw cutting into the Nausicaan ships as they arrived. The scene was utterly against what Leaderman was expecting.
"How are they able to do that?!"
The Scienceman did not look away from his console but looked closer at the readouts, "Leaderman, their magnetic field is being used to push and pull nearby asteroid, using the asteroids as their shields."
Leaderman spun on his heels, "I can see that, fool! Weaponsman, fire at will!"
The battle raged. The lone cruiser effortlessly weaved through the chaos of space combat. Each minute saw more damage to the Nausicaan fleet than they gave to the Starfleet ship, the ring of asteroids being an effective defense. With each Nausicaan ship destroyed, Leaderman's anger and frustration grew. The cruiser was battered and it's bright orange beams lashed out with less frequency, but it did not flee.
---
"That's forty-one down." Karl wiped sweat from his brow. He pulled the extinguisher from a side panel and sprayed against the fire nearby. He placed the canister back into the panel, then brushed off debris from his console.
Kathryn turned to the communications officer. "Any word from the Nausicaans?"
"No, sir." The blonde human's uniform was tattered from the fall she took earlier in the battle. Bruising was evident at her shoulders.
"Thel, What about the ship?"
"Structural Integrity down to thirty-five percent. I'll need a couple of hours to bring warp power online because there is a theta radiation leak on the port nacelle. I'm venting it out but this fight needs to end soon."
"S'Rel, how's the ring holding up?"
She tapped a few controls on his console. "The Warp Core is stable and so is the field."
Kathryn nodded. "Okay. Let's see if they have had enough. Open a channel." She waited for a signal. "This is Captain Beringer of the USS Solaris. Enough is enough. Surrender now before it's get worse."
---
Leaderman did not reply. He sat in disbelief and counted the remaining ships of his fleet: five plus his own. He looked around the bridge. Every console in disarray with three wounded, two dead, and himself unscathed. Switching to the live feed, he looked at the cruiser. Its white hull dimmed with several scars, fires burning within some sores. One nacelle coughing a green-colored cloud but one thing seemed unchanged ... that damned swirling ring of rocks. All ships were motionless and surrounded by the debris of the destroyed Escorts.
Leaderman was breathing heavily. The Nausicaan traitor must not get to Federation space, but the way this battle was fought so far, Leaderman was desperate. He stabbed a button on his command chair, "All ships, attack!" Releasing the button, he stood and pushed the dying Helmsman away from the console. Sitting, he paused above the controls and watched the last of his fleet slowly die. His plan was less exciting, but more glorious. It was all that was left.
A second Escort was thrown against another asteroid and exploded. Leaderman activated the engines, full impulse, straight toward the cruiser. He watched as another Escort was cut in two by a bright orange beam. Each half detonated, showering the local space with burning flotsam. Halfway to the cruiser, a third Escort spun away from the fight as one of its engines went dark, the warp core was ejected as it exploded, tearing the ship apart.
---
Kathryn expected the final move. "Ian -"
"Already on it, sir!"
---
A few kelicams away and the cruiser slowly banked away from Leaderman's ramming Escort. He smiled at the thought that Captain Beringer was indeed a coward, then he saw the asteroids used as a protective ring fly away in every direction. One boulder heading straight for his ship.
At the speed his ship was traveling, he couldn't steer away fast enough.
---
Cast:
Kathryn Beringer - [url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0629697/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1]Rachel Nichols[/url]
Anthi Ythysi - [url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0935395/?ref_=sr_1]Katheryn Winnick[/url]
Thel Ythysi - [url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001757/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1]Kevin Sorbo[/url]
Omazei - [url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2605345/?ref_=tt_cl_t2]Gemma Arterton[/url]
S'Rel - [url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1072555/?ref_=sr_1]Morena Baccarin[/url]
Romas Verthir- [url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0252961/?ref_=sr_1]Idris Elba[/url]
Karl Melango - [url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0719637/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1]Jeremy Renner[/url]
Leaderman - sidewalk extra 1
Tacticalman - sidewalk extra 2
Helmsman - sidewalk extra 3
Commsman - sidewalk extra 4
Weaponsman - sidewalk extra 5
Scienceman - sidewalk extra 6
"My, my. I'm honored you have brought an armada against my lone cruiser. You'll forgive me if I don't tremble in fear."
The Nausicaan Leaderman bristled at Kathryn's grainy image on his main viewscreen, "Captain Beringer, your presence in our sector is at an end. The fact you are also harboring a traitor will make our victory renown within the Klingon Empire."
Kathryn smirked, "So, do you want to find me in the asteroid field or should I try to break out?"
"By all means my dear Captain, I challenge you to attempt an escape." Now Leaderman smiled as wide as his carapace would allow. He signaled his communications officer to break the link and the image altered to one showing the asteroid field his fleet had surrounded. Although his forty-seven ships were the smaller Destroyer Escorts, his numerical advantage was more than enough to defeat a single Federation vessel.
Leaderman sat into his command chair. "Tacticalman, I want to know when and where that witch appears. Our guns will deliver the killing blow."
