#38 A funny thing happened on the way home...

Posted on Fri Jul 8th, 2022 @ 5:14pm by Captain Rogue Green {Meji} & Chief Warrant Officer Niraasha "Nira" Whisperwind

Mission: A Patrol and Supply mission
Location: USS Nile
Timeline: current/somewhere in between

ON:

Having left the Sol system, Green and Nira sat on the runabout Bridge as they had the small starship moving through the cosmos at warp eight. The USS Nile hadn't had her legs stretched in quite some time, so a little test of her warp capabilities was required. No matter how it got done. Nira had been plenty fine with it, not wanting to nap for hours once she 'ported them to wherever the hell Amandora was now. Last log showed that they were still at Tython.

"I think they are liking sun and turf," said Nira as she sat in the co-pilot's seat.

Green had been looking inward. Far out across the galaxy she could feel her acolyte Zenni. Could sense the positive ripples in the Core as she could feel her apprentice growing in power with each passing day. A light bleeping began to sound which brought Green out of her semi-meditation as Nira called up the transmission.

What appeared to be a freighter captain or crew member came up on her holographic display. The one Green had installed herself based on the tech from her alternate galaxy. She had found the right components and tech here to make them work. On their end all they would get was the old flat screen imagery of Green. This galaxy really needed to up its game for what was coming. "This is the freighter and colonial transport Paragon..." The transmission fuzzed really bad as it cut off a portion of what this man was saying. "We have been attacked and are on emergency power. They are trying to board but we have our shields up, still. That is costing...great amount of drain. We canno...longer."

Green tapped the console comm. "This is Commander Green of the USS Nile. We are receiving your transmission but you're breaking up. Can you read me?"

"Barely...SS Nile. Please, hurry! Our power is droppi...ast." Then the transmission went completely fuzzy and white noise.

Nira looked over while she began to get a lock on where the transmission came from. "Jammed at the source, Commander. Orders?"

"You know damn well what we need to do, Chief." Green adjusted course as Nira brought up the coordinates. "Get the ship set for tactical variant. Looks like a two hour flight to where they are, and that's quite a stretch of light years at this velocity."

Nira set herself on the edge of her seat as her hands were gliding over the panels and tapping keys with ease and precision. The USS Nile was now in battle settings, with weapons & defense getting more power shunted to them once they dropped to sublight. She just hoped they would get there in time to make a difference.

Green kept herself focused but relaxed, the Core left to itself. It would let her know of developments as they went.

***

The Nile dropped from warp nine, going to full impulse as they saw a star system ahead of them. It was chock full of planetary debris as the system was still settling from its creation, the star here working hard for billions of years to get it to this point. Some day there may be an earth-like planet here, but not today. Instead it presented a debris filled space between planets and moons, with whole asteroid fields still spinning and swirling as they orbited their sun.

Nira's focus was on the sensors. "Nothing yet. Lots of interference due to the debris. Miners should come out this way. Sensors detect several metallic elements within the asteroids and ice packs."

Green said nothing, piloting on instinct while the Core flew for her and reached out to find any life among the rocks and ice. Concentrating, Ro continued to pilot the ship forward, slowing to half impulse as she weaved between asteroids and planetesimals.

"Got it," Nira said suddenly, sitting up in her seat more. "Bearing zero-eight-seven mark three-five. 85,000 kilometers and closing."

Green was fully back into the moment. "Have they seen us? And, how many are there?"

"No indication they have spotted us yet, but there are three Orion blockade runners surrounding a Yridian freighter. A converted destroyer turned cargo ship, if scans are reading correctly, Master."

"I can assure you they are," Ro responded. An idea came to mind so she began to tap at her own console. "Shunt aux power to shields and maneuvering thrusters and reduce life support by 25% to add to it. That means inertial dampeners, too, Chief. It may get a bit bumpy because of it so strap in."

Nira had no issues with that, setting her safety harness. "I can handle the cold, Commander, can you?"

"The Core will provide, Acolyte Nira. I'll be fine." Green took in a breath and let it out with a crisp exhale. "Okay, here we go. Arm photons and phasers, shields full power forward." The Nile accelerated forward at full impulse as Ro cleared the asteroid cluster they had been flying through, coming out into a clear patch where the Orions had obviously towed the freighter by tractor beam. She could see and sense the three vessels seeing the runabout and the anxiety of their crews as they began to react. "Full barrage, Chief, that ship closest to us."

