Last Dawn
Posted on Sun Jul 27th, 2014 @ 4:47am by Captain Jey Cleh & Commodore Kathleen O'Shea
Mission:
Bloodpath
Location: Taranok IV---Prepheradus (Capital City)
[Prepheradus-Chamber of Ministers]
"A beautiful morning indeed, good Ministers." Golunvo was at the podium addressing the opening session of the New Ministry Cycle. "I know that some of you have been confirmed for the first time, but no worries. We will get you up to speed soon enough. Now, the first order of business will be to..."
The Council of Order was beginning a new session, the elections having just been completed the previous week. For the first time in many cycles, several new representatives had been elected in the various parishes across the planet. The day was known as 'First Dawn', the beginning of the councils term. There was a lot that needed to be worked on this cycle, but first the new members needed to settle in to their jobs.
Taranok IV was a relatively new member of the Federation, having only been admitted three years prior. Their first Council Member was beginning his second term, and he was learning a new balancing act where it came to managing both Federation and Planetary politics. One of the first requests had been for consult work to be done by the Starfleet Corps of Engineers in bringing their infrastructure and planetary defenses up to par. This was supposed to be addressed in this years first Federation Council session.
[Prepheradus-Capital Grounds]
After careful planning, Josif, and several operatives were now ready to implement their plan. This planet was going to be theirs, and these... people weren't going to prevent it.
The small antimatter device that had been constructed was designed so perfectly that there was no chance of it failing to get the job done.
Keeping in one of the building's few blind spots, Josif approached, and began the tedious task of hacking the electronic lock. He wasn't there long, before he heard a man's voice at the corner.
"Hey! Get away from there!" The officer called as he ran towards Josif.
He looked up to see two Authority officers coming his way, and wthout a word, or warning, he pulled a phaser, and fired, instantly dropping one of them, while the other moved for cover.
[Prepheradus-Main Spaceport]
As all of this was happening, a type 11 shuttle was approaching the city's main spaceport. Piloting the shuttle was Arianna. She had been given the rather boring task of ferrying a member of the Federation's Diplomatic Corps, who had been dropped off at the station a day ago. Her only guess was that after what happened at the mine recently had Kathy, and some of the others paranoid that something would happen to her.
=A= Prepheradus flight control, this is the USS Horizon on final approach, requesting permission to land. =A=
After a short moment, another female voice came over the COMM in reply. =A= USS Horizon, you are cleared for landing on landing pad B. =A=
=A= Aknowledged. Horizon out. =A=
Other than the normal communications, the entire shuttle ride had been silent. The man hadn't said even a single word to her, which she found a tad bit disturbing.
As instructed, she brought the shuttle in for a soft landing. When the landing was complete, the two of them stepped out of the shuttle to find armed soldiers standing there looking at them. The weapons they carried were unfamiliar to her, but they caught her interest.
"Identify yourselves." one of them ordered.
"I'm Petty Officer D'Tal, dropping off a Federation Diplomat." She said as she stood at attention.
"Federation Diplomat, Jim Denova." Jim said simply. "I am expected."
[Prepheradus-Capital Grounds]
Josif didn't hesitate as he fired yet another phaser blast towards the officer, who had taken cover behind the corner he, and his partner had come from originally. The shot missed by mere centimeters, as the officer dodged. He pulled his gun, taking aim, and pulled the trigger twice in rapid succession.
Josif collapsed to the ground as both shots hit him. He lay there in pain, a trail of blood trickling from his mouth, as the officer approached, his gun trained on the fallen criminal.
As the man got close, Josif looked up at him and gave him a weak laugh. He knew that what he was about to do would be early, and a few of the other operatives would be caught in the blast area, but now he had no choice. "You'll never stop us..." Those words were the last ones Mr. Jash ever heard, as Josif pushed the button on a small device in his hand.
[Prepheradus-Main Spaceport]
Arianna waited patiently as they searched this diplomat for weapons, and checked his paperwork. When they were finished, she handed a PaDD to one of the soldiers. "If you could just sign off on this to acknowledge his arrival, then I can be on my way."
The man took the PaDD, thumbed it, and handed it back. "Safe trip."
"Thank you." she replied, then turned to leave.
Arianna had only taken a few steps, before she heard a loud explosion behind her. As she turned around, she felt the air get hot, and she was thrown to the ground, when a shockwave ripped outward.
She landed hard, her ears, and seemingly her head rang loudly, as she laid on the ground, completely disoriented from what had just happened. When she was finally able to lift her head, she saw that people were running around, and a large cloud of smoke billowed up from where the city's governmental complex had been only moments ago. "Oh shit..."
A second explosion interrupted her train of thought, and the entire group was thrown several feet into the south wall of the room. This time, however, it wasn't a bomb...a powerless craft had fallen into the main building, exploding on impact. Around the area, they could see this being repeated.
Arianna groaned, as she managed to get back to her feet. She shook her head to clear it. Near the other side of the area, she heard someone yelling for help, and moved as fast as she could. As she got around the craft, she saw the diplomat, sitting on the ground in a panic, with a somewhat large piece of debris laying across one of his legs.
"Help me!!" He yelled to her as he tried to pull his leg free. "I'm stuck!"
"You've got to be kidding me!" Arianna said under her breath, then yelled out. "Hold on! I'm coming to get you!"
Arianna made her way to him, and looked over the item that was pinning him down. It looked like a beam from the building itself had landed on him. "I'm going to try to lift this." She explained to him. "As soon as you can, I want you to pull your leg free. Do you understand?"
Jim nodded quickly. "Yes!" he replied just as quickly.
Arianna grabbed the end of the beam, and pulled up hard to try to lift it. She cried out as her body strained in the attempt. She had managed to lift it, but not enough to get him out. She dropped it back down, and in a heavy breath, she ordered Jim. "Hit me."
"What!?" Jim replied. "Are you out of your mind!?"
"I need the adrenaline rush, if i'm going to get this thing off of you." she told him. "Now shut up, and hit me!"
After hesitating for a moment, Jim did exactly that, he lashed out with a back handed hit that turned Arianna's head, and when she turned back, her eyes were pitch black. She grabbed the end of the beam again, her entire body screaming under the strain of it's weight.
After several seconds of this, the beam was finally high enough for Jim to get out. He pulled away, before Arianna let go, collapsing to the ground.
The victory was short lived, as the guards who were there were dead from the impact of the craft, and several strange people came around a corner, and started firing at them.
"No time for pleasantries!" She said as she got Jim to his feet. "Gotta run!" She practically hauled him through a nearby door, moving down the corridor as fast as she could, before she saw one of the planet's officers holding a weapon trained on them. "Don't shoot! We're Starfleet!"
"Get down!" The man ordered, and they both got down just in time for the officer to fire two shots, killing both people who had been following them. "It's not safe here. Let's get you two out of the danger zone."
They didn't hesitate, as Arianna helped Jim back to his feet, and they all started moving.
Commodore Kathleen O'Shea
Commanding Officer
Starbase 80
&
PO1 Arianna D'Tal
Yeoman
Academy Cadet
