Lt. JG Natasha Cole - Running Too Hot
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Natasha Schell
Feb 22, 2026, 10:04:44 PM (4 days ago) Feb 22
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(( Karnack Engineering - Deck 4 - USS Karnack))
Imril: Got it!
As another heartbeat begins to thrum, slowly to life as a wall of consoles close to where Jaran had moved to erupt into a cacophony of sparks and crackling energy. Filling the area with an acrid ozone smell.
Imril: ::Groan:: … Mostly got it.
The brief moment of celebration was interrupted as the screeching sounds of claws digging into the main doors filled the room.
Everything was happening all at once as Natasha took a step back she heard a … noise and something crawling up her leg. It was the little creature that was following Jaran around.
Jaran: ::screams:: They're in!
She snapped her attention between the door and Jaran. There was no time she had to do something fast.
She couldn’t think and let instinct take over scooping up the little fuzz ball and tossing it off to Lieutenant K’Wara.
Cole: ::to Tamio:: Catch!
Acting solely on instinct and adrenaline as she ran directly towards her immediate priority … Jaran.
The last time she was remotely this close to these Darkling creatures, she was thrown across a room and wasn’t much help.
Wait … Sunlight deters them.
Cole: Imril whatever magic you're about to do, bring the lights up as bright as you can!
Imril: Lights are off-limits!
Mere moments of terror had become an agony of expectation. At last the engineer found something they could do.
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?
Jaran: Can’t wait to see the affect of this on a Bajoran.
She had closed the distance as the darklings had finished tearing the doors down. She scooped Jaran off their feet as she pivoted away from the door and immediate threat.
Cole: ::to Jaran:: hold on, I’ve got you.
Imril: When I say jump, jump! Three… Two… One… Jump!
Jaran: I’ll… do the best I can to help?
At Imril’s word Nat dropped herself into a half squat and pushed her and Jaran as high as her feet would lift the two of them. The sound of electricity crackled around them, and sounded far louder than it should have.
As the duo landed the pained howls of the dark things could be heard as they abandoned their incursion of Engineering.
Imril: ::Scowing at the door:: Not here, [expletive deleted]! This is my house!
K’Wara: Nat, Jaran, sound off: You two okay? No one fried?
Natasha had let Jaran down and they both did a quick once over themselves for any additional injuries.
Her shoulders felt tighter.
That’s new.
Jaran: I’m fine here. ::peering through the pried-open space in the doors and speaking slowly:: Just wanted to make sure we were actually alone.
Cole: …::beat after giving her head a shake:: Here
Imril: =/\= Imril to all hands! We have a dark thing on Deck Four! Headed away from Main engineering! Moving bow-ward! =/\=
Jaran: ::quietly:: They’re already on Deck Three.
Cole: ::irritated:: They're on board that’s bad enough.
Natasha closed her eyes and raised a hand gently as if to apologize. As she opened them everything seemed to be blurred for just a moment.
Cole: ::quietly to Jira:: I’m sorry.
Threat is on the move.
Reduce the power bleed.
Wait no … I did that … didn’t I?
Multiple crew were injured.
Hull compromised.
Warp core … stabilizing.
There was no response other than static on the combadges.
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-
Lieutenant K’Wara handed off the equipment they’d procured from an emergency locker to everyone, a medkit and phasers. As Natasha took the phaser she felt like her fingertips had fallen asleep. Giving the grip a little squeeze confirmed they had not.
Jaran: While I’m glad you all have phasers, I’ll admit that I’ve never been happier to have this tricorder. I’ll use the former if I have to, though.
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.
Cole: I would suggest the maximum stun setting. It should act as an additional deterrent.
Jaran started scanning everyone and seemed pleasantly surprised at their results.
Jaran: You are all so hearty! ::teasing:: You’d never know we hadn’t been on Risa for the last two weeks.
Cole: You mean we haven’t been?
Imril: Response
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.
Jaran: Are there any functional shuttlecraft that we could shield and get off the planet? Might be easier than getting the whole thing up.
Nat’s mind poured over what they knew about the creatures and how that might be able to be used under their current conditions.
Heat attracts them.
Sunlight deters them.
Imril: 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?
Jaran: It’s an interesting question. All we did intentionally was to secure Engineering, right?
