Ensign Kai Sims - Attack Run
Lucas Jones
((Bridge, Deck 3, USS Ronin))
Sims was in deep thought aboard the USS Ronin as the captain ordered the evacuation of the ship. He was still largely fresh out of the academy, having only graduated a few weeks earlier, and now he was being ordered to abandon ship. A mere formality he knew. With the transporters offline and the shuttlecraft either in use or destroyed, there was no viable way of getting off the ship. Barely out of the academy and already facing death.
oO I wonder if the other cadets are doing as well as I am. oO
Sims snapped back to reality as he realized he was being stared at – one of the other officers had spoken to him, and he had completely missed it.
Sims: Sir?
Niac: You heard me, Ensign. Commander Carpenter, I'm putting you in charge of the evacuation. Get as many people off the ship in the next five minutes as you can. Try to make your way to the station...failing that, get as far from the combat area as possible and deeper into Federation territory. The beating the Alliance has taken today will slow them down...you should be able to get to safety.
Sims slightly frowned at the response. He had, in fact, not heard what the captain had said. At least his follow-up statement made it clear that he was to abandon the ship along with the others. Regardless, Sims was not entirely sure how they were supposed to get off Ronin with the transports offline and the shuttlecraft either deployed or destroyed.
Beck: =/\= Doctor Beck to Bridge. =/\=
Sims ears perked up as he heard the new voice crackling
through the commlink. At least this meant the ACMO was still alive. He would be
very useful if the Ronin survived the coming moments.
Tucker: =/\= Hey doc, not a good time… =/\=
Carpenter: No s%&*.
Sims: At least we know they’re still alive now. Especially given the state of the rest of the ship…
Beck: =/\= Ian and I are stuck between decks in the turbolift pod we took from the Bridge. We just got back power, but I had to MacGuyver a way to reach out to you guys. Could we get a little help here? =/\=
Sims could not believe his luck. Obviously, the doctor and the other individual had taken the turbolift off the bridge *before* he took the turbolift from deck six to the bridge. He was certainly glad that his turbolift did not befall the same fate as theirs, or he would have been trapped down there too.
Tucker: =/\= You’re what now ? =/\=
Carpenter: =/\= Captain just started general evacuation protocols. Our warp core is fracturing. But you sit tight, Q. We'll get you out. =/\=
Beck: =/\= . . . did you just say abandon ship??? What the hell are you doing up there? =/\=
oO The usual. Preparing to be blown to smithereens and making bets on what kills us first. The enemy ship powering up its main weapons or our own warp core.oO
Tucker: =/\= You heard right, buddy, I’m working on trying to get your turbolift going again. And to answer your question, I'm not sure what’s on the Captain's mind. =/\=
Sims frowned at Tucker’s response. He was certain that he heard the captain’s order to abandon ship as well as he had. Did he plan on disobeying the captain’s direct order?
Niac: I respect your bravery and your commitment, but you've already sacrificed enough...now I want you to live. Abandon ship...that's an order. I'm going to stay a few minutes and make sure the Alliance receives our...parting gift.
In response to the captain, the lighting on the bridge turned to a deep blue, and a distorted computer voice began announcing the call for all hands to abandon ship.
Tucker: ::assertive::I hate to disobey a direct order, but I’m not going anywhere, sir.
Carpenter: I'm with Marty, sir! We can't do anything for the station without a ship!
Sims was hesitant. He had no desire to stay on board the Ronin and get blown apart. But with transporters offline and shuttlecraft not available, the only method of escaping the ship would be to take one of those flimsy, unshielded escape pods. Sims was fairly certain hell would freeze over before he ever got into one of those things with weapon fire flying around still. One shot and one of those pods would be blown into a million tiny pieces.
Sims: I don’t really want to be caught out in an unshielded escape pod by the Sheliak sir. I will take my chances here with the others.
Niac: The automatic helm controls are fried and besides...I don't want...::The short range sensors began shrieking and Karrod Niac turned in surprise. Almost in concert with Kirsty's own terminal pinging the new contact.:: Looks like the Alliance called in reinforcements...I guess we should be flattered.
