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EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

[ PO2 Eliska Bremmer | Deck 27 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Stegro88 @FollowTomorrow

Starfleet's Security Exosuit was a fine piece of equipment.  It was probably the finest hostile environment piece of protective equipment ever designed, capable of handling extreme cold and extreme heat, heavily armoured, with strength-enhancing technologies and the kind of communications and sensor capabilities ground-pounders have spent centuries dreaming of.  And that also made them eminently well-suited for damage control and search and rescue efforts, especially in parts of the ship where fires still burned uncontrolled, or one might wind up wandering out into vacuum because forcefields were down, or clearing debris, or functioning there there were no light or gravity.  And given the disruptions to the ship's systems, some areas were cut off from communications, others were throwing errors on the internal sensors and would need someone to physically check them out to make sure no one was trapped down there and needed to be beamed out of trouble.

Which meant the Security team formerly known as Delta-Three during the battle against the Borg had surrendered its rifles and instead started carrying cutting torches, prybars, emergency life support shelters and bulkhead sealant, and isolinear tags to identify personnel in need of extraction, and all other manner of tools as they were redesignated Damage Control Team 17. 

Which also meant that Petty Officer Second Class Eliska Bremmer was bloody well exhausted.  Breakfast felt like it was a lifetime ago, but she was certainly glad she'd ingested about a day and a half's worth of calories at that point.  But between battle and damage control efforts, that energy was nearly all gone, and some members of her detail were starting to flag.  And she was starting to feel it herself.  Hopefully, some time soon there would be a relief team coming up to them to take over and she'd be able to get out of her exosuit which was now stained with Borg bodily fluids, blood, soot and smoke, scarred from heat and  shouldering past debris and malfunctioning doors.  A real shower would be nice, followed by food, and drinks.  And sleep.  She felt like she could sleep for a week...

Deck 27 was her current assignment.  According to the Damage Control grand poobahs, there were some temperature alarms going off, and possibly a hull breach, but the internal sensors were good and screwed across the deck, which meant DC-17, with their exosuits, expertise in operating in hostile environments and the wealth of experience they'd amassed in damage control in the last few hours, would go out to survey the area, deal with any critical issues, and report on what would need actual engineers to fix if anything needed setting to rights.

At least, the turbolifts were working.  Well, they had been working as far as Deck 24, at the opposite end of the ship from where they needed to be.  A three-deck climb down Jefferies tubes, especially with strength-enhancing armour, should be no cause for hardship... unless one had been going non-stop all bloody day so far.  Or had to worry about not snagging their equipment.  Deck 27 itself wasn't too much of a mess, and eventually they reached a set of pressure doors.  Those were the second-last set that was considered reliable, and a little further down the hall were the ones that led into the compromised sections, with a stretch of corridor acting as a de-facto airlock.    And past the inner doors, things were worse for wear.  Lights were flickering, and the air was thick with vented coolant.  But at least, there was no sign of fire, but something was probably on the verge of overheating, and that would mean they would need to find it and pull the plug before it would melt, combust, or explode, as the case may be.  "All right, let's get this moving, slow and methodical people.  I know we're getting tired here, so let's do this deck, and see if the powers that be will let us get some downtime before we drop or do a stupid." 

And so, they started to move down the corridor, seeking out what would be getting dangerously hot at this point in time, when a vacuum alarm sounded... just as lifesign readings came up.  The suits' sensor suites were meant for battlefield conditions, and as a rule the displays were set to friend, foe, or unknown; and it was one of those that had popped up.  Not Borg, because that would have registered as hostile, but something else.  And it was headed towards the area just inside the hull breach... that could be bad, especially if the structural integrity of the deck was getting iffy.  "All right, Li, you back me up.  Rest of you, keep looking for the heat spike.  Let's go see what we've got, before it opens up this part of the ship to space."

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #1 –
[ Samala | Corridor | Deck 27 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn:  @FollowTomorrow @CanadianVet
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Samala didn’t know what time it was. Shortly after her brother had departed the ship had started to shake and twist violently. That was the last thing she remembered until she had awoken on the floor of the Deflector Control Room. The lights had been flickering and Samala, despite her unfamiliarity with Federation systems, assumed that was a bad thing. She had found Suq unconscious nearby, and after waking him and exchanging some choice words about the situation, had set about trying to ascertain what was happening. And that is where they had hit a wall.

Power in their area was unstable. Suq’s combadge had been damaged and wasn’t functional and none of the other methods they had tried to communicate beyond their section were working either. Samala’s arm prevented her from climbing and Suq had refused to leave her behind to possibly get help. Eventually Suq had been able to find out the time, 1400, or just after. It had been more than two hours since she had seen her brother. And he had said he only had 12 hours. Was he even still alive?

After disconnecting the cloak from the ship’s EPS grid to prevent damage to it, Samala and Suq had agreed to split up. Suq would keep trying to communicate while Samala would search the surrounding area for anyone or anything of use. And so far, she had not found anything.

“This is pointless,” Samala thought to herself. The air stank but at least it was breathable. But that was the only good thing so far. Her arm hurt, and despite her attempts to ignore the pain and focus, it hurt just that little bit too much for her to be able to use her telepathy properly. She could sense minds what she assumed was several decks above her but nothing more. And it hurt enough to do that that she wasn’t game to try and contact them. She could hurt them rather than help herself and Suq. And so, she continued to search, not really holding out much hope.

