RP: SSS [SSS] - Port in a Storm

[Nashoba]

The SSS research vessels Tansaku, Tankyuu, Saiensu, and Kagaku sat on the grassy plain their white hulls glistening as the morning sun struck the dew on them. Captain Derek Sturm of the Tansaku took a moment to admire the view. He looked behind him at the cluster of Collapsible Rapid Deployment Modules, or CRDMs as most of the team referred to them. This was the second day of the expedition on Takara, the better portion of yesterday was spent scouting to find the best location for the expedition to set up camp. When they were done there would be 192 Tansaku personnel stationed here exploring. The Saiensu and Kagaku were slated to remain in system doing detailed analysis of the other planetary bodies and provide defense. The report he read spoke of an unknown enemy that attacked the Star Army group that was exploring the system previously.

Derek resumed his walk back to his ship, the planning meeting this morning with the Expedition leaders went well. They would now start unloading the ships and setting up the camp in earnest. Nice planet, wouldn’t mind spending some time here. Quiet, relaxing. he thought. Just then his communicator beeped. A second later the voice of his communications officer James Cross came through his headset. “Captain Sturm, we just received an emergency communications from Scientific Studies Services Headquarters. It is encrypted and marked Commander only.” “I’m on my way James. Have the senior crew members wait for me in the wardroom; Sturm out.” Derek started jogging back to the ship, shortly he was running up the vehicle bay ramp. He slowed down his pace only enough so that he would not collide with anyone. What could be so urgent that operations would send an emergency communications? Guess I will find out soon enough. He walked into the bridge and took his station. Upon entering his access code the message decrypted:

From: Saiki Kouan, Chuji, Scientific Studies Service
To: All Tansaku Commanders
Subject: Cessation of activities outside of Yamatai space

A state of emergency is in effect.
SANDRA reports that Yamatai is currently under attack by Mishhu forces. Reports indicate enemy engagements at several fronts. SSS is discontinuing all operations outside of Yamatai space for safety.

All Tansaku personnel are ordered to seek refuge at the nearest safe point in Yamatai space.

Contact Operations upon receipt of this message, and again upon arrival at safe port.

Saiki Kouan, Chuji
Scientific Studies Service.

Derek took a moment to pull up the referenced news report. Then he left the bridge and joined the others in the wardroom. The present section leaders all rose when he came in. He chose to stand at behind his chair rather than sit. “Be seated this will not take long.” He said. Once they were all sitting. “We just received an order from the Chuji. The Mishuu are attacking Yamatai at several locations. We have been ordered to return to Yamatai space as quickly as possible. Effectively we are behind enemy lines at the moment. I will be talking with the other ship commanders determining our destination. For now, let’s get everything loaded and back onboard. I want us lifting in less than four hours people.” Without waiting for questions Derek left the wardroom for his office.

 

[Nashoba]

Derek spoke with the other Tansaku commanders regarding the recent order. After thirty minutes of debate, they reached a consensus. The KMS was the closest area of Yamatai controlled space. They could get to it quicker and easier than making the trek across open space to the other entrances to Yamatai space. The prospect of being jumped by the Mishuu while that far from any help made risking getting to the KMS far more desirable. “Any port in a storm is preferable to being in the storm in the middle of the void.” Was the phrase they all agreed to. Their plan was simple. According to what data they had the fighting was taking place at the entrance. They would first jump to a point halfway between UX-26 and the entrance. Then make another jump into towards the entrance, or beyond if possible. Once they dropped out they would switch to CDD and make a run for it and hopeful skirt around the battle. There was a at least a dozen things that could go wrong, but Derek could not see any better alternative.

Three hours later Derek stood on the bridge of the Tansaku. All personnel were aboard their vessels and the other ships were reporting ready to lift. He took a moment to look at the view screen at the image of the planet. “Take us up Mr. Garret.” He ordered. The Tansaku lifted skyward with the other ships following close behind. Once they were clear of the planet’s gravity well, they engaged the CDD and accelerated to the outer edge of the system. Once the group of ships reached the outer edge of UX-27, they dropped back out of FTL. While the bridge crew made the calculations for a coordinated jump, the Tansaku personnel were making preparations. The blast shields for the lounge windows were engaged and all ship personnel were at their duty stations, and the expedition members were in their quarters. Capt. Sturm paced the bridge waiting for the first jump to be completed. After all this was the easy one. Once the group of SSS ships dropped back into normal space, he returned to his station. “Status reports now people.” From around the bridge the reports came in. “Sensors clear, no other vessels in our area, Captain.” “All critical ship systems are nominal, Captain.” “Calculating coordinates for our next jump, Captain.” “The other Tansaku report ready for jump on your command, Captain.”

