[Galaxy] 2161.09.25- I am become death...

[SkinnyElvisDaddy at aol.com]

~Yorktown Bridge~

Sweat began to build  on the Andorian's forehead, slowly gathering and 
running down the side of his  face in a small stream. He would have raised a 
hand to wipe it away, but he dare  not take his hands from the helm controls. 
Outside, the viewscreen showed the  Romulans again massing for an attack on 
the already seriously damaged freighter.  By now, the fleet ships and their 
Andorian allies had gotten close enough to the  moon shipyard that the base's 
own defensive gun emplacements now opened fire on  the rag tag grouping.

"Nat, target those  guns. The Oregonian will never make it past them. Use 
Bolenski's teacups on them  if you have to, but we have to reduce them."

Nat  replied, "Right Java." He aimed the pulse cannon and  fired.

Beams of focused energy lanced out  from the Yorktown, striking the Romulan 
base. After a few moments, a great flash  and a plume of energy erupted 
from the impact  sight.

"Nice shooting Nat. Make sure to  tell Bolenski that he's earned his money."

Nat  smiled and tapping the comm button, he said, "Good job  Bolenski."

Suddenly, the ship shuddered and  a shower of white hot sparks erupted from 
around the command chair causing most  of the bridge crew to shield 
themselves from the flying  particles.

"Sir... we have incoming fire  from our five O'clock. I'm sorry sir, I 
never saw  them."

"Probably cloaked, it's not your  fault mister." Da'nak said as he flung 
the Yorktown into a nimble barrel  roll, spiraling downward. In the middle of 
the maneuver, he hit full  starboard thrusters, turning the Fighting Lady to 
face her attacker,  catching the Romulan off guard. It was a bird of prey.  
The Andorian's face twisted into a deep scowl, his antennae dropping  low 
as he recognized the markings on the hull. It was the same ship  that they 
had tailed to Xantia, the one that had stolen the data from his  brother's 
ship. He opened a channel to the armory.

"Mister Cameron, Mister Bolenski...." He said through gritted teeth. "Do  
whatever you have to, but I want that ship brought down."

Nat let the BOP have a spread of torpedoes. He was rewarded with a  massive 
explosion.

~Below decks~

"Yeah  yeah yeah- shoot the bad guys, then do it again, and again..."  Mac 
typed  in the battle over ride commands on the computer system to shoot down 
the  irritating pest that refused to die.  "With as much ionization and  
radiation that's outside the hull no way can anything stay  cloaked..." 
Yorktown shuddered under the impact of more hits, the vibration  sending 
shockwaves up from the deck into the soles of his "boondocker" boots  causing pain in 
the ankles and knees. 

Then a  song from the back of Bolenski's mind caused his mouth to sing.  It 
was a  very very old song, a song sung by Army soldiers for hundreds of 
years.  A  song of deep spiritual significance but only if you're military...it 
was time to  sing a hymn.  "Hymn, hymn, Fu-*coughing and choking on smoke* 
hymn!"  Bolenski snarled as his fingers danced across the keyboard releasing 
death and  destruction.  "Man, if I had a date and showed her what I was 
doing?   Now that'd be showing her a good time!"  The phase cannons fired 
straight  up towards the high plane of ecliptic- one of the enemy ship captains 
had gotten  smart and instead of keeping the battle in a horizontal plane 
had decided to  attack from above.

Mac started to sweat blood to add  to the salty tang of his normal fear as 
he did the mental calculations.   NX's spatial torpedo loadouts is 60 
forward and 30 aft for a total of 90  shots.  Between the heavy battles up to this 
point, and turning the   "spacials" into "specials" had lowered their 
available warshots down to a  dangerous level of 10 forward and 4 in the after 
launcher.  Slamming the  wall mount communicator on Bolenski shouted to 
Cameron "Sir, we need to get out  of here- we're almost dry on ammo!  10 forward, 
4 after- we need to pull  back to a missile collier or continue the battle 
with cannons- Armory  out"

Suddenly there was a lull in the battle.   Roaring at the top of his voice 
Mac shouted the following "LISTEN UP!   WE'RE ALMOST DRY ON TORP LOADOUTS!  
TORPEDO CREWS BREAK OUT YOUR  TOOL KITS- ASSIST PHASE CANNON CREWS ON 
REPAIRS AS REQUIRED WHEN WE'RE  DRY!  CARRY ON!' 

