Lt. Cmdr. Kirsty Carpenter - The Other Shoe

[Justin Partridge]

((Bridge, Deck 3, U.S.S. Ronin, Outside the J-0922A System))

Kirsty was gritting her teeth so hard she felt one of them click. Laser focused on the living darkness in the Main Viewer, fanning the deployment vectors of their "escape pods" by Cap Niac's word, she could feel the moment honing to a razor's edge. 

The Sheliak...The Tholians...at least a few of them, armed with the deadly, hellish S-Wave weaponry that had ruined so many lives in just the short few months since it had been introduced into her now beloved Isles. They were right in front of her/them. Their own trap baited and set with the same care and effort that the opposition had crafted in Olindra. But in those immortal words that had proven true more than a few times in her life. 

"Everyone has a plan until they're punched in the face." 

The ships ahead of them interlaced themselves between their doom. Kirsty's hand hovered hungrily over the det-trigger.

Carpenter: N-

Then the Tholians, or maybe it was really the Sheliak. Kirsty wouldn't know for certain until the after-action sensor reports. The light of the dozens of explosions as well as the flaming streak of the plasmonic weapons of their enemies dazzled Kirsty at her post. But once she blinked her vision back, their "depth charges" had worked a treat. Shredded crystals and flaked hull plating now filled the space before them. 

Kirsty wanted so badly to celebrate, but she knew they had to press their momentary advantage. Their plan was good. The Khitomer would be true, surely. But the L.A. always had a tendency to recollect themselves very quickly. She had little curiosity of what that might look like all the way out here.  

Words escaped her before she could catch them. 

Carpenter: Well, nobody said bullies were smart...

O'Connor: Huh, well that worked out better than I thought. ::glances back toward Kristy:: Not that I didn’t have faith in you.

Karrod Niac chuckled and Kirsty allowed a quick "whattagonnado" shrug, then refocusing powerfully between the terminal and Main Viewer. The Tholian ship looked more or less out of commission, but the Sheliak were at least somewhat upright, now limping at less than half Impulse (from Kirsty's eye at the upstage of the Bridge). There also seemed to be some crazy jacked power readings coming from Kirsty's Tactical sensors. Not weaponry...

Niac:  What's the status of the Sheliak vessel?  I'm still seeing s-wave readings building up.  

Tucker: RESPONSE

O’Connor: Full power restored. First enemy vessel appears completely disabled. Coming around to bear on the second Sheliak vessel. Their shields are down as well but registering a plasma build up in weapons systems.

Sheliak weaponry was mostly polaron and disruptor based. If they were now interlaced with plasma that could only mean...

oO S-Wave generators. They've outfitted their ships with S Generators now.. Oo 

Captain Niac crossed, running his hands across his own personal terminal on the Big Chair, confirming the dark thought storm thundering across her mind. 

Niac:  Their s-wave generator must be damaged, that's an overload in progress.  Helm, full impulse, put us on an escape heading.  Maximum power to aft shields. Tactical, advise the Khitomer to break off their run and get clear.  

Carpenter: Copy. 

Her own hands thrummed across the haptics of her terminal, branching her legs outward in anticipation for the incoming evasives. A desperate, tersely constructed tightbeam bounced across the volume of space between her and the Kitty. 

Tucker/O'Connor: RESPONSE

Kirsty cheered internally as the Khitomer gave out a few good shots into the broadside of the Sheliak vessel as the Ronin re-positioned herself violently under the steady hands of her Helmsman. The ship's hard angles seemed to constrict inward, an eldritch, crimping bright light bleeding from the cracked trapezoid.  The Kitty started to break off, showing still her claws as she did, but the lava like eruption that was melting the ship from the inside demanded her eyes. 

She almost had to shield them, but she wanted to look. Needed to see. 

There was a last crumple of the blocky frigate, the burning cracks in the middle expanded to a great closed fist of fire in the heart of the ship. And then... 

Niac:  Brace for impact!  

The shockwave trounced through the space around them, exploding outward terminals and haptics across the whole of the Bridge. One of which was right by Kirsty's own head, scoring momentarily the right side of her face and hair. Adding to the loss of wind she received after being bodily thrown from her standing station and hammered flatly across the back of the Bridge. More sparks and crackling fizzles peppered the space, but Kirsty was more concentrating on in through the nose, out through the mouth. Finally staking a hazy boot forward and back to her station. 

She saw a shape spring through the roiling smoke and half-dark Center of the Bridge. She finally stomped back to her station, taking a quick stock of what was still available to her and the ship at large. The connection between the Ronin and Kitty was still active. As was Chief Alieth, Lorana, and Rendai's clandestine collections of sensor probes. At least...they were blinking in and out reliably. Kirsty kept her returned breath. They were working at it. If there was one thing she knew for sure about Chief Alieth, it was her and her people would work the problem until they couldn't. 

Shields and weapons were...a different story.  

Niac:  Damage Report!  

Carpenter: Shields holding at 63%. Beam weapons operational still, but we've lost 2 launch tubes. One fore, one aft. Because the universe loves symmetry, I guess...

Tucker/O'Connor: RESPONSE

The Captain dabbed a hand across his brow and it came away concerningly thick with blood. Kirsty started to cross down toward him, but knew she couldn't. Nor would The Captain want her to. He scowled instead back into the Main Viewer. 

Niac:  What's the Khitomer's status?  They still in one piece?  

She checked the connection feed. They had taken the wave as they had but...

Carpenter: Still on our six, Captain, but it looks like general comms are down.

Tucker/O'Connor: RESPONSE

He seemed to brighten slightly, even with the quiet runnel of blood trailing down one side of his face and into his well-kept beard. 

Niac:  Very well, advise me when you can raise them on subspace.  We need to link up before we make our run into the system.  Mr. O'Connor, reciprocal course, bring us into formation with the Khitomer.  How bad's the damage Mr. Tucker?  

Carpenter: Aye, sir. I'll keep on it. 

Tucker/O'Connor: RESPONSE

As Kirsty fought to regain the connection between their sister ship, she allowed herself a new look at the Main Viewer and in the retreating S-Wave saw....something to the back of the shattered vessels. At first, Kirsty was convinced that it was St. Elmo's fire. A trick of the light that would dance across the swamps and woods of her home state. But that wouldn't make any sense. 

Though space was filled with all sorts of gases and nebulous materials, she had never seen something like this before. It was almost as if the S-Wave was being burnished across the expanse. Like it was rippling across something that wasn't there like lapping muddy water. 

Her terminal bleeped under her hands. The Chief's probe feed was back up. And it was reading the profile of something large and something generating power out there. She retrained every scope and sensor they had on the space where she saw the ripples, praying to whoever was out there that the Chief's probe feeds held up with the effort. 

She felt eyes on her once more.

Niac: RESPONSE

Carpenter: Y'all didn't see that? The S-Wave it...it broke against something out there. Chief's probes are picking up something too. The profile of a mobile deployment platform. Or maybe, hell, maybe a whole station.

Tucker/O'Connor: RESPONSE

More proximity alerts started to buzz through her consoles. Light fighter craft on an intercept course.

But how? And from where? 

Kirsty figured she would learn those answers soon. The hard way. 

--

TAG/TBC

--

Lieutenant Commander

Kirsty L. Carpenter

//\\

Chief of Security & Tactical

Starfleet SAR

(Marine Rank: Major)

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U.S.S. RONIN

NCC-34523

ID: E239512QC0

//\\

F.N.S. Contributor