AT-3 Rescue Team Charlie (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 12 Nov 2013 @ 8:57am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant Jacob Pendleton & Commander Luke Wyatt & Petty Officer 3rd Class Bo Chalan & Petty Officer 1st Class Siren Hex Saalm & Legatus of Borg & 8 of 8 & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Arthur Willis

2,689 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 04 - Exodus
Location: Borg Cube - Subjunction 12, Grid 10-1, Tactical Grid
Timeline: MD 06 - 1329 hrs

[ON]

USS Galileo - Transporter Room 1

"Charlie team," the captain addressed the next rescue team which was scheduled to depart after watching the first to away teams successfully beam over to the cube's interior. "Proceed." she nodded to them then motioned for them to step up onto the transporter pad and prepare themselves for transport. "Keep open comms with us and we will bring you back safely. Godspeed." she reassured them.

Luke stepped up to the transporter PaDD grinning almost, "Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them, Volley'd and thunder'd; Storm'd at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell, Rode the six hundred." He muttered under his breath as he resisted a poem he had read.

"Your enthusiasm is heartening," Bo murmured dryly as he stepped onto the transporter. His hand moved of its own accord to check the strap to his medkit. Secure. There. He drew his phaser, checked its settings, and pulled it tight into his chest in case there was need of it immediately upon arrival.

"I try my best, Ive got plenty if you want to hear more?" Luke chuckled to checked over his rifle which was probably about the hundredth time now. He Tactical belt was fitting somewhat uncomfortable and he could feel his palms getting stick but he blamed it on the heat rather than his nerves

"Perhaps we can recite them to death," the Bajoran smirked. "Has anyone catalogued the effect of Terran poetry on the Borg before?"

Jacob stepped in to the transporter room immediately seeing the others there. His face was stone, his massive muscles flexed as walked forward, his dark brown eyes had a glint of dead seriousness. The usually easy going, gentle Jacob was no where to be found. His body language spoke of the danger this mission represented. He made eye contact with Captain Saalm and nodded in respect to her knowing that he might never see her again. He looked at Kate and gave her a nod as well. He then turned quickly to the members of his team as he approached the transporter pad. He looked at them and in a low but deeper than usual voice said, "I am proud of all of you, I want you to know that right here and right now. We do this for our teammates lost over there. We will get them out of there no matter the trials and tribulations we face. In the words of the great leader of England, Winston Churchill, 'Let them say, this was their finest hour'." He then got on the pad turned and faced outward and then cracked his knuckles loudly like he always did when faced with a complex or difficult task.

Bo eyed their team leader, brows drawn. He doubted very much that being dragged screaming into an assimilation chamber would be any of their finest hours. Perhaps he meant this moment, right now, when they were willfully sending themselves into harm's way. But that was not a fine hour either. Honorable, perhaps, but not definitively 'fine'. Perhaps he had meant to say 'their finite hour' and the words had been garbled in translation.

"If we make sure we get back here in one piece, no one will have to say anything. Apart from 'what can I get you to drink?'," Siren took her place on the pad with a small smile, her hands resting comfortably on her hips. She wasn't much for morbidity. She'd grown up in a place where death was rife; talking about it and thinking about it just added to the grind.

Willis activated the transporter lock and then ran his fingers down the console activating the beam out.


Borg Cube - Subjunction 12, Grid 10-1, Tactical Grid

Tactical Grids were some of the most fortified sections of the cube. Thick duranium and tritanium shielding hung over most of the walls, tactical readouts positioned every few metres that detailed the specifications of the vessel's weapons systems - dozens of emitters lining huge sections of the ship, capable of firing anything from disruptors, to torpedoes, tractor beams and cutting beams dependent on the cube's requirement.

Drones here were plentiful, taking extra care to ensure that weapons and defensive systems of the Cube were kept at peak efficiency should the drones suddenly discover a target worthy of assimilation, or a threat to their perfection.

As the transporter finished it's cycle, the drones did not react in any way, simply ignoring the presence of the Federation party, but whether or not that was intentional, or as an effect of the bio-cloaks, was unknown.

