Hard Time Part III
Posted on Tue Nov 22nd, 2022 @ 2:06am by Commodore Tyler Malbrooke & Lieutenant Ja'sol H'ros & Ensign Rachel Sinclair
Edited on on Tue Nov 22nd, 2022 @ 2:35am
2,443 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
Episode 13 - Crooked River
Location: Igion Prison Complex
Timeline: MD004 1800 hrs
Taking a deep breath, Rachel swallowed her nerves and moved to follow Tivau. She’d never been in an active prison before and even the simulations at the academy were nothing like this.
Ja'sol thanked Tivau for allowing their bladed weapons as a backup and placed his phaser into the locker. He thouhgt about what the general had just said. He knew he was in for a hard time due to him being an outsider, But he alos knew it was going to be far harder on his female companions. He'd have to keep his head on a swivel if they were to watch out for each other. " Alright, let's get this done, and if something doesn't look right then say something quickly as we've got to watch each others backs."
Tivau stood in front of the secure door and looked over her shoulder. "Here we go. As soon as we enter a small alarm will sound and they should stop what they are doing. However, I have never seen them like this so who knows." She shrugged her shoulders which tussled her neat and proper white hair. Tivau placed her hand on a scanner and the door unlocked, and sure enough a claxon sounded. "Now follow me and be ready for anything." She stepped through the door and held it open for the others.
Gripping tight to the stun baton, Rachel followed a few steps behind Tivau, allowing her to take the lead but keeping ahead of Ja'sol. Right now Rachel, I know this is your first away mission, but you have to make a good impression. Just follow the regulations and you'll do fine she thought to herself as she walked between the two security chiefs
Ja'sol kept a tight hold on his stun baton and had it held at the ready in case it was needed quickly. He watched as the prisoners paid no attention to the generals commands and had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, this wasn't going to be easy nor would it be safe.
As soon as they stepped through the door the chanting stopped and all the inmates rose to their feet and stared at the new comers. They resembled zombies more than people as they stood there and swayed and stared. "Stop what you are doing and return to your cells. Prepare for an inspection." The General ordered, she had been granted the authority by the prison warden who wanted nothing to do with what had been going on here.
Tivau stared at the non moving inmates. "I said return to your cells immediately." Still no one moved. The General snapped her fingers and five guards came to her side. "Keep an eye on the inmates but touch nothing, we are going to perform an inspection." "Yes General" the guards responded and took up posts around the room. Tivau proceeded down cellblock A. "All the cells are yours. Feel free to see if you can find anything."
Ja'sol spoke softly to general Tivau to only where it could be heard by her and Rachel. " It seems that the prisoners here have no concern for authority in this prison, That could make a very dangerous work environment for us. I'm not losing my nerve, it's just that display that they put on has me concerned. And I believe both of you ladies are concerned as well, as we should be. If anyone gets within ten meters of us we should have the batons in hand and ready to use. So where would you like to start the cell inspection General? "
"I would say start with the first cell on the left and proceed down the line and up the next. As for the inmates we will have a close eye on them. If they step out of line they will be dealt with. I do not believe that they have no respect for the authority. I believe that they are either in a trance or someone or something that they view as a higher authority has them enthrall." Tivau spoke as she looked down the corridor and out to the main room where the inmates were. Ja'sol was correct she was concerned.
Keeping close to Ja'sol, Rachel kept a close eye on the inmates. She didn't want to admit it before, but this prison was starting to dredge up some pretty bad feelings from her past. It was reminding her of the slave cells the Orions used to keep their slaves in during the auctions. Taking a few deep breaths, Rachel did her best to clear her mind and focus on the task at hand. Come on Rachel, keep your mind on what you're doing she thought to herself as the three of them moved off towards the cells.
Tivau stood at the mouth of the corridor that led to the common room where all of the inmates stood staring. She had never seen reactions such as this in all of her long years of service. As such she stood with her baton at the ready and yelled over her shoulder. "Have either of you found anything yet? I have never seen them act like this and I am not sure how long they will remain sedate."
Stepping into one of the open cells, Rachel did her best to focus on her search rather than the feelings she had bubbling up. kneeling down to look under one of the beds, she gave a sigh as she saw nothing but floor. "there doesn't appear to be anything in here"
Ja'Sol searched the room and didn't notice anything out of place and was turning to depart the cell and caught a slim shadow out of the corner of his eye behind the light panel in the wall. He moved a chair over and stood on it to pry the light panel off and after a moment of digging behind the conduit found a wrapped item that was tied closed with a leather cord. " Rachel could you take this please while I replace the panel cover. " He moved the chair back to where he had found it. " We may want to conceal that before we leave this cell. " He said to Rachel. He called out to Tivau. " We're coming out now, we didn't find anything of interest. "
"Very well then we should..." The General's statement was interrupted by a sudden change in the inmates attitudes. They all turned toward the corridor of cells where the trio was and began to advance albeit slowly. "It seems that they have noticed us. Be ready." Tivau called to the two Starfleet officers.
“What do you mean ‘Noticed us’?” Rachel asked, looking over at the advancing inmates. “Lieutenant? What do we do?” She asked, turning to Ja’sol.
