trans_9 | Lirath - Ship Survival

Run by: Dragon
NPCS: N/A

They're givin' it all she's got, captain! Despite the best efforts of the fighters outside, damage was being done to the ship, and it was creating strain on Stacy herself. While the organic parts were healing naturally, the mechanical parts of the ship, particularly the engines, were going to need constant repair during the fighting.

Could the engineering crew tasked with such a momentous undertaking keep up?

[ooc: Subthreaded]

The last time they'd fought the Ohm Cassie had been on the front lines. And aside from the failure to reach the Node, she hadn't done half bad. Now she was stuck on the ship and away from the action.

"Not fair." She muttered before catching herself. Really, this was more than fair. By all intents she should have died when that bomb exploded. And if she'd been at home she would have been stuck with disfiguring scars for the rest of her life.

But then Engineering started taking damage and her attention shifted.

She'd learned a lot about Engineering but hadn't had much of a chance to get hands on experience with it. Looked like she was going to have a baptism by fire.

She quickly went to work examining what needed fixing, mindful of any orders issued.

What didn't need fixing? A quick look at the display screens revealed a host of errors, problems, warnings, and alerts along with graphic references and options for further information -- though a leisurely read might be out of the question!

POWER DRAW AT 116%
Sustainable for 5:54:32
Shutdown of ancillary systems available

MAGNETIC MONOPOLE CONTAMINATION BREACH
Breach sealed
Decontamination magnet offline!!
97% of magnetic monopoles uncontaminated
Time to 15% contamination: 14:34:20
Time to 25% contamination: 21:12:14
Time to 50% contamination: 24:01:10
Time to 100% contamination: 25:15:49

TIDAL COMPENSATORS AT 117% SUSTAINABLE OUTPUT

LN175DF-P BLOCKAGE

BIOINTEGRITY FIELD: 73%

There were advantages to being a Yeerk. Schmuz just didn't have the same emotions as humans and didn't process the same way as humans, either.

Which was useful, because he had a feeling that if he'd been human, panic would have been setting in right about now.

He looked at the list of errors that came up, frowning. "I think it would be wise to shut down unnecessary systems at the moment." He moved to one of the terminals. "It would drop the power draw to more acceptable levels."

Even as he moved, some good news came along.

LN175DF-P BLOCKAGE vanished, replaced by Blockage cleared. The words held steady for a moment before scrolling off the screen.

POWER DRAW AT 124%
Sustainable for 3:12:10
Shutdown of ancillary systems available

MAGNETIC MONOPOLE CONTAMINATION BREACH
Breach sealed
Decontamination magnet offline!!
93% of magnetic monopoles uncontaminated
Time to 15% contamination: 12:34:20
Time to 25% contamination: 19:12:14
Time to 50% contamination: 22:01:10
Time to 100% contamination: 23:15:49

TIDAL COMPENSATORS AT 127% SUSTAINABLE OUTPUT
Error! Compensator 3112 offline!
Error! Compensator 2119 offline!
Error! Compensator 4005 offline!

BIOINTEGRITY FIELD: 55%

"Make sure you're shutting down only the unnecessary systems." She bit her lip. "Looks like we need to get the tidal compensators fixed, then we can worry about the decontamination magnet."

"All but emergency lighting in unoccupied areas of the ship, including the pod caverns. Also shutting off the air pumps to the pod caverns." He tilted his head. "There is plenty of air currently in the caverns that, given the average number when the pods open, there shouldn't be a problem for three or four days, depending on consumption.

"Frankly, if we cannot get these other things under control, they will not have time to worry about that." Though he could hope that there wouldn't be a pod pop. It would be one of the worse times for one to happen.

He nodded at Cassie's words. "They would appear to be the more important fix. Though I admit to being uncertain how, exactly, one would go about it. Stacy. Are the specifications for the tidal compensators available for us to look over?

In response, three different displays flickered to life, each of them displaying a different design variant. The three types worked in concert to dampen the gravitational effects that would otherwise shred both a ship this large and its inhabitants, given the massive variance in forces that could act upon it over its size.

Type A, the 2000-branch, was a paired/reflected sonic system. Matched pairs of finely-calibrated wave emitters passed ultrasound through channeled fluid systems to emerge at a variety of different points within the ship, where through reflected resonance they could focus a tight beam of sonic waves to provide precise compensatory pressure.

