The Reality of a Nightmare

Posted on Saturday 24 April 2021 @ 21:00 by Civilian Sansa Draxx-Jones & Lieutenant Commander Hayley Godding

Mission: A Cry from the Darkness
Location: Deck 5
Timeline: MD05 2300
1916 words - 3.8 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

The turbolift doors opened and Hayley bolted out of the lift into the darkened corridor at a full run. The only illumination offered was from the emergency lighting and the red pulses of the alert lights in the wall. She made a direct path to the main armory in Main Security, passing crew heading in the opposite direction. They should have gone to their quarters or combat posts, Hayley thought to herself, but she didn't have time to deal with that issue right now.

Arriving outside security, she was pleased to see that her security staff were already heading out to various parts of the ship. Local teams would access weapon stashes around the ship, but heavier ordinance was stored in the armory as per protocol. She burst into the room to see Nicholls distributing compression rifles out to personnel as quickly as she could. Passing the queue, Hayley went into her personal office and opened the cupboard at the back, removing a tactical harness that she fitted around her waist and tightened the straps on her shoulders. She withdrew the combat knife from the cupboard and slid it into the holster on the back of her harness. Once done, she went straight back out and passed the line of security officers and straight into the armory proper, grabbing a phaser pistol from a rack and slotting it into her leg holster on her right leg and attaching some flashbangs onto her webbing before grabbing a rapid fire pulse phaser rifle.

"Situation report." Hayley asked as she came out of the armory and walked over to the pool table, holding the rifle up and against her shoulder.

"We've got visuals on enemy forces on several decks." Grufford reported grimly, bringing up a sideways schematic of the Merlin. "We've eyes on a team on deck ten, right about here..." He pointed.

"They're heading for the Primary Computer core." Hayley nodded. "Better get more people over there."

"Aye Commander." Grufford said, making a note. "We've also got some on Deck 11, but they ran into the marines still down there - poor bastards."

"Probably heading for the Impulse reactors. Lets leave the marines to their sport." Hayley said. "Next."

"Deck 26, heavy presence there." He said.

"No guesses what they're after there. We got teams en-route?" She asked.

"We already had two teams down there as per protocol, but there are a lot of intruders down there." Grufford said.

"Nicholls! Once you're done there, take teams eight, eleven and sixteen down to main engineering and keep it secure. I'll see if some marines can come back you up." Hayley barked.

"Aye ma'am." Nicholls said, firmly.

"We've got some reports of some unfriendlies on this deck as well as deck two. Looks like they're heading to the bridge." Grufford said.

"Shock." Hayley said. "There's a team on the bridge already, but I want more people up there to secure it."

"Transporters are offline, looks like we're doing it the old fashioned way." Grufford said.

"Take two teams up there yourself Senior Chief. Protect the bridge." Hayley said, knowing full well that if Melody felt that the ship was in danger of being taken, that she'd make the ultimate decision.

"Where are you going to be, Commander?" Grufford asked.

Hayley smiled. "Why, Senior Chief, I'm going to take back my ship." She said, dropping the rifle down into her open hand. "Starting with the group on this deck."

---

Sansa had been doing some late-night studying in the Cetacean operations lab. She knew Hayley had a late shift that evening and she had left Belle asleep in their quarters. She was just walking back into the corridor when red alert came on. "Oh no! Not good!" She started to walk faster when she heard Hayley over the comm system "General quarters, General quarters, all hands......" the message then dissolved into static and cut out abruptly.

"Oh this is very not good." She turned at the next junction in the corridor and she could see the turbolift at the end. Up three decks and back to quarters and lock the door. She was almost there when the turbolft doors opened and a group of people who were defiantly not Starfleet stepped out. They were dressed all in black and the moment they saw her, started eyeing her up like predators eyeing up a snack.

The one in front, a human looked at her and grinned in a lecherous way. "Well well, a sign of life, with curves. Might as well have some fun before we snap her neck. Come here my Pretty."

From behind her, Sansa caught some movement out of the corner of her eye. She half-turned to see 3 security officers taking up cover positions at the hallway intersection. One of them called out "Get down!"

Sansa suddenly realised she was in the middle of a firefight. Immediately to her left was a computer terminal that had an outcropping, providing just enough cover for her as she dove to the side of the corridor, phaser blasts narrowly missing her leg and arm.

She huddled as close to the wall as she could and sent a silent prayer. "Hayley! please find me!"

---

At the front of her team of eight security officers, Hayley rounded the corner to find three officers engaged in a firefight further down the hall.

"Report!" She called to them over the din.

"Ma'am, we've got eight hostiles by the turbolift and one civilian halfway down the hall. We're trying to get to her." One of the officers reported.

