Essex and Luna Investigate

Posted on Tue Jul 26th, 2016 @ 1:32pm by Admiral Deela T'Lar & Lieutenant General Jewel 'M'lara' Dartt & Commodore Leon `Lee` Pike & Major General Thomas Jackson & Brigadier General David Hurd Sr & Captain R'nard Lokran & Lieutenant Commander Holly Gillo & Captain Jack Solomon & Lieutenant Shrivol Thr'elanon & Commander Hades,MD & Lieutenant Saith i-Ki Baratan & Commander Jonathan Roebuck IV & Lieutenant Nick Archer & Lieutenant JG Janelle Sykes & Sergeant Maal son of Torg & Lieutenant JG Frank Doyle
Edited on on Tue Jul 26th, 2016 @ 2:05pm

6,127 words; about a 31 minute read

Mission: Episode 92 - More Questions than Answers
Location: Starbase 400, USS Essex, USS Luna
Timeline: MD2 2020hrs, Following 'Adrift'

ON:

USS Essex

Deela T'Lar stood on the bridge, waiting for Thr'elanon, Solomon, Archer, and Lokran to arrive among others. She was eager to get going even though she didn't know who they were going to encounter.

Jewel arrived on the Essex and stepped on the bridge and looked at Deela and smiled "So Deela since I am the second highest ranking officer on this ship does that make me your XO." She chuckled jokingly since she was the only one on the bridge at the moment she had to lighten up the mood just a little bit.

Deela chuckled, "Actually." She sat in her chair, "Funny you should say that. I had already decided to. I was going to ask Captain Harrison but she is with twins and I have no idea how dangerous this mission is."

Jewel raised an eyebrow thinking maybe she would wait to tell Deela the news. She sat down in the chair next to Deela and just smile.

Lt. JG Sykes walked in, "I want to thank you Admiral for giving me this chance to serve on your ship as Chief Science Officer. This is my first assignment away from the base and I am very happy to be here."

Deela could sense her nerves, "Good to hear. Go to your station please." She watched her for a moment, hoping she'd feel that way when they get to their destination.

Archer arrived on the Bridge and made his way to Ops. He logged in then looked up. "Ops ready Admiral. I also have the latest info from the Station's sensors."

The Turbolift doors opened and Chief White walked onto the bridge. His sidearm secure on his left side and over his left shoulder was his tool kit. He glanced around momentarily then walked over to Admiral T'Lar, "Thank you for bringing me along Admiral. I'm anxious to get my feet wet." He smiled. He had only been on board the Starbase a short time and, while he had not really gotten to know everyone, those who he had so far made him feel comfortable and accepted. "I see you have the main stations covered so, permission to take the Auxiliary Tactical Console Admiral?"

Deela nodded, "Permission granted. Glad to have you aboard."

"Thank you Admiral. It feels good to be aboard a Starship again." Joseph went to the console behind the Captain and First Officer's seats. He secured his tool kit under the station and activated the Auxiliary Tactile Console. He put the Secondary Targeting and Sensor Arrays through their check and both came back fully functional.

R'nard was glad to be back into action. He had been as close to death as could be, but he had a mission and wouldn't go. And now he didn't fear it at all. He entered and made his way to the Tactical station.

Deela went over to Lokran, "Glad to see you are feeling better. I was a bit concerned about you. Welcome back."

"Thank you, Ma'am." he said. "I am glad to be back."

Deela walked back to her chair and sat down. Lt. Doyle walked in, acknowledged Deela and took his place at Navigation. She was now waiting for Solomon and Thr'elanon to board so she could apprise everyone of what was going on and also so they could depart.

Jack arrived on the Bridge after boarding the ship earlier to make sure that Engineering was fully prepared and ready for the mission ahead. Last time he was on board, Jack was at Operations. Now he was responsible for Engineering. As he arrived, Jack stood behind the handrail at attention.

"Commander Solomon reporting for duty, Admiral. Engineering is on standby with Impulse and Slipstream Velocities ready at your command," Jack reported. Secretly he was happy to be back on board again. He made his way over to the Engineering station.

Shrivol's antenna was more animated than usual, he was always this way when having to have ship duty for a period of time. He realized he forgot to check in with the CO and in the privacy the turbolift gave he managed to try and calm down, when the doors opened he took the view of the bridge and everyone confidently working.

