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Main OOC Board / Re: Main OOC Thread
Last post by Dumedion -
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Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: Ch 3 : The Meeting of Heroes (or Villains) [ Day 1 | 1500+]
Last post by Brutus -If he’d been bothered to be asked about this little party, he’d have said no, he didn’t think it was a good idea. But he hadn’t been asked, he’d been told. It seemed they were throwing security out the airlock for the sake of diplomacy. Certainly, his team had been allowed to follow standard protocols for both the Klingons and the Romulans who’d been transported aboard for the fancy dress ball from hell (his preferred mental description), but Kai didn’t feel like that was enough. Especially when they already had some whisperings of internal divisions on both sides of the street among the Romulans and Klingons. That was the perfect opportunity for madness to ensue and also, in his opinion, the perfect reason to NOT have a soiree with hors’d'oeuvres. The turbolift doors opened, revealing the blue-tinted face of Ensign Vojona. Kai nodded to the head nurse, shifting sideways to accommodate. “Are you on your way to the mess hall for the gathering?” Vojona asked after a moment of silence passed. Kai inwardly groaned but outwardly nodded, “I had to make a few arrangements in Security before making an appearance. I may not stay long, though.”
“I’m intrigued how things are progressing,” Vojona commented, “I wonder if anyone has made a comment about living out a pivotal moment in history.” Kai snorted, snarky words poised on the tip of his tongue when the tubolift doors opened again around Desk 4. Vojona was the first to respond, letting out a cry of alarm as he held out his arms to catch the bleeding mass that’d been leaning against the lift doors. Kai quickly looked from the woman cradled in Vojona’s arms, recognizing Ensign Tos after a moment, back into the corridor where she’d been standing. His eyes widened when he saw another bloodied body, female, her blonde head turned away, obscuring her features from recognition. “Theeey’re,” Tos’s feeble voice interrupted Kai’s movements to withdraw his phaser, readying himself to investigate, “still…” her eyes rolled back, body slack. Frowning, Kai tapped his badge, ready to alert his team. Nothing happened. With growing misgivings, he went for the communication on the turbolift, nothing. And now, the turbolift itself didn’t seem to want to respond. “There must be some kind of disruptive field set up on this deck. Ensign,” Kai shifted closer to the open turbolift doors, whispering over his shoulder, “keep working on this console and see if you can get the turbolift moving again or if you can contact anyone outside this deck. I’m going to see who ‘they’ are.”
“Yessir.” Vojona stuttered as he gently laid Tos’s limp head on the turbolift floor and moved to take Kai’s place by the turbolift console. A few steps outside the turbolift, Kai stopped his advance, looking back to Vojona. “Do you have a phaser?” The nurse shook his blue head, and Kai sighed. “Try not to attract any attention then.” Vojona nodded, leaving Kai to continue his investigation. Making it to the woman without incident, Kai turned her head and swore. It was Marika from Engineering. A clean break of the neck. Whoever was fucking around on this deck didn’t want anyone to find out what they were doing. Filled with righteous fury that someone dared to invade his ship and kill crewmates on his watch, Kai advanced further. Little did he know that he and Vojona would soon meet the same fate as Tos and Marika, struck down by the heavy reality of what happens to the monkey in the middle of a divided house.
OOC: The plot thickens. Credit to @Ellen Fitz for adding more blood in the waters
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Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: Ch 4 S [ Day 01 | 1915 ] The Remains of a Crew
Last post by Ellen Fitz -Curling her neck and using the momentum to push off the wall, Ehfva studied the human as she began an internal struggle. At least, that’s what Ehfva presumed was happening. Her whole body was wracked with writhing desperation to breathe normally; one hand settled on her chest as if it could anchor her or guide her back into a stable condition again. Still lacking the strength to stand, all Ehfva could do was remain seated at the woman’s side, peering up at her from the cold floor of their cell.
A heartbeat passed before a memory of her own youth returned and, with it, an idea of how to help Sash. Ehfva closed her eyes, placing one hand-paw on her belly and the other on her chest. The chant started softly, rough at the edges, barely discernable above Sash’s pants. But as Ehfva drew internal strength from the steady rhythm of her heart, the chant deepened in her gut, rumbling more clearly across her sore vocal cords, now clearly audible above the woman’s pants. Sash would not know the words or even recognize them as words, and neither would she know of its purpose as a healing chant from her grandparents’ clan, but Ehfva hoped the sound of it would be enough to distract her from the internal struggle, pulling her out again.
