Tick, Tick, Boom!
Posted on Wed Jan 31st, 2024 @ 8:09pm by Commander Steven Greco & Lieutenant Evelyn Stewart & Lieutenant Tollan Yara & Remy Naal & Captain Stryvek & Lieutenant Commander Keishara Davaris & Lieutenant Dashku Zhevou & Lieutenant JG Baaru Liana & 1st Lieutenant Kes Th’relnal & Lieutenant Amarok s'Lovok & Lieutenant JG Sam Matthews & Lieutenant JG Koaruh Avestro & Ensign Sophie Bishop & Senior Chief Petty Officer Rufio Dulay & Gunnery Sergeant Matewa Natana
Edited on on Fri Feb 9th, 2024 @ 9:02am
0 words; about a 1 minute read
Mission:
Year One: Whispers in the Wind
Location: Brighton Colony and USS Moore - Various Locations
Timeline: MD 16 - 13:30
Hours after the speech by Arun and Karla, the festival was in full swing. The colony was practically swelling and pulsing with people as the day went on.
Without either realizing it, Remy loosely held Stewart’s hand, and she his, as they transversed the crowds with Keishara walking with Evelyn. Both women using Remy’s height to help cut a path for them.
Rounding around a corner of a street near the center of the colony, Evelyn glanced around. “Maybe it’s best we find a place for food before the lines get too bad.” She offered to Kei.
"I could eat." Kei shrugged. "If I'd brought my phaser we could have cut through the line that's already there quicker." she added deadpan. She was kidding but her delivery being spot on made the statement be unsure which way to take it. "But I guess we'll settle for Lurch leading us through the crowd." she indicated Remy.
Remy gave Kei a dirty look over his shoulder but his expression was mixed with confusion to the El-Aurian, unaware of the reference. “You know weapons are not allowed in the colony, Commander. And I don’t know exactly what that phrase called me means, but it doesn’t sound good so knock it off you two.” He warned with a smile.
Evelyn smirked and was about to point to an area with not as many people when she heard what sounded like faint rumbling. “Wait, did you hear that?”
Glancing at Evelyn, Remy stopped and listened. He couldn’t hear what she was talking about but turned to look around. In the distance he saw what looked to be smoke from the directions of the docks. “The hell?” A fireball from an explosion suddenly rising into the air. “Something’s happening at the docks. They look to be on fire.” He said to the two officers.
Before either Stewart or Davaris could tap their combadges to hail the Moore, a sudden and loud boom proceeded an immense heat. On instinct, Remy turned and shielded both women from whatever the threat was. An intense explosion knocking all three of them to the ground as the administration building, the center of Brighton Colony, exploded with tremendous force, half the building blown off, several other nearby buildings destroyed by the tremendous force as flaming debris fell from above on the district.
Ensign Moxx looked down at his console at Ops when it began beeping. “Sir, I’m reading a series of explosions on the surface near the colony. It appears to be the docks, Sir.” The young Bolian said, “And another one... the Romulan settlement…scans are showing…” he called out, tapping buttons. “Captain,” his voice soft as it was stunned, “There’s been a massive explosion in the administrative building to the main colony….” the Bolian stated, turning towards the Captain.
If the change in events effected the Captain he did not show it. In a monotone voice without so much as raising a hand the orders came. Stryvek knew that the crew of this vessel would tend to their duties and make sure that it ended well. "Thank you Ensign Moxx..." Stryvek pushed a button on the arm of his chair. "Attention all hands this is the Captain. Sound blue alert throughout the ship. Prepare for multi vector assault." The lights dimmed and dark blue lights began to flash on all the consoles.
Stryvek then addressed each officer one at time and gave them their orders. He stood in front of the CO's chair with his hands behind his back. First he addressed his helmsman. "Ensign you will take flight control of all sections of the ship. Create a battle and sensor grid around the planet. No ship will approach or leave without us knowing..."
