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Chapter 04: Usurpation

Episode 04: Simulcast | Chapter 04 "Usurpation"

"Some people think that the truth can be hidden with cover-up and decoration. But as time goes by, what is true is revealed, and what is fake fades away.
- Ismail Haniyeh

[ Starbase 84 | Orunal-class Spacedock | Outside the RNZ ] Attn: All Boarding Teams + Brutus, Mathis & Kaligos

The three boarding teams on Starbase 84 had yet to reach their objectives, delayed in their progress by Starbase Security.

Just above the Subspace Acquisition Grid, in the corridor what would take them to the last turbolift and to the Communication Towers, Boarding Team 01 was attacked from behind. The guards had climbed the jefferies tubes and appeared from a grate in the wall, opening fire against Wenn Cinn's team without delay. Madsen was the first to get hit, crumpling to the floor as if he'd been a puppet and his strings got cut. The security guards quickly moved to take cover in door openings and whatever recesses they could find in the corridor, exchanging phaser fire with the Theurgy's personnel. If it had not been for the SAFTI gear that they wore, a lot more people would have fallen to the floor when the guards opened fire. With two guards becoming three, and then four, there was no telling how many more were about to climb out of the grate in the wall.

A few levels down, O'Connell's team was closing in on Primary Reactor Control, having already taken care of the first of their objectives by disabling the spacedock's operational controls after locking all docked starships to their pylons. Unfortunately, Thea had also managed to cause a disaster by sealing the docking bay doors, when a signalling error caused the starbase's Flight Ops personnel to be unaware that the doors weren't opening. They had given the 23rd Tactical CONN Air Group clearance to launch in belief that the doors were opening, even though they weren't, and more than a fifth of the Air Group's interceptors had been destroyed in the attempted launch against the Theurgy. It had been an unforeseen development, yet as regrettable as it was, the team had to continue on to the next objective.´

Outside of the door to the reactor room, six security specialists pointed phaser rifles at the corridor curving off to their right.  An intruder alert had been sounded at Spacedock Control and if the intruders came down that way they'd get multiple stun beams up their noses.  One was pointing a security tricorder down the hall.  Even though scanning was tricky near the shielded bulkheads so close to the Reactor Room, it wasn't impossible.  Even if the intruders weren't wearing combages their powered weapons would show up if their lifesigns didn't.  As long as they came down the corridor, all they had to do was keep a tricorder pointed in the right direction and they would receive ample warning minutes before the intruders came around the curve of the corridor to be seen.

In the massive spacedock, one set of the sealed bay doors had just been destroyed so that the remaining interceptors could launch against the Theurgy. First, however, the USS Resolve passed through the opening - its damaged bulk moving through the empty frame that had held the bay doors. The interceptors were due to follow, and had it not been for the quick thinking of Starbase 84's Chief of Security, another craft would have seized the opportunity to escape the station. Instead, Komial Dothnil had managed to seal Shuttlebay 17-C and prevented the Sabine from launching. A high-yield force field had been raised in the opening of the shuttlebay, and while the Sabine was in the air, it had nowhere to go. Lieutenant Dothnil had just ordered the Sabine to stand down under threat of being destoryed. Dothnil's men had their phaser assault rifles primed on the sleek gunship, and Junior Lieutenant Hi'Jak had yet to get the port airlock closed on the Sabine - its hasty lift-off threatening and uncontrolled movements threatening to make the half-naked, halfbreed Klingon fall out. Sera vers Aldnoah, the owner of the Sabine, had yet to aquiant herself with the upgrade of the craft's controls, and unless they could get out of the shuttlebay, she would never get a second try.

Further down inside the base, in the Executive Offices Complex - the main building soaring high into the centre of the Recreational Dome - Deupty zh'Wann had been forced to split up Boarding Team 03. Whereas three NPOs were climbing the jefferies tubes from the ground level, mainly as a diversion, she was on a turbolift heading to the Command Center. In the turbolift were also Ensign Ryuan Sel, Junior Lieutenant Zaraq and Ensign Cameron Henshaw. They alone would have to get into the Command Centre and confront Captain Hawthorne, convincing him to stand down and lower the base's shields. Hopefully Henshaw - Hawthone's adoptive daughter - would be able to make him see reason. If he didn't, Ida knew they might have to stun the Captain and the present Senior Staff, or force them to cooperate under deadly threat. She did not cherish that contingency plan at all, but she would do what she had to.

[Floor 47: Administration, Departmental Head Offices and Command Centre,] announced the turbolift, and Ida took a deep breath, raising her TR-120 before she stepped out of the sliding doors. She swept the corridor with her eyes down the sights of her rifle, and luckily, it lay empty. She gestured with one hand for the other three to step off the turbolift and to fan out. At the point where they were off the turbolift, Ravenholm's short-range device was useless since they were neither standing perfectly still nor close enough together to mask their presence. So, Ida deactivated it, knowing that unless starbase security were not otherwise occupied, their life-signs would be picked up by internal sensors. Their best option was to get to their objective quickly, before their presence was noticed.

"This way," said Ida and moved down the corridor that would eventually take them to the Command Centre. She set a swift pace, hoping against all odds that...

Alas, no more had they rounded the corner in the corridor - emerging into the base's senior staff lounge - when six security guards turned their heads and spotted them.

Three other Starfleet officers were present in the lounge too, but seeing what was happening, they quickly dove for cover behind some couches. "Cover!" Ida got down on one knee and immediately dealt suppression fire against the security detail so that her own people could get out of harms way. Two of the guards went down from her initial shots, but the remaining four would likely get behind cover themselves and call for reinforcements.

Far below in the EOC, in the lobby from whence Ida and her boarding team had just come, a lone figure in a threadbare cloak stepped over the bodies of the security guards. He was carrying a Type III Starfleet rifle even if he wore no uniform, and through the tresses of his burgundy hair, he took note of the fallen -  walking straight through the breached security checkpoint.

OOC: In this Chapter, all the above areas on Starbase 84 will be featured. Remember to tag your posts with the areas in which your characters are, and remember that the Starbase's shields are still up, meaning that they can't beam off the station yet, and not just because the objectives of the boarding teams have not been met. The scene in Shuttlebay 17-C is written out here too, but at the point in which the Sabine might leave the station, the writers with characters aboard the Sabine will move on to post in the next Chapter - where all the other space-borne vessels will be featured.

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #1 –
[ Lt Hi'Jak | Sabine | Bay 17-C  | Starbase 84 ] Attn: Mathis, Brutus,

When Seras suggested they get dressed Hi'Jak only gave a cursury look around for his pants, he wasn't entirely sure where they were at the moment and really did it matter? He wasn't about to leave this ship any time soon, and even if he did go on coms with another ship it would only be his upper body on display. So yes as he went to shut the bay door he didn't bother getting dressed. Especially because of the need to shut the door.

"Son of a bitch!" Jack ducked for a moment when the burst of phaser fire passed him by and he struggled to remain on the ship. Ducking behind the wall with his back to the door controls as he listened to Komial, any other day of the week he would have been excited to see the head of security again, however he had to admit that with everything that just happened, and the fact that she was shooting at him he really didn't have much love for the head of security on the starbase at the moment.

Thinking of a way to stall so that he could get help dealing with the situation he shook his head. He really had no intention of going back to starbase security. With all the evidence that he had as circumstantial as it was he had no intention of being locked up so that he could be killed.

