Mission 1 - Klingon Neutral Zone - Part 2

[lucasausems]

Cindy turned to Luke and said, "Luke, warp is back online, estimated time to catch our Romulan friend?"

Considering they hadn't been in warp that long, and the slow speeds the Romulan ship was moving at, Luke estimated only 4 minutes by warp to catch up to the Romulan ship and he told the Captain so.

Luke then listened in on the conversation on the Bridge. Finally the pieces started to fall together. TK's string of thoughts seemed to make sense. Starfleet's fleet was still recuperating from the attack on Vulcan and with the destruction of Vulcan the Federation had been struck a huge blow to its governmental core. Factions within the Federation governing body had begun to arise. Some calling for further militarisation, others for isolationism, yet others voiced that bringing peace and prosperity to the galaxy was now more important than ever. The Federation was as weak as it had ever been. Enemies were lurking. Not only the Romulans Luke presumed. The Klingons were doubtless keeping a close eye on Federation politcs and diplomacy, as were the Andorians.

From the stories going around since Nero and the old Spock appeared out of the future, the Federation was an all powerful and major political player in the field of interstellar politcs in the 24th century. Would they still be so, with Vulcan gone? Now it was more important than ever to strengthen the Federation, unify all and stand strong against a cruel galaxy. Yet what Luke had seen in the past few years was quite the opposite.

Yes, yes indeed, it did make sense for the Romulans to plot their schemes like this. Provoke a costly war between Klingon and the Federation. The Federation was in no state for warfare and would certainly lose, but not before seriously damaging the Klingon fleet. After that the Romulans could swoop in and take over what was left.

A good act of vengeance for their crushing defeat at Battle of Cheron in 2160. Since then no one had ever heard from or seen the Romulans, until Nero.. Luke suddenly wondered why this hadn't sparked any acts towards reconciliation with Romulus, surely Nero destroying Vulcan might make the Federation realise that strengthening diplomatic ties and opening trade deals between the two powers would be preferable to having an old enemy who they knew nothing about?

Perhaps this was what they should do. Head to Romulus, come in peace, come with trade deals, come with diplomacy...

But again, he was an Ensign only, and merely kept silent...

[T-Prime]

[Cmdr Phil]

She looked directly at Williams and asked, "Ever play baseball? This is beginning to feel like a squeeze play at the plate."

Phil was relieved that Williams appeared to understand the reference, even if he didn't.

"For the benefit of those of us more into cricket, no - I have no idea what you mean..."

tag - Cindy

"So that makes us a Nightwatchman who really needs to score a century?" mused Phil.

()

[Amanda Rose]

Cindy turned to Luke and asked, "Can you and Nav shave any more time off that four minutes? Will we be battle ready?"

tag - Luke (to tag Nav and Aislinn)

Cindy then turned to Phil, smiling warmly and then gave a small chuckle. Immediately, she explained at a rapid pace. "Despite your lovely accent, I do forget that you did not grow up on my side of the pond. Well, this is actually a bit more of a suicide squeeze than a squeeze play. See, in a standard squeeze play, the batter bunts the ball, hopefully sacrificing himself to get the man on third home safely to score a run. Usually the man on third waits a bit before running to make sure there will not be a play at the plate. Well, in a suicide squeeze, the man at third base takes off the moment the ball is pitched. If the ball is not bunted, he will likely be out at the plate, as the catcher will have the ball. If the ball is bunted, there is likely not enough time for the defense to adjust and make a play at the plate. See?" she asked Phil, hoping that he understood the concept.

tag - Phil

When Phil started to explain about the Nightwatchman, Cindy nodded. "I think that's about right."

tag - Phil

Cindy called over the comm, "Everyone please report to battle stations. We are going to reengage the enemy once we catch them."

tag - all

The Captain then gave the order, "Luke, catch those Romulans!"

tag- Luke

[Melissa Richards]

[KendleRJ]

"Fair enough. Just making sure it's not one o' them subtle things that make you collapse later." She grinned then turned back to her computer.

"Mine's away, Aislinn," Nav said. "Waiting on response from the whiskers. How's yours coming?"

"Almost there."

She had a few more adjustments to make.

A beep came from her station. "Uh oh."

"Uh oh?" Nav asked finger hovering over the button she pushed to send the signal. Waiting on its response was more nerve wracking than she had imagined. "Clarify, 'Uh oh' Aislinn, if you would?"

