We're In This Together... Whether You Like It Or Not

Posted on Fri Jan 29, 2016 @ 4:52am by erie'Riov Rianni Monteros-t'Khellian
Edited on on Fri Jan 29, 2016 @ 5:08am

3,364 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Pangaea (Wrap up)
Location: Verex III/Diana's Arrow
Timeline: MD10 1628-1920

The time frame had been short and they were already cutting it very close, but sadly Rianni Monteros' presence on Verex III had forced Debora Carlov to step up her plans, ~Gonna kick her ass when this is over.~ She swore to herself, ~If the silly bitch survives....~ Forcing herself not to think of the very real possibility of losing an old, dear friend, the woman her daughter called 'Aunt Rani,' she turned to Lalena, her de facto XO since Torm had broken Lt. Cdr. Darvin's cover and given him an Orion neck tie....

"Okay, can you bring the field down, Lalena?" Carlov asked.

"Yes, Ma'am." The Deltan replied quickly, "Inputting the code right now."

"All right, people, this is it." Carlov began, "As soon as Lt. Lalena brings the shield around Mr. Rubin's house down we'll do a synchronized beam in. I'll lead team one, which will beam in to the second floor, where Mr. Rubin's office and the main core of his bodyguard force are located. Lt. Lalena will lead team two, who will secure the outer perimeter, Lt. Jackson," She indicated the bald, black human man to her immediate left, "Will lead team three onto the first floor, arresting any bodyguards, housekeeping staff, anyone present, we'll sort them out later."

"Rules of engagement, Colonel?" Jackson interjected, knowing that this was an operation that would have very tight tolerances.

"Appropriate force is authorized." Debora answered, "But nobody, and I do mean nobody, is to fire on Brent Rubin. Not so much as a stun blast." She knew it was a long shot, but she'd seen men killed by stun blasts, she wasn't about to take a chance of that happening with the most important fish she'd ever gone after, even if it was slimmer than the last digit of pi. She planned on saying more, but a hand signal from the Deltan showed that time wouldn't let her.

"Shield's down, Colonel." Lalena stated.

"All right, let's do it." Carlov ordered, "Beam out in 3... 2.... 1...."

[Brent Rubin's House, 2nd Floor]

Debora and her seven man team rematerialized on the second floor a massive house, finding themselves in trouble right from the jump, ~Damn paranoid criminals, they're always expecting you.~ She thought as a phaser blast, set on kill from the sound of it, whizzed by her head. Bringing her rifle to bear she returned fire, striking the Naussican merc who'd fired on her in his chest, blowing him back against the wall. The sound of a firefight outside told her that Lalena had met resistance, too. The sounds of weapons fire had brought even more Naussis out to say hi, making Debora wish that just one time a dirtbag would hire some soft, cuddly tribbles as his bodyguards. Taking cover behind a very expensive, soon to be destroyed, sofa, she opened the channel to Jackson, =A="Jax, talk to me!"=A=

Downstairs Jackson had also met dogged resistance, it seemed Brent Rubin bought bodyguards by the platoon full, but they were making progress, slowly but surely moving towards the second floor to trap Brent Rubin and his bodyguards between themselves and team one, =A="It's ugly down here, Colonel."=A= Jackson replied, =A="We're outnumbered and outgunned. Advise?"=A=

=A="Stun grenades, Jax."=A= Carlov answered, she knew Jackson knew this, just like he knew he would have to have her authorization before using them, =A="Get up here as fast as you can."=A=

=A="Understood. Jackson out".=A= He said, turning to his men, "All right, people! Stun grenades on three! One.... two... THREE!" As soon as 'three' left his lips Jackson and most of his team fell to the floor, covering their heads with their arms while Corporal Sweet, team three's heavy weapons specialist, launched a barrage of three stun grenades at the mercenary defenders in hopes of clearing the path to the second floor.

[Second Floor]

Brent Rubin knew things were going to get hot eventually, but not that they would get this hot, this soon. He turned to his majordomo, Xiona, an Orion gifted to him by Torm, and asked, "Is the blast door sealed?"

"Yes, Mr. Rubin." The tall, bleached blonde Orion answered, "And I've called Willets, he's got fourteen men on their way, they'll clean up the outside for us. We need to get you to the panic room, sir." Contrary to Rubin's stubborn belief that she was a 'gift', Xiona was, in fact, Rubin's handler, a failsafe for Torm's protection should he ever feel the need to squeal, something there was very little doubt was coming should he fall into the hands of the Feds.

