S4:E4 - The Hungry Season

[Mondo'li Nari]

Away Team 1

There was motion up the hall, and Blackfeather and Gunt immediately swiveled their rifles towards the sound.

But as it turned out, the source of the sound was not Tzenkethi warriors.  Instead, two merchant crewmen had kicked out a maintenance cover and emerged from a utility crawlspace.

"Don't shoot," the woman said, "I'm Rebecca Stein, this is Isaac Ido.  We are maintenance crewmen.  We hid in the utility access corridors when the Tzenkethi boarded.  Thank the stars, you're Starfleet, aren't you?"

Blackfeather stepped forward, "Yes, ma'am.  Stand by, we'll get you evacuated."

Mondo tapped his badge, Sir, we'd definitely welcome those spare shield generators.  I was thinking we should consolidate with lingering elements from Team 2 before taking the bridge.  I would suggest that Engineering is likely to be another hotspot, as well as the cargo bay.

And Sir, we just made contact with two maintenance crewmen who were hiding in a utility crawlspace.  I'd like to evacuate them as soon as possible.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Tzenkethi / Federation Border - USS Challenger - Deck One - Bridge]

Transporter Room

Aye, Sir. 

Kyle turned and gave a quick nod to the three officers on the back pads. They turned around so that they would be watching the rear when they rematerialized.

"Remember. Our shields only take one shot from these bastards. Once it's done, make sure you have cover." he said before looking at the transporter operator.

"Energize."
__________________________________________________________

Freighter, Away Team 3

The team materialized on an open corridor, right behind two Tzenkethi warriors, taking them by surprise. Kyle and two others opened fire immediately, not giving them a chance to even raise their weapons. Once they had cleared the area, he reached up to tap his badge but quickly stopped as it activated. He listened as Nari requested for emergency evacs of several injured crewman and requested the consolidation of teams 1 and 2. He cut in when the channel went silent for a second.

Briggs to Nari. Team three is on board as well and we brought extra shields. We just took two more Tzenkethi out of the equation. What's your position and status? 

As they waited for the reply from the Team 1 leader, they cleared the area as they made their way toward the freighters bridge.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian continued to listen to the security teams and itched to be with them, but at least, so far, there hadn't been any additional casualties. Based on what he'd heard, seven of the Tzenkethi were down, but that left eight and that made the situation still extremely dangerous. So far, two more teams had beamed over, putting a total of four on the freighter with four more to go.

"Twenty beamed over, three casualties, twenty more in the queue against eight of those monsters." Ian thought. "We've got forty more security if need be. Sooner or later, sheer numbers will give us the day."

He frowned and tapped his commbadge.

"Doctor Belmont, you are ta be part of the next wave. There are bound ta be more casualties and I need a medical team on that freighter right away. Chief Dorok, beam the medical team over now."

Ian noted the transporter successfully beam over Doctor Belmont's team along with a security squad specifically tasked to provide protection.

"Hopefully one squad is enough."

Lahr blinked, as in the space of less than 2 minutes, the Captain's plans for the doctor changed going from 'you're on standby' to 'you're up next.'  The Andorian who was keeping track of the Tzenkethi encounters, didn't see what had made such the huge difference to the in the battle but then that's why he'd never do well in Command.  He had no head to tactics.

Passing off coordinates to the transporter chief that would put the medical team down close to Tragnar,  Lahr did his best to get the Klingon back into play.

Since the Ops officer was monitoring all comm channels.  He heard Nari make his 2nd request to consolidate Helga into his team.

Away Team 1

There was motion up the hall, and Blackfeather and Gunt immediately swiveled their rifles towards the sound.

But as it turned out, the source of the sound was not Tzenkethi warriors.  Instead, two merchant crewmen had kicked out a maintenance cover and emerged from a utility crawlspace.

"Don't shoot," the woman said, "I'm Rebecca Stein, this is Isaac Ido.  We are maintenance crewmen.  We hid in the utility access corridors when the Tzenkethi boarded.  Thank the stars, you're Starfleet, aren't you?"

Blackfeather stepped forward, "Yes, ma'am.  Stand by, we'll get you evacuated."

Mondo tapped his badge, Sir, we'd definitely welcome those spare shield generators.  I was thinking we should consolidate with lingering elements from Team 2 before taking the bridge.  I would suggest that Engineering is likely to be another hotspot, as well as the cargo bay.

And Sir, we just made contact with two maintenance crewmen who were hiding in a utility crawlspace.  I'd like to evacuate them as soon as possible.

Well, if the officers wouldn't provide response to a direct suggestion, Lahr figured he would.  "Challenger to Nari. Acknowledged regarding the freighter crew.  Arranging for beam out to Challenger during next pick up cycle.   Tragnar is on hold - waiting for the medics to deal with Freeman. Proceed to your target location. I'll have transporters send Helga your way - once she's available."

[Ian Galloway]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Tzenkethi / Federation Border - USS Challenger - Deck One - Bridge]

Lahr blinked, as in the space of less than 2 minutes, the Captain's plans for the doctor changed going from 'you're on standby' to 'you're up next.'  The Andorian who was keeping track of the Tzenkethi encounters, didn't see what had made such the huge difference to the in the battle but then that's why he'd never do well in Command.  He had no head to tactics.

Passing off coordinates to the transporter chief that would put the medical team down close to Tragnar,  Lahr did his best to get the Klingon back into play.

Since the Ops officer was monitoring all comm channels.  He heard Nari make his 2nd request to consolidate Helga into his team.

