The Archanis Campaign : USS Explorer
McGig
Member
A borrowed ship, to many Captains and a bunch of SCE personnel running around doing the odd jobs in support of operations against the D'Ghor, USS Explorer is an Inquiry class cruiser ensuring the rear lines stay safe and the important work needing doing gets done.
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[USS Explorer]
[CIC]
Stepping into the Command Information Centre aboard the USS Explorer, the recently promoted Captain Alexandra T’Rin Sudari-Kravchik was fidgeting with the fourth pip on her collar. It was a by product of her becoming a task force executive officer, that pip. It had been there for a few months now, but for some reason it was weighing on her today. She was a task force XO and she was lacking a ship of her own. She was a passenger on another person’s ship, ferrying to a destination to oversee work vital to the safety of the Federation.
She was essentially useless at the moment.
Commander Beaumont, the man in command of the engineering team that had boarded the Explorer with her was the real leader of this particular expedition, she was just merely along as a rubber stamp, to oversee the work and ensure it was completed. And he was exactly where she had expected to see him at this hour as they neared the end of their collective cruise to the middle of no-where, if a proto-war-zone had any of those.
The holotank in the middle of the Explorer’s CIC was currently being used by Charles Beaumont and his officers to discuss the optimal layout for their part of the Archanis Array, as well as figuring out optimal deployment schedules. As Alexandra stepped forward, she noted out two of the engineers had moved just enough to give her space in their circle. Everyone seemed to shuffle along a little bit until a new equilibrium was found.
“Ah, Captain, good timing. We’ve possibly nailed down a new deployment schedule. If you can negotiate with Captain Nagahi for…a doze of her engineers, we should be able to deploy our section of the array in twenty-four hours,” Beaumont announced to her from across the holotank. Its contents were a series of asteroids, trojans for a gas giant in a system that deserved a survey number and no name.
The middle of nowhere.
“Twenty-four hours?” she asked back in her quiet voice, her tone kept as neutral as possible. She had been accused of being a vulcan with that tone once. It was professional, perhaps too much so. “That quickly Commander? I thought I had engineers, not wizards, under my commander.”
That had earned a few chuckles from those around the tank, smiles from the rest as well.
“We’ve spent the trip either working on the plan or preassembling as many of the array components as we could. I understand Master Chief Walking Horse is looking forward to having his cargo bays and shuttle bay 2 back instead of filled with all of our stuff.”
She nodded at the Commander’s statement, understanding now. No time had been wasted on the journey. She knew that, just was note expecting him to have made such progress.
Miracle workers indeed, she thought to herself.
“Then I shall have to press Captain Nagahi for those extra hands. The quicker we get this array component set up and operational, the quicker we start saving lives.” Heads nodded in confirmation of that statement as she looked to Lieutenant Commander T’vin, the vulcan woman looking at her with that cool detachment she had come to expect from her distant cousins. Was that a trace of anticipation she saw on the woman’s face? “Commader T’vin, I forwarded your concept for a pocket tachyon grid and technical specifications to Captain Bennet. He has his people looking over the specifications now.”
“Understandable Captain. The Haydorian system is more vital to protect then our destination. They also have better resources for installing a functional grid and maintaining it.”
That whole statement left her confused. She just wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it really.
“Well, perhaps Commander Beaumont, you wouldn’t mind accompanying me to see Captain Nagahi, with your team’s plan and we can see if we can’t convince her to help out more then she already has?”
[Ready Room]
“A dozen engineers and then we can turn around and get back to base?” Nagahi asked in response to Beaumont’s plan being presented to her.
“Not so much back to base as on to our next destination. I understand that damages to a few ships in the fleet will require considerable repairs. If we could impose upon you Captain for take us to the Haydorian system?” Alexandra asked.
