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Episode 02: Cosmic Imperative / Re: Epi 2 [ D02 | 2300 hrs.] All Squared up at the Triangle
Last post by Dumedion -[Ens. Talia “Shadow” Al-Ibrahim | Wolves Den | FAB | Deck 16 | Vector 2 | The Ranger] Attn: ALL
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In the few short weeks out of cryo, she’d never really spent much time in the pilot’s rec room; the Den had always felt like Ghost’s stomping grounds – thick with cloying cigar smoke and synth-booze. Rawley had always been there, loitering or hunched over the pool table to greet Talia with a grin, no matter who was around.
The place seemed diminished, now.
The lights were dimmed so those who could rest at least could make an honest effort. Talia wanted so desperately to sleep, but her mind simply couldn’t be bothered to switch off – despite how tired she felt, mentally and physically. She’d never flown more than three sorties in a shift. The demands of combat were still fresh, and everything she’d seen and done had yet to be fully processed and decompressed. It was exhausting just sitting there, nursing a cup of coffee, while she tried to quiet her mind and just deal with it all. Others might have sought out the company of peers or friends, but Talia preferred the silence – it was a comfort, away from the noise of the FAB just beyond the bulkhead, a brief respite from endless readiness checklists, inspections, rearming, and most of all, the people.
She’d already noted the change in their eyes. The loss, the anger, the grief.
Some pushed it aside and carried on as if nothing had happened. Most of them. She had to remind herself that for most of the crew, this was only another combat action in a series of running combat actions ever since the Theurgy fought its way out of Sol. Six months of running combat. That was a sobering thought, one that finally punched reality home; the fact of the matter was, the odds of any of them surviving seemed laughable. A distant hope, even. Would Starfleet even accept them if they pulled it off and somehow managed to neutralize the Infested? With everything they’d done, and the unthinkable, unknowable acts to come, the idea seemed hilariously bleak.
Ghost lived that mentality; she took everything in stride, and kept on laughing. Shadow couldn’t quite understand that…nonchalant attitude. Suddenly, finally, it made sense...and then, Talia laughed; a low chuckle, despite everything, as understanding dawned in her heart and mind. Death could claim any of them at any moment, whether they did everything right or not; what mattered was living while it lasted – not chasing perfection, or worrying about what other people thought, or holding grudges against people she’d likely never see or hear from again.
Living. Just that. No more bullshit.
Shadow sat back with a sigh after setting the cold cup of coffee aside, to stretch out on the couch with a snarl of servos from her exosuit. Dark, bloodshot eyes closed, as her mind slowly blanked and slipped away into nothingness. An instant or eternity later, Talia bolted awake to another scramble order. The ship was already under fire as she strode out onto the flight deck, helm tucked under her arm…
[...while the battle raged]
[LT Arven Leux | Surgery Center | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | Vector 2 | The Ranger] Attn: ALL
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We’re in the thick of it now, Arven grimaced as the ship shook around him; the ICU was packed to capacity, as well as the Ward down the hall. They were treating patients out in the reception area, saving space for those more grievously wounded, as well as sending everyone they couldn’t get to the smaller med-station on Vector 3.
“Hold him,” Leux nodded down at his work, as a slim pair of hands held the burnt and smoking remains of an engineer enlisted rating to the operating bed. The seemingly endless barrage of incoming fire wasn’t helping Arven's mood or operating efficiency, which had never been the Doctor’s strong suit. Fortunately, the poor bastard was unconscious, otherwise Leux was quite sure he’d be screaming in agony. There was enough of that going on around him already.
Violet eyes looked up and glanced at the chaos, before turning to the nurse across the table with weary resignation. For his life, Arven couldn’t remember her name; that didn’t stop him from cracking a tired smile, for her sake. “Just want you to know, you’re doing great,” he offered, quite sincerely, but in the usual dead-pan, cynical tone he always used.
She blinked in confusion, then nodded, as if he’d said something utterly unthinkable.
Arven just shrugged and went back to cutting the charred uniform from burnt flesh. He’d done a lot of that already, and the casualties just kept coming. “How many more are out there,” he jerked his head back and to the side without taking his eyes off his work.
“I…a lot,” the nurse hesitated. “We’re running out of room.”
Arven snorted dryly. “First time, eh? Just means we need to work faster,” he paused to rip a swath of fabric free with a grunt, then folded the rest of the man’s shirt down past his waist while the nurse pulled his trousers free. Once he was finally stripped, Leux closed the regenerative processor panels closed over his torso and left leg and activated the console.
“Short run only, we don’t have time for a full cycle. Soon as he’s done, gurney him to the ward or wherever else we have space and send in the next,” Leux nodded to her as another nurse stuck his head into the room.
“Code blue, ICU,” he shouted and disappeared.
Arven ran after him without saying another word.
