Stardate:2406.11.28
(USS Boudicca, Marine Staging Area, MCO Major Straton, 0812)

	Eva was going over the last minute details with Spider and the
marines on the away team.  Equipment was being checked and double checked.
They were hours away from deploying.  Soon they would be riding into the
jaws of death in an attempt to save their Captain.  Time for all the
training and preparations to come together.  Time to do or die.  Eva was
rallying her men, pumping them up emotionally for what was to come.
'HOWAAAA'S' reverberated through the staging area along with the motto of
the Star Fleet Marine corps. Suddenly, Eva's comm-badge chirped.

	=/\=Trevan to Straton. Captain Sash would like to impress on you
that the Nimitz is going to take a beating, so time is of the essence. I
would like to add that the Boudicca is also going to get her butt
slapped... same message.=/\=

	Eva rolled her eyes before slapping her com-badge to reply.

	"Tell me something I don't know, Commander," She said, coldly,
"Trust me, we won't be stopping to do any site seeing while we are down
there.  In out and back to the ship.  No detours.  I know my job.  You just
be sure to keep the ship in one piece till we return.  Same for the
Nimitz."

(Reply West IYW)


(Planets Surface, Landing site, MCO Major Straton, 0949)

	Eva and her marines lead the charge from the shuttle, spreading out
quickly and moving forward with Stolev and the rest of the team right
behind them.  Each marine knew their respective jobs, two on point.  One on
each flank, and two in the rear with a two meter spread between them.  The
rest, Eva included took up positions around Stolev and the main bulk of the
team as they ran from the shuttle heading toward the bases perimeter.  

	=\= We have to strike quickly, while we still have the element of
surprise.  Don't give them time to rally.  Everyone haul a$$!=\= Eva said,
into the secure marine comm channel to the entire team.  =\=Stolev get to
work jamming their sensors.  Throw up as many sensor ghosts as you can to
confuse them.  Tagon, hold back till I call for you.  T'Reail and Paulson
you will have 10 seconds to breach the bases perimeter no more.  Everyone
else, just as we did it on the holo-deck.  Straight in and out.=\= 

	Eva had felt Sevant since they had entered orbit.  Now on the
planets surface, that feeling was much stronger.  He was alive and they
were getting closer by the second.  Eva focused on that feeling, zeroing in
on Captain Sevant's mind.

	::Captain Sevant.  Prepare yourself.  We are coming for you,:: Eva
sent the powerful telepathic call letting Sevant know that they were
coming.

(Reply Sevant IYW)

	::Be ready Allurenate,:: Eva sent to Domini, ::Soon you will be
needed.::

(Reply Domini)

	They moved quickly through the trees heading straight for the base.
As they approached the bases perimeter, Eva sensed the approach of enemy
patrols from their right.  They were trying to sneak up using bio-masking
devices to hide their presence from sensors.  Their bio-maskers were
useless against a strong tellepath.  

	=\=Incoming to our right, 200 meters,=\= Eva said, moving to
intercept them giving a hand signal for two marines to join her.
=\=Everyone else keep moving.=\=

	Eva pulled a grenade from her belt and primed it.  When they were
close enough, she hurled the grenade into the rear of the approaching enemy
patrol, while her and the other two marines opened fire on the front of the
patrol.  Chaos reigned, as the enemy patrol thought they were being
attacked from two sides at once.  Within seconds they were all dead on the
ground and Eva and her marines were running to catch up with the main
group.

(Reply Sevant, Domini, Any on Away Team)
(Posted by Wes)

Stardate:2406.11.28
(USS Boudicca - Bridge - Acting TAC/SC Lt. Stolev - Day 5 - 0935)

"Five minutes to the target, Sir."

West took a deep breath and turned to the Stolev. "Better get with
your team, Lieutenant."

"Aye, sir," replied Stolev from the turbolift doors, as he had already
anticipated the need to get with the away team.

West turned back to face the screen. "Bridge to Extraction Team, approximately
fifteen minutes until launch," was the last thing Stolev heard before
the doors snapped shut.

"Deck four," he commanded.  He slid his hand into the hidden pocket
over his heart and felt around.  When he didn't feel the familiar
scored surface and smooth edges, he thrust his hand into his other
pockets.  "Wait.  Deck three," he corrected.  He couldn't leave
without it.

(USS Boudicca - Personal Quarters - Lt. Stolev - 0937)

Sasha dashed into his quarters and hurried over to the dresser.  There
it was.  He picked up the tiny personal ID transponder, brushed it
lightly with his fingertips, then placed it gingerly into the tiny
pouch over his heart that he had reprogrammed the replicators to
create in his uniforms.  ~I'll need you with me today, my love,~ he
thought as he felt the reassuring bump over his chest and gazed at
Mara's picture on his dresser.

NRPG:

Personal ID transponder = 25th century dog tags.

RPG:

With a heavy sigh, he turned and hurried out into the hallway, casting
only a brief rueful glance at the bottle of vodka as it taunted him
from behind the shimmering electric blue of the force field.

