09-27-2026, 01:55 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-27-2026, 01:59 AM by Sebastian Cortez.)
The deck pitched violently beneath Sebastian's feet as a pair of disruptor blasts slammed into the Zephyr's aft-quarter shields, sending a cascade of sparks raining down from an overhead EPS relay.
"Shields down to eighty percent!"
Sebastian caught himself against the edge of his console as the bridge rocked around him. Casualty reports continued to populate his display alongside warnings of ruptured warp coils, damaged systems, and inertial dampener failures in the pod housing and main deflector.
*That went... ugh... it could've gone better... but it could've been a lot worse too.*
He forced himself to focus.
Morad's voice cut through the chaos as the Captain began issuing orders, first reassuring Krandall and then directing damage control and engineering efforts. Sebastian listened carefully, particularly when Morad turned toward Science and Tactical.
Lieutenant Ra'an is right. Disengage all targeting from the Dreadnought. We leave the Hutet to the heavy hitters when they get here. We focus our fire on where we can do the most damage.
Sebastian glanced toward Amila.
Her earlier suggestion had been straightforward: use one of the decoys to generate a controlled energy signature resembling a weapon's impact, potentially provoking the Dreadnought's secondary shields without firing another torpedo.
But she had immediately recognized the problem.
"No," Amila had said sharply. "There's something with the Dreadnaught. The shields are regenerating too fast. Our torpedoes didn't touch it, probes aren't going to do anything."
Sebastian understood the distinction.
The Dreadnought was not the target anymore.
The Hidekis were.
Amila had continued, "Ensign Cortez, you can try your idea, but send the probes toward the Hidekis that just tried to take out there. If we can take them out, we'll have less to worry about."
"Lieutenant Keti, help Cortez out. There are three of them. Let's see what we can learn about these battlecruiser's shields, and if there is anything we can do to take their shields - or ships out. Lives depend on it. Also, watch them. Any hit they take, we need that data."
Sebastian brought the probe telemetry onto his display.
"Understood, Lieutenant Ra'an."
He began redirecting the three probes toward the Hidekis.
"You're right about the Dreadnought. If its shield regeneration is occurring faster than we can damage it, trying to force another opening may just waste what we have left."
His fingers moved across the console, modifying the probes' sensor priorities.
"But the Hidekis are another matter. If we can study their shields while they're actually under fire, we might learn something useful."
Morad's subsequent order gave him an even clearer objective.
"Cortez, Keti; those decoy probes are already out in the field and the Cardassians are choosing to ignore them. We will take full advantage of that oversight. Don't worry about spoofing ship signatures anymore; the Cardassians know we're here. Re-task their transmitters immediately into active ECM noise-generators and put them in evasive maneuvers. Burn their emitter arrays on wide-band jamming frequencies. Cardassian sensors are notoriously sluggish in high-interference environments; flood their tactical bands and blind their target-acquisition arrays. Turn their lights off."
Sebastian immediately adjusted the probe configuration.
"Changing their mission profile now."
He glanced toward Keti.
"Lieutenant, I'll handle the sensor collection and probe telemetry. If you can work the ECM frequencies, we can compare the interference with the shield responses."
Sebastian pulled up the data gathered from their previous engagement.
"The important part for Science is what happens when they take a hit. Shield strength, frequency shifts, power redistribution, regeneration rate. If there's a pattern, we may be able to identify something Tactical can exploit."
He enlarged several sensor traces.
"Actually..."
His eyes narrowed.
"There is something here."
Sebastian compared the earlier shield data with the new returns coming from the Hidekis.
"The regeneration isn't completely uniform. They're compensating across multiple frequencies rather than simply restoring power to the damaged layer."
He looked toward Keti.
"If that's deliberate, there should be a measurable delay somewhere in the redistribution. I'll have the probes watch for it."
Another impact rocked the Zephyr.
Sebastian steadied himself against the console and continued working.
"And if one of those Hidekis takes a direct hit, I want the probes recording everything. We may learn more from watching their shields respond to weapons fire than we ever could from scanning them while they're sitting idle."
He glanced briefly toward Amila.
"That gives us something useful even if we can't take them out immediately."
The probes scattered into evasive patterns, their transmitters beginning to flood the Cardassian tactical frequencies with controlled interference.
Sebastian watched the sensor returns stabilize.
