Star Trek: Theurgy

Re: CH07: S [D03|1649] Sabine Crash Site

Reply #25 – June 24, 2021, 05:46:05 AM

[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | Shuttlecraft Tesla: Buggy | First City Streets | Qo'nos]

@Tae @jreeves1701 @Griff @Auctor Lucan

Trying to perform first aid procedures while vanVinter drove around was more akin to waiter trying to deliver a full cup of tea in middle of a hurricane.  It seemed like every time Lt. Zark tried to get the precautionary cervical collar on to Arisaka's neck, vanVinter would have to dodge something hostile and potentially life ending, thus a procedure that should have taken a minute or two was taking exponentially longer than anticipated.

Stupid APC showing up at damn stupid time. The Andorian thought to herself petulantly.  It was a good thing she'd wedged herself securely between seats otherwise she'd have been tossed about and then the combat first aid would have been up to vanVinter to execute.  It would be enough to make her shiver if she hadn't been so busy.  The last turn vanVinter made was almost too sharp causing Lt.Zark to fall across the unconscious Lt.Arisaka.  She was about to turn and tell the mad Chief to keep the buggy stable for a short period of time when she saw the ramp ahead of them. He can't be serious. she thought as her mouth dropped in disbelief as she was pressed towards the back of the buggy as it was gunned for max acceleration.  Deciding there was no time, Zark snapped the cervical collar in place and quickly got back in her seat while hoping for the best, then slamming the restraint button on Lt. Arisaka's seat as they flew through the air.  vanVinter's exultant rebel cry echoed through the war torn and emerald lit night; and all Zark could really do was stare bug eyed and wide mouthed as the buggy made it's way serene way down to solid ground with a loud violent metal snap and crash.

Lt.Zark was almost violently thrown and whipsawed from the vehicle, then the restraint system lashed out and caught her like a set of metallic tentacles.  This was followed by the crash foam system engaging and all of a sudden seeing nothing but white, but being brought to an oh so sudden, but comparatively gentle stop.  The computer was much quicker at bringing her back to reality as the counter agent was dispensed and the foam began to dissolve.  Sensations began to return and the first was gravity. What in Shelat?? We're upside down?  A quick look out the side showed nothing but ground and debris. Huh, I guess we are.  The mad driver's bubbly irreverence brought the combat medic back to the situation at hand as he quickly broke his way out of overturned buggy and rushed off to begin repairs on the Sabine. 

Incoming fire impacts caused Lt.Zark to jerk suddenly and encouraged her into action as she released her safety harness and fell onto her back with a grunt.  Quickly reorienting herself towards Arisaka as dents and holes began to appear in the door. Quickly slapping the comm on her PADD "Team, gimme a sitrep and I need help in here to move Arisaka."

"Mierda, that was some crazy shit.  Not the craziest, but still crazy." came Marcaida over the comm. 

Keyah could only grunt in acknowledgement as phaser fire and disruptor impacts sounded over her comm channel.  "Moving to higher ground." Keyah updated as she took flight to a position above the battlefield.  Several disruptor bolts followed her flight, but only served to pock mark the building she was heading to.

Chief Rivard precluded the need for a report as he grunted and landed on his back next to the door Lt.Zark needed to exit with a heavy thump.  His chest plate was smoking having clearly been shot, but he groaned and got up onto his elbows before crawling over to the buggy door and ripping it open.  Lt.Zark looked over for a second to see who it was before nodding and outlining her hasty plan. Chief, grab his shoulders and cradle his neck! I'll release his straps and get the rest of the body!"  Rivard nodded in return and held on tight to the hanging Lieutenant as Zark hit the strap release and catching him just as gravity got ahold of his body.  Gently carrying Arisaka out of the quickly collandarizing buggy, to two Starfleet rescuers carried him to a half destroyed section of wall.  Green disruptor fire flew all around them, a near miss almost causing Zark to almost trip and drop Arisaka, but she recovered and kept on going.

Zark and Rivard propped Arisaka against the wall and she continued to check his vitals with the medical tricorder.  Rivard popped back over the wall and returned fire into the night.  Zark needed more supplies and looking around she realized there was only one place they could be.

The jump while undeniably effective in getting the group to the crash site had also completely buggered their ability to offload the desperately needed weapons, medical supplies, and parts.  Surveying the scene, Lt.Zark quickly came to the uncomfortable conclusion, they were going to need to combat mule the supplies out as quickly as possible. "Marcaida, Keyah, give Rivard and I covering fire, we're going for the supplies in the buggy."  A chorus of acknowledgements flowed in.  Taking a few steadying breaths and forming the crazy grin on her face, Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell got to her feet, and ran towards the buggy firing her rifle from the hip.

Re: CH07: S[D03|16:49] Sabine Crash Site

Reply #26 – June 28, 2021, 03:24:27 PM

[ Sera vers Aldnoah | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] Attn: @jreeves1701 @RyeTanker @Griff @Tae 
[Show/Hide]

Meanwhile, Sera had been trying to repair the Sabine while the House Mo'Kai Klingons were advancing on her crashed ship. All that stood between her dear, trusted craft and its destruction were two desperate Starfleet officers from the Oneida, whom had taken cover and were holding off the Klingons as best as they might with the power cells they had to spare for their phaser rifles. During the dire circumstances, it wasn't lost on Sera that trying to repair the Sabine while it was being shot at was like trying to pour sand into a leaking basket, or if she'd been from the Water Region on Câroon, she supposed the analogy would have something to do with bailing a boat with a leaking hull.

"Yes!" she exclaimed when the display before her told her that the anti grav emitters on the ventral side of the ship were online, only to see the running diagnostic announcing that the hull was compromised in another place. "Blast it!"

V-Nine's only comment was a sad bleeping sound.

In a fit of sudden rage, Sera left her helmet behind, raked her hair back from her yellow eyes and strode out of the airlock with her disruptor raised. "Burn you!" she screamed across the helmets of the two Starfleet officers that had bunkered down behind some solid stone cover, and she opened fire against the moving shadows in the wide alley, who ducked into cover. "Burn you all!"

That was when the figure of something large came down unto the alley... and the massive impact of some kind of vehicle had Sera crouch down and take some cover. Metal pieces clattered across the cobblestones and whatever the vehicle had been before, it was hard to make out what it was in the darkness. The flickering lights of fire and renewed disruptor bolts revealed a Starfleet insignia, however, which had Sera frown. If that was their rescue, it had just crashed, and they were on their own nonetheless. Sera would have laughed if it wasn't for the fact that it was her own flaming arse on the line. "Blood and ashes, are you kidding me?"

The blasted ground vehicle couldn't be on it's own, however, because Sera believed it had to have come from some deployment craft. It meant there might be more coming, and it renewed her hope that her efforts with the Sabine hadn't been in vain. More so, when she could see figures crawling out of the overturned ground vehicle. "Give them some cover fire, burn you!" she told the two Oneida officers, who saw what she'd seen, and began to fire against the Mo'Kai warriors in the shadows once more. And when she said that....

...she got an idea. Given the repairs she'd made already, perhaps...?

"Keep firing! I'm powering up her pulse phase cannon!" she announced, and ducked back inside her ship once more. She'd kept the Sabine powered down, running on the stand-alone repair energy reserve for diagnostics, but if the cavalry was there, it was time to bite back for real. She ran to the cockpit, put her disruptor aside, and ran a systems check to make sure her ship wouldn't blow up before she engaged the small warp core. It would flare up on all sensors within miles, even orbital sensors, but with the pressure House Mo'Kai were applying in the belief Martok was still in the neighbourhood, Sera had no choice. They were no longer alone, so it was now or never. "Computer, speak to me!"

[Direction unclear. Please repeat request.] Music to her ears. There wasn't enough juice for shields, but...

"Access fore phaser cannon! Initiate sentry mode!" Sera looked out the cracked glass of her cockpit. "Target hostile forces!"

[Automatic defence procedures initiated,] said the Computer, and below the nose-cone, the Sabine's swivelling pulse phase cannon deployed itself, and opened rapid fire against the Klingons that were shooting at her. That had to be enough to help the newcomers clear away from the crashed shuttle, at least, and she could hear one of the Oneida officers speak to one of them through the open airlock.

"You're a welcome sight, Chief Petty Officer! Petty Officers Nilheimer and Demander, and we're from the USS Oneida, codename 'Freedom Sentinel'!" More weapons fire was heard, before Nilheimer continued. "The pilot is inside, but Captain Ives and Chancellor Martok have already headed for the Great Hall! We have no comms system online, but they ought to be there already unless something happened to them on the way! Are you from the Theurgy?"

Sera left the cockpit to see who their new company was, and picked her helmet up on the way. She spotted a scarred guy, while others were yet to reach the Sabine, so she cocked a hip and addressed the man with the toolkit. "What took you so long?" she asked in good enough humour, her hopes up. "Sera vers Aldnoah. By the looks of that thing you landed with, it seems my ship is our only means of escape now, so let's have at it, shall we?"

Re: CH07: S [D03|1649] Sabine Crash Site

Reply #27 – June 30, 2021, 05:48:35 PM

[ Kudesh, Son of Otruk /  MCWO Larrant | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] attn: @Auctor Lucan @Griff @RyeTanker @Tae

Their escape was narrow. The Mo'Kai warriors descended on them quickly. Kudesh demanded that the metallic sphere accompanying him follow him to protect the Chancellor. However, the monotonic computer-generated voice would not comply, instead, it droned on about the need to return to the Sabine. In then the surly Klingon conceded. With a squad of Mo'Kai warriors tailing them, the duo managed to reach their destination. What they found was a dangerously pinned-down Sabine, flanked on all sides. The remnants of an all-terrain vehicle smoldering off to the side suggested that much had happened since they left.

"Grrrrr... see what your masquerade has caused!" Kudesh exclaimed as he punched Larrant's metal casing.

"PERHAPS. BUT NOT UNEXPECTED. THERE WAS A PROBABILITY RISK THAT THE SABINE WOULD HAVE BEEN DETECTED WITH OR WITHOUT MY RUSE. THE PROBABILITY OF THE CHANCELLOR BEING ATTACKED ON THE WAY TO THE HIGH COUNCIL AS WELL. NEITHER WAS 0 PERCENT. THE ONLY MANIPULATABLE...."

"Silence. Never tell me the odds of combat." Kudesh interrupted as he took aim at the nearest Mo'Kai warrior. They now flanked the ones in front of them but soon the ones coming up their rear would flank them. The time for debate was over.

"OUR SUCCESS PROBABILITY RATE WOULD BE GREATER FROM A NUMERICALLY HIGHER VANTAGE POINT."

"What?" Kudesh responded with a confused look as Larrant's pod secured itself against Kudesh's back. The medusan's manipulator arms wrapped themselves around Kudesh and then jets of plasma exhaust propelled the duo upwards to the rooftops.

"HIGH GROUND ADVANTAGE."

The duo landed on a rooftop above the crash site surprising two Mo'Kai warriors who had already had placed themselves there. Larrant released Kudesh who landed on top of one of the warriors. Kudesh quickly overpowered the Mo'Kai warrior and threw him over the rooftop, sending him crashing to the ground below. Kudesh's wish to savor the sound of his victim's splat was ruined when he turned to check on the Medusan.

Larrant's pacifism would not allow him to harm the other Mo'Kai warrior. Instead, the two were in a hand-to-hand competition with neither taking advantage of the other. For every strike the warrior made, Larrant would block.

"Kill him already or shall I."

"LIFE ENERGIES ARE SACRED."

"I promise you he doesn't see it that way and will snuff yours if you don't finish him." Kudesh couldn't see how Medusan's had advanced so far with such weakness.

"PLEASE KLINGON, YIELD," Larrant instructed to his opponent.

