Tactical Retreat

Posted on Monday January 20th, 2020 @ 14:50 hours by Mayterial Droz & Alexandria Farron & Clinton Westbrooke Jr & Mercy & Lorpax & Kenzia Nemet & Caras Tracyn & Nali Tali

Mission: Hot Couture
Location: Starbase in orbit of Rangalor V
Timeline: MD06 - 0300 hours
3174 words - 6.3 OF Standard Post Measure

[ON]

The sting in Mayterial's leg got worse. What were they thinking going toe to toe with the Orion Syndicate. They were ruthless. She already knew this of course, but she had gotten away with so much under their noses that she had gotten overconfident. Arrogant to the point where it had now put her crew at risk. The only thing that hurt more than the disruptor graze on her leg was the stone in her stomach from carrying around this guilt. "Just around the corner! We're almost there!" The group rushed along the promenade. People looking at them, some in shock, some as if it was a daily occurrence. She pushed through gathered crowds. No time for pleasantries. There were a dozen or so of Landau's thugs on their tails and while they might not shoot them out here in the crowd, the moment they got to the secluded docking bay the thugs definitely wouldn't be holding back.

The heavy footfalls of the ship's resident Sirran followed close behind. Carrying the Fawkes' formerly missing crewmember over her shoulders in a fireman carry, Mercy winced with each lumbering step. She still hadn't fully recovered from her injuries, and having to run now with a load wasn't doing her knee any favors. She gritted her teeth, concentrating just on keeping up with the much smaller and faster May. "Keep a move on, Captain - don't make me carry you too," she offered in her thick, warm voice; more to pretend she wasn't suffering herself than to urge May on.

Nemet kept to the back, weapons ready in case someone tried to shoot them. She had always survived by following the simple principle: expect every plan to go wrong and have a back-up plan....and a back-up for the back-up. At least so far she had managed to slip through the chaos like a vole in a tight space escaping a hungry tunnel snake.

Caras' first mission and things....probably could have gone better. On the run from a gangster group, and he wasn't even sure how that happened. Still, he'd had worst first jobs. The phaser under his coat was still settled in its holster, he didn't' want to draw undue attention until necessary. His eyes glanced this way and that as he kept a few paces back, trying to cover everyone. He broke off from the main group without warning, intercepting a human who was moving with intention towards them from the side. One hand grabbed the man's collar, his foot swept behind the thug's ankle as he shoved and pulled at the same time, slamming him down against the edge of a stand. Someone had apparently gotten the brainwave to circle around them, that certainly wouldn't have done. Moving from the small cluster of people that were looking at the unconscious human, he rejoined the group as if he hadn't ever been gone.

Nemet was still behind the group, trying to cover their retreat as much as possible...which involved some stabbing and making sure a body or two just vanished. So she was thoroughly enjoying herself, more than she had done in a long time, and she couldn't quite hide a satisfied smile.