Deela stood up and addressed everyone, "As some of you know, there are reports of an unidentified ship that is trying to cross the border and we are going to investigate. Mr. Doyle." He looked over at her, "Set a course for the Neutral Zone. Once the Luna is ready to depart, take us out."

Doyle nodded, "Yes Ma'am."

Deela saw Dr. Thr'elanon, "Doctor, welcome aboard my ship. Your medical staff is waiting for you in Sickbay. Make sure that Sickbay is ready for anything that might happen."

Shrivol cleared his throat in a slightly nervous way "Thank you, Admiral, I just wanted to report to you." Shrivol's face started turning a turquoise color. "I think I will...uhm head to sickbay." he turned and cautiously went into the turbolift.

The scruffy old Bolian, Lieutenant Commander Rann entered the Bridge of the Essex with three PADDs and walked over to Admiral T'Lar.

"Admiral, I'll be serving as your Intelligence Officer, where do I set up shop?"

Deela points behind her, "Over there by CPO White, unless you would prefer somewhere else."

Rann shrugged his shoulders, "If there's not a dedicated Intel position, that'll be fine." He walked over to the console, nodded to the Chief, and logged in.

Jewel sat their being quiet waiting for the Essex to depart, after her little disagreement with her husband she needed to get out and get her mind on something else. Granted they made up but it was still bothering her a bit.

Deela looked over at Jewel and smiled. She could tell that something was bothering her this wasn't the place or time.

Archer looked over his console, "Admiral, we're ready to depart."

"Thank you Lt. Archer. Lt. Doyle, you my begin undocking procedures. Take us out."

Doyle acknowledged her.


USS Luna

Lee was sitting in the command chair on the Luna waiting for the crew to come aboard. He was going over some reports while waiting.

Hades arrived at in sickbay and placed his medical bag on the desk of the office he'd be using. He checked using the computer and started taking inventory of his sickbay. He had to make sure that everything was ready should he and his staff be needed. It had been a long while since he'd been on a ship.

After stowing his tactical gear into his assigned quarters, Jackson made his way to the Bridge. He remained in his battle dress uniform, in case he had to get into the rest of his gear quickly. He looked at Lee, "Commodore, I am just waiting for the company to board the ship, and get situated." as he took a seat in the XO's chair.

Lee gave a curt nod "Sounds good General, I'm sure it won't take them long."

T'Lyn arrived with her company and got them squared away and ready for whatever may be needed. She tapped her combadge, "Major T'Lyn to General Jackson we have arrived and are squared away." She said without emotion or anything in her voice.

Jackson blinked upon hearing the message. 'We have arrived...' "Roger that Major."

Lee looked at Jackson with a raised eyebrow but didn't say anything.

Walking onto the Bridge, Hurd said, ''Did someone ring?''

Jackson gave out a mall chuckle, "Not yet Colonel."

Lieutenant Peake arrived on the Luna's bridge. It was his first time aboard a Luna class ship and he took a second to look around, even though he was knowledgeable of the class's specs.

The Human eyed the Intel station, then walked over to Commodore Pike. "Commodore, Commander Rann has assigned me to be the Luna's Intelligence Officer for this mission."

Lee looked up at the person standing in front of him then gave a nod "Very well take your station Lieutenant."

Peake nodded and walked to the Intel position and logged in. He uploaded some information he had on a PADD he'd brought with him, and waited for the ship to depart.

Ship boarding didn't take Holly long as she had well practice at moving around something that one got use to over time. Reporting into the bridge she waited for Commodore Pike to acknowledge her before taking up the position she was assigned to on the bridge. Going over systems check once at her station she waited for the ship's departure to be cleared.

Lee nodded to Holly "Welcome aboard Commander, take your station."

Looking at a display in the corner, Hurd said, ''All Marine Systems are a go.''

Saith had checked in via computer upon arrival at the Luna. She checked in at Security and made sure things were prepared there. Finally, she was making her way to the bridge.

As she stepped on the bridge, she looked towards the center chair, “Lt. i-Ki Baratan reporting.” She crossed over to the Security Station and entered her codes. Security Command switched to the bridge, and Saith gave the screen another going over. “Security is ready and standing by Commodore.”

"Helm take us out and follow along side the Essex."

Murphy "Aye sir."

The Luna then pulled away from Star Base 400 and moved to the left side of the Essex then headed out.


