0-60 in 3.5 Seconds

Posted on Wed Jun 5th, 2019 @ 11:22am by 1st Lieutenant James Edith

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Planet Betazed
1083 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Planet: Betazed
Region: Reyuum, the Reyuum Desert

The sun-dried desert of the Reyuum baked in the 110 degrees heat. The star above hovered overhead like a sentry posted in front of a level ten prison cell. The rare predators, which stalked the wasteland, left nothing untouched – no meat left on the bone. The almost invisible ripples of heat drifted across the sand which caused mirage galore. What was no mirage was the tritanium planks which laid across the sand – a super highway of tracks that led from the capital city to the valley beyond the dunes.

They were train tracks.

These tracks connected one end of the horizon to the other. The MAGLEV-8 prototypes were used to transport people and cargo across Betazed.

Today, the train was on schedule.

The tranquil scenery ERUPTED. A five-car MAGLEV-8 train flew across the desert. It was grayish blue in color, and the five cars, which looked separated, were connected by an invisible force field.

Just over the train, a grey shuttle, an old Type-7 to be exact, chased the train. It looked heavily modified, and the insignia - not Federation or Starfleet - was painted all over the hull. The side door of the shuttle opened and two masked soldiers, in green fatigues, worked together to mount a pulse canon onto the side of the shuttle. They were preparing to FIRE. The train continued to roar down the highway when, the last car of the train, a clearly reinforced caboose, was fired on by the soldiers in the shuttle.

[Inside the train]

“Crap”, James said to himself as he walked down the center of the caboose. He was sole occupant of the automated train.

The caboose’s hull DENTED inward from the canon fire as leaks started to emerge in the frame. A chair exploded inside the car as the canon fire found a weakened point in the hull. James stopped in the middle of car, opened a small window, and fired at the shuttle with his rifle. Streaks of light flew across the space between the train and shuttle, one of those deadly streaks of light impacted the chest of one of the soldiers. The soldier fell back, DEAD. The other, grabbed hold of the canon, and fired in the direction of James window. James dived away as the window came apart from the canon fire.

On his person was the Sacred Orb of the Potawatomi, which was secured inside of a sealed container strapped to his back. It was an ornamental piece, dating back centuries, representing the people and the provincial government of the Reyuum, the region south of the planet capital. An underground rebel movement, formed to remove the provincial government, emerged days ago. The Orb, if captured, could potentially destroy the cultural history of the Potawatomi. James, being a student of culture himself, could not let that happen.

Another canon blast to the same window broke off a piece of the hull of the train and a small portion of the inner wall imploded sending shrapnel inside the car. The impact flung James across the room to the other side of the car.

“Arghhhhhhh”, he groaned at the impact. Small pieces of glasses struck his face which caused him to BLEED.

James tapped his earlobe.

“Hey, Miles, now would be a good time for that assistance you promised.”, he yelled as he got up and hid behind a few cargo containers.

“Roger that, ETA two minutes!”, Miles said as he pushed the Type-11 Marine shuttle to the red line as it flew just above the surface of the sand toward the train.

The rebel shuttle stopped firing and maneuvered closer to the train. Two soldiers dropped onto the roof of the train. James heard the boots against the hull. One of the soldiers approached the rear door of the train. The other, slid down the side of the train toward the small hole where the window used to be. James got up and slid across the wall toward the window in an attempt to take the soldier by surprise. The soldier stepped inward with his rifle, a modified Romulan rifle, aimed in front of him. He searched for the pesky Starfleet Marine. James grabbed the rifle from the side and struggled for it. The soldier fired missing James’s head by centimeters. The heat from the trail of light BRAZED James’s forehead. James pulled the rifle upward with his left hand, pulled out his sidearm with his right, and fired at the soldier at point blank range. The impact pushed the rebel out and away from the train, the sand dunes breaking his fall.

Dead.

James quickly turned toward the rear door. He opened it and stepped outside seeking the other soldier.

James turned right, just after the door frame, and aimed his pistol at the rebel’s face as he jumped down from the roof. The rebel soldier quickly smacked the pistol out of James hands. The pistol thrown off the train and lost beneath the sand. The rebel soldier lifted his Romulan rifle as James turned the strapped container around from his back and knocked the rifle downward and onto the floor. The rebel soldier quickly grabbed James's neck and pushed him inside the train car and onto the floor.

James, fell backward with the rebel on top of him, chocking him out, gasping for air. Seconds flew by as James reached for the only thing he could reach for.

The soldier on top of him quickly looked at James’s vest and saw it – a six-inch bladed combat knife. The soldier grabbed the knife and pulled it out of the holster. He twirled it so he could grip the handle to plunge it downward. As the soldier was about to swing downward, James, in desperation, raised an active flashbang directly in the center of both of them and the scene went completely white.

[10 Minutes Later]

The train was now stopped. The marine shuttle was parked on the sand as the crashed rebel shuttle was on fire, a few feet away. Inside the train, James opened his fatigued and red eyes. His sight began as a blur but slowly cleared. He was bleeding from his nose and ears as Miles was administering first-aid on him. Scorched skin from the flashbang covered James’s arms and face. A squad of Marines surrounded him, and that rebel soldier, was under arrest. The container, which held the sacred Orb of the Potawatomi, secured.