The Game's Not Over
Posted on Sat Jan 14th, 2023 @ 6:48pm by Captain Tristan Faust & Lieutenant Michael Amato & Ensign Peter Novak & Commander Lucy Heartfilia & Lieutenant Commander Marc Kitchner M.D. & Lieutenant Braun Bernhardt & Lieutenant Azrel Vox & Lieutenant Thraxina & Lieutenant T'kara & Petty Officer, 2nd Class Harmony Stardancer & Arianna D'Tal & Ensign Avis Larant
Edited on on Mon Jan 16th, 2023 @ 8:31am
0 words; about a 1 minute read
Mission:
Mission 1: A Fool’s Errand
Location: Various
Timeline: M1 MD08 (2268.23.05) 2235-2345
The lights flickered and all of the consoles on the bridge of the Midway went dark. "Switch to auxiliary, now!" The Captain yelled. The emergency lights flicked on right before transporter sequences filled the bridge. "Hit the deck!" Tristan yelled as he shoulder rolled out of the chair and onto the deck. He pulled the type I phaser from its holster at his waist and fired. The phaser blast hit one pirate in the chest.
Thraxina had obeyed the Captain's order to switch to auxiliary immediately, but the couple of seconds that took cost her the chance to defend herself: the next thing she knew was a disrupter butt smacking into the side of her head which sent her sliding unconscious under the Helm console in an ungainly position which, at least, made it impossible to drag her out easily.
A group of 5 Orion men and women beamed onto the Midway's bridge, all armed with Klingon disruptors.
With Tristan's weapon being set to stun, his target, a young woman looking to be in her early 20's, dropped unconscious onto the deck the moment she finished materializing.
Another of the officers noted one of the console operators making adjustment, and promptly smacked her with the butt of his disruptor.
The other three began to fan out, firing quick shots. They'd been ordered to keep as much of the crew alive as possible, so most of them were only aiming for limbs.
The Captain was crouched behind the command chair and set his phaser to kill. He tapped one of the signals on the armrest which signalled for an armed security team to come to the bridge. In the mean time they had to hold them off. He saw an opportunity and fired one of the burly Orion men.
T'kara, seated at the Command Intelligence console, had been working hard to keep the most relevant data present on tactical displays and on the main viewer. Then the power had gone out, and the Captain had called for auxiliary power. She'd never experienced that on the Exeter...
Now there were people on the Bridge firing disrupters...
T'kara had had enough forethought to duck behind her station's mounted chair, but she knew that wouldn't last. Someone was bound to see her and take a shot. She waited for a moment and then rolled under the desktop to lay prone on the deck. Reaching back, T'kara removed the Type 1 phaser from her belt and watched, waiting to target one of the intruders.
Lucy had also ducked down and was using her chair as cover, she gripped the phaser tightly in one hand as she tried to avoid the disruptor fire. She did however manage to reach up onto the science console and hit the button to open a shipwide comms channel.
"All crew this is Commander Heartfilia. We are being boarded, initiate anti-boarding protocols!" she called out, she only just hoped that it worked and all of the ships decks heard it.
"You heard her!" Lieutenant Miyake barked as she set her phaser to heavy stun. "I want corridor-to-corridor fighting! We are not letting these bastards take our ship!"
Several teams of 5 boarded the Midway some were in critical areas, but most of the teams were spread through out the crew quarter decks, looking to disable as many of the crew as possible in quick fashion.
The Orion that Tristan shot threw his hands up as he simply disintegrated on the spot, instantly getting the attention of the other Orions on the Bridge.
The two remaining Orion women moved to find cover. From where they hid, they each had clear shots. The two shots they fired were towards Lucy, and La'lei.
Lucy was hit in the shoulder, she was sent backwards knocked out by the weapon. Meanwhile La'lei who had been sheltering near the communications control console was struck in the face by the butt of an Orion rifle also knocked out cold.
Braun was no stranger to ugly fights like this; bar fights and boarding actions were no place for the niceties of a match in the ring. He felt the disruptor blast hit centimeters from his back as he dove into the pirate, driving the man into the railing. There was a satisfying crack as the man's upper back crashed into the unyielding surface but before he could feel much more Braun's head snapped up, his skull connecting with the pirate's jaw...!
