Battle for the Treasure House
Posted on Sun Nov 8, 2020 @ 10:26pm by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Commander Cullen Walker & Lieutenant Commander Miguel Torres & Lieutenant Arashi Tanaka Mr. & Lieutenant Cassandra Kennings & Lieutenant JG Aergad Halvor & Lieutenant JG Ardal King & Lieutenant JG Sydney Friedman Jr & Senior Chief Petty Officer Samantha Summers & Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit & Admiral Harv Bennett & The Doctor & Lieutenant Commander Thomas Riley & Lieutenant Commander Amber Jones & Lieutenant Meesa Etara & Lieutenant John Hunter & Lieutenant Ben'ja H'ol'na & Lieutenant JG Markus Davenport & Lieutenant Jasmine Gorgon
7,042 words; about a 35 minute read
Mission:
The Binary Suns
Location: Section 31 Security Facility
Timeline: Immediately after It Begins...
They materialized at the junction of two crossing corridors, the Captain stood in the open space at the center of the cross while the rest of the away team was a few paces away in the corridor. The instant the shimmering green energy of the transporter beam released them, phaser fire from the adjoining passage whined as guards opened fire. The phaser shots struck Kennit as she stood tall and straight in the center of the crossing corridors. She didn’t so much as flinch, her body encased in shimmering green as her Borg-shields absorbed the energy and channeled it into the implants throughout her body.
Data scrolled across Nicole's eyes. "Four guards, another four life forms a few sections down. Those aren't standard phaser rifles..."
Once again, that smile crossed her face as she slowly turned her head to look at her attackers. One hand rose, indicating for her away team to hold position for a moment. Her attention on the quartet of guards staring at her, she spoke in an eerie tone, allowing her connection to the Cube to effect her voice as she spoke and said in a mocking tone, “Now now now.. is that anyway to treat a Lady who is a guest in your home? Didn’t anyone ever tell you? Resistance is futile!”
She moved, so fast that her lean powerful body seemed a blur. Kennit’s first target died almost immediately, killed not by a phaser but instead, dying instantly when she kicked him in the head so hard that his neck snapped from the force of the blow. The other three guards fired again, their weapons no more effective against her shields than the first shots had been. The fight was swift, and over in 14.7 seconds. Four guards down, just like that.
Looking at the bodies down, she said only “I was hoping for more of a challenge from a collection of traitors... The President is being held this way...”. And turned and walked away, waving for the away team to follow.
"I have point!" Jim shouted, leading the way. "Tanaka, bring up the rear and keep your eyes peeled!"
Nicole sighed and followed, scanning ahead. As they opened another set of doors heading towards the coordinates where the President was located, another cluster of guards emerged from behind, brandishing more phasers.
Nicole wasn't quite as fast as the Captain, but she could be a bit of a blur herself, and had two guards by the throat, knocking their skulls together and letting them drop to the ground as the others engaged the rest of the enemy.
Arashi was following the captain silently so as not to make her angry. He held his phaser rifle at the ready, returning fire at the enemy that was engaging them. He and his security team was taking out the traitors efficiently. "These guys aren't much, for being members of a coup d'etat that are usually professional." Arashi said as he and his team engaged the guards.
Jim began blasting at the traitors, dropping six of them before his rifle was struck by opposing fire. "Sonofabitch!" he swore then pulled out his hand-phaser, a Marine model 3p, and continued to shoot. One enemy made the mistake of trying to creep up behind Jim, who, sensing the presence of the bad guy, whirled and caught the traitor on the chin with a spinning back kick, followed by two knife-edge chops to the throat and groin. The traitor went down in a gurgling heap.
Jim looked around for the rest of the away team and saw the doctor and captain holding their own
King picked someone up and squeezed him until he passed out.
Victory Cargo bay
When the call for the away team came in, Halvor was in no position to tap his combadge. "A little busy. Ugh," he grumbled to himself. In a great example of “sauce for the goose,” while their team had jettisoned over to the enemy Federation ship, 31 had sent its own scouts ahead with the help of their sleeper agent in Sickbay.
