USS Pandora (NCC-80114) Vs The Carnage: Part Two
Posted on Sun Jun 21st, 2020 @ 9:11am by Cailus Griffin & Captain Nycolas Temple & Lieutenant Commander Mindo & Lieutenant Kalin Brennan-Griffin PhD & Lieutenant JG Vecon Fick & Chief Petty Officer James Frost & Tisar Zemel & Balek The Butcher [Deceased]
Edited on on Tue Jul 7th, 2020 @ 2:01pm
Mission:
Into the Wild
Location: Pandora / Carnage
Timeline: Current
A Mission Post by Lieutenant JG Cailus Griffin & Captain Nycolas Temple & Lieutenant Mindo & Lieutenant Kalin 'Shae' Brennan PhD & Ensign Vecon Fick & Chief Petty Officer James Frost & Tisar Zemel & Balek The Butcher
Mission: Into The Wild
Location: Pandora / Carnage
Timeline: Current
Sun Feb 25th, 2018 @ 5:38pm
The Carnage was heading towards the Pandora, while the Pandora was being harassed by a swarm of the Ravager's explosive drones. Every time the Pandora managed to hit one, it detonated in a fiery burst of plasma charge. The Ravager's commander Balek was watching proceedings with an greasy, evil smirk. He believed he had the advantage over the Starfleet vessel, and he still had his trump card to play - the Captain of the Pandora, being held prisoner on his Bridge by the traitor Tisar Zemel. He could almost taste the victory that laid before him.
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Ensign Vecon Fick stared at the viewscreen as his fingers flew over his console. It seemed like no matter where they went there was a plasma charge. It reminded him of something the human's used to called "dogfights", where pilots were swarmed with enemy ships. He did his best to keep the Pandora out of explosion range, but he was a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of them.
Despite Fick's best efforts, the Pandora was simply too big a target, no matter how enthusiastically he flung the ship about. In quick succession, three drones slammed into the forward shields, slapping the ship aside as if it had been hit by a giant hammer and sending the Bridge crew flying. Cailus barely managed to stay in the captain's chair, although he noted without emotion that his mechanical hand had made a significant indent in the right armrest from how tightly he had had to grip it.
"Damage report!" he called out as the ship recovered, not caring who responded.
“Shields are at seventy eight percent!” Frost yelled, glancing at his panel while climbing back into his seat. “Inertial dampeners took a hit as well!”
He finally managed to get back into his seat. He’d hit his head on the way down and was bleeding from a cut across the bridge of his nose.
“Just like old times...” He muttered.
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Engineering
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The concussions of the drone explosions had shaken the ship a little, but with minimum damage to shields. Mindo hovered from one console to the next, checking on his staff and trying to keep everything together as much as he could.
"So far not so bad, Chief," said Crewman Zo, holding on to the central console and making adjustments as needed.
Mindo shook his head, looking at a wall station that was giving him not-so-great news on the forward shields.
"We're not even in the thick of it, Zo," he replied. "Greep, divert power from all minor systems into shields and phasers. I'm activating the core shield, so anything that needs to be adjusted on the core needs to be done in the next thirty seconds. In the mean time, I'm heading to the bridge. I need to know what's going on up there."
Mindo exited Engineering and made his way to the turbolift.
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Bridge
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Mindo stepped out of the turbolift just as another concussion rocked the ship. His eyes widened when he saw the Carnage coming right for them.
"Oh this is not good," he said, getting to the Engineering station fast.
"You're telling me!" Fick echoed from his seat.
Still seated in his chair, Cailus watched the oncoming Ravager battleship with bizarre calm compared to the others. The Carnage was approaching with a gradual but unmistakable inevitability, like a boulder rolling down a hill, ready to squash the Pandora underfoot like a bug.
Like hell.
"If they want to get burned, then we shall oblige them," the Lieutenant said with an almost cruel iciness. "Mister Vecon, execute attack pattern Omega-1. Give us a high-speed flyby as close to their ventral shield profile as you can manage. Tactical, maintain continuous fire with phasers and load all remaining photon torpedoes in the aft tubes. Fire a full spread as soon as we're past the enemy. Lieutenant Mindo, please reinforce structural integrity and shields as much as you can for the next thirty seconds. We're going to need it."
