The Chimera arrived at the system. In the background the two suns flared brightly, iridescent and currently ignited gases making aurora borealis light displays in each color of the spectrum in a sweeping link between the two. Two dozen smaller craft moved about like flies about a picnic. One had the transponder for the GG .. or Galactic Geographic, a science periodical. Another was a smaller tourist craft making a looping pass, while a third was the FNA, or Federation News Agency which was dangerously close to the action. The others were a collection of civilian transponders of mostly small 2-20 person crewed ships of various design and shape.

The action? The Empress had passed by the buoys and was skirting the plasma waves. Sensors would show that there was considerable power loss throughout the massive ship. The engineering section of the cruise liner was a black bruise showing flaring bursts of plasma here and there. It was evidently more than just a ‘problem in engineering’. There was no sign of lifeboat ejections either from the cruise liner. Trying to forestall the drift into the plasma was a smaller liner, some quarter the size of the Empress. This vessel, the Byzantine Knight, was physically pressed to the flank of the Empress trying to curb its course and keep it from the fires. To do that it meant dropping its own shields. The Knight was showing system overloads in its power grid as it tried to push the Empress out. Perhaps it was partially successful but it was hard to tell in coming into this scene.

Several of the smaller ships scattered at appearance of the Chimera, the news ship rising to a vantage to get everything.
- Wookiee

“Hail the Empress,” Freja ordered, coming to stand in the center of the bridge.

~Freja Andreassen~

The hail was answered. The transmission was low power and flaked with static. A woman’s face centered the picture. Behind the fuzz she was human, looked around 50 with greying hair pulled back into a neat bun, though it was rather frayed. Her crows feet bordered blue eyes looked tired and she had lines about her mouth. Her face was bony and spare.

=^= Chimera. I’m Captain Louise Callen. We have, as you know, a situation. My engineering staff are dead. Battery power is nearly out. And by God the Byzantine Knight is going to get sheared in half if she keeps this up. =^= The tone by which she used there was not bitter in the least but more of a wonder in her tone. Her eyes were far from clear; she was showing considerable stress in the tightness of her already thin face.
- Wookiee

=^=I’m Captain Freja Andreassen, we’ll get to work. Can we evacuate passengers or is that something you’d like to avoid?=^= Freja asked.

=^= Malfunctions have for some reason not allowed escape yachts to launch. The systems are all independent. I don’t understand .. =^= She virtually just gave her head a quick shake. =^= Captain, we formally request passenger and crew evacuations. There are wounded. Radiation. Some burns. Some broken bones. =^=
- Capt Callen

Turning while she waited on a response to her XO, “Get engineering on the line, can our shields hold if we enter in and try and push the ships out of harm’s way? Find out if they managed to figure out a potential work around to using a tractor beam too.”

~Freja Andreassen~

Lunan tapped his combadge, ‘Engineering, any luck with that tractor beam alternative?’

-Lt. Commander Lunan Farrah: XO-

=^=Andreassen to Lardel, get some rescue ships in the air, the Empress is requesting evacuations. If you require support from the starfleet personnel who have pilot qualifications, let me know.=^=

=/\= Birds on deck. Commencing operations now. =/\= came the CAG’s immediate reply.

Turning back to the screen, “I know your crew is female. As you can see from my bridge, I have a mixed crew and my marine fighters are mixed gender as well, is there anyone on board who may take issue with a non-female rescue pilot?” It felt odd leaving her mouth, but she had to ask the question, better to know going in rather than be unpleasantly surprised.

=^= Captain I’m happy to be rescued by Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy right now. I don’t know who it was that came up with the idea of an all female cruise. By some of the chatter I’d not be surprised if someone engineered this accident to be rescued by some strapping fire fighters. =^= Her rough attempt at levity was somewhat strained by her dry delivery.
Capt Callen

“Tell sickbay to prep for incoming wounded, radiation, burns and broken bones being reported,” she spoke to her XO.

~Freja Andreassen~

Lardel, CAG

“Then I suppose, what’s that human expression Colonel Kira taught me once, Christmas has come early.”

-Lt. Commander Lunan Farrah: XO-

That elicited a quick smile from Callen. =^= I’ll forego coal in my stocking for a double brandy when this is through. Captain, what do you need us to do here to help you? We’re wallowing like a beached whale but I’d like our flops about to have substance. =^=
- Wookiee

=^=Andreassen to Lardel, good news, the potential gender issue we discussed earlier regarding the all female passengers and crew isn’t an issue, nobody should complain too loudly about being rescued by a male marine. We’ll work on trying to pull the Empress out of danger, but again, if you need support from starfleet personnel, I can get some shuttles in the air. Otherwise, we’ll let you and your marines have all the fun.=^=

“Alright,” She turned to her bridge crew, “Let’s get some feasible options on the table on how we can pull the Empress out of danger, the clock is ticking.”

