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Star Trek Athena: The Secret Fleet - crobato
:: 05/10/01 ::
Chapter 4
This is all too sudden, Garret thought. While each crew member showed outstanding competency, it will take a while to synchronize all these talents into a smooth well oiled machine. Now Hurst wants a combat trial in just an hour after leaving the dock. What was he expecting to achieve? He felt that Hurst was under pressure to make the project succeed under a tight deadline. Why?
It was no surprise that it was Hurst's face that appeared onscreen to hurry up things. "I am onboard the USS Manila now. You know Captain Jason DeWitt, do you?"
DeWitt's face appeared onscreen with Hurst. "I certainly do. We fought in the Dominion together. Been in the same battles but different ships. Are you a captain now Jason?" Garret answered.
"For the USS Manila, " DeWitt said. "A fine ship, this Steamrunner class. And I heard you just made captain too, Randy. That Athena of yours looks like a fine ship too. Deadly and sleek..."
The thought of saying out "I won't mind trading places with you" crossed Garret's mind.
"It would be neat to test that Athena ship of yours, Randy, against my Steamrunner," Jason said. "I want to see what's she's got."
Jason has always been the challenging type. "You're welcome to it, Jason," Garret replied. "Any time."
Another message came through the comlink. "Am I missing the fun here?" It was Captain Wu of the USS Kiev. Behind the low profile Norway class destroyer were the two Defiant class escorts, the Colt and the Swordfish, followed by the Nova class USS Gemini science ship and the Sabre class.
"It will be fun to tangle with you, Randy, from the opposite side, Wu out".
Now David Wu is a guy who knows how he would think, Garret thought. Shelley, Wu's first officer, also knows how he thinks. That puts the odds against him in this game.
Already he is numerically disadvantaged, with at least six ships, two of them destroyers, set against him. Again he thought, what was Hurst trying to do? Is he that confident of Athena's capabilities? The way Jason and David talked, Hurst may have led them to believe they would be engaging a human opponent, himself, not an AI. The deliberate deception on Hurst's part may be part of the experiment.
"A big party of Type A male jocks here as captains," Athena said, her form suddenly appearing right next to Garret's throne. "I can't wait to kick their butts."
"The trials require that we surrender control of the ship completely to the AI," Ka'nal said. "I am not sure if that is a wise idea."
"Its the orders," Garret said. Drudge nodded negatively as he surrendered weapons control to the Athena AI.
"So let's begin then," Hurst said. "First we will have the small ships try to take you down."
"Bring it on!" Athena challenged.
"You got the helm, Athena," Garret said, his hands moving to the back of his head in a gesture of relaxation. "Everyone, I think all we can do now is relax and let the AI handle things."
"Well for one," Drudge said, "I wish this ship would lose, if anything to teach Athena a lesson in humility. If she wins and there may be profound consequences in the long term viability of this job as a tactical officer. All our jobs, including yours eventually, Captain."
The thought crossed Garret's mind that the role of Captain may be obsoleted by a new generation of unmanned, sentient ships. Perish the thought. The implications are there but this is not the time to speculate on the long term future.
Athena's face turned serious. "We got phasing cloak capability, but the Admiral has anticipated that. Of all the ships, the USS Gemini science vessel is equipped with a tachyon grid that can detect a phased cloak ship, and direct the other vessels to the spot.
"We must take out that grid before we can successfully play hide and seek."
"Even though I am informed of the reasons why the ship has phased cloak, I still cannot believe that we have violated the Treaty of Algeron signed with the Romulans," T'pak said.
"I cannot blame the Federation," Drudge said. "It was a fool treaty anyway, and the wise will wake up to that fact. The Romulans have used phase cloaking in dishonorable and treacherous attacks against both the Federation and the Gorn Confederation. In addition, they continue to use various inhuman weapons that had been outlawed by secret treaty for humanitarian reasons."
