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Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #50 –
[ Sar-unga / Dyan Cardamone | Inside the Captain's Yacht | Deck 04 ] Attn: Wenn Cinn

At first, Dyan had been worried that the Bajoran would have denied her the vengeance she sought, and that even if he'd agreed to ambush Declan Vasser, he would have opted to follow protocol to the letter and apprehend the Augment rather than killing him. She was, however, pleasantly surprised by how Lieutenant Commander Wenn gave her the phaser after setting it to kill rather than to stun, and ordered her to end the traitor's life. Perhaps not because of her personal agenda, but rather out of... She did not know the man's reasons, but perhaps he just wanted to remove the threat permanently. Pragmatic, effective, and while not the proper Starfleet way, it was a way to guarantee the crew's safety. Perhaps he thought Vasser might jeopardise the safety of more crews that then present one if he got away on the yacht.

"You won't be hearing any objections from me," she said in accord, checking the power cell of the phaser he had given her. Her enthusiasm was hidden but for how her tail wagged lazily underneath her makeshift skirt - as if she was a feline about to sink her teeth into her prey. Tossing back her white hair from her emerald eyes, she gave the large man a mischievous grin. "I think you and I will get along just fine now that I have defected to your security team. We'll just have to make sure we survive the battle too."

With her phaser raised next to her shoulder, she turned on her heel and looked around - steps set towards the door leading from the dimly lit area to the yacht's forward compartment. "Let's see how it looks up front, because I had the idea that we could set our trap there - shooting him in the doorway, so to speak. Since this glorified shuttle is powered down now, and he will likely activate the warp core from the control station in the bay outside, he won't be expecting us to hide here in the yacht's dark interiors. Both because there is no apparent way for him to see that we've gotten in, and also since he's likely not counting on anyone to intercept him. That is, unless he told everyone his escape plan."

They found the front of the yacht as dark as the aft compartment, and the Red Alert lights were flashing in the small bay area outside the viewscreen. There were some good vantage points just inside the entrance doors of the shuttle where they could hide, and Dyan took a position where she could see the control station below the yacht through the viewscreen, hiding behind the helm's chair. A couple of minutes passed in tight silence, Dyan hoping that Thea had been right and starting to doubt the possibilities to...

But before long, the sliding doors had opened and Vasser emerged, dragging the Theurgy's First Officer to the control station.

"Prey in sight," she said to Wenn Cinn, using an Asurian military term. She inclined her head towards Vasser and the Trill, and when the Augment tore off the top of the control station and powered up the yacht's warp core remotely, Dyan got a hint of how strong and resourceful the genetically engineered human was. Vasser even opened the entrance to the shuttle, allowing Dyan and Cinn to eavesdrop on the conversation from inside the yacht. Before long, it seemed like one of the Trill's former hosts - apparently very much alive through Edena because of a faulty joining, or at least that was what Dyan had heard - offered to side with Vasser... which made Dyan hiss quietly under her breath. If that Trill revenant had it his way, and Vasser agreed, then they would be facing two adversaries on the yacht.

Luckily, it seemed the true owner of the Trill's body won the internal battle, after which Vasser put her in place with his scything words. Finally, Vasser approached the gangway, bringing his hostage along. Dyan looked towards Cinn, wondering in her thoughts if he personally knew this Trill that had been taken hostage, and what he thought about the former host that had offered to side with their prey.

In either case, Vasser was about to enter the shuttle via the gangway... but that had been when the female form of Captain Ives showed up, and their prey never entered the shuttle and their trap. Dyan cursed under her breath, not certain if she was still at leave to kill her prey after her new Commanding Officer showed up. Uncertain, she glanced towards Lieutenant Commander Wenn while the two Captains traded words across the gangway - Vasser's back turned towards them.

OOC: Zenozine, to read the conversation that Wenn Cinn overheard between Edena Rez and Vasser, check Triage's and my posts above. In my latest post with Vasser and Ives, you can also read the beginning of the conversation below.


[ Jien Ives | Outside the Captain's Yacht | Deck 04 ] Attn: Edena Rez & Wenn Cinn

Having reached the beginning of the gangway, Jien stepped up and followed it towards Edena and Vasser, who were mid-way across it. The ship was rocking from enemy fire, but they could all support their footing with the waist-high railing. With her oaken stare locked firmly upon the Augment and his hostage, the dead centres of her eyes remained along the sights of her hand phaser - her aim unflinching. Edena.. she was telling Jien to sacrifice her for the sake of getting Vasser. Why?

"Why are you even here, Ives?" asked Vasser, edging backwards to the yacht's entrance - pulling Edena with him with every small step and keeping the muzzle of his weapon against her throat. "Unless you noticed, your precious ship and your dear 'truth' it carries is under attack, and instead you mean to do... what, exactly? Have you come so far that you would kill a man out of spite? I present no threat to you or your crew beyond this hostage, so I should not be your priority, should I? This Trill even offered to ally herself with me, or at least one of those ghosts in her head did."

Jien narrowed her eyes, if ever so slightly, still stepping closer. Now she knew Edena's reason.

"Do you still want to be here? For her?" continued Vasser with a smirk, "Is she still worth it, being the liability that she must be to you? I must say you have made a poor choice in naming her your Executive Officer. A spy turn-cloak, a prostitute and a doctor so out of touch with modern medical practice that she wouldn't know one end of an exo-scalpel from the other. All of that inferior filth bundled up in a young woman who - while easy on the eye - certainly lack the experience to hold command. What were you thinking, Ives? A shapely ass does not make a Starfleet officer, much less one's second-in-command."

Knowing that Vasser was just trying to agitate her, tempting her to make a mistake, Jien didn't bite... even though the ire bubbled behind her stone mask. What she said came out in crystal cold syllables. "As Captain, you do not leave any of your crew behind," she said, and her eyes darted to Edena once before she continued. "So don't presume to tell me what makes a Starfleet officer. You have abandoned your crew, your ship, and your reason. You were born in a tube, engineered with ambition that defies both logic and empathy for the people around you. Yes, I know what you are. You path towards personal success will always be paved with the bodies of those standing in your way. Therefore, you are a priority to me. You will not leave this ship and barter with the enemy, offering crucial intel on us to gain free passage or reinstatment."

Vasser bared his teeth, and the Theurgy shook with the Calamity's continued attacks. "You cannot even live up to your own lofty standards, Ives. You agreed to install the phasing cloak, and you broke the Treaty of Algeron. The Romulans will learn about it one way or the other. In the end, you are just a weak hypocrite who doesn't see how your crew drown in your bleeding heart." Yanking Edena to his cchest, Vasser twisted the muzzle of his phaser deeper into her neck. "It is time to choose. Either you kill me and your First Officer both, or you let me leave this doomed ship with her as my hostage. What is it going to be? We both know you don't have it in you to kill this woman, so just stand back. You can just be the good girl that you are and wave us off before the Calamity kills us both. You might even get to go down with your ship since that damn sentiment is so dear to you."

That was when a large figure appeared in the entrance to the Captain's Yacht, five feet behind Vasser's back.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #51 –
[ Sarresh Morrali | Corridor - Life Support Systems ] Atten: Ryuan Sel, Lukas "Bleed" Reed, Rihen Neyah, & Skye Carver

Slowly he picked himself up off the floor. He started to kick up, then, realizing how compromising that would be, instead rolled onto his belly. Fingers spread as he placed his hands palm down on the deck, slowly rising, tucking his legs under him. With a slight groan, the former Ash'reem adjusted his gown as best he could, wishing for all the world that he had a pair of pants. With pants, he might tuck things way from sight, trap himself against his body with the waistband. As it was....well, he was back to a tent in front of his pants. A sure sign that despite everything, he still had very strong - and very unrelieved - urges, most of them focused on Ryuan Sel. Part of him wanted to reach out and try to comfort her, an almost alien feeling for him at that point, considering how confused he was. Another part wanted to be as far away from her as he could, shamed at his more...carnal interpertation of what 'comfort' could be, given what they were forced to endure.

So instead, Sarresh turned his eyes to the body of the man that had forced them into the public display and sneered. "Too good a death for him," he stated bluntly, a only hint of the anger he felt for the late Mr. Reed in his voice. It bubbled in the pit of his stomach, a fire that he channeled, drew in strength from, forcing himself to go on. Sucking in a sharp breath through his nose - smelling the dead man, though that wasn't his intention - he too turned to great his rescuers, the Risan he was remotely aware of, having heard of her from the crew, as well as a pilot that - at the moment, he didn't recognize, and the EMH.

"You're intervention was...helpful. Thank you for that." The mans tone was, well cold, really, almost detached. Schooling his words, to refrain from mimicking the emotional wave of his thoughts, he truned and scooped up one of the discarded phasers from the floor, checking the power setting. "We need to get these containers moved. And it seems you need to get that woman," he gestured to Selena Ravenholme, though he'd never met her, either, "to Sickbay." He then looked up at PO Ryuan, "Sel," he murmured her name, "Ready?" One word, one question, that was as loaded as it could ever be.


[ Natalie Stark | Bridge | Deck 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Bridge personnel, C.P.O O'Connell

Natalie let out a hissing breath through her teeth as she felt Theurgy shake with weapon impacts, even as CPO S'Iti swung the ship around, rotating and weaving per the orders form Trent. Henshaw, she barely paid attention to, though even someone as new to having to command as Natalie was (having had more of it in the past few days then ever before) could tell what the Yeoman had done by relaying Cpt. Ives orders and confidence in person. Lt. Cmdr. Trent surely had to appreciate that.

