S:5 E:16 - A Doomsday Like Any Other

[Nira Said]

[In the Canopy - Angdarr Prime]

Further scans showed Tora the small craft was a Scorpion-class fighter not quite as combat capable as the Type-17 shuttle, but nothing to be scoffed at. It was on an intercept course with it's weapons charged and shields up.

[Shuttle Cutty Sark]

Taja finished up with Nira's shoulder, the skin fresh and pink with no visible scarring. "All done here, commander."

With the injured taken care of, the Risan Doctor tidied up her medical kit and closed the lid ready for the next patient. She smiled at Zhuk's kind words, the stimulant was doing its job well.

"The fur will grow back in no time, I'm sure. Be sure to report to sickbay tomorrow and we'll have a check up, see if we can finish regenerating the skin."

At the notification they were being followed, Taja took her seat again and strapped in. Why was this world so hostile, they were trying to save it from destruction.

[Commander Nira Said | Shuttle Cutty Sark | Warbird Necropolis | Andgarr Prime]

Nira nodded in appreciation at Taja's words, and then looked over Tora's shoulder.

"Shit!" she snapped. "It's not the scavengers!"

If that Scorpion was powering weapons, then it was certainly obvious that it wasn't from the Free State. She didn't care who it was, scumbag or Praetorian, in that fighter. The hostilities were made certain of. Where it came from may be obvious: Could've been in one of the recently downed ships, but whether it was scumbag or Praetorian, again, it didn't matter.

"Espada, Cordon, keep at the projected course to the signature Ensign Zalos found, but initiate evasive manuvers!" Nira ordered. "Mister Mrekrerhas, if you're able to, man the weapons and fire at will."

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

[Commander Nira Said | Shuttle Cutty Sark | Warbird Necropolis | Andgarr Prime]

Nira momentarily forgot about the graze on her shoulder. She took off her outer uniform, down to a tank top, and allowed Taja to treat it while she looked over at Hector. She raised her eyebrows with interest at his words. "It could....and," she added with a smile, "in any event, it was required to take the ship into its gullet. An explosion did take the other one down, but an implosion..."

She was grinning even wider now. "Holy Allah, I can imagine the possibilities. Not even its neutronium shell could handle a self-consuming singularity...a black hole that would consume it..." She stopped herself from laughing and added, "Well, considering the technology back then, comparing it to the technology now...despite its neutronium, whatever we can throw into it, even at partial power, would potentially do a lot more damage to the thing..."

[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | NCC-40117 'Cutty Sark' | Over the Skies of the Warbird Metropolis | Angdarr Prime | Angdarr System]

Zhukdra'shar was not given a response from his commanding officer, like he expected. Of course, at seeing her remove her upper uniform, to end up in a tank-top while Doctor Grippen healed her injuries, he understood. He glanced over at his chest, seeing a dark smidge on top of it. He softly groaned, realizing that faint holes that showcased his pink skin could be seen. He decided to put his brushed ego aside, instead focusing on something else.

Soon enough, he found a nice view to look at. Though he tried to be casual about it, his mind thinking about tactics on how to deal with the Orions and their crooks next time.

[Shuttle Cutty Sark]

Taja finished up with Nira's shoulder, the skin fresh and pink with no visible scarring. "All done here, commander."

With the injured taken care of, the Risan Doctor tidied up her medical kit and closed the lid ready for the next patient. She smiled at Zhuk's kind words, the stimulant was doing its job well.

"The fur will grow back in no time, I'm sure. Be sure to report to sickbay tomorrow and we'll have a check up, see if we can finish regenerating the skin."

At the notification they were being followed, Taja took her seat again and strapped in. Why was this world so hostile, they were trying to save it from destruction.

As Taja finished up, Zhuk regarded her with a nod, feeling slightly better at the proposition of having his skin fully regenerated. He wondered if it would be best to have Head Nurse Davies do it instead, considering how much more comfortable he felt with her. A similar, though not exactly the same, procedure had already taken place with her. Still, he decided to not disparage her with his words. It was a kind offer, after all.

"Ah. I would greatly appreciate that, Doctor Grippen. I pride myself on keeping my fur in the best quality possible. With my skin in such a state, that would be an impossible task-"

[In the Canopy - Angdarr Prime]

Further scans showed Tora the small craft was a Scorpion-class fighter not quite as combat capable as the Type-17 shuttle, but nothing to be scoffed at. It was on an intercept course with it's weapons charged and shields up.

Tora sighed and turned to look down at her console. Here was better than being shot at and kidnapped by scavengers, at any rate. Once again, no thanks to being made into less than she was now.

Her fingers swept over the controls. Romulan drives were ever so easy to pinpoint. The tiny singularities that powered their warp cores were detectable from large distances away always - soon enough there was a blip on her sensors, small at first but steadily growing larger as the shuttle travelled forward. "Commander. Sensors indicate a Romulan singularity core straight ahead of us. Two hundred klicks." She reported, glancing up from the console for just a moment to look at the First Officer. "And-"

Tora never finished her sentence. Frantic beeping sounded from her console; she glanced sideways at it. What she saw made her stomach churn. "We are being followed." She announced. "By... a small craft of some sort. And it is armed."

[Commander Nira Said | Shuttle Cutty Sark | Warbird Necropolis | Andgarr Prime]

Nira nodded in appreciation at Taja's words, and then looked over Tora's shoulder.

"Shit!" she snapped. "It's not the scavengers!"

If that Scorpion was powering weapons, then it was certainly obvious that it wasn't from the Free State. She didn't care who it was, scumbag or Praetorian, in that fighter. The hostilities were made certain of. Where it came from may be obvious: Could've been in one of the recently downed ships, but whether it was scumbag or Praetorian, again, it didn't matter.

"Espada, Cordon, keep at the projected course to the signature Ensign Zalos found, but initiate evasive manuvers!" Nira ordered. "Mister Mrekrerhas, if you're able to, man the weapons and fire at will."

The small moment of rest was interrupted by the sudden comment from Tora. His ear wriggled to her location, as he listened in to the potential discovery of an intact singularity core. A small smile came into his muzzle, though it took little for it to fade, as she stopped. The Ensign was quick to inform them that they were being trailed by an armed vessel. Not good. He quickly got out of his seat, extending the claws on his feet to get a better grip on the floor in case Lieutenant Espada had to engage in evasive maneuvers.

He wandered over to where Ensign Zalos was and took a look at the scans on display. He frowned at that, as he glanced over to the pilot seat, "Be advised, Lieutenant Espada, you are about to be engaged by a Scorpion-class fighter. We are better armed, but it is a rather negligible margin."

He glanced over at Commander Said, once she had given him the orders. A brief smirk came over Zhuk's face, as he quickly moved over towards the weapon console, "Gladly, Commander~"

His tone was peppy, and he indeed was quite happy to charge up the Type-VIII Phaser Arrays, before he proceeded to fire an initial salvo at the Scorpion-class once it went in range. He aimed towards its weapon system, and one of the wings, hoping to disable it before it could properly put up a fight.

[Jamil]

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

Sadly, as a Science, Jamil can watch out for anything that would catch a Science interest, which was none for now. He had been working on scanning for anything that could give him hope of finding the riddle of the Doomsday Machine. However, they had a ship that could feed it.

The situation was not good for them. He kept his eyes on anything that would add more heat to their situation. However, he was scanning for any pockets of power disturbance. He was curious and wanted to know more. In a way, he wished he was down there""truthfully, every scientist wants to be on site. The in-person experience was the best. If they got out of this alive, he figured they would by a tiny margin. A Klingon would say it was a good day to die. On the other hand, he was glad he was not a Klingon because the chances of survival might be meager. Either way, he figured they were doomed in many ways.

Being Starfleet might rob him of seeing the Divine Treasure, a high-status finance heaven; every success Ferengi would go how he wished himself. Die today. That is not going to happen. He was surely doomed to the Vault of Eternal Destitution. Oh. No. He was indeed a ruined human raised by Ferengi. He will not be the FIRST human raised by Ferengi who went to Starfleet; he is the first human raised by Ferengi to go to the Vault of Eternal Destitution. Would that be fame? No. But would it be sweet to have fame, become successful, and be pulled from hell to heaven? Wishful thinking.

