Battle for the Skies

Posted on Sat May 7th, 2022 @ 5:44pm by Captain Ivan Petrov & Commander Cyrus Cain & Lieutenant Commander Andrei Petrov & Lieutenant JG Revana Nazar & Sergeant David Novak & Ensign Mika Petrova & Lieutenant Commander Yana Petrova & Lieutenant Commander Troy Marshall & Lieutenant Cael Maz & Captain Fergus Williams & Lieutenant Johnathan Anderson III & Callie Marshall & Lieutenant JG Melissa Jones

Mission: S1 Episode 2: Caretaker, Part II
Location: Various Locations
Timeline: Mission Day 6 at 2330
2371 words - 4.7 OF Standard Post Measure

The ISS Vengeance made their final approach toward the Ocampa system just as another wave of energy surged passed them. As soon as they had left the Kazon group, the Bridge had sounded battle stations and all crew were primed and ready for anything. The shields were raised, the weapons were hot, and the crew of Vengeance were ready to get their people back one way or another.

Bridge
At the command console which sat between the two command officers, an alert sounded which indicated they were approaching the edge of the Ocampa system. Captain Petrov looked forward toward the back of Johnathan's head and gave a serious expression.

"Helm, drop to impulse power. We'll make our way to the planet on foot." he said, his voice something like a low growl.

"Aye, Captain!" The young pilot replied as he manipulated his controls, dropping the mighty warship out if warp. On the viewscreen, the image of streaking starlight, to a planetary system directly ahead.

"Lieutenant Maz, let's get a look at this system." Commander Cain said, looking over at the science console. "What are you picking up?"

"Wide scan, aye sir." Cael began his scans of the system and let the 'pings' report in. "Wow, alright. We have classes M, J, T, and Y, and getting some good ship activity, I am counting, thirty...now wait forty vessels and transports. Most all of them are active."

"Are any of those ships designed to fight?" Cyrus asked then.

"Can not give a definitive yes or no at this distance, sir. Sensors are giving me just light scans of the vessels. We might want to get closer if we want that answer." Cael said looking up from his console.

"Set a course for the Class M world, Johnathan." Ivan said. "We'll find what they have to use against us soon enough.

"On it, Captain," Johnathan's fingers moved over his controls with the expert touch of a concert pianist. "Thirty seconds till orbit."

Engineering
Melissa paced as she waited for the battle to begin. She kept her repeater ready in case she was called upon by the captain. "All Damage Control Teams. Maintain your positions."

Marine Country
Fergus with a hastily installed replacement eye had finished clipping on his armour. " You ready devil dogs." he yelled to the assembled marines.

Bridge
It only took a few moments before another alert sounded, this time from the tactical console. Ivan turned his head to his sim, but the Assistant Chief of Security responded to the question before it was answered.

“We’ve got 20 ships on approach, sir. Weapons are hot and shields are raised.” Andrei said, his voice calm but communicating a sense of urgency.

"20 ships?" Cyrus asked, raising his eyebrows. "Captain, I recommend we disengage and put together an alternative plan."

Ivan shook his head silently, his eyes fixed on the screen. He didn't even dignify the suggestion with a response, but was single-minded and determined.

Andrea was watching her readouts when an alert caught her attention. “Captain! Incoming message from the lead Ocampa vessel; priority status: urgent, shall I put it onscreen?”

The Captain exhaled sharply and leaned back in his chair, steepling his leather-gloved fingers.

"Put in on the viewer, Ensign." Ivan said, the darkened lighting of the Bridge leaving him partially in shadow.

Andrea nodded. “Onscreen Sir.” She looked towards the viewscreen along with everyone else.

"This is High Commander Jolen, leader of the Ocampa Homefleet. You have entered our home system without clearance. Identify yourself immediately or we will be forced to open fire." came the voice of a middle-aged man with the sides of his dark hair all grey. His face was handsome but severe. His eyes were cold blue.

"This is Captain Ivan Petrov of the ISS Vengeance. You have taken two of my crew captive on your planet and I want them returned immediately. If this does not happen, we will unleash our power on you and take them by force. The Terran Empire does not leave men behind." Ivan said, his voice steely and resolute.

The man on the screen smirked, his eyes drifting to a nearby officer to share an unspoken rebuke of the Captain before
turning his cool gaze back to the screen.

