Deep Space Guardian: Season III-Episode 42

[vorrick]

-DSG, Ops-

Icarus Glared darkly at the rude young Ensign. He didint take kindly to rude people, and especialy since he out ranked her, this angered him more. "I don't know about what starfleet you come from, but the one i'm in, Leutenant is a higher rank the ensign and we arent rude to our superior officers" He said indignantly, his narrowed eyes fixed on hers. "And as for your plan, i would like to hear it....To see if it were even plausible..."

[Josi Rockholt]

DSG,Ops

Kathryn returned the glare since she was used to confrontation.

"I'm very well aware of ranks. If you had been here instead of doing God knows what,you would have heard my idea,but you weren't. I've told the Commander,who outranks you and that's all that matters. As far aswhat Starfleet I came from,I believe it's the same one as you,not that it's any of your business."

[Ziona]

DSG, OPS

A darkness passed over Ziona's face and she narrowed her eyes at both the two officers before her.

"Both of you, calm down. Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere." She regarded Icarus quickly. "What's your plan? Once I have heard both the plans, then I'll move on. I want whatever plan is most likely going to work and won't end up getting anyone killed, injured, maimed... what have you."

Ziona crossed her arms on her chest, slightly perturbed by the rather personal question asked by the Ensign regarding her and Ian. It was rather out of place to ask such a question on bridge and, instead of discussing her dislike, Ziona ignored it and focused her attention on the task at hand.

[Josi Rockholt]

DSG,Ops

Kathryn just stood there, glaring at Icarus,waiting for his idea. She also noticed Ziona didn't look happy and wondered if it had anything to do with the question she asked the Commander before they were rudely interrupted. She decided to just remain quiet,but was tapping her foot. She didn't like waiting,especially when she was waiting on someone else when they seemed so earger.

[Lord Borg]

((OCC: Sorry this is late, sorry it's small, I'm splitting the post(s) up to be able to write them better))

-Deep Space Guardian, Ops-

Ian was disturbed by what had just happened here, first the Ensign started to ask questions of a rather personal nature when there was an emegency going on outside, inside, whatever you wanted to say about the station, there was an emergency there. He let out a loud sigh, and vowed to deal with the squables later on, that is...if there was a later on. Ian did take a moment to glance at Ziona, impressed by how she was dealing with the situation.

"Go ahead, Lieutenant" Ian said to Icarus.

[Josi Rockholt]

DSG,Ops

Kathryn glanced at Ian when she heard his sigh,which couldn't be good. She had a feeling that he had heard the question she had asked Ziona about them and he wasn't happy. She had to do something to make this better,but she didn't think her idea would be better than the Lieutenant's. When they got out of this thing,she'd probably have a lot of explaining to do with the two Commanders.

[Founder]

(Ok, I'm slightly baffeled as to what is going on in space. I can see the Current and the Ferex working together, but they seem to be ignoring poor old Amargosa and the Klingon ship .)

-USS Amargosa, Bridge-

T'Sa had ordered the officer to warn them the creature will deflect the weapon's fire, but it seemed no one had to report the ship wasn't listening. The Fek'lhr raced past the ship and fired it's forward disruptors. As before, pieces of the beast's flesh tore off and began to light up. The energy from the particle weapons were absorbed into the skin and flew towards the vessel that had fired upon it. The Klingons, being slightly reckless as usual, were not prepared for the attack. They were immediately hit, prompting the shields to glow.

"They're hit." Kane said unecessarily.

-DSG, Ops-

Ian watched the officers bicker for a moment, disturbed by their actions. It seemed that his helmsman was a fiery one and had no qualms over back talking a superior officer. Everyone seemed to have an idea on how to get of this...predicament, but no solutions were actually used. He been waiting for Icarus to respond on his idea. Whatever the idea, he would use it first as he would hope the chief medical officer could figure it out.

[Lord Borg]

(Yeah...I've wondered M'Self, never really had a chance to respond, here...)