Athena said. "The Romulans never really kept their end of the bargain in arms restriction or the Neutral Zone, why should we? The Romulans have perfected phasing cloak and got in their latest ships and is refitting old ones. Suffice to say, we have perfected our own version of the phasing cloak. Not only have we perfected phasing cloak, but we can cloak with our shields up."
"Shields with cloak?" Garret asked.
"Old Earth ingenuity," Athena explained. "We simply power the shields using energy stored from trilithium storage cells, while the ship's main energy resource powers the cloak. The disadvantage is that if hit, the shields cannot regenerate and they will degrade in time as the cells deplete until they are recharged. Nor can they remodulate. The more powerful our shield settings are, the shorter the battery life will be and so is the shields. We can maintain an average of forty percent shields when phased cloak is activated."
"Why didn't you use the stored energy for weapons?" T'pak asked.
Athena explained. "Because weapons take up even more energy, and this is only feasible for a short burst. My databanks have recorded such an incident when a ship fired while cloaked. That was back in the 23rd century when an experimental Bird of Prey led by the Klingon General Chang engaged and fired at the Enterprise-A led by James Tiberius Kirk. Suffice to say, the Bird of Prey lost. The disadvantage of firing weapons during cloak mode using storage cells is that you either have weak bursts, or very short ones. In the end, with the weight penalty imposed by the cells against a small ship like the Bird of Prey handicapped the potential of the idea and the Klingons gradually lost interest. Also many Klingons rejected the idea of firing while cloaked as a dishonorable move, and many refused to consider it even if the technology was practical."
"While we have improved energy storage technology, there is also a great increase in the potency of our weapons, and thereby, their energy requirements. Suffice to say I am capable of firing while cloaked, but mainly for defensive phasers as a last emergency and at the cost of reserve energy for shielding."
"Hurst is well aware of my phased cloaking capability, and we can't use it long. The Gemini has specially equipped with tachyon grids that will detect us. Hurst apparently wants to test both the Athena's cloaking and the Gemini's detection systems."
"That was quite interesting," Garret applauded. Mentally, he applauded for the even more interesting ship. Garret placed his hand under his chin in a thoughtful gesture. Yes, he thought. Let's see how Athena really performs. Now, he's beginning to get as curious as Hurst.
"The ship is picking up speed. Warp has been engaged. Warp 1...2...5..." the ensign said.
Garret twiddled his thumbs. What was she trying to do?
"We got four ships in pursuit," Drudge said. "Two Defiant class escorts, the Nova class vessel and the Sabre class escort."
"Warp 8...9...9.5...9.6...9.8!" the ensign said.
"The other ships are falling behind," Drudge observed.
"Warp 9.99!" the ensign said. "..and we're still going faster."
"We got hull vibration," T'pak reported. "Athena is heading into a star system."
"The four ships are still behind us," Drudge reported. "Their weapons are energized. Athena's weapons are energizing too."
* * *
Aboard the IRW D'PakThau,
"This is most interesting," Riana said, keeping her icy demeanor. The affirmation of the existance of the new Prometheus class ship by the Talon scout D'sul was a major bonanza. It has affirmed the purpose and importance of this mission.
"Now they're playing a cat and mouse game as they test the new ship," Riana said. While the Shadow class D'PakThau cloaked and hid among the asteroids, she had been monitoring the subspace communications between the Federation fleet and the Prometheus vessel. "Nothing could suit my plans better," she thought. The trials also provided a golden opportunity to observe Federation starship tactics in action, and most especially what special moves the new Prometheus vessel is capable of.
There is another Romulan fleet nearby cloaked and situated as a reserve, comprising at least a Raptor and a Griffin class cruiser, with two more Talon escorts. She could call this fleet as a reinforcement, but she took the brave decision by not doing so. The Prometheus has outfought entire Warbirds with hardly a crew, and a Shadow lacks the Warbird's power. She only has Talon scouts and Shrike destroyers. This time, the Prometheus class ship has escorts. Based on paper, the forces are just about even, with a slight advantage to her. By any indication of the encounter with the Prometheus, the odds are terribly against her.
