Ensign Roop - Compass Thorns
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Donald Furrow-Scott
Aug 8, 2025, 10:32:41 PM8/8/25
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(( Shuttle Luster, transiting between USS Ronin and USS Compass Rose ))
Roop: ::tapping the console and stretching to look back past the big Aurelian at the shutting rear hatch:: And have those readings determined its mode of transfer yet, or is that an ‘us?’
The view in front of the shuttlecraft flickered as the forcefield holding the air inside the bay activated. From behind the flickering blue wall, the space doors opened, revealing the endless stretching darkness of space.
Syrex: It’s an us Ensign. The frontlines, the final frontier and everything else on the leaflets. Take us out.
Flying the Luster in his atypical two-handed style, Roop felt it break contact and become thruster buoyant. They slid through the shuttlebay forcefield and left the next to an intense spiral of stars.
oO The Lieutenant’s first Away command, and she asked Flight Ops for the shuttle clearance. What an honorable moment to witness. Oo
The Ronin and the Rose were locked in a spiraling ships’ dance that left them standing still, but the background stars made a spiraling curtain in compensation.
Adjusting the scan results on his central display, Roop glided out under the protective catamarans, spinning in a half loop to come out under the Ronin’s saucer on the port side, with the dead Compass Rose straight ahead by a kilometer.
T’Fearne: If possible, could we do a fly around, a visual inspection of the hull? … I’m not sure what I’m looking for yet. ::T’Fearne tapped Alyndra in supportive way:: Also, what’s the status of the Rose’s shields? Has the command team accessed the override codes yet?
Syrex: ::turning to talk to T’earne:: We’re aiming for the main shuttlebay at the rear anyway, so we’ll get a good look anyway ::turning to T’Fearne:: From what I heard shortly before we left, Commander Kel was leading another team, since we didn’t see them in the shuttle bay with us, we can assume they might have been able to transport over, unless plans changed of course.
Having only heard half-chat about a team headed for the Transporters, Roop decided to let the facts come out from more reliable sources. The Rose began to spiral like the stars, slowly, then gaining more speed. The Ronin behind them began to match. Everything was in a circular dance but the Luster, so Roop had them join the dance.
The two-handed flying of Roop seemed fluidic as he used both thrusters and impulse on the type-9 as more of a backpack than a crowded vehicle. He had experienced no disorientation, a byproduct of his three-dimensional Selkie brain and a life under water.
oO Eaha ta oe i ite? Oo
Roop: Rose shields are down, sirs. She's powering thrusters to stabilize.
Om-Zora: Response
Roop: Both ships are righting to neutral station-keeping. ::sliding his face slightly towards Alyndra as the Luster flattened out with them:: Our Bridge seems to have taken remote control. Can we confirm?
Syrex/T’Fearne/Om-Zora: Response
With the meters falling away, Roop tilted the Luster up on its bow slightly to give a bigger view of the closing Rose out the main viewport to the passengers. It was an old submarine tactic he had grown up with. Scans didn’t need it, but most aliens’ eyes and impressions soaked in the bigger visual picture.
The under-slung sensor pod reminded Roop of a surfboard as he swung under and around the starboard nacelle of the Rose. Then a small alarm blared.
T’Fearne: They’ve charged their weapons! Targeting lock on the Ronin.
Syrex: Recommendations?
Om-Zora: Response
T’Fearne: Stay close to the hull :: she gave her tactical advice after observing the Oberth class's weapons schematics :: dead zone their targeting arcs! They only have two forward phasers and limited targeting capability with us this close. Avoid the aft also, they have a single torpedo tube. If we hug the hull, we reduce their options.
Syrex: The last thing they want is to point blank us, get caught in the explosion. Make it so, Ensign. Hug it like it’s an oversized teddy bear.
Roop: Roger that. Keeps our shields tight, please, Tac!
Banking the Luster up and onto the Rose’s back, the auxiliary landing strip was laid out below them like the flight deck it was. Roop edged the shuttle closer to the stern edge. If you stuck your foot out of the shuttle, it would drag on the Rose’s deck.
Syrex: Is that close enough for you, T’Fearne?
