Have you tried turning it off and back on again?

Posted on Wed Nov 25th, 2020 @ 10:18pm by Captain Abigail Laurens & Lieutenant Commander William Gunnison & Lieutenant Commander William Rogers & Lieutenant Ehal Alom & Lieutenant Sylvia Wiseman & Commander Ichiko Gail & Lieutenant Bianca Lee
Edited on on Sat Dec 5th, 2020 @ 3:26pm

Mission: Enforced Intermission

Abigail sat in the command chair, Ichiko occupying the seat next to her, watching on the view screen as the escape pods were jettisoned from the vessel. "Commander Rogers, bring us to a full stop and notify the fighters to prepare for launch. If the hangar doors don't open, blow them," she ordered, her voice surprisingly calm despite the circumstances. "All other stations, status report."

Yet another red light showed up on the display in front of Charlotte and she tapped it a couple times in the small hope that it would turn back to the yellow it was before, "We've just lost the aft shield projectors. Completely off, not temporary." She shook her head, "We're on emergency life support from deck twelve and below, estimated duration eighteen hours."

"I'm beginning to regret not bring an EVA suit with me." Ichiko commented. Aft shield projectors off. Gone. "This better not be some inane test, and then at the last minute everything turns back on and we get some grade." the rabbitess shook her head, "I'd be relieved, but I'd probably wind up in the brig." she paused to compose herself, while trying to bring up the status of the evacuation. "Things are progressing smoothly on the evacuation. Or so this console says."

Sylvia was at the bridge science station and the news there was not good either. "Lateral and Dorsal long range sensors are gone and all science labs are reporting critical losses of containment field power."

The red alert lights flickered and dimmed across the bridge. "Lieutenant Ehal, what's the ETA for evacuation to be complete?" Abigail asked, her eyes still firmly fixed on the view screen. "We might need to start shutting systems down sooner."

As the light's dimmed the helm went dark. "Ah, crap baskets." Buck muttered to himself as he gave the console a resigned tap. It did not relight. He was grateful it happened after the ship had been brought to a halt, but it did mean he'd not be able to open the shuttle bay doors from the bridge. Nor could they be blown from here. He turned towards ops and asked, "Lt. Gunnison, do we still have control over fire suppression systems?"

Will checked over his console. "For the moment," he replied, "although at the rate things are going that may not last long, so I suggest doing whatever it is you're planning on doing real fast."

Charlotte's face went pale as an entire section on her board went red, "Ma'am, we're going to have to move a bit more quickly. The radiation shielding around the matter-antimatter reaction core has failed, but the reaction itself is still contained. Main engineering is currently receiving a dose of fifty rads per minute.. Even if I put the rest of my people down there in rad suits, it's going to be untenable in about twenty minutes." She could only imagine what they were going through in Engineering and she felt horrible that she was relieved she wasn't there with them.

Abigail's hands gripped at the arm rests of her seat, a move almost completely imperceptible that would have been missed by most everyone, except maybe Ichiko. "Lieutenant Wiseman and Lieutenant Aschail start emergency shutdown procedures," she ordered calmly. "Operations, stand by for shut down. Lieutenant Gunnison, blow the hangar doors. Commander Rogers notify all shuttles and fighters to depart immediately, deploy to a safe distance but have our fighters prepared to come to our aid if needed. The last thing we need is to be caught while we're vulnerable. Lieutenant Ehal, keep tactical online as long as we can, in case we need it."

"Shutting down the reaction, now." Charlotte was relieved, the residual radiation would still linger, but it wouldn't actually kill the engineers working down there. Another series of lights flashed, "The warp core is non-responsive to the command. The matter-antimatter reaction is continuing as normal, they're attempting a manual shutdown." She half-stood before she looked up, "Ma'am, permission to go to engineering to assist."

Abigail nodded slightly. "Keep an open commlink where possible," she ordered calmly.

Buck opened a channel to the shuttle bay and ordered the evacuation of all staff not in the fighters or shuttles. As soon as he received confirmation that the bays were clear he turned toward the ops station. "Trigger a level 4 fire alarm response in the shuttle bay." He told Will. A level 4 alarm triggers the automatic opening of the shuttle bay doors and the momentary deactivation of the magnetic shielding.

Will nodded. "Engaging in 3...2...1, fire alarm response engaged."

The view screen in front of them flickered before going offline. Abigail's grip on the armrests of the chair tightened. "Looks like we're blind for the moment. Lieutenant Wiseman, status report for Science systems? Commander Rogers, can you confirm our shuttles and fighters have launched?"

"Science is completely shut down, with exception of my station."

Ticking off the responses from the auxiliary crafts alongside the Astraea's manifest was an old school solution for determining their launch status, but it was one that Buck felt more at home with than some of his regular duties. "Confirm all shuttles and fighters launched."

