S4:E4 - The Hungry Season

[Kyle Briggs]

Transporter Room One

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian tried to do the calculations on how long it would take them to reach the Savior in his head, but there were too many variables and he had to stop as it was only frustrating him to try. He tapped his comm panel to reply to Kyle's report.

"Understood Kyle, change in plan for now. The Hera's been gutted and we're headin' in for a quick scoop and run for survivors. Once we do, then we'll unleash hell on that big Tzenkethi cruiser. Bridge out."

"Sounds like a plan, Sir." Kyle replied as he stepped down from the transporter pad and called out over the open comms. "You heard him, folks. Clear the pads and lend a hand with the survivors if you can."

With that came Kyle's least favorite part of the job. Waiting.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Tzenkethi/Federation Border Region - USS Challenger - Deck One -Bridge]

[Tzenkethi/Federation Border Region]

The Doombringer held her position for as long as it could, but the pressure from the Challenger became too much to ignore and that forced the Tzenkethi captain to drop the tractor they had on the Savior. The Ares and the Hardened Warrior continued their deadly dance with neither able to gain an advantage. Finally, the crippled Hera limped away at one quarter impulse speed, but continued to valiantly perform her escort role by placing herself between the Savior and the Doombringer.

The point of impact shields frustrated the Doombringer's attempts to do any damage to the Challenger, but the Tzenkethi ship was proving to be just as hard a nut to crack as her opponent. As conventional tactics were not working, Ian decided to reach back into the Flying Tiger's playbook. Fortunately, Litt now had some experience with a Tomahawk and could understand the orders he was about to give.

"Lad full climb then roll us inverted. At the top of the arc split-ess directly at them!"

Lahr's antenna twitched at hearing the Captain's order.  An inverted roll?... with the Challenger?!  Was such a maneuver even possible?  The Captain seemed to think so. Having seems some of what the man was capable of in a P-40, he figured the man would know best.

The Challenger groaned at the stress the ancient atmospheric maneuver imposed on her old bones, but with the structural integrity field at maximum, she held together perfectly. The Doombringer had clearly never seen such a tactic and found herself directly in T'Kel's sights for a full spread of quantum torpedoes, followed by a merciless barrage of phasers. The starboard shields of the Tzenkethi ship flared and failed, leaving deep burn scars along her hull for the first time.

Unfortunately, the Tzenkethi captain reacted with something that surprised Ian, rather than fire another ineffectual volley at the Challenger, he banked hard as Litt was turning back for another pass and unleashed hell on the crippled Hera. The impact was so violent, the old Miranda-Class ship rolled and by the time she came to a halt, all power was out and the ship was gutted. She lay on her beam ends, wallowing as secondary explosions wracked her.

Following the Tzenkethi attack on the Hera, the scans of the Starfleet vessel was no good... not good at all.  "The Doombringer has completely crippled the Hera, sir.  She's lost all power including lifesupport.. and is venting oxygen on all decks.  Still reading 85 lifesigns - though they won't last long." Lahr reported out.

Ian stared open mouthed, raging internally as he watched the Hera burn, swearing an ultraviolet streak in Gaelic, as he knew he was in an impossible position. Protect the Savior and allow whoever was still alive on the Hera to die, or save those aboard the Hera and give the Doombringer a free shot at the Savior. He seethed at the sheer calculated ruthlessness of the Tzenkethi captain and made his decision.

"Helm hard over, get us into transporter range! We're only goin' ta get one pass and have got to get everyone we can before that leam-leat snags the Savior again."

He slammed his hand down on the comm.

"Sickbay! Be prepared ta receive casualties! Lot's of them, mass casualties and severe!"

Ian could only watch as the Doombringer reacted to the Challenger turning toward the Hera and arrow directly for the Savior. The Tzenkethi wasn't holding back on her fire this time, clearly seeking to batter the medical cruiser's shields down and board her before the Challenger could save her. As he watched Ian could only clench his fists and hope they would arrive in time.

Hearing the Captain, Lahr notified the transporter operators on the plan and send them his scans on the locations of the survivors so to lessen the time to lock onto their signals.  Thankfully minutes earlier Commander Briggs had ordered the recalibration of the cargo transporters to the finer quantum resolution and it was just about complete.. there would be no delay in doing the calibration for picking up the survivors.
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Time seemed to crawl as Lahr watched the enemy vessel head towards the Savior, while Litt headed them back towards the Hera.  It was a shame they didn't have a few fighter craft to harry and distract the Tzenkethi from her prey.

The Andorian had his attention fixed on the range.. and counted down the kilometers.  "10 thousand... 8 thousand.. 6...  4...  2... we're in range.  Transporters locking on lifesigns."

Unfortunately in the time it took to turn the ship.. another 12 of the Hera's crew had surcome to the vaccuum of space.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Crewman Helga Tragnar
[USS Challenger - Deck 10 Phaser range]

Helga and her team waiting in the Phaser range were called in to a group video call to receive their orders.

Cargo Bay One, Deck Six

As soon as Kyle was given his orders, he sent out the call for all security personnel and a second to Engineering. If he was going to take eighty people over on the first boarding, they were going to have to use a few cargo transporters so he needed Tharn to have someone reset them to quantum-level mode, making lifeform transport possible. The armory had issued weapons at a very rapid and effective pace.