[...later, shortly after the arrival of the Apache and Allegiant]
[PO2 Kino Jeen | Medbay | Upper Deck | USS Allegiant] Attn: @RyeTanker @Ellen Fitz
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She woke with a start, half-blinded by the light and pain that throbbed in time with her heart. It took a few seconds for Kino to realize where she was and remember what had happened, but she sat up anyway while the fog lifted. The Romulan was the last person she expected to see and wasn’t even on the list of people she hoped to see – but there he was, staring at her with that idiotic grin, like they were old buddies – which the Trill met by narrowing her one remaining eye in annoyance as she slid off the bed to stand.
A hand brushed over the scarred tissue where her ocular implant used to be, then continued up to ruffle through the tangled mess of silver hair with a sigh before she looked around for her weapons. They were gone.
“Where the hell’s my –“ she demanded, but was interrupted as the door opened. Kino’s head snapped around to shoot a glare at the door and the figure that leaned into the room, while the solitary medical officer left.
“Jeen,” Chief Nilsson barked as the ship shuddered around them again. “Get your ass to the armory and get geared up, we’re coming in hot. SecOps will brief you when your ready for transport.”
“What about him,” Kino nodded to the Romulan.
“He’s with you. Agans and Falvar too,” Nilsson nodded to them both, then left.
Kino popped the tension from her neck as she grabbed the bloody remains of her duty jacket and headed to the door. “Outstanding,” she grunted to herself sarcastically. “Look, you better keep up or stay out of my way. I’m not rated for babysitting senior citizens. You fall behind, it’s on you. Oh,” she turned to glance at him with a smirk, “and don’t start with the pet names, or I’ll cut your goddamn balls off.”
That said, Kino strode from the medbay out into the hall, bound for the armory.
[Moments later…]
Kino watched with a bemused expression as Falvar and Agans helped Hirek into a loaned exosuit, the chest-piece still blackened with the disruptor fire from the wound that had killed it’s previous owner during the escape from Romulus. That wasn’t what amused her though; it was the look on the Romulan’s face as he tried to keep up with the rapid-fire instructions from her team-mates as they tried to explain it’s basic combat functions and abilities.
This is probably a bad idea, she brooded, but there wasn't much for it. He lived through the Citadel, and even if he claimed to be some kind of lab-rat, Jeen knew better. He wasn't useless, and like all of his kind, he knew more than he let on. Still, she'd watch him all the same, just in case.
Kino checked the power cells on her sidearm, then slid it into the holster at her thigh and drew her blade to check its edge with a twisted flourish. The edge and balance were good, but she ran a few passes over the blade with a whetstone anyway, until the ship lurched and shook again. “Wrap it up guys,” Jeen interrupted them, stowing the blade and hefting her rifle, then opened a channel up to SecOps on the Ranger. “SecOps, Jeen. Reporting in with Team 3, plus one. Requesting sitrep and orders.”
A familiar gentle lilt came back over the comm, but it seemed drained of its emotion, as if a computer had taken over. ["SecOps acknowledges. Be advised: Commander Akoni is KIA by parties unknown, possibly Romulan or Klingon. Lieutenant zh'Wann is in pursuit of target tango 1 heading towards engineering. Profile on target tango 2 is being built with Thea at this time."] There was a pause to catch her breath. ["Head for the AI core while we generate an intercept for you."] Another pause. ["Tangos 1 & 2 are using some sort of stealth tech to conceal their movements. We can only get a partial read within five meters of active tricorders. Thea is working on cracking the stealth, but she's a bit busy at the moment too. Be careful."]
Kino arched a dark brow over the scarred patch of flesh where her eye used to be. “Jeen, solid copy,” she acknowledged, then turned to her team with a nod. “Saddle up boys, we’re moving.” The non-com paused to mag-lock her rifle to her chest-plate then donned her helm before she tapped out a series of commands on the wrist-mounted PADDs, linking her suit to theirs for tactical C&C while she led them to the transporter room.
In her helm, a miniature 3D render of the Helmet sprang into view as the suits auto-senses compensated to her limited field of vision and depth perception. Kino spoke as they walked briskly, briefing them on what she knew. “Got bogies on the Helmet wearing some fancy stealth gear; numbers unknown, objectives unknown. Deputy Ida is in pursuit, covering engineering. We’re headed to the AI core to lock it down while SecOps chews on intel; once we have their position, we close and take them out. All clear?”
“Romulans,” Falvar grunted. “Those pricks ever fight fair?”
Kino snorted and shrugged, then led them into the transporter, with a nod to the control officer. A tap of her finger opened the channel back up to SecOps. "This is Jeen. Team 3 is ready up. Awaiting beam-out to objective," she reported, once they'd all taken a spot on the pad. "Hirek's with me. You two mind the flanks," she jerked a thumb at the Romulan, then pointed to her squadmates in turn. "Eyes up, heads on a swivel. Don't let these fuckers catch us napping."
The transport officer spoke up as the ship took more hits, holding onto his console. "Coordinates received, standby for transport!"
"Let's rock," Kino grinned behind her helm, rifle held low at the ready, as the world grew bright and indistinct and her team disappeared in four columns of light.