Droning On

Posted on Wed Oct 13th, 2021 @ 6:07pm by Captain Björn Kodak & Lieutenant Commander Emni t'Nai & Lieutenant Sharrina Blackstone & Lieutenant Irynya & Lieutenant Chaali

Mission: The Place of Skulls
Location: The Bridge
Timeline: Mission Day 16 at 1302

[The Bridge]
[MD16: 1302 Hours]

"Phasers!" Kodak called out, taking cover to the side of his chair. Here we go again, he thought to himself, raising his weapon and training it on the first of the drones to emerge.

A lancing beam of light crossed the distance but missed, the drone having maneuvered itself out of the way of the Chameloid's phaser blast. It was then that the second drone popped through the forcefield, two others still buzzing against the curtain of charged particles in their own attempts to pass through. The two craft that had pierced the Bridge flew in opposite directions, taking a vee pattern to assume optimal firing positions.

With a dazzling burst of its mining laser, one of the drones successfully hit T'Prynn, who'd been at the Science console and aiming to fire herself. The woman had attempted to move out of the way while firing but the blast hit her on the side, her own shot going wide. She fell to the ground, her dive interrupted and her phaser clattering across the floor. A second beam then seared her back, downing her firmly into unconsciousness. With the threat of the Vulcan dealt with, the drone took aim at Blackstone and fired. Its partner, meanwhile, had focused on Chaali, sending a bright lance the Bolian's way.

Sharrina had, unfortunately for her, been watching the wrong drone, setting up to take it out. At the very last second, she saw the one firing at her. She threw herself to the right and to the deck, hoping to dodge its bolt. She dodged most of it, but the edge of the beam sizzled along her upper arm, eliciting a series of curses from her in Klingon. Using her own momentum, however, she rolled away into a ready stance. But now she had to fire with her off hand. This meant that her accuracy was not nearly as good as with her primary hand. Her shot took out its weapon and sent it spinning into the bulkhead. That gave her a second longer to aim properly and fire again. The drone dropped, and she considered hitting it again, on principle, but let that go, giving herself a once-over instead.

The only damage was the graze she'd taken to her upper arm. She could smell the burnt flesh and uniform bits, feel the oozing secretions of the burn, but her Klingon blood was only fueled by the sensations. Her Human side brought into play pain management techniques taught to her long ago by a shaman. She uncurled from her knelt position and looked over the bridge to check the status of her fellow crew and the captain. Only the Vulcan was down, but this battle was not over. Quickly, she moved back to her console and shifted the rotation frequencies to a completely different set, buying them a little more time, she hoped.

Searing hot agony. Chaali had managed to miss some of it, but the beam clipped her shoulder and part of her neck. When she cried out she could feel her uniform's former collar, crispy, brittle, and hot to the touch. Her skin was blistered in an array of deep azures and purples, oozing blue viscousness. The Bolian redirected her own phaser and missed the drone initially, but with its continuous beam she just swept it into the target. It shorted with an acrid burn and fizz and dropped.

Irynya flinched as the sound of a drone laser lancing across the bridge could be heard. Her head whirled as Chaali called out, her friend's voice setting a flurry of worry into motion. There wasn't time, though, and so she quickly returned to her work. Several more of the larger drones had tried the same trick that their smaller counterparts had successfully breaking through the shields.

"Coming around for another pass," she called out, warning everyone. "Sharrina, I need the shields to come down on my mark..."

Knuckles genuinely white at this point she calculated the distance, tapping in a complicated series of instructions that would send them on a near-collision course with the next closest asteroid. The short-range sensors gave her little warning, but she had to try scraping as many of these things off as she could.

"Sharrina... 3... 2... 1... MARK!" she shouted.

Sharrina had set the command when Irynya had told her what she needed, her hand hovering over the control. She could see the risk in this maneuver, and her Starfleet training said she should warn them against it. But her Klingon side not only approved of its originality, but thrilled at the danger of it. Her father's heritage and teaching told her that it was indeed risky, and most Starfleet personnel would never try it, but he had not been called Mr. Unorthodox for nothing. That part of her approved as well. And so,l when Irynya gave her the signal, she cut off the shields around the ship -- the ones inside the ship remained on though.

The Sojourner seemed to groan as the shields blinked out, 4 drones that had been attached to the hull scraping against the asteroid, a maneuver that barely left feet between the ship and the rock Irynya was using like someone cleaning mud off of a boot. Smashed and malfunctioning the drones tore away from the hull, some leaving behind coupling cables and others dragging hull plating with them.

