From voyager@massmed.org Fri Jun 19 12:45:16 1998 Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 09:18:37 -0600 From: "Michael A. Natale, MD" To: Dante Expeditionary Force List Serve Subject: [DANTEXF] SB ALIGHIERI: Never Surrender [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: 100525.0350 GMT FMD: 5.0620 Scene: Science Labs Tao slammed his fists on the corner of the computer terminal as LT(jg) Ryan Heath strolled into the science lab. "Being a bit harsh on the equipment, don't you think Commander?" Tao stood there, his head hanging low. Ryan had never seen him like this before. He walked over to Tao and laid his hand on the XO's shoulder. "I thought I had something that might help give our fighters a chance out there, but it didn't work. Within hours, those pilots are going out there to engage the enemy with weapons that can't even scratch their hulls." Ryan squeezed Tao's shoulder. "Tao, you can't think you've done nothing. You came up with the idea for the high yield warheads, the idea of the two-stage missile with the EM pulse to weaken the Dalriadan shields, and the modified docking clamps to carry the 'missile-probes' by the fighters into battle. You've helped give them a fighting chance. And once we get the mirrors in place, ALIGHIERI will have another line of defense if the Dals should send anything else our way. " Tao nodded unenthusiastically and walked over to his old office. "Heavy is the head that wears the crown," mumbled Ryan to himself. He wished he could do something to help his friend. He knew Tao would hang out for a while, so he decided to try and get Tao's mind off things. "Tao, can you give me a hand with something. Dante has been experiencing an unusual increase in solar flare activity and I've been trying to document it for a paper I plan to submit to Starfleet's Astrological Journal, but the solar winds and increased particle flux are wreaking havoc on the guidance systems of the probes we've launched to study the marvel. It's also causing problems with the subspace transmissions from the probes." Suddenly a light went on in Tao's head. "What did you say?" he asked rhetorically as his hands sped over the computer's console, calling up the data from the probes and ALIGHIERI's own sensors. They showed there was an increase in the solar winds from Dante, along with the charged particles that accompanied such events. "Ryan, what would happen if we were to flood the area between Dante's belt and Dante VII with polaron particles." Ryan grimaced as he ran the calculations in his mind. "It would screw up the navigation systems of anyone flying through the area while the polarons were being emitted. " "Or anything. If we could send out probes to do just that, the interference created would wreak havoc on the guidance systems of the Dalriadan Pulverizer missiles. It might just stop enough of them from getting through to prevent the total destructionof ALIGHIERI. And it would only take two hours to reconfigure and launch enough probes to set up a field. The science staff could do it so that the engineers could continue to work on the fighter refits. All we need are some class II probes." Tao smiled as realization dawned on Ryan's face. "I'll run it by Commander Yssar and let you know," he said as he rushed out of the lab towards the Command Center. ******************************** FMD: 5.0700 Scene: Command Center ******************************** Tao finished relaying his idea to Greyclaw, who for the most part didn't quite understand all the technical aspects but knew enough to realize Tao's plan just might work. If anything, it would at least take out some of the missiles that would eventually make their way to ALIGHIERI. "See how many SCI can come up with in the next three hours. Also, see what they can do to help engineering increase the yield of our photon torpedoes, too. Maybe we can take some of their torpedoes out by detonating the torpedoes within their midst," added Greyclaw. Tao nodded and turned to leave when another idea struck him. He turned and cleared his throat. Greyclaw saw the look in his eyes and said, "Something else you just think of, Commander?" Greyclaw was coming to know Tao too well. "Yes sir. It just occurred to me that we could use metaphasic shields to enhance our protection from the xray lasers. If they can provide protection from the intense xray and gamma radiation in a star's corona, they should be able to provide some protection from the modulated xray beams the Dalriada use. With more time, we might even be able to modify metaphasic shielding to provide complete protection." Yssar shook his head. "I don't begin to imagine how your mind works, Tao, but I'm sure glad its on our side. I'll relay that information to BATRON 2. It may give them a small percentage of added protection. Will we be able to transmit through the polaron field?" "Subspace communication can be adjusted to compensate for the disruption, as can our sensors, though their range will be limited until the particles disperse. Equipment actually passing through the field will bare the brunt of the disruption." Greyclaw acknowledged the facts and headed for his ready room. Tao tapped his commbadge and said, "LCDR Windstar to LT(jg) Heath. Proceed with the plans for the polaron field. Le tme know when you've completed the modifications." [We'll get on it right away,] came the reply form the acting SCI. ******************************* FMD: 5.1100 Scene: Command center ******************************* Tao and Greyclaw stood and watched as ALIGHIERI launched the last of the modified probes destined to take up residence in the region between Dante VII and Dante's belt. Only time would tell if the polaron field would provide some protection from the missiles. The science department had also gotten the metaphasic shields on-line with help from the few engineers LT(jg) Roebuck could spare. Tao looked out across the vast system he now called home and swore that no one would drive him or Starfleet from their new home or their mission to protect the Huladians. NRPG: All: Its occurred to me that we can learn a thing or two from the pirates we've been fighting. What if we established a few hidden launch sites within Dante's belt. From there we could launch the missile-probes from behind once the Dalriadan fleet passes through the belt. It might be an idea for future defense against the Dalriada. Timeline: FMD: 5.0620 Tao's plan for phasers fails. Mike N FMD: 5.0700 Tao presents new idea to Greyclaw Mike N FMD: 5.1100 Probes launched into Dante's belt 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