"Right." Rubin nodded, "The panic room." The name was definitely fitting, since panicking was exactly what he was doing. He quickly opened the top drawer of his ancient oak desk, snatching his phaser from it and tucking it into his belt before following Xiona to the secret turbolift in the back of his office which would take him to the panic room in the subbasement. He stopped briefly to turn back to Xiona, "Are you coming, Xi?"

"I'll be along right behind you." She answered, hearing the shots getting closer. She knew failure wasn't an option, just as much as she knew success wasn't a possibility; the entire defensive strategy here was predicated upon keeping intruders out of the compound, that strategy had already failed and, if these were Federation agents and not just a hit squad from another organization that blast door wasn't going to help for more than a few seconds, ~I'm not getting captured, that's for sure.~ She decided, knowing she could do time easily, but Torm would punish her failure, and that was something she had no interests in. Striding quickly towards the back wall she pushed an ancient, leather bound book aside, revealing a biometric scanner which she placed her thumb on. The chirp of the computer confirmed her identity, opening the hidden armory panel. Arming herself with an automatic shotgun with three forty round drum magazines and a Cardassian disruptor, Xiona waited for the trouble that was sure to come.

[Outside]

Lalena was torn. Did she hold her position as the Colonel had ordered, or did she go in there to provide the help she knew they desperately needed, ~It sounds like Armageddon in there.~ She didn't have much time to think about it though, the sound of vehicles rolling up from behind, maybe a quarter mile out, snapping her back to reality, "Shit! We've got company, people!" She yelled, turning her team to face the oncoming bad news; Colonel Carlov was on her own.

[first floor]

The grenades had, at least partially, cleared the path and Jackson and his team were now moving towards the stairs, though the six Naussis still in the fight weren't about to stand aside and welcome them in for tea. As shots snapped off and people fell, his and theirs, Jackson continued his steady climb to the top of the stairs. There were only two mercs now, and they were both falling back, either to escape or aid their cohorts upstairs, one way or another it had greatly sped up his ascent.

Xiona had opened the blast door, satisfied that Rubin was safely in the panic room, she wanted to see who was coming up the stairs for her and the view was far from disappointing, ~My my my, isn't he pretty.~ She smiled as she watched the three or four agents bearing down on her, paying special attention to a young human on the far left, the little redhead with the grenade launcher, in a different situation he'd have been fun....

Jackson saw the Orion woman sitting in Rubin's office from a distance, recognizing her instantly. Her name was Xiona and she was wanted in dozens of systems for crimes ranging from theft to murder. He leveled his weapon at her and screamed , "Where's Rubin?"

Xiona didn't reply, merely smiling and unleashing Hell with the automatic shotgun, sadly, she felt, killing the redhead first.

Debora had heard Jackson's voice, apparently he had reached the top of the stairs and Rubin's office. Leaping over the sofa and firing, she moved to join him, her team following behind as they sprayed death in all directions, single-mindedly moving towards their goal.

"SWEET!" Jackson screamed, though he knew the Corporal was dead the second that Orion bitch opened up on him with that shotgun, hitting him twice in the chest. He turned and leveled his rifle at her, firing twice, but that bitch was fast, easily avoiding his shots and firing back, striking PFC Ryan next to him in the face, killing him instantly.

As Debora closed in she could see her men falling, this had turned into a fracking bloodbath and she was powerless to stop it, ~Damn it!~ She sighed to herself, sliding into position and snapping two shots off at an Orion woman firing on Jackson and his remaining men.

The shots hit wide left and wide right of Xiona, but it was enough to let her know that the fight was over. She stood and dropped the shotgun, laughing, "Okay, I surrender."

Debora could see Jackson's eyes, knew he still had killing her, no, now it was murder, on his mind, "Jackson, stand down." He stood stock still, his finger on the trigger as the Orion bitch continued to laugh at them, making Debora repeat, "Lieutenant Jackson, stand down, that's an order!"

"Lieutenant Jackson stand down that's an order!" Xiona mocked, "You're very good at that, Debby! Really works with that Parris Island haircut of yours."

