Shenanigans Ahoy!

[[This is a private RP - if you weren't invited, then your post will be deleted]]

The low buzzing noise of the engines and machinery were held as a constant. The smell of grease, burnt metals and plastics, and who else knew what was unshakable. Although the sublight engines were barely running and the ship was in energy-conservation mode, the unrelenting gears and constant energy that filled the room would have surprised the unsuspecting. The ship was almost a relic now, and the inner workings of the early Sub/Faster-than-light engines a mystery to most, and seeing such a busy engine room during down times was a rarity, to say the least. The dim lighting throughout the main walking areas and bright fluorescent lights pointed at key components of the behemoth carried almost a sinister look.

Overseeing the large space was a walkway that was two floors above the main entrance. On one end was the auxiliary bridge, and the other led to the back end of the storage hallway. On the rusted walkway was a single figure with hair tied up in a ponytail, resting on the railing and looking down at the heart of the ship. Her clothes were stained with grease and sweat, her face covered in sweat. Her eyes held a distinct gaze of admiration about them, and her young yet hardened face betrayed bliss as they examined every part of the engine. Despite being only 23, she had been placed in charge of mechanics for her the exemplary ability she had shown in the academy. Although her placement in such a position fell down as a sad day for those who had hoped to see her on the front lines, her combat aptitude scores were just shy of her technical ability.

And so Lieutenant Ashley Endri eventually ended up here. Her abilities heralded as the sole thing keeping the oldest ship in the fleet alive and viable. After a particularly tough round of repairs, she now found herself at the end of the day looking down on her baby with an odd look of satisfaction. It was running, because of her.

Legate Lucius Verus stood from his command throne, adjusting the starched shoulders of his double-breasted greatcoat. The bridge was silent, except for the quiet beeping of various monitors and sensor arrays, the muffled clack of keyboards, and the deep bass thrumming of the mighty ship's engines. Less than half of his crew remained on the bridge, the rest having returned to their bunks for the night cycle. Of course there was no noticeable difference between day and night on the ship aside from the numbers displayed on the ship's chrono-displays, but it was currently twenty-two hundred hours, and the Legate wished for rest.

His booted feet making soft whuffing noises on the deep plush carpet surrounding the gilded commander's seat, Lucius had just cleared the hatch from the bridge, when a sharp beeping issued from a sensor readout. Swearing softly to himself, the Legate pivoted on his heel and demanded for a situation report.

"My Lord Legate, multiple unidentified fast-moving objects detected heading straight for the fleet!" One of his ratings announced.

"How did they get within firing range without our long-range scanners picking up their heat signatures?" Lucius demanded, half-rhetorically, knowing that he had no time to dwell over the recent past. "Belay that request. Maneuver us to a hard port and add more power to the frontal void shields. Begin loading of mass drivers and torpedoes, and give me an ETA on the lance battery."

His orders were followed immediately. Though nothing changed within the ship’s bridge, as the ship has its own artificial gravity, the view from the massive panoramic armor-glass viewports shifted drastically as the horizontal boosters fired, propelling the ship hard to port in synchronized pulses of plasma.

It was none too soon, really, as bright beams of energy sheared through the void where they had just been cruising, and into the belly of the C.P.N. Stargazer, the massive, ancient Naval cruiser that had been in the center of the small fleet’s formation. The Stargazer, leaking oxygen and debris out of the massive, cauterized holes drilled into the side of it, didn’t explode immediately, so they were lucky that it hadn’t been an engine kill, but things were about to get really, really nasty onboard the ancient vessel. Its void shields flickered into existence within a few seconds, but the damage had been done, and immediately, the pearlescent light whickered away, fitfully.

Must have hit a power relay, Lucius thought grimly, Fleet Admiral Beyer Is not going to be pleased with us when he finds out we deliberately avoided the shot that gutted his precious relic.

“Get the rest of the crew up here! And what about those mass drivers!” Legate Lucius Verus of the starcruiser Imperator absently stroked the pearl grip of one of the brace of laser pistols holstered at his belt. He could feel the fatigue clouding his eyes; he would regret this when he crashed afterwards, he always did, but right now he needed to be alert. With his other hand, he reached into a small pocket sewn into his greatcoat, retrieving a small injector with a short needle and phial of clear liquid protruding from it. Rolling up his sleeves, he gritted his teeth and rammed the needle into the intravenous feed he had implanted into his left forearm, wincing as the stimm took hold. He rode out the sudden adrenaline spike, welcoming the rush of clarity that the drug granted.