"Gladly, Commander." Nira did as ordered, setting the photon launcher attached to the top of the ship for full battle scenario. The aft section of the closest blockade runner lit up with shield impacts as Nira unleashed hell with phaser emitters as she launched a spread of four micro-torpedoes. As soon as she finished launching the torps Green put the Nile on her port side as she made an evasive maneuver to the port, using the freighter as cover while she zoomed under it and came out the other side.

The other two blockade runners were playing cover for the one attacked since it was attached to the freighter as it was offloading their cargo during the piracy action. Both blockade runners fired happenstance, with the Nile taking impacts several times while Ro maneuvered far better than Nira thought possible in this runabout. Several of the more volatile disruptor shots missed them by mere meters as Green rolled, turned, dove, and ascended. All this while Nira continued to fire her own potshots for affect.

The Nile rumbled as it took a direct hit to the aft causing the secondary station behind Green to pop and fizz, sending sparks and smoke cascading into the air. Nira popped off. "Can we avoid that, please!"

Green, her own frustration being felt at the blow, responded with her own snarky tone. "Not helping!" Another blast of disruptor energy came their way and Green rolled and dove at the last second and avoided the hit, the energy skimming over her shields but not impacting with any amount of true damage. "By the Core that's enough!" Ro yelled as she activated the stick instead of using station keys to pilot, now having a far better range of movement. It would strain the maneuvering system but that was fine compared to ending up flash burnt, and flash frozen, chunks of meat floating in space. Nira saw what she had planned as Green came about and faced the two ships head on. "All power to forward shields! Send those torpedoes directly into their Bridge, Chief!"

With the stick in hand Green had control over forward phaser fire and she used it to its full capacity, pressing the thumb button as lances of energy connected the three vessels with a lethal filament. She weaved and wagged as she went but stayed true to her course as the disruptor impacts on the forward shields lit up the viewport to where Green and Nira both had to avoid their eyes and squint with each flash. The Bridge was filled with acrid smoke from the overloaded manifolds, the blowers cut down to 50% for added power. Nira pressed the photon key as they got within point blank range. "Torpedoes away!"

Green immediately went to evasive starboard and rolled into a dive, once more using the freighter and the connected blockade runner as cover. The Nile had taken a beating and they would need to do some repairs before heading back to Dora, but they would survive this with ship intact. How intact remained to be seen.

The torpedoes, four coming out in rapid fire succession, impacted the command deck of the blockade runner. The Bridge blew out and bodies could be seen as they were blasted into space by the vacuum. That blockade runner was dead in the water for power, emergency power slowly flickering and lighting up only half of the windows along its hull. The third runner began to turn away and headed for the asteroid field and cover. The first, which could only be the lead ship, stayed connected to the freighter.

Green kept circling the freighter as she looked to the sensors. The ship that had ran got clear and jumped to warp, leaving their companions behind. There is no honor among thieves, she thought. "They will have the crew captured and held. They will threaten them with death if we don't let them go. Any ideas, Acolyte Nira?"

"Transport over, kill them all, save the crew." Nira looked at Green matter-of-fact, giving an uncaring shrug. For her the choice was easy. Those who prey on the weak and innocent deserve to be punished, and sometimes that punishment meant death, pure and simple.

"I agree," stated Green. "However, should they surrender they are to be spared, Acolyte. That is an order, Chief." Ro went with both sides of their being, making sure the loopholes were covered.

"Yes, Master Ro." Nira stood and gathered her weapons. Daggers, bow and quiver, and her bracers with Eldritch symbols all over them. Green was in her own Meji garb, the sleeveless leather top and form fitting pants with leg greaves and gauntlets with built in bracers (new bio pic).

Each woman took a transporter enhancer and placed it beneath their bracers, for the return trip back to Nile. The runabout would be on security lockdown so long as they were gone and the enhancer would allow them to beam back by use of the computer. Green had picked an area aboard the freighter that would not be watched, deep in the bowels of the engineering machinery, and far from any ambush the Syndicate might have in store for them. Once locked in the two ladies stepped onto the two-person transporter pad and disappeared into an energy pattern.

TBC...

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