[RP] Operation: Deep Strike (IC)

[TheUnforsaken]

Donna thinks about Lt. Chu's question for a moment before answering, "Just request communication, politely." Her mouth quirks in a lopsided smile as she considers the Umiak's penchant for good manners before adding, "Let's see if that gets us a response."

Ptak glances around the bridge as she moves back towards her console and catches a glimpse of Kamielle frowning at his helm controls. Donna pulls out her Pad as she listens to Gupton and Toshio discussing options, content to let her subordinates work out their trains of thought in case they come up with something interesting. Tapping quickly at the small computer's interface Donna sends a short message to Lynn's Pad: "Something on your mind Kam? You look...perturbed."

With that message sent, Donna turns her full attention to Ensign Toshio as he states his last hypothetical scenario. Surprised she hadn't thought of the possibility herself Donna asks, "Ok, assuming thy're targeting us and will engage the Pure Wind only as a target of opportunity, what jump points can we reach before they get us into range?" She frowns and adds, "And let's just assume also that whatever is reducing their acceleration is something they can get rid of if they want to."

[icekatze]

((hi hi))

Toshio stalls for a moment by pulling up a few grainy pictures of distant stars on the display before responding.

"We haven't had much time to do any deep space scans since we entered the system, but judging from the scan we took before we jumped in system, there should be a few stars we could potentially jump to. This one here at 11 and 3 o'clock low seems to be a typical red dwarf and it is pretty close to our trajectory. Its size might be a problem if we're not very accurate in our exit trajectory, on the other hand maybe the Umiak are thinking the same thing and it'll be empty when we get there. There's a yellow main sequence at 4 and 5 o'clock high, I think we could make the exit trajectory, and it'll be an easier target to hit, only 4.5 light years away. Last on the list is this distant binary, a pair of red dwarves 7 light years away, but at 8 o'clock, it is halfway back in the direction we came from. Its a gamble either way, rushing the jump calculations I mean."

Lt. Chu pipes up just as Captain MacRae enters the bridge, locking the door behind him.

"Message is away Commander!"

The Captain nods as the various bridge staff recognize his arrival, his expression is grave.

"We have our orders from Captain Red Salt, and the order is to attack... Now, I must impress upon you the seriousness of what I'm about to tell you, and insist that it doesn't leave this room, understood?" He pauses as he gauges everyone's reactions before continuing. "This is not something that I take lightly, but I am concerned about Captain Red Salt's judgement in this matter." He seems to be searching for the right thing to say and his brow furrows as he goes on. "I am considering breaking our orders and fleeing, an action that could have serious consequences for our alliance with the Loroi, not out of fear for safety, but because someone needs to warn the fleet of the danger. So, I need your honest assessment of the situation. Do we stand any chance of succeeding in combat?"

[sunphoenix]

Kamielle notes the posting of the private console memo. He types a brief reply, [I don't know why this is even a question. We should be helping our Allies!]

Kamielle continues monitoring his station plotting his potential course vectors.

At the Captain's arrival. Kamielle listens to the captain's directives and taking his words as permission to 'speak' candidly...

"Well Sir, I don't think we have much of a choice here Sir. We are not just one jump from the fleet. If that Umiak craft destroys 'Red Salt' they WILL come after us... and we can't run from them. Plus, we jeopordize telling the Loroi that we are not the allies they can trust to stand in a fight. Humanity does not want Both the Loroi and the Umiak as a enemy! Plus, the Loroi are our allies, right or wrong we've made a commitment, we should stick by our word of honor. That says something to BOTH the Umiak and the Loroi. Also Sir... NO fight that I'm piloting in is a suicide gesture! We may not be able to slug it out with a cruiser but we can help, even if it is to make like an attack vessel and 'encourage' the Umiak vessel to change its vector to deal with two potential warships. He doesn't know that we're not a warship. Red Salt can use that fact hopefully and it sends a clear message to our allies! I don't like the idea of leaving a ,..er 'man' behind... that includes Loroi."

