USS Daystrom Beta Mission

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Re: USS Daystrom Beta Mission

Post by Teaos »

Teaos, Mikey, Darel, M'Real and Hewer were in the captains' ready room, they had just finished the final mission briefing with the captain before arriving in Brotherhood space. It was less than 24 hours till the fleet engaged the Brotherhoods forces and everyone was on edge.

Looking out the window the sharp eyed could see a few stars that seemed to be keeping pace with the Daystrom even though she was traveling at warp 6. These however were not stars, they were several members of the Federation fleet currently in a seek and destroy mission. The first major fleet action since the end of the Dominion war.

This however was not a fight against a Galaxy spanning empire; this was a fight against a group of pirates, thugs and mercenaries who would and will use every nasty they can to destroy the Federation.

But this wasn't the Starfleet of 10 years ago, no, this was a Starfleet who had fought and won the biggest war seen in this part of space in hundreds of years, this was the Starfleet that had beaten the Borg twice. No longer wet behind the ear explorers they were battle hardened warrior who would do what ever it took to defend the Federation.

The senior crew shared a few long looks across the ready room, a nod between comrades and a firm hand on a shoulder, They all knew that there was a good chance many on this ship and in the fleet would not be returning home after this mission.
What does defeat mean to you?

Nothing it will never come. Death before defeat. I don’t bend or break. I end, if I meet a foe capable of it. Victory is in forcing the opponent to back down. I do not. There is no defeat.
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Re: USS Daystrom Beta Mission

Post by Mikey »

Commander Rochey was a bit surprised by the fact of a personal message having had arrived for him. "Computer, show message," he said somewhat crossly, expecting a warning from some stuffed shirt about limiting his tactics to reduce friendly casualties or collateral damage, or some other such nonsense. Instead he saw a bright blue Andorian face - Lt. Commander W'trisk of the Daystrom. It was only a matter of time before W'trisk would be wearing red, Rochey reflected.

"I didn't want to bother you with a real-time communique, Commander, as I'm sure you're rather busy getting the Dakota's crew to perform to your standards; but I wanted to wish you well. The Daystrom is suitably buttoned up, you'll be happy to know - some of the crew may have thought I was a tad... obsessive, or excessive, but the Great Hearth knows that they'll be ready when the drek hits the ventilator. I'd tell you that I've been keeping your seat warm, but I haven't had much of a chance to sit, and I don't think you have the anatomy to use a chair anyway." Mikey grinned lopsidedly, then took on a dour expression. "To be honest, I was a bit unhappy to find that you were going to be in a separate task force from the Daystrom - I think this ship should always be afforded a chance to protect it's own. However, her exact deployment within the task group will be malleable at best, and I do have some new tools with which to work. If the Dakota or Munro's troops need her assistance, the Daystrom will provide."

"Try to remember that you're not working with Tholian troops - the sloppiness and lack of discipline which you so despise may very well hide wills of iron when the time comes. But enough of that. May the Great Hearth cast its glow on your undertaking, and qil'nokrrixten." Mikey twisted his larynx around the syllables of the Tholian word-phrase, and Rochey gave a mental grin at the use of the Tholian benediction and the fact that Mikey was one of the few men he had met in the Federation who would truly appreciate the admonition to "be victorious or die in the attempt."
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Re: USS Daystrom Beta Mission

Post by Thorin »

After days of sleepless nights and weeks of intensive training, drilling, and reworking, Jon decided to give most of his staff a few hours of leisurely time - he felt he had perhaps left it a bit late to be doing so - but everyone was grateful. It was also about time, he thought, that his tactical staff should be getting to know each other in a non-professional manner. Had the Tholian been aboard, Jon was sure he would have attempted to put a stop to it, but Commander W'Trisk, a man known be rather stringent - not least in recent days - appreciated the originality of the idea, and being an unorthodox officer himself, and an Andorian no less, also appreciated the importance of loyalty and friendship, along with a fatigue free mind. Jon had approached the Commander, and got an unexpected but thoroughly welcome response.

"Holodeck One and Two, they're yours for the next couple of hours," said Mikey to the Lieutenant. "There's several link up programs that you can use if you intend on having people in both of them - it allows there to be a seamless interchange between the two." Jon gave a quick smile and immediately sent out an open invitation to all except one of the tactical staff. Someone had to have drawn the short straw and, as Jon thought, the person in question was not known for their socialising and would prefer keeping bridge duty.

Holodeck One in five minutes. Bring helmets.

About thirty officers turned up, so he sent twelve of them to Holodeck Two while the majority stayed at the larger one. The doors opened and the noise and bustle - and smoke - typical of his 1950s racing program came rushing into the corridors. The link up program that Mikey had suggested worked a treat - it seemed to everyone in both holodecks that they were all in a singular simulation; the holodecks were able to accurately model what every person in each one was doing, and used these models to create projections of them in the holodeck they weren't present in.

They lined up on the start grid, and with a bang of the gun were off.



Up until now it had seemed to the senior tactical officers - Jon, Anker, and Niles, namely - that few of their staff knew each others names, and had noticed that people had a tendancy to use ranks as names. However, they each took a moment to watch, two hours after they were afforded the Holodecks, how their staff were laughing and shaking hands as if they had met for the first time - and in many cases were attempting to better each others insults on their appalling driving. Archaic machines, said some jokingly. A confused and slightly intimidated young crewman walked through the corridor, past the tactical staff as they exited the holodeck. Most were covered in smoke and oil, and Jon took a moment to address them.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I hope you had fun and managed to get some relaxation - if that were at all possible with Lance 'I-prefer-the-gravel-to-the-track' Jones here," which got a laugh from all present. "And now's the time for some work. We're fast approaching the business end of the mission. We've just increased to warp eight point five to minimise time in Brotherhood space, and are expecting to be engaging the first enemy forces in fifteen hours. I don't need to tell you at all who this battle will depend on. As tactical officers, and Starfleet officers, this ship and this crew are your first priority. Only the best make it to where you all are - Starfleet. Dismissed."