En Route - Neutral Zone

Both ships cleared the space doors and were now on course towards the Neutral Zone.


USS Essex

Deela hated to sit for long periods of time so she walked around the bridge. She stopped at the Tactical Station, "Commander Lokran, let me know when we are in sensor range of the unidentified ship."

"I will the moment I see it." said R'nard.

Deela watched the viewscreen for a moment before turning towards her chair. Before sitting, she looked over at CPO White, Archer, and Rann. Deela turned to Jewel, "It seems a lifetime since I have been on an away mission. I have to admit, that ship has peaked my curiosity. I can only speculate who it might be."

"Indeed," she said looking at Deela adjusting her maturity uniform. She just smiled.

This short trip to the Neutral Zone was uneventful, but one the ships dropped out of warp alerts started to go off.

Archer spoke up first. "I'm picking up what seems to be a Romulan vessel ahead. It's adrift, power output is all but nothing. Multiple hull breaches. Weapon signatures look to be from Romulan disruptors and plasma torpedoes. I'm picking up life signs too, multiple pockets of survivors but I can't get a solid lock. Commander Lokran?"

"Sensors pick up the ship as well." said R'nard. "That is, what is left of it."

"That's what's left of the IRV Verix, d'Deridex Type Warbird." Rann added. "According to Starfleet Intelligence, its commanding officer is Commander Torak. I agree with Mister Archer's readings, it looks like this ship was attacked by other Romulan vessels."

Deela raised an eyebrow, "Why would the Romulans fire upon their own people, unless..." Her voice trailed off as she tried to make sense of the information she received. "Mr. Doyle, reduce speed. Approach with caution."

"Yes ma'am." Doyle went back to his console.

"T'Lar to Dr. Thr'elanon."

"Doctor Thr'elanon here go ahead."

"Prepare Sickbay for survivors. We will keep you updated once we are in range of the ship."

"Acknowledged, sickbay will be ready, Admiral." Shrivol said as he and other staff started preparing sickbay.

By this time Jewel was standing looking out the view screen then at Deela, "We should inform the Luna and have them stand by in case something were to go wrong and they're ready?" She asked Admiral T'Lar.

Deela nodded to Jewel, "Yes, I will leave that task to you."

She nodes then looked at Rann, "send all the info we have so far on that Romulan ship." Jewel said looking at him.

The Chief began scanning the area for raised Tachyon levels in case another cloaked ship was in the area. "Is there a stable atmosphere over there where the survivors are?"

"I've sent our information to the Luna, but I'm sure their sensors should be showing them the same information." Rann replied.

"Admiral, we're really close to the Neutral Zone here, I suggest we call in a few tugs from the Station to tow the ship there while we're working to recover survivors." Archer added. "I've also looked over the sensor and tachyon nets on our side of the border, they're all fully operational and show no signs of being tampered with."

"With power readings so low, it's possible the sensors never picked up that ship. The tachyon net should have, I'll download their logs for review." Rann commented.

Deela listened to Archer and Rann, considering everything they were informing her of. "Very well. Let's go ahead and get those tugs en route to us ASAP. Also, even though the tachyon grid seems to be in working order, continue scanning. I do not like surprises."

Deela thought for a moment, "You said their power readings are low. Can we contact the Romulan Warbird or are the comms down? I mean, I do not want to board that ship only to find that it is a trap."

Solomon continued to monitor the situation from the Bridge Engineering station. He was never happy when there were Romulans involved, especially if there were shooting at each other this close to the Federation side of the Neutral Zone. Or so it seemed that way. He ran a low level scan of the ship to fin out what systems they had functioning. "Despite that Romulan vessel looking like Swiss Cheese, sensors indicate that there is minimal life support and that they do have communications ability..." he began, "However whether they want to communicate with us would be another option entirely," he added.

Completing his scans, Jack looked over at Deela. "Admiral, I recommend we go with the tug option. Lets get the ship on our side of the Border and investigate this before we go anywhere near the station. With the Luna on site already, we have two Starships that should be capable of making sure if there are any traps on board the Romulan vessel and already prepared should the Romulans decide to cross the border as well."

Deela agreed, "As soon as the tugs arrive, we will do so. In the mean time, put us on yellow alert. I am going to see if they will answer our hails." Deela sat straight up in her chair, "Lt. Archer, open a channel to the Romulan ship."

