On The Trail
Posted on Wed Nov 13th, 2024 @ 11:33am by Captain Tristan Faust & Commander Lucy Heartfilia & Lieutenant Commander Darrod Hanous & Lieutenant Shinobu Miyake & Lieutenant Azrel Vox & Lieutenant JG Marcel Knowles & Ensign Jason Reece & Arianna D'Tal
0 words; about a 1 minute read
Mission:
Mission 5: The Price of Paradise
Location: Deck 1: Main Bridge
Timeline: M5 MD09 (2268.08.1) 1530
The doors to the turbolift opened and Captain Faust and Lt. Miyake stepped onto the bridge. A lock of hair was out of place from the Captain's tight pompadour. He fixed it with his hand before stepping down into the well.
"We have a heading," the Captain announced as he took the command chair back from Commander Heartfilia, "Mr. Reece, set course for the Nima system, maximum warp." He took a deep breath before leaning back into the chair.
As soon as the order was given. Jason's hands flew over his console. "Aye, Captain! Course plotted and laid in, speed, maximum warp. Standing by for your command, Sir!"
Darrod looked over at the Captain, surprised at the fact that Tristan's appearance was ever imperfect when he was on duty. Idly, he wondered if there'd been an argument he wasn't privy to. But it wasn't his place right now. He'd relieved Lemaire for the time being, letting the woman get some well-deserved rest. "Engines ready for maximum warp. All Engineering systems report operational."
"Engage, Mr. Knowles," Tristan responded as he leaned back in the chair as the ship went to warp.
The Midway's graceful pale grey form dropped out of warp on the edge of the Nima system. The Captain looked over at the science console and his science officer.
"Commander, begin scanning please," Tristan said, "According to our information, there should be an astroid belt at the far side of the system... The freighter should be parked somewhere in there... There's bound to be Orion vessels in waiting." He tapped one of the buttons on the side of the Captain's chair, "Attention this is the Captain, we have arrived at the Nima system which according to our information is the location of the freighter carrying the shipment of Xenoderm. Prepare for salvage operations... All decks remain at battle stations."
Lucy turned to the scanner on her station and peered down through it. As she did it made small frequent whirring sounds. "Initating sensor scans," she replied.
"All Security personnel have radioed in," Shinobu reported from her station. "We are standing by and ready to engage at your orders, Captain."
The Captain nodded and then looked down at the CONN at the base of the well, "Mr. Knowless, full impulse towards the astroid field, dropping to thrusters once we enter," he said, "The last thing we need is to be a bounced around like we're in a pinball machine..."
"I'll try my best, Captain," commented Marcel as he tried to adjust course and compensate for the asteroids. "Dropping to thrusters. Taking us in nice and easy" added the young lieutenant.
** Hidden Orion Ship **
The Orion ship was one of a handful of others that sat hidden within the system's asteroid field. The rudimentary sensor net they'd created allowed their sensors to see the entire system. On the bridge, Arianna D'Tal sat in the center chair examining her nails in a way that clearly showed boredom. With the freighter sitting tightly within an asteroid cluster, any ship that wanted to get close enough to transport or use a tractor beam would have to pretty much be right on top of it... The trap was set, but the wait was boring.
"Mistress!" Came the sudden call from behind her. "Long range sensors picked up a ship entering the system!"
"Identify it!" Arianna barked as she sat up straight.
"It has a Federation signature. Constitution class." Came the quick reply. "They're too far away to get anything more."
"Faust..." She muttered with a smirk, then looked over at her tactical officer. "That ship will bring a decent profit. When I give the signal, I want you to disable that ship! Screw this up, and I promise you I'll sell you to the most worthless client I can find!"
"Yes, Mistress!" Came the swift reply.
"'Step into my parlor' said the spider to the fly." Arianna said, as her boredom faded away.
The Midway entered the astroid field and dropped to impulse as directed. An Antares-type freighter sat between two astroids. It's systems were dead but the ship wasn't drifting. The area was quiet and didn't line up with their information. Clearly this wasn't an auction or illegal sale... Someone was using the ship as bait.
"This is damn peculiar," Tristan responded before standing up from the Command chair and walking up to the science console. "Commander, any other ships in the area? Anything out of the ordinary? High neutrino emissions perhaps?" he asked, glancing at the readout screen.
