Ensign Lhandon Joseph Nilsen - Thunderbirds Are Go!
Lhandon Nilsen
Nilsen: Tox, can I dispatch a shuttle to beam them out if they get trapped?
There was a pause, a moment of silence among the three of them in the pit. The beating heart of the OC. Arlill had considered his response. Rouiancet looked up from her console and Nilsen had done the same.
Arlill: No (beat) you and I need to do this, we’re more likely to succeed together. (to Lia) Commander, can you take charge here? We’ve severed the connections we needed to and were able to from here, it’s up to Josh and his new engineer.
He had said no to sending a shuttle out, but yes to them flying the shuttle themselves. Lhandon had found himself momentarily stunned by Arlill’s response. o0 Shouldn’t Tox stay here 0o Lhandon couldn't claim to have understood what “Ro,” as he had come to call her, was thinking at that time, she seemed to be considering her own conundrum. He had only known a little bit about her service history, had seen a chief of operations role but hadn't delved into that, maybe she was going through the same thought processes that Toxin was.
He was just opening up to her before this, but even before that, he trusted her. As he’s thought before, she got him home.
She got him home.
That thought stayed with him.
Rouiancet: Sure. Go on.
Lhandon and Toxin had beamed directly to the shuttle bay, and the broroomys were on the rescue mission. Perhaps they could have changed their last names to Tracey. The communications had been kept open.
((Main Shuttlebay, Deck 10, transition to outside the Oumuamua)
Arlill: ::sitting at the co-pilot position:: I’m pulling up the transporter, I have a lock on the two of them, but there’s a lot of interference.
As Lhandon talked, he had already gotten the shuttle in the air and had started the run out of the main shuttle bay.
Nilsen: I’ll get us as close as I can, and keep your hand on the tractor beam. I have an idea.
Herrick: =/\= Herrick here, it's go time. =/\=
S. Sherlock: =/\= We're gaining access now. =/\=
Rouiancet: =/\= This is Rouiancet. Standing by with support as needed. =/\=
The moment he had cleared the threshold of the shuttle bay doors, he pitched up, fired the manoeuvring thrusters, and turned on a 180-degree heading to turn around and face the mission pod in the centre of the ship. Then, he fired the engines and they flew above the neck of the Oumuamua and straight to the mission pod.
Arlill: Response
Nilsen: =/\= Thunderbird 1 is in the air. I’m going to fly as close to the pod as I can and for his next trick, Tox is going to beam you out. ::To Toxin: I’m going to try and get as close to ‘em as I can. Which means, under.=/\=
Lhandon didn't wait for confirmation, but he knew that this would have given Toxin the best chance of beaming them out through whatever the interference was. He knew Tox trusted him.
There it was again, trust.
Arlill: Response
Herrick: =/\= Computer, override pod release lockout, authorization Herrick-Gamma-One.
Computer: =/\= Authorization Denied. =/\=
Lhandon briefly glanced at Toxin upon hearing the code fail, while he positioned the shuttle between the struts that held the mission pod aloft.
Herrick: =/\= Er… Authorization Herrick-Beta-Two? Recent promotion…still sinking in. =/\=
Computer: =/\= Authorization Granted. Proceed when ready. =/\=
S. Sherlock: ::s=/\= Ok. We're ready now. =/\=
Rouiancet: =/\= Still looking acceptable from down here, but hurry, please. =/\=
"Acceptable" was a good place for Lhandon to operate in. One day, he would articulate his thoughts on safety margins out loud and send every engineer in that sector into cardiac arrest.
He felt that “hurry” from Rouiancet in his chest, he let out a sigh and said
Nilsen: =/\= We’re in position, right under you. =/\=
Arlill: Response
S. Sherlock:: =/\= I think it worked! =/\=
Nilsen =/\= Yeah, that’s floating. =/\=
Rouiancet: =/\= Confirmed. Separation has occurred. =/\=
Arlill/Herrick: response
S. Sherlock: =/\= Ummm ::beat:: not to make anyone worry, but, uh, we're still in the pod. =\\=
Nilsen: =/\= Standby, we’re working on it. =/\=
Arlill : =/\= Responses =/\=
S. Sherlock: =/\= Oh! Ok! Um, do we have to do anything? =/\=
Nilsen: =/\= Nothing for you too do Sit tight, your flight will begin boarding soon, please present your booking passes =/\=
Lhandon knew not to worry too much; Toxin was on it. However, he couldn't help but worry about the others. He knew he could get them out of it the second they beamed aboard. He also had an idea to tractor the pod away, but one crisis at a time had to be dealt with.