Type B, the 3000-branch, were large-scale pools of virtually incompressible fluid used to shield sensitive biological or mechanical structures within the ship. Massively low-tech, they relies on simple Newtonian physics.

Type C, the 4000-branch, on the other hand, utilized a combination of spatial folding and fermionic projection to literally annul forces occurring with boundaries of the ship and to a small distance externally.

Schmuz looked over the schematics, strangely quiet as he read it over. "So, we have one of each type offline." Not at all an ideal situation. "Very well. 3112 should be the easiest to fix. We simply need to figure out what the issue is. Then I think we should move on to 2119."

He was NOT looking forward to that type C, but they'd do what they needed to in order to keep the ship in one piece.

Cassie nodded. "Alright. How do we do we do that?"

Schmuz paused a moment, then took out his omnicomm and downloaded the specs. "Stacy, I also require the locations of these tidal compensators."

They'd just have to work out how to fix them once they got there.

A quick review of the specs might offer two interesting side noten to their problems.

First, the Type C compensators had a software-limited range and output. Their programming confined them to a specific range and deployment force in order to ensure instant-on availability in the event of sudden external events. By hardware design, however, they were omnidirectional in nature.

Second, both the Type A and C models were design-limited to 75% theoretical capacity -- another safety precaution, as the maintenance curve progressed exponentially with advancement. Overriding this might be possible -- though it also might put the ship in dramatic need of repair later.

Compensator 3112 was a fluid pool next to the Hangar. It had been breached and drained. While theoretically repairable, it required fluid from Stacy's bioprocess, much like a sinus which was beneficial when clogged.

Compensator 2119 and Compensator 4005, however, were both accessible from the Engineering Core main shaft, through branching access tunnels.

He hadn't really been aiming to contribute much to the battle, other than perhaps slip away quietly into some sort of escape shuttle and witness this abominable ship burning from a distance. But the Ohm's forces had closed in more quickly than the Master expected, and the last he'd heard the Hangar was now overrun with the things.

So he made his way to Engineering, determined to at least try to hold the ship together while he was on board-- and perhaps incorporate a few of his own 'suggestions' into the hardware. The ship seemed all too happy to guide him to the Core, its unwanted tendrils slipping past his shoulders, ankles, and back, and making him shudder.

At the threshold, though, he stopped cold. Even with the all-important goal of survival firm in his mind, the sight of the Doctor and his hybrid pet already working at one of the stations made him want to turn round again.

Call it an extra sense - a Master Sense? No, bit overbearing, better to go with something else -- but the Doctor happened to look up just as the Master came into view.

The Doctor pushed up his goggles, his face stained with lubricant or what he assumed was the next closest thing coming from a living ship and you know, maybe that wasn't worth thinking about in too much slimy, oozing...detail.

In a way, he was half-surprised to see the Time Lord even there at all. Why, he expected him to have, oh he didn't know, "borrowed" a transport and abandoned ship as soon as he could, just because none of this was worth getting killed over. Having the Master arriving to help was a small shock on its own. The Doctor hoped it was going to be a pleasant one. He gave the man so many chances, more chances than anyone else, and just when he thought he had no more to give, the Master might commit one or two small acts of kindness, just enough to make him think that maybe there was something in there after all. Apparently getting older and a new body hadn't quite changed things. The Doctor furiously waved the Master over.

Like he said, he generally liked to be an optimistic if he could. Even about the Master. It was more of a generally guarded optimism, but still!

"I take it you haven't seen one of these things before!" the Doctor had to yell over a weird thump rattle thump thump in one of the conduits overhead. It had that distinct sound of it wasn't supposed to do that. "Well, come on!"

He scooted to give room for the Master, turning to shoot River a warning look. After that conversation with her in the Obs Deck, he wanted to make sure she behaved and didn't take it upon herself to preemptively have a go at the Master because she was under the mistaken belief she knew what was best. The very cheek! The Doctor pulled his goggles back over his eyes, licking his lips as he crouched in front of the terminal. One of the screens was blinking rather urgently, as if they all needed reminding that yes, they were under attack, as if they hadn't quite noticed.

