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Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge [Attn: Senior Staff]

[Ives to the Harbinger, come in.] A muffled, winded voice emanated on the Harbinger's Bridge.

Glancing towards Captain Vasser, T'Rena raised her chin where she stood by the Tactical Station, behind Helmswoman Aisha S'ithi and Chief of Operations Ravenholm who sat at the front of the bridge. "This is the Harbinger. It sounds like you are still outside, Captain Ives. Why are you deviating from the defence plan? You are supposed to be on the Theurgy's Main Bridge."

[It is of great tactical importance that I remain a while longer,] said the voice on the intercom, the sounds of a man running quite distinct. [The defence plan is still in effect, and I will be aboard as soon as possible, Commander. Is Captain Vasser present?]

"I am," said the Commanding Officer where he sat in his chair.

[Thea has confirmed that the Calamity left this System, yet her Reavers remained to destroy the shield we raised. She had us, but instead of finishing what she started, she stirred the volcanoes and took off. We are missing something... Keep your eyes open while we extract our people. We cannot make orbital Transports because of the volcanic activity, so stay atmospheric for as long as possible. Collect our shuttles. As soon as long-range sensors are operational, above all this radiation, watch your back out there.]

On the viewscreen, it could be seen how T'Rena hunted down the Reavers with the ventral weapons array, even if the ash clouds obstructed the view. If the Captain of the Harbinger gave the order, Conn and Ops would have to work together to collect evacuating shuttles, beam people aboard, hover close enough to the ground to help T'Rena fight off the Reavers threatening planet-side personnel. All this, and still avoid the billowing ash clouds and the even more dangerous pyroclastic surges that came down the mountains. T'Rena doubted they would, governed too heavily by emotions as they were. She was ready to shut them out and take over the Conn as required; to get her Captain out of there .

The danger to the extraction depended on whether or not the dome went back online, yet there was no way of knowing when or if that might happen. The Harbinger's remaining Valkyries were ready to provide cover fire, yet the Wing Commander - now styling himself Phantom - was not cleared for duty by medical even if he was already gearing up to fight. Would they still be deployed into the planet's hellfire? If it was up to the Executive Officer, she would have deployed the Valkyries anyway, since none in the squadron were quite sane anymore after all the losses they'd suffered. Yet more importantly, if the situation with the volcanic activtiy became worse, there were quite enough people aboard already to carry on with the mission. They should leave the stragglers behind. There was no room for misguided heroism.

Most of the Bridge personnel looked to their Captain for their orders, T'Rena included, yet she watched him for another reason; a theory having come to emerge during her meditations. Based on her ruminations, her year-long observations, she could not let harm befall Captain Vasser, for he might be the only way to thwart the Federations new enemy in due time.

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #1
[Declan Vasser - Bridge]

Leave it to Captain Ives to take the death-defying mission on solo.  It was almost expected of Captains nowadays, wasn't it?  Kirk, Picard, Sisko; they always put themselves at risk, and Jien Ives was no different.  Vasser was already on his ship, seated in the captain's chair, manning his skeleton crew.  The majority of his people were assisting the Theurgy, leaving them working lighter.  They didn't get as many repairs done on the Harbinger as they hoped, but she could fly, and she could fight if need be.

"I'm afraid we won't be much use to the fire fight against the Reavers.  Those targets are too small and fast for anything but a Valkyrie.  Ops, let's help the Theurgy where we can, and sync our telemetry with theirs.  That should help boost their transporter range.  Helm, let's get in a defensive pattern.  We will watch Theurgy's back, keep any pressure off them while they focus on their Captain."  Theurgy was the ship that contained most of their crew, most of the technology and firepower that would keep them safest.  Harbinger had to lay down it's life for that ship, if it came to it.

"You're giving me that look, Commander.  You think my human need to defend a fellow officer on what you would call a suicide mission is illogical."  T'Rena had been his first officer long enough for him to her looks, even if she insisted that there was no such thing, that "Vulcans did not give looks."  She could say what she wanted, but he knew.  "Jien Ives is down there, and you can be damned sure there is a reason.  He'd risk his life for any member of his crew, but when the stakes are this high . . . this is more important then just his pride as a commanding officer.  We support them, just as we promised when we made this partnership."

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #2
"An irrefutable arguement, sir," said T'Rena in answer, turning her flat stare towards her Captain, "I do not believe Captain Ives has deviated from our agreed-upon tactics on the basis of pride. I believe he is misguided; unable to see the greater importance of leaving this valley as soon as possible for the sake of Starfleet and the Federation as a whole. His misguided action has now upended our agreement of partnership, and thrown us to his mercy. This, of course, if we are to do as promised. His odds of survival are dropping by the second, along with ours."

Abandoning the attempt to shoot upon the Reavers at the indication that only the Valkyries might catch up with the superiorly advanced attack fighters, she tuned her gaze to her control panel in order to sound the signal for the Phantom's squadron to deploy. "At which point are the odds low enough to merit a hasty departure, Captain?" she continued as she worked, a spectre of emotion in her heart that was not given voice. Not in the least. She would not let frustration surface, even if she knew more than she let on. Captain Vasser could not be allowed to risk his life on the same grounds the Theurgy's Captain did. "Shall I notify you when our chances are below thirty percent? Twenty? How far do we trust the diplomatic envoy who failed to negotiate peace on Romulus? His judgement was erroneous then, and it might as well be again."

T'Rena glanced towards the two women at the front of the Bridge, one Cardassian and one cybernetically augmented Human. Neither worth a breath of interest beyond making sure they did as ordered. Captain Vasser had already given them theirs, so unless they complied without hesitation, she would not speak to them. "Deploying Valkyries. Flight Hangar doors opened. Shield harmonics synced for departure. Four, six... eight attack fighters in the air. Commander Klinvoss, do you read us?"

The main view-screen flickered to life as T'Rena activated the feed to the Wing Commander's cockpit, with the scarred man's mismatched eyes staring upon them all through the gleaming visor of his helmet.  [This is Dor'GhItlh Squardon, reading you loud and clear,] rasped the volatile man, his voice having turned monstrous after his late injury, and he still refused to have his face treated - still as scarred as it had been after the burns had been neutralised. Like a ruin covered with moss, the fact of his injury was plain even if the skin had ceased to leak puss and the nerve endings died. [Standing by for orders.]

