This Is Not Our Fate

Lieutenant Sean Orsai stumbled as another impact rocked the TSS Yorktown; he picked himself up and started to run as best he could in the EV suit he was wearing. He was trying to reach engineering; a torpedo had decompressed the section, killing the entire engineering crew before the Emergency Bulkheads could seal the breach and the only way to restore atmosphere was inside Main Engineering. He had to restart the main reactor and jump the ship out of the battle, he was the last person on the ship that understood how to restart a Warp Reactor, despite being the Senior Ordinance Officer rather than an engineer (You needed a thorough understanding of Warp theory and mechanics to safely handle Antimatter based weaponry).

The battle was turning into a rout, Midway was gone, Essex was drifting and ablaze. Resolute, Respite, Warspite and Prince of Wales had already disengaged, Hannover was scrap metal, Avenger and her sisters; Colombia, Challenger and Atlantis were heavily outnumbered, trying to cover Hannover group's retreat.

The Klingons were definitely worse off, having lost 18 of 30 ships to the Terrans guns, but Admiral Black had forgotten something when he decided to attack before the Andorian and Vulcan squadrons arrived: Klingons NEVER break and run.

And the fleet had paid for his mistake in blood, 'Yorktown was still paying' Orsai thought, remembering the corridors lined with wounded two decks above, as he reached the airlock in the Emergency Bulkhead. He punched the access code into the keypad on the doorframe and stepped into the airlock. The temperature plummeted as the airlock sealed and pumped the air out, Orsai took a deep breath as the opposite door opened before stepping out into the airless corridor.

He went slowly, trying not to disturb the bodies of his former friends and crewmates as he continued past the hull breach towards the rear of the ship. He glanced through the breach as he passed, catching a glimpse of the Essex, no longer ablaze, jumping out of the battle. He wished that was his ship going home as he turned his attention back to the task at hand.

The ship rocked again as he entered main engineering, red lights began flashing in a regular pattern, alarms silent in the vacuum. He made his way to the damage control panel, assessing the damage to the ship.

There were two more hull breaches, fortunately both were in sections already decompressed by the breach that cut off engineering, there were three small fires on C Deck and power was out on E Deck.

He set the bulkheads to seal off the breaches, restored power to E Deck and set of the sprinklers on C Deck before restoring the atmosphere to engineering, which shut down the alarms. He then turned to the Reactor itself, removing his helmet as the atmosphere stabilised.

The Reactor itself was undamaged, as were the matter/antimatter feeds and plasma injectors, the Nacelles, however, had taken a few hits and weren't aligned properly, only a short jump was viable and even that wasn't recommended.

The comm buzzed as he finished the diagnostic scan; "Engineering, this is Orsai."
"Orsai, it's Collins, can you restart the Reactor?" Came the voice of Yorktown's captain.
"Yes, but I wouldn't recommend it. The Nacelles are hit, they need to be repaired." Orsai replied.
"They can't be repaired until we're safely away, can you give us a short jump? Just enough to get us away?" asked Captain Collins.
"On paper it's doable," Orsai admitted. "I still wouldn't recommend it, there's no knowing what will happen."
"That's all we need, make the necessary preparations and tell us when you're ready," Collins ordered, cutting of the transmission.

Orsai swore but carried out his captains orders. It took two attempts to restart the reactor, but he managed to get the reactor and Warp engines online.

He opened the comm and called the bridge, "Helm, she's all yours," he said as he took firm hold of the railing on the Reactor gantry.

On the Bridge, Captain Mark Collins signalled the helmsman to engage the Warp engines, setting course for a neutral area several light years from Mazar Prime, before opening the ship wide comm and warning the remaining crew to brace themselves.

The helmsman laid in the course, hesitating for a moment as he'd heard Orsai's warning, and engaged the Warp Engines.

The ship smoothly entered Warp, but halfway to their destination the ship began to shake violently. Power began to fluctuate on most decks as the ship shook harder as they closed with their destination.
Unseen by the crew, a strange vortex briefly formed around the ship before there was a great flash. Orsai was thrown forward, finally losing his grip on the railing, and smashed his head against the Reactor casing, as he fell to the deck unconscious the ship dropped out of Warp early and power failed on all but two decks, the last thing he saw was the emergency lighting turning on.