S2E9 Overlord

[Malik Grippen]

[USS Challenger, Battle Bridge - Helm]

"Aye, admiral"  Malik used the size of the Challenger to block most of the incoming fire meant for the Revere, which had been ordered to retreat. The pursuing fighters possessed at least some sense of self preservation and declined to take up the offer of kamikaze, which in tactical terms, would be a good move for them to make given the cost comparison.

Again, the commander suggested a course of action which did not sit well with Malik and he listed as the tactical crewman's sentiments were similar. "Admiral, the Zhukov poses no threat. To destroy her would serve no purpose other than to hand a propaganda victory to the enemy." Surely Leyton would spin the situation to further his cause and portray the loyalist Starfleet in as bad a light as possible. 'Breaking news: Starfleet destroys defenceless ship.'

Jehamy's next plan to survive was to use the secondary navigational deflector to emit a duonetic field - this would result in whatever ship was in its arc to momentarily lose all functions - from tactical systems to environmental support; duonetic emissions were found to be an antithesis of 24th Century technology; it remained to be seen if Leyton's ships had been protected, but intelligence reports of this field were limited. While the field itself would only be useful while the navigational deflector was trained upon a target (requiring the fine skills of the Flight Control Officer) the time it would take for a starship to reboot from the duonetic assault might be enough to turn tides. Jex sent this request to both tactical and Flight Control for both their review and use.

With that done, Jehamy searched the ancient, but devious, mind of his symbiont for other aces for sleeves.

Malik read the science officer's proposal. The Risan had to admit, this was the first he'd heard of a duonetic field, but if it worked then it would swing the battle in their favour. "Admiral, ensign Jex presents a possible option to end the battle and take the biggest threat, the USS Legacy out with minimal loss of life." The retrieval of a sovereign class vessel would be a massive boon for the loyalists and no doubt earn the crew a shiny medal.

[Lizzie Vaughan]

Battle Bridge

Lizzie was still at Ops, keeping an eye on the Zhukov. It had not yet managed to restore power to it's weapons and the other systems were still failing. The com-system beeped.

"Captain we have a call coming through from the boarding party." She reported, opening the channel.

PO2 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Enemy Starbase - fusion reactor room on Deck 351]

"Freeman to Challenger.  ch'Verret has something to report." Freeman blurted and then handed a gape-mouthed Lahr the comm before backing away laughing.

"ch'Verret here. Reporting Objective Charlie a success.  Starbase shields are down. Casualties for insertion were higher than anticipated as Leyton's forces are using lethal measures. Requesting further orders. Over."

Lizzie waited, for Dylan to respond. If it were her decision, she would order the retreat as they did not have the manpower to reinforce the boarders.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO2 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Enemy Starbase - Deck 353 - reactor room]

While Lahr waited on a reply back from Challenger on his orders, updates filtered to him and to Challenger over his ear-bud and the comm in his hand.

Team One Beta - reporting in.  Objective Beta attained.  We have control of all starbase Transporter rooms and access to the comm badge system.  Beginning  transport of Starbase key officer personnel outside of Operations Center into buffer holding.   It was a simple premise... a prisoner can't escape a prison if he isn't yet materialized.

Team One Gamma.  Objective Gamma also attained.  Secondary reactor won't be going online anytime soon.

Team One Epsilon.  Still encountering strong resistance at the Armory.  Could use some reinforcements.

Team Five Alpha to Challenger.  Operations center is locked down and shielded using dedicated power system.  All efforts to circumvent have failed.  Recommend a ship's phaser strike if at all feasible targeting  Operations area to break through their shields. Over.   

[Dylan Torngate]

Battle Bridge

At the last explosion, the duty Ops officer was blown off their feet. Lizzie immediately went over to them, pulling out her tricorder. She was pleased to discover that, while they were unconscious, they were not otherwise hurt. They had a bump to the head, but without speaking to them, she could not confirm concussion. Placing the officer in the recovery position, she took over at Ops. She immediately followed up with Dylan's orders.

"The Revere is retreating Captain." She reported. "No signal from the Zhukov yet, but their weapons systems are all offline and their shields, propulsion and life support are all fluctuating and losing power. If we hit them now, it will take them out of the fight." She added.

