From Bad To Worse

Posted on Wed Oct 25th, 2023 @ 9:28pm by Commander Mark Bawden

521 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Ethics, Morals & The Prime Directive.
Location: En Route to Lost Fighter - U.S.S. Agincourt
Timeline: Directly After 'Welcome To My Parlour, Said The Spider To The Fly.'

Everything seemed quiet as Mark sat on the Bridge of the Agincourt while they waited for any report to come in that would help provide some answers to what was going on and why. There was plenty of speculation going on around the Bridge and if Mark was being honest it was good to see ideas being thrown about and discussed reasonably and logically. Even sat in the centre chair he considered the perspectives that were being offered and while each held merit by themselves it was a choice Captain De Havilland had to make.

"Captain, incoming signal from flight 6." The comms officer spoke up.

"6-1 to command, we have been engaged. Multiple hostiles origins unknown, sending my location. 6-2 & 6-4 are down. Outcome doubtful."

"Helm, plot a course, full impulse." Mark commanded. "Engage when ready."

The Agincourt heeled hard to starboard, leveled out and then sped off towards the asteroid field where the coordinates indicated. "Red alert. Shields up, bring the weapons online." Mark was not about to fall victim to whatever pounced on the fighters earlier. The mood from earlier had subsided to a serious and alert tone with the officers on the Bridge focused on displays and readouts ready to report anything.

*** 17 Minutes Later***

"Entering the asteroid belt indicated by the received signal," Helm reported.

"Anything on sensors?" Mark asked rubbing his chin as he stared at the viewscreen that so far was filled with nothing but rocks slowly drifting and rotating before them.

"Sensor interference is high, mineral compositions within the surrounding asteroids and rock formations. Sensor range is limited." For Mark that was a dead giveaway as to why the flight got jumped, only now an Escort was bigger, meaner, and better armed in the event of an attack. Minutes passed as silence filled the Bridge, the usual chirps and bleeps could be heard as tension started to fill the air.

"Captain, intermittent energy signatures, Port quarter, range indeterminate."

"Keep alert people, be ready." Mark spoke. Not a moment later the ship was hit by weapons fire. "Signal Flagship, inform them of the situation." Now Mark had to address the situation from a tactical standpoint.

"Boost power to shields, set quantum torpedoes to proximity detonation.

"Captain, I'm detecting debris, best guess is its our fighters. I'm detecting Federation energy signatures, possibly power components discharging.

Over the course of 5 minutes the Agincourt had managed to destroy 4 enemy craft and damaged 3 others for moderate shield damage and light concussion damage mostly from weapons fire but also minor rock impacts from evasive flying. "Captain, I'm detecting a new signature closing on us. I estimate it's using the larger asteroids to mask its approach."

With only limited data and sensors compromised, Mark knew this wasn't a fight he wanted to take in this battlefield. "Helm, take us out of the asteroid field as best you can, as fast as you can. As we exit deploy rear torpedoes and detonate after 5 seconds." Mark's hope was that by dropping them like mines and detonating them it would create some distance between the ship and those chasing.

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