The Butcher of Exar

Posted on Sun Jan 29th, 2023 @ 4:27pm by Captain Tristan Faust & Ensign Tobias "Toby" Dienstag & Lieutenant Azrel Vox & Lieutenant Thraxina & Lieutenant T'kara
Edited on on Sun Jan 29th, 2023 @ 11:42pm

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: A Fool’s Errand
Location: Deck 1: Bridge
Timeline: M1 MD10 (2268.25.05) 2030

"Report!" bellowed the Captain as the turbolift doors opened. The bridge was primarily staffed with junior officers as several of the bridge officers were recovering from their captivity.

The command chair turned around and the bulky figure of Lt. Commander Stoneking was still occupying it, "The Orions have open fire on the station, I was about to order us to return fire." He stood up.

"Do it, Mr. Bernhardt if you would fire torpedoes," Tristan started to say just as the ship lurched to the side. He was thrown off the command platform but caught himself on the railing. The navigation half of the conn had exploded sending a shower of sparks and forcing Lt. Bernhardt out of his seat and slumping onto the floor.

"Lt. Vox, raise the Orions, warn them off," Tristan ordered, "Lt. Thraxina return fire with phasers and get us between the Orions and the station." There were still plenty of innocents down there... Enslaved sure, but none of them deserved to die even if they couldn't be rescued by them.

"Yes sir. " Aze replied. She tapped her console to open a channel. =∆= Orion vessel, cease your attack or you will be fired upon. =∆=

“Phasers locked on: Firing: heading 291’ full impulse. Enemy vessel hailing.” Replied the Andaran helmswoman in her clear, staccato tones as she carried out the Captain’s commands, peering all the time though her targeting scope.

Outsiders sometimes wondered that a single, if highly trained, crew member had the tricky task of both piloting the massive vessel and aiming the powerful phaser array that, along with the photon torpedoes, comprised the warship’s primary offensive weaponry. Those outsiders were sometimes reminded of the role of the highly effective ‘fighter pilots’ back in the old 20th century wars, who flew as they aimed as they fired as they destroyed.

"Commander Stoneking, get down to engineering," Tristan said to the bearded officer.

The engineer nodded and ran towards the turbolift.

The voice of the pirate captain came over com, "I told you that you could have the slaves." Arianna said in an annoyed tone. "I never said you could keep them!" The transmission cut off as another volley of torpedoes flew towards both the Midway and the station.

“Captain, incoming photon torpedoes; taking evasive action. Starboard shields weak!” Thraxina called out, calmly enough; though there was a frisson of tension in all their voices. She wanted to shout directly to whoever was on shield control to boost their protection on the right-hand side of the hull but on the bridge all communication was to and from the Captain.

"Lt. Vox, take over for navigation, return torpedo fire, target their primary reactor!" Tristan ordered, now back in the Captain's chair. The medics were carrying Bernhardt's limp form off the bridge. "Mr. Dienstag, get to the shield control console and boost the starboard shields!" the captain added.

The science officer abandoned the science console and made a main line for the shield control station and did as he was told.

"Yes sir." She replied leaving her station and taking her place at navigation. She soon had the enemy's primary reactor target locked. "Target locked, firing torpedoes." She exclaimed hitting that all important button on the console.

The volley of torpedoes went off towards the Orion ship, each hitting their mark. Fires were spreading through the Orion ship. The Midway certainly hurt them, but they were coming around for another pass. "She's certainly mad at us," the Captain commented, "Target their engines... Mr. Dienstag, what is the status of the station?"

"Not good sir," Toby responded. He was back at the science console, his face buried in the scanner hood, "The starboard docking pylon has broken away from the station and is headed towards the planet blow... Hulk integrity is compromised."

"Fire at will!" Tristan ordered, they didn't have much time to disable the Orion ship and make it out of there if the station's reactor blew. Station Exar was an antique and the whole area would be flooded with nuclear waste if it lost reactor containment.

