[USS Charon, Bridge]
Lamont was reviewing casualty reports on the bridge when the shrill voice of tactical cut through the air with the force of a level one shockwave. "Detecting energy signatures aft!" Lamont's stomach suddenly wrenched as a torrent of adrenaline was dumped into his blood stream. "Reverse angle of the viewscreen and magnify", he shouted desperately attempting to contain his own trepidation. What he saw next made every hair on his body stand on end.
"Sound General Quarters, Red Alert", Lamont shouted as he bolted upwards from the captain's chair. "Someone find the captain and get her up here NOW!" On the viewscreen lie the fuzzy outline of a Romulan vessel closing in from astern. They had been found.
"Prepare to engage the target with any weapons that are operational! Engage all ECM systems!"
Lamont fell backwards into the chair unable to remove his eyes from the foreboding Romulan ship closing in on their aft quarter. The sight sent a wave of panic through him though he quickly swallowed the emotion. He..he could do this until the captain arrived. He had to do it.
"Helm, evasive action. Full impulse power!"
What was the best angle of attack? Where was the Romulan most vulnerable? He didn't know. This wasn't his game and he was woefully outclassed. Suddenly the chair he was sitting in seemed the most inhospitable and most desolate place aboard the Charon. Gripping the armrests, Lamont steeled himself against what was to come. For the first time on this tour of duty, he had a burning desire to see the captain and relinquish command to her much more capable and experienced hands.
Shiarrael was in the process of leaving sickbay when the alert klaxons blared. The moment she heard that wretched noise a deep sinking feeling knotted into the pit of her stomach. 'We have been found' and the dread was all too real- her heart pounded relentlessly inside her chest as she wondered if the Charon would be ripped asunder while she stood in the turbolift. It was a slow, silent, and tense trip as the lift moved towards the bridge. When it stopped and the doors opened she let out a breath but wondered what these demons had in store for her crew- and it was in that moment as she exited the lift that she heard the all too familiar humming sound. In front of the command chair- occupied by Ian Lamont, four husky Rihannsu dematerialized. They were rigid and rugged looking. 'Gai'Shian' the realization immediately hit Shiarrael. When the last speckle of emerald energy dissipated the four were in crouching stances gripping their disruptor rifles tightly.
The entire bridge crew seemed stunned by the sight- their eyes watched the scene but their bodies were frozen as their minds attempted to digest the situation. Shiarrael immediately went into combat mode as one of the Gai'Shian leveled his rifled directly into Lamont's face- a crude disgusting grin slicing through his lips. Shiarrael ran suddenly and leapt over the backs of the command chairs bowling directly into two of the soldiers who stumbled backwards. The other two shifted their stances to aim at Shiarrael but a blue blur tackled one of them- when Shiarrael sat up she noticed Shrishnar struggling with one of the Gai'Shian but she could do nothing to assist him. The other Gai'Shian leveled his disruptor at her.
"Mrow?"
When the tinkling sound started behind M'Riarr's back, she could feel her singed fur stand on end and turned in her chair, just in time to see four green-ish shapes resolve themselves into soldiers.
A feral grin crept across the large Caitian's furry snout and she launched herself forward, but to her dismay and deep embarrassment, her large hind paw somehow got stuck under the helm console in the process and she fell flat on her face, just a claw-length short of the closest Romulan.
"RrrrrOW!" She just so noticed a ballistic Captain tackling two of the intruders and managed to pull her paw free while the cute Andorian rolled past her, exchanging a veritable flurry of blows with another Romulan.
Snarling with feline fury, she was ready to rip that thing apart, but there was one still standing and he… oh SHIT.
Not knowing what else to do, M'Riarr dug her claws into the bridge carpet and traversed the half-meter between her and the soldier ready to shoot her Captain in less than a second, biting the thing firmly in the leg.
Yuck.
Shiarrael watched wide eyed as the Romulan soldier tumbled over screaming as the Ensign mauled him- 'truly an interest sight' she thought somewhat amused. Standing up she turned and kicked one of the Romulan's backwards into to the viewscreen- it cracked and large splinters of screen fell to the deck along with the Romulan "secure the bridge!" She shouted.
Ian Lamont sat speechless as Romulan soldiers materialized before him. Unable to immediately react Lamont could do nothing as one of them shoved the business end of a rifle into his face the soldier grinning with supreme satisfaction. Out of nowhere a body flew through the air and tackled the Romulans before him as Ensign M'Riarr leapt from her station and went on the attack. Lamont's momentarily paralysis faded as harsh reality sucker punched him snapping him from his petrified condition.
Swallowing, Lamont would have paid any sum of money to have had a foil, rapier, or sword of any type at his disposal. In his hands the obsolete weapon would make short work of the Romulan intruders. Such anachronisms were not available forcing the use of an even more basic weapons system. With the captain struggling with the two Romulan's on the ground before him and Ensign M'Raiarr gnawing on another, Lamont jumped into the fray to assist the captain and help subdue the intruders.
The Caitian tasted copper, and it nearly made her gag. But the mean thing that had wanted to hurt her Captain was screaming nicely. Not nearly enough yet, though.
Hissing with disgust, the big lioness let go of the leg and turned her blood-dripping snout towards the soldier's face. "Ssssssorry. I actually meant to do Thissssss." and she thrust her claws into his shoulders, hoisting him up as she herself unfolded her large frame to her full height, holding the screaming male at face height. Yes, that sounded about right.
"Not what you exssssspected, I wagerrrrrrr."
He struggled and kicked, his rifle long forgotten somewhere on the floor, and every impact on M'Riarr's already singed golden fur and her many bruises only increased the Caitian's desire to play with her prey a little more.
Something bumped into her and shifted her focus. MORE prey to be had.
With a deafening roar, she threw the useless thing in her paws across the bridge and it impacted one of the science stations with a very nice thud and the cracking of bones.
She didn't even realize the red stuff running into her eyes was her own when her powerful claws found a new victim who promptly screamed as his back was torn open, and she barely noticed the stink of more burnt fur when the disruptor blast that grazed her side registered and 180 pounds of Caitian hit the deck, roaring with anger and pain.
[To be continued…]
Captain Shiarrael Rehu
Commanding Officer
USS Charon
Ambassador Ian Lamont
Diplomatic Advisor
USS Charon
Ensign M'Riarr (a.p.b Chaya)
Assistant Helmsman
USS Charon