Wait. He was human. How can he go to The Vault or Treasure when he was not blood Ferengi? He was not a believer in human faith. Could he believe in those space aliens the wormhole calls prophets to save him? Crap. He was not sure how that worked. His theory was everyone was the center of space. There was no natural end or beginning of space. He figured you don't move, but space itself rolls around you. He to figure out how to prove it.

It might never happen...he calculated the survival rate was low. He was never good having we going to live through hell. He was a Scientist, damn it!

[Aarwendil Cheizex]

[Commander Nira Said | Shuttle Cutty Sark | Warbird Necropolis | Andgarr Prime]

Nira was impressed by Zhuk's prowress, but it did get him shot up a little. She got two or three of the scumbags and got a graze on the shoulder, but she felt the heat of the disruptor; a few more inches down and the beam would've sliced her arm off at the joint.

Aboard, she nodded at Taja's treating Zhuk and, as the shuttle took off, was surprised at Neva's calculating a return course to Challenger.

"Belay that, Ensign," she said. "We still have work to do. However, I downright hesitate to set down on the planet again, what with these scavengers and salvagers. Maintain an airborne position, Mister Espada. Put us among the trees, we'll look suspicious if we just hang around up here. Cheizex, Zalos, man the sensors, scan for any readings of Romulan warp cores, based on what the databanks can tell of Romulan singularity drives...generally how Romulans power their warp cores," she added. "One of them has to be intact and easy to be powered up."

She then opened a channel to Challenger. "Cutty Sark to Challenger. This is Commander Said. We made it to the planet, but we ran afoul of a bunch of criminal salvagers. We're maintaining airborne vectors and we'll scan for Romulan warp cores. I may need to call in for an additional security detail with a second team of engineers once we find it, just in case we do run into more scavengers once we find the core."

Tora sighed and turned to look down at her console. Here was better than being shot at and kidnapped by scavengers, at any rate. Once again, no thanks to being made into less than she was now.

Her fingers swept over the controls. Romulan drives were ever so easy to pinpoint. The tiny singularities that powered their warp cores were detectable from large distances away always - soon enough there was a blip on her sensors, small at first but steadily growing larger as the shuttle travelled forward. "Commander. Sensors indicate a Romulan singularity core straight ahead of us. Two hundred klicks." She reported, glancing up from the console for just a moment to look at the First Officer. "And-"

Tora never finished her sentence. Frantic beeping sounded from her console; she glanced sideways at it. What she saw made her stomach churn. "We are being followed." She announced. "By... a small craft of some sort. And it is armed."

[Commander Nira Said | Shuttle Cutty Sark | Warbird Necropolis | Andgarr Prime]

Nira momentarily forgot about the graze on her shoulder. She took off her outer uniform, down to a tank top, and allowed Taja to treat it while she looked over at Hector. She raised her eyebrows with interest at his words. "It could....and," she added with a smile, "in any event, it was required to take the ship into its gullet. An explosion did take the other one down, but an implosion..."

She was grinning even wider now. "Holy Allah, I can imagine the possibilities. Not even its neutronium shell could handle a self-consuming singularity...a black hole that would consume it..." She stopped herself from laughing and added, "Well, considering the technology back then, comparing it to the technology now...despite its neutronium, whatever we can throw into it, even at partial power, would potentially do a lot more damage to the thing..."Nira beamed in delighted interest at Tora, only for the other shoe to drop when she mentioned a follower... "Allah forbid, it better not be who I think it is," Nira muttered with a scowl.

[Commander Nira Said | Shuttle Cutty Sark | Warbird Necropolis | Andgarr Prime]

Nira nodded in appreciation at Taja's words, and then looked over Tora's shoulder.

"Shit!" she snapped. "It's not the scavengers!"

If that Scorpion was powering weapons, then it was certainly obvious that it wasn't from the Free State. She didn't care who it was, scumbag or Praetorian, in that fighter. The hostilities were made certain of. Where it came from may be obvious: Could've been in one of the recently downed ships, but whether it was scumbag or Praetorian, again, it didn't matter.

"Espada, Cordon, keep at the projected course to the signature Ensign Zalos found, but initiate evasive manuvers!" Nira ordered. "Mister Mrekrerhas, if you're able to, man the weapons and fire at will."

[Shuttle Cutty Sark/ Warbird Necropolis/ Andgarr Prime]

Aarwendil went to work in the scan, searching for the Romulan warp cores. However, Ensign Zalos found them first. Not only that, but she also identified that there was another ship chasing them. The young Betazoid thought that it was the scavengers trying to pursue them. However, the revelation that it was a Scorpion-class chasing them changed his mind. Such a type of shuttle wasn't used by simply criminals.

"œMa'am." Nekab said, while approaching Commander Said. He was so silent since their retreat that the Betazoid forgot about his presence. "œA Scorpion-class has a peculiarity that can help us." the Romulan was close to the scanners, watching the signal of the enemy shuttle in deep thought. "œTheir weapons have a delay of how many times they can fire before needing to recharge. It's usually seven consecutive shots. Being fast enough to evade them, you can attack while recharging. It's a time limit of 60 seconds."

Nekab said with so much certainty that gave the impression, at least for Aarwendil that he had saw one of the ships closer than a simple doctor would be. He wondered how the Romulan knew it.

[Abas Th'vyrrol]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - Deck 12 - Upper Engineering Support]

The suggestion that his brains might leak out his antennae was of course ridiculous but that the Aenar medic would even say it was just too amusing not to react to.  "It can do that?! Woah..."  There was a slight hiss as the hypospray injected the whatever meds the medic had suggested... Lahr had already forgotten what Th'vyrrol had said the first was..  oh yeah pain killers for his headache.

Maybe it was a placebo effect but Lahr felt better already!

At the Aenar's offer to help monitor the engineering consoles, Lahr considered a moment.  If he could set the distinctive alarms to each consoles alert modes then maybe the blind aenar could assist.  But before he could suggest it, an alert sounded across the ship.

"I think you're gonna be busy with casualties.   I'll be fine.  Go.... and thanks."

Moments later, lights were flashing all over the room, as multiple transporter beams were initiated all at once and nearly overloaded the patched EPS lines.

Lahr called up to the bridge.  "Engineering Support to Ops.  Any chance you can have your transporter personnel, who are beaming out survivors, time their beams outs in a series - one after the other -  as we are close to overloading the lines when they all activate at the same time.  I know time is of the essence by even a two second pause between beam start ups will keep the flow steady and avoid a worse catastrophe.  Think about it... ch'Verret out."

[Upper Engineering]

It seemed the medication was quickly having its desired effect. The man was becoming more responsive, more logical, and if Abas wasn't mistaken, slightly less groggy. However, his observations were cut short when the alarm klaxon sounded once more across the ship. Abas wondered how often the red lights burnt out with how often they were used it seemed. Regardless, it was his duty to respond.

"Alright, Chief. Happy to help. When this is over, swing by Sickbay so we can finish up your treatment," he said, as the two went their separate ways. They were both supporting the same mission - even if they didn't know it. Lives needed saving. That was all that mattered. He turned and strode

[Minutes Later - Sickbay]

Abas walked into Sickbay and was immediately almost overwhelmed with the strong emotions coming from the high number of casualties. It seemed that the alert was well and truly called for - this qualified as a mass-casualty event. The dull whine of the transporter was heard as another load of casualties was deposited directly in the medical bay. Abas sensed one of them about to collapse, and quickly moved in to grab the ailing victim, supporting them and trying to determine where an open bio-bed was.

Abas noted the presence of the CMO, directing traffic and organizing the finely tuned machine that was the medical staff. Many of them had extensive training in combat medicine or quick triage - and it was coming in handy now. "Doctor," he said, trying to gain the attention of any of the medical officers in the area. "Where to with this one?"

[Ian Galloway]

[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | NCC-40117 'Cutty Sark' | Over the Skies of the Warbird Metropolis | Angdarr Prime | Angdarr System]

The small moment of rest was interrupted by the sudden comment from Tora. His ear wriggled to her location, as he listened in to the potential discovery of an intact singularity core. A small smile came into his muzzle, though it took little for it to fade, as she stopped. The Ensign was quick to inform them that they were being trailed by an armed vessel. Not good. He quickly got out of his seat, extending the claws on his feet to get a better grip on the floor in case Lieutenant Espada had to engage in evasive maneuvers.

