Mission 1 - Klingon Neutral Zone - Part 2

[Amanda Rose]

Cindy gave a stern look at Williams that also silently asked why he always had to start fights. She asked him, "What do you have in mind?"

Whitney answered, "We have two reserves on board."

"WE WEAPONIZE THEM. THEY WERE BUILT TO TRACK THE ENEMY, SO WE STRAP A PHOTON TORPEDO ONTO THEM AND LET THEM FLY STRAIGHT DOWN THE ROMULAN'S THROAT. NO DOUBT THE ROMULAN HAVE ALREADY DETERMINED THEM TO BE SENSOR DRONES. WE LEAVE THE TORPEDOES INACTIVE TO AVOID SCANS AND WIRE THE DETONATORS INTO THE WHISKERS' TRACKING SYSTEM."

Cindy just looked back at her executive officer and asked, "Phil?"

tag - Phil

[Cmdr Phil]

Her eyes lit up as she considered an idea, "Phil, what do you think the best way would be to provoke another plasma attack from the Romulans, say when the Klingons are in visual range?"

Cindy gave a stern look at Williams that also silently asked why he always had to start fights. She asked him, "What do you have in mind?"

Whitney answered, "We have two reserves on board."

"WE WEAPONIZE THEM. THEY WERE BUILT TO TRACK THE ENEMY, SO WE STRAP A PHOTON TORPEDO ONTO THEM AND LET THEM FLY STRAIGHT DOWN THE ROMULAN'S THROAT. NO DOUBT THE ROMULAN HAVE ALREADY DETERMINED THEM TO BE SENSOR DRONES. WE LEAVE THE TORPEDOES INACTIVE TO AVOID SCANS AND WIRE THE DETONATORS INTO THE WHISKERS' TRACKING SYSTEM."

Cindy just looked back at her executive officer and asked, "Phil?"

Phil pondered for a moment.

“Paintball…”

tag - Cindy

“Depending on how their cloaking system works, I’m wondering whether we can hit them with something that will make them visible to the Klingons without having to share the specifics on the whiskers. If we use one of the reserves to deploy a field of chaff, even it disappearing or being moved out of the way would be enough of a clue… Then when we fire the weaponised one, the Klingons will be less likely to misinterpret it and more likely to add their firepower.”

He paused to gauge her reaction and that of WIlliams.

Taggles

[Amanda Rose]

Her eyes lit up as she considered an idea, "Phil, what do you think the best way would be to provoke another plasma attack from the Romulans, say when the Klingons are in visual range?"

Cindy gave a stern look at Williams that also silently asked why he always had to start fights. She asked him, "What do you have in mind?"

Whitney answered, "We have two reserves on board."

"WE WEAPONIZE THEM. THEY WERE BUILT TO TRACK THE ENEMY, SO WE STRAP A PHOTON TORPEDO ONTO THEM AND LET THEM FLY STRAIGHT DOWN THE ROMULAN'S THROAT. NO DOUBT THE ROMULAN HAVE ALREADY DETERMINED THEM TO BE SENSOR DRONES. WE LEAVE THE TORPEDOES INACTIVE TO AVOID SCANS AND WIRE THE DETONATORS INTO THE WHISKERS' TRACKING SYSTEM."

Cindy just looked back at her executive officer and asked, "Phil?"

Phil pondered for a moment.

“Paintball…”

"Paintball?" Cindy asked. "Isn't that an ancient Earth game where people run around trying to shoot each other with paint rather than lasers to score points?"

tag - Phil

“Depending on how their cloaking system works, I’m wondering whether we can hit them with something that will make them visible to the Klingons without having to share the specifics on the whiskers. If we use one of the reserves to deploy a field of chaff, even it disappearing or being moved out of the way would be enough of a clue… Then when we fire the weaponised one, the Klingons will be less likely to misinterpret it and more likely to add their firepower.”

He paused to gauge her reaction and that of WIlliams.

Cindy nodded. "Great idea!" she exclaimed. "If we destroyed the Romulans now, the Klingons might assume that we destroyed our own technology to hide our own guilt. Gosh, those Romulans think of all the angles, don't they?" She called out on the comm, "Nav! Are you able to modify the whiskers to make the Romulans visible rather than just give a gravametric, time-space reading?"

Whitney interrupted in a slightly perturbed tone, "Captain, I am certain that I could handle it or anyone in Engineering. I am uncertain whether Ensign Khangura is available."

Cindy reassured Whitney, "I am certain that you could handle them; however, Nav is most familiar with them, as they are her creation and time is of the essence. If Nav is unable, then you will have to do your best."

