Omoikane 29 - the Distress Call
We were an hour out from the Conquest when the distress call came.
The screen showed another Bear woman. She was slightly less well-decorated than Yittam. “This is Bendarri outpost 6-12. There is a sizable Thasite fleet heading our way. We request all available back-up. Their estimated time of contact is five days. We’re evacuating everyone we can now. Whatever happens, we’ll make a fight out of it. If we’re to fall, let it be in the Bendarri way. Fighting to protect those behind us.”
Her command staff was all sorts of people. About two dozen. I noticed a tiger woman. Her ears were flat and her pupils dilated.
They roared. Our translators rendered it as “WE PROTECT!”
The message dumped data on us. The size and condition of the station, The set up of the colony on the world below the station, and their readings of the approaching fleet. A group of cruisers, destroyers, Assault carriers, and troop transports.
I gave Varupuchu a moment. Then I asked, “What’s our ETA to Bendarri Outpost 6-12?”
He looked at me meaningfully “Approximately 125 hours.”
“Alright. Rig for a high-speed dash. Tillean, alert Li’ira what’s going on.”
There was nothing to do but head that way. Friends were in trouble.
“I’ll go inform His Highness,” I said.
-*-
I knocked on the door to the Prince’s shuttle. It took a few moments. Azcxa opened it. She wasn’t in armor. She was barely wearing anything. “What?” She demanded
“There’s a Thasite attack on Bendarri outpost 6-12. We’re going to respond. Our eta at your ship is about 20 minutes. I’ll need you powered up and ready to launch as soon as we go sublight.”
She blinked and nodded. She didn’t like me, but this was a response situation and she got that.
I turned. My people were already moving with urgency. Were we going there to fight or rescue? Either way, use the time to get everything in place and ready to go.
I was most of the way back to the bridge when Rotol called me.
“Captain, I know this is an unusual request. I’d like to stay and observe the battle.”
“Absolutely not. We’re going in harm's way. I’m not going to risk the Crown Prince of the Galran Empire that way. What if you get injured or killed?”
“That matters to you, does it?”
“Yes, Sir. The Federation really wants a peaceful and productive relationship with your people. Getting you mangled really doesn’t work towards that goal.”
He hesitated a moment, “Alright. I see your point. May I send Azcxa?”
I squeezed the bridge of my nose, “I’m sorry, no.”
“I see. Will this attitude govern the rest of our diplomatic relationship?”
“I cannot guarantee the safety of your people. I don’t want their blood on my hands.”
He shook his head “Alright then. I’ll remember this.”
I winced. “Alright. We’ll be back near The Conquest soon. Be ready to launch, please. Minutes count.”
-*-
The doors of the Shuttlebay rolled open. We dropped sublight right near the Conquest. Rotol’s shuttle lifted off quickly and was way from the Omoikane directly.
We turned and re-entered warp.
-*-
Dr. Hobolisk braced me when I was double-checking the torpedo magazines.
That was completely superfluous. My crew people knew the systems’ technical details better than I.
But I had to keep busy. Sitting still for too long was not a great idea for me.
Hobolisk said, “It looks like we’re going towards trouble.”
I nodded “Yup.” The briefing about it was on the ship’s network. Everyone knew what was going on.
“I want to revisit putting Ensign Flannigan, Specialist Gusada and Lieutenant Nwadike into the Frozen Matter System.”
“Yeah, “ I said “Let’s go talk to them.”
-*-
“Sure,” Ensign Flannigan said, “I’m just sorry I can’t pull my weight for this one.”
More of her body was the aggressive pink of newly cloned tissue. She looked almost like a blue Frankenstein woman.
“The weight I need you to pull is to recover and get back into shape for the long term,” I said, “This won’t be the last time. I’d like you back on the team next time.”
She saluted me overly seriously “Yes! Sir!” I grinned.
-*-
Flannigan was able to walk up to the Frozen Matter transporter pad in the cargo bay under her own power. She was wearing loose scrubs designed not to antagonize her inured areas, And bunny slippers.
She waved to us as she sparkled away.
The Tech read the panel “Good read, Captain. She’s safe.” He took an object that looked like a crystalline hockey puck out of the panel and handed it to me. “Here she is, Sir.”
I regarded the hockey puck carefully. “Alright, let’s get her into safe storage.
The Ops department had a safe. We had some latinum in there. That would be a good place for the Ensign for now.
-*-
Lieutenant Nwadike, also didn’t like the idea of sitting out the battle.
“Can’t you fit me with some sort of temporary cybernetics?”
Hobolisk shook his head “If we’d started right after you got injured. But now, you wouldn’t recover in time. Starfleet doesn’t like cybernetics. They want everyone put back to factory specs when possible. So that’s the path we started down and here we are.”
Nwadike sighed. The choices were laid out for him following the dragon fight.
People’s opinions changed in the 2360s, after meeting the Borg. Before then, every tenth Starfleet Officer or so had something cybernetic.
I had an artificial knee joint on my right side.
The choice, when I was a kid, was cybernetics and get back on duty now, versus restoration and get back on duty later.
Since we were all on the go, climbing that Starfleet ladder, taking a break seemed counter-productive to many.
After we met the Borg, Earth rediscovered a horror of cybernetic alteration and shied away from it again.
Now, a quick return to duty using cybernetics was discouraged, and taking the time for restoration was encouraged.
Nwadike chose the conventional choice and now he was kind of stuck with it.
I could see his brain racing. He was trying to figure some way out of the cul de sac.
“Hey,” I said “I like how you’re thinking here. If you can invent a workaround, I’m open to it. But you’re not fit for duty right now.
So the real question is - Do you want to ride out the battle in your quarters, or skip this part of the trip?”
Hobolisk said, “If you go into the Frozen Matter System, then by the time you get out, your replacement limbs will be fully cloned and prepared and it’ll be a one-day procedure to attach it all.”
That sold Nwadike “Let's do it.”
-*-
The transport chair hung in the air over the deck with mysterious solidity. Nwadike, shy his left arm and leg could not walk up to the transporter stage.
“See you soon, Lieutenant,” I said.
He nodded gravely and soon I had another precious puck. I liked that they were safe. I didn’t like the feeling of carrying around a human in that form.
I replicated little velvet bags for their pucks to avoid scratches. It was not necessary, but it felt right.
-*-
Specialist Gusada was a Teikoko person. Biologically as much mushroom as animal. They were a humanoid form with a mushroom cap where their hair would be.
They were a power systems tech. Some Teikoko people looked more male or more female. Some even leaned into having a gender. Lots didn’t. Gusada was indeterminate and completely comfortable that way. Gender was something we humanoids brought to the interaction. Not Gusada’s problem
Gusada sat in a replicated recliner in the crew lounge and wheezed.
I approached them with Dr. Hobolisk. He looked at us, tried to say something, and coughed. They kept coughing. They coughed for an uncomfortably long time.
I could hear their life support module humming on their arm. It buzzed and hissed slightly. The device was taking in oxygen, and then inserting the oxygen into their bloodstream, removing carbon dioxide and dumping it overboard.
The Module did this in a steady, mechanically consistent manner.
It would keep you alive when you had lung damage. But it often left users out of sorts. If felt subtly off.
