Lt. Gabriel Osuna: Crewman Renir, In the Jefferies Tube, With the Lead Pipe
Robin Hopper
((Deck 5, Outside Upper Computer Core Containment – USS Artemis))
Osuna moved around the back of the securely-sealed chamber that house the Artemis’ computer core access point and planted the first explosive device, twisting it to a predetermined ‘countdown point’ – about thirty seconds. As soon as one bomb was triggered, they’d all begin counting down simultaneously until they detonated… There wouldn’t really be any stopping them either – not in that amount of time.
Gabe hoped it would be just sufficient time to book it as far away from the site as possible and avoid shifting hues from green to red.
Osuna: The first explosive is primed… Moving to the second. Let’s hope we don’t get stuck here in a firefight, hmm?
A grunt from over his shoulder pulled his attention for a moment, and he spotted Talos flashlight-in-mouth, setting additional explosives. Once his bomb was in place, she spat out the light and replied properly.
Dakora: Yeah. ::He glanced around the room.:: That would be bad.
Despite them both agreeing the relative open-ness (and nowhere-to-run-ness) of their current location would be ill-suited to a shooting match, Jones piped up with a conveniently-timed warning – informing them of his tricorder’s revelation.
Jones: Gentlemen, I think our ruse has been discovered. There's a group headed this way, but they're trying to look like they're just ambling this way. Problem is, they're not backtracking in the slightest.
Osuna: @#$%... This would be a good place for them to spring an ambush too…
There was a sudden noise from an overhead gangway, and Gabe spun to try and spot the source of the noise, dropping the un-primed bomb in his hand and drawing his phaser. He scanned quickly, searching in the darkened room for the sign of an enemy above – but he couldn’t see anyone or anything… He’d definitely heard something. The hairs on the back of his neck were stood on end.
Dakora: Holy strokes. ::Quietly.:: Anyone have eyes?
Jones: ::whispering:: I don't see anything.
A tense moment passed – the only sound, the gentle hum of the ship. Finally Gabe released his breath and lowered his weapon. If someone was there, they were being polite enough to let them finish their work.
Osuna: … I don’t know. Maybe it was just the ship creaking in the nebula? ::Re-holstering his phaser, grabbing the bomb:: Let’s get these set and get the hell out of here.
Picking up the device he’d dropped, Osuna made his way quickly around the far side of the core. He’d never had much of a head for engineering – but he was pretty sure they stood the best chance of dealing the Artemis a crippling blow by hitting the core from as many angles as possible simultaneously.
Dakora: Agreed. ::He twisted the control on the device to arm it on a thirty-second fuse and stepped back.:: All set over here. If you’re good to go, let’s get the &%$# out of here.
Jones: No arguments from me.
After setting the last of their charges, the group of four officers regrouped, collecting their things and preparing to move on… Though where to hadn’t yet been decided. Gabe slung the pack over his shoulders that contained the yet-to-be-utilized comms booster. Maybe that would be their next move…
He followed Dakora, Jones, and Kliss’lai towards the exit, taking one more cursory glance behind them. At their ‘ambling’ pace, the other security team would be arriving any moment now… With luck, perhaps they’d be caught up in the explosion.
That thought gave him pause.
They might be the designated ‘enemy’ at this point in drill – but wishing death on his enemies was not something he would ever seriously consider were the injuries dealt not merely simulated. It was crucial that he remembered the point of the drill was to prepare them all for real world scenarios… not to play at all out war.
((OOC – I’ve received permission from Talos’ writer to correct a redundant tag here.))
Dakora: They’re gonna be on us soon.
Osuna: ::Turning to face the others:: Yep.
Jones: About ready? We should keep moving.
Dakora: Once we step through that door, I’m starting the 30-second countdown so don’t lollygag.
Gabe nodded. Taking up the rear meant that when the bombs blew, he’d technically be the closest. If any of them were going to turn red – or yellow – from the explosion, it’d likely be him.
Talos opened the door and darted into the hall, opening the detonator’s cap and pressing the button as he did. A mental clock began ticking down in Gabe’s head as they sprinted away, the door sliding shut behind them.
oO One one thousand, two one thousand… Oo
They continued down the hall a little further. Osuna began to feel better about the distance they were putting between them and the impending boom.
oO …Eleven… Twelve… Oo
His count was suddenly interrupted by a surprising flash of phaser fire from around a corner ahead. Immediately, Dakora and Kliss’lai dropped into a more tactical posture and pushed themselves against the wall. Not sure how ‘up’ on his training the young doctor was, Gabe instinctively grabbed the back of the blue-clad officer’s uniform and pulled him aside, ducking behind a structural support beam opposite Talos.
Dakora: Sket! ::He slid behind the meager cover of a corridor rib.:: Contact front!
oO Where the hell was I? Fifteen? Oo
He raised his phaser and fired back – a wide shot, not intended to hit their attacker, but merely to provide some covering fire and allow them a moment to work out their options.
Osuna: ::To Jones:: Pass me that extra phaser, Doctor?
Jones: Response?
Noting that Jones was preoccupied with his own business in the firefight, Gabe simply grabbed the extra phaser from Jones’ belt himself. Holding both weapons aloft, he began a left-right-repeat cycle of fire to try and keep their enemy at bay. In… some amount of seconds… the bombs would blow. If they were lucky (and not all dead) perhaps they could use the simulated explosion as an opportunity for escape.
Dakora: Brace!
oO What? But it’s only bee– Oo
Gabe’s count had been thrown entirely off, and a split-second later the ship’s inertial dampers simulated a shaking that threatened to throw anyone not adequately prepared off balance. The corridor lighting dropped to emergency levels, and alarm klaxons began blaring across the deck.
