AT/K01 - Klingon Freighter qoH

[GM-02]

As the teams materialized on the Klingon transport, the first impression would be one of active neglect. Panels were rusty, the air was full of smoke and steam. The ship was functional, but likely only just, and only by the constant work of the crew. There was a metallic tang in the air, as well as a pervasive undercurrent of earthy lilac. There were alert klaxons blaring from every corner, and a mild shudder coming up through the floor into the away team’s feet.

The second impression each team would get was that the Klingons were hostile.

On the bridge, Svenson and Givens’ team were greeted by roars and weapons fire; the Klingons here had been expecting and prepared for invaders. One of the security officers was hit immediately and dropped, while Östberg and Pearson were charged by Klingons brandishing mek’leths. The cramped quarters gave them a moment to react, but only a moment.

In the engine room, it was more difficult. The air was even thicker, the alerts more insistent. The Klingons here were involved in trying to get the ship moving while also not exploding, and weren’t having much luck at either. That didn’t stop them from reaching for their guns as soon as they could, but did give Okehampton and her team a chance to act first.

As for Calleja in the cargo bay… the cavernous space was going to make things difficult. It was stacked with boxes - all labelled in Klingon, of course - which both cut off line of sight and made navigation difficult. No one immediately opened fire, but the team could hear the noisy Klingons heading towards the far port wall. Sensor scans would be helpful in triangulating them, as well as potentially identifying the cargo which had been more opaque to the probe's sensors.

[Tyra Crawford]

== Let's say a a minute or two after transport... ==

[Crawford to Givens and Calleja. They're in the process of overloading their engines; if y'all can't get system control ASAP, we might need to pull you back before they blow themselves up.]

[Mara Calleja]

Mara materialised and had her gun up the moment she heard disruptor fire. None of it was coming at her, but she did hear heavy bootsteps to port.

“Svenson, Okehampton. Report!” she called into the comm. “All personnel, fire at will if you’re attacked. Put ‘em down.” Looking around she waved up Trevathan. “Find me those bastards here, I want to know how many and how to get to them,” Calleja ordered. “Bance, start checkin’ the cargo as we go. What have they got that’s worth dyin’ for?”

The team started to move as Trevathan called out directions from his tricorder, rifles ready and the Chief in the middle of the pack.

Calleja was fluent in spoken and written Klingon, having studied the language when she was younger. Her grating accent fitted tlhIngan Hol well. It meant she was able to read the labels on the crates as they went and would have no trouble making herself understood when her team actually found the enemy.

===

== Lt[JG] Nat Okehampton ==

Nat had her team form up around Han as they beamed into the engine room. The young officer was extremely glad for the advanced tech in her helmet as it filtered out the gloom and revealed the frantic Klingons. As they caught sight of the Star Fleet team, they went for their guns.

[Svenson, Okehampton. Report!] Calleja was already demanding an update. [All personnel, fire at will if you’re attacked. Put ‘em down.]

The team in the engine room heard the order and opened fire, Okehampton adding her weight to the volley. Their weapons were set to heavy stun by default to try and minimise collateral damage and casualties, but in the cramped quarters they had to do the best they could. The armourer still wasn’t entirely comfortable with shooting first and asking questions later, but the team had no choice. If they let the Klingons get to their guns then it was going to be absolute carnage.

“Turning hostile in here Chief,” Nat replied into the comm, a tremor in her voice betraying her nerves as she kept herself together. “We’re engaging!”

===

== Lt Mara Calleja ==

[Turning hostile in here Chief.] Okehampton was matter of fact, but Calleja could hear the discomfort in her voice. [We’re engaging!]

Good on you…

The thought was interrupted by the comm.

[Crawford to Givens and Calleja. They're in the process of overloading their engines; if y'all can't get system control ASAP, we might need to pull you back before they blow themselves up.]

Mara swore viciously under her breath.

