Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
|
Post by Carl Torek on May 25, 2009 12:58:30 GMT
He watched in silence as the five type twenty five photon torpedoes traversed the distance between the Raven and their target. The first torpedo all but disabled the still dilapidated shields of the St James, leaving nothing between the remaining four, and the main engineering section. The resulting explosion blasted the St James into hundreds, thousands, of pieces. Carl closed his eyes as a large part of the saucer section broke away, spiraling down toward the surface of the planet. Both warp nacelles survived the initial explosion too, and now these began their fall into thicker atmosphere. It was obvious that while most of the St James would burn up in the atmosphere, several larger parts would impact the surface .. Torek knew that due to the Intrepid configuration, it was possible that inertial dampers, along with automatic force-fields, that Usana was still alive. "Sir .. We have a problem .. Several problems." Parkin said from the Science Station, "We're tracking four large sections of the St James. they will hit the colony within minutes. There's also the problem of the escape pods." "Reprogram the pods' internal navigation computers to land them on the southern continent. That should keep them from harm." "Aye Sir." Parkin said, getting to work. "Mister Jamison. Target the large sections and stand by." The Raven's outer hull was glowing white hot now as the massive vessel sliced through the planets upper atmosphere. They were reaching a point of no return, and reaching it quickly. "Mister O'Canon." Carl said, leaning forward in his seat, " As soon as Tactical fire the torpedo's get us the hell out of here and back into orbit. Track any sections of the ship that manage to get through." Moments later Parkin spoke. "Sir. A section of the saucer got through, along with part of engineering containing the core. I must suggest allowing both sections to impact. If we hit the core at this range the resulting explosion would make Hiroshima look like a firecracker." Carl had a second to decide .. "Mister Jamison ... Allow the saucer section and the core to impact. Track and destroy everything else you can get a lock on." < tag : Jamison / O'Canon >With another volley away, O'Canon acted. Taking the ship into a steep climb .. "Time to impact ?" Carl asked quietly. "Fifteen seconds for the saucer section and core, But i'm detecting multiple smaller impacts now Sir." He couldn't begin to imagine what thoughts were going through the colonists as they caught sight, and heard the roar as the very air was torn apart by the massive burning remains of the USS St James. Thousands of men, women, and children had seconds of life remaining to them .. "God speed Captain." Carl whispered .......... < tag : ALL .. Please feel free to post your point of view of the explosion etc >
|
|
henry
Guest
Registered: Apr 29, 2024 15:29:55 GMT
|
Post by henry on May 26, 2009 1:25:50 GMT
O'canon had the Raven in a steep climb the whole vessel slightly rumbled as he made his way to orbit. O'canon's heart dropped a little when he saw the saucer and core fall to the planet's surface. There was nothing that could be done, destroying it would be devastating.
"C'mon, c'mon" O'canon quietly whispered to himself as he watched the View screen turn orange and white as they burned through the atmosphere.
|
|
Deleted
Registered: Apr 29, 2024 15:29:55 GMT
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 26, 2009 16:25:29 GMT
Will had gotten all of the feelings and emotions out of his way as soon as he could because he knew that once the order came, he could not afford to hesitate.
"Fire !" ..........
Will. along with the others, watched as the 5 torpedoes speed toward the St James. The next thing Will knew, they were tracking pieces of the star ship as it feel toward the planet. He locked on to everything he could and destroyed them, leaving just the piece of the saucer and the core as ordered.
With the incident actually over now, Will once again began to feel the sumberness of the situation. He had just blown a Federation ship out of the sky. He knew he'd had no choice but that didn't make it feel any better.
"Sir." he began in a quiet voice. "All large pieces except the section of the saucer and the core were destroyed enough not to cause any serious problems on the planet. And i'm also detecting the pods. They are starting to land."
|
|
Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
|
Post by Andae Blakus on May 26, 2009 16:36:42 GMT
OOC: Back post
IC: The squall of yellowy cloud whipped itself across the face of Rasalgethi, encapsulating the surface of the world, holding it in an almost massaging grip. Tailed with wisps of white, the coils of the vapour that were the colour of deep, soft sunlight branched away from the main cloud, temporarily being torn asunder but then rejoining the whole, slotting itself into the swirling mass and striking something inside - like a tentacled beast beating its engulfed prey.