[TheUnforsaken]

Donna had only just glanced at Lt. Lynn's reply during a brief lull in the discussion of options when Captain McRae enters the bridge. She is surprised by his comments but manages to school her expression into one that she hopes is politely blank. Thinking furiously, Donna does not speak immediately giving Kam time to declare his position, one that is not entirely surprising given the message he sent just a short time ago. Biting the bullet, Donna speaks up in the silence that follows.

"Captain; Commander Gupton, Ensign Toshio and I have run the numbers on numerous potential courses of action and, to be blunt, we simply cannot make it back to to the jump point to our previous system. Of those remaining options where we attempt to disengage, only one takes us in the general direction of the Fleet, the rest are rather more suboptimal, involving blind jumps into what are likely to be Umiak held systems. What's more, Sir, assuming we do escape, what could we really tell the Fleet? That we've located a blasted Umiak system that the Loroi are presumably responsible for? The entire defense force of which consists of a single, possibly damaged, unit of the lightest warship the Umaik use? And in return we will have dealt a potentially fatal blow to our alliance with the Loroi."

Donna struggles to sum up her argument, "Captain, while I don't relish the thought of getting into a tousle with a plasma-focus armed enemy, all the other options are worse. If not for us, then at least for Humanity as a whole." She shrugs, "Humanity is at war, Sir. Call it upholding one's Honour, or doing one's Duty, or even getting the shitty end of the stick, but sometimes war necessitates sacrifice. And today it has fallen to us to take that risk but," She emphasises, punching her left palm, "if it does come to a fight, Sir, I can assure you that everyone on this ship will be doing their damndest to ensure that it's our enemy doing the sacrificing."

[icekatze]

((hi hi))

Captain MacRae listens silently, and waits for some time to make sure everyone has said their piece before he responds. If he is upset by any of the officer's remarks, it doesn't show in his expression, which remains cold and serious.

"I don't like the thought of skipping out on a fight any more than you do, but we have many responsibilities. Part of our mission is to provide the fleet with intel on possible dangers, and if their farseer couldn't detect this threat, they will need to know that capability is compromised." The paces slowly to his seat in the aft part of the bridge, but does not sit down. He sweeps his gaze across the room before continuing. "In the past months, you have proven yourselves to be among the finest humanity has to offer, so... since you say we have stand a chance, let us make sure we don't miss it. The order is attack, I want this ship in peak readiness when we make contact with the enemy."

Captain MacRae waits to see if anyone has more to say on the issue before taking a seat himself.

[icekatze]

((hi hi))

After getting up to speed on the situation, Captain MacRae goes over to the tactical console to fill everyone in on Red Salt's plans.

"The Pure Wind is going to start decelerating prior to engagement. That should give us plenty of opportunity to get there on time. Red Salt was not very specific about what she wants us to do. Her exact orders were, 'attack with everything you have, whatever that is.' Followed by an admittedly dismissive 'or just distract them while we go for the kill, I don't care.'

Captain MacRae rubs the bridge of his nose as though holding back a headache. "In any case, I'd like to see if we can't box it in. Its faster than us though, so it isn't going to be easy."

Several minutes have gone by since Lt. Chu sent the request for communications her comm console lights up like a christmas tree. "Control, Comms! I'm getting a response from the target." Her fingers work furiously on the console, so focused on her task that she doesn't even notice the Captain's request for additional details. Holding her headset to her ear with one hand, she listens to the message intently. Captain MacRae waits for her to come back to reality a little bit before trying to interrupt again.

"Ahem...What's the message Lieutenant?"

"Oh, sorry Captain... It seems to be a request for surrender. They are demanding that we do not charge our weapons and immediately proceed to a polar orbit around the first planet. But this is strange, they're using a pretty archaic dialect of Trade, even for the Umiak, and there's a lot of extra static mixed in with the message."

[sunphoenix]

Lt. Kamielle Lynn speaks up.

"Uhm, Sir, I think we could make use of that sir."

Kamielle brings up the navigational displays on the forward screens ploting a course that seems... rather bold.

