Ensign Kai Sims - Out of the frying pan...
Lucas Jones
((Bridge, Deck 3, U.S.S. Ronin))
Sims had just arrived on the bridge of the Ronin a few short minutes ago to deliver his damage report for deck six to Chief Tucker. Although he had been on the Ronin for several weeks now, ever since his posting from the academy, it was his first time meeting both his commanding officer and other members of the ship’s crew, including the captain and security chief.
Although he had been looking forward to meeting other members of the crew, Sims was also well aware that now was not the time for a meet and greet and launched eagerly into waiting for his first orders.
Sims: Damage to the damage control center is a bit more substantial, unfortunately. An EPS panel blew and started a plasma fire. The room was sealed off, and the fire should be contained, but no one can assess the damage to the room itself with the levels of plasma radiation in there.
Tucker: Good work, Ensign. Can you reroute Commander Carpenter's console over to Tactical Two? We’ll have to replace her console completely. ::pointing to the one console behind the XO’s chair::
Sims: On it, sir.
Sims briskly walked over to tactical two and pulled open the maintenance access panel underneath the console as he pulled himself inside. Thankfully, most major systems had ODN cabling that ran to the major duty stations on the bridge – mostly as backups in case any of the other consoles were lost, which made rerouting systems significantly easier than on older ships where engineers could spend several hours or days to replace a console.
Niac: Response
Carpenter: How long?
Tucker: ::to Kirsty:: It should only take a couple of minutes to reconfigure tactical two. And you’ll be up and running. ::head down again, looking at his console:: Deck eight reports microfractures in the bulkheads, which probably happened when the structural integrity field dipped. And I suspect those aren’t the only ones; we took one hell of a hit.
Sims: It’s going to take a little bit longer than originally anticipated, sir – the ODN line leading from the main computer has been disconnected. It’s going to take me a few extra minutes to bypass them and reconnect the console to the main computer.
Carpenter: And we'll take more if we keep sittin' here. And has ANYbody heard from Beck and Ian? They should be back by now.
Sims had yet to be introduced to either of the individuals mentioned, but he remembered that Beck was the chief medical officer on board and knew his face from the personnel file he had looked over shortly after being assigned to the Ronin and was fairly certain he would have recognized him if he had passed by him.
Sims: I don’t remember seeing either of them on the lower decks or on my way to the bridge sir.
Niac: Response
Carpenter: I'm good, Captain. Just...Beck's kinda my good luck charm. ::she gives a smirk:: He goes on, sure, but he's damn useful. Mister O'Connor too. You always play better from a full deck, right?
Closing the access panel behind him as he stood, Sims watched as various readouts on the Ronin’s various tactical systems began to pour onto the display, along with a wide list of various tactical systems that were disabled or destroyed. Mostly the latter probably.
Sims: Tactical Console 2 is online and ready for use, commander.
oO As much good as it will do in the Ronin’s current state oO
Tucker: Go for Tucker.
Morgan: =/\= Sir, I’ve played all the hits and dipped into the B sides and deep cuts, but I can’t get the warp core back online. One problem is the microfractures in the Antimatter injection bay…=/\=
Tucker: Got it, Rach. Tucker out. ::to Niac:: Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the warp core is toast, microfractures to the antimatter injection bay. We even look at the warp core funny and could have a breach.
That’s not good. Sims was certain this is the point where most captains would order their warp core ejected and limp back to base on impulse. But the Ronin didn’t have that option. Even if they wanted to, the sudden force of being thrown from the ship would almost certainly cause the micro-fractures to expand and detonate the warp core. With no power and limited shielding, the Ronin would certainly be caught in the explosion and be destroyed. The other option was only slightly more palatable – leave the core where it is and have the first major additional stress on the ship’s hull widen the ruptures and blow the Ronin to bits.
Sims: Between a rock and a hard place. Keep the core here, and the first jostle to main engineering will blow us to bits. Eject it, and we can’t get out of the blast radius and are likely blown to bits.
Niac: Response
Carpenter: What about evasive? Do we have a "speed limit" now, do y'all think?
Sims slightly scowled at the thought of putting any more pressure on the ship’s hull. Parts of the ship were still falling apart, and that was with minimal stress from the ship’s systems. Not to even mention how unstable the warp core had become.
Sims: I would suggest minimal use of impulse power, sir, and only if absolutely necessary. We’re barely holding together as it is – if we put any more strain on the ship’s hull, I’m worried she might break apart at the seams or the microfractures in the warp core will expand and blow the entire ship apart.
Tucker: Response
Sims had his attention drawn back to the main viewscreen as several of the ship’s remaining consoles began to sound alerts. Two bright lights – some of the brightest Kai had ever seen – were spread across the top length of the alien vessel that Kai had thought was destroyed moments ago.
Carpenter: So it DOES have normal guns...S'like seein'a teacher outside of school. Total letdown.
Usually, Kai would find a comment like this amusing, funny even, but at the moment all he could really feel was fear and uncertainty. The alien ship was powering up weapons. The Ronin was, for all intents and purposes, dead in the water. What hope did they really have? The only options left just seemed like prolonging the inevitable.
Sims: If the teacher had a plasma rifle aimed at our head and a full suit of body armor, maybe.
Niac/Tucker: Response
Carpenter: I think we can take a few shots, but we need to get movin' sooner rather than later. Can anybody drive stick?
Sims gave a small shake of his head to her question. He had some flight time, but not in anything larger than a shuttlecraft.
Sims moved to one of the still active consoles as he raked his mind for ideas and monitored for additional damage reports. The aftershocks seemed to mostly be over – damage reports had slowed considerably in frequency. Of course, that was probably just because everything that could collapse, blow up, or short-circuit had already done so, and large sections of the ship had been abandoned. Abandoned but still drawing power. Power that was desperately needed everywhere else. Sims now had an idea. A risky idea but still an idea.
Sims: I think we might be able to get a little more juice to the shields if we deactivate all the emergency force fields, life support, and environmental controls on the abandoned decks. It wouldn’t be a lot, but it would give us a little more power to the shields. Maybe give us a little more time before…
Sims let his sentence fade away. He was certain the others were likely well aware of what he was going to say, and it wasn’t something he felt needed to be voiced.
Carpenter/Niac/Tucker: Response
As the officers continued their debate regarding the merit of his plan, Sims stared at the consoles controls as he felt a growing knot in his stomach. Although the decks were supposed to be abandoned, there might still be people down there, and, with internal sensors non-functional, there would be no way to know. What if people died? He had made a choice like this once before, and it got a lot of people killed. He didn’t want to make the wrong choice again.
Any: Response
Sims snapped back to reality as he realized he was being stared at – one of the other officers had spoken to him, and he had completely missed it.
Sims: Sir?
Niac/Tucker: Response
---------------
Ensign Kai Sims
Engineering Officer
USS Ronin
R240109KS1