When a person breathes in. it’s not just a gas exchange, it’s all sorts of enzymes, proteins and eleventy kinds of neurological signals hooked into the system.
When they breathe out, same thing. Many in reverse some not.
When Gusada breathed, their lungs and other physiological systems were sounding distress calls - their lungs were injured! But these distress calls were canceled, badly by his bloodstream being properly oxygenated and dead steady levels of oxygen.
So it just didn’t feel quite right. Gusada was struggling with feeling off and wrong, on top of their lungs complaining
Gusada spent many of the days after the battle sedated because sleeping in their condition was almost not possible.
Hobolisk reported that they were making decent progress on repairs. But if he had time, he’d clone a fresh set of lungs for Gusada.
After the battle, I’d booked up on the situation and learned a lot about lungs in general and Teikoko physiology.
As if knowing Gusada’s technical specs better would somehow help me help them to heal faster.
Once they stopped coughing, they said “Frozen Matter?”
Hobolisk nodded.
Gusada said “Please.”
“You’re good with the idea?”
“Yeah,” They coughed some more “I hate this, thanks.”
-*-
Soon enough we had his disk in hand as well. Into another velvet bag and into the safe they went.
I hoped I wasn’t making a terrible mistake. Nothing for it now.
We rushed forward.
Omoikane - Bendarri Outpost 6-12
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jayphailey
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Omoikane - Bendarri Outpost 6-12
Last edited by jayphailey on Thu Jan 02, 2025 5:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Omoikane - The Bendarri
Do they reproduce with it?
Specialist Gusada was a Teikoko person. Biologically as much mushroom as animal. They were a humanoid form with a mushroom cap where their hair would be.
-- The Innkeeper
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jayphailey
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Re: Omoikane - The Bendarri
I have no idea!
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jayphailey
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- Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 pm
Re: Omoikane - The Bendarri
Omoikane 30 - Distraction
I lost the finicky balance and the race-ski threw me. I tried to twist in the air and land right.
The ocean hit me like a ton of bricks.
After a bit of thrashing, I got myself together and floated up to the surface. The Holodeck opined that I’d taken a head injury in that crash and was at severe risk of death if not rescued immediately.
The safeties were on but set at a rough house level of action.
I laughed as I swam to my racing machine. It was a recreation of a Tanaki watercraft. On Earth, we called similar things jet-skis. This variant was a mix of a jet-ski, racing motorcycle, and hydroplane. It was a way to go way too fast, with insufficient control on water that wanted to kill you for the unmitigated gall to behave so in it.
“Are you okay?” Specialist Skodala asked.
“Yes!” I said, “Let’s try again!”
In retrospect, I probably wasn’t doing as well as I thought I was. And I am sure my wipeouts were pretty graphic.
But it was made of pure fun and the more I went too fast and ate simulated Tanaki ocean water, the less I thought of the battle to come. Distracting myself was a pretty extreme sport in and of itself.
-*-
The following day it was hard to move. I felt like I’d ruined every muscle I had. My eyelids hurt and moved slowly.
Apparently, anxiety masks pain when you put them in opposition to each other.
I struggled across my entirely too-empty quarters, forcing muscle groups to move, painfully “Ha ha ha,” I said to myself “Wheee.”
I lost the finicky balance and the race-ski threw me. I tried to twist in the air and land right.
The ocean hit me like a ton of bricks.
After a bit of thrashing, I got myself together and floated up to the surface. The Holodeck opined that I’d taken a head injury in that crash and was at severe risk of death if not rescued immediately.
The safeties were on but set at a rough house level of action.
I laughed as I swam to my racing machine. It was a recreation of a Tanaki watercraft. On Earth, we called similar things jet-skis. This variant was a mix of a jet-ski, racing motorcycle, and hydroplane. It was a way to go way too fast, with insufficient control on water that wanted to kill you for the unmitigated gall to behave so in it.
“Are you okay?” Specialist Skodala asked.
“Yes!” I said, “Let’s try again!”
In retrospect, I probably wasn’t doing as well as I thought I was. And I am sure my wipeouts were pretty graphic.
But it was made of pure fun and the more I went too fast and ate simulated Tanaki ocean water, the less I thought of the battle to come. Distracting myself was a pretty extreme sport in and of itself.
-*-
The following day it was hard to move. I felt like I’d ruined every muscle I had. My eyelids hurt and moved slowly.
Apparently, anxiety masks pain when you put them in opposition to each other.
I struggled across my entirely too-empty quarters, forcing muscle groups to move, painfully “Ha ha ha,” I said to myself “Wheee.”
Re: Omoikane - The Bendarri
You invented them. The part we call a mushroom is the fruiting body that produces spores. The mycelium is the actual body of the fungus and can be huge.
-- The Innkeeper
Re: Omoikane - The Bendarri
The frozen matter "pucks" I saw as fairly thin. The size of a micro CD and say three times as thick no center hole. Unlike the Kelvin method it is NOT fragile. You would need tools to damage one. They are slightly translucent.
-- The Innkeeper
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jayphailey
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- Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 pm
Re: Omoikane - The Bendarri
Will write than that way if it comes up again. I used hockey pucks as a mental model for human handling
Last edited by jayphailey on Mon Jan 06, 2025 7:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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jayphailey
- Posts: 1065
- Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 pm
Re: Omoikane - The Bendarri
Omoikane 31 - Once more into the breach
We screamed toward Bendarri Outpost 6-12 at excessive speeds
We weren’t the only ones. A few Bendarri ships were also making maximum warp in that direction.
On long-range sensors we watched the opening of the battle unfold.
The Bendarri attempted a hammer and anvil strategy. Their defense fleet pulled back and formed up. The Thasites attacked the station, and the Bendarri defense fleet counter-attacked.
The Bendarri didn’t have enough ships to really make this work. What we saw was a scrum of starships.
The destroyers fanned out and ringed the planet, and started shooting at ground targets. What ground targets? There wasn’t much that was of military value there. Civilian ground targets. The Thasites wanted to create as much misery, terror, fear, and destruction as they could before they launched their invasion.
The Bendarri station and the Thasite cruisers traded broadsides. For a long time. It was no fun to watch. The Bendarri station lasted longer than I thought it would.
An hour out, our sensors got better resolution.
A Bendarri battle cruiser rushed into the battle zone. We could see his engines glowing super hot. I’d never seen working warp drives that hot before. As they went sublight, two large masses of super hot metal separated from their ship.
“What did they drop?” Tarla asked.
“Their warp drive nacelles. They ruined their warp drive getting there quickly. They didn’t need the dead weight during the battle,” I said.
It also meant no retreat for that ship. It was win or die.
The Bendarri Battlecruiser swooped up to a destroyer and lit it up. That was one Thasite ship that would never do another war crime.
When we were fifteen minutes out, two of the three Thasite assault cruisers closed with the stricken Bendarri station.
“Transporter activity. They’re beaming boarding parties to the station,” Tilliean said.
My new brothers had been fighting the Thasites with Admiral Taraban in the Fulcrum region. I’d been reading up.
The Thasites were big, stupid, and mean. They made the Klingons look like the Vulcans by comparison.
They loved to kill and try to eat humanoids. They also loved to enslave and terrorize humanoids.