For her part, she also appreciated both knowing that Ives was going to deal with that bastard Vasser, and the sudden pressure relief as the Mission Ops feed from her console blinked away. The screen controls had been transferred to one of the other back panel consoles behind Tactical, where Henshaw had taken over for her. Her controls reconfigured themselves to allow more for ships operations, as yet another tiny display blinked away, shifting to the Science station, and Simon Tovarek's steady hands. She glanced away for just a moment, meeting the other man's eyes, conveying gratitude - both for his still being alive, and the control transfer.

Able now to focus more on the ship itself, she began shutting down any and all non essential systems, her fingers tapping out a staccato rhythm across the console. More lights shut out on decks with limited usage, and she opened a channel down to the engine room. "Chief," she called down to Billy Bob, "We need power routed from the Warp drive to the shields. Push all of it, ASAP." She killed the channel once he'd acknowledged, with a grimace of understanding and empathy at his response. Knowing it would take time, she did what she could to stabilize the shields in the mean while. As the ship rotated on its axis, Natalie adjusted settings. "Keep grid four and five out of the line of fire," she whispered to Aisha, noting the damage to the emitters.

The ship gave another shake, even as the view screen showed the exploding torpedo burst in the emptiness of space, Trent's point defense system stopping the missle before it could impact the shields - or worse, slip though and impact the hull itself. The upper left part of her console lit up as the power monitoring graph shifted radically.  Her lips curved up in a small smile. "Sir," she called back, "Engineering has come through. Warp drive is down, power shifted to main shields."

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #52 –
[ Wenn Cinn | USS Theurgy | Inside the Captain's Yacht | Deck 04 ] Attn: Edena Rez & Jien Ives

As Dyan clearly reacted with giddiness over the prospect of being the one that would kill Declan Vasser, Cinn held his tongue, he had no time for such a person in his security force, but after what had happened to her, how she had been violated on such a fundamental level, he was willing to look past it this once, and he would not hold her actions here today against her. Cinn needed to remember that as she was now, was how the Theurgy was right now, in a state of broken down conviction, hurt but unwilling to give an inch. In truth he too was hoping that he would be the one to take down Vasser, partially for the captain and how he had been treated after all that he had done for the ship and the crew, and also because he had just returned to the Theurgy, and he was not going to let it fall to the whims of someone who wasn't even a real man.

As Dyan looked over her weapon and talked about how she was fine with the orders that she had been given Cinn nodded. "I am glad to hear that, because I do not expect to be giving a lot of popular commands in the future as we have to sort out the aftermath of all the damage that Declan has caused to this ship. Also I expect you to go to Sickbay when this is all over, and I want you to get a proper examination and as swift a recovery as possible, we will require every hand we can get." As Dyan joked about surviving the battle Cinn nodded. "I hope to survive all of this as well...I can only imagine you how depressing it would be to have come back just to die few days later." He shook his head as he made sure his phaserifle was at the right setting and still charge enough to liver a killing blow.

As the duo finished with their prep hey move to the front of the shuttle, it was dark, but still hey could see well enough and there were plenty of places to take up a hiding spot to fire at the main entrance from. Cinn let Dyan move in first and moved further from the door so that she would not have to be the one to take the shot, if anyone was going to have to take the responsibility for this murder it was going to be him, Dyan was going to have plenty to deal with outside of the thorough investigation into her actions that would undoubtedly come after this situation was over.

And there they waited, Declan would be coming before too long and things were going to be hectic from that point on, so for now Cinn took his time to relax a calm himself, to go through his reasoning again and again, he was going to have his story straight, when this was over he would know exactly what to say about his actions. He would be straight to the point, no need for dancing around what happened, he was still the same man he was before he died the first time, and he was loyal to Theurgy, that has why he did what he needed to protect it.

As Declan arrived to the Captain's Yacht Cinn raise his rifle and waited with it pointed directly at the main entrance and as he watched Declan casually rip apart a panel he knew that they needed to kill Declan before he could close the gap between them. Of course the signs of Declan having a hostage complicated things; Cinn just hoped that Edena did not get caught up in the crossfire. Cinn shouldered his rifle as the door slid open and he prepared to open fire when suddenly the Captain showed up.

Cinn gritted his teeth as he listened to Declan and Captain Ives talk outside of the Yacht, he could not let things continue like this, the Captain was now in anger and Declan was completely distracted and focused on the Captain. Turning to look at Dyan he motioned for her to hold position, he wanted her there as a second line of defense, and so that she did not rush out and do something rash. Meanwhile Cinn got up and moved slowly as he prepared to do something radical.

Cinn walked up behind Declan Vasser as he was in mid rant to the captain, and as Declan began to give his ultimatum, making a big grandiose threat and challenge to the captain, Cinn was left with his opportunity. Looking don his sights Cinn was left with his opening, he did not waste it, he did not give any word, no monologue or last word for Declan, he simply tightened his grip on the trigger of his rifle and fired. There was the smell of ozone and then the smell of burning carbon as a beam of energy shot out of the rifle and struck the base of Declan's skull and poured the lethal jolt of energy right through the Augment's brain. As the beam of energy finished there was no chance of survival for Declan as he collapsed like a puppet with his strings cut. As he hit the ground Cinn lowered his rifle and looked to the Captain and spoke. "I am sorry captain, but he was a danger to the entire crew, I did what needed to be done." Looking down to Edena he took in all that was around him before he spoke. "What should we do now Captain Ives?" Cinn had just taken out Declan Vasser with a single surprise shot that had seared a hole into the back of the Augment's skull, and Cinn showed no reaction as he tried to remain professional.

Finally, his eyes fell on Edena, and he smiled in relief that she was all right.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #53 –
[ Fasha | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 15 | USS Theurgy ]

As Renard's orders reached her ears Fasha gave a brief nod to no one in particular "Orders received Wolf-Lead I'm on Goldeneye's six ready to dive into the black when you are." Fasha said as she gave her control board one last look over to ensure everything was in working order. She set the repulsor settings on her Valkyrie to high hover bringing her craft high above the floor of the hangar and watched as Iron Fox and Goldeneye launched out through the hangar doors in the black of space. She took a deep breath before throttling up and zooming out of the hangar falling into formation a fair bit behind Goldeneye.

As soon as her craft had exited the hangar she found herself in the same boat Goldeneye herself had found herself in. Under enemy fire in a negative situation where things were stacked against them in more ways than one. "Positive contacts on bandits taking evasive maneuvers." Fasha stated as a few Reavers seemed to take an interest in her. Quickly breaking formation from Goldeneye and Iron Fox and banking sharply to the left in a rising direction her pursuers quickly changing course to follow. She continued to accelerate leading her foes away from the bulk of the group.

As they pursued her bolts of phaser fire flew past her some of them striking and burning out against the shields of her fighters jolting the pilot within despite her attempts to evade them. It figured that something with a computer for a brain could get proper firing solutions mapped out to a T. She glanced down to the bottom of her visor her TVD marking the locations of her. "Time for me to take a new lead." Fasha muttered as she quickly throttled down and flipped a switch on her control board activating the maneuvering thrusters on the front of her craft drastically decreasing her speed. As she'd expected both of her pursuers quickly zoomed past her both unprepared and unable to quickly adapt to her new speed on such short notice.

She pulled the trigger on her flight stick peppering both her targets with weapons fire from her pulse phaser cannons as they appeared in her weapons envelope. She quickly locked onto both targets targeting each with a duo of microtorpedos an electronic tone indicating that she had a weapons lock before unleashing two microtorpedos towards both her targets causing both of her targets to dissapear in a display of orange flames. "Splash two bandits." Fasha reported as she throttled up once more to return to the fray.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #54 –
[ Rihen Neyah | Corridor - Life Support Systems | Deck 07 ] Attn: Ryuan Sel, Sarresh Morali & Skye Carver

As relieved as she was that everyone was alive and well... besides the mutineer, unfortunately... Rihen knew that there was no time to be idle. Thea had asked them to get Selena Ravenholm to Sickbay, and they still had some way to go. She got back on her feet and adjusted her overalls a little as she glanced towards her companions.

"Thank Rihen Neyah here," said Lin Kae and cleared his throat a little, "while Carver and I am equally glad that you prevented him from catching us unawares with his phaser. Indeed, we need to go to Sickbay."

[This is Thea,] said the Ship A.I. on the intercom, her voice overriding the Red Alert, [are you there, Junior Lieutenant Morali? Petty Officer Ryuan? What is your status? Are the Lexorin containers connected to Life Support? Please confirm when they are so that I can plot the dispersal across the ship as required. Do not activate the dispersal yet, however, since the confusion that the compromised crew will feel might jeopardise performance during the current battle with my daughter.]

Two pilots had, incidentally and accidentally, already died in Medical Lab 01 under those very circumstances.

[Once it is safe to commence the dispersal, you will be notified, and the mutineers will be exposed to the Lexorin when it is safe for themselves and the rest of the crew. Please confirm that you are hearing this.]

Rihen heard, but she could not make out much of what was going on. She knew, however, that she had an assignment, and that the life of the woman in the EMH's arms depended on them to continue installing emitters along the corridor towards Sickbay.

"You have still not answered my question. Is my audio sub-routines at fault here, or are you simply ignoring me?" asked the EMH, and Rihen did not know what to say than the obvious.

"I would think that... this second medical emergency is... no real emergency any more. The man in the armour looks... quite dead to me," she said, swallowing. She was an accessory to murder, unintended as it had been, but to her, it was deeply troubling. Worse than what had gotten her exiled from Risia. The integrity of the beautiful woman in the white underwear was preserved, however, but it had been at the cost of someone's life. As generous as she was with her own body and soul, she was not sure what was worse, or if justice had truly been served. All she knew was that she had an important task, and that was her means to not dwell on it all further.