Aze scanned the Orion vessel, locked onto as many weaknesses she could find and fired a volley of torpedoes, thumping the Orions hard.

Thraxina bore the Midway about and added further damage with the ship’s phasers to that done by the Trill officer’s torpedos. For a communications officer, Aze was pretty handy with the heavy duty ordnance!

“Captain, Her shields are buckling!” She reported tersely. She knew that if she were in the Orion skipper’s boots, it would be time to make a break and run.

"Sir, the station is starting to break up," Toby reported from the science station, "The Orions are retreating... I suggest we do the same."

Tristan looked at the station on the view screen. So many people were still down there, but there was nothing they could do. The ship was damaged, the Orions were still in the area and the station was going to blow. After a moment he looked at the Andaran helmsman, "Get us out of here Lieutenant," he said.

“Aye, Sir, hard about.” came back Thraxina’s automatic response. She then did something that she would later apologise to both Aze and the Captain quite genuinely for, something you just didn’t do on the bridge of a starship, especially to a superior officer, especially to a superior officer who was, rumour had it, the Captain’s latest romantic conquest, something which on her own planet’s home fleet would earn you a good hour on the Punishment Pillar.

She reached over and she pressed one of Lt. Vox’s buttons.

“Heading One-Eighty, switching to rear view screen” she intoned as the ship whizzed away from the impending explosion on full impulse.

The Midway's graceful form quickly turned around and warped out of the system just as the station exploded. Tristan looked down at the Helmsman, "Good work Lieutenant," he said, "Lt. Vox, lay in a course for Starbase 10."

"Yes sir" she replied tapping in the coordinates. She gave Thraxina a quick glance. "Course laid in and ready for your command Captain. "

Thraxina certainly hoped that the Trill Communications Officer knew how to do that properly: a badly laid in course at impulse speed could lead them through asteroid fields which would severely test the shields and even lead to damage to the ship.

At warp speeds, the warp bubble would protect them from most smaller obstacles: but if they collided with anything big, it would be the end of them and the end of any living thing on the object they struck.

"Alright Lieutenant, you can return to the communications console," Tristan responded as he stood up from the command chair. He relieved Vox at the navigations console and sat down at Navigation. "Good shooting," he said to Vox.

Aze smiled and then returned to the communications station. She put earpiece back into her ear. She began to gather the data that Dr Meddows asked for and once she had it all, well she hoped so, she sent it to him.

Tristan double checked everything and despite the battle damage everything seemed to be functioning. The course Vox keyed in was rather direct, a little too direct so Tristan made a few adjustments. He looked at Thraxina and gave her a smirk, "This brings me back," he said.

To be honest, it felt a little odd to have the Captain sitting next to her at the helm station. They were still keeping ahead of the explosion without having to warp out of there, and that was taking all of her concentration. Still she thought she'd better say something in reply and was slightly disconcerted to hear herself say, in a matter-of-fact tone "You're going to need a new navigator; Bernhart had his face melted off." It sounded heartless, but it was the emotionless, hollow reporting of facts she had been trained to use on Bridge duty.

The Captain nodded, "Take us to warp once we are clear of the system, the course is plotted to Starbase 10," he said, "As to navigation, I'll take this for awhile. We should be able to get someone on Starbase 10." He sighed, "Never a dull moment," he commented.

"Aye aye, Captain." was Thraxina's simple reply.

Taking the navigation station on a Constitution Class starship would be a phasing experience for most people, but she couldn't help wondering, after what had just happened, under his first command as Captain, whether this was just the restful break Faust needed; back where he was comfortable, just for a short while. She didn't ask, she just carried on as if this were another day at the office.

As the Midway went to warp, the stattered station became a distant memory. They had rescued all 11 crewmembers taken by the Orions, along with the Detroits's crew, but had only managed to rescuse 350 of the 500 colonists. 150 colonists were unable to be located. Sometimes stories end that way, not with the perfect ending but not the worst either. The Captain sighed as the stars streaked by...

 

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