From jdt7@cornell.edu Wed May 27 08:07:04 1998 Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 18:30:22 -0600 From: "Jeffery D. Trock" To: INDIGO FLEET List Serve Subject: [INDIGO] USS PROMETHEUS: Heroes Never Die (2/2) ---OFFICIAL INDIGO FLEET TRANSMISSION--- Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 20:48:30 -0500 From: jdt7@cornell.edu (Jeffery D. Trock) Subject: [INDIGO] USS PROMETHEUS: Heroes Never Die (2/2) [Continued From Part I] FMD : 6.1644 Scene: Bridge, USS AGAMEMNON "Helm, ahead full impulse, steady on course 245 mark 49," Captain Wilkes ordered, breaking the awkward silence after a few moments. His intention was to get the two undamaged ships between the fleet and the withdrawing vessels. "OPS, deploy the remaining Wild Weasel probes." "PROMETHEUS, fall in a line abreast of the AGAMEMNON. Activate all remaining Wild Weasel units," Slick instructed. "We'll need to hold them off for the NOVA and the rest of the squadron for as long as possible. Good luck, Sovak." [[The result of the impending conflict will rely upon the comparative performances of our ships and crews, however, I understand it is a human custom to wish one good luck before entering a potentially harmful or trying situation. Therefore, good luck as well, Captain.]] "I'm picking up some sort of gravity wedge enveloping each vessel, sir. It appears to be their method of propulsion," TAC reported, hunched over his console. "That rules out maneuver Phoenix-Foxtrot-Six," reminded Wilkes. The dozens of torpedoes launched from the eight Star Fleet vessels streaked into the advancing "fleet" of Pulverizer missiles and detonated. Explosions lit up the dark void which separated the NOVA and BATRON 9 from the Dalriadan warships as the photon torpedoes tore through the lethal weapons of destruction. Some damage was absorbed by the surrounding gravity wedge propelling each missile, while other damage fused key components of the missiles and prevented the fusion reaction from releasing the x-ray energy at the end of their flights. Still other missiles in close proximity to the photon torpedoes when they went off were completely engulfed by the explosions and instantly vaporized. Only a handful of missiles remained, continuing their rapid advancement towards the PROMETHEUS and AGAMEMNON. "They're jamming our communications... I've lost contact with the PROMETHEUS and the rest of the squadron," OPS reported. FMD 6.1645 Without any pomp and circumstance, the Dalriada launched their second volley of Pulverizer missiles. Soon after, the Pulverizers remaining from the first set reached the range limit of 200,000 km, split into multiple warheads, and detonated... sending fusion-powered x-ray lasers cutting through space towards the two ships. As the dozen or so beams which weren't re-directed by the Wild Weasel and Silent Wave systems struck the hulls of the vessels, tritanium plating boiled away, exposing their innards briefly until forcefields sealed the breaches. All hell broke loose on the bridge as the battle damage klaxons sounded. "They've just launched a second wave, sir!" Wilkes ordered another series of photon torpedo launches. Fortunately, Sovak had ordered the launch of a spread of photon torpedoes as well, sending them from the PROMETHEUS straight into the cloud of approaching missiles. As the torpedoes exploded in a violent cataclysm of destruction, several of the missiles were caught up in the detonations. Once again, the gravity wedges propelling the missiles shielded them from the huge explosion, but a number of the missiles had taken damage between the wedges and erupted into a balls of fire. Around 70 of the original missiles survived, and the second volley of 120 sailed through the dissipating explosion and debris. In response, the AGAMEMNON turned and tried to distance itself from the rapidly approaching missiles, cycling through another volley of photon torpedoes in hopes of reducing the number of incoming Pulverizers. The gravity wedge propulsion system of the Pulverizer made it extremely difficult to inflict any damage at all. The PROMETHEUS mimicked the actions of the AGAMEMNON, keeping in close formation with her sister ship. "How long until the missiles reach a range of 200,000 kilometers?" Wilkes asked his tactical officer. "At our current relative velocities, approximately five minutes, sir." FMD 6.1647 "Sir, the PROMETHEUS appears to be sending out shuttlecraft towards the missiles!" the navigation officer noted. "What's your Vulcan trying to do, Slick?" Wilkes inquired. "Commander Sovak and my navigations officer had discussed the feasibility of sending out shuttlecraft to take out as many of the missiles as possible. We were under the assumption that the missiles were for targeting