~Bridge~

Da'nak  simply nodded and spun out of range of the fireball as the Romulan 
ship  exploded, engulfing a smaller vessel that had moved in beside it to 
render  assistance.

"Mister Mendez, contact the  Oregonian and get an ETA. We're not going to 
be able to stay here much  longer."

"Aye, sir.", replied the comm officer, trying to  focus on what was coming 
through his earpiece. "I... cannot get a reply from the  Oregonian. Their 
communications are down, no doubt about it, sir.", he said out  loud, so 
Da'nak could hear him. Next to him, one crewman was trying to put out a  fire 
with a lousy fire extinguisher. "Hold on! Commander Quirra from the  Andorians 
is hailing us. They are in a pretty bad shape: another ship down, and  they 
are reporting heavy damage. Requesting instructions..."

"Tell them to get clear. There's nothing more they can do here. This  whole 
sector is going to be one big fireball in about fifteen  seconds."

A few seconds passed as Mendez exchange words with the  Andorian comm 
officer. "Sir, Quirra doesn't seem pleased to leave the  battlefield, but 
acknowledged. They are retreating now...". Mendez was then  interrupted by another 
officer's report.   

"Sir! Scanners report impact of the Oregonian! She's starting  to break up 
sir!"

"They're still going to need a  minute. What is Intrepid's position?"

"She's moving  into transporter range now sir... Sir! There's a Romulan 
battleship closing on  her position!"

"When she transports Yearly and  Armstrong aboard she'll be a sitting 
duck!" Da'nak's face took on a look of  determination. "We're moving to 
intercept, Nat be prepared to hit that thing  with whatever we've got." He looked 
down at the helm controls, remembering Dax'  promise of a power boost.

Nat replied, "You got it  Java." He started checking for the numbers of 
torpedoes left and power supply to  the pulse cannons.

"Let's hope engineering can follow  through on it's magic promises." He 
said as he keyed the thrusters, dumping the  extra power into them. The 
Yorktown surged forward just as twin beams of green  energy knifed from the Romulan 
ship toward the Intrepid. Da'nak rolled the  Fighting Lady directly into 
the line of fire, absorbing the damage meant for her  sister ship. Sparks 
rained down all around the bridge. One console exploded,  sending the poor 
crewman manning it flying back over the command chair. Debris  flew everywhere.

"Commander!" Came the hurried call  from sciences. "Hull plating has been 
completely lost. We're reading breaches on  decks E,F, and G! Sickbay 
reporting multiple emergencies."

Da'nak nodded. There was little he could do until he got them out of  
danger. "Mr. Mendez, tell them to do the best they can." He looked at the helm  
board again, there was a flashing red light over the warp drive. "Nat, keep 
them  busy. Mister Mendez, patch me through to engineering."

"There you go, Commander..." replied Mendez. As soon as he  established the 
internal link as ordered, he tried to reach his ship, the  Intrepid. No 
response came in. "Intrepid, do you copy? We'll hold the bandits  until you get 
our people. We're engaging the rommies, pick up our guys and get  the hell 
out of here!"





"Engineering, this is Commander Ca'daar.  Is anyone there?"

Waving off the very annoying hand of a medic  trying to assess Dax's now 
bleeding head wound she hit the comm button to open  the channel. "Barely here 
commander, but none the less we are!". Taking a moment  to glance around 
her battered engine room, fires had erupted near the  anti-matter injectors 
which was being determinately combated by two crewman with  fire extinguishers.

"I'm reading a disruption in the  warp drive. I don't think I need to tell 
you that we've overstayed our welcome  here. What are our options?" On the 
screen, he could see the Intrepid moving  off. His mind flashed to Yearly. He 
hoped they had managed to get everybody  off.

Getting a brief damage readout from her shattered console Dax  evaluated 
the situation, determining that the core and the EPS and plasma  networks were 
still functioning. "Commander I've diverted warp plasma into the  EPS grid 
to boost power to key system's that should shore up our defenses for a  few 
more seconds. As far as getting out of here, I got a couple of options. You  
want the slow and safe or the fast and dangerous?"