On his way to the armory, Kyle had stopped in to see how the personal shield modifications were coming. Unfortunately, Engineering had not been able to get the shields where they needed to be. To combat this, Kyle had issued extra shields to half the boarding party. They would work in unison to help protect each other. With his own weapon and shield in hand, he entered Cargo Bay One on deck six and addressed the security detail.

"Okay. Everyone listen up. So far, the plan is only to board the Savior. That's where the cargo that they are after is located. For those of you that haven't encountered the enemy, they have what appears to be a warrior type caste. They are huge and wear some sort of armor that seems to absorb our phaser fire. This armor will need to be disabled. This can be done by either overloading it with phaser fire or up close and personal by hand. But be warned, they are formidable opponents. Do NOT underestimate them and try to take them on by yourself. I want all weapons set to kill. We're not taking any chances over there. They are brutal and will not hesitate to kill us. Their weapons are powerful enough to knock out our personal transporters with one shot so we've issued some of you extra. Be prepared to cover one another. Your beam out assignments have been issued. Are there any questions?"

He answered the few concerns some of the crew had and then sent then out. With one last look at his own PADD, he made sure the Captain got the transporter assignments as well.

Transporter Room One, deck ten - Briggs, Tragnar, Blackfeather, Donahue, Conner and Vakok
Transporter Room Two, deck eighteen - Bailey, Reeves, Morales, Parker, Sauk and Perry
Cargo transporters one and two, deck fifteen - twenty personnel each.
Cargo transporter three, deck nineteen - twenty personnel
Cargo transporter four, deck nineteen - final eight personnel

Transporter Room One

Kyle stood just off the transporter pad while making sure everyone was in position. Once he had all the confirmations, he hit his comm.

Briggs to Bridge. All security personnel are in position. We're ready to beam over as soon as we're in range. 

Helga's orders were acknowledged and the security crewman grabbed up her weapons, this time a Type III and 2 Type II's.   She also had on her belt, Lek's gift instead of the standard Starfleet blade.  She had 3 additional shields. Which should last her basically one shot apiece.  She figured she could over lap them at the end and maybe get a 5th and maybe 6th shot.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian tried to do the calculations on how long it would take them to reach the Savior in his head, but there were too many variables and he had to stop as it was only frustrating him to try. He tapped his comm panel to reply to Kyle's report.

"Understood Kyle, change in plan for now. The Hera's been gutted and we're headin' in for a quick scoop and run for survivors. Once we do, then we'll unleash hell on that big Tzenkethi cruiser. Bridge out."

Transporter Room One

"Sounds like a plan, Sir." Kyle replied as he stepped down from the transporter pad and called out over the open comms. "You heard him, folks. Clear the pads and lend a hand with the survivors if you can."

With that came Kyle's least favorite part of the job. Waiting.

Helga also cleared the pad, slinging her rifle over her shoulder so that her hands were free to assist.

Medical personnel hurried in ready to deal with the anticipated survivors.

"I've got a lock... Energizing."

The pads lit and the transporter effect and chime took hold and soon there were 6 of the Hera's crew appearing.

Helga, and her other security, assisted clearing the transporter pad off the survivors making way for the next round.  They had only seconds on this run past the Hera to beam in as many as possible.

"Clear!" Helga called out as she helped the last individual.

And the process repeated.

[Ian Galloway]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Tzenkethi/Federation Border Region - USS Challenger - Deck One -Bridge]

Lahr's antenna twitched at hearing the Captain's order.  An inverted roll?... with the Challenger?!  Was such a maneuver even possible?  The Captain seemed to think so. Having seems some of what the man was capable of in a P-40, he figured the man would know best.

Following the Tzenkethi attack on the Hera, the scans of the Starfleet vessel was no good... not good at all.  "The Doombringer has completely crippled the Hera, sir.  She's lost all power including lifesupport.. and is venting oxygen on all decks.  Still reading 85 lifesigns - though they won't last long." Lahr reported out.

Hearing the Captain, Lahr notified the transporter operators on the plan and send them his scans on the locations of the survivors so to lessen the time to lock onto their signals.  Thankfully minutes earlier Commander Briggs had ordered the recalibration of the cargo transporters to the finer quantum resolution and it was just about complete.. there would be no delay in doing the calibration for picking up the survivors.
.
.
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Time seemed to crawl as Lahr watched the enemy vessel head towards the Savior, while Litt headed them back towards the Hera.  It was a shame they didn't have a few fighter craft to harry and distract the Tzenkethi from her prey.

The Andorian had his attention fixed on the range.. and counted down the kilometers.  "10 thousand... 8 thousand.. 6...  4...  2... we're in range.  Transporters locking on lifesigns."

Unfortunately in the time it took to turn the ship.. another 12 of the Hera's crew had surcome to the vaccuum of space.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Crewman Helga Tragnar
[USS Challenger - Deck 10 Phaser range]

Helga and her team waiting in the Phaser range were called in to a group video call to receive their orders.