He wandered over to where Ensign Zalos was and took a look at the scans on display. He frowned at that, as he glanced over to the pilot seat, "Be advised, Lieutenant Espada, you are about to be engaged by a Scorpion-class fighter. We are better armed, but it is a rather negligible margin."

He glanced over at Commander Said, once she had given him the orders. A brief smirk came over Zhuk's face, as he quickly moved over towards the weapon console, "Gladly, Commander~"

His tone was peppy, and he indeed was quite happy to charge up the Type-VIII Phaser Arrays, before he proceeded to fire an initial salvo at the Scorpion-class once it went in range. He aimed towards its weapon system, and one of the wings, hoping to disable it before it could properly put up a fight.

[Shuttle Cutty Sark/ Warbird Necropolis/ Andgarr Prime]

Aarwendil went to work in the scan, searching for the Romulan warp cores. However, Ensign Zalos found them first. Not only that, but she also identified that there was another ship chasing them. The young Betazoid thought that it was the scavengers trying to pursue them. However, the revelation that it was a Scorpion-class chasing them changed his mind. Such a type of shuttle wasn't used by simply criminals.

"œMa'am." Nekab said, while approaching Commander Said. He was so silent since their retreat that the Betazoid forgot about his presence. "œA Scorpion-class has a peculiarity that can help us." the Romulan was close to the scanners, watching the signal of the enemy shuttle in deep thought. "œTheir weapons have a delay of how many times they can fire before needing to recharge. It's usually seven consecutive shots. Being fast enough to evade them, you can attack while recharging. It's a time limit of 60 seconds."

Nekab said with so much certainty that gave the impression, at least for Aarwendil that he had saw one of the ships closer than a simple doctor would be. He wondered how the Romulan knew it.

[Canopy - Angdarr Prime]

The Scorpion lanced in blazing away as it closed. Espada dodged most of the salvo, but a few hits registered on the shields, which held firm. The task of hitting the nimble fighter was greatly complicated by the need to constantly evade the branches, limbs, and trunks of the massive trees the two small ships darted around as the fought.

The combination of Zhuk's accurate firing and Espada's excelling flying skills soon gave the Cutty Sark the advantage and Zhuk scored a solid hit. The fighter pilot must have decided the target was no longer worth the effort as it broke off trailing smoke and finally allowing the away team to reach the power source Tora had discovered.

Espada brought the shuttle in for a smooth landing within a hundred meters of the old Romulan hulk that was the source of Tora's readings. A quick scan of the area didn't show any humanoid lifesigns within twenty kilometers. The wreck looked bent, rusting, and forlorn as it rested at an angle on the forest floor, ready to be explored.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Sickbay - USS Challenger]

To a casual observer, there really wasn't a single word that could capture the frenetic energy and action that was sickbay. Medical personnel were almost automatons as they reacted to the events in front of them. Medications, equipment, and procedures, were in constant flux as the casualties mounted. The sheer number of injured civilians soon swamped the available biobeds to the point that first gurneys, tables, and eventually, any flat surface large enough had to do.

Some of the civilians became irate as they had to wait for treatment, this forced the security officers pressed into litter bearing duty to shift to crowd control. The Challenger had an emergency evacuation capacity of 6,250, the Guppy, which was clearly operating without proper licensing and certification had crammed some 8,649 terrified refugees into her dilapidated hull. Given the panic that rippled through her passengers, it wasn't fully clear if the security department could manage the crowd along, this forced Commander Catalan to draft a large portion of Ops and even Engineering to help maintain order which was how Lahr found himself dragooned back into the role of security officer. The influx of Starfleet presence was working, but only just.

[Minutes Later - Sickbay]

Abas walked into Sickbay and was immediately almost overwhelmed with the strong emotions coming from the high number of casualties. It seemed that the alert was well and truly called for - this qualified as a mass-casualty event. The dull whine of the transporter was heard as another load of casualties was deposited directly in the medical bay. Abas sensed one of them about to collapse, and quickly moved in to grab the ailing victim, supporting them and trying to determine where an open bio-bed was.

Abas noted the presence of the CMO, directing traffic and organizing the finely tuned machine that was the medical staff. Many of them had extensive training in combat medicine or quick triage - and it was coming in handy now. "Doctor," he said, trying to gain the attention of any of the medical officers in the area. "Where to with this one?"

Jess scanned the casualty with her tricorder and scowled.

"Dammit, internal injuries. He needs immediate surgeries. I don't have any other surgeons at the moment or nurses. Mister Abas, you're going to have to assist me and we're going to have to operate right here in the hallway. Fasten your seatbelt, it's going to be a bumpy night."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Great Hall - Angdarr Prime]

Ian and Avolus were shown into Anax Jindarr's office as soon as they arrived. The Angdarri leader looked as if he'd aged a decade since the last time Ian saw him.

"Bless the Canopy you are here Captain, Commander, tell me you have good news."

"I have news Sir, but tis nae good. We met with that wanker Burton King of Kinglines and he pretty much told us ta bugger off unless we were willin' ta be extorted for over 8,000 bloody bricks of gold pressed latinum. With whatever is happenin' on Earth, I can nae reach Starfleet Command and I cannae authorize or even produce that much latinum on my own authority. And as this is nae a Federation world, I can neither intern his ship under emergency regulations or legally take his ship by force."

"I see, and what is the stance of the Free State Commander?"

"I regrettably face the same limitations Anax."

"It is the height of irony that your government's perspective regulations, which I would normally laud for keeping your larger power from treating my people as pawns in your Great Game, are keeping you from saving us from annihilation. That is a bitter pill to be certain. However, while you may face rules that keep you from seizing the Cosmos Royale, I do not face such restrictions. While there will be repercussions for such an act, I am prepared to give the order to take the ship by force if you can guaranty such an action is necessary and will succeed."

Ian looked over at Avolus who looked just as uneasy as he felt before he replied.

"Anax, while I can guaranty the need for such an action, I can nae, in good faith, promise you it will work. All I have is the historical data that showed explodin' a ship's impulse drive inside a Doomsday Machine was able to disable the only other example encountered, I simply won't guaranty success this time."

"I see. What other options do I have to save my people and home?"

"As we speak, my crew is searchin' your 'Warbird Necropolis' for a ship we can get workin' long enough ta feed it ta the machine."

"Then there is hope."

"Aye Sir, there is."

The Anax seemed to relax for the first time since the away team entered and he said.

"Then I will leave you gentlemen to your business. Please keep me informed on your progress."

"Absolutely Anax, thank you for your time."

The group left the office and Ian said to Avolus once they were outside.

"Given your people obviously have more experience with your systems, I propose that we work together ta get one of the wrecks operation Commander."

"A logical conclusion to which I concur. I will return to my ship and have a team standing by as soon as you find a suitable vessel Captain."

"Very good Commander, speak to you soon."

Ian then tapped his combadge.

"Galloway ta Challenger, three ta beam up."

As the annular confinement beam captured him, Ian could see Avolus and his guards beaming out as well.

[Nira Said]

[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | NCC-40117 'Cutty Sark' | Over the Skies of the Warbird Metropolis | Angdarr Prime | Angdarr System]

Zhukdra'shar was not given a response from his commanding officer, like he expected. Of course, at seeing her remove her upper uniform, to end up in a tank-top while Doctor Grippen healed her injuries, he understood. He glanced over at his chest, seeing a dark smidge on top of it. He softly groaned, realizing that faint holes that showcased his pink skin could be seen. He decided to put his brushed ego aside, instead focusing on something else.

Soon enough, he found a nice view to look at. Though he tried to be casual about it, his mind thinking about tactics on how to deal with the Orions and their crooks next time.

As Taja finished up, Zhuk regarded her with a nod, feeling slightly better at the proposition of having his skin fully regenerated. He wondered if it would be best to have Head Nurse Davies do it instead, considering how much more comfortable he felt with her. A similar, though not exactly the same, procedure had already taken place with her. Still, he decided to not disparage her with his words. It was a kind offer, after all.