As he was speared back against the railing, the large man cried out, feeling his spine break. Before he could even panic, his jaw was snapped shut, causing it to break, and knocking him unconscious. His life signs started to fade as he slumped down to the deck.
There were two security officers stationed on the bridge per the Captain's orders. One of the officers, Ensign Peter Novak was assigned to personally guard the Captain. Peter was a young officer in his early twenties and built like a tank. He drew some fire away from the Captain while shooting one of the Orions in the leg. The burly beast dropped to the floor and started screaming in agony.
"It's time for you to get the hell off my ship!" Tristan called at the attackers. Only two of the Orions were upright. One was stunned, one was screaming on the deck and the other was dazed thanks to Braun's attack.
Braun snatched the disruptor from his opponent's limp hand and looked about the bridge. So far it looked like everything had been contained, but there was no telling what was going on elsewhere. He kept silent; questioning the pirates in front of the captain might make them think there was dissension in the ranks. Instead he grabbed his man by the belt and dragged him over to one of the other downed ones, careful not to walk in the line of fire of the security personnel.
Boarding parties were also found in many of the ship's critical areas, as well as some of the most populated civilian areas, as the Orion crew wanted to get as much of an advantage as they could.
Kitch had enough sense to have 4 security men inside sickbay and another 2 outside. Even though they were in the center of the ship they could feel the weapons strikes hitting the shields or the hull. The ship rocked almost taking him off his feet. "Bloody hell." He said and he pushed himself off the wall, grabbing a nurse around the middle as she went sliding past him.
The wounded started coming in. "Mike ... Tony ... Harmony ... Swiss. You worry about triage." Mostly it was broken bones and circuitry burns.
Harmony stumbled as the ship shuddered, but that didn't hold her up -- all of the crew in Sickbay was staying focused on the task at hand -- although the announcement that the ship was being boarded sent a chill through her. At least Sickbay seemed well-defended, but it was foolish to think they were safe. It was the task at hand that kept her emotions under check, there were patients to tend to, and there could be no faltering.
"Aye, sir," she acknowledged Kitch's order, then she glanced at the others. "I can handle the walking wounded, if you'd like." Most walking wounded would be relatively easy to treat, and be a quick turn-around, and it would free up the others for patients needing more intensive care.
Despite yesterday's mess Dr. Amato tried his best to clear his mind and prepare to do his job. He set his phaser to heavy stun. The last thing he wanted to do was use it, but anything was possible during this mess. He grabbed his medical scanner and stood up from his desk in his office and headed towards triage which was set up in one of the wards.
All of a sudden 5 beings transported into Sickbay. Two Orion men, a Vulcan female, and 2 Andorian females. They immediately began to fan out, taking shots at random, making sure to only hit limbs.
Picking a random target, the Vulcan female leveled her disruptor, and fired a shot aimed at Harmony, while the others picked targets of their own.
Mike threw his medical scanner at one of the Andorian females right as she fired the disruptor. She flinched, missing the doctor. The disruptor blast destroyed the vitals monitor sending sparks all over the floor as Mike dove behind the biobed. He grabbed the phase from his belt. Outside of training this was his first combat situation. He set his phaser to heavy stun and shot her.
The move had caught the Andorian woman off guard, and as she pointed her disruptor at him again, a look of shock crossed her features, before she fell to the deck in a slump.
It wasn't at all unexpected when Sickbay was invaded, but it still startled Harmony. She spun to meet the threat, torn between going for cover, protecting 'her' patients, or both, but there wasn't time to do any of that. Fortunately, she had started to move, so the hit from the caught her in the forearm as she was bringing up her phaser.
The pain was sudden and searing, but her brain instantly processed that she wasn't incapacitated, and she managed to fire back as she dropped and rolled under a bio-bed.
The Vulcan female dodged, wincing as she ended up with only a glancing burn on her sleeve. She fired at Harmony again, looking to put her out with a more direct shot.
