Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [D06|0840]

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Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #75 – November 13, 2018, 03:12:38 AM

[ LtJG. Sephiria “Scylla” Arn | Valravn class Warp Fighter “Wolf 14”| Flying Chance’s wing | Near Vector 01 | Asure Nebula ]

{If we can score some hits and keep their shields from fully recovering, Chance and Scylla can hit the nacelle once they're clear.}

Sephiria smirked as she kept formation, eyes moving around, checking her consoles and sensor displays, backing it up with mark 1 eyeball checks too to make sure, it sounded like a good plan to her, a tad risky but if it worked. “Whatever we do, we better do it soon flight leader.” Was her only response right then.

The comms from this Natauna lady were pretty curt and direct but, if, by the accent, she ended up being a Klingon or from their neck o the woods like a ferasan or some other being from the Empire, that wasn’t important as much as what she said. “okay… what the heck… a Runabout?” she blinked after spotting it herself as her RIO did. “Yeah Scylla, that’s the projectile… what they do, rig it to blow and and stuff it full of explosive materials?” He asked, Scylla shrugged. “Better adjust!” She stated as her hands deftly moved the fighter along with her wingmans.

Moments later a massive explosion shook the opposite side of the Akira class and Scylla whistled softly. “Hooeeh!” Just then Kenny Loggins’ song Danger Zone started playing in her cockpits media system , making her smirks as her fingers deftly moved over her controls.

{Their power grid is probably dealing with some issues after that hit. It'll reroute quickly. This will let Chance and Foxfire make their run.} Sephiria nodded softly, hearing this then, what followed made her grin evilly. {Hey Scylla, let's do as they suggest and go assist the Sabine. Also run interference between Theurgy and Dauntless. If you can get a couple hits on the Dauntless's sensors or their impulse engines on the way, go for it. Bulkhead will send your RIO the targeting data.}

Sephiria grinned more. “Oh heck yes were doing this!” She verified that all her weapons were fully ready still as she moved her bird along with Chances. “This is gonna be fun..." Said Sephiria as her RIO worked "Data acquired, got it, strafing course set, here.” She nodded to her Rio who confirmed their Enhanced Reality Assist course. “Follow this and it should minimize counterattacks!” He stated as the ERA course flashed on their HUDs.

Sephiria nodded. “Chance, keep going to help the Sabine, I’ll catch you up in a moment!” She said in a happy go lucky tone as her Warp Fighter’s thrusters went full afterburner when she engaged the course, soon, the Valravn was streaking around the exposed Dauntless’s sides, firing incredibly precise shots along the course while dodging a good deal of return fire, shields soaking up enough of the rest that they made it out near unscathed after having critically hit at least three critical power junctions, a shield node and a weapons targeting system, causing them to lose half their targeting arcs. “That ought to slow em down some!”

Scylla banked out of the course at its end and swang back around just in time to see Chances fighter literally barbecue one of the fighters from the dauntless in a massive barrage of fire. “Wow… someone pissed her off.” Her RIO nodded, chuckling. “Emergency beamouts confirmed, the guy and his RIO live to insult her another day!” He stated, causing her to roll her eyes. “Heh, whoever that guy was, certainly pissed Meerkat off.” Sephiria brought her bird alongside Meerkats and kept an eye out for any new developments as Meerkat contacted the sabine.

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #76 – November 13, 2018, 12:39:54 PM

[ Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Dewitt | Main Bridge | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All
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When Dewitt had heard Zyrao offer a couple of words of encouragement, directed to the whole bridge, she had been grateful, turning her head a bit and giving the El-Aurian a nod. This was shortly followed by a suggestion to leave a message behind for the other Vectors, Zy suggesting that they would encrypt the message for them alone, detailing a new place to rendezvous.

"Such a message has already been encrypted and sent, before you arrived to the bridge, and after Task Force Archeron appeared," she told Zyrao, impressed with how she had come to the same conclusion, and it served to illustrate the fallacy in Trent's decision to stay. A reminder for the present officers. "This is why there was never any point in staying here and risking the lives of this crew and the mission as a whole, and why Trent is no longer present. If the other Vectors are still out there, they could have found us. In fact, Martin, Veradin, if you can control the heading of our pending warp-jump, set it for the fourth planet in the Ithacae System."

Meanwhile this exchange happened, Ryuan Sel had left the bridge, alone, and Derik Veradin had been preforming evasive manoeuvres that had them brace themselves in their seats. Nonetheless, the Trill had stayed within transporter range to the Bellerophon's wreckage. Ensign Eloi-Danvers had been heard in the background, doing her best to try and allay the fears of those rescued, while the Dauntless tried to destroy them from afar. The Akira-class remained beleaguered by their allied fighters all the while, up until the point when Zy got the Thames into position, having warned those fighters to break off before detonation. The plan was followed through, and once the blinding flare receded... Dewitt let out a small sigh of relief at seeing how the M/ARA detonation had just laid waste to the Dauntless' shields and exterior plating on the port side, bringing a momentary end to the ceaseless barrage of ordinance it was sending towards the Helmet. Leon Marquez had been doing a stellar job at having the Vector on the defence, intercepting torpedoes while Veradin dodged those their ship had no weapon system output to handle. Even at 17 % weapon ouput, they had been holding the Vector together, with neither shields nor cloak to protect them.

It had been nerve-wracking, knowing that if only one of those torpedoes had hit them, there had been nothing but the hull between them and death. As it were, they had been scourged by phaser beams, which had carved deep rifts into their Vector. The present Engineering officer was announcing damage reports, telling them which decks had been breached. Fortunately enough, all personnel had been withdrawn from the outer compartments, so the loss of lives was nominal.

"They're vulnerable, Captain." Marquez indicated in the wake of the Thames' detonation, waiting for her order before opening fire. Dewitt rose to her feet without looking at him and the holo-table behind her, since the display area in front of the viewscreen showed the same tactical layout. She saw how the fighters harried the wounded beast, targeting propulsion and weapon systems, and there were excellent fighter tactics on display. Now, however, was the time for the wolves to return to their new den, in wait for the jump to warp. The fighters would, in all probability, not be able to keep up with the Vector, if F'Rell's solution turned out to be a viable option.

"Pick her teeth," she ordered, looking back at Marquez. "Precision firing, using the minimal energy output we have to it's greatest advantage. Like wielding a scalpel, disable her subspace comm array, her phaser emitters, fuse her torpedo tubes, destroy her transport emitters, and blind her sensors. Veradin! Work with Marquez to give him the firing angles he needs, but if you can, stay within transporter range to the Bellerophon. Natauna! Tell our new friends out there - and the Sabine - that it's time for combat landings. Tell them they have less than a minute!"

Dewitt then turned to the front of the Bridge. "Ops, open the bay doors for them. What's the status on the warp jump, Martin? Can the ship survive the kind of jump F'Rell suggested?"

No more had she asked the question, feeling like they might be in the clear... when Ops piped up - a CPO Dewitt forgot the name of. "The Dauntless just managed to enter transporter range and is deploying boarding parties! Four of them!"

Jennifer's eyes widened, knowing that since they had no shields either, the Captain on the Dauntless was doing his utmost to continue the fight. There had not been any time for Marquez to hit all the transporter emitters yet. And with that immediate thought...

...bright lights appeared on the bridge. Six security officers, armed with pulse phase pistols, materialised in their midst. Dewitt's call came before the lights faded.

"Guards!" The response was immediate, their own six guards picking targets, three getting stunned by the boarders. Dewitt intercepted one of the Dauntless officers, baring her teeth as she kicked him in the back of his knee, and dealt an overhead strike into the nape of his neck. There was no telling who of the present bridge crew could continue their tasks, and who had to fight the armed boarding party. Nor did Dewitt know where the other three boarding teams had arrived on the ship.

She knew, however, that Task Force Archeron was less than two minutes away.

OOC: I will post with Sera after @BZ has posted, Zy relaying orders for combat landings, and once @BZ has posted, the posting order for all is free, within 7 days, starting then. At the end of these 7 days, I hope that the boarding team on the Main Bridge has been neutralised, since you are all free to NPC them. Besides the bridge, the other three boarding parties will have arrived in Vector 1 Engineering, in the Battle Sickbay, and the Upper Shuttle Bay (where the fighters will be landing). So, in all four areas, I hope to have the boarders dealt with in 7 days, but no worries if one or two are still on their feet, not yet unconscious/killed. There are six security officers from the Dauntless in each team, armed with handphasers or rifles, and if you want, they can have exosuits too (optional). Oh, and of course, 1,5 minutes until Task Force Archeron arrives, to give you a sense of the time-expenditure you have available. Have fun!

All Supplemental Threads that are started between characters on this Vectors will have to be set before 0810 hrs. on Day 06, but not afterwards, and they should also be posted on the Part 1 board. Just like in the interregnum, Supplemental one-on-one threads are started at your leisure! Supplemental threads should be named Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day XX | YYYY hrs.] Insert Title, and can extend as far back as right after the battle with the Versant and all the way up to 0810 hrs on Day 06, where the third Rendevouz began.

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #77 – November 13, 2018, 08:15:03 PM

[ Lt. Jg. Suq | Main Engineering | Vector 01 |USS Theurgy ] @Absinthe @chXinya @Auctor Lucan

Suq had made some preperations, but without a direction to go in, he was stuck waiting for F’rell and Vivian. He had turned around to call out to them, but no sooner than he laid eyes on F’rell was his vision suddenly blocked by the white light of a transporter. He wasn’t expecting anyone to beam in. Indeed, when he saw the people, he took a moment. Then, they fired.

“Boarders!” He called out, in case anyone in engineering couldn’t see. He reached into his tool kit and grabbed a hyperspanner. Technically, he wasn’t armed, but a hyperspanner was a heavy piece of equipment.

Boarding parties were not unfamiliar to him. This was actually so commonplace on the Resolve, that it’s why most of the crew was armed. He would have to have a talk with the captain later about getting his phaser back. He did not want to die here. He was scared, scared shitless really. He always was when boarders appeared. He wished he had time to puff on his inhaler.

“F’rell! Concentrate on getting us ready to warp!” He shouted, and ran at the boarders. His small stature made sure he wasn’t noticed until he busted someone's kneecap.

As phaser shots whizzed over his head, he just hoped he could count on this engineering crew as faithfully as he could on the Resolve.

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #78 – November 13, 2018, 11:28:51 PM

[ Lt. JG Derik Veradin | Main Bridge | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All
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Derik’s hands work at a speed that put warp 9 to shame. The ship was in bad shape and it was getting worse by the second. With the amount of power being pulled by engineering for the warp drive, the CONN officer was losing options fast. He set the ship on course for the Bellerophon, using what little power he had left before he was cut off.

“Lost power to the impulse engines, switching to maneuvering thrusters.” Derik called out, updating on the ship's status.

He brought the vector in close, mostly on inertia, and began to execute as many evasive maneuvers as he could managed on just thrusters. With their limited movement, Veradin decided to use some of the broken hull fragments from their prey as makeshift shields. A couple of the floating fragments bounced off their hull but the rest formed a haphazard, if thin and sparse, net. Staying close enough for transporter range was easy, keeping them from becoming sitting duck was far less so. The size of the vector meant that without shields they were easy prey. As the dauntless hurled torpedo after torpedo their way, Veradin tried to set up shots for Marquez, keeping their functional weapons pointed towards their aggressor as much as he could. Marquez did a fine job of intercepting the projectiles, which made dodging the few that got through far easier.

