Into Action
Posted on Sat Sep 30, 2017 @ 7:08pm by Major Kasia S'er'in'e & Lieutenant Colonel S'er'in'e & 2nd Lieutenant Gage Aravan
Mission:
Strange Matter
Location: Outside Enemy Compound
Timeline: Md 29 || 0300 Hours
S'er'in'e had looked over reports, feedback, updates and everything he could but what he got puzzled him, a handful of individuals on patrol or look out while the rest were underground. There was strength in that tactic, it forced attackers to venture inside, close quarters and confines that proved dangerous to attackers but if they would not come out it left little option but to go in and dig them out.
=^= 2-3, standby for tasking. =^=
He'd taken time to consider his plan, he hoped that perhaps if they attacked in escalation it might draw more of them out of the hole.
=^= Major, tag the shuttle then from that position converge on the compound, wide spacing. Get as close as you can before engaging. Lieutenant, 60 seconds later move in. Leave over-watch where they are, I'd like to know if anything is coming behind us once we are inside. I will follow and attack on 3 fronts until surface is secured. =^=
S'er'in'e didn't expect too much hassle, it was inside that would prove to be the hardest part. =^= I want breaching charges, smoke and stun grenades ready by the door. =^= Another idea came to mind, creative but nothing new. =^= Lieutenant leave your drone in the air, record everything. Major, you and I will use ours to scout the compound before going in, using the smoke for cover. =^=
S'er'in'e knew thermals would see through the smoke, it would at least give them some idea of what was down the stairs before they went in.
=^=Acknowledged, Colonel.=^= the Major said, gesturing for her team to move out. With their weapons ready, the group spaced out and did as ordered, but not before she managed to tag the shuttle. Their current situation could go downhill quickly, which meant their eyes and ears need to be open.
Gage gave orders to Overwatch to remain in position with another Marine staying to control the drone. =^=Fire team Bravo moving out,=^= Gage responded. The rain was no impediment to his and the other Marines progress, but the jungle seemed to come alive with sounds of exotic animals and insects. Each step he took was spent checking in all directions, including up into the canopies of the trees that surrounded them. He kept his men in a spread out reverse V formation with himself at the head, pausing only to get updates on his PADD from the drone.
S'er'in'e's eyesight could see clearer than most even as the night loomed and the rain fell. Perk of the species he called it. He was confident that with the teams closing from different directions they could in effect cover each others flanks, at least, that was the idea. As soon as the shooting started the pace had to pick up, it wouldn't take long for a warning, an alarm to be raised and once it did the mission would get harder.
From his position he couldn't see any guards or look outs. They must have moved or the other teams had angles on them so with that in mind the pressed on, swiftly but silently.
Despite the rain, Kasia kept her eyes peeled. She wasn't seeing much in the way of physical activity. Where was everyone? Something just didn't feel right... things were a bit... off. If they were ambushed, and that was always a possibility, the get in and out mentality would fly right out of the window. They would defend themselves. Still, the Major hoped her gut was wrong. Now all she and her team could do was keep a close eye on what was going on from their vantage point.
Gage and his men moved in silently, but he had a nagging feeling that this was a setup and the Marines were about to take a beating. He frowned but there was nothing to do except get in and out with the hostages as soon as possible with minimum casualties. =^=It's quiet on my side =^= he reported. =^=It feels like the calm before the storm. I recommend making a rear door and going in hard.=^=
=^= Eliminate surface forces then make it happen, we will move in once set. Search bodies for comms, we may be able to link in. =^= S'er'in'e's plan of using breaching charges to gain entry was really the only option if the doors were sealed from the inside. Smoke grenades would present cover for the drones. S'er'in'e had little doubt when it came to entry that a welcoming party would be waiting, he was not about to throw lives away just to enjoy said party.
A single guard walking on foot rounded the corner on the compound facing where his team was. The man didn't seem overly alert or interested, who would doing patrol duty in the rain? A series of hand gestures from S'er'in'e told the marine at the end of the line to circle, wait till target had passed and incapacitate from the rear. He then signalled two others to remove the body out of sight into a small dip.
He hoped Aravan and Petrova were having better luck.
Kasia wasn't having better luck. In fact, her team only managed to take out two individuals that seemed to be running patrol. =^=Something about this doesn't feel right,=^= she said.
