Mission #6: Rattle of Sabers

Archangel T'Koris wrote:

[Captain's Ready Room]

Following Jiseth's example, Archangel removed her commbadge, placing it carefully on the table before she put her head in her hands for a moment.  Just how much information could she trust Jiseth with?  How many secrets could she reveal about what she did other than play wife, mother and captain?

"Jiseth...  The people I'll be working with...  Starfleet has been looking the other way when it comes to their activities for two hundred years."  She lifted her head, but still didn't quite look at the other Romulan.  "This is nothing more than a training exercise for them, just one with an actual goal.  I know that they'll deliver your daughter safely because that is the condition surrounding the exercise, and the condition on what I'm trading them to do this."

[Captain's Ready Room]

It was like a phaser blast had hit Jiseth's chest the way her eyes widened. Slowly she lowered and plopped back into her seat. The Captain trusted her with the ship's heading, but this was something else entirely. She pitied the woman across the table. Intelligence officers usually had only one thing they universally were good at: dying.

"You've been good to us, Captain. I doubt Zero or I could make it anywhere else. Whatever they have you do... That's what we do back home, look the other way. You hear people pleading, scream with the green light and then silence and footsteps. Lovely songbirds in the night we think to ourselves. I know you're nothing like our Tal'Shiar friends, but you damn well better have your daughters ready for a new playmate."

Jiseth wrote:

[Captain's Ready Room]

It was like a phaser blast had hit Jiseth's chest the way her eyes widened. Slowly she lowered and plopped back into her seat. The Captain trusted her with the ship's heading, but this was something else entirely. She pitied the woman across the table. Intelligence officers usually had only one thing they universally were good at: dying.

"You've been good to us, Captain. I doubt Zero or I could make it anywhere else. Whatever they have you do... That's what we do back home, look the other way. You hear people pleading, scream with the green light and then silence and footsteps. Lovely songbirds in the night we think to ourselves. I know you're nothing like our Tal'Shiar friends, but you damn well better have your daughters ready for a new playmate."

[Captain's Ready Room]

Reaching out with one hand, Archangel took Jiseth's and squeezed it gently. "I'd like to be able to use my connections to help someone for once, do some good." She gave a sad smile. "There's nothing like holding your child for the first time, nothing that can even come close to it."

Sitting back again, the Romulan seemed to retreat a little into herself, distancing herself emotionally. She had to, if she wanted to stay in control of herself. "The exercise will be run in the next few weeks, so I would suggest that you start preparing yourself to deal with it."

Archangel T'Koris wrote:

[Captain's Ready Room]

Reaching out with one hand, Archangel took Jiseth's and squeezed it gently.  "I'd like to be able to use my connections to help someone for once, do some good."  She gave a sad smile.  "There's nothing like holding your child for the first time, nothing that can even come close to it."

Sitting back again, the Romulan seemed to retreat a little into herself, distancing herself emotionally.  She had to, if she wanted to stay in control of herself.  "The exercise will be run in the next few weeks, so I would suggest that you start preparing yourself to deal with it."

[Captain's Ready Room]

Returning the squeeze, Jiseth gave a nod while the Captain returned to her seat. She noted her superior's reactions. Things she had done herself, still was doing. Hell, even Zero had a similar means to cope.

"I'll make sure the crib is out... Probably have to change my department to 4 daily shifts from three... What should I tell-what am I able to tell Zero? Anything?"

Jiseth wrote:

[Captain's Ready Room]

Returning the squeeze, Jiseth gave a nod while the Captain returned to her seat. She noted her superior's reactions. Things she had done herself, still was doing. Hell, even Zero had a similar means to cope.

"I'll make sure the crib is out... Probably have to change my department to 4 daily shifts from three... What should I tell-what am I able to tell Zero? Anything?"