A bright flash filled the viewscreen as the Thames impacted and detonated on the Dauntless’ port side. The Akira class ship rocked from the explosion, it’s hull getting ripped apart pretty badly. Yet still the damn ship hurled its arsenal at them.

Blasted ship can still fire torpedoes after getting hit by that? Fuck.

“Veradin! Work with Marquez to give him the firing angles he needs, but if you can, stay within transporter range to the Bellerophon.” Dewitt barked.

“Aye Sir.” Derik acknowledged. No time to fight with you now. Later.

The CONN officer set about his task, re-angling the vector again to clear some of the debris for better angles.

Just as Veradin activated the next sequence, bright flashes filled the bridge, their light reflecting off the bulkheads. OH FU... He spun in his chair, an armed boarder standing not 2 feet from him, raising his pulse phaser at Lieutenant Command Dewitt. In one fluid motion, the trill pulled his knife from its thigh strap, and stepped behind the intruder. With one hand he sunk the blade into the man’s back, its finely sharpened edge penetrating the armor and piercing a kidney. His other hand reached around and forced the phaser towards the ceiling, a round firing and missing Dewitt’s head by a few centimeters. The man let go of the phaser from pain and shock and it clattered to the deck with a resounding thud. As it fell for what seemed like hours, Derik wrapped his arm around the intruder’s neck, putting him into headlock while his other hand firmly held and ground the blade home. He knew the wound wasn’t necessarily fatal as long as the man got treatment soon and the blade didn’t twist, but the boarder wasn’t making it easy.

“Stop!”He ordered into the man’s ear.

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #79 – November 14, 2018, 09:59:38 PM

[Zyrao Natauna | Dangerous Bridges | Shit Out of Luck | Ass Kicking Much More the Right Game | Boarding Parties Unwelcome]
@Auctor Lucan @Argyros @FollowTomorrow @Firefox013

It was chaos.

Organized as it was, but chaos would always be at the central hub of all that it was and could be. Grey eyes watched the Bridge as it shot into action, waiting for the detonation of the ship that she had placed in the perfect position. She hoped so, anyway. There had already been an encrypted message sent out long before she entered the bridge so that the rendevouz could be extended to another unknown location. Her brow rose smoothly on her face. Yet another piece of information that the Ex-Asshole forgot to give to me. How in the seven moons of some distant planet am I supposed to help when I don't have all the facts!?

She didn't quite appreciate the way mutiny was given here so easily, and how the unloyal bastards all around her stood by while their Current Captain was evicted from his seat. Not that mutiny could ever be pleasant. Still, she thought perhaps Dewitt was even more right. To have left such a message and then stuck around in the face of such danger proved that he had likely been exactly as Dewitt said, emotionally compromised. Her eyes studied the face of the woman that had done the unthinkable, and had likely ended her career in the move. On the ship she had served on it would have been a match to the death, winner retaining the seat in the center without being questioned.

Now they were about to warp the heck out of here and Zyrao could not agree with the idea more. There was no need to further endanger themselves waiting on ships that would likely not arrive. Not in enough time to save the ship that was waiting for them. It was a suicide mission and one that Zyrao was not privy to be a part of.

Zyrao closely watched her detonation and was quite pleased when it stayed within the parameters that she had hoped and that the payload had not gone over. It could have killed a lot of people and that was something, apparently, Starfleet wasn't really into. It was all great to be the arm of peace but that was only when peace was the acceptable option by those you were speaking to. Right now, they were in danger of death or incarceration. Death to another ship that was baring the way of the Theurgy survival seemed like a valid option. However, it seemed the Fleeters were soft when it came to their moral compasses but strong when it came to the rule book. She could not quite wrap her head around how they worked just yet.

Again, chaos.

Dewitt started handing out orders and Zyrao waited to hear her name. She didn't mind being called by her first or latter name, it mattered not they both represented her. The fact that she was being called at all was what was important here. When she did hear her name, grey eyes zeroed in on the would-be Captain waiting for her orders. Orders were to tell the fighters to land and to get themselves on board before they warped out of danger the way the should have done a long while back. When shields, weapons, and the engines were better equipped for it. Shit decisions had lead to their current situation but at least Dewitt seemed to be handling it as best as she could. All they could hope for was to survive.

“Right, on it.”

She reached out and tapped her combadge again. “Natauna to all Fighters and Sabine. It is time to come home and land. The bay is waiting and ready to receive all the fighters. I repeat, return and land in the Theurgy. We are taking off at warp within the minute!”

She ended the communications and hoped that the Sabine was still in one piece when it hit the shuttle bay. She could do with a dose of Sera right about now and tell her all about the shit that had happened on the Bridge and all the drama that she had missed. Though she knew that Sera had been out there fighting for her life and the life of others. She had been busy and would likely be glad that she wasn't intuned to all the unnecessary drama up on the Bridge. Suddenly, one of the Bridge crew cried out that they were about to have boarding parties, four parties. There was no real time to prepare before Zyrao noticed the beams of light that filled in around the Bridge. Six of them.

Adding to the chaos of an already shit day.

She turned as the lights went off and her eyes quickly scanned the deck. She could tell that there were others already fighting. She felt a hand grab her across the chest, and instinct kicked in. She ducked down to the floor, and remembered where she had been standing on the bridge prior to the lights going out. She could not see everything but she knew that she had enough room. She rolled to the side where she knew the assailant had been last standing. With that she kicked out with her boot right in the knee cap and felt it connect. The exhalation of pain gave her even more of an advantage as she quickly slid forward and kicked her knee, still raised, into the side of his neck. A snap sounded, as it connected with the man's shoulder and broke the blade behind him. A cry of pain as he slumped down to the deck. Her elbow came down on the top of his head, though she couldn't be sure she had used enough force to actually crush in the skull the man finally lay in a lump on the floor of the bridge.

His cry of pain called another to her. She could feel the arm around her neck and the pressure against her wind pipe. Without thinking she held her breath and leaned forward for a second with her head allowing the tilt to be as extreme possible before she thrust her head back as quickly as she could. A resounding wet crack filled her ears as she likely broke the nose of the assailant. Turning without the power of the arm barring her movements she rose her knee quickly and slammed home into the back where the kidney was located. A cry of pain as she hit it again the man fell and she slid her arm around his neck this time. Applying heavy pressure she waited until they slumped against her elbow before letting him go.

She had no care to whether they were alive or dead, it mattered not. They were intruders and would be dealt with that way. Getting up off the ground where she had been crouching after taking out the second attacker she turned to the computer and quickly used the buttons to find out where the other boarding parties had landed. The most worrisome one was the fact that it showed that there had recently been an external beam signature in the shuttle bay. The red lights blinked angrily at her as she realized just what was going on. It was time for action. She had to warn them. She slammed her hand on the combadge again.

“Fighters.. Sabine... intruders on the ship. Watch your back. Sensors show there is a boarding party in the shuttle bay. Watch your six.” she said into the combadge trying to get to them before they found themselves in danger without being prepared. She hoped they would get the message in time. At least, she had tried to get it to them.

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #80 – November 15, 2018, 02:52:21 AM

Lorad had descended the four levels from Deck 07 to Deck 11 and was approaching the entrance to the Upper Shuttle Bay when an alarm began to sound.

[INTRUDER ALERT ON DECKS 01, 06, 07, 11]

“Deck 01 is the Bridge,” Lorad noted as his mind worked on the other locations. He began to consider the other locations but never got the chance as the doors opened to reveal a group of 3 armed crewmen standing next to one of the shuttlecraft still in the bay. His clawed hand instinctively dropped to his thigh before he remembered that he didn’t have his weapons on him. But thankfully he was still faster than them as he ducked to the side before they could turn and fire at him.

Not pausing to take stock of the situation, Lorad dashed away from the entrance and looked to reposition before counterattacking. Unfortunately he was brought up short by another boarder stepping around the corner of the shuttle ahead of him, his phaser up and pointed at him.

“Hold it right there, traitor,” the man said before he realised he was speaking to a Reman. “So it really is true, the Theurgy sided with the Romulans. Well, no matter, the Admiral is almost….”

His words were cut off by the sound of the bay doors beginning to open and both of them looked over to see the light of the nebula beyond the forcefield. Lorad recovered first however as his combat senses kicked in and he ran forward and dove at the security officer. His considerable bulk and momentum added together to create a devastating impact against the boarder and Lorad drove his spear-movement home by pulling the man’s legs out from under him completely and trying to push him through the deck with his shoulder.

Recovering, Lorad looked down at the groggy man and punched him solidly in the face, knocking him out. Recovering the man’s phaser rifle, movement beyond the forcefield caught Lorad’s eyes and he looked up to see a pair of fighters approaching rapidly. Even as he watched, something detonated behind one of them.

Realising that they were going to land, Lorad grabbed the man he had just rendered unconscious by the collar of his shirt and pulled him along with him; both to save him and to secure him somewhere where he would not be any trouble any more.

And then he would go hunting for the other boarders in the bay.

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #81 – November 15, 2018, 03:49:04 AM

[ Lt. JG Donna ‘Chance’ Petterson & Ens. Isel "Foxfire" Nix | Wolves 07 & 08 | Azure Nebula ]
[Show/Hide]

Joint Post Between Fife and Stegro88

“That’s another one Foxfire,” Chance called out as she shot another of the Dauntless’ torpedoes out of existence. They had taken position between what was left of their former home in an effort to shield what was left of their hopefully future one.

“Nice shooting, lover.” Isel called back as she rolled her fighter laterally to dodge an incoming torpedo that had made it through her ECM cloud, the ordinance streaking past as its targeting sensors were still being disrupted by the countermeasure. “Though I can’t help but wonder what part of “cute”, “fluffy”, and “don’t fucking shoot me” they aren’t understanding!” The Vulpinian added in a tense growl as she targeted the narrowly avoided torpedo and fired, detonating it well before it was close enough to the Theurgy to do any harm.

“I….” Chance began before another voice interrupted her.

"Natauna to all Fighters and Sabine.  It is time to come home and land.  The bay is waiting and ready to receive all the fighters.  I repeat, return and land in the Theurgy.  We are taking off at warp within the minute!" the voice, this Natuna, both directed and warned.

“I think that’s our cue,” Foxfire said, her eyes scanning her fighter’s sensor readouts to guage how much distance they had to cover in such a short amount of time.

“Glad they gave us plenty of time,” Chance noted as she checked her sensors for additional torpedoes. There was another coming up behind her and she deployed several ECM decoys to divert it before flipping her fighter over and pointing it directly at the Theurgy’s Vector 01. It was currently angled away from them and Chance advanced her throttles to max as her fighter lurched forward in response.

“Range to Theurgy, 28,000km.” Isel reported. The Vulpinian couldn’t help but chuckle at Donna’s sarcasm as her lips curled into an amused smile behind the cover of her helmet. “We’ve gotta punch it if we’re going to make it in time for the jump to warp!” Isel called as both women pushed their fighters to maximum speed and sent the two MkII Valkyries streaking towards the Theurgy. “Now get your sweet buns on board, Donna! I still want my fucking apology!”

“If we get there, you’ll get one,” Chance promised as she made a minor course correction. “And how,” she added silently.

Isel could see Donna’s fighter just ahead of her as the two raced for the Theurgy’s Vector, her eyes glancing down periodically to check her sensors for more incoming ordinance as they raced against the clock to get aboard. She watched as the number displayed on the range indicator rapidly decreased as they closed the distance to the Vector, her mind mentally counting down the approximate seconds that remained before the Theurgy vacated the area. A small part of her wondered if Meerkat, Scylla and the others would have time to get aboard, though her priority at that moment was watching Donna’s back and getting the message her Human beau carried to Captain Ives. The weight of what rode on the completion of this mission vastly overshadowed whatever loyalties remained to Starfleet and her former squadron.