"Shut up." Debora replied, staring at Jackson out of the corner of her eye until he moved downstairs with PFC Soral, then turned back to the Orion. She took a second and recognized her, Xiona, one of the few women to hold any respect or power in Torm's organization, she could be even more help than Rubin, if she was willing, "So, where's Rubin?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, bitch?" Xiona chuckled, sitting on Rubin's desk, noticing it had actually managed to escape the firefight undamaged, ~Nice desk, might keep it for myself.~ She thought for a second, then shook her head, she wasn't going to need a desk, "So, now what?"

"Now," Debora answered, stepping closer with a pair of binders, "now you're under arrest. Unless, of course, you want to talk."

"Not much to talk about." Xiona shrugged, "And your about to have a lot fewer people to talk to, by the way."

"What are you talking about?" Debora snarled.

"Computer, on screen." Xiona ordered with a laugh, watching the screen change from a work of ancient art to a view of the outside of the compound, where four trucks full of soldiers had Lalena and team two under fire.

[Outside]

They'd come in hot and hard on Lalena and her team and left them with very little time to react. So far she'd lost two of her seven agents and they'd managed to kill four of the enemy soldiers, but they were outnumbered two to one and the enemy had the advantage of hard cover, this battle was virtually hopeless. ~I hope the Colonel is doing better inside....~

[Panic Room]

Brent Rubin watched with glee from the viewer in his panic room, no way were those cops getting in there! He resolved to sell any of the females that survived to Torm, he'd enjoy the Deltan especially if she lived. He sat back in his Corinthian leather chair and sipped Kanar, looking for new houses on his PADD.

[Second Floor]

Debora stood fast, her phaser pointed directly at Xiona's heart as she no longer cared about the possibility of having to kill this woman, "One more time, Xiona, where is Rubin?" She snapped, "Give him to me and you walk." She hated promising that to a career sleazeball like Xiona, but her back was against the wall.

"I walk." Xiona laughed, "I walk to where? There's nowhere Torm doesn't find me, Carlov, you know this."

"We can...." Debora began, cut off by Xiona's laughter.

"Protect me?" The Orion laughed, "Your own people sold you out for what little Rubin could offer, don't you think Torm could buy off the others? Hell, we knew you were coming, we've had listening devices in your safehouse for over a year. How do you think we knew when to hit Commodore Graham as easily as we did? You can't protect me, hell, you can't even protect yourself."

The idea of a mole inside her operation wasn't new to Debora, but in any intel operation it's usually safe to presume that if the enemy doesn't already have an inside man they're looking for one, but hearing Xiona confirm it stung none the less. And, though it didn't really matter at this point, she had to know, she had to know or she would lose her mind, "Who?"

"Brezil." Xiona answered, knowing it didn't matter now, "He was setting his mother up to gain a high position with us. When Commodore Graham brought him into your base to make his deal, the kid planted microbots in the ducts, we've been controlling them by remote the entire time. Debby, I knew you were coming. So, how's Mar?"

That sent Debora into a rage, if they knew about Mar they could attack her, and it was all she could do to keep her finger off the trigger. The time to talk was over now, "Screw you, bitch." Debora fired back, "Turn around and cuff up, we'll find Rubin on our own."

"Oh, you still want Rubin?" Xiona laughed, "I can give you that! Happily! In fact, let's go see him now." With that she stepped away from the desk, opening the lift behind his desk that led to the panic room and tossing her disruptor, set to overload, into it.

"Xiona, what are you...." Debora screamed, that explosion would bring down the house.

"Express elevator to hell, bitch, going down!" Xiona laughed, "Come on, you didn't really think I was going to let you get him did you? The old axiom holds true, the pretty ones are always at least a little stupid."

[Panic Room]

The sound of the lift whooshing open caused Brent Rubin to turn, expecting to see Xiona standing there. He stood and walked to the lift, wondering where she was or if she had sent the lift down to let him know it was safe for him to escape. He never even noticed the disruptor at his feet or the explosion that killed him.

[Second Floor]

The floor began to shake underneath their feet and Debora and Xiona struggled to hold on to whatever they could, though it was a futile effort, the house was coming down now. As the floor gave way Debora leapt backwards as fast as she could, tumbling down the stairs to the bottom floor as Xiona and the floor beneath them fell all the way into the sub-basement.

