Running Home

Posted on Wed Jun 5th, 2024 @ 3:26am by Captain Jackson Adams & Lieutenant Stuart Mann & Commander Michael Murphy & Lieutenant Steve Ryan & Lieutenant Kestra Ral & Lieutenant JG Aubrie Fox
Edited on on Wed Jun 5th, 2024 @ 5:26am

Mission: The Romulan War
Location: Romulan Space

ON:

(Montana Bridge)

Murphy entered the Bridge with the rest of the senior staff, fresh from the Captain's Quarters. They were going to stop hiding and set a course for Federation space.

Fox was at her station. She wanted to fight rather then run, But orders were orders.

Steve sat at his station and started running a few numbers trying to see whether he could optimize, together with the engineering department, the USS Montana's systems in order to be less visible and divert more power to the engines.

Kestra watched the sensors. they really needed a distraction to get the Romulans to look away from them.

The Captain came onto the bridge in what was a fresh uniform (Yes, it was good to be the Captain).

"All stations, report!"

"Scans are not showing anything in front of us yet, but .......I am picking up polaric energy. My guess would be that they are bringing that ship online." Kestra really hoped that ship went off far behind them on Chaltok IV and not close to them.

Murphy was ecstatic to hear that. It was the boost of hope they needed. He waited to hear from the other stations.

"Ship in perfect state, all systems ready and powered" replied Steve at the captain's request. He then hoped his engineering skills would finally work as soon as Kestra reported the polar ion ship was moving"

"Alright then, here is he plan. We will move out and hit it up to warp, 9.4 and hold it......"

The Captain hit a switch and said, "Captain to Engineering. Are you ready to push these engines? "

"An officer from Engineering replied, "Yes, Captain, but again, I cannot recommend this..."

"Noted," replied Adams.

Lt. Ryan promptly put damage control teams on alert for any occurrence.

Murphy also noted Engineering's reply but thought little of it. Engineers always seemed to be saying things like that, and their ships almost always survived.

Kestra cursed in a few different languages, each more colorful than the last as the sensors started to get reading in. She turned around in her seat. "Sir, the Romulan ship has exploded, and it is far bigger explosion than predicted. It had to have destroyed most of that planet...." she swallowed hard.

"Well, that is going to make this trip just that more interesting. Okay, helm, take us out, and hit warp 9.5 as fast as you can, and don't stop for strangers" said the Captain.

The helm started to move the ship out of its hiding spot.

Looking over at Murphy, he said" Commander, sound yellow alert."

Murphy hit the intercom, "All hands, Yellow Alert!" The klaxon sounded through the ship. He was excited to be moving.

Kestra keep her eyes on the sensors reading. Looking up the ship's top speed then compared it to what that energy wave was traveling. It was going to be close. To close.

As the ship headed towards the border and home, a Science Ensign on the bridge said, "Captain, sir, we have a...well..... what can only be described as a black hole in front of us..... and, sir, we are going to head right into it... moreover, because of the wave behind us... we cannot go back, and we can't stop."

The Captain stood up from his chair, "Options?"

Kestra frowned in thought, "we could use the black hole's powerful gravity to slingshot the ship to safety? We definitely don't want to enter it. If the ship survived, we would not know where we would come out."

"The Captain looked at Kestra, "Unless there are any other suggestions, I will try that..."

“Mitchell in Engineering isn’t going to like this,” Murphy said. “It would be a heck of a strain on the engines. But it does seem like our best option.”

"I know, Commander, I know. But I am not sure what other options we have."

About that time the Captain said, "let's go....."

With that the ship headed towards the unknown...

Kestra turned back to her console to work out the correct trajectory they would need to complete the maneuver for the slingshot. Nodded once the computer double checked her findings she sent them to the pilot.

Lieutenant Mann received the trajectory. "Thank you, Lieutenant," he acknowledged Kestra. "Here we go, Captain."

The ship began to move towards the outer edge of the black hole.

As the ship drew closer, it started being pulled into the back hole, and suddenly, a Romulan Warbird appeared behind them.

"Starfleet ship, come to and prepare to be boarded....."

The Captain said, "Can anything else go wrong today?"

Kestra cursed, "No, they're not going to mess up the gravitational pull calculation." She turned back around, trying to come up with a new calculation. "Faster, we need to go faster."

Lieutenant Mann increased the ship's speed by about fifty percent, and all it appeared to do was increase the pull of the black hole. He increased the speed again, and it seemed to get even worse. He felt his adrenaline increasing with the level of danger.

Kestra bit her lip "We could explode something close to the ship to use the subspace shockwave to propel the ship forward enough to escape the gravity well of the black hole but by the time we did that the shock wave from Chaltok IV will hit us.... Then there is the Romulan ship." Yeah, this was bad......

The Captain weighed their options, all of them being bad. "Okay, this is risky, but we are going in... Lt. Mann set a course directly into the black hole, and just before we enter, hit full reverse and see if the pull throws us free. If it does not, it has been nice serving with you all...."

Lt. Mann did as he was ordered and set a course into the center of the event horizon. As the ship reached the right spot the Captain said, "Everyone grab onto something... NOW, Mr. Mann!!!!"

The ship attempted to pull away and (just for a moment) it seemed as if the ship was in two places at once......

OFF:

Captain Jackson Adams,
Commanding Officer, USS Montana

Lt. Kestra Ral
CSO, USS Montana

Commander Michael Murphy
Executive Officer, USS Montana

Lieutenant Steve Ryan
Chief Communications and Operations Officer, USS Montana

Lieutenant JG Aubrie Fox
Assistant Chief Security Officer, USS Montana

Lieutenant Stuart Mann
Navigation Officer, USS Montana
NPC