Posted by Lieutenant William Hampton (Chief Engineering Officer) in MPT-“Six Hours From Evil”- the other Leviathan Shuttlebay

Posted by Crewman Jonathan Durheim (Engineer) in MPT-“Six Hours From Evil”- the other Leviathan Shuttlebay

Posted by Lieutenant Casela Synthi-er (Counsellor / RTF) in MPT-“Six Hours From Evil”- the other Leviathan Shuttlebay
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Hampton strode over to the control panel and began to access the transporter padd. He kept his eyes alert on the fenrir units, but they did not seem to be aggressive at the moment. A soft chuckle escaped his lips. It had been so easy. He paused for a brief moment to observe his work. Killing the XO was nothing new, he had done it before, but this time, this time it was personal, more fun, more invigorating. Then he heard the shot. A single blast from the rail gun. The bullet struck him in the thigh. He groaned loudly in pain and nearly collapsed to the floor, his hands clutched the control panel while the rest of his body sagged to the ground. ‘Hold on’. He thought to himself, he knew if he let go of the panel. He would fall to the floor, and by the time he got up, Surda and Durheim would be upon him, and his chance to escape would pass. Then the barrage hit, all of the emotions he felt, mixing together. He felt pain, sorrow, and worst of all happiness. True authentic joy, a sensation he could honestly say he had never in his life truly felt. For a fleeting moment, he felt shame. He had been petty, cruel, depriving people of happiness just because he had never found it himself. For a second, he contemplated letting go of the panel, allowing himself to be caught, and to possibly do the right thing for once in his miserable life…

NO. The word echoed in his mind, he shook his head, the counselor, she was trying to manipulate his thoughts, and normally, had she not been through the day she had, it would definitely have worked, but not after this day.
OOC: adding in
IC: When she felt it was safe to do so, her mind released Hampton, reaching out, feeling for the only one in the room that mattered to her. It was flickering and fading, and if her own body, the life fading from it, could have managed it, a scream of denial would have escaped her lips. With more finesse and delicacy than she knew she was capable of she connected her mind to his. Ryder, you have to fight, you have to hang on. Listen to me, don’t let go. I know it hurts, it’s torture, the pain, but it just means you’re still alive. Her mind and body too weak to really put any force behind her words. You told me we were worth it, then fight for us, Ryder. I love you, I’m not letting go, I’m right here. She whispered into his mind, anything to keep him focused on her. In her muddled mind, confused as her own body’s functions faded, nonsense things interspersed with the intimate things she whispered to him. Do you remember....? and she whispered to him, only things between them: secrets, confidences, moments, dreams, and plans. Do not let Hampton win. You swore you’d be on this ship long after him. Fight damn you! She goaded him, she pleaded, and at times not even sure she wasn’t whispering to nothing at all in the void of death. Physically she could not reach him, her body too far gone from the damage to her brain, and only getting worse the longer she tried to reach him.

Fenrir turned to see the other two officer, his visual sensors quickly scanning them and determining them as friendly, kicking his audio patterns, “Lt Cmdr Raauhl, life signs critical” He then bounded into the room, stopping at the downed officer’s side. When Fenrir was assembled for this mission, his medical protocols had not been installed, it was meant to be a recon mission nothing more. He let out an almost whimpering grown, “Life sign hasq ceased, date, time and location logged.”

• A flatlining Lt Cmdr Raauhl, XO
• Fenrir K-9 unit.

She felt him falter and weaken, NO! I love you. You can’t let go, just a little longer. Vaguely she heard Fenrir and she felt her own resolve falter, he wasn’t dead, he couldn’t be. Someone has tampered with Fenrir again, his scanners are wrong. You’re still here. Hold on, stay with me, Ryder. We’re both dying, we have to fight. This is not time for your beauty sleep, old man. You are worth it, we are worth it, I’m not giving up yet, and neither are you. She kept whispering, the pain and disorientation making her thoughts almost slurred, but she wouldn’t let go. She talked to him, reminding him of that fateful sparring session to breaking into his quarters every night. She threatened, pulling on that hotheadedness he secretly liked so much, You are the only thing in my life worth fighting for, if you let go, then so do I. You said we fight together, that’s how these things work. Or are you admitting I’m the better fighter? And she appealed to his higher sense of purpose, If not for me then for Raauhl. There is no one to take him, only you, isn’t that a Trill’s most important calling, the life of the symbiote. Fight for him if not for us. For all her skill, talent, psychic power, she couldn’t make him live. She could kill with a thought, but she couldn’t give life. The sorrow and grief, overwhelming, Please don’t go. And then the last of her own strength was gone and this time she looked on death with regret.
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

For a moment, there was silence in the room. Then, cackling, an evil cackling completely filled it. The sound emanated from Hampton. His laughter was loud, and triumphant. grasping the control panel tighter, he pulled himself up. “I WIN COUNSELOR!” He declared between laughs. He pressed one last button, and in a second, blue light engulfed him.