“No worries at all in that regard Alex,” Nagahi asked, using the shortened version of her name that she, while did not dislike, discouraged. Namely due to having two cousins who had accepted that sobriquet. She preferred the name her mother had actually given her, if just to be different from those cousins. “Haydorian isn’t that far, we can be there in thirty something hours after we finish. We’re about an hour out of destination anyway. In fact, Commander, I’ll ask Chief Grr’Rrall to spare as many engineers as they can if that’ll help.”
“Oh, yes!” Beaumont said rather joyfully. “The more the merrier. I’ll run them all ragged, but we’ll get some rest between here and Haydorian and then I’ll take my people off your ship and get to fixing the ills of others.”
“Well then, sound like we’ve all got a plan.”
[System FASC-2154-584758]
[Asteroid 584758-G-2415]
[“Site Four”]
“Righto Gavin, fire her up!” Charles Beaumont was standing on the surface of a dense nickel-iron asteroid in the middle of nowhere. His presence here was maintained by a combination of micro-thrusters, magnetic boots and safety lines that each engineer was using, just in case the other two failed.
His particular team where on their second shift on the asteroids and arguable one of the most important – setting up a small fusion reactor and firing it up for the first time. It was one of three such power plants distributed across the trojans that would provide beamed power to the sensor arrays spread around other asteroids and to the single subspace antenna that had been installed.
That had been an interesting bit of calibration that. A focused directional beam, aimed to transmit directly back to Starbase 27 so as not to betray its location. Now however they needed to get everything started up so they could get the beamed power from the Explorer and then get the heck out of these woods.
“Plasma pressure is building Commander. We’ll have self-sustaining fusion in ten minutes. Array should be power independent in twenty.”
“Good work Gavin. Let’s leave the automatics and go join Watson and her team finishing off the sensors on the other side of this rock,” he said to the young Specialist, waiting for the man to come and join him before they made the track around the small asteroid, following the guide poles and the single metal cable for the safety lines.
[CIC]
The curse of her biology occasionally came home to roost and this was one of those moments that she had come to except was going to be frequent in life. CIC aboard the Explorer was once more overrun with the SCE engineers, fresh from their final work on the asteroids. Most had beamed back aboard only fifteen minutes ago and had managed at most to strip out of their EVA suits before coming here.
The stench of body odour was detectable by others, even the dull sensed pure-humans in the room, but for her it was something else. So many people, so many odours atop one another, compounding. She did however spare of thought for the two vulcans in the room who must have it worse then she did.
“Right boys and girls,” Beaumont said from beside her, his face betraying the exhaustion of a second long work shift, the gap between the first and second not long enough clearly, “good work by all. Not a single hitch even. Twenty hours on the nose! Now, all of you, go hit the sack, get some sleep. Explorer is going to be running us straight to our next assignment. We’re going to go help a bunch of already very exhausted engineers, so let’s be on our A game and help them out.”
She watched as they quietly congratulated each other, the SCE team and the engineers from Explorer, hands shook, quiet words said as they all made their way out, leaving the room to the staff from the Explorer who commonly worked here, which weren’t many.
“And you Captain, thanks for all your work too,” Beaumont said as he turned to face her.
“My work Commander?”
“Yah…getting me the right team before we left, on a fast ship, with a Captain who’s willing to just help out. You’d be surprised the number of captains in the fleet who just want to do their job and not help others out. Nagahi is a real star actually.”
“I…simply got the right resources for the job Commander.”
“Well ma’am, with your administrative skills, guess I can see why you’re a task force XO then. Captain Bennet is lucky to have you in his chain of command.” He offered a smile and the tiredness seemed to final infect his whole being, not just his face. “Right, I’m going to go and just crash out for like…ten hours.”
“Very well Commander. And thank you for everything you’ve done. This was your success.”
[USS Explorer]
[Conference Room]
“So, I managed to get hold of an old buddy in the Haydorian system and confirmed they haven’t begun deployment of the pocket tachyon grid. Apparently, something about a bunch of klingons all disappearing in small groups across the system so they’ve been understandably busy,” Commander Beaumont said as he addressed Alexandra, Captain Nagahi and her chief engineer, Commander Grr’Rrall.
