You straighten your posture and step forward confidently. 'Actually Chief, I have advanced training in shield modulation from the Academy. Let me assist with the rerouting,' you say, raising your voice over the continuing alarms. Chief Oren's eyes narrow as he sizes you up, then he barks a short laugh. 'Bold one, aren't you? Fine - follow me.'

He leads you to a glowing control console where several engineers are frantically inputting commands. The chief points to a secondary terminal. 'That station controls the port shield matrix. Get me a 20% boost to sector four without overheating the emitters.' Your fingers fly across the interface as you recall your training simulations. The display shows shield integrity at 68% and dropping as violet energy pulses continue hammering the hull.

You reroute power through auxiliary conduits, bypassing a damaged relay. The console beeps angrily as temperatures rise, but you quickly implement a coolant flush protocol you'd learned during your third-year practicum. The shields stabilize at 73% just as another violent tremor rocks the ship. Chief Oren glances at your console, then gives you an approving nod. 'Not bad, apprentice. Now help Tanaka with the-'

A new alarm cuts him off - a high-pitched whine that makes your teeth ache. The main viewscreen flickers to life, showing the swirling violet energy coalescing into something resembling a face. A deep, resonant voice echoes through the engineering bay: 'Surrender the artifact, and you may yet survive this encounter.' The crew exchanges bewildered glances as the ship shudders again, harder this time.