Taraban’s reports were that there was obviously a more intelligent power behind the throne, using the Thasites as stalking horses.
Thastites ranged between 200 and 300 centimeters and between 200 and 300 kilograms. They had four arms. And a snout with fangs. They looked like white-furred tiger-gorillas.
Nightmarish.
So you had to fight smarter, not harder. Unless you were Klingon.
-*-
The Omoikane was a big girl. A cruiser. She wasn’t meant for turn-and-burn fighting like an escort. So chasing the Thasite destroyers was not really in the cards for us.
We did have a broadside. And that meant we could go after the Thasite heavies.
-*-
“Red Alert!” The Omoikane’s lights turned red, all systems charged up we got ready.
“Address intership,” I said Varupuchu nodded.
“Attention crew of the Omoikane. We’re about to enter battle to defend our friends. The Thasites are aggressors. They’ve penetrated Bendarri space to launch a brutal and violent attack.
“We’re going to defeat them and push them back. We’re a hell of a team, and if we fight like I know we can, the outcome here is not in doubt. Stay safe, do your job well, and keep your wits about you, We place ourselves between enemy guns and civilians. Let’s show these Thasites what it means to be Starfleet.”
I made a cutting motion. The Omoikane dropped out of warp
We were close. Danger close. I hope we made Thasites yell.
I designated a Cruiser “Cruiser Alpha, let him have 25 torpedoes, Phasers, Ion cannon, fire at will.”
The Thasite ships were slab-sided and chunky. The metals that made up their hulls were red. A sort of wedge-shaped forward hull, a hexagonal secondary hull and three warp nacelles equidistantly mounted around the back of the secondary hull.
Our torpedoes tore through their shields and slammed into their hull. The line of explosions rippled along cruiser alpha's upper port side, tearing open their hull and destroying their equipment.
An ion cannon barrage mostly shut down what was left. The Thasite ship began to slowly tumble, out of control, out of the fight.
That got the Thasites' attention. The Omoikane vibrated as the Thasite concentrated disruptor fire on us.
“Anti-ship missiles, Captain.”
“Activate that missile defense system.”
“Aye, Sir”
The small turrets, useless against the Dragons, popped out of their nooks in the hull. As a barrage of Thasite missiles closed in, the small turrets buzzed and threw micro torpedoes.
Fighting the fight they were designed for, the turrets worked wonderfully. The oncoming missiles exploded futilely.
“Who’s the next biggest, closest one?” I asked
Stephanie highlighted the next Thasite cruiser, Beta.
“Come about to Starboard, and pursue at one-half impulse,” I said.
The Omoikane turned towards cruiser beta.
He turned towards us. Brave. Stupid, but brave,
“Same thing!” I called
He pointed his wedge nose at us, to shoot us with both of his heavy disruptors and dozens of smaller ones. Our front shield started to go.
The Omoikanes torpedo turrets buzzed. Our phasers screamed. The Ion cannons made their noise. All of it was artificial noises designed for feedback.
The wedge-shaped forward hull of the Thasite cruiser absorbed numerous hits, exploding into confused wreckage. Two of our torpedoes slammed into his navigational deflector on his secondary hull, tearing holes in it, and causing it to go dark.
Cruiser Beta flew straight past us. A few of the small disruptor cannons on the aft end of the secondary hull fired at us. We fired another Ion cannon barrage, This one wasn’t as effective, but it still gave Cruiser Beta more things to think about than pressing the attack on us.
“Continue our turn to Starboard.”
I looked at the tactical plot. Who was next? Ahah. I highlighted a Thasite destroyer at the edge of our range. “Twenty-five Qts for him.”
“Are you sure, Captain?”
“We don’t get paid extra to bring them back, be generous in messaging our disapproval.”
“Disapproving, Captain.”
The Omoikane spit more torpedoes.
The Thasite destroyers drives flared with extra energy and he tried to evade.
Most of the torpedoes missed and I felt like an idiot. But the ones that did hit hurt him and he backed away.
I re-examined the battlefield. The Bendarri space station was a wreck, with multiple hull breaches and fires. Worse, it had two troop ships docked to it unleashing bloodthirsty Thasites.
I highlighted the one near us. “Set course for a close pass on him.”
“Aye, Captain,”
“Torpedoes, fire batches of five at Thasite ships as you bear. We’ll focus phasers and Ion cannon on the troop ship.
We completed our turn “One-quarter impulse,” I said.
We waddled towards the Bendarri station, handing out torpedoes like party favors. When we got close I said “Phasers and Ion cannon, fire.”
We lit up the assault cruiser with phaser beams and Ion cannon bolts.
His shields flared and died. “Phasers hold,” I said
The Ion cannon pounded and pounded, just as we passed him, his internal defenses gave up. All systems on his ship shut down. The Ion cannon acts as a starship stunner. It overloads ships systems and can force a manual reset. A ship overcome by ion cannon is intact, but helpless.
Which is better than losing anti-matter containment and exploding, when the target is docked to a friendly.
Some of the ion cannon effects bled over into the Bendarri Station, I winced, but I felt like we had to break up that attack.
Tillean said “I have the Thasite channels, Captain. They’re using an old code your brothers broke.”
“Probably your sister. Put it on.”
A Gorilla-Tiger Thasite was snarling. Their spoken language sounded like a very angry tiger.
Our translators rendered his snarling. “Fall back towards me! We need to do a formation attack to deal with that damned Federation Battlecruiser!”
“Which one said that?”
Tillean highlighted the third assault cruiser. Assault cruisers are cruisers in the line of starship battle. But they are chunkier. They have more volume. Because they carry orbit-to-ground troops, along with ground attack vehicles. Flying tanks, artillery, and infantry vehicles. The Thasite assault cruisers had the cruiser-sized and shaped forward wedge, but a much fatter and longer secondary hull. Same triple nacelles, one on top and one each on either side at the 5 o’clock and 7 o’clock positions.
“Turn towards him and advance to half impulse.”
The Thasite Commander yelled “He’s making an attack run! Attack his rear!”
The Omoikane came about. We were at the near side of middle range. “Same attack, Stephanie.”
“Aye, Sir.”
We attacked Assault Cruiser Gamma with torpedoes. Not all of them hit this time, but most did.
Our shields weren’t looking great. Soon, we’d be paying for our licks. “Phasers and Ion Cannon go!”
We slammed the assault cruiser with our weapons.
I was sweating. The ship was heating up.
As we approached the assault cruiser, he lit up his impulse drives and tried to run. Damage from our torpedoes made that harder for him.
I noticed a Thasite destroyer trying to get behind us. He was met with phasers and torpedoes from a Bendarri destroyer.
The Bendarri battlecruiser, the one who’d dropped his nacelles was moving aggressively to get behind us and cover us. He had pockmarks and holes in his hull. His shields weren’t in such great shape, either. But most of his guns were still firing and his impulse drives were still working.
“Give that assault cruiser another round of torpedoes.”
The Ompoikane spat quantum torpedoes again.
The torpedoes struck home, rippling down his hull again. Assault Cruiser Gamma was chewed to a barely recognizable mass.
“Hard Starboard, back down to one-quarter impulse,”
The Omoikane began to turn when the assault cruiser lost containment. His warp core exploded, filling space with superheated garbage.
