Senior Chief Petty Officer Jenta Solana - Tholians. Why'd It Have to Be Tholians?
Rameses
((40 hours after the incident— Habitat Dome “The Hab”, Moon Sigma, Ross 580 System))
The Orion wondered if backups even mattered half the time considering how often they failed, even in Starfleet and they had triple redundancies.
Solana: Based on the current state of things, how long can someone be exposed before they end up like the two we picked up earlier?
They were wearing the heavy duty suits but she worried if those would be enough to buy them more than a few minutes.
Aduko: You and me? Enough time to save some lives, make it out of here with our green skin mostly intact. Those without some natural radiation resistance...
tr'Kharis: ::cuts in softly, almost politely:: They were standing next to the device when containment leaked. ::a brief glance to Aduko, then back:: Proximity, as it turns out, is… unforgiving.
Esot: I have seen the long-term effects of it myself. Even the short-term effects are concerning.
Kel: I'm going to say not long.
Solana: If we’re going to be here a while I recommend we set up some pattern enhancers in case that leak starts messing with the transporters.
Kel: Make it so, Chief. Ensign Esot, what do we have to work with?
Esot: I will know better once I have access to the dome's systems.
She watched Esot take the padd from its little pocket and tap away at it diligently.
Esot: However, I believe I can extrapolate a few potential possibilities based on the readings I've been able to gather during this conversation, plus the information that tr'Kharis and Aduko have provided.
Aduko leaned over to speak to the Romulan, far more loudly than was necessary. Jenta made note of it. Though she was certainly being more blunt than she might otherwise have been, this whole situation reeked of the sidestepping and evasiveness so rampant among both Orions and Romulans of a certain mindset. Though she’d been rescued by Starfleet from the streets of Rigel VIII she’d lived there long enough to get nearly the full experience that didn’t involve her dancing naked on someone’s table.
Aduko: Shodar. I want to help them set up those pattern enhancers first, if we can keep transporters going...that would be a huge help in evacuating personnel.
tr'Kharis: ::without looking at him:: By all means.
Jenta looked to her fellow Orion. She didn’t know what to make of the man just yet as he’d said a few things that irked her and some that she respected.
Esot: Considering the age of the facility, it is possible the leak is related to simple wear-and-tear. I am unsure of the maintenance cycle, but missing even a handful of checks might be enough to cause this kind of damage. ::a pause:: There is also the possibility of sabotage, though evidence of that may be hard to gather until the leak has been resolved. That evidence may also have been damaged or destroyed in the interim. ::thoughtfully:: I believe the answer lies somewhere in the middle - due to the Administrator's perfidious nature and Aduko's confrontational attitude, I would not be surprised to discover they might have alienated other of the dome's staff, which could have led to improper care or purposeful damage. The why of it is not so important at the moment - the radiation levels are increasing rapidly at any given moment, and must be displaced.
Jenta clicked her tongue against the back of her teeth as she listened.
Kel: Is there any chance we could channel power from the Ronin into the containment grid? Reinforce it to buy us some time?
Esot: As a temporary measure, certainly, though I suspect it will be quite a drain on the Ronin's resources. The closer we are to the leak, the more interference it will cause, and the more we will have to compensate.
Solana: A particle beam might work but the Ronin would probably have to get closer.
The Orion looked to them again.
Aduko: I was set to leave, to be honest. But I was concerned about a runaway reaction, especially after that last lash spike. Enthusiastic response rose five-hundred and fifty percent...and it looked like neighboring cells reacted in kind. ::He sighed, and delivered the next statement in deadpan.:: We really should get out of here while we still can...
tr'Kharis: ::a thin, knowing smile:: And yet… here we are. Still discussing solutions instead of leaving. How optimistic of us.
Captain V'Len turned around and gave Soldu an incredulous look, that elicited a slight smirk from Jenta.
Kel: ::sternly:: As I've already stated Administrator, leaving is not an option on the table.
Aduko: Easy there, Antenna. We're going to help. ::He gave Aduko a pat on the shoulder and moved towards Security Solana, speaking to her next.:: Let me help with those pattern enhancers.
tr'Kharis: Of course. Cooperation first. ::a pause, eyes never leaving Kel:: Tell me… how long do you intend to keep us here, Starfleet?
She gestured to Aduko as the enhancers materialized on the deck. She’d had to place a request for them to be beamed over since they didn’t bring any with them initially.
Solana: I’ll take half. Set them in an octagonal pattern to maximize the confinement beams.
She slid one of the bundles that had four enhancers strapped together.
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.
Jenta moved to a more clear spot on the floor of the room, removed her helmet and set it on the ground, then extended the first enhancer, popped out its legs and set it in place before twisting the emitter on top to the correct position.
