Away Team- Rescue or Bust

Posted on Thu Apr 4th, 2024 @ 5:36am by Ensign Alessandra Sheffield & Lieutenant Colonel Azhul Naxea & Lieutenant JG Jonathon DeLaney

Mission: Season 6: Episode 4: Memory Lane
Location:  K'ithai, M Class world, Owned by the Thaih'ae
Timeline: MD 9 13h30 approx
3792 words - 7.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Alessandra kept to the shadows around the ship. She knew she was not trusted. She didn't care. She was not lying, and she knew they had to get as many of them out as possible. As she stood in the shadows as the Colonel followed her down the ramp, she took her bearings.

She kept her voice low. "To our left is more transport padds, but to the right, through those trees, is the slave pens and the medical buildings. They are about 2 kilometres away. There are fields and orchards there too." She looked up at the sky. "Daylight in an hour" she said to the Colonel.

Pre dawn was the time when most guards were the most tired. And hopefully these Thaih'ea were like most humanoids. "Show me where the children are,* Naxea said as she waited to follow Sheffield.

"Medical Buildings" Alessandra said and ducked low and headed into the undergrowth. She flattened herself to the dirt at the base of a tree and pressed a silver disk into the dirt.

A hole the size of two human males side by side opened up. It went down about 10 feet in a slide like slope. "This way Colonel." she motioned into the tunnel.

Naxea paused as she took a moment to take in the disc that has just dug a hole into the ground. 'Useful technology,' she thought as she followed Alessandra. "How did you come across those discs?" she whispered.

"The underground/ resistance, whatever you want to call it. J’ier, he taught me how to use it, and to survive underground. It is very risky to sneak on ships. So the resistance has trouble getting off planet but, they use these to keep ahead of patrols." She slid into the tunnel ahead of Naxea. "Pull it free when you enter" she said as she headed down.

Naxea pulled the disc as the hole closed behind her. "That's neat," she commented, studying the disc in her hand before turning back to follow Alessandra. "Where exactly will we exit out of in regards to this medical center?"

"I can get us right inside if you want." Aless said as she created a new tunnel, heading slightly deeper but almost straight in the direction she wanted to go. She tapped her wrist gauntlet and a mini map appeared. "Its Sale day so... low numbers planet side"

"Hold up. Inside? What sort of security does this place have?" Naxea asked, grasping the woman's shoulder.


"Medical staff." Aless replied. "Guards on the perimeter only. After all, drugged and sedated people are not much of a threat. And most of the medical staff will be up at the arena. Cant send damaged goods off."

Naxea sighed. No guards inside seemed foolish to her and didn't make sense to have at least one guard patrolling the interior --it was what she would do. "If there is a storage area, take us there then.". A storage room was least likely to have anyone inside.

Aless nodded and tapped her wrist device and a small mini map appeared. "Those blue dots? They are slaves." there was not many around the area. "The Red are Thaih'ae." again very limited numbers and mostly around the settlement. Aless pointed to a building shown, "Here" She said. "And we will come out here." her fingers moved the map to show a room out of the way. Does that work?"

"That'll work," Naxea replied. "Let's go.". Naxea kept the time in her head. They had less than an hour to survey the place and contact Miraj before she hopefully would follow orders and abandon the mission and return to the Elysium.

Aless noted their position and said "stay close, I will shrink the tunnel behind us to make it quicker for us to move."

"Alright," Naxea replied.

Alessandra led the way through the tunnels she created and it didn't take long for her to begin to move them up towards the surface. She paused checked their location and then took another silver disk placed it at her feet and then opened up the ground above their head as the wall of dirt before them changed to have hand holds, like a ladder. Figuring that the Colonel wouldn't trust her fully, she stepped back and said "you want me to go first?"

Naxea was still amazed by the technology of those discs as it took her a moment to respond. "I'll go," she said as she scampered up the tunnel quickly, ready to leap if there was anyone around. She looked around, not spotting anyone. "Clear," she called back to Alessandra.

Aless scrambled out and sealed the tunnel behind her pocketing the devices. She took a moment to look around and get her bearings. "This way" ahe said softly.

===MEDICAL LAB===

The loss over the past few months of several of their genetic doners, the Thaih’ae had begun using slaves from the fields. Among them was Jonathon DeLaney. A former Starfleet Engineer.
His current accommodations were in a small room off of what they called the Subsidiary.
Which was just another way they called the Genetic Nursery. The Thaih’ae took samples from him and kept him locked up.

