Fight for Control (Time Zone 2)

Posted on 11 Oct 2018 @ 10:17am by Petty Officer 2nd Class Mofrich Torg & Commander Jayla Kij & Lieutenant Commander Gemma Alexander & Lieutenant Avery Stuart Ph.D. & Staff Warrant Officer William Griffin & Senior Chief Petty Officer Alexander Rylan & Lieutenant JG Daniella Blake & Ensign Aurilia Moretti

9,416 words; about a 47 minute read

Mission: Fractured
Location: USS Black Hawk, Various
Timeline: TZ2 || 1015 hours

Deep in the belly of the ship, three technicians worked diligently in Engineering to restore power. The three of them found it unusual; main power was evidently online, but the auxiliary generators had been placed in a standby mode. Several years had passed, according to the computer, since the generators had been first activated. Normally, when a generator was active, it would take just a few seconds to pull it out of standby mode. The years of being on standby, however, had rendered several mechanical failures that just took time to bypass or replace.

"Finally," muttered an ensign as the generator charged to life, restoring power in engineering and throughout the ship. As the engine room was illuminated, he spotted an armored being turn the corner into the room. a burst from the newcomers pistol was enough to silence the ensign before he could alert his fellow technicians. Naturally, the phaser blast itself was enough to sound the alarm. Two more quick blasts silenced the others.

The intruders stood in the doorway, waiting to hear any sort of alarm. Nothing yet sounded. Power had just been initialized. Perhaps the computer hadn't yet activated sensors, or perhaps the individual who had alerted them of this ship's existence had taken precautions to make sure they could move undetected. Regardless, there were still more than a hundred other lifeforms aboard this ship. They would have to move quickly if they were to overpower them as well.


===[Elsewhere]===

William Griffin frowned down at the display of the flickering computer. He'd been working for ten minutes trying to get power to the thing from an equally faulty portable power pack with a corroded interface port. He was just about done with the thing, having replaced half the relays and skinned six of his knuckles when, out of nowhere, secondary power came online. The lights above him flickered hesitantly and then came on, there was a shudder through the deck plates that he felt through his butt and then the steady vibration of a ship under power came back. Above his head, the console whirred into life all on it's own.

"Well I'll be damned," he grumbled to himself, looking around at the other personnel they'd assembled. "That wasn't me."

Dani turned her attention to Griffin. "What do you mean it wasn't you?" she asked, looking around at everyone else present. There was no need to panic. Not right now, anyway. "Chances are someone else beat us to the punch. Still, we should probably check in on them, right?"

Alexander nodded, pleased she could think a bit more clearly now that Jayla had helped with her wrist. Still in a sling at least it didn't hurt as much. "We should but we should separate too much, anyone want to come with?"

"I think I'm going to stay here until I stop seeing double," Aurilla said. "But I'd suggest staying together."

"Agreed," spoke the Tellarite Intelligence Officer, Petty Officer Torg. "With only a fraction of the crew on board, spreading out isn't wise until we can reestablish the chain of command." Looking to the Trill doctor with three pips on her collar. "Right now, unless the Captain or XO opens a comm channel with orders, that's you."

Jayla blinked, looking alarmed. "M- me?" she squeeked. "No way. I'm like... ninth in the chain of command. There's got to be someone else. Eight people can't-" she stopped suddenly, unwilling to say or even think what had nearly come out of her mouth.

Dani didn't want to think it, either, and not knowing where Terry was was starting to eat away at her. "Doctor Kij, you're the highest ranking officer at the moment, which means you're in charge until we come across someone else higher up the chain of command," she said, trying to keep herself together. "If it's not something you feel you're ready for, or not comfortable doing given our present circumstances, you could always appoint someone else in your place. But, don't forget, you're not on your own. You've got the rest of us to back you."

Alexander nodded, "Yeah Doc you got the chair for now just until we find others, we're in this together like she says." She nodded at Dani. Then glanced at Avery, "That'd make you acting XO..." She said doing some quick math but she believed the other Doctor still senior to Gemma herself. "Why don't we let Mr. Griffin see what he can get going with the computer. Sooner we get that working sooner we can get going with a plan."

And the sooner they could confirm if the data she and Winner got off the fighter sensors was accurate.

She'd hoped to have that confirmation before giving them details, a makeshift sensor set up was not something she wanted to rely on but would if she had too. This was too important.

Avery nodded in agreement. By her mental calculations, Jayla and she were the senior officers in the group, and though commanding outside of counseling wasn't the most comfortable or routine place to be, she accepted her duty as a member of Starfleet. She also knew as acting XO for Jayla, Avery was going to need to be as calm as possible.

"I'll go with," Griffin offered, "far as we know I might be the only engineer aboard, though I damn well hope not. I should get down to Engineering and at least see if I can lend a hand."

"Can someone stop my head from exploding?" Aurilia asked. "Preferable someone with medical experience?"

"I can go with you, Chief," Torg offered. "I work with the computer every day, and I have a feeling I can help with various diagnostics and troubleshooting you might need."

Dani made her way toward Aurilia. She didn't need a tricorder to know the pilot injured her head at some point when things went south, and now she needed to be treated. Along with her medical tricorder, she was in possession of a dermal regenerator, but lacked any medications that could help with the pain. She thumbed the device on and began to run it over the injury, watching as it began to heal. "I don't have anything for pain, but that should diminish soon enough," she said, finishing up and turning the device off again. "If it persists, let me know, then we'll see what we can do."

The petite blonde looked back to the rest of the group. "I think someone with medical experience should accompany Warrant Officer Griffin and Petty Officer Torg just in case there is anyone with injuries along the way. I'll volunteer myself as you're our acting Commanding Officer," she said, looking toward Jayla. "I can grab one of the emergency medkits on our way."

