Capt. Lia Rouiancet: Element of Surprise

[Tony Colella]

(( Bridge, Deck 1, USS Octavia E. Butler )) 

Lia's attention had been captured by the message from Argrathi Central Command to her, Lhandon, and T'Korva, and as a result her mind had wandered. The Butler was still at warp and wouldn't reach their destination within the cone of probability for some hours yet, but still, she hated to lose her focus like that.

Rouiancet: Sorry, my mind was elsewhere. Please say again.

Forsyth: (after a nod) Well, it's similar to the last one, except we enter the system very close to the star corona from the eastern side and fly around it towards the area. 

Rouiancet: Yes, that seems reasonable. How likely is it that the smugglers won't detect anything at all?

Katsim: We can’t really know for certain. 

That was fair, if not what anyone on the bridge particularly wanted to hear. 

Forsyth: As long as we drop out of warp close to the star, then we should be hidden.

It seemed it would all hinge on their proximity to the star -- at least, from their perspective. For all they knew, the cloaked smugglers had tagged the Butler on approach to Argratha and they were lighting up the smugglers' sensors even now, and even if they warped into the stellar core, they wouldn't be able to hide. But, well, better to take every precaution, especially since, as Peri noted, they couldn't know for sure.

Katsim: Scans show several moons.

Forsyth: Wait, what? 

Rouiancet: Satellites of the planets of interest?

But, she reminded herself a moment later, of course they would be, or else Peri wouldn't be bringing the moons to their attention. Okay, well, that complicated the situation, but only to an extent. They weren't rogue moons, presumably, and so there were still the same number of planets to search. Just, now, with moons.

Rouiancet: Anything else showing up on scans yet?

"Yet," of course, being the keyword. 

Katsim: I cannot give you more.

Forsyth: I’ll need to do some readjustment then….

Even as the lieutenant got back to work, Lia glanced at her readout of the system. They were a fair distance off still, true, but the Butler's sensors were some of the most advanced in the fleet. If they couldn't yet map the whole system, then there was a reason for that.

Rouiancet: Commander, is there anything interfering with scans?

Katsim: It’s a very large magnetar. Between its magnetic fluctuations and gamma rays, we will not be able to easily locate another ship.

Oh, for the love of space...! Yes, there it was, Lia had completely overlooked it as a negligible companion to the parent star. But, of course, she hadn't been looking at exotics output. Yes, a magnetar in-system would definitely complicate things. Which was probably why the smugglers had chosen the system.

Katsim: Unless we use the polaron beams. 

Forsyth: Well, either that or trying to think of a new plan….

Rouiancet: Let's try that, first. If it's no go, then we'll work on something else. 

Forsyth: Aye, cap’n.

Katsim: Response

Rouiancet: Yes, you're right. I would like some other options, just in case. We also have to assume that radiation from the magnetar doesn't adversely affect the smugglers' systems.

Or else why choose that system? Between their cloak, the long-range transporter, and the magnetar's interference, the smugglers were pretty well dug into the system. 

Katsim/Forsyth: Responses

Rouiancet: It occurs to me that this system is their stronghold. Even if we do our best to remain hidden, we likely won't be able to count on the element of surprise. With that in mind, I want to neutralize their advantages as quickly as possible.

That didn't mean that she wanted to warp in, phasers blazing, and damn the consequences. That certainly wasn't Lia's way -- but if they gave up stealth and instead dropped out of warp and immediately let loose a deflector-boosted polaron burst, well, that might give them away, but it also might nullify any cloaking tech the smugglers were using.

Katsim/Forsyth: Responses

Rouiancet: I would prefer not to harm anyone if we can avoid it. But the faster, the better.

Katsim/Forsyth: Responses

Tags! and TBC!

--

Captain Lia Rouiancet

Commanding Officer 

USS Octavia E. Butler

V238208LV0
she/her/hers (this character)