Kobayashi Maru - 5 of 5

Posted on 19 Feb 2015 @ 4:17pm by Captain Jonathan Holliday & Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D. & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Commander Andreus Kohl

4,573 words; about a 23 minute read

Mission: Episode 07 - Sojourn
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 5, Holodeck 2
Timeline: MD 43 - 1010 hrs

[ON]


Allyndra winched slightly at having to use such formality but then this was a bridge and not her little sickbay. She figured that since there was not that call to Emergency yet warp four should be a good easy cruising. Five might be better, but then she would be second guessing herself. Anyway, until the emergency came in save the engines and the strain on the ship.

Quinn was nestled into his console and monitored the tactical information streaming in. The CoB had been in Starfleet for so long, he knew all the Bridge Stations, and had repaired or replaced all the models for the past several decades.

Kohl had just finished configuring his console --to maximize his Operations management and to take advantage of his LCARS preferences in general-- when Allyndra gave her orders. He planned to keep watch over the EPS grid flow for the jump to warp speed, but he couldn't help himself. His eyes wandered over to the forward viewscreen to see what the starship saw from the outside.

"Roger, captain," said Tuula as she stared down at her controls. It took her a moment to remember how to pull up the star charts and punch in a course, but it was only a few seconds later that the ship started to move. "Course laid in, 113 Mark 25. Accelerating to Warp Four," she added, trying to fake some confidence.

John stepped slowly around the rear of the bridge, noting a few of the holographic displays as he did so. The simulation was incredibly realistic, and one could easily have believed that this was truly a vessel flying through space.

"Very well. Upon arrival please bring the vessel out of warp and conduct a sensor sweep of the area. You would also want to note that the Epsilon system is only a few light years from the Romulan border."

John turned to one of the consoles and tapped a short burst of commands to advance the timeframe. At warp 4 the system was a couple of ours away, but through the magic of holography, it could pass in mere seconds.

Allyndra responded to Holiday, "Aye." She noted the speed up and mentally made note maybe warp five would have been better.

"Lieutenant take us out of warp on approach to Eplsioon Omega assume standard orbit," Allyndra said to Voutilainen at the helm. "Ops let's get a sensor scan of the area. Chief Quinn, we are going to be near the Romulan border, work with the sensors and any sign of danger raise shields and make ready on weapons." Allyndra put out the command.

"Aye-aye, Captain." responded the CoB.

"Yes ma'am," replied Tuula, still feeling somewhat strange at referring to Allyndra with such formality after the many times she admonished her for using formal language in sickbay, an old habit from her previous assignment. She felt the ship shudder slightly as it came out of warp, a reminder of how much control she had and how important her role was in this simulation. "Entering standard orbit in fifteen seconds," she added as the sublight controls appeared on her touch display, replacing the FTL control system.

The sensor sweep of the planet showed nothing out of the ordinary - an uninhabited ball of rock floating in space with very little in the way of interesting features. A standard iron core and liquid mantle lay underneath a crust mostly comprised of common elements, with a few small pockets of the more exotics, all contained within an nitrogen-argon atmosphere.

What was interesting however was the faint comm reading coming from the far side of the sector, albeit just within the Romulan neutral zone.

"Ma'am, I'm not reading any life signs or artificial energy readings from Epsilon Omega Four," said Kohl with a matter-of-fact inflection. He was reporting the results from his initial sensor sweep. Speaking with Allyndra in a formal timbre came easily to Kohl --more easily than he would have expected, given his own casual friendship with her. Idly, he supposed it was the environment of the Bridge that brought back his officer training. The harsh lights, the cacophony of activity circling round; the energy of a starship's bridge had a distinctive effect on a body.

An edge of uncertainty crept into his voice, when Kohl added, "I'm picking up a communication signal, but it's... incomplete on our end. The computer can't translate it into audio or visual..."

"Can you clear it up? Get a pinpoint on its location?" Allyndra asked. She turned her head to the tatical station. "Anything on the tatical sensors?"

Quinn worked over his console. "Affirmative, Captain. I'm picking up a large density of ionized gas. It's big. I'd guess several plasma conduits blew to put out a cloud that size."

While Quinn spoke, Kohl allocated more EPS resources to the sensors. Doing so allowed Manhattan to capture more of the communication signal. On his console, the waveform of the signal began to clarify. This improvement gave the communication algorithms more to work with. "Yes, the signal is definitely coming from a vessel..." Kohl reported. He trailed off, as he read additional details that appeared on his display -- details about the communication's origin, and the computer's transcription of the message itself.