As it it really mattered.
The Tal Shi'ar works against overwhelming odds, and that's a typical day of work. Speed, stealth and strategy are the real weapons of the Tal Shi'ar, not phasers and disrupters. Bringing more ships risk detection and compromise stealth, and reduce the cohesion inherent with small numbers.
"Fleet, maintain cloaked mode but keep a respectable distance from the Nova class science ship," Riana ordered. "Shrikes, Talons, follow me."
Still cloaked, the Shadow emerged from the asteroid belt, her escorts close behind. "Engage warp. Pursue and shadow the Prometheus class ship," she ordered to the ensign. She will know when is her time to strike.
* * *
"She's crazy!" Ka'nal observed, as the Athena plunged towards a green gas giant, two Defiant escorts and a Sabre right on her tail. The ship was optimized for deep space combat, not combat near planetary space.
"She's got a dual image out," Drudge reported. Instead of trying to jam signals, which consumes valuable power that could be used for other things like weapons and shields, the Athena uses a new system of deception. This new system confuses enemy sensors by projecting a near image of herself using her powerful holoemitters and within the range capability of these devices. This creates a dual image near her actual location.
The Defiants were firing their phasers and torpedoes at a fake image of the Athena, near the Athena itself. The phasers and torpedoes whizz by.
"The escorts are readjusting their sensors," Athena proclaimed, her female form standing right next to the Captain's throne, eyes transfixed on the screen. "Apparently they have discovered my ruse."
Two photon torpedoes left the Athena's aft, hitting the forward shields of one of the Defiant escorts. "Target fore shields was down to less than twenty percent," T'pak reported. If the ship lost one section of its shields completely or less than ten percent, its out of the contest as per rules of engagement.
"Call it my ass shot," Athena laughed. Before the Defiant class escort called the USS Colt could get away, secondary defensive phasers scorched what's left of the front shields to zero.
"She's out of the game," Athena remarked, one hand holding up a V sign.
The Athena shuddered as phasers hit the aft shields. "Aft shields down to 70%," T'pak reported.
"Ouch! I know I know," Athena complained. Behind them, the USS Swordfish was closing in.
"I am not doing this for your benefit, but for the benefit of the captain and the rest of the crew," T'pak snapped back.
Garret folded his arms and crossed his legs. His mind was mixed with thoughts. On one hand, he didn't want his ship to lose, but on the other, it would be nice to see Athena getting it in the butt for a change.
"Those pulse phasers really sting," Athena remarked about the weapons on the Defiant class ships. "Hang on to your seatbelts---oh dear me, we don't have seatbelts...."
The Athena suddenly swerved port side, taking some of the bridge crew off balance, with T'pak and Drudge dearly hanging on using some grab rails. The escort's pulse phasers screamed missing underneath the Athena's belly.
"Who is the maniac driving this ship!" Ghia shouted through the com speakers.
"Those escorts have pulse phasers that really sting. But those things have firing arcs mainly concentrated on the front," Athena explained as the ship moved alongside the escort. "Hang on to your pants and panties..."
The Athena made a sudden roll, phaser strips unleashing red beams. The Swordfish caught the beams, but the agile escort ship was rolling as well, distributing the phaser fire on all its shields.
"The Swordfish has sixty percent shield capacity," Ka'nal reported.
"Damn!" Athena cursed. The Swordfish threw directional thrusters forward, causing the ship to brake. The Athena went right past her, and the Swordfish unleashed two photon torpedoes.
The Athena reacted quickly, boosting impulse. One photon torpedo missed the tail of the Athena narrowly, but the other hit the shields.
"Aft shields thirty percent," Ka'nal reported.
"You don't look so impressive now, Athena," Garret commented in a cool manner.
"Just watch, I'm not through yet," she hissed.
"Regenerative systems at maximum, we got aft shields going to sixty percent. Full level in fifteen seconds," Drudge reported.
