Cpt. Karrod Niac - Boldly They Rode
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Karrod Niac
Aug 26, 2024, 12:36:52 AM8/26/24
to USS Ronin – StarBase 118 Star Trek PBEM RPG
((Bridge, Deck 3, U.S.S. Ronin))
As the final seconds ticked down on the viewscreen Karrod glanced around a bridge bathed in the crimson alert lighting. There was the low buzz of operational chatter and the chirps of computer systems scrolling diagnostic data or tactical readiness reports. The ship itself added to the chorus of small sounds, its vibrations and rattles forming a sympathetic rhythm that he swore made it all the way to his teeth. The ship, much like his people, seemed eager...a coiled spring ready to unleash a tidal wave of stored energy...and Karrod felt it deep within himself as well. The doubts and fears that had clung to his thoughts over the last few months had vanished as his perspective narrowed to just what lay ahead and, even facing seemingly insurmountable odds, he felt more focused and calm then at any time in recent memory.
The Khitomer had dropped out of warp ahead of them as planned and by now had performed it's feint, a firing run on the station intended to draw off overeager Alliance vessels and pull their assault out of position for the Ronin to hammer. It was a plan his former CO had designed and they'd refined on their journey back to the station and it was one of incredible risks and long odds, but it gave them a fighting chance to steal the enemies momentum and give them something to shoot at other than Deep Space Thirty Three. The fact that his ship was the replacement target was, at most, a secondary concern for Karrod at this point. Within Niac's typically cantankerous chorus was for once united in assent, with his impression of Sencha coalescing into focus. Her fury at the Alliance's corruption of her work had compressed into something cold and dangerous and it fed every emotion driving him towards this lethal confrontation. The chrono ticked down the final seconds and the starfield flattened, normal space reasserting itself violently as the ship surged out of warp at full impulse. Their sensors began assembling a picture of space around them and for just a moment, Karrod allowed himself to soak in the image.
There, just a few thousand kilometers off their bow Deep Space Thirty Three was burning in space, surrounded by a swarm of vessels that surged in and darted out, probing and pushing and stinging with each firing pass. Phaser fire from the station and from remaining defense craft rippled through space but was drowned out by the green and red bolts of Tholian & Sheliak disruptor fire. Flights of torpedoes numbering in the hundreds were flowing towards the station from an outer circle of large Alliance ships who seemed content to wither away the stations defenses as their fighters and smaller ships died by the droves.
Until just that moment Karrod had harbored the fatalistic doubt that they would come out of warp into the maw of an Alliance force, organized and prepared, fortifying their newly claimed space station and prepared to swat them away like annoying insects. Yet the station endured. In spite of everything....they'd made it back in time.
The Khitomer had done their job well and Karrod traced their course with his mind, breaking hard across the stations axis and drawing dozens of fighters and smaller vessels into their wake, phasers and torpedoes engaging in six directions at once as the ship slashed its way across the rippling battlefield. Karrod blinked and suddenly the roar of the bridge returned to him as the Ronin plunged into the fire.
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 Karrod 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.
Tucker: Response
Karrod looked to his left towards Doctor Beck, who was for the moment coordinating the ships medical resources from the bridge and keeping an watchful eye on the senior staff. One of them becoming injured at a critical moment could be disasterous so having him close at hand was a source of great reassurance to him, even with the Doctor's earlier outburst.
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. Karrod felt the ship shift violently to port as they avoided the burning remains of something that looked like a troop transport before turning back towards the station.
Niac: Report effect on targets! Helm, take us across the stations 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.
Niac: Damage report!
Beck/Tucker/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?
The ship swung around like a fighter and the inertial dampeners strained, the force pressing Karrod into his chair as the massive vessel pivoted around its course like a skater dancing on ice. Weapons fire was a tornado of carnage all around them but most of it couldn't touch them, passing within meters of the corkscrewing Ronin.
Beck/Tucker/O'Connor/Carpenter: Response
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.
