Heroes (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on 23 Jul 2012 @ 2:19pm by Captain Jonathan Holliday & Lieutenant Commander Chauncey Remington III (KIA) & Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin & Lieutenant JG Kestra Orexil & Ensign Im'er Mor'an & Lieutenant Kiri Cho
Edited on on 23 Jul 2012 @ 2:22pm

1,856 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 1, Bridge
Timeline: MD 07 - 2250 hrs

Previously, on Heroes (Part 1)...

"Dammit I gave you an order Lieutenant Commander!" The XO called out as he watched the life of his colleague slip away. Turning away for a second, he leapt over the barrier towards the command chair and found the emergency medical kit stored there for just this reason. Fumbling, he grabbed the case and jumped back over the railings, throwing it open on the floor next to him.

As Holliday ran to Remington's side, Kestra did her best to distract the other intruders on the bridge.

"Tricorder... tricorder... here we go... we can fix this... you'll be fine..." Flipping the device open in his palm, John ripped the probe free from it's housing and quickly passed it over Remington... the steady tone from the tricorder confirming what he already knew...

Chauncey Remington III.....was dead.

And Now, the Conclusion...

[ON]

In the turbolift, Mor'an's head was reeling. She had to get this done, had to lock onto the biosignatures before all of her shipmates, and her captain, for that matter, were dead. The doors slid open as though nothing were amiss, but Mor'an barely waited for them to open fully before rushing out. Her phaser at the ready, she slinked down the corridor. Thankfully, in the short time it took to traverse to the control station, Mor'an met no one. Breathing a sigh of relief, she began to search for Klingon biosignatures.

"It is not working!" she hissed before remembering what Remington had told her. The power may have to be rerouted. Yelling Tarkannan profanities at the unfortunate turn of events, Mor'an set to work.

The hairs on the back of Mor'an's neck suddenly stood on end. Someone was behind her, and she knew it wasn't Remington coming to check on her. A guttural cry sounded at her back and she spun around to see a mountain of a Klingon ascending on her. She ducked as he swung his bat'leth, then rolled out of reach.

"Coward!" he yelled at her. Mor'an simply grinned. She gathered all her energy and pounced, finding a patch of bare neck exposed. Mor'an immediately took control of his neurosystem and the Klingon dropped to the floor, unmoving.

Without waiting a moment to either gloat or breathe, Mor'an was back at work. The power had finished rerouting while she had been otherwise occupied with the Klingon, so it took Mor'an mere moments to locate and lock onto the biosignatures of the intruders. A moment later, Mor'an turned away from the control station to find that the Klingon was no longer there, having been transported along with his fellow warriors back to their ship.

"Yarb'utali'nar qua'my." Mor'an whispered the Tarkannan words of relief as she ran back to the turbolift. She knew as the door slid open to reveal the Bridge that great sacrifices had been made. Remington's signature was gone, as were many others.

Kestra ducked under another bat'leth and leapt onto the back of one of the remaining Klingons. Her forearm around the male's neck, her knee against his spine, she catapulted him and his fierce blade at the nearest of his companions and speared him. As the Klingon swore, trying to disengage his bat'leth from the innards of his comrade, she thrust her knuckles into his eyes, hard, twice, making him drop the blade and reach back for her. His hands found purchase on her shoulders and she let them push her down, dropping down and to the side as another of his companions made a swing at where she'd been. He dropped, his back gaping, spine glistening, and Kestra rolled backwards out of the range of the second swing of her new attacker.

Two more to go; she drew her phaser again as the bat'leth came up and fired right into the Klingon's face, dropping him. The bat'leth speared the floor beside her, inches from her eyes, leaving an angry red cut across her cheek. She shoved at the body on top of her as the last of them headed towards her, grappling with the bat'leth for leverage and finally got enough to get off three shots towards her latest attacker. The first went wide, the second hit his chest plate which seemed to have little effect on him, and the third burned his sword arm. He kicked her hand before she could level it again, sending the phaser skittering across the floor and landing beside the body of another Starfleet officer. Dead eyes stared back at her. It was the last straw; her shields were dropped, she could feel the desperation of her crewmembers on the Na'vi and throughout the Galileo. Their pain and terror tore into her careful reserves of mercy and burned them like so much paper. She met the Klingon's eyes as he bared his teeth, bringing the bat'leth down for a killing blow and twisted at the last second, kicking his ankle. As he stumbled, she crawled free and yanked the fallen Klingon's bat'leth from the ground, backing up just enough to anchor her foot against the side of a console. Then she pushed herself off with only an exhale of exertion and spun out with the extra force.

