Ens. Gnai - Wait, But Why?
Lich
((Crew Decks - Nova Gamma Borealis))
The pirates had thrown up a clamor about the holographic ship tanking their fire and then seemingly cloaked out. But the chaos regarding the hologram had bought Gnai and its crewmates just a brief bit more time to prepare a response. They just had to talk their way out, somehow, with the clock ticking down again.
Gnai: Commander, they seem afraid of the fact that the ship appeared to have warped out. That the USS Independence is not what it claims to be. Could that be used to scare them off?
Dakora: Response
Savel: I would suggest that we capitalize on what appears to be a mixture of confusion on fear from the other vessel.
Sadar: Agreed. Perhaps- Ah! Commander, the pirates have opened comms again.
The communications system crackled to life again, the pirates’ ship showing its age.
Pirate Vessel: =/\= Perhaps we were too hasty in firing on your ship. We're not interested in making an enemy out of the Federation today. I think there's some room for conversation. One condition though, I won't negotiate with someone that I can't see. =/\=
That would be easily resolved in… Gnai looked at the chronometer again. In just a few minutes.
Savel: I will admit I am hesitant to believe they are now ready to find a peaceful solution, but as long as their efforts are focused on what they believe to be a real Starfleet vessel we should be safe.
Sadar: Agreed. ::accesses a different part of the console:: Ensign, I think this console allows for some limited interactions with the holographic equipment down in the cargo bay. Can you confirm?
Gnai stepped up to the console that Lt. Jg. Sadar had pointed out, and began to investigate the interface. Much like the holoemitter controls in the cargo bay, this was based on Federation standard, and reasonably easy to wrap its head around.
oO Holo-controls… where were the holo-controls? Oo
Gnai: Hm… ::tapping at console:: Yes, sir it does. Just re-orienting the view. Nothing else special.
Dakora: Response
Pirate Vessel: =/\= I will instruct my weapons officer to power down if you agree to talk. As a gesture of peace. In case you don't believe in my intentions. I look forward to hearing your response soon. Please. =/\=
Yes, it seemed they were spooked alright. Spooked enough to offer to disarm themselves, willingly. Gnai understood the reaction - if it was faced with someone who could disappear at will, and shrugged off every hit that it could make, it would surrender immediately as well.
Savel: Our negotiations would need to be swift, so that we did not seem to disappear once more in the middle of our conversation.
Sadar: Ideally, we want them to realize that a cloaked Starfleet vessel can do far more damage than this cruiser is worth. ::considers:: If we can use these controls to move the arrival point for the Independence to their aft side, make it seem like we’ve circled behind them undetected?
Gnai bobbed up and down in its tank, blinking with lights a bit as it understood Lt. Jg. Sadar’s train of thought.
Gnai: Yes, that’s possible to do! They seem easily spooked, this could work…
It began to tap commands into the console, trying to line up the Defiant model as best it could with the side of the other ship.
Dakora/Savel: Response
Sadar: I was thinking, in the spirit of horror stories… ::embarrassed shuffling:: An, uhh, ‘Boo’-scenario?
Gnai paused, the angle was almost there, but it seemed just a bit skewed. Horror stories, hm? Was that something that she had experience with? It seemed out of character, from what Gnai knew of the lieutenant. It certainly didn’t enjoy them, and it had assumed they both had similar levels of uneasiness with scares.
Gnai: This never really got into horror stories at the Academy…
Its quick aside over, Gnai went back to work at the console next to the Mizarian. Hm, if they wanted to be stationary, it could program the view from the ship to track along with the Independence, negating the slow creep forward that it had programmed earlier.
Dakora/Savel: Response
Sadar: Independence coming back online in 5, Sir.
Gnai: And in the correct ::pause:: “boo” position.
The Independence would appear eerily close to the pirates, guns aimed at their engines like she intended to disable them and leave the pirates stranded should they make any wrong moves. If everything turned out right, of course. It had been estimating the distances, and had played it somewhat conservatively. It wouldn’t do to have half the ship appear to intersect with the pirate ship - the jig would be up if that were the case.
Dakora/Savel: Response
Exactly at Lt. Jg. Sadar’s mark, the ship warped back in, positioned to threaten the aft section of the pirate vessel, armed and dangerous. As the pirates had promised, their own weapons were powered down and they made no attempt to try and fire on the ship again.
Dakora/Savel/Sadar: Response
Pirate Vessel: =/\= Federation vessel - USS Independence, right? Thank you for reappearing, and you’ll note that we’ve powered down our weapons systems, as promised! ::pause, light chatter in the background:: Are you ready to negotiate? =/\=
Gnai looked to its side, at Lt. Jg. Sadar, then back at Lt. Cmdr. Dakora. This was their show now, and it could only stand and hope that they could sort out this mess.
Dakora/Savel/Sadar: Response
Pirate Vessel: =/\= You just want us to beam up our people and leave…? That’s it? =/\=
All the bravado and formal speaking seemed to leave the pirate’s voice upon hearing their terms. He seemed… confused, like he expected them to arrest him for his troubles, not just leave scott-free.
Dakora/Savel/Sadar: Response
Pirate Vessel: =/\= ::puzzled:: Why do you care so much about this system? ::pause, muffled yelling about the speaker being an idiot and playing with fire:: I mean, yes, we’ll vacate it. We’ll leave! ::beat:: But what’s so special about it? =/\=
Gnai couldn’t believe it, now was the time that the pirates chose to be curious? Were they idiots? All the evidence seemed to point to that. It flashed with concern.
Dakora/Savel/Sadar: Response
Tags/TBC :)