Lieutenant Commander Marty Tucker - Taco Tuesday
Martin Tucker
Lieutenant Evinrude and Marty had been working to get the main pump to the reactor back on, but so far, no such luck. Marty was optimistic enough for the three of them. Kessler was providing security while the grease monkeys worked.
Evinrude: Got it! ::He called out from behind the console.:: Try it now, Chief.
Marty nodded even though Tess couldn’t see him. His hands danced over the LCARS; it didn’t take him but a minute locate the command controls. Marty shrugged before hitting the “On” button.
Tucker: Alright, here goes nothing!
Kessler: ::looking for the cell:: You get it working?
Evinrude: Would you look at that...the explosion must have rocked the heatsink back into place. No fatal errors, system ready...try to reset, let's see if it detects Esot's incoming patch!
oO Finally, something going right… Oo
Marty’s attention was drawn to Kessler, who was looking for Evinrude's lost power cell. While they’d gotten the pump to accept commands, it was making awful noises as it came back online. Hopefully it would hold together, so Marty checked the pump's progress. It was stuttering a bit, and he crossed his fingers that the patch Esot was working on would fix the problem.
Esot: =/= Commander Tucker, you may be able to find a hatch in the wall on the southern end of the pump room. I will attempt to disable the locking mechanism so your team has an alternative means of escape, should I have an issue getting a transporter lock from the pump room. =/=
Marty thought about that for a second and remembered he still had some of those personal transporter enhancers that he used early to send a compromised Nemes back to the Ronin. They could come in handy if interference was going to be an issue, and with the radiation ticking up, they weren’t helpful with the angular confinement beam.
Jack turned to face Tess and Marty.
Kessler: =/= Kessler to Esot. That hatch is welded shut from our side. If you can unlock it, I can try and get through the weld. =/=
Tucker: =/= Don’t want to rush you, ensign, but we need to get out of here. The radiation levels have risen even now, with the pump online or almost online. To keep it that way, we need that patch. =/=
Shortrith/Zh'taan/Evinrude: =/= Response =/= (Optional tags, if you're using the comm channel)
Esot: =/= I am working on it, I assure you. =/=
Kessler: =/= I'll start working on the weld then. =/=
Jack scanned the room, still looking for the power cell, and by the looks of it, he’d honed in on the wayward phaser power cell and went to retrieve it. He then returned and handed it to Tess silently, with a smile.
Tucker: Okay, so Mister Kessler, you’re going to start working that weld. Evinrude and I will put the finishing touches on the pump, and then we can all pile into the family truckster and call it a day. I’ve had enough of Wally World.
Evinrude: Response
Esot: =/= Ensign Esot to Commander Tucker. I am currently working on securing our escape route - how go the repairs? =/=
Marty went back to his control panel and started bringing up subroutines and the tertiary backups, which, from the looks of it, either didn’t exist or, if they did, wouldn’t hold for any significant time. While he and Evinrude put the finishing touches on the pump. Jack was off, securing their exit.
Kessler: ::changing his phaser settings:: =/= Cutting through the weld now. ETA, four minutes. =/=
Tucker: =/= How’s it going up there?
Zh'taan/Tucker/Evinrude: =/= Response =/= (Optional)
Shortrith: =/= We've got a plan, at least, courtesy of Ensign Esot. =/=
While Jack was focused on torching the weld, so they’d have an escape route, so they could get off the Koala forsaking rock. He was going to glow in the dark for weeks, and he was sure Rox didn’t want an irradiated glowstick of a boyfriend. Marty was starting to dot the i’s and cross the T’s but the Romulan was making things a bit slow, having to translate.
Kessler: =/= Two minutes and I am through. =/=
Esot: =/= I can complete my work once we're back on the shuttle. Or I can complete it here from this console, if need be. =/=
Tucker: Whatever floats your boat, ensign.
Evinrude/Zh'taan: Response
Shortrith: =/= Just keep in mind that the crawlspace can be damaged easily, even blaster fire can break through. =/=
Marty watched as Jack looked to the sky, like he was talking directly to Shortrith. He, on the other hand, finished the last bit of calculations and programming in a subroutine, which should lock anyone else out, as he figured with Romulans crawling around that they might try to sabotage it, which is what he thought they might have done anyway, just by looking at the way it was programmed.
Kessler: =/= Let's just make sure the Tholians get that memo as well. ::beat:: almost there. Ready gents?
Tucker: Let’s blow this taco stand.
