Training Room – MIA...
by HoD Ro' Matlh & Lieutenant JG Linx Moonshadow & Ensign Israna Haan & Sogh Germite Ephilom & Ne' Michelle "Mike" Young & Ne' Mariaa'n Si'van & Soghla' Marie St. Helene & Soghla' Jared & Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope & Soghla' HIchop Matlh

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Title   MIA...
Mission   Training Room
Author(s)   HoD Ro' Matlh & Lieutenant JG Linx Moonshadow & Ensign Israna Haan & Sogh Germite Ephilom & Ne' Michelle "Mike" Young & Ne' Mariaa'n Si'van & Soghla' Marie St. Helene & Soghla' Jared & Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope & Soghla' HIchop Matlh
Posted   Mon May 05, 2014 @ 4:41am
Location   USS Prospero Bridge
Morse reported back to HIchop, "I am still reading over three hundred life forms scattered over the station, but she is in bad shape. Structural integrity is failing. It will take us five to ten minutes to beam everyone out, and that is assuming we get good locks each time. We will need our shields to be down for half of that.

Hichop sighs "300", lifts his head and calls out "I will not give an order to lower shields to beam them on, so, does anyone have any suggestions that do not involve us being blown out of the sky by a Warbird."

The Vulcan turns in his chair, "Sir, at this point only a single aggressor has been observed. It is conceivable that we could keep the station between us and the enemy, or even just lower the shields facing the station and not those facing a potential enemy."

Hichop was pleased with the suggestion "Excellent option. Use Jarad and make it happen. Save as many as you can but let me make it clear. We will Warp out of here as soon as we are able, even if it is mid transport".

Morse Nodded and moved over to Jared at Science.

Hichop continued towards Jarad and science "and while you are doing that I want science to work out a way to light this bastard up. They can't be that far away from us"

Jared began, "I think I can..."

Then there was a green glow surrounding him and he was gone. HIchop spun to see Lynx was also gone.

"Shields up!" He barked to May'bel. "We go now!"

At the same moment, in Medical, Mike disappeared from the bio bed. The confused cadets looked to Germite.

Germite put his hands up. "I don't know. I didn't order a transport."

On the Bridge the security team that had been with Israna reported she had been snatched and the rest of the team was returning to the bridge.

"What happened?" one of the Science cadets asked.

"The bastards were waiting for us to drop our shields for transport," another answered. "They new we would try and affect a rescue."

"Why not just shoot at us?"

"This way," The Vulcan responded, "they do not need to lower their cloak or expose themselves to retaliation fire."

"Moorings are clear," Masters called, "We are free to maneuver."

May'bel swore, "Qu'vatlh! Here she comes!"

The main viewer turned on in time to show image of the 1.2km bulk of a Romulan B Class D'deridex Warbird decloaking above the station.

"We have Phasers but no torpedoes, and we are still two min... make that 93 seconds away from being Warp power."

Hichop's orders came think and fast "Science, It seems we have an opening to head science. So which ever of you can tell me what Jarad got back about the warbird's weapon and a way we can use it to our advantage you are in charge. Also I want to know how many of them there are out there. Get ready to flood the surrounding area with plasma to light up any other bastards cloaked out there.

Hichop continued toward Tactical. "We will have to make our phasers count. We may very well need to shoot our way out of here"

Hichop punched the panel, "Who is in charge down there in Engineering?"

"Who the hell do you think?" barked Tell back relieved to hear a voice she recognised. They were almost ready in engineering. The cadets had worked well together and she thought they had the makings of a good team. "Where's the Cap'n"

Hichop replied "It is good to hear your voice Tell. I am the Captain. Ro is missing." He paused briefly, then yelled "NOW, WHERE ARE MY ENGINES"

Ro' missing Tell heard but pushed it to the back of her mind for now until later and then she would find out more. "You'll have your engines in 3..2..1 now."

Tell turned to the cadets in the room. "Step away from the panels and relay's," she told them "I don't want you hurt."

The four man team all took a respectful step back. There was a whine as the super heated plasma reached critical point and Warp power came on line, then a series of deafening explosions as power conduits through out the ship ruptured and spilled raw plasma into the empty corridors or out into space.

For an instant power went out all over the ship. When it came back on Germite, Tell and HIchop were gone.

Masters reported, "I have lost the Port Nacelle! Navigation is failing. I can give you quarter Impulse at best."

The Vulcan added in his ever calm voice, "Shields are offline. Warp Core offline. Multiple hull breaches. Phasers at 20%. Photons off line."

Marie looked at Mariaa'n and May'bel, realizing SHE was now ranking officer.

