09-01-2026, 07:55 AM
Powl was already in the turbolift to appear for his regularly scheduled shift with the Alpha rotation when the ambient lighting changed. The screens and alarms began their chorus, indicating the ship was at Yellow Alert. Still 15 minutes prior to the beginning of the schedule, he sat down at Operations immediately and started reviewing the data regarding the alert. A Cardassian fleet of that size was enough to give any individual the impression to immediately flee rather than fight.
"I am reviewing the tactical data regarding the Cardassian fleet now. Captain, I would prefer we bring Lieutenant Krandall to the Bridge for helm operations for this segment. His combat experience will make him invaluable during this incident."
Torok heard Lieutenant Gath speaking of a particular maneuver for silent running. Torok had used a similar technique during an engagement to allow him to perform a strafing run on several targets while maintaining his forward-firing weapons trained on targets as they flew past sideways.
"Lieutenant Gath is referring to a dead-drift. The basic principle is to create the inertia need to navigate at speed and then use no power to allow the ship to continue its travel without further use of the engines. Since there was little to no mass in space that would provide resistance that may slow the ship, the only bit of power usage and heat would come from further thrust or the use of the stopping mechanism, which would allow the Zephyr to decelerate. I agree that this would be an optimal strategy to reduce our sensor cross-section and long-distance detectability."
Powl paused to allow Ameen to process the information. His next orders came from a voice now appearing to be more matter-of-fact and authoritative. The quickly developing severity and gravity of their newly discovered mission was beginning to show.
"The Zephyr doesn't have a built-in system to avoid detection, so we are going to do this the manual way: strictly silent running. The moment we drop out of warp well beyond their tactical sensor perimeter. Helm, use thrusters only for course corrections. We maintain inertial momentum and let the hull drift on our approach vector. Helm use thrusters only for course correction. Engineering, kill all non-essential internal systems, dim ambient lighting, throttle environmental controls to minimum operating baselines, shut down primary sensor telemetry, and restrict communications to passive receiver arrays only. Shutter the magnetic seals over the warp plasma vents so there's no heat bleed into the vacuum."
Powl sat at his station and quietly surveyed the overall tactical situation and determined the likelihood of survival in a confrontation with an enemy force of that magnitude to be nearly zero. However, the Zephyr was a Steamrunner, and they proved to be highly effective at hit-and-run tactics.
"Captain, I recommend we use the time we have to prepare some slightly different ordnance for the Zephyr to bring to bear on that fleet that may help improve our odds. "I recommend we prepare anywhere from 20 to 30 Tricobalt torpedoes for increased effective power and yield, as well as increased effective range. We may be able to draw their attention with the use of the enemy fleet if such powerful weapons are being deployed."
"I am reviewing the tactical data regarding the Cardassian fleet now. Captain, I would prefer we bring Lieutenant Krandall to the Bridge for helm operations for this segment. His combat experience will make him invaluable during this incident."
Torok heard Lieutenant Gath speaking of a particular maneuver for silent running. Torok had used a similar technique during an engagement to allow him to perform a strafing run on several targets while maintaining his forward-firing weapons trained on targets as they flew past sideways.
"Lieutenant Gath is referring to a dead-drift. The basic principle is to create the inertia need to navigate at speed and then use no power to allow the ship to continue its travel without further use of the engines. Since there was little to no mass in space that would provide resistance that may slow the ship, the only bit of power usage and heat would come from further thrust or the use of the stopping mechanism, which would allow the Zephyr to decelerate. I agree that this would be an optimal strategy to reduce our sensor cross-section and long-distance detectability."
Powl paused to allow Ameen to process the information. His next orders came from a voice now appearing to be more matter-of-fact and authoritative. The quickly developing severity and gravity of their newly discovered mission was beginning to show.
"The Zephyr doesn't have a built-in system to avoid detection, so we are going to do this the manual way: strictly silent running. The moment we drop out of warp well beyond their tactical sensor perimeter. Helm, use thrusters only for course corrections. We maintain inertial momentum and let the hull drift on our approach vector. Helm use thrusters only for course correction. Engineering, kill all non-essential internal systems, dim ambient lighting, throttle environmental controls to minimum operating baselines, shut down primary sensor telemetry, and restrict communications to passive receiver arrays only. Shutter the magnetic seals over the warp plasma vents so there's no heat bleed into the vacuum."
Powl sat at his station and quietly surveyed the overall tactical situation and determined the likelihood of survival in a confrontation with an enemy force of that magnitude to be nearly zero. However, the Zephyr was a Steamrunner, and they proved to be highly effective at hit-and-run tactics.
"Captain, I recommend we use the time we have to prepare some slightly different ordnance for the Zephyr to bring to bear on that fleet that may help improve our odds. "I recommend we prepare anywhere from 20 to 30 Tricobalt torpedoes for increased effective power and yield, as well as increased effective range. We may be able to draw their attention with the use of the enemy fleet if such powerful weapons are being deployed."