Starseeker
- Thread starter Hiver
- Start date
Richardson
CAN YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?
- Location
- Yes
It's missing a couple. Vulcan would be a Class N (desert, or minimally aquatic world), and an oceanic world would be a class O world (for reasons relatively obvious).
Part 40
I deflected the punch and tried to grab his arm but he avoided it, stepping in for a legsweep but I jumped back out of the way only to find my head jerked back sharply, and I span around as he gripped my throat with his other hand.
I couldn't get leverage so he threw me onto the ground, his knee hitting my back to the left of my spine snapping my ribs as he pinned me down.
"Ow," I sighed.
Damn it! I might have to turn the speed up slightly again. He isn't getting faster, but he is getting better at reading me.
Maybe I should try to learn some other style or something, there are holo trainers I could use when the holodeck is free.
Shran slowly started to catch his breath before he got off me, giving my braided hair a flick, "I told you this was a bad idea to have in a fight."
Sighing again, I reset my hologram to undamaged condition before I sat up, "I know, I know. But how often is it that I have to get into hand to hand combat? Especially with somebody able to match the strength and speed of my actual avatar?"
"Even so," he said, "You are at a disadvantage from your short reach. Giving your opponent a additional advantage is a bad idea."
"I didn't pick this avatar for fighting," I answered as I got up, brushing some non-existent dust from my shoulder.
We were both wearing similar things, a white martial arts outfit, white lose fitting pants. He was wearing the 'jacket' part as well, but I usually skipped that in favor of a sports bra.
"As T'Ro can testify to," he said with a grin, earning himself a glare and causing me to turn my speed up two steps instead of one.
Somebody just earned himself a bit of a arse kicking.
I raised my eyebrow, "Ready for another round?"
He nodded and rolled his shoulders, "We should have time for one or two more. Want to do weapons later?"
"Blades?" I asked with a frown and then shook my head, "Not a fan. I don't see much point to them to be honest other than possibly knives as a backup to phasers."
I'm sure close range weapons had their place, they were at best a backup to a actual phaser and not really useful for me even as a backup.
XXXXXXXXXXX
I leaned back to avoid Shran's punch before catching his arm and letting myself fall, turning as pulled him into a throw.
He landed easily and rolled onto his feet again and I frowned slightly as I stood up straight again.
Catching his breath he held his hand out. "Computer, Bat'leth," he ordered and one shimmered into place in his hand, "Thinking deep thoughts?" he asked.
I raised a eyebrow, "What make you think that?"
"No witty comment when you finally managed to throw me," he answered with a grin, giving the Klingon weapon a couple of test swings.
Huh.
I sighed, "Talking with the Captain."
He nodded, "Heavy subject?"
"..You could say that."
"Wanna talk about it?"
I shook my head and crossed my arms as I leaned my back against the wall, "Not particularly. Thanks, though," I answered as I watched the bat'leth before changing subject, "I don't understand why so many like those."
Shran shrugged, "It's a versatile weapon. Can stab, slash, chop. Heavy enough to use as a bludgeon weapon if they are wearing armor and you can easily preform a two handed block if needed."
"Human Swords can do most of that too," I said, letting him start going through his routine.
Sure bat'leth's were versatile weapons, but I also found them clumsy. You needed a certain amount of mass to really use them effectively or they were just too heavy. It was not a matter of strength, but of inertia and even if you had the mass, you needed a certain strength to use it right.
Shran was barely heavy enough to use it even if he was strong enough. I could not without cheating a lot with my holo avatar, even my actual avatar didn't weigh much more than a normal Trill of my size would.
"So... movie night tonight?" he asked as he finished and walked over to his water bottle.
I nodded, "Yep. This time it's a comedy. I have actually not seen this one." Some sort of parody documentary about the Apollo program. I didn't think it existed in the sim, but apparently it was supposed to be quite funny, trying to put all the conspiracy theories about it in one movie. Even the conflicting ones.
He hesitated for a second before he spoke up again, "Do you know if Crewman Ryan will be there?"
I nodded, "Yeah, I think she has been looking forw..." I started to say before I stopped.
Crewman Veronica Ryan. Aeroponics. Liked singing and was one of the people taking the self defense course Shran was teaching. About the same height as my avatar, blond and with large... assets.
I stared at him for a long moment before I exclaimed, "..Your type is big tits!?"
"Petite women with big tits. Get it right," he said with a grin before he laughed at my expression. "Just messing with you, Star. I'm not quite that shallow. Yes, I find her physically very attractive, but it's her humor and smile that make me want to ask her out. Think she will accept?"
She did have a good sense of humor and I had to agree with him about her smile. Quite pretty.
That didn't stop me from having the holodeck make a pillow for me just so I could whack him in the face with it.
AN// A bucket of thanks to Avernus for betaing this section.
I couldn't get leverage so he threw me onto the ground, his knee hitting my back to the left of my spine snapping my ribs as he pinned me down.
"Ow," I sighed.
Damn it! I might have to turn the speed up slightly again. He isn't getting faster, but he is getting better at reading me.
Maybe I should try to learn some other style or something, there are holo trainers I could use when the holodeck is free.
Shran slowly started to catch his breath before he got off me, giving my braided hair a flick, "I told you this was a bad idea to have in a fight."