IC: As Durheim rounded the final corner to the shuttlebay, he wondered what he might find. Mr Durheim, their life signs are failing. The words didn’t quite echo in his head.... but they certainly lingered. His eyes landed on the Fenrir unit outside of the doors; and his heart raised in his small chest. This might work…

=/\=Shuttle bay doors; open!=/\= Jonathan barked, before turning his attention to the mechanical K-9. “Follow me, Please!” As he crossed the threshold, he quickly took in the view; and the obviously poor status of the officers lying on the floor - the pool of blood surrounding Mr. Raauhl was impossible to miss. To Durheim’s infrared overlay, it was a rapidly-cooling stain surrounding the Trill officer. And he was no expert, but he was sure that Trill weren’t supposed to run that cold…

Pointing at the mournful Fenrir unit standing over Raauhl, he gave a command that he hoped would work. He didn’t know the unit’s current loadout; but it was a safe assumption that whatever medical abilities it did possess, they were insufficient to the task. But Containment was hardwired.... And step one of containment was stasis. Or so he hoped.
“Fenrir! Immediately place Mr Raauhl under maximum containment; per ARU standards!”

Durheim, Engineering

Fenrir’s mechanical chirp acknowledged the order, though the officer was not his handler he was still programed to obey recognised Starfleet personnel. “Containment Protocols in process” Came the next mechanical voice as a small tool rose up from his front right shoulder before a small pulsing began and a portable containment shield surrounded both Fenrir and Raauhl, the field was set to containment but Fenrir’s AI had also set it up for life pro-longment despite knowing Raauhl Lifesigns were already gone, both the host and the symbiote.

• Fenrir

Inside the Shuttle. Hampton staggered to the pilot’s seat, bleeding heavily from his leg. All systems were on standby, just as he left them. “Computer raise shields.” Hampton ordered, making sure nobody else decided to beam in after him. “Engage program Hampton 2” An alarm sounded in the shuttlebay, notifying the away team that shuttle bay doors were opening. The shuttle slowly rose off the ground, preparing to leave the ship. In a few moments, the doors had opened, and the shuttle flew out into the abyss of space. Fortunately for the away team, Hampton had not deactivated the containment field, which stopped everyone from being sucked out with the shuttle.

As he flew from the ship. Hampton checked the shuttle’s chronometer, 90 seconds.

Hampton

OOC: To set the mood: https://youtu.be/gVYlpfXd_Wg
-Jenn

Death wasn’t what Raauhl expected, he opened his eyes and all around him was blinding light and a haze which hindered his view. From beyond the veil he could make out a voice, a woman’s voice but the words were unintelligible from thier tones they were sad and desperate. The fog began to close and the voice seemed ever distant, some say you should go to the light but in his case Raauhl couldn’t escape it.

• Cmdr Raauhl, XO

Somewhere in her unconscious state she felt him slip further away, and reflexively tried to hold on, but the effort creating immense pain and an almost seizure like reaction. Her world was reduced to an intense throbbing, like shards of glass being hammered into her over and over again. She tried to figure out why and it only got worse. It was only better if she let go and floated, detached and away. There was something she needed to do, but the pain was too much. Then the pain was less, but like a broken foot that feels fine if you don’t put weight on it, but will suddenly cripple you when you take a step, so her mind reacted in the same way.

Durheim took in the shuttlebay (and the departing shuttle) with a small sigh; feeling somewhat defeated. Though truthfully, he wasn’t completely sure what he would have done had he gotten there earlier - presumably that was Mr. Hampton aboard the shuttle. He looked at the hull axe in his hand; and thought of the phaser under his coveralls. Barring anything.... unexpected from Mr. Hampton, he could have made an attempt to subdue or murder the newly-malicious Chief Engineer. Success was an entirely different mater. But that was a (currently) hypothetical situation, and there were more pressing matters bleeding out on the deck before him.

Mr. Raahul was.... stabilized’ for now; and the lack of pulse suggested that a deteriorating condition didn’t matter too much; though perhaps the symbiont still lived. A glance at the mangled torso put that at low odds, though. Turning to Ms. Synthi-er, she still read above room temperature; and the erratic breathing and twitching suggested life; if somewhat tenuous - there was no telling what exactly had happened here. A quick but delicate examination revealed a bleeding nose; but no brain serum visible; eyes were bloodshot and unresponsive. Pulse and breathing were both erratic; but reasonably stable. No obvious physical damage; maybe a psychic attack? Curious… As much as he wanted to stay and figure out the puzzle; now was not the time. Ms Synthi-er appeared stable enough for now, but she needed to be examined and treated by someone more qualified.