With her eyes closed and mouth-jowls open as she continued the chant, it was easy for Ehfva to picture the healing circle where she’d first heard it. One of the younger kits had been grievously injured on a hunt and was not expected to survive the night despite the healer's efforts. Instead of adjourning to their own huts to mourn what seemed an inevitable loss, the elders had sat paw-to-paw around the kit and chanted this song through the night. Their voices were raw and barely recognizable as voices from the living and not emitting from beyond the grave come morning time, yet their efforts had proven true. The kit had recovered, and from that point forward, Ehfva made an effort to learn all the chants of her clan, the healing chants, the war chants, the mating chants, any and all of them; she desired to know them and use them. She’d always known there was power in the community and had seen the power of music within the community.
Though she lacked her mate or peers in this cell to lend their voices to the chant, the echoes of her efforts lent themselves to creating an almost choral echo. No doubt she would be punished for this by their captors, for daring to bring music into the midst of their misery, but to be punished for sharing beauty…that was a punishment to be transcended.
"Saahssshh," Ehfva opened her eyes, studying the young woman, "you beetttter?"
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Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: PRO S [ Day 1 | 1200hrs ] ALL ABOARD the Crazy Train!
Last post by Ellen Fitz -“We have some contacts within the FNN who are doing what they can to tell the truth, and there’s also at least one other major communications player using his network to spread the truth, but as far as we know, all these avenues are being hunted down and silenced.” Cross gave a half-shrug. “Diplomacy with those who would curtail truth and free speech is not likely to progress far.”
The man seemed more resigned to his fate, so to speak, as the conversation had progressed, and for that, Cross was glad. It would not have done anyone any favors if he’d left this conference lounge as wound up as he’d been only a few minutes prior. His comments about not envying the captain and being grateful for his position as a pilot had elicited a few inward smirks from Cross. As this didn’t seem the appropriate time to curtail the man’s delight in anonymity, he kept to himself the reality that at every level of the ship, they’d each, at some time or another, been forced to make a hard call.
“I have no questions at this time, Ensign. I know you have much to study before your mission launch, so I’ll say the more SOP onboarding interview after we all rendezvous.” He didn’t need to add that it was entirely possible neither of them would be at said rendezvous. Cross gave the ensign what he hoped was a bolstering smile of reassurance. “And your impression is correct. So stay on your toes and give it your best, no matter what comes your way.” He stood and offered his hand to the man in the old Terran custom. "Good luck."
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Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: CH 2: S [Day 01 | 1700hrs] Cross on the Titan
Last post by Ellen Fitz -Cross laughed at Winters’ pun, “Not a savory thought, that. Direct injection indeed.” His fingers remained on his temple as the Kzin continued, listing a number of remedies for a headache. Cross, of course, focused on one in particular and smiled. “The getting off option sounds like, but sadly, my girlfriend is on another mission. I could take care of it myself, but with how this is feeling right now,” he pointed to his head, “I doubt I’d even get a hard one.”
Dropping his hands to his sides, Cross frowned as he contemplated his diet and hydration of the day. It’d not been great, of course, but it hadn’t been the worst either. He had noticed some of the foods he’d used to really enjoy before the Savi “corrected” him no longer seemed to sit right on his stomach. Likely it was the changes in his genes continuing to fuck up his life. He recalled how the sugary drinks with Blue and Hathev had also had a stronger impact on his system than before the correction.
“Fuck.” He growled. “The gift that keeps on giving. It probably does have a lot to do with diet and such. I’ve just not had the time or inclination to remain focused during every meal since the correction to figure out what seems to sit well and what wants to rebel. There are also days I just don’t have time to eat a proper meal either.” Catching the Kzin’s eyes, Cross sighed. “I should probably hit the showers, a cold one, and head down to the Arboretum lounge for dinner. If you’ve not been down there yet, they’ve got good food, and typically, the entertainment is solid.”