-USS Amargosa, Bridge-

T'Sa's jaw clenched as she fought her emotions back, driving them behind her emotional barrier, she visualized a wall of the sorts, it repesented her control. She placed another brick in the wall, adding to the wall's strength. However...she still rolled her eyes in annoyance.

Klingons she cursed mentally.

T'Sa kept her hands behind her back, and turned to face the tactical station if one could call it aboard this vessel. The Armagosa's weapon were defensive in nature, with only eleven phaser arrays and a total of three torpedo tubes, it couldn't fight the creature, or even the Klingon vessel, at least not though conventional means.

"Commander Kane" she said coolly, "Hail the Klingon vessel, let them know we are offering any assistance we can."

T'Sa turned to face the screen and raised an eye brow when she noticed that the Current and the Romulan Warbird was moving in, she wondered just what they were up to. Earlier, the Current had hailed them, but she was forced to ask them to stand by due to the situation with the Klingons. The back of T'Sa's mind swarmed with thoughts, she silently prayed that Ian was safe, she couldn't bare to loose him.

[La Forge]

Elerra Prime, Open Field

The massive tidal wave that was plowing through the glimmering Elerran water crashed into the coast of the Mythani continent, sending a shower of water into the air, which eventually came crashing down onto the ground, as if rain. Juliana, having heard the sounds of the wave, looked up from her cowering position on the ground, looked up along with the others with just enough to see the wave collide with the shoreline with the force of an old freight train. One wouldn't want to have been taking a walk along the beach when that wave hit.

After the last of the wave dispersed, Juliana rushed across the field towards where Sayid and the woman, Ensign Claudia O'Hare, stood. Sayid simply stood by, standing firm and erect, his head held high and his eyes forward, as if nothing had happened, while Claudia looked visibly shaken up, but, it wasn't the wave that scared her.

"Ensign O'Hare, is it?" Juliana asked the young woman as she approached, already knowing the answer.

While Juliana might not be the most sociable of Starfleet officers around, she knew the name and face of every single person in her division aboard DSG. Well, almost. After all, there were quite a few of them. However, she knew Claudia, here. A new recruit, from the brief amount of time that Juliana had spent with her, she could tell that Claudia was a complainer. She found something to complain about in nearly anything and always found the opportunity to mouth of a witty or snippy comment about just about anything. However, besides her attitude, she was a good officer.

"Ye-yes, that's me." came Claudia's response, her voice barely audible as she was out of breath from all of the running and screaming.

"Well, Ensign O'Hare, may I inquire as to why you were out this way? I didn't know that there were any scientific expeditions going on down on the planet surface today, except for my own, of course." Juliana inquired.

"I can explain that. I was here working with some engineers to help fix the security net, when someone from the colony had their latinum eaten by one of the planet's...unique wildlife. A Xer, I believe it was. Well, anyways, the security officer who had been contacted about the problem, Jacques, Ensign Jacques Lambert, asked me to help track down the beast that had done the eating. We followed the animal into the jungles, against my wishes, might I add. I know the rules regarding the Elerran wilderness. Anyways, we found the Xer who ate the latinum, but, it ran off into a restricted area. I tried to talk Jacques out of going out after the thing, but, he didn't listen, the idiot. So, I just turned around and headed back. A little while after that...it happened. Everything started to...to shake and the ground started to...to rip open. That's when I saw you. I ran like hell and here we are." Claudia explained her day to the Frenchwoman, speaking in her usual kind of way.

"What happened to Ensign Lambert?" Juliana asked, wondering if this Jacques may have had something to do with what was going on with Elerra Prime lately. Claudia simply shook her head.

"I don't have a clue." Claudia replied, while mentally, she was hoping that the little bastard had been crushed by his own ego. "Last I saw, he was heading off into the jungles after the Xer. I don't know where he is now."

"Hrmm...Do you have any clue as to what started all of this?" Juliana asked, as she waved her hands around in a gesture to all of Elerra Prime. Once, again, Claudia could only shake her head.

"Nope." Claudia stated, matter-of-factly. Juliana felt the urge to slap the young woman who stood before her, who was acting all smug and whatnot, as if nothing were going on all around them.