“Okay, so why bring this up then Commander?” Nagahi asked from her seat at the head of the conference table.
“Well, I spoke with Captain Sudari-Kravchik here and we thought, sense we’re headed that why right now, we could spend some time modifying as many of the ship’s probes as possible before we arrive, then use the Explorer’s shuttles to deploy them.”
“We don’t have nearly as many probes as you’ll want,” Grr’Rrall intoned, their voice a gravel pile in movement and words only made sense by the universal translator from their native Gorn. “We only have a tenth of what Commander T’vin envisioned.”
“A valid point,” Alexandra said as she tapped at the controls in the table in front of her, bringing up a system schematic on the screen in the conference room. “I took the liberty of looking over the assets and population centers in system. While we cannot enclose the entire system and prevent cloaked ships from coming in, we can place probes in strategic locations to protect some assets and force any ships under cloak to take certain paths, which could then be monitored by more conventional means.”
“Offer the semblance of oversight to funnel attackers towards certain targets,” Nagahi said as she tapped at the desk. “Discussed this with Captain Bennet?”
“Not yet. There was no point bringing this suggestion to him until such time as we had the resources to actually undertake such a plan,” Alexandra said in response.
“Well, far be it from me to stop you. Grr’Rrall, any objections?”
“None. I’ll ask some of my people to look at torpedo conversion kits,” the large gorn said. “We won’t leave Explorer toothless Captain,” he said to reassure his commanding officer, “but another twenty or thirty probes would likely be better than torpedoes in reserve.”
“Alright, be about it then.”
To: Captain Bennet, Commander, USS Discovery; Commander, Task Force 17
From: Captain Sudari-Kravchik, Executive Officer, Task Force 17
Re: Pocket Tachyon Detection Grid
Sir,
USS Explorer continues en route to the Haydorian system to meet up with the rest of the fleet. We are currently undertaking emergency work to convert all probes aboard ship in inventory as well as a number of photon torpedoes into probes as per the attached and previously submitted design specifications.
We will not have enough probes for deployment around the system to prevent cloaked starships entering the system, but will have enough to encapsulate specific locations and shipping lanes. My thoughts are that with this we can present the impression of defence where we have minimal to no defences and therefore lure any attackers to attack locations of our choosing where they can utilise their stealth advantage most effectively.
I have submitted draft locations across the Haydorian system for deployment. We will be ready to begin initial deployment upon arriving in system.
I should warn you sir that these probes will only have a limited endurance before running out of power unless some form of beamed power solutions can be arranged. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to solve this problem and have a significant number of probes on hand at this time.
I look forward to your response sir on this plan and any suggestions you may wish to forward at that time.
Yours,
Captain Alexandra T’Rin Sudari-Kravchik
Executive Officer, Task Force 17
[Guest quarters]
“Commander,” Alexandra found herself saying to the face upon her computer screen, keeping her voice calm and controlled, “Can you explain to me why you can’t fulfil my logistics request?”
“Yes Captain,” the man in yellow said from the safety of an office on the far side of a comm channel, buried in the bowels of Starbase 27 and far from the front lines. “I am not sending out any ships unless I know they’ll make it to their destination in one piece and especially not a torpedo collier like you’re asking me to. It’s just not happening.”
“Commander, you have as fast collier there, the USS Speedy Gonzales, and enough torpedoes to make a sizeable minefield or two. Everyone else is either two busy chasing klingons or patching up starships to have had this thought but I have. I need you to load that ship up with as many torpedoes as possible and get it to the Haydorian system immediately. I’ve already filed the paperwork. Do I need to speak with Captain Bennet, who’ll only just have to speak with Admiral Beckett to get this done or will make both of our lives easier and just do as I’ve asked?”
She kept her cool, despite anger building in her blood. She’d only been speaking with this man, Commander Gavilor, for five minutes and already she wanted to scream, or punch something. Something that would be so contrary to the normally cool and collected persona she presented to the world at large. Something that her mother told her was just part of being romulan – living with your passions.
