Season 15: Episode 2 - Dominion Rising part 2

[Kinley Garrison]

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

Nevir gripped tight as Lek's emergency actions to shut down the warp core dropped their speed rapidly.. almost too fast for inertial dampeners to keep up.  Luckily they had power, or the crew would have been a splatter on the viewscreen.  With no engine power and just thrusters, the ship was adrift with only thruster course corrections available.  It was an interesting sight seeing a Prometheus-class vessel struggle to realign itself with the galactic plane.

What was not so interesting was the Breen ship that dropped out of warp nearby.  It seemed the Breen wanted action.

"You mean from back during the war?" the Captain asked Kinley, while the ship shook violently from conventional weapons.  He had to admit, it was similar to the tactic used at the end of the war. It was a fluke solution that was then applied to the rest of the ships.  Or so Nevir thought...?

"The safeguards we developed during the war should have kept that weapon from affecting us.  No.. this is slightly different.  Maybe an upgrade.  We only lost power because Lek did an emergency shutdown... at warp no less."

The ship shook violently again and an explosion at an auxiliary station alerted him to the fact that their shields were not blocking all of the shots.  At least a few of those last shots had hit hull.

"We lost our warp bubble, main power, and shields are fluctuating despite reading at over 50% power.  Main power is clearly from Lek's shutdown, but we are having issues maintaining systems, and we don't have enough power to drive the impulse engines.  The deflectors... Miss Garrison, check the deflectors.  If they can't sustain a field, then that might be the clue we are looking for."

"All hands, this is the Captain, back to battle stations, we are fighting with a handicap.  Damage control teams on standby and evacuate all non-essential locations."

"Dem, try to divert power from any systems that respond.  Shut down power including life-support once locations are cleared of personnel.  At least as long as we have internal sensors. Divert power to defensive systems.  Helm, bring us about.  Load torpedo bays and set for proximity fuse.  Charge phasers the best you can and return fire."

In her dumb "costume," the lithe but tall Bajoran found her way into the hallway behind Kirayoshi. She was fast, and had a lot of experience dodging unsavory people, so for her, it was more or less about getting there quickly than getting there unseen. Still, she was careful-she wasn't dumb enough to have the hubris to just haul ass. After what seemed like an eternity, but was actually only a few minutes, they'd arrived at the correct place. "This is it," she said, quietly. She extracted the data crystal she'd use to record what they needed. A bit later, it was ready to go, and she turned to Kirayoshi. "Alert Commander tr'Lhoell, and Captain what's her face, tell them we're getting the hell out," she directed. She was only an Ensign but she had at least fifteen years on this kid, twenty if her math were right, and it was her nature, anyway. She waited a moment for him to complete, and then they headed back the way they came.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Away Team, Day 3
She fought an urge to give him some kind of sassy reply along the lines of *about the same time it takes the Prophets to decide to end my time on this plane* and simply shrugged. "Should only be another second, sir," she said. Finally, it clicked, and she let out a sigh of relief. "By your leave?" She said.

[as Kirayoshi]
[Breen Base]
Kirayoshi nodded. Maybe not his best ideas then.  As they began picking the locks, he kept an eye on his scanners inside his helmet. The Breen were milling about , still unaware of the team. For now. Hopefully it would stay that way.

[Bridge-Disco]

Kinley nodded and focused on the screen showing the deflectors. They were at 69%. It would be enough to hold on for now, but not enough if the ship kept pummeling them with those blasts. "œWe're at 69 percent now. It's stable, but I'm not sure how long-"œ"œ another blast hit them, exploding several consoles in a shatter of glass and computer. Kinley was lucky enough to avoid the explosion, but Ensign Lowe wasn't as fortunate, crumpling to the ground. Bolting to his side, she checked for a pulse. He was severely wounded, but still breathing. "œSecurity is down! "œ"œ

(I'll get everyone else quoted tomorrow)

[Dem Broadshire]

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

Nevir gripped tight as Lek's emergency actions to shut down the warp core dropped their speed rapidly.. almost too fast for inertial dampeners to keep up.  Luckily they had power, or the crew would have been a splatter on the viewscreen.  With no engine power and just thrusters, the ship was adrift with only thruster course corrections available.  It was an interesting sight seeing a Prometheus-class vessel struggle to realign itself with the galactic plane.

What was not so interesting was the Breen ship that dropped out of warp nearby.  It seemed the Breen wanted action.

"You mean from back during the war?" the Captain asked Kinley, while the ship shook violently from conventional weapons.  He had to admit, it was similar to the tactic used at the end of the war. It was a fluke solution that was then applied to the rest of the ships.  Or so Nevir thought...?

"The safeguards we developed during the war should have kept that weapon from affecting us.  No.. this is slightly different.  Maybe an upgrade.  We only lost power because Lek did an emergency shutdown... at warp no less."

The ship shook violently again and an explosion at an auxiliary station alerted him to the fact that their shields were not blocking all of the shots.  At least a few of those last shots had hit hull.

"We lost our warp bubble, main power, and shields are fluctuating despite reading at over 50% power.  Main power is clearly from Lek's shutdown, but we are having issues maintaining systems, and we don't have enough power to drive the impulse engines.  The deflectors... Miss Garrison, check the deflectors.  If they can't sustain a field, then that might be the clue we are looking for."