"Um...I'm trying to figure that out." Her fingers flew over the console. "There's a disconnect between the console and the whisker. I'm trying to find the cause."

Nav nodded, and pressed her lips together. That was a bad idea. And it seemed that Aislinn wasn't the only one with issues regarding the whiskers. Her console was communicating with the ones they just deployed, but the signal she'd sent wasn't working.

"Can we boost the existing signal from the whiskers that are working?" She was acutely aware as the moments ticked by.

Aislinn cued up the connection schematics, to figure out where the disconnect was. "That may help on that end. I need to find out what's happening on the ship's end of the connection."

Nav's eyes narrowed. "We didn't make any adjustments from the original deployment..." Her mind starting clicking. "How could it have become disconnected?"
Channel frequencies, minor attenuation adjustments, resolutions that might be a minor degree off but would exponentially differ as its location had widened from its origination point...

"Do you recall the frequency you set the whiskers to before we sent them?"

She frowned, "I can't, but I should have it recorded..." She pulled up notes from earlier. "Ah-ha! Here!" She plugged the numbers into the computer and gave it a moment.

3 seconds later the image of the schematics showed all the proper connections again, and a more positive-sounding beep confirmed that the proper communications were back in place.

She went back to her original screen referring to the whisker unit she had been working on, and it confirmed it was ready to go. "Got it!" She turned to Nav. "Sorry, I must have missed a keystroke and put the wrong frequency in. It's ready now." She gave a sheepish grin.

Nav grinned and shrugged, carefully this time. "It happens. When the push comes from above, it's not always easy to check all the steps." She typed in the reboot command once more, wishing she could be there to deliver an actual boot to the whiskers still not responding.

Sometimes, a military drop test in the manner of a size 7 combat boot might do the trick. Even if it was delivered remotely by Starfleet Personnel. She hoped that it didn't matter as she thwacked the key, wishing some of that kinetic energy could have been transferred beyond Frankie's hull.

"Hello, little whiskers," Nav muttered under her breath. "Get in line..."

"The others still aren't working?" She grimaced, "You don't think they all got off frequency do you?" She started looking for that information as she asked the question.

"They all got hit by a pulse while they were unshielded in the middle of space. They could have fused connections, or simply require a higher boosted signal for confirmed contact."

Nav bit her lip and thought for a moment. "Well, damn," she said, and sighed. "Reinitialise with your clearance code for activation." She clicked her tongue.
"It's the security lockout that ensures that Starfleet are the ones trying to restart their systems." Perhaps that bump was a bit more than she had thought, but at least this last obstacle might finally be overcome.

Aislinn nodded. "Aye." She did as suggested, going as fast as she could without being careless...she half expected to hear something from "up top" at any moment.

Cindy called over the comm, "Everyone please report to battle stations. We are going to reengage the enemy once we catch them."

Nav chuckled slightly. "If I'd moved, I would have had to worry." Nav noticed a message, "Helm asked for an update... what should I tell them?"

Well, that wasn't the message she was expecting, but it wasn't good either. And she didn't want to leave this job half-done. She was visibly frustrated as she tried to figure out what call to make, but fortunately, a series of beeps on her console told her she wouldn't have any figuring to do. She smiled as she turned to Nav, "Tell them everything's online."

"Helm," Nav said, "Consider yourself online. Hopefully that's shaved enough for everyone."

~Tag Helm

She gave Aislinn a lop-sided grin. "Thanks, Ensign," she said with a wry twist, "I'm guessing you've got to head back up there." Taking a moment to extend a hand, she said, "Thanks for your help down in the bowels."

Aislinn returned a smile, "Yeah, the Science chief will be looking for me. But that's alright. I rather enjoyed 'getting out.' I'm glad we figured it out."
Remembering the meeting earlier, she said, "Hopefully your boss will be too busy to notice you slip back in."

"Not likely," said Nav. "May or may not see you later, but you'd best get going. They'll probably need you on the Bridge."

She nodded. "Right, that. I'll see you later. Hopefully after all this is over." She headed for the nearest Lift to make her way to the Bridge.

~Tags Everyone

This was a JP brought to you by Ensign Aislinn Norson, Science (Iar Edra) and Ensign Navkiran Khangura, Engineering (KendleRJ) and the letters O, M and G

[Cmdr Phil]

If the ball is bunted, there is likely not enough time for the defense to adjust and make a play at the plate. See?" she asked Phil, hoping that he understood the concept.