Sighing again, I reset my hologram to undamaged condition before I sat up, "I know, I know. But how often is it that I have to get into hand to hand combat? Especially with somebody able to match the strength and speed of my actual avatar?"
"Even so," he said, "You are at a disadvantage from your short reach. Giving your opponent a additional advantage is a bad idea."
"I didn't pick this avatar for fighting," I answered as I got up, brushing some non-existent dust from my shoulder.
We were both wearing similar things, a white martial arts outfit, white lose fitting pants. He was wearing the 'jacket' part as well, but I usually skipped that in favor of a sports bra.
"As T'Ro can testify to," he said with a grin, earning himself a glare and causing me to turn my speed up two steps instead of one.
Somebody just earned himself a bit of a arse kicking.
I raised my eyebrow, "Ready for another round?"
He nodded and rolled his shoulders, "We should have time for one or two more. Want to do weapons later?"
"Blades?" I asked with a frown and then shook my head, "Not a fan. I don't see much point to them to be honest other than possibly knives as a backup to phasers."
I'm sure close range weapons had their place, they were at best a backup to a actual phaser and not really useful for me even as a backup.
XXXXXXXXXXX
I leaned back to avoid Shran's punch before catching his arm and letting myself fall, turning as pulled him into a throw.
He landed easily and rolled onto his feet again and I frowned slightly as I stood up straight again.
Catching his breath he held his hand out. "Computer, Bat'leth," he ordered and one shimmered into place in his hand, "Thinking deep thoughts?" he asked.
I raised a eyebrow, "What make you think that?"
"No witty comment when you finally managed to throw me," he answered with a grin, giving the Klingon weapon a couple of test swings.
Huh.
I sighed, "Talking with the Captain."
He nodded, "Heavy subject?"
"..You could say that."
"Wanna talk about it?"
I shook my head and crossed my arms as I leaned my back against the wall, "Not particularly. Thanks, though," I answered as I watched the bat'leth before changing subject, "I don't understand why so many like those."
Shran shrugged, "It's a versatile weapon. Can stab, slash, chop. Heavy enough to use as a bludgeon weapon if they are wearing armor and you can easily preform a two handed block if needed."
"Human Swords can do most of that too," I said, letting him start going through his routine.
Sure bat'leth's were versatile weapons, but I also found them clumsy. You needed a certain amount of mass to really use them effectively or they were just too heavy. It was not a matter of strength, but of inertia and even if you had the mass, you needed a certain strength to use it right.
Shran was barely heavy enough to use it even if he was strong enough. I could not without cheating a lot with my holo avatar, even my actual avatar didn't weigh much more than a normal Trill of my size would.
"So... movie night tonight?" he asked as he finished and walked over to his water bottle.
I nodded, "Yep. This time it's a comedy. I have actually not seen this one." Some sort of parody documentary about the Apollo program. I didn't think it existed in the sim, but apparently it was supposed to be quite funny, trying to put all the conspiracy theories about it in one movie. Even the conflicting ones.
He hesitated for a second before he spoke up again, "Do you know if Crewman Ryan will be there?"
I nodded, "Yeah, I think she has been looking forw..." I started to say before I stopped.
Crewman Veronica Ryan. Aeroponics. Liked singing and was one of the people taking the self defense course Shran was teaching. About the same height as my avatar, blond and with large... assets.
I stared at him for a long moment before I exclaimed, "..Your type is big tits!?"
"Petite women with big tits. Get it right," he said with a grin before he laughed at my expression. "Just messing with you, Star. I'm not quite that shallow. Yes, I find her physically very attractive, but it's her humor and smile that make me want to ask her out. Think she will accept?"
She did have a good sense of humor and I had to agree with him about her smile. Quite pretty.
That didn't stop me from having the holodeck make a pillow for me just so I could whack him in the face with it.
AN// A bucket of thanks to Avernus for betaing this section.
Part 41
"So, how is it going with the pirate's datacore?" Rachel asked and pulled out a power coupling from the port nacelle of shuttle two.
I shrugged and leaned back against the shuttle. "Chief-Engineer Sleeman broke the last layer of encryption early this morning. For pirate scum, it wasn't easy. At least one of them was a pretty good comp tech."
She frowned and tossed the power coupling over to me. "Scan? Anything you can tell me?"
I held the power coupling up, running my tricorder over it. "On the power coupling? It's up to spec. On the pirate database... not much other than that Captain Mason and Commander Janeway are discussing what to do."
"Damn it." Rachel cursed before she sighed and waved for me to hand it back over. "So where is the damn power-leak!?"
Frowning, I looked down at the nacelle. "Could it be a sensor glitch?"
"I don't think so." She said and shook her head as she started to remount it. "So... can't tell me about the data on the core..." She shot me a smile. "How about you and T'Ro then?"
I looked down and away. "...Fine."
She raised an eyebrow. "Fine?"
I blushed. "More than fine."
Rachel grinned. "Spill."
"Oh no. No way!" I quickly said and shook my head. "That's our business, not yours."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Okay, okay." She sighed with a pout before getting up. "Fine, let's start doing a diagnostic of the drive system. Until we get that energy leak tracked down, there is no way I'm allowing her to fly."