"All hands, this is the Captain, back to battle stations, we are fighting with a handicap.  Damage control teams on standby and evacuate all non-essential locations."

"Dem, try to divert power from any systems that respond.  Shut down power including life-support once locations are cleared of personnel.  At least as long as we have internal sensors. Divert power to defensive systems.  Helm, bring us about.  Load torpedo bays and set for proximity fuse.  Charge phasers the best you can and return fire."

[Bridge | USS Discovery | Day 3 1630]

"œOh. Ah yes sir." Dem stated, pondering how he would achieve this task. Dem started to scan through the files on his screen, using the internal sensors to determine areas with no crew. After checking the readings a few times, to confirm his validity, he would shut down life support and power systems. Dem then started on shutting down secondary systems, like replicators.

[as Kirayoshi]
[Breen Base]
Kirayoshi nodded. Maybe not his best ideas then.  As they began picking the locks, he kept an eye on his scanners inside his helmet. The Breen were milling about , still unaware of the team. For now. Hopefully it would stay that way.

[Bridge-Disco]

Kinley nodded and focused on the screen showing the deflectors. They were at 69%. It would be enough to hold on for now, but not enough if the ship kept pummeling them with those blasts. "œWe're at 69 percent now. It's stable, but I'm not sure how long-"œ"œ another blast hit them, exploding several consoles in a shatter of glass and computer. Kinley was lucky enough to avoid the explosion, but Ensign Lowe wasn't as fortunate, crumpling to the ground. Bolting to his side, she checked for a pulse. He was severely wounded, but still breathing. "œSecurity is down! "œ"œ

(I'll get everyone else quoted tomorrow)

While thinking of the best way to deactivate the replicator power grid without access to the EPS conduit on deck six, yet another explosion rocked the bridge. Dem barley flinched and would not have even looked up if Kinley had not cried out. Dem quickly stepped out of his chair and ran towards the downed ensign. Realising that we needed a post at security, Dem made a rash decision. "œAlex, take the security station. Moon, you will have to fly on your own". There was no time to wait for a replacement officer to reach the bridge, and flight control was already in excess. Alex was an experienced officer and should be capable to control tactical. Dem turned his attention back to Lowe. Normally his stark blonde hair and piercing features would be prominent on his face, but is handsome physique was covered by a mixture of burns, abrasions and dirt. Even as an experienced physician, Dem couldn't help but flinch. Quickly placing two fingers half way down his neck, a faint whimper of blood flowed through the scarred vein. "œGrab a med kit!" Dem shouted, temporarily discarding his usual politeness.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Breen Base - Emergency Stairwell & Service Tunnels] - AWAY TEAM (DAY 3 16:30 hrs)

Away Team, Day 3

In her dumb "costume," the lithe but tall Bajoran found her way into the hallway behind Kirayoshi. She was fast, and had a lot of experience dodging unsavory people, so for her, it was more or less about getting there quickly than getting there unseen. Still, she was careful-she wasn't dumb enough to have the hubris to just haul ass.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Away Team, Day 3
She fought an urge to give him some kind of sassy reply along the lines of *about the same time it takes the Prophets to decide to end my time on this plane* and simply shrugged. "Should only be another second, sir," she said. Finally, it clicked, and she let out a sigh of relief. "By your leave?" She said.

Location Breem Space Station
Gohun started to pick the electronic lock to the Jeffries Tube. All of his cool plans now to the way side. No boom, no blood no cool spacewalk. While this is a very efficient thing for the party this mission was not like a 007 move where you killed everyone or even if Statfleet had an undercover secret organization. No this was simply picking a lock. The physics of any lock were simple getting the tumblers to line up the hard part was telling the computer that the door was not open and tricking the sensors. With that Gohun started the process of picking the lock.
Gohun thinks that He knows the route they are about to take. The tube goes about 200 feet into empty storage areas. Well there was the storage areas with nuclear waste but Gohun was sure they were not going into those areas. I mean that would be crazy. "œThe lock is almost open, This tube must lead to some valuable stuff if they are willing to put so much security behind the lock. When it opens we will have thirty seconds to get in before the alarm trips." With that Gohun looks around to make sure everyone is ready.

With both Ensigns Lorut and Gohun working on the sealed hatch in the service tunnel it took next to no time at all for them to unlock the hatch giving them deeper into the service tunnel.

At Gohun's warning, Rayek nodded in acknowledgement and moved forward ready to back up Jael's point position.  Once all were ready, the Romulan gave the signal for the hatch to be opened and rapidly proceeded through following Jael.  A long service tunnel stretched out ahead them.  All seem quiet ahead; and other than additional warning ribbon flagged every so often there wasn't anything to differentiate this tunnel from any other they had been through so far on their route to the computer core.

Mentally aware that they were passing through an area with unsafe levels of radiation, Rayek felt his skin itch, but within the Breen suit there was nothing the Romulan could do to scratch at the phantom sensation.

