pNPC LtJG Zel Rohan - Good Day
Jamie LeBlanc
(( Main Bridge - U.S.S. Narendra ))
Swinging a saucer section of a starship around a self-destructing small craft to turn an explosion into an implosion was never on Zel’s bucket list.
But it was cool so he was gonna add it to the list just so he could immediately check it off and pretend he had thought of it.
Zel: Keep that tachyon beam steady, and maybe hold on?
He was braced into his chair, and he knew exactly what he was doing and still it felt like he might get ripped out of the seat and plastered to the side wall.
McLaren: Feels like we're on a very fast merry-go-round.
He didn’t know what a merry go round was, but he suddenly decided that it was some sort of human torture device all limited context considered.
Zel: I am really glad we upgraded the inertial dampeners…
McLaren: Me too... feels like we'd be pinned against the walls otherwise.
Aristren: This is costing us more than anticipated. I am taking weapons offline to compensate.
It was difficult to gauge power when the ship was separated and Zel merely gave a nod. He understood all the mechanics but giving that command was way above his paygrade.
McLaren: This is still going to work, right?
Zel: I doubt we’re gonna shoot our way out of anything right now. The tachyon beam is still holding and engines are stable.
So in his mind, yes. He could keep doing the thing until the thing worked.
It was just maintaining enough power after the thing worked to protect the saucer from catastrophic damage.
Aristren: If we leave now, we have won nothing.
McLaren: Evacuate the outer sections of the saucer, and bump up power to the structural integrity field.
Zel: That’s a good plan. We can also track when it’s worked and then shunt as much of the reclaimed power to shields as possible.
It was all about allocation of resources.
And for him personally he was allocating all of his mental resources into his piloting. As the beam tightened each loop became faster and closer and more difficult to control.
And then the fighter shuddered and started to flare with the telltale plasma burst of a self-destruct mechanism.
And the tachyon field compressed it, and it collapsed.
And for about a second the saucer section madly allocated power to get more protection. The thing had worked. And now they needed the resources going into the tachyon beam pulled back and used elsewhere.
Zel, for his part, boosted the thrusters as much as possible to get as much distance as the momentary break allowed.
It wasn’t much.
Aristren: Brace!
He gripped the corners of his console, still keeping his fingers near the controls to be able to pilot through the storm, and he hooked into his chair with his scrawny little legs, anchoring himself.
McLaren: Divert auxiliary power to the shields! Zel, narrow our profile, turn us into the shockwave!
Zel: Like a boat on the water…
He understood the concept. The saucer had a slim profile and he adjusted as best as the shockwave would allow to … surf? Yes, he believed the term was to surf on the shockwave.
Now surfing still had a high probability of getting dunked under the water and tossed by waves.
Aristren: Diverting additional power to the shields.
The saucer started to groan at the structural level, moaning and whining as the shockwave shook it to the very core. And yet it stayed together in one piece.
While it did not surf gracefully, it did surf.
McLaren: Report!
Alarms blaring everywhere, finally the motion stopped. The lights dimmed an dipped, but then flared back up and stayed at half.
Zel: We’re alive, I think. ::most important, no?:: Power is at 34% Life support still functional, Impulse engines offline, thrusters functional.
Aristren: We have a few casualties but no fatalities. Damage to decks seven and eight, sections three to five. Shields are down, weapons offline. ::she paused:: The shockwave has barely reached the Rahuba. They will be fine.
McLaren: Take us back to a position by the Rahuba... I think our work here is done.
Zel: Sure thing, Commander.
He was of the opinion that if they could move under their own power and everyone was alive then it was a good day.
~*~
~fin~
~*~
pNPC Lieutenant JG Zel Rohan
Helm Officer
~Julian Beck
E239010ST0