"IRV Verix, this is the USS Essex. Admiral T'Lar." There was silence on the other end so she tried a different approach, "Admiral T'Lar to Commander Torak, please respond." She looked over at Archer for a moment and sighed, ,"IRV Verix, this is the USS Essex, Admiral T'Lar, do you need assistance?"

She was about to give up when an inaudible voice could be heard briefly. Deela asked Archer, "Did we loose them?"

"They're trying to respond but it's garbled...trying to boost it but their communications arrays are heavily damaged." Archer replied.

Deela tries one last time, "IRV Verix, your signal is weak. Please repeat."

A garbled voice among the static came over the comms, "Com...Torak...ured...ife...port...fail...casual...help...asking for...lum."

Deela could sense their despair, "IRV Verix, stand by." She gave the situation some thought before she made a decision. She addressed everyone together, "I want to take a team consisting of me, Solomon, R'nard and Dr. Thr'elanon and beam over to the Warbird. Update Commodore Pike on what is happening and inform the Luna that I need their doctor as well." She looked over at Solomon, "Mr. Solomon, I believe they said that their life support systems are failing. Can you verify that?"

Jack ran a deep sensor check over the Romulan vessel and made sure he was thorough about it. "Confirmed Admiral, their Life support system is failing...it looks like they've lost a power generator in the last few minutes...they're in bad shape over there," he reported as her grabbed a tech kit from nearby to the Engineering station.

She went back addressing the bridge crew, "Once the tugs get here, we need to act quickly. If we have to, we will transfer them to this ship as well as the Luna." The last part of their transmission was on her mind. She thought they asked for asylum but the transmission was so messy so she could only speculate but it did make sense as to why their own people fired upon them, "What is the ETA on those tugs and does anyone have any thoughts?"


Luna, Bridge

"Commodore, I've received a data transmission from the Essex. It's everything they have on that drifting Romulan ship and it matches what our sensors show as well. They're calling in tugs from the Station to try and tow it there for emergency repairs. They also think they located survivors and are prepping their Sick Bay and Engineers for damage control. They want us to do the same." Peake advised Pike.

Lee nodded "Very well, we'll do the same as the Essex. Also keep an eye out for anything else out there." He tapped his comm "Pike to sickbay."

"Hades here, sir."

"Doctor get sickbay ready for injuries we have found a badly damaged Romulan ships and we may have to take in survivors." Pike ordered.

"Aye Sir. We're ready." Hades motioned his staff into place. "Prepare for injured."

The reports coming in made Saith tense, she grimaced again thankful she was facing her screens. “Romulan . . . “ her voice trailed off, then under her breath, “Favdt!” She was well acquainted with her people's inner warring, but some families would sell out their own to set a trap. This could be bad, no matter what happened. "Commodore, I have been out of touch and do not know the current temperament of the Empire, but we need to proceed with extreme caution."

"Pike to Engineering, have damage control teams ready."

"Yes sir."

"Commodore, due to our proximity to a possible hostile situation, I suggest bringing the ship to Condition Yellow," Jackson said.

Lee nodded "Agreed General" He tilted his head "Lieutenant put the ship on yellow Alert."

"Yes sir." She tapped on her screen and the yellow alerts came on all over the ship.

Saith racked her brain, the D’Deridex Class was the largest Romulan Battle Cruiser. It could cloak during battle, and had massive plasma weapons front and aft. Whatever hit this ship was built to fight. The battle cloak on the Verix was not in operation, or they wouldn’t have seen her. She glanced at the read-outs, “The Singularity Core looks weak but stable for now, still having taken the beating this ship took, it may not take much to disrupt it.” She didn’t bother to say what that would do, everyone knew it anyway.

Lee sat there in his command chair watching everything going on on the viewscreen trying to figure out what is going on.

Jax did a quick walk around the bridge to make sure all defensive systems were on standby mode in accordance to Yellow Alert. He resumed his First Officer's seat, and wondered the same thing the Commodore was wondering.


A Short Time Later, Essex Bridge

They put a tractor beam onto the Warbird and pulled just enough to get it completely into Federation space. Deela stood up, "T'Lar to Dr. Thr'elanon, please meet us in Transporter 1." After the doctor acknowledged her, "Mr. Solomon, Lokran."She waited for them before entering the turbolift.

The Chief spoke up, "Permission to join you Admiral. Two engineers might be needed depending on the severity of the damage. As well, I can function in area of low O2 or radiation if it comes to that."