Esot/Evinrude/Zh'taan: Response
Shortrith: =/= By an estimate, the crawlspace should be approximately 100 metres. From your location, it should be a five-minute crawl. =/=
Marty looked on as Jack’s phaser cut through the last little bit of the weld, it snapped and lurched open, sounding like a ghoul howling in the night. It downright sent shivers down the Chief Engineer’s spine. The sooner they got out of this green-tinted hell, the better. The Cardassian ensign did her work and you could hear the door mechanism unlocking. Which brought to mind his mentor and friend, Kiran Rork, and made him think about a Cardassian as a crewmate? Kiran was, after all, a Dominion war vet.
Kessler then swung the hatch open, his phaser at the ready. Marty took this as a clue as he pulled his phaser rifle off his back. Jack gave him and Evinrude a wry smile.
Kessler: Hatch is open, and the coast is clear. Let's get out of here.
Tucker: There’s no place like home, Lieutenant.
Esot/Evinrude/Zh'taan: Response
Shortrith: =/= It's up to you, Sir. =/=
Marty and Tess fell in behind the Ronin’s Security Chief; his phaser was at the ready. Tuck checked that his phaser rifle was set to the correct power level and had a full-power cell. Didn’t need his rifle to take a dump in the middle of a firefight. They began moving into the maintenance shaft towards the crawl space, which he was sure would give him flashbacks to the Academy. The shaft finally came to a junction where it was much narrower than the start of the way in. It was left, right, or ladder. It looked like Kessler had decided to go up the ladder rather than to the right or left.
Kessler: ::grabbing the rung and starting up:: Ok, up we go. Tess, set your tricorder to scan for movement behind us please. The radiation is limiting my scanning distance.
Marty shouldered his rifle to be able to climb up the ladder.
Tucker: Let's get a move on Lieuentant the less time I have to look up at your ass, the better. And Tess, keep your eyes open on our six.
Evinrude/Shortrith/Esot/Zh'taan: Response
As they began acedending the lights in the crawlway flickered on and off. Same with the lights further up the ladder; not that Marty could get a decent look, since all he had to stare at was Kessler's rear. The Security Chiefs' pause made Marty’s stomach do a barrel roll.
Kessler: Guys, we need to get moving. I think we have company headed our way.
Jack started to pick up the pace, which confirmed Marty’s trepidations.
oO Just once, I swear, just once… Oo
From Marty’s estimation, they were doing double time, and his arms burned. Marty worked out, well, sometimes, he wasn’t a gym rat like Gunny. But just by the feeling in his quads and arms told him a different story, one of eating Bajoran pastries and raktajinos every morning. It was here he promised himself that we would make more of an effort to stay in shape, other than being a pear.
Because he didn’t have a view, he had to rely on Jack for cues. If he was right and there were Tholians topside, it could equal bad news. The last thing they wanted to do was to get stuck on the ladder.
Tucker: Sit rep, Mister Evinrude?
Evinrude/Shortrith/Esot/Zh'taan: Response
The three of them got to the next level and came to a halt. Marty assumed that Jack was getting the lay of the land and whether enemies were approaching. So, we have Tholians on our six and likely above us as well. At least that was Marty’s thinking; Tess’s sit rep wasn’t a very bright one.
Kessler: Tholians approaching from above and below. Go, go....I have the rear. ::taping his coms:: =/= Shortrith, I hope you have that transporter working. We're about to have unwanted company and I can't set this explosive off in here without killing us too. =/=
Tucker: I swear to all that is holy, we’re all going back, no one is left behind. ::under his breath:: I don’t want to wear those damn bracelets again.
They kept moving, with Kessler leading the point. Marty reached into his bag and pulled out three personal pattern enhancer, he tossed one to Kessler and Evinrude.
Tucker: Slap these on. This should help them lock us in if interference is going to be that much of a problem. =/= Esot, Shortrith, we have personal pattern enhancers on, so if you want to beam us out, go right ahead, because we’re about to engage a group of what we think are Tholians. I think if we get closer to the topside, I can have the Sojourn beam us back.=/=
Kessler/Evinrude/Shortrith/Esot/Zh'taan: Response
At this point, everyone’s tricorders began to alert them to Tholian movement toward them.
Tucker: According to my tricorder, we have a group 900 meters to our right, and the ones coming up from the rear are about 600 meters out. I say we keep moving that way ::pointing forward:: and try to put some distance between us. The closer to the surface, the more we should be able to beam to the Sojourn.
Kessler/Evinrude/Shortrith/Esot/Zh'taan: Response
TAGS/TBC