I nodded. "Linking to the shuttle's computer now. Starting level two diagnostic on all drive systems now."
"How long?"
"A comprehensive diagnostic will take a couple of minutes. Want to do them a couple of times."
She nodded and ran her hand through her hair. "Do you know if T'Ro's shift ends like it should today or if she is doing extra work again? I have a holoprogram I want to show her."
I smiled at that. "As far as I know. Anything fun?"
"Exercise program. Rock climbing."
"I'm not sure she is up for rock climbing. Vulcan strength or not, she is a bit stiff right now, her bed is a bit too narrow for two peop-" I started to explain before giving her a glare. "Hey!"
"Come on!" She whined. "You have to tell me something! You are a girl now! You are allowed girltalk!"
"Get your own girlfriend if you are curious." I grumbled and sighed. "We are going to see about installing a wider bed in her quarters tonight. Shouldn't be too difficult."
"You know I don't swing that way." Rachel giggled and then shook her head. "But the bed idea might not be a bad idea. I have actually been thinking of getting a wider one as well."
"And boyfriend?"
She shrugged. "Haven't met anyone yet. Come on, you know I haven't dated since the academy."
Letting the subject drop, I shook my head. "Diagnostic complete. Still getting an unstable power reading in the port nacelle. Unable to locate source."
"Damn." Rachel sighed before she scowled down at the shuttle, poking at its hull, "What's wrong with you!? You have been causing trouble since you ended up on the ship!" she accused it, "Ten! Ten different system errors in two months! Your sisters have had three between them!"
I watched in amusement before she shook her head.
"Fuck it. We are pulling the entire port nacelle."
"That's quite a job."
She grinned. "Good thing I have quite a team then."
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"We know the location of their base." Commander Janeway said and leaned back against the couch of the Captain's readyroom, "We could get there in less than a week."
The Captain nodded, crossing his arms and he leaned against the desk. "We can. The question if we should. Star, tactical analysis."
"While it is heavily shielded and armed according to the information in the pirate database, " I reported. "The main defense is its hidden location. If the energy dampening field is as strong as the database indicate, 'I' could be in the same system and as long as they don't do anything overt, there would be no way for me to detect it was anything other than a large asteroid."
Mason nodded. "Could we take them?"
"...I believe so, sir. While they are heavily armed and shielded, I can move. They can't. If I engage at maximum range, I should be able to fire with more or less impunity... assuming there are no ships in-system. While one or two would be no problem, there are ten different names in the ship database. Their offensive and defensive armaments are not a match to mine, even in a science focused ship such as this, especially with my own tactical abilities. However... with that many, there is still a high risk, especially with the starbase backing them up."
"If they are all at the base at the time." Kathryn injected. "Considering that they are raiders, I consider that unlikely."
Mason frowned. "There is also the subject of the Dominion backing. A federation starship taking down a Dominion asset..."
"If it changes things, sir," I said. "We found no proof in the database of Dominion involvement. For all we know, the pirates do not actually have Dominion backing. They might simply have captured a Dominion transport filled with former military equipment."
He nodded slowly. "So we would have plausible deniability, at least. Could the local military forces handle this pirate base?"
"Not without heavy casualties, sir. Their tactical capabilities are over a hundred years behind us. Their fastest ship can barely push warp five and would be spotted at long range."
Mason sighed. "Kathryn?"
"As much as I dislike it, it seems like a attack is the best option. The alternative is to turn the location over to the Mesoan forces and hope they find a way to take them down before too many merchant ships are destroyed."
The Captain nodded slowly. "I suppose there is no real way about it. Star, set a course. Stealth mode."
"Affirmative, Sir. Course set, engaging at warp seven. Emission control, engaged. Dropping it down to warp five in five days."
The higher warp, the easier it was to detect it. With their estimated sensors, warp five should be safe all the way to the outskirts of the system.
"Kathryn, schedule some tactical drills on the way." He ordered and rounded his desk to sit down. "We might need to send boarding parties to get potential prisoners out."
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
I shrugged and leaned back against the shuttle. "Chief-Engineer Sleeman broke the last layer of encryption early this morning. For pirate scum, it wasn't easy. At least one of them was a pretty good comp tech."
She frowned and tossed the power coupling over to me. "Scan? Anything you can tell me?"
I held the power coupling up, running my tricorder over it. "On the power coupling? It's up to spec. On the pirate database... not much other than that Captain Mason and Commander Janeway are discussing what to do."
"Damn it." Rachel cursed before she sighed and waved for me to hand it back over. "So where is the damn power-leak!?"
Frowning, I looked down at the nacelle. "Could it be a sensor glitch?"
"I don't think so." She said and shook her head as she started to remount it. "So... can't tell me about the data on the core..." She shot me a smile. "How about you and T'Ro then?"
I looked down and away. "...Fine."
She raised an eyebrow. "Fine?"
I blushed. "More than fine."
Rachel grinned. "Spill."
"Oh no. No way!" I quickly said and shook my head. "That's our business, not yours."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Okay, okay." She sighed with a pout before getting up. "Fine, let's start doing a diagnostic of the drive system. Until we get that energy leak tracked down, there is no way I'm allowing her to fly."
I nodded. "Linking to the shuttle's computer now. Starting level two diagnostic on all drive systems now."