Deela smiled, "I cannot argue with that logic."

R'nard followed. This would be an adventure he couldn't resist.

Jack waited for his relief and moved to the Turbolift to join the rest of the away team.

"Thank you Admiral." The Chief grabbed his tool kit he had brought and with a quick hand check, made sure his sidearm was secure. He then proceeded to head out with the others beaming over.

Shrivol arrived in a rush, he hated carrying a phaser but it was always required for missions like this. He used his Medical kit to hide it at least he could try and forget the weapon was on his person. "Ready, Admiral."

After getting their weapons, they arrived at the transporter room.Beam us to the safest spot on the ship,." Deela had the Luna contacted to give them the co-ordinance. "Proceed." Their image faded away.


Luna, Bridge

The Essex finally contacted Pike, letting him in on the Romulan Warbird's transmission and T'Lar's plan.

Lee sat there after getting the message from the Essex and the Admiral's plan, even though it was tempting to join them over there he figured it was best at least one flag officer stay on the ship.

Lee turned his head "General you heard about the Admiral's plan, I want you, Doctor Hades and pick one other person to go over there and assist the Admiral and her team."

"Yes Sir.", Jackson answered. Then he turned Hurd. "Colonel, please send one of the Marine Officers to meet me for an Away Mission Transporter Room 1"

''Aye sir, which one would you prefer, or would you rather i go with you?''

"Let's not risk the whole head of 1st Division David. Send me one of the Officers below, " Jackson said.

''Alright, any preferences General?''

On his way to the turbolift, Jackson replied, "Send Major T'Lyn."

"And be careful over there Tom."

Jackson winked, "I sure will." He got in the turbolift, and headed to Transporter Room 1. He already had a side arm with him. He would grab a tricorder while en route.

Hades was in the transporter room and ready. He looked at Jackson who held out a phaser to him. "Must I?" He hated those things but he took it and stepped on the platform He'd brought a nurse with him. "We'll need her help as well."

"Just set it for stun Doc. And sure, the nurse can come." He took a Phaser 1 out of the locker, and handed it to her. Just one more person before they beamed over.

T'Lyn had her phaser out and set for stun, waited for them to beam over.

After the team was fully assembled, they beamed over to the Romulan ship.


IRV Verix - Away Team

Deela, Solomon, White and Dr. Thr'elanon beamed over and waited for Pike's crew to arrive. Deela pulled her weapon in case it was a trap although she highly doubted it.

The Luna Away Team materialized in the same compartment as the Essex Team. Jackson already had his weapon out before transport. "Admiral." He then checked to see if his two away team members beamed over successfully, which they did.

Hades closed his eyes as the transporter materialized them from one place to the next. When he arrived he sent a thank you that his atoms were not all over the place and then gave a nod to Thr'elanon. "Doctor."

Jack was prepared as his away team materialized into the compartment. He drew out his phaser as he saw Chief White taking tricorder readings.

As the Chief materialized, he drew first his Phaser and did a thorough observation of the room. His left hand produced his Tricorder and he thumbed ot open then began to type into it rather quickly for only using one digit. "Lifesigns seem to be that way Admiral while the life support systems are in engineering this way. Orders Admiral?"

"You and Solomon, go to engineering and see if you can keep life support working at least until we can get it back to Starbase 400." She looked at the two doctors, "I want both you and Hades with me as well as Lokran." She turned to Jackson, "You can go with either me or White. I will leave that to you."

"Yes Admiral," Jackson replied, as he motioned T'Lyn and Hades to follow him with the Admiral.

T'Lyn followed Jackson as her phaser was drawn, she stayed just behind Jackson and the doctor. Keeping an eye on her surroundings making sure they were covered.

Hades gave a nod. "Aye sir." He followed his team.

As he followed her, Jackson reset his phaser to stun/pulse, since this was a rescue mission. He carried it in the "sul" position, emitter pointed down and the weapon held tightly to his chest.

She looked back at White and Solomon, "Be careful. Keep me updated."

"Yes sir!" The chief took point, Tricorder in his left hand and Phaser in his right. He moved down the corridors checking every pathway veering off with quick precision before continuing towards the Engine Room. He kept checking back slightly to make sure Solomon was keeping pace.