Helga's orders were acknowledged and the security crewman grabbed up her weapons, this time a Type III and 2 Type II's.   She also had on her belt, Lek's gift instead of the standard Starfleet blade.  She had 3 additional shields. Which should last her basically one shot apiece.  She figured she could over lap them at the end and maybe get a 5th and maybe 6th shot.

Helga also cleared the pad, slinging her rifle over her shoulder so that her hands were free to assist.

Medical personnel hurried in ready to deal with the anticipated survivors.

"I've got a lock... Energizing."

The pads lit and the transporter effect and chime took hold and soon there were 6 of the Hera's crew appearing.

Helga, and her other security, assisted clearing the transporter pad off the survivors making way for the next round.  They had only seconds on this run past the Hera to beam in as many as possible.

"Clear!" Helga called out as she helped the last individual.

And the process repeated.

[Bridge - USS Challenger

Ian alternated between boiling rage at the loss of so many Starfleet lives and towering pride at how quickly the crew went about the rescue of the survivors from the Hera. Once the last transporter completed its cycle, 73 survivors were aboard, but even with the finest medical treatment available, there was no guarantee that all would make it back to a starbase with so many of them so badly injured.

Whether those beamed aboard survived or not was completely out of Ian's hands, so he focused his attention on the Doombringer who had the Savior in a tractor again and this time, the medical cruiser's facing shield was down.

Borrowing a page from the Tzenkethi's playbook, Ian kept his orders simple.

"Tactical, burn his shields down and you nae have ta be gentle about it. Once they are, coordinate with Commander Biggs and get every security team we have ta take our ship back."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck One - Bridge]

The Andorian felt completely useless as it fell to others to act on the Captain's orders.  This was one of the few times Lahr missed being part of the Sec/Tac department.   Right now he would love to be the one getting some payback on the Tzenkethi for all the suffering they were causing.  Starfleet may have the mandate of using force as the absolute last option but times like now made those peaceful ways seem a lie.  Lahr wanted to see the Tzenkethi hurting. It might be a terrible thing to say but it was the truth.

The Ops petty officer continued to watch from his console screen the battle activity.  While they'd rescued the survivors of the Hera, the Doombringer unleashed their attack upon the Savior and snagged her in a tractor beam again.

"The Savior's forwards shields are down." Lahr announced with growing dread.  The outcome seemed inevitable.  Even as Challenger drew nearer themselves, Lahr had no choice but to call out the next announcement.  "The Tzenkethi are boarding her, sir."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

       
Lt jg Chloe Davis and  Crewman T'Varn
[USS Challenger - Deck 7 - Sickbay]

Chloe had been sent to Sickbay to do triage on the influx of injured that were being emergency transported in.  She gave each a quick assessment separating out those with survivable injuries from those with mortal wounds.  The nurse had to focus her attention on those she could save over those that all she could offer was a release from pain.

Crewman T'Varn was one of six enlisted medical staff sent to the transporter room to bring back the injured.  As she arrived at Sickbay helping to support an injured officer from the Hera she was met by Lieutenant junior grade Davis, who did a quick triage.

The officer T'Varn was helping looked to have no issues with his airway or breathing quality, nor did he seem to have any deadly bleeding, though her scan did indicate a number of broken bones.   He was a level 4 - somewhere between urgent and non-urgent  "Mark him Green and have him wait with the others in the Rehab Gym." Chloe instructed T'Varn before turning to the next.

"Yes, ma'am." T'Varn coolly acknowledge before guiding the injured officer back out into the hall and down the corridor two doorways.  "This way sir."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ensign Helga Tragnar
[USS Challenger - Deck 10 - Transporter Room 1]

It took minute or two for the medical staff to clear the transporter room of the injured from the Hera and by the time the injured were clear Challenger was back in battle range. Helga could tell by the intermittent deck vibration that occurred each time a torpedo was launched.  The vibration wasn't good.  If Lek were still around, she'd be sure to mention it to him.. as it was it would have to wait for someone else to bring it up or until it got noticed by one of the Damage controls teams.   The vibration was negligible and shouldn't cause any serious damage.

Returning to wait on the transporter pad, Helga retrieved her phaser rifle from it's place on her back and held it at the ready, tight with anticipation of beaming over any moment now.

(OOC feel free to move Helga about as needed)

[Ian Galloway]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck One - Bridge]

The Andorian felt completely useless as it fell to others to act on the Captain's orders.  This was one of the few times Lahr missed being part of the Sec/Tac department.   Right now he would love to be the one getting some payback on the Tzenkethi for all the suffering they were causing.  Starfleet may have the mandate of using force as the absolute last option but times like now made those peaceful ways seem a lie.  Lahr wanted to see the Tzenkethi hurting. It might be a terrible thing to say but it was the truth.

The Ops petty officer continued to watch from his console screen the battle activity.  While they'd rescued the survivors of the Hera, the Doombringer unleashed their attack upon the Savior and snagged her in a tractor beam again.

