LT. T'Muhn - A Close Shave-( TAS: Avery/Eerie/Herrera/Tagren/Pavlova/Jaxx/Udas)

[A. Cuoco]

((USS Vigilant, Deck 1: Dorsal Bridge))


Herrera: On screen.

::T'Mihn daw the ventral bridge looked a little beaten up, as did Udas, who was at the helm . She could see he needed medical help but was still talking.::

Herrera: =/\= Gentlemen, how's everything holding together? =/\=

Jaxx/Eerie/Udas: =/\= Response =/\=

::There wasn't a huge amount of time for talking,Herrera gave his orders.::

Herrera: =/\= We're about to start evacuating Romulans from the station. They just engaged their self destruct over there and I assume they've been boarded. I want to reconnect the dorsal and ventral sections. Udas, are you up to it? =/\=

Udas: =/\= Response =/\=

:Udas looked no worse for wear.::

Eerie/Jaxx: =/\= Response =/\=

Herrera: =/\= We need to start the docking process right now. We're matching your course and speed. As soon as you're done, head up to the main bridge. =/\=

Eerie/Jaxx/Udas: =/\= Response =/\=

::The comm closed. The computer would assist them with the docking process; each section of the ship was fitted with microtractors that would assist with getting the ship sections perfectly aligned. Doing it manually would have been a nightmare.::

Rulak:=/\= Commander Rulak to Federation starship Vigilant. =/\=

::Not only was the interference greatly diminished, but people were certainly taking advantage of the renewed ability to communicate. If Rulak was contacing the ship then it had to be important.::

Herrera: =/\= This is Fleet Captain Herrera. Go ahead, Rulak. =/\=

Rulak: =/\=Stand by, Captain. =/\=

::T'Mihn  felt a jarring sensation and another dull metallic clunk rang through the deckplates.::

Avery: Dorsal and Ventral sections are docked, all systems linked and functional.

Herrera: Alright, reroute power to the dorsal shields. Helm, keep our belly to the station. T'Mihn, stand by transporters.

Avery: Copy Sir, shields re-routed to compensate ... :: She checked the readouts for any abnormalities, then happily reported ::  Power grid functioning with only nominal drain.

T'Mihn: On it.

::Commander Rulak's voice came back onto the comm while the officers were preparing the evacuation.::

Rulak=/\= Please beam aboard a small token of appreciation from me. It is quite old, but I don’t need it any more. =/\=

::Her culture in her time,during the exodus and today didn't waste anything and she could make a guess Romulans didn't either.  What could he be beaming over that was more important than himself?  A second or two of thought, T'Mihn hazarded a guess. Many species held familial items sentimental.  Her people today won't admit it claiming it was illogical to have an emotional attachment to a thing , but they had sentimental items as well.::

Herrera: Oot, take care of it.

::The Ensign at mission ops nodded and turned back to his console to execute his orders.::

Oot: It looks like it's a bottle of Romulan ale, Sir.

::A slender eyebrow went up when she saw the ancient looking bottle with a clear pale blue liquid inside. oOAlcohol?Oo.  Maybe there was something more to it than the beverage it contained.::

Herrera: =/\= Thank you, Commander. We'll hold off the Andorians for as long as we can, but you should get yourself out of here. =/\=

Rulak: =/\=Thank you Captain for everything. My report will reflect your service, to the Romulan empire. if anyone cares to read it. =/\=

::T'Mihn heard something in the Romulan's voice.   He was making peace with himself for something she didn't know about.  That bottle of ale meant something important to Rulak, and whatever it was he would carry that into eternity. She commited his face and only name she knew to memory. When she got to Vulcan, if her home still remained,she would inscribe his name in stones of her home's foundation so his soul would not be lost. :: 


Herrera: =/\= Jolan tru, Commander. Herrera out. =/\=

::With that, Diego's attention turned fully back to the evacuation process.::

Herrera: Irina, keep up the barrage. Let's make those ships think twice about coming too close.

Pavlova: Captain, torpedoes almost depleted, can’t keep this up much longer.

Herrera: Avery, T'Mihn, let's get this evacuation underway, shall we? Helm, keep a close eye on the station's power core. The minute it looks like it's going to go critical, get us away from it.


T'Mihn: I have the station's crew targeted . They are in motion,it will be tricky to get them. Ensign Avery, could you expand the confinement beam just a bit, please.

Avery: Absolutely ... I've added some auxiliary power to the coils and expanded the beam.

T'Mihn: Thanks.

::On the viewscreen, the second Andorian ship came around again and was met with a flurry of weapons fire from the larger, combined section of the multivector Vigilant. Irina's shooting penetrated the weak point she had created earlier and damaged their nacelle; without it, the Andorians were going to be unable to go to warp.::

Pavlova: Second Andorian ship disabled, and we’re all out of torpedoes.  Recommend we beam as many Andorians aboard as possible before they destruct this one as well.