"I will rip you to scrap!!!" The Mo'Kai warrior screamed as he charged toward Larrant.

With agility only possibly through mechanical means, Larrant maneuvered sideways as the warrior's forward momentum propelled him forward and over the roof ledge. Neither Kudesh nor Larrant could relish the victory of not one but two street splats fore the first one had drawn attention to their position and both were being attack by phaser blasts from the street.

Re: CH07: S [D03|1649] Sabine Crash Site

Reply #28 – July 01, 2021, 02:29:07 AM

CPO Victor vanVinter | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS | Attn: @jreeves1701 , @RyeTanker , @Griff , @Auctor Lucan


Victor nodded politely to Zark, and he smirks. This was the last chance he'd get for levity until they were in the air again, so he took it. "Yeah, well, you haven't seen what I can do in a stripped-down starfighter." Victor gave a showy wink then as he begins heading towards the Sabine. Noting that the Sabine seemed to be powering up and then failing, that put him immediately on edge. It was a battlefield, disruptor blasts lighting up the sky, fires in the distance, absolute chaos as if the Klingons were well on their way to yet another Civil War. It could have been anyone who had entered the modified fighter and tried to get it to take off.

His pace slows from a run to a cautious walk. The tall Senior NCO was undoubtedly on edge, having no clue if these were Klingons, Starfleet, or even allies of any sort that were trying to power the craft up. And then it happens, the pulse phase cannon on the Sabine roars to life, and bolts of energy start flying over their heads, but not at them. That sent a shock through him. He was used to simulations of space combat and had only ever received minimal ground forces training, but the lanky gentleman knew the basics. Hit the dirt when the shooting starts.

Not immediately recognizing the trajectory of the blasts, Victor throws himself to the ground dropping the toolbox with him. The sound of banging and metal clattering echoing slightly from when he hits the deck. Hearing the sound of ostensibly friendly voices, Victor looks up and slowly picks himself up, grabbing the toolbox. Blinking dust and confusion from his eyes while doing so.

"No shit, your comms are offline. We thought there weren't any survivors, or you'd all bugged out!"  He sounded mildly winded then, like he'd just taken a rock, or piece of debris to the chest when he'd hit the ground. Taking a moment to try to process that, he'd indeed recognized the names of Martok and Ives, but everything else might as well have been Elvish as far as he was concerned.

"Look, I was an Ice Cube not even 12 hours ago. So long as you're not going to shoot our asses off, we're here to help you fix your ship." He regards Sera curiously, taking her in. Yep, she was absolutely a civilian, like the manifest had said for the Sabine. He'd taken a brief amount of time before the Tesla had entered the atmosphere of Qo'nos to access files on the Sabine and its pilot. Though the look he gives the Sabine is far more critical, the experienced NCO is doing his best to assess any visible damage. From how the ship had failed to lift, it was clear that the anti-gravity systems were at least partially offline, and likely the engines as well. He almost gets lost in the quick visual inspection before returning to himself to answer Sera.

"We're from the Theurgy, yes.  We've got a shuttle that's trying not to get shot down. Anyway, let's all be friends here. I brought a repair kit. How about you tell me what you need me working on, and we get this bird back in the air, yeah? Other than the anti-gravity systems and comms." Victor still wasn't sure about all of this, and he'd wished that Arisaka had given an actual briefing instead of a medal-winning pep-talk to start things off. As far as he was concerned, though, the medal chaser had gotten what he'd deserved. Shot, and probably killed. Honestly, the man had learned more about the mission from looking at maps and files on the ship and Lillee's work playing air cover and guide than he had at the start of the mission.

Victor looks for confirmation to Zark, and the rest of the away team, hoping that someone else could verify at least some of what he'd just gotten from Sera and the Security officers. Right now, he seemed inclined to trust them and get the hell out of here, but he wasn't the one in command.  Despite taking charge conversationally, Victor relents and defers the Andorian combat medic, the actual officer. "What do you think, Lieutenant Zark? You're mission commander right now, and this is your call.  Do we trust them?"

Re: CH07: S [D03|1649] Sabine Crash Site

Reply #29 – July 05, 2021, 11:51:21 PM

[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | Sabine Crash Site | First City Streets | Qo'nos]

@jreeves1701 @Tae @Griff @Auctor Lucan @BipSpoon

The mad dash back to the overturned and smoking buggy must have taken the Klingons by surprise.  Zark and Rivard ran as fast as they could being briefly highlighted by emerald fire, but it was no where near as much as was being directed to another position and the Sabine.  Maybe some of the surprise suppressive fire worked, who knew?  A few shots came close and kicked up sparks and dust as they landed nearby.  A few shots could have singed her head if it hadn't been for the exosuits helmet and all the protection it afforded.  Dropping onto her knees at full speed, she slid and twisted towards the buggy.  A quick application of thrust got her to stabilize and she felt a thump as her right arm hit buggy.  Rivard slammed in behind her then worked his way ahead, using the buggy as cover before leaning out.  Zark opened up a compartment and began sorting out what she could get at, the sound of impacts against the opposite side grew louder and more close together as disruptor shots struck home.  A sudden electric explosion on the opposite side seemed to rock the buggy slightly and her head shot up.  Taking a moment to finish securing the medical backpack, she poked her head over the top of the buggy and grimaced.  "Looks like they hit a power generator.  I think a power cell blew up." Ducking back down quickly as a flash of sparks erupted in front of her face, Rivard quickly localized and began firing in the direction of the shot that had almost hit the Andorian in the head.  She grabbed a collapsible stretcher and quickly opened it before piling more supplies on.  Opening another compartment, she paused and smiled as she laid eyes on the portable shield generator.  The increasing amount of incoming fire was telling as a series of shots punched straight through the buggy and exploded beside her.  Grabbing the generator, she quickly set it up and oriented it towards the enemy. 

Spotting one last container of supplies that vanVinter had packed, she mag locked it to Rivard's back.  She hoped the Chief could use what was in the container.  Giving herself a second to see if there was anything else she could grab and deciding there was nothing else for the moment, Zark tapped her comm.  "Rivard, time to go.  I'm going to activate the shield generator, we grab the stretcher with the supplies and run back to Arisaka."  Rivard acknowledged and fired a few more shots in the enemy's direction before moving to one end of a heavily loaded stretcher. "Let's go!." Lt.Zark shouted as she hit the activation button on the shield generator.  The generator made a distinct powering up sound and with a snap thrum, it projected a shield out to the maximum aperture setting of the system.  The generator wouldn't hold for long, and the shield surface began to ripple as disruptor shots slammed into the energy field.  Rivard and Zark grabbed each end of the stretcher and ran back to the wall where they left Arisaka.  Lt.Zark took a moment to catch her breath. 

"Looks like the shield' still good ma'am.  I'm going back for more stuff."  With that, Rivard dropped his load and leapt over the wall and ran off towards the buggy.  Lt.Zark was about to tell Rivard to hold his position when her comm came to life with vanVinter's voice detailing what the Sabine was doing on Qo'nos. "What do you think, Lieutenant Zark? You're mission commander right now, and this is your call.  Do we trust them?" Lt.Zark's eyebrows shot up in shock.  The Captain and Martok aren't here?  They've gone to the Great Hall?   Her mind racing a mile a minute with all the possibilities and consequences.  Her subconscious awareness registered several Klingons attempting to flank Rivard and she leaned over the wall to fire several bursts in their direction she might have hit one, she wasn't sure as they scurried back into cover.

Her mind returned to the issue at hand. "Computer, display all Starfleet personnel within 100m of the Sabine in blue and all Klingons in red."  The computer pulled up a holographic map that showed a sparse number of blue dots with several red surrounding them.  It looked like the fighting around the Sabine and potential presence of the Chancellor had drawn several more loyalists to the area.  A couple of dots with the names Nilheimer and Demander showed up and Zark's brow furrowed at this.  Below their names showed Security and USS Oneida which caused her eyebrows to go back up again. USS Oneida? What ship is that?  What's she doing here?  Is she here to help? "Computer, show the general arcs of fire for the Oneida crew" A blue wedge extened out from their position away from the Sabine.  In a fight, this was the best evidence the two unknowns were here to help.

"Chief, unless you can see any evidence to the contrary, we trust them. Get those repairs expedited and give me an eta soonest. Out. She tapped another combination on her suit PADD. "Bloodwing, see if you can tie together all the Starfleet sensors around the crash site for battle management. I need a better picture of who is where and who's shooting at what. Keep me updated on threats and potential penetrations. Try to keep an eye out to 2 kilometers. Out"

With those immediate tasks completed, Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell remembered it was time to report in to Theurgy.  Tapping on her PADD once more, the beeps of a connection sounded. "This is Lt.Zark to Theurgy. The shuttle Tesla has made plane fall. The away team has encountered stiff resistance and made it to the crash site.  Chief vanVinter is commencing repair and will provide ETA.  Lt. Arisaka is down and I've assumed command.  We have encountered Starfleet personnel from the Oneida at the crash site engaging hostile forces at this time. Please advise on purpose here.  The Captain and Chancellor Martok are not, repeat NOT at the crash site. They are headed to the Great Hall. Our perimeter is holding for the time being and there are friendly Klingon forces fighting their way to our location.  Requesting reinforcements and air support. Out"

Hopefully she'd covered all the necessary information and she had to get back to her immediate situation. Tapping her PADD one last time, she opened a broadcast to all Starfleet personnel. "This is Lt.Zark of USS Theurgy.  I'm assuming command of the Sabine perimeter.  Marcaida,  head to the location of the Oneida crew and relieve them. Nilheimer and Demander, when a Starfleet exosuit appears, head to the Sabine one at a time and I'll guide you over for more munitions. Friendly Klingon forces are on the way and Theurgy has been made aware of our situation.  Keyah, after Marcaida reaches the Oneida crew, shift your fires to cover Rivard.  Okay people, now we just need to hang on."

With that, Lt. Zark closed the comm channel and pulled her medical backpack off to work on the unconscious Lt. Arisaka.

Re: CH07: S[D03|16:49] Sabine Crash Site

Reply #30 – July 17, 2021, 03:48:03 PM

[ Sera vers Aldnoah | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] Attn: @jreeves1701 @RyeTanker @Griff @Tae 
[Show/Hide]

That the scarred man brought a repair kit was music to Sera's ears, and her yellow eyes lit up in joy. "Burn me, I could bloody kiss you. Come, this way, I'll show you."

As she made it back inside the Sabine, she could hear chatter over the comms from the repairman's combadge, but she didn't pay much attention to it. Her priority was the Sabine and getting away from the war zone and off the blasted planet. Once inside, she put her helmet aside again, never having put it on in the first place, along with her disruptor. "Don't mind the Savi robot on the deck. She's broken too, but she won't be able to take us off this planet anyway." V-Nine made stutter of hurt bleeps before Sera continued. "First of all, cut me some slack here, because I don't speak Starfleet when it comes to the guts of this girl. I call it as I see it, and you just translate it as best as you might, okay?" she said and brought up her running diagnostic, which showed the steady ebb and flow of the power levels - synced with the staccato discharges of the pulse phaser cannon.

"The hit she took from the the bloody AA turret on the way down was partially dampened by the escape pods beneath our feet. I've more or less given up on the compromised hull, instead prioritised the bloody integrity field to patch the holes long enough to get her back on the Theurgy for proper repairs. Three shield emitters looks fine, two needs replacement or repairs. Still, can't generate enough power to raise shields 'cause a couple of power conduits are compromised but I have rerouted past those sections. That means output is at... what? 40 blasted percent, at best? Comms isn't a priority, inertial dampeners are dodgy, and you already know about the anti grav emitters for launching. I've got partial weapon systems online, as one of the Rawley cannons not responding."

