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File #8

The Warrior was still trapped within the thermal layer of Eranus III. However that was unlikely to last forever. The layer itself had helped to slow the descent of the ship into an abyss of pressure but eventually the lifeline would be cut and the ship with spiral down to crushing death.

Lieutenant Commander Yusa Kakriko, with his insatiable knowledge for science, had predicted that the ship was not actually stopped at all in its descent but instead, was falling at a reduced speed through the dense cloud.

He estimated that the crew of the Warrior had only two hours before the ship passed through the thermal barrier and descended into certain damnation.

The prospect was a chilling notion which had forced the crew to redouble their efforts in restoring power to the Warrior's crippled engines so they could at least hold their altitude and avoid certain death.

Commander Shon Tempest felt surprisingly helpless as he directed efforts to repair the dying ship. He had made a noble effort in trying to direct the crew and keeping morale as high as he could but in the back of his mind, he could feel something different...

...almost as if he was an imposter and he did not belong in this position. That was Captain Greyfell's job.

There had been no word from sickbay for over an hour and Tempest did not want to risk calling down, to an angry doctor who he knew felt the pressure of saving Captain Greyfell's life. However the tension was growing with each passing second and although every second was precious, time itself appeared to stand still despite the dire situation.

As Tempest sat on the bridge, he could not help but wonder silently, what would his next life be? Would he remember his commitment to the Federation, abandoning his own people's vaunted neutrality for a more active and direct approach? He liked this time, he liked this place.

He did not want to go yet...

"Commander" a voice cut through his somber thoughts like a precise arrow. He looked up, to see the ship's helmsman standing over him. His uniform was covered in grease and dirt as well as the dust that had been caused from the mountain debris all over the bridge.

"Yes?" replied Command Tempest, looking into the eyes of the young officer. He wondered for a split second, what would it be like for a being that only existed for finite moment in time? Was it even more terrifying to know that everything you are could be snuffed out of existence so easily?

"Chief Muraco has bypassed all the damaged injectors..." replied Nova as he stood in front of the seated Tempest. The only sound on the bridge was the gentle footsteps of the crew working around him, tired and demoralised and the ominous sound of the creaking doom from the ship groaning in pain as the pressure collected on it's hull. "We should be ready to reinitialise the RCS control unit..."

"Very good" replied Tempest. Finally there was a reason for a little optimism. "Would that allow us to get back into orbit?"

"No sir... The planet is far more dense than we expected, we'd need impulse engines to get back into orbit but it would allow us to main our current altitude."

Tempest sighed. "Well I suppose it's better than nothing..." he replied, trying not to sound disheartened. "When can we bring the thrusters online?"

"We will attempt a restart now, we have partial auxiliary power already rerouted to the working injectors."

"Very well..." nodded Tempest. He looked over to another ensign that was standing at the communications console. "Get me shipwide..." he ordered.

There was a notable whistle sound made to indicate that everyone on the Warrior could hear Command Tempest. He stood up and prepared himself mentally to make the speech. He had seen Captain Greyfell do it in dire circumstances like this and the crew were looking to him to be a leader.

"Attention crew of the Warrior..." he started, letting himself run somewhat on instinct and natural feeling as he spoke. "This is Commander Tempest, as you are all aware, Captain Greyfell is critically injured in Sickbay and therefore command has fallen to me. I know that some of you are scared... tired and hungry. But I also know that everyone on this ship is a professional. You have all earned your place aboard this ship and you are simply the finest crew in the fleet. We will be attempting to activate the emergency thrusters shortly in order to cease our descent. This will be a considerable strain on the ship, so be prepared for wide scale breaches and secure all essential systems, hopefully this will allow us to maintain our current altitude."

"Good luck to us all... Tempest out..."

He slumped down in his chair, looking at the slightly smiling faces of his bridge crew. That was how he knew that he had done a good job.

"Mr Nova..." he said, looking over his helmsman who was sat at the front console. "Let's do it..."

The ship began to shake, fighting off the intense gravity of the planet itself. The bridge rumbled and shook as the debris laid all over the floor began to jump about. The entire ship was at crisis point, if this did not succeed that the entire crew would be out of options. The hull of the Warrior moaned and creaked continually, culminating in a crescendo of fatigue that continued to raise itself in volume as if the ship itself was crying out in pain.

"Hull breach... Main Engineering, deck sixteen!" shouted Strato, who was manning the tactical station.

Tempest shot him an intense glare. "Emergency forcefields?" he commanded but Strato shook his head.

"Non-responsive sir..."

The entire ship felt as if it was coming apart, consoles sparked with the last flicker on power inside them, debris fell from the ceiling as the musical symphony of creaking metal came and falling debris came to an apex and then...

Nothing as the thrusters blared to life, restoring balance to the ship itself.

Tempest breathed a sigh of relief with everyone else on the bridge. At least the thrusters would be able to counteract the gravitational pull of the gas giant they were trapped in... but only for the moment.

Still, they had bought themselves some time. The most precious resource they had available to themselves at the moment. The Warrior had performed her function admirably and Tempest allowed himself to smile, for a moment. As Captain Greyfell had told her...

"This old girl would not let them down..."

Starfleet had considered phasing out the Sovereign Class project after the disappearance of the Enterprise-E and the desire for newer ships that integrated Quantum Slipstream. But Greyfell knew that the Sovereign Class would not fail them, the Warrior would not fail them.

"Damage report?" he asked, looking to Strato who accessed his console with precision, despite his tired and stressed state, illustrated by his hair being all over the place.

"We are in good shape Commander..." replied Strato with professionalism. "Minor microfractures along the ships hull and hull breaches contained on Decks fourteen, fifteen and sixteen."

At least that was good news.

"I want repair teams to seal those microfractures before they become breaches..." ordered Tempest, getting up to walk off the bridge before his was stopped dead in his track.

"Sir..." replied Strato, the tone of his voice changing completely and making Tempest close his eyes, awaiting this news. He was not sure he wanted to hear it. "Two crewmembers were in Main Engineering when it breached sir..."

What!? Shon immediately turned around and walked up to Strato's console. "Who?" he asked, already dreading the answer.

"Lieutenant Commanders Muraco and Yusa Kakriko" replied Strato with solemn precision. The atmosphere on the bridge changed to one of shock as most of the crew could not help to let out a gasp. Tempest closed his eyes in failure. He had known both of them... no... he had failed both of them.

But there were still duties to perform and he would not let what happened to them befall the rest of the ship.

He nodded silently as he felt the entire eyes of the bridge crew upon him. "We'll mourn them later..." he said, trying not to show any emotion but to be a symbol of strength for the crew to rally behind.

"Sickbay to Bridge..." a tired and stressed Doctor Tao came over the communication system.

"Go ahead doctor..." replied Commander Tempest, already feeling as if he had been punched deep in the gut.

"Shon... I'm sorry... The captain is dead"