Task Force: Gamma

Antonio Coelho · Posted: Sat May 08, 2010 9:33 pm Post subject:

"Aye, Ma'am," responded Coelho and hit a quick sequence of keys on his console, wiping out a number of sensitive files, so that if anyone scavenged the wreckage, there would be no security breaches. With one hand he grabbed his PADD, securing it on his belt. "Let's move!"

A quick visual sweep of the room showed him the injured were already being helped, so Antonio rushed over to the partially jammed doors off the bridge and forced them the rest of the way open. "This way. We can all make it out of this."
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Science has two purposes, to enhance life and to protect it. I embrace the former, what do you choose?

Captain David Brennon · Posted: Sun May 09, 2010 8:10 pm Post subject:

*

Location: Main Bridge, USS Hartington-A

Admiral Brennon helped two young bridge officers up and into the Jefferies Tube before turning to his friend.

Davynn Qech · Graphics Chief Joined: 16 Jun 2009 Posts: 809

"Davynn!"

Qech followed the familiar voice through the smoke, all the while trying to shield Taj from breathing it in. Finally a group of people came into view with Paolo jogging toward her.

"Turbolifts are down, I had to climb up from Deck 12 to get here. It Taj alright?"

She nodded, even though he could barely see her. "He's scared, and a little burned, but he's okay." It was a learned reaction of motherhood that caused her to cover the child's ears before continuing. "Ensign Baker is dead." She swallowed, and coughed slightly from the thinning air. Qech knew that Baker had attempted to get her son out of harm's way. That's why they were in the corridor. That's why she was dead.

Blinking against the smoke the Captain looked around at the scared faces. Nurse D'hala came forward, looking particularly worse for the wear.

"Captain."

Qech regarded her for a moment, compassion in her eyes, then lowered her voice to a whisper. "I need you guys to help me keep everyone calm. The nearest escape pods are on Deck 6. We'll have to climb through the jefferies tubes."

D'hala and Ortega both nodded, and the Denobulan began the process of shepherding the frightened civilians toward the Jefferies tube hatch. As they made their way through the still growing wreckage, Qech looked to Paolo. "I thought you'd be in an escape pod by now. You didn't come looking for me, did you?"
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Aria · Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 2:28 pm Post subject:

Aria, with Calodan's help, steered the injured crewmember into one of the escape pods. She glanced around for more wounded, but everyone seemed to be taken care of. With a heavy heart she climbed in beside the crewman, the captain's order ringing in her ears.

She looked up. "Calodan, are you coming?"
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ArjimCalodan · Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 11:30 pm Post subject:

Location: Deck 7, Port side Escape Pods

Captain David Brennon · Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 9:08 pm Post subject:

Ortega smiled as he looked over the boy in Davynn's arms and shrugged.

"Maybe, but now that I've found you we can get to a pod. Captains aren't supposed to go down with their ships you know."
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Davynn Qech · Graphics Chief Joined: 16 Jun 2009 Posts: 809

"Maybe, but now that I've found you we can get to a pod. Captains aren't supposed to go down with their ships you know."

"Neither are Admirals" Qech responded as they waited for their turn to enter the hatch. "And I have a bad feeling that David is going to try something crazy. He barely made it off the last Hartington. I have to get to the bridge. I just know I'm going to find him there."

Ortega looked uneasy about the idea, and was clearly on the verge of protesting when Davynn chimed in first. "I have no intention of staying on this ship, Paolo. I have Taj to think about, and you."

Their turn arrived and Taj grasped tightly around his mothers neck, wrapping his legs around her torso like a spider monkey as she made the difficult climb up the jefferies tube. Paolo was right behind her, a look of serious doubt on his face. She knew what he was thinking, and when the others had excited the tube to board the deck 6 escape pods she was not surprised that he was still behind her, making the climb to the closest row of pods to the bridge.

She only continued their conversation when they'd reached the one remaining pod on deck 2. "Please, Paolo. Wait for me in the lifeboat. I promise, I will be back as soon as I find Brennon. Take Taj, at least I'll know he'll be safe in the pod. Things are still falling around here."

That's when the toddler began crying again, something he didn't often do. He held on tighter to her neck, unwilling to leave his mother.

"No, no, no!" He protested as she tried to hand him over to Ortega and the safety of the escape pod. "Don't wanna go! No, Mama!"
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Captain David Brennon · Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 7:22 pm Post subject:

*

Location: Main Bridge, USS Hartington-A

The Admiral scowled for a moment then nodded. He was clearly unhappy with the idea but wasn't going to press the issue... yet.

"Try to hold the ship together for a few more minutes, we need to give the rest of the crew a little more time."

***

Location: Deck 8, USS Hartington-A

"If that's the best I can get I'll take it... but you don't have a lot of time Davynn, if he won't come --

Ortega was about to finish his sentence when the ship shook violently to one side, nearly knocking them from their feet -- or rather nearly knocking the Captain from her feet. She would have went to the ground had Ortega not reached out to steady her, the motion apparently ineffective at throwing the Augment to the ground. The Doctor grinned and was about to take the child off of Qech's hands when the deck began to shake.

In a flurry of movement, the Captain felt a hard shove from Ortega, followed by the dizzying sensation of flying through the air and a disorienting cacophony of crashing metal coming from what seemed like all sides.

When her senses returned to her, Qech realized what had happened in one horrifying moment. Part of Deck 7 had now become Deck 8, as evident by the mass of mangled deckplating feet in front of her -- where Paolo Ortega had shoved her from moments before. She couldn't see him, but Augment or no it was unlikely he had survived the collapse... and she didn't have the time or manpower to mount a rescue.

