round 18 Lt. Commander Jaxon Mc Ghee - No Go Zone

[Toni]

((Thunder, Deck 9 Main Engineering))

:: By the time Jaxon had climbed back up to Deck nine, he was beginning to feel the last 30+ hours for sure. If anything because the damages to the ship were also forcing the teams, himself included, to take detours along the Jeffries tubes get to their destinations. The Welshman was thankful that his unwelcome guest had vanished back to whatever part of his mind that S’caan housed in. While his presence was undesirable, Jaxon knew it was only a temporary situation and if things got bad… well S’Caan wasn’t completely useless. The thing he needed now was a good four hours sleep and another three invested in some deep meditation. ::

Mc Ghee: ::to himself :: Shame it’s not possible.

:: The Chief arrived at the bottom of the ladder and crawled out of the hatch to the doors leading to main engineering. Here teams were still busy coordinating the repairs and Jaxon saw that some more of the lighting had been restored, the warpcore was still dull not that he had invested too much initial hope. Moving over to a group of technicians that were obviously preparing for another repair march, the Chief nodded to the team leader and accepted the offered Padd. Giving his consent the, the two teams of three took up the assortment of cases and headed to the warpcore. One of the larger access panels, usually sealed for security reasons, had already been removed and the team members entered the Jefferies access system. ::

((Thunder, Deck 11, Jefferies Tubes))

:: The team climbed up two decks and began a long crawl through the main connection tube that ran the length of the deck. Jaxon became aware that they were approaching the Red Zone after the doors that split the maintenance tubes into separate sections refused to open. After an unsuccessful attempt of forcing them open, he stretched a hand out behind himself wordlessly and was handed a door manipulator from one of the team members. Still bracing himself against the metal hatch, the heavy man pushed and as the twin doors parted with a hiss, his ears picked up the crackled of a force field as it powered up. ::

Surel: The section is still considered a hazard by the ships computer.

Mc Ghee: Of course the environmentals on that side are down to 10%. Kill the field and I'll then go and power one of the atmosphere subprocessor at the end of the corridor.

Surel: Affirmative.

:: While the Vulcan Ensign got to work disabling the forcefield, Jaxon turned awkwardly in the narrow Jefferies Tube; while being shorter than most, this advantage was quickly quieted by his heavy build and broad shoulders. The blue skinned Joe offered Jaxon a face mask that would filter the most harmful elements out of the air and few tools that would be necessary, yet were not standard issue in his personal case. The field separating the two sections fell and immediately the burnt and dead air of the passage up ahead flowed through the open doors. ::

Mc Ghee: I’ll need a few minutes, I’ll drop my Tricorder as a signal enhancer and send a confirmation when I’m done.

:: The others waiting behind them murmured their agreement and the Chief moved forward into the metal-clad tube, hardly covering a few meters before the field behind him was raised again. Hearing his own breaths rasping on the filter covering his mouth, without which he would already be in trouble, he could understand why the team were so quick to restore the field; the air processors on their side had drawn the stagnant air into the Jefferies tube. By the time he had reached the end of the corridor thick swirls of smoke were gathering. Forcing his entry into the Red Zone corridor, Jaxon straightened up gratefully, raising one arm to light his surroundings. The beam of light illuminated the detritus covered hallway, ceiling supports had come down and many of the computer panels lining the walls were blown out; a sure sign of an EPS conduit rupture. ::

Mc Ghee: :: tapping his combadge :: =/\= Some serious damage here… moving on to the environmental controls… the entire ODN relay for this section might have been lost... the power conduits to decks ten and twelve appear to be intact… =/\=

:: The chief made his way down the corridor, stepping over the fallen struts, the crunch of the charred glass from the panels accompanying him. The air must have been bad as the first smells of burnt materials began to penetrate his breathing mask. The searching cone of his flashlight caught the entrance he was heading to and Jaxon moved carefully over to the double doors, applying the manipulator and heaving them apart. He stepped through the egress and ran the beam of light over the simply designed control room; it was more a large closet with vital environmental equipment installed. It seemed that the system had suffered total failure as the polluted air was much thicker here, the beam from his torch hardly cutting through the wafting shrouds of smoke. Jaxon took another step into the grey gloom, ignoring the bitter taste of the biting fumes in his mouth. The Welshman frowned as his boot registered something beneath it.

Directing the flashlight downwards, Jaxon saw a micro calibrator and other tools glinting in the smoke-dulled light; it seemed that someone had been working here during the battle. With the two doors open, the thick wafts of murky air began to thin out into the corridor and Jaxon could see a multicolored hue up ahead; the control console appeared to still be online at least. Reaching the interface, the chief set down his tool case and peered at the screen, realizing that the system was almost recalibrated to begin and atmosphere purge. Response crews must have already begun battle repairs here when the deck was hit bad and had to be evacuated. The chief began to complete the order routine, not surprised that the commands sequence were slightly out of order; an understandable mistake during a combat situation. ::

Willie: =/\= Chief Mc Ghee, is it now safe for me to take my teams into the red zones? Do we need the EVI suits? =/\=

:: Jaxon had wondered when Tindall would call in, he had been meaning to call himself, but had been busy, then again Willie and Dave were in their element in SAR. ::

Mc Ghee: :: still typing :: =/\= No, we’re not entering any decompressed red zones yet. We’re concentrating on the easier areas where our help might still be needed. =/\=

Willie: =/\=Do you have an update on what’s going on? =/\=

Mc Ghee: =/\= The red zone spanning deck ten, eleven and twelve has been opened and we’re securing the enviro’s as we speak; the decks should be marked yellow plus within 20 minutes. The red zone on decks four and five are still taboo until we can set up a portable generator strong enough. =/\= :: starts command routine :: =/\= Commander Vess is leading the taskforce into battle soon, so time is running short. =/\=