"Thank you," Aurilia said. "I think..." She paused and looked at Gemma. "You up for a quick flight around the ship and area?" she asked.

"I can fly with one hand behind my back." She glanced down at her slinged right arm, "Or in a sling." She smiled. "If that works for the Doc..." She said nodding at Jayla. "But before we separate though I think there's something you all should know." She nodded to to Winner to pull out the PADD with the information on it they'd gathered. "We'll want Griffin to confirm this since the sensors were a bit make shift when we used to do this but time seems a bit broken." She explained what she could about the chorniton particles in the different areas, how the Bay had been five years from now with herself and Winner not even matching it. She ended with, "Everything we could get is on the PADD."

"So is that a yes?" Aurilia asked.

Gemna gave a brief smile, "love your priorities Tango" She said agreeing. "And yes sounds good, Winner can explain in more detail, its a bit beyond me anyway. Ok with you Doc?" She directed the last at Jayla as their acting co, "It would help with intel." She observed.

“Wait,” said Jayla, totally unsure of herself. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea to leave the ship just yet. There are so few of us and I don’t want to lose anybody else. Okay, so,” she continued, her manner making it obvious that she was trying not to show her nervousness. “Griffin, Torg, and Blake head to engineering. The rest of us are going to the bridge to see what we can find out there. Anyone else have any ideas before we go?”

"Agreed," Avery offered in response to Jayla. To Aurilla she offered, "I don't doubt your abilities, but I think we should try to gather as much information from inside the ship as possible first, especially with all the potential complications that come with chroniton particles."

The Tellarite intelligence analyst just shook his head. Hopefully whatever was in engineering could shed some light on what was going on here. He was, however, intrigued by the evidence of the chroniton particles. What ever had they run into?"

Aurilia ignored the counselor and went after the Trill Doctor. "And what should me and the only other fighter pilot be doing, Commander? You're in charge and you're supposed to be delegating something to everyone."

Jayla fixed Moretti with a stern look that bordered on a glare. "How about if you go make sure your birds are ready to fly if I decide that's necessary?" she suggested. She may not like being in charge, but she'd be damned if she was going to let anyone question her authority. "Then you can help in Engineering, if they need it."

"Our birds are ready to fly," Aurilia responded. "I'm not a Engineer, so I'll stay here and wait for further orders, Sir."

"No, you'll go double check your crafts," Jayla replied testily. "We're already down too many people. We don't need to lose you, too."

In a peacemaker tone Gemma stepped forward, "This is a rough time for everyone, lets just take a breather." She briefly held up one hand, glancing around, "Hows about this, we recheck our birds, I can reconstruct what we did on my craft on Tango's to act as back up coms and sensors while the engineers do their work just in case there is a problem, then you can call us in if needed even if its to double as security since extra eyes and firepower is a couple of our best things." She spoke lightly but confidently, "We can wingman you now then head back to the bay or vice verse." She said glancing at Jayla and Tango.

Jayla paused a moment to take a breath. "Yes," she said. "Go double, triple, and quadruple check your crafts. I'm going to the bridge to see if we can't get sensors up. I want to see what's out there. Anybody who wants to help, come with me. The rest of you go to engineering and see what you can't fix." Then, without waiting for a reply, she simply turned and walked towards the nearest turbo lift, fully expecting to have to climb the whole way.

Archer turned to Tango, "Right then, that answers that. Let's beat feet, make sure the time zone hasn't changed in the bay any." She half joked as she turned to head out.

"Sure," Aurilia said and dropped her right hand by her side and extended the middle finger towards the retreating Trill as he headed for the flight deck.

While the others talked among themselves, Dani made her way to the nearest area she knew to contain a medkit and grabbed it, then returned to the others. Her attention went to Griffin and Torg. "Shall we?" she asked, making sure the phaser she held was still at her hip.

Torg nodded, preparing to follow.


===[Engineering]===

One of the three aliens had departed the engine room to perform a quick check on the surrounding sections where he had been forced to kill five more of the ship's crewmen. It was a shame really. Had they been prepared for life on the ship, they probably could have made some of these lifeforms useful. Or so, that was what he reported to his superiors upon returning to the heart of the ship.

While they agreed, they also knew that their chances of success depended on no resistance. It only took a minute to find the life support controls and manually shut them down. As the alarms sounded throughout the ship, whoever was still alive would learn that they had an hour left to live. With that in mind, the aliens quickly locked down engineering and secured all entrances. Each one took a position near the warp core, training their weapons on each entrance, ready to fight anyone that tried to come through.


===[Elsewhere]===

"Warning!" announced the computer, its monotonous voice accompanied by a loud klaxon. "Life support systems have been disabled. Theta Radiation and carbon monoxide levels increasing. Estimated time to render the ship inhabitable: one hour."


===[Flight Deck]===

Aurilia stewed as she looked over her Gryphon, then went to the locker and pulled her flight suit out. "Hey, Archer. I don't know about you, but we need to be ready if Kij ever decides to use us," she said as she began to get dressed.

Gemma started to say how unlikely she thought that then remembered they were on a ship in multiple time zones. Then, already in the basic flight suit, she went to her locker to finish getting around. "I want to get out there too but if Doc decides against we need to be ready for that." She commented mildly as she prepared it was fairly obviously Aurilia was not happy about the Acting CO's choices.


===[Deck 3]===

Jayla glared at the turbolift stuck in the shaft. It was, of course, the only shaft to the bridge and this lift was blocking their way. The only way around was ventilation shafts and Jayla didn't think either she or Avery was small enough to fit through them. "Back down," she said, indicating the previous level they'd come from.

