LtCmdr. Dakora - All Gone Wrong.

[Travis]

((Jefferies Tube, Deck 5, USS Artemis))

Having escaped the escalating firefight of the corridor below, the Berlin Boarding party had hardly had a moment to catch their breath before being set upon by a seemingly murderous engineer. Armed with a big wrench and a seemingly unhinged attitude, the red-headed would-be assassin had smacked Osuna more than once already with the decidedly unsimulated weapon.

Finally managing to squeeze his large frame past Kliss and Jones, Talos threw his body in between the attacker and Gabe and summoned a shout from somewhere deep in his chest.

Dakora: Crewman! ::He boomed:: That’s enough!

Talos’ body tensed, ready to try and forcibly detain her, but he felt his words register in her mind as rational thought seemed to return.

Renirs: Darn, there’s no need to be so loud! What is it? This is a drill, why can’t I play along?

He could only stare at the crewman in momentary disbelief as Gabe got the first barb in.

Osuna: ::Sucking breath between clenched teeth::  I take it they don’t run drills like this during your enlisted training, hmm?

Good. If the Security Chief was joking, then maybe he wasn’t hurt too badly. Shaking his head, he jabbed at the Engineering Crewman with a bladed hand feeling heat rising from under his collar.

Dakora: Play along!? Did you just blow in from Starbase 80? That thing is not a simulated weapon and you didn’t simulate trying to bludgeon the Security Chief to death, you actually did it.

Kliss’lai, her badge now restored to green, floated up beside them and chimed in.

Kliss’lai: Besides – ::indicating Renirs’ badge::  You’re dead.

Renirs: Huh, look at that. Didn’t even realise it was red. Guess you hit me after all

Pinching the bridge of his nose to ward off a stress-induced headache, he listened to the exchange.

Jones: ::to Kliss'lai:: That was a nice shot, Kliss.

Kliss'lai: Probably wouldn't have taken it if this thing ::waggling the bluezer:: wasn't a trainer. I'm a good shot, but you two were moving around a bit.

The drill was still active and they weren’t all that far from where they’d entered the Jeffries tube. It wouldn’t be long before the Artemis Security teams were on them. He turned to Gabe, trying to gauge how badly he’d been walloped. 

Talos wanted to win the drill, yes, but he wouldn’t hesitate to call the whole thing off and make for sickbay if someone was actually wounded.

Dakora: Gabe, ::He grabbed the Chief’s Shoulder.:: Are you alright?

Osuna: It feels like I just got kicked in the face by a mule, but… pretty sure I’ll live.  ::To Jones::  Doc?

Renirs: Don’t blame me! The computer said it was okay to use blunt weapons or something!

Resisting the urge to yell at the crewperson any further, Talos directed his attention to Hiro’s diagnosis.

Jones: I can wrap your head, sir, but I'm sorry to say I don't have a real medkit on me. This wasn't supposed to be a situation where that would be required.

Osuna grunted in disappointed understanding.

Osuna: Great…  ::Looking over his shoulder, wincing::  Crewman… What was it?

Renirs: Response

Osuna: Renirs… Remind me to put you on the roster for the Artemis’ baseball team. We could use a slugger like you.

Renirs. Her name would certainly be going in his report under “Needs additional training.” Even if this scenario had been real, charging four armed space pirates with a wrench and getting killed in the process wasn’t a tactically sound strategy.

He’d almost forgotten that he’d been sim-wounded in the firefight earlier, until Hiro started using the flashy medical-thingy on him.

Dakora: ::To Jones.:: How is he? Do I need to call off our part of the drill?

Jones: We're not that far from sickbay. Another 45 seconds, and the commander here will be green again. How are you feeling? Do you require immediate medical attention, or should we proceed with the plan since you're still green?

Gabe was putting on a brave face, but Talos could feel waves of his discomfort battering his empathic senses.

Osuna: I wouldn’t say no to a dose of Hydro…  ::Figuring that answer was unexpected::  Not my first ‘cranial injury’… Besides, we need to get moving. Might as well travel with a destination in mind, hmm?  ::To Dakora::  Talos?

Hiro finished up and Talos saw his badge go from yellow to a pleasant shade of green. He thought about the question, but only for a moment. As a command decision, it was a relatively small one, but it didn’t really feel that way.

oO How do MacKenzie and Adea make these decisions on the fly, all the time? Oo

Dakora: Alright to sickbay it is then. They probably won’t be expecting us to go there. :: To Gabe.:: But if you start to feel any worse, just say the word and we’ll call this off and get an emergency site-to-site to sickbay.

