Ensign Imril - Out Of The TV Dinner Tray, Into The Microwave Oven
Chris Taylor
(( Holodeck 3, Deck 222, DS 224 ))
Imril could only get snippets of the others’ words. Enough to guess that Cole had been posted outside to retrieve him and themself in the worst case scenario. Drag them out, in all likelihood.
The Lieutenant nodded and tapped the ensign’s shoulder. Without saying another word, he turned and walked toward Imril. Just before reaching the blast door, he turned left and opened the cover of the repair locker, from which he took out two engineering suitcases and gazed at Imril.
Bergmen: =/\= We… …. n th… oors. D… y… no… w? =/\=
Imril: =/\= Manual door release. That way. =/\=
How much could the other officers hear of their words? To make sure they got the instruction, Imril pointed the others to a labeled niche in one of the walls. Then made their way to a similar spot on the other side. The walls here were thankfully undamaged, well out of the way of the plasma conduits which were set closer to the warp core. Accessing the release crank was as easy as opening a small unlocked hatch.
Bergman nodded in understanding and moved toward the spot where he hoped to find the release handle. Before removing the cover, he sent one of the suitcases flying across the floor to Imril. Then, in a single movement, he removed the cover, grabbed the handle, and looked at Imril.
Imril: =/\= If we synchronize, it will go faster. On my mark. Three. Two. One. Go! =/\=
Imril pumped their hands in the air to visually announce the countdown, and then started cranking. Once the gap was enough, Bergmen nodded to Imril. Imril kicked their case into the next room and rolled after it. The rad meter on their helmet went wild, and the screen of their active tricorder began to fill with static. The ensign picked up the engineering kit as they stood, electing not to open it yet. The interior lining of the case would protect the delicate instruments inside -- including a fresh tricorder -- from the radiation until the moment they were needed.
The lieutenant ducked under the blast door and joined Imril at the entrance, grabbing their shoulder as they advanced deeper into the Man Engineering deck. It wasn’t long before they both saw the words that, in a real-life scenario, would likely have announced their imminent deaths:
// Warp Core Ejection System Failure. Evacuate the ship.
Bergmen: =/\= [Expletive redacted] =/\=
Imril: .oO(Oh, sure, that came through fine)Oo.
The clenched fist slamming against the console controls, along with additional gestures, communicated Bergman’s message effectively. Ollie turned to Imril, grabbed them by the back of the head, and pulled his helmet closer to theirs.
Bergmen: =/\= Can we manually remove the crystals from the active intermix chamber? Because it's that or welding the core cooling system anew. ::pause:: If you have another idea?… =/\=
Imril: =/\= Yes. But whatever time limit you gave Cole, we’re going to go past it. There’s too many safeties to override. =/\=
Ollie nodded slightly and turned toward the warp core, moving in ways he hadn't before. Was this what a panicking Gideonite looked like?
Bergmen: =/\= ::shaken in voice:: DC 15…l, wh… on t… E…r…g d… …port. =/\=
Imril: ::Assuming a sound-off:: Ensign Imril, here! =/\=
Cole: =/\= … still… side... Mai… eer… ait… … clock… …der... =/\=
Imril looked back towards the door, and found that it had been kept from sealing up again by a collection of debris piled up under the rim.
They looked towards the core again in time to see Lt. Storm nearly run into Bergman.
Storm: =/\=Lieute…we …. ally made … Do … ::points at Bergman.:: yo ::Points at her head.:: ow ::Puts her hands up in the air.:: happen…=/\=
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Three vibrations alerted Imril to anther figure -- Tho’Bi -- pounding in the floor. Next to him, much shorter Meris jumped in surprise.
The Andorian turned back to the terminal. Imril moved closer to get a better look at the information he -- they -- needed to impart.
(OOC Skipping screen text which has already been repeated a few times to shorten this post).
What they read was a lengthy series of updates of a situation that was somehow still getting worse. Meris and Tho’Bi’s explanation of the warp care ejection failure and its causes was interrupted only by an attempted communique by Cole:
Cole: =/\= L…nt be ad… I h… inforc… he… nce… … … … I could… he event … need… y… gr... =/\=
Tho'Bi then punched out a sequence of inputs into the neighboring console. The screen above lit up in the familiar graphics and format of the LCARS system.
A collection of three-dimensional outline schematics rotated on the screen: largest among them was the stretched column of the warp core, then three stubby pod-like Antimatter Pod Assemblies, and finally the flat curved panels of the M/ARA, Antimatter Loading Port, and Hull Plates.
Animatedly, Meris pointed at the three connection points representing the Core Retention Clamps. They were designed for simultaneous release to allow the core to fall naturally toward the ventral side of the Artemis and pass through the now-open ventral ejection port. They hoped releasing the core alone would be sufficient, since it would separate the metaphorical fuel from the fire. It all came together there.
As did a plan to simultaneously release all of three of the problematic locking clamps. With phaser fire, if necessary. (It probably was).
Meris looked at the others expectantly.
Storm had been looking over their shoulders reading what they were putting out. She nodded as she read.