=/\=Durheim to Bridge; two to sickbay, please. High priority. Please stand by for Ms. Surda and I.=/\=

-Crewman Durheim, Engineering.

A few moments later, Hampton, Gen and Knox appeared in the shuttlebay.

Hampton looked around at the scene before him, his XO appeared very much dead, the counselor looked very bad off, and the Engineer had lost his usual spunk. Guilt flooded his heart once more, even though he didn’t commit these atrocities, he knew he had wanted to. That was almost as damning.

Lt. Hampton

“Misters Knox and Hampton; Miss McAllister.” Durheim nodded politely at the new arrivals; those familiar with his mannerisms would note that while he appeared quite chipper compared to what one would expect in such a situation, he was somewhat subdued in relation to his usual self.

If being phased through one ship then weirdly transported across to an identical version of the same ship, but not, was strange at all it didn’t really show on the doctors face as he took in their new surroundings. He merely quirked his eyebrow and allowed Theodore control on this one, Theo was much too placid for a dangerous situation. As it had always been since he was a boy.

The Doctor immediately moved to the two fallen officers, he bent to the counsellor then saw Ryder and moved to him first. Kneeling, he put his hand on the mans pulse point as he opened his bag. “How exactly were they injured.” he asked as he opened the tricorder to give the XO a scan.

“I can’t say, Mr. Knox - I came upon them after the fact. I had Fenrir place Mr. Raahul in containment; in hopes of preserving his condition - though I admit I am not completely versed in the unit’s capabilities. Ms Synthi-er is in significantly better physical condition; though the seizures and bleeding suggest possible nervous system damage.” Durheim’s tone was polite and deferential; his knowledge of biology was limited to the ‘mechanical’ side of things, and he was far from an expert.

Gen meanwhile, eyes still glowing, and now small waves of a dark purple almost black aura growing and ebbing around her looked directly at Hampton, the expression that he should feel guilt evident on her face. She softened as she saw Caseka and floating over to her hit the ground onto her knees at the woman’s side, her hand going to Casela’s head. She gently touched her fingertips to the woman’s skin. Tears threatened to fall as the girl shook the woman who had been so kind to her slightly as if trying to wake her from a nap. Her earlier rage forgotten it seemed.

Casela groaned as her head began to throb insistently, trying to stay numb to the pain, but it wouldn’t stop. Her whole body was being rocked back-n-forth. Her eyes fluttered open taking in Gen in confusion. She hadn’t been with them. Her eyes darted around, landed on Hampton, and despite the pain reached out to seize him once more, but stopping short. This was their William Hampton. The brief touch would leave a feeling of relief and gratefulness on him. She whispered, the faintest of sounds triggering off a migraine almost as bad as the pain from whatever weapon the other Hampton had used. “You got free.” She was extremely happy for him, and then her eyes closed seemingly drifting in unconsciousness again.

Dont die…please don’t die… she thought desperately at the woman.

Knox and Gen

She wasn’t able to answer Gen telepathically but she nodded her head slightly. What about Ryder? Maybe it was a dream, a hallucination like the one Sandman had forced her to endure? He wasn’t really dead was he? And then she really was unconscious again.
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

Letting Mr. Knox get to work, Jonathan turned to the Chief Engineer. “Mr. Hampton; it appeared that Mr. Hampton took the shuttle out of the system; I had expected him to engage the Leviathan. Do you have an idea of where he may have gone? Giving him time to plan does not sound like a wise idea; assuming that he continues to wish us ill.” Durheim showed no hesitation or discomfort at the usage of duplicate names; and his gaze was sharp, though not accusatory as Gen’s had been.

Durheim, Engineering

Hampton shook his head. “I have no clue, although I can say with almost complete certainty that he is not attacking Leviathan, not with a shuttlecraft.” Hampton paused for moment, as if trying to anticipate what his double was about to do. “If I were in his position, I would be looking to escape.” He finally said. He looked around the room, his eyes falling on Raauhl, “I need to fix this,” he muttered to himself.

Lt. Hampton- CE

“Well Mr. Hampton, if nothing else, I am glad to see you have returned to us; I’ll admit to being concerned after your interaction with the Orb. And I suspect you are right; even at your worst, you are not a foolhardy man. But with vengeance so obviously keen on Mr. Hampton’s mind… it does seem odd to break off so suddenly. Could there be something going on that he knows of, that we do not?”

-Durheim, Engineering