Into the Breach

Posted on Thu Feb 29th, 2024 @ 4:05pm by Captain Malcom Llwyedd & Lieutenant Commander Cynfor Rees & Lieutenant Commander Rhiana t'Aegis & Lieutenant Commander Jörgen Leed & Lieutenant Owen Woodhouse & Lieutenant Phoebe Baxter & Lieutenant Jackson Smith & Warrant Officer Arlan Harlan & Lieutenant Soto Gantt & Ensign Barek Gleason

1,979 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: A Long Hard Road Ahead
Location: DS 18, various
Timeline: 23 August, 2396, 2100 Hours

[ON]
[Operations Control Center, DS18]
Cynfor materialized in the station's operations center. He could see Rhiana and Jörgen materialize to his left and right respectively. Only about half the consoles were lit and operational and the lighting seemed to be running on auxiliary. It was dim and flashing, there was no one manning any of the consoles. "I think our first priority is to get control of the station and learn its status." Cynfor said as he stepped down toward the consoles.

"Agreed. I will access the command channels as soon as we get control." Jörgen stepped into a corner where a long operations console abutted a support wall. He was more than competent with a phaser but the others were far more than that. Best to use a support position.

Rhiana had a phaser rifle in position to fire, as did the two other security officers that completed the away team. They knew that the operations centre was empty, or at least had not shown life signs when they had scanned the locations from the Firebird, but that did not mean that they should just ignore basic safety protocols. She nodded at the two security officers who proceeded further into the room, checking for traps, bodies and other bad surprises around the workstations. Once they had completed that, they began securing the entrances.

Jackson emerged into existence in a corridor adjacent to the operations center. The moment he materialized, the sharp snap of a phaser activating pierced the silence. Relying on pure reflex, he lunged forward, his fingers deftly retrieving a concealed blade from his boot. With a swift rotation, he confronted his attacker—a towering reptilian humanoid wielding a primitive phaser. The blade left his grasp, sailing through the air to lodge firmly in the creature's eye socket. Quickly assessing his surroundings, Jackson determined the corridor was free of further threats. However, he then registered the searing pain of a phaser blast that had grazed his back, narrowly missing a fatal hit. Gritting his teeth against the discomfort, he advanced towards the command center, drawing his own phaser as he went. Upon entering, he observed his companions busying themselves with the control panels. Catching Rhiana's attention with the noise he made entering, he exchanged a nod with her, "Immediate area is clear."

"Good," Rhiana replied with a nod of her own. She had her rifle slung over her shoulder and was standing at the security and tactical console. She looked down at it, but knew before she even touched it that it would be in vain. The smell of burnt plastic and molten circuits was strong here and even before she walked around the console, she knew that it had been hit by heavy disruptor fire. The barely flickering lights and long moments of complete blackness of the smooth surface were another good indicator that the console was not useable for now. "I hope enough engineers have survived the attack," she said to noone in particular and pulled out her tricorder to get a quicker overview of the command centre's condition.

In the meantime, the two security officers had secured all entrances and took a position in the centre of the operations centre, allowing them to see all entrances at once and react quickly to intruders.

In the darkness above the Operations Center, the two Kyverian technicians remained motionless, watching the Starfleet personnel materialize and move quickly to secure themselves. They knew that their natural camouflaged dark skin would make them hard, but not impossible, to detect. Their clawed legs and hands allowed them to latch onto the upper lattice work that contained the communications feed. They'd been tasked with destroying it permanently. To do so they had four small chalky looking blocks, one of which had been smushed into the lattice work. They other three had yet to be placed.

Attack or flee the Secondary said with claw-speak.
We will not flee. Starfleet is our greatest enemy. the Primary replied, his claws moving rapidly. He stuck his remaining block of explosive into the lattice work, not bothering to be exact with its placement. He motioned for the Secondary to do the same. Both of them looked down at the Starfleet Officers and their four mouths opened.
Attack
They fell.

To Be Continued in Look for me in the Dark

[Hallway B10, Near Primary Sickbay DS18]
After the hum of the transport faded, Phoebe quickly realized that she, Ensign Mox, and Crewman Potter were not in sickbay as intended, but rather a dimly lit and damaged corridor. She immediately flipped open her tricorder, but something was interfering with her attempts to scan. Likely the same interference that had redirected their transport. Turning around to get a sense of their immediate environment, she jumped when a panel beside them burst into a shower of sparks.

"Um... everyone okay?"

Jillian looked around the corridor and quickly assessed that they were not in sickbay and immediately after that she wondered what kind of weapons gouged huge gashes into the floor.

"I'm fine," she said. "I don't think we are where we wanted to be unless Starfleet standards for sickbays has drastically gone down." Maybe becoming and ensign wasn't such a great idea she thought.