Alexandria kept herself near the front of the group, as far away from their pursuers as possible. She was still unarmed, and not keen on getting shot, stabbed or otherwise hit with some sort of unpleasant object. She'd already narrowly avoided getting killed by a disruptor blast, which had grazed her jacket collar and disintegrated a sizable lock of hair. She was not pleased about that. So yes, definitely the front of the pack for her. But the front wasn't really the best place for her to be either. As the ship's navigator she prided herself on having an excellent sense of direction in space, but the same couldn't be said when she had to rely on her senses and her own two feet. Yes, she did have an excellent memory, but she was easily distracted by large numbers of people, of which starbase promenades and city streets tended to have in abundance. In short, she had no idea where they were going, and in her current line of work that was not something she cared to admit.

~~~

Nali stopped at the base of the docking niche and dropped her gear at her feet. She looked at the ID on the wall panel and sighed. From what she had gathered, the ship wasn’t much to look at, but she wasn’t really in a position to make such a judgement. She was ready to find working transport off this station; had been there for four days waiting for a ship to come through whose crew didn’t make her shudder. This one here didn’t seem to have any glaring warnings and that was as good an opening for Nali as she could hope for.

Lorpax stood waiting within the confines of the cargo bay onto which the Fawkes was docked. His heart beating in his chest, but his hand steady, holding a disruptor pointed toward the doorway, that would soon allow entrance to the rescue party. This wasn’t exactly what Lorpax had in mind when he accepted a ride from May. This was supposed to give him a better chance at survival, but now the Orion’s were likely to kill him anyway, or at least that’s what his lack of faith told him.

Nali pressed a button on the panel to activate the comm system and in her ever reserved voice, made her inquiry. “My name is Nali Tali. I’m looking for work, decent pay and my own bed. Is there anything you need done onboard? I have deckhand experience and am capable of much more.” She released the button and awaited the response.

Lorpax heard the message echo around him in the cargo bay. “Gah!” He exclaimed, crab walking toward the panel where he could answer, keeping his weapon trained on the door the whole time. “There’s no one here,” he told the voice.

She stepped back and glared at the Comm panel. That was not the response she’d been expecting or hoping for. Well, she had not lingered on this station for four days suffering the leering eyes and unpleasant whispers while paying exorbitant prices for room and board just to be turned away without a fair shot at a face-to-face interview. Besides, whoever was on the other end of the comm had a decidedly less than ‘Captainy’ style about them. Nali hit the button again and peered in through the transparent portions of the airlock. “A ship this size is always manned with plenty that needs doing around the clock. Don’t be so hard on yourself, Sir; you’re here and you’re somebody. Though, perhaps not the somebody I need to speak with. Is your Captain, First Mate, Crew Chief, Quartermaster or Boatswain on board? I should like to speak to one of them regarding employment.”

"Yes, yes, I am sure there those in charge would love to hear you out," the Ferengi replied with a sense of dismissal. "But if you stand there for too long, you won't be any use to anyone. We are in the middle of a, erm, situation." He gave a show of his teeth through the glass, in an attempt at intimidation. Though in reality it was an attempt to get the newcomer out of harm's way.

Nali was undeterred. And now that she knew she was dealing with a Ferengi, she was all the more adamant. “Lucky for your Captain, I’m very good in situations. Now if you’d be so kind as to open this air lock, I’d be happy to take a look at your teeth. They look fine from here, but I’m sure a sharpening would not hurt. Are your...lobes by chance giving you any issues? I would so hate to hear that you’re having a situation with those as well.” The tall Deltan woman released the comm button again and glanced behind her; there sounded like a situation brewing from that direction for sure.

That was about when the heavy footfalls of the ship's resident Sirran were heard around the corner and the group emerged. "Lorpax!" Mercy's voice boomed and anyone who heard it understood immediately that until now any time so far they'd heard her talk it'd been barely above a whisper for the massive creature. "Open the door! We've got company!"

“A situation…” Nali muttered to herself, nodding her head and finally understanding. The crew was away. Now the crew was returning - and they were coming in hot. She grabbed ahold of her personal gear and pressed herself against the side of the niche to stay clear of the oncoming stampede.

The next sound was disruptor blasts and phaser fire as Clint backed into view, covered in blood - that was hopefully not his own - and sweat, firing madly back as disruptor bolts blasted into the wall behind him, "NOW, LORPAX! LIKE YESTERDAY!" He yelled, trying to cover the rest of them as they rushed around the corner.

Sliding to a halt near the ramp leading up to the Fawkes Mayterial suddenly stood eye to eye with some unknown bald woman. "Deltan..." She muttered to herself when she finally was able to remember the woman's species name, "Hi, good morning, you've caught us at a bad time." She aimed the disruptor she was holding in the direction of the cargo bay entrance.

“It is a bad time for us all,” Nali responded, though unsure whether she should even be having this conversation at this point. These people were under attack, these people were shooting back, and her personal health was far from assured. Still, whoever this dark haired young woman was - she seemed to have the air of authority about her. “I find myself looking for work…” Nali trailed off feebly.

"Awesome, you're hired. Now get on board." May interrupted, she couldn't let her walk away from here; if the Deltan woman exited this bay she'd be considered in league with them and probably be summarly executed by Landau's cronies, either that or they'd torture and interrogate her. She pushed her in through the barely opening cargo bay doors.

This had to be the strangest job interview Nali had ever endured - and that included the gig as a promoter for the Risian Stormriders which had entailed many overt and visible wardrobe changes, and detailed measurements of her body with hands on equipment - none of the scanners that were surely far more accurate. In hindsight, Nali didn’t think traipsing around in skimpy outfits was the sort of job she’d ever do again, but it had been fifteen years ago and she had been much younger. She already had the distinct impression she’d regret this latest job as well, but she wasn’t about to romp off into enemy fire to continue exploring her career opportunities.

