Panko Breadcrumbs (Part 2 of 10)

Posted on 22 Oct 2016 @ 2:23am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Langdale Wiggins & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Commander Luke Wyatt & Lieutenant Min Zhao & Lieutenant JG Natalya Kirilova & Lieutenant JG Noah Khoroushi & Lieutenant JG Lenaris Marika & Lieutenant JG Rahl Tyton Ph.D. & Lieutenant JG Braxton MacKenzie & Lieutenant JG Jonas Flynn PsyD & Ensign Miraj Derani & Ensign Mimi & Lieutenant Commander Ryan Alexander
Edited on on 22 Oct 2016 @ 2:25am

3,340 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Episode 12 - Recluse
Location: USS Galileo/Paulson Nebula
Timeline: MD 02 - 2344 hrs

Previously, on Panko Breadcrumbs (Part 1)...

Four red spots appeared on the ships scanners and we're heading quickly towards the Galileo "Reaper Reaper Reaper" Luke shouted. an old habit used aboard marine vessels to indicate a sudden missile or torpedoes attack from a unknown source "Four torpedoes inbound, they appears from no where. Scanning for cloaked ships" the pause was only a few seconds but seemed a lifetime "I can't get an exact location but ambient energy signatures indicate a cloaked D-4 vessel. "Attempting countermeasure now" he said as the space outside of the Galileo light up, the nebula was messing with target thing systems and the jolts of phaser dissipated harmlessly into space. Luckily however 2 torpedoes had been hit.

"Helm , evasive maneuvers! Pattern Saalm-one-zero-five, execute now!" Lirha yelled as she clutched her chair's armrests. "Bring us about to..." she looked down at her tactical display and took quick notice of the heavy interference, "zero-eight-one, mark zero five. Smartly!" she said. It was now clear to her and most on the bridge that a Federation ship out-gunned and maneuvered would soon be lost. And Lirha had no intention of fulfilling that assumption.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Miraj threw all available power to the bottom thrusters, propelling them upwards so they were clear of the immediate field of fire and then hit then pushed the portside thrusters to roll them over to towards the commanded position and put the shielded bulk of Galileo between their attackers and the vulnerable nacelles.

A cluster of green photon torpedoes streaked in towards the tiny Nova-class, hell-bent on decimating their target with high-yield warheads should they find their mark.

The young helmsman said something rude, and stabbed her fingers down on the helm, firing thrusters hard to spin the ship up and over so they streaked past the belly of the ship, and leave their narrower broadside profile facing the enemy

Ryan grabbed onto his console to keep himself steady as the ship began to maneuver suddenly. The inertial compensators straining against the g-forces. Ryan couldn't help but wonder how quickly this all escalated,. This wasn't his first time in what was essentially a combat environment. He continued to monitor his Kraken's when he noticed EM fluctuation. "Sir! We have EM fluctuations, ship decloaking." He said doing his best to keep calm. "Judging from the massing readings they appear to be the smaller ships, it looks like they are in a Spread Formation, and are moving to cute off our most obvious escape route." He said as he typed in a few commands to the Krakens to better Identify what they were doing.

Through the main viewscreen, Lirha could see blazing trails of green disruptor fire coming from both fore and aft quadrants of the battlefield. Those from the rear passed harmlessly close to her starship along either side, but those from the front began to pelt Galileo's shields with impeccable accuracy. The bridge illuminated with a mixture neon green disruptor fire and flaring blue shield impacts as the Nova-class jolted heavily.

"Mister Wyatt, return fire!" Lirha yelled to the tactical station. "Target the forward vessel and fire at will!"

Luke answer was in a flurry of weapons fire, despite the Nova class being small her weapons were mighty, if you used them right you could do some serious damage. He aimed at the forward ships under belly it's shield flickering green as phasers knocked at its doors. Knowing the shield would falter if the phasers continued he fired a volley of torpedoes. Looking like stars they streaked across the space between the two ships and just as the portion of the Klingons shield failed they slipped through the shield. The explosion erupted from the Klingon under carriage knocking out its sensors and targeting abilities.