"Ah. I would greatly appreciate that, Doctor Grippen. I pride myself on keeping my fur in the best quality possible. With my skin in such a state, that would be an impossible task-"

The small moment of rest was interrupted by the sudden comment from Tora. His ear wriggled to her location, as he listened in to the potential discovery of an intact singularity core. A small smile came into his muzzle, though it took little for it to fade, as she stopped. The Ensign was quick to inform them that they were being trailed by an armed vessel. Not good. He quickly got out of his seat, extending the claws on his feet to get a better grip on the floor in case Lieutenant Espada had to engage in evasive maneuvers.

He wandered over to where Ensign Zalos was and took a look at the scans on display. He frowned at that, as he glanced over to the pilot seat, "Be advised, Lieutenant Espada, you are about to be engaged by a Scorpion-class fighter. We are better armed, but it is a rather negligible margin."

He glanced over at Commander Said, once she had given him the orders. A brief smirk came over Zhuk's face, as he quickly moved over towards the weapon console, "Gladly, Commander~"

His tone was peppy, and he indeed was quite happy to charge up the Type-VIII Phaser Arrays, before he proceeded to fire an initial salvo at the Scorpion-class once it went in range. He aimed towards its weapon system, and one of the wings, hoping to disable it before it could properly put up a fight.

[Shuttle Cutty Sark/ Warbird Necropolis/ Andgarr Prime]

Aarwendil went to work in the scan, searching for the Romulan warp cores. However, Ensign Zalos found them first. Not only that, but she also identified that there was another ship chasing them. The young Betazoid thought that it was the scavengers trying to pursue them. However, the revelation that it was a Scorpion-class chasing them changed his mind. Such a type of shuttle wasn't used by simply criminals.

"œMa'am." Nekab said, while approaching Commander Said. He was so silent since their retreat that the Betazoid forgot about his presence. "œA Scorpion-class has a peculiarity that can help us." the Romulan was close to the scanners, watching the signal of the enemy shuttle in deep thought. "œTheir weapons have a delay of how many times they can fire before needing to recharge. It's usually seven consecutive shots. Being fast enough to evade them, you can attack while recharging. It's a time limit of 60 seconds."

Nekab said with so much certainty that gave the impression, at least for Aarwendil that he had saw one of the ships closer than a simple doctor would be. He wondered how the Romulan knew it.

[Canopy - Angdarr Prime]

The Scorpion lanced in blazing away as it closed. Espada dodged most of the salvo, but a few hits registered on the shields, which held firm. The task of hitting the nimble fighter was greatly complicated by the need to constantly evade the branches, limbs, and trunks of the massive trees the two small ships darted around as the fought.

The combination of Zhuk's accurate firing and Espada's excelling flying skills soon gave the Cutty Sark the advantage and Zhuk scored a solid hit. The fighter pilot must have decided the target was no longer worth the effort as it broke off trailing smoke and finally allowing the away team to reach the power source Tora had discovered.

Espada brought the shuttle in for a smooth landing within a hundred meters of the old Romulan hulk that was the source of Tora's readings. A quick scan of the area didn't show any humanoid lifesigns within twenty kilometers. The wreck looked bent, rusting, and forlorn as it rested at an angle on the forest floor, ready to be explored.

[Commander Nira Said | Shuttle Cutty Sark | Warbird Necropolis | Andgarr Prime]

Nira watched in amazement at Espada's flying and Zhuk's shooting. They were so high up the canopy that there were so much more branches and more limbs of the huge trees; any higher up, and they'd break free from the canopy and would see it like a green sea, as Nira figured. And the shooting was good enough for the Scorpion to break off.

Now that it was gone, the shuttle was able to close in on the signature Tora found. Once again, it was a descent from great heights to feeling like reaching the bottom of a huge well...or rather, a very deep crater. Only this time, they were coming down deeper until they reached the ground. It was slightly dark, maybe a bit of murkiness, but the details can be made out well enough.

The wreck was certainly more than two and a half centuries old, maybe two and three-quarter centuries old. In point of fact, the hulk was a Battlehawk, the biggest of Romulan battleships ever to be face during the Human-Romulan War that led to the formation of the Federation. It rested at an angle in a way that it looked to tilt. One of its nacelles was missing, and it side missing the nacelle was the side more on the ground. Part of the Battlehawk was covered in foliage, almost like a model ship buried under leaves, and its rear was set against the roots of the huge tree, and after two hundred and seventy or eighty or so years, the roots were growing around and on top of it, absorbing the ship over time; Nira remembered hearing stories of ancient metal wedges placed amidst a tree, forgotten, only to be found a few decades later to have been partially absorbed into the tree, eventually leading to splitting the tree, but it was more rather the case of something being buried by a tree over time.

Looking around, Nira saw the huge trunk of an ohn'garr tree laying on the side like a log huge enough to bear semblance to the body of an old Constitution class...assuming Consitutions were made to be built as big as Galaxy-classes.

Remembering the secret Andgarr weapon of tractor emitters hidden on the tree trunks, Nira looked around. "Hey, look at that," she said, pointing. It was just at the top side of the trunk, a rusted piece of machinery, also partially absorbed into the tree.

"There's a reason for the wreckage and the junkyard," Nira said, addressing Taja and Tora and anybody who didn't see what the Andgarr did to the Praetorian Triumvirate earlier. "A long time ago, two hundred and seventy or eighty or so years ago, the Andgarr thwarted a conquest by the Romulans. There was a battle among the treetops, ships engaging each other among the trees. The climax was when the fleet was brought down by the trees. It was done using tractor emitters; the Andgarr cut partially into the trees, the emitters caught the ships, the ships tried to break free, and the result let to the trunks breaking free from their force. Some ships were crushed or flattened, others damaged.

"Looks like this ship may have gotten its nacelle sheared off and the trunk dragged it the rest of the way down," said Nira. "It wouldn't be surprising; if the ship didn't get crushed, it would've gotten dragged down by the trunk to the forest floor below, pulled by the weight of the trunk. If there was total sunlight, I'm sure we'll probably see indications of impact craters or indications of damage.

"Okay, here's the plan now that we found it," said Nira, giving instructions. "Mister Espada, take the Cutty Sark back to Challenger, just in case of any more scavengers; it's too exposed out here and I don't want any more surprise scavengers. The rest of us will proceed inside and head for the ship's Main Engineering. Aarwendil, Neva, Tora, you'll be our guides, your tricorders ought to point the way. Doctor Grippen, Nekab, medical support, particularly in the event of potential radiation leakage. Zhuk, you handled okay back up there against the Scorpion, but if you or the doctor feel you're not in any good shape to come with us, you can head back to Challenger with Espada, and Kyan can change places with you if you wish. And on the subject of the Challenger..."

She then tapped her comm badge.  "Said to Challenger. We found a warp core in the wreck of a Romulan ship with an active signature. We'll be heading inside the ship it's in. Please inform Davenport and Tharn to send a team from each of their departments and beam them to my comm badge signal. Phasers distributed to both away teams and weapons heavy with Security, I want to make sure we discourage any more potential hostiles or be able to respond to an engagement better if we get surprised."

[Kyan Mackenzie]

"Galloway ta Challenger, three ta beam up."

As the transporter beam gripped him and began it's usual routine of separating his molecules and sending them hurtling through space to be reassembled back on the ship, Kyan's last thought was that he really wanted to punch that Jindrak guy... but he didn't know why.

[Lt. Commander Kyan Mackenzie | Transporter Room 1, U.S.S. Challenger]

When the transporter put him back together back on Challenger, Kyan was greeted not by the usual tranquility of the transporter room and Chief Morow, but by a cacophony of sounds and a gaggle of people. Galloway, Smiley, and himself weren't even the only ones that had beamed aboard. But looking around, he didn't even see Galloway or Smiley. Other people occupied the transporter pads. Most of them were the Simian denizens of Angdarr, but there were representatives from several other species too.

The scene was distilled chaos. Over the din of people talking, and complaining, and a few who were moaning in agony from their injuries, Kyan could see Jalen doing triage. The person operating the transporter was herding everyone off the pads now so Kyan hopped down to avoid getting shoved off by the crowd around him.