"Everybody get the fuck on board!" Mayterial stood at the threshold into the ship, waiting for everyone to file past her and into the aging Cardassian vessel, "Alex, Kenzia, Clint get us the hell out of here!" She ordered her navigator and signaller. "Mercy, full power to engines. Caras, shields up, weapons hot."

The Deltan kept pace with the others so as not to be left behind or find herself underfoot. The crew was already starting to scatter to their respective duties so Nali wedged her bags in a tight spot and quickly strung a securing line through the handles just in case things got rocky.

"Lorpax, take Kari, I have to head to engineering." Mercy gently set Kari's unconscious, beaten body down when she was safely inside the ship, not even waiting for a reply before heading off to Engineering, with her heavy, lumbering steps. Once there she quickly pulled up a few status screens, glancing at them, double checking various settings as she pushed the engine into emergency power up. It wasn't long before she slammed the reactor to full, keeping an eye on the cooling. She knew she'd have to put in double hours for the damage she was doing to the engines, but power now was of the utmost importance. She'd deal with the wear later. Engines revving up she opened a channel to Mayterial. "Cap, you've got ninety-five on the reactor, ninety-six if you're brave. But I'm going to need a few hours stationary with engines off within a day for maintenance after this emergency hot start!"

"It's like you don't even know me," Mayterial rushed into the Cargo bays to make sure the deck hands had done a good job on securing the cargo before they set up. Her heart sank a bit as she looked around the first one she was in. It was nearly empty. Leaving the dock like this would cost them a ship load of latinum, "Push it as hard as you can without making us stardust, Mercy; I trust you." She closed the comms channel and looked at Nali, whom she had dragged along on the tour of the cargo bays. "Help me secure this." She rushed up to a nearby container that stood in the middle of the bay, unsecured.

Well this was something Nali knew how to do. She took up position against the container and bodily pushed it across the floor, though she was not a physically powerful woman; indeed most Deltans weren’t. Nali figured it wouldn’t hurt to show this woman - whom she was now certain to be the Captain - that she could handle cargo. Unasked questions filled Nali’s mind: who had left this cargo unsecured in the first place, was this all of the cargo, were the other holds empty or worse - full of unsecured payload? But the answers alone to those questions would not help Nali in any way at the moment. Each answer would require a subsequent course of action. The urgency of breaking station keeping seemed to be the only order of business Mayterial had time for now. Nali wrangled the container against a wall - thankful it had not been of extreme mass - and was careful to activate the mag-lock, securing it firmly against the metallic surface. “I’m sure you find yourself a busy woman just now. I can check the other holds and help the hands anchor any loose cargo if you’ll allow it.”

Mercy had figured that May would've gone to the bridge, but apparently not. So she opened a channel to Alexandria instead. "Alex, Mercy. You have ninety-five percent max power to get us out of here with. Going to need a few hours with engines off within a day to do some critical maintenance though. Get us out of here!"

Say one thing about Caras, say he was adaptable at the very least. He'd barely had time to shove a bag of stuff on the ship before the job (did it still count as a job if it went completely sideways?) He'd stood by with Mayterial until everyone else had gotten on board, his phaser drawn and held snug to his side. So far he'd yet to have to use it, but there was always time. It wasn't until the door shut that he'd moved towards the bridge. Most ships followed a standard design once you knew who made them, and he'd stormed enough to know where one was here. Slipping the phaser and pouch to his side when he found the right station, he took it in with a glance and triggered what he needed. He booted up the shield gennys, depending on how recently they'd been tinkered with could take a few minutes, even as he reached up to the overhead panel and started the emitters charging. "We'll be primed in just a few...you call out what you want zapped." His fingers danced again, pulling up a scan of the docks; never hurt to watch the rear.

Nemet listened to orders - no, instructions - and scooted inside. She got to the bridge and took a station, started running through the basic instructions for a departure, skipping over most of the ones required by protocol since this was a time to make a hasty run. Essentially all that was required was to gain clearance for departure and get any other ships out of the way - and she knew the Cardassian systems well. Very well. There was actually no need to even play by Federation rules and as she spoke to the ship's systems in their own language she made sure she gained control of weapons as well....just in case. She activated the communicator and said, "Ready to leave, my dear Captain, just give the word and this lumbering zabu can depart."

Meanwhile Lorpax had made a hopeless attempt at lifting Kari over his shoulder. Instead he had needed to drag her by her feet. Any damage he did would just have to be healed up once he had got to sickbay, along with the rest of the damage that those thugs had done themselves.

Alexandria felt half in shock as she took her seat and started the ship on a quick departure. Captain May shouting expletives at the crew, Engineer Mercy instructing her to toast the engines, and half the cargo bays reporting unsecured cargo... not to mention the rest of the crew running around like crazy people. Just like Starfleet, except with more swearing. She knew how to follow orders, even if they weren't great ones. The starbase's traffic controller began screaming at them over comms as Alexandria used only a few bursts of thrusters to kick the ship off from its docking pylon before engaging the ship's impulse engines. Ion wash scoured several sections of plating on the starbase as the Fawkes blasted off, with the traffic controller screaming threats that they would never operate in the sector again. That was the least of Alexandria's concerns as she maneuvered sharply onto their warp trajectory. The hull groaned as engines designed to move many tons of cargo pushed the ship to its structural limits. Without the added mass, the navigator thought she could feel micro-stress fractures forming in the ship's space frame with every shift in thrust vectoring. Fawkes was not a starfighter, that was for sure.

Mayterial rushed onto the bridge of the Fawkes, her crew already there preparing for departure. She saw the confirmations coming in on the main viewer and the course already plotted in. If anything else this did show her clearly that she had gathered a capable crew. That filled her with a little bit of confidence. The damage they had done to Landau's ship was hopefully enough to be able to get away from the syndicate without getting shot, "Take us out of here, maximum warp."

[OFF]