[Bridge - Challenger]

Dylan braced as the incoming fire from the fighters peppered the shields, as both forces swung around for another run at each other. "Flight, do we have a shuttle wing standing by?" he asked between volleys. Shuttles in this firefight would not be very effective against a fighter one on one, and it was essentially a suicide mission, but if needed Dylan would order it. The question was if anyone would object, so he probed the issue. "Understood. Signal the Zhukov. Demand their surrender, and make sure they heard it," he said, as he tried to balance the fight. Both sides had lost a ship out of the fight, essentially, and Dylan wanted to make sure that that number didn't reverse itself. "Target their nacelle struts, if they don't reply we'll shear them off," he ordered. Programming the phaser volley wouldn't take too long - and hopefully the crew would know they were beaten. The Ambassador class had always been a favorite of Dylan's. To punch one up like this made him a little sad.

USS Challenger - Bridge

"Aye, Captain, he replied as his free hand danced on the console.  He continued to steady himself with his left hand, else he'd have long since been tossed to the deck.  "Quantum torpedoes prepped for maximum spread, full volley ready for launch.  I have the enemy fighter squadrons targeted.  This should definitely blunt their pursuit."

Indeed, it would likely take out half of them, so tidy were their formations as they made haste in perfect unison to swerve out of the way of the Challenger.

Then Vaughan suggested they fire on the Zhukov, and Mondo wondered if he had misidentified the desired target.   His eyes widened in alarm at the carnage which might ensue.

"Sir... if we hit the Zhukov again in their condition..." he let his words trail off, the implications clear.  Hundreds of lives hung on the Captain's decision.  Lives of Starfleet officers and crew who might be no more guilty of their transgressions than the Captain himself, when he'd reportedly briefly been within Leyton's clutches.

Dylan nodded as the tactical crewman gave his word in to the conversation. "Fire!" he ordered, for the torpedoes to be unleashed from their tubes and set to detonate in the middle of the fighter formation. Moments later, the Helm had the now-scattered fighter formation faced with the Challenger head on. As the Challenger sailed through, her weapon ports blazing hot. "Tactical, make that air wing go away. Fire to disable, destroy if you must," he said, as the man yet again submitted his own opinion.

"I understand the situation, Mister Nari, carry out my orders, please," he ordered as a bright flare lit up the displays, as the Defiant-class ship on their side was hit with a ray of light from the Sovereign-class vessel, and went up in an antimatter explosion, sending debris in every direction.

The playing field was now uneven.

[USS Challenger, Battle Bridge - Helm]

Again, the commander suggested a course of action which did not sit well with Malik and he listed as the tactical crewman's sentiments were similar. "Admiral, the Zhukov poses no threat. To destroy her would serve no purpose other than to hand a propaganda victory to the enemy." Surely Leyton would spin the situation to further his cause and portray the loyalist Starfleet in as bad a light as possible. 'Breaking news: Starfleet destroys defenceless ship.'

Malik read the science officer's proposal. The Risan had to admit, this was the first he'd heard of a duonetic field, but if it worked then it would swing the battle in their favour. "Admiral, ensign Jex presents a possible option to end the battle and take the biggest threat, the USS Legacy out with minimal loss of life." The retrieval of a sovereign class vessel would be a massive boon for the loyalists and no doubt earn the crew a shiny medal.

"I'm all ears," Dylan said as he turned back to the display. "Tactical, commence fire on all targets. Reload torpedo tubes, set target that Sovereign. Blow her to hell." he ordered. They had given the Defiant-class no quarter, and so he would not give so either. It had become a total war.

Freeman snorted and tapped the comm - Lahr noticing for the first time the blood smear on its surface. "Freeman to Challenger.  ch'Verret has something to report." Freeman blurted and then handed a gape-mouthed Lahr the comm before backing away laughing.

Lahr glared at Freeman and mouthed 'you are so dead' before clearing his throat before speaking towards the comm in his hand. "ch'Verret here. Reporting Objective Charlie a success.  Starbase shields are down. Casualties for insertion were higher than anticipated as Leyton's forces are using lethal measures. Requesting further orders. Over."

Away Team, this is Challenger. You are ordered to take the base by force, and hold it until more troops arive to secure. Secondary objective, access main fire control and release it on the enemy. Use of Lethal force has been authorized, but do not escalate. Only match force. That is all, he said. Dylan was ready for this fight to be finished - and he didn't mind getting his hands dirty to do it. For every step the enemy took, the Challenger would match it. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth.