[Captain's Ready Room]

"I imagine you'll have plenty of time to make the arrangements," Archangel replied with a faint smile. "You'll have to wait the usual pregnancy duration while the child actually develops enough to survive in the world." She rubbed her ridges. "I would suggest you tell her that steps have been taken to retrieve your daughter and that she should start making preparations to bring the embryo to term somehow."

Bridge

Andrew favored Julia with just a brief smile to show he heard her words of thanks. After that, however, Andrew began looking over the ship's status from his PADD...a habit of his to keep it synced with the starship in real time updates. In this way was he aware of any changes, and surprises were less capable of sneaking up on him. Sitting in the command chair was still a bit strange to him, but at the same time it felt right...as if he belonged there.

He was not looking forward to his physical coming up with Medical, but such things were necessary. Things were proceeding nicely with the preparations for their mission. A mission of exploration...what a welcome change of pace. No crisis...no trouble with an exploding star, or some government leader trying to cover up his dirt by killing them all...just exploring the rich vastness of space.

And then, the familiar beep came in of an incoming transmission....

IRW Eihss Nuhirrien: Charisma of the Sun

He couldn't believe it...

...he blinked through the green blood that poured from the wound over his left eye, and still couldn't believe it.

His people, not the Federation, were usually the ones with the reputation of treachery. Yet, now, the bridge of his warbird was in flames as he watched the deadly sleek Federation starship close in for the kill.

=/\= "Repeating...this Commander Lihran R'mor.......ttck.....ambushed....! Any assistance......!!"=/\= the Romulan Commander continued desperately as he attempted to pull himself up from the smoking Operations console. His dark eyes blinked away more blood as he watched new phaser blasts sweep in. The warbird shuddered under the new strike...

[Bridge]

It had been months since coming onboard, and Alex was still getting used to his new workstation. It wasn't the fact that he was sitting in the other seat which troubled him, it was the loss of control. There was something to be said of having a few million metric tonnes worth of duranium in your hands. After so many years at the helm, Ops was practically equivalent to becoming a spectator.

A flickering alert suddenly lit up a small corner of his display, the section devoted for their long distance comms. Incoming transmissions were normal, but the status of this message, along with it's carrier designator, sent alarm bells racing through Alex's thoughts. "Conn, Ops." He snapped, gathering their new XO's attention, "Incoming transmission on all emergency channels, Romulan in origin. We're only receiving a partial signal, it could be from interference close to the source, or damaged transmitting equipment."

IRW Eihss Nuhirrien wrote:

=/\= "Repeating...this Commander Lihran R'mor.......ttck.....ambushed....! Any assistance......!!"=/\=

Archangel T'Koris wrote:

[Captain's Ready Room]

"I imagine you'll have plenty of time to make the arrangements," Archangel replied with a faint smile.  "You'll have to wait the usual pregnancy duration while the child actually develops enough to survive in the world."  She rubbed her ridges.  "I would suggest you tell her that steps have been taken to retrieve your daughter and that she should start making preparations to bring the embryo to term somehow."

[Captain's Ready Room]

Bring it to term...

They were not out of the woods yet. Not even close. So many complications. The pregnancy could kill Zero if implanted. It would have to be something she knew her partner would hate, but they both would hate losing the child more. Synthetic womb, birthing chamber, it was all so sterile.

Fitting though, to the Romulan, that the child would be brought into the world as seemingly unnatural as her conception. The toils of her lover who could barely comprehend love or any of the foibles of modern society. Gavin had made his points a long time ago yet they still rang in her ears.

"Somehow... She'll find a way."

Jiseth focused on the Captain for a moment. A similar gaze that she gives her own subordinates, even the shuttlecraft, when trying to determine any cause for concern.

"As will you I think. Though, you look like hell, Archangel... Perhaps a change of view. Duty yes, that's why we're all here, but why do we all serve under you instead of transferring? There's no one on this ship who doesn't respect and admire you, even Zero in her own way. I know I made the right choice in returning to duty. I'm no counselor, but you called me in here and that means a great deal. For the moment... What is it you want to do?"

