Icebreaker

Posted on Tue Aug 31st, 2021 @ 1:09pm by Captain Shran dh'Klar & Lieutenant L'Rissa & Lieutenant Commander Deanna Celes & Lieutenant Ayana Hillis

Mission: Breen in Paradise
Location: USS Washington

Shran sat looking at the data that was coming in to his side console as the ship raced towards its target. The Breen vessel was trying desperately to outrace them to Breen space, but Shran knew that was a futile endeavor. They would have to be at high warp for hours before they would be able to reach Breen space. It wasn't like the Breen to run from a battle. He knew that from personal experience. On more than one occasion during the war he had tangled with the Breen. They were formidable opponents, especially when he was captaining a Galaxy class vessel. A Galaxy class ship was powerful to be sure, but they were only an equal match with a Breen frigate. That was one of the things that made them so daunting an opponent when they had joined forced with the Dominion.

Shran blinked and took a quick sobering breath before refocusing. He didn't have time to consider the war right now. In the here and now he was dealing with a new Breen threat. They had attacked a Federation world, one that was fairly vulnerable being a pleasure planet. He had no idea what the casualty reports might say, but he was certain it would be long. They had attacked Casperia Prime at the time of a medical conference, which seemed suspicious to him. It wasn't as if this conference would be classified information, but such a gathering of medical elite surely made a tempting target. Casperia was too far away for Romulans to do anything, and the Cardassians were not the threat they had been before the war. The Breen had been fairly silent since the war ended, and he had warned that such silence could be a precursor to something disastrous. Whether this raid was the first salvo into a larger war he couldn't be certain of, but it certainly was the sort of tactical maneuver he would expect.

"Intercept in 3 minutes" came l'Rissa's voice from the helm.

"Torpedoes ready" said Ayana from tactical.

"Full scan" said Shran, a sudden frightful thought coming to mind.

"Breen vessel dropping out of warp" said L'Rissa.

"Detecting fluctuations near the magnetic poles of a class P planet" said Celes from Ops.

Shran knew his tingling in his antennae were right. The Breen hadn't been running, they had been leading them into a trap. "Ready for combat. We have additional guests" he said, his voice almost menacing.

The bridge lighting dulled as the red alert lights began to flash and the consoles lit up, becoming all the more ready for input. Celes knew Shran's thoughts. It was a perfectly laid trap by the Breen, but it had a flaw. They couldn't anticipate what vessel they might encounter, nor its captain. A Sovereign class ship in general could easily dispatch several foes, and the Washington had proven that more times than she cared to admit. Shran was battled tested against the Breen though, he knew how they thought, and his tactics against them would be their doom. Her sensors gave new information and she knew exactly what that information was even before viewing it. "Detecting three additional Breen frigates on an intercept course. ETA 4 minutes."

"Disable that bait vessel, then bring us to bear against the others" Shran ordered.

The Washington fired phasers and a pair of photons at the Breen ship, each shot hitting true. Ayana done a masterful job, and the Breen vessel began to pitch and roll erratically as the engines were disabled and the ship began to float lifelessly in space.

Shran hit his comm badge, =^=Shran to Grayson and Stonebridge, prepare to beam aboard Breen ship. Ready for combat transport, we have incoming. =^=

The Andorian's focus returned to the task at hand. Once they beamed the away teams to the ship, they had to deal with the three that had been in wait and were now closing on them. They couldn't let them get past the Washington and they couldn't allow them a clean shot at the disable vessel either.

"Transport complete" said Celes.

"Raising shields" came a reply from Ayana.

Shran grinned as his bridge officers functioned with precision. "Ready quantum torpedoes. Target the lead ship, phasers on standby. Transfer auxiliary power to forward shields." Shran watched the tactical display in earnest as he readied his orders. "Fire" he said suddenly and the quantum torpedoes launched and streaked towards their target, hitting true and blowing the enemy vessel into several pieces.

The Washington rocked as the other two Breen vessels peppered it with torpedo blasts. Shran ordered for the phasers to fire and streams of light and energy flung from the ship and hit one of the Breen vessels causing it to veer away from the powerful ship. Shran could hear Celes calling out damage while Ayana was giving out tactical information, Shran absorbing it all and making calculations in milliseconds.

"Target the vessel to the port, quantum torpedoes, fire." Another Breen ship burst into a fireball in space, atmosphere swallowed in brief flame as the hull shattered. Suddenly the Washington shook once more as the other Breen vessel hit them again. As if ordered psychically, Ayana once again fired the phasers, hitting the Breen vessel twice and sending it into a spin, the damage clearly causing the Breen vessel to lose engines. Shran watched as the Washington spun around nearly 90 degrees like a dancer flying through the air and then gave the order, watching as a quantum torpedo streaked away, slamming into the damaged vessel and causing it to shatter like a window breaking from a projectile impact.

He looked to Celes and she could sense his gaze. "No further sensor contacts" she said calmly.

"End red alert. Keep us at yellow alert" Shran said, cautious now after this attempted ambush. He considered the situation carefully, even as Celes began to inform him of the damage to the ship. "Send damage control teams to the affected areas, and keep us in transporter range of the away teams. Full scan of that planet. Launch probes to gather additional data." Shran sat in deep thought, contemplating the possibilities. He feared they may have stumbled upon a Breen beachhead into the Federation, and that didn't sit well with him at all.