“Okehampton, they’re tryin’ to overload the engines. Get control of that room stat! Do you need us there too?” she said into the comm. “Take ‘em out and then you’re gonna have to take over with Han and keep this bucket in space.”

The lack of an update from the qoH’s bridge was making Mara twitchy. She knew she had to give Svenson a chance to respond but every part of her wanted to get straight there herself.

== GM input please - how many Klingons have survived in the cargo bay? Can we find them? And what’s in the boxes?

Also, how successful is Okehampton’s team in neutralising the Klingons? What state are the controls in, assuming they do manage to take the engine room? ==

[Aeryn Miller]

<< Transporter Room

== Ensign Ardanna Svenson - Security NRC ==

Ardanna barely had time to register her new surroundings or how neglected it all looked before the Klingons were on them, reacting as though they had anticipated their arrival. The security officer ignored their roars and concentrated on the weapons fire especially when they managed to hit K'Deela who immediately dropped, anger surged through the hybrid before two of the enemy began to charge at Pearson and Ostberg with their mek'leths. Ardanna knew that Pearson could handle himself, even in these cramped quarters, while Ostberg was unknown. However, she wasn't about to have another of her team removed from the fight or have to inform the Bridge that they couldn't protect Captain Givens.

Before she could utter a warning or orders, Calleja's voice came through the internal comms, demanding an update and ordering them to take any hostiles down. That much was certain given the reception they had received.

" You heard the Chief, fire and let's take them out".

Loren and Mortimer took up positions to the left and right of their leader, while Garvin protected their flank. Their objective was clear as the Ensign fired at the nearest Klingon, keeping a close eye on her target as she gave Calleja a quick update, aware that the news she had to give wasn't ideal, especially with K'Deela being taken out so soon.

" We've engaged hostiles Chief, and K'Deela is down".

== Tags ==

== GM input, is Ardanna able to take down the Klingon nearest to her? ==

[Hallowette Maxas-Darl]

Ollie's sense of space, time and self suspended for a fraction of eternity before all reemerged, the experience draped in a rainbow colored shower of shimmers, the sterile environment of the transporter pad melding into a dark, red hued body of sharp angles and unfamiliar noise.

The microsecond it took the Aussie security man to adjust to the foreign environment was long enough for the readied Klingon warriors to close on him and the Doctor he was pledged to protect. The sharp gleam of a blade, wild hair, and sharpened teeth were upon him like a maelstrom. Pearson was immediately on the backfoot, and it took all of his ability to bring his rifle up and deflect what blows he could while attempting to place himself between the incoming brutes and Dr. Ostberg.

Ollie was a good marksman, and his natural physique lended itself to his ability in hand to hand combat, but despite all this and years of training, Klingon Warriors spent their lives preparing for combat. Ollie had spent his youth surfing, flirting with girls and learning to make sushi. At best he had been learning to fight and serving in his role as a security officer for a bit over a decade. He was outmatched from the start.

Ollie may have been aware of this in the back of his mind, but he had a job to do. He may not have been the best trained, or natural combatant in the room, but Oliver Pearson was definitely among the most stubborn. He wasn't about to back down, not to anyone. Not even two vicious mek'leth wielding Klingons.

Ollie prepared himself to receive what blows he was unable to block with the phaser rifle now being used as a club. He trusted his armor to do its job and protect his vitals, so he concentrated on defending his soft parts, and most of all Dr. Ostberg, using what momentum he could to leverage the close quarters so he only faced one assailant at a time. He'd do his best to return blows where he could. With any luck he'd compensate for the Klingon fury and turn it on them - and if not, at least keep them busy enough to protect Ostberg until Sven and the rest of the team were able to shoot the hell out of them.

