10-06-2026, 11:49 PM
As the Zephyr joined the battle properly, one thing became apparent very quickly. The Intelligence files on the Cardassian military were woefully out of date. The opponents they faced weren't the Cardassian military of the 2370s, or even the early 2390s, when the backbone had been conscripted crew led by a solid core of technical specialists and an "Officer Class" that seemingly existed to accrue seniority, promotion, and political clout off the backs of their subordinates' labor. The technology they were facing was state-of-the-art, even if the spaceframes weren't, and the crews appeared to be at the top of their game.
The three Hidekis formed up around the Zephyr in a triangular formation that allowed them to bring their forward cannons to bear, albeit at the maximum angle allowed by the hardware, while keeping themselves protected from all but a few of the Zephyr's phaser banks. Whenever Krandall manoeuvred to try and get one in the forward weapon arcs, the Hidekis matched his moves where possible, or scattered and rejoined formation once sufficient distance had been gained. While the Hidekis could easily match the larger Zephyr move for move, it seemed as though they were unable to accelerate quite as fast as the Zephyr, having been built as patrol/assault craft relying on agility and forward firepower, while the Zephyr had been built as a "torpedo boat" with rapid response and single-vector velocity in mind.
The Electronic Countermeasures briefly spoofed the Cardassians, sending what should have been a kill-shot with a Photon Torpedo wide, detonating harmlessly off the Zephyr's bow. However, intense Counter-Countermeasures burned through the interference, wreaking havoc on the Zephyr's own sensors while science teams raced to counter it. There had not been enough time to calculate the shifting frequency of the Hidekis' shields, but the scan would continue once the jamming was cleared.
For now, the Zephyr was holding her own. The thirty year old spaceframe wasn't enjoying the rapid and aggressive manoeuvres she was being subjected to, but thanks to Baldwon's efforts, she was at no immediate danger of flying apart or suffering any more EPS explosions.
The three Hidekis formed up around the Zephyr in a triangular formation that allowed them to bring their forward cannons to bear, albeit at the maximum angle allowed by the hardware, while keeping themselves protected from all but a few of the Zephyr's phaser banks. Whenever Krandall manoeuvred to try and get one in the forward weapon arcs, the Hidekis matched his moves where possible, or scattered and rejoined formation once sufficient distance had been gained. While the Hidekis could easily match the larger Zephyr move for move, it seemed as though they were unable to accelerate quite as fast as the Zephyr, having been built as patrol/assault craft relying on agility and forward firepower, while the Zephyr had been built as a "torpedo boat" with rapid response and single-vector velocity in mind.
The Electronic Countermeasures briefly spoofed the Cardassians, sending what should have been a kill-shot with a Photon Torpedo wide, detonating harmlessly off the Zephyr's bow. However, intense Counter-Countermeasures burned through the interference, wreaking havoc on the Zephyr's own sensors while science teams raced to counter it. There had not been enough time to calculate the shifting frequency of the Hidekis' shields, but the scan would continue once the jamming was cleared.
For now, the Zephyr was holding her own. The thirty year old spaceframe wasn't enjoying the rapid and aggressive manoeuvres she was being subjected to, but thanks to Baldwon's efforts, she was at no immediate danger of flying apart or suffering any more EPS explosions.