"It's an ore freighter, ma'am. Identifiers confirm the signal is coming from the Kobayashi Maru, and the signal is coming from inside the Romulan Neutral Zone," said Kohl. "The message is a plea for aid and assistance. I... believe... their warp engine has suffered cataclysmic failure, and they're reporting hull breaches, and crew casualties..."

Allyndra nodded at the information. The first sensor sweeps had shown no other ships nearby which meant they were on their own. "Communications, send a subspace message indicating we are reporting to an emergency distress and our co-ordinates. Requesting back up from any vessel nearby." She turned to Tuula back at helm and said, "Helm plot a course toward stricken vessel but I also want a plot out."

She waited while everyone did their tasks and then said, "We will have to presume hostiles in the area, possibly cloaked. A freighter here and stricken is probably a trap. Here is the plan. We continue to pretend we are just on a patrol. We swing around the planet, as we get out of the Zone sensor range we go to red alert, shields up and weapons hot. Helm we are going to make a hard fast loop, warp in, jump to sublight, then warp out maximum emergency warp. Commander Kohl you will have a hard job of trying to grab in the few moments anyone you can via transporter. Chief Quinn, if hostiles appear fire and helm get us the heck out. As we make the pass we fire on the freighter. I want the explosion to help cover our retreat. Any questions?"

"Got it," said Tuula, . One of the quirks of space travel was that when navigating around the gravity wells of various celestial bodies, sometimes the closest distance between two points wasn't a straight line. Remembering this from the cramming she had done last night, and using the tools at her console, she was able to calculate a course that had them whipping around a nearby pulsar, shaving a couple precious seconds off their journey.

"Captain, I recommend a less direct course," she called out. "Whipping around pulsar GX-3398B would shave some time off our departure, and could catch any hostile ships off guard. Coming that close to the pulsar could be a little risky, though."

Allyndra thought for a moment. It would take them a bit more out the way and at high warp could prove to be problematic especially for the helm. On the other hand if they followed just on the heel of the rotating burst and since it rounded toward the stricken ship the intensity of the radiation bursts would blind the sensors of any waiting ships. It was not a cloaking device but it certainly could be used as one if they could time it correctly.

""Very good, if you think you can handle it. Time our swing around to come in with one of the bursts. The beam should act a bit as a cloak, blind the sensors of any hidden ships until we are upon them. Any further ideas before we implement?" Allyndra asked. She trusted her officers, trusted instincts that all of them had been through many times and she knew that each one though this was a simulation would bring their experience to bear.

"No, ma'am," Kohl said, looking back to the Captain's chair from his console. The tension of the situation had him acting like a bit of a keener, and he said, "I'll be ready with the targeting scanners, and your message has been sent."

Quinn spoke up. "Why not cloak once we are on the far-side of the pulsar?" he questioned, "That'll allow us a few more seconds to pick an optimal distance for transport. We'll light up with the transporters going off, but it may be just long enough to get this done."

"Ah wish we could," Allyndra replied. "We got a ship with no cloak for this vessel. You're going to be busy though, we will need targeting fast on both the freighter and anyone that tries to jump us. Igniting the plasma of the freighter should temporarily blind any nearby. Alright, everyone, here we go. Helm, if you please."

"Course laid in, engaging engines in three... two... one!" exclaimed Tuula as she pressed a button on the console, accelerating the ship to full impulse as it whipped around the planet, and then into warp. Once they approached maximum warp, she adjusted her speed slightly to sync up her approach with the rotation of the pulsar. "We'll be entering the gravity well of the pulsar in ninety seconds," she called out. "We'll be at the Kobayashi Maru approximately seventy-three seconds after that."

Allyndra nodded and gripped the edge of the chair involuntarily. They were committed now and the blood flower juice was on the floor now. She spared a glance toward Quinn and Kohl and saw only the intense concentration on their own faces. They were committed and good officers and it was all she could hope for. She only hoped that her idea might have some partial success. Everyone knew the Maru was a hopeless situation, it had been pulled so many times. While some had just refused to do a rescue reasoning the trap, it had come down to more than that in StarFleet. While still a bad place to be, it was now a test of thinking to see what could be done without loosing everything. Allyndra had no hope they might get but a handful and perhaps none of the crew of the Maru, but she would be loath to loose the ship and her crew. A snatch and grab with hopefully biasing enough of the available advantages to get in and then out and hopefully grab a few of the Maru crew. "May Twins bless," she muttered.

