Stay Here...

Posted on Wed Dec 14th, 2022 @ 3:36am by Consul Josephine Carlyle-Cragen & Miran Lalor [Lalor] HRH & Tristi Richardson & Consul Andrinn Orin & Captain Mattias Richardson [Reece] & 1st Lieutenant Joshua Young [Taylor] & Master Chief Petty Officer Chuck Finley [Reece] & Lara Barclay de Tolly & High Priestess An'Dalus & Sovereign T'handu

Mission: Season 6 : Episode 1: Circinus
Location: USS Elysium, Various
Timeline: MD 3 / 0327 hours
3615 words - 7.2 OF Standard Post Measure

After a slow and arduous trip, Mattias finally led his family to the Emergency Shelter closest to their quarters. After waiting in line for a few minutes, they were finally able to get inside. While they had passed a few dead bodies on their way here, the carnage and suffering that they witnessed as soon as they entered the shelter was enough to make them pause and be thankful that they weren't seriously injured.

After getting Tristi's head injury looked at and treated, Mattias moved them all off to the side and sat them down as he knelt before them. "Okay, girls, I'm going to go find Phee, see what help I can offer. Miran, as you're the oldest, you're in charge. Tristi, listen to what she tells you. Remember, you both are family now. You have to watch out for each other. Above all, you both have to protect the twins. No matter what happens, the four of you must stay together. You understand me?"

Miran nodded "yes Sir" she replied softly.

"Uh huh" Tristi said as she kept a hand on the twin's capsule. The girls exchanged looks and nodded together. They would do as asked... for now.

"You know getting to the bridge will be hard." Miran said. "And shouldn't you be trying to save the diplomats?"

Mattias nodded. She was right, of course. "Yeah, but their quarters are on the way to the bridge." He hated that he had to delay his search for the woman he loved. However, she had entrusted him with the position he currently held.

Finally, he said, "I'll be back. Stay here and follow the instructions that your given." Without thinking about it, he leaned towards them both and gave each of them a kiss on the cheek. "I love you girls." He then placed his hand on the crib capsule and looked at the twins for a few beats. Then he stood and walked back out of the shelter, activating his helmet as he did so.

The two girls watched him go.

===20 minutes later===

After leaving Miran, Tristi and the twins safely in the Emergency Shelter, Mattias first made his way to the quarters of his team. After finding each one dead, he prayed that his two senior agents had survived.

Finally reaching their quarters, he found the door closed. He banged on it several times. "Josh, Anna...are you in there?!"

Josh and Anna were indeed inside their quarters. They had been thrown violently out of bed and now lay in a heap on the floor. By sheer luck Josh was on the bottom of the heap and had managed to protect Anna from the worst of landing on the floor. Josh was semi-conscious, but he thought he heard a voice calling to them. Forcing himself more awake, he groaned at the effort and realized he hurt all over. He could take inventory on what worked later. Listening intently, he heard the voice again, realized it was Mattias. "We're here!" He shouted but his shout sounded weak even to his own ears. "Here! Inside!" He called out again.

"I hear you!" Mattias shouted, glad that his two protégés were alive, at least for the moment. "Hang on, ill get you guys out!" He tgen tried forcibg the doors apaet, but the seemed to be hammed shut. What he wouldnt give for a phaser right now!

The sudden shouting pricked the High Priestesse's ears as she softly strode forward clutching her blood-soaked arm with T'han following at her side, staff drawn forward.

"T'han... go see if they need help." She said weakly as she turned to him, her gaze giving him little room to question her order.

"Yes, Priestess..." He snorted with a nod before marching off ahead, leaving Anne to walk alone.

As he continued to struggle, Mattias saw the two Sequus delegates approaching. He saw that the High Priestess was injured and the Sovereign had his force lance.

"May I be of assistance?" T'han asked awkwardly, his ears flicking around nervously at every little creak or noise the Elysium made.

"Yes, please," Mattias replied as he stepped back a half step. "Two of my team are stuck inside and the door is jammed shut. Is your lance capable of cutting a hole in the duranium, without causing any more structural damage?" As he spoke, he moved over to the High Priestess, pulling his emergency medical kit out. "May I treat your injury, your Highness?"

"It is not I'm afraid," T'han replied as he gently placed it against the wall, letting it lean against the frame of the door. "But the metal is thin and can be persuaded in other ways." He snorted before he turned his back to the door and kicked, pausing briefly before continuing; each blow landing in the same spot splintering and cracking the thick coating of enamelled grey paint.