"Nothing? Nothing at all? Hmph. Alright" Juliana muttered in response, thinking on her own for some kind of idea as to what was the cause of the strange things that were going on around Elerra Prime. After all, you can't find the solution to a problem until you know the question. Little did the young Frenchwoman know of the massive space monster that had 'eaten', for lack of a better world, the entire station of Deep Space Guardian and was currently terrozing a group of starships.

"Natural phenomenon?" Juliana thought, as she went over the list of possible reasons for the unusual condition of Elerra Prime as of the last few hours. "I don't think so. This is too big to be nothing but natural phenomenon. Maybe this has something to do with the Elerrans or another one of the indigenous lifeforms? I can remember that nasty suprise the Elerrans left behind from last year. Maybe there's another bomb. But, if this were a bomb like the other one, we wouldn't even be standing here right now. It could be something else, though. But, what? Dammit, this is all too much. Why did this happen today, of all days!" she continued, her mind lost in a train of thought, jumping from one solution to the next, finding each of them to be impossible or implausible or both. Eventually, she came up with a solution, as weak as it may be, and opened her mouth to speak.

"My gut tells me that this has something to do with your friend, Jacques. Maybe he stumbled across something in the jungles. Where were you when you split up?" Juliana asked, wanting to know his last known location so she could conduct a search of the area for anything unusual.

"Well, first off, Jacques isn't my friend, and secondly, we were to the southwest of here." Claudia responded with a snippy remark, as usual, pointing with an outstretched arm to the southwest, across the large open field and towards a huge patch of jungle. Juliana craned her head over to look and, upon seeing the area that her comrade was pointing to, let a groan slip passed her lips.

"Anywhere but there..." Juliana muttered to herself, accidentally speaking her thoughts aloud.

"What? Why 'anywhere but there'?" Claudia asked, her interest piqued.

"Why? Well, I'll tell you why. That particular area of Mythani has been, if you'll pardon my English, a pain in my ass. We've had a number of disappearances in that area, not to mention a little incident with an Elerran bomb, along with a number of other troublesome things, all occur in that general area. It is a trouble area, plain and simple." Juliana explained, almost sounding agitated.

"Ah. I see." Claudia mumbled, wishing that she hadn't asked that particular question. She wasn't expecting such an angry response, though. Lieutenant Roberts always seemed to be such a quiet and reserved woman. But, anyone and everyone can snap.

Juliana didn't like what she had just heard. Southwest Mythani. It did confirm her fears, however. If this Ensign Lambert was last seen in that area, chances are he could very well have stumbled across something in that area that could've caused what was going on right now. Juliana had tried to avoid that place in her frequent expeditions down to Elerra Prime. She could still remember losing some of her best team members in one of the ruins last year, during the bomb incident. She didn't want to lose anyone else, however, it seemed that she would have to risk it. Something was out there, something that could through an entire planet into chaos, and she needed to know what it was.

"Well, that confirms it. We're taking a trip into the jungle." Juliana announced, at length, mustering up her courage to make such an announcement. Luckily for her, the rest of her team didn't know about the dangers of Southwest Mythani. If they didn't know now, they would soon enough. "If Ensign Lambert stumbled across something in that area, we have to find out what it was." Juliana explained her reasoning for wanting to head out in the direction, despite the objections she was hearing from Claudia to her right. The Frenchwoman called for the rest for her team to get ready for an expedition into the jungle.

"Are you crazy? If that area is so dangerous, why would you go there...willingly?" Claudia blurted out, as Juliana barked orders to the rest of her team who were preparing for the expedition, gathering supplies and suiting up and the whatnot. Juliana took the time to turn to the young science officer and quell her fears.

"Don't worry. I know Elerra Prime well enough. I'll be fine. So will you." Juliana reassured Claudia, doing her best to conceal a smirk.

"What does that mean, 'so will you'? I hope that doesn't mean what I think it means. I'm not going there. No way." Claudia objected, fear in her voice. Juliana simply shook her head.