"The Savior's forwards shields are down." Lahr announced with growing dread.  The outcome seemed inevitable.  Even as Challenger drew nearer themselves, Lahr had no choice but to call out the next announcement.  "The Tzenkethi are boarding her, sir."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

       
Lt jg Chloe Davis and  Crewman T'Varn
[USS Challenger - Deck 7 - Sickbay]

Chloe had been sent to Sickbay to do triage on the influx of injured that were being emergency transported in.  She gave each a quick assessment separating out those with survivable injuries from those with mortal wounds.  The nurse had to focus her attention on those she could save over those that all she could offer was a release from pain.

Crewman T'Varn was one of six enlisted medical staff sent to the transporter room to bring back the injured.  As she arrived at Sickbay helping to support an injured officer from the Hera she was met by Lieutenant junior grade Davis, who did a quick triage.

The officer T'Varn was helping looked to have no issues with his airway or breathing quality, nor did he seem to have any deadly bleeding, though her scan did indicate a number of broken bones.   He was a level 4 - somewhere between urgent and non-urgent  "Mark him Green and have him wait with the others in the Rehab Gym." Chloe instructed T'Varn before turning to the next.

"Yes, ma'am." T'Varn coolly acknowledge before guiding the injured officer back out into the hall and down the corridor two doorways.  "This way sir."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ensign Helga Tragnar
[USS Challenger - Deck 10 - Transporter Room 1]

It took minute or two for the medical staff to clear the transporter room of the injured from the Hera and by the time the injured were clear Challenger was back in battle range. Helga could tell by the intermittent deck vibration that occurred each time a torpedo was launched.  The vibration wasn't good.  If Lek were still around, she'd be sure to mention it to him.. as it was it would have to wait for someone else to bring it up or until it got noticed by one of the Damage controls teams.   The vibration was negligible and shouldn't cause any serious damage.

Returning to wait on the transporter pad, Helga retrieved her phaser rifle from it's place on her back and held it at the ready, tight with anticipation of beaming over any moment now.

(OOC feel free to move Helga about as needed)

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

The volume of fire from the Challenger was relentless and despite having superlative shields, the fact that the Doombringer was immobilized by tractoring the still resisting Savior, allowed that staggering stream of fire to hammer those shields down.

As angry as he was about the losses aboard the Hera, Ian had to put that aside and think logically and not emotionally. While storming the Tzenkethi ship would have felt satisfying, the task at hand was saving the Savior and as soon as the Doombringer's weapons on the side facing the Challenger were destroyed, he gave the order that needed to be given.

"Galloway ta Briggs, away all security teams! Good huntin' Kyle!"

[Kyle Briggs]

Transporter Room One - USS Challenger

"Galloway ta Briggs, away all security teams! Good huntin' Kyle!"

Kyle returned to the pad with his team as the medical personnel removed the last of the survivors. The security teams that were beaming over had their tasks assigned already. Eighty people to cover and take back twenty three decks. Each transport would put the groups on separate decks where they would then break into teams of six and begin their mission. Take out the Tzenkethi and retake the Savior

"Aye, Sir." Kyle replied to Ian before giving out final instructions to his team that would be beaming two decks below the Bridge and work their way up. "Tragnar. Take point. Blackfeather, bring up the rear." He turned his attention to the transporter chief and slapped his comm to give the order to all the other transporter locations. "Energize."
________________________________________________________________

USS Savior - Deck Three - Team One

They materialized and quickly took up their positions as they got their bearings and cleared the immediate area. With a few seconds to breathe, Kyle contacted the Challenger.

Briggs to Challenger. Mister Lahr. Can you get us a count of how many Tzenkethi we're up against over here? 

Once they had their answer, he gave Tragnar the go ahead nod to move out.

[Ian Galloway]

[Tzenkethi/Federation Border]

As the security teams from the Challenger beamed into furious resistance by the Tzenkethi warriors aboard the Savior, the battle between the ships began to heat up as well.

The Ares was holding her own against the Hardened Warrior, but after a quick salvo of photons fired with the express purpose of blinding the Miranda-Class cruiser's sensors. Taking advantage of the opening she'd created, the Tzenkethi raider made a run at the Challenger. As she did, the Doombringer dropped the tractor on the Savior and came about to bring her forward weapons to bear, thus catching the Challenger in a cross fire.

One of the things that made the Challenger far more resilient in combat than average was her point of impact shielding. Unfortunately, that system was optimized for one on one confrontations. The ability to sense and and transfer shield power to a threatened section of the ship allowed those shields to have a very powerful reserve on energy. When the point of impact shields faced more than one opponent, the system faced competing priorities that could catch the reinforcement shifted at an inopportune time. When the ship was taking fire from two or more attackers, the point of impact shielding was supposed to shut down and revert to the standard shielding so that one of the attackers didn't get a shot at a shield weakened due to energy shifting.

However, just like any other prototype system it was possible, with the timing of weapons fire measured in milliseconds, for a sliver of bad luck to allow two attacks to catch one side less shielded than it should be. It was just such a sliver that occurred as the Doombringer and the Hardened Warrior both fired nearly simultaneously, but with just enough of a delay between the two that the point of impact shields shifted to stop the Doombringer's fire. This unfortunately allowed the Hardened Warrior's weapons just the opportunity they needed to hit the Challenger with a hammer blow that briefly overloaded the port shields.

