OOC Narrator Note: I just got Technical Adviser (TA) approval for this post. Seeing how it is only the two of you and both have informed me that you are ready. I am posting early. This is not a change in the official posting schedule rather it is catering to the wishes of my two players in the moment. I can not promise that future posts will go up ahead of their release dates.
The Attack, Stardate: 53829.11
The Attack
Just Twenty Four Hours out of Sol System
USS Thunderchild, NCC-63549
Stardate: 53829.04
Commander Bonham, Acting Captain
Commander Bonham stepped on to the bridge with a look of concern on his rugged face. He had been summoned to the bridge by the Operations Officer regarding yet again another issue with computer control. "We can make it better Fleet Yards said. Seems to me that we have had more problems with our systems than ever before." He grumbled as he stormed passed Lieutenant Kinchlirah and the tactical station. It had been a very eventful day with false alarms and sensor blackouts across the ship. What made him the most mad over the situation was that no one, NO ONE on the ship could explain the rash of system failures.
Commander Bonham stood just over two meters tall and was a well built attractive human. Normally, a nasty burn that covered the left side of his face and went below his uniform often disguised his smile and the soul of a man that had great care for his shipmates. While he could easily have the scar removed, Commander Bonham has chosen to keep it as a reminder of that day he abandoned his best friend. Unlike so many officers from the Dominion War, he bore his scares for all to see. The years on this ship has taught him both courage and humility in the face of death. If it was not for his latest rounds with Starfleet Medical and their councilors, he would have been cleared for a position of Executive Officer. To him, it was those very scares that held him back from command. However to Starfleet Medicial, it was his inability to forgive himself that was holding him back.
Starfleet Medical was the last thing on his mind right now. He had much larger issues if he was to deliver this ship to its new commander safely. Their problme now was once one system went in to failure, it would cascade across other nearby systems. Teams would be dispatched to repair the faulty system only to find that the system was operating normally. "Tell me Lieutenant" he said speaking to Kinchlirah, "What do the Klingons call gremlins." There was a hint of humor in his voice but it was clearly a front as anger boiled just below the surface. He stormed passed Tactical on his way across the bridge.
The tall Klingon watched the ship's commander cross the bridge as she answer, "Gremlins? Yes, I know what you mean. We have many names for them. Pakleds. Ferengi. Tribbles. Sometimes we call them 'starfleets'."
As he walked across the bridge of the Thunderchild towards the Operations Station there was purpose with each step. He was in foul mood and dared anyone to cross him this morning. He knew that they were doing their best under the conditions. But being out of control like this was testing him. Still despite his anger, the crew had become his family. During the ship's repairs, he has come to know each member of this crew like they were his personal family. Even the twenty two cadets they took on two weeks ago. Commander Bonham took the time to get to know each of them on a personally level.
The situation on the Bridge of the Thunderchild seemed to be in a hyper sense of tension. "Talk to me Ops" he said in a deeply calm yet demanding voice.
Lieutenant T'Lora hands drifted over the controls of her station, "Sir, I have detected some more strange operations from the central computer. However I am finding it harder this time to locate which systems are being effected......Puzzling" Her Vulcan face shifted as the information revealed a new problem. Her hands moved over the console, then without looking up from her station, "I am detecting an unauthorized transporter operation."
Commander Bonham rushed over to the Ops Station, "What do you mean? Which transporter?"
Her hands glided over her controls as she discovered more information regarding the situation. Her station lit up as the situation evolved, "Sir......." she said as she looked up, "All of them." She paused for a moment, "I am confirming twelve separate site to site transporter beams across the ship. All beams have originated from within the ship and terminated within the ship."
"Damn those upgrades" Commander Bonham said with a cruise. "Some one locate our Chief Engineer and inform her that the transporters are acting up now."
Lieutenant T'Lora looked up from her station, "Lieutenant Medart and her entire engineering shift are currently located on deck fourteen, Holodeck two."
Commander Bonham looked at the young Vulcan with shock, "What are they doing there?" His frustration was no longer.
Lieutenant T'Lora returned her attention back to her station, "It would appear that they were just transported from Engineering to the deck fourteen." Commander Bonham was about to cut in to say something when the Vulcan cut him off with urgency, "Sir, I am detecting another unauthorized transporter operation cycling up."
