A problem-some beginning but a fine Journey overall

Posted on Sun Sep 9th, 2018 @ 1:52am by Ensign Raymond McBain
Edited on on Sun Sep 9th, 2018 @ 1:52am

Mission: Holographic Horrors
Location: Space aboard an Orion Shuttle
Timeline: 2395 Stardate 72673.1

McBain was a couple days out from DS-9 just cruising at warp-4. He was currently reading up on the Hera the ship he was being transferred to. He had been sent to DS-9 after graduation from the Academy and upon arriving given orders to take a replacement Orion out to the Hera. He was to join the crew there on arrival. He had been delighted as it was a long solo flight. Something he enjoyed was being alone in the black like this. He had his sensors all set to a loud setting so he did not have to watch them real closely. It was sort of a risk not paying close attention but it was going to be several days to the Hera. He could not stay awake that long, so he had no real choice.

He had learned long ago to let the things beyond your control just be. You just had to react a bit quicker in those circumstances. This Orion shuttle was a new boat and he was enjoying the ride thus far. It was about that time so he checked his nave's before taking a nap. He had woke and changed uniforms, he had decided on wearing a flight suit for the duration just to be ready is anything went wrong.

He was watching the brilliant lights of the Plexion nebula far in the distance when the warning klaxon rang out. It made him jump but he went with the motion to get properly into the pilot's seat and buckle up. He checked the warning signal even as he turned off the nerve wracking noise. A Hideki was closing in on him rapidly. It would force him from warp within twenty minutes if nothing changed. He back-scanned the sensor feeds and saw the Hideki was indeed stalking him. It was now making a play.

=^=Unidentified Hidkei class, you are on an intercept course with my Orion class. Please change course, or I will be forced to consider you a hostile craft.=^= McBain knew that was not the standard warning, but they were out here in the middle of no-where.

The minutes dragged on and no reply was sent. McBain had made slight adjustments to his own course, just enough to avoid the intercept. The Hideki had altered course each time to remain on the attack. McBain knew he was outgunned but he also knew the Orion was more nimble. It also had quite enough firepower to deal with the Hideki, if he survived long enough. The intercept was only minutes away now. McBain could have turned about and run. He just was not that type of person though. In fact the idea of turning away had not even truly been considered. In fact he was getting excited about the thought of an engagement. He put on the flight helmet and sealed it to the suit. He had a feral grin as he sent a last warning.

=^=Unidentified Hidkei, I have tried to avoid this encounter, but you have adjusted each time to intercept me. I am warning you now, I consider you a hostile craft and will not hesitate to defend my craft from you. Be warned, I have no hostile intentions toward you, but I am able and will defend myself.=^=

The time arrived and he had the warning that he would very soon be dropping from warp to avoid a collision. He dropped out of warp, as did the Hideki. They were just out of weapons range of each other due to some maneuvering by McBain. He had dropped from warp rather than be forced down, so he was slightly farther away than the Hideki crew expected. They closed in on impulse power. Shields already up, weapons activated, they closed the distance in silence. McBain had his shields up but only activated weapons after verifying the other boat had their's armed. The Hideki was closing almost head to head, being slightly higher than McBain's Orion. McBain was glad he was alone because the maneuvers he had in mind would have been hard on any crew or passengers. He was a small boat type and not many big boat people enjoyed the hard maneuvering of a small boat.

The Hideki fired the pair of heavy disruptor canons as soon as they were in range. McBain saw the power surge as they discharged and barrel rolled high to port. The blasts tore through the space he had just vacated. The Hideki turned as well, letting loose two photon torpedoes, before banking low and away to hook back around. The torpedoes were meant to keep their prey occupied, even if they did not destroy it. McBain fired a micro-torpedo toward the heavier ordinance, set on proximity. He turned low and tried to sneak in behind the Hideki. His micro torpedo exploded causing both of the Hideki's torpedoes to explode in the blast. McBain felt the shock wave behind him and had to compensate. He missed his chance to get in behind the Hideki in doing so.

