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CH05: S [D06|1010] Destination: Unknown

Chapter 05: Supplemental [ Day 06 | 1010 hrs. ] Destination: Unknown

[ Devyrie "Dragon" Okhala | Cinsaj's Cockpit | AC-507 Mk I Reaver | Azure Nebula | The Versant ] Attn: @Stegro88 @Multificionado 
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Even though they had missed the Rendezvous, the three officers inside the Cinsaj's cockpit hadn't had much choice that fly towards the area nonetheless, in the hope that they might still catch the Theurgy on sensors.

Then again, they didn't even know if the Theurgy would be there, since for all they knew, it could either have been destroyed before then, or all three Vectors might have reintegrated during the first Rendezvous, and had no need to go to the last area. The reason why it had remained the destination of the Cinsaj was that they had virtually no other options available. It had been their best chance, so they stayed on course, hoping for the best despite the odds.

About ten minutes later, something had appeared on sensors.

Yet try as they might, they hadn't quite made sense of it. They had been a few kilometres out from the occurrence, and it was only thanks to the keen sensors on the Cinsaj that they had managed to make out a Federation warp signature. Only the... "blip" as it were had been moving faster than any known starship in the fleet. Sufficed to say, the readings had piqued their interest, and they had moved towards the residual warp trail to investigate. At that point, it was impossible to tell for certain what ship it could have been. Devyrie, however, had argued that the Theurgy had used some kind of alien warp solution when escaping Admiral Sankolov at Starbase 84. It could be that the same kind of tactic had been used again, since that might explain the almost impossible warp factor that the ship had used. With little else to go on, the decision had been to follow, even if they had little hope to catch up to the ship. Their hope laid in the ship eventually dropping out of warp, and that they would be able to enter subspace comms distance to it.

Every minute that went by, the memory of Lau imposed upon Devyrie's focus, and in the end, she had to break the silence.

"You look pale," she said, turning her black flight helmet to look at the Klingon woman next to her. It was, perhaps, a jocular remark coming from her, since she was quite fair of skin herself underneath that helmet. She had it from her mother's side. Lau, she... Stop it! "Are you sure you are all right?"

She then turned her head towards Gideon Drake, seated on her right side. "Keep an eye on the trail, and if the ship comes within communication range, don't wait. Just try to hail them right away."

OOC: Of course, they don't get close enough in time before the Theurgy warps away again, after the short stop at the Coreless Moon in Chapter 05: Battle of the Apertures.

Re: CH05: S [D06|1010] Destination: Unknown

Reply #1 –
[ Lieutenant JG Gideon Drake | Cinsaj's Cockpit | AC-507 Mk I Reaver | Azure Nebula | The Versant ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Stegro88
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In most of Gideon’s fantasies involving getting squeezed in with a woman and enjoying the beautiful sight of warp speed in a nebula, they weren’t preceded by a jailbreak, bloodshed and a whole lot of ugly.

After a matter of minutes of gradual monotony, the sensors going off were enough to grab his attention. An unusual warp trail. The warp factor involved was impossible; the speed it had gone, with enough additional decimals, it would’ve achieved slipstream speed. On the other hand, all three of them were stuffed together in, the more he thought about it, an increasingly impossible craft moving faster than you can say “rub-a-dub-dub.”

Gideon momentarily smiled in nostalgia; he remembered the nursery rhyme as a child, when his human father told him bedtime stories (his own Bajoran mother wasn’t one for nursery rhymes), and it described the current situation with him, Dev and Mickayla at that very moment. Mickayla would easily equate with the butcher, by a different sub-definition, but what did that make either Dev or Gideon? The baker or the candle-stick maker?

He made the ghost of a flinch as Dev turned to him. He wasn’t used to that helmet yet in the cramped confines, and at least there was still some space between his face and hers, even with the helmet on. At her orders, of course, he instantly turned his eye back to the sensors and kept his eye on, ready to open communications.

Just because it was an unusual warp trail, however, didn’t mean they knew what ship it was. Could be Starfleet, Klingon, Romulan, given how close the Azure Nebula was to each of those borders. He privately hoped it wasn’t a Borg ship nor another one of those huge ugly Savi ships, but right now, any ship was better than nothing.

He kept his eye on the trail, especially how close they’d be to reach the maximum extent of their communication range. It was no different from seeing how far a ship would get before its weapons were at maximum efficiency against the target, or at the weapons’ minimum range. It might seem like it’d take forever, but on this matter, he knew it was to be expected.

Even before he got within likely communication range, he began hailing.

