Lieutenant Commander Lael Rosek: I'm An Engineer, Not A Tactical Officer
Lael Rosek
(( Bridge, Deck 3 Primary Hull, USS Chin’toka ))
McKnight: =/\= Chin'toka, this is the away team, we are under heavy fire. Requesting back up =/\=
It took everything she had not to throw her arms up in exasperation. She simply shook her head, refocusing her attention back on the task at hand.
Serala: =/\= Standby, Lieutenant. =/\= Report. Are we clear enough to drop shields?
Tal’Aura: I would not advise drop--Valcarian ship is opening fire!
The deck shuddered beneath her feet and she had to grasp the console to remain standing. She sighed in relief when the volley of fire barely made a dent in their shields. A percent or two, but no more. However, she had the feeling that had been a warning shot.
Tal’Aura: Shields holding at ninety-eight percent. Glancing damage at most and probably a warning shot. Power output of their attack is significantly less than what records indicate Valcarian ships are capable of, Commander.
Rosek: Power is holding steady, ma’am.
Serala: Acknowledged. :: turning to Rosek :: Commander Rosek, what about those fighters?
Rosek: ::shakes her head:: From what I’m getting, the fighters really wouldn’t do much good planetside. Most of what they’re dealing with is ground attacks. ::to Tal’Aura:: But this is your area of expertise, Ensign. What do you think?
Tal’Aura: Without more information, I estimate their capabilities would be limited, Commander. If they have anti-air batteries hidden in a similar manner to that facility, we could be sending them into a death trap. I would be a lot more comfortable sending fighters if we knew what they would be dealing with.
She nodded. It made sense. The last thing they wanted to do was unnecessarily put their people in harm's way. Another volley shook the ship, this time nearly sending her sideways. Her gaze flickered to Serala and Tal’Aura in turn.
Rosek: Is it just me, or are they getting more aggressive?
Serala: Agreed. I am only holding return fire because I don’t want to drag us into a war with the Valcarians.
A wry, unamused grin twisted her lips. Though the Valcarian vessel wasn’t doing much harm by the shot, those shots could easily add up and they couldn’t keep sitting here taking fire nor could they break orbit with the Captain’s team at risk as they were. She didn’t know what the vessel’s endgame was, but it was looking more and more likely that the Chin’toka would need to fire on them.
Serala: But I may have no choice. Status of our shields, Mister Tal’Aura?
Tal’Aura: Shields at ninety-five percent. I have a lock on their weapons systems. Permission to engage?
Rosek: ::turns to Serala:: As much as I hate to say it, ma’am, we’re out of options that don’t include engaging.
Serala: Well, I am not going to just sit here and let them beat up on our shields, and potentially cause additional damage. Let's show them we mean business. Ensign, target their weapons and shields. I want to disable them, not destroy. Full spread. Fire when ready.
Tal'Aura: Aye, Commander.
She knew that firing on the ship wasn’t a decision that Serala had made lightly, given that they were supposed to be helping these people. She hoped that once the Valcarians realized they weren’t going to sit and take it, that they’d back down. Her gaze flickered to the screen displaying their power readings. Pot shots. That’s what it was. It served no purpose other than to occupy their attention.
Tal'Aura: Valcarian fore and port phaser banks have been disabled.
The final volley of phaser fire exited the banks as the Valcarian vessel turned to show them its other side. At first, she thought maybe the vessel’s occupants had wised up and disengaged.
Tal’Aura:: They are not withdrawing.
Weapons’ fire once again rocked the Chin’toka bridge and Lael scowled, becoming annoyed at their persistence. They had to know they weren’t a match for the Chin’toka. Yet they continued firing. Either they were trying to keep them from helping their team on the surface or they weren’t nearly as tactically adept as they thought they were.
Tal'Aura: Shields at eighty-five percent, Commander.
Serala: Stubborn. Very well. Once more, Mister Tal’Aura, but with a little more finesse please. I just want to disable the weapons and shield arrays. I am not trying to destroy them if I can help it.
Tal’Aura: Yes, Commander.
It was definitely some sort of cat and mouse game. Lael made a mental note to propose a sit down with Tal’Aura later to parse out potential motivations based on sensor data from the engagement.
Returning her attention to the present moment, she studied the readouts as the Chin’toka’s phasers fired again once, twice, striking the Valcarian vessel and draining its shields. A spread of torpedoes took out the remainder of the vessel’s shielding.