(USS Boudicca - Shuttle bay - Lt. Stolev - 0941)

Stolev rushed into the shuttlebay to find the team already loading
into the Trojan class shuttle.  Stolev was a little bit concerned
about the size of the shuttle, but at least it would be able to take a
bit of a pounding before coming apart.  He nodded at Tagon, who was
waiting for the rest of the team to board.  Stolev, on the other hand,
needed to get in and oversee the pre-flight and man one of the forward
consoles.

NRPG:

I base the fact that security officers (as opposed to marines) are
manning the cockpit on the following quote from the movie "A Few Good
Men":

Marine Lt. Kendrick, to Navy Lt. Kaffee: "No, I like all you Navy
boys. Every time we gotta go some place to fight, you fellas always
give us a ride."

RPG:

He entered the cockpit and found Ensign R'kah Hastings, a Rigellian
raised by humans and the best heavy shuttle pilot on the Boudicca,
manning the conn.  "Good to see you on board, Hastings.  We all set
for departure?"

"Running through the final checks now, Lieutenant," she replied. 
"Hope you're ready for a rough ride.  Those magnetic fields are going
to wreak havoc with our intertial dampeners."

"I'm ready for anything, Ensign," replied Sasha with a dash of false bravado.

The shuttlebay outside the viewports was suddenly bathed in flashing
red.  "That's the signal, powering up now.  Launch in ten seconds,"
announced Hastings.

"HANG ON!" yelled Stolev towards the team in the back as the shuttle
shot forward just as the cloak dropped.  He was pinned back into his
seat as the inertial dampeners struggled to compensate for their
sudden shift in momentum.  After a few seconds the forces subsided
enough for him to be able to take a breath.

Stolev glanced up from the console out the viewport and saw the
Boudicca exchanging fire with a Soverign class ship.  A Defiant class
was circling around to give the Boudicca multiple fronts.  It seemed
their launch had gone undetected... for now.  He turned his attention
back to the console.  They were hurtling towards the planet at high
speeds; they'd be entering the highest levels of the ionosphere any
moment now.

The shuttle jolted as the first magnetized particles impacted the
forward shields.  Another jolt knocked a PADD off the console. 
"Incoming weapons fire," Stolev called out.  "Evasive pattern delta
omega.  Now!"

The shuttle rocked from the blast of a phaser impact as Hastings keyed
in the evasion sequence and the shuttle began to weave its way through
the atmopshere.  The acceleration vectors were regularly exceeding the
ability of the dampeners to compensate; Stolev hoped that everyone in
back was strapped in securely, or else they'd be dealing with a few
injuries before they even made it to the surface.

"Three minutes to ground!" Stolev shouted over the din of the whining
engines and the hiss of the phaser beams as they superheated the
atmosphere around the shuttle.  He turned to Hastings.  "Can you keep
us in one piece that long?" he asked, his earlier bravado all but
gone.

"Like a walk in the park, sir," she replied with a grin as she leaned
into the console, her hands tapping instructions like mad.  "This is
the fun part."

Another blast rocked the shuttle.  "I wish I shared your enthusiasm,"
Stolev muttered in response.  He had only participated in two other
shuttle-based assaults before, and this was by far the roughest
descent he had faced.

A much stronger jolt rocked the ship as the sounds of alert klaxons
filled the ship.  Steam and smoke billowed into the cabin from one of
the vents before the automatic climate controls shut it off.  He
coughed twice as his smacked his flickering console.  He quickly
turned to the auxillary console beside him.  "Main tactical is out,"
he announced.

"We've lost lateral thrusters," said Hastings.  "Compensating with the
maneuvering jets.  I'm afraid we won't have much fine control at
landing, sir."

"Shields down to 47%.  Multiple incoming blasts.  We need to get down
faster!"  Stolev tapped a few keys at the console and brought up
another perspective.  "Kill the engines.  Divert all their power to
the attitude thrusters and intertial dampeners.  Give us a swift blast
downwards, then prepare to arrest our descent on my mark."

Hastings gave him a grim look that told him what he needed to know. 
She didn't like abusing the shuttle like that, but she knew as well as
he did that they had to get to the surface as quickly as possible, or
else they might not make it at all.  She quickly tapped in a few
commands.  "Ready."

"Do it!" hollered Stolev.  Suddenly the shuttle stopped its forward
acceleration and instead hurtled downwards towards the planet.  Stolev
felt the sickening sensation of his stomach migrating towards his
throat.  The PADD that had fallen to the ground earlier began to float
in mid-air as the intertial dampeners and gravity generators fell
steeply behind.  Stolev watched his console as their altitude dropped
sharply.  Ten thousand meters... nine thousand... eight thousand...

"Brace for impact!" he yelled back towards the main cabin.  Then, as
the readout hit one thousand meters, he turned to Hastings.  "Now,
ensign!"