"How long?"
"A comprehensive diagnostic will take a couple of minutes. Want to do them a couple of times."
She nodded and ran her hand through her hair. "Do you know if T'Ro's shift ends like it should today or if she is doing extra work again? I have a holoprogram I want to show her."
I smiled at that. "As far as I know. Anything fun?"
"Exercise program. Rock climbing."
"I'm not sure she is up for rock climbing. Vulcan strength or not, she is a bit stiff right now, her bed is a bit too narrow for two peop-" I started to explain before giving her a glare. "Hey!"
"Come on!" She whined. "You have to tell me something! You are a girl now! You are allowed girltalk!"
"Get your own girlfriend if you are curious." I grumbled and sighed. "We are going to see about installing a wider bed in her quarters tonight. Shouldn't be too difficult."
"You know I don't swing that way." Rachel giggled and then shook her head. "But the bed idea might not be a bad idea. I have actually been thinking of getting a wider one as well."
"And boyfriend?"
She shrugged. "Haven't met anyone yet. Come on, you know I haven't dated since the academy."
Letting the subject drop, I shook my head. "Diagnostic complete. Still getting an unstable power reading in the port nacelle. Unable to locate source."
"Damn." Rachel sighed before she scowled down at the shuttle, poking at its hull, "What's wrong with you!? You have been causing trouble since you ended up on the ship!" she accused it, "Ten! Ten different system errors in two months! Your sisters have had three between them!"
I watched in amusement before she shook her head.
"Fuck it. We are pulling the entire port nacelle."
"That's quite a job."
She grinned. "Good thing I have quite a team then."
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"We know the location of their base." Commander Janeway said and leaned back against the couch of the Captain's readyroom, "We could get there in less than a week."
The Captain nodded, crossing his arms and he leaned against the desk. "We can. The question if we should. Star, tactical analysis."
"While it is heavily shielded and armed according to the information in the pirate database, " I reported. "The main defense is its hidden location. If the energy dampening field is as strong as the database indicate, 'I' could be in the same system and as long as they don't do anything overt, there would be no way for me to detect it was anything other than a large asteroid."
Mason nodded. "Could we take them?"
"...I believe so, sir. While they are heavily armed and shielded, I can move. They can't. If I engage at maximum range, I should be able to fire with more or less impunity... assuming there are no ships in-system. While one or two would be no problem, there are ten different names in the ship database. Their offensive and defensive armaments are not a match to mine, even in a science focused ship such as this, especially with my own tactical abilities. However... with that many, there is still a high risk, especially with the starbase backing them up."
"If they are all at the base at the time." Kathryn injected. "Considering that they are raiders, I consider that unlikely."
Mason frowned. "There is also the subject of the Dominion backing. A federation starship taking down a Dominion asset..."
"If it changes things, sir," I said. "We found no proof in the database of Dominion involvement. For all we know, the pirates do not actually have Dominion backing. They might simply have captured a Dominion transport filled with former military equipment."
He nodded slowly. "So we would have plausible deniability, at least. Could the local military forces handle this pirate base?"
"Not without heavy casualties, sir. Their tactical capabilities are over a hundred years behind us. Their fastest ship can barely push warp five and would be spotted at long range."
Mason sighed. "Kathryn?"
"As much as I dislike it, it seems like a attack is the best option. The alternative is to turn the location over to the Mesoan forces and hope they find a way to take them down before too many merchant ships are destroyed."
The Captain nodded slowly. "I suppose there is no real way about it. Star, set a course. Stealth mode."
"Affirmative, Sir. Course set, engaging at warp seven. Emission control, engaged. Dropping it down to warp five in five days."
The higher warp, the easier it was to detect it. With their estimated sensors, warp five should be safe all the way to the outskirts of the system.
"Kathryn, schedule some tactical drills on the way." He ordered and rounded his desk to sit down. "We might need to send boarding parties to get potential prisoners out."
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
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Why don't they cooperate with local forces to take it out? That solves both problems, the local forces can hang back and provide support if there are few pirate ships and are backup if there are many.
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Because I wrote this under a horrible cold. A small change added to clarify.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Speaking of boarding parties, I wonder how many remote platforms Star could simultaneously pilot.
- Location
- None
Given what we've seen so far, including Wolf the orbital (I think), probably a few thousands easily. Probably a lot more if they can provide their own computing power or additional computing power is provided.
Edit: Relevant Impression
Sadly couldn't find that scene with the command center.
Sadly couldn't find that scene with the command center.
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Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Which means she could provide an enormous level of support in a boarding action.
esotericist
A Weary Hand
- Location
- Lacey, WA
Provided they had the resources to manufacture and the storage to hold such quantities of platforms.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Should be cheaper and easier to store than red-shirts. Perhaps they don't have any aboard now, and (despite replicators and local support) maybe they can't make them, but that might instead produce a suggestion for Starfleet HQ.
Have to deal with the range and jamming issues, too. Probably not practical in a combat situation.
Crazael
Rehydrated Demon King
- Location
- Lost to the vagaries of time.
Plus, dividing Star's attention like that probably isn't a great idea. Though perhaps another AI could take on the job.
Part 42
"So that's it." Shran said, leaning against his console as he watched the viewscreen.