Well, if the officers wouldn't provide response to a direct suggestion, Lahr figured he would.  "Challenger to Nari. Acknowledged regarding the freighter crew.  Arranging for beam out to Challenger during next pick up cycle.   Tragnar is on hold - waiting for the medics to deal with Freeman. Proceed to your target location. I'll have transporters send Helga your way - once she's available."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

The situation on the freighter was still not secure, but with a full trauma team staged in the ship's mess hall and the ability to beam the most critically injured directly to the Challenger's sickbay, at least casualties had the best chance of survival in the on going fight.

"Teams six through eight, converge on engineerin'. Teams one through four, you have the bridge. Team five will remain with the medics. Teams nine through sixteen are on standby if needed."

Ian had done all he could do. Clearing the freighter was now in Kyle's and T'Kel's hands. There was no question that Challenger's security department would prevail, the remaining Tzenkethi were simply too out numbered to be able to hold out much longer. The only unknown factor was how much it would cost in blood before the raiders were subdued.

Trying to think ahead, Ian knew that such a close quarters battle with weapons set on maximum power would cause heavy damage to the freighter, not even counting the damage done when the raider battered the ship's shields down, it was clear that the Good Hunting would need additional assistance in the form of repair crews.

"Galloway ta Engineerin'. Lieutenant Tharn, I'm goin' ta need at least two repair crews on that freighter just as soon as it's secured. Get your people staged, when they transport will depend on how much fight is left in the Tzenkethi. Galloway out."

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

[Engineering - USS Challenger]

"Aye Sir." Lieutenant jg Dashlish Tharn, the woman who was acting chief engineer replied before calling out to her staff. "Ensign Chase, you will take repair team three. Ensign Tal you have team six. Gear up and get to the transporter room. Try not to make things worse." She added in classic Tellerite form as the designated personnel headed out.

[RomanChase]

[USS Challenger, Engineering]

Roman called up a new dataset on his workstation, and played close attention to the readouts of the EPS network, the EPS mains and the weapons during the engagement with the Tzenkethi ship. "The Captain's really packing a punch," he thought to himself. The strain on the EPS mains and the plasma manifold concerned him. With such a spike in power flow, a direct hit in the right spot could do serious damage to Challenger. He just hoped the Tzenkethi wouldn't figure that out.

[Engineering - USS Challenger]

"Aye Sir." Lieutenant jg Dashlish Tharn, the woman who was acting chief engineer replied before calling out to her staff. "Ensign Chase, you will take repair team three. Ensign Tal you have team six. Gear up and get to the transporter room. Try not to make things worse." She added in classic Tellerite form as the designated personnel headed out.

"Aye, sir. We'll TRY," he emphasized his last word with a smirk.

He grabbed his toolset and PADD, and tapped in to any sensor data the bridge might've picked up on the civilian ship. He'd rather be prepared for what needs work, and if two teams were going, there must be a lot of damage to deal with.

"Team 3, let's head down to the transporter room." He addressed the gathering groups of people in front of him, which comprised of various crewman, petty officers and specialists.

"Ensign Chase" he heard young Crewman Perez call, and adjusted to meet his pace, "they're sending us over now? Is the Tzenkethi ship still out there?"

"Either it's disabled, or they bugged out. More likely they bugged out." Roman said.

"What about boarders?" Perez asked.

Petty Officer Kezki interrupted, "We probably have enough security there to be good to go."

"See? We're fine." Roman said, nodding to Kezki. The Bajoran woman was older than him by at least a decade. He was closer to 41 now, so her experience was also an asset, especially in moments like this. Even though he was still new to the crew, he was glad she was on his team.

As he navigated the foot traffic coming in and out of the transporter room, he addressed the transporter chief, "This is repair team 3, ready to transport to the civilian vessel."

[Vasilisa Belmont]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian's heart froze at the chaos of the fighting occurring on the freighter and the reports of casualties were worse than he thought they'd be, which was saying something as he knew, based on the sheer physical size of the Tzenkethi, that the casualties would be bad.

Steeling himself, he issued orders as fast as he could process the data he was receiving.

"Second wave initiate transport! You are goin' into a hot LZ! Hostiles extremely well armed and armored. Watch your six!"

He glanced down at his command chair's console before continuing.

"Understood Mister Nari, beamin' Chisst and Jorzon directly ta sickbay!"

Switching channels quickly, he added.

"Doctor Davies, critical casualties comin' in!"

Ian stood to face T'Kel.

"Lieutenant. I want six more squads in the transporter room immediately. You are authorized ta use whatever force you deem needed ta suppress those Tzenkethi wankers! Go in loaded for bear and terminate with extreme prejudice if necessary!"

The security chief arched an eyebrow as only a Vulcan could and replied with a simple.

"Aye Sir."

Ian tapped his command chair.

"Doctor Belmont, the freighter is too hot for your team. You are on immediate standby until security can get the situation under control. The first wave has already sustained casualties and you will be needed as soon as we can set up a safe spot for your team."

Ian stared at the viewscreen at the drifting freighter and could hear Scotland the Brave in his head as he thought about members of his crew fighting a desperate battle. The fact that he couldn't influence what was happening made him seethe at the regulations that forced him to stay on the bridge when he wanted so desperately to be in the thick of the fight.

[Turbolift]

Lisa received the captain's order as she was on her way to the transporter room.

"Belmont to Galloway. Understood. Standing by. Belmont out. 

Did she have enough time to swing by Sickbay to pick up some extra supplies before she got to the freighter now? She had a standard phaser because she wasn't the greatest at shooting anything else so that would be enough too since she assumed she didn't have time to swing by the armory. Luckily she was joined by the rest of her trauma team as they headed for transporter room 1.

