Cannon to the Left, Cannon to the Right

Posted on Mon Mar 22nd, 2021 @ 4:08pm by Lieutenant Commander Estella Stratton & Captain Shran dh'Klar & Lieutenant L'Rissa & Lieutenant Commander Deanna Celes & Lieutenant Ayana Hillis

Mission: Sabotage
Location: USS Washington

Shran stood on the bridge and watched on the viewscreen as the shuttles exited the ship and made their way down to the planet. "The die is cast" he believed the human expression was. He looked around the bridge. L'Rissa was at CONN, Celes at Ops, Ayana at tactical, and Estella was in the XO chair, a look of determination on her face. Each of them would be pivotal in the upcoming battle, and somehow he knew they would all do their duty magnificently.

The Andorian sat down in his command chair, his antennae sticking up as a determined look ame over his face, "Red alert. Shields up, harge phasers, quantum torpedoes on hot stand by." He looked over at Estella, "Here we go."

The Counselor sat in the XO chair. It was strange, sitting where Jon usually would be. Her eyes closed, and she pressed her head against the back of the seat. Her fingers curled in the arms before opening her eyes to look on the viewscreen. Please, let him come back alive. Let them all come back, alive. Her expression hard, she steeled herself for the battle ahead.

"Shields up, phasers at the ready. Torpedoes on standby. Prepared on your signal."

Shran steeled himself, knowing what was to come. "Helm, break orbit. Bring us around to the other side of the planet tactically, half impulse."

"Aye sir" replied L'Rissa.

"I want a tactical analysis the moment these rebel ships are in sight."

"Understood" said Ayana.

"Now we wait" Shran said softly, an ominous tone apparent.

Stations manned and ready for action, Estella took a deep breath. The danger of battle was hard enough, but the quiet stretch before they were to engage the enemy was the most difficult. Each second they sat there waiting pensively, was another they could be losing a comrade and friend.

Everyone sat quietly as they waited for the signal from the away team. Shran wished them well mentally. They had a difficult task to be sure. Everyone was about to have a difficult task to perform truthfully.

Suddenly, the silence was broken. "Ground teams have landed and are moving into the base now sir" said Celes.

"Very well" said Shran, as he looked over at Estella, giving a look of confidence. "Helm, get us underway."

"Breaking orbit, moving us to 150,000 km away from planet as we circle around" said L'Rissa.

"Detecting 2 Galor class warships in high near orbit. They are powering weapons and moving to intercept us" said Ayana.

"Target lead vessel, lock torpedoes."

"Torpedoes locked. Weapons range in 15 seconds" said Ayana.

"Aim for engines and weapon systems. I want to disable if possible" said Shran. "Fire when ready."

Suddenly torpedoes launched, a blue streak across space as they raced towards their target. Gold streaks passed them as the Cardassian vessels fired torpedoes as well. The Washington's torpedoes hit true, a Galor class vessel showing significant damage. The Washington rocked as the Cardassian torpedoes impacted the shields.

"Report!"

"One Galor disabled, the other moving to come into disruptor range. Detecting 2 Hideki class vessels coming up from the planet" said Ayana.

"Shields at 87% and holding. Minor damage to the secondary hull, damage control moving to repair" said Celes.

"Phaser barrage on the other Galor. Fire!" ordered Shran.

The Washington fired its phasers, trading fire with the Galor class ship. Both ships rocked as they were hit.

Shran looked over the data coming into his display console. "He could see that the Cardassian vessel was damaged but still operable. "Aft torpedoes, fire!"

The Washington fired a pair of torpedoes as the ship altered course to dodge incoming weapons fire. They dodged 4 of the 6 torpedoes that were incoming, while their own torpedoes hit true.

Inside the ship, consoles were frazzled, nerves frayed. Shran's console exploded, causing visible damage to Shran's left arm and shoulder.

Each minute stretched as if time had somehow slowed to a grueling pace. With every shot fired, there was a jolt. The weight of each action a sensation almost as natural as her pulse. The last barrage of torpedos struck, hard. Shran's panel flickered, fizzled, then burst. The impact of the eruption injured the Captain, and Estella didn't wait a breath before springing into action. Fingers going to her comm badge, she opened communication. "Medical needed here immediately for the transport of one to sickbay."

"Second Galor is disabled, Hideki class vessels moving into firing range. Also detecting 2 more Galor and 1 Keldon class vessels coming from the asteroid field, intercept in 4 minutes" said Celes.

"Shields holding?" The Counselor asked, her heart reverberating, pounding like a steady beating of war drums. "Prepare to fire once in range."