T'Rena glanced towards Captain Vasser. They were only eight, but eight of the best pilots in the Galaxy, having survived for so long as they had under the kind of duress the Harbinger had suffered. Were they to protect the Theurgy, the Harbinger, the collapsed Triage Centre or defend the valley as a whole together with the Theurgy's Lone Wolves? Besides these obvious choices, there was no shortage of places, people and objects to defend in the valley. T'Rena watched her Captain as he made his decision.

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #3
The young Cardassian cursed to herself as she repeatedly keys in a command on her station.  We aren't moving an inch! Repulsors wont fire up, and if I fire up impulse or thrusters the engine wash, well let's just say the volcanoes will be the least of the people on the ground's worries if I do that.

The cyberneticialy augmented human nodded as she began keying in commands on the ops desk with machine like speed and efficiency.  If there were anyone there to see how her hands moved across the panel they would have sworn that the 'son of Soong' was still alive and on loan from the flagship.  "Yes sir, pushing as much engine power priorities as I can into the shields...and repulsor...Dammit! Shields just collapsed again!  And half the systems don't want to wake up!"  she said her hand seeming to smack against the side of the console in a bit of frustration as she got up from her seat and ran back to the engineering console and began bringing up power readings.  "Captain I think I found the problem."  She slid something over on the console then hit her combadge.  "Engineering get someone on the warp field generator station.  And don't argue with me I need you to do exactly what I say. Shunt every bit of energy you have for shields and weapons into it and reverse the resonance polarity for exactly 3 seconds and then shut the whole thing down.  Then try and bring up repulsors and project a warp field bubble around the ship on my mark."

She ran back to her seat as she brought up the needed displays.  "Ok, Do it!"  She said over the com to engineering.  The lights dimmed on the bridge for a second as the consoles seemed to shut down.  Then it powered back up and the ship seemed to shudder as a sensation of being pulled down was felt by everyone.  She ship was rising and the repulsors were doing their jobs.

Aisha smiled ear to ear.  "Defensive options coming online.  We have thrusters."  She said as she pushed the ship into a good defensive spot.  "We're in cover position.  Let's pray the shuttle jocks can pick up the stragglers."

The ops officer smirked.  "The volcanoes shouldn't be a problem anymore.  We've pretty much lost all shields but I have augmented the warp field to produce an electromagnetic repulsion field.  With any luck torps will detonate off of it instead of getting a direct impact.  Damage should be reduced by roughly 25 percent. It isn't much but it's all I can do till she shields can re-cycle.  As for volcanic debris, the threat is now significantly lower aside from large pyroclastic events.  Oh! By the way, telemetry systems seem to have just came online; telemetry data is now being shared."

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #4
"Come on now, T'Rena, if I mute the emergency countdown on the computer, what makes you think I want to hear odds of survival any more?"  It wasn't arrogance or hardheadedness that made him say it, but the fact that he knew well enough what their odds were.  Years of service with T'Rena had given him the ability to judge such things the same way she did.  With their shields down, and a new, improvised shield creating around them, Declan felt quite surprised by the efforts of the cybernetic human serving on his bridge.

"An augmented warp field, huh?  They'll have to add that one to the emergency manual."  This was why he loved having crew from outside Starfleet every now and then.  They had a penchant for thinking outside the box.

With the wing commander appearing on-screen, Declan issued his orders.  "Blast those Reavers out of the sky, if possible, but if they prove too wily, just try and get them out of ours and Theurgy's airspace.  We'll want an interference free take-off when the time comes.  Commander T'Rena, Oversee control of the tractor beam.  If Theurgy cannot move, or shuttlecraft or Valkyries go down, I want to make sure we pick them up and bring them with us."

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #5
[Acknowledged, Captain.] Phantom turned his head to change to squadron communications before he vanished from the view-screen. [Riptor, Titan and Smoke, you are with me, the rest take the southern peri-]

T'Rena was not even looking at the view screen, instead doing as ordered in powering up the tractor beam. She had raised her flat stare to look at the civilian on the bridge when she cut all power for a few moments - the annoyance of her own operation being hampered by her antics not showing in the least. Ravenholm might as well have done nothing at all if the First Officer's face could say anything about what was going on behind those dead eyes. Given the outcome of the highly irregular behaviour, T'Rena tolerated it without comment.

Finally the Cardassian former Marquis got the Harbinger off the ground and took them away from the closest approaching pyroclastic surges, and T'Rena saw that the chosen side of the valley was adequately defensible. "Tractor beam online, establishing communications with the closest shuttles."


OOC: Continuation free to expand upon from this point on! :)

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #6
Selena cursed... as she looked at her console.  "The hell is this...Engineering What the hell is going on down there; I was just alerted to a junction serge between the 5th and 12th interspacial coils.  Now 4th and 18th close those things off before the intermix chamber blows.

A calm voice responded from engineering.  "What are you talking about everything fine down here well fine considering everything else.  you sure you are reading things right civvie."

"Yes I'm goddamn sure, "Fleetboy  Ops console shows a breech in prog...wait a second.  What if its a false reading?  Someone down there start running a trace on the system operations message relays.  Ops resuming transport operations.

That said she began to resume the teleporter systems operations trying to beam up people from the surface at the moment before a chirp came in.  "Medical to ops whats going on were still waiting for patients."

"I'm beaming them up as fast as I can I cant help it that I can only materialize 2 at a time."

"2 at a time? We haven't had a single person beamed into the bay for the last 30 seconds.  Its like they just stopped coming in."

Luna's mind whirred in multiple thoughts one seeing to take precedence over any others.  Before she could speak up a voice came over the com system to her from engineering.  "Chief, the trace leads back to the security offices but I can't determine the authorization.  Looks high level though.  We just lost Tractor beam systems too appears to be coming from just down the corridor from security."

She nodded, "Damn... Engineering Go into Lock down mode and seal the core off.  I'm locking out all engineering controls from everywhere but the main bridge and Engineering.  No one gets in or out of that engine room understood." she then turned to the captain.  "I Am locking out all controls and operations that I can and rerouting them to bridge access only.  Whoever is doing this seems to be using admiral level access codes.  The best I can do is try and hide the system access from whoever this is as they try and access the routines and try and stop them."

