Lieutenant Vailani Zoyara - It's Always Torpedoes
Ava Munro
(( Cockpit of the USS Acheron - Ebers System, Balancar Sector, Alpha Quadrant ))
Zoyara didn't even have to be here. That was the only thing that went through her mind. It was fortunate for them that she had been, of course. She had concerned herself largely with diagnosing and then repairing the hack of the station. It could be up to the tactical or security officer to investigate who or what could have been responsible for it.
Given their preoccupation with phases, torpedoes and anything that goes boom she wondered if they had any room left for actual investigatory skills. She had yet to meet a Starfleet grunt that didn't think a problem could be resolved by fist or weapons.
She'd have rather been managing her investments on Ferenginar. There was nothing more relaxing than scouring through ledgers to find the obscure taxes and levies the Ferengi would try to add. Bliss.
Instead she was here, in a tug of war with a rift with some other ship hauling space debris at them.
K’Wara: All we’ve got is conjecture at this stage, but we have to try something. At least the phasers won’t be shooting at us anymore. ::looks at Storm:: Alex, what’re our options? Can we do anything on this side to knock them loose, or loosen the Rift’s grip on them?
Storm: I have an idea, but it depends on how much power we have at our disposal.
That was a good question but the answer was not the best. They didn't have a lot of power if they were to keep the engines and shields running. She'd already shut down non critical systems.
Cole: Sir, I think I’ve cleared up the signal. =/\= Unknown vessel, repeat that. =/\=
Unknown Vessel: =/\= ::static:: I repeat, This is ::static:: …der Hinkly. I have been stuck in the pull of this special anomaly for … I honestly don’t even know anymore. Any assistance you could offer would be greatly appreciated. =/\=
Vailani: Der Hinkly?
Storm: Response
Zoyara waited on the mission lead K'Wara who seemed to deliberate their choices.
Cole: ::raises her hand:: I have an idea.
Zoyara let out a barely noticeable sigh… who can guess that it involves torpedoes or phasers?
K’Wara: Let’s hear it.
Cole: If this Hinkly person has a torpedo or equivalent on their ship what if we each fire and detonate them at the same point. The explosion might be enough that the wake of it might knock them loose.
oO Prophets spare me Oo
Storm: Even if they don’t, we could put a torpedo into the rift’s throat and detonate early—let the shockwave kick their hull sideways out of the grip.
Vailani: I'm not sure throwing torpedoes at unstable rifts is a good idea. I'm not a scientist but we have low shields, and not a lot of power to get out of the way fast if things do go bad.
Cole: We could always consider it a plan B.
Storm: Yes! ::Turning around to look at Cole, her eyes glowing iridescent:: But if we both had a torpedo, and we both did the same thing - detonating our torpedos before they reach the other shuttle, we could potentially knock each other free of our respective rifts!
Zoyara looked towards K'Wara almost begging them to put an end to this madness. Was it the rift? Was it her? Had she lost her edge?
In many ways Storm and Cole reminded her of Luxa, she would definitely fire a torpedo at a rift just to see what would happen. Then again, she's being held together by containment fields because of that very instinct. Maybe not the best example…
K’Wara: ::unusually stern voice:: We are not shooting explosive material at a space-time rift that is already expanding irregularly. ::to Natasha:: It’s a Plan E, as far as I’m concerned. ::thinks:: Although... Sending a load of something into the rift is not a bad idea. ::to Vailani:: LT Vailani, do we have anything - or have the capacity to replicate anything - that could be deployed inside the rift, to calm it? Or make our vessels more capable of escaping?
Vailani: I can't believe I'm going to say this. If we remove the matter antimatter charge and replace it with micro-gravition gel with a pulse when it detonates it should cause the rift to contract, the motion would likely free the ship if we work with the other ship as they would need to ignite the gel with the actual pulse. Granted, this is pure speculation.
Storm: And we happen to have two torpedoes!
Zoyara nodded.
K’Wara: There is the problem of him seeing us shoot what looks like a torpedo at him, and trying to intercept it with a torpedo of his own. We want to avoid that, or we’ll still end up blowing this rift open.
Vailani: :: to Cole :: Do we still have Comms?
Cole: Response
Storm: Cole, can you see if they have a torpedo of their own?
Vailani: I can send over the exact configuration we need :: smiles and boastful :: We can call it the Vailani Maneuver.
Maybe that would impress her father, he didn't have a maneuver named after him.
Cole: Response
K’Wara: Well, sounds like we have our plan ready to go. LT Vailani, get the solution inserted into the torpedoes. LT Storm, once the payload’s been replaced, get the scatter-pedoes locked and loaded. And Natasha? Try and get Mr. Hinkly to not shoot at the one coming to shock him loose.
The team all worked fast, years of training kicked into action. For Zoyara’s part she had scrambled through the inner workings of the shuttle. Once inside the torpedo loading area she had manually disengaged the antimatter chamber and replaced it with the replicated ingredients.
Vailani: :: to Storm :: =/\= Torpedo ready for programming =/\=
Once she re-entered the shuttle cockpit with the others she nodded towards K'Wara.
Storm: I’ve got our torpedo programmed.
Go-time.
Storm: One wrong beat and we scatter ourselves among the stars instead.
K’Wara: Let’s not do that. Time to test whether Hinkly got your message, Natasha. ::to Alex:: LT Storm, once we confirm that the torpedo has reached Hinkly’s shuttle, I trust you’ll be ready to detonate ours.
Cole/Storm: Response
K’Wara: Launch the first torpedo.
Zoyara felt the tension as the torpedo - now loaded with a material that would hopefully solve this issue without making the rift bigger - went flying towards the rift.
Vailani: There she goes.
Cole/Storm: Response
K’Wara: That’s our cue. Hit it!
Cole/Storm: Response
Zoyara watched as the torpedo entered the rift and with very little fanfare the casing came apart and a purple vapour extended throughout the rifts opening. Shortly after this they saw the bolt of light come from Der Hinkly’s shuttle and then explode within the purple vapour.
Vailani: Did it work?
Zoyara asked it to no one in particular as she looked to her own scans. Nothing.
Cole/Storm/K'Wara: Response
Then the rift lit up, gradually. A brilliant purple haze rippled throughout the rift as it convulsed and contracted.
Vailani: Anything from Hinkly?
Cole/Storm/K'Wara: Response
TAG/TBC
Lieutenant Vailani Zoyara
First Officer
USS Artemis-A
A240004LL2