With a fresher mind for all involved, and a greater bond of trust between his staff, Jon felt that if battle were to start any second, all his people were ready. He didn't realise at that time, just how early that would be. No sooner had he got changed into his uniform than the words of the computer spread throughout the ship.

Red Alert. All hands - battlestations.
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Re: USS Daystrom Beta Mission

Post by Blackstar the Chakat »

M'Real woke with a start, covered in sweat. It only took a moment to recall the dreams she had been having that night, most of them involving people she found attractive wearing little or no clothing which meant only one thing, she was in heat. She took a cold shower and put on hir uniform which proved to be even more frustrating. Usually there was a little wiggling when her fur got caught in the 'zipper', but today seemed to involve a lot more wiggiling then seemed normal, and since she always wore a near skin(or rather fur)-tight uniform to show off her figure she felt the material rubbing up against other areas only arrousing her further. She tried the usual anti-heat herbs many members of her species used, but they tasted bitter, and she had built up more tension by having done the same thing repeatedly over her last few cycles. She stormed off to the shuttlebay more frustrated then ever.

She spent most of her day snapping at the other people working on the final touches of the Shadow Fox. And for some reason the crew seemed more incompetant then usual and Grif kept screwing around, including his ever so favorite stunt of stradling a torpedoe as one of his fellow idiots pushed him around the bay. At the end of today's shift M'Real was loud enough to be heard half-way across the shuttlebay, "Grif, I don't give a fuck if you kill yourself, but I don't need you killing everyone else in the process. Now I need you to get off of the Quantum Warhead!"

"I just wanted to feel the power between my legs," Grif said as he climbed off the torpedo. If M'Real didn't find Grif so revolting she might have made a witty comment before nailing him right there and then.

M'Real swore in several languages before she left the bay. This time it was just too much. She was needed it badly, and with the battle coming up she couldn't afford to be destracted. There was one options left, find someone to spend a few hours with. Normally she'd visit the holodeck but that damned tacticle officer had monopolized the holodecks. But there were only a handful of people she respected enough to sleep with and only one of them were on board the Daystrom. "Computer, please send a message to Commander W'Trisk. A personal invite to my quarters, for an informal and hopefully very friendly meeting, that will take all night."

Mikey was more then a little suprised to find the invite when he came off duty. He 'rang' the doorbell to M'Real's quarters and entered when given permission. "M'Real? I recieved your invite. What is this all about?" His antenna helped him feel something unusual about M'Real. "Are you alright?"

M'Real was doing everything she could not to pounce him right there. "Are you familier with the mating rituals of felines in general. From my study they are similar on Andoria to what I'm going to explaining."

Mikey shrugged, "Something to do with the female going into heat and the male having his way with her and she gets pregnant." Then he made the connection between feline and felinoid. He cautiously asked, "does this have something to do with you?"

M'Real nodded, "Yes. As I'm sure you've guessed Caitians have a similar process. I've entered into heat, and the last thing I need in battle is to be distracted by the image of an attractive individual popping in my head. So, I'm asking you as a friend to help me through it."

Mikey glanced around nervously, "aren't there other options? Like the holodecks or maybe Grr'lek? He is your species after all."

M'Real shook her head, "the holodecks are in use by Jon's staff and Grr'lek...well he's too Caitian." Mikey just gave her a blank stare. "I spent about half of my life living among humans and didn't get Caitian traditions drilled into me during my teenage years. There's also the risk of him getting me pregnant." M'Real shook her head, "besides, I respect you, both as a friend and a warrier. Add to that, the advantage of not getting me pregnant, then I find you a perrrrfect choice for this. But I understand if you decline. But I'm asking you as a friend, a warrier, and a fellow officer, will you help me?"

"So, if I agree, I get to help a friend, have sex, and there's no emotional attachement that could get in the way of our professional relationship?"

M'Real nodded, "I would only get emotionally attached if you desired it. I certaintly wouldn't object to it if you did desire one. But I certainly understand the need for emotional distance in the upcoming battle." Mikey hesitated as he thought about it. A little too long for M'Real. "OH, COME ON! Any other guy'd be naked by now."

"Alright, alright. Clearly you really need this and..." Mikey couldn't finish his sentance before M'Real literally pounced him.

***
A few hours later...
***

M'Real fell asleep satisfied, curling up into a cute little ball as Mikey looked her over. The night had been difficult but it was for a friend after all. He had planned to leave afterwards but also feel asleep, exhausted from helping M'Real.
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Re: USS Daystrom Beta Mission

Post by Teaos »

Everything was deathly silent on the bridge of the Dakota. Admiral Davidson, Commander Rochey, Lt Monroe and Captain Gilda were all looking up at the bridges view screen.

At the moment the image being shown on it was split in two, on one side of the screen a computer generated image of the surrounding space was being shown. In blue the Federation fleet was formed up in a battle phalanx formation.

Strike groups one and two were joined along the Z axis with the Daystrom and the other Akira class ships taking point, preparing to unleash the first devastating volley of Quantum's into the enemy positions. Directly behind them the Dakota and other heavy capital ship were in position to blast through the lines and land the army assembled in their hulls. The other ships of the two strike groups had been split into small groups of two or three ships to work together against enemy ships. A tactic learned during the Dominion war.