Cole: Mostly, the doors look like they were used as a scratching post by a Magato.
Imril: Response
Jaran: Hey now. What’s that all about? It’s just me.
They reached their hand out, and Fuzzball gave it a tentative sniff. A few moments passed and it emerged from its cover to crawl onto Jira’s arm and up to their shoulder.
Cole: If we can’t get the lights one, could we … could we detonate a photon torpedo to create a heat source outside the ship.
K’Wara/Imril: Response
Jaran: Hey, I know we have a lot of things on our plate, but I’m getting some real good data off Fuzzy here. It’s possible we could use what I’m getting to develop a better defence against our more angry neighbours.
K’Wara/Imril: Response
Cole: We also noticed they were drawn to our resident telepaths, so time is more of a factor.
A howl reverberated through the ship’s corridors, and Natasha’s shoulders tensed as she felt pressure start to build in her head.
Hostiles on the move.
Main Engineering secure, almost.
Vulnerable crew status unknown.
Nat’s pulse spikes.
Too many fronts.
Too many variables.
She pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose briefly.
Can’t panic.
Cole: We don’t know that yet. ::too quick:: It could just be movement between decks.
Her tone was sharper than intended.
K’Wara/Imril/Jaran: Response
Cole: If they’re attracted to heat and telepathic signatures, then we need to make them choose the more tempting option.
A small pause.
Did she already suggest that?
Focus.
Her words are precise.
Her vision is not.
The edges of the room flicker again.
Not electrical.
Physiological.
K’Wara/Imril/Jaran: Response
Her hearing distorts for half a second.
K’Wara’s voice sounded farther away than it should.
She blinks hard.
Cole: ::quieter:: We can’t let them harm anyone.
Her grip tightens on the phaser at her side.
Her knuckles pale.
Her fingertips still feel wrong.
Somewhere in her mind:
You’re running too hot.
She ignores it.
((OOC: Natasha’s body language does not read as hostile, more like wound tight and tense.))
K’Wara/Imril/Jaran: Response
Tags/TBC
----- ◌● -----
Lt. JG Natasha Cole
Security Officer
USS Artemis-A
Writer ID A240205NC4
Imril: Got it!
As another heartbeat begins to thrum, slowly to life as a wall of consoles close to where Jaran had moved to erupt into a cacophony of sparks and crackling energy. Filling the area with an acrid ozone smell.
Imril: ::Groan:: … Mostly got it.
The brief moment of celebration was interrupted as the screeching sounds of claws digging into the main doors filled the room.
Everything was happening all at once as Natasha took a step back she heard a … noise and something crawling up her leg. It was the little creature that was following Jaran around.
Jaran: ::screams:: They're in!
She snapped her attention between the door and Jaran. There was no time she had to do something fast.
She couldn’t think and let instinct take over scooping up the little fuzz ball and tossing it off to Lieutenant K’Wara.
Cole: ::to Tamio:: Catch!
Acting solely on instinct and adrenaline as she ran directly towards her immediate priority … Jaran.
The last time she was remotely this close to these Darkling creatures, she was thrown across a room and wasn’t much help.
Wait … Sunlight deters them.
Cole: Imril whatever magic you're about to do, bring the lights up as bright as you can!
Imril: Lights are off-limits!
Mere moments of terror had become an agony of expectation. At last the engineer found something they could do.
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?
Jaran: Can’t wait to see the affect of this on a Bajoran.
She had closed the distance as the darklings had finished tearing the doors down. She scooped Jaran off their feet as she pivoted away from the door and immediate threat.
Cole: ::to Jaran:: hold on, I’ve got you.
Imril: When I say jump, jump! Three… Two… One… Jump!
Jaran: I’ll… do the best I can to help?
At Imril’s word Nat dropped herself into a half squat and pushed her and Jaran as high as her feet would lift the two of them. The sound of electricity crackled around them, and sounded far louder than it should have.
As the duo landed the pained howls of the dark things could be heard as they abandoned their incursion of Engineering.
Imril: ::Scowing at the door:: Not here, [expletive deleted]! This is my house!
K’Wara: Nat, Jaran, sound off: You two okay? No one fried?
Natasha had let Jaran down and they both did a quick once over themselves for any additional injuries.
