Take By Force Part I
Posted on Sun Dec 16th, 2018 @ 1:57am by Colonel Jason "Jack" Frost
3,057 words; about a 15 minute read
Mission:
The Emerald Road
Location: Orion Corvette
Jack along with most of the marines on board lined the corridor to the airlock designated as the entry point. There was no mistake to be made this would be a nasty fight, Orion males were huge, the women deadly and everyone knew the stories about what the women could do. He doubted the Orions would simply open the door and let them in so Jack had his own key brought with them. A variation of a demolition charge it would distribute the force laterally across the target surface. Considering it was an airlock and a little more grunt than the regular charge was needed. The wait was long, or at least if felt that way, everyone making checks again even if they knew they had everything already, training habit mostly.
Jack had made sure women were with every team, the women were for lack of better term, anti Orion female females. He didn't envy the headaches they would get, would be murder on board a hermetically sealed ship. Looking at the team of three, charge in hand ready to go, all they needed was the go word and the doors to open.
When the word came down from the Bridge, game faces came on, everyone was ready. Jack had placed a picture of Vash beside the door so even as they walked through it they could get one final glimpse of the woman they were supposed to rescue. There was no question in anyone's mind that the Vash on that picture would be drastically different to what they could find but appearance aside they had someone to rescue and they'd do it.
When the light indicated position was achieved everyone knew time was a factor. Jack opened the door as soon as the docking collar had latched on. There was no mistaking the faint odour of burnt material, no doubt from the duel the two ships just got into. The first team rushed in placing the charge on the airlock door, primed it and then retreated and closed the door behind them. Once they had evacuated Jack gave the nod and the charge detonated. Jack checked to see if the seal was still intact, it was. He opened the doors again and the second team rushed in, only now more marines followed them hugging the sides to stay out of the way.
In they went, mere seconds and then out. A nod, an explosion and the drawbridge was down. Jack had arranged by teams, those on the left would filter left, on the right would go right. This would ensure smooth entry and nobody crossing paths which could cause trips, bumps or delays for the rest of the boarding party.
"Good luck." Jack said to Sam, knowing her importance right now was vast over his own, and it all came down to gender as the women in the teams would seek to keep the men in line.
"You too." Sam tapped Jack on the arm before she went through the breached door into the ship. As soon as Sam stepped on to the ship she turned right and headed slowly down the corridor. The move was joined almost instantly by a headache, the very headache they were warned about, it was piercing, unrelenting. "Stay focused team, company is coming." That was a fact, one doesn't kick the door down and walk on in without the locals getting in a mood about it.
James had sent some teams to help the marines with any engineering issues, forcefields, overrides and the like. He knew it would be dangerous and so did those he sent but he was needed in Engineering effecting repairs from the fight. He just hoped he'd see all of them return uninjured.
No sooner had the airlock been forced open with the explosives when a cylindrical metallic device clanked and bounced to a halt hear it and simply sat there as if it were a dude. The sound of silence greeted the away team as if the calm before a storm and the reek of female Orion pheromones began to fill the narrow corridor between ships.
When Jack saw the canister he called for cover, his team and those around him hit the deck. Silence, no explosion, no eruption of chaos or flames, debris or otherwise...just silence. That was until he saw both women on his team clearly in pain, clutching brows. Then is sank in, Jack knew what it was. He pulled out a phaser and vaporised the canister but no doubt the damage was already done, no point in leaving it to continue what ever machination is had left. "Recover and push on."
The device, a Romulan radiation grenade which had been emitting low levels of radiation exploded the moment the phaser beam hit it. Fortunately, the vaporization effect neutralized most of it, but the resulting blast that did come out swept through the Starfleet personnel like a shockwave and the effects were immediate; skin began to redden and nausea and vomiting started as the frail humanoid bodies tried and failed to reject it.
Sam heard the noise behind her, her team kneeling at a junction. A turning left and the one straight ahead. She knew contact was only moments away, large green muscular men, slender seductive women calling the shots all deadly and on the home turf.
One of the Engineers kits went off, he opened it and saw the news. "Radiation, we are all going to need treatment, but we better not linger things are only going to get worse from here on." The engineer spoke already dreading a visit to Sickbay, he was there just yesterday with a gash to the back of his head where he knocked it getting out of a hatchway.
"Ok, so not my best career move." Jack replied as he stood up. "Lets hurry and get this done." Knowing that Acacia would have a field day with him for this. She was always telling him to be careful, yet he does this.
