Predators Part 7

Posted on Fri Jan 17th, 2025 @ 6:08pm by Ensign Gazo Daw & Cadet Senior Grade Abigail Gordon & Ensign Gianna Djokovic

2,253 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: A Long Hard Road Ahead
Location: DS18, Deck 43, Horticultural Farms
Timeline: 07, October, 2396- 0900 Hours

[ON]
Abi was bubbling with excitement, she had found that there were farming bubbles upon the station, and she really wanted to explore. She could, of course, try to go explore on her own, but that wouldn't be too wise. There were two people who were more familiar with the station than she was, and that would be Daw and Gia.

Tapping on her combadge Abi called for Daw and Gia. "Hi, I was wondering if you'd like to go check out a part of the station. I found out there were farming bubbles and I'd like to go see one of them, and maybe see what type of condition it is in. What do you think, are you in? I do want to get into some gardening."

Daw was in the middle of rebuilding the impulse engine on one of the new fighters when Abi's com message came in. He tossed down the tools he'd been using. He was tired from long hours and couldn't remember the last time he'd done anything for himself. He tapped his own commbadge.

"Daw here. Yeah, I am in for some relaxation. I think those farming bubbles are scattered but there is one on the outer rim of deck 38. It hasn't been a priority for repairs so we might find some fun overgrown plants or something," he said

"Definitely sounds like a good plan. I would like to do something to contribute a bit more. Granted yes, I am in medical but gardening can be therapeutic and I really want to dig into dirt." Abigail giving a laugh.

Gia tapped her commbadge after listening to the back-and-forth for a moment. She checked the charge level and then holstered her phaser, but still stood facing the target at the ship's firing range. "Sure, let's meet in the docking port outside the ship in ten. Best to go up in that zone together." She tapped the commbadge again and closed the connection.

---

Gia leaned up against the bulkhead casually and crossed her arms as she waited for the others to arrive. She was in her duty uniform and was still wearing the phaser, holstered against her right hip.

Abi arrived wearing a pair of black cargo pants, long-sleeved tee shirt, and a pair of runners. Her hair was pulled back into a braid. Around her waist, Abi had a tool belt with some gardening tools attached. A pruner, a trowel, a gardening hook, and a small garden rake. Tucked in one of the pouches were a pair of gloves.

"Hi there, looking forward to this," Abi said in greeting.

Daw grinned as he walked up to the other two. He’d overheard Abi’s comment. “Me too! I took the liberty of checking out the deck plans to see where we needed to go. There’s an entrance just up here and on the right. Let’s go!” He said and walked forward until he found the doorway. He waved a hand to trigger the door but nothing happened.

“Looks like our first obstacle. Let’s get this open.”

" Okay, so where is the panel? Isn't there a panel to open up the door manually, in case of emergency? "Abigail looked for one. It had been a while since she had gone through the emergency training course on how to get out of a situation. Or for this particular situation, going through a door.

Daw was looking for the exact same thing. "There usually is a recessed manual release somewhere," he said. He stood on his toes and stretched to see if the release had been placed high. His legs started to ache and he slumped back down. "Nothing up there," he said and slid down the wall to sit. "Why is this farm so securely protected?" He sighed and put a hand down to push up off the ground. There was a loud 'CLICK' from where he'd rested his hand and the door popped open.

"Or maybe they just wanted to be able to use it if their hands were full," he said and stood up. "Come on, Gia, you lead the way!"

Gia forged ahead. She hadn't exactly been thrilled to be part of Abi's gardening party, but Daw had seemed excited about it and it was always an interesting time checking out new parts of the stations. She paused as she was hit with the stench of degrading plant matter -- she hoped that was all that was rotting in there.

Abi put her hand up to her nose as that smell assaulted her olfactory nerves. She forgot to bring with her something that would help block out the stink. Who knows how long this has been sitting here?

"Oof that smell, though parts of it kinda smells like compost. "Following Gia inside. At seeing the layout, Abi's eyes went round in wonder. "Ohh so much can be done here. And it looks like there is a stairway over there to get to another part of this. And maybe get a bird's eye view of the layout. What do you think?"

Daw looked around. The farm/dome was large enough that you probably could have fit the entire crew of the Firebird inside and given them all their own space. He sometimes forgot how small the ship was and how large DS18 was, even incomplete. The farm had clearly been online and producing some produce. There were orderly rows of some crops that had died when the environmental controls were destroyed. The stench that wormed its way up their noses was nothing more than plant deaths. He shook off that idea and moved forward. The plants squished and crackled underfoot.

"There's a small cluster of sheds over to our left and I think some machinery over to our right," Daw said, pointing at each. He glanced up at the dome and saw that it was opaque. "Where to?" He asked.

Gia's gaze swept over the large dome, narrowing slightly at the sheds Daw had pointed out. She adjusted her stance, ever cautious. "Let's start with the sheds, see what's here to work with. I would think there'd be farming drones," she said, her tone curious but otherwise neutral.

Abi took a moment to crouch down to check the soil and its coloration, this included taking a slight sniff at it. It made her sneeze but, still, there was the scent that the soil wasn't dead. Rising back up, she looked towards the sheds, following after Gia and Daw.

"Hopefully there will be tools there to help bring this back to life. " Abigail felt an excitement growing within her.

