Operation: Cold Comfort: Split the Party

Posted on 27 Jul 2019 @ 5:47am by Captain Edward Bolingbroke (Dec-Jan 2389 - TRNSFR After Gorn War) & Lieutenant Commander Iria Taltos & Lieutenant Commander T'Lara & Lieutenant Harry Stevens & Gunnery Sergeant Kyle Walken & Lieutenant Junior Grade Emma Walken & Lieutenant Junior Grade Anyi Nila

Mission: Hahai i na pilikua nui - Hunting Monsters
Location: The Xore Strike Mine
Timeline: T+3 1705hrs Zulu

[ON]

[Xore Strike Mine - Level 9]

The doors to the elevator opened, outside was various mining equipment being used by other mostly non-implanted captives. The support pillars looked newly installed, the sound really carried through the long dimly lit tunnel as a few Gorn could be heard abusing and yelling orders at the captives.

"Off!" The lead Gorn ordered.

Emma was the first of the group off being the one that was implanted she played the part of the silent one who just did as she was told.

Mason followed on, she was not sure how far down they were, but it had seemed like a long time on the elevator. Once off the elevator she found they were in quite a large cavern, there were various mine vehicles parked up, a wagons filled with blue-gray rocks.

Ahead, the cavern narrowed down to a tunnel, about five meters wide, maybe four high. There was a large bright yellow arch framing the entrance to the tunnel.

Behind her a motor started up and the implanted man drove the mining machine off the elevator, staring fixedly ahead he maneuvered the machine down the tunnel ahead of them.

T'Lara just walked along with the others, while looking around, observing the mine and the people in it. She tried to take everything in, while remaining quiet. It wasn't really part of the plan to be separated, but she was sure, it would be fine.


Kyle was the last person off the elevator, he was taking notes places they could take cover should they need to fight after the Marine ground force launched their attack. His gaze turned to some of the other captives, it looked like they had given up.

With everyone off the elevator the doors swiftly close as it begins to lift up back towards the entrance of the mine. "Get walking!" A guard ordered.

As they passed into the tunnel Mason glanced up at the yellow arch, it was a rectangular shape about a foot square, and every so often a small device protruded from it, there was a flashing orange light on each one.

Mason knew a remote detonator when she saw one and she was seeing them now. The entire arch must be packed with explosives!

She coughed, glanced at Kyle and shot her eyes towards the arch, hoping he was seeing it too.

Kyle had been focused on the ground but when Mason got his attention he looked up seeing the packed explosives on the archway, he gave her a slight nod acknowledging he saw them

The four of them were led deep into the mining tunnel, as they walked past various people they could see the condition they were in. Some were just dirty covered in grime, sweat, and dust from the mining process. Others were covered in injuries from beatings, bites, and burns.

Most of the people did not even dare look up from their work in fear of the Gorn seeing them. They had hammers, picks, chisels and other manual tools, they were hacking at the seams of ore, which was a gray blue color, clearly distinguishable from the surrounding dark rock.

A couple gave mistrustful glances at Emma as she walked past. Nearly all of those doing the manual work appeared to be free of the implants, only one or two had them.

Where as, like the driver of the drilling machine, all of those who were using equipment or power tools or vehicles all seemed to be implanted.

They had reached near the end of this level when they approached a noticeable gap between the workers, "Work!" The Gorn ordered and pointed to a pile of tools then at a seam of blue gray ore.

One of the guards kept pushing Emma away from the group to have her work on the heavy machinery.

Kyle stepped forward first and grabbed a pickaxe, he slowly lifts the pickaxe overhead and strikes the area close to the blue gray ore. From the corner of his eye he was trying to keep tabs on his sister. Walken looks towards the couple who had glared at his sister. He gave a cough and tills his head over towards them hoping that either T'Lara or Mason would make contact with them.

Mason took up a pick and took a few swings at the ore, she moved closer to the colonists. They looked thin, bedraggled and frightened.

