"Bouncing Like Imperians Off The Ablative Armour"
(Previous Post: "Fears")
---
Stardate: 60342.1100
From maximum warp speed the USS ANUBIS had dropped to
minimum impulse power after they had made their way to
and entered the interference field that had been
created by the Imperians and hidden the HATHOR from
their instruments. Since even the sophisticated
sensors of the Intelligence Cruiser could not
penetrate the anti-electron field it had been a safe
precaution to continue at reduced speed if only to
avoid having an unwelcome encounter with the robotic
race. The Chief Science Officer and acting Executive
Officer had frantically worked on finding a way to
counter the effect of this sensors dampening field so
as to give her ship and crew back the advantage that
had been taken from them and hopefully hurry their
return back to Federation space and safety..
"If we launched the VIPERs we might be able to use
them as relay stations to increase the range of our
sensors," the Enaran Marine said letting the
frustration of seeing nothing on his tactical readout
seep through. Although First Lieutenant Pravat felt
more at ease ordering his troops into muddy trenches
while being fired upon, the Enaran had proven himself
to be very resourceful in his tactical approach to
protecting the ANUBIS and those onboard. To the
majority of the crew this ingenuity had been born of a
natural gift, but to those who had seen the Enaran man
and Shillian woman interact, the reality of the
situation had been entirely different. As far as
Pravat had been concerned keeping the ANUBIS safe
meant that the Chief Science Officer would also be
safe, and *that* had been his top priority. "Worst
case scenario," the Tactical Officer added, "the
pilots onboard the VIPERs will give us more set of
eyes out there and increase our chances of spotting
the HATHOR or whatever else might be in here waiting."
"How are we going to communicate with them?" the
Shillian asked. As far as she had known the ANUBIS
had still not found a way to counter the effects of
the anti-electron field on their ship-to-ship
communication system.
"All we need is for them to tell us if they have seen
something or for us to order them back to the ship,"
the Enaran replied with a playful grin. Had it been
any other officer who had questioned his plan the
Marine might have been insulted, but since the query
had come from the Shillian, Pravat had been happy to
point out that he had given this issue every
consideration. "We could use the weapons on their
lowest setting to *ping* each other. If one of them
*pings* us, we stop and shift our focus in the
direction of the VIPER. On the other hand if we need
them back, we just have to *ping* them and they will
immediately return to the ship."
Captain Rikar, Commanding Officer of the USS ANUBIS,
glared at the Enaran man through narrowed eyes as she
carefully evaluated the risk potential of the
suggested course of action presented by her Chief of
Security. Under normal circumstances the Captain
would have likely debated the dangers of sending three
small interceptors into a field in which sensors did
not work and where the ruthless Imperians might be
waiting to pounce. Under normal circumstances the
Commanding Officer would have placed the well being
and safety of the crew above all else, but this had
not been normal circumstances and the need to find the
HATHOR and Doctor Summers had just been too powerful.
"Launch the VIPERs and have them take stationary
positions to our aft and flanks," the Commanding
Officer ordered thinking about how the three small
interceptors would increase their odds of finding the
HATHOR faster and therefore getting the Chief Medical
Officer onboard the ANUBIS more rapidly to help
address the situation of Lieutenant Commander Enaii.
"Confirming the launch of all three VIPERs," the
Shillian woman said after a few minutes before losing
sight of the three ships that had been engulfed by the
Imperian interference field. The Chief Science
Officer had not particularly liked the idea of having
three more ships out there that she would not be able
to track, so the Shillian scientist doubled her
efforts to break through the interference this time
focussing her efforts on getting a sensor lock on any
of the three interceptors.
---
The broken hull of the Cardassian freighter appeared
on the main view screen of the USS HATHOR, the ship
displaying no sign of life. Without their sensors the
federation ship could do nothing but watch and wait to
see what the Imperians would do next once they had
accomplished their goal. Although little had been
known about the robotic race, their desire to see all
life extinguished had been more than enough to paint a
gloomy picture of what had likely been taking place
onboard the alien ship.
"Looks like they are finished," Ensign Stormwind said
watching some of the Imperian probes leaving the
shattered hull of the Cardassian freighter.
"They appear to have forgotten about us," the Hirogen
Chief of Security added, observing those same IMPs
heading back to the sphere instead of continuing their
pursuit of the HATHOR.
"Good," the Executive Officer said with a sigh of
relief, "I was really getting tired of us playing
*follow the leader* with those things."
"Lets give them a few minutes, then we will move in
closer and see what they have left behind while me
make sure that the sphere does not resume course for
SURIAL III," the hybrid captain said. As much as she
might have liked to put as much distance between the
HATHOR and the Imperians, Lieutenant Commander Serenna
knew that her immediate duties to their sister ship
had required them to stick around.
Minutes passed in silence as the crew of the HATHOR
waited patiently for the last of the Imperian probes
to leave the Cardassian freighter. When it had been
thought that the last had gone, the Commanding Officer
gave the signal to have the Flight Control Officer
take the ship in closer using only the thrusters so as
to give them as much time to react should something
unexpected take place.