Derek looked around at his bridge crew; most of them were like him former Star Army personnel, so they were aware of the dangers of this maneuver. “Okay people, I want us weapons hot and full shields as soon we exit the jump.” A glance at his station showed him that the course for their jump was laid in. He picked up the intercom handset and punched in the ship wide code. “Attention personnel we are about to make our run for the safety of the KMS. We will shortly be making our hyperspace fold as deep into the entrance as we can. Then we will make best possible speed until we are safely behind the battle zone.” He looked at the screen, at the star field ahead of them. Somewhere out there, men and women were dying to protect the empire. “Mr Garret, signal the fleet, engage hyperdrive and may fortune favor us.” The four SSS Tansaku vessels vanished from normal space and raced towards whatever lay ahead.

 

[Nashoba]

John Garret sat at the helm of the Tansaku monitoring the vessels journey. The group had passed beyond the entrance to the Ketsurui Military Sector. Now we wait and see if the skipper’s gamble pays off. The further in we get the closer to East Gate we will emerge. He took a moment to look at the other bridge crew members. All of them were doing their best to look calm and focused. But looking closer he could see tells on a few of them, Haruko was nibbling on her lower lip, Marcus had his communicator out and was flipping through his music. He looked back at Captain Sturm, he admired the Nepleslian’s ability to look so calm. John wondered what Sturm was feeling. He knew that the Captain had been in the Star Army until two years ago. He trusted that Captain’s judgment and skills to get them through safely.

A blinking on his console pulled his attention back to his controls. There was a subtle drop in their velocity. He performed a quick check and confirmed all systems were operating normally. Damn, we’re hitting an interdiction field. It is not too bad so far., he thought, “Captain, we are encountering the leading edge of an anti-FTL field.” He watched the Captain look at his console, “Shit, I had hoped that we would get further before we hit something like this.” The Captain turned to the person at Operations, “Signal the fleet, make preparations for hyperfold collapse.” The Operations person sent the order, and sounded collision alarm. Everyone on the bridge adjusted their restraint harnesses. John continued to watch the ship’s progress. Every minute they stayed in fold was another .75 lightyears closer to safety. And with each passing minute the indicator for the fold bubble stability edged closer to collapse. Then the group passed into a stronger interdiction field, and the console flashed, fold collapsing. “The hyperspace bubble is collapsing.” John barely got the warning out, before the Tansaku dropped back into normal space the lights dimming as the internal systems compensated for sudden uncontrolled shift. He felt his harness digging into his shoulders as his mass was pushed forward.

A quick check on navigation showed the group’s position; they were a little more than halfway to their original destination point. “By the ancestors," Haruko said looking at the main screen. John was not a religious person, but if ever there was an image that matched what people called hell it was on the screen. There were thousands of vessels locked in pitched battle. Everywhere you looked you saw flashes of deadly energy, and the larger flashes signaled the death of another ship.

 

[Nashoba]

Captain Sturm could feel the mood on the bridge sinking fast. He knew that he had to restore focus, keep the crew focused and they would not have time to be afraid. He watched a squadron of Plumeria caught between two groups, fight and destroy the older Star Army ships. What kind of madness is this? Why would Star Army personnel be working with the Mishhu? Well if we survive maybe I’ll get an answer. Now to the matter of survival.” He thought. Derek checked the sensor data from the area around them. There was a debris cloud close by and if he was reading the sensors properly, there were hundreds of weapon pods floating dormant. The only chance the Tansaku had of surviving was to get with another group of ships. Safety in numbers, trying to flee at sublight would just make them easy pickings. The Tansaku were mainly defensive, in fact their weapon systems once deployed did not put a drain on the ship’s CFS, using the sublight engines, they had the majority of the ships energy to channel into the shields and to reinforce them. That’s it, there is our possible way of staying alive. “Okay people, I know this looks bad, but I have a plan, and if we work it right, we all have a better chance of staying alive. Mr Garret bring the group towards that debris field. Haruko, once we get in range I want you to grab as many of those weapon pods online to increase our fire power, have the other ships do the same. I estimate we can triple our weapon pods. Mr Garret once we complete gearing up, take us directly to that Plumeria squadron, we have a party to crash.”

