11 hours ago
Despite the life support being turned down to minimum, Jenny lit a cigarette and exhaled a large cloud of smoke through her nostrils as the reports of the situation went from bad, to worse, to fucking awful. The Battlecruisers were problem enough, though Jenny firmly believed the Yeager could disable or destroy at least two of them before she was crippled, but the Dreadnought was another matter entirely - designed to bombard space stations or planets, it was also effective at simply hurling torpedoes at enemy fleets from long range, with the guarantee that the fleet would probably run out of ships before it itself ran out of ammunition. That didn't account for the six Hideki-class Escorts that it could carry in its internal hangars, or the large number of assault shuttles that, at a push, could double as strike craft.
The odds were stacked almost impossibly against the Yeager and her crew. But Jensen was right; Cardassian arrogance could be turned against them. If they became sure enough that the system was empty, and continued "leap-frogging" towards Starbase 214, they maybe had a chance at slowing the Hutet down before it could jump to warp. That would be virtually suicidal in itself, but with surprise on their side, anything was possible.
"If we try to run now, they'll run us down before we get out of the system. Our best chance now is to shadow them from a distance and act as a relay to the fleet we're all praying is en-route."
Studying the Tactical plot on her console, Jenny took in the formation of the Cardassian craft, their relative position to the Yeager, and the extent of the system's gravity well. If push came to shove, destroying the star or at least causing a massive coronal mass ejection would always remain an option. It wouldn't do her career much good, but it was one more item to add to the "mad shit I've gotten away with by the skin of my teeth" list.
"Qab, go ahead with your plan, but I want you to use one probe. Figure out what the Lowry's optimal course was, and launch it the other way. After, say, ten thousand kilometres, I want it to start emitting the weakest detectable warp signature you can manage. Like a ship trying to sneak out of the system in grey mode but not quite managing it."
At the very least, the signature would require investigation. Standard practice would be to have the three Hidekis chase it down, reducing the odds against the Yeager by three. The firepower differential wouldn't change much, but less arcs of fire meant less chances of getting blown to tiny pieces.
"T'Lari, I want your people ripping the guts out of every other probe we have and installing antimatter warheads and proximity sensors. If we get a chance, and judging by the closure vectors we will, I want to dump a minefield right in their path. That should even the odds a little more in our favour."
Blowing out another cloud of smoke, Jenny continued.
"Flint, adjust course to give us maximum possible breathing room when our vectors merge. I'd rather not get caught up in the detonation of our own mines."
The odds were stacked almost impossibly against the Yeager and her crew. But Jensen was right; Cardassian arrogance could be turned against them. If they became sure enough that the system was empty, and continued "leap-frogging" towards Starbase 214, they maybe had a chance at slowing the Hutet down before it could jump to warp. That would be virtually suicidal in itself, but with surprise on their side, anything was possible.
"If we try to run now, they'll run us down before we get out of the system. Our best chance now is to shadow them from a distance and act as a relay to the fleet we're all praying is en-route."
Studying the Tactical plot on her console, Jenny took in the formation of the Cardassian craft, their relative position to the Yeager, and the extent of the system's gravity well. If push came to shove, destroying the star or at least causing a massive coronal mass ejection would always remain an option. It wouldn't do her career much good, but it was one more item to add to the "mad shit I've gotten away with by the skin of my teeth" list.
"Qab, go ahead with your plan, but I want you to use one probe. Figure out what the Lowry's optimal course was, and launch it the other way. After, say, ten thousand kilometres, I want it to start emitting the weakest detectable warp signature you can manage. Like a ship trying to sneak out of the system in grey mode but not quite managing it."
At the very least, the signature would require investigation. Standard practice would be to have the three Hidekis chase it down, reducing the odds against the Yeager by three. The firepower differential wouldn't change much, but less arcs of fire meant less chances of getting blown to tiny pieces.
"T'Lari, I want your people ripping the guts out of every other probe we have and installing antimatter warheads and proximity sensors. If we get a chance, and judging by the closure vectors we will, I want to dump a minefield right in their path. That should even the odds a little more in our favour."
Blowing out another cloud of smoke, Jenny continued.
"Flint, adjust course to give us maximum possible breathing room when our vectors merge. I'd rather not get caught up in the detonation of our own mines."