John sat in his small room within the Subsidiary, a term that the Thaih'ae used to euphemize the grim reality of the Genetic Nursery. It was a place where they harvested genetic material from their captives, including John himself. Once a Starfleet engineer, he now found himself confined to this sterile environment, stripped of his freedom and reduced to nothing more than a mere specimen. Who could blame him for being a bit grumpy?

Despite the bleakness of his situation, John refused to succumb to despair. His injuries and lack of bloody, food and water weighed heavily on him, a constant reminder of his vulnerability in this unfamiliar and hostile environment. Yet, he refused to let it defeat him. With every breath, he clung to the hope of escape, determined to reclaim his freedom and put an end to the Thaih'ae's atrocities.

As he sat alone in his cramped quarters, his thoughts turned to his former life in Starfleet, the memories of what he had left behind and purpose now a distant echo. But even in the darkest of moments, John held onto the flicker of resilience that burned within him, ready to ignite into a blazing flame of defiance at the first opportunity. For now, he bided his time, waiting for the chance to break free from his confinement and reclaim his destiny.

Outside his for lack of a better word, cell there was movement but not the movement that came with his enslavers.

Alessandra led Naxea to a corridor where there were only a couple of rooms. "The nursery and exam rooms they use." She said softly.

Naxea looked at the door next to them. She glanced through the door window and saw a human male. She looked at the door pad and pressed the panel. The door clicked and slid open. "Who are you?" she asked, in a hushed voice.

"Oh great, I'm hallucinating again... You’d think I’d imagine someone more attractive." John grumbled, his voice laced with irritation as he eyed the figure approaching his cell. He folded his arms across his chest, a scowl forming on his face as he watched them draw nearer.

"Listen, whoever you are, I've had my fair share of mind games in this place," he said, his tone firm and resolute which was evidence that hey may often argue with himself. "So unless you've got a damn good reason for being here, I suggest you turn around and leave me be so I can get back to realigning the matter antimatter reaction chamber” He often spent most of his time inside his own head, calibrating this, adjusting that he’d just about remembered every single component of his ship and dedicated it to memory, it was his ‘happy place’. Despite his gruff demeanor, there was a flicker of curiosity in his eyes, betraying his guarded interest in the stranger standing before him.

Alessandra ignored the conversation and moved to the next door which was the nursery. She peeked in and saw 5 small hibernation pods. She glanced back at Naxea and the man.

"I'm no hallucination. But if you'd prefer to stay here in this cell instead of coming with me and hopefully back to the Federation, then by all means, be my guest. I don't have time to coddle anyone," Naxea replied, backing out of the cell but leaving the door open as she made her way to Alessandra.

John couldn't help but find this hallucination particularly absurd. "So now even my hallucinations are doubting my chance of survival? HA!" he scoffed, a wry smile playing at the corners of his lips. With a resigned shrug, he stepped out of his cell, deciding to play along with this surreal charade for as long as it took, even if it led to capture, torture, or worse.

As he followed the phantom figure, John couldn't shake the nagging feeling that he had somehow managed to unlock the door during one of his blackouts. "Well, lead the way," he remarked dryly, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "And please, don't stop for my sake," he added, a hint of defiance in his voice. "Next time I have one of these, I hope they're far more well-mannered than you."

Aless glanced at the man. And then she looked at Naxea. "Thats normal. They do a lot to people's brains. I was almost catatonic for weeks after the resistance pulled me out of here."

She pointed into the room. "Only 5 hibernation pods Colonel. They keep their subjects in the nursery in stasis where possible."

"Since we're all in this boat together, real or not, you should probably deactivate the motion sensors," John remarked, his voice gruff and unconcerned. He made no attempt to conceal his actions, still convinced that everything he was experiencing was either a hallucination or a cruel manipulation orchestrated by his captors. With a resigned sigh, he continued, "Actually, let me just sort it."

Moving swiftly to a nearby panel, John deftly removed the access panel and began adjusting the sensors, manipulating their internal algorithms to ensure they wouldn't trigger unless confronted with a significant weight. "Unless you weigh 600lbs, you shouldn't trigger anything," he stated matter-of-factly, his cynicism evident in his tone as he addressed the imaginary figure before him.

Alessandra turned to him. "What year is it?" She asked him.

"Year?" John scoffed, his tone laced with disbelief. "What on earth does that matter?" He shook his head, feeling a bit off-kilter by the question. Eyeing her for a moment, he shrugged nonchalantly. "It was 2395, so I guess based on nothing but intuition and guesstimating, I would say 2395? Maybe '96? who knows, and honestly, who cares? I live each day as it comes."

