A Short Drop & A Sudden Stop

Posted on Thu May 31st, 2012 @ 9:07am by Berin Voight & Lieutenant Reggie Eito & Major Alexandria Somers & Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Gifford & Lieutenant Commander Sean O'Connell

Mission: The Mystery Men of Mira
Location: Transporter Room 78 [Starbase 332] & Tohil Outskirts [Archa IV]
Timeline: MD09 2005hrs

[ON]

Gifford wasn't the first to the trans porter room, He and and Dunmore were just returning from a late dinner when he heard the screaming. Both Marines arrived to see a young Crewman in the passageway outside the Transporter room. Tully checked her as she collapsed to the deck. She was pointing towards the open doorway. Gifford pulled his weapon and made a tactical entry to the room as Dunmore hailed medical.

The smell of Blood filled the room, he saw the body behind the console. A Traumatic head wound that had taken most of the skull off and displayed it on the wall.. He moved to the console and hit the duress button signaling the station to Red Alert. He went down on on knee and the crewman had no pulse whatsoever. he heard the med team arrive outside.

"TULLY, ROOM IS CLEAR!" The klaxon was blaring now and things were moving fast. Dunmore stepped in and saw the body. "Damn, I have the boys on the way Sir."

Gifford studied the situation quickly. Were they attacked? Or was someone fleeing. "Tully, get Eito in here right now. I don't know how to run this equipment to find out whats going on. Get a fire Team down here too."

John stepped away from the console and tapped his combadge. "Commander Weiss this is Gifford, We have a hostile situation. Transporter room 78. One serious injury."

Gunning's temporary replacement shot a signal back straight away. "Acknowledged. Keep me advised. Make sure you inform Lieutenant O'Connell as to your movements."

Reggie was asleep when the Red alert hit. Next thing he knew he was being called to get to the transporter room. As he entered he saw the body and was sick.

Gifford looked down at the medical team leader who glanced up from the body shaking his head.

"Tully, secure this deck until security gets here tell them not to touch anything." He saw a bleary eyed Chief Engineer. "Eito can you take a look at this thing and tell me what the hell happened?"

He stepped over the body and held his breath, it was awful. He focused on the console and attempted to figure out what had had transpired. "It looks fully functional to me Sir. I have one outbound Fourteen minutes ago. The signal has been scrambled too. Give me a sec with it."

Reggie was just about to lose his dinner when he picked up the original signal running a Beam trace protocol.

"Major I have the signal but I can't tell you where it leads, it's not on the station or another vessel. So it has to be on Archa..."

"Keep track of that signal Reggie, I need to get with the Lieutenant."

"Lieutenant, engineering has the signal isolated down on the planet but we're not sure it's exact location. I have a team standing by awaiting your orders."

"That will be Mister Voight, I got a location from the First mate. Sending the coordinates to you now. Please detain him and try not to kill him. Corpses add paper work, I have enough of that already. Also I need him for questioning so don't kick the bejaysus out of him. O'Connell out." Sean quickly sent the coordinates to engineering from the bridge of the Drake.

Gifford waved in a Fire Team to the Transporter room. He took a position on the padd and waited a few seconds before he and his team were on their way. Exactly where he was uncertain but he now knew who he was looking for...

Voight scrambled out into the clearing as he heard the footsteps of his contact. The lanky, reptilian Gharayan made his way slowly around the outside of the area, ignoring the human Freighter Captain who stood in its centre. "You weren't followed?"

"No, I scrambled the transport. They won't be able to trace it precisely."

"So you've been caught and you're bang to rights? What can the Vinarian Syndicate do for you, Voight? Perhaps we could arrange safe passage off this world or would you like us to build you a giant mansion in the shape of the massive crap-storm that you've just brought down on our heads?!"

Voight shrugged off the Gharayan's point. "I just want my money and then you can go back to Mira and continue to lurk in childrens' closets, you terrifying bastard."