Commander Bonham looked over the controls, "Shut it down!"
In that moment a buzzing sound filled the bridge as the five personal of the morning bridge shift started to glow in a soft blue light. Even as the transport was taking place, Lieutenant T'Lora fought in vain to halt the transport. However it was too late. Within seconds, the entire bridge crew were gone and five other crew members stood scattered across the bridge. The look on their faces showed their confusion. Each of the new inhabitants of the bridge carried some kind of tool. Finally an Andorian stepped forward and activated his com-badge, "Crewman Thelev ch'Irroh to Flight Operations, my deck crew and I were just transported from our stations on the flight deck to the bridge. The Bridge crew is not at their stations on the bridge. Please advice."
Deck 16, Section 8:
Commander Bonham and his bridge crew rematerialized in the ship's Gymnasium. There was clear anger over his face as he looked around. He tapped his com-badge, "Lieutenant Medart these computer issues have gone far from annoying to, FIX MY SHIP!" The anger dripped from every word as he looked around calculating how long it will take to get back to the bridge. However over the com-channel, a strange garbled noise was heard. Bonham turned in anger back to his staff.
(OOC Character Information: TurboLifts are currently off line. It would appear at the moment that the Computer has suffered a critical system failure that has cascaded across all internal systems.)
Deck 8, Section 15:
The sounds of transporters down the corridor could easily be heard as the supposed transporter malfunction continued send members of the crew across the ship. At this point, each transporter was acting independent of the others picking up members of the crew and transporting them to another position within the ship. TurboLifts are all nonfunctional as well as voice interface with the computer. With engineering and the bridge not manned by their crews, it has become hard to bring the situation under control. Sounds of urgent calls down the hall indicated the chaos and confusion that has been caused by the 'malfunction'.
The corridor lit up with the soft blue glow of a transporter. Normally this would trigger a number of alarms on the tactical officers sensors on the bridge and within Central Security Station three decks above. However those stations were not currently manned by their crews. Also due to the 'malfunction' it was suspected that it would be nearly impossible for the computer to identify this one signal as that of an intruder. However with the latest upgrade that the Thunderchild had, the computer did detect the signal and identify that the origin of the beam was not from the ship. This caused an alert to be sent from the internal security sensors to both the bridge and Central Security. At two separate stations within the ship an intruder alert signal was activated. However neither stations were manned so there was no one to react to it.
As the transport completed, the woman dressed in a Starfleet uniform stood in the middle of the corridor. Her uniform indicated that she was a member of an engineering section. This would allow her to move about without drawing much attention to herself. Her long fiery red hair stood out as did the fire in her eyes. This fire from her eyes, reflected a deep routed mission that was driving her. Once the transport was completed she reached with her right hand up to a small device on her left shoulder and activated it with a few taps. Once the device was activated she cupped the right side of her face with her right hand and tapped a device in her ear with a finger,
"Susquehanna, transport complete. Sensor dampening field has been activated."
The device on her shoulder was clearly homemade and ensure that the internal sensors of the ship could no longer detect her. Despite the upgraded sensors on the ship they would only be able to detect a shadowy ghost of her body. The device was playing havoc on the internal sensors of the ship making identifying the intruder all but impossible for the ship's stricken computer. All it could tell was that the intruder was a female and possible human. Beyond that, the ship could not gather any further information about her. It was the same device that allowed her to breach another Starfleet facility a weeks ago. However unlike today, she had been able to slip in and leave completely undetected. Today however, she wanted to be detected. Today, her mission called for her actions to be witnessed but her identity to still remain a mystery. 'All in good time' she thought as she gave a nod to herself.
Despite her goals today, she still had to move with caution. After all, the goal didn't call for getting caught. The Thunderchild proved to be more problematic getting on board undetected. Three times she had attempted to get on board only to trip the upgraded internal security systems. A number of fail safes had prevented her from taking the security systems completely off line. Truth be told, she was getting frustrated with the whole issue. Scrambling the entire Computer was starting to look like an inviting idea. However that would send the Thunderchild back to the shipyards for months of computer repairs. And worse yet, possible injuries. That was something she was unwilling to accept at this stage. She came up with this plan just before the Thunderchild left the shipyards yesterday. It was daring but offered the limited possible risks of other's being hurt. After all, she didn't have any issues with the crew of this ship. She only needed to complete her mission and that meant accessing their computer core.