"What charge!" It was really the only question he could think of at the moment as he sat down making himself as small a target as possible as he hid behind what little cover the wall could provide for him his arm trying to reach the door controls at the same time. He knew that no matter what at this point he was only going to get this one chance to make a plea, he just didn't remember any of the rules that could get him off... this station.. "I mean the very first charge, the one where two members of security burst into my lab at gun point and tried to kill me. I did not by the way kill them... look back at any of the footage and you can see that my companion did all the murder in fact I gave you the location of two members of your security team in hopes that you could save the life of one of them. And if you look over to the rest of the shuttle bay you will find two more of your people laying unconscious."

"So the obvious murder charges debunked, what reason do you have to arrest me?" If he could just get through to Komial talk with her maybe even set the records straight he was sure that his arrest was a false charge. On the other hand he was waiting for Seras to get the shields up and get them the hell out of here. Sure the door wasn't closed but he could shut it the moment that the shields were up.

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #2 –
[ Sera vers Aldnoah | Sabine | Bay 17-C  | Starbase 84 ]

Sera's hands danced like a drunken serviceman across the now-unfamiliar controls as the ship climbed clumsily into the shielded shuttlebay. "Burn it, Melissa, did you have to upgrade literally everything?" It was all she could do for the moment not to pitch the ship wildly and eject Jack from the still-open door. Though she had half a mind to as he just threw her under the proverbial bus to the security officers outside. Though to be fair, he was naked and being shot at. She might forgive him for it.

For the security woman outside, however, there was no love lost. Sera keyed what she correctly assumed was the comms key, noting now the blinking notification for a message waiting for her, and opened a broadcast to those outside. “Burn you and your forcefield and your threats, woman. I’ve been unlawfully impounded once already today and I’ve had about all of that as I can flaming well stomach. As for the two deaths, they were self-defense as I see it, and as I already don’t recognize your Federation’s obviously flawed sense of justice around here, you can shove those charges right up along with your demands.” She cut off the channel and tried to find the shields and weapons controls while the ship continued to spin and rock a bit.

Then she had a sudden moment of inspiration and remembered how much the Federation crews loved their voice-controlled computers. “Computer, shields to maximum.” She prayed it would work. The next moment seemed to stretch out longer than she’d like.

“Acknowledged,” and came the reply and the ship’s shields shimmered into place. Luckily the ship still recognized her as the owner. She’d need to thank Melissa for that later, despite the new controls.

She let out a relieved laugh that might have come out a bit like a crazed cackle and looked around, feeling a bit better about their situation. The high-strength forcefield was a shimmering blue, showing its intensity. That was a problem. “Computer, deactivate shuttle-bay forcefield.”

“Unable to comply, your security clearance is not high enough to disable that system.” The computer droned.

“Is my clearance flaming high enough to fire weapons?” She spat back.

“Affirmative,” came the calm response.

Sera grinned. “Then arm phasers and target the force field emitters.”

“Unable to secure target lock, vessel unsteady.” The computer sassed. Sera swore the computer was sassing her.

“Everyone’s a critic, burn me,” she growled.

She focused on the piloting controls once more and was able to finally stabilize the ship, paying little to no attention to what was going on behind her and outside, trusting Jack and Sabine’s shields. Once the ship was steadied, the computer alerted her of a successful target lock.

“Fire.”

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #3 –
[Komial Dotnhil | Starbase 84 | Shuttle Bay 17-CAtten: Security Center

Well, she had given him a chance. Taking a deep breath and leaning against the nearby column for support (and cover, just in case) she lined up her next shot. He made his plea, and a look of disgust passed across the normally stoic face, marring its beauty.

"Juries out on your claims, Lieutenant. But either you're a murdered, or an accomplice to murder. Lets not forget conspiracy to commit treason. Oh, and resisting arrest!" and then she fired, this shot splashing against the hull just by the door as the Sabine was brought around on repuslor lifts. Komial swore, and her shot was the signal for her people to open up fire, filling the bay with the pulses of phaser bursts from their rifles. All around, men and women dropped to their knees or propped themselves against appropriate bulkheads, going for cover and support, just as their CO had.

More and more the shots rang out, fire concentrating on the vessel, crawling across the hull. She tuned out the babble of the pilot, and her refusal to recognize Federation Laws. Unfortunately for the murdering bitch, she was on a Federation starbase, which meant their rules applied, and piss off.

Her next shot flared out against the ships shields, and she scowled - unsurprising, but displeased all the same. Then the ship swung around, the impulse engines now facing the security team's fire. Her eyes went wide when the ship's weapon ports began to glow...

"They're gonna blow the field emitters!" She cried out, "Concentrate fire over the engines, drop it before its too late!" Urgency laced her words and she pushed off from the wall, gripping the rifle with both hands, firing with every step, closing the distance between herself and the fugitives.

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #4 –
[ Lt Hi'Jak | Sabine | Bay 17-C  | Starbase 84 ] Attn: Mathis, Brutus,

The moment he saw the phaser blast hit the shields rather then the wall he was hiding against he happily closed the door. "Computer, open a com link between us and the security team below." He spoke rather calmly as he walked back to the bridge of the Sabine their shields would hold against type two phaser riffles, this was a gun ship after all it was designed to fight a lot bigger things, though there were a lot and it was certianly putting stress on the shields, they were down almost ten percent by the time he sat down.

"Attention, Komial. This is your final warning. Get behind the blast door, or be vented into space, we are leaving." Jack's voice was rather calm as he wanted nothing more than to not have a bunch of people die on his account as he took over the co-pilots seat he had already set up his work station. Sera already had the main batteries working away at the shield emiters for the hanger as resistant as they were, but something was missing from this farewell.

"While I would love to tell you all the reasons you are wrong we don't have time today, so I am simply going to say this. When all of this started, i presented evidence to you and the captain that there was a captain level traitor aboard this vessel, you broke protocol when you cut me out of the investigation as a key witness. What's more you ordered my arrest, probably at the behest of the captain. While the evidence is circumstancial at best, I have arrived to the conclusion that you and the rest of the command staff aboard starbase 84 have been compermised. My partner has saved my life multiple times where as if I go with you I'd probably be killed."

"I liked you Komial, I really liked you, and it's a shame we didn't get a chance to get to know each other. Another timeline we may have been good friends." Tapping on the tactical array he set several other targets around them. "I'd really rather you didn't come after us anymore."

With that Hijack pressed the command for fire sending out a set of 12 micro torpedo's towards the various shuttles, and other craft in the hanger. They wouldn't be dealing with anyone behind them when they left this shit hole.

He turned towards Sera and leaned back in his chair his choices already made at this point. "You know I am not going to miss this place." As he watched the various explosions and damage that they were creating, he knew what was missing and felt at peace for a soft moment.

There were a delightful amount of fireworks tonight.

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #5 –
[ Sera vers Aldnoah | Sabine | Bay 17-C  | Starbase 84 ]

Sera was relieved to hear the aft door finally shut and see Jack take one of the seats behind her. They might still make it out of this yet. The blasted female computer finally acknowledged Sera's command to fire phasers at the forcefield emitters. She made a quick mental note to get that voice changed as soon as possible. Preferably a male voice, maybe with an accent she liked? Or maybe she'd have Jack record the needed lines so it would be his voice on her computer. She quickly filed that thought away, thought it made her grin. Nearly at the same time, Jack began firing mini torpedoes at the other shuttlecraft. A beautiful chaos erupted in the Shuttlebay of Starbase 84. The security officers that had been firing in vain into Sabine's shields began running for cover as explosions peppered the bay. She also saw a very pleasing explosion from the emitters and saw the outer forcefield start to drop. She ignored most of what Jack had been saying to security bitch, Sera couldn't care less what relationship the two of them had had before this, she'd just tried to kill him. Needless to say, Sera didn't feel threatened by her, at least in a sexual way.

