The burns on his skin caused him great pain, but Queeg tried not to pay
attention to it. He had a job to do. The Voice had ordered him to give power
to shields and weapons -- a new enemy was approaching. Although it seemed practically impossible to give those systems any more power, they had to try. Queeg had now come up with a desperate plan to strip Engines One and Three of vital components and use those components to repair Engine Two. At least then he would have some power to give.
His staff was spread thin, and those who were still alive would be facing
certain death soon. Radiation flooded the compartment, and there was no way to stop it. With sadness in his heart, he looked at Engineering. The room was all but destroyed. Bodies lay scattered on the ground, among the rubble. Few systems were operational, but they probably wouldn't be for long if Queeg and his team couldn't get Engine Two running again.
The pirates had crippled them. They were at drift, totally motionless in
space. ~I should have known that our present condition would attract
others,~ he thought. ~They're obviously looking for an easy prey. Well they
won't take over *my* ship that easily!~ It wasn't only the ship they now had to protect, but also the Sphere of Influence. Taking a deep breath and
closing his eyes for a moment, Queeg set himself to the task at hand.
Stripping the Engines of their components wasn't an easy task. Many systems had overloaded and were still smouldering, while other systems were still on fire. It wasn't going to be easy removing those systems to get to the crucial components. ~I'm already burned,~ Queeg thought as he swept away the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand. ~A few more burns won't hurt...much.~
He noticed that the rest of his crew had trouble breathing. He himself was
short of breath as well. He also felt dizzy and was transpiring a lot. "Life
support must be malfunctioning," he said to the other engineers. "Work
quickly. Work for this ship. Work for the Fleet. Work for the House." His
voice was raised. "Work... for the Emperor!"
His plea fell on no deaf ears, and the already exhausted crew intensified
their efforts. Queeg was also stripping the engines of valuable components
like a madman, until the voice of his old comrade sounded through
the --thankfully still working -- communications system. =/= Voice of the
Light to all Senior Staff. Report to my Ready Room immediately. =/=
There came a reply through the open channel almost immediately. It was the ship's tactical officer. =/= Yes , sir I will be there in a minute's .
Togam out. =/=
"On my way, Enlightened," Queeg said solemnly as he struggled to stand up. The air was thin, it seemed. He had a hard time keeping his eyes open as he turned to his crew. "The Voice of the Light has called me to him," he said. "I must go. Keep working. I am going to tell the Voice that he shall have his power soon. Do not make me a liar." He was breathing heavily; the burns felt like torture. A continuous pain in the face and the arms made itself known to Queeg. "I have faith in you," he finally said to his staff. "The
Emperor is counting on each and every one of you. Acknowledge his thrust in you, and make him proud."
Realising there was nothing more to say, he left Engineering, stepping over
bodies and piles of rubble as he did. Unless they could get shields and
weapons back on line, they didn't stand a chance against this new enemy.
Queeg knew that he and his engineers would do their utmost best, but
frankly, the odds of their survival were slim at best. Yet Queeg knew that
one day he might die for the glory of the Emperor... and that day could very
well be this day.
~Thank the gods,~ Queeg thought when he realised that the elevators were still -- barely -- operational. He stepped in and ordered the lift to bring
him to the Bridge.
The Bridge didn't look like much anymore either. Rubble and debris lay
scattered everywhere. Bodies of good people who died at their posts, while
defending the ship, were clearly visible. The darkness that filled the
Bridge, the smell of fire and dead flesh, and the lack of breathable air all
added to the tense and almost unbearably grim atmosphere. Most of the
systems on this deck were fried as well. The viewscreen was non-operational, chairs had fallen on the ground, and there seemed to be holes in the floor where plasma conduits had exploded. All in all, this place didn't look much better than Engineering did.
There was nobody here, except for the dead bodies. Queeg knew that this was the case on most of the ship; the dead outnumbered the living. He took a few careful steps towards the ready room, and opened the door. There was no sense in knocking, because, after all, he had been summoned by the Voice.
Queeg saw the Voice of the Light sitting in his chair in what was left of
the Ready Room. With him were three others. Someone from Helm, a person from Medical and their Tactical officer. He realised that this was probably all that was left of the senior staff. This caused a pain in his heart that almost made him gasp for air. "Hand of the Light Xoanan Queeg reporting as ordered, Enlightened," he said to the Voice of the Light. He ooked his friend in the eyes and saw his pain. He bowed his head and swallowed. Pain was something they all had to get used to.
