Carus Triumphus

Posted on Mon May 2nd, 2011 @ 8:16pm by Captain Nathan Cowell MD & Lieutenant JG Elizabeth Marion & Lieutenant JG Paul Akron & Lieutenant Commander Aiden Roberts (KIA) & Lieutenant Colonel Anastasia DeVries & Lieutenant Antoine Théroit & Lieutenant Xylia Lischka & Lieutenant Three of Seven & Commodore Amanda Pike & 1st Lieutenant Lukas DeVries & Lieutenant JG Matthew April
Edited on on Tue May 3rd, 2011 @ 3:47pm

Mission: Renegades
Location: Various

=Space=

The seconds had ticked by, and soon, the USS Casey's warp drive powered up, launching the ship into warp space as fast as the vessel was capable of traveling. Their targets hadn't moved in hours, though it was certain that the time the Arizona had taken to repair its wounds had afforded the Romulans ample opportunity to do the same. Their only advantage was the hope that the Casey and the Arizona could catch them off guard just long enough that they would have just as little time to react to their ambush as the Arizona had when the Romulans had paid them a visit.

=Bridge, Tertiary Arizona Hull=

Commodore Nathan Cowell watched as the Casey entered warp, glancing briefly at the chronometric display on his left arm rest. The Petty Officer at the helm looked as if he were anxious to follow suit with their ally, but discipline and his standing orders kept him from reacting foolishly. Lieutenant Marion, however, continued to tap away at her console, coordinating with each of the other hulls to make sure they all entered warp at the appropriate time.

"Entering warp in five... four... three... two... one..." Elizabeth counted off. The helmsman sitting beside her wasted no time engaging the warp drive of the Primary Hull, and soon the transition was made from a stationary position to warp flight.

=Bridge, Primary Arizona Hull=

Petty Officer Third Class Thomas Fells watched from his operations console as the Primary Hull of the Arizona jumped to warp. He'd received instructions from Lieutenant Marion that they were to wait exactly thirty seconds before following suit. That gave the young NCO just enough time to verify their route in tandem with his CONN counterpart, another Petty Officer Third Class, and confirm the point in space which they had been designated to drop out of warp at. It was rather demanding given the importance of the operation they were undertaking. He wondered briefly if he and the woman at the console beside him were truly up for the challenges ahead.

Lieutenant Theroit looked at the countdown clock on the panel located on one arm of his command chair, "Engage."

Petty Officer Third Class Alexandra Morrison nodded and hit the command that would launch the Secondary Hull into warp space. The small view screen at the forefront of the bridge suddenly lit up with a cascade of rapidly approaching stars indicative of the transition from full stop to warp flight before a steady stream of stars rushing forever toward them filled the view.

=Bridge, Secondary Arizona Hull=

Ensign Paul Akron sat at the Helm Console of the Secondary Hull, nervous as all hell that he was about to be put to task on something so monumentally important as flying a mission of revenge that could, potentially, cost the crew their lives if he messed things up. He didn't even have the consolation or comfort of glancing over at Lieutenant Marion, who had be a great source of stability and calm for him when he had first joined the Arizona crew. It was difficult to believe that the Cadet sitting in the chair would be of any real use to them. It took Paul a second to remember that Commander Roberts was going to, in effect, be doing two things at once. Those two things being commanding the Tertiary Hull as well as running OPS from his chair.

The seconds passed by as the Primary Hull and Tertiary Hull of the Arizona disappeared into warp. The tension was slowly building as they waited for their designated time to make the jump. The more Ens. Akron thought about it, the less happy he was to be where he was. He couldn't help but suck in a deep breath as he tried to stead his nerves. 'No sense in getting nervous about this,' Paul admonished himself internally, 'Whatever will be will be...'

=One Hour Later, Asteroid Belt, Space=

The USS Casey dropped swiftly out of warp and engaged the Steamshield, a type of sensor camouflage that would grant them the time they needed to launch a full on barrage of torpedoes at the Romulans drifting just inside the asteroid belt they had retreated to in order to lick their own wounds after having traded fire with the Arizona. When the Casey was safely obscured by the Steamshield and the preparations had been made, the hail of crimson and white orbs issued forth from the ship in a staggered manner, their warheads set for area detonations at just the right intervals to cause some major damage to their shields, if the Romulans managed to raise them fast enough...