"You're new" One said under her breath, scooping rocks into a bucket. "Better stay away from the 'plants! They're not to be trusted!" She looked around to make sure the Gorn were not watching "Where you from?"

Mason spoke quietly "From the Starfleet Battlegroup in orbit. We 'er here to back the planet"

The woman dropped her bucket of ore in surprise. A Gorn hustled over and kicked her. "Pick up! Pick up now!"

Mason moved in to help and together they loaded the bucket. The Gorn grunted and wandered off.

"For real? Did you get captured already?" The woman asked.

"No, we'er here to liberate the mine" Mason whispered "We'er working on- "

"Yous! No talking! Yous work!" The Gorn was back, it stood over them hissing and snarling.

Mason ducked her head and swung her pick.

T'Lara took a deep breath as she had taken up a pick, but changed it to a chisel. She started to work as she softly said, "We just need to wait for back up." She looked to the guard a moment and continued working. As the other started working again, he moved away a bit. "We should keep working, not much need to be said here. We can talk later. She moved away to walk on a different section.

Mason swung her pick and waited until the Gorn guard wandered off again. She had been trying to keep track of time, so far it felt like about twenty, maybe twenty five minutes since they had been brought into the mine. If Bolingbroke and the Frog Squad were successful then the power should be going down in the next thirty minutes or so. That meant getting word out now, not later.

She loaded some ore into a bucket and moved over next to the woman she had spoken to before. “We’re working on a plan to liberate the mine, we’re going to cut the power soon to take down the shield” She whispered.

“When?” The woman asked, adding more ore to the bucket

“Maybe thirty minutes”

“We get fed soon” The woman explained “They make us work twelve hour shifts, they feed us half way through. “

“Where does that happen?” Mason asked, wondering if they brought the workers to one place for that.

“Right here, they just bring round soup. We get maybe ten minutes to eat, then back to work. It’s near starvati - Watch out!”

A Gorn guard was coming, it stopped and glared at them. Mason scooped up the bucket and walked it over to a hopper, dumped it in then went back to where she was working.

When she got chance she whispered to Kyle and Emma and T’Lara what the woman had told her. “Might be the only chance we have to get the phaser assembled”

"Alright, we will use that time to get the phaser set up." He paused and looks both ways down the mining tunnel. "Mason and I will keep watch and should it come to it provide a distraction in case a Gorn gets too close."

T'Lara nodded. "This is your part of the plan. I leave the execution of that to you. I am here to set up medical facilities."

Emma nods she takes a moment to feel the implant just for a second before she moves her arm back down by her sid

A couple of minutes later one of the Gorn shouted “Stop working! Yous eat now!”

Two Implanted colonists came down the on a small vehicle and stopped, they handed out mugs of a thin watery soup and cubes of some kind of replicated bread. The colonists gathered in small groups to eat while the Gorn guards stood and talked together.

“We better get the phaser assembled and ready while we can” Mason suggested as the team huddled together. “And I’m sure as hell not eating whatever this is!” She looked disgustedly at the mug of greasy soup in her hand.

"Good call Mason." Kyle agreed as he set what they gave him as food down and nods to his sister.

Emma slowly moves towards T'Lara and turns around presenting the implant on her spine. "Don't know if you say before you put it on me but it opens at the top, I can't reach it on my own." She speaks in a whisper.

T'Lara looked to the implant. She then reached to the top and pressed releasing the implant from her skin.

No sooner had the team opened Emma’s fake Implant than the lights went out, plunging the mine tunnel into darkness, except for the glimmer from the running lights on the vehicle. There were anxious cries from the colonists and angry shouts from the Gorn.


[Xore Strike Mine – Entrance tunnel]

A few moments after the first elevator departed, with Kyle and the rest, a second one arrived.

The two guards holding Nila and Iria pulled their disruptors from the necks of the two women. They pushed them forward to the elevator jabbing the barrel of their weapons into their backs. "March!"

The one holding Harry didn't release his grasp his talon still just an inch from his throat.