Since brevity was key to keep their exposure limited, Rayek picked up his pace, encouraging Jael to do the same.  Sprinting unencumbered Rayek could have crossed the distance in about 20 seconds.  However, in a Breen suit his speed and agility were hampered, so it took nearly a full minute to reach the planned exit point - an air circulation vent down the corridor from the computer core.  However, Rayek discovered a significant problem at this point.

The exit out to main corridor from the compromised service tunnel had a force field blocking it.  Fvadt!

It made sense now that he was thinking of it.  The hatches were designed to block radiation...  not so air vents... which was why the forcefield would be in place.  This was a problem he hadn't accounted for.

"The exit has a forcefield. Lorut, are there any exits past the next hatch that would give us access to the computer core readily." he asked but his tone hinted that he already suspected he knew the answer as no.

"Suggestions anyone?  Gohun, O'Brien any chance you can disable that forcefield from inside here?" His tone was rushed.  He was very aware that as they stood about discussing the plan that they were continuing to be exposed to more and more radiation.

[Lek]

[Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek's ears were ringing. While this is not a problem for most species, for Ferengi, it was a problem. In addition, he had what was likely the worst headache he'd ever had. Add in strobing lights and screeching sub-harmonics from too many ship's system, oh and the constant yammering of the crew, Lek was certain he was in what Hyoomons had called Hell.

Despite all this, he was all too aware they were in trouble. They'd lost 80% of their power with the loss of warp and impulse power. They were being fired on and the shields were fluctuating because the power distribution system was still recovering from whatever had hit them.

Regardless of knowing he had to do something, what he wanted more than all the feemales in the Universe was to find a place to sleep. That. Was. QUIET. But, he knew he couldn't do that, someone had to help make it be quiet and that someone was him. So, he gathered the brain cells he could find, and there were precious few of them, and his fingers started flying across the pool table.

Afterwards, when he reviewed the ship's log, he couldn't explain his actions or even explain how what he was doing was even possible, let alone that it worked. However, it did work. His fevered actions drew in power from the fusion reactors to act as a sort of 'spark plug' to re-initiate the impulse engines in a way the bypassed every safety regulation ever written by Starfleet and get the engines re-started.

The surge of power allowed for all the primary systems to come back on online and give the helm something to maneuver with. However, the warp drive. That was going to require a full shut down, an ion purge, and at least three new dilithium crystals.

He knew how to do that, but for some reason, his perspective on the world had changed. Up wasn't up any more and lots of people were shouting again. His eyes felt heavy and he figured, maybe it was time for that nap.

"Just for a moment...."

Was his last conscious thought.

[Alexander Graham]

[Bridge | USS Discovery | Day 3 1630]

"œOh. Ah yes sir." Dem stated, pondering how he would achieve this task. Dem started to scan through the files on his screen, using the internal sensors to determine areas with no crew. After checking the readings a few times, to confirm his validity, he would shut down life support and power systems. Dem then started on shutting down secondary systems, like replicators.

While thinking of the best way to deactivate the replicator power grid without access to the EPS conduit on deck six, yet another explosion rocked the bridge. Dem barley flinched and would not have even looked up if Kinley had not cried out. Dem quickly stepped out of his chair and ran towards the downed ensign. Realising that we needed a post at security, Dem made a rash decision. "œAlex, take the security station. Moon, you will have to fly on your own". There was no time to wait for a replacement officer to reach the bridge, and flight control was already in excess. Alex was an experienced officer and should be capable to control tactical. Dem turned his attention back to Lowe. Normally his stark blonde hair and piercing features would be prominent on his face, but is handsome physique was covered by a mixture of burns, abrasions and dirt. Even as an experienced physician, Dem couldn't help but flinch. Quickly placing two fingers half way down his neck, a faint whimper of blood flowed through the scarred vein. "œGrab a med kit!" Dem shouted, temporarily discarding his usual politeness.

[USS Discovery-bridge]

"œUnderstood Lieutenant Broadshire." He was confident that Ensign Moon dancer would do a good job flying while he's away from the helm at the security station. It felt weird for him to be away from helm but this time he had to control tactical. As Alex was busy with the security station he was going to send T'Prith to get the med kit and give it to Lieutenant Broadshire. He hoped that he would learn valuable experience from having to do something that he was not used to doing.

[Zavrol Gohun]

Gohun heard the rushed tone in the commanders voice. The team had another obstacle in the way. Last time Gohun made a lot of suggestions but this time he was just going to give simple ones. Being that Gohun was in the back of the group of the Jefferies tube Gohun had to crawl to the force field and started to scan. After thirty seconds of stepping on hands and maneuvering up to the force field Gohun starts to scan the field.
"œSir the first thing that I notices is the force field uses lethal force. Well the energy amount is enough to disintegrate any one of us so kill us." With that Gohun kept scanning the force shield to look for weaknesses.
"œWe could bypass the shield by cutting out of the tube and moving on from there. We could cut off the energy supply by causing a malfunction in the cabrodine cycle fusion is disrupted that would cause a quick period in which the shield is down. We could shutdown power in the section by tripping an emergency fire drill." After giving his report Gohun looked around at his companions some were still angry at Gohun for stepping on them.

