All he could do was simply wait
Posted on Fri May 10th, 2019 @ 2:52pm by Lieutenant JG Jasad Yuvek
844 words; about a 4 minute read
Mission:
The science of stars
Location: Starfleet Academy
Timeline: BACKPOST - 2388
Cadet Yuvek waited patiently in the hallway for his name to be called. His anxiety about his upcoming presentation was so strong that he could barely sleep and so he figured he should at least get here early. Early for him turned out to be an entire hour. An entire hour of just sitting and thinking about what words he would use and whether he had put in enough work researching and double-checking his sources.
Eventually an officer in a gold tunic appeared in the doorway and called out to the cadet. "Jasad Yuvek, the board is ready for you." He said as the young Cardassian stood, grabbed his material and made his way towards him.
"I'm Lieutenant Commander Joffnik." Said the individual. "If you'll follow me, we'll get started." He said as he turned and made his way down the corridor. Eventually the two arrived at a larger auditorium that had been situated to allow the individual cadet to utilize the various displays and consoles for their presentation.
"Gentlemen, this is Cadet Jasad Yuvek." Lt. Commander Joffnik said as he took his seat beside the trio of Captains and 1 Admiral.
The young Cardassian surveyed the room for several moments before clearing his throat. "Good morning, and thank you for this opportunity. . ." he began to say.
"I find it necessary to remind you, Cadet Yuvek that you are defending your dissertation, not auditioning for a stage play." The Admiral said with a prickly tone to her voice. "You begin at any time." She said pointedly.
"Yes ma'am," Jasad said as he activated the holo-projector and began his presentation.
"Members of the panel, I submit to you that the Multi-vector design is a dead-end strategy" Jasad said, getting straight to the point and wanting to immediately grab the room's attention.
"How can you take that position when the Promethues has proven an effective attack vessel in several decisive battles." Captain R'ba said to the Cardassian.
"Sir, the first major engagement of the Prometheus was against the Bonchune, a Nebula-class starship that Starfleet stopped building in 2367. A vessel that can travel at warp 9.999 against an aged border-patrol vessel is hardly a viable comparison." Cadet Yuvek responded.
"What about its subsequent engagement with multiple Romulan vessels?" The second Captain, this one a Bolian, chimed in.
"Yes ma'am, that battle itself was impressive when taken as a whole, but individually, the Prometheus did not render impressive results." Yuvek said as he switched displays. "The T'Met, the lead warbird, open fired on the Prometheus and dropped its shields down to 20% in a single strafing run." He pointed out.
"But the Prometheus was able to completely destroy the T'Met once it went into Multi-Vector Assault Mode, wouldn't you agree Cadet?" Captain R'Ba stated.
"Yes sir, but that was only after the supporting squadron of vessels including an Akira-class and two Defiant-class vessels assisted in the battle." Cadet Yuvek pointed out as he changed displays.
"But all of that can be attributed to the fact that the Prometheus being an experimental vessel that was under the control of two EMH's." The Admiral pointed out.
"Yes ma'am, that is valid. However, the biggest problem that I believe should be understood is that the Prometheus's components were independently warp capable. This means, that there are three separate warp cores, three separate navigational deflectors, three separate computer cores, and three separate tactical/short-range/long-range sensor arrays." Cadet Yuvek said as he presented more displays to the panel.
"Since every warp core and computer core has to be able to reach every system in each component the ship's construction is more complicated and its maintenance and repair is similarly impaired." The Cadet stated. "To put it plainly, there is just more stuff that can break and more connections and moving parts that can get damaged. The amount of redundant and duplicated systems just keeps growing with the number of separate components " Cadet Yuvek said.
"The MVAM at best is a useful tool to counter-act Romulan cloaking technology. As has been proven many times before, multiple vessels casting a tachyon detection grid can nullify any advantage Romulans or even Klingons have with such technology." The cadet added.
"In conclusion, the MVAM technology was innovated, yet flawed. Aesthetically pleasing, but tactically lacking." Yuvek said as he locked eyes with each of the panel members before finally locking eyes with the Admiral.
The Admiral maintained eye-contact with the young Cardassia for several moments before speaking. "Thank you, Cadet, we will take time to deliberate and you will receive our answer shortly thereafter." The Admiral said calmly.
"Yes ma'am, thank you all for your time." Cadet Yuvek said as he exited the room. Once the doors closed behind him, he took a sigh as he felt the tensions and anxiety ebb away from him. He knew that it would take time for the panel to deliberate and determine whether Jasad would graduate an become a Helm Officer with Starfleet.
Until then, all he could do was simply wait.
Jasad Yuvek
Cadet
Starfleet Academy - Class of 2388
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