The thrusters screamed as they exerted every ounce of power to slow
the plumetting shuttle.  Stolev's knuckles were white from gripping
the arms of his chair as he watched the altitude display chart their
descent.  It was slowing, but he didn't think it was slowing fast
enough.  He ripped his hands off the chair and rerouted all available
power not used by the thrusters to the shields, including life
support.

Stolev felt the first impacts with the treetops as the shuttle lurched
and shuddered.  Hastings was franctically trying to keep the shuttle
upright as it bounced around between the trees.  Stolev looked out the
viewport and saw a small clearing up ahead.  "I see it," muttered
Hastings grimly as he pointed it out.  "We just might make it."

A loud bang, followed by the sound of compressing metal and
short-circuiting relays, announced their arrival on the surface.  The
interior of the shuttle plunged into darkness as the power grid
failed.  The viewport next to Stolev buckled, the transparent aluminum
giving way, and he was showered with dirt and rocks.  The shuttle slid
across the clearing, kicking up a trail of dirt and grass, before
colliding with a grove of trees and coming to a halt.

Stolev looked around.  The only light coming into the shuttle was
through the viewports.  "Got it," said Hastings, and the interior
lights flickered back on.

"Everyone alright?" called Stolev as he tapped in a few commands on
his newly-restored console.  All things considered, the landing hadn't
gone badly -- they were only a few hundred meters from their targeted
landing coordinates.

(reply all on the shuttle)

"Ensign, you think you can get this shuttle flight-worthy again in
case the ship can't get the transporters working through the field?"

Hastings looked around the shuttle in dismay.  "I can try, sir, but it
might not be possible."

Stolev nodded.  "Understood.  You remain here and work on it.  Keep an
eye out for any patrols.  If you get discovered, just find a place to
hide out and we'll find you once we're done."

Hastings smiled at him sympathetically.  "Sounds like you have plenty
of enthusiasm, Lieutenant.  I'll do my best."

Stolev returned her smile, then brushed the dirt off his face and
uniform and clambered over a toppled chair into the main cabin.  "With
any luck, they'll think we crashed and won't be sure where," he
announced once he got back to where the team was collecting the
equipment and weaponry that had been knocked around the cabin during
landing.  "We actually aren't too far from the original landing zone,
so we should be ok."  He keyed the sequence to open the hatch, then
turned to Major Stratton.  "Major, it's your show."

(reply Stratton, Haverstaad, Alzara, anyone else on the shuttle, any)
(posted by Aaron Scifres)

Stardate:2406.11.28
(USS Boudicca - Bridge, Cmdr West - 0938)

"The Nimitz has engaged, Sir."

West didn't directly acknowledge the order, though he did tap a button on
the command chair. "Extraction team, this is the bridge. Prepare for launch,
eta five minutes and counting."

(reply: if desired)

Trevan cut the line and said a silent prayer, "Red Alert, all hands to
battle stations. Arm the phasers and torpedoes, get ready to drop the cloak
and raise shields on my mark."

(reply: any, all)


(USS Boudicca - Bridge, Cmdr West - 0944)

Trevan looked at the tactical screen and very carefully wiped some sweat
away from his forehead. One of the three visible defense ships had pulled
away, leaving one Sovereign and one Defiant for the Boudicca. There was one
more ship on patrol within 25 minutes, and who knew how many cloaked ships. 

A Sovereign and a Defiant, that would be a fairly tough fight. Nothing to
hard for a ship like the Boudicca, under an experienced crew. Trevan,
however, was not experienced.

No time to think about that now.

"It's as good as its going to get." He muttered. "Tactical, lock targets on
the Sovereign... the USS Forestal, and pound her as we decloak." He paused,
"As planned, tie the shields and cloak to the shuttle." He tapped a button,
"Extraction team, you are go to launch."

A couple seconds passed. And then, without warning, the lights brightened as
the cloak dropped automatically. The computer had tied all cloak and shield
control into the shuttle, the second the shuttle had left the shield had
begun to drop. The cloaking bleed would serve to protect the shuttle for a
few more seconds, hopefully long enough for Boudicca to target everything in
the area and give them a beating. They wouldn't be able to go after the
shuttle if they were fighting for their lives. 

He leaned back in the chair, gripping the arms tightly as he watched the
combat scroll. As soon as the ship had raised shields, the Tactical officer
had begun pounding the enemy with everything the Boudicca had to bare. The
Sovereign was showing it already, she hadn't been prepared for this.

"Shift targets at will," and bring us to course 321 mark 32." He said

(reply: Any, all)
(posted by Trout)

Stardate:2406.11.28
(USS Boudicca - Shuttle bay- Lt. Dru Tagon - 0941)

Tagon stood outside of the shuttle waiting for the last of their group to
board.  He was relieved at the choice of shuttles.  It was bigger than the
shuttle they probably should have chosen, so everyone should have plenty of
room, including himself.  This would have room for both him and Zzt.  The
picture of both himself and Zzt trying to sit in a regular shuttle almost
brought a smile to Tagon.  Almost.  Once everyone was aboard Tagon followed,
finding a place where he could be sit.