"He'll have that door open soon," Anne said with a smile, one that conveyed a promise more than anything else. "As for me... I will live..." She winced, removing her hand from her upper arm, her burned flesh still weeping blood. "Though something to dull the pain wouldn't go amiss."

Seeing the extent of the injury, Mattias frowned slightly. "I'll do what I can, Ma'am." He then looked at the single-use emergency hypo, ensuring it was still functioning. When he saw it was, he reached up and injected the small dose of pain reliever that it contained. He then used the rest of his kit to clean the wound as much as possible, then applied a pressure dressing to it, staunching the blood loss until they either found more supplies, or got to sickbay. "That's all I can do for now, I'm afraid. I hope it helped, your Highness." He then looked over at T'han and his progress. It looked like a few more well-placed kicks would do the job.

"Thank you..." Anne said with a deep sigh, somewhat disappointed that it had only just taken the edge off the pain. "I feel better already." She lied, flashing the same smile as before.

Mattias nodded, not totally convinced that she was telling him the truth. However, now was not the time nor the place to discuss it.

"That should be enough..." T'han snorted heavily as he turned and knelt down, the buckled section of the door allowing two fingers to slip into the alcove and grip its frame with a tug.

It moved, but slowly. grinding metal against metal as he strained with all his might until he could edge his other hand around the narrow opening. "Red sands!" He shouted in native Sequus, shunting the door open a fraction more before standing and placing his right hoof against the inside frame; now it would open he thought, snorting in frustration.

Nothing moved at first even as the mechanisms inside the wall behind him clicked and groaned in protest. Then, something gave and the door shifted about halfway, refusing to move and further. "Get them out, this door will shut if I let go." T'han growled to Mattias, as he adjusted his grip and raised his hoof higher on the frame.

Moving quickly, Mattias hurried inside, quickly finding his two young agents sprawled on the deck. While Josh was looking up at him, Anna didn't seem to be moving.

Hurrying to their sides, Mattias carefully lifted Anna up and put her over his left shoulder. His right shoulder was still bothering him from earlier. "Can you walk?" He asked Josh urgently.

Josh nodded, "I can walk. Let's get out of here." As he got to his feet, ignoring the pain in his back and right leg, following Mattias out into the corridor.

Before they stepped out into the corridor, Mattias turned back to Josh. "Collect whatever medical supplies, Emergency kits and weapons, along with something for you two to wear. Once that door closes, I don't know when we will be able to reopen it." He then turned back and carefully stepped through the doors. After he laid Anna down in the corridor, he helped T'han keep the door open. "Hurry, Josh!"

Josh didn't need to be told again as he dashed back into their quarters, grabbed uniforms for him and Anna along with two fully stocked medkits and two phasers. He came out in a rush. "Okay! That's everything I could carry." He told Mattias.

Mattias took the gear from Josh. "Get dressed, then I'll help you get Anna dressed." He then looked over the medical supplies and saw what he needed to at least seal the High Priestess's open wound.

Stepping back over to her, he said, "With your permission, your Highness?" He held up the dermal regenerator that Josh had in his kit.

She breathed in deeply as she begrudgingly moved her arm into view. "You'll have to go slower than usual with that... the hair follicles are delicate." She said advised with a polite but commanding tone as the door scraped violently along its frame and shut once more.

Mattias nodded as he did as instructed.

Josh just nodded and started pulling his uniform on first his pants and then his tunic and finally his boots. He was dressed and presentable. He turned his attention to Anna, who still lay unconscious on the floor. "Anna sweetie. come on now, time to wake up." He whispered.

Anna still didn't wake up, though her pulse, when felt, was strong.

A few moments later, Mattias spoke up. "Okay, your Highness," he said respectfully. "Looks like I got the wound closed. I'd still recommend we get you to sickbay, so that Sthilg can verify my work and check on any other injuries you or the Sovereign may have."

"I'm sure there are more pressing concerns for the good doctor and his team, considering..." She said, finishing her sentence by gesturing both hands up and waving them around at the Elysium. "Whatever is going on."

"You're probably right, Your Highness," Mattias replied respectfully, as he started to usher everyone back the way he came. "However, for now, I should get you all to the Emergency Shelter. Josh, once we get there, I'm placing you in charge with keeping everyone safe, while I go and try to find any other survivors."