She punched Sabine towards the exit of the bay at the highest speed she felt somewhat safe doing so, clearing the bay just as the forcefield shimmered away. Two unfortunate security officers, displaced by the sudden loss of gravity and the creation of a vacuum thudded into Sabine's hull. As they exited. Sera put the security bitch and the rest of her people behind her without another thought. She was in survival mode, and if you weren't with her right now, you were against her. She was not going to prison for defending herself, and she was not letting this corrupt station keep her any longer.

Sabine shot out into the main docking bay like a bullet fired from a gun. Sera angled them towards the main bay doors, which looked to have been partially blown apart, and began their exit. She steered clear of the other starships in the vicinity, wanting to make sure they didn't fire at them or come after them. Though most seemed curiously still docked. She plotted in the course to take them towards the bay doors and saw the message icon again. They needed to get out, but what if it was from Melissa? What if she needed them to rescue her still? They could beam her aboard. She played queued up the message and set it to play.

A smile came to her face as she heard Melissa's voice, but that smile slowly faded. Sera's eyes grew wider in shock and horror as she started putting the pieces together of what had happened to her. Sera's heart broke and tears began clouding her vision. She wiped them away as best she could, making sure they were staying on course, but she couldn't hold it all in. Sera never felt anything in life halfway, and grief was no different. What had she done? Could they have saved her if they had been paying attention? Had she been fucking this stranger, more or less, while her new friend had been dying? She felt sickened to her core. What had she done?

"Jack, what did I do? Oh fires below, what did I do?"

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #6 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Above the Subspace Acquisition Grid | Starbase 84]

Tricorder in hand, Selena watched for any sign of approaching guards, any hint of a new transporter trace, or even any possible traps Starbase 84's security may have in store for the team.  Of course it would be useless if they happened to use sensor screens.  A quick tap sent the tricorder's readouts to her VISOR, allowing the woman to slip the device back onto her vest and take up her weapon again.  Too little too late though....

Keeping at least a respectful distance from Reagar, Selena was in front of Madsen and he was certainly of help to her in the end, taking several phaser blasts that should have gone into her back.  Jumping to the nearest recessed door, she winced as another phaser beam glanced off of the SAFTI gear's field.  "We can't stay here!" she yells over the sizzling phaser beams.  Sparing a glance to Reagar to see if he'd made it to cover, she quickly pulled her pistol out from its compartment on her thigh.  A quick tap to the temple filled half of her vision with the sidearm's point of view, a feature that was a godsend right now.

Sticking her arm around and out of cover, a quick snapshot was perfectly aimed, catching one of the guards in the shoulder that was visible.  The lighter pistol made it possible for much quicker response times, and before the guard had even finished reacting she was lined up on a new target.  "Get moving, I'll cover you!"

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #7 –
[ MCPO William Robert O'Connell | Boarding Team Two | Primary Reactor Control | Level 14 | Starbase 84 ]  

Yesterday morning Master Chief Nolak Kalmil informed Master Chief William Robert O'Connell of the existence of a few crawlspaces that might not be immediately visible on the station's schematics.   When O'Connell asked Chief Petty Officer Lavar Manfredi about them, the coffee colored propulsion chief recalled them with perfect clarity, even sharing a story of things he had found hidden in them.

Inside the reactor room of Starbase 84, a hatch almost two meters above the floor unsealed itself and Billy Bob O'Connell tumbled out in full webgear clutching his RG-M1506 PT-10 accipiter, a rifle sized BFG, or Big Frakkin' Gun, that the engineers working in the reactor room had never seen before.  O'Connell himself had never seen one the Theurgy's recovery teams had found them in the Reavers that the Calamity had brought from the early 25th century.

O'Connell rolled to his feet and marched forward so that he wouldn't get squashed by Senior Chief Petty Officer Verguy Cam who rolled out of the Jeffries tube after him.  One by one the members of his boarding party rolled out like marbles and separated to fire their weapons on wide angle stun on as many engineers as they could find.

"It's okay folks, there's no need to panic!" O'Connell shouted as he sprayed a row of technicians working at a row of consoles.  "We set our weapons to stun!  Believe it or not we're the good guys!"

"I don't think they believe it," SCPO Cam murmured as he discharged his weapon at bunch of engineers who had forgotten their training and were panicking like a crowd of civilians. 

"Everybody make sure that you got a soft place to fall down!" O'Connell shouted over the sound of the cries of surprise and the sounds of his squad's weapons firing phased tetryon beams.  "Remain seated or git down on the deck, 'cause we didn't bring no doctor an' it would sure be awkward if you broke somethin' on account o' somethin' we did!  Thea!  Secure the door!  Make sure nobody comes in here!"

Beaming into an area as heavily shielded as the reactor room was a challenge but if that door wasn't kept shut they could have more security men entering than the Theurgy had crew!


OOC:  Special thanks to MasterRat for giving me a way for the boarding team to enter the reactor room without being detected.  I was completely stumped until he suggested it in a shared thread.

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #8 –
[ Wenn Cinn | Above the Subspace Acquisition Grid | Starbase 84] Attn: Kaligos, chXinya, FollowTomorrow, Auctor Lucan, Anyone else

The shots came from nowhere and while Wenn Cinn and his team took cover, he cursed himself for missing the drop. The SAFTI gear adorning his chest saved him but did no such thing for Madsen, who was without such protection. The poor operations officer hit the deck hard and Cinn knew what he had to do. There was no time to stop to pull the unconscious man to the side of the corridor, nor did he have the medical equipment to revive him. Firing his TR-120 back at Starbase security, Cinn knew they had to leave Madsen behind.

"Keep moving!" Cinn called, edging backwards down the corridor from the guards. Aiming, the Bajoran attempted to take down those officers pulling themselves from the grating. That would mean those stuck behind the incapacitated would need to get the others free before being about to continue the assault. Ravenholm called for the others to get going, and Cinn was in two minds about leaving the cyborg behind, even if only for the 200 metres to the turbolift at the end of the corridor. Taking down another guard, Cinn quickly made his decision.

"Go. Now!" The team moved with determination. It was an easy run, but even with the cover provided under the sharp eye of Ravenholm, a stray beam fizzled and impacted Cinn in the shoulder. His SAFTI gear worked, and for that he would have to provide O'Connell with a bottle of whatever he wanted as thanks. Assuming they all made it off the base.

Coming up to the junction, Cinn stepped to the right, positioning himself behind one of the columns that made up the cross section of the T-shaped corridor. He squared himself and aimed back down the hallway.

"Isley, get us a turbolift. Cardamone, suppressing fire." He paused to take a couple of shots before calling down the corridor. "Ravenholm. It's time!"

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #9 –
[Komial Dotnhil | Starbase 84 | Shuttle Bay 17-C] Atten: Security Center
 [Show/Hide]


The Trill descended upon the Sabine like a Valkyrie of Old Earth legend, reddish brown hair swept back, stitching a line of pulse phaser bursts across the ships shielding, trying desperately to find a weak spot and bring the ship back down to the deck. Her eyes burned with a cold fury as she walked across the bay, her skin cast in red as the ship opened fire on one of the shuttles. She screamed in rage when the Ajax went up in flames, taking P.O. Conway with it, his body shredded by the explosion, leaving only the brief after image of his form, mid stride, before that too vanished from view in the smoke.

