It's Wabbit Season! Part 2

Posted on Tue Mar 4th, 2025 @ 4:21am by Lieutenant Didrea Zade & Lieutenant Commander Finnley Keating VII

Mission: Pandora's Box
Location: Wreckage
Timeline: MD5
1194 words - 2.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Varem moved silently, like a snake slithering through grass. The explosions were already rigged and ready to go, he just needed to make sure he was far enough away that he wasn't affected himself. He signaled to his closest henchman to follow suit, though he was annoyed that the bulky pirate wasn't quite as stealthy as he was himself. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to have some...collateral damage...then again, he needed his crew, even if they weren't so adept at the art of hiding.

Lisih bit her tongue to keep her annoyance in check, her black eyes scanning their surroundings. She had expected to stay with her crew, to collect what she wanted from the wreckage, but instead she was playing bodyguard to this Orion. ~If you keep this up, I will shoot you myself,~ she thought to their third wheel, the least graceful of the group. The glare she sent to this one was met by a mouthed 'sorry!' before she rolled her eyes.

A nearby presence made Lisih refocus, actually stopping in her tracks so she could figure out what was tickling her brain. She could sense the Starfleet officers nearby, even through the horrendous echo chamber that the wreckage created, but there was something else. Pressure was probably the best way to describe it, something very dense but also hauntingly empty. Whatever it was, it was so profound that she faintly winced, the effort to mask their thoughts from the terrorists becoming a strain. ~There's three of them nearby, but something else too. I don't know what it is, but I can't keep us shielded for much longer,~ she told Varem. ~Whatever your plan is, we need to do it now.~

"I don't think..." Zia paused, once against wincing in concentration. "It's hard to explain in a way that will make sense. It's...silence. But like the kind you experience when you can see a crowd of people yelling at you, but only their mouths are moving." The Betazoid lifted her eyes to meet Dash's, a lapse in the playfulness as the pair deviated instead towards the throes of investigation. Personal discomfort aside, there was nothing Zia loved more than a mystery. "It's a very crowded nothingness."

Suddenly the air filled with smoke and fire. Debris erupted into chaos, piercing through the air like bullets. Varem almost chuckled from behind his protected location. The explosions wouldn't be enough to kill the Starfleet personnel, but certainly enough to cause some damage and that thought made Varem smile.

Stumbling to his feet in a pocket of protected atmosphere now filled with smoke and debris, Kevan winced and looked for his teammates. "Ensign Lorel...Zia?" he coughed, straining to see her. The technology that provided the air pocket for the crew seemed to be slowly compensating and clearing the air around them somewhat. "Are you okay?"

From somewhere lower to the ground, the response came as a series of coughs. As the smoke slowly dispersed, the crouched Betazoid slowly lowered the arm flung across her eyes and squinted up at the Trill. "Was that intentional?" Nothing in their briefing had specifically mentioned threat of exploding infrastructure but it was safe to say nobody was willing to speak in any definitive way regarding technology they barely understood.

The Starfleet loyalists now distracted, Lisih made her move, knowing Varem would take the opportunity to go find his desired loot. She dropped the shielding she had been projecting, a surge of relief washing over her as the strain dissipated, and she closed in on the nearest enemy. In the meantime, the Human third moved to some kind of flanking position to try and disorient the Starfleet officers.

Nylara covered herself to protect from falling debris, looking around quickly to try and see through the dust that now filled the air. Some debris had fallen between her and the other two, and as she tried to get back with her team she felt a tug from behind. "Hey-!" The grip was strong, and the Bolian soon found herself on her back, a figure not part of the team standing over her, weapon aimed. With a gasp, she rolled out of the way as a weapons blast went for where her face was seconds ago.

Varem raced to acquire whatever materials he could get his hands on. He knew his time was limited and he appreciated Lisih's ability to distract the enemy while he got what they came for. He connected a PADD to the first computer core he could get to and then went about collecting some near by precious materials. In less than a minute, the deed had been done. Perhaps not everything he had wanted to collect, but enough. In situations like these, it was better to come out ahead than stay longer and risk capture. Time to go his mind reached out to Lisih as shimmers of a transporter beam appeared.

The Betazoid frowned when the Bolian's helmet didn't shatter, then glanced up when their third, some Human, cried out as a phaser blast hit him during the skirmish. Varem's words tickled her mind, and she saw Varem moving with urgency as a green transporter beam picked him up. A similar green washed over her, confirming that her work was done; she couldn't give a rat's about their losses, as long as Varem was content with his visit to this hellscape.

In the distance, some low-sounding booms went off, seeming to get closer as if they were riding a wave. The faint distortion in the sound was likely due to the poor ability for sound to travel on the moon. A faint rumble accompanied the explosions, disturbing some debris that had become loose during the ambush and causing them to fall. Thin streams of dust fell from the ceiling. After about a minute, they ceased, a hesitant silence casting its shadow across the wreckage that lasted for what felt like ages. Every little creak of the wreckage seemed a thousand times louder.

After a brief pause, the comms inside all of their EV suits lit up. Earlier comms chatter had confirmed that each ship's team had done their own split into smaller units, totaling 24 across the four ships with security in the wreckage, and they each began to check in. The first six reports, many from the groups near the science teams, came in quickly and indicated no injuries, then the following eight came in with increased latency and began to report injured and dead. About thirty seconds of silence followed, then three more reports came in, the static and background noise hinting to the chaos they were unfortunate to be wrapped up in. So far, it sounded like five officers were dead, eight were in critical condition, and many of the rest had minor to no injuries.

Nylara, straining to control her breathing and the adrenaline-induced tremble in her hands, mentally counted the reports as they came in. Her ears were ringing. She listened to Kevan contribute his report. What the hell just happened??