MSNPC Joakim Aduko - Drink Sencha: Now With Resealable Lid!

[Tess Evinrude]

((Habitat Dome “The Hab”, Moon Sigma, Ross 580 System))

Kel:  This radiation is already disrupting subspace, I'm not sure we could even generate a stable warp field.  ::turning back to Esot::  Ensign get a hold of engineering.  Get them working on setting up a power transfer.  

Aduko: ::He was, at first, speaking to Solana, tone frustrated but placating.:: Look, it's a good idea alright? And the faster we-- ::Then he heard Kel's news, and his head whipped around to look at the captain.:: What? That's...new behavior.

tr'Kharis: If you insist, Mr Kel. ::spreading his hands, magnanimous:: We do, as it happens, have casualties. Everyone here is suffering radiation sickness—some… more profoundly than others. ::his good eye sharpens:: Transport them to your state-of-the-art sickbay. Expend your resources. Try to save the reactor. ::leaning forward just a fraction:: And when you realize you cannot… then we will depart this place.

Esot: I am instructing the Ronin to connect with the dome's systems to enhance the grid's power supply. I believe it should be enough to stabilize the leak for… at least six hours. It will not repair it by any means, but it should prevent the damage from progressing while we investigate.

Solana: That’s six more hours than we had when we beamed down to sort this out.

Kel: ::turning to the Orion Scientist::  See.  Progress already.  Now, could you help my Ensign understand how this system works under normal circumstances?

All that talk, and none of the Starfleet officers had answered his question. How long had the radiation been disrupting their ability to go to warp? Had they studied the interference? Not only would this new behavior from the reactor disrupt their evacuation plans, but it would also become something the Lattice Alliance would pursue as a weaponized effect!

Aduko: Sure. ::He said, a little dryly, then sighed and checked his tone.:: Let me show y--

There was a loud crash behind them, and most present whirled around to see what Aduko and tr'Kharis had been worried would appear - one of their Tholian "protectors."

Before anyone could speak, their Orion security officer sprayed phaser fire at a section of deck plating beneath the Tholian's appendages, wielding some kind of snubnose rifle.

tr'Kharis: ::voice flat, dangerous, already reaching for his disruptor:: Now you’ve done it, Starfleet. Kill it. Immediately. It will attempt to transmit to the others.

Their Captain fired a few shots at the skittering Tholian, missing them all, which got a small chuckle out of Joakim, who didn't even draw his weapon.

Esot: The others?

Solana: We can worry about that later. We have to stop this one first. These are quick, but setting six is the lowest that affects them. ‘Six to stun, plus ten their dead.’

Kel:  Let's try for 8.

The officers tinkered with their phaser settings and fired a few more bursts. The equipment here was mostly just used for the meeting area of The Hab, but some of it was environmental.

Aduko: ::Under his breath.:: Who needs air?

tr'Kharis: ::through clenched teeth:: Careful. They have a… tendency to detonate when damaged.

The Tholian had picked up the transporter pattern enhancers for the threat that they were - for escape or introduction of reinforcements. It changed course, coming right for the devices, and Aduko.

Esot: I would suggest stopping it before it inadvertently beams to the ship.

Solana: Over my dead body.

Their Orion - Solana, was it? - focused up, and landed a beam directly into one of the Tholian's legs. It fell to the deck, immobilized. 

Kel: Nice shooting Chief.  

For a few moments there was stillness in the room as everyone caught their breath.  

tr'Kharis: ::reholstering the weapon, adjusting his cuff as if nothing unusual had occurred:: Unfortunate. ::a pause, eye lifting once more to the ceiling:: But necessary… and satisfying. Unfortunately, I believe it fulfilled its purpose. The larger ones may now be aware of your presence. ::Pointing accusingly at Kel:: I told you we should have left.

As the acrid smoke dissipated, Joakim took a quick assessment of the collateral damage. Some equipment had been slagged, but none of it was vital to maintaining the Hab for as long as they needed it as a staging area for the evacuation.

Esot: The larger ones.

The Cardassian asked a question, in the form of a statement.

Solana: Warriors. This one is just a scout. We ran into dozens of them in Jeffries Tubes on Thirty Three, scouting for weak points in our lines.

Kel: ::trying to sound cheerful::  Not to worry Ensign Esot.  Our security team is top notch.  ::scanning the rest of the room::  Let's focus on how this reactor might be brought back under control.  

Their captain walked over to stand face to face with tr'Kharis.  

Kel:  Let me guess, ::nodding at the immobilized Tholian:: these are your, not so pleasant, benefactors?

Aduko: Excellent deduction skills, captain. ::He said dryly, returning to what he was doing with the pattern enhancers.:: Getting back to work on these, Shodar, let me know if you need anything.

tr'Kharis: Very well. Since subtlety has been rendered… obsolete. The Lattice Alliance are our investors. ::a small shrug, as if admitting an accounting error:: They are our masters. They control this station.

Joakim did not look pleased, but he nodded in agreement with the administrator.

tr'Kharis: They maintain a nest of Worker caste in the secondary dome. Engineers. Scientists. Tasked with assisting with reactor and other experimental projects. ::voice cooling further:: And three adult Warrior-caste Tholians remain on the moon. Enforcers. To ensure our obedience… and compliance.

The Starfleet officers didn't seem to care for the Tholian presence any more than Aduko himself, which wasn't a surprise.

Esot: Correct me if I am wrong, Captain Kel, but did the Tholians not attempt to deploy a Sencha-wave based superweapon against Starbase 33?

Solana: Not attempt, they actually fired the damned thing at us. Melted dozens on both sides and damned near split the station in half. I watched two Bolians, a Sheliak and a Tholian all meet an end I wouldn't wish on anyone, in the space of a breath.

