SD241310.22 || Joint Duty Log || Cmdr Ivanova & LtCmdr Dahe'el || XO & CEO || "Combatitive personalities..."

Posted on Wed Oct 23rd, 2013 @ 2:06am by

3,113 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: In the Dark
Location: Holodeck 1

=/= Holodeck 1, USS Vindicator =/=

Striding down the reproduction of the bridge, Almar smiled at how accurate he was able to get it, having holoemitters all over the ship meant that he could use them to create the programs in minute detail, down to feeling of the air being circulated around him, he allowed himself a few minutes in peace as he stood in the centre of the bridge, the program was paused and the photonic bridge crew were stuck in their poses.

Slowly he moved down the bridge and to the command chair, sliding a padd out of his uniform jacket and fiddling with it for a few moments before he placed it down on the arm of the chair, "Computer, resume program, variation Dahe'el gamma seven five alpha, Tholian Campaign." he stated as he prepared for what was to come.

Rochelle watched intently as she entered the holodeck and stepped to take her place within the simulation at hand. She gently set her padd down and chose to remove her tunic, freeing herself of it's confines and revealing her tank top, tucked neatly into place. "Proceed." She said, nodding to the rendered faces that turned to look at her in question, her head nodding gently to each as she crossed the bridge. "I'm only here to watch the show." She teased gently, her eyes finally resting on Almar as she set upon her customary seat, light as a feather.

"Of course Commander," Almar replied as the program started up in it's full, alarms going off on the tactical station as the viewscreen snapped to show a pair of Tholian Cruisers.

"Commander, two Tholian ships approaching on an intercept course!" the Tactical officer reported with a slight growl.

"Red Alert! Shields up!" the Cardassian called out as he switched the arms of the chair and strapped himself in, "Helm, attack pattern Dahe'el Alpha Delta, Tactical fire when ready!" he added as the Tholian ships opened fire, the shields of the Discovery Class Vindicator soaking up most of the punishment, causing the simulated bridge to rock and shudder, an auxiliary console exploded off to the side and threw a junior science officer to the ground.

Rochelle barely had time to make herself comfortable before the first array of fire nearly launched the petite redhead from her seat. Her nails gripped the armrests as she secured herself, forcing her body back into the plush confines of her precarious perch. She could feel the adrenaline begin to burn and wind its way through every blood vessel and every artery, her heart racing with the nearly masochistic, if not sadistic, thrill of the hunt.

"Medical team to the bridge!" Almar shouted after thumbing the controls on the arm of the chair which now lay across his lap.

"Shields at Sixty-four percent and falling sir!" the Tactical officer called out as another volley of fire hit the Vindicator, the two Tholian ships lit up as the Vindicator's phasers struck the shields, causing them to flare and flash with the impacts as the huge ship passed between them.

Not used to simply staying quiet during any form of crises, Ivanova looked to the Cardassian with wintry eyes. She studied him. Watched him. Analyzed his each and every move as the hulking ship crossed their bow. Her interest wasn't on it, or the damage, of the insanity crashing and cascading across the bridge. Her attention was fixated on the all too adept motions of an Engineer that screamed warrior. To her, that was the greatest mystery of all - why the Commander hadn't gone the route of the Tactical officer.

"Route additional power from the unused cores into the shield grid using my calculations." Almar ordered as they rocked violently again, another console exploding as the lights began to flicker slightly

"Aye sir," the Tactical officer replied as his hands slid across the console and began their work, "Shields raising to Sixty-eight percent, Seventy-four, Eighty-five percent and holding!" he called out as the Discovery Class ship began to shake as all of the cores were powered up, the usual throb of the warp core replaced by the a constant Thrum, Thrum, Thrum, Thrum as all four cores shoved power through the EPS grid.

