Sickbay - Deck 3

Jayden nodded to the Doctor and left him so he could work on Capt Little in Sickbay without any interruptions from the Lieutenant JG, allowing him to fully concentrate on the Captain. Speaking sincerely, the Chief Science Officer made a comment straight from his heart before leaving the Medical Center of Event Horizon.

Lt. JG DeGrazzio: Take good care of him, Jacques.

The Lieutenant JG exited Sickbay and took the Turbolift down one level to Deck 4 and quickly walked to the Transdimensional Displacement Device Compartment and entered his security code to open the sealed door. Upon entry, Jayden immediately got to work on creating a Beacon that could send a message to Starbase 34 in Universe A-01A. Lt. JG DeGrazzio knew it wasn’t going to happen in a few minutes, so he worked as fast and as carefully as he could. The Lieutenant JG planned on contacting the Bridge to let Cmdr Cypher know as soon as the Beacon was ready to transmit. Until then, Jayden worked diligently on his project.
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Lieutenant Jayden C. DeGrazzio
Chief Science Officer, USS Infiniti

Bridge - Deck 1

Tollus sat in the seat offered to him by Cmdr Cypher and watched all that was going on around him. The Inquisitor was amazed at the piloting skills of LtCmdr Centares maneuvering Event Horizon through the asteroid field like a true professional Astro- Racer! Tollus watched the chronometer on his armband which showed the countdown to the self-destruct of Trivadia Core. There was only 15 seconds left before detonation!

Inquisitor Dak’Aar: We have 15 seconds before detonation, Commander! If we are not out of the asteroid field by then, we will get pulverized when the shock-wave passes through here!

Now that the Inquisitor expressed his concern to Cmdr Cypher, he held onto the armrests of the chair he was seated in and braced for the impending wave of force to penetrate the asteroid field, causing collisions and the shattering of all the giant rocks in space. Tollus really hoped LtCmdr Centares could get Event Horizon out of the asteroid field in time; otherwise they would be facing extreme damage to the ship, not to mention the possibility of lives being lost.
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Tollus Dak'Aar
Inquisitor, Ba'Dassian Confederacy

The Commander took a double look at the Main Viewscreen and could see nothing but a sea of asteroids ahead of them! This wasn’t going to go well for Event Horizon and that was a fact! Just to be certain, Thom announced the situation to LtCmdr Centares to see if there was any way he could get out of the ocean of rocks in time to Warp away at the time of Trivadia Core’s detonation.

Cmdr Cypher: Ajay, tell me you can get us out of the asteroid field in the next ten seconds! If not, we're going to get pulverized in here!

The XO waited for like an eternity to hear back from the Flight Control Officer in hopes that he could confirm his ability to get Event Horizon out of the asteroid field before the shock-wave caused a fatal collision between a floating rock and the ship itself. Thom’s stomach was getting twisted in knots over the suspense of waiting to hear word from LtCmdr Centares. If Cmdr Cypher thought it would get Ajay to respond faster, he would scream SPEAK! as loud as he could.
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Commander Thomas R. Cypher
Chief Engineering Officer, USS Whitestar

Ajay’s stress level was going through the roof as he piloted Event Horizon as fast as fast as he could through the asteroid field. Narrowly missing rocky debris as asteroids collided with each other; the Lieutenant Commander didn’t dare increase their velocity more than they were already going. They were certainly in a quandary!

Lt. Commander Centares: I’ve got us going as fast as I can, Commander! This is the only way out of the system that isn’t covered by that fleet of hostile ships!

The Chief Flight Control Officer did the best he could, making sure they didn’t sustain an impact from any of the asteroids and fragments bouncing off each other. Ajay was literally flying by the seat of his pants, making sure they avoided any collisions with the large rocks. LtCmdr Centares knew an impact would cause them damage beyond their ability to ever make it out of the system alive.
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Lt. Commander Ajay K. Centares
Chief Flight Control Officer, USS Oriskany

Thom watched the countdown to the destruction of Trivadia Core like a hawk and the knots in his stomach got larger and tighter was the numbers reduced. There was no way they were going to be out of the asteroid field in time to be clear before the shock-wave hit them. When the countdown timer reached zero, the XO called out to all hands on the Bridge and throughout the intercom system of Event Horizon!

Cmdr Cypher: Attention all hands! Brace for impact!!

The moon exploded in a huge fusion blast, like the reactors of a dozen Starships! The shock-wave quickly moved through the asteroid field and caused many collisions which created thousands of rocky shards to come their way. Once the blast reached the ship, it caused Event Horizon to ricochet off of a large asteroid before the giant rock was pulverized by the wave of kinetic energy. There was sparks and explosions all over the Bridge and members of the Command Deck were rocked heavily in their chairs.

Cmdr Cypher: Cole, damage report! Ajay, keep us from hitting anything else!

The XO waited to hear the news of how bad they were damaged from Lt. Mitchell, the Chief Operations Officer, once he got his bearings. Ajay seemed to be fine, just shaken from the blast and the impact with the asteroid. The Commander looked over at LtCmdr Graham and saw that he was fine as well, but Thom was curious about Jayden and Jamie. They were in highly dangerous areas of the ship, and could’ve received severe injuries. The report from Cole is what the XO was waiting on the most as this time.
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Commander Thomas R. Cypher
Chief Engineering Officer, USS Whitestar

The Lieutenant was somewhat rattled by the impact they all felt and activated the fire suppression systems throughout Event Horizon to assist in putting out the multiple fires that sprang up due to all of the overloads in the conduit systems. Using his console, Cole was able to determine the damage to the ship was quite severe! The starboard Warp Nacelle had taken a direct impact and was leaking Warp Plasma like a sieve! By the way the damage shown on his console, they would not be able to use the Warp Drive at all! The Lieutenant reported his findings to the XO immediately!

