Running Like A Scalded Dog: Part One
Posted on Sat Apr 4th, 2015 @ 4:04pm by James Holbridge & Major David Lorenz & Marine Captain Quentin Harrison
Edited on on Tue Apr 7th, 2015 @ 2:30pm
Mission:
Breaking New Ground
Location: Gunabout Washita
Jim crawled into the pilot's chair of his baby, the Washita; she was a prototype gunabout he purchased from Starfleet along with her sister ship, the Rhinewhen he formed his special ops team to hunt for his brother. Jim had upgraded both gunabouts during his time as CEO of Holbridge Mining, earning him a visit from a Starfleet Acquisitions rep. The good news is if I survive this disaster I can tell Dad where to shove the mining outfit and I can finally buy into the shipyard and put some of the empty space in 900 to good use. Jim thought as he set the engines.
"Here we are again, laddie!" Quentin smiled as he sat next to Jim. "Seem like yesterday we were going after Wyatt and Kieran."
Jim nodded. "You are right there, big guy! Time for you to be the gunner I know you can be! Set the shields at 150%, pull power from the secondary if you need to. I want the guns at 0, too. Fortunately, this here ship can take the beating. I hope Awf can handle manual controls," Jim grinned menacingly, knowing not many modern fliers liked manual controls.
"Davey signals that three Dominion warships are coming into audio range, and they are sweeping the ship heavily."
"Eddie, activate the bio-signals!" Eddie had been formulating transmitters designed to emit the bio-signatures of all members of the expedition. It would give the ships in question time to get up to speed. "Li, eddie just activated the bio-signal thingie; we might wanna think about leaving soon!"
Before Li could respond, a blast of polaric energy slammed into the Washita. "They took the bait! Let's get the hell outta here! All ships, execute separation maneuver!" Jim detached the Washita from the ventral hangar bay. The gunabout roared out into space, directly into the path of an oncoming Dominion cruiser.
"Q, piss him off enough to follow us!" Jim shouted.
Quentin fired a volley of quantum phaser fire directly at the Dominion cruiser, impacting on the hull of the ship harmlessly. Quentin kept firing, hoping to hit a soft target. His persistence paid off as a small explosion erupted along the enemy ship's centerline. "Got a air exchanger, Jimmy-boy!"
"I'm gonna make one more pass, David, make us a hole!" Jim shouted.
USS Ghost
Lorenz simply said, "Eddie, time to cut the bull outta the herd! Target the lead ship, full salvo of quantum torpedoes and phaser fire!"
The Ghost's quantum cannons raked the lead Dominion warship with a savage barrage of fire, weakening the enemy ship's shields. the salvo of six torpedoes finished the shields and impacted in critical areas of the enemy vessel.
=/\=Enemy ship attempting ramming maneuver, executing evasive patterns!=/\= Eddie said calmly, rolling the Ghost savagely to port almost too fast for the inertial dampers to keep up with.
"One-eighty and shoot!" David ordered. The Ghost heeled into a reverse turn, firing all weapons at anything Dominion. "Lorenz to group, scatter now! Eddie, jump to Warp 5 and engage the adaptive shielding!"
GUNABOUT WASHITA
Jim saw the opening the Ghost made and slapped the warp-engage tab on his panel, and the gunabout leaped into warp. "Look sharp, Q, the Jemmies are gonna be following us and won't be wanting to play mah-jongg when they catch up!"
"One cruiser on our six, two more chasing the Ghost and one following Awf! Hope that kid is good!" Quentin said tightly.
"Li is with him, and she ain't no pilgrim. Oh, shit, here he comes! Starboard quarter!"
The gunabout was rocked with weapons fire, but nothing broke. "That guy isn't shooting to destroy he's shooting to disable! Secondary shields to 85%!" Jim nosed the gunabout over and slewed to port, trying to give the enemy ship as small a target as possible. "Time to do some of that pilot shit!" he breathed.
Quentin concentrated on the tactical monitor, firing the gunabouts weapons like a man possessed as soon as he had a target. Two torpedoes and a volley of quantum phaser fire staggered the Dominion cruiser, but it kept on coming. "Bloody haggis-eating sonofabitch!" Quentin snarled as he fired again, aiming for the enemy's plasma vents. "How much longer we have to play with this bastard?"
"We want him to stay on us as long as we can!"
"Getting bloody tired of being a fookin' piñata, Jimmy-boy!" Quentin said through his clenched teeth.
Another explosion Rocked the Washita. "Deal with it, ya big wuss! David, are all the others away yet?" Jim yelled.
=/\=Jackson, Li, and Ronin are all away!=/\=
Jim nodded. "Time to vanish! Head for point Alpha-Three and best speed, see you in a few hours! all ships, this is Bouncer; execute separation from pursuit now!" Jimincresed the speed of his gunabout to full impulse before wheeling the ship 190 degrees, putting the weapons directly on the pursuing vessel. "Fire!"
Quentin fired a full volley of torpedoes and quantum phaser blasts at the bridge of the pursuing warship. Jim pulled up in time to narrowly avoid a crash, then slapped the throttles to 'all stop'. The dominion ship, blinded by the energy barrage, shot ahead of the gunbout. Jim advanced his throttles, careful to slip into warp and sneak up on the Dominion cruiser before the sensor blindness he caused wore off. "Quentin, target the engines, disable only!"
Jim watched as Quentin selected another volley of quantum phaser fire. "Hey, Q, adjust your..." was ll Jim got out as Quentin fired again, hitting a plasma transfer conduit, causing an instantaneous explosion. Jim hauled the stick aft and to port to avoid the explosion.
"WHAT IN THE BLUE HELL IS YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM?!" Jim shouted angrily.
Quentin kept his gaze locked onto the tactical screen. "I fired as ye ordered, the shields musta been weakened.."
Jim circled back and slowed to impulse, then turned to face Quentin. "You disobeyed a direct order! Scanning or survivors....none!" Jim rose to face Quentin. "Get outta my cockpit and confine yourself to your berth!"
Quentin fixed Jim with a hard stare, then stalked aft, leaving Jim alone in the cockpit, wondering just how far he could push the big man before he snapped completely.
Jim Holbridge
Irritated Boss
Quentin Harrison
Monumental Screw-Up