"What's the status of the Swordfish's shields?" Garret asked.
"She's regenerating and is nearly eighty percent now," Ka'nal reported. "She's also trying to latch on to our tail."
Two aft photon torpedoes went screaming, but defensive phasers from the Swordfish destroyed them. The Swordfish however, could not counter the Athena's rear phaser arcs, torching the Swordfish's front shields.
"The Swordfish's front shields are down fifty percent," Ka'nal noted. "Captain, the Nova class USS Gemini and the Sabre class USS Sakura has begun their attack pattern."
The Swordfish kept its pressure, pulse phasers continuing to singe the Athena's rear shields, trying to tear down the shields as fast as Athena could regenerate them. "The little guy does not know how to quit!" Athena remarked.
The Athena took a turn towards the green gas giant, the Swordfish in hot pursuit. Taking a risky move, the Athena dived into a faint dust ring orbiting the green giant. The black sky turned dark green from the rarified gases orbiting with the ring. Forward shields have been reinforced as dust particles impacted against the shields with noticeable visual fireworks. It was like plunging underwater, but this was stellar space.
The Swordfish had to forcibly slow down as the dust particles hit its weakened front shields like bullets. The Athena slipped under the ring, then warped. The Swordfish quickly followed. But as it prepared to warp in pursuit, its scanners detected a ship rapidly heading to its direction.
The captain ordered screen magnification of the oncoming ship. The triangular head of the Athena was pointed at its direction, coming head on.
"Evasive maneuvers!" the Swordfish captain shouted. But it was too late. Three photon torpedoes were coming its way, one missed, but two fried the shields. Coming down like an eagle sensing its prey, deliberately measured phaser arcs reduced the Swordfish's forward shields to zero. The Athena flashed over the Swordfish, and rocking side to side signaling its victory in the game.
"I'm impressed, Athena," Garret said. "But then, that's only a small ship."
The captain of the Swordfish made the old Earth traditional naval salute, as the Athena turned to engage the Gemini and the Sakura.
The Athena disappeared right before the Sakura fired. Weapons lost lock, as phasers and torpedoes whisked into empty space.
The Athena phased through the satellite ring of the green giant as the Gemini and Sakura searched the space, like hounds sniffing for their prey. Not far, the two Defiant escorts parked themselves for a rest and a view of the battle.
"I think we have been found," Athena said. "Hurst got his test."
"I am confirming detection by the USS Gemini," T'pak said.
"Stand back, and hang on to your seats and handlebars!" Athena warned. The ship dropped out of its lair in the ring.
"The Gemini and the Sakura coming in at seven eights impulse," Drudge said.
"Brace for warp, we are engaging," Athena said.
The warp engines whirred as the Athena warped into deep space, the starry points of lights reduced into strips of rainbows.
"The Sabre class would be a bit more to handle than the Defiant class," Athena explained. "It's small and just as agile, except its got true phaser strips which enables it to fire at a much larger arc than the Defiants. Same with the Gemini. "
The Athena began to turn around towards the two attacking ships, its forward shields being the strongest. Three photon torpedoes and a barrage of phasers headed out to the nearest attacker, the Sabre class. The Saber's defensive phaser array picked off two of the photon torpedoes were picked but a third hit the port shield as it was about to turn away. But before the phasers could wipe the shield out, the Sakura turned to expose its strong shield side, and the Athena's phasers glanced at a fresh shield.
The Athena still has a secondary pulse phaser array with only a forward arc. Rapid fire phasers ate at the Sabre's shields, but the Sabre kept moving, keeping the hits well distributed against all its shields, making sure a fresh shield face would confront a new incoming torpedo or phaser fire.
A photon torpedo whizzed by the Athena's port side, but another photon torpedo made its hit. The Athena rolled to present its fresh shield against the new attacker, this time, the Gemini. It's phasers connecting to its target, as the Gemini flashed perpedicular to the direction the Athena was going.
