Lieutenant JG Amelia Semara - Shockwave

[Max]

(( OOC: I think I've re-jiggered the tags and slightly diverging sims back into shape.  Please file complaints in the nearest Hobart Hole I mean my inbox! ))

(( Bridge, Deck 1, USS Khitomer, the Lagoon Nebula ))

The science console was back up and working the best it had since the ship had shut down many hours ago, thanks to a little cooperative kludgy engineering to the science console.  With as much as Amelia had been in and out of from under the science console, she'd probably be dreaming of circuits for days that she previously only knew about academically.  It made her wonder how Connor or Lera kept it all straight.

The greater issue of consequence, however, was what the newly jury-rigged science console showed on the display.

Semara: :: Hissing :: Great Fana... :: Reporting out :: The lightnin' rod is workin' a little too well.  We're pullin' the whole dang anomaly down on us as we go.  Fine if we had infinite stable warp power, but...  :: trailing off ::

Maybe Graves' analogy was the better one, after all.  The amount of energy kicking up in the anomaly made it look like some blobby yarn predator slowly closing its mouth around the trajectory the Khitomer was following.

Zerva: Structural integrity at 73%. Shields down to 37%! I’ve pulled as much power as I can from non essential systems! I don’t know how much more the shields can take.

And they were in no position to withstand its powerful bite.

Hobart was up on his feet and issuing commands directly to the new Ensign.  Some first day she was having.

Hobart: Can you juggle, Ensign? I need someone to remotely pilot the runabout Ouachita back into anomaly as it follows us. Then… ::pointing to Commander T’Dara and Ensign Graves:: …can we use its warp field like ours, only higher output, long enough to collapse the anomaly before the Ouachita is destroyed?

The Ouachita?  Hobart couldn't seriously...

No.  He was serious.  The forged-steel will inside of him was plain.  She eyed Graves, giving a nod for him to run the numbers before giving the answer.  In her mind, there was less of a question about if it would work and more of a question if Khitomer would be far enough away to not be destroyed herself.  She'd warned the captain before starting this how energetic closing the anomaly might be.

Banks: Aye, sir.

And what's more, Banks was following along.  And following advice.  Smart, that one.

T'Dara / Graves: Response

Hobart: Zerva, Semara, start the remote uplink!

Amelia was already starting the cross-link.  Either intuition or a Betazoid's senses told her it would be good to get moving even before the order was given.

Zerva: ::rushing over to Semara’s console at her side:: Yes sir!

But entire curtains of deadly Sencha threads were closing in every second.  They needed a few moments longer to execute the plan.

Semara: :: Cool but urgent :: Go!  Faster!  Now!

Banks: Going faster! Increasing to maximum safe velocity. Any higher and we risk steering into more of the threads than we can steer around. Unless we have to, it’s too risky.

Good judgement.  Dying one way was no better than any other.

T'Dara / Graves: Response

Hobart: They can bill me! Launch!

Banks: Aye Captain, launching Ouachita.

The viewscreen flipped perspective.  Ouachita was flung from the ship, down the throat of the thing that was threatening to swallow them.  Like a sacrifice to some subspace demon.  She checked the instrumentation.

Banks: Ouachita in position.

Semara: Uplink's there, but spotty.  Increasin' gain...

At some point, dumping more power into everything for better performance wasn't going to work so smoothly.

T'Dara / Graves: Response?

The runabout's warp engines began to glow, the pre-bubble power up sequence was engaged.  It was precisely then the sensor readings started going haywire.

Banks turned over power to the Ouachita's sensor array - a fact Amelia only knew about because her readings on the uplink suddenly got a lot better.  And a lot more confusing.

Zerva: ::to Semara:: What is that?

She squinted a moment, scarcely believing what she was seeing.

Semara: Cap'n!  New ship contact on reciprocal vector of Ouachita!  Came outta nowhere, warp core output...  :: Breaking off. ::  Gone, sir.  Prolly echo a' some kind...

Just like that, the contact was gone, and so was Ouachita, reduced to nothingness; swallowed whole by the singularity.  The anomaly seemed to shudder and withdraw in on itself for a moment.

And then the very fabric of space itself spasmed and spurted, then finally split at the seams as the anomaly collapsed in on itself, ripping apart the nebula in a spectacularly brilliant lightshow.

Semara: Blastwave!  Order a' ten t' the forty Joules!

By the four, what had they unleashed?  Amelia turned to look at the distance they'd put between themselves and the origin of the blast....

Zerva: ::left hand twitching whispering to Semara:: This gonna hurt… ::tensing up, speaking louder now:: Awww, FRACK!

Hobart: =/\= All hands, this is the Captain! BRACE! =/\=

T'Dara / Graves: Response

She started another set of computations.  If they could jump to warp somehow with the intentionally degraded engines, outrun the shockwave...