Still lost therewithin, the St. James, not even the distinctive blue and red glow of its nacelles visible amongst the intervening formations of the atmosphere.
The Raven had long since left the upper atmosphere behind; it was falling now - with speed - through the mid-range shells of CO-2 laced air, giving chase blindly like a bicycle coasting down a hillside through thick fog. The Raven's executive officer continued to watch the viewscreen; over the past minute or two he had become obsessed with scouring every square millimetre of the screen for a hint of metallic grey amongst the orange-yellow. He had seen little except sudden, brief mirages; nothing more than that and those were illusions originating from his mind's will to see something.
The Intrepid class ship was like a phantom, always one step out of reach and totally invisible, it would impact long before the pursuing vessel could catch it and fire on it. The Raven jumped forward suddenly, given the lease of an extra amount of speed, and as Blakus's thoughts were firmly fixed on the St. James and the thought of its unhindered, smooth passage through the atmosphere, that was the moment.
The Raven was entering a denser patch of air and then abruptly upon them, filtering through curve for curve from the enveloping dust-carrying clouds, the St. James, visible at last with impulse ports fixed alight, burning uncontrollably now as it dived towards the invisible but surely screen-filling spherical surface element of the planet.
Five minutes was the call, Blakus was only half-listening; still he processed the information and kept it on-hand, he wouldn't let anyone forget it even if he may forget himself before long. He was finding himself far more concerned with the potentially rewarding idea of the St. James impacting the surface. He'd moved centrally into the command area, and found himself drifting over to the portside, in front of the currently unused second officer/counselor's chair.
Three minutes. Blakus could see the St. James clearly on the viewscreen now, it was no longer obscured by the clouds and it was much larger; still a thing one could just trap between finger-and-thumb from afar, but no longer a fleeting image darting across from top left to bottom-centre: the Raven was firmly behind it now, but still out of appropriate weapons' range. The bridge was silent, Blakus realised. Perhaps and indeed likely because of Usana's last log entry, he reasoned; he absorbed the information as he had the rest of it.
The XO continued to stare at the screen from just in front of the empty 'counselor's' seat, his captain sitting in the command chair. Blakus kept watching as the countdown voiced by the Ensign continued downwards, the doomsaying words she spoke allowing for a feeling of inevitability to set in. He asked for the time to weapons' range instead, a deft if unconsciously issued request that would likely ease the dark mood of the bridge staff - somewhat. Blakus willed the clock down, but he always willed the countdown of time for the St. James's impact with the surface down faster. His eyes buzzed with the light of expectancy, glinting with the matter of the atmosphere which reflected the stellar light of Alpha Herculis itself.
"Zero." Parkin spoke. Blakus felt his hands shaking; his eyes almost resonating with something internal and his temples throbbing with the heat of the moment. He willed it to be so, in an instant of self-situation forgetfulness. The one spoken word, issued with such an edge of nervous energy yet also sounding remarkably calm. He realised he was shocked. He felt as if his mind had been shifted irrevocably back into its funk.
Dull realisation settled in on him, followed by disappointment. He shifted his gaze for a moment to the bridge crew and saw that they were watching the man in the centre seat, some then turned their looks to Blakus just as he (the XO) looked to Torek himself. He now knew what he had to say, it was obvious of course, but he could not help but feel the very smallest measure of something... a lacking somewhere. He needed something to happen.
"Sir." he said quietly, unsure of his own words but knowing that the action they signified was in fact necessary, "Captain, we need to fire."
So the Captain ordered for him to make it so, and in turn Blakus looked on to Will Jamison, nodding for the man to fire his volley of torpedoes. Swooping as a giant avian in its sharp downward slope to the falling St. James, the Raven lived up to its name; its five torpedoes fell faster and sliced into the faltering St. James's main hull, the accelerating vessel became now entirely free-falling as it broke up. Blakus had blinked and missed the impact, and the rapidly disintegrating fragments of the Intrepid offered scant consolation.
|
|
Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
|
Post by Andae Blakus on May 26, 2009 16:37:31 GMT
It was working, the XO realised. Mister O'Canon had done brilliantly to approximate the correct angle that would allow the Raven to 'bounce' back out, and it'd even allowed for the diving chase for the St. James - a fall that had reminded him of two people jumping from the top of a planet-borne building one after the other.