"Ensign, in  approximately thirty seconds half this sector is going to be 
reduced to  smoldering ash, more or less. I think slow and safe is out the 
proverbial  window."  


Struggling to maintain her balance with the ship rumbling  beneath her feet 
as the fighting lady takes another hit and battling her own  dizzying 
concussion.

"Right then, hope you got your piano gloves on cos  your gonna burn your 
fingertips on this one! I can shunt the plasma output from  the EPS grid back 
to the nacelles, however, the core is at warp 1 output. That  much energy 
being pumped into the nacelles which are still semi charged with  throw the 
ship to warp one in 1 or 2 seconds. The problem is the computer wont  have 
time to adjust the inertial dampeners to compensate fast enough as well as  
disengage the impulse engines to prevent disruption to the warp field. Those  
functions will rest on you" Dax heard the crewman indicate the fire on the  
injectors was out, and she held her forehead in an attempt to stave off 
another  dizzy spell.

"I can keep shunting power to the thrusters and hull plating  till you give 
me the word to go to warp, but at that exact time you need to  disengage 
the impulse engines and shunt the power from the impulse reactors to  the 
inertial dampeners at full forward projection. Else wise we will all end up  as 
paste on the bulkheads! No pressure, promise!"


"Frak!"  Da'nak said as another round of fire from the Battleship rocked 
the Yorktown.  More alarms and warning lights began to flash."Nat, give that 
thing everything  we have. Try and target it's propulsion. If 
we can knock it out, the freighter should do the rest.
 
Nat said, "Right Java." He let them have it with the pulse cannons
 
"Acknowledged engineering, but when this is over... somebody owes me a damn 
 cup of coffee!"  Da'nak 
wiped the sweat from his brow. He had always considered himself a hotshot  
pilot. Now was the time to fins out. On the screen he could see Intrepid  
peeling away. They must have them.
 
"On my mark Ensign... three, two, one... engage warp!"
 
Da'nak's hands played over the console as the entire ship began vibrating  
violently. The crewman who had been manning the science console was tossed  
roughly to the deck as everyone else clung on for their lives. Da'nak felt 
his  teeth might well rattle out of his head as the vibration built... then 
suddenly,  it was gone. He looked down at his instruments. They read warp one.
 
"We did it!" He yelled, spinning around in the helm chair. "We're clear.  
Ensign Valorum, to hell with the coffee, I owe you and the  engineering team 
a shot of Andorian Ale!"
 
Dax was standing on the core platform, 'was' being the  operative word. The 
force feedback of plasma through the grid had shorted out  more than a few 
relays in engineering, threatening the magnetic containment.  Working 
frantically through the rattle and flame of the ships sudden burst of  energy Dax 
and crewman Foster managed to keep a steady energy flow to the  containment 
field thanks in no small part to the spare batteries she had laying  around 
engineering in case the time should call for them. Which of course it  did. 

However after stabilizing the field the console ignited in one  final furry 
and protest from the core as if to say 'Don't you ever do that  again!'. 
The resulting explosion sent her flailing over the side rail and onto  the 
deck, fortunately for the most part landing on her legs. Using the rails to  
lift herself up as the vibrations stopped as the ship cleared the warp barrier 
 she took a glance around her poorly engine room and the brave crew that 
still  manned there posts, noticing a couple on the ground wounded. 
Fortunately that  medic was still around from earlier and was tending their wounds.   

Over the comm came commander Da'nak's voice "We're clear.  Ensign Valorum, 
to hell with the coffee, I owe you and the  engineering team a shot of 
Andorian Ale!"

In response "Sounds great  commander but right now some pain killers and 
bed rest sound tid bit more  appealing, Yorktown says she could use a day off 
to by the way, she told me that  by way of a free flying lesson, it'll be in 
my report, engineering out" Looking  around she noticed everyone's face 
being slightly a blur, not due to her new  found flight skills and still 
deserving landing ability but simply because she  lost her glasses. There's always 
something! "Great job everyone. Her crew  responded with smiles and nods.

