Commander Toryn Raga - Attrition And An Unpleasant Withdrawal
Rameses
(( Promenade Upper Level - Port Side, Commercial Sector, Beta Module ))
Being forced to take cover once more briefly he tapped his comm badge and reloaded the grenade launcher with his last flash bang round.
Raga: =/\= Raga to Ronin. What took you so long? =/\=
Despite his words, there was a faint humor in his tone. He returned fire at the encroaching enemy while the sound of their own phaser cannon roared beside him.
Niac: =/\= We wanted to make a suitably dramatic entrance...what'd you think? Too much? =/\=
Despite himself he couldn’t help but smirk.
Raga: =/\= Do you always come to rescue someone by shooting at them first? ::he said dryly:: =/\=
Niac: =/\= Address all your feedback to Captain Shayne. What's your condition? =/\=
An explosion blasted a large section of barricades down on the lower level which shook the vicinity. The Alliance had managed to punch a hole in their line.
Raga: =/\= Merdo. Seal that breach!! Valo, two o’clock, hammer that squad with the cannon. ::the sound of an extreme firefight played backdrop to his voice:: We’re damned glad you’re here, Karrod. We’ll hold as long as we need to, but we’ve got the station rigged, so I’d appreciate it if I didn’t have to scuttle her. Raga out. =/\=
There wasn’t a single member of Starfleet and likely even some civilians depending on their situation and inclinations, that wasn’t fighting for their lives at that moment. In the space around their battered station and within it. They each needed to focus, but it felt good to hear the voice of his friend and Captain. As he suspected the reverse was true. He didn’t even want to consider how hard they’d pushed the ship just to get there when they did.
Kiran: Commander, they’re trying to pinch us. Orders?
He quickly assessed the situation, the number of Alliance troops that were part of the push on the newly formed breach. Their own defenders that still seemed capable of fighting and made the best decision he could in the moment. The fact that his head was starting to ache slightly didn’t help.
Raga: Don’t let them through. Upper level will hit the advancing push through the breach, everyone else hold the other half of that pincer off!
T’Fearne: Yes, Sir!
Kiran: You got it, commander.
From his elevated perch as he fired down on the same Tholians and Sheliak that Valo was blasting with that cannon, he noted T’Fearne reposition herself near the Chief and their Kzinti warrior.
Kiran: Hey Breeze! They’re trying to flank on your side; take ‘em out.
That was when the turbolift doors opened to disgorge several enemies. Apparently they’d managed to override the lockouts. Thankfully, Kiran had them sorted.
WHOMP!
His own rifle peppered several of the enemy, sundering a Tholian’s armor enough that it exploded and brought down a Sheliak too close to it. Combined with his phaser bolts that struck it the pair fell quickly. While the cannon under Valo’s control absolutely blasted apart their lines.
That’s when a voice made him realize that they had some more of their own casualties.
Briza-Kar: I … need …
Raga: Breeze is down!
T’Fearne: I see him! I’ll get him.
While the Vulcan used a ruined barricade as a shield to get to and cover herself and their fallen comrade, he leaned over his own to provide covering fire for the pair.
Kiran: Pinch is taken care of. It looks like they’re falling back to their next point. If we can continue to get them to turn tail and run, we could push them to the outer rings.
Valo: ::Shouting:: Incom-
He’d heard it before he’d seen it. Using their push on the breached lines as a feint, some of the Alliance had managed to get behind them and he looked over just in time to see a blast send Valo legs over coffee maker over the railing of the upper level.
Raga: Valo!!
Kiran: Response
Toryn rushed right towards the trio that had gotten behind them. Two Tholians and a Sheliak. The Tholian responsible for Valo’s fall turned in time for the Al-Leyan’s heavy boot to slam into its exo-suit’s chest plate hard enough for the carapace to crack from the force of the impact of a single kick. It reeled backwards eight meters like a ball bowling over its compatriots.
Toryn immediately grabbed the cannon and swiveled it around towards the enemy on the upper level with him and squeezed the trigger. Tens of dozens of heavy phaser pulses slammed into the Sheliak and second Tholian at near point blank range. In spite of himself he let out an almost feral roar of rage.
T’Fearne: I need backup here. :: voice horse and choking::
When he heard the call it focused his attention and he looked at the smoking remains of the trio that had gotten behind them. The Tholian’s suits having exploded as they’d discovered they were want to do. And the Sheliak had been the first one he’d shot.
Valo: Keep them off me!
Raga: Medic up front!! Everyone else who can still shoot, covering fire!
Kiran: Response
Toryn grunted as he angled the cannon back down towards the bulk of the Alliance’s line. His head was starting to pound like someone hit it with a stun grenade.
Raga: Get to Valo, I’ll cover you!
Kiran/Valo (if any): Response
The cannon roared shortly after from near continuous burst fire, despite the pounding headache he kept his aim more or less accurate. Though, with a weapon like this precision wasn’t the point.
T’Fearne::: trying to focus through a fog of pain:: S-sencha wave?
The mention of S-waves caused him to glance down at the hybrid and he understood why his head ached. S-waves had a painful effect on telepathic lifeforms. And while he could only communicate thusly with his own kind, that didn’t seem to matter.
Raga: Possibly, my head’s killing me. Everyone use your backup dose of the S-wave medication!
Kiran/Valo (if any): Response
As if they hadn’t had enough to deal with in that moment an enormously vibrant flash of light from above pulled his gaze to an incredible sight. Outside the station both of their starships were side by side while a monster of a ship fired what looked like lighting in space. A pair of beams from their own ships met it in the middle and then it was as if space said enough.