Donna rechecked the distance to the Theurgy on her sensors before looking up to see the ship growing ever larger. On the rear of the ship, the shuttlebay doors began to open and Donna almost smiled in her helmet at what kind of reception they might meet. A shrill alarm sounded in her cockpit and Donna had enough time to look down to see a torpedo headed directly at her. Frantically releasing a cloud of decoys, Donna wanted to manoeuvre away but quickly realised she couldn’t if she wanted to make the bay in time. Unable to do anything, Donna braced herself for the impact, praying that her rear shields had enough strength left in them.

The detonation lit up the nebula around her and her Valkyrie shook violently. Banging her head on her seat, Donna was relieved that she had a helmet on to protect it. But the impact still jarred her severely and she lost her bearings for a moment. As her senses returned, Donna corrected her heading to the beckoning shuttlebay ahead of her; feeling how sluggish her fighter was now under her hands.

Isel had cursed as she saw the torpedo streaking towards Donna’s fighter. She tried to bring her fighter about to take out the torpedo before it struck home, but she was too late. Isel’s heart seemed to stop in her chest as she watched the detonation, fear gripping her as she strained to see if Chance’s fighter had survived the impact. “Foxfire to Chance! Come in Chance!” Isel called over the comms, a note of desperation audible in her tone. “Don’t you dare be dead! Do you hear me?” As she spoke those last words, she caught a glimpse of Chance’s Valkyrie. Damage was visible on the hull, but it appeared intact and continued on its course to the Theurgy. “Donna! Do you read me?”

“Foxfire, I think I took a hit,” Chance said into her comms. She heard nothing in reply and a glance at her systems display showed that she had lost all communications from the torpedo blast; among other damage. Thankfully, it seemed to have hit one of her decoys rather than her; it had just done so REALLY close to her. Looking over at Foxfire, Donna sluggishly raised her hand to give a thumbs up before redirecting her focus to landing her now damaged warp fighter.

"Fighters.. Sabine... intruders on the ship. Watch your back.  Sensors show there is a boarding party in the shuttle bay.  Watch your six," came the call across Isel’s comms and her heartbeat quickened even more than it already was.

“Fuck!” Foxfire cursed, her eyes going back to Chance’s fighter. The craft was still flying, though she’d heard nothing from it’s pilot since the torpedo strike. Either Donna was unconscious or worse, and it was just sheer luck that had kept it on course, or Donna’s comms had been knocked out in the blast. Either way, Foxfire feared that her partner hadn’t heard the warning. This was bad.

As she closed to within 2 kilometres, Donna slowed her craft down and brought it around for a more direct entrance. As she closed the threshold of the hull and entered the doors, Chance slid her fighter around 180 degrees so that it was facing back out of the bay and edged it to the side of the bay as best she could. It was going to be a tight fit with all of them.

Isel had felt a wave a relief wash over her when she’d seen Donna’s limping fighter manoeuvre into the Theurgy’s shuttle bay, though she was still worried about the boarding party. The Vulpinian eased off on the throttle to let Donna land her fighter craft first, following close on her heels and bringing her fighter about sharply so that she would land her own fighter alongside Donna’s.

As her fighter settled to the deck, Donna began to shut down her systems and open her cockpit. Isel had just landed beside her and she could see the others approaching rapidly. Relaxing into her seat, she didn’t register the appearance of a man standing on top of the shuttlecraft she had parked beside, nor the phaser rifle he had pointed at her.

Isel’s eyes went wide as she glanced towards Donna's fighter and saw the gold-shirted man with the phaser rifle standing on top of the shuttle on the far side. Her lips pulled back in a silent snarl as she saw that he had the rifle trained on Donna’s cockpit, ready to fire one the hatch opened. Rage spiked within the Vulpinian, her left hand moving without thought to punch the canopy release as her right hand reached for the Type I hand phaser in the utility pocket on her right thigh. A hissing noise sounded throughout the cockpit as it’s contained atmosphere escaped, balancing with the atmosphere of the shuttle bay. The canopy rose at an agonizingly slow pace as Isel drew her phaser and waited, her heart threatening to beat right out of her chest. She could see Donna, the Human having not noticed the threat looming atop the shuttle beside her. Isel wanted to call out a warning, but knew Donna wouldn’t hear.

Isel watched with horror as Donna’s canopy began to open, seeing the security member taking aim at her lover. Isel let out a snarl of anger as she thrust her arm through the opening left by the retracting canopy of her fighter and fired, the phaser’s shot streaking forward and passing within inches of the boarder. The man’s head snapped up to look to the source of the shot, his eyes wide with surprise as he took a step back. Isel ducked forward and shoved her head and torso through the gap as the canopy continued to open, taking proper aim. Her second shot struck the man square in the chest, sending him tumbling backwards off the shuttle and crashing to the deck of the shuttle bay.

Donna hadn’t known anything was wrong until the first phaser shot had passed nearby. In the time it took her to realise there was a threat, Isel had fired again and neutralised it. With a look filled with loving gratitude that she wasn’t even sure Isel could see through the helmet, Donna looked across at her Vulpinian lover.

Below them, Lorad stepped out from where he had almost been hit by the falling body and looked up at the two pilots. “Stop dreaming!” he called out. “More like him here!”

"Fuck me, would you look at the size of him!" Isel said, knowing Donna wouldn't be able to hear her. Isel released the helmet of her Tac CONN Exosuit and let it fall to the floor of the cockpit before climbing out of the cockpit, raising her voice as she spoke again to make sure she was heard.

"Hey! Big 'un!" She yelled at the Reman behemoth, "What the hell is going on with this fucking ship? We cover your asses from torpedoes and fucking Starships, and now we've got to clear boarders for you too? Fucking hell!" Isel turned her attention to Donna, seeing the other woman extracting herself from her own cockpit. "What sort of cluster-fuck have you dragged me into, Donna?"

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #82 – November 16, 2018, 07:49:25 AM

[ Ensign Ryuan Sel | Corridor outside Sickbay | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ]
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Each footfall toward sickbay was a reminder of how out of place she had felt recently. Even with the events of the night before, something deep inside Sel gnawed at her bones and she felt like she wanted to say something to someone, she only wished she knew what she needed to say and to who. More than anything she wanted to feel as safe as she had in the arms of Sarresh on their nights together, but even now she wondered if she ever could again.

The intruder alert slammed her out of her ruminations and brought her back to reality. She had not thought anyone would be stupid enough to beam a boarding party onto the Theurgy. They were fugitives and it was the truth they held that made them fugitives. But she had no time to consider this. She had to move. Based on the deck numbers she had a good guess where each of the boarding parties was, so she began to run.

When she spotted a man outside of sickbay in combat gear she reacted quickly. She didn't want to use the Accipter unless she had to, the gun was too powerful for use unless the situation was far more dire. So she broke out into a sprint and closed the distance between her and the man as quickly as she could.

Of course, he noticed her and took aim with his phaser rifle as she got close. The first blast slipped past her as she weaved to the right at the last second, the second hit her in the left shoulder. Even with the armor of the heavy exo-suit the kick of the blast dislocated her shoulder.

But by then she was close enough to respond. She quickly slammed her open palm over his ear and as his body moved bent her knee up to slam him in the ribs. With a twist, she caught the barrel of the phaser rifle with her body and twisted it out of his grip as she wrapped her only useful arm around his neck and flipped him around her body throwing him to the floor. The gun flew away and he tumbled. As he landed, before he could recuperate, she quickly hit his chin with the toe of her boot, slamming his jaw shut with a snap and sending him reeling. One more well aimed kick to the chest and he sprawled out on the ground, clearly only able to gasp for breath and too stunned to react beyond that. She quickly went over and grabbed his rifle, checking its stun setting and then shot him with it.

With that done she pulled the powerpack from the rifle and threw it down the corridor before dropping the rifle on the ground. With a soft cuss, she pulled at her arm, yanking the shoulder back into its socket. She then took the Accipter from her back and switched it to its primary stun setting and moved to the door of the sickbay, hitting to panel to open the door.

---
[ F'Rell of the Twelfth House | Main Engineering | Vector 01 |USS Theurgy ]
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Once more it seemed like engineering was exploding, only this time it was the result of intruders opening fire and not on any poorly integrated calculation of F'Rell. Not that the previous situation was any more managed now, at the very least the system had was no longer spiking in temperature quite as much and the coolant leak in engineering was contained, not that the emergency shield would do much good in a firefight.

Yet, all the same, F'Rell was used to being boarded. The Resolve had been boarded many times by those who had sought to do her and her friends harm. They had succeeded on occasion, but more often they were fought back, forced to retreat. And she did not have time to spend on fighting these intruders. She had a task to do and she planned on doing it.

"<It would depend on the exact ratio within the intermix chamber at the point in which we initiate the warp jump,>" F'Rell intoned into her translator, the line patched through to the science station. "<I would think no less than 2 lightyears and no more than 5, though again, exact measurements are not possible at this time. I can narrow it down if I can get the exact moment of our planned jump into warp. But even still subspace microcurrents can cause problems without the computer regulating the jump, thus making the exact nature of the jump difficult to precisely predict.>"

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #83 – November 21, 2018, 01:44:48 AM

[ Lt Cdr Leon Marquez | Main Bridge | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy | Attack Maneuvers ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @CanadianVet @Brutus @chXinya @FollowTomorrow @Mathis @The Ostrich @JayLatte @Blue Zephyr @Absinthe @Argyros

"Pick her teeth, Precision firing, using the minimal energy output we have to it's greatest advantage. Like wielding a scalpel, disable her subspace comm array, her phaser emitters, fuse her torpedo tubes, destroy her transport emitters, and blind her sensors. Veradin! Work with Marquez to give him the firing angles he needs, but if you can, stay within transporter range to the Bellerophon. Natauna! Tell our new friends out there - and the Sabine - that it's time for combat landings. Tell them they have less than a minute!"

Leon got to work as he prioritized the Akira's systems one by one, leaving the computer to autofire per the captain's weapons commands. "Nice going, Helm." Was his only way to utter neutral praise to the Trill helmsman for their continued advances. Together with anyone with flight experience, Leon had flown their share of combat drills, holodeck simulations and in a few cases, actual battle such as this. No, not like this; It made the situation easier to bear think of this as the Battle of the Mutara Nebula; the arena was apropos. "Firing. Their Torpedo Pod is offline; They're tumbling, I can't hit their transporter emitters-- Hostiles!" He barked, dropping his padd to the holotable to get the drop on whoever joined in uninvitedly.

Before more hits could register on Dauntless just less than a moment after the next exchange with Veradin, Bright lights and the telltale whiff of electric ozone was an all purpose Leon's response to the intruders came at the full force of an upward kick to the nearest guard's phaser arm against a lanky, but slightly taller Vulcan Lieutenant of Tactical or Conn, it didn't matter, He and Leon exchanged the instant duel-to-the-death understanding.

Leon's right-handed punch struck the Vulcan's chin, twisting upon impact for a stunning attack as the much stronger but still-materializing and defeated by that detail alone which made it possible for Leon to flip the Vulcan by his sidearm hand and leapt over the console for cover. "Armed Intruders on the Bridge!" He reported on his combadge. Exchanging fire behind the tactical holotable with a grunt as it took a hit which momentarily lost power but quickly restored as phaser fire passed over his display. Marquez returned suppressive bolt fire, changing his setting to maximum stun and aiming at their legs, away from the consoles and at the hostiles' knees, wounding the recovering Vulcan for good measure. Before returning to cover and grabbed his padd which he left on the console, singing as a phaser bolt came within an inch of his wrist. No time to consider close calls, he activated his tactical commands to slave the weapons to continue their attack.

