And all hell breaks loose - Fire Fight

Posted on Mon Sep 25, 2017 @ 6:03pm by Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit & Lieutenant Samantha Raylen & Lieutenant Commander Miguel Torres & Lieutenant Penelope Naroot & Lieutenant Cassandra Kennings & Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Lieutenant Arashi Tanaka Mr.

5,842 words; about a 29 minute read

Mission: Silence
Location: U.S.S. Victory
Timeline: Concurrently with "And all hell breaks loose - Sickbay

U.S.S. Victory - Bridge

With he return of the away team finally, the duty bridge crew were at last able to turn over the watch to the next duty shift and retreat for a much needed break. The Captain had given orders to remain in orbit pending the outcome of the analysis of the mummified alien remains and the data from the device sending the transmission which continued to cycle even now. The computer continued to monitor the transmission, storing the data into the ship's library database for a more detailed analysis in the future.

On the viewscreen, the ringed host world of the habitable moon which the ship orbited was a darkened bulk, its upper atmosphere lit by sporadic bursts of plasma from massive storms within the turbulent gas giant. It's rings were only visible as thin ghostly bands while the starship remained on the plants night side. Low in the viewscreen display, a flash of light coalesced into a solid object which skimmed the very upper layer of the gas giant leaving a glowing trail of excited gas in its wake. The incoming ship, for a ship it was, banked up using the gravity of the gas giant not to slow down, but to slingshot the large ship at an increased speed toward its target.

The U.S.S. Victory!

On the Bridge, Lt. Amanda Owens had the conn for the shift. Noting the incoming ship, she ordered Crewman Richards to send the standard identification greeting. The response which came was...not quite what the Lieutenant was expecting...

An alert sounded, urgent and piercingly loud. "Lieutenant they're targeting us!" On screen, brilliant spheres of dark purple energy streaked away from the incoming ship heading straight toward the Victory. Unnecessarily, Penny said, "They're firing!"

The first shots arrived before the shields could raise to enough power to do much good. Penny had tried angling away, but the blasts had come too fast and while she avoided it hitting the forward section, the impact blasted a hole into the Victory's lower section hull. The starship shuddered violently, sending people flying into bulkheads and groaning like a wounded animal. "Hull breech on deck 11!" Penny shouted over the kalxons as her ops board lit up.

As the enemy ship fired again, Penny rolled hard, trying to deflect the blast and lower the damage as it struck. Power flickered and waved, but held.

A new klaxon sounded which sounded in a counter sync with the automatic Red Alert. "Intruder Alert...Intruder Alert..."

"We have unauthorized personnel transported aboard..decks 3, 7, and 9!"

Matt tapped his console on the bridge. "Security teams respond to deck 3, 7 and 9. Reports of intruders, expected hostile. Teams to report in at 10 minute intervals. Lethal force is authorised, as well as distribution of weapons to all qualified personal, authorisation Casey Beta Four." Then looking over at Owens. "Security teams have been dispatched. Want me to go join them or stay here?" He asked.

With the away team back from that hellhole of a planet and it's creepy and murderous creatures. Alec wanted to relax with Rhea but he knew she would want to learn just what information they had downloaded from the transmitter they had found inside the giant maze. So when the Captain decided she wanted to study the artifact, he didn't argue he simply said, "Alright, let me know when your through studying it." He then entered the nearest lift and that's when all hell broke loose, the ship rocked from multiple hits and alarms started ringing.

"Bridge!" He shouted as the lift jerked into motion to carry out his request and moments later he arrived.

Matt turned quickly as the Turbolift opened, drawing his phaser, then noticing it was the XO, he lowered it. "Commander...thank god it's not one of the intruders..." He trailed off.


Deck Seven

Pulling himself up off the deck, as the lights sputtered erratically Lt. Tu'Shan turned at the sound of a transporter. Eight towering beings wearing a deep bronze/gold sort of armor materialized and towering was the right term! Standing over 3 meters tall, with hairless heads and cold, oddly colorless eyes the aliens were heavily armed and.. as they proved by immediately firing on Lt. Tu'Shan.. killing him instantly..

