Water and Fire

 Episode Name:  Water and Fire

   Written By:  Eidolon

         Cast:  Eidolon, Green, Hurley, Idrani, Krylow, Takamura, Tholian and Watters.

  Produced By:  Starfleet

  Directed By:  Eidolon

     Aired On:  Mon Jun 20 03:52:33 2005

     Stardate:  55055.9

Time: Sun Jun 19 22:21:14 2005

Stardate: 55055.3

The runabout Cape Fear swoops through space, aiming for its objective -- the Nebula-class starship USS Copernicus. The mission is straight-forward: figure out who boarded the ship, who controls it now, and if it's still in hostile hands, take it back.

It's possibly dangerous -- and that's why Station 419-U's RRO candidate Hiroshi Takamura is in command.

GAME: Hurley contests her Shipboard Systems/Sensors vs Routine and Succeeds.

Takamura sits in the mission command seat as the little ship is dispatched to investigate. He takes a deep breath as they get closer to their objective. "Green, keep us a safe distance away until we can get a reading on what's happened here. Idrani and Hurley, see what you can find out on the sensors and comms. Watters, keep an eye out for any other vessels. Krylow, try to determine the status of the Copernicus' systems."

GAME: Krylow contests his Shipboard Systems vs Routine and Fails.

"Shields are up," Hurley answers Tak almost as soon as the orders come out o fhis mouth. "Though, there is anopen spot above the saucer - around the pod. I don't see anything but the ship here so far."

Krylow taps on the console at his station for a moment before swiveling towards the command chair. "There is subspace interference that's preventing a clean sensor scan. I'll try and adjust as best as I can."

GAME: Idrani contests her Shipboard Systems vs Routine and Marginally Succeeds.

. o O Green thinks, "A safe distance? From a Nebula-class? You're joking, right? That thing could eat us alive. And if we can scan them, they sure as hell can scan us. Let's see..."

Idrani touches a few buttons on her console. "There are some unusual communications readings, sir. But there are no active comm signals. She is not responding to our hail."

"Aye, sir," Green responds briskly, plying her controls to circle the shuttle around the taken starship a bit outside of weapon range.

"Keeping my eyes open, sir" Watters replies to Takamura with a little nod, his eyes staying on the console in front of him, keeping an eye out for any uninvited visitors to this particular party.

Takamura listens to the reports, frowning slightly. "Green, take us toward that opening in the shields by the pod. Once there, let's see if we can get some readings on the crew and the possibility of beaming into Main Engineering."

. o O Green thinks, "Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly..."

Hurley glances over towards Idrani and her report, then to Tak and finally back to her own console. Lips purse and she taps lightly at the controls, but otherwise remains silent.

GAME: Krylow contests his Shipboard Systems vs Routine and Fails.

Krylow turns back to his console, resuming his work from before. He doesn't say anything, however a frown now accompanies the work.

GAME: Idrani contests her Shipboard Systems/Sensors vs Moderate and Succeeds.

Idrani notes, "The shield generator for the pod is non-functioning. It's been damaged by weapons fire, signature unknown."

Green repeats, "Aye, sir," waiting until the Cape Fear is situated somewhat behind the Copernicus before turning to bring the shuttle up and over the starship. "Easy..." she breathes, slowing to match speed with the larger ship as she finds the spot she wants over the saucer.

Watters continues to watch his console, remaining silent for the moment. Not much point in idle chatter under these circumstances, after all... he'll save speaking up for when he's got something useful to report.

The Copernicus continues on course, just ambling along slowly. There isn't any response to the runabout's arrival.

Takamura looks out the viewport to examine the hull visually. "Hurley, can you determine what that comm signal is? Idrani, determine life signs and if there is anyone in Main Engineering. Krylow, I want to know if we'll be able to transport aboard her." He then looks over to Green. "Keep our position here."

GAME: Hurley contests her Shipboard Systems/Communications vs Moderate and Fails.

