SD241905.26 - Joint Duty Log - XO & Yeoman - "Evacuation"

Posted on Sun May 26th, 2019 @ 5:04pm by Brigadier General Jonathan Grey & Commodore Amanda Bleetman MD

963 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: The Sincerest Form of Flattery
Location: Versailles
Timeline: Current

=^= Bleetman's office =^=

"Push!" shouted Lieutenant Rogers, attempting to get a grip on one of the doors as a pair of crewman grappled with the other one. The power surge from the sabotage had overloaded the hydraulics and locked the system governing door pressure, pinning both halves of the portal shut with a pressure so fierce it had even caused the doors to bend slightly.

A sharp *crack* split the air, startling the men gathered here. A wall panel had bent nearby with the force of something going bang inside, and the lights overhead flickered and dimmed.

The drop in power allowed the doors to be pried open, and Rogers, the General's Yeoman, called out to the trapped officer inside.

"Commander Bleetman, sir! Sorry it took so long." he apologised, standing back so the Captain could exit her office-slash-prison cell.

Amanda walked out, a little shaken but otherwise fine. “Report Lieutenant. What’s the situation like out there?” She asked. She’d been without power for a few hours so had no idea of any up to date reports.

"Bad, ma'am." admitted the Lieutenant, just as the lights failed entirely. Red emergency lighting blinked on after a fraction of a second, filling the corridor with a deep crimson that seemed to thicken the air. One crewman gasped as his body reminded him to breathe, and the other put a reassuring hand on her colleague's shoulder.

"The main power grid has been sabtaged, and a black hole has been unleashed upon the station." Rogers continued after a pause. "Minimal power to thrusters has bought us maybe half an hour as we circle the drain, and then another half-hour more while bigger parts fall off the station." he quoted, echoing the General who was still firefighting up in Ops.

"Some ships have stayed to evacuate civilians, but there aren't nearly enough seats for all the civilians. Security's trying to prioritise children, but they're uncoordinated. The CSEC isn't around, but it's apparently not enemy action. I don't have details on that." he added, unsatisfied with that, but aware that the short term wouldn't allow a full brief.

"What are your orders, ma'am?" he added, snapping his fingers to draw the attention of the two crewmen comforting each other. With a last shared look, they took up position beside the Lieutenant and focused on their Executive Officer.

Amanda nodded slowly. “Well I suppose we should go and help security. Take me to the evac point.” Amanda ordered, picking up a PADD that is still operational.

"Yes ma'am." said Rogers, gesturing down the corridor to their right, and taking to his heels to match the Captain's urgency. "Evacuations are taking place at many of the primary docking points around the centre spindle." he explained as they ran, "But Port C has the most intact power supply, so three ships are linked together there."

The formation dodged past fallen pipes as they ran, subconsciously holding their breath as they passed through a billowing cloud of steam. Given the way it billowed, it was probably just steam, but surviving was a matter of habit. People who didn't hold their breath upon exposure to a strange gas tended to die young.

"Also," Rogers added as they neared the port, passing the civilians and other crewmen headed in the same direction, "the senior Security officers have also gathered there. The main office was too close to a plasma fire, and got evacuated."

Further conversation was cut off by the rise of noise as they exited the corridors, entered a wide, open area. Hundreds of people had packed into the crowd here, shoving and pushing their way forwards. Occasionally, the sound of weapons fire could be heard over the top of the mob as someone took a step too far, and was downed by a stun shot.

Rogers drew his phaser as the hostile crowd started to notice Bleetman, and he looked to her for instruction as the locals started to shout at her.

The lights overhead flickered as the station groaned with the latest onslaught of gravitational waves thrown off by the black hole. Forces of nature too powerful to deny bore down upon the station, slamming away at the outmatched structural integrity fields. What little power remained in the damaged auxiliary power network was being used to buy time.

Though the crowd didn't know all of this, they knew what a black hole looked like, and the phrase "There aren't enough seats!" was now common knowledge. Children were being ferried through the mob in ones and twos, rushed past the line of armed security officers and through the docking ports into one of the waiting ships.

As the Captain strode forth to impose order, the Yeoman and the crewmen moved with her, blocking the crowd's attempt to waylay the officer, and signalling to the security staff manning their posts.

In moments, a corridor of empty space stretched from the checkpoint to the Executive officer, lined by armed personnel who didn't hesitate to stun those who risked breaching the lines.

Everyone had family and friends who wouldn't make it out today, but the officers had been assured that there was just enough space for the station's children to be evacuated. Even this was too many heads for some ships, and more than a few of the security officers here were volunteers from the craft docked at the ports.

They came here, giving their places to two or more children, and fought to safeguard the little ones' retreat from this place of madness and violence.

Though they did it with a bitter heart, for the volunteers who left their ships did so knowing they would not escape.

That this was the end.


=^= End of Log =^=


Captain Amanda Bleetman
Executive Officer
Starbase Versailles

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NPCs (Grey)

 

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