"So stupid one, yous follow orders now, disobey yous die. Now walks!" The Gorn threw him to the ground in front of Nila and Iria. "Gets up!"

Having been pushed up against the wall by Gorn and then thrown to the ground, he said gasping for breath, " Yes Master," as he rose to his feet and started rub his hands around his throat, he thought to himself, oO Dam Gorn, wait till I get hold of you, Oo and looked back with a quick glance to the two women.

"Gets on elevator." The Gorn spoke in a low snarl as it pointed down the entrance way.

Nila looked down at Harry, sure the two of them had never gotten along but she felt bad for what the Gorn had done to him.

Iria breathed cautiously through her teeth as she followed Nila and glanced at Stevens, she wasn't sure what he was thinking about but if was anything like her own thoughts, it promised the Gorn retribution for the violence done to them and those who they'd come to retrieve. Iria didn't consider herself violent, **~~I want to claw that bully's throat out!~~** she didn't like bullies though and the Gorn were fast becoming her least favorite beings to deal with.

"Hurry up!" The Gorn were getting more irritated with every moment that had passed. They were sick of dealing with these sub-forms of life. One Gorn had passed the three of them and was now on the elevator.

Nila took that as a hint and picked up the pace she had reached the elevator and looked back towards Iria and Harry signaling for them to get in here before the Gorn decided to kill them.

Iria didn't need to be told again she sniffled to the elevator eyes downcast, once she was beside the Bajoran Operations officer she backed against the wall of the elevator and waited for whatever came next for the team. As the elevator started moving her thoughts turned towards Marine Captain Bolingbroke, she hoped his part of the mission was going okay so far. **~~Stay safe out there Edward, and I hope we can ride in the Bentley together again!~~**

Once all three were in the elevator it descended but came to a stop after only a short while. The doors swung open and the Gorn herded the crew out. Before them was a large open tunnel, well illuminated with lights. The floor, walls and roof were all ferro-crete. It opened on to a much bigger space, a huge wide cavern, also illuminated and clad in ferro-crete. There was a series of rooms set into the walls of the tunnel, with windows looking out into the larger cavern. Where the tunnel ended there was a yellow arch running around the walls and ceiling, orange lights blinked on tiny devices set into the arch. Beyond the arch was a chained fence with a gate, several Gorn were stood around the gate, they turned to look at the new arrivals.

Past the gate there were hundreds of people. The cavern had been turned into a huge holding pen, rows and rows of bunk beds lined the walls, occupied by thin, malnourished, beaten colonists. They were ragged, dirty and subdued, most looked exhausted. A few were sat up and turned to stare at the newcomers.

There was also a another group there. In the bunks closest to the fence lay more colonists but these all had visible implants. They were dressed in brown coveralls and lay still in their bunks, mostly laying on the backs, legs straight out, arms by their sides, in an almost unnatural sleeping position. Unlike the others these did not move or look at the crew as they were ushered through the gate.

“Yous rest now!” One of the Gorn grunted “Yous work next shift! In six hours, yous work” as it shut the gate.

Nila began to study the people behind the fence once they came into view, what really caught her eyes were the fact the people had been implanted and non-implanted were staying apart from each other. 'Distrust must have already spread between them all.'

Iria watched the guard leaving before she turned to see the separation of the folks, she winced at seeing the very unnatural sleeping positions of the implanted folks. Iria shook her head and looked at Nila and Stevens, her voice low, "Do we use the six hours to get the communicators and the phaser together? Though it should not take more than half an hour to get done properly."

Simultaneously in the holding tunnel the lights went out as well. The large cavern dropped into blackness until the emergency lighting came on. There were a number of the small red lights on the fence and high up in the roof. Much of the cavern, particularly in between the rows of bunks, remained in darkness.

Nila relaxes, with the power gone it meant the first part of the operation had gone right and now they part to defend the people while the Marines storm the mine happened.

To be continued...

[OFF]