"We got a good distribution against our shields. They're still up by over sixty percent," Drudge said.
The Gemini made partying shots from its rear phasers, hitting the Athena's shields once again. As the Athena completed its roll, it banked towards the Gemini, both wide arc phaser strips and foward pulse phasers fring at the rear of the Gemini.
As the Gemini tried to get away, the Athena pursued right in her back. Secondary pulse phasers kept up the pressure as the Athena's phaser strips recharged. The Sakura moved in right behind the Athena, sandwiching the ship between the Gemini. The Gemini lashed back with a photon torpedo and defensive phaser fire but the Athena maintained a healthy over eight five percent on the fore shields.
Forward phaser fire from the Sakura torched the Athena's rear shields. The Athena countered with two photon torpedos, which caught the Sabre class frigate right in the face. The Sakura moved away before the Athena's rear phasers can finish off her front shields. The Gemini banked away as well, the Athena's pulse phasers eroding the Gemini's rear shields dangerously thin.
Drudge nodded his head. "I have this bad feeling that my job has become obsolete."
"Athena seems to have the ability to track multiple targets simultaneously and provide a tactical solution for each," T'pak noted, wiggling his pointed ears.
"I wish you wouldn't say that," Drudge noted, his claw scratching at his scales.
Aboard the Steamrunner class USS Manila, Hurst called Captain Wu of the Norway class USS Kiev. "Captain, do you think it's about time we liven things up a bit?"
"That's four against one, would that be fair?" Wu asked.
"For Athena, nah, maybe for her, eight to one would be fair enough," Hurst replied.
Aboard the Athena, Drudge warned. "The Kiev and the Manila had engaged warp and is heading to our direction."
"Not fair, four on one," Garret observed with two fingers on his cheek.
"It only means I need to try harder and strike faster," Athena said. "Starting with the Gemini."
The Nova class ship was clearly no match against the Athena's firepower and tried vainly to escape. Like a shark sensing a wounded seal, the Athena closed in, the Gemini's rear defensive phasers barely denting the Athena's densely powerful forward shields. The Sakura took the opportunity to recharge its shields and is heading back for a hit and run against the Athena.
The Athena's foward firing pulse phasers ripped at the Gemini's shields. If the fire was sustained, the Gemini would have been obliterated, but the amount of fire was just enough to turn the shields to zero.
"YES!" Athena shouted, performing a pelvic trust dance on the bridge. "I am cooking! Somebody stop me!"
"I must remind you that this is too premature for a victory dance ritual. Your hip actions can also be regarded as obscene and vulgar, totally inappropriate for proper bridge protocol," T'pak commented.
"Analyze this, pointy ears!" Athena remarked, her middle finger sticking up for him to see.
T'pak countered. "Obscene Earth gestures have no meaning to me."
"Calm down now, Athena," Garret said. "T'pak is right, I don't care what you are, you will observe some dignified decorum on the bridge." Athena nodded affirmatively, but not before she stuck her tongue out at T'pak for a parting shot.
Just then the Sakura was sweeping for an attack, weapons fully charged. The Sabre class had enough firepower to obliterate shields and leave a ship naked in a single alpha strike.
The lights flickered as the Athena went into phased cloak. The Sabre lost lock of the Athena, and swooped out. The Athena rushed into deep space, warp engaged with speed climbing.
"The Gemini is out of the picture, and it shouldn't be using the tachy grids," Athena explained. "We should be safe when cloaked."
"I regret to inform you that the Gemini's T-grid remains active, and she is supplying coordinates to the Sakura," T'pak observed.
"That's cheating," Garret said. "Get me through to Hurst."
Hurst's face appeared in the monitor. "Hellooh, Captain, I am afraid I am too busy to entertain any calls. Hurst out."
"But the rules of conduct----damn!" Garret said. "If that is the way they want to play it..."
"You ain't going to win this, Athena, fighting all three of them at the same time. We got to isolate each of them..." Garret said. "I got an idea."