GAME: Krylow contests his Shipboard Systems vs Routine and Succeeds.

Hurley releases a soft puff of relief. Not being seen is a good thing, afterall. A few commands keyed in and her eyes narrow slightly before she simply shakes her head. "There's something," she admits. "Lieutenant Idrani was right in that they're unusual. I, unfortunately, can't quite make 'em out. I don't recognize the signals here."

Krylow nods to Takamura and then again goes to work at his console. After a moment he glances back up. "There is one spot we can transport into in the forward section of the pod. We can't trasnport into the rest of the ship."

GAME: Idrani contests her Shipboard Systems/Sensors vs Routine and Succeeds.

Idrani furrows her brow slightly. "I can identify the crew complement, sir. As well as an additional 15-20 life forms that I cannot identify." She touches a few more buttons on her console.

Green's fingers flick across a trio of touchpads. "Maintaining position, zero velocity relative to the Copernicus, Lieutenant." At Krylow's comment, she offers without looking around, "Probably how the hijackers got in. Which means they know about it, and they'll have it guarded if there's a brain cell or two working among 'em." Not that hijacking a Starfleet starship is the brightest action one can take.

Watters finally looks up from his console for a moment, just kinda following the rest of the conversation as it moves between the various other people. "Great. A reception party" Watters comments dryly, before turning his attention back to his console.

Takamura nods his head slowly as he rises from his post. "Well, it looks like we're going to have to board the Copernicus to get our answers. Watters and Green, you go in first armed with rifles and some stun grenades. Make sure that the things are clear for the rest of us. Then, Hurley and me. Finally, Idrani and Krylow. We'll try to work our way from the pod to Engineering. We are to avoid loss of life at all costs. If forced to confront the intruders, use less than lethal force. We don't want any casaulties."

Hurley glances towards Green with a small nod and looks back to her console for one last sensor sweep.

. o O Hurley thinks, "Clear us a path, Tay."

After another moment at his console Krylow frowns a little. "Actually, I think we have a problem. The area we're transporting into is underater. It appears that the pod has been configured for cetacean life support. There is, at best, half a meter of air above the water. Its also possible that some of the crew life forms detected may be cetaceans and they may be in the pod area. In short, we're going to be transporting into a big aquarium."

. o O Idrani thinks, "What Starship captain, in his or her right mind, turns a huge section of their ship into a pit for sea-demons?!"

. o O Idrani feels somewhat disconcerted at the idea of beaming into said pit of sea demons.

Idrani comments, "Sir, we can try to get a transporter lock on any hostiles in the beam-in area, run them through the runabout transporter's weapons filter to disarm them, and put them back, prior to our team going in." Upon hearing Krylow's words, her brow furrows at the thought of beaming into the dwelling place of evil deep-water demons. "That's... disconcerting." She murmurs to herself.

Green nods once, shifting the shuttle into autopilot, and she rises to head back toward the shuttle's armory compartment. Unlocking it, she withdraws a pair of rifles, tossing one in Watters' direction without looking to see if he catches it. She also takes a Type II to strap to her hip, as well as a Type I to slip into her boot. Pause. She turns to give Krylow a pained look. "And me without my fishing pole," she states dryly, before looking back at Tak.

. o O Green thinks, "Three times now. I WANT MY PROJECTILE PISTOL!"

Watters stands from his console and catches the rifle as it's thrown to him, before checking to make sure his type one is still in its usual place as well. That finished, he grabs a couple of stun grenades, securing those before giving Takamura a little nod. "Best armed swimming lesson I've ever taken" he comments idly, before adding a bit more formally "Ready to go, sir"

Takamura shakes his head slightly. "It never can be easy." He states as he heads to the armory to get a Type I and Type II for himself. "Is the entire pod underwater, or is there a hatch that we can swim to nearby?" Looking to Idrani, he asks, "Are you going to be alright? Or would you prefer to monitor the situation from the runabout?" Someone appears to be familiar with Andorians' distaste for water.

