Flight Of The Phoenix [Part 1]
Posted on Sat Oct 28th, 2023 @ 2:17am by Lieutenant JG Nozomi Kusuda 'Gemini' & Ensign Lynette Bishop 'Highlander' & Ensign Sora Kobayashi 'Blank' & Ensign Hanna-Justina Marseille 'Desert Eagle' & Lieutenant Iowa Riverside 'Grey Ghost'
Edited on on Sat Oct 28th, 2023 @ 2:20am
1,131 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Starship Graveyard
Location: Karlax Nebula- Exact Coordinates Unknown
Timeline: 16 hours after "The End Of The Tokyo?"
=A=Still no sign of the Tokyo, Grey Ghost... you think we may have strayed off course?=A=
It had now been a full 12 hours since Triumph Squadron was supposed to have radioed back to the Tokyo and give an update on their progress. However, when all attempts to reach them failed, Iowa sensed that something fishy was going on and ordered them to double back to the Tokyo's last known position, where they had been in something of a holding pattern for nearly seven hours.
"Something ain't right:" Iowa responded. "Perhaps we should consider heading back and alerting Starfleet?"
=A=Hold on... I'm getting something on my sensors,=A= Nozomi reported. =A=It looks to be a... planet of some sort, situated approximately 5 lightyears from this location with a diameter reading somewhere between 8,250 and 9,000 Kilometers.=A=
=A=My God... it's massive," Lynette remarked. =A=It's easily a Class H!=A=
=A=And this is assuming that the Nebula isn't interfering with my readings,=A= Nozomi pointed out.
=A=Are you kidding? That's too big to be a coincidence,=A= Sora argued.
"Let's check it out;" Iowa said. "But keep your distance: If that's what swallowed up the Tokyo, then who knows what will happen to us if we get close."
=A=Perhaps we should split up?=A= Nozomi advised. =A=That way, if we do get swallowed up by that thing, we at least have someone making their way back to Federation Space to alert Starfleet.=A=
=A=I'll go, boss,=A= one of the pilots, Call Sign "Cannonball", volunteered. =A=I've got a rough idea as to which direction I'd need to be traveling in order to make it back to Federation Space.=A=
=A=Well, Gemini here does raise a good point,=A= Iowa agreed. =A=Alright, Cannonball, I'll take you up on that offer, but be sure to take Libra and Rattlesnake with you, in case you run into trouble out there.=A=
=A=Will do, Boss," Cannonball replied as he fell in with Libra and Rattlesnake and the three of them began making their way back to Federation space. =A=Good luck, everyone.=A=
Iowa waited for the three of them to disappear off the Sensors before turning her attention to the remaining pilots. =A=For everyone who's still with me, adjust course to heading 0151 and proceed fall in; assume Vic formation and be sure to maintain line of sight at all times.=A=
The remaining 12-or-so fighters banked slightly and assumed a V-shaped formation, with Iowa situated at the head; together, they sped off through a gaseous cloud, making fairly decent headway until they eventually converged upon the agreed-upon coordinates. Visibility was limited to about 15 or so miles, and with their sensors being as unreliable as they, they had no way of gauging how close they were to the planet until it was virtually on top of them.
=A=Heavens,=A= Nozomi gasped as they got their first real glimpse of the planet as it loomed majestically before them. =A=I gotta say, in the 230-odd years that Starfleet's been attempting to chart this neck of the woods, I'm hard-pressed to find how they'd miss something of this scale.=A=
=A=Perhaps a few of them didn't," Iowa remarked, grimly alluding to a possible fate that may have befallen the Tokyo and her crew. =A=Alright everyone, keep your eyes and ears open; if the Tokyo's down on the surface of that thing, their emergency distress beacon ought to-!=A=
Before she got the chance to finish, the fighters shuttered violently as a loud klunk could be heard somewhere overhead.
=A=What the hell?!=A= Iowa shouted as her systems started going haywire.
=A=I'm not getting any response from my controls!=A= Lynette radioed in frantically. =A=Something's pulling us in!=A=
=A=Shit,=A= Iowa cursed. =A=All units, activate reverse thrusters, full blast!=A=
A loud roar could be heard as the pilots activated their reverse thrusters, one-by-one.
=A=We are at full blast,=A= Nozomi reported grimly. =A=No change in velocity.=A=
=A=Angle all fighters perpendicular to the surface of the planet,=A= Iowa ordered. =A=Prepare to activate afterburners on my signal.=A=
The pilots tilted their yokes upwards, angling their fighters until the ventral side was facing the oncoming planet.
=A=NOW!=A= Iowa shouted.
One-by-one, the afterburners started kicking in; the fighters struggled to overcome the intense gravitational pull for a few seconds, but once they were on full blast, they slowly began to inch forward, and the surface of the planet began to drop off beneath them.
=A=We're doing it!=A= Iowa shouted excitedly. =A=We're escaping the-!=A=
before she got the chance to finish, there was another loud klunk, and as if snatched right out of the sky, the fighters entered an uncontrolled free fall, tumbling end over end as they plummeted toward the planet’s surface.
=A=Come on... stick with me!=A= Nozomi shouted as she struggled to regain control of her craft.
"WARNING: Rate of descent is too fast!" the onboard systems warned her. "Pull up immediately!"
=A=I'M TRYING, DAMMIT!!!=A= Nozomi shouted exasperatedly as flames began licking at her craft's fuselage.
POP! POP! POP! She could hear the distinctive sound of rivets shearing under the intense G-Forces. Her limbs were beginning to feel heavy, and darkness was fast closing in. Knowing she only had a few seconds of consciousness left, she activated her craft's distress beacon and assumed a brace position.
=A=NOZOMIIIIIIIIII!!!!!=A= she could hear Lynette screaming before her radio lines snapped and the craft all but disintegrated around her...
To Be Continued...
Posting by (In Order Of Appearance):
Ensign Nozomi Kusuda
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 Sora Kobayashi
Fighter Pilot, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
"Cannonball"
Fighter Pilot, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
"Libra"
Fighter Pilot, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
"Rattlesnake"
Fighter Pilot, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)
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