As if to break her from the horrifying spell Taj whimpered a little. He had been screaming this whole time and now had gone quiet. All he did was grip tighter to his mother, burying his head in her neck. No matter what else happened today, of all the terrible events that would stay with Qech through the rest of its days, the sight of that child in this moment would never be forgotten.
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ArjimCalodan · Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 7:30 pm Post subject:

Location: Bridge, USS Hartington-A

Aria · Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 7:31 pm Post subject:

Aria saw the look of determination on Calodan's face as he closed up the pod. He started the launch sequence and, before she could do anything, they were whooshing out of the pod's hatch. The Hartington drew away from her at alarming speed, its hull burned and spinning gently in space.

"Dammit," Aria muttered under her breath. She hadn't wanted to leave Calodan behind. Apart from her obvious worry for his safety, there was also the time anomaly issue. He had been the only other person who'd been affected by it, and Aria hadn't had any time to figure out what it was, or why it was happening. Knowing someone else was facing the same situation had been morbidly comforting. Without Calodan she felt abruptly alone in a nightmare scenario.

But she had to focus on the immediate problems. That's where her attention should be, she reminded herself. And the immediate problem was that she was in a small, near indefensible ship with two injured people, with Borg cubes swerving around nearby space. Hopefully the pod would be too small to worry about. After all, there's much bigger ships to destroy. Another morbid thought.

She turned to the second crewmember, the one Calodan had shoved inside. It was a woman, someone Aria didn't recognize. A series of burns crossed the woman's face, as if she'd been branded by burning shrapnel, but she was awake and seemed cognizant. Aria couldn't tell if she had any more serious injuries, or not.

"How badly are you hurt?" Aria asked her. She wondered nervously just how far basic first aid training would take her.
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Davynn Qech · Graphics Chief Joined: 16 Jun 2009 Posts: 809

Qech stared in horror at the crumpled mass of smoking deck plating that had fallen where Ortega was standing just seconds ago. Taj's whimper snapped her back to reality as surely as if someone had tossed a bucket of freezing water over her head. She made to stand up, reaching out a shaky hand for something, anything to help her to her feet.

Her eyes were wide with shock as she looked over the debris. There was no sign of the Edenite Doctor.

"Paolo?" She took a step forward, holding Taj against her body in a vain attempt to comfort. He was silent now, save for a violent case of the hiccups; a side-effect of his crying.

"Paolo!" She called again. But there was no answer. All she could think of at that moment was getting some help. The debris had fallen in front of the last escape pod, and she could only hope that there was still a chance for him. She couldn't move the plating by herself, and if it couldn't be moved then there could only be one ending for them... They would die on that ship.

She wouldn't let that happen.

Holding tightly to her son, Qech laboriously made her way to the bridge. Part of her hoped she would find Brennon there. It was the only chance of getting her child off the dying ship. Another part of her wanted him to be far away, safe in an escape pod with the rest of the crew. When she finally climbed onto the darkened bridge what she got was not one straggler, but two...

"Jim?... Dammit! I told you to get to an escape pod!"

She shook her head, panting and tired from her climb through the wreckage with the weight of a toddler. "Nevermind... Look..." She looked desperately between him and Brennon. "There's one escape pod left. But the deck plating collapsed. Paolo pushed me. He's..." She stopped, not wanting to finish the sentence. "He's hurt. Or worse, I don't know. I can't lift the plating alone."
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ArjimCalodan · Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 10:46 pm Post subject:

"Paolo?" He searched his memory for a crewmember with that name and couldn't come up with anyone. Must be someone new. "Captain, the SIF generators are failing all around us. I've put as much extra power as I can into them, but we have minutes at best. We need to go..now."
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Davynn Qech · Graphics Chief Joined: 16 Jun 2009 Posts: 809

"Paolo?"

She had nearly forgotten that the man she was talking to was missing four years of experience. He barely knew Ortega, just as she had barely known him four years ago. How things change.

"You'd know him as Doctor Ortega." She said, glancing in Brennon's direction. She wasn't surprised to find he looked confused by the exchange, but there was no time to explain.

"Captain, the SIF generators are failing all around us. I've put as much extra power as I can into them, but we have minutes at best. We need to go..now."

Qech shook her head, trying to steady her still shaking limbs as Taj shifted his weight against her. "That's what I'm trying to tell you, Jim. The debris is in front of the last escape pod. And Paolo could still be alive. We have to move it, and I can't do it alone."

There was a pleading note in her voice that seemed just a bit out of character for her. Qech clearly cared for him, and wasn't willing to entertain the very real possibility that he might be dead.
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Captain David Brennon · Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 6:04 pm Post subject:

*

Location: Main Bridge, USS Hartington-A

The Admiral sighed. He'd worked along side Paolo Ortega for years, he was a friend -- one of many lost on the last voyage of the USS Hartington. And he was lost. Even if he had survived the collapse on Deck 8 there was no time to un-bury him. Davynn would never forgive him but Brennon knew he had to make the call. Reluctantly, the Admiral looked to Calodan.

"Jim, I need you get any power you can to the transporters. We need to beam the four of us to the remaining pod. Take it from everything, Life Support, the SIF, anywhere you can squeeze it from take it. We're leaving."

Sorrow filled the man's face as he looked between each of his friends and comrades. Damn the Borg for forcing this decision, for creating this whole mess. And damn him for being the one who had to make the call. In his years as a Commanding Office, Brennon had learned that mourning was always easier if he wasn't the one responsible for the death. Today was no exception.
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