Predators Part 5

Posted on Fri Jan 17th, 2025 @ 5:47pm by Captain Malcom Llwyedd & Commander Siora Carberos & Lieutenant Kaelen Voss

2,865 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: A Long Hard Road Ahead
Location: Main Sensor Suite, DS18
Timeline: 07 October, 2396- 0900 Hours

[ON]

The internal sensors had been malfunctioning since the Coalition's attack. They were just one of the numerous issues on Siora's list to address in this cursed station she'd been marooned on.

She had summoned Lieutenant Voss for assistance, given his expertise in damage control. Lately, the sensors had been detecting 'shadows' throughout the station, and she had been working to recalibrate them to either eliminate these anomalies or determine their origin.

While waiting for Voss to arrive, Siora was struggling with a panel that refused to detach from the wall.

Lieutenant Kaelen Voss strode briskly down one of the station’s partially lit corridors, his toolkit slung over his shoulder. He was en route to the sensor suite to meet with Commander Siora Carberos, but a report about a water leak at intersection 39A had prompted a detour.

The corridor still carried the faint scent of ozone from recent repairs, and the overhead lights flickered sporadically. Most of the lighting operated at reduced power, and pockets of darkness remained but engineering crews worked tirelessly to restore full functionality.

Rounding the final corner to intersection 39A, Voss halted, his eyebrows shooting up in disbelief. The report had seriously undersold the situation: this wasn’t a minor leak but a full-on indoor waterfall. Water gushed from a large crack in the ceiling and burst pipes hidden behind the paneling, flooding the entire intersection.

A lone security officer stood guard, relief, and exasperation mingling on his face as he saw Voss approach.

“Lieutenant Voss!” the officer shouted over the roar of cascading water, his voice strained. “Glad you’re here! This leak has escalated into something else entirely!”

Voss let out a low whistle, assessing the chaos. “Understatement of the year,” he muttered, dropping his toolkit onto one of the few remaining dry patches. “How long has it been like this?”

“About twenty minutes,” the security officer replied, frowning.

Voss grimaced, kneeling to unpack his tools. “All right. First things first, let’s stop this waterfall before it gets any worse.” He pulled out a portable patch kit and his tricorder. “Let’s find those valves first.”

He scanned the area with his tricorder, locating the main water shutoff valves about fifteen feet east of the intersection. Wading through ankle-deep water, he reached a maintenance panel that blended seamlessly with the wall—a deliberate design choice for the station’s aesthetics.

Voss found the handle on the top right of the panel and twisted it, releasing the cover. He set the panel gently on the floor as a maze of pipes, wiring, and safety plates, all clearly marked: color-coded lines for water, sewage, and fire suppressant, and a small digital control panel were all revealed. Several valves were visible, each one corresponding to a different section of the piping.

He located the valve for the water system and twisted it firmly downward. For a moment, he held his breath, waiting to see if it worked. Slowly but surely, the torrent of water slowed to a trickle, then stopped entirely.

The security officer let out a relieved sigh. “That was easy.”

Voss had barely opened his mouth to respond when a loud crackle and a burst of sparks drew his attention.

Across the intersection, an electrical panel overloaded, spewing blue-white sparks into the air. The acrid smell of burning insulation filled the space, and within seconds, flames erupted, hungrily licking at the malfunctioning panel. Heat radiated through the corridor, adding a new level of danger to the already chaotic scene.

The security officer’s eyes widened. “Lieutenant! We’ve got fire!”

Voss’s mind raced. He grabbed a fire suppressant canister from a nearby emergency station. It was a basic handheld unit, but it would have to do.

“Get back!” he shouted, and the officer wisely retreated from the spreading flames.

Voss yanked the pin from the canister and aimed the nozzle at the base of the fire. He squeezed the trigger, releasing a steady stream of foam. The chemicals hissed as they met the flames, which flared up one last time in protest before beginning to shrink. Voss kept his focus, carefully dousing every ember until the fire finally sputtered out.

Thick smoke hung in the air, and Voss coughed, waving a hand to clear the haze. He tossed the empty suppressant canister aside and turned to the security officer with a smirk.

“So, my advice,” he said, voice hoarse but amused, “don’t announce that something is ‘easy.’ The universe will take that as a challenge.”

The officer’s face flushed with embarrassment. “Sorry.”

Voss chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. “No harm done. Let’s just hope we’re in the clear now.”

He tapped his commbadge. “Voss to main engineering.”

“Reyes here,” came the reply.

“Reyes, I need a water vacuum team at intersection 39A near the sensor suite. We’ve got a minor flood situation.”

“Understood. Team on the way, Voss,” Reyes responded.

Voss exhaled, glancing around at the drenched and smoke-filled corridor. Another crisis averted, but the day wasn’t over yet.

Moments later, Voss, who was both wet and smelled of barbeque, entered the sensor suite looking for Commander Carberos.

Siora's attention was caught by the sound of the doors opening. Glancing up, she saw a figure that resembled an ordinary human male surveying the room. Not one for perusing personnel files, which she found tedious, she instinctively thought it was Lieutenant Voss. "Over here," she called out.