When he’d entered the cargo bay, he had come across a scout team working on one of the control panels down there. They heard him enter and turned to face him. It was six to one, but he didn’t run. He had managed to disable 4 of them in short order, but was having trouble with the final two. He ended up wrestling one onto the transporter padd, while and the other took the opportunity to beam Halvor away.
Suddenly Summers arrived, wearing battle armor and holding an sword almost as tall as she was. She ran *right up* to Halvor and saluted " Sir!( she shouted ) I stand ready to do what is necessary to defeat our foe! I am yours to command! What do you ask of me !?!?!? " She noticed that Halvor was **gone!!** " Well crap, ' She said, ' Now what ?!?!?! "
Summers grabbed her communicator.." This is Summers in the Transporter Room; Halvor seems to have beamed down to heck knows where, shall I scan his co-ordinates and follow him, or stay here and secure the Transporter Room?" Summers took a deep breath and awaited any response. Lucky for her, she carried an years supply of magazines on file in case no one had heard ;)
Luckily, the co-ordinates that Halvor had put in the transporter were still loaded. " This is Summers in the Transporter room, every one is gone here, where am I best needed? " She waited for an response. None came. " Well..in for an penny..in for an pound.." She adjusted the transporter to beam to the last co-ordinates, input an 1 minute delay, and got on the transporter. " Well....don't know *where* I'm going, but hope I can help our side when I get there...." The transporter hummed and Summers vanished..to...????
As the transporter beam activated, Halvor shot the final insurgent in the back just before he vanished. Fortunately, the transporter system was scanning the structure and Halvor was beamed down relatively close to the away team within the complex; unfortunately he materialized about 10 feet above the floor, gravity taking hold as the transporter beam let go, making him fall face first and land on the final insurgent. He crawled to his feet and shot the attacker without hesitation. He sucked in a painful breath and held his ribs. "This job used to be a lot easier when I was grey," he groaned.
He reached for the tricorder on his belt to figure out where he was. "Halvor to Victory. I've been beamed down to San Francisco. You have five perps in the cargo bay unconscious. I apparently brought one with me." There was no response, so he got his bearings and made his way down the corridor into the facility.
Suddenly, Summers materialized above Halvor, and fell to the floor butt first. " OUCH!! " She shouted, and then seeing Halvor, she got up and saluted. " You* are an hard person to find, you know that?"
TAG HALVOR
As they came around the last bend in the corridor, Nicole scanned ahead again. "Six life forms, but they're clustered by the door at the end of the corridor," she said. "They don't seem to be in any kind of guard formation. Wait...two are breaking away..."
As they came closer, Nicole was nearly kicked in the face as the Captain's feet were yanked out from under her and she flew up into the air, hovering face first above the floor, arms held back behind her.
"Captain Kennit," an amused voice said, from around the corner. "I thought I heard an arrogant drone." A blonde officer came into view, arms folded, eyes staring at the Captain.
"Doctor Jones," Nicole said, "kindly put the Captain down."
"Not until I know why she's here," Amber said. Behind her, a security man flanked her with phaser drawn and aimed at the rest of the away team.
"We're here to rescue the President," Nicole said. "Presumably same as you."
"Yes, but you're being led by Section 31's favorite...'specialist,'" Amber said, making a face. "How do I know she's not leading you on, doing their bidding? I can't read her mind."
“There isn’t time for this...” Kennit said, her voice seething with disgust at being stopped for this absurd stupidity. “They know we are here. You’re wasting time to deliberately allow the real problems here to murder the President and the rest of the hostages..which is likely your goal!”
Arashi had snuck around through a connecting set of side rooms to flank the one Nicole called Doctor Jones and the security guard flanking her. Putting his phaser on stun he stunned the guard. He pressed the phaser to the doctor's back and smiled. "Could you please let my captain go? I would hate to have to stun a doctor. It is against my religion to harm potential allies." He said "Besides, how do we know you aren't part of the forces that have taken the Federation president hostage? How do we know that you aren't the leader of the coup? There are a lot of questions that we could be asking about what you are doing here."
Jones looked at Nicole. "Which one's this one?"
"Tanaka," Nicole said.
"All right then," Amber said. Arashi's arm flew up and the phaser was ripped out of his grip by an invisible force, landing in Doctor Jones' hand. She turned and her cobalt-blue eyes bored into him. "Thankfully, this one I can read rather well." She matched his stare and finally nodded. "All right, back you go," she said.