=^=Negative on patrols on my side=^= Gage reported. =^=I agree, Major. This whole set up smells.=^=
S'er'in'e had to agree, something about this just didn't add up. A loose picket guard for a complex, a two person shuttle. He knew that the hostage takes had the home field advantage, the marines had to come down to them. They knew the complex, the marines didn't, the marines didn't know what defences were in place yet still they had to go down. =^= Agreed. Aravan, breach charge, Major two smoke in the hole the moment it goes. =^=
He prepared his drone with two smoke and two stun grenades to go down into the complex under the mash of Kasia's smoke. Sensors would reveal what's down there and remote trigger could set off the affixed grenades. =^= Aravan, go. =^=
Gage moved up with a sapper while trying to look in every direction at once, his weapon mirroring the movements of his head. The sapper remained cool while attaching the charge to the main doors, then gave a nod of his head.
Gage motioned for his team to move back to their assigned position, then looked at the sapper. =^=Fire in the hole=^=
The carefully shaped charge detonated and the door of the complex blew inwards a second later.
From her position, two members of her team fired off a couple smoke grenades to supply some necessary cover. With the door being blown, and having alerted those on the inside that there was company, time was going to be an issue. They needed to work quick, and while she wanted to charge forward, Kasia wasn't in charge of this operation. Like everyone else, her orders came from the Colonel, which meant waiting.
However, there was the possibility that they would soon see people pouring out from inside, which meant there would need to be someone covering the outside. All the Major and her team could do was wait, and even though she didn't like doing that, it would keep more of her people alive to see another day.
When the door went, the smoke in S'er'in'e gave pause. He wanted to let the smoke work. He sent in his drone, sensors revealed a sloped drop to a door, it too appeared shut. There were rocky outcroppings available for cover assuming the marines got to them first. =^= Aravan left, me right. Major, hold this position keep an eye out for smoke in case they have a concealed exit. =^= The idea was that under cover of smoke they would get into position. His team had a breaching charge, which they would use on the door. =^= Go. =^=
S'er'in'e was not fond of the idea, straight corridor, some cover but not much but they were not coming out so meant they had to go in.
=^=Acknowledged, Colonel.=^= Kasia said, gesturing for her people to spread out a bit to get a better view of what was going in. The way she felt about this, she half expected an ambush from behind, which prompted her to have a few members of her team take to the trees to get a better view from all angles. The Russian woman wanted to be prepared for anything that could happen.
Gage headed in and to the left as he had been ordered and fanned his team out, each one leap frogging the next in stages to cover each other before he went back to the lead again. So far, there was no opposition and his paranoia was creeping up more than it had before.
S'er'in'e filtered right matching Aravan's actions. "Are you getting the same feeling I am?" That things were about to get a whole lot worse. He motioned for another charge, hearing the man shuffle up behind him and tap him on the shoulder. A hand gesture gave the go ahead and carefully the charge was planted, ready for detonation.
Kasia and her team kept themselves spaced out, some looking in one direction while others were looking in differed ones. Eyes needed to be everywhere. Something near the complex caught her attention... Shit! A hidden door opened and out poured and an heavily armed team that could easily match her own, if not dwarf it. They were effectively screwed.
=^=We have targets in sight! I repeat... we have target...=^= the Major was cut off only to be replaced by the sound a fire fight taking place from her team's position. Get in and out they said. Keep a low profile they said. Right, because that was possible.
The men pouring out the back immediately started for the river while laying down heavy fire, not stopping in any one place to dig in.
Inside the complex, two objects came bouncing down the hallway and immediately followed by loud explosions that made Gage reel as his hearing went and stars swam in front of his eyes. "Contact!" he called out and immediately opened fire in the direction the grenades had came from.
In S'er'in'e's corridor, the floor rumbled and shook before it collapsed under them, dropping down to a room under it that seemed to be filled with water.
It came as no surprise that when the team fell into the water S'er'in'e made the largest splash. There in came the next problem, as heavy as he was staying afloat would be a problem and quickly.