 

[Nashoba]

The Tansaku vessels rushed towards the squadron of Star Army vessels fighting what had to be the newest Mishuu vessels. Captain Derek Sturm watched his crew as the space between the groups shrank rapidly. “Mr. Garret, how is your dead reckoning, because when we get close enough to the Plumeria we’re probably going to have the devil’s own time trying to scan due to their ECM.” The Tansaku was closing on the beleaguered squadron, he could see that everyone one of the gunships had sustained damage in one form or another. “Captain Sturm, we are encountering the ECM you warned us about, most tactical sensors are useless.” Haruko chimed in from behind him. “Mr. Garrett kill the CDD and take us in on the auxiliary engines only, I want every available erg of power we have ready for the shields.” Derek accessed the ship’s running light control system. He programmed it to cause the anti-collision lights to flash in a pattern he recalled from his Star Army training. As the Tansaku group approached the Plumerias, they targeted and destroyed the next incoming wave of torpedoes.

John Garret was really good at two things, and the second one was of no use to him at the moment. His hands flew across the controls as he maneuvered the Tansaku into the chaos around the Star Army ships. He watched as the group of enemy ships exploded when the augmented weapon pods blasted them into expanding balls of flame and debris. The most of his sensors started displaying erratic random values; he ignored them, and focused on the visual and dead reckoning screen. Knowing the size of the Plumeria and the range they were at when they lost radar, he could use the image to gauge his distance and rate of closure. Just like academy training when I would fly through asteroid fields. Except that fighters had way more maneuverability that the Tansaku, but hey, I always did love a challenge. He thrustered his way to the lead ship, the only with the distinctive paint scheme. Almost there, now we just have to hope they don’t blow us out of the sky on principle. He intentionally cut across the ships bow between their salvos and then moved into optimum position to shield them. As he completed the maneuver he exhaled a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “We are in position Captain.” He said to Sturm. “Haruko extend our shields to include the closest ship. Now we have to cross our fingers.” He heard Sturm say.

 

[Nashoba]

Derek sat tense in his chair, he watched as the warship trained its turrets towards the Tansaku. He waited for someone on the Plumeria to notice the blinking running lights. With their shields extended, if the warship fired they would not stand a chance. “Captain Sturm, we’re being hailed.” “This is YSS Aeon, please identify your self.” A voice came from the speakers. Derek activated the come from his station. “YSS Aeon, this is the YSS Tansaku with the Scientific Studies Service; Captain Derek Sturm commanding.” There was a brief pause and then a female voice came over the speaker. “Captain Sturm, This is Ise-Taii commander of the Aeon that was pretty dangerous stunt, what the hell are you doing here?” “Ma’am we were ordered to report to Yamatai controlled space due to the Mishhu invasion. The Ketsurui Military Sector was the closest place, did not expect things to be so bad. And after watching your squadron we figured you could use some help, and there is safety in numbers. We brought over 100 more weapon pods to add to your fire power, and we can alternate our shields with your shields to allow time to re-initialize.” “I don’t have time to argue, and frankly we can use the assistance, my XO Tso-Chui will patch you into our squadron channel, so you can maneuver with us. I am not familiar with your class of ship, what is your top speed?” she asked. “Ma’am we peak out at .275c.” “Okay, we’ll adjust our tactics accordingly. Aeon out.” Derek watched as a computer link was established between his ship and the Aeon. “Mr Garret, follow the movement instructions from the Star Army ships. Well people it looks like we are in the game. So stay sharp.”