Our front shield died and we heard thumps from debris hitting the Omoikane.
“Light Damage, Forward, we’ve lost some sensor emitters,” Varupuchu reported.
“By now, I think the Thasites are reconsidering their life choices. Let’s go take care of that last assault cruiser at the station,” I said.
Tillean replayed several comments from the Thasite ships.
“We need to fall back to the edge of the system!”
“Who’s senior?”
“Captain Kargashaa, but he’s tied to the Bendarri station, and the big fish seems to be eyeing him next!”
“They didn’t say the Federation had hell ships and they didn’t say any of the hell ships would be here, I’m out.”
“We need to pull back in good order or they’ll destroy us in detail.”
“You go right ahead, I am getting my ship, my crew, and my ass out of here.”
We locked onto Assault Cruiser Delta. Tillean captured his voice to ground channel
“That fucker’s going to riddle us when he clears the station. Get back here in 90 seconds, or we’re leaving without you I’m not spending my ship and my ass to keep you out of the Bears’ paws.”
“All weapons cease firing,” I said, “Hail him.”
“Hailing,”
A moment later a Thasite face showed on the main view screen. He was snarling and spittle flecked his muzzle. “What do you want?”
“Get your people off that station and run. I’ll let you go. Call a full retreat, get your soldiers off the station, and go.”
“Some day, you pink, hairless abomination, I will have my revenge.”
“Sure, sure. Are you leaving, or do I start shooting?”
He hissed and shrieked and then snarled “Agreed,” He opened the channel to the Thasites “All units, fall back to the 8th planet in this system. This battle is done for today.”
On the station, we could see people moving and weapons firing. The Thasites were trying to withdraw and what was left of the Bendarri crew wasn’t in the mood to let them.
After several more minutes of running battle, the Bendarri people fell back and the Thasites ran for the Assault Cruiser Delta.
The rest of the Thasite ships left. Most going to the 8th planet. Some just went away towards Thasite space. Some struggled, in various states of damage.
Once the majority of the Thasite fleet was out of weapons range, I said “Yellow alert. Rescue stations. First things first, Concentrate on friendly escape pods and then unfriendlies. Crews to Shuttles and the Runabout.
Damage control report once you have the Omoikane stabilized. We’ll need to see if we can stabilize that space station.
Now was the fun part. The clean up.
We screamed toward Bendarri Outpost 6-12 at excessive speeds
We weren’t the only ones. A few Bendarri ships were also making maximum warp in that direction.
On long-range sensors we watched the opening of the battle unfold.
The Bendarri attempted a hammer and anvil strategy. Their defense fleet pulled back and formed up. The Thasites attacked the station, and the Bendarri defense fleet counter-attacked.
The Bendarri didn’t have enough ships to really make this work. What we saw was a scrum of starships.
The destroyers fanned out and ringed the planet, and started shooting at ground targets. What ground targets? There wasn’t much that was of military value there. Civilian ground targets. The Thasites wanted to create as much misery, terror, fear, and destruction as they could before they launched their invasion.
The Bendarri station and the Thasite cruisers traded broadsides. For a long time. It was no fun to watch. The Bendarri station lasted longer than I thought it would.
An hour out, our sensors got better resolution.
A Bendarri battle cruiser rushed into the battle zone. We could see his engines glowing super hot. I’d never seen working warp drives that hot before. As they went sublight, two large masses of super hot metal separated from their ship.
“What did they drop?” Tarla asked.
“Their warp drive nacelles. They ruined their warp drive getting there quickly. They didn’t need the dead weight during the battle,” I said.
It also meant no retreat for that ship. It was win or die.
The Bendarri Battlecruiser swooped up to a destroyer and lit it up. That was one Thasite ship that would never do another war crime.
When we were fifteen minutes out, two of the three Thasite assault cruisers closed with the stricken Bendarri station.
“Transporter activity. They’re beaming boarding parties to the station,” Tilliean said.
My new brothers had been fighting the Thasites with Admiral Taraban in the Fulcrum region. I’d been reading up.
The Thasites were big, stupid, and mean. They made the Klingons look like the Vulcans by comparison.
They loved to kill and try to eat humanoids. They also loved to enslave and terrorize humanoids.
Taraban’s reports were that there was obviously a more intelligent power behind the throne, using the Thasites as stalking horses.
Thastites ranged between 200 and 300 centimeters and between 200 and 300 kilograms. They had four arms. And a snout with fangs. They looked like white-furred tiger-gorillas.
Nightmarish.
So you had to fight smarter, not harder. Unless you were Klingon.
-*-
The Omoikane was a big girl. A cruiser. She wasn’t meant for turn-and-burn fighting like an escort. So chasing the Thasite destroyers was not really in the cards for us.
We did have a broadside. And that meant we could go after the Thasite heavies.
-*-
“Red Alert!” The Omoikane’s lights turned red, all systems charged up we got ready.
“Address intership,” I said Varupuchu nodded.
“Attention crew of the Omoikane. We’re about to enter battle to defend our friends. The Thasites are aggressors. They’ve penetrated Bendarri space to launch a brutal and violent attack.
“We’re going to defeat them and push them back. We’re a hell of a team, and if we fight like I know we can, the outcome here is not in doubt. Stay safe, do your job well, and keep your wits about you, We place ourselves between enemy guns and civilians. Let’s show these Thasites what it means to be Starfleet.”
I made a cutting motion. The Omoikane dropped out of warp
We were close. Danger close. I hope we made Thasites yell.
I designated a Cruiser “Cruiser Alpha, let him have 25 torpedoes, Phasers, Ion cannon, fire at will.”
The Thasite ships were slab-sided and chunky. The metals that made up their hulls were red. A sort of wedge-shaped forward hull, a hexagonal secondary hull and three warp nacelles equidistantly mounted around the back of the secondary hull.
Our torpedoes tore through their shields and slammed into their hull. The line of explosions rippled along cruiser alpha's upper port side, tearing open their hull and destroying their equipment.
An ion cannon barrage mostly shut down what was left. The Thasite ship began to slowly tumble, out of control, out of the fight.
That got the Thasites' attention. The Omoikane vibrated as the Thasite concentrated disruptor fire on us.
“Anti-ship missiles, Captain.”
“Activate that missile defense system.”
“Aye, Sir”
The small turrets, useless against the Dragons, popped out of their nooks in the hull. As a barrage of Thasite missiles closed in, the small turrets buzzed and threw micro torpedoes.
Fighting the fight they were designed for, the turrets worked wonderfully. The oncoming missiles exploded futilely.
“Who’s the next biggest, closest one?” I asked
Stephanie highlighted the next Thasite cruiser, Beta.
“Come about to Starboard, and pursue at one-half impulse,” I said.
The Omoikane turned towards cruiser beta.
He turned towards us. Brave. Stupid, but brave,
“Same thing!” I called
He pointed his wedge nose at us, to shoot us with both of his heavy disruptors and dozens of smaller ones. Our front shield started to go.
The Omoikanes torpedo turrets buzzed. Our phasers screamed. The Ion cannons made their noise. All of it was artificial noises designed for feedback.