Hurley hmmms. "That was unexpected," she admits softly and turns back to her console, taps a couple of times and sighs. "But it shouldn't have been. Fifteen members of the crew are cetacean navigational specialists. Specialized habitat, most likely."

Krylow stands from his console as well, looking to Takamura. "We can replicate SCUBA rebreathers and googles letting us operate underwater. Or we can go the clunky route and opt for environmental suits. As for access points the turbolift shaft enters the pod and we'll need to swim a ways to get to it."

Idrani shakes her head. "I'll be fine, sir. I've already been to hell. This will be a nothing in comparasion. Besides, I learned to swim in physical therapy."

. o O Krylow thinks, "Why do we always choose the difficult path? An EVA walk would be fun. It would be like an EVA walk on the Aegis' hull."

Green shakes her head a bit and goes back to arming herself, attaching stun and flash-bang grenades to her belt. "Are there any lifeforms in that pod? Cause if there are, and they're hostile and cetacean, we are going to be at a /serious/ disadvantage going in. Might be worth it to drop a stun grenade in before heading in ourselves."

Watters nods slightly at Green's suggestion. "Probably wouldn't be a bad idea at all..." He agrees, before going quiet again and waiting to see what direction things end up taking now.

Takamura looks to Krylow first. "Replicate the rebreathers and goggles. We're going to need as much mobility as we can get. Hurley, see if you can determine if there are any of the cetacean crewmwmbers in the pod. I'd rather not have to stun fellow 'Fleeters if we don't have to."

GAME: Hurley contests her Shipboard Systems/Sensors vs Moderate and Succeeds.

"Fifteen cetacean crew lifeforms seemingly confined in the aft end of the pod," Hurley murmurs as she looks over her sensor readings. "I don't see any other lifeforms in there, at least not from here. So, it looks friendly." She cants her head and flashes a smile to Tak before standing from her console. She does, afterall, have to get ready herself. "Like Lieutenant Idrani said, they're alive, so, maybe if they're conscious, we can get some information from them."

Krylow nods to Takamura and moves into the rear area to begin replicating the gear. He begins to toss rebreathers and googles to the team members. "Given the volume of the pod and the relatively low yield of a stun grenade transporting in a grenade is, well, useless. If anything it just might upset whatever is in the pod." With the replicating work done he slides his googles onto to his head and moves to arm himself with the Type II and a phaser rifle, along with the engineering kit and tricorder he brought along."

Idrani waits until Hurley has gotten geared up, making sure that no evildoers are sneaking up on them while everyone is away from their consoles. Then, she arms herself with a Type II and a standard issue knife. Just in case.

Green pauses to look toward Hurley, then nods. "Good." Catching and donning a rebreather (and beckoning for a second as back-up) and goggles, she moves toward the shuttle's transport pad. A quick check of her rifle, and she sends a nod toward Tak.

Watters quickly equips his own goggles and rebreather, before moving over towards the transporter pad to join Green. Well, it certainly wasn't what he'd planned on when he volunteered for this... but then, things rarely turn out the way they're expected in his line of work it seems.

As the team materializes, it's just as Krylow said -- underwater, with sand on the deck and algae waving back and forth in simulated currents. Beyond that, it's a standard Starfleet sort of corridor -- the red alert tracers flash silently, and it's a twice as wide than normal corridors, but those are the only differences.

Takamura appears in the underwater with the rest of his team. Pulling out a tricorder, he commences with the scanning. He also tries to orient himself to head towards the turbolift.

Hurley's tricorder is also immediately drawn upon materializing and gaining her bearings in the water. This is, afterall, not her usual work environment.

As Krylow materializes he brings the rifle to bear, covering the hallways in the opposite direction from Green. For the moment he just checks the surroundings and lets the other scan.

Idrani doesn't appear completely at ease in this environment. She is an Andorian, after all, but she does not look on the verge of panic, either. She uses a tricorder to scan the area as well, looking for the waterbound crewmembers.