[Outside]

Lalena and her team were in a full blown fire fight now and there was no way out of it other than kill or be killed then something strange happened, an explosion from inside the house, an explosion that started the house collapsing and brought the gun battle to a screeching halt. She dropped into cover and turned her head slightly to face PFC Barnes, "What the frack just happened?"

"I don't know, L.T." Barnes shrugged, "But if anyone survived that it's a damn miracle.."

"We've got to get in there to see if Jax or the Colonel survived." Lalena stated, then made a decision as she was now the de facto commander of this unit. She unbuckled the last stun grenade from her belt, set the timer and threw it as hard as she could behind her, telling Barnes, "Cover me!"

"Yes, Ma'am." Barnes obeyed, turning and firing at their antagonists as Lalena scurried towards the main house.

Keldan Willets had just barely managed to find cover after that Deltan bitch tossed that grenade at them, taking four of his men out of the fight. That was the least of his worries though, he decided as he saw Rubin's house collapsing, ~Shit, nobody survived that.~ He surmised, then opened a channel to his remaining conscious men, =#= All teams, this is Willets, fall back, we're not getting paid for this now.=#=

Barnes and the four remaining members of Team Two had fired and fired until their weapons were near the melting point, having accepted their coming deaths and resolving not to go down without putting up one hell of a fight. Then.... then they.... they left? "The hell?" He muttered, then remembering what Grandpa Barnes always said, chose not to look a gift horse in the mouth, =^= Lieutenant, the bandits broke! Advise?=^=

=^=Come get us the frack out of here.=^= Jackson replied, =^=I've got five alive in here, including the Colonel, think she's got a concussion.=^=

=^=Alright, Jax, we're coming.=^= Lalena, now confirmed to be in command, answered, =^=Lalena to Carpathia, beam us out.=^=

[1900 Hours, Ready Room of the USS Carpathia]

With a cane for balance and a headache the likes of which she couldn't ever recall, Colonel Debora Lyan Carlov dialed the number of an old friend. Well, two old friends as it were, =^=Computer, open a channel to Commodore Gregori Monteros, SS Diana's Arrow.=^=

The UFP logo vanished and was replaced by the smiling face of Debora's old intel mentor, the man called 'The Golden Greek' in intelligence circles. He steepled his fingers and sighed, "Well, well, there's my Little Debby."

"Yes, Sir." She smiled back, "A little worse for wear, but still...."

"Indeed, child, you look to have been through several circles of Hell." Gregori nodded, "And for once I'm not talking about that boy haircut of yours, darling."

Debora could only laugh, the old man had never made any bones about the fact that he hated her haircut, not, as he said, because it was unattractive, but because it was a 'symbol of a deeper problem' that she refused to deal with. ~Hell, maybe he's right.~ She thought, then turned back to the three Gregoris she was seeing, "Sir, I need you to let Rianni know that taking Torm is going to be no easy task. Tell her to expect a couple of attack shuttles and plenty of defensive fire. Also, tell her to make sure she salts the earth after she burns that place down."

"Not disappointed that someone else is getting him instead of you?" Gregori asked bluntly, hoping the young woman would give him the answer he sought.

"I did some training in Athens once, Commodore." Debora replied, telling him what he already knew, "And someone there taught me one thing. Got is got. It doesn't matter who takes him down, as long as he goes down."

"Someone taught you well, my girl." Gregori smiled, fatherly, "Of course, there's a better than average chance that might have come from an old fool."

"No, Sir." Debora replied, "No fool. Tell Rianni best of luck, if it gets too hot call me and I'll bring the fracking Marines."

"Well, here's hoping we don't see each other that soon then." Gregori nodded, "Monteros out."

With that the screen went black, then back to the UFP logo, and Debora slumped into her chair, a padd in her hand. There was no way to call the mission anything but a success, so far nineteen arrests had been made of Torm's soldiers, his customers, and various middlemen with more to come, but somehow it didn't feel like a win, ~Maybe it will when Torm goes down.~ She thought, considering pouring herself a drink but not wanting to chance walking that much, before deciding, ~Probably not.~ When it came to situations like this, with this much loss of life, there were no winners, she knew this now, "Only losers." Gregori was right, she did have deeper problems, but right now there wasn't time to deal with them, ~Maybe one day.~

-OFF

Gregori Monteros
Retired Commodore

Col. Debora Carlov
Black Ops Leader

 

RSS Feed