The wedge-shaped forward hull of the Thasite cruiser absorbed numerous hits, exploding into confused wreckage. Two of our torpedoes slammed into his navigational deflector on his secondary hull, tearing holes in it, and causing it to go dark.
Cruiser Beta flew straight past us. A few of the small disruptor cannons on the aft end of the secondary hull fired at us. We fired another Ion cannon barrage, This one wasn’t as effective, but it still gave Cruiser Beta more things to think about than pressing the attack on us.
“Continue our turn to Starboard.”
I looked at the tactical plot. Who was next? Ahah. I highlighted a Thasite destroyer at the edge of our range. “Twenty-five Qts for him.”
“Are you sure, Captain?”
“We don’t get paid extra to bring them back, be generous in messaging our disapproval.”
“Disapproving, Captain.”
The Omoikane spit more torpedoes.
The Thasite destroyers drives flared with extra energy and he tried to evade.
Most of the torpedoes missed and I felt like an idiot. But the ones that did hit hurt him and he backed away.
I re-examined the battlefield. The Bendarri space station was a wreck, with multiple hull breaches and fires. Worse, it had two troop ships docked to it unleashing bloodthirsty Thasites.
I highlighted the one near us. “Set course for a close pass on him.”
“Aye, Captain,”
“Torpedoes, fire batches of five at Thasite ships as you bear. We’ll focus phasers and Ion cannon on the troop ship.
We completed our turn “One-quarter impulse,” I said.
We waddled towards the Bendarri station, handing out torpedoes like party favors. When we got close I said “Phasers and Ion cannon, fire.”
We lit up the assault cruiser with phaser beams and Ion cannon bolts.
His shields flared and died. “Phasers hold,” I said
The Ion cannon pounded and pounded, just as we passed him, his internal defenses gave up. All systems on his ship shut down. The Ion cannon acts as a starship stunner. It overloads ships systems and can force a manual reset. A ship overcome by ion cannon is intact, but helpless.
Which is better than losing anti-matter containment and exploding, when the target is docked to a friendly.
Some of the ion cannon effects bled over into the Bendarri Station, I winced, but I felt like we had to break up that attack.
Tillean said “I have the Thasite channels, Captain. They’re using an old code your brothers broke.”
“Probably your sister. Put it on.”
A Gorilla-Tiger Thasite was snarling. Their spoken language sounded like a very angry tiger.
Our translators rendered his snarling. “Fall back towards me! We need to do a formation attack to deal with that damned Federation Battlecruiser!”
“Which one said that?”
Tillean highlighted the third assault cruiser. Assault cruisers are cruisers in the line of starship battle. But they are chunkier. They have more volume. Because they carry orbit-to-ground troops, along with ground attack vehicles. Flying tanks, artillery, and infantry vehicles. The Thasite assault cruisers had the cruiser-sized and shaped forward wedge, but a much fatter and longer secondary hull. Same triple nacelles, one on top and one each on either side at the 5 o’clock and 7 o’clock positions.
“Turn towards him and advance to half impulse.”
The Thasite Commander yelled “He’s making an attack run! Attack his rear!”
The Omoikane came about. We were at the near side of middle range. “Same attack, Stephanie.”
“Aye, Sir.”
We attacked Assault Cruiser Gamma with torpedoes. Not all of them hit this time, but most did.
Our shields weren’t looking great. Soon, we’d be paying for our licks. “Phasers and Ion Cannon go!”
We slammed the assault cruiser with our weapons.
I was sweating. The ship was heating up.
As we approached the assault cruiser, he lit up his impulse drives and tried to run. Damage from our torpedoes made that harder for him.
I noticed a Thasite destroyer trying to get behind us. He was met with phasers and torpedoes from a Bendarri destroyer.
The Bendarri battlecruiser, the one who’d dropped his nacelles was moving aggressively to get behind us and cover us. He had pockmarks and holes in his hull. His shields weren’t in such great shape, either. But most of his guns were still firing and his impulse drives were still working.
“Give that assault cruiser another round of torpedoes.”
The Ompoikane spat quantum torpedoes again.
The torpedoes struck home, rippling down his hull again. Assault Cruiser Gamma was chewed to a barely recognizable mass.
“Hard Starboard, back down to one-quarter impulse,”
The Omoikane began to turn when the assault cruiser lost containment. His warp core exploded, filling space with superheated garbage.
Our front shield died and we heard thumps from debris hitting the Omoikane.
“Light Damage, Forward, we’ve lost some sensor emitters,” Varupuchu reported.
“By now, I think the Thasites are reconsidering their life choices. Let’s go take care of that last assault cruiser at the station,” I said.
Tillean replayed several comments from the Thasite ships.
“We need to fall back to the edge of the system!”
“Who’s senior?”
“Captain Kargashaa, but he’s tied to the Bendarri station, and the big fish seems to be eyeing him next!”
“They didn’t say the Federation had hell ships and they didn’t say any of the hell ships would be here, I’m out.”
“We need to pull back in good order or they’ll destroy us in detail.”
“You go right ahead, I am getting my ship, my crew, and my ass out of here.”
We locked onto Assault Cruiser Delta. Tillean captured his voice to ground channel
“That fucker’s going to riddle us when he clears the station. Get back here in 90 seconds, or we’re leaving without you I’m not spending my ship and my ass to keep you out of the Bears’ paws.”
“All weapons cease firing,” I said, “Hail him.”
“Hailing,”
A moment later a Thasite face showed on the main view screen. He was snarling and spittle flecked his muzzle. “What do you want?”
“Get your people off that station and run. I’ll let you go. Call a full retreat, get your soldiers off the station, and go.”
“Some day, you pink, hairless abomination, I will have my revenge.”
“Sure, sure. Are you leaving, or do I start shooting?”
He hissed and shrieked and then snarled “Agreed,” He opened the channel to the Thasites “All units, fall back to the 8th planet in this system. This battle is done for today.”
On the station, we could see people moving and weapons firing. The Thasites were trying to withdraw and what was left of the Bendarri crew wasn’t in the mood to let them.
After several more minutes of running battle, the Bendarri people fell back and the Thasites ran for the Assault Cruiser Delta.
The rest of the Thasite ships left. Most going to the 8th planet. Some just went away towards Thasite space. Some struggled, in various states of damage.
Once the majority of the Thasite fleet was out of weapons range, I said “Yellow alert. Rescue stations. First things first, Concentrate on friendly escape pods and then unfriendlies. Crews to Shuttles and the Runabout.
Damage control report once you have the Omoikane stabilized. We’ll need to see if we can stabilize that space station.
Now was the fun part. The clean up.
-
jayphailey
- Posts: 1065
- Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 pm
Re: Omoikane - Bendarri Outpost 6-12
Omoikane 32 - MASH by the beach
Then town was named Duchess Tamarien Port, after a war hero of the Bendarri
The people who lived there looked for all the world like Jackal people… Mostly. There was a scattering of other Bendarri Empire people.
The Varsanah, the Jackal folk, were friendly and very social. They were completely ready to help out.
It was a hell of a thing. I listened to the rollers washing up on the beach. It smelled right. The beach was wide and sandy. It would have been a perfect vacation spot.
We and the Bendarri ships dropped our doctors and gear there and set up a temporary hospital.
That way what we had stretched farther, shared between us all, and we didn’t have to worry about overloading a given ship’s space or life support.
