Plan B, Part1
Posted on Wed Apr 29th, 2015 @ 7:02pm by Lieutenant Nick Archer & Lieutenant Colonel Jillian "Phoenix" Sullivan & Captain Jack Solomon & Lieutenant Nuala Takabe & Ensign Brandy Ragen & Ensign Manuel Vega
2,206 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Mission 87 - Disaster
Location: Various, Relief Force Ships
Timeline: MD2 2055hrs, Following 'Repairs and Investigation'
ON:
USS Ark Royal
Jack left the Captain's Ready Room and headed over to the Operations Station. He put together an update of the situation at Hunster II and an update of the various ships in the fleet. He encoded the message and transmitted it to Admiral Bremer back on SB400.
Jack then headed over to the Science Station to speak to Captain L'Verrem about their new orders.
"Captain, I have new orders from Commander Coleman. You and I are to transfer to the USS Venator and work with their crew to see if we are able to tow the asteroid that you talked about. This is a backup scenario, just in case we can't find the object and destroy it," Jack explained.
"Commander Coleman wants us to use the Venator to bring it to the planet and prepare to hollow it out and make it habitable. We'll need to update Colonel Jackson to prepare the colonists for the worst," Jack finished, aware of the job ahead of them.
The Caitian bowed is head slightly and blinked in nonverbal response, then said "Very well, Lieutenant Jack Solomon. I must first check in with Lieutenant Nuala Takabe. I have an assignment for her. I will meet you in the shuttle bay." L'Verrem rose and tapped his commbadge, which responded with a chirp. "L'Verrem to Lieutenant Nuala Takabe. Please meet me in Science Lab One," he said.
"Yes Captain." Nuala acknowledged. She grabbed her PADD on the way to the lab.
L'Verrem strode into the turbolift and descended to the deck the Science Labs resided and exited. After a brief walk, he arrived at the door to Lab One, which opened with a swish.
Takabe had a serious look on her face. "Hello Captain." She said coolly.
"Have you heard any response from the Vulcan Science Academy yet on how to mitigate the strangelet?" The Caitian asked.
Takabe pursed her lips and sighed. "Yes but it's not the best plan. They recommended injecting the strangelet with concentrated protomatter."
L'Verrem trilled and his tail suddenly jerked back and forth once in dislike of the answer. Protomatter was dangerous and unstable, even in small amounts. But, if the colony was to survive, the risk had to be taken.
"I believe the Hellfire torpedoes use protomatter in the warhead. Can that be of use?" L'Verrem asked.
"Sorry Captain, no." Takabe replied. "The is one incompatible isotope in the protomatter we use in our ordnance."
"Then we must locate some of the correct isotope. I wish for you to accompany me to the Venerator. I must assist with converting an asteroid into a lifeboat in the event we must perform a mass evacuation of the colonists. I am placing the search for the protomatter in your hands, Lieutenant Nuala Takabe. The Ark Royal's sensors are still linked to the Venerator's. Begin a wide field scan for protomatter. If any exists within a few AU, perhaps we can collect enough to mitigate the strangelet.
If you locate some, assemble who you need and depart immediately to collect it. The Venerator already has a shuttle and pilot at your disposal for this purpose. Keep me advised on the status. You will need to work with engineering to devise a containment system and a way to deliver it to the strangelet once it is located. I have some familiarity with protomatter, so I can advise you," L'Verrem said.
"Thank you Captain." Takabe responded. "I'm thinking the shuttles can fire micro photon torpedoes. Maybe engineering can remove the protomatter from our torpedoes and replace it with the more potent type we need?" Takabe conjectured. "We would need to fire a lot of torpedoes quickly and, they would be very unstable but I think it is possible."
The Caitian trilled and nodded his head in agreement.
"Excellent idea. Work with engineering to find the optimal solution. We will require at least ten kilograms of protomatter delivered to the strangelet," L'Verrem said.
