A Simple Business Transaction, Pt. 3

Posted on Mon Aug 3rd, 2020 @ 12:42pm by Colonel Sehan t'Varis & Sublieutenant Gedak K.I.A. 238702.10 & Subcommander Kaiae t'Lien & Major Ashley Rogers & Lieutenant Rehana t'Shaan & Lieutenant Hatham tr'Krotash

3,862 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Chapter I: Resurgam
Timeline: 238612.21

Once again, the weapon banks of the old Romulan warbird lit up. The old freighter's shields flickered, before they finally collapsed. Another short beam emerged, knocking out its engines. The smuggler vessel was dead in the water.

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"Good shooting," Raven shouted to the tactical officer, before she stood from the command chair. "I am going over there and skinning that Orion bastard myself. Subcommander, you have the bridge. Keep an open comlink and keep trying to raise our people."

Without waiting for a response, she turned and marched off the bridge, making her way to the transporter room - but not before stopping at the armory.

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Kaiae hailed the attacking ship a few times more, getting no response; and instead then focused her efforts on punching through any jamming and interference to see if she could instead reach any of their own people aboard. Given the seeming firepower difference, she had to admit she was entirely baffled as to why their opponent had played things the way they had; either they had never dealt with Romulans - and therefore expected the mere fact that they had personnel aboard to keep the Claw from firing on them - or they had received fault intelligence as to the weapons aboard the Claw. Either way it was bizarre, and the more paranoid part of her mind itched at whether it was, somehow, all a feint...But to what end?

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Gedak shrieked briefly as Hatham began his work, before reaching into his inner pocket. With a grin, he pulled out a tiny phaser pistol. "Their transport filter did not get all of our weapons, it seems," he joked, as another Orion rounded the corner, holding what appeared to be a bag of tools. He did not get far, as his head exploded in a flash.

"Phaser blast derringer. Very effective at short range." The Ferengi giggled. "And worth every slip of latinum I paid for it. Shame it takes ages to recharge itself."

Despite the situation, Rehana turned to him with a considering expression. "I could take a look at that when we get back to the ship, see if I can improve the charge time."

Gedak nodded. "Would appreciate it. Now. What's the plan? I suppose we should find the cargo hold and see if they actually have any merchandise in the first place?"

Rehana nodded. "I say we take whatever they have in the first place. Call it the asshole tax they incur for trying to kill us."

Confident of covering fire, Hatham had charged across and then along the corrider, grabbing the arm that angled around the corner to shoot at him and throwing the attached pirate hard into the opposite wall. One of his comrades foolishly darted forward to attack, only to take a side kick that sent him straight back into the remaining guard. Hatham straightened, shot them both and then the one who'd slid down the wall unconscious for good measure. "The way's clear. Let's take the whole fvadt'akhe ship."

"Good idea. But the Captain is mine," said Raven, who suddenly stepped around the corner, her left hand holding her long dagger in a reverse grip. In her other hand, she held a heavy plasma pistol. "Any word from Rogers?"

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Ash heard the sounds of the ship change. The freighter was disabled and at the mercy of Raven and the Claw. Great. The sound of weapons fire in the corridors disrupted her line of thought. "Now what?" She hoped it was Hatham and the team freeing themselves, but at this point, anything was possible.

She had two options, going up to the bridge and taking command of a dead freighter or going towards the sounds of the fighting. "There's nothing to be done on the bridge right now anyways..." she drew her phaser and headed into the fray.

As the sounds grew louder, she waited for a lull in the fight before making her presence known. She wanted to see who and what she was up against.

What she saw was Hatham standing over his unconscious foes and... Raven, weapons drawn. What the hell was she doing here? Did she beam on board to finish the job? Convenient that the Claw stopped firing on the disabled ship when their commander was on board.

"What the hell is going on here?" she called to the gaggle. "If we were just going to shoot our way through this, I would've taken over this damn ship 20 minutes ago!" She turned her attention to Raven and aimed her phaser at her, "What the hell are you doing here?" Ash took a deep calming breath, "I have a few questions for you... did you set us up? Is that why you almost killed us all by the overkill phaser barrage from the Claw? Are you here to finish the job? Because it sure as hell doesn't look good from my perspective." A part of her hoped she was wrong about Raven, that this was a misunderstanding. But one can't ever let their guard down.

"Whoa, and humans say Romulans are paranoid," Hatham snorted. "Cool down there, Rogers, if she'd set us up, she wouldn't have beamed over, she'd have just slagged the whole ship from the comfort of the Claw." But because Romulans actually took some pride in being paranoid, he'd brought his disruptor level on her. "Maybe you're the one who should explain where you've been all this time."