John Garret acknowledged the Captain’s instructions with a nod, “Yes sir, we are syncing with them.” The group of eight ships swung about in an arc and charged towards the first warship. His instincts were to turn the Tansaku around and run for it. But he could see the futility of that action. He monitored the weapon pods, and watched as the warship above them started firing. First with the main cannon, then as they ships closed the particle accelerator cannons added. The shields of the Tansaku showed the impacts of the enemy vessels, but were holding, with the engineers reinforcing them with extra energy. The Tansaku shuddered when one of the enemy volleys impacted the hull. “Captain, all sections still report green. No damage to primary systems.” Haruko called out. John knew that if they continued to take hits that their Yamataium hull would eventually weaken to the point that internal systems would suffer. He watched the first of the enemy warships explode as it was overwhelmed by the hundreds of weapon pods. The Plumeria then concentrated their fire power on the other enemy ship. The exchange of weapon fire was devastating and with the squadron bringing everything thing they had to the Mishhu warship. He could see the Plumeria taking some serious hits even with the shielding. And even the Tansaku were not going unscathed, but fortunately for the moment the enemy was more concerned with the navy vessels.

 

[Nashoba]

Derek Sturm kept the people on his bridge focused, while they all knew their jobs, most of them were civilians and never been in a serious ship battle. Haruko continued to advise him as to status of the ship. Towards the conclusion of the engagement with the two enemy warships, he heard the one thing he really hoped to not hear. “Casualty reports sir, Dr Tomi is taking care of them. He reports none appear life threatening Captain.” Haruko reported. “None of the expedition members have been injured. The port nacelle has been damaged, engineering is evaluating the damage. We have multiple hull ruptures, damage control teams are dealing with them.” “Mr Garret, what are the Plumeria doing?” “Sir, they are holding position, effecting damage control, and tending to their wounded. We seem to be clear for the moment.” Derek could not help but wonder if this was just the calm before the storm. From what he could see it did not seem like any of the gunships were in any condition to continue engaging the enemy.

 

[Nashoba]

Captain Sturm watched as the gunship fell away on the view screen. He then gave the order for the science ships to return to their course to Gemini station. “Mr Garret, you have the conn, I’ll be in my office. Notify me when we arrive at Gemini.” He said, as he stood and made his way out of the bridge. Need to figure out what we are going to do here. Originally we planned to sit out the initial combat, but it looks like we are in KMS for the duration. He sat at his desk and pulled up the data available for the sector. He scanned each of the listed star systems, and found most of the lacking. Then he happened upon the designation of UX-23. Located in the Yui Nebula there was no data, except the designation of unexplored star system. Sounds like the perfect location for a group of scientists and explorers to hang out while the blockade holds. And would be a better use for their resources than just sitting at a station. He sent a dispatch to the other commanders and turned off his terminal. He looked at the chronometer and realized how long he had been on duty. He activated the intercom to the bridge. “Mr Garret, signal shift change, let night shift take over.” “Aye sir.” John replied. Derek walked into his cabin and removed his uniform. He walked over to his bed, switched off the cabin lights.

John woke to his alarm and crawled out of his bed. He made his way to the shower and prepare for the duty day. When he emerged from the head he pulled on his uniform and equipment. He felt much refreshed even after only getting a few hours of well earned sleep. He then proceeded down to the mess to grab a quick breakfast. A query to the ship’s AI let him know that they were proceeding to Gemini and would be arriving within the hour. He wolfed down his food, and deposited his dirty utensils and dishes at the pickup station. He waved to a couple of the other crew members as he left for the bridge. When he entered the bridge, he saw the captain. “Morning Captain Sturm, you get any rest sir?” he asked as he relieved the night helmsman. “I eventually got some sleep, How about you John?” “You know me sir, I can sleep on command.” He replied with a grin. The console indicated that they had arrived. “Arriving at destination sir; signaling the other ships to drop out of FTL.” John sent the command and then brought the Tansaku out of FTL and cruised towards the station at approach speed.

“Gemini Approach Control, this is the YSS Tansaku out of Yamatai. We have Star Army Personnel needing medical attention. We are requesting docking authorization.” Sturm sent. “Tansaku, this is Gemini Approach, you are cleared to dock; we are transmitting berth locations. Be advised that you will be in Quarantine status until our medical team can ascertain that your and your passengers are clear.” Came the response over the speakers. “Understood Gemini, we will have our personnel and medical staff standing by to assist. Sturm out.” He replied, “Docking procedures Mr Garret.” “We are proceeding to designated berths. Autodocking sequence is engaged sir.” Garret replied.