“I’m not going to be responsible for the death of any crewmembers aboard that ship,” Gavilor said.
“But you’ll be responsible for any deaths in Haydorian that a minefield could have prevented.”
There was quiet as the man contemplated that, considered it a moment more then seemingly deflated. “Gonzales will need time in the Haydorian shipyards if she runs at high warp the whole way there. It’s her only real defence.”
“I’ll push the Discovery out of dock myself if I have to,” she said, tasting victory as the man caved when he offered that admission. She knew the specs of the Gonzales and if he was saying that, it meant it would be running at emergency speeds. There were only a handful of modern ships that would be able to catch such a prize.
“Fine. I’ll get it loaded up and on its way before midday. God have mercy on their souls, and yours Captain if anything happens to them.” With that he cut the channel, leaving Alexandra to contemplate repercussions to her career if anything did happen to that ship.
She was ordering it out without escort, just speed, and lots of it. Circumstance had found the oddly fast collier in the sector, something she only noticed because she had the time to look things over from a logistical and administrative point of view. Surely someone had seen that ship yes? Likely, but nothing had been done. Nothing had been done until she had seen it, had an idea and bullied her way through administrative paperwork and logistical fiefdoms to make something happen.
Now, just how to tell her CO that one thousand torpedoes were about to be rushed to the front lines by a ship moving so fast that it would need examination before attempting a return trip?
[USS Explorer]
[Main Bridge]
“Anxious?” Captain Nagahi asked of the much younger woman beside her. Nagahi herself had to admit that she was getting on in years but this woman was way to young. She wasn’t a starship captain, she was an administrator though. But she’d read what she could, spoken with a few others during their travel times and everything she’d been told was that she was some sort of administrative genius. And a fair enough diplomat as well apparently.
“No, concerned,” Alexandra replied. Nagahi had made sure mentally to refer to this woman with her full name. She’d attempted Alex just once and been politely asked not to again. “I’m just hoping we have enough time to lay down enough of a grid to make this a worthwhile endeavour.”
“Ah, we’ll make it work,” Nagahi said, offering the half-romulan a smile. “Got my engineers, your SCE team you’ve got running around with you. We’ve got all of our shuttles and runabouts ready to carry off a couple probes each for the initial deployment. And Sevliq’s reworking of deployment to cut the number of probes needed for the major worlds means we can get those grids online quicker.”
“Yes. On that note, I’ve forwarded you a letter of thanks for their efforts. Your science officer is a most capable officer,” Alexandra said, again with little emotion, but Nagahi could see it. Before she let this woman off her ship, she was determined to get a proper smile, or a screaming fit out of her. One or the other.
“And they’re right here,” Sevliq said from their console. Their dark pink skin tone contrasted badly with science blue, but Uniform Services never picked uniform colours with Tevlikians in mind.
“Two minutes till Haydorian system,” came from the helm.
“Right, yellow alert please everyone. D’Ghor scouts could be probing the system, so let’s not take any chances. Ops, prepare to hail the flagship in system once we’re out of warp and tell them we’re beginning deployment phase 1 and will proceed to continue to deploy the Windchime Array until we’re done.”
“Windchime?” Alexandra asked.
“It needed a name besides pocket tachyon detection grid. Besides, it evokes the right imagery, at least for me.”
[USS Speedy Gonzales]
[Bridge]
“Well, what’s it looking like?” Lieutenant Ashmore said he stepped onto the very cramped bridge of his command. Though, to call a fast collier a command was a stretch, it was his and he was proud of it.
“Another twenty minutes and we’ll be in Haydorian. We’ve got permission to continue in system at warp until just prior to their asteroid belt. We’ll be deep enough in system that no one should be able to strike at us and even if they did, reinforcements will be with us in under a minute.”
Ashmore nodded as he processed that update from his nominal XO and helmsman, LtJG Dolittle. “Well Henry, guess they really want these torpedoes if we’re being cleared to run at this speed that far in system.”