The sound of shifting debris brought her up short and she pressed herself instinctively against the wall. Was it more Borg? Survivors? Adrenaline filling her veins, Samala cradled her arm against her side while drawing one of her disruptors with the other. She could feel two minds approaching, but couldn’t read if they were friendly or not. The only other way to find out would be to confront them. But if they were Borg, could she get away? Her head was swimming, trying to remember from earlier if she had even been able to feel the Borg drones with her ability. Too late now, the minds were near the corner up ahead. Steadying herself against the way, trying to make herself a smaller target, she waited until she saw two armoured forms came around the corner. They didn’t look like Borg but they also didn’t look like anything Samala had seen before.

“Stay there or I’ll shoot!”


OOC: If you want me to edit anything, please let me know.

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #2 –
[ Lt. Jg. Suq | corridors | Deck 27 | USS Theurgy ]

It hurt to breathe. Every inhale burnt. Moving hurt. Sharp, incredible pains across his chest made it hard to do anything other than cry. He didn’t cry though, he must’ve gotten all that done while he was unconscious.

A quick reality check; He was currently alive. He was wearing a shirt, but there was a huge cut in the fabric that bared his hairy chest. His chest was cut open and bleeding, but not very deeply. More concerning was the overwhelming, all-consuming pain in his chest. The deflector control room was...not a giant hole in the ship, thankfully, but was effectively ruined. A bulkhead gave in somewhere and the room collapsed for the most part. He figures something landed on his chest, smashing his combadge and breaking at least one rib, causing the pain.

He had survived the battle. So had Samala. Samala had a broken arm and a burning desire to find her brother. They spent the last spirits-know-how-long unhooking the cloaking device from the deflector system. She had split up--likely because he couldn’t keep up with her. He wandered the halls, looking for a console that wasn’t blown to bits to initiate any sort of communication, while she searched for people and things that could help.

Structural integrity around here wasn’t looking too good. He’d seen worse, but he’d seen better too, and hanging around here was a great way to get themselves trapped behind the wrong side of an emergency force field. He ought to hurry; take too long and he and Samala could be dead at worst or separated at best, and he had a duty.

He didn’t know where the next console would be, but he could guess. He’d never measured it, but most Federation ships these days had a console at regular intervals specifically for reasons like this. If he followed this corridor and listened close, he could find a hallway with significantly less damage. A console that wasn’t sparking and making sounds like it was threatening to explode. Of course, not all functions were available to him, but he was at least able to shoot a text-only message to sickbay. Two injured, Samala and Suq, no comm link, send help.

There. Something useful had been done this day. As he hears himself rasp, he wonders if he should try the inhaler--but there’s no way it’d fix his rib. It would just hurt to use it. He stood where he was, body aching, hoping he wouldn’t have to move much more than he did, but he needed to find Samala. He was there to guard her. Likely, sickbay wouldn’t be able to transport a team into such a heavily damaged area, so they’d have to mobilize from a safe point. Until then, they would have to look out for each other. Suq turned himself around, and hobbled back towards where he last saw Samala...

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #3 –
[ PO2 Eliska Bremmer | Deck 27 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Stegro88 @FollowTomorrow

Going towards the set of lifesigns that had registered on the suit sensors had a difficult process.  The damage to the area had been extensive, and there were times when trying to blast through the debris had been tempting.  However, i was the sort of thing that tended to be frowned upon in damage control conditions; oh, certainly the debris would be eventually cut to manageable size one way or another to bed to the recyclers for later use, but that usually came after the area had been stabilized and there were no risks of collapse, critical components that were supported by debris falling down, or any such unpleasantness.  So it meant shifting it all by hand to make a wide enough space to go through, and that had been done several times. 

But as they neared the set of lifesigns, the sensors started becoming unreliable, throwing shadows and errors.  That wasn't usual in damaged section; some equipment could generate some pretty severe interference when it wasn't working right, but they were nearing it.  Getting through one more blockage debris, Bremmer and Li approached a corner and just rounded it when a voice exploded, calling for them to stay back or be fired upon.  Instantly, pistols that were still holstered were drawn and raised, and eyes were moving to find the source of the threat, and there, they saw it.  A young woman, trying to make herself as small as possible against the bulkhead.  Armed with decidedly non-Starfleet weapons.  And out of uniform, no less.  "Back, back!" 

At Bremmer's command, both she and her backup went back around the corner, using it for cover, and while she maintained her aim down the corridor to cover that woman, Li knew his role: he had to cover the back, because as the truism that was hammered into their heads in training went, where there's one shithead, there's more.

But for now, he had to deal with that one woman, and do it quickly.  Because their sensors flickered and no longer would give out anything resembling a coherent reading anymore.  And while in such a case stun-first-apologize-later approach would be a valid policy, Bremmer instead chose to do things in a slightly less-easy way.  "Security!  Put your weapons down!"  Her voice was only lightly amplified by her suit's speakers, and her clipped and quite pronounced accent would come through clearly enough. 

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #4 –
[ Samala | Corridor | Deck 27 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @CanadianVet @FollowTomorrow
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“Always the way,” Samala thought to herself watching the result of her declaration. The two figures’ reaction was predictable, thankfully, in that upon her demand for them to stop, they in fact retreated around the corner. “It’s not like I was going to ask them a question or three. No, not at all.”

They hadn’t gone far though. She could sense that the two of them were just out of sight, a fact confirmed moments later as one of the helmeted figures peeked around the corner back at her. But that was all she knew. Had they called for reinforcements? Were they debating storming her position? She knew nothing about the capabilities of the suits they were wearing. Were they capable of stopping fire from her disruptors?

“They are still curious at least,” Samala considered since they hadn’t run away or charged at her. “I can work with that.”

