[Act 3] Ensign Saavei - Time To Cool Down
Tara W
((Main Engineering, UAW Enterprise))
Saavei heard the tell-tale sound of an energy weapon discharging and reflexively ducked behind cover, 'cover' being the corner of an alcove next to an access and another LCARS-seeming control panel. Not ideal but better than mere concealment. Smoke rose from one of the other panels nearby, where the lance of energy had impacted. She saw Juriton behind a console, looking her way nervously.
(OOC: Trauina is an NPC, anyone can write for them!)
Trauina: Commander Juriton! The Second Officer is aware of your act of mutiny! Come out now, and we won't harm you.
Juriton: ::Raised voice:: You're a fool as usual, Lieutenant. We're not trying to hijack the ship, we're trying to kill the pathogen. Just because your mommy is an Admiral-
More rounds of phaser fire caused sparks and smoke around the bay. Juriton got as small as he could, and placed his hands over his helmet.
Saavei thought the offer to come out and not be harmed would have been more convincing if it hadn't been preceded by weapons fire. Her hand went to her holster, pulling out the Mantis and her thumb quickly set the power level to 'II'. She didn't want to accidently cause undue harm, if the attacking Lieutenant proved susceptible to its effects, but she preferred to knock their attacker out longer than a light stun would allow.
Saavei: Cease fire! The ship is mechanically compromised and a stray shot may hit the...
Trauina: Traitor! You're both outnumbered! Surrender now!
This was punctuated by another beam from Trauina's phaser. It went high, not posing any direct danger to either Saavei or Juriton, save for what was behind it. That would be the warp core, which the phaser beam lanced into. Alert sounds trilled and the emergency forcefield snapped into place... before abruptly sputtering out like a dying candle.
Juriton: ::Yelling out:: Oh great. You're going to tell your Admiral mom that her nepotism got the Enterprise destroyed, or should I?
Saavei peeked around the corner, where she could see Trauina and two (she assumed) security personnel with handheld phasers. The alert noises seemed to have made them hesitate, a time in which Saavei took quick aim and depressed her own phasers trigger. With an answering whine, the Mantis spat a beam of orange energy into the guard at Trauina's left side. He gave a muted sound between a cry and an exhalation, before crumbling to the deck unconscious. She didn't look at the warp core yet... she'd need her tricorder to inspect it for damage, which was difficult to do when under fire.
Saavei: Lieutenant, if you hit the warp core again, you may destroy the entire vessel!
Trauina: Better that than allow a traitor and his lackey to hijack the ship!
But Trauina and her remaining security escort were holding fire, for the moment. Saavei didn't think the woman's tone sounded as confident as her words would imply.
Juriton: ::Yelling out:: You're a Zumaris agent. That's it, isn't it.
Saavei was pinned down. Juriton didn't seem to be in a much better position than she was. They needed a distraction.
Saavei: Juriton ::She set her comms to private once more:: We need to neutralize them quickly before she hits the warp core again. If you can create a distraction, I may be able to hit both remaining threats before they can respond.
Trauina meanwhile was also reassessing her positioning. Her and the remaining security guard moved up, hugging an alcove and rear console respectively for cover. Saavei and Juriton were at risk of being flanked. The alert tone grew thriller and steam began emitting from the damaged core. Saavei saw him nod.
Juriton: =/\= Understood. =/\=His eyes darted around, looking for something, anything, that would provide just that.
Saavei held her position as Juriton looked around, watching as he reached for a set of panels with mold on them. He reached quickly but the security team was apparently ready for him, because they fired in his direction. Juriton was moving to a different cover position, and once he reached it, her eyes looked to the burn mark on the arm of his suit. Saavei took the opportunity of Juriton’s distraction to fire back at Trauina with the Mantis, but they were able to duck behind their own cover just in time.
Trauina: There are more security officers on the way! And you are on a UAW ship, Starfleet, so you will be detained also!
Saavei: Unfortunately, Lieutenant, I do not have time to debate the points of cross-organization legalities.
As the conversation raged on, Juriton was already on his knees, tapping at the console. After a few more quick presses, a gas began to fill the bay. He turned and grabbed at his arm again, as more phaser fire lanced out.
Saavei tucked back behind cover as Trauina aimed a shot in her direction, before she heard the sound of two heavy thuds. Peeking back out, she was they’d been rendered unconscious. She re-holstered her phaser.
Juriton: ::Grabbing arm tightly:: Anesthizine. Hell of a distraction.
Saavei: Well done, Commander. It accomplished the goal.
Juriton: Except now my EV suit has a tear in it. ::Gesturing to upper arm::
Saavei could see Juriton already appearing to not feel well… would the pathogen affect him so quickly? She hoped it was also in tandem with him taking a shot at a ‘stun’ setting but couldn’t be sure. She wasn’t a doctor, she couldn’t cure his illness right now even if she was, and the alarm sounds were increasingly frantic.
Saavei: I am going to bring the warp core to an emergency stop while we still have time, in the event the Lieutenant was not bluffing about additional security. If you are able to get the cooling unit into position, we can begin our task.
Juriton: Response
Saavei moved to the main console in Engineering and began inputting commands. It was sufficiently enough like LCARS to handle an emergency task like that. There was still steam pouring out of the warp core from where Trauina’s weapon had struck it, the emergency force field flickering once more and then dying as the system was brought offline.
oO At least the magnetic containment locks are still functional for now… Oo
Saavei: Warp core is offline. Main power is also failing. Switching to secondary systems… which are also failing. Patching in tertiary systems to maintain seal integrity. Tertiary circuits are… not something we should rely on for long.
Assuming she was reading the display correctly.
Juriton: Response
Saavei glanced to Juriton to see how he was doing. She moved to the main core interlock area, as the plasma flow ceased, scanning the area with her tricorder. Trauina had indeed done damage to the core’s protective casing but she hadn’t penetrated it entirely. The UAW Enterprise could still be saved but it would be an understatement to say it would need a lengthy overhaul. Unfortunately, whether because of failing power or because of her utilizing the LCARS-seeming system wrong, the ship was going offline one section at a time.
Saavei: Removing protective caps now. Junctions are exposed. We can begin attaching the cooling system to the main plasma conduit intakes here.
Juriton: Response
Saavei could hear yells in the not-so-far distance. The security reinforcements had encountered their locked doors but they weren’t too far away. Whether by brute force, by tube, or by plasma drill, she and Juriton were likely to be captured in the next ten minutes. Which meant they needed to purge the mold before then. She worked to help attach the requisite equipment, turning the cooling unit on and verifying its power source was strong.
Saavei: Filling plasma conduits with the refrigerant gas now… ::tapping the console on the Starfleet device:: … and activating cooling cycle. We will know in short order if this was successful or not.
Juriton: Response
Tags/TBC