"Shots fired, Deck One. Repeat: Armed Intruders on the bridge and in the shuttle bay." Marquez crisply pinged Security and Tactical. Medical teams would have to be improvised for now. Reports were coming on Theurgy's deck listing display, indicating where throughout the decks the intruders had beamed and to which sections. They were after the shuttle bay. Leon was only concerned with the handful on the bridge as it became a bar room brawl. The Task Force was approaching. If they were going to make a run for it, it had to be as soon as possible in the minute he and their allies had. He hoped Trent's orders to blast the Archeron's bridge to hell still stood. Ironically, despite the shots fired and even a knife wound; Derik, of course-- His last promotion was well-earned for being ready for boarders at any time.

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #84 – November 22, 2018, 06:08:47 AM

[ LtJG. Sephiria "Scylla" Arn & CWO3 Liliana Walton | Valravn class Warp Fighter "Wolf 14" & Wolf-13 | Flying Chance's wing | Near Vector 01 | Asure Nebula ]

[Natauna to all Fighters and Sabine.  It is time to come home and land.  The bay is waiting and ready to receive all the fighters.  I repeat, return and land in the Theurgy.  We are taking off at warp within the minute!]

Sephiria grunted, hearing the message from the Theurgy's vector. "Oh for the love of!" She grunted again while deftly dodging a torpedo then taking it out as she hit full burn, her Valravn careening through the nebula towards the Vector. "Allright, Meerkat, Scylla here, get your booty in gear girl, we got like barely a minute to get on that thing!" She said, drift rolling her bird around more weapons fire from the damaged Akira. "Wow... think we hit their targeting systems bad? Those douchebags are firing all nimbly bimbly like some drunk monkey is on the damn weapons control system!" She said, grinning behind her visor.

"Stay alert Scylla, damnit, I wanna live through this you crazy Trill!" Spoke up her Andorian RIO, a touch of nervousness in his gruff voice as shots Vorped and Zorped all around them, only a few hitting. "Yeah, yeah Iceman! I got this!" She said, keeping the throttles pinned and flying like an absolutely insane bat out of hell as she moved towards the Theurgy. She keyed the comms again. "Meerkat you still with me?"

Liliana shook her head slightly at Scylla's insistent communications. Even in the best of times, she felt that the other pilot was a little too chatty during combat but then again, Meerkat herself was far from the quietest pilot. She nudged the throttle a bit more. It was going to be close. She couldn't blame Scylla for sounding more nervous than usual.

"I'm on your tail, Scylla. Just focus on the landing. Remember, we've still got to fit the Sabine, Wraith, and Blizzard in there so no taking up more room than you need!"

Bulkhead spoke up slowly from the back of their fighter as Meerkat yanked it to port to avoid another attempt at killing the nimble craft.

"Wait, is it not their fighter bay? It should be plenty big enough."

"My dear Klingon friend, look at the opening of the bay that we're rapidly approaching. Does that look like a nice, spacious fighter assault bay?" The silence was deafening, though less so than the targeting alert for Yet Another Torpedo (How the fuck do they still have torpedoes at this rate?!) beelined for her. She responded with more of her ECM, which was starting to show visible depletion on her weapons readouts. "Anyway, you might want to hold on. This is going to get rocky. Meerkat to Wraith and Blizzard, make sure the Sabine makes it in safely. Scylla, I'll be on your port side going in. Ready?"

Scylla grinned as she moved her Fighter, noticing Meerkat taking position as the two dodged another torpedo. "Whoah, endless supply much!?" She stated as "Here comes the Boom." By Saliva was playing as they moved in. "Meerkat got word we've got boarders in there! Here goes!" Stated the trill, her Andorian RIO screaming as their Valravn careened into the bay while executing a sharp 180 degree spin, thruster wash searing some of the wall plating on the way in, blowing a hot deadly wind as the Valravn mag-locked into a slot after having incinerated one of the Dauntless's security officers, the woman had screamed in agony for a moment before being burned through and silenced as her ashes flitted off, creating a bit of a dusty mess on the deck from her engines exhaust. "Sorry lady... this is part of what's gonna be my new home and you ain’t takin it from me!" Was her statement after the fact as the fighter powered down in its spot.

Sephiria turned to her RIO. "Ready?" He nodded, hand already on the rifle stowed in his seat. Sephiria smirked and popped the seal, it was time for some up close and personal fun. As the Valravns canopy opened, Sephiria grabbed her own weapon, The two of them jumping out, checking their surroundings. As they moved to try and help secure the bay, Lily’s fighter came to a similar sort of landing nearby safely as well.

(A little joint action from patches and me)

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #85 – November 22, 2018, 11:30:49 AM

[ Ltjg Jhozahosh “Blizzard” sh’Avhennes | Wolf 16 | Azure Nebula ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan @Other people in the shuttlebay

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[Natauna to all Fighters and Sabine.  It is time to come home and land.  The bay is waiting and ready to receive all the fighters.  I repeat, return and land in the Theurgy.  We are taking off at warp within the minute!]

Well that was helpful. Jhozahosh clenched her jaw and hauled on the controls, swinging the Valravn fighter around, to face the Theurgy, off in the distance, through the gasses of the nebula. She activated her comm as she glanced at the Sabine off her port side.

“Sabine, this is Blizzard. Make haste for the shuttlebay, I will escort you in.”

It was clear that the other ship had taken quite a beating, and it seemed the Dauntless was not quite done with them yet. Jhoza’s fingers danced across her controls as she placed her fighter between the Dauntless and the Sabine. She activated her ECM system to cover their rears as her fighter beeped an alarm to notify her that the Dauntless had fired a pair of torpedos at her and the Sabine.

Even though her ECM would almost certainly take care of the incoming torpedoes, it never paid to rely on one system alone, her years in the Imperial Guard had taught her that. As the torpedoes drew nearer she opened up on them with her aft phaser arrays.

”Scratch one torpedo.” Came the voice of her RIO, Trixie. A moment later she spoke again. ”ECM got the second, we’re clear to land Blizzard, get us home.”

”I will, have I ever let you down Trixie?” Jhoza asked the rhetorical question, grinning under her helmet. She fell into line following the other fighters toward the waiting ship. The comm beeped and the voice of Meerkat floated through.

[Meerkat to Wraith and Blizzard, make sure the Sabine makes it in safely.]

Moments later another voice floated through.

[Fighters.. Sabine... intruders on the ship. Watch your back.  Sensors show there is a boarding party in the shuttle bay.  Watch your six.]

Jhoza swore, now was a great time to tell her, just as she was beginning her final approach to the shuttlebay. It was too late to try something else now and Jhoza followed the other fighters in. The small bay was cramped with the large fighters taking up most of the space. She saw the other pilots engaged in brief firefights with the boarders.

Quickly she set her craft down in one of the few empty places and began to unbuckle her flight harness as the cockpit canopy slowly slipped open. She jumped out and landed nimbly on the bay floor. Looking around it appeared that all of the boarders had been dealt with. She was just beginning to relax when she felt something jammed into her back “Don’t move traitor”

Her antennae drooped as she realized that they had missed one of the enemy, and that officer now had a gun against her back. She hoped Trixie would be able to do something, but apparently the boarder had her in mind to “Don’t take another step, or I shoot your pilot.”

”Do as he says Trixie.” She slowly raised her arms and gently placed them on her helmet, talking calmly and clearly she addressed the person pressing the weapon against her back ”I’m going to remove my helmet, nice and slowly, I don’t want to be shot today.”

“Slowly, no funny business.”

Jhoza nodded and began to remove her helmet. Her braids began to fall out of the helmet and she slowly leaned forward as she eased it slowly off her head. She straightened up again and began to slowly lower her helmet to the floor. She was at her waist height when she made her move. Blindingly fast she moved to the left, spinning as she did so Jhoza used her helmet to knock the rifle away from her and down. The shot impacted the ground where she had been moments earlier.

Continuing the same spin, Jhoza dropped the helmet as her right hand slipped to her Ushaan-Tor, clipped to her uniform. It easily slipped free and she swiped up with it, slashing the razor sharp blade across the security officers throat in a spray of red mist.

The boarder made a gurgling sound and slowly sank to his knees, a confused and pained expression on his face, it had all been so quick that he had barely registered any of it. With a low groan he pitched forward and collapsed, dead in a slowly expanding pool of blood.

She looked across the bay at the other pilots ”What is going on in here?” she asked to nobody in particular.

[ LtCmdr Vivian Martin | Main Bridge | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @FollowTomorrow @Absinthe

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Suddenly the bridge was filled with the sounds of transporters and weapons fire. Vivian cursed and hunkered down over her console in an attempt to hide from the shots criss crossing the bridge. She did her best to ignore the boarders and continue her task with the crew in engineering.

”F’Rell, I can regulate the intermix ratio from here.” Vivian’s fingers raced across her console as she pulled up new sets of data. ”Five light years would be better, I will see what I can do from the bridge, and I’ll keep you on my comm. Our heading is the fourth planet in the Ithacae System.”

Regulating the intermix ratio would be a challenge, but Vivian was confident in her ability to work under pressure. She could get this done. She would get this done. For the sake of the crew, for the sake of her friends, for the sake of Starfleet, and for the sake of the truth they carried. She took a deep breath as more phaser bolts whizzed across the bridge, it was time for her to earn her keep.

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #86 – November 27, 2018, 03:06:18 PM

[ Drauc T'Laus | Outside Secured VIP Quarters | Deck 11 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @FollowTomorrow
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Having left Dyan behind, affected by her conflicted rage, Drauc T'Laus emerged into the corridor of the Helmet.

Stepping out of the former CO's secured location, he was split between the wish to grant Dyan what she wanted - by leaving her without any witnesses as she confronted the one she wished to blame for the death of her family - and the certainty that her ire towards the man had faltered already. He could not be certain Dyan wouldn't kill Trent, but he had come to doubt it already, leaving the discussion of his misconceptions and differing views moot. Barely had his threadbare robe settled around his legs, before he could feel the Asurian follow him - her mind distinct in it's utter disappointment. Once the sliding doors parted for her, it was plain that there was no blood on her sindt. The Commander yet lived.

He rounded on her, and to prevent her from cutting him again with her weapon, he seized her wrist and pushed it against the bulkhead next to the door. Imbued by her rare ire, the action brought him closer to her, and he looked down his bared chest and into her green eyes. "Did you spare him out of conscience, or contempt?" he rasped to the woman, but he did not add his second question, about whether or not it was her time in Starfleet that made her stay her strike. H leaned down to her, emphasising his point as he stared into her eyes. "Either way, regardless your reason... it was the right thing to do... despite how you must hate it."

Whatever she said then, whatever intent he shared with her, the moment was interrupted by a klaxon different than the Red Alert.

[Intruder Alert, Intruder Alert, on decks 01, 06, 07 and 11.] It was the A.I:s voice, only it was just her voice files, emitted by a standard Starfleet computer.

It broke the moment, and Drauc looked away, seeing on the closest control panel that they were on Deck 11. It was the shuttle bay that had been beset by boarders, but even then, still having Dyan's sindt pinned to the wall, a security detail rushed past them in the hallway, heading in that direction. If there were boarders, the Theurgy security forces were already heading there. Moreover, it was a shorter distance to sickbay, the turbolift ride to Deck 07 quicker than running the full starboard length of the Vector.