Next, Stryvek turned to the tactical officer. "Lieutenant, I want the shields raised and all weapons armed. Do not fire until the order is given. Get transport lock on all our people down there. Lower the shields only to bring them up...." As Stryvek continued around the Bridge Science was up next. "Lieutenant I want active sensor sweeps of the colony. Concentrate on what the explosion was and how everyone is reacting. If this was not natural then our culprits are on the planet. Ensign Moxx work with the Lieutenant on the sensors. Please make sure that adequate power is given to all portions of the ship."
There was a moment of silence, a logical calm on the bridge. Vulcans had this effect on people in times of turmoil. However, these people had no idea what roiled underneath for a Vulcan. Streyvek opened a channel to Sick Bay. "Sick bay stand by for incoming wounded. Have your triage teams report to the transporter rooms. Send them to the sites of the explosions when ready. Bridge out." The channel closed and Stryvek turned his attention to his Operations Officer. "Ensign Moxx open a channel to Lieutenant Stewart." Before the channel was open Stryvek continued. "Ensign you can separate the ship..."
Moxx paused when he heard the captain. He found it odd he would contact the Lieutenant before Commander Greco for a status report, but he simply nodded. "Aye, Sir. Channel open."
"Lieutenant Stewart. Status Report." Stryvek wanted to say more, wanted to go down there and bring her back himself. However, this was not a luxury that he had. So, asking for a report was the only way he could verify that she was ok and let her know what he... felt.
The shockwave hit him hard, knocking the drink from his hand just as Kes was about to take another drink as he'd been laughing at his cohorts. Instead the breath was knocked out of him suddenly followed a moment later by the *poomph* and roar of the explosion nearby.
Kes didn't even register who was next to him as he grabbed them and tossed them under the table with him and attempted to cover them with his body.
The music had stopped, debris and screams began to fall around them as Kes slowly untensed. After the first thud of the shockwave, he could hear other smaller explosions around them. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath before beginning to move from under the table.
Dashku had been working on her second beer at a small pub that had set up on the street for the festival. It was an Irish pub that was set up with a grill and coolers full of beer bottles and cans. She'd already eaten her lunch and was about to head deeper in when a faint rumble sent her to her feet. She knew what it was and a quick look around and she spotted the smoke.
"Oh no," Was all she managed. She wanted to yell, to tell everyone to get inside. There was no way of knowing what it was and inside the building should be safer.
When the second explosion triggered, she could feel the heat from behind her. There was no way of knowing just how close it was, but it was enough that it sent glass and debris flying and knocked her from her feet and onto the ground. She hit her head on one of the chairs and the world went black.
It was good to get off the ship, Amarok thought as he slowly walked one of the main streets of the colony beside the primary pathways where the Festival activities and merriment was in progress. He had decided to wear a cap that the humans favoured, he saw many while on Earth and had bought a few with various graphics and sayings on it. The one he wore had the Federation logo on it, clearly a tourist item but he didn't care. It covered his pointed ears somewhat uncomfortably but it was a discomfort he endured to feel safe.
He had noticed several Romulans by the style of their fashion and of course pointed ears on full display, Amarok if he had the chance would have advised them against that considering the growing hate against them. Then again, he felt this was punishment from the Elements for all the aggression the Empire did to the Federation. Soon Amarok was distracted by the many stalls along the way to the center of the colony, smells of various kinds came to him a few beats after the sounds of merrymaking and music increasing in volume every step he took.
Instantly glad he had a cap on as much of the colony center wasn’t covered so the daylight heat was coming down on them all. Of course Amarok wasn’t the only one wearing a hat, his pointed ears still rubbing against the cap in protest continuing his discomfort but he carried on. Which stall to visit first was his current problem, so many wares and so much to look at. He hoped he’d have enough time to explore. His Romulan hearing gave him a second warning prior to the Administration building erupting in a blaze of heat, fire and debris that he was in mid leap away from the explosion wave. He had collided with two others and brought them all down to the ground in a heap.