"We'll keep you posted." Jack looked at Deela and smiled before making his way with Chief White towards the Engineering deck. It had been a good few years since he was on a Romulan vessel, but that was a story for another time...he kept pace with Chief White as they headed down the corridor, taking what sensor data he could as they continued further in.

As they moved the Chief spoke quietly enough for just the two of them to converse. "So Commander, do you have a lot of experience with Romulan technology?"

Jack nodded to the Chiefs question and a small smile crept across his face. "About six years ago I was working for Starfleet Intelligence on Korriban Prime.. it was on the other side of the Neutral Zone where I was observing a combined Romulan-Cardassian Terrorist Cell. I was able to get on board one of these D'Deridex class ships and also on board a Mogwai class as well. I can work my way around the systems pretty well," he answered as they turned down a second corridor.

He ran a second check of the deck layout as the tricorder logged the data further and mapped out the ship. "We need to go right at the next intersection..." before moving to ask "How about you Chief? Have you spent anytime with Romulan tech before?" Jack was glad of a second pair of hands in this mission on board this vessel.

The Chief turned right at the intersection. "You could say that Commander. I've dabbled in technology and systems from every race the Federation has encountered." In reality the Collective had assimilated so much technology over their existence that there wasn't a tech he couldn't work on. "Commander, if their Micro-Singularity Drive has been damaged the room could be flooded with Hawking Radiation. If that is the case, I will enter first and vent the room of the particles so we can work."

Jack stopped in his tracks as he heard Chief White's recommendation. "Ok...have I missed something here? The last I heard, Hawking Radiation is hazardous to all humans and other beings..." he stated before continuing, "Is there something you want to tell me before we go on, Chief?" Jack asked.

The Chief stopped briefly, "No time for that Commander. You'll just have to trust me and that I know what I'm doing for now." He continued down the corridor coming to a "T" junction. "What direction now?"

Jack checked his tricorder and looked up. "Turn left, then its the door in front...however the tricorder is picking a high count of Hawking Radiation," he reported before putting the unit away.

"Our priority is to get Life Support stabilized Chief, then we can get some power restored and help these people," Jack explained.

"My thoughts exactly Commander. The chief stopped about 5 feet from the door to their Engineering Room and removed his tool kit from his shoulder. He knelt down and opened a panel to his right and access the E Security Fields for that passageway. He removed his portable power supply from his case and placed it on the ground away from the door towards Solomon. "Commander, I am linking this supply into their security field generators for this corridor. It should be enough to boost the field strength to protect you from radiation. Once I get to the door activate the field. I use the manual release and enter the room. From there I will seal the leak behind a containment field and vent the radiation." He moved to the door and accessed the manual release. "Activate the field please."

Jack steadied his hand on the activation lever and looked at White. "Good luck," he said before activating the field and watching the Chief proceed.

As the force field activated, the Chief removed the Manual Override level from the panel and a audible click came from the door. He reached up and pried his hands in between the center seal where the door came together then opened his hands from his chest and extended his arms shoving the doorway open fully. He proceeded inside and immediately felt his nanoprobes at work repairing his organic and synthetic components. He made his way over to the main console and restored the power to the containment field then activated the decontamination sequence.

Once the room was safe, he signaled Commander Solomon an all clear over the com-badges. Once the two of them were at the repair job together, it was a matter of minutes before they had life support fully restored to the ship.

Deela walked through the long corridors with her team, tricorder in one hand and a phaser in the other. There were several areas that housed the survivors like C deck and the cargo bays.

Since there was already a tricorder out, Jackson concentrated on visually scanning the areas they passed through.

As they walked, they came upon debris blocking their way. Deela pushed the heavy piece that was laying diagonal out of the way and made her way through the opening. Looking at the tricorder, "Looks like there are at least 9 life signs about 8.5 meters, that way."

Hades walked with his team. So far things had been quiet and then he heard a groan. He swung his tricorder to the left. "Sir I'm reading a few life signs behind this door." He tried the PADD. "Door's stuck!"

"Figures." Deela used her phaser to shoot at the panel on the wall. She looked over at Jackson and then motioned to Lokran to have his weapon ready just in case. She looked back at Jackson as she tried to pry the door open.

Jackson holstered his weapon, and assisted in prying the door open, and the door slowly gave way to their efforts.

R'nard trained his weapon on the door just in case it was a trap.

