TBC: Shakedown

Posted on Wed 2nd Aug, 2017 @ 12:03am by Lieutenant Colonel Brooklyn Wellington & Lieutenant Colonel Leland Lemar

1,135 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: For The Uniform

Leland Lemar had just dropped Drake and Hunt off at the Bretagne and in effect turned the Warspite around back towards Vanguard. Before that though, some key tests were required before this ship would go out again. "Lemar to Wellington," He said over the comms.

"Wellington here," came the reply as she maneuvered her fighter alongside the Warspite at a slower pace than she liked.

"How has your run been to the Bretagne? Assuming no issues as nothing reported?" He replied back to her over the comms. "We are about to go to warp 4."

"They're finally underway with the path clear," Wellington replied. "I'm ready for Warp 4 at your command."

"Understood. Warp 4 in 3...2...1...Warp," Leland said over Comms and to the helmsman.

Wellington jumped to warp in sync with the Warspite. The fighter shuddered as it gained speed to keep with the Warspite as they reached Warp 4.

"The grass is green so far," Leland said quietly. The Warspite continued on Warp 4 for another hour, whilst testing other systems of the ship. It had encountered no problems so far. "Ready to slow down Captain?" Leland spoke over comms to Wellington.

"Sounds good to me, sir," Wellington replied as she stretched out her legs as far as they would go. Long range missions were never any fun for any pilot as star fighters offered little room for comfort. The key to enduring such missions were to periodically stretch and flex parts of your body such as your arms, legs, and back. She personally didn't know the colonel very well and wondered what kind of man he was. 'Likely the typical all business hard-ass ground pounder that many such commanders were.

The shakedown continued on. "Wellington, can you progress ahead of the ship so we can check the sensors and the targeting." The colonel said.

"Will do," she replied before switching to fighter comm. "Alright, increase to max warp. We'll be pushing our engines, so watch your engine temperatures."

The fighters increased their speed as they began to vibrate accompanied by a whine from the engines. Wellington briefly wondered how crews felt aboard early Starfleet vessels as they pushed their engines. She had heard of the decks vibrating during warp. It must have felt like the ship would come apart. An alert sounded as the fighter's computers picked up a sensor contact. They weren't near any major trade lanes so freighters were not likely as it was traveling faster than the standard freighter capabilities. "Wellington to Warspite, we have a sensor contact incoming. Unknown vessel type at this time but it is doing Warp 7."

Leland glanced at the Warspite's sensors...nothing! Not even the fighters that had proceeded ahead of them. Of all the things not to work it had to be the sensors. Bloody typical. "Our sensors are failing back here, I don't even pick you up Captain. Let me know when you get any more information," Leland said with an air of authority and calmness.

Wellington monitored the contact for a another few seconds to see if the contact would change course--it didn't. She opened a comm to the other pilots. She noticed the other pilots spreading out. "Wellington to unidentified sensor contact. You are on an intercept course with my flight and the Starfleet vessel USS Warspite. You are directed to change course at once and identify yourselves."

An Alarm sounded in Wellington's cockpit as the other vessel launched a volley of torpedoes. "Break, break, break!" She ordered as the fighters increased their engines to the max and began evasive maneuvers. "Wellington to Warspite! Torpedoes incoming! We are engaging!"

Leland didn't panic, but changed the tone of his voice. He looked at a crew member nearby, "What are our shields at?"

"Sir, they're also failing. Only 6% shielding," He stated back, the panic was in his voice.

Shit, I'm in a deathtrap! The ship rocked as the Torpedoes hit into different parts of the ship. "Sir, the shields are completely down now. We are defenseless."

"Are the weapons online?"

"Negative about that to Sir. Torpedoes won't arm and phasers just aren't responding."

"Lemar to Wellington, we have been struck but we are a sitting duck. None of our weapons are working and our shields are completely damaged. Report?"

Wellington knew she would have to protect the ship and take the brunt of the assault to save the Warspite--that's what fighters were for. Her scan now indicated an Orion Syndicate Light Cruiser--Corvette class. "It's a Corvette Class. We'll take the pressure off of you," she replied simply as she and the other fighters moved into flanking positions. "Tellarite to Flight Alpha. Engage with torpedoes. Everyone target their nacelles." Traditionally shields around an Orion vessel were weakest near the nacelles.

The fighters unleashed a their torpedoes as they sped towards their destination. Aboard the Orion Vessel, it's commander initiated the Point Defense System designed to protect a ship from fighters and torpedoes. However the system was deployed in time to only destroy one torpedo before the rest struck their mark. The nacelle fluctuated as the ship dropped out of warp, losing it's shields in the process. Wellington, without missing a beat dropped out of warp nearly on top of the vessel as she engaged full impulse, firing her pulse phasers. Her weapons ripped into the hull plating of the ship as she sped along only a few meters from the hull to throw off the targeting computer of the Point Defense System. The other fighters also closed the distance, engaging their pulse phasers which ripped into the belly of the ship. A moment later, a section of the engineering portion of the vessel exploded, as bodies of it's crew could be seen being sucked into the void of space which was followed by a series of secondary explosions. "Wellingto to all fighters! Get clear before that thing--"

Wellington was cut off as the Orion Vessel exploded only soon to be snuffed out in the vacuum of space. However, the shockwave almost instantaneously stuck Wellington's fighter, collapsing her shields and sending her fighter spiraling out of control. She focused on her instruments as she fought to regain control. "Come on!' she exclaimed as she and the flight control computer fought to stabilize the craft. Soon Wellington regained control. "Wellington to Warspite. The Orion vessel has been destroyed."

"Glad to hear it Captain," Leland said. Why would anyone want to attack this ship so close to Vanguard with a fighter escort. Bizarre .

They continued the shakedown.

Wellington's wingman began to reboot the shield system to get shields back while she went over the encounter in her mind. The ship that attacked wasn't heavily armed. Had the Warspite been in prime condition, it would have handled the Orion vessel easily. Thus came the question: why attack?

 

RSS Feed

Comments (1)