Commander Mei'konda - Auto-Destruct Enabled

[Mei'konda]

(( Bridge, Deck 4, USS Montreal ))

:: Seated at the communications station, Mei’konda kept his ears angled back toward his officers as they worked feverishly in the wrecked Bridge, clearing off their stations as best they could and doing their work as best they could.  They all knew what was at stake here, and he was proud of them. However, he was starting to come to the conclusion that there’d be no saving Karakka. Not without making some big sacrifices. ::

Hamasaki: SIF stresses increasing. Time to failure is 18 minutes. Time to impact.. is 19 minutes. We're not able to project enough power to slow them down. Klingon ships are moving to intercept, but their zero-zero intercept is in .. 21 minutes.

Galven: We might have even less time because of the pressure is putting so much strain on the ship, sir. Decks 11 and 10 are also being affected. I’m not an engineer, but it’s obvious from these readings.

:: Mei’konda glanced up toward the display on the master systems monitor, to his right and at the back of the Bridge.  The readings weren’t confirmed yet, but he agreed with Galven. There was something wrong down there. He suspected it was the beginning of a series of cascading systems failures through the Montreal. ::

Mei’konda: Evactuaate those decks.  Haave engineering Cut liife support to them and reroute the power elsewhere, Galven.  Maybe it’ll buy us some tiime.

Hamasaki: Short of detonating our warp core to destroy the Belfast, I don't see how we can stop it.. projecting results says we're going to break up just before it impacts the colony. Impact yield is in teratons, we'd pretty much see a destruction of the biosphere, and potentially the continent.

:: And there it was.  The last resort option.  A matter/antimatter explosion wasn’t as simple as the backup auto destruct mechanism, explosives stored at key points in the hull of most starships.  Blowing the warp core would destroy everything. He glanced wordlessly over toward Tel-ar after Hamasaki mentioned the option. ::

Tel-ar: I am afraid that I must agree captain. Based on the available data that would seem to be our best and most likely only chance to save the colony.

Stennin: detonating the warp core will leave us stranded. Unless the Klingons or the Karakka colonists can supply us with a replacement.

:: Mei’konda nodded back toward Stennin.  Clenching fists and then forcing them to relax, he continued. ::

Mei’konda: The Klingons are our allies, and Karakka is nearby.  Escape pods will be aable to reach it easily.

Galven: Time is of the essence, sir. I know you know this but--

Rosek: =/\=Rosek to Montreal.=/\=

Stennin: Captain?

:: Mei’konda glanced upward, relieved once again to hear his first officer’s voice. ::

Mei’konda: =/\= Go ahead, Commander.  Please tell me you haave good news. =/\=

Rosek: =/\=I’ve located the freighter crew. With General Eth’ek’s approval, we can begin transporting. We don’t have much time, though. Colonel Rilaw is going to detonate the explosives in the main engine room before the freighter can reach the planet’s surface.=/\=

:: So.  She must’ve managed to sway Rilaw to her way of thinking.  The news was getting better. He pushed up to his feet from the comms station, and turned back toward the front of the Bridge. ::

Galven: =/\= You must hurry because once we hit the 5 minute mark before impact, there might not be enough time and the transporters are barely functioning as it is. I can’t bring them back online with how much damage we’re sustaining. =/\=

Rosek: =/\= reply =/\=

Galven: =/\= The combined forces of both ships is tearing us apart. I don’t even understand how the communications are still working. =/\=

Stennin: She must be using her communicator.

:: The most serious choice they could make was increasingly becoming the only one Mei’konda saw left. ::

Mei’konda: =/\= Commander Rosek, set the Belfast’s transporters to beam the freighter’s crew to General Eth’ek’s bird of prey, not the Montreal.  You’ll see her coming alongside shortly.  When you’re done, beam yourself there. Don’t come back to the Montreal.  =/\=

Rosek: :: pauses :: =/\= It’s a long story, sir. I’ll explain it fully in my report. =/\=

Mei’konda: =/\= You heard Lieutenant Galven, Lael.  Get to work. And good job. =/\=

Rosek: =/\=Understood, sir. Rosek out. =/\=

:: A moment later, Mei’konda turned back toward his officers.  They had something to say, and it became obvious a moment later that they were all on the same page. ::

Galven: The escape pods are still functional. We must use them before it’s too late, but I trust that you’ll use your best judgement on this, Captain.

