Panko Breadcrumbs (Part 7 of 10)

Posted on 22 Oct 2016 @ 2:56am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Langdale Wiggins & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Commander Luke Wyatt & Lieutenant Amaranai Franklin & Ensign Miraj Derani & Lieutenant Commander Ryan Alexander
Edited on on 22 Oct 2016 @ 3:47am

3,901 words; about a 20 minute read

Mission: Episode 12 - Recluse
Location: USS Galileo/Paulson Nebula
Timeline: MD 03 - 0035 hrs

Previously, on Panko Breadcrumbs (Part 6)...

Braxton looked at Jonas. "Help her...I'm fine. Just help her!"

Miraj gave them a slight shove towards the bridge door. "We have to get to the lifeboats. I'll be fine."

"Okay, okay, I'll help Brax, but you lead the way." Jonas could now see that Miraj was likely the most severely wounded of their trio, but the shock of the attack had triggered an acute stress reaction that was going to keep her going as long as she could. It would be impossible to truly reason with or offer her assistance at the moment, so the best bet was to play along and keep her ahead of them so he could pick her up when she inevitably collapsed.

Miraj helped them shove off, and started the slow haul towards the lifeboats.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

"Too close, too close" there were the last words that went through her mind. Something had gone wrong with the ejection. Allyndra in the few seconds could see in her mind what was going to happen. The ship was too close and too damaged, she had made a mistake should have ordered people away first but with the Klingons closing in. Helpless she tried to brace when the impact came but it was no good. It was like the gods were knocking on the door and they wanted in real bad. That lasted only a moment more as with the impact she was tossed forward, instinct kicked in and wings went out and she relaxed but it did no good and she hit the console with enough force to knock her out.

Ryan was sure that had he not been half inside the Science console when the shock wave hit, he would be dead or dying. Through pure luck alone the worst injury he had sustained was a rather large lump where he hit his head also causing the reopening of his head wound, and a bruised abdomen. It had taken a moment to get his bearings, trying to figure out what had happened, though the sudden loss of Gravity, and Abandon Ship were a pretty big give way. Ryan extracted himself from the console, taking a moment to orient himself. IT had been awhile since he had done a Zero-G operation, though it was like riding bike, once you learn, you never forget. With practiced grace, Ryan positioned his legs under him, careful to evenly distribute his weight, and gracefully launched himself towards the nearest crew member.

Allyndra felt the room swim and it was more than the lack of gravity and blood trickled down her face. As a doctor she more or less knew that she had probably sustained a concussion and then there was pain in her back. Out of the corner of one eye she could see one of her wings and that was not good, it must have caught or the force of impact wrenched it around.

She slowly moved but things were out of focus. She called out, "Help, please someone help!"

Ryan caught the crew member he had aimed for. He didn't recognize him but he had a pulse, and was breathing. The crewman started to flail. "Easy, easy, you are ok, we are just in zero gravity, don't panic, easy." After a moment the crew seemed to calm, the was when he heard someone moan for help. He looked around seeing it was Allyndra. "I am going to push off of you to go assist the the medical officer, get yourself to one of the escape pods. We will be along shortly." Ryan ordered, the look of fear and relief evident on the cremains eyes. He oriented himself towards Allyndra, and pushed off the crewman, sending them both in opposite directions. Ryan grabbed into a panel that was near Allyndra, sparing a quick glance at his Zero G partner, relief spreading across his face as he saw the crewman make it safely to the hatch leading to the escape pods. He returned his focus back to Allyndra. "Sir I am here to help, don't panic." He said with as much empathy he could muster while checking her over for anything serious .

Allyndra shook her head but that only made things worse and the world spun in a dizzing manner. "I think I have a concussion, a broken wing, you will have to finish the job...." she said.

Ryan nodded. "I am sorry, hang on." He said, not hesitating as he grasped her wing and applied a quick and sudden force. The snapping sound seemed to echo though bridge. The sudden force seemed to dislodge it from what ever it was stuck on. "Alright sir, you seem to be free. Lets get you out of here." He said with as much conviction as he could, pained that he had to cause a fellow crewman so much pain.

Thankfully no nerves immediately in the wings but she could not help but cry a little for the loss. "Pod, come on we have to go...ship is lost"

Ryan cradled her as best he could. "Hang on sir." He said as he positioned himself for a quick launch towards the passageway leading to the escape pods. With a twist, that was rather sloppy, he slammed into the bulkhead, not used to extra mass of Allyandra, though he absorbed the impact. "Sorry sir, not used to maneuvering with passengers in Zero-G." He said with a weak smile.