PO2 ShranLahr ch'Verret
Team Five Alpha to Challenger.  Operations center is locked down and shielded using dedicated power system.  All efforts to circumvent have failed.  Recommend a ship's phaser strike if at all feasible targeting  Operations area to break through their shields. Over.   

Dylan nodded as the request for fire support came in. Dylan nodded to Tactical. "Lock target, and fire on the away team's command. Danger close."

Everything was coming into view. The mission was coming together.

[Lek]

[Engineering]

Lek watched the timer count down to three minutes and knew he would have to remind the captain that the current shield power level would not last much longer. He caught Gianetti's attention and shouted.

"Once we drop the second core, we will have to shift all available power to shields, weapons, and impulse drive. In that order, and I mean everything, to include everything from life support expect grav plating. Whatever they are doing they brought us the time to get the point of impact back to 85%. That won't last long against a Sovereign, but it gives us as best chance we are ever going to have."

Lek then tapped his commbadge.

"Engineering to bridge, the current shield level will drop by half in three minutes. I cannot hold the second core online any longer or plasma conduits will breach all over the ship. Three minutes, no more."

[Declan Vincent]

[Engineering]

Lek watched the timer count down to three minutes and knew he would have to remind the captain that the current shield power level would not last much longer. He caught Gianetti's attention and shouted.

"Once we drop the second core, we will have to shift all available power to shields, weapons, and impulse drive. In that order, and I mean everything, to include everything from life support expect grav plating. Whatever they are doing they brought us the time to get the point of impact back to 85%. That won't last long against a Sovereign, but it gives us as best chance we are ever going to have."

Lek then tapped his commbadge.

"Engineering to bridge, the current shield level will drop by half in three minutes. I cannot hold the second core online any longer or plasma conduits will breach all over the ship. Three minutes, no more."

[Engineering]

Three minutes...180 seconds..One with some training could hold their breath for that long and Declan was in that frame of mind to consider it.

Lek had passed down his orders to his loyal subordinate, Gianetti, who then continued that stream down to the little fishes manning the consoles. Declan was older than those standing beside him; they who think that this battle could see their fleeting lives dusted away by a rebel torpedo, or a warp core breach or a dozen other unsettling ways.

The octogenarian starship they all found themselves in had more than the proverbial fresh can of paint and he had more faith in her abilities, even against a bully such as a Sovereign class heavy cruiser. Betting on the underdog was of course, betting on his very survival.

As the three minutes ticked off before the second core would have to come offline, Declan watched the monitors for any fluctuations. Even a slight variance could cause a cascade that could cripple the ship. So far, the readings were within the safety zone but just barely as some of the perimeters were rising, as expected.

He would have objected to Lek's order to include life support, even as Gianetti simply passed it on as if they were conversing on the weather. Declan was new to the ship, certainly hadn't time to meld, Create that synergy  every ship's department craved. He kept his reservations to himself, after all,  life support was only good if the ship was still standing when all said and done.

"Aye Sir." He addressed his superiors  "Second core offline in three. Prioritizing power to shields, weapons and impulse drive..with a seasoning of life support."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO2 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Enemy Starbase - fusion reactor room on Deck 353]

[Bridge - Challenger]

Away Team, this is Challenger. You are ordered to take the base by force, and hold it until more troops arrive to secure. Secondary objective, access main fire control and release it on the enemy. Use of Lethal force has been authorized, but do not escalate. Only match force. That is all, he said. Dylan was ready for this fight to be finished - and he didn't mind getting his hands dirty to do it. For every step the enemy took, the Challenger would match it. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth.

Dylan nodded as the request for fire support came in. Dylan nodded to Tactical. "Lock target, and fire on the away team's command. Danger close."

Everything was coming into view. The mission was coming together.

Lahr listened to the Admiral's orders - hold the station... and access firing control.  That he could do.

Aye, si..   He had started to acknowledge the order when the Admiral reminding all Team leader that lethal force was authorized.  "Understood."

Lahr then began planning his teams next course of action.  Five teams were not needed to keep one reactor room secure.

He reviewed the current deployment of teams:

Alpha Teams 1 through 5 had been beamed in as close to the Ops Center as possible and were fighting to take that area on Decks 4 and 5.  They'd put in a call for a phaser strike which the Admiral had approved.  They should be feeling that any moment now.