Each thrum matched the feverish pace of the redhead's heart as she tore her gaze from the Cardassian, finally, and to the Tactical officer and the scenes unfolding all around her. The shields were raising, the war-ship screaming and threatening with her sudden lack of grace. "To what extent?" She asked, her voice like gravel from the adrenaline, "To what extent are we injuring ourselves by attempting this?"

"Helm, drop us below them and then between them!" Almar shouted out as the Vindicator shook again from multiple hits, the tactical officer reporting minor drops in the shields, "Tactical, fire all phasers, port and starboard, fire all point defense cannons and load aft torpedo launchers." the Cardassian rattled off as the two Tholian ships began another attack run.

Not accustomed to simply being ignored, Ivanova's eyes kept their death grip on the side of the Cardassian's ridged and scaled face.

The bridge began to fill with smoke as another console exploded, the air filtration clearing it up in a few seconds as a medical team stormed onto the bridge and began seeing to the injured crew, the Vindicator itself dipped it's nose as the Tholian ships began to pass it, as soon as the ship passed between them, the tactical officer unloaded everything the Vindicator had into the two ships, bright lances of light pierced the Tholian's shields at close range and tore great holes in their hulls, as the giant ship emerged the torpedo launchers opened up and detonated both enemy ships in a shower of hull fragments and plasma fire.

"The Tholian ships have been destroyed sir!" the tactical officer called out as the Vindicator came around, the viewscreen snapping to the second ship as it's hull rippled and bulged, exploding as their core went critical.

She could, however, accept the silence for the taste of victory -- however shallow. The acrid smell of smoke, however, threatened to choke her and the rest of the crew as the Tholian ship exploded, lighting up the view screen.

"Those two Tholian cruisers are about equal in strength to the five Cardassian Galor class warships I tested the Vindicator against," Dahe'el commented as he turned to look at Ivanova, "With your permission, I will increase the number of opponents."

"No." She shook her head, "The ship can't handle much more than that. You've proven your point."

"With the modifications to the shields, we can take a few more risks, we can take the fight up close and personal and put them down quicker," Almar replied as he tapped a few buttons on a padd that appeared from his uniform jacket, "Without them, we would have to make it a long range fight and attempt to keep them at arms length."

The Commander's lips parted, but quickly pursed before words could be spilt. She could feel the slight challenge being uttered by the Engineer. She smirked and shook her head. "Fine." She answered, knowing no harm aside from spent time could come of his play time, "Show me what you've got, hot shot."

"Excellent," Almar replied, his lips curled upwards into a cruel and unforgiving smile, "Computer, Tholian Campaign gamma, seven, five, delta," he called out as he secured himself into the chair again, "You may want to strap yourself in Commander."

"And they say *I* fly dangerous." The woman scoffed lightly, slinking deeper into her chair and folding her arms stubbornly over her chest. The game was invigorating, daring to cross lines she'd all but thought Andrea had broken her of.

The program reverted to it's previous state and began running instantaneously, the bridge crew replaced and began going about their business when the alarms began going off again, "Commander! Tholian Dreadnought and four escorts on an intercept course!" the Tactical Officer called out as the viewscreen snapped to show them.

"Interesting," Almar stated simply as he thumbed the controls on the chair, "All hands, battlestations, fighters deploy, shields to emergency capacity, weapons free."

An thin, red eyebrow raised eye over one eye, leaving Ivanova with her customary smirk and skeptical expression that had left many a crew-member scrambling for a better answer. Only this time, it wasn't directed at anyone in particular -- unless one chose to give the situation at hand it's own entity as it threw the vicious Vindicator through it's paces.

As the Vindicator closed with the huge dreadnought, it's weapons began opening up, causing the shields on the Starfleet ship to flare from the impacts, the fighters beginning their attack runs on the smaller ships, "Helm, evasive pattern Dahe'el Delta Seven Nine."

With the commands given, the Vindicator began to pitch and turn away from the group of Tholian ships, it's phasers opening fire, this time concentrated on the largest of the five ships, "Damage minimal to the Dreadnought, shields holding."