It wasn't an easy fight. He was stronger than her and their speeds were fairly equal, but she had agility on her side and she used it to its utmost, ducking and weaving until she could duck under his guard and shove her bat'leth up under his armpit and then drive one end of the blade down into the unprotected part of his torso, piercing his heart. She stepped back, blood on her hands and tears in her eyes, and searched for Holliday as she forced the rush in her ears and her heart to calm enough for clear thinking.

As the chaos around the Bridge slowly came to an end, John found himself panting for breath as he looked at the mayhem that was once the shining new Bridge of the Galileo.

Wounded and dead colleagues littered the area, the victim of disruptors, bat'leths and anything else that came to mind... the ship's consoles flickering on and off wildly as the power continued to surge and die away from them as quickly as ever.
Looking around at the survivors, John realised that they were in no situation to fight once again. Wiping the blood from his recently deceased Operations officer that covered his hand onto his uniform, the Commander did the only thing he could do.

"Take your stations people... Lieutenant Orexil... in light of the current situation I'm assigning you as Acting Second Officer... which until the safe return of the Captain means you will also be acting as my First Officer... are you up to the task?"

"Yes, sir," Kestra answered, staring across the bridge to Holliday and the fallen Operations officer. She couldn't feel anything herself; there were far too many emotions belonging to others throughout the ship that warred for her attention. All she could do was try to be mentally present while their feelings raged in her. She wiped the blood from her hands and surveyed the damage.

With one of Will's former duties suitably assigned, John turned to look at the vacant position at the Ops station... it would only be a matter of time until a suitable replacement from the Operations team arrived to take the station, but for now, he needed someone there.

"Ensign Cho... take Ops until relief arrives."

Kiri was breathing hard, her body was already tired from barely having any sleep in the last forty eight hours. The last hour had put so many stimulants and hormones coursing through her body, now they were gone, she could barely move. Staggering she followed the orders, not even able to process the bodies that littered the bridge. The ones she had stunned were gone, those that had died were still here. Still, she had trained for this, simulated bodies and simulated damage. Finding her way to the operations console she unlocked it and started through the readout. The academy had given her basic training for all stations, her mental check-list was going through step by step as she built up a report. Her face was pale, her blistered and burned fingers were numbed, every now and then pus would dribble down her wrist. Just using that arm was pulling the burned skin open with each movement.

The state of the Bridge was a shock to Mor'an, but she wouldn't allow it to faze her as she picked her way through the debris of metal and bodies. Still favoring her injured arm, she sat and awaited orders. It was strange not having Remington at her side. She smiled at Kiri.

Kiri didn't notice her acquaintance, neither did she really notice the pain any more. She had to do her job, right now that was gathering the data for a damage report. Her eyes were distant, focused on the work in front of her, blind to the morbidity of it. The damage to the ship, the casualty reports, it helped that she was still in shock.

For the moment Dea was in shock. Already making her way over to her station the best she could. Currently her own physical pain had been pushed aside. They had to find their missing crew members one way or another. There would be time to contemplate what happened later.

The captain's chair still felt strange to him, surrounded by a destroyed Bridge and the bodies of his comrades. Nevertheless, John had a duty to perform, and right now, they needed to hide.

"Miss Mialin - get us into that nebula... rescuing the captain and Lieutenant Coleman will have to wait for now...."

Making her voice sound as confident as possible when the responded, "Aye, Sir. Galileo is on course for the nebula." Dea put a few commands into her console. Mourning for those lost in the battle would come later.

"Very good....steady as she goes....."

Taking a moment, John rested his head in his hands, thinking on how badly wrong this situation had gone from the one in his mind when the Klingons had first come onto the scene. So many sacrifices had been made, the ship was in tatters, and their captain was missing.

"Once we clear the nebula perimeter stand down to yellow alert and begin deploying damage repair teams. Lieutenant Orexil, I want security to sweep the ship from bow to stern, just in case the Klingons left anything behind."

Kestra nodded, heedless of the blood dripping down her cheek - not all of it hers. "Consider it done, sir."

"Excellent....after that.....we go and get our captain back."

[OFF]

--

Lt Cmdr Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

ENS Kiri Cho
Science Officer/Sensor Specialist
USS Galileo

Lt JG Kestra Orexil
Chief Security Officer
USS Galileo

Cadet Senior Grade Im'er Mor'an
Red Squad Intern
USS Galileo

Lt. Cmdr. Chauncey William Remington III
Chief Operations Officer
R.I.P.

LTJG Dea Mialin
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

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