Lieutenant Commander Marty Tucker - Shoots And Ladders
Martin Tucker
The group continued to walk forward, only to find it a dead end or at least it looked like it. As Marty and the group crept closer, the tunnel came into focus, its floor dropping steeply. Luckily for them, there were ladders, but there were a few questions that needed to be answered first
Evinrude: It looks like we'll be in for a climb...but it's probably better than being cooked alive back in that main corridor.
Kessler: Sir, we start that climb, and we are all sitting ducks on that ladder with no cover. We'll need to space ourselves out and make sure the coast is clear. I'd like to go first in case any of our friends are down there.
Marty peeked over the side, looked back up, and then back down, and back to Kessler. The Security Chief was correct; they’d be overexposed and sitting ducks. He was determined to make sure everyone made it back, and in one runabout, He just grew back the ass that NIac chewed.
Tucker: I ::slight bow:: defer to your expertise in these matters. I’m just the grease monkey. oO You’re the acting XO schmuck, act like it.,. Oo
As the conversation continued, a device was pointed out that looked like something that could be used to lower heavy equipment. It could potentially provide a slight bit of cover, and for that, Jack was happy.
Evinrude: Oh, good find! I'd wager that thing can hold two of us at a time.
Marty turned at the same time as Jack did. It was the clickity-clack of Tholian feet.
oO Do Tholians have feet?\ Next time on, who gives a rat's ass… Oo
Whatever task they had was complete, and now they were most likely moving back to their area of operation, ready for the next task, which was amazing since things were going so swimmingly; there was no urgency at all in the Tholians. Though they really didn’t need to be around to find out what their next task was.
Kessler: Down appears to be our only option now, Commander. Unless we are going to fight our way out.
Marty cringed at the thought of a firefight with the Tholians. Even if they were worker drones, they were still Tholians, and that’s dangerous.
Tucker: Oh, hell no, we don’t need a firefight, especially with all the radiation and whatnot. Who knows what could happen if we start exchanging phaser fire? Our best bet is to get down those ladders and as freaking possible, let's go.
Evinrude: Your call, sir. If we take this path down, I can stay to operate the controls, then set them to auto for the second group's descent...just be sure to catch us. ::He added with a quick flash of a smile.::
Kessler gave a glance at Evinrude before looking back at Marty. For his part, he raised a furrowed brow. And while Tess’ idea was sound, there was no way they were going to leave him here to operate the controls; this would take time that they didn’t have, and Tess would never survive the onslaught of Tholians. Because once a firefight breaks out, it would most likely attract more Tholians. It would most likely have to be Jack or himself to stay behind to operate the controls.
Kessler: Sorry, but I do not agree with that suggestion. Given the mission parameters and the need for success, and first-hand experience with Tholians. I am the logical choice to stay behind and defend the lift while the three of you descend.
Marty didn’t like the idea of leaving Jack by himself for even a brief moment in time. But they needed cover to get down the ladder, or like Kessler said, they’d be sitting ducks.
Tucker: I think it’s time to go back to the drawing board and quickly, because we can’t seem to come to an agreement. I’d volunteer, ::he held up a hand to stop Jack:: But our security chief will remind me of some regulations about our particular predicament…and I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it.
Evinrude: Response
Marty tried to run his hand over his head, but instead bumped the top of his helmet. He looked around sheepishly to see if anyone had caught that. Satisfied that no one did, he turned to Kessler just as Kessler was turning to talk to him.
Kessler: ::turning to Tucker:: If we are cornered in here, we have no chance against five Tholians. I recommend the three of you get on the lift; it will be extremely tight, but I don't see any other way.
Tucker: Isn’t there a way to remote control this thing? That way, the four of us can go at once? oO Damn it, I’m not leaving anyone behind..just…no Oo
Evinrude: Response
Marty rustled around in his ‘go’ bag to see if he had anything up his sleeve, he had to have something that would trip up the Tholians and stall them from coming after the group. Marty looked at Jack, then back toward the oncoming Tholians. He found four oblong canisters in his bag, and a smile played across his face.
oO This should do the trick…. Oo
Kessler: Can we seal the service tunnel to buy us more time?
Tucker: ::smiling:: Funny you mention that.
He tossed Jack one of the oblong, grenade-like instruments. Marty regarded his own for a second; he knew Jack was going ot have questions, and Tuck had the answers. These were going to work out just right for the job.
Tucker: ::putting a hand up:: I know you have questions, Mister Kessler and we can discuss them at a later date, but what you hold in your hand is a thermo-pastic grenade. You can either set a timer or just pull the pin and yeet it. It will explode into liquid plastic that immediately hardens. You get your opponent caught up in it, know they ain’t getting out without the right chemical solvent. And I’ve got two more left in my bag, and I brought my last EMP grenade. We used both items inthe retaking of Deep Space 33.
Kesser/Evinrude: Response
Marty looked around, and like three well-placed grenades would basically seal off the service tunnel. And they could use the EMP grenade to fry their weapons, so they couldn’t get a shot off and mess with their communications, so they wouldn’t be able to call for help.
Tucker: If we set up three of them in a triangle patter we should be able to cover the entire area and seal off the tunnel, and they won't be able to phaser their way out because of the EMP.
Kesser/Evinrude: Response
Marty saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was Nemes. She stood there, with a wide rip in her suit, one that couldn’t be handled by the small repair kit they had with them. He had sent her back to the Ronin asap. The problem was interference from the Sencha radiation. Though he did have some pattern enhancers in a bag, small ones, good enough for one person. They work in tandem with the user's combadge to power it; the locator in the combadge then works with the enhancer.
Just to be sure, Marty placed two of them on her suit and tapped his combadge; he didn’t wait for a response.
Tucker: ::whispering:: One to beam directly to decon, now.
Seconds later, Lieutenant shimmered in blue a bit longer than your typical beam-out, but soon she was gone, headed to the Ronin. Marty turned to the group that was down one body. It should make the trip a little easier with just three of them, but there had to be a way to automate it.
Tucker: I’m open to options. It’s three of us now. Should we just ride this thing down and hope we don’t come to a sudden and complete halt? That would be bad. But first, they needed to take care of the Tholians, so they didn’t have to run everywhere just to avoid them.
Tucker: So, where do you think we set these charges to get a full spread? Each pumps out enough thermoplastic to cover about 40 meters.
Kesser/Evinrude: Response
Tucker: Well, whatever we’re going to do, we need to do it now; they’re getting closer.
Kesser/Evinrude: Response