On The Job Training – First Strike
by HoD Ro' Matlh & Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope & Soghla' Marie St. Helene

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Title   First Strike
Mission   On The Job Training
Author(s)   HoD Ro' Matlh & Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope & Soghla' Marie St. Helene
Posted   Wed Feb 17, 2016 @ 3:36am
Location   USS Prospero
"The Tau Cupa system is the best place for the ambush," the Acting Captain Masters was explaining to his fellow recruits with the aid of star map. "The Emissions nebula here would mask our ship from sensors, and the FHew has to pass close to it to avoid the Asteroid field here. They are expecting an attack however, so they will be focused on the Nebula. We will come from this vector. The Blue Giant Star will mask our approach until we are within weapons range. We should be able to secure first strike. The FHew will then have a choice of fighting in the open, where they are out gunned, or making a run for the nebula, which will disable their cloak and give us an equal advantage."

"Most likely then they will turn and run for the asteroid belt where they will have maneuverability on their side. However, that will expose their flank. They do not have rear facing weaponry, so they will probably raise their cloak. With our first strike we have tagged them and so we will have a few clear shots at them, with their shield down. It should be enough to severely inhibit their performance. Captain Ro' will not surrender though. He will wait till his ship registered as destroyed."

"Or ours," muttered Morse from Operations.

The ACO ignored him and turned to the two human observers, Tell and Marie, "What do you think, Sirs?"

“Are you asking for an opinion,” Marie asked, “or hoping I might let something slip which will give you an advantage? By the way, I think the correct form of address in Starfleet-speak is 'Ma'am'.”

"Yes, sir... ma'am."

"Vessel on long range sensors!" called Tactical. "It's the FHew!"

Commander Davis stood up from the Captain's chair and moved next to Marie and Tell, "Acting Captain Masters, you have the Bridge."

Masters stepped forward quickly and got into the chair, "Helm, Move us into position between the FHew and the star."

"Aye, sir!"

The ship moved into a place where the emissions of the start drowned out their own presence.

"Stand by all systems. We want to be as close as possible when we move to attack. Delaine, are we ready with the marker torpedoes?"

"Aye sir," replied Tactical. "Our first payload have telemetry markers loaded in place of detonation warheads. If they try and hide, we'll find them."

Commander Davis leaned in with a smirk to the two FHew crewman observers, "Want to wager that your Captain has no intention of running anyway?"

“Do you only bet on certainties?” Marie sneered. “He won’t run. He’ll just manoeuvre to better position himself to attack. How about we make the bet interesting? How about.... He’s expecting something like telemetry markers and has already worked out how to use them to his advantage.”

Davis looked impressed, "If he has anticipated telemetry markers... that means he is expecting the first volley of weaponry to have no payload. That will make things interesting."

"Mark!" called Masters.

The USS Prospero leapt forward and bore down on the Fhew. For a while she continued without changing her course. Then she turned sharply towards the Prospero.

"Fire Phasers to keep her from cloaking," he ordered. "Fire markers as soon as you get a lock!"

Yellow beams danced towards the FHew, which returned disruptor fire. The burst were short and precise, waiting till they had a lock on the Federation vessel before firing.

"Well, it's not HoS at Tactical," Davis mused.

"Shields holding. Minimal damage to target."

"Markers away!"

Five brilliant points of light sped from the front of the Prospero. The FHew spun impossibly, avoiding three of them, but two struck glancing blows.

"We have a single positive lock, sir. Telemetry clean."

"Stand by to... What is he doing?" Masters paused. The FHew was still running full speed towards them.

"She's running right down our guns.. and accelerating," Morse's voice cried with alarm.

“Well, 'Ro is a Klingon,” Marie observed. “I told you he wouldn’t run.”

"He's never run from anything in his life and he's not about to start now. I presume your about to do something?"

"They can't... they can't ram us...." Masters wondered.

"The simulation isn't set to acknowledge that!" Morse was beginning to panic.

"Er... hard about!," Masters tried. "No, wait, go up, protect the bridge, bearing 0 mark 45. Er...."

"Answering zero mark four five."

The FHew ran towards them, still accelerating.

"1000 meters!"

"Brace for impact!" Masters bellowed, white faced.

Marie planted her feet firmly, knees slightly bent. She gripped the console in front of her, her muscles ready to react to absorb any sudden forces.

Here we go again thought Tell as she watched Marie take a stand against what was about to happen. Ro' was showing off and he was very good at it. It wouldn't do any harm to hold onto something she supposed. A small smirk appeared at the corners of her mouth this was going to be fun.

An instant before impact the FHew suddenly lowered her shields. She crashed through the Prospero's Navigational shields. The On Board computer registered the hit and took the shields off line, as if they had been damaged.

As the FHew passed within meters of the hull the crew could suddenly see a trail of photon torpedoes behind her, now closing on them. This close to the much larger ship the torpedoes became confused and hit the Prospero instead. Alarms sounded and systems around the bridge shut down to simulate battle damage.

Davis was impressed, "He set a vollet of Torpedoes to target his own ship and then led them right to us. He knew the computer would not be able to differentiate between a ship passing through the shields and a proper weapon impact. Inspired!"

The FHew's own shields, being lowered as they passed, had not registered the impact and raised again now as the FHew came about.

"Report?" Masters bellowed. His recruit colleagues struggled to get answers.

"Damage to RCS thrusters, lower defensive shields, starboard pulse phaser and a hull breach on decks 7 and 8. The computer is closing off floors 6 down which will slow down repairs."

"We still have engines and most of our weapons. The FHew will be trying to hug our starboard ventral side. Prepare firing solutions for that vector."