==GM Input: Hope this combat narrative was what you were looking for. Obviously, Pearson has his hands full! He will defend as best he can until he can make a hard blow count in return, or until the team can come to his aid. Ostberg is his primary objective at this point, and he will go out of his way to protect him, even if it means being injured himself. Though Ollie really hopes he's not hit in the face. Svenson won't like him if he's not pretty any more.==

==Tag Svenson, Ostberg, Givens==

[Robin Mayfair]

<< Transporter Room

== Ensign Kent Östberg - Medical NRC ==

"Damn it!" the doctor swore as weapons fire erupted, striking one of their team immediately. Östberg didn't have time to even draw his phaser, much less move towards the injured officer before he was charged by a Klingon with a mek’leth. It was Beta Selumai all over again, except with less time to prepare a defense. And that time it had been Cardassians, much less physically intimidating than Klingons.

Östberg got his left arm up to block a slash directed at his neck but Pearson moved like a flash, interposing himself and bringing his rifle up to parry. It was clear that the security officer was outmatched... and there was another Klingon charging.

Instinct (and SEJO training) took over. The intervention of Pearson had (hopefully) bought him a couple of seconds. He pulled the phaser from his belt and opened up on the second Klingon, gambling that the Australian could at least keep the first busy for a few moments. In his youth he would have pulled his trusty combat knife and met the Klingons blade for blade, and there was still part of him that looked fondly on those brash days where his comrades had made Viking jokes about the Norwegian medic. And he had to admit, there was still some call to his ancestor's blood, that had missed this. 

So much for 'no heroics.' Should have at least gotten a damned phaser rifle. 

== GM Input: Do the doctor's shots hit? Östberg will move to assist Pearson if the second Klingon gets taken out. ==

[Eun Ju Han]

Chaos.

Maybe I should have eaten the candy after all..

Immediately after beaming onto the Engineering deck she was surrounded by the others in a tight huddle. Han felt surprised because she had not really expected to fight but she also wasn’t someone who was important to the ship either. There were tons of Engineers but perhaps they needed her for more than just small stuff. There was a thick and heavy fog in the Engineering bay and already the cries of chatter and orders filled her ears as Mara and the others began to speak to each other.

Ju pulled out her phaser because who knew when she would be needed. She didn’t know what her purpose in the fire fight was, she had passed her phaser certification exam but only just barely. It wasn’t something she hoped to ever need on a daily basis but now that she was standing in the middle of a fire fight she made a resolution to see if Mara could give her some training on how to use the device with better efficacy.

She could hear team lead talking to Mara about how they were taking on fire and then Mara tell them to take them out and get control of the Engineering deck so that Han could keep them afloat. At least that’s one of my specialties.. she thought glad they hadn’t come up with anything that would test her knowledge too much. Though working on a Klingon vessel wasn’t nearly the same as all the training she had on the Starfleet Engines she had studied their blueprints and information as much as she could during school and even in her own time wanting to at least be comfortable with the make up of various alien ships not just Federation.

This was not in the training schedules at all, she would have preferred one of those nice calm missions. A little planet in a bad way, they just need someone to help their solar enhancers to they can continue to grow crops on the desolate planet that life began on in some way. She, this smart and happy-go-lucky Engineer would be the hero of the whole planet if she could just replicate these small pieces of the machine and put it all back together.

But no, here she was. Fog, firefight, screams in her ears, the ship felt like it was getting shaky but it was extremely hard to tell with the fact that she was being bumped by the people who had encircled her and the fact that there were phaser bolts flying across the metallic deck as though they had no care in the world.

Maybe I should re-think Science!

==Tag all==

[Tyra Crawford]

== Captain Cassandra Givens ==

It took Cass less than a second to decide two things simultaneously: they should have taken advantage of neurozene capabilities and they absolutely should have been the first team aboard. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind that the Klingons might have expected a boarding action regardless but they certainly had after Calleja's team had gone to the cargo bay first.

It was instant chaos in the vessel's small bridge with large hulking bodies charging forward and loud klaxons overpowering yells and roars. Cass could see one of their officers almost immediately hit the ground where as another of the security officers and their doctor were charged by more Klingons.

