Boulder Hunting - Part 3
Posted on Thu Jun 22nd, 2023 @ 8:29am by Lieutenant JG Silica Tetsuhiko 'Twin-Tails' & Lieutenant Fubuki Kuchikukan 'Snowflake' & Ensign Rin Kagamine 'Twin 2' & Ensign Len Kagamine 'Twin 1' & Chief Warrant Officer Karuta Roromiya & Lieutenant Commander Moklor ‘Shell Squid’ & Lieutenant Iowa Riverside 'Grey Ghost' & Lieutenant JG Mika Fujimoto 'Pickpocket' & Lieutenant JG Palu Vraaku ‘Jumja’ & Lieutenant JG Masamune Busujima 'Lost Boy' & Ensign Saeko Busujima 'Crazy Horse' & Lieutenant JG Nozomi Kusuda 'Gemini' & Ensign Lynette Bishop 'Highlander' & Ensign Talanna Teela 'Nanny' & Ensign Sora Kobayashi 'Blank'
1,684 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission: Descent
Previously on Star Trek Tokyo...
"Fire!" Fubuki said as she opened fire on the asteroid with her phaser cannons. A strange green shimmer rippled across the asteroids surface as the phaser fire impacted it.
"Snowflake..." Silica said I'm shock.
"Yeah I saw that too. Since when did asteroids have shields?!" Fubuki asked. "Snowflake to Shell-Squid. We have a problem sir..."
And now the continuation...
From his vantage point, Sora was keenly observing the situation as it unfolded. he took note of his surroundings, and determined that there was a small gap between two large asteroids that would allow him to quickly double back and rendezvous with Yamaha Squadron. It would have to be fast, as the two asteroids were on a collision course with one another, but he'd run through this very scenario at least a hundred times in "Star Hawk;" he practically knew the song and dance by heart.
He grinned. This was child's play; he could take this.
=A=This is Blank,=A= he announced over the com channels. =A=Maneuvering to intercept, over.=A=
"Kobayashi, get back here!" Iowa futilely called out over comms.
But it was too late; Sora had already terminated communications and split off from his squadron, narrowly fording the gap before the asteroids collided with tremendous force.
"Damnit!" Iowa yelled.
"EEK!" Lynette yelped as their fighters were tossed about in the ensuing shockwave. "We're all gonna diiieeee-!"
=A=Calm down! We are not going to die, do you hear me?!=A= Nozomi shouted, attempting to maintain some form of order over this whole situation.
"Kusuda's right, Bishop:" Iowa responded. "Nobody is dying on my watch! Triumph squadron, those of you that are left; form up on me, and whatever you do, stay behind me and match my speed!"
Iowa knew that would mean running at less than full throttle, for her fighter had modified engines, but a real flying ace could get their plane (or starfighter in this case) out of trouble without pushing its limits, and lucky for her wingmen, Iowa was a flying ace, and she'd be able to get them back home without pushing her fighter's limits, even if her wingmen would have to push their fighters' limits to keep up.
What followed next was a series of complex aerial maneuvers that Iowa hadn't executed since she was in the Starfighter patrols in Sector 001. Iowa had to admit, her growth as a fighter pilot had really been stunted under the iron fists of D'Lar and Trigman, but now that they were out of the picture, the flower could now bloom to its fullest. Iowa whizzed and rolled through the gaps between asteroids all while keeping an eye on her navigation systems to ensure her wingmen were still on her.
After blasting apart an asteroid with her phasers, Iowa had brought her wingmen to the edge of the asteroid field, where they began to loop around to reenter it.
"Grey Ghost to Shell Squid;" Iowa radioed to Moklor. "Triumph got tangled up in some intense asteroids. We're looping back around to rendezvous at your location."
Moklor hadn’t spotted the asteroid at first. Yamaha had overshot the area, slipping by the stimulated asteroid before it crossed the path of the others.
He threw his fighter into a tight turn and spun back around just in time to see smaller asteroids bouncing off a larger one’s glowing shape.
“This is Shell-Squid to all fighters.. Intercept and destroy rogue asteroid marked target Omega.” Quick fingers ran his fighter’s computer commands to mark the dangerous asteroid for each fighter’s targeting system.
“I repeat”, said the Klingon.. “Converge and intercept.”
By the time Moklor finished speaking, Ensign Teela had thrown her fighter into a tighter turn and had begun out speeding him to the Asteroid. They caught up to it just as some of the others started to move in.
Bright amber glows caused by the firing of Ensign Teela’s phasers lit Moklor’s cockpit before he could get into range to fire.
Other fighters were approaching from multiple angles. It was dangerous, but this shielded threat had to be dealt with.