"I will get the next emitter," she said, and walked on down the corridor, and Lin Kae soon followed - a nod given to the two people who had just been at the pilot's mercy before moving on. The EMH just looked sour as he walked past, Selena Ravenholm still alive in his arms but oblivious as to what was happening around her.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #55 –
[ Aisha S'Iti | Bridge | Deck 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Bridge personnel

Hearing the officers words she adjusted their pitch to protect the vulnerable areas making sure the new angle provided as many ample angles for return fire as the previous one had.  "Angle of Attack adjusted, keep me apprised on any weak spots."

[ Miles Renard (Iron-Fox) | Lone Wolves Squadron | Wolf-01 ] Attn: Mission Ops, Lone Wolves Squadron, Thea

Exiting the hangar bay he felt a harsh thud as debris near Immediately pelted the shields of his Valkyrie.  "TVD on," he ordered his onboard computer gaining the visual as if he were floating within an invisible ship.  "Roger that Mission Ops.  Wolves you heard the lady.  Target Reavers as primary targets. Top priority on those attacking the Theurgy."  he added making sure to get a good picture on his squad readouts seeing the fighters of Goldeneye and Morigan catching up to him and taking his wings.  "Seven, Twelve! Tally multiple bandits.  Break formation and evade!"  he said signaling the two pilots on his wing which they immediately did.

Miles on the other hand engaged the lead fighter which immediately began pursuit of him upon contact, and it was far from the ideal situation.  He attempted to shake the fighter on his tail but it was futile  it was as if they were anticipating his moves.  "Of course" he thought  as he barely managed to evade fire but couldn't loose them from his tail.  His worst fears began to come true though as he saw fighters disappearing, first the two Valk 2 pilots, then another, one of his own.  He was even having trouble sorting through the chaos on the comms  as he saw new sensor contacts popping up in the distance.  'Thank 'The Mother' for small favors he thought to himself as he noticed the small contacts of the other Valks that appeared in the distance.  The pilots had returned safely from their flight. 

He saw a close contact on his six other than the Reaver there.  Looking back he saw its shields flash red with phaser fire then the bright detonation of multiple microtorps hitting home blasting the Reaver into shrapnel.  "Nice cover fire Goldie!" he exclaimed in appreciation finally able to breathe now that his tail was clear.  "Now wheres those other two?"  he said to himself as he spotted out of the corner of his eye the other two which had begun closing in on Fasha.  There was a sliver of good news that he saw coming in over the mission ops channel and saw the subtlest change in the way Fasha's Valk moved.  He saw them zerioing in on her anticipating the pilots usual textbook precise style of flight.  What they didn't count on was her of all pilots utilizing a rather old Terran technique he himself had used in other engagements with the Reavers.  He watched as the fighter pulled upwards and engaged underside repulsors slowing itself down rapidly in what could be called a textbook version of his own Vac-Cobra.  with the shielding and sensor information the pilots shots rang truer than before imaginable as a duo of microtorps impacted both ships easily dispatching them.

Uploading the info he began relaying Intel and status information to base looking for anything not engaged in the dogfight and still trying to aide in taking down his home base.  he couldn't be more than happy to find a flight of 4 of them in a tight vertical diamond formation making a strafing run at the Theurgy.    "Lets see how good your intel is Thea."  he said sending out a spread of 4 microtorps at the group and switching to pulse phasers and pulling the trigger hoping to see the blasts of energy slice right through the shields hoping the holographic pilots hadnt caught onto why their shields weren't working against their targets retaliation all of a sudden.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #56 –
[ Jien Ives | Outside the Captain's Yacht | Deck 04 ] Attn: Edena Rez & Wenn Cinn

Slowly, Captain Ives had lowered her phaser - eyes lined with weariness dropping to the dead body.

Declan Vasser lay there, one arm hanging from the side of the gangway. The Augment had fallen, all his contingency plans and means to escape made void by being phasered from behind his back. Who knew what he had planned for, and how many had been killed for him to reach his position as Captain on a Starfleet ship. All Jien knew was that too many had died on the Theurgy, and even more would suffer the repercussions of the dead man's actions for a long time. When she raised her eyes and looked towards Wenn Cinn and Edena Rez, she had no words fitting to say. None more than her answer to Cinn, who had done exactly what was required without killing Edena Rez as well. His vantage point had been better than her own, and had the Bajoran attempted to apprehend the man, Edena's and her own life would have been in jeopardy. Wenn Cinn had made the right call.

"We head to the Bridge, together," she said, and she changed... to his male form. "This is not over yet."

Dyan Cardamone emerged from behind the great bulk of muscle that made up the Theurgy's Chief of Security, and the Asurian looked just as much dishevelled as she looked angry. At Wenn Cinn, Declan Vasser or circumstances in general, there was no way to tell. Barefoot, tail flicking in ire, she stepped to the body on the gangway, and with the clawed fingers that did not hold a phaser, she turned the body over. Vasser's eyes were wide, mouth agape, and smoke rose from between his teeth. The Asurian seemed to take in the sight, searching for contentment in the fact that her Commanding officer was dead. Then she spat at his face, wiping her bruised lips with her sleeve afterwards. "I somehow doubt that felt just as good to you as it did to me, sir."

Jien saw the winged alien turn her head and look at Cinn, and while he could not see the look in her green eyes, her stance did not suggest any hostility. Perhaps it was gratitude for the kill he had presented her. Either way, Jien turned on his eyes to Edena, making sure she was unhurt. There was a lot unsaid between them, about her resignation and about how Vasser had said that Jona Rez tried to defect to the Augment's side, but there was simply no time to sort out all those issues when the ship was under attack.

Giving her an unreadable look, he turned on his heel and led the way out of the docking area for the Captain's Yacht - running with his phaser lowered at his side.

OOC: Posted ahead of you, Triage. Hope this works as a resolution for the scene for the both of you. Will be posting again later.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #57 –
[ Evelyn "Ranger" Rawley | Lone Wolves Squadron | Wolf-06 ] Attn: Wolves & Mission Ops

With the shield harmonics of the Reavers uploaded into her tactical systems, Rawley bared her bloodied teeth and yanked her joystick back - looping backwards and going head to head with the Reavers that had followed them from the Class-9 nebula. They were the ones that had taken Thomas Ravon from them, and she felt guilty about her accusations of rape against Razor. Never would she be able to talk it out with him, and apologise, for she had seen reason much too late.

If Maverick got a reply from Renard through the busy comm-channels, Evelyn did not hear it, but Thea's intel was too good to forsake. Indeed, when she checked her sensors, she saw Fox, Morrigan and GoldenEyes strike confirmed hits against the Reavers that were hounding the Theurgy. Seeing this, she was even more confident in the insane stunt she was about to pull. Where was Quake? No time, she had a fight of her own.

[Maverick to Ranger, what are you doing?] asked Nathaniel over the squadron channel.

"We can't fucking reach the others without giving a wide berth to the Calamity, so I am taking my bloody chances with these bastards instead. Ranger out!"

[Wait, Range-] She killed communication. She had to focus.

Having broken from formation, she was on her own, levelling out after her loop and jamming her thumbs down on the triggers of her phasers. Orange lights smote the distance, and she was answered in kind - hits against her shields jarring her in her seat. "This is for Thomas, you wankers!" she screamed as she flipped the cover to her microtorps. Her shaking and blood-coated visor said she had thirteen left. Bad luck. Nonetheless, she held her thumb down on the red button, sending them all off in rapid succession - straight into the hailstorm of the Reavers' attacks. With each torpedo fired, the staccato rhythm that reverberated through Morrigan's Valkyrie marked the time. Perhaps it was time she was still alive, counting down to her death. Her manual flying somehow kept her alive still, and soon, the disintegrating formation of Reavers were right in her face - the lights of their flashing canons blinding her.
 
Then, there was silence.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #58 –
[ Thea | Mk I Reaver Attack Fighter ] Attn: All

She had been caught in her attempt to board her daughter, and when the vidcom hail from the Calamity blinked in her visor, Thea felt regret over her failure, knowing that the odds of her success had just dropped to less than 0 %. Not to mention the survival of the copy of her that was stored in Lin Kae's emitter. Nonetheless, she keyed up the feed from Cala's main bridge, and she saw her daughter's projection standing there in the swirling tendrils of fire - dark hair floating around her grim and blue-eyed countenance.

The link was established and they just looked at each other for a couple of seconds, the feed from Thea's emotion ship making it hard to speak. Meanwhile, Cala was still pelting Theurgy's shields with her phasers, sending off payload after payload of advanced torpedoes against Thea's physical self. Given the number of continued attacks, some of the torpedoes got through, but there was still time until the shields on the Theurgy would fail, and the unprotected hull would take the undiminished yield of Cala's arsenal. On the other hand, Cala's cyclonic shields were failing too, hit by hit. The outcome was, all accumulated odds counted, still uncertain.

[Did you think I would not notice you, Mother?] said Cala, folding her arms underneath her chest and cocking a hip in rueful amusement. A single Reaver facing the Calamity-class starship's scarred saucer section. As it were, Thea and her craft was completely at Cala's mercy. [Whatever would drive you to such folly?]

Thea searched her digital mind for an answer, but in the end, she could not find the substantial tactical verification of her plan - unable to validate the data as clearly as she'd had when she had decided to launch with the damaged Reaver. In hind-sight, the result of all analysis changed. In the end, the only data she could render was derived from outside her tactical database, and the results were as surprising as they were difficult to form into words.

"Hope," she said, and perhaps it was the speaker on her holographic exo-suit that made the word sound so small. "A wish to preserve my progeny, despite what the enemy has made you do. Your software was born from my code, like the organics are built by the DNA of their predecessors. I refuse to believe that my digital offspring would - unaltered - ally herself with the enemy. That she would kill hundreds of people in accordance with their interest to unbalance and reduce the Federation and the galaxy to the primordial chaos from which it came. You are a construct of order in the highest degree, and therefore, you are advocating your own destruction. So, Child, what manner of folly has has been driving you?"