Green swims forward immediately upon rematerializing, taking a quick look around before kicking to halt herself, hanging almost perfectly motionless in the water as covers a section of corridor, rifle at the ready.

Watters materlializes in the water, his head turning from side to side to check for any potential trouble that he might be able to see. Scanning with tricorders he'll leave to the other folks... under the circumstances, he'd sooner keep his hands on his rifle.

GAME: Hurley contests her Personal Equipment vs Moderate and Succeeds.

GAME: Idrani contests her Personal Equipment/Tricorder vs Moderate and Fails.

GAME: Takamura contests his Personal Equipment/Tricorder vs Moderate and Fails.

Takamura frowns at his tricorder as he makes some adjustments to the device. "Something must be interfering with my scans. I'm not getting any solid readings." Looking to Hurley and Idrani, he asks, "What about you two?"

Hurley motions down the corridor, towards where the turboshaft should be from them. "The fifteen crewmembers are there," she notes. "Well, in a bay over there." Glancing over to Idrani, she waits for hopefully more information.

Idrani checks her tricorder. "I'm picking up interference, sir. Not getting any clear readings."

After confirming the surroundings Krylow gestures aft of their position. "The turboshaft should be this way, if we want to move quickly," says, with a brief glance to Takamura.

. o O Krylow thinks, "We're sitting in the middle of an underwater hallway on a ship that appears to have been taken over by hostile forces and now we're sitting still. This is not smart."

Watters remains looking around for a moment, before finally seeming satisfied that nothing's in immediate danger of causing him a real problem... and so his attention turns back to the rest of the group, waiting for the ones with the tricorders to decide which way they should be headed.

The kelp continues to wave gently back and forth in the current, but the corridor remains still.

Takamura nods at the reports of Hurley and Krylow. Closing his tricorder, he replaces it on his belt, motioning to the lift with his other hand. "Alright, folks, let's head over to the lift. Maybe we can also get some information from the crew."

"Turbolift?" Christine asks back towards Krylow. "Wouldn't using the jeffries keep us more out of sight?" But, a single nod in Tak's direction, and she keeps her tricorder out. You know. Just in case.

"If we had schematics for the deck and we knew where the jeffrey tubes where located they could be an option," replies Krylow, begining to move towards the lift shaft.

Green glances toward Tak to see his gesture, and lets herself drift toward the nearest corridor wall. Pressing her heels against it, she bends her knees and pushes off toward the lift shaft. The nice coincidence is that pointing her rifle forward means it doesn't provide much resistance against the water. She hopes.

. o O Green thinks, "Shoulda replicated flippers too."

Watters gives a little nod to Takamura's order, glancing over in the direction Takamura was gesturing, before going to push himself off towards the lift. Or at least, so he hopes. One of those things that training has never quite seemed to predict.

GAME: Takamura has the merit of Athletic Ability at 2.

GAME: Takamura contests his Athletics+A vs Moderate and Marginally Fails.

GAME: Krylow contests his Athletics vs Moderate and Succeeds.

GAME: Idrani contests her Athletics/Swimming vs Moderate and Marginally Succeeds.

GAME: Hurley contests her Athletics vs Moderate and Succeeds.

GAME: Green contests her Athletics vs Moderate and Fails.

GAME: Watters has the merit of Athletic Ability at 2.

GAME: Watters contests his Athletics+A vs Moderate and Marginally Fails.

The turboshaft is reached in good order, nothing amiss having happened along the way. Just more kelp fronds and sand -- this ship is certainly a hotbed of excitement, it would seem.

Takamura manages to get to the lift, though slightly out of breath for a change. Maybe it has something to do with him wearing the wrong sort of outfit for this sort of activity. He then presses the call button for the lift.

Hurley, energetic and intensely curious, reaches the turboshaft with little more than a pant through her rebreather. She turns her head, meantly headcounting each team member, then looks back to Tak. "Shaft," she motions to the shaft, of course, then to the door on the right side, "or cetaceans?"

