Always Outnumbered, Never Outsmarted

Posted on Fri May 14th, 2010 @ 6:43pm by Lieutenant Commander Sara Archer & Commander Jordan Gunning

Mission: Borderline Diplomacy
Location: Central Government Building - Bevrud
Timeline: MD08 1400hrs

[ON]

The whine of emergency sirens echoed from the nearby plaza. From the view in Sara Archer's binoculars, she watched as Shintaka troops flooded to secure the area. The distraction caused by Captain Krace and Commander Brown managed to create a flutter of activity from the civilian population. Some people were trying to help. Others just wanted to gawk at the scene. Regardless of the reasons, the planned seemed to be working. Additional troops were sent to keep the peace, leaving the palace more vulnerable to infiltration.

From the perch on a neighboring building, Sara surveyed the scene. Even with the reduced guard presence, it would still be gutsy to enter through the front door. The roof was a possibility, but it was likely that doors were locked or alarmed. Sara had studied the security system extensively. Her assessment suggested that the optimal point of ingress would be through a window on the second story of the four story palace. During their waiting period, Sara had already positioned them near the preferred window. Due to the active sensor sweeps used by the security system, Archer and Gunning would have seven minutes to enter through the window, make their way up one floor, and deactivate the security system. No doubt the Bevrudl would know they were there as soon as the sensor sweeps were offline, but they wouldn't be able to track them. That was the advantage Sara was hoping for at least.

She checked her chronometer. The sweep would pass the target window in forty-three seconds. Sara stood up from her prone position and strapped a phaser rifle to her back. Lifting another gun from her bag, she took aim just above the window. Firing the gun launched a magnetically propelled spike that embedded itself into the masonry of the palace. Attached to the spike was a long tether. Sara secured the tether on her end, and mentally prepared herself for the zip line flight.

"If you don't mind, ma'am." Jordan said, attaching his link to the zip-line and launching himself forward before calling back, "I love this bit!"

His momentum carried him rapidly towards the opening that the Commander had opened in the window. His weight was carrying him in too fast. He was going to need to think quickly. He broke the link and sent himself flying through the window. He hit the ground and rolled to reduce the impact. He pulled out his hand phaser and checked around him. Not the most panache in the galaxy, Jordan, he told himself. The corridor was clear and he managed to secure a little cover behind a crate which had clearly been left there for ease of access to weapons.

As he pulled the rifle off his back, he tapped his comm-badge with his other hand. "All clear, Commander."

While Gunning careened towards the window, Sara covered him from the adjacent roof. There were no sign of patrols from what she could see. Securing her binoculars, she attached her own link to the zip-line. Her lighter frame kept her from accelerating as fast as Jordan had, and her descent and landing was rather more, graceful. Breaking her link at the last second, she was able to hit the ground running, staying on her feet the whole time. She whipped her rifle around from off her back, and hurried to the corner of the hall. Putting her back against the wall, she quickly turned the corner with her phaser at the ready, searching for Shintaka patrols. With the way clear, she motioned for Gunning to press on.

The sound of Jordan's footfall reverberated around the palacial corridor as he pointed his rifle into every nook and cranny of the corridor. He crouched in an alcove as he heard Archer follow him down the corridor. His tricorder bleeped and he span out from his position, peppering the patrol which rounded the corner with phaser fire. They dropped one-by-one under the impact of the blasts from the phaser rifle. "Looks like things might be a bit messier than we'd anticipated, Commander!"

"Things never go according to plan, Lieutenant. We just need to keep our heads up." She checked her chronometer and tricorder. "We have four and a half minutes until the next scan. There is a stairwell twenty meters down this hallway. I suggest we hurry."

"After you, ma'am." Jordan said as he fired another blast into the chest of one of the Shintaka guards.

Sara checked her tricorder before throwing open the door to the stairwell. She fired three quick shots, causing three more Shintaka guards to fall. She motioned for Gunning to follow her, and started up the stairs. "The security controls are up these stairs, to the left, and fifty-four meters down the hall on the right. It will probably be guarded."

Jordan raced up the stairs behind the Intelligence officer. His boots making heavy thuds on the marble-like surface. They reached the door and Jordan took a note of the layout of the corridor on his tricorder. He noticed an alcove right across from the door.

"Suggest we use a flash grenade, Commander. We should be able to take them all before they've even noticed us." The Lieutenant pulled out a cylindrical device from his equipment and tossed it in the air, catching it again. "I love these things."

