Out of the Mist...

Posted on Fri Mar 15th, 2013 @ 8:30pm by Captain Tobias Naros & Lieutenant Commander Xavier Nor'el & Lieutenant Commander Joseph Thompson & Lieutenant Commander Robert Hogan & Lieutenant Torin Drell & Lieutenant Aniela Darvetti & Lieutenant JG Miranda Blackfur & Major Drake Lexon & Lieutenant Amanda Owens & Lieutenant Susan Halton & Ensign Zach Winter
Edited on on Fri Mar 15th, 2013 @ 8:31pm

Mission: Episode 1.1 - "MystiQue"
Location: Main Bridge, USS Yorktown
Timeline: Mission Day 04, 1142 Hours

ON: [[Main Bridge, USS Yorktown, Mission Day 04, 1142 Hours]]

Miranda hummed softly, harmonizing with the computers chirps and beeps, working them into the tune's rhythm as she kept the ship on station. Paw/hands flew across the helm console in occasional flurries of action.

Xavier sat in the center seat observing the stream of data that was coming in from all over the ship about the status of the various departments. Even though he gave the appearance of reading through the information his thoughts were elsewhere after the events of the last briefing. Xavier couldn't help but feel as though vital information was still being held back from them that would help in resolving the situation the crew of the Yorktown found themselves in currently.

After the brainstorming session the day before with Robert and Torin, Aniela was feeling a little better about their situation...or at least the part where they were in the Golden Discontinuity. Based on her work with the Taevon Expanse and information regarding the Badlands, they at least had some potential countermeasures for the effects on the ship. After a brief glance around the bridge, she turned her attention back to her console - checking the calculations again.

Amy (PNPC) sat at one of the secondary consoles out of the main area of the bridge. She was quietly coordinating the patrols of Major Lexon's (PNPC) fighters as they traced their paths through the dense nebula. She could have done this from the Flight Deck (with Lieutenant Blackfur's permission, of course), but Amy's superior wanted her up on the bridge in case something happened.

For his part, Joe was methodically running tactical scans across the region, using the Phantoms to augment his patterns. The very nature of the Golden Discontinuity produced a tension that was almost palpable, like the calm before the storm. Joe took a moment to look out the viewscreen at the expanse. His gaze hardened. Let them come, he thought. We'll be ready.

[[Phantom Squad]]

The members of Phantom Squad had been patrolling the nebulous gases of the Golden Discontinuity ever since Major Drake came back with the news they would now be serving as the Yorktown's advanced recon unit. Their job was to counteract interference with the ship's sensors by relaying whatever sensor data they gathered back to the ship for analysis. Zach (PNPC), for his part, was glad to at least be doing something. He knew the Legacy-class starship wasn't exactly designed to be supporting their fighters. It said an awful lot about Major Drake and Lieutenant Commander Thompson that they'd been able to come up with a way of putting their squad to good use.

=^= Nothing out here but plasma soup =^= the young pilot mused aloud over the squad's open comm channel =^= Why don't they just come at us already? What are they waiting for? =^=

=^= A psychological edge, =^= Susan (PNPC) replied. =^= Or, rather, two of them. They want us fearful of the impending attack...and they also want us complacent. =^= She herself was more prone to the second one in this situation - she hated the seemingly endless patrol shifts that everyone wanted to put starfighters on. We're combat craft, she grumbled to herself. Not just an extra pair of sensors.

Zach had just opened his mouth to reply when a shrill chirping sound suddenly echoed throughout the cockpit of his fighter. He reached over to silence the alarm before glancing down at the sensor readouts before him to see what might have triggered it. =^= Lieutenant, I'm picking up an incoming contact =^= he reported =^= bearing three-four-seven mark two-four. =^=

Susan took a look off to the port of her bow, and there it was. =^= I see it, =^= she said grimly. =^= Looks like you're gonna get your wish, kid. =^= She switched over to the frequency needed to contact the Yorktown. =^= Lieutenant Halton to control officer...we've got something. =^=.

[[Main Bridge, USS Yorktown]]

Amy's eyes quickly scanned the reports. "Sir," she said to Nor'el. "The fighters have found a Cardassian warship moving in."

