Orion Surprise

Posted on 02 Oct 2018 @ 3:32pm by Lieutenant JG Jazmin Parks

1,814 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: History
Location: Starfleet Academy
Timeline: 2385

===[Academy Fighter-Training Hangar]===

Excitement welled up within Kelly as she entered the Academy fighter hangar and looked around. The place was awash with activity with Flight Students and Instructors hurrying to and from their training fighters as well as groups being instructed around specific fighters. Flight crew trainees maintained and repaired fighters under the watchful eyes of their own instructors and she had to move out of the way of more than one harried intructor or cargo truck ferrying ordinance. The sounds of the place assaulted her ears and she breathed in the smells of the fuel, grease and sweat.

She paused as three fighters were taxied from the hangar to the flight line and she held her breath as she recognized the crest of the 81st. It was one of the most decorated fighter squadrons and she hoped one day that she’d join their ranks. But it all seemed so far away, so many years in the future that the dream was but a shadow in her mind. She pulled her thoughts away from the distant future, letting them slip back to the recent past. Jazmin’s face and scent filled her memory and she missed the other woman desperately. Love, that’s what her mother told her it was. Love. She smiled at the thought. Until she had met Jazmin on the shuttle flight to the Academy, she only had room in her heart for flying. But, the moment she sall the small woman, the ballerina that she recognized right away, she was in love. If Jazmin had suggested they run off together and forget the Academy, she wouldn’t have thought wice, only asked where the beautiful young dancer wanted to go.

Butterflies fitted in her stomach and she looked down at the ring on her finger. It was beautiful and the memory off Jazmin asking her to marry her was as if it were but a few moments ago. She smiled, breated deep and as hard as it was, pushed those thought aside. She had a mission to do and she had to be a hundred percent focused. She pulled on her gloves, covering the ring and hiding it from sight and thereby keepeing her attention from it. She had left Jazmin less than an hour ago, and while she didn’t relish leaving her fiance’ behind, she knew that this was just one of the last hurdles she had to officially get her “wings.”

Crossing the flight deck, she zeroed in on her trainer, an old MK1 Valkyrie-T training fighter. There were a number of ground crew making final preparations for the launch and she cautiously approached. “Everything looking good?”

One of the men turned, pocketing a hydrospanner and a tricorder. He was a middle-aged human Chief Petty Officer and she recognized him immediately as Chief Hughes, lead fighter tech. “Cadet, everything looks good. You ready?” He handed her a PADD.

Kelly smiled as she took the PADD and read over the status report. “Did you recalibrate the port stabilizer?”
Hughes frowned. “Of course we did. You were right, it was off by two percent.” He folded his arms. “Anything else?”

“Of course not. After I get back, I’ll have my wings and we can celebrate.”

He returned the warm smile. “Only if your lady comes along.”

“Of course, you know Jaz thinks the world of you.”

He laughed. “Of course she does, besides, she’s the only one who laughs at my stories anymore.”

Kelly clapped him on the shoulder. “Time to get some new ones, Chief.”

He shook his head and turned to his men. “Okay, boys, let get out of here so the Cadet can get flying.”
The men collected their tools and cleared out while the Chief held the boarding ladder for her to climb up.

She ignored him, instead walking around the fighter, inspecting it slowly, running her fingers along the sleek hull, whispering quiet words to it that no one else could hear. The sensation of the hull against her fingertips was almost electric. She marveled at its smoothness, taking in the sensation. Her eyes inspected every millimeter. Pits, cracks, anything that might cause her difficulty was looked for and hwen she had circled the craft completely, coming to stop at the ladder, she was satisfied. “Damn, you do good work Chief.”

He smiled. “Thanks, Cadet. Now get going!”

She nodded and climbed the ladder, and stepped into the cockpit. When she was strapped in, she donned her, gloves, helmet and gave the Chief a thumbs-up. He returned the gesture, sealed the cockpit and hurried off, taking the ladder with him. She powered the systems up and waited for the heady thrum of the fighter to fill her ears. Then, Kelly went through her checklist and when she was satisfied, tabbed the comms.

“This is Trainer Alpha Seven, ready to taxi.”

“Roger Tango Alpha Seven. Taxi to runway nine. You are third in the pocket.”

She smiled at the voice, following his instructions, taxiing the fighter to the correct runway. She watched as two fighters in the queue before her took off in succession. When the second fighter was off the ground she moved her fighter into position. The voice from the tower control sounded in her ears loud and crisp. “Tango Alpha Seven, cleared for launch. Good luck.”

“Thanks tower.” She tabbed the comms off and throttled up, feeling the fighter seethe beneath her, anxious to be off the ground. She thought about Jazmin for a moment, then hit the thrusters and in seconds was off the deck and tearing through the atmosphere.