Although not the worst pounding she'd sustained in her long career, the impact was bad, especially as a photon fired by the Hardened Warrior passed through the shields overloaded by a phaser barrage. The torpedo hit deck 16 and blew out the primary deflector dish graviton polarity generators. A relatively unimportant system, that was responsible for pushing debris out of the way as the ship moved to prevent damage from micrometeors and other objects in space.

As with all Federation ships, even minor systems had a backup and it was no different with the graviton polarity generators. However, with so much debris in the area from a high intensity ship to ship battle between seven combatants, the back up system was not designed to handle so many impacts. The computer began to register impacts against the hull, which was never a good thing and despite the ablative armor the Challenger boasted, the ship was beginning to suffer from the cumulative effect of so much debris hitting the hull.

Ian could see the damage accumulating and it left him with two bad options. They could literally drive the ship to destruction via a death by a thousand cuts or stop maneuvering, which would allow the two Tzenkethi ships to hit the Challenger at will and that would be more damage than her shields and armor could take.

It was at that moment Ian thought.

"It's times like these I wish I was just a bloody helmsman again."

[RomanChase]

[Tzenkethi/Federation Border]

As the security teams from the Challenger beamed into furious resistance by the Tzenkethi warriors aboard the Savior, the battle between the ships began to heat up as well.

The Ares was holding her own against the Hardened Warrior, but after a quick salvo of photons fired with the express purpose of blinding the Miranda-Class cruiser's sensors. Taking advantage of the opening she'd created, the Tzenkethi raider made a run at the Challenger. As she did, the Doombringer dropped the tractor on the Savior and came about to bring her forward weapons to bear, thus catching the Challenger in a cross fire.

One of the things that made the Challenger far more resilient in combat than average was her point of impact shielding. Unfortunately, that system was optimized for one on one confrontations. The ability to sense and and transfer shield power to a threatened section of the ship allowed those shields to have a very powerful reserve on energy. When the point of impact shields faced more than one opponent, the system faced competing priorities that could catch the reinforcement shifted at an inopportune time. When the ship was taking fire from two or more attackers, the point of impact shielding was supposed to shut down and revert to the standard shielding so that one of the attackers didn't get a shot at a shield weakened due to energy shifting.

However, just like any other prototype system it was possible, with the timing of weapons fire measured in milliseconds, for a sliver of bad luck to allow two attacks to catch one side less shielded than it should be. It was just such a sliver that occurred as the Doombringer and the Hardened Warrior both fired nearly simultaneously, but with just enough of a delay between the two that the point of impact shields shifted to stop the Doombringer's fire. This unfortunately allowed the Hardened Warrior's weapons just the opportunity they needed to hit the Challenger with a hammer blow that briefly overloaded the port shields.

Although not the worst pounding she'd sustained in her long career, the impact was bad, especially as a photon fired by the Hardened Warrior passed through the shields overloaded by a phaser barrage. The torpedo hit deck 16 and blew out the primary deflector dish graviton polarity generators. A relatively unimportant system, that was responsible for pushing debris out of the way as the ship moved to prevent damage from micrometeors and other objects in space.

As with all Federation ships, even minor systems had a backup and it was no different with the graviton polarity generators. However, with so much debris in the area from a high intensity ship to ship battle between seven combatants, the back up system was not designed to handle so many impacts. The computer began to register impacts against the hull, which was never a good thing and despite the ablative armor the Challenger boasted, the ship was beginning to suffer from the cumulative effect of so much debris hitting the hull.

Ian could see the damage accumulating and it left him with two bad options. They could literally drive the ship to destruction via a death by a thousand cuts or stop maneuvering, which would allow the two Tzenkethi ships to hit the Challenger at will and that would be more damage than her shields and armor could take.

It was at that moment Ian thought.

"It's times like these I wish I just a bloody helmsman again."

[USS Challenger, Deck 16]

Roman was running at full speed.

Lt. Tharn was clear... the point of impact shield variances allowed a major hit which blew out the graviton polarity generators. Challenger's hull was maxed out with the finest duranium and tritanium alloy, but with a hit such as what happened to deck 16, and the graviton polarity generators blown out, the old girl's hull might begin to crack like an egg.

Nearly running into another officer rushing to her assignment, Roman stopped short at the maintenance panel, opened it, and ran a power flow report, as well as an impact report, and set both data returns simultaneously on the screen. Both datastreams flowed with information. The impact report was flowing faster, but the power flow was starting to catch up.

PO Kezki and Crewman Perez arrived together, both out of breath from rushing to the deck 16 maintenance panel.

"œWoah, is that an impact report?" Perez asked, his eyes mesmerized by the incoming data. "œThere must be so much debris out there."

Spikes in the power flow report started to show. Kezki flinched as a nearby EPS conduit blew. She rushed to it, "œthe power is going to start overloading on this deck."

He stared at the data coming in"¦ "œPower flow." Roman said, more to himself. "œThis is why I hate prototypes." He brought up a spec of the point of impact shields and the backup graviton polarity generators.

The deck shuddered under their feet, and Roman glanced at Perez, "œhelp Kezki with that EPS conduit." Another blew further down the corridor, "œor"¦ take care of that one." He glanced at the point of impact report, and the datastream seemed to increase.

