AQ/D01 - Bridge

[Ris'maeriiffa Qab'ataar]

Ris' antennae curled in slightly, accompanying a slight furrowing of his brows as the results of a quick analysis of his plan popped up on his screen.

"Well, I can see a slight downside to the EM barrage mucking with everyone's sensors, including friendlies," he observed. "There's an age-old maxim that 'Friendly fire isn't.' Still, at this point, the Cardassians not being able to target clearly may work in our favor more than against it."

He canted his neck to speak over his shoulder to Captain Brooks.

"Captain, I can reconfigure a swarm of Class I probes that we can release to begin a broad-spectrum barrage sensor jamming. They would be on random, rotating frequencies to make it highly improbable they would be free of any jamming for more than a second or two. The downside is that it would impact all vessels in the area, including friendlies, though that may be more boon than bane to us." A brief, thoughtful pause. "In fact, given the advantage the Cardassians have in both firepower and defenses, such a loss of IFF capabilities would hamper them far more than us."

Turning to look at Lieutenant JG Coppola, he continued, "Perhaps we could follow up the Yeager's ploy of dumping some mines in the path of the Cardassians ships, which could seriously damage the Hidekis, if nothing else. I'm going to see if I can get a better read on what portions of the EM spectrum would be most effective, and what frequencies, as well."

With that, his fingers moved swiftly, and with slightly more confidence, directing the Aquila's sensors to get a detailed look at their foes' sensors. He hoped to gather information that would give the plan higher effectivity.

== Tag Brooks, Coppola, Bridge ==
== Request GM input: looking for anoy information on the Cardassians' sensors that might aid this ploy in any way ==

[Alexander Talion]

Talion had appeared as if he was unaware of the entire rest of the Bridge while he was feverishly working at his consoles. Now, he suddenly said, "That's a great idea!" He stopped, glanced to the floor then continued again, "Yes...yes...The problems of the EM won't do a great deal, but it might make it just that little bit harder to hit the spot you want. At the same time, we drop smart torpedoes behind us. We can even pre-program for them to travel to specific locations and patrol. If they get with in range to verify IFF, then they are to proximity detonate. If they can confirm a known hostile signature, then they can pursue following whatever other protocols you want to give them. We can arrange it about as fast as you can say it...certainly faster than I can say it."

Alex turned and looked at Ens Qab'ataar, "I'm willing to bet that you play a good game of Tri-Dimensional Chess."

Just then another Disruptor shot hit their shields, returning Alex's attention back to the Command Pit, "Sir, I think we might at least make life very miserable for the smaller ships. It might be a bit before I know more about our previous project. Maybe, if we can remove enough of the support ships, their main weapon might withdraw. The worst that might happen is that several torps will be floating around, we could even empty our entire supply of them out the back door as we move. The upside is that all of those unexploded ones are instantly available when we drop the EM noise and fire them all at once at a single target...that could be fun. It really seems a like a win/win sort of thing, if I'm being honest."

Alex glanced back over at the Andorian. He was starting to like this new guy. He certainly made a good first impression.

== Tags to Ens Qab'ataar, CO, FO, and anyone who is trying to find ways to blow up bad guys. ==

[Jez Mala]

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.==

[Jennifer Braggins]

[This is Captain Braggins of the Yeager, I'm taking command of the engagement. Aquila, engage the Battlecruisers marked Contact 2 and 3. Zephyr, engage the Escorts. Do not engage the Dreadnought, do not engage the Dreadnought.]

Sensors would show the Yeager making violent maneuvers away from the Zephyr and the Hidekis, moving at full acceleration towards the Keldon marked "Contact 1".

[Beno Velaul]

The new Science Officer was impressive, he had some wonderful ideas that would work pretty good. If they put it to good use than it could make a difference, by that it would save many lives. Just when she was going to say something, there was a communication from a familiar voice. It gave them some direction, and in an attack such as this that is what they needed. 

The order came to attack as she put it Contact two and three, Beno recognized her style even at a far. The Captain had a lot of orders to give, Beno didn't want to interrupt anything he had to say. So she kept things quiet as possible, giving the nod of approval. Alex could read her facial cues that said she was impressed by this too, the attack needed the most concentration. This was a new feeling for Beno, usually by now everything was different. 