T’Fearne/Om-Zora: Response
Roop: We’ll be inside the Rose’s shields. If they go back up we'll be a ramora. Somebody’s fighting our Bridge commands.
Syrex: Alright Ensign if you want to…
The ship suddenly and unexpectedly tilted on it’s Z axis, rolling away below them.
Roop: HANG ON!
Roop’s two-handed flying using both impulse power and thrusters turned the Luster into a pilot fish, dancing along the hull of the Rose but never touching it. This didn’t look like the first time Roop had done this; in fact, he seemed more like a serious dolphin playing around a whale.
T’Fearne/Om-Zora: Response
Syrex: Ensign, can you calculate for their vectors?
Roop: No problem, Sir, unless she goes to warp.
Syrex: T’Fearne, Om-Zora, how can we get the shuttlebay doors open? Can we piggyback on the Ronin’s command code interface?
T’Fearne/Om-Zora: Response
With the stars spiraling again but the Rose appearing to stay steady below the shuttle, Roop flipped the Luster over viewport down by the Flight Deck’s back edge again.
Roop: T’Fearne, Sir? They may have a welcoming committee. You want us to enter bow forward, giving exit cover out the back hatch?
T’Fearne: Response
Syrex: Alright, give it a go! ::Turns to face Roop:: as soon as those doors open, punch it. Don’t be afraid to burn some rubber.
Roop: Burn rubber? ::clicking on the Luster’s foward spotlights::
T’Fearne/Om-Zora: Response
The Luster shot down and ducked into the entrance of the open shuttlebay like clown fish on a sea anemone, only pausing long enough to assess if there was adequate space in the shuttlebay to maneuver. It settled and locked down onto the dark shuttlebay’s deck. Something squished and splattered out from the landing nacelle before freezing from the duranium’s icy stomp.
Roop: Hard down, Sirs. ::looking around out the viewport::
In the lights, they could see refueling lines and power snakes simply lying loose in disarray. The spotlights made the dark shuttlebay away from their glow look strangely eerie.
Roop: ::updating his scan readings to make certain of his sight:: Where are all their shuttles?
TAG/TBC
===============================
Ensign Roop
HCO Officer assigned to Engineering & Lieutenant Tucker
USS Ronin NCC-34523
Captain Karrod Niac commanding
R240206OR1
Roop: ::tapping the console and stretching to look back past the big Aurelian at the shutting rear hatch:: And have those readings determined its mode of transfer yet, or is that an ‘us?’
The view in front of the shuttlecraft flickered as the forcefield holding the air inside the bay activated. From behind the flickering blue wall, the space doors opened, revealing the endless stretching darkness of space.
Syrex: It’s an us Ensign. The frontlines, the final frontier and everything else on the leaflets. Take us out.
Flying the Luster in his atypical two-handed style, Roop felt it break contact and become thruster buoyant. They slid through the shuttlebay forcefield and left the next to an intense spiral of stars.
oO The Lieutenant’s first Away command, and she asked Flight Ops for the shuttle clearance. What an honorable moment to witness. Oo
The Ronin and the Rose were locked in a spiraling ships’ dance that left them standing still, but the background stars made a spiraling curtain in compensation.
Adjusting the scan results on his central display, Roop glided out under the protective catamarans, spinning in a half loop to come out under the Ronin’s saucer on the port side, with the dead Compass Rose straight ahead by a kilometer.
T’Fearne: If possible, could we do a fly around, a visual inspection of the hull? … I’m not sure what I’m looking for yet. ::T’Fearne tapped Alyndra in supportive way:: Also, what’s the status of the Rose’s shields? Has the command team accessed the override codes yet?
Syrex: ::turning to talk to T’earne:: We’re aiming for the main shuttlebay at the rear anyway, so we’ll get a good look anyway ::turning to T’Fearne:: From what I heard shortly before we left, Commander Kel was leading another team, since we didn’t see them in the shuttle bay with us, we can assume they might have been able to transport over, unless plans changed of course.
Having only heard half-chat about a team headed for the Transporters, Roop decided to let the facts come out from more reliable sources. The Rose began to spiral like the stars, slowly, then gaining more speed. The Ronin behind them began to match. Everything was in a circular dance but the Luster, so Roop had them join the dance.