The third strike group brought up the rear ready to break off and take on the defense platforms.

On the other half of the view screen the proto solar system, the trillions of asteroids and hundreds of proto planets orbiting the newly formed sun.

The Planetoid the Brotherhood had terra-formed looked more like a fortress now than a small planet. Advanced scans showed a unusually high concentration of ships although the Admiralty had shrugged this off as coincidence. Dozens of the Brotherhoods defence platforms had also shown up on scans along with an unexpected surprise, they had picked up several very high powered disruptors built into several asteroids around the planetoid.

The fleet was just a matter of minutes away from dropping out of warp and engaging the enemy. It seemed as if the Brotherhood had only picked up the advancing fleet little over an hour ago and were still struggling to assemble their defenses.

How they were going to approach and attack with as little warning as possible had been an issue of some debate. Finally it was a XO of one of the New Orleans class ships who came up with the solution. The USS Adams, a Nebula class starship in strike group three was traveling just behind the three Akira's. She was funneling all available power into her deflector shields which had been extended far ahead of the fleet. It was taking every ounce of power the ship had but the powerful Nebula ship was literally pushing the dust and asteroids between the fleet and Brotherhood out of the way.

With the fleet travelling at warp 8.6, the fastest speed the entire fleet could maintain they had hoped to bring the warning of their arrival from several hours down to just one.

"Sir 3 minutes to arrival" The opps officer informed the Admiral.