As the crew began to breath a sigh of relief, behind them the counter on  
the bomb slowly ticked down to zero. There was a nanosecond pause, and then 
the  freighter exploded in a great rainbow flash of light. The reaction 
spread to the  dilithium, smashing everything around it. 
 
Chaos spread throughout the remaining Romulan ships. Those that could  
engaged their warp drives and ran, many more reacted too slowly and were  
absorbed by the spreading outflux of energy. 
 
When the explosion had finished, the moon and the shipyard were gone, and  
the Xantia sector lay a graveyard... strewn with the broken remains of  
war...
 
 
 
****Armory, Yorktown****
 
The flash of 100,000 tons of weapons grade dilithium almost flashblinded  
Ensign Bolenski- fortunately the auto brightness dampeners kicked in and 
reduced  the expanding ball of gaseous flame from "Incredibly blinding light" to 
"camera  flashbulb intensity".  Manually turning down the intensity to 
"merely  irritatingly bright" Mac turned to Petty Officer Tsung.  "Tell me, PO,  
do you remember what the second person said after Dr. Oppenheimer somewhat  
misquoted "I have become death, the destroyer of worlds" after he observed 
the  first atomic bomb going off?"  Tsung looked for a few moments  "No,  
can't say I do".  Mac quoted softly "Ken Bainbridge, the test director at  the 
first atomic bombsite told Oppenheimer, "Now we're all sons of  bitches."  
Pausing "There's going to be some very hard questions asked in  an inquiry- 
if we're lucky the Captain can deflect most of them, especially with  
Dan'nak to back her up.  The Head Shed, aka Star Fleet Headquarters also  known as 
"Hind Quarters" is going to want to know why we didn't offload 50,000  tons 
of weapons grade for our own Fleet use.  The astronomers are going to  want 
the Officer in Charges' head on a pike for display to other Ensigns"   
Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly "It'll take a few months but  
people are going to ask about the universes largest man made explosion.  I  
hope I have some answers for them by then"
 
Tsung looked at him questioningly "So whatcha gonna do?"  Mac poured  
another cup of coffee and looked down into it thoughtfully "I just discovered  
two things PO.  One, I have no idea why I drink gallons of coffee when I  
don't like the taste, the aroma or how often it makes me use the bathroom.   The 
second is I have no idea other than copy all sensor data, box it up, send 
it  to my attorneys and see if I can get this quashed politically in the back 
door  with a few gallons of whitewash."
 
Sick Berth Attendant Patterson came trotting on up "MAC!  You made  it!"  
Pssst! Of the hypo on Macs neck.  Glaring at him "Patt, please  tell me 
there's a REASON why you did that?"  Patt grinned evilly  "Oh  its just a mix of 
vitamins, minerals and stuff to make your new skin grow better  and faster.  
I could have given it to you orally but I like it when you  feel pain"   
Mac just glared at him "And you call yourself a  doctor...I've done better 
doc-"
 
"ATTENTION YORKTOWN!  STAND DOWN FROM BATTLESTATIONS, RESUME STANDARD  
WATCHES, EFFECT REPAIRS- CARRY ON!"  the overhead loudspeaker  bellowed.
 
Turning to Tsung "Petty Officer Tsung, please resume watches for  
operations, stand down the rest of the division as required for personal hygiene  
requirements"  Sniffing his own armpit and grimacing "Tsung, you have the  
watch- I'll be back after I shower to answer the tough difficult  questions"  
Glaring at Patterson "And YOU!  I'll deal with you  later,,,,I think its about 
time for Sickbay Personnel to brush up on their hand  to hand combat- make 
sure you bring a first aid kit for bruises!"

 
Andorian Commander Da'nak Ca'daar
Executive and Chief Helm Officer
NX-05 Yorktown
The Fighting Lady
 
            &
Lt. Commander Nat Cameron
Chief Armory Officer
NX-05 Yorktown
 
            &

LtJg. Arturo Mendez
Comm Officer
ESS Intrepid
 
            &
Ensign Mc Bolenski
Armory Officer
NX-05 Yorktown
 
            &

Ensign  Dax Valorum
Engineering Officer
NX-05 Yorktown

 

You ever dance with the devil in the pale moon  light?
I always ask that of all my prey...
I just like the sound of  it.....

Jack Nicholson- Batman
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