“This is Lieutenant Gideon Drake, formerly of the Starship Endeavour, on board a craft known as a Reaver, with Lieutenant Devyrie Okhala and Petty Officer Mickayla MacGregor. We have escaped captivity from a ship of the race known as the Savi, and we require assistance. I repeat, this is Lieutenant Gideon Drake, formerly of the Starship Endeavour…”

It was basic enough, and he intended to keep going until he got a response from…whatever it was. But if it should transpire that a Borg or a Savi vessel responds back, he’s shutting off communications.

OOC: If there are any recommendations for changes in the reply, please let me know through PM and I'll get to them.

Re: CH05: S [D06|1010] Destination: Unknown

Reply #2 –
[ PO1 Mickayla MacGregor | Cinsaj's Cockpit | AC-507 Mk I Reaver | Azure Nebula | At Warp ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Multificionado
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"At least it hurts less now,” Mickayla thought to herself as she shifted slightly, drifting mentally. “Of course, even I know that might not necessarily be a good thing. I could just be dying a nice, slow, slightly less painful death than I could have.”

Their positions in the cramped cockpit along with the limited lighting available made it impossible to tell how much blood she had lost. She couldn’t even tell by feel because she had been sweating so much earlier that her entire body felt saturated. She had even considered asking Dev to check but the Lieutenant was busy piloting the ship. Which left her nothing to do but wait and see if she would drift off and die or wake up in some ship’s sickbay. 

“You look pale,” Dev’s voice sounded far away even though the woman was right next to her; any closer and they’d know each other intimately, something that they really didn’t have time for now, if ever. While she’d thought about woman that way, especially after her transfer off the Artemis to the Endeavour. “Are you sure you are all right?”

“Nothing we could do about it if I wasn’t,” Mickayla responded disparagingly. She wasn’t sure if Dev heard her response or not; she wasn’t even sure if she had replied vocally. Nothing seemed important anymore. Somewhere far off, she heard Lieutenant Drake begin to speak but his words were lost on her as she began to drift again.

Re: CH05: S [D06|1010] Destination: Unknown

Reply #3 –
[ Devyrie "Dragon" Okhala | Cinsaj's Cockpit | AC-507 Mk I Reaver | Azure Nebula | The Versant ] Attn: @Stegro88 @Multificionado 
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It was clear, at that point, that the Klingon was far worse off than Devyrie had suspected. She frowned towards the woman, and then turned her head to look at Drake, who had begun to try and reach the Theurgy over comms even if the ship wasn't yet seen on sensors, much less communication range. The man was apparently an idiot, but at least he had something to do instead of trying to initiate conversation with the two women at his side again. She couldn't let him signal their whereabouts to any Savi pursuers, however, so without him noticing, Devyrie switched off the comm system.

As it were, Devyrie had no idea if the Theurgy would be able to see their pursuit, but she had a gut feeling they couldn't, because the Reaver's sensor array was more advanced in terms of range despite its size. It meant that while they could see the trail and had been able to see the ship passing them by, the Theurgy hadn't likely noticed them. Was it the Theurgy though? It has to be... thought Devyrie, while trying to come up with something to do for the Klingon.

"Hey," she said to Mickayla, locking the Reaver on autopilot along the warp trail, and removing her helmet. The bun of her hair became undone, and her white braids spilled free over her shoulders. She tried to look for a medkit again, even though the cockpit was entirely unfamiliar to her. "Your name. It doesn't sound Klingon at all. MacGregor, it's from Earth, right? I'm from Alpha Centauri but we have a lot of culture there from the human settlers. Care to tell me how that happened?"

She suspected that it was only a matter of time before the woman drifted off, and by then, it might be too late. They needed to reach the Theurgy so that a doctor could look at her. Worst thing was that Dev didn't know how hurt she might be. "Just keep talking. I'm going to find some kind of medkit, and then I'll need to open that suit, okay? Just hang in there, all right?"

Drake had stopped talking behind Dev, looking at them, but she was in no mood. "Eyes forward and keep at it, Lieutenant."

The man did a double take and resumed his narration of the distress call, keeping his eyes on the sensors, even if there was still nothing out there. As long as he didn't bother her or tried to talk about Lau again, Devyrie didn't care. That was when she spotted something with the kind of logo a medkit might have, only it was wedged right underneath the Klingon. Shit...

"Hey, don't stop talking, but try to lift that bottom of yours a little bit, okay? I think you're sitting on the medkit. You hear? Just a little bit?"

Re: CH05: S [D06|1010] Destination: Unknown

Reply #4 –
[ PO1 Mickayla MacGregor | Cinsaj's Cockpit | AC-507 Mk I Reaver | Azure Nebula | At Warp ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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“My name? What does my name have to do with anything?” Mickayla wondered. The lieutenant’s voice seemed so far away, like she was shouting across a chasm. “Hasn’t she ever heard a Scottish name before? AC? No wonder. How I’m a Klingon with a Scottish name? Don’t we have anything more interesting to talk about?”