===[Saturn Orbit Checkpoint]===

Thirty hours after leaving Earth, Kelly eased her fighter into a tight elliptical orbit around Saturn. The trip had been a combination of peaceful, boring, and exciting. While space traffic was intentionally kept clear of the training flight path, the Academy had put in several checkpoints and exercises that she was required to perform. That’s why a normally hours-long trip had become a two days-long trip.

The planet Saturn, brilliant in her cockpit view, loomed large and she angled her thrusters to bring her over, through, and then under the rings, dodging ice particulates and house-size boulders. It was a maneuver that she had performed countless times in the simulator and the training had paid off. As she burned out of the rings, she smiled satisfied at her time.

Her console beeped a warning to her and she tabbed the console. “Computer, what’s the problem?”

“Proximity alert, unidentified and unauthorized vessels bearing 203 mark 6.”

She activated her scanners, waiting for it to feed to the displays. The craft was still too distant to make out clearly, but she clearly recognized the silhouette of three Orion Interceptors. She scowled. Eighth-generation raiding ships employed by the Orion Syndicate, their presence always spelled trouble. Every briefing she had received in the Academy warned her of them

“Computer, begin recording, scan all frequencies for any transmissions, coded or otherwise.”
After a moment the computer responded. “Detecting coded transmissions between the three vessels.”

“Keep recording.” She thought about calling this in, but if there was any chance she could uncover what they were doing here in restricted space, she had to take it. She activated shields and turned her craft so that it came in on an oblique angle. Hopefully she could get close enough to find out more without being detected.

“Range?”

“Two-hundred thousand kilometers.”

“Have they detected me yet?”

“Unknown.”

Kelly increased speed, her nerves getting the better of her. After two minutes of closing, the Orion ships began moving. Two of them jumped to warp, while the third turned and headed towards her.

“Crap.” Knowing that she was no match for the larger vessel, she pulled a quick bootlegger reverse and engaged thrusters at maximum.

“Status of enemy vessel?”

“Closing in, they will be in weapons range in two minutes.”

“Damn!” She cursed the fact that these training craft had no warp capability was something she was cursing at the moment.

“Computer send all sensor recordings and comm traffic on a tight-beam to Starfleet Command.”

“Unable to reply, all transmissions are being jammed.”

“Dammit!” She grabbed the throttle, slamming it all the way forward and was pushed back into her seat before the inertial dampeners compensated. The craft accelerated to maximum and she watched her aft monitor as the Orion was left behind.

Then, in a nausea-inducing visual, the Orion went into warp for a fraction of a second, creating a mirage of two of the vessels just before dropping out of warp directly in front of her. Banking right, her fighter spun to the left as she cut the port thruster and doubled the starboard thruster. Her fighter responded smoothly and she was now racing back away from the Orion.

She tabbed the torpedo control and launched. The missile hurtling towards the Orion. It impacted in a dazzling flash of light, when it subsided, the Orion was not only undamaged, but gaining on her. “Dammit!” she screamed.

The Orion’s phasers fired, deadly blue energy raking her fighter and tearing through its deflector shields. The port wing was sheared off and the fighter lurched wildly. Kelly fought with the controls in vain, trying desperately to gain control. Warning alarms blared loudly and she risked a glance at the Orion. It targeted her again, phasers reaching out for her.

She swallowed back a sob and as the phaser tore into her craft, she whispered, “Jazmin, I lo…”
When the explosion died away, the Orion ship sat motionless for a moment before warping out of the system, leaving behind a smattering of debris.

===[Starfleet Command Starbase One)===

Commander Kristof watched the status board anxiously as they tracked the three Orion raiders as they appeared out of Saturn’s shadow. When two of the raiders jumped to warp he crossed his arms and scowled. “I want all possible vectors, coordinate with Starfleet Intelligence to locate them. Status on the third?”

A young ensign frowned as she adjusted her earpiece and studied her monitor. “It seems to be pursuing a small craft.”

“Small craft?”

“Ident reads Academy Fighter Tango Alpha Seven. Cadet Jones on final solo flight.”

“Contact the Cadet, dispatch any vessels within range.”

“Transmissions are being jammed by the Raider.”

A Caitian Lieutenant rushed to the Commander. “Sir, we’ve identified the Raider. It’s Captain Storm’s vessel.”

“All vessels intercept that raider! I want that bastard apprehended…”

The Ensign gasped causing everyone to turn towards her. “Sir, weapons fire was detected, the fighter is gone!”

The Commander’s jaw clenched. “Keep a lock on that Raider.”

“Sorry sir, the Raider just went to warp. I am however receiving a tight-beam transmission. It appears to be from the Academy Fighter.”

“Send everything to Intel. Get the Academy Commandant on the comms.”

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