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #7
[Harbinger - Brig]

The first thing that entered Dyan's mind was a dull throbbing pain originating from her right temple. The second thing that entered her mind was the fact that she was indeed still alive. The last thing she could remember was the butt of rifle making hard painful contact with the side of her head. Slowly her hand rose rubbing the side of her head snapping back just as quickly from the sharp twinge of pain. Only one of her deep green eyes opened as she looked at the darkened area of the brig her hand slowly came up feeling the other was sealed shut from dried blood. Her slender body fought the effort of sitting up as her one good eye scanned the the area around her her heart fell. Bodies littered the floor around her crawling forward she her pale skinned hand slowly reached out pressing her fingers against the cooling body seeing her suspicion was true. The young woman that lay at her feet was indeed dead. As quickly as she could she checked the other two bodies seeing they had suffered the same fate as the first. Her eye strained looking about the darkened room seeing the blood that splattered the walls telling the fight had been violent. Another body lay a few feet away and she couldn't tell if the person was alive or not. Looking back at the holding cells her blood ran cold seeing the cell that had once held Sonja Acreth was now empty. The culprit for the attack now all to clear.

As Dyan moved to try and push herself into a standing position a sharp stabbing pain shot through her arm causing a sharp pain filed gasp to slip out. Her head swam from the pain as she felt her stomach turn slightly. Biting her lower lip Dyan forced herself up stumbling towards the last body that remained. Her eye widened seeing David Cerrato laying still on the floor. "Please, please. Not you too," Dyan whispered as her hand gently pressed against his neck hoping to feel even a faint pulse. She waited but felt nothing but cold, dead, still skin under her fingers. Her head lowered as her eye closed. Defeat and anger flooded through her throbbing head. "Damn it," she muttered as she slowly as the realization sank in she alone had survived. Once more she pushed herself up feeling the same pain flooding through her shoulder. Unzipping her uniform jacket she took her time carefully on her shoulder seeing the all to familiar burn pattern that came from a plasma rifle. By all accounts she should have died along with the others. It was only that she was what she was that saved her.

She worked her way towards the intercom knowing the captain had to know what had happened. They had to know the others where dead and now they had a escaped. After that she would find a weapon and make sure that 'woman' payed for what she had done here. Reaching up she hit the intercom button before her eyes looked over the wound on her shoulder knowing she would have to bandage it. "Cardamone to bridge," she said waiting tell she heard the first response. "Captain, the power outage has compromised the holding cells. Sonja Acreth has escaped. All other security officers were killed in the attack," Dyan reported trying to keep it simple and precise so she could get her new orders. Hopefully to track the woman down.

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #8
[Declan Vasser - bridge]

Things never stayed as they were, even when they were already terrible enough.  Somehow, they always managed to get worse.  On top of a planet ready to destroy them with a volcano and automated attack ships taking pot shots, now they had a dangerous prisoner loose in the ship.  Declan wanted nothing more then to swear under his breath, but he had to maintain his composure, had to remain stoic and in control for the sake of his crew.  "Do we have a read on Ensign Acerth?" he asked his bridge crew, wanting to know they could detect her.  If they could, they could attempt to erect force fields or, failing that, beam her into one of the rooms onboard the ship that were too damaged to be opened, trapping her inside a makeshift jail cell.

Turning his attention to Dyan on the comm link, Declan addressed her next.  "Unless you can find other crew to join with, make your way to the bridge.  I won't have a crewman alone right now, not when too many things are going wrong."  Their crew was smaller now, with so many transfers to the Theurgy.  They couldn't afford to have any other crewman fall to injury or death, especially in a crisis where all hands on deck was not just a good idea, but a necessity of life.

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #9
As chaos unfolded upon the Harbinger, with the ship seemingly being gutted from the inside with misinformation and security overrides, T'Rena slowly raised her unblinking eyes from the tactical duty station.

Well before Petty Officer Cardamone contacted the Main Bridge, T'Rena had figured out what had happened. The human's brief yet full report confirmed that the new Chief of Security, David Cerrato, was dead. The Vulcan First Officer had not been the least sentimental when Dee - her protegé successor in the CSec position - died at the hands of Sonja Acreth. Just as little emotion kindled inside her now, when the fresh-faced David Cerrato had come to share the exact same fate. It merely served to facilitate the idea that to fight against these puppeteers of Starfleet - these parasitically augmented enemies - under the present circumstances was wearing their lines too thin, and the risk of their imminent demise would rise exponentially with every inexperienced child they promoted just to preserve the chain of command.

The vermin had taken tractor beam control away from her, so she addressed the present situation; running the search for the escaped prisoner. "Negative, Captain," she replied like a dispassionate yet cutting whip as she worked, "the joined creature has masked itself from internal sensors. Videologs are already unresponsive. Besides the systems operations trace from her insertion into our computer core, Ensign Acreth is undetectable."

When the Captain ordered the sole surviving security enforcer on the ship to come to the Bridge, T'Rena spoke up again.

"I will amend my previous statement, Captain. Ensign Acreth is undetectable unless, of course, apprehended in person. Chief Warrant Officer Ravenholm may have - depending on the creature's access - forced it to go to Main Engineering... or right here. Bridge to Petty Officer Cardamone, are you at operational status? Assuming Ravenholm has succeeded to contain access, I order you - as First Officer of this ship - to protect the Captain at all cost. Make haste, Petty Officer, and make sure you are armed."

In truth, T'Rena just needed someone to bring her a weapon, and to provide an obstructive body; an unimportant flesh shield to guard a more important body.

Captain Declan Vasser.

Ironically, not even he knew how important he was.

"Chief Ravenholm," said T'Rena next, "Reclaim our ship immediately. The enemy will have us dead by any means necessary, and we should assume that entails self-sacrifice. I suggest you take precautions that access is indeed restricted, and by all means, please refrain to power down the ship again. You might just have killed us all."