River was standing just a few feet from the Doctor, her back turned to him, apparently she was standing guard against any oncoming Ohm threats - and boy was she armed! A heavy plasma rifle locked secured in her hands and it was trained on the Master before he'd even rounded the corner. She'd sensed him. River was a bit of a Time Lord jedi - she could sense ripples in time and space, not nearly as strongly as a full blooded Time Lord - but unlike the peaceful Time Lords, she'd managed to tune that sense into a deadly skill. Or perhaps she'd been trained that way. It explained how she could turn her head, talk, and shoot a Silence dead on.

Unlike the Doctor's meek, mild companions; this one was a killer. It could be seen in her eyes. Those cold, merciless, heartless eyes. The eyes of a murderer. She would kill him if he made a wrong move. When the Doctor gives her that look, she sighs and lowers her rifle. Not completely disarming herself, but at least he doesn't have to worry about her getting trigger happy.

"Fine. I've got both your backs."

Edited 2011-08-14 17:40 (UTC)

Well, there was nothing for it now but to help or run... and really, there was nowhere to run. The Master had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes at the unflagging hope in the Doctor's own. Not for his benefit... more to avoid giving River any reason to raise that weapon again. The last thing he needed (well, other than the Doctor's disgusting optimism) was yet another girl aiming yet another gun at him. Might as well look as if he were trying to help out of some vestige of kindness in his hearts.

Instead he gave her a nice, wide smile, that was also clearly nice and fake. "I feel safer already," he remarked, sidling up behind her and leaning over the Doctor's shoulder to have a look at the terminal.

At first blush, it didn't look good.

The Master eyed the Doctor's greasy appearance and began stripping off his suit jacket and tie and rolling up his sleeves.

"You're going to owe me a new suit after this," he snapped at the Doctor, as if it was his fault all this was happening.

The situation, perhaps obviously, hasn't improved while they spent their time debating the merits of an Enemy Mine situation.

Besides, given the reports flashing on the screen, it really was in their interest to do something about these problems.

The touch-sensitive displays would respond to any tap on their reports with further information. And to address the problems, the main console beneath them offered, for this shining moment, access to the workings of the ship for the relevant areas.

Not that there was a guarantee that these problems could be addressed remotely...

The Doctor peered at the display. Oh, right, yeah, he'd seen that before. Well, not that specific screen before, but blinky flashy lights in general screaming how urgent they were and something along the lines of you better do something about it, only loads more technical and also with more countdowns. These sorts of things did love their countdowns. He wasn't sure why. He supposed it made the computer feel important and useful.

The Doctor lowered his goggles back over his eyes with a snap of elastic. "New suit, yeah. You can borrow one of mine, assuming we all survive this. Now -- "

The display flashed particularly urgently this time. The Doctor supposed he better get in there, the Time Lord crouching and deciding that as the skinniest one there, he had the best chances of fitting through that access shaft. Tube. Blood vessel? He wasn't quite sure just yet. The Doctor started to sonic the protective covering off, working quickly despite that disdain toward all things red and blinky. It came off eventually with a squelchy sort of pop, leaving a string of sticky goo to dribble off as he passed it to River.

Better she hold onto that and make herself useful instead of standing there with a rifle ready to aim at the Master.

The Doctor bobbed his head, peered into the hole and then clapped his hands together and rubbed them briskly.

"Some sort of blockage at LN175DF-P," he said, as if he was suddenly an expert. It didn't seem to occur to him that both River and the Master knew him well enough to see through his bluffing. The Doctor had grown so used to the posturing for his friends that it was an unconscious habit now. "I'll get it sorted. Just pull me back in a few minutes, understand?"

He looped what looked like a positively horrid collection of handkerchiefs tied end to end around his stomach, giving it a good tug to make sure it would serve as a rope, and then passed the end to the Master. Maybe it was a gesture of hopeful goodwill. The Doctor didn't wait around, instead getting on his hands and knees and crawling into the dark slimy access shaft. It was rather like being up a person's nose, the Doctor having to hold his breath and wishing this was one of those times he had a human's ridiculously weak sense of smell.

Edited 2011-08-15 05:09 (UTC)

River had that 'killer' look on her face - right up until the Master began to strip out of his outer layer of clothing. It seems not even River Song could pass up an opportunity to stare and comment - she does have her mother's libido after all. "Don't stop on my account. Your shirt'll get filthy as well, you should take that off too." So apparently, she could flirt with an enemy. A small grin cracks that dangerous look on her face, possibly breaking some of the tension in the air.