For the split-second that she had before darkness enveloped her, Harmony would later be amazed at how many thoughts ran through her head. None of it mattered, though -- in the end, the darkness won, but at least it took the pain with it...
As the order to retreat came in, the Vulcan woman grabbed Harmony. The remaining raiders in sickbay grabbed doctors, and patients alike, before beaming away.
Avis Larant had been assigned to patrol this deck just in case the Orions decided to beam in a boarding party in what they might consider a less critical part of the ship and thus undefended. Really there weren't enough security personnel to blanket a ship as big as Midway. Best they could do was react.
As she made her way down one of the corridors phaser at the ready, she could hear and feel evidence of conflict raging somewhere on the Midway. Personally she doubted the Orions would come this way but orders were orders. Well, the cadet was wrong.
There was a sudden shout ahead instantly followed by a scream. The corridor took a gentle curve and as she rounded it there were a knot of figures less than thirty meters ahead. On the floor was a still prone crewman, another, a woman, was struggling with an Orion. A second Orion turned his attention toward Avis' unexpected appearance and raised his disruptor. Avis fired first and down went the now stunned intruder.
Avis should have kept firing even if a near miss might have hit her fellow crew member, the phaser was only set on stun. But instead she closed the distance to take on the Orion in hand to hand.
The Orion let go of his still resisting captive and swung a gleaming blade at Avis. He missed and Avis drove her knee into his midriff. It was only then that she noticed reinforcements had arrived, three more raiders!
A Romulan male, and a Human male came from behind the Orion, while another Human female had approached Avis from behind. Before the young Cadet could react, the Romulan shoved her backwards, right into the waiting arms of the Human woman behind her.
The woman grabbed Avis from behind, producing a sharp knife that she pressed against Avis' throat.
"It's nothin' personal." She said sincerely, as her companions helped their Orion crewmates back to their feet.
"It damn well is to me!" snapped Avis but she wasn't about to make a stupid move and get her throat cut.
"You, take her!" growled the man Avis had kneed, as he pointed towards the woman with the knife. "The rest of you, go get more!"
The others moved on in a hurry too. That left Avis with just one to deal with. That is if she could turn the tables without getting her throat sliced wide open. It was risky as all hell but then she wasn't going to just roll over and cooperate. Cowardice in the face of the enemy, she'd rather go down fighting.
Thus far she had not resisted and for the first few steps, her captor probably thought she was going to just cooperate. Then Avis pulled her head to one side even as she brought up both arms to shield her throat. Se felt pain on the left arm, so she did not completely avoid the reactive slash. But now she dropped and rolled to spring back up to her feet again and face the pirate. Sadly her phaser was still on the floor. She'd just have to take the woman in close combat. Fine with her, she attacked.
As Avis broke free, the knife had been knocked from her attacker's hands. With Avis advancing, most of the Cadet's flurry of punches were redirected, but a few of the early ones hit. In a quick movement, she closed off Avis' attack, using her own momentum to toss her on her back.
"I like you, kid. You've got spunk." The older woman said. She took a couple steps back, wiping a bit of blood from her now busted lip. "I still have to kick your ass."
This woman was fast! Avis grimaced in pain and also tried to shake the cobwebs off as she scrambled off the deck. Avis growled, "Talk is cheap!" And once more she attacked, it was her way.
The woman moved to block Avis' quick advance, but just wasn't fast enough. A quick punch to her midsection, opened her up for the fast haymaker Avis followed up with. As it connected, it practically spun her around, but she followed up with a back kick meant to catch Avis just below the ribs.
For just that instant, Avis thought she had her opponent, and if she could just get her down, she could then finish this. That was her last thought before she caught a hard kick in the belly. Down she went, the air knocked out of her.
When she kicked Avis, the woman had lost her balance, ending up on her knees. She spit a fresh round of bood on the deck as she got up. "You've got skills, but you're too overconfident." She told Avis, who was trying to catch her breath on the deck. She moved to forcefully bring Avis to her feet, looking her dead in the eye. "Always expect the unexpected." with that, she decked Avis with a quick punch.