Galileo was rocked again, this time from the rear with a heavy series of turbulent jolts. One of the Bird of Prey's had slipped into the saddle behind Galileo and was now conducting a rapid fire assault on the Nova-class's shield facing. The small Klingon warship's wingtip disruptor banks glowed green-hot as its weapons sent multiple salvos of scorching disruptor fire into its target.

The Federation starship's shields flared with each impact and did their best to either absorb or deflect the incoming pulses. Energy surges swelled throughout several consoles in Galileo's bridge as the starship attempted to compensate for the influx of direct energy fire.

Watching from her vantage point on the bridge, all Min could do was try and reroute power around to protect the Galileo from the attackers. The shields were never designed for this kind of abuse and it wasn't long before the telltale warning signs of a shield generator overloading played across her screen. "Aft Shields Collapsing!" she called out to the bridge.

The trailing Bird of Prey, in all of its winged glory, lined up a critical volley against its adversary. A triple-burst of disruptor fire blistered through space and impacted Galileo's outer hull along the top-side of its secondary hull. Galileo violently shook as its mediocre hull plating melted away and internal hull breaches began to explode in sequence.

Aboard the Nova-class's bridge, several primary consoles suddenly erupted in flames and debris due to the overloading power surges. Cascades of energy trails flickered across the helm display before it suddenly exploded in a violent display of shrapnel and electrical discharge.

Miraj shrieked in surprise and threw her arms over her face and pitched backwards as the helm exploded and tiny shard of glass were blown over her, slashing tiny cuts into her arm chest and exposed skin of her face. She rolled away from the the smoking helm, the adrenaline pumping so for the first few seconds she felt more horror at the loss of the helm than pain from the wounds.

Off to the side of the bridge, the science alcove exploded into a series of sparks keen on lacerating all of its occupants.

Braxton could swear he felt the console vibrate. Before he could even begin to form a theory about it the console in front of him sparked. A glitter of yellow and red erupted like a firing volcano. He felt the heat first, and then the searing hot burns as the sparks drifted on his face and hands. Agonizing seconds later the explosion rocked him from the chair. Bits of screen and console innards flew sending shards of glass like fragments towards his face ripping his skin. He screamed as he was thrown back by the blast. His mind however was fine. He bore the pain shooting to his feet and diving for Tyton. Braxton knew that there would be a domino effect. He pulled Tyton back just as his console went out.

Rahl had been running numbers and computations through the system. He heard the admiral's orders to plot a course though no destination. He just started punching in random co-ordinates. If they were going to have a chance of using the slingshot maneuver they were going to need it now. He had just finished and sent it all to both the computer and the helm when everything went to hell.

Explosions and sparks rippled through the science section of the bridge he felt the impact from Braxton hitting him the same time he felt the shockwave hit him from the console in front of him exploding. Shards of molycrylics and metal sliced across him and a large shard embedded deep in his shoulder. He lay on the floor for several moments dazed and disoriented.

Through luck or circumstance, Marika had been facing halfway towards her department head and the view screen when the cascade hit. Without thinking she proceeded to roll in a classic academy demonstration, only to find herself near the command chair, looking up at a very angry Admiral.

Ryan reached to steady himself on the console when he was jolted off of his feet. A series of small cascading explosions sent sparks and material shattering over Ryan and those in the the Science alcove. Ryan's vision was tinted with red. It took Ryan a moment to get his bearings, before remembering what he had been doing. He slowly stood, keeping his balance even as the ship shook. He ignored the blood that streaming down his face. He had had worse, and he wasn't about to abandon his post for a minor flesh wound.

Panic seared the back of Noah's throat as he fought to maintain control amidst the chaos. It was happening again - God help him it was happening again! Disregarding miscellaneous shrapnel cuts, he coughed sharply in an attempt to clear his throat as smoke palled about the bridge, and scrambled to regain his seat. It was a struggle to make sense of the shattered screen before him, but he relayed what information he could pick out. "Ah ... Hull breaches on decks three and four." No! Yaya's there! His mind pressed past the moment as he attempted the sequence which would activate the forcefields - only to hav ethe console die under his hands. "Damn it! Ensign," He barked to the feline-like girl to his side, noting her console still reacting. "See if you can activate the emergency forcefields and seal off the decks."