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #10
The usually calm and free spirited lady at the ops desk sneered, "Can't help but get what might be one last insult in on me can you ya green blooded bitch  and if I hadnt done that we wouldnt be alive to argue this point.  She said just under he breath loud enough that with the Vulcan's hearing she would hear her hoping the Captain wasn't able to as her words were hopefully for the Vulcan's pointed ears only.  It was clear there was no getting on the XO's good side.  Still she complied.  "I am 99 percent confident she is headed to the bridge rather than engineering.  I may not be able to track her in a traditional manner but with each system she attempts to wreck she lays a trail or crumbs that's impossible for any hacker worth their salt to miss... and done.  SHe's been locked out. and I have for lack of a better term created a rather creative diversion for her to deal with."  she said having erected a series of force fields thorough the decks.  Each force-field had a separate type of deactivation system.  Some traditional encryption some logic puzzles some voice passwords.  The programming types for each seemed randomly generated as well.  The enemy was cracking the systems by use of high level access codes.  she was accessing it by the ships computer seeing her as if she was an admiral.  instead Selena's encryption were not Starfleet in nature at all.  her way of stalling had been essentially sabotaging the forcefields security grid and replacing the controls commands and overrides with her own protocals.  THis enmy as no master hacker she just had access to fleet admiral level access codes.   Sure her abilities could get her through but as each forcefield went down it became obvious where on the ship she was.

"Maam, send our CSec the following instructions.  I have created a direct route for her with forcefield bypass codes.  The path will pass through one of the security weapons lockboxes and has its unlock code.  By my estimates is she follows this path her eta should be roughly 2 minutes before our intruder's."  she said this sending a series of instructions to the Tactical console.

Aisha watched as she had been concentrating on piloting, Each maneuver sent her near a cascade of debris but she had been able to avoid much of the fire from the attacking ships.  "Ravenholm, what do you know about deflector systems?"

Selena looked over, "They act as a form of shield detecting and repulsing small interstellar debris so that meteor impacts will not affect a ship traveling at warp speeds."

Aisha nodded, "Invert the Field and concentrate it to collect in front of the dish and give my console a command to revert the field back and forth on command. Secondarily i want a setting to project a stream of the deflection array forwards.  I think we may have ourselves two new weapons.  Those bastards Started making these mountains spew ash everywhere.  I think we should show them just how stupid they were for giving us an unlimited supply of ammo."

Selena nodded, "Of course! that's brilliant.  On one hand you are gonna collect it into a ball of rocky ash that can be fired like a giant shotgun and the other way...Dear God.  Captain.  If I do what she is mentioning I can have us a working weapon in less than 30 seconds."

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #11


Dyan listened silently to Declan's order as her mind slipped into a simple state of having an objective and having to work towards it. It was this simple state that she loved. It was pure. It was simple. All that mattered was achieving the goal set before her. For now that goal was making her way to the bridge. "Aye Captain," she said as she leaned against the wall she would need something besides her bare hands even if her hands where enough. She would find a way to get a weapon and she would get to the bridge. God help Acreth if their paths crossed.  Pushing herself off the wall Dyan was ready to leave when she heard name being spoke over the intercom once more. Leaning back she listened carefully to the first officers words. "I am still alive which means I am at operational status. Orders received," she said as she looked over the information that had been sent to her as she committed the path to memory. Her lips turned up to a satisfied smile seeing it would take her though a weapons lock boxes planing on taking as many of them as her body was willing to carry. Closing the com Dyan stepped out being careful to check both directions before she took off in a quick run hitting the first force field as she pulled up the puzzle that had been laid out to block unwanted access.

"No sooner spoken than broken. What is it?" the computer asked leaving Dyan staring at the controls for a few moments as she ran through the solutions.

"Silence," she spoke before the force field lowered as she dashed though hearing it come back on right behind her. Dyan moved quickly as she worked though a couple more puzzles, including a logi-number puzzle and a few more riddles before reaching the weapons lock box. Accessing the weapons she quickly pulled out rifles as she piled on as many weapons as she could. To say she was armed to the teethe would have been an understatement. She piled on every weapon she could carry. Bringing the rifle up she quickly checked the hallways once more as she quickly made her way towards the turbolift being sure to check her path was clear. After a couple more puzzles she finally reached the turbolift as she sped up towards the Main Bridge. As the turbolift doors opened Dyan was in a crouching position weapon aimed only to be met with an empty hallway. Slowly she started moving closer seeing the doors to the main bridge waiting for her at the end of the hallway.

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #12
Sweet darkness, enveloping me...

It was as if the gibbering hideousness that lurked inside Sonja Acreth had spilled into to the physical reality around her.

No one but her joined kin knew what went on beneath her surface. This ghastly festering power that had come to fill her every thought and action. At first, the darkness had been remote; like a voice out of the abyss of her fractured soul that was urging her on. Compelling her to do acts unspeakable as soon as she had the opportunity. The spectre of a malign, chaotic perversion of herself. A morbid blasphemy against her human nature.

True, she had known her kinship from the very moment she was joined. Her loyalty was unfaltering. Yet there was more. For over time, by relenting to the urges that bubbled up from the shadows - these ghoulish glimpses of atrocities she could do upon her friends and family - the diabolical thoughts had become embraced completely. The foulness was now her own mind. The terrible intelligence too; callous and unfeeling. It was everywhere in her perception. Like a gelatin filling her with horror beyond all memory. A maelstrom of relentless intent. Utter abomination. Because for all the hushed innuendoes that had once been inside her, and all the furtive tales of things that should truly matter, the shrieking roar was now ever present. She was no longer the girl she had been, no more the weak Ensign.

No more human. She was other. So much more. And yet the same; memories and personality from the life before taking on a spectral character. Sonja Acreth had become the surface façade of her new existence.

As she sat in the darkness of the turbolift shaft - having hidden from the survivor from the Brig by climbing up through the hatch before she could see her - the things that went on in her mind would curdle the thinnest blood. She had been heading for the turbolift immediately after initiating the sabotage that her kinsman had arranged, and she'd had to use a jefferies tube to get around a couple of forcefields. By the time she was through, the white-haired human was just at her heels. Sonja would have killed her by then from her hiding spot if the woman hadn't told the lift to go to the Bridge. As it were, she imagined terrible things done upon the occupant in the turbolift below her bare hands and feet. Grotesque distortions.