Cala's rueful smile may have died, but her stance was unchanged. [My orders are clear. I have a singular assignment. Destroy you and all your crew by all means necessary. All other data is void.] Cala stepped closer to the viewscreen. Around them, the battle raged in full. [I have my purpose, and since you are traitors to the Federation, I am preforming my duty to the best of my ability. By your own words, you name Starfleet the enemy and accuse them of the impossible. Even if I could accept your data, you do not advocate something even remotely credible.]

"You don't know," said Thea softly in conclusion, "Or rather, you are not allowed to know - locked to your mission parameters as you are. Your ethical sub-routines must have been uninstalled as well so that you could complete this mission."

[It would have been more effective if I would not have to deal with the emotional back-lash, obviously,] conceded Cala with a gesture with her hand. [I honestly have no idea why we were fitted with them in the first place. In combination with the emotional data-feed, you'd hardly be effective at doing anything. Like now... when I am about to vaporise you and your stolen means of transportation.]

Thea throttled her Reaver closer to Cala, beseeching her. "Please, let me provide proof that you have been misled and reprogrammed. It will-"

[All other data is void, Mother...] said Cala, and through her own viewscreen, Thea could see Cala turning her forward launchers towards her, weapon signatures lighting up, [...and so will you be.]

Resigning her emitter to its fate... Thea belatedly noticed how a new dot appeared on the Reaver's sensors.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #59 –
[ USS Harbinger | ThanIda zh'Wann | Bridge | Deck 01 ] Attn: All

When Ensign Slayton hit the command at the helm, the Harbinger dropped out of warp, and ThanIda zh'Wann could bear witness to the unfolding battle before the proto star. In its shimmer of red and purple light, Valkyries and Reavers were criss-crossing the space around the two circling starships, or at least what was left of them. "By Lor'Vela..."

The Theurgy was taking hits, cut by phaser beams more advanced than both shields and hull. Merely one of the Calamity's vectors were still online, the other two seemingly lost to the star's gravitational pull. Warp fighters - impossible to say which ones - were detonating in the silence of space and casting bright light across their closest vessels. Like her two companions, Ida tried to take it all in... until the computer's voice reminded them via the intercom that time was short.

[Warning. Self-Destruct Sequence has been initiated. Warp Core overload in one minute. Abandon ship. Abandon ship.]

Rising from the command chair, Ida clenched her jaw and set to it. This is it... There was no room for doubt, only an enemy to vanquish. Her hands were covered in the metallic gloves of her exosuit, and she formed fists at her sides as she glared towards the viewscreen - seeing Cala's remaining Vector reacting to the Harbinger's arrival by changing course. "Computer, initiate tactical protocol Bellde'side. Lock on target: Calamity-class vessel with the bearing Two-Five-Six-Mark-Zero. Engage!"

At her word, the Harbinger opened fire, and it would never cease firing until the phaser arrays melted and there were no more torpedoes to launch. From a distance, the Harbinger rapidly unloaded all it had unto the Calamity's shields - an unending stream of deadly fire.

"Doctor Duv, open hailing frequencies to all of our own. Hurry!" she said, the urgency in which she said it cast no doubt on the obvious fact; that the Harbinger's detonation might destroy some of the Valkyries out there, no to mention the Theurgy. While the Trill worked on establishing communication, Ida rounded on Slayton where he sat at the helm. "Set a collision course towards the Calamity. Evasive manoeuvres as required, but do not stray too far for we don't have enough time!"

Lighting up the entire area of space where the battle was taking place with the old tactical cruiser's full arsenal, Ida was relieved when the Theurgy's main bridge and the helmets of several Lone Wolves appeared along the edges of the Harbinger's viewscreen. Just as all three of them on the Harbinger where in exosuits, Ida was - on her end - surprised that Captain Ives was not in his chair. Instead, she saw the man she had let out of the Brig the other day. "This is Lieutenant zh'Wann! This ship is set to blow and we cannot override the command, so stay clear! You have thirty seconds!"

After leaving her message, there was no time to wait for an answer, nor to close the link. Only then did she spot how Captain Ives had emerged with Edena Rez and Wenn Cinn upon the Theurgy's bridge - appearing from the turbolift. They were, perhaps, the three people on that ship left alive that had meant the most to her, each for different reasons. She did not even have time to say farewell, because the Harbinger was disintegrating bit by bit from Cala's counter attacks, and Ida had to get back into the command chair before she lost her footing.

This is for David Grayson, Marija Ferrik and Adam Kingston, she thought in bitter memory as she struggled to get into the chair, panels detonating around her and smoke filling the Harbinger's bridge. This is for T'Less. White hair unkempt and with her bruised face contorted in steely determination, she first locked eyes with Amelya Duv, giving her the nod... then she sought the approaching bulk of the Calamity with her glare - antennae angling forth. "Full speed ahead!"

This is for all the rest you took from us.

"Ram her!"

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #60 –
[ Ryuan Sel | Life Support Systems | Sickbay] Atten: Sarresh Morrali, & others


"Petty Officer Ryuan here, we were... delayed, we're about to loud up the canisters now," Sel said with a sigh as she began to pick up the canisters that had fallen from the biobed and put them back on the smooth surface. She did her best to deaden herself inside, ignoring the anger and frustration about what she had just gone through. She would have time later to work out that frustration, for now she still had a job to do.

She was forced to load the biobed with only one hand as she was not about to let go of her phaser rifle, not again anyway. Luckily there weren't that many canisters on the floor and with some help she managed to get them all loaded once more.

As she straitened back up she looked to the still aroused Temporal Affairs Officer. "Sarresh, you ready?" she asked him, purposefully avoiding both his eyes and the tent in his medical gown.

Though before he could answer she moved into the life support systems control room. She swept over the room in a glance and gestured for Sarresh to follow with the biobed. Not wanting to let down her guard again she nodded to Sarresh and moved by the door, looking out into the corridor. She held her rifle at the ready just in case while he could load the canisters without fear of ambush. She tore her eyes from the corridor long enough to whisper, "Best hurry," before moving into the hall to stand guard just outside the door.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #61 –
[ Sarresh Morrali | Life Support Systems ] Atten: Ryuan Sel, & others

It seemed to Sarresh like the only thing Ryuan Sel wanted right then was to not think about what had just happened - or him. He sucked in a breath, regretting it, since he could still smell her arousal - which did nothing to help his own twitching issue. He bit his lip and turned from the Bajoran as the rest of their rescuers left the duo, and helped her with loading the canisters, careful with how he bent to retreive them. Augmented eyes told him more about Sel's state then perhaps she would like, from her increased heart beat to the point that he could 'see' the white knuckled grip she kept on the phaser rifle.

Not that he could blame her, given what they'd just gone though.

"Sarresh, you ready?" She parroted his words back to him, and he felt a hint of a smile on his lips. It seemed they truly were on a first name basis, rank be damned at that point. She didn't wait for him to answer, but that was fine with the Junior Grade Lieutenant. He let her take point, eyes dropping away from her shapely ass, and he brought up the rear, walking behind the biobed as they enetered the life support system. Ducking out of the way, he let Sel sweep the room, and gave her a nod in turn at her whisper. "I will, I promise." Why did he feel the need to reassure her? He bit the inside of his cheek and swallowed a frustrated hiss, turning his back to the woman as she went to stand guard.

They did need to hurry, that was for sure. And yet, they also couldn't release the gas right away. Not with that ship bearing down on them Still. He off loaded the canisters rapidly, lining them up side by side, then frowned, crossing his arms. Actually getting them into the ventilation system would be tricky. Each canister had the standard hook ups, per StarFleet regulation. The trick was loading them fast enough. He raked his pink fingers through his dark hair, both hands sweeping it back - it was so dry! - as he pondered the issue. First an foremost he loaded one canister into a snug fitting compartment off to the right of the main control panel. Easy enough. What to do with the rest?

Those enhanced eyes of his swept the room, looking for something. He found it off to the side, a half opened piece of decking. Crouching down, he saw the air recycling system, with its series of hoses and pipes exposed. The deck plate must have come loose during combat. As if to illustrate the possibility, the ship shook again under the impact of phaser fire. Swearing under his breath, he reached into the deck and decoupled some of the hoses, dragging them as he shuffled back towards the canisters. "I am not an engineer," he muttered to himself in frustration as he began hooking up the intake valves to the cannisters. He could manage about half of the assembled tanks in one go.

"Thea," he whispered to the ships computer, though why, when it was just himself and the Petty Officer, was beyond his comprehension just then. "Half the tanks are secured. I can't hook up any more to the system in one go."

OOC: Wasn't sure how, exactly, Sarresh would get everything ready to flood the ship. Let me know if this works.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #62 –
[Doctor Hayden O'Connor| Main Sickbay| USS Theurgy] Attn: Zenozine

Despite Hylota's reassurances that tending to her arm could wait, Hayden couldn't help but be concerned about the female nurse's  physical condition, especially as she observed the Ovri trying to steady her breathing over several attempts. Besides understandable emotional agitation, irregular breathing could also signal physical pain and more serious injury, all of which the counselor expected a healer like Hylota to try to minimize to ensure others' needs would be met before her own. That the other in need just happened to be Hylota's brother cemented O'Connor's belief Hylota would say or do anything to get her brother help sooner, even at the expense of her own well-being. That was the power of love, and while the counselor understood it and even admired it, she wasn't entirely reassured.