"œThe backup polarity generators are overloading with these impacts. We need a temporary solution"¦ a bandaid, until we can restore the graviton polarity generators." Roman raised his voice so they could both hear him.

"œA what? Band-aid?" Keski said.

"œCan we boost the polarity of the backups?" Perez yelled.

"œThe backups are just backups. But"¦ polarity"¦ magnetism..." Roman summoned the Challenger's warp core specs. "œIf we can reverse the polarity of some of the magnetic constrictors, while using just enough to keep the warp core aligned, that might "˜boost the magnetic polarity' enough to at least soften the impacts to the hull, buy us enough time to repair the generators."

"œThat might cause some warp core physicist to have a heart attack. Not to mention our chief engineer." Kezki said.

The deck shuddered again, "œI'll get my idea to Lt. Tharn. In the meantime, let's start repairing the polarity generators." Roman said, then tapped his combadge, "œEnsign Chase to Lt. Tharn, I have an idea to get us a temporary boost to the polarity generators."

Down the corridor, the sound of another EPS conduit blew in the distance. It was a larger blowout as he also heard yelling. "œAnd we need more damage control teams to Deck 16 to deal with EPS overloads."

[Derek Rodwell]

Engineering - Deck 13

Derek had grabbed a toolkit and was headed out the door when Tharn called after him.

"Rodwell! Belay your last order. I want you to head to deck sixteen and meet up with Chase. There's apparently some EPS overloads that need repaired." the CEO called.

"EPS's. Got it." he replied back over his shoulder as he exited the doors.

He made his way to the turbo lift and gave his destination. The ship continued to shutter and lights flickered as they remained under fire from the Tzenkethi. Derek released a huge sigh at his frustration over the failure of getting the personal shields adapted like Briggs had asked him to. He really hoped all the away team members returned unharmed. The ship rocked once more and the lift briefly bounced for a second before free falling for a few more.

"What the hell was I thinking taking a damn lift?" he asked aloud to himself. "And on the weakened side of the ship. One well placed hit and I'm a spacecicle."

The lift finally stopped and the doors parted. He was surprised to see that he had actually reached deck sixteen. He slapped his badge as he exited and called Chase.

Rodwell to Chase. Tharn sent me down to assist and handle some EPS over loads. Where do you need me? 

[RomanChase]

Engineering - Deck 13

Derek had grabbed a toolkit and was headed out the door when Tharn called after him.

"Rodwell! Belay your last order. I want you to head to deck sixteen and meet up with Chase. There's apparently some EPS overloads that need repaired." the CEO called.

"EPS's. Got it." he replied back over his shoulder as he exited the doors.

He made his way to the turbo lift and gave his destination. The ship continued to shutter and lights flickered as they remained under fire from the Tzenkethi. Derek released a huge sigh at his frustration over the failure of getting the personal shields adapted like Briggs had asked him to. He really hoped all the away team members returned unharmed. The ship rocked once more and the lift briefly bounced for a second before free falling for a few more.

"What the hell was I thinking taking a damn lift?" he asked aloud to himself. "And on the weakened side of the ship. One well placed hit and I'm a spacecicle."

The lift finally stopped and the doors parted. He was surprised to see that he had actually reached deck sixteen. He slapped his badge as he exited and called Chase.

Rodwell to Chase. Tharn sent me down to assist and handle some EPS over loads. Where do you need me? 

Roman shook his head, "If we shut down power, we become a sitting duck. I don't know what the situation is out there, but I'd rather the ship remain mobile, which means we have to find a way..."

He was interrupted by a commbadge,  Rodwell to Chase. Tharn sent me down to assist and handle some EPS over loads. Where do you need me? 

"œRodwell, this is Chase"¦ thank you, we need help at"¦" he consulted his PADD, "œSection 21. We need"¦

He paused for a moment and peeked around the corner and down the corridor that led to the turbolift, spotting Rodwell. He sprinted, hitting his commbadge to cut the signal, and matched Rodwell's speed and continued on their way to section 21, "œWe need to get these EPS overloads under control. Haven't heard the latest from Tharn, but we're taking a beating."

He stopped short as they were approaching Section 21, an EPS conduit was smoking behind the panel and casing a few steps away.

Roman continued, "œwe're working on the graviton polarity generators, but power is becoming more of a problem, and I'm concerned about plasma conduits being next on the "˜things overloading and exploding' list. So, if you have any ideas, we're all ears."

Chase nodded his thanks and started to sprint back to the generators, catching his balance as the deck rocked again, "œOh, and if you need more help let me know. I'll see if I can spare more crewman." He called out.

[Ian Galloway]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian knew the Challenger was hurt and was going to hurt a lot more before the day was over. He also knew the crew was good at what they did and would somehow figure out a way to repair the graviton polarity generators. He just had to buy them the time to do so and he knew what that would take. He had a flash of deja vu as he'd given this same order, forever ago, on the Tempest and he still bore the guilt of how that turned out. However, there simply wasn't an alternative.

"Galloway ta flight deck, launch all armed embarked craft immediately! Your target is the Hardened Warrior. Coordinate with the USS Ares and keep that blaigeard off our back! Execute!"