Deck plating ruptured, jagged shards of metal pealing away as more micro torpedoes impacted the bay. One by one, the bay's vessels were annihilated- if someone had been able to bring up the shuttle crafts shielding, they - and two more of her team - might have survived. As it was, the gunship turned the bay into a scene straight from Hell itself. But through it all, Komial advanced, never letting up her fire, never missing a step. For one moment, she was divine retribution itself.

And then it happened. The force field at the edge of the bay went down. Two more officers, too close to the entrance, were swept up. While she couldn't hear the impact over the howl of venting atmosphere, Komial could see the bodies bouncing off the Sabine. But as gut wrenching as that was for her, she had far more important things to worry about just then. All around her, bits of debris were being picked up and swept about. She herself started to slide forward, losing traction on the mangled hull. Her heel caught something, and the boot tore, slicing down across the heel then up the back of the ankle. It snagged and she was grateful despite the pain.

But it didn't hold, and she felt herself pulled from the leather, whipped up from the deck and tossed about. Something crashed into the back of her and sent her hurdling across the bay, bouncing off the decking and then back up into the air. Pain flared, across her right hip, and all the way down her thigh, followed by sudden, intense cold, all over the leg. Her head bent down and she could see, flailing back behind her, a long streak of dark fabric, snagged on a jagged hull.

Whipped around again, her legs were now pulled towards the open maw of the bay. On either side, doors were slowly starting to slide shut, but that just increased the pull, focusing it into a narrow corridor that Komail was stuck in. She was tossed tits over ass, and only just managed to grab onto an outcropping of cables, wrapping them around her wrists and holding of for sheer life. The Security Chief couldn't even scream, the wind was pulled straight from her lungs. And below her waist, that cold spread, all the way up to her hips. If there had been enough atmosphere left, she would have heard the tearing of fabric. As it was, all she could hear was the wind.

Then...Silence. For one slow, agonizing moment, it was gone, and she couldn't hear anything. The pressure stopped, and she floated, up and away, still tangled in the cables. A bare foot kicked out, her toes feeling nothing so much as shards of ice....

Gravity returned with a vengeance, pulling the Trill down to the broken hull, knocking what air was left from her lungs and exacting its revenge. She gasped, wide eyed, trying to suck down something, anything, and failing, over and over - until the sweet rush of oxygen filled her lungs once again, and she screamed with the pain of it. Never mind that it came out in a ragged squeak.

The emergency doors had closed, and the protocols had kicked in, saving her life.

Unfortunately, the Sabine had escaped. Worse yet, she couldn't see anyone else moving in the immediate bay. There were figures beyond, scrambling about in one of the observation rooms, but in the bay itself, none save Komial seemed to live.

Worst of all, the Trill realized, was that her uniform had been torn to shreds during the tussle. She still had her jacket, mostly, and her shirt, but her pants were gone, as were one of her boots. Her brown spots stood out livid against what would normally be tanned skin, but was so pale from the cold of the vacuum she'd been subjected to. The final straw of her indignity? Because that bastard Hi'Jak, whom nearly spaced her just now, had interrupted her and Ian earlier in the captains quarters, Komial had dressed rapidly, and left behind her underwear, not bothering to try and find it in the rush. With the security breaches that shortly followed, she'd never had time to go back to her quarters and freshen up.

Bloody and bruised, every inch of the Trill beauty was exposed below her belly. Stark naked on her lower half, shame burned up Komial's body, making those spots stand out all the brighter, heating skin that was otherwise ice cold, even for Trill standards. Tears pricked at her eyes, and she nearly lost it right then and there. Only the horror of what Ian would say if he could see the massiveness of her failure kept her from breaking down.

Somehow, the Trill's combadge had survived the venting of atmosphere, and the Sabine's vicious assault. Though her hand shook with cold, she reached up and smacked the badge, even as she used her other hand to cover her sex, sure that somewhere, there were eyes gawking at her, kneeling on the ruined deck. "D-Dotnhil t-t-to Salazar," she managed her voice ragged, like her throat had been scraped out, "B-Be advised - re-renegade gunship Sabine has escaped from th-the base. She ca-carries two traitors re-responsible for the death of at least 7 security officers," probably more, "There's every chance that one of them is responsible for the malf-f-functions with the doors," She added that last bit, unsure if it was strictly true, but not caring in the slightest. She wanted Jack to pay.

"J-Jared..." she wasn't one prone to using another officers given name, especially not a senior one, but now...now she needed to drive it home, she needed to see Jack suffer for what he'd done to her, to Ian, to the starbase, "He spaced my team...Sh-shoot to kill is authorized."

Hearing his acknowledgement, she slumped back down, killing the comm channel. Curling her long, spotted legs, she sobbed, just one brief, heart shattering gasp, before she bit down on her plump lip and stifled her grief, her anger, all of it. She shook, naked legs trembling, tucking her feet under her bare ass, and reached for the comm again. Faintly, she could hear metal straining on metal - perhaps repair crews, trying to breach the damaged doors from the interior of the base.

"Dotnhil to Mackenzie," she whispered the words but the starbase picked it up. "Mac...I need emergency transport to the security center...my office," she didn't, she couldn't go walking through the base, not like this, like she was at some Betazoid wedding, exposed for all to see"Meet me there, please...I need..." talking hurt, her voice was so ragged from the exposure, "Need triox...painkiller...fuck, a medkit. And pants." Shame burned her now, "Come alone, please," no one could see, no one could know how much she had fucked up. She curled in tighter still, shaking in cold, burning under the gaze she couldn't see, but felt, crawling over every exposed inch, waiting for the transporter to wash her away from the carnage.

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #10 –
[ Lt Hi'Jak | Sabine | Bay 17-C  | Starbase 84 ] Attn: Mathis, Brutus,

Jack had his eyes forward on the launch bay, he really wasn't sure what he was doing at this point. If he had done the 'right thing' and stayed on the station handing himself over he would probably be dead. Naturally that was less than ideal so he being here with Seras was the better alternative. Hell the two of them just had sex, which was a bit of mixing of priorities really. He wasn't at all sure where he stood with the woman and as she tapped the com message he listened and felt he had no real right to be listening. It was pretty clear that this was from the third person they had been waiting for.

The person they had sex to stall for, and then when stalling was impossible they had simply left. Which admittingly made things easier to be put in perspective with his role in all of this. He was just filler till her main course arrived, but now she wasn't going too. They had both watched this other person be turned into paste by a fighter. He felt a little sick in all honesty, like he was sitting in someone elses seat and that they weren't coming.

When Seras asked him what she had done, there were a few answers that came to mind, but the one that was spoken was soft as he reached over and placed a warm hand on Seras's shoulder not at all sure if she even liked to be touched in this comforting way. Just that it felt a little natural to have some kind of contact with her. "You survived."

It was an answer that was a little harsh in all honesty. "When we get through this at the end of the day we can celebrate the passing of a life properly. We can remember and drink to our fallen, we can celebrate the memories we had and cry for their passing, but when you ask me what you have done the answer is that you have survived a day which would normally have killed me."

He brushed his hand along her shoulder giving her arm a light squeeze as he went down and took her hand. His fingers entwining with hers as he looked forward. "You saved my life out there today, and that isn't something I am going to forget anytime soon. I may not be her, but... I am here thanks to you."

He gave her a kind smile. "Now we still have a battle to attend to, my family would call this the 'fun part'."

He turned to look forward and his face paled by the chaos, that was a lot of fighters, a broken ass ship, and a lot of war ships. He took a deep breath and slowly took his hand away from Seras so he could focus in on the tactical controls. This was not going to be the fun part for Jack, that part was back when the ship had been on the ground and the two of them had been on the ground. His blood was running a little cold for a klingon when he looked out upon the massive warzone that was going on.