He gestured to the mat and the surrounding gym, “Thanks for the sparring match, Winters. I’d like to do this again, not weeks or months down the road either. I think it’d do us both good to have something like this on the regular.” He smiled. “And you’re welcome to join me for dinner or any other meals as well. If I manage to sit my ass down to eat a proper meal, I try to change it up so it's not always the mess hall.” Cross jutted his chin toward Winters' tail. "I'm serious about trying to figure out some sort of counter to that, an edge I can incorporate even if I wasn't born with one of those beauties."
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Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: Ch 5 S [ D02 | 0600 hrs.] Old Friends Die Hard
Last post by Ellen Fitz -The day had started well enough for Terrh. They’d managed to track down some dissidents daring to speak against Tal’Aura and were in the process of discovering where their allies were, and they’d also arrested a few fools who’d openly spoken of the archaic notion of reunification with Remus; they would be interrogated later. Though successful, it didn’t feel like today would be any more or less special than the days before it.
But then he’d gotten the report, and now it seemed this day was looking like it would be quite eventful. Pressing a button on his console, Terrh gave himself a genuine smile of predatory delight while waiting for his aide. The smile retreated to the interior once his aide arrived.
“Ready a task force to deploy to Avral Tel. It seems an old family…friend has decided to return to Romulus and with some new friends in tow.” Piercing the aide with a firm look, Terrh lowered his voice to a menacing level as he handed over the data chip with the pertinent encrypting information. “We will capture anyone associated with this man and return them to the Citadel for questioning. It would be best to keep as many of them alive as possible as they will have much to share with us, but if a few die in the process, so be it.”
“Understood, general.” The aide left after a curt salute.
Standing up from his desk, Terrh moved to his viewing window and looked out at the other levels of the Citadel, the smile returning.
“I wonder why you decided to return. The wayward son of Romulus.” Terrh’s lips pulled upward in a deeper smile. “And I wonder if your parents know you’re here. I’m sure they’ll enjoy a reunion.”
With his thoughts curving around his history with the tr’Ethien’s and tr’Aimne’s, Terrh found delight in visualizing the inevitable encounter he would soon have with the living “unfinished business” of his past. Given the type of company that the clan tended to keep and the audacious ideas they held regarding the Tal Shiar Terrh, I was assured that whoever was traveling with the younger tr'Aimne was of a similar traitorous mindset as Hirek. Meaning a trip to the Citadel was assuredly in order.
NOTE: This Romulan ass-hate is the one who found out about Hirek's uncle's work with Starfleet Intelligence and managed to get him executed at the same time that Enyd's mother and later father died partially because of his single-minded desire to destroy anyone who opposed the Tal Shiar, especially those from the fairly libertarian Uuluma Islands. Just wanted to pull on some old ties to up the stakes of our meeting with the contact and to bring us closer to the other story prompt, where everything falls apart at the Citadel. So yeah, we've got Tal Shiar agents after us, thanks to hunky Hirek. What a dweeb...
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Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: Ch 4 : Knock Knock! [Day 1 | 1800+]
Last post by Ellen Fitz -“You know you really shouldn’t wrinkle your nose when you’re about to make a decision,” Kala didn’t bother looking up at Sarah’s comment from across the table and instead kept her focus on the cards in her hand, “it’s a dead giveaway on what kind of hand you have.”
From her left, Nara chuckled, “How can you tell she’s wrinkling her nose?”
Far from being offended at the teasing allusion to her Bajoran nose features, Kala chuckled alongside the scientist. “And how do you know I’m not doing it intentionally to give you a false sense of security?”
“False sense of security or not, I’d appreciate it if you’d just play your hand.” Scruffy dryly commented, voice marginally muffled as he cupped his chin in his hand, elbows braced on his knees.
“Fine.” Kala decided and slapped the card down on the growing pile, eliciting a round of moans and sighs from her fellows.
Now that the focus was on Scruffy, Kala leaned back in her chair and allowed a studious glance around the common area of the habitation hull the Savi had begrudgingly granted them use of for the duration of their travels. The “hospitality” their for-now allies offered was far more accommodating than what Kala had expected, but, as she reminded herself, the Theurgy and its crew were a means to an end for the Savi. It was always best to keep the pet monkey fed and watered if you wanted them to perform.