"Honestly, you boys and your ships. I swear, if the Doctor spent half as much time caressing me as he does the TARDIS or Stacy, I'd be a lot easier to deal with." She mutters as she takes the protective covering and leans it against a nearby surface. No such luck, she needs her hands free in case some Ohm threats show up.

She watches the Master as the Doctor hands him the end of that makeshift rope. Not really trusting him. Whatever the future Doctor had told her about him we'll never know, but whatever it was seems to have been enough to make an impression on her.

Edited 2011-08-15 15:34 (UTC)

LN1: Line 1. The primary line for the fluid in question. Easy enough to locate -- Line 1 is a massive tube threaded amidst numerous primary lines.

75: The access location closest to the blockage. In other words, heading the right direction.

DF: Dilatant fluid. One in which viscosity increases with the rate of shear strain. A few logical extrapolations are all it might take to conclude that this particular blockage has occurred in Stacy's equivalent of synovial fluid, or in other words, joint lubricant.

-P: Progressive. The blockage is worsening.

Of course, even without all that information, identifying the problem area is easy -- amidst all those pulsing, stretching, twisting tubes of relentlessly gruesome biofluids, one section of a vessel wide enough to make an ancient oak envious pulsed and throbbed with a stretched, red, inflamed look about it.

-P

The Master was too preoccupied with trying not to gag at the sight of the slime-covered bit of equipment passing by him (and, he noted with displeasure, dribbling all over his shoes) to really catch on to what the Doctor was planning until it was too late. Suddenly there was a rope of garishly colored handkerchiefs in his hands and the Doctor disappearing up a dark, equally slimy shaft.

He briefly considered just letting the stupid thing go, out of spite... and to see what would happen. One glance at River stopped that idea in its tracks.

Instead, the Master smiled patronizingly at her, not feeling terribly threatened by her words. He'd been privy to the hopes and dreams of far too many companions to ever expect the Doctor to actually fulfill any of them. Though he was never quite sure about that Rose girl. Besides, she seemed just as keen on flirting with him. That could have its own advantages.

"You do realize he has absolutely no idea what he's doing." Oh, dear. Did he just make a double entendre?

Oblivious to the flirting going on behind his back, the Doctor crawled up the tunnel, feeling the top of his head squishing against the top until he could feel strings of the stuff oozing down his cheeks.

All fascinating in itself and the truth was he was dying to know about its composition and maybe he'd have a look once they weren't under attack. Hopefully maybe. Good thing to be, a Hopefully Maybe. With that in mind, The Doctor kept crawling, trying to peer past his fogged-up goggles into the murky darkness ahead. It didn't take long for any sounds of life, aside from Stacy, to become muffled and then drowned out entirely until all that remained was the muggy air in the tube, hot enough that it almost seemed like a solid thing in its own right; he could already feel the sweat ringing around the goggle's straps. It wasn't the same stifling silence like when he'd been trapped in the Pandorica, at the very least, and in a way, he decided he wasn't entirely alone (thankfully. Horrible, horrible thing to be alone like that!). Mad, brilliant, bafflingly amazing Stacy was around him and she might not even register him as a lifeform, but at least he wasn't in this alone. Surprising how just knowing the little things like that helped things along.

He'd pat the big girl if he wasn't trying to avoid falling on his face in the tube.

The handkerchief rope tugged deeper into the access tube, bobbing as plaid, rainbow, polka dots and a few rows of faded pastel cats were pulled in after the Doctor. He followed the tube, peering at the other ones he could see. That was the problem with too many life or death situations -- all rather difficult to stop and have yourself a good look, especially with a human's dulled senses! Really, he had no idea how they managed it sometimes. The Doctor paused to catch his breath, faintly surprised he was even having trouble breathing at all. Time Lord, bigger lung capacity, among other things. He'd barely gone past what was at a guess a human's comfort zone, what with their dislike of dark smelly spaces.

And why did it feel like his eyes were tearing up in the goggles?

Shaking his head, giving a great big wet sniffle as he felt his throat tighten, the Doctor kept right on crawling until he located the inflamed section. He sat back on his knees. Looking at what looked like the universe's worst blister made him wince. Really put it into perspective complaining about your own blisters due to bad shoes! Ouch, poor Stacy! Reaching up to rub at his nose and cough, all without quite realizing it, the Doctor started to fiddle with his new new new sonic's settings, trying to ignore that oddly interesting light-headed feeling starting to creep up on him.