"Security!  Put your weapons down!" 

“Starfleet Security?” Samala wondered, hearing the female’s words. “Or just someone pretending to be Starfleet and raiding the bodies after a battle. Wouldn’t be the first time,” she noted, remembering the Romulans at Bacury III and how they had swarmed over the planet like ants charging from a nest.

“How do I know that?” Samala called back in Standard, her aim not dropping. “How do I know you’re not some pirate after a payday?”

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #5 –
[ Lt. Jg. Suq | corridors | Deck 27 | USS Theurgy ]

As always, Suq heard it before he saw it. He heard voices shouting, one of which was clearly identifiable as Samala’s. He could hear her tone before her words, and it did not sound like she was shouting out of simple zest for life. There were other voices too. He couldn't hear those words, the sound of the ship groaning under it’s own damage was drowning them out, but they didn’t sound borg. Not to him, at least. A conflict, but why? And who was hurt?

He had to run towards her. He had a job to do. Lorad’s sister needed to be protected and he wasn’t there to do it. As soon as he gained speed, his chest reminded him he could not sustain it. He stopped, leaning against the wall, breathing hurting so bad he wondered how easy it would be to just curl up and die right up against the wall. Maybe then he wouldn’t have to breathe. At the very least, he felt his mind starting to slip. Autopilot, and the oblivion that came when he didn’t have to think, it called him. How blessedly easy would it be to just...stop.

No. He grunted as he pushed himself off the wall, the pain of his chest shattering the white nothingness his mind was trying to fall into. Not here, not right now. If he did that, there was no guarantee he’d actually save Samala, or indeed do anything useful at all. So he stumbled onwards, trying to suck in air slowly through gritted teeth.

Precious seconds went by. He moved as fast as he could without hurting himself more than he already was, pushing the boundaries of his body the best he could. He heard the voices better now. Words came to him. Security was calling out, get back, put your weapons down. Samala called back, could they be pirates? No, Suq thought, couldn’t be. Pirates, on the Theurgy? They’d have to have some pretty massive balls to pick on a ship of this size and power. Or they could be stupid. Or...very opportunistic.

“Hold up!” He called out, with the entirety of his breath, and immediately regretted the decision. It felt like someone was stabbing him. It hurt so bad, he whimpered in the pain. He could now see Samala’s back, and thank the spirits, she was alive. Didn’t even seem greatly hurt, either. He couldn’t see who was beyond her, why she was pressed against a wall? He couldn’t see beyond her corner. He kept stumbling, shambling really, using the wall as support, coming up behind her…

“Don’t. Shoot.” He pushed out the words, aimed at everyone who could hear, and as he walked by Samala, laid a hand on her shoulder. He offered her a smile, let her go, and continued on. He was putting himself in the line of fire of whatever Samala was ahead of. Stupid decision, really.

But he was visible to the opponents now. Small man, his uniform shirt tore open, leaning against the wall...not a threat to most people. He had his collector charged once more, and he could think of six ways to collapse the hallway in front of him with a single movement, if he wasn’t shot at right away, but only he knew that.

“Don’t. Shoot. Star. Fleet.” He wheezed, the pain growing every time he spoke. He raised his arm, his hand in a sign of peace, and found he could not do so very high.

And he waited, for he was now at their mercy.

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #6 –
[ PO2 Eliska Bremmer | Deck 27 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Stegro88 @FollowTomorrow

Bremmer's aim never wavered.  She was a crack shot to begin with, and it took more than a slip of a girl to make her aim waiver.  Her cover was good, and her aim even better.  Of course, a rifle was always a better choice when getting into a firefight, but one would go into battle with the weapons they have, not necessarily the ones they want. 

But when she called out, demanding to know how Bremmer and Li were no pirates storming the ship, the Human nearly burst out laughing.  What kind of a maniac would try to forcibly board a starship, let alone something Theurgy's size, while she was underway?  Even in her battered state, the crew would put up a hell of a fight.  Hell, when so much had been damaged, most of the crew would be alert and working, hardly the best time to try and storm a prize without obscenely high levels of force. 

But, better question, what would pirates be after on Deck 27?  Nothing particularly valuable was there, after all.  Not like the hangar deck, weapons magazines, stores of spare parts or weapons control spaces. 

But, before Bremmer could fire a quip back a familiar voice sounded, albeit haltingly and a short being walked up behind the woman, and then around her.  Suq?  What in the world was he doing?  And he looked in rough shape.  "Li, cover me." As she called out her order, her backup moved up behind Bremmer and crossed the corridor, widening the angle, even as she made her way down, her weapon lowered but not holstered, ready to snap up at a moment's notice.  "Mister Suq," she called as she made her way towards him, "you look like hell." 

But even as Bremmer spoke to the Engineer, her eye had remained on the woman.  If need be, she could fire over Suq's head, or around him.  But there were entirely too many weapons out in play right then to make her feel comfortable, so she would try, once more, to remove the threat of the ones she was really worried about.  "I'm Petty Officer Eliska Bremmer, Security.  Put the weapons down please."

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #7 –
[ Samala | Corridor | Deck 27 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @CanadianVet @FollowTomorrow
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She’d felt his approach too late and he was past her before she had had a chance to stop him. Now, he was standing between herself and whoever was ordering her to put her weapons down.

“Like that’s going to happen,” Samala thought to herself as she listened to Suq stammering out that he was Starfleet and asking them not to shoot. “Suq doesn’t look good. He needs help. But can I trust them?”

