"everyone I know that we've been here for a year and well I have something special for this landmark"
"ensign you know that you can't do anything you projected the project taking at least two more months and it's not all that unreasonable seeing as how we've been on our toes constantly"
"actually admiral I sort of lied in the report you see I have a prototype completely ready but when I finished it and realized how close it was to the anniversary I decided to wait to unveil the new weapons until today as a way of giving us some hope"
"do it"
"launching pulse torpedo, now"
he launched the torpedo and it was an amazing site the asteroid it was aimed for was missed or so they thought because suddenly it was in a lot of pieces
"ensign what was that we just saw?"
"basically it's a light pulse combined with the equivalent of a grenade back in the twenty-first century"
"nice so anything on the phasers yet?"
"actually yes phasers locked and ready now"
the phaser hit the next asteroid and a few seconds later it stopped but they only saw minor damage to the asteroid
"ensign I guess the weapons needs some more work"
"actually Admiral the phaser worked perfectly"
"what do you mean?"
"easy sir what you saw was the sonic phaser it's not intended to destroy a ship merely to disable it using sonic pulses in tiny bursts that are just as powerful as maybe one of the non nuclear bombs old America used in the same time period as the grenades"
"impressive I'd say the weapons are a success keep the sonic phasers active and start making more of those pulse torpedoes who knows when we will need them"
"aye sir"
well a few months later they got utterly beaten by a new enemy who some how knew how to cloak their ships
"what now admiral we got beaten by cloaked ships"
"I know James for now we are in full retreat mode senior staff meeting in one hour plus the ensign that made our newest weapons is that clear"
"yes sir"
well during the meeting much was discussed
"we can't just let them beat us because they can cloak can we?" asked the chief engineer
"no but we can't fight them if we can't see them" said the Lt. commander that was in charge of the bridge on occasion
"what about all the people that are already hurt we could actually lose people if we're not careful dealing with a cloaked enemy" said the doctor not wanting to lose anyone else
well there were many arguments and no clear answer until Jewel ends it with one sentence
"we're starting cloaked combat mission training tomorrow James make sure that the crew is aware of the change in training"
"yes sir"
the doctor wasn't satisfied though not understanding what was going on
"you can't just put innocent lives at stake sir it's suicide"
"I'm not doctor you see this training is so that they start trying to figure out how to fight an enemy who's cloaked themselves be it here or in the Alpha Quadrant understood?"
"yes sir"
and so they train relentlessly and it actually pays off six months after the training begins they met up with a new species that nobody really knew about them
"this is Admiral Jewel on the Starship Jewel who are you people?"
"we are the Velnron we will destroy you in five blows or less"
"really?, Lt. would you fire the sonic phasers please?"
"yes sir"
well it doesn't work and then the ship cloaks
"sir they have a cloaking shield I can't detect him any longer it looks like we're gonna have to…."
The officer stops for a moment thinking about what he had just said
"sir would now be a good time to try our training?"
"yes it is Lt."
and so they try and fight the enemy with there new training skills and while it isn't entirely effective it does keep them alive
well the second year in the quadrant was not as good as the first one but it was better than initially especially since they now had a practically indestructible communication system with Starfleet
"admiral I'm still not sure about you guys being so far away from home" said Barcaley having been the one to receive the call this time
"I know Lt. but you know very well that it's not our fault we're doing our best to survive but it might not work"
"understood Admiral good bye and I'll inform the President of your progress"
"thanks"
well they end communications and are attacked just hours later
"ensign attack pattern Beta 9"
"aye sir"
well the ship cloaks and does some hefty damage before they can get a lock on them
"sir we just lost warp power"
"that's it attack patter Delta 12"
"yes sir"
well they eventually finish the battle but not without major damage
"this is going to take a while to repair"
"yes James it is come on lets get to work"
and so everyone started doing what they could since it had been agreed upon soon after they had been stranded that everyone was to know the systems if not like the back of their hands than at least well enough to make moderate repairs that those that did know the system inside and out could finish what the others couldn't
well they reach a planet that was inhabited and that would let them survive no problem and they were also warp capable as they were actually helping one of their ships get back home since it had been knocked out due to engine trouble and minimal communication abilities unfortunately they would find out that the species wasn't friendly