From voyager@massmed.org Fri Jun 19 12:29:16 1998 Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 09:27:26 -0600 From: "Michael A. Natale, MD" To: Dante Expeditionary Force List Serve Subject: [DANTEXF] SB ALIGHIERI: If It's a War They Want... [The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set] [Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set] [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly] DANTE Expeditionary Force Official E-mail BEGIN TRANSMISSION Location: SB ALIGHIERI, DS-230 Stardate: 100513.1720 FMD: 3.1110 Scene: Ops/Bridge Tao's station viewscreen was split to reveal the faces of both Ryan Heath, now acting SCI, and Lt (jg) Merlin Roebuck, ALIGHIERI's ENG. The three had been busy all morning discussing ways of producing a high yield warhead capable of inflicting damage on the Dalriadan warships when a priority message came through from the front. Tao quickly excused himself and had the ensign at COMM put it on the main viewscreen. Cort O'Wood's face appeared amidst the static. "Mr. O'Wood, this is LCDR Windstar. What do you have to report?" asked Tao, his heart going out to those out there fighting what seemed insurmountable odds. {The CARLOTTA and most of NC-38 have been lost. The minefield is holding them off at present but missiles are starting to break through the fields. We're holding our own at the moment but we'll be needing reinforcements soon!} his Irish brogh thick and hurried. "Understood. BATRON 2 is on their way and we expect the YORKTOWN to return in a few hours." {We may not have a few hours, but we'll do the best we can for now. O'Wood out.} The screen went blank as the transmission ended. "Sir, we've just received a coded message from YORKTOWN. They've found want they believe to be the main pirate base but the leaders have escaped. The base was rigged with a self destruct device. All Starfleet personel were evacuated in time and she is on her way back to ALIGHIERI but she is reporting heavy damage and some casualties," reported the Ensign Lin at COMM. "Thank you, Mr. Lin. Please forward a copy of both YORKTOWN's report and Mr. O'Wood's recent transmission to CDR Yssar, CDOR Mirtox and LCDR Ulfsson. And get me Lt (jg) Roebuck at once," commanded Tao. His first morning as XO was not going to be an easy one. Moments later, Merlin's less than happy visage was once again gracing Tao's viewscreen. {What can I do for now, Commander,} asked Merlin. "Merlin, the YORKTOWN is on her way back to ALIGHIERI. She's sustained heavy damage from several attacks by the pirates. She's going to be needed on the front line ASAP, so can you spare a few of your officers to meet her arrival and assist her engineers with the necessary repairs?" Tao waited for an answer from the ENG. {I'll have two repair teams ready to greet them when they dock, providing they still have that capability,} the blue-skinned ENG chided. Tao decided to let that one slide. "I'm sure any assitance you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Windstar out." ***************************** FMD: 3.1130 Scene: Ops/Bridge ***************************** The door to Yssar's ready room swished open and the large Caitian stepped out onto the bridge. Tao quickly snapped to attention and, following protocol, announced, "Commanding Officer on the bridge." Yssar dismissed the ensuing protocol with a wave of his hand and made his way down to his new XO. "I just finished reviewing the reports from LT O'Wood and Captain Katz. Things aren't looking good for us at the moment," he said in a low voice to Tao. Tao nodded in agreement. "The front line is taking heavy damage and the YORKTOWN isn't much better. I've instructed Mr. Roebuck to coordinate with the YORKTOWN's ENG to hasten repairs." It was Yssar's turn to nod. "Good. Any progress on a way to defend ourselves?" "I think we may have something. I've been speaking with LT (jg)'s Roebuck and Heath all morning. What we've been discussing is the production of a two-stage missile. After launch from the fighter, the first stage would seperate and detonate, creating an EM pulse similar but much stronger to that produced by an EM grenade. This should be sufficient to punch a hole in that gravity shield they generate at a weak point near the rear of the ship, allowing the second stage of the missile to pass through without resistance. Once through the shields, the second stage would detonate a payload of anicium and yurium, creating an explosion that would obliterate the ship." Yssar listened intently to the explanation. "And what if the first stage of the missile failed to punch a hole in the shields?" Tao changed the schematics of the simulation he had been using to accentuate his explanation. "If the first stage failed, the resulting explosion from the detonation of the anicium and yurium combination would still be sufficient to cause heavy damage to the warship's but wouldn't necessarily wipe them out, though it would still take out the stardrive section and possibly weapons." "We've also considered adding extra lead shielding and a reflective surface to the missiles to protect them from an attack by the pulse xray lasers." Yssar scratched his chin with his claw as he considered the plan. "Get started on it as soon as possible. It seems our best chance for the moment. And send a copy of your idea to CDOR Mirtox and LCDR Ulfsson." Tao nodded again. "I also have another idea I'd like to run by you, sir." "Go ahead, Tao." "Sir, the pulse xray lasers produced by the missiles they use work on the idea of creating an artificial laser star using a thermonuclear device to create a plasma laser powered by collisional ion pumping. The original theory of a laser star was proposed in the twentieth century on Earth using mirrors and/or a propogating laser to amplifiy the stellar plasma of a star's upper atmosphere to create a highly coherent and collimated beam of photon energy. They theorized such a beam could be used to provide power and light to planets too distant from a star to thrive on its own. The beam could also be intensified and directed for use as a weapon. They also theorized that a star with a violent stellar wind would be optimal for such a device. Dante fits the profile perfectly. We could easily construct the necessary mirrors to encircle Dante and harness the stellar plasma without causing any environmental damage. Such a laser would be an added defense for ALIGHIERI against the Dalriada and any future enemy." Yssar wasn't sure he understood everything Tao had said but trusted that Tao had done his usual exhaustive research and knew exactly what he was doing. "It seems the missiles could be ready faster, so give them priority. After we have the missiles in production, you can turn you attention to this other project. Agreed?" Tao shook his head yes and smiled. Yssar said he was going to take a walk and to contact him the moment the YORKTOWN docked. Tao acknowledged the request and watched Yssar leave Ops before turning his attention back to the operation of ALIGHIERI's bridge. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------- NRPG: David: Feel free to add to this before Yssar leaves to talk with Fr. McDougal. Kevin: Anything to add? Timeline: FMD: 3.1110 Report from the Front Line Mike N FMD: 3.1130 Tao runs ideas past Yssar Mike N Respectfully submitted, LCDR Tao Windstar (aka Michael Natale) XO, SB ALIGHIERI, DS-230 voyager@massmed.org This message sent by an official member of the Dante Expeditionary Force Are you also posting your messages to the newsgroup?!!! END TRANSMISSION