Gage splashed down and saw the huge Caitian start to flounder in the water. He dropped his rifle and reached for the grappling gun, aimed upwards and fired. He felt the hook embed in something and made his way over to the Colonel, looking the arm holding the grappling gun under his arm. "Hold on, Colonel," he said. "Jinx, N'barth, fire a couple more grapples and get over here. The weight load isn't enough to get the Colonel out with just one."
The other two Marines quickly fired their own grapples and swam over to where Gage and the Marine Commander was and worked on getting the lines secure to him. "All set."
S'er'in'e growled and loudly so, while water was not so much of a problem, drowning was and with his weight as substantial as it was that lack of control or ability got to him. He climbed slowly out of the pit of water, pulling himself up to the lip of the fall. He was soaked and uncomfortably so. He checked to see if he was alone which he was, but he needed his team out of the water and from the ropes he began pulling people up.
Meanwhile, back outside, Kasia and her team moved in on those who were trying to escape. The need to be careful because of not knowing where the hostages were was necessary, but they also couldn't allow anyone to escape. It would cause far too many problems at this point.
The Major returned fire to those who were firing upon her, closing the distance with caution. What she didn't know, and thanks to those she placed in the trees, were others attempting to come up from behind to take them out. More shots were fired, bodies quickly hitting the ground. The rain pouring around them only made things more difficult, but they would not give up.
Kasia closed the distance even further, but wasn't expecting to have someone drop down on top of her from the canopy of trees. She hit the ground with a thud, the wind being knocked out of her from the extra weight. As she struggled to breath, the burning in her chest grew with each passing second, but that wasn't going to keep her from fighting. Not when her life, and the lives of her team were at stake.
She finally pulled in the precious air her body craved and flipped herself over just in time to see crazed eyes along with the glint of something metal moving through the air. No! This was not about to happen. The Russian woman thrust herself to one side and let out a cry of pain as the blade of the knife found itself in her shoulder. Her vision began to bleed red out of anger as adrenaline surged through her.
It was the adrenaline that pushed her forward, allowing her to ignore the pain radiating from the knife sticking out of her. Her hands moved to the face of the man above her, and after a few seconds of struggling, her thumbs found their mark... his eyes.
His roar of pain was short lived as Kasia's hands moved, and with a quick... swift movement, she snapped the man's neck, grunting when he collapsed against her. She only stayed that way for a moment before shoving the now dead body off of her and getting to her feet. Despite her pain, it was now time to resume the fight and save the hostages.
A Medic on her fire team quickly came over and pressed a hypo to her neck to kill the pain without dulling her senses. "Just a minute, Major," the Vulcan said. He scanned her with a tricorder before he pulled out a sponge-like cloth and a dermal regenerator from the medkit and called over another Marine. "Jenks, when I tell you to, pull the knife out."
Jenkins came over and took a grip on the knife and nodded. "Yes, Sir," he said.
The Vulcan checked the tricorder again. "Now," he said. The other Marine pulled the knife and the medic applied pressure with the sponge to absorb the blood for a minute. When he pulled it back, he quickly ran the dermal regenerator over it a few times to seal it. "This is a temporary fix until we can get back to the ship, Major, so do not strain it."
All Kasia could do was look at the Vulcan like he'd sprouted a talking nipple from the middle of his forehead. Not strain it? In their current situation? Right. There was a better chance of monkeys flying out of her butt. "No promises," she said, taking the knife that was just pulled from her own body and wiping the blood off on the front of her uniform. Up ahead, she saw a few more people trying to get away, and they were heavily armed... definitely not hostages. Without hesitation, she raised her weapon and fired.
With three of the terrorists left, one turned and fired back while ducking behind a boulder while the other two ran for their lives.
No traces, Kasia repeated to herself over and over. She raised her weapon at the two retreating forms and fired rapid shots in their direction, both hitting their intended targets and taking them down. Guilt quickly set in. She was used to fighting for her life via hand to hand or by the use of weapons, but to fire upon the retreating individuals was a new low for her. Even if those were her orders.
Another member of her team who witnessed the third person duck behind the boulder and pulled a grenade from his belt. "Fire in the hole!" he called just before he activated it and sent it sailing in that direction. Multiple people scattered, each of them ducking for cover as the explosion rocked the ground beneath them.
Gage was the last one out of the water and began to check his equipment. "We need to start doing tricorder scans of the entire area," he said. "If there's one trap, there's more. Are you okay, Colonel?" he asked as he mentally stifled the laugh that wanted to come at seeing the soaking wet Caitian.