He found his seat next to Domini Alazara.  He was surprised that she had
chosen to come on this mission.  To be honest, he felt that she was a weak
link, and could be the cause of the failure of this mission.  It didn't make
him feel any easier when Lt. Commander West had asked him to watch over her.
West had no idea what he had done, for now Tagon was blood sworn to protect
her.  She could not die, until he had.

He strapped himself in, looking over at his ward.  She looked nervous, at
best.  He reached over and gently touched her leg.  She almost jumped out of
her seat.

"Relax counselor," Tagon said reasuringly.  "This is going to be like one of
those... roller coaster rides, I believe is what they're called."

And what a ride it was going to be.  The drop was probably the most
dangerous part of the mission.  It could all end here, with one lucky shot.
They could all die before they got to the ground and all would be lost.  The
second wave was the elimination wave.  Fortunately, they still appeared to
have surprise on their side.

Dropping from a cloaked ship gave them the advantage that the planetary
defenses would still have to lock on them.  The hope was that they would be
mnoving so quickly towards the planet that they wouldn't get a clean shot.
The problem being that at the end the shuttle would still have to stop in a
manner from which they would still be able to take off again.  This created
an incredible gravitational shift that drove ones stomach down into their
ankles, and gave spinal compression a good name.  People would probably pay
good money to do it recreationally.

He looked around at the silent team.  The Brikar had seen it often enough.
The solemness before a dangerous mission.  He saw a couple of people
writing, probably their last wills and testaments.  Brikarians themselves
were psi-nulls.  Nothing in, nothing out, but even Tagon could see what was
going on in Alizara's head.

"Stay close to me when we get to ground counselor," he said sternly.  

(reply Alizara)
(posted by Al Muir)

Stardate:2406.11.28
(USS Boudicca - Bridge, Ens David Lynch - 0944) 

This was it, they were about to decloak and the firing would start. It would be his duty to ensure that the ship was safe, moving to and fro through the thick of battle. His hands started to sweat, he switched on the consoles air-con so that he could pilot the ship without his fingers slipping over the controls. He was watching the ships on his navigation screen, they were powerful and fast, he had to beat them at that.

He had brought all engines on-line and was ready to use them.

"Shift targets at will, and bring us to course 321 mark 32." Boomed the commanders voice.

"321 mark 32, aye." He pressed the buttons and the course changed.

The large Sovereign vessel was trying to match their heading, she was obviously trying to broadside the Boudicca, but David was wise to this, he swung the Boudicca around to bring their bow shields to the fore, they were stronger than the port side shields. Several torpedoes swooshed passed them, where the port nacelle would have been. Two hit though, right on the nose. He rolled around with the impact, and was aware that Tactical was firing.

"Evasive manoeuvres, Attack pattern Delta Sigma." He informed the commander. And as he programmed the computer, the ship swung round again, he was trying to get room enough between the two ships as he could. The smaller Defiant class was now on the screen and firing at the Starboard nacelle.

David needed some extra juice from the engines to jolt them forward, after that it was Tactical’s job to protect the nacelles.

Both ships were behind them now, the distance getting shorter. He swung around to port, hard, the bridge crew all slumped in their positions as the inertial dampeners tried to compensate for the inertia created. . "Sorry about that." He shouted behind him. He could see seven torpedoes coming at them, and the phasers were slicing away at the hull.

He couldn’t concern himself with the tactical operations, he just had to keep the ship out of the thick of the firing.

(reply West, any)

(Posted by JG)

Stardate:2406.11.28
(USS Rampant - Marine Bay - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 0944)

Melody's face froze in a frown as someone forward yelled, "HANG ON!"

She closed her eyes and was just about to take a breath when every ounce of
air in her lungs was forced out from inertia. The shuttle shot forward
beyond the Dampeners ability to compensate for several seconds. 

The hull had long-since slipped by before she managed to fill her lungs
again. Apparently, everyone else had been having the same problem. She
looked at the team closely, the Counselor and the Security Guards and the
Marines. This was going to be a most interesting operation. 

The shuttle rocked, then again. ~Turbulence~ she thought quietly. A weapons
hit would have rocked them even harder. 

There was that about the plan, launching at full impulse under the bleeding
of the cloak would have given them a good amount of sensor-cover until they
had gotten into the atmosphere. It was less space-borne attacks they had to
worry about, and more base defenses. 

The ship rocked again, even harder this time, and she saw a bright orange
spray from the bottom of the shuttle. 

~Que said defenses~ she thought quietly. 

In order to take her mind off the issue, she looked at her weapon. It was
locked at heavy stun with setting 14 set on option, in case they ran into
fully suited marines. Heavy-stun wouldn't phase the BDU, they would have to
use kill-shots. Everything else was being done with as little blood as
possible, at least for as long as was viable. 