Beta Teams 1 through 5 had each been beamed into one of five transporter rooms and had successfully taken those over. In part to lock away accessible officers and to provide easy movement of their own troops.

Charlie and Gamma Teams 1 through 5 had been assigned to take control of the fusion reactors which powered the stations shields.  These were currently secure... leaving two teams at each site to defend against take back should be good enough.  This left about 60 personnel, after losses, that could be deployed elsewhere.

Delta teams 1- 10 had been assigned to storm Main Engineering and take the M/Arc on Decks 366 - 370 which powered the station as a whole and it's weapons systems.  No word had been heard from them since the start. Which was worrisome.

Epsilon teams 1-5 had been ordered to take the armory and tactical areas on Deck 232 and 233.  They had control of the brig and offices but not the armory and were requesting reinforcements.

Omega team 1 - had been assigned to sabotaging the launch area of the Flight Control. No word yet from them either.

In addition the Admiral had specified wanting them to access the main Firing control.  That was best done through Operations or the Tactical area.

"Charlie One and Two, you'll remain here and keep this location secure.  Be sure someone seals off the tunnel access so they don't try to retake this position the way we did.   Charlie Three and Four.. will provide reinforcement to Team Epsilon in taking the Armory."

Suddenly the station rocked with what felt like a several small explosions.  Lahr assumed it was the Challenger firing on the Operations deck.  He was wrong.  A moment later his ear-bud sounded.

Omega One.  Objective complete. All fighter launch areas have been taken out. Down to half a team

Lahr activated his ear-bud comm to respond Acknowledged Omega One this Charlie Five. Is the area salvageable by the enemy if you aren't holding secure?

Eventually. Would take a couple hours I figure to clear, though.

Gamma One to Charlie Five.  We can send them reinforcements

Lahr considered the priorities stated by the Admiral.  Negative Gamma One.  Omega One will have to hold as best they can for now.  There's been no word from any of the Delta teams.  Send your reinforcements down to the M/ARC.

To prove a point Lahr tried to contact the silent team.  Charlie Five to all Delta teams  - Report on your status There was no reply.

Over the comm badge, Team Alpha called on Challenger for the phaser strike to the Operation decks.  Teams are clear of target area. Fire!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Following in the aftermath of the phaser strike, Lahr called on the transporter room teams to beam the reinforcements where they needed to go.  Some here, some there. His team he had beamed to the already cleared brig area.  He left Helga and Jengas there with the Epsilon team already present to 'help' keep an eye on the incoming enemy officers. The brig was filling fast.

Meanwhile the rest of his team went to see about gaining control of the weapons systems.

But most he was sending down to the bottom of the starbase where a huge battle for control of the matter / anti-matter reactor was taking place.  A localized jamming device had been used by the local engineers to disrupt the communications by the invading group.  The sudden addition of 30 more bodies to the battle gave Delta team the edge they needed and soon their success was being heralded over the comms.

Delta One.  Objective attained.  Cutting power to all station weapons systems.

[Lizzie Vaughan]

[Bridge - Challenger]

Dylan braced as the incoming fire from the fighters peppered the shields, as both forces swung around for another run at each other. "Flight, do we have a shuttle wing standing by?" he asked between volleys. Shuttles in this firefight would not be very effective against a fighter one on one, and it was essentially a suicide mission, but if needed Dylan would order it. The question was if anyone would object, so he probed the issue. "Understood. Signal the Zhukov. Demand their surrender, and make sure they heard it," he said, as he tried to balance the fight. Both sides had lost a ship out of the fight, essentially, and Dylan wanted to make sure that that number didn't reverse itself. "Target their nacelle struts, if they don't reply we'll shear them off," he ordered. Programming the phaser volley wouldn't take too long - and hopefully the crew would know they were beaten. The Ambassador class had always been a favorite of Dylan's. To punch one up like this made him a little sad.

Dylan nodded as the tactical crewman gave his word in to the conversation. "Fire!" he ordered, for the torpedoes to be unleashed from their tubes and set to detonate in the middle of the fighter formation. Moments later, the Helm had the now-scattered fighter formation faced with the Challenger head on. As the Challenger sailed through, her weapon ports blazing hot. "Tactical, make that air wing go away. Fire to disable, destroy if you must," he said, as the man yet again submitted his own opinion.

