S6 E5 - The 48th Rule of Acquisition

[Ian Galloway]

[The Pit]

The last targ was vanquished and the crowd fell silent. Followed by a loud chorus of jeering. Apparently a lot of them had bet on team-targ to win.

Malik welcomed the makeshift bandage from the captain.

"I don't plan on dying just yet. Maybe we won our freedom?"

Bralok's voice boomed out again.

"Starfleet are not easily defeated! Have they earned their survival?"

The crowd seemed to consider for a moment, they enjoyed these arena fights and respected those that put on a good show. Slowly the crowd began to chant a single word, stamping their feet in unison - Gorn. Gorn. Gorn.

"The crowd have spoken and I will deliver! Release the Gorn!"

The arena gates opened again to reveal a far more deadly opponent. Standing at least 8ft tall, clad in armour, brandishing wicked claws and teeth. A Gorn gladiator - champion of the arena.

[The Pit - Unknown Planet]

Ian sighed as Bralak made his announcement, knowing that if they weren't given a respite from fighting, sooner or later, whatever opponent they were facing at the time would get in a lethal hit. However, they had to deal with what was and not what they would like. He took a quick inventory of weapons one sword, two spears and two daggers, plus the broken spear.

Ian took a look as the heavily armed and armored Gorn lumbered across the arena and knew they were in trouble. The targs were dangerous, but this new foe was much, much more of a threat. Fighting with primitive weapons was not his strong suit and with perhaps Dersch being an exception, he hadn't known him long enough to know, Ian didn't think any of the others were experts with primitive weapons either.

"Alright, he's big, strong, and trained at this, but he's still only one bein'. If'n we spread out, we can use our numbers ta our advantage. Whoever he attacks, that person goes defensive and uses your agility ta dodge whenever you can. Once he commits, then the rest of us attack from the flanks and see if'n we can get lucky."

Ian then tightened his grip on his spear and hoped his plan would work.

[Alexander Wu]

[The Pit - Unknown Planet]

Ian sighed as Bralak made his announcement, knowing that if they weren't given a respite from fighting, sooner or later, whatever opponent they were facing at the time would get in a lethal hit. However, they had to deal with what was and not what they would like. He took a quick inventory of weapons one sword, two spears and two daggers, plus the broken spear.

Ian took a look as the heavily armed and armored Gorn lumbered across the arena and knew they were in trouble. The targs were dangerous, but this new foe was much, much more of a threat. Fighting with primitive weapons was not his strong suit and with perhaps Dersch being an exception, he hadn't known him long enough to know, Ian didn't think any of the others were experts with primitive weapons either.

"Alright, he's big, strong, and trained at this, but he's still only one bein'. If'n we spread out, we can use our numbers ta our advantage. Whoever he attacks, that person goes defensive and uses your agility ta dodge whenever you can. Once he commits, then the rest of us attack from the flanks and see if'n we can get lucky."

Ian then tightened his grip on his spear and hoped his plan would work.

[Unknown Planet - Coliseum]

Alex was dirty, sore, and stank of targ sweat and blood. He also thought that one might've peed on him a little when it was ontop of him, but he wasn't sure and didn't really want to be. Watching the Gorn slowly lumber towards their huddle and listening to Galloway plan their next move, Alex forced himself to start thinking of things other than filleting that piece of merde Ferengi who'd brought them here. They might not have the strength or stamina of that lizard, but they were five brains against one. That had to count for something. "Grippen can't move all that fast." He warned, glancing over the skipper's rough bandage job. Blood was already seeping through again. "We might not have a choice but to stand and fight."

"And what the hell is Bralok thinking of?" Alex speculated while looking around for anything they might add to their meagre arsenal. "He must know that Starfleet will eventually come looking for us when we miss our check-in. And Ferenginar will wonder why we never arrived." He gathered several baseball sized rocks from around the wall, dropping them near Malik. "Doesn't really seem like he's just looking to turn a quick profit and disappear if he runs a place as big as this. And he must realize that every member of our crew he sells will do everything they can to escape and report what's happened. That's up to four hundred loose ends, four hundred new chances of him getting caught. Capturing us, announcing to all these spectators that we're Starfleet...Bralok can't possibly think he can trust every single person here to not sell him out. It doesn't make any sense."

[Malik Grippen]

[Ensign Hejaran - Bralok's Private Chambers]

In the few hours they had been practicing, Lian and a few others had achieved some self-confidence and some talent with the techniques Calindra had taught them. The more timid of the wives had stayed to the side, watching the clock nervously, but there was no way to ensure their cooperation, even if she hoped to at least lead them to safety.

Hopefully the confrontation with the guards would go swiftly and impress upon them just how much they had to gain in walking out together. One of the wives gave out a strangled warning as the door slid open, and two Ferengi guards stepped in, one pushing a cart carrying trays of food. The one in front—shorter, stockier—grinned, clearly enjoying his position of power. "Dinner time, ladies. Try not to fight over the scraps..."

Calindra locked eyes with Lian, who gave the slightest nod in return. The signal was clear.

The young ensign moved like lightning, her fist connecting with the first guard's jaw before he had time to react. The force of the blow sent him stumbling back, shock painted across his face. Before he could recover, Calindra followed up with a swift knee to the groin, doubling him over in pain. A quick turn of her hips, and the guard was on the ground, groaning as he clutched at his side.

"Stay down," she warned coldly, her voice steady but filled with the fire of determination.

At the same moment, Lian, emboldened by their practice, rushed toward the second guard. She threw her weight into him, wrapping the makeshift whip she'd trained with around his arm. With a sharp yank, she pulled him off balance, and in a blink, he was on the floor, dazed and struggling to regain control of his weapon.

The rest of the wives—some hesitant but others brimming with the courage that had been simmering over the past few hours—moved in to help. A few of them grabbed the fallen guards' limbs, holding them down as Calindra and Lian disarmed them. The guards were completely unprepared for this.

Calindra looked down at the fallen guards, the corners of her mouth lifting in a faint smile. "It's over for you two. And don't think about calling for help." She held up one of the guards' comm units before crushing it under her boot with a satisfying crunch. "Tie them up to the bed," she said as some of the women laughed at the idea.

[Bralok's Private Chamber]

Not asking any questions, Lian grabbed one of the guard's rifles and shot them both dead. Her expression cold.

"I told you I'd kill you..."

She spat on one of the dead guards. Whatever this guard had done to her was left unsaid, but Calindra got the impression it wasn't pleasant.

The other wives gathered round then. Was this their chance at freedom?

Lian and the others looked to Calindra, "What do we do now?"

[The Pit]

Malik rubbed his injured thigh, blood trickling down his leg from the tusk wound. The pain was coming on now the adrenaline of the targ battle was over.

The Risan looked to the Gorn as it made its way over to them. Confident, inevitable. He didn't fancy their chances. But what else were they to do. It was the Gorn or them.