"Alright..." She said and turned to her team. "Rifles up, push down the corridor, continuous fire.... ready... 3... 2... 1..." She nodded and all of them turned down the corridor and opened fire towards the intruders as they stepped down the corridor forming a wall of phaser fire as they advanced steadily.

About halfway down, they found the alcove and Hayley knelt down still looking forward and touched the civilian on the back. "Move behind me..." She said then looked down. "Sansa! What the hell are you doing here?!" She snapped, more out of concern than anything. "Nevermind that now, get behind me and move back down the corridor to the intersection, wait for me there."

Sansa forced out a hollow laugh. "Oh you know me, sex for dinner. Death for breakfast." she muttered with gallows humour, trying to keep her mind of how close she actually was to death. She moved closer to Hayley, shadowing her every move. "You found me. I knew you'd find me." she repeated quietly.

The firing from the invaders was intensifying and suddenly there were just so many of them, some running right at the officers, mad-men as they came to point blank range and started hacking at the security personnel with bladed weapons or in the case of a very large Gorn, using his claws.

"Fall back!" Hayley ordered. "Back to the intersection!"

Sansa turned to follow but she was suddenly grabbed by the arm and yanked hard in the other direction. Everything lease was shut out and she went into a basic fight or flight response. Without even looking she balled up her fist and swung hard, catching her assailant square in the jaw, disorientating him, letting her slip free. She screamed to Hayley, trying to get her attention.

Hearing the scream, Hayley turned back, her hair flying around her face revealing a snarl as she saw someone man-handling Sansa. She pulled the knife from behind her and charged down the corridor towards them. Her hands and feet had become weapons as she fell back on her martial-arts training and disabled one of the attackers with a decisive kick and killed another with a well timed knife blow. She reached the guy who was holding Sansa before he even had a chance to recover from the blow that Sansa had dealt him and thrust her hand out and connected firmly with his wind-pipe, sending him reeling back against the bulkhead.

"Sansa! Ru-URK!" Hayley shouted but was cut off as she was grabbed by the throat from behind. She moved around and kicked the assailant in the shin hard causing him to release her, but in the chaos that followed, she felt something sharp grab onto her arm. It yanked hard... so hard... too hard... then an intense pain... she turned to look at the stump that had once been her right arm moments before something horrifically sharp came down the right hand side of her face and then there was nothing but intense white pain and blackness out of the right side of her face. The pain was too much and she crashed down to the deck face-first, gasping for air.... trying to speak...

"Sa..a... un..." She gurgled as blood came out of her mouth.

Time had slowed down for Sansa she had watched in horror as the Gorn rushed Hayley and tore her arm off. She was able to get down by her side. There was no sound, besides her heartbeat. She was speaking but she couldn't hear what she was saying. Her hands went to Hayley's wound, in a feeble attempt to stop it from bleeding. There was movement behind her again and she felt a hand on her shoulder. Without thinking, she grabbed the phaser that was still on Hayley's belt. As the hand on her shoulder spun her back around, she brought the phaser to aim and fired...

Her eye's locked with her attackers for a split second. To her, it seemed like an eternity.

She saw the look in the man's eyes as his entire body was vaporised.

Shock and realisation hit all at once. She dropped the phaser and looked at her hands. They were covered in blood. The other mercenaries had stopped too, they looked almost as shocked as she was. Her legs buckled beneath her and she sank to her knees. She felt the arms of a security guard wrap around her and pull her back towards to intersection, she offered no resistance. Another security guard was grabbing Hayley and pulling her back at the same time.

---

"She's hurt pretty bad." Ensign Keller said, checking on Hayley's condition. "I need to stop the bleeding from her ar... errr... shoulder..."

A gruff Chief Petty Officer came over and grabbed a piece of metalic debris and pulled out his phaser, tapping the buttons for a moment before firing the beam at the end of the piece of metal. The beam held on the end of the metal until the tip was bright white-hot. "Alright, this ain't gonna be pretty... but we gotta do it... hold her still..."

Sansa had gone completely numb but seeing them restrain Hayley caused something to snap. "No! You've got to help her. What are you doing?"

Ignoring the irate girl, the older Chief just pressed the white-hot metal against Hayley's bleeding stump. Hayley screamed out in a blood-curdling scream of pain as the older male cauterised the wound.

Sansa had to close her eyes and look away, not bearing to watch.

"We gotta get these two to sickbay. We'll handle things here, you three take them. Move!" Sansa heard one of the officers yell. Her hands had started to tremble. She moved closer to Hayley, just wanting to be close to her.

OFF

○●● Lieutenant Commander Hayley Godding
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Merlin


Sansa Draxx-Jones
Civilian
NPC Jones