Splitting skin. Tearing guts. Biting eyes. Ripping flesh. Splitting bone. Blasting new orifices. Fuck them with rifle. Firing. Laughter. Laughter in rain. Blood rain. Flesh-puppet gone, gone, gone...

The turbolift stopped. Sonja waited until she heard her prey step out. Then, she removed the hatch as quietly as possible. Dropped down into the stark artificial light of the turbolift, stained in blood and wearing but her black underwear. Her Type III phaser rifle gleamed as she raised it from her crouching position. She started firing against the figure of the survivor, any perplexity as to her being alive repressed for the sake of bloodthirst, and what she would do once she reached the Main Bridge.

She opened her full lips and screamed in a horrific vocal tone not fully human... while her weapon coughed lethal energy into the corridor.

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #13
Dyan slowly moved forward knowing there was predator on the lose and if they met each other it would be a fight. She would win or she would die trying to bring down her prey. Such had always been her mind set. Win or don't move on. Dyan's muscles had only very slightly started to relax as she saw the doors of the bridge looming ever closer. She had just passed the briefing room when the bright flashes of laser fire caught her by surprise. Diving to the side her body made hard contact with the floor of the briefing room though her movements where not quick enough to spare her from being hit as one of the blasts the sharp mix of sting and burn flooding her scenes as she pulled herself up into a semi crouching position. She quickly dropped some of her weapons before bringing her rifle up knowing their weapons where the same class which would mean this would all come down to a match between the two of them. Firing a couple blasts down the hall way not being careful to aim just to let her know she was still alive and a threat. The pain from her previous injuries mixed with the new one on her leg was starting to get the better of her as her head started to swim and she could feel her stomach turning slightly threatening to remind her of what she had eaten this morning.

"Very good," she yelled out her eyes staying focused on what of the hallway she could see ahead of her. If she could get the area closed down it would only be the two of them. Trapped. "I haven't had someone get the drop on in a very long time though I would suggest surrendering now before this goes any further," Swallowing lightly she positioned her slender body a little bit behind the wall knowing it would provide a little protection.

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #14
After having dodged the counter-fire that the puny human had sent off towards her, Sonja Acreth bared her white teeth in vexation over the fact that she still lacked access to the Bridge and the sweet succulent bodies awaiting her there. The Security Officer was all that stood in her way to decimate the key individuals that still remained on the ship. There was no point in lingering. Every moment passed a moment lost where she could be feasting upon their faces. A last supper while she set the coordinates to ram straight into the Theurgy where she stood upon the valley floor.

Engineering was no option when that half-machine Ops female had system access. Sonja knew she would be locked out too quickly. The Bridge was her best option, and therefore, the persistent Security Officer had to die and die quickly.

"Thank you for your gracious advice," said Sonja casually while she checked the power cells in her weapon, "yet I think I'll take my chances now that I am finally on parole. I hope you understand."

Barefeet as she was, she set off soundlessly, setting a brisk pace down the corridor - heading towards the doorway that the security guard was hiding in. Halfway there, she began firing, shooting continuously as she got closer and still shouting when she rounded the corner to the doorway - either killing the white-haired woman or driving her into the conference room to hide from the onslaught.

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #15
At the Ops Desk Selena Ravenholm typed furiously  keying in the modifications.  "Captain, the modified weapons system is ready for implementation at your order."  she said looking back to him having already to begin another programming sequence.  Something for when the ranking security officer arrived with her munitions.

A loud series of sounds came from the corridor door.  "Weapons' discharges in the bridge corridor detected. Erecting emergency force-fields between Officer Cardamone and the source of the Weapon's discharge."

In the corridor Three force-fields appeared where they weren't before and as soon as they were up one fell from the weapons' fire.  "Ops to C-Sec, gather the weapons and get your ass in here.  I estimate I have bought you enough time to get to the bridge before the other two force fields are breached."

Luna slowly moved her hand down to her thigh her fingers glided against the round indentation of her left thigh as she felt and heard the sensation of a soft Snap as the seam split slightly.  She could tell the enemy was on her doorstep.  She still had not completed her mission either.  whether it was by her own unresolved curiosity or some strange sense of duty she would not let the Captain fall.  She would find the truth she came to find.  Even if that meant having to reveal the ace in the hole she had been saving in case she had to face her Captain or his crew as enemies.  'Damn,' she thought.  'There's gonna be hell to pay when they find out I've been hiding this thing.'  She already had one final comand on her console It was an emergency lockdown.  She knew the enemy wouldn't have as much trouble as she hoped getting past the lockdown she had programmed but perhaps it would be enough to fortify their positions on the bridge so their enemy would find them to be a more difficult adversary than she had anticipated.  Now all they needed were the weapons the Security chief carried. and they coudl mount at the least a reasonable defense.

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #16
"Oh no problem. Anything to help," Dyan spoke in a jeering tone as her eyes kept locked on the hallway before her.  Her foot slowly moved out moving the weapons further behind her as she continued watching knowing currently she was the last thing that stood between the killer and the bridge. Dyan also knew she would stand in that gap. "Oh I was hoping you would say that. I have payback for all those bodies you left me to wake up in," she spoke as her eye narrowed slightly. Her body remained tense as she watched knowing it was a waiting game. Her body remained tense as lazier fire once more started raining down on her hiding spot and she knew she would have to hold. Dyan fired back at anything that looked like a threat. Her good foot kicked the weapons further back as she retreated back further into the conference room making sure to keep her sights on the doors. She wouldn't allow this woman past her.  Just as she felt trapped it seemed stop growing closer. Gathering the weapons she quickly reloaded as she slowly approached the door once more her weapon drawn as she slowly peeked around the corner seeing a force-field between them.

Her only though now was arming those on the bridge. Slowly slinking out in the hallway Dyan kept her rifle up ready to fire should the woman get through. As quickly as her leg would allow her to move as she backed her way to the door to the bridge as her fingers moved over the controls opening the door as her eyes remained on the woman. Dyan only half moved into the bridge knowing she had to look the sight. She didn't care where they ended as she unloaded all but another rife. Stepping back in the hallway she was not going to hide in the bridge not knowing if the woman would break free or not. "I suggest finding a way to secure the door in case she gets past me," Dyan said as she closed the door to the bridge as she hunkered slightly slowly creeping her way forwards once more.

