Carpathia IV: Episode 26 - The Battle
Space, Centaurus Void, NCCS Sentinel
Captain Yoshida gripped his armrests tightly as the Sentinel shuddered violently, pushing its brand new engines beyond their limits as they raced to the aid of the Shadowdancer. Sensor scans of the Shadowdancer and the unknown ship chasing her gradually became clearer the closer they came to each other and Keiichi watched in alarm as the unknown ship was catching up.
Ivy: I'm picking up weapons fire in the vicinity of the Shadowdancer.
Keiichi sat up straight in his quivering chair.
Keiichi: Any idea from which ship?
Ivy: I am unable to determine that. The sensors weren't even clear enough to detect the weapons fire until now. This could have been going on for awhile.
Keiichi wrung his hands, which were becoming sweatier by the minute.
Keiichi: Current speed and time to intercept.
Ivy: Q12.351. About five minutes if the Shadowdancer maintains its speed.
Keiichi: Be ready on all weapons and...
Ivy: The Shadowdancer has dropped back into normal space and she's in a flat spin! Time to intercept now nine minutes!
Keiichi stood and grabbed his console tightly, peering out of the bridge window intensely, as though he'd be able to see the Shadowdancer millions of kilometers away.
Keiichi: Increase speed to...
Ivy: The engines are already too hot!
Keiichi: Get it hotter, then!
Earlier
Nalma: I'm detecting energy buildups around the Vashta ship.
Aire gripped his armrests to prepare himself for whatever might happen next.
Aire: Teek, be ready on that order.
No sooner did Aire give his reminder than the ship suddenly gave several new shudders flowing through it like a wave.
Nalma: They are firing on us!
Adell did not waste any time giving the order to the helm while the ship shuddered from the weapons impact on the shields.
Adell: Teek, strafe!
Teek already had his finger hovering over the control on his console to initiate his maneuver. Forgoing his wheel and pedals, Teek chose to use his console for this precision maneuver. The ship suddenly pitched to the side and then slowed for an instant, nearly throwing everyone out of their chairs before sliding in behind the Vashta ship just as planned.
Adell: Fire!
Nalma immediately squeezed the fire button on his control stick while his other hand tap-danced across his console directing the shots. The bridge crew watched as an incalculable number of disruptor blasts hurled forth from the Shadowdancer and impacted the Vashta ship's shields, followed by several antimatter torpedoes. The Vashta ship soon began to turn, attempting to evade the Shadowdancer's weapons.
Adell: Stay with them, Teek!
Teek turned the wheel of the ship, attempting to follow, but the Vashta ship continued to pull away.
Teek: I'm doing my best, Captain, but they are faster!
Nalma: They are out of weapons range, Captain.
Adell watched on the monitor as the Vashta ship began a wide circle, looking to re-engage behind the Shadowdancer again.
Adell: Helm, resume course to intercept the Sentinel, max speed. Bugs, did we do any damage?
Nalma: Moderate damage to their aft shields. Surface scarring on their hull. It would take at least three more goes like that to bring their shields down. They are very strong.
Aire stroked his cheek while he noted that the Vashta ship had nearly completed its circle and was now resuming pursuit, closing in once again.
Aire: Captain, they seem tactically superior in every way, except one. If they were able to strafe well, they would have done that instead of circling.
Adell: Interesting point. What do you suggest?
Aire: Keep strafing, really. They also seem to have little in the way of weapons in their stern, so the more we can stay back there, the better.
With the Vashta ship rapidly approaching, there was little time for strategizing.
Nalma: They're almost within weapons range again.
Adell: We should assume they will be less cautious this time. Teek, evasive, heavy on strafe.
Teek tapped at his controls, returning the helm control to his wheel to prepare for some improvisation. This time, however, the Vashta were ready and matched Teek's strafe moves by rapidly turning to match his direction each time, pelting the Shadowdancer with a hail of weapons fire.
Teren: Aft shields at 20%!
Teek put the wheel hard right, momentarily overwhelming the inertial compensators and sending everyone nearly sliding out of their chairs. The maneuver was successful, however, as he managed to put clear space behind the Shadowdancer, prompting Teek to slam the ship in reverse for a split second while he still had the chance. Teek slid in behind the Vashta ship again while Nalma opened fire.
Adell's console beeped and Minnie did not wait for acknowledgement before speaking.
Minnie: Captain, whatever you're doing up there is putting far too much stress on the engines. They will not survive another sudden reversal!
Adell: Do your best to keep them going for just a little while longer.
Nalma: The Vashta ship is pulling away again.
Adell: Teek, break off pursuit and resume course for the Sentinel.
The Vashta ship slid away from the viewer as the Shadowdancer turned toward the Sentinel again.
Nalma: The Vashta ship is turning harder this time. She'll be in our baffles again in less than a minute.
