"44" - Part 2

Posted on Mon Dec 26th, 2022 @ 11:40am by Captain Samuel Woolheater
Edited on on Mon Dec 26th, 2022 @ 11:57am

Mission: Season 6 : Episode 1: Circinus
Location: DECK 32 - Marine Tactical Command
Timeline: MD03 - 0630
2085 words - 4.2 OF Standard Post Measure

[ON:]

Second Lieutenant Levi slammed his fist onto the tactical table with a loud bang and the tabletop flickered. It startled a few, “NO! No, god dammit NO! What the fuck is wrong with you Bryce? You have no guarantee that there is a way in. And even if you think Captain Charles gave you the right code when he’s drugged up on pain killers? How the hell do you know that there is even power there to open the access hatch?”

Bryce exploded, “BECAUSE I’M GOING TO TRY! There are people out there that may need our help. And I’m not willing to give up on them. I’m not afraid to either!”

Levi launched at him, and it almost came to blows being exchanged. Other marines grabbed them and held them back. Captain Woolheater and the four platoon commanders and a number of sergeants were gathered in the tactical office.

Levi shouted, “FUCK YOU…. I’m not taking my platoon out there on some wishful thinking!”

Another said, “It’s not wishful thinking. Look at the resources down there. Engineering Support and Sensor Array’s on thirty-four. Thirty-five is the CAG, Thirty-six are pilots and the a communications suite and thirty-seven is sensor control and drop hangar one.”

Another chimed in with, “Don’t you think that if anybody left alive down there they would have already gotten those systems online by now?”

Bryce answered, “We’re speculating and guessing. And we’re probably guessing wrong.”

Bryce looked at Woolheater. Sam was leaning onto the tactical table, looking intently at the “blueprints’ for the Elysium, the master situation displays now before them. The table was illuminated, casting light up into their faces in an otherwise low-light room. Whether or not that was from power savings or for a better view of the table is not clear.

Bryce, now relenting from punching Levi in the face said, “Cap? You going to weigh in on this or what?” Bryce kept his eyes on Levi a moment and then looked over to Woolheater. Levi, also released, grunted and looked at Sam.

Sam had both hands on the table. His combat armor had retracted and the tricep muscle of his left arm bulged as he was quiet a moment. He stood up straight. If he wore glasses, now is the moment he would have taken them off to clean them. He spoke in a measured tone. “You’ve all made good points. And we have wasted an hour going over the problem and we’re not going to solve it by making a perfect plan. We must act. Levi is right. We don’t know shit about what we’re going to find. The odds are everybody is dead on decks thirty-four to thirty-seven. But we’re not out here to play it safe. Risk is our job. Those are marine pilots. Crew of this ship, civilians and they are a part of our extended family. I believe in long-shots. I believe in beating the odds when they’re stacked against us. I’ve listened to what everyone has had to say, and I thank you for the information and your viewpoints. I’ve made my decision. Here’s what we’re going to do.”

Woolheater took a digital pen and cleared off an area of the MSD and focused in on just deck thirty-two through thirty-seven. He spoke as he drew the plan. “First platoon will go EVA.”

Levi scoffed and shook his head. Sam continued, “Rest of you will stay here to keep coordinating with Lieutenant Rin on the battle bridge and establish a relay to the main bridge until major systems are restored. We cannot cut through the reinforced, blast proof, super-structure that reinforces the drop bays from the rest of the ship. They are designed to take direct enemy fire, contain explosions of fuel and ordinance. We don’t have transporters or communications. Captain Charles has suggested that there may be as many as forty or more crew down there. Some of them are marines and I’m not losing any more marines on my watch.”

“The plan is to go outside the ship, magboots attached to the ship’s hull. We will make our way from this hull breach on deck thirty-three to the access hatch on deck thirty-four. We will get inside deck thirty-four and asses the situation. Moving deck by deck, section by section until we have accounted for all the survivors. Or…accounted for the dead. We will have access to additional supplies and whatever is left of the fighter wing.”

Bryce asked, “Are we going to try and fly the fighters out?”

“Negative. No one here knows flight control. The last thing we need is to start guessing and make things worse. Our primary objective is people. And, if we can, asses the exterior damage to the ship.” There was a pause, and everyone faces seemed to get serious. Sam said, “I’ll be leading the OP. While I’m away, 2nd Lieutenant Levi will oversee keeping things working here in Marine Country. Keep working on helping the crew, keep searching the ship. We should start sending regular reports to both the battle bridge and main bridge until communications are restored throughout the ship. I medical can spare the ACMO, I’ll be taking him as well. Carmichael. Alright. We leave in ten minutes. Dismissed!”


=== DECK THIRTY-THREE – HULL BREACH ===

The last marine of the first platoon stepped out onto the hull. They had brought with them climbing pitons. Which were a part of the SAR kits. There were no mountains here, but they brought them along with a special handgun that would drive the piton into the hull. From there, they ran a strong cable and attached it to the hull as they made their way down to deck thirty-four and below.

As Sam spoke, he was on the COMM back to the marine tactical office. “The ship is in a spin. I don’t know how fast, pretty good clip. Not for the queasy. She is spinning on her longitudinal axis…that’s her roll. But she is also in a spin on her vertical axis too…its hard for me to guess at what angles or how high. There’s no point of reference. I don’t see a sun or a star close by.”

