The Pursuit

Posted on Sun Jan 6th, 2019 @ 12:26pm by Captain Alistar McKeon & Lieutenant JG Zoe Ellija & Brex & Commander Isabella dei`Silvisi & Lieutenant Commander Akira-Ri Sato & Lieutenant Jera'turak Ros & Lieutenant Kev Walker & Lieutenant T'lon & Civilian Specialist Kaylyn Wolfe

1,816 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Memento Mori

-- Stolen Defiant Class Ship --

The bridge of Brex's stolen Defiant class ship almost reeked of fear as he entered. The low growling hum of something being overworked while out of sync with the normal parameters of how this ship was supposed to operate buzzed just below the noise of the bridge crew trying to operate the systems. The ship was almost too advanced for his minions, but it had been too good of a steal to pass up when the had acquired it. Now, he wold gladly trade it for a Klingon bird of prey if it meant that he might be able to slip away from the Endeavour. Brex was almost to the point of considering giving up his hostages, but he needed the symbionts those Trills had.

"Sir, the Endeavour has detected us through the cloak. They're coming," his senior lieutenant reported as Brex crossed the bridge and sat down.

"Well, let's see just how much the good captain wants his crew back. Prepare to go to warp," Brex said.

-- Endeavour --

Alistar narrowed his eyes at the view screen. He couldn't see the enemy ship, but he could listen to the reports and plan his next move very carefully. His advantage was that this time, he knew his enemy was out there and what he had. In a head to head fight, Endeavour had the advantage of speed, firepower, and maneuverability, but the Defiant could take more of a beating. This was one fight that he was prepared to take his time and be smart about fighting.

"Stand by to fire," he said as he leaned back in his command chair.

Akira stood at Security and Tactical, her body literally poised over the tactical console like a predator as she hovered, ready to spring into action. She was having to manually target the disruption that was the enemy ship, but she was more than ready to open fire. The only regret that she had was the fact that she was having to fire on a Starfleet ship that had been stolen by outlaws. "Ready to fire, Captain," she said, her response clipped and short, her voice full of a tightly controlled anger.

Isabella couldn't do much other than sit in her seat beside the captain and watch the command monitor as events unfolded. She had no doubt that the captain could handle the situation, she was more concerned about the entire situation getting out of control if the pirates somehow received support. The problem was that if they went to warp, it would be twice as hard for the Endeavour to track them down. "None of the local ships are moving to assist the enemy, Sir," she offered.

Alistar nodded. "Helm, stay with him. If he goes to warp before we knock his cloak or warp engines offline, then we'll loose them," he said.

"Understood," Zoe said from the helm. She felt calmer than she knew she should, despite the fact that this was one of the most important things she had done at the helm since she first came aboard.

Alistar ran through several scenarios on the upcoming fight and mentally calculated the best possible outcome. Either way, he was determined to end it here. "Fire!" he finally ordered.

Akira's fingers stabbed at the controls on her console like the claws of a great cat coming down on its prey. She was more than ready and willing to get this over with, by any means that they had to.

The Endeavour suddenly fired at what at first appeared to be empty space. Ships in the area at first thought they were witnessing a drill until the Endeavour's phasers found their target. The Defiant class ship was quickly illuminated by the phasers, and once Sato found her target it was easy enough go adjust her fire. Phaser beams slammed into the Endeavour's target until the smaller ship staggered out of cloak and slowed. Turning about to face the Endeavour directly, the pirate ship fired her pulse phaser cannons.

"Helm, evasive maneuvers. Tactical, engage at will," Alistar barked as the Endeavour shook under the hits as the enemy phaser blasts slammed against the shields. They were holding, for now, but Defiant class ships, even the out dated ones, were still dangerous. "Helm, get behind them and stay there," he commander.

Isabella gripped the arms of her seat and studied the command console screen between her and the captain. She knew that he could handle the battle, and they had been together long enough for them to each know what was expected. Isabella had taken to handle the internal matters while McKeon handled the overall major situations. "Operations, we need more power to the shields," she said as she keyed in a command for medical teams to be deployed to emergency stations.

"Understood," T'lon said as he studied his console. He had known about the power requirements needed for the shields, but he had been busy trying to ensure that other systems were actually working. Helm, engines, tactical, medical based, and life support systems were all off limits, so he naturally took power from about the only other systems left. "Rerouting power from lower deck science labs and stations to shields," he reported.

In engineering, Jera muttered as the Endeavour rocked. She had worked hard to make sure that the ship was back to working order, but the mission seemed to require that the ship get a royal beating everywhere they went. "I just put this ship back together, and the captain goes and gets it blown back to bits again," she growled as she grabbed the master console board as another shudder almost made her slip. "Walker, get to the bridge and take over the engineering station. Wolfe, get to one of the damage control stations," Jera ordered.