The shockwave slammed into the ship, and Khitomer careened drunkenly onto its side, sending its occupants lurching from their seats and into floors and walls where they hadn't held on strongly enough.  Every alarm the ship had must have gone off at once.

Zerva: Amelia look out!

Amelia saw, then reacted instantly.  She twisted out of her chair and grabbed Ensign Graves by the uniform at her other side and yanked him hard to the floor with her, pulling his head safely to her chest.  But Ezra was already moving in between her and the console.

T'Dara / Banks / Hobart / Graves: Response?

It was too much for the poor overworked and horrendously jury-rigged science console to take.  With the ship's systems trying to dissipate energy of all forms safely away from the crew, a gold hairpin was a ripe contender for allowing far too much electricity into the panel.

The console exploded with a great shattering electrical arc that caught Zerva.

Zerva: ::blinding console lights and electrical sparks bursting in front of his eyes:: I can’t see!

There was too much smoke hanging in the red lights, and Khitomer was still pitching every which way.  She couldn't do anything until the ship settled.

Semara: Get down, and stay down!

Just like an earthquake.  Over at the helm console, Banks was clutching her abdomen like she'd been hit, but otherwise in a safe spot.

T'Dara / Banks / Hobart / Graves: Response?

Another wave threw the ship again, sending Amelia sliding across the floor still holding tightly onto the much larger Kelpian ensign's shoulders and head like a mother holding her baby.  A loud, squickly whang of metal on flesh and bone rang out on the bridge.

Zerva: :: As he’s struck in the head:: Ugh! ::voice fading:: Lera…

T'Dara / Banks / Hobart / Graves: Response

Amelia landed on the opposite wall feet-first, and clutched Graves like he was a life preserver - or she was his.

A few heavy, still, smokey breaths later, and she finally realized it was all over.  The ship had stopped.  She carefully stood up, helped Graves back up, dusted herself off.  Banks was slumped over at her chair, clearly trying to keep a Kraken of bile from coming up for air.  But the single point of wobbling pain that was blasting in her brain most came from Zerva.

She rushed over.

Semara: Graves!  Check the anomaly.  I got the Lieutenant.

T'Dara / Banks / Hobart / Graves / Zerva?: Response

It was a kind of agony submerged in adrenaline that radiated off of Ezra, swirling and throbbing and stinging - but not nearly as bad as it should hurt.  That's how she knew it was bad.  She let it wash over her, but never become her.  She could use it to work faster.  Her backcountry search and rescue days came back all in a flash.

Now thoroughly acquainted with the emergency rations on the bridge, she found a bottle of water near at hand, and emptied the whole thing onto his face, hoping to clear his eyes and wound of debris and chemicals.  Already environmental controls were clearing the smoke from the room, and backup lights were back on.

C.Dewitt: =/\= Engineering to Bridge. Please tell me we don’t have to do this again. =/\=

Comms, too.  Good.  She'd never take anything on this ship for granted again.  But she was too busy with the Trill to help answer that question.  Then again, with a shockwave like that one, it would be pretty hard to imagine their stunt hadn't worked.

Semara: :: To the Bridge :: Those sound like good readin's, but do an active sweep.  Make sure it's just reverberations.  :: To Zerva :: Don't move, Ezra...

It was hard to say how bad the injury was, but she sensed the way he was feathering in and out of consciousness.  She'd hold him down if she had to, but it was better if he cooperated.

Amelia stripped off her uniform coat and ripped off a piece of fabric.  Amped up on adrenaline, she barely noticed the exertion.  The fabric went around the Lieutenant's bleeding head - head wounds were always the worst - and she cinched it tight with one hard pull.

T'Dara / Banks / Hobart / Graves / Zerva?: Response

Semara: :: Checking Ezra's pulse at the neck.  To Hobart. :: He needs immediate attention, cap'n.  :: To Graves. :: Suggest Graves takes over.  My console's shot, anyway.  As am I any second...

As soon as she crashed from the adrenaline, she'd be no use to anyone.

T'Dara / Banks / Hobart / Graves / Zerva?: Response

Amelia nodded.  She laid out her uniform, and hauled the wounded man's head and shoulders onto it.  She squatted down, leaned back, and used the makeshift blanket to drag the heavy bulk of Ezra's body into the turbolift.

She shot the four other officers on the bridge one last glance, and called for sickbay.

The doors closed.

Tag / End Bridge Scene for Semara!

(( OOC: Getting this out before more chaos.  Will sim sickbay when I can, feel free to tag if you get there first! ))

Lieutenant Junior Grade Amelia Magnolia Semara

Science Officer

USS Khitomer - NCC-62400

A239710MA0