ST:TTV102 | "Lost"
Updated: Mar 18, 2023
Stardate 93707.9
Mischa huffed and blew a stray strand of usually well kept hair from her face as she watched the hatch seal on the last of the escape pods. Regardless of all the command training she had undergone, the young woman had never aspired to starship command for want of avoiding days such as this.
Mischa huffed and blew a stray strand of usually well kept hair from her face as she watched the hatch seal on the last of the escape pods. Regardless of all the command training she had undergone, the young woman had never aspired to starship command for want of avoiding days such as this.
Whilst she had no intent of seeing out her brief stint in command of the Gainsborough with a Klingon'esque final moment of glory by going down with the ship; she was still a woman of honour in her own English way and so felt duty bound to ensure that she was at least the last person off the Gainsborough, and that duty had now been fulfilled as the last of their guests from the fleet departed.
She shielded her face as yet another power conduit blew overhead - showering her in sparks, "Warning: Ev-evacuation in pro-pro-p..." came the less monotonous sounding voice of the increasingly sentient Gainsborough computer. As basic as it was, Mischa was still struck with an overwhelming sense of admiration for how their computer had evolved. Most notably with it's morality as self sacrifice is a big ask of any sentient mind, let alone one which is still in it's infancy. She smiled thoughtfully - though the underlying sadness could not be obscured - briefly feeling a sense of pride with the thought that perhaps - in some small way - the crews actions during their time on board had helped shape the mind that was now working tirelessly to save it's crew.
"Thank you..." she mused out loud - still uncertain if the computer could truly comprehend the gravitas of her gratitude, not that it stopped her from expressing it as she ran a hand thoughtfully over the arch surrounding the inner bridge consoles as she moved to her escape pod. Mischa worked quickly to secure the pod for launch as another small explosion rocked the ship; bulkheads collapsing from above the bridge as the transparent dome above imploded. The air rushed out of the bridge with a sea of debris which tore the breach further as the hatch of her pod sealed. "S-s-safe journeys." came the computers voice through her combadge, causing an uncontrollable quiver of Mischa's bottom lip as a tear escaped one of her eyes and she hit the eject button.
Mischa was thrust backwards in her seat as the escape launched and rocketed away from the Gainsborough before settling into a standard cruising speed that the small pods inertial dampeners could manage. As the pod slowly drifted away, Mischa could see the sad remains of the Gainsborough sat amidst the debris of their task force and in that moment she knew; she had made the right the decision in evacuating the ship. For as she watched the ship shrink into the distance, she was momentarily blinded by the flash of an explosion as the Gainsborough's core breached.
Shielding her eyes, Mischa fought with the escape pods controls to counter the turbulence as the shockwave struck the pod. She was at a safe enough distance that it had largely dissipated by the time it struck her pod, but it was still a rough ride. The escape pod was suddenly rocked violently once more as it collided with a chunk of debris - Mischa only got a glimpse but saw that it appeared to be a nacelle from the Caelian. She gritted her teeth as the escape pod tumbled through space before being struck by a different turbulence. Mischa looked out of the viewport in awe as the giant enemy dreadnought passed right overhead before a wormhole opened off it's bow, "Bugger..." she cursed out loud as she felt her pod pull unwillingly towards the event horizon, there was no way it's small thrusters could counter the pull so she opted to use them to try and steer the pod in an optimal course to lessen the impact.
As the escape pod got pulled into the wormhole, the turbulence grew in severity. It was all Mischa could do to grip the small console in front of her as the pod tumbled through the anomaly. The dreadnought ploughed ahead at greater speed and soon exited it's artificial wormhole; causing the anomaly to collapse. In doing so, Mischa's escape pod was thrown back into normal space as well - albeit a long way short of the same event horizon. The pod continued to tumble through space as it entered the gravitational pull of a planet. Mischa could just about make out the looming planetary body as it circled past her small viewport over and over. She fought the turbulence with a gritted determination as she attempted to move her hand across the console to trigger the landing thrusters and stabilize the pod's trajectory.
It took longer than desired, and the pod was already burning through the unknown world's upper atmosphere before she was able to trigger the landing sequence. Coupled with the extreme velocity of it's approach, the pod's thrusters were unable to complete the deceleration process - evident as the structure began to fail and the viewport cracked under the pressure. Mischa braced as the atmospheric pressure exerted increasing force on the pod and inhaled deeply with the anticipated decompression.
The pod plummeted through the atmosphere with a sharp whistle to the interior as the seals were failing and air was rushing in. With her breath held and eyes closed, Mischa gripped tightly on the sides of her seat as she awaited the inevitable. The pod levelled out to some degree but bounced as it impacted the ground at high velocity; skidding through a wild landscape and ricocheting off trees left and right before eventually slowing to a halt on the bank of a body of water.
With the pod halted, Mischa immediately grabbed a rebreather which she strapped around her head before opening her eyes, as the wind had been knocked out of her by the rough landing. The pods canopy had indeed been compromised and a thick fog was already filling it's interior - blending it with the view outside. As she took stock of herself to first determine the lack of serious injury, Mischa unstrapped from her seat and hit the control to blow open the hatch. It launched backwards from the crashed pod to land several feet away with a dull thud as Mischa stumbled out.
She looked around to assess her surroundings and found the view to be largely unhelpful due to the thick fog. As she slowly controlled her breathing, Mischa worked her way around the pod to peel open the emergency supplies hatch and retrieve a tricorder. Scanning her surroundings, she confirmed a breathable - albeit thin - atmosphere and peeled the rebreather from her face, drawing a deep breath of natural air as she slumped back against the side of the escape pod - which still steamed from it's overheated hull cooling rapidly in the damp jungle ground, glancing down at the already less than pristine appearance of her uniform. She saw multiple ladders in her stockings and chuckled at how utterly inappropriate this attire was, here of all places, "Well, that could have gone better..."
Some of the local wildlife looked down apprehensively from the canopy high above; sunlight streaking down where it could squeeze through to cast a spotlight on the alien intruder to their habitat. One thing was certain; wherever Mischa was now; she was not alone.
Comments