Mission 7: Flight of the Wolves

NPC wrote:

[Rooftop - Outside Monongahela]

=/\=The crew of your shuttle, this Mon-... What? ...Mono-nga-hel-a... Your people are still alive. Most of them. I have no desire for prisoners, only to keep you from ever letting these grey-skin monsters grow as strong as they used to be. I want them to starve. I want them to suffer. To pray tearfully for their gods to deliver them from their wretched squalor as they look out over the fields of fresh, shallow graves. The silence will be their answer.=/\=

[Bridge]

The initial report after the impact of the torpedo had been relatively promising. There were some reports of minor injuries from being thrown about, but sickbay had it covered, and the ship -the more important consideration at the moment- was intact. Shields were fine, and holding steady at just under full strength. The hard-nosed Romulan tactical officer was able to breathe easy at last.

Well, that is, was able to until her console registered a transmission coming through. Her mind briefly flicked to the jamming signal, then realized it had to be coming from them for it to be able to get through. "Captain, incoming transmission," she said blankly. Immediately, she played the thing aloud, and a few moments later her blood ran cold with the intentions of the people delivering the message.

"Someone has survived the crash," she stated immediately. How long they would stay alive was another matter entirely. But now there was another thing to worry about.

"I am suspecting terrorist activity." She didn't hold a whole bucket of warmth for the Cardassian colony, but she didn't want them to die. "We have two cardassian crew members down here," she reminded. "They could be at risk."

With determination, Safefta attempted to track down the source of the transmission, or send a message back. She couldn't get through. "They do not seem to expect a reply."

Ilana Telak wrote:

[Pullock V - Hospital]

Ilana glanced down at her communicator as the message came through, her facial scales shifting slightly into an expression first of surprise then of concern.  Whatever was happening out there, it couldn't be good.

Since Nelkar seemed to have made up his mind about a plan of action, there was little left for the young Cardassian to do other than to pack up her medical kit, inform the Chief Medical Officer she had been working, and head out to the entrance of the hospital to wait for him.  She kept a tight grip on the strap of her medkit, scanning the thin crowd of Cardassians for one in a Starfleet uniform.

Trepidation seemed to fill the faces of every Cardassian he past. Nelkar didn't pay them any mind. He had far more important things to concern himself with, and even if he didn't, that wasn't a set of encounters worth having. The Cardassian who defected. At least, that's what they had to think.

Somehow, he didn't think even knowing the truth would sit well with them. How dare he sit comfortably in starfleet while he people starved and struggled? Well, starfleet really wasn't that pleasant... But the point was that he was doing this all for them anyway. He sighed as he walked. He was gaining so many different masks that he was going to forget what was underneath.

The crowd around him carried few people, so it was easy to find the thin doctor he was looking for. "Telak. Er, lieutenant," he greeted. "The crash site seems to be over that mountain. We should go and attempt to help. Everyone here is too busy, and I don't think the ship can be much help."

Tufezr Nefen wrote:

To say that the ship was in disarray, what with the sudden attack of a nearby vessel and the proton torpedo that had slammed into their shields, was more than just an understatement. Tufezr hadn't been here all that long, but he'd been here long enough to know when Engineering was going to have hell to pay to the Captain if they couldn't get things working around here. So he dashed to the nearest unmanned console, which just happened to be flashing a number of signals and lights about the many operations being attempted throughout the ship. Countless people were trying to activate comms but it seemed like the jamming signal he'd heard briefly about was blocking everything onboard the ship as well as keeping the ship from contacting or being contacted by the planet. Interesting.

If they sent out a jamming signal powerful enough to keep intership comms down as well as ship to surface comms...It must be directional. Tufezr and his symbiote thought near in tandem, their combined memories and experiences making the consclusion all the more rational sounding in their shared mind. The Joined Trill worked as quickly as he could, rerouting power from auxiliary to the bridge and ship-wide comms, hoping that would somehow help but unsure seeing as he couldn't call in and ask what they needed. It will have to do, now to see if we can't trace that signal...

With that, the Ensign put his Engineering knowledge and skill to the test, hurrying to a different console, and crouching down to open the panel beneath it. Then he quickly began to re-calibrate the deflector dish, remembering a time one of his symbiote's hosts presented the theory that a deflector dish could be used to re-direct a directional jamming signal, not only inerting it's effects but making it possible to trace it's origins.

[USS Phoenix - Main Engineering]

Ah, yes. Starship life. One moment, Gabriel was in his office, checking reports, getting re-acclimated to the daily basis of his position as Chief Engineering Officer. A flicker of motion caught the corner of his eye, and he smiled as a holophoto image of his two daughters wiggled on the holographic lap of their mother. It was hard to get the little ones hold still for any length of time.

And then, of course, all hell breaks loose.

Gabe rushed out of the office, quickly catching up to the situation, and what the Trill ensign was attempting. "Go for it, Mr. Nefen," he nodded. "I'll see what we can do about getting the commlines open back to the bridge." Calling out for one of the software techs, Gabriel set about to re-routing communications through the main sensor grid.

Jiseth wrote:

The Romulan leaned in and kissed Fornell's forehead. His eyes were closed and his breathing deep then cut short. The muffled hiss of the shot burning through his chest pointblank and scorching his heart. The rifle fell from Jiseth's hand as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and held him as tightly as she could. Her body shook as the tears ran quickly down her face, her teeth clenched hard. But it was the smell. The burnt flesh and boiling blood. There was only so long she could hold back before the Romulan let out cry that made her throat burn and lungs beg for air before she finally stopped.

[Planetside - Crash Site]

Gavin blinked several times, wincing as his vision slowly came back. If he thought his ears had been ringing before...well, he could barely hear a thing now. Whoever...whatever...had attacked them seemed to be gone. He wondered how long they'd been out. Gavin knew that, somehow, he could calculate in his head to gain a fairly educated guess, but...he'd be damned if his brain wanted to work right now.