"Son of a bitch."

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #11 –
[ Dyan Cardamone | Above the Subspace Acquisition Grid | Starbase 84]

She should have expected a surprise attack, but she did not. Seeing  the shots whizz past her threw her back on her toes again. Fear and excitement were hard to tell apart. She registered that Madsen was down. Good riddance. She could follow the rest of her teammates without having to constantly ask where he was, what he was doing, and whether or not he was about to shoot himself or somebody else by accident.

Cinn gave her the order for suppressing fire at the exact moment she thought of the same thing. That's what she liked about the bajoran, she decided, they're on the same page. She turned around and unleashed phaser hell. There was no mercy from the Asurian. Nothing was going to stop them here.

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #12 –
[ Cameron Henshaw | Floor 47: Administration, Departmental Head Offices and Command Centre | Starbase 84] Attn: Ida, Ryuan

After the ordeal with the guard at the previous deck, Cameron was still rather shaky on her legs. Her anxiety attack had stopped in the confines of the elevator and she looked at the party of three that was with her. There wasn't a lot of interaction in the turbolift and Cameron saw no benefit of talking either. This was combat and the three security officers with her would probably use every bit of concentration they had right now to do their jobs. Cameron looked up at the ceiling of the lift as it announced "Floor 47: Administration, Departmental Head Offices and Command Centre." The doors opened and Cameron let Ida and Ryuan go out first before following.

Cameron hoped the rest of their endeavor would continue without too much casualties, yet that hope was soon shattered when Ida spotted the security detail and ordered to get into cover. The firefight that ensued was intense once more and Henshaw dove for cover as she pulled out her phaser, knowing that more guards would probably be upon them soon enough. The odds were most definitely stacked against them and Cameron did the math. They wouldn't survive this if their reinforcements came sooner than later. Cameron look at Ryuan, Zaraq and lastly Ida as they returned fire.

She murmured something and shouted "Hold your fire! Cease fire! We don't need to create any more casualties! We might be wanted fugitives but this isn't worth the loss of lives that we are suffering right now. As we speak countless of lives are being sacrificed out there in space!" There was a brief intermezzo between the exchanging parties and Cameron continued "I wish to speak to Ian Hawthorne, the base commander. Confirm it with him if you want, but I am his daughter Cameron Henshaw. Sister of Lisa Hawthorne! He'd want to speak to me so hold your fire!" To add some more credibility to her claim she stood up from behind cover, her hands raised and her phaser holstered. She was ready to dive down for cover if need be, but this was at least a chance to stop the shooting and prevent further casualties. Perhaps even an argument she could use when facing her father after all.

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #13 –
[Nathan Isley | Above the Subspace Acquisition Grid | Starbase 84] Attn: Arista, chXinya, FollowTomorrow, Auctor Lucan, Anyone else


The first attack had been over so quickly that Nathan felt like he missed it only having enough time to take a single shot before everyone was dropped, but by the time the second round came in and there was yet more people clamoring in to shoot at them Nathan was a little faster on the upkeep. The moment that Cinn gave him a task he knew he had to carry it out as quickly as possible and the chase was on. Moving down the corridor as quickly as possible to get to the turbolift he planted himself to the wall, putting his back onto it as he called the turbolift.

He wasn't hiding, and he quickly felt the burn of a phaser's fire washing over his suit. He suddenly wished he was still allowed the tactical suit of the wolves, or any of his previous job. Hell to be out in space right now with his old 'friends' would be a huge boon to what was otherwise a rather crapy day of being shot at and returning fire.

Waiting for the lift he ducked down and made himself as small a target as possible while raising up his own rifle so that he could look down the long arm of the barrel. The rifle felt a little awkward to shoot from the hip, the thing was accurate to the micrometer, so it felt wrong to just point and shoot it, rather if one jacked up the power on this thing, and actually took the time to do some percision aiming he bit his lip for a moment taking a deep breath before returning fire on the exhile when his hands were at the most steady and was rewarded with an explosion as he tagged one of the security teams weapons. Overheating their battery pack and exploding in the others hand as he screamed out.

"Lift's here, now get on and get moving." He said backing his way into turbolift when it opened and providing covering fire.

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #14 –
[ Ryuan Sel | Floor 47: Administration, Departmental Head Offices and Command Centre | Starbase 84] Attn: Ida, Henshaw

The ride up the turbolift had been a tense one and Ryuan never really bothered to count the seconds as things felt more like an eternity. The break however gave her a chance to check her weapons and get ready for the next firefight she fully expected as soon as the doors opened. That never materialized but 30ft down the hallway they came under fire from security. Rolling into cover, Ryuan was able to down one security guard before the others made it under cover, making the standoff in the hallway one neither side could really win.

The Theurgy team had one advantage though, several in fact, strapped to Ryuan's body and she readied one as the teams exchanged fire. The nice thing about modern energy based weapons, unlike the explosive based devices of old earth, was the ability to program in yields, as well as enable and disable features on the fly. A quick few button presses born of practice and Ryuan had one lower yield phaser grenade, without EMP effect, ready to toss when when their package, Cameron Henshaw spoke up and, in a genuinely stupid move move from Ryuan's perception, stood up into the line of fire.

Not one to not take advantage of a situation, Ryuan used the lull in the shooting to prepare her surprise, if Henshaw's idea failed. She looked to Ida as the guards were distracted by Cameron, a few hand gestures indicating the plan of action. She also knew the two other security officers were coming up via the back way and she hoped that they would arrive soon, if just to act as a diversion and distract the guards long enough for Ryuan to put her plan into action.

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #15 –
[ Boarding Team 01 | Corridor | Starbase 84 ] Free PO: Arista, FollowTomorrow, chXinya & Kaligos

Cal Reagar had sworn bitterly as he took cover in one of the recesses in the corridor, seeing Wenn Cinn pulling Madsen to the side. They were too exposed, and no fucking means to go anywhere without getting shot in the back. His eyes met the cyborg girl's, and it seemed they shared the same thought. Cal frowned at the sight of her whole thigh opening up and producing a heavy handgun, but he understood why she'd switched from her rifle when she started shooting blindly against the security guards... and still hit her mark every time. When she told them all to get moving, Cal bared his teeth and got to it.

"You ignorant fucks!" he swore as he stepped out into the corridor with his TR-120 levelled against the security guards. With his face a mask of sour determination, popping a couple of them as he was backing away, Cal slowly made his way to the T-intersection of the corridor, some time after Wenn Cinn got there. The white-haired and horny (in the antler-way) Asurian, was moving too, and soon, Cal reached the intersection and dove into safety, hardly giving credit to the fact that he'd made it. He cast his eyes about and saw Isley getting the turbolift, and knew they'd have to make it there, and that the guards would be following them around the corner too.

"Sir!" he pulled a grenade from the utility belt of his SAFTI gear, turning his scowl to Wenn, "I can wait for Ravenholm here, giving her cover!"

True to his word, he put the grenade on the floor and fired rapidly from a crouching position, careful not to let his aim stray towards the two women still in the corridor. When Cardamone was clear of the enemy fire, and Ravenholm got close enough for the five-second fuse, he armed his grenade. "Fire in the hole, get over here!" he shouted to her, hoping the half-robot chick would hear him over all the noise. Then he chucked the grenade as far as he could towards the security guards, and reached out with his flesh-and-bone hand to grab a hold of one of the cyborg's artifical limbs and pull her into cover.

