[FINALE] Captain Roshanara Rahman: System Shut Down (Part 2)

[richyulin]

((Bridge, USS Veritas))

::With Minerva now facing new adversaries, it took its attention off Veritas just as an incoming call came in from the surface.::

Wynter: =/\= Wynter to Veritas with Lieutenant Teller. =/\=

Rahman: =/\= Go ahead, commander. =/\=

Wynter: =/\= We are going to send some information to you that Lieutenant Teller has come up with. Our only option is to destroy the facility, with the entry vector the Lieutenant has found a Tholian fighter will be more than enough to end our problem here. =/\=

Teller: =/\= Response /\=

Orrey: Response

G'var: Response

Rahman: =/\= Are we sure a direct hit will stop Sentinel? The system has proven... resilient. =/\=

Teller: =/\= Response /\=

Wynter: =/\= Response =/\=

Kelrod: =/\= Kelrod to Wynter and Veritas, despite the enthusiastic plan of Lieutenant Teller, I'd like you to examine the chance to send down a gravimetric charge to make it blow from the inside. I'm sending you the data about the chamber that we've been able to collect. =/\=

::Roshanara wasn't even sure they had the ability to beam back the away team in their current condition, let alone send something down.::

Orrey: Response

::There were some murmurs in the background, a voice sounding like that of one of the new ensigns, and surely enough, she made that clear with an interjection loud enough to come across the channel.::

El Sayid: =/\= YOU CAN’T DO THIS! IT’S NOT RIGHT! =/\=

Kelrod: =/\= Veritas, check out both plans I'll call you shortly. Kelrod out =/\= 

::While Maravosh and some of the other crewmen seemed to raise their eyebrows at the outburst they could hear, the captain ignored it and walked up behind Orrey. She leaned down to look over his shoulder.::

Rahman: Did you get that data yet, Counselor?

Orrey: Response

Rahman: Status of the transporter systems?

Orrey: Response

Kelrod: =/\= Kelrod to Veritas =/\=

Rahman: =/\= Yes, we read you, Commander. =/\=

Kelrod: =/\= The entire planet powers up the machine down here and as we believe it's a transmitter that we'll need too much time to understand and find a way to deactivate it, the safest for us and you up there is to blow it up. Have you got any insights on what of the two plans is better to achieve the objective? =/\=

Rahman: =/\= We've taken quite a beating up here... I'm not sure if we'll be able to get those charges to you. =/\=

Kelrod: =/\= Commander Wynters would like to know it as soon as possible. We have to coordinate our way out of here when we set any plan in motion. =/\=

Rahman: =/\= Agreed. Evacuate for now. If you don't hear anything else from us, you can assume we're moving forward with Teller's plan. =/\=

Kelrod: =/\= Response =/\=

Rahman: =/\= Get to safety, commander and prepare for extraction. If you don't hear from us, try to reach Commander Delano. Veritas out. =/\=

::Switching her attention back to the viewscreen, Roshanara could see Minerva with its attention still on the Tholians and Solaris. Even if they could divert one of the Tholians away, how would they ensure their survival? Would the Tholians choose to make a suicide run?::

::She looked back over at G'var.::

Rahman: Get me Commander Delano.

G'var: Response

Delano: =/\= Response =/\=

Rahman: =/\= Commander, our away team on the surface has determined the only way to stop Sentinel is to destroy the control facility entirely. What's the status of Solaris? =/\=

Delano: =/\= Response =/\=

Rahman: =/\= Make your way back to planetary orbit and beam the away team back to Solaris. =/\=

Delano: =/\= Response =/\=

Rahman: =/\= We'll be there with you soon enough. We have a plan to execute. =/\=

::Next, she contacted the Tholians.::

Rahman: =/\= Admiral, thanks for the assist. =/\=

Vamuwene: =/\= Response =/\=

Rahman: =/\= Our chief engineer has an idea to defeat Sentinel, but I'm going to modify it a bit. I need your help. =/\=

Vamuwene: =/\= Response =/\=

Rahman: =/\= Our engines are down. I need you to help tow us back to the planet. Specifically to these coordinates... =/\=