Kev nodded and darted towards the doors. Being the fact that a battle was raging, he sighed as he realized that he would have to use the jefferies tubes. Being trapped in an elevator wouldn't look good and wasn't something he wanted to even experience. "Guess I'm getting my exercise today," he muttered as he crawled into the nearest access hatch.

Alistar grunted as the Endeavour rocked from a series of hits again. Watching the display, he shook his head. The Defiant class ships were capable warships, but Brex wasn't using his very well and that would give Alistar the edge he needed. "Come about to heading 312 by 007 and go to full sublight speed. Re enforce the aft shields," he commanded.

"Shields re-enforced to twelve percent above normal," Akira reported, wondering just what in the hell the captain was planning. "Weapons standing by."

"Course heading and speed achieved, Sir," Zoe added from the helm.

Alistar watched his screens and smiled as Brex's ship fell in behind, firing bursts from its pulse phaser cannons. "All stop, fire port thrusters and go to full reverse NOW!" he barked. Fortunately, Zoe was quick about following orders. The Endeavour rapidly came to a full stop, shifted sideways quickly and went into full reverse. True to McKeon's plan, Brex's ship screamed by, exposing the vulnerable back side. "Pursuit course, Full impulse speed. Tactical, fire! Alistar barked again. The Endeavour quickly jumped forward, firing almost instantly at her enemy. The weaker aft shields of Bex's ship finally overloaded under the stress of the savage assault and fell, allowing Endeavour to fire unhindered on her opponent, causing heavy damage. In response, Brex's ship suddenly flipped over in a barrel roll, firing as the ship's powerful forward weapons came to bear on Endeavour.

Normally, the Endeavour would have been able to take the hits, but with the battle damage that the ship had already taken and the fact that some systems were still under repair, the powerful hits from the Defiant class ship's pulse phaser cannons bit deeply into the Endeavour, causing heavy damage. Alistar heard a fresh bank of alarms as the ship shook violently. Most of the bridge crew were thrown to the deck. Hull breach alarms rang out, but the Endeavour fired back, the two ships trading fire and taking damage. Finally, one of the Endeavour's hits bit deep into the Defiant, causing an automatic computer response as the antimatter pods were ejected and the warp plasma vented along with the ship's deuterium, leaving the ship on auxiliary power. At the same time, a series of hits slammed into Endeavour, causing ODN overloads and explosions throughout the entire ship. Both ships stopped firing almost at the same time, their crippled and battered hulls venting atmosphere and fuel.

On the Endeavour, Alistar climbed back up to his feet and looked around the bridge. Two bulkheads had collapsed, and explosions had wreaked several consoles. Smoke filled the air, mostly from the burning science console. "Report," he called.

Isabella expected to hear T'lon respond first, but when the Vulcan remained silent, she made her way over to the operations station and froze. The entire operation station had exploded, throwing pieces of shrapnel everywhere. T'lon lay dead at his now useless console. Turning towards the captain, she tried to find the words but couldn't, her face a mixture of pained horror and anger.

Alistar noticed his first officer's expression and grimaced before he turned towards Tactical. "Anything?" he asked.

Akira shook her head. "All weapon and defensive systems are down," she reported.

Kev finally kicked the access hatch to the bridge open and tumbled out onto the bridge. Panting, he gasped for air since there hadn't been much oxygen in the jefferies tubes. "Does anyone know just how pissed engineering is going to be when the after action survey is done?" he asked.

"We can only imagine. Walker, can you take over for ops?" Alistar said.

"Yes, sir, that was my secondary major at the academy," Kev said, frowning until he looked over at ops. Stopping, he stared for a moment before he finally managed to tear his gaze away. "Yes, Sir, I can run it through the bridge engineering station."

"Sato, break out the phaser rifles and round up a security team," Alistar ordered. "Walker, get one of the transporters working. Silvisi, you have the conn."

"Captain, regulations clearly state that... " Isabella started.

"Commander, take the conn or be relieved," Alistar said in a tone that warned her to simply follow her orders.

"Yes, Sir. I have the conn," Isabella said, not happy at all.

"I have transporters on line, best if I run them from here," Kev said as he tapped in a series of commands.

Alsitar wordlessly took a phaser rifle and combat kit from Sato. Throwing the body armor on and adjusting the setup, he activated the rifle and nodded. "Beam us and the security team to the bridge of that ship. Maintain sensor lock and open comm lines," he ordered. Taking a deep breath, he nodded. "Energize."

 

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