Crumbling City - Part 2
Posted on Tue Mar 23rd, 2021 @ 2:44pm by Commander Lillian Carter
2,968 words; about a 15 minute read
Mission:
Episode 2 - Echoes Of An Empire
Location: City of Trey'Tan'Dur Ruins
Timeline: Mission Day 9 @ 10:13 Hours
ON
"Alert" the Captain's voice sounded distant, hollow, his eyes glazed over but he continued to talk and as he did he seemed to expand, it took a moment for the others to realise that he was patched in directly to the internal communication system. "Intruders detected in multiple locations. Senatorial Parliament military coordination centre. Weapon research facility city of Trey'Tan'Dur. Biological Weapon Research cold storage facility Gret'Oar'Zhan Coast. Genetic Biolab Julanth Trench, Oar'Zhan Sea... Counter measures deployed. Main computer system and power generation activated, main processor operating at seventeen percent, further psionic input and interface required!"
Tamaska felt her heart skip a beat, as she headed towards where Teach was at, and meeting up with Ensign Yojar, with Neshia. Her face went pale hearing the recording, "What in the nine hells have we discovered." she exclaimed. "Is there anyway to contact the captain? And were you able to get the translation complete so we can find out what we need?" directing the last question to Kotan. "If something is going on here we need to know what is what."
"I'm working on it but I'm no linguist Commander!" The young Cardassian offered with an apologetic smile.
Next a explosion of some kind ripped through the building, shaking it to its core. Something had landed and not far away and not gently.
"That will have to wait then, something doesn't sound too good outside. People lets get moving!" Tamaska ordered, then looked at Neshia, "You be careful going down those stairs, do not want anything to happen to you." then Tamaska took off down the corridor and down the stairs "Teach, let's get going!"
Waverider Shuttle
The cockpit of the waverider was illuminated intermittently by the red alert flashing. The cockpit windshield was completely buried in the ground. The craft was remarkable still in once piece which was more than could be said for Lillian. She came round slowly and groaned. She felt like she had gone through a blender.
"Matthews? Are you dead?" she called out groggily.
She tried to move, only to be rewarded with unbelievable pain, shooting like lightning through her left leg. She had to clamp her mouth shut to mute the scream that had started to come out. The console flickered ominously. Gritting her teeth together and fighting the urge to pass out from the pain, with a shaking hand she managed to find a tricorder in the compartment next to her and opened it up, first running it over herself and then scanning MAttehws and fianlly the craft.
"You look to be in one piece ensign but since this isn't a medical tricorder I still think you need to get checked out by the doc if we get back." She grimaced again and shouted "God Almighty!" She took a deep, rasping breath and tried to calm herself. "I'm pretty sure my leg is broken and yep..." She reached down with her hand and found her trouser leg damp. When she brought her hand back it was covered in blood. "I seem to be losing a lot of blood here. There should be a medical kit in that bulkhead over there. Would you be so kind?"
"I'm on it. Im sorry I dived over you. I was hoping I would take .... any damage .." he said going for the tricorder. Well that had backfired.
As he was retrieving the medkit she continued, her face fell as she continued to look at the tricorder "Actually, you might want to get out of here. The really bad news is that ionisation effect has done something weird with the impulse reactor and it seems to be overloading. I reckon we've got about 5 minutes to be at least 500 meters away or we get vaporised so I'll stay here and fix that and I suggest you get to a safe distance now."
"Oh to hell with that," Bobby said simply pocketing the tricorder. "You have no chance of fixing this."
She ripped the sleeve off her uniform and tied it around the wound in her leg. She fixed a cold stare on him and sighed "I can't walk, let alone run. I'll only slow you down. Go! Now! That's an order!"
Bobby merely lifted her over his shoulder in a firemans lift. "I choose to ignore it,"
Seeing the condition of the wave rider Tamaska picked up speed, sprinting and leaping over the obstacles that were in her way. She reached to where the craft was at. "Carter? Matthews?" moving to get the thing opened. "Teach going to need your help here."
Bobby Mathews pretty much kicked what was left of the door mechanism in while holding the woman over his shoulder. Running on adrenaline he had decided he did not want to die. He did not want the flight chief to die and if he had to get court marshaled for it so be it.
When it finally opened in what seemed to take a lifetime he ran forward like he had never ran before. Spotting the XO he simply said, "Run! It's going to blow."
Lillian was slightly annoyed that not only had Matthew ignored her but now had flung her over his shoulder and was carrying her about like some trussed steer. Secretly, she was starting to find him rather attractive, how he had valiantly saved her life... but she was trying not to show that.
She heard the voices of the others and Matthews telling them to run. "Yes!" She backed him up, still grimacing in pain. "We really need to get clear. The impulse reactor is going to overload.