He could feel heat grazing his back as debris flew only milliseconds later, it somewhat burned his clothes and skin. Amarok grunted in pain as he attempted to glance over his shoulder to see the damage, both to the Administration building and his body. Apart from the distant sounds of secondary explosions, the immediate area seemed to have settled and Amarok shifted to let those he saved to get up but he needed a little more time to get back to his feet as the burn hurt and ached at the slightest movement.
It all came rushing back like it was yesterday. The sound of an explosion had Matewa ducking down under the bar for cover. His heart began to race and his eyes darting around looking for cover to move to, for potential threats and exits in case he needed to get people out quickly.
It was just like the Dominion War, it still fresh in his memory even now. He was younger then but something that vivid, that raw, never leaves a person, not really.
He began to sweat, well more than he was, and had not realised he'd grabbed Rufio on his way down.
Fire. Heat. Pain?
Sam was knocked off his feet and into the ground. On top of him there was a mass he couldn't quite recognise until he blinked a few times and gained his bearings.
It was a body.
The body of the woman he'd just been talking to. She was part of the planet's security/police force. They'd been chatting about recruitment, planet life etc. He'd taken quite a shine to her but that was gone now as her lifeless eyes now stared at him. It was his 'first' dead body.
He rose to his feet, pain in his arm as he did so, heat on his face as he put his hand up and felt blood.
Sam began to cough as smoke filled his lungs and he stared at the shattered burning shell of what used to be the Administration building.
Yara grinned to himself as he made his way out of the main colony towards the transport site back to the Moore. He so far had an enjoyable day exploring the grounds and taking in what the different cultures of the Federation had to offer.
The various smells and sounds brought up memories from his previous hosts as well which brought a warm smile to his face as he nodded to two passing officers on their way to enjoy their leave.
He was about to tap his combadge to hail the ship when he saw a large explosion at the docks across the field. He quickly ran in that direction. He was sure there were people there as there were people everywhere.
Yara ran as fast as he could over the uneven ground in the field, doing his best to keep his footing. He heard more loud booms and screams to his right and glanced in that direction and stopped in his tracks at what he saw. From the hillside he could see large plumes of smoke coming up from several points in the colony, several buildings were on fire and he could make out what looked to be administrative building missing most of its exterior and instead were falling from above. Even from such a distance he could tell it was a hellscape. "My god..."
Koaruh had been enjoying his shopping 'spree' with Lily. The coffee he had in his hand still hot as it was freshly poured by the owner of the stall. He read the name of the stand several times before it eventually clicked that it sounded like 'thanks a lot'. Smart play on words he'd thought.
Emotions hit him like a tonne of bricks. Fear, worry, panic all flooded in as he dropped his coffee in surprise. It splashed over his shoes as he turned to then see, and hear, the explosions that had taken over the landscape that a minute ago was quite serene.
The emotional flood now made sense. He would have to try his best to block out most of it but at this level of intensity it was very difficult.
Lily was enjoying a cup of coffee sitting across from Koaruh, dipping parts of her doughnut into her coffee then eating it. She was smiling having had a fun time looking at the various stalls that were there. Koaruh was rather affable, with her dragging him all over the place. As for her pretty clothing, Lily hadn't dared to put on her new outfit yet due to well, she didn't want to get them dirty. Lily planned on changing before she went to go dancing. Her jewelry was all nestled safely in her pants pockets, buttoned down to prevent them from falling out. Just as Lily was lowering her final piece of her doughnut towards the black goodness of her coffee- Fwoom!
In what seemed to be in slow motion, Lily watched as her cup leaped off the small table, onto the ground below shattering, then she went to the ground taking cover. The earth, seemed to ripple beneath her from a shockwave like that of a light earthquake. Lily heard another set of explosions, causing her to curl up tightly into a ball, clutching onto her bag which held her clothing, feeling a wave of panic rise within her, tears flowing down her face cutting a path through the dust which was there.