"Mā kuso. Watashi wa nandesuka, arushuno hondesu ka? (Well shit, what am I, some kind of book?)" Arashi said, slipping in to Japanese as he was wont to do when he was upset but he got back to his normal duty focused self.
Amber handed him his phaser. "Back with your shipmates. That way," she gestured towards Nicole and the others, then turned her back on him and back to the Captain.
"For what it's worth, Captain," Amber said, "you're two-thirds correct. They do know we're all here, and yes, I am deliberately wasting time. The rest of my team was trying to break through their shiny new neutronium vault door, when they were pinned down. So, while they drew fire, I broke away with my associate here and led some of them on a chase. I figured the rest would take notice when they saw a Borg signature on their sensors as we did, so if we stay right here, they'll come to us in three...two...one..."
Kennit's body was immediately dropped to the ground gently on her feet as the sound of dozens of boots on the deck rattled through the corridor. Amber pulled her phaser and reached down, pressing her gloved hand against the neck of her crewmate, who groaned and sat up. He immediately looked around, grabbed his phaser and turned, sitting up and firing as the first of the guards came from their side.
"I'm reading twenty-two guards between our position and the President, incidentally," Amber said. "Three by my people, and another dozen behind you." She dropped to one knee, dodging a beam and fired back, the ablative armor of the guard taking most of the shot. She frowned and flicked her head, the guard suddenly flying forward and down, slamming his face into the floor. She then sent him flying back into another two guards.
Staring at the medical officer, Kennit’s dark gaze promised that this little incident wasn’t over for a moment, before she turned toward the inbound guards. The fact that there was so many of them didn’t seem to bother her. “Then, I suggest you get the fuck out of the way and let me do my job,” she told Dr. Amber Jones who clucked her tongue at the language. Side-stepping the Castelnaudary’s Chief Medical Officer, Kennit turned and headed down the corridor toward where the away team from the Castelnaudary were still struggling to gain access into the section where President Paaver Dun (The first Bajoran to hold the position), his entire Cabinet, Admiral Harve Bennett, Counselor Vincennes, and Ambassador Sovek of Vulcan, as well as Ambassador Lhaerrh ch’Havran Velal of the Romulan Star Empire were being held.
The likelihood that the hostages may already be dead was one which was very real. It was possible the hostages would be killed before they could reach them, and this....foolishness of Dr. Jones’ creation may well result in the loss of life which they’d raced back here trying to prevent.
Two guards came at her from a compartment just after she’d passed, the sound of the door opening behind her the only warning. It was more than enough. She caught the first by his arm as he swung at her, using momentum to pull him close and letting the phaser shot from his companion hit him squarely in the chest, the overflow of energy creating a ripple of green as her shields absorbed the excess even as it killed the guard locked in her embrace. She kept moving, tossing the limp body at her second assailant and then unleashed a swift series of left-right blows, disarmed him and used the butt of his phaser rifle to crack his skull with a single hard blow to the temple.
Two more sets of doors opened as more guards came out. These were helmeted, clad in protective gear and ready for a fight. The first one immediately hit Nicole in the face with the butt of his rifle and she dropped to the ground. His neck quickly snapped as Doctor Jones' eyes glazed over like the Great Barrier and blue-and-gold sparks flew from her fingertips.
As more guards began squaring off with the Victory's away team, Amber sent two flying up and sticking to the ceiling, out of the Captain's path. "Go!" she shouted. As the Captain took off like a shot, Amber turned her attention and her wrath back on their assailants.
Arashi and his security detail had fired at the enemies engaging them but soon they were faced with a challenge. "Kuso!" Arashi said as a Marine from the Castelnaudary leading the marine forces decided to challenge him to a fight as security was engaging the enemy marines. "I don't know how you guys got in here but I am going to send you out of the airlock with your captain." The Marine said as he pulled out a knife. Arashi grinned sadistically as his button had been finally pushed. "Over my dead body, you fucking apeshit jarhead!" Arashi said and the marine attacked.