Sera raked some hair back from her eyes and turned to the scarred Starfleeter. Winter something? "Had the computer put the phaser on sentry mode, but if we're to do something about the flaming power grid, then I suppose we have to power down the bloody warp core again, and those outside won't get any help from the cannon I deployed. Your call, I guess, because you may know something I don't about this Federation tech and the safety of working on them when there is juice in the relays."

She would definitely defer to the Starfleeter in that regard, because since the Sabine underwent a refit on Starbase 84, he didn't feel too confident about tinkering with the more advanced components. The old, rusty version of the Sabine that she'd bought in a scrapyard? Oh, he'd known the guts of that bird inside out after all they'd been through together.

Whatever was happening outside the Sabine, Sera didn't know, but eventually, Nilheimer and Demander showed up, taking cover and asking for directions to get new power cells or something. By that time, Sera was already hard at work, following the instructions of the actual repair expert on board.

Re: CH07: S [D03|1649] Sabine Crash Site

Reply #31 – July 20, 2021, 03:42:28 AM

CPO Victor vanVinter | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS | Attn: @jreeves1701 , @RyeTanker , @Griff , @Auctor Lucan

Hearing Zark's affirmative answer to trust the personnel from the Oneida was a relief to Victor. A small smile tugs at the corner of his scarred features as she starts forward, holding the toolbox with both hands. He begins running the last few meters to the sabine, having to sidestep pieces of debris and the ground around the craft. Edging around a small pile of rubble from something he couldn't identify, probably masonry, the lanky half Bajoran has to twist himself to get through the rough ground. The twist to the left is the only thing that saves him.

A pair of long-range disruptor bolts fly through the air on a course towards Victor. The first of the blasts impact his freshly installed cybernetic arm. The green energy sizzles quickly through the thin plating and delicate electronics beneath it. A jolt of pain from the disruptor wracks Victor. He collapses to the ground with the ground on top of the toolbox. The surprised and pained scream surprising even him. He wasn't aware that the arm even had pain sensitivity. The quick collapse to the ground manages to save him as well, the second of the paired disruptor bolts searing a burning line across his back. The smell of cooked flesh permeating his nostrils. That one just plain hurts, though.

The functionality in his arm ceasing, the fingers splay open, letting go of the handle of the repair case. The pain sensitivity of the arm ceasing the moment it shuts down. Letting out a loud Curse, Victor hauls himself to his feet and drags the case one-handed the final few meters into the Sabine. With clenched teeth, he takes cover inside the small craft, thankful to be out of the line of fire. Casting a look at Sera, Victor holds up a finger to signal that he needs a moment.

Raising his non-functioning hand, he turns it around, inspecting it as much as showing it off. "I just got this blasted thing. This messed-up hand is going to slow me down. How about you work on the anti-gravity, and I work on the inertial dampeners. I'll do what I can, Ma'am, but with one hand, this is going to be a bear of a task."

His words were pained, and his breathing was harsh and labored. This injury wasn't as bad as being burned in the explosive landing of a Peregrine Fighter against the Borg at earth. And it wasn't the come necessitating exposure to hard vacuum, Jovian radiation belts, and plasma fire melting his arm. But it was still pretty bad.  He was running on pure Adrenaline right now, heart racing, sweating profusely, all while covered in the Targ blood from the Wistan Gagh and some blood wine.

Hitting his combadge with his right hand, just as his vision begins to swim from the dazzling pain he was in, Victor screams into the comms. "Medic! I'm about to pass out!" Forcing himself to think, Victor unseals the repair kit for Sera and slumps back. The man needed some painkillers to be more functional right now. The angry charred flesh on his back signaling just how close he'd come to dying a fourth time in his life.  If anything were keeping him going now, few people on the Theurgy would know what it was. His consciousness slipping in and out, steadied only by the familiar residue of a perfume he notes on board. There was no way that Enyd had been on this ship, right? that had to be a phantom scent, something from his past coming back and giving him a reason to live.

Looking to Sera with a harsh gaze, his sights unfocused, he speaks up, forcing himself to stay conscious. "Miss Madsen was on board." It wasn't a question, more a statement of fact than anything else. Smelling that had given him a reason to stay alive, stay awake. "Fix the ship, save Enyd, give her a kiss." The words repeated like a mantra. The surrounding crewpersons probably thought he was insane. Well, he probably was just a bit. Victor still had work to do, and he hadn't completed any of it yet. Now, he had a reason to finish instead of just his duty.

Re: CH07: S [D03|1649] Sabine Crash Site

Reply #32 – August 20, 2021, 04:56:37 AM

[General Hu'ler | Command Post | First City | Qo'nos ] Attn: @jreeves1701, @RyeTanker, @Tae, @Auctor Lucan

Atop a tall tower in the First City, surrounded by Klingon warriors working on their instruments in the hastily set up command post, General Hu'ler looked down at the city below in disgust. She was a tall woman, older than most, her armour thick, night-black and adorned with battle honours. Hu'ler's eyes were stern and uncompromising, enough to intimidate even the Klingons she commanded, and today, such a thing could be useful. Right now, that skill, long honed over decades of military experience, could be the difference between life and death for the entire Klingon Empire.

"Tell me again," Hu'ler said in a harsh whisper that still somehow carried over the sounds of war from the city below, "how you have failed to take a mere shuttlecraft in the past few hours that I have spent fighting across half this city?"

"It is no ordinary shuttlecraft," Nev'rov said firmly, standing strong despite Hu'ler's glare. "It is defended by the Federation elites. Ives, the shapeshifter, is there, and where Ives is, Martok is also! The Starfleeters are devoting many resources to save them; Ives and Martok are the only reason to justify it. We need only mount one last assault-"

"-and you will all die like the incompetent pigs that you are," Hu'ler hissed furiously. "You fool. Martok and Ives are in the Imperial District at this moment! This is only a ruse to draw our attention! And you call one shuttlecraft 'many resources'? How did an idiot like you survive the Jem'hadar?" Nev'rov bared his teeth at the insult, but the warning look from Hu'ler was enough to make him realise how close to the edge he was getting (quite literally), and the colonel lowered his eyes. "Rest easy, Colonel. You can still salvage your honour, if you have more courage than brains...a low bar, I know, but even fools must aspire to something."

A low rumble of laughter spread around the Klingons operating the command post's stations, and Nev'rov, unable to fight back, was forced to just bear the humiliation. "What do you command of me, General?" he forced out through gritted teeth.

Hu'ler didn't respond immediately. Instead she moved to the edge of the tower, looking down on the city below. Fires were everywhere, the automated fire suppression systems only working in some areas, as the fighting continued. It was a complete mess. Hu'ler glanced at the strategic overview of the city, displaying various Gorka's, Martok's and Starfleet's forces, but it was such a confused mess that she didn't pay it much heed beyond her command post's immediate vicinity. Instead, Hu'ler trusted her eyes. She looked down first at the 'Sabine', flashes of Federation red and Klingon green weapons fire visible even from afar.

The Starfleet defenders were cut off, the Martok loyalists unable to break through the perimeter set up to besiege the Sabine, but even from that distance, Hu'ler could see the truth of it. The Starfleeters were clever, courageous and determined, and they were making the best of a bad situation, and the craft, originally built for war, made for a reasonable makeshift fortification. Too many Klingons had died already trying to take the thing. Brute force simply wasn't going to do it.

Hu'ler scowled, her nose wrinkling at the harsh stink of smoke. "How many do you have left, Colonel?" she asked grudgingly, using the fool's rank so that he could salvage some dignity.

"A hundred including your troops," Nev'rov answered promptly and enthusiastically. "More than enough with the reinforcements from your division."

Hu'ler looked upwards in disbelief, as if beseeching the aid of the gods whom the Klingons had killed so long ago to deal with the moron. "And you would claim victory over a mountain of our own dead, crying out about your glory in this battle for decades to come? Idiot. For now, watch how a true Klingon fights." Hu'ler turned around, moving to one of the controllers. The Klingon comms specialist wore no armour, but his job was vital all the same, more so than anyone would suspect. "Are they in position?"

"Yes, General," the specialist said curtly, his eyes focused on his readouts. "They encountered a Martok team en route but eliminated them. The Starfleeters have not detected them."

"Good," Hu'ler said. She stepped towards the tower's edge again, looking down, and she pointed at an entirely different area, where a white Federation shuttlecraft was taking refuge in a half-destroyed building. "That shuttlecraft. You didn't even destroy that one? Not with all the resources at your disposal? An entire company of heavy weapons teams?"

Nev'rov, frustrated, could only shake his head, hearing the biting . "No, General. There is only one lifeform aboard, Romulan. I judged the shuttle to be secondary to the main prize. Our heavy weapons teams have forced it back, but I didn't want to waste resources destroying it, not yet. It's trapped where it is by our forces and cannot interfere. They merely provide sensor support from afar to the Federation soldiers."

"Good," Hu'ler mused thoughtfully, and Nev'rov's head snapped up in surprise. "There may be some small wit to you after all. And Romulan...perhaps there is indeed some truth to the rumours about the Theurgy defecting to the Romulans. For now, we will make that Romulan work for us. Comms specialist! On my order, on my order and not before, our heavy weapons teams will jam that shuttle's communications! All assault troops are to prepare for an immediate attack on the Sabine from the west, massed infantry charge! And you, Colonel Nev'rov, will lead them!"

"Yes General!" Nev'rov answered instinctively, excited at the prospect of battle, but he then frowned as realisation struck. He looked down, confused at how he was supposed to launch an "immediate" attack when he was several hundred meters away and a good two hundred meters up, with transporter function impossible. He looked back at Hu'ler, who was now holding a rather large gun-like device of some sort with a large drum latched beneath it. The evil toothy grin that old Hu'ler bore scared Nev'rov more than the Jem'hadar ever did.



[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu | Shuttlecraft Tesla | First City | Qo'nos ]

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Meanwhile, still in her shuttle, Lillee concentrated on her sensors. It was clear that the Klingons, after a small period of inactivity, were moving once more. It was difficult to tell who were Martok loyalists and who were Gorka rebels, but it was clear enough that the Klingons besieging the Sabine crash site were getting heavily reinforced after the failure of their last assault. Worse, it was very clear what the Klingons were planning. They weren't being subtle about it, but then again, Lillee doubted that the filthy beasts even had a word for "subtle" in their language.

"Bloodwing to Zark," Lillee said curtly. "I'm detecting a hundred additional lifesigns approaching from your west, all hostile, assembling in formation. The enemy are planning an all out assault, there is no doubt. Suggest you focus your defences to your west."

With that, Lillee frowned at her sensors in frustration. The sensors were giving potential indications of additional lifesigns near the Sabine, but they kept scattering; one moment they were right outside the craft, the next they were twenty meters above it, then five meters below it, then forty meters away. The ever-so-helpful computer suggested they were 'ghost' signals, the inevitable result of a stressed sensor array trying to make sense of a complex warzone full of jamming, weapons fire and explosions that was getting worse by the minute. It made sense, but Lillee tried to calibrate her sensors anyway, painfully aware of how vulnerable her position was.

It was a fruitless endeavour, however. Lillee just wasn't trained for such delicate sensor operation, and the Tesla wasn't designed for it in any event. The best she could do was narrow the signals down a little, but the area seemed to angle down, more and more of them appearing underground. But that didn't make sense, did it? Lillee hesitated for precious seconds, unwilling to distract Zark with such a flimsy warning, trying to work it out. What could it be? Sensor spoofing? Reflected lifesigns from elsewhere? The lifesigns did seem to be getting stronger and more concentrated, but they were still underground, and her sensors hadn't detected anything underground there before, no tunnels, no sewers, nothing whatsoever...

Before she react, alarms began ringing in the Tesla cockpit, and Lillee cursed under her breath. She had been expecting this, but the timing was appalling; the Klingons had finally decided to jam her communications with the Sabine team. The Tesla computer would find a way through the jamming within a few minutes, Federation technology being what it was, but until then, Lillee was deaf and mute.