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.
She was expecting another excuse to leave but apparently something in what the Captain said caught the other Orion’s attention and seemed either concerning or at least noteworthy. As if it was not something he expected.
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 realise you cannot… then we will depart this place.
The Administrator’s tone, or perhaps it was the continued fatalistic wording that he used that began to grate on her nerves. If she had thought initially that the condescension and tartness from the Romulan was from a hatred or dislike of Starfleet, it was overshadowed by the acceptance of death or failure.
A brief memory of the Siege of DS33 flitted into her mind when she had to slap one of the station’s defenders to halt his manic tirade about them all dying even though they had already survived over eighteen hours of fighting at that point.
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/Aduko: Response
Jenta setup the remaining three enhancers she had and once the whole octagon was complete they began ushering the wounded towards the center. She made sure they didn’t trample one another and held still long enough for the Ronin to beam them directly into Sickbay. At one point she caught Jino shaking her head as if she was dismissing something. The Orion looked away from the enhancers a moment, there was the briefest of moments she thought she heard something. Something that brought forth feelings of anger, fear and tension. For a moment she thought she heard something akin to the sound a spiderbot made when it moved on a bulkhead.
As Jino’s head snapped up Jenta spun around to see something descend from the ceiling. Her breath caught briefly as she noted the arachnid like shape but then realized it wasn’t what she originally thought. Though it was no less worse.
A Tholian.
Almost immediately she reached to her side, clasped the barrel of the CQC rifle slung around her suit and she whipped it up to fire a burst directly into the floor. oO Damn, forgot how fast the little shits are. Oo
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.
The Tholian creature twitched—frills erected from its carapace, a high-pitched harmonic whine beginning to build.
Jenta clenched her teeth at the Romulan’s comment, like they were ignorant to the dangers of the Tholians. Something he said caught her attention though, others.
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.’
She recited the mantra that some of the DS33 defenders had invented and recited like a battle cadence during the Siege to remind themselves what setting could affect the Tholians in their armor, or even the Sheliak. It was perhaps a bit dark, but that was the darkest moment in the Federation at that point.
Kel/Aduko: Response
tr'Kharis: ::through clenched teeth:: Careful. They have a… tendency to detonate when damaged.
She wanted to say something curt, but the Tholian was the priority. It began to skitter towards the enhancers and she fired a spray of nadion bolts ahead of it to try and deter them.
Esot: I would suggest stopping it before it inadvertently beams to the ship.
Solana: Over my dead body.
It took a moment as the Tholian was quick and could practically sidestep on a slip of latinum even when moving forward. She’d seen this tactic during the Siege and as soon as she spotted the Tholian’s right legs shift to that side she opened up with a volley of rapid fire phaser bolts into its carapace.
Kel/Aduko: Response
Some of the tension melted away once the Tholian was unconscious.
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.
Esot: The larger ones.
She shook her head, amazed at this new information.
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/Aduko: Response
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.
Soldu gestured sharply toward the distant bulkheads and the direction of The Lid. Jenta composed herself as best as she could to keep herself from squaring up against the Romulan.
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.
This time several choice Orion curses that would make even a slave boss blink flowed from Jenta’s lips.
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/Aduko/tr'Kharis: Response
She shot a look at tr'Kharis and her lips thinned.
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.
Kel/Aduko/tr'Kharis: Response
The console near Esot trilled and she turned to it, tapping a control. While Jenta moved the stunned Tholian and used the straps on the packs the pattern enhancers came in to bind the Tholian up temporarily.
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. =/\=
Jenta looked to Kel as she spoke, not wanting to overstep in taking the security precautions. While it was her responsibility, she respected the Trilldorian and hoped he’d back her call to secure the scout. One so it wouldn’t pose further issues and two so if this place did need to be abandoned it would be safe from a terrible fate.
Kel/Aduko/tr'Kharis: Response
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.
Kel/Aduko/tr'Kharis/Esot: Response
The Orion took a moment to adjust the setting on both of her sidearms holstered on her thighs to setting level seven. That level was capable of killing most organics, but Tholians and Sheliak it was equivalent to a level two or three stun.
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.
Even the one they just dealt with was in its suit because the atmosphere and conditions organics survived in were not conducive to Tholians.
Kel/Aduko/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/Aduko/tr'Kharis/Esot: Response
[tags/tbc]
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Senior Chief Petty Officer Jenta Solana
Security/Tactical CQC Specialist
As simmed by
Commander Toryn Raga
First Officer
USS Ronin - NCC-34523
Writer ID: A239410TR0
https://wiki.starbase118.net/wiki/index.php?title=Toryn_Raga