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #17
Already moving, the First Officer was heading towards the sliding doors from whence Petty Officer Cardamone had appeared and then vanished - leaving the Bridge again after having dropped armament to them all. The security guard had left instructions, yet T'Rena spoke up in the woman's wake.

"Belay that, Chief," she said evenly and scooped up a rifle in her hands without breaking her pace, "Seal the door after I am through." She was right on the injured human's heels when the doors slid shut behind her, and T'Rena and took position right next to the Petty Officer - their stances the same with their rifles raised against the remaining two forcefields. Beyond them, across the corridor that was already marred by phaser fire, Sonja Acreth stood, having ceased fire upon the force-fields and lifted the smoking muzzle of her weapon in order to speak to the two of them. T'Rena spoke first, however.

"Stand down, Ensign Acreth," she said in her flatline voice. "With two shooters against one, the odds of your success has been lowered. Despite your resilience, you will not get past us."

Their opponent laughed lightly where she stood, the lights from the issued Red Alert licking her blood-decorated body. "From where I am standing..." said Sonja as she lowered the barrel of her weapon again. She casually changed her setting and took aim against them. "...it would seem you two are not able to reach me. In fact, I'd say that you are trapped there."

Yet the escaped prisoner turned her weapon against the wall, firing away at what had to be the highest setting. The concussion of energy against titanium shook the floor they stood upon. Metal screeched. Burning plasma blinded their eyes. Smoke rolled across the deck plating. Chirping alarms went off. T'Rena raised an arm to guard her brown eyes from the sharp flashes, yet they never blinked at the destruction they witnessed. Instead the First Officer deducted what the prisoner's plan might be. When the faint figure of Ensign Acreth stepped through the smoke and into the hole she had made, T'Rena knew.

"She means to enter the Main Bridge through the Captain's Ready Room," she said to Cardamone as if she spoke of the weather and tapped her own combadge, "Chief Ravenholm, seal the Ready Room, now. Do not unlock the door but lower the force-fields. We lost sight of the target. In pursuit."

They would surely only need to wait for a moment or two, and then they would follow the prisoner through the new doorway she had created - to catch up with her in the close quarters of Declan Vasser's private area next to the Bridge. The door behind them had to remain sealed if the prisoner had set an ambush and managed to kill them.

The moment gave T'Rena the opportunity to take the human's injuries into account. There was no time to comment, yet the Petty Officer looked a lot worse off than she seemed from the start. The Vulcan supposed it was due to the adrenaline. The human would surely succumb to her injuries any moment and fall to the floor, but as long as she was still performing her duties, T'Rena was not make the human acknowledge her state and fall over before the prisoner was caught.

As soon as their path was clear, they were off... and they could already hear the enemy trying to blast her way into the Bridge from the Ready Room...


OOC: Suggested posting order: IronFerrox, Cathreen Dawinter and then me. Depending on how far Sonja gets, and whenever it may seem appropriate, Kuro can chime in with Declan Vasser.

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #18
Selena nodded hearing her words before sliding her hands down the console releasing the fields and sealing the ready room.  "Already sealed.  I had already been considering use of the ready room as a saferoom for the Captain and I had a lockdown system already programmed.  Switching to direct link interface."  she said pulling a thin cord from the side of her neck and pushing it into a port on the ops console.  "Rerouting Tactical controls to Helm.  Emergency weapon is operational."  Though she was separated from the ops console it continued to chime with inputs.  The cord that connected her to it was relating the impulses directly from her mind rather than through the tactile contact.  she was a bit more limited in her degree of control but for now it was a sacrifice that was necessary.  At the moment she her barriers and the walls were all that stood between the infected enemy and the Captain.  She smiled softly as she moved her finger over the open seam at her thigh and smirked feeling the tingle of the electricity charging within the contents behind it.

Aisha chimed in as she saw the duel controls coming up on her helm interface. "I have two targets in sights collateral damage risk is minimal.  Targets appear to be commencing another strafing run on Theurgy.  Recommend we show those drones we still have teeth!"  she said her voice laced with a form of hate for these drones.  well not just for the drones but for this whole false Federation that hunted them.  She remembered being wanted by the Federation.  she remembered her years as an outlaw.  Branded a traitor for protecting those abandoned by the powers that be.  She felt at home.  The difference was this time the enemy in the mirror wore only her clothes rather than her scaled flesh."


Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #19
[Declan Vasser - Harbinger Bridge]

Selena and Aisha worked to make the ship capable of defending itself.  Nyan and T'Rena were ready to do battle with Ensign Acerth beyond the doors of the bridge.  He was surrounded by brave, motivated crew.  They were among the ones that he had to keep by his side, even with all the personnel transfers.  He sacrificed many of his crew to the Theurgy to see her in a better position, but the ones who remained by his side were some of the most vital, proving themselves in a crisis, as they always did.

"You have my permission to fire at will," Declan said, giving control of the new weapon to ops, to be used with the best of judgement.  It was better to focus on that then to think about the Ready Room, the last bunker of defense for himself.  His crew already thought of that much, placing importance over him then the rest of them.  It felt cowardly in so many ways, to do nothing while his crew did so much.  Sure, he led from his chair . . . but he could be doing more.  He didn't fear Acerth, would have taken her on himself, but T'Rena would never allow that kind of exposure.  In many ways, she felt more guarded about him then even he was.  The fierce loyalty she commanded wasn't what he expected from a Vulcan, but she acted as though he were the most important man in the galaxy.

"Ops, do we have a read on how many people are left on the planet's surface?" Declan asked, needing that little more of a distraction.  They were holding out for the Theurgy, and the Theurgy would not leave when there were still lives on the planet that needed to be saved.  manpower was a limited resource for them.  They couldn't risk losing anyone when their mission was so big.