“That and planetary alignment means we’re not going to be near anything interesting until we get to the asteroid belt.”
“Huh, didn’t even think of that,” Ashmore replied. “Guess that’s why you’re helm and I’m command.”
“Oh, and Maxine was up here earlier. She’s called ahead. We’ve got a slip waiting for us as soon as one of the cruisers clear out. She wants to give the warp drive a good looking over before we even try and initiate a warp field again. We’ve been running pretty hot boss for the last eighteen hours.”
“Oh yah. Probably should go check on her and T’lin. You good to keep on charge of things up here?”
[USS Explorer]
[Main Bridge]
“Jesus, who’s the crazy bastard?” came a shout from tactical.
The main viewscreen had been set to a system tactical display to let Nagahi and Alexandra try and get a wrangle of the local system shenanigans, with shuttles from both Endeavour and Odyssey running around the system. The shout had come from the warp signature that had just appeared on the edge of screen and bolted far in system in rapid succession before dropping subwarp.
“Speedy Gonzales? Who the hell is that?” came another voice.
“Cartoon figure from Earth known for running really fast,” Alexandra said. Research was a beautiful thing and just a little bit could make you the smartest person in a room. “That would be my order of one thousand torpedoes.”
Nagahi blinked and looked at the half-romulan, then her own XO, Commander Jiles, who was just smiling at the ‘oh that old thing’ revelation. “No one here needs a thousand torpedoes Captain.”
“We do if we’re building a minefield. Windchime covers some aspects of the system, those torpedoes will cover another. We’re going to be limiting the D’Ghor’s attack pathways which helps us maximise the ships we do have in system. As we don’t really have time to manufacture mines, I figured getting some from Starbase 27 and repurposing them was a good idea.”
Nagahi nodded in understanding. “You know; how you got a ship to bring us that many torpedoes into a warzone, without an active war being declared, I’ll have to ask about after this is over. In the meantime, how are we going to deploy these?”
“Deployment plan baker detaches shuttles Camembert and Feta to assist the Gonzales in her deployment of the minefield. It will slow setup of Windchime, but we should hit minimal viable product within twenty hours.”
“Geez…you are an administrator. Right, bring up this plan baker. Jerry, call around the system, see if anyone has spare shuttles or the such that help us or the Gonzales out.”
“Aye ma’am!”
[USS Explorer]
[Bridge]
With Captain Nagahi and her XO having both been dragged off the bridge to address a developing crew issue, something about a fight between two security officers, Alexandra found herself the senior most ranked officer on the bridge by at least two ranks and actually the senior in age as well but only by a few years at most. As the ship was just carrying out simple tasks, Nagahi had left the bridge in her hands seeing as her second officer was currently off duty.
It was...daunting actually. Yes, she had a fourth pip on her collar, yes she had done command courses and passed them with flying colours, but her only real experience commanding a starship was senior officer of the watch on a previous posting. Commanding a back office unit aboard a starbase was a different matter.
All of this explained why she had stayed in the third bridge seat, instead of moving over to the center seat as Nagahi had offered before leaving the bridge.
“Windchime 2 is complete ma’am,” the tactical officer reported. “All shuttles are returning to the barn and we’ll be able to proceed to Windchime 3 in about ten minutes.”
“Very good. Helm, plot a course for Windchime 3 co-ordinates and prepare a short warp jump,” Alexandra commanded from her seat. At least she could give off the air of command and responsibility, like any good manager. That was really what it was about right? Managing your crew and letting them do their jobs.
“Warp 2 will get us there in...two minutes ma’am,” the young human male said from the helm. That was better than the couple of hours at impulse to cross the system. “Plus about five minutes moving to safe distances.”
“Contact...klingon bird of prey approaching at warp. SS Hornet as we’ve been informed ma’am.” Again from tactical. She really did need to learn that woman’s name, but had slipped her mind with more important details.