"You got it!" Fick responded with enthusiasm. He redjusted in his seat and put in the coordinates he would need to start the maneuver. It took him only a few seconds and the Pandora turned to face the Carnage. "This is what's called CHICKEN!" Fick yelled and rushed the ship directly towards the much larger vessel. He aimed for the ventral side of the ship even though it was still looking like they were headed right for each other. "Hey Tactical! You're almost up!"
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Carnage - Bridge
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Balek watched as the Pandora approached, a hungry gleam in his sallow eyes. His breathing through his face mask was coming in quick excited gasps now, as he salivated at the chance to tear the Starfleet vessel apart.
"Is the claw ready?" He barked.
"Yes, sire." Came the response from Silas, the Carnage's tactical officer. "Primed and ready to unleash."
Balek gave a boastful side-eye to Nycolas Temple. "Watch, Captain, as your precious ship is ripped open."
As the Carnage approached, the Pandora let out a fresh stream of phaser fire, most of which were absorbed by the Ravager's shields. However, when the last stream of energy came into contact with one of the Carnage's drones, it let out a fiery blast of plasma that burnt across their hull and caused the vessel to shake. Almost simultaneously, pilot Dekker received a warming tone on his console.
"Uh... Sire? Shields are... gone..." He spoke with heavy tone. "We took a direct hit to our ventral side."
Standing, Balek's eyes gleamed with rage. "Did the Pandora attack our shields?"
"No, sire, they're just offline," Dekker replied, giving a confused shrug.
"No contact from Engineering," Silas warned. "I can't reach them."
"Send a team to find out what happened!" Balek growled as he began to pace around his throne. "Break off our attack line until we can get shields back up."
"Aye..." Dekker began but then faded off. "Uh oh."
"WHAT NOW!" screamed Balek.
Without needing an answer, the Carnage began to slow down and there was a noticeable drop from the vessel's engines. Soon they were just drifting in space, with the Pandora still heading straight for them.
"Engines offline too," Dekker responded weakly. "We're sitting ducks."
There came a scream from the Butcher's mouth that in all likelihood could have been heard from across the galaxy...
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Pandora - Bridge
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Back on the Pandora, Cailus stood up slowly as the hulking Carnage began to drift, its engines and shields quite plainly failing. Phaser beams were now striking the armour directly, slicing into the Carnage's hull with ruthless efficiency. The Ravager weapons were still online, but with the big battleship unable to maneuver, their threat had been sharply reduced.
"Enemy impulse engines are offline," came the stunned report from the tactical officer. "Shields are... also offline."
"Continue the attack run, cancel the torpedo volley," Cailus ordered promptly in response, eyeing the crippled Ravager battleship as it drifted, easy prey for the Pandora's phasers as the Federation ship continued its assault, getting closer and closer by the second. Cailus quickly glanced back at Mindo, realising that with the Carnage so crippled, a surgeon's precision was needed for the flyby. "Lieutenant, could you assist Tactical with precise targeting of our phasers for maximum effect?"
"Hey!" Fick leaned back in his chair for a moment, glancing at Cailus. "Don't we want to make sure to get our people back before we blow them up?"
Cailus fixed the helmsman with a glare that could freeze the fires of Hell itself. "Precisely Ensign, which is why our best engineer is going to identify the places where we can cripple the enemy with minimal casualties." The lieutenant gestured at the viewscreen as the Pandora shuddered from a weapons impact. "Now, watch where you're flying."
"Aye aye, Sir!" Fick already had his eyes on the viewscreen and his hands on the controls. "Watching where I'm flying now, Sir!"
Mindo quickly hovered over the tactical console and faced Cailus.
