Post by Lt. Commander Alyssa Jenison on Apr 19, 2014 18:53:02 GMT -8
One of the trickiest elements of performing your duty on the Bridge was combatting your own curiosity during a continually developing situation. It was not uncommon for a captain to stall for time whilst his crew prepped whatever plan they had available. But when circumstances were as unusual as this, Alyssa had to suppress the urge to watch and listen instead of taking advantage of the time they’d been given.
Lauren, it appeared, faced a similar mental struggle. Alyssa glanced over to see the woman’s eyes glued to the viewscreen. As a gentle awakening, Alyssa rested her hand upon her colleagues shoulder and nudged her attention back onto the weapons array. It appeared they would need it now more than ever.
Leaving Laruen at her station, Alyssa returned to her own to better coordinate their efforts while maintaining a vigilant eye upon their newfound prosecutors.
"I am sorry for your loss," Kealan said to the alien. Alyssa’s console gave her a brief forewarning as to what was about to come. "However-"
“Captain! Their—!” She was unable to finish before the Talon rocked under hostile weapons fire. Her console flickered briefly before returning to normal illumination. She noted, with regret, that the target was the unprotected side of the ship.
"That was a warning," their messenger cautioned. Alyssa spared a brief glance towards the viewscreen and fostered a surge of vengeful satisfaction. That was also an opportunity, she mentally spit back. Without wasting another moment, Alyssa pulled up the sensor readings of that assault, and quickly compared it to all known weapons signatures in their database. If she could identify the exact type of weapons systems they used, it was possible they could use that to a tactical advantage.
"What are your intentions," Kealan asked.
Keep them talking, Captain, she silently approved. She’d take every second she could get. Her eyes fell upon the weapons signature ran across her monitor. Even before the computer finished its analysis, Alyssa noted a familiarity to that signature. She’d studied it before—a while ago. It was on the tip of her tongue when the computer pinged back its analysis.
A phased polaron signature? Alyssa mused with no small amount of amazement. At least she now knew why it had been familiar to her. The Dominion had utilized a similar weapons system during the war. In the early encounters, the phased polaron weapons had devastated Starfleet ships, starting with the tragic loss of the Odyssey. The benefit, after the fact, was the Starfleet had expended substantial resources towards countering polaron-based weaponry, specifically of that configuration. One search in the database would yield a large number of options.
"Our intentions?" The alien laughed. "Justice. You and your crew murdered—"
"We did nothing of the sort." Kealan countered. Alyssa noticed the raised volume in his voice. "We answered a distress call and—“
"They're powering up their weapons again," her counterpart across the bridge reported. Alyssa took a deep breath to calm her temper. She fervently hated this situation. She felt as if the Talon had been caught down a dangerous ally at night, and now a band of local thugs saw an opportunity to take advantage of her. It was a sobering and jarring sensation, and she was ready to punch, scratch, gouge, and knee until each of them felt the pain they were inflicting upon this ship and this crew.
Did starships have groins? If so, Alyssa was eyeing theirs.
As the captain carried on what seemed like a mostly one-sided conversation—their side—Alyssa sent a personal message to Lauren requesting any type of power to shield their exposed sections. Laruen acknowledged and promised to do what she could.
Meanwhile, the computer came back with a list of Starfleet’s countermeasures to Dominion-specific phased polaron weapons. A few of them were too specific for their situation, such as targeting key systems on a Jem’Hadar ship. What she needed was something more generic of any ship using these weapons, and in a flash of excitement, she found it. Alyssa selected and highlighted a specific encounter between the USS Sovereign and a full squadron of Jem’Hadar attack ships. She read through the details and found the possibilities encouraging.
Alyssa returned her attention to the conversation at hand, while she’d attempted to keep an open ear to the flow of events, her focus had been elsewhere.
"They know nothing about what happened, they are not involved. Let them sort through your evidence," Kealen offered.
It was an interesting proposal, but also a concerning proposal. It assumed that the Ribeniams would “play fair”, as the old phrase went. What if their crewmates vindicated the Talon? Would the Ribeniams abide by that decision? To be honest, she probably wouldn’t in their place. They’d be just as biased in defending their crewmates and the honor of their people as the Talon’s team would be, but perhaps that wasn’t the point. Even if it didn’t work, it was better than leaving the decision in the hands of people who clearly seemed to be against the Talon crew. And it bought them time.
"We will contact you shortly," the alien said and the screen went dark.
"I'm sure you will," Kealan muttered. "Okay, people, options?"
Alyssa looked to Kealan. “Captain, I was able to analyze their weapons systems from their…”warning shot.” She felt no regret from the contempt her tone placed upon those words. “Their using a phased polaron weapon, just like the Dominion did during the Dominion War. Our database reports an incident between the USS Sovereign and a squadron of attack ships. When the Sovereign lost their weapons, they discovered that by ejecting plasma into the path of the Jem’Hadar, they were not only able to stall their engines, but also disrupt their weapons systems.”
“But that’s for Dominion ships,” Lauren challenged. “Why would it work for the Ribeniams?”
Alyssa looked from Kealan to Lauren. “Starfleet discovered that polaron weapons with that much power require an immense amount of energy. On anything smaller than a cruiser, the weapons array has to be feed directly from the warp and impulse engines. If we stall them—“
“—then we can cut off their weapons as well,” Lauren finished. “Two birds with one stone.”
Alyssa smirked. She made a mental note to get to know Laruen more when this was all over. She liked her. “Exactly.” Alyssa looked back to Kealan. “It’s no guarantee, but it might work.”
Of course, there were several flaws that Alyssa began to consider, from their damaged impulse engines, their reduced power supply, and the shield holding them in place. If they were going to pull it off, they’d need no small amount of expertise, planning and, of course, luck.