"Guess I need to work harder on that diet," she offered sarcastically as she began her descent. She wanted to say a lot more, but in this situation, expressing her frustration wouldn't change anything and she knew she needed to be support for Jayla. They would have to come up with a different plan, certainly not something that was foreign to either of them as members of Starfleet.

Once they were back in the corridors- this time of Deck three- Jayla tried to think. It would be awhile before they could get to the bridge, which meant they had no way to know what was outside the ship. "Damn," she muttered. "It's looking like we might have to send those fighters out after all. Unless you have any better ideas?

Avery shook her head. "I agree with you. I was never completely against the idea in general, just not eager to split us up if we could find useful information other ways, but it doesn't seem like we have any other choice." Stuart's frustration wasn't exactly hidden, but she was focused.

"Warning!" announced the computer, its monotonous voice accompanied by a loud klaxon. "Life support systems have been disabled. Theta Radiation and carbon monoxide levels increasing. Estimated time to render the ship inhabitable: one hour."

Jayla blinked at the walls. "What?" she snapped. "No!" She cursed and crossed to the nearest control panel and stared at it. "How did Gemma get those coms to work?"


===Flight Deck===

Alexander was in her full flight suit sans helmet making sure the make shift system Winner and she had worked out in her own fighter was stilling going strong and checking her craft when the computer's message came over, she was surprised by the message blasted out, after a moment she tapped coms, "Alexander to Kij, can you confirm receipt of emergency message?" As her mind whirled with possibilities.


===[Deck 3]===

"Yes, I did," answered Jayla. "Are you guys ready to fly?"

"Aye Doc, we are." Alexander replied said glancing over at Tango's craft.

"Good," said Jayla. "Get out there and check the area for anything hostile. We may need to evacuate and I'd rather not run into any surprises.

Moments like this, Avery had to remind herself to focus on small blessings. They still had time to figure all of this out and communications were working. Now, if they could just figure out a way to live beyond the hour…


===[Flight Deck]===

"Aye Doc we are on our way. Good luck." Alexander replied, concerned but knowing her job. She then called to Tango, "We got a flight order, check for hostiles and secure immediate space in prep for possible evac." As she began to run her craft into its prep sequence, purposely not focusing on the near immediate doom as not helpful to avoiding said doom.

Meanwhile, Aurilia had fired up her fighter and squawked the line. "Tango to Archer, I am green for go," she said.

Gemma was finishing up on her own prep and replied on the pilot com, "Archer online and green for days. I'll launch first then you, and we will see what can find out." She said securing her cockpit and using the automated system to prep her launch as they were sans any support crew.

"I got yer back," Aurilia said as she prepped her fighter for launch.

After a little bit Archer got back on the line, as her prep completed, "Archer ready to launch. Status?"

"Ready Archer, launch when ready," Aurilia replied.

"Acknowledged." Then she tapped the required sequence carefully, having modified the console to better input with the one good hand she had as she studied the HUD. "Arrow Away." She said just before heading out into the unknown.

The flaming redheaded pilot took a deep breath and launched her Gryphon and came up on Gemma's wing. "We are clear. Please advice on weapons, Archer," she called over the comm to Gemma.

"Standby on weapons. I want to be able to shoot my mouth off if I need to. Other then that we defend the ship as required." She'd been about to say more with something popped on her HUD, her eyes narrowed briefly in thought as she considered it "Tango, I'm reading a a small stationary bogey, reading as alien and no lifesigns on other side of the ship, weapons not hot, no other threats. Moving to get a better look. Can you confirm readings?" She asked adjusting flight to come around for a better visual angle.

Aurilia followed close on Gemma's wing and checked her sensors. "Confirmed, Archer. Let's check it out and report to Actual," she said.

For a moment Captain Geisler's face flashed across her mental vision, her mind associating it with being Blackhawk Actual. She blinked and shifted focused, she couldn't afford to be distracted by her concern for her shipmates. "Sounds like a plan, I'm not detecting any security measures so far but let's approach cautiously." She adjusted her flight as they headed toward the craft, "Archer to Blackhawk Actual, Come on Dr. Kij." It sounded so odd to her ears to call anyone but Captain Geisler that but she continued, "Be advised we have detected unknown alien craft. Runabout size, no life signs on board, no sign of battle damage on sensors. We are investigating."

"Keep me advised," Jayla replied. "And be careful."

"Since you may have unwanted guests, you too." Gemma replied as they came in visual range of the bogey, "Tango, Let's see what we can learn for the good doctor, wish I knew how remote hack their computers I mean if they're going to be away from home and all..." She mused as conducted a full visual and sensor scan of the bogey and immediate area.

With her sensors on full, Aurilia activated a full sensor scan of the odd little ship. "I'm not picking up any lifesigns or shields, Archer," she said. "Very low power and minimal armor, and not very well armed. It hasn't been here long, either and seems to have an automated defense system. What do you say we use it for target practice?"

Archer replied, "readings confirmed. Some kind of scout ship maybe." It looked like it had seen better days but there was nothing that could be noted as recent damage, no weapons fire residue or other energy signatures that stood out. She thought quickly, "If we have to evac we can't have automated weapons fire going off at the pods nor am I inclined to risk a self destruct. Keep an eye on it and lock on to the points where we detected the defensive systems but hold fire unless it gets frisky. I'll warn the Doc what we're about. Hate to surprise anyone watching sensors if we don't have to. You solid?"

Aurilia disagreed with the other pilot and decided to say as much. "Look, if we take out their only means of transport, they won't be able to escape the ship. They'll be cornered and give up easier."

