No Where To Run

Posted on Thu Oct 1st, 2020 @ 11:04pm by Crewman Thomas Jefferson

Mission: By Odin!
Location: Ship
Timeline: Current

::ON::

Out of breath, Lieutenant Links throws his back against the wall of the ships corridor, glancing down at his phaser he sees that the power cell is nearly depleted, maybe two or three shots remaining. Over the pounding of his heartbeat he can hear his pursuers coming down the hall. They have no need for stealth, they have overwhelmed the ships security and own nearly every deck. Their attack was so swift and unexpected, the Captain didn't even have time to raise the shields before the bridge was hit by multiple photon torpedoes, killing nearly the entire command staff of the ship in one fell swoop.

Taking a chance Links takes a quick look around the corner, seeing two of the invaders in their odd armor, almost looking like some ancient soldier from Earths tragic past. If it weren't for the fact that they kill without mercy or hesitation their appearance would almost be comical. No one had any expectation that a culture that was so far behind the Federation technologically would be able to mount such or horrendous and effective offense against a heavily armed Federation cruiser.

It was abundantly clear that the aliens were after something onboard, technology? weapons? information? Links was unsure of what specifically, all he knew was that he had to do everything in his power to stop them. The bridge was gone, as far as he know engineering was under their control. Most of the ships security forces went down trying to defend the battle bridge, he should know, he was there and just barely escaped before the invaders brought in some sort of heavy weapon and blew that entire section of the ship to atoms taking out at least 3 decks in the process.

He thought he had been quiet, but apparently not quiet enough, one of the invaders coming down the hall stopped and yelled something to his companion and they both started moving quickly towards Links position.

No time to waste, run, run as fast as you can, down the hall, turn right run, turn left as a blast of energy vaporizes the wall where he had been just a nanosecond before, run, keep running, don't look back you can hear them catching up. A wounded ensign steps out in front of you and you slam into him both of you tumbling to the ground. You can't stop, roll to your feet and run as you hear the screams of the dying ensign behind you. A jeffries tube ladder, don't hesitate jump in and let the artificial gravity drag you down, down deeper into the bowels of the ship you once thought a safe haven from all the dangers in the universe. Striking the bottom of the shaft and twisting his ankle, Links falls into a side tube and lays there for a moment as the blood pounds in his ears, sure that his pursuers could hear his heartbeat. As the seconds tick by the silence continues, his pursuers must have lost him, because he sacrificed a crewmate to save his own life, but the Ensign was wounded, he couldn't have kept up, could he? He would have only caused them both to be caught, wouldn't he? One life saved rather than two lost, that's acceptable, isn't it?

A sob escapes Links throat as he gets to his feet, favoring his sprained ankle, Links takes a moment to figure out where he was, realizing he was close to one of the backup fusion reactors on deck 18 he makes a decision. Moving as quickly as he can he works his way to the auxiliary power generator, looking through the air vent covering he sees that the coast is clear and that there is noone in sight in the room. Quietly, ever so quietly removing the cover, Links lets himself down into the room and moves over to the generator. Seeing that it is in standby mode, as the ship never had a chance to go into combat readiness status, there was no power drain so it was at full capacity.

Working quickly Links pulled all the isolinear chips relating to security and safety protocols. Once that was complete he dumped the reaction control rods from the reactor, warnings immediately sounded within the chamber declaring that a power overload was imminent. Stepping back to admire his handiwork Links is startled by the door wooshing open and one of the invaders advancing into the room. Without hesitation Links fires his phaser, loosing one of his last charges, but not at the invader. Links last act of defiance against an unreasoning adversary was to destroy the control panels of the Fusion reactor. As the invaders energy weapons blast took him in the chest, he died with a terrifying grin on his face, knowing that he was not dying alone.

The explosion from the Fusion reactor cascaded through the ship, destroying everything in its path, eventually reaching the warp cores antimatter. As the ship became a miniature sun, the invaders ship found itself to to close to this new star and was consumed by its righteous fury.

<^>Balrog to Ensign Fuller<^> pause.... <^>Ensign Fuller, where the hell are you<^>

Pulling the sensoround-sim-induction headset off, too quickly as it tries to rip his ear off Fuller blinks his eyes and says <^>Fuller to Lieutenant Balrog, here Sir<^>

<^>Your here is not HERE Enisgn, this is the second time this week you have been late for your shift<^>

<^>On my way Sir, Sorry Sir, I got sidetracked reviewing some manuals, be right there Sir, Fuller out<^>

As Fuller exited his quarters he could hear fading behind him "... and be sure to join us next week for another exciting adventure as the Star Federation continues its conflict with The Invading Quanzi!"

::OFF::