Beck/Tucker/O'Connor/Carpenter: Response
Tags/TBC
================================
Captain Karrod Niac
Commanding Officer
USS Ronin - NCC-34523
V239509GT0
As the final seconds ticked down on the viewscreen Karrod glanced around a bridge bathed in the crimson alert lighting. There was the low buzz of operational chatter and the chirps of computer systems scrolling diagnostic data or tactical readiness reports. The ship itself added to the chorus of small sounds, its vibrations and rattles forming a sympathetic rhythm that he swore made it all the way to his teeth. The ship, much like his people, seemed eager...a coiled spring ready to unleash a tidal wave of stored energy...and Karrod felt it deep within himself as well. The doubts and fears that had clung to his thoughts over the last few months had vanished as his perspective narrowed to just what lay ahead and, even facing seemingly insurmountable odds, he felt more focused and calm then at any time in recent memory.
The Khitomer had dropped out of warp ahead of them as planned and by now had performed it's feint, a firing run on the station intended to draw off overeager Alliance vessels and pull their assault out of position for the Ronin to hammer. It was a plan his former CO had designed and they'd refined on their journey back to the station and it was one of incredible risks and long odds, but it gave them a fighting chance to steal the enemies momentum and give them something to shoot at other than Deep Space Thirty Three. The fact that his ship was the replacement target was, at most, a secondary concern for Karrod at this point. Within Niac's typically cantankerous chorus was for once united in assent, with his impression of Sencha coalescing into focus. Her fury at the Alliance's corruption of her work had compressed into something cold and dangerous and it fed every emotion driving him towards this lethal confrontation. The chrono ticked down the final seconds and the starfield flattened, normal space reasserting itself violently as the ship surged out of warp at full impulse. Their sensors began assembling a picture of space around them and for just a moment, Karrod allowed himself to soak in the image.
There, just a few thousand kilometers off their bow Deep Space Thirty Three was burning in space, surrounded by a swarm of vessels that surged in and darted out, probing and pushing and stinging with each firing pass. Phaser fire from the station and from remaining defense craft rippled through space but was drowned out by the green and red bolts of Tholian & Sheliak disruptor fire. Flights of torpedoes numbering in the hundreds were flowing towards the station from an outer circle of large Alliance ships who seemed content to wither away the stations defenses as their fighters and smaller ships died by the droves.
Until just that moment Karrod had harbored the fatalistic doubt that they would come out of warp into the maw of an Alliance force, organized and prepared, fortifying their newly claimed space station and prepared to swat them away like annoying insects. Yet the station endured. In spite of everything....they'd made it back in time.
The Khitomer had done their job well and Karrod traced their course with his mind, breaking hard across the stations axis and drawing dozens of fighters and smaller vessels into their wake, phasers and torpedoes engaging in six directions at once as the ship slashed its way across the rippling battlefield. Karrod blinked and suddenly the roar of the bridge returned to him as the Ronin plunged into the fire.
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 Karrod 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.
Tucker: Response
Karrod looked to his left towards Doctor Beck, who was for the moment coordinating the ships medical resources from the bridge and keeping an watchful eye on the senior staff. One of them becoming injured at a critical moment could be disasterous so having him close at hand was a source of great reassurance to him, even with the Doctor's earlier outburst.
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. Karrod felt the ship shift violently to port as they avoided the burning remains of something that looked like a troop transport before turning back towards the station.
Niac: Report effect on targets! Helm, take us across the stations 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.
Niac: Damage report!
Beck/Tucker/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?
The ship swung around like a fighter and the inertial dampeners strained, the force pressing Karrod into his chair as the massive vessel pivoted around its course like a skater dancing on ice. Weapons fire was a tornado of carnage all around them but most of it couldn't touch them, passing within meters of the corkscrewing Ronin.
Beck/Tucker/O'Connor/Carpenter: Response
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.
Beck/Tucker/O'Connor/Carpenter: Response
Tags/TBC
================================
Captain Karrod Niac
Commanding Officer
USS Ronin - NCC-34523
V239509GT0
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