 

[Nashoba]

Once the decontamination sweep was completed; Captain Sturm ordered all Senior Crew members and all off shift personnel to report to the cargo bay. The crew of the Tansaku lined up and came to attention when the Star Army soldiers entered the bay to exit the ship. When they got closer Derek saluted. The personnel behind him mirrored his impromptu action. They all held the salute until the last of the wounded passed by. Sturm struck an At Ease posture, and the crew did the same. The med techs came onboard and prepared to offload the fallen. As they entered the bay Sturm called, “Attention.” And all the detail did so sharply. Suddenly the air of the cargo bay was filled with the sounds of the Yamatai Empire Anthem. I need to find out who did that later, Sturm thought, and called out, “Detail present arms.” The Tansaku crew honored the fallen, and only when the last body was off the ship did they drop their salute, and Sturm turned to face them.

“Okay people, we still have a job to perform. Repair teams get our ship back to 100%, once all our ships are repaired, we will lay in a course to UX-23. Senior staff report for a meeting in the Wardroom in one hour. I want a plan of how we are going to navigate the nebula safely to approach that system. You are dismissed.” Sturm said.

As the majority of the crew left John Garret approached. “So skipper, what is with the detour to UX-23?” “Figure it’s the best use of our resources. We have four ships loaded with personnel and equipment for a sizeable expedition. We can not operate at Takara, and I really do not think that the Star Army is going to want a bunch of civilians just hanging around the Star Fortress. The system has never been explored, so we can do what we are trained to do, and who knows what will find there. With a war Yamatai needs resources, so we may find some valuable mineral deposits, and maybe a habitable world. Until that blockade gets broken we are stuck here. I figure Saiki-Chuji would want us to be productive.” “Okay, you’re the boss, I’ll get with the boys from the Stellar lab and see what ideas we can kick around before the meeting.” John turned and walked away heading for the Science lab section.

 

[Nashoba]

After completing their repairs and provisioning at Gemini Station, the KMS expedition of the Scientific Studies Service consisting of the Tansaku, Tankyuu, Saiensu, and Kagaku maneuvered to edge of the Yui Nebula. David Sturm stood on the bridge of the Tansaku and looked at the main screen. The science heads had worked out a plan on how to safely proceed into the nebula on their way to UX-23. Ahead of the science vessels a cluster of Ke-O5-1a Variable Configuration Mission Adaptive Drones flew ahead of the ships. The plan was the drones were to scan an area wide enough for the ships to follow; thus ensuring that the ships would avoid anything that could cause damage to the ships.

David walked over to the helmsman of the Tansaku “Prepare to get under day Mr Garret,” He said putting hand on the helmsman’s shoulder. Then he turned to the Science officer. “Send the drones in Marcus, and signal the group to get underway.” Marcus replied, “VCMAD’s proceeding along projected course Captain, sensor data is coming clear.”

David took his seat at the command station and looked at the screen, “Take us in John, and try not to hit anything.” He said with a grin. John turned back to the David, “Just for that I ought to see about finding a rock to scrape along the hull.” He answered with an evil grin, then turned back to the controls and brought the ship up to speed.

The group of science vessels made their way through the nebula, from their entry point they had to cross 15 light years of nebula. While the nebula itself was not much of a threat the ionized gases and discharges had the affect of reducing sensors, and it was debris that would pose the bigger threat. While the change was remote it was not something the Expedition leader was willing to risk. Besides the drones were providing them with detailed information on the gravimetric properties of the region.

As they approached the location of the star systems, the drones reported a drop in nebula density. The Tansaku-Class vessels emerged shortly after the drones. The image on the screen was definitely surprising to Captain Sturm. Before them lay the star system with a number of planets clearly visible; the pressure from the star’s solar wind created a region that was clear of the nebula gasses. It had the appearance of being inside a giant marble with the outside slowly swirling and changing.

“Marcus, signal the ships to have the drones deployed to start initial surveys of the planetary bodies.” David said as he looked at the Sensor operator. “I’m on it Captain.” Marcus replied as he signaled the group. “Sir the Saiensu and Kagaku are requesting permission to break formation and start scanning the gas giants.” “Permission granted. Mr Garret set a course to the inner system. Once we get closer we will select a planet and move into orbit for a detailed analysis.”

John Garret, XO of the Tansaku and pilot smiled as he laid in a course. “Course is laid in Captain. I’ll be bringing us in to the plane of the system.” The Tansaku responded to his commands wonderfully and the research vessel accelerated to.25c. At this speed they had plenty of time to plot the positions of the system objects.