Damage Control

Posted on Sun Aug 21st, 2022 @ 11:43pm by Commander Nikolas Barakos & Captain Nimeeh Vixil & Lieutenant Commander Carson Fleming III & Lieutenant Cyrus Halsey & Lieutenant Devinona Ral Daughter of the Fifth House of Betazed & Lieutenant Kaira Chandraskata & Lieutenant JG Marjan Qaisrani

Mission: USS Tyche

Nim could feel the warmth of the sunlight beating down upon them as yet more of the crew were removed from the ship. She unzipped her jacket and removed it, dropping it on the ground near a large tree. Like anyone else that had any medical training, Nim was working triage, looking for the most urgent of injuries.. not that they could do much to help at this stage. The ship was still in a state of evacuation, they couldn't access sickbay, at best they were working with a portable medical kits until more could be done.

Setting the med kit down on the ground for a moment, Nim sank to the grass and looked around at the crew gathering on the ground, a feeling of helplessness washing over her at their situation. It was starting to feel like there were more dead bodies being removed from the ship than living, and yet more had been lost on the ground. Pulling her knees up, she rested her forehead against her knees for a long moment, just focusing on keeping her breathing slow and steady despite the pain that seemed to plague her body. Sara, her Commanding Officer and friend, was among the deceased. Now it was up to Nim to try and get the crew through this, but the odds of that, in the moment, seemed completely insurmountable. With one more deep breath, Nim sat up, glancing around before rising to her feet. "Right, where are we at?" she asked.

Devinona had emerged from the ship and allowed the alien sunlight to pour over her. She looked around at the throngs of crew that had evacuated as well. Finally she caught sight of Commander Vixil. "Ma'am?" Her voice shook slightly.

Nim rolled her shoulder, pressing a hand into the joint as she started walking across the grass. "Do we know how many survivors we have?" She asked.

“Slow going, I’m afraid,” Barakos answered, approaching the two women from a short distance away, “I’ve got a few folks piecing together a head count, but without the ship’s computer or the sensors to lock onto combadges, we are having to go person-to-person.”

Nim nodded again. "We don't know the state of the ship, our primary focus should be getting everyone out as soon as possible until we can have engineering clear the ship as safe." She sighed, reaching up and pulling the elastic from her long braid, carefully unwinding it and leaving her hair fall down her back, silently hoping that it might help relieve the headache she could feel throbbing beneath her skull before looking around again. "I doubt we'll have evacuations complete before we lose light, let alone having Engineering assess the ship... We'll need to think about what we're going to do next. Supplies, food, shelter..." She bit her lip. "Thoughts?"

“It’s a risk, no matter which way you look at it,” Barakos said, “If we limit our search to the surrounding landscape, we avoid the structural issues, but have to worry about whether what we find is actually safe to consume. Conversely, if we go back into the ship, we have a higher chance of finding materials we know we can use, but we have to deal with the possibility of structural collapse.”

Carson Fleming, a portly man, limped more than usual on his cane as he came around from the other side of the downed vessel. A crewman ran up to him, who was quickly rebuked with Carson's cane pointing and an obvious temper even if the words were inaudible. "What the fuck happened?" Carson asked as he got to earshot of the senior officers assembling.

“Settle down.” Kaira nipped at the doctor coming up, “Sir.” She added. She’d had her arm bound up in a sling after it had been scanned and determined to be a fracture. Only a green stick fracture, not compound, so as long as she didn’t go around stressing the bone, it could wait. There were people hurt far worse than she was and she wasn’t about to complain too badly about it. “We’re not sure yet, sir, I think.. I think something went wrong with the catapult, I’m not a physicist, but it’s the first thing that comes to mind.”

Nim nodded slightly in agreement. "We'll know more if..." she drew in a sharp breath. "When... we'll know more when we can get systems back online."

Carson huffed at the response, ignoring the unintentional insult. He simply nodded to the explanation, good enough for him for now.

CJ Halsey shielded his eyes from the sunlight, it was making his head pound worse. The climb down from the saucer had drained him physically. It's ironic, he thought to himself, how a bump on the old noggin can drain someone physically. He was athletic and yet it took all he had to walk to from group to group of survivors. So far he had seen none of the yeoman that worked with Emily. Her work space was crushed underneath the forward area of the saucer, but he still held out hope. Spotting familiar faces he approached the group where Vixil was trying to assist. "Has anyone seen Lieutenant Emily Mims? I can't find her, I can't find my fiancee."