"Jiseth..." he called out, stumbling over more wreckage. "We...oh God, no," he said, finally realizing what had happened. Losing one crewmember had been too much, but more? He needed neither his keen intellect, nor Jiseth's quite Klingon-like howl to tell him that it was, once again, too late. Too little, too late. You wanted to be a doctor your whole life, and people keep dropping like flies all around you.

"We have to get the hell out of here," he repeated, tugging blooded fingers at Jiseth's uniform fabric. "Have to go. We're trapped in here, targets, nothing but targets," he mumbled, feeling a sharp sense of panic start to well into his heart as it thudded in his ears.

Nelkar Epath wrote:

Trepidation seemed to fill the faces of every Cardassian he past. Nelkar didn't pay them any mind. He had far more important things to concern himself with, and even if he didn't, that wasn't a set of encounters worth having. The Cardassian who defected. At least, that's what they had to think.

Somehow, he didn't think even knowing the truth would sit well with them. How dare he sit comfortably in starfleet while he people starved and struggled? Well, starfleet really wasn't that pleasant... But the point was that he was doing this all for them anyway. He sighed as he walked. He was gaining so many different masks that he was going to forget what was underneath.

The crowd around him carried few people, so it was easy to find the thin doctor he was looking for. "Telak. Er, lieutenant," he greeted. "The crash site seems to be over that mountain. We should go and attempt to help. Everyone here is too busy, and I don't think the ship can be much help."

[Pullok V - Hospital]

Having been waiting in the lobby, looking out for a yellow Stafleet uniform, it didn't take long for Ilana to spot Nelkar, nor did it take long for him to spot her. Gripping the strap of her medkit tighter, she took a few steps toward the other Cardassian, closing the gap faster.

"E-Ensign Epath," she replied in acknowledgement of his arrival. As he gestured toward where the shuttle seemed to have gone down, she felt her heart sink. That was a long way to travel on foot if they had to. Given that a shuttle had gone down, it was unlikely that they would take another, or any kind of air transportation, just in case it too was shot down. "Th-th-there m-may b-b-be s-s-significant c-c-casualties f-from th-th-the c-crash. W-we n-n-need a p-plan."

Thelos th'Zhela wrote:

[Sickbay]

Thelos had squished his one antenna a bit in hitting the ground, but hadn't noticed the discomfort until now. Ow, he thought to himself unhappily as he rubbed the kink out and pulled himself up after Zero had. He was thinking about suggesting some handrails for sickbay, but he had a feeling no one would take that seriously.

She was right, although once again masterfully stating the obvious. The Andorian dusted himself off and sighed heavily. "If they're going to yank us into these conflicts, the least the could do is drop a quick line to us. I'd quite like to know what casualties we're expecting for.. Whatever this scuffle is about."

[Sickbay]

Brushing the last of the invisible dust from her uniform, Zero made her way over to one of the consoles, hoping to be able to patch in to the ship's systems or sensors somehow in order to find out what was happening up on the bridge. Chances were that she wouldn't be able to get anywhere, but at least she could try.

And yes, apparently the communications lines were down. She sighed. "I am unable to access the sensor systems to determine that which has happened, nor any mentions of casualty reports. It would appear that we have taken quite a hit."

Safefta Pardek wrote:

[Bridge]
Well, that is, was able to until her console registered a transmission coming through. Her mind briefly flicked to the jamming signal, then realized it had to be coming from them for it to be able to get through. "Captain, incoming transmission," she said blankly. Immediately, she played the thing aloud, and a few moments later her blood ran cold with the intentions of the people delivering the message.

"Someone has survived the crash," she stated immediately. How long they would stay alive was another matter entirely. But now there was another thing to worry about.

"I am suspecting terrorist activity." She didn't hold a whole bucket of warmth for the Cardassian colony, but she didn't want them to die. "We have two cardassian crew members down here," she reminded. "They could be at risk."

With determination, Safefta attempted to track down the source of the transmission, or send a message back. She couldn't get through. "They do not seem to expect a reply."

[Bridge]

The transmission from the surface certainly didn't do anything to put Archangel's mind at ease about the crashed shuttle.  She had good people, good crewmembers on that shuttle and she wanted to make sure that they had survived.  

Now that the terrorists had revealed themselves, she grew more and more concerned for the members of her crew down assisting with the relief efforts down on the planet, not only for the two Cardassians, but for everyone.  It was obvious that these terrorists weren't going to back off just because of a uniform.

"Get me a channel down to the planet, now!  Launch that probe idea of yours, Rellek.  Someone get me a line to Engineering, find out how soon we can start beaming our people back up.  And notify Starfleet Command that there has been a terrorist threat declared at Pullock V."

Archangel T'Koris wrote:

[Bridge]

The transmission from the surface certainly didn't do anything to put Archangel's mind at ease about the crashed shuttle.  She had good people, good crewmembers on that shuttle and she wanted to make sure that they had survived.  

Now that the terrorists had revealed themselves, she grew more and more concerned for the members of her crew down assisting with the relief efforts down on the planet, not only for the two Cardassians, but for everyone.  It was obvious that these terrorists weren't going to back off just because of a uniform.

"Get me a channel down to the planet, now!  Launch that probe idea of yours, Rellek.  Someone get me a line to Engineering, find out how soon we can start beaming our people back up.  And notify Starfleet Command that there has been a terrorist threat declared at Pullock V."

Safefta's expression didn't change as her fingers whirred over the console. She wanted this problem solved just as much as anyone else. It was actually doing anything that was going too be the issue. As it stood, they had no idea where the shuttle was, and they'd already taken fire.

