[BACKSIM] LtCmdr. Talos Dakora - Gone In A Flash - Pt.1
Travis
((Industrial Exhaust Manifold 02 - Facility KTF-031 - Medara, Betazed 2376))
Talos moved quickly, eager to catch up with Savel. He’d stayed behind for a brief conversation with his mother that he was increasingly worried might end up being his last.
His sense of duty waged war with his heart, even as the choice had already been made. He clambered out of the maintenance crawlway into the Corridor to find Savel and Jaseb mid-conversation.
Chevalier: I don’t know, Savel. I don’t know more than he set us here to die. ::looks at the commander:: He killed Zarek and let us up there ::points to destroyed exhaust:: to die.
The body of the surly Betazoid Resistance fighter lay on the walkway and the mangled exhaust manifold above lent credence to Jaseb’s story. Not that Talos had any reason not to believe him.
It was becoming very obvious that they’d been betrayed before Nieran had removed all doubt.
Dakora: What do you think? ::He looked to Chevalier for input.:: Can we still complete our objective?
Chevalier: We need to find him and check on the team working on the second exhaust. If Nieran has not brought Jem’Hadars to them already, they can still be saved. Let’s go.
Talos felt uncertainty radiating off of the stoic-faced Vulcan, but he didn’t voice his opinion.
Savel:...
Chevalier’s suggestion made sense. The mission was shot. Their likelihood of successfully pulling it off had dropped to near-nil. All they could do now was try and help as many of the BZR fighters make it out as possible.
Dakora: Right. Let’s get them and get out of here.
Watching as Jaseb jumped gracefully down from the raised platform, the trio began moving down the darkened corridor toward the other team.
((Corridor to Industrial Exhaust Manifold 01 - Facility KTF-031 - Medara, Betazed ~2376))
The three Starfleet Officers stalked down the corridor at a decent clip, mismatched weapons in hand. Talos glanced up at the darkness above, wondering if CloQ was watching from somewhere, cackling with amusement as everything went wrong and stealthily influencing things with their demigod powers.
It would certainly explain why it felt like they had been getting into firefights every ten minutes or so.
As the corridor opened up into a larger room they heard voices up ahead and dropped into cover.
Several voices could be heard, some of them were obviously Jem’Hadar and one of them seemed to be Nieran Dwayx himself. The lack of distress in the Betazoid’s voice as he spoke to their enemies confirmed both Talos’ suspicions and Chevalier’s story.
Jaseb readied a grenade and Talos followed suit, there weren’t a ton of options at the moment and no time to coordinate an alternative plan. Chevalier began a countdown on his fingers and Talos prepared to roll with whatever happened next.
At the end of the countdown, they tossed the grenades in, waited for the heavy whump sound, and then surged out of cover to take down the enemies. Once again, Chevalier displayed practically unbelievable combat abilities for an Operations Officer. The man made short work of the remaining enforcers and set about checking them for supplies.
Dwayx was seemingly nowhere to be found.
Having single-handedly taken down an entire squad of enforcers, Chevalier looked to the rest of them.
Chevalier: Ready?
With a nod, Talos wondered if maybe CloQ was behind this as well. Allowing them to succeed, so long as they followed the path the Q preferred. Maybe he was just paranoid? Saner men than Talos would start to unravel in these circumstances.
A shout shook him from his musings.
Chevalier: Nieran! You traitor!
Ahead, someone ducked behind a heavy gantry support– presumably Dwayx– and Jaseb surged forward.
Dakora: Easy, Chevalier. ::He urged.:: Let’s fi–
His urging for caution fell on deaf ears as Chevalier leaned out to fire, nearly catching a plasma blast before ducking back behind cover.
The heavy-booted footfalls approaching preceded Nikka’s grim announcement.
Nikka: Jem’Hadars!
The situation was bad and getting worse. They needed to spread out to find better cover, but the moment Talos peeked around the thin pillar he hid behind, a volley of well-aimed disruptor fire sent him back into hiding.
Savel: We will need assistance before we can move.
Talos nodded, gritting his teeth.
Dakora: Yeah. ::He called to Jaseb and Nikka:: Need some cover!