Disruptor fire came from around a corner where Sam and her team knelt and it was fortunate that they were kneeling instead of standing as the green beams struck the bulkheads at chest height.
That was close, too close in fact but at least now the enemy had shown themselves. Her headache pounded away like a band on a parade square, she even had to hit a male marine on the arm because he had that confused 1,000 yard stare to his expression. "Hey, focus."
More disruptor fire came from the direction the radiation grenade had been thrown, but the pheromones of the Orion females which permeated the ship was causing a bit of confusion and uncertainty among the male members of the away team but without an Orion female there to take advantage of that, they were vague and undirected.
Sam opted for a grenade of her own. If Vash was important then she'd be somewhere secure or far away from the action to buy time and put the marines through more grief. She didn't bother calling it out, she knew the zone was clear because everyone was behind her and she didn't want to give any warning to the enemy. The button pressed she tossed the weapon down the hallway, bouncing off a bulkhead before thudding to the ground.
A deep male voice screamed in pain s the grenade detonated and the disruptor fire died off. There were sounds of people scrambling away or helping the wounded, but no further opposition seemed to greet Sam's team.
Engineers were not combat front line personnel, armed with a hand phaser and an assortment of devices that might be called upon to help in a tight situation they waited, letting the marines do what they do best but ready to leap in when called for.
Sam gave a series of hand gestures to those around her, in the moment of quiet granted them by the grenade Sam had three marines push to the other side of the junction to her, this opened up another fire lane from this end of the corridor so that enemy fire wasn't focused on one side. She knew the battle to Engineering was going to be a tough one, but it had to be done.
The team assigned to the Major moved up with her, kneeling to the left side a good few meters behind her just in case she had to fall back. As much as they didn't want to get in the way, they didn't want to be so far behind that they would be a hindrance too.
An Orion male poked his disruptor pistol around the corner of a doorway near Sam's team and shot one of the Marines, the deadly green energy weapon beginning to eat away at his flesh and bones.
Sam's headache rang inside her skull as a volley of return fire tore up what otherwise was a dirty but intact section of junction corner and bulkhead but they had to press on. A medical marine doing what ever possible for the marine while the others covered. "Staggered move up in 2's both sides." Sam spoke over her shoulder knowing it would be relayed back. She had no idea how the other teams were doing but hoped they were having better luck.
Sam knew the need to push on, while the crew was small they knew the ship, every hallway, access point and hatch, everyone had to be careful. She didn't know how the others were doing but she had to press on, more marines would be behind her ready to take the direction her team didn't and more behind them to follow. "Watch those corners, eyes up, stay low people."
As the Marines advanced, the silence fell from around the corner and no further weapon fire halted their advance. It was too quiet and enough to make the hairs on anyone's neck stand up.
James's team of engineers stayed back enough not to get in the way of the assaulting marines but not so far back as to potentially be left behind and cut off. For many this was a first time boarding action and some recalled that simulators are nothing to the real thing. This would be an experience for all. They needed to get to Engineering or the Bridge and take control of the ships systems.
Sam was mindful of those around her, the headache was incredible and she had reminded the women of the teams to be alert, which is why she made sure each team had a woman amongst them. Two if she would swing it. Not knowing how the Colonel was doing she hoped for the best. "Move up." She hoped that the Engineers they brought along were the calibre of those famed engineers starfleet was known for.
As the Marines moved forward, a woman's voice rang out from around the corner. "Feddies. Go back to your ship. This does not concern you."
"It became our concern when you abducted one of our crew." Sam spoke equally loudly. Was this a warning because they were getting close or was it because it was just a stalling tactic. Regardless thought the marines had to keep moving. The prison cells had to be somewhere around here and so too those responsible.
"Melani D'ian is not a member of your crew," the female shouted back. "She is a wanted criminal in the Orion Sector and you are in violation of our sovereign territory, Federation! A formal complaint will be made!"
"Can't wait." Sam rebuked as her team pushed forward, she peeked over her shoulder and saw James's team of engineers behind her, knowing another went with the Colonels team.
When the Starfleeters moved forward, a round object came rolling down the hall towards them before it exploded into a mass of orangish foam which expanded to fill a section of the corridor and hardened.
Looks like we are going around. With a series of hand gestures Sam directed her team to move forward using the other split off of the corridor at the junction they were just at. This would cost time, and time they didn't have.
"Major." A marine gestured. "HVT is there." Pointing to the small display on his scanner.