"Looks like we're on standby," she said quietly but firmly. Her crewmen nodded to her without any response the rest of the way. Lisa took a calm breath, wondering just what they would find over there.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian continued to listen to the security teams and itched to be with them, but at least, so far, there hadn't been any additional casualties. Based on what he'd heard, seven of the Tzenkethi were down, but that left eight and that made the situation still extremely dangerous. So far, two more teams had beamed over, putting a total of four on the freighter with four more to go.

"Twenty beamed over, three casualties, twenty more in the queue against eight of those monsters." Ian thought. "We've got forty more security if need be. Sooner or later, sheer numbers will give us the day."

He frowned and tapped his commbadge.

"Doctor Belmont, you are ta be part of the next wave. There are bound ta be more casualties and I need a medical team on that freighter right away. Chief Dorok, beam the medical team over now."

Ian noted the transporter successfully beam over Doctor Belmont's team along with a security squad specifically tasked to provide protection.

"Hopefully one squad is enough."

[Transporter Room --> Freighter]

"Belmont to Galloway. Affirmative, Captain. Beaming over presently. Belmont out." 

The CMO nodded and gave a silent "That's our cue" look to her team as she followed them and the security squad onto the pad.

As she emerged on the scene she launched into action, setting up the mess hall with triage stations and assigning members of her team to different tasks. The room was smaller than she would've hoped but that was what triage was for, doing the best you can given the circumstances. As she worked her mind shifted momentarily to Chisst and Jorzon as she had been receiving steady communication about causalities beamed to Challenger's Sickbay, but then Freeman was handed off to her through Tragnar and her mind switched to healing mode. The Klingon woman had good first aid skills, and soon Lisa had Freeman on the road to recovery. Once she did as much as she needed to with him, she moved on through her triage method as more casualties arrived.

[Mondo'li Nari]

Away Team 1

"Challenger to Nari. Acknowledged regarding the freighter crew.  Arranging for beam out to Challenger during next pick up cycle.   Tragnar is on hold - waiting for the medics to deal with Freeman. Proceed to your target location. I'll have transporters send Helga your way - once she's available."

Mondo frowned slightly, but orders were orders.  He tapped his badge, Acknowledged. Proceeding to target.

Then he looked at his remaining team members, "It seems we are to take the bridge with what we have.  Reinforcements will be along shortly, but we are not to wait for them."  He looked to the civilians and added, "Wait around the corner, there.  The Challenger will beam you out as soon as a transporter cycle becomes available."

"This is Brokah Dung," Gunt nearly spat the complaint.

"Perhaps it is, Gunt," Mondo allowed, "But we are of the service, to be expended as the service demands."

Blackfeather unholstered his Type II, "Another overloaded phaser should clear the bridge."

Mondo nodded, "It should, but we need to be sure it is empty of civilians.  Gunt, can you tap into the sensors on the bridge?"

The Tellarite snorted, but shuffled over to the door panel.  As he did so, further orders came from the Challenger.

Among other orders came this:  ...Teams one through four, you have the bridge...

"Wait," Gunt paused, "Shouldn't we wait for the other teams?"

Mondo shook his head, "We were ordered to proceed to our objective.  No more stalling.  Let's get this done."

Gunt sighed, and then began trying to wire his PADD into the door control's ODN lines.  He wasn't as skilled with the technology as either Chisst or Jorzon.  It was slow going.  Somewhere behind Mondo, he heard the civilians being transported away.  He looked over his shoulder to be sure the sound he heard hadn't been more forces being beamed to his position.

Not yet.

Gunt grunted, "I don't think I can get it."

Mondo whipped out his tricorder and performed a scan.  "Something in there is jamming my scans.  We can't throw an explosive in without intelligence about the occupants of the bridge.  We'll have to use our phasers as their designers intended."

Blackfeather lifted his chin, "If they didn't want them to be overloaded, they'd be overload-proof."

"Be that as it may," Mondo said, "We're doing this the hard way.  Give your hand phaser to Gunt.  Gunt, give me your rifle."

The men traded weapons.  Mondo gripped a rifle in each hand.  Gunt had two hand phasers.  Blackfeather had his rifle.  They all made sure to thumb the phasers up to level 16.

"Can you open the door," Mondo asked.

Gunt nodded, "That I can do.  I'm putting the final activation on a timer.  Three seconds from... now!"

Gunt released his PADD, and the device hung from the door control interface by its attached ODN lines.   Gunt readied his Type II phasers.  Mondo lifted his two Type III rifles.  Blackfeather shouldered his weapon.

The door opened.

Inside the bridge was a huge Tzenkethi warrior.  His harness seemed to be more sophisticated than the others, no doubt a benefit accorded to those of high rank.  Civilians could be seen, tied to seats on the bridge.  They hadn't been slaughtered yet.  The Tzenkethi must have some use for them, still.  Possibly as hostages.

Mondo exerted his strength to bring both rifles to bear on the Tzenkethi, depressing their firing actuators.  Two beams lanced out from his weapons, impacting the Tzenkethi.  Their energy seemed to become absorbed into his tech harness.

Gunt followed suit, but his beams were also consumed by the strange tech harness.

Blackfeather brought his rifle to bear.  His final beam seemed to also be the final straw, reaching an energy-level catalyst for what the harness did next:  An energy wave burst forth from the Tzenkethi, sending Gunt and Blackfeather flying to the deck.  Mondo resisted the wave without falling over, but the rifles he was carrying were torn from his grasp and clattered behind him, up the corridor.

Instead of firing directed energy weapons at Mondo or his team, the Tzenkethi warrior charged the Hupyrian like a wild beast.

The Tzenkethi was massive, and the impact was shocking.  Mondo went down hard, and the Tzenkethi began pummeling him with power-assisted fists.  Mondo tried to exert his strength to the utmost, hoping to dislodge his attacker.

It wasn't enough.  Even without the tech harness tilting the scales against him, Mondo wasn't sure he could overpower such a powerful individual.  With the harness providing extra physical potency, his enemy was even more unassailable.

Mondo reached up, clutching at the glowing bits of the Tzenkethi's armor harness, tearing at modules with his fingers.  He actually managed to dislodge a component.  Something that must have been important.  The glow on the harness faded away.

Unfortunately, the Tzenkethi hardly seemed to notice.  He kept raining fists down on Mondo, and the Petty Officer felt his consciousness slipping away...

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Tzenkethi / Federation Border - USS Challenger - Deck One - Bridge]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

The situation on the freighter was still not secure, but with a full trauma team staged in the ship's mess hall and the ability to beam the most critically injured directly to the Challenger's sickbay, at least casualties had the best chance of survival in the on going fight.

"Teams six through eight, converge on engineerin'. Teams one through four, you have the bridge. Team five will remain with the medics. Teams nine through sixteen are on standby if needed."

Ian had done all he could do. Clearing the freighter was now in Kyle's and T'Kel's hands. There was no question that Challenger's security department would prevail, the remaining Tzenkethi were simply too out numbered to be able to hold out much longer. The only unknown factor was how much it would cost in blood before the raiders were subdued.

Trying to think ahead, Ian knew that such a close quarters battle with weapons set on maximum power would cause heavy damage to the freighter, not even counting the damage done when the raider battered the ship's shields down, it was clear that the Good Hunting would need additional assistance in the form of repair crews.

"Galloway ta Engineerin'. Lieutenant Tharn, I'm goin' ta need at least two repair crews on that freighter just as soon as it's secured. Get your people staged, when they transport will depend on how much fight is left in the Tzenkethi. Galloway out."

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

[Engineering - USS Challenger]

"Aye Sir." Lieutenant jg Dashlish Tharn, the woman who was acting chief engineer replied before calling out to her staff. "Ensign Chase, you will take repair team three. Ensign Tal you have team six. Gear up and get to the transporter room. Try not to make things worse." She added in classic Tellerite form as the designated personnel headed out.

Lahr continued to keep watch on the long range sensors as the Captain brought one third the strength of the sec/tac department to bear on the freighter.  Eight teams of 5 personnel each - meant 40 security crew over on the freighter.  Twenty assigned to take the bridge.  Fifteen to take Engineering and 5 to guard the Medics..  with another one third,  8 teams, on stand-by.  The Captain was bold that's for sure!

His antenna flicked as he noted something approaching on long range scans.  "Sir, we might have company.  It's too far to identify at the moment but there's movement on the long range sensors"

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

NPC Crewman Helga Tragnar
[Tzenkethi / Federation Border - Freighter]

[Transporter Room --> Freighter]

"Belmont to Galloway. Affirmative, Captain. Beaming over presently. Belmont out." 

The CMO nodded and gave a silent "That's our cue" look to her team as she followed them and the security squad onto the pad.

As she emerged on the scene she launched into action, setting up the mess hall with triage stations and assigning members of her team to different tasks. The room was smaller than she would've hoped but that was what triage was for, doing the best you can given the circumstances. As she worked her mind shifted momentarily to Chisst and Jorzon as she had been receiving steady communication about causalities beamed to Challenger's Sickbay, but then Freeman was handed off to her through Tragnar and her mind switched to healing mode. The Klingon woman had good first aid skills, and soon Lisa had Freeman on the road to recovery. Once she did as much as she needed to with him, she moved on through her triage method as more casualties arrived.

When Helga was informed that the medics were setting up in the Mess Hall, which had been cleared by her team earlier, she knew exactly where to go.  Uttering an apology to the Petty Officer, Helga slung the man over her shoulder in a Fireman's carry and retraced her steps back to the Mess Hall.  There she passed off the Freeman into the care of the medical staff.  Then she called back to the ship for an update on where her team was - headed to the bridge apparently.  The Bridge was quite some distance away.. she might not make it in time  before the battle concluded.

Away Team 1

"Challenger to Nari. Acknowledged regarding the freighter crew.  Arranging for beam out to Challenger during next pick up cycle.   Tragnar is on hold - waiting for the medics to deal with Freeman. Proceed to your target location. I'll have transporters send Helga your way - once she's available."

Mondo frowned slightly, but orders were orders.  He tapped his badge, Acknowledged. Proceeding to target.

Then he looked at his remaining team members, "It seems we are to take the bridge with what we have.  Reinforcements will be along shortly, but we are not to wait for them."  He looked to the civilians and added, "Wait around the corner, there.  The Challenger will beam you out as soon as a transporter cycle becomes available."
.
.
.

The door opened.

Inside the bridge was a huge Tzenkethi warrior.  His harness seemed to be more sophisticated than the others, no doubt a benefit accorded to those of high rank.  Civilians could be seen, tied to seats on the bridge.  They hadn't been slaughtered yet.  The Tzenkethi must have some use for them, still.  Possibly as hostages.

Mondo exerted his strength to bring both rifles to bear on the Tzenkethi, depressing their firing actuators.  Two beams lanced out from his weapons, impacting the Tzenkethi.  Their energy seemed to become absorbed into his tech harness.

Gunt followed suit, but his beams were also consumed by the strange tech harness.

Blackfeather brought his rifle to bear.  His final beam seemed to also be the final straw, reaching an energy-level catalyst for what the harness did next:  An energy wave burst forth from the Tzenkethi, sending Gunt and Blackfeather flying to the deck.  Mondo resisted the wave without falling over, but the rifles he was carrying were torn from his grasp and clattered behind him, up the corridor.