Dakora: Push up!
Gabe glanced down at his combadge – still green – and pushed himself off from the wall, keeping his front facing the direction of their attackers. Hoping to gain an advantage in their retreat, he fired into the dark, the streaks of energy providing momentary illumination, not unlike a strobe light, down the hall.
Osuna: Time to move, Doc. ::To Dakora:: Where to?
There was no immediate response. No doubt Talos was also trying to work out just where the hell they were going to go.
Jones: Response
Gabe backtracked down the hall, sticking close to the wall and continuing to exchange occasional fire with the enemy. He wondered if that was Savel down there – or if his party had been the one tailing them. Whatever the case, he wasn’t planning to stick around and find out.
He made his way swiftly to the door and pressed the keypad, but an angry tone informed him it was now sealed due to a simulated pressure loss in the room beyond. He banged his fist against the door, and pressed the button again. Noting that it was only a partial loss in pressure, he held his phaser against the door control and fired at point-blank-range, melting the circuitry. The door slid open, just as a grunt of frustration emanated from someone behind him.
Kliss'lai: Zztan! ::She cursed:: I’m hit.
Gabe spun, finding the Andorian Security Officer dropped to a seated position, her badge glowing a bright yellow in the dim emergency lighting.
oO Down, but not out yet, Oo he figured.
Dakora: We’ll get to you Kliss, just hang on. ::His body began to drift away from the floor.:: Whoaa!
Now that was unexpected… Gabe felt his feet leaving contact with the deck below him and reached out a hand, grabbing hold of the door frame to keep himself from floating away down the hall. Their explosive must have ‘taken out the gravity’ – or at least, the computer had decided to add that as a consequence of their simulated attack.
Jones: Response
Additional phaser fire criss-crossed through the air, coming from many directions now as their attackers also lost control of their positions. Gabe reached out a hand to Talos and, together, they formed a chain, grabbing Kliss’lai, who had straightened out. Following their zero-gravity training, the group managed to move themselves towards and through the exit. As the others escaped back into the ‘bombed room’ – which was, of course, still intact – Gabe turned to face their enemy one more time, holding both phasers aloft.
Osuna: I love this job.
With a dual-depression of the triggers, the kinetic energy dispersal pushed him back through the open door and into the room beyond. But the joy of his ‘flight’ was quickly cut short as the door opposite them clunked open as well, and additional fire began to break out. Everyone was firing more-or-less blindly in the dark, but the fact remained they were now surrounded… trapped… and as Kliss’lai’s yellow badge proved, even a blindfolded shooter could hit fish in a barrel.
Dakora: Let’s go! Through here!
Osuna contracted his limbs, using the movement to spin himself around and get a bead on Dakora’s location, following his voice. He spotted him floating near a maintenance hatch and grabbed hold of a nearby operations terminal – its screen dark and filled with simulated static – and launched himself towards the Commander.
As he ‘landed’ – a little less gracefully than he’d hoped – Gabe nodded to Talos.
Osuna: I’ll take point. ::To Jones:: Doc, once we’re in, see if you can get Kliss’lai back on her… Umm..
The typical idiom wasn’t exactly relevant in a zero-g environment.
Osuna: You know.
Jones: Response?
Talos provided covering fire as Osuna, followed by Jones, made their way into the jefferies tube beyond the maintenance hatch. Taking a look back, Gabe watched as Dakora launched Kliss’lai by her uniform jacket into the tube as well then propelled himself up through the hatch. Just as he was about to clear the line of fire, a glancing beam struck his leg and his badge also turned yellow.
Dakora: Damn it. I’m hit too!
The hatch shut behind them, locking into place – not that that would stop their pursuers for long. They didn’t have time to waste.
Osuna: Crap. ::Looking ahead:: Jones, we need to know the extent of both their injuries… Can they press on, or do we need to stop?
Jones: Response
Dakora: Response?
Kliss’lai: If you need to leave me behind, Sirs, I can hold them off for–
Gabe shook his head and interrupted the crewman.
Osuna: Forget about that. ::To Jones:: See if you can treat her first. ::To Talos:: Commander, think you can walk it off? ::Shaking his head:: Metaphorically speaking?
Dakora/Jones: Response
A moment later, though, their discussion was cut short by the sound of something – no, someone – moving in the tube ahead of them. Gabe felt his jaw clench in nervous anticipation.
Osuna: What the hell? Is someone else in here with us?
Dakora/Jones: Response
Renir: Response?
He could swear he heard someone clamoring in the dark tube towards them. That must have been what they’d heard before… He knew it hadn’t been the ship settling. Whoever was in here must have had their work interrupted by the ‘explosion’. Now the question was how much of a threat they would post.
Osuna: ::Calling out:: You should know that there are four of us and we’re armed! If you want to stay ‘in the green’, recommend you clear out of the way… Whoever you are.
The clamoring sound stopped, for a moment at least. He looked back down at the others and shrugged. Then another sound. oO What is that, breathing? Oo A moment later, he felt a deafening blow against his left ear, the force of the impact pushing him sideways into the side of the jefferies tube – and the shock of it causing him to momentarily lose his grip on his phaser.
Renir: Response?
Osuna: ::In pain:: Hey! What the hell do you think–
Another swing of the weapon at him, and Gabe was forced to tuck his head downwards, spinning and taking the hit in his ribs instead. Despite the pain, he glanced down and noted that his combadge was still green… Evidently being thwacked with a metal rod was not something the computer had anticipated.
Osuna: That is not a simulated weapon, you @#$%ing idiot!
Dakora/Jones/Renir: Responses
TBC
