Getting the Word Out
Posted on Tue Nov 18th, 2014 @ 5:31pm by Captain Liarra Von & Major Alexandria Somers & Lieutenant JG Erica De'Havean & Hyram
Mission:
Aggressive Negotiations
Location: Myaz Capital, Sovereign's Palace
Sovereign's Palace
By now it seemed like half of the Sojourner's army had been alerted to the escape attempt. Liarra wouldn't be surprised to find out that Vaishaa had already returned to her ship, where she was safe from the marauding marines. But it was no matter to Liarra. She knew that getting to Vaishaa would have been nearly impossible anyway. The warlord would have concentrated her troops on her position immediately, assuming that it even took that long to beam away.
No, Liarra had another objective. So far this mission had been a complete disaster on nearly every level. Not only had she failed to gain the trust of King Hyram, but she allowed Myaz to fall under control of the Sojourners. There was no way to know what remained of the Myaz government, and for all she knew, Hyram was already dead. The only hope she had to repair some of the damage was to help Hyram's aid, the Myaz named Niru. He had a family out there that he wanted to keep safe, and Liarra felt that she owed him that much. And with a little luck, their message won't just keep Niru's family safe, but may even lead to a Myaz resistance defeating the Sojourner conquers. Liarra could only hope.
Niru had never seen so much death, so much destruction in such a short time. A sheltered life between this palace and his family's farm could never have prepared him for seeing scorched and withered faces contorted in fear and agony. Some were his own people. Even if he and his Sovereign did survive this, how would they rebuild?
With Dr. Reed and the rest of the marines in retreat, Von, Captain Smith, Sergeant K'Lagg, and Niru rushed through the halls of the Sovereign's Palace. Judging by the amount of resistance they were facing, it seemed that the Sojourners had not wasted any time settling in. A stray disruptor bolt hit the wall near Liarra as she tried to turn a corner. She ducked and rolled behind a stack of junk on the floor before firing blindly down the corridor. She gestured next to here and towards an alcove across the hall. "Smith, with me. K'Lagg, take cover over there. We'll provide covering fire."
Looking at the human; but duty was duty "Yes Captain" He gruffly said.
The squeal which emanated from Niru's mouth as these... soldiers tried to kill one another was far from prideful and he fell back against the wall, clutching his hands over his ears as though not being able to hear the violence would make it go away. Every time he allowed his clamped eyes to open, he realised that it hadn't.
While he was still with the group he looked at Niru "at least you do not need to fight" Smith said.
Niru's eyes suddenly seemed more peaceful as he considered the now firing Captain's point, the chances of him being killed were very small, unless the Starfleet personnel he was with fell. It didn't seem to quell the fear but it helped a little.
Von kept her eyes down the hall towards the Sojourner troops, but she felt Smith fall in line next to her. She readied her phaser and fired a few shots meant to keep the enemy pinned down. She knew that she wouldn't be able to hit them, but at least she could keep them from shooting back. "K'Lagg, go. Then keep us covered."
Niru no longer seemed frozen in fear at the thought of moving and stuck closely behind Smith as they moved slowly down the corridor. He held himself as close to the ground as he could while still being able to move with a decent speed. The phaser and disruptor blasts which seemed to tear through the walls, sending dust and debris everywhere seemed worse now as the team pressed on. He dared not look up.
"Okay this is not going well, Captain I would say we need to get our butts the hell outta this place, perhaps we can get De'Havean to do a combat pick up? I mean the shuttle has transporters, they are under the transporter blocking signal, if they fly close enough to our location they should be able to beam us up, what say you Captain?" Smith asked.
Niru nodded his agreement at the Marine Captain's assessment of their chances and managed to stir up some pluck. "Captain Von. The communications room is just down that corridor- I can get there and activate the communications system, you could make for the roof and get yourselves to safety!"