Her console yielded nothing but frustration. She looked up at her captain. " I cannot cut through the interference. No message to the surface is possible, and no message out can be sent," she reported Ina tone that was as emotionless as her face. "In fact, inter-ship communication is also being jammed. We cannot contact anyone."

Gabriel Arthur wrote:

[USS Phoenix - Main Engineering]

Ah, yes.  Starship life.  One moment, Gabriel was in his office, checking reports, getting re-acclimated to the daily basis of his position as Chief Engineering Officer.  A flicker of motion caught the corner of his eye, and he smiled as a holophoto image of his two daughters wiggled on the holographic lap of their mother.  It was hard to get the little ones hold still for any length of time.

And then, of course, all hell breaks loose.

Gabe rushed out of the office, quickly catching up to the situation, and what the Trill ensign was attempting.  "Go for it, Mr. Nefen," he nodded.  "I'll see what we can do about getting the commlines open back to the bridge."  Calling out for one of the software techs, Gabriel set about to re-routing communications through the main sensor grid.

Tufezr had only just gotten the panel open when he heard the Lieutenant Commander calling out to him briefly, so he managed to nod as the Chief of Engineering continued onward. Quickly as he could, the Trill continued with his work, removing the panel and setting it aside before rerouting the many chips and couplings inside that controlled a number of different things, but in particular they provided Main Engineering side access to the deflector dish. While he had already directed as much auxiliary power as he could to the bridge for their use, main power was still mostly balanced throughout the ship, and as a general rule Main Engineering got most of it anyway.

IT took him a few minutes to reroute power the way he wanted it to be routed, but he hoped it would pay off as he climbed out from under the deflector array console. He stood and briefly dusted his tunic off before getting to work, his fingers tapping away at the LCARS panel before him as he attempted several different frequencies, trying to get the deflector dish to lock in to the jamming signal and redirect it long enough to eliminate it's interference with the ship's sensors and communications.

Tufezr Nefen wrote:

Tufezr had only just gotten the panel open when he heard the Lieutenant Commander calling out to him briefly, so he managed to nod as the Chief of Engineering continued onward. Quickly as he could, the Trill continued with his work, removing the panel and setting it aside before rerouting the many chips and couplings inside that controlled a number of different things, but in particular they provided Main Engineering side access to the deflector dish. While he had already directed as much auxiliary power as he could to the bridge for their use, main power was still mostly balanced throughout the ship, and as a general rule Main Engineering got most of it anyway.

IT took him a few minutes to reroute power the way he wanted it to be routed, but he hoped it would pay off as he climbed out from under the deflector array console. He stood and briefly dusted his tunic off before getting to work, his fingers tapping away at the LCARS panel before him as he attempted several different frequencies, trying to get the deflector dish to lock in to the jamming signal and redirect it long enough to eliminate it's interference with the ship's sensors and communications.

[Engineering]

Smart guy, Gabriel thought, as he spared half a moment's attention on what Nefen was doing. Well, there were myriad things that fought for his attention - Engineering was, on a quiet day, still a rather busy place. In the middle of an emergency? When an unknown force had knocked the spit out of the ship and sent them flying blind? Even more so. All his staff seemed to be taking it almost as an affront to them that something would attack the ship in such a way.

A section of the MSD panel lit up like the Centauran phosphorous seas in the summer as Gabriel piggybacked the comm signals to the sensors. He hoped that, while it was a logical assumption that if they couldn't communicate, the sensors couldn't reach out much, either. Maybe, though, the internal array might be open. Maybe.

=^="Engineering to bridge,"=^= he called out into a sea of static. =^="What in the hell's going on out there?"=^=

Gavin Van Gelder wrote:

"Jiseth..." he called out, stumbling over more wreckage.  "We...oh God, no," he said, finally realizing what had happened.  Losing one crewmember had been too much, but more?  He needed neither his keen intellect, nor Jiseth's quite Klingon-like howl to tell him that it was, once again, too late.  Too little, too late.  You wanted to be a doctor your whole life, and people keep dropping like flies all around you.

"We have to get the hell out of here," he repeated, tugging blooded fingers at Jiseth's uniform fabric.  "Have to go.  We're trapped in here, targets, nothing but targets," he mumbled, feeling a sharp sense of panic start to well into his heart as it thudded in his ears.

[Planetside - Crash Site]

Go? Go where?

Jiseth was without those who she most depended on to make her will manifest. She was without her hands. Gavin was a liability in a combat situation, so chasing down others dressed similarly as the two corpses was out of the question. The others of her squadron had a paltry amount of hand phasers and those mounted on the shuttles. Hardly a match for whatever downed the Monongahela in a single shot. Then again, her shields were down at the time.

Strange no one had come to their aid yet. It seemed Cardassian order was similar to that of Romulan. Keep your head down when trouble arises. Keep out of sight and out of suspicion. Every bit of her wanted to retaliate. She had never thought much of Cardassians until she had met Ensign Telak's family. There was a fair bit of respect cultivated from the encounter, but this was different. Her wrath would be as swift and terrible as that of the Dominion's.

Yanking her arm free of Gavin's grip, Jiseth rose away from Fornell and stepped to the bodies slumped over the copilot console. She eyed the other rifle on the floor and wondered how many Starfleet, Klingon, even Romulan lives were ended by it during the war. Grabbing at nearest one's garbs that shrouded his face, she pulled them away swiftly and instead of seeing swept black hair and scaly ridges, she instead smooth skin and a ridged nose. Pushing that body aside, she did the same to the other and found the same.

"They're Bajorans..."