As the HATHOR drew closer to the Cardassian ship, the
extent of the damages that it had endured became more
evident as the hull displayed having received
countless impacts from the Imperian probes.
"At least we now know beyond any doubts how they go
about attacking another ship," the Hirogen said
actually displaying a certain admiration for the
thoroughness of the race in their method.
"Captain!" the half Human, half Vulcan pilot exclaimed
as he pointed to the right edge of the screen. Buried
deep into the hull of the Cardassian freighter had
been one last probe which had either been left there
on purpose or because the Imperians had not fully
completed their task onboard the broken ship. Either
way this sent the crew of the HATHOR into a frenzy as
they tried to avoid suffering the same fate as their
Cardassian counterpart.
"Helm, full reserve," the captain ordered hoping that
it had not been too late. Unfortunately it quickly
became evident that their stealthy approach had all
been for not and that the Imperians had once again
taken upon them to rid the HATHOR of the biological
*infection* that could be found unboard.
It took no time at all for that one solitary Imperian
probe to be joined by several others as the HATHOR
continued to pull away in reverse. Although the
design of space ships had greatly improved over the
years, the Federation had not given the idea of a ship
needing to travel quickly in reverse all of the
required attention leaving the retreating vessel at a
clear disadvantage.
"Unless we can find a way to turn this ship around,"
the Hirogen Chief of Security said with disdain, "they
are going to reach us in less then thirty seconds."
"All right people," Ensign Stromwind said cracking his
knuckles, "hang on to something because *this* is
going to be a ride."
Normally the half Human, half Romulan hybrid in
command of the HATHOR would have been less than
thrilled to have someone like Derek at the helm of her
ship, but given their current predicament the
Lieutenant Commander had been actually glad to have
such an extreme pilot in control of her ship.
As the HATHOR was sent into a hard spin the main view
screen moved away from the Cardassian freighter and
gave a perfect view of another pitched black coloured
ship, this one appearing to be on a collision course.
Reacting to the unexpected sight Ensign Stormwind send
the ship into a sharp dive which sent everyone forward
while the inertial dampeners tried to keep up with the
rapid manoeuvres.
---
"Ablative armour and additional harmonic resonances
are at full," the Oltharian Chief Engineer said as the
ANUBIS whooshed pass the HATHOR to place itself
between it and the Imperians.
"All none-essential personnel have been evacuated from
the outer regions and security as well as my Marines
have been dispatched in case the ablative armour does
not hold," the Enaran First Lieutenant added
immediately after knowing that their course of action
had been nothing short of a major gamble designed to
protect the HATHOR.
What followed next was a deafening storm of noise as
the Imperian IMPs collided with force against the
reinforced ablative armour of the USS ANUBIS. The
intensity of the sound had been such that most had
found it impossible to continue with their work,
instead choosing to close their eyes or even cover
their ears. After what had seemed like an eternity
the noise subsided and the crew quickly checked to see
if the tactic had worked as it had been hoped.
"Internal sensors are showing *no* outer hull breach,"
the Marine First Lieutenant said almost sounding
disappointed in his men not having been required.
"The reinforced ablative armour worked," the Shillian
scientist said sounding ecstatic as opposed to the
Enaran man. "The probes failed to penetrate the outer
hull and by the looks of things they are retreating
back to their *mother ship* or whatever that sphere
is. We might have discovered an effective defence
against the Imperian, one that unfortunately would be
very difficult to implement on a large scale but it is
still a step in the right direction, I mean we sent
those things scrawling back."
"It might be a little early to break out the
champagne," Captain Rikar said not yet ready to
dismiss the Imperians and the threat they represented
as having been dealt a final blow.
"The sphere is moving and our sensors are coming
back," the Enaran Marine said with a hint of surprise.
"The anti-electron field was probably generated by the
sphere," the Chief Engineering Officer theorised.
"Since they are retreating they might need to diver
power to other defensive systems."
"Either way things are returning to normal," the
Commanding Officer said with great relief. "Contact
the HATHOR and get Doctor Summers to beam over ASAP,
then lets get as far away from this place as we can, I
have no intention of our being found hanging near a
Cardassian freighter the likes of that one."
"We might have to stick around a little longer,"
Pravat said verifying the information that had
appeared on his instruments. "Sensors are picking up
a life sign onboard the Cardassian freighter."
"Let the Cardassians take care of their own," the
Captain said in a much colder tone than the rest of
the crew had come to expect from the woman.
"The life signs are *human*," the Enaran Marine added
which plunged the bridge into near absolute silence.
"Lock on with the transporter and beam whoever they
are onboard, but be sure to have a security team
waiting for them," Captain Rikar ordered. "Once that
is done bring the ship around and set course for NEW
ALEXANDRIA. Maximum speed."
---
"To see the world in a grain of sand, 2006 post #126
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Bridge
Stardate: 60342.1115
Setting: USS HATHOR, Bridge
Stardate: 60342.1120
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Bridge
Jessica Solarik { maya_992003@yahoo.com }
Lieutenant Commander Maya
Executive Officer and Chief Science Officer
USS ANUBIS
and a heaven in a wild flower.
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
and eternity in an hour."
- William Blake (British, 1757-1827)