Luke scanned the room after the last of light particles stopped swirling around his head, around he could see Borg drones regenerating, walking around and attending to their station. They didn't seem to bother with their arrival and Luke finally had a spark of Hope in the plan. "Where to?" He asked quietly.

Chalan Bo trained his phaser on the closest of the drones, but didn't fire. If they did not see the Federation officers as a threat, there was no reason to change their minds.

Siren was conducting her own scan and she watched the readouts with a frown of concentration. She nodded down the pathway that contained Borg, pointing out that the tricorder indicated Jared Nicholas was in the direction that took them past a number of drones. They'd have to move past them without alerting or touching them. Talk about holding breath.

Luke creeped forward shoulder to shoulder with some of his team behind him, if the Borg detection systems were based on heart Rate he would be glowing like a New York Billboard. He was eyeing the Borg trying to pick out any notable features of fellow crew member's or any sign of suspicion.

The Bajoran drew his medkit close to his side to avoid any accidental nudges to the figures they were easing through. Trees in motion, he told himself. Very dangerous trees in motion. He followed Siren's gaze for a moment and nearly tripped into one of the drones as it stepped forward into his path, but managed to avoid collision.

Siren let out a tight breath of relief at seeing the near miss, her own heart pounding in her chest as she tried to move elegantly and lithely, keeping her steps fluid and movement steady to get through the gauntlet that was well and truly testing the nerves.

Jacob whispered, "Ok lets move down the passageways here, keep your attention vigilant to everything around us, we cannot afford to be caught of guard. Stay together and guard each other. Be prepared for anything." He looked around and made his way down the corridor while making sure everyone was moving at the same pace.

Luke continued down the corridor and after a short while it broke into a large room filed with Borg none of which seemed to pay them any attention "Whats that say?" He asked Siren nodding towards the tricorder. Luke hoped it wasnt this room, taken down a Borg drone here would surly be asking for trouble.

Siren just pointed to the hatch on the other side of the room to indicate that their goal was through there, shrugging lightly with it as if to say 'tough break'. She moved slowly, light on her feet, but her eyes kept drifting back to the tricorder, to keep a fix on the signature they were after. He wasn't far now.

Eight of Eight was standing silently, data flowing into him from the Collective. He was at one with the hive. Everything was just as it should be. Then something stirred near him. It wasn't part pf the collective, he knew that much and so he turned to see who the invaders were.

Jacob saw his colleague now turned into a Borg "zombie" and sadness filled him. "Jared... may the Universe protect him.." He turned back to the team and whispered. "Ok, we know what to do: Stun him, give him the hypospray, place the tranceiver on him and beam him to sickbay. And just as a precautionary measure, don't let him touch you. We have to assume he is able to shoot those dreaded nanites into our blood stream. Any questions or ideas you may have? We need to think and act quickly as possible."

"Someone sneaks round behind him and I'll try to get his attention?" Luke suggested "One he's not paying much attention on you guys wham we hit him with the knockout spray and drag his butt back to the Galileo?"

Siren nodded with a frown, holding her breath. "We can't use phasers, not even to stun. They'll know we're here if we do. And if he becomes aware of us, they rest of the cube does. We need to knock him out before he even knows something is amiss. This needs to be completely stealth, he can't know you're there before you press it to his neck. Who wants it?" she offered the hypo out.

Luke took the hypospray, as far as he saw it he was the LVP (least valuable player) if he went down at least then the crew of the Galileo still had its officers and the Venture just lost another Marine 'No Biggie, knock out the Borg drone without knowing noticing... Piece of cake he tried to reassure himself.

"I can distract him while the rest of you surround him and whomever wants to hypospray him can do so. Hopefully he will see me and regard me as the greatest threat. Any thoughts?" Jacob's voice was filled with confidence as he absolutely trusted his colleagues to do the best job possible.

Bo kept his phaser carefully trained in case anything should happen. He could already tell that, even they managed to get Nicholas back to the Galileo without further damaging him, there was a long road to recovery ahead for this man. He would need all the help he could get. "I'm right beside you," he assured Jacob.

"No, no distractions," Siren shook her head quickly with a frown as she watched Pendleton. "Then he'll know there are intruders here, and then the rest of the Drones know. Luke has to take him down in one swift move so he never knows we're here."