“Get that station between us and the Warbird,” Marie yelled. “Tell, I don’t care how you do it, just get me those engines. Tactical, seeing as how we’re venting plasma anyway, see if you can direct some of it to our port and starboard. Hell, make it all around us. I want to know if anyone else is out there.

=A= Engineering here, Officer Tell has been transported away. We have lost all our primary conduits. We won't have Warp drive for another hour. If we had a full compliment of staff we may be able to cut that down, but... =A=

“You, you , you and you,” she continued, pointing at four cadets, “we’re going to do this the old fashioned way. Get down to the torpedoes and load them into the tubes.”

"Sir!" The Security officers acknowledged and hurried for the turbo lifts.

Masters on the Helm pushed for all he was worth to try and move the ship, but at one quarter impulse the movement was terribly slow.

"Second Warbird decloaking bearing 70 mark 65," the Vulcan informed.

“Vent more plasma,” Marie ordered. “Make it look like we’re dead in the water.”

The cadets were slow to respond. “HIchop named me acting First Officer. He’s not here now so that makes me the ranking officer. Do you understand, cadets?”

There were a few nods of heads and murmurs of assent. “Good, now vent that plasma.”

The Vulcan turned in his chair, "May I remind the Acting Captain that deliberate release of volatile particulates in the vicinity of a starbase contravenes the Valdez Accord, section 19, Paragraph 8.9?"

What the hell is a Valdez accord? Marie felt like yelling. She bit her lip to stop the outburst. “We’re going to vent the plasma anyway. Tell might have been able to do something to shut it down but I don’t hold out much hope without her around. So we might as well make it look good and – hopefully – get some benefit from it. Focus on one point like we’ve been severely hit. Drop shields at that point.”

"Last time we lowered shields like that they were waiting for it," May'Bel responded from tactical. "They'll most likely be ready to try the same again!"

Marie shrugged. “It will give them an access but they’ve obviously got that anyway. So what have we got to lose? We have to sell this people. We have to make them believe we’re defenseless so they break off their attack.”

"And if they do not?" the Vulcan asked.

“If they choose to continue then they blow us up. That’s the likely outcome anyway.” She was about to say something like If anyone has any better ideas then please let me know. She decided against it. They were vocal enough already; why give them room for further dissent?

She looked around the bridge at the remaining four science ensigns, “You and you get down to Engineering and give them a hand.”

She would have like to send more hands but she was running out of candidates.

May'Bel was scanning the debris around the station with tactical sensors. Looking for sections of exploded ship still with intact fusion reactors, antimatter storage, etc. Twenty percent phasers wouldn't scratch a Warbird, but it might act as a detonator for something that might...

Ensign Kezier Thornton felt useless. Her basic training hadn't prepared her for anything on this scale. "I'm a science tech Sir. I've not had any training in Engineering. I wouldn't be of any use at all."

“I don’t care if the only training you’ve received is on the history of Vulcan/Andorian relations. You’ll get down there and you’ll do as instructed.” She paused a moment. “Is that understood?” she snapped.

Kezier felt embarrassed at being reprimanded and wished she hadn't said anything at all. That would serve her right for not thinking before she spoke.

"Yes Sir" she replied "Understood"

The other cadet dispatched to Engineering took note of the interaction but held back on commenting. Only when he and Kezier were in the turbolift, did he voice his opinion.

“Why are we following her orders?” he asked. “Bad enough having to take orders from Klingons.” He placed a distinct sneer on the last word. “From what I hear, she isn’t even from a Federation world. She’s a jumped up Quartermaster who couldn’t find a better posting. Probably, no Federation vessel would have her. She might be good at inventory and bookkeeping but what does she know about combat, let alone command?”

Cadet Ralph Merriwether was a short, wiry man. He considered himself the epitome of Starfleet: loyal to the Federation and its goals; ready to put his body on the line; decisive in action. He would have been in his element in the Dominion War but that was in the past which made Merriwether a man out of his time.

"C'mon Ralph," Kezier replied "she seems to know what she's doing and the Klingon officer er... HIchop was it? He did make her first officer after all and what other choice do we have? I certainly don't want to have another run in with her."

Kezier pushed back an errant strand of hair behind her ear revealing more of her Trill spots. She felt unsure of what she was doing aboard the Prospero and hadn't expected to be involved in action so suddenly.

Ralph Merriwether really annoyed her thinking that he could always do things better than anyone else. He had a high opinion of himself and in Kezier's opinion she thought Ralph needed to be pushed off that pedestal of his.