~Freja Andreassen~

As the Chimera’s crew scrambled to devise a plan to rescue the Empress and its passengers, Keitah joined the bridge crew. She had been listening to the communication with Captain Callen and couldn’t help but feel the anxiety and fear emanating from the stranded passengers.

“Captain, if I may,” Keitah began, her calm demeanor in stark contrast to the tension on the bridge. “Would you mind if I assess the psychological well-being of the passengers once we get them on board? It’s been a traumatic experience for them, and some may need immediate counseling and support. If you are in agreement, I’ll prepare a team to assist with their emotional needs once they’re here.”
Keitah, in her role as the ship’s counselor, knew that their success hinged not only on technical expertise but also on the emotional well-being of the passengers they were about to rescue.

“That might be a good idea, some of them may be in need of your services.”

Naisyr, Counselor

‘Could we extend our shields around the Empress, at least to mitigate the danger for now?’

-Lt. Commander Lunan Farrah: XO-

“I’d like to ideally push them out of the way, the shields might work, but I’d rather they not interfere with our marine fighters abilities to offload passengers and effect their rescue,” Freja explained.

~Freja Andreassen~

“Then what about a subspace pulse matching the Empress’ shield frequency? With enough force, we should be able to direct the ship any way we want.”

-Lt. Commander Lunan Farrah: XO-

“Work with engineering to set that up, let’s give it a try. Let me know when it’s ready and we can make sure everyone stays clear of the operation.” Freja nodded.

~Freja Andreassen~

“Ops, keep an eye on the fighter operations. We want to coordinate with our marines where possible,” Freja ordered, taking a seat in her command chair. While she didn’t claim to have the marine company completely figured out, she knew what she’d be doing as a pilot right now and that was focusing on the rescue mission while also mentally ticking off potential opportunties to provide further support to the Empress.

=^=Andreassen to Medical, it’s confirmed we are going to have injuries inbound from the Empress, I’ll try and get you an ETA, but we’re looking to get them to you as soon as possible.=^=

~Freja Andreassen~

Kevasi’s responce came quickly. =^= Affirmative Captain, we are ready in Sickbay beta. Let us hope that our preperations were sufficent. Updates are appreciated, and for the time being, any crew that have medical emergencies should report to Sickbay alpha. I don’t know if we will have sufficent facilities due to the sheer number of potential injured but we’ll do the best we can.=^= Her voice was filled with worry as it was about to be a long day.

“Aye Captain, I’ll head down now.” Lunan rose briskly and jogged towards the bridge turbolift.

-Lt. Commander Lunan Farrah: XO-

Dr. (Lt.J.G) Kevasi Tulbrad, CMO

=^=Acknowledged, if you require assistance, contact me, I’ll pull the master roster and see if we have anyone with medic training who can at least give you a couple of extra pairs of hands for triage,=^= Freja replied.

~Freja Andreassen~

Kevasi paused a minute then she said softly. =^=That is much appreciated captain… Even without the evacuees we are a bit stuffed… if it gets to be much, there may be an emergency medical protocol on the holodeck simulations… if it comes push to shove we may be able to convert the holodecks to additional facilities for treatment with your permission Captain. If anything it shouldn’t be too hard to get a program with a bunch of biobeds.=^=
Dr. (Lt. J.G.) Kevasi Tulbrad, CMO

=^=Good thinking Doctor, you have my permission to utilize the holodecks if required.=^= Freja replied.

~Freja Andreassen~

=^= Affirmative captain, I will see if we have programs on it if not I will try to get some of the engineers and med staff on it to get them up and running as soon as possible.=^=
Kevasi Tulbrad, CMO

As preparations were made the calculations became evident that extending shields around the behemoth that was the Empress (who had no shields up with limited power reserves) would not be a simple task. Power reserves would need to be spiked and even then the shields would be fragile at the farthest region of its reach. Still it showed, according to engineering, theoretically possible.
- Wookiee

=/\=Cpt.sh’Rharror to Chimera. First wave is returning. SAR shuttles will land to ship’s starboard side of the flight deck for immediate disembarkation. Requesting additional assistance to help assist evacuees from transports.=/\=

Mar Cpt sh’Rharror, Delta SQLD

=^=Acknowledged, I’ll get some evacuation helpers down there ASAP.=^=

=^=Andreassen to Doctor Tulbrad, you have patients inbound on the marine flight deck, if you require it, we can send some non medical personnel down to assist, let us know.=^=

=^=Andreassen to Lt. Hall and Lt. Colonel Cull, if you can arrange to have a security/marine presence on the flight deck, I’d appreciate it. While I’m hoping these passengers will be grateful for medical assistance, I don’t want someone managing to gain access to somewhere restricted while our focus is on the medical emergency.=^=

~Freja Andreassen~

=/\= Understood. =/\= Culls voice replied. =/\= Security Teams en route. =/\=

Cull, MCO

OOC: To keep this active .. and title change .. Gene