21
Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: Chapter 1: The (hopefully) Great Romulan Smash and Grab [Day 1 | 1800hrs ]
Last post by P.C. Haring -Kestra dove behind cover as a blast of disruptor fire struck against the bulkhead she had just been standing next to. The Romulans had been particularly forceful in their response to their incursion, moreso than she might have expected for a research station. The Admiral’s intelligence on the station indicated it might be hiding some high tech prototypes aside from the Thaloron triggers, and based on what she was hearing through the Starfleet Comm channels, that assessment was spot on.
With the help of Klaudia Cheung’s expertise, the crew of the Mary Baldwin had patched into the comms of the Theurgy crew on board the station. They had two teams, one dubbed Red, the other Blue. Blue was to go after the objective, while Red created distractions. The team from the Baldwin, dubbed “purple” had been left into more of a freelancing role. Help where able, but ultimately ensure the success of both teams to the best of their ability.
She spun out of cover, the barrel of her rifle coming to bear on the Romulans who had them pinned. Three quick squeezes of the trigger, sent three phaser pulses down the corridor. Two Romulans vaporized instantly, the third survived as her shot went wide.
To her left, PO3 Jenkins also spun out of cover and fired. His shit hitting the elusive third Romulan square in the chest and sending him to the deck that would mark his final resting place.
“Clear!”
Together Kestra waved her fireteam forward, her rifle up high on her shoulder, ready to fire. As they rounded the corner, her vision seemed to blur for a second and, if she didn’t know better, the bulkheads seemed to flex and bend as though she were walking through a hall of mirrors. Just then her tricorder beeped. Leaning up against the bulkhead which felt far more solid than it looked, Kestra pulled the tricorder out of it’s holster, flipped it open, and clipped it into the bracket attached to her rifle. Never did her eye leave the gun sight.
She flicked her gaze at the output, but couldn’t fully understand it.
“Pren to Cheung. What the hell am I looking at?”
[[Standby one, Pren. Linking to your tricorder now.]] There was but the briefest of pause. [[Ah… sorry about that. The Romulans are trying to release a neurotoxin into the atmosphere. My virus is blocking it, but it looks like some might have released before I could shut it down.]]
“It’s screwing with my perceptions.”
[[Yeah… it’s non lethal but it’ll make you hallucinate like crazy. Just keep pushing forward. There’s cleaner air up ahead. I’ll guide you if needed.]]
She knew the protocol and signaled the rest of her team to hold their breath as they advanced into the next section of the facility.
‘CHUNK’
The deck almost reverberated beneath them with the sound.
‘CHUNK’
[[Oh shit…]]
‘CHUNK’
The sound grew louder, a rhythm like the footsteps of a metallic giant approached them.
“Talk to me, Cheung…”
‘CHUNK’
[[TAKE COVER]]
Kestra saw it a split second before she heard the warning. The gunmetal monstrosity rounded the corner and opened fire without warning. Debris flew in all directions as the Romulan mech unloaded it’s ordinance. The deafening noise threatened as much disorientation as the neuro-toxin but she closed her eyes and willed herself to focus. The weapon would have to stop firing eventually, and when it did she would respond in kind.
She sensed it more than heard it, a minor change in the rhythm of the noise followed by a noted slow down in the firing rate and then it fell silent.
“NOW!”
She wasn’t sure if anyone would follow her cue, and she didn’t care. She jumped out of cover and held the rifle trigger, willing the phaser to fire even faster than it already was. At least two other phasers were firing in unison with her.
But none of it did any good. The mech kept coming, it’s shield bubble illuminating at the points of impact like that of a starship. Not only that, but she saw the gattling disruptors start to spin up again.
“COVER!”
She pulled back just in time as another volley of weapons fire chewed through the corridor leaving her to wonder if there would be any cover left. More debris flew and she brought her arm up to cover her face.
When the weapons spun down the second time, Kestra was ready and lobbed a photon grenade at the mech and ducked behind her cover once again.