[General Hu'ler | Command Post | First City | Qo'nos ][/b] Attn: @jreeves1701, @RyeTanker, @Tae, @Auctor Lucan

Hu'ler, for the first time that day, was enjoying herself. Everything was ready, and unless she was very much mistaken, she was about to win a victory. It was a minor victory if (as she suspected) Ives and Martok weren't actually cowering in the Sabine, but it was a victory all the same. And really, there were times when the quality of an act's glory wasn't the most important thing. Sometimes, style was far more important.

"You will lead the assault," Hu'ler said firmly to Nev'rov, who looked extremely nervous, "but it will be a feint. Only ten of your troops will actually finish the charge with you, the ten biggest and stupidest of your troops. The rest, all of the other troops, will take cover and stay alive partway through . That is an order, Colonel, and you will see it followed." Hu'ler stepped closer, baring her fanged teeth, and Nev'rov recoiled, stepping back perilously close to the edge. "I have other plans to take that craft. I will make myself clear, fool. Very clear."

The dark intense amusement in Hu'ler's eyes was downright frightening. "Defy my orders, like ordering all of the troops to charge with you, and I will castrate you in the Great Hall before the entire High Council for the entire Empire to watch and laugh at. Die well, and I will meet you one day in the halls of Sto'vo'kor. But if you follow my orders, if you fight well and live, I will make you a hero."

Nev'rov (still plainly terrified) glanced over his shoulder at the sheer drop below, but he mustered enough courage to nod. "I...I will try, General...but I do not expect to live. You send me to die."

Hu'ler shrugged. "Perhaps. Starfleet can fight well, when threatened." She raised a leg and pulled up her pants, revealing the silvery metal of a prosthetic limb underneath...and then she did the same with her other leg, showing the other prosthetic. "The last time I fought Starfleet, a human did this to me, and I am ten times the warrior you are. Still, not all is lost. You can claim some glory and honour this day, should you have the courage, and I promise, the enemy will have much bigger problems when fighting you. You do not fight alone."

Hu'lev waited for a moment for Nev'rov's timid nod, and with that, Hu'lev grinned toothily. "Good! Today is a good day to die, Nev'rov, son of Barkor! Qa'pla!" With that, without even a moment of hesitation, Hu'lev hooked Nev'rov up to the line and gleefully shoved him off the edge.


[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu | Shuttlecraft Tesla | First City | Qo'nos ]

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Waiting impatiently for the computer to break through the jamming, while Lillee tried to find a way to break through the Klingon barricade and join the fight, Lillee frowned as she heard something from outside...what was that? Crying? Screaming? Sobbing? All three? Baffled, she leaned forward in her chair and looked up through the glass, only to be greeted by the bizarre sight of a fully armed and armoured Klingon warrior zooming down a zipline right above her, arms flailing madly, screeching in fright the whole way down.

"Huh," Lillee said to herself in bemusement. "Alright, then."



Meanwhile, to the east of the Sabine and below the ground, an entirely new threat was preparing to emerge for the beleaguered Sabine crew...

Re: CH07: S [D03|1649] Sabine Crash Site

Reply #33 – August 22, 2021, 06:41:20 PM

[ Kudesh, Son of Otruk /  MCWO Larrant | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] attn: @Auctor Lucan @Griff @RyeTanker @Tae

Things were getting intense as the battle around the Sabine continued. Larrant was torn between his duties as a Starfleet officer and his strict personal code of nonviolence. As the Klingon Kudesh grinned in delight as he welcomed the rising disrupter blasts from below, Larrant's pod made slow oscillating rotations as if scanning the perimeter. Inside the pod, the gases that made up the Medusan churned in what could be interpreted as maelstrom of anxiety.

"Do you intend to let me have all the glory!" Kudesh exclaimed.

"SORRY.... TRYING TO CALCULATE THE MOST EFFICIENT NONLETHAL MEANS OF PACIFYING OUR ATTACKERS."

"Nonlethal? Bah... You sound like a Vulcan. But fight like a Ferengi." Kudesh took a moment to turn and grasp the sides of the Medusan pod. Looking through the visor that served as a window to the pod's occupant, Kudesh attempted to lock eyes with his reluctant partner. "Preservation of life is an honorable cause. Many Klingons have fought and died preserving their way of life and the lives of their family, friends, and allies. But don't expect to never spill any blood walking that path. The universe is full of things that don't care where your morals stand, only that you don't stand in their way. Because if you do, I promise they will not hesitate to end your life. So the time is now for you to swallow that..."

While Kudesh was busy monologuing, a Mo'Kai loyalist managed to reach the rooftop and aim at the two Martok loyalists, Larrant and Kudesh. The following events happened swiftly. Larrant's internal sensors had alerted him of the surprise attack and moments before a disrupter blast could strike a killing shot to Kudesh's head, Larrant's arms moved Kudesh out of the way, slamming him hard against the ground. However, the blast found a target. A lucky hit to be sure as it struck a weakened spot in the pod's casing.

A loud klaxon began to be broadcasted throughout the area notifying all those in the area of the impending danger.

WARNING MEDUSAN CONTAINMENT BREACH IMMINENT! WARNING MEDUSAN CONTAINMENT BREACH IMMINENT!

It must have been one of the features in the new pod's design to prevent exposure to the effects of looking directly at a Medusan unprotected. The sound startled the Klingon attacker who stared directly at Larrant. Larrant could feel parts of his gaseous form being pulled from the pod through a sliver of a crack in the corner of the pod's view screen. The psychedelic mist swirled and pulsated. The Mo'Kai warrior was fixated on it like a moth to a flame.

Larrant could sense the warrior's mind, his emotions. Thinking quickly Larrant decided a violation of Starfleet regulations and Federation law was acceptable in this situation. To preserve life. It would have been easier had this Klingon been a telepath, also less painful for both parties.

"RELAX...... I MEAN YOU NO HARM...... RELAX...." Larrant tried to project the thoughts into Klingon's mind. He could already sense the man's mental pathways began to disconnect and reconnect as it tried to rationalize the sliver of non-euclidean geometries that it had witnessed.

While Larrant tried to wrap a protective bubble around the Klingon's mind, one of his manipulator arms had taken a pair of protective visors that had produced themselves on the side of the pod as soon as the containment alarm had activated, and placed it securely on Kudesh's face. Meanwhile, the other manipulator arm was attempting to patch and seal the breach.

Things seemed to be going from grim to worse. How long would this continue?

Re: CH07: S [D03|1649] Sabine Crash Site

Reply #34 – August 24, 2021, 08:22:23 PM

[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | Sabine Crash Site | First City Streets | Qo'nos]

@Tae @jreeves1701 @Griff @Auctor Lucan
 
Although Lt. Zark didn't like the idea of killing, the crash site was becoming hip deep in alligators and keeping as many Klingons from killing her people was what took priority.  She was busy firing at several more Klingons attempting to flank Rivard and wondering where the Onedia crew had gone when vanVinter's call for help spurred into action on a different front.  Rushing for the Sabine, she found the two Onedia milling about looking for the supplies he had brought.  A dark smile creased her face as she felt fury surge forth.  She leashed it firmly with duty, but her voice was cold from her the glaciers of Andoria.    "Get outside, turn left and grab more munitions weapons from the pile outside.  Hurry back and hold the ramp till I come back."  The two officers rushed to obey as she turned and went inside to find vanVinter propped up against a console. She would have been appalled at the damage he'd taken, especially since he was missing his artificial arm, except he was repeating something about giving someone a kiss.  Her fury soothed as her eyes warmed and her smile softened.    "Let's get you patched up and out of here Chief Lovebird."  A quick scan with her tricorder revealed shrapnel damage all along his flank.  It looked a lot more terrible than it really was, but most wounds usually were.  She first injected him with a general stabilizer, then a combat stim.  awareness began to return to his eyes as he became more focused.  She then began the laborious process of removing bits of metal from his body and sealing the wounds.  She was half way through the various punctures when Bloodwing sent the warning of massing enemy forces. "Chief, get ready to defend yourself." She opened the all team frequency with her communicator and got ready to give her orders.

CPO Douglas Marcaida | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS

Chief Marcaida reached the position indicated in his helmet map and found the two Starfleet security officers from the Oneida already gone.  Quickly putting the weapons case carrying the Isomagnetic Disintegrator down and ducking behind a blasted half wall that once held a window frame, he peaked out and surprisingly didn't draw any fire.  The comm chirped and his holographic HUD brought up a text box identifying the speaker as the team commander. “All ground units, Bloodwing has detected enemy forces gathering near Marcaida’s position. Marcaida, engage at your discretion. Keyah, provide support.” There was a pregnant pause as Zark had not yet closed the channel as she weighed a tough decision.  “You are authorized to set weapons to kill. We can’t afford to have anyone getting up to keep coming at us. Zark out.” Marcaida’s eyebrows tried to rise into his head at the escalation in the conflict, but nonetheless set his phaser to Level 7.  Ducking back, he opened the case and laid the Isomagnetic Disintegrator out for quick use. "Computer, show tactical map." The computer obediently chirped and a holographic map sprung to life in front of his eyes. The situation was grim, a few sparse blue spots indicating Starfleet personnel were clustered around the Sabine with a rash of angry red of confirmed hostile with several more orange marked presumed hostile indicators nearby.

What's taking them long? Marcaida thought of the Oneida security team and Lt. Zark. A quick check of the map showed the orange markers starting to bunch together with the red markers. He tensed as a sudden war cry erupted over the battlefield as the markers began to surge forth from the buildings the forces loyal to House Mo'Kai had been hiding in. Tapping the PADD Common button "This is Marcaida, they're charging, engaging!" . As he put his head out, a fusillade of emerald green smashed into his position sending sparks and debris flying in every direction. Calmly bringing his phaser rifle to his shoulder, the team weapon expert aimed over the lip of the trashed window and sent murderous precise bursts of orange fire into the screaming raging mass. He scarcely noticed a few bottles of cooking oil explode nearby and set several pieces of furniture on fire. Hopefully the rest of the crew would show up soon to provide backup.

CPO Keyah | Above Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS

Chief Keyah had been doing her level best to suppress the amount of incoming fire. She'd target a Klingon head and gently squeeze the trigger. She'd managed to hit over two dozen warriors in their unprotected heads with full stun knocking them out for the fight.

Her luck had eventually run out when her target happened to be looking in her direction when she'd pulled the trigger. She could remember seeing the widening of his eyes at the orange bolt headed in his direction. He must have had super reflexes or mad luck as the shot had missed by the thinnest of margins. That miss has cost her dearly in efficiency as she now had to shoot and scoot to avoid the increasing amounts of return fire looking to suppress her.  She found herself scowling more and more with less time to aim at targets as they appeared.

She had just left a window that came apart under fire when Marcaida’s warning came through.  She quickly flipped her weapon Level 7 and began laying down a withering hail of orange fire into the charging mass with scalpel-like precision.  Aiming down the sight as best she could, it was like being on the range, with nothing but her rifle and the targets. Aim, pull the trigger, a head exploded. Aim, pull the trigger, an arm came off. Aim, pull the trigger, a chest exploded, blood spraying everywhere.  Aim, pull the trigger, pull the trigger over and over and her brain noticed the mass still kept coming.  Keyah stayed still too long as another mass of fire piled into the window she was using and the laws of probabilities caught up with her.  The shot glanced off her cheek and the Bolian was tossed to the ground as her helmet shattered.  She lay there dazed and became acutely aware of her helmet's HUD flickering.  Her jaw was in massive pain as she groggily got to her hands and pulled her helmet off.  The pain that exploded in her jaw was not like anything she'd ever experienced and she almost passed out, but her physical toughness combined with the rush of adrenaline and endorphins kept her awake.  Her mind fogged, as she slowly reached for rifle to continue the fight.  The struggle to get back up on the window felt like an eternity, and she tried to speak as her vision swam as her jaw throbbed from placing the rifle against her shoulder.  No words came. Keyah knew she was on her own and pulled the trigger and hoped to hit something.

