He Who Fights and Runs Away
Posted on Thu May 30th, 2019 @ 10:24pm by Commodore Tyler Malbrooke & Lieutenant Paul Michael
Edited on on Thu May 30th, 2019 @ 10:33pm
2,793 words; about a 14 minute read
Mission:
Episode 6 - Old Habits Die Hard
Location: Detapa Council Complex - Cardassia Prime
Timeline: MD004 1330 hrs
Jomaus was a pilot, and as such she had absolutely no idea what the hell she was doing on this mission. She should be at the helm of her ship. If the whine in the air was any indication she knew that the Pioneer was going down, and fast. She followed close behind the Chief with her phaser drawn. "Hey Chief, you hear that?" She paused a moment to let him listen. "That is the sound of warp plasma being jettisoned. The ship is going down, I would say from that direction." She indicated with a head nod.
Michael listened to the noise. "Looks like we're going to have to find other transportation out of here."
Miex was slightly taken aback by the nonchalance of the Lieutenant's reply. "True but if whoever has my helm doesn't get her down safely we are going to have to find a new place to live." She looked to the auburn sky as the Pioneer glided down billowing smoke behind it. The pilot was somewhat relieved to see the landing struts extended. "There is not much for it now. I think we should be moving on, let's get the bastards and make this all worth something. Where to Chief?"
Moore nodded and looked in the direction of the sound before looking back, "aye, we need to move forward, there's nothing we can do for Pioneer right now," he replied and looked around, "alright, move out, but, change of direction, we go strait at Prener, if we don't there's no chance of making sure all those souls come out of this alive. Oooah?"
Michael nodded. "As they used to say on Earth, let's rock and roll!"
Typhon underestimated his enemy, a mistake he would not make again. It seemed that while his plan was a success this Starfleet crew was mucking it up. He had control of the government, and this brought a smile to the old spy's face. Through Zelora he would rule. He did not actually have to be on the planet, and now he received some exceptional news from his Inquisitor Rakuul. A Starfleet Marine named Tremble had been captured and turned against his comrades. All of this was exceptional and would lend itself to the greater good, the return of the order and the death of his son. However, they were hot on his heels now. At this moment he was being led through the catacombs by his daughter, his saving grace, the Cardassian his son never was. They had transport beacons waiting to take him to a Galor Class vessel that was lying in wait.
The silence as they walked was intense and Shoshanah broke the silence with one more piece of joyous news. "Father, our forces have brought the Pioneer to its knees. Malbrooke has ordered the ship to land in an effort to escape total annihilation." A knowing smile crossed the beautiful Cardassian/Bajoran hybrid's face.
"Excellent! Order our ground troops to take the ship. She will make a nice prize and backdrop for the rebirth of the Order." Typhon responded and urged his daughter to continue.
Mitchell moved quickly and stealthily in the enemy base. He avoided killing anyone, for the moment, since it might give his presence known. His mission was two fold: find the captured marine and free him, and second, gather intel, and if possible, capture or kill Prenar.
Andrew moved forward crouched down, each step rolling from heal to toe in an effort to move quick and quiet. So far they'd hit light resistance, which worried him. He didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but, they were near the Obsidian Order HQ, they should have been swarmed. As they got to a branching path Moore patted Michaels shoulder, held up 2 fingers and pointed at the operations officer and helm officer then flattened his hand with his thumb in his palm and pointed down the path straight ahead in a karate chop motion then pointed to himself and made the same motion down the branching path and waited for affirmative nods before hurrying off.
Shoshanah slowed her pace and indicated by putting a fist into the air, that her father should stop. She heard something. It sounded to her like footsteps in the cave. She knew that would be impossible, no one knew this route save for her and Rakuul. Then it hit her, she thought differently then her father, more like Starfleet did. This was most likely someone who was looking for the captured Starfleet Officer.
In a flurry of movement she pushed her father through the open door that led to the next section. Typhon furrowed his brow in confusion at his daughter. She mouthed the words "keep going" and then she pressed her finger to her lips. Typhon smiled and let the door turn and lock behind him. Shoshanah Prenar drew her disruptor and hid behind a small outcropping of boulders. She would get the surprise on Starfleet and the kill.
Andrew moved quickly, deciding noise and speed over stealth was prudent. As he got to the end of the path he stopped and crouched down, hoping the way he'd sent Michael circled around to meet him. The SCOB looked around the corner carefully, "I know you're out there," he called, feeling his gut tighten in knots.
