[Galaxy] 2161.09.11 - Rocky Road

[Ethan Armstrong]

[ Oregonian : Control Bridge ]

Armstrong took a brief moment to salute the freighter mission team as
they were caught in a transporter beam leaving him sitting alone on
the bridge. He pressed a comm panel which was open to Yorktown's
bridge.

"Yorktown, have you got them?" he asked.

"Ca'daar here. we have them. Good luck Captain, we'll keep them off
you as long as we can."

With the others safe he turned back to his console and adjusted the
channel to speak to Engineering.

"Armstrong to Engineering. It's just you and me now Michelle" he said.
It wasn't customary for a senior officer to use the first name of a
enlisted under his command. But Ethan felt that given that if
something went wrong these might be their final minutes, it was
warranted.

"Alright Captain," She said as the freighter was rocked again. This
time there were a series of red warning lights. "Dammit!  There goes
the rest of our plating!" She took a deep breath to calm herself. Get
is together Yearly, she thought to herself. You can't go to pieces
now, that's not like you. There's too much riding on you to panic like
a little girl. "This is going to be close, assuming this tub holds
together long enough for us to blow it up."

Her mind shifted again to the Andorian, and the kiss. She felt a
longing to be held, top be cradled in the strength of his arms. She
knew he was out there right now, protecting the freighter. If she got
out of this she... she... She pushed the thoughts away. She had never
needed anybody before, and she wasn't about to start now. "Suck it up
Yearly." She said aloud, then ran off towards the main reactor as a
cloud of steam erupted, indicating a coolant leak. Bolenski had done a
hell of a job with the bomb, but she didn't need it to go off now.

....

Ethan immediately heard the warning alarms going off on the unmanned
bridge consoles around him. Pretty much all functions had been set to
automatic or pre-programmed for their approach on the shipyard. So far
the engines had remained undamaged by their attackers so despite the
hull plating perishing under fire he still held out hope. They had
lost some manoeuvrability as the enemy kept chipping away, but little
more was needed now they were on course. Just enough to keep it that
way. Success was now almost completely dependant on whether their
friends and allies could hold the Romulans off and whether the
bucket-of-bolts that made up the Oregonian could hold together.

He got up from the helm station and made his way across the dimly lit
bridge to deactivate the warning alarms. As he did so the tactical
console at the back of the bridge sparked out blue and white. The
explosion probably meant phase cannons were now offline.

He retook his seat and noticed the rate of hits on the freighter
became lesser. On the viewer the others were getting to work
distracting. With pride he saw Intrepid herself gracefully swooping
and engaging and destroying an enemy ship. "Nice work Mr. Wun" he said
aloud, though it wouldn't reach the intended recipient manning the
armoury station on the Intrepid's bridge. He tried to imagine what
they must be going through over there.

An incoming hail drew his attention. It was Intrepid demanding to know
why he and Yearly were still aboard. "Tell Commander Case to keep a
lock on us and stay as close as he can till we reach the shipyard.
Then, we'll need the best you've got to get us, and Intrepid out of
here before the place goes up!" he reported back. Speaking to the
backup comm officer reminded him that his colleague and friend Lt.
Mendez was now aboard Yorktown. He hoped he was still alive and well.

Darkness dawned on the bridge again for a few moments as they took a
hit. Some emergency lighting kicked in and for a few seconds he had a
sick feeling of helplessness as the helm console stopped responding.
But it came back around as another warning alarm went off. Standing up
again to he hung on to the console as the bridge rocked and laid eyes
on the alarm. He slapped a comm button and gave a solemn report to
Yearly.

"Looks like we just lost life support. System reads that with a breach
in the hull we are going to run out of air pretty damn soon unless you
can get it back on-line"

Cmdr Ethan Armstrong
Commanding Officer
ESS Intrepid

CPO Michelle Yearly
Warp Core Reactor Chief
NX-05 Yorktown
apb Cmdr Ca'daar