"Sir, there is another ship emerging from the emission Nebula. It is a Cardassian Galor class and it is firing on the FHew!"

Commander Davis looked at Tell and Marie, "This isn't part of the exercise. They could be in real danger. Do you know anything about this?"

“Check your sensors again,” Marie advised. “There shouldn't be any hostile Cardassians out here so it might be another trick.”

"Sensor checks confirmed. The Klingons are taking damage. They are trying to get behind us."

"That means we might take some heat in the cross fire. Adjust pitch to give maximum Dorsal shielding towards the Cardassians," Masters instructed.

Marie leaned in towards Tell. “Something’s not right here,” she whispered. “Ro’ wouldn’t run behind another ship and take cover; he’d fight back.”

Tell wasn't entirely sure. It could be a ruse of some kind by Ro'. But this wasn't the type of exercise she had thought it was going to be. Acting only on what her gut feeling was telling her she said, "You're right, he wouldn't run."

"With what?" Commander Davis addressed the women again. "Until I transmit the release codes his weapons are offline and his ship will continue to shut systems down automatically, just like ours. Do you have any objections to dropping the discontinuing the training exercise? If you agree I will release the computer controls so we can get our weapons and ship operational again."

"Then do it before we run out of time," ordered Tell. Marie nodded her acquiescence.

Davis spoke aloud, "Computer, transmit weapon release codes to the FHew; authorization Delta Alpha Victor 564."

The computer gave a negative beep - Unable to comply. -

"The Cardassians are jamming communications, sir," Morse provided.

"Then our hands are tied. The computers will not release normal operations until the commander of the opposing ship authorizes it," Davis supplied, "or a catastrophic event, such as one ship being totally destroyed."

Tactical station chimed in, "We have confirmation that the ship belongs to a Gul Ivec. Reports indicate he was defeated and humiliated by Ro' in 2373, then again in 2374."

"And now we are seeing a grudge match," Davis concluded.

Masters turned to Davis and the two women, "Sirs, the FHew is out of her league at the best of times. Without weapons and proper defenses she doesn't stand a chance. We are likewise limited in our tactical capabilities. I would appreciate any advice you could give."

“As you said,” Marie replied, turning her head towards Morse, “the FHew is outgunned at the best of times. Ro’ is used to that.” She turned her gaze back to Davis. “On the other hand, Ivec is likely to think he has the advantage and act accordingly.”

Davis nodded, "I think I understand you. You expect Iver to get cocky and make a mistake. Tactical keep a weapons lock on the Cardassians."

“I advise against doing anything hasty. Watch Ro’ and follow his lead. My guess is he’ll lead the Cardassians up the garden path then neatly turn the tables when he’s ready. However, if you get a shot at their communications array, take it. No need to put all our eggs in one basket.”

"Only trouble with that plan," Masters responded, "Is that OUR weapons are offline as well, until Ro' can transmit the signal."

"Uh... sirs," Morse asked. "I... I think there might be a problem."

"Report!" Masters and Davis said in perfect unison.

"The FHew is running drive plasma through her weapons line."

A twinkle appeared in Marie’s eye as she smiled knowingly at Tell. “Brace yourselves for a big bang,” she yelled.

"What?" Masters looked around. "What are they...."

"Sir, she's overloading. Warp core breach imminent."

"Our shields are down facing her," Masters spoke quickly, beam as many of the crew as we can out before..."

"She won't lower her shields , sir," Morse interrupted.

"Warp breach!" Tactics called. "The IKC FHew is gone... no survivours..."

Lights and control panels around the ship suddenly lit up and a Computerized voice intoned, -Simulation completed. All ships functions returning to standard operational parameters.-

Davis was about to speak when Masters interrupted him. "Fire weapons at the Cardassian ship. I want it disabled and captured with a tractor beam!"

There was a flurry of weapons fire, as the pent frustration and aggression was unleashed on the hapless Galor vessel. Within a matter of moments the ship was disabled and locked on.

"We are being hailed by Gul Iver," Morse reported.

"Let him sit in his tin can and stew," Masters growled.

"Ensign," Commander Davis spoke quietly. "I believe you will find that the simulation is over and I am now in command of this vessel again."

"But, sir," Masters exploded, "They destroyed the FHew. She was helpless and they tore her apart, killing all hands."

Davis glanced at the two remaining crewmen observers with a smile, "What do you think, Ladies? Is it worth searching through the wreckage for survivors?"

Marie looked at Tell. The initial shock had hit her like a blow to the stomach: a Klingon blow. That first reaction was fading fast and reason was reasserting itself. “Look, by all means, but you won’t find any. In fact, you won’t find any wreckage. Ro’ wouldn’t go out like that. Hell, he wouldn’t even put himself in a position where such a catastrophic explosion was a possibility. He’s pulled a trick of some kind.”

Even as she said it, it sounded hollow, but for some stupid reason she believed it nonetheless.

Tell shook her head. Nothing about this was right. "We've been almost destroyed before." she said quietly to Marie "The Cap'n is far too clever to bow out like this. I'll bet a months wages that he is hiding somewhere and I for one won't stop till I find him and when I do...."

"Hiding?" Morse mused, "I wonder..."

He tapped at his console and then gave a little cry of triumph, "Sir, I am getting telemetry from our probe. The FHew is intact and cloaked."

Davis' smile broadened, "Our sensors would register it destroyed as part of the simulation, which then unlocked our systems. Well, done, Captain Ro'. That man never ceases to impress."

"Signal the FHew they can join us as soon as we collect our Cardasian guest in the Brig."