Commander Toryn Raga - The Most Beautiful Sight, Part II
Rameses
The path was finally cleared by the others and he looked down to see that Kiran had reached the panel and managed to open it. That’s when he spotted the Sheliak that rounded the support pillar and grabbed the Bajoran’s shoulder. He felt his stomach drop but couldn’t lean out to shoot it due to the disruptors that blasted his cover.
He barely managed to catch the Sheliak as it slammed the Bajoran in the back of the head with its weapon hard enough that it looked to have rendered him unconscious.
Raga: Kiran’s down!!! Breeze, get hi….
Aside from himself, he knew the Kzinti would be the fastest and his natural felinoid physiology was better suited for a mad dash rush through enemy lines to grab their downed compatriot. However their Vulcan Betaziod Ensign reacted before he could even issue the order to the Kzinti and she dropped down onto the Sheliak’s head from above.
T’Fearne::: belatedly:: We need cover over here!
Breeze/Valo/Kiran: Response
Raga: Breeze, get down there and help her, Valo and I will support you from above.
Breeze/Valo/Kiran: Response
Toryn alternated between firing at full auto and snapping off singular beams at the lines of the forces that still pushed so hard against their lines. At least one shout for medic registered in his hearing as their people started to suffer wounds of their own.
A pair of long phaser beams slammed into a Tholian that pushed up towards their squadmates, based on its trajectory it had been fired from far behind them and he knew that Osiris and the other marksman in the Promenade had them covered as well.
He could hear T’Fearne just below where they were on the walkway, having taken shelter beneath the balcony. It sounded like Breeze had reached her.
T’Fearne: Nice of you to join me. :: Patting Rork’s face gently and calling to him:: Chief, can you hear me?
Raga: Keep the pressure on them, mister Valo. ::He then called back and gestured to the space beneath their walkway:: Medic! Down below.
Breeze/Valo/Kiran: Response
With a snarl of his own he leaned over the top of his cover and sprayed down phaser fire at the enemies that tried to push up towards half his squad’s new positions. That’s when the station lurched so hard that it felt like the gravitic plating was abruptly reversed. The lights briefly flickered wildly and around the promenade no fewer than four power conduits ruptured, which sent a shower of sparks down over their battlefield. Several screams resounded around him as people were flung to the deck, or jostled so hard they slammed into barricades. Or, like the poor Bolian from DS33 Security, was sent backwards over the railing of the walkway ten meters to the floor below.
Toryn’s back ached as he himself was slammed against the cover behind him but managed to keep from going over. He coughed while he caught his breath and quickly returned to his position. The impact had brought a split second lull in the fighting as the Alliance soldiers were similarly tossed about.
Something had just hit the station hard.
Raga: Everyone sound off!! Are you alright?
His comm snapped at him as a panicky voice filled the space, even as the swell of weapons fire resumed once more around them.
Valespi: =/\= FOP to Commander Raga. It’s them!! They made it but they’re firing on us!!! =/\=
Raga: =/\= Calm down crewman. Who’s firing on us? =/\=
Valespi: =/\= The Khitomer!!! She just arrived and immediately opened fire on the station. And the Ronin’s right behind them!! =/\=
Before the words even fully left the comm line for all of them to hear it the Al-Leyan’s gaze shifted. Past the oncoming assault, which was mid recovery from being tossed about and once again pressing towards their defensive line. Over the defenders on the upper and lower level that also now once more returned fire to repulse the Alliance push. Beyond the promenade’s high vaulted viewing ports that showed the battle being waged in the space beyond it. Something he’d intentionally not looked toward before now as they’d had their own problems to focus on.
Beyond sections of the station he could see burning. A familiar, sleek, powerful and fierce shape rapidly turned towards the station, despite how slow everything around him felt in that moment. Phasers lanced out from the hull in multitudinous directions while torpedoes spread from that dorsal launcher like an artillery barrage of vengeance and fury.
Tri-cobalt detonations lit up the space outside to the point that the illumination of the Alliance vessels caught in the powerful blasts erupting, maybe destroyed, maybe adrift, added to the image as the Ronin passed through it. It cast an aura around their ship, their home as her shields flared from return fire. A warrior phoenix shrouded in shimmering armor that soon flew out of view.
They’d managed to hold the line long enough. Their friends, no, their family was finally here. And as he looked back down at the Tholians and Sheliak he did so with a cold fury in his eyes and on his brow. The Alliance troops had no idea what they were in for. Yet.
Raga: =/\= Raga to all hands, the Ronin and Khitomer are here! Be so kind as to show the Alliance the hell off our station! =/\= ::as the line closed he bellowed:: STARFLEET STRONG!!!
With those words the Al-Leyan sprayed down a barrage of full automatic phaser fire down at the intruders. A Sheliak and a Tholian beside one another took the brunt of the initial volley and dropped within moments.
Breeze/T’Fearne/Valo/Kiran: Response
He realized the battle was quieter than it should be and remembered the gunner for the phaser cannon had been knocked over the walkway. He quickly looked to Valo.
Raga: Valo! Get on that cannon!!
He called out while he loaded a thermoplastic grenade round into the underbelly launcher of his rifle and swapped out the power cell for a fresh one, before he leaned back out to fire once more. The grenade struck behind the front ranks of Alliance troops and exploded on a trio of Tholians that were in the midst of setting up their own cannon. The contents covered them and the weapon in that burning plastic and locked them in place. Buying them time.
Breeze/T’Fearne/Valo/Kiran: Response
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: =/\= Response =/\=
Raga: =/\= Do you always come to rescue someone by shooting at them first? ::he said dryly:: =/\=
Niac: =/\= Response =/\=
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.
Breeze/T’Fearne/Valo/Kiran: Response
Tags/TBC
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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