NPC wrote:

IRW Eihss Nuhirrien:  Charisma of the Sun

He couldn't believe it...

...he blinked through the green blood that poured from the wound over his left eye, and still couldn't believe it.

His people, not the Federation, were usually the ones with the reputation of treachery.  Yet, now, the bridge of his warbird was in flames as he watched the deadly sleek Federation starship close in for the kill.

=/\= "Repeating...this Commander Lihran R'mor.......ttck.....ambushed....!  Any assistance......!!"=/\=  the Romulan Commander continued desperately as he attempted to pull himself up from the smoking Operations console.  His dark eyes blinked away more blood as he watched new phaser blasts sweep in.  The warbird shuddered under the new strike...

Romulans! Julia thought. She could hear the attack raging in the background of the garbled transmission. Her first instinct was to help but first she needed to know where they were located. "Commander Sheridan, I am attempting to triangulate the signal now. I am having difficulties getting a fix on their location." Julia grimaced as she tried again and failed to locate the Romulan vessel. "We better get the Captain out here." She tapped her communicator and opened a channel to the Captain.

=/\=Captain to the bridge.=/\=

Bridge

When Ops reported and played the distress call; Andrew's blood went cold. How many times had heard those distress calls...the ones with no hope left in them? Ten times...fifty times...how many in his youth as the Borg swept across his Federation? Now, a Romulan ship was calling for aid.

On a hunch, "Ops...Science, coordinate your efforts near the nebula. I suspect the ship as exploring near there...they would certainly have found the nebula fascinating for a variety of reasons," Andrew ordered Wu and Rellek. He glanced up after hearing Julia call the Captain to the Bridge, and instinctively moved to the XO chair on the right.

=/\= Yellow Alert, all hands to battle stations. Yellow Alert...battle stations, =/\= the young XO ordered over the ship's comm.

Perhaps, this was a time to show the Romulan Star Empire that the Federation was glad to help...even in times when there was no war threatening them with overwhelming odds. That was...assuming this wasn't a trick.

No...no, he had a feeling this was no Romulan trap. He had heard too many distress calls in his youth to have been fooled by a fake one. This was genuine. For a moment, he pictured in his mind the damaged Romulan warbird...it's commander desperately trying to keep ship and crew alive in their, very likely, final moments.

Jiseth wrote:

"Somehow... She'll find a way."

Jiseth focused on the Captain for a moment. A similar gaze that she gives her own subordinates, even the shuttlecraft, when trying to determine any cause for concern.

"As will you I think. Though, you look like hell, Archangel... Perhaps a change of view. Duty yes, that's why we're all here, but why do we all serve under you instead of transferring? There's no one on this ship who doesn't respect and admire you, even Zero in her own way. I know I made the right choice in returning to duty. I'm no counselor, but you called me in here and that means a great deal. For the moment... What is it you want to do?"

[Captain's Ready Room]

Archangel offered her old friend a faint smile. For the most part, her reputation and dedication to duty prevented people from picking up on the emotional elements that she tried to keep under tight control, but it was a lot more difficult to hide those from a fellow Romulan. They generally knew all the tricks she was using.

"I feel like I've been through Areinnye and got stuck half way," she admitted. "I didn't realise that losing my family would hit me this hard, but-"

Julia Rellek wrote:

=/\=Captain to the bridge.=/\=

The communication interrupted the young captain and she frowned slightly, trying to think what could warrant her attention so soon into their mission. She got up from her desk, giving an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Jiseth. Another ti-"

Andrew Sheridan wrote:

=/\= Yellow Alert, all hands to battle stations. Yellow Alert...battle stations, =/\=

This time, Archangel didn't even bother saying anything. She bolted from her ready room to the bridge, spotting that Commander Sheridan had already moved over to the first officer's chair, but ignored the captain's chair in favour of staying on her feet, her dark gaze flicking between the various stations. "Report!"