"Very well, send the signal to engage as soon as we drop out of warp" The Admiral said standing with his hands behind his back.

~~~

On the bridge of one of the Brotherhoods ships a woman sat perfectly at ease as she watched the Federation fleet appear less than a hundred thousand kilometers away. She smirked as they quickly reformed their formation before advancing.

"Let the fools come" She said watching the three ships on point unleash a barrage of torpedoes at the center of their fleet.
What does defeat mean to you?

Nothing it will never come. Death before defeat. I don’t bend or break. I end, if I meet a foe capable of it. Victory is in forcing the opponent to back down. I do not. There is no defeat.
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Re: USS Daystrom Beta Mission

Post by Mikey »

Mikey slipped out of M'real's bed and dressed as quietly as he could. "Thank the Hearth humans are so diurnal," he thought, slipping out the door - he doubted that many of his crewmates would understand Andorian casual sexual mores. For that matter, would M'real, having been raised among humans? He stopped short, concerned; then shrugged and continued. He was, as she had said, simply helping a colleague; he was sure she'd be cool.

After a round of calisthenics and a shower, Mikey slung his Nausicaan knife on his back and headed for the holodeck for a little practice. Suddenly he heard the alert and raced to the bridge instead. "Expecting to plunder a sailing ship?" asked Hewer wryly, as Mikey realized he was still wearing the oversized knife.

"Never know what might come in handy," Mikey smiled back. "Ops, report!"

Grr'lek calmly replied, "two ranks of Brotherhood ships ahead, flanked by four auxiliary squadrons. Minor initial damage to the lead ships of the Dakota's group." As Mikey opened his mouth to ask for a copy of the report, Grr'lek smiled and continued, "Disposition is on your console now, Commander."

Mikey switched his gaze from the viewscreen to the small console at the XO station. "Icy hells!"

"Yes, it appears the element of surprise was lost to us," said Fletcher evenly.

"Not just that," answered Mikey. "They're going to try to grind us against the defense platforms and leave us no maneuvering room."

"Lt. Grr'lek," called the captain, "give me a tactical overview on the screen." As the scene changed to a computer-generated readout of the positions of all involved ships the captain turned to Mikey and said, "Can you save our bacon while I order the group?"

"Aye, sir."

"Good. I'll have the group string out the Brotherhood ships, and try to give Thompson's group room to work on those platforms. Ops - get me a channel to the Shoshone."

Mikey swivelled in his seat. "Commander... ?"

Teaos looked back at him. "The subspace flak is ready to go, but there's no guarantee with it."

"There never is. Hewer?"

"All torpedo tubes ready."

"Not yet," said Mikey. "Use the phasers to screen us if you need to. I want torpedo locks on 15 ships in 360 degrees."

"There aren't any ships beside or behind-"

"There will be," Mikey grinned, and Hewer grinned back as he divined the Andorian's plan. Mikey turned back around and continued, "Ge'haan! Can you get us between those ranks and then out again?"

"Consider it done, sir," came the Cardassian's reply. The Daystrom lurched downward and under the first row of Brotherhood ships, nosing up like a breaching dolphin between the battle lines of the enemy forces. Before any of the outlaw captains could react to this unexpected maneuver, the Daystrom unleashed a salvo of 60 quantum torpedoes in all directions and then dashed up out of the Brotherhood formation. Unprepared for the attack from inside their battle lines - especially from the Daystrom's side-facing tubes - those Brotherhood ships in the immediate vicinity that weren't crippled outright were thrown into confusion.

"Eat hot QT's, you bastards!" cheered Hewer.

"There's a lot more of them out there, Mr. Hewer," said Mikey quietly. As Darel settled the ship back toward the other Starfleet vessels amid a few phaser and disruptor impacts, Mikey added, "You may fire at will."
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Re: USS Daystrom Beta Mission

Post by Reliant121 »

The Brotherhood fleet was now intimately aware that the Federation meant business. That Akira class cruiser had shown that all to well. And now it was time to return the favour. The fleet split up into small attack groups, picking off targets in the much smaller fleet. The hashed together fleet sped forward, leaving the defense line behind.

"Sir, 3 ships closing on us! Looks like two K'vort class and a Galor," Hewer shouted. There was not much to do except take the trio on.

"Hewer, you have permission to blast the things into the abyss! Ge'haan! Evasive manouvres. be creative!" Mikey ordered. Moments later, he regretted the order to be creative.

Darel lowered the power the inertial dampers recieved for increase responsiveness, and made a sharp dive to port. Just in time too, the K'Tinga opened fire with the bow mounted disrupter cannon. Darel rolled the Daystrome at high speed into a barrel roll, sliding over the top of the USS Adams, which was attempting to cover the Daystrome. Phaser blasts streaked away from the main phaser bank, lancing at the K'Vort class ships that were sticking close to the Daystrome, each one firing off disrupter bolts into the aft shields. The Daystrome's after phaser banks sprang into animation, firing at the K'Vort positioned to the starboard. The heavy Phaser blast ripped into the shields, almost cracking them in a single shot, a testiment to the poor maintenance the Brotherhood ships were given. A second shot blasted through the shields, and cut straight across the port wing. It was cut clean off, sending the wing careening off into the darkness.

At that moment, a photon torpedo drove into the ventral surface of the K'vort. The engineering hull was torn apart, sending a chain reaction explosion that engulfed the bridge. The remaining starboard wing shattered, splaying hull fragments across space. The offending ship, USS Stelios, swooped behind the other K'vort, firing at the rear shields. The Daystrome let fly with the aft phaser, ripping into the ship. A final blast from the Stelios hit the starboard disrupter cannon, sending the ship into a death spiral. A steamrunner class ship fired off a torpedo, blowing the K'Vort apart.

But the K'Tinga would prove more difficult. It dived behind the Stelios and opened fire, blasting into the port nacelle. The Stelios made an evasive manouvre to starboard, dragging out of the fray. The K'Tinga remained, firing at the Daystrome.

"Hewer, retarget on the K'Tinga and fire at will," Mikey ordered.

Darel had an idea. He swung the ship around a Norway class ship, rounding the hull closely. After it cleared the Norway, its full bow weapons array came to bare. The Forwar phaser array opened fire, punctuated by a single Quantum torpedo slamming into the bow section. It exploded, effectively decapitating the Klingon vessel. It drifted away, no longer a threat.
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Re: USS Daystrom Beta Mission

Post by Monroe »

Munro and the rest of the ground forces on the Dakota armed themselves as the strike force neared the planetary defense platforms and batteries. The occational rumble of the ship intensified as more and more fire was directed as the spearhead of the fleet.

"We're nearly into transporter range." Munro yelled out to the three hundred under his command in the cargo bay. "Get ready!" Clmbing into the large walker he brought up a map of the landing site and prepared to do some last minute changes to the strategy. With only spotty intelligence this wasn't possible back at the Starfleet base. He just hoped Commadore Ford could make such on the fly decisions as he could.



Several thousand kilometers away one of the trillions of asteroids fired up. Engines coming online masked partially by a dust cloud the asteroid sailed on an intercept course for the nearest Warp drive, the Saber USS Holland. The helm picked up the engine flare but the squadron of fighters attacking its bow distracted the Captain long enough for the asteroid to get close enough on an intercept course. Shattering the rocky remains of the asteroid apart the subspace weapon fired forward at full speed straight into the nacile of the USS Holland.

