Shell Game

Posted on Fri Oct 30th, 2015 @ 6:41am by 2nd Lieutenant Scooter Porkinsky
Edited on on Fri Oct 30th, 2015 @ 6:43am

Mission: By Dawn's Early Light
Location: Primary Docking Shell

[ON]

Marine pilot Porkinsky pouted as Captain Hyden briefed his squadron inside the primary docking shell. Not only did he endure an unceasing razz about his space cycle chase, his group would be flying Razors in the pending Sojourner battle. He missed his Raptor. He missed Scorpion II's.

"Porkinsky! You listening?"

"Yes, Sir! We will be prepared for ECM jamming protocols, Sojourner and ours." The worst part of it all was, his squadron was being confined within the primary shell. Hurling at an enemy fleet in a heavy assault fighter out in open space is where he belonged, not babysitting a dockyard with itty-bitty Razors. It had to be done, however. During the Dominion War, Cardassians devastated Starbase Questron by following a ram ship and then tearing it apart from the inside. Gorn had carried out a similar tactic with their driller mining vehicles against an Illithid supership.

=/All personnel... Stand by for test of internal deflectors.\= Faint, cloudy glows appeared and faded across the internal walls of the dock.

Porkinsky raised a hand, "Cap'n, why don't they just mount phaser and torpedo turrets inside and turn this into a murder hole?"

"That's great for fighting off an enemy in one direction, but we need those resources outside the base for omni-fire. Everyone! Strobe your active sensors. Intel says that Sojourners have been trying to get their hands on passive targeting equipment."

One of the other pilots asked, "What happens if they detonate full size photon torpedoes inside the shell? We'll all be blown to bits!"

"Good question! Take a look." He clicked a controller box to activate a holographic display, "The Starbase will be projecting constant deflector umbrellas. Stay underneath them in your maneuvers."

Porkinsky asked, "So how much of this fight do we actually get to do? I hope to do more than just cheer on the autopilot."

"It'll be a spitstorm in here. Your onboard computer can analyze trajectories of hundreds of projectiles, friendly and enemy. You'll depend heavily upon it to execute optimal evasion. If the Sojourners jam, however, base tactical computers might not be able to coordinate you offensively. That's where your own targeting judgment comes into play."

"Cap'n, I don't mean to complain..."

"Yes you do." Group laughter ensued.

"Hmh... Shouldn't we be flying something with a little more punch?"

Hyden verified privacy, "This isn't likely to be wasps against a bear. Intelligence reports that Sojourners intend to send small fighters into the shell. We're looking at a nasty furball. That's why we're spending the rest of the day defining patterns and flying a feel for this place."

Porkinsky smiled, "Now you're talking, Cap'n!" He hated holodecks. They didn't hold a candle to the real experience.

[OFF]

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Marine Lt. Jg. Scooter Porkinsky
Starbase 332
Pegasus Fleet