"Where's Captain Galloway and Smiley?" he demanded when he got down.

"They went to another transporter. We've been beaming people over from the Guppy sir." the transporter tech informed him. "Doctor Kartos is doing triage for the wounded."

The first question he had was, What the hell is "the Guppy. It seemed like a weird name for a ship, but he didn't ask it. Instead he simply nodded. Since there was still a lot of time left before the Planet Killer arrived, Kyan figured he wouldn't be needed on the bridge now, and if he was, they'd call. So he weaved through the masses until he got to where Jalen was looking at one of the wounded Angdarr.

"Heya." Kyan offered. "D'ya need some help the now?"

[Dr Taja Grippen]

[Battlehawk Wreck, Andgarr]

"Fascinating." was all Taja could say as Nira told the tale of the ancient battle long ago. The hulk looked foreboding in the murky forest floor, who knew what dangers may be lurking inside. She shouldered her trusty medical kit and flipped open a tricorder. She set it to scan for harmful radiation signatures.

The Risan understood the medical risks an old wreck like this might pose. There was the obvious radiation dangers posed by leaking reactors, but there was also hazardous chemicals, coolant and materials to consider. Metal alloy particles from degrading hulls that could do nasty damage if inhaled. Fragile walkways and superstructure that could collapse on them without warning. Local predators nesting in the hull. Yes, this place certainly wasn't good for the health.

She waited by the entrance for the others to lead the way. "Ready."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - Deck 12 - Upper Engineering Support]

[Upper Engineering]

It seemed the medication was quickly having its desired effect. The man was becoming more responsive, more logical, and if Abas wasn't mistaken, slightly less groggy. However, his observations were cut short when the alarm klaxon sounded once more across the ship. Abas wondered how often the red lights burnt out with how often they were used it seemed. Regardless, it was his duty to respond.

"Alright, Chief. Happy to help. When this is over, swing by Sickbay so we can finish up your treatment," he said, as the two went their separate ways. They were both supporting the same mission - even if they didn't know it. Lives needed saving. That was all that mattered. He turned and strode

Lahr nodded at the Aenar's suggestion that he 'swing by Sickbay' later.  Yeah, that wasn't high on his priority list and given the medics were gonna be crazy busy... it was unlikely that anyone would check up on him now that he was out of sickbay.  Which was fine by the Andorian.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Lieutenant Adelle Booker was at Ops and took Lahr's call. She had snared the crippled Guppy with a tractor beam and was keeping the ship's orbit stable. Once she was certain the Guppy was secure, she replied to Lahr.

"Understood Engineering. Things are just short of out of control on that transport, we may need security to get a handle on the situation."

Booker's update on what was happening, while appreciated, had nothing to do with him - or at least so he thought.   He responded to the man's comment with a quick 'thank you' then closed the comm in order to get back to his rounds.

[Canopy - Angdarr Prime]
[Sickbay - USS Challenger]

To a casual observer, there really wasn't a single word that could capture the frenetic energy and action that was sickbay. Medical personnel were almost automatons as they reacted to the events in front of them. Medications, equipment, and procedures, were in constant flux as the casualties mounted. The sheer number of injured civilians soon swamped the available biobeds to the point that first gurneys, tables, and eventually, any flat surface large enough had to do.

Some of the civilians became irate as they had to wait for treatment, this forced the security officers pressed into litter bearing duty to shift to crowd control. The Challenger had an emergency evacuation capacity of 6,250, the Guppy, which was clearly operating without proper licensing and certification had crammed some 8,649 terrified refugees into her dilapidated hull. Given the panic that rippled through her passengers, it wasn't fully clear if the security department could manage the crowd alone, this forced Commander Catalan to draft a large portion of Ops and even Engineering to help maintain order which was how Lahr found himself dragooned back into the role of security officer. The influx of Starfleet presence was working, but only just.

[USS Challenger-A - Deck 4 - Transporter Room One]

Lahr groaned at the news of his 'conscription'.   He'd done this sort of thing before.   It never ended well.  Rhymus had taught him that much.  But orders were orders and his had him headed to Transporter Room One to help with crowd control.  He'd been issued a phaser and an armband that read: Auxiliary Security.  When he arrived, he found that it had become a triage area, which only slowed process of moving the evacuees out of the room.  The Andorian felt a tad overwhelmed by the press off so many people, all desperately in need of help.

He looked around to see if he could find the Security officer in charge to report in and be given more specific orders but the area seemed vacant of any Security whatsoever.   No wonder he'd been drafted!  He tried to find among the sea of faces someone in at least a Starfleet uniform, other than himself.

Having been in the Security department years back, the Andorian was familiar with emergency procedures.   He gave a sharp whistle to draw attention to himself, as he held up a hand as he shut the door and held the door lock with his other hand, ensuring he got people's attention.

"Any person who is not injured are to make their way to the Observation Lounge or the Enlisted Mess Hall.  You can get directions by merely approaching any wall panel and saying 'Computer, directions to the Observation Lounge' and then following the arrows along the wall the computer will provide.". In response to his request, the wall nearest him lit with a deck floor plan and a large digital arrow pointed in the direction of the room exit.

"Once at either location, remain there unless directed elsewhere by an officer. Your personal details will be collected as soon as possible.  Families and or individuals who indicate they are traveling together will be assigned to temporary shelter together or near to one another.  However, until then, please be patient and orderly while we treat your injured first."

Lahr then stepped out of the way of the doors and released the lock, allowing a flood of uninjured to make their way through the hallways towards the turbolift.  He idly wondered how many would get lost even with such easy instructions.

[Ian Galloway]

[Transporter Room Four --> Bridge - USS Challenger]

When the transporter cycle finished and Ian found himself surrounded by a sea of civilians he was confused for a moment. He marched over to the transporter chief and barked.

"Report."

"There was an explosion on an overcrowded transport. We're holding it in orbit with a tractor and beaming off more people than I've ever seen on one ship Sir."

Ian blinked at this information, but waved absently for the chief to resume his duties. He had to push his way out of the transporter room and through the crowd in the corridor. Ian could see security was trying to maintain some semblance of order, so he did not interfere. Once he got to the bridge he could see Catalan was issuing orders rapidly as he tried to get control of a situation that refused to be in control.

"I have the deck and and the conn Commander."

Ian said as he returned to the command chair and noted the look of relief on Catalan's face.

"What's the current situation Fernando?"

"So far we've pulled over 4,000 survivors off the transport Sir, but that's less than half aboard. The transport's orbit is stable in our tractor. Medical is swamped. Security, even with reinforcement is only just keeping the crowd from turning into a mob."

Ian was having difficulty trying to process that the transport on the viewscreen could carry so many people. Based on the number he'd just been given, there were more passengers on the transport than the Challenger was rated to carry.

"Very well Mister Catalan. New plan. We will act as a way point rather than a terminal. We beam them aboard Challenger. If'n they are uninjured, we immediately beam them back ta the planet. Notify the Anax and tap into the Angdarri resources ta assist. As the transport's orbit is stable, stop the evacuation of uninjured immediately and start beamin' the civilians we have aboard ta Angdarr as second priority after the injured."

"Aye Sir."

Ian could see the state of the transport, the registration pinged as S.S. Guppy, and he wondered how a ship in such poor condition was allowed to even try to break orbit. Then he was able to answer his own question.

"Desperation and greed. That damn Machine has got the population terrified. We have ta do summat or they will have every reason ta be so."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - Deck 4 - Transporter Room One]

Lahr groaned at the news of his 'conscription'.   He'd done this sort of thing before.   It never ended well.  Rhymus had taught him that much.  But orders were orders and his had him headed to Transporter Room One to help with crowd control.  He'd been issued a phaser and an armband that read: Auxiliary Security.  When he arrived, he found that it had become a triage area, which only slowed process of moving the evacuees out of the room.  The Andorian felt a tad overwhelmed by the press off so many people, all desperately in need of help.

He looked around to see if he could find the Security officer in charge to report in and be given more specific orders but the area seemed vacant of any Security whatsoever.   No wonder he'd been drafted!  He tried to find among the sea of faces someone in at least a Starfleet uniform, other than himself.

