Lt. Cmdr. Alieth - Leap Of Faith
Alieth
[[Bridge, Deck 1, USS Excalibur-A ]]
After confirming
that Lorana and Syrex were working on the Symbiote (and the latter
was still in danger). Alieth turned back to the commodore. The tall
woman had been conferring with Raedai about the implementation of the
radiation shield with the intel they had obtained from the station.
Without missing a beat, the petite Vulcan returned to the
group, listening to the tail end of the conversation.
Nicholotti: Make it happen. :: beat.:: Commander?
Alieth: My officers are working with the symbiote, it is in shock from the change of environment after its long captivity, but I hope that with the resources of the Excalibur they will be more than capable of keeping it alive and recovering it.
Nicholotti: They will be well cared for and hopefully restored to their full selves soon. In the meantime...we're working on implementing possible shielding based on some of this information.
She gestured towards the Romulan officer.
Raedai: Of course commodore. I need to plug in the sensor data from the Rhine.
Alieth: Perfect, it will allow to be immune to LA weapons which will offer a decisive tactical advantage.
Nicholotti: And we don't have long, so let's do what we can do.
The Romulan went to a secondary console, one of those attached to the wall, and began to work. Alieth moved close, manning one of the science consoles and started to pouring some of the data they have recovered to help with the Ops officer work.
Raedai: I have what we need, but there are weeks of work to do to figure all this out.
Alieth: We do not have that much time, alas. Focus on the shielding and then we can work on the deflector.
The petite science
chief still retained the information that the Khitomer science
officers had been developing just before they left: use the ship's
deflectors to emit a narrow pulse of chronitrons and nullify the
Alliance's weapons.... with explosive results. It wasn't something
she was passionate about, as it endangered the integrity of the
fabric of spacetime, as they had seen before, but it was one of the
few options they had left to assist in the defence of DS33. In
addition, the Vesta had one of the most powerful deflectors of all
the current classes, given their need for QSD travel.
If
they eventually needed to use it, it was going to be a hell of a
blast.
[[Timeskip, Bridge, Deck 1, USS Excalibur-A ]]
They had spent every possible minute making modifications with the data they had obtained from the complex and the Rhine's sensors. The Excalibur should be able to hold its own against Sencha radiation. So combat would be more traditional.
It was a strange feeling to be working on the bridge of a Vesta, a place so familiar to Alieth, yet so different from what had once she had called her home. The fact that the most familiar face around at the moment was that of the Romulan, as much as she loathed him, didn't exactly mitigate the feeling either. Worse, each of them now stood in the centre of the bridge as a disparate but obviously Vulcanoid bodyguard to the Commanding Officer present.
In the main screen, the countdown to the arrival was growing close, but it was still taking far too long. The situation had to be dire; not a single attempt at communicating with the station or either of the ships had come to any successful .
Standing just in front of her chair and joined by the Vulcan commander from the Ronin and her Romulan sidekick, the Commodore waited.
S'yok: Fighters are standing by, ready to launch as soon as we drop. Ground teams are prepped and ready in transporter rooms.
Nicholotti: Very well. Quick scans as soon as we arrive to find the best places for them to transport into. Pay attention to where the inhibitors are.
Acknowledgement came with a firm nod as she looked to the officer.
Smith: Weapons stand ready. All tubes are loaded and primed to fire. We've made a few adjustments based on the data the Ronin team brought aboard and hopefully they will be a little more effective.
The CO smiled at that.
Nicholotti: Fire all LA targets as soon as we arrive, prioritize those actively attacking our assets, and the biggest targets.
Another brief nod of acknowledgement.
Faar: Medical teams standing by, sickbay is prepped and set for incoming casualties and injuries.
The clock ticked down.
Nicholotti: Anything you'd add, commander?
The petite Vulcan shook her head, the loose strands of hair that framed her face danced with the slight movement.
Alieth: No sir, just tell us what you need and we will help. We are here to serve.
The Romulan remained uncharacteristically silent, his eyes riveted on one of the bridge consoles.
Alieth, meanwhile, looked at the main screen, and could clearly see the WARP-distorted space disappear and in its place appeared the battlefield that had become the heart of Sector Alpha 113. The burned out hulk of a huge ship drifted, debris was everywhere, and the darkened hulls of the Khitomer and Ronin seemed to drift nearby. Slowly, the Ronin seemed like it was gaining life, it's nose pointed at a Leviathan that seemed to be primed to make an attack run. Kali gestured to the screen.
