Lt. JG D'Cyra Varati - Can you tell me how we get out of here?
D'Cyra Varati
((Talon Scout Yosemite, Underspace corridors, Delta Quadrant))
((OOC: I hope I've included the latest comm messages from Berapli in a way that's reasonably appropriate, so that we can make slow but steady progress. – Just jump back in wherever it makes sense to you.))
Varati: ::to Kaito & Lael:: The main thing is that you can keep the ship on a "steady" course for as long as possible. We need to get out of this chamber, or whatever it is, as quickly as possible. No idea how much else is collapsing… ::to Bec:: I hope that our own sensors in the second array will be ready for use immediately and that both particle fields will also function. Two velocity controls and one temperature control.
Moore: Hang on! I have to pull us out of the baffles! It’s going to get rough!
Rosek-Skyfire: The wave is right on our tail!
Before she could even finish her thought, they were hit by a shockwave that threatened to collapse. She barely managed to grab hold of the large handrail of the console in front of her with one hand; her other hand, which she had intended to use to grasp the back of the chair, grasped at thin air. The initial jolt sent her crashing against the console, and the brief, vacuum-like opening that followed lifted her slightly before she landed roughly on the floor between the console and the chair.
Varati: ::screams:: Ouch! Argh! $@#! ::other Orion curses:: … Ouch, that hurt...
Her right arm had served as an "anchor in the storm." The metal railing was round, but rather unyielding compared to humanoid bones... Her eyes contorted in pain, D’Cyra rubbed her forehead with her left hand. At least nothing seemed to be broken, and there was no blood to be seen. Just a few twinkling stars against a black background when she looked up.
Iko: =/\= Response =/\=
Moore: I guess, we’ll need to pick a direction sooner than later, but does anyone have an idea on how we can stop that collapse?
Rosek-Skyfire: ::shakes her head:: We can try, but it could prove risky. ::to Varati:: Any ideas, Ensign?
Slightly "crumpled" like the corridor behind them, she laboriously straightened up again.
Varati: ::to Lael:: The devices appear to be undamaged, Commander. I'm starting the scan of the field sensors now – maybe it will work.
Iko: =/\= Response =/\=
Rosek-Skyfire: ::pauses:: Can we pull it off without exacerbating the tunnels’ collapse?
Moore: Seems like all those times Blackwood told me to do a barrel roll paid off. You got something for me?
Rosek-Skyfire: ::taps a series of commands into the console:: Working on it. ::to the others:: Can we run a quick simulation? See what the odds are?
Varati: We simply have no knowledge of when and how the subspace corridors collapse. Even the Turei don't seem to have figured that out in hundreds of years. There are probably more or less stable passages, similar to open string ends between different branes. It's quite possible that the inner passages are more stable. And if something exploded here recently, it likely caused the weak structure to collapse.
Moving forward would probably be the most sensible solution for now.
She rubbed her forehead again with the back of her hand; a slight hematoma had now formed there.
Iko: =/\= Response =/\=
Rosek-Skyfire: How’s it coming over there?
Sparkling stars when she lifted her head to look at the upper displays, then a double headache when she looked down – just now of all times. She didn't feel nauseous, so it was probably not a concussion.
So she ‘aimed’ the photon and tachyon beams at random into the tunnel leading off to the left (if one could speak of directions at all).
Varati: A first attempt; I'll tell you in a moment whether I got any usable results at all.
Iko/Moore: =/\= Response =/\=
Rosek-Skyfire: ::to Kaito:: Hold her steady. ::mutters:: May the odds be ever in our favor.
Varati: Okay, the sensors are at least now "detecting" the beacons with their own passive energy signature. But there's still too much debris around them to get a clear picture. Otherwise, the computer is just calculating the field differences... somewhat unfortunate with the shockwave behind us...
Iko: =/\= Response =/\=
Berapli: =/\= The paths around us seem stable for the moment. Best not to linger. =/\=
The initial results were sobering, but she didn't dare tell the others. As long as the corridor didn't collapse further, they could fly around this T-junction, or whatever you wanted to call it, for a while...
Varati: Could you please somehow give me a little more time for a second attempt? I need to aim further into the corridors and hope that the shockwaves haven't yet destroyed the patterns and traces there.