A light brown leather pouch with a flap hung from a strap that crossed over torso. The pouch hung just above her waist and looked more like a purse. There were no markings on the pouch and the flap fastened with a simple leather tie. The intruder reached in to her pouch with her left hand and pulled out a tricorder. Carefully as her eyes scanned the corridor, she opened the tricorder and started to scan the area. Her voice seemed to be the only voice on the deck
"continue to monitor the situation, Susquehanna. I can detect that damping field just a few meters away from my position. I am preceding towards Computer Control Center." Though the sensors could not detect her physical form, it was able to detect and record her voice. However it was unable to detect the signal which was being transmitted to the device in her ear.
Another female voice softly spoke in to the intruder's ear,
"Confirmed. Our transporter protocols are still in effect. I am still detecting a large number of independent transporter signals across the ship. A number of intra communication traffic across the ship indicates the crew is in a state of chaos. Aside for who is in the Computer Control Center, your deck is clear of life forms. Proceed with caution. This wont last for long, you need to be quick. Be advised, there is an intruder alert single that has been triggered. However it would appear you were right, it has not been acknowledged by either security or the bridge station. There is no indication that the crew is aware of you beaming aboard. I will continue to limit their ability to track your movements from here and watch their attempts to regain control over those effected systems. Be safe." The transmissions that the intruder heard were only in her ear. No one around her would be able to hear what was being told to her.
The intruder nodded as she moved down the corridor,
"understood. Keep monitoring my progress. I don't want to have any security personal sneaking up on me." She left the channel open as she started to walk down the corridor.
The intruder cautiously proceeded down the corridor as she used the tricorder to scan the area around her. She could easy identify the dampening field which prevented her from beaming directly to the Computer Control Room. The plan had been simple, override the Computer Operations by using Starfleet's own command codes. Set the crew in to a state of chaos and exploit the situation so that she can download the data that she needed. Then slip away before the crew could react to her actions. She had thought that she had calculated everything that could go wrong with this plan.
Seconds after her plan started, she detected a dampening field in the Computer Control Room. She wasn't sure if the dampening field was as a result of the 'computer malfunctions' which she had caused across the ship. Or it could have been someone detected the computer virus that she had uploaded in to the Computer Core yesterday and was reacting to it. Or as a result of a crew member reacting to the supposed random transporter malfunctions which was clearing a path for the intruder. It really didn't matter why the field within the Computer Control Room was set up. The fact that it was there was enough of a problem.
This forced her to beam in a corridor instead of the Computer Control Room as she had wanted to. She wouldn't lie, the speed of the damping field had impressed her. She already had her thoughts as to whom had attempted to ruin their plans. Still, now she had to adapt to the change in the situation. There was simply no choice to back off now. Tomorrow the Thunderchild's situation would change. No, she simply had no choice but to continue now. She had already passed the point of no return two weeks ago. She simply couldn't go back now. The fate of the Federation now rested in her hands alone. No one had believed her so now she had to do the unthinkable to protect the Federation.
The change meant that her limited time would be pressed even tighter than before. She had planned for the entire infiltration was to last four and a half minutes from beginning to end. The download of the date would take two and a half minutes. Now, she was forced to amend her time tables. Still she could not remain on board for longer than four and a half minutes. This deadline was the amount of time that it would take a security personal to override the lock outs that isolated this deck from the rest of the ship and reach the Computer Control Room. There was nothing left to chance, it was four and a half minutes. Not one second longer or else she risked capture and a return to Starfleet Medical. The very thought of that place caused her heart to race with fear. They tried to murder her and claimed it was a suicide attempt. She couldn't go back, not while the fate of the Federation was in the balance. Capture was simply not an option for her. She couldn't go back, she won't go back. She had to prove to them that she was not lying. And the truth that she needed was hidden in this ship's memory core.