Serala: Mister Callahan, open hailing frequencies.
Callahan: Frequencies open, Commander, but they are not responding.
Rosek: ::brow furrows:: They’re playing with us.
Tal’Aura: Scans indicate the vessel had a full complement, Commander. Low probability that it was commandeered or hijacked.
Serala: Well, if they are leaving, let’s let them go. Bad enough we were forced to fire on them in the first place. I sure hope that wasn't Dels’an’s ship.
She hesitated, part of her screaming not to let them get away. Pure instinct had her fearing that the Valcarian vessel had a trick up their sleeve and would make mincemeat of the Chin’toka if they turned their back for even a moment. She reassured herself by studying the sensor readings.
The tangible evidence supported the assertion that the vessel was indeed disabled and no longer posed a threat. If they’d really wanted a fight, they would have come at the Chin’toka no holds barred. It only made her more confident that it had been a smokescreen.
Rosek: ::pauses:: I don’t like what just happened. Too much like a game.
Tal’Aura: :: He shrugged slighty :: Perhaps they were attempting to gauge our combat capabilities. Take advantage of our precarious position in what is a volatile situation.
Serala: I need a damage report please.
The request snapped Lael from her thoughts and her gaze dropped to the console in front of her. Reports were already pouring in from Engineering. Minor damage only. A few blown relays, but nothing that some new fiberoptics wouldn’t fix. Thankfully, the Valcarians hadn’t gotten lucky enough to hit any major systems.
Tal’Aura: Damage reports coming in. Minor injuries on decks seven and nine. Damage to primary and secondary systems nominal.
Rosek: ::enters a series of commands into her console:: Alerting Engineering teams.
Mei’konda: =/\= Mei’konda to Chin’toka. Status report. =/\=
Mei’s voice broke through over the comm and she felt some of her concern fade. Though she’d been too focused on their situation up here to genuinely worry, she’d been worried nonetheless. Her gaze flickered to Serala, imagining that the woman had shared those feelings.
Serala: =/\= Serala here, Captain. Is everything under control down there? =/\=
Mei’konda: =/\= Yes, for the moment, we’re secuure down here. Is the shiip in danger? =/\=
Serala: =/\= Not at the moment, sir. We had a brief skirmish with a Valcarian cruiser. They took the brunt of it. Minor damage to our shields and we are still getting a damage report. =/\=
As the conversation continued, Lael glanced in Tal’Aura’s direction. The timing a bit too convenient. Her instincts told her there was definitely more to the situation than met the eye.
Mei’konda: =/\= Very well, Commander. If anything chaanges, keep me apprised. Also, prepaare to beam down emergency supplies, both for medicaal assistance and emergency repairs to this complex. Lieutenants Snow and Lephi will give you the details. =/\=
Serala: =/\= Acknowledged, Captain. We’ll have the supplies ready to go.=/\=
Mei’konda: =/\= Very good, Commander. Mei’konda out. =/\=
The channel closed and the Commander turned to Tal’Aura.
Serala: Well done, Mister Tal’Aura. Much better than the first time I went into battle in that position. We almost lost our ship that day. :: turning to Rosek :: And you as well, Commander. Power distributions were perfect. Thank you.
Rosek: ::nods and pauses:: I have teams working on the damaged areas. We’ll need everything back at peak just in case.
Serala: Agreed. Let’s get things patched up in case they come back with friends.
The woman tapped the comms button on her console again.
Serala: =/\= This is the First Officer. Stand down from Red Alert. All hands maintain Yellow Alert and remain at General Quarters. Bridge out. =/\=
As the channel cut, she took the opportunity to make her request of Commander Serala.
Rosek: Ma’am, I’m confident that my teams can handle the repairs. In the meantime, I think it would be to our advantage to study the sensor logs of the battle. I can’t help but feel that was too easy. If they’d really wanted to, they could have put up much more of a fight.
Tal’Aura: :: He nodded :: Their actions certainly do not suggest a logical plan unless there was something more to their attack than simply causing damage. I concur with Commander Rosek. An evaluation of the sensor logs might yield insight into their motivations.
Though she wasn’t a career tactical officer, she liked to think she’d picked up a thing or two over the years. Her gaze went to Tal’Aura. His expertise would fill in the gaps and would either confirm or disprove her hypothesis.