Bridge

"It appears one of our fellow vessels ran into an ambush.  A Romulan warbird:  CHARISMA OF THE SUN sent an all out distress call," Sheridan reported immediately.  He stood up to whisper to Archangel the rest, "I've heard messages like that one before...many times.  Whatever happened...they won't last much longer...if they are even alive still.  Ops and Science are attempting to triangulate their position,a and upon my recommendation...narrowed it to the area of the nebula on the assumption the warbird also found it fascinating."

Emotions were coming from his Captain, but now was not the time to be peering into his Captain's mind and soul.  So, Andrew let his walls come up enough to shut her deeper emotions out.  There was a mystery about his Captain, and he wanted to find out...to know more of her.  Until then, however, he  would have to understand Archangel through their missions and the various emergencies they dealt with together.

[Bridge]

Jiseth had gotten to her feet just as quickly and like the Captain's shadow, briskly departed the ready room. She diverted away only as her superior stopped and the Lieutenant herself continued on to the helm. Meru was about to stand change places, but Jiseth gave a small hand gesture for her to stay.

Bent over the console, the Romulan scanned through the sensor readings and left certain other questions on the back burner. Questions like why the other Lieutenant summoned the Captain instead of the XO. Or how many Romulan lives would equal that of a human. To the back burner and hopefully there to be forgotten as she focused on her work.

"I have some semblance of a wake through the nebula from the warbird, we might be able to go in the same way they did, ma'am."

Andrew Sheridan wrote:

Bridge

When Ops reported and played the distress call; Andrew's blood went cold.  How many times had heard those distress calls...the ones with no hope left in them?  Ten times...fifty times...how many in his youth as the Borg swept across his Federation?  Now, a Romulan ship was calling for aid.

On a hunch, "Ops...Science, coordinate your efforts near the nebula.  I suspect the ship as exploring near there...they would certainly have found the nebula fascinating for a variety of reasons," Andrew ordered Wu and Rellek.  He glanced up after hearing Julia call the Captain to the Bridge, and instinctively moved to the XO chair on the right.

=/\= Yellow Alert, all hands to battle stations.  Yellow Alert...battle stations, =/\= the young XO ordered over the ship's comm.  

Perhaps, this was a time to show the Romulan Star Empire that the Federation was glad to help...even in times when there was no war threatening them with overwhelming odds.  That was...assuming this wasn't a trick.

No...no, he had a feeling this was no Romulan trap.  He had heard too many distress calls in his youth to have been fooled by a fake one.  This was genuine.  For a moment, he pictured in his mind the damaged Romulan warbird...it's commander desperately trying to keep ship and crew alive in their, very likely, final moments.

"Aye sir, refocusing the search." Julia tried to focus on her work and not let her mind wonder. She tried not to let the apprehension of the situation get the best of her. She knew she was different from everyone else. If anything was to happen here it would be her first taste of combat. Surrounded by war veterans... Julia felt out of place. "There it is sir. Your instincts were right. Its definitely coming from the nebula. I'm going to go ahead and launch the probe we were preparing." Julia's fingers danced across the control panel. "Probe is away sir." She leaned over and looked to the ops officer. "Wu, see if you can work through the probe to localize the signal?"

Andrew Sheridan wrote:

Bridge

"It appears one of our fellow vessels ran into an ambush.  A Romulan warbird:  CHARISMA OF THE SUN sent an all out distress call," Sheridan reported immediately.  He stood up to whisper to Archangel the rest, "I've heard messages like that one before...many times.  Whatever happened...they won't last much longer...if they are even alive still.  Ops and Science are attempting to triangulate their position,a and upon my recommendation...narrowed it to the area of the nebula on the assumption the warbird also found it fascinating."

Emotions were coming from his Captain, but now was not the time to be peering into his Captain's mind and soul.  So, Andrew let his walls come up enough to shut her deeper emotions out.  There was a mystery about his Captain, and he wanted to find out...to know more of her.  Until then, however, he  would have to understand Archangel through their missions and the various emergencies they dealt with together.

