1:42
Posted on Fri Feb 17th, 2017 @ 12:52am by Warrant Officer Cato West & Lieutenant Commander T'Pral Jordan
Edited on on Fri Feb 17th, 2017 @ 12:58am
Mission:
Refit Rondo
Location: Holodeck 1
Timeline: Before Launch
T'Pral had been busy looking over the ship's systems since being aboard and had gotten little time to herself or her department, which was mostly off ship on shore leave at the moment, with being docked at Utopia Planitia. She decided to do some training on the holodeck, when she noticed a phaser training program was already in session with the program unlocked, meaning she was free to enter. She entered the holodeck to see a humanoid person firing at moving targets on a simulated phaser range. She stood, studying the young-looking man, waiting for a pause in the firing to introduce herself as she didn't wish to disturb the man.
Cato was running a rapid three "gun" drill, drone targets flying everywhere. Transferring from his TR-120, to phaser-pistol, to a shot-blast phaser for close quarters. Although he saw the doors open and close, his focus remained on the objective. After a solid three more minute of intense fire, an awkward pause came with the silence of the computer's voice; "Final Round Complete. Accuracy rating: 98.3%. Program paused." Cato's hands went to place a weapon or two atop a simulated table, eyes darting over to the strikingly beautiful vulcan who just walked in; then he noticed the two pips on her collar. "Ma'am." he nodded in her direction. West was out of uniform, MACO camo pants, boots and a coyote brown t-shirt. "Warm up round before combat sim?" he cracked a smile in her direction and perked a brow.
"Your performance was quite impressive," she said calmly as she approached the man. A grin soon formed at the corner of her mouth. "A warm up round would be satisfactory." T'Pral always enjoyed a challenge.
T'Pral picked up a Type-3 Phaser Compression Rifle from a nearby weapons rack and a Type-2 Phaser, holstering it at her waist. "Computer, reset and begin target course." She raised her rifle into the ready position.
"Program reset. Begin," replied the computer.
T'Pral fired as she stepped forward and to the right, striking a human-sized target and following through to an airborne drone target. A few minutes later, T'Pral fired her last shot and holstered her Type-2 Phaser, as the computer ended the sequence. "Round complete. Accuracy rating: 98%" the computer announced.
T'Pral sighed. She had hoped for a higher score which was affected by one miss where she incorrectly determined a drone's flight path. She looked over at the young man with a raised eyebrow. "It appears you were better this time. What combat sim did you have in mind?"
Cato smirked "Impressive, and I'm hard to impress." He paused with a smile "Not just a pretty face, then." He moved a few steps closer "One of my own. I like to relive battles that I've personally fought." He took a deep breath "Gives me a chance to learn from my mistakes and improve my ability." His voice trailed off "Kzinti invasion of Triton Seabase?"
T'Pral grinned, "You will find that my pretty face is just a few of my qualifications. I remember hearing about the incident at Triton Seabase from Federation News Service. What was your assignment there?"
Cato smiled, clearly something was beneath it "I don't doubt it" his voice was soft, another step and he'd be within arms reach of her; But not to the point of invading her personal space. He fired off a wink from his left eye in her direction. "Me? I was the cook." he grinned. He paused as that grin turned to a more serious look "One-Minute Forty-Two Seconds. That was the life expectancy of a MACO dropped behind enemy lines." Cato walked over to the arch, his hands began gliding over the panel; fingers tapping controls on the to prep the program."I'll make you a deal, if you last two minutes, I'll take you to dinner and tell you the story." he perked a brow
T'Pral took a moment to regard the man's actions. By Federation standards, he was out of line and had she been as strict, she would have felt the urge to remind him of those standards. Yet, she was also intrigued by his story. "Very well," she said after a moment. "You have a deal."
Cato nodded in response, fingers tapping away at the controls. Suddenly, the environment in the holodeck changed around them. It was dark, warm, and tropical. Holographic MACO armor would materialize around them both, the weight of which could be felt. "Computer, confirm all safety protocols are in place." "The computers voice responded "All standard safety protocols are active at this time"
Cato picked up her helmet and TR-116 rifle off of the armory table of the holographic Raptor drop ship, handing both to T'Pral as the sound of Kzinti war horns echoed in the distance; radio chatter from their helmets sounded, weapons fire lit up the night sky in the greater distance. "Type II Phase Pistol, TR-116 Rifle, MACO Special Warfare Operator armor and a Ka-Bar knife. Your helmet acts as a H.U.D. Thermal, X-Ray, T-Ray and Night-vision are all available." Cato rattled off; Once T'Pral took her helmet and rifle, Cato turned to retrieve his own. "If you want out at any time, say checkmate; it'll end the program immediately."
"I have never been one to back down from a challenge," T'Pral said as she finished donning her helmet. She checked her rifle, ensuring the sights were working and that it was fully charged. "Ready when you are."
Cato clicked his helmet into place, his armor had adaptive camouflage on it (as did hers). The camouflage began to 'load' once his helmet had been linked to the suit. TR-116 rifle in hand, Cato turned and said "Computer, advance to time index 1:42 after insertion."
"Acknowledged. Advancing program to time index 1 Minute 42 Seconds." Suddenly, the computer fast forwarded and weapons fire began to reign down. The Raptor had been blown to pieces and scattered debris crammed into the earth provided cover for the MACO team.
