Team Corwin - Part 1

Posted on 07 Mar 2017 @ 1:56am by Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Captain Harvey Geisler & Commander Terry Walsh & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale

3,631 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Endgame
Location: DS 11
Timeline: MD 17 || 1030 Hours

In a heartbeat, the blue glow of the transporter faded away, depositing the security team in one of the various corridors on Deck Thiry-Five. Intruder Alert Klaxons sounded from the speakers behind the bulkhead and the corridor shone in alert red. Down at the end of the corridor, the familiar sound and glow of a forcefield being erected came into view. It wouldn't be long until the team was isolated in the corridor.

"Looks like they've rolled out the welcome wagon," Joey said, preparing her Type III phaser on wide beam stun. She wasn't lookin to kill anyone, but would if she had to. In fact, the phasers settled at her hips were already set for just that purpose. While she may not have wanted to kill anyone on board, the same couldn't be said for those they were up against.

Based on the deck listings she studied, she recognized them as being one deck thirty-five. The primary computer core was on deck thirty. They didn't have far to go, but based on the thousands of people that viewed them as the enemy, they may as well have been one deck seventy-seven. Giving up just wasn't an option. "We're not in Kansas anymore, folks, and we've got a ways to go to get to our goal. Eyes and ears open at all times."

The Security officer knew forcefields couldn't keep them contained from experience, but perhaps taking the corridors wasn't the best idea. Neither was hitting the Jeffries tubes considering their numbers, but splitting up wasn't an option. The needed to move, and fast. "We need to go up five decks to get to the primary computer core. Let's move." She raised a finger and gestured for her team to move forward.

Ricardo pulled the phaser drill off his back and looked at Allen. "Get me the power pack of it, Miller," he said. "We need to bring these forcefields down now. The goon squad is going to be here really quick, fast and in a hurry."

Allen put the phaser rifle down and let the pack slide down from his back. He removed the power pack and handed it to Ricardo with both hands. "Here," he said. The Petty Officer then picked his phaser rifle back up and took a quick look around. Ricardo was right, they could be here any second.

Ricardo attached the tripod mount to the phaser drill, then hooked the power pack up to it. Once he ran a quick diagnostic, he aimed it towards the forcefield. "Three....two...get ready to move...one!" He unleashed the powerful drilling beam and watched it impact the forcefield in a flare of red and blue light. Seconds later, the forcefield overloaded and blew out. "Let's roll!" He deactivated the phaser drill's beam and lifted the entire assembly with a grunt and waited for the others to move forward.

A phaser beam lanced by Gutierrez as he lifted the assembly. Two officers, both teal collared, had appeared on the other side of the deactivated forcefield with hand phasers, firing at the invaders.

"I'm convinced teal collared individuals need happy pills. You're all just so moody lately," Joey said as she leveled her phaser rifle in their direction and fired. Her current distance, and the fact she'd set it to wide beam stun, would be more than enough to take them down at the same time. "There's going to be more of them coming. We need to move inward, then go up. Let's go."

Ricardo ducked to the side as another Security officer stepped up and layed down cover fire in wide beam as well, aiming to the right of where Corwin was firing so their beams overlapped. The other personnel fell in beside and behind them and brought their shields up for a minimal defense.

Both officers collapsed immediately, their hand phasers clattering to the floor as they escaped their grip.

"Move!" Joey ordered as she ran to the fallen bodies to retrieve their phasers and combadges, tucking them away in her thigh pack in case they needed to use them for something. No one said this was going to be easy, and considering they were already being shot at proved that.

The fact she had nine other people to look after didn't sit well with her, and now she wished she would have gunned for even smaller teams, but it was definitely too late for that. Her focus needed to be on their objective as well as making sure that everyone in their group stayed alive.

They were coming up on their turn off, and there was no doubt in her mind that there were going to be some surprises waiting for them their. Her team was highly trained. It was time to let them prove that. She gestured for one of the Security officers to make sure their path was clear.