But it was better, in her mind, than trusting the people holding them a gunpoint.
Tag: @kealan, @jaivyn, @aurora, @grace, Any
Lauren, it appeared, faced a similar mental struggle. Alyssa glanced over to see the woman’s eyes glued to the viewscreen. As a gentle awakening, Alyssa rested her hand upon her colleagues shoulder and nudged her attention back onto the weapons array. It appeared they would need it now more than ever.
Leaving Laruen at her station, Alyssa returned to her own to better coordinate their efforts while maintaining a vigilant eye upon their newfound prosecutors.
"I am sorry for your loss," Kealan said to the alien. Alyssa’s console gave her a brief forewarning as to what was about to come. "However-"
“Captain! Their—!” She was unable to finish before the Talon rocked under hostile weapons fire. Her console flickered briefly before returning to normal illumination. She noted, with regret, that the target was the unprotected side of the ship.
"That was a warning," their messenger cautioned. Alyssa spared a brief glance towards the viewscreen and fostered a surge of vengeful satisfaction. That was also an opportunity, she mentally spit back. Without wasting another moment, Alyssa pulled up the sensor readings of that assault, and quickly compared it to all known weapons signatures in their database. If she could identify the exact type of weapons systems they used, it was possible they could use that to a tactical advantage.
"What are your intentions," Kealan asked.
Keep them talking, Captain, she silently approved. She’d take every second she could get. Her eyes fell upon the weapons signature ran across her monitor. Even before the computer finished its analysis, Alyssa noted a familiarity to that signature. She’d studied it before—a while ago. It was on the tip of her tongue when the computer pinged back its analysis.
A phased polaron signature? Alyssa mused with no small amount of amazement. At least she now knew why it had been familiar to her. The Dominion had utilized a similar weapons system during the war. In the early encounters, the phased polaron weapons had devastated Starfleet ships, starting with the tragic loss of the Odyssey. The benefit, after the fact, was the Starfleet had expended substantial resources towards countering polaron-based weaponry, specifically of that configuration. One search in the database would yield a large number of options.
"Our intentions?" The alien laughed. "Justice. You and your crew murdered—"
"We did nothing of the sort." Kealan countered. Alyssa noticed the raised volume in his voice. "We answered a distress call and—“
"They're powering up their weapons again," her counterpart across the bridge reported. Alyssa took a deep breath to calm her temper. She fervently hated this situation. She felt as if the Talon had been caught down a dangerous ally at night, and now a band of local thugs saw an opportunity to take advantage of her. It was a sobering and jarring sensation, and she was ready to punch, scratch, gouge, and knee until each of them felt the pain they were inflicting upon this ship and this crew.
Did starships have groins? If so, Alyssa was eyeing theirs.
As the captain carried on what seemed like a mostly one-sided conversation—their side—Alyssa sent a personal message to Lauren requesting any type of power to shield their exposed sections. Laruen acknowledged and promised to do what she could.
Meanwhile, the computer came back with a list of Starfleet’s countermeasures to Dominion-specific phased polaron weapons. A few of them were too specific for their situation, such as targeting key systems on a Jem’Hadar ship. What she needed was something more generic of any ship using these weapons, and in a flash of excitement, she found it. Alyssa selected and highlighted a specific encounter between the USS Sovereign and a full squadron of Jem’Hadar attack ships. She read through the details and found the possibilities encouraging.
Alyssa returned her attention to the conversation at hand, while she’d attempted to keep an open ear to the flow of events, her focus had been elsewhere.
"They know nothing about what happened, they are not involved. Let them sort through your evidence," Kealen offered.
It was an interesting proposal, but also a concerning proposal. It assumed that the Ribeniams would “play fair”, as the old phrase went. What if their crewmates vindicated the Talon? Would the Ribeniams abide by that decision? To be honest, she probably wouldn’t in their place. They’d be just as biased in defending their crewmates and the honor of their people as the Talon’s team would be, but perhaps that wasn’t the point. Even if it didn’t work, it was better than leaving the decision in the hands of people who clearly seemed to be against the Talon crew. And it bought them time.
"We will contact you shortly," the alien said and the screen went dark.
"I'm sure you will," Kealan muttered. "Okay, people, options?"
Alyssa looked to Kealan. “Captain, I was able to analyze their weapons systems from their…”warning shot.” She felt no regret from the contempt her tone placed upon those words. “Their using a phased polaron weapon, just like the Dominion did during the Dominion War. Our database reports an incident between the USS Sovereign and a squadron of attack ships. When the Sovereign lost their weapons, they discovered that by ejecting plasma into the path of the Jem’Hadar, they were not only able to stall their engines, but also disrupt their weapons systems.”
“But that’s for Dominion ships,” Lauren challenged. “Why would it work for the Ribeniams?”
Alyssa looked from Kealan to Lauren. “Starfleet discovered that polaron weapons with that much power require an immense amount of energy. On anything smaller than a cruiser, the weapons array has to be feed directly from the warp and impulse engines. If we stall them—“
“—then we can cut off their weapons as well,” Lauren finished. “Two birds with one stone.”
Alyssa smirked. She made a mental note to get to know Laruen more when this was all over. She liked her. “Exactly.” Alyssa looked back to Kealan. “It’s no guarantee, but it might work.”
Of course, there were several flaws that Alyssa began to consider, from their damaged impulse engines, their reduced power supply, and the shield holding them in place. If they were going to pull it off, they’d need no small amount of expertise, planning and, of course, luck.
But it was better, in her mind, than trusting the people holding them a gunpoint.
Tag: @kealan, @jaivyn, @aurora, @grace, Any