"I didn't say we weren't blowing it up, just let me warn the Doc. Deep Breaths." She replied figuring she'd not been clear and opened a com to Jayla, keeping her in the loop as ordered, "Archer to Kij, be advised we are going to destroy the alien ship as a threat."

"Are you sure it is a threat?" replied Jayla nervously. "I don't want you destroying anything, yet. But, keep an eye on it."

Gemma considered her readouts carefully. "The potential is there, it has automated defense systems and if it gets a signal to self destruct if we evac that would be a problem as well. Destroying it may also alter the plans of the its missing crew but actively in the moment?" She was forced to admit, "No. If that changes though we have a green light to engage?" She asked making sure her systems were ready on the positions sensors detected for the defensive positions and sensors were functioning normally for the alien ship and surrounding space.

===[Engineering]===

Petty Officer Torg had never been so happy to ride in a turbolift. The journey from Deck Six to Engineering felt like it was taking forever, and the warning from the computer that life support was failing prompted even more fear. The ship was wounded, void of crew, and now possibly dying. Finally, the turbolift stopped, opening the door to reveal a dimly lit corridor. Of all decks, why would the engineering level look like a ghost ship? thought Torg as he led the way off the turbolift.

Immediately, Torg noticed a slumped figure against a bulkhead. The crewman was unmoving, his eyes closed. "Nurse," Torg called out, rushing over to the fallen crewman.

With her medkit in hand, Dani approached the body. She crouched down and pressed her fingers against his neck, checking for a pulse, though, she didn't expect him to have one. The petite blonde didn't need her tricorder to know what the cause of death was, either. "He's dead," she said, her brows furrowing a bit. "Shot." As it was her job, she moved him ever so slightly to get a better look at the wound. "This happened fairly recently since the blood is still relatively fresh."

Torg pulled out his tricorder which had a fairly poor charge since he acquired it from a dusty locker. "Definitely fresh," he confirmed. "Energy residue indicates this isn't a phaser. It's polaron."

Dani stood upright and looked toward Torg, her hand going to the phaser at her hip. She wasn't the best shot when it came to firing weapons, but the petite blonde wasn't the worst at it, either. If it meant life and death, she'd learn how to be a crackshot every time. "I don't know what's been confiscated in the past, but I can almost guarantee that's not one of ours." she stated, feeling a bit uneasy.

Torg couldn't confirm or deny what had been confiscated. Should anything have been, it was not in his purview to know. "We do know the Guardians in the Zone use polaron weapons. Perhaps they're here to try and take the ship again. Perhaps they're the reason life support is offline."

"This just gets better and better, doesn't it?" Dani asked, though, she wasn't expecting an answer. Now, the petite blonde had a choice to make. Did she go against everything she stood for as a person of medicine and take a life that would take all of theirs without hesitation? Absolutely. If it meant her life, and that of the crew, she'd do whatever was needed to make sure everyone else was safe. "I think our best course of action right now would be to find them before they can do anymore damage. What do you say?"

Before he answered, Torg used his tricorder and checked the full extent of its range. "I'm not picking up any more lifesigns on this deck. Wait. I'm only reading three. Aketi, Triosian, and something else. Looks like they're in Main Engineering. We should probably call for backup."

Dani frowned. Their situation had indeed gone from bad to worse. "I think calling for backup wouldn't be a bad idea," she said. According to his scan, they were alone on a deck with individuals that likely meant to kill them all and take the ship for themselves. However, the Black Hawk had the numbers on their side despite not having a full crew, but the small woman hoped with every fiber of her being that the didn't lose anyone else. "I don't doubt our abilities to protect our home, but having more numbers on our side will definitely help."

The Petty Officer nodded his head and tapped his badge. Hopefully these things were working.


===[Deck 3]===

Jayla turned back to Avery. "Maybe we should go down to engineering, keep everyone together," she said. "What do you think?"

Avery nodded. "Agreed. We can wait for word there."


===[Near by on Deck 3]===

"Just relax," Alex said as he knelt down to help yet another injured member of the Black Hawk's crew, setting his field medical kit down on the deck next to him. the other corpsman with him stopped to check out other injured...or possibly dead, crew members nearby. "It's okay, help is here. Can you tell me your name?"

"DC2 Rachel Martinez," the young woman said. "My team and I were trying...uhhh...trying to get to a blown conduit, but then a bunch of conduits on both sides of the corridor blew at once. Took us all out. Oh, God! My team--"

The Damage Control Technician tried to rise, but Alex stopped her.

"Easy," Alex said. "The other corpsman are looking after them now, I promise. Just relax and let me see to you."

Alex checked Martinez for a concussion, which she definitely had, so he'd have to be careful with what drugs he used. Then he did a full scan. Two broken ribs, plenty of cuts and bruises...and internal bleeding. Alex cursed. He reached into his kit and came up with a coagulant that was commonly used in the field to stabilize wounded personnel with internal bleeding. It was know for being safe and only very rarely causing thrombosis. Alex injected Martinez with the coagulant and then scanned her. Even this soon after the injection, the internal bleeding was starting to slow. Alex found a painkiller that would help Martinez relax as well, one that was safe for concussion victims and injected her with that. A hand touched his shoulder and he looked up. The other corpsman shook her head. Alex softly cursed again. The rest of Martinez's team was DOA.

"If I start an IV for Martinez here," Alex said. "Can you sit here with her and hold the bag? I'm out of portable stands."

"Sure thing, Chief," Alex's fellow corpsman said. "Here, use my last bag. Keep what you've got for whoever you find."