“Thank you, Lieutenant. Lieutenant Bolin, please hail the Hornet and inform them of our intent to move to Windchime 3 and they can meet us there. Also, ask them if they have any spare probe or torpedo casings we might be able to take off their hands for more windchimes.”
“Can you believe it?” Ryker’s voice echoed throughout the bridge for it was only him, Vakai, Gomo and Sivol. The rest were in engineering. “We do this one mission to get some intel that could be good or crap, that could very well have been suicidal, and we all get promoted. Aside from Sivol, I am so sorry.”
Sivol raised a brow. “I do not understand the need to apologize. I for one was not originally a member of your team. I am only here temporarily until this conflict is over. Then I will likely be reassigned to a different vessel as a more permanent assignment.”
Vakai skimmed over the letter on the klingon data PADD before handing it back to Sivol. One that was about their promotions, one that he has read over several times already and at the moment, he could feel himself on his way to the very goal he told his parents he would strive for. “Honestly I expected the Non-Coms to get two bumps than just one.” Then he turned his seat just enough to look up at Gomo as Sivol returned to her station. “After this conflict, I am going to want to speak to you and the rest of the Non-Coms before we all depart our separate ways. Got it?”
“I’ll be sure to pass on the word.” Said Gomo.
“Vakai.” Sivol spoke up.
“It’s Captain Vakai now.” Ryker told her.
“But he’s only a Junior Grade Lieutenant.” Sivol said with a frown.
“Yes but it’s an old naval tradition. Whoever is in command of a ship, regardless of rank, is called the ‘Captain’.” Ryker told her.
Sivol rolled her eyes.
Ryker gasped. “Was that an eye roll!? From a Vulcan?!”
“Ryker, pay attention to your displays.” Vakai told him before turning in his seat to look up at Sivol. “What is it?”
“Explorer just contacted us. They’re moving to the next grid that they call...Windchime Three, and would like for us to meet them there. They’re also requesting if we have any probes or extra torpedo casings that we could spare so that they can make more...Windchimes.” Sivol stood up from her station. “What are windchimes?”
Ryker smiled, “Windchimes are a decoration of sorts that we humans still use to this day. We basically hang them up outside and when there’s wind, depending on the-”
Vakai interrupted him. “She can look them up in the Starfleet’s Database. Sorry but you have a course to readjust and we have a response to give them.” Vakai pushed himself up from his seat and looked back at Gomo. “What do you think? This ship was originally complimented with fifty photon torpedoes. We stored an extra twenty-five, pretty much filling up almost every room on this ship to accommodate them. Think fifty torpedoes is all we really need to deal with the D’Ghor?”
Gomo sighed, “Well I don’t know how many of D’Ghors ships we will be dealing with and I would hate to run out of torpedoes. But I suppose that if we do, I can simply just shut down the torpedo launcher, divert power to the disruptor cannons and hope that we don’t fuse the cannon ports.”
Vakai tapped his chin. “I’m certain there’s going to be a ship near by that’ll resupply others if needed… Of course if no one else is guarding them, we may have to pull double guard duty to ensure we don’t lose those supplies. But if not, then we’ll just have to risk it and throw everything else we have at them.”
“The only other thing we’d be able to throw at them after our torpedoes are spent and cannon ports fuse, is ourselves.” Gomo told him.
Vakai pointed at Gomo. “And escape pods. We could rig those puppies to be some nasty bombs.”
The look on Gomo’s face brightened right up. “If we load them up with some antimatter canisters, they would be very nasty bombs indeed.”
“Let’s save that as a last resort.” Vakai winked at him before looking at Ryker. “ETA?”
“We should be dropping out of warp...now.” He said as the streaks of stars were replaced with the system before them on the main viewer. They had been traveling at emergency speeds, luckily it didn’t take them six hours to get here or they would have surely burnt out the coils.
Vakai turned to look at Sivol. “Inform the Explorer that we await for their arrival. We will have twenty-five torpedoes for them to take and use as they see fit. Gomo mark the torpedoes for transport.”
Sivol nodded her head. “I will send the message.”