Two marines left the hull to do a visual inspection. Their magboots deactivated from the combat armor and they were at the same speed as the ship. They were tethered to the hull by a piton spike, and they floated off the deck going higher and higher trying to get a visual of the ship. They got about 100 meters (328 feet) before Sam recalled them back. They were starting to drift. They reported, “Captain, we can see all the way to the bottom of the ship. I can see hull breaches. On every deck. I can see exposed frame from the hull. There is a large…half-a-meter wide…open gash. From the housing for the sensor array and it travels all the way up a midship to the saucer section. In some places I can see the structural integrity fields active. I can see fires burning inside. There are places, I don’t know what decks that have been fully breached and open to space. That’s all I saw. I was surprised to see such a large crack in the skin of the ship.”

When they were “reeled” back in, Sam said, “Ships in bad shape. Look up there,, on the dorsal side of the saucer section. You see those cracks? I am no engineer, but we didn’t leave space dock with cracks like that.”

They continued moving and after a search, found the access hatch that Captain Charles had mentioned earlier while he was still able to answer questions.

=== EVA - DECK THIRTY-FIVE – OUTSIDE DROP HANGAR BAY LEVEL 3 ===

Woolheater approached the console; it was still active. He typed in the access code that Charles had shared, “Seven-Three-Three- Niner-Alpha-Six”.

The hatch didn’t budge. Sam kicked it – as if that would help. Nothing.

“Does it have power?” he asked. Knowing that the hatch was powered. He hung his head. “Its never that easy. Is it.”

They continued down to the next deck. They had a feeling of getting heavier. The combat armor told them that gravity had increased and that the suit was able to compensate.


=== EVA - DECK THIRTY-SIX – OUTSIDE DROP HANGAR BAY LEVEL 2 ===

“No power Captain” the PFC marine said.

As they walked, they took mental notes of the damage they could see and took tricorder readings. However, it was very surreal to see the ship, rather to be on a ship that was spinning in such a way. And with each deck they passed getting closer to the bottom of the ship, they got heavier and slower.

There was an enormous split here. Between decks thirty-six and thirty-seven. The spaceframe was visible. Which was a bit shocking. That meant the duranium, the floors, the walls, the internal structures had all been blown away or ripped away. Power sparks all around the sensor array flashed from time to time.

A marine said, “Well, that explains the lack of sensors?”

Sam said, “Maybe. But not internal sensors. Is someone getting pictures of all of this?”

“Sir, yes sir!” was the answer.

Sam nodded, “Good. Thank you.”

It was getting more difficult to move.



=== EVA - DECK THIRTY-SEVEN – OUTSIDE DROP HANGAR BAY LEVEL 1 ===

The gravity on the hull, actually, the force of the rotational spin from 12 o’clock to about 8 o’clock as the ship spun was unpleasant. Not unbearable but without the magboots one would go flying off. On the other side, one felt as if one had a lead-lined suit on. As they walked along the outside hull, the gash in the hull was too large. It was, like a knife wound to the ship. There were gasses leaking out into space here. And they didn’t need to use the accessway hatch; there was no longer a bay door.

The structural integrity field (SIF) was damaged and whatever wasn’t tethered or locked down in Drop Hangar Bay 1 was “flotsam and jetsom” now in space. Sam didn’t see any of the fighters floating about. He hoped that they hadn’t lost any.



=== DECK THIRTY-SEVEN – DROP HANGAR BAY

It was cold in here. More than just temperature. It was devoid of life. Everything had the look as if it had been blown out. The gravity plating was also de-energized so the whole place looked smokey, floaty and desolate. Not to mention that the only lighting available were the emergency beacons. Samuel reported everything back as they made their way forward.

The place was wrecked. But nothing a few weeks in dry dock couldn’t fix. They were using thei combat tricorders to scan for life signs and other dangers. The bay was empty. Above them, hanging like bats, were the space fighters. Some had fallen off their tracks. But most were in good shape. “I hope nobody was in here when the doors blew” Sam said.

“Captain! Lifesigns! Other side of this airlock!” said a marine. Woolheater’s tricorder and HUD confirmed the findings.

“I’m reading a power source. The airlock is powered. Let’s go. MEDIC? Up front!” Sam called into his comm integrated into his helmet. Four at a time, they entered the airlock until all eight were through and standing in a room with five other crew members. Sam explained to them everything that they knew up to this point as the medic checked them out.

“We need to get moving. The good news is that the only way out is up. Are those fighters in the drop bay? Are they functional?” Sam asked.

“Yes, they are. They’d have to be prepped for flight, there may some minor damage to them, but we have no way to work on them or board them now? Except maybe in a flight suit?” And then they looked at each other, “And who here can fly them?”

Sam nodded, “One problem at a time. First. We go up.”


[OFF:]

Captain Samuel Woolheater
“Saepius Exertus, Semper Fidelis, Frater Infinitas”
Division VI, MARDET 62nd Company "Spartans", 1st Platoon CO
=/\= USS ELYSIUM - NCC-89000 =/\=