Daw nodded and moved towards the sheds as Gia had suggested. He went first, breaking a path through the vegetation with his body. He glanced up, looking for drones but saw nothing. Gia was right though, he knew that the power supplies on the automated farming drones lasted years. They'd studied them in his introduction to propulsion class back at the academy. The drones should still be around.

Eventually, they reached the edge of the field and the sheds were fully visible. They were standard work sheds that could hold a moderate amount of supplies. As he glanced around the cleared area, he felt a chill. He held up a hand and then turned around.

He spoke in a low voice. "There are footprints. Fresh."

Neither Gia nor Daw were telepathic, but they'd worked together at the Academy and on several survival training missions so closely that they didn't need to be able to read each other. Gia immediately sensed something was off as well and read Daw's hand gesture as confirmation. She froze, grabbed Abi's arm, and raised a finger to her lip.

Spurred by a rush of adrenaline or something else unexplained, Gia's cybernetic eye flickered into a different mode, causing some disorientation like the last time it happened, but also affording her a different perspective. "There are people in there," she whispered back to him, reading the heat signatures.

Abi managed to not let out a squeal but her eyes went rather round, her heart rate kicking up. Goosebumps prickled up her skin, causing the hair on her arms to rise. What was there? Could it be leftovers from the raiders who had captured her before? She gave a shiver but kept quiet. She was ready to move in one way or another.

Daw started to take a step back, intending to put distance between himself and whatever was out there but he never finished the move. The air in front of the three shimmered and a tall, broad-shouldered figure appeared. They wore what looked like heavy black armor with ornate spikes on the forearms and shoulders. The exposed skin was white and ridged and their eyes were narrow and cold. Daw had time to think Jem'Hadar? before a fist slammed into his chest. His momentum had already been moving backward and the strike amplified that tenfold. He flew through the air, crashed through a line of dead crops, and collapsed in a heap.

Gia watched as Daw was thrown back. She didn't know if he was okay or not, but her training instincts kicked in as she pulled her phaser from its holster, leveled it at the Jem'Hadar soldier, and fired a stun shot that hit the intruder squarely on its chest armor. It would not buy them much more than a few seconds if anything at all. "Go," she told Abi, as she bumped up the phaser's intensity setting.

It was almost slow motion in Abi's mind as to the Jem'Hadar's appearance and Daw flying back. She though sprang into action running towards Daw, to see how he was doing. "Be careful Gia!" calling over her shoulder. Adrenaline had kicked in, lending speed to her dash towards Daw, immediately kneeling at his side, and checking if he was concious. "Daw, Daw..." doing a quick visual before she checked on his breathing.

Daw hit the ground, head first and bounced like a sack of self-sealing stem bolts. His body thudded to the packed soiled and his vision narrowed to pinpoints. He thought he heard something but it sounded like someone talking through a straw in water, however, that worked.

The Jem'Hadar struck by Gia's phaser stumbled backward and fell to one knee momentarily. It shook its head from side to side and then slowly stood again.

"You get the one for free, stripling," it growled. "Now I will tear your limbs from your body," it said and launched itself forward.

Gia fired again, determined to maintain the blast as long as it took to bore through the Jem'Hadar's genetically enhanced armor skin. Even at the highest setting of her phaser, the thing did not immediately vaporize. Instead, its forward momentum carried it a few more steps, the searing beam carving a molten gash into its torso. Gia’s jaw clenched as she braced herself, every muscle taut, refusing to let up.

Finally, the creature faltered, a guttural snarl escaping its lips as its legs gave out. It crumpled to the ground in a heap, smoke curling from the jagged wound. Gia took a shaky step back, her breath catching in her throat as the realization of just how close it had gotten sank in.

Gia glanced around, her cybernetic eye automatically adjusting for low light, and scanned the chaos of the firefight and surrounding field. "There are more, and we're too exposed," she said urgently, her vision enhancements lighting up potential targets for her as it found their shroud signatures. She picked the nearest one and fired again. "We need to go!"

Daw struggled to a sitting position. "Yeah, we need to get out of here," he said. "Help me up."

From somewhere behind the three of them, a faint rustling sound began. It was hard to discern but growing louder.

"Uhh, Gia. I think they are surrounding us," Daw whispered.

Abigail gave a nod helping Daw get up from his seated position. "Are you feeling any dizziness?" rather worried about Daw hitting his head. At what Daw had said Abi took a quick look. "How close are they?" she was wishing she had a weapon now. but who knew they would be running into Jem'Hadar?! "Okay so... need some sort of plan. Think we can get an emergency transporter to get us out of here?"

"Sounds like a great idea," Gia said, her voice strained by the stress they were going through. She backed up, tightening their circle as she tapped her badge. There was no chirp. She tapped again. "There's a communication block. We need an exit, Daw. Please tell me you have an idea!"

Daw shook his head, trying to clear it. "I can barely see straight, Gia," he said. "But maybe..."

But they were out of time. Six Jem'Hadar materialized around them and they all fired as one. The beams of blue light struck the three Starfleet officers, felling them like axes against trees. They collapsed to the ground and did not move.

[OFF]

Ensign Gianna Djokovic (NPC by Woodhouse)
Tactical Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Ensign Gazo Daw (NPC by Llwyedd)
Propulsion Specialist / Security Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Cadet Senior Grade Abigail Gordon
Nurse
USS Firebird NCC-88298

 

RSS Feed

Comments (2)