Training is a B.... Bauer?

Posted on Tue Feb 23rd, 2021 @ 5:44am by Lieutenant Daniel Bauer
Edited on on Thu Feb 25th, 2021 @ 5:52am

Mission: A New Legacy
Location: Obsidian Command / USS Arcadia
1069 words - 2.1 OF Standard Post Measure

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{USS Indefatigable, stardate: 50893.5}

Daniel stumbled onto the bridge, his left arm bleeding. On his way to the bridge a conduit had exploded near him, sending him flying down the corridor. Thankfully, a gash on his arm was the worst of his injuries.

“Shields have failed!” came the shout from the tactical console. The announcement was almost drowned out by the sound of another impact explosion on the ship’s hull. More stations and consoles shattered across the large room.

The red alert klaxons continued to sound, debris was strewn across the bridge, and main power had gone offline minutes earlier. Daniel took a seat in the Command chair after Captain Greg Taberner had been knocked out by a piece of exploding shrapnel. The Captain was badly hurt, but so was over half the crew by this point. The Borg were swatting starships away like flies.

“Focus phaser fire on the most damaged area of the cube’s hull!” Daniel barked, gripping the command chair arms tightly. “If the fleet fail and the Borg make it to Earth, we’re finished!”

Another massive explosion rocked the Indy, knocking some of the crew off their feet violently in a hail of sparks and shrapnel. “Emergency forcefields failing on decks 3 through 11! Structural integrity down to 23%!” an Ensign shouted from the operations station.

“Reroute power to those forcefields!” Daniel ordered, turning towards the operations officer, “Take it from life support if you have to!” Perhaps this was the end of the road, Daniel wondered to himself. Maybe this was how he had been destined to die; defending his home world against an aggressive alien species.

“Sir!” the woman at tactical spoke up again, grabbing Daniel’s attention, “The Enterprise just arrived out of warp; they’re heading towards us at high impulse!”

Daniel felt a huge surge of adrenaline rush through his body, and some relief to go with it. The Federation flagship was now here. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand to attention. The Indy was a nova-class starship and had a modest armament, but the Enterprise was a sovereign-class equipped with quantum torpedo's; surely a Borg cube was no match in comparison?

=/\= This is Captain Picard of the Enterprise, I’m taking command of the fleet =/\= Picard’s voice cascaded over the comm-system. =/\= Target all of your weapons onto the following coordinates. Fire on my command =/\=

Daniel stood up and rushed over to the tactical console and stood next to the Lieutenant. Picard was so respected in Starfleet that the thought of even questioning his orders didn’t enter Daniel’s mind. “Have you received the coordinates?”

“I have, sir!” The woman confirmed excitedly, “I’ve sent a response back to the Enterprise. Targeting all weapons on that specific area now.”

The Indy was rocked by another explosion just as Picard’s voice gave the order to fire. The tactical officer managed to fire phasers and every torpedo remaining on the ship. Within moments of the fleet firing, the Borg cube erupted in an impressive burst of green hued flames, completely obliterated.

“Computer!” came the authoritative voice of Lieutenant Commander Bernard Barlow, “End programme!”

{Holodeck 2, Obsidian Command - The Present}

The bridge of the USS Indefatigable dissolved away within seconds, replaced with an empty holodeck. Only Bauer and Barlow stood in the large space. “How did I do?” Bauer asked, his Dresden accent coming through. “At least the Indy wasn’t destroyed, right?”

Barlow stood tall, crossing his arms. “I think you did well, Lieutenant.” His deep voice echoed around the holodeck, “I’d be happier if over 60% of the crew were unscathed. Your score was 32%.”

“Fair point.” Daniel nodded, “I’ll try again in a few weeks. Let me get my head back into the history books and let me study the tactics in greater detail. I’ll take the programme with me onto Arcadia and keep practicing.”

Barlow turned and started to walk towards the holodeck’s exit, “You’re welcome to try again anytime that you’re next in the neighbourhood. Although I strongly suggest you stick to engineering and leave the battle tactics to the tactical staff.”

Before Daniel could respond, Barlow was gone. “Miserable drecksau...” the engineer swore under his breath in his native German. He looked around the empty room one last time and left.

Daniel Bauer had recently been given the news that he had been successful in his application to become the USS Arcadia’s Chief Engineering Officer. His previous posting, a research position at Starfleet Engineering on Earth, had become a little tedious. As much as he loved being involved with the cutting edge experimental technology and engineering advances, he did miss being onboard a starship.

Having been dropped off at Obsidian Command a few days ago, he had finally been given his orders to report to the Odyssey class starship that was silently orbiting above them. His belongings had been sent on ahead of him an hour or so ago, although he didn’t really have an awful lot to take in the first place. Maybe a few change of clothes, some family holo-photos, and a personal PADD full of engineering articles and contacts.

Daniel turned a corner and entered a transporter room. Nodding to the Ensign that was currently manning the transporter controls he spoke confidently. “One to beam up to Arcadia, Ensign. Energise when ready.” He stepped up onto one of the eight transporter pads and stood straight. Within a few moments he was engulfed in a shimmering blue light. The flickering light always made him squint slightly, and he tried not to think about his molecules being disassembled into pure energy.

Daniel would often mention to his friends and colleagues that he could actually feel himself within a transporter buffer during transport, but even he knew that was an impossibility. Feelings, in the physical sense of the word, didn’t exist during transport. At least outside of the theoretical drawing-board.

The blue shimmering light melted away to reveal another successful transport had been accomplished. Daniel stepped off the transporter pad in Arcadia’s transporter room two and smiled gratefully towards the Bolian petty officer manning the transporter controls. The blue skinned woman smiled in return and bowed her head slightly, “Welcome onboard Arcadia, Lieutenant.”


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