The marine tried an overhead slash but Arashi rolled out of the way. Arashi drew his wakazashi and stood up. "That is the idea." The marine said in response and charged in feinting a slash with his right hand. Arashi knew that it was a feint and ducked the punch that followed it. He uppercut the man as a counter and sent him staggering back. The Marine was pissed, how dare an insignificant security officer strike someone as strong as he. The marine charged at him once again and stabbed at his chest but seeing this attack Arashi grabbed the attacking arm, twisted and drove him to the ground, getting on top of the marine and stabbing him through the bicep and pinning him to the floor. The security team of Arashi's had just finished off the marines that had ambushed them.
Someone tried to shoot Arashi while he fought the Jarhead. There was a squishy noise as King shoved his claws into the guys back. He made eye contact with Arashi and went to kill another.
Arashi looked to the man as he lay there, frustrated and screaming in pain. "I would have shown you mercy but you had to go and threaten my captain." He said as he twisted the blade. "There is a place in Jigoku (Hell) For people like you." He pulled the blade out and pulled out his phaser pistol. He charged it up to the disintergration level. "Kill me and you will break the oath you made to Starflleet." The Marine said. "You would be no better than a Romulan assassin" The Marine flinched as Arashi pointed his phaser at him. "Well I have my rules of engagement. You were a part of the coup and didn't surrender so you...will...die..." Arashi said and he pushed the fire button on the phaser, disintergrating him. "You don't deserve to live." Arashi said finally, retrieving his wakazashi and wiping the blood off. As the security team retreated to the door, a team of reinforcements arrived, firing at the the away team. Returning fire from behind the doors they tried to buy time for the captain to get the doors shut.
Another 45 seconds had the Captain at the sealed neutronium door, with members of the Castelnaudary crew trying ineffectively to breech the security lock down and gain entry into the holding cell area behind.
"Thanks for the assist," Commander Riley said, glancing up from the door panel. "Thanks to you bein' guard-bait, we've made a little progress. We managed to isolate the panel so they can't see what we're accessing, and we managed to get the controls up and running after they tried cutting power. They've got one heck of a lockbox on here, though. Our woman on the inside--"
“Clear a path...” her voice was still that of the Borg, deliberately so as the eerie tone tended to get an immediate response.
Riley stood up and was going to protest, but saw what he was up against. "You heard the dame," Commander Riley said, shooing the Orion Engineer and security chief away. They quickly ducked out of the way, the security man shielding his face from view as he ran past them.
Moving to the access panel, she was aware of the impact on her body and her implants from the multiple phaser hits she’d sustained. Nothing she couldn’t handle for the moment. Reaching out, she pressed her hand palm down against the access panel. Tubules extended from her hand and buried themselves into the complex circuitry allowing her to directly access the computer system currently locked down and denying access past the security door.
"I'd watch yourself," Tommy started to say, "they installed a--"
The immediate stab of white hot pain which settled behind her eyes was blocked after a moment by the Borg systems, allowing her to focus on what she wanted. She closed her eyes, and then the neutronium door gave a lurch, and rose.
"Nevermind," he said.
Disconnecting from the panel, Kennit dropped and rolled beneath the door as it rose slowly due to the sheer mass and weight of the heavy shield door. She was up, on her feet and moving instantly. Moving at a fast speed, searching for her targets. She encountered four more guards as she ran, sustaining more phaser hits to her body without slowing and swiftly, efficiently dispatched the enemy officers without hesitation.
King grabbed the bottom of the door and started to lift it so it went up faster. He groaned as he pushed it up. Then he felt it. Someone shot him in the ass with a phaser. It smelled like burnt fur. "Oww. Someone is dying. "
Jim saw Captain Kennit take multiple phaser hits and cursed as he picked up a phaser rifle one of the enemy had dropped. "Join Starfleet, see the galaxy, make new friends!" Jim said mockingly as he ran after the captain, being careful to stay out of sight and blasting the odd goon that showed himself. "Captain, I'm on your six, where do you need me?"
“The hostages are in the large space located at the end of this corridor. When we get there, just don’t kill the wrong people. Focus is on the hostages and their safety.”