At the woman's words, Aniela looked up from her console. A Cardassian warship? While certainly less surprising than, say, what they had encountered previously...or even the appearance of a Q, she hadn't entirely expected a warship. Regardless, here it was. She hoped that Robert and Torin had their part of the calculations finished. At this point, the best she could do was work on boosting sensors.

Xavier immediately snapped back into the present moment at hearing of a Cardassian warship closing on their position. He stood up and without hesitation spoke "Shields up!"

Miranda had just stood up to stretch and get the blood flowing when Owens spoke up from her console to report the approach of a Cardassian warship. She glanced at Amy and then to Nor'el before finishing her stretch with a quick sweep back and forth of her tail. Settling back in her seat, Miranda glanced at her scanners which showed nothing but the haze of the Discontinuity. Erring on the side of caution, she brought the impulse drive up to full standby power and called out to the Chief Engineer, "I need the core at full power for maneuvering."

Turing to the XO, Miranda spoke in her usual soft manner, saying, "Helm ready for maneuvering, Sirrrrr." Her eyes were ablaze with full alertness as she waved off her approaching replacement. "Scanners' range is still the same," she added thoughtfully.

"Yorktown to Phantom squadron, close on our location immediately," Xavier ordered, "Helm, bring us around on an intercept course for the warship. Captain Naros to the bridge immediately!"

"The fighters are on their way back," Amy reported. She felt herself growing tense as they approached her first real experience coordinating starfighters in combat. Thompson caught her eye, though, and offered her a brief smile of reassurance; it helped Amy fight back her apprehension and focus on the task.

=^= Major Lexon to the bridge, =^= came Drake's voice. =^= We've got two Phantoms launching now, but Halton and Winter are low on fuel; they'll need to do a hot refueling when they reach the Yorktown if you want any sort of combat capability out of them. =^=

Subconsciously Aniela was taking in the information that her crewmates were discussing, but her primary focus was modulating the sensors. She'd been taking scans to calculate the frequency and phase of the interference the Yorktown was experiencing. Based on that information, Aniela could integrate a frequency shift into the ship's sensors to help boost their range. After a final once over, she implemented her modifications and observed the results before reporting, "Sir, I've added in my sensor modifications...it looks like the sensor range has been increased by approximately seventeen point two percent, Commander."

Miranda took note of the further increase in sensor clarity as she brought the Yorktown around to the new heading. She glanced briefly toward the science console and offered another quick smile of thanks. Anything was better than what they'd had before. At least this gave her more reaction time at the helm.

Robert wasn't sure what the hell was going on. He heard the word 'Cardassian' though, and that perked him up. He hoped all the time and calculations they had worked on were going to make the difference in this situation; but then again, they did have a Q entity with them.

Tobias and Q Junior (PNPC) had already been on their way back to the bridge when Commander Nor'el called to inform them of the situation so it came as no surprise when the two emerged from the turbolift moments later. The El-Aurian immediately began making his way toward the center of the room where his Executive Officer was already moving to his usual position at the right of the captain's chair.

"Status report," Tobias called out as he took his seat.

"Captain, the warship was just detected by our fighters. So far we haven't been contacted and no hostile actions on their part have been detected as of yet. I've ordered our shields raised as a precaution and that the fighters close on our location. We're on an intercept course with the warship to make contact and find out their intentions."

Frowning slightly, Tobias considered that information. Both the Federation and the Cardassian Union had largely avoided the Golden Discontinuity in the past due to its intense electromagnetic plasma storms. It was only the recent development of more advanced starship technologies and a better understanding of the Badlands which had allowed Starfleet to begin conducting a more detailed survey of the region. Add to that the fact the Discontinuity was located within Federation space and the presence of a Cardassian warship seemed all that much more out of the ordinary.

"The Phantom patrol just came within our tactical sensor range," Joe spoke up. "No sign of the Cardassian vessel yet."

"Considering the purpose of the Phantom-class design, it is entirely possible the Cardassians did not detect our fighters," Tobias observed.

"Captain," Aniela began, turning to address him, "unless the Cardassians have developed technology or modifications that we're unaware of, their sensors are not likely to do any better than ours here. So, it's unlikely that they've detected the fighters and even if they have, they'll be taking it slow to ensure they're on the right path."