She looked to the open panel and saw what had been taken, a moment later began punching the already quite broken LCARS screen. Just when she had made peace with certain aspects of her Captain's life, they were about to be brought to the forefront. Jisth did not waste another moment and moved to the rear of the cabin and dug through the debris to find the emergency kit. Tossing aside the first aid materials, she took hold of a snub-nosed device and stepped out the open hatch.

It would be an archaic method, but one she knew her other crews would be looking out for. No one could have missed the crash among them. Raising the device skyward, Jiseth squeezed it's trigger and sent a gout of orange flame into the air. It soared up several thousand feet before fading out. A dead giveaway to anyone and everyone, but she had to gamble that her shuttles, or at least one of them, would get there first.

"Gavin! Salvage the medical gear, we might need it."

Ilana Telak wrote:

Having been waiting in the lobby, looking out for a yellow Stafleet uniform, it didn't take long for Ilana to spot Nelkar, nor did it take long for him to spot her.  Gripping the strap of her medkit tighter, she took a few steps toward the other Cardassian, closing the gap faster.

"E-Ensign Epath," she replied in acknowledgement of his arrival.  As he gestured toward where the shuttle seemed to have gone down, she felt her heart sink.  That was a long way to travel on foot if they had to.  Given that a shuttle had gone down, it was unlikely that they would take another, or any kind of air transportation, just in case it too was shot down.  "Th-th-there m-may b-b-be s-s-significant c-c-casualties f-from th-th-the c-crash.  W-we n-n-need a p-plan."

[Pullok V - Hospital]

"I can do that for you... Get down!"

Gly had a moment before appeared from a mist of swarming yellow light as had eight others of her. All of them covered head to toe and set about firing their weapons into the ceiling and rushing to the stair wells. They never really stopped, just aimed their weapons at a doctor or nurse they saw and pulled the trigger until the body fell to the floor without breaking their stride. The screams confirmed their deeds as they went out of view.

Their leader however stayed in the lobby with her weapon drawn still at the young Cardassian woman. There was little worry, what fool would dare end up like those laying on the ground now. Fear was such a useful tool and it gave Gly a deep sense of satisfaction that it was a Bajoran instilling it instead of Gul.

"We're only here to kill the medics, so now is not the time to be afraid. That comes later..."

She looked at the medical kit that Ilana was holding, then back to her and prepared to squeeze the trigger of her pistol.

"...Which has just arrived as it turns out."

NPC wrote:

[Pullok V - Hospital]

"I can do that for you... Get down!"

Gly had a moment before appeared from a mist of swarming yellow light as had eight others of her. All of them covered head to toe and set about firing their weapons into the ceiling and rushing to the stair wells. They never really stopped, just aimed their weapons at a doctor or nurse they saw and pulled the trigger until the body fell to the floor without breaking their stride. The screams confirmed their deeds as they went out of view.

Their leader however stayed in the lobby with her weapon drawn still at the young Cardassian woman. There was little worry, what fool would dare end up like those laying on the ground now. Fear was such a useful tool and it gave Gly a deep sense of satisfaction that it was a Bajoran instilling it instead of Gul.

"We're only here to kill the medics, so now is not the time to be afraid. That comes later..."

She looked at the medical kit that Ilana was holding, then back to her and prepared to squeeze the trigger of her pistol.

"...Which has just arrived as it turns out."

[Pullok V - Hospital]

For those who had ever worked with Ilana for any length of time, it was common knowledge that the skinny, waifish Cardassian was just about scared of everything, up to and including her own shadow. For those who knew her better, it was clear to see that buried somewhere deep inside the stammering, trembling young woman was a core of fire, and a core of fire that a certain Klingon had worked hard to cultivate.

Generally, she was quite unperturbed by people insulting or intimidating her. It went with her nature. She just tried to get through life while causing the minimum of ripples in the world around her. However, there were three things that one did not mess with when it came to the shy Cardassian: Raynor, her plants, and her patients.

This woman and her band of terrorists had just violated one of those elements.

Anger boiled up from Ilana's core, prompting her to completely ignore the threat of the phaser being leveled at her. "L-l-leave m-my p-p-patients alone, y-y-you b-b-big b-bully!" she snarled, wishing that her stammer didn't make her threats sound hollow. In fact, just to back up the threat, the tiny, frail-looking Cardassian threw caution to the wind completely and charged at the Bajoran.

Ilana Telak wrote:

[Pullok V - Hospital]

For those who had ever worked with Ilana for any length of time, it was common knowledge that the skinny, waifish Cardassian was just about scared of everything, up to and including her own shadow.  For those who knew her better, it was clear to see that buried somewhere deep inside the stammering, trembling young woman was a core of fire, and a core of fire that a certain Klingon had worked hard to cultivate.

Generally, she was quite unperturbed by people insulting or intimidating her.  It went with her nature.  She just tried to get through life while causing the minimum of ripples in the world around her.  However, there were three things that one did not mess with when it came to the shy Cardassian:  Raynor, her plants, and her patients.

This woman and her band of terrorists had just violated one of those elements.

Anger boiled up from Ilana's core, prompting her to completely ignore the threat of the phaser being leveled at her.  "L-l-leave m-my p-p-patients alone, y-y-you b-b-big b-bully!" she snarled, wishing that her stammer didn't make her threats sound hollow.  In fact, just to back up the threat, the tiny, frail-looking Cardassian threw caution to the wind completely and charged at the Bajoran.

[Pullock V - Hospital]

He never got a chance to go through any plans with Ilana. Within moments of the doors opening, the room was alight with weapons fire. They were unidentifiable, but that hardly mattered as the medical personnel around them began to drop one by one. Nelkar was wondering why he wasn't being hit, but realized what was happening by the words that came from the leaders.

