Jez listened carefully as the discussion moved from sensor jamming to smart torpedoes and mines. The possibilities were promising, but one particular problem kept nagging at her.
If we blind everyone, we had better know exactly who is supposed to be blind to whom.
Another disruptor blast struck the Aquila's shields, making the deck tremble beneath her boots.
"I think there's a way we can reduce the IFF problem before we start filling the area with interference," Jez offered.
She turned toward the others, keeping her tone conversational rather than directive.
"What if we establish a temporary friend-or-foe whitelist between the Aquila, Yeager, and any other friendly vessels before the jamming begins? The smart torpedoes wouldn't need to rely entirely on the local IFF signal. They could carry the encrypted identification profiles of friendly ships and treat anything that doesn't match as unknown rather than automatically hostile."
Jez glanced toward the tactical display.
"That wouldn't eliminate the problem, but it could give our weapons a second layer of identification. The Cardassians would have to get past the jamming and then somehow impersonate a valid Federation signature."
Her eyes moved back to the Cardassian ships.
"And I'd keep the torpedoes on a very specific rule: unknown targets don't get engaged automatically. They wait for confirmation. That keeps our own ships from becoming targets simply because their IFF gets swallowed by the interference."
Jez paused, then studied the sensor readings for several seconds.
"But there's something else we could try."
She stepped closer to the display, examining the shield telemetry.
"If we're already going to have probes studying their sensors, why not have them study the shield frequencies at the same time?"
Her expression became more thoughtful.
"Most defensive shields aren't one solid wall. They're a series of overlapping energy fields constantly compensating for one another. If the probes can identify the frequencies the Cardassians are using to redistribute power after an impact, we might be able to find the point where that compensation becomes unstable."
She looked toward the tactical display again.
"Instead of trying to destroy the shields with one massive hit, we could hit different sections of the shield envelope at carefully chosen frequencies and timings. Force the system to keep redistributing power until it can't compensate anymore."
Jez made a small gesture toward the cluster of Cardassian ships.
"Then, when the shields collapse, we don't necessarily have to destroy the ship. We can disable it. Engines, weapons, sensors, life support. A ship without shields and weapons is a much smaller problem."
She considered the idea for another moment.
"Although..."
A faint smile crossed her face.
"If the shield collapse creates a temporary vulnerability across the entire defensive envelope, we could coordinate the smart torpedoes to converge at that exact moment."
She looked around the group.
"One concentrated volley while their shields are down would be considerably more effective than firing everything at a shield that keeps regenerating."
Jez glanced toward the mine proposal.
"And the mines could make the timing even more unpleasant for them. Force the Hidekis to maneuver, keep them inside the jamming field, and make their shields work harder while we're collecting the data."
She folded her arms again.
"So we aren't really trying to win a contest of firepower. We're making their sensors unreliable, their movement dangerous, and their shields work harder than they were designed to."
Another impact rocked the bridge.
Jez steadied herself and looked back toward the tactical display.
"That sounds like a problem the Cardassians might have a difficult time solving."
== Tag All, Tag Talion.==
If we blind everyone, we had better know exactly who is supposed to be blind to whom.
Another disruptor blast struck the Aquila's shields, making the deck tremble beneath her boots.
"I think there's a way we can reduce the IFF problem before we start filling the area with interference," Jez offered.
She turned toward the others, keeping her tone conversational rather than directive.
"What if we establish a temporary friend-or-foe whitelist between the Aquila, Yeager, and any other friendly vessels before the jamming begins? The smart torpedoes wouldn't need to rely entirely on the local IFF signal. They could carry the encrypted identification profiles of friendly ships and treat anything that doesn't match as unknown rather than automatically hostile."
Jez glanced toward the tactical display.
"That wouldn't eliminate the problem, but it could give our weapons a second layer of identification. The Cardassians would have to get past the jamming and then somehow impersonate a valid Federation signature."
Her eyes moved back to the Cardassian ships.
"And I'd keep the torpedoes on a very specific rule: unknown targets don't get engaged automatically. They wait for confirmation. That keeps our own ships from becoming targets simply because their IFF gets swallowed by the interference."
Jez paused, then studied the sensor readings for several seconds.
"But there's something else we could try."
She stepped closer to the display, examining the shield telemetry.
"If we're already going to have probes studying their sensors, why not have them study the shield frequencies at the same time?"
Her expression became more thoughtful.
"Most defensive shields aren't one solid wall. They're a series of overlapping energy fields constantly compensating for one another. If the probes can identify the frequencies the Cardassians are using to redistribute power after an impact, we might be able to find the point where that compensation becomes unstable."
She looked toward the tactical display again.
"Instead of trying to destroy the shields with one massive hit, we could hit different sections of the shield envelope at carefully chosen frequencies and timings. Force the system to keep redistributing power until it can't compensate anymore."
Jez made a small gesture toward the cluster of Cardassian ships.
"Then, when the shields collapse, we don't necessarily have to destroy the ship. We can disable it. Engines, weapons, sensors, life support. A ship without shields and weapons is a much smaller problem."
She considered the idea for another moment.
"Although..."
A faint smile crossed her face.
"If the shield collapse creates a temporary vulnerability across the entire defensive envelope, we could coordinate the smart torpedoes to converge at that exact moment."
She looked around the group.
"One concentrated volley while their shields are down would be considerably more effective than firing everything at a shield that keeps regenerating."
Jez glanced toward the mine proposal.
"And the mines could make the timing even more unpleasant for them. Force the Hidekis to maneuver, keep them inside the jamming field, and make their shields work harder while we're collecting the data."
She folded her arms again.
"So we aren't really trying to win a contest of firepower. We're making their sensors unreliable, their movement dangerous, and their shields work harder than they were designed to."
Another impact rocked the bridge.
Jez steadied herself and looked back toward the tactical display.
"That sounds like a problem the Cardassians might have a difficult time solving."
== Tag All, Tag Talion.==