Tuula nodded, barely hearing Allyndra's mutterings. She focused intently at the console, checking and double-checking the timing of her approach versus the rotation of the pulsar. She didn't know all the details of what this test was about, but she knew that it was important, and didn't want to let Allyndra down. She knew it was a difficult task, even for a trained helmsman. Not only would she have to approach at just the right velocity, angle, and distance from the pulsar, but she had to time it just right. "Approaching the pulsar in fifteen seconds. This is going to be a bumpy ride; prepare to shunt auxiliary power to the engines and structural integrity."

Quinn kept a steady eye on the tactical console. "So far, we are clear."

"All right, entering the gravity well now," replied Tuula, hoping that her calculations were correct. Coming in just behind the radiation burst of the pulsar, she had to slow down slightly to avoid having the ship end up being blasted by the radiation burst. At this distance, a direct hit could expose the ship to all kinds of radiation. However slowing down, the gravitational force of the pulsar being what it was, meant that she had to apply extra power to keep from falling into the pulsar's gravity well.

The force of the gravity well and Tuula's sudden movements to compensate quickly overwhelmed the inertial dampeners, sending most of the crew leaning off towards the side. "Just a little more," she added, reaching against the g-forces for her controls. "Got it!"

As they whipped around the other side of the pulsar, a quick boost from the engines broke them free at an incredible rate of speed, causing the ship to shudder and shake and taxing the structural integrity of the ship. But, whipping towards the Kobayashi Maru, they were past the point of no return.

Allyndra counted in her head. The quick calculation at warp, how much time before the sensors of any hidden ships were blinded by the gamma burst they were trying to hide behind, the reaction time when the sensors and people would pick them up, time to warp drop, time for their own sensors to detect Maru crew, time for transport.

"Commander Kohl, estimated ten seconds before we drop warp. Ready?" Allyndra looked over at her friend. He and Quinn would be busy and there was not much she could do right now.

"Scanning for lifeforms, ma'am," reported Kohl -- not that it would do them much good until the ship dropped out of warp.

"Dropping out of warp in three... two... one." Hoping that she had calculated the trajectory, with a deliberate tap on her control console, she dropped the ship out of warp. Still carrying with it the momentum from slingshotting around the pulsar, the little ship dropped out of warp and headed straight for the Kobayashi Maru at a speed of nearly 0.6c -- almost twice as fast as full impulse speed for most Federation and Klingon starships and nearly fast enough to overshoot their target.

Ahead stood the freighter, or more precisely, there the freighter listed. Plasma poured from conduits across her outer skin, and the ship rolled slightly under the zero gravity conditions. Sensor readings confirmed the expected - the ship was crippled, damaged beyond repair, and unlikely to be habitable for much longer.

On the Manhattan's bridge, Kohl had hunched forward in his chair, swiping his fingertips across the Operations console. His LCARS display was all that filled his field of vision. "I've got a transporter lock on the bio-signs aboard the Kobayashi Maru. Prepared to initiate transport..."

As the lone Defiant class moved to intercept, the unexpected happened, as a group of four Romulan warbirds, D'Deridex class, dropped their cloaks and opened fire without warning.

The first barrage of plasma fire was only partially accurate, something that any good Romulan commander would be disgusted by, with several shots whizzing past the Federation starship's shields without impact. Several others however, scored direct hits, impacting the starboard and forward shields. Around the bridge the red lights and sirens began to flash and sound in turn, indicating the seriousness of their situation, as the Romulan vessels began to regroup....

Allyndra held the chair as the little Defiant class took a few hits. "Now Commander Kohl, it you can get anyone. Helm set course back, prepare for emergency warp. Mister Quinn, target the leaking plasma. On my mark, one two three four five six seven eight nine, Mark!"

Quinn acknowledged, "Locked and, firing."

Allyndra knew that igniting the plasma would destroy the freighter but it was that or lose everything. The best they could hope for was to get a few and not sacrifice themselves. The plasma flash and the freighter blowing should momentarily blind and through off the Romulan ships targeting and emergency warp should get them back and out hopefully before pursuit could begin.

