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 Fleet Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in side - sim: Out of the Frying Pan
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Shedda ran through what she remembered, “They are crystalline species that require extreme heat to survive. Cold can harm them. They are xenophobic and don’t tolerate stranges in their space. I remember reading they will become aggressive if they think you are being deceitful. Their web is impossible to escape from once it’s finished.”

Mal’athar, XO

“Correct.” Cochrane said. He looked at Sair and said “Imagine really pissed off crystals. Thats a Tholian. Now, understanding them as a xenophobic, hostile to all outsiders, extremely territorial species…” and he pointed at the tactical display, “… what do you think is going on there?”

Cochrane, CO

Behaviour she could understand, decipher. Finally something she could do! “The Benedict Arnold invaded their territory, either in actual fact or by perception. It’s an act of aggression that will not be tolerated and we can’t just swoop in, fire weapons and hope for the best. We need a strategy going in, perhaps an element of surprise. And we need to do it fast before they finish their web.”

~Sair Songz, CNS

“That was my thought as well. I don’t know if the Tholians tend to give warnings or not. So it is possible the Arnold wasn’t aware they had crossed the boarder. However I can’t imagine a captain, this close to their space wouldn’t keep an eye on their position.” Shedda nodded at Sair, “With a web in place and 3 Tholian ships we can’t just fly in and get in between them and take some of damage and hope they will talk. We could get trapped too. I would aim to take out the device on the aft section of the ship’s, but if I remember correctly, a web has only been stopped by destroying at least one craft that was creating it.”

Mal’athar, XO

Cochrane nodded in approval. “Good. Excellent. And to your questions: Whether or not the Arnold was in the wrong is important, but not a priority. Yes, strategy. Yes, you have limited time and are outgunned and out numbered. So you need to do something pretty quick to either halt hostilities or stop the Tholians. And Commander, you are right. Only way to stop the web is to blow up the ships that are creating it.”

Cochrane, CO

“Even if the Arnold was in the wrong and in doing so we start and interstellar incident? Just warning you, I’ve read this story, it does not go well, Captain,” Sair said, her face a mask. Oh her people knew what crossing lines without caring about consequences could do all too well.

~Sair Songz, CNS

Cochrane looked at her and said “Good thing this is a lesson in starship tactics, then.” and he grinned.

Cochrane, CO

Shedda was quiet a long moment. The Arnold was of no help. Their systems were damaged and they were nearly trapped. She blew out a breath. This was the reason she had asked and agreed to this, to learn. She wasn’t afraid to say she didn’t know. “I don’t know. The Tholians aren’t responding so talking isn’t going to be our first option. We can’t just disable the ships we have to destroy them, and a web only takes 2 ships. Destroy one they can still finish the web. If I pit the Manhattan between the Tholians and the Arnold we will get trapped in the web as well and get caught in the crossfire.” She smirked slightly, “If Faye was still here I would have her hack their systems and lower the temperature uncomfortably. I am not unwilling to fire on them, but I am not sure that will stop the hostilities.”

Mal’athar, XO

Cochrane nodded and then motioned for both women to take a seat in the command section of the bridge. He himself sat down on the Ops station display. He took a breath and slowly exhaled and said “So… there is a tactical lesson that they don’t teach at the Academy that anyone with any combat experience wishes they did. And that lesson is to know what is and isn’t a losing battle.” He clasped his hands together and leaned forward, looking at both of them intently.

Sair sat in the XO’s spot, which felt rather odd, all told. She was never on the bridge, so even in a simulation, this felt uncomfortable.

