Lieutenant Jack Kessler - Somewhere no one in Starfleet has been before
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Joel Cannistraro
Jun 23, 2026, 9:50:21 AM (6 days ago) Jun 23
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((Bridge, Deck 3, USS Ronin))
Once again as if a constant reminder not to forget, the tactical station alarms rang out with warnings of incoming fire. Jack was getting to think the Alliance was never going to let up. The sensor scans certainly seemed to point in that direction as well and Jack braced as he called out to the bridge.
Kessler: Incoming. Hold on.
Nakada: Almost there! :: shaking ::
The Ronin shuddered as weapons fire struck the hull. Jack narrowed his eyes at the scans as he tried desperately to recover shield strength enough to do whatever he could to reduce the weapons fire still raining down on them.
Niac: Now Mr. Nakada!
Nakada: There! It can’t exactly aim, but between some fancy flying :: nodding at O’Connor :: and some fancy firing :: nodding at Kessler, we can lasso the chunk. Once we blow the airlock, the blast door will fly out of the corridor.
O’Connor: I can get us close enough.
They dove into the debris field, the shattered remains of a half dozen Alliance ships providing some protection from the incoming weapons fire as O'Connoe slid the ship towards the glowing fragment Jack had located earlier. Torpedoes and plasma rounds detonated on the debris all around them as others struck true, and the Ronin's status displays filled with increasingly dire warnings.
Niac: Adjust your roll to port and standby. Mr. Kessler, make your target the largest vessel currently firing on us. Mr. Nakada...deploy your improvised grappler when we're in range.
Niac: It looks like Administrator B'Hab called for reinforcements...I think we're supposed to be flattered.
Kessler: :;eyeing the view screen:: What in the hel.....
Niac: Gentlemen, it has been an hon...
Time slowed as the weapon discharged, a furious bolt of corrupted energy reaching towards them like a great hand. A vast shimmering blue bulk filled the viewscreen as the ship was grabbed by an invisible force and yanked clear, sending Niac sprawling to the deck as the world outside went mad. Either Jack flew from his own seat or his seat flew out from under him, he was never sure how that really worked, but the impact with the deck was always the same. Hard and vicious. He heard others on the bridge hitting the deck behind him as the fissure came into view, Narhelion surging towards it and apparently towing them along for the ride.
[END Act III and Mission for Jack Kessler]
--
Once again as if a constant reminder not to forget, the tactical station alarms rang out with warnings of incoming fire. Jack was getting to think the Alliance was never going to let up. The sensor scans certainly seemed to point in that direction as well and Jack braced as he called out to the bridge.
Kessler: Incoming. Hold on.
Nakada: Almost there! :: shaking ::
The Ronin shuddered as weapons fire struck the hull. Jack narrowed his eyes at the scans as he tried desperately to recover shield strength enough to do whatever he could to reduce the weapons fire still raining down on them.
Niac: Now Mr. Nakada!
Nakada: There! It can’t exactly aim, but between some fancy flying :: nodding at O’Connor :: and some fancy firing :: nodding at Kessler, we can lasso the chunk. Once we blow the airlock, the blast door will fly out of the corridor.
O’Connor: I can get us close enough.
They dove into the debris field, the shattered remains of a half dozen Alliance ships providing some protection from the incoming weapons fire as O'Connoe slid the ship towards the glowing fragment Jack had located earlier. Torpedoes and plasma rounds detonated on the debris all around them as others struck true, and the Ronin's status displays filled with increasingly dire warnings.
Niac: Adjust your roll to port and standby. Mr. Kessler, make your target the largest vessel currently firing on us. Mr. Nakada...deploy your improvised grappler when we're in range.
With Nakada's unconventional invention and O'Connor's flying, Jack grinned to himself as he thought about what this insane maneuver must look like to the Alliance ships that continued to pursue them. Jack found the best target, the largest vessel bearing down on the Ronin and ran his scans across the hull until he found the best and most potent area to strike. He overlaid the tactical targeting grid on the main viewscreen so all could see their target point.