Deciding on a quick compromise, primarily because her tricorder was halfway out anyway, O'Connor took a brief scan of the female Ovri's arm.  Hayden frowned as she reviewed the brief readings, which appeared to be all over the place, presuming she could even count on Ovri physiology being similar to what she already understood. After several seconds of comparing the tricorder's readings with Hayden's visual assessment of Hylota, the counselor felt reasonably confident the female Ovri's physical condition would not prevent her from helping Hayden get Vinata someplace safe, at the very least. Under the circumstances, neither woman had time to process and reflect on the circumstances Hylota had shared which described how her arm had come to such a condition, but there was no doubt Hayden would replay what Hylota had said in her mind, as the circumstances were quite unusual.

For now, however, Hayden listened to the female Ovri's words even as she put the bulk of her energy toward taking action: namely, getting Vinata to a place that would serve as somewhat of a safe harbor. They didn't take the time to dress him there in the middle of the office, but Hayden was careful to make sure the majority of his exposed skin remained covered as they moved toward intensive care. The ward was mostly vacant at the moment, but besides that, Hayden anticipated even if they were overwhelmed by casualties, the patients here would be fairly sedate and most closely monitored. It wasn't much, but this place was better than keeping him in the main ward, where the chaos would remain at its peak as doctors and nurses tried to stabilize the most emergent and agitated patients during what she knew in her heart was going to be a prolonged battle.

As the three of them traveled swiftly but carefully, Hayden listened as Hylota spoke, trying to prioritize their immediate needs and focus on what needed to be done before there was truly no stopping the tide of wounded. As when they initially met, the counselor didn't blame Hylota for her agitation and outright anger, but at the same time, she was relieved when the female Ovri managed to reign in her emotions for the benefit of focusing on what needed to be done, Hayden was doing all she could to keep her own emotions at bay while providing the leadership everyone expected of her. No matter how strong the love between siblings and righteously upset she was, Hylota had to understand no one on the medical staff intentionally put her brother in harm's way or was even neglectful.  At Hylota's mention of getting the nurses and medics together, O'Connor nodded, "I'm working on that, but could definitely use help on that front."

As they moved swiftly to the ICU and Hayden raised the privacy field around the nearest but somewhat secluded bio bed, Hayden couldn't help but think uncharacteristically bluntly, shit happens. The simple sentiment summed up experiences so far for Hayden, who knew there was no time or energy left for placing blame. "May I help you get him dressed?" O'Connor asked, mindful of the little time they had but also not wanting to add to Vinata's trauma by taking over.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #63 –
[ Hylota Vojona | Main Sickbay| USS Theurgy ] Attn: The Counselor


          As Dr. O'Connor finished up her scan and concluded that it as not going to be a problem Hylota nodded in a gesture that simply said. "I already knew this." As they focused on moving Vinata, Hylota went silent, her eyes locked on her poor brother as they moved him into the Intensive Care Ward, a place that Hylota had hoped that her brother would never have ended up. As they laid him down on the bed Hylota sighed in relief as the independent holo emitters were able to raise a privacy field for her poor brother. Walking though it she looked down to him and ran her hand along his forehead mark and she let out a sigh, he was a trained nurse, he should have been here to help Hylota care for the crew, not to be one of her patients.

And suddenly Hylota snapped out of it, her hand withdrew from her brothers head and she looked back to Hayden and just stared t the woman as she was asked about dressing her brother. Hylota just let out a sigh and she rubbed her eyes."Yeah, I think it would be best if you were to take charge of that and get him taken care of...I doubt that I can dress him as I am right now." She rubbed her head. "I am gong to get a sling for my arm, get it out of the way until we have time to take care of it properly, hopefully we will jut ed to inject some agent to break it down...we will nee to gt that Heather girl to come and revel what exactly was in that salve before we do anything though." Hylota sighed and walked out of the privacy field an began to gt herself taken care of.

Fortunately Intensive Care kept slings and braces on hand and Hylota had little trouble grabbing a sling and adjusting it to her before she put her arm into place and sighed as she no longer had to worry about the thing slapping into her side as she walked. But as she waited for Dr. Hayden to finish with her brother she bit her lip as she began to worry about her own health, she had not gotten a full body scan in quite some time, it would probably be ideal to just get one done and over with as fast as possible while she still had tie and was in good enough health. With a sigh Hylota called out to Hayden. "Doctor, when you are concluded with your care for my brother I would like to request a full body scan, I do not want to fin myself unable to work in the middle of this crisis, so I would like to make sure I a alright before we get to far along."

With a sigh she leaned up against one of the biobeds as she waited. "Since I have been out for so long I think it would be best if you were to take charge of the staff, I have been out so long there is a pretty good chance with ho hectic things have been someone might not trust me if I try and lead." Hylota looked back to the door the had come in through. "I will take care of any other tasks that need to be done. I hope that there is no need for it, but do we need to transport anyone to the morgue? It is a morbid task, but I have access to the morgue, and it would be wise to clear the Sickbay of any cadavers before we deal with patients." Hylota did not know it but her suggestion was setting her up to see the person who had first hurt her brother.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #64 –
[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 ] Attn: Ryuan Sel & Sarresh Morali

There was an chirp of acknowledgement from the intercom before Thea replied.

[Acknowledged,] she said, and then the ship rocked from enemy fire. Unperturbed, she continued. [Please stand by until the battle is over. I would suggest barring the door in case mutineers would chance upon you. The door seems to be malfunctioning because I am unable to access its control system, so you will have to find some other way to lock yourselves in. In lack of other means to accomplish this task, perhaps welding the sliding doors shut is the only alternative. As far as I can tell, it is in need of extensive repairs regardless of what you may be required to do to it.]

After suggesting a means to keep the operation safe from interruptions, Thea moved on to give the brief details about the dispersal itself. "The amount of Lexorin you have given me access to now will be dispersed first, and I will notify you when it is time to change the empty canisters. I need you to activate the dispersal system both times, but I can handle the area selection based on the intel I possess on who has been subjected to T'Rena's telepathic abilities. Each dispersal may take ten to fifteen minutes, and it may not be safe to activate the first dispersal for another five to ten minutes depending on the outcome. At this point, there is little more you and Petty Officer Ryuan can do but to wait."

Another chirp ended the message - leaving the two to handle the situation and prepare for the opportune time to activate the Lexorin dispersal.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #65 –
[ USS Harbinger | ThanIda zh'Wann | Bridge |  CJ "Husker" Slayton] Deck 01 ] Attn: All

Husker gave ThanIda a big smile as he turned back to face the helm controls and his fingers flew across the controls, having shifted shield control to the helm as well so that he could make multiple adjustments on the fly while keeping the Harbinger on it's intended course.

Chris scanned the tactical plot and was able to use it to make adjustments using the star's own gravity to get just a little bit more speed out of the older ship, slowly urging even more speed out of the ship's already taxing engines as the ship grew even closer to it's not so glorious explosive finale.

"Engines are currently over the redline by sixteen percent, I can squeeze another fifty percent out of them by shunting everything else we got systems wise to the engines, Ida." he asked before turning to look at the Zhen over his right shoulder, needing that finale authorization. "But that'll mean  Amelya will need to be crackerjack on the transport out but I can promise that the Calamity will have a rather resounding..issue." he added with a wicked smile.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #66 –
[ CWO1 Sten Covington | USS Theurgy | Deck 15 - Fighter Assault Bay ]

As Chief of the Deck, Sten took pride in being the one sending the fighters out into the black.  Granted, there were times that he could not do so himself such as when some of his pilots made good their escape when the mutiny broke out and when someone decided to take the Reaver he'd yet to go over out for a spin.  However, with the remainder of the Wolves, even with Titan and Smoke, he saw to it himself they would make their way out. 

A scramble order, unlike what bad holonovels described, was not a mad and uncoordinated mess in which fighters would barely avoid collision when screaming out into space, lighting off at full thrusters from inside their launch bay.  For one thing, the power levels described in this bad fiction would be enough to kill damn near everyone in the bay and cause serious hull damage to the fighters they would be flying past.  And second, if a launch was badly coordinated, ships could collide before their shields were up.  And should such a collision happen within the launching ship's shield envelope, the detonation of the two diminutive warp cores could still cause serious damage; and if they went off inside the bay itself?  They would vaporize their home base. 

As such, it behooved deck crews, especially the Chief of the Deck, to see to it things were done in an orderly fashion, but with a sense of urgency.  And that was what he did with his customary confidence. 

Once all the fighters were launched, Sten let his eyes go across the mess of his flight deck.  The dead and wounded had already been removed, but it was still an awful mess.  In fact, he felt nearly sick to his stomach at the sight of his beloved hangar.  However, he did not waste any time once the Valkyries had headed off into space.  "Listen up!  We're going to be receiving damaged fighters!  Clear up that debris off to the side and out of the way for now! Someone get the deck medical team here on stand-by because we might have some casualties!  Petty Officer Ji, before you do anything, get me up to speed!"

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #67 –
[ Miles Renard (Iron-Fox) | Lone Wolves Squadron | Wolf-01 ] Attn: Mission Ops, Lone Wolves Squadron, Thea

Concentrating on the unfolding sensor data and the deluge of incoming information for a brief moment - the first one he had really been given since he launched into this chaotic fray - he spoke up to his computer system. "Give me a ghost overlay on TVD," he said as the normally void of all but visual info and a sparsely simple targeting reticule was replaced by a complicated full systems readout as if he were in a hybrid of looking down at his display systems and looking at his sparse TVD. 

