Panko Breadcrumbs (Part 3 of 10)

Posted on 22 Oct 2016 @ 2:24am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant Min Zhao & Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D. & Lieutenant JG Natalya Kirilova & Lieutenant JG Noah Khoroushi & Lieutenant JG Rahl Tyton Ph.D. & Lieutenant JG Braxton MacKenzie & Lieutenant JG Jonas Flynn PsyD & Ensign Miraj Derani & Ensign Mimi & Lieutenant Commander Ryan Alexander & Petty Officer 1st Class Eric Anderson & Petty Officer 1st Class Eviess
Edited on on 22 Oct 2016 @ 2:27am

2,557 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 12 - Recluse
Location: USS Galileo/Paulson Nebula
Timeline: MD 02 - 2350 hrs

Previously, on Panko Breadcrumbs (Part 2)...

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.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Deck 3, Sickbay

As the feed and events unfolded it did not take much to figure that either the Galileo was going to be fired upon, boarded or both. Allyndra said, "Prepare emergency medical kits. Also, I want hypos with antriine and if bad enough medical authority is given to disperse anethezine and neurozine. Take antidote for the later with you. Allyndra paused for a moment and then ordered, "Each emergency pack to be provided with a hypo containing the retro-virus causing Nehret syndrome." It was a nasty thing that only affected Klingons and was not able to be filtered out by bio-filters.

This ship, she thought was not going down easily. If they want to play nasty we will play back.

Things were set and she was about to head for the holodecks to get temporary sickbay extensions there set up when the shots began. The blair of the sirens and the change in status to the flashing red did not really need to be done as the small ship rocked.

Suddenly there was a drop in pressure and then it seemed to stabilize. Allyndra knew from the air being sucked out suddenly meant there had been a hull breach. Thankfully sickbay was toward the front of the ship and she presumed that considering they were probably trying to flee that the breach had come in the back. More than likely power would be routed away. The medical personnel would have to patch in situ.

Calls started flooding in and one from the bridge. She would handle that one. =^=Coming=^= she responded getting her feet under her.

=^=Allyndra to Tuula, you have the sickbay, I am going to the bridge!=^=

"Understood," replied Tuula, as she pushed herself across sickbay, getting everything all set for mass casualties.

Eric listened to the play between his chief and assistant chief as he maneuvered Markum into a status flied and got him tied down for all intensive purposes. The last thing they all needed was bodies blocking up the place as casualties started to pile in.

"Boss! Take someone with you. This kind of situation needs us to all work in pairs, you will at least need help rounding up the injured you encounter along the way." Eric looked over to Allyndra as he moved away from their patients and maneuvered his way towards the emergency packs.

"We are going to be stretched thin, no time." Allyndra was already heading out.

=^=Eviess, begin emergency sweeps. We have hull breach on deck four.=^= She figured Tuula could handle things coming in from the breach on deck 3.

Eviess got the call and she was already close. =^=I'm almost there. I have my med kits and am ready.=^= Eviess' calm kicked in. Her voice was calmness itself. As she arrived she noted that the force fields were in place. She saw through them that some crew was outside and gone. It was upsetting but she slammed her mental barriers down. Treat the wounded Eviess she told herself. She knelt by the first woman who had a bar through her leg. "Damn." She sighed. "Okay hun. Just hold still. I'm here to help." She pulled out a pain hypo. She heard Allyndra's voice.

=^=Very good. We will have to treat in situ, holodecks are probably gone for the shields, sickbay could be compromised as well with a breach near there. Do what you can. Nothing fancy, I would say patch and dispatch, but no dispatch=^= Allyndra replied just as she managed to get to the bridge.

=^= All under control ma'am. =^= She said as she stabilized the young ensign and them moved on. The med teams were starting to arrive and she had them start moving the stable people out while she worked on stabilizing others.


SS Recluse - Bridge

Through his modified tactical display which had been strategically engineered within the decrepit Federation freighter, General Ko'raH viewed the battlefield as it played out. Sensor readings and immediate dataflow were both sporadic and scrambled, but his keep and veteran eyes were able to interpret the running battle as it unfolded. His warships had properly assembled -- for the most part -- with stealth and the advantage of surprise, and the Nova-class was now completely defensive and seeking an escape route.

His heavy and gauntlet-plated hand came down swiftly on his communications panel to activate an encoded transmission to his captains. "QuQ DoS, wej chaH nargh yInISQo'!" he yelled, instructing all of them to not let the Federation vessel escape their clutches. "Bring me the crew alive!"


USS Galileo

The trailing Bird of Prey received its orders and executed them as pertinently as an eaglet could sight a rabbit in the meadows. The small and maneuverable adversary banked hard to starboard and cut down below Galileo's horizontal horizon. Swiftly and with tactical precision, the B'Rel-class came about at corner-speed on the Federation vessel's aft quarter. Rapid-fire salvos of disruptor fire quickly screamed out of its wingtip cannons -- the first two burst missed their mark wide due to nebulous interference, but the competent gunner compensated for the second salvo.

Galileo's exposed port nacelle pylon was instantly melted by the enemy weaponry. The severed bulkheads failed to maintain their structural integrity and within seconds, the starship was crippled. Plumes of exposed EPS relays and plasma junctions vented into the nebula to leave a trail of debris. One of Galileo's large nacelles now tumbled free on its own into the nebula, its beautiful deep blue glow now flickering and dissipating as the structure lost power and went offline.