The hard order given, Ian issued additional orders for the bridge crew.

"Helm make your course 174 mark 19. Thrusters only. Tactical. the Doombringer's port side shields are hurt just like ours. Hit them with everything you have includin' harsh language. Rapid fire all weapons. Burn them T'Kel. No time ta be civilized. Ops, see what you can do ta stop deck 16 from tearin' itself apart and let Captain Dobbins on the Ares know we are about ta flush our flight deck ta help him!"

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

[About 30 mins from the Challenger, Type-8 Shuttlecraft Lomond Shores]

Ruth saw the chaos in the distance like watching a rather magnificent thunderstorm on Earth.

"Someone's having a bit of a blarney, seems like home again, and there's my beloved Challenger, time to make poor Lahr's antennae shoot bolt upright." she said to herself.

She'd borrowed the shuttlecraft from Starbase 74 after having hitched lifts on several different crafts to get from Starbase to Starbase, finally arriving somewhere close to Tzenkethi space.  She knew she either had to get through them or join the fight.

Ruth knew the Type 8 only had deflector shields and phaser emitters but it was better than nothing, so she hailed the Challenger, knowing that Captain Galloway knew she was a pilot long before she'd taken rank as a Chief Science Officer.

Shuttlecraft Lomond Shores to USS Challenger I see that you're having a bit of a blarney with some hentugar bastarÁ°ir...

The Scientist-Pilot wasn't sure if the UT's would catch that but she was pretty sure the second word would translate in most languages, the Á° in Icelandic didn't sound that different and she guessed that they'd understand she meant the Tzenkethi as she guessed they were the aggressors here. 'Suited, bar-stewards' was about as polite as she fancied being at that point and she was itching for a fight.

... would you like me to engage or dock with you, I can swing around and keep out of sight as much as possible if you want me to come in.  I only have phasers but ... better than a kick in the teeth.  Whomever said that didn't know how to roundhouse kick properly but still... Awaiting your orders Captain Galloway, do I engage with extreme prejudice and give them their own version of Culloden, or be a good little Viking and come in and have a cup of tea?! Oh and Mr. ch'Verret, pick yourself off the floor, that is a totally unbecoming position for a Petty Officer!

[Ian Galloway]

[About 30 mins from the Challenger, Type-8 Shuttlecraft Lomond Shores]

Ruth saw the chaos in the distance like watching a rather magnificent thunderstorm on Earth.

"Someone's having a bit of a blarney, seems like home again, and there's my beloved Challenger, time to make poor Lahr's antennae shoot bolt upright." she said to herself.

She'd borrowed the shuttlecraft from Starbase 74 after having hitched lifts on several different crafts to get from Starbase to Starbase, finally arriving somewhere close to Tzenkethi space.  She knew she either had to get through them or join the fight.

Ruth knew the Type 8 only had deflector shields and phaser emitters but it was better than nothing, so she hailed the Challenger, knowing that Captain Galloway knew she was a pilot long before she'd taken rank as a Chief Science Officer.

Shuttlecraft Lomond Shores to USS Challenger I see that you're having a bit of a blarney with some hentugar bastarÁ°ir...

The Scientist-Pilot wasn't sure if the UT's would catch that but she was pretty sure the second word would translate in most languages, the Á° in Icelandic didn't sound that different and she guessed that they'd understand she meant the Tzenkethi as she guessed they were the aggressors here. 'Suited, bar-stewards' was about as polite as she fancied being at that point and she was itching for a fight.

... would you like me to engage or dock with you, I can swing around and keep out of sight as much as possible if you want me to come in.  I only have phasers but ... better than a kick in the teeth.  Whomever said that didn't know how to roundhouse kick properly but still... Awaiting your orders Captain Galloway, do I engage with extreme prejudice and give them their own version of Culloden, or be a good little Viking and come in and have a cup of tea?! Oh and Mr. ch'Verret, pick yourself off the floor, that is a totally unbecoming position for a Petty Officer!

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian blinked in surprise as he heard the call from Commander Sigursdottir.

"Did I miss a transfer a report? No matter."

He thought has he replied.

"Ruth, we're about ta launch every armed craft we have aboard ta target the Hardened Warrior. Coordinate with the USS Ares. Remember what you learned in Kunming and split-ess!"

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian blinked in surprise as he heard the call from Commander Sigursdottir.

"Did I miss a transfer a report? No matter."

He thought has he replied.

"Ruth, we're about ta launch every armed craft we have aboard ta target the Hardened Warrior. Coordinate with the USS Ares. Remember what you learned in Kunming and split-ess!"

[About 30 mins from the Challenger, Type-8 Shuttlecraft Lomond Shores]

Ruth chuckled both at the informality of Ian, and the orders.  The laughter still evident in her voice, she replied.

Aye, aye Captain, and if Mr ch'Verret is conscious there, could you have him pipe through 'Ride of the Valkyries' to my shuttle.  He will understand the reference! If I don't see you in a couple of hours, I'll see you in Valhalla, for tho you're a Scot, you have the heart of a Viking so I'm sure they'll allow visiting hours! Tally-ho! Good to hear from you Ian, who's flying the Mjolnir?! She has micro quantums!