"I understand the situation, Mister Nari, carry out my orders, please," he ordered as a bright flare lit up the displays, as the Defiant-class ship on their side was hit with a ray of light from the Sovereign-class vessel, and went up in an antimatter explosion, sending debris in every direction.

The playing field was now uneven.

"I'm all ears," Dylan said as he turned back to the display. "Tactical, commence fire on all targets. Reload torpedo tubes, set target that Sovereign. Blow her to hell." he ordered. They had given the Defiant-class no quarter, and so he would not give so either. It had become a total war.

Away Team, this is Challenger. You are ordered to take the base by force, and hold it until more troops arive to secure. Secondary objective, access main fire control and release it on the enemy. Use of Lethal force has been authorized, but do not escalate. Only match force. That is all, he said. Dylan was ready for this fight to be finished - and he didn't mind getting his hands dirty to do it. For every step the enemy took, the Challenger would match it. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth.

Dylan nodded as the request for fire support came in. Dylan nodded to Tactical. "Lock target, and fire on the away team's command. Danger close."

Everything was coming into view. The mission was coming together.

Battle Bridge

Lizzie gave a nod before opening a channel to the Zhukov.

Challenger to Zhukov. Please stand down. Your primary systems are all offline or will be very soon. If you do not signal your intent to surrender we will be forced to take further action.

A few seconds later a very young and very scared voice replied.

This is Ensign Tyler. I'm the only one on the Bridge still alive. The Captain, XO and Ops Chief are all dead. Please don't shoot!

Power down all your systems except life support and activate your viewscreen. She ordered.

Seconds later, the sensors confirmed that all the propulsion, shields and weapons systems on the Zhukov powered down. Then a few seconds later, the viewscreen flickered to life. It showed a young human, probably fresh out of the Academy, standing on a ruined Bridge littered with bodies.

I've done as you asked. Please will you accept our surrender?

Lizzie turned to Dylan and waited. Only he could confirm the surrender.

[Mondo'li Nari]

USS Challenger - Bridge

Mondo unleashed the first full spread of torpedoes, using the proximity blast feature to scatter and cripple the fighter squadrons.   The glow from his console illuminated his features in alternating patterns of red and blue as the tactical display showed enemy positions, torpedo detonations, and friendly ship movements.

Then, in a startling development, the Stalwart exploded in a bright ball of rapidly expanding plasma.   Pieces of the hull and pieces of the crew were tossed in all directions, many of them sprinkling across the shields of the Challenger herself.

War was a gruesome business.

Targeting the Zhukov as the Admiral instructed, Mondo momentarily turned his attention to the fighters who were still in the fight.

Hopefully, the Zhukov would surrender before he was forced to perform the delicate act requested by the Admiral:  Clipping her pylons without killing her crew.  There were many ways the seemingly merciful maneuver could go wrong, turning the Ambassador class ship into a burning abattoir.

Mondo used the secondary banks rather than the main arrays to fire upon the fighters.  The smaller banks were perfectly suited for small, nimble adversaries.  His pattern of fire was more to dissuade them than to destroy them.  Sometimes, he gauged incorrectly, and a fighter blossomed into a Viking funeral.

How many deaths had he caused, today?  How many of the dead could have been rehabilitated, just as the Admiral himself had been?

Mondo struggled with his sense of morals and ethics.  Leyton's rebellion could not be allowed to continue, and yet every person he killed was potentially as much a victim as they were an antagonist.  He was almost certainly reaping souls who did not deserve their fate.

Finally, thankfully, the Zhukov announced their surrender.

Mondo shifted the targeting system to focus on the USS Legacy as its primary target.  He prepped another full spread, maximum yield, as the Admiral desired.   No quarter would be given for this vessel, which was the most dangerous one in the field.  The Challenger had to break her, or she would break them.

"Torpedoes away!"

On the viewscreen, the blue-white orbs streaked towards the Sovereign-class ship.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO2 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Enemy Starbase - Deck 38 - Corridor outside the Tactical Computer Core]

Due to standard security around any computer core - naturally refractive materials and low-intensity shielding - it made transporting into the computer core room itself impossible, or highly dangerous - no one wanted to risk materializing partway into a bulkhead.  Because of this, Lahr and his team were beamed into a corridor 50 meters away around the corner from the Tactical Computer Core room.