Allen pulled his phaser rifle to his chest and backed up against the wall opposite their turn off. He slowly peered around the corner, keen on keeping his head right where it was. A phaser blast shot by and the Petty Officer dropped to one knee, firing down the corridor. Miller fell to prone and rolled across the floor until he hit the bulkhead. As he started to open fire, he noticed one of the officers lob something in his direction.

"Oh hell... Photon grenade!" he yelled, as he quickly got up and ran out of the way. He had no idea if it was set to minimum yield, which would effectively stun them, or higher. He didn't think they'd want to blow a hole in their own station, but he wasn't going to stick around to find out. He ran up to their team leader, pushing her back and staying in front of her. "Come on Lieutenant, back it up! You too, Ricardo!" he yelled. Now why didn't I think to grab something like that, he said to himself.

Ricardo was already moving while two other personnel finished setting up the mobile forcefield generator and got it online a split second before the grenade went off. The shield flared brightly but held up and the officer on it gave a nod. "We can't take too many like that, but we can block off the corridor while we keep moving forward, Lieutenant."

"We just can't retire fire through it, though," an enlisted officer pointed out. "What's the reaction time to lower and raise it?"

"About three seconds," came the reply. The officer looked back at Lieutenant Corwin. "Should we keep it up or try to be faster than the enemy?"

So... they wanted to play dirty? Joey could play that game, too. "Save it," she replied, giving Allen's shoulder a pat. "Let's go. The longer we stay in one place, the worse off we're going to be." She crept to the edge of the corridor to look down it, her phaser leveled, then without warning, the Security officer fired. There was no sense in waiting for them to make their presence known.

Her answer came in the form of a phaser blast. It was poorly aimed, as her shot likely surprised whoever was coming to join the party. Though the poor crewman was frightened, he still quickly erected a forcefield to start sealing the intruders in a pocket.

"Oh, come on!" Ricardo exclaimed as he set the phaser drill back down and fired another blast down the corridor along the upper corridor where the forcefield emitters were to take them out. "If we're going to have to fight section by section, this is going to do a lot of damage to the station."

"Damage is repairable... us being sitting ducks and possibly losing members of our team isn't. Fry the emitters and prepare yourselves for whatever comes our way," Joey ordered, lifting her phaser rifle and lining it up on the person who fired at her. "We already knew this wasn't going to a walk in the park, and if we have to make our own way around so be it."

The forcefield flickered out, releasing the away team from their corridor prison. As station resources were being devoted elsewhere, there was no further resistance that awaited this team in this section.

Joey gestured for the team to follow her lead just before she began to make her way down the corridor. They couldn't waste time, but they needed to get their goal met as soon as possible. Still, she couldn't help but think about the nine others behind her and keeping them safe. It was extremely nerve wracking, but she had faith in their abilities.

Ricardo lifted the phaser drill again and moved behind the Lieutenant as he sought out hostile emotions with his empathy. "I'm not picking up anything yet," he said softly. "When I sense a hostile thought our direction, I'll do my best to give you warning."

Elsewhere, a pair of turbolift doors opened, depositing a team of ten armed Starfleet crewman, representing every department aboard the base. With so many people beaming aboard, there wasn't enough Security to contain all of the parties. It was going to take everyone to repel these intruders. A Benzite wearing the pips of a Lieutenant Junior Grade began to direct armed personnel to different points, taking up positions to give a warm welcome to the intruders.

It's too quiet, Joey thought to herself, slowing down to cautiously make her way down the corridor. "Keep your eyes open." She put her exographic targeting sensor on, then began to scan the area around them. The last thing she wanted were surprises.

Ricardo checked every direction that he could get a line of sight in as he moved with the phaser drill in his hands. He debated taking the tripod off, but knew that it required stability and settled for leaving it on. "Lieutenant," he said. "I think I feel someone heading our way."

"Can you pinpoint a location?" Corwin asked.

Ricardo shook his head. "Left, right...ahead. Some are close, others are further away. It's like we're surrounded. I'd be able to tell you more if I were full Betazoid, but I wouldn't be as sexy as I am." He joked to ease the tension that he was feeling.