"Fine." Even if his voice didn't sound like he was very pleased with his situation. "Agreed, continual scans from this point on." S'er'in'e lowered himself to the feline stance he was and in typical feline fasion he shook off the water from his fur. While it may not look pretty, it was more comfortable for him at least and considering everyone was soaked, what was a little more?
He picked up his rifle thankful it was clipped to him. "Let's proceed."
Gage wiped water off of his face for a second time. "Was that really necessary, Sir?" he asked as he checked his gear with the rest of the team.
"When you weigh as much as I do, with the added burden of water, then yes it was necessary." S'er'in'e replied. He helped with the buddy-buddy check system, each other helping the next and so on, last thing they needed was a combat situation with faulty gear. "When everyone is ready we should head in, maintain sensor sweeps."
Gage activated his tricorder and began to move forward again while his fireteam swept out to the sides. In a few minutes, they came to a shaft that looked like it used a lift which wasn't present when they arrived. "One way down, Colonel," he said.
"Scan the area, I don't want anymore surprises if we have to climb down." S'er'in'e knew that time was now a factor so they had to get moving lest the hostages be harmed. =^= Petrova, S'er'in'e. Report? =^=
Kasia took a deep breath as she leaned against a tree. Now she knew why the Vulcan told her not to strain her shoulder too much. The injury had already reopened, and it hadn't even been five minutes. As she responded to the Colonel, she reached under her jacket to rip part of her shirt off and would it around the wound a few times before tying it off. =^=We've got a few injured, but the enemy is down on our side.=^=
=^= Treat the wounded, we have encountered some traps, keep an eye out up there. I don't want anyone else falling victim to them. =^= Leaving out the snippet of fact that he'd already fallen into one.
Gage finished checking his tricorder. "The way is clear," he said. "I'm picking up about a half a dozen lifesigns ten meters down, but nothing else."
"Ropes, here and here." S'er'in'e pointed to two deep cracks in the rock faces for anchor points. "We will use them to climb down. Others will overwatch during the descent." Last thing he wanted was for his teams to be caught while climbing with limited tactical options.
The Marines anchored the grappling hooks and Gage headed down first. When he reached the bottom, he opened the comlink. "We have a blast door down here, Colonel. Send the sapper down."
S'er'in'e looked over his shoulder and gave a two part hand gesture for a Sapper then pointed down. He had the rest of the team form up and get ready to climb down, he would bring up the rear. Soon they would be in the compound and effect the rescue they were sent here to do. S'er'in'e remembered that the Major was on the surface. =^= Major, effect entry into the compound, we are about to breach the blast door from here. Watch out for traps on the ingress. =^=
=^=No can do, Colonel,=^= Kasia replied as more people swarmed out of the complex. To solidify that point, phaser fire was also heard over her combadge. =^=We have hostiles out here, and by leaving this place unmanned, we give them the chance to get away with the hostages.=^=
Gage climbed back up while the sapper went down and set the charges before he climbed back up. "Everything is set, Colonel," the Marine said. "Ready when you are."
"Go." S'er'in'e answered as he braced his ears for the confined space detonation of a breach charge. When it exploded, that is when time was a pressure. If the enemy knew they were going to lose it came a very real chance they may try to kill the hostages, the marines had to get to them first.
The muffled explosion came a moment later and Gage immediately rappelled down the shaft with two other Marines going after him. "Clear!" he called out as he moved to set up a parameter with the other Marines so the others could safely come down.
S'er'in'e was hot on the heels of Gage's team as he used the ropes to climb down, at least half way before his feline abilities to his advantage and leapt down the rest of the way. He landed with a muffled thud and drew his weapon following the marines inside. When weapons fire was heard at last the enemy had been found and efforts begun to dig them out from the hole they were hiding in.
Gage breached the door only to find an empty room that had several couches, a chair and a table that had nothing on it. The only other way out of the room was another door on the opposite side of the room. "They don't make hidden bunkers like they used to," he said.
The engagement seemed to be going well, progress was being made, rooms gradually taken and secured. As with any engagement it was to be expected that injuries and casualties would happen but it seemed training was winning this particular battle.