There had been little conscious thought involved in drawing her sidearm as the space was far too cramped for her rifle. Of course, the mass of moving bodies was making target acquisition difficult, though she tried as her finger worked the trigger, and there wasn't much Cass wouldn't have given for a stun grenade or a neurozene grenade. Alas, this was going to have to be done the old fashioned way and likely the very old fashioned way.

Her dark eyes assessed the room quickly, trying to determine the best tactic over just shooting blindly. Her gut instinct was to protect the doctor and his guardian but there were too many bodies in the way. She'd have to fight through at least two before she even got to them and by then, that battle would be settled one way or another. 

[Crawford to Givens and Calleja. They're in the process of overloading their engines; if y'all can't get system control ASAP, we might need to pull you back before they blow themselves up.]

Now, that caught her attention and as she returned fire at the nearest Klingon and then, the next, she started to assess where the main bridge console was and whether she could cut a path to it. The brunette was willing to risk a lot of it meant not getting blown into pieces.

== GM Input: Can Cass see a control panel from where she is? If she can, how many Klingons does she need to got through? Also how many hostiles are there total and how is the shooting going? ==

[GM-02]

==Bridge Team==

The Klingons may have reacted quickly, but the Artemis team held their own quite well. Pearson manages to interpose himself between the charging Klingon and Ostberg, blocking the mek'leth with his phaser rifle. The blade bites into the weapon and sticks, rendering the energy weapon useless but also taking the blade out of the fight. 

In doing the brave thing, however, he opened up his back to the second mek'leth wielding Klingon. Luckily, the momentum of the blocked hit pulled him away from what could have been a deadly hit, which instead sliced down the outside of Pearson's arm just as the disarmed one goes in for a grapple, locking Pearson into close combat but rendering his right side slick with blood.

Ostberg, for his part, manages to hit the Klingon that sliced Pearson with his phaser, but the armor he war dispersed some of the energy, just staggering him rather than stunning him. Fortunately, Givens' shot managed to knock the Klingon down and keep him there. Svenson was also able to hit the Klingon that took down K'Deela, leaving only the one grappling Pearson on his feet.

Looking around, Givens is able to find a console, several in fact. Most seem up and running, though there's one on the far side of the room that seems powered off rather than damaged like some of the others are, and seems decidedly non-standard.

==Engine Room==

With more time to act than the bridge had, Okehampton and her team were able to take out the three Klingons in the room fairly quickly, with little wasted effort. Sometimes, it felt good to be in a position of superior firepower.

The alarms were still going off, however, and the displays showed the power buildup that had been going still building. Only now it was uncontrolled, as the closest that Klingons had to engineers were all now unconscious.

==Cargo Bay==

Scans indicated four Klingons in the bay, concentrated on the far side of the room. Reading the crates, the cargo appeared to be mostly foodstuffs and alcohol.

Scanning the room, most of the crates did appear to have those types of items in them. However, a significant number of crates were empty, despite the labels saying they should have been full. A few crates, however, were scan-shielded, with no idea what was in them. As Trevathan watched his tricorder, a fifth Klingon suddenly appeared in the group with the others from essentially through the far wall.

==If I missed someone/something, please let me know!==

[Robin Mayfair]

== Ensign Kent Östberg - Medical NRC ==

Pearson's bravery had earned him a slash to the arm that cut deep. He was grappled, and likely didn't have long before his opponent got the better of him.

The doctor allowed himself a bit of a crooked smile as his shot hit the second Klingon, the one who had cut the Australian... and didn't take him out. The smile faded instantly. Klingon armor, designed for exactly that, and he cursed himself for not remembering. During his time with the SEJO he'd been trained not to fire stun center mass at armored targets. You either fired to kill or you shot for the unprotected head. He was rusty, and he knew it.

Heavy stun still staggered the rather large Klingon, and precious time ticked away as he adjusted his aim only for a second blast, from Captain Givens, to take the enemy out of the fight. That left the one on Pearson. There was no way for Östberg to shoot the remaining Klingon without hitting the friendly. And this had to end now. One team member was down and needed treatment, and Pearson himself needed to have his wound taken care of afterwards. Ordinarily he would have let someone else (trained Security officers, after all) finish off the last foe, but if the Klingon got his knife in he might kill Pearson. Östberg owed him, and the doctor paid his debts.