The first thing Rufio could hear was screaming from outside the tavern. It was odd, it didn't sound like screaming someone would have if they were having fun but a more panicked and worried one.
He furrowed his brow as he turned to look outside the bar through the large opening where a door would be. There was smoke, fire and even though he wasn't near it he felt like he could feel the heat.
Then it hit him, the noise. The boom that had caused the panic. This was followed by a few others and from that to milliseconds he was pulled to the ground by Matewa.
The hairs on Sophie's arms rose in a quick chill as a shiver went up her spine. She sensed it before she saw it, a rather perceptive quality she had in abundance.
Sharp screams, piercing almost. Smoke in the distance, the eventual sound of an explosion or two reaching their ears.
"Comm--" she began with a quiver in her voice that was cut short as the makeshift scaffolding next to them gave way and flew outwards as an explosion triggered next to where they stood.
Steve had been watching the people who were enjoying the unorthodox concert put on by the Nausicaans. The fans were more amusing and entertaining to watch than the actual band when he heard a loud scream and spun his head in that direction.
Greco heard Sophie’s voice but before he could process what she was saying, he was flung backwards from the explosion.
Dazed, Stewart slowly started to come back to her senses, realizing she was on the ground and Remy was slowly sitting up from where he covered her, looking at her in concern.
“Are you alright?” Remy asked quietly, reaching to push her hair off her face and to check her for injuries. His face was covered in dirt and grim but otherwise didn’t seem particularly harmed.
Evelyn nodded, looking up at him. “I’m ok.” She quietly reassured him when they both heard her combadge go off and the captain asking for a status report.
A flash of censure crossed Remy’s face when he heard the Vulcan’s voice before the man moved off of Stewart, allowing her to start sitting up, tapping her combadge. =/\= I’m here…the administration building, it’s been destroyed…some kind of explosion.=/\= Stewart groaned as she slowly got to her feet and looked around at the carnage.
Deep within Stryvek's head, at the deepest recess of his brain relief was felt. Relief that his chosen mate was alive in the midst of this chaos. That emotion did not make its way to the surface, to his face, hence no one was the wiser. "Very well Lieutenant. Gather as many of our people as you can and return to the ship. Signal when you are ready and we will lower the shields for you."
Remy moved from Evelyn’s side, pushing his feelings about the captain contacting her instead of Greco or Davaris aside and quickly moved to check on Administrator Karla, rolling her limp body over he felt for a pulse, finding none. “Dammit.” He cursed to himself before moving back to Keishara and Stewart to hear what was going on. “What about the Romulan colony?” He asked through the combadge.
"Mr Naal..." Stryvek began by way of acknowledging that Remy was alive. "...The Romulan settlement has had an explosion. However, we are not sure of the extent there. Our Sick Bay is of course open for you and your people. Same procedure as I told Lieutenant Stewart. Have your people contact me and we will get them up here."
Stewart took this in, realizing multiple explosions would indicate this was not an accident but a coordinated attack, and looked around the square. “Captain, we have a lot casualties down here.” She said in a tone that made it clear she wasn’t leaving the planet, even if he tried to order her. They needed people on the ground helping.
"Dr. Marlow will handle the injured. We have begun to transport emergency triage teams to various places that have been bombed. Lieutenant you must find Commander Greco and make contact. At the moment we are unable to contact him. Until contact is made I am placing Commander Davaris in charge of our people on the ground. You are to gather as many of our people as you can and get them up here. Once that is done you are to return to the ship. The helmsman should be at the helm when the ship is split."
Remy nodded at the two women. “My people and I will take what land transport there is and head for the Romulan colony and do what we can.” He said to the Starfleet officers and their captain through the comm channel. When he saw their agreement, Remy looked around the area as he backed up, raising his voice. “All URC personnel, on me.” He shouted to the civilian volunteers who were able to walk and the dozen or so people trotted after him towards the garages where the land transports were kept.