The two-handed flying of Roop seemed fluidic as he used both thrusters and impulse on the type-9 as more of a backpack than a crowded vehicle. He had experienced no disorientation, a byproduct of his three-dimensional Selkie brain and a life under water.
oO Eaha ta oe i ite? Oo
Roop: Rose shields are down, sirs. She's powering thrusters to stabilize.
Om-Zora: Response
Roop: Both ships are righting to neutral station-keeping. ::sliding his face slightly towards Alyndra as the Luster flattened out with them:: Our Bridge seems to have taken remote control. Can we confirm?
Syrex/T’Fearne/Om-Zora: Response
With the meters falling away, Roop tilted the Luster up on its bow slightly to give a bigger view of the closing Rose out the main viewport to the passengers. It was an old submarine tactic he had grown up with. Scans didn’t need it, but most aliens’ eyes and impressions soaked in the bigger visual picture.
The under-slung sensor pod reminded Roop of a surfboard as he swung under and around the starboard nacelle of the Rose. Then a small alarm blared.
T’Fearne: They’ve charged their weapons! Targeting lock on the Ronin.
Syrex: Recommendations?
Om-Zora: Response
T’Fearne: Stay close to the hull :: she gave her tactical advice after observing the Oberth class's weapons schematics :: dead zone their targeting arcs! They only have two forward phasers and limited targeting capability with us this close. Avoid the aft also, they have a single torpedo tube. If we hug the hull, we reduce their options.
Syrex: The last thing they want is to point blank us, get caught in the explosion. Make it so, Ensign. Hug it like it’s an oversized teddy bear.
Roop: Roger that. Keeps our shields tight, please, Tac!
Banking the Luster up and onto the Rose’s back, the auxiliary landing strip was laid out below them like the flight deck it was. Roop edged the shuttle closer to the stern edge. If you stuck your foot out of the shuttle, it would drag on the Rose’s deck.
Syrex: Is that close enough for you, T’Fearne?
T’Fearne/Om-Zora: Response
Roop: We’ll be inside the Rose’s shields. If they go back up we'll be a ramora. Somebody’s fighting our Bridge commands.
Syrex: Alright Ensign if you want to…
The ship suddenly and unexpectedly tilted on it’s Z axis, rolling away below them.
Roop: HANG ON!
Roop’s two-handed flying using both impulse power and thrusters turned the Luster into a pilot fish, dancing along the hull of the Rose but never touching it. This didn’t look like the first time Roop had done this; in fact, he seemed more like a serious dolphin playing around a whale.
T’Fearne/Om-Zora: Response
Syrex: Ensign, can you calculate for their vectors?
Roop: No problem, Sir, unless she goes to warp.
Syrex: T’Fearne, Om-Zora, how can we get the shuttlebay doors open? Can we piggyback on the Ronin’s command code interface?
T’Fearne/Om-Zora: Response
With the stars spiraling again but the Rose appearing to stay steady below the shuttle, Roop flipped the Luster over viewport down by the Flight Deck’s back edge again.
Roop: T’Fearne, Sir? They may have a welcoming committee. You want us to enter bow forward, giving exit cover out the back hatch?
T’Fearne: Response
Syrex: Alright, give it a go! ::Turns to face Roop:: as soon as those doors open, punch it. Don’t be afraid to burn some rubber.
Roop: Burn rubber? ::clicking on the Luster’s foward spotlights::
T’Fearne/Om-Zora: Response
The Luster shot down and ducked into the entrance of the open shuttlebay like clown fish on a sea anemone, only pausing long enough to assess if there was adequate space in the shuttlebay to maneuver. It settled and locked down onto the dark shuttlebay’s deck. Something squished and splattered out from the landing nacelle before freezing from the duranium’s icy stomp.
Roop: Hard down, Sirs. ::looking around out the viewport::
In the lights, they could see refueling lines and power snakes simply lying loose in disarray. The spotlights made the dark shuttlebay away from their glow look strangely eerie.
Roop: ::updating his scan readings to make certain of his sight:: Where are all their shuttles?
TAG/TBC
===============================
Ensign Roop
HCO Officer assigned to Engineering & Lieutenant Tucker
USS Ronin NCC-34523
Captain Karrod Niac commanding
R240206OR1
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