Staging Ground (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 30 Oct 2013 @ 1:53pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin & Lieutenant Jacob Pendleton & Lieutenant Commander Amynta Markos & Lieutenant Asahi Kita & Lieutenant JG Tykhin Vess & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Commander Luke Wyatt & Lieutenant JG Nenokah Ral & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Amon Mormont & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Oliver Sylver & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Riley Cameron & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Alexion Wylde & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Arthur Willis & Senior Chief Petty Officer Keval zh'Erinov & Petty Officer 1st Class Rhyan Davies & Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark & Petty Officer 3rd Class Bo Chalan & Petty Officer 1st Class Siren Hex Saalm & Petty Officer 3rd Class Thanis Rothgra

2,361 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 04 - Exodus
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Transporter Room 1
Timeline: MD 06 - 1310 hrs

[ON]

After a quick nap during which she had managed to recover some of her energy from the briefing earlier in the day, Lirha now stood in Galileo's primary transporter room and anxiously waited for the away teams to arrive. Her decision to rescue their captive Starfleet crew members had been a difficult one, but one which she deemed necessary for the safety and well-being of those assimilated personnel still under her command who were being held hostage on the Borg cube. Hopefully with some unorthodox camouflage developed by her engineers, a powerful sedative tweaked by her medical personnel, and some timely transporting from her operations team, they would be able to locate and recover all essential personnel within a matter of minutes...and hopefully with no shots fired.

Anxiety was an understatement to how Luke felt as he entered the transporter room and exchanging a quick glance with the Captain. He had stood in the same gear, in the same manor and against the same odds so many times before but this time it felt different. It was different. Luke did not know how this was going to end and nor did he want to but the ship and its crew had been under the shadow of Borg for to long and had lost to many but even the darkness can be lifted by light. The Galileo had kept going and kept fighting because they had something to hold onto, something good in the world, the best in life. Hope, Courage and each other and no matter how they did it they were bringing back their crews. And that to Luke was the brightest of all light.

Tykhin arrived on time and did his best to keep his carefully polished neutral expression in place as he waited for the briefing to begin.

"Next time we have an hour, you need to run through that target practice scenario with me again," Siren Hex said lightly as she moved into the Transporter Room, looking to Gabriel Stark who moved in with her.

"No problem, Hex," Gabriel flashed her a shamelessly charming smile, tapping her lower back suspiciously close to her backside as they moved through. "It'll be fun."

Siren chuckled softly, shaking her head gently with a sigh. "Yes, we're definitely in good hands," she teased lightly, a mock sigh escaping as they came to a stand still to join the others.

They were followed shortly by Dr. Alexion Wylde, who was still reading over the padd with his work on for the sedative they were going to use. It had been a tight run thing. And in all honesty? While the mixture he'd made worked well in trials, these things were never proved right until they were being in used on the real thing; in this case the Borg.

Lt. Amynta Markos frowned as she walked in, her uniform spotless, her hair up and her makeup covering the fact she was tired. She gave a small smile as she looked around, her eyes going to Siren. "Red. Glad to see you are around..." she said, and there was a teasing tone in there somewhere as well.

Asahi was nearly shaking at this point. The more the tiny engineer thought about being on a Borg Cube of all things, the less he wanted to think about the thing. As he strode into the transporter room, a wave of nervous nausea washed over him. He kept a smile on his face, however. Best not to let anyone think he was about to lose his lunch.

Dea entered the Transporter room with a lot on her mind. Shoving everything but the mission at hand aside because the situation necessitated it. For the moment she nodded to the others present but waited for the briefing to begin.

Keval walked into the room next. He was not quite 100%, closer to 80% really, but he would take his 80% over a pinkskin's !00% any day of the week. He wasn't going to win marathons, but at least he was walking without looking like a drunken Marine and he might even be able to run in a straight line if push came to shove.

"And for the love of God please make sure ye don't mess up the plasma flow alignment!"

