Six Carriers, No Second Chances

Posted on Fri Jul 31st, 2026 @ 1:17am by Lieutenant JG Connor Carey & Lieutenant Jasad Yuvek & Lieutenant Nezuko

1,340 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Flight Of The Valkyries
Location: Holodeck 3
Timeline: Prior to "The Armitage"

(Interested in a JP where we discuss the upcoming strike on the starbase between Helm-Tac-Ops? I figured Connor would appear on behalf of Hunt since he's over on the Armitage)

Lieutenant Yuvek arrived at Holodeck 3 with a PADD full of navigational data and tactical projections from every Herald engagement the Tokyo had survived. The upcoming assault on the Herald starbase would be the most complex coordinated operation he'd ever flown, and getting the resource allocation right could mean the difference between success and another Starbase 234.

He sighed heavily as he brought up the particular program that he planned to run with the other officers. He'd requested this planning session with the department heads to work through the tactical coordination before they actually executed the mission. Navigation, operations, and tactical working together in simulation - iron out the problems now rather than discovering them when Herald weapons were tearing through their shields.

Six carriers. Three hundred sixty fighters. An asteroid field. And a heavily defended enemy installation. What could possibly go wrong? he asked himself wearily.

Walking into the holodeck, after being requested by the chief helmsman, he looked around. Noticing the Lt in he corner, he approached him. "You requested my presence."

The door had not closed yet when Nezuko walked in and joined them. She nodded to Jasad and Connor. She was ready to run simulations with them.

"Thanks for coming. I wanted to work through the coordination before we kickoff the actual mission." Lieutenant Yuvek gestured to the holodeck display showing the Herald Starbase surrounded by its defensive positions - a daunting tactical problem rendered in three dimensions.

"The fundamental issue," The Helmsman began, "is coordinating six carriers, three hundred sixty fighters, an asteroid field, and a heavily defended installation without creating a tactical disaster. We need to synchronize approach vectors, timing, and weapons deployment, or we'll end up with friendly fire incidents and gaps the Heralds can exploit."

He pulled up detailed tactical overlays and turned to Lieutenant Carey first. "Connor, for Tactical: Given that we're coming in with three waves of fighters leading the assault, what's your preferred engagement sequence for the carriers? How do we time our weapons deployment to support the fighters without catching them in our fire? And what are the Heralds' likely defensive responses based on their previous tactics - where are the critical weak points we should focus on?"

Connor pondered, "With times like this..." He paused. "World war one, Vimy ridge on earth... there was a battle where the British and the Americans tried to take over a strategic hill... they weren't able to, no matter what they tried." He sat back. "Then the Canadians came, they hadn't made much of a name of themselves up to that point. But they were tasked with taking over the hill. Canadians employed a precisely timed, rolling curtain of artillery fire that moved forward just ahead of the advancing infantry, destroying German machine gun nests and forcing defenders to take cover, it was bloody, a lot of friendly fire casualties, but in the end, they won, and that battle set them apart and kind of set the timing of them becoming their own nation under the commonwealth. I know it isn't the same thing, this isn't a ground war, but maybe we have to prepare for friendly fire... we go firing in close to our own fighters. They are so focused on the Tokyo, that the fighters can go into the nooks and crannies of the starbase."

Lieutenant Yuvek nodded as he shifted his attention to Nezuko. "Nezuko, Operations has the harder problem: we need full shields for survivability, but we also need maximum weapons output to suppress the Herald defenses and support the fighters. Walk me through what power constraints we're actually dealing with. Can we maintain combat shields while firing all forward arrays simultaneously? What happens to propulsion if we push weapons to maximum? Where are we forced to make trade-offs?"

Nezuko considered the problem carefully, adjusted some figures on the holographic console, which shifted the bars on a power usage chart. Neither Carey nor Yuvek had had the chance to learn much of her sign language, so she typed on her PADD for it to speak. “Can disable non-essential systems. Shunt power from every battery. Connect separate holodeck power generator to grid.”

She adjusted some additional dials, checked the results, and smiled under her respirator. “Ops Officers tracking weapon use can scale power up and down individually immediately before and after use. Increase, fire, decrease. Adapts to rolling artillery idea. Not all weapons fire at once; energy can be directed toward and away as needed. I will be on Armitage but can train junior officers on it.”

Lieutenant Yuvek looked at the display while thinking to himself. One pass. No second chances. And six carriers all trying not to shoot each other's fighters in the process.

"Here's how I'd integrate it from Helm." He marked a fixed line across the holographic projection. "We're not built to dance around that starbase — too sluggish to rotate without exposing a flank mid-turn. Instead, one slow lateral pass, broadside-on, along its fixed weapons."

"That gives Connor's rolling curtain a fixed reference — suppression bombards the fixed weapons ahead of the fighters, timed to our maneuvering speed." The Helmsman drew with his finger on the holographic display. "Unfortunately, the starbase isn't the only thing shooting at us. Herald ships will be moving to intercept, and they won't sit in one place for our convenience." He added.

He looked back towards Nezuko and spoke a bit slower, still not used to her sign-language or the speaking from her PADD. "Your increase-fire-decrease cycle still works the same — just steadier against the starbase. But keep enough power in reserve so that whomever you've got at Ops can send power to our point-defense weapons in case one of those Herald ships breaks through and gets too close." He suggested.

The Tokyo certainly was not as maneuverable as a Defiant class vessel or even one of those ridiculous Prometheus ships that broke apart into different pieces. So it would have to rely on its significant fire power to cover the Fighters during the strike.

"Any other suggestions?" He asked as he looked at the gathered Officers.

"We will need to do something about the shields, if the Lt here, can assist me with the power output, I may be able to bring it up a few notches. We need to come up with a better way of diverting power. Its fine if you have time, but its still lagging in the need it now capabilities."

“Auxiliary power is limited my reactor capabilities,” Nezuko explained. “Emergency battery backup might be enhanced by installing more batteries. Not joking. Find unused spaces near power relays and install replicated batteries. Can boost shield duration, if not shield strength.”

"Do we have the resources to manufacture the necessary parts?" Lieutenant Yuvek asked. "It's not like we'll have time to stop off at the nearest depo to replicate them." He added.

“Will do what I can,” Nezuko assured him. “Partial success still means more shield power.”

Lieutenant Yuvek nodded, saving the simulation and transferring copies to both their PADDs. "Good enough to work with." He stood, tucking his own PADD under his arm.

"Nezuko, whatever batteries you can get installed before you transfer — even a partial boost helps." He said as he prepared to leave.

"Connor, I'm sure the Commander will be glad to get those targeting priorities locked before we depart. I doubt we'll have time to work out the kinks mid-approach."

He glanced between them. "Anything we've missed, say it now. . ." He said, giving one last look to the gathered group. With no further response he nodded and closed everything out.

(tag/end?)



Lieutenant Jasad Trellis
Chief Helm Officer
USS Tokyo

Lt Nezuko
Chief Operations

Lt JG Connor Carey
Assistant chief security/tactical

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