A Final Preparation

Posted on Wed Aug 3rd, 2022 @ 8:24pm by Captain Calypso Skyie & Lieutenant Commander Alexander Espersen
Edited on on Wed Aug 3rd, 2022 @ 8:26pm

Mission: Pirates! (Or Yo Ho Ho And A Bottle Of Yum)
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: The Night Before The Ambush

Cally straightened her uniform as she stood in the turbolift and breathed deeply as it whisked her to the bridge. The ship was at warp, the four minimally manned and completely unarmed freighters in formation with her. They were all volunteer crews of Fleet officers in civilian dress to complete the disguise of this being a civilian-run operation with the 'Aegean Sea' being a decommissioned ship converted, but maintaining some weapons to be a convoy escort. In fact, she had just about ten hours before she was due to be on a holodeck fitted out as a secondary bridge to handle the ship by remote once the combat started. It wasn't the best option, but a couple tests had proven that it could work... So long as the ship didn't take much damage.

Or of course, they could reverse things... The more she thought about it, the more she liked THAT idea. And that was one of the reasons she was on her way to her ready room. The door slid open and she swept onto the top deck and glanced around. It was definitely more of an abandoned place with a helmsman, Alex and a single additional person on the deck. "Alex, may I see you in my ready room?" She asked quietly as she passed, "Some um... Last minute arrangements to make and all." She flashed him a smile as she trailed a hand across the chair and passed him.

The First Officer, on all official documentation in command of this converted freighter but everyone knew who really gave the orders, quietly stood and followed her.

Unlike the Captain, he was out of uniform, wearing instead a drab and loose coverall with a ship patch and line patch on either shoulder, like most of the crew, though his was adorned with a red stripe that marked him as the one in charge of the operation. Seeing Cally though in the full Starfleet uniform reminded him of what they were doing, and why.

As the door closed behind them, he allowed himself a smile. “Isn’t this technically my ready room?”

Cally chuckled as she stripped off the jacket and tossed it inexpertly onto the arm of the sofa along the wall and she blew him a raspberry, "Technically, yes, but I'm an invader that you can't do anything about!" Her eyes sparkled brightly, but she perched on the edge of her... 'His' desk, "I still feel dumb about trying to find the secondary bridge when the ship doesn't have one." She admitted, "I know the holodeck 'replacement' works, but I still don't like the feel of it for actual combat operations, what if the program goes down at a critical moment?"

“It’s a risk,” Alexander agreed. “We have time to install some redundant processors and a generator, but nothing is foolproof. I might recommend you designate a backup-backup bridge. Perhaps at the Master Systems Display Table in Main Engineering. Holodeck goes down, Miss Jade has you beamed to Engineering immediately.”

"And Ensign Windancer? And Lieutenant Valleroy? And Lieutenant Vianelli?" Calypso shook her head slowly, "I really don't like Engineering as a place to pilot and fight the ship either..." She glanced up with mischief in her eyes, "Or, you know, we could always swap? Put you in the holodeck and punch the main feed through to there? That way, you're closer to Engineering for once we actually engage them, you can handle the works down there, so that Ensign Jade doesn't have to have this as her first time as Damage Control Central?"

“That’s a good plan, actually,” he said, surprised at himself for not thinking of it. “I’m concerned if they scan the bridge and find more life signs than the number they see on the screen. I’ll need some justification for having the number of expected life signs on the false bridge.” He thought about it a moment. “First strike causes things to short out on the bridge, explaining any confusing behavior and justifying why extra people would be present. Holographic damage control team.”

"Holographic won't give off life-signs though..." Cally mused at the suggestion, "But I fully expect them to comm you to give you the chance to surrender first. Sure, a convoy like this with an obviously armed ship in it, they might just go for a disarming shot, but they 'obviously' outgun us as well and they're going to want this cargo, if Nat was able to plant the idea in their heads in the first place." She pursed her lips in thought for a few moments, "Play that one by ear, then. Ugh, give me a straight up assault mission any time over this whole Q-ship bull."

“Never underestimate the value of guile, Captain,” Alexander said with a smirk. “As for the life signs, it’s fine. If they scan the real bridge, where my signal will appear to be coming from, they’ll detect you and a full complement. But if they look at me and my team in the fake bridge through the viewscreen, they might see only two or three. A few more people behind me working will just mean their eyes and their sensors will match. We’ll also put some sensor scramblers around the holodeck, so they’ll not detect us anyway, nor detect an active holodeck on a Q-ship in a combat zone. We can’t leave any possibility that our ruse will be seen through, even if those possibilities are minute.”

"I agree entirely..." Cally sighed, pushing herself off the desk and moving towards him, "Any sort of signal we give them that we aren't what we appear to be is just a weakness that they can exploit. A weakness, that begins..." Step towards him, "With..." She was right in front of him, looking up, "You." A finger in his sternum. "Can you handle being threatened by someone with ships pointing guns at you?"

“Before Mars, I was on ships that were attacked and didn’t panic,” he answered. “But I wasn’t in the chair, so in all honesty I don’t know. Thinking on it though, isn’t it better if I get flustered? A washed up Q-ship CO, well over his head, seriously considering surrender…until we deploy properly?”

She smiled brightly up at him, "Or until they do. When they're ready to go, we'll be ready to take them out."

“The remote tractor beam drones are ready, by the way,” Alexander reported. “Once we detach those cargo pods, they’ll be ready to deploy. When command transfers to you, I’ll come up to the bridge, and I can control them from the XO station.”

"Excellent... After we take out the Venture, use your judgement when it comes to targets. of opportunity." Cally nodded as she finally slumped down onto the sofa in the room, "And the waiting... I hate the waiting... Maybe I should go around and buck up the crew?"

“It might not hurt,” Alexander agreed. “Just don’t make it look like you’re doing one final tour of the ship before an unwinnable battle.” He gave her a lopsided smile. “Part of an education in engineering included old naval traditions.”

"Of course not!" Cally laughed, shaking her head with a smile on her face, "For one, we're going to WIN this one, for the second? Not my first rodeo, I know what I should say, just to inspire confidence."

"Any confidence boost is welcome," he said. "What will you tell the crew, specifically?" He didn't say, but he wanted to hear it for himself too.

Cally smiled slightly as she settled into the couch to be comfortable, "Well, you see... It's going to be different for everyone, because we're all individuals... I'm going to start with Ensign Windancer, and for her..."

OFF: