Bugs! - Part II

Posted on Thu Aug 17th, 2023 @ 4:35pm by Captain Ryhl th'Zeles & Commander Jason Elliot

1,668 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: Campor III - Resupply
Location: Deck 11, Holodeck 3
Timeline: Following Part I

=/\= On =/\=

Ew. Beetles! Paisley had no idea what sorts of bugs shared her inner hulls and Jeffries Tubes, but she had only seen one once-so she liked to pretend that she didn't come into contact with alien bugs on a regular basis. Still, seeing them up close was icky-some things didn't change, no matter the race or place.

The beetles began to scatter. Since the fire was coming from above, they were confused at first. Some ran back down the corridor. "Don't let them escape", Ryhl called out. They could fire into the tunnel, though it was too dark to see into it from their vantage point.

Ryhl's attached light spread dim lillumination wide over the distance after he'd adjusted the setting. The glow of their fire also illuminated the cavern floor, letting the officers know where to place follow on shots.

"Pick up the intensity", Ryhl shouted over phaser blasts.

The bugs closest to them began to chatter even louder. Others turned and began to rush towards the ramp up to the officers. Ryhl quickly fired suppressive blasts in a wide, X-shaped pattern.

Jason changed the firing pattern, and rate of fire on his rifle, he let off several rapid bursts cutting down more of the encroaching masses, "A grenade or three would be awful handy right now!"

She fired off a few more blasts from the phaser, wishing she had something a bit heavier. She'd need to specially qualify for that, though, and the Fleet wasn't much for Engineers needing that kind of weapon, particularly. It made sense, but it'd still be cool.

She chuckled a bit as the shells disintegrated in front of her eyes. Haha, die! She took a bit of childish, gleeful joy in it. It was a hologram, she could afford to be a bit wild with it because in reality? She wasn't much for violence.

The insects converged on the officers, the swarm growing into a frenzy. The iridescent beetles of ruddy emerald began to lift in the air, flying towards the officers. They began to get closer.

Ryhl's antennae both turned towards the sound of Paisley's laughter. It was contagious, but he fought to maintain his composure.

The officers couldn't see down the vertical cliff space alongside the ramp. The critters snapped their large pincers and rattled their wings together into an eerie pitter-patter.

Before the officers knew it, large beetles approached from the cliffside. Officer facing that direction would pick up their rate of fire, but other would have to turn.

The bugs began to break through the line. One grabbed Ryhl's leg in its massive jaw and shook its head. "Hey!" He was thrown off balance. From the angle the insect sat, Ryhl couldn't fire without risking others.

The Andorian shouted as he bashed and swatted at the armored insect. A kick cracked one of the beetle's legs. It didn't seem to notice, chowing on the commander with a twist of its head.

Jason was looking at the surroundings and flipped the side toggle to full automatic and began sustained firing at the encroaching insectoids, as he almost methodically moved the rifle from left to right he let out several loud screams in anger, he yelled out "Brenne i helvete"

Oh, Prophets, things had stepped up. The Engineer looked around, getting her bearings and her head on straight. She took a few shots at the bugs, but realized the hand phaser was basically useless. "Keuf!" A Cardassian curse-she hoped the UT didn't pick that one up. "I am dead in the water; the phasers can't handle this." She stated, matter of factly. She hardly ever panicked, and so she stayed calm. "Someone lend me something stronger?" She asked. She wasn't technically trained on it, but she'd be damned if she was eaten "alive" by bugs in a simulation.

Insects began to swarm Ryhl, biting at him. He had no choice but to fire, even while close to the others. The Andorian only took shots when he could see the space behind him was clear. "Don't quit", he shouted. "Set your phaser to a wide dispersal pattern and increase the setting."

Kicking one of the massive bugs away, he finally had space and fired several shots as they encroached. "Move there", Ryhl instructed Paisley to move towards the side flank so the wide beam could spread with a clear path.

Luckily the safety protocols were on and the bugs had only dragged Ryhl around for a bit. "Everyone else, prepare to follow me into the tunnel... On my mark", he said, giving them time to prepare.

Jason threw out the discharged power cell, slamming a new on in, "We're going into a tunnel where they can climb over us, keep an eye above you."

She shook her head, but set the phaser to the disperse pattern, and opened fire, this time aiming only where she was certain was safe. Whomever's idea it was to bring the girl was going to end up sealed in a Jefferies Tube with no food or water. A few of the bugs died off, but more came behind them. UGHHH.

Suddenly, she had an idea. She handed her Phaser to Jason. "Hold this for a minute," she said. From the pocket of her tactical overalls, she pulled a wire and a match. She struck the match against the hull, lighting it up, and set fire to the bugs. A bit later, they retreated. "Welp. That worked. Let's go into the tunnel."

Ryhl stood up from his kneeling firing position and said, "Right, let's move along." He changed an energy cartridge before standing from his moving position. Unlike older phaser rifles, the Type 3G utilized plasma acceleration.

Ryhl fired as he moved, the bright bolts adding to the growing fire's illumination. "We have to run", Ryhl shouted to the group over the sound of chittering insects and phaser fire. "The flame will burn out the oxygen."

The cavern they entered was taller than the last. Ryhl fired and shouted to motivate his group. "This is the last stretch. Let's push!"

Bugs scattered and feed as the officers' concentrated fire tore through the path ahead of them.

Jason paused as the group pushed forward, he heard something, "DOWN!" he screamed as he saw one of the large insects begin to drop down from above, he squared his rifle and pulled the trigger loosing six shots four striking the creature.

She fired as often as she could, but they were en masse, and she stood no chance, even on disperse. They needed something bigger. Torpedoes. She might've forgotten to tell the others that she sometimes was a bit over the top. Oh, well. She ducked at Jason's call, but raised her head again. She fired in the opposite direction.

"Someone get the ones behind me," she said, as a hairy leg grabbed her around the waist.

Jason gave a sadistic grin and started firing, leveling the encroaching horde. "Come get some!" he screamed.

Ryhl looked over his shoulder, just as Jason zapped the suddenly crisp beetles off Lieutenant F'Rar. Lieutenant Tomm and Commander th'Zeles kept a high rate of fire ahead.

After the line of beetles on both sides took heavy fire, they began to retreat. The officers followed, stopping and kneeling after rounding a particularly sharp bend.

It snaked upwards, the presence of the bugs tapering off. Soon it became more of a tactical march, each officer quietly anticipating the return of the ravenous insects.

Before such fanfare, the dim light of a late dusk sky shined through a narrow opening. They sprinted to finally escape the scenario, Ryhl laughing alongside the other officers as the computer beeped and marked time.

She laughed-screamed, but luckily, Elliott had blasted the beetle who'd caught her. "Thank you," she shouted to him, as she continued to fire until the rest of the bugs retreated and then the Hologram cut out.

"Alright everyone", Ryhl said as the landscape of orange rocks set against jagged cliffs was replaced by the black and yellow grid pattern of the holodeck. Their weapons and additional gear also disappeared. "Great effort sticking through it."

Ryhl's pearlescent teeth glowed under the moonlight as he grinned. "I know this was a ridiculous scenario. The truth is that we never know what we could encounter. This was just simple practice on the basics. Remember... Shoot, move, communicate..."

"You all did well under waves of attack meant to be overwhelming. Miss F'Rar, Mister Elliot.. You both did exceptionally, considering you aren't security personnel. I'd like to open the floor to questions", Ryhl said as his smile faded into his typically stoic demeanor. "Comments. Concerns?"

Jason just stood and grinning, he just waited for someone to speak.

Paisley smiled a little, but shook her head. "Who's buying the coffee?" She said.

“Coffee on me, Paisley,” offered Tomm. Despite the grueling nature of the exercise, Kobi felt good about what took place. He was genuinely impressed with the performances of Elliot and F’Rar. He then turned to the Commander.

“That was invigorating, Commander. I appreciate you letting me be a part of this. Well done everyone,” Tomm said.

"You really did well establishing the pace early on", Ryhl said to Tomm. "I know working we me was different than how operations you lead normally go." With a grin and slight laugh, Ryhl added, "Don't worry.. You'll have much more freedom to lead operations going forward."

"As a matter of fact.. Let's have that coffee before we go back on duty", Ryhl said as he led them towards the holodeck's opening door. "Ten forward?"

"Have I ever introduced you to Katheka?" Ryhl mentioned the Andorian equivalent to coffee as the door shut behind them.

Off:

Cass: "Keuf" is the Cardassian word for the S* word.

Commander Ryhl th’Zeles
Commanding Officer
USS Columbia

Lieutenant Paisley F’Rar
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Columbia

Lieutenant Kobi Tomm
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Columbia

Lieutenant Junior Grade Jason Elliot
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Columbia

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