The pirate base was exactly where the captured database said it was. An asteroid, fifty by a hundred by twenty kilometers.
On energy readings and subspace scans... even on gravity, it looked like any other rock.
No way to actually detect that it was anything but a normal rock around a cinder of a star . It was barely a star at that.
I could barely detect it on infrared other than the normal reflected heat from the star. So it was virtually invisible to me on passive scans and I didn't dare use active scans.
But they did not have actual cloaking devices.
So they might pretend to be a rock all they want but I knew where they were. I could just 'see' them. With actual telescopes!
Granted, if I didn't know exactly where it was, I would very likely have missed it.
The base was actually quite impressive. A large metal dome on one side and several large hangar ports and docking adapters on the other side.
Two ships were docked at the base, identical to the one that attacked us.
"Two ships." Janeway said, "Anything specific about the base's defenses?"
"We are not reading anything we didn't know." Shran said, "From what Star is seeing, we are not detecting any major deviations from the information that was salvaged from the Bloodletter."
"I would like to note though that this is only using visual passive scans." I interjected, "I don't see anything on passive scans and if we go active, they will see us at once."
Mason slowly nodded, passively watching the base floating on screen, "Odds, Star?" he finally asked.
Oh yes.
Odds for a battle. Sure thing, Captain, I'll get right on that.
"Assuming those ships match the tactical abilities of the Bloodletter and the base's defenses match those of the readings from the data stored in the ships computer, I give us good chances at destroying them. However, I can not guarantee we will not take damage."
He nodded again rubbing his chin, "All stations ready?"
"All stations standing by." I answered, "The crew is ready, sir."
"Take us in, Star. Drop us out of warp at a million kilometers and open a channel."
Federation rules of engagement.
Sometimes they sucked.
XXXXXXXXXXX
I dropped out of warp, my shields and sensors as maximum, sweeping them across the base.
Things were still way too 'fuzzy' to be able to beam in or out, even if their shields and transporter disrupters were not online. I was having problems locating specific systems or system locations.
I would have to use the 'blunt object' approach if I wanted to take the base out of the equation before the ships undocked.
"Channel open, sir." I reported.
"Pirate base, this is the Federation Starship Starseeker. Surrender now and..." Mason started to say and that was as far as he got before the base opened fire.
A polaron beam reached out towards me and I danced to the side, returning fire with a full spread of quantum torpedoes.
I rolled and swung around, firing my rear launchers as well, switching from my very limited supply of quantum torpedoes to photon torpedos.
Energy fire reached from the base again and again, dancing through space around me, from time to time brushing across my shields before I was able to move out of the way.
A million kilometers was three times my effective energy range. At these ranges, the beams start to lose coherency.
They had the same problem. This weapons fire was more to get me to stay at range rather than to actually cause damage.
Too bad that would never work.
Swinging around towards the base, I triggered my warp engines and preformed the Picard Maneuver.
For a split second I was in warp before I dropped out less than a hundred thousand kilometers from the base.
This time on the other side.
My torpedoes were still in flight as I opened fire, my phasers on full power as they raked across the asteroids shields.
There were two ways to shield something that massive.
Lots of shields or one big power hog of a shield.
First one was cheaper in power, but much more expensive when it came to generators. The second one only needed a massive generator with lots of emitters.
They used a single shield.
While sufficient to hold the locals at bay for long enough for their powerful weapons to pick them apart, I was a Federation Starship, not a bucket built by a less technologically advanced species.
My phasers lashed against the shield for several seconds before burning through and cutting into the rock of the asteroid as they worked frantically to reroute power to this shield facing.
Their own weapon fire finally shifted in my direction again and I started to dance between the beams.
That's when my first and second salvo of torpedoes hit.
They crashed into the other side of the asteroid like the hammer of Thor before detonating. The plasma initiated zero-point energy warheads detonating deep in the base.
I only had a split second of warning as there was an energy surge deep in the pirate base and I kicked back into high warp, despite the damage it would do to my warp engines to return to warp so soon after performing the Picard Maneuver.
Even so, I was barely able to get out of range when the base's antimatter reactor lost containment.
Dropping back out of warp almost two seconds later, I watched the base break up on subspace, long before the light speed barrier reached me.
None of the ships docked had even had a chance to undock.
In total the engagement took twenty eight seconds.
I frowned, "Sorry, sir." I said and stood up with my holographic avatar, "I thought their reactor was more shielded than it was. I wanted to do enough damage to knock them down before the ships could undock to take them out of the fight, not destroy them."
It would have been if the fucking reactor had been at the center of the asteroid and heavily shielded like any sane person had it.
Not close to the surface!
Mason sighed and leaned back in his chair with a nod, "Still, we got through it with no casualties on our side. Good job. Bring us back in and scan for survivors."
"Yes sir."
I didn't have much hope.
I just hoped there had been no prisoners on board.
AN// Many thanks to Korkator for betaing this section.
The pirate base was exactly where the captured database said it was. An asteroid, fifty by a hundred by twenty kilometers.
On energy readings and subspace scans... even on gravity, it looked like any other rock.
No way to actually detect that it was anything but a normal rock around a cinder of a star . It was barely a star at that.