"Too bad. You'll be coming with us, Miss O'Hare. You were with him. You know where he was last." Juliana stated, in a matter-of-fact kind of way. Claudia shook her head, vigorously.

"Yes, but--" Claudia began, but, was cut off by the sound of the second-in-command of the science team, the famed archaeologist, Richard Bridgewater's voice call out to Juliana.

"We're all set here...ma'am.." Bridgewater stated, doing little to conceal the spite held in his voice in regards to being forced to serve as the second-in-command to an inferior scientist on an expedition that he knew he was more than qualified to lead himself.

"Good." Juliana responded, hearing the thinly-veiled spite in Bridgewater's voice. She simply ignored it. She would have to address that issue, later. No matter how much she respected the man, she wouldn't allow someone on the team to speak to her in such a manner. You have to respect the chain-of-command, even if you don't agree with it. "And, no buts, Miss O'Hare." Juliana added, as she turned to look to Claudia. "I am your superior officer and I'm giving you a direct order. You're going to take us to there and that's final." Claudia opened her mouth to object, once more, however, in the end, she gave in and nodded. "Good. Now...lead the way." Juliana said, gesturing to the jungles of Southwest Mythani...

[ILoveHarry]

((Sorry about being MIA...(insert lame excuses 1-3...))

-DSG, Sickbay-

Callie had rushed into the main area of sickbay as soon as the doctor had called for her. She worked silently and quickly assisting the doctors who were busy at work. They certainly had their hands full. The topple the station took was the source of various injuries ranging in seriousness. As usual when she was buried in work, her ungainly demeanor melted into adroitness. To watch her work, one would avow she was not the same nurse who earlier had the reputation for being the stations klutz.

-DSG, Promenade-

Thanks to the grace of the powers that be, neither Sophie nor Demetrius seemed to suffer any great injury from the stumble they took when the station was swallowed. After ensuring that her son was unharmed, Sophie scanned the area to see if anyone else needed immediate help. Shortly there after she was nearly bowled over for a second time as a few guards rushed past her to arrest some unfortunate individual. The name they shouted to him caught her attention. "Ensign, Derek James!" The name rung of familiarity though Sophie could not place her finger on where she knew it from. She gasped in disgusted surprise at how the guards man-handled the Ensign. The Bajoran guard stated that the officer was guilty of numerous charges, yet she did not think his bullying actions were called for. As the detainee was dragged past her, she caught a glimpse of his protesting face. Suddenly she remembered from where she knew his name. He was the shy young man she had met at the party she had attended with the Governor; the same officer, she later learned, who had played a major role in the search for she and her son after they had been abducted by the debauched SI officer and taken to a parallel universe. The fact that the officer had been arrested did not sit well with her. Sophie thought his arrest had to be some sort of a mistake. She made a mental note to speak to Al-Firdos about it when he next stopped by. As her thoughts turned to her friend she became concerned for his safety. Knowing he was probably fretting over the well-being of she and the child, Sophie headed to the building that would soon become her shop.

[Spellbinder Marik]

-G�Tarkin, Engineering-

Lt. Chilnak had begun to pick up the pieces of equipment and tools that had been knocked asunder by the quake. Luckily the new anti-matter injection manifold had already been bolted into place. He�d spent most of the previous day installing it. As soon as this day was out he planned to submit a request for additional help until the modifications and upgrades were complete.

He was wondering where Admiral Ditex was. He usually checked in every few hours but hadn�t for a few. Not that it mattered. Chilnak would do his job whether or not he knew it would be checked often. Another officer entered, his uniform slightly covered in soot.
�The power transfer conduits leading to the disruptors blew out.� Chilnak accessed a nearby panel. The Conduits had indeed overloaded.
�You installed too many anodyne capacitors. Remove 4 or 5 of them and run the test again.� The officer nodded.
�Why does the Admiral want this ship upgraded anyway?� Chilnak shrugged.
�It�s not our business to know or ask. We just follow his orders. If he thinks we need to know he will inform us.� The officer shook his head and walked away. Chilnak had an idea of what was going to happen but he wasn�t sure. So he too wanted to know�

-DSG, Ops-

Cory was still watching the sensors from the astrometrics station. Some kind of compound was building up on the hull. It was lowering their structural integrity. At present rate of decay they had less than 12 hours before structural collapse.
�Uh, Commanders, this thing is starting to digest us�� Cory was a little frightened. He didn�t let that into his voice but he still felt he should voice his concern. To be completely honest his thoughts were a little selfish. All he could think about was Tessa and their unborn child. His thoughts of rescue and concern were more for her than for anyone else.