"Some people just want to watch the world burn...perhaps Bralok is simply seeking notoriety and chaos."

Malik picked up one of the rocks and threw it at the Gorn. It simply bounced off the metal armour.

He brandished his gladius once again as the Gorn broke into a charge. It was much quicker than expected and was now upon them ready to tear them to pieces.

[Autumn]

USS Challenger | Ship's corridors | (Time: during the Ferengi reception)

Due to the chaos in sickbay earlier, Autumn's mandatory physical had taken longer than anticipated, and by the time she was dismissed, the Ferengi reception was well under way. Her welcoming pack included an invitation to the reception, but she wasn't wearing her dress uniform, and she wouldn't want to risk drawing too much attention to herself by arriving late. Besides, she still needed to go through some of the ship's personnel files, specifically for the science staff, and she was looking forward to spending a little time with her little dog, Luka.

So, instead of heading to the mess hall, Autumn proceeded to her quarters. When she had only just turned a corner around the main corridor on level one, however, she heard a loud thump, as a human male on the other end of the corridor seemed to faint. Autumn widened her steps to help, but someone else got there first, a young Vulcan female, a medical crewman from the looks of her uniform, and she knelt down to assist the fallen officer. When that crewman dropped down as well, however, Autumn halted where she was, realizing that something was very wrong. Then she noticed the cloud of gas emanating from a porous air vent just above where the two others had fallen.

Autumn immediately held her breath. Back as a teenager, in the Andorian military school, it was a common pass time for young student officers to challenge each other to how long they could hold their breaths and remain submerged in the arctic cold waters, and Autumn, just as it happened, was a champion in that old school game. She had to think fast. Her quarters were too far away, but the storage room for pressure suits was just three doors behind her. She raced there as fast as she could, using her last 30 seconds of air – the whole thing couldn't have lasted more than 70 or 75 seconds, to put on one of the suits in haste, and only when the helmet was locked in position, she permitted herself one long, deep, famished breath. The exercise had taken more of her than she anticipated and, still gasping, her back slammed against the wall and she slid down to the floor. What was going on?

_____________________________________________

USS Challenger | Pressure suits storage room | (Time: A while ago)

The first thing Autumn had done was use her tricorder to investigate the gas. It was Anesthizine, as she had suspected, cut with traces of heavy metallic compounds, meaning it had not come from the ship's medical storage, and in all likelihood, had not been obtained legally. The tricorder registered one of the metals was luganumin, an alloy of bronze commonly found in Ferengi vessels. Of course.

At least Anesthizine wasn't going to cause irreversible damage to any of the people on board. She thought of her little dog, Luka, knowing that the worst the gas would do was putting him to bed for a few hours, and hoping he was alright in her quarters, because she couldn't go to him right away.

As soon as the gas dissipated, she removed the pressure suit just as the door opened, and one Ferengi scout walked in. He wasn't a particularly bright Ferengi, and he neglected to check both sides of the wall upon walking in, which gave Autumn an opportunity to nerve pinch him into oblivion. She grabbed his portable respirator, just in case, and climbed over a storage container, to reach an airlock at the top of the room, which should be an entrance to the ship's Jeffreys tubes. The ship's computer had gone down with the crew – perhaps some safety measurement to keep the Ferengi out of the ship's systems – so she couldn't use the internal sensors to scan for crewmen who might still be alert. However, she knew that the emergency medical hologram would not be affected by the gas, and it seemed logical to make her way to sickbay and enlist the EMH's help to take back the ship. The most concealed way to get there had to be through the Jeffrey's tubes.

_____________________________________________

[/quote]

[ACEO Lt.JG Neva Cordon|Main Engineering]

She wondered how Tora was as she sat there, gripping her shoulder and feeling the stickiness of her blood flowing over her fingers.

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - Deck 13 - Main Engineering  (during initial takeover)

"What are your orders, Lieutenant?"

USS Challenger | Jeffrey's Tubes (Present time)

Getting to sickbay has harder than she could have anticipated. For all her time reading the specifications of the Challenger, Autumn was still largely unfamiliar with the ship's geography. It didn't help that the Jeffrey's Tubes were unpredictably irregular, with some large enough that she could walk without so much as bending her head, and others as small as an industrial air vent, through which she could just barely crawl through. The shirt of her uniform got caught on the sharp edge of an exposed panel at some point, and it was ripped off, leaving her in the white tank top where always wore underneath the shirt.

She must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, because, instead of sickbay, she ended up in engineering. But from her spot, above the first level she saw two people in Starfleet uniforms and rushed to meet them. Her haste was such that she tumbled forward, crashing against the airlock before it was fully opening, crashing down, airlock and all, not too far from where a seemingly human female and an Andorian male were talking. The airlock ripped a deep cut on the side of her arm. Arm as she felt, and green blood ran down to her fingers.

It was only after she straightened herself up, mustering enough self-control not to mind the pain in her arm that she addressed the two of them, not failing to notice a stunned Nausican in a  corner.

"Ushan zum," she said, in Andorian, extending a traditional greeting to the Andorian crewman first before turning to the woman on his right, "Lieutenant. I'm ensign Autumn Kala, I've just been transferred to the Challenger, several days ago."

Noticing that the bleed in her arm hadn't stopped she placed her left hand over the wound before continuing.

"I used the Jeffrey's tubes to get here. I was trying to get to sickbay, to activate the Emergency medical hologram but I must have gotten the wrong way. I am pleased to see you. I saw the Ferengi dragging some of our people to the shuttle bay area, and I wasn't sure there was anyone else awake. I think our people are being shuttled out of the ship."

Knowing that the situation was urgent, Autumn barely stopped for a breath before continuing.

"I have an idea that can help us take the ship back. Ferengi have highly sensitive hearing," she said, drawing upon her knowledge of exobiology. "I believe If we can emit a high frequency audio pulse through the entire ship, we would be able to incapacitate most of them. That should give us enough time to take back the bridge. I know that the computer systems are down, but the ship's level 3 internal communicator is a low priority system. It's the system the chef uses to send announcements from the galley. I believe I could hack into that system, so we could send the pulse. I was also thinking that perhaps the EMH can synthesize some antidote to awake whoever remains on board from our crew. Maybe you can redirect his matrix here, so we can talk to him, before returning him to sickbay?" she asked, looking at both people in front of her.

[T'se]

[USS Challenger-A - Deck 16 - Engineering Service Corridor]

T'se slowly regained consciousness. Her eyelids fluttered open as she blinked against the harsh lighting of the service corridor. T'se struggled to remember how she ended up on the cold, metal floor, feeling its sharp, raised edges pressing into her back. Confusion and unease settled in as she realized she had no recollection of what had caused her to black out. The last thing she recalled was diligently working on a routine maintenance task in the engineering section, and the abrupt transition to the dimly lit corridor was disorienting. Her mind raced with questions as she pushed herself up, her head throbbing and mouth dry.

Taking in two slow breaths, T'se felt the cool air fill her lungs as she slowly rubbed her temples in a futile attempt to soothe the pain that pulsed in sync with the steady rhythm of her heartbeat. The dim light of the service corridor cast long shadows, and she could hear the soft hum of the ship's warp core in the background. Glancing around, she noticed her toolkit and a data PADD were within arm's reach, their metallic surfaces reflecting the ambient light. Retrieving both, T'se activated the PADD to glance at its contents, the soft glow illuminating her determined expression. Perhaps the information stored within could help reorient and refresh her memory.

A work order appeared on her display, the letters and numbers dancing in front of her eyes. Some of the fog affecting her memory dissipated as she read its details. Ah, yes, she had been tasked with administering preventative maintenance on a few of the power regulation components in this deck section. But why had she passed out? T'se had reported onboard the Challenger ten days prior as a newly commissioned ensign from Starfleet Academy. Protocol required one of her first visits after reporting to her superior officer was for a physical and psychological evaluation in sickbay. She'd completed both and was cleared for duty, which led her to speculate the reason for her sudden collapse was not necessarily health-related. That being the case, she surmised external factors as the most likely cause.

"Ensign T'se to sickbay," her raspy voice scratched through her parched throat, the sound echoing in the corridor, "I appear to have lost consciousness in a service corridor. I -" She paused, visually inspecting each of her limbs and torso to be sure, "- appear to be uninjured, and I am mobile. I will check in with my supervisor in engineering before reporting to you for evaluation." Several seconds passed, and silence was the only response. "Sickbay, did you copy my communique?" Several more seconds and still nothing. That was odd. Perhaps the sickbay was experiencing a problem with its communications systems, although she didn't recall seeing any maintenance or repair requests specific to that issue. That said, she wasn't sure just how long she'd been unconscious, which had her wondering if she'd been unresponsive for an extended period, why then had no one come looking for her?

She could continue to sit here speculating or return to engineering for answers. Choosing the latter of the two options, T'se gathered her wits and equipment before crawling toward the nearest exit, the metallic floor cool against her skin. "Ensign T'se to Lieutenant Cordon," Although she'd not been successful in contacting anyone in the sickbay, she thought she'd try connecting with her supervisor in engineering. If she was overdue, it was best to communicate her status and any delays sooner rather than later.

[Neva Cordon]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A – Deck 13 – Main Engineering  (during initial takeover)

Lahr grinned as his tactic worked beautifully.  The Andorian gave the Nausicaan a second stunning shot for good measure. Then hearing the Lieutenant call for help he hurried over to her and assisted in rolling the unconscious body off of her.

"Not to chastise your call for help," he spoke quietly, " But it might be best if we keep a low profile for now.  We have no clue when reinforcements might be coming to join these two in securing Main Engineering.  I think we are dealing with a hostile takeover.  The fact that there are no alarms sounding following my phaser fire suggests that either they've successfully taken over the ship's computer or it's locked out."

As he commented this, Lahr was already trying to access the nearest console.  A moment later he shook his head. "Yeah, we're locked out.  It's requesting the Captain's command code.". That was a better option than if it had been taken over.  It meant they weren't the only ones resisting.

He looked to Neva.  "I don't think just the pair of us are going to be able to defend Engineering indefinitely.  We need a plan to retake the ship and wake the rest of the crew." he commented nodding to the other engineers still knocked out from the gas attack.

"What are your orders, Lieutenant?"

[ACEO Lt.JG  Neva Cordon|Main Engineering]
Neva was about to make a snarky comment when Lahr's final question hit home. Oh God's, she was the ranking officer!  Neva went to wipe her hand over her eyes, but pain sliced through her.
"Well, Chief Petty Officer ch'Verret , the 1st order will be find a medkit. I took a sword hit that's killing me!" Neva lifted her hand covering her shoulder to show the blood rapidly staining her uniform.
Neva contemplated what to do next, nodding after a moment. "How much of thst stuff you woke me with do you still have? We have to be strategic about who and why." She looked around at the bodies around them, assessing.

USS Challenger | Jeffrey's Tubes (Present time)

Getting to sickbay has harder than she could have anticipated. For all her time reading the specifications of the Challenger, Autumn was still largely unfamiliar with the ship's geography. It didn't help that the Jeffrey's Tubes were unpredictably irregular, with some large enough that she could walk without so much as bending her head, and others as small as an industrial air vent, through which she could just barely crawl through. The shirt of her uniform got caught on the sharp edge of an exposed panel at some point, and it was ripped off, leaving her in the white tank top where always wore underneath the shirt.

She must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, because, instead of sickbay, she ended up in engineering. But from her spot, above the first level she saw two people in Starfleet uniforms and rushed to meet them. Her haste was such that she tumbled forward, crashing against the airlock before it was fully opening, crashing down, airlock and all, not too far from where a seemingly human female and an Andorian male were talking. The airlock ripped a deep cut on the side of her arm. Arm as she felt, and green blood ran down to her fingers.

It was only after she straightened herself up, mustering enough self-control not to mind the pain in her arm that she addressed the two of them, not failing to notice a stunned Nausican in a  corner.

"Ushan zum," she said, in Andorian, extending a traditional greeting to the Andorian crewman first before turning to the woman on his right, "Lieutenant. I'm ensign Autumn Kala, I've just been transferred to the Challenger, several days ago."

Noticing that the bleed in her arm hadn't stopped she placed her left hand over the wound before continuing.

"I used the Jeffrey's tubes to get here. I was trying to get to sickbay, to activate the Emergency medical hologram but I must have gotten the wrong way. I am pleased to see you. I saw the Ferengi dragging some of our people to the shuttle bay area, and I wasn't sure there was anyone else awake. I think our people are being shuttled out of the ship."

Knowing that the situation was urgent, Autumn barely stopped for a breath before continuing.

"I have an idea that can help us take the ship back. Ferengi have highly sensitive hearing," she said, drawing upon her knowledge of exobiology. "I believe If we can emit a high frequency audio pulse through the entire ship, we would be able to incapacitate most of them. That should give us enough time to take back the bridge. I know that the computer systems are down, but the ship's level 3 internal communicator is a low priority system. It's the system the chef uses to send announcements from the galley. I believe I could hack into that system, so we could send the pulse. I was also thinking that perhaps the EMH can synthesize some antidote to awake whoever remains on board from our crew. Maybe you can redirect his matrix here, so we can talk to him, before returning him to sickbay?" she asked, looking at both people in front of her.

"I'd suggest-"[color]
Neva flinched back reflexively when the airlock got demolished. Before she could take in air to dress down the idiot, she caught Ensign Kala's info dump. All she could do was nod before managing too find speech again.
"Oh-kay then, Ensign Kala." Neva managed slowly. "Why don't you and CPO ch'Verret get going on that then? I'll give you a hand in a minute."
Neva nodded quietly to Lahr, patting her shoulder in an "I got this" motion. Once their were off to work, Neva pulled her PADD out of her pouch. Granted, hacking wasn't her main skill, so she couldn't do much there. Remembering the Ensign's mention of using low priority signal, her smile slid into evil mode.
Straightening awkwardly, Neva gingerly made her way over to the two Andorians. She coughed softly to get their attention. "Hey, that low priority system. Do you think after we stunned out the Ferengi we can use it again to get visuals inside the ship? It'd help us know where those accursed P.I.T.A's are if we could. Route it through to a PADD to keep things mobile." Neva raised an inquiring eyebrow at them, eyes twinkling with mischief.

[/quote]

[USS Challenger-A – Deck 16 – Engineering Service Corridor]

T'se slowly regained consciousness. Her eyelids fluttered open as she blinked against the harsh lighting of the service corridor. T'se struggled to remember how she ended up on the cold, metal floor, feeling its sharp, raised edges pressing into her back. Confusion and unease settled in as she realized she had no recollection of what had caused her to black out. The last thing she recalled was diligently working on a routine maintenance task in the engineering section, and the abrupt transition to the dimly lit corridor was disorienting. Her mind raced with questions as she pushed herself up, her head throbbing and mouth dry.

Taking in two slow breaths, T'se felt the cool air fill her lungs as she slowly rubbed her temples in a futile attempt to soothe the pain that pulsed in sync with the steady rhythm of her heartbeat. The dim light of the service corridor cast long shadows, and she could hear the soft hum of the ship's warp core in the background. Glancing around, she noticed her toolkit and a data PADD were within arm's reach, their metallic surfaces reflecting the ambient light. Retrieving both, T'se activated the PADD to glance at its contents, the soft glow illuminating her determined expression. Perhaps the information stored within could help reorient and refresh her memory.

A work order appeared on her display, the letters and numbers dancing In front of her eyes. Some of the fog affecting her memory dissipated as she read its details. Ah, yes, she had been tasked with administering preventative maintenance on a few of the power regulation components in this deck section. But why had she passed out? T'se had reported onboard the Challenger ten days prior as a newly commissioned ensign from Starfleet Academy. Protocol required one of her first visits after reporting to her superior officer was for a physical and psychological evaluation in sickbay. She'd completed both and was cleared for duty, which led her to speculate the reason for her sudden collapse was not necessarily health-related. That being the case, she surmised external factors as the most likely cause.

"Ensign T'se to sickbay," her raspy voice scratched through her parched throat, the sound echoing in the corridor, "I appear to have lost consciousness in a service corridor. I –" She paused, visually inspecting each of her limbs and torso to be sure, "- appear to be uninjured, and I am mobile. I will check in with my supervisor in engineering before reporting to you for evaluation." Several seconds passed, and silence was the only response. "Sickbay, did you copy my communique?" Several more seconds and still nothing. That was odd. Perhaps the sickbay was experiencing a problem with its communications systems, although she didn't recall seeing any maintenance or repair requests specific to that issue. That said, she wasn't sure just how long she'd been unconscious, which had her wondering if she'd been unresponsive for an extended period, why then had no one come looking for her?

She could continue to sit here speculating or return to engineering for answers. Choosing the latter of the two options, T'se gathered her wits and equipment before crawling toward the nearest exit, the metallic floor cool against her skin. "Ensign T'se to Lieutenant Cordon," Although she'd not been successful in contacting anyone in the sickbay, she thought she'd try connecting with her supervisor in engineering. If she was overdue, it was best to communicate her status and any delays sooner rather than later.

Neva was hard at work when her comm chirped loudly. Slapping a hand over it to quiet the noise, she managed to hear T'se's call. Sighing relief, she smiled and replied in a loud whisper. "Cordon here, Ensign. Keep your voice low, those Ferengi can hear a fly fart. Use the Jeffries to Main Engineering, ok? Cordon out."
Neva looked to the others and grinned broadly, eyes twinkling devilishly. "Looks like we've got others coming to the party. What's our status?"

[Calindra Hejaran]

[Bralok's Private Chamber]

Not asking any questions, Lian grabbed one of the guard's rifles and shot them both dead. Her expression cold.

"I told you I'd kill you..."

She spat on one of the dead guards. Whatever this guard had done to her was left unsaid, but Calindra got the impression it wasn't pleasant.

The other wives gathered round then. Was this their chance at freedom?

Lian and the others looked to Calindra, "What do we do now?"

[Ensign Hejaran - Escaping Bralok's Palace]

Calindra exhaled, her heart still racing from the sudden turn of events. "I really wish you hadn't done that," she said, her voice steady but filled with a quiet understanding. "But I get it. You've been through things I can't even begin to imagine."

She paused, glancing at the other wives who looked to her for direction. "Alright, here's what we're going to do." Calindra's voice firmed, her command presence kicking in. "Those of you who feel confident, arm yourselves. The rest of you hang back for now. We don't need everyone fighting if it comes to that." She motioned toward Lian, extending her hand for the phaser. "Here," she said gently but with authority, "let me handle that phaser. We don't want to blast through the entire gang on our way out. Stealth is our best chance."

Lian hesitated for a second, but then handed over the weapon. Calindra gave her a Klingon pain stick in return. "Keep this. We might need it up close, but we have to be smart about this. No more gunfire unless we absolutely need it."

Calindra turned to the group, her gaze sweeping over the frightened but determined faces of the wives. "Now, you all know this place better than I do. Someone needs to lead us to the nearest or safest exit. We're not fighting our way through every guard in here. The more discrete we are, the better our chances."

A quiet murmur passed through the group as they looked to each other, and finally, one of the older wives stepped forward. "There's a side passage near the kitchens. Less guarded, and it leads to the outside gardens."

Calindra nodded.

With the phaser in hand, Calindra signaled for them to follow, her mind already racing ahead, calculating the risks and the path they would take. This was it — their one chance to escape Bralok's twisted grasp. And they weren't going to waste it.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - Deck 13 - Main Engineering  (shortly after initial takeover)

[ACEO Lt.JG  Neva Cordon|Main Engineering]
Neva was about to make a snarky comment when Lahr's final question hit home. Oh God's, she was the ranking officer!  Neva went to wipe her hand over her eyes, but pain sliced through her.
"Well, Chief Petty Officer ch'Verret , the 1st order will be find a medkit. I took a sword hit that's killing me!" Neva lifted her hand covering her shoulder to show the blood rapidly staining her uniform.
Neva contemplated what to do next, nodding after a moment. "How much of thst stuff you woke me with do you still have? We have to be strategic about who and why." She looked around at the bodies around them, assessing.
"I'd suggest-"

When Neva mentioned a medkit, Lahr nodded.  He knew where they were and it would only take a moment to retrieve.  He wasn't a field medic or anything like that but he'd taken his fair share of First Aid training over the course of his career.  While she continued talking, planning out their next steps, Lahr headed for the nearby kit, only to be interrupted.

USS Challenger | Jeffrey's Tubes (Present time)

She must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, because, instead of sickbay, she ended up in engineering. But from her spot, above the first level she saw two people in Starfleet uniforms and rushed to meet them. Her haste was such that she tumbled forward, crashing against the airlock before it was fully opening, crashing down, airlock and all, not too far from where a seemingly human female and an Andorian male were talking. The airlock ripped a deep cut on the side of her arm. Arm as she felt, and green blood ran down to her fingers.

It was only after she straightened herself up, mustering enough self-control not to mind the pain in her arm that she addressed the two of them, not failing to notice a stunned Nausican in a  corner.

"Ushan zum," she said, in Andorian, extending a traditional greeting to the Andorian crewman first before turning to the woman on his right, "Lieutenant. I'm ensign Autumn Kala, I've just been transferred to the Challenger, several days ago."

Noticing that the bleed in her arm hadn't stopped she placed her left hand over the wound before continuing.

"I used the Jeffrey's tubes to get here. I was trying to get to sickbay, to activate the Emergency medical hologram but I must have gotten the wrong way. I am pleased to see you. I saw the Ferengi dragging some of our people to the shuttle bay area, and I wasn't sure there was anyone else awake. I think our people are being shuttled out of the ship."

Knowing that the situation was urgent, Autumn barely stopped for a breath before continuing.

"I have an idea that can help us take the ship back. Ferengi have highly sensitive hearing," she said, drawing upon her knowledge of exobiology. "I believe If we can emit a high frequency audio pulse through the entire ship, we would be able to incapacitate most of them. That should give us enough time to take back the bridge. I know that the computer systems are down, but the ship's level 3 internal communicator is a low priority system. It's the system the chef uses to send announcements from the galley. I believe I could hack into that system, so we could send the pulse. I was also thinking that perhaps the EMH can synthesize some antidote to awake whoever remains on board from our crew. Maybe you can redirect his matrix here, so we can talk to him, before returning him to sickbay?" she asked, looking at both people in front of her.

Lahr's first reaction to the sudden crash announcing the (red-headed Andorian with Vulcan ears?!) was to level his phaser at her.  She wasn't wearing a uniform as far as he could tell.  She acknowledged his silent threat with a traditional Andorian greeting, before introducing herself to the Lieutenant.  Go figure, a new transferred ensign getting lost in the Jeffries of the ship.  Lahr lowered his phaser, though he still kept himself alert in case there was more movement through the Jeffries, and continued on to where the emergency storage was and returned with the medkit and a few other useful items,  passing the medkit and tricorder to the woman after she finished her spiel.

News of the capture of others was troubling.  What was going to happen to them?

Neva flinched back reflexively when the airlock got demolished. Before she could take in air to dress down the idiot, she caught Ensign Kala's info dump. All she could do was nod before managing too find speech again.
"Oh-kay then, Ensign Kala." Neva managed slowly. "Why don't you and CPO ch'Verret get going on that then? I'll give you a hand in a minute."

Neva nodded quietly to Lahr, patting her shoulder in an "I got this" motion. Once their were off to work, Neva pulled her PADD out of her pouch. Granted, hacking wasn't her main skill, so she couldn't do much there. Remembering the Ensign's mention of using low priority signal, her smile slid into evil mode.

Straightening awkwardly, Neva gingerly made her way over to the two Andorians. She coughed softly to get their attention. "Hey, that low priority system. Do you think after we stunned out the Ferengi we can use it again to get visuals inside the ship? It'd help us know where those accursed P.I.T.A's are if we could. Route it through to a PADD to keep things mobile." Neva raised an inquiring eyebrow at them, eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Low priority or not, the Captain's lockout is still gonna be in effect." It was decent plan but it could take awhile to find any sort of way to bypass the Captain's lockout, and there was no way they could stay here during that time.  These two Nausicaan's and the first Ferengi were just the beginning.  More had to be on there way.

Neva was hard at work when her comm chirped loudly. Slapping a hand over it to quiet the noise, she managed to hear T'se's call. Sighing relief, she smiled and replied in a loud whisper. "Cordon here, Ensign. Keep your voice low, those Ferengi can hear a fly fart. Use the Jeffries to Main Engineering, ok? Cordon out."
Neva looked to the others and grinned broadly, eyes twinkling devilishly. "Looks like we've got others coming to the party. What's our status?"

News of yet another unaffected by the knockout gas was welcome information to hear, but it worried him that their group might get too large and be noticeable by handheld scanning devices.

"This is gonna take a while, Lieutenant; and I can't impress upon you enough how we don't have the numbers or resources here to hold Engineering.  Your idea about being mobile is a good one.  I think it's best we do what we can to 'scuttle' Main Engineering and ensure the Ferengi are splitting their resources working to repair it  - giving us the time we need to bring this plan together."

[Ian Galloway]

[ The Pit - Unknown Planet]

As the Gorn closed, when the rock hit him, he altered course to charge Malik. As soon as the Gorn committed to its attack, Ian rushed in with his spear leveled to try and stab the Gorn in the back of the knee, figuring the armor had to be weaker there so the gladiator could move. However, the Gorn knew about that weakness too. He dropped his shield and easily deflected Ian's attack. What the Gorn didn't count on was Ian snapping the butt forward like a quarterstaff to strike the Gorn in the in the head above the lowered shield.

The Gorn's helmet rang like a gong, at even though the attack did no actual damage, it stunned the Gorn long enough for Ian to strike the helmet twice more with two lighting fast strikes with the haft of the spear. Ian then danced back not wanting to try his luck with further attacks. He just hoped the Gorn being stunned would be enough of an opening for the others to strike.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Main Engineering  - USS Challenger]

As Lahr, Neva, and T'se talked, they could hear shouts and knew they'd run out of time. Whatever they were going to do, they had to do it now before the Ferengi arrived in force.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Main Shuttlebay - USS Challenger]

The EMH opened the access panel to the Jeffries tube to allow Maddy and Gero to enter the shuttle bay. With close to 300 of the crew present, it was easy for the two to remain undetected. The question now was how to best employ the limited number of sedative doses they had to help the rest of the crew escape.

[J.B Dersch]

[Bralok's Private Chamber]

Not asking any questions, Lian grabbed one of the guard's rifles and shot them both dead. Her expression cold.

"I told you I'd kill you..."

She spat on one of the dead guards. Whatever this guard had done to her was left unsaid, but Calindra got the impression it wasn't pleasant.

The other wives gathered round then. Was this their chance at freedom?

Lian and the others looked to Calindra, "What do we do now?"

[The Pit]

Malik rubbed his injured thigh, blood trickling down his leg from the tusk wound. The pain was coming on now the adrenaline of the targ battle was over.

The Risan looked to the Gorn as it made its way over to them. Confident, inevitable. He didn't fancy their chances. But what else were they to do. It was the Gorn or them.

"Some people just want to watch the world burn...perhaps Bralok is simply seeking notoriety and chaos."

Malik picked up one of the rocks and threw it at the Gorn. It simply bounced off the metal armour.

He brandished his gladius once again as the Gorn broke into a charge. It was much quicker than expected and was now upon them ready to tear them to pieces.

[Lt. JB Dersch | The Pit - Unknown Planet]
OCC Note: Next Post will be bigger, Just got back so Im still catching up
"Gorn, Really! IT has to be a Fricking Gorn" Dersch pulled his sword out. "Well, this is far from the Kirk's Expericne with a Gorn" He turned to Malik.

"How you want to handle this, Flank him both sides?" Asked Dersch

[Malik Grippen]

[Ensign Hejaran - Escaping Bralok's Palace]

Calindra exhaled, her heart still racing from the sudden turn of events. "I really wish you hadn't done that," she said, her voice steady but filled with a quiet understanding. "But I get it. You've been through things I can't even begin to imagine."

She paused, glancing at the other wives who looked to her for direction. "Alright, here's what we're going to do." Calindra's voice firmed, her command presence kicking in. "Those of you who feel confident, arm yourselves. The rest of you hang back for now. We don't need everyone fighting if it comes to that." She motioned toward Lian, extending her hand for the phaser. "Here," she said gently but with authority, "let me handle that phaser. We don't want to blast through the entire gang on our way out. Stealth is our best chance."

Lian hesitated for a second, but then handed over the weapon. Calindra gave her a Klingon pain stick in return. "Keep this. We might need it up close, but we have to be smart about this. No more gunfire unless we absolutely need it."

Calindra turned to the group, her gaze sweeping over the frightened but determined faces of the wives. "Now, you all know this place better than I do. Someone needs to lead us to the nearest or safest exit. We're not fighting our way through every guard in here. The more discrete we are, the better our chances."

A quiet murmur passed through the group as they looked to each other, and finally, one of the older wives stepped forward. "There's a side passage near the kitchens. Less guarded, and it leads to the outside gardens."

Calindra nodded.

With the phaser in hand, Calindra signaled for them to follow, her mind already racing ahead, calculating the risks and the path they would take. This was it — their one chance to escape Bralok's twisted grasp. And they weren't going to waste it.

[Bralok's Compound]

Whenever there was an arena fight, Bralok's compound was always less guarded. Almost everyone in the city attended the fights. The few that didn't were usually the servants, like those in the kitchen.

Approaching the kitchen a lot of activity and voices could be heard from within. The cooks were preparing the post-arena feast for Bralok's entourage. There was no escape that way.

"I know another way, through the maintenance exit..."

Lian led the way through the empty corridors of the compound. They arrived at the door and she pushed it open to reveal the compound's exterior gardens. They were large and open with a high fence surrounding them.

"The fence is tall, but if we work together maybe we can scale it. The city is just on the other side!"

What Lian didn't spot was Bralok's pet targ. It looked at them and stood, snarling from its position next to the fence.

[The Pit]

As a famous boxer once said, 'everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.'

And so it was with Malik. He nodded to JB and moved to the side of the beast, jabbing it with his gladius trying to find a weak spot in the armour. Before Malik could register the movement he was sent flying with a sickening slap to his side. The Gorn had swatted him like a fly and broke him.

He rolled to a stop unable to move or even think temporarily stunned. The pain in his side was overwhelming.

The crowd cheered their champion as Malik tried to breathe in.

[Alexander Wu]

[The Pit]

As a famous boxer once said, 'everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.'

And so it was with Malik. He nodded to JB and moved to the side of the beast, jabbing it with his gladius trying to find a weak spot in the armour. Before Malik could register the movement he was sent flying with a sickening slap to his side. The Gorn had swatted him like a fly and broke him.

He rolled to a stop unable to move or even think temporarily stunned. The pain in his side was overwhelming.

The crowd cheered their champion as Malik tried to breathe in.

[Unknown Planet - Colisseum]

Alex winced as Grippen flew through the air, batted aside like he were made of foam. Dersch was left alone on that side, Ian was attacking from behind, so Alex darted forward, only to hastily backpedal while narrowly dodging another swipe from the Gorn. Even with his cutlass, the lizard had a longer reach and Alex couldn't figure out how he'd even be able to land a blow without suffering the same fate as Malik. Still, it wasn't a wasted effort as he spotted one of the few spots not covered by impenetrable armor. A flash of green when the Gorn raised his hand towards Dersch.

"There, under the arm!" Alex called out, running in again. Maybe if he could parry and hold the deadly claws back for a few seconds, someone else with a bigger stick would be able to take advantage.

[J.B Dersch]

[Bralok's Compound]

Whenever there was an arena fight, Bralok's compound was always less guarded. Almost everyone in the city attended the fights. The few that didn't were usually the servants, like those in the kitchen.

Approaching the kitchen a lot of activity and voices could be heard from within. The cooks were preparing the post-arena feast for Bralok's entourage. There was no escape that way.

"I know another way, through the maintenance exit..."

Lian led the way through the empty corridors of the compound. They arrived at the door and she pushed it open to reveal the compound's exterior gardens. They were large and open with a high fence surrounding them.

"The fence is tall, but if we work together maybe we can scale it. The city is just on the other side!"

What Lian didn't spot was Bralok's pet targ. It looked at them and stood, snarling from its position next to the fence.

[The Pit]

As a famous boxer once said, 'everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.'

And so it was with Malik. He nodded to JB and moved to the side of the beast, jabbing it with his gladius trying to find a weak spot in the armour. Before Malik could register the movement he was sent flying with a sickening slap to his side. The Gorn had swatted him like a fly and broke him.

He rolled to a stop unable to move or even think temporarily stunned. The pain in his side was overwhelming.

The crowd cheered their champion as Malik tried to breathe in.

[Lt. JB Dersch | The Pit - Unknown Planet]

JB moved swiftly to flank the Gorn from the opposite side. With precise strikes, he managed to land four solid hits, each blow causing the towering creature to stagger slightly. But before he could capitalize on the momentum, the Gorn let out a roar and, with a sudden sweep of its massive arm, sent JB flying through the air. His body slammed against the ground, the impact knocking the wind out of him.

[Neva Cordon]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A – Deck 13 – Main Engineering  (during initial takeover)

Lahr grinned as his tactic worked beautifully.  The Andorian gave the Nausicaan a second stunning shot for good measure. Then hearing the Lieutenant call for help he hurried over to her and assisted in rolling the unconscious body off of her.

"Not to chastise your call for help," he spoke quietly, " But it might be best if we keep a low profile for now.  We have no clue when reinforcements might be coming to join these two in securing Main Engineering.  I think we are dealing with a hostile takeover.  The fact that there are no alarms sounding following my phaser fire suggests that either they've successfully taken over the ship's computer or it's locked out."

As he commented this, Lahr was already trying to access the nearest console.  A moment later he shook his head. "Yeah, we're locked out.  It's requesting the Captain's command code.". That was a better option than if it had been taken over.  It meant they weren't the only ones resisting.

He looked to Neva.  "I don't think just the pair of us are going to be able to defend Engineering indefinitely.  We need a plan to retake the ship and wake the rest of the crew." he commented nodding to the other engineers still knocked out from the gas attack.

"What are your orders, Lieutenant?"

[ACEO Lt.JG  Neva Cordon|Main Engineering]
Neva was about to make a snarky comment when Lahr's final question hit home. Oh God's, she was the ranking officer!  Neva went to wipe her hand over her eyes, but pain sliced through her.
"Well, Chief Petty Officer ch'Verret , the 1st order will be find a medkit. I took a sword hit that's killing me!" Neva lifted her hand covering her shoulder to show the blood rapidly staining her uniform.
Neva contemplated what to do next, nodding after a moment. "How much of thst stuff you woke me with do you still have? We have to be strategic about who and why." She looked around at the bodies around them, assessing.

USS Challenger | Jeffrey's Tubes (Present time)

Getting to sickbay has harder than she could have anticipated. For all her time reading the specifications of the Challenger, Autumn was still largely unfamiliar with the ship's geography. It didn't help that the Jeffrey's Tubes were unpredictably irregular, with some large enough that she could walk without so much as bending her head, and others as small as an industrial air vent, through which she could just barely crawl through. The shirt of her uniform got caught on the sharp edge of an exposed panel at some point, and it was ripped off, leaving her in the white tank top where always wore underneath the shirt.

She must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, because, instead of sickbay, she ended up in engineering. But from her spot, above the first level she saw two people in Starfleet uniforms and rushed to meet them. Her haste was such that she tumbled forward, crashing against the airlock before it was fully opening, crashing down, airlock and all, not too far from where a seemingly human female and an Andorian male were talking. The airlock ripped a deep cut on the side of her arm. Arm as she felt, and green blood ran down to her fingers.

It was only after she straightened herself up, mustering enough self-control not to mind the pain in her arm that she addressed the two of them, not failing to notice a stunned Nausican in a  corner.

"Ushan zum," she said, in Andorian, extending a traditional greeting to the Andorian crewman first before turning to the woman on his right, "Lieutenant. I'm ensign Autumn Kala, I've just been transferred to the Challenger, several days ago."

Noticing that the bleed in her arm hadn't stopped she placed her left hand over the wound before continuing.

"I used the Jeffrey's tubes to get here. I was trying to get to sickbay, to activate the Emergency medical hologram but I must have gotten the wrong way. I am pleased to see you. I saw the Ferengi dragging some of our people to the shuttle bay area, and I wasn't sure there was anyone else awake. I think our people are being shuttled out of the ship."

Knowing that the situation was urgent, Autumn barely stopped for a breath before continuing.

"I have an idea that can help us take the ship back. Ferengi have highly sensitive hearing," she said, drawing upon her knowledge of exobiology. "I believe If we can emit a high frequency audio pulse through the entire ship, we would be able to incapacitate most of them. That should give us enough time to take back the bridge. I know that the computer systems are down, but the ship's level 3 internal communicator is a low priority system. It's the system the chef uses to send announcements from the galley. I believe I could hack into that system, so we could send the pulse. I was also thinking that perhaps the EMH can synthesize some antidote to awake whoever remains on board from our crew. Maybe you can redirect his matrix here, so we can talk to him, before returning him to sickbay?" she asked, looking at both people in front of her.

"I'd suggest-"[color]
Neva flinched back reflexively when the airlock got demolished. Before she could take in air to dress down the idiot, she caught Ensign Kala's info dump. All she could do was nod before managing too find speech again.
"Oh-kay then, Ensign Kala." Neva managed slowly. "Why don't you and CPO ch'Verret get going on that then? I'll give you a hand in a minute."
Neva nodded quietly to Lahr, patting her shoulder in an "I got this" motion. Once their were off to work, Neva pulled her PADD out of her pouch. Granted, hacking wasn't her main skill, so she couldn't do much there. Remembering the Ensign's mention of using low priority signal, her smile slid into evil mode.
Straightening awkwardly, Neva gingerly made her way over to the two Andorians. She coughed softly to get their attention. "Hey, that low priority system. Do you think after we stunned out the Ferengi we can use it again to get visuals inside the ship? It'd help us know where those accursed P.I.T.A's are if we could. Route it through to a PADD to keep things mobile." Neva raised an inquiring eyebrow at them, eyes twinkling with mischief.

[/quote]

[USS Challenger-A – Deck 16 – Engineering Service Corridor]

T'se slowly regained consciousness. Her eyelids fluttered open as she blinked against the harsh lighting of the service corridor. T'se struggled to remember how she ended up on the cold, metal floor, feeling its sharp, raised edges pressing into her back. Confusion and unease settled in as she realized she had no recollection of what had caused her to black out. The last thing she recalled was diligently working on a routine maintenance task in the engineering section, and the abrupt transition to the dimly lit corridor was disorienting. Her mind raced with questions as she pushed herself up, her head throbbing and mouth dry.

Taking in two slow breaths, T'se felt the cool air fill her lungs as she slowly rubbed her temples in a futile attempt to soothe the pain that pulsed in sync with the steady rhythm of her heartbeat. The dim light of the service corridor cast long shadows, and she could hear the soft hum of the ship's warp core in the background. Glancing around, she noticed her toolkit and a data PADD were within arm's reach, their metallic surfaces reflecting the ambient light. Retrieving both, T'se activated the PADD to glance at its contents, the soft glow illuminating her determined expression. Perhaps the information stored within could help reorient and refresh her memory.

A work order appeared on her display, the letters and numbers dancing In front of her eyes. Some of the fog affecting her memory dissipated as she read its details. Ah, yes, she had been tasked with administering preventative maintenance on a few of the power regulation components in this deck section. But why had she passed out? T'se had reported onboard the Challenger ten days prior as a newly commissioned ensign from Starfleet Academy. Protocol required one of her first visits after reporting to her superior officer was for a physical and psychological evaluation in sickbay. She'd completed both and was cleared for duty, which led her to speculate the reason for her sudden collapse was not necessarily health-related. That being the case, she surmised external factors as the most likely cause.