Hamasaki: Agreed. I think we should start evacuating who we can - the power grid is showing severe strain and I'm reading EPS failures on multiple decks. I'm running out of power to re-route to maintain SIF, and several decks are beginning to be open to space.  Update. SIF failure in 11 minutes, impact in 17. The Klingons are increasing to emergency warp speed, and will be in range to transport within a half minute.. ::beat:: Their comm officers are indicating that they can only stay close at warp speeds for so long, and they don't expect to be able to intercept. Something about insufficient energy to stop the Belfast.

Tel-ar: Multiple systems failing captain, shields at the breaking point. If we’re going to do something we need to do it now!!!! :: He exclaimed with a definite sense of urgency. ::

Stennin: Life support is failing across all decks. Without it, we will loose heating and oxygen supply within the hour.

:: Mei’konda paused longer than he would have cared to admit, and glanced down toward the floor.  Then, Hamasaki spoke. ::

Hamasaki: ::quietly, noticing the minor tremors of Mei'konda next to her:: Captain. ::turns to face him, face .. not in the professional mien, but more gentle and understanding:: I know this might be the wrong time for it.. but you should not blame yourself for your actions. They boarded us. ::Tiria pauses, still trying to put fingers in the dike, to word her next phrase:: These reactions are very normal. Just.. give yourself time once  we're not facing planetary annihilation. ::wry, then looks at the beeping of her panel:: Weapons signals, in Karakkan orbit. They.. had an entire matrix of defense satellites. ::Tiria has forced her face and tone back to the professional mien:: That might have been useful to know.. they've destroyed all of the rigged satellites. They're reorienting to face us. They're more than likely going to fire on the Belfast within the next sixty seconds.

Stennin: This was beyond our control, captain. We must act quickly now, however.

Shin: =/\= Shin to the bridge, how are things up there? =/\=

:: The fact that Shin had time to talk was a good sign.  But on the Bridge, he had little time to respond. ::

Mei’konda: =/\= Not well, Lieutenant Shin.  Prepaare for a ship wide announcement. Bridge out. =/\=

Tel-ar: Shields down to 17.634%, strain on the system is way past the safety limits, failure is imminent.

Stennin: EPS systems are also strained to its very limits. We have to activate all auxiliary power systems to warrant against a cascade failure. I predict 30 minutes before all life support fails, and another 30 minutes before all the parameters are breached.

:: Stennin continued, while he worked to activate what little power supplies the ship had left. ::

Bridge: Responses

Stennin: I would prefer not to say. Most probably, it would be oxygen deprivation. Worse, it could be severe decompression sickness. At any rate, it will require a full evacuation of the Montreal. I would be able to extend the power supply for an hour if I bring the fusion power online.

Stennin: fusion generators are online. EPS power is holding at 15%. We have some time to power the LSS and the transporter. Not much else, however.

:: Finally, Mei’konda met Tel-ar’s eyes, glanced from him to Galven, then from Galven back to Hamasaki and then Stennin. ::

Mei’konda: All riight.  That’s enough, you’ve all said your piece.  We don’t haave the time to come up with other options.  We’ve only got one that has a good chaance of preventiing any harm to Karakka, and that has to come before any other consiiderations.

Bridge: Responses

:: Mei’konda took a deep breath, then spoke again, slowly and clearly. ::

Mei’konda: Hamasaki, contact General Eth’ek’s ship and inform him we are going to evacuate the Montreal and destroy the ship in order to stop the Belfast.  Let him know to stay alongside as long as possible to take on passengers from our transporter rooms.

Hamasaki / Bridge: Responses

:: Taking one more deep breath, he continued. ::

Mei’konda: =/\= This is the Captain to all hands.  Abandon ship. Repeat, abandon ship. Drop what you’re doing and head for the closest escape pod, shuttle, or transporter room.  The computer will proviide further instructions. All hands, abandon ship. =/\=

:: Mei’konda turned back toward his officers, the plaque held under one arm. ::

Mei’konda: Set all staations to automatic.  Once it’s done, head to the nearest escape pods.  If they followed instructions, any family, any pets, they should’ve been brought there already. ::

Bridge: Responses

:: Mei’konda strode over toward the entrance to his ready room, quiet for a moment.  He reached up to brush a few fingers along the ship’s dedication plaque. Then, with a quick tug, he removed it from the wall. ::

Mei’konda: Computer.  Initiate auto destruct sequence, authorizaation Mei’konda, theta eight-four-seven.  Set countdown to ten miinutes… enable.

Computer: =/\= Warning. Self-destruct sequence has been initiated. Warp core overload in nine minutes, fifty five seconds. =/\=

Bridge: Responses

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Commander Mei’konda Delano

Commanding Officer

USS Montreal

M239002M10