“Oh that should be easy,” Said Gomo. “All I have to do is mark the torpedoes that are not where they’re actually supposed to be. Crew quarters, mess hall…” Gomo continued on but Vakai drowned him out as he turned his attention back to the view screen.
“Just be ready with the shields, Gomo. I want our weapons hot but our shield generators on stand by. As soon as Explorer gets her torpedoes, raise the shields.” Vakai told him before hitting the comm to engineering. “Gomez. Hope you got all them batteries hooked up and ready.”
“We’re all set down here. Let the D’Ghor come.” Said Gomez over the intercom.
Now they just wait for the Explorer to show up.
The site of the Explorer dropping out of warp wasn’t a long wait. The ship had launched itself across the starsystem just briefly, taking it from one celestial body to another outside of the respective safe zones for such low warp speeds. While it wasn’t normal for a ship to use warp drive to get around a star system, Alexandra had sought and received such permissions in order to expedite the Windchime deployments. Soon enough Gonzales would be doing the same as it started to deploy it’s minefields.
Hailing Hornet, Alexandra came up on screen, still from the third bridge seat, though which was the third really did depend on the XO of any given ship. But yes, she was a captain, not in the center seat, as this wasn’t her ship. “Hornet, Explorer here. Standby and we will begin lifting designated torpedoes from you momentarily. Are you also capable of deploying probes by any chance if we supplied some to you?”
Vakai watched as the Explorer appeared on their screen from warp and it wasn’t long until the main viewer changed to a woman sitting in one of the seats by the Captain’s chair. He did notice her pips but he wasn’t going to say anything about it. He just knew that there was more than the eye can see. “We’re standing by. My weapons officer should have the ones you want marked. As for deploying probes…” He turned to look at Gomo.
“That is a good question. We are flying a stolen D12 B’Rel Class Bird of Prey. But while we were docked with Starbase Twenty-Seven, getting our little bit of upgrades here and there, I did take the time to physically study the torpedo launcher and I do believe it is capable of deploying probes. But remember, these ships were more meant for combat, not a lot of need for probes.” Gomo explained.
Vakai turned back to the view screen. “I don’t think it would be too much of a problem. But if either you or the Gonzales comes under fire, we will back you up, probes or no probes.”
“Understood Hornet. We will send over the Windchime Betas over to you. They are converted torpedoes so should be suited for deployment. Please be aware they need minimal launch speeds as their station keeping thrusters are minimal.” Alexandra waved for comms to be cut, but stopped with a hand held up. “Maintain your presence around Explorer if possible, please. I have made arrangements for the defence of Gonzales outside of her visible shuttle cover.”
Indeed, Gonzales was still in close orbit of Haydorian, waiting under the guns of two Starfleet cruisers and the planetary defense grid, for her escorts from Explorer to arrive. But the rest of the cover was a surprise she had arranged with a new Starfleet contractor who had remained in the system. She had also spoken rather directly with the Lieutenant in command of the freighter, informing him of his orders to retreat back to Haydorian if the Windchimes so much as squeaked or any single ship roaming the system went to red alert.
Vakai nodded his head, “Copy that. We won’t go too far. Hornet out.” Vakai then turned to Gomo as Sivol ended the comm link with Explorer. “Rearrange the torpedoes we have in the torpedo bay and the launcher, I want those Betas loaded up and ready for launch.”
“Good thing for site to site transports and automated systems. Otherwise this would take a considerable amount of time.” Gomo said as his fingers started dancing around on his console, entering commands to get the job done.
“Which is one good thing the Klingons were able to do. Make a ship requiring so little crew to operate and still get the job done.”
“We are getting the coordinates to deploy the Betas, Captain.” Sivol announced.
“Good. Transfer that information to both Gomo and Ryker’s stations. Let’s get to it.” Vakai told him before he sat back down in his seat.
“Betas are on board and loading up the first one.” said Gomo.
“Plotting course to the first area.” Ryker announced.