Her shoulders felt tighter.
That’s new.
Jaran: I’m fine here. ::peering through the pried-open space in the doors and speaking slowly:: Just wanted to make sure we were actually alone.
Cole: …::beat after giving her head a shake:: Here
Imril: =/\= Imril to all hands! We have a dark thing on Deck Four! Headed away from Main engineering! Moving bow-ward! =/\=
Jaran: ::quietly:: They’re already on Deck Three.
Cole: ::irritated:: They're on board that’s bad enough.
Natasha closed her eyes and raised a hand gently as if to apologize. As she opened them everything seemed to be blurred for just a moment.
Cole: ::quietly to Jira:: I’m sorry.
Threat is on the move.
Reduce the power bleed.
Wait no … I did that … didn’t I?
Multiple crew were injured.
Hull compromised.
Warp core … stabilizing.
There was no response other than static on the combadges.
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-
Lieutenant K’Wara handed off the equipment they’d procured from an emergency locker to everyone, a medkit and phasers. As Natasha took the phaser she felt like her fingertips had fallen asleep. Giving the grip a little squeeze confirmed they had not.
Jaran: While I’m glad you all have phasers, I’ll admit that I’ve never been happier to have this tricorder. I’ll use the former if I have to, though.
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.
Cole: I would suggest the maximum stun setting. It should act as an additional deterrent.
Jaran started scanning everyone and seemed pleasantly surprised at their results.
Jaran: You are all so hearty! ::teasing:: You’d never know we hadn’t been on Risa for the last two weeks.
Cole: You mean we haven’t been?
Imril: Response
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.
Jaran: Are there any functional shuttlecraft that we could shield and get off the planet? Might be easier than getting the whole thing up.
Nat’s mind poured over what they knew about the creatures and how that might be able to be used under their current conditions.
Heat attracts them.
Sunlight deters them.
Imril: 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?
Jaran: It’s an interesting question. All we did intentionally was to secure Engineering, right?
Cole: Mostly, the doors look like they were used as a scratching post by a Magato.
Imril: Response
Jaran: Hey now. What’s that all about? It’s just me.
They reached their hand out, and Fuzzball gave it a tentative sniff. A few moments passed and it emerged from its cover to crawl onto Jira’s arm and up to their shoulder.
Cole: If we can’t get the lights one, could we … could we detonate a photon torpedo to create a heat source outside the ship.
K’Wara/Imril: Response
Jaran: Hey, I know we have a lot of things on our plate, but I’m getting some real good data off Fuzzy here. It’s possible we could use what I’m getting to develop a better defence against our more angry neighbours.
Cole: ::looking at both officers:: Our team noticed their aversion to daylight, and their attraction to heat. ::beat:: I swear this isn’t because I want to blow something up.
K’Wara/Imril: Response
Cole: We also noticed they were drawn to our resident telepaths, so time is more of a factor.
A howl reverberated through the ship’s corridors, and Natasha’s shoulders tensed as she felt pressure start to build in her head.
Hostiles on the move.
Main Engineering secure, almost.
Vulnerable crew status unknown.
Jaran: They’ve found the others.
Too many fronts.
Too many variables.
She pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose briefly.
Can’t panic.
Cole: We don’t know that yet. ::too quick:: It could just be movement between decks.
Her tone was sharper than intended.
K’Wara/Imril/Jaran: Response
Cole: If they’re attracted to heat and telepathic signatures, then we need to make them choose the more tempting option.
A small pause.
Did she already suggest that?
Focus.
Her words are precise.
Her vision is not.
The edges of the room flicker again.
Not electrical.
Physiological.
K’Wara/Imril/Jaran: Response
Her hearing distorts for half a second.
K’Wara’s voice sounded farther away than it should.
She blinks hard.
Cole: ::quieter:: We can’t let them harm anyone.
Her grip tightens on the phaser at her side.
Her knuckles pale.
Her fingertips still feel wrong.
Somewhere in her mind:
You’re running too hot.
She ignores it.
((OOC: Natasha’s body language does not read as hostile, more like wound tight and tense.))
K’Wara/Imril/Jaran: Response
Tags/TBC
----- ◌● -----
Lt. JG Natasha Cole
Security Officer
USS Artemis-A
Writer ID A240205NC4
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