Kel: That's correct Ensign.  Apparently they think it's the "greatest thing since sliced bread" to borrow a Terran phrase.  

Aduko kept quiet. He knew the research here would be weaponized, that much was obvious - but he didn't know it had been successfully integrated into a weapons system, let alone deployed.

tr'Kharis: Response

Esot: Perhaps we have discovered the origin of that superweapon? Or at least something related.

Solana: We can figure that out, but right now we have to keep his place from ripping the quadrant apart with chroniton black holes.

The Starfleet captain considered a display, showing the reactor's current status.

Kel: So tell us.  How is power to this reactor regulated?  I might be mistaken but this looks to make use of singularity technology.

Aduko: Power to the Sencha reactor? Well, we do have a sustained reaction generating its own power...though not all of its capacity is going to power generation. :: After quick, sardonic laugh.:: Of course, that reaction is now runaway. ::After a beat, he continued.:: We do have two standard-pattern mid-size powerplants here, for auxiliary systems and redundancy.

It was the administrator's place to elaborate on production of the "weapons-grade" materials, if he so chose.

tr'Kharis: Response

Esot: Engineering has responded. They have established a link with the power grid and are beginning the transfer now. We are already seeing some improvement with the leak.

Solana: Good. ::she tapped her comm badge:: =/\= Security Alert. All teams be advised, we’ve encountered a Tholian scout and have been informed that multiple worker-class and three Warrior-class are on site. The former most likely in the hab dome. Ronin, we have one to beam directly to the brig. Advise all phasers set to setting six at minimum to stun. =/\=

oO "All teams." Oo

Joakim wondered how many Federation officers were here. To a small extent, he worried for them - anyone deploying to the reactor dome would encounter certain death.

Kel: =/\= Kel to Engineering. =/\=

Dohna: =/\= Dohna hear sir. =/\=

Kel:  =/\= Lieutenant I want you to prioritize getting the warp drive back online and functional, we may need to beat a hasty retreat. =/\=

Dohna:  =/\= Understood Sir.=/\=

tr'Kharis: Response

Aduko: What do you intend to do about the Tholians, who are no doubt rallying to attack after that one got its message out? ::To emphasize, he jerked his head towards the immobilized tangle of crystal.::

Esot: In light of this new information, perhaps we should consider changing our objectives?

Solana: I don’t know if we can. As dangerous as the threat of Tholians being here is, if we don’t try and contain this then who knows what else will start popping out of those rifts. And I don’t know about you but I’d rather not watch any more of our shipmates get blasted to pieces again today if I can help it. Even if they weren’t from our universe.

Captain Kel sent out yet another call to his crew. Aduko huffed impatiently.

Kel: =/\= Kel to Rox. =/\=

Rox: =/\= Eh?  What's up Captain Doc? =/\=

Kel: ::flatly::  =/\= Hilarious.  The Ronin may have guests soon.  We're going to need a space for wounded.  You know the drill. =/\=

Rox: =/\=  I do, his names Stanly. ::pause::  I'm on it Cap. =/\=

Aduko: ::Narrowing his eyes, he tried to tune out the comm call, responding to Solana.:: Nor would I enjoy watching more of our staff here die.

tr'Kharis/Esot: Response

Captain Kel moved back join the rest of them.  

Solana: Whatever we’re going to do I recommend that we do it in pairs. Even if they're not wearing their suits, with all this radiation it’ll be questionable how reliably we can track them with sensors.

Kel:  What are your thoughts on evacuating the crew of this outpost to the Ronin, Chief?

tr'Kharis/Esot: Response

Solana: Well, if we can evacuate everyone then that’ll make things easier. But I recommend we also have the Ronin’s security on alert. Even one worker could cause some damage if it got on board. During the Siege they used workers for demolition and sabotage.

Kel: ::nodding to Solana::  See to it the security team Chief, I've notified sickbay to expect guests.  

tr'Kharis/Esot: Response

Aduko: ::To Kel.:: Captain. I am growing anxious here, and it is not the radiation. What is your plan?

Kel:  So I have a team currently near what's left of your reactor.  What systems should they prioritize repair to?

Joakim sighed, and forced himself to think like these Starfleet people. If they wanted to prevent a catastrophic, runaway reaction...they first needed to focus on the coolant.

Aduko: ::Running his hands through his hair, he paced back and forth.:: The Lid has already blown its top, and we can't reseal it until we can slow down the reactor. I'm...not sure if that will be possible...but we should focus on the dampening system, the coolant. It had been overheating even before this latest incident, and it certainly isn't doing much to quench the reaction in its current state.

Solana/tr'Kharis/Esot: Response

Their captain also paced about.

Kel:  To say the Tholians's are an inconvenience is an understatement, but if this disaster continues I suspect it will have consequences for all our home worlds.  Our priority has to be getting this situation under control or better still, shut down.  

Solana/tr'Kharis/Esot: Response

Aduko: ::With a look of surprise and appreciation.:: Perhaps, if we could shut off the aberrant power flow from the Sencha reactor. My theory is that its dissonant emissions are what was causing the cooling system to be unreliable. ::After a beat.:: I suppose...we could power the coolant system with our auxiliary powerplants? They'll function like oversized generators.

Kel:  So, these generators.  ::pointing::  If we bring them back online what's likely to happen?

Solana/tr'Kharis/Esot/Kel: Response

Aduko: Something like that. We will, of course, lose life support... ::He replied with a somewhat manic smile.::

Solana/tr'Kharis/Esot/Kel: Response

[Tags/TBC]

--

Joakim Aduko
2IC & Research Lead
The Lid

--as simmed by--

Lieutenant J.G. Tess Evinrude

[he/him]

Operations Officer

USS Ronin

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