I could barely detect it on infrared other than the normal reflected heat from the star. So it was virtually invisible to me on passive scans and I didn't dare use active scans.
But they did not have actual cloaking devices.
So they might pretend to be a rock all they want but I knew where they were. I could just 'see' them. With actual telescopes!
Granted, if I didn't know exactly where it was, I would very likely have missed it.
The base was actually quite impressive. A large metal dome on one side and several large hangar ports and docking adapters on the other side.
Two ships were docked at the base, identical to the one that attacked us.
"Two ships." Janeway said, "Anything specific about the base's defenses?"
"We are not reading anything we didn't know." Shran said, "From what Star is seeing, we are not detecting any major deviations from the information that was salvaged from the Bloodletter."
"I would like to note though that this is only using visual passive scans." I interjected, "I don't see anything on passive scans and if we go active, they will see us at once."
Mason slowly nodded, passively watching the base floating on screen, "Odds, Star?" he finally asked.
Oh yes.
Odds for a battle. Sure thing, Captain, I'll get right on that.
"Assuming those ships match the tactical abilities of the Bloodletter and the base's defenses match those of the readings from the data stored in the ships computer, I give us good chances at destroying them. However, I can not guarantee we will not take damage."
He nodded again rubbing his chin, "All stations ready?"
"All stations standing by." I answered, "The crew is ready, sir."
"Take us in, Star. Drop us out of warp at a million kilometers and open a channel."
Federation rules of engagement.
Sometimes they sucked.
XXXXXXXXXXX
I dropped out of warp, my shields and sensors as maximum, sweeping them across the base.
Things were still way too 'fuzzy' to be able to beam in or out, even if their shields and transporter disrupters were not online. I was having problems locating specific systems or system locations.
I would have to use the 'blunt object' approach if I wanted to take the base out of the equation before the ships undocked.
"Channel open, sir." I reported.
"Pirate base, this is the Federation Starship Starseeker. Surrender now and..." Mason started to say and that was as far as he got before the base opened fire.
A polaron beam reached out towards me and I danced to the side, returning fire with a full spread of quantum torpedoes.
I rolled and swung around, firing my rear launchers as well, switching from my very limited supply of quantum torpedoes to photon torpedos.
Energy fire reached from the base again and again, dancing through space around me, from time to time brushing across my shields before I was able to move out of the way.
A million kilometers was three times my effective energy range. At these ranges, the beams start to lose coherency.
They had the same problem. This weapons fire was more to get me to stay at range rather than to actually cause damage.
Too bad that would never work.
Swinging around towards the base, I triggered my warp engines and preformed the Picard Maneuver.
For a split second I was in warp before I dropped out less than a hundred thousand kilometers from the base.
This time on the other side.
My torpedoes were still in flight as I opened fire, my phasers on full power as they raked across the asteroids shields.
There were two ways to shield something that massive.
Lots of shields or one big power hog of a shield.
First one was cheaper in power, but much more expensive when it came to generators. The second one only needed a massive generator with lots of emitters.
They used a single shield.
While sufficient to hold the locals at bay for long enough for their powerful weapons to pick them apart, I was a Federation Starship, not a bucket built by a less technologically advanced species.
My phasers lashed against the shield for several seconds before burning through and cutting into the rock of the asteroid as they worked frantically to reroute power to this shield facing.
Their own weapon fire finally shifted in my direction again and I started to dance between the beams.
That's when my first and second salvo of torpedoes hit.
They crashed into the other side of the asteroid like the hammer of Thor before detonating. The plasma initiated zero-point energy warheads detonating deep in the base.
I only had a split second of warning as there was an energy surge deep in the pirate base and I kicked back into high warp, despite the damage it would do to my warp engines to return to warp so soon after performing the Picard Maneuver.
Even so, I was barely able to get out of range when the base's antimatter reactor lost containment.
Dropping back out of warp almost two seconds later, I watched the base break up on subspace, long before the light speed barrier reached me.
None of the ships docked had even had a chance to undock.
In total the engagement took twenty eight seconds.
I frowned, "Sorry, sir." I said and stood up with my holographic avatar, "I thought their reactor was more shielded than it was. I wanted to do enough damage to knock them down before the ships could undock to take them out of the fight, not destroy them."
It would have been if the fucking reactor had been at the center of the asteroid and heavily shielded like any sane person had it.
Not close to the surface!
Mason sighed and leaned back in his chair with a nod, "Still, we got through it with no casualties on our side. Good job. Bring us back in and scan for survivors."
"Yes sir."
I didn't have much hope.
I just hoped there had been no prisoners on board.
AN// Many thanks to Korkator for betaing this section.
Last edited:
- Location
- Over the hill and far away
There would need to be surviving witnesses for that...
pheonix89
Wants to be Seven Of Nine
- Location
- North American Plaguelands
- Pronouns
- She/Her
There would also need to be people willing to admit sponsoring pirates who tried to steal an unknown capital warship during first contact discussions. You have to be REALLY dumb to admit that kind of shit.
Yes, Star's technically not a warship, but an AI-controlled Ace Custom heavy science vessel with a 100-year tech edge is pretty much indistinguishable from a capital warship until you see the same faction's actual capital warships in action.