However she couldn't tip her hand, not yet. He knew that she had escaped and was out for revenge. He had tried to kill her once already and he wouldn't stop now. She had tried to run and hide but his people had found her back on Mars and tried again to silence her. But now everything had changed. Now she knew who he was and she was able plot and plan for his actions. She knew that he had the resources of Starfleet behind him. No one would listen to her, no one would believe her. The crew of this ship would carry out his orders without question if they caught her. They would kill her just like he had tried on Earth. With her death, soon would follow the Federation. No, she couldn't trust this crew, capture could not be accepted. No matter the cost. It was because of this baseline fear, she had no choice but to get away before the crew could react to the situation.
Even if they could escape the ship, they were not out of harms way yet. Their runabout, the Susquehanna, despite being state of the art for a runabout, but it still had its limitations. It could never hope to out run a ship like the Thunderchild. This was why they had to keep surprise and time on their side. The success of their mission depended on keeping at least two steps ahead of Starfleet. Just like at the Proxima shipyards, they were able to take full advantage of Starfleet's weaknesses. Getting their hands on the Susquehanna while it was at the shipyards was no easy task. It was in taking the runabout while Starfleet was still unaware that the little ship was even missing, this was a work of art.
Our intruder worked her way up the corridor hoping that her luck would continue to hold out despite the changes to her over all plan. Still cautiously and with great awareness moved up to a door and scanned inside it.
"Susquehanna, I am at Computer Control Room. The scans indicate that the field is in fact originating from within the room. I am detecting a few life signs within the room but the field is preventing me from getting a fix on numbers or races. Can you penetrate the field and beam them out?"
The ear piece came alive once more,
"No, the field is too localized and is scrambling my targeting sensors. Look, it's too dangerous. Let us switch places and I will clear the room for you."
The intruder started to tapped a few commands in to her tricorder,
"No. There is not enough time. It will be just like how you trained me. Don't worry, I can do this" she said as she closed her tricorder and placed it back in to the pouch.
"Plus we will never get this close to the data again. We have to continue" she explained as she pulled out a set of darkened thick glasses and earplugs out of her pouch.
"I have overrode their security lock outs and am proceeding forward with our plan. I will contact you when I have the room secured. Out" she said then removed the comlink from her ear and held it in her hand as she put the ear plugs in her ears. Then she placed the comlink in her pouch with one hand and slide the glasses over her eyes. As she pulled a metal canister from her pouch. It was crud but would be highly effective for her desired goal.
The intruder didn't like the idea of a direct confrontation with Starfleet personal. However, from the very beginning she knew that this was a risk that had to be accepted. She pulled the pin on the canister and remained low as she activated the door controls. On her command and to the surprise of those inside, the door hissed open. She rolled the canister in to the far side of the room where she saw the most personal. She shielded her eyes by turning away and covering her ears as the device went off. A loud popping sound erupted from the device as the entire room filled with a near blinding light. Nothing permanent just enough to give her the upper hand in the coming battle. She moved in as the doors closed behind her.
She scanned the room carefully as she sized up each of the four crew members. Even as the man standing next to her was drawing his weapon, she took the vital moments to examine the situation. In preparation for this mission she understood the importance of learning as much as she could about the crew. She felt that hours of study would be the difference between success or failure. Each bit of information no matter how trivial was critical to success. For her, this mission was simply too important to leave to chance. As she took in a deep breath her heart rate slowed and her eyes shifted from target to target. Each crew member coming in to prefect vision through her mind's eye. Carefully and rapidly she assessed each one.
To her left was the young Ensign Stanton Faulknen in a golden uniform. He graduated from the Academy three months ago and the Thunderchild was his first post. His dedication to his duties and eagerness to learn more earned him the respect of the ship's acting commander. He scored average in most of his classes but never seemed to give up no matter the obstacles before him. He was from a small town just outside of San Fransisco. He has had a relationship with a woman back home that was going on six years. He had recently acquired a ring which he had planned to give her next year on his shore leave. His position on the ship was with Security and was currently on duty.
This area was part of his normal patrol so she had figured that an encounter with him was probable. To her disappointment because of his location in relation to the concussion blast, he didn't suffer as much as the other three crew members had. This meant that he was much more aware of what was going on around him. Also his better training in security operations as well as the simply fact that he was about to target her with a phaser made him particularly dangerous. It was these reasons why she placed Ensign Faulknen risk assessment as the highest in the room and therefore he had to be subdued first.