Krylow comes up to the lift with the rest of them, easily keeping pace and keeping his rifle ready as he does. As the group slows he keeps a quiet watch out.

Idrani's first few strokes are a little shallow as she learns to compensate for a current, encumberence and being completely submurged. Not quite the same as doing laps in a swimming pool. But it doesn't take long for her to settle into an easy rhythm, moving toward the turbolift. Along the way, she takes note of the kelp and sand, with the same fascination a child may have for a scary bedtime story.

Green's last few kicks of propulsion seem a bit slower than before, but she keeps her neutral expression tightly in place. Finally coming to a halt with the others, she lifts an eyebrow at Hurley's question.

Watters is many things... but an aquatic creature is apparently not one of them. Watters reaches the turbolift, eventually, though lagging somewhat behind the frontrunners, and taking a moment to collect his breath again.

. o O Green thinks tiredly, "Note to self: get off your shuttle-driving butt and get in more PT."

While waiting for the lift to arrive, Takamura heads for the cetacean crew members. "Hello, I'm Lieutenant Takamura of the USS Cape Fear. Can you tell us what happened here?"

The question answered, Hurley directs her tricorder towards the shaft to at least get an idea of the environment they're about to enter.

Idrani looks curiously at the cetacean crewmembers, not entirely at ease, but not panicking either.

Green keeps an eye on the lift doors, moving off to one side a bit so as to avoid being visible to anybody who might be inside it when it arrives.

Watters remains near the lift door, deciding to keep an eye on it rather than move towards the cetaceans. Right now, just what's inside the turbolift seems the most likely threat pleasant, at least to his mind.

The room Hurley indicated is a large bay, filled with fourteen dolphins and what appears to be an orca. One of the dolphins chitters for a moment, and then the universal translator dutifully provides the interpretation. "We do not know. We were conducting our research when the ship was attacked. Several moments later, the door sealed and our access to the computer cut off. We have been out of communication with anyone else since then."

The turbolift, in the meantime, slides open. The car beyond is two things: empty and dry, the water being contained in the pod by a forcefield.

GAME: Hurley contests her Personal Equipment vs Moderate and Marginally Succeeds.

Takamura nods his head slowly as he hears the translated words of the dolphins. "Thank you. Do you know if we are able to pass through the forcefield to board the lift?"

"Turbolift looks clear," Hurley murmurs, finally looking away from her tricorder and to the dolphin crewmembers with a headtilt. Eyes glimmer for a moment, but she resists the squee of delight that would normally accompany such a discovery with a calm, professional, "as is the turboshaft."

Idrani looks at the crewmembers with wide eyes, particularly the orca and his big teeth. She makes a small sound of awe in the back of her throat. Then, back to business, "How long has it been since you've been locked out of computer access?" she asks, "And is it possible to attempt to override that from here?"

. o O Idrani feels suitably awed.

As soon as it becomes obvious that the lift provides no immediate threat, Tay Green moves to give the people-mover a hold order.

. o O Idrani thinks, "Those are... big teeth."

Watters seems relieved to find the turbolift empty, waiting outside for the conversation with the cetaceans to come to a conclusion, looking a little relaxed for the first time since they entered the vessel. Even if it's not likely to last.

The dolphin makes a few more noises, bobbing up and down. "Yes," the translator provides. "We do not know what is going on beyond this room, though, and have not for almost a day now. All our attempts to restore computer access have failed."

The orca starts to sing quietly as it swims back and forth, and the translator provides a rendition of a song about hunting a school of tuna in the Gulf Stream. The words aren't very beautiful, but the song itself is.

Takamura raises a brow slightly. "Yes, we can enter the turbolift or yes, we can try to override computer access here?" He asks, being slightly confused at the response.

Hurley purses her lips and studies the forcefield in front of her, holding out her tricorder to get really close, but just not quite brave enough to touch it for herself. At least, not yet.