Aire: We should divert power to aft weapons. I don't think the strafe maneuver is going to work on them a third time. If we open fire now, it might blind their sensors for a moment and keep them from hitting us too much.
Adell gave a curt nod.
Adell: Divert power to aft weapons and fire.
Amenaru: Diverting power.
Nalma: Opening fire.
A volley of disruptor fire and torpedoes spewed from the aft end of the Shadowdancer, most of which missed or detonated before reaching the Vashta ship. In short order, the Vashta ship was in range and opened fire and most of their shots found their mark. The hope that the Shadowdancer's efforts to blind their sensors was a futile one.
Teren: Aft shields collapsing!
Now, the dull thuds and tremors from the Vashta weapons became violent, erratic convulsions as the hull was impacted directly. The bridge was now rife with power surges sending showers of sparks everywhere.
Teren: Multiple hull breaches. Reading decompression in several sectors. We've lost the atrium dome.
Adell: Keep firing, Bugs...
Adell couldn't finish his sentence, for there was a large explosion and the ship jerked to one side. Teek was now fighting the wheel in a way that looked like he was trying to subdue an angry tiger.
Teek: We've lost the starboard engine! I'm losing attitude control!
Even Teek's green knuckles were turning white as he continued to struggle with the wheel until it finally broke loose from his hands, sending the ship out of quantum speed and into a flat spin. Those who didn't grab an armrest or a console in time were thrown from their chairs.
Adell: Shut down the quantum engines use the induction engines to get us back under control!
Amenaru lay with his chest on his seat cushion, gripping the seat back and trying to keep himself from being thrown out, reached up to his console with his hand. Holding his head up as high as he could, he could just barely see the control for emergency engine shutdown. For all the shaking and shuddering, he struggled to touch the right spot, but finally managed to draw his fingers through the screen to cut power.
Teek, still in his reinforced helm chair, still struggled with the wheel but was now able to begin bringing the ship under control. The spin ceased and the Shadowdancer lumbered forward, swaying from side to side like a drunken sailor.
Nalma: The Vashta ship overshot us. They're now circling back.
Adell: How far away is the Sentinel?
Nalma: Unknown. Long-range sensors are down.
Adell: Contact...
Kit: Long-range communications are down too.
Adell: Shit. Status!
Teren: Aft shields and weapons are destroyed. We have sub-light speeds only. Forward shields at 40%. Forward weapons nominal.
Nalma: Captain, that serrated part of the Vashta ship is starting to spin.
Adell: Viewer.
The Vashta ship popped up on the viewer and indeed, as Nalma said, the sawblade device on the side was spinning.
Adell: Teek, evasive. Whatever happens, keep that thing away from us.
Teek: Yes, Captain.
Aire noticed that Teek's wheel was still shuddering, but it wasn't the ship this time, but Teek himself. Aire rose from his chair and hustled to the helm, putting his hand on Teek's shoulder before leaning over to whisper in his ear.
Aire: Deep breath, Teek. You can do this. You weren't assigned to a ship like the Shadowdancer for nothing.
Teek's breathing slowed as he turned his head slightly and nodded in several short bursts.
Nalma: They are coming straight at us!
Adell: Teek, evade and keep our nose pointed at them!
Teek released his wheel and began to tap frantically at his console.
Teek: Engaging horizontal control flip. It'll be easier to keep our nose pointed the right way if we move backwards.
Teek grabbed the wheel and began piloting the ship as though the back were now the front.
Adell: Viewer aft.
The viewscreen switched to rear view while Teek maneuvered the Shadowdancer out of the path of the incoming Vashta ship. The Vashta sped past and began to circle around for another attack.
Adell: Bugs, fire whenever you get a lock.
The Vashta ship took aim at the Shadowdancer's port broadside. Nalma opened fire while Teek gunned the engines and turned to port, narrowly evading the Vashta as it sped past, trying to turn into the path of the Shadowdancer.
Adell: That's good. Keep that up!
The Shadowdancer and the Vashta continued its interstellar dance. Though the Vashta was clearly aiming for a finishing blow with its blades, that did not stop them from taking the occasional pot shots in their direction. Teek seemed very much in a zone, deftly dodging the Vastha attacks as they became more and more elaborate.
Teren: Forward shields at 5%.
Finally, the crew of the Shadowdancer received the news they were waiting for.
Kit: There's another ship coming in. It's the Sentinel!
Adell: Viewer!
The instant the Sentinel dropped from quantum speeds into normal space, it unloaded all of its weapon banks on the Vashta ship, pounding it like a dump truck pouring gravel on a toy car. The Vashta ship, clearly thinking the better of challenging a fresh, new battleship, turned and warped away.
Kit: I'm receiving a signal from the Sentinel.
Adell stood and brushed the dirt from his uniform.
Adell: On viewer.
Keiichi: Glad you're still with us!
Commissioned art in this episode from:
Jenova87
Zelbunnii
Less_End
Thatwildmary
Colourbrand