Violent explosions resounded through the asteroid belt less than a minute after the Casey had dropped out of warp, dealing crippling blows to not only the ships that were the targets of the relentless assault, but the surrounding stellar debris, making the asteroid belt a labyrinth of moving, molten projectiles. The shields of the already damaged scout ship were the first to fail as they tried in vain to escape the debris field, assuming that sanctuary could be found outside the perimeter of the now active field of rocks and stellar matter.

No such solace would be found for them, unfortunately, as they vessel moved away from their somewhat defensible position just as the Tertiary Hull of the USS Arizona dropped out of warp to greet them.

=Bridge, Tertiary Arizona Hull=

Commodore Cowell watched as the ship transitioned back to normal flight, and smirked mischievously as he watched the view screen displaying on of the Romulan vessels, damaged and venting plasma already from the barrage, coming within range of their weapons so soon after they had entered the area. It was an opportunity he didn't hesitate to take advantage of...

"Mister Shrek, focus our fire on the damaged vessel, let's see if we can't flush the rest of them out in the open with a little show of force," Nathan ordered, not bothering to look behind him as he spoke.

Ensign Shenk focused on the damaged Romulan scout ship and acknowledged the Commodore's command, his fingers flying over the tactical console. Fired in tandem, he launched an array of four Photon and Quantum before firing all phasers aboard their section of the Arizona, alternating his fire between the engines and bridge of the Romulan scout ship. Grinding the words out in German under his breath, Marc said "This is for Ensign Paula Tadesco, you green blooded bastards!"

"Helm, initiate predesignated attack pattern to allow for the Primary Hull's arrival," the Commodore ordered as an afterthought.

"Aye sir," the Petty Officer replied as his fingers danced across the console before him.

"Mission Ops, once the other two hulls drop out of warp, I want you to establish a link with them and monitor their situations. I want to know if one of the other hulls start taking too much damage so we can adjust fire and cover our weak spots..." Doc Cowell said, looking over his shoulder to the Lieutenant Junior Grade sitting at the specified panel.

"Aye sir," Matt responded, as he followed out the order. He pressed a several buttons on the console, "Ready." he said, giving the Commodore a nod.

Nathan watched the main viewer as the scene played out before him...

=Asteroid Belt, Space=

The Arizona's Tertiary Hull lashed out with the full force of the available firepower the section had at its disposal. With their shields down, the Romulan ship had little in the way of defense against the onslaught. Phaser beams sliced through the hull as torpedoes slammed forcefully into portions of the scout ship that the phasers had missed, blasting craters into the ship that were doing, no doubt, far more damage than the Romulans had dealt to them previously. The Primary Hull's assault did have the desired effect of drawing out other two Romulan vessels. The two vessels not already crippled began their attack on the Primary Hull, landing hit after jarring hit on the shields.

=Bridge, Tertiary Arizona Hull=

Sparks flew and panels blinked off and on as the ship was buffeted by the two relatively unharmed scout ships. So far, none of the console had overloaded and the only injuries Nathan could readily see were disheveled hair and a few bumped elbows and knees. A far cry from their last encounter.

"Shields down to eighty-four percent... reading an overload in the replicator systems..." Lieutenant Marion reported from her console as she endeavored to keep up and contain the 'fires' that were cropping up all over the ship.

Nathan looked down at his arm rest and was glad to see that enough time had elapsed to grant them some relief...

=Asteroid Belt, Space=

The arrival of the Primary Hull, commanded by Lieutenant Theroit, was accompanied by their own show of force against one of the scout ships. The distraction was just enough to allow the Primary Hull to break away from its attackers and continue the punishing assault on the damaged craft.

=Bridge, Primary Arizona Hull=

Xylia took a deep breath when the Primary Hull dropped out of warp and joined the already firing Tertiary Hull, her fingers already moving over the Tactical console in front of her. She focused her attention on one of the undamaged scout ships and took aim. This was it... her time to kill as many of the bastards she could or die trying, and she had absolutely no intentions of letting that happen. As hard as she tried to fight it, she couldn't keep the sense of deja vu from tugging at the back of her mind.

Her time aboard the Ponce came back to her again. People panicking as the vessel took hit after hit. She had taken the time to study the Romulan vessels before making her move. That was it! She looked down at the Tactical Console and studied the information quickly.

"Firing weapons." She said, deadpanned, her accent coming out much thicker than she intended.