[Bridge]

Archangel's acute hearing easily picked up Andrew's whisper. Why, why, why? Why do we have to be the closest and probably only vessel likely to help them? She was in a precarious position, not only as a captain, but as a shaky political bridge between the Federation and the Star Empire. Put her ship at risk to save the Romulans, or hang back and keep everyone under her command safe. The second option, she realised quickly, wasn't really an option at all.

"Well done, Commander," she said softly before raising her voice a little more to address the bridge. "Helm, take us in after the probe, get us as close to the warbird as possible. Jiseth, scramble your pilots and get them to take shuttles out. They'll be slower on the transport, but it'll cut the time to evacuate the bird. Tactical, I want you to keep an eye on their actions, keep a finger on the shields in case the warbird blows. Operations, get all the transporters online and prepare to evacuate the bird. Get a comm channel open to them as soon as you can."

She cast a glance at Sheridan to ensure that he was listening to the various orders. She wondered just how much he knew about her relationship with the Romulans and how awkward this was going to be.

Bridge

Andrew made note of Archangel's orders...keeping things in his mind sorted out according to priorities. The orders were sound, and something told him this wasn't very easy for his Captain. She would do her duty, and that was not a fear of his. However, something about this made him suspicious, but he had no idea what that little warning in the back of his head was. There was something like a memory attempting to resurface, but Andrew shook it away to focus on the tasks at hand. He noticed Sophie standing to one side near Ops where Wu was stationed, and Jiseth doing nearly the same thing at the Helm.

=/\= Medical Alert, prepare to receive possible Romulan casualties, =/\= he warned over the comm directly to Sickbay. The more aware they were of the situation...the better. He could only hope they would arrive in time to not only discover the culprit, but save some of the crew of the doomed Romulan warbird.

"A Romulan warbird...ambushed..., but by whom?" the XO wondered aloud.

Andrew Sheridan wrote:

Bridge

Andrew made note of Archangel's orders...keeping things in his mind sorted out according to priorities.  The orders were sound, and something told him this wasn't very easy for his Captain.  She would do her duty, and that was not a fear of his.  However, something about this made him suspicious, but he had no idea what that little warning in the back of his head was.  There was something like a memory attempting to resurface, but Andrew shook it away to focus on the tasks at hand.  He noticed Sophie standing to one side near Ops where Wu was stationed, and Jiseth doing nearly the same thing at the Helm.  

=/\= Medical Alert, prepare to receive possible Romulan casualties, =/\= he warned over the comm directly to Sickbay.  The more aware they were of the situation...the better.  He could only hope they would arrive in time to not only discover the culprit, but save some of the crew of the doomed Romulan warbird.

"A Romulan warbird...ambushed..., but by whom?" the XO wondered aloud.

[Bridge]

Archangel leaned forward, her eyes fixed on the viewscreen, at the short streaks of light the stars left as the ship sped past them on their rescue mission. She could only hope that they would manage to get to the warbird in time to help.

"That's what I'm hoping to find out," she replied quietly to Commander Sheridan.

Andrew Sheridan wrote:

=/\= Medical Alert, prepare to receive possible Romulan casualties, =/\=

[Sickbay]

Before she could say anything else, Ilana's head snapped up at the sound of a communication coming through from the bridge.  Romulan casualties?  Her mind immediately went to the handful of Romulans actually serving on the ship, wondering if they were the incoming casualties and quietly hoping that they weren't.  She especially hoped that they weren't the captain or the Romulan in security. Both had notes in their medical files about being extremely bad patients, the captain to the point of generally needing sedated to be treated to stop her bolting out the door and back on duty.

Looking to the Selay, she offered him a faint smile.  "W-w-we h-had b-better g-g-get r-ready," she said before heading for the storage bays to pull out the supplies necessary to treat Romulans.

