Cpt. Karrod Niac - Shatterpoint

[Karrod Niac]

((OOC:  Applying a little glue here so Raga's conversation with the ship is in the right place))

((Bridge, Deck 3, U.S.S. Ronin))

Beck: Hell's bells!

Niac:  Sensors, tell me everything you can about that contact.  

His officers snapped into action as the ship shuddered around them but the unexpected sound of an absent voice suddenly filled the bridge.  

Raga: =/\= Raga to Ronin. What took you so long? =/\=

The sounds of battle accompanied the words but Karrod still found himself smiling as he tapped at the comm controls.  

Niac: =/\= We wanted to make a suitably dramatic entrance...what'd you think?  Too much? =/\=

Raga: =/\= Do you always come to rescue someone by shooting at them first? ::he said dryly:: =/\=

Karrod could hear the tension within the joking tone and knew how desperate his XO's situation must be.  

Niac: =/\= Address all your feedback to Captain Shayne.  What's your condition? =/\=

A thundering blast filled the channel and Karrod could feel his heart racing.  

Raga: =/\= Merdo. Seal that breach!! Valo, two o’clock, hammer that squad with the cannon. ::the sound of an extreme firefight played backdrop to his voice:: We’re damned glad you’re here, Karrod. We’ll hold as long as we need to, but we’ve got the station rigged, so I’d appreciate it if I didn’t have to scuttle her. Raga out. =/\=

Karrod spared a moment for the people on the station and the desperate close quarters battle they'd been fighting for hours.  He found a new depth to his anger at the Alliance and felt all his motivations redouble as the ship dove back towards the station.  

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.

O'Connor: I can’t recall anything like that. It’s like one massive spider and we’re the closest gimpy fly.

Carpenter: Scopes confirm. Traces of S-Wave particles coming from the...ship? Platform? An' buildin'. Computer's still tryin' to make somethin' with it's profile.

Beck: Ambient radiation from that thing is twelve-hundred gray per hour. And I'm pretty sure they haven't even turned the damned thing on, so that's passive radiation.

Feeling Sencha raging within the symbiote at this newest and most horrific perversion of her lifes work Karrod was forced to tear his gaze from the viewscreen.  It was a struggle to regain himself but he refocused on the viewscreen and began dissecting the design with Sencha all but whispering in his mind.  

Niac: It's a vast collimator...the destructive potential is...nearly unlimited.  With the right power source that thing could take out whole planets.  

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.

O’Connor: I’m not sure if I should be offended or relieved we are target number one.

Carpenter: Well, the objective WAS to get their attention...

Huffing a dry chuckle as he gripped the arms of his chair Karrod felt calculations unspooling in his mind.  

Niac: Nothing like a plan working too well.  

From his station Doctor Beck let out a low whistle.  

Beck: Hey, bright side - if they fire that thing, we're close enough we'll likely be killed instantly and painlessly. ::a beat:: Probably.

O'Connor: That doesn’t make me feel better.

Carpenter: If we get closer, we might get a better look at it.

Beck: More intensive scans would be useful, might give me a better idea if I can do anything to counteract getting a dose from that thing.

The small part of his mind that wasn't focused on the battle around them again found reason to be concerned for Doctor Beck.  The moment passed and Karrod refocused on the viewscreen.  

Niac:  Agreed, we need to get all the information we can as quickly as we can.  Helm, swing us around and align for a high speed pass.  Chief, angle the shields as we go past the target and try to buy us a little extra coverage.  Commander Carpenter, sensors are yours - find us a target.  

Tucker:  RESPONSE

O’Connor: Aye, taking us around and dropping us hard and fast right on top of it. Hold on, here we go.

Stomach lurching as the inertial dampeners fell behind his helmsman's deft maneuvers Karrod watched the swarm of smaller craft peel away and back towards the station as they surged towards the Alliance outer perimeter and the vast superstructure now filling the viewscreen.  

Carpenter: Covering fire.

The few remaining fighters brave or foolish enough to pursue them were lanced by the ships phasers as the sensors tried to make sense of the enormity of the Alliance structure.  The ship shuddered as a massive disruptor blast from one of the nearby Leviathans got dangerously close to the port nacelle and alarms began sounding.  

Niac: Keep those nacelles attached Chief!  

Tucker:  RESPONSE

Beck: This reminds me way too much of one of the missions on Kirk's Enterprise. The only way they managed to stop that thing was by sacrificing a Constitution-class ship by ramming it down its gullet.