Exploding outwards in a massive wave that rippled space and time the surprised USS Holland shook painfully as the explosions ripped apart the nacile instancely. The rest of the ship seemed to hold still for a faction of a second but on closer look the windows were being vapriozed as hull integrety fell to zero. Finally the center section of the ship shattered outwards as the hull finally gave way. All hands lost.

The explosion continued outwards swallowing the group of Brotherhood fighters sent to distract the ship and throwing the spearhead formation into disaray.


Back on the Dakota Munro's moniter of the ground forces instantly dropped to 96% as he was thrown out of his chair by the shockwave.
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Re: USS Daystrom Beta Mission

Post by Sonic Glitch »

Authors Note: Backdated 1hr before Fleet Contact.

USS Katana

Commander Lewis was in his quarters composing a letter.

Dear Sis, (she wasn't really his sister, but they were close enough they were almost siblings to each other)

I'm sorry it's been so long since we talked. I never really got to catch up with you after the war. Things at SI were crazy as we tried to wrap up the end of the war, and you know the Enterprise: one crisis after another. Well now I finally got myself that small little ship I wanted. :-) The Enterprise was nice, I would've spent the rest of my career there if I could, but knowing Commander Madden the way I do, it kind of prevents me from doing that. Aside from that, there was really no room for advancement on the Big E. If I wanted to move up, I needed to transfer. I've finally gotten that third pip on my collar. That's right, your brother is a full commander now! I'm the executive officer on an old Saber class ship. She's a good ship. Old, solid, but definitely in need of some major work (not just cosmetically either). I'm amazed she's held together this long. Things in the far reaches of the fleet still haven't been repaired, even 6 years after the war. Right now we are with a fleet of other ships heading out to engage a gang of renegade pirates. You may have heard about them in the news service. Everyone is expecting this to be a cakewalk, especially after the fleet actions of the war. I'm not so sure. After a while at SI you begin to develop a 6th sense about things like this. This entire operation was thrown together to quickly, we don't have good intelligence about the enemy. I mean, the plan is a good one I'll give it that. but I can't shake this sense of "We're missing/unprepared for something." I've just got this sense that something will go wrong. Well as an ancient Earth philosper once said, "It ain't over till it's over." I plan to be back, if only because I know I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I left you alone. Let everyone back home know I said "Hello" and I'll talk to them soon.

All My Love,
Your Brother Matt


Commander Lewis walked to the viewport, normally the view of the stars streaming by uplifted his spirits; knowing he was on a ship headed out to explore but now they knew what was ahead, or thought they did. He reflected that his letter was probably a tad maudlin and regretted worrying his sister like that, but still he couldn't shake the feeling that something unfortunate was going to happen...
"All this has happened before --"
"But it doesn't have to happen again. Not if we make up our minds to change. Take a different path. Right here, right now."
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Re: USS Daystrom Beta Mission

Post by Tsukiyumi »

" Warp decoys are online, sir!" Patel shouted, her eyes locked to her console. The ship rocked as another disruptor bolt skimmed the shields. O'Carroll's face was locked in a thin smirk as he rolled the ship on it's Y-axis and fired ventral phasers at the passing Bird of Prey.

Thompson watched the readout with alarm at the larger-than-expected Brotherhood fleet, but his jury-rigged warp decoys were doing their job. As his task force separated from the main fleet, they'd released dozens of the things, and the defense platforms were swarming to intercept them, firing rapid disruptor barrages at the decoys. The task force hung back; as the decoys were whittled away, Thompson knew he couldn't afford to wait any longer.

Sanskot shared his feelings, " Uzani, his army at Lashmir." We've lured them in; now close the trap.

" Signal the Adams and the Katana to release the 'packages', then fire ours. Target separate coordinates." He gritted his teeth as they entered ideal range, and the outlying platforms began unleashing streams of disruptor pulses at ships in the task force, and the nearby main fleet.

" Adams and Katana report packages away, Captain." O'Carroll brought the bow around, firing at targets of opportunity in the enemy fleet as the defense platforms loomed larger in the viewscreen.

" Devi, by all means, fire." Thompson scowled, watching his console display.

Patel touched one control, " Package away, Captain!"

O'Carroll didn't wait for an order; they'd practiced this numerous times. The Shoshone arced upwards, looping back the way they'd come.

Better safe than sorry, Thompson thought as the task force broke away, banking toward a large group of asteroids.

The three high-yield torpedoes silently cruised into the center of the now closely grouped platforms as the task force swung back around and regrouped.

They detonated almost simultaneously, three massive white blooms filling the viewscreen with blindingly bright light. For a moment, a small star appeared to occupy the space where the platforms used to be, and Thompson's console readouts went blank.

" All sensors off-line, Captain!" Patel yelled, shielding her eyes from the still-bright viewscreen. This had been anticipated, of course, and the task force continued forward despite being temporarily blind. After a moment, the console's readout showed the results: of the twenty platforms in the area of the blast, no less than seventeen had ceased to exist, obliterated by the massive explosion; the remaining three were severely damaged. A moment later, the ship rocked violently as the shockwave impacted the forward shields.

" Forward shields down to 90%, captain. No damage to the hull." O'Carroll laughed, " We did it!"

A cheer erupted across the bridge as the light from the blast faded, revealing nothing but debris, and the three remaining platforms. Thompson allowed himself a brief smile, " Signal the task force to move in to eliminate the remaining platforms, then break to engage the enemy fleet. Instruct the Katana and the Oak to run interference for the Da "

The alarm cut him off as cleanly as a knife through silk.

" Multiple contacts decloaking at coordinates 242 mark 15- wait, 042 mark 25, 123 mark They're all around us, sir!" Patel practically screamed the report as contacts began appearing in the areas outside the range of the explosion.

" How many!" Thompson saw the gold-colored platforms wavering back into visibility, saw their rapid-fire cannons swinging to bear on his penned-in task force.

" Nine - no, ten contacts, sir! What are your orders?" No mistaking the fear in her voice now; they'd all seen the stats on these powerful weapons systems.

" All ships, fire quantum torpedoes! Concentrate fire on the platforms directly ahead; we'll punch through!" Thompson roared, sending specific orders through his console.

" Mirab, his sails unfurled..." Sanskot growled as the Shoshone led the charge with phasers stabbing forward and blue-white quantum torpedoes streaking from her launchers.

" Indeed, my friend. Let's go." Thompson knew: this would be a battle for the history books.
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Re: USS Daystrom Beta Mission

Post by Blackstar the Chakat »

M'Real woke up to find her bed empty yet warm. Memories of the night before began coming back to her. She shrugged at Mikey's absence, figuring he had to get to work or something. The advantage of being a department head, well sort of, was that you had leniency in choosing her hours. She took a shower and had breakfest before putting her uniform on, which went on much easier this time around because for the first time, none of her fur got caught in the zipper.

