| Author | Message | ||
     William_Daren |
The veins in Daren's right hand were pulsing and bulging out with the increased blood flow in his system, and his knuckles were clenched and white. His right hand was fixed over the manual flight control at Kelaka’s helm, while his left hand hovered over the attitude control system. Kelaka, the multi-mission support craft and Captain’s Yacht for USS Coronado had penetrated deeply inside the subspace disturbance in the Pitstop system. Their mission, to perform “sensor high” run of the area penetrating in as close to the Pfhor dreadnought as possible which was directly in the center of the disturbance. All around the ship, Apori and Pfhor battled each other while Daren attempted to maintain a safe distance and Lieutenant Ma’aru compiled as much scan data as possible. The mission was going extremely well until something set of the Pfhor. “Full Sensors Lieutenant!”, Daren turned to glance at the young Lieutenant just as the small ship was rocked hard by a Pfhor assault. “We’re taking fire. Port Nacelle has been hit! Farley, get on it! Marcy, Weapons!” In the rear of the small cockpit, Lieutenant Jack Farley was hanging onto a bulkhead and trying to repair the damaged port nacelle. At the tactical station, Marcy deactivated the shroud and diverted power to the weapon’s systems, “Weapons ready!” “I doubt our conventional weapons will have much affect on those Pfhor ships, but I’ll be damned if I’m gonna be hunted and not shoot back.”, he glanced at a area scan, “We’ve got company, three Pfhor battleships closing in. Weapons free!” “They appear to have cut off our escape route to Coronado”, Marcy replied as he unleashed phaser fire. Daren took Kelaka into a bit of a dive then a roll to starboard, still heading deeper into the disturbance. “Spare no sensor palette Lieutenant, since we’re cut off from an exit point at the moment, I’m still heading in” Ma’aru nodded silently, then Marcy spoke, “Starfleet signatures! Vanguard has arrived. Odyssey and Gryphon as well. They’re the closest to our location…they’re engaging!” “That’ll buy us a bit of time”, Daren’s hands relaxed a bit as the bigger ships made room for Kelaka to maneuver. “Commander Daren we need to get out of the bubble NOW!”, It was Farley. “What is it Farley?!” “The warp core modifications are beginning to falter, taking their toll on the power systems. If we don’t get out of here we’ll soon lose all power and be a drift.” Farley didn’t have good news. “Hold it together as long as you can Farley. Lieutenant Ma’aru, you get one last peek as we swing around. I’m plotting a course for Coro!” Once again, Daren’s hands were frantic over the helm controls. ------------------------------------------------- “Captain, we’ve successfully entered the fight…” The bridge of USS Gryphon was dark. The android, Captain John Henes X, stood in the center perfectly calm as officers around him raced about. “Prepare to launch fighters. Odyssey will be providing a bit of cover while we do so. Helm, steady the ship.” Easier said then done in a situation like this but the helm officer complied with the request and soon the squadron of Spectres was away. “Sir, we’re picking up an odd signature. It looks Cardassian.”, the Science officer reported. Henes X stepped to the Science station. “That’s Kelaka.” A slight grin passed across his face. “It’s not exactly a battleship to this caliber. Fleet Captain Lora Kor must have sent it in for some specialized mission.” “She’s in trouble, Sir”, An officer at an Engineering bridge station reported. “Engine’s destabilizing!” “He.”, Henes X replied. “Excuse me, Sir?” “Ships of Cardassian heritage are known as ‘he’/’him’ as opposed to ‘she’/’her’. But now is not the time for an alien culture lesson. Inform Odyssey we’re breaking off momentarily. Inform the Flight Deck to prepare for a new arrival.” Henes X returned to the center of the bridge and Kelaka was now visible on the main screen. ------------------------------------------------- Daren was giving all he had to keep Kelaka on a steady course but with the engine core destabilizing it was becoming increasingly difficult. “Damn! Coronado is just too far away to get to!” “I’m getting a hail from USS Gryphon sir”, Marcy responded, “They’re offering assistance.” Daren nodded, “Open a channel. Gryphon this is Kelaka. We’re cut off from Coronado and are experiencing engine difficulty. We appreciate any assistance you can offer…” “Hold position Kelaka…”, the response was calm and to the point. A Pfhor strikecraft was giving Gryphon a hard time, but the false-matter shielding was continuing to hold as the ship let loose a false-matter torpedo. This coupled with distraction fire being provided from ships on the outskirts of the disturbance was enough to convince the enemy to move off and join a more numerous battle group. Before they knew it Gryphon had taken position directly in front of Kelaka and a tractor beam was guiding them into on the through-deck fighter area. It was the perfect refuge for the time being. Soon several of the Starfleet ships had decided to fall back to Pitstop III and discuss tactics with their Apori allies. Commander Daren informed his team to disembark and enjoy Gryphon’s hospitality for the time being but that they would quickly be returning to Coronado once a few repairs were completed to Kelaka’s engines… |