Turning to face the intruder was the Vulcan Computer Specialist Lieutenant Paaleia. One of nineteen Vulcans aboard the ship. She graduated the Academy three years ago and served aboard the Thunderchild during their last ill fated mission. She had decided to stay on board after the ship returned to the shipyards for repairs. Her scientific mind made her a good selection for Computer Specialist though she has noted in her personal logs of her passion for music. There were more than ten entries in her personal logs regarding Commander Bonham. However, Lieutenant Paaleia felt that the Commander only saw her as more of a daughter rather than an acceptable mate. A situation that the Vulcan did not find logical. The intruder could empathize with Lieutenant Paaleia's conflict in having feelings for a superior officer.
Lastly, there were a pair of cadets set at their consoles within the computer control station. They were both reacting much slower to the situation than the first two officers. Cadet Arron Vangelos and Ashlea Galven. Both came aboard a few weeks ago as part of their cadet cruise. Each had scored unremarkable in their classes which is why they were not given better assignments for their cruises. The intruder placed their threat level as low on her list.
The intruder could plainly see the open tricorder on one of the consoles. It was clear that it was the source of the damping field. As she finished her assessment of the situation her eyes glided back to her single largest threat, Ensign Faulknen. Her breath now fully drawn and her body and mind fully switched in to combat mode. The sounds and smells of the coming battle triggered thoughts locked deep in dark places of the intruder's mind. Ensign Faulknen had just fully drew out his phaser and was just starting to swing it towards the intruder.
The intruder side stepped to the left in a fluid motion closing on the young security officer as he attempted to take aim at her. The intruder's speed was much faster then Ensign Faulknen had expected and her experienced gave her an unfair advantage over him. The intruder caught his wrist as he attempted to take aim at her at the same time she drove her left elbow in to his soft side just below his ribcage. The blow winded the young Ensign taking the fight from his lung and weakened his resolve.
If he had realized the close ranges, the young Ensign would have never reached for his phaser. It was a classic rookie mistake. The intruder comforted herself with the thought that at least in this encounter, he would survive and learn from the mistake. Something that so few of her closest friends had the opportunity to enjoy. But still she meant to make him pay dearly for the mistake. To make it a lesson that he would not soon forget. Holding his right wrist firmly, she twisted his wrist turning his elbow upward. At the same time she drew back her left arm and raised it above his right arm. She brought it down on the fully extended joint.
The arm bent in such a way that it clearly broke, the sound of the joint breaking was clearly heard in the room. The phaser flung from his grip and flew somewhere across the room as the intruder whipped the broken right arm like a rope. The young Ensign let out a scream filled with pain as he was helpless to stop the intruder. The intruder pulled on the damaged arm as she spun him around and built up momentum. Using her leverage and speed she sent the Ensign stumbling towards a nearby consoles. With the motion that was given to him, he flipped over the console and temporally vanished from sight.
Even before the Ensign was no longer a threat, the intruder was already tracking Lieutenant Paaleia. The Vulcan was in full motion to intercept the intruder when she had walked in to the room. As the Lieutenant plotted out her own actions, the intruder was considering the possible attacks that the Lieutenant could carry out. The intruder controlled the speed of the attack and this gave her an incredible advantage over the defenders. Lieutenant Paaleia's ability to act without emotion and fully with logic made her very dangerous as well as predictable and the intruder was not about to underestimate either. As Lieutenant Paaleia moved in for the attack, the intruder spun to the left side of Lieutenant Paaleia and drove a powerful punch in to the side of the Vulcan followed by another powerful blow to the lower back. The intruder's actions were clearly a martial arts form that Lieutenant Paaleia had seen back on Vulcan.
The two hits were surgical and meant to stun the Vulcan long enough for the next attack. For all the power of the twin hits, Lieutenant Paaleia spun as she blocked the third attack. Realizing that Lieutenant Paaleia had recovered faster than expected, intruder shifted her attacks in mid motion by dropping her torso and in doing so avoided Lieutenant Paaleia's swing. Again, the intruder actions were much like a martial arts form favored by many Vulcan officers. Like a great cat, the intruder sprung up and forward with a powerful side kick to Lieutenant Paaleia's right side shoulder. The force of the kick thrust the Vulcan to the right and square in to a bulkhead. The blow snapped the Lieutenant's head back and sent her stumbling down to the deck.