"Captain...Petrov, is it? You have one ship and I have 20 closing in on your position fast. We'll knock down your shields and kill you without breaking a sweat. Turn around and leave us in peace."

"Oh, I think you will find it won't be so simple once you scan my vessel, High Commander. You might win against us, but not before losing half your fleet. And then who knows what will come for you next. Either way, we will not yield or relent until our people are back with us safe. So stand down and deliver them to us. Now." Ivan spat, standing on the bridge before the command area.

Jolen turned to his bridge officer again, the comm silenced and seemed to be receiving information about the Vengeance as Ivan suggested. When he turned to the screen again, he was less smug.

"Even if I wanted to hand them over to you, I couldn't. Their in the hands of the Science Directorate. If you knew anything about the Ocampa, you'd know the power they wield. But I am a soldier and I will not allow a ship...any ship, to breach our system unchallenged."

"Then it will be battle and blood for us all!" Ivan proclaimed, clenching his gloved fist over his chest. "Let the weapons fire fly! I grow weary of talk."

He sat down and cut the comm channel himself and instead opened a channel to Engineering.

"Lieutenant Jones, I need all the power you can give me to weapons. Our only chance of leaving this battle alive is to strike fast and hard, destroying their ships before they can land too many hits on us. Our double shield system will save us some time, but we can only take so many hits from 20 ships."

"Very well. We can accomplish the mission, I'm not sure about winning the battle here." Melissa noted. "I'm beginning to study the Ocampa's ships and technology. I need a moment."

"Johnathan," the Captain bark. "Put us on top of the lead vessel. Strike the shepherd and the sheep may scatter."

"Aye!" Johnathan was completely focused on his duties. As he manipulated his controls, the Vengeance slid through the void of space like the predator that she was. In seconds, he had her positioned as ordered. "In position, Captain!"

"Tactical, ready the phaser cannons and phasers. Stand by on torpedoes until their shields are down." Cain ordered, anticipating the Captain's next moves.

"FIRE!" Ivan cried, pointing his finger hard at the screen.

Troy had all the phaser banks and phaser cannon main gun charged and ready. The weapons pummeled the lead vessel with a vicious barrage that all but decimated the shields in seconds. A few more seconds and the shields would be down and photon torpedoes would be able to obliterate the Ocampan flagship.

As the battle ensued, Johnathan worked his controls like a master. At his urgings, the Vengeance slid between enemy vessels as easily as a great white slides through the oceans. He made sure that, at all times, he had weapons systems pointed toward enemy vessels.

Troy ran a concurrent tactical analysis as he maintained phaser cannon fire on the lead vessel. He called over his shoulder to Andrei. "Take control of the secondary phasers. Strike any smaller escort vessels. Keep them off balance until we take out their capital ships."

"Aye." Andrei said, retuning the the console behind Troy's and targeting weapons.

As the Vengeance streamed toward the lead Ocampa ship, the combined phaser fire of all the other vessels converged on her position. Her quick speed combined with the relatively slow sensors of the Ocampa vessels resulted in only one score on her shields. Meanwhile Vengeance directed blasts from its forward-facing dual-pulse phaser cannon at the lead ship, landing two devastating blows out of four. This powerful weapon, an innovation of the Imperial Starfleet Research & Development office, dealt enough damage to the offending ship to collapse their shields.

Andrea monitored the firefight looking up from her readouts. “Captain we haven’t sustained any hull damage and shields are at 180%. The lead ship’s hull is intact but her shields have totally failed.”

"Good.." Cyrus Cain said, his fist clenched inside his glove. "Finish them off."

Troy launched a pair of photon torpedoes that struck the fore and aft hull. The high yield detonation completely obliterated the lead vessel. He immediately picked out the next largest capital ship and started the the process over.

"We know they fall easy..." Ivan said. "But there are 20 of them and one of us. If they suddenly get better at target practice, we might be in trouble."

"Captain... I think I can disrupt their power systems. Their ships do not have conventional matter/antimatter power plants, but some kind of EPS Storage based off the Caretaker Array's technology. A specifically modulated dampening pulse should be able to disrupt their ships vital systems." Melissa noted.