There was a straggler in the security detail, a crewman, and Drauc seized the moment. Better yet, he seized the collar of the running guard, and hurled him to the deck in front of Dyan. Then, he looked at the Asurian, since it was she who could give the order to the man to guard the locked door. The turbolifts a mere couple of meters away. The intent was plain on his face, his hands curling into fists at his sides.

[ Sera vers Aldnoah | Cockpit | SS Sabine NX-59846 | Azure Nebula ] Attn: @Vox @Fife @Stegro88
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Finally, the one called Wraith appeared beside the Sabine, and and Sera could focus on the comm chatter and the startling realisation that there were more fighters defecting to the Theurgy. She'd passed on their signatures to the Theurgy in the midst of her manoeuvring the damaged Sabine, her rapid breathing almost fogging up the T-visor of her helmet. There wasn't a second to spare any thoughts towards the loss of A'vura, her own survival her primary focus.

[Natauna to all Fighters and Sabine.] The sound of Zy's voice made Sera's eyes widen, the confirmation that she was still alive a sudden relief in the midst of chaos. What the El-Aurian said next snapped her out of it, however. [It is time to come home and land. The bay is waiting and ready to receive all the fighters. I repeat, return and land in the Theurgy. We are taking off at warp within the minute!]

"One flaming minute?" she said in the confines of her helmet, and quickly tapped in the coordinates that would take her back to the Theurgy, seeing that she would be too late. "Blood and bloody ashes!"

Immediately, she raked her brain for solutions, meanwhile hearing one of the newly arrived fighters contact her. [Sabine, this is Blizzard. Make haste for the shuttle bay, I will escort you in.] She heard warnings from the computer about the Dauntless firing at her, but the warning died away once this 'Blizzard' woman used her countermeasures. Wraith was out there somewhere too, yet while she didn't have to worry about protection it was a matter of actually getting her damaged ship there. She didn't even have time to reply.

"Come on, come on," she said, rerouting power from damaged systems and deactivating everything she could just to get more juice to her impulse engines, closing the distance to the Theurgy at an awkward angle, and trying to keep her course from deviating. "This would be so much easier if that blasted shuttle bay wasn't moving!"

[Fighters.. Sabine... intruders on the ship.] Zy again, her voice sounding more tense. [Watch your back. Sensors show there is a boarding party in the shuttle bay. Watch your six.]

"Burn you, are you flaming kidding me?" she said, just as the Theurgy came into view. Blizzard was ahead of her, already setting down. She had no idea where Wraith was any more, but she wasn't about to wait for anyone, hoping the man was protecting her, but not counting on it. She was coming in towards the Vector from on high, and realised she'd have to claim power for her guidance thrusters if she'd ever be able to pull up in time. "Blast it, here I come...."

Grinding her teeth together, she pulled up just as she aligned her trajectory with the moving shuttle bay, and even if the Sabine would have been at peak condition, she'd never be able to land it unscathed. As it were, it wasn't like the bay was empty either! Eyes wide, she made a minute correction so that she would slam straight down unto Valravn fighter. As it were, she scrapped the paint of the tip of the fighter's wing, and even though her landing gears were out, the Sabine was coming down too fast. Her landing gears were bent underneath her ship, collapsing, and Sera was tossed about in her seat like a ragdoll. A new plasma fire broke out, and a shower of sparks rained over her red exosuit. She lost her bearings completely for a few moments, her suit preventing her from whiplash damage, but in the end, she realised she'd done it.

"Blast it," she said, unbuckling herself, and getting back on her feet. Outside her cockpit, however, mayhem raged, with boarders facing off against the fighter pilots and... That Reman i found in my bed? Of course, he hadn't likely left the shuttle bay. She had no idea how he ended up between her legs the night before, her memories spotty and her hangover still not gone. She must have been drinking a lot, and been really bored, as intriguing as the notion of a Reman would be. Seeing him caused such confusion... and there was still a fight ongoing. She snapped out of it and snatched up her Klingon disruptor, heading for the airlock.

She had to use the manual release to get it open, kicking the ramp so that it folded out, and then stepped off the Sabine with her disruptor aimed towards the boarders. "Hey! Burn you!" she said in the mouthpiece of her helmet, her voice heard from a small speaker in the bay. "Get off this ship!"

Firing, she kept the last ones from being too bold, taking cover as best as they might from her.

[ Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Dewitt | Main Bridge | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: All
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On the bridge, attention to the Dauntless was split between it and all the other myriad of tasks on hand. Yet the most prevalent thing was their own survival. The present security officers fired back at the boarders. Derik Veradin had been forced out of his seat, and unless Dewitt was mistaken, he may have saved her life. Leon, at Tactical, also had to engage with the boarders, meaning that they had neither helm not weapons. Thankfully, the Helmet was still firing, and it wasn't destroyed at the point when Dewitt struck down one of the borders with her fist, having wrenched the phaser out of his hand.

"Veradin," she called, shaking the pain out of her hand, and raised her claimed phaser towards the one their helmeman had put a parsteel blade into. It was impressive how the Trill had managed to get into the pressurised layers between the exosuit's armoured plating with the knife. "Thank you, now get back in your seat, befor-"

The ship rocked again, a phaser beam from the Dauntless impacting with their hull, carving deep into the unshielded exterior of the Vector. Dewitt stumbled, and the security officer with the knife in him cried out through his helmet - the blade likely twisted inside him by the commotion. Disjointedly, he fell forward, landing on the deck. It was the last boarder still not neutralised, and Dewitt's red hair was in a disarray when she stepped up towards the Command Chair again.

"What's the status on our warp drive?" she called, but then she saw - on the large hologram of the battlefield, how there were new indicators in the fringes of the display area. "What's..."

Her green eyes went wide. She check the ETA indicators another time. "Task Force Archeron is about to drop out of warp. Five ships. Including the USS Archeron herself." They must have accelerated, somehow, when the Bellerophon was destroyed.

Yet what was... "What is that?"

It took a few seconds to recognise the signature, because it wasn't just one ship.

It was the rest of their ship.

Dewitt could hardly believe her eyes. It was the the Sword and the Stallion, merged, and it just dropped out of warp. The sight of it came with such a sense of relief that she actually smiled. Never had she been more happy about being wrong, and while she didn't regret what she'd done, it was time for action. Even in this situation, it was time to act, and she did so selflessly, for the sake of the mission. She sat down in her chair, and opened a hail.

"This is Jennifer Dewitt, acting Captain of the Helmet," she said in a loud voice, so that the rest of the bridge could hear, even if they were busy with their individual tasks. "Task Force Archeron is about to drop out of warp. We have a warp solution underway, and we really could use your engines too. Commander Trent has been relieved, but as Captain of the Helmet, I am giving the reintegration order as my final command.... and then... I cede the conn to Second Officer Wenn Cinn, to be the Commanding Officer of the Theurgy."

Whatever consequences were in store for her, she'd accept them, knowing that in her mind, she had done the right thing given what she'd been told by Trent, and because of the development in the third Rendezvous Zone. It's not like there were any career opportunities in store for me anyway. But I will live with knowing I did what I could for the crew.

OOC: Free posting order for all the areas with boarding parties except for the Main Bridge. Please take out all the boarders at your leisure and posting frequency. As for the Main Bridge, and the V2+V3 ship that just arrived, @chXinya is next to post with Captain Wenn Cinn. The thread Reunion is not finished yet, but the outcome is pretty set. After @chXinya has posted, 7 days of posting begin for all on the Helmet's bridge. During this time, in these posts that are due, everyone can illustrate how the Theurgy reintegrates into one ship, Task Force Archeron arrives, the order to go to warp is made, and through a very impromptu joint venture between the Engineering officers on the three Vectors, the Theurgy warps the *beep* out of there. Make it as epic as you like! (Within plausible bounds, of course, lol)

All Supplemental Threads that are started between characters on this Vectors will have to be set before 0810 hrs. on Day 06, but not afterwards, and they should also be posted on the Part 1 board. Just like in the interregnum, Supplemental one-on-one threads are started at your leisure! Supplemental threads should be named Chapter 05: Supplemental [Day XX | YYYY hrs.] Insert Title, and can extend as far back as right after the battle with the Versant and all the way up to 0810 hrs on Day 06, where the third Rendevouz began.

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #87 – December 02, 2018, 02:21:40 PM

[ Tesserarius Lorad | Upper Shuttle Bay | Deck 11 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ]
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Lorad just stared down at the short, tailed female that had just delivered an onslaught of words at him. He managed to pick out several of them and between those and her general tone, he believed that she was complaining about something. Not that he was too worried about what it was at the time.

“Not time,” Lorad declared firmly. “Fight now. Talk Later,” he said commandingly as the human female pilot dropped down from her ship. Believing he had said enough, Lorad padded off without another word, stalking the bay for the remaining boarders even as more ships began to land. He heard a female scream that was cut off abruptly but didn’t see the cause of it before another ship entered the bay.

Lorad heard more phaserfire ahead of him and he ducked behind a pillar to shield himself while he tried to determine where it was coming from. Locating the source of it, he saw two people firing out from where they were sheltered at what looked like one of the men he had seen the previous day when he was assisting Veradan with the Apache.

Having located his targets, he began to shift himself into a better position to fire when the Sabine came roaring into the bay, barely missing one of the other newly arrived ships before slamming to the deck in a shower of sparks. A momentary panic and wave of indecisiveness erupted in Lorad. Torn between eliminating a threat and rushing to aid Sera, Lorad made no move as he tried to decide.

His decision was made for him, however, when the Câroon female kicked open the Sabine's airlock and began to fire at the boarders. Surprised by this new offense, the two boarders moved to confront this new target and that was when Lorad seized his chance. Stepping out from cover, Lorad levelled his confiscated phaser rifle, long since set to stun, and shot at one of the men. His aim, while true, didn’t account for the unexpected movement of his target and his shot only hit the main in the upper arm.

As his target fell back behind cover, Lorad retreated back behind the pillar, unsure how effective a stun shot to the arm was from a Starfleet weapon.

Donna had been shocked when Isel had fired on the man in her defence. She hadn’t even known there was a threat there. Shaking her head, she watched as Isel descended from her fighter’s cockpit and yelled at the towering Reman that had appeared. She had heard what he had said to them but hadn’t really understood it until she saw more phaser fire on the other side of the shuttle bay.

Removing her helmet, Donna climbed out of the cockpit and dropped to the deck below in time to see the Reman moving away.

“Uh, thanks Isel,” Donna said hesitantly to her wingwoman, unsure how she’d react given the morning they had had. It was certainly more than she had planned for. “For the save, and, uh, everything else too.”

Donna looked around the bay as the other fighters began to land; having to pull some pretty impressive braking manoeuvres to catch up to the Theurgy in the allotted time and then execute a landing in the limited space of the Upper Shuttle Bay.

“So, should we stay here with Tank and Bourbon or join whatever fight the Reman was talking about?” Donna asked her Vulpinian companion.

OOC: Wasn't sure how effective stun settings work if they hit a target's limb. So their is either 1 or 2 boarders left active at this point.

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #88 – December 02, 2018, 09:53:28 PM

[ Lt. Jg. Suq | Main Engineering | USS Theurgy ] @Absinthe @The Ostrich

Even though Suq was talented in the art of busting kneecaps and anklebiting, there was only so much he could do without a phaser or collector in hand. He had neither right now. He heard a crack when he whacked someone’s knee, which should keep them from coming after him. He ducked behind a console, watching as engineering sprang to life. If he were on the Resolve, he wouldn’t even have to look to know what happened. If this were the Resolve, every single engineer would engage kick-ass mode all at once, and the result would be frightening. This wasn’t the Resolve, and these people weren’t used to frequent boarding. He prayed for just a split second.