"I could alter the DeSoto's course to take us right at the planet as though we were complying to their request however if I tighten that orbit I can use the planet's gravity to sort of sling shot us around the planet and reverse course to match Red Salt's as she passes the planet as well. This could serve two purposes. One as we pull that tight orbit we could power our shields in the direction of the enemy vessel and use the planet to shield our unshielded arc. We could still fire our Laser Turrets at the enemy and support Red Salt... as well as do a detailed, 'if brief' active scan of the planet's surface. Second if Red Salt should decide to not go for another joust with the enemy ship we could use the planet's gravity well to sling-shot us into a somewhat matching course to meet up with Red Salt matching her exit Vector should that be needed. {Ahem}...downside... that is a lot of hull stress the DeSoto will be enduring - we will be coming in HOT! Hopefully that will make getting any orbital or PDM 'planetary defense missiles' weapons lock on us - VERY hard! The speed will help us close with Red Salt if needed. It might even be interpreted by the enemy as compliance with their demands ~we just don't stop. Plus, if the enemy ship fires on us he's gonna find us a hard target to hit with that kind of orbital velocity - the planet will give his fire solutions something else to consider. Plus the enemy will have to wonder with that kind of velocity ~ are we complying, moving in to attack planetary targets, orbital-drop ground insurgent forces and run, suicide crash a 'dirty-bomb' planetside... what? It will keep them guessing and perhaps give Red Salt that distraction she wants. It will be ... a bumpy ride, but I think the DeSoto can handle it!"

[TheUnforsaken]

Donna studies Lt. Lynn's plot. The Commander thinks for a moment before shaking her head and speaking.

"I don't like the idea of getting on the same vector as that gunship, we'll be completely at it's mercy given our lack of acceleration in comparison: They could turn inside any of our possible maneuvers from then on and cut us to pieces, or simply run us down if we don't try to dodge. We have to play to DeSoto's strengths, not get into a slugging match." Ptak pauses for a moment before continuing, "What if we timed our engagement with the gunship to coincide with that of the Pure Wind's interceptors? One thing our ship has in abundance is ECM and ECCM capabilities and I doubt that that gunboat has much in the way of sensors...they're designed to operate alongside fleets after all, not on their own. We might even be able to rig some of our probes to act more torpedo-like, distract the gunboat until the interceptors can get a shot in."

Donna then gestures towards Lt. Chu, "I'm also intrigued by that message. The odd dialect...the fact they responded at all. What if we're not actually facing Umiak?"

[icekatze]

((hi hi))

Ensign Toshio, standing next to the navigation console raises his hand in a semi-sarcastic gesture, his voice rather deadpan.

"I may be out of line in saying this sirs, but while I think that using Lieutenant's plan to decelerate could put the planet in-between us and the attacker and give us a tactical advantage if they come looking, there are some additional concerns that need to be addressed so that we don't all die in the process. First off, in our current state, we can only cancel out about 1/3rd of our relative velocity by the time we reach the target. In order to make a successful slingshot maneuver, we're going to need to do two very dangerous things.

One, we're going to need to take advantage of aero-braking inside the planet's atmosphere. Now, you couldn't pay me enough to attempt a stunt like that, but I know the good Lieutenant has the skills. I have less faith in the DeSoto's outer hull, however. We'll be coming in retrograde, so the exhaust from the engines should minimize surface friction, but we might want to consider appropriating hull segments from some of the forward compartments and welding them on the back.

Two, we're going to need to run our engines well above their standard limits, which probably means we need to appropriate additional hull segments that we can melt instead of our exhaust bells. I think it'll work, probably. Might want to get started on those modifications soon though."

Lt Cdr. Gupton walks over to look at Toshio's console, something of a scowl on her face.

"Can the attitude Fujita." then, looking back to the rest of the bridge crew. "These numbers look good, but I'm not sure about the allowance for EVA work, there might not be enough time to make the modifications. Lieutenant Chu, send these specs down to engineering and see what they think of it. In the meantime, we should figure out if that is a route we want to consider taking. If we take the slingshot, we won't make the first engagement, but if the Pure Wind does survive it, we'll be set up with an excellent position. If they want to engage us, they'll have to close to a lower orbit or risk running out of fuel before we do.

