Insult to Injury

Posted on Tue May 3rd, 2011 @ 2:09pm by Lieutenant Xylia Lischka
Edited on on Tue May 3rd, 2011 @ 3:47pm

Mission: Renegades
Location: USS Arizona Decks 5-9
Timeline: Immediately Following 'Carus Triumphus'

Xylia sat with her head down and her eyes closed after the Arizona was back in one, battered piece. She and Ensign Schenk, who she knew to be running Tactical on the Tertiary Hull, had done it. They wiped out the Romulan bastards... but why didn't she feel like celebrating? Her hatred for the species wasn't exactly a secret, but she didn't go around broadcasting it, either. Those people privy to the information in her personnel file would likely get the picture, and if not, then they were about as sharp as a bag of ball bearings.

She looked up, her eyes showing just how tired she felt, and ran her hands over her face. There would definitely be more searching to be done after the hell the ship was just put under, and hopefully this go around the death count wouldn't be nearly as high. As she got to her feet, that's what she kept telling herself over and over inside her head. The outcome wouldn't be as bad this time. They were more prepared. Whatever it took to make herself feel better, but sadly, nothing seemed to work. Realistically, she knew that wasn't going to be the case at all. There were more bodies scattered around the ship which had to be found, families who would need to be notified...

Her words to Schenk came back to haunt her. Death was all part of the job, but that didn't mean she, or anyone else for that matter, had to like it. Shaking the thoughts from her head, Xylia finally got to her feet and took a steadying breath, heading for the door. She couldn't seem to shake the dizziness or the fact that her normally tanned skin had lost a bit of color. She chalked it up to being physically exhausted. The show had to go on no matter how tired and rundown she felt, and so, she pushed forward, alerting a couple of the people on the Primary Bridge to follow. More eyes would make the rescue efforts go faster.

"We'll start here on deck five and go to deck nine. The Secondary Hull is likely being searched already, and that section of the ship was already badly damaged. Stay away from it. Any questions?" She asked, looking over those faces present. When none were forth-coming, she nodded her head, taking note that she was receiving odd looks from the few people standing before her. "Perhaps I'll pose for pictures later. Now, let's move out." Turning on her heel, she walked out of the Primary Bridge and in to the corridor immediately taking note of the damage. There was no denying the ship was in far worse shape, and that pissed her off all over again.

Lieutenant Lischka and her crew made their way to the far end of the second section, keeping a watchful eye out as they went. So many decks, so many sections... this was going to take some time. Deck five didn't bring forth any dead, but they did find quite a few in the way of injured. Four to be exact. Those who could move on their own were immediately sent down to sickbay on their own, while the others were taken down by the in tact people Xylia picked up along the way.

Deck six didn't fare so well, either. The woman, and her team of merry men and women, moved through the debris field looking for survivors and the deceased. Sadly... the makeshift party didn't turn up empty handed this go around, coming across a total of three dead and two injured. Xylia closed her eyes and counted to three, trying to push the images of their lifeless bodies from her mind. It wouldn't do anyone any good if she broke down and completely lost it while in the middle of something so important. She issued the order to have the bodies brought to the makeshift morgue that possibly came about after the initial attack that cost them more than twenty lives, then continued on.

As the much larger group traveled lower, the wear and tear became more pronounced as did the body count. On deck seven, ten injured, one critically, and one dead turned up. The morale of the search and rescue crew she put together were starting to feel the effects as the death toll continued to rise. Deck eight produced three critical, six not to critical and one more dead.

Finally, there was deck nine. She and the crew got busy searching. It was only a matter of time before they turned up with four dead, no critical and three injured. That brought the death count to a total of nine on the Primary Hull.

Xylia took a second to record the information on the PADD she had in her hand, also allowing herself a moment to reflect on the dark moments the Arizona was currently suffering from, and the next wave of dizziness and nausea that tore through her. She accessed the information from the Tertiary Hull and frowned. With their count, plus the one from the Primary Hull, that put their count up to twenty-five. Definitely not good, and they still hadn't gotten the count from the Secondary Hull yet.

Wavering, the PADD fell from her hand and hit the floor at her feet. She drew the attention of a few party members just as she began going down, her limp body moving toward the floor at a rapid pace. The hands of the closet person shot out to catch her, settling her gently on the floor. It was then that it was revealed. Lieutenant Lischka was also to be listed amongst the injured, a nasty, jagged wound in her lower stomach.