A sickening tactic, to o after the healers. Before Nelkar could pull his phaser and react to the violence, the corner of his eye caught sight of the waifish doctor he was with running after one of the terrorists. One glance at the weapon pointed at her and he knew that if he didn't move, shed be dead in momenta. Those weapons were not set to stun.

"Telak!" He shouted, immediately darting after her. She was only a few steps away, really. His hand caught the collar of her uniform, and he unceremoniously grabbed hold and flung her to the ground behind him. There was no way she was going to make it doing that tomfoolery. He rounded to face the terrorists. If they were only here to kill the medics, then maybe he stood a chance, but he didn't think of any reason why they wouldn't shoot him too.

Ah well. A couple extra seconds was worth something, he supposed.

Jiseth wrote:

Go? Go where?

Jiseth was without those who she most depended on to make her will manifest. She was without her hands. Gavin was a liability in a combat situation, so chasing down others dressed similarly as the two corpses was out of the question. The others of her squadron had a paltry amount of hand phasers and those mounted on the shuttles. Hardly a match for whatever downed the Monongahela in a single shot. Then again, her shields were down at the time.

Strange no one had come to their aid yet. It seemed Cardassian order was similar to that of Romulan. Keep your head down when trouble arises. Keep out of sight and out of suspicion. Every bit of her wanted to retaliate. She had never thought much of Cardassians until she had met Ensign Telak's family. There was a fair bit of respect cultivated from the encounter, but this was different. Her wrath would be as swift and terrible as that of the Dominion's.

Yanking her arm free of Gavin's grip, Jiseth rose away from Fornell and stepped to the bodies slumped over the copilot console. She eyed the other rifle on the floor and wondered how many Starfleet, Klingon, even Romulan lives were ended by it during the war. Grabbing at nearest one's garbs that shrouded his face, she pulled them away swiftly and instead of seeing swept black hair and scaly ridges, she instead smooth skin and a ridged nose. Pushing that body aside, she did the same to the other and found the same.

"They're Bajorans..."

She looked to the open panel and saw what had been taken, a moment later began punching the already quite broken LCARS screen. Just when she had made peace with certain aspects of her Captain's life, they were about to be brought to the forefront. Jisth did not waste another moment and moved to the rear of the cabin and dug through the debris to find the emergency kit. Tossing aside the first aid materials, she took hold of a snub-nosed device and stepped out the open hatch.

It would be an archaic method, but one she knew her other crews would be looking out for. No one could have missed the crash among them. Raising the device skyward, Jiseth squeezed it's trigger and sent a gout of orange flame into the air. It soared up several thousand feet before fading out. A dead giveaway to anyone and everyone, but she had to gamble that her shuttles, or at least one of them, would get there first.

"Gavin! Salvage the medical gear, we might need it."

[Planetside - Crash Site]

The loud pop sound of the flare gun was followed by an orange-tinted flash, both of which made Gavin flinch. He was still trying to work through the maze of confusion brought on by the discovery of the Bajorans. Of all the people in the quadrant he'd expected to shoot down a Federation craft, they'd been pretty low on the list.

"Medical, right," he nodded, relieved at having something, anything, to do. Gavin had the distinct feeling that Jiseth was a life-buoy at this particular instant. Well, that, and the fact that he was Starfleet-trained. Still...thinking of the Romulan as anything other than an adversary was...interesting.

However, there wasn't time to ruminate much on the concept. The junior science officer slung a medical kit over his shoulder, gathering up the secondary one in his arms like an Old Earth football. He cast a tentative look to the skies. It didn't take a genius to know that anyone, whatever their intentions, would be able to see it.

"I need you to take point on this," Gavin quietly said as he sidled next to Jiseth, wiping blood from his forehead wound with his other uniform sleeve. He figured he should have been surprised to be saying it, but...all his experience, all his learning, his knowledge, his adaptability...all of it had, until this moment, been in a theoretical capacity. Something to muse over in the climate-controlled laboratory. Hermetically sealed. Safe, in the grand scheme of it. Not at all like this.

Gavin Van Gelder wrote:

"I need you to take point on this," Gavin quietly said as he sidled next to Jiseth, wiping blood from his forehead wound with his other uniform sleeve.  He figured he should have been surprised to be saying it, but...all his experience, all his learning, his knowledge, his adaptability...all of it had, until this moment, been in a theoretical capacity.  Something to muse over in the climate-controlled laboratory.  Hermetically sealed.  Safe, in the grand scheme of it.  Not at all like this.

[Planetside - Crash Site]

There were no words from Jiseth, but a single index finger pointed to her collar which displayed her two pips amid crimson compared to the lonely one on Gavin's teal. A subtle lewd gesture could have been implied in the pointed out of rank. It was not untrue, however. She was the superior officer and the leader of the pack, at least of her squadron.

She looked to him, ready to reply with some crass remark should he pipe up, but quickly turned away to the skyline. Her eyes scanned the horizon for any sign of movement. Perhaps it would distract from the smell that seemed to crawl through the air to her nostrils. A few moments passed and she could hear the engines of a shuttle nearby. It began to echo and seemingly come from multiple directions before finally she caught a glimpse of the craft darting between building, barely above street level, on course for them.

The shuttle pulled up hard and spun around as the rear ramp lowered and the hatch opened. The Mondrian had arrived and Jiseth could see Ensign James Sheerhan at the controls along with several enlisted aboard who hurried out to inspect the damaged runabout. They were quickly barked at by their commander who ordered them to take the bodies of their comrades and leave the Monongahela before turning to Gavin.

"Move it!"

Turning away from him, she strode on to the shuttle as her men delicately brought Fornell and Meru inside as well. Jiseth wasted no time in dispensing her pleasantries.

"Congratulations, Night Owl, you're now a Lieutenant. Get us the hell out of here!"