"Send damage control teams, Beta and Charlie, to those decks." Wiggins shouted from the floor in front of mission display console at the back of the bridge. As he stood himself up he ran his hands through his hair to get it off his face. He felt something slick near the back of his head, but it didn't hurt at the moment so he forged on. He smacked the intercom on the mission display panel, "We need medical teams to the bridge and to decks three, four..." Wiggins wiped a bit of soot from the corner of the ship readout, "...and seven.

=^=Coming=^= Allyndra responded from the mess already down on Deck 3.

"Aft shields are still down," Wiggins reported, now leaning his hand against the large console for support. "Ensign Mimi, we need these shields up! Take it from anything non-essential, hell even drain the holodeck buffers if you can."

"I am trying Sir." Mimi said as she transferred auxilary power and extracted power from every none essential systems she could and routing it to the shield system doing what she could to reinforce the shields that were still barely up and get the aft shields back up. Unlike the more combat orientated ships in the fleet the little Nova didn't have the shield capacity anywhere near as high.

"All stop" Luke said now from an ambient position on the bridge his original console destroyed, his shirt was charred and his right arm was bleeding from glass fragmentation. "Wait for the next volley of fire and duck in behind the Klingon that is trailing us and go into gray switch of all non essential systems and hide in the signature of the Klingon ships. We're small enough, then use torpedoes to fake a huge explosion and vent one of the storage bays to simulate debris it may not be much but it'll spare us time." Luke suggested "We can't win the battle with guns."

"Risk the jump to warp?" Miraj got to her feet, and winced. Stinging pain came from almost every inch of skin above the waist and where glass was stuck in a cut it made her want to cry. She got up anyway and locked round for a bridge station that was large enough and intact enough for an auxiliary conn. Or even half an auxiliary conn. "But I'll need a helm."

Luke saw the pain Miraj was in and left his station "Sit down" he ordered "get me another helmsman" he said as another console exploded in sparks behind him which was probably the auxiliary console he was just at. "Medics to the bridge" he ordered again.

Miraj really wanted to say she was fine, but with cuts all over her oozing blood it was patently not true. "I can still fly!" she protested, but the helm was unrecoverable, and there was no where on the bridge to fly from.

Jonas blinked and realized he had been thrown forward onto the deck when Braxton's console had exploded. He also realized he might have been momentarily unconscious or at least dazed as no one seemed to be where they'd just been a second before. He staggered to his feet as he heard Wiggins call for medical assistance, and though he was a doctor of psychology and not medicine, Jonas had received training in first aid and triage. He recovered on of the emergency med kits that were stored on the bridge, and began to look around to see where he could be of most aid. The Ops/Engineering alcove seemed closest, and marveling that he must have been initially knocked across the room, he made his way over. "Who needs help?" he shouted, oblivious to the trickle of blood running down the side of his own face.

Rahl shook his head and tried to get up. He gasped in pain as he tried to push up with his bad arm. Using his other arm he pushed himself up stumbling trying to get to the nearest console. Finding one still operational his one hand started going across it like a maniac.

His voice while still shaky was loud enough to be heard. "Admiral I had already sent the course and calculations to the computer before the science consoles blew up. Once we duck behind the Klingon ship with the next volley. I can set the class nine probes to emit false sensor images of the Galileo. It should confuse their sensors and buy us enough time to use the slingshot maneuver to get us out of here. The course is already laid in and ready for your order." He winced and gasped as the pain shot through his shoulder where a large shard from the science console was embedded.

Braxton, who was bleeding and still a bit shaky, pulled Rahl away from the console. "Go... sit and wait for medical. I'll take over here. You need to get that out of your shoulder."

"Don't make me make it an order. Now go rest. Now!" Braxton said. He looked around. "Jonas! We need help here." He called out to Jonas as much for his own sanity as for Rahls health.

"On my way," Jonas answered, following the sound of Brax's voice.

Braxton guided Rahl down and out of the way then took the console. Braxton's hands flew over the console. "Class nine probe is ready. It will only buy us a few minutes but should be enough. Probe is set to launch on your order."

