LT Tamio K'Wara - Like a Christmas Tree during a Power Outage
LT Tamio K'Wara
(( Main Engineering - Deck 4, USS Karnack Crashsite ))
It was a difficult task already, restoring power to a crashed Starship on a planet surrounded by a space phenomenon that actively tried to kill said power. Asking Imril to do so aided by zero other Engineering staff and on a timecrunch? Frankly, it was no wonder the Engineering Department was often considered the miracle workers aboard a Starship. Natasha had managed to get the power bleed of their makeshift solution down to 4,2 percent, which was a miracle in its own right, and with the sounds of Dark Things approaching, Tamio knew that they were running out of time.
Their solution wasn’t perfect, but it would have to do.
K’Wara: Ready? ::brief pause:: Let’s turn the lights on.
The junior officers looked at each other, uneasily, no doubt paralyzed with the fear of what they would do if this didn’t work. Tamio didn’t have time to consider that. It had to work, and they were ready at one of the only functioning consoles to ensure that it would.
Jaran: So we just... flip the switch, then?
Cole: ::looking to Jaran with a shrug:: I guess so
Imril took charge.
Imril: ::To Cole:: Execute.
The forcefield emission sequence was started, and as the Maelstrom resistant current spread through the powerlines heading for the emitters, some of the consoles around Main Engineering started sputtering to life. Imril and Tamio focused on their consoles, Tamio ensuring that any fault reported in the powerlines had only a fraction of a moment to beep before it got rerouted through a less damaged area.
Jaran: Umm. Is it... it is on?
Cole: ::opening her eyes:: I … I don’t think so.
Tamio did not blame their confusion. Jaran and Natasha didn’t work with systems like this on a daily basis, and after a week stranded on Callis I, it was no surprise that they needed visual or auditory confirmation that things did work.
They’d gotten used to hopelessness.
Imril: It’s on, but I have to wrangle the power bleed.
A few more moments of quiet concentration, and Tamio heard the telltale crackling of the emitters above them.
K’Wara: Deck 3’s forcefield is up!
This was when the sounds of claws scratching on bulkheads started ringing in through the half-open door of Main Engineering, and they noted - out of the corner of their eye - that Jaran had moved closer to the entrance, holding their wrench like a blunt instrument.
Jaran: Not to be a doomsayer, but I think we're about to have company. A little help?
The field around Deck 4 was now starting to come online too, and Tamio felt it - like static ebbing through the air - as the warp core started whirring and returning to its usual soft blue hue, and the red alert emergency lighting increased in power.
Imril: Got it!
The sound of a wall of consoles erupting into sparks begged to differ.
Imril: ::Groan:: … Mostly got it.
Jaran: ::screams:: They're in!
Tamio hurried back to the main floor, just in time to see Fuzzball come flying at them at great speeds, its eyes wide with a surprise that rivaled Tamio’s own. They didn’t know the critter could fly!
Cole: ::to Tamio:: Catch!
Ah, that made more sense. In their defense, Tamio did try to catch Fuzzball, but it proved alarmingly adept with its four legs and instead grabbed onto Tamio’s head with a fervor that impressed upon the Cygnian Lieutenant that Fuzzball did, in fact, not like to fly. At all. And would rather never do so again.
Cole: Imril, whatever magic you're about to do, bring the lights up as bright as you can!
Imril: Lights are off-limits!
Right, the lockdown. Tamio scooted Fuzzball around on their head so it didn’t obscure their vision, just as they saw Cole fly towards Doctor Jaran and pick up the wounded Bajoran officer. The doors to Main Engineering, which had been stuck half-open just moments ago had managed to close in the faces of the Dark Things, but it was a temporary delay. They were tearing into the doors with abandon now.
Imril: ::Flurry of keystrokes:: Ha! Overclocking grav generator beneath me! Building up a charge! Polarising the deck plating from here to the door! Sorry, but it’s all I’ve got!
K’Wara: Oh, that’s all?
Tamio meanwhile dashed as quickly as they could to one of the emergency cubbies contained within the walls. They had power now. They ought to work. They heard the Things finally breach the main doors, their howls filling the air with dread.
Jaran: Response
Cole: ::to Jaran:: hold on, I’ve got you.
Imril: When I say jump, jump! Three… Two… One… Jump!
Jaran: Response
Not trusting their ability to stay aloft long enough for whatever Imril had done to work, Tamio instead opted for climbing onto one of the non-functional consoles as they pulled out the equipment from the emergency locker. Then, they had to close their eyes, as a vibrant achromatic pulse raced across the floor, crackling as it did so. If any of them had been standing on the floor now, they would’ve been toast and definitely in critical condition. The Dark Things though?
They howled louder than Tamio had ever heard them howl before - pain and anger and fear and desperation - and just as Tamio turned around, saw their rows of eyes radiate with malice at the victory that had been stolen from underneath them, they bolted from the room again, heading away from the massive warp core which hummed in the same light that had attacked them.
The fact that they were even able to run after that terrified Tamio.
Imril: ::Scowing at the door:: Not here, [expletive deleted]! This is my house!
Tamio laughed breathlessly at Imril’s exuberant mannerism, but after that showing, they weren’t going to blame them.
K’Wara: Nat, Jaran, sound off: You two okay? No one fried?
Jaran/Cole: Response
Tamio moved back to the group, as they saw Imril slap their combadge.
Imril: =/\= Imril to all hands! We have a Dark Thing on Deck Four! Headed away from Main engineering! Moving bow-ward! =/\=
Jaran/Cole: Response
The static on the combadge made Tamio sigh. While they now stood in the most potent technological hub on Callis I, the rest of the Ship was still dark.
Imril: I’m not sure if anybody heard that. Let's get the power moving to the rest of the ship. Lt. K’Wara, how are the stabilizer emitters doing?
K’Wara: They’ll do the work, but we need a more permanent fix. We can’t manually shield every room we need functional in the Karnack for space flight. But first-
Tamio handed off the equipment they’d procured from the emergency locker to the team. A medkit and phasers. Tamio never thought they’d be so happy to hold a phaser again. Granted, the phasers would only work while within a room that was shielded from the Maelstrom, but it was better than having to supercharge the floor everytime.
Jaran/Cole: Response
K’Wara: They won’t do much to the Things, if that pulse Imril just did only annoyed them, but it may be enough to make them think twice about coming in here again.
Imril/Jaran/Cole: Response
Nodding, Tamio took to the nearest console, pulling up the graphic of the power grid. It was funny how your standards adapted to the situation. If this had been back on the Artemis, they’d be in a ship-wide emergency if the power grid looked as spotty as this. Here, on the Karnack, the amount of lights now identifying Ship elements at functionality, full or not, made it look like Christmas had come early.
K’Wara: According to the ship power grid, Main Engineering is online, as is the Quarantine Suite in Sickbay, the Anti-Matter Storage Bay and the Shuttlecraft Control Room on Deck 2. The Computer Core is also online. The rest of the Ship is still dark. ::taps their fingers together in thought:: What we’re missing for functional flight is... the Deflector Array, Impulse Engines, Shield Emitters, Lifesupport Systems and the Bridge.
Imril/Jaran/Cole: Response
K’Wara: The fact that those areas are still functional means they must have shielding of their own that works against the effects of the Maelstrom. Is there any way for us to capitalize on that?
Imril/Jaran/Cole: Response
TAG/TBC
LT Tamio K’Wara
Chief of Operations
USS Artemis-A
A240006GS1