Kotan appeared from a building doorway and waved them in, "The structure should be enough to survive the blast!"
Tamaska nodded, "Everyone inside." making certain they were all in and in relative safety, before the door was closed.
Neshia, shivered at the sight she saw, worried about the injured pilot. "Let's see about her wounds." indicating Carter. Moving towards where Matthews was holding Carter. "Here put her there." pointing towards something that would serve a place where Carter could lie down and be treated.
Tamaska looked over towards Carter then felt the building shake as the shuttle exploded. She was knocked off her feet, by the ripple of the ground from the shuttle's explosion.
Edward leaned against the door frame and then spoke what was on every one's mind, or so he thought. " I hope either the ship or another team saw that explosion and sends some help. We have wounded, no communication, no transportation or transporter access and to top it off alien hostiles." He looked about the room to see what could be used to barricade the door or build them some fortifications in case the aliens got in somehow. " I've got twelve sticks of beef jerky in my pack, That's two per person. But that won't last us long.
Edward stroked his beard. " We're going to need an action plan in case help doesn't come soon. I have a few suggestions for survival." He turned to Tamaska. " Commander, this be your show, What be your orders?"
Lillian tried not to squirm as they treated her leg. She looked over at Matthews. "Thanks for saving me." she said, her cheeks flushed slightly, and she looked away, slightly embarrassed. "Woah..." she said as she felt the pain diminish. She had obviously been injected with something. "We lost all control and just fell out of the sky. Something about that ionization effect completely stalled the engines."
Tamaska nodded, "That explains what's been going on. We had heard the Captain's voice coming over the communications and now I don't think we can communicate with him or his team right now."
She looked at Teach. "Of all the away teams, we are actually the closest to the ship. I suggest we head for the ship since we'd not taken a shuttle. I do not know if they are able to get through to us, due to the ionization of the atmosphere. Therefore, I say we head back, finish getting Carter patched up and proceed from there."
"Yes ma'am," Bobby said the XO. "Have we anything we can wrap it with for support?" he wondered.
Although still slightly hazy from whatever they had given her for the pain, Lillian had picked up on one part of the conversation. " Hang on! Did someone just mention hostile aliens? What hostile aliens?"
"Are they T'Kon?" Bobby asked curiously. He decided to pull off his jacket and use that to try wrap it round the Chiefs leg. "Wow have they been in stasis or something? What do we know ma'am?"
"At this moment, I have no clue as to what the others are facing. We've not come across anything hostile." Tamaska took off her own jacket to help bind Carter's leg. Once that was done, Tamaska went to the door to take a look outside.
Tamaska noted the damage that had been done with the explosion of the wave-rider. Then went out to gather some branches to help stabilize Carter's injuries, bringing them inside the building. "This should help out. And we can make a makeshift litter to get Carter back to the Copernicus, I'll go get them."
Neshia started to fix a splint for Carter's leg. "This should help you out even more." she remarked.
Tamaska stepped outside to gather some other branches long enough to use for poles and some vines with which to make the sling in which Carter would ride in, and brought them into the building.
"Teach, help me out with this, and then we can get going."
Edward did as instructed and helped assemble the litter. " I'll take first watch while you cut in case we run into any of them gremlins, And we can switch when you get tired Commander. "
Without warning it appeared, moving slowly from the shadows, it was curious as to what its prey actually was. It had only been accustomed to dealing with its creators, a telepathic race of superior intelligence, grace and poise. These creatures were a mix of all of that but also greedy, lust and other traits the T'Kon had deemed lesser traits. It stopped for a moment to observe in full sight, its lips quivering in anticipation of the first kill and tasting the sweet flesh.
It could see a female with grey skin separate from the rest, she smelt sweet with another life growing within her. Slowly it approached inhaling deeply. This was when the other grey skinned one, the male, stepped between it and its prey. A scream erupted from its jaw and it bared its teeth, readied its talons.
Neshia froze when she heard the scream from some hellish beast, she just couldn't move. What was it? Her breathe came out in short gasps, she was paralyzed with fright.
Inside, Lillian heard some awful sound that evoked primal images of some vicious beast and sat bolt upright. "Did you hear that?" She asked the others, suddenly alarmed. "I think we better get out of here, I don't know about you guys, but I don't fancy the idea of becoming a hot lunch."
The doors flung open and in a mass of limbs and tumbling colours of black, grey and red Kotan and the creature burst in. Kotan had both of its clawed hands clasped in his own hands, bleed seeping from a wound on the cardassians stomach, the creatures jaws snapping so close to the young mans face that it could easily have sunk its fangs into his cheek. Kotan had no chance to speak or shout, he just continued his life and death struggle with the beast in front of them. The creature spotted easier prey and went to move off to lunge at Ensign Carter but Kotan held fast, not allowing it to go.
