Lieutenant Marty Tucker - Ride The Lightning
Martin Tucker
((Bridge, Deck 3, U.S.S. Ronin))
The bridge was bathed in the light of the red alert. The light from his console at the engineering station lit his face, making shadows play, giving him an almost sinister look—well, as sinister as Marty could look, which wasn’t much. Things were just about to get dicey, and Tucker widened his stance to combat the shaking and the rattle in the deck plates of the old war horse.
Marty silently shook his head. While he didn’t mind bridge duty, in a battle like this, he should be in engineering, standing at the pool table, directing his oompa loompas of Starfleet. Truthfully, he was learning a lot about the command styles of Captain Niac and Commander Raga. Again, he shook his head to clear the cobwebs of the possibility of sitting in that seat someday. He was the Ronin’s Chief Engineer and he liked it that way.
Niac: Commander Carpenter, launch tricobalt devices alpha through foxtrot at the Khitomers priority targets. Phasers fire at will.
Carpenter: Response
Niac: Mr. O'Connor, adjust your course to come starboard ten degrees and drop us under the station, full impulse. I want to get a clear shot at those boarding craft attached to the station. Keep us moving and keep it unpredictable.
O'Connor: Response
The ship shuddered as something hit the shield, and Niac called over his shoulder.
Niac: Chief, begin charging the main deflector. If we detect a build-up of s-wave radiation from one of those big ships out there, I want to try the Khitomer's chroniton pulse. Until then I want all the power you can spare routed to the shields.
Marty sprung into action. He’d already set up hot buttons to expedite the process of charging the main deflector. He came up with it, during one of his all-night benders in his workshop all hopped up on raktajino and doughnuts.
Tucker: The main deflector is charging at thirty-two percent and rising. I’ve taken most nonessential systems offline and diverted them to the shields.
Matty looked up from his console again as he monitored all vital systems in a readout to his right on the console. He was surprised to see Beck on the bridge after his little outburst. It was out of character for his former roommate and friend.
Niac: Doctor Beck, I want constant reports on the radiation levels around the station. It seems like the Alliance is holding off on the big guns for now...probably worried about outright destroying the station before they can claim ownership. If that changes I want to know it as soon as possible.
Beck: Response
The ship rocked again as the viewscreen bloomed with light, the slow tricolbalt devices finally arriving at their targets with a breathtaking amount of destructive energy. Marty grabbed his station, arms out in front of him as the ship dipped hard to port, avoiding some ship on fire. The tricobalt ordnance hit its targets, putting on a spectacular display on the main viewscreen.
Niac: Report effect on targets! Helm, take us across the station's long axis and then plot an outbound arc towards the Khitomer, we need to get some of the heat off them so they can recharge their shields.
The ship rocked again, and alarms began blaring. This time, the rocking brought him to a knee, and he stood back up as his console bleeped loudly, as though it was angry at the young engineer. Running a hand across the back of his neck as the reports started flooding in from engineering. He did some fancy power rerouting to the shields.
Niac: Damage report!
Tucker: Shields holding at sixty percent. Minor damages to decks five, seven, and nine. There are no casualties to report at this time. I think we got lucky…this time. Also, the deflector shield is almost fully charged and ready to go, currently at ninety-seven percent.
Marty noticed some power variances in the structural integrity field generator, which wouldn’t normally worry him, but they were at red alert and actively engaging targets. He needed someone to get to deck two to check out the structural integrity field generator and find out what the devil was causing the fluctuations. He tapped his comm badge.
Tucker: =/\= Tucker to engineering. =/\=
Engineering” =/\= Morgan here sir. =/\=
Tucker: =/\= Hey Rach, I need you to send a team to deck two and find out what the hell is going on with the structural integrity generator; it’s fluctuating wildly, and this isn’t the great time for that thing to go on the fritz.
Morgan: =/\= Dahl and I will get it right now, Morgan out. =/\=
With that settled for the time being, he focused back on the bridge and listened to reports from other bridge crew members.
Beck/O'Connor/Carpenter: Response
Niac: Swat those fighters, Commander, this is our sky and they don't have my permission to fly in it. Doctor Beck, give me a bioscan of the station...what's the status of the population?
Thanks to O’Conner’s fancy flying, the ship's inertial dampers whined and moaned, almost sending Marty to the deck for the second time in about a minute. Another beep brought his attention to his console, the inertial dampers were bleeding power, which made Marty roll his eyes.
oO Of course it is…Oo
Tucker: Skipper, I’ve got the inertial dampers hemorrhaging power, and I’m trying to compensate so we all don’t end up smears on the bulkhead. And I’m getting fluctuations and surges in the structural integrity field, jumping between forty and sixty percent. I’ve sent Lieutenant Morgan and Crewman Dahl to investigate; I should know more soon.
Beck/O'Connor/Carpenter: Response
Marty looked up from his console as sensor alarms were going off everywhere on the bridge; the sound made it to his teeth. What he saw next, he was pretty sure he’d seen before, but only in schematics; it was part of the data dump from Grus Beta Three. It was massive and impressive.
Sensors began howling in alarm, and Karrod's eyes widened as the viewscreen snapped to focus on a new target. It shared some of the design features of the Leviathans they'd crossed swords with once before but something about it screamed with special menace.
Niac: Sensors, tell me everything you can about that contact.
Marty double-checked the readings with what he had on file, and his guess was right. The captain wasn’t going to like it, not one bit.
Tucker: Captain, I’ve seen this monstrosity once before, but only a schematic. I didn’t think they’d build it, but Sheliak and Tholians designed it together. It’s one massive S-wave cannon, and if what I read was true, it could single-handedly spin its web. There is no need for a grouping of ships.
Niac/Beck/O'Connor/Carpenter: Response
Tucker: If that news wasn’t bad enough, it’s starting its powering-up cycle; from the readings I’m getting, it’s pointed right at Deep Space Thirty-three.
Niac/Beck/O'Connor/Carpenter: Response