Movement at the passageway junction drew her attention and Samala saw one of the armoured figures step out from cover, her weapon held at her side; not holstered but also not pointed at either of them. And then she addressed Suq by name before introducing herself and requesting Samala to lower her weapon.

“Like hell,” was Samala’s first reaction to the Petty Officer’s request. But then she heard Suq wheeze and realised that further aggravating the situation was not going to help either of them. And then there were her own injuries to consider.

“I’m coming out,” Samala called out in Standard, not wanting to get shot for standing up. Taking a step forward, she made a clear show of slowly holstering her disruptor as she moved into the centre of the passageway. “I am Samala. Where is my brother?”

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #8 –
[ Lt. Jg. Suq | corridors | Deck 27 | USS Theurgy ]

Eliska! It was Eliska. He could hardly believe the good fortune he had. He wasn’t willing to deal with pirates or overzealous security types. He wheezed and smiled up at her. He tasted something weird in the back of his throat. Not sure what that was, but he hoped it was just happiness. Samala came out too. He smiled at her and gestured her to come over. Time for a polite introduction.

“Eliska. Samala.” He pointed at each in turn. He turned to Eliska. The taste in his mouth was a little stronger. Bitter, maybe? Metallic? He couldn’t pay it much mind. The situation was tense, and he had to defuse it.
“Eliska, my friend. Security." He pointed to Eliska, while looking at Samala. "She's good. Samala." He pointed at Samala, looking at Eliska. "She’s good. Worked with me. With cloak. She’s with me. Provisional, engineer." He panted. Provisional engineer--like F’rell was. Where was she, anyway? He hoped he survived. He didn’t know what he’d do…

No no, back on task. He had to finish this. He’d gone a little distant-looking as he thought about her. He focused back on Eliska.
“Guns away. I need. Sickbay. She needs. Lorad. Her brother. Should be, in sickbay.” He nodded. He was using his authoritative voice. Taking control of the situation, despite looking like...well, hell, just as she said.

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #9 –
[ PO2 Eliska Bremmer | Deck 27 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Stegro88 @FollowTomorrow

Bremmer kept her eye on the source of the voice; it wasn't because one of her old shipmates was present she was going to drop her guard; that was a very good way to end up dead if one took a single friendly presence as a proof of safety.  And given just how chaotic the day had been, she wasn't about to take any chances, Suq or no Suq. 

When the young woman stepped out of cover, her weapon holstered, Crewman Li did maintain his aim; his job was, after all, to cover Bremmer at this point in time, and he himself was just too damn tired to do anything that even looked like he was taking any chances.  Hell, everyone was exhausted, and the Security teams that had been in exosuits, those who hadn't been injured in the action against the Borg, were being run ragged with search and rescue and damage control efforts. 

When the woman introduced herself, Bremmer offered her a simple nod, somewhat exaggerated in her armour to be sure the movement would not be confused with a mere movement-induced bob of her head, and after Suq had made the introductions, again, the Human holstered her weapons and one gestured from her off-hand was enough for Li to stand down himself; perhaps Suq was the senior hand in the room, but in unknown security environments, it usually paid to have the pros make those determinations themselves.  And right now, that woman who had one arm hanging at her side in a way that screamed 'serious injury' was not a threat, even though she was an unknown quantity, and armed. 

"I don't know who your brother is, or where he could be," Bremmer answered truthfully.  There had been much going on, and little time to brief mere Petty Officers in the short time that had been made available. "But looks like Sickbay would be a good stop for the two of you right now." 

For, one did not need fully functional suit sensors, or to be fully conversant with Efrosian biology, to know the diminutive engineer was in a bad way; his breathing and way of speaking were indicative of internal injuries in his respiratory tract; and being in this corridor with its atmosphere polluted with the smoke of lord-knew-what burning or overheating couldn't be good for him.  Hell, couldn't be particularly for anyone not wearing some kind of environment suit at all.  "All right, Mister Suq, we'll evacuate you in a hurry.  Communications are bit spotty around here right now, and my sensors are throwing weird errors; but we've got indications of something burning or overheating that needs its plug pulled, would you be able to point us in the right direction before we get you out to safety?"

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #10 –
[ Lt. Jg. Suq | corridors | Deck 27 | USS Theurgy ]

Eliska did not trust him to have the situation under control. He saw her, he saw the team behind her. That was fine. Some distrust among peers ensured the whole did not fall. He took no offense. But he needed to make this interaction go faster, because he felt the taste in his mouth grow stronger, he felt hot liquid in his mouth. It was blood. He swallowed it back down, the movement made him cringe.

“Her brother. In sickbay. Samala. Main sickbay.” He gestures again to Samala, her broken arm, then to Eliska, he offers a firm face. A firm voice.
“Get Samala. To sickbay. First. An order. Conduits--” He started again, looking for his work gloves on his belt and not finding them, on account of his belt having been tore the hell up and fallen someplace. Damn. He could fix that so easily. He could hear it, the relay being just nearby and the awful hiss of two chemicals mixing that should not mix. He finds more blood in his mouth and opts to spit it out. “EPS. I hear it. Power relay. Coolant. Mixed with plasma. Shut off valve. Mait closet.” He finds his feet moving that way, and he stops. No. Not this time.

“Door 27-E1.” He pointed down the hall they were in, where he came from. Where the security team was headed. “Left. Left. On your right. Use. Security. Code. Samala. Coming with me.” He waved her over, unwilling to let her leave his sight until someone has vouched for her integrity, and that couldn’t happen until this was over. When he turned to the woman, he had a concerned face. He hoped she’d understand this was not just a matter of politeness. This was safety. Once more though, he turned around to spit more blood on the ground.