We picked Duchess Tamarien Port because it was a small town, with about two thousand people. Every place bigger had been hit by the Thasites and was busy recovering itself from that.
We didn’t have many Starfleet casualties, this time. Thank God.
But there were a lot of Bendarri casualties.
And worse, some Thasite ones.
The Thasite ships didn’t just have Thasites, they also had clients and slaves aboard. Rescuing people from the wrecked Thasite ships and from escape pods was very unpleasant.
We’d put the Thasites and their loyalists on an Island far away. We looted supplies as we could off ruined Thasite ships and dropped them to the Thasite POWs. We’d have to come up with a better answer than that soon.
Liberated Thasite slaves were among the friendly wounded. I nodded to a security quad from the Omoikane. Stephanies people were working on keeping order in our makeshift hospital.
I was making the rounds, peeking in on people, and making encouraging noises.
Three Varsanah people and Captain Usigati from the Bendarri Battlecruiser approached me. I’d spoken some with Captain Usigati. She was a human from one of three or four human worlds in the Bendarri Empire.
She was a striking woman with raven-black hair and ice blue eyes. I’d seen about six women on her crew who looked just like her. I’d also encountered three men on her crew who could have been her twins.
They wore complex earrings. It was a handy way of telling them apart.
She was from Forgal. I’d have to look the place up when things weren’t so busy.
“You are Captain Hailey?” The Lead Varsanah woman asked.
“I am. How may I help you?”
“I am Mayor Zeluccia,” She said, “We would like to ask you to come to address the children of the town.”
I squinted “Why?”
“All we saw on the ground were bright flashes in the sky. We saw green beams and bright flashes hit Tupolla city across the bay. Since then the news has been disorganized. Rumors and disinformation are starting to spread and the children feel vulnerable.
“We’d like you to come and tell them what happened, but also tell them about yourself, the Federation and to reassure them that they have friends looking out for their safety.”
I was stunned. It made sense. But it hadn’t occurred to me. “Sure. I’ll talk to them. When?”
“Later tonight? About sun down? At the civil center.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Thank you, We’ll leave you to your business.”
They turned to leave. Captain Usigati said “Have you had lunch, yet?”
I blinked. I hadn’t thought of that, either.
-*-
Usigati and I chatted over something that was not quite rice and shikabobs.
We talked shop about commanding starships and the ins and outs of that. Commanding a battlecruiser for the Bendarri was a different job than mine. Usigati’s mission was more military. After years of cold war with the As’Taan, it looked like the Bendarri were going to be able to start exploring space and enjoying that.
Then the Thasites showed up and all the plans for exploration cruisers and deep space probes had to be put on hold, in favor of a new generation of defensive ships.
Usigati sighed, “I’d really love a chance to do what you do. But with the Thasites on our doorstep, we need soldiers and our people need defenders.”
“I’m glad you’re there. I’m sorry it's under these circumstances.”
“Tell me about your homeworld,” She changed the subject.
I told her about Earth and Luna and Los Angeles. I also told her about Oz, Renaissance Station, and the Ane.
I last stepped foot on Earth about a year ago. Oz a few months before that. Usigati seemed fascinated by the Ane.
“I wonder if they have any memories of the Parna or Solonoids?” She asked.
“I have no idea, I’ll have an Ane member of my crew contact you and you can ask. Why?”
“My world, Forgal was settled by lost refugees from a war. Between the Parna and the Solonoids. It was about to turn genocidal. The ship The Star Leaf fell through a wormhole. Completely lost and mostly mangled by battle damage.
Something happened. Our surviving founders refuse to discuss it with us in any detail. The original crew of the Star Leaf was all female. Somewhere they picked up a male human.
There were seven founders. We all have their faces. We’re all clones.”
“How does that work?” I asked.
“We’re humans, but not like you. We call your people ‘natties’. We’re genetically altered. We’re self-cloning.”
“Wow,” I said.
“You understand, we were overjoyed to find humans who weren’t all clones among the Bendarri and in the Federation.”
“I imagine the variety is nice,” I said
“Better. We’re compatible. My first two kids are clones, like my mother and her mother. I love them to death. But, if hypothetically, we were to mate, any child that would result would be a mix of you and me. Not a clone.”
I blinked at her, “Oh?”
“So, I was wondering, if, maybe, you’d like to share some of your genetic material with me?” Her expression was mischievous.
I choked on my Kebab, and fell off my chair. Very dignified.
Then town was named Duchess Tamarien Port, after a war hero of the Bendarri
The people who lived there looked for all the world like Jackal people… Mostly. There was a scattering of other Bendarri Empire people.
The Varsanah, the Jackal folk, were friendly and very social. They were completely ready to help out.
It was a hell of a thing. I listened to the rollers washing up on the beach. It smelled right. The beach was wide and sandy. It would have been a perfect vacation spot.
We and the Bendarri ships dropped our doctors and gear there and set up a temporary hospital.
That way what we had stretched farther, shared between us all, and we didn’t have to worry about overloading a given ship’s space or life support.
We picked Duchess Tamarien Port because it was a small town, with about two thousand people. Every place bigger had been hit by the Thasites and was busy recovering itself from that.
We didn’t have many Starfleet casualties, this time. Thank God.
But there were a lot of Bendarri casualties.
And worse, some Thasite ones.
The Thasite ships didn’t just have Thasites, they also had clients and slaves aboard. Rescuing people from the wrecked Thasite ships and from escape pods was very unpleasant.
We’d put the Thasites and their loyalists on an Island far away. We looted supplies as we could off ruined Thasite ships and dropped them to the Thasite POWs. We’d have to come up with a better answer than that soon.
Liberated Thasite slaves were among the friendly wounded. I nodded to a security quad from the Omoikane. Stephanies people were working on keeping order in our makeshift hospital.
I was making the rounds, peeking in on people, and making encouraging noises.
Three Varsanah people and Captain Usigati from the Bendarri Battlecruiser approached me. I’d spoken some with Captain Usigati. She was a human from one of three or four human worlds in the Bendarri Empire.
She was a striking woman with raven-black hair and ice blue eyes. I’d seen about six women on her crew who looked just like her. I’d also encountered three men on her crew who could have been her twins.
They wore complex earrings. It was a handy way of telling them apart.
She was from Forgal. I’d have to look the place up when things weren’t so busy.
“You are Captain Hailey?” The Lead Varsanah woman asked.
“I am. How may I help you?”
“I am Mayor Zeluccia,” She said, “We would like to ask you to come to address the children of the town.”
I squinted “Why?”
“All we saw on the ground were bright flashes in the sky. We saw green beams and bright flashes hit Tupolla city across the bay. Since then the news has been disorganized. Rumors and disinformation are starting to spread and the children feel vulnerable.
“We’d like you to come and tell them what happened, but also tell them about yourself, the Federation and to reassure them that they have friends looking out for their safety.”
I was stunned. It made sense. But it hadn’t occurred to me. “Sure. I’ll talk to them. When?”
“Later tonight? About sun down? At the civil center.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Thank you, We’ll leave you to your business.”
They turned to leave. Captain Usigati said “Have you had lunch, yet?”
I blinked. I hadn’t thought of that, either.