[Jael Sherem]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Breen Base - Emergency Stairwell & Service Tunnels] - AWAY TEAM (DAY 3 16:30 hrs)

With both Ensigns Lorut and Gohun working on the sealed hatch in the service tunnel it took next to no time at all for them to unlock the hatch giving them deeper into the service tunnel.

At Gohun's warning, Rayek nodded in acknowledgement and moved forward ready to back up Jael's point position.  Once all were ready, the Romulan gave the signal for the hatch to be opened and rapidly proceeded through following Jael.  A long service tunnel stretched out ahead them.  All seem quiet ahead; and other than additional warning ribbon flagged every so often there wasn't anything to differentiate this tunnel from any other they had been through so far on their route to the computer core.

Mentally aware that they were passing through an area with unsafe levels of radiation, Rayek felt his skin itch, but within the Breen suit there was nothing the Romulan could do to scratch at the phantom sensation.

Since brevity was key to keep their exposure limited, Rayek picked up his pace, encouraging Jael to do the same.  Sprinting unencumbered Rayek could have crossed the distance in about 20 seconds.  However, in a Breen suit his speed and agility were hampered, so it took nearly a full minute to reach the planned exit point - an air circulation vent down the corridor from the computer core.  However, Rayek discovered a significant problem at this point.

The exit out to main corridor from the compromised service tunnel had a force field blocking it.  Fvadt!

It made sense now that he was thinking of it.  The hatches were designed to block radiation...  not so air vents... which was why the forcefield would be in place.  This was a problem he hadn't accounted for.

"The exit has a forcefield. Lorut, are there any exits past the next hatch that would give us access to the computer core readily." he asked but his tone hinted that he already suspected he knew the answer as no.

"Suggestions anyone?  Gohun, O'Brien any chance you can disable that forcefield from inside here?" His tone was rushed.  He was very aware that as they stood about discussing the plan that they were continuing to be exposed to more and more radiation.

[Lieutenant JG Jael Sherem | Emergency Stairwell & Service Tunnels | Breen Base]

They proceeded on until they got to a forcefield. Well. That was bound to be out of Jael's hands. She hoped the sooner they got to work on it, the better. She felt her skin tingling from the radiation.

Strange, all this radiation, she thought. I was expecting cold by now.

Gohun heard the rushed tone in the commanders voice. The team had another obstacle in the way. Last time Gohun made a lot of suggestions but this time he was just going to give simple ones. Being that Gohun was in the back of the group of the Jefferies tube Gohun had to crawl to the force field and started to scan. After thirty seconds of stepping on hands and maneuvering up to the force field Gohun starts to scan the field.
"œSir the first thing that I notices is the force field uses lethal force. Well the energy amount is enough to disintegrate any one of us so kill us." With that Gohun kept scanning the force shield to look for weaknesses.
"œWe could bypass the shield by cutting out of the tube and moving on from there. We could cut off the energy supply by causing a malfunction in the cabrodine cycle fusion is disrupted that would cause a quick period in which the shield is down. We could shutdown power in the section by tripping an emergency fire drill." After giving his report Gohun looked around at his companions some were still angry at Gohun for stepping on them.

She looked over at Gohun when he made his suggestion. It was sound for somebody who used to be in Security. "Well, I'm no engineer, but it sounds...well, reasonably sound," she said in agreement.

"Better than having to scurry with radiation for long," said Lt. Commander Sisko from the rear. "Let's leave the miracle workers to work. Miss Sherem, with me here. Keep an eye out for hostiles, just in case."

Jael looked over at Rayek; per chain of command, he was her immediate superior officer, even if Sisko was not literally even on the same ship they were.

[Tekin Nevir]

[Bridge | USS Discovery | Day 3 1630]

"œOh. Ah yes sir." Dem stated, pondering how he would achieve this task. Dem started to scan through the files on his screen, using the internal sensors to determine areas with no crew. After checking the readings a few times, to confirm his validity, he would shut down life support and power systems. Dem then started on shutting down secondary systems, like replicators.

While thinking of the best way to deactivate the replicator power grid without access to the EPS conduit on deck six, yet another explosion rocked the bridge. Dem barley flinched and would not have even looked up if Kinley had not cried out. Dem quickly stepped out of his chair and ran towards the downed ensign. Realising that we needed a post at security, Dem made a rash decision. "œAlex, take the security station. Moon, you will have to fly on your own". There was no time to wait for a replacement officer to reach the bridge, and flight control was already in excess. Alex was an experienced officer and should be capable to control tactical. Dem turned his attention back to Lowe. Normally his stark blonde hair and piercing features would be prominent on his face, but is handsome physique was covered by a mixture of burns, abrasions and dirt. Even as an experienced physician, Dem couldn't help but flinch. Quickly placing two fingers half way down his neck, a faint whimper of blood flowed through the scarred vein. "œGrab a med kit!" Dem shouted, temporarily discarding his usual politeness.

[as Kirayoshi]
[Breen Base]
Kirayoshi nodded. Maybe not his best ideas then.  As they began picking the locks, he kept an eye on his scanners inside his helmet. The Breen were milling about , still unaware of the team. For now. Hopefully it would stay that way.