Irynya's fingers flew across the console again, pulling them out of their course to free them from the asteroid's light gravitational pull. "Re-engage shields," she called as they pulled away.

It was then that the voice of Noah Balsam crackled across the comm.

Buh-Balsam to Sojourner. Initiate the f-following code sequence on EM Band Alpha-Alpha Quad Phi at 3300 Mhz. Wa'. Wa' bej. Ja'bej. Ios. Ch-chorgh. Chorgh. Wa'bej. That will designate you as a friendly entity to the drones!

"Remind me to give that man ALL the cheese sticks," Kodak swiftly mumbled to himself. "Input the code sequence, Chaali," he ordered, firing at one of the drones moving to threaten the cerulean woman again. The Chameloid found himself immensely worried for her and her gestating child.

The wounded Bolian, wincing, returned to her station and flicked in the Klingon numbers and confirm-words. "Here goes nothing," he said as she pointed the subspace antennas at the right frequencies. She stabbed the transmission key. Chaali held her breath, her gaze searching the pregnant air with hope.

The effect was almost magical. Throughout the ship, scanning beams went dark and lasers cooled. The drones both internally and those on the hull of the ship seemed simply to pause, floating in place as their programming was updated to indicate that they should not engage. More immediately on the Bridge, the drones trying to leave the Ready Room fell idle as well. The sudden quiet was eerie.

"That could not have come at a better time," Kodak sighed with relief. "With the immediate threat resolved, we need to get you," he looked up to the injured engineer, "and you," he looked to Chaali, "to Sickbay. T'Prynn, too," the Captain looked to the unconscious form of the Vulcan science officer. "Can we manage a site-to-site transport for the three of you?"

"We can do it," Chaali said. She'd shifted and cradled her arm with the wounded shoulder against her breast. With her off-hand she centered the transporter on the Bridge. With a pinpoint of light, the transporter buffer spanned into a ray and then dropped down into a plane- a transport "door." Chaali gestured for the wounded to step through before she herself stepped through. A few seconds after, the plane disappeared- retracted up into a ray and then compacted into a point.

A voice sounded across the comm again, this time Emni, her voice tense. "t'Nai to Kodak. Mr. Balsam's code seems to have done the trick down here."

"Up here as well," the Captain intoned back. "And just in time, too. We were very much about to be overwhelmed up here."

"Glad to hear that sir. We're going to need you to come down here, Captain. The hypo didn't do the trick. It's going to have to be you. "

"I kind of worried that might be the case," Kodak lamented. "Alright, I'm going to have Lieutenant Blackstone beam me down. Please provide her with coordinates to wherever you want me."

"Acknowledged, sir. t'Nai out."

Moving to the Ops console, Kodak quickly patched himself via the Waverider to Sickbay, Debbie's, and a few other locations to let the crew know it was safe to come out. Then he turned to Blackstone and actually laughed. "Well, it looks like you and Irynya," he nodded to the flight controller, "are going to be the only ones up here for a bit. Which means...you're in charge," he smirked to the half-Klingon. "Please beam me down at your pleasure," the Captain ordered, offering Blackstone an encouraging smile. "Good work everyone."

When Irynya had told her to, Sharrina had reactivated the shields. Now, as the captain spoke, she was caught in an internal battle. She was pleased at his confidence in her, maybe flattered even. But she also wanted, as the Security Officer, to remind him that going alone was not a good idea. But that part was quickly silenced by another bit reminding her that he was not alone. t'Nai and the Away Team were there.

All of this took only a fraction of a second to go through her mind, and she nodded to him. "Thank you, Sir. Be careful, Sir," she added as she activated the transporter beam.

Kodak nodded as the transporter beam took hold of him. Pulled apart at a molecular level, his body faded into nothingness and was removed from the Bridge. In his absence, the command center of the Sojourner suddenly became a very empty place indeed. But at least the danger had passed...

=/\= A joint post by... =/\=


Captain Björn Kodak
Commanding Officer

and

Lieutenant Emni t'Nai
Acting First Officer

and

Lieutenant JG Chaali
Chief Operations Officer

and

Lieutenant JG Irynya
Acting Chief Flight Control Officer

and

Lieutenant Sharrina Blackstone
Assistant Chief Tactical and Security