The Vindicator began rocking with incoming fire, consoles exploding all over the bridge and showering the crew with sparks and smoke, "Shields down to seventy percent!" came the shout from the tactical officer, "Shields are compensating with the extra power, up to seventy-nine percent."

Shuddering along with the ship, Ivanova braced herself, her hands slapping the arm rest as they violently came to rest upon them, stressing her slender forearms as they bore her weight and the inertia of the ship's banking. Each hit keyed the already highly strung woman up. Each time she curbed herself from interjecting with her own tactical style. Each and every precious second that ticked on only served to teach her temperance while stringing along a new lesson; the lesson of just how much the injured ship could take. Vindicator fought valiantly, but Rochelle knew it couldn't continue for much longer with the dreadnaught barely scathed and the Vindicator limping and bleeding badly from it's most recent volly. "You're a tease, Commander." She dared to quip.

"Load and fire a graviton torpedo from the aft launchers," Almar commanded as the bridge rocked again, "Helm, bring us about and set an intercept course with the lead ship." he added before looking over his shoulder to the tactical console, "Load a tricobalt warhead in one of the forward launchers, target the hole in their shields caused by the graviton torpedo."


When the graviton torpedo struck the shields of the dreadnought, they flared brighter than ever and collapsed onto the hull of the huge ship, the Vindicator's huge bulk swung around and as soon as the Tholian capital ship was in it's forward arc, a lone tricobalt warhead streaked forward, supported by a constant barrage of fire from the Vindicator's phasers, the huge Starfleet ship swatted aside the escort cruisers before pulling up as the tricobalt warhead struck the hull of the dreadnought and buried itself deep inside the ship, detonating with enough power to rip more than a third of the huge ship apart and catch two of it's escorts in the shockwave.

"Attack pattern Dahe'el Gamma, Delta, Five," the Cardassian barked as another console exploded on the bridge, "Shields down to forty-one percent and falling!" came the call from the tactical officer moments later.

The latest violent rocking, combined with the Vindicator's war cry reply, saw Ivanova's braced arms buckling. Next time, she thought as she fell from her seat, her chin cracking loudly against something rudely hard (she'd later come to realize it Dahe'el's knee), she'd listen and strap in -- something she'd never, in her entire career, chosen to do. She cringed as she tasted blood, her teeth having caught the very tip of her tongue, and quickly scrambled to pick herself up from the deck plates.

"Focus fire, take them out!" he growled as the viewscreen cracked and began to buckle, another shudder sent through the Vindicator.

"Shields down to thirty percent!" the tactical officer shouted as one of the remaining Tholian cruisers began to break apart, it's partner veering off and attempting to get in behind the Vindicator.

"Enough." She uttered, another rocking volley nearly sweeping her elegant form back off her feet before she could find purchase in her chair again, "We know how this ends. Fact or fiction, I refuse to watch this ship come apart." She added, lifting her bruised chin defiantly, setting her point in stone. She didn't mean to be harsh, nor abrasive, against the Cardassian, but with her heart racing and her mind screaming red klaxons at the impending end, she knew she'd met her limit. She'd never been bested in battle, nor would she ever -- not for as long as she lived. "Thank you for this display." She added, trying her damnedest to soften and pull down her own shields as the ship continued to scream. It was fake, she told herself, fake in a holodeck.

"We are not beaten yet!" Almar growled as the bridge rocked again, "Torpedoes, full spread all launchers, fire everything!"

With the order, the Vindicator's full arsenal opened up, the phasers tearing great holes in the shields followed up by waves of torpedos which rendered the Tholian ship into debris in a matter of seconds, their warp propulsion caught by one of the explosions caused a shockwave which shook the Vindicator to the core.