Instead of firing directed energy weapons at Mondo or his team, the Tzenkethi warrior charged the Hupyrian like a wild beast.

The Tzenkethi was massive, and the impact was shocking.  Mondo went down hard, and the Tzenkethi began pummeling him with power-assisted fists.  Mondo tried to exert his strength to the utmost, hoping to dislodge his attacker.

It wasn't enough.  Even without the tech harness tilting the scales against him, Mondo wasn't sure he could overpower such a powerful individual.  With the harness providing extra physical potency, his enemy was even more unassailable.

Mondo reached up, clutching at the glowing bits of the Tzenkethi's armor harness, tearing at modules with his fingers.  He actually managed to dislodge a component.  Something that must have been important.  The glow on the harness faded away.

Unfortunately, the Tzenkethi hardly seemed to notice.  He kept raining fists down on Mondo, and the Petty Officer felt his consciousness slipping away...[/size]

Helga was about to start double-timing it in the direction of the bridge when Lahr's voice came in over her commbadge.  "Hold for immediate transport.  We're dropping you in the middle of the bridge battle.  Sensors show that some form of energy wave just detonated there.   We are no longer reading Nari and his team."  Oh.. it seemed the battle there had already begun.

The transporter effect took hold.. the freighter's mess hall disappeared to be replaced momentarily by the view of the Challengers transporter room.  She could see from her periphery that the rest of her team were also on the transporter pad with her.  Yet before she could fully form, that scene too faded to be replaced a moment later by a skirmish on the bridge of the freighter.

The scene showed Nari's teams dropped, obviously thrown back due to some force - though there didn't seem to be any scorching damage anywhere.   Nari too was on the ground being pummeled by the largest Tzenkethi that Helga had seen thus far.

Training had her raising her phaser rifle and taking a shot on the Tzenkethi as he rained blows on the man beneath him.  The shot seemed to be absorbed by the Tzenkethi's harness and didn't even gain the warrior attention as he continued his battering of Mondo.

Weapons fire didn't seem to work against this particular warrior and his gear. And If Nari was down it seemed as if brute force wasn't all that much better.  That left only her wits and redirection as her only option.  She could see Nari struggling to breath, his hands slapping and scrambling frantically at the man pinning him.

'Hell no!  She wasn't going to just stand there and watch the Hupyrian die.'  She rushed in closing the distance between her and the Tzenkethi while the Tzenkethi warrior raised it's arms to swing at Nari again.  Helga moved in close, and grasped at two of the thick wrists and as they descended.

The Tzenkethi wasn't worried - he had his suit to overcome any resisting force.  But it was at that moment that Nari managed to get a hold of the component, powering down the gear.   This alone wouldn't mean much if Helga were trying to resist her opponent's attack.  But she wasn't resisting, instead she was moving with the descending arc  of the largest arm - the one with the most momentum and at the last moment moving with her one-point to redirect it's flow. This had the result of throwing the Tzenkethi off-balance as Helga guided the Tzenkethi's arm in an arc just to the left of Nari's head and continued on through until its whole arm had rotated and was now pinned behind him in an almost unnatural angle.  With just a touch of pressure Helga guided the Tzenkethi to the floor beside Nari.

On most humanoid's Helga would have the upperhand at this point, but Tzenkethi had two arms per side and while she controlled one close to her, and was out of range of the two on the other side, that still left one in range to the strike out and knock the feet out from under her.   She tripped and fell half atop of Mondo as the Tzenkethi reared up to continue it's attack this time on the the pair.

Helga scrambled further atop the Hupyrian to shield him from any further direct blows.

[Kyle Briggs]

Freighter (en route to Bridge)

TEAM 3

Kyle and his team were double timing it to the Bridge as all the chatter between the other teams and the Challenger was taking place. This was his first run in with Tzenkethi and had he not had recent, first hand experience, he would find it hard to believe they were gonna need so many people to handle just ten of the opposition. If it was what they needed to do, then so be it. He just hoped no one else got injured. That hope flew out the proverbial window when he heard Lahr inform Team 1 to go ahead and breach the Bridge. Kyle slapped his badge and hoped he wasn't too late.

Belay that order Team! 

They were low on shields and man power. What the hell were they thinking sending them in?

"MOVE IT!" he yelled over his shoulder.

As they picked up the pace, he heard about Tragnar getting beamed in. After what Kyle witnessed on the last away mission, those two could probably have taken down the ten Tzenkethi on their own. Still, he'd feel better if they had their shields.

It took them several more minutes to reach the Bridge and when they rounded the corner, Kyle could see Nari lying on the ground with Tragnar practically on top of him and the Tzenkethi about to drop a massive fist onto both of them. Kyle's eyes widen in disbelief at the enormous size of the beast looking alien and the predicament in which he found the two officers he had just been praising for being the two that would have handled this mission with ease. As he activated his personal shield, he called over his shoulder.

"Fire as soon as I hit that damn thing." he ordered and then sped up even more.

Using his shield as a battering ram, he ran full force at the Tzenkethi and hit it square on. It barely nudge the creature as it sent Kyle bouncing off to the side but it did draw it's attention away and stop the downward blow he had just been about to deliver. Kyle rolled and got back to his feet just in time to see three phaser beams come through the door and hit the Tzenkethi in the chest. This toppled the creature over and off top of Tragnar and Nari. Seeing another shot, Kyle charged in again. As they became entangled, Team Four arrived and without hesitation, Bailey jumped in to occupy a couple of the arms himself. As the two Starfleet officers fought against the Tzenkethi, Bailey produced a dagger from one of his boots. The alien noticed it rather quickly and slapped it from Harrison's hand sending it sliding just a few feet away. Even without the assistance of his vest, the Tzenkethi was still extremely strong and when Kyle grabbed one of his arms in hopes of twisting the alien down, he flicked it back and threw Kyle down once more. Kyle landed right next to Bailey's blade. He scooped it up and charged right back in just as The Mountain, as Kyle had now come to think of it, slammed Bailey down and was about to deliver a double fist blow to his head. Jumping on the creatures back, Kyle brought the blade around and drug it across the Tzenkethi's throat sending globs of blue blood spewing out and downward onto Bailey.