"Thank you Captain." Takabe responded. "I'll talk to engineering about altering the micro torpedoes and talk to the pilot about what kind of a load they will be flying."
Jack made his way to the Shuttlebay and was mulling over how to make sure they could turn an Asteroid into a habitable lifeboat. The Venator was capable of hollowing out the Asteroid, of that there was no doubt, but if this didn't work, then the Prometheus class starship needed to be back in the system in a hurry.
Jack waited in the Shuttlebay for Captain L'Verrem and looked forward to working with him again.
L'Verrem strode into the shuttle bay, a bag of equipment slung over one shoulder. Seeing Solomon, he made his way to him.
"Lieutenant Jack Solomon, we may leave as soon as Lieutenant Nuala Takabe arrives. She will be searching for protomatter while we work on converting the asteroid into a life pod.
Jack nodded at L'Verrem's comment, but he was also curious as well. "Very well. Protomatter you say? What part will that play?" Jack asked as he considered the process. Protomatter was used over a hundred years ago in the original Genesis experiment with devastating results.
Jack paused for a moment. "Captain, I want you to keep in mind that we are against the clock on this. If at any point it seems that the experiment wont be successful, the Venator will be needed to assist the evacuation effort.
USS Venator
Aboard the Venator, Archer had just received word about L’Verrem and Takabe’s mission, and since a shuttle would be involved…and there was no sign of enemy….he knew who the best pilot would be.
Archer stood and walked over to the unoccupied Tactical Two station, tapped in a few commands, and opened a channel.
"Venator to Major Sullivan. Phoenix, we need you to land aboard the Venator for an important mission.” He paused a moment before added, “It’s more hazardous than the milk run you're on now." He smirked and waited for a response.
"All righty then," Phoenix spoke happily, for she was very bored of her CAP patrol. "Be there in one. Phoenix out."
Archer looked around the Bridge, there were a few other curious looks, no one had heard Phoenix sound so…chipper before.
Once Phoenix landed on the ship she tapped her combadge almost immediately. "So what's mission exactly?"
Archer replied over to comm to Phoenix, "Please report to the ship's conference room, we're about to find out."
Once on board with Captain L'Verrem and Lt. Takabe, Jack took a turbolift up to the bridge to see Lt Archer to make him aware of the plan they had in mind to assist in the situation and the Venator's part in it. Once on the bridge, Jack headed over to him.
"Lt Archer? I'm Lt. Jack Solomon, XO from the Ark Royal. This is Captain L'Verrem and Lt. Takabe... We need to talk... lets use the Conference Room" Jack explained, as he introduced the others. "This is Captain L'Verrem, Chief Science Officer for the mission and his assistant, Lieutenant Takabe. Can you have Major Sullivan join us also."
Archer nodded and motioned with his hand toward the door. This seemed important and he wanted to get the show on the road.
Venator Conference Room
"Our mission is simple but dangerous. It offers a backup solution in case the planetside situation goes balls up," Jack began. "Captain L'Verrem has suggested that by modifying a shuttlecraft's torpedo launchers, they can fire a modified torpedo at an asteroid in the local system that will allow it to become a habitable lifeboat for the population until we can effect fleetwide transporting of the population onto the relief force ships. We'll need use of a Type 11 Shuttlecraft and a damn good pilot," Jack explained.
"I reviewed the crew roster on the way over and I'd like to request Major Sullivan...no, sorry, Phoenix be assigned as the shuttlecraft pilot for the mission. After a previous mission working with the Major I believe her skills to be perfect for the job."
Archer nodded, "I agree. I think we need to have some redundancy in this mission, and I recommend Captain Herondale, Necrom, copilot the shuttle. I know Phoenix can handle the flying, but if she was to become incapacitated for any reason the mission will fail. With Necrom there, we still have a good shot at success."
