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<Forwarded for my COMMs Chief><BR><BR><BR>-- Challenger Bridge --<BR><BR><BR>A bead of sweat rolled down Chris' forehead as he braced himself in anxious anticipation of the approaching shockwave. For the first time in the battle, his attention was torn away from the voices on the comms as he tried his best to look away from the scene on the main viewer. His temporary paralysis wasn't broken until the shockwave caught Challenger.<BR><BR>At first, the main viewscreen flickered with static induced by the electromagnetic pulse of the approaching wave of ionized plasma and debris. Meridian, trailing just behind them could be seen tossed into a spin on the viewer before it flickered and went blank from the EMP. The buildup of electromagnetic energy in the EPS grid could almost be heard as an audible hum before the circuits overloaded and begin to shower the bridge crew with console explosions. <BR><BR>Chris screamed, more in surprise than in pain, as his station burst into sparks and his earpiece screamed like a banshee in his ear. He simultaneously buried his face in his left elbow as his right hand reached up to flick the earpiece out with a trickle of blood and fluid from his ruptured ear drum. That left him in an awkward position as the shockwave caught the ship and sent him flying from his chair into the instrument panels behind T'Lara's science station. He screamed again in pain as he felt his right shoulder pop with the impact.<BR><BR><BR>The next few seconds were a haze to him as he dragged himself up to a sitting position. The bridge was dimly lit by auxiliary lighting, and the air was hazy with smoke from the electrical fires and the acrid scent of ozone. He dragged himself into his seat and poked at the darkened buttons on his console.<BR><BR>A muffled voice caught his attention. "...Chris!! Report!!"<BR><BR>Sasha was standing right beside him yelling for his attention. He suddenly realized she had been calling out to him repeatedly in his disorientation. "Um... it's uh... Comms down here..." he stammered groggily.<BR><BR>"Collect yourself and go check the conduits, Commander." Her voice sounded distant and hollow due to the ruptured ear drum. He felt like he was underwater.<BR><BR>"Yes... Aye, Captain..."<BR><BR><BR>-- ten minutes later --<BR><BR><BR>The comm techs had collected themselves and along with Sattal hard at work throughout the ship had managed to restore energy flow between the key comm nodes throughout the ship and restored enough external communication to talk on the fleet channel again.<BR><BR>"Captain, we've got internal comms again. Meridian sounds...mostly intact...limping by at impulse... Whispering Death is safe and offering assistance... All warp capable fleet vessels are reporting in safe. They're tracking down and accounting for all the damaged vessels."<BR><BR>-----<BR><BR>Cmdr Chris Stingley<BR>COM<BR>FCL-04 Challenger<BR><BR> </div></body>
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