The Hidkei was coming around and they were going to be head-to-head again if McBain did nothing. He did do something, he accelerated and got the angle before the Hideki could bring their big guns to bear. The Hideki's lighter weapons were mostly out of range as McBain fired short rapid bursts into the front starboard corner of the Hideki. McBain was an excellent gunner and he seldom missed, he was not missing this time either. The Hideki's shields flared and the hull sparkled as armor was cut into. The Hideki turned away firing their secondary weapons. McBain felt the impacts on his shields as he fired his micro torpedoes as rapidly as they could cycle through the launcher. He continued racking the hull with his phaser canons as well. The Hideki destroyed the first couple micro torpedoes but the third struck the hull. The next two followed it in and the Hideki was all but disabled.

McBain elevatored up above the Hideki so he did not overshoot. Keeping his nose on target with a 'Cobra' style fighter maneuver he sent several phaser canon shots directly into the bridge. He could see fire racing through the hull from the portholes in the Hideki hull. He lifted his nose to pull away, in an attempt to avoid the coming explosion.

The Hideki though was not dead yet and a pair of photon torpedoes were released from the rear launcher. McBain barely saw them before the sensors blanked with the Hideki's explosion. McBain broke to the starboard quickly and accelerated loosing a micro torpedo from his rear launcher set to proximity. This time however it did not work and the photons were still racing toward him.

McBain could not outrun the torpedoes but he could out fly them. He banked sharply to port and elevatored low causing both torpedoes to race past, over him. He had managed to be far enough away that they had not exploded. He fired two of his own micro-photons on proximity before turning to Starboard and climbing away. The bigger torpedoes were turning to reacquire when they were destroyed by McBain's micro-torpedoes. The Orion was not quite far enough away to escape unscathed, as it was rocked hard. It was as if hit by a rogue wave on the ocean. McBain had warning lights on several systems as he fought to keep control of his boat.

He retained control with no small effort before he began activating resets and moving to back-up systems as needed. The hull was intact and his engines showed no visible or electronically detectable damage, so he felt relieved. He was several days away from his destination though and this was no longer going to be a simple walk in the park. For over an hour he fought with the warning lights in an attempt to keep all systems up and working properly. He moved back on course at impulse power before he began running diagnostics on his warp drive. He did not want to return to warp before he was sure the equipment he was using could handle that.

After a two hour diagnostic, he was satisfied the warp drive was indeed capable. He checked his navigation, after verifying he was back on course he took the Orion back to warp-2. He worked on a damaged comm board for a half hour before jumping it to warp-4. He ran a diagnostic on his shields and weapon systems before jumping it to warp-6 to make up lost time. The Orion was flying well and he felt no warning vibrations in the engines, so he removed the flight helmet at last. He still had no idea who had attacked him? He checked his comms and they appeared to be working so he reviewed the gun cameras and sensor reads from the skirmish.

It was a few hours later, he had dropped back to warp-4 as he reviewed the feeds. He recognized the markings on the hull, it was a Pirate outfit operating inside Tzenkethi space. They would slip out if the protection of the Tzenkethi, hit a target, and run back where the Federation would need to start a war to get to them. Satisfied McBain reset the alarms to loud before he took a short nap. He was awakened by an alarm, air quality was becoming dangerously thin. McBain read the problem as he turned off the alarm. He put on an air mask just in case the air quality continued to diminish.

In his search to find the problem, he found a board in life support that had been damaged. The problem was it had melted the connector links so it was pretty much now welded into the system. Seeing the difficulty, he switched to back up life support before he called up the repair manual on the boat's computer. He read the section he needed and began working with his multitool, removing the board and the ruined connectors.

A few hours later he replaced the connectors, checking each connection with his PADD. It was several hours later he replaced the board and switched back to the main life support system. Greatly relieved he checked his navigation settings and course one last time before changing uniforms and taking a nap. This time he was not interrupted but he felt tired just the same. He was nearing the base and the Hera now. He wanted to be at his best to make a good impression. He checked his controls and ran a quick diagnostic on his alarm systems. It appeared everything was working as it should. It was a few hours before he had to check in so he relaxed back into the pilot's seat and napped once more.

He woke a few minutes before the alarm, he had set, went off and he checked his controls. He was much closer now and he sent out a hail to announce his approach. =^=This is Ensign McBain piloting the Orion class *ShadowHawk*. Be advised, I expect to arrive within the next two hours.=^=