Idrani's eyes are drawn to the orca again and its swimming. She blanches a little at the hunting rendition.

. o O Idrani feels Slightly nauseated and quite glad she isn't a tuna fish in the Gulf Stream.

"Yes, you may enter the lift," the dolphin replies after a moment. "The field only holds in the water."

Takamura smiles, bowing his head slightly. "Thank you for your help. We'll try to restore your access to the computer as soon as we can." Turning back to his team, he says, "Time to take a ride. Keep your eyes open when we exit. And be prepared for any sudden stops."

"Should we release them before we go, though?" Hurley asks, still watching the dolphins with curiosity and a hint of excitement. Oh, how fun.

Green nods once, turning to head into the lift. Hurley gets a bit of an odd look.

Watters moves to head into the lift as well, wanting to get back to a slightly more familiar element than the underwater environment was.

Takamura nods to Hurley. "If we can release them without too much trouble, yes. I don't want to spend much more time here than necessary. We don't know if we've been discovered." He then heads to the lift himself.

With the door open, Hurley just moves out of the way to let the sea beasties pass, a quick smile forming for the school of dolphins. This is exciting, afterall. But, her mind returns to the mission at hand and dutifully, she follows Tak, tricorder coming back up to the ready.

Krylow follows the rest of the team into the turbolift, remaining quiet as he does. As he slips through the forcefield and into the lift he relaxes a touch, but still keeps his weapon ready.

As they pass through the forcefield and into the lift, they drip on the carpet. The doors slide closed, and then, there's a familiar sound.

A very familiar sound, in fact.

The whine of a transporter being engaged begins in the compartment, and the interior fades out...

...only to be replaced by the interior of a brig cell, while on the other side, a six-legged crystalline creature with glowing eyes watches them. They've been captured by the force who took the ship -- and that force is, apparently, the Tholians.

The team still drips on the carpet, though.

. o O Hurley thinks, "Oops."

Takamura looks around at the brig, frowning deeply. As he looks at the Tholian, he states, "I am Lieutenant Takamura. Why have you attacked this ship and captured us?"

Hurley's eyes widen and she immediately brings up her tricorder. Hey, more scans certainly won't *hurt* matters, right?

GAME: Krylow spends a courage point.

GAME: Krylow contests his Systems Engineering+A vs Challenging and Succeeds.

As the team materializes in the room Krylow frowns slightly, eyeing the cell and the field. After a check of his rifle he drops it and pulls his kit off his back, checking it. Then he smiles a touch and steps forward to crouch near the shield by the wall. After a moment or two, the forcefield blinks off.

Idrani takes a quick visual of her surroundings, coming to focus on the Tholians. She doesn't say anything for the moment, waiting to hear what the Tholians have to say for themselves.

Green pauses, takes a glance around, and checks her equipment. She nods, unsurprised, at the results, and pulls off her rebreather and goggles. Tay's about to stow them, when the forcefield drops. The water equipment hits the floor as Tay darts for the cell entrance.

. o O Green thinks, "Okay. Now what the hell am I gonna do?"

A quiet mutter of something ungentlemanly escapes Watters' lips as he notices the state of his equipment. The frustration is quickly replaced, however, as he sees the field blink off. With the forcefield down, Watters finds himself with two basic options... stay, or move. Not having any particular desire to end up behind a reactivated forcefield, he chooses the latter option, quickly scrambling his way towards the cell entrance as well.

"This Federation vessel's attack on the Tholian Assembly will not be tolerated," the Tholian replies to Takamura. "You will be tried for war crimes and executed --" Of course, the talking stops when the forcefield drops. Instead, the Tholian lifts his weapon (having six arms/legs is -so- very handy) and opens fire.

GAME: Tholian contests his Coordination/dexterity & Energy Weapon vs Takamura's Coordination/reaction & Dodge (given Advantage) and Fails.

GAME: Green spends a courage point.

GAME: Hurley spends a courage point.