"Thanks," Alex said. He started the IV and handed the bag to the other corpsman and stood up. He picked up his field kit and set off down the corridor to look for other injured crew members. Up ahead, he heard voices, one of which he recognized. Lieutenant Commander Jayla Kij. He'd recognize her voice anywhere. She couldn't sing for a damn, but he loved her speaking voice. He picked up his pace, following the sound of her voice.

“.. how we’re going to know what they find out there,” Jayla was saying, almost to herself. “Alex!” she exclaimed as he rounded a corner nearby. The sight of him eased her mind a bit. She’d been fretting about being in charge and unsure of what to do, but having another friend around made her feel better. “Oh, good. I was just trying to decide if we should meet the others in Engineering or keep trying to get to the bridge. I sent a couple fighters out to scout the area in case we have to evacuate, but I don’t know if the comm system that Gemma rigged up will still work with them outside the ship and how will we know if there’s anything out there unless they come back and- and... I just don’t know what to do!”

Alex smiled at Jayla reassuringly as he resisted the urge to pull her into a hug.

"Everything's going to be okay, Jayla...er...Commander," he said. "You're the most intelligent and most capable person I know. You've got this. I've got complete confidence in you."

He reached into his bag and pulled out two hyposprays.

"This is loaded with Tri-Ox," he said, holding up one of the hypos. "It'll help us stay active longer as the air thins. This," Alex held up the other hypo. "Is loaded with an anti-radiation drug. It's designed to be used as a prophylactic measure by first responders who have to enter radioactive zones, and we used it in the Raiders so we could function with less protective gear in compromised areas. It's only going to go so far in protecting us, but every little bit helps, right? So, everyone show me some neck, please."

Even though Jayla didn't have confidence in herself, the fact that someone else did was reassuring. "I didn't even think of the radiation," she said, pulling her hair away from her neck and tilting her head away so he could press the sprays to her neck. "I'm just so flustered. I don't really know what to do."

"Relax, Commander," Alex said, trying to keep things professional as he injected Jayla first with the Tri-Ox, and then with the anti-radiation drug. "You weren't kitted out to do anything about it anyway. There. The air is already getting a little thin, but that Tri-Ox should help you breathe a little easier."

"Thanks, Alex," Avery said, offering her neck and feeling the hypo against her skin and the medicine enter with a hiss. It was good to hear others offer encouragement to Jayla. Hearing encouraging words from one person may have left her doubting their truthfulness, but hearing the same words from multiple people was likely to "stick" much better.

After inoculating the two officers, Alex put the hypos away in his kit.

"So," he said. "Engineering next?"

"Yes," answered Jayla definitively. "It's nearly 20 decks down. I still think these ships should be designed with emergency stairwells. Oh, well. I guess we'd better start climbing."

"You want me to go first?" Alex said, putting his field kit backpack on his back. "You know, ex-Raider. I'm trained to rush in where the Great Bird of the Galaxy's offspring fear to tread."

Jayla grinned in response. “Whatever paddles your canoe,” she said. “Ready, Dr. Stuart?”

Stuart nodded. "Ready."

"Okay, then," Alex said, climbing into the turbolift shaft. "In the immortal words of the Earth's old United States Army infantry: Follow me!"

Alex started climbing down the shaft and scouting the way ahead. Just like old times. Once a Raider, always a Raider.

"Petty Officer Torg to Doctor Kij," came a voice over the comm system. "Lieutenant Blake, Warrant Officer Griffin, and I are on the Engineering Deck. We've got intruders and we need backup."

Jayla blinked. Her first reaction was that the comms were working, but she had no time to think about that. "Understood," she replied. "I'm on my way with Stuart and Senior Cheif Rylan. It might take a while, though. Pick it up, Rylan!" she called down to Alex as she climbed into the shaft after him. "As fast as you can move safely."

"Copy that, Commander," Alex said, fighting an instinct to refer to Jayla by her given name. "Hold one."

Alex twisted his field kit around and removed from it a pair of sturdy gloves. He manage to put them on and return his kit to his back.

"Last one there is a rotten egg!" Alex said, as he began sliding down the ladder, stopping now and then to keep from destroying his boots and gloves, not because he was attached to the garments, but because if he wore them down before he reached the bottom, he'd have to go back to climbing.

Jayla glanced down to see what he was doing. "Oh, that is brilliant!" she hissed mostly to herself. Quickly, she pulled the sleeves of her uniform jacket over her hands. They would likely be shredded after ten or twelve decks, but at least she'd get there quite a bit faster. She, too, began to slide down the ladder.


===[Deck 19]===

Outside the turbolift that brought him, Lieutenant Blake, and Warrant Officer Griffin to the engineering deck, Torg knelt beside the door, watching his tricorder very carefully. "They're not moving," he reported to whoever was listening. "Definitely reading polaron power signatures, so now we know they're armed. I think we can assume that they plan to take the ship."

"Copy that, Torg," Rylan said over the comm channel. "This is Senior Chief Rylan. Commander Kij, Lieutenant Stuart, and I have just exited the turbolift shaft on the Engineering deck. Making our way down the corridor to you now. How many hostiles are we talking about?"

"Three," replied the Tellarite, his eyes remaining fixed on the tricorder. "I am also picking up high concentrations of graphene and unknown compounds. I think our friends are armored."

"Wonderful," Alex said. "Almost there."

Dani turned her attention toward Torg. Instead of the medkit, she had her phaser in hand, ready to use it if she needed to. "Are they moving much?" she asked, feeling a little uneasy, but who wouldn't in a situation such as this? And, just how were they going to keep the ship and crew safe when those who meant to kill them and take the ship for their own were wearing armor? This definitely got better and better.