Shoshanah was no stranger to Starfleet tactics. She believed what Moore was trying to do was get her talking and lure her into a false sense of security. She would not have it. Her response was to fire off three consecutive blasts in the direction of Moore. Prenar knew that she would not hit him, however, it allowed her to get the lay of the land. She now knew where everyone was and how many there were. To throw her enemies off the track Shoshanah moved to another location while the Starfleet officers were pinned down.
Michael followed the order to try and cut off the enemy by going around. Michael heard the weapons fire ahead of him and slowly moved forward, keeping an eye out for any targets of opportunity that should arise.
Moore shielded his eyes as sparks and shards of rock exploded in front of his face. As the acrid smoke swirled around him he tapped his encrypted commbadge, "Michael, continue after the HVT, I'll deal with this," he whispered then held out his hand with the phaser and let the weapon go lax, causing it to point up in the air, then stood up, "I assume you're elite guard, wanna take on an AdTAC and see if you can take me hand to hand?" he asked before stepping in the open and tossing his phaser to the ground.
Jomaus saw the Cardassian woman and was unnoticed from her vantage point. The Trill saw that in a few seconds Shoshanah would have a clear shot on Moore and Michael if she set her disruptor on wide beam. Jomaus had to make a quick decision. She leapt from her position with the idea to dropkick the enemy. What Miex did not expect was Prenar's training. The Cardassian woman's training allowed her to hear the slight shuffle in pebbles as Miex lunged. Shoshanah sidestepped the Trill and with her left hand caught pilot by the throat. The right hand kept firing blasts in the direction of Moore. "You are not worthy..." Shoshanah said as she squeezed the life from the Trill. Within seconds Jomaus' lifeless body lay at the feet of Shoshanah Prenar. One down... she thought.
Shoshanah was ready to keep them pinned down so that her father, her Gul could escape. However, the offer made my the officer in Command red was entirely too enticing. The offer combined with the execution of one of the officers already had Shoshanah ready for a fight. She deftly keyed in a command override code into the door behind her. That should keep anyone trying to get through the door busy and prevent them from getting through. She stepped out into the open and held her disruptor at her side. She began to shout angrily in Cardassian. "Ka seyexet! Nu kin kith ka, tres nu breyet ka. Nequi, nuka kriyet kinat. Breyet letho drexeyet. Yaq nuka chek. Sarkka Ratunka! " (You're insane! I can just shoot you, and I will kill you. But, we are the same strong soldiers. To kill from the shadows. That is not our way. The last two words are an untranslatable insult.)
She leveled the disruptor as she spoke and when she finished tossed it to the ground on top of Moore's phaser. Shoshanah knew that if it came to it she had her blades strapped to the back of her belt. She was also positive that the man in front of her had an auxiliary weapon. This would be quite the fight, a smile crept across the woman's face.
Michael continued along the way, ducking behind corners when he sensed someone near. He peaked around the corner and saw a Cardassian woman throwing away her weapon.
Andrew grinned and dropped his head forward slightly, looking at the woman from under his brow, the shade filling in the crevasses of his face as he reached back and pulled out a vibroblade slowly, "you could have, but then you'd never have gotten to truly test yourself," he replied and walked forward, spinning the blade in his hand to point down, "shall we?"
The Bajoran/Cardassian hybrid smirked as she reached behind her back and drew two blades. "I thought you would never ask me to dance." She took a Paranza Corta stance and awaited the attack. "You know Starfleet I have fought better than you in my sleep. Tell me how does it feel to die on another planet, so far from home."
Andrew shrugged and grinned, "I doubt that, and it wouldn't be the first time, I just can't seem to stay dead," he replied then focused his eyes on the womans eyes, keeping his stance just how it had been with his arms hanging loosely at his sides. The SCOB raised one hand and flipped it palm up before flexing his fingers twice, mimicking Bruce Lee's gesture.
Shoshanah had opted for a defensive stance, but it seemed her opponent had done the same. So now they were in a standoff. About a minute passed in silence with the only noise being that of Paul Michael sneaking past the fight. Shoshanah knew he was there but did not seem to care at the moment. Finally she came up with a solution to the stand off. She shifted her weight to her right leg and let the muscles flex, this was feint in the direction of Michael. When her opponent took the bait she lunged twice. She missed the flesh twice but tore open the uniform.