The intruder knew that the two cadets were moving to engage her long before they realized that their actions were detected. As she landed after her kick on Lieutenant Paaleia, she hit the deck in a roll to buy time and steel the advantage from the two cadets. With all her motion, she leaped her body back up in to the air once more. In mid air, the intruder spun her body over and in to a spinning kick. The top of her boot landed square on the side of Cadet Vangelos head. The blow sent him half stumbling half flying backwards and over the console that Ensign Faulknen had just stumbled over. The Ensign Faulknen was just recovering from his own beating when he was knocked back to the ground by Cadet Vangelos. The two shipmates were no longer a current threat as the intruder shifted her attention Cadet Galven.
Cadet Galven didn't waste any time as she unleashed a series of rapid random attacks on the intruder. It was clear that Cadet Galven had focused a bit too much time studying Computer Operations and Technology rather then her personal combat classes. The intruder was easily able to deflect each attack with skill of a martial arts' master. What Cadet Galven didn't realize was that the intruder was using the cadet's attacks to set the cadet up for defeat. The intruder deflected the cadet's last attack and using the momentum of the attack, the intruder spun the cadet around and locked her neck in a choking hold. The cadet let out a helpless scream as panic filled her mind. 'One, two, three' the intruder thought as she counted carefully. Too much time in the choke hold and the cadet could be seriously injured. The fight faded quickly from the cadet as her body went limp and the intruder let the cadet slip to the deck in a deep slumber. The battle was over for the young Computer specialist.
From the intruder's periphery vision, the intruder took notice of Lieutenant Paaleia moving at her. The motion of the Vulcan's arm was a clear indication of the Lieutenant's next attack. 'A Vulcan neck pinch....really?' crossed the intruder's mind. Such a classic Vulcan attack and for the trained infiltrator, easily blocked. It was a logical move for Lieutenant Paaleia, end the battle right here with one attack. The intruder shifted her weight in full motion as the battle tempo never slowed down. Using her speed the intruder shifted to the left while grappling Lieutenant Paaleia's attack. While Lieutenant Paaleia might be stronger than the intruder in normal situations, the use of momentum gave the intruder much higher advantage than the Vulcan's pure strength. The intruder spun around Lieutenant Paaleia body taking with her the Vulcan's arm and tightening the grapple hold.
"Good night!" the intruder said as she surprised the Vulcan by reversing the neck pinch. Lieutenant Paaleia fell to the deck in a heap of unmoving flesh.
During the intruder's training for this mission, it was clear that the upper hand would at one point in time shift to the Starfleet defenders. It was a risk that could not be ignored. So as part of her training for this mission, she focused on what would happen once the upper hand shifted against her. It was Cadet Vangelos who bravely leaped from the console and grappled the intruder. There are times when timing just wasn't in your favor. In this game, Cadet Vangelos was able to get behind her before she realized he was there and grappled her in a tight bear hug style attack.
To both of their surprise, he was able to pin her arms just above her waist. It was in that moment that the intruder knew that the upper hand had shifted. Time was critical to steel back the advantage. In that moment, and much deeper in her mind something was unleashed. The intruder glanced at the reflection of the being behind her on a nearby monitor. She saw the Cardassian holding her fast in his arms.
"Settle down you Federation whore!" he spat at her.
Terror filled her mind as she knew what was coming next. It always came like this. The group of guards would hold her down and force their way with her. Panic filled her mind as she let out a terror filled scream that shocked everyone in the room. Her eyes refocused on pure survival. She fought back like a caged animal twisting and struggling with all her might. She had to ensure that he couldn't further secure and tighten his grip. The intruder flexed her body and twisted it over and over again to work his arms just a bit looser.
Her mind raced forcing herself to realize where she really was and not to allow these illusions to ruin their chance of success. Once more she screamed as she could see those nasty Cardassians lining up to take their turn with her. She fought both in her mind and with her body. She couldn't loss control, 'Goddess, please not now!' she screamed in to her own mind. By sheer force of will she could see past her nightmares and see what was going on. It was in that moment she spotted Starfleet's last critical mistake.