"Very well, but we will be in full support mode should something go awry Seargeant Wyatt. I assure you of that." Jacob's voice was filled with certainty and authority as he looked at Luke. "Now, go quickly, we have you covered."

Eight of Eight opened his eyes and started to step forward. If he was aware of his cloaked friends it was not obvious. More than likely he was simply on a mission that the collective had designated him for.

Luke crept round with the hypospray in hand, looking behind him th others where doing the same for a moment he had considered laughing but then realised where he was. Standing up slowly so he could press the hypospray against the Borg's neck he slowly reached forward to inject the chemical knockout. Pressing the spray to the Borgs next he prayed the concoction would work.

Eight of Eight felt a strange sensation. One he could not remember ever feeling. He lost contact with the hive, the collective. His eyes grew larger, he began to panic. He started to turn his head from side to side, then he fell unceremoniously to the floor.

Bo hurried forward, dropping to one knee to check Nicholas' vitals. "He's alive," he reported. "Strong pulse." He glanced back over his shoulder at them, "When's the next cycle we can beam him back? If my understanding of the nanoprobes is correct, this state of rest will not last as long as we might wish."

"We need to get moving, Lieutenant we should see if we could use one of the consoles to decrypt the shield and weapon modulations just means an extra minute in this hell hole" Looking around he was starting to get anxious, there were a lot of Borg.

"A minute and a half until beam out," Siren said softly, nodding to Bo and then Luke. She opened her mouth to speak when her tricorder flashed at her. "I've picked up a match from Venture...about 20 meters that way," she nodded to an archway. She looked between them, holding her breath. Which objective would they clear up first?

Jacob took a look at his own tricorder, dispensing with formalities he whispered, "We'll get the other Venture crew that we can. "Siren, Bo and Luke, get to that match quickly. I will move to that nearby computer console and work on decrypting their shield programs so we can gain precious extra time and get out of here with everyone more efficiently, a great suggestion by the way Bo. Set a low emergency alarm on your tricorders, let's make sure they are in sync so that if there is any sign of trouble, we can quickly move to support each other or evacuate as team if necessary. Keep in contact with me and I will do the same. Low end frequency communication that the Collective would not be used to picking up got it?"

Siren frowned, letting out a long breath at the mention of leaving one person alone. "Lieutenant, is it wise to split up and leave you on your own?" she whispered. "Anything could happen here."

Before the lieutenant had a chance to reply Luke chipped in his own thoughts "You're right, however I am with the Lieutenant on this one. Rescuing crew members is the top priority but if we can help in our chances of actually getting out of this nebula alive and not having to fight the Borg well I think its worth the risk"

"We could still do both tasks, just one after the other rather than leaving the Chief Science Officer here alone," Siren shrugged, offering the other option out. "Or a split that offers more protection to our team leader."

They were running out of time and although he agreed completely with Siren he wanted to do both tasks and get out as quickly as possible "I'll go with Pendleton and then we'll meet you back at the rally point" He looked towards their leader with the facial expression begging for him to agree so they could get moving.

Bo glanced between the others. Now was not the best time to be having a debate over tactics. Whatever was to be done ought to be decided and accomplished, not waffled about. "If that's settled?" Bo murmured with a slow blink and nodded to Hex. "I'll follow you. Let's get these people out of here."

Jacob shook his head, "I believe there are more than one member of the Venture here and they all can be rescued. I appreciate your concern for me Siren, but I will be fine, I promise, if anything goes wrong I will run towards your position with all haste. Now set your emergency frequency alarms and let's get to work." He looked at their faces, "Now go, and may the Supreme Architect of the Universe protect you." He face was firm and his body language was hinting to the fact that he did not want to "pull rank" and make the decision an "order". He swiftly rose and began to quickly head to the nearby console.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Jacob Pendleton
Chief Science Officer, Leader of Charlie Team
USS Galileo

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

Gunnery Sergeant Luke Wyatt
Marine Liaison
USS Galileo

Crewman Bo Chalan
Nurse
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Lilou Zaren]

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

8 of 8
Drone
Borg Collective
[PNPC - Jared Nicholas]

Legatus of Borg
Narrator
[PNPC - John Holliday]

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