"Aye, ma'am! Princess and the Diogenes is flying cover. She hasn't taken fire from the ground, but Phoenix isn't responding to our communications. The other craft landed for cover in a forest about 5 clicks from here."

"Signal, the Diogenes, we have to pick up the rest of our personnel. The hospital. Head there."

Jiseth moved back to the rear of the craft as the hatch locked and they lifted off. Her eyes closed and she drew a deep breath before giving a long look to Gavin.

"I need your brain power for this one. Also... There's a spare set of clothing in one of the cargo bins. Urine has an awful smell."

Ilana Telak wrote:

Anger boiled up from Ilana's core, prompting her to completely ignore the threat of the phaser being leveled at her.  "L-l-leave m-my p-p-patients alone, y-y-you b-b-big b-bully!" she snarled, wishing that her stammer didn't make her threats sound hollow.  In fact, just to back up the threat, the tiny, frail-looking Cardassian threw caution to the wind completely and charged at the Bajoran.

Nelkar Epath wrote:

"Telak!" He shouted, immediately darting after her. She was only a few steps away, really. His hand caught the collar of her uniform, and he unceremoniously grabbed hold and flung her to the ground behind him. There was no way she was going to make it doing that tomfoolery.  He rounded to face the terrorists. If they were only here to kill the medics, then maybe he stood a chance, but he didn't think of any reason why they wouldn't shoot him too.

Ah well. A couple extra seconds was worth something, he supposed.

[Pullock V - Hospital]

The frail female had knocked Gly off balance before Nelkar could get to her. She fell on to her back with a thud and to see herself vulnerable, with a Cardassian standing over her, a certain fuse had been lit. Never again did she want to be beneath these creatures. Aiming her weapon, she quickly fired at Nelkar's leg.

Next she noted that others were attempting to rush her as she was alone, but they stopped suddenly when she pointed her pistol at them. Their hesitation gave her enough time to get to her feet as her men returned from the stairwells and backed the people against the walls.

Gly turned her attention to the two in Starfleet uniforms and removed her helmet and facial garbs. Waving her pistol, she gestured Ilana to move toward Nelkar.

"Go ahead. Try to save him."

NPC wrote:

[Pullock V - Hospital]

The frail female had knocked Gly off balance before Nelkar could get to her. She fell on to her back with a thud and to see herself vulnerable, with a Cardassian standing over her, a certain fuse had been lit. Never again did she want to be beneath these creatures. Aiming her weapon, she quickly fired at Nelkar's leg.

Next she noted that others were attempting to rush her as she was alone, but they stopped suddenly when she pointed her pistol at them. Their hesitation gave her enough time to get to her feet as her men returned from the stairwells and backed the people against the walls.

Gly turned her attention to the two in Starfleet uniforms and removed her helmet and facial garbs. Waving her pistol, she gestured Ilana to move toward Nelkar.

"Go ahead. Try to save him."

Do no harm.

That was the vow that every Starfleet medical practitioner took. The Hippocratic Oath. One of medicine's most sacred rules. Once the terrorist went down, she found herself falling back as well under Nelkar's grip, but the fear that she had just violated one of her most stringent policies was still alive. She didn't even carry a hand phaser on away missions, so profound was her sense of duty.

She scrambled back to her feet just in time to see Nelkar hit in the leg by a phaser blast and gasped, immediately wanting to drop down next to him and begin administering treatment, but she knew that she couldn't. Not yet. She had to ensure that the situation was secure first and there was no one else around to do it.

Turning her gaze back to the terrorist, the young Cardassian tried to summon every single scrap of courage that a certain Klingon had tried to draw out of her. "H-h-he h-h-has s-s-survived w-worse," she stated simply. Don't lose focus now, Telak! You need to concentrate! Although she would have liked nothing better than to drop her gaze and shuffle away, she somehow had to keep herself standing in front of the Bajoran.

Steeling herself, Ilana took a couple of slow paces toward the terrorist, never breaking eye contact, until she was standing less than arms length from the phaser. She made no attempt to grab the weapon, her arms hanging loosely by her sides. "Wh-wh-what d-d-do y-you w-want?"

NPC wrote:

[Pullock V - Hospital]

The frail female had knocked Gly off balance before Nelkar could get to her. She fell on to her back with a thud and to see herself vulnerable, with a Cardassian standing over her, a certain fuse had been lit. Never again did she want to be beneath these creatures. Aiming her weapon, she quickly fired at Nelkar's leg.

Next she noted that others were attempting to rush her as she was alone, but they stopped suddenly when she pointed her pistol at them. Their hesitation gave her enough time to get to her feet as her men returned from the stairwells and backed the people against the walls.

Gly turned her attention to the two in Starfleet uniforms and removed her helmet and facial garbs. Waving her pistol, she gestured Ilana to move toward Nelkar.

"Go ahead. Try to save him."

Seconds turned to moments frozen as he watched the Bajoran reel back from Lana's impact. She was so small, he wondered how she'd managed it. She didn't seem to have done much aside from scare the terrorist... but it was still surprising. Maybe those seconds were just a figment of his imagination, because everything came rushing back at him when a bright flash sent a bolt of pain up his leg.

His ruined knee buckled under him as he failed to keep himself upright. The floor greeted him unforgivingly, but he managed to keep himself propped up with his arms. Despite the searing sensation that was traveling up his thigh, the stoic Cardassian managed to contain his expressions to a bad grimace. His training had refused him to show his pain. HE was shocked, too-- operatives of his particular branch of intelligence were provided with a brain implant that would dull pain. He was surprised that he hadn't given the mental cues to turn it on.

No. I can survive this without it.

Ilana Telak wrote:

Do no harm.