She spotted Ensign Faulknen rushing to where the phaser had been flung. She knew that due to this mistake she had time to work herself free. But that time would soon elapse. She had to work free, NOW! She used her motion once more and snapped her head backwards right in to the cadet's face. The impact broke his nose and caused both to stumble. Still he held her fast yelling for the Ensign to help. With the Cadet dazed slightly, the intruder bent her whole body forward as she thrust her right leg out and beside him. Bending as much as her body would allow, she forced her joints to bend beyond their limits. This caused her great pain but the attack had to be landed. She screamed out in pain as she landed her kick to the back side of his head.
The blow blurred his vision slightly and forced him to stumble forward towards one of the consoles. With their position right where she needed them to be, she put her final plan in to motion. She leaped up while he held her tight. Bending her knees she planted both of her feet on the console. With all her might she pushed herself off of the console and backwards. The motion sent both Cadet and the intruder in his arms stumbling backwards towards a nearby bulkhead. She timed her next action with such perfection that even a Vulcan would be impressed.
As Cadet Vangelos hit the bulkhead with his own head, she slammed her head once more in to his weakened face. The combined impacts took their toll on the young cadet. His grip gave way as he slid down to the deck. The sound of the door to the mainframe room hissed open in reaction to the cadet and the intruder being near the door. The Cadet slipped down towards the deck with thoughts of starships in his dreams. The battle for the Computer Control Room was reaching its conclusion and till this moment not one crew member had been permanently injured. A fact that she could take pride in. Still there was no time for reassuring herself as the battle was not over yet.
The intruder landed lightly on her feet with her center of gravity centered perfectly. Her eyes fixed on Ensign Faulknen who was just raising up from behind a console with his phaser in his off, left, hand. It was clear that this was not his dominate hand, but he was still focused on using the weapon. The smile on his face told her that he had assumed that the battle was over and he was the victor. 'Arrogant' she thought as the two carefully plotted out their next actions. Not even seconds passed as the two took their next actions.
Time faded away as the two combatants locked glares at each other. She saw hatred and revenge in his eyes. In her eyes, he saw her determination. In just a few short moments, she had taken down three of his shipmates with what seemed to be little effort. He had every intention to make her pay for her attack on his ship. It was these emotions that she knew all too well, revenge. 'If he only knew' she thought. What he could never understand was that he was the last person standing in the way of her mission to save the Federation. In her eyes, Ensign Faulknen saw the kind of determination that would not be denied. It was as much a test of wills as it was a test of speed.
Ensign Faulknen knew what had to be done and this guided his actions. His finger moved over the phaser while taking aim with the weapon. He changed the settings to heavy stun. He smiled cause unlike her first attack on him, now he had range on his side. He assumed that this automatically gave him the advantage. She had no weapon and thus he knew he had beaten her. It was arrogance that blinded him to the consequences of his actions. So what if she got a bit hurt from the stun. It was what she deserved for what she did here today. With little regard for cover or the skill that she had shown to this moment, he rose up from behind cover and took aim at her. Her speed and reaction was as fast as it was when she first walked in to this room. She leaped to the right side so fast that it was hard for the Ensign to track her.
Her actions were faster than what he could predict as he fired his phaser at her. He couldn't deny that the shot was a bit blind as she moved just moments before he hit the fire button. He watched her as time seemed to slow to a painful crawl. She reached out for the open tricorder on the console next to her. She snatched it up and flung it at him as she let out a loud grunting sound. The phaser beam passed over her left shoulder and in to the mainframe room. The tricorder spun on its flat side like a Frisbee towards him. Ignoring her desperate attack, he tracked her with the phaser counting on his next shot to hit her. A shot that would never come as the tricorder impacted his head causing his vision to blur and go black. The tricorder broke as it smashed in to bulkhead near where the Ensign had been standing. The battle for the Computer Control Room was over just moments after it started.
(OOC Informational for all characters in play: Security has been notified of an intruder in the Computer Control Room, Deck 8, Section 15. The party has been notified of the intruder. Statements in blue will be available for review
after the next Plot Line Post. Statements in light red are not known to the party or the ship at all. You may not use either of the colored statements in your current posts. Please take time to consider your actions. Ask me questions if you wish. Plot out your next actions carefully! Next post will go up in seven days. Remember all conversations between players should be conducted in game/in character to ensure that vital in game information is not lost.)
(OCC: Narrator Edit, corrected the Stardate. It is Feb 16, 2377)
Act One, Scene One
