Crash Course

Posted on Thu Oct 28th, 2010 @ 8:16am by Commander Michael Evans M.D. & Commander Earlond & Commander Fala Awen

Mission: Episode 1.3 - "The Time of Trial"
Location: Enroute to DS-4, Aboard the Carnauba
Timeline: MD02, 1330hrs

OFF: This is a backpost

ON: [[Enroute to DS-4, Aboard the Carnauba, MD02, 1330]]

As they warped through space, Drake (NPC) monitored his controls at the helm. For some reason, he was feeling a slight fluctuation somewhere, but he hadn't been able to find the source yet. Though not totally disregarding it, Drake didn't think it was a huge problem, so he let his focus wander slightly. Mostly, he thought about where they were headed, and what it could mean.

Michael had holed himself up in his crowded little corner laboratory, stuffing himself away with the rest of the equipment. It had been exciting speeding away at a moment's notice from Commander Earlond with the hopeful promise of finding a cure for the colonists who had been abandoned by their government. Mike knew that it felt wrong to depart his ship covertly, though Earlond had assured him that everything would be covered appropriately, but he'd consoled himself with a sort of righteous ethic about not abandoning those in need.

Now Michael felt glum. He was likely to receive a strong reprimand, if not finding himself at a court martial. But that wasn't what bothered him; it was the feeling that he'd let down so many people: the colonists, his captain, the small team with him in the flyer. He hadn't even made it to the colony; didn't even have a chance to justify his actions and the risk.

Michael's thoughts flicked back to his captain. According to the captain of the Intrepid, Iluvar was to appear before a board of inquiry. Mike couldn't imagine what Iluvar could have done to warrant such a formal proceeding. What if he was stripped of his command, or reassigned? Who would their new captain be? He felt a sudden urgency to be back aboard the Pandora, but knew that the little craft carrying them was already at it's maximum safe velocity.

Mike looked around the aft compartment. He could hear someone fussing with some equipment, but couldn't see them around his own clutter. The small crew had mostly kept to themselves on the return journey, mulling over their own thoughts.

A sudden low voice from behind Michael startled him, and he turned to see the pilot watching him. "Sir," Drake was saying, "Are you alright? I've got us going as fast as we can safely go, but I know it doesn't feel like that when we still have so far to go."

Michael gave a small smile to Drake. The man always surprised him a little bit with his special nature, but his genuine personality always felt like a welcome relief. From what, Michael wasn't sure. "I'm ok, I guess," Mike said. "I'm just worried about Iluvar." He couldn't explain it quite, but he really wanted to be at his captain's side during his time of need.

"I think we all are," Drake said. "Some more than others, obviously, but in the short time I've served under him I've come to see him as the type of man who could withstand quite a bit. Besides," Drake grinned, "We both know Commander Earlond is ready and more than willing to remove the breathing apparatus of anyone who threatens the Admiral."

Some of the old sparkle returned to his eye as Michael grinned at Drake. "Too true," he said.

Suddenly, a panel alarm shouted at them from the forward compartment. Mike exchanged a quick glance with Drake before hurrying forward towards the alarm.

Following quickly after Evans, Drake slid smoothly into his spot at the helm and accessed the controls. "Uh-oh," he said. "Something's wrong with the warp drive."

"Something like what?" Evans demanded. But no one seemed to have an answer. Michael brought up the engineering display at his own console. He couldn't be sure what the ramifications were, not being an engineer, but there was definitely something wrong with one of the warp field coils.

"Perform an emergency shutdown of the warp core, Lieutenant. Bring us to a stop while we see about some damage control," ordered Commander Evans.

Going for an emergency shutdown of the core was always risky, especially while traveling at warp. Once he felt the others had had adequate time to prepare themselves, he keyed the controls. The familiar hum of the warp drive cut out, and suddenly they were moving at sublight speeds. Drake immediately accessed the sublight controls, trying to slow them down.

"Hmm," he said to himself, eying the controls. "I guess the shutdown did affect them." They were quite sluggish, and it felt like one of the stabilizers was down. It was a good thing they had come out in a relatively empty area of space.

"Lieutenant: ahead!" Michael pointed out the forward viewport towards a vast field of tumbling asteroids that was directly in their path, perhaps the remnants of a rogue planetoid.