GAME: Tholian contests his Coordination/dexterity & Energy Weapon vs Hurley's Coordination/reaction & Dodge (given Advantage) and Marginally Fails.

GAME: Tholian contests his Coordination/dexterity & Energy Weapon vs Krylow's Coordination/reaction & Dodge and Marginally Fails.

GAME: Tholian contests his Coordination/dexterity & Energy Weapon vs Idrani's Coordination/reaction & Dodge and Succeeds.

GAME: Tholian contests his Coordination/dexterity & Energy Weapon vs Green's Coordination/reaction & Dodge and Succeeds.

GAME: Tholian contests his Coordination/dexterity & Energy Weapon vs Green's Coordination/reaction & Dodge (given Advantage) and Fails.

GAME: Tholian contests his Coordination/dexterity & Energy Weapon vs Watters's Coordination/reaction & Dodge (given Advantage) and Fails.

When the field drops and the Tholian raises his weapon, Takamura dives forward in an attempt to tackle it. Hopefully, this will prevent it from shooting his teammates.

Hurley wasn't quite expecting the hail of fire, and hits the deck with her tricorder flying in a rather spectacular and non-graceful move. Her left arm is just grazed, but otherwise she seems pretty, well, alive. And, rolling, she scrambles to get something in between the baddie and her. Being effectively unarmed makes for a rather unhappy Hurley.

GAME: Takamura contests his Coordination/reaction & Unarmed Combat vs Tholian's Coordination/reaction & Dodge and Succeeds.

GAME: Takamura contests his Fitness/Vitality vs Challenging and Fails.

GAME: Tholian contests his Fitness/vitality vs Takamura's Fitness/strength and Succeeds.

The shot just grazes Krylow and he grimaces. As Takamura goes for the bodily assault, Krylow moves forward swiftly and reaches for the weapon, trying to rip it from the Tholian's hand.

Idrani wasn't expecting the force field to go down and likewise, wasn't expecting the Tholian to suddenly open fire. Shooting fish in a barrel is the technical term and Idrani gets hit. If this was a real situation, she'd be dead. But as it is a hologram, she is 'removed from play'.

Great minds think alike. Green jumps toward the Tholian as well, and, just to prove the versatility of a Type III phaser rifle, aims the butt of hers in a nasty jab toward the thing's eyes. Heck, if nothing else, maybe it'll flinch in reaction and buy her teammates a few precious seconds.

GAME: Green contests her Coordination/dexterity & Primitive Weaponry vs Tholian's Coordination/reaction & Dodge (given Disadvantage) and Succeeds.

GAME: Tholian contests his Fitness/vitality vs Green's Fitness/strength and Fails.

Watters's charge is momentarily delayed as he sidesteps the shot by the Tholian before resuming his charge towards it. Lacking a firing weapon in hand, Watters seems determined to make the best of a non-functional phaser rifle. He takes one step past the creture before reversing and attempting to slam his non-functional rifle into the creature's back. The product of years of federation weapons engineering has just been reduced to technology a caveman would be very familiar with.

GAME: Watters contests his Coordination/dexterity & Primitive Weaponry vs Tholian's Coordination/reaction & Dodge (given Disadvantage) and Fails.

The Tholian goes down, its carapace cracking under the strength of Green's blow and sending red-hot fluid onto the deckplating. Of course, Takamura took it down with his tackle, but the sizzling sound made as he contacts it along his shoulder is proof of why you should not physically attack a Tholian -- they're extremely hot.

A lesson that Takamura learned the hard way as he rolls away from hte Tholian in pain as his head and shoulder are severely burned. He isn't able to do much but lie there in pain.

GAME: Hurley contests her First Aid/Combat Medic vs Challenging and Fails.

Hurley scrambles over to Tak, unlatching the medkit from her side and withdrawing a medical tricorder from inside. Eyebrows furrow and she simply glances back to Krylow. "Severe burns." Duh. "He'll need to go back to the runabout to get proper medical care. There's nothing that *I* can do here."