Herrick/Rouiancet/Arlill: =/\= response =/\=
Nilsen: =/\= Yo, Sherlock right, you’re Aine’s sister? :laughs: What’s the best way to annoy her? =/\=
Lhandon was trying to keep the mood as light as could be, but he recognized that look from Toxin; it was the "I'm having problems" look. On the other hand, Lhandon was giving off an "I'm extremely nervous but I'm not going to be the one to show it" vibe. Some of his farmboy charm shone through, a side effect of his upbringing on Gault. Even in a post-scarcity world, money was still exchanged for goods and services, and when you were near the border of Klingon space, you learned to have a bit of charm and how to talk a Klingon down.
Lhandon would have rather faced 12 angry Klingons than the Wrath of The Hypothetical Case Of Metan Miljor. At least with the Klingons, he could have weaselled his way out of it.
Herrick/Rouiancet/Arlill/Sherlock: =/\= response =/\=
He spoke to Tox but the comms were still open,
Nilsen: =/\= ::to Tox:: Trust me bro, tractor the pod. It should increase the signal strength and, keep us relative to the pod, like a train. ::To everyone else:: I’ve had an idea, Commander, How long we got until the pod's destroyed? =/\=
Herrick/Rouiancet/Arlill/Sherlock: =/\= response =/\=
Nilsen =/\= That’s not enough time when it blows it’s taking half the ship. I’m flying now. The tractor beam is holding. Sorry for the bumpy ride, we’re working on getting ya out.=/\=
Herrick/Rouiancet/Arlill/Sherlock: =/\= response =/\=
Lhandon started to fly forward and as he cleared the mission pod, the tractor beam connected. In a split second, he pitched up to pull the pod away from the Oumuamua, but the beam didn’t allow him the 90-degree upwards angle he would have wanted. Instead, the shuttle resisted and he ended up with something closer to a 65-degree angle. Like a shackle, the Pod weighed the Type 14 shuttle down and instead of rising in the air, it started to drag along the top of the hull of the Oumuamua.
There is no sound in space.
The Pod scraped across the catamaran and nicked the side of the bridge as it went past.
Nilsen =/\= I can’t pitch up. it’s weighing me down. I’m going to have to go with it. New heading. 000 mark 010. Straight on =/\=
Herrick/Rouiancet/Arlill/Sherlock: =/\= response =/\=
Lhandon had put as much power into the thrusters as possible, but the pod kept dragging like an anchor and scraped and scratched the paintwork.
Etan should have been back soon, perhaps they could have buffed out the damage before the good, kind, lovely, not angry commander returned.
Had the commander done something new to his hair? Oh no, don't look over there, there was nothing to see there, sir. Instead, sir, why didn't he look at this picture of the USS Oumuamua in one piece?
Then another thought had come to him. It was a flaw in human psychology. He had been facing the bow of the ship when he arrived at the pod, so by nature, he had been ready to fly forward. However, if he had turned to the stern, this plan would have still worked but there would have been less damage—he would have just taken out a few escape pods.
Right after that, his brain had corrected that thought—he had wanted to go up topside, it hadn't quite worked, and then his brain realized that what he was doing was the right option. If the pod had exploded by the nacelles, that would have been even more damage that they couldn't afford to take.
So yeah, he had done the right thing.
He hopes.
Maybe.
This is what good people do right?
Doubt!
No…they don’t doubt.
They do.
Lhandon will do.
Tags/TBC
Ensign Lhandon Joseph Nilsen
HCO
USS Oumuamua
O240007LN1
He/Him/His (Both player and character)