[Bridge-Disco]

Kinley nodded and focused on the screen showing the deflectors. They were at 69%. It would be enough to hold on for now, but not enough if the ship kept pummeling them with those blasts. "œWe're at 69 percent now. It's stable, but I'm not sure how long-"œ"œ another blast hit them, exploding several consoles in a shatter of glass and computer. Kinley was lucky enough to avoid the explosion, but Ensign Lowe wasn't as fortunate, crumpling to the ground. Bolting to his side, she checked for a pulse. He was severely wounded, but still breathing. "œSecurity is down! "œ"œ

(I'll get everyone else quoted tomorrow)

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

Shields were unstable, and while deflectors were currently stable... they don't normally drop in combat.  A drop indicated power issues.. and solidified that this Breen weapon was definitely something worse than the old energy-dampening field.  They could protect against an energy drain; but if they couldn't transfer power, they wouldn't be able to sustain... anything.

An explosion followed by the sound of a crewman shouting and Kinley reporting the security officer was down. Dem jumped in with orders, and Nevir took the time to check what was going on in engineering.  At least to see if there were any updates.  A notification did come in, but not from Lek.

"Engineering to bridge!" 

"Bridge here."

"Impulse engines are back online, but we can't purge the warp core to restore it, not with the ship under assault.  Also, Chief Lek is down, sickbay is on their way." 

It took a lot to lose Lek, and that sent a chill down his spine.  But the results were clear; if they didn't stop this Breen ship, they were dead in the water.

"Helm, reengage impulse power.  We need maneuverability.  Bring us to course 302 mark 15.  Mr. Graham, divert thruster power to phasers with the tertiary relays.  Miss Garrison, I need an analysis on that ship.  We fight, or we die."

[Dem Broadshire]

[USS Discovery-bridge]

"œUnderstood Lieutenant Broadshire." He was confident that Ensign Moon dancer would do a good job flying while he's away from the helm at the security station. It felt weird for him to be away from helm but this time he had to control tactical. As Alex was busy with the security station he was going to send T'Prith to get the med kit and give it to Lieutenant Broadshire. He hoped that he would learn valuable experience from having to do something that he was not used to doing.

[Bridge | USS Discovery | Day 3 1630]

A med kit was passed to him by someone, but Dem was too focused on his patient to really register the officer who handed it. He was relieved to see that his tricorder was registering most of his systems to be normal. It had been a while since he had gotten his hands on a medical tricorder, and while in unfavourable circumstances it felt good to be back. In the brief moments that he did look up (Attempting to measure out 3 ccs of Kelotane to treat the severe burning) he saw Alex comfortably settling into the security station, keeping a cool head. Dem started digging around in his medkit to find some inaprovaline, to help ward off neural shock. He was trying to take every precaution before officers from sickbay arrive.

[Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek's ears were ringing. While this is not a problem for most species, for Ferengi, it was a problem. In addition, he had what was likely the worst headache he'd ever had. Add in strobing lights and screeching sub-harmonics from too many ship's system, oh and the constant yammering of the crew, Lek was certain he was in what Hyoomons had called Hell.

Despite all this, he was all too aware they were in trouble. They'd lost 80% of their power with the loss of warp and impulse power. They were being fired on and the shields were fluctuating because the power distribution system was still recovering from whatever had hit them.

Regardless of knowing he had to do something, what he wanted more than all the feemales in the Universe was to find a place to sleep. That. Was. QUIET. But, he knew he couldn't do that, someone had to help make it be quiet and that someone was him. So, he gathered the brain cells he could find, and there were precious few of them, and his fingers started flying across the pool table.

Afterwards, when he reviewed the ship's log, he couldn't explain his actions or even explain how what he was doing was even possible, let alone that it worked. However, it did work. His fevered actions drew in power from the fusion reactors to act as a sort of 'spark plug' to re-initiate the impulse engines in a way the bypassed every safety regulation ever written by Starfleet and get the engines re-started.

The surge of power allowed for all the primary systems to come back on online and give the helm something to maneuver with. However, the warp drive. That was going to require a full shut down, an ion purge, and at least three new dilithium crystals.

He knew how to do that, but for some reason, his perspective on the world had changed. Up wasn't up any more and lots of people were shouting again. His eyes felt heavy and he figured, maybe it was time for that nap.

"Just for a moment...."

Was his last conscious thought.

Doctor Betaika

[Engineering | USS Discovery]

"œOh dear." Betaika thought aloud when he crossed the threshold into engineering. The doctor motioned to the other officers that has accompanied him. "œSpread out, prioritise the heavily wounded." The Doctor spent a few moments looking around, trying to adjust to the alarms and lack of light in the room. He spied in the corner a human forehead. The moment his noticed it he became more confused until he realised it must be Lek's. No human had such a well, bulbous head. Deciding to disregard his previous orders to his fellow companions, he went towards Lek, who did not appear to be in mortal peril. It was best is the ship had their chief engineer in a crisis like this. Now that Betaika could see him better, had no discernible injuries. He quickly placed himself beside him. "œOh commander, what has happened here?" He said, while attempting to revive him.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Breen Base - Service Tunnels] - AWAY TEAM (DAY 3 16:50 hrs)