Lahr peered around the corner and held up a hand that faced behind him, then without looking back to his team he signed the letters S, T and U.  A moment later Stull moved up beside him. Neither spoke.  Stull turned the corner and with type II phaser in hand, approached the doorway slowly, cautiously.  Enough time had passed for station security in the area to have laid counter incursion traps, like pressure plates and trip wires.

Stull was their most keen-eyed and observant team member so Lahr was having him at point. The Vulcan traveled about 30 meters before pausing.  The team, 10 meters behind him also paused taking up defensive positions, while he assessed the slight discrepancy that he had noted.  After a moment he continued on - apparently satisfied that what he thought he saw was nothing.   Soon they were at the door which of course was locked.

But Stull was also skilled at 'hot-wiring' doors. While he did this, Burke, Skaggarg and zh'Tianihr were ready to provide cover fire if necessary.  The others kept watch for movement behind.
A half a minute later and the doors to the room unsealed and Stull was able to use the manual override to open them.

Of course this was met with a barrage of phaser fire towards the now open door.  But his team had been prepared for this either standing out of the way or charging in with their personal force-shields taking the brunt of the phaser fire while they targeted in on the completely overwhelmed pair of inexperienced security crewmen.

It was all too true that those you left to guard the computer core were the newbs or weaker members of the security contingent.  Those that weren't your first option for defense but were better than nothing at all.

It took the trio all of 15 seconds to stun the pair and another 30 seconds to confirm the room clear.
As Lahr moved into the room - heading to the computer console with Stull, he couldn't help but comment.  "That was a bit anticlimactic."

Stull raised an arched eyebrow as he set about by-passing the consoles lock-out.

"You'd have preferred something more volatile and life-threatening?  Their weapons were on lethal settings.  Not climactic enough?"

Lahr didn't answer - he only just gave a shrug.  Maybe...

With weapon systems now in their control rather than Leyton's, Lahr commed the Delta team, requesting a return of the weapons system power.  Two minutes later and Burke was reporting... "All phasers ready to fire."

"Time to give Challenger a hand, my friend.  Find an appropriate target and light her up!"

[Malik Grippen]

[USS Challenger, Battle Bridge - Helm]

Malik watched in horror as the plucky defiant class, the Stalwart, succumbed to the immense firepower of the Sovereign class. The outcome of that battle had never really been in doubt. Malik turned in his chair towards the science console, "Mr Jex. Now's your chance!"

The torpedoes had been fired and were seconds away from impacting the Legacy, Malik turned the ship's bow to follow the trail of quantum death towards their intended target, nicely lining up the Challenger's deflector dish to allow Ensign Jex to enact his plan of the duonetic field. If timed correctly, the field would disable the Sovereign's shields just before the torpedoes struck, hopefully causing enough damage to force a surrender.

Now it all rested on the young ensign to walk the walk and back up his theory with decisive action.

[Jehamy Jex]

[USS Challenger, Battle Bridge - Science]

Barbarity. Savagery. Monstrosity.

These were words flooding Jehamy's mind as the Stalwart when up in an ever-expanding glittering cloud; a juxtaposition of death and beauty. Whether these were his own thoughts or those of the symbiont which was becming more and more insensed at the circumstances, no-one - least of all he - would know.

Nevertheless, it wasn't hard to feel a semblance of anger at the loss of life - as long as the loss wasn't Jex..or the crew of the Challenger.

"Mr Jex. Now's your chance!"

Seeing the ship turn and point its bow at the Soverign-class USS Legacy, Jehamy knew what was coming next, so - fingers moving at inhuman (but not inTrill) celerity - Jex overrode the Ops commands for navigational deflector output, and instructed the still-functional particle emitters to generate a continuous stream of duonetic radiation, just as torpedoes streaked out towards their target.

Barbarian. Savage. Monster.

Now it felt that those words were directed inwards.

[Lek]

[Engineering]

Three minutes...180 seconds..One with some training could hold their breath for that long and Declan was in that frame of mind to consider it.

Lek had passed down his orders to his loyal subordinate, Gianetti, who then continued that stream down to the little fishes manning the consoles. Declan was older than those standing beside him; they who think that this battle could see their fleeting lives dusted away by a rebel torpedo, or a warp core breach or a dozen other unsettling ways.