Cameron swept into the transporter room, making one last comment to a junior crewman and throwing a PADD in his direction before the door slammed themselves shut behind him. In typical Borg away-mission fashion the engineer had equipped himself with a tricorder, type 2 phaser, a compression rifle, and a few handy engineer's toys that might come in use.

"Riley Cameron reporting as ordered."

Quinn walked into the room donning a bandolier of shotgun shells and the projectile weapon and a fire in his eyes.

Nenokah was not large in the eyes of her Klingon peers. In fact, she was considered quite small for even a half Klingon. But when she was battle-ready she had an aura that alerted others to her presence, filling whatever room she happened to be in, making up for her short stature. When she stepped into the transporter room, everyone knew she was ready to do battle with the whole Hive Mind if the need arose.

Frail and pale under her uniform, yet holding her PADD in a determined grip, Rhyan entered the transporter room. The selection of her as one of the away team was not Rhyan was fully happy with, but she understood. Someone probably read her file... she had been on away missions that had gone up in flames before, rarely, and Rhyan knew how to keep the stress from overwhelming her until later. Even now she tamped her fear and anxiety further under a shield of protective calm. She could break down later.

Lirha did a quick head count to make sure all personnel had arrived. With twenty-four of her crew now packed into the cramped confines of the transporter room, Lirha stepped into the middle of the group and began to give a final briefing before the rescue parties departed on their various missions. "Thank you for preparing on short notice," she began.

"As you have no doubt seen from the orders you received on your PADDs, I have made the decision to attempt to rescue our captured crew members who are currently aboard the Borg cube. It was not an easy decision, but one which I feel is necessary. We owe it to our friends and colleagues to at least try and retrieve them, not idly sit by and do nothing." she cleared her throat and rubbed the side of her neck which was still sore and bruised from the assimilation tubule punctures.

"We have devised a plan to send four away teams over to the cube in different areas of their ship. Alpha team will consist of warrant officers Mormont and Sylver, petty officers Graysan and Davies, and will be led by Lieutenant Mialin." she looked at those whose names she had just called. "Your destination is the central plexus, and your primary target is to retrieve Commander Holliday."

Mormont frowned, nodding as he looked over at Mialin. It would be a dangerous mission, which made it sensible that he was in the team with experienced people. This was going to end up being a fight, if not physically, then psychologically as it was their XO they were retrieving. A man most respected.

As Dea had already read Lirha confirmed her assignment. They had a lot at stake. Her attention shifted to Mormont. Her team had been given a difficult task not just on a physical level but it would weigh on them mentally as well. Beyond that if they didn't capture Holiday then she didn't want to think about the consequences. There was no room for failure on this one.

Keval thought it a bit ironic that he would be in the team rescuing the XO. He actually admired the man, his leadership philosophy was much different than Holiday's but that was because while he could appreciate the chain of command, he was still a civilian at heart. That and he tended to think outside the containment field.

Oliver looked at the team, taking a deeper breath. Sylver wasn't a stranger to the big bad universe. The Borg though...that was hardcore.

Her team... strangers, expecting Rhyan to help rescue the XO, another stranger. Rhyan's teeth worried her lower lip, nervousness peeking through as she shifted.

Lirha looked down at her PADD and turned to the next team. "Beta team will consist of lieutenants Markos and Ral, Warrant Officer Wylde, Chief Quinn, and Mister Iella. Lieutenant Markos is your team leader and your destination is the Borg maturation chambers where there are no doubt several of USS Venture's children being held."

Alexion Wylde folded his arms tighter across his chest with a slight frown as he nodded, glancing around the others in his team. He supposed he should feel lucky to see his work in action. Maybe. In truth, his previous experience with the Borg made him uneasy. He'd seen what they could do to people. The butchery.

Amynta folded her arms across her chest, looking around before giving a small nod to those that would be on her team. "Remember...even the small ones bite."

