A Morsel Too Much

Posted on Tue 19th Nov, 2024 @ 2:26pm by Renato Solis & Izwyx 'Lo

1,547 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: The Phoenix Gamble

Previously... https://sb109.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/viewpost/2361

-Start-

{Shrike Raider-G’konn}

At Warp 5.7, the former Star Empire raider towed its prize, a freighter three times larger filled with five thousand people and the supplies for a whole colony. The Mayor of T'olana had been afraid of the supply shortages, the same ones caused by this Raider, unbeknownst to them. It took only a little more convincing to have the next convoy's itinerary, and a prize haul. The raiders had plotted carefully, this would be the biggest catch of their careers, and it was a big bite. With five thousand people under wraps, and the cargo bay full of valuables, the ploy was shaky and they'd lose control unless they could maintain the illusion of total control. The goal was to deliver the ship, crew, and materials intact for maximum gain. A fight would reduce the value considerably.

Bio-signs for each of the five looked nominal, nobody on the bridge took the time to really analyze the bio-signs, else they might have noticed the faster heart rate of their youngest member who had been captured by a certain Capellan. The alarm would sound if the heart stopped or shock onset from injury but no alarms sounded so the sole bridge attendant payed the monitor little mind. His job was to keep the ship flying, and cut and run if trouble came their way. The target lock on the freighters engines would ensure their quarry would remain where they left them.

{Colonial Freighter "Xon Halliar"}

LT. Kreypa had already removed one of the four players from the board. He sat on the floor of the medical bay, stripped to the last layer and terrified. The Capellan pulled the assailants armor over his head and arms, finding it was too small, and the seams bulged.

"I must have put on weight..." He commented trying to cinch the redundant straps. Indeed, the weeks of travel to T'olana had been purpusefully filled with high calorie foods to give them a head start on the stark conditions there. Pie, was something he had never had before, and now dreamed of in both his best and worst. The pants were like chaps and so he wore them over his black form fit trousers, noting a molecular pocket device on the belt. The technology was beyond state of the art, able to compress matter into smaller spaces, seen rarely but noted and charted for research by the Federation. This level of capacity spoke volumes, he suspected Tal Shiar, whose presence among the Romulan Remnant was either as scheming friend or dastardly foe.

The button action was simple enough, and a disruptor deployed to his hand which also had a bio-metric lock on the firing stud. Kreypa tossed it in disgust, as it was useless to him. The other component was a sonic grenade, common to thieves who wanted to take ships intact. He put them back into the molecular pocket, cycling through the others, a multi-tool, first aid regenerator, and a short wave subspace transmitter. Quite the pack for the lowly Raider to carry. The mystery of who their employer was had only gotten deeper by the hours.

His plan was simple, disable uplinks and disable all three attackers at the same time. The armor he wore gave a blue print for the others, and it had no protection against gas. These freighters used anesthetizine gas as a counter boarding agent so he focused on accessing those. As it just so happened he was in a medical bay. He asked for their face seals and began gathering equipment to get the lab respirator system installed on his belt.

"Lt?" The Doctor questioned as they work, "Can you save us really?"

He struggled to remember the mans name,"Dr...Fridahn... was it?" He continued to attach the microcapsule bundles which would feed oxygen to the system and loaded them back into the unit once it was on his belt.

"Close enough, weve never met. Dr. Frornahn."

"Well Dr, I think they re pretending to be a lot larger of a force than they are. I bet its a group of six or less. They cant vent you to space but they can still shoot us from their following vessel. That's my real goal. I intend to put everyone on this ship to sleep, and even if I die, you'll be sitting here and able to be recaptured without any of you to blame or taking heat. Any of you raise arms they could decide to cut and run, hull us and leave. I'm betting though, with their team knocked out over here, theyll do a beam out before leaving. That's my ticket."

He turned to the gathered scared folks in the medical room, "Lay down, the gas will render you out but its not harmful past the chance of falling."

The people stood up and were ready, the nurse who had helped him earlier spoke in a soft tone, "Good luck Lt. We are praying for your victory."

He winked, the game of social interactions was always elusive to him, but he felt in this moment a keen understanding. "You've been a great help." She blushed, and he finished gearing up to hide his own.

Digga Kreypa was having fun, this was a game of sorts, but the stakes were all too real. He had taken the armor, but left the biometric lining on their captive attached so the transporter lock was steady and the biometric werent disrupted.

"Everyone, when I point... scream like you are fighting for your lives, make it sound really good, when I point at you ok?

He needed to start the sham of a rebellion so he stomped to the bound Romulan and kicked at the prisoners trussed feet. The young Romulan looked to Digga in fear.

"Open your comm, tell them you're activating the countermeasures for this deck, you've lost control."

The captive raider was wide eyed, "Fool, he'll kill us all."

He took out the hypospray of pain prepapred for him, even the suggestion of it made the bound man squirm in despair.

Waiting to get any intel was worth the delay, so Lt. Kreypa asked, "Who will?"

"I don't have a name, they paid us for a job! I know nothing my job is to do as I am told and get paid."

Pressing the stud of the hypospray he seethed into the prisoners ear, "You know your name, start there. Imagine the truth as an invisible force staying my hand from pressing this poison into you."

"Jedsak! I am Jedsak. I was a 'sor in the Imperial Navy, a cadet! a cadet! I was starving when I took this job!"

Truth has a piquant aftertaste, indelible when pure. This child was telling the truth. Military trained but young and cheap, a good get for any raider outfit.

The young man was clearly terrified of the towering form, Kreypa pulled his long knife and ran it over his tongue to help sell the point. It did scare the prisoner quite well but he wasn't convinced. Another blade was suddenly embedded in Duranium hull plating so loud and sudden it resonated for ten decks in all directions. It looked ceremonial, and if the man had known anything about Capellans, he'd realize the blade was rarely drawn in jest.

This action reached the raider, who closed his eyes from the onslaught of sparks and chipping metal. He heard the Capellan bellow in fury, "Open Your Channel!" Jedak hesitated, Digga bellowed in red faced fury, "DO AS I SAY!"

The raider did just that, and then Kreypa pointed to the silent in the room with their cue.

The poor man didn't get a word out over the bedlam which followed. To his counterparts, it sounded like an unholy host had befallen them.

Lt. Kreypa whispered intently, "Now say, Masks on."

The raider did as he was told, but too late. Lt Kreypa made it look like the countermeasure gas release defense was activated in the boys haste. There was no chance to defend from the noxious gas. The vents ejected it in ten times teh quantity needed to ensure a single breath would render anyone immediately unconscious and sluggish.

"This will hurt, but youre gonna get good care ok." Digga Kreypa fully intended to hit Jedsak hard enough to render him unconscious but was stopped when a hand came into his field of view holding the pistol tossed aside earlier. His flirtatious assistant was still blushing as she held the pistol for him to grab.

"Bio metric locks aren't hard when the person is right here. We used his sweat. It's ready for you."

Jedsaks comm unit was sounding, time was almost up. The difference the pistol made was night and day. They would not only live, they would win thanks to her. As he took it from her hand she pulled him by the wrist and kissed him deeply.

"What's your name?" He stared at her as she cried in joy and sadness, terror mixing with a desire to protect, admiration and love winning the race to her heart as he sparkled into a green haze.

"Viola," she said to the empty space he had vanished from.

-TBC-

 

RSS Feed