Having been in the Security department years back, the Andorian was familiar with emergency procedures.   He gave a sharp whistle to draw attention to himself, as he held up a hand as he shut the door and held the door lock with his other hand, ensuring he got people's attention.

"Any person who is not injured are to make their way to the Observation Lounge or the Enlisted Mess Hall.  You can get directions by merely approaching any wall panel and saying 'Computer, directions to the Observation Lounge' and then following the arrows along the wall the computer will provide.". In response to his request, the wall nearest him lit with a deck floor plan and a large digital arrow pointed in the direction of the room exit.

"Once at either location, remain there unless directed elsewhere by an officer. Your personal details will be collected as soon as possible.  Families and or individuals who indicate they are traveling together will be assigned to temporary shelter together or near to one another.  However, until then, please be patient and orderly while we treat your injured first."

Lahr then stepped out of the way of the doors and released the lock, allowing a flood of uninjured to make their way through the hallways towards the turbolift.  He idly wondered how many would get lost even with such easy instructions.

As the transporter beam gripped him and began it's usual routine of separating his molecules and sending them hurtling through space to be reassembled back on the ship, Kyan's last thought was that he really wanted to punch that Jindrak guy... but he didn't know why.

[Lt. Commander Kyan Mackenzie | Transporter Room 1, U.S.S. Challenger]

When the transporter put him back together back on Challenger, Kyan was greeted not by the usual tranquility of the transporter room and Chief Morow, but by a cacophony of sounds and a gaggle of people. Galloway, Smiley, and himself weren't even the only ones that had beamed aboard. But looking around, he didn't even see Galloway or Smiley. Other people occupied the transporter pads. Most of them were the Simian denizens of Angdarr, but there were representatives from several other species too.

The scene was distilled chaos. Over the din of people talking, and complaining, and a few who were moaning in agony from their injuries, Kyan could see Jalen doing triage. The person operating the transporter was herding everyone off the pads now so Kyan hopped down to avoid getting shoved off by the crowd around him.

"Where's Captain Galloway and Smiley?" he demanded when he got down.

"They went to another transporter. We've been beaming people over from the Guppy sir." the transporter tech informed him. "Doctor Kartos is doing triage for the wounded."

The first question he had was, What the hell is "the Guppy. It seemed like a weird name for a ship, but he didn't ask it. Instead he simply nodded. Since there was still a lot of time left before the Planet Killer arrived, Kyan figured he wouldn't be needed on the bridge now, and if he was, they'd call. So he weaved through the masses until he got to where Jalen was looking at one of the wounded Angdarr.

"Heya." Kyan offered. "D'ya need some help the now?"

[Transporter Room One - USS Challenger]

Before the doctor could reply, Kyan became aware of a disturbance behind him on the transporter platform. A crowd of civilians had formed around a recent arrival on the Challenger.

"There he is!"

"Get him before he can run."

"You greedy idiot!"

"KILL HIM!"

At least two dozen civilians of at least four species had started throwing punches at a human as he tried to defend himself from the onslaught. The only 'security' in the transporter room was Lahr and the mob wasn't paying him any attention. Things looked about to go from very, very bad to murderous if something wasn't done quickly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Commander Nira Said | Shuttle Cutty Sark | Warbird Necropolis | Andgarr Prime]

Nira watched in amazement at Espada's flying and Zhuk's shooting. They were so high up the canopy that there were so much more branches and more limbs of the huge trees; any higher up, and they'd break free from the canopy and would see it like a green sea, as Nira figured. And the shooting was good enough for the Scorpion to break off.

Now that it was gone, the shuttle was able to close in on the signature Tora found. Once again, it was a descent from great heights to feeling like reaching the bottom of a huge well...or rather, a very deep crater. Only this time, they were coming down deeper until they reached the ground. It was slightly dark, maybe a bit of murkiness, but the details can be made out well enough.

The wreck was certainly more than two and a half centuries old, maybe two and three-quarter centuries old. In point of fact, the hulk was a Battlehawk, the biggest of Romulan battleships ever to be face during the Human-Romulan War that led to the formation of the Federation. It rested at an angle in a way that it looked to tilt. One of its nacelles was missing, and it side missing the nacelle was the side more on the ground. Part of the Battlehawk was covered in foliage, almost like a model ship buried under leaves, and its rear was set against the roots of the huge tree, and after two hundred and seventy or eighty or so years, the roots were growing around and on top of it, absorbing the ship over time; Nira remembered hearing stories of ancient metal wedges placed amidst a tree, forgotten, only to be found a few decades later to have been partially absorbed into the tree, eventually leading to splitting the tree, but it was more rather the case of something being buried by a tree over time.

Looking around, Nira saw the huge trunk of an ohn'garr tree laying on the side like a log huge enough to bear semblance to the body of an old Constitution class...assuming Consitutions were made to be built as big as Galaxy-classes.

Remembering the secret Andgarr weapon of tractor emitters hidden on the tree trunks, Nira looked around. "Hey, look at that," she said, pointing. It was just at the top side of the trunk, a rusted piece of machinery, also partially absorbed into the tree.

"There's a reason for the wreckage and the junkyard," Nira said, addressing Taja and Tora and anybody who didn't see what the Andgarr did to the Praetorian Triumvirate earlier. "A long time ago, two hundred and seventy or eighty or so years ago, the Andgarr thwarted a conquest by the Romulans. There was a battle among the treetops, ships engaging each other among the trees. The climax was when the fleet was brought down by the trees. It was done using tractor emitters; the Andgarr cut partially into the trees, the emitters caught the ships, the ships tried to break free, and the result let to the trunks breaking free from their force. Some ships were crushed or flattened, others damaged.

"Looks like this ship may have gotten its nacelle sheared off and the trunk dragged it the rest of the way down," said Nira. "It wouldn't be surprising; if the ship didn't get crushed, it would've gotten dragged down by the trunk to the forest floor below, pulled by the weight of the trunk. If there was total sunlight, I'm sure we'll probably see indications of impact craters or indications of damage.

"Okay, here's the plan now that we found it," said Nira, giving instructions. "Mister Espada, take the Cutty Sark back to Challenger, just in case of any more scavengers; it's too exposed out here and I don't want any more surprise scavengers. The rest of us will proceed inside and head for the ship's Main Engineering. Aarwendil, Neva, Tora, you'll be our guides, your tricorders ought to point the way. Doctor Grippen, Nekab, medical support, particularly in the event of potential radiation leakage. Zhuk, you handled okay back up there against the Scorpion, but if you or the doctor feel you're not in any good shape to come with us, you can head back to Challenger with Espada, and Kyan can change places with you if you wish. And on the subject of the Challenger..."

She then tapped her comm badge.  "Said to Challenger. We found a warp core in the wreck of a Romulan ship with an active signature. We'll be heading inside the ship it's in. Please inform Davenport and Tharn to send a team from each of their departments and beam them to my comm badge signal. Phasers distributed to both away teams and weapons heavy with Security, I want to make sure we discourage any more potential hostiles or be able to respond to an engagement better if we get surprised."

[Romulan Wreck - Angdarri Prime]

Espada looked skeptical at being told to leave, but nodded and lifted as soon as the other six members of the away team left the shuttle. There were myriad sounds all about as small animals darted, always just out of sight, as they neared the hull. Despite the lost nacelle, the hull looked to be mostly intact at least intact enough to suit their purposes.

It took a bit to find an airlock that still functioned and wasn't blocked by the tree's assimilation of the hull. Entering the old hull felt like breaking into a tomb or some sacred place. Once they had an entry point, Nira called the Challenger only to be told that there was a rescue in progress and that the requested security and engineering support would be delayed.

Obviously Nira had questions, but it was clear by the tone of Lieutenant Booker's voice that now was not the time for answers. They would have to proceed on their own. As the entire venture of getting the old hulk depended on the readings Tora had located, Engineering would be their first stop.

As they made their way aft through the old hull, Nira had another thought. As this ship dated to the Earth-Romulan war, her power would not be a singularity or even matter/anti-matter. It would almost certainly be fusion and that caused a whole chain of questions of whether or not such an engine could generate a large enough explosion to disable the Doomsday Machine.