TAG: All
The Captain didn’t hesitate, she just moved. Entering the chamber where the hostages were supposedly held, it was immediately apparent that for the members of the President’s Cabinet it was too late. Their bodies lay neatly stretched out on the floor in a precise line. The President, Admiral Harve Bennett, Counselor Vincennes, and Ambassador Sovek of Vulcan, as well as Ambassador Lhaerrh ch’Havran Velal were being held with their hands bound behind their backs, awaiting their turn before the executioner who stood waiting with a weapon in hand.
As she entered the room, one of the Section 31 guards dressed in Section 31 uniform and insignia made a grave error in tactical theory. He theorized that he could stop the petite woman who’d just entered the chamber. She let him close on her, then at the last moment she moved in close, and shattered his nose with a savage head-butt to the face before rendering him unconscious with a second blow of her knee to his forehead. He was unconscious before his body knew it, going down in a slow wobbling collapse to the deck behind her while Kennit continued forward.
The second guard, also attired in Section 31 black tried to shoot her with a phaser, as many before him had done. Like those foolish individuals, it had no effect at all other than a pretty emerald-green shimmer around her lithe form. The last sight before his eyes before his life was ended with a swift left, right parry followed by an arm of unbreakable strength around his neck and the sickening sensation and sound as his own neck snapped. A second body dropped to the deck, his head smacking with a distinctive thud against the cool white panels.
Contestant number three moved in for his turn, a meaty hand grabbing hold of her upper right arm and twisting her around while a thick, muscled arm accompanied by the distinctly sour stink of fear and sweat wafted up to offend her sense of smell wrapped around her throat. Kennit’s body flexed, left elbow slamming back into her assailants rib cage. The resulting crunch of breaking bone was almost drowned out by the guard’s shocked cry of pain, which was in turn cut short by a single short blow to his throat crushing his windpipe and sending him crashing to the deck unable to breathe.
Nicole, her bruises gone, Tanaka, his phaser out, and Holbridge, his rifle aimed and ready, came charging in after her. Nicole knelt and waved a gloved hand over the guard who was still registering as alive. She tapped the back of her hand and pressed it to his neck, the built in equipment somewhat repairing his crushed windpipe, keeping him alive for later.
She stood up and surveyed the bodies and walked over to one, scanning it quickly. "They've been dead since before we landed," Nicole said, sighing. "They must have gotten spooked when they got word the ship was heading for Earth."
She looked around and her brow furrowed. "Where's the rest of them?"
She didn't have much time to respond as a set of doors behind her and the victims blew open and another group of 31s walked in, weapons firing. Nicole took two shots to the back, her face in shock as she stumbled forward.
Arashi returned fire, making the commandos duck for cover. He drew his wakazashi and made a gesture of challenge to the Section 31 commandos. There were three that were attacking him and the others ran off to fight Nicole. One of the commandos was trying to close in to hand to hand range and was stabbed in the throat and he fell, drowned in his own blood. Another approached him, a knife in his hand and ready for a fight. Arashi grinned as the commando tried to slash at his face. He rolled under the attack and slashed the back of his knees, dropping his opponent to the ground. Arashi disintegrated him and the other guard retreated, knowing discretion was the better part of valour. "Guess they don't train agents with courage in S31." He said and fired his phaser at the retreating commando, killing him.
Nicole's eyes burned red and she spun around, snarling. She dove at the first guard, snapping him around, her foot connecting with his knee, breaking it and dropping him to the ground. Another shot hit her in the chest and some of the fight went out of her for a moment as her strength began to fade, her body using her energy to heal the damage the phasers were doing.
In another brilliant tactical move, one of the commandos grabbed her and slammed her against the wall, getting close to her to pin her in position. She grabbed the other woman's head and pulled her close, leaning in and biting her quickly. She screamed and pulled away, dragging them back through the doorway and out of sight, to the confused looks of her comrades.
Two commandos launched themselves in a fight against the Captain, recognizing her for who and what she was they didn’t waste their time with phasers and came at her instead in a hand-to-hand fight using deadly blades made of tritanium. She noted the prisoners bunched together, could see Bennett struggling to get free of the bonds on his arms even as he watched her approach.
Kennit met her attackers square on, side-stepping the first and twisting to the side, catching hold of his arm as he slashed at her with the knife. The sound of his arm snapping from the force of being twisted was lost in his choked cry as his own blade was plunged into the man’s neck, perfectly between his protective armored tactical suit and the helm covering his face. She turned, the movement somehow leisurely and slow to face the remaining commando’s trying to cut them off. “This is it?” Kennit said in a slow, purring voice. “This is the best you have now?”
