LtCmdr. Talos Dakora - A Walk To Remember
Travis
((Ready Room - Deck 01 - USS Artemis))
Talos and Nathan had locked themselves in MacKenzie’s Ready Room after the others had escaped the bridge. After exhausting all of their options, and with the Borglings nearly breaking through the door, Talos had decided to replicate a couple of EVA suits and enact a daring and dangerous plan.
Dakora: So, I’m thinking we shoot out MacKenzie’s observation window and hike the two hundred or so meters to this auxiliary airlock here, all while trying not to get caught in the crossfire of the space battle going on outside. ::He shrugged.:: but if you’ve got a better plan I’m all ears…
He watched as Nathan’s eyes went from the little model, to the window. Talos would be lying if he said he was looking forward to the trip, but he couldn’t just hide while a bunch of assimilated former crewmates had their way with the Artemis.
If he had to go out, he’d go out fighting.
Richards: You know the ship better than I do.
Nathan lifted his phaser, thumbing the power setting.
Richards: Let’s do this.
He let out a centering breath, taking the phaser that he’d found locked away in the desk and slipping it into the pouch in his EVA suit.
Talos had half expected Richards to balk at the idea, or even to outright refuse. Instead, he seemed to be approaching the task with the same obligated reluctance that Talos felt.
He could work with that.
Dakora: It’s about that time…
Talos placed the helmet over his head, rotating it one-third of a turn until the HUD lined up and he heard the clicks that indicated a positive lock. He did a final continuity check of the joints at his elbows, knees and wrists before turning to check on Nathan’s progress.
The Ops chief was pointing at his boots.
Richards: Mag boots. ::Smirking:: Wouldn’t want you blowing away now.
He clicked his heels together, eliciting a whine and igniting a green light on each of his heels that confirmed the magloks were active.
Dakora: You aren’t getting rid of me that easily.
With a final look back at the door, he saw it shaking now, as the Borgified crew had nearly made it through. He steeped closer to the window, setting his stand and allowing his boots to stick him down to the deck.
Richards: Ready?
They raised their phasers, pointing them at the window.
Dakora: Let’s go for a stroll.
He could feel a wave of discomfort washing over his empathic senses, right as he squeezed the trigger. Together they traced a hole that looked just large enough for them to fit through in the formerly picturesque observation window.
Hurricane-force winds sucked everything that wasn’t strapped down or locked in drawers out into the void until, finally, the compartment had de-pressurized completely.
oO MacKenzie is going to kill me. Oo
Leading the way, Talos stepped through the hole, moving with as much grace as the clunky magnetic boots and bulky suit could allow. As soon as he was outside, his eyes were drawn to the nightmarish scene unfolding in space. For a moment he was frozen, the sounds of his own breathing provided the soundtrack to the coordinated destruction that was taking place in the frenzy near Earth Space Dock.
Richards: Response
The other man’s voice cracked over the internal comms and Talos was able to tear his eyes off of the rippling phaser beams tearing into Starfleet’s home port, though he still had a spot in his vision where one of the few ships that hadn’t succumbed to fleet formation mode had lost the battle and imploded as he’d watched.
It might’ve been beautiful, if it wasn’t so awful. And The Artemis– His ship– was firing on these targets as well.
Dakora: Come on! This way.
Behind them, a neon glow told him that their delay timer on the emergency forcefield had worked. None of the Borglings would get spaced when they finally broke into the room. Though Talos wondered if it mattered. Were they all already lost?
Was killing them an act of mercy at this point? He didn’t want to risk it. Not until Genkos or someone could confirm it.
Richards: Response
Carefully, they clomped and clanged their way down the raised bridge structure at the center of the Artemis’ saucer, occasionally standing nearly perpendicular to the main saucer as they clambered down the superstructure.
The occasional resonating vibration of the Artemis’ phaser banks pouring fire onto Earth Space Dock was the only thing that really separated this spacewalk from any others he had done. So far, at least. It had given his mind some time to process the events that had led them here.
Dakora: Been thinking; Why did only some of us get Assimilated? ::He paused.:: Not you, me, Robin, MacKenzie or any of the others… what is different about us?
He frowned inside his helmet. Most of the Borgified seemed to be Junior Officers and crewman. Just kids, most of ‘em. Maybe it was a rank thing? But how would that work?
As he stepped down on the long, sprawling mostly-flat hull itself, he could see the airlock off in the distance and began to head toward it.
Richards: Response
Something felt off. So far, the space walk had gone just about as smoothly as they could hope. Yet, the nervous energy rising off of Nathan only seemed to be getting worse.
Dakora: You doing alright? ::He pointed to the lights of the airlock in the distance.:: Not too much farther to go.
Richards: Response
Talos was about to respond when movement caught his eye, in the distance a ship shimmered into view as it de-cloaked. It moved separately from the others and Talos almost found himself wanting to cheer for the lone Neo-Constitution class ship, right until he realized what was about to happen.
Dakora: Holy strokes! Heads up!
He’d barely managed to shout the warning when the friendly ship opened fire, strafing the firing line that had formed around E.S.D. He watched in a state of shock as phasers lanced out and spanged off the Artemis’ shields. It wasn’t until he saw the glowing ball of a torpedo heading toward them that he was truly worried.
Richards:Response
A split second later, the torpedo struck home, cutting through the weakened shields and impacting elsewhere on the saucer where neither of them could see. They could, however, feel the effect.
Immediately the ship bucked and Talos heard the beeping error as his maglok boots overloaded. Thrown from his feet, he tumbled forward, smacking his helmet onto the hull and creating a spider-web of cracks across the front of his helmet. He began floating up at a slow speed, all the while scrabbling for anything he could grab onto as he rose but came away from the slick hull empty-handed.
Dakora: Help!
Richards:Response
TAG/TBC
LtCmdr. Talos Dakora
First Officer
USS Artemis-A
O238811CD0