Ensign T’Fearne - Bajoran Overboard
Teayl Thorn
(( FOP Warrior Sports, Commercial Sector, Beta M, odule ))
Small injuries marred T’Fearne’s skin. Her red blood turned green on contact with the air, and a number of small burns on the edges of her uniform went green and crusty on the edges where her skin had been burned or nicked by close calls. Her once curly, plaited brown hair was now a tangled mess, and her skin was streaked with smoke. Despite her Vulcan endurance, the ongoing skirmish was pushing her limits. This was no ordinary fight; it was prolonged and gruelling, far beyond the quick, violent skirmishes she was trained for. Survival training had prepared her for many things, but this relentless strain on her body and mind was unprecedented. The emotions that she had suppressed to keep from distracting her were beginning to run close to the surface.
She took a relatively quiet moment in Warrior Sports to gather the fraying threads of her control. She scanned the Seiuri team, taking in the blood smeared across their faces and uniforms, the acrid smell of singed flesh and hair that mingled with her own. The atmosphere was full of small sounds, ragged breaths, thundering heartbeats, and slower ones, with hearts worn and tested in battle beating steadily. Her own strange hybrid heart beat wildly against her ribs like a caged moopsy.
She closed her eyes and took a deep, measured breath. A fragment of a human poem came to her mind, and she let it soothe her fraying emotions.
oO 1The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. Oo
Raga: They’ve taken over half of the station, but no key areas yet thankfully. We’re still cut off from the Gamma module, Epsilon, Prophet, and Zeta teams are still holding but barely. Chief, any word from the units sent to break through?
Kiran: ::shaking his head:: Comms have been silent, commander. I don’t like it. We’ve got wounded we need to get to, and right now, there isn’t a way through::beat:: yet.
Raga: Damn, alright. We need to break through for the sake of the wounded. ::He turned to regard T’Fearne:: Ensign, were you able to confirm whether or not the Alliance has set up their own FOP in the Observatory in Alpha Module?
T’Fearne: Yes, Sir. :: Cough:: They haven’t fortified it yet, most of our barricades are damaged and positioned in the Beta Module and along routes to the docking ports, and they are having to deal with structural damage to that sector.
Raga: Well, that’s something at least. We’ll have to see what personnel we can direct towards that. ::To Valo:: Were you able to redeploy those force field emitters to the breach points in the promenade?
Valo: Emitters are set, Commander. Hopefully, they buy us some time.
Raga: Understood. Breeze, what’s your assessment of their position? Do you think we can counter assault their forward foothold and push them back out of the promenade?
Briza-Kar: Uhm … Yes … We could :: his eyes grew wide as they waited for more :: Ensign T’Fearne has already given us an idea. Both species have … well they aren't like us … this makes them hard to kill but it also means … they have a weakness … if we can use sound or temperature… maybe … I think that might force them back? They'd adapt of course but not after we've been given an advantage.
Static crackled on the comms before a voice came through.
Singh: =/\= Snowball to Raga...we're targeting the boarding craft nearest your location. Advise you to keep your heads down, decompression warning. Twenty seconds to strike. =/\=
Raga: =/\= Raga here, Snowball. Please do, it’s bad enough they’re beaming in whenever the shield’s buckle. We had to give up on Docking Port two hours ago. When you’re done with that, think you could hit the airlock near the Mebay on the Gamma module? We can’t break through because they keep reinforcing their lines there from that airlock. =/\=
Singh: =/\= Understood Commander, we'll make that our secondary target. Larger Alliance vessels are keeping a perimeter and they're trying to attrition down the stations defenses. We've lost fifteen percent of our fighters and several runabouts but we've knocked down at least five times that number. They just keep coming and we're running low on ordinance. =/\=
Raga: =/\= Copy that, Snowball. I owe you and all your pilots ice cream and drinks when this is over. =/\= ::He quickly tapped the LCARs in front of him for a station wide alert. =/\= Raga to all hands, incoming friendly strike on Docking Port 2, brace for impact and decompression. Ten seconds. =/\=
Singh: =/\= Snowball copies, strike inbound. =/\=
T’Fearne had mild concern creeping back in the casual way the commander and the CAG had been discussing the possibility of decompression. She inched herself close to the doorway to be able to trigger the doors to close to Warrior Sports if they suddenly found the air being sucked out of the station as it shuddered violently around them.
Singh: =/\= Good shooting Scuttles. Snowball to Raga, target destroyed. They won't be using that airlock again. What's your status? =/\=
The vulcanoid took another long slow breath.
Raga: =/\= We’re in one piece, but we’re getting hit hard here. The Alliance has taken half the station, but nothing critical yet. Keep up the good work. We just need a little more time. Our ship is coming and when they do I expect you and yours to raise hell with them. =/\=
Singh: =/\= Response =/\=
Raga: =/\= Understood, Raga out. =/\= ::He looked at those around him:: Everyone alright?
Valo: Good to go. ::He rolled his shoulder, showcasing the use of his arm:: It’s just a scratch.
Kiran: Keep in mind this is a marathon not a sprint, we dictate the board, not them.
T’Fearne: Good to go, Commander. :: making eye contact:: Nothing a bath and dermal regenerator can’t fix.
Raga: Good, hopefully that will reduce the reinforcements they can reinforce with…
The brief respite ended abruptly as weapons fire resumed, cutting off the Commander. The Alliance was pushing hard.