"Aaaaa. Come on. Really?" called Bailey in disgust.

Kyle slid off the creatures back and allowed it to slump over to the side as the last sigh of breath escaped it's lips. He reached down and helped Bailey up with one hand as he slapped comms with the other.

Briggs to Challenger. Bridge is secure. We're gonna need some medical attention up here but everyone is still kicking. By our count, there should be four Tzenkethi remaining. They should be in engineering and the Cargo Bay with the Dafyyd IX. I'm leaving a couple of people here with the injured and taking the rest with me to the Cargo Bay. Briggs out. 

Kyle didn't wait for a reply.

"Blackfeather. Gunt. You and Bailey's team, minus Bailey, will remain here with Nari and Tragnar. Keep the Bridge secure and wait for Medical. Here are a few shields should you need them. The rest of you are with me. Let's move." he said to the others.

They sounded like a heard of wild wildebeest as they hustled toward the cargo bay. Kyle took a second to see if there was truly as many of them as it sounded. There was himself, Reeves, Donahue, Conner, Vakok, Morales and Bailey. Seven of them in all now. Hopefully, the ones in the cargo hold wouldn't be anything like the former Mountain.

[Ian Galloway]

Briggs to Challenger. Bridge is secure. We're gonna need some medical attention up here but everyone is still kicking. By our count, there should be four Tzenkethi remaining. They should be in engineering and the Cargo Bay with the Dafyyd IX. I'm leaving a couple of people here with the injured and taking the rest with me to the Cargo Bay. Briggs out. 

[Bridge - SS Good Hunting]

As those selected to clear the ship departed the bridge, Blackfeather began freeing the crew of the freighter, five in all from where they'd been restrained. As is partner made his way around the bridge, Gunt provided what first aid he could to the battered Nari and Tragnar.

"Captain is dead, they killed him first as an example for the rest of us. I'm the first officer, Harold Gibbons. We had just enough time to lock down the computer before they boarded us. I'll get it unlocked so we'll have internal sensors."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

"Understood Commander, help is on the way."

Ian replied and turned to Lahr.

"Mister ch'Verret, beam the wounded on the freighter's bridge ta the triage team in their mess hall. Kyle didn't say they were critical, so I'm goin' keep our sickbay available should there be any more serious injuries."

Ian then tapped his comm panel.

"Lieutenant Tharn. The ship isn't fully secured, but goin' by sensor readin's, they are goin' ta need your people sooner than later. Get them movin'."

"Aye Sir" Tharn replied and with a quick message to the transporter room, damage control teams three and six were on their way. Team three materialized midships behind four security teams and team six appeared on the bridge.

[Rayek trLhoell]

NPC Crewman Helga Tragnar
[Tzenkethi / Federation Border - Freighter - SS Good Hunting - Bridge]

It took them several more minutes to reach the Bridge and when they rounded the corner, Kyle could see Nari lying on the ground with Tragnar practically on top of him and the Tzenkethi about to drop a massive fist onto both of them. Kyle's eyes widen in disbelief at the enormous size of the beast looking alien and the predicament in which he found the two officers he had just been praising for being the two that would have handled this mission with ease. As he activated his personal shield, he called over his shoulder.

"Fire as soon as I hit that damn thing." he ordered and then sped up even more.

Using his shield as a battering ram, he ran full force at the Tzenkethi and hit it square on. It barely nudge the creature as it sent Kyle bouncing off to the side but it did draw it's attention away and stop the downward blow he had just been about to deliver. Kyle rolled and got back to his feet just in time to see three phaser beams come through the door and hit the Tzenkethi in the chest. This toppled the creature over and off top of Tragnar and Nari. Seeing another shot, Kyle charged in again. As they became entangled, Team Four arrived and without hesitation, Bailey jumped in to occupy a couple of the arms himself. As the two Starfleet officers fought against the Tzenkethi, Bailey produced a dagger from one of his boots. The alien noticed it rather quickly and slapped it from Harrison's hand sending it sliding just a few feet away. Even without the assistance of his vest, the Tzenkethi was still extremely strong and when Kyle grabbed one of his arms in hopes of twisting the alien down, he flicked it back and threw Kyle down once more. Kyle landed right next to Bailey's blade. He scooped it up and charged right back in just as The Mountain, as Kyle had now come to think of it, slammed Bailey down and was about to deliver a double fist blow to his head. Jumping on the creatures back, Kyle brought the blade around and drug it across the Tzenkethi's throat sending globs of blue blood spewing out and downward onto Bailey.

"Aaaaa. Come on. Really?" called Bailey in disgust.

Kyle slid off the creatures back and allowed it to slump over to the side as the last sigh of breath escaped it's lips. He reached down and helped Bailey up with one hand as he slapped comms with the other.

Briggs to Challenger. Bridge is secure. We're gonna need some medical attention up here but everyone is still kicking. By our count, there should be four Tzenkethi remaining. They should be in engineering and the Cargo Bay with the Dafyyd IX. I'm leaving a couple of people here with the injured and taking the rest with me to the Cargo Bay. Briggs out. 