However, before the away team could figure out if this old ship would serve their purpose, Nekab, possessing the best hearing in the group shouted a warning.

"There is someone hiding ahead of us!"

The warning was just enough for the away team to dive to cover as a storm of disruptor bolts, most decidedly not set on stun, swept the corridor.

[Jalen Kartos]

[Transporter Room 1 | USS Challenger]

Jalen turned when he heard the doors swish shut and listened with a bemused smile on his face as the new security"¦ scratch that auxiliary security officer thought he was helping. He was obviously quite young and not experienced in crowd control, as given my his rather ineffectual speech and domineering manner, that the crowd for the most part ignored utterly. He was just about to make his way to the man and graciously explain what he would have the man do for the situation, when the transporter whined again. He turned back with a sigh, the young man would figure it out or get exasperated and leave, casualties were his first responsibility. The carefully crafted calm and organized chaos that flowed around Jalen was shattered when combat erupted on the platform. Jalen wade right into the thick of it, suing well placed strikes to incapacitate the combatants, plus the liberal use of the sedative in his hypo. He approached the situation with the same calm and precision that he applied to all his medical endeavours. What people didn't know, and he usually liked to keep it that way, was that he had spent decades in drunken barfights trying to fill a whole left by his failure to save El-Auria. As such though he was a gentle teddy bear most of the time, that teddy bear had some well sharpened claws.

Jalen wade through the melee, a judicious elbow to a solar plexus here, a hypospray in the thigh there, all while dodging or checking blows aimed at him as the attackers relized they had an outside threat. Jalen also calmly spoke as he went.

"œOh excuse me, I didn't see you there." (tripping of a person by stepping between his legs and forcing a knee into the back of the assailants knee)

"œYou should have that checked out by medical, it might swell." (Calm and precise knee to the groin)

"œMy, it seems that he was tired." (Judicius use of a hypospray)

"Excuse me, this man seems to be injured, I am a doctor, I need to triage him." Jalen said in a detached professional tone, with no hint of condemnation or accusation, as he made it to the target of their aggressions and knelt down, his tricorder in hand and began to triage the person, oblivious to any combatants still left, projecting a calm professionalism that was his standard mean, and usually got him the result he wanted"¦

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - Deck 4 - Transporter Room 1]

[Lt. Commander Kyan Mackenzie | Transporter Room 1, U.S.S. Challenger]

When the transporter put him back together back on Challenger, Kyan was greeted not by the usual tranquility of the transporter room and Chief Morow, but by a cacophony of sounds and a gaggle of people. Galloway, Smiley, and himself weren't even the only ones that had beamed aboard. But looking around, he didn't even see Galloway or Smiley. Other people occupied the transporter pads. Most of them were the Simian denizens of Angdarr, but there were representatives from several other species too.

The scene was distilled chaos. Over the din of people talking, and complaining, and a few who were moaning in agony from their injuries, Kyan could see Jalen doing triage. The person operating the transporter was herding everyone off the pads now so Kyan hopped down to avoid getting shoved off by the crowd around him.

"Where's Captain Galloway and Smiley?" he demanded when he got down.

"They went to another transporter. We've been beaming people over from the Guppy sir." the transporter tech informed him. "Doctor Kartos is doing triage for the wounded."

The first question he had was, What the hell is "the Guppy. It seemed like a weird name for a ship, but he didn't ask it. Instead he simply nodded. Since there was still a lot of time left before the Planet Killer arrived, Kyan figured he wouldn't be needed on the bridge now, and if he was, they'd call. So he weaved through the masses until he got to where Jalen was looking at one of the wounded Angdarr.

"Heya." Kyan offered. "D'ya need some help the now?"

[Transporter Room One - USS Challenger]

Before the doctor could reply, Kyan became aware of a disturbance behind him on the transporter platform. A crowd of civilians had formed around a recent arrival on the Challenger.

"There he is!"

"Get him before he can run."

"You greedy idiot!"

"KILL HIM!"

At least two dozen civilians of at least four species had started throwing punches at a human as he tried to defend himself from the onslaught. The only 'security' in the transporter room was Lahr and the mob wasn't paying him any attention. Things looked about to go from very, very bad to murderous if something wasn't done quickly.

At the start of the commotion, Lahr drew his phaser to stun the whole lot of them.  While, he recalled that was frowned upon by the higher ups, Lahr knew that on his own the mob could easily overpower him.  Yet before he could take the shot.  The doctor who was much closer to the commotion stupidity put himself at risk by intervening, and preventing him from controlling the situation.

"Roozh, Doc! What the hell are you doing?"  But his words were drowned out by the crowd.

[Transporter Room 1 | USS Challenger]

Jalen turned when he heard the doors swish shut and listened with a bemused smile on his face as the new security"¦ scratch that auxiliary security officer thought he was helping. He was obviously quite young and not experienced in crowd control, as given by his rather ineffectual speech and domineering manner, that the crowd for the most part ignored utterly. He was just about to make his way to the man and graciously explain what he would have the man do for the situation, when the transporter whined again. He turned back with a sigh, the young man would figure it out or get exasperated and leave, casualties were his first responsibility. The carefully crafted calm and organized chaos that flowed around Jalen was shattered when combat erupted on the platform. Jalen waded right into the thick of it, using well placed strikes to incapacitate the combatants, plus the liberal use of the sedative in his hypo. He approached the situation with the same calm and precision that he applied to all his medical endeavours. What people didn't know, and he usually liked to keep it that way, was that he had spent decades in drunken barfights trying to fill a hole left by his failure to save El-Auria. As such though he was a gentle teddy bear most of the time, that teddy bear had some well sharpened claws.

Jalen wade through the melee, a judicious elbow to a solar plexus here, a hypospray in the thigh there, all while dodging or checking blows aimed at him as the attackers realized they had an outside threat. Jalen also calmly spoke as he went.

"œOh excuse me, I didn't see you there." (tripping of a person by stepping between his legs and forcing a knee into the back of the assailants knee)

"œYou should have that checked out by medical, it might swell." (Calm and precise knee to the groin)

"œMy, it seems that he was tired." (Judicious use of a hypospray)

"Excuse me, this man seems to be injured, I am a doctor, I need to triage him." Jalen said in a detached professional tone, with no hint of condemnation or accusation, as he made it to the target of their aggression and knelt down, his tricorder in hand and began to triage the person, oblivious to any combatants still left, projecting a calm professionalism that was his standard mean, and usually got him the result he wanted"¦

Knowing he'd get an earful from Chloe and Dr. Fellows both if he allowed one of the precious medical department staff to be injured while he was supposed to be maintaining crowd control, Lahr put away his phaser and followed on the doctor's six, using a more hands on approach.

The Andorian blocked several unintentional swings at the doctor (and at himself) by the mob intent on their victim, while the doctor played nonchalant using his hypospray like a weapon rather than a medical tool.  Though effective, Lahr had his doubts as to the appropriateness of the doctor's actions.  Wasn't there some vow of no harm they were supposed to take?

When the doctor reached the downed victim, his path strewn by unconscious evacuees, that's when Lahr pulled his phaser, and began taking down those that got too close to the doctor.   Only after he took out the three nearest did he give warning to the rest. "Back away from the doctor and his patient! Everyone! Cease and desist all aggression or you'll wake to find yourself in a brig." He thumbed his phaser to wide-beam and upped the phaser setting to medium stun.  Some of these folks were running on adrenaline and a phaser on low stun might not take them down and at the moment - their own safety was in jeopardy.

During all this time, because of the Commander's height disadvantage, Lahr had no clue the Only was present.

[Abas Th'vyrrol]

[Sickbay - USS Challenger]

To a casual observer, there really wasn't a single word that could capture the frenetic energy and action that was sickbay. Medical personnel were almost automatons as they reacted to the events in front of them. Medications, equipment, and procedures, were in constant flux as the casualties mounted. The sheer number of injured civilians soon swamped the available biobeds to the point that first gurneys, tables, and eventually, any flat surface large enough had to do.

