A Knife to a Gun Fight

Posted on Thu May 23rd, 2013 @ 3:12am by Ensign David Brody

537 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Mission 83 - Recovery
Location: Starbase 400 - OPS (Tactical-1)
Timeline: Immediately following "A New Mission"

ON:

Ensign Brody has just left Admiral Bremer's staff meeting in which it was indicated that the bulk of the station's primary crew were to be split up amongst two Sovereign-class ships and sent deep into Romulan space. The task was daunting to say the least. He was never one to guess the odds, but the idea that both ships could successfully complete their missions unscathed seemed unlikely.

While he hoped both ships could return safely, he knew he had to prepare for the worst. Brody had turned away from his routine tasks at Tactical-1 in OPS and called up the Lexington-D's schematics and payload inventory. The ship was well equipped, but he realized that even if he fired every torpedo and drained every phaser bank, any potential damage inflicted on the enemy would pale in comparison to the devastation caused by weaponized Thalaron radiation.

Still, Brody worked diligently to make sure each warhead was programmed for maximum yield and all phasers could be calibrated to minimize the strain on the emitters. In the event their cover was blown, the Lexington would likely have to shoot their way out of whatever mess they found themselves.

He had come to know his fellow crew, even though there were several he had yet to fomally meet, and felt responsible for their safety. The cloak, shields, and sensors all seemed to be performing above spec. A compliment was in order for the Engineering team.

The details of the mission were still need-to-know, but the overall scope was laid out by the Admiral. The Lexington was to secure the safe rescue of a pair of defecting Reman engineers. Brody had heard stories and read what few unclassified reports were available on the Scimitar project and couldn't help but marvel at the weapons systems rumored to have been installed. Assuming the mission went to plan, Brody imagined debriefing the Remans and picking their brains on their weapons cache.

And yet, part of Brody felt a lump in his throat when he considered the crew of the Vanguard. Their command structure was rife was experience and the Marines aboard were second to none. There was no reason to think they couldn't handle their own, but again, these were members of the Starbase 400 family and it pained him slightly that he couldn't be in two place as once doing what he could to keep everyone alive and well.

Brody returned his focus to to his station's readout. He had begun running combat scenarios in which the Lexington was discovered and engaged in conflict with a Thalaron equipped Romulan weapon. At this point the Scimitar was old news. Any new weapon the Romulans had conceived was likely far more dangerous.

The simulations all returned unfavorable results. This was unacceptable to Brody. Like most in his profession, the idea of a 'no-win' scenario was not to be considered. The reports were all the same; the Lexington would be in dire straights if discovered. Stealth would have to be maintained. Regardless, Brody would prepare for a straight up battle. He looked again at the damage comparisons the simulations had to offer and sighed heavily. "Like bringing a knife to a gun fight," he mumbled to himself.

OFF.

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