[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  |Sabine  | First City Streets | Qo'nos]

Lt.Zark's manic grin returned as she saw Chief Keyah's icon switch from green to orange of badly injured. She stopped treating vanVinter and brought up the tactical map.  It looked like Marcaida was trying to fight an avalanche with a fire hose and was going to lose badly soon. She sprayed disinfectant, coagulant, and a pain killer on the wounds she no longer had time to treat and turned on her external speakers. ”Chief, bad guys coming, get ready to repel boarders.  Nilheimer and Demander with me!

Zark grabbed her rifle and charged down the ramp as Nilheimer and Demander, now with tactical vests and webbing got up to follow her. "Spread out, advance by fire! Shoot anything that looks Klingon!"  Almost as if they on the parade ground, the three Starfleet officers raised rifles to their shoulders and spraying fire into the Klingons.  The Klingons had been so focused on getting Marcaida that they had started to bunch up and crowd in on him making the fusillade all the more deadly as shots that missed one warrior tended to hit another one behind.  Blood, sparks and gore exploded causing bodies to fall and some warriors to trip over their newly martyred comrades.  The momentum of the charge had been broken as confusion began to take hold.  Marcaida suddenly stood up and fired the isomagnetic disintegrator at something and a new fireball erupted into the tortured city's sky.

Whatever success Marcaida had just achieved was short lived as he was smashed off his feet by disruptor fire and crashed heavily on his back.  Zark distantly noted that Marcaida's icon went from green to yellow and flashed between the two as the computer tried to decide how badly hurt he was.  A big Klingon, a bit more resplendent than the rest vaulted over the window and prepared to drive his sword into the downed security officer when Zark brought her sight to bear on him and fired a 3 shot burst, centre of mass.  The sword seemed to shatter as his chest exploded in a fountain of gore.  The Klingon staggered back staring numbly at his chest before smiling an ironic smile and falling backwards dead.  The others looked about in confusion as they were uncertain what to do next.  Some saw Lt. Zark and her party and charged over the wall Marcaida had been using as cover and were quickly shot for their trouble.  Zark saw a blast of green head her way and felt her shoulder jerk back from the hit, she leaned into the blast and brought her rifle back to the front.  Marcaida got his wits back, pulled out his phaser pistol and shot a warrior as he ran passed, then another.  Nilheimer screamed as a flurry of shots smashed into him and pierced his chest plate, sending him flying back staring at the darkened sky lifeless.  Zark and Demander crouched behind another wall as more shots came in from those warriors who had more sense.  Zark and Demander returned fire throwing off their aim and effectively suppressing the Klingons  The didn't save them for too long as Marcaida back crawled behind a fallen table and plucked two grenades from his belt, quickly arming them, he tossed them over the table to behind the wall where they detonated in a flash of orange and white.   "Cover me." Zark ordered Demander as she grabbed a pair of grenades off her belt.  Demander brought his rifle to bear and sprayed the opposing wall.  Lt. Zark placed her rifle on the ground and quickly consulted the tactical map for where the remaining Klingons were hiding behind the wall, pressing the arming button, she gave a 2 second count and tossed them.  A couple of flashes later and there were no Klingons concious in the area.

There was no more firing and Zark got on her knees to look out over her piece of cover. "Marcaida, you okay?" she asked.  "Yeah, the amour caught all of it".  Lt.Zark breathed a sigh of relief then brought her tactical map back up and lost her smile.  Several dozen more Klingons had executed a wider flanking maneuver and were descending on the Sabine and Keyah's exposed position.  It was a cruel choice she had to make.  "More Klingons heading towards the Sabine, Marcaida, Demander, let's go."  The other two security officers got up and followed her back to the ship while Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell knew that with the transporter inhibitors active, extracting the severly injured Keyah was extremely unlikely and she'd have to come to grips with the fact she'd just left one of her team members to die.

Re: CH07: S[D03|16:49] Sabine Crash Site

Reply #35 – September 03, 2021, 02:28:46 PM

[ Sera vers Aldnoah | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] Attn: @jreeves1701 @RyeTanker @Griff @Tae 
[Show/Hide]

At first, Sera hadn't caught on at all to the scarred human being hurt. He'd been fine when he'd asked his question about the status of the Sabine, and then, he must have been shot on the way through the airlock or something. As it where, when the human just collapsed and called for a medic, Sera rolled her eyes and began to curse under her breath, resuming the repairs instead since she'd just wasted her breath and time and they were all in as much shit as they were before the Starfleet vehicle crashed into the alley. V-Nine began to make worried bleeps from where she laid on the floor, while Sera tried to think of some other blasted thing to do in order to get out of the current mess.

An Andorian Starfleeter showed up to try and patch up the useless repair guy on her deck, while she gauged the possible output of her lit little warp core. The Andorian left while she desperately tried to tinker and get a reading, and on the wall screen, where she'd routed the sensor input, she saw the incoming life signs of more Klingons than she could count. "Blast it... They just keep coming..."

Feeling her hopes of survival vane, seeing how while the Starfleet officers gave everything they had to try and keep House Mo'Kai from reaching the Sabine, Sera was on the verge of giving up on her dear old ship and pick up her disruptor. Yet... when she ran the diagnostic on the warp core a second time... she thought there had do be some kind of malfunction, because the readings in the cockpit hadn't granted the amount of power output that the directed diagnostic now showed. That's when she realised it...

...and she looked at V-Nine where she laid on the floor. The good for nothing bot may just have saved them all.

"Haul my ashes... Yes, that has to be it..."

The bloody cyborg, Ravenholm, had used parts of the robot as instructed and boosted the warp drive with that ZPE thing in the storage room, which had let them blast their way to Qo'noS from the Oneida. The bloody thing was still intact, and it was boosting the warp drive enough to... do what? What would be ideal? The Sabine wasn't space worthy...

...but it had plenty of more weapon systems.

"Hey! Are you still around?" she called to the repairman, "I'm rerouting power I thought my girl never had to the anti grav units, and then I am going to turn her around so that we face the Klingon horde! I'm going to melt the bloody alley down!"

She hit the command prompt to engage the sequence she'd laid in, and true enough, the warp core being overclocked worked in thanks to the ZPE booster, which let the remaining anti-grav units come alive. The deck shifted below Sera's feet while the Sabine lurched into the air. She almost didn't make it to the cockpit before she fell down. She climbed up and got into her seat so that she could activate the flight controls - the stick rising up between her knees.

"Come on!" she called through the cracked canopy of the cockpit, while she made the Sabine swivel towards the side of the alley in which the Klingon horde was advancing. "You want to bloody dance?! Blast you, you ugly bastards!"

And then she armed her remaining Rawley cannon, and opened fire against the advancing enemies. With the airlock still open, the sound it made as it lay waste to the alley was glorious. She made sure to just target Klingon life signs ahead of the Sabine, avoiding the friendlies closer to the Sabine. When her sentry-mode pulse phase cannon wasn't enough, and she found the Rawley cannon to be too slow... she armed a couple of micro torpedoes.

She sent them off, and saw one of the emptied buildings collapse on top of the bulk of the horde.

Re: CH07: S [D03|1649] Sabine Crash Site

Reply #36 – September 13, 2021, 01:27:25 PM

CPO Victor vanVinter | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS | Attn: @jreeves1701 , @RyeTanker , @Griff , @Auctor Lucan

Victor was in a world of pain the likes of which he hadn't ever felt before. Getting hit with the glancing blows from the twin disruptor bolts. The pain narrowed Victor's vision to a tight slit through tightly shut eyelids, and then he's back to full consciousness. Victor had no idea what Zark had in those hyposprays, but the cocktail of adrenaline and other enzymes released as part of a pain response immediately had him at full alertness and in an almost stoned state of mind. All of the natural chemicals were still in his system, and then there was had just been pumped into him. So Victor was back on his feet, and he looked to Zark, nodding to the Andorian. He was still obviously woozy as hell, though, but he knew what needed to be done.

"I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn right now, but I can still help fix the ship." That's when he heard sera shouting at him, something about the anti-gravity generators. Right, stabilize those, and they could get out of here. Seal any breaches with local containment fields. They didn't need to stand and fight. They needed to run like hell. That lurching, yeah, the Sabine could get off the ground. Getting to orbit would be a whole different matter.

Victor snatches up his toolbox and runs towards the nearby engine compartment, and he opens up the power management systems. Plugging in the diagnostic equipment he brought with him gave him some answers, at the very least. If he hadn't just been shot and had drugs coursing through his system finding a solution would be so much easier, but he was resilient. Zark getting him back on his feet had helped of course. But no obvious solutions were coming to him, this class of power core was only rated for a certain output, so why were the power readings so far beyond normal? Investigating further, Victor finds the ZPE.

"What in the name of the Prophets is that..." he'd found the ZPE providing energy to the ship, and furrows his eyebrows then thinks for a moment. With as much energy as that thing had, they could get to orbit. Victor immediately begins rerouting power to engines, structural integrity, and inertial dampeners. The power draw was slow as he shunted the energy to capacitors and worked on patching up the power systems simultaneously.

"Hey Sera, this is Victor, your mechanic. If we shunt all of this power to where it has to go, we can get the hell out of here in the next five minutes. We can either run like hell or stay and fight, and we can't do both. It looks like I can either give us full weapons and shields for ten minutes or engines and some structural integrity for the same, and we might be able to make orbit. At the very least, we can get away from here. One or the other, ma'am. This is your ship; pick one." Victor, for one, was dearly hoping that the pilot would pick 'run like hell' because if Lillee was right about the Klingons massing an assault, then it wouldn't end well for the what was it.. seven Starfleet officers? Great, a magnificent Seven situation just when they didn't need one.

Re: CH07: S [D03|1649] Sabine Crash Site

Reply #37 – September 17, 2021, 01:10:56 AM

[General Hu'ler | Command Post | First City | Qo'nos ] Attn: @jreeves1701, @RyeTanker, @Tae, @Auctor Lucan

Atop a tall building in the First City, General Hu'ler and her staff were thoroughly occupied in the business of war. Equipment ringed the rooftop, Klingon warriors working various portable consoles or  other devices. The mobile command post was being well used today.

On one side, General Hu'ler and a half dozen of her warriors stood, looking down on the city below. The battle was still raging, the air thick with the sound of disruptor fire and explosions. Smoke rose above the city, testament to a civil war that showed no signs of abating.

"QI'yaH," Hu'ler swore under her breath as she watched a business center collapse, crushing two dozen Klingon commandos as they tried to charge the Sabine. The unlamented Nev'rov had died in his diversionary assault, much as Hu'ler had expected. The hard part however was that the real attack, the commandos, had been caught completely offguard as the Federation shuttle floated up in the air, rapidly spinning around and ripping apart the commandos.

"SIj'ejyo," Hu'ler grumbled. She glanced back at her staff who were manning the comms and sensors. "What word of our warriors to the south, and to the northwest?" she called out, her voice carrying easily despite the tumult of battle.

"Both advancing, General," one of the comms specialists reported sourly. "Martok's forces have been crushed. Leph'bor reports that they should have the entire riverfront secured within an hour. General Fuv's brigade has secured the MIqta district. We now control most of the city."

"Most," Hu'ler said darkly, glancing out at the Sabine, which still defiantly held out against assault. Red phaser fire could still be discerned even at a distance, but the Klingon assault was clearly faltering. Hu'ler sighed. Fighting against Jem'hadar and Cardassians had been so much simpler, cleaner. Fighting against Starfleet and her fellow Klingons, however, always left a foul taste in her mouth.