Gohun heard the rushed tone in the commanders voice. The team had another obstacle in the way. Last time Gohun made a lot of suggestions but this time he was just going to give simple ones. Being that Gohun was in the back of the group of the Jefferies tube Gohun had to crawl to the force field and started to scan. After thirty seconds of stepping on hands and maneuvering up to the force field Gohun starts to scan the field.
"œSir the first thing that I notices is the force field uses lethal force. Well the energy amount is enough to disintegrate any one of us so kill us." With that Gohun kept scanning the force shield to look for weaknesses.
"œWe could bypass the shield by cutting out of the tube and moving on from there. We could cut off the energy supply by causing a malfunction in the cabrodine cycle fusion is disrupted that would cause a quick period in which the shield is down. We could shutdown power in the section by tripping an emergency fire drill." After giving his report Gohun looked around at his companions some were still angry at Gohun for stepping on them.

When Gohun stated that it used lethal force,  Rayek quickly rethought his idea of simply applying enough to force to over-whom the system.  Yeah, not when it's lethal.

[Lieutenant JG Jael Sherem | Emergency Stairwell & Service Tunnels | Breen Base]

They proceeded on until they got to a forcefield. Well. That was bound to be out of Jael's hands. She hoped the sooner they got to work on it, the better. She felt her skin tingling from the radiation.

Strange, all this radiation, she thought. I was expecting cold by now.She looked over at Gohun when he made his suggestion. It was sound for somebody who used to be in Security. "Well, I'm no engineer, but it sounds...well, reasonably sound," she said in agreement.

"Better than having to scurry with radiation for long," said Lt. Commander Sisko from the rear. "Let's leave the miracle workers to work. Miss Sherem, with me here. Keep an eye out for hostiles, just in case."

Jael looked over at Rayek; per chain of command, he was her immediate superior officer, even if Sisko was not literally even on the same ship they were.

Rayek wished this helmet would give a view of his frowning expression when both Jael and Sisko offered up their two cents to agree to Gohun's plans... all three at once.  He would eyeroll but knew it was useless.

When Jael looked over to get permission to assist Lt. Cmdr Sisko with covering the rear with Dersch and Dranik, Rayek nodded.

The decision of which plan to use lay with him.

By passing the shielded area and cutting through the wall could work.. except at some point internal sensor might detect the leak and the damaged corridor wall and erect yet another forcefield over that spot... at least that's how Starfleet containment computer protocols worked.  There was a chance that Breen systems weren't was advanced.

Gohun's other two options, Rayek liked even less as they had greater potential for immediate discovery as both a power flow disruption or a fire drill would alert the Command Center of the station.

The worrisome thought with cutting through was that it would take time - and each minute they remained in the service tunnel the longer they were being exposed to that radiation leak... and that exposure would continue afterward spreading out to the computer core through the gaping hole in the wall they would be cutting.

Tess would kill him if he was exposed to a lethal dose of radiation!

Nodding to Gohun, he made his decision. "Get starting cutting through that wall and avoid using weapon's fire to do so... we don't know if the Breen sensors in this area are sophisticated enough to recognize weapons fire and alert the Command Center."

All engineers carried small cutting torches on them, didn't they?

Lorut had been quiet this entire time.  Rayek looked over the Bajoran woman who was almost old enough to be his mother.

"You could save us a lot of time if you could hack into the Breen Operations system from here and just command the forcefield down along with corridor sensors."

The thing was, Rayek wasn't certain there was any computer access panel anywhere in this section of the service tunnel.

[Zavrol Gohun]

Gohun was aware of the danger. The power cells that he had to temporarily disable were power cells and could blow up. With this in mind he started the process of turning the shield off. He looked for the power line when the words that were spoken hit him. They were to start cutting the bulk head with cutting torches that they have. This decision was really confusing as the torches were just really small phasers but who was he to second guess. It was at that point that Gohun also decided to scan the area they were cutting into and determined that there were no life forms on that area.
"œWe can speed this up if we both cut half" Gohun really wanted to spend as little time as possible in the tunnel. The sad thing is that Gohun was sure there would be more obstacles in the way and this was just the start of their problems.

[Kinley Garrison]

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

Shields were unstable, and while deflectors were currently stable... they don't normally drop in combat.  A drop indicated power issues.. and solidified that this Breen weapon was definitely something worse than the old energy-dampening field.  They could protect against an energy drain; but if they couldn't transfer power, they wouldn't be able to sustain... anything.

An explosion followed by the sound of a crewman shouting and Kinley reporting the security officer was down. Dem jumped in with orders, and Nevir took the time to check what was going on in engineering.  At least to see if there were any updates.  A notification did come in, but not from Lek.

"Engineering to bridge!" 

"Bridge here."

"Impulse engines are back online, but we can't purge the warp core to restore it, not with the ship under assault.  Also, Chief Lek is down, sickbay is on their way." 

It took a lot to lose Lek, and that sent a chill down his spine.  But the results were clear; if they didn't stop this Breen ship, they were dead in the water.

"Helm, reengage impulse power.  We need maneuverability.  Bring us to course 302 mark 15.  Mr. Graham, divert thruster power to phasers with the tertiary relays.  Miss Garrison, I need an analysis on that ship.  We fight, or we die."