"Once I am safe, T'handu will escort you..." Anne said with the utmost authority on the matter. "Understood?" She added, snapping her head to T'han who was already starting to protest.

"Yes, High priestess..." He nodded, knowing his place.

"Good, then let's stop standing around shall we?" Anne snorted, her head inclining back towards Mattias with the implication she might start hitting him if they dawdled any longer.

Mattias chuckled softly, despite their current situation. "I would gladly welcome his assistance, Your Highness, thank you. Now," he turned to Josh. "Have you got Anna, or do you need me to carry her?"

Josh looked up at Mattias as he picked Anna up and cradled her in his arms. "No sir, I've got her. Ready to move when you are."

Mattias nodded and gave his protégé a grim grin. "Alright, lets move out." He then started to lead the group back to the Emergency shelter.

===Deck Two, Diplomatic Complex===

Consul Orin was walking around the areas of the Diplomatic Complex that weren't cut off by bulkheads and forcefields, which wasn't a lot of area because apparently, the diplomats onboard were precious cargo or something. Orin reminded himself to make a complaint to the Diplomatic Corps once they got out of this whole situation.

Walking back towards the main entrance of the complex, Andrinn saw the two young Lieutenants working on various ways to try and get out of the complex. It appeared that the main doors to the complex were sealed shut, but they had tried working on getting out of there because of the various phaser and torch marks that he could see.

Hearing him walk back, one of the Lieutenants looked over his shoulder and replied, "No luck, sir. We're not walking out the front door."

Andrinn scratched his chin and thought for a moment, assessing the situation that they had found themselves in. "Could there be a Jeffries Tube we might be able to open up that leads somewhere out onto this deck? A Jeffries Tube might be easier to open than an entire door leading into the Diplomatic Complex," Andrinn replied, after thinking about Starships that have been constructed by both Earth Starfleet and the Federation.

The second Lieutenant among them shrugged her shoulders and said, "Yeah, that might work. If we can get out onto the deck through the Jeffries Tube in one of the offices, we could get out of here and maybe see what the status of the rest of the ship might be and get to one of the shelters in place."

Andrinn nodded and said, "Yeah, lets get out of here. I don't want to be stuck in my office while the ship goes down."

The three of them went to one of the nearest offices that Andrinn managed to open up as he walked around, trying to figure out where they could go. It didn't take long for them to find a Jeffries Tube access and to begin working on getting it open.

The three of them managed to get to the door to the tube open and looked down the stretch of it, assessing how good it was to actually start heading down there. One of the Lieutenants climbed in as the other looked at Andrinn and said, "Sir, if you'll follow the other Lieutenant, I'll come up from behind and watch your six. Don't want anything bad to happen to one of the newest members of the ship, sir, as well as our Chief Diplomat."

Andrinn just shook his head and knew better than to try and fight with one of the members of the Diplomatic Protection Team. They were there to protect him, even on the days he didn't think he needed it. Plus, he didn't want to leave anyone behind.

He climbed in and followed the first Lieutenant and within moments, the other Lieutenant climbed in behind Andrinn and they began their way through the tubes on Deck Two. All Andrinn was thinking about was getting out of this situation and finding Sam, if he could.

======Jerry King’s Quarters ======

Jerry King had been having tea with his granddaughter Lara when it started. “Lara, stick close to me. I know you can do many things but this is one time you need to follow orders.”

“Yes Grandfather,” Lara replied as she looked at the others.

===Deck Two, Jeffries Tube Beta-4===

Andrinn and the two DPT Officers were crawling through a series of Jeffries Tubes on Deck Two, trying to find an exit out onto the Deck to assess their next moves and where they could go to. Since he was one of the newest members of the Elysium, he wasn't sure where all of the emergency areas on the ship were. But, Andrinn knew that he couldn't stay in the Diplomatic Complex, as he thought he would go stir crazy in the darkness.

The three members of the crew continued crawling through the dark tubes, only illuminated by their handheld flashlights. The tubes were becoming warmer the longer that they crawled, more so because it felt like the environmental systems were circulating the air properly. At least not where Andrinn found himself.

The female DPT Officer said, "Not too much longer, sir. Just a few more meters ahead and we'll be able to get back out onto Deck Two, somewhere near a security office on the deck. Then, we can go from there and I'm hoping that the security office has more access to the computer than the diplomatic complex did."