Very hostile.

Impassive, the intruders stepped past Tu'Shan's lifeless body with no more thought than passing a stone. One of them, studying a scanner which was mounted as part of his armor led the way, following the data toward their goal. Weapons ready, the aliens had no qualms with killing any who tried to stop them.


U.S.S. Victory - Bridge

Matt's console started blaring before he had a chance to leave. "Weapons fire detected, Deck seven, Section 15, multiple alien lifesigns, none of them starfleet." He shouted across the bridge.

"Yeah, that would kind of be the definition of 'alien' in this context," Penny shouted back as everyone's stomachs dropped from the nosedive she sent them into, narrowly avoiding another blast.


U.S.S. Victory - Deck 7 Engineering Support labs

After getting back to the ship Miguel went to one of the nearby labs in order to to begin the upload into the Victory's computer banks as well as to start studying his scans. That's where he was when he felt the ship get rocked and then saw the alert on the screens only to then hear the announcement about intruders. He moved over to the emergency weapons locker and removed a type 2 phaser from it. He tapped his combadge. "Bridge this is Commander Torres I'm in the Engineering Support labs on deeck 7, were are these intruders?"

"Commander Torres, good to hear from you, I have reports of intruders on Deck 7 Section 15, possible casualties, they are moving, Security teams are en route." Matt answered, tapping in the location of Torres.

Miguel let out a sigh "It's never easy." he said softly. "Any idea of how many as yet? And is the Captain on the bridge yet?" he asked as he moved to the door and left the lab cautiously.

"I believe the Captain to currently be in sickbay, however reports are sketchy. Initial Security reports are of between fifteen and twenty hostiles heavily armed. Lethal force has been authorized against these hostiles." Matt replied, tapping a few commands into his console.

How the hell did Rhea get hurt he wondered. "Where's the XO? what's the ship's current status?" he asked as he moved through the hallways carefully.

"The XO is here." Alec answered as he staggered out of the lift and on to the bridge. "Give me a statues update stat!" He barked to Casey unaware of Rhea's injuries.

On deck 9, a second group of the intruders had located the power coupling their scans had brought them in search of. Setting an explosive device, the small quartet of Annunaki warriors initiated the timer and then cleared the area. The blast when it came severed power to the computer lab where the raw data taken from the temple device had been secured.

"Crap....i'm getting reports from deck 9 that the intruders are near the computer lab, where the device we bought aboard was taken. They've just blown up the power couplings for that area. We also have intruders on Decks 3 and 7. Security teams are engaging both groups." He said.

Miguel already knew that the power in his section was gone even before he heard the Security chief say that the intruders had just blown some of the power conduits in that area. The emergency lighting had kicked in as designed to then Miguel got a crazy thought. If they had blown the power near the lab, they had to be trying to stop the download. Which meant there was some information there that they didn't want anyone to have it. He didn't have much time to get back to the lab, but fortunately he knew where he was going and the intruders didn't.

A few moments later he had the tricorder in hand and was climbing out of the lab through the access hatch when the locked door exploded and a group of four entered. He swore that he'd make them pay for every bit of damage they caused to his ship, but he didn't have time to ponder it any further. He didn't even have time to close the hatch, barely enough time to get through it, he was sure they saw him.

A bolt of weapons fire slammed into the hatch, narrowly missing Torres though showering him with scalding hot melted metal bits and plastic from the powerful energy beam hitting the edge of the hatch. Not hesitating, two of the Annunaki warriors made
straight toward him.

Fortunately for Miguel he knew where he was going and the two aliens didn't. Also fortunately for him they were awefully big and the tubes were restricting enough that it slowed them down even more. When he got to the first junction he turned to see how far behind him they were and fired his phaser set to heavy stun wide beam. He didn't know if that would stop them, he just needed to tick them off. Once he fired he closed the hatch. He went to the nearby control panel. Miguel smiled as he knew he had led them to the nearest umbilical docking port. He typed in a few commands that started a timer he looked at the force field surrounding the opening in the hull one more time and then went through the nearby hatch that would lead him to a ladder that would lead him to engineering. If he timed things just right the force field would deactivate the moment those aliens managed to get through the hatch blow them out into space.