Whitney answered, "Aye, Captain."

Cindy considered the response and sighed. I wish people would call me Cindy or at least Captain Cindy, like Luke.

tag - Williams, Phil, Nav

[T-Prime]

"WE COULD MODIFY ONE OF THE PHASER EMITTERS TO FIRE AN IONIZING PULSE. IT WON'T MAKE THE ROMULANS VISIBLE, AND IT WON'T LAST LONG, BUT IT'LL LIGHT THEM UP LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE ON THE KLINGON SENSORS." TK threw in his two-cents, "IT'LL MOST LIKELY BURN OUT IN JUST A FEW SECONDS, THOUGH. SO WE'D BETTER MAKE IT COUNT."

He didn't like the idea of sacrificing a weapon just to point out the romulan ship, but this fight wasn't likely to hinge on how many functional phaser banks they had.

[KendleRJ]

The doctor was reluctant. She didn't want Nav running around with a head injury. Things could get worse, but there was also the safety of the ship to be considered. Every able bodied person was needed. Jill looked sternly at the engineer. "I'm going to give you some medication, and I'll send you back. But, I want you to report in every hour on the other till this crises is over. Then, you are to return to sickbay for another evaluation..clear?"

Medication. Back. Yes, yes, fine, fine. But please... hurry up. "Every hour, yes, Doctor Ma'am." She gave a wide grin. "And back to...?" Nav bit off her reply, and sighed, rolling her eyes only a little. "Yes, Doctor. I'll be back." After the crisis... if it would ever stop.

Vodden sucked in her breath. "Ensign Soban is in the brig for losing it. You can go see him when your duties are complete. For now, you're cleared as well as I can manage.." the CMO took a hypo and injected it into Nav. "This will help clear your head and fight any damage done by the concussion. Now remember to follow my instructions to the letter..you can go now.."

Nav's eyes widened in surprise and dismay, and she nodded slowly. It seemed that no one had probably looked in on him quite yet. More medication, more drugs and she was hyped up on enough juice to fly herself into the Neutral Zone. Clear her head? She felt she could see the inside of her skull with her eyes closed. But it was better than being in the way in Sickbay. Sweeping up her tool kit she took one last look at the bent doors. One shoulder, one hand and a vice grip later, she had repaired them well enough to regain the regular function. It didn't look pretty. "I'll probably be by later, Doctor, to check on those doors. Tit for tat... you check me out, I check Sickbay out..."

And she walked with determination back towards Engineering... which was, funnily enough, in a roundabout oddly strange way, the way towards the Brig. She was halfway there when she heard:

"Nav! Are you able to modify the whiskers to make the Romulans visible rather than just give a gravametric, time-space reading?"

Well, Captain Cindy Hairflip Ma'am needed this done right away. Unaware of the rest of the conversation, she stepped up to the comm panel on the wall and hit it. "Aye Captain Cindy, let me take a look at how disruptive our whiskers can get. I'm almost at Engineering and will report as soon as I have anything. Nav out." Swearing under her breath, she hoisted the tool kits higher so she could run, and took off down the corridor, glad of the medication and a little leery what might happen when it finally gave out. But for now, she was on top of her game, could jump through hoops, and possibly fly. She tried a little leap and landed awkwardly. No harm, no foul, but she certainly drew odd looks from the others focused on doing their Red Alert duties.

She considered the technical ramifications on the way, recalling the schematics and what they'd already done to the whiskers. With the time-space readings, that would give her a baseline detailed output of the frequency of the shield, or the cloak... or perhaps both. All she'd need to do is set up a disonant harmonic to disrupt the signal, boost it to reach a fair distance, and that would make them visible. And vulnerable. Theoretically. She'd already done a few of the calculations in her head but wanted to verify them with the computer before implementing. This would need a few attempts on the simulator before they did it in real time. The consequences of performing such a destructive act might disrupt their own systems as well. Pinpoint precision... Necessary risk...

By the time Nav was in Engineering, she had already a few solutions for verification and testing, some of which might have seen the disintegration of life as we know it... Thank heavens for simulations...

Tags All Everywhere

[lucasausems]

There was one thing in life that had always baffled Luke. Musquito's. What was their purpose in the universe? Why did they exist? And, more importantly, why did they suck? Blood, that is. His blood. Miniature bloodsucking vampires on wings. zzzZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz. That was the sound they make near your ear. And, SMACK!!! You know, when you try to slam it with the palm of your head but only manage in almost knocking yourself out. Kill it. Kill it with fire. A lighter and a can of deodorant did the trick. The satisfying fall of death as they crashed to the floor burning. The odor of a burning musquito, more often than not mixed in with your own blood.... But finding them was so incredibly difficult... So tiny to spot, so silent they were almost soundless.