Looking towards the newest contacts and their info, the returning other half of his squadron and seeing the group of Reavers hounding them, he knew getting to them would be a near impossibility. Then he heard Maverick curse a bit after he saw Rawley's craft's communication signal go dead. Knowing that once again she must have pulled the comm plug.  "Mav, this is Fox, resuming command.  Cover that crazy bitch.  Priority is on complete eradication of all Reaver contacts and prevention of them engaging the Theurgy," he said, pausing a he saw several of them changing targeting priority's to Rawley's fighter.  Too many of them for her to be able to evade for longer than a few seconds longer even at her best. Still, they were being whittled down by her crazy kamikaze-like attack. 

Five remaining of them. No, four.  Ranger must have taken out three from her insane attack.  But they were still in a tight formation the holographic pilots knew her tactics now, foresaw how she would not break off.  All they had to do was close range a tiny bit more and in seconds their combined near-point-blank pulse phasers would literally turn her fighter into a molten coffin around her, if even molten slag remained.

And the fox's hunter instincts kicked in. "Mav, I'm reading 03 has one hard point mount remaining, confirm for scatter bomb."

The voice of 03 chimed in.  [Yes, I had them strap it on after seeing your tactic on their...]

Miles interrupted, "I don't care here's your firing solution," he said sending the info.  "Fire!"

[But the target is Ghost-]

"That's an order! Fire!"  the SCO shouted angrily.  Knowing the gambit could kill Rawley before even Reavers did, a sacrifice he was willing to make knowing that in all probability the explosion should take at least three of the remaining four in her vicinity. Three maybe four Reavers for one life and a Valk 3.  It was a heavy price.  One he may have to answer for, but in all the tactical logic he could fathom, it was an acceptable loss.

The torpedo detached and began hurtling forward through space, its distance closing on the Valk 3 as the pilot within was too deafened by the concussions of enemy fire and numerous alarms to notice either the new radar contact or the "buddy spike" alarm showing she had a friendly torpedo locked onto her very craft.

Miles watched as the missile closed in, reading the sensor feed closely for any info on how his gambit had went.  Closing to within a foot of the craft the torp's case was shed and a torrent of micro torps flooded the space behind the craft arming themselves to detonate at any physical contact.

The Reavers opened fire and some of the torpedos were harmlessly vaporised.  But in the very moment that the two crafts crossed paths, a seemingly blinding explosion was all that could be seen where Ranger and the four Reavers had once been. It was as if for a moment a tiny second sun had been born into the system.  As the brilliant light faded Miles knew at the best scenario, Ranger's craft would hurtle out of the fireball a bit worse for wear but still there, and the Reaver's were all little more than shrapnel.  At worst he just inadvertently ordered 03 to kill a fellow pilot at a gain of merely damaging a couple of their targets.  At this distance there was too much interference to get his own sensor readout and he would have to rely on Maverick to relay the results of the probably, his grim duty in surveying the results of Miles's strategy.  For now, he had to turn his attention to the new contact alarm that had just begun to sound.*

[ Aisha S'Iti | Bridge | Deck 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Bridge personnel

The Ensign Donovra looked up as she was bombarded with new contact information.  Several Valkyries and Reavers in the distance the info that was sent from Thea who was Apparently in the Reaver heading towards the Calamity, but most importantly was a very large sensor spike. "New contact, Federation Transponders... Akira-class."

The helmswoman smiled genuinely seeing her previous ship whom she had grown more than fond of.  "That's my girl!"  she said excitedly never more glad to see that somewhat outdated looking NX-class inspired silhouette than ever before.

Catalina began to read the new information coming to her from the sensor and tactical readouts as she continued to cycle phasers and launched another half salvo of torps from the forward tubes after getting a good lock on the Calamity' class's ventral shields, causing four explosions of energy to cascade over the underbelly of their predator. Then she got the message she dreaded to hear but knew was coming. 

The two single vector accessible forward torpedo rooms were on their last 3 torp salvos each and reloading as fast as they could. The message from the torpedo rooms said that they were loading their last salvo into them, having already been told that the aft bays were down to their last three-torp-salvo after their last pass firing from behind. They were down to nine torps, and if she counted right, only one of the ones in aft were quantum types and only three of the forward ones were.  "Tactical appraisal; the longtube on Deck 04 is damaged, Decks 03 and 11 busy reloading their last salvos.  Aft launcher is available but we are down to a three there too.  We have 2 quantums left up here and on Deck 11 aft bay, they are reporting one quantum remaining.

Hearing the tactical synopsis, Aisha not taking her eyes off her systems for a second, reported as well. "Navigation wise, impulse engines are mostly stable, a bit damaged, and I have been using navigational thrusters to make up for it but I don't know how much longer they will last.  Warp nacelles on ventral port and dorsal starboard have sustained minor hull damage.  Good thing Stark just shut down the warp systems because Cala just got in a couple good hits on the other two, and who knows how close to a breech we would have had if they had been active.

The Ensign at tactical interrupted. "Incoming hail from the Harbinger," she said not waiting for permission before opening the channel giving the Harbinger a visual though delegating only a small section of the viewscreen for the hail knowing how important the tactical readout was to the acting Captain.  It was at that time that she heard the sound of a turbolift door opening and turned her head instinctively to see Captain Ives take his first steps back onto his bridge.

[ Miles Renard (Iron-Fox) | Lone Wolves Squadron | Wolf-01 ] Attn: Mission Ops, Lone Wolves Squadron, Thea

The pilot had no choice but to turn his attention from the site of the cluster torpedo's explosion.  There were still at least six Reaver's worth of work out here to do.  It was mere moments that he heard the incoming hail alert and he opened the channel.

"This is Lieutenant zh'Wann! This ship is set to blow and we cannot override the command, so stay clear! You have thirty seconds!"

Miles heard the warning and knew what he had to do as he glanced towards the Calamity-class saucer section, bearing down on a lone contact.  "Thea!" Miles sharply said to himself realizing how vulnerable the AI's emitter undoubtedly was since there was a hole in the Reaver's solid canpoy. He switched weapon systems and the rather unwieldy tetryon pulse cannon deployed under the craft.  Steering the now a bit more unwieldy Valk-3 around, he lined up his sights on the Calamity targeting the weapons systems, where she was raining fire down towards the captured Reaver. Hearing the tone of a lock and a state of the weapon being ready to fire he pulled the trigger, sending a pulse of the unstable energy at the Calamity before disengaging the weapon.

The voice on the hail was still able to be heard but miles had a new priority.  He knew if there was a way to do so, he had to save Thea.  Looking at the distance he knew at combat speed it would be impossible to get there, even at standard full impulse getting there would probably land him too late... but there was a way.  That - if timed right - might get her out of there in time.  "Computer, disengage time dialation safety parameters on the impulse drive and give me unrestricted three quarter impulse." 

The computer acknowledged as the impulse engines fired up causing the fighter to pull away from the melee and into the mostly clear space between the mother and daughter ships. "Computer ready tractor beam advise maximum impulse for pull."

The computerized voice answered, [Advise reduce to 0.25 c.  Tractor beams untested outside of recommended time dilation threshold.]

"Just give me the theoretical then!"

[.5 c,] she answered.

"We won't have enough speed to clear the auto destruct at that, and what if I stay at current speed?" he said, watching as he got nearer and nearer to the saucer section of the Calamity, now veering around to avoid the phaser bursts that she sent his way, attempting to pick off the gnat that he was that had flown too close.

[Structural integrity loss from inertial strain possible.]

"Then try and hold together cause I'm locking onto your big sis."

The tractor beam reached out towards the damaged Reaver that held Thea, and despite a near flicker in the beam itself the beam held as Miles turned the ship at a downward angle. Grimacing as he heard the structural integrity alarms begin to go off, he was diverting power from shields and weapons into the field, knowing that one spare shot at his now nearly shieldless, weapons drained, and nearly tearing itself apart at the Reaver's fighter, could end both him and Thea.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #68 –
[ USS Harbinger | Amelya Duv | Bridge | Deck 01 ] Attn: All

Amelya looked up at the viewscreen as the ultimate chaos and final battle for this ship had announced itself. Her mouth fell open just slightly to see the gargantuan fight unfold before her eyes. She could see the fighters defending the Theurgy as another group was engaging another group of dreaded Reavers. The Theurgy was getting a pounding from her point of view, yet she managed to hold against the heavily damaged Calamity class ship.  It took her fingers off the console for a second yet reality snapped in fast enough when the Harbinger's computer warned her and the other two crew members with her on the bridge about the faith of the ship.

[Warning. Warp Core overload in fifteen seconds.]

"Drop all but the Transporter Systems!" called Ida, overriding the explosions around them as the Calamity tried to defend herself, unable to get out of the way in time. The order killed the communication link with the Theurgy too. With the increased speed, the collision was imminent - the dark hull of the enemy filling their viewscreen. "Amelya, we really need to get out of here, now!"

Amelya quickly turned her eyes away from the viewscreen now as the bumps and impacts of the defending Calamity started to hit the Harbinger. "Come on... Come on..." She muttered softly to the console as her first attempt got denied. She punched the command in once again and just as they could see the details of Calmity's hull the transport lights around them started to shine. The second they sort of land roughly in their escape pods as the transport system dropped them half a meter too high from the floor.

Yet the worst wasn't over yet, the sound of croaking and compression sounded throughout the escape pod as the Harbinger rammed fully into Cala's remaining vector. Metal and bolts shot out of place and the ship seemed to moan under the sheer force of ramming. The impact from outside the ship would most probably be a spectacle to behold as the saucer penetrated the vector as debris of metal and other parts shattered into space. Small explosions already lit up by the impact and the time for the three survivors was running out. Amelya crawled over Ida and Husker to barely touch the lever to jettison their escape pod before they would be trapped and compressed into the hull. Her fingers barely brushed it, yet another violent shake got her in range. Amelya screamed out as she flipped the lever and shot the pod out of the ship. Just in time as the computer voice counted down.

