/||\ ----------------------------------------------
/ || \ UCIP Starfleet Command, Eighth Fleet
/ || \ U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901
.-/ || \-. Fleet Captain Tebrun Lora Kor, Commanding
./ || \. ----------------------------------------------
.-_-. || .-_-. Simulation Teaser
-_ \||/ _-. -[ SD 240201.07 ]-
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/ Simulation Teaser |
/ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
=.\= January 1, 2402 -- Fisher's Landing, Reorsa =.\=
Once the braids got over their initial fear of the Apori, they discovered
that they had a lot in common with that overly emotional, vagrant race.
The first allied lifeform able to talk to the Apori representative Iktakto
was a braid, Grey-Mist-Over-Oceans, one of the oldest, most elaborate
braids. As a result, Mist, Iktakto, and Jia Ron Drull -- acting as a
translator when needed -- spent hours, just... talking. On this particular
day, they had spent several hours discussing the relative physical and
mental differences between the braids, Apori, Taer... and humanoids.
{{It is fitting that you have allied with the humanoids,}} Iktakto said as
the discussion wrapped up. For the Apori, alliances between different
races were a religious obligation. {{But why,}} the Apori asked Mist, {{do
you defer to them? After all, your race is immortal, and telepathic. Your
race shares knowledge amongst the group, your manual dexterity is far
superior to that of humans...}}
Mist turned the attention of several cords to Iktakto, nodding agreement.
"The humanoids are also quite excitable -- some, like Aldur and n'Chamba,
are quite disciplined, but most become angry at the least provocation.
Many become violent -- a few have even killed cords. And yet," Mist said
thoughtfully, "they have been steadfast allies. They have defended, and
taught us, when it was not required of them to do so. Were it not for
humanoids, our people would no doubt no be enslaved by the Pfhor," the
braid said, voice still thoughtful.
Ron Drull smiled, obviously quite amused. "You are both correct, of
course. Humanoids, individually, are not very wise, nor very intelligent.
Their bodies are fragile. They are not telepathic, and when they die,
the essense of who they are is lost," the Taer said, looking from Iktakto
to Mist, still with that amused look. "And yet, I have long watched these
humanoids, and they..." Ron Drull stopped, then chuckled.
"I have watched humanoids cross impassable terrain, go days without
food..." Iktakto shuddered. To go even an hour without the constant influx
of energy required by the Apori was forbidden by the One. "Even now, they
face impossible odds, they face the death of everyone and everything they
know and love... they face down the most horrifying terrors that the
universe can inflict, and endure." Several of Mist's cords shifted. The
Apori tendency to "go to pieces" when faced with the terrifying or unusual
was well-known.
"No, the humanoids are not wise, nor smart, nor strong," Ron Drull was
saying, "but their will and their spirit may well be invincible." Ron
Drull smiled. "I believe them suitable allies for both of you."
=.\= January 6, 2402 -- U.S.S. Gryphon, in orbit of Reorsa =.\=
Even in the best of circumstances, Tebrun Lora Kor had a tendency toward
insomnia. However, when the false matter torpedo tests started, something
actively prevented the Captain from sleeping. There was just something...
wrong with the false matter torpedo as it was currently designed. Lora Kor
just couldn't put his finger on what it was, and it was a common sight to
see him wandering the Gryphon shuttlebays where the torpedo tests were
being conducted, either working with the torpedoes directly or staring at
one of the design computers with a troubled look on his face. The
torpedoes, as designed, were essentially flying drill bits. The key
characteristic of false matter that made it useful as a weapon was its
ability to "push normal matter out of the way."
A replicator mounted into the torpedoes generated a sort of "nose cone" of
false matter at the front of a standard quantum torpedo. Though this nose
cone was useless against any shielded target -- false matter could push
aside normal matter, but not energy -- it was quite impressive against an
unshielded target. As a result, the torpedoes were designed to drill
deeply into the target, then detonate, rather than detonate on impact or
at proximity as standard torpedoes. Each day, anywhere from two to six of
the prototype torpedoes were launched into Reor's asteroid belt. Each
torpedo would hit its target, drill, then detonate deep within the
asteroid's core.
Oh, the torpedoes worked fine, but Lora Kor still felt as if something
obvious was being missed. For one thing, the added mass of the replicator
and additional energy stores added to both the size and the mass of the
torpedoes. The false matter torpeodes were larger, heavier, and slower
than standard. For another, though the energy release of the torpedoes
was impressive, Lora Kor felt as if quantum torpedoes -- even ones that
drilled deep into the target -- simply weren't doing enough damage. After
all, the Pfhor destroyers were larger and much more heavily armored than
many of the asteroids being used as test targets. To fix the first
problem, the torpeodes had been tested by tossing them out Gryphon's
shuttlebay doors; a new torpedo tube would have to be designed to launch
the larger torpeodes. The second problem was tougher. How could the
torpedoes be made damaging enough to hurt the enormous Pfhor behemoths?
So, Lora Kor sat in Gryphon's shuttlebay, staring at the torpedoes or the
computer monitors, his mind going round and round and round. Something
obvious was being missed!
What made it worse was that on the rare occasions that Lora Kor did sleep,
he invariably dreamt about the sword that had until recently hung on his
ready room wall. The sword had been given to him by Brian Aldur when Lora
Kor officially took command of Coronado, and other than glancing at it
from time to time, mounted on the wall was where it stayed. In
frustration, the Captain had finally had the sword shipped to Reor... and
the moment he put his hand to it, drawn it from its sheath, and swung it,
he realized what he'd been missing. In retrospect, it was obvious.
\______________________________________________________________________________
\ End Simulation Teaser |
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
Crew Roster:
Commanding Officer: FCapt. Tebrun Lora Kor (Jester)
Executive Officer: Cmdr. William Daren (Daren)
Marine Commandant: Col. Jeremy Ironside (Fraser)
Command Liaison Interface: Cmdr. Savant (Savant)
Chief of Operations: Cmdr. Olme Tlaloco (Tlaloco)
Chief Tactical Officer: LCdr. Sieven Drexler (Brad)
Assistant Tactical: Lt. JG Kyle Marcy (Marcy)
Chief Flight Operations: Lt. JG Ananda Wilk (Baralu)
Intelligence Officer: Lt. Kariasa Ma'Aru (Kari)
Chief Science Officer: Lt. JG Kathleen Hammond (Kath)
Company Commander: 1Lt. Jacob Prescot (Shadow-FjP)
Squadron Leader: Maj. Thomas Wayne (Masters)
Wing Leader: 1Lt. Craig Serrold (Aggie)
Wing Leader: 2Lt. Andrew Stylus (JadeFalcon)
Chief Engineer: LCdr. Zunite Oswald (Sonya)
Assistant Engineer: Lt. Jack C. Farley (CCC)
Chief Medical Officer: Lt. JG Jason Thompson (Thompson)
Civilian: Alados ha-Soron (McC)
On Extended Leave of Absense:
Assistant Engineer: Lt. Aramis Skylooker (Skylooker)
Positions Available:
None!
----------
Ross Glenn aka Jester
Fleet Captain Tebrun Lora Kor, U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901
http://www.jestertrek.com/coro2400/