M'Real walked into the shuttlebay with a smile on her face, a suprise to the crew down there who had seen her at her worst the day before. She assembled the crew that was to be with her on the Shadow Fox. Grif was the shuttle's chief mechanic with another man named Donut as a GIB or Guy in Back. A much shorter acronym then "Guy who does everything the pilot's too busy to do" or "GWDETPTBTD". "Okay, boys begin final diagnostics."

A few minutes later the computer came back with it's diagnostic's results, reporting all systems functioning withen acceptable ranges. M'Real would've prefered to fine tune the systems but time was not on her side. The alert sounded and M'Real began the pre-flight sequence after putting on a headset. "Flight control this is the Shadow Fox, systems are green and we're ready to fly."

"This is flight control, you will launch behind Ranger squadren. Launch order is Eagle squadren, Mighty Duck squadren, Ranger squadren, Shadow Fox. Hold on, we're preforming evasive manuvours. I wouldn't recommend launching with the lowered inertia dampners, unless you can compensate for the manuvers."

Anker Zionex's voice came over the intercom, "This is Eagle One, everyone sit tight."

M'Real punched up a link to the Daystrom computer and set up the controls to help her compensate for the manuvors. "This is Shadow Fox, in light of the squadren's standing by the Shadow Fox is taking top priority launch. Beginning now."

Lieutenant (j.g.) Zionex's voice was heard again, "Negative M'Real. It's too risky. You crash on takeoff and you'll block the rest of us from launching."

"Then go out the back door. In case you haven't noticed I outrank you, and I'm not gonna sit on my tail while the Daystrom gets a beating. The Shadow Fox is launching now." The Shadow Fox lifted and glided out of the bay without incident. "This is Shadow Fox joining the fight."

Then she heard over the frequency, "Like we're going to let her risk her life all alone out there. Mighty Duck squadren launch!"

"What the fuck?! I'm in charge here!"

Zionex's wingman came on, "sir, we are willing to take the risk."

"This is Ranger One, we're launching too."

"What?!" Zionex began sputtering incoherently, "I ordered everyone to stay put."

"Might Duck three to Eagle One, you said sit tight, and you didn't specify who you were talking to."

"Damnit! Fine, Eagle squadren launch."

M'Real couldn't help giggling at Zionex's frustration. Technically he hadn't ordered everyone to stay put and it was unlikely that any insubordnation charges would be brought up because of 'cultural confusion' when giving orders. M'Real got a lucky hit on a Klingon fighter, hitting it's underbelly with the pulse canons. "Not even five minutes and I already got a kill."

"This is Duck four, Great job you foxy feline. But I'm sure we'll all be aces by the end of this fight. Oh, dang I got one on my tail."

M'Real sighed, She looked around using the Virtual Display Device(based off stolen Dominion technology) mounted on her headset to find Mighty Duck Four. "Pull up to your 11 o'clock high, Duck four. I'll clear your six."

"Duck four roger." He pulled up and to the left. The pilot on his tail was so preoccupied with staying on the Falcon-class fighter's tail that he didn't notice the more massive Shadow Fox coming at him from above until the pulse cannons were shredding his fighter. "Thanks Foxy. I owe you one."

"You talk too much. It makes you more noticable," teased M'Real. She flew off in search of her next victim, which proved more difficult since not all of the enemy fighter pilots flew like rookies, but she did take a few shots at some of the larger ships, but she didn't think they did any significant damage. She braced herself for a long battle.
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Re: USS Daystrom Beta Mission

Post by Mikey »

To judge by Grr'lek's tone, he might have been watching a particularly uninteresting documentary about different species of grass rather than a fleet-wide firefight. "Strike Group One reporting," he said flatly. "The Holland is down; the Ravencrest injured, and the Alie engaged on three fronts. The Dakota states intention to send Impervious in advance and begin operations, despite less-than-ideal transport conditions."

"Visual at my station, Lieutenant," said Mikey. He peered at his small console for a moment, and then gasped breathlessly despite himself.

"Commander?" asked Fletcher.

Mikey looked at the captain, dumbfounded for a moment, and then punched a button on his console. The main viewscreen switched views to a rear point-of-view of a different Akira-class - the USS Impervious. As they watched, the Impervious began to dive towards the Brotherhood's home planetoid, barraging the surface with torpedoes and beginning to launch fighters. Suddenly, the screen lit up with the simultaneous eruption of five massive green beams from the planetoid's surface. Two of the shots impacted on the Impervious' shields; the third forced the ship off of her original heading; and the last two lanced straight through the ship's saucer. Seemingly in slow motion, fiery crevasses appeared throughout the saucer, and then it finally collapsed apart, expelling burning plasma and charred, shapeless metallic chunks.

The reverie on the Daystrom's bridge was interrupted by Commander Teaos. "Subspace weapon incoming, short trajectory. Flak away... dammit! There's a lot of interference, I have limited control of the flak torpedo - we'll stop the isolytic effect, but we'll feel it!"

"Captain!" barked Mikey, "We have to assist the Dakota-"

The Daystrom was rocked by the shockwave of the subspace weapon. Lights and panels flickered off and then on sporadically. "Damage report!" bellowed Mikey. Looking down at his console he saw, thanks to the subspace nature of the weapon, reports of casualties and damage from all over the ship in a random pattern, rather than localized to an area of impact.

"Power grid shows no permanent damage, but will be intermittent," intoned Grr'lek.

"We're not going anywhere, Commander," Fletcher said. Mikey's bright blue face turned purple with the blush of rage. Fletcher continued wryly, "I can command my own ship, Commander. Do what you can."

Mikey stood and turned toward the ops station. "Grr'lek, how many fighters did the Impervious launch?"

"Two wings got away, sir."

"Signal them to cover the Dakota. Hewer - recall one of our wings... a little cover might shorten our recovery time. Get our other two in the atmosphere of that planetoid, and bring down those damn guns." Tapping a button on his console, Mikey opened a channel. "M'real? Get back here."

*********************************************************

As the Shadow Fox landed in the main bay, Mikey motioned for the platoon of security troops to embark. "What's going on?" asked M'real.

"The Dakota is all but alone, and they're having a tough time establishing mass transport. I sent two wings to take out the big guns on the planet - you need to catch up and assist, then take the wings and establish an area of superiority. Land the platoon so they can set up their transport enhancers, and keep a clear beachhead. Clear?"

"Crystal," M'real answered, and then began to turn back to her cockpit.

"One more thing," said Mikey suddenly. As M'real turned back to face him, he said, "Be careful. You need to come back in one piece - I'd say you owe me a dinner for helping you out last night."

"My furry ass!" she said. "The effort was its own reward, and you've got the scratches to prove it." She winked, sat in the pilot's seat of the Fox, and said, "One cannon-free, clear LZ coming up!" before closing the hatch and blasting hot out of the bay.
Last edited by Mikey on Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: USS Daystrom Beta Mission

Post by Tsukiyumi »

" The port nacelle is taking a beating, Lieutenant! Keep the port shields away from those cannons!" Thompson was glad only one of the platforms had decided to concentrate on the Shoshone; the rest, however, were systematically tearing the task force to shreds. A number of planetary defense arrays were opening up on the main fleet, but he had enough to deal with; he'd worry about them if and when they fired at his ship.

" I'm doing my best, sir!" O'Carroll snarled, firing aft phasers as Patel fired the rear torpedoes in concert. The phaser strikes finally broke through the platform's shielding, and the quantum torpedoes slammed home, blasting one of the rapid-fire cannons apart.