capital ships, so hopefully we can nail a bunch of them with shuttle phasers," Captain Slick explained. "Lieutenant... get your shuttles out there and tell your pilots to gun for those missiles!" Wilkes commanded. The NAV officer relayed the orders to the shuttle bay via his console. Within 60 seconds, the first shuttle was away. As the shuttlecraft from the PROMETHEUS moved into weapons range, they opened up on the swarm of missiles with the on-board phaser arrays. However, at that distance the missiles were too fast to hit, even though with the multiple warheads a missile easily competed with a shuttlecraft for size. The shuttles continued to close in hopes of getting a better shot. [[AGAMEMNON, this is shuttlecraft JOHN GLENN... we're following the shuttles from the PROMETHEUS to get a better shot on the missiles. They're too damn fast to hit at this range.]] "You need to be out of range of the fusion explosions when those missiles come within 200,000 km of the battlecruisers. You have about two minutes to take out as many of them as you can," the tactical officer of the AGAMEMNON explained. [[Roger that, JOHN GLENN out.]] Although the shuttlecraft pilots were informed of the gravity wedges propelling each missile towards its intended target, they were not aware to what extent these wedges reached. They soon discovered the hard way as one of the shuttles in the outer edge of the formation passed too close to a Pulverizer and was caught up in its gravity wedge, which violently tore the shuttle apart in a blaze of burning vapors and glowing shards of tritanium. FMD 6.1649 The small shuttle fleet darted into the barrage of missiles, firing at them wildly with phasers. Every twenty or thirty seconds, a stream of phased energy would hit its mark, slamming into a Pulverizer and causing it to disintegrate with a small explosion. More often than not, a phaser beam would simply be absorbed by the gravity wedges. There were plenty of targets to choose from, but most shuttle pilots found that they had to switch to manual targeting because the fire control systems couldn't handle that many targets. Unfortunately, that meant there was nothing to prevent a shuttle from accidentally firing upon another as they performed their daring dance around the deadly missiles. At the end of two minutes, the shuttles had managed to destroy 12 of the incoming missiles from the second volley. They raced towards the newly-launched third volley of missiles to ensure they would be out of range of the impending detonation of the fusion bombs which would pump the x-ray lasers. "Sir, the second volley has reached 200,000 kilometers." "Brace for impact!" Wilkes shouted as the corresponding alarm sounded throughout the ship. All over the AGAMEMNON, if crew weren't strapped into combat harnesses, they braced themselves against various fixtures... keeping their knees and elbows loose so they wouldn't snap as the ship jarred suddenly from any resulting explosions the x-ray lasers might cause. FMD 6.1652 Thirty or so of the remaining missiles released their multiple warheads and completed final targeting of the AGAMEMNON and PROMETHEUS. The others were merely carrying ECCM units in attempt to defeat the usual Federation target jamming systems. Meanwhile, Wild Weasel and Silent Wave attempted to scramble the combat scanners aboard the Pulverizers, bombarding the signal receivers from different angles and aspects with varying transponder frequencies. As the warheads detonated, harnessing the power of a fusion reaction through a phase-modulated x-ray laser beam generator, narrow beams of invisible x-ray energy sliced through space towards their targets. Some of these beams were way off target, sent off at random angles into space due to the success of the countermeasures. Others stabbed at the Wild Weasel probes themselves, melting a gaping hole through them. Seconds later, the damaged probes exploded. Still other x-ray laser beams cut through the shields of the two withdrawing battlecruisers, burning holes through the hulls and several decks. Bulkheads melted away as the x-ray energy stabbed through the ship. Hull breach klaxons and damage alarms sounded on both ships as they survived the first set of missiles. "Sir, I've boosted the comm signals and compensated for the Dalriadan interference... we have communication with the PROMETHEUS at very short ranges," OPS announced. FMD 6.1654 "The Dalriada have launched a fourth volley of missiles!" TAC reported. As the shuttlecraft approached the third volley, they split up and began to maneuver around the missiles as before. Again, the pilots relied upon their targeting skills upon switching to manual aiming of the phasers. One by one, phaser beams either dissipated across the