Ryan reached out and guided his way to through the passageway to the nearest Pod. He watched Miraj, Flynn, and Braxton move a piece of Debris, he wished he could help, but he had his own passenger. "Please let go of me sir." Ryan said to his passenger as he placed her into the Escape Pod, glad that it appeared to be functioning properly. "I am going back for the Admiral." Ryan said as he let go of Allyandra.

Allyndra could barely nod, both the zero g and movement along with the concussion had the place spinning like being caught in a violent storm. She could only hold onto the straps in the pod.

Miraj arrived just after, with Braxton and Jonas in tow. "This one will do!" She dragged herself in next to Allyndra, She turned round and offered them a hand, "All aboard!"

Ryan sailed through the passageway back to the bridge. He grabbed the bulkhead near the hatch, surveying the scene. It was hard to believe that this couldn't be just a dream, only on the ship a month, and it was having to be abandoned. After a quick search, he located the Admiral. Placing his feet underneath him, he pushed off the bulk head and sailed near the Admiral, catching the chair near to where the Admiral was located. "Sir, I need to get you out of here."

Lirha tapped away on one of the bridge's remaining functional consoled near the rear of the command center. Gold blood poured from her arm where she'd sustained a large laceration from shrapnel, but she ignored the pain and continued to perform the task at hand.

"Computer, pure cores zero through fifteen, authorization Saalm-zero-nine-alpha-zero-zero-nine!" she yelled at the console.

"Commencing data deletion," replied the computer after a longer-than-normal pause. "Warning, computer protocols degraded. Data management cannot complete the current task."

The rear admiral squinted and shook beads of sweat from her eyes. Feelings of despair began to wash though her when she realized her final mission was not coming to fruition. The voice of someone next to her drew her attention and she noticed one of her gold-collared officers approaching. "Get back to the escape pods!" she yelled at him. "Leave me!"

Ryan faintly smiled, moving to position himself where he could grab her if necessary. "No can do sir. I am not leaving without you. We have a saying in the Corps, Leave no one behind." He said, a look of defiance in his eyes and voice. "Besides, you are going to need help purging the core."

With the automated purging systems offline, it left only one option for Lirha if she wanted to accomplish her goal. "Ensign...if you stay with me, we will both perish. Please...go," she repeated, this time in a softer voice full of compassion and sincerity. "This is my job, not yours. I must destroy the remainder of the ship. The computer core."

Ryan nodded. "I understand sir. But I can't leave you, and Sir, it takes two Officer's to Initiate the sequence." Ryan said stoically.

She smiled weakly at the Alexander, a man she'd only known for less than a few months. He had made his choice as had she, and she weakly reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. "Great souls always perform great sacrifices," she said, repeating one of her homeworld's greatest philosophers. "Help me to the engineering console," she added, which was behind them by a few meters.

Ryan moved, looping his arm around her waist, even over the pregnant belly. "I am sorry that you wont be able to see your child sir." Ryan said, as centered there mass, and pushed off the bulkhead near the command console, and sent them both floating towards the engineering console. He braced himself and her against the bulkhead, taking the pull force on his arm. With a grunt, he steadied them both, easing her to the console. "Sacrifice is a part of life. It's supposed to be. It's not something to regret." Ryan said. He turned his attention to her. "Ready when you are Sir."

Lirha was grateful for the ensign's assistance and floated herself down to the console. It flashed bright red and indicated total system failures across the ship. "Computer," she began with a trembling voice. One of her green hands reached down to her belly and settled atop her unborn twins. "Begin auto-destruct sequence, authorization Saalm-zero-nine-alpha-romeo." She then looked over towards Alexander and awaited his input.

Ryan had never expected that he would ever have to use this code."Authorization Alexander-One-Echo-Five-Juliet." He said, his voice steady, he wasn't going to leave her behind.

Galileo's main computer acknowledged the input of both officers and replied in prompt fashion. "Authorization confirmed. Submit final destruct code."

"This is Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm," she yelled, over the loud wreckage and bursting EPS conduits, "Destruct sequence delta-five. One minute, audible countdown, execute!"

