...Then It REALLY all Hit The Fan [Backpost]

Posted on Mon Nov 24th, 2025 @ 10:49pm by Lieutenant Xavier Leiko & Ensign Kateyo Fenn & Petty Officer 2nd Class Henry Washington & Lieutenant Commander Finnley Keating VII

Mission: Aeon's End
Location: USS Athena - Tertiary Engineering
Timeline: MD01 - Before "Taking Stock"
2304 words - 4.6 OF Standard Post Measure

"Henry... HENRY!"

With Finn and her team handling things in main engineering and the unfortunate demise of O'Connell, Xavier had decided to take up residence in the tertiary engineering room during their risky manoeuvre with the QSD and the Planet Killer. The room was usually offline when the ship was in its regular whole mode, but they needed as much energy as they could spare and what better source than a secondary warp core? They had done this plenty of times, running two warp cores to give the ship an extra boost; it was a standard procedure. However, it was advised that someone with seniority man the room, just in case it all hit the fan... and today was one of those times.

He had woken up with a shooting pain running up and down his left arm, and as much as he tried to move his fingers, they wouldn't cooperate. His mind was quickly overwhelmed by the panicked thoughts of his crewmates; however, the klaxons erupting from nearly every console forced him back to his own situation. It didn't take a master's in starship operations to know that they were in deep trouble. The ship had been battered, both inside and out.

Xavier pulled himself to his feet with his one good arm and winced at the pain that shot through his chest. No time for that now! He willed to himself. Every console in the room was flashing, reports of damage sustained from all over the ship. Every major system, secondary system, and even the subsystems were all reporting some kind of damage. "Oh, this isn't good," he said to himself, right before a groan brought him back from his reverie. "Henry... HENRY!" The crewman was lying on the deck just a few feet from where he was standing. He slowly made his way over. ~HENRY, GET THE HELL UP!" He screamed as loudly as he could in the human's head.

Henry's eyes flew open. He tried to register where he was and how he had gotten there. The last thing he remembered was monitoring the flow regulators of the QSD drive and then he had awoken here ... on the engineering floor? And was there a voice in his head? Leiko. He had been working with the operations chief in engineering; it must have been him. "Did you telepathically scream at me?" He asked in a thick and groggy voice.

"Yes," Xavier answered simply. "Are you hurt?"

Henry checked himself over. He took a few deep breaths, then wiggled his fingers and toes. "I think I'm okay, if not a little bruised," he answered eventually. "You?"

"My arm is broken, maybe a rib or two," Xavier answered as he offered his good hand for Henry to take.

Henry refused the help and got to his feet on his own. He wasn't too proud to get help, but the chief didn't look good and Henry didn't want to cause him any more discomfort. "I think we should get you to sickbay."

"No time," Xavier said as he pointed at the console readouts. "The ship is in a catastrophic state and we need to stabilise these systems now."

Henry looked from the systems and back to Leiko's arm. He was about to protest, but the Lieutenant beat him to it.

"This isn't up for debate, Crewman. Man your station, now!"

Henry knew when he was beaten and moved over to the propulsion control console. He pressed a few buttons and gave a half smile. "It looks as though main engineering are running extensive diagnostics on the propulsion systems. The main core is intact, bar some superficial damage that can easily be repaired."

Xavier heaved a sigh of relief and immediately regretted it as another shooting pain ran through his chest. "Run our own diagnostic, let's make sure this core is just as fine."

"Already on it," Henry said.

"Of course you are," Xavier smirked. "I'm going to check in with Finn. We should coordinate our-" He never got to finish his sentence as a new noise cut him off. "What's happening?" He asked as he started pulling up information on his screen.

"It's the plasma injectors," Henry said frantically. "The ventral nacelle tubes aren't functioning; it's creating a feedback loop. Sir, if we don't stop the overload..."

"The core will breach," Xavier continued. His fingers flew over the console and he wished more than anything that he had the use of his left arm too. "Options?"

"Erm... we either try an emergency core shutdown or we eject the core."

Xavier shook his head. They needed the core. He wasn't sure what was happening or the state of the rest of the ship, but he knew they needed all the power they could get right now, and shutting down or ejecting a huge power source couldn't happen, not today. "Not an option, we need to stop the warp plasma."

Henry looked distressed. "Sir, I don't think we have time."

Before Xavier could respond, the comline crackled. "Fenn to Leiko, we're detecting a major plasma buildup down there. Please tell me you're doing something?"

"Stand by," Xavier replied. He turned to Henry. "The automated systems are offline, I'm going to do this manually, fill them in. Prepare to eject the core as a backup. That's an order," he added, sensing Henry's objection forming in the human's head.

Henry respected the chain of command more than anything else, so when he heard those words and that tone coming from his commanding officer, he knew better than to argue. "Aye," he said. He tapped his combadge as he prepared the warp core ejection sequence. "Engineering, Lieutenant Leiko is preparing to manually redirect the warp plasma in an attempt to break the feedback loop. If that fails, we'll need to eject the secondary core."

Xavier scrambled over to the warp cylinder and pulled open the maintenance hatch. It was hotter than usual and the Betazoid threw it hastily to the ground. He needed to manually turn the release valve, which would vent the fast-flowing warp plasma into the depths of space instead of towards the antimatter matrix of the core. A dangerous task, but normally doable with two arms, right now was a challenge.

"What?! Xav, that's risky. Are you sure it's the only option?" Finn's voice boomed over the open comlink. "Maybe I can reroute it from here instead."

