Pure Energy

Posted on Tue Jan 8th, 2019 @ 12:58am by Captain Cynthia Jackson & Lieutenant JG Eric Thornton & Ensign T'Peal & Lieutenant Commander Charlotte Hudson & Lieutenant Zoe Cayce & Lieutenant JG Neza Glenn & Lieutenant JG Ayden Kennett

982 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Mission 1 - Klingons on Starboard Bow
Location: Legacy Bridge in the Vicinity of K-6
Timeline: 2261.189 2210

Zoe had cried out that there was a direct hit on the other vessel. Cindy was about to give an order when the viewscreen showed the mysterious ship materializing out of nowhere. It was there for less than half a second. From it burst forth a ball of energy that continued to grow in size as it expanded from the firing ship. The ball of energy disguised when the ship disappeared.

Cindy called out, "FULL REVERSE! Bec, take the helm! Neza, readings on this thing now!"

Eyes going wide at the viewscreen, Neza quickly kicked on full sensors. But she didn't need the full sensors to tell her what was about to happen. "Energy readings are off the charts! Plasma readings, and they are expanding!"

"We won't be able to outrun it," came Ayden's voice sounding panicked as he looked over at Cindy. "It's faster than we are."

"Shields are at maximum," Zoe called out.

Bec practically leapt to the helm console. Her fingers flew over the screen before she'd even deposited herself in the seat. "What do you want me to do Cindy? If we can't outrun this thing..." she asked, not looking up. "Wait, is this a one directional shot, can we move, in a sense, sideways and get out of its way?"

Unfortunately for Zoe, the energy coming directly at Legacy interfered with her scans and the tetryon particles could not be found.

Cindy shrugged at Bec. "There's nothing to be lost by trying. We do not know what it can do, Bec. IT just seems to be getting larger. Try another direction and keep those shields at maximum facing that plasma energy."

"Alright, moving us to port, hoping this thing is a fire in one direction kind of weapon," Bec said as she furrowed her brow, a hit of nervousness creeping into her voice, but she did what she could to hide her fear. "Concentrating shields on the starboard side."

Watching the sensor scans, Neza glanced over at the viewscreen before looking back at them. “I don’t know if turning away will help. It’s still expanding!”

Ayden realized how much more power they would need to the shields and quickly worked with engineering, trying to get as much reserve power he could without completely emptying what they had.

Bec swore under her breath and punched in more commands. "I need more power to the engines as well," she muttered, trying to do her best to increase their likelihood of getting the hell out of here. "Kennett what auxiliary systems can we shut down to reroute power?"

Hearing his name, Ayden was already on top of it. "Very little, but I'll get you all that I can!" He started shutting down some of the auxiliary systems that wouldn't be needed in the middle of all this.

All the while, the blazing ball of plasma energy was getting larger in their screen, though through Bec's efforts, scans were reading they were no longer in the center of the blast that was oncoming. Ensign T'Peal, in a calm but quiet voice reported, "Captain, 30 seconds until impact."

"We're not clear," Neza called from science, "But we're not in the direct line anymore."

"Bec, get us as far out of its path as possible and keep us backing away from its direct path!" Cindy called out.

Ensign T'Peal called out again, "25 seconds until impact."

"I'll do what I can," Bec called over her shoulder, pushing them to maximum warp. "Maximum warp, we can't get any faster..." she said aloud, praying it would be enough to get them out of the main path.

"I can't promise the warp field will hold with that thing coming at us," stated Ayden from the engineering controls on the bridge. "But that's all the power I can give the engines without blowing them."

Neza shook her head. "Any part of that hits us...it isn't going to be pretty."

So, is this how my first command ends? In an explosion on the first mission? Cindy silently wondered to herself. The screen was now filled with nothing more than plasma energy. "Shields to maximum, drop from warp. We can't outrun it."

Neza’s heart sunk. She turned away from the viewscreen, not wanting to see this. She already knew she was going to feel it.

Shifting power from anywhere he could, now to shields, Ayden glanced over towards helm, towards Bec, only for a moment.

Bec kept her focus on the helm, frowning as she dropped them into impulse, still trying in vain to get them out of the epicenter of this blast. All she could hope now is that keeping the shields concentrated on the blast side, they could at least mitigate the damage. In this moment, potentially her last moment, she had no words, no snarky remarks, just an emptiness as she realized the potential she could never see realized, of herself and of the crew.

T'Peal continued her countdown....

"5 seconds until impact.

"4

"3

"2

"1....

Cindy kept her eyes forward, trying to will the blast to go away. Even in her last moments, she was not going to let the crew down. She remained proud and told her crew calmly, "Brace for impact."

Bec held on to her console but remained sitting upright and proud. She was not going to show any weakness as they faced their potential destruction. She said a silent prayer to any 'god' that could be out there, listening to her, asking that the crew and Cindy be saved.

Hearing the brace for impact, Neza found something to hold onto, making sure her grip was tight. Her first mission out...and this. She let her eyes close as she did her best to calm herself.

Ayden's eyes stayed locked on the viewscreen, his engineering mind running at warp speed, but he knew there was nothing more he could do.

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