That was the vow that every Starfleet medical practitioner took.  The Hippocratic Oath.  One of medicine's most sacred rules.  Once the terrorist went down, she found herself falling back as well under Nelkar's grip, but the fear that she had just violated one of her most stringent policies was still alive.  She didn't even carry a hand phaser on away missions, so profound was her sense of duty.  

She scrambled back to her feet just in time to see Nelkar hit in the leg by a phaser blast and gasped, immediately wanting to drop down next to him and begin administering treatment, but she knew that she couldn't.  Not yet.  She had to ensure that the situation was secure first and there was no one else around to do it.

Turning her gaze back to the terrorist, the young Cardassian tried to summon every single scrap of courage that a certain Klingon had tried to draw out of her.  "H-h-he h-h-has s-s-survived w-worse," she stated simply.  Don't lose focus now, Telak!  You need to concentrate!  Although she would have liked nothing better than to drop her gaze and shuffle away, she somehow had to keep herself standing in front of the Bajoran.

Steeling herself, Ilana took a couple of slow paces toward the terrorist, never breaking eye contact, until she was standing less than arms length from the phaser.  She made no attempt to grab the weapon, her arms hanging loosely by her sides.  "Wh-wh-what d-d-do y-you w-want?"

Nelkar exhaled loudly through his nose as he watched the damned doctor get up at start moving toward the terrorists again. Did she think they wouldn't kill her? Do you have no concept of the fact that they won't hesitate to put a hole through that thick head of yours? he thought to himself through the agony he was fighting.

"Telak..." he said in a warning tone. "She's playing games with you... don't... bother. You'll just get yourself killed."

Jiseth wrote:

There were no words from Jiseth, but a single index finger pointed to her collar which displayed her two pips amid crimson compared to the lonely one on Gavin's teal. A subtle lewd gesture could have been implied in the pointed out of rank. It was not untrue, however. She was the superior officer and the leader of the pack, at least of her squadron.

She looked to him, ready to reply with some crass remark should he pipe up, but quickly turned away to the skyline. Her eyes scanned the horizon for any sign of movement. Perhaps it would distract from the smell that seemed to crawl through the air to her nostrils. A few moments passed and she could hear the engines of a shuttle nearby. It began to echo and seemingly come from multiple directions before finally she caught a glimpse of the craft darting between building, barely above street level, on course for them.

The shuttle pulled up hard and spun around as the rear ramp lowered and the hatch opened. The Mondrian had arrived and Jiseth could see Ensign James Sheerhan at the controls along with several enlisted aboard who hurried out to inspect the damaged runabout. They were quickly barked at by their commander who ordered them to take the bodies of their comrades and leave the Monongahela before turning to Gavin.

"Move it!"

Turning away from him, she strode on to the shuttle as her men delicately brought Fornell and Meru inside as well. Jiseth wasted no time in dispensing her pleasantries.

"Congratulations, Night Owl, you're now a Lieutenant. Get us the hell out of here!"

"Aye, ma'am! Princess and the Diogenes is flying cover. She hasn't taken fire from the ground, but Phoenix isn't responding to our communications. The other craft landed for cover in a forest about 5 clicks from here."

"Signal, the Diogenes, we have to pick up the rest of our personnel. The hospital. Head there."

Jiseth moved back to the rear of the craft as the hatch locked and they lifted off. Her eyes closed and she drew a deep breath before giving a long look to Gavin.

"I need your brain power for this one. Also... There's a spare set of clothing in one of the cargo bins. Urine has an awful smell."

[Planetside]

Gav held his breath as the shuttlecrafts appeared, relaxing a little when he saw the gunmetal grey and distinctive Federation markings. His mother, Danielle, worked as a restorer of art, but he was pretty sure even she had never been more glad to see the name 'Mondrian'.

Clutching the medkits, he followed Jiseth onto the shuttlecraft after the fallen bodies of poor Meru and Fornell. Gavin didn't really know anyone in the Flight department, but it was still a solemn time...made only slightly less so by the urgency with which everyone was moving. They were out of the firefight for now, but he knew they were nowhere near safe.

Gavin set the medkits down and took a seat as the Mondrian lurched forward, heading toward the hospital, and God-knew-what else. He turned to face Jiseth, confusion momentarily clouding his features. "There should be little smell, if any," he absently said. "If the person in question is adequately hydrated and has no other medical condit...oh." Gavin frowned sharply. "That is obviously thorium grease," he added, taking a spare pair of slacks out of the storage bin.

[Pullock V - Hospital]

"Yes, let's play a game. Bring him!"

Gly shouted to her men and pointed to Telkar with her pistol while she grabbed the base of Ilana's neck firmly in her free hand and pulled her along through the lobby. She would only squeeze harder if her captive tried to resist. Hopefully this excursion would be over quickly. The Bajoran squinted as went out into the hot afternoon air.

There had been a group of people watching from outside, now being coaxed away by the display of firearms and masked figures. The armed men formed a semicircle and left Nelkar in the center after dragging him out. One opened the medical kit and dumped its contents on top of him before tossing the case aside. Everything seemed to be in order as Gly looked around and then to Ilana.

"Now then, you have a patient, there. A complication arises."

Shoving, her captive away, there was only a swift turn to aim from Bly before she shot Ilana in the hip. An uproar of laughter came from her and her men as she strutted between the two Cardassian Starfleet officers.

"You're going to have to chose. I don't think you have enough time to save the both of you, so save yourself and live to tend to others or save this one cretin and let yourself die."

NPC wrote:

[Pullock V - Hospital]

"Yes, let's play a game. Bring him!"

Gly shouted to her men and pointed to Telkar with her pistol while she grabbed the base of Ilana's neck firmly in her free hand and pulled her along through the lobby. She would only squeeze harder if her captive tried to resist. Hopefully this excursion would be over quickly. The Bajoran squinted as went out into the hot afternoon air.