Tamaska who was outside, whirled around when she heard the scream and dropped the limbs she had been weaving together for the litter. She bolted inside, and saw Kotan's struggle. Her heart dropped, she left her people alone! She assumed they would be safe inside. She hadn't checked, can't worry about that. Without a second thought, Tamaska jumped on the back of the creature, wrapping one arm around its neck, her boot knife already in hand, plunging the blade into the creature. It probably wouldn't phase it much but, she hoped that this would get the thing off of Kotan. And put its focus onto her.
Kotan held fast, not allowing it to achieve purchase on Neshia or Commander Holt, instead he would maintain his grip allowing Neshia to find shelter and Holt to continue her assault.
"Neshia, get out of here!" Tamaska growled out to the scientist. as she changed her angle of her blade to stab the base of the neck where it meets the shoulder hoping to injure shoulder and making it lose the use of it. Stabbing again and again.
Neshia woke out of her stupor and moved to help get Carter out of there. Wondering where they could go to hide. Though the thing seemed to be a hunter of some sort. If hunter, then it could smell them and hunt them out. "Where shall we go? Outside? What if there is some others?"
"Matthews get them out of here! Teach get a bead on it and shoot it!"
Edward rushed forward towards the melee. His eyes narrowed as he got within point blank range of the creature and fired two burst of heavy stun into and exposed ribcage. He helped his crew mates get free from the creature and reset the phaser to it's highest setting. What would you like me to do Commander? Stun it some more or turn it to ash? Your call. "
It shrugged of the phaser fire like droplets of water from a swans wing but it now saw new prey, more dangerous than the retreating females. It angled itself, twisting its claws in Kotan's grip, slashing with its talons until it could feel the warmth of his blood from the gash it had created on his captors arm. Kotan was unable to hold his grip and the creature leapt from him directly at the one holding the weapon.
Edward pivoted and side stepped the creature and allowed it to pass him as he fired directly into it's back. " BACK TO THE ABYSS YA BLOODY HELLSPAWN!! " He shouted at the creature. His face darkened as he pulled a 20 cm blade from his boot. He glared at it and snarled. " One of us is going to be sayin hello to me EX tonight, And it won't be me. "
Mathews made to lift Carter up over his shoulder again and said to Neshia, "This way. You keep an eye on our six and I'll be eyes going forward. We are going to make a run for it back to the ship."
The creature pulled back its lips in a snarl that flashed the fangs of a predator but as it coiled preparing to pounce it suddenly stopped, frozen in place.
Neshia was following Matthews doing as he suggested then stopped, "The creature stopped, Kotan, Let me help you!" moving towards her husband.
"Neshia no!" Tamaska barked out. "Get back and head for the ship, I'll help Kotan. Just move it!"
"Make sure you do!" Neshia snapped back. She was starting to feel just a bit grumpy.
"Teach, lets get rid of the monster!" Tamaska spouted off to him. Resuming her attack.
Still unmoving it was frozen in place, like a fly trapped in amber. Its eyes still darting back and forth but it was not able to move its limbs.
Tamaska was about to make another strike then she paused, she didn't know what had made it stop, normally she'd continue the attack. However the sight of Kotan bleeding, and the shape of Carter and Neshia being pregnant. "Second thought, Teach, we need to get out of here now!" Tamaska realized that whatever has caused the creature to stop, it would be better for her to get her people out of there. "Grab Kotan, I'll get Neshia."
And on that note, Tamaska swiftly turned and swept Neshia off her feet, and into her arms.
"Sorry, but we've got to move, and it will be faster this way."
"Wait, what about my husband!" Neshia protested.
"Teach has him!" Tamaska replied pausing only for a moment to check Teach's progress. "We can't lose anyone, no, not this time!" she turned back around and carefully cradling Neshia close like a mom would a child, Tamaska picked up speed. "Don't worry, we'll make it to the ship."
From her viewpoint over Mattews's shoulder, Lillian could see the carnage unfolding. Still groggy, yet horrified, she managed to reach the phaser on his belt, set it to maximum, and fired at the creature at point-blank range.
Edward glanced at Kotan as he lifted him up in his arms. " Alright Kotan, wrap your uninjured arm around me neck and hold on. This ain't gonna be a smooth ride, but it'll be quick. We'll get the Doc to patch you up right quick so you can take care of that wife and soon to be baby of yours. " With that said Edward took off at a sprint towards the ships and ran as if the devil himself was chasing him.
All, Tamaska could think of was hopefully get her people to the ship into relative safety and then hopefully make contact with the others. Were they facing some other awful situations and even how was Keiben and the others doing? When they got near the ship, Tamaska set Neshia down and tapped on her commbadge. "This is Commander Holt, Charlie are you there? Open the ship!" hoping that communications was up and running.
END
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