He paused, a flicker of realization crossing his features. "Why," he mused aloud, before continuing with a hint of sarcasm, "oh, I see. My brain is trying to keep me sane by reminding me that time outside of my cell passes. By recounting how long I've been here, I can hold onto some strand of sanity." Another pause, and then he added, "Yes, well, I suppose that makes sense. I'd rather do it by answering an engineering question, but Counselor Tran often said minds work in mysterious ways. Or was it Bran? Who cares. What now?" he asked, his skepticism evident in his demeanor.

"According to the Colonel here its 2398." Aless replied as she eased open the door. For me it was 2266." She slipped into the room. She approached the first of the pods.

"And for all we know, the colonel is one of them, and you're the figment of my imagination," John retorted, his skepticism shining through his words. Then, with a furrowed brow, he asked, "What are we doing in here anyway? If we're wanting to escape, shouldn't we... just escape?" His question was accompanied by a gesture toward the door, indicating his impatience with the current situation and his readiness to take action.

"And cause a lockdown on the surface when they discover that you're gone and jeopardize the other team? No. Not to mention there are patrols outside," she looked back at the kids in the stasis pods. She looked at Aless. "Can you get them out of there?"

Aless nodded. "Yes." She admitted. "But I would recommend leaving them sedated for transport. These pods have their own power sources for portability. "

"Understood.". Naxea looked back at John. "My name is Azhul Naxea by the way and do you think you can cause a feedback in the power grid that would destroy this facility?"

John's thoughts swirled as the scenario unfolded before him, his skepticism waning as the two women seemed undeniably real. Yet, he couldn't shake the nagging suspicion that this could all be another elaborate trick of his mind or his captors' machinations. "Do birds chirp?" he asked abruptly, breaking the silence that hung heavy in the air. "It'll do more than that; it'll leave a crater recognizable from space. How long do you want to give us? I can rig it to build up slowly like a time bomb," he offered, his voice tinged with a mix of resignation and determination, ready to act if needed despite his lingering doubts.

"Build it up slowly. I want them to think it was an accident. That way they will think everyone died instead of escaping," Naxea answered.

Aless began moving the hover stasis pods away from the centre of the room and then she knelt and put a silver disk on the ground and opened up a tunnel. Then she turned to a small bench and scooped up a pile of PADDS and stored them into various pockets of her clothing. She was a doctor, so she knew these would have information on what they were doing to these children. She then started moving the pods into the tunnel. As there were only 5 it wouldn't take them too long to get them back to the ship."

Naxea stood watch as Aless moved the pods. She soon heard the sound of a door opening in the following room. 'Shit,' she thought as she drew her K-Bar knife and pressed her body against the side of the entrance door. She heard what seemed like only one pair of feet walking, and they were approaching. She silently motioned for Aless and John to stay where they are.

Aless mouthed a swear word and ducked down behind a cupboard.

Working with a sense of urgency that bordered on desperation, John's fingers flew across the console, each keystroke echoing in his ears. The footsteps outside grew louder, closer, like the ominous drumbeat of impending danger. With every passing second, the pressure mounted, a weight pressing down on him, urging him to finish before it was too late.

John stole a quick glance around the room, noting the absence of any aid from his hallucinations. Alone, he fought against time, against the threat approaching. Beads of sweat formed on his brow, his heart pounding in his chest like a relentless drum, each beat a reminder of the peril closing in.

Finally, with a surge of relief tinged with fear, the console acknowledged his command sequences, john rolled behind where the stasis pods had been hardwired into, seeking to hide amidst the cables and conduits. His breath caught in his throat as he listened intently, the silence broken only by the faint hum of machinery and the thunderous pounding of his own heartbeat.

The footsteps belonged to a Thaih'ae that was dressed in what Naxea guessed was a scientist outfit. Naxea moved without hesitation as she plunged the K-Bar onto the Thaih'ae's neck as it tries to unsuccessfully scream for help as she pulled the blade across, slicing through muscle and tissue as the Thaih'ae fell to the deck in a growing pool of blood as life faded from it's body. "Let's move," she said,moving to help Aless to move the pods. "Were you successful," she looked back at John.

John stepped out from his hiding space and looked at the dead body on the floor, the pool of blood slowly pooling towards his feet and he stepped over it. He didn't remember killing the Thaih'ae, maybe he had blacked out and his mind then assumed that one of his hallucinations had done the dirty work for him, in all of his escape attempts though... he'd never killed anyone. Shook from his internal thoughts by the question, "Of course I did, were now standing inside a ticking time bomb so I suggest if were leaving, we do so now."

Aless pushed the 5 pods, two larger than the other two into the tunnel and handed Naxea the closing disk. "Press this into the side of the tunnel once you both are in. " she stepped around Naxea and went to the corpse and placed a disk beside it and the corpse and the blood fell into a hole which she closed as it all vanished.