Mindo talked fast. "Cailus, their shields are down and so are their engines. We're only doing a little bit better. Tactical and I have come up with an attack pattern that targets their primary systems, but should do little damage to life support. If we come about and fire a spread of photon torpedoes at these exact spots, we'll take out power to their forward and aft cannons. I also believe their targeting systems will go down as well, which means they won't be able to use their claw device. If we declaw these bandits, they don't stand a chance." ...unless they get a few more good hits on us, he didn't need to add.
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Carnage - Bridge
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The Carnage shook with another direct hit to her hull.
"We have a breach on the aft side, sire." Silas reported with a grim face. He muttered in a small voice, "We're losing this fight."
Dekker meanwhile was busy running around his consoles, pushing various buttons on his archaic machinery. "I think I have a bypass... we may be able to get some movement from the Engines."
Balek was seething in his chair, eyes wide with a fiery rage and his body tensed in anger. "What happened to my ENGINES?!" He hissed.
"Still no contact from down there." Silas huffed, preferring to stare at his screen in resignation.
Nyx knew it would be dangerous to talk, but he wanted to distract the Ravager commander, "Isn't it obvious? My crew got to them, Balek. It's over. Surrender to the Pandora."
Balek sneered at the Starfleet captain as he stood and walked over to Silas' console. "I though I ordered you to find the other rats and tear them apart?!"
Silas sighed, "Yes, sire, but then you told us to prepare to attack the Pandora. Can't do two things at once, your Majesty" He rebuked in a sarcastic tone.
Without warning, Balek gripped his large hand around the back of Silas' head and forced it hard into his console screen, the panel giving off a fiery spray of sparks. Balek stood there for a moment, his face twisted in rage until the body stopped twitching. Finally he moved backwards and allowed Silas to fall cold to the floor, before he turned back to Dekker. The Ravager pilot was frozen in his place, eyes watching his own console.
"Get me those Engines," Balek growled in a low voice.
"Aye, your Majesty." Dekker whimpered obediently.
"Can we still use the claw?" Balek asked, his eyes now locked onto the Captain.
"Yes, your Majesty." Dekker replied quickly.
"Then we may still get a chance to use it." Balek sneered. "Call back the remaining drones and hail the Pandora."
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Pandora - Bridge
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"Lieutenant!" the ensign at Ops called out. "They're hailing us."
"Full stop, cease fire," Cailus ordered immediately as he stood up, and duly the Pandora slowed to a stop in front of the hulking, wounded Carnage. Both combatants had visible damage on their hulls, with fires raging on the Carnage and blackened hull plates on the Pandora's otherwise pristine form, but both ships were still very much battle-ready, if damaged.
Then Cailus looked back at Mindo as the engineer floated next to him. His instincts screamed to ignore Mindo's plan and instead stick with the original attack plan, to zoom past the enemy at point-blank range and savage them with phasers. Photon torpedoes were hardly precision weapons, but damn it, Mindo truly was a brilliant engineer. If he believed it was the best way to cripple the Carnage's ability to fight...
"Prepare to execute your plan, Lieutenant," Cailus said curtly to the hovering Fesarian, "just in case they aren't calling to surrender."
"You got it," said Mindo, turning around and hovering to tactical. He began programming the spread. It would have to be executed at the right time. "Fick!" he yelled, tapping the tactical console, sending instructions to Fick's console. "Prepare a flyby at this exact spot. Tactical and I will do the rest." Mindo was positive this plan would work in theory. But it relied on several factors and several people. Mindo was confident in Fick's flying ability. He was good at getting in and out of places fast. Mindo set the attack pattern and prepared to execute on Cailus' orders.
"Got it!" Fick yelled back, his fingers already setting up the executions. Tiny calculations, calibrations and lots and lots of quick, fast and dirty math. Fick had learned over the years tons of mental math shortcuts. It always amazed him how he could know so many ways to do something and only use a few of those on the regular. When he was done with the calculations that he wouldn't have to do on the fly he looked over his shoulder at Mindo and Cailus. "I'm ready to go!"
Mindo looked up from his console and said, "Now's a good time to tell you the transporter is working again."