//ENGINEERING TERMINAL SCREEN - STORM TYPING//
>TEAM 1 - THO’BI, MERIS, IMRIL, AND BANCROFT
> THO’BI, YOU’RE IN CHARGE
>STAY AND ATTEMPT ANTIMATTER POD ASSEMBLY DISCONNECT
>TEAM 2 - BERGMAN, COLE, STORM WILL ATTEMPT ANTIMATTER LOADING PORT AND M/ARA HULL PANELS DISCONNECT
//CONTROL PANEL SCREEN - END//
Tho'Bi: ::to Storm:: ::thumbs up::
Imril looked to Bergmen. His plan had just been countermanded by a superior officer before it had even been brought into discussion. And with the communications failure, there was precious little time to even do that. So too, his orders to Cole.
Bergman: Response
Imril ran back to the foisted-open door.
Cole: =/\= Three min… … …. =/\=
Imril: =/\= Imril to Cole, change of plans. Lt. Storm needs you. =/\=
They reached a hand under the door and motioned a ‘come here’ wave. Beckoning Cole to come in and get caught up. The odds that there was going to be anyone in the immediate area for her to retrieve in three minutes was diminishing by the second anyway. Once the security officer was in the same room as everyone else, Imril pointed to the screen with her new orders.
Bergman/Bancroft/Cole/Meris: Response.
Storm looked at Bergman and Cole. Then looked her team, her new team. She put her forefinger in the air and circled it twice to say, “Let’s roll!”
Team 2 left Main Engineering at a pace. Imril wondered how far Cole would get before the holodeck started throwing friendly reminders of her ‘condition’ at her.
((TEAM ONE: THO’BI IMRIL BANCROFT MERIS))
((OOC: Repeating for clarity… Team Imri/Meris and Team Tho'Bi/Bancroft are still both in Main Engineering. They can see each other. Comms will be shaky. Terminals reliable. Tho’Bi's Comms are damaged and do not function.))
The young Andorian Ensign turned to the Terminal.
> IMRIL TAKE MERIS RELEASE THE WARP CORE
> BANCROFT ON ME. ANTIMATTER POD ASSEMBLIES.
> CONFIRM?
//CONTROL PANEL SCREEN - END//
Tho'Bi: ::glances at the assembled officers::
Imril gave a thumbs-up, a symbol Tho’Bi clearly recognized and which Meris had presumably learned during her time at the Academy. They were technically Tho’Bi’s superior by a matter of months, but Storm had set him as the lead.
Meris/Bancroft: Response
The Andorian led Ensign Bancroft at a dash to the Antimatter Pod Assemblies. The decking shuddered under their rushing feet. Golden sparks spat from compromised power relays and conduits, like cobra venom, threatening to hot-solder through their Radiation Suits.
The Antimatter Pod Assemblies were located under protective floor panelling set into the deck at the aft of Main Engineering. There were identical locking mechanisms mirroring each other, at either end of the protective floor panel. The Andorian Engineer positioned himself in front of one of the locking mechanisms.
Tho'Bi: ::points at the opposite locking mechanism::
Bancroft: Response
Tho'Bi: ::kneels down:: ::gloved fingers around locking grip:: ::turns 180° anti-clockwise::
Bancroft: Response
The protective floor panelling popped up with a clunk. An electric blue light spilled out from beneath it. That sight, and the sound of Tho’bi setting aside the panel, were all Imril allowed themself to observe of that half of the operation.
(OOC: skipping over APA visuals that Imril isnt observing, will still post garbled versions of whatever comes over communicators)
Bancroft: response
Meanwhile, Imril pointed a direction to Meris that would bring them both around the warp core to the retention clamp indicated in Tho’Bi’s map. They had to go into the chamber that housed the core, out onto the walkway that circled it. Past the primary plasma conduits, on the far side of the chamber, was where they’d find the clamp.
They started walking.
Meris: Response
They scanned ahead of the pair to diagnose the problem. The tricorder, barely able to scan a few hundred meters ahead of itself anymore, provided the information they needed right before the screen fizzed out into a useless wash of pixels. The pair had only just reached the lip of the warp core chamber.
They gently tapped Meris on the shoulder, in the manner of engineers who wanted to get a busy engineer’s attention without surprising them and causing an accident. Then directed them towards the warp core observation alcove to the left side. There, they opened up a cabinet filled with phasers. Supplied against the possibility of hostile invasion. They handed one weapon to the helmsperson, and claimed another for themself.
Meris: Response
Imril had never been great at typing in gloves. They threw their case out on the nearby desk, stabilizing it against another rumble of the ship. Then yanked out the padd within, opened up its Officer’s Log function and tapped the command that would have the device read their lips. They dictated words that were set into the little screen. Given that they always spoke Federation Standard, having used it as their default language for years, there was a chance that Meris could read their lips, too, and knew what they had in mind before they handed the padd over to them.
>RAPID HEATING/COOLING POLARIZED THE CLAMP.
>IT’S A BIG ELECTROMAGNET ATTRACTED TO THE CORE ASSEMBLY.
>WE NEED TO STABILIZE CLAMP TEMPERATURE TO DEPOLARIZE.
>SET PHASER TO THIS FREQUENCY.
>I’LL TELL YOU WHERE TO SHOOT AND FOR HOW LONG.
There were less risky means of performing such a procedure. They were also a lot slower. This needed to be done in a hurry to a big piece of machinery.
Meris: Response
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Ensign Imril
Engineering Officer
USS Artemis-A
A240110I12