While Kei moved to secure the colony, Stewart sighed and reluctantly accepted the captain's orders and began the evacuation of the crew and searching for Greco.
Pushing herself from the ground onto her feet Keishara looked around to see the place in utter chaos. Tapping her communicator she called the Moore to get more of her security teams down to the planet for damage and population control. There was no way the locals would be able to handle something of this magnitude.
Someone rushed by her and fell over. Quickly, whilst still talking to the Moore, she picked them up and let them go.
"We need to evacuate this colony." she said turning to Evelyn and Remy. "There are two emergency bunkers in the hills that were used during the Dominion War as refuge, or 'safe haven's' should they need them." she added having done her research on the planet before they arrived.
"I'm going to try and coordinate with local security and organise my teams that are beaming down to help us." Kei said. She had gone straight into security/survival mode. "If there is any chance of further attacks we need to protect the people."
Luckily, if you could say that and mean it, Sam managed to grab a few of the colony's security forces and had organised them more efficiently as they had been a bit like headless chickens at this point.
An attack on this scale was never something they could fathom.
Sam was pretty sure he had dislocated his shoulder but even so he did his best to keep a level head and that of those around him. Commander Davaris had trained him well and he would be damned if he was going to let this colony down in their time of need.
Kes only realized he'd kept his jaw tensed when it had started to hurt. Screw it, didn't matter. He continued his focus. He continued chest compressions and checked for breathing on the young man that had fallen nearby.
Someone, a civilian, was applying pressure to a dirty shirt covering a wound on his leg. Kes continued pumping before breathing into his mouth and then back to compressions.
He allowed himself to look up and try to sight someone from the ship who had a working comm badge as his had shorted out because of the initial blast. Damn. He looked back down and continued compressions as the muscles in this jaw twitched.
When Dashku finally came too, her head was pounding and she was dizzy as hell. It took her a few moments to get her bearings and she realized she was on the floor of the Pub she'd been sitting outside of earlier. It seemed someone thought to get everyone inside considering the building was still standing.
With a low groan, she pulled herself up to a sitting position and took a look around. There were a lot of injuries and people sitting around looking rough. She reached up and touched her forehead a couple of times and noticed a sticky substance that was starting to dry. It was clearly blood from a wound she'd gotten.
As she moved up to her feet, she held on to a table to get her balance. She took a step forward and looked out one of the windows and the street looked devastated, a couple of the buildings across the street had taken the blunt of the explosion which had happened a block over at the administration building. There were burn marks, debris and chaos everywhere outside.
She turned and looked over the pub, it seemed the staff was trying to help those that they could but they seemed to only know some very basic first aid. She was going to need to help them as best she could.
"Oh dear, that's quite the burn," the woman commented as she and the man got to their feet.
The man nodded. "It is indeed," he said and went to one knee. "I'm here sir, thank you for saving us."
"Yes, thank you." The woman added as she knelt beside Amarok looking closer at the burn and greenness of it. "Oh you are Vulcan? Or Romulan?" She asked, curious.
Amarok was face down and grunted every time he attempted to shift into a seated position. Through gritted teeth he processed their words. "You're... wel--come," he began. "Rom-ulan, in --name only." Amarok answered as he took a deep breath and the other man immediately, without touching the burn, assisted their injured helper to sit up.
Amarok howled, he cut it off as he became still for the pain stopped, the ache went on regardless. The heat from the nearby debris connected with his burn and that made him grimace. "By the Elements!" He exclaimed, the expansion of his diaphragm triggered his burn and he quickly brought his legs into a cross-legged position. It allowed him to focus to fight the pain better.
The woman and man remained close as if shielding him from the heat, though he could hear the woman calling for help and the man behind him. Examining the burn and his clothing most likely. "Once help arrives I'll help you."
"Thank--- you." Amarok replied.
"What the fuck Mat?!" Rufio yelled over the noise, it took a lot for him to swear. "Are we under attack?!"
