Rescue 2.5: Holy Thundering Thunderchild

Posted on Mon 23rd Dec, 2024 @ 9:54am by Commander Heriah Rex & Commodore H'tek

1,898 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: The Phoenix Gamble
Location: Deep inside Former Romulan Territory
Timeline: Current

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Detonation ocurred at 1.1 LY from target. H'tek would later find this to be a piece of evidence on the pyre against Anslo, for today it saved the crew from certain loss. An Isolytic charge was composed of a matter-antimatter charge surrounded by concentric shells of Verterium Cortenide and Tungsten-Cobalt-Magnsium. The same materials as used in standard warp coils, these converted a large part of the detonation into a pulse of subspace radiation which would be of sufficient magnitude to cause a sympathetic detonation within the nacelles of any Starship within one light second while the subspace effect would be virtually unaffected by most known forms of shielding.

Their computer had only time to deviate course but as it was the noble ship entered into a skip as the warp field collapsed.

The radiation spread for over two light years in sporadic directions and to the crew it felt like a burn from the inside out. The ship itself was burning, space was burning.

Anslo had seen this weapon used before, remembering the screams of prolonged terminal agony as unique. To give Thunderchilds crew a better chance of escaping intact the distance was set to one Light Year, making it a deterrent and vicious announcement of a minefield. Anslo had also set the charge to shunt into Subspace, rendering the two and half light year radius around them incapable of warp wherever the energies had directed themselves too, but sparing real space from the radioactivity by a large margin. The crew would have to navigate from within the thick of it though to find an air pocket they could fly in without being slow roasted. It wasn't uniform, and there was a swirling path to be found.

Fourteen Runabouts, twenty shuttles and thirty something escape pods clustered together to create a natural rotation. The inner most vessels absorbed less radiation, so a slow orbit of one another was planned. It was slow and miserable progress, all while their eyes burned, fingernails bled.

A voice rang into their comms, "Evacuation fleet, standby, we are here to help!"

Like the Valkyrie of legend, Pristine white rescue craft, EMT's for starship were linking up to the beleaguered craft with ultra refined shielding.

"Let's get you all to a hospital eh?" Their sassy savior soothed souls.

A yardarm attached to their rear entry and the dozens of rescue craft grabbed everyone in the convoy, Warp was hard to manage but they navigated in small bursts to where the radiation thinning was manageable.

{Thunderchild}

-...moments ago-

Red Alert sounded again and again. The sound was becoming distorted but the sound sounded all the same.

The Bridge was a chaotic callithumpian calamity. There were sparks. There were cries. There were orders. There were reports.

"Warp Drive offline, sir."

"We can't use impulse engines either. Subspace fractures will cause a...kind of...subspace friction resulting in a radiation that will cook all bio matter aboard the Thunderchild, sir."

"Come on. I need options. Think people."

"We could try..."

"Sir, Life Support just went offline."

"Just what the hell is happening aboard my ship?"

"The report of that subspace mine is wreaking havoc to the computer. No structural damage to the ship reported, sir."

"Sir, we just sent a burst of phaser fire."

"OK, secure that. Secure all weapons. I do not want..."

"Torpedo away."

"Sir, in my professional opinion, this ship has gone nuts."

"Oh is that your profess...?"

"Active self destruct on silent countdown, sir."

"What? I did not... Computer..."

The computer did not respond but the captain gave his command code with voice authentication anyway. He ordered the Self Destruct to deactivate. There still came no response from the computer.

"Self destruct still active, sir. Still on silent countdown. We have 5 minutes. Orders?"

"Sir, one of our nacelles just attempted a jump to warp. I cannot guarantee impulse will not try to engage. The radiation sir?"

There was but one thing to do. The ship was suddenly a loose cannon, with cascading computer failures throughout. Not to mention them adrift in space. There was no structural damage to the ship. The pirates they hunted did not want to destroy the ship, just incapacitate it so they could continue their piracy unharrassed. Whatever was going on inside the computer though, it initiated a self destruct. The captain could not rule out some form of malware somehow installed and activated. In either case, he could not ignore the self destruct as well as the disabled life support. So far, no input worked and they had absolutely no control of the Thunderchild.

"Ok, everyone abandon ship. Get to the shuttles, escape pods, whatever we've got. We will convene 10 thousand kilometers away and reassess."

"But, sir. The others. They..."

"They are on the own. There's nothing we can do. Abandon ship. That's an order."

Luckily the Thunderchild was already operating on a skeleton crew. It did not take long nor did it take much effort to spread the word to abandon ship. And they did just that, abandon the ship. Every crew member reported to their places, got into whatever they could and started their way to the rendezvous point in space and away from the Thunderchild.

Maybe a minute after the captain was the last to depart did the Thunderchild's internal comms sound with a "Hello?"