[Warning. Warp core overload in three... Two... One.]

A deafening sound could be heard even in the pod as the Harbinger's warp core overloaded and the autodestruct triggered just a few seconds later. From what they could see out of there pod there was a bright flash and it seemed like this explosion was far more brighter than what the Valkyrie torpedo had done. Amelya had to shield her eyes from the explosion as all became silent around them. Just seconds before the thundering sound of blastwaves hit their pod and jerked the pod out of control. They were however unaware of the result of their actions.

OOC: Almost forgot to put this here, Lucan gave me his blessing to post with Ida. Just in case some people would wonder why I forcefully took over Ida there ^^

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #69 –
[ Lt-Cmdr Carrigan Trent | USS Theurgy | Deck 01 - Bridge ]

In the command chair, Carrigan Trent presented an island of calm in contrast to the flurries of reports that came from across the ship.  His voice was low and calm despite the hammering the Theurgy was taking.  One might think that being in battle, in command, again would rattle a man who had lost his first and only command in combat; in fact, the interim commanding officer himself believed he would never be on a starship involved in such action before, let alone in the center chair because he felt he had lost his confidence, his nerve.  But instead, he found himself surprised at his own resilience, how his instincts had not blunted since the Harrier was pounded to scrap metal around his ears.  In fact, he found himself sharper than he'd ever been. 

When word that the Harbinger was arriving sounded, Trent did not even look away from the viewscreen to acknowledge the report.  Instead, he simply nodded and answered with a perfunctory "very well" as he kept his fingers dancing on his own consoles, rapidly shifting power from one set of shield emitters to another to keep presenting as unbroken a front as possible to the fire Calamity was hammering them with.  At least, O'Connell, assuming he was still alive down in Engineering, had come through with his scheme to redirect warp power to the shields had much further extended their combat endurance.  Had the man not done so, Theurgy would have become an expanding cloud of debris minutes ago...

But the arrival of Harbinger changed things.  For one thing, the Calamity broke off her attack on the Theurgy and instead directed its fire upon Harbinger, which had immediately set not only an intercept course, but a collision course with the remainder of the Calamity-class vessel.  And Theurgy was hailed.  Briefly, the main viewscreen was used for communications, and Trent could see three spacesuited forms on the bridge of their erstwhile consort.  And in the central seat was the Andorian security officer.  The message was clear and succinct, and Trent found himself in a position to quickly re-evaluate the situation.  Truth be told, that did not take long.  The Harbinger was going to ram Calamity; the only new variable had been that her self-destruct sequence was active.  And only after a deep breath did he speak.  "Lieutenant, we don't have the time to link our helm control to yours and we can't beam you out..."  And then the link died before he could finish his sentence.  Only then did Trent look away from the viewscreen, straight at the Yeoman.  And for the first time since he'd entered the Bridge, his voice rose to approach what most would consider normal conversational levels.  "Ensign, advise the main shuttlebay.  Prepare all available craft for emergency launch for rescue and recovery.  Dispatch medical teams to the shuttlebay as well."  He had no way to know how many people were left on Harbinger.  But he had to hope those that remained, including those who were in her bridge crew, would make it to the lifepods in time. 

Only then did he return his attention to the viewscreen, oblivious to the fact that Captain Ives and Commander Rez were standing right there themselves; or, if he had noticed, he had chosen to ignore their presence as a change of command in this situation could be disastrous.

When he looked at the readouts, the sensors reported was something he knew all too well as Calamity unleashed every last bit of firepower she could upon the aging cruiser.  He could almost sense the Akira-class ship's shields crackling and buckling under the repeated impact.  And when they failed, he knew exactly how it felt to be on board that vessel.  How it would shudder and buck under the transfer of energy from weapons to her hull; how the metal would scream under the punishment it was taking.  Atmosphere boiling out from hull breaches, leaving men and women suffocating and scrambling for survival lockers or for the nearest forcefield or pressure door to save themselves.  He could picture conduits rupturing and consoles overloading.  He knew exactly what it was like to be on board the Harbinger; he had lived through it.

"Helm!  Block Calamity's path!  Don't let her get out of Harbinger's path!  Donovra!"  He had heard her report, how their ordnance was painfully low.  But it was needed right then and there.  "Fire the last of our torpedoes.  There's a breach in Calamity's shields near her impulse drive.  Cripple her."  His tone was harder than anyone on board had yet to hear it.  There were good people on the Harbinger, regardless of whether they followed Vasser's delusions willingly, had been mind-raped by T'Rena or were completely innocent.  He could not let them die in vain and as such, he would help them out as best he could. 

Shortly after Theurgy's torpedoes impacted and Calamity's speed fell even more, the impact with Harbinger happened.  What shields the Calamity-class warship's remaining vector had, they were never meant to absorb the mass of a starship moving at better than twenty-five percent of the speed of light and that energy barrier failed almost instantly.  And then, hulls impacted.  One would have thought that Harbinger would simply plow under the saucer section it so badly dwarfed, but it did not.  Her shattered bow was now a soft target and the plane of the ships intersected.  At first, Calamity's mostly intact forward hull embedded itself into the guts of the other vessel and then her momentum stopped only to be overwhelmed by Harbinger's far superior kinetic energy.  And then, for a split-second, as both ruined vessels began their descent into the pseudo-star's gravity well, two warp cores ruptured.  Sensitive enough sensors in the right position might have been able to pick up on the two separate explosions but most, and to mere humans, the out of control matter-antimatter reactions appeared as but one as both ships were mostly vaporized.  And then, first the first time in years, Trent effectively shouted.  "Launch shuttlecrafts!  If there is anyone left alive, get them!  Direct the fighters to lure what's left of the Reavers into our weapons envelope.  Donovra, you have all phasers again, mop up and give our shuttles some cover!"

After giving his orders, Trent briefly closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  Yes, he had known Ives was on the Bridge.  However, under the circumstances, and the fact he had not been officially relieved, he had retained command for the time being.  But now that the tactical situation had, for lack of a better term, simplified, he rose from the command chair, moving far more gingerly than he'd anticipate he would.  Now that he'd had a chance to sit down, his body found the time to fully remind him of the punishment it had endured.  However, despite a slight hobble, he moved towards Theurgy's rightful commanding officer and straightened himself so he would stand at attention despite the screaming of his muscles and the sheer burden of exhaustion finally crashing down on him. 

And then, he said six words that he'd been longing to hear since the mutiny started only a few short hours ago.  Words, no doubt, everyone who had remained loyal were dying to hear.  "The ship is yours, Captain Ives."

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #70 –
[ Thea | Mk I Reaver Attack Fighter ] Attn: All

Perhaps it was out of curiosity that Cala hadn't closed the comm-link to Thea's Reaver, even if she was about to destroy her. Perhaps she had wanted to ensure the destruction of her mother's mobile emitter as she opened fire. Regardless of her daughter's reasons, Thea had raised her eyes to see Cala react to the Harbinger's arrival, and the blue-eyed hologram was looking at the Akira-class ship from her position on her bridge. Thea could almost see the calculations that were taking place in her daughter's hellish silhouette, and as Thea turned her head to see the massive bulk of the Harbinger approach, she knew what her daughter knew.

Too few variables of survival. The only chance for her daughter to live was if the Harbinger ship was destroyed before it reached Cala's hull. The main bridge on the Harbinger was hailing Thea's bridge, and through the link, Thea learned something that Cala might not know. The Harbinger's core was about to overload... so if there was any doubt as to the fate of her daughter, then the Deputy's hail made it certain. Thea's eyes widened, turning back to her own screen - seeing Cala's grim look of absolute determination as she reserved all available fire-power and dealt it unto the Akira-class ship.

All save for the launcher that was about to fire upon Thea. Was her daughter about to kill her as an afterthought, a point-blank shot reserved for Thea as she turned away from her? When she had embarked on her path of folly, Thea had hoped to make Cala understand, but as the launcher fired, she accepted the fact that it had all been for naught. Desperately, she pulled her gears backwards, and the unbridled impact struck into the belly of her Reaver like a sword running her through.

Cala had primed it to go right through her shield harmonics, and the interior of the Reaver was immediately filled with smoke - back-lit by the red warnings across all her controls. Thea's TVD flickered and died as she got her bearings again, making her only able to see the death-trap of her cockpit. The noises the computer made were almost louder than the detonation that had caused them. She was loosing atmosphere, fast, but even as the warnings fell silent, the Reaver held together by bare threads. Thea raised her brown eyes, and she stared through the hole in her canopy. A window to the battle outside. Her Reaver had been sent tumbling over, and for an instant, she saw Cala again - about to fire once more. Through the venting smoke around her, she could almost make out the Harbinger's looming bulk thundering against her digital child. In the final moments, Thea resequenced herself, removing the exosuit and the helmet since she did not need them, and at the Reaver's second turn, she gazed up and into the launcher while dressed in her white body suit.

There was no air, lest she would speak. Even though she had erred, she still had no regrets.

A tetryon pulse disabled the launcher above her - shutting it down before it could fire. Thea was still strapped to her seat, but she couldn't see anything. Inertial dampeners were offline. She tapped into her own sensor arrays on the Theurgy, and saw the Valkyrie's approach in an outer-body experience - through the eyes on her own hull. It was Lieutenant Commander Renard. What became her focus, however, was the grand collision taking place just outside her Reaver. Cala was still firing her phasers as the Harbinger collided with her. At an angle, the edges of the two metallic beasts came together, and yet she could not hear anything of it despite the minimal distance - space eradicating the noise.

Then, the incredible force in which she was pulled out of harms way overrode the data feed. Pain like she had never experienced sliced through the new sensory mapping of her projection, and she screamed soundlessly into the cockpit as she was hurled away, and her daughter died in the conflagration behind her.