The next volley, punctuated by the way the Commander disobeyed her commands, sent to Executive Officer back off her feet - the Vindicator roaring in modest triumph, the thrum of her engines, the hiss of broken conduits, the bark of sparks. Rochelle's eyes closed bitterly as her cheek found his hard warmth of his shoulder, her hands hitting and bracing against the back of the Command chair on either side of his neck. "Commander," She hissed, not daring to look at him as she attempted to defy the physics of the bucking ship, trying to remove her hips from his lap. "I said enough."

"The program is over," Almar replied as the bridge began to fade, revealing the hologrid around them, only the command chair was left and that was only because they were currently using it.

Swallowing, Rochelle reopened her eyes and immediately pushed herself away from the Cardassian. "Good." She replied stoutly as she straightened her tunic and tucked a loosened strand of hair back behind her ear. "Next time I say enough, I expect you to take it as gospel, Dahe'el." The plucky redhead was quick to chastise him, however mildly. "I don't appreciate not having my orders followed regardless of the situation. I'm sure you can understand."

"We were never in any real danger, plus I know what my ship is capable of, I knew we still had the capacity to defeat the final Tholian ship," the Cardassian replied with a slight smile, "There will come a time when you may have to make a similar decision, perhaps against the Captain's wishes, in a time of war, we had to destroy them to lessen the risk of drawing reinforcements."

"No," she huffed, "we weren't, but that served next to no purpose aside from inflating egos. You know what the ship is capable of. I know what the ship is capable of and don't you dare try to school me about what I can and can't do, or rather will and won't do, when it comes to this command." Ivanova stepped forward, encroaching on the man's space. "I really hope I make myself clear and that I'm not mistaken in believing I can trust you to follow our lead come thick or thin."

"I will always do what I believe is in the best interests of the Vindicator and her crew," the Cardassian replied as he stood and faced her down, his face mere inches from hers, "Protecting this ship is and always has been my main goal."

"Good! Then we have common goals, which means you should listen!" The tiny woman all but barked back, her nose crinkling slightly as she searched his face. He wasn't afraid of her. That was a drastic change from the norm.

"Sometimes not listening is the best way to achieve those goals." Almar replied flatly, his calm was holding and his nerves were as steady and solid as rock.

Rochelle smirked and shook her head. "I'll be the judge of that. As of right now? Your last stunt was definitely NOT achieving any goals other than inflating your own machismo." She taunted sharply.

"I wouldn't say that," the Cardassian replied as he held up a padd between them, "It gathered some very interesting information regarding how the shield grid would handle the additional power while under great strain."

Snatching the padd, the smaller of the two narrowed her eyes at the Cardassian, "I'm sure it did." She all but snorted, not daring to look at the data for the moment, she'd leave that to the Captain after having lived the entire simulation. Hell, her smarting chin, cheek and tongue were evidence enough of that.

"So, I trust you have seen enough? Or would you like to run another simulation? perhaps this time against the Romulans?" the Engineer asked with a slight grin as he took a step back, "Or would you rather try something a little different, perhaps something to eat, I'm starved."

"We're good here." Rochelle deflated ever so slightly when the man backed down, giving her the edge and the win... For now. Neither one held any fear for the other and in some respects, perhaps the vast majority of them, that could easily be considered a good thing. A very good thing. On the other hand that lack of healthy fear, on his part, could have been seen as insubordination -- or her part? Stupidity for not holding a Cardassian at arm's length. "What do you suggest?" She asked, tucking the padd into her jacket and canting her head off to the right ever so slightly. Food. The cure for all ills.

"The Officers lounge?" Almar suggested as he turned on his heel and headed towards the door, "It should be relatively quiet this time of day, we can work out the details of the report so Captain Neyes isn't left reading reams and reams of statistics."

And she, with a sigh, followed him. "Makes sense. I'm sure he'd appreciate something concrete, as fun as it would be to drop the raw material on him." She shrugged, the tension depleted by the oddly aloof nature of the man.

(End Log.)

Commander Rochelle Ivanova
Executive Officer

&

Lieutenant Commander Almar Dahe'el
Chief Engineering Officer

USS Vindicator

 

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