Jones: ::indicating Renirs:: What about her? Technically she's a dead body, as far as the exercise goes.

Talos looked from Jones to Osuna and shrugged.

Osuna: You wanna sit out the rest of your death sentence here in the tube, Renirs, or go back to your quarters?  ::Pointing to the hatch behind them::  That way’s sealed, so if you’re going home, you’re coming with us.

Renirs: Response

He considered ordering Renirs to stay in the tube where she “died” until the all-clear was called, but his initial anger with her out-of-line attack had mostly subsided. She could tag along, but she wouldn’t be able to help or hinder them, according to the rules.

Osuna: Fine.  ::To Dakora, Kliss’lai::  One of you two wanna take point for a few?

Nodding. Talos pushed off, gliding out ahead of the group.

Dakora: I’ve got point. Let’s roll. 

He heard the sound of Kliss’ boots kicking off the wall behind him.

Kliss'lai: Right behind you, Commander.

Renirs/Jones: Response

At best possible speed, they navigated the tubes toward sickbay, but something was nagging at the back of Talos’ mind. The security team had been hot on their tail, he’d seen Yogan and Savel just as they’d escaped into the tube and locked the hatch behind them.

Why hadn’t they caught up yet? He was grateful, because they probably would’ve been neutralized… but it was strange. 

((Deck 7 – Near Sickbay))

When they’d finally made it to the access hatch nearest sickbay, Talos pried open the hatch and Gabe had propelled himself down (at least, he thought it was down? Zero-G movement was weird.) and out of the tube.

After a moment, the rest of the group drifted down into the corridor and Talos once again tried to get his bearings. A subtle hiss sound began to emanate from vents in the walls as a mist-like substance began to billow out.

Osuna: Is that coming from the ECU?

It almost looked like… but that didn’t make sense. Not in a drill.

Dakora: Looks like it to me. ::He scowled.:: Tell me that’s not what I think it is…

Kliss'lai/Renirs/Jones: Response

Even as they replied, he felt the onrush of lightheadedness as the first particles of the atomized anesthetic made its way into his respiratory system.

Osuna: ::Pushing himself along the wall towards Sickbay::  Jones?  ::Blinking severely::  The hell is this? 

Dakora: Computer: Close all ECU vents in this corridor, authorization: Dakora-Sierra-India-Xray-Niner-Alpha-Foxtrot.

The Computer made a decidedly negative-sounding beep.

Computer: Access denied: Override Code is temporarily disabled by Artemis Command.

Dakora: Crap. 

Kliss'lai/Renirs/Jones: Response

This was bad. Or maybe not. Talos’ vision had started to blur and a quick power nap seemed like just the thing right now anyway…

Osuna: ::Slurring his words, pointing lazily::  Sickbay?

Gabe’s words pulled him back from the edge of medicated bliss.

Dakora::Lazily:: Yeah.Ye-yes. Sickbay. 

He grabbed a hand full of the uniform of whoever was next to him and kicked off the wall toward the sickbay doors

Kliss'lai/Renirs/Jones: Response

His eyes grew very heavy and his vision had closed down to a thin strip, when his drifting body triggered the automatic doors to sickbay and he and the others sailed lazily through and into the sterile space.

Luckily, it seemed Sickbay had its own dedicated environmental control systems that were not actively spewing knock-out gas. At least, not yet.

As the doors snapped shut behind them, he found the drowsiness not increasing, but not quite fading just yet.

Dakora: What in the ::He coughed as clean air entered his lungs again.:: name of the Four was that about!?

Osuna/Renirs/Jones: Response

Deploying anesthizine was considered less-than-lethal, but without an immediate response from a medical team could result in various dangerous complications. Using it on friendlies during a drill would be reckless at best, and negligent at worst.

Still feeling foggy, he wondered if this whole damn drill was cursed.

As a few of the Artemis’ medical staff drifted over, Talos’ tried to understand why that was weird, but couldn’t quite put his finger on it. 

Dakora: Whose bright idea was it to ::He coughed again.:: try and gas us!?

The Medical Officer, an Ensign, gave him a look like he didn’t know what he was talking about.

Doctor: I’m not sure what you mean, Sir. 

Osuna/Renirs/Jones: Response

Talos held up a hand, then pointed to Osuna.

Dakora: Lieutenant Osuna needs medical attention and I need a commline to Captain MacKenzie. ::He scowled.:: Something is wrong here.

Osuna/Renirs/Jones: Response

TAG / TBC

[TAGS/END OF ACT 2 FOR TEAM TALOS]

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LtCmdr. Talos Dakora

Chief Intelligence Officer

USS Artemis-A

O238811CD0