The Raven was climbing well, but Blakus knew that the strain on the superstructure and the ship's SI field must be gargantuan. Nothing to be done about that now, they could only hope that the ship wouldn't just break up as it attempted to reach orbit.
Fragments of the St. James's destroyed form plummeted to the ground, most of the pieces - including a large section of the saucer and a hulkish shard of the engineering section holding the core - were still clearly visible. The flaming trails of the fragments seemed to burn slowly, consuming their surface-bound masses gradually as they neared the end of their unstoppable descent. Looking on the admittedly terrible scene, it seemed to perfectly capture the power and inevitability of the laws of physics - something everything was bound to no matter the psychological defiance one may hold in the face of the very event: it was truly and frustratingly unavoidable.
That was unless they could try and play within the rules.. Blakus thought in what he saw as a mildly amusing but worthless quip. He didn't need to order Will Jamison to fire on the smaller pieces because he was doing so already. He understood that the tractor beam was not functioning, if he were Commander McLean belowdeck he would be attempting to repair it and hopefully deflect or even grab some of the St. James's remains. However, time was very limited and Blakus did not think that was possible any longer.
What was left of the St. James was falling on an inhabited area, and Blakus knew that the two largest fragments would destroy a great many structures and likely terminate a non-trivial number of colonists. "On screen, aft view," he said, moving towards the front of the bridge between the two forward consoles, "Split the screen between fore and aft."
Someone on the bridge complied, and true to form, the aft view displayed the settlement - a sizeable yet small-ish city - and several chunks of destroyed Intrepid falling amongst it. There were minscule fiery impacts one after the other in quick succession, the comparitively tiny remnants that the Tactical officer had rightly not seen as necessary to destroy; chaos would be spreading below: local services would be alerted, transport networks would be disrupted and colony administrators would be distraught, traumatised even at this brutal injustice done to their home - at least they would not have to make a public speech, shifting the blame, explaining things for a demanding mass of misinformed colonists, life in the Federation was beyond that now. The administrators would administrate in the distribution of emergency services etc., and the colonists would be left to draw their own conclusions and handle things in their own personal way.
The engineering section containing the core made planetfall in the centre of the settlement. A small, spherical blast expanded outwards in a fiery plume from the Raven's view, and then a lateral blast wave spread across a sizeable portion of the city. Blakus fancied that he might see fleeing citizens if he looked carefully enough; that was of course irrational, until he had the screen zoomed in. Now he could see them, escaping from transportation vehicles, fleeing from burning wreckage of structures and St. James, some coagulating into groups who were then swiftly swept away by the advancing wall of death. They were like ants, swarming over the ground and being so easily crushed by the shockwave of the core-sections impact and dud (-ish) detonation. The XO requested the view be zoomed again, the reason being that the Raven was continuing to climb, and was doing so faster and faster. O'Canon continued to work the helm console.
For a brief moment, Blakus shifted his surveying eye to the forward view - he was surprised to see that it was now fading into black, with pinpricks of shiny white becoming visible. The scrutiny of wonder he had been maintaining resumed as he looked back to the aft view.
<Tag All ... Tractor Beam repairing?>
|
|
Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
|
Post by Carl Torek on May 26, 2009 18:11:49 GMT
Carl watched the luminescent trails of the super-heated sections of the St James as they impacted the surface one by one. He couldn't remember having felt so helpless, and at the same time, responsible, for the destruction and loss of life on the planet below.
The Raven was climbing rapidly now, leaving the alien realm she had found herself in only moments ago. He sighed as the screen resolution changed, zooming in on a warp nacelle and the section of engineering containing the core. Thousands of tonnes of Star ship smashed into the ground at the center of the colony. Torek looked away ..
