School's Out

Posted on Fri Oct 24th, 2025 @ 3:22am by Lieutenant J'airesh Mora-Heath

Mission: Season 6: Episode 6: Conglomerate
Location: DECK 10
Timeline: MD01 / 15:00 Hrs
1947 words - 3.9 OF Standard Post Measure

*When the pods reached the Elysium's shields, they were caught briefly, before pushing through. Each one then slammed onto the hull at various locations on Elysium, the spinning drill heads digging into the solid duranium hull plating as if it was thin aluminium.

::The bridge shook again as the pods slammed against the Elysium’s duranium plating. The sound of drilling reverberated through the decks.::

As soon as the pods latched on, the front hatches irised open and the hounds poured out, attacking anyone nearby, killing everyone in front of them.

As soon as the pods connected with the hull, new alarm klaxons began ringing through the ship. "Breach! Intruder alert!! We have breaches on decks five, eight, ten, fifteen and twenty!" *

J’Air was just enjoying an appointment in the Spa on Deck 10 when there was a hideous noise and the whole suite shook. At the time she didn’t realise it was the whole ship shaking but within moments that all became clear as the alarms began to sound and there was screaming from outside the unit. A crew member burst through the window In from the promenade in the centre of Deck 10. The unfortunate Ensign had been mauled and was bleeding from his numerous and horrible wounds. J’Air was in a Spa Dressing Gown but she ran forward to see what help she could offer the lad, cutting the soles of her bare feet on the smashed debris from all the items he and the window he had come through had all crushed on impact. There were bottles, shattered plastimine and ornaments, not to mention lights, the display that had been in the front of the Spa and many other broken items. Struggling through to his side, J’Air realised that the young man was bleeding out from huge gaps in his mangled body. She was shocked.

It was unusual for a seasoned medic and surgical expert such as J’Air to be shocked but this was Deck 10, the R&R deck and a place where these kinds of horror were totally out of place. She wasn’t able to save him but she stood up and looked around at what had done this, coming face to face with the most monstrous and evil looking muzzle of a…. what?... this was a nightmare… She might have pinched herself to see if this was a hideous dream except that her feet hurt enough to tell her she was awake, just as the THING - there was nothing else to call it – seemed to break the split-second impasse and lunge forward towards her.

J’Air put up an arm instinctively to defend herself but her brain was already telling her that wouldn’t be enough so she threw herself sideways in the same movement. She landed heavily, taking more lacerations to her legs and some to her face, the thick towelling robe protecting her torso and arms. She felt herself being covered in a wash of disgusting blood, guts and gore as the creature was blown to bits from behind, just in time to stop its teeth reaching the ACMO.

An officer in a Marine uniform stood beyond, with what looked to J'Air like a missile launcher still pointing in the direction of where the “dog” had been before obliteration. “Thank you” J’Air puffed, trying to get her breath back and struggle to get up.

One of the Spa attendants struggled out from beneath what remained of the previously sturdy Reception Desk and came forward to help J’Air up. Someone from a back room also came out with J’Air’s uniform trousers and shoes which she snatched up and pulled on. Behind the wreckage of the doorway the ACMO’s jacket still hung on a hook that had been protected by the actual, unhinged, pushed back door itself which had, right in front of her eyes, dropped forwards, taking the gore that had splattered onto it’s outside, to the floor. Seeing the jacket fall as she was right there, it seemed to be important to grab it and throw off the robe, replacing it with the jacket as she ran, her feet sore but better and more useable now she had pulled on shoes.

She called thanks to all who had helped as she ran out and within moments had joined the female Marine officer on the walkway. The Marine, calling herself “Paws” well that was what it sounded like in the cacophony, reloaded her – J’Air didn’t know what it was exactly but it was reassuringly huge and seemed to dispatch some kind of equally scary 'missiley-explosive-stuff' ~Technical Term~ her mind flashed a thought that would have made Chuck smile. Her heart ached to know if he was okay but the thought had to be banished as quickly as it flashed across.

Paws handed J’Air a rifle of some kind that she’d just picked up from the floor in front of where the deceased Ensign had been hurled into the Spa Shopfront. Mora-Heath took it but a small involuntary flicker of ~this didn’t do our friend a lot of good~ flashed across the back of her thoughts next. Paws seemed to read this, or anticipate it and although J’Air hadn’t spoken – the Marine said quickly “They’re not vulnerable from the front – some kind of shield I think – but you can get one from the side or the back if you get a chance.” The ACMO nodded and said “Thanks” yet again to her Marine life-saver.