The Annunaki were closing in on him when the force field deactivated. Magnetic fields in their boots activated immediately, securing both to the deck before they could be blown out into open vacuum. It appeared that their armored suits protected them from the vacuum as well.. but the pair chose not to pursue further and instead, turned and retreated back the way they had come

Abbot and his Marines were steadily making their way through Deck 9, security teams were being stretched thin as reports were rolling in from multiple decks for more help. They continued to clear the areas one Marine after the other, as one cleared the lead another would tap him on the shoulder, leap frogging their way through corridors. As they approached the Computer Lab two Annunaki warriors were attempting to recover the device the away team brought on board from the planet. Abbot now in the lead creeping forward held his fist up for the team to hold position. The warriors turned to the Marines and let out what seemed like a loud battle cry. Each Marine tightened their grip on their weapons in preparation for the fight ahead. Breaking the tension the Major's voice echoed loud and clear through each Marines helmet.

"OPEN FIRE!"

The corridor almost immediately filled with smoke from damage to the ship's corridor and ceiling panels making it hard to see. The alien warriors gave no indication of being distressed or concerned by the arrival of the Victory's defending Marine forces. Two of the enemy warriors turned and moved back down the corridor toward the computer lab while the other three stayed where they were, keeping the Marines from doing anything about it!

It appeared that a message came from the other alien intruders, or perhaps from the alien ship. They began to move back, and then as a group all three were beamed away leaving only smoke and damage behind.

"Cease fire" The Major ordered and motioned his Marines forward kicking aside panels scattered across the floor. Abbot ordered the lab secured. "Prime to bridge."

"Bridge here, report Major."

"Deck 9 secure Commander, the intruders appear to have beamed off the ship. We'll continue sweeping the ship."

"Acknowledged," came the XOs reply. "Internal sensors indicate we still have intruders on decks 3 and 7.."


Bridge

Alec fell into the center seat as the ship lurched. He barked out a series of orders. "Reroute power to our forward shields and target that ship. Give me some maneuvering distance! Fire phasers! Send additional security teams to Deck 9 to engage the intruders."

"Deck 9 reports secure Commander, shields reinforced, firing phasers." He said, tapping in an attack command. "Direct hits, no damage!" He called across the bridge.

On the viewscreen, the enemy ship absorbed the phaser shot from the Victory with no discernible damage. A moment passed then another volley of enemy fire slammed into the Victory's shields, making the ship shudder from the force of the impact. Additional shudders shook the Victory's structure, and computerized alerts warning of weapons fire detected in multiple locations throughout the ship.

Penny wiped her brow quickly and twisted the ship again. The enemy ship was making her work for her pay, matching most of her moves. She bit her lip and ran through a few dozen scenarios before twisting the ship on its y- and z-axis, dodging over another blast, then threw the ship into reverse, trying to put some distance between them. As the other ship moved forward to match, she quickly put the ship forward again, the engines straining to keep up, and dipped their ship underneath the enemy's, buying them a few seconds of peace to return fire again.

'Alec had been debating whether to separate the Victory but with intruders on board along with structural damage he decided against it. They needed the extra structural integrity the combined ship offered.

"Keep it up Penny." Alec encouraged the flight control officer through the haze of smoke that swirled about the bridge even as his stomach lurched and did flip flops at the maneuvers she was putting the Victory through. As they dipped below the enemy ship, the Victory was like a wounded animal, now even more dangerous. He called out, "Fire! Full spread of torpedoes as well as phasers. Hit them with everything we've got!"

"Aye sir, firing torpedoes full spread, and full phasers." Matt answered, tapping another command in.


Deck 3

Four tall Annunaki warriors entered the ship's library unhindered. Immediately, one moved to a console and began working to access the ship's computer.