She looked over at Bennett, an expression of pure derision and mockery on her face. “No wonder you came to drag me back to work. These children of yours. They are pathetic.”
Halvor had made it to the communication room. He had disabled the officer there and locked out external communications. His voice came across the internal comms, "Who the fuck do you think you are shooting? I will fuck you up." The noises made as he beat the guard's ass were disturbing. Then it happened. The internal comms started playing Baby got back by Throwdown over the internal comms. The system was messed up and wouldn't be fixed easily.
She meant every word, though the remaining commando officers took it as a personal insult. Which it also was.
She killed the remaining 6 men so quickly and so easily it was more of a dance than a fight. For those witness to the swift execution of the executioners the reason for Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit’s reputation was suddenly crystal clear. She really was the cold, savage and highly efficient killer of rumors whispered in quiet corners over alcohol and drugs. Time away had done nothing to slow her unique talents in that regard.
King was standing behind someone that pointed a rifle at the Captain. There was a low growl and the breaking of bones.
She stood still a moment, not looking at the bodies on the floor but with her too dark eyes locked on the visage of the man who’d made her into what she now was. At last she spoke as she approached, “We have to move.” She leaned over, retrieving a control from one of the bodies and began to unshackle the prisoners quickly. “You can throw up later..” she said, her voice mocking as her gaze fell on that of Counselor Vincennes. “After we have returned safely to the Victory and you, along with the President and the other hostages are safe. There will be other guards trying to stop us, and we have to get clear of the transporter block before we can get you out of here.”
King ran ahead to scout.
By this point she was unlocking Admiral Bennett’s hands and here, the smile she flashed was chilling, though she meant what she said next to the Admiral. “Don’t want to lose you now after going to so much trouble to get here, so when we move, follow orders and we’ll get back just fine.”
She turned slightly to look at the group of hostages, “I need to know who was behind this coup. Who is leading the opposition we had to push through to get this far,” and here her eyes returned to lock on Admiral Bennett’s features “And why is the Castelnaudary and it’s collection of misfit toys lurking around in the dark? We still have to get clear and right now there’s a lot more of them there are of us. I need all the intelligence you have and I need it now.”
"They brought us here while we were in conference," Vincennes said, shakily. "They kept coordinating with some admiral. I heard at least two of them address him personally. The idea that anyone in Starfleet could be behind this..." She shook her head, turning several shades lighter as she fought down nausea over the combination of fear and shock.
"And I'll try not to take the 'misfit toys' remark personally," one of the Commandos said in a familiar Montreal accent, standing up and dusting herself off. She reached behind her helmet and adjusted something, and her suit vanished, revealing chestnut brown hair held back with a large hair clip and silvery eyes that took everything in, along with a standard Starfleet uniform with four pips on her collar.
"You..." Admiral Bennett began.
"Hello, Harv," she said, sardonically. "Kindly keep your mouth shut, or I'll reach in and stop your heart."
She faced Kennit and folded her arms. "I believe Admiral Farrow has been coordinating troops here and in space. From what I've heard, there are close to a dozen ships in and around this system conspiring with the coup, and several others around Vulcan, Andor, Tellar, Betazed and elsewhere. Thirty-one has been busy," she said. "I'd have gotten more, but my sources of information are rather..." she looked around, "dead."
“Admiral Farrow?” Kennit echoed. She shook her head, “No idea who that might be. We’ll find out.” She paused, looked at the bodies on the floor with a glimmer of what might have been a little bit of enjoyment for a moment then said, “As for questions answered, there’s more of them out there. We’ll get you a few more to question, though I know a way to take everything they know .. whether they’re willing to talk or not.”
"And I'm willing to bet the Section has preventative measures to have their agents destroy themselves if put in that position," Captain Edwards said. "You're far too fond of sticking your tubules into things."
Admiral Bennett spoke. “Captain Kennit, the focus now should be on getting the President to safety.”
She looked at him, hard, then actually laughed. “My god. You’re actually distressed. You made me what I am. You saw to it that I was trained to do just this...and now you want to play squeamish?”
