Away Team - Infiltrate

Posted on Fri May 24th, 2013 @ 4:00pm by Captain Benjamin Byrne & Lieutenant Horatio Hawke & Lieutenant Rose Cooper & Lieutenant JG Nessa Jenarian

Mission: Klingons on the Starboard Bow
Location: Firaxa Gamma IV

Biggs returned to the away team in a crouching jog, finding them where he had left them concealed by enough foliage to remain unseen whilst still being able to see the ground around the facility. He hunkered down next to the captain to give his report.

"There are about nine guards circling the facility - a mixture of species from Nausicans to Orions, and even a Breen. I couldn't see any identification markings on any of their clothes, but they walk a standard pattern patrol around the compound; if we're quick, we should be able to get into the south entrance undetected."

Benjamin nodded, weighing up their options. "Lieutenant," he said, looking to Hawke. "Watch the outside of the facility - if there is any sign that we have been discovered, get back to the shuttle and warn the ship. The rest of us will go in on Biggs' signal."

Horatio swallowed a protest; instead simply nodding and uttering a quick, "Yes, sir." He would have much preferred to stay with the away team and be an extra hand in the facility, but he understood why the captain needed somebody on the outside.

The rest of the away team moved down to the very edge of the clearing; Biggs switching his attention between what his eyes could see and what his tricorder was telling him. After just a few seconds, he gave a 'go' motion, and the team dashed across the clearing towards the facility. Once they were against the wall, Benjamin fired a quick beam of his phaser at the locking mechanism on a power setting low enough to muffle the sound, and the team slipped inside as the door slid open briefly to permit them entry.

Back on the ridge behind them, Hawke watched the team through his binoculars. He was laying down propped up on his elbows and peering out over the trunk of a fallen tree, his tricorder set down next to him running passive scans of the area to alert him if anybody came near. He watched the team all get inside and breathed a sigh of relief when they closed the door about three seconds before one of the guards came strolling around the corner.

As the away team entered the facility, Ben led them around to one of the walls, to try and minimize their profile as they got their bearings. He needn't have bothered though, as the large chamber they found themselves in was empty. Stretching out in front of them were rows and rows of manufacturing equipment and storage containers. As Ben moved up to the closest and pushed off its lid, the contents were revealed to be weapons of various descriptions - Klingon disruptors, Cardassian rifles, and even a few older-model Type-III Starfleet phasers.

"Weapons," Rose said. "Not too surprising, really." With a pending war around, it was only logical that both parties were hoarding weapons. And others would most likely try to benefit from it. Though that also meant that someone would try to profit from these weapons and probably wouldn't leave them lying around here.

The machinery itself appeared to be silent; weapons half-finished lay on conveyor belts frozen in place, and indicator lights winked in stand-by mode. "Can you scan to see if any life signs are in the building?" Benjamin asked, turning to his teal-clad officers.

Rose put her phaser down for a moment and took a look at her scanner. She stayed quiet while the info came in and then pointed to a door at the north-side of the room. "Everything else seems empty, but I get some readings from there," she whispered.

"OK, stay ready, and we'll go check it out," Byrne ordered, motioning for Biggs to lead them the length of the factory. It was large enough that he had at first struggled to notice the doorways on the far wall.

Nessa had been quiet for most of the away mission action. She was a bit unused to chatting these days, but she kept a keen eye on the surroundings, glancing back and forth between the entrances. There were numerous ways to fool a tricorder into not detecting life signs, so it was better to keep wary, even when the equipment didn't show anyone else's presence.

As the officers approached the far end, Benjamin went to reach for his tricorder in order to get a precise reading on where the life signs were in the next chamber, and plan their entry accordingly. Before he was able to even touch its casing, he heard and then felt the distinctive whine and heat of a beam set on stun hit his back, and his world faded to black.

Outside, there was suddenly a lot more activity. "Oh no," Horatio muttered as he saw more guards streaming out from one of the outer buildings. They were armed with phaser rifles and moved with a purpose. They joined up with some of the guards already patrolling and then approached the door through which the away team had accessed the facility. The big Breen at the head of the group opened the door and they all poured inside.

"This is not good," Horatio said as he pushed himself back to his feet. He scooped up his tricorder and scanned the hundred or so metres back to the shuttle as he started heading off in that direction. He had to warn the ship immediately.

As he ran back, his tricorder bleeped at him. He looked down at the display and saw what it had found - there was a humanoid lifeform approaching the shuttle. "Definitely not good," he said, quickly tapping away at the tricorder and using it to throw up a comms jamming field. He hoped it would have the range to silence any communicator they might have up ahead.

He neared the clearing and quickly had eyes on the humanoid his tricorder had picked up. It was definitely one of the facility guards, but he had his back towards Horatio as he tried, in vain, to open the shuttle's hatch. Horatio doubted the poor fool had the expertise to hack the lock and gain access to the Vancouver. But, just to be sure, he raised his phaser rifle and took aim.

The blast knocked the guard face first against the hull of the shuttle. Horatio had the rifle set to stun, but he was pretty sure the guard would have a broken nose from that whack. He rushed to the hatch and opened it, dragging the guard - who was a human - inside. When he woke up, he might be of use.

He quickly grabbed some shackles from the security locker near the transporter pad and bound the guard's hands behind his back before rushing forward to the cockpit and tapping the comm console. "Hawke to Endeavour," he said. "We've got a problem down here."