Ja'sol raised his head and had a grim feature upon his face. " What we're going to do is fight to protect ourselves. These batons have a limited number of charges before they become just a club. We need to get out there and help the others, if things get any uglier I'll get us beamed out as a group, so keep close and watch each others backs. "
The first two inmates made it past the entrance to the corridor and Tivau lunged for one with her baton, the inmate dodged the blow and hit Tivau between the shoulder blades with an ax punch. This punch sent the General to her knees where she managed to hit the inmate in the calf with her baton. The inmate jolted and fell straight back. His head collided with the wall and as a small trickle of blood came from the wound he slumped over. The other inmate made for Jasol, as the a second wave approached.
Rachel just stood there with a death grip on her baton. Protocol told her that she should assist the general, but they weren’t wanted here in the first place and these weren’t Starfleet prisoners so she wasn’t sure what to do. It also didn’t help that her mind was drudging up old memories of the slave markets she had been kept in while being sold off.
Ja'sol moved at a quick pace and joined into the fray. He lashed out with a savage kick that sent an unsuspecting inmate bouncing off the wall and thrust the baton into the ribs of the nearest inmate to Tivau, which crumpled like a rock at her feet. " Have your people fall back to the entrance of the corridor and take defensive formation, We can't let them flank in behind us or it's all over. " As he offered her a hand up.
As the crowd advanced on them, Rachel began to feel more and more entrapped as her feelings of fear held onto her tightly in a kind of paralysis. Her mind was screaming for her to run and hide but her legs simply wouldn’t listen. Instead she just stood where she was holding onto the stun baton she’d been given for dear life.
As the General got to her feet thanks to Ja'Sol she nodded in agreeance to his suggestion and ran into the fray. Two well timed punches sent two inmates cascading into the others and left a chain of stumbling shambling inmates. Tivau relayed orders to her people and they obeyed without question. The few guards that were there while afraid of the riot that had just begun knew their jobs, and knew them well.
Ja'sol discovered that the stun batons only held five charges to them and no more. he kept himself as close to both Rachel and Tivau as he could. He then started using the baton as a club and targeting inmates joints and pressure points. An inmate got a kick in on his rib cage but was taken down by the baton striking the base of his neck and laying him out cold. Despite being battered and bruised he fought on, to defend his team mates as well as himself.
Tivau could see that despite their best efforts the tide was in the inmates favor. She had to make a decision to save herself, and the Starfleet Officers. Not to mention keep the prison secure. She ran up the stairs and out of view. With shaky hands she opened the weapons locker and retrieved her disruptor and the two Starfleet phasers. When she made her way out to the common room Tivau saw that Sinclair and Re Seva were about to be overrun by the inmates. She let out a loud whistle and when she had the two Starfleet officers attention she tossed the phasers to them. "Take em down..." With that Tivau opened fire a dropped two inmates in succession.
Hearing the whistle from Tivau snapped Rachel back to reality. Taking a quick hop back from the inmates, she caught the phaser that the General had thrown to her, set it to heavy stun and started firing at everything in front of her. In her rush, she figured it would be simpler to stun everyone in front of her and sort it out once the situation was under control.
As Ja'sol heard the whistle he saw the phasers flying towards them and he dove to grab the one nearest to him as he began firing in short controlled burst at the inmates that were surging towards them and getting closer by the moment. with the phaser beams crisscrossing back and forth amongst the inmates and a good number of them already being dropped, some of the inmates began to retreat knowing re enforcements would soon be arriving. Ja'sol looked around and called out. " Rachel! Tivau! Are you both alright? "
“No! I’m am definitely not alright!” Rachel yelled out, her hands shaking as she held tightly to the phaser while having her arms still out stretched. Her face was pale as a look of shock and fear played across it like some kind of macabre performance.
Ja'sol got to his feet and went over to Rachel. " Are you hurt or bleeding? " He asked. trying his best to observe any injury. There was one or two die hards left that tried to come close, but were quickly dropped by phaser fire. He brushed a strand of hair away from her face. " Rachel, can you walk? If so then hold onto my arm and we'll head up the stairs where Tivau is, and we'll be safe. ok? " He looked around to see if he could see Tivau, while still keeping a watchful eye for any prisoners that might be close.
Tivau saw that the others had begun to make their way to her and laid out cover fire. She was a soldier and knew how to keep enemies at bay. She was thankful that they only had to put down six of the inmates. The rest seemed to be keeping their distance now that they heavy weapons had been enlisted. Just as she thought all would be well she noticed one inmate charging toward the pair as they mounted the stairs. She fired quickly and he fell.
Grabbing hold of Ja'sol's arm, Rachel kept her phaser held out towards the prisoners as the two of them moved towards Tivau. Her hands had started to shake as the adrenaline in her body had topped out and was beginning to decline, causing Rachel to feel a little tired.
Ja'sol made it to the stairs and was going up the stairs slowly backwards so as not to let anyone get in behind them or to prevent them from reaching the safety that was finally close at hand. " Hang in there Rachel, we're almost there. "
Tivau held the door open as the two Starfleet Officers made their way back inside. The riot that had been brief but strong seemed to be dying out. She stood in the office and caught her breath and processed all that happened.
A Joint Post By
General Tivau
Commanding Officer
Igion Defense Forces
Ensign Rachel Sinclair
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Junior Grade Ja'sol H'ros
Chief Security/Tactical Officer, USS Pioneer
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