==Tag==

[Daniel Brooks]

The idea would take a while but the comms came over from Captain [This is Captain Braggins of the Yeager, I'm taking command of the engagement. Aquila, engage the Battlecruisers marked Contact 2 and 3. Zephyr, engage the Escorts. Do not engage the Dreadnought, do not engage the Dreadnought.]

Brooks looked at Talion,

"Oops." he said as he turned to look at the helm,

"Bring us about to tackle the two battlecrusiers. Full spread of phasers and torpedos once we are locked on."

"Captain Braggins, this is Captain Brooks of the Aquila, we are heading towards the targets suggested, good to hear from you. After this I will buy you a drink. Brooks out."

"Let's do this." said Brooks getting up from the centre chair he moved towards the helm.

==Tag all, sorry for delay was at college==

[Cologero Coppola]

There was a lot of tension on the Bridge from all of the attacks, now that there was some kind of unified plan some of it went down. Cologero heard the order from the Captain and he was counting on Diaz, the two were going to continue to be synced up. The trick to this was going to be avoiding being hit, the reality was it was only possible to limit the hits. 

"Time to pull the hat down tight and just LeDoux it." Cologero said to himself, while getting the firing pattern into the system. It was a small country song reference, when they start to twist it would be a good thing no one was going to get sick on the bridge. "Captain  sensors indicate minimal damage is done to the Dreadnought." From what he witnessed this was going to be a difficult one, if they could get another ship to concentrate their fire on one target the success rate will be higher. 

For this second Cologero had placed some of his targets but didn't lock them into the system, as it happens sometimes targets change. If they were locked it would take longer to change, plus the target lock wouldn't show up on the enemy sensors. If they were going to make it through this, it might be a matter of making them unable to fly the ship. For now the target was in their sights, this Captain whoever she was seemed to have a plan. Right now his one job was to help prevent this ship going down in history like the Hood, or if it couldn't be avoided go down firing.

"Diaz you are doing good so far, lets keep it up." Cologero was trying his best to keep calm, it wasn't going to be easy for anyone.

==Tag anyone? Diaz?==

[Jez Mala]

[This is Captain Braggins of the Yeager. I'm taking command of the engagement. Aquila, engage the Battlecruisers marked Contact 2 and 3. Zephyr, engage the Escorts. Do not engage the Dreadnought. Do not engage the Dreadnought.]

Jez stared at the tactical display for a moment as the transmission ended.

She wasn't sure how she felt about another Captain suddenly taking charge. Captain Brooks was clearly a strong, capable, and confident man, but who was this Captain Braggins of the Yeager to take command? Oh, yes, Commander Braggins had been a great officer, but this was different. Captain Brooks was still the Captain of the Aquila, and yet it seemed like he was being shoved aside like an old shoe or something.

The thought barely had time to settle before Brooks looked toward Talion.

"Oops."

Jez couldn't help the faintest smile.

Captain Brooks turned toward the helm.

"Bring us about to tackle the two Battlecruisers. Full spread of phasers and torpedoes once we are locked on."

He then opened the comm.

"Captain Braggins, this is Captain Brooks of the Aquila. We are heading towards the targets suggested; good to hear from you. After this, I will buy you a drink. Brooks out."

"Let's do this," Captain Brooks said as he got up from the center chair and moved toward the helm.

Jez turned her attention back to the tactical display.

The two Battlecruisers were maneuvering together, maintaining enough separation to create overlapping fields of fire. If the Aquila charged directly between them, both ships would have a clean firing solution, and neither would have to expose itself unnecessarily.

Jez studied their movement.

"They're covering each other," she said quietly.

Her eyes shifted toward the Dreadnought.

Braggins' order suddenly made more sense. The Dreadnought didn't need to be their immediate target to affect the engagement. Its position limited their maneuvering space, and any attempt to swing too far around the Battlecruisers could potentially bring the Aquila into its weapons envelope.

Jez began calculating the Battlecruisers' likely firing arcs and maneuvering options.

The solution wasn't to meet both ships on their terms.

"Captain," Jez called, "if we attack the lead Battlecruiser directly, the second will have a clean shot at our flank. If we break their formation instead, we can force one of them to expose itself while the other maneuvers to compensate."

She brought up a projected flight path.