"I'm not picking anything up. But if Orions are here, they could be using any number of asteroids or satellites to evade our sensor sweeps," Lucy replied as she peered into the scanner
As Jason listened to the conversations that were taking else around behind him, his eyes were peeed to the main viewer. Like the Captain, he didn't like this situation. And remembering the stories that his father and grandfather used to tell him, about how I something is too good to be true, it usually was, he continued to watch the viewer. Suddenly, he thought he saw a disturbance of some kind in the asteroids. "Captain!" He kept his eyes glued to the spot, for fear of losing it if he shifted his eyes a single degree.
The Captain turned his head and then quickly stepped down into the well, "What is it Mr. Reece?" He asked before looking at the screen himself.
Jason still hadn't moved his head...hadn't even blinked yet. "Sir, I was watching the viewer, looking at the asteroids around the freighter. When one of them shifted in their orbit...I thought...I think I saw the glow of a warp nacelle. It was fast, only a fraction of a second, but there was a green glow, which stood out in among the black of space and the shadows of the asteroids." He kept staring at the spot, hoping, willing the asteroid to shift again. It didn't.
Shaking his head, the young navigator finally took his eyes off the screen to look at his commanding officer. "I'm sorry, Captain. Maybe I just imagined it."
The Captain nodded, "Keep an eye on that spot," he said before walking back to the Captain's chair. He sat back down. "Continue on our course, Commander," he said, looking over at Darrod, "Prepare for salvage operations, we need to recover that shipment at all costs... This is most definitely a trap... Be careful."
Darrod nodded at the Captain's comment, and then at the navigator. "Don't discount your hunches - least of all against this enemy." He looked back to Tristan. "Transporters are ready and locked on, sir. As soon as we're in range, the cargo will be aboard. And any life forms we can get." He took a breath. "But you're absolutely right - this is a classic trap. They expect us to take the ship in tow and defend it."
He looked over to Vox at the Comms board. "Are you hearing anything? Check sublight frequencies, too."
Vox's fingers swept across her console. "It's too quiet, sir and only a background crackling the sublight frequencies. There is an odd sound though, like a pop followed by a fuzz which is every 15 seconds. Not sure if it's of relevance. " Vox replied.
As the ship moved forward, Jason followed the orders he was given, focusing his full attention on the area in question. As they got closer, he activated his targeting sensors, on passive scan only, and scoured the area as best he could, commanding the ship's computer to set off an alarm the instant trouble became apparent.
Oh great thought Marcel. "I do not like the sound of that..." commented Lieutenant Knowles.
Lucy was curious about what the Ensign had seen. She toggled the feedback switches on her console. A recording of the viewscreen was always stored in the ships memory banks just in case it was ever needed.
She then isolated the time frame if when the Endign had thought he had seen something. Leaning back in her chair she pulled it up on the screen over the science console. Slowly she ran through the recording frame by frame, her finger tapping a button to move it on one at a time. Then there it was, the unexplained green glow that Ensign Reece had seen.
"Captain." Lucy said as she magnified the image and enhanced. "Ensign Reece was correct. There is something I'm the vicinity of the Asteroid. Come take a look at this."
The Captain stood up and walked over to the science console. He looked up at the magnified imagine which was projected on the screen in the upper ring of the bulkhead. There was definitely a ship on that rock. That glow was a thruster fire, no doubt attempting to keep the ship tucked behind the astroid. He looked down at the readout. The astroids were incredibly dense in Tritanium and Kelbonite which made detailed sensor scans difficult... There could be multiple ships lying in wait and the Midway would never know. He crossed his arms. Firing on the astroid would set off a chain reaction and destroy the freighter. There had to be another way...
Tristan turned and quickly walked over to the engineering console across the bridge. The Orions were no doubt waiting for them to make the move but time was running out. "Mr. Hanous," he said, "Reverse the polarity the tractor beam and prepare to lock on the astroid... Put enough power into it to push the astroid clear from the freighter. That Orion ship will need to power up and move out of the way. Hopefully this will keep them off balance long enough for us to swoop in and transport the Xenoderm aboard. We'll have to precisely time this."
The Orions outside were probably less eager for a fight than the Orion engineer here. He nodded at Tristan's plan - pushing away the asteroid. It would take a moment to push the asteroid, but it would work. "Reconfiguring for repulsor. Transporters will go off as soon as we shut off the tractor. We'll have the Xenoderm. Internal force fields are ready to go up around Cargo Bay 1 in case these numbskulls tried to booby-trap the medicine shipment, too."