"Course laid in," called out Tuula. "Ready when you--" She was interrupted by a violent shuddering as the ship took a hit. Getting her bearings back, she saw her console light up like a Christmas tree. A mostly red Christmas tree. "Damn it, left impulse engine has taken a hit. Attempting evasive maneuvers, Ops, try to compensate!"

Without remembering the difference between evasive maneuvers pattern Alpha-six or Gamma-four, Tuula did the best she could, sending the ship into a series of hard turns, figuring that even if she didn't know what she was doing, chances are the Romulan gunners wouldn't either. At their high rate of speed, the intertial dampeners and structural integrity fields could barely compensate, and the strain that the ship was under was clearly audible to the entire bridge.

At Operations, Kohl tapped and scrolled through menus of resource management actions being recommended by the computer. He killed the EPS flow to sub-systems and Sickbay and the replicators, and routed the surplus energy to the secondary drive coil of the damaged impulse engine. "Tuula," Kohl called out, "That should help her maneuverability."

As the comparatively tiny Defiant class vessel came about it seemed the Romulan vessels were too far behind to pose any real threat. From his position at the rear of the Bridge, obscured by a haze of leaking coolant , John grunted in admiration for the bravery of his crew. With a tap on the nearby console he engaged the next element of the test.

From ahead of the ship a new squadron of a half dozen Romulan destroyers appeared from within the Neutral Zone, closing rapidly and arming weapons.

Quinn clenched his jaw at the sight of the approaching ships. "Captain, we have six inbound Romulan destroyers, bearing zero-zero-two, mark twelve."

"Mister Quinn fire on the Kobayashi," Allyndra knew at this point that the freighter and any one aboard was lost. It hurt, but she said it with an even tone. Her mind raced but she remembered like in sickbay with an emergency to make her voice sound calm.

"Helm emergency warp back to our side. Rear shields to maximum. Fire aft torpedos wide spread proximity detonation. We'll attempt to slow and blind them so we can get away. Engage." Allyndra gave the command. There was no time left but run and certainly staying and fighting would be a loosing game. She glanced back and forth to the stations and nodded. Thankfully the Chief was at tactical with the weapons and he had a lot of experience. She was not sure what Kohl had managed to do to bring about the extra energy but he was quick minded and had thought of something. Tuula had the hardest job being most unfamiliar with the helm but she had proved to learn quickly as well.

"But..." protested Tuula, knowing that there were still people on the Kobayashi Maru. "Yes ma'am," she added as the ship shuddered from another hit, realizing there was no time for discussion. She brought the ship in for one more sharp turn, making a beeline for the freighter. As soon as she passed it, they would fire aft torpedoes and she would hammer the ship into warp. At least, that was the plan anyways.

The Romulans of course, had different plans. By now the destroyers had closed to within weapons range, and with little mercy opened fire, shots ripping through both the ship's shields, and the ablative armour, the port nacelle shattering in a fireball of plasma and weapons fire.

Quinn held on tightly to the tactical console. After a brief pause from the onslaught of incoming fire, the CoB, in his most urgent of voices, calmly reported the bad news. "Captain, port shields gone, warp drive disabled."

At one moment, Kohl's Operations console had displayed the entire spectrum of colours and shades used in the current version of LCARS, and in the very next moment, every reading and indicator turned red. The feedback tones coming from the console turned shrill. With so many systems disabled or outright destroyed, Kohl found himself muttering, "I don't even..."

John had to admire the valiant attempts of his crew to avoid their fates, as well as the brilliance of the simulation in keeping up with the decisions made by his tem. The point of the simulation however, as John well knew, was that this was always meant to be a no-win situation. Looking down at the sensor readouts, he watched as the destroyers came about again and unleashed a second barrage of disruptor fire, the tiny Defiant-class eventually succumbing under the strain.

The Bridge exploded into a haze of leaking coolant, showering sparks from the holographic consoles, before the computer bleeped, and the program shut down, leaving only the holodeck walls around them.

"Congratulations team - you're all dead, and both the freighter and your own ship have been destroyed." John called out as the silence of the inactive holodeck replaced the simulated explosions.

"The test is over. Any questions?"

"Allyndra, I'm so sorry," blurted out Tuula in an audibly distressed tone. She felt bad, as though she somehow failed her chief by not being skillful enough at the helm. If only she could dodge the incoming fire easier, the test might have gone differently and Allyndra wouldn't have failed because of her.

