Storming Fort Knox (Part 2)

Posted on Thu Sep 12th, 2024 @ 10:48pm by Commander Patricia Cooke & Lieutenant Charlotte E. "Charlie" Yeager & Senior Chief Petty Officer Karen Jinryo & I-400 & Boso Gane & Oko Gane & Lieutenant Commander Tsukasa Izumi & Lieutenant Akira Kogami & Lieutenant Daisheliss "Lissa" Kerr & Lieutenant JG Julia Araala
Edited on on Thu Sep 12th, 2024 @ 10:50pm

1,237 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: I-402
Timeline: After 'Storming Fort Knox (Part 1)'

Previously, on Star Trek: Missouri:

Drauc silently nodded in agreement with Tsukasa. The XO's words were especially true if I-400 were to ambush them again. The strange Cardassian woman couldn't be consistently relied upon, and at some point, they would have to stand up to defend themselves.

"Assuming we aren't walking into a trap," Lissa commented, but she wasn't arguing. There often wasn't a way to know which was the better option until it was too late in this situations.

"Right. Slow and steady. Keep your eyes sharp. There could be anything waiting for us in here." Tsukasa said as she led the way towards the upper levels.

And now, the continuation:

The Away Team pushed onwards, and following several close run-ins with I-400, they eventually found themselves overlooking what appeared to be a Queencell, but which now housed the Cradle. Unfortunately, the place was crawling with security drones, and even by their best estimates, they reckoned that they'd make it no further than 1/12 of the way to the Cradle before they were eventually cut down.

"As you've probably figured out by now, the odds are improbably stacked against you." I-400 taunted. "So, I'd suggest you cut a retreat now: Run with your lives while you still can. Or you can be stupid and tear your young captain apart as she's forced to write letters of condolence to your grieving families: You move, Starfleet."

The two security officers turned to Tsukasa. "Suggestions, Commander?" The Green-haired officer inquired.

"Don't fire unless you have to," Tsukasa replied. "But keep your weapons on a rotating frequency."

Suddenly, from the away team's vantage point, the observed what appeared to be a Cardassian man entering the queen cell.

"Well, come on, then!" He shouted. "You want my sister? Come and get her!"

"Oh, for god's sakes..." I-400 groaned, several drones moving to follow the Cardassian man. "Look, guys: Can't we just talk this out?"

"What the hell?" the orange-haired Lieutenant remarked. "Isn't that the Cardassian that Commander Cooke's away team reported running into?"

Tsukasa wasn't expecting that. Her eyes darted around the room quickly looking for potential escape routes.

JJ had already located a couple of evacuation routes should they be required to get casualties out of the area and had one of the emergency kits to hand, ready to jump into her own action.

The green-haired officer carefully trained her crosshairs on the Cardassian's forehead.

"I got a clear vantage point," She reported. "Permission to take the shot, Commander?"

Tsukasa raised her own rifle. "Heavy stun, we might be ae to save them. Fire!"

As the room descended into the chaos of a shootout, Boso Gane was pushed out of the line of fire by his sister.

"What the hell are you doing?" Boso asked. "I thought we were going to draw them away for Starfleet!"

"I'd say your plan went alright until Starfleet decided they wanted you dead too!" Oko responded.

"Evidently, they still want revenge for what I did to them." Boso said. "Come on, let's lay out the bigger picture for them..."

From his position, Drauc observed something peculiar happening in the chaos: The Cardassians had removed limbs from a couple of I-400 drones and were using them against the other drones. However, they were specifically not targeting their away team. Drauc indicated to Commander Izumi to observe what was happening: He just hoped that the Commander would pick up on this pattern as well, as the engineer's voice was lost over the noise of battle.

"Commander!" the orange-haired Lieutenant shouted. "Look!"

"Wait, whats going on?" Tsukasa asked over the chaos.

"They're... fighting each other for the cradle?" The green-haired Lieutenant remarked.

"Hold your fire!" Tsukasa shouted. Once the phaser fire had calmed down. She peeked out from behind one of the bulkheads. "Whose side are you on?!" she shouted out. "Make your intentions clear. Now!"

"I-400 doesn't give a crap about us!" Boso called back in the must blunt statement he could make. "We have outlived our usefulness to her, and she has tossed us aside. Now, if you wish to enact revenge for what happened to your colleagues, what are you waiting for?" Boso raised his hands above his head, nodding for his sister to do the same. "I-400 is going to kill us all anyways!"

"It could just be a ruse to get I-400 and her affiliates aboard the Missouri,, Commander," the Green-Haired Lieutenant warned. "I wouldn't take any chances with these guys."

"If we can control when they come aboard, we can screen them with confidence." Julia was applying a bandage to one of the officers, it wasn't a shooting wound, just an accident. "No need to kill them"

"I'm certainly not a fan of taking anyone's word for it," the science officer responded skeptically. "Just what percentage of confidence do our screening methods offer?" Lissa asked.

Drauc could have delivered a lecture on how vengeance wasn't the Starfleet way, but the engineer held his tongue. How the emotional species would handle this dilemma would certainly set a trend for how they might handle similar situations of surrender in the future, and if they chose the wrong way, perhaps it would be worth reconsidering his place on the Missouri...

JJ considered things silently for a moment, running through the various procedures, "Eighty, eighty-five percent? We could keep them in one of the isolation rooms until I'm satisfied one way or the other, no contact other than myself." The answer for Lissa wasn't all THAT confident.

"Surrender your weapons abd any equipment." Tsukasa ordered. "Secure and search them Lieutenant." She added. "I see no reason for more bloodshed."

The two security officers nodded and quickly moved to restrain the two Cardassians.

"You have the right to remain silent," the Green-haired Lieutenant recited as she cuffed Boso's arms behind his back. "Anything you say can, and likely will, be used against you in a Federation court of law. You have the right to an attorney; if you cannot or will not furnish an attorney, then an attorney will be provided for you. Do you understand your rites as I have read them to you?"

"Just get it over with, Starfleet." The two responded in unison.

"Beam them back to the Missouri. Have them secured in the Brig." Tsukasa ordered simply. "And have them looked over by medical, just in case."

"Aye, Commander," the Green-haired Lieutenant nodded before tapping her comm-badge. =A=Away team to Missouri, Queencell is secured; four to beam out, two to brig.=A=

The two security officers, alongside their detainees, disappeared in a shimmer of light, leaving Tsukasa, JJ, Drauc and Lissa to deal with the Cradle.

As Drauc made his way over to the Cradle to inspect it for damage prior to tagging it for beam out, the false sense of security led to a lapse in judgement as a partially functioning I-400 drone, not fully destroyed in the skirmish, suddenly reached out and grabbed him, pulling the Romulan/Vulcan hybrid into a chokehold.

"Oh no, you don't:" I-400 said. "You're coming with me..."

Before anyone else on the away team could stop them, Drauc and the I-400 drone themselves disappeared into a pink shimmer of light.

To be continued...

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