"Three minutes to ground!" someone yelled from the front. Melody closed her
eyes and tapped her combat helmet. ~Three minutes, then the fun begins.~ she
thought as the shuttle rocked again. ~Damn base-side defenses~

(reply: any, all on the away team)
(posted by Trout)

Stardate:2406.11.28
(USS Boudicca - Shuttle Bay, Shuttle Spitfire - Major Drizzt - 0944)

Drizzt watched the shuttlebay doors open in haste as red-alert klaxons
started going off all over the bay. Techs scrambled to get out of the bay in
case the ship should come under attack while the doors were open and the
containment fields fail. 

"It begins." He intoned solemnly to the force he was commanding, one team of
recon and what was left of his Combat Engineers. The reserve engagement
force, in case Straton failed. 

He took a breath as the shuttle suddenly shot forward, regardless of safety
procedures. Just as she had cleared the bay (a move that would have killed
the Boudicca's cloak if she hadn't already been dropping it), Drizzt grasped
the controls of the shuttle and took a breath. 

He couldn't see the shields through the force-field guarding the
shuttle-bay, but he knew they were there. The Boudicca would have gone on
immediate combat-ops once she had decloaked, mostly to buy the shuttle time
and draw away combat forces. It wouldn't take long for the enemy to respond.


The Andorian felt the first shudder in the ship thirty seconds later,
followed by flashes from the open shuttle bay that corresponded with shield
flare and phaser fire. 

He earnestly prayed that Trevan could keep them alive for a while. But he
couldn't think about it for long, he still had things to do. He had been
terribly pissed at himself that he couldn't force the transporters through
the interference that was being generated near this planet, he had spent
most of his waking hours working on the transporters and buffers and sensors
to pop through it all. He hadn't been able to break through as of launch
time, hence the shuttles... the dangerous shuttles. 

Not all hope had been lost though. While they were forced to wait, Drizzt
was still working on the sensors and buffers remotely. It was mostly a
matter of mathematics. If he could find a way to break through the
interference, then the extraction team could be beamed out with only the
loss of a Trojan class shuttle. 

No loss at all.

(reply: any, all)
(posted by Trout)

Stardate:2406.11.28
(Planet's Surface - Landing Site - TAC/SC Lt. Stolev - Day 5 - 0949)

Stratton and her marines lead the charge from the shuttle, spreading
out quickly and moving forward with Stolev and the rest of the team
right behind them.  No matter how many times he saw it, Stolev still
marvelled at how quickly and efficiently the marines got into their
precise positions around the team.  The group quickly began running
through the forest towards the base.

=\= We have to strike quickly, while we still have the element of
surprise, =\= said Stratton over the secure comm channel. =\= Don't
give them time to rally.  Everyone haul ass!  Stolev, get to work
jamming their sensors.  Throw up as many sensor ghosts as you can to
confuse them.  Tagon, hold back till I call for you.  T'Reail and
Paulson you will have 10 seconds to breach the base's perimeter, no
more.  Everyone else, just as we did it on the holo-deck.  Straight in
and out. =\=

Stolev nodded to Kumar, who quickly began to hack into the local
sensor grid and insert false readings.  He then turned to his recon
officer.  "Cooper, what's our status relative to the enemy?" he asked.

Cooper fiddled with her tricorder.  "No distinct signs, but I'm sure
they're out there.  Biomaskers, probably.  I'll try altering the
scanning harmonics to detect indirect signs of them."

Stolev nodded.  It had worked in the simulation, but he knew from
experience that simulations couldn't always be counted on to hold form
in the real world.

They moved quickly through the trees heading straight for the base. 
As they approached the bases perimeter, Stolev suddenly heard
Stratton's voice over the comm.  =\= Incoming to our right, 200
meters,=\= she said, turning to move in that direction and signalling
two marines to join her.  =\=Everyone else keep moving.=\=

Stolev looked at Cooper, who glanced at her tricorder and nodded. 
"Yep, I'm seeing the same echoes I saw in the simulation.  I think we
can count on this technique, sir."

"Great."  So far, since the crash landing, things had been going
pretty smoothly.  Almost too smoothly.  Suddenly there was a blast
from behind them.  A glance back confirmed the general location --
Stratton and her marines must have engaged that patrol.  A brief salvo
of phaser fire followed, then silence.  Stolev hoped that the silence
meant Stratton had taken care of the patrol and not vice versa, but he
knew better than to bet against the MCO.

Shortly they came to the edge of the forested area.  Haverstaad, who
had taken up point, signalled for the group to stop.  The base was now
in view.  It was a standard modular design, probably erected in a
hurry.  Stolev counted three phaser banks, but these were heavy duty
orbital phasers -- no threat to them on the ground.  He and Haverstaad
both saw the base patrol at the same time, circling around towards the
entrance on their side.

"Alright Chief, we're down to seconds, time to move," she said. "One
team, mixed security & marine, four hundred yards stage-right," she
said quietly into her mic.  She looked over at Stolev.  "Time to hop?"

Stolev nodded.  "Let's do it."

Haverstaad looked at her Marine counterpart, one of the two CE's, and
brought her phaser to her shoulder. "Two, one..." The twain burst out
into the base proper, phasers up and firing at the team they had seen.
The second CE, meanwhile, picked off two of the sentries on the top
security rampart with two finely placed shots in just over a second.