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #11 –
[ Samala | Corridor | Deck 27 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @CanadianVet @FollowTomorrow
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Samala has stood back as Suq did his best to diffuse what was inching towards a tense situation. For her own part, Samala had no desire to engage in a fight unless she had to but neither was she going to just roll over for the first person that came along either.

But Suq wasn’t doing well. She’d known he broken at least one rib from the way he had been moving and speaking when they had first woken up but now she was thinking that it might actually be multiple ribs. The Efrosian was having trouble speaking and breathing.

“Doesn’t know who my brother is?” Samala scoffed under her breath. “They have more than one pureblood Reman running around do they?”

But something else was happening. This Petty Officer Bremmer was down here for a reason and it sounded like it had something to do with the weird sounds she was hearing. She was no expert on what a ship like the one she was on should sound like but most people with an aptitude for engineering tended to know when things probably shouldn’t sound the way they do. And from listening to what Suq was describing, she had gone past the problem.

“I can hear what he is talking about. Back that way,” Samala pointed with her good arm. “It’s not far. But Suq needs a medic quickly. He has at least one broken rib. Probably more by the way he sounds.”

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #12 –
[ PO2 Eliska Bremmer | Deck 27 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Stegro88 @FollowTomorrow

Eliska already suspected Suq's respiratory system was compromised, but when he brought up blood, that was all the confirmation she needed, and a better idea of his condition; it was bad.  Like the other woman, Samala her name was, had said, broken ribs were definitely part of what she could pick out by Mark One Eyeball.  One hardly needed advanced medical training to know that.  At first, she'd written off his laboured breathing as just an effect of the pain and the polluted atmosphere in the area, but it was becoming clear he was drowning on his own lungs. 

"Got it, let's get you out of here.  But first..."  The formality dropped from the Human's voice as she reached for her emergency first aid kit.  It was a standard for use in combat operations, containing a few emergency tools, a few doses of some basic medications in pre-loaded single-use ampules, and the most Spartan hypospray one could ever devise.  "Let's at least make sure you'll make it out of here.  This is going to suck, so brace yourself."

Without further preamble, she loaded the hypospray with a Triox compound to ease his breathing; but given his state, she did not do the usual arm injection.  Instead, she jammed him directly into his compromised lung.  Next, she extracted from the pouch an emergency drain, and with even less ceremony, she pressed it to his side and it deployed from its internal mechanisms, perforating his chest wall as to start draining the blood that was pooling in the chest cavity.  And then, practically as a second or even third thought, she extracted a second ampule from the pouch and prepped the hypo, and she smiled. "The dosages are meant for someone bigger than you, so you're about to become really happy, little buddy." 

And she injected him with a potent painkiller, directly into his carotid artery. 

"Li, pick up Mister Suq and carry him; lead her to where you can get them beamed to Sickbay, then find the others.  I'll go and track down that damage."

And, for the first time, Eliska's partner spoke up as he moved to pick up the diminutive enngineer. "Got it.  Come on, Sir, let's get you out of here."

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #13 –
[ Lt. Jg. Suq | corridors | Deck 27 | USS Theurgy ]

He could rely on Eliska to not make the situation worse, he thought. He had done what he could to get Samala what she needed, and now, as far as Suq knew, he’d be headed to main sickbay with Samala. From there, they’d get treated and she could find her brother. That’s what he thought would happen.

As he was thinking though, Eliska had gotten out her medical kit, and dread filled Suq’s feature. He knew what was coming. He knew it would hurt. Sure enough, as the hypo went into his lung, he...made a noise. It was wet, not really screaming, but a strangled sound that indicated the sheer pain of having that particular lung messed with. He held onto her arm in pain, but he didn’t hold on quickly enough. She withdrew it, and he was left doubled over, shaking with the pain. The draining hurt too--his voice went up so high it left the spectrum of human hearing. It hurt it hurt it hurt---

And then it didn’t.

Hol-ee shit.

He stumbled a little as he tried to stand back up, but he was being scooped up. By who? He doesn’t know. He laid his head on their chest and wrapped his arms around them, whoever they were. He just wanted to be held and cared for. He was sleepy. He grunted something, some sort of word, it sounded like he was speaking underwater and hearing himself above water somehow. And there he stayed, in someone else’s arms, snuggled up like he was about to get cozy in bed rather than in a sickbay.

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #14 –
[ Samala | Corridor | Deck 27 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @FollowTomorrow @CanadianVet
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Samala has stayed still as Bremmer had treated Suq with equipment from what appeared to be some sort of personal aid kit. Probably similar to the ones used by Remans as part of their standard combat kit. She knew that there were several stored aboard the Apache, wherever it was.

Suq had stumbled at first after receiving the injection to his neck but had been picked up by the second person, Li, before he could fall. It was actually rather comical, seeing Suq held like a little child snuggled in their parent’s arms. At any rate, he was going to be treated now. But what of Bremmer?

“Petty Officer,” Samala said, addressing the woman who had treated the Efrosian engineer. “You should not go looking for this damage on your own. And I know where it is so I think I should come with you.”

“Why did I just offer to do that?” Samala wondered to herself, not knowing why she had said those words. “I need to find my brother. That should be my priority, not trying to help these Humans fix their little warship. Haven’t my brother and I done enough for these traitors already? Have we not given enough?”

