A Cacophony of Problems

Posted on Tue Apr 16th, 2024 @ 4:14pm by Captain Malcom Llwyedd & Petty Officer 1st Class Kipp Lak & Lieutenant Tor Ezzo & Ensign Nusien & Ensign Gianna Djokovic & Petty Officer 2nd Class Fhiri

1,771 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: A Long Hard Road Ahead
Location: Gamma Quadrant
Timeline: 23 August, 2396, 2230 Hours

[ON]

Already two hours had passed since the Firebird had left DS18. He'd received a few short reports that indicated there was fighting on the station itself. Malcom wasn't worried about that. He knew his crew and the remaining crew of DS18 would get things sorted. More worrisome was the lack of any messages from Lieutenant Forst and his science team. Kipp had tried to contact them but the interference around the wormhole was also stopping all communication to their runabout.

Looking around the bridge he saw Gia at tactical, Fhiri at engineering, Nusien at flight, Kipp at communications and his acting XO sitting next to him.

"XO see if there is anything at all on our sensors?" Malcom asked out of boredom.

Lieutenant Tor Ezzo sat next to the Captain he tapped the console next to him and looked over at the man in the captain's chair. "It looks like whatever is jamming communications is wreaking havoc on the sensors too." Thinking about it for a second, Ezzo closed his eyes focusing on the movement of the ship. Feeling the hum of the ships systems beneath his feet.

Looking over at the Ferengi at the engineering station Ezzo smiled, "It seems we are flying blind, Petty Officer Fhiri is there anyway to strengthen our sensors maybe amplify their signal and get a clearer signal. Focus on the area in front of us 180 degrees."

Fhiri frowned as she thought through what the Lieutenant was asking. "Yeah, sure, I'll just boost things," she muttered to herself and then began working on the problem.

"That's a good start, XO," Malcom said. He leaned forward, his mind racing. "Let's look for a couple of other options while we are waiting for Fhiri to work her magic. Gia, I want you to prepare three science probes. Try to link them together so that when we fire them, they are working as one unit. That should give us another avenue of information."

"Aye sir," Gia replied, ignoring the sudden dread in her gut. It was something she had learned about, she was sure of that, but never actually put into practice and it was going to take her a minute. She pulled up the probe control systems and began configuration, "Working on it."

"Good," Malcom said. He could see the look of concern pass over her face but Malcom knew Gia was up to any task.

"Sir," Kipp said. "I'm getting a message from the Bajoran ship that came through the wormhole. The Captain has restored partial power thanks to some of our techs assisting them He estimates they will be at full power in thirty minutes. The request permission to join our search,"

In Malcom's mind he saw the Bajoran ship. It was a mid-sized vessel from the Bajoran Navy, which meant it was three times the size of the Firebird. The truth was he needed the firepower and electronics that ship represented.

"Kipp please tell Captain Kellan Liora that we would be grateful for his assistance. Give him vectors to take up a position to our left. Keep me apprised of their operational status."

"Aye, sir," Kipp said.

"Ensign Nusien," Malcom said, turning his attention back to their own path. "What's the terrain look like out there? Is there anywhere a ship that size could hide?"

"Hmmmm, analyzing." The robotic-sounding voice of the Edosian could be heard. His eyes began to scan the readouts as his three hands worked the console. Within moments he had an answer. "There is a moon on the fifth planet in the system. If the alien carrier took up a synchronous orbit with that moon they could stay hidden as they would simply appear to be part of the moon. That is until they moved sir."

"Let's find out if they are hiding near that moon. Ensign Djokovic, as soon as we are close enough, I want you to launch the probes so that they will approach from the opposite angle that we are approaching. Fhiri how are the sensors coming?"

Fhiri huffed and jabbed at the console. "Sir, I've managed to boost sensors nineteen percent. I've got Ensign Gazo working on the power management system in engineering to try to squeeze a little more out."

"Well done, Petty Officer," Malcom said. "Gia, let's go to yellow alert please."

The lights dimmed and the yellow alert indicator strips lit up around the perimeter of the bridge. "Aye sir," Gia acknowledged. "Probes are configured and queued for launch," she added as she double-checked her own work in linking their sensor networks together.

"Launch probes," Malcom said. On the main viewscreen, three tiny blips of light raced away from the Firebird, spreading in an arc as they moved forward.