Then Aless slipped into the tunnel with the last of the pods and moved to the front to plot their way back.

John's scepticism deepened as he observed the sudden disappearance of the body. The abrupt vanishing act only reinforced his conviction that he was indeed in the grips of a hallucination. After all, it was inconceivable that a corpse could simply vanish into thin air, especially in the midst of imminent destruction. The device the woman held—a disk unfamiliar to him—only added to the surreal nature of the situation. He couldn't shake the feeling that the Thaih'ae was still out there, perhaps indulging in a leisurely rest or, worse yet, revelling in the chaos of his failed escape attempt.

Reluctantly trailing behind his imagined companions, John's scepticism morphed into a cynical resignation. "So, just how are we getting off this rock?" he muttered, his tone laced with sarcasm. "Wait, wait... I bet there's a Starfleet vessel waiting for us to beam aboard," he quipped, his words dripping with irony. Deep down, he knew the likelihood of such a miraculous rescue was slim to none, but a small part of him clung to the fleeting hope of salvation amidst the madness.

"No, not a Starfleet vessel. We arrived here using a shuttle that belongs to a Lonian that we encountered. But there is a Starfleet ship, the USS Elysium. We came here on a scouting mission to learn more about the Thaih'ae," Naxea explained as she closed the hole behind them.

"Lonian... Starfleet.... The Thaih'ae, right?" John's voice was laced with skepticism as he delved into the conversation. "And it just so happens that the Elysium sent you here to what? Rescue some children? Me? Seems like a waste of resources if you ask me. And as for the Thaih'ae..." He paused, spitting on the ground in disgust. "They can all go to hell or whichever proverbial eternal prison they deserve. So, where's this shuttle then?" John's cynicism was palpable as he scanned their surroundings, half-expecting to be surrounded by a dozen guards the moment the shuttle came into view. He braced himself for the possibility of being stunned, beaten, and thrust right back into the dire circumstances from which they had promised to escape.

"On that we agree."Alessandra said from where she was at the front of their small group. "Colonel we are almost back at the landing Pad. It's is probably fully daylight by now. Do you want to come out in the undergrowth?"

"Yes," she said before turning to John. "Saving children are never a waste of resources. I know that from personal experience when Starfleet came to the aid of Bajor after the Cardassians left. Our original mission was not to rescue anyone but I'm not about to stand by and watch children suffer. Consequences be damned.". Suddenly the ground shook as the sound of the medical center exploding sounded in the distance. "Let's move!"

Aless nodded and picked up the pace. "300 meters to go" she called back a short time later. She paused and her wrist scanner glowed. "No one around. We should be okay until we get to the landing padd."

"Good," Naxea commented.

“I don’t think I need to remind you both, that those preliminary explosions were just the generators overloading, we have about five minutes of that before the facility reaches maximum capacity and lays waste to this place” John said eyeing up the piece of tech on Aless arm, apparently technology had advanced somewhat.

"We are a good klick from that medical facility" Alessandra replied. "It wont hit here." She began creating the up tunnel and soon they were all clustered with the 5 pods just below the surface. "Opening up now Colonel."

Naxea climbed up, keeping low as she surveyed the area. Nothing was moving though there seemed to be commotion in the distance in the direction of the medical facility with smoke rising from the area. Not too far away, Naxea spotted the landing pad. She keyed her comm as a signal that they were coming in. A moment later, a reply key was sent back. "Alright, we're clear, get a move on," she said firmly in a hushed tone.

Aless pushed the pods out of the hole and followed them out, waving for Jonathan to follow. Once he was out she sealed the hole. "That's the shuttle. Take a pod or two and follow the colonel" she told him in a soft voice.

John regarded Aless with a sceptical gaze as she suggested pushing the pods. Despite his doubts about her motives, he saw the logic in her plan. Without a word of acknowledgement, he moved to help her, his movements brisk and efficient. Once the pods were in place, John hesitated only momentarily before accepting, his expression guarded as he took two pods.

With the pods secured, John wasted no time in starting toward the shuttle. Every step felt heavy with anticipation, and he couldn't shake the feeling of unease that gnawed at his gut. Glancing over his shoulder, he half-expected to see Aless aiming a weapon at his back. Every step took him close to freedom.

The hatch slid open as she ushered in the pods as she kept a look out. Thankfully, it seemed the explosions at the medical center kept them busy.

Aless followed them up the ramp and soon they were all secured in the Shuttle.

OFF

OOC:
Children: 2 – One Human Vulcan hybrid, and one Cardassian/Bajoran Hybrid
Infants: 3 – One Betazoid/Human, two human Vulcan hybrids.