Devinona looked at CJ and shook her head. " Do you want help looking?" Her voice almost broke as she began to think about the reality of the situation.

"I've checked the triage areas so far, I haven't even seen anyone from administration, or any other yeoman yet. I think we're gonna have to go back inside. If you want to join me, help me find a cutting tool so we get through the mangled mess," CJ explained.

"No!" The single word came out a little terser than Nim had intended, the sharpness of her tone making several others glance their way. Her expression softening, she turned her attention back to CJ. "I'm sorry Lieutenant, we can't let anyone back into the ship until we know how structurally safe it is," she said gently. "The ship is still being evacuated, I'm sure they'll find her soon."

Dev knew that the commander meant well, but she might have tried to say 'No' with a bit more tact given the situation.

"It's been a couple of hours, she could be trapped in there. If I can get to the forward security locker I can get some gear that can help us cut through this. I have team members missing too!" CJ said defiantly. "You're not even the Captain, I need to get back in there!"

“Take it easy, lieutenant,” Barakos said, his voice calm but firm. He sympathized with where the man was coming from. They were all concerned about their friends and shipmates still trapped inside, and the fact that it was his fiancé only made it that much harder. However, no amount of grief or concern could excuse them rushing back in like this and putting even more lives at risk.

“Just take a deep breath,” he continued, “remember your training. We are working to get everyone out as quickly as we can…”

Kaira also stepped over to CJ and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, “Someone will finder her. My Dravid is out there somewhere and I’m sure that he’s doing search and rescue as we speak.” She hadn’t seen her own fiancé since before they launched from the catapult, but he was stubborn about helping people and surely he was just busy helping others than reassuring her, though she desperately wanted reassuring. But she was also an optimist, so he had to be all right.

"Not to seem unsettled," Carson piped back up. "But I need man power. Two triages are set up, Port and Starboard. Medical is stretched thin moving equipment out of the ship to the triage locations and handling the patients. Who is handling crew allocation right now Ms. Vixil?"

Nim looked at Carson for a moment in silence, words tumbling through her mind but she couldn't choose the ones to speak. "Sara.." Her voice was thick with emotion at the single word. "Captain Donovan was killed on impact," she said softly. "I guess that means until we can contact Starfleet, I'm in charge."

Marjan Qaisrani caught up to the senior officers to give a short report. “Ma’am, port and starboard egress points are secure. There’s a pulley bringing supplies and injured people down to ground level. We also have a handful of battery-powered lights at the doors and ground, but I’m honestly not sure how long they’ll last once it gets dark.” The young man was surprisingly calm; he expected he wouldn’t be able to react properly to this crisis until there was a lull.

As the group of people gathered around them continued to grow, Barakos noticed Vixil becoming less and less engaged in the conversation. She’d likely not had a single moment to herself since this whole thing had started. And it was clear the demands had gotten to the point of overwhelming.

“Lieutenant Ral, if you wouldn’t mind escorting Mister Halsey to the assembly area over there,” Barakos said, taking charge of the moment, “make sure he gets some water, and check in with the person in charge of taking the head count.”

Devinona nodded her understanding and took CJ's arm. "Why don't we see if anyone over there has seen or heard from her?" She indicated the muster of crew where Barakos said to go.

“Mister Qaisrani,” Barakos continued, turning to the operations chief, “please accompany the good doctor and see what you can do about helping recruit some folks to assist with the triage. I know they’ve got a few extra hands at stations two and seven…”

Carson shifted weight off his cane, a preemptive move to wave it around, but the tip didn't come off the ground. He locked eyes with Barakos. Non specific thoughts crossed his facial expressions. He glanced at Vixil before making eye contact with Barakos again, the only expression: a momentary raise of the eyebrow. With a quick pivot he stared directly at Qaisrani. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Turning with cane out he began his limp back towards the vessel. "Mr Qaisrani I need supplies and people to make these logistics work. You better be able to provide both."

Vaguely aware of Barakos taking charge and issuing orders, the sound of voices drifted into the background as Nim took a step away from the group, drawing in a deep breath and trying to regain her composure.