"I don't know buddy." Matewa said scanning the room. "But we need to get out of this tavern and see what we can do." he rose to his feet and stumbled a little. Maybe all the booze was not the best idea.
Rufio definitely felt he'd sobered up A LOT as adrenaline began to course through his veins.
Both rushed out the opening of the tavern to see many plumes of smoke and even though they weren't 'near' any of them they heat could still be felt.
"Rufio, you head to the spacedock and see if there are any salvageable shuttles. It'll make ferrying these people a lot easier.... I'm going to go and see if I can help people free from the rubble." Matewa nodded to Rufio who simply nodded back.
Tollan finally made his way to the docks. The place was utter chaos. He could feel the fumes from chemicals and fuel in the air, burning his lungs. Small explosions were still going off throughout the docks and he had to keep a watchful eye for any cargo that may fall from above.
He saw lots of bodies, some were moving slowly or groaning in pain, but many were lifeless. He approached the first person he came across and felt for a pulse. His suspicions where confirmed when he felt none.
Glancing up, he saw several people who like him saw the explosion and came running to help. "Get these people sorted. The critically injured prepare for transport. Those that can walk, get them out in the field away from the fumes. Now!" He shouted to everyone who could help as he moved to a barely conscious Bajoran who began calling out for help and ended up coughing violently.
Rushing to the man's side, Tollan took in his injuries. He had severe chemical burns to his neck and chest. His head was bleeding as was his right arm that was missing from just above his elbow down. Tollan quickly took off his uniform jacket and wrapped it as tightly as he could around the man's arm in a makeshift tourniquet, ignoring his screams of pain for the moment. The Bajoran didn't have much time. Tollan looked up and took a quick count of who was left and tapped his combadge. =/\=Yara to Moore. Medical emergency. Nine to beam directly to Sickbay. =/\= He didn't know where Lily was, if she was alive, but he would take over Sickbay if she wasn't there.
Koaruh's initial reaction had been one of shock given the quick influx of emotion but as he'd pushed that to the side he noticed Lily had taken cover.
He extended his hand to her to help her up. "Let's go and see who we can help. There will be a lot who need medical attention." he said with a morbid certainty.
"I'll follow your lead Lils." he added dusting her off.
Lily had fought to contain her rising panic, sucking in air with soundless sobs, the groans and screams of those who had been injured, trickled down through her mind. Giving rise to another emotion, she had to help someone, help them. The touch of someone's hand helped as well. It kicked into gear the side of her to brush away her panicked feelings. She can fall to pieces later on, there was an emergency happening. She took Koaruh's offered hand to help her up from where she had been a quivering ball of panic. She was still shaking.
Lily quickly applied a light pressure upon a focal point three fingers below her wrist to help settle her nerves. She could feel the anxiety abate even more. Squaring her shoulders Lily looked at Koaruh. "I am going to contact the ship, get a status report on our people then we'll go from there." Lily tapping on her combadge she had beneath her shirt.
"USS Moore, this is Doctor Marlow, we've had several explosions down here. Have you heard from our people who were in attendance in the celebration? I've got Lieutenant Avestro with me. We're fine so to speak."
Stryvek responded to the Doctor's hail. "Doctor it is good to hear from you. Commander Davaris is in command of our people on the ground. We have made contact with her and Lieutenant Stewart. We still have no contact with Commander Greco. Triage teams are beaming down to all the explosion sites. I am going to need you to take charge of the triage and getting the wounded to our Sick Bays."
Koaruh nodded, it was more a subconscious nod as the captain couldn't see him but he did so nonetheless. "Yes sir. We'll do our best." he turned to Lily.
"Thank you Captain I will do such." a rather firm and grim line of her lips forming. Gone was the carefree expression on Lily's face, now it was another wading into the blood and torn bodies due to explosions. She drew in a deep breath, then sent out a call, "Lieutenant Yara, please report in, just want to make certain you are alive and the same for the rest of the crew."