There had been a group of people watching from outside, now being coaxed away by the display of firearms and masked figures. The armed men formed a semicircle and left Nelkar in the center after dragging him out. One opened the medical kit and dumped its contents on top of him before tossing the case aside. Everything seemed to be in order as Gly looked around and then to Ilana.

"Now then, you have a patient, there. A complication arises."

Shoving, her captive away, there was only a swift turn to aim from Bly before she shot Ilana in the hip. An uproar of laughter came from her and her men as she strutted between the two Cardassian Starfleet officers.

"You're going to have to chose. I don't think you have enough time to save the both of you, so save yourself and live to tend to others or save this one cretin and let yourself die."

[Pullock V - Hospital]

As soon as she had felt her neck being taken into a grip, Ilana had started to struggle. Her neck ridges were not a thing to be trifled with in the slightest, but she quickly found out that resisting the hold only made it stronger. Unfortunately, being trapped was one thing that she found intolerable, even when the fingers were digging deep enough into her skin that the terrorist's nails were starting to draw blood.

She quickly found herself thrown down onto the tiles of the hospital's lobby, a large, open room that she had crossed not all that long ago on her way to meet up with Nelkar in an attempt to find out what had happened to the Federation shuttle that had apparently been shot down. Twisting round, she tried to scramble back to her feet, but the movement didn't come fast enough. The phaser blast hit its mark on her hip, bringing a shrieking yelp from the young Cardassian as fabric, flesh and scale were all burned away. Pressing her forehead to the floor, she panted in pain, trying to will it away as she had seen other do, but without success. You're not strong enough.

"H-h-he l-lives," she managed to get out, her eyes squeezed shut as she tried to keep tears from spilling over. "Th-th-there a-are o-others wh-wh-who c-c-can t-t-take m-m-my p-p-place."

Gavin Van Gelder wrote:

Gav held his breath as the shuttlecrafts appeared, relaxing a little when he saw the gunmetal grey and distinctive Federation markings.  His mother, Danielle, worked as a restorer of art, but he was pretty sure even she had never been more glad to see the name 'Mondrian'.  

Clutching the medkits, he followed Jiseth onto the shuttlecraft after the fallen bodies of poor Meru and Fornell.  Gavin didn't really know anyone in the Flight department, but it was still a solemn time...made only slightly less so by the urgency with which everyone was moving.  They were out of the firefight for now, but he knew they were nowhere near safe.

Gavin set the medkits down and took a seat as the Mondrian lurched forward, heading toward the hospital, and God-knew-what else.  He turned to face Jiseth, confusion momentarily clouding his features.  "There should be little smell, if any," he absently said.  "If the person in question is adequately hydrated and has no other medical condit...oh."  Gavin frowned sharply.  "That is obviously thorium grease," he added, taking a spare pair of slacks out of the storage bin.

[Shuttle Mondrian]

There was a slight smirk from Jiseth, but it faded away as she crossed her arms and began to contemplate their next moves. They had yet to be shot down, but it could happen at any moment. Or would it? There were only two people who entered their runabout.

"Gavin... Fornell killed two of them yet there were no guards, no reinforcements, even though they were handling something sensitive... They transported it and were going to go on foot, but why not go along? What are we missing?"

Slowly, the others in the cabin turned to the stranger among them. There was a slight bit of reverence as Jiseth rarely asked anyone outside the department for their opinion. Even Zero's recommendations were bent from time to time so long as no one became impaired in their duties. They waited for some divination from the curly-haired oracle.

[Pullock V]

With one bad leg to be concerned about, Nelkar wasn't prepared for and couldn't defend against the rough arms that dragged him along the floor. He could kick all he wanted, yell all he wanted-- but he didn't. He was far, far more occupied with the horrifying realization that his movement was being marked with a very thick trail of blood- far more than a normal wound. The weapons... You bastards.

Being tossed into a ring of terrorists was bad enough, but the situation grew even more dire as he watched the sadistic leader shoot the doctor he was with. Oh, for the love of Cardassia... he though angrily, then attempted to get up. His leg and the pain shooting up it halted him. He couldn't bite through it.

The game was revealed. One of them dies? I think not... the irritated engineer thought to himself. He barely cared when Ilana made the idiotic decision he knew she would. "No, Telak," he said gruffly, quickly sifting through the medical supplies dumped on him for anything useful. "You can't help me if you die. Let's not play heroics," he continued, his movements growing more frantic at about the same rate as the puddle of blood was growing under him. He found something that could be used as a tourniquet and rapidly tied it around the upper part of his leg.

Dangerous and makeshift as it was, he couldn't afford to black out. I might lose the leg... he thought briefly to himself. Regardless, it seemed to be working. Still, he swayed slightly for a moment, allowing the faces around him to re-focus.

"We don't have time. Fix yourself." All pretense of rank had been dropped. Nelkar was far more used to giving orders, anyway.

Gabriel Arthur wrote:

=^="Engineering to bridge,"=^= he called out into a sea of static.  =^="What in the hell's going on out there?"=^=

[USS Phoenix - Bridge]

An immense surge of relief crashed over Archangel as she heard the familiar voice coming over the comm channel. Somehow, having Gabriel in charge of the engine room reassured her far more than anyone else being in control down there. He had trained under her for a significant amount of time back on the Discovery and then gone on to exceed what she had taught him. He was an engineer that she trusted implicitly.

However, as relieved as she was to hear his voice and know that he was still alive, the young Romulan had to concentrate on the ship and her crew.

"T'Koris here, engineering," she replied after tapping her comm badge. "We were hit by a torpedo from a terrorist movement. There's some sort of jamming signal keeping us from communicating or using sensors. See if you can break through it!"