Posted by Fleet Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in side - sim: Out of the Frying Pan

Posted by Commander Shedda Mal’athar (Executive Officer) in side - sim: Out of the Frying Pan

Posted by Civilian Sair Songz (Counselor) in side - sim: Out of the Frying Pan
Posted by… suppressed (19) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Shedda turned and looked up from her seat and gave Sair a reassuring nod. Facing forward again, “Computer, begin simulation.”

Mal’athar, XO

All the displays came to life and the ship was at warp 6. On the command console, everything showed normal. On the tactical screen, there was nothing out of the norm. Everything was just as it should be.

At least Sair could establish what nominal status looked like so she could focus on when the readouts changed. It was fortunate for them all that Sair was a quick learner at any subject so even if this was entirely out of her realm, she had at least a small chance of getting the hang of it sooner rather than later.

“Captain, I’m picking up a distress signal. Broadcasting on all frequencies, but is very faint.” the comms officer said.

Cochrane CO

“Eng see if you can boost the power on the comms and increase the signal some. Where is the signal coming from?” Shedda paused giving them a moment to do so, “Alright put on speaker.”

Mal’athar, XO

There was brief pause and Engineering replied “Gain at maximum, Captain.” Over the audio came a broken and barely audible automated message: =/\= This is… SS… ct Arnold. Re… ance… iple hos… war… f line… established imme… ance. Rep… =/\= and the message began playing again.

The helm officer turned and said “Captain, the signal is too weak for a firm fix, but it seems to be coming from just inside a star system approximately an hour from our current position at present speed. That system, Captain, is just over the border into the Tholian Hegemony territory.”

Cochrane

With a frown Sair tried to mentally fill in the gaps. “Request assistance, multiple hostiles?” she suggested. “I’m checking to see what ship might have been expected to be in the area, Commander,” Songz said as she pulled up the sector’s ship assignments to see who might have been closest and if it fit the garbled message.

~Sair Songz, CNS

Cochrane raised his eyebrows and nodded slightly in approval. “Good first steps, Counselor.” he said quietly.

Cochrane

Songz a gave a slow and tiny nod, actually grateful for the acknowledgement that she was on the right track.

Tholians. “Helm lay in a course and increase to warp 7, do not cross the boarder until we have a better idea of the situation. Comms, try and contact the Tholians. Tell them we are responding to a distress call just over their boarder. We are requesting permission to enter their space.” She spoke back to Sair, “Tholians are known for their punctuality and prize honesty and accuracy in all their relationships. They are also known for being aggressive and territorial. They have in the past killed outsiders that entered their territory without permission. Hopefully a direct request will allow us to respond to the distress signal without shots being fired.”

“Thet are also wholly and utterly xenophobic and have little to no donations ties to anyone.” Cochrane said with a grin.

“Comms I want to know the second the message becomes clear and when we get a reply from the Tholians. Science, engineering, and tactical I want you to keep an eye out for any sensor readings that not only tell us what is going on but for Tholian webs. I don’t want to get caught in one. Helm keep your fingers on the controls. If two Tholian ships show up, do not let us get caught in the middle.”

Mal’athar, XO

Cochrane, CO

Oh great. Her first foray into a potential combat situation was with a species that hated everyone else and was more likely to blow them into pieces than exchange hellos. Sounded a little too familiar to her. Sair suppressed a small shudder and focused on her console. A Tholian web? What the the hell was that? How would she know if the readings were showing one? For a moment she was overwhelmed, her heart beating hard in her chest.

She was still waiting for result of her ship assignment inquiry, so for the moment Sair just switched gears and did a quick library reference lookup for Tholian webs. And once she read… it did not help, other than hope there weren’t multiple ships. Fantastic.

~Sair Songz, CNS

Bump

For awhile it was a waiting game. Letting the different stations do what they needed ro, but after awhile Shedda asked, “Comms, have we heard from the Tholians yet? Or gotten a clearer connection to the distress call?”

Mal’athar, XO

Bump

The Comms officer said “Still trying to get a clearer connection, Captain. Something is interfering with the signal at the source. No reply from the Tholians, but thats not unusual. They rarely if ever reply.”

At their current speed, they would reach the border in ten minutes.

Cochrane, Tutor

Shedda did not want to go into Tholian space, but there probably wasn’t a choice. “What kind of readings are the sensors giving us?” She turned in her seat to Sair at tactical and science. “Any indication if what might be happening? Other ships in the area, identification of the ship in distress.” Thinking back over the message Shedda had a feeling the name was Benedict Arnold.

Mal’athar, XO

OOC: Is Sair getting any readings?
~Linds

OOC: Long range readings would indicate a multiple ship engagement, but they are still too far away to identify the specifics.

James

Sair frowned. Still nothing new. Was she doing something wrong? Asking the computer for the wrong things? “Just that there are multiple ships engaged in combat, but we’re too far away to ID them or map the conflict.”

~Sair Songz, Unexpectedly Today’s Tactical Officer

Cochrane stepped up next to her and said very softly “The hardest part of any fight is the waiting. Especially when you can see it coming. Take a breath. Trust your instruments. And trust your shipmates. Those three things will do you more good than almost anything.” and he stepped back.

Sair nodded slightly, her eyes focused on the console. She was here to learn but that didn’t mean this was exceptionally uncomfortable a situation to be in.

The comms officer looked over at Mal’athar. “Ma’am… I’m picking up comm traffic. Garbled, trying to clean it up.”

Cochrane, CO

“Put it on audio and keep transmitting our response and request.” The waiting was hard, especially when you were sitting on the holodeck and the temptation was to try and speed up the program. Circumstances could change in that time. “Helm how long to destination?”

Mal’athar, XO

She was sure a trained tactical officer would run through a series of tiny tasks and checks while in this waiting place, but Sair knew none of it, so she simply did what Alex told her and took a breath and trusted.

~Sair Songz, CNS

Bump

The comms began playing and it was unintelligible for a long moment. Finally, through a combination of closing proximity and skill of the comms officer, the message came through.

=/\= This is the USS Benedict Arnold. We are under attack from multiple hostiles. Tholians. We are at critical on shields and life support, and have hull breaches on multiple decks. Warp drive is off line. Please assist. =/\=

Cochrane, CO

bump