"I'm not at all sure I like the term "suicide squeeze, but the bottom line is - be desperate and confusing... I think we can do that." He went on to explain about the Nightwatchman, Cindy nodded. "I think that's about right."

Cindy called over the comm, "Everyone please report to battle stations. We are going to reengage the enemy once we catch them." The Captain then gave the order, "Luke, catch those Romulans!"

Phil moved to his own console - Starfleet still hadn't figured out what the role of Executive Officer was in a battle situation. Mostly, be handy in case anyone was injured and needed backfill before the genuine backup could reach the bridge. His console instead had an overview of the internal systems - how many casualties had been logged at medical, where damage control teams were being called to, or were already in operation, any containment breaches. All things that other stations would normally cover, but while they were concentrating on maneuvering and firing it was as well to have a second pair of eyes and hands.

[Amanda Rose]

If the ball is bunted, there is likely not enough time for the defense to adjust and make a play at the plate. See?" she asked Phil, hoping that he understood the concept.

"I'm not at all sure I like the term "suicide squeeze, but the bottom line is - be desperate and confusing... I think we can do that."

"I do not see another choice. Do you?" The question seemed mostly rhetorical as Cindy turned her back and watched the view screen. Her mood seemed determined and serious.

tag - Phil

When the call came in that the whiskers were back online, Cindy's face started to curl into a smile again. Turning to Aislinn as she got on the bridge, Cindy addressed her and said, "I hope that congratulations will soon be in order to you and Nav."

tag - Aislinn

A beep a mere thirty seconds outside the neutral zone told Cindy that that whiskers had found the Romulan vessel through gravametric disturbance, again." Cindy did not hesitate. "Phil, try and aid Lieutenant Williams to guide phasers based on the bit we saw of the Romulan ship. Hopefully you can calculate where it is most likely to be based on those whiskers. Full phaser volley, now!"

tag - Phil and Williams

There were bright lights that showed as the phasers hit something. After a few moments, debris was visible in the area, including some drifting bodies. Cindy asked to nobody in particular as the debris appeared, "Is it destroyed?"

tag - Aislinn, Phil, Williams

[T-Prime]

[KendleRJ]

The whiskers were up and working, Engineering demands were well in hand, and her fellow Engineers had already shooshed her toward Sickbay. Nav felt like an idiot, and sighed inwardly, leaning her head against the cool side of the turbolift as she headed to get checked out. It was a soothing ride, and one where, as she let the day settle and the push slowly unwind, she felt the floor moving beneath her feet. For a moment, she thought they'd been hit again and then she realised that the lift had stopped. Blinking a bit self-consciously, she pushed away from the wall gently, trying to use her tool kits as a counter balance and used the corridor hull as a guide as she delicately tried to maneuvre around to stop behind someone she could only assume was next in line. The corridor was packed, and such a minor injury made her feel even more embarrassed as she noticed others waiting with limbs hanging at odd angles or blood trickling out of various wounds of length, width and depth.

It looked to be a long wait, so instead of standing, Nav tucked her tool kits into a box shape and used them as a makeshift chair in the corridor, leaning her head sideways against the hull. She was grateful for Frankie, grateful for the relative coolness that was a nice contrast to the warmth she felt on her forehead, and grateful for the stability of the floor beneath her feet as she closed her eyes, now grateful for darkness, since the light suddenly hurt. The voices around her became a lulling buzzing noise, like bees in summer that gathered around budding trees, lazily gathering pollen for honey in one of the few indoor apiaries left in India. She enjoyed the calm serenity there, listening to nature, getting back to the basics while technology grew in great heaving swells all around her. She recalled the soft trickles of simulated rain as the irrigation troughs rotated the water to keep as natural a cycle as possible. It was there she knew the joys of what technology could do, could bring, could provide, and as she had lain back on real grass covering real dirt, she looked up at the glistening dome and realised that this was what she wanted to do. It called to her as surely as a horn trumpeting her name and pointing a big neon finger... Wait, she was where again?

Taking a deep breath, she cracked an eye and realised that barely no time had passed. People were ringed in thin white auras, but at least she could keep one eye open without too much difficulty. She would wait patiently, like the rest of them, updating her status in Engineering as the time ticked slowly by, and she shuffled on her butt to find a new spot to rest her forehead against. That kept her awake at least.

Tags Sickbay / Everyone