Raven shook her head and holstered her plasma pistol, but she kept the dagger in her hand. First, she turned to Ash. "Tac slightly underestimated our firepower. Disable shields, disable propulsion, board. That not sound familiar to you?" Then she turned to Hatham. "Have you already forgotten what the plan was? You three were supposed to meet our buyers, while Rogers went and hijacked their systems so we could cover our tracks. Now lay off each other and focus on the real problem."

"Somehow, these Orions managed to divert our transporter signal, and filter out most of your weapons. Somehow, I doubt that oaf that responded to our call is smart enough to come up with that." She looked around. "Okay, we split up. Hatham, you take Rehana and Gedak. Go to the cargo bay. See if they actually have any parts we can use. Tag whatever you find for transport straight over to the Claw. Ash, you and I head for the bridge."

Hatham frowned - he had been looking forward to physically tearing the bridge crew apart. "Are you sure don't want me with you, Captain?" he asked, eying Rogers suspiciously.

Raven laughed. "Sorry to be spoiling your fun, Hatham. But we need you for the heavy lifting down in the cargo bay."

"Fine." Hatham grabbed an extra disruptor from one of the dead Orions. "Maybe I'll be able to express my displeasure with our treatment to more of the crew along the way."

Ash looks at Hatham with a shrug, "I only took out 17 of the crew before I met up with you, there are plenty more for you to express displeasure. I was a little busy while you all were locked up. And to be honest they don't know Raven and I are on board, the rest of you will bear the brunt of their security operations. So you're going to need that distrupter and probably a couple more." She hopes that placates the big security officer, having him as an ally is preferable to the alternative.

Ash looks at Raven, still not completely sold on trusting her, "Lead the way, ma'am." She will follow orders, but trust is earned.

Raven nodded, and began walking down the corridor. With her white button-down shirt, black necktie, black skirt, boots and her signature long leather coat complete with rank epaulets, gloved hand still holding her dagger, she looked like someone from a 20th-century earth spy film as she strode down the corridor to the turbolift.

As predicted by Rogers, the crew seemed wholly unaware of the pair's presence aboard the vessel. After a few moments, they reached a fork in the corridor. Raven waved her companion closer. "I've seen this layout before," she whispered. "Both of these lead to the bridge, entering on opposite sides. Suggestions?" Raven knew exactly what she thought the best plan would be, but she wanted to see what Rogers would come up with.

"I see three options. Option 1, we both go in guns blazing, catching them by surprise from both sides. Quick, brutal, and rather uncouth. Option 2, I go in, confront them, take out as many as I can, perhaps even get some answers for what the hell they were thinking. Then you swoop in as a surprise and get the rest as they are resting on their laurels. Option 3. You go in first and I get to surprise these assholes." Ash smirks slightly, "I'm leaning towards Option 3. I like taking people out when they don't expect it. It sparks joy in me." Ash doesn't necessarily not trust Raven... but doesn't not not trust her either. This will be a good experiment.

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Gedak, Hatham and Rehana, meanwhile, headed the opposite direction, towards the cargo bay. After a few steps, the Ferengi raised his hand to stop them in their tracks. "I hear something up ahead. Company."

"Yesss," Hatham breathed, a grin spreading over his face as he stepped ahead, disruptor in one hand and a knife liberated from a dead Orion in the other. Rogers said she'd killed 17, so she was seriously ahead - she might be his department head, but it was matter of Romulan pride not to let the human have that much of a lead in kills.

A moment later a group of Orions stormed around the curve of the hall, lifting weapons at the sight of a Ferengi and a Romulan ahead - a female Romulan. The lead pirate grinned; they might even save the female for fun later... BAM!

His head exploded in a shower of gore and the rest turned to see a mountain with pointed ears burst out of stairwell, slashing the nearest man across the throat with the blade laid across his wrist while he shot past his shoulder to down a third. Hatham kicked the pirate gargling his own blood into two behind him and spun, swinging the knife out with his arm to plant it in the Orion trying to come around behind him. Then twisted back and shot the two scrambling up from the corpse of the comrade.

He looked at the bodies on the floor. Six. At the sound of others heading for the sounds of disruptor fire, he smiled. If the bridge crew was the typical six or seven, he might top Rogers yet.

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Raven nodded slowly. Ash's response had been pretty much what she had expected. Finally, she smiled. "Personally, I think we should hit them fast and hard, from both sides at once. Don't give them even the slightest chance to react. Leave the Captain alive, though. I want to get some answers."