[Bridge]
Kinley bolted into action and handed Dem the med kit before racing back to her station. She looked at the ship and began running a comparison to every single known Breen ship type. The decent news was that there wasn't another large blast like the first one. At best, it might have fried something on the enemy's end. At worst, it was just reloading. She sincerely hoped it wasn't the latter. Her computer chimed. She finally got a confirmed readout of the enemy ship on its power readings. It wasn't spiking right now, so that probably was a good sign.    "œI've got a lock on it now. I think it's a Gor Taan class. I'm reading only steadily gaining power fluctuations from it, so we've got some time in case it reloads whatever it's got for its missile system, but I wouldn't count on it for long. Aim for the rear deflectors. They seem to be drawing power to their front ones. She told Alex as she continued to type. Her head was still pounding from that hit, but it wasn't important. Not yet. She could take care of herself when the ship wasn't actively getting blasted to bits.  Shaking off the mild vertigo, she nodded.

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Breen Base - Emergency Stairwell & Service Tunnels] - AWAY TEAM (DAY 3 16:30 hrs)

With both Ensigns Lorut and Gohun working on the sealed hatch in the service tunnel it took next to no time at all for them to unlock the hatch giving them deeper into the service tunnel.

At Gohun's warning, Rayek nodded in acknowledgement and moved forward ready to back up Jael's point position.  Once all were ready, the Romulan gave the signal for the hatch to be opened and rapidly proceeded through following Jael.  A long service tunnel stretched out ahead them.  All seem quiet ahead; and other than additional warning ribbon flagged every so often there wasn't anything to differentiate this tunnel from any other they had been through so far on their route to the computer core.

Mentally aware that they were passing through an area with unsafe levels of radiation, Rayek felt his skin itch, but within the Breen suit there was nothing the Romulan could do to scratch at the phantom sensation.

Since brevity was key to keep their exposure limited, Rayek picked up his pace, encouraging Jael to do the same.  Sprinting unencumbered Rayek could have crossed the distance in about 20 seconds.  However, in a Breen suit his speed and agility were hampered, so it took nearly a full minute to reach the planned exit point - an air circulation vent down the corridor from the computer core.  However, Rayek discovered a significant problem at this point.

The exit out to main corridor from the compromised service tunnel had a force field blocking it.  Fvadt!

It made sense now that he was thinking of it.  The hatches were designed to block radiation...  not so air vents... which was why the forcefield would be in place.  This was a problem he hadn't accounted for.

"The exit has a forcefield. Lorut, are there any exits past the next hatch that would give us access to the computer core readily." he asked but his tone hinted that he already suspected he knew the answer as no.

"Suggestions anyone?  Gohun, O'Brien any chance you can disable that forcefield from inside here?" His tone was rushed.  He was very aware that as they stood about discussing the plan that they were continuing to be exposed to more and more radiation.

[Breen ship]
[As Kirayoshi]

Kirayoshi nodded and fished through his gear. " Maybe we won't have to go too far into the systems. He pulled out some micro drones. A couple of tiny little robots came out, almost the size of house spiders back on Earth.  "œI think these might come in handy. Hypothetically, we could tap into the systems through here on the cables and control them remotely that way. Then you guys can go ahead while I keep it open." He knew what the risks were. and began to look for a weakness in the cable structure.

[Alexander Graham]

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

Shields were unstable, and while deflectors were currently stable... they don't normally drop in combat.  A drop indicated power issues.. and solidified that this Breen weapon was definitely something worse than the old energy-dampening field.  They could protect against an energy drain; but if they couldn't transfer power, they wouldn't be able to sustain... anything.

An explosion followed by the sound of a crewman shouting and Kinley reporting the security officer was down. Dem jumped in with orders, and Nevir took the time to check what was going on in engineering.  At least to see if there were any updates.  A notification did come in, but not from Lek.

"Engineering to bridge!" 

"Bridge here."

"Impulse engines are back online, but we can't purge the warp core to restore it, not with the ship under assault.  Also, Chief Lek is down, sickbay is on their way." 

It took a lot to lose Lek, and that sent a chill down his spine.  But the results were clear; if they didn't stop this Breen ship, they were dead in the water.

"Helm, reengage impulse power.  We need maneuverability.  Bring us to course 302 mark 15.  Mr. Graham, divert thruster power to phasers with the tertiary relays.  Miss Garrison, I need an analysis on that ship.  We fight, or we die."

[USS Discovery-bridge]

"œUnderstood captain." Alex didn't waste any time diverting the power from the thrusters to the phasers. It was important that they fought back as it wasn't in his plans to die. He hoped that the chief medical officer Lek was going to be okay.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Breen Base - Emergency Stairwell & Service Tunnels] - AWAY TEAM (DAY 3 16:45 hrs)

Gohun was aware of the danger. The power cells that he had to temporarily disable were power cells and could blow up. With this in mind he started the process of turning the shield off. He looked for the power line when the words that were spoken hit him. They were to start cutting the bulk head with cutting torches that they have. This decision was really confusing as the torches were just really small phasers but who was he to second guess. It was at that point that Gohun also decided to scan the area they were cutting into and determined that there were no life forms on that area.
"œWe can speed this up if we both cut half" Gohun really wanted to spend as little time as possible in the tunnel. The sad thing is that Gohun was sure there would be more obstacles in the way and this was just the start of their problems.