“This simulation is a recreation of an actual event. Ten years ago, a Federation freighter- a civilian one- was struck by an unknown object while at warp. Its navigation systems and engines were compromised, and it took the ship’s captain a long time to safely drop out of warp. By that point,they had crossed into Tholian territory. They were attacked and called for help. The USS Drake, an exploratory vessel- like this ship, not really geared for combat- heard the call and went to assist. Now, the freighter had seventeen crew. The Drake had three hundred and eleven. When they arrived, they saw the freighter in the final stages of being caught in the web. The captain tried to rescue the freighter, as he was probably taught to do from the Academy and onwards. It was a short fight. And instead of losing a freighter and seventeen lives… we lost two ships and three hundred and twenty eight lives. Tactically, the Drake was outnumbered, out classed, out gunned… and violating the sovereign territory of a non-Federation species or government. The act of them crossing the border was seen as an act of war by the Tholians. It was only through some exceptional diplomatic efforts that things didn’t escalate to that point.” He leaned back and rested his hands on the station’s screen he was sitting on.

“When I attended the Klingon War College, we spent months on studying how to fight battles against a stronger opponent. How to compensate for lack of ships or damage or spatial obstacles and so on and so forth. But what we were really learning is that some battles simply cannot be won. And you-” and he looked at Shedda, “- have to be the one to decide what price you are willing to pay and if the victory is important enough to pay the cost. In this situation?” and he pointed at the screen behind him. “If this was my command and my ship, I would send the Arnold a message to abandon ship, wait for the Tboliams to disengage, and then try to rescue who I could. Some fights we just cannot win. And some fights we can’t win but need to be fought anyway. This? This isn’t a fight. Its a tragedy. And in this situation our job becomes one of containing that tragedy and not making it worse.”

Cochrane, CO

Of this Sair knew all too well. That helpless feeling of not being able to do a damn thing. It had been her professional experience every day on Kobliad. She nodded. Well at least she felt like her lack of knowledge and skills wouldn’t have killed anyone this time. She really did want to understand how things worked on a starship, but this wasn’t an ER and she’d have to adjust her expectations.

~Sair Songz, CNS

Shedda nodded watching the screen, even though the simulation was paused. “Not the kind of life and death choices they prep you for in training, is it?” Those decisions were always framed in choices that ended in action, not just sitting back and saying ‘sorry’. Oh this decision made a difference, it stopped war and saved thousands of lives. BUT they were trained to help not abandon.

Mal’athar, XO

Cochrane shook his head and said “No, they don’t. There is a lot of training around how to win. There is some on how to lose.”and he looked back and forth between the two women. “But there is scant training on how to choose to do nothing… and sometimes, well… sometimes that is simply the only option that doesn’t make a bad situation a tragedy. Now… remember the numbers. Two ships. Three hundred and twenty eight lives. And watch what happens when we do nothing. =/\= Computer, run simulation with historically accurate ships and crew. =/\= He looked at Shedda and said “Now we are the Drake, and the Arnold has become the freighter.” There was a pause and the screen shifted and now there were three Tholians and a old freighter. The comms activated and a voice came through. =/\= Mayday! Mayday! This is thr Federation freighter Hools! We are under attack! We need help! =/\= Cochrane still looked at the two women but said =/\= Hools, this is the USS Drake. Abandon ship. I repeat. Abandon ship. We will come and pick up life pods. Again, abandon ship. =/\= There was a pause and soon small motes of light could be seen popping off the freighter. Six of them. They speed away from the freighter as the web coalesced around the freighter… and it exploded. The Tholians fired on the pods, bu they were very small and only two were lost. The ship came into range and teh bridge crew got a transporter lock on life forms in the pods and beamed them aboard. Eleven people were retrieved in total.

Cochrane looked at the two women. “Ideal? No. But I have run this simulation over a hundred times… this is the only way anyone is saved. Any other course results in the loss of the freighter and her crew, and usually this ship. So the lesson is… do the best you can with what options you have. And always remember… in a fight, you will lose people. Every time. Always… always… look for another way if you can.” He smacked his thighs and said “And that is it for today. Counselor. I have a program for you. It will give you a rudimentary understanding of how each station on the bridge works. You are welcome to use it whenever you like. And you are absolutely welcome to stay and train with us as we go.”

Cochrane, CO