-*-
Usigati and I chatted over something that was not quite rice and shikabobs.
We talked shop about commanding starships and the ins and outs of that. Commanding a battlecruiser for the Bendarri was a different job than mine. Usigati’s mission was more military. After years of cold war with the As’Taan, it looked like the Bendarri were going to be able to start exploring space and enjoying that.
Then the Thasites showed up and all the plans for exploration cruisers and deep space probes had to be put on hold, in favor of a new generation of defensive ships.
Usigati sighed, “I’d really love a chance to do what you do. But with the Thasites on our doorstep, we need soldiers and our people need defenders.”
“I’m glad you’re there. I’m sorry it's under these circumstances.”
“Tell me about your homeworld,” She changed the subject.
I told her about Earth and Luna and Los Angeles. I also told her about Oz, Renaissance Station, and the Ane.
I last stepped foot on Earth about a year ago. Oz a few months before that. Usigati seemed fascinated by the Ane.
“I wonder if they have any memories of the Parna or Solonoids?” She asked.
“I have no idea, I’ll have an Ane member of my crew contact you and you can ask. Why?”
“My world, Forgal was settled by lost refugees from a war. Between the Parna and the Solonoids. It was about to turn genocidal. The ship The Star Leaf fell through a wormhole. Completely lost and mostly mangled by battle damage.
Something happened. Our surviving founders refuse to discuss it with us in any detail. The original crew of the Star Leaf was all female. Somewhere they picked up a male human.
There were seven founders. We all have their faces. We’re all clones.”
“How does that work?” I asked.
“We’re humans, but not like you. We call your people ‘natties’. We’re genetically altered. We’re self-cloning.”
“Wow,” I said.
“You understand, we were overjoyed to find humans who weren’t all clones among the Bendarri and in the Federation.”
“I imagine the variety is nice,” I said
“Better. We’re compatible. My first two kids are clones, like my mother and her mother. I love them to death. But, if hypothetically, we were to mate, any child that would result would be a mix of you and me. Not a clone.”
I blinked at her, “Oh?”
“So, I was wondering, if, maybe, you’d like to share some of your genetic material with me?” Her expression was mischievous.
I choked on my Kebab, and fell off my chair. Very dignified.
-
jayphailey
- Posts: 1065
- Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 pm
Re: Omoikane - Bendarri Outpost 6-12
Omoikane 33 - Presentation
Freshly showered, Usigati and I arrived at the community center of Duchess Tamarien Town. Damyip 18.2.1.245 was with us. He was one of the Damyip Guardians. He’d been polished and all his gear looked factory fresh. He was ready. Laaleblan, an Ane was there, too.
“I’m sorry,” I said to her “I don’t remember you.”
**Not surprising. This is the first time we’ve met.**
“You’re not from my crew?”
**Nope I’m from Oz. Myself and my bond pack expressed in this afternoon.**
That took millions of Ane working together to accomplish. It was magic. “Wow,”
**You’re finding interesting places. Surely you don’t expect us to just take a sip and move on. We’re just the most recent. We put groups on Pequadela, Boa-Olavax and Jigufor. Previously.**
“I’m Johnny Ane-Seed,” That got a triple-fluted laugh.
**Captain Usigati, Pleased to meet you. I have a favor to ask once this is over.**
Usigati looked at me with a wonderfully concerned expression.
“Not like that,” I said “Weirder. A strange new world has come to visit you.”
**It could be if you wanted.** Laaleblan gave a friendly leer.
Usigati grinned with embarrassment, and maybe a hint of something else.
-*-
We walked in, and there was a huge audience for the size of the auditorium. Mostly Varsanah people, I saw several other Bendarri people there.
The children occupied the center of the auditorium. Varsanah children are too cute. I couldn’t tell male from female. They dressed in riotous colors. They had big eyes and big ears. I swear, they might have been able to hear the Omoikane in orbit. They had these terribly cute little puppyish faces.
Laaleblan went and lay down at the front, just in the right place for small Varsanah children to start petting and snuggling with her.
The older kids were toward the back. And then parents and interested parties.
I found the main display screen over the stage and loaded my presentation onto that.
Mayor Zeluccia introduced us. I wanted Usigati to go first. She was their actual defender. Usigati pushed me to the front.
I took a deep breath and stepped to the front of the stage of the auditorium. “Greetings. My name is Jay. Did you know, that we built a really big Starship just to come here and meet you? That’s what we do. We go meet new people and see new places.”
I gave them a simplified overview of the Federation and Starfleet.
“Questions?” I asked.
Many many hands shot up.
Gestured “Yes, you?’
“Why did the Thasites attack us?”
I took a deep breath “We’re not one hundred percent sure. Here’s what we know. The Thasites live in a culture where the strong take from the weak. They see themselves as the strongest of all people, so they think it’s okay to attack and steal from everyone else. People defend themselves and fights happen. The Thasites seem to think this is normal and just how things are done.”
“Are they mad at us? What did we do?”
“They’re mad at everyone all the time. You did absolutely nothing to provoke them or provoke the attack.”
“And the Federation will stop them?”
That was a question I sort of knew was coming, and I dreaded it. How could I reassure the children without making promises I couldn’t keep?
“We’ll do our very best,” I said.
Damyip 18.2.1.245 stepped forward. “I am a Damyip Guardian. My name is 18.2.1.245. But if you wish to suggest a better name, I will consider it. I am a robot.”
The Children and the rest of people looked at him with big eyes.
“Somewhere coreward a factory is building robots like me by the hundreds of thousands. My larger siblings are starships. They will be coming as soon as we can complete them. Our friends in the Federation are good at meeting people and making friends. We are good at fighting. We will also do our best to protect you. After much fighting and destruction, we learned that being friends is better. We want to be your friends. We will do our best to protect you from the Thasites until people like Jay can find a way to make friends with them.”
“You’re going to make friends with the Thasites?”
“If I can, that would be a great result,” I said
“Jay will try, if possible. But if he doesn’t succeed, then the people behind him will try. And the people behind them. They will keep trying to make friends. It’s their special thing,” Damyip 18.2.1.245 explained.
“You make them sound sort of like the Bendarri,” One of the adults in the back said.
“Yes, the People of Bendervarr have a similar set of preferences and drives. This is why the Federation and the Bendarri Empire get along so well. Both want to make sure they are each others’ friends.”
“Is that why you’re here?” One of the Bear people in the back asked.
“Uhhh, we got the distress call from your outpost station,” I said. “We came as soon as we could to try and help.”
“So the Federation will come if we ask for help?” one of the kids asked.
“If we can, Yes. We always answer distress calls,” I said.
“We’ll be closer, and we’ll always come when you call,” Usigati said.
I stepped back and let Usigati take over. She and her people were the front line of defense. She’d know better how to explain it.
-*-
Later, we circulated and met everyone.
Mayor Zeluccia came and said quietly “Thank you for your reassurances.”
“You’re welcome,” I said.
“I noticed you qualified your statements. The children probably didn’t hear it as much.”
“Space is big,” I said sadly “Starships aren’t always in the best place to answer calls. Sometimes we’re too late.”
“You weren’t this time. We appreciate that.”
“That means a lot to me.”
-*-
Back on the Omoikane, I was digging through the amazingly large pile of paperwork that was stacked up.