"Sir ......"
"Sir ......" Parkin repeated, tears beginning to fall slowly down her cheeks, " The saucer section will impact in thirty seconds. I ..... I can give us a visual ....."
Blakus looked at his Commanding Officer, then nodded consent. The screen changed to a view of what at first looked like a massive fireball, but as they watched, everyone, especially Torek, could make out the foremost part of the saucer section. for an instant, Carl pictured Usana ..
"The section will impact in the northern area of the colony." Parkin said, somehow thinking a running commentary was needed, "It will hit part of a residential area, then depending on how quickly she breaks up, there cou ......"
"Thank you Ensign." Carl said, not wanting to hear in advance what he was about to witness first hand.
~~~~~~~~~~
The initial impact, when it came, left a crater almost one hundred meters deep, by some one hundred and fifty meters wide. Killing countless instantly ... But the devastation didn't stop there ...
The saucer section, still traveling at almost two thousand kilometers per hour, rose back into the burning air, shedding tonnes of ballast every second. Pieces were blasting through buildings like meteors as the main section flew on, sheer inertia keeping it moving. For a second time the section hit Terra firma, tearing through buildings, houses, homes, like so much balsa ...
For a third, and thankfully, final time, the St James left her mark on Rasalgethi as the one remaining impulse engine finally exploded. A crater, almost a kilometer in diameter was the result.
It was many seconds before anyone could bring themselves to speak ..
"Captain." O'Canon said almost inaudibly, "We've attained a stable orbit.."
"Thank you Mister O'Canon." Carl replied, finally finding the energy to raise himself out of his seat and walk toward the view-screen, "Ensign .. Put us in a Geo-stationary orbit above the colony, or what's left of it. Andae, I want everyone and everything we have down there as soon as possible to start rescue operations."
"And the escape pods ?" Blakus asked.
"They can wait ... Contact Star Fleet and request all the help they can send."
As his Executive Officer began to issue orders, Carl watched the image on-screen that would be burned into his memory for the rest of his life ..........
< tag : ALL >
OOC : Dr Crane. I have left the survivors for the moment as you mentioned you had something in mind for them.
|
|
robertsharp
Guest
Registered: Apr 29, 2024 15:29:55 GMT
|
Post by robertsharp on May 27, 2009 3:24:00 GMT
Raven's sickbay
Sharp wakes up after being in sickbay for the last hour. Sharp tries to get up but is being held down by a force field. He sees a nurse. "Nurse whats going on and why am I being held down by this force field and where am I". Nurse replies "I don't know. The ship lost stabilization so we used a force field to keep you in place. Your in sickbay on the Raven." The doctor on duty comes over and takes some readings and then after a few minutes the doctor tells Sharp that he is dismissed and to check back with sickbay later.
Sharp exits sickbay and heads to wards the nearest turbo lift and takes it to the bridge and as Sharp exits the turbo lift onto the bridge he looks at the planet that the S.T. James crashed into. Sharp is in shock and can't believe something like this has happened
<tag all on the bridge>
|
|
Deleted
Registered: Apr 29, 2024 15:29:55 GMT
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 27, 2009 14:34:54 GMT
Theo could only watch as his and the six other escape pods steered themselves toward the planets surface he was in a state of shock.. he couldn’t get the image of his ship exploding nor could he stop his imagination wandering to such dark places as the deaths of his friends as they were engulfed in flames.
He held back the tears if only for the younger crew who occupied the pod with hi, he needed to be strong for them.. he couldn’t bare to have them see him break down not when they themselves were already nearly at that point.
The pods came closer to the surface.. now Theo could make out certain detail of the surface.. enough to know there was no buildings or inhabitants where they would come land.
He was at least thankful that he wouldn’t have to look into the faces of the people who were made to evacuate the city before the St. James’s broken hull fell to the surface. although he knew that not enough of the city would have been evacuated to save everybody but with Usana’s effort to slow the ship and the evacuation going on below he knew the death count thankfully was a lot lower than it could have been.
