First Strike Dallas, Part ll

Posted on Fri 14th Jun, 2019 @ 10:38pm by Lieutenant Commander Dallas Briggs
Edited on on Sun 11th Aug, 2019 @ 12:38am

1,224 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: A Diplomatic Affair
Location: Engineering Lab 4, Deck 15
Timeline: Backstory

Captain Barstow’s eyes shifted from Victoria to Dallas and back again. He couldn’t help, but think that he was sending this married couple to their death and wondered why? Why them specifically? He nodded. “Very well, good luck to you both, dismissed.”

Dallas nodded and replied, “Thank you sir, we may need it.” As he turned to walk away he glanced at Victoria for a split second then walked towards the door. What the hell are they thinking? Dallas thought to himself.

Victoria waited until they were well away from the captain's door, and inside the turbolift. Since they were alone, she didn't wait for them to reach their quarters. "Really? Just like that we're going to drop in unannounced, use their own weapon types against them and destroy everything connected to the Breen project? Last time I checked, I wasn't wearing a red cape! And by the way, while we're blowing this thing up, how do we keep from dying, since we're blowing up a bomb that wipes out humans?" If she weren't careful, she would build up quite an angry head of steam.

Dallas held his hands up, “Easy tiger, save it for the Breen.” He chuckled even though it was no laughing matter. “Speaking of Red, I wonder if this isn’t stemming from the whole Red Squadron days. We were pretty active back then on some minor missions, but like you told the Captain, that was a long time ago.”

Dallas took Victoria in his arms and held her. “We’re gonna get through this, we just have to use some of that special training that we learned from the Red Squadron. We haven’t used it in a long time, but we have each other...”

She listened to his heart beating under her ear, and nodded her head against his uniform. "There's no one I trust more that you at my back. I was actually happy to leave Red Squadron behind us, which isn't a secret from you. I like to take names and kick butt, and yet, this has a ... flavor to it that makes me uncomfortable."

Victoria leaned back and looked up at him. "No, not uncomfortable, that's not it. It makes me ... suspicious. I feel as if something isn't right about this whole set-up. I think the captain felt that way, too ... maybe that's what started me thinking this way. The PADD record made it sound too easy, too ... matter-of-fact. They've been relatively quiet since the Dominion War, but they've always been secretive." She sighed. "It just doesn't feel right, but orders are orders."

Dallas looked into her eyes, “You know, there is always choice. We can take the mission and possibly get killed or we can run. We can try to steal a shuttle and run, but we could get caught and lose each other forever. If we manage to escape, we’d be looking over our shoulders forever, but we’d be alive.” Dallas was right, there was always a choice, but he was no traitor, he would rather fight that run, or at least die trying.

"As if you'd ever do such a thing, or me, either. We were given the job, we'll do the job. There won't be any dying on our part. I'm not optimistic about it being as easy as the Admiral seemed to indicate, but he isn't going with us. He can afford to be optimistic!" she exclaimed with disgust. "But, I'm going to be looking twice at everything, because there's more to this than we're being told."

Victoria stepped back from him and lightly punched his shoulder. "Let's suit up with all the secret weapons we know about. The sooner we're gone, the sooner we're back."

Dallas nodded, “Then let’s get to Operations; they should have the disrupters and explosives ready for us." They both were experts with weapons, but she hand been trained better at hand to hand. She was familiar with two different forms of martial arts and had been training him. They both were familiar with explosives way back in the day when they were with the Red Squadron.

Soon they arrived at Engineering Lab 4, where they'd been told their equipment was being readied. “Are you the ones who need these devices? Sure is a strange request; however, they are ready to go now.” The engineer held up one of the disrupters. “This is an exact replica of a Breen disrupter. Like the original, there is no stun setting, it's kill only.”

“Great, it’s going to be kill or get killed only,” Dallas said before adding, “Can you put a stun setting on it?”

The engineer shook his head, “ I can’t. They wanted an exact replica.”

"That's perfect, then. We won't be taking any prisoners on this trip." Victoria's voice was clipped and all business. "What have you got in the way of knives I can tuck here and there?" She had her own, but she'd prefer not to lose them. It was unlikely the weapon she'd wrap in her braid would be necessary, but she'd have it anyway.

“Glad you asked, the Breen are ruthless and incorporate edged weapons into their arsenal. What I have here is a standard double-edged long knife, very deadly," the engineer said as he held up a large knife. The sharp blade gleamed in the light. “Be very careful, it really is sharp. It comes with a very nice tactical sheath that you can attach to you belt and drops to attach to your thigh.”

"Thanks," Victoria told him, taking the sheath and the knife. On close inspection, she could almost feel death radiating from the weapon. She pushed it into the sheath to add to her tool belt later. It didn't answer the concealed part quite so much, and she'd take her own shorter weapons with her for that. She glanced at her husband. "What about you, mighty hunter?"

Dallas chuckled, “You’re the bad ass, I’m more like back up.” The engineer handed him a duplicate blade and sheath. Dallas looked over it carefully. “What about for a finally?” He asked.

“I have two explosives for you, and both operate off of one control pad. You can detonate one at a time or both simultaneously. Range is about one hundred kilometers, and the explosives must be armed to detonate,” the Engineer explained.

"That's your job, Mr. Back Up," Victoria declared. "You know I really hate things that are likely to explode all over me. These are Breen specification, as well, I presume," she said to the engineer.

Dallas took the explosives and studied them for a moment before putting them in a backpack that was on the table in front of him. Then he took the control pad and went over the commands. “Looks easy enough, just need something to blow up.” He realized then that it was dry humor and probably wasn’t appropriate. “Sorry, just a little nervous....”

"I would be, too," the engineer said. "Making these things is bad enough. Using them ... I can't even imagine that. I think that's all we have for you. Any other questions?"

Victoria looked at her husband and shrugged, "Not from me," she said.

Dallas shook his head then looked at his wife, “Let’s get this done...”

 

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