Shran looked over at Estella as the bridge medic tended to him. "Disable those two Hideki class vessels with the phasers before dealing with those capital ships. Last thing you want is to be caught in a pincer. Lean on Ayana and Deanna as needed. Don't hesitate to engage the armor if you need, but remember it will slow you down."

Medical officers came rushing out of the turbolift and made a straight shot to Shran. The medic explained the situation and the doctor took over. He reviewed his tricorder readings. "We need to get you to sickbay captain."

"Fine. I can walk" Shran replied in a grumbled tone. "Estella, you'll do fine" he said as they led him away.

"Affirmative, Captain," the Counselor replied firmly. Her gaze not leaving the viewscreen and the approaching vessels. She didn't want to be in Jon's chair, nor did she want to be in the Captain's shoes. She still lacked confidence in herself, but right now was not the time to surrender to her doubts.

After the medical staff had left with Shran, Estella released the breath she'd been holding. "You heard the Captain, ready phasers to commence fire on the Hideki class vessels."

The Washington lurched to starboard and opened fire on the two smaller Cardassian vessels, phaser blasts repeatedly hitting the smaller ships. The closer of the two exploded after several hits, the second returned fire despite showing signs of damage.

"One destroyed, the other has severe damage to its nacelles, its venting plasma" Celes said through the shipping rocking from the disruptor hits.

"Torpedoes ready, phasers on stand by" said Ayana, anticipating orders.

"The capital ships are 2 minutes away, and they will enter extreme weapons range in 30 seconds" reminded Celes.

Estella kept her eyes on the viewscreen. "Open fire in thirty seconds," the Counselor spoke with resolve, her fingers curling slightly as she did.

They were fairing well, all things considered. However, she was feeling the weight of the decisions as she watched the result of each one play out. Each word, a life, one held in a delicate balance.

The ship rocked as it was hit by several blasts. In the back of the bridge, consoles exploded.

"The Hideki vessel still has weapons and continues to target us. The capital ships are 15 seconds out" said Celes.

Expression hard, Estella's fingers curled tighter into the arm of the chair as the Washington rocked and sustained fire. "Take out that Hideki vessel. Return fire." They needed to disarm that vessel so that way they could deal with the capital ships.

The Washington fired its phasers, hitting the Hideki class vessel multiple times, and it exploded into a magnificent fireball. The Washington though was not out of the fight just yet, as photon torpedoes flew past, and a few impacted, rocking the ship once more.

"Capital ships have entered extreme torpedo range. Hull breach decks 4 and 5, sections 22 and 23. Plasma fires reported in cargo bay 2. Structural integrity at 87% and shields at 65%" said Celes.

"Taking evasive action, pattern Delta two," said L'Rissa.

"Torpedoes ready, phasers on stand by," said Ayana. "Locked on to the Keldon class ma'am."

Hull breaches, and shields getting iffy, they were going to need to deal with those Keldon class vessels, and fast, or they were going to be dead in the water. "Eliminate those ships, quickly. Continue using evasive measures to reduce damage. We need to keep our shields up."

"Aye" replied L'Rissa.

"Routing auxiliary power to shields and structural integrity" said Celes.

The Washington fired a full spread of quantum torpedoes at the Cardassian vessels. From the distance, which seemed to be closing with each passing second, the impact of the torpedoes could be seen as they all hit the Keldon class vessel in the center of the Cardassian formation. The ship lurched as it exploded in a brilliant plume, the two Galor class vessels vectoring away, but still very much moving towards the Washington. They both fired torpedoes, followed by disruptor volleys.

The Cardassian formation was crumbling, one vessel at a time. The Keldon erupted in bursts of orange-gold, turning Estella's sights on the Galor class vessels. They were almost there.
The ship managed to dodge the incoming torpedoes but rocked as a few of the disruptor blasts impacted the shields.

"Hull breach, deck 12 section 21-gamma. Force fields in place and holding. Shields at 87%" said Celes.

"Continue evasive measures and open fire. Show them what we can do."

The ladies on the bridge all had a determined look about them, even if they looked a bit disheveled from this fire fight. Even with obvious damage all about the ship, the Washington was holding together, and somehow, they were winning this fight. The ship turned to port as it erupted with a full phaser barrage which seemed to cripple one of the two Galor vessels, leaving them one final rebel ship to deal with.

"We have crippled the one ship, the other is altering course, appears to be attempting to escape" said Celes.

One down, and one to go. "Target and prepare to open fire," the words fell heavy, and the Counselor's expression remained hard.

"I have a tractor lock" said Ayana.

"They are hailing us" said Celes. "They are requesting to surrender."

Order not yet given, Estella considered Cele's words. Surrender? Now that was... unexpected. However, she did her best not to let her surprise show. "Open communication. Get them on the viewscreen."