[Bridge]

"Yes, ma'am!"

Placing her commbadge back on her chest, she then tapped it swiftly.

=/\= Jiseth to all flight personnel, scramble scramble scramble! Suit up and get to your ships! =/\=

Looking down to Meru, she placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You stay here, make sure there's something for us to come home to. Fornell will be handling traffic control. Beam me to the runabout."

"Yes, Lady Jiseth!"

The Romulan took a step away before fading into a blue shower of particles.


[USS Monongahela]

Now seeing the cabin of the auxiliary craft, she bolted to the storage locker. She could hear through the open hatches the bustling of her crews. Each had their own assigned shuttle. Some took hypospray stimulants to fully awaken and remain alert. She was already suited up by the time her own crew arrived.

Moving to the cockpit, she stood at the center console and began to link with each of the other shuttles. She could hear Fornell barking orders even through her helmet. It brought some comfort to her that she trained her people well, especially during times of chaos.

"All flights report in."

"Diogenes!"
"Cratylus!"
"Thales!"
"Philo!"
"Ghiberti!"
"Bruegel!"
"Mondrian!"
"Lin!"
"Holbein!"
"Delacroix!"

Jiseth nodded to her own crew as the hatches sealed on the runabout and the engines powered up.

=/\= Jiseth to Bridge, squadron ready to deploy! =/\=

Bridge

Andrew rarely missed details, and this day was no different. Replacing her combadge had made Andrew glance a tad askance at Jiseth. There were so very few reasons to have taken it off, and fewer still in the Captain's Ready Room. Whatever had been discussed in there had been very personal...and off the record...it was the only possible explanation, and that caused him to sharpen his senses more to the things on the Bridge. When the current person stationed at the Helm called her Lady Jiseth...that really perked his ears up.

Who was Jiseth? For that matter, who was Archangel T'Koris? He knew the two women had Romulan connections, but to be called Lady was no small thing. For some reason, as he watched Jiseth beam away, Andrew Sheridan felt like he had suddenly stepped into political minefield. He would have to stay a lot more aware...such things were...well Starfleet history had recorded the way Commander Worf had to deal with such loyalties and attentions between the Klingons and the Federation. This was, perhaps, more subtle than that, but no less potentially problematic.

And, here they were on their way to a warbird in distress. Were there officers aboard that knew Jiseth and the Captain? Did they, perhaps, even serve this Lady Jiseth in some capacity? All of this went through the young XO's mind rapidly as he heard the Captain declaring her desire to find out who had ambushed the warbird.

'Better be real careful on this one, Andrew...real careful,' he thought silently.

=/\= The moment we are out of warp...your squadron will be given the signal to launch, Lieutenant, =/\= Andrew stated....was there just the slightest bit of stress on the rank...maybe...

Andrew Sheridan wrote:

=/\= Medical Alert, prepare to receive possible Romulan casualties, =/\=

Ilana Telak wrote:

Looking to the Selay, she offered him a faint smile.  "W-w-we h-had b-better g-g-get r-ready," she said before heading for the storage bays to pull out the supplies necessary to treat Romulans.

"Agreed." he set to work preparing as many biobeds as he could. He doubted that they'd need to use them all, but he didn't know that for certain. They could be bringing a hundred Romulans aboard or it could be only a few. Still, better to be over-prepared in a situation like this.

So, there were Romulans coming aboard? He knew a fair amount about Romulan physiology, and had treated a couple in his time aboard the Gygax. He was fairly confident with his medical knowledge regarding Romulans. As long as they didn't try to strangle him while he worked, he'd manage the situation.

Kintiss wrote:

"Agreed." he set to work preparing as many biobeds as he could. He doubted that they'd need to use them all, but he didn't know that for certain. They could be bringing a hundred Romulans aboard or it could be only a few. Still, better to be over-prepared in a situation like this.