The Gharayan bared his teeth at the Drake's Captain. "You're lucky that I only look like a Gorn."

The Marine assembled quickly, the team leader dropped and conduced a quick scan of the area. He turned to Gifford,. "Two of them. lifeforms that way One Thousand Meters."

"Good, lets go weapons free." The team took off at a fast run in a line formation Gifford was doing good just to keep the pace with these Marines. He guided them with hand signals and closed in on the scanned targets very quickly. As they came within weapons range the Marines spread there field of fire and went infra Red locking on both targets.

Gifford could see both subjects were having some type of argument. He acknowledged the arrival of two more Fire teams were maneuvering around his position at 300 meters. He didn't have a Hud display of the teams but the noose was tight. He gave the signal to move in..

The Major stood 20 meters from the pair and gave his first and last warning.

"CITIZENS, DO NOT MOVE..YOU ARE SURROUNDED BY HEAVILY ARMED FEDERATION TROOPS. RESISTANCE IS USELESS."

His team advanced pointing their weapons directly at the Two subjects. Another fire team deployed behind the subjects and made their presence known.

Arriving behind the first team Naomi made herself and her Fire Team known and nodded that they had Griffords back. "We have you covered" Was all she said as she signalled her team to take flanking positions.

The Gharayan struck a panel on his wrist, activating the violet transporter beam that had seen him appear. Voight looked on, distraught. The Gharayan was gone with his money and he was surrounded. What was the punishment for trafficking within Federation Space? He knew all too well.

He'd always been told, 'If you can't do the time, don't do the crime'. He took a different impression of the circumstances. He raised the small projectile weapon he had used on the Transporter Chief from its holster and held it out towards the Major. He called out, his voice trembling with panic. "You're not taking me in. I'll take you with me if you even try to take me down!!"

Gifford smiled. "So your going to another Murder to your charge.? My Marines won't kill you and Neither shall I. So you might as well just put that toy down and give up."

He was in a circle of Marines now...

Naomi's Team closed off the circle, while weapons were not aimed they were in a position where they could quickly be aimed.

Voight's hand began to quake. The phasers pointing at him could probably atomise every single vital organ in his body with the gentle touch of a finger to a trigger. His gun didn't give him the option of just knocking someone down. Its projectile would tear and rend flesh as its searing force passed through them. He couldn't waver.

If he wavered for just a second the United Federation of Planets Marine Corps would put him down. They were going to put him down anyway but he would rather die than be stunned and have to stand trial. The pursuit of Latinum was never going to be an easy one but he had made some difficult choices along the way. Difficult choices that were now coming back to him.

He thought about all of the women he had trafficked. It was easy money to take them from Mira, under heavy sedation, lay them over on Starbase 332 and then smuggle them out beyond the outer rim. Easy and profitable. Two words which had always worked for him.

The former Captain of the MV Drake heard the shot echo back and forward across the little clearing. He saw the blood spray out from the Major's shoulder. Then he heard nothing but the screaming of phasers fired in anger. Phasers whose blasts impacted his body and sent him rocking to and fro with their force. Eventually the noises stopped.

All the noises stopped.

The pounding in his head, the voices and the cries of the Orion women, doped to the eyeballs. They were all quiet now.

[OFF]

Major Jonathan Gifford
Commanding Officer, 14th Battalion UFP Marine Corps

Captain Naomi Griffiths
Executive Officer, 14th Battalion UFP Marine Corps

Lieutenant Sean O'Connell
Chief Of Station Security, Starbase 332

Lieutenant (JG) Reggie Eito
Chief Engineering Officer, Starbase 332

Sergeant Major Tully Dunmore [NPC: Gifford]
First Sergeant, 14th Battalion UFP Marine Corps

Captain Candice Rhodan [NPC: Gifford]
Fox Company Commander, 14th Battalion UFP Marine Corps

Berin Voight [NPC: Gunning]
Captain, MV Drake