The phaser grenade went off, holding an anti-nadion charge and disabling the regular phasers the guards held, and if so needed, Cal helped the cyborg back on her metallic feet before dashing off towards the turbolift. He was a quick enough runner, and made sure to run where he wasn't in the way for Isley's cover fire. Adrenaline coursing through his limbs, tasting bile in his mouth, he made it to the lift but didn't get inside it. He rounded on the pursuing guards, and as he did, he went down into a prone firing position - rifle aimed towards the guards even as he slid along the floor. He slammed his elbow too hard. Hurt as fuck, but he still got his shots off. Caught one in the neck and the other in the teeth, both guards stumbling and going down.

Once Cardamone and Ravenholm got their tight asses inside the lift, Cal rolled sideways and pulled his feet up, getting inside the lift with the rest of them. "Go, go!"

But the turbolift wasn't going anywhere. Security must have just shut it down for them.

"Fuck! We've got to climb the chute!" said Cal and glanced towards the maintenance hatch at the top of the lift, then he leaned out into the corridor again and continued to fire against the oncoming guards. "Could use some help here too!"

OOC: More posts coming up here! :)

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #16 –
[ Boarding Team 02 | Thea | Primary Reactor Control | Level 14 | Starbase 84 ] Attn: DocM.

Like the rest, Thea emerged from the crawlspace and landed on the floor, her TR-120 rifle extended in one hand and firing twice into the back of the reactor room - taking out two Starfleet officers who had went for the weapons locker. They only managed to get the lid open before they fell to the floor and Thea rolled out of the way to give space for the Theurgy personnel that came in behind her.

"Yes, Chief," she said when she got the order from O'Connell, and she was already off towards the entrance of the reactor room. It was a circular, big area, and like the warp core rooms of Federation starships, the reactor and the main consoles were at the centre. They were at the proverbial heart of Starbase 84.

Thea was too late. Mid-run, she saw the sliding doors open on the level above her, and she knew she would not reach the entrance by the conventional, organic means of getting around in time. She already saw weapons and yellow collars, heard shouts, but her calculations were done.

She boosted the anti-grav units on her mobile emitter, making it thrust up from the floor - her projection going with it. She cleared the ascending steps with her leap, even going over the railing, and in mid-air, she fired her rifle as soon she came level with the arriving security detail. Two were hit before she rolled with her landing, coming back on her feet right in their midst.

Two more shots, two more guards hitting the wall before they went down. Then she used the butt of her rifle to take out another one, and then she spun on her feet, dealing a rising heel-kick into the jaw of the sixth one. The last two staggered backwards by the sheer sight of Thea dispatching so many in so little time, but Thea didn't stop, dropping them both in close succession with her rifle from a kneeling position. Without pause for assessment, she stepped up to the control panel next to the door ripped it open with one hand. Then she produced the dataport cable from inside her abdomen, and patched her mobile emitter into the door panel. With a loud hiss, Thea sealed the doors, and with a turn of a digital thought, she had shredded the software that had been the door mechanism.

"They will try to use the manual release, so I will weld them shut," Thea called to the boarding team over her shoulder and picked up a hand phaser from one of the fallen guards, changed the setting, and then proceeded to do as she had said - the orange beam going down the seam in the middle of the sliding doors. "Don't forget to secure the offices in the back."

No more had she said it until two of the back doors slid open, revealing two senior engineering officers with phasers out - opening fire against O'Connell and the others immediately. Two from the Theurgy went down before there could be any fiery answer in kind.

OOC: Yet more posts to come. :)

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #17 –
[ Boarding Team 03 | ThanIda zh'Wann | Executive Offices Complex | Starbase 84 ] Attn: 1) Nolan & 2) Summerdawn

After the Mistress-at-Arms managed to hit a third security guard, there were three left against the four officers from the Theurgy. Yet it hardly mattered since both sides were able to find cover on their opposite sides of the senior officer's lounge - neither holding the higher ground.

Ida was pelting the areas in which the three base security officers hid, firing her rifle from her crouching position. Zaraq was on the other end of their side, and he was gradually making his way between covers along the left wall, meaning to eventually flank the opposition and flush them out. Question was if they had the time, and if the massive Klingon could escape being hit. He wasn't that hard to miss. Swearing under her breath, Ida knew that time was running out for the Theurgy out there. If the Red Alert had been sounded as soon as they arrived, they might not have a ship to return to for much longer.

That was when Ensign Henshaw raised her voice, and Ida's eyes and antennae whipped towards the pinkskin. What in Lor'Vela's name was she thinking? She met the eyes of Ensign Ryuan Sel as well, seeing what she had in her hand. If Ida had to make a split decision, she would have opted for Sel's solution rather than Henshaw's. The Yeoman's words were passionate, overriding the noise from their weapons, and Ida ceased shooting for a moment, just to see if there would be any reaction from the other side, and to take careful aim - meaning to snipe any officer who tried to shoot Henshaw.

Surprisingly enough, base security held their fire.

"Lay down your weapons, all of you! Kick them towards us and stand with your hands behind your heads!" came the call from behind one of he covers. "Whoever you are, and regardless what the Captain says, you must turn yourselves over first!"

Ida did not like that option one bit. "We will do no such thing unless we are guaranteed access to Captain Hawthorne. Confirm that he will receive us first!"

"The base is under attack," protested the voice from another hidden officer. "You have no business entering the Command Center! Not now! Lay down your weapons and surrender!"


[ Lieutenant Mackenzie | Starbase 84 | Security Center ] Attn: Brutus

"Lock those turbolifts, level 14 and above, and transport team beta-five to the reactor control room!"

In the Security Center, Mackenzie was rather busy, shouting orders to delegate teams towards the potential insertion points - trying to foresee the movements of the boarding parties. Yet when the voice of the CSec was heard from his combadge, he paused, his brown eyes narrowing at the implication that Lieutenant Dotnhil was hurt. He had seen the internal sensor readings, how the life signs of their people had been snuffed our just as the blip that represented the SS Sabine gunship left the shuttle bay. Thankfully, Komial had made it. The minute relief he felt almost made him miss the details of her request. They were barely heard anyway because of the clamour around him.

"Understood, Ma'am. We have a security transport!" he shouted, "Lieutenant Dotnhil to her office, now! Meadows, you are in charge, I will be back momentarily."

Mackenzie turned on his heel and ran out of the center, locating the medkit in the aide's duty station and scaring the junior officer posted there. Pants, she said... a uniform? Mackenzie had no idea what it was about, nor what size his superior officer had, but he got to the replicator in the security lounge quickly enough. He took a wild guess at the size, snatched the cloth just after the uniform materialised, and then ran to Dotnhil's office. Barely catching his breath, he used the chime on the control panel outside the door. "It is Mackenzie!"

Once the enter-command was issued, he rushed inside, but almost tripped when he was presented with the sight of so much spotted trill skin, and much more of the trill lower body anatomy than he had ever seen before. "Lieutenant, wh- what happened?" he blurted out as he went to her side, averting his eyes as best as he might while also opening the medkit for her.

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #18 –
[ Dyan Cardamone | Above the Subspace Acquisition Grid (Turbolift) | Starbase 84]

Reagar was not one of her personal acquaintances, sadly, but after watching him in action, Dyan had to seriously re-think that decision. The phaser grenade was an under appreciated weapon, she felt. The moment she knew it was clear, she stepped out of her cover and let loose a maelstrom of fire from her rifle, cackling with the thrill of victory jammed in her chest. She took slow steps backwards, letting her teammates get on the turbolift first. Soon, they'd be lifted away to tell the whole wide galaxy about the filthy Federation infestation. Nothing could stop them now.