"Are you thinking what I am thinking?" Drudge asked.
"I'm ready at your signal!" Athena affirmed.
"I'll take the bridge. Drudge you take the mid section, and Athena, the lower section," Garret said.
Athena beamed Drudge into the midsection command bridge. Drudge finds himself on a command throne, instruments around him. "Don't worry, I will still respond to your voice commands," Athena said.
"Ready everyone?" Garret asked. This is the first time they will attempt at this, but it was a good time as any.
"I am in position," Drudge affirmed.
"Commence seperation. Execute multiple vector attack mode!" Garret ordered. The bridge section began seperating from the engineering hull. As the saucer section moved away, the engineering hull began its split into two.
"What the?" the tactical officer in the Sakura exclaimed. "I got not one, but three ship readings coming our way."
The captain looked stern. He was informed that the USS Athena had such a capability, but he never saw it live nor took it seriously. For a moment, he was confused, not sure of the textbook tactical solution for the situation. He should regard the situation like he would be engaged with three frigates.
"Lock targets on the lead ship!" he ordered.
The formation of three is coming down now... The Sabre's captain watched tentatively as he waited to give the order to fire. The phasers are fully charged, and so are the torpedos.
His eyes were transfixed on the lead ship, the triangular-saucer section of the Athena, the section alone, larger than his entire ship. "Weapons are locked on the lead ship," his tactical officer affirmed. The captain raised his hand, a signal set to fire.
Suddenly the saucer section disappeared right before his eyes. "Fire now!" he said.
"But sir, we lost weapons lock and the Gemini cannot fix on the lead ship's position in time," the tactical officer said.
"Just blind fire towards the most likely anticipated course of the ship, NOW!" the captain ordered.
"But Captain, that would kill them if we hit. That ship won't have shields if they're cloaked..." the tactical officer objected.
"This ship is different, trust me, it's got shields even when cloaked, fire NOW!"
Three photon torpedos lashed out a spread, followed by a multiple phaser fire spread. Most of it missed, but some hit the shielded saucer section. For a moment, the outline of the cloaked saucer section appeared in the backdrop of black space, illuminated from the energy released when the phasers touched the shields.
"The two other ship sections are coming at us with weapons charged," the tactical officer said.
While phaser strips are packed on the saucer section, the even trimmer engineering hull section ships cannot use such strips and are equipped with forward arc pulse phasers. In normal mode, these pulse phasers are the ship's secondary phaser arrays, but in multiple vector attack mode, the pulse phasers are the main weapons of section two and three ships.
Like rapid fire autocannons, the pulse phasers from the two section ships fired multiple streams of chained bursts, stripping the Sakura completely of its forward shields.
"Decloak," Garret ordered on the bridge of the saucer section. "And rejoin."
The captain of the Sakura clapped as he watched the sections of the Athena bolted back together, first the two lower hull sections each with a pair of warp nacelles, and then the entire lower section with the angular saucer section. Clever, he thought. The saucer section drew their fire while the hull and nacelle sections attacked.
"That was most interesting to see, and bravo, captain," Hurst said, his face onscreen on the Athena's bridge. "But this does not sound like something Athena would do, and helming three seperate ships suggest to me you have interverned personally. This is suppose to be a test of Athena's autonomous combat capability."
"You play by your own rules, and we will play by ours, Admiral," Garret said. "Your tests have one flaw. We plan to work as a team here, not each as a seperate unit."
"Athena?" Hurst asked.
Athena appeared on bridge, beaming Drudge from the lower ship section back to the bridge as well. The big green Gorn had his own beam in his face. Athena waved a big V sign for the Admiral to see. Then she walked and stood next to the captain's throne. "Yup, the captain is right. We will fight as a team from now on."
Hurst smiled. "Then you better, because you will be engaging us next. We're not the small ships you just took care off. We promise you, we won't be that easy."
<< The Secret Fleet: Chapter 3 <<
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