The Battle Continues

Posted on Mon 25th Oct, 2021 @ 9:39am by Captain Jason Harrington & Exo-Comp EXQT
Edited on on Mon 25th Oct, 2021 @ 9:53am

1,059 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: A Good Day to Hunt
Location: In the Shadows Belt
Timeline: MD 1, 1745

Previously in the battle ...

"Okay, pretty bots, let's give it all we've got and then slip into the Shadows. Maybe the Gods are on our side today," Mia said.

Antero's AI had stepped aside at the request of the commanders, and Nessy spoke for Peggy, "[PEGGY] has taken over Autonomous systems OPS. Regulating for incoming fire, adding preventative measures, fire shields in place. Antero is far sturdier than the blueprints suggest, sealing bulkheads, polarizing ODN pathways... [ZOMBIE] reports no boarders, shields are at full. Banshee is awaiting your command to disrupt shield cycles, with a variance of 3-5 seconds duration."

The dust cloud afforded a suitable pall to their predicament, low power to systems lead to an eerie quiet as they went dark.

{Suv'wi}

"Sire, Targets shields are at full, we detect weapons are powered as well." The young Klingon pilot worried about the bad news, there were no quotes to spare messengers in Klingon tongue.

Fortune was on the young man’s side, Htek was in a problem-solving battle mindset, replying quickly with, "Can we get a target lock in this mess?"

Anslo took the answer to spare any recriminations for the young officer. "Negative, we are on manual firing solutions. If they are armed, we need to adjust our approach."

H'tek wasn't listening it seemed, but a low growl emanated as the perfect ambush had been spoiled. His rage was evident in the curling lip driven by a feral ego, there was going to be blood soon.

Anslo nodded in grim acknowledgment and acted quickly to direct H'tek into a useful decision-making state, "Sire, I concur with Oo'la, these are weapons banks, concealed for unsuspecting predators to lose their life upon. Well Spotted. Recommend we drop cloak and open fire on their shield generator, I'll lead our troops and carry out the plan to disable the ship for our purposes."

H'tek grit his teeth, seething under his madness, "Drop a mine in their path. Drop cloak and fire at their diversion. Anslo, don't disappoint."

Anslo stood, aware of the eyes on him. Ambition wasn't respected, but loyalty and honor were. He finalized the speech in the moments before taking a deep breath to begin. "I live for victory in combat, and sharing the spoils of my enemy."

H'tek looked at his second officer with a grin, and Anslo continued, "I will serve this ship and earn the faith you have entrusted in me. The Antero will be the start of a new fleet, and you will see the years restore what the locusts have eaten. Be ready for their tricks, these are no soft targets. Q'apla, sire!"

H'tek felt his cogent actual self-telling him this was a false sentiment, but flattery preys on the vice of vanity. He liked being talked to this way, and it was how Anslo turned the man's nature time and again.

"Q'apla, Anslo."

{Antero}

Jason sat in his chair on the Bridge staring at the viewscreen. All he could see were asteroids, lots of them. He kept his hand near the arm console on his chair ready to send out the SOS for help. He hoped the boys could disrupt the Bird of Prey for just a few moments so he could get out the signal and for the Antero to get a head start. He tapped his com-badge with his other hand, =^=Okay boys and girls, when you're ready, do your thing. I'm ready with the SOS. =^=

Peggy marked the sensor grid with the probable location of the Suv'wi. Under cloak, it was nearly impossible to tell, but having infiltrated their systems there was enough telemetry to be reasonably certain. Their enemy was increasing speed and taking a position in front.

Peggy relayed to Miarau via Nessy, "Suv'wi will most likely drop a mine in our path, given their positioning and past tactical deployments. When evading, we will be vulnerable."

"Do your best," Mia said, "and we will, too. It's in the hands of the Fates, now.

The dense field of baseball-sized chunks was good for scattering targeting sensors, the larger ones could hurt shield strength. Staying inside the dust was a game of prediction and awareness of your ship's positioning. Other diversions, like warp shadows and deuterium-laced warp plasma, would make the resolution of the scanners degrade as well. Their pursuers would need to get close to make sure they could hit. Too far away and Antero could mitigate in a roll, or avoid altogether.

As the minutes crawled, Peggy called out moments of transporter incursions. A cloaked vessel sending boarding parties and jamming comms made for ship-wide tension. The occasional emergency maneuver lurched them all as flying close to the mega hulks further allayed targeting. Comms were still jammed, their hunter hot on their tail.

Banshee spotted it first, calling out the radiological spikes. A Nuclear device was directly in front of them. There was a short window of actionable time, and Banshee conferred with the others, sending the message to the bridge.

{[BANSHEE]={CAPTHARRINGTON](CMD*IMP: Fire weapons at 223x.47y.21z, imminent release of Nuclear device, evasion will result in enemy fire. Proximity danger to [ANTERO] Powering and shoring Fwd Shields, >10 seconds estimated for release.}>

"On it, Mia sent even as she began evasive maneuvers. Hopefully, those movements were taken into account with the weapons fire and she didn't plot them right into the nuclear explosion!

The Mine detonated between the two vessels, neither of them truly able to withstand the sudden blast. Antero's forward shields held, but at the expense of crippling their rear shields for power. The Suv'wi wracked, taking the brunt in their cargo sections but still experiencing devastating impact. Their cloak failed, as Banshee unleashed itself onto their systems, trying to sew chaos and prevent them from recovering. Peggy was regulating Antero, and Nessy was working to keep everyone communicating.

Their loss of shields brought another problem.

{Antero Cargo Area}

Three Klingon warriors began a materialization sequence on board the Antero. Holes in the shields had allowed small parties to begin beaming through, this had been a third attempt to send but now they blinked in a dark storage bay. What they didn't realize was how scattered the teams were. Fifteen boarders, divided into groups of three and separated in the final moments fooling the Suv’wi transporter circuits.

 

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