And suppose they don't want to engage us? Toshio's attitude remains only partially canned.

"If they free orbit, we'll be able to out maneuver them, but we'll run out of fuel eventually. We might be able to box them in with the Pure Wind's interceptors though."

Captain MacRae holds his hand up to speak, waiting for the chatter to die down before saying his part.

"Just how big of a tactical advantage is the planet going to give us? If the plan is going to hinge on the Pure Wind's interceptors, I'd rather not rely on Tenoin Arrir Pideir to avoid doing anything rash during the first joust without good reason."

[Karst45]

Earl was closely listening to the conversation, still in his space suite, helmet loosely hanging at his utility belt. as the conversation stop he intrude in this jolly party.

The engine should hold, we may also be able to do that stunt, but in what shape? Am on the opinion of mr Toshio, even tough we have the skill to do that, it not worth the risk.

Throwing a data pad with structural analysis on one of the bridge console he then add

There trace of micro fracture all around the hull. Even simple full burn acceleration can be considered hazardous, some plating are so twisted that it a wonder they are still holding to the hull. If we ever come out of this ride alive, there a high chance we will be the one sending a demand for surrender.


On the other hand, THEY are the one surrendering. Why should we go to them, make them come to us. having them move toward us should be distraction enough. If they dont complies then it fishy... or shelly... or what ever. I wont be a meat shield for no space gals who will still consider us weakling even if we do the impossible.

[icekatze]

((hi hi))

"Lets stick to the straight forward plan for now, we're supposed to give the Pure Wind our support and they may need us on the first joust. However, hold onto that idea for later, we may need it on the second pass, and it is reassuring to know we have a chance of pulling it off. If I recall correctly, the last spaceship to attempt atmospheric braking didn't fare so well... The Atagi Maru was it?"

Toshio cuts in abruptly, "Atago Maru, Sir. Totally different design really."

"In any case, we need to deal with the immediate threat first. We can deal with..."

Just then, Ensign Jackson Espinosa bursts onto the command deck, breathing heavily as though he had been running. There is a wild sort of look in his eyes.

"Sir! Pardon the interruption sir, but that message. There's more to it, a lot more." He hurries over to the comms console as he's talking, seemingly oblivious to anything else going on around him. Then, politely excusing himself, he pulls up the message again. "Right here, at about 2 seconds in, there's a drastic increase in radio activity in the 3Ghz range, what looks like several different data streams using a Continuous Phase Modulation scheme. Its digital, and there's a lot of data encoded, way more than a simple audio message. I can't decode the information though, I mean, it could be malicious code and some of our subsystems are running Loroi software, so I'm not even sure if we should risk it."

[Karst45]

after a moment of taking a closer look at the data earl finally look away from the computer to talk to the captain.

It possible they infected us, leaving some open channel for them to trigger their code, I seen some pirate do that with distress beacon, They lured freight ship toward them, then when in range they would just "space out" the crew for an easy taking.

A hand on his chin he add;

We shouldn't take any risk. We should purge the program, roll back to the previous version, or even if needed "format" the program, The shuttles shouldn't be affected since they weren't online when we received the message. most of their program are compatible, except for weapon control, Jump drive and IFF. On the bright side, life support is entirely human in nature

Making a short pause.

It possible the ship will try to do the same with the Pure Wind. We cant contact them unless we know those "codes" wont use our channel to infect them. Mumbling This seem way more complicated than what the umiak could do.

Taking a firm voice.

Captain, I wish to take MY shuttle And contact the Pure wind to inform them of what we found. I could also make it look like we are launching fighter. That could provide a distraction.