His pod made a sudden stop as it hit the ground, he fell forward as much of the impact was absorbed by the Pods inbuilt stabilisers,
He pushed open the door and stumbled out into the sunlight, followed by the other occupants in the shuttle he looked around a the last of the St. James crew stumbled out of other pods he counted twenty before looking at the lat pod that had yet to be opened.
Walking towards it with a fear that the stabilisers on the pod were damaged and the occupants killed by the impact, his eyes widened and his fury grew when he saw three Mysar soldiers stumble out when it finally opened.
Seven of the Starfleet crew ran up to them and quickly overpowered the Mysar as they offered little resistance.. before long the Mysar were on their knees with Starfleet crew holding phasers to their head.
On of them said. “They need to Pay… they killed our friends they need to die.”
Theo was almost about to shoot them himself when his morality kicked in and he said. “No there has been enough death.. they will pay… within the extent our laws provide… someone set up the comm. System call the Raven for pickup.”
<Tag Raven>
|
|
Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
|
Post by Carl Torek on May 29, 2009 23:48:56 GMT
After the attack on Rasalgethi, the Raven had spent all her time helping the injured on the surface. The death toll was now well over six thousand, mostly workers from the industrial side of the colony. But saddest of all was the fact that a section of the St James' hull, that should have burned up as it entered the atmosphere, managed to make the surface. It destroyed a school that was in the middle of being evacuated. nearly twelve hundred children, some as young as four, perished ... A makeshift hospital, as well as a morgue, had been set up by the Raven's medical staff, who along with the survivors from the St James we're working around the clock to help people. The three Mysar renegades had been transfered to the USS Winstanley, the first ship to arrive after the destruction. "Captain." Ensign Parkin said, "The USS Fleming and the USS John Tyndall have established orbit and are sending crews to the surface. Captain B'Lor of the Fleming sends his compliments and requests you join him for a briefing at nineteen hundred hours." ~~~~~~~~~~Twenty four hours later .....Sitting in his seat, Carl watched the planet below rotate serenely, to the naked eye, showing no signs of the devastation wrought by the thousands of tonnes of carnage that fell on her only a day before. Captain Usana's Executive Officer, along with all the St James survivors had requested to remain on the surface to help. They would return on the USS Fleming. It seemed to Carl that there was nothing left for them here. They had saved hundreds of thousands, but still had to accept the fact that men, women, and saddest of all, children, had perished. The inquiry would be a long one .. "All departments report ready Captain." Commander Sharp said quietly. Torek nodded, then stood, moving to stand in front of the massive view-screen .. Everyone on the Bridge knew that their Commanding Officer was marking the tragedy with a moments' silence .. "Mister O'Canon. Plot a course for Star base Forty Seven." Carl said finally. "Course plotted and laid-in Sir." Carl looked round the Bridge, pausing on each face for a long, long, moment. Nodding in the knowledge that each of his Officers we're feeling some of the sadness and despair he was feeling. "Warp six Mister O'Canon .... Engage." .......... ~ Mission Concluded ~
~ Captain Carl Torek ~
|
|
Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
|
Post by Carl Torek on May 30, 2009 0:09:36 GMT
Mission 18 Conclusion ...
OK everyone, thats mission 18 over with and locked ...
I would like to thank each and everyone of you, for what i personally consider has been a thoroughly exciting and enjoyable outing, with some very 'edge of the seat' stuff going on at times.
While I want to thank all of the Raven's crew, a special thankyou must go to our 'guest' player for this mission, Doctor Jack Crane .. His portrayal of Captain Usana, and the Rebel leader, Kol Dremar, fully ensured that no-one was ever sure what was going to happen next. (He certainly kept me on my toes) .. Dr Crane certainly made a worthy advisory for us thats a certainty. I'm glad, as some of you may have noticed, that the good Doctor has joined the Raven as Chief Medical Officer, (glad he's on our side now).
Right. We're currently heading home to Star Base Forty Seven, where I will be setting up a 'Shore leave' thread for you to post on from here on in, at least until our next outing
Thank you, and again well done everyone. I am certainly looking forward to 'Mission 19' ... Hope you are too ... ;D
Best Regards.
Carl Torek. Commanding Officer.
|
|