Arashi had taken time for himself in the holodeck doing one of his samurai programs and he had brought his Katana with him he had placed his phaser in a box and locked it within the program so that he would have acces to it. When he heard the alert he shut down the program and grabbed his sword and phaser. He ran by the ship library while he was still in his yukata and hakama. "Security to Deck 3 ship's library. We have intruders trying to access the computer!" He said into his comm badge. He pulled out his sword and phaser and fired the phaser at one of the Annunaki that was accessing the computer. "Computer, shut down access to library computer deck 3." Arashi said and pointed the phaser at one of the other Annunaki.

Meanwhile, the warrior at the controls spoke, his voice a deep baritone rumble of sound the computer could not translate. " Amelatu, mè peta babka."

The first warrior meanwhile withdrew two bronze spheres from the case. With a touch each one powered up with a soft hum of power indicated by a deep purple glow which came from a sensor on the sphere. The spheres rose into the air, floating a moment then streaked toward Tanaka's position firing short tight bursts of energy which struck the bulkhead around him sending out smoke and debris from each shot.

At the console, an image of Earth could be seen on the display causing the three warriors there to jerk then look sharply at the fourth who controlled the spheres. One spoke a single word, "Ersetû!"

Repeating what they'd said in a surprised tone, the tall warrior who Tanaka had hit then said in a strong gruff tone, "ELI BALTUTI IMA''IDU MITUTI!"

"Oh s**t! That is not good." He shouted and ducked behind a computer. He drew his Katana and prepared his phaser by setting it to disintegrate. He jumped out of cover to another console firing at the spheres as he went. "Bishamon, grant me the strength to defeat my foes!" He said as he ducked behind another console. He jumped up and ran toward the one controlling the spheres just as the reinforcements he called for fired at the others. "Bridge, this is Arashi! We may have a problem. I was not able to deny access to the library computers and it seems they have accessed data about Earth. I do not know if they sent the information out to their ship. He dodged the shots that the spheres were firing at him and he slashed at the humanoid controlling the spheres ducking out the way as it fired at him hoping that it would kill or incapacitate the enemy.

On the bridge, Alec swore silently as Arashi relayed the news about the intruders accessing the library computer and information about Earth. It was a setback to be sure but one they could hopefully deal with. Right now he had more pressing matters to deal with, namely keeping the Victory in one piece.

The lead warrior made no effort to evade the slash of Tanaka's sword, instead he blocked the blow with an armored forearm. The impact of the sword against the armor generated a sharp metallic 'clang!'. Stepping in close, the warrior drove his tightly closed fist into Tanaka's face in a savage punch!

Swaying back away from the punch he aimed he dropped his sword and grabbed the fist that was swung at him, using the momentum to toss him over his shoulder. He then slammed his foot on the alien's neck trying, snapping it. "I don't care who you are or what you are here for but I am going to take you and your friends and take them all out!" He said picking up his sword. He attacked the controller of the orb by cutting down the orbs and then stabbing the controller in the neck.

"HEY!!" A voice cut through the raining in Tanaka's ears as Lt. Monsoon arrived and charged at the alien intruders. Brave and well intentioned the though he was Lt. Monsoon still died almost instantly when a second warrior lifted his weapon and shot the Lieutenant before he could reach the group. Then, having obtained what they sought the warriors began to exit the ships library and head down the corridor toward their next goal.

Cassandra had been in her office when the red alert sounded, and had immediately gone to Sickbay to check on their status before heading to the bridge. She'd been briefed on the situation with the Captain, and she decided it was best not to interrupt Nicole while the doctor was in surgery. Instead, she went back past her office with the intent of going to the bridge. She'd stumbled when the ship was struck and almost twisted her ankle, slowing her down.

By the time she was back on her way to the bridge again, she head two loud blasts coming from the ship's library, and saw Lt. Monsoon charge in. She hurried forward in time to see four aliens similar to the skeleton they'd found on the planet emerge through the doors. They stared at her and looked her up and down, then turned their backs on her.

