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Background:
We're on some kind of space station, and we're engaged in some kind of battle for some reason.
Did Star Trek ever have a real story? I think not...
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Captain Tiberius Frost yelled across the passage to Ensign Scooter: "I'll cover you, get out there!" Scooter ran out from behind the relevant safety of the alcove, aiming a shot down the corridor.
A phaser burst caught the blonde youth in the right shoulder, he screamed and fell, clutching at his wound.
'Damnit!' thought Frost, this is not good. He checked the air. Going bad quickly. He looked down the passage towards his opponents. They had to get to the shuttle-bay, get back to the ship. But how? They were almost surrounded...
He clicked his phaser up a setting, from "Kill quickly" to "Fry to delicate brown". If they wanted a fight, he'd give them a fight. He shouted at his two remaining crewmen, "Cover me, COVER ME!"
He jumped up and fired a red beam towards the intruders. A massive explosion forced him back down. The "Low Battery" light came on.
"Shit."
<font color="#f7f7f7" size="1">[ September 08, 2003 01:01 AM: Message edited by: Tiberius Frost. ]</font>
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Joseph heard the intruders yelling. Red bolts flicked past him as he pressed himself against the corridor wall.
The leaders of the Martian revolution had inhabited the lower levels of the space station two weeks ago. Discoving that the station's consctruction had been terminated, they had hoped that the incomplete facilities would provide a secure temporary home.
Another shot leapt down the corridor. Joseph stepped out into the open and throw down his plasma grenade. It exploded, shaking the panelled floor. JC's armoured hands shoved him back against the wall.
"The atmosphere's packing up, and there's no way the workers won't hear this. We'll have to pull out. Organise the evac, I'll take care of this."
Joseph nodded. Some contruction workers were still living on the upper levels, waiting for a cheap trip out. Half of them were ex-soldiers and the liberation movement didn't want to lose half of their command in a phaser-fight. As Joseph turned out a side corrodor, he heard one of JC's men scream.
Joseph tapped his intercom.
"Get ready to go, guys. We're expecting trouble. And someone help out on 57-D."
JC and his two remaining men stood on the left side of the passage.
"How many are there?" Vince asked.
"I don't know. We've got them cut off on the other end."
"So they have to come through us."
"Unless they do something tricky. I've got my armour, I'll go first. On my signal."
"Right."
"Move!"
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Dr. Fraser left the briefing room of the starship which was stopped within Transporter distance of the starbase. She re-entered her clinic, where several of her staff sat.
The Martians had co-ordinated an uprising throughout the Empire, and starship Affirmation had been ordered to return to the nearest starbase to quell a minor uprising.
Dr. Fraser addressed her staff. " Martians have been identified in the lower floors of the starbase. The Captain has comitted a small body of units to take a shuttle down and aid the units committed by the Excalibur. He has ordered our department to be on standby- a shuttle will be sent down within the half hour. There will be injured SIA being shuttled back up, and he has requested a small team of medics to go down to the base."
The lights along the bottoms of the walls and the edges of the ceiling glowed purple; on standby.
" Johnson, I am leaving you in charge up here." Her second nodded crisply. She looked as though she would like to be involved on the base, but accepted the position that was obviously a compliment to her skills.
" Yes'm."
" Brilliant." She touched her communicator. " Would all medical staff please report to the hospital immediately."
Nora Fraser sat and waited.
<font color="#f7f7f7"><font size="1">[ November 20, 2003 03:19 AM: Message edited by: Nora Fraser_ ]</font></font>
<font color="#f7f7f7" size="1">[ November 20, 2003 03:20 AM: Message edited by: Nora Fraser_ ]</font>
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Deadly orange light danced off the white ceramic walls. A brown scorchmark appeared and sparks flew from some unknown circuitry hidden somewhere.
Scooter, the wounded man, groaned in pain.
"How're you doing fo ammo?" Frost asked his men. His Second Officer, Carrington, replied "Running low, sir. We won't last much longer here".
The Captain nodded, and spotting a black armoured head down the corridor fired, direct hit. The man dropped, stunned. He moved still, dazed, the power in Frost's weapon too low to kill. The Captain reloaded with his last power cell.