“Yeah, well....” Merriwether replied. “She’s not Starfleet and she’s not trained for Command. You and I have more training than her. We’re better prepared and better suited to the role. So why are we taking orders from her?”

"Yes, well I think we should accept it for now." Kezier snapped at him. "I don't have the experience or the knowledge she seems to have. So leave it Ralph before we both end up in trouble."

I’ll change that, Merriwether thought. Only one of us is up to the task. You haven’t what it takes to take charge. He held his tongue. He now knew he couldn’t trust . He would wait until he sounded out other cadets before he made a move to install a proper, Starfleet, command structure. Hopefully the woman wouldn’t do anything profoundly stupid or incompetent in the meantime.

Back on the bridge, Ensign Jacquie Tapscott was studying the science station intently.

"Capt... sir... I don't understand half of what your... science officer was doing here, but... it seems he was trying to track the battle debris around the station with some kind of Brownian motion equations. He might have..."

Her eyes widened in sudden realisation, "Sir... I think he might have been trying to locate the Warbird. Something that big - especially with an artificial singularity core - would cause inconsistencies in the motion of the shrapnel and debris. I think... if I can just make head or tail of what his equations are giving me... I might be able to locate the enemy ship!"

“Good,” Marie replied. “That’s your sole focus. Let me know when you’ve got something.”

"Romulans are powering weapons!"

There was a shower of sparks and half of the bridge went dead again. Opps reported, "Direct hit through the shield hole. We've lost internal communications, Life support, Phasers..."

Morse cut in, "We are being hailed. Voice only."

The voice of a Romulan Captain cut across the Bridge, "Federation Crew, We have determined that your ship is incapable of defending itself. We have captured your command crew and VIPs. We would offer you a surrender, but there can be no witnesses to this event. Make your peace with what Gods you believe in."

A third Warbird decloaked and all turned towards the USS Prospero.

"They are locking weapons."

May'Bel didn't bother giving an order. There was only one thing to do, and no time for the starfleeters to hesitate about doing it. He leapt across the useless tactical station and in a second was beside the ensign at conn. He glanced at the navigational display for a moment to confirm a warbird was almost dead ahead, and then punched the "go" button - all ahead with everything the ship had left. Ramming speed.

In the brief moments between the engines sputtering into one last burst of life, and the impact with the Warbird, he grinned at the shocked ensign sitting beside him.

"batlh bIHeghjaj!" he said, slapping his shoulder. [May you die well]

"'ach DaHjaj biHeghbe' [But perhaps not today]", Commander Davis said stepping through the front view screen, perfectly alive and unharmed, a moment before the collision. "Computer, End program Kobiashi Maru 83 and reset."

The walls of the Prospero vanished around them and the crew, whether in Medical, engineering or the bridge, all found themselves still standing in the Holodeck where they had planned to give their lectures. On one side of the room were a panel of Admiralty and other Brass all taking notes on PADDs. Near them were the crew members who had been beamed of the ship, all looking just as confused and angry as those still on the ship.

“I finally get to command and it’s a simulation!” Marie let out a string of decidedly unfeminine profanities. “I hope these cadets learnt something because the only thing I got out of this exercise is yet another example of why I want nothing to do with Starfleet!” She continued in similar vein for several minutes. Though her voice was more muted, the gist of her grumbling was all too clear.

May'Bel looked around in surprise, and then after a moment chuckled.

"Pity," he said with a smile. "Would have made a glorious end!"

Germite had heard about a Starfleet using a simulation to weed out officers who couldn't cut the mustard for command, but he had never envisioned himself to be part of a simulation. Especially, as an unwilling participant. "None of this was real!?!"

Tell looked around her and couldn't believe it but at the same time thinking it was damn clever. She was completely fooled by it. It was only then she remembered her leg. She looked at it and expected to see no injury there but Tell was surprised to see that it had been very real. The wound was healing but it was an angry red and badly bruised.Damn it, she thought and cursed under her breath.

Ro' stepped forward, "Well, done, FHew crew. There will be a debrief in Conference Room 17 immediately."

Davis added, "For Cadets there is a separate briefing in Room 12. Dismissed."

The assembled brass simply got up and left the Holodeck. Many of the cadets stood confused. Some followed, others just stood there.

Masters approached HIchop who was still standing to one side, "Thank you, sir. It has been an education."

The Vulcan did not appear surprised. In fact he had suspected it from the beginning. Since they were in a holographic room with holographic chairs it was illogical for there to have been injuries from holographic debris when the rest of the hologram had failed. The fact that the piece of shrapnel in Tells leg had remained when they "left" the Holodeck and transferred to the Prospero had told him that they had, in fact, never left the simulation.