Throughout the starship, more conduits and relays exploded. The normal electrical flows of warp power were severed and created more overloads. On the bridge, Lirha was knocked from her feet by the impact of the weapons fire and landed firmly on the deck. With her cheek pressed to the floor, she could feel an unsettling series of vibrations which instinctively told her something was very wrong. The overhead red-alert lighting and ambient deck light flickered then ceased, and was suddenly replaced by a surreal orange glow.

"Report!" Lirha yelled across the chaos on the bridge.

"Main Power Offline, sir." Ryan said from his position near the Science alcove, looking at readouts from his PADD which he had hooked directly into the Science alcove feed after the main terminals blew.

"Attempting to reboot systems, but so far nothing." Noah swore under his breath as the auxiliary console he'd utilized froze.

"The port nacelle pylon has been destroyed!" Natalya called out, starting to feel the panic. "It might still be intact... but we've lost the port nacelle." She started making the necessary calls to engineering to get a team working on containing the damage. She very much wished she were down there coordinating the efforts in person.

"Backup power isn't working correctly." Mimi announced, the power transfer system had taken some damage with relays and conduits exploding all over the ship.

As the consoles on the bridge flickered and attempted to come back online, a sudden high-low warning began to sound throughout the entire starship. Lirha knew this sound well from her training and past experiences with the Borg, and it sent shivers of anxiety through her.

As the ship shuddered, the main EPS system faltering and failing, Min rerouted what power she could before batteries kicked in. Klingons most likely meant a boarding and the thought terrified her, memories of a past mission reminding her of the horrors. Internal sensors were a priority and she quickly got them rerouted to the bridge. Just as she feared, her fears confirmed by the intruder alarm.

"Intruders. Decks 2, 3, 4 and 7. Approx 30."

Lirha climbed slowly to her feet and looked around with horror at the destroyed bridge. Fires were beginning to sporadically break out and many of her bridge officers were covered in blood and wounded. The smell of thick electrical smoke permeated her senses and burned her eyes. Without main power, fire suppression was offline and the oxygen-rich environment of the pressurized internal hull was at risk.

"Get those fires out!" Lirha yelled, wobbling slightly and gripping the back of her chair to steady herself. "Mister Wyatt and Wiggins...get those Klingons off my ship!"

Rushing to the nearest emergency cabinet Marika grabbed two extinguishers, throwing one Braxton's way before setting her's towards the closest flames. "Score one for the Bos'n' training!"

Braxton took the extinguisher and pulled another for good measure tossing it to Jonas. "Stay close." He said.

Jonas was touched, but now wasn't the time. "Sorry, Brax, we've got more to consider right now. But don't worry, you won't lose me." He gave Brax a grin, surprised at his own words but feeling they were the right ones to say. Then he turned and made his way towards another of the fires.

Braxton pulled the pin on the extinguisher. Aiming the nozzle at the nearest science console he squeezed the handle. The contents of the extinguisher shot out of the container and onto the fire that was devouring it's way through the console and bridge.

Sweat poured off his forehead as he swept the nozzle back and forth trying to beat back the hungry red flames. The heat was stifling yet it compared to the forge and after years of working in one to build his creative projects he didn't back down. His eyes moved over to Jonas who was over at the helm station dousing the other flames.

Braxton moved over to the next console and soon the flames were being held back, defeated, he hoped that their Klingon friends would be as easy to beat back.

The fires were under control. He rushed to the admiral's side. Braxton thought of something that might help. "Admiral! I have an idea. In the science department I have a Terelian Horka plant. It has medicinal powers when harvested right but it's ...well not so good with Klingons. If we can beam the plant to the Klingon bridge we might be able to cause some problems. It's like a Venus Flytrap but when it senses the pheromones that Klingons produce it releases gas causing anaphylactic shock in Klingons."

Rahl had felt the pain reducers kick in. He had been coherent enough through the pain to hear about the nacelle. He pushed himself to his feet to hell with sitting and resting. If he did that they would all be dead. He got to the nearest working console. Gritting his teeth he used both hands on the console. He wouldn't have been able to do this without the pain killers he had received. He went through his calculations as quickly as he could.

It would take a slightly altered course taking them closer to the center of the nebula but at this point it was there only shot in his opinion. He turned. "Admiral with only one nacelle left the best we can do on our own is warp five. However using the slingshot as I said previously. If we take a course that puts us closer to the center of the nebula to use it as the fulcrux of the curve. If we achieve warp five before hitting the fulcrux we can slingshot out of the nebula at warp eight. We won't be able to maintain it for more then two hours. However by then we should be far enough away that the Klingons won't be able to have tracked us.

Given their current circumstances, an escape at warp was a luxury work a million bard of latinum. Power levels were critical and with only one nacelle operating, a warp 5 estimation was a bit ambitious. That was, if they could even establish a warp field so deep into the nebula.

"There is no time and our structural integrity field might collapse under warp. Get us to maximum impulse power," answered Saalm through the chaos.

Miraj ignored all the co-ordinates at the helm. There were too many ships in the way. She put full power to thrusters, and rolled and twisted around the oncoming Birds of Prey, slipping between them with only a fraction of a kilometer to spare, too fast for them to bring their weapons to bare, and then flipped the end around, and pushed her dirty fingers from the bottom of the speed control to the top.

Instead of the usual delighted hum from the engines, there was a half-choked whine. They were barely at quarter impulse. Miraj said something rude, and slammed her fist down on the helm, only to swear even more loudly as she reopened the shallow cuts there.

But Lieutenant Rahl had been right. If they could set course to the center of the nebula, if there was a star forming, if they didn't get sucked into the gravitational collapse, then they could indeed use it to sling shot out and increase their speed, maybe not to warp, but fast enough. Her fingers flew as they altered course, and Galileo limped down into depths of the nebula.

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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