Andrinn just shook his head and didn't say much. He was concentrating on getting out of these tubes and back on his own two feet. Andrinn didn't enjoy the close quarters that the tubes were and the heat that they were generating.

They continued on for what felt like an eternity. Before long though, the female officer stopped and tapped the command padd to open the tube doors to the security complex on the deck. However, as she pressed the padd a few times, it beeped in the negative and told her that there wasn't power being fed to the doors.

Looking back over her shoulder, she said, "Give me a minute and I'll manually open the doors and we'll be out of the tubes."

Andrinn chuckled and said, "As long as you can get us out of here sooner rather than later, that's all I'm worried about at the moment."

The two young officers just chuckled as the first officer grabbed the suction cups to allow her to open the tube doors. She put them on and did everything that she had to open the doors, which immediately opened and the three of them were able to climb out onto the deck, which was just as dark as the rest of the deck.

The three of them began walking around the security complex, to see if they could find anyone that might've been around. However, turning their flashlights around, they couldn't find anyone manning the station. But, the station was active and was giving them more information than they had back in the Diplomatic Office.

Walking over to it, Andrinn input his command codes to allow him access to the console.

"Looks as though the security officers left to gather anyone they could find. They were trying to bring them to the emergency shelters throughout the ship. Looks like the closest one to our location is on Deck 11 in the Saucer Section. Looks like we've got a climb ahead of us," Andrinn said with another chuckle, his nerves showing a bit. However, he was able to put his poker face back on and look back at the two officers to guide him on what to do next or get him down to Deck 11.

The male DPT Officer finally opened up and said, "Well, wasn't Deck 11 one of the decks effected by whatever was going on? Like, wasn't that one of the decks that had some of the damage?"

Andrinn thought about it for a second or two and replied, "Maybe. We could look into it before we head down anywhere else and make sure that's what is going before we go on any futile adventures. How does that sound?"

Both of the younger officers shook their heads as Andrinn smiled and began working. He knew that, while computers weren't his forte, he'd be able to get around some of the information jams and see what was going on...maybe...

== Deck 5==

Josephine had taken to walking at odd hours, it was a privilege she had been denied by Bishop and when the ship had gone crazy she had been sitting on a bench in the lowest level of the arboretum.

She had just managed to keep herself from crashing to the ground and once the shaling and tossing had atopped, Josie, who was 7 months pregnant pushed herself to her feet and had quickly made her way from the arboretum to try and find her way to one of the shelters.

As she moved, she came upon the ship's CoB, or Chief of the Boat, the highest ranked enlisted person on the ship, Chuck Finley. He saw her struggling al9ng and quickly moved to her side. "Ma'am, may I help you get to a shelter?" His uniform was torn and bloody, though he didn't seen to be injured. He also seemed to have his wits about him, despite their current situation.

She noted the man's uniform "oh.. thank you Chief," she said softly. "Do you know what is going on?"

As he carefully guided Josephine out into the corridor, he shook his head. "No Ma'am. Though, whatever happened, it's a very serious situation. The main computer seems to be out, as are communications. I came up four decks, and saw massive damage everywhere. Also," he grew a bit somber, "there are numerous casualties. I just left one of my junior crewmen, Crewman Denallis. It...it was her first deployment. She was in engineering, a brilliant young woman. She..." he grew silent. While death certainly wasn't new to him, it always hurt to see someone so young die in pain.

Josie nodded "I understand" she said softly. She had seen her own share of such things in life. "My name is Josie." she said to introduce herself.

"Chuck," he replied. "Chuck Finley, Chief of the Boat. Nice to meet you, Josie." They came across another pair of dead crewmates. Unfortunately, as their heads were crushed, they couldn't make out who they were.

Josie winced at the sight and looked around. "Do you think the jefferies tubes are accessible?"

Chuck said a quiet prayer for the dead crewmen. Then he looked around and nodded. "They should be. So long as the corridors are in decent shape, the tubes should be too. Though," he paused to give her a look of concern. "Are you comfortable going into one, in your current state? You know they can get pretty tight in places."

"I shall be fine" She assured him. "Tight spaces do not worry me and the baby and I are fine."

Chuck nodded as he replied. "Okay, then let's get you to sickbay." He then led her back the way they had come, as he worked through his head which Jeffries tubes would be the most likely to get them to Sickbay the fastest.

~OFF~