The platform simply rotated and fired three other cannons; streams of green pulses hammered down the Shoshone's ventral shields, blasting open the unarmored sections with ease. Nearby, the Sherry, one of the older New Orleans-class frigates, didn't fare as well - the ship bucked violently as concentrated fire from five of the platforms tore her in two. The shockwave flung the remains of the saucer section into one of the platforms, obliterating both in another short-lived fireball.

" Engineering, report!" Thompson shouted as he gripped the console; the Katana zipped briefly by on the viewscreen, firing all of its phasers at different targets. It caught the first stream of pulses from their target, the rest lit up the Shoshone's forward shields in a series of bright blue-white blooms. O'Carroll dove the ship downward, the dorsal phasers tearing into the platform's fusion reactor. As it flared out of existence, San'dral responded.

" We have a problem down here, Captain; the plasma conduits were overtaxed from the 'modifications' made to accommodate the new warp core. I warned you that systems operating in such an unorthodox manner would likely-" Thompson cut her off; this was certainly not the time for her brand of Vulcan over-analysis.

" HOW IS MY SHIP, COMMANDER!?" he screamed it now, as another of the platforms began to pound the dorsal shields; Thompson knew they would be lucky to actually survive this battle.

Her voice, perfectly calm: " I am evacuating the deck, Captain. The conduits have overloaded, and plasma has begun filling main engineering. Nothing organic will survive in there for more than a few seconds. I recommend that you order the ship evacuated immediately. I will attempt to prevent a warp core breach by manually limiting the output. Goodbye, William..."

" San'dral! Wait a damn minute, I-" the signal was cut before he finished her name. He sat silently for a few seconds, as the ship shuddered under another onslaught from the platforms, his head cradled in his hands, his graying forelock spilling into his vision. It covered the darkened bridge in a silvery curtain.

" Everything we've got, my friends," he muttered. The bridge crew heard him regardless; they'd all been concentrating on him after San'dral cut her channel. " Right now. Get me anyone who'll answer."

Devi complied, " Channel open, Captain " her face was a mix of devastation and duty. He thought she looked beautiful with such a painful broth of emotions stewing just beneath her big, tea-colored eyes.

Remember to tell her that later, Wild Bill, he thought. He hadn't heard that nickname since the academy, back when he was still headstrong, unseasoned, and very unpredictable. He wasn't a bit surprised to have thought it now.

" To any ship in my task force who's receiving this: form up at once, two hundred meter formation around me. We're going to play three-card Monte with these bastards, and we're going to win. Time to re-shuffle the deck, people."

" What've you got, Captain? Ace in the hole?" O'Carroll smirked, but his eyes were as wild with pain as Devi's. He looked near to tears; they all knew that San'dral would sacrifice herself to save the ship. He casually swung the bow toward the nearest platform, never taking his eyes of the Captain's as he tapped the controls.

Thompson just smiled.
There is only one way of avoiding the war – that is the overthrow of this society. However, as we are too weak for this task, the war is inevitable. -L. Trotsky, 1939
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Re: USS Daystrom Beta Mission

Post by Sonic Glitch »

{overlapping Tsuki's post}

A cheer erupted on the bridge of the Katana as the high-explosive torpedoes did their work. Ruhalter flashed a look at his XO that seemed to say, see I told you it would work ;-).

"Sir..."called the science officer from his console, "I'm getting wierd returns on the tachyon scans..wait..MULTIPLE CONTACTS repeat: Multiple Contacts decloaking bearing 242 mark 31...157 mark 16..sir they're everywhere."

"Brings us about, charge phasers load quantum torpedoes!"

The bridge rocked as the nearest two platforms began concentrating on the Katana. As the bridge rocked that tactical officer fell against his console, knocking himself out.
"Captain, you worry about the ship, I'll take tactical sir." called Commander Lewis as he moved the lietenants body as gently as could be managed under current circumstances. "Sir I have a lock on the nearest of the platforms"
"Then by all means commander, fire at will."
The Katanas phasers lashed out at the platform, "Sensor read slight damage to the platforms shields sir...it's like spitting into the sun sir."
"Spit proudly" rejoined the captain.
"Aye aye sir" responded Lewis with a smile as he loosed a pair of quantum torpedoes at the offending platforms. Finally some damage was done in that one of the guns was sheared off.
"Sir the Shoshone is taken a beating" called the science officer from his station
"Then get us over there," called the captian, "but be creative about it..no straight lines!"
The Katana shot over, under and around the starships and platforms between them and the Shoshone, nearly colliding with the Sherry before watching it be destroyed by the platforms.
"Sir sensors are reading a building warp core breach on the Shoshone they can't take much more."
"Put us in front of her, try and block as much as we can."
"They're a lot bigger than we are sir." Pointed out commander Lewis.
"Think big thoughts" replied the captain with a smile. The Katana cut in front of the Shoshone as she brought the breach under control. Unfortunately at that moment 3 of the platforms choose to focus their attention on the tiny vessel. As the barrage increased, shields were brought down "Evasive Maneuvers! Pattern Delta!" shouted Ruhalter at the helmsmen. They were almost out of the way when a disruptor bolt impacted near the bridge. There was a short, painful burst of light as one of the power transfer conduits overloaded and then darkness before the emergency lights came on.
"Matt!" called Lt. Pearson from the helm station, as Lewis looked over Paul indicated where the captain had fallen. His head lie at an impossible angle for a human. Captain Ruhalter was dead.
I hate it when I'm right was Matt's first and rather irreverant thought. His second thought was You're in command, get going! "Report!" he called.
"Sir, we've lost our impulse engines and the warp core scrammed automatically with the power-spike...we're dead in the water."
Simultaneously blessing and cursing Commander T'Lavvik for installing those safeties she had read about in old Earth submarine novels, Commander Lewis movved about his bridge.
"Sir," called Pearson who due to the lack of ability to steer, had taken over communications, "the Shoshone is asking all available ships to form up quote: "It's time to shuffle the deck.""
"Can we assist?"Lewis asked his engineer.
"Not likely captain." The term seemed to slip out unintentionally but it stayed in the back of Matts mind. A ship only had one captain, and he was dead.
"Wait a minute," Lewis held up a hand, "anyone else here/feel that?"
"Feel what?"
"Nothing....they're not shooting at us...why?"
"You're right..a very good question sir." replied T'lavvik
"They appear to only be targeting vessels with active power sources." stated Commander Ligget from the science station.
"Really? Paul {pearson} can you send that on?"
"Yessir"
"Good, T'lavvik keep us powered down as long as you can. We need to do more than reshuffle the deck. We need to kick the table over."
"All this has happened before --"
"But it doesn't have to happen again. Not if we make up our minds to change. Take a different path. Right here, right now."
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Re: USS Daystrom Beta Mission

Post by Teaos »

A rift ripped through space weaving towards the USS Roberts, the pure white subspace tear was closing in on her engineering section when a streak of light intercepted it and exploded in a brilliant blue explosion that radiate out like an old fashioned fire work. The rift flew right into the brightest part of the explosion before fizzing out. The USS Kursk skimmed over the Roberts unleashing a salvo or Torpedoes at the ship which had just tried to destroy the Roberts.