- Location
- with internet
Sorry; I wasn't referring to the civilization the pirates were preying on, but instead any other neighboring ones. In my mental map the Star hasn't explored much off the edge of Dominion space, so out of 26 directions, only 10 are known; slavers need someone to sell slaves to, right? Not to mention that little detail mentioned earlier about something slowing Dominion expansion this way.
Also, secrecy might not be a thing; Federation regulations will probably involve telling the locals about the entire situation, and information will flow from there to any neighbors with a good spy network.
Also, secrecy might not be a thing; Federation regulations will probably involve telling the locals about the entire situation, and information will flow from there to any neighbors with a good spy network.
Part 43
A couple of days later I was moving at warp seven point five back towards the Mesoan colony so we could report our successful mission.
We wouldn't go all the way back, just far enough that their com system could pick us up.
I miss the Alpha Quadrant, com relays everywhere. And everyone else has higher power transmitters.
Unfortunately, we didn't find any survivors.
Not that I would have expected any from an antimatter detonation.
"Any signals yet, Star?" Captain Mason asked, leaning back in the center chair, thumbing through his PADD.
"Not yet, Sir," I answered, my holographic avatar shrugging. "We should be in range at any moment though. I'll keep trying."
"Please let me know as soon as we are. I want to get this over with."
"Yes sir."
He wasn't the only one.
When the war against the Romulans was over, I had hoped I would never need to fight again. I knew it would never be like that.
Sometimes you needed to fight. To protect yourself. To protect others. That didn't mean I actually liked it.
Actually, that's not true.
I liked fighting. Simulated and during training. To match my skill and abilities against somebody else's.
What I disliked was killing.
I hated that. But I hated pirates, slavers and seeing good innocent people get hurt even more.
So if I had to vaporize some idiots with more greed and weapons than brains, then so be it. Starfleet might not strictly be the military arm of the Federation, but we were the closest thing it had.
We were the shield and sword.
We explored... we investigated. We made sure that everyone could sleep easy, safe from the horrors hidden in the dark.
My kind was just more effective at it than everyone else. Which meant I had to carry more of the responsibility of it.
It was just something I wished wasn't needed.
But if killing some pirates was what it took to keep my people, my crew, safe?
Then that's what I did.
"Captain, I have a signal from the Mesoan. Opening channel now."
It didn't take long before Elder Laest was on screen.
"We can't thank you and your crew enough, Captain Mason. I can't believe you were able to eliminate the pirate menace. It is no wonder your people were able to fight back The Dominion."
The Captain smiled, "Glad we could be of assistance, Elder. However, it was only the base and two of the pirate ships that were eliminated. According to the data we were able to salvage, there are seven more out there."
"We are aware, captain. But without a safe port to resupply, things should become much safer around here. Our fleet should be able to handle them from here."
Or things might become more dangerous. If the pirates don't have another base, they might just as easily become desperate and go for more damaging raids for supplies rather than pull back and spend time to make a new base.
XXXXXXXXXXX
I did a quick check on T'Ro where she was in one of my Jefferies tubes, "Do you think you will be able to finish before the end of your shift?" I asked her, "Or do you think you will be delayed?"
She looked up from the isolinear chip she was repairing, raising a eyebrow, "I should finish in time. Do you have something in planned?"
"Actually, I do. I traded a bit for extra holodeck time... I have a full twelve hours booked."
"A new program?" she asked, fusing a pathway on the chip.
"Mmm. Earth, around the year two thousand. Well, not exactly, I have taken a copy of a historical program and been modifying it until it matches what I remember from the sim. I want to take you out on a date, let you see what kind of place I grew up in," I explained. "It's not perfect, but I think it's as close as I will be able to get it."
T'Ro put the tool down for that, "..I think I would like that. Should I wear period accurate clothes? What activities do you have in mind?""
I mentally grinned, "Well, dinner and a movie is a classic. So I was thinking that and a walk before retiring to a hotel for the night. I'll have a dress replicated for you by the time you get off duty."
I had been looking for a opportunity to get her into a short and tight one.
"I'm looking forward to it," T'Ro said before picking the tool back up and going back to work.
XXXXXXXXXXX
"Honor to you and your family, Captain Mason. We are in your debt," Elder Laset said and bowed at the screen, "And safe travels."
"Honor to you and your family as well, Elder," Mason answered with a nod before signaling me to cut the channel.
"I hope they manage to handle the rest of the pirates," I said with a small sigh.
Commander Janeway nodded, "They should now when the base is gone. The pirates will no longer have anywhere to run and hide."
Mason nodded, "Agreed. So let's get back to what we actually want to be doing. Exploring where no man has gone before."
"Course, sir?" I asked and couldn't quite keep a smile off my holographic face.
Time to head out into the unknown again. What wonders and dangers would be out there?
I could have sworn my nacelles tingled at the idea.
He leaned back in his chair and then pointed forward, "That way."
"Aye, sir. Course set."
"Activate."
AN// Many thanks to Avernus and Old Soul for betaing this section.
This is the last we see of Star for a while. No worries, I have ideas for a sequel already. Now however, I believe it's time we return to Making Connections. In fact, as this if Friday, I declare it to be Double Feature Friday so you get the continuation of that tonight instead of tomorrow! As it will be a continuation and not a sequel, it will continue in the old thread.