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #15 –
[ PO2 Eliska Bremmer | Deck 27 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Stegro88 @FollowTomorrow

Even as the little Efrosian was being carried away by Li's armoured bulk, Bremmer turned towards where he had been pointed.  Her suit's sensors were still throwing some errors, but she could tell that whatever was generating the toxic contents of the atmosphere in this section was getting worse.  Good thing she was in an exosuit, for by now she was certain she'd have coughed up a substantial portion of her lungs by now if she'd been in nothing but her duty uniform.

Not that she wasn't damn tired of wearing the thing.

As she was about to go, she heard the woman, Samala, call at her, telling he she shouldn't go on her own.  And, technically speaking, she was right.  Damage control surveys were one of those tasks that were almost always undertaken in pairs, lest someone get trapped.  But given how communications were spotty in the area, she couldn't very well call for help either, and it would take time to find the rest of her team. "Sakra1", she softly swore under her breath.  She hadn't left with Li, and she could hardly leave her on her own either. 

"All right." Without another word, Eliska's eyes scanned the bulkheads and she walked towards one of the panels and she unceremoniously opened it.  Damage control stores were spread across the ship for obvious reasons, and not being Starfleet-trained, Samala would not have known what to look for, or where to look for the breath mask she was currently being handed. 

"Put this on.  It'll filter out that mess, or supply you with a half-hour of air or so if it can't.  Now I don't know how long you've been sucking in those fumes, so I can hit you up with a shot of Triox, and something for the pain for your arm.  Shouldn't send you loopy like it did Suq, mind you."

1- Sakra: Damn it, in Czech.

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #16 –
[ Samala | Corridor | Deck 27 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @FollowTomorrow @CanadianVet
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Samala had felt that breathing was getting a littler difficult but hadn’t known exactly why. Being a hybrid, she had her parents’ resilience when it came to respiration. Between her Romulan and Reman DNA, Samala’s lungs were highly efficient at extracting all the oxygen she needed from the atmosphere around her. So, if it was getting harder to breathe, then either there was less air to breathe of there was something in it to make it toxic. Given this Bremmer’s words and offer of a breathing mask, it was toxic.

“Thank you,” Samala acknowledged, accepting the mask and putting it on. As the mask worked, Samala could already tell that the air she was inhaling was different. “That’s better,” Samala confirmed after a few breaths as she considered the other offering from the Starfleeter. “A shot of Triox should help clear any of the residual toxin from my blood, so yes, I will take a shot. But nothing for the pain. I need to be aware and my brother is always telling me that pain only hurts if I let it,” Samala recited as she adjusted her arm to make it more comfortable. “So, I am going to try and not let it. Lead on.”

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #17 –
[[ PO2 Eliska Bremmer | Deck 27 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Stegro88 @FollowTomorrow

Part of Bremmer expected Samala to refuse the mask, and the medication.  That woman refused to drop her weapons when instructed to, and it had been Suq stepping in way that got her to stand down.  But in the end, she did accept the mask, and the Triox, even if she refused the painkillers on grounds it could make her foggy.  Well, if she was basing what would happen to her based on Suq's reaction to being shot with a dose of painkillers meant for someone twice his size, she had reasons to be worried... even if there really was no such basis.  But if she didn't want the painkillers, so be it.

Bremmer's hands moved fast, preparing the emergency hypo and pressing it into Samala's arm to inject the Triox.  "Well, doesn't work quite that way.  Not so sure what it does or how, but it'll help make sure you get enough O2 through your bloodstream if something's been bonding with whatever you use for hemoglobin or if your lungs are getting dry-cleaned by that smoke.  You'll still need a doc to look you over when all's said and done." 

Well, that woman might know what she was doing with those pistols at her waist, but that didn't  guarantee she was fully conversant with emergency medical care.  But so long as she was going to let herself get the essentials, that was good enough.  "Now, you know where we're going.  I'm going to ask you to lead the way, and keep your hands away from your guns for me,, all right?"

Somehow, Bremmer didn't expect her to surrender her weapons just yet; and once they'd be out of that mess, she'd at least have some backup to enforce Theurgy's weapons policies.

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #18 –
[ Samala | Corridor | Deck 27 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @CanadianVet
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“Petty Officer Bremmer, I’m going to need a doctor either way since my arm is broken,” Samala pointed out curtly as she adjusted her left arm with her right. “This way,” Samala directed before leading off. The Triox was already helping her to feel better and she found that she was able to focus more on ignoring the pain; which had the side benefit of freeing her mind to use her telepathic abilities. Not that she needed them to know that Bremmer did not trust her and that just as soon as she had some backup, that she would be disarming Samala of her weapons.

“Fat chance of that,” was Samala’s first thought as she moved back along the path she had followed earlier. But her rational mind, the part that bother her father, mother and brother pushed for her to use more often, argued that it was unlikely she would succeed in keeping them. “She’s alone now but that could quickly change, and I cannot take on the whole ship. Or however many are left after that battle,” Samala considered as she turned a corner, listening for the sound she had heard earlier. “No, better to play it safe for now. As much as I don’t like it. But she will respect the weapons.”

“Here it is,” Samala announced a few steps later as she stopped in front of a panel. “The sounds I heard were behind there.”

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #19 –
[[ PO2 Eliska Bremmer | Deck 27 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Stegro88 @FollowTomorrow

"Dobra, wystarczy1", replied Bremmer as Samala pointed out she would receive medical attention one way or another.  That woman was mistrustful, and just moments prior she'd been ready to open fire on Li and Bremmer as they were performing the damage control survey, and she'd been damn slow to lower her weapon, slow enough that getting stunned was liable to be be part of her immediate future, for that matter.  She was stubborn all right.  And, truth be told, Eliska could admire that determination.  And if she hadn't been worn to the bone with exhaustion, she might even take the time to admire her a little bit more closely.  "Lead the way," was all she added. 