Rosek: With your permission, ma’am, I’d like to sit down with Ensign Tal’Aura and see what we can find out.
Serala: That’s a good idea, you two. Make it so.
Tal’Aura: Yes, Commander.
It was a strange request perhaps coming from the Chief Engineer, but she was confident that they’d uncover something useful to present to the Captain. The information would, with any luck, make his job easier.
Serala: I would also like to know why, if this was meant as a warning, they didn’t at least try to contact us to tell us to leave. That just doesn’t seem logical to me.
Lael nodded, her gaze dropping to the readings. Her brow furrowed as she studied them, playing the battle out in her mind from the information on the screen. It hadn’t really even seemed all that aggressive. Not what she would have expected from a group of angry rebels. She then recalled how they hadn’t been able to transport the away team. Was it possible that they’d just been caught in the net?
Anyone targeting the Grand Admiral or the people on the surface would want to isolate them. It was a well-known fact that it was easier to eliminate a trapped target that had nowhere to go. From what she could see, either the rebels had been trying to trap someone or the panic that had ensued had been the primary goal.
It was hard to tell just from looking at the readings. They would have to break down all of the ship’s movements and line them up with events on the surface to completely understand. That likely wouldn’t be possible until the away team returned and offered their assessment on the ground situation.
Tal'Aura: I cannot discern any pattern or outlier to explain their behavior. :: He said to Rosek with a muted sigh of frustration. :: Perhaps I am looking too deeply into their motives hoping to find some brilliant strategy or plan. Maybe the law of parsimony applies here. It very well could be they were just testing and probing our capabilities assuming we'd not dare destroy them. That or they were simply ignorant and no idea the ship could be this powerful.
Rosek: ::nods:: It’s possible. But honestly, I believe their motivation is simple. We can try lining up events both here and on the surface to get a better idea, but I don’t know how accurately we’ll be able to do that without the surface team’s perspective of events.
((OOC: Glad to expand this conversation/analysis if desired here or at the end. ))
Her brow furrowed in thought, Lael reached for a PADD and opened a new document, outlining the events of the battle as she saw them in her head. She’d found that seeing things written down often helped her when she was solving a problem. She hoped the same would prove true in this situation. As she worked, her frustration grew. She still couldn’t narrow it down to one possibility or the other. The fact was that unless she knew more about the person responsible for the attacks, they’d likely never be one hundred percent certain.
Serala: What do you two think?
Tal'Aura: We discovered much more about their vessel's capabilities than their motives. When their shields were disabled we were able to get detailed scans of their vessels. There is some valuable information there that will help us understand their combat capabilities better. I will update the database accordingly.
Rosek: ::nods:: I’ve tried working out their motivations, ma’am. But there just isn’t enough information at present to provide a conclusive analysis. ::to Tal’Aura:: I’m not a tactical officer, but I can enter data. Can you link to my PADD? ::lifts the PADD in her hand:: I can work from one end and meet you in the middle so to speak.
Serala: Well, I will leave you to it. Just don’t take too long. If they come back, I would like to know what kind of weaknesses they have. And their strengths.
Tal’Aura: Yes, Sir.
Rosek: ::nods:: Aye, Commander. ::to Tal’Aura:: How’s that link coming along?
Tal’Aura: Response
She nodded, checking to be sure the receiver was enabled. Within moments, information flooded the screen of her PADD.
Rosek: Link successful. The data is loading.
Tal’Aura: Response
Returning her attention to the PADD, she arched an eyebrow. She wasn’t slow by any means, but some of this terminology was out of her depth. It was likely her lack of tactical training. She made a mental note to take a class or two to at least brush up on the basics. The higher she went up the ladder, the more she’d be expected to have a general operating knowledge of the more common duty posts.
Tal’Aura: Response
She looked up from her entry of the data and grinned.
Rosek: Must have missed those lessons in the Academy. I never really felt the need to know tactical until the last couple of years. I need a refresher, it seems.
Tal’Aura: Response
Rosek: ::chuckles:: Even us old-timers are always learning, Ensign. “Wisdom is not the product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.”
Tal’Aura: Response
Rosek: ::grins:: Albert Einstein. One of 19th century Earth’s greatest minds.
Tal’Aura: Response