Allen looked over and Ricardo and smirked. His humor was appreciated right now. He had a feeling that this was the calm before an even bigger storm. The blonde haired Petty Officer switched his weapon to wide beam to match the Lieutenant's and brought it up to his shoulder. He glanced back at the other officers behind them. "I can take two of them with me and we could move a few steps ahead to cover the right?"

Joey didn't like the idea of splitting up, but they wouldn't be far from one another if things went south. Of course, she disliked being surrounded even more. "Miller, you take two and go to the right. Gutierrez, you and two others go to the left. Hendrix, you take two and cover our rear. I'm going forward. Gas masks on," she ordered, removing hers from the clip on her belt and putting it in place.

After turning it on, she raised her phaser rifle again and looked down the sight, then began to move forward once more. Did she just make the call? As the saying went... there was strength in numbers.

Ricardo put his mask on and hefted the drill in one hand and his phaser in the other, the shield attached to his left forward. "I don't like the idea of splitting up, Lieutenant," he said, his voice muffled.

Allen followed suit and gestured for the other to join him. He wasn't going to be but just a few steps ahead and covering their right flank. He didn't plan on completely leaving the team, just give them a few extra seconds of warning so they could ready themselves. As a matter of fact, he planned on staying fairly close despite.

"We won't be far away from each other. We'll be able to cover more of the enemy this way," the Lieutenant said. "We can't waste too my time talking. They'll be on top of us before we know it. Now isn't the time to talk things over."

Ricardo motioned to two of the officers and headed to the left, sweeping with the phaser while wishing he had put the phaser drill on his back. The two with him covered his flanks while they also swept back and forth, all the phasers on widebeam heavy stun.

The moment the first phaser whined, every member of the starbase defense team ducked behind their cover, able to watch the wide beams sweep the area around them. As soon as an opening presented itself, the Benzite leader peered out from her cover and fired her phaser at the source of one of the wide beams.

Joey saw the beam arc its way toward the small group of her personnel and shouted a curse. She leveled her phaser in the direction it came from and fired in that direction in short bursts. "Move out! We need to get to the center now! I'll provide cover fire. Go!"

One of the Security personnel with Ricardo fell when the phaser beam hit her and Ricardo turned the beam in that direction as well. When Joey called out, him and other other officer bolted for a recess of a doorway and waited for the all clear.

Allen returned fire in a general direction before motioning the two officers with him to find some cover. He watched as they darted just inside a doorway. He ran to the next one in the line and readied himself. His adrenaline was pumping and he kept his eyes on the area in front of him, waiting.

With the wide beams gone, the station's personnel peered out from their covers and began to unleash a violent flurry of phaser fire.

After the last team began to make their way, Joey fired off a few more shots in heir direction and moved toward the fallen officer. She didn't have time to check for a pulse, but even if there wasn't one, she couldn't leave her behind. If it were her, she'd want someone to get her back, but wouldn't expect it. "Keep going!" She ordered at a yell to the nine others in her team.

With her phaser still in hand, she grabbed the fallen woman's arm and pulled her to a sitting position. There wasn't a lot of time for her to get this done, so the need to hustle was very present in her mind. Joey positioned herself and used her legs to lift the new weight with an angry grunt. Adrenaline fueled her, and no man... or woman... would be left behind. She fired a few more shots and began to follow the others with her back to them in case someone decided to come after them.

"Hijo de puta!" Ricardo shouted. He set the phaser rifle down and activated the phaser drill without even setting it on the tripod and started blasting the deadly beam down the corridor and off the walls where the phaser storm had came from that took down one of their own.

Allen spun his head towards Ricardo when he shouted. Oh yeah, phaser drill time. That would take care of them alright. He turned his attention back to the corridor where the beam was being directed. He raised his phaser rifle, not sure if there would be anyone left alive or not. But he still raised it and took aim, ready to move at the Lieutenant's order.

"I said move!" Joey yelled, a look of pure rage on her face. "Gutierrez! Miller! Get your shit together and go!" Her tone left no room for argument, and the added weight she was currently carrying meant she was done screwing around. They wanted a war... they just got one.

Lowering her phaser, she reached into her thigh pack and pulled out a photon grenade. Activating it, she lobbed the device in the direction of their enemy, then raised her phaser again. Setting it to level nine, still on wide beam, she waited for the two she'd handpicked to catch up to the others. Things were going to get nasty from here.

