
From jeffj@baudelaire.princeton.edu Thu Jul 16 18:25:21 1998
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 1998 10:46:37 -0600
From: Jeffrey J. Jenkins <jeffj@baudelaire.princeton.edu>
To: INDIGO FLEET List Serve <indigo@cyberhighway.net>
Subject: USS NOVA: Friendship and Duty

---OFFICIAL INDIGO FLEET TRANSMISSION---

Date: Thu, 16 Jul 1998 12:42:39 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Jeffrey J. Jenkins" <jeffj@baudelaire.princeton.edu>
Subject: USS NOVA: Friendship and Duty

Stardate:  100714.1530
Location:  Bridge, USS NOVA

FMD:  8.1449

The blue-black energy funnel crackled to life as the bridge crew watched
in awe.  The ability to create a wormhole was well beyond the capabilities
of the Federation, mainly because of the power requirements for the
operation.  Even then, it was difficult to maintain the stability of the
wormhole for any length of time without extremely favorable subspace and
hyperspace dynamics at the location.

Daear, the world that most of the Star Fleet officers assigned to INDIGO
Flete referred to as Dalriada Prime, Brooks knew, was such a point.  Even
as the ships emerged from the funnel, he studied their markings.

"Six ships emerging from the wormhole, sir," reported Ensign Kasara from
the science station.  "Estimate heavy cruiser."  He voice was calm and
composed. Brooks was glad. Many of the crew on NOVA had changed since he
last commanded the ship and it was good to know that the person who would
be his eyes during the battle was steady in combat.  It was very likely
from the ensign's rather unusual service record.  Few lived to be
commanders in the Klingon Defense Force with shakey nerves, but first hand
confirmation was welcome.

"Confirmed, they are heavy cruiser," stated Brooks calmly.  "They're
DIALWYR class, it means `avenger.'"  The statement brought back the
reality that the captain had speant nearly a year with the Dalriada.  "The
lead ship is DIAL AR, REVENGE, her captain is Aidann Donnchad.  He's a
good officer."  The captain of NOVA sounded almost regretful.

"Open a channel to the lead Dalriadan vessel," ordered Brooks.

"Channel open," replied Borodin.

"Aidann, we don't need to do this.  You know that the Alliance is wrong on
this one."  The bridge crew looked at their captain as he actually
attempted to make a plea to the Dalriada to stop the battle.

[Robert, you know better than that.  I have my duty and my country.  My
orders are to take this system and if you get in the way, then we're going
to have to try to kill each other.]

"You have your country and I mine," replied the captain of the NOVA.

[So be it.]

The channel closed.  Brooks looked remorseful for a moment, then his
expression hardened.  "Mister Britt, full impulse power, head us straight
for the lead cruiser."

"Brooks to Hensley," said the captain, an icy undertone to his voice.

[Engineering, Hensley here, sir.] replied the chief engineer.

"Are your gravitic pulse torpedoes ready?" asked Brooks.  An engineer and
tactical officer by training, Brooks knew the potential of the weapon.  
He also knew that since the Borg encounter with the USS ENTERPRISE more
than 45 years ago the Federation had tried in vain to develop such a
weapon. At least with the knowledge of Dalriadan shielding systems that he
was able to bring with him upon his return, they stood at least some
chance of success.  Brooks knew that the advantage likely wouldn't last
past this battle.  After all, the Dalriada were not stupid.  They would
analyze the battle's results and adapt their shields to compensate for the
new weapon.  Still, looking at the reports coming in from other parts of
the system, Brooks knew that they needed every advantage they could get in
the here and now, not matter how fleeting.

[Aye, sir.  Ready and waiting.]

"Very well, Mister Hensley.  We'll see how they work very shortly. Bridge
out."  Even as he gave orders to the other ships of Defensive Group 3 to
form on NOVA, he labelled the Dalriadan cruisers on the tactical display,
interpretting the hull markings from his knowledge of the Dalriadan
language.  They were GWARCHEIDIOL (GUARDIAN), AMDDIFFYNNWR (DEFENDER),
YMOSODWYR (ATTACKER), DIALGAR (VINDICTIVE), and TALEDIGAETH (PAYMENT).

Brooks might have an acquaintance, even a friend, on one of the ships that
the NOVA and her defensive group were about to engage, but he was not
going to let that stop him from doing his duty.  The captain of NOVA was
beginning to hit his stride, centuries of breeding coming through showing
the true nature of a warrior.  His ancestors had served in the wet navies
of Earth before journeys to the stars were more than fanciful dreams.

The captain half turned, as much as the combat harness and shock frame on
the command chair would allow him, and looked at the tactical officer,
strapped into his station chair behind the captain.  "Mister Borodin,
ready all weapons.  Charge phaser capacitor banks to full and load
gravtorps.  Second torpedo volley should contain half gravtorps, half flux
torps.  After that, hold the gravtorps in reserve until further orders."

"Ensign Kasara, deploy the decoys and maintain their link into our ECM
network.  We'll see if the wild weasles can't keep the missiles off of us
for a little while."

"Captain," chimed in Fairbourne, "they are accelerating perpendicular to
the ecliptic, probably trying to circumvent our group."  As the operations
officer noted, the Dalriadan heavy cruisers had indeed began to accelerate
rapidly to a position above the plane of the system.