:: The computer chirped as the program began its routine, the hissing of air being sucked into the ventilation systems increasing quickly. Jaxon began to repack his tools, thankful that the stinging air would soon be gone and he could remove the mask. ::

Willie: =/\= Oh crap, do you have orders for me, sir? And I suppose I’m wasting my breath telling you to take a break? I just asked Commander Hendon to take one as team leader. The dogs and I will be okay for a couple of hours. :: break :: I could always ask Patrick to help out the engineers. Well he'll be able to help with the menial tasks.=/\=

:: Jaxon wondered briefly whether Willie should lay off the coffee; so many questions and assorted pieces of half information at once! Anyhow, a break indeed! Due to its size and being so close to the environmental systems, the small room began to lighten even as Willie spoke. Replacing the last of his tools Jaxon remembered the tools he had left on the floor and turned to pick up the strewn tools; every little bit helped in a situation like this. The air cleared further and Jaxon got up and turned back to the console, now seeing that he indeed wasn’t the only person that had been working at it. ::

McGhee: :: emotionlessly :: =/\= You can report to deck eleven for further SAR. :: break :: don’t worry about the air by the time you get here it’ll be all right for you and Dave. =/\=

Willie: =/\=Alright, sir; I was only joking. Alright, sir I'll meet you at the first red zone, Tindall out.=/\=

:: The com now closed, Jaxon moved silently to the gold shouldered figure that was slumped, face down beside the control console. Hardly 30cm had been separating him from the man lying on the floor and the computer screen where he had worked; in the gloom that had hung in the air, the chief hadn’t noticed anything. The short man hunkered down and placed his hand on a shoulder, as his fingers registered the unnatural chill emanating from it, his arm paused, before then slowly pulling the man over onto his back. Mc Ghee recognized the familiar face straight away, his memory relentlessly providing his mind with a multifold of unhelpful and misplaced information; Lieutenant JG John Richards, 29, from Mars, his second long time deep space assignment. Jaxon remember that he had been considering a promotion evaluation for the Lt. come the end of his time here at the Embassy. Jaxon’s eyes looked back to Richards’ hand which still held a tool in it. The Chief reached out for the combadge and detached it, turned it between his fingers and saw it was still functioning.

Jaxon had been serving on starships long enough to know that Richards’ must have heard either the call to abandon the deck, or at least the emergency signal that was sent in such a case. Even with the vicissitudes of battle accommodating a multitude of unknown factors, it didn’t take much to add the numbers together and still be sure to have hit the right result. The almost programmed console and the tools lying around; Richards had been trying to finish his work and had been [...] close at that.

The chief lent back against the console and swore quietly under his breath while he tried to get the picture out of his head. He had refused to leave his post in times of danger in the past, relying on his skills to get the job done and restore power to the systems or whatever had been necessary. Jaxon swore again for no reason he could think of, other than a tiny valve trying release the pressure within a warpcore. Again Jaxon didn’t need to see him; he simply knew. ::

Mc Ghee: :: quietly:: oO Not now S’Caan. Leave me alone. Oo

Vulcan Mc Ghee: (speaking) Are you sure you want to keep the gates locked Jaxon?

Mc Ghee: ::growling, voicing shaking with anger :: Get out of my head!

Vulcan Mc Ghee: :: teasing :: You need a phaser to get me out of your head, Jaxon. :: softly, needling voice :: I am a part of you.

Mc Ghee: :: getting up :: Maybe a Phaser is a good idea!

Vulcan Mc Ghee: :: teasing :: Don’t threaten me! I’m growing stronger Jaxon. Sooner or later the gates... the walls ... they won’t hold me.

:: Jaxon glowered silently at the other himself leaning against the wall without a care in the world. He knew S’Caan was right, eventually he would get through, but Jaxon comforted himself in the sole knowledge that it wasn't that easy. ::

Vulcan Mc Ghee: :: [...]ing his head, unemotionally:: Richards… :: break, amused :: …well he came [...]close to being hero didn’t …

:: Jaxon let out a deep throated roar of anger as he jumped in S’Caan’s direction, his clenched fist already scything in a blur through the air, aiming directly for the entertained face of the Vulcan hybrid. Jaxon fell a step fore as the blow continued right through his own manifestation’s smirking visage, his fist moving onwards, thus disrupting the engineer's balance. The chief’s bunched fist slammed into the wall, the unleashed force depressing an entire section of wall cladding, as the massive crash reverberated off the walls of the small room. While the tremendous thud still echoed in Jaxon’s ears, so did the bemused voice of the once again vanished S’Caan. ::

Vulcan Mc Ghee: :: amused :: That’s right, my old friend make it easy for me. :: laughter ::

:: Jaxon stood his shoulders still rising and falling as he breathed hard. Then Mc Ghee slowly removed his fist that was still resting on the destroyed wall panel, he then flexed his hand forcefully, Jaxon turned as he heard other voices; no doubt his team was arriving now the air was clearing. Jaxon gave Gamma Joe a weak smile as he looked into the room, saw the dead Lieutenant, nodded to the chief and silently stepped inside to cover Richards body with his jacket. Jaxon eyed the wall cladding that had fallen victim to his outbreak of anger and felt the pain still coursing through his hand and up his arm. It felt good.

TBC

Lt. Cmdr. Jaxon Mc Ghee

Chief Engineer

Duronis II

USS Thunder, NCC 70605

Edited September 20, 2012 by Toni