Stolev waited for the other hidden guards to reveal their positions by
firing on the first group.  They kindly obliged as Haverstaad took a
knee and picked off two of the guards while their marines engaged the
enemy marines with their heavier weapons.  "You're covered, MOVE!"
bellowed Haverstaad into her headset.

Stolev nodded at Kumar, Cooper, and Talmage.  The quartet quickly
sprinted for the entrance under cover of phaser fire.  Stolev and
Talmage took up positions on either side of the door, phasers at the
ready, while Kumar yanked open the access panel beside the door and
began tapping into the security systems.  Within seconds, he smiled
and looked up triumphantly, but instead of opening, the door was
instead covered with a second blast-proof door.

NRPG: Now all we need are some Ewoks. RPG:

Kumar looked at the door in confusion, then turned back to the mass of
circuit chips and wires and began reconfiguring them again.  Stolev
raised his phaser and took out an enemy guard who had taken aim at the
group from behind some nearby bushes.  "Come on, Kumar, let's get
through that door!"

Cooper bent down and showed Kumar something on her tricorder.  "Ah
hah," he said.  "They reversed the F and G circuits," he remarked as
his hands began working with more confidence.  "And they bypassaed K
and M, rerouting through P.  Quite ingenious, really."

"For God's sake, Kumar, quit yapping and open the damn door," snapped
Stolev as he fired on another approaching guard.  "You can marvel at
the enemy's ingenuity later."

"Sir, we're likely to take some fire when we open the door," said
Cooper.  "Enemy units closing from within."

"Take my position, then," he ordered.  Cooper pulled out her phaser
and stood ready at the side of the door.  Kumar looked up for the
signal.  Grimly, Stolev nodded, his finger on the trigger.  Kumar put
the final relay into place and the doors hissed open.  Stolev didn't
even wait to see who was there, he just started firing.  He didn't
stop until no more shots came from within the base.  He then turned
and nodded for the group to head in, only to see that Talmage was
down.  He didn't look like he'd be getting back up, either.

"Bring him inside," ordered Stolev.  "I'll cover for you."

Wordlessly, Cooper and Kumar grabbed Talmage's body and hurried
through the door, with Stolev providing cover fire.  Once they got in,
they ducked around a corner where they could see how badly their
comrade was injured.  Stolev peeked around the corner and saw only
friendly units securing the outside area immediately around the
entrance they had just stormed.

(reply any who want to come in with us)

"He's dead, sir," reported Cooper after a quick scan of Talmage. 
"Shot in the back from in here."

Stolev looked grimly at the death pale face of the security officer. 
"We'll have to leave him," he said.  "We may be able to get him when
we come back out."  He turned and looked down the corridor, past the
bodies of the guards he had shot, and then back at Cooper, who was
studying her tricorder.  "Alright, Cooper, which way do we go?"

(reply away team)
(posted by Aaron Scifres)

Stardate:2406.11.28
(USS Boudicca – Bridge; ENS David Lynch; 0950)

David’s fingers danced a ballet over the console, as he tried to make the Boudicca as versatile as a Defiant. Sparks were flying and people were falling, as wave after wave of phaser and torpedoes hit the shields, and occasionally the hull.

He glanced behind him, at the state of the Bridge, to see his counterpart at Ops lying on the floor. He was injured, badly and there were, as yet, no medical crews on the Bridge. He punched in his command codes and re-routed the Ops systems to his console, now his job was that much harder. He glanced at the readout on the screen; the damage was coming in thick and fast.

David turned his head slightly, so his voice would travel to the Commander, but he could still see where the ship was going. "Sir, EPS relays on decks 7, 8, 9 and 11 are fried. There are hull breaches on decks 4 and 5, force fields are holding, fractures on decks 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8, structural integrity down to 63%…" He broke off as he struggled to move the hulking bird out of the oncoming volley of torpedoes.

(Reply West, any)

The ship lurched to the left as he managed to get her out of the majority of the onslaught, four torps hit home. "Hull breach on deck 3, force field in place and stable." ~We need more targets.~ He thought.

(Reply West, any)

"Sir, re-routing power from non-essential systems to structural integrity…." Just then a torp hit the hull and sent them flying. This was it, David needed to do something, fast.

(Reply west, any)

He remembered reading a research paper on Advanced Tactical Maneuvers whilst he was at the Academy. In it the writer, Dr Faral Navare suggested that the person at the helm of a ship, in a tactical situation, could control other smaller vessels, by voice command only. He also suggested a few tactical maneuvers as well as several highly acclaimed simulations. The year David left the Academy the Advanced Piloting Class were including this in their teaching methods. It was worth a try.

He took a look at the tactical display of the ships attacking them, they were badly damaged and wouldn’t be as agile as they were at the start. As he moved the Boudicca through space, aware that the Trojan had made it safely to their destination, his mind was racing. He took the plunge and turned to face Commander West.

"Sir, I have an idea. If you don’t mind losing the remaining 2 Class 9 shuttles, we can turn this fight." He said, looking straight at the Commander, who was soaked with sweat, as was he!