-DSG, Main Engineering-

�Lt. Ditex, that mass building on the hull is eating through the replacement plates faster than it did on the normal ones.� The plates they had in storage were meant as a quick fix. Not many organisms could do what this creature was doing to solid Duranium.
�Take some portable forcefield generators up there and get them in place. Assign 2 man teams to keep an eye on them.� The officer nodded.
�Aye sir.�

-IRW Ferex, Bridge-

N�Tran looked at the sensor panel. There were two other ships out there. A Klingon ship and another Federation ship.
�Open a channel to that other Federation ship. We should coordinate our plan with them and see what�s going to happen.� The com officer opened the channel.
�This is Admiral Ditex aboard the Warbird Ferex to Federation vessel. I would like to speak with your commanding officer at his earliest convenience.�

((I decided it couldn't hurt to attempt to get the ball rolling again. P.S., N'Tran's transmission was directed at T'Sa's ship.))

[Valathous]

~ Ops, Deep Space Guardian ~

Blake rubbed his back as he stood there with a grimmace on his face. He had smacked the back of his ribs off the edge of a consol leaving an instant bruise from the blow. He tried to put this out of his mind, realizing that there were far bigger issues at hand, quite literally.

The one thing that Blake was completely shocked about was the fact that the station had never been able to detect this creature. Yes, the interference from the odd atmosphere of the mysterious planet played games with the sensors, but the beast was absolutely massive. Another thing that came to mind was how it hid from the colonists and away teams for all that time. It just didn't seem right given the angle that the creature came up from the planet it would come from the inhabited part of the planet. Although, he supposed that didn't rule out a change in course from the uninhabited areas...

Blake shook his head in annoyance as several of the crewmembers in Ops began to bicker. Yes, agitation would clearly be high given the circumstance but Starfleet officers were trained to know better, or at least he hoped they still were. Though perhaps it should even fall into the category of common sense? Do not panic in the face of danger.

Although, something that suddenly struck Blake as against common sense was his own notation of such trivial matters when he should already be in the process of devising a plan in order to escape the gorging beast. Luckily shields were preventing the contents of the creature's stomach from instantly burning through the hull, though they wouldn't last forever...

Blake ran several scenarios quickly through his head but for the moment was coming up with nothing plausible or was already mentioned due to the obvious. Perhaps if the doctor would analyse the tissue of the beast they could find out about its properties and any weaknesses it may have.

[Founder]

(Since vorrik went MIA, I'm just going to move past this)

-DSG, Ops-

Ian realized that all of this arguing would get them no where and as the commanding officer of the station, he had to take control of the situation.

"We don't have time for this nonsense," Ian said, "I want options on the table and I want them now."

If the chief medical officer and the chief helm officer were going to argue and not offer suggestions, he'd find someone that would. He wondered if Kiris could find a technical, rather then a biological way as Icarus was no doubt going to suggest, way out of this problem. He slapped his combadge.

"Xavier to Ditex," Ian called out, "Lieutenant, I don't think I need to tell you about our situation. You wouldn't happen to have any solutions to get us out of this would you?"

-DSG, Promenade-

The elderly Al-Firdos was lying outside of Sophia's future ship, motionless. He had been knocked unconsious by the force of the station's movements while being swallowed by this...beast.

[Spellbinder Marik]

(Glad to be going on this again.)

