Lt. JG. Gnai - Uno Reverse Card
Lich
(( Bridge – Deck 1, USS Artemis-A ))
An alert flashed on Gnai’s screen, whatever the Artemis had done (or hadn’t done, as who knew whether their actions had caused this, or if it was simply their presence in the system had finally been noticed… it could have been any number of things as far as Gnai could tell, Orions being to its mind a slightly fickle bunch like all the rest of the humanoids) had garnered a response. A response… that confused Gnai slightly.
Gnai: Sir… it looks like the Orion ship has ::beat, still mildly stupefied:: powered down its shields momentarily? Maybe to use transporters to get to the base. ::looking again at its console, still confused:: But they’re nowhere near close enough to Moric to beam anything down or up… No transporter has that range!
Tho’Bi: ::Quietly:: Oh no. ::looks across at Jovenan:: The Orions are trying to back channel our Transporter protocol ::beat:: use it to beam aboard ::shakes head:: but it’s not going to work ::beat:: our fake locator is just going to bounce them back ::beat:: but with the roundtrip delay ::beat:: We have to warn them!
Why the Orions would be trying to beam onto a shielded vessel was inconceivable to Gnai, but humanoids were being humanoids, and doing weird things it guessed. It was a stupid waste of life, but Gnai couldn’t do anything about it if they were going to try such a thing. Even without the transporter protocol whatever that was going on, trying to beam aboard a ship with shields up was a tried and true method for failure.
Jovenan: Hail them! =/\= Orion destroyer, do not attempt to board us! Your men will be bounced back into the space! Repeat, do not attempt boarding! =/\=
At her station, Ens. Cole muttered something under her breath that Gnai couldn’t make out.
Tho’Bi: ::dry swallow:: We got what we needed.
Jovenan: Visualisation to the main viewer.
The viewscreen lit up with a representation of the planet, dotted with bright spots that must represent the Orions’ network.
Tho’Bi: Looks like they have receivers all over Galaris IV ::looks at Jovenan:: could be for Ensign Imril’s Transmitters ::tilts his head one way:: Could be for Ensign Bancroft’s Nano Virus ::tilts head over way:: could be both.
Jovenan: As in, the receiver that caused the particles on the Grunder soldier’s body to move? ::pause:: They have indeed been monitoring the entire war.
Gnai: This would be interested to see more of how they have been monitoring things…
But that wasn’t very relevant to the task at hand. Just curiosity, however, about how they had been keeping an eye on the ground all this time. It reminded Gnai a little of the Meirashi situation, not exactly, but just a little. Same culprits at least, but in this century now.
Tho’Bi: ::to Jovenan:: Lieutenant Commander ::beat:: If we get close enough ::beat:: I can use the SubSpace Transceivers embedded into ship’s’ hull ::beat:: to work around the jamming ::beat:: and contact our people on the Moonbase…
Why that hadn’t been suggested nor tried first, Gnai had no clue.
Tho’Bi: ::continues:: But ::beat:: it means maintaining ::dry mouth:: a geo-stationary orbit ::beat:: directly above the moonbase ::beat:: at less than two thousand meters ::beat:: If the Orions decide to attack ::beat:: we’d be sitting dogs.
Jovenan: ::shakes head:: Absolutely not, Ensign. The Orions just tried to board us, and they lost their team in the process. We are not going to lower our shields. ::pause:: What’s the status of the destroyer? Are they preparing for an attack?
It would be mighty stupid of them to do so, but then again, Gnai hadn’t been too impressed with anyone non-Starfleet in this system’s level of intelligence so far this mission. With the exception of the scientist and engineer they had beamed aboard, the rest of the aliens they’d met (Orions included) seemed prone to reckless ideas based on faulty logic or understanding of technology.
Cole: ::looking over scans:: They are powering their engines ::reading date:: weapons are armed and their turning for an attack run.
Just great, really. Fantastic, even.
Gnai: How many of their systems even work, after the… transporter accident they manifested?
From what it had seen of the brief images across the screen of the other ship, there was a non-zero chance that someone had been partially beamed into something crucial, like an EPS flow conduit to a disruptor bank. For all Gnai had been worried earlier, upon observing the actions of these Orions, it was far less concerned that they were in mortal danger.