The engineers were not armed but Suq could tell this wasn’t the type of crew to give in so easily. To add to their good fortune, there were security officers posted at the exits...wait, when did that happen? Since when was security supposed to guard engineering so quickly?

Was this whole thing...staged?

“Ladies! Are we ready to warp out?” He called out to F’rell, and by extension Vivian. He was 500% done here.

[ PO Sar-unga Neleo/Dyan Cardamone | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] @Auctor Lucan

To say Dyan was happy to leave was a lie of the highest extent. Dyan wanted to bash Trent’s face in. She wanted him to know just how much trouble he had caused, just how poor of a leader he was, just how inept, stupid, and awful he was. How he deserved all the shit that came to him today, and that he could fix it if he wasn’t such a coward. None of that worked though. Trent was truly so dense and insulated...and she was reminded, again, just how alien she was here. The disappointment, the anger, it felt like the sun in summer on Earth, like it was wilting her.

More than that, Drauc was being...weird. He was always weird, but in a way, he seemed more Asurian than he did before this all started. He had rounded on her, cornered her, again reviving the memories of her former lover in the saucer. She bared her teeth and snarled, and…was complimented?

The response was so baffling that it almost overshadowed the sheer absurdity of having done the right thing. Dyan doesn’t do the right thing. She does everything else but the right thing. Even there, in Trent’s confinement, Dyan wasn’t able to show him how wrong he was about everything. Nothing worked.

She was saved from having to come up with a response by the red alert klaxons. Finally, the boarding action she had been hoping for.

She wasn’t sure where the security officer came from, but he looked startled. That was good. She liked them frightened.
“Guard this room! Trent is in there. He comes out for nothing, for no one, and if I find him lost, I’ll have your head!” She shouted and flashed her blade in his face, much in the way a Klingon would carry out their security affairs.
As if racing Drauc, she bolted towards the turbolifts. She had anger to work out.

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #89 – December 02, 2018, 11:55:01 PM

[ Ensign Isel “Foxfire” Nix | Wolf-08 | Azure Nebula ]

Isel grumbled a curse as the Reman barked at her, speaking in a way that led her to think he didn’t have a firm grasp of the language he used. She was surprised to find a Reman on the ship, regardless of the rumours that the Theurgy was in league with the Romulans. She had seen several Remans before, years ago in her old life, during dealings with the Romulans. Those Remans had been either labourers moving cargo during their transactions or bodyguards to the Romulans taking part in said transactions. This one didn’t seem to be either, speaking in such a commanding tone. Isel watched as the Reman’s massive form stalked off through the shuttle bay, apparently hunting the rest of the boarders, heading towards the distant sounds of phaser fire.

Isel turned her attention away from the behemoth as she heard Donna speak, thanking her. Isel turned her head to look at the other woman, giving her a wicked grin. ”You’re welcome, but don’t think a simple “thank you” is going to get you out of that apology!” Isel informed the Human woman with a stern tone. Her expression grew more serious as she turned to look in the direction of the sounds of battle. ”I’d say sit tight,” Isel said in answer to Donna’s question, ”if the Theurgy’s security teams storm the bay, they might confuse us with the boarders. I didn’t put my ass on the line getting this far just to be stunned by some trigger-happy asshole.” Isel turned back to Donna and grinned. ”Besides, there’s already one dead bastard on the other side of that shuttle. How much of their dirty work are we really expected to do?”

Isel stared back defiantly at Donna’s stern gaze, knowing the other woman’s dedication to her duty. It was precisely that dedication that had dragged Isel into this mess in the first place. ”Oh for fucks…” Isel growled, knowing she wasn’t about to let Donna go off hunting the boarding party on her own. ”Fine!” Isel sighed, hefting her phaser again and stalking off towards the sounds of fighting. ”But if I get my ass shot off because of this, you better believe you’re gonna be kissing it better!” The Vulpinian grumbled, her mismatched eyes scanning the area as she advanced with phaser at the ready. The other fighters and the Sabine were aboard now, the shuttle bay quickly growing crowded. The result was plenty of cover for potential threats to be hiding, as well as more friendlies in the area. Isel paused and quickly switched her phaser to stun, having set it to kill when they’d left on their mission to defect to the Theurgy.

Isel could hear Donna behind her as she crept around one of the landed fighter craft and saw a figure in a red flight suit standing by the Sabine’s open airlock. The red-clad figure what looked like a disruptor towards something she couldn’t see. She certainly doesn’t look Starfleet… Isel thought to herself before turning her attention to the direction the person was firing. I’m guessing our uninvited guests are over there. Isel crept forward a little more, but saw that the person by the Sabine was firing at something she couldn’t see. Must be in cover. Hopefully someone else gets a shot. I’m sure as hell not charging over there!

Isel took a step backwards to move back into cover, the motion causing her to bump into Donna, who had been keeping up with her. A slight smile player across Isel’s features as she glanced back over her shoulder at the other pilot. ”Easy, Donna!” The Vulpinian chuckled, her eyes twinkling with mischief as she spoke. ”There’ll be plenty of time for cuddling later. Besides…” Isel turned her face back towards the sounds of weapons fire, her amused expression hidden from the other woman’s view, ”I still haven’t decided how mad at you I am for dragging me into this insane shit-show…”

OOC: I figured I’d leave the fun for someone else since I already took out one of the boarder party members.

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #90 – December 04, 2018, 12:50:22 AM

[Lt. Commander Wenn Cinn | Battle Bridge | Deck 11 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy]

The scene in the viewscreen was a nightmare. Two halves of a Federation starship drifted nearby, the edges still glowing from whatever violence tore it apart. Another ship was heavily damaged, but determined to keep fighting. As soon as the combined vectors dropped out of warp the survivor speared the Helmet with a phaser, tearing a chunk out of the first vector, something that caused Cinn to grimace. “Tactical, disable that ship’s weapons before they turn our way. Ops, scan the,” glancing at the short range tactical display to see the transponder readings, “Bellerophon for survivors and beam them aboard. Alert security, I want them in place just in case.” It was a serious risk to run without shields for the moment, but he couldn’t leave Starfleet officers to die.

Standing up from the center seat, Cinn returned his focus on the center screen, Vector 1 now sitting right in the middle of it. This was it, so close to making the Theurgy whole, but if they didn’t move fast it would be for nothing. “Hail Commander Trent.” he ordered, plans already forming in his head. As it happened, the Helmet managed to hail them first.

"This is Jennifer Dewitt, acting Captain of the Helmet, Task Force Archeron is about to drop out of warp. We have a warp solution underway, and we really could use your engines too. Commander Trent has been relieved, but as Captain of the Helmet, I am giving the reintegration order as my final command.... and then... I cede the conn to Second Officer Wenn Cinn, to be the Commanding Officer of the Theurgy.”

What happened to Trent? was the first thing in Cinn’s mind, but it was gone in an instant, there was no time to dwell on that right now. “Understood Captain Dewitt. Send the plans to us and we’ll make our preparations. Get your people ready, this will be a little rough. Theurgy out.” Returning to his seat Cinn was in full business mode.

“The moment we’re in range extend our shields around the helmet. Helm, bring us in for a combat reintegration. Engineering, the moment you receive these warp calculations I want them loaded and ready to go ASAP. We have one chance at this people, I know we’ll all do our best.” Tapping the comm button to make a general announcement. “All hands, brace for combat reintegration and sudden warp acceleration.”

Propping his elbows on his knees and interlacing his fingers together, Cinn waited to see his crew in action.

OOC:
Current Vector 2/3 Bridge Staff:

Captain: Lt. Commander Wenn Cinn
Executive Officer: Lt. Commander Natalie Stark
Tactical: Lt. T'Less
Helm: Ens. Jaya Thorne
Operations: Lt. JG Nator 159
Mission Ops: Ens. Cameron Henshaw
Security: Lt. Kai Akoni
Science: Lt. Commander Vael Kaeris
Support Staff: Commander Ducote

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #91 – December 05, 2018, 12:10:43 AM

[ Lt JG Nator 159 | Battle Bridge | Deck 11 | The Stallion ] attn: @chXinya @Auctor Lucan et al

The journey after leaving the Cayuga was far less hair-raising than the mad sprint to meet the Stallion. Only one of their engines was in any serious danger of collapse, rather than half of them. And as if to prove their Engineering department smugly correct again, there were no problems this time either. Just a persistent (though muted) integrity alarm on the pylon itself, which wasn't about to be fixed without a layover somewhere. For approximately the sixtieth time that week, s/he wished for a fortnight's uninterrupted access to a shipyard.

Nator was still paying attention to structural integrity reports and fields balances when the captain ordered a scan of the Bellerophon for survivors. Looking up, s/he expected a hulk, or a merely crippled vessel. What s/he saw was a ship sawed in half, spewing atmosphere and conduits and bulkhead panels into space. And not a few bodies, either.

"Working now."

There were pockets of life signs all over the ship - their number shrinking as the Helmet beamed some off as well. Mostly they were clustered towards the bows and stern of the ship; the catastrophic split in the hull likely accounting for the void in readings amidships.

What even happened? Torpedo magazine hit? The Helmet can't have been aiming to so thoroughly destroy the Bellerophon - they wouldn't. Was... that why Trent had been relieved? S/he couldn't help the glance s/he threw around the bridge to see how everyone else was taking the news, before realising that s/he couldn't immediately match names and faces anyway.

The number of signatures on the Bellerophon dropped rapidly with the two currently-separate ships performing beamouts. Once it dropped to zero, s/he extended their shield envelope around the Helmet in preparation for integration. Grief, to have everything together again.

Suck it, Sankolov.

[ Lt T'Less | Battle Bridge | Deck 11 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy | I Said, I Have A Big Stick ]

As soon as they dropped out of warp, T'Less wasted no time in classifying the contacts in the local area. To see what was a ship, what was ordnance, what was debris, and what priority to address them in. Even the latter category could be dangerous if it was sufficiently large or fast and on a collision course.

There were plenty of all three to find. Between the Dauntless, her fighters, and the scattering remains of the Bellerophon, space was busy here indeed. Nevertheless, their shields were back up to nominal strength, their capacitors were charged, and tubes loaded. It felt good.

On the plus side, now that she had a functioning Tactical station to man, she wasn't going to worry the Hermat this time.

She began to passive-lock the fighters and Dauntless, ready to switch to active solutions if the order came; her intended firing pattern was already complete and ready to execute. But she didn't want to pull any triggers that she didn't have to - these were Starfleet vessels after all, not Klingon ones. And while even the latter were supposed allies, it was still a different matter to open fire on colleagues. Comrades.

If any were to die by her hand, she would not be the first to blink.

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #92 – December 06, 2018, 11:04:02 PM

[ CWO3 Liliana "Meerkat" Walton | Wolf-13 | Theurgy Shuttle Bay ]

Liliana frowned when the last transmissions about boarders on the Theurgy came through to her helmet. Just what we needed. Scylla made a smooth landing into the shuttle bay and Lily matched it, flipping her fighter at the last minute to glide into a spot next to her wingmate. The maneuvering thrusters had to work overtime to reverse the high acceleration that the Valravn was putting in.

Ops crew is going to have some serious cleaning to do with all these scorch marks.

As she set the fighter down in a relatively careful hover, Lily watched Scylla and her RIO move from their fighter to roam the shuttle bay, presumably in search of these boarders. Nearby, she saw flashes from where her sensors tagged Foxfire and Chance’s fighters. She popped the Valravn’s canopy, digging around for the phaser pistol next to her pilot’s chair with one hand. Behind her, she heard a growl and then a roar.