The other two Romulan vessels were closing in on the Primary Hull fast. Taking a steadying breath, she divided a barrage of nine Type XII phasers at the lead scout ship, and another nine on the second. Not pausing, she queued up two Photon torpedoes on the first ship, aiming for the engines and two Quantum torpedoes followed a path to the second vessel, targeting the bridge. She then fired two Tri-Cobalt torpedoes in rapid succession, taking aim at the center of the two scout ships. Her intention... to separate the bow and stern like was done to the MT Hawl.

=Asteroid Belt, Space=

The Primary Hull of the Arizona launched a relentless assault on the two scouts attempting to take out the Tertiary Hull, phaser beams and torpedoes smashing against their shields with impunity. The ruthless barrage of firepower dealt crippling blows to the shields, but had little in the way of penetrating power, given that they weren't nearly as damaged as the other Romulan vessel. The Arizona's Tertiary Hull, however, was having great success cutting that particular vessel to ribbons. Hit after hit, second after second, the Tertiary Hull led by Commodore Cowell rocked the scout until finally the damage was too much for the vessel to handle...

=Bridge, Tertiary Arizona Hull=

The bridge of the Tertiary Hull was in a sad state of repair, many of the consoles had exploded now, overloads had flooded the ship thanks to the dual assault by the other vessels. Despite it all, Nathan had ordered all firepower aimed at the damaged ship. As Ensign Schenk rattled off battle statistics at intervals, the Commodore knew that they were nearing a victory, even if it was not a complete one.

"Helm, keep us on them!" Nathan bellowed, caught in the heat of the moment.

"Doing the best I can, Commodore!" came the reply from the now overwhelmed and tired helmsman. Nathan couldn't fault anyone on the ship for being exhausted, protracted battles tended to do that. Even Lt. Marion was looking utterly drained at the effort of keeping the shield balanced and the critical systems powered through the assault. Several more blasts of disruptor energy hit the Tertiary Hull before the one thing Nathan had been hoping wouldn't happen actually did... The OPS console took a bad surge of energy and the screen burst outward, catching Elizabeth in the side of the face. She screamed and fell to the floor in a lump. Nathan abandoned his chair and rushed to her side, checking her vital signs, anything to make sure she wasn't gone. It took him a second with all the jolting about the deck was doing, but he managed to find it... her pulse was there... she was still alive, even if she was hurt. Nathan pulled her away from the console to avoid further burns from any other surges that might come before sliding into the nearest seat which contained a console he could use to call up the Operations Console. He turned to the man at Mission Ops at that point and motioned for him to take over at that station.

Silently, the two passed each other by and Nathan sank back down into his Command Chair. It took a second for him to stuff enough of his rage inside of him before he turned to Ensign Schenk.

"Mister Schenk, load the full compliment of tri-cobalt devices we have into the torpedo tube and don't stop firing until they are dust..."

=Asteroid Belt, Space=

The Secondary Hull of the Arizona dropped out of warp just in time to join the assault, taking even more fire away from the Tertiary Hull. This was the break in the storm Nathan's section needed. The Saucer raced toward the damaged Romulan ship, the torpedo tubes lighting up nearly constantly with the white-hot glow of the tri-cobalt devices being thrown out toward the offending vessel. Hit after glorious hit smashed through the duranium composite hull of the Romulan scout ship until it buckled and caved in, not long after which the ship began to pull apart even as the Arizona's Tertiary Hull continued to batter and beat it down. The resulting explosion rocked the vacuum around it, throwing shockwaves of energy out as the Singularity Core of the scout was torn apart.

Whether or not the death of their companions had meant anything, the result was undeniable, the odds were now more even as it became three against two. The Romulans, however, hadn't missed out on the obvious damaged nature of the Secondary Hull, and decided to tear a page out of Commodore Cowell's strategy book. The two vessels abandoned their pursuit of the much more resilient hulls and focused their combined might on the Secondary Hull.

=Bridge, Tertiary Arizona Hull=

It didn't take long for Nathan, and indeed, the rest of the bridge crew to realize that their double edged sword had been exposed for what it was. The Commodore growled audibly as he watched them shift their fire. Granted, it gave the Arizona's other hulls plenty of open ground to fight without impediments, but it also put the Secondary Hull in the greatest danger. Even as the seconds ticked by while the Tertiary Hull came about after having successfully destroyed the damaged scout, and even longer for them to return to their optimum firing range.