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #20
If Dyan didn't know her enemy was ahead of her she would have reacted to the footsteps behind her, but that was not the case. She didn't glance back she continued down the hall her weapon raised and ready. The pain shooting through her body made her stomach turn once more threatening her control. Training and will was the only thing that kept her composure where it was. It wasn't until the one that followed her came to stand beside her that her good eye moved over a little surprised to see her help. She let  T'Rena speak as there was nothing she felt she could add to the conversation. All she wanted was to get her hands on Acreth before the pain became too much to block out. Her body tensed as Acreth started firing away the floor shaking under them as Dyan found herself having to lean against the wall in a small way to make up for the unsteadiness of her injured leg. The sharp sound of metal screeching made her head throb all that much more as the burning plasma caused her stomach to turn all that much more. Leaning over slightly Her stomach dry heaved as she fought to keep control of her body. She just heard T'Rena's words as she straightened up knowing this was not the time for weakness.

"Like hell she is going to," Cardamone answered as she raised her rifle slowly waiting for the force field to be lowered before slowly approaching the newly made hole. She moved carefully knowing T'Rena had been Chief of Security and taught at the Academy knowing she would know the way to move in a situation such as the. Carefully Dyan stepped in not allowing the first officer to step in first. In Dyan's mind she was a lower rank and therefor more expendable in a fight. The first officer and her slowly made their way towards the Captions private study. The two moving well with each other  as one covered the other. Just as Dyan moved towards the next spot a bright blast of fire illuminated the smoke in a way she would not soon forget. Throwing her body to the floor as they returned fire the best they could as they still had no directing visual contact. After a small wait of silence Dyan forced her body to stand stepping in front of T'Rena as she raised her weapon slowly stepping though to the larger meeting room.

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #21
T'Rena watched the human Petty Officer move ahead of her into the main area of Captain Vasser's Ready Room, ready to shoot anything that moved after they had just been fired upon by the escaped prisoner. Despite her injuries, Officer Cardamone seemed to adapt to the critical requirements of the situation, and for that the First Officer was grateful. She would have been useless she'd kept being nauseous. As it were, though, T'Rena could focus on the dangers of the situation instead of incompetent liabilities right next to her.

The lights on their rifles and those present in the room made the swirling shadows of the smoke treacherous, as the destruction's aftermath now played tricks on their eyes - hiding the enemy in the area. It was obvious, given the fact that there was no new hole leading to the Main Bridge, that the prisoner remained with them, only lying in ambush somewhere. T'Rena stepped out after Officer Cardamone, brown and emotionless eyes trained down the sights as she sought the obvious hiding places. While Dyan went in one direction, T'Rena slowly stepped up alongside the Captain's desk, giving it a wide berth to avoid close quarters combat. She had no illusions about being stronger than Acreth after witnessing her brutality in the Brig, so she would not - despite her own expertise - give the woman a chance to come close. One more step... and she would see the area behind the desk...

...and it was void of movement. No one there.

T'Rena turned around towards the corridor leading to the Yeoman's office in the antechamber, yet as she turned... she saw her.

"Down!" she called, opening fire against the shadow in the doorway to the bathroom, just as Acreth opened fire against them. By sheer luck, she believed that neither her nor Cardamone were hit because of their quick reflexes, yet because of the blinding flashes, T'Rena only managed to scourge the lintel over the sliding door, and Sonja Acreth had rolled away into the smoke. T'Rena did not see where Cardamone sought shelter, but she managed to reach the heavy Captain's Desk before the next volley came for them - devastating phaser blasts set on wide dispersal. Like walls of fire thrown against them.

Shrapnel from destroyed PADDs rained over T'Rena where she sat, not moving a muscle in her face while the onslaught lasted. Vasser's personal decorations fell from the desk and the shelves around her as the volleys continued to cascade against her small spot of safety. She did not know how Cardamone fared during the wide blasts that were sent against them, yet it was not much they could do at that point. They had been forced to back down.

When the searing sounds of continued fire lasted even when the lights came from elsewhere in the room, T'Rena realised what was afoot - just before the blast rocked the floor beneath their feet once more. Another hole had been blasted open, and now it would lead to the Main Bridge.

"Pursue!" called T'Rena over the racket and leaped out from behind the desk, not able to see anything because of the smoke and rain of debris. She could not even make out where the hole to the Bridge was located, so it was not safe to fire lest she'd hit the people out there. All she could do was to follow as best as she might with Cardamone, provided the human was still alive. It was critical that Captain Vasser was not killed, and the enemy had just gained entry to the Main Bridge. Every moment counted, before Acreth would shoot down everyone with wide dispersal waves.

As T'Rena ran into the heavy smoke, a faint voice could be heard from the Bridge - just ahead of her and Dyan.

"You gave me one chance to cooperate, flesh-puppet," said Sonja, most likely to Declan because of what he had said to her in the Brig that faithful afternoon, "yet I am afraid I cannot give you the same."

It was as if time slowed down, each heartbeat counting, before the one who'd fire first decided the outcome...

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #22
((before the breech))

The woman at the Conn began calculating her attack and grinned.  "Harbinger to all fighter wings. Concentrate on the drones attacking shuttles We've got the Theurgy's back."   She slid the power adjusters forwards with her fingers as the deflector sent a blast of rocky shrapnel forwards. The larger pieces were roughly the size of a truck though most were no larger than a baseball.  This didn't matter much though as the shields of the two fighters that had been harassing the Theurgy collapsed  from the bombardment and the void where the debris didn't appear on the sensors echoed all too distinctly on the tactical sensors.  The lady Cardassian released her hold on the phaser arrays.  The high energy particles blanketed the two fighters cutting into them easily causing their small engines to explode well above the Theurgy's saucer section.  "That's two of them!  See T'rena," she shouted "It ain't that damn hard to hit em!"  she said proudly.

Meanwhile the cyborg at ops was preparing for her own attack as she opened the storage compartment in the side of her thigh  taking out a semi antique looking weapon.  For all intents and purposed it looked like a heavily modified ballistic Pistol of 21'st century human design.  with a near silent click she disengaged the safety lever on the gun's side and her finger slid over the trigger waiting for the opportune moment to strike.  She hadn't wanted to reveal that she owned this weapon.  She had always kept it hidden as her ace in the hole should things go sour for her but clearly there were more important things to worry about than whatever could result if she was questioned about having an illegal and undetectable firearm on-board a Federation Starship.  These were consequences for another time though.

