| Author | Message | ||
     Lt. SG Maiko D'rall |
At warp speeds, a second or two is the difference between stopping safely or slamming into a rogue asteroid. Atmospheric, a second's hesitation when flying nape of the earth can lead to disaster and death. In racing, seconds mean the difference between victory and watching from the sidelines. ---- This is how it went down. I was fustrated enough at our performance in the race to this point - after all, we had the better chance of winning compared to some of the other entries. At alert, we had the propulsion to match the entire field - at least we thought so - and the lieutenant was able to do a little work with the Santiago's weapons systems to give us a little more of a punch. Instead, we spent most of the time playing rearguard. Pretty dishearening, though I put on as much of a game face as I could, babbling some nonsense about 'slow and steady wins the race'. It almost came true. And almost didn't. I think if the Xurian ship hadn't performed his little tricks with the other ships - somehow provoking a few fights here and there, taking out the rest himself - it might have been a fair race to the end. Then again, that assumes that Romulan bitch wouldn't fire on anyone ELSE in the race... So here we are, at the back of the pack, which in the space of maybe less than a minute, is almost virtually wiped out. Probably kinda like those 'multi-car pileups' you hear about on Reor when those "car" enthusiasts decide to race around in circles. Everything's going along fine and then next thing you know, half the race is tangled up in debris and flames. We barely escaped the brunt of the explosions and simulated shockwaves, us and Savant, with the Xurian in the lead. Not exactly the best of odds under any circumstances - two pilots and a super-sentient hologram in two of the flimsiest ships in the race going up against what we thought was a Rylan ship that had just done away with some of the toughest ships on the course. The mostly unspoken plan... really, the only plan available to us when you think about it... we had to try to pass the lead ship simultaneously and hope it wouldn't be able to knock two ships out at once. Problem was, Savant's ship wasn't going to last long on its limited fuel, and between the two of us, our weapons weren't exactly something to hide from. Things got even worse when what we saw as a Rylan ship that sensors couldn't touch shimmered into a full-fledged Xurian craft. Finding your opponent is of a race that was attacking your newly-found allies in the present sector was about the only thing I would have bet on never seeing during this race, and it was enough to panic not only me but probably everyone else in the area. Turns out he was unaffected by those damn spheres (lucky guy) and was racing for the heck of it. I don't suppose I really trusted him at first, but seeing as he didn't stop, turn around, and disintigrate us... well, my father says you have to start trusting people at some point or another whether you like it or not. We almost threw our pace off when we forgot to hail the frieghter for the next marker's location. Savant saved us (just as it seems she saves us every day) by radioing us the information while she refueled. So the Whipsnake is in the lead, but has to slow to take the next marker, and we're coming on strong from behind. I don't really know what this guy had for that massive weapon of his, or just how good his targeting systems were, but next thing we knew we were getting pounded hard. Didn't exactly have a choice on how to proceed - I mean, our auxilliary tanks were dry and we were running on main fuel which had to last the rest of the race. We could have slowed down, but probably not fast enough to get out of the range of that weapon. We didn't have Savant in the area yet to try that dual fly-by pass... I've never really been a fan of the Hornet. They're cramped, they're not exactly heavily armed compared to other shuttles, and if you're in need of raw computing power, a tow, or... well, just about anything you can think of, the Hornet's the last thing you want for the job. Almost makes me want to put in a proposal to scrap the Hornet bays and make room for an additional Minerva or even a Danube. Almost, yes. But not after that little craft survived a near-miss by that Xurian weapon. When I saw that thing coming I was convinced we'd seen our Last Patrol, yet she powered right through the blast quite easily, though it was a rough ride. We came out of the simulated explosion to see the Whipsnake waiting for us, having turned to bear. We only had just enough time for Shar to get a tentative lock with our weapons while we took a massive second blast. I'm not sure what came over me at this point. I mean, I never noticed the helm not responding properly to all commands, I didn't see any of the warnings, and Shar was just a voice in the back of my head. It was almost like that time I was on the holodeck in the Somerset Strikers holonovel - just me and the enemy 'mech. Nothing else existed. We rounded the marker, coming through the constant weapons blasts. I remember seeing the simulated weapons fire exchange from both sides. Somewhere in the back of my mind I think I knew there was no way we were getting out of the encounter and back into the race, especially with our limited ammunition. I'm not sure when I finally made the decision - I mean, I was positive that our team would win, that we would show everyone on Coronado what two pilots could pull off. But somewhere... somehow in those few last seconds, winning wasn't important any more. Or I guess I'm trying to say, our winning didn't matter any more, so long as someone from Coronado crossed the finish line. Our simulated deaths were assured at this point - the Whipsnake had a perfect line on us even if we cut thrust completely or tried to accelerate out of the way, and it could easily overtake us and then finish Savant. No, in that split second, I think Shar and I both realized that in order for Coronado to win was going to require a sacrifice on our part. Thinking about it now, I'm reminded of the stories I heard growing up, and the things I've witnessed on Coronado... I know at any point when the ship goes into battle or into some other perilous situation, sacrifices might be needed. An engineer might give his life to keep power on for just another minute. A tactical officer may have to fire a phaser array manually from the phaser control room irradiated with plasma radiation. Even a helm officer like myself might give her life by piloting a shuttle into a no-return situation to save the ship or win the day. Sure we lost. But we went out fighting, taking the Whipsnake out the same instant the Santiago blew apart in a simulated shower of debris. Clearing the way for the win. For Savant that is, but her win was still our win. She streaked past us, while we were celebrating - and at the same time, exchanging congratulations on an excellent effort with the Xurian. We weren't the fastest ship out there, nor were we the best shots. We didn't take the lead at any point, and we didn't win. But we didn't loose either. For a brief joyride at sublight speeds, that ain't too bad. |