gravity wedges or ruptured the enemy missiles as the pilots skimmed through the cloud of Pulverizers and fired, sometimes wildly, at the speeding targets. After one of the pilots concentrated on strafing a missile until its destruction, he spun his shuttle around to increase his velocity in another direction. Before he could get out of the way, the craft began to vibrate vigorously as it became the unfortunate victim of a rapidly approaching missile gravity wedge. Within seconds, the shuttle was completely ripped apart, exploding into flaming smithereens. As the Pulverizers approached the 200,000 km limit, the shuttlecraft raced away from the swarm and headed for the fourth volley. However, the Dalriada had already caught on... one of the missiles in the last series had been set for a proximity detonation. The resulting fusion bomb explosion enveloped the shuttles, as well as a few adjacent missiles, and vaporized them all. FMD 6.1657 "Captain! We just lost all of the shuttles!" NAV announced. "Damn those bastards!" Slick exclaimed. "Come about to face them... it's time to show them what we've got," he ordered, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth in anger. "Execute to follow... head to a position 500,000 km above their fleet, warp factor one... then prepare to attack. Standby..." Slick waited until the last possible moment... just as the next volley of missiles reached 200,000 km. "Execute!" Just as the fusion explosions rippled across the pitch-black backdrop of space, the two battlecruisers momentarily lurched into warp drive, managing to avoid most of the x-ray lasers. A few had caught the ships during warp field generation, and poked more holes through the shields and the hull. The ships came out of warp above the fleet, and then turned to face them. The fourth wave of missiles arced around, following their targets to their new location. "Hull breach on deck 27!" shouted the Chief Engineer, as sparks shot out from his console. "Decks 24 and 25 report heavy casualties!" declared the operations officer. FMD 6.1659 "This is for the LEXINGTON! Fire a full spread of torpedoes at the center battleship!" Wilkes ordered as the Dalriadan fleet made a flank turn in their direction. Glowing photon torpedoes shot forth from the forward launchers, travelling several hundred thousand kilometers before slamming into the gravity wedge and dissipating along the field. The PROMETHEUS launched a volley of torpedoes as well, only to have the same effect. The apparent lack of effect crushed the spirits of those on the AGAMEMNON's bridge. "No damage, sir. The impact was absorbed by some sort of gravity field," relayed the TAC officer, who analyzed the attack feedback on his console. "What the--" Wilkes stammered. "They've continued their approach..." the navigator noted. FMD 6.1700 Another series of fusion bomb detonations took place as the fourth set of Pulverizers caught up with the battlecruisers and released their multiple warheads. The x-ray lasers which weren't affected by the countermeasures shattered Wild Weasel probes, cut through decks, sliced through shuttle bays, disrupted computer functions, ruptured plasma conduits, and knocked out phaser arrays. Explosions rocked the AGAMEMNON, which had taken the brunt of the attack because it had wound up between the PROMETHEUS and the missiles at the end of the warp maneuver. Auxiliary systems kicked in as vital ship systems were severed or destroyed, but the last attack had left the AGAMEMNON severely crippled. An x-ray beam had struck and overloaded some of the key conduits to the bridge. Charred remains of officers littered the bridge of the AGAMEMNON, lit only by flickering red overhead lights and occasional showers of sparks. Captain Wilkes had been ripped from his harness like a rag doll and thrown against one of the consoles in front of him. The display was covered with his blood, which trickled onto the floor and collected into a small pool. An overhead support had fallen and crushed the tactical officer, his insides splattered all over his seat and harness. Several other officers had been severely burned from energy surges erupting from their consoles. "Sir, core breach imminent!" the chief engineer reported. One of the lasers had sliced through a critical containment component in the warp core. "Sir?" A hand grabbed onto a console and pulled the rest of its body up. "Your captain's dead," Slick said, picking himself off the deck. He wiped his bloody face with the back of his hand. He felt the warmth of the blood through his glove. He looked around and saw that TAC was down as well, so Rick limped up the horseshoe and took the tactical station. It'd been quite a while since he'd been behind such a console, but once he'd figured