The octogenarian starship they all found themselves in had more than the proverbial fresh can of paint and he had more faith in her abilities, even against a bully such as a Sovereign class heavy cruiser. Betting on the underdog was of course, betting on his very survival.

As the three minutes ticked off before the second core would have to come offline, Declan watched the monitors for any fluctuations. Even a slight variance could cause a cascade that could cripple the ship. So far, the readings were within the safety zone but just barely as some of the perimeters were rising, as expected.

He would have objected to Lek's order to include life support, even as Gianetti simply passed it on as if they were conversing on the weather. Declan was new to the ship, certainly hadn't time to meld, Create that synergy  every ship's department craved. He kept his reservations to himself, after all,  life support was only good if the ship was still standing when all said and done.

"Aye Sir." He addressed his superiors  "Second core offline in three. Prioritizing power to shields, weapons and impulse drive..with a seasoning of life support."

[Engineering]

As he monitored the 'pool table' one of the indicators shifted from green to blinking amber and this make Lek hiss in alarm as one thing he did not need as the counter down timer registered under two minutes before they would have to shut down the back up warp core. Looking around the room, Lek's eyes registered on the person behind the voice that had just spoken.

"Vincent! The starboard power transfer coupling is out of alignment. You have to get it operational in less than two minutes or everything that Ginanetti and I are doing will literally blow up in our faces. Since I doubt you want to take a plasma bath any more than I do, get that coupler aligned!"

Lek then went back to keeping the enormous overflow of power from having both warp cores online at the same time from turning the Challenger into a small, very brief, nova.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO2 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Enemy Starbase - Deck 38 - Tactical Computer Core]

With weapon systems now in their control rather than Leyton's, Lahr commed the Delta team, requesting a return of the weapons system power.  Two minutes later and Burke was reporting... "All phasers ready to fire."

"Time to give Challenger a hand, my friend.  Find an appropriate target and light her up!"

"Aye sir!" Burke responded quite eagerly.  The console Burke stood in front of wasn't even close in set up to what was on the Challenger, but that didn't stop the man from figuring out what needed to be pressed to target on the last real threat - the Sovereign class vessel, the Legacy.  Challenger also seemed to be targeting the vessel but alone their weapons wouldn't be enough to do much damage. So as Lahr ordered, it was time to give Challenger a helping hand.

"Target acquired."

Lahr looked to Burke expectantly, when Burke seemed to pause looking at him.  What was the delay?  Then realized it.

"Fire!"

From the rooms small visual display Lahr watched as Challenger fired off a volley of torpedos.  The phasers were faster and struck first.

The Legacy's shields flared intensely as they strained under the unexpected firepower of their own starbase.

"Again!" If they timed it right they might be able to weaken the shields enough so that the torpedos could pierce through.

[Lizzie Vaughan]

PO2 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Enemy Starbase - Deck 38 - Tactical Computer Core]

"Aye sir!" Burke responded quite eagerly.  The console Burke stood in front of wasn't even close in set up to what was on the Challenger, but that didn't stop the man from figuring out what needed to be pressed to target on the last real threat - the Sovereign class vessel, the Legacy.  Challenger also seemed to be targeting the vessel but alone their weapons wouldn't be enough to do much damage. So as Lahr ordered, it was time to give Challenger a helping hand.

"Target acquired."

Lahr looked to Burke expectantly, when Burke seemed to pause looking at him.  What was the delay?  Then realized it.

"Fire!"

From the rooms small visual display Lahr watched as Challenger fired off a volley of torpedos.  The phasers were faster and struck first.

The Legacy's shields flared intensely as they strained under the unexpected firepower of their own starbase.

"Again!" If they timed it right they might be able to weaken the shields enough so that the torpedos could pierce through.

Battle Bridge

Lizzie was monitoring the situation when the Starbase opened fire on the Sovereign class vessel. It did enough damage to the shields to give her hope that their torpedo volley would get through. She was was about to pass that titbit onto Dylan when she heard a groan from beside her, the Cadet who had been at Ops, was waking up. Pulling her tricorder out, she knelt down and began to scan him. Thankfully, it looked like there was no damage.

"How many fingers do you see?" She asked, holding a single finger about a foot in front of his eyes. It was an old test, but still one of the better ones for diagnosing vision problems.