"All automated systems are offline," Henry replied for the chief, giving him the space to continue with his task. "We've got this." I think. He added internally. "Lieutenant, the warp core pressure is at 36 megapascals and rising," he reported.

"If it goes above 40 megapascals, the dilithium matrix will start to form microfractures, and above 50 then we're in real trouble," Teyo said worryingly.

"Thanks," Henry replied, unable to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

"Don't worry," Xavier said, "I'm nearly there." Despite his own advice, he could feel his uniform sticking to his sweaty body. His hair clung to his forehead and beads of sweat ran into his eyes, blurring his vision. He took a moment to wipe his eyes, then grabbed the final lever that would release the valve. The metal was scolding hot and he instinctively recoiled.

"...39 megapascals," Henry reported.

Xavier bit his lower lip and without giving it too much thought, grabbed hold of the lever and heaved. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as the computer confirmed that the valve was open and the crisis had been averted. He unclenched his hand and pain shot through it as the outer layer of skin stayed on the lever, but before he could react, a new sound accosted his ears.

"I'm reading a massive EPS..." Henry shouted, but before he could finish his sentence, there was a flash and a bang and he heard the sound of his commanding officer being thrown across the deck.

New alarms sounded, the EPS grid was overloading and threatening to destroy them all once again. Henry knew he had a choice to make: tend to Lieutenant Leiko or save the ship. He knew exactly which choice Xavier would make. "Medical emergency in Tertiary Engineering," he shouted as his fingers flew over the controls. The core's pressure was rising again and his only option was to shut down the grid in this entire section or dump the core entirely; an action Leiko had tried to avoid at all costs, maybe even at the cost of his life. He worked faster than he knew was possible, and within a few moments, the room plunged into darkness, signalling that he had succeeded.

Henry breathed a sigh of relief, his exhausted form hunched over the console. Leiko! He rushed over to where the Betazoid was lying, crumpled on the deck. The soft glow from the emergency lights, which had finally kicked into action, was enough for him to see the burns over Xavier's face and a small trickle of blood that was flowing from his right ear. Henry moved in closer, resting his head on the man's chest. He waited and waited. He didn't dare let out a breath, not until he was certain Xavier was doing the same. He's not breathing. Henry rushed to grab the closest medkit, hoping that a tricorder would confirm what his own senses had failed to do.

The hum of the medical instrument was louder than usual as it echoed off the now-silent engineering room. The tricorder registered that Xavier was alive, but barely. He was in bad shape and needed emergency treatment. Where the hell were the medics?

Finn sprinted down the halls at a speed she didn't even realize she was capable of and then froze the moment she entered tertiary engineering. The room was dimly lit with backup power and pieces strewn across the deck, clearly from an EPS conduit that had reached it's end in an explosive way. Her eyes scanned the darkness until they fell upon Henry hunched over an unmoving figure. Her legs sprang back to life.

"Is he alive?" Finn asked as she slid onto her knees next to Henry and Xav.

Henry looked up hopefully but had to admit a fair amount of disappointment when he realised the person rushing towards them was the chief engineer and not the chief medical officer or her equivalent. "Just about," he replied, his voice shallow and low. He loaded a hypospray and injected it into Xavier's neck. He barely registered what it was, but the tricorder had recommended it, and he didn't feel he was in a position to argue. If only the emergency medical program were still online, another casualty of their trip to wherever they were. "Where is the damn medical team?" He repeated, verbally, this time.

"I'll look for them," Teyo said. He had appeared in the room moments after Keating, out of breath but charged with adrenaline coursing through his body. He had to be useful; he had to do something, and if this was his only contribution, then he would take it.

"Can we move him? Maybe we could just take him to sickbay ourselves?" Finn asked, desperate to feel useful as she stared at her best friend feeling nothing but helplessness.

"I don't think we should," Henry replied. He ignored the eye twitch that always seemed to surface when he stood his ground, especially that of a commanding officer. "His vitals are weak but they're stable and hopefully Fenn will be back soon." He could see that the blonde engineer was about to say something when a voice crackled over the com channel.

"Zora to Keating, report to the briefing room immediately."

"I'm a little occupied at the moment, Commander. Can it not wait?" Finn replied, her attempt at a neutral tone dissolving into an audible layer of annoyance. She knew she should sound more restrained, but the lingering fury of Zora's betrayal in keeping her from seeing Benedict off months ago still sometimes made it difficult to mask the tension that still existed.

"Unfortunately not," Zora replied. "Get up here as soon as you can."

"It's fine, go," Henry said, nodding towards the door where Teyo was returning with a medic. "We've got this, we'll make sure that he is okay, I promise."

Finn looked from Xav to Henry, then back to Xav. Every fiber in her being wanted to stay, but she knew she didn't have a choice and she couldn't do anything to help him right now anyway. Well, maybe one thing. It was a long shot trying to reach him, but she had to try. Xav, I don't know if you can hear me and I know you'll probably make fun of me for it later if you actually remember this, but please...don't go. I don't know how this works, but if there's like a light or some shit like that...you better stay the hell away from it. You hear me? Then, reluctantly, she stood up and pressed her combadge. "On my way, Commander."

"Move please," the medic said as she crouched down next to Xavier and flicked open her tricorder.

"He'll be fine, I promise," Henry called reassuringly to Finn as she left the room. But as he pulled his hand away from Leiko's head to make way for the medic, he couldn't help but notice the amount of blood that was seeping out of the Betazoid. His eyes found Teyo's, who was purposely staying far from his friend on the other side of the room. For one brief moment, they were connected, sharing thoughts as though they had been transformed into Betazoids themselves. And they both wondered if Xavier would truly be fine, as Henry had promised.