"Clearing the Way"
[Previous post: "The Varying Moods of the Job"]
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Setting: USS HATHOR, Bridge
Thanks to the restored higher warp capabilities of the HATHOR, the
KARRABY CLUSTER had come into sensor range a few seconds ago. Nico had
immediately jumped into action, the Nausicaan looking forward to
putting the pulse cannons of the ship to the test.
Although interested in the performance of the ship's weapons, Uxtar as
the ship's FCO had been more concerned about the maneuverability and
response time of the HATHOR, two aspects that had been heavily reviewed
during the simulations. Hopefully those systems would not prove to be
as unreliable as the warp engine had been.
"KARRABY CLUSTER now within visual range," Uxtar said.
"Very well, bring it up on main view screen," the CO followed with.
"Full magnification."
The asteroid field commonly used for target practice by ships of NEW
ALEXANDRIA appeared to be boundless stretching over three times the
size of any other cluster the Hirogen had previously seen. Despite sensors
showing that many of the asteroids had been reduced to dust, the
KARRABY CLUSTER still counter over several thousand rocks tumbling about, some
of which had been as large if not larger than the HATHOR.
"This cluster is huge!" Carft gasped as he looked down at what the
sensors were reporting. There is enough matter to account for a whole
planet."
"Two actually," the Shillian ExO / CSciO corrected. "The KARRABY CLUSTER was the result of two rogue planets colliding into one another."
"TWO R-Class planets collided?" Uxtar said, never before having heard of such a event before. "Rogue planets are already a rare occurrence, so how do you manage to have two of them run into one another? Was there a Q involved in this?" The Hirogen asked, figuring that there had to be some external influence to have played a role in this unfathomable cataclysm.
"No Qs were involved," Maya replied, looking at the asteroid field
being shown on the main view screen. "But Admiral Koneki did have something
to do in it, I mean not him personally but according to the file on the
cluster, it was under the Admiral's direct orders that the two rogue
planets were set on an intercept course. Nature and the gravitational
forces of the universe took care of the rest."
"Are you certain that the information contained in the file is
accurate," the CO asked. "I have heard of starships using modified
tractor beams to change the trajectory of large asteroids, but never
anything as large as a planet."
An eerie silence took over the bridge as the CSciO researched the
accuracy of the information she had relayed to the rest of the crew.
After a few moments Maya turned to look at the captain. "Sorry, the
rest of the information pertaining to the KARRABY CLUSTER is classified
higher than my or anyone else's clearance on this ship."
"Looks like the Admiral does not want whatever he did to become known,"
the Nausicaan said with a grin. "This can only mean that it was either
something very illegal or something very dangerous."
"Or both," Uxtar said looking back from the FCO's station to the rest
of the bridge's staff.
"Well whatever the Admiral did doesn't change anything," captain
Serenna said not wanting their mission to be sidetracked by a quest for answers
they would likely never get. "Let's focus on the reason why we are
here. Ens. Uxtar, get us in line with one of those small sized
asteroids. Ens. Rostov, bring the pulse cannons to full stand-by and
prepare to fire on my command."
"Aye Sir," Uxtar and Nico replied almost at the exact same time, each
warrior doing as they had been told without question. This had been
right along the lines of the Hirogen and Nausicaan's training and
interests. The whole event would have been more of a challenge as the
targets not been mere asteroids, but the two warriors did not seem to
mind, at least not all that much.
"Target asteroid is in our line of fire," Nico announced his itchy
finger already hovering over the trigger button.
"Fire at will Ens. Rostov."
A split second later the HATHOR unleashed a volley of energy bolts
which connected with the center of the asteroid shattering it into a million
pieces.
"Oh yeah!" Uxtar let out, carried away by the simple excitement of the moment.
"Mr. Uxtar," the CO said, "if you can manage to contain your exuberance
for a little while longer, would you be kind enough to set a course for
deeper into the KARRABY CLUSTER. Mr. Rostov, bring the rest of the
weapons to full power. Let's see how easy we can clear a path.
###
And
Flight Control Officer 2005 post #553
Stardate: 60331.1130
Mark Hutchings {h172mark16@fastmail.us}
Ensign Uxtar
VIPER Pilot
USS ANUBIS
USS HATHOR