Kyle didn't wait for a reply.

"Blackfeather. Gunt. You and Bailey's team, minus Bailey, will remain here with Nari and Tragnar. Keep the Bridge secure and wait for Medical. Here are a few shields should you need them. The rest of you are with me. Let's move." he said to the others.

They sounded like a heard of wild wildebeest as they hustled toward the cargo bay. Kyle took a second to see if there was truly as many of them as it sounded. There was himself, Reeves, Donahue, Conner, Vakok, Morales and Bailey. Seven of them in all now. Hopefully, the ones in the cargo hold wouldn't be anything like the former Mountain.

The Tzenkethi pinned Helga down with one hand and the Klingon, from her position shielding what seemed like an unconscious Nari, could just envision the other three arms raising ready to rain down fists onto her back.  Helga braced for the blows she knew were coming - bracing was not necessarily a good thing.  It often did more damage but instinct was instinct and Klingons tended to brace for an impending strike.

However the blows never landed, instead she was jostled and there a momentary pressure before the hand pinning her was gone.  When she looked over her shoulder she saw Commander Briggs in melee combat with the monstrosity.  She was jostled again and quickly realized that her and Mondo were in the way.  She scrambled off the Hupyrian and began dragging him away from the pair.  This also brought them out of the line of fire if the watching security team had a clear shot to fire.  But with Commander Briggs in close combat...and all the moment.. one missed shot could kill the Commander so the teams held off, watching and waiting.

While they waited Helga assessed and stabilized Nari's wounds.  Yep that's right, Klingon warrior playing nursemaid again.  She wondered what her father might think of that.

Then it was over - with the Commander the victor.  Helga was impressed.  She stood up from her place beside Nari, indicating she was well enough to continue.  But no she got left behind.  For a moment, she was tempted to point out to the Commander that she could be of use, but held herself back though she didn't look happy about her orders.

[Bridge - SS Good Hunting]

As those selected to clear the ship departed the bridge, Blackfeather began freeing the crew of the freighter, five in all from where they'd been restrained. As is partner made his way around the bridge, Gunt provided what first aid he could to the battered Nari and Tragnar.

"Captain is dead, they killed him first as an example for the rest of us. I'm the first officer, Harold Gibbons. We had just enough time to lock down the computer before they boarded us. I'll get it unlocked so we'll have internal sensors."

Helga waved off Gunt since she hadn't taken a single hit. It was only her pride that was bruised.

When the First Officer of the freighter indicated that he could get them internal sensor, Helga grinned.. at least she could watch the final battle.

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

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

"Understood Commander, help is on the way."

Ian replied and turned to Lahr.

"Mister ch'Verret, beam the wounded on the freighter's bridge ta the triage team in their mess hall. Kyle didn't say they were critical, so I'm goin' keep our sickbay available should there be any more serious injuries."

Ian then tapped his comm panel.

"Lieutenant Tharn. The ship isn't fully secured, but goin' by sensor readin's, they are goin' ta need your people sooner than later. Get them movin'."

"Aye Sir" Tharn replied and with a quick message to the transporter room, damage control teams three and six were on their way. Team three materialized midships behind four security teams and team three appeared on the bridge.

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Tzenkethi / Federation Border - USS Challenger - Deck One - Bridge]

"Aye sir," the Andorian acknowledged arranging for the transporter beam out and over of the injured to the medical triage in the mess hall.

He continued to keep a close eye on that as yet unidentified movement on long range sensors.

[Vasilisa Belmont]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret

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

NPC Crewman Helga Tragnar
[Tzenkethi / Federation Border - Freighter]

When Helga was informed that the medics were setting up in the Mess Hall, which had been cleared by her team earlier, she knew exactly where to go.  Uttering an apology to the Petty Officer, Helga slung the man over her shoulder in a Fireman's carry and retraced her steps back to the Mess Hall.  There she passed off the Freeman into the care of the medical staff.  Then she called back to the ship for an update on where her team was - headed to the bridge apparently.  The Bridge was quite some distance away.. she might not make it in time  before the battle concluded.

Helga was about to start double-timing it in the direction of the bridge when Lahr's voice came in over her commbadge.  "Hold for immediate transport.  We're dropping you in the middle of the bridge battle.  Sensors show that some form of energy wave just detonated there.   We are no longer reading Nari and his team."  Oh.. it seemed the battle there had already begun.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian replied and turned to Lahr.

"Mister ch'Verret, beam the wounded on the freighter's bridge ta the triage team in their mess hall. Kyle didn't say they were critical, so I'm goin' keep our sickbay available should there be any more serious injuries."

Ian then tapped his comm panel.

"Lieutenant Tharn. The ship isn't fully secured, but goin' by sensor readin's, they are goin' ta need your people sooner than later. Get them movin'."

"Aye Sir" Tharn replied and with a quick message to the transporter room, damage control teams three and six were on their way. Team three materialized midships behind four security teams and team three appeared on the bridge.

[Freighter - Mess Hall]

With everything set up, Lisa's eyes trained on the Klingon woman as she entered with Freeman. Of course Helga could handle carrying the crewman with no problem, and she even laid him on the makeshift stretcher before heading off to the Bridge.

[Healed Freeman in previous post...]

After a short respite, more wounded from Kyle's group started showing up, along with Mondo, who looked like he'd received a thorough beating. Looking at him, she could tell that he took priority so she started running scans immediately to detect various contusions, a couple bruised ribs, and a small amount of internal hemorrhaging. The latter two she could stabilize until she could get him to sickbay, but whether or not he could stand up and get back to fighting, well, she knew her answer to that. Hopefully he would listen. She pulled out her osteo-regenerator to use on the bruised ribs and of course the dermal regenerator to help with the dermal bruises, then gave him a stabilizer for the internal bleeding.