~~~

All around the main battleground the battle raged. Phasers and Disruptors exchanging blows, torpedo blasts and fireballs lit up space in an array of colours.

The two fleets, now engaged in close quarter fighting were too mixed to easily tell if any side had the advantage.

And over this all Narg watched, the Ferengi was a senior member of the Brotherhood and one of its main financiers. Not only a good business man like all good Ferengi should be he also had a keen tactical mind, a fact which the Federation would soon find out.

"Drop cloak, raise shields, battle mood Tacron nine!" Narg barked out.

~~~

On the bridge of the Daystrom Captain Fletcher had quickly organized his attack group into two units flanked by every available fighter they could field.

"Right people time to break out of here and re group. If we can get these guys between us and their planet they're going down!" Fletcher ordered as he turned to Mikey to make sure he had command of the Daystrom under control. Sharing a quick nod Fletcher relayed his order to the strike group.

"Alright lets break out of here. Those Bird of Prey and fighters seem to be the weak link so let-" Mikey was cut off by Lt Hewer.

"Multiple enemy units uncloaking directly above us, five seven ten warp signature, three capital ships and destroys dropping down on us!" Hewer all but yelled as he prepared for the coming attack.

Two massive D'Kora class ships lead the assault on the ambushed group of ships. As soon as they were in range they unleashed with their powerful forward beam weapons tearing into the two capital ships at the center of the fleet.

Everyone on the bridge of the Daystrom was sent violently to their knees as their shields took the full brunt of one of the attacking capital ships along with a barrage of torpedoes form the frigate escort.

"Our top shields are almost exusted!" Grr'lek announced.

"Frigates are readying a second salvo!" Hewer yelled out while returning fire with everything they could.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Mikey screamed out.

"Navigations still down from the last subspace weapon!" Darel yelled trying to get any response out of the Daystrom.

Fletcher looked up at panic at the view screen seeing the ships fire the torpedoes.

"Abbandon bridge! Everyone to the battle bridge!" Fletcher commanded grabbing a young officer by the shoulder and throwing him into the turbo lift. Several on the bridge dashed right for the escape pods situated through the back on the bridge knowing there would not be enough room for everyone.

The Turbo lift had just cleared deck three as the entire ship rocked with the impact of twin direct hits to the bridge. The ablative armour manages to soak up some of the damage but the damage was to great and a massive gash appeared in a fiery blast of the Bridge dissolved into nothingness.

The turbolift stalled sending everyone in it crashing into the walls and floor before slowly surging to life again.

Almost before the doors were open Hewer and Mikey were sprinting down the hallway to the Battlebridge. One of the junior officers there had noticed both the Captain and Commander Teaos had been knocked out in the crash.

"Sir!" He crewmen yelled out after Ensign Darel who had just stumbled out of the lift.

Stepping back into the lift Darel checked the pulse of both of them relived to see they were both still alive.

"Get them to one of the medical units!" Darel ordered before stumbling down the hallway after the others.
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Nothing it will never come. Death before defeat. I don’t bend or break. I end, if I meet a foe capable of it. Victory is in forcing the opponent to back down. I do not. There is no defeat.
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