out the configuration, it was like riding a bike... especially when the adrenaline was pumping. "The Dalriada appear to be charging up their forward energy weapons," he noted. The only good news there was that it wouldn't be a full broadside attack, where most of the Dalriadan weapons were located on their warships. However, from 28 ships, neither battlecruiser would likely last. "I can't eject the warp core, Commodore... the hatch mechanism's been damaged!" the Chief Engineer cried out, his left arm incapacitated by a compound fracture. A jagged bone jutted out from a bloody laceration in his forearm. "Helm, put our full target silhouette between the Dalriada and the PROMETHEUS!" Slick ordered. "We can still save her, if not ourselves..." "Aye, sir... maneuvering..." "PROMETHEUS, this is Captain Slick. Take her the hell out of here, Sovak... we're going to blow!!" [[Sir...]] "Do it!" ______________________________________________________________________________ FMD : 6.1703 Scene: Bridge, Royal Dalriadan Navy Lead Battleship {{NRPG: "Dalriadan Fanfare of Victory" begins to play in the background.}} "Fire," came the one-word order from the Dalriadan task force commander. Just as the AGAMEMNON moved into position, the Dalriadan particle beam cannons lanced out from every ship, deadly streams of energy tearing apart the crippled battlecruiser as she shielded the PROMETHEUS's narrow escape out of the Terebellum system. Captain Slick perished as a burning white light engulfed the bridge, instantly incinerating flesh, bones, hopes, dreams, and memories. His last image was the painful, intense, deadly light. His last sounds heard were the agonizing screams of the hundreds of crewmembers echoing through his soul as the USS AGAMEMNON was blown apart in a tremendous, raging fireball of death and destruction wrought by Dalriadan fury. Above it all, he could hear his late wife, Sarah, calling his name now. Her beckoning was so much clearer without all the distractions of mortality. "AGAMEMNON destroyed... with no survivors. However, the PROMETHEUS has escaped, sir. Shall we continue our approach to the Federation starbase?" inquired the battleship commander. The task force commander slammed his fists down on the fleet ops console in front of him in disgust. "Negative. Our triple-agent already has enough of a lead on us to warn them and prepare an organized defense. Exit the system and prepare to approach from a different vector," he commanded. "The fleet commander won't be pleased... this will require a modification to our battle plans..." And so INDIGO Fleet was spared for an undetermined, albeit short, length of time as the Dalriadan advance fleet jumped back into hyperspace and left the system... _____________________________________________________________________________ FMD : Undetermined Scene : Main Shuttle Bay, USS PROMETHEUS Timeframe : During a lull in the action Theme Music: "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas {{NRPG: Series of cheesy flashbacks from Captain Slick's Star Fleet career go here.}} Crewmembers, some injured, packed into the shuttlebay for Captain Slick's funeral ceremony. On a rail system in the center of the bay, a single photon torpedo was mounted. If circumstances had been different, Slick's body would be lying inside the gutted casing, providing him with a true "burial in space" as was the tradition. However, since his body was unretrieval, it only stood as a symbol of his death. The senior staff of the PROMETHEUS stood on either side of the torpedo rail, at the position of parade rest, while Commander Sovak, the acting CO, and Lieutenant Commander Rand Talon, the acting XO, stood directly behind the torpedo. Counsellor Tur addressed the crew in this time of mourning. Although the entire crew of the AGAMEMNON was lost, along with several PROMETHEUS crewmembers killed in the recent battle, the loss of a leader was always deeply felt by his followers. There were mixed emotions regarding Slick's actions... was he right in sacrificing the AGAMEMNON and its crew to keep the PROMETHEUS intact? Those were not his people to lead to death. However, the fact remained that if he had not done what he had done, both battlecruisers would have been lost. And if they had not delayed the advance fleet, the NOVA and the entire squadron could have been easy pickings for the Dalriadan monsters. "Heroes never die," Lexaura spoke. "They continue to inspire us in our minds and in our hearts. Let us not forget how Captain Slick has guided us... how he has trained us... how he has cared for us. Up until the moment of his passing, he protected us. We must all endeavour to treat our subordinates in the same fashion. We will miss him... always. May the fire of his spirit