Cargo bay Cage Match

Posted on Tuesday April 30th, 2019 @ 07:47 hours by M'erah & Ares Onasis & Colt McCormick
Edited on on Tuesday April 30th, 2019 @ 23:36 hours

Mission: Pixie Dust
Location: Cargo bay 1, Deck 3, S.S. Fawkes
Timeline: MD02 - 0915 hours
3931 words - 7.9 OF Standard Post Measure

M'erah was breathing heavily. The uniform he had been wearing had been cast aside, it was no longer of use to him. The hairs in his neck were standing up tall and he knew, somehow, in the back of his primal brain that this creature across from him was a threat to his ongoing existence. The darkness in the bay didn't bother his feline eyes and the containers contained within only made it easier to make use of his agility. With a hunched back he paced back and forth, never taking his eyes off his prey. Waiting, patiently, for a moment of weakness. Once it came he would strike with his cat-like reflexes. His mind was no longer clouded by the aeons of evolution, back to his feral self, untethered by civilisation. Free to roam. Free to strike. Free to kill and feast.

It was difficult to remember for Volok why he had stepped into the cargo bay. The emotions that he felt coursing through his system were too much for him to suppress. That was even before he was confronted with the beast he was facing now. The adrenaline pumping through his veins making him forget the teachings of Surak. If this was to be a physical contest he knew that he would prevail. He stood almost perfectly still, waiting for a second where the creature would lower its guard, if only for a split second. Once it came he would hit. Neutralise the threat. Protect the tribe. He breathed out through gritted teeth as his eyes followed the pacing feline creature. He wondered why the beast seemed familiar.

A moment of hesitation, M'erah barely registered it but saw that it was there. Immediately he lunged forward, claws extended, ready to dig into the flesh of the shadow creature. Ready to draw blood and drag whatever remained back to his den. The sharp nails caught the light from the overhead lights and shimmered as they cleaved the air.

Volok stepped back to try and avoid the incoming slash, just barely managing to do so in time. Shreds of his shirt flying through the air. He felt the warmth of blood trickle out of his body, the green liquid seeping slowly out of a shallow cut. He slammed his fist forward, the force of his body and momentum carrying through his arm and into the target underneath his fist.

The fist connecting with his chest was like walking into a wall. The effects of which rippled through his body. It didn't stun M'erah for more than half a second. With a growl, he spun around and slashed at his adversary with extended claws. He could smell the copper in his foe's blood, it only spurred him on to do more.

Another cut on his body, this time it was deeper. Volok staggered back a bit and took up a defensive posture. He really needed to keep his wits about him. It was difficult with all that adrenalin coursing through his body. He had never felt so alive. He sunk down through his knees, just a few swift kicks would give him the advantage in this fight against that lumbering beast. The growling, the sharp claws, he had no idea how this creature made it on the ship but he knew that it was his responsibility to get rid of it.

With some space separating them M'erah also hunkered down, hands almost down to the floor, tail snapping back and forth in anticipation of what was coming next. A grin revealed his teeth, he was definitely enjoying this. After landing those cuts he knew that this was a fight he was going to win, now all that remained was savouring the build up. He stalked back and forth, circling this puny shadow form. It would barely feed him for the day, but that didn't matter, he'd go out and find his next meal once he had enjoyed his spoils.

Volok circled with the creature and felt that he was being pushed back into a corner. There was nowhere for him to go but through the big hulking beast. It was a matter of now or never, if space got even smaller the beast would have the definite advantage. He stepped forward to throw a strong kick at the creatures centre of mass.

With lightning reflexes, M'erah jumped to the side and both his claws sunk into the body of his next meal. He almost felt sad for the fact that it was over so quickly. His mouth began watering thinking of the meal ahead of him.

Storage Bay, Deck 13

“Did you know that back during World War II in the 20th Century the English wore gas masks at all time, even when sleeping, in fear of a nuclear attack by the Germans?” Colt’s childlike charm always shone through as he looked over the rather ancient looking gas mask in his hand, even though his body was aching from whatever was flowing through the ship and his body was somehow functioning on two hours of broken sleep. He had a very curious mind and enjoyed learning about History in his spare time. And it was the only thing that was keeping him and Ares from going insane.