"General!" one of her aides said, his voice still carrying enthusiasm as he gestured out at the Sabine. "Should we not order another assault? They will launch soon!"

Hu'ler shook her head even before he finished talking. "For what purpose? Ives and Martok are not there. That was just some deception by the Medusan. There is no strategic reason to capture that area, and we have lost too many warriors already. No. There is only a fool's glory to be had in a meaningless battle. Let the Starfleeters have their victory. They have earned it. We have other objectives if we are to take the city."

With considerable reluctance, Hu'ler turned away and moved back to the center of her command post. "Order our assault troops to fall back. Abandon the assault on the Sabine." One of officers manning a comms station turned around, appalled at the order, and Hu'ler glared at the younger woman until the officer backed down. "The assault troops will regroup near the Monument of Caleb. We will need them for the push on the Great Hall. Order the artillery in the east to-"

Hu'ler was suddenly interrupted by a loud cry from the warrior manning a sensor station. Unimpressed by his lack of discipline, Hu'ler strode up behind the warrior and smacked him on the back of the head. "The next time you shout like that, you had better have a good reason," Hu'ler hissed at the warrior, who rubbed the back of his head gingerly.

"Yes, General," he said sheepishly, his eyes still on his display. "The Ta'rom, it is crippled. They have lost a nacelle. Main power is offline. House K'tal and the Federation ships have ceased fire. The Ta'rom is out of the fight. The Theurgy is still battleworthy. Our reinforcements are almost inside weapons range. They...the Theurgy has hailed them."

Hu'ler waited patiently, glancing out around at the burning First City. "I wish someone would destroy that wretched dreadnought," she muttered to herself. "Typical Starfleet. Build the most powerful ship in the quadrant, then let the cursed thing be stolen by a traitor and completely fail to hunt them down."

"General!" the warrior said loudly. "We have received word from our reinforcements. They are...they are quitting the field."

"What!?" Hu'ler said in shock. "Cowards!"

"The commander claims that...'destroying an empire to win a war is no victory, and ending a battle to save an empire is no defeat'." The warrior sounded deflated. "They have gone to warp. We are on our own. There is no word from Gorka, not a long time now."

Hu'ler just stood there for a long moment. Finally she took a breath, realising what needed to be done and hating herself for it. "Attention! All of you! We have lost control of orbit. The enemy have space superiority, and soon air superiority. We cannot hold the city against that, or else we will no longer have a city after the fighting is done." Hu'ler tried to look into the eyes of her warriors as they looked back at her, all true Klingons, all what the inevitable next order would be. "We must disperse, or the enemy will pick us off with orbital bombardment. All forces are to disperse. All brigades, companies and platoons must fragment into squads and fireteams. We must spread out into the countryside before the enemy have a chance to destroy us. From the countryside, we can mount a real resistance when Gorka gives the order."

Assuming Gorka was still alive, of course, but Hu'ler didn't voice that. "The commandos and assault troops from the Sabine battle will regroup at the Monument of Caleb. They are to advance on the Great Hall and reinforce Gorka, and capture the fool Martok, if they catch him. All other troops, disperse now. Give the orders, warriors, then take your disruptors and go. Leave the equipment. We will have no need of it."

The Klingons, unhappy but professional, went about their duties. Hu'ler sighed, stepping back to the edge of the roof where she had watched the Sabine battle continue. Her personal team of elite warriors were still there. Some of them had been with her since the Dominion War; others, since the war with the Federation that had preceded it. Others had been with her since the first civil war, thirteen years past. They were the finest warriors in the Empire, a mere six warriors who could do the work of a hundred, and they waited for their general's orders.

Hu'ler looked out at the Sabine. The fighting had died down as the Klingons retreated, giving the Starfleeters some breathing room...and that gave Hu'ler an idea. The Sabine was still floating just above the ground, but was still stationary, clearly visible from the rooftop, a distance of a kilometer, at most.

An idea came to Hu'ler, and she grinned with deep pleasure. "Our troops will need a distraction if they are to find safety before the enemy start bombardment," she said to her team, seeing them smile back as they recognised the glint in their leader's eyes. "What better distraction can we manage than by finally taking that accursed shuttlecraft? Gugi, do you think you can get a stable zipline shot on the Federation shuttle from so far away?"

Gugi laughed, a deep belly-clearing sound. "You know I can, old woman. This will be fun!"

The team didn't waste any time setting up the zipline, even as their comrades abandoned the rooftop and began moving downstairs. Hu'ler hummed merrily as she checked her blades and disruptor pistol, then set herself in the line. All seven Klingons stood, one in front of the other, the zipline anchored by a tall post behind them, waiting for Gugi to do his usual magic. Gugi knelt down on the very edge of the roof, a large rifle aimed carefully out into the city, and after a few seconds, Gugi fired the grapple. He was rewarded as, over a kilometer away, the grapple hit the Sabine, magnetically latching onto the craft.

"Today is a good day to die!" Hu'ler cried out, grinning fiercely as she latched herself onto the zipline, and without further prompting, the seven Klingons leapt off the rooftop, howling madly into the wind as they flew into one final assault on the Starfleet defenders.

---

"QI'yaH," - a strong Klingon curse
SIj'ejyo - 'clever Starfleet'

Re: CH07: S [D03|1649] Sabine Crash Site

Reply #38 – September 26, 2021, 04:52:38 PM

[ Kudesh, Son of Otruk /  MCWO Larrant | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] attn: @Auctor Lucan @Griff @RyeTanker @Tae

Larrant slowly approached the panicked Klingon warrior.

"Ah, back Fek'lhr! I will not be dragged by you to Gre'thor. You will not claim this warrior's soul. I am bound by honor to join my house in the halls of Sto-vo-kor!"

Larrant was unfamiliar with the Klingon's references. Kudesh however didn't miss any of them. Recovering from Larrant's tackle, he pulled himself upright ready for round two. "P'tach, what are you ranting about. The Barge of the Dead is not yet docked to claim your worthless soul. Not till my blade has pierced your traitor's heart." Kudesh's battle rage obscured his awareness of the Federation visor now distorting his vision. He merely thought the red hue the world had taken was his own bloodlust filling his eyesight.

Larrant slowly reached out toward the Mo'Kai warrior with his robotic arms, disregarding the bluster coming from Kudesh. "PLEASE BE CALM... WHAT YOU ARE EXPERIENCING ARE HALLUCINATIONS FROM SEEING MY TRUE FORM."

"Your Kos'Karii serpents do not frighten me, Fek'lhr!" The maddening Klingon fired his disruptor at Larrant's tentacled arms.

"Good distract him so I can put this traitorous dog down."

"NO! HE IS UNDER THE EFFECTS OF MEDUSAN MADNESS. I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS ONE'S LIFE AND DEATH." Reaching out with psychic tendrils Larrant penetrates the crazed Klingon's mind.

His name was Kij'qa and the hallucinations plaguing him at the moment were those of death and the journey through the Klingon afterlife. It made sense to Larrant that this was what the victim of witnessing a Medusan's true form would be focused on. Their body was dying, after all, their minds shattered.

"Fek'lhr you will not take me!"

"Your hallucinations bear no logic." came a disembodied voice.

"Your mind is too weak primitive Klingon." came another.

"How does death always generate so much fear," interrupted yet another.

"Bow down before the might of a true god," concluded a fourth.

"Who are you? Where are you?"

"THEY ARE ECHOES OF THE MINDS I HAVE ONCE SHARED. AS I NOW SHARE, HOWEVER FAINTLY, WITH YOU."

"Get out of my head Fek'lhr!" blood began to seep from the warrior's nose.

The screams of the Mo'Kai warrior were enough to cause Kudesh to paused his advances. "What is happening to him."

"HE IS DYING."

"Just by looking at you! Ha! Where were you during the Dominion War when I faced off with ten legions of Jem'Hadar?"

"HELD PRISONER BY THE DOMINION AND LATER LIBERATING BETAZED. I DO NOT SEE HOW SUCH INFORMATION IS RELEVANT AT THIS TIME."

The rooftop exchange was soon interrupted by a sudden quake. A fracture tore its way across the rooftop separating the three individuals and began widening. Larrant's sensors quickly ascertained that the foundation of the building had been compromised by the sudden impact of weapon detonations emanating from the Sabine.

"FASCINATING." he thought out loud. How had the shuttle generated enough power to manage such a defense? As the first pieces of the building began to collapse, Larrant knew he would only have time to save one of the two Klingons. The needs of the many he heard echoed in his mind. Kij'qa's body was dying anyway. Kudesh on the other hand was beyond healthy. No, Larrant could not make such an absolute choice, he would not give up on trying to save Kij'qa.

With determination, Larrant hovered toward Kudesh and secured his arms around the Klingon bodyguard.

"What are you.... no I am not some Targ pup for you to carry," he protested.

"The River of Blood consumes us all!" Kij'qa proclaimed as his body was consumed by the collapsing building.

"IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO SAVE YOU BOTH."

"Both? Did you not see that traitor fall to his death."

"IT IS DIFFICULT TO EXPLAIN. IF YOU WILL PLEASE HOLD STILL."

Kudesh didn't have time to respond as he was no longer standing on the rooftop. The building had collapsed beneath his feet. He know hovered above the collapsing structure, Larrant strapped to his back like a jet pack.

"I WILL BRING US TO THE SURFACE WHERE WE CAN CONTINUE OUR DISCUSSION AND HOPEFULLY JOIN OUR ALLIES."

There was no further complaint from Kudesh as Larrant began their descent into the rising ash cloud of the falling building. To those on the ground, it must have been a heroic sight. Moments before reaching the ground, Larrant released Kudesh who landed securely on one knee and stabilized on one fist, the rubble remains of Klingon architecture framing his background.

In those final moments, Larrant scanned the surrounding area and assessed the situation. A wire had appeared from outside the perimeter and attached itself to the Sabine. He detected incoming Klingon life signs along its path. Without thinking he shot a plasma blast from one of his tentacled arms that impacted the cable and one of the Klingons descending from it.

"WHAT HAVE ....."  Larrant stammered as he tried to rationalize his aggressive action. He had effectively killed one Klingon who now fell from the zip line in a ball of fire while dooming the others whose lifeline was literally melting and would soon snap.

"You have acted like a Klingon!" came the new voice within his mind. "You acted on instinct and honored preservation of your spirit. However, I had wished you had targeted that p'taq you chose to save."

Larrant could not have saved Kij'qa's body, it was impossible. His mind, however, or a fraction of it, was within his ability to save. It violated Starfleet and Federation law. Something Larrant would have to deal with eventually. Surely, the JAG office would understand the logic of the situation and be lenient on his punishment. Though Larrant could not imagine a worse punishment than being stuck with the aggressive psyche of a Klingon whispering in his nonexistent ears.

"You acted logically, if Vulcans can suppress their violent natures, so too can you tame this one." came the voice of T'Vella.

"That is what is wrong with Vulcans, they deny their passions. No, you must embrace this warrior spirit and temper it, control it, use it." came the voice of Sollek.

"Both are correct, while both sadly wrong and misguided. We all have raw emotions we must contend with. Medusans are no different, regardless of how to advance and evolved they are. You are in control." came the reassuring voice of Yemma.

"Kill all the solids! Great god of gods!" came the obsessing voice of the Vorta Loriss - 1.

The image of a warm hug flooded Larrant's mind indicating the presence of Hedril.

"Arrrrrrggggg! You are all weak! This Medusan has imprisoned you all within the labrynth of his mind! I will not be caged!" the voice of Kij'qa screamed.

Larrant knew that they all represented echoes of minds he had touched, but unlike corporal encounters, these lingered and created lasting effects on the thoughts of Medusans. They literally become part of their being.