Raga: Dammit to the barricades.
T’Fearne dashed to a barricade, braced behind a structural support and opened fire.
Kiran: ::yelling:: Fire in the hole!
Rork’s warning gave them time to protect their ears as he tossed a thermoplastic grenade into a cluster of Tholians. The grenade exploded, encasing them in a sticky, immobilizing goo.
T’Fearne: Nice throw, Chief.
T’Fearne noted the precision throw with appreciation. From their position on the upper balcony, she saw Tholians and Sheliak advancing.
Raga: Hold the line!!! ::He shouted while opening fire on the front ranks:: They’re not breaking through.
Briza-Kar: Good thinking, Ensign.
Kiran: Damn ::firing his phaser rifle:: They’re everywhere! Bunch of bugs.
Raga: Don’t let them get to the upper level!
Valo and Breeze provided cover while heavy phaser cannons blasted the enemy. T’Fearne concentrated on causing more of a bottleneck around the cluster but was disturbed when the Tholians started climbing up the walls on a nearly vertical plane.
Valo: Another climber on our nine!
Briza-Kar: On it.
Valo sprinted to intercept, Breeze on his heel, their efforts forcing the Tholian to tumble off the edge.
Kiran: We can’t give this up, the Ronin and Khintomer are on the way to hopefully reinforce us. Because if we’re being honest, this is the ride. They cannot pass, not now, not ever!
Two legs suddenly appeared over the edge of that balcony in front of her, and the arachnoid creature began to heave itself over the edge. An odd beam began to project from the creature's carapace, catching her rifle and ripping it out of her grasp.
Letting go swiftly rather than trying to hold on to the rifle, T’Fearne gripped the railing on either side of the emerging torso with both hands. As the creature heaved itself over the edge, she used her leverage to jackknife both feet into its centre of mass. Her feet struck with precision, sending the creature plummeting to the lower level with a crash and then a slow pop and hiss of plasma implosion as its carapace self-destructed from the inside.
T’Fearne nearly went over with, only just dragging her legs back over the railing and crouching low to retrieve her rifle as the balcony shuddered. It seemed their high ground was under siege.
Valo: We have to find a way to slow them down!
Raga: Response
T’Fearne: Watch out, the carapace shoots some entangling beam at close range. :: discarding the ruined 3b rifle and pulling her phaser from its leg holster::
Valo: oO Cool Oo
Valo: I’m no engineer, but if these guys like it hot, our fire suppression systems are likely to at the very least make them uncomfortable. Is there a way we can trigger them indirectly?
Kiran: If I can get past those three, I can. He pointed at the four Tholians parked by the panel. We need to take out those four, and then I’m going to have to go down there to reset the controls. I figured I’d drop the temperature. I’m thinking of freezing at this point. It’ll slow them down and maybe send them into some hibernation of sorts. What do you think, commander? Worth a shot?
Raga: Response
T’Fearne::: Holding up her phase pistol in readiness::
Briza-Kar: :: nodded :: Understood sir. I'll provide cover, they won't get past me.
Kiran: Thanks big guy, I’ll need you to concentrate on those fourr ::he pointed them out:: Behind them is the access panel I need to get at. Who else can provide a distraction while I climb down and back up.
Valo/Raga: Response
T’Fearne: I’ve got a distraction coming in 5 seconds, get ready to go. :: picking up the damaged 3b Rifle and setting the power-cell to overload:: Eyes and ears, now!
The Vulcanoid flung the whole rifle off the balcony away from the access panel and into a gathering of Sheliak below.
BOOM!
Briza-Kar: Cover Rork!
Kiran: Alright, give me some cover.
Valo/Raga: Response
T’Fearne::: Phase pistol zipping bolts of energy:: I’ll cover our flank.
Valo/Breeze/Raga: Response
As Seiuri team created chaos, T’Fearne fired her phase pistol, covering their flank as Kiran descended to the panel. She watched him disappear momentarily and then reappear unscathed.
T’Fearne: Be careful! oO Deities! I sound like my mother. Oo
Valo/Breeze/Raga: Response
She saw the moment the Seliack struck The Chief from behind as he bent in to look at the open control panel. It must have been hiding in the shadow of the balcony overhang. Before she had a second to think or ask permission or orders, her reflexes fired, and she leapt off the balcony, landing on the Sheliak’s head with Vulcan speed and Betazoid agility.
PLOP!
T’Fearne::: belatedly:: We need cover over here! :: Yelling up to the balcony with battle horse throat:: Chief’s down. oO Oh, disgusting! Oo
She leapt out of the black, mucousy folds, clearing the way for Seiuri team to finish the creature off while she easily dragged Kiran’s body’s slight weight towards the balcony’s overhang and deeper cover. Trailing black slime behind them.
Raga/Breeze/Valo/Kiran (if any): Response
Looking back to see who had come off the balcony to join her and was providing ground cover, she responded.
T’Fearne: Nice of you to join me. :: Patting Rorks face gently and calling to him:: Chief, can you hear me?
She didn't know where the bantering response came from. It sounded like another part of her talking. While her true self was trapped inside, terrified that she was holding the corpse of her teammate. But she could hear his heartbeat.
Raga/Breeze/Valo/Kiran (if any): Response
TAGS/TBC!!
((OOC: 1The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. - Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, By Robert Frost ))
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Ensign T'Fearne
Security Officer
USS Ronin - NCC-34523
R240107T14