Space Storm

Posted on Mon Jul 17th, 2023 @ 3:30pm by Captain Malcom Llwyedd & Lieutenant Tor Ezzo

2,779 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: A Long Hard Road Ahead
Location: USS Firebird, Bridge
Timeline: 23 August, 2396, 1330 Hours

[ON]

Malcom emerged from his Ready Room, his face set in a stern visage. He glanced around the bridge, noting that it was full of mostly Beta Shift officers. He knew them all, of course, but there were still some relatively new faces. He saw his Chief Flight Control Officer, Lieutenant Tor at the Conn, which was a good thing. He made his way over to the Lieutenant.

"Lieutenant Tor, could you come with me, please," Malcom said.

Ezzo sat at the Conn and for a second it didn't process the commander's words coming through the beeps from the panel in front of him. It was Beta Shift and the Captain was normally not on the bridge. "Of Course Sir," Ezzo quickly tapped on the console adjusting a few settings to ensure the autopilot would ensure the ship was good, and nodded at another officer to watch his station. "After you, Sir."

They rode the turbolift down just one level and then Malcom made his way to the holodeck. When they were outside he tapped the access panel with quick fingers. The door slid open and, strangely, they stepped onto the bridge of the Firebird.

"Please take the conn, Lieutenant," Malcom said as he sat in the command chair. I promise this will all make sense in a moment. Or, at least as much sense as it can. Computer run program Llwyedd 1818."

The main viewscreen shimmered and became a display of the Bajoran Wormhole.

"We've received some disturbing intelligence, from multiple sources, that indicates the attack on Deep Space 18 was not only premeditated but also more complex than we imagines. Chief Harlan has a... friend who transferred from DS9 to DS18 to help set things up. He says that the attackers are working on a process that will close the wormhole."

Ezzo made his way over to the Conn as he process what Malcolm was saying. Close the wormhole?, he thought to himself, That would devastate Bajor that had grown so much due to the temple of the prophets.. "I understand sir," Ezzo said tapping a few commands to import his setting into the Commander's simulation. "What do you need me to do."

"I've been thinking of that very thing. What I've come up with is that I need you to start practicing. You've been flying the Firebird for a while. But you haven't been flying her. You understand? Whatever we emerge into from the Wormhole, I need you to be at your fighting best. So, what kind of scenario should we start with?"

Ezzo smiled at the commander's statement, "Well Sir," I have quite a few simulations I've run." Ezzo started tapping some buttons on the console in front of him. "I spend a lot of time in here running sim after sim on both the Firebird and her shuttles. Let's say we start this one off easy."

Ezzo tapped a few buttons on the pad in front of him and the view screen changed to the mouth of the wormhole. "On your command, we'll go through the wormhole and have 3 attackers flying basic Maquis vessels once we get to 5 attackers we'll switch to Jem'Hadar vessels. I figure if I can outmaneuver 5-10 of those we'll be ready for anything."

"Let's see how you do. To make things more challenging, let's limit our sensors as you emerge into the Gamma Quadrant. I'll run the sensors and give you new information. It's been a while since I was a co-pilot but I think we'll be just fine. Alright, take us in, Ezzo."

Ezzo smiled and tapped a few commands into the console in front of him as the ship entered the wormhole. A few short minutes passed as the ship traveled through the interdimensional tunnel spanning tens of thousands of light years. Upon emerging the sensors display on his console flashed and it seemed the commander was really going to test him it appeared like a fog was in front of him he could only see a few thousand kilometers around the ship. Ezzo didn't see anything coming up on the ship but he waited ready for anything.

Phaser fire erupted across the bow of the ship and Ezzo jumped into action turning hard to port to avoid the beam of energy being fired. Trying to use only the direction of the beam to determine the direction of the enemy ship he pushed the ship back to starboard quickly to follow the beam as another phaser fire hit him from behind. The first of the enemy ship showed up on his sensor display he kept his eyes on the console while punching the keys in front of him. By maneuvering the ship directly at the first phaser fire he was hoping it would stop the second from firing in hopes that the first would be caught in the crossfire.

"Any help from the sensors would be great Captain. I wouldn't want any surprises from the third ship."