Krylow tosses the Tholian's weapon to Green, instantly switching to take command of the team. "Green, Watters, secure the door to main security. Run scans and tell me if anything is on the other side. Christine, can you transport him to the runabout from here or do we need to get back to the pod to do that?"

Green drops her rifle to catch the one thrown to her, takes a quick look at her new toy... er, weapon, and heads for the door, pulling out a tricorder. Krylow gets an odd look in passing, though she's too busy to comment.

"If I might offer a suggestion" Watters says, though he does move over by the door, obeying Krylow's order. "We might want to see about securing more live weapons before we move out, if we can manage to get into the arms locker... since they appear to have helpfully put us into the security section"

GAME: Hurley contests her Personal Equipment vs Challenging and Succeeds.

As the doors to the main security section slide open, Green comes face to face with another Tholian. This one, at least, isn't armed -- and it squeals in surprise.

"That's what the scans are fo..." Krylow says, starting to respond to Watters. Then the door opens and he drops to a knee beside Hurley and Takamura. "Christine, we're pinned down with him here. We need to evac him. I know you can do this," he says to Hurley, though he's watching Green and Watters.

"He can be transported from here," Christine says after consideration and consultation of her poor, abused tricorder. "Someone will have to go with.." she looks up and over her shoulder at the sound of the squeal and eyes widen, which means speech has to increase rapidly to accomodate the bigger facial expression, "to put him in stasis. Then can come back." Of course, the can actually means *will*, and is heavily implied when she looks at Krylow just before she reaches for her combadge to initiate the order for the emergency beamout.

Green is dropping a lot of things tonight. This time it's the tricorder, as she snaps the Tholian weapon up to aim at the creature. "Shut up," she orders, sidestepping the doorway. "Get in here, and keep every one of those hands where I can see them."

Watters, meanwhile, decides to go for the intimidation approach to support Green, raising his rather useless phaser rifle and keeping it pointed at the creature as well... hoping the Tholian has no way of knowing it's non-functional.

Takamura tries to get into a seated position while Christine tends to him. Otherwise, he's not responding to what's going on.

The runabout transporter claims Hurley and Takamura, beaming them away. The Tholian starts to raise its hands, but is rather rudely interrupted.

"Simulation complete. You do not possess sufficient manpower to retake the Copernicus," the computer states in its cool tone, and the brig fades into the lines of the holodeck.

This, of course, brings the two evacuees back to the hologrid, and even revives the "corpse" of Idrani, who exits the deck without much ado or discussion.

. o O Krylow thinks, "Well, we're batting two for two. Two test missions, two huge mistakes. I wonder if Commander Ghorev is willing to try out for the position."

Takamura dusts his himself off as he rises back to his feet. He looks rather disappointed at the results of the simulation. "Well, that didn't go well at all. Mental note. Never try to tackle a Tholian." Looking at his crew, he smiles at them. "Thank you all for helping me out with this. I appreciate your time and effort."

. o O Krylow is very frustrated after this mission. Very, very frustrated.

Hurley scrunches her nose. "I was going *back*," she insists to the computer, lifting her chin slightly and eventually looking towards Tak apologetically. "You're welcome, Tak. I'm... so sorry."

Krylow is still wearing the frown he's been wearing for a little while now. He does nod to Takamura. "You're welcome, sir," he says, glancing around to the others.

Green turns empty hands into fists, which she plants on her hips while tilting her head to look upward slightly. "Wanna make a bet?" she tells the computer rhetorically, exasperated. Tay turns to give Tak a slight bow. "I'm honored to have participated, sir."

"Won't even give us a shot..." Watters mutters as the computer ends the exercise, before turning his attention back towards Takamura. "Glad I got the chance to come along" Watters replies, before adding "Just wish it'd turned out better"

With that, the second simulation for S419's new RRO officer comes to a close. The game is clearly afoot at this point.