Cannons Underneath Them

Posted on Thu Feb 22nd, 2024 @ 12:25pm by Captain Tristan Faust & Lieutenant T'kara & Lieutenant Commander Darrod Hanous & Lieutenant JG Marcel Knowles & Chief Petty Officer Meredith Corden

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Mission 4: Through a Glass, Darkly
Location: Deck 1: Bridge
Timeline: M4 MD06 (2268.07.15) 1340-1345

-- Bridge --

T’kara saw her opening in Defiant’s tactics and she took it. She rolled Midway away from a volley of phaser fire and then swooped in, her own phasers firing as they went.

The Defiant was quick, but the Midway was quicker. Each shot they made was met with a deft dodge or a swift counterattack from the Midway's phasers. The dance of death continued, the two ships locked in a deadly ballet in the void of space.

T’kara's eyes were glued to the viewscreen, her hands flying over the control panel, each command a finely tuned reaction to the Defiant's moves. The tension on the bridge was palpable, a symphony of focus and determination as each crew member played their part in this high-stakes ballet.

Suddenly, the Defiant pulled a maneuver that was unexpected. It was a risky move, one that exposed its underbelly for a brief second. Recognition flashed in T’kara's eyes. She seized the opportunity, her fingers dancing over the controls, commanding the Midway to twist and turn in a complex corkscrew move that put them directly under the Defiant.

Time seemed to slow as the Defiant loomed over them, its underbelly exposed and vulnerable.

The Defiant crew had obviously seen what Darrod was directing the Midway to do, and they were trying to get away. It was everything he could do to stay where he'd stood up rather than heading to the damaged Engineering panel to try and repair it. Thankfully, T'Kara had outmaneuvered them, and now they had the enemy vessel right where they wanted it. He gestured at the viewscreen. "Good job. Reinforce dorsal shield arcs, and aim for the center of their warp core - right there. Hit it with everything we've got left, now! Corden, comm burst to the away team - tell them what we're doing."

With that, Darrod intentionally took the step back toward the command chair, waiting to see the result of the deadly attack.

As T'Kara's maneuver got the Midway first closer to the Defiant with the goal of going underneath the enemy ship, the Tactical officer just about slammed the buttons on the board in response to Darrod's enraged order. The power of a Constitution-Class starship was enough to crack a planet if targeted correctly - and with all of that power now focused on the Defiant's torpedo launchers, it was enough to do serious structural damage to the Midway's sister ship.

The damage from that strike was well-suited to the planet breaking level of power. The explosions ripped through the saucer section, damaging huge parts of the ship, and the bridge. The casualties, and fatalities, in the saucer section of the Defiant would exceed the Midway's, probably tenfold. As T'Kara took the Midway underneath the Defiant, away from the explosions and death, the phasers were locked on a specific location in the Engineering section, waiting for the phaser capacitors to recharge.

Darrod waited for Meredith to tell him that the comms were open. "Captain, we've done serious structural damage to the Bridge and the saucer section. We've taken light casualties on our side. We are beneath Defiant now and ready to target the warp core."

Stand by Midway," The Captain said over the com. By now the away team was inside the Auxiliary Control Room, having easily incapacitated the personnel inside, "We are about to lower code in the destruct sequence and lower the shields... We'd appreciate it if you would get us out of here afterwards... Sorry Mr. Hanous, looks like you won't be getting your prize today."

Darrod nodded at the communication from the Captain. He'd already come to terms with the idea that, at best, they'd be bringing back the commission plate. That is, if that Alpha Strike hadn't done enough damage to the Bridge to destroy it. But if they were setting the self-destruct, then even that wasn't a chance.

=/\="Understood, Captain. It'll be enough of a prize to get everyone home."=/\=

He looked over toward the Engineer on the Bridge. "Get them back here."

The replacement engineer, who'd come up after the young Ensign originally working at the station had been taken to Sickbay, looked down and shook his head. "I'm sorry, sir, the transporters are down - one of the attacks we took did it; and we're operating on low power mode for the next three minutes."

Hanous looked down and took a deep breath. There was only one viable solution - get them to a shuttle. He looked at the others and stood up from the command chair, stepping down toward the others. It was an important distinction. This was the ship's Chief Engineer knowing what kind of a crunch they were suddenly under, not the Acting Captain. "Alright, somebody get a corridor map of the Defiant in overlay on screen. Chief Corden, we're no longer under silent running - open channel to the Captain's team, I want you to give them the fastest way to the Shuttlebay. They have Defiant's activation codes, so that should work."

"Yes, sir," Meredith said, immediately opening the channel. She was laser focused. She would remember to breath later.

From there, he looked over to T'Kara. "Lieutenant, ready tractor beams, and align us to get the shuttle bays close. The moment that shuttle's cleared mooring, be ready to get them under tractor and extend the shields over them."

“Tractor beams standing by,” T’kara reported, even as her fingers flew over the controls. She was positioning the ship so that the aft shuttle bay would be oriented directly at the Defiant’s shuttle bay.

"Ready to grab the shuttle," she said, her voice steady despite the high stakes. Sweat trickled down her forehead as she maneuvered the Midway into position, the view of the Defiant’s shuttle bay growing larger in the viewscreen.

He stood there, waiting and hoping. Everything hinged on one thing - the team getting to the shuttlebay in time, before the self-destruct tore the massively damaged ship apart from inside out. The loss of Constitution Class ship was a devastating blow to the Fleet. The stock of refined dilithium alone was a loss, not to mention weapons, sensors, and other equipment. They were the greatest weapons and exploration tools that the Federation had ever built - the greatest power Starfleet commanded, Losing the ship without getting anything back was going to put them on a weaker footing; it also denied them the chance to investigate the effects of the Tholian weapon or how to resist it any further. Still, this meant that an enemy would be denied that weapon as well.

He walked back to the chair, sitting down and tapping the comms button, his heart in his throat. =/\="Midway to Away Team. Transporters are down on both ships, you'll have to make for the Shuttlebay - Chief Corden will direct you to the fastest route. We should be ready to grab you with a tractor beam as soon as you're clear."=/\=

"Well that complicates thing," Captain Faust responded, "Ok, we'll have five minutes... If you don't hear from us in four, I want you to set a course back to interphase... Is that clear, Mr. Hanous?"

Darrod grimaced at the Captain's order. It certainly wasn't one he was inclined to follow. But after a moment, he realized the loophole. =/\="Understood, Captain. Chief Corden will get you to the shuttle before that happens."=/\= There was no doubt in his voice - he trusted Meredith; really, he trusted everyone aboard.

Meredith kept one eye on the map. "Captain, if you turn left at the next..." she began, continuing to give him the path, step by step, turn by turn.

Dar turned to T'Kara, and spoke quietly while Meredith was talking to the Captain. "T'Kara - in four minutes, I want you to plot a course to the interphase - but do not lay it in, and do not engage until the Captain and the Away team are back on this ship."

T’kara leaned closer to Darrod as he spoke. An impish grin slowly formed on her face as she listened to his words.

“Aye, sir. No one gets left behind,” she said, confirming that she got the spirit, not the letter, of the order.

“Tractor beams are still standing by. We’ll grab ‘em as soon as we’re able to, sir,” she reported confidently. Not waiting for a response, T’kara instantly turned and began punching in the key sequence for the new course.

 

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