Engineering

Posted on Tue 25th Jul, 2017 @ 2:13pm by Colonel Horatio Drake & Commander Zachary Hunt

627 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: For The Uniform
Location: USS Bretagne: Deck 7, Main Enginering
Timeline: MD-01: 2000 Hours

It had taken the two of them a little over two hours to navigate themselves only a few decks downwards into the bowels of the ship. Journeying through a ship with no power wasn't the easiest of things to do, especially in EVA suits. Halfway into their journey, Hunt has suggested dumping the suits to aid in their mobility. But the removal of helmets was as far as Drake wanted to go at this point... since boarding he had been feeling something ominous which seemed to only be growing at time went on. Presently he pulled open the final door to Engineering with his magnetic manual door releases. The smell was the first thing that hit him, it was musty like old leather or rusty metal and he could taste it in his mouth. Engineering had changed significantly over the past century, as ships grew more complicated so an increasing amount of systems needed dedicated teams with dedicated work space. In the days of the original Miranda Class, Engineering was simply one room. As such he could clearly see, as he danced his light beam from his rifle around, that this whole section was sealed, hence the musty smell.

Three bodies lay near the warp core, all armed with rifles from the day and lying awkwardly behind some sort of barricade. As Drake approached he could see it had clearly been a rushed creation with sheet metal and barrels being the main components.

"Who were they trying to keep out?" Drake said in a hushed tone, almost asking himself.

The barricade was facing the main entrance to the section, the doors tightly closed. "Do you see those scorch marks around the doors?" Drake pointed with his right hand to the black marks on the otherwise white bulkhead.

"I do. Very similar to the ones on the outside of the ship," Hunt stated.

"They're definitely scorch marks from phasers, probably rifles by the look of them. These men were clearly trying to defend engineering, but they were flustered and panicked." His mind now racing, viewing every inch of the place from a tacticians point of view.

"Maybe a possibility the ship was boarded?" Hunt half stated, half questioned.

"I don't think it was... if the ship was boarded then standard procedure, even in these days, was to dispatch security teams to critical areas, the first two being the Bridge and Engineering. Even if security couldn't get here, where are the rest of the engineering staff? Each shift would have seen at least twenty personnel fill this space."

He scanned around again. "When you're defending a large area with small numbers the first thing to do is spread out. You need arcs of fire coming from different directions to confuse the attacking force and stop them getting angles on you. One of these men should have been up there." Drake indicated to the upper section of engineering. "With the third further back on this level."

He took in a deep breath. "These men would have known that, it forms part of the basic tactical training for engineering staff for precisely this reason. This was rushed and unplanned." He was throwing up more questions than he was answering.

"And how do you propose we can ever get to the answers of this?" He asked Drake, assuming he would have an answer, even if one might not exist.

Drake frowned and shook his head making an audible groan, he had been yanked from his analysis by that ever lingering feeling of annoyance. "By getting the main computer online, Commander?" The sarcasm was strong but most certainly deserved.

"Bingo," Hunt replied, almost mocking himself in front of the Colonel. "Shall we?" He asked gesturing forwards.

Drake raised an eyebrow, "After you, Lieutenant".

 

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