(Reply West)

"If we command the two shuttles to activate on automatic pilot, and set computer to tactical alert, we can use them as extra fire power. Using their torps and phaser banks to fire on the Defiant. Once they’re depleted, and if they are in one piece, we can send them on a collision course, and order a self destruct." He just blurted it out, he didn’t even know if he made any sense. He just hoped that West had understood, he turned to move the Boudicca towards the Sovereign vessel so tactical could get a better shot.

(Reply West)

"No sir" He said without turning. "We can do it all through spoken commands. All that’s required is that I activate them, and I can do that from here."

(Reply West)

(Reply West, any)

(Posted by John G)

Stardate:2406.11.28
(USS Boudicca - Planet -  Lt. Dru Tagon - 0951)

Stealth not being one of Tagon's strength, created some interesting situations on the way to the facility.  It isn't everyday that a nearly thousand pound rock trudges through a forest, trying to be as quiet as possible.  One of the many things that bothered Tagon though, was the total lack of fauna.  With all of this vegitation one would thin that theree'd be some animal life there.  But so far not even a bird was heard.

In lieu of using stealth, as the others had done, Tagon went with a different approach.  Look like he was part of the scenery.  Which was easier for him to do than the others.  Wearing a camoflage uniform and with his ruddy, rough skin, it was easy for him to stand still and be passed up as part of the wlderness.

He heard the sounds of a brief fire fight that left many wondering the out come.  But they all plugged along, hoping for the best.  Tagon had strapped his tricorder tohis weapon, so that it didn't take up a hand to use it.  His weapon was also something a little more formidible than the standard phaser rifles.  It was a multiphasic, repeating cannon, which they had dubbed the Gatling Phaser.  Not to many could carry it with ease due to it's size.  However, Tagon was more than up to the task.

He picked up the roving seeper team at the far end of the ravine.  If they hurried, even spotted, they could possibly get inside the facility before all hell broke loose.  Haverstaad took up her position and brought her weapon to bare.  "Time to hop."

Haverstaad and the marines attacked the base.  One marine was dropping guards from the ramparts while she kept them busy with her attack.  "You're covered, MOVE," the Chief bellowed.  

As the others stepped out to make their run, another volley of fire came from the base.  Then Tagon stepped out.  He could only imagine what was gooing through their minds when it appeared that part of he planet had decided to rise up against them.  Firing ceased momentarily.  That was when Tagon began to fire.

The Gatling had a kick to it, but it's results were amazing.  Parts of the prefabricated building flew off and bodies of sentries followed them.  Tagon walked methodically towards the enterance to the facility, still firing further down the ravine.  

By the time he got there they were still having trouble with the door.  Kumar, their "expert" was taking his time admiring the locking mechanism.  He was about to offer a more permanent suggestion for opening the door when he signaled that it was ready.  The door hissed open and there was a volley of phaser fire.  Tagon felt a shot hit him on the shoulder, but it barely registered in his brain.  He fired two shots inside and then all the shooting stopped.  There was one fatality on their side, Talmage.  

They brought the body inisde and were ready to leave him there, hoping that they'd be able to get him on the way out.  Tagon shook his.  He doubted they'd have that time, and it galled him to leave a dead comrade behind.

"If you don't mind Lt," he said.  He stepped over and pulled out a pattern enhancer and placed it on Talmage's body.  Then he tapped Talmage's comm badge.  "Tagon to shuttle.  Lock onto this comm signal and transport back to the shuttle."

The body quickly disappeared in the shimmer of a transporter effect.  "Now we don't have to worry about coming back this way."

Stolev nodded and turned to Cooper.  "Alright, Cooper, which way do we go?"

"This way," Cooper replied, his tricorder out.  

Tagon followed them as they headed into the facility.  He slung the Gatling over his shoulder.  he didn't really want to use it in this enclosed  an area.  He pulled out a hand phaser that had been designed for his large hands and tried to move as quietly as he could.  They actually got a in a fair ways before meeting up with resistance.  

By this time Tagon knew that every second counted.  They may have already made their way to execute Sevant.  They didn't have time for a long drawn out phaser battle.  It was time for him to take action.  Looking at his phaser he reholstered it, choosing something he had better luck with, his bare fists.

With a roar Tagon moved through his team and began to run directly at defending forces.  The looks on their faces, as a walking avalanch came chargingg towards them was something to behold.  Several of them just turned and ran.  Several others stood frozen, as if they'd been put in suspended animation.  But some actually had the nerve to open fire.  Fortunately the Brikarian hyde was able to sustain the damage from the weapons fire.  Although it was beginning to hurt.

By the time he got to the end of the hall way, most of the defenders had lost heart and had begun to flee.  Those that remained began to feel the assault of the Brikar's fists.  Within seconds the resistance was, for lackof a better word, subdued.  He looked back at the others.

"This way is clear."