This was more for her sake at the moment, to get her mind focusing. While she waited for a confirmation call she looked at Koaruh, lets get to work and meet up with the injured here ." Lily rolling up her sleeves. "Lets get to the evacuation area."
=/\= Lily! It’s good to hear your voice.=/\= Yara’s voice came through the combadge. =/\= Listen, I have things covered here in Sickbay. I think you should stay on the planet. There are a lot more injured than are up here. Prep him for surgery…=/\= The combadge catching him giving orders to an aide before the channel closed.
Lily breathed a sight of relief hearing Yara's voice. "Thank you, that is a relief. Lily out." She turned to Koaruh, "Hopefully I get notice of the others whereabouts. I know it is strange I just have the need to know." this was stemming from her last assignment, when the ship had been under attack.
"I get it." Koaruh smiled a a little weakly at Lily. "You have a kind heart, but lets get our heads down and help those in needs here. The others will check in soon enough." he placed a hand on her shoulder. "C'mon Lils." he began to lead towards some of the injured.
Crawling around the Jefferies tubes, Liana was keeping herself busy looking over the dorsal auxiliary engineering, making sure every system was prepared incase things went south. She was just about to cross an intersection when the lights around her started flashing blue and her combadge beeped. Tapping her combadge, Liana called down to her staff, "Baaru to engineering, all hands on deck boys and girls." she said before she started to crawl her way out of the Jefferies Tubes and towards Engineering.
Sophie felt like she couldn't breathe. There was metal debris on top of her, crushing her almost but not enough to actually kill her unless someone got to her quickly.
She tried to move, even slip out from underneath herself but her right leg was immovable but the pain that seared through her when she tried was immeasurable as she screamed in pain.
Her throat was dry that even though she struggled to speak that piercing scream was heard for miles.
Soon she felt the debris being lifted from her and her leg wound was revealed. All Sophie could do was stare at the large metal pole that had went straight through her right thigh and into the ground forcing her to remain in place.
"Sssteve..." she mumbled with tears beginning to form in her eyes as they never left her leg. She looked a mess, truly. Cuts, scrapes, and now this. Her first assignment was not what she'd expected at all.
Steve came to with the sound of ringing in his ears and pressure on his chest. He’s head and back felt odd but he couldn’t describe it. Slowly he began to sit up and felt metal scaffolding roll off his chest. It hurt to breathe. His lungs felt like they were on fire and he was choking on smoke. His back and head still felt odd.
Glancing around at all the debris, he slowly came to his senses. Bodies, mostly burnt, limp and unmoving. They were everywhere. Immediately he feared the worst. “Sophie!” He called out, looking immediately at his sides, not finding the ensign. “Sophie! Where are you?” He called out before starting to make his way through the bodies.
After a walking for a few meters, he saw what looked to be Sophie laying under some of the debris from the scaffolding. He quickly rushed to get to her, in his haste he nearly tripped more than once trying to climb over the scaffolding as fast as possible.
“Sophie! Are you alright?” Steve asked when he finally reached the woman, already knowing the answer. He worked to pull the scaffolding off of Bishop. He felt the odd sensation in his back and head give way to a searing pain as he used all his strength to lift the metal off Sophie. He could smell his burnt uniform now. It was only then he saw the pole in her leg, pinning her to the spot, and immediately surveyed it. With a grim look he glanced at her. “I can’t pull this all the way out. You’ll bleed out too fast.” He told her as he gripped the pole on either side of her leg, feeling its shallowness in the ground. With a look at Sophie he took a deep breath. “Ready?” He asked without needing to explain what he was doing.
"No, no, no wait!" Sophie exclaimed but it was too late. Steve had his eyes pinned on the pole in her leg. She knew what he meant but it didn't make her hate the idea any less.