Karrod wanted to dismiss the idea out of hand but he knew their situation had thundered past desperate quite some time ago.  

Niac: Thank you Doctor but I only just got this chair broken in.  Chief what's our status?  We have enough power to do some damage to that thing?  

Tucker: RESPONSE

O'Connor: Sir?

Carpenter: Let 'em.  

Karrod turned in his chair, the cold certainty in Kirsty's voice cutting across the bridge.  

Niac: What've you got Carpenter?  

Carpenter: I'm sayin', they wanna use us as the first weave of their web? We make one of our own with the Khitomer and her chron-pulse. ::she hooked a thumb toward the still open and steadily increasing data feed:: We are already workin' on the cancelation form. We put us and the Kitty between THEM and the station. They throw their web wave, we throw ours. And pray to God ours cancels theirs out.

Tucker: RESPONSE

Beck: ::like a mantra:: Cross the streams.

O'Connor: Will it work? I put us in the path and it doesn’t…we’re outta the fight.

Beck: ::looking up:: Not necessarily. There's definitely a very slim chance we'll survive. The timing of it is gonna be important, though, because we don't know when that thing is at full power.

Kirsty nodded, though she looked adamant.

Carpenter: We would...be cutting it close. But we also might be the station's only chance. If we-

Kirsty was cut off mid-sentence as a portion of her console detonated in a flash of arcing electrical discharge.  The acrid smell of burning composite filled the air along with the unmistakable scent of iron.  Beck was there with a medkit a moment later as Karrod brushed bits of technological shrapnel off his uniform jacket.  

Niac: Damage report!  What the hell hit us?  

Carpenter: Phasers are down, but the Khitomer data feed is still up. We just can't see the progress here. We'll have to eyeball it.

O’Connor: I don’t know what that was but it wasn’t the main cannon. Captain, we can’t sit here though. I can buy us some time and get back in line with the Kitty as soon as we get the calculation frequency.

Beck: First degree burns on your hands, second degree on your torso. I can give you something for the pain now but I'll need to apply a dressing to the wound; normally I'd buy you a drink before I ask you to take your top off, but I'm afraid we don't have the time for it right now.

Beck: We can step into the break room if you'd like. Won't take more than a few minutes to get you up and running again. And before you argue, I'm going to have to insist - the more your jacket and shirt rub against the burns, the worst the blisters and pain will be and the more likely you'll get an infection before we're through.

Niac:  The Commander was a Marine, Doctor, they make ignoring injuries a form of high art.  Get her functional, fast.  Mr. O'Connor, get us back to the station and signal the Khitomer to fall into position off our starboard side.

Carpenter/Tucker: RESPONSE

O’Connor: Aye, sir. Hold onto your lunch everyone.

Beck: Thanks for the warning this time.

The viewscreen lurched as they arced back towards the station.  The hail of incoming fire from the fighters was as immediate as it was forceful but no phaser fire answered and they sensed opportunity.  The bridge jumped from another hard hit and hull panels fell from the ceiling, barely missing him and shattering a display to his left.

Carpenter/Tucker/O'Connor: RESPONSE

Beck: We can do it here, or I can let you stay at your station under protest. The wounds aren't severe enough I'll relieve you, but I am concerned about getting them treated as quickly as possible.

Niac:  Chief Tucker, pull power from the phasers and route it to the deflector.  If our pulse isn't strong enough none of this is going to matter.  

Carpenter/Tucker/O'Connor: RESPONSE

Beck: ::muttering:: Should I just keep my mouth shut until one of you is bleeding out?

Dismissing the grumbling as Commander Carpenter gingerly got back to her station Karrod watched the Khitomer pulling alongside.  The swarm of small vessels surrounding both ships took a final firing pass but broke off, dashing away from them in every direction except directly ahead or astern.  The warning from the science station a moment later simply confirmed what Karrod already knew.  

The Alliance was about to fire.  

Beck: Uh, the energy level looks like its starting to level out… I think it's going to fire soon. Like eminently. And I don't think you wanna know what the s-wave levels are showing.

Karrod could feel everyone on the bridge looking in his direction as he looked towards the viewscreen and the hateful looming in the midst of the Lattice Alliance fleet.  Every one of their major vessels had moved in close and their smaller vessels were scattering, well out of the way of the torrent of energy that weapon was about to release.  Only the Ronin and the Khitomer stood between it and the station.  