Cato returned fire, taking cover behind debris. The Kzinti Rebels had aligned themselves with rebel Klingon forces. Together, they were fierce and had caused the greatest amount of destruction since the Dominion War. They aligned themselves with no government, nor had any official demand other than the thirst of war. They wanted territory for themselves and were going to kill for it.
Flicking the selector switch on his TR-116, a group of armored Kzinti warriors rushed towards their location through the weapons fire; Cato remembered this like it was yesterday, even though it was years ago. His gloved hands steady, calm and dry as he moved atop the debris and locked his sights on that moving group.
Squeezing the trigger multiple times; sending nine rounds of TR-116 projectiles at the Kzinti. Quickly getting his 'feedback' before moving back behind cover; the sound of the jagged piece of armor from the Raptor taking disruptor hits. Having surgically placed two rounds and a 'security round' in each of them downrange, Cato smirked "You've got One minute and thirty seconds to go, let's push through to their forward command."
T'Pral nodded as she stood and rushed as fast as her legs were carry her as a disruptor shot missed her head by mere inches and impacting against a piece of debris. Her mind racing, she figured the shot was likely too accurate than a random shot as she dived for cover behind a low rock. She looked back at the scorch mark from the disruptor shot left on the debris and calculated the angle to the likely source of the sniper's position. Pressing herself against the rock, she leaned over the opposite side, catching the silhouette far off rushing to a new spot. She fired quickly as her shot caught the Kzinti in mid-stride, dropping him to the ground as she then laid down covering fire for West to move up.
Pushing forward, Cato used the suppressive fire as cover for his movement. Suddenly, a Kzinti leapt from the shadows and both tumbled through the air towards the ground. Cato's rifle found a new home slung to his back from the single point bungee sling; Right hand dove for the Type II pistol on his right thigh mid-air. Kzinti claws dug into his armor and sent four slash marks across the chest piece. Sparks flew from the cat's claws against the tritanium armor, but Cato's hand had withdrawn that Type II pistol, and pressed it into the chest of the larger Kzinti. Squeezing twice, sending two energy pulses tearing through the cat's body. Cato hit the ground at the same time the limp body of the Kzinti did. Moving quickly on the ground, he dove for cover and took up a defendable position from the wreckage of Kzinti artillery. Re-holstering his sidearm, Cato switched back to his rifle and began to lay down selective suppressive fire.
T'Pral was impressed with West's quickness. She soon realized her mistake of not concentrating on her surroundings as she began to move forward, being caught by surprise by two Klingons rushing their position. She fired a quick burst into the chest of one Klingon as the other slashed at her with his Mek'leth. She dropped her rifle to her side, bringing up her arms, and stepping into the Klingon, blocking the slashing movement as she twisted her hip, tossing the Klingon onto the ground, she drew her Ka'bar and slammed it into the neck of the Klingon, twisting it and withdrawing it. She sheathed the knife and brought her rifle back up and continued to move forward before taking a knee and laying down cover fire for West to move up.
Though she couldn't see it, he had a wicked grin on his face. She impressed the hell out of him, woman just took down a Klingon twice her size with a fuckin' Ka-Bar, if she could see the look he had on his face underneath that helmet she'd probably crack a smile of her own. With 51 seconds left on the timer, Cato suddenly realized that he was either getting old or he had stumbled across his match. "Well, that was shit-hot." he said with a chuckle over comms. "On me!" he said, before he peeled away from their cover and began to move forward with a steady pace, quickly firing selectively at targets as they appeared Cato was gaining ground. Slow is fast, fast is smooth; Or so they say. Hopefully T'Pral was on his heels and covering his 6.
T'Pral was enjoying the training simulation. She wasn't sure she would be doing as well if not for being part vulcan, which she always seemed to rely on in combat situations. "Thank you," she replied as she followed a few paces behind West as he moved forward. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning to fire, she caught the pouncing Kzinti in mid air, the impact sending the lifeless body rolling to the ground near her. A Klingon had circled from behind and caught her in the back of the leg. As she fell, she twisted and fired a three round burst from her rifle that struck the Klingon. The holodeck simulated the injury, as pain throbbed through her leg with every movement. She grunted, pushing herself back up, continuing to cover West.
Cato turned and saw T'Pral limping, he moved to her weak side and slung his arm underneath hers and moved it across her back. In that instant, Cato had turned his back for a second when a pride of Kzinti had moved to surround them from one side and five Klingons from the other. "Computer... Checkmate." suddenly, everything was bare in the holodeck and they were back in their previous attire. The only awkward thing was, Cato was still, um, holding T'Pral. Eye locking with her for a second, he slowly slid away "Dinner?" he smiled warmly before motioning towards the door.
T'Pral grinned as she flexed her leg, thankful that the pain was now gone. "Very well," she said. "However, you shouldn't have helped me, but rather kept up your awareness."
Cato smiled "I am only as strong as my weakest element, my weakest element is my strength. I've read Sun Tzu a dozen times and it still doesn't make sense, but I figured it means don't leave a wounded man behind." He said as he stepped out of the holodeck and into the corridor.
T'Pral followed him as the doors closed behind her, heading for her quarters to change.