Rendezvous - Part VI - The Unorthodox

Posted on Sat Feb 1st, 2025 @ 12:28am by Captain Robert Burke & Lieutenant Commander Dr. Jeremiah "James" McEntyre, Jr M.D. & Lieutenant Marques Hunt & Lieutenant Ryssa Dari

1,160 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: EPISODE 1: SHAKEDOWN
Location: Archanis System - USS Cato - USS Hecate
Timeline: MD029 1340 hours

:ON::

[The Continuation ...]

"Aye sir." Plum nodded, fans at the side of his neck frilling out in full fright, bright red against his pale grey skin as he moved his claws across the console deftly, clacking as he hit the touchscreens to bring the Hecate about on a pinhead - or as close as you could with a ship her size - and down within a few tens of meters of the Cato's dorsal hull.

'Ops - what speed can we achieve if we tow the Cato?'

'A bare quarter-impulse,' came the reply.

'Science, modulate our shields,' Burke continued, continuing to cover the nervous energy coursing through him by gripping the arm of his chair. 'Have them extend over the Cato to protect her from the Orions. Quickly now!'

"Aye, sir," she said as she accessed the shields and made the necessary modulations so the other ship was protected.

'Tactical, I'd like a full spread against that Orions' command ship - keep their focus on us as much as you can. Ignore the three raider ships for now - they're not in a position I want them to be.'

Lachlan was quick to interject "I can't...something is causing targeting sensors to cut in and out" he reported. "It's strange," he added.

Scowling, Burke made his way across the Bridge to tactical, 'try your best to compensate.'

'Salvatore, I'll need the Mallard launched - they're going to be keeping an eye on those smaller raiders for us, have them feed their sensor telemetry back to us. If I'm right, the system's radiation must be playing hell with their sensors as much as it is with ours.'

Vincent nodded before pulling out his black and silver communicator. He flipped it opened and turned a dial before bringing it close. "Casey... Salvatore. I need you to launch that bird and keep your eyes, ears, and sensors on those small raiders. Keep your out of sight on out of mind. Be sure to mask your signature the way I taught you."

"You got it, Commander."

"You're going to be our eyes, you follow? Relay their location to use so we don't lose them in all this radiation." Salvatore replied before giving a slight smirk. "Do a good job and I'll let you break open that bottle of scotch I've been holding onto."

"You can count on us, Sir. Mallard Out."

Salvatore closed his communicator and looked over to Captain Burke, giving him a firm nod, before making his way towards him.

It was a good idea, Ryssa thought, although the new XO was a bit cocky. Still, the man got results.

'Helm, all about for Archanis, best speed,' Burke called out from where he stood in front of the Tactical station, hands held tight against the railings as he watched his Chief work his way through the problem of targeting the Orions. Plum nodded, reptile tongue unfurling as he concentrated on moving the ship.

Ponderously dodging the inaccurate fire of the Orion cruiser, the Saurian built up speed, slaloming the Hecate around. Burke imagined that the ship creaked as it held on to the Cato below them. 'Reinforce the rear shields,' he quietly instructed his Tactical officer.

At science, Ryssa kept looking from the viewscreen to her console in order to keep up with everything going on. She wanted to make sure all her systems were working and that she detected nothing unusual in the space around them that could complicate their retreat.

The Hecate shook as alarms began to sound. The rumbling of the ship caused the Captain to stumble, but Vincent quickly caught him and placed his arm under him to hold him up. One the view screen, two more Orion ships flew by, only to begin to turn for another pass. As Vincent placed the Captain in his chair, he called out. "Helm; Evasive maneuvers! Tactical, give them a full volley of whatever we have. Phasers... Torpedoes. Hell... throw the Kitchen sink at them if you have to, just take care of them!"

Burke sat in the center chair, nodding his thanks to the Intelligence Officer. 'Helm, pattern Two-Delta, mind the transport we're tractoring, she'll make us sluggish.' Watching the viewer intently, Burke saw powerful lances of energy spray out of his Excelsior-class ship. Though she might be outnumbered, she would not be outmatched. Flicking between the viewer and his arm console readout, he kept abreast of the situation.

Marques quickly worked the controls at his station as the ship adjusted accordingly. Tractoring the transport was going to be a pain, but they could manage.

Closing quickly, the Orion raiders harried the Hecate and her cargo. Under Burke's orders, the ship moved to cover the remaining transports, always staying between them and their foes. Gripping his arrest tightly, Burke saw the shield indicators show their rear protective bubble was fast dwindling. He quickly checked the sensor telemetry, and an idea formed in his mind.

'Science, can we manipulate the tractor beam to catapult the Cato ahead of us?' His voice was steady, neutral despite the ongoing tremors that ran through the ship from the hail of incoming fire.

"I'm not sure about catapult, but we can give it a good thrust," Ryssa replied. "It would have a similar effect." What mattered was getting the right angle on that push.

As the ship rocked under a barrage of fire once more, Burke grabbed the railing around the central well to keep him from falling. 'If you'd be so kind to make those calculations and instruct the crew as necessary?' he asked with a slightly strained smile. 'Helm!' he called, not quite waiting for an answer, 'once the Cato is free of us, give us a hard one-eighty.'

'Let's see what they do with an Excelsior-class ship flying down their throat.'

Ryssa gathered the calculations she needed for the computer to give her the exact speed, angle, and thrust required for the tractor beam, knowing she might need to adjust it on the fly. "Captain, the information you requested has been input into the computer and sent to helm."

"Aye sir," Hunt replied as he waited for the tractor beam to go down. In the meantime, he did his best to maneuver the ship to avoid getting hit as much as possible.

Taking the spare second Helm seat, Burke took a moment to familiarise himself with the controls, and found tractor control. Pressing down quickly on the panel, Hecate fed Ryssa's calculations into the matrix and watched as the Cato was thrust ahead of the Excelsior class ship.

'Now, Marques!' he cried.

[To be Continued ...]

Captain Robert Burke
Commanding Officer
USS Hecate

Lt. Marques Hunt
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Hecate

Lieutenant Ryssa Dari
Chief Science Officer
USS Hecate

Lieutenant Commander Dr. James McEntyre, M.D.
USS Hecate
Ship Surgeon

 

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