::That was easier said than done; they were committed to rescuing the Romulans and, no matter their emergency transport capacity, attempting to beam refugees aboard from two sources was not going to end well.::

Herrera: We have to get those Romulans aboard. T'Mihn?

T'Mihn:  I'm trying Captain.:: Turning to Pavlova::Lieutenant Commander Pavlova, drop shields. Now!  Energizing.

::More or less addressing the running Romulans and shuddering ship.  She knew Irina and Avery were doing their best.  Now if their attackers would cooperate, it would this task quicker.::  

T'Mihn: Hhsss.  :: quiet mutter::  C'Mon,stay still.  

Avery: I've re-routed power from non-essential systems to the energizing coils and the sensor array ... hopefully it helps to compensate at least a tiny bit.

::A tiny bit mattered.::

Herrera: Good work, Ensign.

::Then it happened.  The Andorians fired a spread of torpedoes, three in all, and clearly on a guided trajectory that would take them to Vigilant’s unshielded aft ventral hull.  She saw the  deployed countermeasures Pavlova sent catch the attention of two of the missiles, but third remained on course.::

T'Mihn: oOThis is going to hurt.Oo

Pavlova: Incoming.

::She blocked out the environment around her.  She forced her heart rate and breathing to slow down.   She never liked being in the midst of battle,,every time it happened,beings died senselessly.  Voices of the bridge crew slowed and dropped in pitch as adrenaline raced through T'Mihn's body. If it weren't for decent discipline, her hands would have been shaking,now.  Logic dictated they would once this was over.  Her senses sharpening,she saw and heard things she would not normally pick up.  Time seemed to dilate and slow. ::

T'Mihn:  ::as calmly as she could.:: I see them, I can compensate. 

Herrera: Helm, roll the ship, turn our backs to those torpedoes!

::Anything loose skittered across the deck as the helm officer rolled Vigilant to avoid the persistent torpedo. One fact remained, this ship was very nimble. She wondered vaguely if she'd ever ever gets chance to fly it.::

T'Mihn: oOI bet we designed the torpedo  targeting system. Oo

::The thought of being shot into atoms by an ally was high distasteful.  She felt the deck shudder from pulses of the phaser emitters.  Another micro glance up showed her  Irina's firing pattern. The human fired into empty space.::

T'Mihn: oOShe is leading them.Oo

::The torpedos might not be able to change course. The tactic was risky.  T'Mihn made mental calculations and to the conclusion that this was going to be very,very,close.::

Herrera: Brace for impact!

T'Mihn: oO Ah.. frell. I'm getting too old for this.Oo

::Debris rained from sections of the bridge's ceiling, clattering down close to the helm station as the air filled with the tang of burning metal. T'Mihn's eyes immediately watered as she coughed the irritating dust from her lungs.::

::The concussion slammed the Vulcan into her console edge. She felt a floating rib fracture, her vision blurred from the sudden pain..  She shook her head clearing it of the mental fog in time to  snatch Avery out of the way of a falling support beam that landed on the console rendering it useless.::

T'Mihn: Are you OK?

Avery: Response 

::Around them mangled consoles melting into slag from super heated sparks.  Acrid smell of plastic stung her eyes causing them to briefly water before her second eyelids closed over the orbs.   Her vision cleared,the stinging halted, but not the rib. That was minor and could wait, if there was time.::

T'Mihn: I agree, that's too close.

::She dove back to the transporter controls,it seemed the computer was doing its job.  Irina's voice made T'Mihn turn her head. ::

Herrera: Report!

Pavlova: Hull breaches aft ventral section, decks 6 and 7.  Aft ventral shield emitters destroyed.  ::she paused:: : That was close.

T'Mihn: oOToo close. Oo

Herrera: You're not joking! T'Mihn, do we have the Romulans?

T'Mihn: Half of of them are aboard, I need another ten seconds.

::Fingers and mind in concert working to do what should be impossible. She felt more fire exchange occurred,but she held to this task.  Ten tense seconds felt like ten decades.::  

Herrera: Helm, buy us whatever time you can.

::Not expecting the helmsman to move like he for,caught the Vulcan off guard just for a second. She only had time to clench her hand to the side of the console. The rest of her moved from the inertia.  She felt her shoulder joint separate, pain bloomed behind her eyes.::  

::The helmsman pulled a series of evasive manoeuvres that were bordering on white knuckle. With their aft now vulnerable, they were walking a tightrope with every manoeuvre.  T'Mihn didn't think her martial arts training in how to root to the ground would help to keep her steady.   Her console seemed to move on its own, icons blurred into each other as eyes watered from the growing plumes of acrid smoke.::

T'Mihn: I have them all. Dispatching medical to cargo bay two.

Herrera: Great work, T'Mihn. Irina, what's our status?

::Giving a weak grin at Diego , she was a little frazzled.::

Pavlova: Shields at 49% overall, 12% at aft ventral.

T'Mihn: Thank you Ensign Avery.  I could not have done this alone.

Avery: Of course ... I'm glad I was able to assist.