"Stop," she shouted, holding up a hand. They ignored her and began to disappear around the corner. Cassandra kicked herself when she realized her mistake and ran after them. "BATILTU!" she shouted again. "U lu basu mitu. Annu kashshaptu Gula."

The aliens froze and turned fast. Cassandra may not have known their dialect after millenia of linguistic evolution, but she and her fiance had studied enough Summarian texts that she figured she got her point across: Stop, or you die.

One of the alien warriors looked her over and then, his tone of of utter disgust said "Barra anzillu." At the same time, as he spoke he pulled a dark greenish bronze sphere from his weapon belt and hurled it toward her. The sphere burst with a blinding flash of light, showering the area in front of it with a dense liquid which immediately turned into a strong, unbreakable material and began to contract, constricting the Counselor in its mass around her body, completely restricting movement and slowly constricting all ability to breathe.

Cassandra's arms had gone up as soon as the object came at her and as it surrounded her she turned away from it. The liquid solidified around her form in a perfect cast as if encased in glass. After a few moments, the material crushed inward, leaving nothing but a few shards of dried liquid on the ground and a few traces of rainbow-colored sand.

Watching a moment, the alien turned and left...following his comrades who had already made their departure and where now heading to complete their assigned mission.


U.S.S. Victory - Deck 8 Main Engineering

Torres had spent the next several minutes moving around the jefferies tubes near the engineering support labs on Deck 7, until he came through the main access tunnel in main engineering on Deck 8. He looked around and saw several engineers doing their jobs trying to keep the ship's power running to the vital systems while in combat. He also saw a few that had taken up phasers and were prepared to defend the ship. He looked at the warp core and saw that the shield was active. "Status report?!" he asked as he made his way to the main situation board.

Not taking her gaze from the computer display screen, Sam answered "The intruders have successfully accessed the security locker and taken the artifacts retrieved from the surface... one group has returned to thief ship, presumably with the artifacts. The other two groups are on the move.."

He nodded as he listened to what she had telling him. Once he had all the information he needed he contacted the bridge. "Torres to Bridge. I've been able to make it to Main Engineering from the Deck 7 support labs. I have the tricorder that the aliens seem to be going after."

On the bridge Alec heard Miguel's call, "Very good Mr.Torres. Secure Engineering. Do not let the intruders take Engineering or the tricorder. I'll send what available security forces there are to your location." Tapping his com, he spoke briskly and firmly, "Hunter to any available security forces, proceed to Engineering and coordinate your efforts with Commander Torres in holding that department."


Bridge

The turbolift doors rattled as the car behind them shook. Inside, a tempest of sand and wind swirled rapidly. After a moment, the sound faded and the turbolift doors opened. Cassandra stepped out onto the bridge, brushing sand off her dress. "The intruders are on Deck 3. They've taken the library. My guess is that's where they obtained the information they required about the ship. What are they after?"

Alec turned in his seat as Cassandra came onto the bridge brushing sand from her dress. *Sand?* Alec thought briefly before pushing the thought from his mind. He had a ship and crew to worry about. He could ask Cassandra later, if there was a later. "Not sure, they managed to break in to the security locker and get the artifacts stored there. They're now on Deck 8 near Main Engineering."

"Oh, no," Cass said, her face losing its pink glow as the blood drained from it. "Engineering, the science labs...Doctor Anderson's lab. The body!" If they know it's missing they'll head right for her lab, and they'll tear the ship apart to get in."

"Oh hell no they won't!" Alec replied angrily. "I'll beam the damn body into space and it'll be gone forever. We need to keep them from realizing it's missing but how?''

Before the Counselor could reply, the ship shuddered. From the Operations console, the officer on duty reported "Explosion detected..looks like it came from the ship's morgue."

"Thank God..." Cass said, letting out a breath. "She moved it." She tapped her combadge quickly. "Sanders to Anderson; the intruders are in the morgue and are going for the alien skeleton."