"No, you did fine," Allyndra said to Tuula. "I was in command and so the fault is mine. I thought we might be able to pop in and out with a possible rescue of a few. It was risk, one I thought we might get through but I was wrong."

Allyndra looked at Holiday and said, "Captain, my first impulse knowing the test was to ignore the freighter but I reasoned that would be a simple solution, if one could call it that. I thought perhaps that the better choice was to test the resources and thinking at hand. I must commend my crew even though I got them all 'dead' for their efforts and dedication. That being said, your experience sir in this situation would be greatly appreciated."

Quinn was by far no officer, not anymore anyway, but he probably had more experience in real time shitty situations than slaw fetal of those present and put together. He looked at Allyndra. "Ma'am, you did the right thing, and followed protocol nearly to the tee. We were faced with a bad situation. All of us have sworn to give our lives for others, so that they may live and also to protect and serve the Federation. That sounds all glorified and shit, until we have actually have to do it. You give the orders, we follow the orders. Risking ourselves to save he stranded crew was right. Maybe we should have done some technicality crap with notifying Starfleet Command or something, but we did what was right. We stood up for those in danger, fought back bravely, and held on as long as we could. Besides, space adventures don't always end with the good guys winning every fight, but we always fight for the right reasons. For what it's worth, I'd proudly serve as your CoB."


John nodded in agreement with the Chief - he too had taken a similar tactic against the test, and met with exactly the same results himself as a mere Lieutenant.

"The Kobayashi Maru test is designed to be a no-win scenario. To make sure that Starfleet officers are reminded that we can't always come out on top - that no matter what we try to do, and what technology we have to hand, there will always be that day where the odds are stacked completely against us."

John looked around at the assembled team - before focusing on the Doctor

"Your instinct was correct - but in this case the only way to complete the simulation with your ship and crew in one piece, is to ignore the freighter entirely. Not exactly Starfleet behaviour, but it was the only realistic chance of survival. Part of command is knowing exactly what constitutes acceptable losses, and learning to live with your decisions."

The Captain hadn't yet had to do something like this in real life, there had been some close calls he had to admit, but nothing that had caused him to lose his own life, or that of his crew, obviously.

"There is no pass or fail for the Kobayashi Maru in reality - it is simply meant as a mandatory lesson. Don't take it to heart."

"Aye Captain," Allyndra replied. She kept the thought to herself and wondered shat she could have done with one of the Fold Ships. It would not be fair test though. One of those could pop in from Akkadia, envelope the Maru and pop back again before Romulan ships had reacted and decloaked. Of course the ability to do such a thing was why the remaining Fold Ships were secret and hidden away.

Quinn had been part of several of these tests, always in a subordinate role due to his rank, and a previous CWO, and his NCO time. He'd seem some officers just completely bomb the scenario, and others that did fairly well. The successful COs learned from this mistakes, and accepted that theyay no always have the best ideas. Quinn smiled at Allyndra. "For whatever it's worth, I've seen a lot of officers take this test, you did great. I think we all did great and drinks are on me."

"Then I'll be ordering a double, or three," chimed in Kohl, as he stood up from his chair. He clapped his palms against his thighs. Kohl nodded over to Allyndra and backed it up with a beaming grin. "I was happy to die for you, oh Captain, my Captain," he said.

"Thank you Chief," Allyndra replied. "I consider that high praise indeed coming from you." She then shook her head and spoke up, "Belay that! I got you all 'killed', the drinks are my treat. I want to say to all of you, you did wonderfully especially since two of you," Allyndra looked at Tuula and Kohl. "Were not familiar with those stations."

She then turned to Holiday, "You're welcome to join us as well sir. I would love to talk to you about some of the thinking I was going through. While I do not think that a Command track is in my future, I had to step into the role of Exec and briefly full command of a star ship, so getting a few pointers just in case, Twins forbid I find myself in that position again."

"I...don't see why not. Very well. The simulation and test is hereby ended - you are all dismissed. Lead on Captain Warraquim - I believe the drinks are on the CoB."

John replied with a smile, content to break with his usual staunch attitude to fraternising with his crew, perhaps just this once. After all - they had all just been killed in the line of duty.


[OFF]



CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (J.G.) Tuula Voutilainen, M.D.
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

LCmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

CMCPO Markum Quinn
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo

LCmdr Andreus Kohl
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

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