She smiled and headed towards the fray, hitting her comms to liaise with the Ares.

USS Lomond Shores to USS Ares this is Commander Sigurdsdottir.  I have been instructed by Captain Galloway to co-ordinate with you.  I am the Type-8 coming from aft of the Challenger.  Sigurdsdottir out.

Humming the Ride of the Valkyries to herself she came alongside the Challenger on her port side giving her a loving look.  For all Ian was in charge and she totally respected that, the Challenger was her baby, and would always be 'her' ship! She sat under the nacelle and waited for the Ares to respond, keeping an eye out for anyone deciding that a strafing run would be a good idea!

[Ian Galloway]

[About 30 mins from the Challenger, Type-8 Shuttlecraft Lomond Shores]

Ruth chuckled both at the informality of Ian, and the orders.  The laughter still evident in her voice, she replied.

Aye, aye Captain, and if Mr ch'Verret is conscious there, could you have him pipe through 'Ride of the Valkyries' to my shuttle.  He will understand the reference! If I don't see you in a couple of hours, I'll see you in Valhalla, for tho you're a Scot, you have the heart of a Viking so I'm sure they'll allow visiting hours! Tally-ho! Good to hear from you Ian, who's flying the Mjolnir?! She has micro quantums!

She smiled and headed towards the fray, hitting her comms to liaise with the Ares.

USS Lomond Shores to USS Ares this is Commander Sigurdsdottir.  I have been instructed by Captain Galloway to co-ordinate with you.  I am the Type-8 coming from aft of the Challenger.  Sigurdsdottir out.

Humming the Ride of the Valkyries to herself she came alongside the Challenger on her port side giving her a loving look.  For all Ian was in charge and she totally respected that, the Challenger was her baby, and would always be 'her' ship! She sat under the nacelle and waited for the Ares to respond, keeping an eye out for anyone deciding that a strafing run would be a good idea!

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

By the time the Lomond Shores entered the battlefield, there were a dozen other small craft mercilessly strafing the Tzenkethi raider the Hardened Warrior. The mixed bag of attackers included the Delta Flyer Mjolnir; two Type 18 Shuttlepods the Morgan and the Greene; four Type 8 Shuttlecraft the Resnik, McNair, Jarvis, and McAuliffe; a Type 9 Shuttlecraft the Onizuka; a lumbering Type 9A Cargo Shuttlecraft the Butterworth; a Type 11 Shuttlecraft the Scobee, and a Type 17 Heavy Transport Shuttlecraft the Cutty Sark. Every craft launched had at least one phaser array with most having two, with the Delta Flyer, the Type 11, and the Type 17 also mounting torpedoes.

The sudden influx of firepower added to that of the Ares was more than the raider was ready to handle. The Tzenkethi captain was obviously overwhelmed to have 14 attackers pouring fire into just two shields which quickly proved to be too much for the Hardened Warrior's shields to handle. Her starboard and aft shields collapsed from the onslaught and the raider's hull glowed from unfettered impacts from multiple phaser beams and torpedoes, both photon and quantum. The raider lurched and pitched downward briefly, before the converging lines of impacts connected midships and after an actinic flash, the Hardened Warrior was nothing more than rapidly cooling plasma.

The Challenger turned like a drunken Ardainian goon-ox under just thrusters, but T'Kel lashed the Doombringer with every weapon she had as they could bear. The Tzenkethi returned fire with a vengeance, but with only one attacker, the point of impact shields were in their element and brushed aside the heavy raider's attacks.

On seeing his ship was now alone, the Tzenkethi captain quickly did the math and decided there wasn't enough latinum in the sector to make this venture profitable and he banked away from the rapidly approaching Ares and swarm of small craft arrowing in to attack. T'kel got in several solid hits before the Doombringer could go to warp, but, as the Challenger was unable to maneuver normally, the Vulcan's fire could not stop the heavy raider from escaping.

As soon as the Tzenkethi vanished into warp, Ian immediately ordered.

"Helm all stop. Ops, send thanks to Ares and see if'n he can help our forces on the Savior with the boarders."

He hit the comm panel to speak to engineering.

"Mister Tharn, report!"

The harried voice of the chief engineer came back immediately.

"Heavy damage with multiple plasma fires on deck sixteen. I've got every damage control team I have on it. If you've stopped battering the ship to death, I might be able to fix something faster than you can break it."

She growled back in typical Tellerite fashion.

"Well if'n you lay off the eichleberry torts you might be able ta get your thunderin' bulk ta where it's needed Lieutenant and my ship wouldna be burnin'."

"Understood Captain, give me half an hour and I'll have more to tell you."

"I have every confidence you will Dashlish. Galloway out."

Ian sighed and looked at the bridge crew with pride before adding.

"Well done everyone. That was closer than I like ta think. Unfortunately, we're out of transporter range of the Savior and that means Commander Briggs is on his own until the Ares can reinforce him."

He kept his expression a study in confident calm, but inside he thought.

"Bloody butcher bill is nae paid yet. Only question is how many letters I'm goin' ta have ta write."