Ship's Morgue

The doors to the morgue disintegrated in an explosive roar which filled the darkened morgue with sharp, acrid smoke and debris as four tall figures strode though the opening blasted into the formerly secured and locked space. Pausing only a moment to study a scanner held by the leader, the quartet moved immediately to where the mummified remains of the alien brought back from the surface had been placed in stasis and opened the body drawer. Gazing down at the body for a moment, one of the four withdrew a small device and placed it on the chest of the deceased and activated the device. As they watched, the body was enveloped in a deep crimson energy field and then crumbled into a fine black powder.

Their task complete, the four alien intruders activated a recall signal and were beamed back to their ship, leaving only the last five now heading toward Engineering.


Main Engineering

Main engineering had been secured and sealed in an attempt to keep the intruders at bay long enough to allow the combined forces of the ship's security teams and the Marines to push the alien intruders back and off the ship. At the main interface console, Sam said "Commander Torres.. sensors indicate the aliens are at the main doors.. Shit! They are attempting to hack the security system and bypass the lockout.. I'm blocking them.."

Miguel didn't know how it was that they had tracked him to engineering. Could it have been the tricorder. He looked at it and then powered it down to see if maybe the information on it was some how trackable. "Computer initiate Engineering defense protocol Tombstone 1." he ordered as he watched the familiar engineroom change before his eyes. The high tech equipment and most of the crew were now hidden by the holographic images thanks to the enginerooms holo-emmiters, and were replaced by the dusty desert of Tombstone Arizone, specifically the O.K. Corrall.

Hidden for the moment by the holographic images, Sam couldn't help but shake her head at his choice of program.

She could still see the console at least, watching the readings as the intruders continued to try and bypass the security lockout. She stayed focused, blocking their attempts but aware that she was only buying them more time..the intruders were going to get inside. It was just a matter of time.

"Any idea what to do when they get through?" Sam asked with a glance toward Miguel.


Outside of Main Engineering

"Deck 8 acknowledged." Abbot nodded looking to his Marines. "Engineering, double time."

As they approached Main Engineering the intruders were fast at work trying to bypass the security lockout. Propped against the door was what looked like a flat archaic slab of stone. But it was anything but archaic, it was illuminated throughout and several cables extended from the slab and attached to the door panel. The intruders this time seemed uninterested in the Marines, not to Abbot's surprise, after all, his Marines had just unleashed a full volley of fire on Deck 9 that did little to deter the intruders.

"Lets take this easy I don't want to assist these sons of bitches in peeling that can open."

He raised his rifle and took aim at the device on the floor. Pulling the trigger it exploded with a large flash of light. All but one turned now eyeing the Marines as a threat. Three began to advance on the Marines while the fourth stayed behind removing the now useless cables from the door panel. It produced another device similar to the one before and attached it to the panel.

Maly swallowed hard, "Oh shit"

Each Marine opened fire as the intruders moved to engage them. Direct phaser fire did little to slow the advance towards them. "Switch settings to rapid pulse fire engage each one in unison" Abbot ordered, it took only a few seconds as each Marine re-tuned their settings.

"On my target." Abbot took aim on the closest target and opened fire, his Marines followed suit with deadly accuracy, the corridor erupted in a loud and bright display of rapid phaser fire that collapsed the first target. "Again!" They moved to the next target with similar results. As the second target dropped the third was on top of them and landed hard push kick with full momentum to one of the Marines that cracked his chest armor and sent him somersaulting backwards. Another Marine moved on the warrior but was also sent reeling by hard back fist to the head. The Major leapt onto the back of the warrior pulling hard with his rifle against the its throat grunting as he pulled as hard as physically possible. Two other Marines engaged it from the front using their rifles as hammers. The warrior bashed the Major back against the wall repeatedly while kicking and swiping at the attackers from the front. It swung a 180 briefly using Abbot as a shield and pulled the Major from its back and hurdled him over his head. He slid a couple feet after hitting the ground, blurry Abbot could see the warrior turn back to the Marines that were left standing. He pulled himself to his feet and brandished a d'k tahg from the holster on his thigh. The two curved secondary blades snapped open as he leapt towards the warrior bringing the knife down with all his might into the warrior neck. It collapsed face first as the dagger dug into its flesh, Abbot put his palm on the butt of the knife and dug it as deep as he could twisting until his adversary laid motionless.