Ash smirks, "I see you like to get your hands dirty. Good to know. You can have the Captain. I want every else then. Hatham and I may have a little competition going..." She double checks her phaser, making sure it's ready, "One shot, one kill. Captain stays alive for you. And of course, if you need any addition help being persuasively conversational, I stand by to assist in that regard as well. Otherwise, ready when you are."

Raven chuckled. "No way am I letting you have all the fun." She drew her plasma pistol, making sure it was all set to go, before also drawing her dagger. With a flick of a switch, the edges of the blade began to emit a faint, green glow. "Plasma heating coil", she explained. "Cuts through skin and bone like it was butter, but seals the wound. Lovely tool for being persuasively conversational, as you call it."

She smiled. "Get to the other door and breach it as soon as you get there. Let's see who gets most kills, shall we?" Without another word, Raven began to march down the corridor towards the port entrance to the bridge, her short white hair and her leather coat flying behind her making her look like a force of nature.

Ash shook her head with a slight chuckle at Raven, the woman does have a flair for the dramatic. Their styles definitely clash, Ash being far more comfortable in the shadows. Even their choices in attire reflect who they are, while Raven wears a leather coat with flair, Ash looks like she stole her clothes from a military supply depot. A fact which may or may not be true. But if her boss wants to go in guns blazing, they'll go in guns blazing, and she isn't about to let Raven get more kills than her.

She made her way to the other door and took a look at it. Basic design, not hard to breach, but even easier to just open through a series of commands. Why draw unnecessary attention? When the door slides open, Ash doesn't hesitate and takes out the security officer immediately with a shot to the head. "Eighteen." Before their tactical officer had time to draw a weapon, she fires another shot into their chest. "Nineteen." Now she had their attention and the fun begins.

A mere second after Ash, Raven, too, slid open the door to the bridge. Without hesitation, three green bolts from her pistol took out the helmsman, comms officer, and navigator.

It did not take long to clear the bridge of any resistance, and none of the crew got more than one shot out before being eliminated.

When the carnage was over, the bridge was littered with nine bodies - with Raven taking credit for four of those kills. The Captain had attempted to resist, but a quick blast had sent his phaser flying out of his hand, and a shot to the knee had rendered him unable to escape.

With a smile, Raven acknowledged that Ash had bested her. "Good thing we are on the same team," she quipped, before
turning her attention to the commander.

"Now," she growled, holding her glowing dagger against the bulky Orion's neck. "You are going to tell those of your crew that my people haven't got to yet to stand down. And then you are going to explain yourself."

Ash watched Raven confront the poor Orion captain, admiring the woman's skills, glad we are on the same team indeed. She kept a watchful eye over the exchange, prepared for just about anything. At any given moment, someone else could come onto the Bridge, there could be a trap, or the Orion could simply turn the tables on them... Ash slowed her breathing and just waited, one false move and the Orion is dead.
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Gedak shook his head as he stepped over the bodies and continued towards the cargo bay. Such senseless violence, he thought to himself, why ever did people enjoy it so much.

There were no further interruptions, and moments later, they were standing in front of the side entrance to the main cargo bay. Gedak pressed the command panel, but nothing happened. He turned to his two companions, and shrugged. "Was worth a try. One of you give it a go, then."

Hatham cocked an eyebrow at Rehana. "Seems like a job for finesse, but I can just smash it if you think that'll take too long."

Rehana let out a disturbingly high-pitched giggle. "Ah, Hatham, you know me better than that. Give me a few minutes, and open anise? I think that's the human idiom? Screw it, I'll ask Rogers later." She goes to work, humming happily.

As she worked on the lock, Hatham heard the sound of more company about to arrive. A lot of company. He pulled the small explosive he hadn't gotten to use on the brig door from his vest and sighed. Probably as well - the Ferengi would be irate if any goods got damaged from tossing it into the cargo bay. "Cover her," he said to Gedak, set the charge and took three long strides to the end of hall to glance quickly around the corner.

Yells came from the group of pirates just a few meters away, who began running. A hail of disruptor bolts erupted as Hatham ducked out just far enough to lob the explosive and roll back quickly.

**BOOM**

Hatham sucked a spot on his wrist - disruptor burn from near miss. Hnaev! That stung. He raised his weapon. If any of them were still alive someone was going to pay for that.
However, stepping cautiously around, it appeared the explosive might have been a little higher yield than he'd thought. It took a moment to mental sort body parts to get a count. Eight. That put him at 19. Well within range of passing Rogers.

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The smuggler captain just laughed. "Romulan scum," he spat - ignoring the fact that neither Raven nor Ash appeared to be Romulans. "You just wait. The Vulture will get you all. You just wait."

Without another word, he grabbed Raven's hand and forced the glowing dagger into his throat. The mercenary cursed and stepped back.