As the man neared, her smile was warm and welcoming, a testament to her amiable nature. "Lieutenant Voss?" she inquired, seeking confirmation that it was indeed him and not just some stray man in yellow seeking her attention or waywardly wandering.

Lieutenant Kaelen Voss wiped a damp sleeve across his forehead, the sweat and residual water mixing with soot from the earlier fire. He must have been quite a sight, considering the unimpressed glare the sensor suite’s gleaming panels were giving him—if panels could glare, that is. His boots squished slightly on the floor, adding to his already disheveled entrance.

He walked up to the Commander. “Lieutenant Kaelen Voss at your service, Commander,” he said, adjusting his toolkit on his shoulder. “Though fair warning: I’ve had a bit of an eventful journey on the way here. Waterfalls and spontaneous fires tend to delay a man.”

"Seems your journey here was more adventure than travel," Siora quipped with a smirk, appreciating the man's disheveled appearance. "How about conjuring up a fresh pair of boots and socks? Soggy footwear is hardly the latest fashion," she teased. "After that, let's tackle these haywire sensors that keep mistaking dust bunnies for phantoms," she suggested, alluding to the 'ghostly' signals plaguing their station post-attack.

Voss chuckled, setting his toolkit down near the stubborn panel Siora had been working on. “Boots and socks will have to wait. I’m curious to see what’s causing your phantom parade,” he said, crouching down to inspect the panel.

Voss pulled a small multi-tool from his kit. “Stubborn panels are my specialty.” He ran his hand along the edges of the panel, feeling for irregularities, and noticed a faint build-up of what looked like residue along the seam. “Looks like this might’ve fused a bit from overheating. Give me a second.”

With a precise twist and a gentle application of leverage, the panel finally gave way with a reluctant groan. Inside, a tangled web of wiring and conduits greeted him, several of them showing signs of recent repairs—or improvised fixes. Voss whistled low. “Well, there’s your first problem. Looks like someone decided to make up their own wiring diagram.”

Behind the two engineers, the air rippled as the two Jem'Hadar shimmered into view. The leader, a tall, Jem'Hadar with a prominent nose, swung his plasma rifle to the ready position.

"Stop!," he yelled. "You are now prisoners of the Jem'Hadar Empire." His companion followed suit, mirroring the older, more experienced leader.

Voss froze mid-motion, the multi-tool still in his hand, and glanced at Siora. “Well,” Voss said under his breath, voice low but with a faint edge of exasperation, “that’s not in the repair manual.”

Instinctively, Siora positioned herself in front of Voss. It wasn't that she believed she could defeat two Jem'Hadar; it was simply her nature to stand between the innocent and the bullies.

The Borg were such bullies.

Gazing up at the towering Jem'Hadar leader, she met his eyes with a steady gaze, her posture unshaken, her voice firm. "I am nobody's prisoner, and you are on a Starfleet station. I don't take orders from you," she declared with defiance.

The younger Jem’Hadar shifted slightly, his weapon starting to track. Voss caught the movement and stopped in place, raising his hands slightly. “Hey, hey, easy,” he said, his tone light but careful. “We’re just engineers here. No weapons, no threats. Unless you’re afraid of a guy with a wrench?”

The leader’s eyes flicked to Voss briefly before returning to Siora. “The Dominion does not negotiate with the weak.”

"Why would you assume I'm weak?" Siora retorted, a hint of irritation in her voice. It seemed her diminutive stature and deceptively adorable looks led everyone to underestimate her. "I've toppled giants far more intimidating than you... and your sidekick there? Doesn't exactly scream 'mighty' to me." She couldn't help but smirk as she caught the subtle yet telling, twitch of unease from Voss, who had shifted ever so slightly just moments earlier.

The leader snarled, stepping forward, his plasma rifle now trained squarely on Siora. “Your insolence will not save you, nor your station,” he growled, his deep voice reverberating through the space.

Voss, sensing the rising tension, decided it was time to redirect the conversation and be a little more forceful. “Look,” he said, his tone as calm and disarming as possible, “this doesn’t need to go sideways. You’ve got the guns, sure, but let’s think about this. We’re in a sensor suite—packed with sensitive equipment. One stray shot and you could blow something important. I’d bet even the Dominion needs functioning life support, eh?”

The younger Jem’Hadar glanced at the panels around them, his expression unreadable but his grip on his weapon shifting slightly. The leader, however, didn’t waver.

“You dare lecture us on strategy, Starfleet engineer?” he sneered. “You are inferior in every way.”

Voss smirked, holding up the multi-tool still in his hand. “Maybe. But I’m the inferior guy who just fixed the panel your presence nearly fried. Oh, and let’s not forget the part where you get stuck babysitting a broken station because your genius plan involved killing the only two people who can keep it from falling apart.” he said with a little more oomph.

Voss smiled and hoped it was enough to sway them.

