Tick Tock, Goes the Clock

Posted on Tue Mar 18th, 2025 @ 5:05am by Darius Wulfe & Lieutenant Commander Finnley Keating VII

Mission: Pandora's Box
Location: Wreckage
Timeline: MD5 - After 'The Things They Do For Profit'
1026 words - 2.1 OF Standard Post Measure

The four ships practically came out of nowhere. They moved fast, darting between the weapons fire. Their trajectories took them past the moon, only slowing down for a couple seconds before they sped off again. One ship got hit by the Spartan, sending it into a spin before another hit disabled it, but the other three quickly scampered away with some glancing blows, back out of the defense perimeter and into the swarm of other vessels wanting a piece of the action.

The second a series of green transporter beams passed through cracks in the wreckage, the race against time began. It would optimistically be minutes before the Starfleet forces responded, so there wasn't time to bicker. Kazik looked at his scanner, seeing that the Starfleet officers had set up a localized atmospheric bubble, and popped open his EV helmet. Looking around, he spotted his Orion counterpart and approached. "The transports were seamless," he reported. "The devices went exactly where you planned. They will be onto us soon."

"Then we had better move swiftly," Varem moved off without waiting for a reply in search of both valuable materials and a place to copy the data held within the device itself. He really didn't know much about what data was there, but Kazik was interested in it and that made it intriguing enough to want a copy for himself as well.

There was no objection from Kazik as he pulled out his scanner. Scans through the cracks in the reflective hull made it difficult to get a clear picture of the goods that were hidden beneath, so the plan was to find reasonable locations to transport in, then plant their diversions and scan for loot once inside. It was risky, but with an entire Starfleet squadron keeping the other ships at bay, it wasn't like they had a choice. "It helps to know where you're going first," he called after Varem, recognizing the uncanny impatience of a pirate. "Wandering this place blind is a great way to get killed or captured."

"Who said anything about blind?" Varem replied, with a small chuckle. Truth be told he didn't really know where he was going, he just had a hunch.

It turns out Varem's arbitrarily selected direction was close to the real one. In fact, there were two rooms of promise they could look into. "There's two rooms that are heavily protected, there and there." Kazik pointed to the left and right of Varem's form in turn. "There might be something of value in those. I propose we split up, some of our people would have transported in nearby to plant the diversions and we can take them with us."

"Works for me, I'll go left you go right?" He proposed, again with no real sense of direction. Only a hunch that what he wanted was on the left and there was no reason to deny him that. "If I had to guess, you'd find a computer core on the right based on this layout, which is what you wanted anyway right? Information?"

Kazik's response was a subtle narrowing of his eyes as he gave an austere glare at the pirate. Even as allies, he didn't trust Varem with the full details of what he was after, because betrayal was still an option. "Just stick to the plan. The last time a pirate betrayed me, Starfleet shot them in the back," he replied, before turning to some of the other pirates who had caught up to them, emerging from the left side. Some of the ones who transported down were from each of their respective vessels, and others were raiders the two had decided were valuable enough to provide sufficient distraction.

One of them, a Klingon with a rather nasty scar running across his face, gave a nod of confirmation. "The devices have been deployed," he gruffly said, glancing between the two of them. With his loyalty to Kazik, he viewed the Orion with a hint of skepticism, an expression Klingons had no intention of hiding.

"Excellent. Are they laid in the precise spots that were laid out in the plan? I know how much your boss here hates to...deviate...from the plan," Varem smirked. It wasn't the best move to lay suspicion on himself with a question like that, but it was too much fun not to also.

The Klingon narrowed his eyes as he stepped a little closer to the cocky Orion. "Brave words, Orion, considering you're only here because my boss willed it. Keep that up, and I will make sure your death is dishonorable."

"Tsehk." Kazik's simple order, while calm compared to the warrior's tone, carried a strong recommendation that the Klingon watch himself. He shot a warning look at his teammate before turning to Varem again. Something about his words didn't sit right with him, but Varem hid it well.

Whipping his head around to look at his boss, Tsehk sneered before turning his attention back to their ally. As much as he wanted to draw his knife and stab this annoying little raider, he knew that Kazik would likely have his head for it. The only outward sign of his restraint was him flexing his hands. "Yes, they were placed according to the plan."

"Then I trust we're good to move on to what we came for? Actually collecting the goods?" Varem asked with his typical charming smile. In fact, as they had laid the devices he had already collected a few things and scoped out his return route for extra goods after his chore was done.

"The longer we chit-chat, the faster our opportunity leaves us," Kazik answered. In the distance, the sounds of transporter beams faintly echoed through the wreckage, emphasizing the point. He watched Tsehk and the others who joined them split into their respective teams, an agreed upon trade of crew to ensure one party didn't betray the other. "There is only one transport window, so don't miss it."

"Wouldn't plan it," Varem replied, already half way down the corridor. Time was wasting now. He had a plan, but timing was essential.