Drake looked up through the viewport. "That's not supposed to be there," he remarked, noticing that the asteroids were getting nearer a lot more quickly than he would have liked. He tried the controls again, finding them only slightly more usable than before. "Folks you're going to want to brace yourself; the only option these controls are giving me is which asteroid to hit."

Nol (NPC) exchanged a glance with R'Vark (NPC), raising an eyebrow as he gripped the armrests of his chair. When they agreed to this little journey, they had not counted on there being issues with the auxiliary craft nor an asteroid field. The Bajoran hoped that this pilot was as good as he seemed to think he was. The longer they'd been gone, the worse of a feeling he had gotten about the entire idea...

The Klingon tactical officer sat tall and proud though he did brace himself by holding onto the console. Regardless of what happened, he would conduct himself with honor. His eyes slipped down to the console readings, keeping an eye on their shield strength. Going through these asteroids, they'd certainly need it.

Michael settled himself in his seat and gripped firmly, facing the inevitable.

A large asteroid loomed ahead of them, and only with all his skill was Drake able to adjust their angle of descent to one that was probably non-fatal. Idly whistling a tune, Drake applied all the maneuvering jets to reverse their course, but there wasn't much more he could do at this point. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking," he called back in a bright tone of voice. "Due to extenuating circumstances, we have had to cut our journey short and will not make it to the final destination in the foreseeable future. Please make sure all your trays are in the upright position and - oops, ran out of time."

Still remaining quiet, Nol glanced around the craft. He'd certainly been in worse situations, but he still didn't like this one. Landing on some asteroid...with this pilot whistling..something...

R'vark shook his head in disgust at the human's commentary. Had that really been necessary? He looked over at the doctor, then back over at Nol before letting his eyes drop back to the weapons and shields. If need be, he could fire on the asteroid to perhaps make something more of a runway, but for now he didn't see the need, so instead R'Vark kept his eye on the shields.

Evans exchanged a glance with R'Vark. Was Drake serious?

With a sharp jerk, the Carnauba slammed into the asteroid. Such was its velocity that it continued to slide forward, the hull scraping against rocky ground and small boulders. A cliff suddenly seemed to appear ahead, and as the Flyer raced towards it Drake grimaced. The Admiral was not going to like what happened to his ship. Reluctantly, Drake deployed the landing gear.

The Carnauba bucked as the gear tried to deploy, and then was shattered by the force of the ship's motion. Fortunately, however, the gear had the desired effect, slowing the craft to a stop just before the cliff edge. Then, suddenly, everything was silent save for the hiss of escaped gasses.

"Everyone okay?" Drake asked, turning to look back at his companions.

The Bajoran's grip on his chair had not held at the last moment and he'd landed on the floor of the craft, sliding into one of the consoles. His side ached from where it had hit, but overall it could have been worse. Nol had certainly been hurt quite a bit more while doing his duty.

R'Vark had luckily been able to get a better grip on the console in front of him and prevented himself from getting tossed about. He shook his head slightly as his grip loosened.

Michael breathed a moment before answering from the floor. "Fine... ," he panted. He tried gingerly to pick himself up and found sharp pains in his ribs. He grunted with the discomfort. "...maybe."

Drake, himself marginally unhurt (or at least not registering any self-damage) quickly moved to shut down all non-critical systems. With the warp core offline - and no certainty of it coming back online - they had to conserve as much power as possible.

Dr. Evans dragged himself up to a standing position and, holding his side, reached for a medkit. Opening the tricorder he'd taken from inside he first scanned himself, then nodded confirming the two cracked ribs. He moved to Drake, registering nothing major. R'Vark was, not surprisingly, unhurt. Evans moved to scan Nol; just a few bruises. Some quick first aid and everyone would be good as new.

...aside from the fact that they were sitting on some asteroid in a crashed Flyer that is...

OFF: JP Brought to you by:

Lieutenant Commander Michael Evans
Chief Medical Officer & Second Officer
USS Pandora

and

Lieutenant Drake Lexon (PNPC)
Shuttle/Runabout Pilot
USS Pandora
Played by: Cmdr Earlond

and

Ensign Revan Nol (NPC)
Security Officer
USS Pandora
Played by: Cmdr Fala

and

Crewman R'Vark (NPC)
Tactical Officer
USS Pandora
Played by: Cmdr Fala