Still laughing, she said “All right then. Ladies and gentlemen, if you will follow me and do what my officers ask of you, we’ll be clear of here and back aboard the Victory in no time.” She turned and left, heading back out down the passageway.
"I'll watch your six," Captain Edwards said, bringing up the rear, walking backwards as she kept her rifle up.
While the official away team was otherwise engaged, Halvor had made his way to a different section of the base and discovered the bases' access to the power grid. He quickly grabbed a few tools and began damaging the system as much as he could until he'd cut the power and emergency power. He was doing as much destruction as he could to lead people away from the main team. So far he hoped it had worked.
As Kennit led the group back out of the central holding area, the power suddenly went out. Edwards flipped on the light on her scope and swept the area quickly. "Captain," she said, "communications blackout has been neutralized. We can contact our ships. I'd suggest establishing coordinates for a beamout, unless you want to stay and 'interrogate'."
Immediately Bennett said, “We need to get more information regarding how this was planned and who is involved.”
Captain Kennit answered without looking back at him. “Then we will take a a few of these traitors prisoner and get those answers..”. She spoke matter of fact, as if she was discussing the weather perhaps. “I want at least 5, of varying ranks ... the higher rank the better.” she ordered.
"Understood," Tiffany said. "Move on ahead. I'll have some prepped for transport." She slung her rifle over her shoulder and knelt down, sorting through which enemies were still alive and who could survive being sent up to the Victory.
The Captain moved swiftly, getting out ahead of the main body of their small away team whose task now was to protect the President and the other hostages. She was listening, her senses on high alert, as the saying goes. She was trying to get a little distance from the noisy group following her. She could move without making a sound. Her boots made no sound as she walked, the others sounded like a heard of elephants tromping along behind her. She wanted to get prisoners, which meant she needed to know that ‘hostile’ personnel were closing in to give her a moments warning to prepare for and subdue her quarry.
The scuff of a boot on the ground signaled movement ahead. Another scuff brought the sound closer. The commander kept his weapon up and his profile tight against the wall. He brought up his pistol, and took aim.
He hissed as he pitched forward the phaser beam still pulsing into his back, penetrating his armor and dropping him to the floor.
Nicole stumbled out behind him, breathing hard, her eyes red and her hair matted with sweat. "I've got a couple tied up about three rooms back," she said. "Thought they'd make for a snack later."
Looking her Chief Medical Officer over, Kennit said "And yet for some reason, they're afraid of me..."
"Wuh pakik t' wuh ha'kiv tor wuh shaht t' kusut. Wuh pak t' wuh katra nam-tor wuh palikaya," Nicole said, giving a slight sneer.
Kennit rolled her eyes and then said, "get that one into cuffs and secured. We'll pick up the other three and get out of here."
"Aye, Captain," Nicole said, wearily, kneeling and grabbing the commando she'd dropped, using his the security guard's own cuffs on him.
Once the captives had been secured got Kennit’s satisfaction, she said “We are almost out of the transport inhibitor zone. As soon as we are clear, we will be transported first to the Cube, from there we will then transport back to the Victory.”
At the startled expressions on the faces of the former hostages, she smiled. A predator’s smile, her eyes locked on Admiral Bennett as she said “Can you imagine all that I could do, if I could do all that I can?”
A jerk of her head and she had them moving again, as promised the moment the Cube’s monitoring sensors detected their bio-signs outside of the transport inhibitor field a greenish haze of transporter energy surrounded them, and the facility vanished around them. When reality returned, they stood inside the Queen’s chamber aboard the Borg Cube. A holographic display immediately flared to life, Kennit’s attention shifted to the information flashing across it. The Cube was fully operational still, the effects of the Federation ships attempting to fight only causing nominal damage against it’s shields, the vessel’s systems having adapted to Federation weaponry some time ago, the effect only enhanced by the connection to her. “Identifying the Victory now. We will need them to lower their shields safely for us to transfer vessels.” The Captain said.
"If the cube's communication system is down, a few well-placed shots to take out the aggressors should help," Nicole said, wishing Borg ships had chairs. Her suit had taken several phaser hits and had fused to the skin on her back, pulling a layer off. It had regenerated, but she was still sensitive and sore, and it itched like hell, not to mention the deformed armor was rubbing against her uncomfortably.