"Clever, Aidann, but not clever enough," said Brooks in a low voice,
almost to himself.  Then he gave orders.  He keyed the defensive group
channel, "All ships, excute to follow.  Make your heading 180 mark 17,
reverse formation, the accelerate at full impulse."

"Mister Britt, execute."  As the helm responded, NOVA began her slow spin
on her axis.  As bow eased into the opposide heading and pitched up
slightly, thrusters fired, stopping the slow rotation.  The battlecruiser
drove forward with all her power, the other ships in the formation
following her move and maintaining formation well.  "Signal the destroyers
to stay within one light-minute of the battlecruisers."

A signal from ROYAL OAK momentarily interupted Robert Brooks' chain of
through.  [What are you planning?] asked Captain Paul Verlaine.
Technically, Verlaine should have been the commodore of defensive group 3.
He outranked Brooks by time in grade.  However, given the younger
captain's knowledge of the Dalriada, he saw the wisdom in letting him
direct the operations of their group.  Besides, it was not as if the man
who had once been the youngest captain in the history of the Star Fleet
was a raw recruit.  He had seen combat on the scale of this system
invasion at Bellatrix in the defense of GAMMA against the Dominion that
was widely referred to as the Second Battle of GAMMA.

"Captain, the battlecruisers and NOVA outgun those ships one for one.
Their commodore," he refrained from referring to Aidann Donnchad by name,
"undoubtably knows this.  For that reason, he's trying to circumnavigate
us.  He's got a lot of space between here and the base, but only limited
ability to navigate in the plane of the system without running into one of
the other battles.  And that won't accomplish his mission, which is to get
past us and support the battleships that manage to slip past ZEUS.  They
are jamming subspace signals and gravitics won't tell us much about what
is happening on the other side of the system in a close engagement.  We
can't even tell if ZEUS' group survived the initial attack.  It will be
three hours before light speed communications can reach us and tell us and
we can't wait.  We need to intercept and stop this Dalriadan cruiser
division, then worry about the rest of the system.

"Fortunately, the Dalriadan commodore needs to keep at long range of us.
He doesn't want to risk the need to trade shots with us.  This means that
we can just manage to stay between him and the base is he plays it
conservative.  However, he can also cut the corner of our field of fire
and get to the base without the battlecruisers being able to keep up.  
The destroyers can overhaul, but they will be cut to pieces if they try to
engage heavy cruisers alone."

[You do not paint an optomistic picture, commodore,] stated Verlaine
dryly.  It was clear that the captain of ROYAL OAK expected more of
Brooks, but the NOVA's commander didn't have more to give.  He wondered
what Verlaine would have him do, change the laws of phsyics perhaps.

"Captain, they have a 360 gee acceleration advantage.  We can accelerate
at 19 kilometers per second per second.  That might be almost two thousand
times Earth's gravity, but those cruisers can accelerate at 22.6 kps^2.
If we do get into firing range, just make sure your shots count.  We won't
get a second shot at this until they are backed up against the starbase
unless they choose to give it to us.  And, captain, you can guarantee if
they attack us, that those cruisers will have been reinforced by another
of the attack forces."

NOVA drove on through space at the head of a diamond formation of battle
cruisers with the four destroyers one light minute ahead in a v-formation.
Only time would tell whether the Dalriada would choose to engage of
continue their effort to bypass the ships of Defensive Group 3.

---

Captain J. Robert Brooks
Commanding Officer
USS NOVA, NCC-1776-A

NRPG:

Defensive Group 3:
       (SOLAR-class command battlecruiser)
  NOVA
BATRON21
       (INVINCIBLE-class battlecruiser)
  ROYAL OAK - Captain Paul Verlaine
  RODNEY
  IRON DUKE
  ANSON
  TEMERAIRE
DESRON28
       (WILLIAM MITCHELL-class destroyers)
  ARTHUR PHILLIP
  ALFRED von TIRPITZ
  ERICH RAEDER
  JAMES COOK

Attack Group 3:

CA 3-1 DIAL AR (REVENGE) - Captain Aidann Donnchad
CA 3-2 GWARCHEIDIOL (GUARDIAN)
CA 3-3 AMDDIFFYNNWR (DEFENDER)
CA 3-4 YMOSODWYR (ATTACKER)
CA 3-5 DIALGAR (VINDICTIVE)
CA 3-6 TALEDIGAETH (PAYMENT)

FMD:  8.1449  CAPT Brooks (USS NOVA) speaks with CAPT Donnchad (HMS DIAL
              AR) in an unsuccessful attempting to avert conflict
      8.1450  RDN AG3 navigates around UFPSF DG3.
      8.1451  CAPT Brooks (USS NOVA) and CAPT Verlaine (USS ROYAL OAK)
              speak about tactics of the attack.

/---------------------------------------------------------------------\
| Jeffrey J. Jenkins                     | "Fortune is not on the     |
| http://baudelaire.princeton.edu/jeffj/ | side of the faint-hearted. |
| mailto:jeffj@baudelaire.princeton.edu  |   -Sophocles, Phaedra.     |
\---------------------------------------------------------------------/
    |  Copyright 1998, Jeffrey J. Jenkins, All rights reserved.   |
    \-------------------------------------------------------------/



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