"And we aren't even worth any prize or attention." Siora continued in the same vein as Voss. She had hoped they didn't know or notice the rank insignia she wore on her collar. Some saw those of higher rank as a prize to be achieved. "Unless you want me to take a look at your weapon? It looks damaged. I fix damaged things..." she teased and held out an open hand, thinking that the Dominion was the damaged thing she'd very much like to fix. Permanently.

The Jem'Hadar fired its weapon. The crackling beam of blue-white missing the Chief Engineer by a foot.

"You think you know us, Chief Engineer Carberos? You do not. We are not the Jem'Hadar you have encountered before. We are the Jem'Hadar-Ka. We do not serve the Dominion. We serve ourselves. We are better in all ways than our ancestors. We are here to take you and your underling," he said, gesturing towards Voss. "As our prisoners. You will assist us when the station is under our control. Both of you get on the floor."

Voss exchanged a quick, wary glance with Siora, the tension thick enough to cut with a plasma torch. He carefully placed his multi-tool on the ground and raised his hands higher in compliance. “Well, looks like we’re not negotiating anymore,” he muttered, his voice just loud enough for Siora to catch. “Any brilliant ideas?”

He moved slowly and eyed Siora if they were going to make a move or comply.

The flash of blue-white energy caused Siora to flinch. The heat from the weapon slapped her face as much as the light almost blinded her due to its proximity. "I need to close this panel up before we move." she indicated the panel behind her that Voss had removed for her. "If we leave this open and it ignites it would destroy this entire section and leave your station without any sensors. Your enemies could attack without you even knowing." she looked at Voss with both eyebrows raised. Hopefully, he got the hint that they could use this junction, the conduits to get an advantage over the Jem'Hadar-Ka. A quick overload maybe. "I'm sure your superiors would like to stop this station from falling apart more."

If she managed to ignite the conduit, and distract the two in front of them, Voss and her could take advantage of the situation.

The Jem'Hadar leader frowned and then nodded. "Very well, engineer. But be warned, the next shot I fire will not miss. And I will not shoot you. I will shoot him," he said as he took a step forward and aimed his weapon at Lieutenant Voss.

Voss froze, locking eyes with Siora as the Jem’Hadar leader aimed the weapon squarely at his chest. “Well,” he muttered under his breath, “I didn’t think today’s to-do list included ‘become a bargaining chip,’ but here we are.”

Siora ignored the comment from Voss. If anything it showed how precarious their position was. Right now he was a bargaining chip but if she did nothing they both would be. As Siora and the Jem'Hadar moved towards the panel she knelt down to conduit and reached for the panel to close it.

Siora began to make struggling noises as if she was too weak to move the panel. "Can you let him help me?" she gestured to Voss. Either way, whether it was Voss or himself she had a plan.

The Jem'Hadar leader motioned for the second to move forward. "Assist the weakling," he said, his eyes sliding back to Lieutenant Voss. "And you stop talking."

Voss gulped and nodded.

The younger Jem'Hadar moved forward, slinging its rifle over a shoulder where it dangled. "Move aside. I will move it."

Siora had covertly picked up a plasma torch as she tried to move the panel. Moving to the side as the Jem'Hadar second went to grab the panel by kneeling down and placing his hands upon it. As he was now in a position of poor balance and pretty much square on with the open conduit this made it a 'now or never' moment.

The second closed in on the conduit and Siora quickly threw the plasma torch inside and almost instantaneously there was an ignition for the ages. A blast of plasma and fire erupted from the conduit virtually engulfing the second as he caught fire. Luckily Siora had been out of the path of most of the blast but it had distracted the first and she watched Voss move forward toward them,

Voss reacted with reflexes honed from years of ducking and dodging near injury during high-stakes damage repair missions. The Jem'Hadar leader's eyes narrowed as the plasma blast occurred and Voss wasted no time. He leaped sideways, out of the path of a possible plasma burst. His path launched him behind a nearby support pylon. He landed behind a heavy pylon. He rolled and came to his feet. The Jem'Hadar stumbled backward, clearly having trouble with his vision.

"Computer, erect a square emergency forcefield one point five meters from my position. One point five meters per side, two meters tall. Authorization Voss Delta Nine Three Epsilon."

The forcefield sprang into existence around the Jem'Hadar.

The second Jem'Hadar, who at this point had been rolling around the ground in agony, finally stopped moving as his charred remains now smoked like a poor man's barbeque.

Siora's uniform was slightly singed, some of her skin lightly burned but it didn't bother her too much. She looked at the captured Jem'Hadar and smiled at Voss. "Good work, Lieutenant. You managed to bag a prize." she grinned with a slight wince at her wound. "We should probably get security down here."

Voss nodded. "Aye, sir," he said. "Why is it I feel like this day isn't going to improve much?" he said in a tired voice and then tapped his commbadge. "Voss to security. We need some help down here in the Main Sensor Suite."

[OFF]

Commander Siora Carberos
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Lieutenant Kaelen Voss
Damage Control Specialist
USS Firebird NCC-88298

 

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