[IRW Endless Sky]
Shiarrael dematerialized in a crouching stance holding out her disruptor but the corridor was empty. Slowly standing she held her hand up to caution the rest of the team. Something was amiss...she waiting half expecting to be ambushed but nothing came. Perhaps Aria's team was proving to be more of a distraction then she had originally hoped "forward, with caution" she whispered and then moved forward, weapon extended.
Brent had his kinetic rifle up already, and was keeping parallel with the captain. If he was going to quote regulations to her he might as well make good on the regs. He motioned for the rest of them to take up the rear. "You'd think if this genocidal monster was preparing to launch a assault against his primary target there'd be more activity on the decks," Brent said quietly. "You're the expert on these beasts Captain. What's your take on it."
"Beasts?" She let the humor slip from her voice as she cautiously marched down the corridor "they are not Klingons Lieutenant. They have something planned. I can sense it." Shiarraels' blood was running cold. There should have been people here. Were they expected? No...not possible but something was certainly not entirely right here. She stopped and held up her hand "wait" she whispered as her eyes narrowed to slits. She could hear it- boot steps. Dozens of boot steps. Kneeling down she pressed her palm against the cold polished surface of the deck. She could feel them. Looking up she smiled "ah, my cousin is sending us an escort." The sarcasm was dripping.
"We can discuss philosophy and the nature of differing species another time I think Captain," Brent said half amused that the captain responded to him. He waited until the Captain was done feeling the deck plate, still not quite convinced of this strategy of intelligence gathering. However she was the expert. "Well. It's a good thing we brought 'Welcome to Vulcan' gifts here now isn't it," he said as he withdrew two plasma grenades, his men behind him withdrawing one each. He offered one to the Captain and pointed nearby. "They're coming down this hall yes?" he asked as he motioned at the direction that the Captain had been looking down. "That's a nice corner there. May I suggest we prime them and deliver our gifts in person."
When the boot steps got to be so close that Brent and the other marines could hear them they were as good as their word. All of them primed their grenades at once, and threw them at the wall. The result was less than perfection, but it did get the job done. All seven grenades from the Marines landed around the corner and in the middle of the advancing Romulan columns. The plasma based explosions were horrific, gutting the corridor and creating a small firestorm, melting armor and flesh alike.
I shouldn't enjoy this- this much. That thought had always lingered in Shiarrael's mind every time she entered combat. As one of the remaining Gai'Shian lunged at her she gracefully sidestepped his attack causing him to stumble forward. She licked her lips as he twisted around unsheathing his blade and launched himself at her a second time. She let the blade slip harmlessly past her chest before taking hold of his arm and snapping it at the elbow. The Gai'Shian screamed in pain grabbing his arm. Shiarrael found the noise aggravating so she ripped the blade from his hands and impaled him in the throat immediately silencing him.
As he fell over and flailed about like a headless hlai she looked at Brent "we don't have time for this- we must get to bridge." She casually reached in front of him and pulled one of the plasma grenades off of Brent's military hardware sash. She looked at the oncoming Gai'Shian with pity as the pin gracefully jingled to a rest still attached to Brent's sash- "perhaps it would be wise to..." she paused and looked at the Marines who stared at her in horror as she still held onto the grenade "what is the term?" She shook her head "never mind" and rolled the grenade into the other Gai'Shian who were charging past the flames from the last attack.
Brent's hand snapped out, grabbing one of the Gai'Shian who had made it far enough to get to the Marines. The woman's head gave off a sickening crack as Brent snapped it, and the blade destined for either himself or the Captain collapsed down onto the floor. Despite the Gai'Shian's near death state, Brent made sure of the issue. He pressed the dying Romulan against the wall before smashing his fist through her skull, destroying what little brain function she had left, before the back of her skull shattered against the wall.
Removing the remains of the skull and brain matter from his fist Brent turned to the captain, shaking the remains of the copper blood and brain off. "I believe the term you're looking for ma'am is to double time it. "Those troops had to have come from somewhere. Let's go their route to the bridge."
"Double time?" She shook her head "no, I was thinking of an animal- it has a yellow mouth-nose that is flat and webbed feet. Strange creature that makes the most hideous noises." Shiarrael shuddered "but doubling our time would be also be wise." She stepped forward, kicked a stray arm out of her way, and hugged the wall making her way past the flames. Gai'Shian were still coming down- this was going to become cumbersome very soon.
Brent then made his best impersonation of a duck quacking, several times as he followed suit behind the Captain, his hands on the Romulan disruptor he had confiscated. He picked off one of the Gai'Shian with two shots to the chest, watching as they moved forward slowly. "What are your orders ma'am? Fight through or find another way up?" he asked her with the two most obvious solutions.
"We don't have the time." Shiarrael lamented and then lifted her own weapon taking a pot shot at three approaching Gai'Shian "pray that Colonel Falcon is successful. It will be a shame if all this effort is in vain." She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. When her eyes opened she charged into the oncoming Gai'Shian like a wild thrai charging a flock hlai.
[To be continued...]
Captain Shiarrael t'Rehu
Commanding Officer
USS Charon
&
First Lieutenant Brent Warren
Acting Marine Commander
USS Charon
