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     William Daren |
[[Finally, I come back to the AU battle I kinda started a while ago. Nothing too fancy, just some nice action elements...enjoy part four of five - Chris]] “Clouds of Ignorance” 0145 Hours, Stardate 239603.13 Shuttle Pearce, deep inside Quaatis Nebula Mishelle Singer and the crew of the shuttle ‘Pearce’ continued to plunge deeper into the Quaatis Nebula in search of the source of their mysterious energy readings. Cut off completely from the outside, they had no idea that just on the outside of the nebula a fierce battle was raging and their mother ship, USS Gryphon was a part of it. The Pfhor had invaded the Reorsan system only hours ago and set it sights on the planet. Nothing would get in their way. “You have something?” Singer looked to Lieutenant Commander Velnari. “Yes Commander”, she spoke slowly and without excitement, “I now believe only one pocket of stellar gas separates us from the mysterious energy signatures. I am also close enough to determine that they are Pfhor.” The word ‘Pfhor’ seemed to echo in the still silence of the enclosed cabin. The Vulcan continued. “Four very large ships that do not match anything we have seen from the Pfhor as of late.” “They’re waiting here?” Singer looked concerned. “What the hell for? I’m getting us out of here. Mission scraped! Coming about…” She turned the small vessel around plotting a course back the way they came. Completely beyond her control however, the impulse drive of the shuttle ignited a very small cloud of unstable metreon gas. It was nothing so severe to provide intense damage to the shuttle, but it certainly did send up a flare. “What was that?” “Metreon gas. The nebula is .045 percent comprised of it.”, the Vulcan chimed in. “And let me guess, we just happen to be in the neighborhood? What’s the damage?” Singer inquired. Gibson reported, “No damage. But those Pfhor energy signatures just increased. They could be powering up to leave.” “Damn!”, Singer gunned the impulse drive. It meant loosing critical navigational precision but it got them further away from those Pfhor ships. It was time to warn the rest of the fleet of the impending attack. Unfortunately, they had already gotten the message… 0155 Hours, Stardate 239603.13 USS Gryphon, Reorsan System “The helm’s out!”, cried Lieutenant Richard Guy. There would be no more fancy maneuvering for a while. Henes X stood and tapped his chest, “Engineering, add helm control to your list of priorities!” The Gryphon had been taking the brunt of the assault from the Pfhor strikecraft. The enemy clearly labeled it the most aggressive ship in the area and targeted it for immediate annihilation. Too bad the crew would have something to say about that. “Captain, I’m reading another starship coming in!” Fielding reported from the tactical station. “It’s the Coronado!” He paused a moment longer to look over his sensors. “They’re brought reinforcements. The Renegade and a few Camelynian ships.” Henes X nodded. “Welcome them to the syst-…” The android never finished his sentence. With helm control offline, Guy at the helm was unable to stop the ship as it crept into weapons range of the larger Pfhor ships. The lead destroyer let loose an energy spear so immense directed at Gryphon’s Engineering section it cause an instantaneous explosion that engulfed the ship. There was no escape. 0155 Hours, Stardate 239603.13 USS Coronado, Reorsan System [[OOC Author's Note: It came to my attention awhile ago while creating this log that the Drexler character was not considered to be the Captain of the USS Coronado this early in the AU Timeline. The more likely candidate for the spot would be Velorna Tal. However, with this said and in the interest of continuity (even bad continuity, hehe, go Voyager!) I’ll continue along that my present assumption. Besides, this series of logs is just about good old fashioned shoot’em up fun. It’s a Coro Bond Film, so on with the fun…]] “Entering Reorsan star system…”, someone at the helm reported. “Slow to impulse. Report!” “My god! Gryphon’s been lanced!” Daren at the tactical station could barely believe his eyes. “That Destroyer…some kind of intense, very intense energy kill beam…ripped clear through the hull.” All on the bridge were stunned. “And there are how many of those ships?” Dejat spoke up. “Three.” Daren was getting new readings. “No, wait! I’m getting new readings from the Quaatis Nebula. Starfleet shuttlecraft. They’re hailing…” “Put it up on screen…”, Drexler ordered. The image of Commander Mishelle Singer appeared on the holotank. The transmission was a wide band hail and not directed at any particular ship. “Shuttlecraft Pearce to all ships! We’ve detected a group of large Pfhor craft hidden away in the nebula! An attack appears imminent. Repeat! An attack…” the transmission cut out. “Signal jammed at the source, Captain.” “Take us in…full impulse, prepare a tractor beam!” Dejat looked to Drexler who nodded. “They may or may not know that Gryphon won’t be around to collect them…” Coronado’s impulse engines gave off a brighter signature glow as the frigate swept in toward the shuttle. Meanwhile, Renegade with back up from the Camelynians took some heat off them by mopping up a few Pfhor Strikecraft. The slow-moving destroyers were on their way and Coronado was slipping close to the kill zone… “’Pearce’ has company!” Daren looked up. “Three strikecraft hot on their tail from the nebula!” “Weapons range?” Dejat inquired. “Not yet, I’m afraid.” Daren frowned, staring at the shuttlecraft on his sensors. The strikecraft encircled the smaller shuttle. They were faster and more maneuverable then the bogged down weapon-less shuttle. They were taking several shots with shields weakening, but holding their own in the race for survival. Whoever was piloting that thing clearly noticed Coronado on sensors and knew a rescue dive when they saw it. “5 minutes to tractor range…” 0225 Hours, Stardate 239603.13 Shuttle ‘Pearce’, Reorsan System Commander Mishelle Singer’s hand was clenched on the helm controls. He left hand now directly controlled the speed of the small ship. She was gunning it as fast as she could, but the Strikecraft were gaining. The faster ships had been taking pot shots ever since they left the nebula behind, and they were taking its toll on the near-defenseless vessel. “Damn it!” She let out in a very uncharacteristic curse. “Strikecraft gaining…shields down to…”, the console under Gibson exploded. The explosion was large enough and destructive enough to kill her instantly and severely injure Singer and Velnari. They both fell unconscious as the shuttle slowed relying on inertia now and making it considerably easier for the strikecraft to target it... Musical Inspiration: "Adrenaline" - Gavin Rossdale "1SQ" - Hans Zimmer (Instrumental, Crimson Tide ST) Captain William Daren Commanding Officer (IC) USS Coronado NCC-97901 Sim Executive Officer http://www.jestertrek.com/coro2400/bodies/depts/command.html#co ******************* As portrayed by: Chris Catterson Long Island, NY ccatt@optonline.net " |