“I’m Scottish,” Mickayla mumbled softly, surprised at how far off her own voice sounded. “I’m only Klingon on the outside.”

“My suit, eh, what else can be done to me,” Mickayla bemoaned, disenchanted. “I might even enjoy it, given that I’m naked under the suit. And isn’t the medkit under me? Right, that’s why she wants me to lift my butt.” Considering for a moment on how to argue with a superior officer, her ingrained Starfleet training took hold and knocked all of her objections aside. “Orders are orders,” Mickayla mumbled as she arched her body as much as she was able. She couldn’t tell how much clearance she provided but she held herself up for as long as she could until the pain from her wound sent her crashing back down. “Talking, right,” Mickayla noted, trying to distract her mind.

“My mother,” Mickayla began slowly, trying to distance herself from her own body. “She was visiting a planet at the same time as a Klingon freighter. Well, we Scots love a good pint or three and my mother woke up the next morning with no idea who she’d spent the night with. It wasn’t until later she found how she was even pregnant. Being single and with no way to track down my father, she went home to the highlands,” Mickayla recounted as her mind flashed back to her youth. She wasn't even sure if the lieutenant was even doing anything to her body. She couldn't feel anything but the pain from her wound.

“It wasn’t a bad life, but it was obvious that I dinna wholly belong,” Mickayla recollected. “Funny how you think of the start at the end.”

Re: CH05: S [D06|1010] Destination: Unknown

Reply #5 –
[ Devyrie "Dragon" Okhala | Cinsaj's Cockpit | AC-507 Mk I Reaver | Azure Nebula | The Versant ] Attn: @Stegro88
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Relieved that the Klingon still had the energy to lift herself just enough, Devyrie pulled out that medkit underneath the seat. It was of the current century, not some weird futuristic kit that may have been a part of the cockpit's original equipment. This kit was obviously placed her by the people that had repaired and stocked the Cinsaj, meaning either Sten Covington or someone on his Fighter Bay Ops crew.

Devyrie might not have been the one with the best grades in her year in the Academy when it came to medical duties, but she had graduated and had the bare necessities in terms of skill - knowing how to use the medical instruments in the kit. With half an ear, she listened to the woman speaking of her past and the reason for her name, saying she was Scottish even though Dev only had a vague grasp on what that meant - not being from Earth to begin with. The story made sense, at least, and she even recognised some of her own plights, having grown up with Romulan ridges on her forehead and having had pointe dears. No more.

"Okay, I just need to open up your suit," she said under her breath, and stole a glance towards Drake on the other side of the cockpit. He'd grown silent again, looking in their direction. "And you, keep focusing on the distress call and the sensors, will you?"

Once Gideon's head had snapped back to the HUDs, Devyrie undid the mag-zipper that ran down the centre line of Mickayla's Savi infiltration suit. The fastenings popped open, and more and more skin was revealed to the dim lighting inside the armoured cockpit. Caramel brown skin beaded in perspiration. It made Dev think about that night with Alessia Garcia, and she swallowed, the notions that came to her untimely and unbidden.

They were dispelled quickly enough, however, when the last couple of fastenings released, and the laceration was revealed. If done by claw or a stray beam of graviton weapon, Dev had no idea. She was a pilot, not a doctor, but she knew that the prime issue would have to be blood loss, given the amount that was trapped between the Klingon's suit and her skin.

"Tell me about Scotland and your early career," she instructed the Klingon, picking up a dermal regenerator. She didn't think there was enough time for a scan to begin with, instead treating the life-threatening wound immediately. She ran the light that emanated from the instrument over the flesh in order to knit it, and she tried to avoid looking at how the lights from the LCARS displays played over the woman's front.

Re: CH05: S [D06|1010] Destination: Unknown

Reply #6 –
[ PO1 Mickayla MacGregor | Cinsaj's Cockpit | AC-507 Mk I Reaver | Azure Nebula | At Warp ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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“I’ve considered playing the same side of the fence recently, but I thought it would be under better circumstances than me bleeding like a stuck pig,” Mickayla said to herself as she felt Dev undoing and opening her suit. She couldn’t be sure how much was on show or if it was just the cockpit’s air getting in under the suit, but it certainly felt like at least a part of her upper body was fully exposed as Dev asked about Scotland and early career. “I wonder if she likes the view. Funny how a person’s mind goes to random places. Eh, she's an officer and I'm just a grunt.”

