Boarding Action

Posted on Fri Apr 4th, 2025 @ 3:45am by Gunnery Sergeant Reishi Hijani & Captain Natalya Markova

Mission: Doing What We Do Best

ON

Nat came into the Cargo Bay, unsure what she’d actually find. The doors had blown outward, the metal twisted and warped. What lay beyond was a shuttlebay, or another cargo bay. Some large holding area of the pirate frigate. The doors were blocking a large portion of the three foot gap, but it was far from a perfect seal.

The life support system of the damaged freighter was strained beyond it’s measure. The temperature was rapidly dropping. Air pressure was low. They had to make a move. “Go! Now!” Nat’s voice sounded so very distant as she moved, and with her rifle secure in her hands, lept across the eternal black void that separated the two ships.

It was only three feet from one decking to the other, but it felt so much further. The endless black below her made Nat’s head spin as momentum carried her across, and she landed on the frigate. The landing was hard. Too hard. Nat stumbled, and rolled. She came to a stop in a crouch. A series of oof’s and muted thuds from behind told her the unit had followed. They still had to move fast. No life support system would hold for long with a gaping hole into space.

Nat cast her eyes around the room. Her breathing was becoming shallow, and she felt a pain in her ears. Definite warnings signs. Her vision blurred as Nat saw a door that was intact. Her hand punched the control, and it opened. The unit barreled into the corridor, scanning both directions.

Once Nat had counted everyone, and shoved Rei through the hatch ahead of her, the Marine Captain sealed the door shut.

Her elbows, knees, hips… hell, her everything hurt like she had run fifty miles, uphill. Her vision was clearing, the pressure in her ears was going away. Sound was coming back slowly. A wailing noise filled the corridor. “Oz.” She called Sergeant Ozcanian. “Take team two and hit Engineering.” They had rammed the frigate’s port side, and Engineering, aft, would be to their right. “Gunny, we’re taking team one and hitting the bridge.” that would be forward of their position, on their right.” Her own voice sounded odd, but she chalked that up to the insane stunt of getting across. F’Arra, or Kally would read her the riot act over that one. Of course, she’d have to live long enough to get it.

"Just stay behind me." Rei snarled as she took the point position and moved ahead of her officer, "Of any of us, you are the least expendable, ma'am. Gomez, Alvera, clear the left as we go, I've got the right." She kept her rifle raised as they approached the first door on the right, triggering the door and stepping into the room even as she swept across the entire room, "Clear." Then stepped back out into the corridor, watching over the other wo troops as they cleared the next room.

The team moved slowly. One room at a time. Mess hall. Storage room. What looked - and smelled - like an interrogation room. The seconds had turned into minutes. Nat knew they didn't have the time. Chimera was getting it's ass in hot water.

That was when the lights died. A count of heartbeats, and the emergency lighting kicked in.

"Eyes to Washout." Ozcanian used his service nickname - Eyes - to code the message. Nat wasn't thrilled about hers. She needed to change that. "Engineering clear. Main power off-line. Weapons off-line, propulsion off-line. Can bring her back on in twenty seconds."

Nat made a mental note to recommend the man for a commendation. She flicked on the light attached to her Rifle. Half a dozen beams joined hers. "All right, people. Double time it. Watch for hand-to-hand and CQB." By which she meant in person Close Quarters Battle.

The bridge was ahead of them now. A central doorway. It had to be the bridge.

The team assembled, and Nat gave a nod to one, who punched the door control. It opened with a metallic grating noise.

"Stoll. Get down there and get me control of my- who the fuck are you?"

Nat didn't even bother to answer. She saw someone at the fore of the Bridge turning from a console. Her rifle raised, and a lance of phaser energy dropped the body to the floor.

Before total chaos erupted, Nat could just see the shock and anger on the face of the man in the centre seat.

Reishi slid in behind Nat and didn't even hesitate as she shot one of the crewers at another station, trying to bring the ship back up from it apparently. The... Human in the centre seat actually surprised her among the primarily and vaguely octopedial aliens, but there was no doubt a reason for that.

A flicker of motion off to one side made her whirl and shoot without thinking, another of the odd aliens going down to the ground with the clatter of.. Not a weapon, perhaps it was just a scanning device. She trained her rifle on another alien, but his hands were in the open and they seemed frozen, "Clear, Captain." She said softly.

"I said who the fuck are you?" The human stood from the chair and snarled at Natalya, "And how did you?"

Nat came fully into the bridge, with the team close in. They fanned out, finding no more resistance. "We're the good guys. You got one chance to tell me where the freighter crew is." Her rifle was aimed at a foot. "Then I start to get creative."

"Nat, status report on Target One?"

"Authentication Whiskey-Zulu-Tango. Organised resistance over. We have Engineering, and the Bridge."

She muted the channel to the Chimera, and focused on her target again. "Freighter crew?"

"What freighter crew?" He spat back at her, "What, you thought that Ti'roga was the Captain of that ship? What a fucking rube you are. We've had that ship for months, put the crew off on a habitable planet ages ago. We were hoping for a Dashian warship, then you and your dunce of a Captain walked in."

"You know what? You talk too much." Rei snapped at the human on the bridge, "At least about the wrong things." She gestured with her rifle tip to the side and he scowled as he stood slowly and moved in that direction, away from anything that could be bad for the ship.

"I'll trade information for my freedom and that of a couple others I brought along with me. The rest? The Hrakten can go to hell, they just paid the best of the offers." His hands stayed where they were fully visible.

The butt of Nat's rifle slammed into the man's solar-plexus. "We don't bargain with pirates." It was the oldest law of space travel. Hostis humani generis, Enemy of mankind. Nat tossed a pair of plastic cuff ties to one of the marines. "Bind him, take him somewhere secure."

With the Bridge secure, Nat took a second to fully appreciate the fact. The ship was theirs. A small smile flicked across her face. That made her the skipper, for the time being. "All right, let's get this place cleaned up."