Finding the Rebels: A Needle in a Haystack (part 4)

Posted on Wed Mar 18th, 2015 @ 1:15pm by Ensign Maria Delgado & Staff Sergeant Thomas Bosley & Commander Thaddius Storm & Lieutenant Verdeath Newmark & Lieutenant Illise Hale & Sergeant Amarylis Beckinsale & Private 1st Class Trent Kushner
Edited on on Wed Mar 18th, 2015 @ 1:27pm

1,062 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Deadly Diplomacy
Location: Planetside

[CONTINUED]

[OLD]

"Mercenaries. It is not surprising given the sudden extremes the Penerians have taken. There is no evidence in the history of the war to support such a course of action and they called us here. Someone is trying to profit from this. Get the information to the Calypso immediately. Then we will take out this cannon." Thaddius stated as he examined a body searching for any clues as to whom might have sent the mercenaries.

[NEW]

[Sniper Bush]

"Four" Amarylis said as she readjusted from the recoil of the last shot placing a clear site picture on her next target. She gently inhaled another breathe before exhaling a half breathe. She placed the reticle perfectly on her target and then squeezed the trigger.

"That's five Commander you folks need to move before these guys start getting antsy." Amarylis said over the comm.

---------

"Alright guys let's move out." Thaddius said directing the group towards the cannon's structure.

Maria nodded. "I sent the data to the Calypso. I sent it through science in case anyone is monitoring comms." She shrugged. "Hey, since we're dealing with mercenaries, there's no telling what they might be scanning. Better safe than sorry."

Newmark moved along with his usual; he had hoped to not use these skills again, with a dart in each hand, silent operations. He glanced to Maria and nod to her giving assurances he liked her style of communications.

"I'll take the Rear." Newmark said replacing a dart with a phaser.

Bosley nodded. "Storm, we need to destroy the cannon before anyone comes to investigate. You're in charge, what are your orders?"

Storm placed his hand on Bosley's chest. "Calm yourself Mister Bosley. We need the evidence before we go around destroying cannons. They are our only link to finding out whom is behind this sudden aggression. The cannon's vital components will lead us to their origin, it will also disable them. Once we extract those we can set some charges to render the rest of it useless. Our engineers on the Calypso should be able to determine the origins and with that we will find our puppeteer."

"We might have had time to do all that before the killing spree Beckinsale just went on, but do you honestly think we have time now for more than a scan of the place?" Bosley countered. "Granted we can set the charges and have a look see, but once we get signs of more company, we bugger out. We came here to take out that cannon and find out who is responsible, not see how many people we can kill."

"She's got a lot on her mind, cut her some slack. Her heart's in the right place she wants to keep you in one piece. If these cannons are like some of the one's I've seen the targeting computer is quite simple to remove. It should only take a few moments and then we can leave." Storm replied reassuringly. He was beginning to get irked by the man's tone but he would not let it show.

"She?" Bosley asked. Beckinsale was great at recon and sniper duties, but she was showing a market lack of subtlety when it came to covert ops and he really didn't want to get the Federation in trouble, so he was eager to get the information and get back to the ship. Now there was another female involved?

"Yes Sergeant Beckinsale, she is a she remember?" Thaddius replied.

Suddenly another splatter of blood appeared from around a corner followed by a loud thud. "I really appreciate the target practice but if you could hurry?" Amarylis said annoyingly over the comm.

"My point exactly," Bosley said. "So, Commander, you're the leader. Lead."

"How about the plug, blow the power connector, minimal damage and effective and usually an exterior mount that we could destroy easy enough." Newmark quickly suggested. "Debating will get us killed, I would suggest hastening the decision process?

"Enough! both of you." Thaddius growled at the two. "If I had wanted your opinions I would have asked for them in the first place. I gave you all orders now if you're quite done playing the peanut gallery let's move."

With that Thaddius moved forward into the silo.

Trent frowned and made a show of standing his ground. "No. I'm not moving until the Staff Sargeant orders me to." He said, motioning to Bosley. "As for opinions, as we are currently dirtside and the Sargeant has tactical authority. You have to listen to his opinions. He is directly responsible for the safety of everyone here. If he feels like you are jeopardizing that in any way, like for example not listening to his tactical judgement, he can assume command under any number of articles." He wasn't happy about the way Beckinsale was handling herself either, but that wasn't his call. He folded his arms across his chest and stared directly at the Commander.

Bosley was done playing nice with the Fleetie. It didn't matter if Beckinsale was relieving stress or not, she was out of line. "Kushner, we'll stay outside and guard the perimeter. Beckinsale has gone rogue. As soon as we get back to the ship I'm filing charges against both of them."

Illise dragged the body into the brush and did her best to conceal it in the limited time that she had. She regretted having to kill him, especially in such a manner. She paused to take another scan of the area to be sure that the way was clear. The only life signs she detected were those of the landing party. Satisfied that she was in not immediate danger of discovery, Illise began to make her way back to them. She had not gone far when her tricorder beeped, indicating a power-reading. There were several power conduits buried not two meters below her feet. The levels were low, but steadily increasing, indicate that the canon had been reset and would soon be ready to recharge for another volley. The low levels explained why she had not picked them up earlier.

(To be continued...)

Lieutenant Commander Thaddeus Storm
Security Investigations

Sergeant Amarylis Beckinsale
Marine

Ensign Maria Delgado
Science Officer

Lieutenant JG Verdeath Newmark
Assistant Chief Medical Officer

Ensign Illise Hale
Science Officer

Staff Sergeant Thomas Bosley
Charlie Platoon Leader

PFC Trent Kushner
Marine

 

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