Carpathia IV: Episode 306 - Freeze Frame
Bridge, NCCS Shadowdancer-A
Aire: Alright, Sassy, I need to ask you a few questions.
Sassinesa's ears began to twitch.
Sassinesa: Erm... yes?
Aire: You showed us when we first met that you can do a time freeze, right?
Sassinesa: That's right.
Aire: How long?
Sassinesa hesitated for a moment, taken aback by Aire's rapid-fire questions with no time between his answers and Aire's next.
Sassinesa: Depends. A quick zap is around five to ten seconds. If I hold, I can bring that up to a few minutes.
Aire: People or objects?
Sassinesa: Both.
Aire: Can you freeze the Blood Agony?
Sassinesa's eyes widened and he gave a vigorous shake of his head.
Sassinesa: Not that big! At most, I could freeze one of your runabouts!
Aire whipped his head around to address the crew.
Aire: How fast is the Blood Agony moving?
Amenaru: About one-third thrusters, by our standard.
Aire: What would happen if you froze small parts of the ship while it's moving at that speed?
Sassinesa thought for a moment as the meaning of the question slowly sank into his head.
Sassinesa: Oh... Oh. Ooohhhhh... Oh! Yes, yes! That would really fuck 'em up! One part frozen even for a second and it can't move unless I move it!
Just what Aire wanted to hear. He clapped his hands together once with a crack that got everyone's attention.
Aire: Right, we can win this everyone! How close do you need to be?
Sassinesa: No more than 800 meters. 900 in a pinch. I have to ride one of your ships. I can't stay in corporeal form in space like Lazmaedia or Aionaptara and I have to be in this form to do it.
Aire wheeled around and faced the helm console.
Aire: Got it, Teek? 800 meters. How long to line us up for a run on the Blood Agony?
Teek: Got it, Captain! Twelve minutes to get us into position!
Aire: Get me Admiral Zhang, encrypted channel.
Kit: Contacting Admiral Zhang.
Aire: Sassy, is there anything else you need?
Sassinesa: Not much. I should be on your lowest deck when you go.
Aire cast a quick glance around the bridge, looking for a crew member to spare. He needed someone to send with Sassinesa. He quickly determined there was only one choice.
Aire: Joust, go with Sassy. Kit, establish an open comm link between Joust and the bridge.
Joust: Right away!
Kit: Establishing comm link.
Joust and Sassy rushed to the lift together. Just before the doors closed, Sassinesa had one more thing to say, surprisingly earnest for him.
Sassinesa: Good luck, Aire.
Aire responded with a nod, with work calling again.
Kit: I have Admiral Zhang, Captain.
Admiral Zhang appeared on the viewer from the Crystal Falchion and it was clear in an instant that they had a worse time than even the Shadowdancer. Their bridge was in shambles and Admiral Zhang's hair, usually neatly tied in a ponytail, was unravelled and hung free.
Admiral Zhang: Make it fast, Aire.
And fast, Aire would make it. No time to explain the entire plan, just what he needed.
Aire: Admiral, we have Sassinesa and a plan. We're going to make a dorsal run over the Blood Agony. Better chance of success if we have support.
Admiral Zhang listened intently and nodded. Perhaps, Aire thought, he saw a faint twinkle in her eye, a spark of hope.
Admiral Zhang: Got it. It won't be us. Too much damage. How long?
Aire: We're setting up now. Eight minutes and we begin the run.
Admiral Zhang: I'll send word to the fleet. Zhang out.
Admiral Zhang disappeared from the screen and it was on to the next task.
Aire: Bridge to Engineering.
Ramei: R... R... Ram.. here.
Amenaru: Still having trouble with comms down there Working on it.
Aire spoke as briefly and clearly as he could muster just in case any part of his message got cut off.
Aire: Give as much power as you can on the ventral shields.
Ramei: Ventr... ields... full pow... Got it!
Close enough, Aire thought.
Aire: Trex, ready weapons. We're going in hot.
Trex: I got 'em warmed up for you!
Kit: Captain, I have messages coming from throughout the fleet.
Aire turned to the viewer where, one by one, the captains of various ships appeared.
Adell: Sentinel at your command, Captain.
Ivy: Chrono Blade ready, Captain.
Keiichi: Furious Spectre ready, Captain.
Azrael: Cerberus ready to be of service, Captain.
Alka: We got your back, Captain!
A dozen other captains also called in, leaving the viewer a mess of expectant faces and heightening Aire's feeling of determination.
Teek: Ready, Captain!
Aire: Thank you all. Distract the Blood Agony in any way you can. Aire out.
Aire sat in his chair and fastened his seatbelt.
Aire: All hands, secure your stations. Joust, is Sassinesa ready?
Joust: Hit it, Captain!
Aire: Teek, full thrusters. Take us in at 800 meters. Trex, fire all weapons as soon as we're in range.
Teek: Full thrusters, Captain!
Aire braced as the Shadowdancer barrelled toward the Blood Agony. There was little he could do now besides trust in his crew to do the job. Also, grip the armrests hard enough to come close to denting the metal. Closer and closer, the Blood Agony grew impossibly large in the windows and if anyone didn't know how massive it was, they'd think Shadowdancer was in imminent danger of crashing into it.
When the Blood Agony filled the entire window, Trex opened fire with everything she had. Disruptors and torpedos streaked toward their targets. As they approached the 800 meter mark, Teek pulled up and arced the Shadowdancer from the tips toward the bridge tower in the back. Now, the real destruction began. All the weapons fire from all the ships was nothing compared to the damage Sassinesa did. Though there was no visual indication, like some kind of magic aura, that showed Sassinesa's work, the way the Blood Agony shook and shuddered when the ship bashed into a frozen section told them it was working. Explosions erupted throughout the Blood Agony whenever Sassinesa hit a sensitive spot. A half a dozen freezes every few seconds. Sassinesa worked faster than Aire thought possible.
Plenty of return fire on the Shadowdancer too, slamming hard into Shadowdancer's ventral shields, occasionally tossing them out of Sassinesa's freezing range.
Aire: Teek, get us within 700 meters!
Teek: On it, Captain!
Shadowdancer moved in closer and the hull freezes continued apace. After several agonizing minutes, Shadowdancer crossed the stern of the ship and back into clear space.
Commissioned art in this episode from:
AvareonArt
Zelbunnii
Less_End
Colourbrand
Falke2009
