Lt.Cmdr Taelon - Hold Your E-Horses

[armiece]

(( Emergency LZ, Outside Zumaris High Command ))

Taelon: Entirely, General. ::He took in a slow breath, then-:: Moore, Zakrem, let’s find, um, a way to delay those shuttles. Scrambling their nav systems might do the trick. Moore, you’ve looked at the UAW’s systems, I trust?

Moore: Only what The Kepler sent me… I’ve been focused on the defense down here, so mostly looking at their weapons systems, but from what I know, their modern ships use bioneural systems with secondary backups. ::Looking up from his PADD:: But the backups are for emergencies instead of full system operations… ::Looking back at his PADD:: At least how I understood it. Data was limited.

Zakrem: Scrambling their nav might be useful or redirecting them.

Byu’I’Vera: Response

Taelon: If we can get a connection to them, getting a computer virus in through their comms should be…::Easy wasn’t the right word; it wasn’t like the UAW didn’t have any sort of cybersecurity. But he was confident - or as confident as he ever was - that he could bypass them.:: Simple enough, I think.

Moore: Except you’re using the Zumardi computer systems to do it. Which could take away from necessary defensive command and control… And that is assuming the Zumardi systems are robust enough on their own to handle that kind of widespread hack attempt… ::Thinking for a moment.:: But The Indy could do it, easily! We outclass UAW in computer power before their weakened systems. We could remotely guide The Indy’s systems using the secondary and tertiary computer cores to handle the attack… We might be court-martialed for this since orders are to not get involved, but it would save lives, so… ::Looking at Zakrem, and then Taelon.:: Screw it! I’ll take some vacation time in New Zealand if it means saving lives… Let’s do it!

Byu’I’Vera: Response

Moore’s rapid suggestions spun around in Taelon’s head - the comment about being court martialed certainly derailed him. He didn’t want to lose his career.  But what could they do?

Taelon: Then let’s do it. I don’t think - we’re out of time. So let’s, um, get this done. And pray it works…

Iko: =/\= Bec to Taelon’s crew, report. =/\=

Moore: =/\= We read you! =/\= ::He then very quietly mouthed to the others.:: Were we hot comming?

Zakrem: No. We are just out of time.


Taelon: =/\= Um, we were hoping to find a way to delay the shuttles… =/\=

Iko: =/\= We're attempting to jam their sensors with photonic sparkle kind of things. =/\=

Sparkle-what-now? Taelon paused, uncertain.

 Moore: =/\= Yeah, you just need to make a big enough cloud, run the torpedoes dirty, more charged matter than antimatter, so you spread the charged particles in all directions when they explode. =/\=

Taelon: =/\= Um, torpedoes? =/\=

Iko: =/\= Kaito you don't happen to have your e-war suite on you, do you? =/\=

Moore: =/\= Umm… No, it's built into The Indy’s jamming systems. You should have access to it. I know we haven’t gone over how to use my suite yet, but I designed it to be user-friendly. That being said, Commander Taelon has an idea that the e-war could be key for it to work. =/\=

Zakrem: =/\= It is not a plan of observation though. Have talks fallen apart that badly? =/\=

Taelon: =/\= Well, I - ::Zakrem was right. If they were going to do this, it’d have to be something they showed the Zumardi how to do.:: Um, if the talks have gone that badly, then we should… =/\=

Iko/Seleya/Hopper: =/\= Response =/\=

Moore: =/\= By my estimates, we would just need access to the secondary processing, but this could stop the Zumardi dropships dead in their tracks. Hopefully not in a decaying orbit. The other option is to start shooting down their dropships from here. =/\=

Zakrem: =/\= Still not within our mandate. =/\=

Taelon: =/\= No, no shooting, not unless- =/\=

Iko/Seleya/Hopper: =/\= Response =/\=

Moore: =/\= Copy that. We’ll be ready. Hey, Bec! When you activate the suite, make sure to use the new audio noise, and try to record their comms traffic. I want to test the effectiveness of my upgrades. =/\=

Taelon: =/\= Hold on, if the talks haven’t fallen apart, we shouldn’t -  =/\=

Moore: General! ::Turning towards Byu’I’Vera:: Just in case this does not work. I have a defensive strategy for the landing ships. One that will heavily reduce Zumardi casualties. ::He offered over his PADD:: It’s all on here, ma’am.

Byu’I’Vera: Response

Moore: Using both your kinetic guns and missile systems, you can down the transports… Here is the part you might not like… You need to shoot them when they are breaking the atmosphere; that is when their shields are the weakest. Use your kinetic guns to drop the shields and missile swarms to damage their flight systems. Of course, this means you have to engage them before they land, but it would stop them from landing in one piece. Technically, at that point, they are invading your airspace; you can warn them off, and if they ignore your warnings… Hippity Hoppity, this is Zumardi Property.

Taelon stared at Moore for a long moment, mouth half-open. What did hippity hoppity mean? The younger officer had taken off running, so to speak, and Taelon felt rather left behind. 

Byu’I’Vera: Response

Zakrem: You need to give the order for us to get involved on the ground Sir. ::looking at Taelon:: Or we need to hold to our mandate of observation.

Taelon was getting lost, frankly, in the sea of voices. But Zakrem’s calmer, more stoic tone was helpful; he leaned towards the man instinctively.

Taelon: You’re, um, right. I…

Zakrem: I am not saying we do not need to give them all the tools in the world but I am saying need to tamp down our interference. That line is rapidly approaching.

Moore: Response

Zakrem: General if your plan is to meet them in the field then do it. Engage if they engage. That is the right way to handle this. From there it becomes standard engagement rules. Fight how the Zumardi have always fought.

Taelon rubbed his face, head hurting. They still didn’t have time to waffle, but - the Zumardi computers would have to do. They could give them the cyberwarfare technique, but not execute it themselves.

Taelon: Alright. Alright - Moore, no e-war suite. Get one of the Zumardi’s computer terminals, and we will see what they can, um, do.

Zakrem/Moore/Byu’I’Vera: Response

Taelon: Zakrem is, um, right. We are here to advise. Not to - not to do things on our own. And, um, I don’t want to lose my career. So - Moore, tell Iko not to activate the suite, not until we get an order to, um, do that. And hope she doesn’t launch those torpedoes…

Moore had seemed strangely blase to the idea of getting court martialed, but Taelon had lost his place in Starfleet once already, and it hadn’t been a vacation. He didn’t want to go through that again.

Zakrem/Moore/Byu’I’Vera: Response

Taelon: General, your comms network and orbitals should be, um, capable of producing the effect we - I mean, an effect that would help you. An EMP tuned for their systems would delay them, at the very, um, least….

Zakrem/Moore/Byu’I’Vera: Response


Lieutenant Commander Taelon
Chief Science Officer
Amity Outpost
O239303T10