The only problem was there was a door, a long walk around and no doubt a score of Orions to deal with. It was a given that they knew where they were going and who they were after. "Whats on the other side of that wall?"
The marine checked his readout. "Crew quarters, or some kind of storage."
"More direct?" Sam asked.
"Two bulkheads down, on the right, about knee height. Put a charge there and you should be able to go through this room, bypass this U-bend here, it will put you on the home straight to her, men here and here should be able to hold until retrieval."
Sam and two other marines laid down some cover fire towards the end of the corridor. There was nobody there but the volume of fire would perhaps persuade anyone against from peeking round. When the sapper was finished laying the charge he withdrew, then Sam indicated to do the same. While it was a shaped charge, debris was still a factor. Once safe, the nod given and a hole made.
It was a clean hole, would need to duck a little through it but it would work. "Room status?"
"Empty, for now."
"Go, left and right staggered entry, watch corners, watch doors." Sam knew there was one door in the room which lead to the corridor to the home stretch, she could only hope that it served well enough to rescue Vash.
A Federation issued older model stun grenade came sailing down the corridor and bounced off a wall before coming to a halt and detonating in the hallway.
Only a few of the marines were caught in the blast, others were still filtering in through the hole made or through the room they were using. Those unaffected dragged those who were into the room under the watchful cover of others on watch.
"Hold this point, entry and exit. I don't want us trapped here. We push forward and secure the HVT. Hopefully the Colonel will be in engineering to lock the ship down." Hopefully. "Distance?"
"Down the hall, right, 2nd door on the left."
"Lets go." Sam spoke, along with 8 others while 3 stayed back with the several that caught the unwanted effects of the grenade.
The team with the Colonel silenced the alarms for radiation. "We can't stay here, the ship moves and this space ruptures we are all dead." Death by hard vacuum was unpleasant to say the least.
Jacks team pushed forward, they were tasked with getting to engineering with a group of engineers in tow. It was a small crew but they were putting up a fight. Progress was slow, but progressive as they pressed on. The ship was a corvette classed hull, it wasn't like the Prometheus or the Ascension where long times would be taken between one end of the ship to another.
A barrage of disruptor fire came down the hall towards the Marines but the aim seemed off. Bolts of green energy hit the ceiling and walls, but none of the Marines.
A large door loomed at the end of the corridor, dirty but seemed to be in the right direction of Engineering. Everyone was hoping it was. For such a small crew they were putting up a fight and the pheromones that everyone was warned about was giving the female members of the boarding parties headaches and sore hands from smacking the men to bring them to their senses.
As the Marines moved forward, a woman's voice rang out from around the corner. "Feddies. Go back to your ship. This does not concern you."
"Yeah, well, you should have thought about that before you took her. Actions have consequences sweetheart and we are here to collect."
"Then you will die trying," the female responded.
Ready, prepared, marines stood their ground. A scan had revealed that the doors were locked, it would take time to open them, time they didn't have so a breaching charge was placed on the door. That door would open, one way or another.
The door blew open and a barrage of disruptor beams emerged from the smoking ruins. Shouts and the sound of running was heard before a wall of flames erupted from the area where the shouts echoed from.
"We can't work if you destroy everything." One of the engineers spoke. This was already unfamiliar tech, having it in pieces would only complicate matters.
There was a strong odour of burnt flesh, almost sickening. Some poor fellow had to have been caught in the flashback. Staggered left and right for a room breach one marine could see the cause. Two Orions, males, large ones at that were laying on the floor crisped. "Scan the room."
"1, weak lifesign. Upper level."
"Exits?"
"3, two high, one 2 o'clock from this one in the corner." Revealing where potential enemies could come from.
"Go." Hugging the walls left and right of the door the marines swept in, weapons up, eyes like hawks.
Sure enough, the Orions were in the positions indicated and they opened fire as soon as the Marines were in view. By now, there was smoke and stench everywhere and it was only getting stronger by the minute.
Elevated position, superior cover. "Back, back." The marines filed back out of the room. No way they were taking engineering now with that welcome committee. The exit though cost them two marines.
Just as things were going to plan, it fell apart just as quickly. In the hail of fire one of the Engineers was caught, wounded, but lucky.
"Get them back to the entry point." Watching a marine and one engineer cart off the wounded.
Only a small team of engineers remained with the Colonel, enough to do the job but not enough for the dug in Orions in Engineering. "I'll see if I can tap into something on the console here." Then breaking out his kit, pulling off the bulkhead panel and seeing what he could do with what he had.
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