---
“Senior Officers to the ready room,” Kathryn said calmly toward her badge but briskly walked toward the room. Other officers on the bridge followed suit. Once they settled in their usual seating, Kathryn looked to each of them and stopped at her chief engineer. The Andorian handed his PADD to her.
She reviewed the information quickly. “Thel, this is not good.”
The bulky Andorian nodded gravely. “We need to reach Starbase 39-Sierra for replacement parts. Until then, our Aegis shielding is inoperative. We have internal shields and can polarize the hull as a defense, but that’s simply not enough compared to the firepower out there.”
“Well then, I talked a lot of smack to someone who has the back-up to make me eat my words. Let’s make a miracle or conjure up some magic. I’m open to ludicrous ideas, frankly.”
There was a moment of silence before Karl Melango spoke up. “What about the asteroids?”
Romas Verthir's response came quickly, almost talking over Karl’s suggestion. “We could wait the Nausicaans out, but they’ll come to us eventually.”
Karl persisted, “I mean, why not take the offensive?”
The newest member of the senior staff, a Vulcan named S’Rel, sat back into her chair. “My apologies Romas, but I agree with you that a sit-and-wait posture does not improve our chances out of this situation.”
Karl lowered his head as he decided to wait for others to finish. The Betazoid Science Officer calmly responded to S’Rel, he baritone voice filling the space between the two Officers. “It may not be the most logical option, but I think it has value to state the most obvious available to us.”
“Indeed,” S’Rel nodded.
Kathryn noted Karl's comments and leaned forward. “Karl, what were your thoughts?”
He looked up and tapped some commands onto the table, activating the wall display, then he stood and pointed to a schematic of the Solaris. “What if we were to manipulate the asteroids around us to become our shielding?”
Chief Engineer Thel Ytheysi placed a hand on his chin, “Are you suggesting using the Tractor Beams to hold a wall of asteroids around us as we attempt a break out? The stress on the beam emitters would be intense. Our dorsal and ventral flanks would still be exposed.”
Karl shook his head then looked to Omazei. “Asteroids tend to be solid and large enough to have their own magnetic fields, correct?”
The Trill Science Chief nodded, then her eyes widened as she made a connection. “Do you mean to control their movement via their magnetic fields?”
He smiled and introduced the ships artificial field lines over the schematic. “I’m not really sure this will work, honestly. It just came to mind.”
Omazei smiled wide then she turned to Kathryn. “Actually Captain, the idea has merit. The Transwarp Engine creates a very large magnetic field. We can adjust its size, wave pattern and even rotation to act like a … an … arm.”
Kathryn raised an eyebrow. “An arm?”
Thel spoke up. “I think I see what Omazei means. From Solaris the … arm … would reach out and grab the arm of a nearby asteroid. Both would then move together, the ship being ‘big brother’ holding ‘little brother’ to pull, spin around, or even push.”
“Exactly!” Karl was excited. “But could we do this with more than one asteroid? If we could have a ring of asteroids surround the ship … maybe even rotate it to accommodate various attack trajectories?”
First Officer Anthi Ythysi spoke up finally. “S'Rel, can the main computer handle this type of operation?”
The Operations Officer responded quickly. “Easily enough on the condition that tertiary systems be shut down. I will also need a team from Beta shift to regulate the power flow from the warp core to the main computer conduits on deck seven.”
"Ask for a miracle, and it will happen.” Kathryn smiled at her officers. “Well done team. The Nausicaan ‘traitor’ needs to get to Federation space and we aim to get him there.”
---
A couple of hours passed and the asteroids just floated in place, slowly spinning or bumping into each other without excitement. The bridge crew silently worked at their stations while the ship itself hummed quietly. Leaderman was anxious and he considered ordering the fleet into the field.
Suddenly, the tactical officer became more animated. "Leaderman, the Pishkar is under attack. Twenty-three point five kelicams on route two-two-seven mark two!"
Leaderman became alert. "Good. Helmsman, plot a course, full impulse speed. Commsman, alert the fleet and have them vector towards the Pishkar!" The ship's engines thrummed to life and the image on the screen showed the asteroid field zoom away as the ship turned. The Helmsman piloted the ship to fly in a parabolic arc to avoid the field.
Within several seconds the ship was within visual range of the battle. Many Escorts were involved and a few were burning wrecks. Leaderman expected that: Federation vessels were rarely easy to destroy.
The white-hulled ship was gracefully circling one Escort and beams of light were exchanged. But while the Starfleet weapons stuck the Nausicaan ship, the Nausicaan's beam struck an asteroid. Several asteroids of various sizes were orbiting the Federation ship, spinning in a ring that rotated to intercept incoming beam attacks. As the ship passed other asteroid, it was pulled into the ring to replace the ones that were destroyed. A few Nausicaan beams passed the defense ring and struck directly onto the hull, plating debris trailing the ship.
