Star Trek: Animus: Plague Bound

Part 3

Commander Krieger led what remained of his landing party down flagstone covered corridors, the heavy slapping of boots echoed through the ancient looking structure. Jacinta remained on his hip, one hand tightly held her phaser while the other held the strap of her tricorder keeping the device at just below eye level as she continued to track the Animus' landing party by way of their encrypted transponder.

"They are on the move, slowly, but they are two levels below us, heading, east," she reported leading the three other members of her team down nondescript corridor after nondescript corridor.

"How do we get down?" asked the porcine Xern as the group continued moving at a fast jog.

Jacinta scrutinised her tricorder, at the schematic that was slowly forming as the devices tiny sensor tried to determine its own location within the facility, filling in the blank spaces between them and their target. "There appears to be machinists' lab fifty meters from our location with a service ladder to the lower levels."

Krieger nodded as they rounded the corner, headed in the direction Jacinta had indicated and immediately came across a quad of tall figures, their identities obscured by a set of ornately patterned body armour and full-face helmets. Both groups responded almost simultaneously, with the Starfleeters scattering for cover as the quad raised their left forearms, revealing a menacing looking energy weapon. They fired into the void left by the landing party, deadly green bolts of disruptor fire splashed against flagstones and walls. The landing party responded with amber pulses of fire from their phasers, which, to their horror, appeared to simply wash over the quads body armour leaving them unfazed.

"Their armour appears to have energy absorbing properties," Jacinta reported, checking the readouts from her tricorder as the landing party continued to pour fire into their steadily approaching assailants.

"Switch to maximum stun," Krieger ordered as he manipulated the power control on the side of his phaser rifle. Taking aim with the weapon, he gingerly pulled back on the trigger, taking full advantage on the rifles increased power reserves, loosing a piercing beam of crimson energy at his closest opponent. The beam struck home, hitting square in the chest. The blast staggered their attacker, the aftereffect crackled like lightning across their chest plate, however, it didn't appear to slow them down as they were soon able to recover. Three more beams struck their assailants to near identical effect.

"Keep firing," Krieger yelled as he scanned their surroundings, unwilling to give the order to shift their phasers from stun to the more devastating 'kill' setting. He looked for a way out, as the first of the quad broke through their defence and grabbed Jacinta by the left bicep.

The Trill officer winced as she felt something scrape her through her uniform, holding her phaser sideways, she struck upwards with it, hitting her attacker underneath the chin towards a bulge in their neck. This sudden move sent them tumbling backwards, momentarily loosening their grip on her arm, allowing Jacinta to wrest her arm free and get back to the safety of the rest of the landing party.

Her tricorder beeped a warning and she stole a glance at its small illuminated screen, the tiny devices rudimentary pathfinding software had collected enough sensor data to find an alternative route to the Animus landing party. Stepping away from her attackers, she called. "I've found another way."

Krieger nodded, stood and signalled the others. "Move out, fall in behind Lieutenant Tryne."

Turning on a boot heel, Jacinta took off at a steady job, zigzagging to avoid disruptor fire as she led the team towards a closed bulkhead door a moderate distance from their encounter. As she moved, she became increasingly aware of the tingling feeling she had in her bicep. Dismissing the sensation as simply a pulled muscle, she crouched as low as her frame would allow next to the doors automated control surface, prying its outer case off, she was surprised to see a rather modern looking duotronic computer system. Finding an appropriate port amongst the sea of cables, she withdrew a cable from the base of her tricorder and orientating it to the port, connected her machine to the door.