Jayla had made it most of the way down the turbolift shaft by sliding on her sleeves, but had had to stop and climb down the last five decks because her sleeves were tatters. Still, she arrived not far behind Alex. Quickly, she tapped her combadge. "Kij to Alexander and Moretti," she said, slightly out of breath. "You still got that ship in your sights?"


===[Space]===

"Affirmative," Aurilia responded.

"Copy Boss Lady, we are." Gemma replied.

"Good," replied Jayla. "I want you to scan it for weapons and disable. And see if you can't disable the engines, too. Disable only! Try not to destroy them."

"Understood weapons and engines only. Aim to disable. On it Doc. Later you'll have to tell me whats going on." She shifted focus, "Tango scan for targeting lock on weapons for disable only. I'll cover the engines, let's see if we can't defang this party crasher." She tapped a few keys to adjust her scans and started fine tuning the targeting software for the area and strength she wanted.

"Locked and loaded," came Tango's response a moment later as she swung the Gryphon around in a graceful arc and locked onto the weapons of the alien ship. On your mark."

Gemma checked her own settings and weapons, "Fire." Was her only reply when ready as her attention focused, she tapped the programmed sequence that would take out the engines, the weapons fire streaking across the intervening space quickly.

Aurilia lined up her fighter and locked onto the alien ship's weapons systems and fired several pinpoint bursts of her phasers, smiling when they got taken out.

She was joined by Tango, their aim true, hitting the carefully worked out tag points with the energy needed to turn them to slag. "Black Knights to Black Hawk Actual, reporting alien ships weapons and engines would make a lovely paperweight." Archer said with satisfaction over the coms.


===[Deck Nineteen]===

Alex had hit the ground moving and quickly caught up to Torg and Dani.

"Torg," he said to the petty officer. "Lieutenant Blake. I understand we have some unwelcome guests?" He took out a PaDD and used it to call up the ship's internal sensors and got a clear picture of where the 'bad guys' were located. Torg was correct, they were wearing some kind of body armor. He turned to Jayla as she and Avery caught up with him. "Commander. Three armed and armored hostiles. I think we have to assume that armor can take at least a few shots from a phaser, especially a pistol. Stunning them probably isn't going to work. But if you look at their armor..." Alex showed Jayla the image on his PaDD. "There are weak points, one of which is between the shoulders and the head. See? The neck is exposed. Now, in my old job, I'd stab them in the neck and be done with it. I'm guessing you'd prefer a non-lethal option?"

Torg raised a hairy eyebrow at the Senior Chief. While the Tellarite was certainly the lowest ranked individual here, he was surprised that a corpsman could take command of a non-medical situation so quickly, especially to the point of discussing killing the intruders. The intelligence analyst decided, however, that his rank had little to do here when he could offer a perspective no one else could. "We should take into account that this trio is likely the reason life support has gone offline, not to mention," he pointed down at the corpse on the floor, "they've already killed some of the crew. This is a scenario where it's kill or be killed."

While she hated the idea of killing anybody they hadn’t even tried to talk to yet, Jayla know that Torg was right; these beings had killed some of their people and they had to assume the intruders would kill them, too, if given the chance. “Do whatever you’ve got to do,” she said. “But first, we’ve got to get in there. Anybody have any ideas on how to do that?”

"We have limited power," Torg observed. "Might be enough to transport a team inside the Chief Engineer's office and take them from behind. Or, maybe we can use those or a runabout's transporter system to beam them to the brig? We could disarm them in the process, and use the opportunity to retake the ship."

Dani was grateful the others arrived. Their chances of handling the situation definitely increased, but there was no need to risk anyone else losing their lives. "I rather like the idea of having them transported to the brig. Doing that, we won't run the risk of losing anyone else," she stated, looking toward Jayla so she could make the call.

"It's a great idea," Jayla agreed, "if we have transporters. And somebody to run them. And if the forcefields in the brig are working. Is there any way to confirm that?"

Torg took the initiative. Tapping his combadge, he called out, "Torg to Transporter Rooms and Brig. Respond please."

"Petty Officer Gomez in the brig," answered a woman's voice.

"Petty Officer ch'Xar in Transporter Room Four," replied another.

"That's great," said Jayla. "Kij to Gomez- have you got power to the forcefields down there?"

"I think so," replied Gomez, followed by a few beeps and a hiss as she tested the forcefield. "Confirmed."

"Excellent," replied Jayla happily. Things were going their way for once. "And ch'Xar, are the transporters working? More specifically, do you think you could beam three intruders from Main Engineering straight to a cell in the brig?"

"All systems check out," replied the Andorian. It was, after all, all he'd been doing since the power had been restored. As much as he'd like to leave his post, he had to stand by until an all clear was given on the life support alarm, or some other instructions came through. "As for beaming to the brig, that won't be any trouble."

"Senior Chief Rylan, here, C'Xar," Alex said. "Make sure to deactivate any weapons while they're in transport."

"Yes, that!" agreed Jayla. "Beam them to the brig and deactivate their weapons in transport. Whenever you're ready. Coordinate with Gomez to make sure they stay there."

Giffin had been quiet during the journey down to Engineering, he'd already put his foot in his mouth a few times with the officers and wasn't keen to repeat. Standing outside the turbolift doors waiting for the transport to happen, he was mentally preparing himself for a fight. He was hoping the transport-and-disable plan was going to work, but there was always the chance it wouldn't.

"When we go in," he grumbled, "we should have a plan, just in case we miss some of 'em."

"Would beaming into the Chief's office work?" Torg asked the Warrant Officer. "If memory serves, its not visible from the main area and would give us a chance to overtake anyone we miss."