The large doctor pulled his hypospray off his belt, tapped the button for anesthizine with his thumb with a well-practiced motion, and went for the Klingon, charging in. All he needed was opening, and the Klingon looked rather busy.

Come on, you bastard, give it up. This won't hurt at all.

== Östberg will try to get in any opening he can find and give our Klingon friend a rather heavy dose. ==

[Mara Calleja]

== Lt[JG] Nat Okehampton ==

The sound of phaser fire died away to reveal 3 downed Klingons and minimal collateral damage. Nat let out the breath she’d been holding in and looked to the rest of the team.

“Great job. Let’s get this secured. Bellon, Treyda, put our new friends in cuffs and get them out of the way…”

[Okehampton, they’re tryin’ to overload the engines. Get control of that room stat! Do you need us there too?] Calleja sounded far too keen for a fight to Okehampton, but that was the new Chief’s style. [Take ‘em out and then you’re gonna have to take over with Han and keep this bucket in space.]

Nat quickly looked over at the young Engineer who was with them. Alarms were starting to sound everywhere and even to the armourer’s partially trained eye, it looked very much like the Klingons were very close to achieving their goal.

“Chief, engine room secured. Han and I are going to do our best,” she said down the comm.

[Nice work. Keep me posted.] The answer was near instant.

“Ensign, we’re in your hands,” Nat added to Ju, acutely aware of the number of metaphorical eyes that were now over their shoulders. “Where do you need us? We’ve got to stop this overload!”

== Lt Mara Calleja ==

[Chief, engine room secured. Han and I are going to do our best.]

“Nice work. Keep me posted.” Mara was relieved to know she at least didn’t have to reinforce the engine room. There was the whole issue of potentially being blown to pieces if the engines went up, but there was nothing she could do about that. She had to trust Ju to do her thing.

[We've engaged hostiles Chief, and K'Deela is down.] The report came through from Svenson on the Bridge, and as she listened Calleja could hear the gunfire in the background.

I’m gonna get shit for not bein’ there myself, ‘specially if Givens gets her tunic dirty. But I had to be here. We still don’t know what they’re willin’ to die for, but it’s here and I’m gonna find it…

“Svenson, do you need back-up?” Calleja replied. She did the maths in her head about shuffling a couple of Okehampton’s team to join her and sending a couple of hers up to the Bridge, but it was probably going to be quicker and more effective to call in reinforcements from Artemis.

The Amazonian Chief was still looking around when she spoke to Trevathan.

“Trev, what are you seein’?” she asked. “A lot of these labels are food and booze. I don’t see anythin’ worth dyin’ for, and they were quite prepared to blow the ship. There’s gotta be somethin’ here.”

“There’s empty boxes,” he replied. “Quite a lot of them are empty. And there’s some that are scan-shielded, I can’t see what’s in them. But we’ve got a bigger problem. I was reading 4 Klingons a moment ago. It’s now 5. It’s like another one literally walked through the wall.”

“Now we’re gettin’ somewhere,” Mara said. Her lips pulled back in a feral smile. “Let’s go make ‘em regret that decision. Take us there. Weapons hot, team.”

I want to pry open some of those shielded crates, but I can’t risk splittin’ the team or slowin’ down enough for us all to do it.

She switched channels.

“Calleja to Artemis. Engine room is secured, Han is workin’ to take control supported by Okehampton and team. Bridge team takin’ fire. We’re investigatin’ the cargo and accordin’ to the tricorder we literally got Klingons comin’ out the walls. Will report back.”

All members of the away team were able to hear the report. Mara wasn’t going to speak for Givens - she was pretty sure the Captain was more than able to speak for herself.