The group that came out firing immediately headed for the high ground, only to have Gage's sniper begin to engage them, picking off the first three and causing the others to blindly fire in whatever direction they thought the unknown sniper was in.
As the battle waged on the surface and within the complex ground was being taken, would be captives were gradually being subdued and one by one the rooms were being cleared. One room in particular had a window in the door, S'er'in'e peeked through and saw the Wife and Daughter of the politician huddled on a crude makeshift bed, the mothers arms wrapped around her child protecting her. "Hold this location." S'er'in'e called out as he used the console to open the door. Muffled cries could be heard by the two females, clearly they were afraid and that included him. "I am Colonel S'er'in'e, Starfleet, we are here to rescue you."
That was when disaster struck. A fresh wave of attackers rounded the corner that faced the open door, S'er'in'e rotated and started to raise his weapon but a weapons shot caught S'er'in'e clean on the top of his muzzle very close to his eyes. His head jerked back, the rifle dropped and as if in slow motion he slumped to the floor. The rank smell of burnt fur wafting through the air, charred flesh.
The two fire teams with Gage and the Marine Commander opened fire on the attackers and cut them down in a matter of seconds. Gage turned when he smelled burning fur and the sickly sweet odor of burnt flesh.
"Colonel!" He called out. "Medic! Officer down!"
The team's combat medic ran over while the fire team's secured the area and bent down by S'er'in'e and pulled his medkit open. "I'm glad I studied up on Caitian physiology," he muttered as he pulled out a hypospray loaded with the appropriate painkiller and applied it to a muscled furry arm with a hiss. He tapped his combadge =^=Victorious, two to beam up immediately. Medical emergency!=^=
It took a minute and then the Medic and Marine Commander vanished in a shimmering haze.
Gage immediately tapped his combadge. =^=Major Petrova, Colonel S'er'in'e is down and beamed back to the ship. Eliminate all hostiles and prepare to return. Hostages are secured.=^= he said even has he had a Marine breach the door where the two women were being held.
They were quickly gathered up and Gage instructed his team to start laying explosives everywhere as they backed out of the underground bunker and exfiltrated the facility.
The explosion rocked the ground and many of those still outside in the pouring rain were knocked off of their feet. Kasia was no exception. For a moment, she was disoriented, but managed to recover. She and her team were able to get their bearings rather quickly and overcame the second wave of people who chose to file out and attempt neutralize them, but things hadn't exactly gone as they planned. She could only hope that the others were having better luck on the inside, but she doubted it.
"Move!" she ordered, gesturing for her team to follow. If they were going to make any head way, they needed to cut the enemy off at the pass, and that meant going in the wat the others came. "I want a sweep of the area to know what we have working against us!"
One of her men came forward with his exographic targeting sensor and began to run a sweep. It wasn't long before he had the information the Major wanted. "We have a group inbound," he said. "Twenty, maybe thirty individuals. It's hard to get an exact number."
"That'll do, Lieutenant," Kasia said as she raised her weapon. "We have hostiles inbound! When we've neutralized the threat, we're moving in!" With that, they began to undergo more fire, but were just as eager to return it so they could recover the hostages inside. "No one moves past us!"
=^=Major Petrova, Colonel S'er'in'e is down and beamed back to the ship. Eliminate all hostiles and prepare to return. Hostages are secured.=^= Gage's voice came over the secure channel to the Marine Major a second later.
What? S'er'in'e was injured? That's all Kasia wanted to focus on, but it would end up getting her, or any member of her team, killed. That was something she couldn't afford to do. Not today... or any other day for that matter. =^=Acknowledged, Aravan. We'll meet back on the ship before final phase. Petrova out.=^=
=^=Acknowledged. the last of the explosives are in place and we're preparing to beam out=^= Gage responded as the last of the Marines left the base. The mother and daughter had gotten so hysterical that they had to be sedated, but Gage figured it was for the best. He tapped his combadge again. =^=Team Two to Victorious. Beam us out=^= he said.
"Let's get out of here," the Marine Major called. She watched as her team turned and moves back outside, then followed, tapping her combadge as she went. =^=Petrova to Victorious, Team Three is ready to beam out.=^= With their objective done, it was time to get back to the ship and tend to their wounded.