"It couldn't hurt," Griffin mused, "but we should split up into two groups. One into the chief's office and the other onto the upper deck, maybe?" He looked around at the assembled faces, "I ain't no tactical officer, though."

"Well, Griffin, sir," Alex said. "How lucky we are that I spent half of my career getting shot at and shooting back. Your plan will work, but I doubt we'll find anything, provided C'Xar and Gomez do their jobs. Commander? You ready for this to happen?"

Jayla nodded in response to Alex, who tapped his commbadge.

"C'Xar, Gomez," he said. "This is Senior Chief Rylan again. Please go ahead and round up the bad guys and dump them in the brig, then beam Griffin and Torg into the CEO's office and me onto the upper deck of the engine room."


===[Brig]===

Petty Officer Gomez was alone in the brig, standing with her phaser drawn, ready to use it should the intruders manage to breach the forcefield. A moment later, three columns of light appeared as the transporter operator plucked the intruders from Engineering and deposited them in the brig with everything but their weapons.

"Don't move!" Gomez shouted, ready to act if necessary. "Welcome to the Black Hawk."


===[Main Engineering]===

The blue glow of the transporter faded away, depositing members of the crew in Engineering. Torg slipped past Warrant Officer Griffin, after all the Tellarite was the lowest man on the totem pole and the most expendable, and opened the door to the main room. Save for the unpowered warp core, and the limited amount of equipment that was powered and running, the engine room was pretty silent. "Clear," he whispered to Griffin as he continued to slip deeper into the engine room.

Griffin stepped out into the main engineering space, feeling vulnerable. The type-two phaser felt small in his hand and he felt like a target. At 7 feet tall and 5 feet across the shoulders, in a firefight, he was a stand-out target. Still, there was work to be done and it had landed on him. He moved across to the master system display, trusting the others to keep the security situation under control.

The first step was to get the core back up and re-establish main power. That couldn't be done safely without a bunch of diagnostics that would take time - time he feared they didn't have. As a compromise, he checked all the numbers himself and found everything within tolerances. The plasma distribution network was stable, the magnetic constrictors were free but closed, the antimatter containment field was stable and strong, warp core integrity was nominal, the dilithium matrix was aligned. There seemed to be nothing wrong at a glance.

Torg slipped behind the warp core, finding no one there. He had no qualms carrying this phaser. The Tellarite was an analyst, comfortable behind consoles and terminals. Because of that, he made it a point to keep up on his phaser qualifications. Starfleet ships, it seemed, had a high infiltration rate and an equally high turnover rate when it came to security. The Black Hawk's own qualifier seemed to be much, much higher. What was the human expression? Better safe than sorry?

"Clear," the Tellarite gruffed at last. "Looks like our transporter got everyone." A glance around engineering to see the dead crew made him wince. At least he wasn't among the dead.

"Clear!" Alex barked from the upper deck. He was on his way down to assist Torg and Griffin (not that he really knew what to do with a warp engine) when suddenly Gomez called from Security. Using his commbadge, Alex advised Jayla that he was heading to Security to deal with a medical emergency there.

===[Brig]===

The caged trio looked at each other, then back to Gomez, then back at each other. The middle person in the group gave a single nod. Almost instantly, all three intruders started to convulse.

"What the hell?" Gomez asked, looking over at the biomonitor stationed at the desk. The system recognized the three lifesigns as native species to the zone, therefore allowing her to see proper vitals. All three were in a state of shock, their vital signs failing and flatlining. She tapped her badge instantly. "Brig to Doctor Kij. Medical emergency! All three intruders are dying!"

Before she could finish talking, all three intruders had collapsed on the floor without a single breath of life remaining in any of the three. Gomez grabbed a tricorder, approached the cell, deactivated the forcefield, knelt beside one of the trio and started to scan.

"Just great," Rylan said. "Commander Kij is tied up at the moment. I'll be there in a second. Gomez?"

A moment later Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Alex Rylan appeared on the scene.

"Let me take a look, Gomez," Alex said, going over to the biomonitor. He looked at it. "Yep, they're dying. But just in case they're not, back out of here and take this," Alex handed over his phaser pistol. "And this," Alex pulled his WWII Marine Raider version of the Sykes-Fairbairn fighting knife, out of it's sheath and handed it to Gomez, grip first. "That's a family heirloom. I expect it back when we're done here. Alright. Unass this cell and activate the forcefield."

Without waiting for a response, Alex started looking over his patients. He moved quickly and efficiently, but didn't rush. It was a terrible thing when anyone died, but there was such a thing as just desserts. Alex would pull out all the stops to save these Gomers, but he wasn't going to lose any sleep if they bought the farm. He scanned them and frowned. Poison. Self-Administered through the armor. Fast acting. Moving with a sense of urgency, Alex administered a broad spectrum anti-toxin to each of the intruders and waited a moment to see what happened.

Gomez did as she was told, standing directly beside the cell holding her phaser and the knife as the forcefield was restored. The intruders were not as obedient however. All biomonitors continued to flatline as any remaining evidence of life faded away.

Alex cursed. He couldn't do much more here, and he wasn't prepared to beam the intruders to Sickbay until he could be certain they could be properly secured there. He cursed again and removed the helmets of the intruders and attached cortical stimulators to the sides of their heads and tried jolting them back to life. Since he'd never encountered these people before, and neither had the ship's computer, he had almost no idea what was normal for them or how much stimulation he could apply before it was detrimental to their health. But, considering they were flatlining, Alex figured their health was pretty much crap at this point anyway, so he had nothing to lose.