Ares let out a slight chuckle as her fingers ran over the pile of cases that were still not entirely sorted through since she got there. “It very well could be from that time period.” Her fingers stopped on a smaller orange case with a strange Cardassian logo etched on the handle sandwiched between two larger brown cases and secured their grips on the handle, letting out a small Greek prayer to save herself from getting knocked out by falling boxes. She pushed the air out of her lungs as she pulled the case quickly back and pressed her hand against the brown case that had been sitting on top of it as it settled in its dust. Chewing on her lower lip, Ares placed the case on the table and popped it open with what little hope she had left in her system.

Bingo.

She had found a few more gas masks in fairly solid condition. She tossed one to Colt and began inspecting the others resting in the case. “These should do, Colt. At least until we can clear out whatever is flowing through the air.” They didn’t have much time before the inhibitor lost its effects so they were lucky to have come across the leftover supplies.

Colt had no time to question what exactly the masks had been sitting in. Any poison was probably better than the crap that was causing everyone to be on the verge of a mental breakdown. He slipped the mask on, covering just his mouth and nose, and gave Ares a quick eyebrow wiggle and then a thumbs up. “Nice and… tight,” he said with a bit of bawdy drawl in his voice.

Ares rolled her eyes and placed one of the less broken-looking masks on herself, giving her lungs a moment to get used to the sudden change. Her entire body was filled with the relief of knowing they were one step closer to cleaning up. But they weren’t out of the woods yet. “Alright, let’s get these masks up to the Bridge. Somebody other than us has to be able to run this thing.”

Colt let out an amused snort, which sounded a bit robotic through the mask. He was relieved that this all would be over soon.

Cargo Bay, Deck 3

BOOM!

Colt jumped at the pounding sound coming from behind the closed Cargo Bay door he and Ares happened to pass at the right moment. He reached out and grabbed Ares’s arm, who was already armed with her pistol and aimed in the direction of whatever was going on next to them. He couldn’t help but smirk a bit; she was a quickfire. It was kinda hot. “Glad I’m not the only one who heard that,” he jested, trying to slow down the shot of adrenaline that overpowered his thinking for a brief moment and almost caused him to piss his pants.

Ares quickly pressed her finger against her lips, trying to hear as much as she could behind the thick wall. The cool metal felt good against her warm ear as she scooted herself closer to the door, keeping her phaser close to her chest. Silence. She waited a bit longer before she wanted to open the door to secure the area and check on whatever the hell was going.

And then she heard the feral cat-like hisses and screams. Jesus, this day keeps getting better and better, she thought to herself as her eyebrows furrowed, then jumped up at the conclusion her mind finally made. “When the fuck did we get cats?!” Ares was a bit exasperated as one thing kept leading to another. She looked at Colt, “You packin’?”

Colt patted his waist, not one to carry around something unless he knew he would need it. He felt dumb for not thinking of grabbing something when they were near his rented cabin or even borrowing something from Ares’s small collection. “Stupid me, right?”

Ares ignored his comment, gesturing with her head towards the door panel. It would be a moot point to tell him to head up to the Bridge with the masks alone. He didn’t know the ship that well and trudging through the chaos by himself was a recipe for disaster. And she would be equally dumb for trying to face whatever beast (the hisses did not sound like they were coming from a cute and sweet little kitty) was roaming around. Colt was right, at least they were both hearing it.

Sidestepping towards Colt, Ares kept her phaser pointed at the door as she stood in front of the panel to enter in her security code. As the panel beeped in acceptance, Ares turned and pressed her back against the wall, keeping her phaser ahead of herself and prepared to fire in a moment’s notice. She reached back behind her and gently touched Colt’s arm, giving it a quick brush with her thumb in comfort before pulling slightly to have him follow her into the darkness and the echo of the shuffling. The metallic stench hit her immediately, causing goosebumps to boil over her exposed skin. That wasn’t good. Ares would never forget that smell. It was the smell of blood.

Volok had managed to get out from under M'erah's assault but he was barely standing and at this time the giant cat was just playing with him. The Caitians claws swiped at the stumbling Vulcan, the green copper-based blood leaking from him from all different gashes. A low growl came from M'erah as he meticulously stepped forward, he was running out of patience and he wanted to get this over with when his ear flicked in the direction of the cargo bay doors. Something was coming in to threaten his meal. In a flash he swiped forward with his claw, slashing the shadow man's throat to finish the kill so he could defend against intrusion from the outsiders.

The gurgling sound coming from Ares’s left side sent a chill up her spine. But without being able to see anything she couldn’t outright jump out at whatever thing was going nuts. At least her eyes were adjusting and leaving the cargo bay door open behind her provided some light. She just couldn’t let the thing get around her. Peeking around the corner, she saw the outline of rough worker pants and beaten up shoes surrounding by a pooling puddle of green.