After conferring with the engineering officer, the Captain looked over at the CONN, "Mr. Reese, plot us a course to maneuver over the freighter and then to clear us out of the astroid field... Avoid the suspicious astroid," Tristan said.
"Aye, Captain!" Jason replied quickly, his attention razor focus, now that his earlier warning was corroborated by the XO. His hands flew over his controls, then he sent the course to Lieutenant Knowles, sitting to his left. "Course plotted and handed off to Helm, Sir! It will take us within three kilometers of the freighter, close enough for the transporter, far enough that we can still maneuver away quickly, if need be."
The Midway navigated its set course through the astroid field, seemingly unaware of the danger surrounding her. As she approached the derelect Antares type freighter she engaged her tractor beam on the nearby astroid. The rock began to spin, its tragectory altered to collide with an astroid of similar size. The starship switched off her tractor beam and engaged transporters.
** D'Tal's Ship **
"The asteroid is moving!" Came the call from the OPS officer. "Our cover is gone!"
"Helm, move before it hits us!" Arianna barked in frustration. "You Humans think you're so smart!"
"Mistress, the cargo is gone!" Came another call from behind her.
"Finally..." Arianna said to no one in particular. She tapped 2 buttons on her arm rest. "All ships, now!"
As soon as the cargo materialized in the Midway's cargo bay, the freighter exploded underneath them in space, knocking the starship off course. As they tried to regain control, two additional Orion ships appeared, joining the first as they fired on the Constitution class vessel.
"Mr. Reece, torpedoes full spread," the Captain ordered from the command chair as smoke filled the bridge. There would no doubt be numerous damage reports coming in but this was no time to go through them. "Mr. Knowles, get us out of here," he added.
Jason acknowledged the order, then focused on his weapons controls. He locked his sensors on the nearest enemy vessel, and fired a volley of torpedoes, three of which struck home along the ventral hull. After reading the damage output, he quickly ordered the explosive yields to be raised to maximum. When his board showed that the nest salvo was ready, he fired again. This time, the target was destroyed in an enormous fireball of plasma and debris.
Knowles was ready for the order and carried it through as instructed. "Hauling ass, Captain!" Marcel replied. He had put them on the best possible escape course he could whip up and took evasive measures. "We need to shake them" he added.
Darrod looked down at his board and picked up his own earpiece on the Engineering comms channels as the ship rocked, securing himself against his board with a practiced ease. The voices across the ship were as confident as his own. This was what they trained for. No enemy was going to shake them from the opening volley. "Sir, minor damage reports coming in across decks 11, 12, 13, and 14. Repair Alpha and Beta are already in place and moving to respond in case they actually do hit phasers or sensors. Shields are mostly holding, for now. Reinforcing SIF on nacelle joint welds and realigning shield frequencies to counter their phasers."
He glanced up at the viewscreen, and his body language shifted when he saw the Cartel markings on the ships outside. His dander was up, and the normally friendly and supportive Engineer had turned just a little more bloodthirsty than usual. Then again, those who'd been on the Bridge when he was in command in the Mirror Universe against the Defiant had seen what happened when Darrod got into a fight. He rarely started the fights he was in, but he was determined to be the one who finished them. "Sir, if you wish to send a boarding party as soon as we punch a hole in them, I request permission to be on it."
Lucy brushed a few stands of hair from her face. They had come loose when the ship had been rocked by the explosion and attack. She held onto her console as the ship took fire. "Captain. The asteroids off the port bow have a high concentration of Topaline. It's been known to disrupt sensors. We can use it to hide..." she suggested as she turned to look at Faust.
"Helm, take us around that asteroid," Tristan reacted, "Fire aft phasers at the nearest asteroid behind us, I want enough dust and obstacles to shake them off our tail.
Around the asteroid thought Marcel Knowles. He proceeded take the starship around the asteroid knowing that it about to become a potential escape. The lieutenant powered up phasers and locked targeting sensors onto the asteroid. "Firing" he announced as he blasted away at the asteroid, not once but several times rapidly.
"That will buy us a bit of time, Captain," Marcel commented. He punched a few commands in, turned some knobs and sought to take them away, put distance between them and the Orions. "Kiss our asteroid" muttered Marcel.
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