"Be mindful of at what of whom you are shooting at." replied Quinn

Nenokah remained silent as she pondered what the captain had said. Several of USS Venture's children. Children. If she wasn't ready for battle before, she certainly was now. She would do anything and everything to ensure the children's' safety.

"Charlie team," she turned to the next group, "will include Ensign T'Srrr'Kharh, Gunnery Sergeant Wyatt, crewmans Hex and Bo, and will be led by Lieutenant Pendleton. Destination is the cube's tactical subjunction grid, and your primary target is to find and retrieve Lieutenant Nicholas."

Jacob stood taller, if that was possible, when the Captain gave him the lead of "Charlie Team". His face was as good any poker face would be around a competitive poker game, but inside he was filled with pride, honor and determination. He would lead "Team Charlie" with thoughtfulness, purpose and dignity no matter what.

Luke shuffled through the gaggle of people. The room had started to become hot and stuffy, he wasn't used to being in such a mix of colours and especially being thrown into a quickly devised plan however the Captain clearly knew what she was doing, what she wanted and how so he held no objections. Finally finding himself with his team, exchanging nervous smiles and nods he turned back the the captain who was still speaking.

Chalan Bo stood silently with his team and awaited further instruction.

Siren Hex leant back against the wall, her foot lifting slightly to rest against it as she nodded gently to the rest of her team, a strand of dark, red hair escaping the clip at the back of her head. She'd never encountered Borg before they had gone after Galileo. But she'd spent as much time as she'd been able looking up every scrap of new information they had on the Borg in present years. Information was what she dealt in, afterall.

Lirha cleared her throat again and pushed a stray lock of hair back behind her hair and looked down at her PADD again. "The final group is Delta team, commanded by Lieutenant Kita and also includes Lieutenant Vess, Warrant Officer Cameron, Petty Officer Stark, and Crewman Rothgra. You will be beaming into the primary repair and engineering subjunctions and your goal is to find and bring back Lieutenant Peers and our FNN Journalist, Raifi Zaren."

Thanis shivered to himself, but tried as best he could to put on a brave face. He was not very successful. The idea of going directly into the heart of the Borg seemed more like a suicide mission than anything else to him, but he'd prepared his last farewell cylinders and done the best he could to make his peace.

Tykhin crossed his arms and pursed his lips. Usually polite in demeanour, his expression was one of unmitigated displeasure. But whatever was on his mind, he kept silent.

Gabriel Stark straightened on instinct at hearing his name, and he felt better for the rifle on his back as a member of security. In honesty though, he was eager to get over there, and get their people back where they belonged.

Asahi was in charge? Oh boy. He was barely on the ship for more than four days, and already he was in charge of something? Taking a deep breath, he nodded and looked about for the others in this away team of his. The only person he seemed to recognize was the Scottish warrant officer. Another wave of nausea passed over him at the realization. "... Oh boy."

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Tykhin Vess
Intelligence Officer
USS Venture

WO Alexion Wylde
Doctor
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Scarlet Blake]

PO2 Gabriel Stark
Security/Tactical
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Scarlet Blake]

CN Siren Hex
Intelligence
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Scarlet Blake]

WO Riley Cameron
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC - John Holliday]

PO 1st Class
Keval Grayson
Operations
[PNPC- Jared Nicholas]

LT Dea Mialin
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

Crewman Bo Chalan
Nurse
USS Galileo
(pNPC Lilou Zaren)

Crewman Apprentice Thanis Rothgra
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo
(pNPC Lilou Zaren)

Gunnery Sergeant Luke Wyatt
Marine Liaison
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Jr. Grade Asahi Kita
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Senior Chief Petty Officer Arthur Willis
Engineering Computer Specialist
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Markum Quinn]

Master Chief Petty Officer Markum Quinn
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Nenokah Ral
Assistant Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Im'er Mor'an]

Lt. Amynta Markos
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

Warrant Officer Oliver Sylver
Flight Control
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Aria Rice]

Chief Petty Officer Rhyan Davies
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Jacrux]

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