“Remember what the Explorer said.” Vakai told Gomo.
“Minimal launch speeds, got it.” Gomo answered. “Programming and locking onto the first target now.”
“Full stop. Fire when ready.”
“Answering full stop.” said Ryker.
“Firing the first Beta.” Said Gomo, as they watched as it appeared on screen seconds later and headed off to its target. “Inputting the second target, loading up the next Beta.”
“Sivol. While these gentlemen work, I want you to keep an eye on those sensors.” Vakai ordered.
“Aye, sir.” replied Sivol.
[USS Explorer]
[Bridge]
“Welp, that’s the last of them Captain,” Nagahi said as she stepped up beside Alexandra at the Mission Ops II console. The displays were showing the status of the Windchime setups and right now was indicating that the last of the probes were now off of the Explorer and either in the hands of the Hornet or the last two shuttles that had launched to deploy probes.
All in all, only five Windchime Arrays were able to be set up within the Haydorian system, but it was five more then none. And all of them would burn out within a few days, a week at most as emitters were tasked with tasks on the edge of the capabilities and power supplies started to fail. Windchime 1 was already showing failure modes on primary emitters.
“I…I am…cautiously optimistic about the state of the Array,” Alexandra said as her attention shifted to the status displays of the probes in Windchime 1. That array was spread out to cover a couple of asteroid mining operations, to spot and alert any cloaked ships and give he defenders in the system a chance to respond.
“Hey, the bosses are saying they’ve just brought the Archanis Array online, we’re ready to bring Windchime 5 online soon and you can report that to Captain Bennett. And I hear your minefield is coming along nicely. Though, I just spent five minutes talking with Lieutenant Ashmore. Apparently, the Gonzales is detecting a very faint tachyon surge following them.”
Alexandra actually smiled at that. Well, more of a smirk actually as she looked towards Nagahi to see if the woman was telling the truth. The look on her face confirmed it and the smirk grew slightly. “I guess I should let the Lieutenant know he’s not to worry. That and with Odyssey out of dock, he can get his ship in for refit. I’m sure that’ll make his engineer happy.”
“Not to worry about it?” Nagahi asked, brow furrowing slightly. “You didn’t sic some cloaked band of pirates on that ship as an escort, did you?”
“If I had, I would remind you Captain that Captain Rourke officially delivered a Starfleet letter of authorisation to the…Vondem Rose I believe, for salvage operations.”
Nagahi shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. “You know, did some reading on your family history. Not quite sure where your sneakiness stems from, but I’m glad you’re on our side. Means I don’t have to be wondering what crazy multi-layered schemes I’m wondering into. Now, I think you need to report the Windchimes are ready, I should probably go report that Explorer is free to rally with the fleet wherever Captain Bennett wants us.”
“That Captain sounds like a plan.”
To: Captain Zack Marshall-Bennett, USS Discovery
From: Captain Alexandra Sudari-Kravchik, Task Force 17 XO
Subject: Windchime Array online
Sir,
I wish to report that with the assistance of Captain Nagahi and the crew of the USS Explorer and the crew of the SS Hornet, we have completed the installation of 5 Windchime Arrays within the Haydorian system. They are by no means complete, but we have covered vulnerable outer system installations with these tachyon detection grids to allow for system defenders to respond, or for evacuation flights to depart ahead of enemy attacks.
USS Speedy Gonzales is also completing mine deployment along 3 likely vectors of attack for D’Ghor forces. I suspect the fields will not last long as they are mostly static torpedoes repurposed, but as a surprise element they will certainly be interesting. While I suspect the field will be more effective against some larger ships, smaller klingon ships will likely have a bad time of it should they impact a mine directly.
All mines have been equipped with IFF recognition, including those of the Hornet and Vondem Rose in order to prevent unfortunate accidents.
I would like to take this time now Captain to make myself available for assignment wherever the Task Force requires me for the upcoming conflict.
Sincerely,
Captain Alexandra Sudari-Kravchik
Task Force 17 Executive Officer