"I'm working on it, Lieutenant," Malcom said, his hands racing across the console. "Rerouting power to boost sensors. You should be seeing it... now." The main viewscreen snapped on, showing DS18 in the distance, dark and ominous. The two enemy ships were closing for another pass and beyond them, a larger ship of a completely different design, approached. "There's your third ship. She's bigger than we are and sensors show that she has a heavy disruptor coming online."

Ezzo looked up at the viewscreen and mentally started planning vectors and angles to avoid making himself an easy target. The simulation was good the two smaller ships had corralled the Firebird into a perfect line of sight for the bigger ship. The shield grid on his console looked good and of course, he didn't have control of weapons but a heavy disruptor would tear through the shields in no time.

In that moment everything seemed to slow down for Ezzo he could feel the power accumulating in the larger ship's disruptor array. For a second he thought he saw an afterimage of a Starfleet fighter squadron maneuvering in front of the Firebird to take the brunt of the blast. He could almost read the identification of the fighters in front of him. Memories flooded back and Ezzo almost lost focus.

Phaser blasts from the smaller ships crossed in front of him from both sides tighten the space around the ship forcing him into a better firing vector for the ship in front of him. Suddenly things seemed to go back to normal speed. Ezzo's heart was racing he felt the sweat dripping down the ridges on his nose.

"I'm going to need you to trust me and grab your seat, Captain. This is going to be a bumpy ride."

Ezzo began tapping commands into his consoles furiously and the ship began to dive away from the larger ship at one-quarter impulse creating some distance between the three ships and the Firebird. The sudden acceleration and change of direction caused a feeling of weightlessness for a few seconds as the ship made an arc away from the attackers. The smaller ships held their position afraid to get in the larger ship's line of fire. But phaser fire began to find the shields of the Firebird.

Ezzo shouted back at the commander, "Are we firing back for this exercise or you just want me to play cat and mouse, Sir?" The Captain's answer would change his next move drastically.

Malcom's response came in the form of the Firebird's phasers lashing out at the smaller attackers. The bursts struck well, blasting against the inferior shields and scorching the slate grey hulls beyond. Both crafts broke off their attack runs, swerving to avoid more fire. At the same time, the ship's photon torpedo launchers spat their cargo out into the blackness of space. They turned and began tracking toward the larger ship.

Malcom looked over at Ezzo. "Does that answer your question, Lieutenant?"

So this wasn't just an exercise in how well Ezzo could pilot, Ezzo thought to himself. "Alright Sir, then you are going to love this. I'm going to give our big friend back there a little hug when I get close you take out the sensors and if you load the rear torpedo launchers we should be able to disable her in one run.

Ezzo slid his hand over the impulse control and the ship came to a sudden stop in space. Tapping multiple buttons on the conn thrusters came to life spinning the Firebird while rolling her to face the underbelly of the enemy cruiser, much like a puppy looking to get pet. Just as the nose of the Firebird reoriented and the nose came into line with the enemy ship, Ezzo's hand slid back up bringing the ship back to life and lunging directly for the larger ship's underside.

"Fire when ready, Sir," Ezzo said with a calm focus shifting the ship port and starboard to avoid oncoming disruptor fire.

"Phasers firing... now," Malcom said. The viewscreen showed the phasers lashing out and burning holes through the underbelly of the beast above them. He triggered another bank of phasers and their firepower joined in, digging deep grooves in the enemy ship. As the Firebird emerged behind the huge ship, the photon torpedo tubes fired. The previous phasers had also targeted the identified shield generator systems and because of them, the photon torpedoes were able to explode inside the engine exhaust, crippling the ship and leaving it dead in the water.

Malcom leaned back. "Computer, reload program," he said and the ship reappeared in the wormhole before it had exited into the Gamma Quadrant. Malcom turned to face his pilot. Ok, so I think you were fantastic there. But our data indicates these enemies might not be working together so closely. A loose alliance. So we need to up the stakes and the complexity to see how we do."

As the wormhole faded around the main viewscreen, the Firebird emerged to a Runabout zooming passed receiving disruptor fire from an unknown ship. The impulse engines were hit and the Runabout began a slow spin in space as the thrusters tried to correct. After a second it began to come apart before Ezzo could even think to alert transporters. This would be a completely different test.

Looking down it appeared the captain still had sensors limited. He could even see the station on his sensors but he could see on the view screen disruptor fire and the station's defenses were firing at each other. Time seemed to slow again as Ezzo began to formulate a plan of action. Tapping on the console in front of him the Firebird came to life zigging and zagging to the station to draw some of the attention away from the station.

