LtJg Lera Michaels - By Your Command

[steve...@yahoo.com]

((Stellar Cartography, Deck 16, USS Khitomer, in orbit of Alpha Trionus II))

Hobart: If they take the least circuitous route, they'll likely black-out this post here… tomorrow.

Lera frowned. There was something that felt off about the Commander's assessment but she struggled to identify a flaw. There was still the issue that had bothered her earlier. How could a Lattice Alliance taskforce have gotten to Alpha Trionus II without being detected? The time travelers would have mentioned cloaking devices if the Alliance had them. Trans-dimensional navigation was still theoretically possible. If the Alliance had that then the Federation was doomed already so that was out. How could the Alliance hope to be undetected if they were taking out stations? Surely, she and Commander Hobart were not the first to notice this.

Michaels: Assuming the two stations were disabled by a single task force, your timing is correct. But... But taking out the stations would certainly attract our attention making a surprise attack impossible. :: Lera shook her head. :: Unless attracting our attention was what they intended. Getting to the prison undetected. Getting away unchallenged. The whole attack was almost like it was magic. ::beat:: Magic. That is it. That is how they did it.

Hobart: Oh, well, sure. Makes sense.

Michaels: Stage magic. The magician gets you to believe the illusion by getting you to look the wrong way. Misdirection. What if taking out the listening stations is not the main thrust but a feint? A diversion. There are not many things the alliance could do that would attract our attention more than launching an attack. Or pretending to launch an attack. Knocking out listening stations would be a logical first step. It would be the equivalent of shouting "Look over here!" And while Starfleet is focused on the feint, they sneak around on an alternate route over here and carry out the real surprise attack.

Hobart: It would explain why the strategy worked in the Admiral's timeline.

Lera went back to the control console and adjusted the controls once more. The pathways were almost like tunnels through the web of golden arrows representing the ships in the region. Pink lines connected formed a web between the navaids, the stations. A tangled light grey blob with what appeared to be tendrils spreading out in several directions nearly filled one of the three tunnels.

Michaels: The grey shape is the Kokopelli Cloud. A dark nebula that someone Terran thought looked like the mythological character Kokopelli. I do not see the resemblance. It is dark because it obscures starlight and sensor signals and there are no stars being formed in it. It is not a perfect cloak, but it would make accurate detection and determination of the size of the force more difficult. That is the route I would take. Somewhat longer than the other alternatives but easier to maintain the element of surprise.

Hobart: Focus the probes on the cloud, then.

Michaels: Yes, sir. :: as she adjusted the controls on the display :: We have three probes ready that we can have in these positions in twenty two hours. I am showing them in a zigzag pattern that should give us optimal coverage of the cloud. :: She stepped back from the control panels as the dots representing the probes assumed the designated positions:: I have one at either end of the cloud. There appears to be a thinner section approximately a quarter of the way toward the "end" of it. :: beat:: Of course, this configuration gives us minimal coverage of the two alternated pathways. I can prepare additional probes though that will take some time.

The commander continued to study the map. He nodded.

Hobart: Yeah, risky. If the Alliance takes out that listening post, we’ll know it's not a feint, but we won’t have eyes on the incoming force.

Michaels: Will we know that, sir? I do not recall any of our guests mentioning a significant attack occurring simultaneously as the attack on Alpha Trionus. That may imply that there was no other attack. They did say the Alliance was... is losing the war. oO Accursed tenses again. Oo They may not have the ability to stage two large operations at the same time.

Hobart: Admiral said “overwhelming force,” but she wasn’t there. If they're using the cloud, sneaking in, maybe it's something else.

Michaels: That is true. The information they have provided us has not been comprehensive and what we have been able to glean from the Ouachita's logs reflect little more than our current status.

Hobart: If the system defenses go down, or offline somehow, a single, well-equipped starship would be able to destroy everything. And hiding in that cloud would make a lot more sense.

Michaels: I suspect, sir, that our guests' original plan was to destroy "everything" with their high power torpedoes or to have us destroy everything. :: Lera shook her head. :: In any case, launching the probes and analysing the data will give us a much idea of what is happening.:: beat:: There is another possibility to consider though it is well beyond my pay grade... If the Alliance taskforce was... is... will be in the Kokopelli Cloud and they had no reason to believe we know that, an attack by Khitomer would take them by surprise. Just a thought. :: Lera turned to Hobart :: By your command, sir.

Hobart: Response

Tags/TBC

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LtJg Lera Michaels

Engineering Officer
USS Khitomer
K240106LM2