“You’re in teal…..” the Marine noticed J’Air’s jacket. “You’re not …. Yes, you HAVE to be…. Medical…. You tried to help that Ensign. You have to have made THAT that 'do no harm' promise? So, can you actually shoot that thing and more importantly WILL you?” she asked as they both ran along towards the aft. “Yes” Mora-Heath replied firmly. “I am able and I WILL!” There wasn’t time to go into details as they were getting close to the rear sections of the Deck. “That’s the school” J’Air told her comrade who nodded.

“I know. We have to get the kids away to safety.” Came Paws’ reply, through her ground teeth as she saw another of the invaders approaching the doors with its jaws devouring a path through, dropping bodies.

Inside of J’Air, the need to stop and help the wounded screamed out and tugged at her soul but the same reasoning that had already told her it was okay to 'shoot to kill' in these circumstances as the “harm she was doing” was to offer emergency protection to lives that would clearly otherwise be snuffed out mindlessly. She knew there were many dozens of others who would die horribly if she didn’t do whatever she could to defend those she was also sworn to protect - sometimes a conflict of oaths but not today!

There were screams from inside the school and as Paws and her missile launcher blew the rear out of the creature that was attempting to claw at the doors, J’Air ran around (slipping a little in the gore but righting herself without actually hitting the deck, literally, she gave a Cardassian curse that she knew she should NOT have used near children) and called out to those inside that this was the best chance they had to escape and that she was a doctor and to please come out quickly?

The door opened, at first tentatively, a Teacher protectively trying not to let anything dangerous in. On hearing what the ACMO had to say about the situation, he turned, threw open the doors and herded the children out – helped by the other Teachers and Staff. Paws had indicated the route to the turbolift but it filled very quickly and so they hurried the rest into the Jefferies' tubes, urging them to climb down (or up - whichever), as fast as they could - The Teachers split up to be sure to have some accompany the kids going down and others to go with those going up.

As the majority of the escapees were clearing off the deck, J’Air turned as if to go back. Paws reached out to stop her. “Are you MAD?” she cried out.

“The Day Care……. Other end…… past the Spa! The babies… ! “ the ACMO panted, ready to run back.

“For the rest of my Squad to get!” Paws yelled back. “You have to come with me…. Help these survivors this end of the deck.”

J’Air recognised the sense of what she’d just been told at once and realised the Marine was right of course, there was no benefit to anyone in her getting herself killed now. “We have to get to Deck 12!” she said instead, “Ideas?” she asked.

“The lift didn’t come back up, that doesn’t bode well but we have to try to get these wounded down somehow and the Jeffries are full in both directions.” Paws replied. J’Air suddenly realised that earlier on - it had been sheer instinct and ~damn, what a GREAT instinct it had been now she was thinking about it properly, she had grabbed her Tunic top/jacket. She began untangling it from where she’d pulled on awkwardly. She set it straight and the medical Comms Badge emerged from the hurriedly twisted folds as she took it off and shook it out. ~Hope to the Prophets, its still working?~ she wondered to herself, wishing belatedly that she'd been a bit less resistant to her Mother's Religion when she was younger in order to have more weight in asking them to help now.

Paws saw the removal and straightening of the jacket and understood what J’Air was doing. “This way” she hurried and the two of them moved back up the Rhyll in the centre of the deck, it's slaughtered fish floating ominously along on the surface as the water still moved although more sluggishly now it was tinged red/green and thickened with spilled blood. Paws continued to be alert all around to see where, if anywhere, was safe to duck into.

Mora-Heath scrambled along the deck towards the wounded, checking for survivors. She found only two close to the front of the school but she had no med-kit to help them with. She tore clothes off bodies with a silent nod of respect to them for their help, and used the cloth to provided one makeshift torniquet and another pad of material for wadding against bleeding gouges made by canine teeth, on another patient. Paws moved further into the main causeway to check other fallen but none responded nor seemed to have pulses. So many had bled out.

Returning to where the ACMO had gathered the two who were now together in a small group and looking around as they all heard more fearful screams and horrific noises, the four huddled together while J’Air flicked her Comm Badge, trying out that praying anyway, for it not to have been knocked out in the damage and destruction they'd been through.

=^= Computer this is the ACMO - Emergency Medical Transportation. Four to Main Sickbay =^= J'Airesh commanded into the badge and to all of their relief - it responded. The blue lights that dematerialised and transported the group to Deck 12 began to fade just in time as another ‘Handler and canine’ pair came from what seemed like nowhere, spotted them and began to rush towards them snarling.

TBC....