"Do it!" Lirha replied with urgency in her voice. "Get us out of here, now!" Waiting and attempting to deceive multiple adversaries was only delaying the inevitable in her opinion. They were out numbered and outgunned, and their only hope of salvation was to escape as quickly as possible. Hiding would be a death sentence if -- and when -- the Klingons eventually found them.

Braxton punched the button to launch the probe. It worked but not for long. They only had minutes and Braxton knew that they would soon be upon them.

Allyndra was glad she was slim figured. The bridge door refused to budge more than a little bit but she finally got in. She headed toward Rahl as she saw him first. The injury would require sickbay but that was not an option at the moment. Pain relief was about all she could do and ensure that he and others could be stabilized enough.

By the time Jonas had made it over to Rahl, Allyndra was already working on him. He gave Brax a reassuring nod, happy that he seemed to be in one piece and functioning, as he knelt next to the Chief Medical Officer. "I'm here and I've got this," he informed her, holding up the emergency kit and awaiting direction from the expert.

"Very well, just keep stabilized and oh....." she reached for a hypo. "If we get boarded use this on the nearest Klingon."

Jonas accepted the hypo with a puzzled look. "Um, sure. What is it?"

"It is the virus that causes Nehret syndrome. Fatal in Klingons and incapable of being filtered out. Also, in your pack you should find antidote to neurozine. I have authorized it use in case of boarding."

Even surrounded by chaos, Jonas immediately felt aversion and handed the hypo back. "It is? And you have? I realize we are in a bit of a crisis, but I'm not comfortable with that, Allyndra. It's just... I mean, there are too many questions..."

"It is your choice, I only decided to make things available just in case," Allyndra replied.

Braxton whipped the blood off his face that was threatening to fall into his eyes. He was cut, shaken, bruised but none of it mattered. His eyes roamed over Jonas making sure that he as okay. He let out a breath of relief. If Jonas was here Brax could keep an eye on him...he wasn't going to analyze that need to have him close...at least not here, not in this situation.

Miraj moved over to Min, trying to ignore the pain from the cuts and slashes, and the sticky feeling soaking into her uniform. Main Ops was still functional. "Can you route Helm to here?" They were just tumbling through the nebula. They couldn't' fight back if she couldn't' steer.

Min nodded as the wounded officer came up to her, seeking a working console for helm. Min moved aside, relegating herself to a smaller console to the one side. "All yours," she remarked, noting the young women's injuries.

Miraj tried not to grimace as she sat down, feeling more blood well around the multiple cuts. The co-ordinates that had been sent to the conn were there, but they were drifting in space and would need updating. but first, she had to stop the drift and spin the klingon weapons had sent then into. she swiped a bloody hand on the helm.

And nothing happened. There was still no power. "There's still no powers to engines!" she shouted. "I can't fly with a dead stick!"

"Working on it!" Natalya called out, still working at an intact console. She tried to her hardest to locate reserves that weren't being used, but with virtually all systems trying to draw power it was hard for her to get anything sufficient to propulsion. She had to shut down life support to a good portion of the ship... unoccupied cabins and cargo bays, and put more than half of the ship's replicators offline. It also went without saying that she had to find new routes for that power through a now-damaged power grid.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

General Ko'raH
Klingon Commander
SS Recluse
[PNPC Saalm]

Ensign Miraj Derani
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Noah Khoroushi
Assistant Chief Operations Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Commander Luke Wyatt
Chief Strategic Operations Officer
USS Galileo

Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical and Second Officer
PO2 T'Lin
(PNPCP)
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Jonas Flynn
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo

Ensign Mimi
Operations Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Ryan Alexander
Operations Officer
USS Galileo

Commander Langdale Wiggins
First Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Natalya Kirilova
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. JG Braxton MacKenzie
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Petty Officer Eviess (PNPC)
Medical Officer
USS Galileo
(PNPC played by Braxton MacKenzie)

Lieutenant Junior Grade Lenaris Marika
Archaeologist/Anthropologist
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Min Zhao
Chief of Operations
USS Galileo

and other Galileans...

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