Kessler: O'Connor, that ship's primary power distribution network appears to be right in this location. That's the sweet spot you want to hit.
Kessler: O'Connor, that ship's primary power distribution network appears to be right in this location. That's the sweet spot you want to hit.
Nakada: Response
Chunks of Sheliak hull rebounded off the Ronin as she swept through the debris, only saved from grave damage by O'Connor's deft touch at the helm.
O’Connor: Way to go guys! Now it's my turn. You all loved the Gravitron ride as a kid, right?
Jack swallowed hard as O'Connor seemed to make the Ronin bend to his will.
Niac: =/\= All hands brace for extreme forces! =/\= Mr. Kessler, release when ready. Mr. Nakada, put anything left into the inertial dampeners or we're all going to be a stain on the decking.
Kessler: Aye sir.
Chunks of Sheliak hull rebounded off the Ronin as she swept through the debris, only saved from grave damage by O'Connor's deft touch at the helm.
O’Connor: Way to go guys! Now it's my turn. You all loved the Gravitron ride as a kid, right?
Jack swallowed hard as O'Connor seemed to make the Ronin bend to his will.
Niac: =/\= All hands brace for extreme forces! =/\= Mr. Kessler, release when ready. Mr. Nakada, put anything left into the inertial dampeners or we're all going to be a stain on the decking.
Kessler: Aye sir.
Nakada: Response
O’Connor: Wait for it.
The viewscreen began to shift at an alarming speed as the lateral thrusters fired, putting the Ronin into a flat spin along its y axis, dragging the great burning chunk of Alliance vessel along like a great flail. Jack felt himself shifting sideways in the seat as the overwhelmed dampeners couldn't keep up.
O’Connor: N-n-n-n-o-o-o-o-w-w-w-w…re-leeeea-ssssee…
Niac: Null....our....spin...
Kessler: Releaaaased!
O’Connor: Wait for it.
The viewscreen began to shift at an alarming speed as the lateral thrusters fired, putting the Ronin into a flat spin along its y axis, dragging the great burning chunk of Alliance vessel along like a great flail. Jack felt himself shifting sideways in the seat as the overwhelmed dampeners couldn't keep up.
O’Connor: N-n-n-n-o-o-o-o-w-w-w-w…re-leeeea-ssssee…
Niac: Null....our....spin...
Kessler: Releaaaased!
Jack stayed locked on to his tactical scans , never looking up to the main viewscreen. The makeshift weapon hurled directly towards its target.
O'Connor/Nakada: Response
With what little power remained the counter thrusters fired, bringing their suicidal rotation rate down to a merely idiotic one. He felt the relief in his bones as the ship settled and was treated to a few seconds of fireworks as the unstable chunk hurtled back towards the flatfooted Alliance forces, colliding with one of the remaining Sheliak cruisers before detonating in a hailstorm of energy and molten debris. The cruiser yawed violently away, out of control and colliding with other ships who had been too close. Jack leaned back, allowed his eyes to briefly close and he finally took a deep breath in, only now realizing he had been holding his breath.
The strike had dealt a significant blow to the Alliance capital ship and Jack enjoyed that thought but that thought was fleeting as alarms from his console rang out. His attention went from view screen to console to view screen to console. A Lattice Alliance Leviathan appeared on the sensors and what felt like a moment of victory was quickly gone.
With what little power remained the counter thrusters fired, bringing their suicidal rotation rate down to a merely idiotic one. He felt the relief in his bones as the ship settled and was treated to a few seconds of fireworks as the unstable chunk hurtled back towards the flatfooted Alliance forces, colliding with one of the remaining Sheliak cruisers before detonating in a hailstorm of energy and molten debris. The cruiser yawed violently away, out of control and colliding with other ships who had been too close. Jack leaned back, allowed his eyes to briefly close and he finally took a deep breath in, only now realizing he had been holding his breath.