They hadn't needed to go very far before they came to a panel.  Bremmer's sensors were completely on the fritz at that point, and it had gotten worse as they'd gotten closer.  Whatever was going on behind that door was the cause of the malfunctions, apparently, and judging by the smoke coming out, it was also where the fire that was filling the area with toxic smoke was located, or at least it was connected to it. 

As Suq had said, she tried the security codes, but the panel refused to acknowledge them.  And when she went for another override, it shorted out, the arcing further blackening the tips of her already soot-, blood- and smoke-stained armoured fingers.  "Well that's rich," she muttered as she opened up the panel on the side to reveal the manual override.  With a jerk, she pulled back an the door cracked open to release a savage blast of heat.  Well, looks like she'd found their fire.  "Well, this is going to suck," she added.  She was simply too damn tired to care if someone thought her unprofessional for vocalizing her frustration.  Served her right, though, having been snarled up in DC efforts during the battle... 

And without another word, she levered the door open a little more, just enough so her armoured bulk could slip in and she gave the room a quick look.  The ruptured plasma and coolant conduits were obvious enough, and she could see where the valves to shut both off would be located. And, thankfully, not through the flames. 

As she made her way towards the panel, her suit's internal alarms were starting to blare.  Temperature regulation failure was imminent, and there was a warning the outside of her exosuit was starting to ablate entirely too fast.  Well, that wasn't good.  So, she wasted little time getting there, and with a heave and her suit's artificial strength, she fairly ripped the panel from the bulkhead and made for the cutoffs.  Manual overrides on starships were rarely enough used, what with the extensive computer systems, but there were times they were necessary, and she made silent thanks to the officers who drove the maintenance efforts, for both functioned flawlessly, and once the very simple sensors detected there no longer was a ruptured conduit, nor a coolant leak, nor a fire, nor more smoke being generated, the ventilation system reopened and started flushing the noxious fumes out with a vengeance, replacing the polluted atmosphere with crisp, fresh air. 

In fact, it had been quick enough that by the time Bremmer left the room, her suit smoking from the intense heat and somewhat ablated from that same heat and the corrosive smoke, her remaining sensors read an atmosphere that, if a little warm, was safe to breathe.  "Bremmer to Engineering.  DC-One-Seven complete on Deck 27.  Plasma fire and coolant leak, both plugged.  Fire's out, atmo's cleaned up.  I'd say we'll hold vacuum down here.  Two casualties, one should be in Sickbay soon, other is ambulatory and I'll take her there myself." Her exhaustion was catching up to her, and she was hoping against hope that... "This is Engineering," a voice she didn't know responded.  "Good job DC-One-Seven.  Let's see... looks like the worst of the surveys are done.  Stand down from damage control duties, and get a beer.  You guys deserve one.  Engineering out."

Stand down.  Federation Standard was Bremmer's second language, and she knew those words were some of the loveliest she'd ever heard.  With a few touches to her arm PADD, she forward the same note to her people, and her gauntleted hands made for her helmet's latches and she pulled it off before turning towards Samala even as her frazzled, sweat-dripping braid broke loose from her helmet, and she showed her her face for the first time, well-marked with tiredness and gleaming with the sweat of hard work.  "All right, let's get you out of here and to Sickbay, shall we?"

1Okay, fair enough, in Polish

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #20 –
[ Samala | Corridor | Deck 27 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @CanadianVet
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Samala had stayed back while the Petty Officer in the fancy armoured suit had plunged headlong into the furnace. And there was no emotion in that decision, just simple physics. She would not have been able to withstand the conditions and most likely would have died both quickly and painfully had she tried.

“Let the professionals handle it. I’m just an uninvited guest here,” Samala mused as she waited for the woman to resurface. “The only reason I was even treated was so that I could fix the cloak they stole from us. Otherwise I would still be in stasis.” She knew that she would have to talk to her brother about how they were going to get the cloak back to refit into the Apache and figure how someway to destroy the data that Starfleet had more than likely acquired while they had had the cloak. She would have liked to have done something about anyone who had dealt with the cloak but that was practically an insurmountable task unless she could figure out how to destroy the ship itself; with no survivors. “I’ll settle for the device’s return and the destruction of the data records. Hopefully these people have bad memories.”

The Petty Officer’s success was heralded by the sounds of the ventilation system restating and the rapidly clearing air that followed. Samala stood back as the still smoking Starfleeter emerged from the compartment and reported in. While she didn’t hear the response exactly, she could tell from the posture shift, along with a light surface thought gleaning, that she was being told to relax and take a break. This was punctuated by the fact that she felt comfortable enough to remove her helmet and reveal her human face.

"All right, let's get you out of here and to Sickbay, shall we?" Bremmer proposed.

“I’m going to guess that on the way there is where you try and convince me to hand over all my weapons without an argument?” Samala guessed, unmoving in her position but making sure that her hand was not reaching for any of her weapons; although not impeding her hand’s path either. “How about we make a deal. You can put my disruptors back where I got them from, but I keep the knife. It has strong sentimental value and I can do just as much damage to someone with an eating utensil I could get from any replicator. This way, no one has to get unpleasant. Sound fair?”

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #21 –
[ PO2 Eliska Bremmer | Deck 27 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Stegro88

Eliska wasn't ready to broach the topic of Samala's weapons.  The woman had been cooperative so far, but there was no telling just how vehement she would get when that time would come.  In fact, she'd hoped to deal with it when they'd reach Sickbay, where there would be backup readily available, rather than on her own in a section that was just about deserted, especially since she'd let her team know it was time to stand down.  And with that in mind, she saw no need to be anything less than fully honest.