"Agreed," Tobias said thoughtfully. Regardless of whatever aptitude either vessel might have demonstrated in open space, the two starships were evenly matched in that they both were experiencing many of the same issues operating within the bounds of the Discontinuity. Tobias turned to study the swirling gases visible on the forward viewscreen a moment before continuing, "Yellow Alert, Mister Thompson. I have a feeling the Cardassians will be just as surprised to find someone else as we are."

"Aye, Sir, Yellow Alert," Joe said, accessing his console to bring the deflector shields up to full power. He had worked with several Tactical officers whose first instinct was to ready the weapons even at Yellow Alert, but Joe's training and experience granted him patience enough to follow protocol.

Pondering ways to give them more of an edge, the Chief Science Officer hesitated slightly, unsure if she should mention her idea. It wouldn't be exactly easy to accomplish, but it could be worth it if it worked. "I have another idea, sir. If the fighters could stay within 1,000 kilometers of the ship, we might be able to link their sensors with ours, effectively boosting our range by another...five to twelve percent..."

Robert heard Darvetti's idea and immediately set to work, making a network connection between the Yorktown's sensors and that of the fighters. As soon as the skipper gave the word, Darvetti would already have what she needed, at least from an engineering stand point. She would have to link Sciences with Operations so Robert had re-routed a dedicated sensory exchange panel for the event.

Creating a sensor net as Darvetti was suggesting had proven successful in the past. Tobias knew of at least one notable instance during the Klingon Civil War when Captain Picard of the Enterprise-D used a somewhat similar technique to uncover Romulan agents attempting to cross into Klingon space in support of the House of Duras. While not entirely the same situation, it was reasonable to assume a similar network might prove just as effective in this instance as well.

"Yorktown to Lexon," Tobias called, tapping a control on the arm of his chair, "What is your status, Major?"

=^= Phantom One and Phantom Three are reaching defensive positions now, =^= Drake replied. =^= Two and Four have landed and begun refueling; they should be with us again shortly. =^=

"Have your squadron take up position around the Yorktown, no more than one thousand meters," Tobias ordered, "You'll be coordinating with Lieutenant Darvetti in the creation of a sensor net."

=^= Acknowledged, =^= Drake said.

Apparently they would find out how successful her idea would be soon, Aniela mused. Quickly she inputted the fighter identifier information and sent it to Torin as she said, "Lieutenant Drell, I'll need you to establish and maintain the link with the fighters. I've sent you their identifiers."

"Of course Lieutenant Darvetti," Torin replied as his fingers danced across his console. The Yorktown's sensor readings were garbled, real signatures blended with false positives and distortions but it was a challenge that Torin relished. After a few moments of trial and error the Trill managed to get a lock on the fighters and began up-linking with the vessels. "Connection with the Fighters established."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Aniela replied, watching as the information slowly began coming through. Her fingers slid across the console, modifying the sensor net parameters to include the additional information. "We should have increased sensor ranger shortly...the data just needs to catch up and sync."

While the captain was speaking to the squadron leader, Miranda was busy using the asteroid to establish a known reference point for navigating the Discontinuity. She glanced up at the main viewscreen just as an area of the gasses began to darken and the shape of a Cardassian warship began to take form. "Cardassian warship appearing," she called out in her soft, well-modulated tone, "nine thousand kilometers at three-five-seven mark ten."

OFF

A Joint Mission Post by:

Captain Tobias Naros
Commanding Officer
USS Yorktown

Lieutenant Commander Xavier Nor'el
Executive Officer
USS Yorktown

Lieutenant Commander Joseph Thompson
Chief Security/Tactical Officer & Second Officer
USS Yorktown

Lieutenant Commander Robert Hogan
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Yorktown

Major Drake Lexon (PNPC)
Squad Leader
Phantom Squad
Played by: LtCmdr Thompson

Lieutenant Torin Drell
Chief Operations Officer
USS Yorktown

Lieutenant Aniela Darvetti
Chief Science Officer
USS Yorktown

Lieutenant Susan Halton (PNPC)
Fighter Pilot
Phantom Squad
Played by: LtCmdr Thompson

Lieutenant Amanda Owens (PNPC)
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Yorktown
Played by: LtCmdr Thompson

Lieutenant JG Miranda Blackfur
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Yorktown

Ensign Zach Winter (PNPC)
Fighter Pilot
Phantom Squad
Played by: Capt Naros

and

Q Junior (PNPC)
Played by: Capt Naros