So, there were Romulans coming aboard? He knew a fair amount about Romulan physiology, and had treated a couple in his time aboard the Gygax. He was fairly confident with his medical knowledge regarding Romulans. As long as they didn't try to strangle him while he worked, he'd manage the situation.

[Sickbay]

It was easy to settle into a rhythm when it came to preparations, setting out the emergency kits, ensuring that the tricorders in every kit were charged and ready, that all the medications set out were compatible with Romulan physiology.

Ilana set out the kits beside each biobed and made sure that there were several spare. Not knowing the exact number of casualties made things a little harder, since there was no way to know whether they were looking at a crisis that could be contained in sickbay, or whether they were looking at turning one of the cargo bays into a triage center.

Another idea occurred to the Cardassian and she looked up at Kintiss, who was also busy with preparations. "It m-m-might b-be a g-g-good idea t-to r-raise th-the ambiant t-t-temperature. R-R-Romulans are used t-t-to h-hotter c-c-climates."

[Bridge]

Meru's eyes flicked up to the main view screen as her hand brought down the throttle on the warp nacelles. The streaks of stars began to slow as the nebula went from a blue bur incoming to a vast spectrum of color and vibrant formations of gas. She began working on the impulse engines while opening a channel to the runabout.

=/\= Helm to TC, confirming we're out of warp. =/\=

=/\= TC copies, beginning launch. =/\=


[Tower Control]

Fornell stood behind the row of crewmen monitoring their sensor scopes with his hands behind his back. Mass launches were always difficult and experience had taught them much. Noble sentiment would have Jiseth be the first one out and last one on, but commanding the largest of the ships this was impossible. The smaller ones had to deploy first to give the larger ones room to maneuver. They could deploy and return nearly twice as fast this way.

=/\= TC to Wolf Squadron, launch launch launch! =/\=


[USS Monongahela]

Steely-eyed, Jiseth watched as the medium shuttles left in a staggered grouping first. Then the large shuttles departed. Her arms were crossed as the hangar bay zipped by and away as the craft exited into the blackness from the rear of the Phoenix.

The other shuttles came around and lined up in two columns behind the runabout before they all turned back toward their mothership. They sipped under the dart-shaped module and over the saucer, passing by the bridge before heading into the nebula.

=/\= Jiseth to Phoenix, handshake with probe complete. We have telemetry. =/\=

[Bridge]

Ok, so everything was going to hell. Again. The Romulan's face was set in a hard line as she stared intently at her controls. Her main focus was on the dangerous status of the Romulan warbird's systems. If having to deal with a Romulan vessel wasn't bad enough... Safefta refused to get the Phoenix blown up by the other ship's shock wave when it eventually went.

She was also considering what they were going to do, security-wise, if this plan to exract the surviving personnel onto the Phoenix actually worked. She was sure that the Riov of the vessel wasn't going to be too pleased with the large population of Romulans on board the Federation ship... but Safefta didn't care about that.

She frowned as the alerts on her console began to light up more insistently.

"The Romulan ship is critical. I project an explosion in one-minute and forty-five seconds." Not much time at all for everything going on. "We will have to complete this plan of action within that time and allow for our ship to move out of range," the security officer blankly warned.

[Sickbay]

Thelos was a little stressed. Ok, he was very stressed, but it was expected of him to maintain a professional and level head even when the ship seemed in imminent danger (again). So, the short Andorian busied himself by shuffling around sickbay to assist Doctor Telak in preparing for the casualties that they were expecting.

Romulans. At least sickbay had some experience with them, given the crew they had.

The mention of temperature increases wasn't something Thelos looked forward too. He was going to get very overheated- even more so than the usual ambient temperature made him feel. Ah well. Power through it.

"If we need to convert one of the cargo bays, I can assign some of the staff to cover those patients. I hope they're not too argumentative," he added, referring to the Romulans. A wounded Romulan either hid their pain like a cat, or turned that pain all too quickly into anger. Neither of those were particularly helpful.