Avis would have loved to have spat out some sort of defiant insult but trying to breathe came first as she gasped for air. She didn't have the time for either though, feeling herself hauled to her feet while, of all things, this bitch was lecturing her on how to fight. She wasn't on her feet long though when a hard punch right to the face dropped her backwards. Everything went dark then.
As Avis toppled to the floor, the woman wiped blood off her mouth again. She was about to move on, to find someone else, when her communicator chimed up.
"Damn it!" came Arianna's frustrated voice through her communicator. "All teams, grab who you can, and prepare for beam out!"
The woman moved to where Avis was laying, touching a hand to her leg. "Tough luck for you, kid." She said, as she pressed a device on her belt to beam them both out.
5 Orion men beamed into Engineering, and immediately began firing as they took whatever cover they could find.
Seeing Dima working on the dilithium chamber, one of them moved to attack him. He was caught off guard as Dima turned on him, blocking his first punch, and delivering two powerful punches in succession, stunning him. Dima flipped the Orion on his back, then stunned him with a small phaser.
Just as he was turnning back towards the Dilithium chamber, another noticed him from a distance, and took aim. "Might as well just shoot him." He said to himself, as he pulled the trigger twice rapidly.
Dima hadn't seen it coming, so never dodged. The two shots hit their mark; one hitting him in the leg, and the other in the arm. It wasn't been enough to knock him out, but it had been enough to drop him in agony.
The rest of the fight in Engineering had gone badly for them. Those left still standing when the retreat order came in, grabbed those they could, and beamed out.
Seeing that they were losing, one of the remaining women pulled out a communicator, practically yelling into it. "They were ready for us!" she said. "We're losing our people!"
"Damn it!" came Arianna's frustrated reply through the communicator. "All teams, grab who you can, and prepare for beam out!"
A disruptor blast whizzed past the side of Tristan's head. It impacted harmlessly against the wall behind him, but the blast grazed the size of Ensign Novak's leg. Unperturbed, Tristan looked over at one of the young woman on the bridge, Ensign Ivy Kinsley, the Defense Control Officer. "Ensign, the shields?!" he yelled over.
The young woman ran to the console but the slight woman was grabbed by one of the remaining Orion pirates. "Naughty, naughty," she said with a sinister laugh.
The remaining Orion woman moved to where Lucy, and La'lei were unconscious, making sure she was touching them both. Before anyone else could react, the two Orion women pressed devices on their belts, triggering their beam-out.
The ship was being hailed. The Captain turned to face the young Trill woman at the comms console, "Put it on Lieutenant Vox," he said.
"Yes sir. " she taps the console. "On screen sir." She said readjusting her earpiece.
As the view screen came to life, the bridge was greeted by the image of a young woman who looked Vulcan, and had no slave collar. She had red hair, and her makeup gave her a somewhat gothic appearance.
"You're tougher than I gave you credit for Captain, but your failures have cost you." She explained with a raised eyebrow. "Your engines are disabled, and your crew mates are now the property of the Orion Syndicate."
"And your crew left aboard are now the property of the Federation," Tristan countered. "What is the purpose for these attacks?" he demanded, "Simple greed?" He stared at the Vulcanian woman. He knew she looked familiar but he couldn't be sure. He hit the record button on the side of the Captain's chair as he stood up from the floor. The room stank of burnt carpet and flesh.
"They failed, and deserve their fate." The woman said coldly. A frown crossed her features at the mention of her own lost crew mates, prompting her to sigh. "I guess exposing your failures for all to see isn't reason enough for you. Don't bother following us, Captain. Doing so would be a fool's errand."
With that, the signal was cut, and the Pirate ship shot off at their maximum warp speed.
"Shields are up," came the voice of Peter Novak from the defense control console.
That report came approximately 54 seconds too late to do any good. Captain Faust stood up and quickly walked over to the science console. He keyed in several sequences and launched a probe to follow the Orion ship. The ship was still immobile and this was the only choice he saw. He would do his duty, get his people back and see the Orions brought to justice... He just wasn't sure how yet...
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