"WARNING. AUTO DESTRUCT ACTIVATED," came the computers reply throughout the vessel. "FIFTY-FIFE SECONDS TILL DESTRUCT. WARNING. AUTO DESTRUCT ACTIVATED, FIFTY SECONDS TILL AUTO DESTRUCT," the computer began to repeat as it counted down.

Lirha looked back at the gold-collared ensign who had volunteered his life to help her accomplish her goal. She slowly pushed herself away from her console and began to float over to him, then grasped him for support once she came near. "Do not be afraid," she said to him, her eyes pouring with tears and her lips quivering while attempting to console him. "We will see each other again soon, in the next life."

Ryan nodded, taking a deep, calming breath. "We will. There are worse things to be afraid of sir." He said as stoically as he could manage, seeing her pain, and not wanting her to feel as though she had forced him to do this.


USS Galileo - Sickbay

Amaranai had managed to make it to Sickbay and wasn't surprised to find no one there. With the amount of damage the ship was taking, it was a good bet that the medical staff were where they needed to be.

Looking through the drawers, Amaranai found what she was looking for - a hypospray with pain killers. That would have to do. She was about to administer it herself when another explosion rocked the ship. But this wasn't an ordinary explosion - not one that Amaranai recognized anyway.

All of a sudden, Amaranai was sent careening from one side of Sickbay into the glass wall separating one section. Cuts began to bleed down her face but she didn't have enough time to process as she blacked out for a moment.

It took a couple of minutes but when she came to, she heard the captain's orders to abandon ship. Amaranai had realized she had barely been on the ship a week and she already had to leave it. She knew that the circumstances must be dire to order an evacuation but with the Klingons out there, was that really the only option?

Slowly getting up, feeling the broken ribs and the blood trickling down her face, Amaranai stood. She started to move and was stopped from the sheer pain in her leg. Looking down, she saw a large glass shard sticking out of her thigh. Sighing, she didn't have time to deal with it and simply hobbled out of Sickbay, grabbing a medkit on her way toward the closest escape pod.

Luke had left the small Triage area that had been sent up and made his way to Sickbay, when the sirens signalling to abandon ship began to wail he couldn't believe it, but looking around Luke could see for himself the destruction that had taken place. Just as he was about to enter sickbay it began pouring out with the wounded. One was the Assistant chief of Security a Large bit of glass sticking from her leg. "Lieutenant" he said walking over to her. He hadn't really noticed his own injuries until he saw his burnt and tattered shirt with blood stains on them in a reflective part of the what was left of a console screen, his head had a nasty gash though he fared better than most. "A lot of the escape pods are gone on this deck, most people were heading to sickbay but there's a shuttle waiting in the Auxiliary shuttlebay just down the corridor the crew are still holding out against some Klingon intruders who are looking to get off the ship, quickly we should move" He said urgently slinging his phase rifle and stowing his K-Bar knife in its holster before offering himself as a leaning post to ease her hobble.

As she exited, she heard a voice and turned toward the source. Commander Wyatt was bleeding but still mobile, which was far better than her own situation. She stopped and leaned against the wall to catch her breath as the commander explained the situation with the escape pods. She nodded and pushed away from the wall, wincing in pain. His comment about needing to hurry caused her to chuckle.

"I'm already going so fast it just looks like I'm barely moving."

She took a deep breath after her statement. Breathing hurt. Walking hurt. Her head hurt. And her heart hurt for the fact that the ship was falling apart.

Amaranai pulled her phaser from her belt and switched hands as she leaned against Wyatt.

"Thanks," she said. "I'll keep us covered if we run into any trouble."

Before he could reply their luck got worst, at first it was just the light objects started to float, within seconds his stomach did a flip as his own mass became weightless and too began to float. Zero G was no fun but it helped them with Amaranai's injury.

"Well at least you don't have to worry about your legs. Hopefully the shuttle is still in its clamps" he said motioning forward before pushing of a bulkhead towards the shuttle bay door.

The attempt at humor was enough to get the brunette to smile. Something about being caught in zero-g was just the icing on the cake of the crap day that she had been having. However, Luke was correct in that she now didn't have to put weight on her leg, which would increase their speed to the shuttle bay. They continued toward the door and could hear the sound of phaser fire as they neared.

As they entered the shuttle bay phaser fire began to bounce of the walls behind them scorching the bulkheads. Ducking behind a crate which was bid float he could see that the Klingons were not on ya few feet away from the shuttle with two crewman of the five left protecting it. "Straight for the shuttle, hold onto me and when we get in take straight off" hugging Amaranai and pushed off the wall propelling them forward.