Then she gave orders for him to rest before moving on to the next patient who came in with similar injuries. Nothing too exciting here, the real problems were being taken to the ship. It was a conflicting situation. Stressful because she didn't have all the ship's equipment at her disposal, but less stressful since she had the luxury of having the less-severe injuries being sent to her while the others went elsewhere. Lisa had experiences with both of course, having come this far down the commissioned track, but didn't know which she liked better...

[Rayek trLhoell]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Tzenkethi / Federation Border - USS Challenger - Deck One - Bridge]

After a while of watching the distant reading he finally had something concrete to inform the Captain.   "Sir, the ship on long range sensors - it identifies as the Tellarite freighter S.S. Fastest Ship"  The Andorian paused there to double check that he read that right.  Yep, that's what it read.

Chuckling he continued, "They are sending out a transmission to the Good Hunting basically saying they have forwarded on their call for aid to a Tellarite cruiser which is on its way... and asks about the Good Hunting's status." Lahr glanced over his shoulder towards the Captain.   "Do you want to send back a message? Or inform the ranking surviving officer aboard the ship about the message?"

[Ian Galloway]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Tzenkethi / Federation Border - USS Challenger - Deck One - Bridge]

After a while of watching the distant reading he finally had something concrete to inform the Captain.   "Sir, the ship on long range sensors - it identifies as the Tellarite freighter S.S. Fastest Ship"  The Andorian paused there to double check that he read that right.  Yep, that's what it read.

Chuckling he continued, "They are sending out a transmission to the Good Hunting basically saying they have forwarded on their call for aid to a Tellarite cruiser which is on its way... and asks about the Good Hunting's status." Lahr glanced over his shoulder towards the Captain.   "Do you want to send back a message? Or inform the ranking surviving officer aboard the ship about the message?"

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian rubbed his chin as he thought over his options and replied to Lahr's question.

"SS Fastest Ship? Not exactly an imaginative name as names go, but go ahead and reply. No tellin' how long it will take ta get the freighter's systems back online."

[RomanChase]

[Midship - SS Good Hunting]

Roman gained his focus as he materialized with his team in the corridor of the Good Hunting. He glanced around for an access panel as he noticed Crewman Perez was visibly nervous.

"œYou're trained for this." He said in a lowered voice, and motioned down the corridor, "œThere's our security, right there. Let's do our job, so they can do theirs."

Perez nodded, and got his tricorder out.

Roman took a good look around. There were scorch marks, phaser burns and debris all along the corridor. He noticed several discolored shapes on the floor, and understood the level of violence that took place.

"œHere." PO Kezki said, motioning to the access panel.

Roman tapped on his PADD, they needed a damage report, and watched as the PADD translated the Tellarite code to Federation standard and cursed under his breath at the "˜SECURITY LOCKDOWN' notice. "œI could try to bypass, but it will take time, and"¦" he was interrupted by a flashing green notice, "˜ACCESS GRANTED' and he immediately tapped in the terminal commands for the ship's damage report.

"œMaybe we took the bridge." Kezki said, tapping into her tricorder.

"œHere we go." Roman said as the damage report appeared on his PADD, "œOptical Data Network is being overworked to compensate for multiple ODN interruptions"¦ probably all the phaser damage." He glanced over to one of the scorches on the wall. "œPerez, several ODN relays on this deck need repair," he sent the data to Perez's tricorder, "œ...keep your eyes out for any physical ODN cables that need work."

"œUnderstood." Perez said.

"œShields took a beating. EPS grid is fluctuating, and several conduits need attention..." Roman continued reading the report, "œthere's damage to the hull, but we should focus on returning to full power, and get the system back to one hundred percent. Good thing this is a Federation sanctioned ship, that means all inspections should be up to date."

"œThese Tellarite freighters can be tricky with their power distribution." Kezki said.

Roman nodded to her, "œCheck the EPS conduits on this deck. I'll check the power flow, but we need access to Engineering"¦ which I don't think is clear." He checked his tricorder. "œOkay, let's work fast," he said as he opened his toolbox and got down to business.

The two crewman followed suit, getting to work on repairs.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Tzenkethi / Federation Border - USS Challenger - Deck One - Bridge]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian rubbed his chin as he thought over his options and replied to Lahr's question.

"SS Fastest Ship? Not exactly an imaginative name as names go, but go ahead and reply. No tellin' how long it will take ta get the freighter's systems back online."

The Andorian chuckled. The name certainly was bizarre.  Lahr nodded at the Captain's order to contact the other Tellarite freighter.

"USS Challenger to SS Fastest Ship. We are currently on location with the SS Good Hunting offering our assistance.  Your sister ship was attacked by a Tzenkethi vessel and boarded.  We have scared off the vessel and are in the process now of securing the vessel from the Tzenkethi boarders.  Our personnel are rendering medical and engineering aid where possible."

The call was answered a moment later.

"This is the Fastest Ship responding to USS Challeger.  Thank you for all your assistance - though it could have been better timed, don't you think? The cargo we and our sister ship carry is very important.  Much too important to wait for it to be picked off again.  Upon arrival if the Good Hunting is not warp capable at our side, preparations will be made to add it's cargo to our own and continue on our journey.  We will require that Challenger escort us directly to our destination."

Larh's antenna stiffened at the Tellarite's rather rude tone and words.  The ship's Captain, no doubt a merchant himself, was all but telling them to abandon the other ship here. Where was the compassion?  Lahr glanced back towards the Bridge main seat  hoping the Captain would respond rather than leave it to him.