Hades wiped the sweat that had formed on his upper lip. He hated situations like this. He too pulled out his phaser and felt his stomach roll. He hated these blasted things. The door opened bit by but and not for the first time he had the feeling that time itself slowed. It dragged agonizingly as the door was pulled open a little at a time.

Hades had been cursed with many things and one of them was the fact that he'd been born with strong telepathic and empathic senses. A freak of nature. Now those senses screamed with pain, the pain of those trapped. He'd learned to keep them at bay but he was still fragile and now he couldn't shut out the voices nor could he shut out the sense of impending doom, a sword hanging over their heads waiting to drop.

The door opened and smoke from damaged equipment rushed out like a sickening fog. He could sense the teams tension. He looked at the team in front of him. "Hurry. There are so many in there crying out for help. Hurry!" The last word a plea, he didn't know whether it was his own or that of the voices crying for his help. As a doctor they were his first priority as a Starfleet officer it was to make sure that their salvation could be carried out safely.

Jackson held up his arm in a "halt" motion. He redrew his weapon, signaled to T'Lyn, and went in to secure the other side of the doorway.

T'Lyn stopped looking around, then when he signaled to T'Lyn she followed Jackson in.

All he saw was carnage. He advanced deeper into the compartment. He yelled to the rest of the group, "Clear!"

Deela motioned for them to enter, she followed. She walked up to one of the Romulans, "I am Admiral T'Lar, we are here to help you. Where is Commander Torak?"

The Romulan stood up, "I'll show you." Deela assessed the situation, "Those who are critically injured, beam them to the Luna and Essex's sickbays. The others will have to stay here unless life support fails." She hit her combadge, "T'Lar to Commodore Pike."

Lee tapped his combadge "Pike here, what can I do for you Admiral?"

"There are more injured than both of our sickbays can handle. You might want to get the cargo bay set up as well. Also, I could use some more help here."

"Ok I'll have one of the bays set up and I'll send another team over." Lee tapped his badge, he then turned to Hurd "Colonel, I need you, Sgt. Maal, and two medics to beam over to the Romulan ship and help Admiral T'Lar."

''Aye sir, what is her current location?'' Hurd said standing up.

"It looks like they are on Deck C, Colonel." Lee said

Deela sent the same message to the Essex as well, then addressed Hades, Jackson, "You and Hades, take care of them and continue looking for survivors and helping the injured. The rest of us are going to find Torak." More crewmembers beamed down to help search. Deela gave them directions then motioned for Lokran and Thr'elanon and the Romulan to follow.

They made their way throughout the Warbird. It was difficult since the lifts didn't work. They continued until they found Commander Torak among three others, one dead, one injured besides Torak. He was unconscious but alive. "Dr. Thr'elanon, take care of him. I want him beamed to the Essex's sickbay as soon as you are done here."

Shrivol was already at Torak's side. He opened his tricorder and in moments he was alerted to his medical condition. "It will take a moment, I need to get him stabilized." Torak's internal bleeding was difficult to repair, the other injured was in better shape and could wait until he was beamed aboard the Essex. Shrivol was able to seal the ruptures to Torak's femoral artery, if they were any later and Torak wouldn't have survived. Once stabilized Shrivol tapped his communicator. "Thre'elanon to Essex two injured to beam directly to sickbay priority one. Alert sickbay that I will join them momentarily." In a few seconds the two injured vanished and in Essex's sickbay.

"T'Lar to Solomon. Have you been able to fix life support?"

"Jack tapped his combadge in response. "Yes Admiral, we've restored Life Support to nominal levels. I can do more once we get the ship back to the Starbase," Jack reported.

"Good. Both you and White, I need you to foresee things when the tugs get here in one hour. I am going to beam back aboard the Essex and check on Torak."

"Understood," Solomon replied.

"Archer to T'Lar, the tugs from the Station will be here in another hour."

T'Lar was relieved to hear, "Thank you. Let me know when they arrive." With life support being restored, they gathered up the injured, beamed them to both ships and the others were left on the Warbird. Deela beamed back aboard the ship after the tugs arrived. Once at Sickbay, she talked to the CMO, "What is Torak's condition?"

"He had several internal bleeding problems, I have to keep him sedated for another couple hours. He will make it but it will be a little rough." Shrivol said.

"Okay. If he wakes up, let me know." Deela left for the bridge. Once there, she watched as the tugs began to commence moving the Warbird back to the base. Once they were ready, Deela gave the command to go back to Starbase 400.


tbc...

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