Flanking Bonus

Posted on Wed Oct 11th, 2023 @ 7:04pm by Lieutenant Commander Kevin Lance

Mission: The Return
Location: Federation Outpost 382
Timeline: Immediately after FLANK LEFT!

on:

{Outpost Ground Station, Sector 2-7}

Marccus read the orders from K’Ner to flank to the left and directed Kevin and the other members of his Hazard Team clockwise around warehouse that the Lieutenant j.g. in charge of the mission has indicated. He directed Snix to take Kevin and establish an overwatch position to cover the rest of the team’s attack on the rear of the warehouse. Once again, Kevin felt the sting of being placed under the command of a junior crewmember that he neither knew nor trusted. To Snix’s credit, he picked a position that Kevin would have chosen himself with good fields of fire and decent cover and concealment.

Without a word Kevin settled himself into a prone firing stance that covered the entry that the team leader intended to use and the approaches to it, then waited for K’Ner to initiate the assault.

Kevin did not have to wait long. Once she was satisfied that Marccus’ team was in position, K’ner ordered Nebr and Biloso through the door. Kevin deactivated the video feed but monitored the audio link as he scanned his sector of fire. The assault team had gotten the drop on the Undine who had apparently tried to disguise themselves as members of the outpost. Almost as soon as the assault team began engaging, Kevin observed other humanoid forms moving towards the warehouse.

=/\= “Here they come. I am seeing nimbus glows coming off them. Snix engage.” =/\=

As Kevin took aim on the leader, he had an uneasy feeling that something about the attack wasn’t right. Snix fired a burst from his rifle and Kevin followed suit. The leading attacks both crumpled with the first shots, which surprised Kevin. As if to punctuate Kevin’s thoughts, Snix remarked, “Didn’t expect an Undine to go down so easily.”

Meanwhile, Marccus and his two teammate charged the attacks, blades drawn like warriors in a banzai attack. “Idiots,” Kevin muttered as he continued to fire at the shape-shifted Undine. Some of the attackers required multiple hits before they were brought down, others only a single shot.

Kevin was reloading his phaser rifle with a fresh energy pack when the proximity alert flashed that there was an enemy to their right. He turned his head in the direction in time to see a Undine warrior in natural form burst from the undergrowth. Before Snix was able to bring his weapon to bear, the Undine stabbed him through the abdomen with a blade attached to its forearm. As Snix screamed in agony, Kevin finished loading his phaser and fired repeatedly at the surprise attacker. It took multiple shots to bring down the warrior and Kevin fired several additional shots to make certain it was dead before scrambling over to Snix.

The wound wasn’t gushing blood and Kevin hoped that the attack had not punctured anything vital. He grabbed his medpack and pressed it against the wound, exhorting another scream of pain from Snix. The activated medpack cauterized the wound and suppressed the somatosensory cortex in the brain, bringing immediate relief to Snix.

Returning his attention to the battlefield below, Kevin saw that most of the attackers had been dispatched and the comms indicated that the assault on the warehouse was concluded as well. K’Ner called for a status report.

“Snix is down with a puncture wound to the abdomen,” Kevin reported.

=/\= “Acknowledged. Stabilizer him and beam him back to the ship.” =/\=

“Wilco,” Kevin replied.

With Snix beamed up to the Norris’ sickbay, Kevin rejoined the rest of the team outside of the warehouse. He continued to be bothered by the behavior of the attackers as being neither highly intelligent nor deceptive. Why was the attack so obvious?

Kevin scanned the corpses of the attackers with his tricorder. “Be complex, be complex,” Kevin muttered as the tricorder collated the data the presented it results. “Cochran!” Kevin swore as he read display. He reran the test, hoping but not expecting the results to be different. His expectation was met.

=/\= “Let’s move out!” =/\= K’ner’s voice called out over the comms.

“Lance to K’ner. We have a problem.”

=/\= “What’s that Lieutenant?” =/\=

“According to DNA scans, some of the attackers were humanoid,” Kevin replied.

There was a pause, then K’ner approached and spoke directly, “Didn’t they all display a nimbus glow?”

“They did,” Kevin confirmed, “You were worried about a literal ambush. I think that we just walked into a metaphorical one.”

off:

Lieutenant Kevin Lance
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Chuck Norris

OOC: ARRRGH! I can't keep up with as fast as everyone is writing!!!!!