Sara nodded. "Agreed. Care to go first?"

"It would be my pleasure," he said as Archer over-rode the door controls allowing Gunning to throw himself forward into the alcove, hurling the grenade down the corridor as he went. The blast launched a blinding light around the already bright corridor. He flicked the sight on his rifle and launched a volley of shots into the chests and limbs of the guards. More armed personnel began to flood out of the computer room. He called out to Archer as his phaser rifle pulsed and hissed viciously. "Move to cover!"

Archer didn't argue. She run out into the corridor and rolled across the room under Gunning's cover fire. She powered up her sight and sent a few shots down the hall, keeping the Bevrudl guards at bay so that Gunning could move forward down the hall. Leapfrogging under cover, they moved along the corridor, leaving them with just under two minutes until the next security scan. Of course, at this point it hardly mattered. They've caused enough noise for half of the planet to know they were here.

Using another flash grenade, Sara and Jordan stormed the computer room. Most of the armed guards had already moved into the hall for the initial assault. The technicians manning the controls didn't last long. In the confusing of the flash grenade, Sara only had to use a couple of nerve pinches to take them out. She figured they weren't worth the phaser charge. Moving to the computer, she quickly deactivated the active sensor sweeps, leaving the Bevrudl blind.

Jordan took a moment to check the charge in his rifle. "What now?"

Sara continued to fiddle with the controls. "Now, we need to figure out where Atakimpa is. Most likely they know we're here and... ."

As his superior officer began to respond Jordan heard a scratching at the rickety door in the corner. He initially dismissed it as some kind of janitorial storage area but he was soon proved wrong when the door collapsed under the weight of heafty thump from the other side. Archer stood over a console directly between him and the door. They'd go for her first but she wasn't ready.

"Sara! Pull your socks up!" He cried as guards began to flood into the room. He took out a couple with several adept blasts but before he could drop into cover, a blast from one of their rifles caught him in the arm sending his rifle spiralling from his hands.

From the collapsing of the door to Gunning's warning, only a couple of seconds had passed. With Sara's rifle sitting on the console next to her, she wouldn't have had time to pick it up and bring it ready to fire. Instead she quickly spun away from the Shintaka guards, using the momentum of her turn to bring her leg up to a kicking position. The force of a kick to the head sent the closest guard reeling while Jordan fired away. She saw on blast hit his arm from the corner of her eye, but was not really in a position to help. Instead, she was able to pull out her side arm and open fire, taking down a few more in the process.

Jordan groaned, wrenching his Type-II from his belt and allowing a second before firing, sending an elongated phaser beam straight through the eye of one of their attackers. The Intelligence officer had managed to take care of most of the incumbent guards but that didn't make his arm feel any better.

"Damn it!" He shouted out, kicking out at the base of a console in the process. "Damn it, damn it, damn! it!"

With the guards dispatched, Sara ran over to the injured Gunning. "Hold still, Lieutenant. Kicking the computers won't make it better." She settled him down and took a look at the phaser burn. "You'll be fine. I've had worse phaser burns than this. If you think that hurts, try taking a shot from the Jem'Hadar." Sara checked her first aid kit. She only had minimal medical supplies on her. The best she could offer was a mild analgesic. "Here, this should help a little, but it's still going to hurt like hell. It will have to do until we can find a proper infirmary."

"Well, you never know. I thought it might knock out the pain," he said through something between a laugh and a wince, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Let's keep moving. Did you manage to get the sensors offline?"

"Yeah, the security sweeps are down," she answered, putting away the hypospray. "We just need to find where they are hiding Atakimpa. I have no doubt that he's in a secure location by now."

"Well it's not going to be secure for much longer," Jordan picked up his phaser rifle and set it to its maximum setting, "let's go through them."

"I like your enthusiasm, Lieutenant," Sara replied with a rare smile, even if it was only slight. She went back to the console and picked up her own rifle as she typed in a couple more commands. "There is a safe room in the basement. I think we can fight out way through and override their lockouts. You ready?"

"As I'll ever be," the Lieutenant said, "let's do it."

[OFF]

Lieutenant Commander Sara Archer
Chief Intelligence Officer
Assignment: CLASSIFIED

Lieutenant Jordan Gunning
Chief Tactical / Security Officer
USS Iapetus