"Sir, Captain Liora is signaling," Kipp said and then paused before continuing. "He believes that they've picked up a trace signal around the planet. He's sending the coordinates."

"Understood," Malcom said and stood up. Sitting for too long made him feel sluggish. "Ensign Djokovic, move the probes to triangulate the Bajoran contact and let's see what we find."

Gia was already directing the probes into position as soon as the coordinates were relayed and it did not take long to see interesting results. "Probes confirm a large power signature on the other side of the planet. We'll have better resolution in about... 30 seconds but they'll also be able to see what we're doing."

"Agreed. But we are smaller and more nimble. Ensign Nusien, move us on an intercept course for the power signature. And try to find us some cover if you can," Malcom said. He turned and looked at Lieutenant Tor. "XO I need you to come up with some recommendations if we are flying into a trap. Fight. Escape. Whatever you can think of."

"Aye Captain," Nusein responded before jumping into action. He made a quick scan of the area. In particular, what lay between the Firebird and the power signature. At first, he saw nothing and was about to inform the Captain that there would be no way to approach under stealth. However, just as he was about to turn away Nusein saw a comet moving through the area. At the moment its course was heading right for the power signature. "Sir, there is a comet. If we approach the comet at full impulse and remain in its tail we may be able to stay hidden from sensors. Of course, we would have to match the comet's speed. I have a course and speed set already for your order."

"Punch it," Malcom said. The Firebird slid forward, chasing the probes that had gone forward and then veering towards the comet that Ensign Nusien had found. They all watched as a shower of light developed them, casting the bridge in dancing white and yellow motes. Malcom thought that the unexpected beauty was moving.

Ezzo sat listening to the exchange and scanning over his console. "Sir I've been pouring over the sensor logs from our last encounter with the enemy vessel. While I haven't been able to successfully predict their maximum warp capabilities I have found something interesting," Ezzo looked up with a soft smile on his features. "It appears they may have a sensor blind spot. It seems their port aft side is blind to approaching objects. It may be where whatever they are using to jam us is located and it causes interference with their sensors in that direction."

Ezzo took a deep breath and looked over at the CONN. "If Ensign Nusien can stay in the lane of that blind spot we may be able to approach and knock out whatever is jamming us and that would give us a chance to find some other vulnerabilities with our sensor capable of getting a better read." Of course, Ezzo would have preferred to be the one bringing the ship in during such a dangerous maneuver, but he had to trust his crew.

Nusien took a look at the data that Ezzo mentioned. Within moments he saw what the Lieutenant had seen. "Aye, sir I can do that. I would recommend staying with the comet for as long as possible and then veering into the blind spot. By my estimations, we should be able to make the maneuver without being noticed if we begin it in two minutes."

"Two minutes it is then," Malcom said.

The wait seemed to stretch forever, even though Malcom knew it was only two minutes. He couldn't help but glance around at each of the bridge crew, looking for signs that they had detected something unexpected. But nothing happened.

"Sir," Fhiri said at last. "We have moved into the blind spot. I'm getting something... wow."

Malcom had his eyes locked onto the main viewscreen, they were veering to the right, using the comet as a blocking force. As they peaked out from the comet, the shape of a large ship lay ahead of them. It wasn't completely visible but energy from the comet's passing was probably overloading the cloaking device and the ship's form appeared and disappeared over and over in a rippling wave. It was a long ship, with a slightly oval aspect to in when viewed from the stern angle. He could see large cargo bay doors, at least twelve per side. Thankfully they were all closed and none of the smaller ships that had attacked them previously were visible. It didn't appear to be moving either.

"That is one big sucker," Malcom said. And it was. The vessel could have swallowed a hundred Firebirds with plenty of room to spare. "All stop. Kipp lock down our transmissions. I don't want anything getting out. It's time to see who we are dealing with."

[OFF]

Captain Malcom Llwyedd
Commanding Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Lieutenant Tor Ezzo
Acting Executive Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Ensign Nusien (NPC by Rees)
Flight Control Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Petty Officer 1st Class Kipp Lak (NPC by Llwyedd)
Yeoman
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Petty Officer 2nd Class Fhiri (NPC by Llwyedd)
Computer Systems Specialist
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Acting Ensign (NPC by Woodhouse)
Security Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

 

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