"Probes are in position."
He took a breath and focused on the three Hidekis.
"Let's see what they tell us."
== Tag Ra'an, and Keti.==
"Shields down to eighty percent!"
Sebastian caught himself against the edge of his console as the bridge rocked around him. Casualty reports continued to populate his display alongside warnings of ruptured warp coils, damaged systems, and inertial dampener failures in the pod housing and main deflector.
*That went... ugh... it could've gone better... but it could've been a lot worse too.*
He forced himself to focus.
Morad's voice cut through the chaos as the Captain began issuing orders, first reassuring Krandall and then directing damage control and engineering efforts. Sebastian listened carefully, particularly when Morad turned toward Science and Tactical.
Lieutenant Ra'an is right. Disengage all targeting from the Dreadnought. We leave the Hutet to the heavy hitters when they get here. We focus our fire on where we can do the most damage.
Sebastian glanced toward Amila.
Her earlier suggestion had been straightforward: use one of the decoys to generate a controlled energy signature resembling a weapon's impact, potentially provoking the Dreadnought's secondary shields without firing another torpedo.
But she had immediately recognized the problem.
"No," Amila had said sharply. "There's something with the Dreadnaught. The shields are regenerating too fast. Our torpedoes didn't touch it, probes aren't going to do anything."
Sebastian understood the distinction.
The Dreadnought was not the target anymore.
The Hidekis were.
Amila had continued, "Ensign Cortez, you can try your idea, but send the probes toward the Hidekis that just tried to take out there. If we can take them out, we'll have less to worry about."
"Lieutenant Keti, help Cortez out. There are three of them. Let's see what we can learn about these battlecruiser's shields, and if there is anything we can do to take their shields - or ships out. Lives depend on it. Also, watch them. Any hit they take, we need that data."
Sebastian brought the probe telemetry onto his display.
"Understood, Lieutenant Ra'an."
He began redirecting the three probes toward the Hidekis.
"You're right about the Dreadnought. If its shield regeneration is occurring faster than we can damage it, trying to force another opening may just waste what we have left."
His fingers moved across the console, modifying the probes' sensor priorities.
"But the Hidekis are another matter. If we can study their shields while they're actually under fire, we might learn something useful."
Morad's subsequent order gave him an even clearer objective.
"Cortez, Keti; those decoy probes are already out in the field and the Cardassians are choosing to ignore them. We will take full advantage of that oversight. Don't worry about spoofing ship signatures anymore; the Cardassians know we're here. Re-task their transmitters immediately into active ECM noise-generators and put them in evasive maneuvers. Burn their emitter arrays on wide-band jamming frequencies. Cardassian sensors are notoriously sluggish in high-interference environments; flood their tactical bands and blind their target-acquisition arrays. Turn their lights off."
Sebastian immediately adjusted the probe configuration.
"Changing their mission profile now."
He glanced toward Keti.
"Lieutenant, I'll handle the sensor collection and probe telemetry. If you can work the ECM frequencies, we can compare the interference with the shield responses."
Sebastian pulled up the data gathered from their previous engagement.
"The important part for Science is what happens when they take a hit. Shield strength, frequency shifts, power redistribution, regeneration rate. If there's a pattern, we may be able to identify something Tactical can exploit."
He enlarged several sensor traces.
"Actually..."
His eyes narrowed.
"There is something here."
Sebastian compared the earlier shield data with the new returns coming from the Hidekis.
"The regeneration isn't completely uniform. They're compensating across multiple frequencies rather than simply restoring power to the damaged layer."
He looked toward Keti.
"If that's deliberate, there should be a measurable delay somewhere in the redistribution. I'll have the probes watch for it."
Another impact rocked the Zephyr.
Sebastian steadied himself against the console and continued working.
"And if one of those Hidekis takes a direct hit, I want the probes recording everything. We may learn more from watching their shields respond to weapons fire than we ever could from scanning them while they're sitting idle."
He glanced briefly toward Amila.
"That gives us something useful even if we can't take them out immediately."
The probes scattered into evasive patterns, their transmitters beginning to flood the Cardassian tactical frequencies with controlled interference.
Sebastian watched the sensor returns stabilize.
"Probes are in position."
He took a breath and focused on the three Hidekis.
"Let's see what they tell us."
== Tag Ra'an, and Keti.==