“Wait, Bulk-“

The Valravn jerked, forcing Meerkat to correct the sudden movement as her Rear Intercept Officer jumped from his seat to the ground, hoisting a rifle high in the air with a battlecry after a landing he somehow didn’t end up limping from.

“Bulkhead, what the fuck are you doing?!”

His only response was to start singing in Klingon while he ran towards where the last of the shooting was happening. She started muttering curses under her breath as she finally let the Valravn’s landing gear take on the weight of the craft. Her pistol was finally found right as she started to unbuckle in a mad scramble to get out of the cockpit and onto the floor. She ran off after her errant RIO, only to see him disappear beyond a Reman and some woman in what looked like a fire-red Tac CONN flight suit.

“Don’t shoot! That’s my RIO! Bulkhead, get back here!”

The shooting abruptly ended after the sound of someone’s arm breaking, prompting another roar from the Klingon before he walked back to the group of pilots and lone Reman.

“I got one! The other one just cowered, holding his arm. He will not find glory in Sto’Vo’Kor, I think.”

Lily holstered her pistol and sighed deeply, the free gloved hand moving to palm her face before she remembered the helmet.

“Just … get back to the fighter and put your rifle away before they think you’re the enemy.”

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #93 – December 07, 2018, 12:55:49 AM

[ Ens. Cameron Henshaw | Battle Bridge | Deck 11 | Vector 03 | The Ranger, USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan, @FollowTomorrow, @chXinya & @Top Hat
[Show/Hide]

Cam watched the events unfolding from the monitors of Mission Ops, ready to relay any orders to Thomas Ravon and the remaining members of the Lone Wolves, with some of them still in sickbay fighting for their lives. Everything she'd talked over with Thomas, and then later T'Less, was still fresh in her mind, and after she had some semblance of rest and a form of breakfast, she was as ready and as alert as she was ever going to be. It had been a joy when they were able to catch up to the Stallion, and now they were going to be a whole ship again, such as they were, due to all the damages sustained, but it was better than being apart.

Although it had only been a few days, the separation felt like months, and Cam rather missed the main bridge of the Helmet.

“Flight Ops to Razor,” said Cam quietly, “we've located the Helmet. Stand by for reintegration to SOM.”

She studied the tactical map and quickly added, “Be ready to scramble, Vector One may require assistance. Updating your tactical feed.”

She was steady, her nerves steeled, and her resolve strong. She cast a quick glance at T'Less, then went back to her task, all fear, doubts and worries cast aside in favour of focus and getting the job done to perfection.

There will be time to mourn later.

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #94 – December 07, 2018, 03:04:14 AM

[ PO2 Kino Taer | Vector 2 | Deck 7 | Security Centre | USS Theurgy ] @CanadianVet @trevorvw

Kino did not have enough caffeine in her. She was very sure of this. She had gone to Sickbay for a quick post-action checkup before her shift that way, something requested since she was also post-surgery. The nurse told her off for taking part in the counter-boarding action and reiterated that Taer was to be limited to light or administrative duties for at least a week until the Starfleet medical technologies at work in her body had time to finish the majority of the healing process. The other major limitation was in how much of any kind of drugs she could ingest, which unfortunately included caffeine.

So here she was, helping Eliska Bremmer in the Armory by stripping down the weapons used yesterday and inspecting them for anything that indicated they needed serious repairs or to be recycled. Her ACS training as well as her experience with various types of Starfleet armaments and explosives made the Trill fairly adept at assisting Masters-at-Arms or armory officers in weapons maintenance duties, though any serious work had to be done by the people actually qualified for it. Plus, this was a lot better than the alternative, which was to assist Ensign Colin McArthur with tackling after-action reports. Weapons and her favorite person on the ship in the same room!

Hunted by Starfleet’s finest and we’re still doing all of the paperwork as if we weren’t.

"All hands, brace for combat reintegration and sudden warp acceleration."

The general announcement from the familiar voice of the ship’s acting commander provoked a raised eyebrow and a smirk on Kino’s face. She poked her girlfriend’s arm and said jovially, “Hey, I guess we made it to the Helmet after all!”

The next voice to come over her combadge was nothing less than that of McArthur, sounding just as tired as Kino herself felt. She could have sworn there was an element of annoyance in his voice too, but maybe she was projecting.

“McArthur to Petty Officer Taer, report to the Security operations room. We’ve got incoming.”

“Taer. On my way. Boarders?”

“Nope. Bellerophon survivors. Oh, and Bremmer’s there too right? Tell her to wrap up whatever she’s doing. It’s all hands on deck right now. McArthur out.”

She shared a momentarily look of confusion with Eliska before shrugging and setting down the pistol she had been holding. A little wave and tight smile was her only parting interaction with the human before she jogged out of the Armory and entered the nerve center that Security used to coordinate their officers.

“Taer! Good.” McArthur called as soon as he spotted her. “I need you at that station. We’re starting to get reports from Vector 1 about boarding parties and the first wave of survivors from the Bellerophon are already onboard. You’ll be coordinating response teams with Lieutenant Akoni.”

“Wait, I thought that was your job.”

“It is, but the Bellerophon folks are already being a pain in the ass. I need to be able to focus on them for a few minutes until we have enough officers in place to control them. You’ll be fine.”

Kino sighed in frustration but nodded in an affirmative before taking a seat at the empty chair and computer station that was pointed out for her. It was already pulling up the information she needed with squads checking in and relevant information on the state of the Theurgy, offering a focused window on the parts of the security situation she would be assisting Kai Akoni in coordinating a response for. She tapped her combadge, opening a channel to the Security station on the bridge. Honestly, most of what she would be doing could be done from Akoni’s station on the bridge but she suspected there was a reason McArthur wanted her to do this, aside from keeping her away from combat. Taer was someone that was more familiar with the ship and the crew and vice versa.

“Petty Officer Taer to Lieutenant Akoni. I’m to assist you in coordinating Security response teams for now. What do you need?”

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #95 – December 07, 2018, 04:40:08 AM

[ Lt. JG Izar Bila| Chemistry Lab | Deck 17 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy]
[Show/Hide]

@Auctor Lucan @bridge science officer

Sat in front of the console in the small cubicle that constituted the office of the empty laboratory, Bila chewed his nails. It was an abominable fixation, but the hybrid felt on the verge of a nervous breakdown, so a disastrous manicure seemed the least of the evils if he faced it with a new urgent call to the ship's counselor. He shouldn't be there. He was not supposed to be there. He should be aboard the Cayuga, reporting the status of the investigation he had begun to develop in the away mission to Captain Ziegler and, possibly, to his superior officer, Lt. Vanya. And instead, he was trapped in that ship chased by what remained of the Task Force Archeron. The hybrid had always considered that, despite the trials to which the Prophets had subjected him, he had a fortunate pagh. However, the last week made him think that the ebb and flow of his luck was a kind of sinister game for the inhabitants of the Celestial Temple and that, tired of managing their destiny, they had decided to end their scaly skin with the worst way possible. For the first time in his life, Bila felt real resentment against the Celestials Beings. He was willing to accept his fate, if it was the one they had designated for him. But that the chemist was, in a way, guilty of dragging Benmual and Eboh to the very same end made that guilt gnaw at his gut. It wasn't fair. Not even in Igor's case, no matter how nuisance he was sometimes. It was not fair. He didn't want that weight on his conscience. He should have distributed the vaccines and the ORE's plans and...

Bila brought his hands to his temples and rubbed them, the tender skin of his shattered tips of his fingers protesting with every circular movement they exercised. It didn't make any sense think about what could have been, for better or for worse he was stuck in the Theurgy and could do little to solve that situation. He had to find something to do, something to entertain his mind. Something useful. Something that let him ignore the guilt. His right hand moved from the vicinity of his forehead ridges to the briefcase that rested on the desk. He had far fewer vaccines in his possession than he had when he arrived at this Starship, the rest now divided into different vectors' labs or aboard the Cayuga. Going back to improving the performance of the modified nanoprobes was tempting, but it didn't help anyone in the current situation. He had muted the warning calls as soon as he entered the lab, but he knew that red alerts flashed on the other side of the door. In the haven of peace that was the chem lab, the only memory of it was the continuous flickering of a red point in one of the corners of his console. There was or there would be soon a battle against the vessel. He had to do something useful.

He got back on his feet and began to walk through the nooks of the laboratory. There were five different work zones, in addition to at least three storage areas and the chemical replicator. It was a good lab, a modern lab, a big lab.He had more means at his disposal than he had in the away mission, or even aboard the Cayuga. The Theurgy wasn't a scientific starship, but it was one of the last prototypes of the Starfleet and it was well equipped. An idea began to form in his mind. "Computer," he said loudly as he retraced his steps to the small office. "Show in the console the feed of the stern long-range sensor array". The computer acknowledged his order with a short chirp, and the screensaver of the console was replaced by a data flow that began to move quickly through the screen. The eyes of the hybrid traveled with speed through the lines of text and graphics on the screen, with the ease given by custom. Without taking his eyes off the screen, he sat back in his chair, resting his elbows on the table, his torso leaning forward. Although he had not been in that kind of position in a combat situation for some time, the bajcardie had made that job for much of the Dominion War, serving as a sensor specialist aboard of the USS Thunderchild. There were things that it was hard to forget. "Computer, message to the bridge science console, text only." He ordered again before starting to dictate. "Liutenant Junior Grade Izar Bila, from the USS Cayuga reporting from the chemistry lab on deck 17, checking the long-range sensors for combat situation, with the arrays attached in this message. Consider my position as a support one for your duties, do not hesitate to give the necessary orders for a fluid cooperation. I'll leave communications open waiting for confirmation or order changes. Computer, send." Without waiting for a response, Bila began refining the sensor detection algorithm, fine-tuning its range. With the Task Force biting at their heels, Tactics would monopolize the close-range sensors, but there was much that could be done with the long-range.He COULD be useful. As he began to type the orientation of the sensors to check one of the data that was still flowing on his screen, he could hear the door hiss opening to his left. He didn't turn around to see who his visitor was, he was too focused to lose track of what he was doing.

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #96 – December 07, 2018, 05:01:43 AM

[ Lieutenant Vanya | Upper Science Labs | Deck 07 | The Ranger, Vector 2/3 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan , Any others there
[Show/Hide]

Vanya stepped into the Upper Science labs on the Ranger. In the haste of the final repairs and departure of the Cayuga, she and more than a few other Cayuga Officers and crewmen had been aboard the Ranger when the Cayuga buttoned up and booked it on out of there to intercept the Borg.

Vanya had completed her biological repair in the Sickbay, and as the Cayuga had departed found herself on the reintegrated Theurgy. She found a console and fired off a quick memo to the acting XO of the Theurgy detailing her presence on the ship. Her rank, department, station as a department head on the other ship, qualifications and commendation. She requested temporary duty assignment on Theurgy, as she would surely need all hands for the upcoming engagements.

Some may have scoffed at doing such in a ship that had been met under such strange circumstances but the Romulans were a pragmatic people. It only made sense. If the Theurgy went down, with all hands, she would surely die. If absolutely nothing else it was in her own best and vested interest to do everything in her power to ensure it’s ongoing survival.