-DSG, Main Engineering-

Kiris�s ear turned as Commander Xavier�s voice sounded through his combadge. Kiris wanted to say that it would just be best to shunt all power to weapons and blow this thing apart but he knew there was a better way. Kiris was about to respond when an officer handed him a PADD.
�What is this Ensign?� The Ensign took a step back obviously bothered by Kiris�s tone of voice.
�Ensign Bengali said that he�d run a simulation with his tricorder. It suggested that several concentrated beams of Ionizing Radiation might make the creature sick enough to get rid of us but not to the point it couldn�t heal itself.� Kiris knew that Ionizing radiation was harmful to all tissue. But not if they were wearing pressure suits�

�Ditex to Ops. I have a recommendation but it carries a risk.� Kiris Paused a moment and continued speaking.
�I have been made aware that Ionizing radiation might be able to make the creature ill enough to spit us out. It will likely recover. The danger also poses a threat to us as well. If this plan is approved I can have a team in pressure suits and ready in twenty minutes. Also I would recommend evacuation of levels 200 through 230 since it would be the best point from which to implement this plan. I don�t see another solution I can have ready as soon sir. This creature�s digestive system is already dissolving our hull.�

Kiris took a deep breath and waited for Commander Xavier to respond. It was a dangerous plan but the best one Kiris knew had a shot at the moment. Assuming it was accepted Kiris planned full well to make sure Mark got the credit he deserved. Kiris still had another matter to speak with Xavier about concerning Mark Bengali�

[Founder]

-DSG, Ops-

Ian didn't waste time questioning Kiris. It seemed the man knew what he was doing and was confident this plan would succeed. Otherwise, it's doubtful he would have suggested it in the first place.

"Make it so, lieutenant." Ian replied.

The captain turned to see Blake recovering from the painful fall that all of them went through when the station was swallowed. He felt a pang of guilt for Blake, realizing that the man always liked to be useful. However, there was nothing that Blake and his security team could really do at the moment. Ian looked around and noticed their Klingon intruder had mysteriously dissapeared during the chaos.

"Blake?" Ian said, "It seems we're missing a riled Klingon amidst this crisis. I think we both don't want a Klingon running up and down the station, causing problems while...we're...trapped. Find him."

[Spellbinder Marik]

-DSG, Main Engineering-

�Understood sir.� Kiris cut the personal com and opened station wide.
�This is Chief Engineer Kiris Ditex. All personnel on levels 200 through 230 should evacuate immediately.� Kiris turned to a panel beside him.
�Computer, initiate Hazard Level 2 lockdown on levels 200 through 230 as soon as the area is clear. Restrict access to Command and Engineering personnel only.� The Computer beeped in acknowledgment. Kiris turned back to face his officers. Some of them looked worried. Others weren�t sure what to make of the situation.

�Delta and Gamma Teams, suit up, we�re taking trip.� 30 engineers in the immediate area headed for the nearest locker with pressure suits. Kiris followed in their wake. A good commander would never ask his men to do something he wasn�t prepared to do himself. Kiris hit his combadge as he entered a lift with some others.
�Ditex to Bengali, assume my post in engineering until further notice.�

(Might have to make something up for Bengali�)

[Valathous]

~ Ops, Deep Space Guardian ~

Blake inwardly sighed at Commander Xavier's orders. There was a deadly situation on the bridge that Blake felt compelled to assist in and was being ordered to chase down an angry Klingon. Not exactly the help he had in mind. Though it was more entertaining personally, it did not do much to aid in their current predicament. Blake simply nodded in acknowledgement.

Blake moved towards a console and began using the internal scanners to locate Kopok. After locating the Klingon's life signs Blake nodded to the security officers who had accompanied him to step onto the turbolift. The group entered and the turbolift doors closed.

[ILoveHarry]

-DSG, Promenade-

Sophie and Demetrius approached the shop-to-be. Her walk turned to a run when she spotted a human form lying unconscious on the walkway. "Ahamed!" she gasped when she recognized the being. She rushed to his side and breathed a sigh of relief that the man was still living.

Sophie stood and grabbed the arm of a young officer who was passing by. "What the..." the woman began.

Sophie cut her off without an explanation. She tapped the woman's combadge, "Medical emergancy on the promenade. It's Governor Al-Firdos... he's unconscious."