Especially in the face of her statement about the knife, and how she should keep it only because she could use a steak knife to the same effect.  The ship's weapons policy was only hers to enforce, not to make exceptions to; hell, if she had to surrender her service weapon at the end of a duty period rather than be allowed to take it back to her quarters, or carry it off-duty, then she was hardly in a position to allow anyone to stash some pistols wherever they'd come from, or allow them to carry a fighting knife. 

"Well, I was hoping to have backup handy when I'd ask, but you moved things along a bit faster than I'd planned."  Bremmer kept her tone light, and her hand clear of her pistol.  There was still plenty of time to solve this in a peaceable way.  "Now I don't know where those weapons came from, and my standing orders are to stash any weapons found in the armoury until things are sorted out.   And frankly, the same with that knife."

"I'm really, really tired; I'm dying for a shower, some food and a drink.  And the last thing I need right now is to get chewed out because I let you keep that knife."  That was definitely not the sort of things she'd been trained to say when the time came to talk down someone armed.  But she was also trying to connect with this woman whom Suq had liked, and trusted.  Granted, the little Efrosian liked just about anyone, but he wasn't the kind to put himself between Security and their weapons and someone else on a whim.  That was bound to mean something.  "If you'll give me your weapons, including the knife, I'll  be sure they get locked up somewhere safe where no one will mess with them beyond documenting them and make sure they won't blow up in the armoury.  I'll even do it myself, if you'd like, and forward you a receipt, so when the time comes you can get them back."

Then, she understood something about the knife, something she could relate to. "My sidearm, it's been with me for years; ever since got it fresh from the crate from the manufacturer.  It's saved my life, and other people's lives, including Suq's more often than I really want to remember.  It's special to me.  And I'm not allowed to keep it off-duty, just got to settle with how it's tagged in the armoury as exclusive to my use. So I understand how you can feel about that knife."  She smiled, and raised both hands, empty.  Not that being unarmed meant she was helpless, not in that powered exosuit, and not this close. 

"So here's what I propose.  You give me your weapons, I personally look them over and lock them up in the armoury, and when I'll have had some sleep, we sit down together and we'll write up an exemption request for your knife and forward it to the officers.  I can't promise it'll go through, but I'll help push for it as best I can." 

"Please, that's the easy way to do things.  The real easy way, I call for backup and don't give you much of a choice, and that can turn into he hard way where we have to fight it out real quick.  I don't want that.  You don't want that.  Please, let's keep this the easy way, all right?"

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #22 –
[ Samala | Corridor | Deck 27 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @CanadianVet
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“Well, that is pretty much what I said,” Samala mused silently as she eyed the woman in front of her. “Although it is kind of funny that she thinks she could take me until her back up arrives. Pretty sure I could kill her where she stands before she knew she was dead. That suit might increase her strength but I doubt it would increase her overall reaction time. That’s biology, and her’s is Human.” Shifting her arm to better support it, Samala pushed down he twinge of pain that followed the movement. “But I still can’t fight a whole ship. If I want to see Lorad, I have to cooperate.”

“I got my weapons out of your armoury,” Samala declared, straightening up. “I am quite capable of putting them back into it before we get my arm looked out. Unless of course you’d object to me trying to cooperate. How would that work out for you?”

“I’m tired, my arm hurts and I’m hungry,” Samala thought as she stared at the Human Starfleeter. “How about you be just a little bit cooperative too. What do you say?”

“So, how do we get off this deck then?” Samala asked evenly. “I’m betting the turbolifts aren’t working. They are always the first thing to go when you are at the arse end of nowhere.”

OOC: Last Post from me CV. Unless something changes.

Re: EPIL: S [D06|1507] Search and Rescue

Reply #23 –
[ PO2 Eliska Bremmer | Deck 27 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @Stegro88

Long day. 

Bremmer was no stranger to those, just as she was used to the brutal tempo of combat operations.  Hell, if the Dominion War hadn't prepared her for it, then her little jaunt on Resolve would have made sure she was more than prepared.  But that didn't mean that after three days of what seemed like nonstop combat she wasn't going to be tired; and learning just now that those weapons had come out of her armoury, when they hadn't been on any log she'd seen?  She was done.  Let someone else deal with the paperwork; she wasn't even sure she'd shower before putting her first drink downrange; and just about now, a nice kolsch or pilsner sounded like the very definition of Heaven. 

But no, not just yet.  That woman, she was the sort who needed to have the last word. And Eliska knew she was being sized up as an opponent, and that she was used to.  She was fairly short, and while the armour did much to hide just how slender she was, without it she was routinely grossly underestimated; how did that guy put it when dealing with those survivors?  Insinuated she was someone's kid sister and had plans to rape her?  He was going to be in for  surprise all right... And if she was dangerous in her shirtsleeves, or even just her skin, that armour made her the next best thing to the superheros her father introduced her to in her youth. 

But she really didn't feel like doing that just now.  She'd had enough of it; big ugly monsters and Greys, Klingons, Federation survivors, and now cybernetic space zombies, before literally walking into a raging inferno?  Yeah, she had no time for this.  "Fair enough," she replied again. "But you're in luck, turbolifts are more or less back in service down here.  We'll have to take a couple since some of the shafts are pooched, but we shouldn't have to do much climbing the hard way.  Shall we?"

And with this, she swept her arm towards the nearest turbolift, and it's blessed ability to ascend decks.

~Fin
 
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