"Lieutenant Ehal, shut down security and tactical. Lieutenant Gunnison, take down all our remaining systems. Engineering, prepare to shut down the primary core on our mark. Commander Rogers, inform our fighters that we're defenseless until further notice." Abigail issued the orders calmly, despite the increase in her heart rate.

"Understood," Will said. "Beginning shutdown now."

The Bajoran’s fingers flew across the tactical console. The phaser power arrays went down, showing the power drop. Torpedo launchers went down and the loading mechanisms went into standby mode. Shields and defensive systems powered down, leaving the ship defenseless. This made him nervous. The final thing that he did was power down all the internal security sensors. Looking up from the console, “Security and tactical is shut down Captain.”

Buck relayed the captain's message to the fighters just as the helm console flickered back to life. Thankfull that he didn't need to find a new station to carry out his orders Buck set to work. His console was bright, far brighter than normal, and he was forced to squint to shield his eyes from the glare. The controls were hot to the touch. "Helm and navigation offline, Captain."

"Give me one minute, Captain." The voice of Charlotte came back over the comms, followed moments later by "In place and ready, Captain."

"Understood," Abigail responded, taking a deep breath and quietly crossing herself. "If you believe in deities, now would be a good time to ask them to watch over us," she murmured softly, glancing at Ichiko and giving a slight nod. "Engineering, shut down the primary core."

Buck rested his hand briefly on the blank surface of his station. It felt hotter than before. "Anyone else's post heating up?" He asked turning so that he could see as many of the bridge crew as possible. "Has the bridge always been this bright? Shouldn't it be getting darker?"

Ichiko had already raised a hand to shield her eyes from the increasingly intense bridge lighting. She drew in a hiss of a breath as her free hand came into contact with the small mini-panel on the arm of her chair. "It's not just you, this panel's overheating." a pause, "Everyone, get down!" as she quickly vacated her chair, keeping low.

Charlotte's voice came over the comm again, "Shutting down the warp core now." A few seconds passed "Captain, the manual shutdown has failed. Trying again." A few more seconds "Captain, the shutdown has failed again." She paused again, "Captain?"

Ichiko's chair panel had finally had enough, and it cracked and hissed a shower of sparks filled the spot that the rabbitess previously occupied, ending with a puff of black smoke.

Over the comm, an increasingly panicked voice half shouted, "It's not good!" Charlotte barked, "I can't talk to the Captain to tell her that we're screwed!" Her voice raised, "I CAN'T SHUT DOWN THE WARP CORE! I can't tell them that the reaction chamber bottle is falling apart and that we have somewhere between seven and ten-" The comm began to squeal in a squelch that began to rise in volume.

The screeching in the comm system rose to a crescendo before plunging into absolute silence and darkness. Having dived away from the command chairs before Ichiko's panel exploded, Abigail looked up from her position on the floor, just in time for the independently powered emergency evacuation system kicked in, an eerie glow overcoming the bridge as the strip lighting flickered, directing them toward the escape pods. "Escape pods!" She shouted over the sudden noise. "Now! Move! Move!"

Ichiko was on her feet just as the lights cut. As the emergency lights kicked in, she mirrored Abigail's concern. "Everyone go! Disregard your posts!" she called, encouraging haste. "Go, Go! Iku! Iku!" she'd have yelled in Vulcan at that point if it would help put one extra step to the crew.

Sylvia dove to get away as her station exploded as well. As the shouting began, she moved with the rest of the crew to the escape pods.

Ehal jumped from his feet, and started heading towards the escape pods with the rest of the crew. A young woman tripped as she tried to move around a console. Ehal stopped and helped her to her feet and the two kept moving. Sparks continued to fly over his head as he shielded his face with his arm.

Buck stood from his console just as it exploded. Shards of whatever material they used to construct his station embedded themselves in his chest as the shockwave from the blast knocked him off his feet. He lay on his back, for how long he couldn't say, before his eyes opened. "Felt that one." He groaned as he struggled to his feet. When he touched his chest his hand came away bloody.

With the bridge crew safely boarding the escape pods, Abigail paused, taking one last look at the bridge before turning and stepping through the hatch. "Do we have everyone?" she asked, her voice filled with emotion as she looked toward Ichiko. "Everyone accounted for?"

Ichiko paused for just a moment, to consider. A haircut. A uniform. A style of walking. A cry out in the dark. A helping hand. Heavy footsteps. Cues and clues to them all. After a moment to relive the disaster behind her, Ichiko turned to address Abigail, to deliver not just a report, but confidence. Faith. Assurance.

"Yes."

Looking away, doing the best she could to maintain a stoic expression, Abigail nodded slightly, taking a deep breath before speaking, unable to keep the waver from her voice as she spoke. "Commander Rogers, launch the pod and get us clear."