In horror he watched as the Ronin was flung up and over with her thrusters barely able to do much from the shockwave. The Khitomer similarly was flung aside and both ships practically ragdolled. The vessel that had fired the beam seemed to explode and take a few of the Leviathans with it.
T’Fearne::: struggling to stay conscious:: Backup… dose…
He barely heard her murmur before the shockwave reached the station and he could barely get out the words.
Raga: Everyone, brace…!!
Conduits, lighting fixtures and even three of the viewport windows burst from the shockwave of whatever occurred between the Alliance super weapon and their ships. He’d been flung back hard and despite his powerful grip on the cannon, the combination had resulted in the handles literally breaking off. He felt the railing buckle from his mass but barely hold.
Then he felt the pull of abrupt decompression when the viewports blew out and before he could register the Al-Leyan, along with several Starfleet and Alliance personnel were blasted upwards towards space.
A frantic grab for something and he managed to grab hold of a ceiling support beam inches from the broken window. A scream caught his attention and he reached out to grab hold of a leg which belonged to a Barzan male, a crewman. One of the DS33 Security forces. He felt the man’s hip dislocate from the abrupt stop when Toryn grabbed him but he tried pulling him in.
Raga: Hang on Crewman, I’ve got you!
Barzan: Thank you, sir! Please, I don’t want to die…don't let me go!!!
He heard a loud hum, even through the pounding headache that tried to render him unconscious. He pulled as hard as he could; it wasn't fast enough and he watched as the emergency force fields snapped into place. The leg in his hand felt instantaneously lighter and it was all he could do but watch the flailing figure of the Barzan as they endured one of the worst ways for anyone to die.
Toryn snapped his eyes shut and let the leg drop to the upper level so he could climb down. An occasional weapon discharge let him know that at least someone was still fighting despite the fact that both sides had just had people blown out into space.
As soon as his feet touched the deck he grabbed the hypo on his side and injected himself with the backup dose of the anti-Sencha medication.
Kiran/Valo (if any): Response
Stergis: =/\= Stergis to any defense team...report in. =/\=
As he scrambled to get back behind cover he tapped his comm badge.
Raga: =/\= Seiuri Team here. Barely.. =/\=
MacKenna: =/\= Response =/\=
Agatha felt relief that had nothing to do with a hypospray at the sound of another voice.
Stergis: =/\= It's good to hear from you, Commander. What's your status? =/\=
Raga: =/\= Not good, we’re barely holding the line but that shockwave just destroyed several viewports. Both sides just had people decompressed before the forcefields kicked in.
MacKenna: =/\= Response =/\=
Stergis: =/\= The last thing we saw up here was our ships attempting to defend the station from a huge Alliance weapon. Judging by the fact we're still here I'd say they were successful...mostly. =/\=
Raga: =/\= Good. There’s no way we could survive another one of those. =/\=
MacKenna: =/\= Response =/\=
There was more silence on the other end than he liked, but he took the moment to regroup with the rest of his team down below on the lower level.
Stergis: =/\= Commander, I think it's time to pull all the surviving defense teams back, collapse our perimeter as small as possible. Do you think you can get up to Ops? =/\=
Raga: =/\= We’ll try. We’ve got a lot of casualties and we’ve not had contact with anyone in Gamma Module for the last three hours. =/\=
MacKenna/Stergis: =/\= Response =/\=
Toryn looked to Kiran, who seemed to be the only other member of their team still conscious. The Al-Leyan held his own side for a moment. At some point he’d been shot and he hadn’t realized it until just then. He winced but kept up appearances.
Raga: =/\= Understood, I’ll order all teams to fall back to Ops. We should still have enough to do a fighting retreat. Especially since I think that hurt the Alliance troops as much as it did us. =/\=
Kiran/Valo (if any): Response
MacKenna/Stergis: =/\= Response =/\=
Toryn nodded to Kiran and looked at the handful of still conscious Starfleet personnel around them, Security, Tactical, Medical. Those with Ops and Engineering training had been tasked with defending the FOP or staying well behind their lines.
Raga: Well fought, but we’re not done yet. We need to regroup. ::One tap of the comm badge later:: =/\= All defense teams, this is Commander Raga. Fall back. I repeat, we’re ordered to fall back to Ops. We’re going to make our stand there. If you’re currently engaged, time for a fighting withdrawal. Wounded first. Anyone who can still fight, cover their retreat then join them. Raga out. =/\=
Kiran/Valo (if any): Response
Raga: Grenades, everything you’ve got throw it then fall back. Our sharpshooters will cover us. So grab the wounded and move it!
Kiran/Valo (if any): Response
Several of their fellow defenders moved to help him and Kiran with moving T’Fearne, Valo and Breeze. Toryn gave one last look up through those high viewports and the dozens of still figures that drifted away from the station. He scowled and stumbled a bit as he carried Breeze, since he was the strongest. Winds was his head killing him.
The sound of a dozen grenades going off heralded their retreat and he moved as quickly as he could whilst moving through cover, while their people fell back. Fire and maneuver.
Raga: Move! Get to Ops. ::he bellowed:: This isn’t over, yet.
Kiran/Valo (if any): Response
Tags/End of Act 2 for Raga
((ooc: I’ll post the sim pushing us into Act 3 later today. Just wanted to wrap this up for Raga. Absolutely amazing y’all, you’ve been killing it this mission and it’s been hella fun to read.))
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Commander Toryn Raga
First Officer
USS Ronin - NCC-34523
Writer ID: A239410TR0
https://wiki.starbase118.net/wiki/index.php?title=Toryn_Raga