Berapli: =/\= I have aided you thus far, but I will only wait upon you for so long. =/\=
Iko/Moore/Rosek-Skyfire: =/\= Response =/\=
She knew what Kaito was capable of at the helm... Lael seemed to have an uncanny sense of balance, judging by how elegantly she handled the thrusters. The more smoothly they flew (as far as that was even possible under the circumstances), the more accurate the energy beams' "shots" were, and the less her own head was shaken.
Varati: Good, good, keep it up! I'm getting clean scans now!
Berapli: =/\= Tell me what route you wish to follow and I will accompany you. =/\=
Iko/Moore/Rosek-Skyfire: =/\= Response =/\=
D’Cyra made it simpler: just check time dilation. A simple check of photons and tachyons – if the same or at least constant deviation from the rest of subspace was detectable in several consecutive scans, then a massive object must have been moving there.
Varati: Ok! Into the right tunnel! At 60 degree! There, different patterns are visible! A slight trace of "slowed-down" tachyons, or rather, with a smaller angle relative to the main flow. And, as if that weren't enough, the redshift! Let's follow the red thread!
Only one question remained unanswered, and it was the most crucial one:
Varati: The only question is, is it also the Daintree...?
Berapli: =/\= These paths should be calmer, now. The Vaadwaur may destabilize them, but there are still few among them who can do so. And not all their ships are so swift, or so sturdy as not to care.=/\=
Iko/Moore/Rosek-Skyfire: =/\= Response =/\=
Berapli: =/\= They consider us vermin of a sort. Would you set your house alight to chase out a pest? =/\=
Well, some situations require drastic measures. And sometimes it's better to start over than to keep going the way things were. But that wasn't the case here, was it? They knew too little about the subspace corridors. Had the Vaadwaur created them? Hardly... but they were possibly the first to discover these passages and learn how to enter them. And the Vaadwaur hadn't exactly made any friends in the past with their expansionist policies.
Varati: =/\= Fate has given us a moment... we shouldn't give them any reason to attack us. And as long as we're together, hopefully they'll refrain from whatever they want to do. =/\=
D’Cyra had previously refrained from interfering in radio communications, focusing instead on her work. However, she felt it was important to emphasize the peaceful aims of their current mission.
Iko/Moore/Rosek-Skyfire: =/\= Response =/\=
Berapli: =/\= Stay close. You can grapple to the Starshell if you must, if your vessel would survive it. =/\=
Was that necessary? At least the larger Turei ship offered some protection. But you never knew when a corridor might collapse.
But it's better to take a look at the instruments first...
Varati: The SIF is stable, 87 percent. The second row of sensors is now also operating in subspace parameters. Well, at least I hope so.
Iko/Moore/Rosek-Skyfire: =/\= Response =/\=
Her right shoulder ached... it must have looked more than a little strange to the others as she half-floated across the cabin and then crashed back down. Well, another thing she probably shouldn't tell her parents about. They were out here, and back in her apartment, that unfinished video message was waiting to be sent to her brother for his birthday. The whole family was probably sitting in the shade of the arcades in the courtyard, celebrating... how she wished she could have been there.
Varati: ::sighs:: Let's follow the tachyon trail... we have no other choice at the moment. I just hope the energy beams don't drain too much power from our shields and thrusters in the long run...
She rubbed her aching shoulder and looked around to see what her colleagues could contribute. Did she still have any chocolate in her bag? Where had it been, anyway? It had probably gone flying all over the crew area, along with its contents.
Iko/Moore/Rosek-Skyfire/Berapli: =/\= Response =/\=
She was actually searching for the pattern of the Daintree's trail, but suddenly the energy matrices also detected traces of a different pattern. Were they simply swirls in the debris clouds, or was it another ship?
Varati: I'm not sure what that is; it could be another Starfleet signature? Has the Indy also transitioned to subspace yet? ::to Bec & Kaito:: Do you have any data or calls about that? ::to Lael:: I'm focusing on tracking down the Daintree for now; they have to be somewhere. ::pause:: What do we say to Berapli? She certainly won't help us forever, will she? I can't quite make sense of her behavior... do the Turei also need help, or simply allies against the Vaadwaur? Vermin and plague – those are harsh terms.
Iko/Moore/Rosek-Skyfire/Berapli: =/\= Response =/\=
Tag/TBC
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