Von ducked behind a pile of junk just in time to dodge another phaser blast. She reached up and fired another shot, not looking to see if she hit anything. "Niru, I couldn't ask you to do that alone. You said so yourself that this might not have happened had we not been here. I owe you that much."
"Captain." Niru said quietly through the volleys of deafening energy discharge. "I can't expect you to lead me everywhere. You have brought me this far and now you must return to your ship. If you had not come, if they had not come, someone or something else would have come to the Myaz Sovereignty and challenged us. That is something which Hyram will have to answer for. It is not for you to die for our soil."
Liarra admired the aide's resolve. Comparing him to his king was like night and day. "We'll be back, Niru. I'll do everything in my power to make sure that Myaz is liberated. Vaishaa won't get away with this." She took his hand in a friendly gesture. "You're strong, stronger than you realize. Your people will need someone strong to lead them. Go warn your people and get to your family. The Myaz need you."
"Thank you, Captain." Niru said, grasping the Captain's hand and shaking it enthusiastically. "Good luck."
As the Myaz left them, "You think we can get out of here now Captain? I do not want to end up a prisoner, if that happens the Major will have my hide." Smith said and the Klingon marine guffawed,
Liarra watched Niru head on his way before turning back to the marines. "Right, let's get out of here. We need to keep heading up, make our way to the roof. The shuttle can pick us up there." Von tapped her communicator, which was working again since the marines had taken out the communication jamming stations. "Von to Griffiths."
Shuttle Location - Myaz
Tapping her commbadge, she replied. "Griffiths here Captain!"
Our Myaz friend has gone along on his own to complete his mission. We're heading to for the roof. Bring the shuttle in and pick us up there. We might have to do a hot extraction, Von's voice called out over the open comm.
"Will do Captain, Griffiths out," Naomi said then looked at De'Havean "Okay, El tee, get us to the Captain's position pronto" Griffiths said taking the co-pilots seat.
De'Havean just nodded and soon had the shuttle skimming the treetops towards the palace, zeroing on the Captain Von's position. Her hand flew across the console, making the shuttle respond to her commands. She zipped between building, over low laying obstacles, check points that Sojourners had began setting up to control the population..
In matter of minutes, Erica had the shuttle approaching the palace grounds, eying her target landing spot. It didn't look like much she could do as it was barely big enough for Von's group to stand on, much less land a shuttle there. She shrugged. as she whipped the shuttle in close with back end resting on the ledge and the hatch opening to allow entrance.
Very shortly afterwards the door to the roof burst open, and through it climbed a Trill and a human in dust covered dress whites and a Klingon marine in full combat gear. The Trill fired once more through the doorway, which was flanked on either side by the marines. She looked up to see the shuttle before hurrying to the hatch. "Leave them!" Von shouted to the two marines. "Let's go!" Von was joined on the hatch by another marine on the shuttle, who covered the retreat of Smith and K'Lagg. With them on board, Liarra hit the controls to raise the hatch, and made her way quickly to the cockpit end of the shuttle. She grabbed a handhold on the shuttle's bulkhead. "Get us out of here, Ensign!"
Once the back hatch rose and closed, Erica had the shuttle climbing for the stars. She changed angles of climb at random to avoid target acquisition. Even threw in direction changes. A few gun emplacements fired back at the fleeing shuttle, but thanks to De'Havean's expert flying, they were all misses. As the shuttle accelerated towards orbit, Liarra gazed out through the forward viewport, and reflected on the failure of their mission.
Captain Liarra Von
Commanding Officer
Starbase 332
Major Naomi Griffiths
Commanding Officer
G Company, 14th Battalion
Ensign Erica De'Havean [P: Akiashiro]
Acting Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Carthage
Niru [NPC by Jordan Gunning]
Royal Aide
Myaz Sovereignty
Captain Jeff Smith [P: Griffiths]
Executive Officer
G Company, 14th Battalion
Sergeant K'Lagg [P: Griffiths]
Rifleman
G Company, 14th Battalion