Tiny little buggers...

Anyway where were we? Ahh yes, TK felt offended at something Luke had said, again. Even though it had only been a day, the Helm Officer was already getting used to it. Luke only hoped that the Tactician's strategy at fighting these Romulans proved more fruitful than his verbal attempts to put Luke in his place. Luke was a geek at heart. Their comes a certain point in life when one is no longer impressed by ferocious commenters using caps lock. Luke understood though, poor fellow, gone all deaf because of a flash grenade. In this literary medium caps lock serves as a good visual tool to showcase the amount of decibels neccessary for TK to hear himself speak.

Luke blinked. Honestly, sometimes he had no idea where his inner thoughts took him. That was another thing that had always baffled things. The extra-ordinary ability of his mind to wander off at the most inconvenient moments, including life-threatening ones.

So what was the plan? Modifying the reserve whiskers, making them into flying bombs aiming for the Romulan ship? Yes. Good plan. Technically sound. But what about those Klingons?

Tags

[Iar Edra]

[Cmdr Phil]

"Paintball?" Cindy asked. "Isn't that an ancient Earth game where people run around trying to shoot each other with paint rather than lasers to score points?"

“Exactly,” Phil nodded, “If there’s one think the Klingons will hate more than us hopping over their border, it’ll be someone sneaking over their border - utterly without honour. Once they have the evidence for themselves, they’ll be only too happy to help us take them down.”

"WE COULD MODIFY ONE OF THE PHASER EMITTERS TO FIRE AN IONIZING PULSE. IT WON'T MAKE THE ROMULANS VISIBLE, AND IT WON'T LAST LONG, BUT IT'LL LIGHT THEM UP LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE ON THE KLINGON SENSORS." TK threw in his two-cents, "IT'LL MOST LIKELY BURN OUT IN JUST A FEW SECONDS, THOUGH. SO WE'D BETTER MAKE IT COUNT."

Phil thought for a moment. “Could we modify the phaser emitters on a shuttle and use that instead? Small enough to be beneath their interest until its too late, less impact on our systems and, if we can fly it remotely, when it’s lit them up and is likely to become a target itself, it might buy us a little more time to get a hit in.”

[Amanda Rose]

Cindy gave a warm, encouraging smile at Phil. She was extremely glad that she had brought him on as her XO. He was so much better at tactics than she was and he could take a creative tactical officer's plan, like Williams' and refine it to the point that it was so much better. Beaming at Phil, she commanded, "Good work both of you! I have not heard that Nav was able to modify the whiskers yet, so this might be the best plan. Plus, it won't deplete our resources and flexibility. Of course, we will need someone to command the shuttles...."

Considering the matter further, Cindy knew that she was potentially sacrificing two officers in her short command but this plan gave the best opportunity for success and saving the ship in the middle of this fire fight she put them into. Turning to Aislinn, she said, "Ensign Norson, you have worked on the whiskers and know how to coordinate them. I want you and Lieutenant Williams to command the two shuttles. You will need to modify the phasers as Commander Wilson suggested."

She then gave a deep sigh and said, "I realize that this may be a one way mission for the two of you but you're both the best equipped for the job. Since I may not have the opportunity to tell you later, I think that you are both fine officers and have served me the best that you can. Please try to make it back in one piece."

tags - Williams, Phil, Aislinn

[KendleRJ]

With the technical baselines, energy levels, resonance frequencies and distortion quotients all fed in, tested through theoreticals and simulations, Nav, still medicated and still operational, called up to the Bridge. "Captain Cindy Ma'am, Ensign Khangura." She waited a moment as if she expected some sort of response and realised that there was a bit of a time limit. "Whiskers have been upgraded, sensors amended to output as well as input, and the technical adjustments have been tested, retested, simulated... Sorry," she said and took a breath. "Whiskers are ready to go."

Perhaps she should have started with that... but a few other things were on her mind. "Please advise if you are able to see the newly updated details on your screens on the Bridge, Captain Ma'am..." Was that enough? "Khangura, out." There might be more, but well... she'd have to flip the magic switch, and all systems would be go. She'd heard that somewhere before and it seemed to be appropriate now. Had it been an hour yet?

Tags Bridge / Everyone