"We have to get out of here."
The Captain tapped his communicator.
"Frost to Excalibur. Come in, Excalibur."
The static-filled voice of Commander Nevak buzzed back.
"Excalibur here, Captain. We're picking up vessels approaching, but long-range communication is still damaged from that last attack."
"Can you get a transport lock on us? We have wounded here." Frost asked.
"Negative, sir. The starbase's shields are still too strong. If you could just punch out one more relay, then we could send reinforcements."
Captain Frost contemplated the situation.
"How long can you last up there?"
"We should be alright, so long as we don't see too many more of those fighters, our phaser banks are low, and we don't want to fire torpedoes this close to the base."
"Understood. If you see any more of them, raise shields and get out of here."
"But, Captain..."
"That's an order, Commander. Frost out."
Lieutenant-Commander Carrington piped up - "Sir, Scooter is dead."
"Let's get moving then. We have to find that last shield relay."
Crewman Jones pulled his scanner from his inside pocket.
"It should be about thirty metres north of our current position, Captain."
Frost contemplated the Martians ahead, no doubt waiting for reinforcements. He pointed his phaser at the side of the corridor, and fired.
It blew a hole in the wall easily big enough for them to squeeze through.
"Follow me!" he yelled back, and dived through.
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Joseph sped through unlit corridors. His intercom was suddenly a crowded hall of frightened voices.
"JC's been hit!-"
"-sure the children get the first shuttle-"
"The atmosphere won't last another hour, and it could be as little as-"
He rushed to a lift, banging the emergency release button when it failed to open, only realising after a second that he was at an uncompleted lift-shaft.
"They've blasted through the wall. I'm going in."
That was Vince. Joseph knew not to add to the chatter by cautioning him. Nor to chatter in his head with thoughs of those lost.
The com-room door slipped in front of him. Inside, surrounded by glass displays and flexisteel monitors, was Uebici. She nodded as he stepped inside and sealed the door behind him.
"Two of our Ashataras just arrived," Uebici smiled. "They should be able to cover the first few shuttles."
"What's going on inside the station?" Joseph asked.
"Peter and Paul are leading a dozen people down just where you came from. 57-D. There might be five others still down there. We'll stop them."
"How soon can we launch?"
"The first shuttle should be ready. Four more after that. If the flight path works out, we can head up."
- - -
Vince had climbed through the hole the attackers made and was tracking them cautiously, trying to keep out of their view. He knew the others would arrive soon. They just needed a position.
"They're moving for the last relay, coming through the E section."
"We're right above the shield relay." came Paul's reply. "The emergency lift just went vacume. We're cutting through the floor with a blowtorch."
"How long?"
"Maybe a minute. Don't engage, Vince."
But Vince could hear the chorus of footsteps ahead of him, and knew they didn't have much time.
<font color="#f7f7f7" size="1">[ November 13, 2003 05:10 AM: Message edited by: Martin Scripts ]</font>
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"Sir, we've recieved an open frequency distress signal from the Terran Space Colony Consistency, Sector LV-426, Mars orbit." Hudson looked over to Chris for a reply.
"Nature of the SOS?" Chris's reply was short and to the point.
"Level 5 combat situation down there, sir. The Terrans have an Evac going but they're going to need assistance, there's more hostiles on the way."
"How soon can we make it, and is it safe to dock?"
"I've already set a course. ETA Five Minutes, Hicks and Thompson suited up as soon as we got the call. Docking shouldn't be a problem, although the hangar is under threat since both sides want reinforcements to land there."
"How will we know who to shoot?"
"They're expecting us."
"You sorted this out nicely. How long ago did we recieve the message?"
"Long enough sir. I figured you'd want to be in there."
"Good job, Hudson. You're welcome to fight on this one, you know. Pilot isn't your only job."
"I'll be fine babysitting sir. ETA four minutes, you'd better get into combat gear."
Chris left the bridge for the armory. Well, he liked to call it that. In reality it was a weapons locker and a pile of combat armor in the corner of the storage area. His ship, Kane's Hand, was a small vessel built for recon missions, and had only four crew members. Basically they were a police craft, although they made most of their income through deep space salvage.