Some of the civilians became irate as they had to wait for treatment, this forced the security officers pressed into litter bearing duty to shift to crowd control. The Challenger had an emergency evacuation capacity of 6,250, the Guppy, which was clearly operating without proper licensing and certification had crammed some 8,649 terrified refugees into her dilapidated hull. Given the panic that rippled through her passengers, it wasn't fully clear if the security department could manage the crowd along, this forced Commander Catalan to draft a large portion of Ops and even Engineering to help maintain order which was how Lahr found himself dragooned back into the role of security officer. The influx of Starfleet presence was working, but only just.

Jess scanned the casualty with her tricorder and scowled.

"Dammit, internal injuries. He needs immediate surgeries. I don't have any other surgeons at the moment or nurses. Mister Abas, you're going to have to assist me and we're going to have to operate right here in the hallway. Fasten your seatbelt, it's going to be a bumpy night."

[Sickbay]

Abas nodded as the doctor spoke. It seemed whatever situation the Challenger had come across was much worse than he'd originally guessed. The sheer weight of person was proving to be quite the drag on resources, and leading to what could be reasonably deemed field triage in lieu of proper treatment. "With you, Doctor," he said, before moving the patient out of the flow of traffic to an unoccupied part of the corridor.

Moments later, their makeshift surgical ward was as good as it was going to get. With the assistance of two additional med-techs, a portable sterile field had been erected, with ready supplies of plasma, blood, and surgical tools like laser scalpels and autosutures prepped and on a tray, a tricorder happily whirring away, chirping and feeding the medical staff useful information as to just how close the patient was to meeting the great koala in the sky.

"Ready," Abas spoke, hoping that none of the passersby in the corridor would be too perturbed by the emergency surgery taking place right where folks might be walking by. Abas prepared to assist in any way needed - but with such rudimentary supplies on hand, it was anyone's guess as to what form of assistance he might be called upon to provide. They'd have to adapt and overcome on the fly to save the patient.

[Nira Said]

[Battlehawk Wreck, Andgarr]

"Fascinating." was all Taja could say as Nira told the tale of the ancient battle long ago. The hulk looked foreboding in the murky forest floor, who knew what dangers may be lurking inside. She shouldered her trusty medical kit and flipped open a tricorder. She set it to scan for harmful radiation signatures.

The Risan understood the medical risks an old wreck like this might pose. There was the obvious radiation dangers posed by leaking reactors, but there was also hazardous chemicals, coolant and materials to consider. Metal alloy particles from degrading hulls that could do nasty damage if inhaled. Fragile walkways and superstructure that could collapse on them without warning. Local predators nesting in the hull. Yes, this place certainly wasn't good for the health.

She waited by the entrance for the others to lead the way. "Ready."

[Romulan Wreck - Angdarr Prime]

Espada looked skeptical at being told to leave, but nodded and lifted as soon as the other six members of the away team left the shuttle. There were myriad sounds all about as small animals darted, always just out of sight, as they neared the hull. Despite the lost nacelle, the hull looked to be mostly intact at least intact enough to suit their purposes.

It took a bit to find an airlock that still functioned and wasn't blocked by the tree's assimilation of the hull. Entering the old hull felt like breaking into a tomb or some sacred place. Once they had an entry point, Nira called the Challenger only to be told that there was a rescue in progress and that the requested security and engineering support would be delayed.

Obviously Nira had questions, but it was clear by the tone of Lieutenant Booker's voice that now was not the time for answers. They would have to proceed on their own. As the entire venture of getting the old hulk depended on the readings Tora had located, Engineering would be their first stop.

As they made their way aft through the old hull, Nira had another thought. As this ship dated to the Earth-Romulan war, her power would not be a singularity or even matter/anti-matter. It would almost certainly be fusion and that caused a whole chain of questions of whether or not such an engine could generate a large enough explosion to disable the Doomsday Machine.

However, before the away team could figure out if this old ship would serve their purpose, Nekab, possessing the best hearing in the group shouted a warning.

"There is someone hiding ahead of us!"

The warning was just enough for the away team to dive to cover as a storm of disruptor bolts, most decidedly not set on stun, swept the corridor.

[Commander Nira Said | Battlehawk Wreck | Warbird Necropolis | Andgarr Prime]

Nira had to admit, she was surprised at the news of the delay. A rescue in progress and Security and Engineering would be delayed, Nira wondered what sort of ship got into that huge trouble. But given Lieutenant Booker's tone, there was no time.

"Understood, Booker," she said. "Hopefully it'll be finished by the time we're ready to get power up."

As she followed Tora, and especially Aarwendil and Neva, questions were flooding Nira's head, and this time, they could not be restrained. At first, she mulled over the possibility that she'd have to inquire of the Anax for help if Challenger was still to busy...or the Unification Movement, if they can be found again...then mulling over that they would have to carve into the ohn'garr tree to get the wreck out once they powered it up....

The beginnings of being fully distracted were catching on and was surprised when she stepped and crushed something with a brittle crunch. She looked down and flinched in surprise at the sight of having stepped into the rib cage of a Romulan skeleton...realizing that, she looked around and realized...

"Hey. We're in their bridge...well, control center," she said.

Looking around, Nira could see a circular design, with an apparatus in the center surrounded by half a dozen or so seats with elaborate visual displays extending from the ceiling to seating arrangements below. All the seats were occupied by skeletons, dead husks. A dozen more skeletons littered the bridge, and all had their heads uncovered. And they were all Romulan.

"I'm guessing they were all killed by the landing," said Nira, noticing how the Romulan skeletons were laying around in various positions, supine, prone, or on their sides. "And a hard landing it was indeed...dropped like a rock, given the tree was taking the ship down with it...can you verify that, Taja, before we move on?"

Nira then looked at the central apparatus. She instantly remembered files of Romulan control ships for drones, particularly in the accounts of Malcolm Reed and Charles "Trip" Tucker when they explored a Romulan drone ship, and their investigations indicated the drone being powered by means of telepathic remote control known as "telepresence." She had been reading up on it, especially more so, after encountering the ship so elaborately using holographic displays to impersonate the Discovery, down to its multi-vector assault mode, when the Tal Shiar almost sabotaged the formation of the Romulan Free State, using a ship similar to the drone Tucker and Reed infiltrated so long ago. She looked at the apparatuses. One or two looked to have been severed; at least one seated skeleton was decapitated. Looking at the severed visual display off to the side, Nira pulled it off and it showed the skull of a Reman, indicative of the sharp teeth and batlike vampiric structure of the skull.

"So that's how the Romulans controlled their drone ships back in the day," said Nira. "They'd been working on telepresence, and they even had a good source of manpower: Remans. Chances are, a Battlehawk is a control ship as well as a flagship. It's easy to imagine it led a squadron of six or so smaller ships. Taking one down in battle would not be easy..."

She brushed her uniform and then looked at Tora, Aarwendil and Neva. "Sorry for the delay, but it's an interesting discovery. Pity we'll have to shove this down the gullet of that incoming monster. Let's keep moving."

A while after leaving the control center, Nira had an even bigger realization: Since this was a ship predating the Earth-Romulan War by a decade or potentially more, the power source of its warp core wouldn't be a singularity, nor a matter/antimatter, power source. If she remembered the details, Romulans cores back then were powered by fusion. That made her concerned as to whether it would generate something powerful enough to take down the Doomsday Weapon, even at its power levels. Again, possibilties flooded her mind: They could get the power up, power the core, but what if they could ramp up the power somehow? Include a few deuterium tanks to pack a bigger punch? Nira was no engineer, but she knew weapons, and the power level of weapons; she had even looked up how a starship's engineering systems packed in power compared to torpedoes, and that had her wondering...but then, the thought came to her, since she ordered particularly to search for ships powered by singularity drives, how did Tora find this ship? And would it be more worth looking at one of the more recently downed ships to...?

If it hadn't been for Nekab's warning shout, Nira, in her distracted thinking, would've walked right into the ambush and would not have realized it until it was too late. The warning shout definitely roused her.

"Cover!" she shouted as the rain of deflector bolts lit up the hallway.

Nira berated herself as she got her rifle ready. Why did it not occur to her that there would be scavengers here already? And this was especially the situation where she needed more security officers. Well, no backing down now...