Even with the benefit of cover, she felt the concussive wave of the weapon’s explosion pressing against her as more debris fell around her. The grenade was strong enough to blow a hole in the hull of a shuttle, or level the side of a building. But as the gattling disruptors spun up again, she realized it was not strong enough to penetrate the Mech’s shields.
She looked across the corridor to the other side of the junction. Jenkins was down and unmoving. She’d lost sight of Lau but the other two on their fire team were struggling to hold their position under the mechs whithering fire.
For it’s part, the Mech hadn’t moved. It’s pilot seemed content to hold that corner and keep them pinned.
‘CHUNK’
She dared to peek around the corner, and saw the Mech take a step and, much to her surprise, the shield perimeter did not push the debris out of the way, but rather allowed the inert material to pass harmlessly inside the bubble. Which made her wonder…
There were plenty of holes in the deck and she could see a service crawlspace under her. But she doubted…
Something caught her eye. A panel, no more like a junction actually and in the briefest of instances, she was back at the academy sitting in an elective engineering extension course pining after a particularly handsome upperclassmen named Bashir. An arrogant, know it all medical student, Kestra remembered not caring about his personality as long as he’d take her to bed with him. Alas, it never happened.
Another blast of debris took her back to the moment and she wiped the blood off her cheek.
“Pren to Cheung,” she called. “Am I looking at a Plasma Waveguide conduit?”
She pointed her phaser at the panel in question so her Tricorder could get a scan of it and relay the data back to Klaudia.
[[Confirmed. What of it LT?]]
“Find me the adjoining plasma conduit, quickly!”
There was but the briefest of pauses. [[Two meters directly in front of you.]]
Directly under the mech. Just what she was hoping to hear.
“Cover me!”
She didn’t wait for a response before tossing her rifle and pack to the nearest person. Pulling two photon grenades from her pack she dove into the hole in the deck and dropped hard into the service tunnel below. She scampered forward as the mech fired into the gap she had used, to get down there, before turning it’s attention elsewhere.
For as short of a crawl the two meters was, it seemed to take forever to reach the point. As promised the plasma conduit ran under the deck, perpendicular to her orientation. She had no way of knowing exactly where the mech was above her, but if this worked, It wouldn’t matter. She armed the grenades and slammed them onto the conduit.
“Fire in the hole!”
The seconds ticked down in her head as she pulled herself out and sprawled out towards the other two fire team members. She found Lau with them, and as she gathered her gear she pulled them with her “Fall back!”
They retreated back into the adjacent section. Already one of her team tore at the emergency panel and was pumping closed the blast doors, sealing themselves off. The deck rumbled again as the explosion deafened them momentarily and send them tumbling down.
[[Are you all right?]]
It was Cheung. Kestra took a look at her teammates. Everyone was alive though she couldn’t assess any injuries thy might have had. For her part, Kestra felt the blood trickling down the side of her face and the debris that had impaled into her left thigh muscle. It wasn’t deep, so she ignored the tenants of first aid and pulled it out, dropping the shard to the deck. It hurt like a bitch but the pain subsided into a throbbing ache.
“We’re in one piece. What about you?”
[[What the hell did you do? The plasma distribution network is flashing a breach alarm.]]
“Detonating a photon grenade next to a plasma conduit will do that you know,” Kestra replied. "We’ve retreated to the adjacent corridor. Can you diver the plasma flow to cut the fire?"
[[Done. I’m also not detecting a hull breach. Other than the radiant heat, it should be safe to re-enter.]]
“What about the mech?”
[[Can’t tell you. Internal sensors are down in that section. Can’t imagine why…]]
Kestra ignored the sarcasm as she took up her gear and squeezed herself through the gap in the blast door, created when the explosion had twisted the doors frame. She broke into an immediate sweat from the heat. Turning at the junction where they had been pinned, she brought her rifle to bear but a forcefield stopped her in her place. The reason why was obvious.
The section they had been fighting in, like the mech that had pinned them, no longer existed.