I'll lock onto his biosigns and beam him directly to sickbay, answered the faceless voice.

Moments later the Governors body simmered and disapeared.

"Sorry," Sophie said to the female officer as she released her arm. "Come on, Rusty," she spoke to her son as she turned to go by foot to sickbay.

[Founder]

-DSG, Ops-

Ian watched Blake leave Ops and figured he was displeased with the seemingly meager task he had given him amidst the terrible situation they were in. However, what was it that Blake and his security forces could do? He wasn't a scientist or an engineer, so it didn't seem like he could get them out of this situation. Unless Blake wanted to don an enviornmental suit and shoot at the alien's organs from outside of the station. Ian frowned and looked towards Cory, the chief astrometrics officer of DSG.

"Ensign," Ian said, "I need a channel open to the Amragosa."

-DSG, Sickbay-

Al-Firdos rematerialized inside of sickbay on an empty biobed. His frail form was unmoving and seemingly lifeless. However, he was simply unconcious after the terrible shaking of the station. His eyes fluttered open, but he quickly shut them because of the intense light.

"Whe-where am I?" He whispered.

-DSG, Corridor-

Kopok, senior aide to K'Vagh, scurried through the corridor in search of his friend and now diplomat. A ship of Ch'Tol's house has found their way onto the station and that presented a threat, despite the curret predicament the station currently was in. Little does he know, K'Vagh's Negh'var class starship was attempting to destroy the beast and failing miserably...

[Valathous]

~ Corridor, Deep Space Guardian ~

After the turbolift had stopped, Blake and the other two security officers unloaded from the lift and stepped into the corridor hot in pursuit of Kopok, the aid to K'Vagh. While Blake still did not exactly appreciate being relegated to such a task as he felt he may have been able to help device a plan, he would still do his best to ensure the Klingon could cause no harm, even to other Klingons.

The group moved at a quick jog in an attempt to catch the Klingon, whom Blake assumed would be walking as not to draw attention to himself if he had any intentions. The Klingon would also likely be under the assumption that Blake would be occupied with the issue of the creature, which in all rights he should have been but wasn't.

The group made ground rather quickly given the shape that the three of them were in. The Klingon would undoubtedly be in just as good, or even better shape than any in the group, as is the nature of their species.

While jogging, Blake pulled out his tricorder to get a bearing on Kopok. After a moment, he located the Klingon. It seemed they were gaining on him somewhat quickly.

[Spellbinder Marik]

-DSG, Ops-

Cory turned his head when Commander Xavier had addressed him.
�Yes sir.� Cory began tapping the controls on his console. They had limited ability to send and receive from outside.
�I think I can give you audio sir but it will not be the best of signals.� Cory hit another control.
�Channel open sir.�

-DSG, Spacedock Level, Shuttle Bays-

Kiris and his larger than average engineering team entered a shuttle bay. They were all wearing pressure suits.
�Computer, depressurize shuttle bay and open the doors.� Kiris heard a hissing sound as the atmosphere was vented from the room. The doors slid open next.
�Alright, I want 3 man teams split between 10 shuttles. As soon as everyone is on board begin reconfiguring the deflectors to emit Ionizing Radiation.� The groups split off and approached the shuttles.

In order for Kiris�s plan to work they�d need all the power they could get from the shuttles and that meant something would have to be sacrificed. Shields�
Wearing pressure suits slowed down the danger to his crew but they too would be at risk if exposed for too long.

Kiris and two others entered a shuttle craft. Kiris tore the panel loose and accessed the circuitry. The was an annoying task in general but when wearing the gloves of a pressure suit it made it a lot harder.
�Computer, reconfigure deflector for radiation transmission.� The computer responded with a rather annoying and common response when it was required to do something out of the ordinary.
�Procedure is not recommended.� Kiris sighed.
�Override.� With the protocol overridden her could proceed. When the modifications were complete he sat up.