"Recommend we concentrate our initial fire on one ship. Phasers to weaken the same shield quadrant, then torpedoes through the opening. Don't split our fire between them. If we can force one Battlecruiser defensive, the other will have to decide between maintaining its firing solution on us or maneuvering to protect its companion."

Jez tracked the second Battlecruiser's position.

"Either choice gives us an opportunity."

Her attention returned briefly to the Dreadnought.

"And we need to keep our maneuvering options open. If we become predictable, the Dreadnought doesn't have to be our target to become our biggest problem."

Jez settled back over the tactical console, eyes fixed on the approaching Battlecruisers.

Two Battlecruisers were dangerous.

Two Battlecruisers supported by a Dreadnought were considerably worse.

But they didn't have to beat all three ships.

They only had to make sure the two ships in front of them couldn't fight as one.



== Tag All. ==

[Cologero Coppola]

The attack patterns were being fully developed between him and Diaz, it just needed something more. As he was looking into more attack patterns involving weapons fire, there was something else that circled back to the front of his mind. If they were going to use those probes like Qab'ataar suggested they would need to be strategically placed, if they were going to use the mines as well they would need to know exactly where they were placed plus how they would move out there in space. Outside of a propulsion system keeping it in place there was nothing to keep it in place, the natural state of open space didn't stop any kind of motions. 

"Ensign if you have probes that will do those tasks, I am open to using them. Don't forget Tactical should be aware of trajectories of the mine probes, that way we know where to steer clear of." He turned his attention but not his head to Talion. "Commander if we put this together for a working plan, we should align the blast patterns for maximum damage." If they get all of that information together, the Aquila would be able to safely navigate through it without risking further damage. 

The Dreadnought remained to be their biggest threat not their biggest concern at this time, in order for them to be destroyed by them the weapon would need to hit them first. "Captain engaging hostile." Contact number three was closer to them than two, the full spread attack focused on weapons, if Cologero could at least naturalize those the Aquila would be better off for it. 

==Tags with GM input on the attack on contact number three.==

[Ris'maeriiffa Qab'ataar]

"Ensign if you have probes that will do those tasks, I am open to using them. Don't forget Tactical should be aware of trajectories of the mine probes, that way we know where to steer clear of."

His antennae perking slightly at the question from Coppola, Ris directed his response towards him, timing it between other commands and reports crisscrossing the very busy and tense space.

"Understood, Lieutenant. I am sending you the suggested trajectories, primarily between the dreadnought and ourselves, but, also a healthy spread around Contacts 2 and 3. If we're going to focus one one of them, we can concentrate more on the one we're not engaging in the moment. I'll set the EM barrage parameters, including the frequency hopping and duration variations, then release them to your controls, if that's acceptable?"

His fingers had continued to move steadily and purposefully across the LCARS display on the console in front of him, working as best he could with the time constraints.

Most effective frequency agility is...changing amplitude and phase at the same time. Key in a random start for each probe...and that will have to do. He sent the program to the probes stored within the ship, even as it shuddered, shimmied, and whined.

"With your permission, Commander" he said to Talion," I'll release control of these probes to Tactical."

Ris focused on keeping his breath as even and under control as he could. Well, if you survive this, it's a helluva story to tell the folks back home...

== Tag Coppola, Talion, all ==

[GM-CD]

==Qab==

The thing that was most evident from analysing Cardassian sensor profiles was that, despite the assurances of Starfleet Intelligence, Cardassian capabilities were far closer to Federation levels than had been predicted. They would be difficult to jam, and given the primary focus of all Cardassian starships being military-focused, they probably had extensive ECCM suites to counter any attempts the Aquila could throw together quickly.

That did not mean that the Aquila's plan would fail, however; it would just be a temporary solution and require constant refinement under fire while potentially doing more harm to the small band of Starfleet ships than good.

==Coppola==

Coppola was finding out, simultaneously with Qab'ataar and the Zephyr crew, that the Cardassians had way better technology than had been indicated by Starfleet Intelligence. Where once upon a time, a single Galaxy-class could have swatted an individual Galor out of the way, the Aquila's full spread only seemed to bring the ship's primary shields down before secondary generators sprang into life microseconds later.

In return the Aquila was rocked by repeated disruptor blasts from Contact 3, each one taking a sizable chunk out of the shields. Meanwhile, Contact 2 was moving to position itself behind the Aquila and catch her in a crossfire that even the Ross-class could not withstand for long.