If you have not read that story line yet, it can be found here: http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/that-first-step-si.5342/
The latest part in the series can be found here: http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/making-connections.15835/
We wouldn't go all the way back, just far enough that their com system could pick us up.
I miss the Alpha Quadrant, com relays everywhere. And everyone else has higher power transmitters.
Unfortunately, we didn't find any survivors.
Not that I would have expected any from an antimatter detonation.
"Any signals yet, Star?" Captain Mason asked, leaning back in the center chair, thumbing through his PADD.
"Not yet, Sir," I answered, my holographic avatar shrugging. "We should be in range at any moment though. I'll keep trying."
"Please let me know as soon as we are. I want to get this over with."
"Yes sir."
He wasn't the only one.
When the war against the Romulans was over, I had hoped I would never need to fight again. I knew it would never be like that.
Sometimes you needed to fight. To protect yourself. To protect others. That didn't mean I actually liked it.
Actually, that's not true.
I liked fighting. Simulated and during training. To match my skill and abilities against somebody else's.
What I disliked was killing.
I hated that. But I hated pirates, slavers and seeing good innocent people get hurt even more.
So if I had to vaporize some idiots with more greed and weapons than brains, then so be it. Starfleet might not strictly be the military arm of the Federation, but we were the closest thing it had.
We were the shield and sword.
We explored... we investigated. We made sure that everyone could sleep easy, safe from the horrors hidden in the dark.
My kind was just more effective at it than everyone else. Which meant I had to carry more of the responsibility of it.
It was just something I wished wasn't needed.
But if killing some pirates was what it took to keep my people, my crew, safe?
Then that's what I did.
"Captain, I have a signal from the Mesoan. Opening channel now."
It didn't take long before Elder Laest was on screen.
"We can't thank you and your crew enough, Captain Mason. I can't believe you were able to eliminate the pirate menace. It is no wonder your people were able to fight back The Dominion."
The Captain smiled, "Glad we could be of assistance, Elder. However, it was only the base and two of the pirate ships that were eliminated. According to the data we were able to salvage, there are seven more out there."
"We are aware, captain. But without a safe port to resupply, things should become much safer around here. Our fleet should be able to handle them from here."
Or things might become more dangerous. If the pirates don't have another base, they might just as easily become desperate and go for more damaging raids for supplies rather than pull back and spend time to make a new base.
XXXXXXXXXXX
I did a quick check on T'Ro where she was in one of my Jefferies tubes, "Do you think you will be able to finish before the end of your shift?" I asked her, "Or do you think you will be delayed?"
She looked up from the isolinear chip she was repairing, raising a eyebrow, "I should finish in time. Do you have something in planned?"
"Actually, I do. I traded a bit for extra holodeck time... I have a full twelve hours booked."
"A new program?" she asked, fusing a pathway on the chip.
"Mmm. Earth, around the year two thousand. Well, not exactly, I have taken a copy of a historical program and been modifying it until it matches what I remember from the sim. I want to take you out on a date, let you see what kind of place I grew up in," I explained. "It's not perfect, but I think it's as close as I will be able to get it."
T'Ro put the tool down for that, "..I think I would like that. Should I wear period accurate clothes? What activities do you have in mind?""
I mentally grinned, "Well, dinner and a movie is a classic. So I was thinking that and a walk before retiring to a hotel for the night. I'll have a dress replicated for you by the time you get off duty."
I had been looking for a opportunity to get her into a short and tight one.
"I'm looking forward to it," T'Ro said before picking the tool back up and going back to work.
XXXXXXXXXXX
"Honor to you and your family, Captain Mason. We are in your debt," Elder Laset said and bowed at the screen, "And safe travels."
"Honor to you and your family as well, Elder," Mason answered with a nod before signaling me to cut the channel.
"I hope they manage to handle the rest of the pirates," I said with a small sigh.
Commander Janeway nodded, "They should now when the base is gone. The pirates will no longer have anywhere to run and hide."
Mason nodded, "Agreed. So let's get back to what we actually want to be doing. Exploring where no man has gone before."
"Course, sir?" I asked and couldn't quite keep a smile off my holographic face.
Time to head out into the unknown again. What wonders and dangers would be out there?
I could have sworn my nacelles tingled at the idea.
He leaned back in his chair and then pointed forward, "That way."
"Aye, sir. Course set."
"Activate."
AN// Many thanks to Avernus and Old Soul for betaing this section.
This is the last we see of Star for a while. No worries, I have ideas for a sequel already. Now however, I believe it's time we return to Making Connections. In fact, as this if Friday, I declare it to be Double Feature Friday so you get the continuation of that tonight instead of tomorrow! As it will be a continuation and not a sequel, it will continue in the old thread.
If you have not read that story line yet, it can be found here: http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/that-first-step-si.5342/
The latest part in the series can be found here: http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/making-connections.15835/
mojtaba
nothing new going on here.
Another great story Hiver. Can't wait to read the next one.
Just wanted to say thank you for all of the amazing stories you've done and are still writing. I really enjoy the day whenever I see that you've updated. Keep up the good work and good luck with everything!
Just wanted to say thank you for all of the amazing stories you've done and are still writing. I really enjoy the day whenever I see that you've updated. Keep up the good work and good luck with everything!
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