::She transmitted the precise set of numbers.::

Vamuwene: =/\= Response =/\=

Rahman: =/\= Don't worry about Minerva. I'm counting on her following us. Once we're back in orbit, I need you to disengage the tractor beam and get Minerva to chase after you again. Make sure to continue heading forward away from us and above. =/\=

Vamuwene: =/\= Response =/\=

::The Tholian ship made a sweep past Veritas before locking onto the stalled Starfleet ship, pulling it back in the direction Solaris had gone. As expected, Minerva was right behind, phasers still firing. Yet, following its cold and unfailing logic, Sentinel made sure to only concentrate its fire on the Tholian ship rather than waste any resources on the dead-in-the-water Veritas.::

Orrey: Response

Rahman: Nevermind that. We need full power to the upper nacelles. Lieutenant G'var, get your crossbow ready.

Orrey: Response

G'var: Response

::Ahead on the viewscreen, they could see the planet coming into view again. The Solaris was already departing, having presumably picked up the away team. The captain looked closely at each of the officers on the bridge.::

Rahman: We've got one shot left. One chance. As soon as the Tholians disengage their tractor beam, the Minerva is going to fly past. We don't have the time or power to catch her with a tractor beam first. ::turns to G'var:: You're going to initiate that graviton charge immediately. Understood?

G'var: Response

::The tense journey back to the planet felt like an eternity, but the most crucial moments happened in a blur of a few seconds. The Tholians released Veritas from their tractor beam, leaving the ship still drifting forward but at the precise angle Teller had given them for the entry vector. As the Minerva began to fly past them above, a brilliant blue light flashed from the upper warp nacelles, the equivalent of a jump to warp, to generate a massive graviton charge. On the viewscreen, the crew watched as their sister ship, having been caught in the field, was sent flying towards the surface as if shot from a cannon.::

::From the surface, a shadow was cast over the ancient Menthar ruins that had remained unseen for millennia before everything was enveloped in a blinding light. The sounds of insects, birds, and other animals were drowned out by the blast, which was followed by the formation of a gigantic dust cloud visible in the atmosphere from orbit.::

::Back on the bridge of Veritas, Roshanara and the others shielded their eyes from the explosion. It was only when she put her hand down and saw the crater that had been left behind that she realized she'd been holding her breath.::

Maravosh: Captain, I'm getting signals again from beyond the system. Task Force 105... the Tholians...

::Still staring at the blast mark that remained on the surface, the captain leaned back in her chair, letting out a sigh.::

Rahman: Contact the task force commander. Let them know... it's over.

((Later))

::Still in orbit of the planet, Veritas, Solaris, and the Tholian ship were now joined by two other ships from Task Force 105, the Vesta class Endurance and the Sovereign class Pioneer, along with four smaller Tholian destroyers. Both sides had agreed to extend the temporary truce for a few more hours as they recovered remains and data.::

::In her ready room, Roshanara was exchanging her farewells with Commander Newton, who perhaps was somewhat pleased to find that reports of the demise of his vessel were perhaps premature.::

Newton: Response

Rahman: She's a good ship, commander. With a good crew. It's been an honor having you all aboard as our guests, but trust me, I know from experience that there's nothing like getting back to your own ship.

Newton: Response

::After everything they'd been through together, Roshanara stood up and offered a rare handshake to her fellow starship captain.::

Rahman: Safe journeys, commander.

Newton: Response

::After he left, Roshanara sat back down and looked at the draft of the report she'd been working on. "Assessment of threat," read the last three words on the screen.::

::Thinking for a moment, the captain finally typed an answer.::

::"Neutralized."::

((100 light years away))

::Under the ice on an uncharted moon, hidden from eyes and sensors for millennia, an ancient piece of alien hardware had been monitoring transmissions from its sister installations for just as long. In a chamber hundreds of kilometers carved into the rock, a monitor displayed a simple message in an alien language.::

::"Remote connection lost. System restarting..."::

CUE END CREDITS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMOGaugKpzs

Captain Roshanara Rahman

CO, USS Veritas

I238705TZ0