Two enlisted officers stepped up beside Corwin. "She's dead, Lieutenant," one said as he scanned her with a tricorder. "We'll take her. Lead the rest of us." They both moved to lift the lifeless woman between them and kept their phaser hands free.

Ricardo motioned to his remaining partner and moved out down the hall, activating the phaser drill leading the way at even the slightest hint of movement ahead of them.

Joey reluctantly let the fallen woman go, but knowing that she was dead pissed her off in ways even she didn't know was possible. She tried to protect them... to keep everyone safe... but it was all for nothing. Without a word, she turned to move to the front of the group again so they could get somewhere and begin their ascent to deck thirty. Consortium or not... they'd all fall down. Now that one of their own had been killed... they would pay.

Allen watched as the Lieutenant moved to the head of the line. Grenades, phaser drills, phasers...this was going to be a mess and a half to clean up later. But later was not a luxury now. Allen motioned for the two still with him to take up position on the Lieutenant's right. He shouldered his phaser, still on wide beam, and took aim down the hall. He didn't expect to see too many people, not after that photon grenade.

The grenade had only disabled two of the station's personnel, leaving the others to continue their barrage. A few personnel adjusted their aim. Instead of firing at the intruders, they targeted the bulkheads and the EPS conduits. To them, causing a little damage to the station was worth stopping the invasion.

Muttering a curse, Joey turned her phaser in the direction the barrage of enemy fire was coming from. She wasn't messing around anymore. They'd killed one of her own, and that was an unforgivable offence. With the setting now set to kill, the Lieutenant began to unleash fury of her own as she continued to move toward them.

Ricardo moved beside of Joey with the phaser drill in his hands, the tripod tossed aside. He kept one finger on the firing control while he looked for anything that moved ahead of them. With one of their people dead, he planned on disregarding the stun only order that the Second Officer had ordered and to hell with repercussions. In his mind, anyone not Security had no right to give orders in regards to how Security defended themselves when the enemy was under no such restrictions. Sure, the personnel on Deep Space Eleven was under Consortium influence, but that wasn't stopping them from trying to kill the Black Hawk team and he was giving what he got.

It suddenly hit Allen that a phaser drill didn't have a stun. And Ricardo was manhandling it. It looked like the time for games was over. He set his phaser rifle to a higher level and adjusted the phaser on his hip to the same. It was time to do the work that needed to be done.

Joey raised a hand to halt Ricardo. The use if the phaser drill seemed to do the trick since there were no more shots being fired from the other side. She raised two fingers and gestured for them to move, then cautiously began to make her way forward once more with her rifle aimed directly ahead. Even though she had no idea what Ricardo was thinking, she was very like minded, and the fact that one of their own was killed didn't sit well with her.

As she neared the area the initial shots were coming from, she grew even more cautious, but what happened next caught her completely off guard. The only survivor from the group of personnel, an Andorian male, raised his phaser and fired. Joey had no time to act... no time to comprehend what just happened. It all happened so fast.

Her body jerked backward and to the right, sending her careening backward in what felt like slow motion. The pain... it was unlike anything she'd ever felt in her life, and it felt like she was falling for an eternity. When she hit the floor, her head collided with the floor and bounced, finally coming to a stop. Huge tears filled her eyes and she fought through the black shroud of darkness threatening to engulf her.

Joey brought her left hand up, it was shaking uncontrollably as shock was beginning to set in, and brought it toward the mangled mess that was her shoulder and upper chest. It looked like nothing any of the people on her team had likely seen in person before... or perhaps some of them. Her skin was charred in an area roughly the size of a cantaloupe, but it was what was inside that would cause anyone with a weak stomach to be sick on the spot. Tissue was exposed, as were other things that should not have been given how deep the blast it went.

This was it? This was how it was going to end for Lieutenant Joelle Corwin. On a Deep Space station controlled by their enemy. She gasped through the pain, trying to fight off unconsciousness a little longer. "Get... ch... chip... core," she managed just before succumbing to the darkness that beckoned to her.

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