always give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. May his feet be finally guided into the way of peace." {{NRPG: Further eulogies, crying, etc. may be added here. }} With a nod from Sovak, the Scottish Chief Engineer, LCDR John Walker, began to play "Amazing Grace" on his bagpipes. The officers and crewmen snapped to attention. ** Amazing grace, how sweet the sound... ** Sovak and Talon slowly removed the clamps on either side of the torpedo, giving it the freedom to move along the launch rail. ** That saved a wretch like me. ** Sovak quietly moved to the back of the launching rail and activated the magnetic accelerator. The actual forward and aft launchers of the PROMETHEUS had a larger capacity for torpedoes and could generate more of an accelerating force than the single-torp mount, but that wouldn't be necessary here. ** I once was lost, but now am found... ** Set to a low level, the accelerator slowly pushed the torpedo down the rail and out into space. Once safely away from the ship, the propulsion unit kicked in and sent the empty torpedo speeding towards the heavens, symbolizing Slick's departure from the ship and crew. ** Was blind, but now I see. ** After the torpedo was no longer visible, people began to clear out of the shuttlebay. The launching rail was dismantled by an engineering detail and stowed away. Within minutes, the shuttlebay had returned to normal. As if nothing had ever happened and it was business as usual. No one had time to dwell on losses... INDIGO Fleet was at war. Concludingly submitted, Captain Rick Slick, KIA - SD 100515 FMD 6.1600 BATRON 9 begins final wargame exercise (Jeff T.) FMD 6.1630 USS NOVA detected by long range sensors (And So It Begins) FMD 6.1635 Slick and Brooks have a pleasant conversation (Jeff T.) FMD 6.1640 Dalriada emerge from hyperspace (And So It Begins) FMD 6.1641 First volley of missiles launched (Aut Pax Aut Bellum) FMD 6.1643 PROMETHEUS and AGAMEMNON ordered to delay Dalriada (Jeff T.) FMD 6.1645 Second volley of Pulverizer missiles launched (Jeff T.) FMD 6.1647 PROM and AGGIE launch shuttlecraft (Jeff T.) FMD 6.1649 Shuttlecraft enter second volley and open fire (Jeff T.) FMD 6.1651 Third volley of missiles launched (Jeff T.) FMD 6.1654 Fourth volley of missiles launched (Jeff T.) FMD 6.1657 All shuttles lost in fusion explosion (Jeff T.) FMD 6.1659 PROM and AGGIE open fire on Dalriada... no effect (Jeff T.) FMD 6.1700 Fourth volley of Pulverizer missiles cripples AGGIE (Jeff T.) FMD 6.1702 Slick positions AGGIE to protect escaping PROMETHEUS (Jeff T.) FMD 6.1703 AGAMEMNON destroyed, PROMETHEUS escapes, Dalriada leave (Jeff T.) FMD ?.???? Funeral Ceremony for Captain Slick (Jeff T.) NRPG: Well, that about wraps things up for me! There's a lot of opportunity to post some details regarding what happened on the PROMETHEUS during the final exercise (bridge, Marine boarding parties), the Dalriadan attack (bridge, shuttlecraft, battle damage, etc.), and the funeral. The PROMETHEUS shouldn't be too badly damaged... the only time it really got hit was from the 2nd volley of missiles, and a few stray hits from the 1st, 3rd, and 4th volleys. I wouldn't take her back into the Terebellum system for battle without a few hours of repairs or jury-rigging, but nothing too extensive should be required. I regret not getting to be on the PROMETHEUS for my last post, but you'll all have a hard time catching up with my total number of NPCs killed now! I know this is a lot, but use the timeline to keep the details straight! I ended my post with the funeral, not knowing when there would be time to conduct it in the midst of this war. Tim may choose to handle any follow-ups to the ceremony at a later date instead of right now so you can focus on the battle. Anyway, it's been a lot of fun playing with all of you!! You've been a wonderful crew, and I couldn't have asked for a better command! Good luck with your future endeavours! IMPORTANT: Effective immediately, please remove my address from the roster and your mailing lists and place me on as an observer at until otherwise instructed. I officially turn over the PROMETHEUS to you, Tim. Guide her well. Administrative details to follow later. I should be available for assistance at my hotmail address until the beginning of July. Now if you'll excuse me... I have one more character to get rid of... +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Midshipman Jeffery D. Trock, USNR Cornell University NROTC | | Web Page URL: http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/jdt7/index.html | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ ***This message sent by an official member of Indigo Fleet*** Are you also posting your message to the newsgroup?!!! ---END TRANSMISSION---