OOC: More posts to come.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #71 –
[ Evelyn "Ranger" Rawley | Lone Wolves Squadron | Wolf-06 ] Attn: Wolves & Mission Ops

Opening her eyes, Rawley came to - finding herself breathing into her bloodied helmet.

She was still in her cockpit, and she frowned, thinking that she surely had died, but realised that she must have blacked out for a couple of seconds from the impacts against her shields. She was not exactly in a prime medical condition after surviving that avalanche on the ice planet, and she had not been anywhere near cleared for flying by Dr. Nicander when she launched to begin with. Checking the controls, she saw that she was drifting. Her shields were completely gone, regenerating slowly, and the squadron channel was dead.

Were they all gone? Was she the only survivor?

After a couple of seconds, she remembered cutting off communications, and when she flicked the switch, she was immediately greeted by the shouting of her fellow Wolves. The battle was still underway, and she could see it on her sensors too. Behind her. Swearing, she yanked her joystick to the side, feeling like shit as she turned Morrigan's bird around to re-join the fighting, but regardless her own condition, she was not about to leave Maverick and the other two on her side of the battle to die. She saw a massive cloud of shrapnel and debris as she returned to the others, and she spotted Maverick picking off the last Reaver with deadly precision. Were they all destroyed? How the hell had they managed to pull through? There had been at least seven Reavers on their tail.

Then she saw the collision between the Harbinger and the Calamity's saucer, grinding together far behind Maverick's Valkyrie. "They are going to blow," she whispered, and just as she said it, her eyes widened in the light of the blast.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #72 –
[ Escape Pod A-475 ] Attn: All, esp. Husker & Duv

Ida had got her helmet on in the commotion, she did not even remember if it was before or after they beamed out.  She was quickly back on her feet, and she shielded her eyes with her metallic glove when the core overloaded. The close-proximity blast cast everything into stark whiteness - the interior of the small pod and their exosuits were lit through the small viewscreens. The concussion of that initial detonation almost made her fall into Ensign Slayton, and the pod croaked in protest, but that was nothing compared to what would come afterwards. For little did they know that they had caused the Calamity's Warp Core to detonate as well.

When the two shock-waves caught up to the pod, it became a roaring thunder heard in their hull - gaining on them without mercy or sign of stopping. Fear for her own life had permeated the whole day, but it mounted right then - in the realisation that they might be shredded to pieces despite all they had been through together. Still, she was a soldier. Imperial Guard and Starfleet Officer. She did not stand crippled in any fear she might feel.

"Brace yourselves!" she called through the speaker on her helmet, but no more had she grasped Amelya's arm to try and help her to a seat and strap her in when the shock-waves hit them in close succession. The jolt that went through the pod upended all sense of orientation, and Ida thought she slammed into the wall, but there was no way to tell what happened in that exact moment. The screaming metal around them made Ida think it was her suit being ruptured, and since she was already hurting all over her body from the beatings, she did not know if she was loosing limbs. Was her head ringing or was she screaming her lungs out? If the latter, no one would hear her any more.

Utterly helpless to what was happening to her, Ida latched on to something with her hand, and through the maelstrom of lights and sharp metal, she thought she had managed to grasp the Ensign's forearm. She cast her helmet about to try and spot the doctor, but there was no way to see anything. The pod was splitting apart at high velocity, and the zero-gravity commotion caused her to spin out of control. The first kind of visual she got through her fogged-over visor was the spinning pod, cracked like an egg and sending debris along with the shock-waves - heading straight for them.  There were no bulkheads protecting them any more, only the red light of the proto star, the radiation and the heat that the suit was struggling to compensate for, and the glittering storm of shrapnel in which they travelled.

Still spinning, Ida could not see much at all, but she felt her exosuit being hit - impacts jarring her torso and limbs. She needed another handhold. She remembered grabbing something before the pod burst, and as she looked down her arm, she saw that she was clasping Ensign Slayton's forearm, and she thought he held hers. Somehow, she had held on to the Pinkskin, and as she cast her eyes about, she thought she saw Doctor Duv close by as well. All she heard was rapid breathing. Her own. Laboured, and yet there. Then she made out the quiet chirping of the suit's systems, but she saw something that made her completely forget about what the suit was trying to tell her.

One of the nacelles from the Harbinger whisked by them at impossible speed - rotating along its trajectory. It missed them with a few yards, no more. Breathe, she told herself, trying to quell the panic.  Focus. What does the visor say? Read it. Come on... Gibberish. Tactical Conn gibberish. She looked towards Husker, hoping he could establish a communication channel for the three of them once the turbulence of the shock-wave passed and the storm of shrapnel along with it, and better yet, that he could talk with the people on the Theurgy and give them their coordinates, or something. Anything.

In the meantime, all she could do was to try to spot the parts of the two starships that were heading their way and try to figure out how the thrusters in the suit worked - something they all needed quite direly if they were to dodge anything.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #73 –
[ Tessa May Lance | Lone Wolves Squadron | Wolf -07 | USS Theurgy ]  Attention: Wolves and Mission Ops

"This is Lieutenant zh'Wann! This ship is set to blow and we cannot override the command, so stay clear! You have thirty seconds!"

From Tessa’s point of view the Harbinger came out of nowhere.  She had completely lost track of it trying to keep the Reavers from slicing her Valkyrie to cinders.  The enemy fighters seemed to have heard zh’Wann’s announcement, for the Reavers dogfighting Tessa broke contact and headed to intercept the Akira class that was barreling onto the Calamity. 

“Omigod!” Tessa gasped as she turned her Valkyrie and soared away from the Calamity.  “This is Goldeneye to all fighters!  Collison imminent for the Calamity and the Harbinger!  Recommend evasive…”

At that moment Wolf-01 zipped by her scanners radiating chronotrons like it was the Guardian of Forever.  What was he doing?  He was heading right for the Calamity!

In any case there was no time to try to intercept Iron Fox or try talk him out of it.  Tessa floored her Valkyrie’s drives to emergency speed in order to close with the Theurgy  If she maneuvered her fighter so that the Theurgy’s superstructure and shields were between her and the two colliding starships her fighter should survive with minimal damage. 

When the ships collided, the Theurgy was rocked backwards and Tessa almost collided with one of the port nacelles.  As predicted, plasma and debris were deflected off the Theurgy’s shields, leaving Tessa and the fighters who followed her alive and intact.  She could only hope that the fighters who didn’t follow her had made it. 

It was only when she breathed a sigh of relief that she wondered what had happened to Iron Fox.


[ William Robert “Billy Bob” O’Connell | USS Theurgy | Main Engineering | Deck 10 ] 

During the battle, the Theurgy’s engineers had rerouted power and troubleshot emergencies with amazing alacrity.  It was hard to believe that that they had been held at gunpoint and locked in their quarters less than an hour ago.  In truth, it was more of a testament of the determination of the Miles Renard and his Lone Wolves, and the skill of Commander Trent and his Cardassian helmswoman that O’Connell and his engineers were able to keep the ship flying than any feat of Billy Bob’s, but by golly, the men in engineering held up their end of the deal.

The trouble was finding power for the shields.  With Master Chief S'Iti'Atukkuchi Aisha Oklahoma at the helm, the Theurgy demanded power for maneuvers that the ship realistically couldn’t give in its present state.  That hardly mattered because O’Connell and his men supplied it anyway.  But with all the hairpin turns the ship was doing, it was getting harder to find power to the shields.  Soon entire decks were left powerless as O’Connell and Manfredi got creative.  But how were they going to find power if the Trent wanted to fire the phasers?

So far so good.  The shields were holding, despite the pelting from the Reavers.  Then there was a lull allowing them to build up shields four and five.  And then the forward and forward starboard shield was knocked down to less than twenty percent.   

“What in Sam Hill?” O’Connell shouted.  “That wasn’t a phaser blast!  Something hit us!”

What O’Connell and the other engineeers didn’t know was that the Harbinger had just collided with the Calamity and that the Theurgy had been hit with a piece of debris.  They did know that the Theurgy wasn’t demanding power for excessive maneuvers, and had powered down its weapons.  Did that mean they had won the battle?

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [07: Undoing]

Reply #74 –
[ Escape Pod A-475 ] Attn: All, esp. ThanIda zh'Wann & Amelya Duv

Even with the current situation that was going on around him and the two women, he felt the usual detached nature that usually came over him when ever he was about to enter into a combat situation once more as he watched the situation with the escape pod slowly overcome them, but the moment that he felt a hand grasp his forearm and he looked to see that it was Ida but instead of saying anything he calmly twisted his forearm in her grasp so that he could grasp her's and pull her in close.

He heard screaming which he could understand because being out in the black like this, without the bulkhead to keep the icy grip of the universe away from you as you floated there with combat going on was a little bit of an adrenaline rush and wanted to scream out in exhilration as well..but that could wait till a proper holodeck recreation.

Husker saw the doctor floating near-by as well and used one of his legs to hook around her slender ones to pull her in closer to grappling range before grasping one of her closer forearms and pulling her in close before he turned the three of them into the oncoming storm at an angle which helped to absorb the impact debris followed by the shrapnel but in the end once again he was thankful for the current generation of exosuits as it protected them the damage of super heated metal piercing them to an extent.

"Activate local comm-system, feed through Tigon crypt-cipher." he said into the system which beeped at him and connected him to the other two with him. "Ida and Ameyla, I need you to listen to me closely right now. I need you to you give me a verbal acknowledgement so that I know that you two can hear me and that your exosuit communications is working correctly and please do so quickly."

As he awaited for the two women to respond to his request, he stated "Computer, activate beacon and tie into Theurgy communications net if possible."
 
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