His efforts revealed a Triosian, an Aketi, and a Boreriri, all species the ship had previously encountered. Their eyes had rolled back into their skulls and their mouths had foamed. Not a single one of the three responded to the stimulators. Outside, Gomez did not watch Rylan's movements, and instead fixated upon the lifeless intruders. She'd heard stories of people coming back suddenly from the dead, and she certainly did not relish the idea of fighting space zombies. But she would do what she had to, if it were so required.

"Huh," Alex said when the three intruders' actual species were revealed. "Clever bastards. Won't fool me with that again."

Alex slipped a pair of medical gloves on now that there were fluids to deal with. He probably should have done that before but he was rushed and took the chance. After a both a scan and a physical examination indicated the three were, in fact, deceased, Alex took swabs of the foam around their mouths, a separate swab for each intruder and secured the samples for later examination and took all of the scans they'd need for an autopsy and later. Then, after determining that there were no airborne contaminants to worry about, he called out to Gomez. "Okay, Gomez. Let me out of here, then put the force field back up. Turn the temp way down in the cell. Match the morgue temp. The computer can tell you what that is. It might be a bit before anyone can come and secure the bodies."

"Aye sir," the Petty Officer replied, lowering the forcefield with a swift tap from the hand holding the knife he'd given her. "You'll probably want this back, sir, since we appear to no longer need it." She extended the weapon towards the Senior Chief, handle first.

"Thanks for holding on to this for me," Alex said, taking the lethal looking dagger from the security officer and putting it back in its sheath in his right boot. "And remember, if those three get up and start walking around, salivating as they eye your cranium, 20th and 21st Century Earth cinema says that massive head trauma is your best bet."

"Shoot the zombie in the head," the Petty Officer confirmed, somewhat familiar with the reference thanks to a few holodeck scenarios she had performed. "If you ever get the itch, Senior Chief," she said, reaching over to restore the forcefield and to begin altering the temperature. "You might try Night on the Nightingale on the holodeck. Ambassador class ship overrun with these slugs that turn the crew into zombies. Might be a good use for that dagger of yours."

"I'll keep that in mind, Gomez," Alex said. "I'm familiar with several different, though similar, types of sharp and/or pointy objects. Always looking for the opportunity to keep my skills up...without actually hurting anyone in the process. Okay, I've got to catch up to Commander Kij. Be safe."


===[Main Engineering]===

Torg, acting on his own authority, found the controls to unlock the main door to Engineering. With a quick succession of taps, he opened the entrance, exposing Main Engineering to the outside world once more and letting inside any crewmembers, like the good Doctor and Nurse Blake, into engineering to check on the fallen crewmembers.

With a blink of only the vaguest surprise, Jayla entered Engineering and rushed to the nearest downed officer. A quick scan confirmed what she suspected; she couldn't do anything for him. She hurried to another nearby one and found more of the same. "Well, that's... wonderful," she muttered, glancing over to the third. She quickly scanned for lifesigns and found only those she already knew to be alive. "If anyone else is here, they're dead."

"With so few people on this ship, we can't afford to lose any more," Torg remarked, holstering his phaser and returning to the group. "Everything checks out, and tricorder confirms no more intruders. I'll do a thorough sweep with the internal sensors as soon as possible."

"Good idea," agreed Jayla. "Let's hope it's just those three."

"We can hope indeed," Torg remarked. "But I think we're secured here now."

"Right," said Jayla. "Well, I'm going to go to the bridge, I guess. See if I can't make sense of things. Griffin, see if you can't get the warp core online, okay?"

"Workin' on it," Griffin replied from the island, he had decided to run a diagnostic after all, not particularly wanting to wreck the engines or blow everyone up and it was just finishing. "I'm just about to initiaaah, what the hell?"

He frowned down at the display, trying to make heads-or-tails of the readings he was getting from the antimatter storage tanks. The containment field seemed stable and the tanks were intact, but the antimatter itself was doing something that could only be described as... weird. It appeared to be in some kind of flux, fading in and out of existence, but not.

"Uh Commander, no-can-do." He turned to look at Jayla, "the antimatter's all screwed up, I dunno how or why but it's in some kinda flux state. I wouldn't risk putting it anywhere near the core."

An agitated sigh met that revelation. "Great," said Jayla, not really sure what else to do. "Well, then.... I guess I'll just let you do whatever it is you do. I'm a horrible engineer so I have no input whatsoever. But, I can climb! And I've got more than twenty decks to climb, so I'm going to get to it. Let me know if anything changes down here, okay?"

"Will do, Commander." Griffin grumbled, turning back to look at the display.

With another sigh, Jayla turned and headed back to the turbolift shaft, not looking forward to this climb one little bit.

Not for the first time, Griffin was feeling the inadequacies of his training. He had never attended the academy and the Starfleet Warrant Officer Candidate School, while excellent at vocational training, didn't generally provide much theory outside of the general "how stuff works." Over the years he had taught himself a fair amount and picked up even more, but he lacked much of the theoretical education that a real Engineer needed. If the computer had been working properly, he could have asked it for an answer, but he was left with only his dumb humanoid brain. He studied the readings again, trying to glean some kind of answer from the raw data that was displayed there. The energy output and mass of the antimatter was fluctuating up and down, sometimes above what they should be and sometimes below. There was no way that more antimatter than existed could be appearing out of nowhere in a vac... wait a damn minute! Appearing out of nowhere!

"Hah!! Quantum!" He announced, mostly to himself and far too loudly. He grinned around at everyone else in the room. "The antimatter's in quantum flux!" Now... how the hell could he un-quantum flux antimatter. The frown returned.

As the crew continued to assess the problem, little did they know what the great bird had in store for them next...

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