07-10-2026, 12:50 AM
For someone who had built her reputation, at least partially, as a mistress of ambush tactics, Jenny lacked the patience to be kept waiting. Floating through space on minimal power was not her idea of a good time, nor was it conducive to a long and happy life should they be detected or a previously-unknown comet just happen to cross their paths. The growing level of irritability was compounded by the reduction in life support settings, leaving the Bridge to become uncomfortably warm and stuffy for a woman who had been born and raised in space, and whose nominal homeworld was a giant block of ice. Flicking the lid of her lighter open and closed simply to keep her hands occupied, Jenny looked up as the new Andorian Science Officer arrived and introduced himself; his Academy record had recommendations from several instructors, and Jenny briefly wondered what he'd done to get assigned to her crew of misfits and renegades.
Dismissing the Midshipman to his station with a silent nod, Jenny kept her eyes fixed on the screen as she leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. She neither looked up not gave Jensen the 'where the hell were you?' look he deserved following his absence from the Bridge when he arrived, and responded with a low snort when he recommended against using a probe. She had already silently shaken her head when the Andorian had requested it. While she knew both officers were trying their best given their career specialisms and relative levels of experience, neither were voidwar experts, nor were they the ones who might light the fuse of another interstellar war.
The lighter lid continued to flick open and closed, only ceasing when the sensors detected ships dropping from warp. Given their approach vector, they could only be Cardassian, which the sensor profiles confirmed in short order. Jenny gritted her teeth as the sensors identified the lead ship as the Os'rusa, and wondered just which deity or cosmic being she had pissed off to have that particular ship dogging her for three assignments in a row.
"Call Battlestations but remain in Grey Mode for now. Flint, I want an intercept course plotted and updating. Likewise, T'Lari, get me a firing solution on the Os'rusa. Passive sensors only. Let's not give our position away just yet."
Under the established rules of warfare and diplomacy, Jenny was obligated to issue a warning before she opened fire. On the other hand, this was the second wave of a Cardassian invasion of Federation space, and Jenny was well within her rights to fire on any hostile vessel crossing the border. If it was just the Os'rusa, she might have even considered it as more than just a last resort. Jenny had read enough historical novels, both fiction and nonfiction, about Earth's World Wars to know that she was the equivalent of a submarine skipper trying to weave her way through an escort flotilla to get at a merchantman or other priority target.
In truth, that was exactly what she'd hoped she'd find; a nice juicy transport or troop ship that she could put a prize crew aboard and take back to the nearest base as definitive proof of what the Cardassians had intended. Unfortunately rarely gave people what they wanted. Whatever Jenny decided to do next, they were going to need to keep the Cardassian warships boxed in and away from the vulnerable Starbase, where the Yeager could quite handily (assuming competently commanded and handled) defeat the small force of Cardassian escorts and allow reinforcement or evacuation.
"T'Varen and Qab... What do you prefer to be called? What can we do to keep those ships in this system while not hampering our own ability to depart?"
Dismissing the Midshipman to his station with a silent nod, Jenny kept her eyes fixed on the screen as she leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. She neither looked up not gave Jensen the 'where the hell were you?' look he deserved following his absence from the Bridge when he arrived, and responded with a low snort when he recommended against using a probe. She had already silently shaken her head when the Andorian had requested it. While she knew both officers were trying their best given their career specialisms and relative levels of experience, neither were voidwar experts, nor were they the ones who might light the fuse of another interstellar war.
The lighter lid continued to flick open and closed, only ceasing when the sensors detected ships dropping from warp. Given their approach vector, they could only be Cardassian, which the sensor profiles confirmed in short order. Jenny gritted her teeth as the sensors identified the lead ship as the Os'rusa, and wondered just which deity or cosmic being she had pissed off to have that particular ship dogging her for three assignments in a row.
"Call Battlestations but remain in Grey Mode for now. Flint, I want an intercept course plotted and updating. Likewise, T'Lari, get me a firing solution on the Os'rusa. Passive sensors only. Let's not give our position away just yet."
Under the established rules of warfare and diplomacy, Jenny was obligated to issue a warning before she opened fire. On the other hand, this was the second wave of a Cardassian invasion of Federation space, and Jenny was well within her rights to fire on any hostile vessel crossing the border. If it was just the Os'rusa, she might have even considered it as more than just a last resort. Jenny had read enough historical novels, both fiction and nonfiction, about Earth's World Wars to know that she was the equivalent of a submarine skipper trying to weave her way through an escort flotilla to get at a merchantman or other priority target.
In truth, that was exactly what she'd hoped she'd find; a nice juicy transport or troop ship that she could put a prize crew aboard and take back to the nearest base as definitive proof of what the Cardassians had intended. Unfortunately rarely gave people what they wanted. Whatever Jenny decided to do next, they were going to need to keep the Cardassian warships boxed in and away from the vulnerable Starbase, where the Yeager could quite handily (assuming competently commanded and handled) defeat the small force of Cardassian escorts and allow reinforcement or evacuation.
"T'Varen and Qab... What do you prefer to be called? What can we do to keep those ships in this system while not hampering our own ability to depart?"