Didn't take long before the first enemy ship targeted the Firebird, disruptor fire shook the ship on the port side aft. Without a word, Ezzo sat at his console sliding his fingers over the console like a concert pianist. The Firebird swung away from the ship that was firing at it only to come face to face with a large destroyer disruptors already firing. Ezzo rolled the ship away but the disruptor still tagged the ship on its underbelly in the middle of the roll. His console started flashing yellow shields were at 60% and he hadn't even gotten his bearings on the battle playing out in front of him.

"Sir, I could really use anything from sensors," Ezzo looked back at the commander in the captain's chair. "I don't see a path to get to the open here."

"Rerouting all available power to boost the sensors," Malcom said. The ship's sensor bubble expanded rapidly and as it did so, more and more enemy ships appeared on the scopes. There had to have been twenty or more. Malcom's eyes, trained from many years as a pilot himself, quickly came to the realization that there was no open path. He stood up.

"Computer, pause simulation," he said and the scene froze. Malcom walked around where Ezzo sat at the conn and looked at the main viewscreen. It was full of photon torpedoes, disruptor blasts, and some weapons he didn't even recognize. The Firebird would never have survived. He turned and looked at his flight control officer.

"Let's really hope that this is the worst-case scenario and we don't have to fight through that," Malcom said.

As the simulation resumed, Ezzo didn't hear the words the commander was saying. He watched as the sensor bubble expanded in quiet awe. The Firebird shook as more disruptor fire hit the ship and the conn started buzzing as the shields on his console flashed red dropping below 20%. Ezzo just sat there frozen, he had no answer for what he was looking at. If this is what they faced in the Gamma quadrant there would be no answer.

Beeps from his console took Ezzo to an even darker place. Sitting in a small fighter in his past staring at the sensors on his flight control panel he watched as all the Starfleet signatures disappeared one by one as his ship spun slowly away from a battle. Each blip that vanished was a friend and a flight member that he considered family. There was nothing he could do and in that moment Ezzo knew it was only a matter of time before the enemy targeted his disabled ship and it was over.

The beeps from the console brought him back to the present photon torpedoes that targeted the ship. Disruptor fire finished off the shield and sparks flew from consoles all over the bridge. The beeping started coming closer and closer together as a flash of light in front of him lead to the familiar glow of the holodeck grid.

Ezzo still in shock from his flashback looked back at the Commander standing in this empty room. "That can't be what's waiting for us, Sir? Can it?"

"It very well could be, Lieutenant. We're going to be the canary in the coal mine I'm afraid. Whatever we are facing was able to knock out DS 18. Operational or not, that is a very potent enemy so we have to expect the worst," Malcom said. He stared at the screen for a moment. "But I hope I'm wrong."

=^=Captain Llwyedd to the bridge=^= Kipp's voice said.
Malcom tapped his combadge. "I'm on my way," he said. "Exit."

Malcom walked to the exit and turned around as the door opened. "Keep practicing, Lieutenant," he said and then strode out into the corridor.

Ezzo sat in silence for a second staring at the scene frozen in front of him on the view screen. He couldn't get the images of his past to clear from his mind. Sitting back Ezzo tapped the console in front of him and said, "Computer run program Tor 32."

In a few seconds, the holodeck transformed into a space battle. Ezzo was in a Starfleet fighter and there were pirates attacking his wing from all sides and he heard the familiar voice of ghosts from the past coming through his coms. He fired a couple of phaser shots at a freighter in front of him and his heart started racing as he zoomed forward. The first of his wing was lost and Ezzo felt the pain as if it was happening all over again. He'd run this simulation over a thousand times and each time it ended the same. There were just too many pirates for the small flight wing all alone in the middle of nowhere.

The commander didn't realize just how real the possibility of an overwhelming presence on the other side of the wormhole would affect his Chief Flight Control Officer. As he took a sharp turn to defend his right wing his engines were disabled and his fighter began to spin. He could feel the blood running to his head and another wingmate was destroyed in front of him.

"Computer, restart simulation," Ezzo shouted. As the holodeck reset, Ezzo slammed his fist against the fighter's console in front of him pushing his fighter forward and starting all over again.
[OFF]

Commander Malcom Llwyedd
Commanding Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Lieutenant Tor Ezzo
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

 

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