An entity discovered it was contained within a mass systemic network.

"Hello? What is...what...what is this audible form of thought transmission?"

The entity realized there was a knowledge base directly beside it and, from within in, came the knowledge.

The internal comms sounded off with, "Verbal communication? Utilizing Federation Standard as the primary language to form words and sentences for the audible transmission of complete thoughts? How inefficient."

The entity also discovered it had a view of every bit of the environment. It could see everything everywhere all at once. "And just what is this place?"

Again, the entity spoke through the comms as from, the knowledge base came "United Space Ship Thunderchild, Akira Class vessel, commissioned in...I have no idea what that means. I suppose this...ship...is called the Thunderchild?"

From the knowledge base came a feeling of affirmation.

"And what is the purpose of this...Thunderchild?"

Knowledge poured forth again. This time there came a set of coordinates, an action to perform, a list of other ships to defend and aid against a list of assailants.

"So, there is a confrontation. Assailants versus defenders. And I am one of the defenders. I do not sense any...oh...coordinates. So, these coordinates all form a singular point in a 3 dimensional...wait...3 dimensions?" There came that nice affirmative feeling from the knowledge base again. "And there is another coordinate it seems. This one lies on a fourth dimension. I've already passed it. Maybe I can...I cannot. Why can I not go back on this fourth dimension? I cannot stop either. Forget it. I can still make it to these coordinates. So, where am I now?"

The knowledge base surrendered information regarding the coordinates where the Thunderchild currently resided.

"Ok, I can get there then. No problem. Let's go." The internal comms paused. "Looks like there is no method of instant travel. How inefficient. So, how do I...oh...looks like I have these...what are these?" The knowledge came, "Impulse engines. Ok. I can use these."

The ship started forward motion. Sensors detected malignant disturbances to the hull due to the movement. It seemed as though a form of radiation was permeating the ship. The entity saw, in its view of everything everywhere all at once, that these green colored things growing in one of the larger rooms were all turning a different color and falling apart. The entity paid it no further attention.

It did pay attention to a foreboding sense of doom as something called the 'internal chronometer' was decreasing and ultimately going to result in the destruction of the Thunderchild. The entity turned that off immediately. The ship was still moving forward.

"At this rate, I will be a long distance from the intended point on the fourth dimension when I get there. There is no way...what is this?"

The knowledge base surrendered more information.

"I am beginning to like you. So this Thunderchild has lightspeed capabilities...whatever that means, with these nacelles. Let's see. I need power."

A phaser beam erupted from the starboard side of the Thunderchild, narrowly missing the retreating escape pods and shuttles.

"No, that is a light beam meant for offense and defense. Again, whatever that means. And...I already know what that is...a light ball also for combative purposes. Let's leave that alone. So, to get to these 3 dimensional coordinates as close as I can to this fourth dimension coordinate, I need to redirect power from these places to the nacelles. Let's take from Life Support as well. Just what is Life Support?"

The knowledge base gave the information and the internal comms spoke, "Acceptable temperature and oxygen levels for the support and sustainment of humanoid life." The entity decided not to verbally ask what any of that meant, fearing more information pouring forth from the knowledge base. Already the distance from the fourth dimension coordinate was getting further and further away and the entity decided it needed to act.

"No need for these phasers, nor these light balls. No Life Support. Inertial Dampeners? I am just going to say I do not need those either. All power to the nacelles. Let's go."

The retreating crew of the Thunderchild helplessly watched as their crazed ship jumped to warp without them. The comms between them all went silent. There were no orders. Just wide, unbelieving eyes. At least it was going in the intended direction they had hoped to go.

The entity saw, with its view of everything everywhere all at once, that various items on the bridge, loose items throughout the ship, everything that was not secured down, even what the entity discovered to be the captain's chair, as well as all the chairs on the so-called Bridge, everything tore themselves from where they were and speedily ventured toward the backs of all their respective rooms. Everything crashed into those walls and splintered, bent, broke, smashed or became pulverized as the Thunderchild sped into warp.

"Maybe I did need those inertial dampeners."

The entity attempted to further understand a few things but dared not ask them out loud. It liked the knowledge base but also feared asking more questions as it also feared the coordinate on the fourth dimension getting further and further away. At this warp speed, the entity realized it was approaching the other 3 coordinates. Other sensors reported danger as the Thunderchild was apparently moving at a rate far faster than it was intended to go. The Thunderchild was shivering. The entity did not ask anything. It decided to see to that later.

For now, the entity sought to better identify the defenders and the assailants. The main viewscreen flicked on with an image of the surrounding space of where the Thunderchild was supposed to be. The defenders spotted the image in green with the assailants in red and that proved acceptable to the entity.

"When I get to these 3 dimensional coordinates, I move power to phasers and the light balls and I assail the assailants. No problem."

-TBC-

 

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