Rolling her eyes at the thought, her gaze wandered over her fellow card players. In truth, an eclectic group had been sent on this mission. That was no surprise considering the wide-spanning parameters of what the Savi wanted and what the Theurgy hoped to accomplish by this mission. For herself, Kala held no love for the Savi even if she understood not all were complete assholes. Being on the battle bridge when the captain was kidnapped hadn’t won the Savi any favors, regardless of which “side” they happened to be on in their internal fight. Sitting across from her was Sarah, from Intelligence, a woman who seemed to operate best on her own and yet was being forced to do teamwork. Beside her was Nara from Science and a force to contend with as well, not so unlike Sarah in her preference to work alone, and yet she was tasked with sharing her own research and expertise far beyond what she was comfortable doing. And rounding out their little group was Scruffy from Engineering; at one point in time, he’d been part of Task Force Acheron and had even been nearly killed alongside many of his crewmen in the battle in the Azure Nebula.
“Scruffy,” Sarah’s singsong chanting of the man’s name interrupted both Scruffy’s concentration and Kala’s musings, “let’s go! Scruffy!”
“It’s no wonder you’re on this mission,” Scruffy fired back at her as he made his decision, dropping his cards on the pile, “they wanted some peace and quiet in the department.”
Sarah snorted, “Ha! That’s a laugh. I’m not even the most annoying one.”
As the banter continued, Kala smiled, allowing her focus to wander once more, studying the various other crew members as they mingled at the other small tables throughout the common area as well as those passing through, either on their way back to their temporary quarters or taking a sanctioned walkabout in the open areas they’d been escorted through by their Savi handler. It wouldn’t be long before they got an update, of that Kala was sure. They’d been underway long enough that no doubt they’d be crossing into the area of operations soon, and there was no telling what other “side quests” the Savi may ask of them even before they got to Hobus Station.
Spotting a few other crewmates standing in the "in-between" of tables and not exactly going hither or thither, Kala motioned to them, indicating the empty seats at their table. With how things were going, this round would end soon anyway, and others could easily join in. Before any of the newcomers could arrive, however, an announcement came over the PA they'd been instructed to use for this portion of the ship. It was Leavitt, their mission lead. True enough, they'd crossed into the area of operations, and just as Kala suspected, based on who Leavitt called to meet with him, there were already some "side quests" the Savi were hoping they'd investigate.
Catching Sarah's gaze, Kala gave a nonchalant shrug. "Well, deal another round if tonight is our last night before chaos. I'm feeling lucky."
NOTE: This thread occurs BEFORE all the story prompts (including the one already ongoing). It can be assumed that crew members will hear of the aforementioned area of operations update, along with the approximation that those not embarking on those side-quest (story prompt) missions should be ready for "go" time early the next morning. Chapter members may post their responses to the information update, later launch sequences, and the night before the battle in their replies here. After enough replies from folks are cataloged, the interactions may continue in one-on-one threads while @Brutus leads the thread into the early hours of the next day, when the battle may begin.
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Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: Ch 4: S [D01 |1830] Second Station from the right and straight on till its over
Last post by ob2lander961 -
Ens. Via "DixeBee" Wix |Wolf-16| Hobus System] Attn: @Eden @ RyeTanker @Tae [Show/Hide]
Via didn't regret much in her life. Growing up she had made a lot of bad choices, many of which if she hadn't had her "guardian angel" sister around would've caught up with her at some point. There was a pretty good chance she would've wound up dead like her brothers or worse end up like her mother, but in the end, she didn't regret her life circumstances. However in her small instance of reflection, as she piloted her fighter to attack a highly advanced alien facility defended with technology centuries ahead of anything the Federation or even other galactic powers could field, attacking with only a few others and a shuttle as backup, she had one regret.
"I swear your bitch ass is goin' to be suckin' vac in the next second if you don't shut up!" Via said with a restrained rage back towards her temporary RIO replacement for Charles who had been tapping his finger against the dashboard and muttering worries to himself from pure anxiety the entire flight.
"What if it's a trap?!" the young Bajoran RIO cried out. "Prophets, I heard the Savi don't destroy you. They abduct you strip you naked and...probe you... I don't want to be a science experiment!!"