“The mass drivers are primed, my lord. With your blessing?” The officer trialed off, expectantly holding his thumb over the trigger rune.

“Send them all to Hell.” Lucius commanded.

Her respite was short lived as she instinctively ducked in response to whatever the hell was going on.It had barely missed the core, but after it died down she could see a gaping hole that cut straight through the center of the roof of the room. Most of the machinery was still in place, but the hull breach was creating such an immense pull on the room that it was only a matter of time before everything gave in to the overwhelming force. She really wasn't allowed to have a moment's peace, she thought.

The Lieutenant found herself distanced enough from the blast to escape the vacuum for a few seconds. Suppressing her anger and holding on the railing in case she couldn't make it, she bolted towards the auxiliary bridge. The old CIC had never seen any usage in the past and was almost derelict now, nobody having bothered to pay attention to it. The only things still functioning in the room were the main display and the Chief Security Officer's station, both of which she had renovated and updated as pet projects over time. The two were out place in the room, outfitted with the most up-to-date equipment available, proof if nothing else of her dedication.

She could hear the groaning of the ship's hull, the flicker of the lights, the wild alarms, and the gushing of the O2 into nothing. The lights had all taken on a red tint, and no sight remained of the usual fluorescent light that were so staple to starships. The artificial gravity generator was giving out, she could feel herself growing lighter and at random intervals floating up in the air a few inches before crashing back down. At this rate, the ship wouldn't survive much longer.

Making a beeline for the security station, she prayed there was still enough power for it to function. Since it was the auxiliary bridge, power would have to be rerouted manually to all but essential functions, and then rerouted back to the one working console. Thankfully, the holo-board she had installed on the console remained functional, running on it's own back-up power. It wasn't supposed to last for long, but hopefully it wouldn't have to. With no power available to any display, she furiously started mashing away at the keyboard, going off of her memory. Calling up routines and commands she wasn't even sure were entirely right, it gave a new definition to the term "flying blind."

It wasn't long before a small beep was heard coming from the station - communications had been successfully turned on. And it would be less than a second before she heard an incoming message from the bridge.

"Who dares mess with critical controls at crucial times like these?" Demanded a voice, it seemed familiar but with no face to match it to and little attention being paid, it seemed distant and unknown.

"Who's in command right now?!" Although the previous voice had no distinct trace of hostility to it, her voice most certainly did. Whereas his was distant and scared, hers was frustrated and angry.

"Captai-"

"Where's the Commander?" She had cut him off, not caring for the rest of the sentence. She knew the crew after all, no need to waste time. "Regardless, transfer five percent of available power down here, and all remaining power to life support and shields! And I'm going to need full access! Have all available shuttles filled with nonessential personnel and evacuated, nobody touch the fighter."

"Who the hell are you to boss ME around?!" Now the irritation went both ways. The Captain had never gotten along with the Lieutenant, and saw her as little more than a cocky upstart. He saw little need to do what she said - the ship was lost regardless, and the most important thing was to get the officers out alive. The rest of the crew could be replaced, the lieutenant included.

"I'm the only thing that's going to be keeping the god damned shuttle bay in one piece! And I'm also going to salvage this gods damned ship! NOW DO AS I SAY." It wasn't a request anymore, it wasn't even an order, it was simply something that had to be done. An irresistible command. Thankfully she had been broadcasting to the entire bridge, and although the Captain was still struggling to maintain control, the other officers on the bridge had already begun to do as she asked. The humming of the main display as it turned on was a welcome sight.

"Now for the next order of business." She said as she closed the channel with the bridge and opened a fleet-wide channel. "This is Lieutenant Endri of the C.P.N Stargazer, what the hell is going on out there? We're going to need more shuttles if we want to save as many personnel as possible off this floating deathtrap!"

Throughout the beeps of the holo-board were heard at almost inhuman speeds as she struggled to reroute power and overwrite old subroutines in an effort to at least contain the remaining atmosphere. She was hoping to be able to set up a weaker void shield over the craft, reversed and modulated only to prevent things from going out, not coming in. She could hear the pearlescent shield struggle into existence for brief seconds before disappearing once again, and this restarting of the shields was draining too much power. She had to give it one last try, this time rewriting the base code so it would create a shield reminiscent of the ones that this ship was originally equipped with, grossly inferior to modern shields, but still effective for the current situation. It flickered on, struggling to maintain it's composure, but slowly the vacuum began to die down, the air slowly settled down.

Yes! At least that's a start for now. Now to see what the hell is going on out there.