[TheUnforsaken]

Donna speaks up after Earl finishes, "Captain, while I agree that we should take precautions in case this is indeed some sort of malware, I do not believe that it is. There simply seems to be too much data, they had to know we'd notice it, especially coming from a hostile ship." Donna pauses and takes a breath, an expression briefly flickers across her face that, to those that might have known her particularly well would be best described as 'sheepish'. "I have some...personal gear that should be able to handle the data. Its not connected to the DeSoto's systems either, so if the data dump is some sort of trojan designed to arouse our curiosity, nothing can harm the ship." Donna takes a more formal posture, "Sir, I request permission to retrieve the necessary equipment and begin studying the data."

[icekatze]

((hi hi))

Ensign Espinosa, still in the process of trying to catch his breath speaks up.

"I don't think we have to worry about it at present, the Loroi communication software we're running is highly secure. My concern is trying to run an analysis on it, as other Loroi programs might not be written with such stringent security in mind. Especially the emulator software that was written only recently."

Captain MacRae turns to Donna.

"Permission Granted, Commander. Do what you can to figure out what this is, but I'll need you back on the bridge when we make our approach to weapons range. Even if they're inviting us down for tea and biscuits, we can't ignore the existent danger to the Pure Wind. Just make sure it stays off our integrated systems."

Ensign Espinosa moves over to Donna and looks expectantly. "May I come with you, Sir? I might be able to assist you with the analysis."

The Captain listens to Earl's request patiently and gives it a bit of thought before responding.

I can't risk the shuttle for this. We have our standing orders and the shuttle will be a sitting duck out there if we launch it now. To say nothing of whether or not the Captain Red Salt will even bother trying to retrieve it." MacRae pauses for another moment, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "We'll keep that option in mind in case the situation changes though. If we get some indication that the Pure Wind is experiencing trouble, it may become necessary. We'll try contacting them through normal means for now and see if we can get a response."

[Karst45]

Allrighty-o cptain! ill saddle the horse just in case.

Earl then turn around and walk out of the bridge

[sunphoenix]

Lieut. Kamielle Lynn sat at the helm... patiently waiting for something to be decided...

"Orders Captain?"

[TheUnforsaken]

Donna gives Jackson an appraising look before saying, "If the Captain can spare you I'll be happy to have you, I hear you're good at recognising patterns." Donna then walks over to Captain MacRae to have a quiet word, "I could use Ensign Espinosa, Captain. But I know he has an important job to do here too. Once I've collected my gear I'll come back to this deck, if I can't find a spot in the labs I'll be in the conference room." MacRae nods his understanding but before he moves to speak Ptak continues, "Also Captain, regarding our course of action, I think we should maneuver as little as necessary to generate an intercept. The other options offered so far have been...somewhat sub-optimal." Donna's mouth quirks in a half grin. She then steps back and, with a more appropriate expression, salutes Captain MacRae before leaving the bridge, "The bridge is yours, Captain."

----

Entering her quarters one deck down Commander Ptak collects her gear. Before leaving however, she makes back-ups of the expensive Pad's operating systems and other data knowing that it will have to be scrubbed after running the alien program.

[icekatze]

((hi hi

Since it looks like people are more than ready to move forward a bit, I'll pass some time with narration.))

The mood is tense, but upbeat as the crew of the DeSoto prepare for battle. The maintenance crews, having gone over the little details once, then twice, begin a ship wide sweep during the final hour. From stem to stern, damage control lockers are checked, O2 canisters charged, valves cycled and finally the floors are scrubbed. By the time zero hour approaches, the ship looks on the interior as though it had just cleared its moorings from its docks in high orbit around Esperanza.

It was Ensign Ali Durando's idea to start with, he'd been in a foul mood regarding the maintenance of the laser batteries. With the DeSoto under constant acceleration, any EVA work was strictly off limits, as there was no way anyone could operate in six and a half Gs with any level of safety or proficiency. However, rather than sit and stare at the auto cleaning display on his console and brooding for hours, he decided that if he couldn't scrub the lenses, he'd scrub the floors instead. One could almost imagine from his expression that he was -in turn- imagining the face of some disliked peer on the floor in front of him as he began, but as others joined in the mood lightened considerably.