(reply any)
(posted by Al Muir)

Stardate:2406.11.28
(Planets Surface - Base Perimeter - Melody Haverstaad - 0955)

Melody hissed into her helmet and stabbed her arm into the air, fist
clenched: the universal sign for 'stop'. She had replaced a point-Marine
when he had been taken off by Straton; it wasn't a place she relished much. 

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the base, it was a standard pre-fab
design, it would have taken less then two weeks to build. It had at least
three phaser-emplacements, but the team was already too close for them to be
brought to bear. There was one roving team she could see, on the far end of
the base. They could reach the entrance about the same time as the
Extraction team would. 

This was one of the things they had trained for. 

"Alright Chief, we're down to seconds, time to move." She said. "One team,
mixed security & marine, four hundred yards stage-right." She said quietly
into her mic. She looked over, "Time to hop?"

(reply: Stolev, any)

Haverstaad looked at her Marine counterpart, one of the two CE's, and
brought her phaser to her shoulder. "Two, one..." Melody and the Marine
burst out into the base proper, phasers up and firing at the team they had
seen. The second CE, meanwhile, picked off two of the sentries on the top
security rampart with two finely placed shots in just over a second. 

Melody fell to her knee to make a smaller target of herself and picked off
two of the Security guards, letting the Marine and his heavier weaponry take
on the Marines in BDU's. "You're covered, MOVE!" she bellowed into her
headset. 

(reply: Extraction Team)
(posted by Trout)

Stardate:2406.11.28
(Base - Detention Cell - Sevant - 0955)

Sevant, sitting comfortably in the provided chair with his arms gently
folded on his knee and his eyes closed, listened to everything going on
around him as he stretched his mind out. 

The whole base had been in an uproar for the last ten minutes or so. The
stress level in the whole complex had risen; even someone of Sevant's
limited telepathic power could feel that. There weren't a lot of people in
this temporary base, but there were enough for him to feel waves of emotion
and a few stray thoughts.

It smelled like an invasion.

His mouth quirked slowly as he remembered Straton's earlier mindcall. It was
pure foolishness to risk a rescue when the entire base should be leveled,
but he had to admire their fighting spirit: if nothing else. 

A shuffle at his cell caught his attention; he opened his eyes and looked
out. There were now four guards before his cell, and all four were
esper-blind. He had to give the crew here that much, they weren't
incompetent. 

He closed his eyes again and concentrated. He had spoken with Straton
before, but she wasn't blood, he had to work to open up communications with
her. There were certain disadvantages to being a touch-telepath. 

::Be advised, four guards at my cell.:: he sent as clearly as possible. She
would have to pick up the thread if she wanted further communication; he had
to save his strength in case something else came up.

(reply: Straton)
(posted by Trout)

Stardate:2406.11.28
(Planet's Surface - Enemy Base - Melody Haverstaad - Day 5 - 0956)

Melody slowly pulled back as the weight of fire-power increased with the
arrival of another squad. The Marine at her back grunted and shot a
photon-grenade from his weapon; it blew several of Marines into pieces and
caused another dozen to scramble. 

She glanced back and noticed everyone hunched in the doorway with someone
she couldn't quite see working on the door. She turned back and growled,
"they wouldn't be able to hold anyone off much longer.

The enemy forces looked to be readying to push forward again when most of
them toppled over, in various degrees of dead or stun. A couple Marines
managed to turn before their suits were ripped apart by intense phaser fire.


"Major, I love you." Melody called as she turned to the other side to look
for more forces.

(reply: Straton)

She followed through behind the rest, covering the exit as the extraction
team cleared out the corridor and licked their wounds taken thus far. She
managed to shove her way in a minute later, just in time to watch as the
body of a fallen comrade was materialized away without any hint of emotion.
There would be time for all that later, when they weren't covering their
backs and protecting their hides. She didn't even know who had fallen until
she checked her tactical helmet for the trace that was missing.

They moved further into the base, Melody stayed on the fear, often-times
spinning and moving backwards to cover. They didn't run into any resistance
for quite a while, considering, Melody figured they had spent most of their
forces on out-side patrols. 

That meant, if they were slow in getting Sevant and had to pull back to the
outer-wall in order to get signal, that they would run head-long into every
team pouring in from the brush to deal with the invaders. 

... not a prospect she relished. They had already had enough fire-fights.

When they did finally run into resistance, she cursed and kept herself
pointed to the rear for cover. She didn't see Tagon start his charge, but
she heard the roar. At first she thought the walking rock had been injured,
but as she turned her head, she noticed that he was CHARGING!

Melody's jaw dropped as the roving team broke apart, or was flattened, in
almost no-time flat. The walking rock turned and said, "This way is clear."

"Can I adopt you?" she yelped with a grin as she looked on at the brute with
approval. Whatever troubles he might have fitting into a Starship, he was
worth his wait in latinum in a fight. If they got out alive, she owed him a
drink... a big one.

She frowned as they moved on at a fast trot, making as much distance as they
could. Before running into more problems.

~No stairs. Please, God, no stairs~

(reply: Extraction Team)
(posted by Trout)