Volok. It was Volok laying there. She knew because he was the only Vulcan on the ship. “Fuck,” Ares whispered to herself. She turned back and looked at Colt, keeping her back pressed against the stack of crates covering her position. She pointed up, hoping he would get that she was silently telling him she was going to climb up to get a better view. She handed him her phaser, which he reluctantly took. He didn’t like where this was going but there was no turning back now. He clung tightly onto the weapon and adjusted the bag of hypos on his shoulder. One sudden sound and they would fall prey.

Ares swiftly and soundlessly grabbed onto the exposed edges of the stack and climbed her way to the top, keeping herself hidden as much as possible before popping her head up to locate the thing. And there he was. The light reflected off the bright eyes and snaggled sharp teeth of M’erah’s pure animalistic face. He was standing on all fours over Volok’s unmoving body, in position to attack at a moment’s notice.

Colt remained as close to the stack as possible, keeping his eyes on Ares. He saw her hand wave towards the door. What was she telling him? Was she actually telling him to get out of there and leave her with whatever it was that was making those sounds? He knew Ares was a little eccentric but never realized until now that she was literally bat-shit insane. His eyebrows furrowed as he shook his head and pushed her hand away in rejection of her request.

Ares, feeling the push, looked down at him, changing her gesture from back towards the door to up towards her. She pointed roughly at the bag then brought her hand back up. She badly wanted to yell at him but knew that wouldn’t do them any good.

I’m an idiot. She wanted the bag! Colt immediately followed orders, opening the top of the bag and holding it up to her. He watched as Ares carefully climbed down a foot so she could dig through the bag. She moved the bag slightly so the light could reveal the names on the sides of the hypos. Her training was really coming in handy right now, though it was still difficult balancing herself on the small ledge of one of the crates and noiselessly dig through the rather large collection of hypos. Drug inhibitor... drug inhibitor... stimulant, stimulant, stimulant… opioid…, Ares rattled off in her mind, keeping her ears open for any sudden movement around her. She had realized how deep she had gone into the darkness in her life as she had, in reality, sold the guitar Adam had given her before his death in order to travel and purchase drugs to keep her mind off of the pile of rubble her life had become. This was her rock bottom. And Colt was holding it up for her.

Ares’s hand paused before pulling out two hypos and then a third. It was a tranquilizer but the dosage was for someone of her size. She was going to have to put her faith into a guess at how much was going to subdue M’erah. That was her first problem. Her second one was actually getting close enough to the Caitian without losing a limb. Ares was quick and nimble but Caitian was also almost twice her size with subhuman reflexes. This was going to be tricky to say the least.

The woman slipped two of the hypos into her bra and grabbed the third one with her teeth as she nodded her head towards the panel on the side of the door and mimed her fingers as if she was closing the door. Thankfully Colt understood immediately as he slinked his way over to the panel. He looked around himself for a place to slide into since he was about to draw attention to their locations. He let out the breath he didn’t realize he had been holding, quickly pressed the panel button, and slid between two stacks of crates to the right. It was a tight squeeze for himself, his broad muscles, and the bag but whatever was about to pounce on him wouldn’t be able to reach him. His stomach dropped as he realized he wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on Ares and whatever shit was about to go down.

The hissing in the corner of the room snapped M'erah to attention. There was another beast in here, they were definitely coming for his prey, who was still sputtering on the ground. The sputtering would soon stop. Silently moving towards the origin of the sound the Caitian kept his eyes perked and its eyes peeled. Then with a leap upward and a bound off the wall of crates he perched himself on top of a row of crates, ready to drop from above. He was so focused on the origin of the sound that he only noticed the movement in the corner of his eye at the last moment.

With her determination painted on her face, Ares took the opportunity that would soon vanish and end in her maiming or her death. With M’erah’s rear legs within reach, she took the three hypos gripped tightly in her sweating hands and jabbed them into the thigh of his rear left leg, leaving them pressed for only a second until she was sure they had been emptied. Then, in an impulsive move to distract, Ares threw the three empty hypos across the room, as far away from Volok’s unmoved body as possible. She slid down and ran in the opposite direction, sliding behind another pile of crates nearby. All she could do at this point was wait and see how effective her unplanned plan was.