Ivan looked at his Chief Engineer, freshly up from Main Engineering. He raised his eyebrows at that.

"Quick thinking, Lieutenant." he said. "Give it a try; it can't hurt."

The CO and XO watched the sensor readings on their center console and took note when the power-levels of the ships around them drained to half before balancing out at near 50 percent. They would now be significantly weakened, meaning that the Vengeance might have a fighting chance. Before they could celebrate this victory, however, the ship was rocked with phaser fire again. It seems, this time, the Ocampa were better shots. The deck rocked hard and the screens at the back of the room flashed for several seconds. Nine near-simultaneous impacts had an effect.

Andrea rolled off her readings as they came in. “No hull damage, shields are down to 96%. Our shields are starting to buckle.”

"That's not good." Cain said, turning to tactical again. "Let it rip, Lieutenant. It's now or never."

Troy targeted two more ships in order and destroyed the frigate-sized vessels in half the time it took for the flagship.

"Helm, turn us about and set a course straight for that cluster of ships. All weapons, fire!" Ivan ordered, pointing at the screen.

Johnathan was so focused on flying the ship, instead of speaking, he simply nodded as he continued to manipulate his helm controls. Outside, the powerful warship reacted to his commands instantly and flawlessly.

Four of the remaining ships could be identified as significant combatants with the remaining vessels akin to corvettes or lighter patrol craft. Three of the frigates were either destroyed outright or damaged sufficiently to compel them to disengage. The [i]Vengeance[/i] was taking a beating though.

Even as the Vengeance flew through the cloud of dust and fire which the Ocampa ships had left after their destruction, phaser fire from the remaining ships buffeted their shields with constant blows. Mighty as she was, the Imperial Warship was still no match for 20 well-built ships. Jones' innovation had helped as the enemy ships were significantly weakened, but they still had numbers on their side, meaning the single layer of shielding left was still taking near-constant damage.

Andrea was keeping hold of her station as she rolled off the latest figures. “Hull still intact Captain, Shields down to 14% They’re not going to take many more hits.”

Cyrus eyed his commanding officer with some trepidation. It looked like outskirts of the Ocampa system was set to be their early grave.

"Sir, we should consider retreat." he said with a frown, not liking the sound of those words as they left his mouth.

Ivan looked back as his XO, his eyes dark with something intense and unreadable. He set his jaw and his teeth were clenched. Before he could respond, however, the Ops console rang out.

“Captain...” Andrea looked at Ivan. We have incoming ships!” She paused before letting out a relieved breath. They’re Kazon Captain, nine ships. They’re hailing us!”

"Put it on speakers." came the voice of the Captain.

As soon as Ensign Monroe did so, Culluh's voice echoed across the Bridge.

"Well, Petrov. We meet again." he said, the smugness in his voice obvious and offensive. "Not to worry about saying sorry for snubbing us. The Kazon Federation is happy to help any potential allies. Your hesitation was...understandable. But now its clear to me that you could really use our help. It comes free of charge."

With that, the line was closed. The officers on the Bridge shared the same frustration. They didn't trust the Kazon and they certainly hated needing help from an inferior species, but their hands were tied. They couldn't do this on their own.

"Form up with the Kazon vessels, Johnathan." Ivan said, his voice sounding a bit tired. "Troy, Andrei, let's finish this off."

"Aye, Captain." The Vengeance sailed through the void and ship gases, taking up position inside the Kazon delta formation.

Troy glanced at his Deputy Chief and nodded. "No mercy."

---------

The screen flashed as the last Ocampa vessel ignited and burst into flame, shards of metal jetting out from all sides. Vengeance had taken minor damage, but they had come out on top with the help of the Kazon. The Captain stood and stepped forward on the Bridge.

"Set a course for the Ocampa Homeworld, full impulse power. Once we're in orbit, get the Aerowing ready for launch. The Away Team needs to have boots on the ground in fifteen minutes."

"Yes, Captain!" Johnathan replied excitedly. He typed on commands to haveon of his backups get up to the bridge to take his place.

A few moments later, he had been relieved and started to head down to where the Aerowing, named SS Deathwing, was berthed. He would ensure she was ready for departure.

Troy stepped away from the Tactical One console. Lieutenant Petrov. You destroy any vessel that so much as paints us with a weapons lock."