Amaranai nodded and prepped herself around Luke's waist as they readied to make their way to the shuttle. As Luke pushed off, Amaranai started laying covering fire hoping to keep the Klingons from firing at them. It wasn't enough, though, as phaser beams flashed around them.

Using himself as a shield he could hear the disrupter Fire speed past him, taking a glance up he saw that the shuttle was close but the two crewman were now laying in the floor with scorch marks on them. Just as they were in the last meter Luke's luck ran out as a bolt from a stolen federation phaser hit him his body going back stiff as it impacted him before he was engulfed by the shuttles open hatch. The phaser must have been on the lower settings because he was still conscious but immobilized on the floor "Get us out of here" he said through gritted teeth.

Amaranai could tell that Luke had been hit but their momentum had been enough that they were close enough to the shuttle's hatch. Inside the shuttle, with artificial gravity enabled, the two officers dropped to the floor. She heard Luke's command and she quickly reached for the door control to keep the Klingons out.

Pulling herself to the pilot's chair, Amaranai began the startup sequence. She wasn't going to follow the rules about safety and securing the shuttle with everything else that was going on. She released the docking clamps and started the impulse engines.

The shuttle lifted off the deck and started toward the open shuttle bay doors, ignoring the disruptor fire of the Klingons now left aboard the ship. She pulled the shuttle away from the ship but was unsure of a direction.

"Orders, sir?" she asked. "I mean, what should I do?"

Luke now out of his paralyzed state sat in the chair next to her and surveyed the scene in front of him the Galileo drifted as explosions and more disruptor fire impacted the crippled ship one of the nacelles almost completely cut clean through at the column. Escape pods shot of in every direction some being shot out the sky by Klingons "Go to warp, just a short jump then go complete dark we won't appear on scanners and were to small to be seen by the naked eye. Once were in the clear we will try and make contact with Starfleet and perhaps we can rescue some of the escape pods and lead them to safety, the main shuttle ah was destroyed we may be the only shuttle that got out"

While she waited for an answer, she looked at her home. Gone. Her adrenaline had kicked in long ago and the sharp pain in her leg didn't even phase her. It was what she could see out the viewport that made her sad. All that loss of life. The ship. Everything.

Amaranai was snapped back to the moment when the commander spoke up. As he started talking, she began to plot a short jump away. She hoped the nebula wouldn't interfere too much with her plot or else they could just be blown to bits as well.

"Course plotted, sir," she said after a moment.

"Good, Lets go. There's nothing we can do more right now. Our best hopes are to contact Starfleet and get reinforcements"

Taking the shuttle to warp for a few seconds, Amaranai had to hope that the shuttle would hold and that the commander would be right that they wouldn't be seen. They exited warp and Amaranai began the task of shutting everything down but life support.

Luke stood and went into the back of the pod and began looking over the shuttles inventory "I now know why this was in the auxiliary bay, its missing about half of its rations and power packs. Well we will have to make do while we sort out our plan. He took a medic pack and moved over to the lieutenant. Hows the leg doing?" He asked as he began scanning her leg with the tricorder.

With the gravity gone, the pain that had been in Amaranai's leg had disappeared for a while. The need to stay alive long enough to get the shuttle out of the ship and away from it had impeding the nerve endings from reminding her brain that there was a large piece of glass stuck in it. When the commander asked about it, Amaranai blinked and looked down. It was then that shooting pain returned to her and she winced.

"Ugh," she said with a pained chuckle. "How could I forget this?"

She looked down and put her hand against her rib cage.

"I think there's a couple of broken ribs as well," she offered. "I'm sure I'll be fine eventually," she continued with another wince of pain. "We better ration those meds also. Don't know how long we're going to be out here."

The nebula's own ambient lighting was the only source of light as he nodded agreeing with the woman "As long as you can manage the pain, I can't have you passing out on me especially when we go back to get the others. I just hope we haven't lost to many"

"I'll be able to manage the pain with the meds for a while," she started. "If we're out here longer than a couple of days, I might have to take a nap."

She winced with the pain in her body.

"But I'll do my best." She looked at the barely lit control panel, at Lieutenant Commander Wyatt, at herself and then toward the nebula. She wasn't even sure where they were. All she knew was that the ship she had just gotten to was now slag somewhere in the middle of the nebula. She would never cry in front of someone but she was definitely emotional.

"I guess it's all we can do," she added.

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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