M'erah snarled and growled at the sudden proximity of this insolent belly crawling creature. It had bitten him. He tried to turn and swipe, suddenly saw birds fly off in the distance for a moment of distraction and when he turned back the snake had disappeared. He lept off the crates and felt his hind leg buckle under the pressure of his landing. The numbness started to spread from his thigh. Another roar as he tried to bolt after where the slithering thief had disappeared to. His balance was completely gone and he crashed into one of the stacks of crates. He weaved back to compensate but the venom had reached his other leg and he swerved into the crates on the other side before fully loosing his footing. The next snarl came out as a whimper as the numbers washed over him like a heavy blanket.

The pounding of her heart dulled out the sound of the crashing and the echoing roar from the Caitian. But Ares still waited. She needed to wait until it was completely silent. From the sounds of continuing groans the tranquilizers were working. Squeezing her eyes shut, she felt the sweat drops forming across her forehead and he breathing becoming heavier. She had to control it, keep it as silent as she could make it to protect herself from an attack. Just a few more moments, she ordered herself. Just a bit longer…

M'erah laid motionless on the cold cargobay floor. The tranquillisers forcing him into a dreamless sleep.

Meanwhile on the other end of the cargobay Volok helplessly held his hands against his profusely bleeding neck. Green spurts of his copper based blood gushing out. He stared off in the distance as the cold started to intrude his body. He knew that this was the end for him, a gloriless end and the hands of the feline creature.

Ares’s let out her breath as the soft purring bounced off the walls. The cat was out. “Volok!” She turned and looked around the corner, barely seeing the outline of the Vulcan on the ground. “Computer, lights!” She was nearly blinded by the sudden change but it was no matter to her. Dropping onto her knees into the green blood, Ares gripped her hand around the gash in his neck. “It’s Ares, we’re gonna take care of you,” she stated as soothingly as possible.

“Attention all medics, we have a downed worker on Deck 3. We need someone here now!” Ares heard Colt’s strong voice at the comm panel as her eyes remained locked into the stirring and unsteady Vulcan eyes.

“Colt,” Ares called to him. “Move the crates around M’erah so that we’ll know if he stirs.”

Colt looked over at the familiar large Caitian he had met when he first saw Ares. It was very eerie to see such a friendly face turn feral and nearly kill a man. It distracted him from the fact that Ares was carrying around tranquilizers. She was an incredibly fit and healthy woman. Obviously, she had no medical need for the drug. What else was she carrying with her? His weakened body dropped the bag next to him and tried to move the cases as around as quickly as possible, not making as much progress as he would like.

Volok grabbed on to the warm hands that enclosed around the wound in his neck, clasping on to them as if clasping on to dear life, "I.." he tried to speak but only a soft whimper came out, the claws must've hit his vocal cords or something. His hands moved up Ares' arm and grabbing at her biceps. He felt that there was very little he could do to hold on with his life's essence draining from his body. He hoped that the help hadn't come too late.

Nodding her head from side to side, Ares felt the strain his entire body used just to make that sound. The blood had gushed slightly against her hand and she tightened her grip on him. “Shh shh shh,” she stated softly, “focus on your breathing. Keep your eyes on me and focus on your breathing. We’re getting you out of here.” She heard the last of the shuffling of the cases behind her as she closed her eyes and let out her own slow breath. There were flashes of Adam lying lifeless in her lap, the faint sound of the emergency shuttle in her memory that felt all too real. She forced her eyes open, to face the reality of her injured comrade.

Struggling for every breath Volok did his best to focus on Ares. Whatever was happening had impeded his ability to control his emotions and in this moment he felt scared, a fear of death. A logical fear, given the circumstances, but a fear nonetheless. He also felt stupid for letting his guard down, for letting his emotions get the better of him, for losing against an oversized cat. He knew he was better than that. He should've been at least. Now all he could do was lay there, feeling his limbs grow cold and the cold creeping further and further up his body, his eyelids becoming heavier and heavier. Wondering if he would be able to keep his eyes open until the medic came.

“He’s over here!” Colt yelled towards the medic scrambling to get into the room.

Ares gave Volok a crooked smile, relieved that he was still with her and still breathing. “See, I told you they would come.”

[OFF]

Ares Onasis
Quartermaster

Also starring:
Volok (NPC)
First Mate
(as written by Mayterial)

M'erah (NPC)
Deck Hand (Able)
(as written by Mayterial)

&

Colt McCormick (NPC)
Passenger
(As written by Ares)