The crew was a company of former USMC Marines, tough as nails and combat hardened. Sadly the brass didn't think they were fit for fighting anymore, after the Io incident, and packed the lot onto a junkheap recon craft with their salvage and seven less company members. Needless to say, they resented the corps command.
Hudson's voice came over the speaker. "ETA one minute, you guys better be in the loading zone cos I'm bringing her in."
Chris looked down at his pulse rifle, and loaded another shock grenade into the underslung launcher.
"I've also detected a fleet in hyperspace, they'll be breaking out to dock any minute now. This is gonna be a tough one."
Escape pods were jettisoning from the side of the station as Kane's Hand moved in to dock. Chris could see other craft docked, ready to leave. He also noticed an absence of light in the station.
"Lights are knocked out. We'll be in darkness, use the NV on your suits."
"Will do, Sarge."
The ship docked, and the ramp lowered. Nobody was taking any notice of Chris's ship as they hurried to get their shuttles out of the station.
"This area's still clear. We'll take an active role, try to find the problem and neutralise it before it comes to us."
His men's voices came through the helmet loud and clear.
"Just what I was thinkin..."
"Let's go"
They were halfway across the hangar floor when Chris's ship, still docked, exploded violently.
<font color="#f7f7f7" size="1">[ November 28, 2003 06:26 AM: Message edited by: Chris Wesley ]</font>
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Another splash of molten energy bounced off a wall. Carrington shook his phaser and looked at Frost hopelessly. His battery was dead.
Captain Frost darted around another corner, Carrington following him, what was left of his phaser at the ready.
Frost spotted a locked cabinet against one wall. The room they were in was heavyily defended, with plated walls and ceiling. Anyone would have suspected it of some importance. Frost galnced around, noticing various items involving mining operations lying around.
Frost smashed into the cabinet, hoping for weaponry, but instead getting a bottle of meths, and a sandwich. He didn't trust Martian food, either.
"Mister Carrington," he asked his second officer. "Where is the nearest shuttle bay?"
Frost still couldn't get over the strange layout of the antiquated station. Any ordinary starbase he would be able to find his way around, but Mars mining operations had been around for so long, and the bases reliable enough, so they had simply never been upgraded.
Carrington checked his tricorder.
"It should be in one of these corridors." he replied, indicating two passages that led off to the right. One wound up on top of the other.
"The shield relay is nearby, it could be in the shuttle bay, sir." said Crewman Jones
Frost checked the next corridor for airlocks. A cry from Carrington distracted him.
"Here sir, I've found it."
Frost walked into the open room of the shuttle bay, the force field keeping the vacuum out, or more accurately, the atmosphere in. It was small, compared to the primary entrance that they had arrived in, and empty of shuttles.
There was however, wreckage strewn about and a large crater in the centre of the room, which drew one's attention. What was left of the -ship?- was foreign, certainly not Martain. Perhaps the refugees had a fight before they left?
Who could say. More importantly, though, the shield relay was in one corner of the room, a large shard of metal sticking from it, but still seemingly functional.
"Carrington," Frost asked the science officer, "Can you disable it?"
"Negative, sir. The damage has wrecked the console. And my phaser is empty. Mr. Jones?" he asked.
Jones, who was already checking his own weapon, shook his head. "Mine's gone." he admitted.
Frost has his phaser drawn already.
"Heads up." he told Carrington, who dived behind a transport container.
The Captain aimed his weapon, and pressed the trigger. It fizzed, and the light went red.
"You're kidding." said Frost. "We are completely out of ammo."
[img]graemlins/cake.gif[/img]
<font color="#f7f7f7" size="1">[ September 17, 2003 05:06 AM: Message edited by: Tiberius Frost. ]</font>
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Captain Hoffmann sat on the bridge, gazing at the starbase through the viewscreen. It was not very interesting; there were no outward signs of the battle raging inside.
" Communications have been established with the other ship. They say that their captian is down there."
" Ask them what frequency their ground to home comunications are on, please, Lieutenant."
A slight pause ensued.
" Channel 87263, sir."
" Open broadcast on channel 87263."
" Sir."