"Is that a Cardassian ship?" she said, shoving past Bennett to look at the viewscreen. "Who the hell else is here?"
“In order to facilitate communication systems as well as weapons systems effectively I would need a direct connection to the Cube’s command and control system.” Kennit said, her dark eyes locked on Admiral Bennett.
Nicole turned. "That is an extremely bad id--"
“Do what you need to do Captain.” Bennett nodded. Once.
Three cables slithered down from somewhere overhead. A shimmer of greenish energy scanned the Captain where she stood to identify the proper connection ports and then each cable in turn connected into the base of her skull, her spine directly between her shoulder blades and the base of her spine. The only reaction from Kennit was a soft sigh, if she felt any discomfort she didn’t show it. The holographic display changed, becoming intricately detailed with information displayed along one side of the image detailing every ship in the area, it’s current power system levels, shield strength, number of life signs aboard, and more.
Targeting indicators began to flash across several of the vessels on the displays, while beneath them the sound and feel of the Cube ship shifted in a subtle but unmistakable surge of increased power. Other vessels were indicated with a different identifier, ships which were supporting the Victory and the Cube in the fight to restore order within the Federation and free the President. Weapons fire began to lash out across space from the Cube, this time finding it’s targets with terrifying and unerring precision. Where previously the attacks by the Borg ship had seemed to be errant, it’s systems damaged and inefficient, now... The damage was considerable, disabling enemy ships without hesitation. The targeted vessels were not destroyed, the damage limited to shield, propulsion and weapons systems.
It went against every instinct she had, not to destroy those ships. They were the enemy! Attacking her ship, attacking Victory. Attacking the Cube. She wasn’t interested in assimilation, she wanted to punish them. Make them all pay.
The ships that had been decimated by the cube were listing in space. The couple that had managed to turn tail at the last second flew out of the system at full impulse, then leaped to warp. Nicole watched the cube bear down on one of the ships and quickly tapped a control on her glove, praying it still worked. "Ra-tu to Spectrum," she said quietly, "be prepared for an extraction."
Kennit’s gaze flicked over toward the doctor, an expression both bemused and slightly disgusted in the depths of her gaze as she said “Oh get over yourself.”
Instinct was animal, but she was no animal and instinct did not rule her actions. Utilizing the Cube ship’s sensors, Kennit took a very long, hard look at every starship within range and identified it as hostile or friendly. Only once she was satisfied that the threat was over did she speak. “All hostile vessels have either fled the system or else are disabled and in need of assistance.”
It was Bennett who spoke then, “Issue orders on my authority. All vessels able to render aid are to do so. Regardless of what has happened those are Federation citizens and fellow members of Starfleet. All command personnel of ships involved in the insurrection are to be taken into custody.”
Dark gaze on him, she didn’t speak but his orders were recorded and transmitted through the Borg vessel’s communications systems to all ships including those currently disabled and adrift. “Acknowledged.” Kennit said after a moment. “Further orders sir?”
“Get us off this ship and back to the Victory.” Bennett instructed her. “The President requires medical assistance and then we need to get a message out to the rest of the Federation that the insurrection has been put down, and we remain in command.”
Kennit gave a nod, and then without so much as a ‘by your leave’ the Borg ship transported the group from the Cube back to the Victory. Most appeared directly in sickbay, giving the medical staff a bit of a jolt. The Captain however materialized on the Bridge, where she immediately reclaimed command and began to issue a series of instructions per Admiral Bennett’s command, taking command of the gathered fleet and overseeing rescue and apprehension of the disabled ships, immediately starting work to identify what medical and damage control assistance was required as well as arranging for the immediate apprehension, arrest and transport of the command crews to the Victory’s brig, which was large enough to hold them all securely until the President and Starfleet Admiralty could decide on a more permanent option.
Arashi had been busy processing the prisoners and was getting a bit tired. He walked over to the replicator and got himself a cup of hot green tea. He was tired and the prisoners did not seem to end even when he had help from his subordinates. He made sure that there was a double guard posted as these were terrorists. He was sickened by what was going on and his stomach lurched a bit. He continued his work alongside his subordinates.
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