“Scotland is like no other place in the universe,” Mickayla began slowly, softly, realising how stupid that sounded and yet still believing it wholeheartedly. “The rolling hills of the highlands, the smells flooding your nose first thing in the morning and the sound of the wind as it blew past you. I could live their forever and never grow tired of it,” Mickayla described wistfully. “At least, if I was allowed too. Now, now I don’t think they’d let me. And for the same reason I left the first time to join Starfleet; I don’t fit in.”

“Starfleet was better,” Mickayla noted, feeling her abdomen begin to tingle; not that she was sure if that was a good or bad thing. Numb might have been better at this point.“I enlisted in 2369 and was assigned to the Lexington’s security department upon graduation. I stayed there until the Enterprise-E was launched and I was transferred to it.”

“And then the Borg happened,” Mickayla remembered, involuntarily shivering as the memories of the Battle of Sector 001 threatened to rise up. “After the battle, I was promoted to Petty Officer 3rd Class and transferred again to the Artemis.”

Re: CH05: S [D06|1010] Destination: Unknown

Reply #7 –
[ Devyrie "Dragon" Okhala | Cinsaj's Cockpit | AC-507 Mk I Reaver | Azure Nebula | The Versant ] Attn: @Stegro88
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While she ran the dermal regenerator across the laceration, Devyrie's worried frown was concealed by the dark visor of her helmet.

That's it, keep talking, she said, and while she had only Academy level of medical training, she was fairly sure the only reason why the Petty Officer was still alive was because she was fully Klingon now. The amount of blood decorating her skin below the cut, as well as pooled inside that suit, was quite a lot. Her chest area was unblemished, however, and Devyrie was very glad to be wearing a helmet considering how much skin was on display and how warm her own cheeks felt. Had to be the temperature in the made-for-one cockpit, she told herself. This was when she noticed how Drake had ceased narrating the distress call.

"Would you mind?" said Dev, rounding on the man with her helmet, and Gideon caught himself returning attention to the sensors.

"It's... It's stopped. Theurgy-class. It is the Theurgy. You were right," he said, eyes wide at seeing the registry on the sensor readings. "Reaver Cinsaj to the Theurgy! Come in! Wait! No, it's gone. It has gone to warp again. It doesn't look like it picked up my distress call either."

This was when Devyrie realised she had switched off the feed from the comm array to keep the fighter hidden, and she cursed herself. The Theurgy had been right there, within range, and they had just quietly watched her go off at warp again. The time for laments were not then, however. It wasn't conductive to the mission. "Where is she heading?"

"I have it's bearing... Here."

"Setting an intercept course. Seems like we can't go faster, but it seems like we're able to maintain the same speed as the Theurgy. If she stops again, we'll be able to drop out of warp a couple of minutes after her." Devyrie had disengaged the autopilot and done as she said. She soon made sure to close up Mickayla's infiltration suit with one hand, and then reach for one of the ration packages. "Here, Petty Officer. Eat. That's an order. If you want to stay alive, you need to get some new energy, and let that body of yours generate some new blood plasma and stuff. Come on now, eat."

Hardly a doctor, she was, but Devyrie had no better ideas. A fine body it was to take care of, and the Petty Officer was a good fighter. Dev's father would surely be impressed with the Klingon. Yet most of Dev's thoughts were now on the Theurgy, and the fact that she'd been right. She was only another warp jump to get back to the other Wolves. She hoped to see them all there. Terror, Sniper, Witchking.

 And Angel.

OOC: One more from you Stegro, closing out this short thread since we're due in Space Trash Rampage? :)

Re: CH05: S [D06|1010] Destination: Unknown

Reply #8 –
[ PO1 Mickayla MacGregor | Cinsaj's Cockpit | AC-507 Mk I Reaver | Azure Nebula | At Warp ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
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“I might live through this yet,” was the thought that crossed Mickayla’s mind as she lay there while the lieutenant worked at her injury. She wasn’t sure how effective the treatment was, she could neither see nor feel clearly what was being done to her, but she guessed that it couldn’t overly get worse for her. “Worse would be me bleeding to death in this cockpit.”

Movement from the pilot drew her attention as the lieutenant turned to face Lieutenant Drake, the two conversing about the sensors and communications before the Theurgy pilot plotted an intercept course for her ship.

“What are the odds of finding the Theurgy all the way out here?” Mickayla wondered to herself as other thoughts occurred to her. “Do I have a choice if I want to live? Do I want to live? Should I try to live so as to perform my duty to Starfleet and the Federation and make sure that the renegades are brought to justice?”

Her internal interrogation was interrupted by the pilot turning back to her, closing her suit back up and ordering her to eat a ration packet, where she got it Mickayla didn’t know. Without looking at the packet to see its contents, Mickayla began to slowly consume it as her mind returned to its ruminations of the future.

“What to do?”

~FIN~
 
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