"Ha who thought you had it in you?" interrupted Kudesh as he aimed at the incoming Klingons along the zip line. "Stay on Qo'noS long enough and anyone will become Klingon. Forged in the fires of battle!"

Larrant remained silent as the alley around them prepared for another assault.

Re: CH07: S [D03|1649] Sabine Crash Site

Reply #39 – October 01, 2021, 01:34:34 AM

[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | Sabine Crash Site | First City Streets | Qo'nos]

@Tae @jreeves1701 @Griff @Auctor Lucan

The sight of the Sabine taking off was enough to get Lt.Zark's party to skid to a halt in wonder and relief.  Their mission was just about accomplished and they could leave soon.  The sight of the Sabine firing it's weapons to smash a building to pieces was enough to cause the Andorian to laugh out loud.  We're going to get out of here! she thought exultantly as she waved the team forward toward the now hovering ship.  More emerald fire chased the fleeing Starfleet officers as they ran for salvation.  It was time to pull in the crew and get out of dodge.
Hitting her padd for comms, she got in touch with Rivard, who was still single handidly holding a flank.  "Time to leave Rivard, scuttle the buggy, then grab Arisaka and carry him to the Sabine. Marcaida, Demader, setup a perimeter around the hatch. Demander, setup your fire towards our line of retreat, Marcaida, cover towards Rivard." The two officers acknowledged their orders and began moving to their positions.

CPO Keyah | Above Sabine Crash Site | First City | Qo'noS

Keyah was nearly delirious with pain.  The building she occupying was scarred with disruptor blasts and holes from other attempts to kill her.  She continued to lay down a withering hail of fire to cover her commander's retreat back the now floating Sabine.  She thought about trying to make it back to the crash site as best she could when a plasma blast seem to fly into mid air and hit something.  She shook her head as her eyes refused to focus and she saw a body seeming falling out of mid air.  Her rifle all of a sudden seemed so heavy as she used her whole body to heave it onto a window sill and fired on full auto towards the rapidly descending figures in the dark.  Her accuracy was still atrocious as most of shots missed, but quantity is a quality all it's own and the rear most figure was blasted off the line and fell to ground.

Someone one the ground took a shot at the descending figures, hitting another, then it was too late as the Klingons were on the crash site.There was nothing she could do from here, dropping her rifle, she unsteadily grabbed a railing and made her way down the stairs and hopefully to the Sabine.

[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark)  | Sabine Crash Site | First City Streets | Qo'nos]

Lt.Zark's first impression that she'd missed something was when she was checking her map and noticed red markers moving towards her at high speed. Swivelling her head left and right, she didn't see any Klingon s moving at high speed.  It was only after a few seconds of fruitless searching did she realized she'd almost forgotten a key data point, they were fighting on a planet, so up and down were major directions of battle.  She barely got her rifle up to in time to shoot one oncoming Klingon, but a second finely armoured Klingon woman quickly followed and planted two massive armoured feet into the Andorian medic's face sending her cartwheeling in the air and landing with a massive grunt.  The kick would have been fatal it not for the helmet and armour, but it did nothing for the sudden transfer of kinetic energy from all directions that was inflicted on her body.  Groggily getting on to her hands and knees, she suddenly cried out as an armoured boot smashed into her armoured rib cage with enough force to flip her over several more times.  It seemed to take an eternity for her to get up and assume a defensive hand to hand stance.  Her opponent, the finely armoured Klingon smiled and approached, putting away her dagger.  Zark's arms seemed to explode as she barely managed to block a two punch combination aimed at her head, but this was a feint as a hand grabbed the back of her helmet and series of vicious uppercuts slammed into her mid section causing her to grunt and become winded again. 

With a strength born of desperation, Zark's head flew up and the back of her helmet hit the Klingon in the face, stunning her opponent.  A quick elbow strike was followed by a quick kick to the Klingon's chest.  The Klingon staggered back from the strike and the Zark threw a punch at her opponent's head.  The Klingon caught the punch and the Andorian felt herself get pulled in before a large hand grabbed her neck and lifted her off the ground before ripping Zark's helmet off.  The Klingon smiled again and said something as Zark clawed at the strangling arms.  The Klingon responded by slamming her forehead into Zark's face several times causing an explosion of pain and stars with each massive blow and sending blood flying from a squashed nose and split lips. Dazed, Lt.Zark grunted as her back was slammed to the ground.  The Klingon leapt onto the downed Andorian and Zark was barely able to get her arms up in time before her opponent began pummelling her senseless.

An orange shot blazed in and struck the Klingon, knocking her over.  Zark gasped at her reprieve and managed the strength to look around and see where the shot had come from.  Arisaka stood there with his phaser pistol pointed in her direction and one arm around Rivard who was busy holding Arisaka with one arm and firing his rifle with the other.  Zark could only smile at being saved from being turned into a punching bag, but her expression turned to one of horror as Arisaka's head exploded like an overripe melon and Rivard's back sparked and exploded as shots came in from the rear.  Three more Klingons appeared behind the two officers and quickly levelled their pistols at the two officers before firing more shots into their backs. With a strength fueled by rage, Zark pulled her phaser pistol from it's holster and  set it to kill shooting the standing Klingons, and blowing great bloody chunks from their bodies and dropping them like sacks of meat. 

It was clear that Rivard and Arisaka were dead, and as Zark unsteadily got up, she checked her surroundings as a the volume of shooting in the area took an eerie quiet.  Her eyes moved to where Marcaida and Demander were and she caught sight of Marcaida busy smashing in the head of an assailant with his rifle butt.  Demander was in a worse situation as he continued grappling rolling on the ground with another attacker.  Zark got up and stumbled a little towards Demander just as he took an elbow to the head, stunning him.  His attacker drew his dagger held it in both hands above his head, taking a moment to savour his victory.  It was not his moment as the stumbling Andorian got close enough and steady enough to jam her pistol into the Klingon's side and triggered a five round burst causing his chest to explode.  The severed head rolled a few meters away and came to a stop with a look of complete surprise on it.

"Demander, you okay?" She asked the prone Oneida officer.  Getting a nod in reply, she extended her hand to help him up.  Looking at Marcaida, she walked over and grabbed his shoulder.  Marcaida almost took a swing at her in his fury before stopping.  "I think you got him.".  Marcaida could only stare at her incomprehensibly for a moment before grunting.  "Son of a bitch had it coming."  Shaking his head, he checked his rifle and surprisingly, it was still intact. "Now what Ma'am?"

Zark didn't really know.  As her head began to clear and settle, she looked over to where the female Klingon had tried to turn her into jam and saw her helmet nearby.  Walking over and putting it on, she called up a map and team status and her heart sank again.  The building with Keyah in it was now swarming with hostile red markers.  The computer also confirmed that Arisaka and Rivard were dead.  There were also indications that more Klingons were coming towards the crash site as other seemed to be headed away from the fight.  As if to punctuate this, a flurry of green bolts came screaming in causing her to duck. "Everyone onto the Sabine now!  We're leaving!"  She turned to run with everyone else.  Just as she was a few meters away from the hatch, a force slammed into her leg causing her to fall. Shelat! Not now! Almost there. Lt. Zark struggled to her feet and a sledgehammer force sent her flying into the air momentarily and crashing into the ground knocking her out.

CPO Keyah | Above Sabine Crash Site | First City | Qo'noS

Chief Keyah didn't give up easily and she hobbled faster when she heard the message to evacuate.  I'm gonna make it, just one more floor. she thought to herself.  The Bolian rounded the corner of the stairwell and never saw the Bat'leth that slammed into her face and knocked backwards into a wall where she bounced off and face planted into the floor.  She barely had time to recognize the sound of metal slicing air before the tip of the blade slammed into the back of her head.

Re: CH07: S[D03|16:49] Sabine Crash Site

Reply #40 – October 04, 2021, 01:54:29 PM

[ Sera vers Aldnoah | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] Attn: @jreeves1701 @RyeTanker @Griff @Tae 
[Show/Hide]

"One or the other, ma'am. This is your ship; pick one."

"Burn you, I don't have a bloody death wish. We're leaving!" Sera called back, and thankfully enough, she didn't have to emphasise that wish to the Starfleeters still outside the Sabine. They fought tooth and nails to get back aboard, even as more Klingons came at them from across the alley, since the collapsing building hadn't caught them all. She'd noticed the metallic 'thunk' of something attaching to the hull of her ship. She didn't think much of it at first, focusing on picking off Klingons that rushed down the alley with her weapon systems. Yet when she heard feet stomping loudly against her hull, Sera leaned forward, she could see through her canopy how a few Klingons had ziplined down from on high. "Blast it..."

Barely did she have the time to pick up her disruptor and turn around in her seat, aiming with one hand towards the airlock. A Klingon appeared, then two, and she shot them both in rapid succession. They tumbled back out of the airlock again, before a third one showed his face. "Get off my ship!" she called, and when the Klingon rushed towards the cockpit, her shots caught his face twice and he fell heavily against the carpeted deck. Hearing no more of them, seeing as a few of them had engaged the Starfleeters, she returned her attention to her controls, and  several Klingons had almost made it across the fire-lit alley.

She realised that she couldn't fire her torpedoes, since behind her some of the Theurgy crew were making it aboard, and the airlock was stupidly enough set right in front of the starboard torpedo launcher. She did notice on her sensors, however, that there was a straggler. The Andorian, she believed, and she wasn't moving. "Hey! Mechanic! You flaming Starfleeters don't like to leave people behind, right? Then move it! There is someone still out there! Get her and get back aboard so that I can fly out of here!"

With renewed focus, Sera tried to keep the Sabine as close to the ground as possible, hovering above the debris of the alley, and she hoped she wasn't depleting too much energy in her final stand against House Mo'Kai's advancing forces. She had no interest in being stuck there, power reserves gone, so she paced herself. Tried to be as conservative as possible, which for a Fire Regioneer was more difficult than for many others. Single shot firing into the smoke, catching movements as best as she might. "Come on... Come on.. Come on..."

As soon as the mechanic would give the green light, she'd seal that bloody airlock shut and blast out of there - going outside the city and gently putting her dear ship down on the ground. She dared not hope the thing could actually make it past the atmosphere in the sorry state it was in...

Re: CH07: S [D03|1649] Sabine Crash Site

Reply #41 – October 05, 2021, 02:05:00 AM

[PO3 Lillee t’Jellaieu | Shuttlecraft Tesla | First City | Qo'nos ] Attn: @jreeves1701, @RyeTanker, @Tae

[Show/Hide]

Time passed, and Lillee had little to do but sit in her chair and watch her sensors, her frustration building minute by minute at being pinned down and unable to intervene. The Tesla's sensors kept a clear view of the battle raging only a few hundred meters away from Lillee, and she kept an obsessive eye on the Andorian, human, Câroon and other non-Klingon lifesigns, silently pleading for them to hurry up.

She saw the surprise attacks, not one but two different attacks, one from below and one from above. Lillee saw Klingon lifesigns vanishing, but she also saw other lifesigns begin to disappear or fade. People were fighting, dying, and Lillee was just sat there like a helpless pup! She gritted her teeth, clenching a fist as she reflexively checked the sensor readings close to her position. Sensor readings that were completely clear of Klingon lifesigns for some distance around Lillee's shuttle.

"What?" Lillee exclaimed in shock, double-checking her sensors, but there could be no doubt. The heavy weapons teams were all busy retreating, abandoning their task of pinning the Tesla down where Lillee had hidden. There was no sign of why they were leaving, no sign that anything had changed; all that was clear was that they were gone, and had indeed been gone for at least a couple of minutes. Even the heavy anti-air cannons set up on the taller buildings had powered down.