At that moment, Karrod wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.  

Niac:  Standby on deflector pulse.  Emergency power to forward shields.  Keep us close, helm.  

Carpenter/Tucker/O'Connor: RESPONSE

Beck: If we're going to get the Kitty to work with us, we'd better do it now.

Across Karrod's spots he could feel that strange itch he'd only ever experienced in the presence of Sencha Waves.  The bridge had grown quiet as the final moments ticked down.  

Niac:  Signal the Khitomer to synch their deflector with ours and prepare to fire.

Without taking his view off the rippling energy waves building within the Alliance weapon, Karrod spoke plainly and clearly.  

Niac:  It has been the honor of my life to serve with each of you.  

Beck/Tucker/O'Connor/Carpenter:  Response

The next few seconds happened slowly for Karrod, allowing him to see with exquisite detail the wave of energetic death that was rushing towards them.  The Lattice Alliance super-weapon discharged and space buckled all around it, filling with a crackling lightning storm that moved in unnatural, impossible ways.  A heartbeat passed and the Ronin answered, a blinding cascade of energy stabbing outwards like a vast glowing column of purest silver.  The Khitomer's beam lanced forward and joined theirs, intensifying and amplifying the beam until it pulsed and writhed.  The S-Wave collided with their counter-wave a heartbeat later and there was a moment of stunning collapse, the sum total of the energy collapsing upon itself in an instant and reduced to a rippling ball of lighting that seemed at war with itself.  

The detonation that followed a moment later was unlike anything Karrod had ever seen.  As it stretched its tendrils towards them Karrod smashed a control on the arm of his chair.  

Niac: =/\= All hands brace for i...=/\=  

The leading edge of the shockwave hit the shields and Karrod was thrown as if he weighed nothing, the entire ship bucking from a titanic uppercut.  He flew backwards out of the chair and collided with a console behind him as the bridge filled with explosions and showers of sparks, atmospheric gas leaking from ruptured conduits even the emergency lighting failed.  He tumbled to the deck and continued rolling backwards until he hit the rear bulkhead hard, a sickening crunch coming from his shoulder.  The whole ship shook and howled and moaned around them, systems overloading and exploding all around them....and then it was still.  As fast as it had come the shockwave passed and two things quickly became apparent to Karrod.

They were still alive.  And being alive hurt...a lot.  

He groaned as he slowly tried to stand, bracing himself against a shattered console as he tried to reorient.  The bridge was a ruin, officers had been thrown around like he had and were trying to pull themselves back towards their barely functional stations with injuries of their own but somehow the main viewscreen was still online.  It was filled with static and flickered badly...but it was also the best thing Karrod had ever seen.  

The Alliance's super-weapon was a shattered hulk, portions burning in space while others tumbled away with random energy discharges all along their surface.  The part of Karrod's brain that could still catalogue what he was seeing realized the Leviathans that had been closest to the weapon were simply gone, vaporized in part or whole by the holocaust of energy they had unleashed and had reflected back on them.  The remaining Alliance ships were clearly as stunned as the Ronin was, a few of the visibly damaged but still functional vessels trying to maneuver around the debris of their demolished attack force.  Karrod dragged himself along a rail, shattered plexi crunching under his boots as he finally got a hand on the Captains chair and sat, stunned in every sense of the word.  He tried to clear his throat and call out to the darkened bridge.  

Niac:  Sound...::he coughed painfully, a red stain on his hand where he covered his mouth::...sound off.  Damage...report.  

Beck/Tucker/O'Connor/Carpenter:  Response

Karrod waved the man away for the moment.  

Niac:  Find someone else, Doctor, I'll manage for the moment.  Kirsty...tactical status...can we get any readings from the Khitomer or DS33?  Ian...can we move?  Chief...is there anything that does work?  It looks like there's still a significant Alliance force out there...even if they got their bell rung as badly as we did.  

Beck/Tucker/O'Connor/Carpenter:  Response

They'd survived the worst the Alliance could throw at them and had done more damage then Karrod had ever imagined possible.  Yet they were crippled...defenseless...and the enemy was regrouping.  They had a minutes...and they needed one more miracle.  

Tags/End Act 2 for Karrod!  

================================
Captain Karrod Niac
Commanding Officer
USS Ronin - NCC-34523
V239509GT0