Via rolled her eyes. Her regret was she took Charles and his "Blonde ass" for granted. At least he wasn't this much of a whiney crybaby...just naggy.
"I'll probe you with my foot up your ass if you don't stop being a whiney ass bitch and watch the sensors." Via exasperated.
The threat didn't do much to change the RIO's deamor and the woman started praying to herself which only made the young pilot sigh in annoyance. Wanting to focus on something else before she actually did reach back there and strangle the Bajoran Via opened a channel to the entire flight and spoke.
"My ass wants a new RIO, my first kill is bout to be her." she paused for a response if there was any. "Ain't we supposed to go over the game plan or somethin'? Once that slow-ass shuttle starts boostin' to that landin' zone how are we going to wreck shit up until it's time to get outta there? Tryin' to blow some dumbasses." Via said innocently with her eccentric enthusiasm somewhat returning.
Once the station came into view the young pilot immediately switched on keeping her flighter in league with whatever maneuver the flight lead ordered out. Her RIO however still was in her own mind worrying about the battle to come which prompted Via to shift her attention once more back to the Bajoran.
"Wake your ass up do your job dumbass! Get spottin'!" Via yelled back and the RIO frantically got to work.
"Sorry ma'am! Sorry!"
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Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: Ch 3 : The Meeting of Heroes (or Villains) [ Day 1 | 1500+]
Last post by Nesota Kynnovan -Attn: @Ellen Fitz, @Brutus, @Stegro88, @Dumedion, @P.C. Haring, @JacenSoloDjo, @Juzzie, @GroundPetrel, @Eirual
To say that Ensign Jaya Thorne wasn’t overly fond of diplomatic gatherings would be an understatement. Having only been promoted to the rank of Ensign mere weeks ago, she hadn’t even bothered to replicate herself a dress uniform appropriate of her new rank. In fact, she had worn her old NCO dress uniform just once on an occasion which she couldn’t even remember. She was pretty sure that the grease stain from that particular event’s afterparty was still in it though.
Regardless, Jaya had actually planned to take a rain check on this particular event and, in doing so, perform a feat which she had perfected into an absolute form of art over the years; dodging her responsibilities. Her plans for the evening involved changing into something much more comfortable and taking her sweet time painting the scale model of that Nova-class Light Research Cruiser which she finished building a couple of days earlier. She had almost gotten away with it too if she hadn’t encountered a group of fellow junior officers on Deck 10. Jaya noticed that everyone in the small group was dressed up in their own dress uniforms and clearly on their way to the diplomatic event. Unfortunately for the brunette Assistant Chief CONN Officer, they also noticed her before she could slip into her quarters and her quickened pace was promptly mistaken for a rushed attempt at getting ready for the party, as opposed to the attempt to sneak into her quarters without drawing unwanted attention onto herself which it had really been. To make matters even worse, Jaya vaguely knew some of them from the hours she’d spent playing cards in the Whetstone Lounge and the entire group promptly offered to wait outside her quarters for her to get ready so they could go to the bridge crew mess hall as a group.
As such, having failed to dissuade her fellow junior officers, Ensign Jaya Thorne now found herself standing in the bridge crew mess hall in a freshly replicated dress uniform. The pressed collar of the tunic was itching the back of her neck, the skirt kept riding up ever so slightly when she walked and, given that her newly replicated knee-high boots weren’t properly walked in yet, she could feel a blister forming on the ball of her left foot. Despite all that, Jaya’s face was adorned by the signature smirk which she seemed to wear 24/7 while she made a brave attempt to mingle. It was easier said than done though because of the very reason why she held such a distaste for these particular events; there were just too many sycophants, brown-nosers and yes-people looking for an easy way up. While Jaya always considered herself to be relatively easy-going, she simply never managed to connect to those kinds of people because an easy way up (or any way up for that matter) had never been a thing she aspired to. All it would lead to, after all, were additional responsibilities which Jaya knew she could do without.