He went to work on the inflamed section. The sonic screwdriver buzzed green as he tried setting after setting, sitting on his knees in a puddle of muck that was making his head spin.

Unfortunately the Doctor couldn't bluff to Stacy the way he could to the others. He couldn't lie to her and tell her everything ever would be okay because he was here, wave around his psychic paper and bluff and fib and have it all come out the better because everyone believed what he was saying just because he looked like he was that sort.

Instead the Doctor worked in the dizzying silence, until it felt like time lost all meaning to him in there.

[[OOC: okay, I guess River and the Master will pull him up when they notice the line's gone dead/Eleven's stopped working? JUST SAVE THE BOWTIE YOU GUYS 8D]]

Edited 2011-08-16 01:32 (UTC)

By a massive stroke of good fortune for ship and crew both (and a quite unlikely but actual coincidence), sonic energy was exactly the proper treatment needed to cure this blockage. Inside the tube, massive acidic protein crystals dissolved back into the fluid; the bulge diminished as the vessel's natural elasticity reasserted itself.

The work might have slowly stopped, but it had been enough.

Blockage cleared, the screen read, before it scrolled off the screen to leave dataspace to other, more urgent matters.

River seems to divert her attention between keeping a watchful eye on the Master - no sudden moves! - and paying careful attention to the handkerchief rope. It's clear from the look on her face that she thinks the Doctor is insane for handing that rope off to the Master instead of her. Then again, she'd come to terms with the Doctor's lack of sanity a long time ago. Amazing how he could keep surprising her with the depths of his stupidity though.

"Oh, but he's a very fast learner." River quips back with a sly, seductive grin of her own. It's clear that she's highly intelligent and witty to boot. "Quite innovative too." Almost as if she knew the Doctor intimately. One never quite knew with River Song. The Master didn't even know she was from the Doctor's future yet.

It wouldn't become obvious just how much she cared for him until she noticed that the handkerchief rope had been deathly still for the past few minutes. The look on her face changes drastically from smug satisfaction to fear and worry, "Something's wrong!"

She rushes over to the Master and shoves him quite roughly out of her road with the butt of her rifle - not hard enough to hurt - just enough to make him drop the rope and stumble backwards. Dropping her rifle, she tugs almost frantically on the rope, "Doctor? Are you alright? Doctor?" She's constantly talking while pulling on the rope, managing to haul him out of Stacy a little at a time. She's stronger then she looks, apparently.

There it was, plain as the look on her face. River didn't just fancy the Doctor, she loved him. The way she wiped that fluid from his face, removed his goggles, and fussed over him was proof enough. "Doctor? Answer me!" She continues to wipe the fluid from his face - he's dripping with that stuff!

"Answer me or so help me....."

Edited 2011-08-16 02:00 (UTC)

Really, the Doctor should have counted himself lucky the Master was still bothering to hold onto the rope at all; he'd long since found monitoring the Doctor less interesting and brushing at the gunk that had somehow accumulated on his trousers. Rassilon, he'd barely even touched anything yet, certainly not enough to have this stuff stubbornly clinging to him like... Well. Like the Doctor, really.

To his credit, he didn't notice the rope had gone slack any later than River had. But she didn't give him time to consider doing anything about it. With a surprised grunt, the Master stumbled out of her way, dropping the rope entirely... and sliding right into a pile of goo.

"Was that really necessary?" he snapped, watching her frantic actions with disdain. Oh, she had it bad for the Doctor.

He thought that up until the Doctor's limp frame tumbled out of the tube. And then it was the Master's turn to push River roughly aside, checking the Doctor over expertly.

"He'll be fine," he commented acidly. "Idiot passed out in the tunnel." The Master smacked the Doctor across the face, hard. His ministrations were obviously very different from River's.

ENGINEERING

Re: ENGINEERING

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Tidal compensators -> assigned to this team!

Re: Tidal compensators -> assigned to this team!

Re: Tidal compensators -> assigned to this team!

Re: Tidal compensators -> assigned to this team!

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Eleven/River/Master Super-Team? (don't make me laugh)

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So, looks like the Time Lords are going to have reactions to Stacy's fluids here? >:3 *thumbs up*

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So, looks like the Time Lords are going to have reactions to Stacy's fluids here? >:3 thumbs up