Ever one to try and show up his own squad-mates, Sora maneuvered for a close pass, set his phasers on full blast, and proceeded to let loose. Ripples of bright green light spread out across the surface of the asteroid, but when it became clear that he wasn't making any headway, Sora decided to up the anti and unload his entire stockpile of mirco-photon torpedoes on one concentrated spot, with the vague hope that the energy yield from the blast would be so intense, it would create a hole in the shields- if only for a few seconds- that would give him just enough time to get a few shots in. However, he was surprised when he concentrated the brunt of his assault on the region he had carpet-bombed with his torpedoes, without even so much as a slight smattering of space dust to show for his troubles.
"Hmm... Fascinating..."
Snowflake and Twin-Tails were now peforming strife runs on the asteroid. Their phaser cannons running hot, followed by multiple impacts from their micro-photon torpedoes. However the shields on the asteroid were still holding.
"I just don't get it!" Snowflake exclaimed as they made another pass. "Its like we're just not making a dent!". Both of them made another pass over the asteroid, hitting with full phaser cannon fire. It seemed to simply bounce off or be absored by the shielding.
"Snowflake to Shell-Squid, I have an idea about how to deal with this shielded target" Snowflake said over comms and her and Twin-Tails fell back.
"I am all ears", replied the Klingon while staring over his back through the rear of his cockpit.. He was setting up a high angle for his next attack pattern. Moklor had also hoped to check the effectiveness of the strike during the climb.
He could tell the shielded mass was making headway. "And make it quick", Moklor suggested rather anxiously.
Lt. JG Palu Vraaku and Ducati squadron came in from a high angle, firing a volley of micro-cannon blasts before egressing from the target in the opposite direction of Yamaha squadron's path.
"We focus all of our firepower on a single point. Its an old tactic, but if we can punch a hole on those shields we might be able to get some torpedoes through..." Snowflake suggested.
"This is why I drew all fighters into a tighter formation and focused here." Now Moklor spoke under the eruption of his own fighter's cannons, He conducted a strafe run alongside Ensign Teela while he said, "We just have to pick up the pace. Tighter attack patterns will mean more aggressive approaches.. Sharper egress angles..."
This would be tricky when considering how many fighters were currently converged on this particular target. They would have to make more room for attacks by tightening their flight pattern on and off target. The goal would be to increase the amount of shots on the target given the same amount of time.
Snowflake pulled her fighter closer into Twin-Tails. Shell-Squid wanted faster and tighter attack patterns, they could do this. It had been a while since both of them had flown this close, but she knew that they were capable of it. The green shields on the Asteroid seemed to flicker as they unleashed yet more cannon fire upon it.
The onslaught from the starfighters was far too much for the shielding around the asteroids. Finally they collapsed revealing the rock surface ready to be cracked open like an egg.
"Firing Torpedoes!" Snowflake announced as micro-quantum torpedoes burst from her forward launchers. They struck the asteroid's surface, blasting into the rock. It seemed like a natural piece of rock to them, obviously someone had installed some sort of shield generator inside of it.
=A=Is that...=A= Nozomi muttered in disbelief. =A=No... it couldn't be...=A=
"Twin-Tails. Launching Torpedoes." Twin-Tails also chimed in as her forward launchers also blasted out the micro-quantums. They penetrated deep into the asteroid causing chunks to blast off and causing cracks and fissure in its surface.
Moklor and Teela came around and fired several phaser blasts. Teela let off a micro-quantum just as her fighter hit the final threshold for attack.
It didn't take long until the asteroid broke into pieces, no longer posing an imminent threat.
"Tokyo to all Fighters, we are under attack. I say again, we are under attack. Break off all current engagements and target the Elachi vessel." The voice of the Cardassian Helmsman, Lieutenant Yuvek called out over the comms.
"This is Shell-Squid to Harley Squadron, Scramble, launch and intercept Elachi vessel. Triumph, Ducati and Yamaha Squadrons move to converge on and intercept Elachi vessel. Fire at will."
"Understood, Shell Squid, pickpocket out." Mika responded.
To be continued...
Posting By (In order of Appearance):
Lieutenant Junior Grade Fubuki Kuchikukan
Fighter Pilot, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
Lieutenant Junior Grade Silica Tetsuhiko
Fighter Pilot, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
Ensign Sora Kobayashi
Fighter Pilot, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
Lieutenant Iowa Riverside
Triumph Squadron Leader, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
Ensign Lynette Bishop
Fighter Pilot, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
Ensign Nozomi Kusuda
Fighter Pilot, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
Lieutenant Commander Moklor
Group Commander/Yamaha Squadron Leader, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
Ensign Talanna Teela
Fighter Pilot, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
:lieutenant Junior Grade Palu Vraaku
Fighter Pilot, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
Lieutenant Junior Grade Vyse Ingelbard
Ducatti Squadron Leader, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
Lieutenant Junior Grade Aika Thompson
Fighter Pilot, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
Ensign Len Kagamine
Fighter Pilot, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
Ensign Rin Kagamine
Fighter Pilot, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
Lieutenant JG Mika Fujimoto
Harley Squadron Leader
Lieutenant JG Masamune Busujima
Fighter pilot
Ensign Saeko Busujima
Fighter pilot
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