The strike had dealt a significant blow to the Alliance capital ship and Jack enjoyed that thought but that thought was fleeting as alarms from his console rang out. His attention went from view screen to console to view screen to console. A Lattice Alliance Leviathan appeared on the sensors and what felt like a moment of victory was quickly gone.
Niac: It looks like Administrator B'Hab called for reinforcements...I think we're supposed to be flattered.
Kessler: :;eyeing the view screen:: What in the hel.....
His voice trailed off as he looked down and began reviewing the tactical analysis of the Leviathan.
O’Connor/Nakada: Response
The Leviathan turned towards them, lightning rapidly building up along the spine of the vessel. It would only be a few moments before a blast of Sencha radiation erupted from it and, in Ronin's current state, there was no surviving that blast. Jack glanced back from the view screen to see Niac standing just a head of his command chair. The look on the man's face said all that needed to be said. Turning back to Tactical, Jack sat upright and stiffened his spine, this was it. This was where the odd's failed him and the end caught up faster than it should.
The Leviathan turned towards them, lightning rapidly building up along the spine of the vessel. It would only be a few moments before a blast of Sencha radiation erupted from it and, in Ronin's current state, there was no surviving that blast. Jack glanced back from the view screen to see Niac standing just a head of his command chair. The look on the man's face said all that needed to be said. Turning back to Tactical, Jack sat upright and stiffened his spine, this was it. This was where the odd's failed him and the end caught up faster than it should.
Jack's thoughts drifted from the doomed fight to his sister Krystal and to Nesre, the woman he now truly understood he loved.
Niac: Gentlemen, it has been an hon...
Time slowed as the weapon discharged, a furious bolt of corrupted energy reaching towards them like a great hand. A vast shimmering blue bulk filled the viewscreen as the ship was grabbed by an invisible force and yanked clear, sending Niac sprawling to the deck as the world outside went mad. Either Jack flew from his own seat or his seat flew out from under him, he was never sure how that really worked, but the impact with the deck was always the same. Hard and vicious. He heard others on the bridge hitting the deck behind him as the fissure came into view, Narhelion surging towards it and apparently towing them along for the ride.
Jack struggled to his knees and then pulled himself up to his station and reversed the view screen to an image behind them. The Ronin was a kite in the wind but Alliance Leviathan was rapidly disappearing behind them. It's massively insane weapon could not reach them and their speed was increasing. Like most lifeforms being hunted, it seemed to Jack that Narhelion's instinct to avoid a predator went into overdrive and this animal was fleeing faster than the wouldbe predator could keep up.
Kessler: Narhelion to the rescue! fly baby, fly.
Kessler: Narhelion to the rescue! fly baby, fly.
Jack's enthusiasm for the rough ride but very welcomed rescue was almost beyond joyus. Thankfully, any anguish on his face could be attributed to hard hit with the deck and not his thoughts of never seeing his sister or Nesre again.
O’Connor/Nakada/Niac: Response
Kessler: ::getting fully seated and tapping at his console:: Sir, Narhelions speed is too great for the Alliance. They can't keep up.
O’Connor/Nakada/Niac: Response
He turned to O'Connor and gave a respectable nod to the helmsman. A brilliant pilot for sure. Jack then glanced over to Nakada and through the Ensign a beaming smile. Finally he looked back to Niac. The Captain's face appeared as stoic as you would expect and if he did not know better, he would have thought the Captain had this all planned out ahead of time.
Kessler: Looks like we're headed wherever Narhelion is going.
O’Connor/Nakada/Niac: Response
Kessler: ::turning back to the view screen:: My guess. Somewhere no one in Starfleet has been before.
[END Act III and Mission for Jack Kessler]
Lieutenant Jack Kessler
Chief Tactical/Security Officer
USS Ronin
T239901JK1
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