"Well that was not very informative at all, was it." Still angry, she walked over to the tactical console, and finally disabled the communications jamming field, before tapping her communicator on her wrist.

"Raven to all. Bridge cleared. What's the status down in the hold?"

Ash walked over to the dead captain and nudged the body with her boot before searching the body for anything useful. "Who or what the hell is the Vulture?" She looked up at Raven, "If our folks aren't in there yet, can we just blow the hold and vent any stragglers in the space? I don't have a good feeling about any of this."

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Finally, the door to the cargo hold opened. But it looked like nothing Gedak had ever seen. Whereas the ships of this type were usually divided into several smaller holds, this one had evidently been modified, into one single, open area, filled with rows upon rows of identical, coffin-like pods. It did not appear as if any crew was left in this part of the ship.

The Ferengi stepped up to the nearest row of pods, and took a closer look, before waving Rehana over. "Hey, you, engineer," he said, his voice betraying his discomfort at the discovery. "Am I right in assuming that these are all cryo pods?"

Rehana rolled her eyes. "It's Rehana, merchant," she snapped. "And yes. Those are cryo pods." She scanned them, frowning down at her tricorder's results. "Huh, that's odd. They've been shielded against hand scanners. I'd need to open them up or get a medical grade scan down here."

++ "Raven to all. Bridge cleared. What's the status down in the hold?" ++

"We're in," Hatham replied, frowning. "But it looks like it's filling with cryo pods. No idea who/what is in them. What are your orders?"

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Raven looked at Ash. "Cryo pods? What the hell is going on on this ship?" She tapped her communicator.

++"Check for lifesigns, but otherwise don't touch them yet. We're coming down there."++

The Commander sighed. "Let's check them out."

"I don't like this at all. I want to say for the record, we should've just jettisoned the entire cargo bay..." Ash said as she followed Raven into the turbolift.

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It didn't take long for Raven and Ash to reach the cargo bay. It was as it had been described. Gedak handed her his scanner. "Looks like they are all empty, boss. Although quite a few of them seem to be contaminated with blood. Romulan blood."

Raven shook her head in disbelief. "Their captain said something about someone he called 'the Vulture'. Said they would exterminate the Romulans. Anyone ever heard the name?"

Hatham's jaw clenched. He hadn't heard the name before, but if he ever saw this 'Vulture', whoever that was would regret that he had.

Ash walked around the pods, being careful not to touch anything. "I think Vulture got the most kills..." she said as she looked at Raven's scanner. "Any idea what killed these people? When? And where the hell their bodies are?"

Gedak chimed in, his voice uncharacteristically quiet. "Don't be so sure they are dead, Rogers. These are cryo pods. Designed to hold people in stasis for long transport. It's not unheard of among slavers to transport their 'merchandise' like that. Less potential for trouble."

"Oh, like that makes it better... we either have a bunch of dead people or people that wish they were dead. Whoever this Vulture is..." Ash said, looking at Hatham, who probably has the same thought, "I'd like to toss them into a supernova." She may have questionable morals and not much in the way of a conscience, but Ash doesn't believe in taking away anyone's autonomy. The years she's spent in captivity gave her a certain empathy to those suffering such a fate through no fault of their own. Death is preferable... for those that would consider people merchandise.

Raven stayed silent as the others discussed, instead just wandering around, silently counting the pods. Finally, she returned to her officers. "I count roughly three thousand pods." She shook head. "Download all logs, cargo manifests, anything that might be useful to find out what the hell is going on, before we transport back to the Claw. And then blow this place."

Rehana's eyes widened as she learned what was in the pods. She's pretty young, even by Romulan standards, and this is...easily the nastiest thing she's ever encountered. "Aye-aye, boss. Want me to grab some DNA samples? We might be able to run them against a database, give these people's families some closure."

Raven nodded. "Good idea. Take as many samples as you can get." She stepped over to the nearest console, where Gedak was busy hacking his way into the business logs, trying to trace any payments.

The Ferengi let out a frustrated sigh. "They are good. I got into their accounts, but it doesn't look like any of the payments are traceable. Still, I'll download everything and go over it again." The Commander patted him on the shoulder. "Do what you can. We have to find these people."

Finally, Raven tapped her communicator again. ++"Subcommander, I am sure you got all of that. We are dealing with a ring of slavers, it would seem. Or whatever else they are abducting people for. Check all databases, Imperial and otherwise, for any references to an individual known as 'Vulture'." ++

She looked around the room, where everyone was finishing up their work, before speaking into the communicator again. ++"But before you do that, get us off this ship. I think we have seen enough horrors for one day."++

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