Sims looked at the viewscreen as a new vessel came out of warp close by. Perhaps a bit too close by? Obviously, whoever was piloting the ship must have been an incredibly good pilot to have saved them from smashing through an Alliance vessel. Regardless, Sims felt a momentary glimmer of hope begin to rise as he identified the starship as a Starfleet Vesta class.
Niac: It's the Excalibur!
Sims had never heard of the Excalibur before but at this point Sims would probably be willing to take an Oberth if that’s all Starfleet had been able to scrape up for reinforcements.
Tucker: The Excalibur is getting between us and the Alliance ship!
Sims: Welcome news. Might give us the time we need to at least get some of our systems back on line in time for the next assault.
Niac: Response
Carpenter: She's weapons hot, Captain.
Sims: Maybe we have a fighting chance after all?
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. =/\=
Tucker: Enemy frigate breaking off, bearing three-three-one mark four-seven. And from the readings I’m getting, she’s all kinds of angry.
oO Our shields are barely holding as it is – we won’t last very long in another firefight oO
Niac: Response
Carpenter: The "Gun-Ship" is targeting the Khitomer now. They might be readin' our warp core problems. But that other frigate is lookin' froggy. ::she points to the Main Viewer from her station.::
Sims: I rerouted all the power I could from non-essential systems to the forward torpedo tubes. It’s not much, but you should get one decent spread from the rapid-fire tubes. After that we’re running on fumes.
Tucker: Sir, that ship is picking up speed!
Niac: Response
Sims braced against his console as another round of weapon fire hammered home against the Ronin. The majority of the impact was absorbed by what little shielding the Ronin had, but the impacts still caused the bridge to shudder ominously as the lights above head flickered with each hit.
Sims: We can’t take many more hits like that! The shields are pretty much depleted, and there’s not many systems left we can divert power from that are non-essential to bolster them!
Carpenter: Forward tubes away!
Sims watched as a well-timed spread of several dozen microtorpedoes darted out of the Ronin’s forward torpedo tube into the oncoming gunship. The low warhead yield of the torpedoes resulted in several “pin-prick” holes in the hostile vessel as dozens of small holes were torn into the enemy vessel. Although largely superficial, the excellent aim of the Ronin’s tactical officer resulted in several hits on the ship’s primary power systems that would temporarily cripple the vessel’s weaponry and shields.
Sims: Great shot!
Tucker: Response
Carpenter: I'm makin' it easier for Beck and O'Connor. Then...::she pointed toward the main viewer and the looming L.A. forces still itching for the full conflict to erupt once more:: I plan on bein' around long enough to bring those buzzards down.
As if in direct response to her statement, Sims unconsciously held his breath as the bridge lighting died out completely, only to come back moments later as the Ronin shook under the barrage of another round of weapon fire.
Carpenter: How'd we make sure that happens?
Sims: We need to make repairs immediately. It doesn’t even matter if it’s just a quick five minute patch job, most of our systems are still offline or on the verge of it. Our first priority should be getting the warp core stabilized or, at least, patched enough to keep us from getting blown apart. Doesn’t matter how much strength we feed into the shields if we implode from within…
Tucker: Response
Niac/Beck/O'Connor: Response
A chirp at his console grabbed Sims attention as the damage reports from the last attack finally began to arrive. Although the damage was bad, Sims had to admit he thought it would have been much worse.
Sims: Damage reports are finally coming in from that last attack run by the gun ship. Most of the damage seems to have been concentrated on the lower decks – 15 through 18 to be particular. Several of the hull microfractures in those areas have been torn open into full hull breaches. No major damage to critical systems, as far as I can tell. I can’t stress enough how lucky we were – main engineering is on deck 14, and if those shots had just been a little bit farther up on the hull..I don’t think we’d be having this conversation.
Carpenter/Niac/Tucker: Response
Sims: Minimal. That last beating we took completely evaporated our shield strength and I don’t have any other systems to pull more power from. That last drip of power diverted from the non-essential decks was all we had left for power reserves.
Carpenter/Niac/Tucker: Response
Sims: Sir! I just detected a launch from the shuttle bay on deck eleven. It’s definitely the Sagan but what in the world are they doing? That shuttlecraft will be blown to pieces if an Alliance vessel so much as looks at it the wrong way!
Carpenter/Niac/Tucker: Response
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Ensign Kai Sims
Engineering Officer
USS Ronin
R240109KS1