"Mister Schenk, I want you to coordinate our assault with the Secondary Hull, we're going to hit them hard and fast, one by one. How many more tri-cobalt devices do we have?" Nathan said, his hand unconsciously tightening on his arm rest.

Marc gave a quick start as the Commodore actually got his name right. He engaged the sensors and computer coordinated attacks with the Secondary Hull, then looked at the supply of Tri-Cobalts on the Tactical Console. "There's are ten Tri-Cobalts left, Commodore," He said as the fire control system deactivated a smoking console, "The Primary Hull reports they have roughly fourteen left."

The Ensign's fingers flew over the Tactical Console as he coordinated the attacks of the Primary Hull with the Tertiary's. Loading four Tri-Colbat torpedoes into the launch sequence, he programmed them to fire in tandem with the assaults of the Secondary. Next, he brought the Type XII Phasers to bear on the same target, feeding the Primary Hull the coordinates of his programmed assault targets.

"Ready to fire, Commodore!" Marc called out, his fingers poised to introduce hell to those green blooded bastards.

"Give'em hell..." Nathan growled...

=Asteroid Belt, Space=

The Secondary Hull was rocked dozens of times in the span of seconds, her shields falling lower and lower in output power as the hits continued to rain down upon it. Even with Commander Roberts micromanaging the Operations aspects of the damaged section of the ship, it was taking too much damage, too many simultaneous hits... And then the shields collapsed altogether. Huge holes were torn into the hull, the nacelles bombarded by plasma torpedoes that somehow only just didn't blow them clean in two. The Secondary Hull appeared to be doomed...

That, however, was not the fate of the dorsal most section of the Arizona. Though it came just a few seconds too late for the shields to hold off, the tandem assault of the Arizona's two other sections was enough to destroy the second vessel in one pass with the well coordinated assault of the two tactical officers who were working together to bring down the fury of the Arizona's crew upon their Romulan foes. The third and final ship made a valiant effort to flee, but the moment they dropped their shields, the remaining compliment of tri-cobalt devices that the Arizona could muster forth cut it apart, reducing it to ash in seconds, the ship never managing to fully cloak.

=Bridge, Tertiary Arizona Hull=

It took several minutes for the reality to sink in. The Romulans were gone... the threat was silenced... it was safe now... The klaxon suddenly became audible to Nathan again. He hadn't heard it the entire time the battle had raged on, more because he was focused on the task than the environment around him. Now he had time to look and really see. Lieutenant Marion still rested where he'd dragged her minutes before, her breathing still shallow but there. A blessing in an otherwise dark moment for the Commodore.

"Somebody shut that damn noise off!" Nathan yelled far louder than was needed to break through the klaxon.

Marc absently reached over and deactivated the klaxons, his ears ringing for long seconds. It had been incredible... he had never seen more firepower in one place at one time. That the Romulans were gone... that Ensign Tadasco was gone, but avenged.

He jumped to his feet, "Whoooop! We did it! We did it!"

"If you have time to celebrate, you have time to coordinate the reassembly of the ship," Nathan snapped angrily, his emotions starting to bleed through.

He turned and rose from his chair, gathering his adopted daughter in his arms, "Get with the other sections and find out who else we lost, I'll be in sickbay..."

"I apologize, Commodore," Ensign Schenk replied, just now seeing Lieutenant Marion, turning pale. Sitting down, he communicated with the other sections of the Arizona and punching in the sequence to reinitate the MVAM sequence. His mind flashed to the destruction caused by the Romulans before and after seeing Lieutenant Marion in the Commodore's arms, he had to wonder how many more losses there were.

"Just... shut up and make shit happen..." Nathan said in frustration, the concern and the weight of everything starting to show.

Marc stared at the screen, wanting to tell the man that he was 'making shit happen', but he didn't dare. He finished the sequence and initatied it. The Tertiary Hull shuddered as the docking arms and manipulators attached themselves to the Primary Hull. A moment later, he read off the sequence.
"MVAM with the Primary Hull is complete, Commodore. Contact with the Secondary Hull in five... four... three... two... one." Again, the Arizona shuddered as all the clamps came together and control was reestablished at the primary location on the Bridge. "Complete, Commodore."

Nathan was already inside the turbolift and muttered something incomprehensible before the doors slid closed.