::There was only a second's pause before Avery spoke again, her tone much less relaxed than it had been previously.::

Avery: Reading a massive power shift in the Andorian vessel ... It looks like they're taking every system they have offline ...

T'Mihn:What are they doing?  

Herrera: They're powering down?

Avery: If I had to guess, they're probably going to re-route it to a system that Commander Pavlova disabled.  Possibly warp or ... :: Then it hit her, hard.  Commander Pavlova ... she had already told them exactly what was happening!:: Sir, good chance Commander Pavlova already said it ... they might be re-routing power to utilize some type of self-destruct mechanism!

Pavlova ::Dropping shields again, quickly:: : Get them out of there!

T'Mihn: Understood. Suggestions where to put them?

Oot: Sir, the station!

::They didn't need sensors trained on it to track the series of explosions that blazed along the surface of the station. They were dangerously close to the combined dorsal and ventral sections of the Vigilant and currently to their aft. It had obviously seemed like a safe move to the helmsman as the Romulans on the station were effectively their allies, and it cut down the firing angle from the remaining Andorian ship.::

T'Mihn: Transporting. 

::There was barely any time at all to make a call; if they had their shields down for even a second too long then everyone aboard was going to wind up dead. This was no torpedo exploding off their aft; this was a series of fusion generators large enough to power an entire science station. That was what they knew about. If her theory was correct about the phase cloak, regular fussion reactors weren't up to the power requirements. They probably had daisy chained several powerful genrators. The explosion was going to wipe everything out.::

Herrera: Belay that! Shields up! Helm! Hard to starboard!

::The station lurched to one side of the viewer and Diego was almost thrown from his seat again with the abrupt manoeuvre. .T'Mihn was jerked hard enough to make her pop.  If she hadn't had been hanging on,she'd end up in the Captain's lap.::

T'Mihn: oOLwhy don't they have  Rrpestraint systems seats and grab bars?Oo

T'Mihn: Hang on.

Avery: Response

Herrera: Brace for impact! All power to the shields!

::The screen was filled with incandescent light as flame and debris spewed past them; sparks flew overhead as EPS conduits blew and the consoles flickered before eventually settling down.::

Herrera: Damage report!

Avery: Response

::It didn't matter any more whether the Andorians had self destructed or if the station had destroyed their ship in its own death throes. There was just the Vigilant and one Andorian cruiser left.::

Pavlova: Response

Herrera: Put it on the speakers.

Tagren: =/\= Response =/\=

::The Captain's relief to hear Ari alive and well mirrored her own.::

Herrera: =/\= We're alive over here, Ari, how's the central section holding up? =/\=

Tagren: =/\= Response =/\=

::Their conversation was interrupted by a report from mission ops.::

Oot: Sir, the remaining Andorian cruiser is powering its engines.

Ki'Kay: Should I lay in a pursuit course?

::With the bulk of the Vigilant struggling to keep its shields up, coupled with the fact that the central section hadn't been built with warp drive, only slipstream.  T'Mihn wanted to go get hem, bit knew they couldn't sustain the chase and make repairs. She could imagine Brian uttering ancient Golic epithets at the damage he was viewing.::

Herrera: No, let them go. Starfleet Command won't let this lie. They'll have people sniffing after them soon enough. I get the feeling they won't exactly be welcome back in Andorian space.

Pavlova: Response

T'Mihn: This is going to be difficult to explain back home.

Avery: Response

::The doors at the back of the bridge opened, admitting some of the crew from the ventral section.::

Herrera: Good to see you gentlemen. Is everyone alright?

Eerie: Fine sir. Looks like you have a good shooter at tactical.::Looking over at  Commander Pavlova.::
 
Udas: Response

Pavlova: Response

 Herrera: Response

T'Mihn:  Welcome back.

Eerie: Guess she will be aiming for department chief next.  Sir.::A small smile developed briefly.::

Pavlova: Response

Avery/Udas/Herrera:Response

:To Udas.::

T'Mihn:  I tried to keep the fort intact.

Udas: Response

::An EPS conduit chose then to give  an irate incandescent spat of sparks into her hair.  Smelling burning hair, T'Mihn sighed softly, rolled her eyes as she patted out the small spot.::

T'Mihn: That's the tenth time she's bitten me.  I don't think Vigilant liked  me  fiddling with her sensor array.

::She was being humorous.  She knew the ship hadn't emotions and couldn't hold a grudge.::  

Udas: Response

Pavlova/Eerie : Response

Avery/Herrera:Response

::While they talked,she thought of the sheer numbers of copper blooded people aboard, sickbay's supplies for their hemoglobin type would dwindle rapidly. ::

T'Mihn: Captain, if I am not needed here, I need to see if sickbay is going to need any blood.  

Pavlova/Udas/Eerie : Response

Herrera /Avery /Response


TAG/TBC


LT. T'Mihn Ah'mihghan
Star Fleet 118th Fleet,
Zeta Gelis Region
USS Vigilant  NCC-75515-A