Lt. Cmdr. Josh Herrick: Lucky Number 26
Mark P
((Simulated USS Odin, Holosuite 2, Deck 5, USS Thor))
Twenty-four attempts so far, and twenty-four failures. It was already a long day, but it was far from over. Josh wasn’t sure what the likelihood was that they’d run into more people wielding subspace weapons, but better safe than sorry.
Approach twenty-five would involve shifting the warp field geometry based on Ral’s recommendation to create a nullifier or ‘dead zone’ of sorts.
Herrick: Alright, let's feed the new parameters in and go for another round.
Ral: If we can make this work for the shuttle the Thor could produce a much larger dead zone.
Tito: (nodding) Let's not jinx it and see if it works first on the little ones, before we push it to the big ship.
Josh looked back at the pair of men, watching them adjust and scan.
Herrick: Alright gents. Let’s hope lady luck is on our side this time.
He tapped the panel, and a small vessel came into view ahead of the shuttle's bow.
Ral: Warp bubble geometry reconfigured. Subspace layers collapsing... field integrity holding at 82%.
Tito: Enemy arming weapon… They opened fire.
Josh banked the Odin portside. If they were unsuccessful in anything else today, at least he’d rack up his piloting hours. Usually, it would only last for a few seconds until the weapon got close enough to detonate, but this run felt different. The shuttle shuddered for a moment.
Herrick: How are we looking?
Ral: There’s a small harmonic distortion but nothing to worry about.
Tito: So far so good.
And, of course, that was the moment the panels lit up with warning indicators accompanied by a disembodied voice.
Computer: Warp field asymmetrical compression ratio exceeded safe harmonic thresholds. Evacuate ship. Warp core breach in thirty seconds.
Ral: (frantically tapping) The core’s magnetic containment is destabilizing. Attempting to compensate.
Herrick: Engaging backup shunts, trying to bleed some of the energy off.
Evidently, this was the wrong course of action as it only exacerbated the problem.
Computer: Warp core breach in ten seconds.
They weren’t going to accomplish much in the few remaining seconds, so Josh halted the program.
Herrick: Options?
Tito: (shrugging) Let’s eject the core… And run twenty six?
Herrick: ::frowning:: Eject the core ::beat:: wouldn’t leave us with much of a chance afterward.
Josh wasn’t sure this was the most promising battle tactic; he turned to Wyatt to solicit the engineer’s opinion.
Ral: Response
Tito: Wait, no, now really… Let’s eject the core and blow it up…
Herrick: But if our pursuers have anything faster than impulse, they’d easily overtake us and could switch to conventional weapons.
Ral: Response
Tito: I know its a zero survival probability but why don’t we start working first on containing the weapon? Then we work on surviving. Expanding the warp bubble worked for a moment, why don’t we focus on that, but before it get’s out of hand we fire upon it? ::Tito gestured around the simulated shuttle.:: I mean, it’s not like we are able to contain it with the Odin’s warp engine…
He couldn’t argue with tackling the solution in a chunked-out manner.
Herrick: Fair. So, if I’ve got this right, once the weapon is within range, we activate the field and fire upon it. Hopefully, at a distance far enough to prevent the asymmetry from occurring again?
Ral: Response
Herrick: Well, points for creativity. All right, let’s set it up again and hope that the 26th time is a charm. Computer, reset the simulation and begin.
Again, Josh darted and weaved as the ship came into view and released it’s payload.
Ral/Tito: Response
Herrick: Fire!
Ral/Tito: Response
Streams of burnt orange light traversed the distance between the shuttle toward the weapon. As they connected with the target, the shuttle began to shake violently as alarms started to blare. But this time, there wasn’t an audio announcement of impending doom.
Herrick: Did we do it?!
Ral/Tito: Response