---
The ship rocked from the attacks that passed the defense ring. "Damage report!" Kathryn's knuckles were white on the arm rests as she watched the battle unfold. The asteroid ring was working beautifully and she was impressed. Omazei told everyone to expect some attacks would be deflected or absorbed, but it still mattered to Kathryn that her ship was taking damage.
"Structural integrity at eighty-two percent." Thel's report was better than it felt as the ship calmed from the latest attack.
Karl barked a warning, "One enemy ship closing proximity!"
Kathryn frowned, "Omazei, is the magnetic coupling strong enough to hold asteroids in place if we fly into the path of the enemy?"
"Yes, Captain, I believe so."
"Helm, fly into their path if we can. Anthi, how are the Spiral Wave arrays?"
Anthi grinned, "for their first use in anger, they are working wonders."
---
The escort ship came too close to Solaris. The ring of rocks battered the hull until it was breached. Explosions erupted and ripped the ship to pieces as asteroids completed the destruction from the outside. The Federation vessel was like a saw cutting into the Nausicaan ships as they arrived. The scene was utterly against what Leaderman was expecting.
"How are they able to do that?!"
The Scienceman did not look away from his console but looked closer at the readouts, "Leaderman, their magnetic field is being used to push and pull nearby asteroid, using the asteroids as their shields."
Leaderman spun on his heels, "I can see that, fool! Weaponsman, fire at will!"
The battle raged. The lone cruiser effortlessly weaved through the chaos of space combat. Each minute saw more damage to the Nausicaan fleet than they gave to the Starfleet ship, the ring of asteroids being an effective defense. With each Nausicaan ship destroyed, Leaderman's anger and frustration grew. The cruiser was battered and it's bright orange beams lashed out with less frequency, but it did not flee.
---
"That's forty-one down." Karl wiped sweat from his brow. He pulled the extinguisher from a side panel and sprayed against the fire nearby. He placed the canister back into the panel, then brushed off debris from his console.
Kathryn turned to the communications officer. "Any word from the Nausicaans?"
"No, sir." The blonde human's uniform was tattered from the fall she took earlier in the battle. Bruising was evident at her shoulders.
"Thel, What about the ship?"
"Structural Integrity down to thirty-five percent. I'll need a couple of hours to bring warp power online because there is a theta radiation leak on the port nacelle. I'm venting it out but this fight needs to end soon."
"S'Rel, how's the ring holding up?"
She tapped a few controls on his console. "The Warp Core is stable and so is the field."
Kathryn nodded. "Okay. Let's see if they have had enough. Open a channel." She waited for a signal. "This is Captain Beringer of the USS Solaris. Enough is enough. Surrender now before it's get worse."
---
Leaderman did not reply. He sat in disbelief and counted the remaining ships of his fleet: five plus his own. He looked around the bridge. Every console in disarray with three wounded, two dead, and himself unscathed. Switching to the live feed, he looked at the cruiser. Its white hull dimmed with several scars, fires burning within some sores. One nacelle coughing a green-colored cloud but one thing seemed unchanged ... that damned swirling ring of rocks. All ships were motionless and surrounded by the debris of the destroyed Escorts.
Leaderman was breathing heavily. The Nausicaan traitor must not get to Federation space, but the way this battle was fought so far, Leaderman was desperate. He stabbed a button on his command chair, "All ships, attack!" Releasing the button, he stood and pushed the dying Helmsman away from the console. Sitting, he paused above the controls and watched the last of his fleet slowly die. His plan was less exciting, but more glorious. It was all that was left.
A second Escort was thrown against another asteroid and exploded. Leaderman activated the engines, full impulse, straight toward the cruiser. He watched as another Escort was cut in two by a bright orange beam. Each half detonated, showering the local space with burning flotsam. Halfway to the cruiser, a third Escort spun away from the fight as one of its engines went dark, the warp core was ejected as it exploded, tearing the ship apart.
---
Kathryn expected the final move. "Ian -"
"Already on it, sir!"
---
A few kelicams away and the cruiser slowly banked away from Leaderman's ramming Escort. He smiled at the thought that Captain Beringer was indeed a coward, then he saw the asteroids used as a protective ring fly away in every direction. One boulder heading straight for his ship.
At the speed his ship was traveling, he couldn't steer away fast enough.
---
Cast:
Kathryn Beringer - [url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0629697/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1]Rachel Nichols[/url]
Anthi Ythysi - [url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0935395/?ref_=sr_1]Katheryn Winnick[/url]
Thel Ythysi - [url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001757/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1]Kevin Sorbo[/url]
Omazei - [url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2605345/?ref_=tt_cl_t2]Gemma Arterton[/url]
S'Rel - [url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1072555/?ref_=sr_1]Morena Baccarin[/url]
Romas Verthir- [url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0252961/?ref_=sr_1]Idris Elba[/url]
Karl Melango - [url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0719637/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1]Jeremy Renner[/url]
Leaderman - sidewalk extra 1
Tacticalman - sidewalk extra 2
Helmsman - sidewalk extra 3
Commsman - sidewalk extra 4
Weaponsman - sidewalk extra 5
Scienceman - sidewalk extra 6
No comments:
Post a Comment