Get to the Objective

Posted on Fri Feb 11th, 2011 @ 9:20pm by Captain Benjamin Byrne & Lieutenant Lianna Vanders

Mission: Bug-Eyed Bogies
Location: USS Endeavour, Decks 2 & 3
Timeline: MD07 1215hrs

Benjamin walked into the weapons locker to see it populated by Lianna and three other officers dressed in yellow tunics - the best shots his security chief had been able to gather in this section of the ship. He assessed them quickly; each held and checked their weapons over like someone who was used to handling the devices, and like people who were used to using them. Benjamin just hoped that their current demeanour wasn't just a front; he hoped that their actions would match when they got out through the corridors of the ship. Moving towards Lianna, he addressed her quietly, in a tone of confidentiality.

"These three the best you could get together in this section of the ship? How good are they?"

Lianna spoke, "Good enough to pick a Jemmie's head off at five hundred yards Captain." She said confidently.

"Good," Benjamin responded, making a mental note that after the current crisis was dealt with that he would get to know more of the crew onboard himself. "Then get them ready. We need to make quick progress towards the communications relay." He had already gotten his own weapons ready in his office before he had left deck one, so he left the Lieutenant to sort out her own security team while he went back over their route in his mind, double-checking it on the schematics he pulled up on the wall console next to the door.

Li looked over her team and prepared her phaser rifle. "Alright people, we're going to get out there, and we're going to kill every bug-eyed, alien, son-of-a-b*tch we find out there. And then! We're going to make, 'roaches check in, but they don't check out', the Endeavour's new ship mantra! Am I right Airborne?" She stated. Knowing full well that she had trained her own elite unit of security? And they volunteered too. Out of the five that volunteered, three made it.

Benjamin led the way out of the weapons locker. This deck was clear for the most part, with only minor damage to it, but he kept his eyes sharp, looking out for any threats regardless. The moved out of the locker, and down the corridor quietly, each of them holding their rifles out in front of them, ready to shoot at a moment's notice. Around the corner, past a console that had a large gash running down it, sparks showering the team, and they made it to the Jefferies tube entrance. Climbing into the junction room, Benjamin opened the hatch which sealed the access down the ladder to the decks below, and peered cautiously down. Clear. There was nothing moving, so holding his rifle with one hand, he attached himself to the ladder and began making his way down. Stepping off at deck three, he paused and waited for the rest of the team to follow him down.

Li began to use her telepathy to search for the bug's conscious thoughts. "No roaches yet."

They now had a journey to take through the ship's corridors to get to the array, near-enough on the other side of the deck. That gave a lot of opportunity for their 'guests' to have a go at them. Making sure that their team was ready with him, Benjamin moved out of the junction room, and into the corridors, leading the way. Almost as soon as the last security officer had left the junction room, the lights began to flicker, before going out all together, plunging them into blackness. "Halt!" Benjamin called, as he switched on the light affixed to the top of his rifle, sending a stream of illumination to penetrate the dark. It was too silent as Benjamin swept the corridor with his light, remaining low and still, ready to fire. He knew that if the bugs had deliberately taken out power, then it wouldn't be long until they came for them.

Li spoke in a whisper, "Captain, I'm sensing one of em."

The team heard a quiet chirping and clicking sound, only audible because there were no other sounds about. The sound was followed mere moments later by one of the bug creatures coming around the corner at speed, kept aloft by its humming large wings, using its feet along the wall to help it turn the corner without colliding right into the bulkhead. Benjamin wasted no time in opening fire at it, missing with his first shot, but landing two more right into the creature's centre of mass, taking it down.

Li took aim on the creatures head, after it went down, and put a bolt through it for good measure. "Stay sharp people, they can smell this drone's blood. They're going to be on top of us, quickly."

A humming sound could be heart moments later, coming from each side of the corridor. "Bunker down, guys, here they come," Benjamin said over the rising din. The nature of the buzz made it difficult to ascertain just how many of the creatures there were, but Ben guessed about four or five in each direction. When they came, they came quickly, and in a swarm. The small team opened fire, taking down each of the bugs with multiple shots, but Benjamin started to notice that some of the bugs were ever so slightly different... and some took more shots to take down than others. The last one to go down caught his eye, as well as a good number of blasts before it went down; he walked over and inspected it. The head of the creature bore marks which resembled the forehead ridges of a Klingon, and looked to be more heavily boned than the others - he looked them over; it was clear that each of them, whilst the same species, were each just a variation on it, and each carried traits that Benjamin could distinctly tell matched those of some of the races in the region. Taking a mental note of his findings for when he could meet back up with Ensign Jenarian and the others, he pressed on, calling the team of security officers after him.

Li spoke, "I got more, there coming from down that hall!!!" She said as she directed fire toward the incoming bug. "C'mon you bug bastards, come get some more!!"

Benjamin spied the dark red-brown door leading to the array at the end of the corridor. "Cover me!" he called, as he stopped firing and ran, as quick as he could towards the door. Pausing, he looked around, slung his rifle, and grabbed the emergency magnetic pads stored behind the panel next to the door and began prying the doors open.

"Take formation, we're not letting a single bug through." Lianna said as she and her team formed up around the Captain.

Finally opening a gap large enough for a man to squeeze through, Benjamin turned, fired his rifle at one of the bugs from his hip, and ducked inside the small, dark room. The power was completely out, but Benjamin had an idea of how to get the systems running. Ripping open the panel on the wall, he revealed the dimly glowing EPS conduits, running power onto to life support and critical ship functions. He began frantically rewiring the console, diverting life support power from the communications array room itself towards the transmitters. The air in the room, supplemented by the air coming through the still-open door would be sufficient enough to keep him alive, and he needed that transmitter.

"Shuttle Daniels to the Endeavour," came a voice through the static that suddenly permeated the room. "Please respond."

Frowning in curiosity, Benjamin hurried the work on getting the transmitter working, knowing that the receiver was fine. Finally done, he moved over towards the apparatus and clicked it on. "Daniels, this is Endeavour..."

--To Be Continued--

-----------------
Captain Benjamin J. Byrne
Commanding Officer

&

Lieutenant Lianna Vanders
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Endeavour NCC-86105