The engineering crew had their hands a little bit more full than damage control. Lt Cdr. Rodriguez kept monitoring unnerving blips in the inertial dampeners, nothing dangerous to be sure, but perhaps a sign of bigger problems hiding under the surface? Even though there was no definitive proof, his staff wasn't particularly interested in taking chances either, so there were few complaints as they tore the engineering section apart piece by piece and put it back together again. Or at least, all the parts that they could spare for a few minutes at a time. When the cleaning crews made their way to engineering, they made themselves doubly useful by sorting all the loosely strewn paneling and smaller components as they cleaned them. All the while, the familiar hum of hydrogen fusing into helium was a subtle reassurance.

The medical bay was ready in only minutes, having seen little use on this long voyage, save for routine checkups. Lenoire Lorentz's bright spirits were dampened somewhat as they began laying out extra mats and setting up supply caches around the ship in case they had to receive casualties. She joked about how much work they'd have cleaning it all up again when they were through. The mess hall could double as an infirmary if the situation called for it, but she kept herself out of the way as Ensign Edwin was cooking up something special.

At T minus 30 minutes, The crews were allowed to break in shifts for one last meal before the battle. Edwin had gone out of his way to make it memorable. The standard rations where nowhere to be seen, instead, Edwin and his assistant came out of the galley with plates piled high with noodles and marinara. The smells of sauted onions and toasted garlic wafted through the halls, and even the vat grown simu-meat managed to take on a palatable appearance. Nelson Gautreau almost choked on his meal when the apple pies were brought out. He immediately promised to reprimand Edwin for his breach of environmental protocols, unless of course, he was given an extra slice.

The mess hall patrons were clearing their tables when an argument had broken out between two crewmen about the alliance with the Loroi, and there were a few unkind words exchanged. To some, the Loroi were exploitative and cruel, to others they were making the best of a bad situation. Still, Christopher Edwin wasn't about to let something like this spoil his carefully crafted meal. Standing up on a table he shouted at first to catch everyone's attention, his nervousness masked by his volume.

"Listen up! We're on edge, we all are. And nobody knows what will be in an hour's time, let alone a day or a month or a year. But we weren't put here by random chance, no roll of the dice set us on our path. We're a team, assembled from some of the best humanity has to offer. I hope that means something to you, cause it sure as hell means something to me. So if you can't believe in anything else, I hope you can at least believe in each other, cause if there's a way through this, we can find it."

The speech went over well enough, a little rough around the edges, but it was a spur of the moment kind of thing, though he'd been thinking about it for the past few hours. When the second shift came to eat, there wasn't any trouble between crewmen, but Edwin decided to give a repeat performance anyway.

On the bridge, the mood is considerable more sober. Calculations and hypothetical scenarios are run over and over while the sensor indicators rapidly count down the meters to target and the little white dot on the screen gets larger and larger.

Donna and Jackson work on decoding the secondary transmission with a little bit of help from Lt. Chu in between her regular tasks. The first thing they are able to find out is that the transmission was not formatted for Loroi computer systems at all, as it fails completely to run under any sort of emulation. Even after a couple of hours of poking and prodding at the software, Jackson isn't ready to give up and call it random noise, although he concedes that making an enemy try to decode gibberish would be a clever way to waste their resources.

The work is grueling and painstaking, every time it seems like progress is being made, there is another set back and they have to start over from scratch. It isn't until everyone is starting to button up their pressure suits that Jackson makes a breakthrough. He identifies a large section of the data that is formatted differently from the rest and with Donna's help is able to decode an image fragment. However, that discovery will have to wait, as the ship switches from condition 2 to 1 and everyone gets ready for the real deal.

Just over 600,000 kilometers away, the Pure Wind launches her interceptors and reverses her course, switching to charge the target. The interceptors go wide, one on each side attempting to box the target in. Kamielle Lynn is starting the DeSoto's close range defensive maneuvers when sensors detect an energy surge in the target.