An officer had already taken the helm.
�Lift off and signal the other ships.� Kiris opened the com to sickbay.
�Lt. Ditex to sickbay. Keep transporter locks on us and prepare to receive multiple casualties suffering from radiation effects.� The burst needed to carry out the plan would take several minutes and at high power the suits wouldn�t protect them for long.

[Ziona]

DSG, OPS

Ziona turned to give Blake at least a look of sympathy as the man left. With that out of the way, she turned her attention towards Ian again. She crossed her arms on her chest and leaned back against a nearby railing, watching him as a channel was open to the Amragosa. A sigh escaped her lips and she blinked a few times to relieve tension building up behind her eyes. The predicament they now faced was an interesting one but she wanted it to disappear as soon as possible.

"I don't want to die by being eaten. It's just not on my list of things to do." Ziona half-murmured under her breath to no one in particular before shifting her weight, recrossing her arms and flipping a strand of hair from her eyes.

[Founder]

-DSG, Ops-

Ian appreciated how quick Cory was to follow his order. In a situation like this, quick reflexes was needed and Ian was pleased that his officers were still able to rise to the occasion. Ian hoped that T'Sa would recieve this S.O.S. Cory had commented that sensors detected an energy build up outside of the creature and that it was possible phaser fire. If that was the case, Ian had no doubt that T'Sa sent her vessel in a possibly futile attempt to save them.

"Commander Xavier to captain T'Sa," Ian finally spoke, "I don't know if you're getting this message, but we're trapped within this...creature. I'm not sure if you're able to hurt it, but you must warn any nearby colonies, stations, or ships. The station's hull is holding, but it won't forever. We're attempting-"

Xavier stopped when he heard a strange sound from the comm. line. He looked down in confusion, but the confusion only lasted a moment. Jones swiftly explained what had just happened.

"The stomach acid has damaged the communications array." He said in a monotonic voice.

"Damn it!" Ian shouted in frustration.

He looked towards Ziona, who had muttered something. Ian realized that there was no possible way he could let this thing leave the Elerran system. It seemed whatever the ships outside of the beast were doing was not helping if the creature was still alive. Ian could not allow this...thing to continue unchecked. It seemed to have the strength to destroy entire stations and ships, possibly colonies.

"Ziona," Ian said, "I...this will be the utmost last resort, but prepare for the possibility that we're going to activate the self-destruct sequance. If all options fail...I won't let this thing continue..."

Ian hoped it wouldn't come to that as there were many civilians aboard who would perish. However, either way, they would perish if nothing was done. He cast a grim look in Ziona's direction, thinking about the possibility they'll never have that wedding they planned for...

-DSG, Corridor-

Kopok had stopped in the center of the corridor, confused by the surroundings. Unlike Blake who knew the station, Kopok had no idea just where it was that he was going. He looked around in frustration and let out a loud Klingon howl, which was followed by a string of curses in Klingonese. The large Klingon chose a corner and turned, not knowing that Blake and his officers were closing in on him...

[Spellbinder Marik]

-DSG, Shuttle Craft-

Kiris hated this part of his job. As a Starfleet officer he was pledged to seek out life not destroy it. Unfortunately though some aliens didn�t make it easy. There was no time to attempt a proper First Contact. The status indicator blinked. The shuttles were ready.
�Ditex to shuttles. Activate the Ionizing radiation emitters.� The shuttles moved forward in unison.

The deflector matrices activated, sending beams of radiation into the side of the creature. They could all see the flesh of the creature discolor and wrinkle. It was breaking apart.
�Ditex to Ops, if we can break through we�ll begin hitting it with radiation beams from outside. Standby to activate stabilization thrusters.�

A few more minutes and the shuttles could fly out. But would they all survive that long�?

(I�m assuming combadges still work. The shuttles com arrays should be alright too.)

[Josi Rockholt]

DSG,Ops

Kathrun heard what Ian said to Ziona. She didn't want to have him self destruct the station. They all needed to survive,somehow. Everyone had family and future plans,everyone except her. She hoped this plan the chief engineer had worked,she didn't want to be eaten or digested or whatever this thing had planned for the station.