"Chief," Cailus said next, glancing at the ex-Borg, "contact the transporter rooms and prepare a boarding party. If they do surrender and they deactivate their transporter countermeasures, I want those pirates beamed into our Brig as soon as possible or another secure location. Security teams will beam aboard that thing immediately afterwards and secure it."
Frost didn’t hesitate as he tapped his comm and relayed the orders.
That said, there was nothing more to be done except..."Onscreen."
Balek stood in front of his throne, his face an angry snarl. "Pandora. You've put up a better fight than I imagined. But you're still at the disadvantage."
Standing with his hands behind his back, Cailus regarded the pirate king with open scorn, not bothering to hide it any more. He really was coming to despise the fat sadistic bastard, who had placed so many lives in jeopardy just for his own greed. "Get on with it, Balek."
It was hubris on Balek's part, pure and simple hubris. His eyes, somehow, were too big for his stomach. His ego too big for reality to creep in. He may have stood a chance at capturing the Starfleet vessel one on one but with his ship seemingly shutting down from the inside, he was dead in the water. But Balek would be the last person to admit that. Nyx watched the Ravager captain, swaggering two and fro in front of his throne like he was still King of the land - but this land was dead and the people were moments away from deserting him.
"I have captured your other intruders to my ship." Balek lied. "My war boys are currently stuffing them into our torpedo bays. I will be willing to negotiate peace in exchange for their lives. Drop your shields and I will allow you safe passage onboard my vessel or I will fire your crew back at you. One. By. One."
It may have been a lie, but with Captain Temple as a prisoner, it was a plausible one. Cailus' eyes flickered to the wounded Nyx, regarding the man with dispassion even as he imagined Smith or T'Kemi's unconscious bodies being stuffed into torpedo tubes...or Shae's. Even so Cailus took a breath, forcing such awful thoughts from his mind, glancing around the Bridge at the other officers who bravely manned their stations. Vecon, Frost, even Mindo...
"No," Cailus finally said with a voice of unyielding iron, holding his head high. "You've lost, Balek. No threats you make can change that. Surrender. Now."
"Every second you waste is another second closer to getting a Starfleet officer shaped dent in your hull." Balek growled. "Refuse me outright, and I will execute your Captain to show that I mean business."
As if things could not possibly get any worse, it did; all the lights on the Carnage Bridge dimmed until they were left with only the red emergency lights, and to make matters worse an alarm began to sound off, which the Pandora UT translated as "Self-destruct has been initiated; Warp core breach in 5 minutes."
"WHAT!" Balek screamed. "What is happening to my ship?"
Dekker's hands flew over his console. With Silas taken out by the Butcher, he was trying to do the work of two crewman now. "Someone in Engineering has bypassed the Bridge."
The Ravager captain gave a groan, "Where are my security?!"
Dekker looked at his screen and sighed. "Heading towards the Scout, sir. They're abandoning ship... Looks like they were already heading that way before the self-destruct."
"COWARDS! SNAKES!" Balek yelled in anger and in one act of pure rage, he lifted his throne off from it's platform and tipped it backwards. The chair with it's horrific decorations of bones and skulls crashed onto the floor, sending pieces scattering across the back of the Bridge. Wheezing into his breaking mask, the Butcher's eyes turned back to the Pandora.
"I can hold off the launch, sire." Dekker quickly spoke, "Give you time to get there and evacuate yourself?"
"No. No. If I'm going down, I'm taking you all with me." Balek hissed. "Tisar, execute the Captain."
Tisar grinned and lifted the crossbow that he was still armed with. "It's about time," he said coolly and started to check the weapon over, preparing to fire it. "With pleasure..." He took one step backwards and started to take careful aim.
“I demand,” Nyx spoke as he lifted himself up off his knees, and began to turn around. “I should be able to face my executioner. That is my right, is it not Tisar?”
Tisar lifted the end of the crossbow. "I believe that that is more than fair. Besides, I'm not fond of shooting men in the back. It displays a cowardice on my part."
