Lt. Cmdr Thelan Valeris - Fighting the Masses
tas9303
((Main Engineering, Deck 12, USS Khitomer))
Vidya: Then I would advise using caution within the nebula cloud until such a time you have preparation. You have advised, true First Officer, keeping the SDA away from the center is a wise decision. I concur with that assessment. I recommend getting as close to the edge of the nebula’s cloud as possible before its use.
Thelan had to agree. They didn’t want to cause anymore harm to the cloud than they might have already by simply being there.
Valeris: Least chance of damage, the better.
Dewitt: Thank you, Ma’am. I’ll pass that on to Lieutenant Semara by message. I would rather not need to use the SDA at all.
While Thelan was curious about how the SDA worked and wanted to see it in action, they had to keep the Velithari and the nebula-creature-thing in mind as well.
Michaels: We will not put your people or your ship in undue danger.
oO Or the cloud. Oo
Vidya: Very well. That is your prerogative. ::looking about:: How shall I assist with the torpedoes? Will there be more transporting of masses away from them?
With a final tap at his console, Thelan turned towards the others.
Valeris: Masses and filaments around the launchers and magazines have been targeted. ::Tapping the console:: Beginning transport now. ::towards Vidya:: Sorry, there isn’t much to do but wait now.
Waiting is certainly what they had to do. Given the abundance of filaments and how far they apparently wrapped around things, it was taking a bit longer to get them all within the beam.
Dewitt: Good. Commander, the moment those bays are clean, give me a report. ::to Michaels:: How are the buffers handling the patterns, Lieutenant?
Michaels: We have them. The filaments are simpler than originally expected. The load on the transporter buffers is minimal.
A silver lining in the…literal clouds.
Valeris: Should only be a few minutes, then we should have some freed up offenses.
And that is where the silver lining seemed to stop. A damage control console began to chirp from across the room. oO Great. Oo
Dewitt: Report!
Michaels: The ship is moving and the filaments that were plugging some of the holes are beginning to pull free. ::beat:: I am showing loss of atmosphere on several decks. I am initiating emergency forcefields.
The hull breaches were something that they fully expected. But Thelan hadn’t expected the ship to start moving so soon.
Vidya: There are harmonic fluctuations along the hull of the vessel.
Valeris: The difference in hull materials from ship to ship could have some effect on the resistance the cloud gasses have.
Or the deflector shields were catching the gasses. One way or another, things were getting a bit bumpy.
Dewitt: The vibration must be a problem once the thrusters fired. ::tapping a few buttons:: Power generation is back at 34%. That’s enough for emergency forcefields around the hull breach plugging masses.
Michaels: Yes sir. It does not leave us much for other purposes including conventional shields.
Which wouldn’t necessarily become a problem until they were out of the cloud and within the crosshairs of the Lattice attack for that was on the other side. A thought that made Thelan shiver sightly.
Vidya: Fluctuations are returning to nominal levels. Increased speed may cause additional vibration concerns.
Looking over the sensor data for the entire ship, Thelan suddenly saw the reason for their vibration issue.
Valeris: Think I found our problem. Inertial Dampeners are only operating at 67%. Filament intrusion is making things difficult for them.
Dewitt: Alright… Inertial Dampeners are a new priority. ::beat:: What percentage of the masses have we removed?
Thelan was busy adjusting the targeting scanners to the Inertial Dampeners to check the data, so he left it to one of the others.
Vidya: ::checks the offenses Valeris mentioned:: With the addition of the torpedo bays now cleared, approximately two thirds, or sixty six percent of the entire Khit-o-more vessel is freed. Just over fifty percent. Half the vessel.
With all of the ‘excitement’, Thelan had forgotten to report the torpedo bays being cleared.
Valeris: Oh yeah, torpedo bays are cleared, sir.
Michaels: I recommend a full stop to allow us more time to increase power generation and prepare a more permanent solution to the holes.
Furrowing his brow, Thelan looked up towards the others.
Valeris: I wouldn’t recommend that. Keeping moving is our best option to keep us out of the line of fire of that Lattice ship, and get us into a position to defend the cloud.
Vidya: I concur with Michaels. I recommend moving any non essential power to the inertial dampers and shields as a precaution as we remove the masses from the dampeners. It would ensure the dampers are less likely to go offline.
Adding more power to the dampeners while removing the filaments had the potential to cause an over correction. Maybe a bit too risky with the scarcity of their reserves.
Valeris: We would want to be careful with sending more power to the dampeners. We don’t want to throw us all on our heads with an overcorrection. ::Beat:: I just advise some caution.
Dewitt/Michaels: Response
Vidya: This is your vessel true First Officer. It is for you to decide which areas should divert power.
Thelan kept quiet, feeling like he had probably said enough and stepped on enough toes.
Dewitt/Michaels: Response
With a couple taps at his console, Thelan began skimming power from certain systems. With a little fenagling, he was even able to back feed some of the dedicated power from the holodecks. No one was using those, right?
Vidya: Dampeners are stable and… ::computer bleeps:: One of the masses is proving most difficult to remove from the dampeners. ::to everyone:: Assistance would be wise.
Valeris: ::Looking over the sensor feeds:: Looks like the filaments are catching on to what we are doing.
The ship shuttered, almost making Thelan lose his balance. The filaments were fighting back.
Dewitt/Michaels: Response
Valeris: It looks like this particular cluster is attempting to reflect the transporter beam. Compensating.
Dewitt/Vidya/Michaels: Response
Thelan felt like he was sweating. He probably was. His fingers flew across the console as he adjusted the signal and strength, looking for just the right combination to break through whatever the filament was doing to keep them away.
Valeris: Almost….there….
Dewitt/Vidya/Michaels: Response
With another shudder, it felt like the Khitomer bobbed sideways as the filament finally broke loose and transported away.
Valeris: Got it! ::beat:: And almost half of that Dampener. Dammit.
Dewitt/Vidya/Michaels: Response
TAGS/TBC…
Lieutenant Commander Thelan Valeris
Engineering Officer
USS Khitomer
A239905NR1