Upon materializing, Potter immediately drew his phaser and ratcheted up the setting to max. He didn't care what Commander t'Aegis or Captain Llwyedd said. If something was shooting at him, he was taking them out. He spun in a circle, his phaser at the ready but saw nothing.

"Negative contact," Potter said and then tapped his combadge. It made a sad bird sound, which meant it wasn't able to connect to anyone. "Comms are down, Lieutenant. What are we doing now?"

Biting her lip, Phoebe began to work the problem. "Well... we didn't arrive where we planned, but our objective is still to get to sickbay and assist our new CMO." She approached the sides of the corridor, trying to see if any designations were visible that might give them an indication of their location, but there was nothing visible that might aid in their orientation.

She surveyed the debris obstructing their way in either direction. "Unless either of you have a solid guess as to where we are, I suggest we pick a direction and start moving."

"Right, right," Potter said, not moving. He looked blankly at the two officers.

Jillian almost laughed at the look on Potter's face. She'd helped him recover from a few wounds and knew that he'd vowed never to get seriously hurt again.

"Let's go right," Jillian said. "Potter why don't you keep an eye on the rear." She pulled her own phaser, something that she was not very familiar in but having it was better than not.

They turned down the corridor. It was quite wide, constructed for at least four people to walk abreast easily. It had white walls with windows scattered about every fifteen feet. There were signs of damage to a large number of the floor panels and wall panels. Thankfully none of the windows had been destroyed.

"The tricorder says that the sickbay is up ahead. We take the second left and then the first right. About ten minutes away," She said.

"If we live," Potter muttered.

"We're gonna live...." Phoebe assured absently, staring back from where they'd come. After only a few short steps, the interference that had redirected their transport was no longer affecting the tricorders, and her desire to figure out why was almost overwhelming. Almost.

"Okay gang, let's keep moving. We're expected." With that, Baxter turned with her phaser at the ready and started walking.

To Be Continued in Into Whatsoever Houses I Enter

[Main Engineering, DS18]
"Warning. Five minutes until secondary power systems failure."

The team assigned to secure, evaluate, and stabilize the engineering systems beamed in together as the computer continued its haunting countdown. The engineering area for a station the size of DS18 was massive, spanning several decks in height, and no one was immediately visible in the dim partial lighting. Steam bathed in flashing red light hissed in a continuous stream along the path ahead of them, obscuring some of their view of the main reactor systems, which appeared to be offline.

Lieutenant Woodhouse, phaser rifle at the ready, looked toward Harlan and Gantt. "If we're where we're supposed to be, master systems control is 25 meters ahead and it sounds like we have no time to waste. Gentlemen." He nodded in the appropriate direction and starting walking immediately, all senses on alert. Gantt was only a few steps behind him.

"Gentlemen? That sounds so wrong." Gantt chuckled. It helped relieve the stress holding his arms and chest in a sharp grip. "Specs show a hole in the wall just inside and to the right. Console next to it is mostly functional. If possible, I'll hold there to stop the massive power fluctuations between the main and backup systems."

Harlan harumphed and started moving as well. "Walk and talk, people. Walk and talk." as they proceeded down the hallway. Harlan felt the weight of a phaser at his side and thought about the other engineers wearing the same. They hadn't had much time, but he thought it was an idea to arm everyone as they beamed into a mysterious and dangerous place. Nobody knew what was going to leap out of the red-colored mist.

"Gantt, take care of that console that you just mentioned. I'll take the main system to see if I can't get it back online. I'll leave the rest of you to find an appropriate task that will keep us alive for the next few minutes. Any questions?'

Captain Llwyedd had assigned Ensign Gleason to the Engineering away team to give them a set of eyes to watch over them while they attempted to bring main power online. The Firebird was his first assignment and this was his first away team. He tried not to show his nerves as he nodded at the Chief's orders.

"Aye, aye, chief," he said and checked the setting on his phase for the tenth time. The other members of the team looked so confident, almost bored. How could they be so relaxed. He took a deep breath and began systematically scanning the surrounding area for possible hostiles.

"I'm coming with you to the main reactor," Woodhouse replied to Harlan as they moved. "If we don't get that back online, nothing else will matter."

To Be Continued in Tick Tick Boom

[OFF]
Lieutenant Commander Cynfor Rees
Executive Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Lieutenant Commander Rhiana t'Aegis
Second Officer / Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Lieutenant Commander JÃ¶rgen Leed
Chief Diplomatic Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Lieutenant Phoebe Baxter
Chief Science Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Lieutenant Jackson Smith
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Lieutenant Soto Gantt (NPC by Leed)
Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Lieutenant Owen Woodhouse
Chief Operations Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Ensign Jillian Mox (NPC by Llwyedd)
Nurse
USS Firebird NCC-88298

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