Captain Hoffmann cleared his throat.
" This is Captain Wolfgang Hoffmann of the Affirmation. Is there any way we can aid you and your personnel?"
The channels were encoded. There was no possibility of the hostiles being able to listen to their conversation. Each channel had a different encoding system, and was changed hourly. There were 100, 000 channels. It would take three hours to break a code.
<font color="#f7f7f7" size="1">[ November 21, 2003 04:05 AM: Message edited by: Nora Fraser_ ]</font>
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First Oficer Nevak sat in the MkVII command chair on the bridge of the Excalibur, reading the damage report off the screen to the image of Captain Hoffmann.
"Shields down to 27%, Phasers are offline, Atmosphere destabilized on decks 20 and 23. Long-range communications down, and we can't reach the captain. Warp and impulse drives still operational. We're lucky we got off with only that."
Another report came through.
"Engineering reports that phasers will not be repaired for at least 35 minutes."
"In the meantime, we have to deal with retrieving Captain Frost..."
"I have orders from the Captain to retreat if we were attacked again. I guess it's up to you to make the call, now."
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Captain Tiberius Frost stood in the centre of the empty shuttle-bay, struggling to come up with a new plan of action. He was sure the Martians had seen where he'd gone, they wouldn't be far away.
Suddenly his com-badge spat at him:The message was from Hoffmann, hardly the person he'd expected to hear from right now.
He was grateful for the help, though.
"Our phasers are all dead, we're down to three men. The last shield relay is right here, but we haven't the means to disable it. Can you get a fix on our position? Communications onboard the Excalibur are too damaged for them to triangulate our coordinates. We're in what appears to be a secondary hangar, if you could send a shuttle in we can get this relay down and transport extra personnel onboard. This would be a good foothold to have. Is the Excalibur still in orbit?"
Frost thought he heard something from a side corridor. From the way Carrington's head snapped in the same direction, he'd heard it too. The two men looked at each other.
"Hurry, if you can. I think we may have company."
Frost grasped his phaser out of habit.
<font color="#f7f7f7" size="1">[ November 16, 2003 05:39 PM: Message edited by: Tiberius Frost. ]</font>
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"Hurry, if you can. I think we may have company."
Wolfgang spoke again onto the same channel.
" Awknowledged." he looked to the transport operator. He nodded. " We have you located, Frost. We will be sending down three medical units and three military to the nearest dock."
He cut communications.
" Fraser, three medical units to the Shuttle Righteous ASAP."
" Awknowledged."
~~~~~
The assembled medical staff were on various stages of awareness; for some it was the middle of the night, for others first thing in the morning.
" Hello, everyone."
Everyone mumbled.
" We are engaged in combat. We will need double shifts on until we are over."
Nora did not like to waste words.
" The Captain has also ordered that a boarding party is to be assembled, and wants a small team of medics to accompany then."
Privately, Nora felt that if all of them went, it would still be a small team of medics.
" Bright and Bernstein, we will be boarding the starbase. Johnson will be in command in my absence. We are on Combat Cycles, now. You may return to what you were doing, now. "
" Fraser, three medical units to the Shuttle Righteous ASAP."
" Awknowledged." Fraser answered, just in case someone was listening.
" Are we ready?" she asked. Rhetorically, of course. The hospital on the Affirmation was always ready.
" Bernstein and Bright, you may go and suit up. I will meet you at the shuttle in 5 minutes." they nodded and wheeled away. Nora went into her office and strapped on her combat suit. It was heavier than her regular clothes, but it was to be expected.
~~~~~
Fraser surveyed the team inside the shuttle. The Second in Command, Havelock, was piloting. The other two military units were Stone, the Second in Command of Security, and Edwards, a new man to the ship. All three were wearing lighter suits than Nora. Theirs were for speed, agility and strength against enemy fire, while Nora's was comprised of a thousand small pockets containing a thousand useful things, and a trasportable energy shield that would withstand all but the heaviest of fire.
Bright and Bernstein arrived and boarded the shuttle. They were away.
<font color="#f7f7f7" size="1">[ November 20, 2003 03:42 AM: Message edited by: Nora Fraser_ ]</font>
