Dogfight

Posted on Wed Nov 4th, 2015 @ 2:07pm by Captain Julius Whitlam & Lieutenant Commander Alexander Gunning

Mission: First Strike
Location: Torros System
Timeline: After "Driven Away"

USS Dauntless

“Admiral, the Manoora has been driven from orbit,” Commander Goradda reported.

Admiral Edwin Gilhouly simply nodded in acknowledgement and focused on the strategic situation. He and his staff had taken over the observation lounge of the flagship and established a command and control centre. He could have set up on the bridge, but he preferred some division between the flag command and the command of the flagship.

The battle was going well. Very well, in fact. With the exception of the left wing, which had been hit hard by the Jem’Hadar defenders of the planet, the allied ships were clearly going to carry the day. He had just reallocated some ships from the centre to the left to bolster General M’Klora’s division.

Then the report of the Manoora’s predicament came in.

He squinted at the display, searching for resources he could send to help out Captain Whitlam. He might have sent orders for Whitlam to pack up and call it a day, but he had already deployed his ground forces and air support and Gilhouly would be damned if he allowed them to be trapped on the planet.

The opportunity presented itself very quickly and, ever ready to seize the initiative, Gilhouly was quick to respond. “Have the Triumph and the Vorka detach to reinforce the Manoora.”

“Aye, sir!” replied the lieutenant at communications. “Flagship to Triumph and Vorka, break formation and move to assist the Manoora.”

USS Triumph

"This is USS Triumph. Orders acknowledged."

The sight of the little Defiant-class warship spinning out of the approved formation and into an intercept course was something quite spectacular. The bigger Starships always seemed to avoid moving along their Z axis where possible but there was a freedom and fluidity to the movement of the Defiant which made it something truly special.

Along with the Bird Of Prey Vorka it accelerated toward the stranded Manoora which was - according to sensors - still doing its best to break the swarm of Jem'Hadar warships which had come down on top of it. Luckily for them, it was keeping their targets very busy indeed.

Their commander signaled to the Vorka to come in high while the Triumph barreled in low, sending volleys of its devastating burst phaser fire into the bellies of the lead Jem'Hadar ship. The plan was clear - cut off their order and cause them to break up their fire onto all three ships.

USS Manoora

"The flagship reports reinforcements are inbound," Lieutenant Sovar called from Ops as the ship rattled from another torpedo strike. "Two ships - the Triumph and the Vorka."

Captain Whitlam gripped the arms of his command chair and felt his teeth clatter from the last strike. "Not a moment too soon," he muttered to nobody in particular. He checked his chair's console and verified Sovar's report; not that he didn't trust his operations officer, just that he wanted to see it for himself.

Feeling a renewed sense of optimism, he straightened in his chair and raised his voice over the din of battle, "Maintain current attack pattern. Focus your fire on any gap in their shields. Make sure our shields hold. Come on everyone, we're almost through this!"

USS Triumph

"She's coming about!" The Flight Operations officer called from the CONN. The Manoora was indeed coming out of its defensive pattern and returning to the front foot. The vibrant orange of the Akira-class ship's phasers tore through space and ripped a hole in the shields of the Jem'Hadar leader's shields just long enough for the Triumph's tactical officer to unleash a hellish volley of phaser fire into the hull.

A moment of almost idyllic calm passed before the gleaming silvery-blue hull of the Jem'Hadar fighter gave way to a spectacular fireworks display, exploding from the inside out in a fireball which the Flight Ops officer thought she could feel on the back of her neck.

The Vorka was struggling for manoeuvrability as the two remaining Jem'Hadar ships peeled off and began bombarding the antiquated Klingon vessel from both sides. The helm of the Triumph was pushing them further and further down, well below the two ships which were now out of the Manoora's effective weapons range and trouncing the Vorka with each attack.

"Execute." The Commander said, bracing himself in his seat, this would be tight.

The Triumph accelerated to three quarters impulse and brought itself up between the two Jem'Hadar ships which immediately broke off their attack on the Klingon ship and gave chase. The little Defiant had the jump on both vessels and twisted and turned until they had returned to the debris field of their leader's vessel. With a deft flick, the little ship stopped and seemed to flip itself upside down, returning between the two enemy craft which, in their desperation to turn and fire on it, collided with each other, bumping their shields and causing minor hull damage.

The Triumph was already back on them, sending volley after volley of phasers and photons into the weakened shields, buying the Manoora enough time to lock their quantum torpedoes.


USS Manoora

Whitlam could see what the Triumph was doing and moved quickly to capitalise.

"Tactical, ready a full spread of quantum torpedoes!" he ordered, launching himself out of his chair. "Lock onto them and be ready to fire on my mark."

The torpedoes were prepared, the truth was that they had been for ages.

He watched, glancing at the tactical readout in the corner of the viewscreen. Then the moment came and he didn't hesitate. "Fire!"

The spread of bright blue quantum torpedoes shot out of their launchers and sailed through the vacuum towards their targets. The silence of the scene a stark contrast to the hell that they were about to unleash. A few quiet seconds later, all struck their targets and both ships erupted in flames, debris sent flying in all directions.

Cheers rang out across the bridge as the crew breathed a sigh of relief at having survived the engagement. Whitlam, too, allowed himself a moment of silent reflection on their escape. But only a moment. He quickly gathered himself and started issuing orders. "Helm, get us back into orbit of the planet. Mister Sovar, please send my respects and gratitude to the captain of the Triumph. Tell him I'll buy him a drink when we get back."

---

Captain Julius Whitlam
Commanding Officer
USS Manoora

Vice Admiral Edwin Gilhouly [NPC: Whitlam]
Task Force Commander

Additional NPCs by LCDR Gunning

 

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