Andrew smirked and held up his blade, “you cost me a uniform, but, I gave you a new scar,” he said and motioned to her cheek before drawing a line in the dirt in front of him with the toe of his boot, “I dare you.”
She rubbed her cheek and saw the dark red almost black blood ooze from the wound. She smiled as she took two steps toward him. She lunged and he parried, the daggers that both comatants held clanged and sparked as the blade touched the wounds were exchanged. She stabbed him in the side he got her in the arm. The blood began to flow from both combatants and the battle had begun to take it's toll.
Moore grunted and gritted his teeth as the burning sharp pain filled his side. He dropped to one knee and spun himself, driving his blade through the back of the Cardassian woman’s knee and out through the front of her kneecap. The COB let the hilt of his knife go and dropped onto his back before driving his foot into the side of her knee as hard as he could. As her leg buckled Shoshanah brought her blade down into his inner thigh, causing Moore to cry out in pain this time
She was in severe pain, however, her father taught her well. Never let the enemy see your pain he would tell her. This fight was no different. She knew that if she did not end it soon she would die simply from loss of blood. He thrust into his leg was more of a move of desperation then of strategy. However, she knew how to end it, and had him right where she needed him. While he yelped in pain Shoshanah grabbed his hair and tilted his head back. She would make sure Starfleet paid for their mettling. She would take this one's identity. With quick and precise motions she began to cut Moore's face away from his body. While she cut she spat on him... "You Starfleet think you can police the galaxy and keep everyone in line. You want everyone to follow your lead. Well the ORDER has other plans..." Her words came filled with hatred and bile. His screams mounted and echoed through the cave. She knew she had moments before the other one would come back, so she was only able to sever about half of the face. When she felt satisfied she released the Chief and left him to slump on the floor. She spat on him one more time and ordered the transport from her wrist mounted communicator. Within moments she was enveloped in the transporter effect.
Andrew couldn’t even begin to describe the feeling of his face having been cut from his skull. He made gurgling sounds as he tapped his combadge. In his mind he heard the words Moore to Michael, I need help, instead, however, was a wet gurgle, blood evacuating from his mouth in waves with each word he attempted to say before he finally dropped unconscious in the dirt. Next to his head, in one final act of defiance from the planet, a gian scorpion like creature surface and pulled the flap hanging from Moore’s muscle tissue and bone, tearing it completely away and dragging his face deep below the dusty Cardassian surface.
His near miss made him move quicker. Michael made his way to a transporter room. The controls indicated that someone had just left. Whoever left wiped their destination from the computer.He looked around and found an office next to the transporter room, so he start looking through the cabinets and the desks, hoping to find something interesting.
In his search, which proved to be fruitless, he found a data pad. On it was the location of former Admiral Rodney Layton. The location was deep in Breen space. The pad proves that Starfleet, the New Maquis and the Obsidan Order were working together. This he had to get to the captain.
Michael left the office and went looking for Moore, after that, they would return to the ship. He found Moore in a puddle of his own blood in the cave and no sign of Shoshanah. He found the gruesome tableau of the Chief laying in a rapidly spreading pool of blood. Half of the man's face had been torn from his body, and whimpers came in spurts from the man as he began to slowly die. Michael frantically checked his pulse, and found one. "You're a mess, my friend...let's get you home." Michael pulled out his commbadge. "Michael to Pioneer....two for emergency beam out….have a med team standing by. Transport Chief Moore into a stasis field." It was then that Paul blanched white as he realized that the comm channels were down and he would have to do this his own.
He began to reconfigure the comm badge an as he did so it picked up on signal. It as a science probe but it was creating a homing beckon. Paul was able to use the beckon to transport outside the Pioneer. When the two coalesced he managed to shout "Help..." before breaking himself.
A Joint Post By
Gul Typhon Prenar
Commanding Officer, Obsidian Order
Gil Shoshanah Prenar
Operative, Obsidian Order
Lieutenant Junior Grade Jomaus Miex
Chief Flight Control Officer, USS Pioneer
Command SeniorChief Petty Officer Andrew Moore
Chief of the Boat/Behavioral Health Technician, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Junior Grade Paul Michael
Assistant Chief Operations Officer, USS Pioneer
RSS Feed