Together the Ops Officer and resistance fighter were able to cause enough chaos that Talos and Savel were able to re-position. Now, with each of them hunkered against a separate piece of cover, with overlapping fields of fire, they could at least hold them off for a little while.
Though in the back of his mind, Talos knew two timers were counting down. One of two things was certain, though he had no way of knowing which one would come first; Either enough Jem’Hadar reinforcements would arrive that they’d be overpowered and overrun OR his mother and the remaining fighters would succeed in blowing the reactor.
Talos wasn’t particularly keen on still being here for either eventuality.
Chevalier:::to Dakora:: Sir, we're gonna need to pull back if we don't connect with the second group before they overwhelm us. ::to Savel:: Do you see any sign of them?
Savel: ::after a quick glance around:: I do not.
He gave a nod.
Dakora: If they aren’t here, then they must already be gone. ::He frowned.:: We need to get out of here.
Not for the first time, he felt wild ideas brewing in Jaseb’s mind. When Talos glanced in his direction, the blonde-haired kid was already on the move.
Chevalier: ::whispers:: Fetch me, Father… ::look at Dakora:: Trust me, and wait here. I have a plan.
Before anyone could respond, Jaseb snatched up the bag of weapons and explosives that represented the sum total of their armaments– save for what they held in their hands– and darted off.
Talos shot Savel an expression of concern, but didn’t immediately respond. The odds seemed likely that they would be dead in the next few minutes. Might as well let the kid do his thing.
Savel: If my actions earlier left you feeling as I do now because of Ensign Jaseb, I apologize Commander.
Grinning despite himself, Talos shook his head.
Dakora: No one makes me feel quite like Jaseb does…
He leaned out trying to provide cover fire as best he could as the Operations Officer attempted his suicide run right out in the open.
Once again, Talos felt certain that CloQ had something to do with the fact that none of the disruptor fire found home on the tall, thin Terran as he attempted the impossible.
A bolt of green plasma sent Talos ducking behind cover before he saw just what Jaseb had planned.
Savel: Can you tell what his intentions are, Commander?
Checking the charge on the disruptor he’d taken from the first group of gate guards, Talos shook his head again.
Dakora: No, but if it doesn’t work we’ll be stuck on Risa with no horga’hn, if you know what I mean.
When Talos leaned out to fire again, he witnessed the moment Chevalier’s luck ran out. A blast of green fire struck home on Jaseb’s side. As the kid stumbled back into cover, Talos winced as he surveyed the damage.
Savel: It looks like you were spared a lethal injury, Ensign
.
As always Savel was technically correct, but Jaseb’s hand looked to be in bad shape.
Chevalier: It still hurts, Savel. ::groans::
It certainly looked like it hurt. Talos saw the Vulcan Security Officer produce one of the few hypos they had and apply it to Jaseb. It would blunt the pain, but the Ops Officer would still be mostly out of commission.
Chevalier: ::gasps for breath:: They have suffered losses but are persisting. I've given them extra explosives and weapons so that they can surprise the Jem'Hadar from the side and collapse the corridor where the Jem'Hadar are coming from. They require a covering fire, sir.
Talos’ eyes went wide at this revelation.
He’d risked it all to resupply the other team of resistance fighters? He couldn’t decide if the guy was incredibly noble, impossibly dense, or some mixture of both.
Savel: Please remain in cover, Ensign, until we can move you. We will take care of the Jem'Hadar.
With a grim expression, Talos grabbed Jaseb’s disruptor from the floor and laid it across the downed man’s chest.
They were rapidly approaching “last stand” territory. He guessed Chevalier would want to go out fighting if it came to it.
Shouldering his rifle, Talos prepared to lean out and fire again even as the footfalls of more enforcers approached.
Dakora: Jaseb, Savel… It’s been an honor serving with both of you.
With that, he began pouring fire on enemy positions. Downing one– then two– then three Jem’Hadar but nothing seemed to blunt their advance.
TBC in part 2 to follow.
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LtCmdr. Talos Dakora
First Officer
USS Artemis-A
O238811CD0