My doorbell rang and Varupuchu came in.
“Captain,” He said, “The fuel and consumables report.”
I took the PADD he offered me.
We had less than one-third of our normal load of anti-matter, and one-quarter of our torpedoes left. Most of our relief supplies were gone, handed out to the people below. We had patterns to make more, but that took mass and energy. Mass wouldn’t be too hard to come by. Our fuel tanks were down to the point where I wanted to keep an eye on our energy use.
I nodded to him “Yeah. We have to get back to base. We’re still carrying damage.”
“I believe we could stop by the Damyip logistics base and add more anti-matter.”
“Yeah. Let’s drop back to Altea and pick up our folks there and then see where the nearest gas station is.”
“Gas station?”
“Old slang for a fuel depot.”
He grinned “That’s how your cultural imperialism starts.”
I shook my head and made up my mind to research some Andorian pop culture to drop references to.
-*-
The natural time to leave was when the Bendarri battle group, sent to reinforce the system showed up. Along with that group was a tug to haul Capt Usigati’s ship back to the shipyard for new engines.
I made sure that Usigati knew how to get in touch with me. In case her mission was successful.
Freshly showered, Usigati and I arrived at the community center of Duchess Tamarien Town. Damyip 18.2.1.245 was with us. He was one of the Damyip Guardians. He’d been polished and all his gear looked factory fresh. He was ready. Laaleblan, an Ane was there, too.
“I’m sorry,” I said to her “I don’t remember you.”
**Not surprising. This is the first time we’ve met.**
“You’re not from my crew?”
**Nope I’m from Oz. Myself and my bond pack expressed in this afternoon.**
That took millions of Ane working together to accomplish. It was magic. “Wow,”
**You’re finding interesting places. Surely you don’t expect us to just take a sip and move on. We’re just the most recent. We put groups on Pequadela, Boa-Olavax and Jigufor. Previously.**
“I’m Johnny Ane-Seed,” That got a triple-fluted laugh.
**Captain Usigati, Pleased to meet you. I have a favor to ask once this is over.**
Usigati looked at me with a wonderfully concerned expression.
“Not like that,” I said “Weirder. A strange new world has come to visit you.”
**It could be if you wanted.** Laaleblan gave a friendly leer.
Usigati grinned with embarrassment, and maybe a hint of something else.
-*-
We walked in, and there was a huge audience for the size of the auditorium. Mostly Varsanah people, I saw several other Bendarri people there.
The children occupied the center of the auditorium. Varsanah children are too cute. I couldn’t tell male from female. They dressed in riotous colors. They had big eyes and big ears. I swear, they might have been able to hear the Omoikane in orbit. They had these terribly cute little puppyish faces.
Laaleblan went and lay down at the front, just in the right place for small Varsanah children to start petting and snuggling with her.
The older kids were toward the back. And then parents and interested parties.
I found the main display screen over the stage and loaded my presentation onto that.
Mayor Zeluccia introduced us. I wanted Usigati to go first. She was their actual defender. Usigati pushed me to the front.
I took a deep breath and stepped to the front of the stage of the auditorium. “Greetings. My name is Jay. Did you know, that we built a really big Starship just to come here and meet you? That’s what we do. We go meet new people and see new places.”
I gave them a simplified overview of the Federation and Starfleet.
“Questions?” I asked.
Many many hands shot up.
Gestured “Yes, you?’
“Why did the Thasites attack us?”
I took a deep breath “We’re not one hundred percent sure. Here’s what we know. The Thasites live in a culture where the strong take from the weak. They see themselves as the strongest of all people, so they think it’s okay to attack and steal from everyone else. People defend themselves and fights happen. The Thasites seem to think this is normal and just how things are done.”
“Are they mad at us? What did we do?”
“They’re mad at everyone all the time. You did absolutely nothing to provoke them or provoke the attack.”
“And the Federation will stop them?”
That was a question I sort of knew was coming, and I dreaded it. How could I reassure the children without making promises I couldn’t keep?
“We’ll do our very best,” I said.
Damyip 18.2.1.245 stepped forward. “I am a Damyip Guardian. My name is 18.2.1.245. But if you wish to suggest a better name, I will consider it. I am a robot.”
The Children and the rest of people looked at him with big eyes.
“Somewhere coreward a factory is building robots like me by the hundreds of thousands. My larger siblings are starships. They will be coming as soon as we can complete them. Our friends in the Federation are good at meeting people and making friends. We are good at fighting. We will also do our best to protect you. After much fighting and destruction, we learned that being friends is better. We want to be your friends. We will do our best to protect you from the Thasites until people like Jay can find a way to make friends with them.”
“You’re going to make friends with the Thasites?”
“If I can, that would be a great result,” I said
“Jay will try, if possible. But if he doesn’t succeed, then the people behind him will try. And the people behind them. They will keep trying to make friends. It’s their special thing,” Damyip 18.2.1.245 explained.
“You make them sound sort of like the Bendarri,” One of the adults in the back said.
“Yes, the People of Bendervarr have a similar set of preferences and drives. This is why the Federation and the Bendarri Empire get along so well. Both want to make sure they are each others’ friends.”
“Is that why you’re here?” One of the Bear people in the back asked.
“Uhhh, we got the distress call from your outpost station,” I said. “We came as soon as we could to try and help.”
“So the Federation will come if we ask for help?” one of the kids asked.
“If we can, Yes. We always answer distress calls,” I said.
“We’ll be closer, and we’ll always come when you call,” Usigati said.
I stepped back and let Usigati take over. She and her people were the front line of defense. She’d know better how to explain it.
-*-
Later, we circulated and met everyone.
Mayor Zeluccia came and said quietly “Thank you for your reassurances.”
“You’re welcome,” I said.
“I noticed you qualified your statements. The children probably didn’t hear it as much.”
“Space is big,” I said sadly “Starships aren’t always in the best place to answer calls. Sometimes we’re too late.”
“You weren’t this time. We appreciate that.”
“That means a lot to me.”
-*-
Back on the Omoikane, I was digging through the amazingly large pile of paperwork that was stacked up.
My doorbell rang and Varupuchu came in.
“Captain,” He said, “The fuel and consumables report.”
I took the PADD he offered me.
We had less than one-third of our normal load of anti-matter, and one-quarter of our torpedoes left. Most of our relief supplies were gone, handed out to the people below. We had patterns to make more, but that took mass and energy. Mass wouldn’t be too hard to come by. Our fuel tanks were down to the point where I wanted to keep an eye on our energy use.
I nodded to him “Yeah. We have to get back to base. We’re still carrying damage.”
“I believe we could stop by the Damyip logistics base and add more anti-matter.”
“Yeah. Let’s drop back to Altea and pick up our folks there and then see where the nearest gas station is.”
“Gas station?”
“Old slang for a fuel depot.”
He grinned “That’s how your cultural imperialism starts.”
I shook my head and made up my mind to research some Andorian pop culture to drop references to.
-*-
The natural time to leave was when the Bendarri battle group, sent to reinforce the system showed up. Along with that group was a tug to haul Capt Usigati’s ship back to the shipyard for new engines.
I made sure that Usigati knew how to get in touch with me. In case her mission was successful.