It sounds like a clap of thunder being run over by a freight train. Metal twists, melts and grinds against itself, only to mute away into a dull bass rumble as the atmosphere is vented from the bridge. Immediately the ship's nose jerks violently to the dorsal and port, the number two engine reduced to a pile of slag. Kamielle is able to roughly correct the ship's vector with a constant roll, but it is like trying to fly with a dead elephant on your back. The off balanced center of gravity and the venting hydrogen keep trying to push the DeSoto in to an uncontrolled tumble. Damage control lights up like a christmas tree, a lucky shot right down the long axis of the ship.

From the front heading aft, a row of labs and crew quarters amidships were hit, but luckily with everyone at combat stations, casualties are unlikely to come from those locations. The laser batteries have suffered a glancing blow, number two laser is completely dead, and coolant levels on one are dropping. At this rate the DeSoto may not have many shots left. Engineering reports it is holding together, but everything is torn all to pieces down there. The main reactor is still running, but it is punctured and white hot plasma can be seen spewing out occasionally as the magnetic bubble tries to keep up with the damage. The lower half of the ship is unhurt, the shuttle bay and fuel cells read all green. Multiple blips show up on sensors as a terse voice shouts out "Torpedo launch detected!" over the comms.

As everyone is pre-occupied with their own tasks, Lieutenant Quyen Chu is the first to notice it. Her voice is shaking as it crackles to life over the comms, her scream totally unheard across the vacuumed command center. But sitting in the center of the room, Captain MacRae is dead, a fragment of bulkhead has punctured straight through his suit, helmet, chest and neck, pinning him to the seat.

Over the comm, Captain Red Salt's cold detached voice can be heard, speaking in trade. "DeSoto, commence anti-torpedo fire immediately."

[sunphoenix]

Kamielle at the helm clenches he teeth as his hands fly over the controls, wrestling with the lumbering wounded scout ship.

Replying to "Redsalt's" warning, {"Acknowledged 'Pure Wind', some covering fire would be appreciated. One laser turret out, Captain MacRae is dead. Adjusting course to heading 302.23, 185.71, 213.31 {Y/X/Z - 360^degree axial measurements} at 5.75G-thrust."}

Kam spins the DeSoto on her axis-line to turn her remaining laser turret in the closest direction of the incoming torpedo and present her mostly undamaged underbelly that direction to protect the main reactor for anymore hits. Assuming he can he attempts evasive maneuvers.

Over the internal comms, " 'Cowboy', heads up... its about to get lively down there in the flight hanger! You may be taking some hits..."

[If the tactical Officer is incapacitated Kam will begin trying to get a lock on the incoming Torpedo with sensors and target the laser turret.]

[EDIT1]

SpoilerShow

Piloting {long range} : 9d6 → [4,1,3,6,3,6,6,3,5] = (37)
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/search/865116

Piloting {medium range} : 9d6 → [5,4,5,2,3,4,1,3,5] = (32)
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/search/865116

Piloting {short range} : 9d6 → [1,3,6,6,6,6,1,4,5] = (38)
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/search/865116

[TheUnforsaken]

Donna is stunned by the blow to the DeSoto: her head ringing from some unknown impact as a faint smell of iron crosses her awareness. Shaking her head elicits strenuous complaints from neck and shoulder muscles and throbbing from a point near her right temple as well as a pained groan. Just as Donna clears her head Lieutenent Chu's shaking voice over the comm reports MacRae's death. The words hit like a bolt of lightning, her hearts skips a beat and her train of thought derails He's dead...My god, did I cause this? He trusted me and now he and god knows how many others are dead...

Angry at herself for wasting precious moments on things she cannot change Idiot girl! Get it together! Donna's racing mind crashes back into gear as training and a furious calm envelop her mind. She brings up the damage control screen on her console even as Kam manhandles the ship onto a new heading. Shocked by the swathes of read signifying critical damage and vacuum exposure Donna quickly assesses the situation before keying the comm and firing off a rapid series of orders in a cool, controlled voice that belies an inner turmoil held in check with grim determination. "Damage Control Teams to Engineering and Laser One. Tactical: Begin maximum-rate point defense fire. Helm: Evasive maneuvers as you see fit but keep those torps within Laser One's arc. Egineering: Report status."


Leadership Roll:

SpoilerShow

Donna Ptak