“One... two…three!” Steve called out before pulling with all his strength both sides of the pole to yank it out of the ground while keeping her leg as still as possible. Swiftly he picked her up and carried her to a safe spot. “We got to get you back to the Moore.” He explained but looked up when he heard the cries of injured concertgoers and shouts of people rushing about. He knew he should help.
Her scream pierced the very heavens so much so even the Gods would weep. Even as Steve picked her up, tried to keep her stable, the pole jostled in her flesh, in the muscle on her leg. Sophie gripped the man tightly, more so out of pain than anything else and looked around at the scene she'd been plucked from. She could see his eyes searching, eyes that almost felt helpless at what to do.
Sophie pulled his face towards hers, blood from her hands leaving a mark on it. "Help them too." she said through gritted teeth. "You said it yourself. As long as the pole is there I won't bleed out as quickly." she added knowing her duty to help others over herself. That's what Starfleet meant to her.
Steve set his jaw as he looked at Sophie, truly conflicted. He wanted more than anything to make sure she was safe and stay with her until he was certain of it. Her scream of pain ripped through him like it was his own, but knew she was right. He had a duty. Shaking with the effort to keep himself composed, he nodded as his breathing grew ragged as he struggled with the decision. Steve stroked Sophie's cheek to reassure her. "You are going to be alright." He said to reassure himself as much as her. Still not moving from her side, Steve glanced up and saw a Starfleet uniform, recognizing the gold shirt taking in the chaos. "Jackson, get her to the ship." He barked as he stood to get out of the man's way.
Steve watched the transport initiate when he heard a voice calling him in the distance and turned and saw Lieutenant Stewart running towards him through the carnage.
The bridge crew worked quickly but efficiently as they began coordinating the evacuations of the crew, setting up a defensive perimeter around Solomon IV and separating the ship with status reports coming from all departments cool and collected.
Without a word, Lieutenant Stewart left the turbolift and moved to take her station. She didn't even make time to change out of her filthy clothes as she relieved the lieutenant and took over the separation of the ship without even a glance in the captain's direction, only calling out when separation was complete and multi vector assault mode was initiated.
"Sir, I'm receiving a subspace transmission.." Ensign Moxx called out to the captain moments before the audio transmission began automatically, blocking out his commands to stop it from playing. "It's on a Federation Priority One frequency, I can't stop it." Moxx said as he tapped at the controls uselessly.
"For far too long the Federation has blindly opened it borders without question or hesitation of who or what may come in. No thought of it's citizens, those who hold to the values and laws of the Federation. Those it is sworn to protect. The ones who's voices are silenced the decisions of politicians to put outsiders, even enemies ahead of their own. By the time of this transmission, thirty-six Federation star systems will have been attacked. These star systems have continued the assault on Federation citizens by allying with organizations that have no allegiance to the Federation or its people. These systems harbor known enemies of the Federation. The people of the Federation will not be silenced. We will protect ourselves from all enemies, even those from within. The Romulans may take over our space but we will always stand strong. The people of the Federation will not be silenced! We are the Whispers of the Federation!"
About half way through the message Stryvek was as disgusted as a Vulcan could be. He asked for the channel to be closed and learned that it could not be, so he went with the next best thing. "Turn the speakers on the bridge off." The complete message aired throughout the rest of the ship at least Stryvek could think and not have to listen to the ramblings. He stared at the viewscreen a while and realized that his crew had eyes on him and expected orders. At length when he finally spoke there seemed to be even less emotion in his voice, almost a calm stoicism that one employs to conceal anger. "Contact Starfleet Command. Inform them that the Moore stands ready to render aide to any and all the systems that were attacked. In the meantime continue recue operations on the colony. Inform everyone that our Sick Bay is at their disposal." His gaze never left the viewscreen as he spoke. Stryvek simply stared unflinchingly, without blinking. As if his very gaze could pierce the distance between himself and those that did this. Deep within the core of the Vulcan's brain the anger roiled. Before this was over The Whispers would learn the reason Vulcan's bottled up their anger.
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