Nicholotti: Prioritize that one. Take it out. And put us between them and the Ronin and Khitomer.
She then turned to her chair and sat, leveling her crystalline eyes on the Vulcan commander.
Nicholotti: You're welcome to watch from here, if you wish, or you can join one of our teams beaming over.
Raedai: I can be of further assistance to you here in case any adjustments need to be made to the commodore modifications.
Alieth: If we cannot return to the Ronin, I would rather stay on the bridge, sir. :: She paused briefly and glanced sideways at the Romulan towering at her side :: I also anticipate that our help will be key to implement the modifications we have assisted in making.
It was just a way of repeating what Raedai had said, but in a slightly different fashion. Just to mask somewhat the fact that they were in agreement.
With a nod, the Commodore gave her blessing and then looked to the officers in front of her.
Nicholotti: Open a channel on an open frequency.
After a few seconds, a cheerful beep rang out, indicating that communications were open.
Nicholotti: =/\= To all Lattice Alliance ships and forces; you have picked the wrong day and the wrong people to bring this fight to. You have ten minutes to withdraw, or I will take care of that for you. Your time starts now. =/\=
A couple of coordinated motions signalled that the troops the Excalibur had deployed had transported to the Station, and on the main screen the fighter wing spread out in an aggressive arrow-shaped formation.
Raedai: Why did the Alliance send troops to the station? To wipe out most of the defenders, they just had to destroy the life support system. It is not prepared for their needs, they have to make a new one. And those that survived would have problems with having to wear vacuum suits, so it would be easier to kill those that remained.
The question was intriguing, and Alieth tilted her head just a little, not taking her eyes off the screen as she watched the small, large and gigantic ships ballet, that swirled around DS33.
Nicholotti: Response
Raedai: Unless they are looking for something that needs the life support of a humanoid... or someone.
The Vulcan's eyebrows furrowed as she witnessed the Ronin throw up her last remaining torpedo salvo, targeting one of the larger enemy vessels. But it wasn't that which provoked the micro gesture of concern in the petite commander, but the fact that what Raedai was saying actually made sense.
Alieth: That is... logical. But who or what could be so important as to make all this display?
As far as she could remember, Ambassador Buford had left the station with most of the civilians, and he was the person who had the most detailed knowledge of the ins and outs of the Isles .... unless...
Nicholotti: Response
Alieth: Commodore, can we contact the station? Can we contact the Ambassador's offices or Commander Stergis?
Raedai / Nicholotti: Response
Once again, the Vulcan's eyebrows furrowed a little more, and soon her dark eyes turned once more to the main screen, as if her myopic gaze could pierce the walls of the station to find out what was going on inside.
Alieth: If the initial assault was aimed at taking out something... or someone, it makes sense that they would send the smaller ships first. It would give them time to get whatever it is they were looking for, and make a tactical withdrawal when the Leviathans arrived.
Alieth's right hand clenched into a fist and dropped to her left, which let out a brief, muffled sound, almost like a clap.
Alieth: Only then would it be time to destroy the station, and strike a blow towards their domination of this sector... at the same time as they concealed the theft they had carried out. The Fleet would never have known, they would assume that whoever or whatever they had stolen was destroyed with DS33. A master plan.
Raedai / Nicholotti: Response
Alieth: We cannot be sure unless we contact DS33 or one of the ships. But first that vessel would have to be deactivated.
On the main screen, a tiny ship was escaping from one of the Ronin's spacious hangars, while one of the enemy largest ships appeared to be buzzing, weapons slowly charging for one last final attack. The petite Vulcan suddenly sensed a pressure on the back of her skull, as her qui'lari tingled, as if zapped by an electrical energy.
Raedai / Nicholotti: Response
The petite Vulcan nodded firmly.
Alieth: The lieutenant can give you more technical details, but a pulse of the main deflect at the moment they activate the weapons will completely destroy them.
What she refrained
from saying was that if the chronitron pulse was triggered a second
too late, the Khitomer, the Ronin and DS33 themselves would be
affected as well, vaporizing them in an instant. Just as well as the
fact that if the peaks of Sencha energy accumulated in the
surrounding space were too high, a rupture of the surrounding
universe could ensue with unforeseen consequences.
But at
such moments, as the humans said, they could only take a leap of
faith.
Raedai / Nicholotti: Response
[[TAG/TBC]]
Lieutenant Commander Alieth
Chief Science Officer & 2O
E239702A10
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