Back on the Pandora's Bridge, Cailus scowled in frustration at the awful events being shown on the viewscreen. "Enough! Murdering him will win you nothing and cost you a great deal more. Balek, Zemel, stop!" Desperate, he turned to Mindo at the back of the Bridge to ask a question he already knew the answer to. "Can you get a transporter lock through their jamming?"
Cailus could already see the frustration in Mindo's face. "I can't," he replied.
Nyx had to shut out Griffin’s angry voice, his desperate pleas. This is what Balek wanted, for them to suffer first. He couldn’t give the Butcher the satisfaction. He shifted himself subtlety to his right with Balek now directly behind him, and he leaned heavily on his uninjured left leg. “You better not miss, traitor. Or there’ll be nothing left of you if I get my chance.”
"Oh don't worry, Captain. I'm an excellent shot..." The tiniest of smirks appeared slowly at the corner of his mouth and he lowered the tip of the crossbow again, taking very careful aim.
Balek's shoulders shrunk. "This is why I do the killings myself. GET ON WITH IT!"
Nyx shrugged, giving an almost too-nonchalant smirk, "I'm ready to roll."
Tisar snorted and fired the crossbow. The weapon was not wholly poorly made. It might not have been pretty, but it did have fairly good accuracy. Tisar thought it a little front heavy. He prefered something lighter.
Just as the improvised arrow was fired, Nyx leaned down on his right side and rounded his body into a roll over his shoulder, then shot up quickly using the power in his good leg. In a flash movement he was behind Dekker's chair and man-handled the Ravager's pilot roughly with one arm around his neck. The two struggled together until Nyx had the pirate in a strong headlock.
From behind, Balek was groaning. Nyx didn't have to look around to know what had happened. As discussed between them, Tisar had aimed just slightly to the left towards the Butcher, and when Nyx ducked down, the arrow had a clear unimpeded shot into the true target. It had indeed been an excellent shot. Balek wavered in his place, the arrow protruding out of his lower torso as he staggered around looking for something to hold onto. He would have sat in his throne had he not tipped it off the platform in rage earlier. Now he had no choice but to collapse on the floor as a dark pool gathered over his clothing. He wheezed heavily into his breathing mask.
"You... shot... ME?" Balek groaned, eyes flashing to Tisar.
"My dear Butcher... Did you really think I was ever on your side? After what you did to me and the ship I was on? You know very little about Cardassians, Your Majesty... We are very resilient... and do not give easily to torture."
“Typical.... Cardassian...” Balek muttered.
Dekker tried to struggle against Nyx's firm grip, knowing that his oxygen was slowly being squeezed out of him. He tried to grasp and claw at the Starfleet officer and kicked his legs wildly about.
"It's over." Nyx whispered into his ear. "We have the ship and Balek is down. Give up."
"NEVER!" Dekker cried, as he pushed back against the desk and tried to topple over Nyx, the two ending up crashing to floor and onto Nyx's injured leg. Nyx gritted his teeth through the pain and tightened his grip around the Ravager's neck until finally he passed out. The Captain waited a few moments before releasing the unconscious pilot and standing up.
He turned to the view screen, and gave a wincing smile to the Pandora. "Good to see you again, Lieutenant Griffin."
"Yes sir," Cailus said with a curt nod, although he still looked as disgruntled as ever. Balek might be stopped, but he still had the horrifiying mental image of Shae being stuffed into a torpedo tube burned into his mind, even if logic suggested that Balek had been lying. "Respectfully, Captain, you cut it very close."
Nyx looked down to his wound and sighed, “We can debrief later, Lieutenant. I’ll need medical here and we need to stop the rest of the Ravagers from escaping. And have Lieutenant Smith turn off that false self-destruct signal.”
Cailus nodded, gesturing at the ensign manning Ops. "Aye sir. We have a boarding party ready to beam aboard as soon as you deactivate their transporter countermeasures."
Frost was grinning at the outcome of the fight. “If this is the norm for you guys then I think I’m going to like it here!”
Balek groaned from his spot on the floor, his breathing laboured, but steady. “This won’t stop us, Pandora. I will still have my glory.”