Tho’Bi: Response
Jovenan: Ensign Tho’Bi, Lieutenant Gnai. Try to establish communications with the away team with the transporter protocol or whichever similar method works. Try to ascertain their status. Maybe we can do something for them without putting ourselves in danger. I’ll try to buy you time.
Gnai: Aye, sir!
That much it could attempt. It was far from a communications officer, nor did it understand exactly what was going on with the signals that the Orions were using that they were piggybacking off of, but it was more likely to be successful at that than anything combat-related.
Tho’Bi: Response
Jovenan: Ensign Cole. We… We might be going into a battle. Open fire only when I order you to, and to disable, not to destroy. Try to disable first their weapons, then their engines. If and only if I say so, we will try to ram their shields as you suggested. Prepare for that possibility.
Cole: ::small smirk:: Copy that. I’ll aim to be politely disabling, unless things get impolite. Then we’ll see how well their shields hold up. ::fingers already dancing over the tactical console::
Lt. Cmdr. Jovenan stood up from where she had been seated in the Captain’s Chair, stepping closer to the viewscreen. That seemed a bit more of a precarious position to be in compared to sitting in a chair, at least in Gnai’s perspective, but there was something to be said about how confident it made her look. Pros and cons to everything, it guessed.
Jovenan: Red alert. Battle stations.
At her order, the lights on the bridge shifted to red, klaxons blaring. Gnai hated this part, as it made concentrating on the task at hand ever so slightly harder, with all the various new sensory inputs. Not that it had been consulted much on the design of the alert systems for Starfleet, as even its progenitor hadn’t budded off of its own progenitor when they had been designed, it presumed. Not that it knew which Galadoran it had been produced from, but making a guesstimate based on generations and whatnot…
Jovenan: Hail the destroyer and the base, try all the methods we have available. =/\= Orion destroyer and the Moric Base. This is the Federation starship Artemis. You are in possession of Starfleet officers. We demand their immediate release and the cease of all hostilities against us. The one of you in charge, please respond. =/\=
As she spoke, Gnai tapped away at its console, trying to figure out ways to get around the jamming, presuming that Ens. Tho’Bi was already hard at work with his solution. No need to step on his toes, and trying to prod at the jamming from all angles might help produce results faster.
Orion Destroyer (D’Kall’s Revenge): =/\= Federation Starship Artemis, you have already demonstrated a gross overreach of your presence in this system, and a callous disregard for life. The D’Kall’s Revenge will not comply, nor will it stand by and let the Galaris system be overtly influenced by the Federation. =/\=
An alert crossed Gnai’s console, and it turned in its tank towards Lt. Cmdr. Jovenan. What that woman on board the D’Kall’s Revenge was saying, she was planning to back up with force.
Gnai: This still isn’t able to hail the away team yet, but sensors read an increase in power to their disruptors!
Tho’Bi/Cole/Jovenan: Response
D’Kall’s Revenge: =/\= Federation Starship, we don’t want to fire, but you’re giving us no choice. Retreat from this moon back towards Galaris IV. =/\=
That was a blatant lie, and Gnai presumed that everyone knew it. It was obvious that they were just posturing, planning to get rid of the smaller ship and any evidence towards their meddling in the system.
Tho’Bi/Cole/Jovenan: Response
All of a sudden, instead of a release of disruptor energy towards the Artemis and her shields, Gnai’s console registered a large explosion onboard the D’Kall’s Revenge. It seemed that its guess earlier had been right, at least one of their weapons systems had been damaged from the transporter accident, much to the Artemis’ luck.
Before it could point that out, however, there was a new alert on its console, one even more worrisome.
Gnai: Sir, it looks like the D’Kall’s Revenge has gone to full impulse? They… they may be trying to ram the Artemis’ shields!
And with the larger ship, and greater momentum, the Artemis was more likely to be the loser in this scenario, as far as Gnai presumed. Ens. Cole’s suggestion, turned against them, could be disastrous for the ship.
Tho’Bi/Cole/Jovenan: Response
Tags/TBC :)