"Ensign T'se to sickbay," her raspy voice scratched through her parched throat, the sound echoing in the corridor, "I appear to have lost consciousness in a service corridor. I –" She paused, visually inspecting each of her limbs and torso to be sure, "- appear to be uninjured, and I am mobile. I will check in with my supervisor in engineering before reporting to you for evaluation." Several seconds passed, and silence was the only response. "Sickbay, did you copy my communique?" Several more seconds and still nothing. That was odd. Perhaps the sickbay was experiencing a problem with its communications systems, although she didn't recall seeing any maintenance or repair requests specific to that issue. That said, she wasn't sure just how long she'd been unconscious, which had her wondering if she'd been unresponsive for an extended period, why then had no one come looking for her?

She could continue to sit here speculating or return to engineering for answers. Choosing the latter of the two options, T'se gathered her wits and equipment before crawling toward the nearest exit, the metallic floor cool against her skin. "Ensign T'se to Lieutenant Cordon," Although she'd not been successful in contacting anyone in the sickbay, she thought she'd try connecting with her supervisor in engineering. If she was overdue, it was best to communicate her status and any delays sooner rather than later.

Neva was hard at work when her comm chirped loudly. Slapping a hand over it to quiet the noise, she managed to hear T'se's call. Sighing relief, she smiled and replied in a loud whisper. "Cordon here, Ensign. Keep your voice low, those Ferengi can hear a fly fart. Use the Jeffries to Main Engineering, ok? Cordon out."
Neva looked to the others and grinned broadly, eyes twinkling devilishly. "Looks like we've got others coming to the party. What's our status?"

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A – Deck 13 – Main Engineering  (shortly after initial takeover)
When Neva mentioned a medkit, Lahr nodded.  He knew where they were and it would only take a moment to retrieve.  He wasn't a field medic or anything like that but he'd taken his fair share of First Aid training over the course of his career.  While she continued talking, planning out their next steps, Lahr headed for the nearby kit, only to be interrupted.
Lahr's first reaction to the sudden crash announcing the (red-headed Andorian with Vulcan ears?!) was to level his phaser at her.  She wasn't wearing a uniform as far as he could tell.  She acknowledged his silent threat with a traditional Andorian greeting, before introducing herself to the Lieutenant.  Go figure, a new transferred ensign getting lost in the Jeffries of the ship.  Lahr lowered his phaser, though he still kept himself alert in case there was more movement through the Jeffries, and continued on to where the emergency storage was and returned with the medkit and a few other useful items,  passing the medkit and tricorder to the woman after she finished her spiel.

News of the capture of others was troubling.  What was going to happen to them?
"Low priority or not, the Captain's lockout is still gonna be in effect." It was decent plan but it could take awhile to find any sort of way to bypass the Captain's lockout, and there was no way they could stay here during that time.  These two Nausicaan's and the first Ferengi were just the beginning.  More had to be on there way.
News of yet another unaffected by the knockout gas was welcome information to hear, but it worried him that their group might get too large and be noticeable by handheld scanning devices.
"This is gonna take a while, Lieutenant; and I can't impress upon you enough how we don't have the numbers or resources here to hold Engineering.  Your idea about being mobile is a good one.  I think it's best we do what we can to 'scuttle' Main Engineering and ensure the Ferengi are splitting their resources working to repair it  - giving us the time we need to bring this plan together."

[Main Engineering  - USS Challenger]
As Lahr, Neva, and T'se talked, they could hear shouts and knew they'd run out of time. Whatever they were going to do, they had to do it now before the Ferengi arrived in force.

[ACEO Lt.JG Neva Cordon|Main Engineering]
At Lahr's suggestion, Neva grinned wide. "OK. Autumn, how fast can you get that going?" She lost that grin and looked to the doors and swore under her breath. "Lahr, while Autumn does her thing, let's make things hard for our guests as you've suggested." That said, she went to work.

[Ian Galloway]

[The Pit]

As a famous boxer once said, 'everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.'

And so it was with Malik. He nodded to JB and moved to the side of the beast, jabbing it with his gladius trying to find a weak spot in the armour. Before Malik could register the movement he was sent flying with a sickening slap to his side. The Gorn had swatted him like a fly and broke him.

He rolled to a stop unable to move or even think temporarily stunned. The pain in his side was overwhelming.

The crowd cheered their champion as Malik tried to breathe in.

[Unknown Planet - Colisseum]

Alex winced as Grippen flew through the air, batted aside like he were made of foam. Dersch was left alone on that side, Ian was attacking from behind, so Alex darted forward, only to hastily backpedal while narrowly dodging another swipe from the Gorn. Even with his cutlass, the lizard had a longer reach and Alex couldn't figure out how he'd even be able to land a blow without suffering the same fate as Malik. Still, it wasn't a wasted effort as he spotted one of the few spots not covered by impenetrable armor. A flash of green when the Gorn raised his hand towards Dersch.

"There, under the arm!" Alex called out, running in again. Maybe if he could parry and hold the deadly claws back for a few seconds, someone else with a bigger stick would be able to take advantage.

[Lt. JB Dersch | The Pit - Unknown Planet]

JB moved swiftly to flank the Gorn from the opposite side. With precise strikes, he managed to land four solid hits, each blow causing the towering creature to stagger slightly. But before he could capitalize on the momentum, the Gorn let out a roar and, with a sudden sweep of its massive arm, sent JB flying through the air. His body slammed against the ground, the impact knocking the wind out of him.

[The Pit - Unknown Planet]

"Bloody hell!"

Ian gasped as first Malik and then Dersch went flying from what looked like casual backhand slaps from the Gorn. Wu then called out a weak spot in the Gorn's armor. As Alex parried the Gorn's attack, that left Ian able to make a move. He used the Gorn's distraction as he fought Alex to slid behind and then curve into a flank attack. As the Gorn thrusted at Alex, that left the spot under the arm open just long enough for Ian to stab the vulnerable spot. The spear bit hard and in response, the Gorn clamped his upper arm down and twisted. This was enough to snap the spearhead off the spear. Ian stared at his broken weapon for a moment, then pulled back and shifted to holding the haft like a quarterstaff.

"Bugger all the Ferengi that have ever existed!"

Ian growled. He knew things weren't going well, but the Gorn was hurt now and could no longer swing his sword with a spearhead lodged under his arm, so things were not hopeless. Ian just hoped Malik and Dersch weren't badly hurt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Main Engineering - USS Challenger]

Before Autumn, Neva, or Lahr could execute the plan, The sounds of some approaching turned into four Nausicaans. They raised their disruptors and immediately began firing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Main Shuttlebay - USS Challenger]

When the crew that were being held in the shuttlebay became aware of Maddy, Gero, and the EMH, they quietly discussed how to take down as many guards as possible with the hyposprays. The problem was, there were thirty guards in the shuttlebay and the hypos, the three of them, each only held enough sedative for five uses.