As the rest of her team raised their rifles and picked up the pace, Mara’s grip tightened on the type II she had in one hand as she drew her machete with the other. The Bandaran was an average marksman but punched way above her weight in melee, and she was ready for any Klingon that tried to jump the Star Fleet team.

== Tags all! GM input please - what does Mara’s team find when they get to the far wall? How do the Klingons react? ==

[Hallowette Maxas-Darl]

==Ens. Ollie Pearson - Security NRC==

A sense of a searing flame rattled across Pearson's consciousness and he immediately felt the thick, flat, sticky wetness that accompanied the vicious wound that would hopefully become a dardy new scar.

"Gaaaaah! Bloody Hoons!" howled the blonde officer, wincing at the deep throbbing pain that announced unceremoniously that he was in fact, very likely, pretty badly hurt.

Ollie knew he was had - in his maneuverings and subsequent defense of himself and the doctor, he had failed to account for his weak side, and it cost him. Still, he wasn't about to give up any ground to the Klingon he was currently grappled with. Pearson realized he had little recourse to deal with the assailant at his back, and while his mind scrambled to find a way to counter him, his body and now weakened arm began to struggle to hold on to the one at his front.

Ollie was just about to swallow all sense of his pride and yell for help when he saw the flash of a phaser beam arc past him, and the tell tale sound of a heavy body hitting the floor sang like Christmas in his ears. Thanks to whatever Mate made that shot...

Ollie turned his full attention to his old dance partner, the brute that had destroyed his rifle, and was now mutually locked in close fighting with him. Now I get a chance to return the favor... "You and me now, Drongo!"

Pearson did his best to leverage his training and strength to further wrap up the now disarmed Klingon, though he quickly realized that the wound to his arm had bitten deeply enough to diminish his power a noticeable degree. While his intended bravado may have been to do something cinematic, like throw the Klingon over the Captain's chair, he noticed that given his bloodied state, he probably was more likely to do something less heroic...like maybe shift him slightly from where he was... maybe over to his right...or maybe his left.... Options. Options.

That's when he noticed an incoming Dr. Ostberg, hypospray in hand.

Looks like we are going to the right... "Nighty night princess..." Pearson taunted as he shifted his weight as best he could, hopefully presenting his erstwhile companion Doctor a very unwilling, yet equally exposed target.

==Pearson knows he is hurt rather badly, and so will do his best to use his Starfleet martial training to use the Klingon's bulk and momentum against him, swinging the pretty lady (or man) towards Ostberg. Hopefully this will leave the Klingon open to the Doctor's 'gentle attack', and minimize any chances of getting further injured - maybe even allowing a captive in case a conversation be in order==

[Aeryn Miller]

== Ensign Ardanna Svenson - Security NRC ==

Adrenaline had taken over completely at this point as Svenson, her team and Captain Givens gave the Klingons as good as they got. Although it came at a price, as Pearson ran afoul of the mek'leth, albeit not as devastating as it could have been, thanks to the actions of Ostberg and the Captain. With two Klingons taken out of the fight, only one assailant was left for them to deal with, and Pearson, despite his injury, kept up the fight, with some additional help from the Doctor, who was armed with a hypospray.

That left the Captain to check out the consoles, while Garvin moved to assist Pearson and Ostberg should they need it. As for Svenson, Mortimer, and Loren, they had prisoners to secure, and to also check on K'Deela as Chief Calleja responded to Ardanna's sitrep, before providing Artemis with an update on what was happening.

This allowed the hybrid to provide an update of her own, as there was every indication that the Bridge would be secured fully, once the last Klingon had been apprehended appropriately, either hypospray or stun.

" We've got it handled Chief, there's only one Klingon left to deal with, and we're about to secure the two that we've taken out".

" Loren, you're with me, while Mortimer checks on K'Deela".

Moving with purpose, and taking out the restraints, both security officers approached their charges, prepared to restrain them and to act if necessary.

== Tags ==

== GM input. Are Svenson and Loren successful in securing the two already downed Klingons? And what is the extent of K'Deela's injuries? ==