"Keep in mind Lieutenant the shuttle will effectively be one large photon torpedo. It will not take much skill to get the shuttle close enough to the singlet to affect it. It will take skill for the shuttle not to be destroyed in the process. It may be too much of a risk to lose both of your senior pilots." Takabe stated.
Archer nodded, then looked at Phoenix and Necrom.
"It sounds like a sound plan ta me," Phoenix agreed as she took in the mission outline. "It shouldn' be too hard ta fire at close-range. Might have a bit of a blowback ta tha shuttle though."
"A bit?" Archer asked with a smirk. "Nothing that could hinder the mission I hope."
"Hinder? No. But that shockwave could take out tha engines on our return trip if we're not careful," Phoenix answered.
Jack nodded at Phoenix's suggestion. "I'll get some backup generators installed in the shuttle. That should cover us incase the engines give out," he offered.
USS Ark Royal
Several minutes had passed since Solomon and L'Verrem had left on their mission to the Venator, in order to try and hollow out an asteroid nearby, in case all were to go downhill on the planet. Coleman sent a simple message to Lt. Archer on the Venator stating all that he was planning.
Coleman had his science and engineering teams also working on trying to make sure that if whatever was destroying the planet could be destroyed, that it would be. But, from several reports, it would only do so much and there was a large chance that the planet wouldn't survive either way. This is why he knew the work that Solomon and L'Verrem were doing, as well as the crew of the Venator was so important. Coleman was the mission commander, but he also knew that the fate of many people were in his hands.
Coleman walked onto the bridge after a few more minutes at looking at reports. He walked into a bit of chaos, but knew the crew was managing everything with quiet efficiency.
Coleman pressed his combadge and said, "Coleman to L'Verrem and Solomon. Report."
On board the Venator, Jack received the comm and pressed a comm button on the nearest panel to him.
"Captain, we have arrived on board the Venator and we are currently working on a plan to make the Asteroid habitable. Captain L'Verrem and Lieutenant Takabe are working on retrofitting Micro Torpedoes to assist in the process. I have a team working on the Torpedo launchers on the shuttle to make sure they can accurately deploy the modified Micro Torpedoes," Jack reported.
"Okay, try and make it quick. The comm chatter from the marines is making it look pretty crazy down on the planet. We'll hold her together as long as we can over here. Coleman out."
Venator
Several minutes later, Jack was in the shuttlebay with his team completing the final modifications to the Shuttles torpedo launchers. He pressed his combadge after checking his work.
"=/\= Solomon to L'Verrem, modifications to the shuttle are complete. We're ready for your payload to be brought on board," Jack advised as he walked on board the shuttle to run some last system checks before launch.
Takabe boarded the shuttle and checked over the payload of modified micro torpedoes. "We're only going to get one shot at this."
L'Verrem’s tail swished back and forth, “That is correct Lieutenant Junior Grade Nuala Takabe.” He looked around, “Where are Major Jillian Sullivan and Captain Alec Herondale?”
Jack took a seat at the side of the cockpit and began the startup prep, making sure that the primary and secondary power systems were at 100% as well as making sure that the shields were running at peak performance to combat any turbulence from the blast. "Everything is good here," Jack reported.
"It's Phoenix, Boys." There was an annoyed sigh as the CAG entered the cockpit and took her place in the pilot's seat. "Fire up the thrusters an' signal the deckhands to clear out."
L'Verrem nodded respectfully. He hadn't meant any disrespect, it was a 'respectful habit' of his people to be so formal with ranks and names.
Jack tapped the comm button and sent a message out to have the shuttle deck cleared for departure. Once the all clear signal was given, he fired up the thrusters. "We're up and running Phoenix, she's all yours," he reported.
"All righty then," Phoenix flipped the impulse engines on next but did not move forward. Instead she hit the comms. "Phoeinx to tha bridge. We're ready here for departure."
Venator, Bridge
Archer had returned to the Bridge while the runabout was prepped. "Archer to Phoenix, you're cleared to depart. Good luck."
tbc
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