Main Engineering

"Besides fight to the death.... Not yet I'm still working on the not dying part." he told her as he watched the door and then took the phaser he had just been handed. "Everyone please remember that as long as your within 18 cm of the concoles you'll be able to see them and hopefully the enemy won't. These holograms were designed to be able to confuse Borg sensors hopefully it will do the same with these guys. Oh and please don't shoot near the warp core I'd hate to have to die due to a reactor breech."

Before anyone could reply, the doors were blown open with a roar of noise, blinding light and smoke. The remaining intruders had reached the end of their patience, and standing back to back two of the intruders fired in tandem, sending twin jets of white exhaust streaking away marking the trail of the devices unleashed. When the blast came, the concussion of sound was so intense it was a tangible, almost physical thing which shattered console glass and sent engineering crewmen and marines alike sprawling, blown back stunned into immobility by the sheer force of the sonic assault.

The blast shorted out the sensitive holo-emitters, revealing the interior of engineering unhindered. Stalking contemptuously to where Torres was sprawled on the deck, stunned by the blast the third intruder retrieved the tricorder and after confirming the device was indeed what was sought, the aliens transported back to their ship - taking the body of the alien killed by Major Prime as well.


Bridge

On the viewscreen, the alien ship suddenly broke away from its course and instead of continuing its hard banking turn toward the Victory for another attack run instead rolled away and then in a flash of light jumped to warp and was gone, leaving the Victory stricken with multiple systems off line and alarm klaxons wailing.

Hunter stared as the alien ship broke off it's attack and warped away. Shaking his head in disbelief. "Somebody shut off that damn alarm." He looked around the shattered and smoking bridge."What works?" He asked to no one in particular. As he waited for a reply he tapped his combadge, "Hunter to Engineering, Miguel? what's your status?"

Miguel's ears were ringing and his eyes were still seeing stars. "What the hell did they hit us with he wondered as he tried regain control of his own senses. It took awhile before he was able to recognize the Commander's voice over the speakers. He looked around him several of his people were still down and needing medical attention. But from what he could see none of them had any serious injuries. "This is Torres we have some systems down, but we're working on getting them back up. I have some people that need medical attention but so far no fatalities. We don't have any holo-emitters down here. Whatever those aliens used on us knocked them and us around pretty good." Torres reported.

“I’m going to need a damage assessment as soon as you can get it together..” the XO told him.

Then, "Hunter to Sickbay, "Doctor what's your status?" He wanted to ask about Rhea but looking over at Cassandra and remembering their talk he refrained. He needed t be an officer first and a lover second.

"Over two dozen wounded and they're the lucky ones," Nicole said. "We're hearing rumors the alien weapons incinerate on contact. I believe they broke into the morgue and destroyed the mummy we brought back as well. The Captain was attacked in a different manner: knife and bullet wounds. And yes, you heard me right, bullets; actual projectiles. I'm not sure of the details but our neighborhood Romulan Spy is in my Sickbay trying to look contrite. I'll shoot her after I finish with the rest of the surgeries."

"And tell Penny to only show off if it's absolutely necessary. I have Mister Tanaka going in for surgery to his cranium and I think he'd like to at least retain his power of speech. Anderson out."

"Sorry!" Penny said, backing the ship off.

Alec didn't reply immediately as the CMO gave him the news on the wounded as well as Rhea. He knew something had to be wrong but he didn't know this. He swallowed and reopened the connection with Sickbay, "Don't shoot Summers yet. She may be of some service to us." He paused and tried to keep his voice even. "What is the prognosis for those injured and the Captain?"

Unaware that the hostile ship had departed, Nicole said. "If we come out of this in one piece, she'll recover. Anderson out!"

~*~

 

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