Lt. Mitchell: Commander, we’ve taken a direct impact on the starboard Nacelle and we’re leaking Warp Plasma profusely! We need to take the Coaxial Warp Core offline immediately and we’ve got no Warp Speed to get us out of here! There’s conduit overloads all over Event Horizon and the fire suppression system is handling the breakout of flames throughout the ship, so that’s good news. But the plasma leak has rendered the Cloaking Device inoperable due to the outpouring of radioactive particles. It’s like we’re sending up a flare to all the ships out there announcing where we are.

The Chief Operations Officer felt sick to his stomach. This could really be the end for them. No Warp Speed, no Cloaking Device and the core having to be taken offline meant weaker weapons and Shields. Cole really wished Capt Little hadn’t decided to mentally take a powder and abandon his responsibility to get the ship and crew back home to SB34. Cmdr Cypher was doing an excellent job, but having the 2 of them on the Bridge at a time like this would be so much more beneficial than having the XO doing it all alone.
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Lieutenant Cole S. Mitchell
Chief Operations Officer, USS Whitestar

Ajay did what he could to steer Event Horizon out of the remaining debris of the asteroids. It was very difficult and on occasion everyone would hear the clunk of a small rock bouncing off the hull of the ship. This happened numerous times and embarrassed the Chief Flight Control Officer to no end, but all he had to work with was the maneuvering thrusters at this time.

Lt. Commander Centares: I'm doing my best, Sir!

After a few more clunks of rocks hitting the hull, Event Horizon cleared what was left of the asteroid field and was now free to navigate away from the area. LtCmdr Centares could see the hostile vessels approaching their location at a rapid pace! This was a terrible time for them to lose their Coaxial Warp Drive and Cloaking Device. With the core shutdown, they wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight against the ships of the Emerald Chain.
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Lt. Commander Ajay K. Centares
Chief Flight Control Officer, USS Oriskany

Transdimensional Displacement Device Compartment - Deck 4

As soon as the Lieutenant JG picked himself up off the deck, he got back to work on the beacon to contact SB34 and alert them to Event Horizon’s situation! Jayden didn’t know how long they were going to have power, so he had to think up a fast message to their home base! After a few seconds of thought, Lt. JG DeGrazzio programmed the message into the Transdimensional Displacement Device and sent it off! The message gave their approximate coordinates in Universe C-57D, the status of the ship and crew and that any assistance would be appreciated. After Jayden knew for sure the message was dispatched, he contacted the Bridge to let Cmdr Cypher know he was able to get a message out.

Lt. JG DeGrazzio: DeGrazzio to Commander Cypher! I’ve sent off a brief message to Starbase 34 alerting them to our current situation and our approximate location, along with a request for assistance. I set it on repeat so they should get it relatively soon! Don’t give up, Commander!

The Chief Science Officer watched the TDD’s beacon and really hoped beyond hope that SB34 was receiving it and could arrange some sort of rescue before Event Horizon was captured and the crew taken as slaves. Unfortunately the beacon was one-way only, so getting a reply back from SB34 was not possible. But be that as it may, Jayden was still proud of himself for getting the beacon operating in enough time to function as a distress call that would hopefully save everyone aboard.
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Lieutenant Jayden C. DeGrazzio
Chief Science Officer, USS Infiniti

Bridge - Deck 1

Thom heard from LtCmdr Centares, Lt. Mitchell and Lt. JG DeGrazzio and felt a wretched pain in his abdomen. By the time SB34 sent a ship to assist them, it would be too late. There was only way to ensure Event Horizon did not fall into the hands of the Emerald Chain and that was to destroy the ship with all hands aboard. Dying in the line of duty was far more honorable than living as a slave. The XO shook his head as he knew what task he had left.

Cmdr Cypher: I’m sorry everyone, but we cannot allow Event Horizon to fall into the hands of the Emerald Chain, nor do we want to live out our lives as slaves. It is with a sad heart that I will order the self-destruct and hopefully we’ll take a few of their ships with us when we go. Cole, how soon before we’re intercepted by the hostiles?

The XO waited to hear the amount of time they had left before the ships were in range of the Coaxial Warp Core’s detonation. The blast would be great so Thom knew their destruction would overpower any of the Emerald Chain vessels that were close enough. There would be no point in jettisoning a log buoy of all that went down on Event Horizon since their launch from SB34 since there were no Starfleet ships in the area to retrieve it. Thom thought about what Jayden said about not giving up, but unfortunately they were out of options.
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Commander Thomas R. Cypher
Chief Engineering Officer, USS Whitestar

Cole had a shiver run down his spine when he heard what the Commander had to say about his plan to self-destruct Event Horizon. The vessels of the Emerald Chain were approaching their location from all angles now and they would soon be surrounded. The Lieutenant checked the amount of time it would take before they would be intercepted and gave it to Cmdr Cypher as requested.

Lt. Mitchell: We're looking at roughly ten minutes before we're completely surrounded, Commander.

The Chief Operations Officer did all that he could to prevent himself from shedding tears while there on the Bridge. Cole did not want to be a slave of the Emerald Chain or have Event Horizon in their hands either. So the Lieutenant knew the XO was making the wisest choice possible in this horrible situation. Lt. Mitchell was never sure what would be in store for him on the other side of death, but it looked like he was going to find out.
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Lieutenant Cole S. Mitchell
Chief Operations Officer, USS Whitestar