Except a lift malfunction.
"Fuck!" She shouted, Almost at the exact same time Cal did. This made things harder. She felt some rage bubble up within her, and rightly so. Here they were backed into a corner with death in the form of  an enemy squadron coming at them.

"Someone ought to stay behind in the hall, keep the guards back while you work on sealing the doors." She thought out loud to mostly Cinn, but technically everyone else too. She'd volunteer to, she was all too happy to stay behind and create a small wall of bodies for security to wade through, but she waited for her commanding officer's orders before doing so.

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #19 –
[ MCPO William Robert O'Connell | Boarding Team Two | Primary Reactor Control | Level 14 | Starbase 84 ]  
   
Chief Petty Officer Lavar Manfredi and Petty Officer First Class Mathew Johnson weren't experts at close quarters combat.  Manfredi had gone through the Dominion War without ever having to stare down the weapon of a Jem'Hadar, had never served on a ship that had been boarded by the Klingons when the Grand Alliance had broken down, and had never been in the room when a Borg drone beamed aboard.  As a matter of fact, he had never been on a ship that had been boarded in all of his fifteen years in Starfleet.  The emergencies he had faced had been damage control situations when a ship he was serving aboard was damaged in combat. 

As for Johnson, he had enlisted in Starfleet during the Dominion War and had spent most of the war behind the front lines.  His combat instincts were so bad he actually froze up when people started firing at him.  Two of the of the back doors slid open, revealing two gold collared officers armed with concealable handheld type phasers, colloquially known as "crickets" and apparently they had seen a lot of action in the close quarters combat department.   Not only did these officers have phasers they had tricorders as well, which meant they had paused to get situational awareness before jumping out of their offices with phasers in their hands. 

Matt Johnson froze and Lavar Manfredi instinctively tried to push him out of the way instead of firing back.  Big mistake.  Manfredi and Johnson got hit and tumbled down on the deck faster than it took for O'Connell to blink.

Chief Warrant Officer Gimli Luff apparently had people shoot at him in the past, and despite his girth and clumsy gait was surprisingly adept at getting out of the way.  The short and chubby Tellarite was far from being the most maneuverable person in the room, but he was smart enough to throw himself on the deck in a surprisingly smooth belly flop.  Verguy Cam, Billy Bob O'Connell, Chief Petty Officer Amlas Keyah, and Petty Officer First Class Jean Paul Rivard had spread out in order to stun as many engineers as possible before they could sound an alarm.  None of them but William Robert O'Connell had a clear shot at the engineering officers at that moment, and O'Connell's back had been facing them when they had appeared from their offices.

Billy Bob turned and rolled onto the deck as he adjusted the settings of his accipiter from the phased tetryon beam setting used for stun to a warp concussion setting that was supposed to generate a concussive force which could be used to repel targets.  This option was still highly experimental, and though field tests had shown it to be useful, he had really never used it outside of a simulation before.

It turned out that it was a good thing that O'Connell and the Tellarite had it the deck.  The device created a minature warp bubble that lasted less than a nanosecond but the darn thing collapsed to create a burst of kinetic force only three meters away from Billy Bob causing everyone within nine meters to be thrown to the deck.  Fortunately, most people in the area were already lying down thanks to being hit by phased tetreyon beams.  Cam and Rivard were knocked off their feet but otherwise unhurt.  The two engineering officers that had brought down Manfredi and Johnson were thrown ass over teakettle, their type one phasers clattering off the hull as they were wrenched from their grasp.  


Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #20 –
[Selena Ravenholm | Above the Subspace Acquisition Grid | Starbase 84]

Not even looking behind her when Cinn called out, Selena simply stepped out of her little alcove and started backing up, firing as she goes.  Not even sparing a look at Madsen's unconscious body the cyborg acted far more machine than woman taking every opening she had to take a shot with her pistol, and when she started pulling the guards' attention she simply whipped the rifle off of her shoulder and dual-wielded her weapons.  It killed her accuracy of course, but it was time for suppression fire, her earlier accuracy had done enough to discourage the base's security contingent.

So focused on the opposition in front of her, Selena didn't notice that Reagar was next to her until he'd grabbed her arm and pulled her into a new spot of cover.  Adrenaline must've fueled the officer's system as he managed to pull her straight into the door hard enough that she bounced off of it, knocking the wind out of her lungs.  A quick gasp later, Ravenholm opened her mouth, but the words of censure were bitten off when his grenade exploded down the hall, her VISOR showing the wave of anti-nadions blow past them in the hallway.

Grateful for the momentary respite, she ordered Reagar out first, once again giving him cover while the guards changed out to functioning weapons.  Hustling past the rest of the team and into the lift, she gave the others covering fire, leaning into the door so that her SAFTI vest could absorb a shot or two that might take down another member.  She already had a bad feeling about riding a turbolift, and it's shutdown came as no surprise.

But that was part of why she was here.

"No need to climb or stay behind, just keep them occupied." she tells the others, already holstering her pistol and slinging the rifle over her shoulder.  Crouching at the control pad, Selena uses the tools in her fingers to open up the access panel and starts playing with the chips found inside, working furiously to override the lockout and get the lift moving.  It wasn't a perfect solution, station control would be able to undo her work before too long, but now wasn't the time to try for a full hack of the system.

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #21 –
[ Cameron Henshaw | Floor 47: Administration, Departmental Head Offices and Command Centre | Starbase 84] Attn: Ida, Ryuan


It seemed they were at an impasse at the moment as the guards refused to let Cameron have her audience with Hawthorne. She kept standing up and realized just how much of a sitting duck she was right now to the opposing security force. She had to think fast in order to deal with this situation and she looked at Ida, Ryuan and Zaraq. She than gazed over at the security detail that was in cover and she pinched her nose bridge before she shook her head "Contact Commander Hawthorne now. Tell him I'm here and we'll see what he decides. Make sure we can hear so as well." she demanded now, not wanting the situation to escalate entirely.

She did however duck down a little to get a bit of cover before she whispered "What if I go in alone, unarmed? Their focus would be on me and if things go sideways you guys might have a chance to blast your way through." It was a bad plan, if anything and Henshaw knew it. Yet her mission parameters were vital. She HAD to see her adoptive father sooner than later in order to save lives. She looked over at the other two security officers with her and wondered how much longer they would have before they'd be surrounded and forced to surrender.

"How long do you think we have before we're boxed in and have no other choice to surrender?" she asked under her breathe "Or are there any other options that we could use to move further now?"

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #22 –
[ Wenn Cinn Above the Subspace Acquisition Grid | Starbase 84] Attn: Attn: Kaligos, chXinya, FollowTomorrow, Auctor Lucan, Anyone else 

Down the corridor, there was the small clunk and skitter as the grenade slid to its final resting place. Subconsciously, Wenn Cinn pulled his head back into cover. Even though this explosive would only emit an anti-nadion charge, he still didn't want to be looking at it head-on. There was a tell-tale pop and almost immediately, the phaser fire stopped.

From his cover, at the corner of the T junction, Cinn emerged. Taking care not to hit Reagar or Ravenholm, who had been rescued moments earlier by the former, the large Bajoran fired into the confused congregation of Starbase security personnel. Both seasoned and raw officers looked to their weapons with bewilderment; some clicked their fire buttons with abandon while others smacked their phasers against their palms, as if trying to dislodge some foreign item from the emitter. If it wasn't for the gravity of the situation, Cinn possibly would have laughed, instead mirth turned to ash in mouth.