[Breen ship]
[As Kirayoshi]

Kirayoshi nodded and fished through his gear. " Maybe we won't have to go too far into the systems. He pulled out some micro drones. A couple of tiny little robots came out, almost the size of house spiders back on Earth.  "œI think these might come in handy. Hypothetically, we could tap into the systems through here on the cables and control them remotely that way. Then you guys can go ahead while I keep it open." He knew what the risks were. and began to look for a weakness in the cable structure.

With Jael having moved off help aid in guarding the back, it opened up space for O'Brien to work alongside Gohun.  Still, it was a tight fit in the service tunnel; and the Romulan whose coping mechanism for stress and impatience was pacing, found the enclosed space even more aggravating.

This could explain why he reacted so poorly when Mr. O'Brien instead of pulling out another cutting tool to assist Gohun, instead pulled out a couple of robot spiders.  Reading about the incident on the Valdore with the nanobots, and watching security footage regarding the near takeover of the Romulan ship was still very fresh in the Romulan's mind.

"Where did you get those?!" he hissed drawing further away from the wall where the two engineers were working.  Thankfully, it took only a moment of closer observation to see that these were human designed robots and not Borg nanoprobes.  Still the Romulan was leery.

However, O'Brien's explanation said it all.  It could potentially help.  But perhaps not in the way that O'Brien intended.  Time for subtly was over the - the order to open up the wall had already been given.  Each second that they split their focus meant more exposure to the lethal radiation leak.

"Have those assist Mr. Gohun with opening up the wall.  If unable, then you assist - with a cutting tool."  Rayek was relying on Lorut to be able to trick the system into not setting off alarms.  He trusted the Bajoran more than a pair of spider-bots.  Though they were a good back-up...just in case.

It seemed like forever that that two engineers and the robots worked on the wall.  Yet Rayek could see by his helmet's chronometer than no more than five minutes had passed.  Which was four minutes more than he had originally intended when he made the decision to enter the blocked area.   They should have gone around he realized... but hindsight is always 20/20 the humans say.

That feeling of needing to itch kept growing, and Rayek wondered if it was a symptom of the radiation exposure, but the Romulan didn't dare ask Dr. Willard.

Finally, the cutting was complete and the piece of wall was carefully brought inside the service tunnel and set aside rather than having it pushed through to clatter loudly onto the corridor floor.   No alarms sounded.  So far so good.

The Breen helmet sensors didn't detect anything in the corridor presently and with a gesture for the engineers and others to keep back, Rayek took point and crept carefully out.   A quick glance in either direction confirmed the sensors accuracy.

"It's clear for the moment.  Everybody out." He ordered quietly then moved to the end of the corridor to keep watch, and there around the corner were the next obstacles.   A pair of Breen guards standing watch outside the computer core.

It was time for his security personnel to show their stuff.

[Lorut Vila]

"The exit has a forcefield. Lorut, are there any exits past the next hatch that would give us access to the computer core readily." he asked but his tone hinted that he already suspected he knew the answer as no.

The Ensign simply shook her head. "Sir...sadly. There isn't," she said. "We're going to need to make a run for it. Don't worry, I managed to spend a year outrunning the Cardassians and then later, my ex-husband. This is a cakewalk," she said. "But. We need to be quiet, and move as fast as possible." She said. "Gohun?" She said. "Let's go," she said, power-walking out of the room. The trick was to exude confidence-like you owned the place.

She was interrupted.

Kirayoshi nodded and fished through his gear. " Maybe we won't have to go too far into the systems. He pulled out some micro drones. A couple of tiny little robots came out, almost the size of house spiders back on Earth.  "œI think these might come in handy. Hypothetically, we could tap into the systems through here on the cables and control them remotely that way. Then you guys can go ahead while I keep it open." He knew what the risks were. and began to look for a weakness in the cable structure.

She flicked an eyebrow of interest.

"Do it," she said, not waiting for the Commander. She was antsy to move but still knew that it was dangerous to be brash, so she was waiting. But not for long. Idle Vila was a dangerous Vila.

We can speed this up if we both cut half...

Hypothetically, it would work. "Well, try it, I guess. Commander, you staying? I can go ahead, I don't mind." She lived for danger.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Breen had seemingly caught on to them, and they were forced to hide in the nooks and crannies of the corridors. She wished she'd paid a bit more attention to the set up of the tubes and walls-being INSIDE the walls would be a much easier means to complete their task. She was only Ops, though, not an Engineer. Finally, the Breen seemed satisified that they weren't intruders, and she carefully crept towards her target. Once she was there, it would only take a few moments to extract what she needed and get the hell out.

But there were guards. A curse in Bajoran-she didn't say it but definitely thought it. Security would need to help, but maybe she could sly talk her way in. She wished she was an empath-it would be *so* much easier to communicate, but alas, Bajorans hadn't figured that part of their brains out yet. She'd need to communicate the old fashioned way. In a near-whisper, she spoke into her subdermal transmitter.

==^==Commander. I can try to sweet-talk my way in.==^==