Vanya had seen the holos. She’d been given the briefing on what the Theurgy had uncovered and the foe facing the Federation and indeed the entire Galaxy. It had chilled her, yes, even an android. What she had seen had practically defied science. It bordered on the realm of mysticism. Mysticism was something that made the Android uncomfortable, just in theory. She was a construct. A being built by other beings, but so were babies. Just biological instead of mechanical. The concept of a ‘soul’ was one of many questions she had about herself.

Religion though? The Romulan infiltration bot had no use for it. It usually amused her. Primitive beliefs of primitive people that had not yet the ability to use Science to explain the world and universe around them. Clinging to ‘faith’ in the dark fearful of the unknown. Vanya was Romulan. They were the ones to light the torch and venture out into that darkness, in spite of their fear. To hunt down that which scared them, to put it to the torch and set it ablaze to light the darkness with the corpse of their fallen terror. They no longer cowered and clutched religion as a shield. They forged their – own -- shields along side their swords.

What she’d seen on that holo. That was.. different. That was… - Evil -. It made goosebumps appear on her biosynthetic flesh and her ‘breath’ caught in her throat for a long moment. Vanya had been a millisecond from turning off her emotion chip when she watched. Still she’d rallied in the end. Refusing to give into the fear that had flowed through her inner workings. She’d narrowed her eyes.

She’d told it “No”. She would not allow the Fear to freeze her mind. A frozen mind would bring total obliteration. She would let that fear pass over her, and through her. And when it was gone, she would look upon its path, and only she would remain.

Some others might quibble. Some might scoff at the strange inexplicable. Not Vanya. Not – this time -. She bought it. She saw what she’d seen. That was no clever trickery by a holonovelist. That was – real -. Real true evil and it meant to destroy them all.

So Vanya meant to – help – as best she was able. She would serve the Federation and it’s core ideals. At this moment, on this day, on this ship, it meant pitching in where ever she could to the absolute best of her abilities.

So she reported to the upper Science Labs aboard The Ranger. She nodded to the Officer in charge and looked to do exactly that. Pitch in until orders from the acting XO could make their way to her, telling her where to go.

OCC: Unsure as to the current acting XO, I think that it's Natalie Stark, so if so, Vanya's memo would go to her. If someone else, it'd be routed there.

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #97 – December 07, 2018, 08:01:27 AM

[ F'Rell of the Twelfth House | Main Engineering | Vector 01 |USS Theurgy ]
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Her silver eyes moved quickly over the panel before her, quickly absorbing the information displayed, doing the mathematics in her head. It was a complex formula, constantly changing and shifting and involving more details.

"<If you can handle the intermix processes, and Suq can handle the warp core calibrations, I can focus on the warp field. It would allow us to make a nearly precise jump,>" F'Rell said thoughtfully. It was still a risk, there was no way they could be as precise as the computer handling the jump when the system was a peak performance, but it would be infinitely more stable than trying to do it purely unregulated. "<I am sending you my equations, Suq.>"

She tapped a few keys and sent the current intermix ratios and warp core dynamic ranges to both the science station on the bridge and Suq's station, a moment later she began to code in so they would have access to a live feed of it. All the while she continued to adjust the field dynamics of the core, working to keep it as stable as possible, continuing to disable more of the computer's functions as she took them over. "<I will be giving you control shortly, stand by.>"

---
[ Ensign Ryuan Sel | Sickbay | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ]
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Sickbay was a disaster. The smell of burnt wall tiles and fried ozone, phaser fire. She wrapped her hand tightly around the grips of her Accipiter and moved. She had no interest in wasting time. She had already taken out one intruder and she didn't know how many there still were to handle. She wasn't 100% sure who was on her side and who the intruders were, so she knew right away this was going to be difficult. It wasn't helped by the fact that sickbay had gone to emergency lighting and there was smoke from some stray phaser fire in the air. She cursed under her breath

"Everyone stay down, Theurgy Security," she called out, hoping anyone dumb enough to stay standing wouldn't be one of hers or someone they just rescued. She tapped a few buttons and set the Accipter to a stun setting, no need to get to rough just yet.

She moved quickly to cover after she had yelled and looked over, when she spotted movement she fired, letting her eyes and hands track the movement as her finger pulled back on the trigger. The beam shot out in a blaze of light, the beam struck someone and they fell back. She couldn't get a good look at them at first, so in a mad sprint, she rushed over to the fallen person to check their vitals.

They weren't in any kind of tactical armor, thus the stun setting had done its job. It was a woman with bright red hair, she didn't look familiar.

"Shit," Sel said and looked around, spotting someone in teal she hurried over to them. "Where the fuck are the intruders?" she asked in a hurried tone.

"They... they told us to get down, shot a few times and left, I think one was at the door," the nurse, a young cute thing Sel wouldn't have minded breaking said.

"Well fuck, who the fuck did I shoot?" Sel asked, suddenly feeling like a complete idiot.

"One of the survivors of the Belliphon," the nurse replied.

Sel cussed again, this was going to be a fun incident report, she just knew it.

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #98 – December 07, 2018, 10:44:16 PM

[ PO2 Eliska Bremmer | Vector 2 | Deck 7 | Security Centre | USS Theurgy ]

The morning, after the events in the Whetstone lounge, had been going halfway decently. Apparently, they had found someone at least partways competent to look after the armoury while Eliska Bremmer was getting the sleep she desperately needed. And there was even a nice, concise reports as to which small arms had been checked out, fitted with a new power pack and sent back to the weapons lockers across the whole ship, which ones would need a secondary check, and there was even a list of those that needed maintenance that individual hadn't been qualified to perform. Well, that was a good start all right.

Sure, they had reintegrated with Vector 3 at some point during the morning, but that had meant very little to Bremmer. She had an armoury, a workbench, and a pile of work that needed doing. Armour parts were being replicated for replacement, and she was good and busy.

And, at least, Kino had managed to weasel out of desk duty to come and give her a hand looking after a lot more hand phasers and rifles that she could deal with in a short amount of time.

And then, alarms sounded, and a call to prepare for a rough reintegration, and going out to warp. That meant little to Bremmer and she simply shrugged as she was focused on reassembling a focusing coil assembly, and then, Bremmer started to swear again. More on-board security action coming up? There was no way she was ever going to get done. Even as Kino was heading out of the compartment, Eliska was throwing her jacket back on, and she could not help herself. "Why the fuck did they even put me in here if I'm being called up to deal with every little thing that happens on this fucking ship?"

But there was no response as the Nova Kosicean retrieved her service pistol from the rack and affixed the holster to her waist. Practiced fingers did their trick, checking the weapon's components automatically and bringing it online. "Bremmer to Security Ops. You want me to gather up a team, or head somewhere as a single when the time comes?"

Re: Chapter 03: Knife's Edge [ Day 06 | 0840 hrs. ]

Reply #99 – December 08, 2018, 12:44:24 AM

[ Drauc T'Laus | Battle Sickbay Corridor | Deck 07 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @FollowTomorrow
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The turbolift doors parted, and Drauc T'Laus stepped out into the corridor, not having spoken until then since their ascent from Deck 11 was swift. Together with Dyan Cardamone, he had left the secured quarters behind, the deposed Commander locked away, in order to answer the threat of boarders from the USS Dauntless.

"I hear them," he rasped, and turned his eyes down the corridor leading away from Vector 01's sickbay. He picked up on shouting and phaser fire. Evidently, the boarders had left the area behind, heading for the antimatter storage pods on the same deck, for obvious reasons. Drauc did not bother telling Dyan this, for she knew this ship better than he did. "This way."

With the threat evident, Drauc leaned forward and set off at a sprint down the corridor. He was still unarmed, but it mattered naught. The boarders did not know they were coming, and after having been subjected to Dyan's mind since the night before, he longed for the battlefield, small as he expected the engagement to be. Soon enough, after passing stunned officers in the hallway, he could sense their minds ahead... before he rounded the last intersection.

Six of them, moving in the coordinated way that was taught to all officers in Security. The two at the back were supposed to protect their flanks and from pursuers, but they were not doing as they were supposed to. They were looking ahead of the group instead, perhaps because of their highpace, and it was a grave mistake mistake on their part. Drauc seized the opportunity, and caught up to them. He struck the first down with an overhead strike to the neck, seized his rifle before he fell to the floor, and dealt a second strike with the stock of the weapon straight into the ribs of the guard next to him. They were both out for the count by the time Drauc brought the rifle up to his shoulder, and began to fire against the remaining ones.

Meanwhile he did, he made sure he didn't hit Cardamone, for she was right there too.

[ Sera vers Aldnoah | Upper Shuttle Bay | Deck 11 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Vox @Fife @Stegro88 @Firefox013 @patches
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In Vector 01's shuttle bay, Sera had stopped firing her disruptor when a large figure in a grey exosuit appeared out of nowhere, attacking the boarders that Sera held pinned down. Behind the visor of her helmet, she raised her eyebrows at the display, the Klingon tearing into the two officers in hiding. Soon enough, it was over, and she lowered her weapon, looking around at the aftermath.

The Sabine was in need of heavy repairs, a part of the dorsal side missing - the breach through which A'vura had vanished. All Valravn and Gryphon fighters were accounted for, more or less, but the landings were not exactly within the outlines on the deck. Boarders were strewn across the area, and the Reman - Lorad? - was still there. Sera turned her helmet his way, not sure what to day beyond what lay closest to heart. "Burn you!" she snapped into the mouthpiece of her helmet, until she reached up and unsealed it with a sharp hiss. She tore the helmet off her, and her dark hair came loose in a dark waterfall down the back of her exosuit. "My head aches like it was scorched from inside!"

Then, movement caught her eye, and she turned her head to look out the open bay doors.

Out there, she saw... Oh, it had to be.

"The rest of the ship! Burn me, it's here!" she proclaimed, the disruptor at her side as she stepped up to the opening. "Come on, it's time to leave! What are they all waiting for?"

That was when the doors further back in the bay opened, and a Theurgy security detail arrived, shouting and doing the regular noises when they 'secured' and area. The newly arrived fighter pilots were eyes warily, and one of them walked up to Sera. "Miss Aldnoah, where did you acquire that weapon? Civilians are not allowed to be armed."

"Oh, blast you," said Sera, realising that she had been caught, and reluctantly handed the disruptor to the man. He nodded towards the present Valravn fighters in the bay. "Not only did I give you Starfleeters time to hide, I even brought reinforcements. Is this the flaming thanks I get?"

[ CPO Liam Herrold | Fighter Assault Bay | The Ranger | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @BZ @Nolan @Doc M. @Triton @Multificionado @Havenborn
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In the Fighter Bay of the Theurgy, Liam Herrold was shouting to the last deck hands still out there on the deck.

"Come on! Get back behind the blast wall! They may get the order to launch any second!" he called, standing next to Ji and Covington. The last remaining Lone Wolves were prepped and ready for combat, and Liam's teams had geared the fighters for another battle, should it be required. There were only a few fighters left, yet they were all geared up. The canopies were open and the Tactical CONN officers that weren't already in the cockpit were climbing into their seats. The only one missing was Meony, who was still in surgery from the last engagement. The Red Alert klaxon made the fighter bay shimmer in crimson, and Liam couldn't help but wonder how many fighters would be left... if they had to launch once more.

"Does anyone know what's out there?" he asked, not having had the time to check any of the control panels that may reveal the scenario in which the Ranger had arrived to. All he knew was that they had dropped out of warp.

As he stood there, Liam favoured one leg to take the load off the knee that had been hurt. He glanced towards Ji, wondering if she was all right, and as it were... perhaps this was a good time to tell Covington, since they had him alone, and he might make less of a scene if they told him in public?

Then again, Liam didn't know Sten well enough, and perhaps that wouldn't matter in the slightest.