"Lillee i-Fennheii t'Jellaieu, you fool!" Lillee scolded herself viciously, her hands flying over her panel and launching her shuttle up into the air. "Staring at your sensors like some untrained moron instead of watching your surroundings! Fvadt, how could I be so stupid?"

No longer trapped by the anti-air cannons or heavy weapons teams, Lillee was free to fly however she liked, and thus it took mere moments to reach the Sabine crash site. The battle site looked hellish, with bodies strewn everywhere, both Klingon and Starfleet. The surrounding buildings were wrecked by disruptor and phaser fire, weapons fire that was continuing still. Yet more Klingons had evidently not gotten the retreat order, and consumed by vengeance and bloodlust, they continued their attacks on the Sabine from all sides, helped by the elite commandoes already next to the Sabine who continued struggling to get inside the craft.

Lillee watched from a hundred meters up as one blue-skinned figure was hit by an explosion, sent flying, and left completely exposed to Klingon weapons fire. Lillee saw a quartet of Klingons running at the Sabine, disruptors blazing, hoping to kill yet more before the ship launched, and she inhaled as lethal green bolts came awfully close to Zark.

My phasers are too precise to kill all four of them in time... Lillee thought in that split second before she grinned, bloodlust of her own filling her eyes as an idea sparked. Her hands flew with inhuman speed over her controls and abruptly the shuttle nosed down and dived for the ground. Glaring with an almost primal intensity, Lillee pulled up at the last moment, the bulky 70 ton shuttle missing the ground by scant meters, and savagely Lillee flew directly at the Klingon squad, accelerating all the way.

When the 70-ton shuttle hit them, It was not a pretty sight.

With that threat neutralised, Lillee decelerated hard and spun her shuttle around. Not trusting her weapons to safely hit the Klingons close to the Sabine, Lillee focused instead on the few remaining Klingons on the perimeter. She deftly moved her shuttle inbetween the Sabine and the majority of the Klingons on the perimeter, the Tesla's shields absorbing the disruptor fire, and Lillee answered with her own phasers. Still the weapons were designed for space combat, not anti-personnel targeting, and the results were limited.

"Come on, hurry up, hurry up..." Lillee muttered as she worked.

---

fvadt - a mild Romulan curse

Re: CH07: S [D03|1649] Sabine Crash Site

Reply #42 – October 06, 2021, 03:14:31 AM

CPO Victor vanVinter | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS | Attn: @jreeves1701 , @RyeTanker , @Griff , @Auctor Lucan

Victor had mostly finished with the power transfer, and was just keeping an eye on it as he takes a few moments to work on his cybernetic hand. the design was elegant, but simple to work on, fairly simple to restore basic functionality. he wouldn't have anything like fine motor control, but at least he'd have two hands. He's distracted to the point that he misses the first Klingon entering the Sabine until Sera's phaser lances through the first Klingon. With the reflexes of a veteran NCO Victor drew the phaser on his hip and fired, not checking the setting. His aim was high, perhaps too high. The bean lancing out in a sharp sizzling sound, and the Klingon warrior's head and neck disintegrate in a brilliant flash.  At least, there wouldn't be a mess, with the heat of the phaser cauterizing the wound it left behind. The beam caught him simultaneously with Sera's, the Klingon's body disintegrating into a pile of ash. There was a moment of blinking agape-ness, unsure who had made the killing shot.

He took a brief moment to process and got back to work, shunting the power from the Zero point module to the engines, glad that Sera had made the right call. But seeing the survivors from the rescue mission come aboard and without Zark. She had to be the last one in, right? Still no Zark after a heartbeat, and even as Sera yells at him to get her, he is already moving. The tall mechanic snatched up the phaser rifle from one of the security team and holstering his own in the process, and Victor leaps from the shuttle into a roll to not make himself into a target. Impacting the shattered ground at the roll wasn't fun for him and would leave bruises; the disruptor burns along his back, flaring with pain when the flesh gets punctured with some minor debris from the plaza.

Victor comes up firing at where it looked like shots were still coming from as he runs towards the down Andorian. a moment of goggling shock when Lillee crashes out of her hiding space and mows down some Klingons with the Tesla itself. He had to buy her a drink for pulling off a move that blasted crazy. But there wasn't time to marvel at the insanity of his friend right now, and he had to get to Zark. She wasn't too far from the Sabine, but a Klingon that had been lying in wait pops up from behind a pile of debris and fires at him, twin disruptor pistols sending emerald bolts firing in his general direction. With a shot more of luck than anything, Victor fires the rifle, the beam lancing through the air in an arc from the poor firing position, luckily catching the warrior in his right arm. The close range and shock of the warrior's pain gave victor an advantage. Instead of firing again, he charges the Klingon standing so close to Zark, bringing the rifle up with both hands, and slams the butt of the rifle into the Klingon's face putting his full weight and leverage into the strike. The crunching of bone and polymerized alloys is heard as both the buttstock of the phaser rifle and the Klingon's facial bones shatter.

Being close enough now, he spotted Zark stirring, and seeing no more Klingon's around, the mechanic opened up the power management panel on the rifle and set an overload that should go on in twenty seconds. If any Klingons were hiding nearby, that would take care of that surprise. Throwing the rifle with all of his might, he doesn't wait for the overloading weapon to land. With the ease and strength born of adrenaline, Victor scoops Zark up with one arm and hoists the Andorian across his shoulders. She was nearly thirty centimeters shorter than him, and she didn't weigh too much, even with her combat loadout. "Hey Zark, it's Victor. I'm getting you outta here." There wasn't much that Victor cared about right now. They'd lost too many people on this mission, and he'd be damned to burn with the pah-wraiths before he left the woman that saved him behind. It wasn't far to the shuttle, only about two dozen meters, and Victor ran as far as possible, not caring about the burning of his back or in his legs. He cared even less about the emerald disruptor bolts erupting from concealed positions aiming at the Tesla, Sabine, and him.

The sound of the phaser rifle overloading creating an explosive sound, and the sizzling of the air roughly forty meters back, the bright flaring of light had told him what that was. That was paired with the sound of a few screaming Klingons. The disruptor blasts aimed at him were fewer now, though they were getting closer. With one last burst of effort, Victor leaps up to the hovering Sabine. Victor was unsure how he managed to clear the jump, but he fucking made it, and Zark still seemed to be alive. Slapping the control panel for the airlock, it closes behind him, and breathing heavily, the half-Bajoran shouts. "Get us the fuck outta here. All of us that are alive are on board. I think I saw something headed this way, to the northeast, no clue what it is. Maybe have Lillee check it out. We need to get out of here. No clue how long that power shunt will hold."

Re: CH07: S [D03|1649] Sabine Crash Site

Reply #43 – October 06, 2021, 01:19:12 PM

[ Kudesh, Son of Otruk /  MCWO Larrant | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] attn: @Auctor Lucan @Griff @RyeTanker @Tae

The narrow battlefield was filled with smoking debris. The bodies of dead Klingons scattered about. Through the haze, the sound of the Sabine lifting off could be heard, along with the shouts and mad scramble of its passengers fleeing.

"Grrr, you Starfleeters give up too soon. The battle is just getting good!" Kudesh exclaims as he unsheathed his blade from the chest of one of the Klingon attackers. "How else can you know your true skill and the worth of your warrior's heart if you never accept a battle when the odds are against you?"

Larrant did not respond. He was still wrestling with the new voice in his mind.

"The traitor is right. Stay and fight. Let my comrades gut the lot of you that support the usurper Martok."

It was Kudesh's bloody hand hitting the casing of Larrant's pod that brought him back to reality. "It looks like your friends are leaving you behind."

Analyzing his pod's sensor readings, Kudesh was correct. The Sabine had limited power, it was fluctuating, but stable enough for a limited flight out of the city. He also noted the combadge readings of the Theurgy team. They had casualties, the survivors all had elevated heart rates. All the survivors were aboard the Sabine except Kudesh and Larrant.

"Ha, pe'taQs all of you. The House of Martok will fall if you are the strongest of its allies!"

"NO." It was a response to both Klingons present, Kudesh, and the voice echoing inside his head. Larrant rotated to face Kudesh. "FORGIVE ME AGAIN."

"For what?"

"THIS." Larrant's tentacle arms wrapped around Kudesh and secured the pod to the Klingon's back.

"No! You blasted gas pot, not this again." the Klingon protested.

Larrant activated the antigravs of his pod to maximum capacity and used his plasma vents at the ends of his tenticles to maneuver.  Kudesh dropped his bloodied blade as his was propelled up above the skyline and positioned adjacent to the escaping Sabine. His motion to wiped bug splatter off the protective visor Larrant had placed on him earlier resembled a salute as he rocketeered next to the Sabine cockpit window.

Re: CH07: S[D03|16:49] Sabine Crash Site

Reply #44 – October 18, 2021, 12:20:19 PM

[ Sera vers Aldnoah | Sabine Crash Site | Old Quarter | First City | Qo'noS ] Attn: @jreeves1701 @RyeTanker @Griff @Tae 
[Show/Hide]

Seeing the power levels of the Sabine deplete gradually as she fired against the remaining House Mo'Kai forces, Sera ran the quick calculation in that she had more lives aboard the shuttle than outside, and if she were to save the most - herself and the bloody robot on the floor included - then she might have to seal the airlock and leave both the mechanic and the Andorian behind. It wouldn't be a popular call when returning to the Theurgy, for sure, but the alternative would be them all dying in that bloody alley.

With her yellow eyes darting back and forth to the power readout, seeing the phaser bolts she fired depleting it more and more, she was just about to reach for the airlock controls... when a new shuttle entered the alley from above - interjecting itself between the Sabine and the advancing Klingons in the smoke. A wide grin spread on Sera's face and she removed her hand from the controls of the airlock and eased her finger off the trigger on her stick, conserving her ship's energy for the possibility of escaping. Watching the Starfleet shuttle before the canopy of her cockpit, she thought to herself, Damn, I owe whomever is piloting that thing a drink...

It didn't take long before the mechanic was back on board, sealing the airlock after himself, the Andorian accounted for. "Noted, and hold on to something! We have no inertial dampeners!"

The elation and relief that flooded through Sera when she finally could pull her sick back and ascend over the rooftops would stay with her for quite some time, with the Qo'noS sunset in her eyes and the silhouette of the Great Hall in the distance. Below, she left behind an alley covered in rubble, bodies and flames. She had expected to see the Starfleet shuttle appear on one side when she looked out there, but what she didn't count on was...

"Box-boy?" she said incredulously, only giving the unmistakable figure with its metal appendages a quick glance, seeing that he was carrying Martok's bodyguard with him. "Fuck it, he won't be able to keep up." Already, he was falling behind, and Sera checked the power levels, seeing that that she still had some left. It would make for a shorter flight, but they would still get out of the city, she hoped, if she did what she decided to do. She veered to the side, so that the Medusan was directly to the aft and below her. She flipped her LCARS screen to that of her tractor beam controls, and locked on. Given the proximity, it wasn't difficult to hit them with the beam, and once she'd caught them, she accelerated - leaving the First City behind.

"All right, people, we won't make orbit, much less to the Theurgy, so we're landing up in the Kannaga Mountains. I'll find a plateau and tell the Theurgy where we are so that those who need medical attention can get beamed up there. I'm staying on the blasted ship, though, until repairs are complete, because I don't trust this flaming neighbourhood. Oh, remember to take the blasted bot with you, as well as the booster in my cargo hold. It was made using parts of her, and Ravenholm would be the one who knows how to reassemble her." Sera turned around to look over the shoulder of her red exosuit, giving her passengers a grin. "Thank you for the save guys! Let's hope Ives and Martok made it and the Klingons will settle down a bit."

And behind them, the strife of the First City was indeed dying down, because the usurper was dead and his House in disarray.

- FIN