Those in the boarding team who possessed TR-120s, Cinn included, unloaded now at those poor souls. At its very core, it felt wrong, firing against unarmed, defenceless men and women but this was the situation in which the team found themselves. When Cinn pulled the trigger with a shot took down a crewman of what seemed no more than 19, he closed his eyes so not to watch the boy crumble unceremoniously to the deck. The change in tide of this battle reminded him of his days in the occupation where he had previously slaughtered unarmed people.

Cinn, then much younger than he was now, had been camping with his resistance cell in a small wooded enclave for days. Waiting, they had finally spied upon their targets and attacked with an unabated fervour. Fuelled by anticipation, the group that was preyed upon were downed near instantly. Dragged into the underbrush, they were stripped of their belongings as well as anything which could be of value in the coming fight, before being buried that evening at the base of the locanta tree at the far edge of the field. Being the most physically fit of his cell, Cinn had been lumbered with the task of moving the bodies - now dressed in plain simple clothes. As the final was placed beside its peers, his colleagues chortled and revelled. They remarked on how well they had fought and how a proper burial was better treatment than the Cardassians would ever give his group, yet all Cinn could do was stare at the bridges of their victims' noses as dirt was slowly piled atop. In the morning, a small sign was erected before the cell moved on its way, on this mark was written a single word - Collaborators.

Back in the moment, Wenn Cinn took a sharp intake of breath before squeezing the trigger once more, sending a not unattractive blonde sprawling to the deck. Despite the similarity in these two situations, he knew his team would need to carry on. Cinn steeled himself in the knowledge that the TR-120s were designed to incapacitate rather than kill, it would be unlikely for any of the Starbase staff to be sufficiently injured to the point of death, but it still turned his stomach to watch those who he would normally call comrades fall. Tonight, he would pray harder than he had ever prayed before.

Checking back at his team, he gave a quick headcount to make sure he was up to date on the situation. Across from him, based behind one of the cross-section pillars which made the corner of the T junction, Dyan Cardamone was kicking ass and taking names. Cinn wasn't surprised when she offered herself as fodder to cover their exit, but he was concerned by the anger in her voice. He had no double that she would take on every guard personally if she could, but she was acting more like a Klingon than anything else. Assuming they both made it back, Cinn noted that he should check if everything was alright.

The rest of the team held ground within the lift itself. Reagar laid prone while Isley used side of the door as cover, both was effective since the situation had very much become like shooting fish in a barrel. To the other side of Isley, Cinn could just make out the shape of Ravenholm's behind as she feverishly worked to get the lift working again. The cyborg's dedication and resolve was impressive to Cinn, despite not being trained in security he would certainly welcome her presence on an away mission again. Turning back down the corridor, a single orange stream of energy streaked passed Cinn to hit the back wall of the corridor. The effect of the grenade was starting to wear off.

"Cardamone, time to go!" Cinn called across to the Asurian. He just hoped that by the point they got to the turbolift, Ravenholm would have gotten around the lockdown and so they could get on their way.

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #23 –
[ Ryuan Sel | Floor 47: Administration, Departmental Head Offices and Command Centre | Starbase 84] Attn: Ida, Cameron

Ryuan's first instinct was to use the distraction now as leverage and blast her way through with the grenades she carried on her person. Like all plans and stalemates, she hoped for a less lethal option they could use but when there are several guards with weapons drawn, no doubt set to kill, and orders to use lethal force, her options were pretty limited. She could roll a grenade down the hall between a time delay and proximity sensor, the guards would have no way to escape in time. The only question was how many more guards were there between here and their objective, and how many would be arriving before then?

But ThanIda zh'Wann was the deputy department head and team lead so that call fell to her, regardless of Ryuan's feelings. Ida knew she had the grenades primed and Ryuan was prepared to use them. She looked to Ida even as she spoke her mind. "Ensign. If your father is in any way complicit with Starfleet Command, we are in a far worse position regardless of what we do. The mission is to get you safely to Hawthorne and I won't risk your safety on the off chance your going with them gets you to him sooner." She paused, "I have one option in my hand right now Ensign. I just need Ida's okay."

She looked back to Ida, waiting for the Andorian women to make a decision before the situation became even less tenable. Gently rolling the grenade in her hand, Ryuan waited, the only sign of her nervousness the way she held the grenade, the rolling being her only real nervous tic. She was sorely tempted just to toss the thing and be done with this discussion, this waste of time.

Re: Chapter 04: Usurpation

Reply #24 –
[ MCPO William Robert O'Connell | Boarding Team Two | Primary Reactor Control | Level 14 | Starbase 84 ]  

After blasting nearly everyone off their feet with the warp concussion setting on his accipiter, William Robert O'Connell staggered clumsily to his feet as he tried to ignore the way Starbase 84's Primary Reactor Control room was spinning.  "Y'all still in one piece?" he called to his team.  "Rivard, secure those two yahoos who popped outta nowhere with the phasers."  Handcuffs were large and bulky so the team was carrying tiny plastic thumb ties that would act as restraints and allow each member of the team to carry dozens of them if they chose.  "Thea, check on Manfredi and Johnson," he ordered, hoping against hope that the phasers that shot them had been on a stun setting and that Thea had a paramedic subroutine running in her program just in case.  No one was stupid enough to fire a phaser set to kill in main engineering but O'Connell couldn't help noticing that a lot less people set their phasers to stun ever since the alien parasites took over Starfleet.
 
In the meantime a blinking light on a nearby panel was demanding attention and was accompanied by an audible signal that was an annoying set of quick unending identical beeps.  Someone from somewhere was trying to contact Starbase 84's Primary Reactor Control Room and since no one was answering their combadges the caller was now trying the Main Engineering Console.  "Keyah, make sure that door's secured!" he ordered as he tossed the busty Bolian the accipiter.  "I'll hold 'em here!"  After she tossed him her TR-120 stealth rifle, Billy Bob O'Connell turned his attention to the unconscious engineer slumped on the console.  "Who the rut are yuh?" O'Connell asked as he pulled the man off the console and ran his tricorder over the comatose man's combadge.  "Ensign Ford is it?" he muttered when his tricorder red the identification information in the combadge's transponder.  "All righty then," he declared before pushing Ensign Ford unceremoniously out of his chair.  "Time t' git inta character," he muttered as he crouched over the console and activated the communications link.

 "Ah... Everything under control, situation normal," Billy Bob stammered in what he hoped was a youthful unaccented voice that sounded very different from his usual drawl.  "Ensign Ford reporting."

"What happened?" asked a male voice.

"Ah, we had a slight weapons malfunction," Billy replied in his 'plucky young ensign' voice, "but uh, everything's perfectly alright now; we're fine, we're all fine here right now.  Thank you.  How are you?" he winced cursing himself at the stupidity of his remark.

"We're sending a squad up," the voice informed him.  "We can't make contact with...

"Ah, negative-negative," Billy gulped.  "We have a uh... reactor leak, here, uh, now, give us a few minutes to lock it down," he bluffed in his 'ensign voice.'  "Uh... large leak, very dangerous..."

"Who is this?" the voice on the other end demanded.  "What happened to Ensign Ford?"

"Boring conversation anyway," Billy grunted in his own voice as he cut communication.  "Luff!  Disengage their transporters!  If we gots ta have company let's make sure it has ta mosey in the front door!  Cam, deactivate as many defensive systems as yuh can!  If yuh can't deactivate their weapons, maybe you kin drop their shields!  I'm gonna try to cut power to their command level and blackout their primary operations center.  That should buy us some time to cut their communications and their internal security systems."  He tapped his combadge. "O'Connell to boarding teams!  We're in!  If you got any requests I'd make 'em now, while there's still someone in th' primary reactor room that's on your side!"


 
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