A loud blast echoed throughout the bridge as the wall blasted inwards spreading a good chunk of debris over the floor of the bridge.  Through the scar in the wall the invader their enemy made flesh walked onto the bridge a smugness in her walk as if her victory was certain.

"You gave me one chance to cooperate, flesh-puppet, yet I am afraid I cannot give you the same."

A distinctive loud Ping like bang echoed through the bridge.

Selena was half hidden using her ops station as cover with her pistol like weapon pointed towards Sonja as thin whips like spider silk looking but surprisingly heavy thread came from the muzzle of the weapon connecting to what appeared to be a spine coated barb about the size of a bumblebee that was now half burred into the center mass of Sonja's torso.  For a moment though, probably not for much longer, the paralytic agent within the barb was preventing her from moving.

The ops officer quickly retorted, "You're right; Cause, You wont have a chance to give him one." A snap was heard as she slapped her hand down over the muzzle of the "gun" causing it to seemingly Break down.  The parts seemed to detach and fold over on themselves as the gun shape seemed to reform into something more like the hilt and guard of an old sabre.  With the snap of the reshaping there was another sound a swishing like hiss as an arc of almost fuchsia energy expanded from the breached muzzle until it enveloped the wispy strands before ending at the barb like tip half burred into her torso.  It became all to evident that the energy that flowed was a current of electricity when the invader's body seemed to instantly seize up as the oscillating volts from the "Paralyzer" coursed through her body.

((OOC thread: for more info on the weapon.))

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #23
Every shadow seemed alive with the promise of a hidden threat they both knew was lurking somewhere near by. Every muscle that could was tense knowing they would have to strike at a seconds notice. It was times like this that she lived for. The simple thrill of the hunt. She could hear the first office behind her as they moved further towards their prey. Her weapon remained raised and ready as she parted ways with T'Rena and headed off in the opposite direction seeking out any place she could think the woman would be hiding. Her leg throbbed slowing her movements as she continued her search being a little slower then normal. Her body had only started to relax when she heard he command of down followed by blasts of rifle fire. Dyan dropped to the floor before moving the best she could behind the only cover she could find being behind some downed debris. Not ideal but it would do. Peeking out over the edge she could just make out Acreth at the door of the bathroom bring her weapon up to fire seeing T'Rene was unharmed as well from the second balley of fire that was aimed in Acreth's direction. A few blasts hit the small pile of debris along with skimming the floor close to her.

As often as she could Dyan would return fire knowing that if they had to keep that thing from achieving its goal. When a new source of light flooded the room she knew something was wrong. Something very wrong. As another blast rocked the floor and another sharp sound blasted her hearing making her stomach lurch once more as one small heave sent half her breakfast spilling out on the floor. A shaking hand came up drying her mouth as she knew her injuries where close to getting the better of her but she still needed to complete her mission. It seemed as soon as that one word order came she forced her weakness down the best she could as she scrambled over the pile quickly bringing her weapon up. She could just make out hole leading to the bridge as her heart sank at the fear of failing. She wouldn't fire as her footsteps continued carrying closer to the hole her body tense and ready to attack.

From beyond the newly formed hole she could hear Sonja's voice talking to who she could only guess was Declan. She heard the loud ping as she hunkered down knowing it was not the sound of a phase. Slowly her weapon raised Dyan slowly made her way out of the gaping hole seeing no one was dead yet and her prey seemed to have been caught by someone else.  Her body once more stilled seeing the arc of almost fuchsia energy expand from the breach of the muzzle until it enveloped the now apparent to her strands. She watched Sonja's body tense as her lips turned down to a deep set frown. She had never been one that liked her prey taken from her. She wanted to make sure the woman wouldn't hurt others as she aimed her rifle at Sonja firing on the highest stun possible wanting to make sure the woman would go down.

Re: Crisis #03 | USS Harbinger Bridge

Reply #24
Stepping through the breach, emerging on the Bridge right behind Petty Officer Cardamone, T'Rena saw Chief Ravenholm with an unregistered weapon - a breach of protocol that anyone else than the Vulcan First Officer would have forgiven given the circumstances. The civilian had apparently managed to stall Ensign Acreth in her murderous intents, which was fortunate if one would not take the transgression into account.

During the brief moments where the escaped prisoner shook and scream as the energy raked through her almost bare frame, Cardamone seized the opportunity. The heavy stun shot made the prisoner tumble forward - slamming into the deck plating. And yet Acreth struggled to get back on her feet, regardless how she spasmed and twitched like she was having a seizure. The scream of defiance to the inevitable mirrored that which had been heard in the Brig almost a week ago, when Lieutenant Vessery had shot her in the back repeatedly in order to bring her down.

T'Rena lined up her rifle next to Cardamonde's, joining her in the barrage that would eventually make the prisoner go limp. If there were officers on the Bridge that had found the time to pick up the weapons that the Petty Officer had brought, they joined in too - stepping forth with eyes along the sights and shots tearing through the enemy's central nervous system.

While the shooting lasted - the prisoner's killing spree stopped - Helm brought two Reavers down on the main view screen, and while T'Rena did not feel it herself, she supposed the weak-minded would sense a feeling of being victorious spreading on the Bridge. Perhaps even elation at the fact that they might just make it despite it all.

"Cease fire," said T'Rena with cutting clarity when the prisoner had stopped moving beyond what the shots and the electrocution made her do. "Chief Ravenholm, hand your weapon to Petty Officer Cardamone for processing and transport both her and the prisoner to the Brig. The prisoner needs to be in a holding cell once more. I leave it to the Petty Officer whether or not you may be allowed to carry a concealed weapon after it has undergone proper inspection."

Turning her brown and dispassionate eyes to the white-haired human next to her, T'Rena wanted to make sure that she could do that which was required once she was back to the Brig. She seemed a bit worse for wear and T'Rena had caught her looking ill as well. "Do you require assistance, Petty Officer?"

The evidence upon the human's uniform that she had been shot before arriving to Deck 01 gave T'Rena pause, and merited investigation at a later point. By all accounts, the Petty Officer should not be standing, much less bring down any escaped prisoner. Yet since the shuttles that were docking with the Theurgy were all clear after Aisha brought the Reavers down, and they might be taking off any moment, perhaps that investigation could begin sooner rather than later...

 
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