After some searching, Jaya eventually found someone else who appeared to be all by herself as well. While she had never seen the other woman, which was an accomplishment all in itself given how the Zaroodian towered over her by almost two full feet, she seemed friendly enough and, maybe more importantly, just as out of place as she was herself. ”Hello there!” As she held her pace right next to Kelestina, Jaya actually had to look up just so she could look the other woman in the eyes. ”I saw you were standing here by yourself so I thought I’d say hi. I’m Jaya!” While she spoke, Jaya’s initial annoyance over being forced to attend the diplomatic gathering was completely replaced by a genuinely friendly smirk which was only further accentuated by the friendly tone of her voice while she held out her hand in a friendly handshake. ”I don’t think I’ve seen you around before, it’s nice to meet you!”
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Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: Chapter 1: Triggered Much? [ Day 1 | 1800hrs ]
Last post by Nesota Kynnovan -Attn: @Stegro88, @Number6, @Ellen Fitz, @RyeTanker, @P.C. Haring, @Hans Applegate, @BipSpoon
Lieutenant Junior Grade Amanda Ashby briefly held her pace and knelt down behind a hoverjack which someone had left in the maintenance corridor. She had heard the announcements over the COMM system and, if those hadn’t been scary enough as they were, the eerie silence that followed made it even worse. It felt like anything could come at them at any time and, knowing (or rather not knowing) the Tal Shiar, there was a high chance that something would come at them indeed. From behind the relative safety of the crate which was loaded onto the hoverjack, the blonde-haired Martian closed her blue eyes and took a couple of deep breaths in an attempt to calm down and get her breathing back under control.
While she did so, Amanda reminded herself that she’d come here to do a job. Out of everyone aboard Theurgy, someone had considered her to be amongst the best people for this assignment and she wasn’t about to let anyone down. If she wouldn’t do her job because she was too busy cowering over nothing, someone else had to pull her weight as an additional burden.
With a final deep breath, Amanda steeled herself and opened her blue eyes once more. Not willing to be a burden upon anyone, the Martian Lieutenant Junior Grade now had her breathing (and her nerves) firmly under control again. She lowered her rifle and pulled up her tricorder with her right hand before scanning the crate on the hoverjack. A soft sigh escaped her lips upon discovering that she hadn’t been taking cover behind the one crate which they were looking for, and a relieved smile began to adorn her face.
The smile wouldn’t last though because, mere moments later, Amanda could hear a loud crashing noise followed by the voice of Ensign Cameron Henshaw booming over their internal communications. Contact. For a brief moment Amanda could feel the adrenalin coursing down her spine to give her that overly familiar cold shiver, but upon hearing the sound of phaser fire, she quickly put her tricorder back onto her utility belt and raised her rifle.
At first she hadn’t even registered that Tyreke Okafor had gone down, instead focusing on covering the Starfleet Officer who was running right in front of her. She could clearly see the mech standing there, trapped by an arc of energy, and for the briefest of moments she could see the body of a Starfleet Officer laying on the ground right before it. Before she could see who it was however, the Starfleet Officer in front of her began to fire at the mech and Amanda followed suit; aiming her own rifle and calmly pulling the trigger as Valyn Amarik had taught her. Strangely enough, the kind words of the woman now had a very soothing effect on her.
Don’t squeeze the trigger, gently pull it.
It wasn’t until the Starfleet Officer in front of her ran towards Cameron Henshaw and spoke up when Amanda managed to identify her as her friend; Lieutenant Amelya Rez. For the briefest of moments she turned her attention to the woman, given how the mech was stuck in the arc of energy and relatively harmless at the moment. When she saw how Amelya got elbowed in the chin, Amanda’s first instinct was to help her but upon seeing that Amelya began to drag Cameron from the room while firing her phaser at the mech, Amanda followed her example and opened fire once more, only pausing briefly to allow Amelya and Cameron to pass.
”I’ve got you covered!” Amanda wasn’t sure if Amelya had heard her response to the shout for more guns but, while her blonde-haired Trill friend began to treat Cameron behind her, Amanda kept shooting at the mech. It remained stuck in the arc of energy, at least for now, and parts of its damaged chassis now began to glow a hot shade of red from the sustained phaser fire. She was so focused that she didn’t even knew if anyone else was firing at that moment, but all she knew was that the mech was a threat that needed to be taken out. With that in mind, Amanda briefly looked over her shoulder, if only for a second, to shout”I need more firepower in here!”.