Tyran, Kira, Tricia and Will stomped their way through the forest in the dark.
"Will, what's the date on your tricorder?" asked Kira.
"It's December twentieth. We're six hours overdue for our rendezvous with the others."
"They'll have gone on without us then," said Tyran.
"Yes, and we must get there as soon as we can. Let's pick up the pace," said Kira as he started off at a jog.
Karissa drew several pictures on the ground to represent her friends and several others for the pirates. She then began drawing a few more to represent herself and the Monkeys trying to help her friends. She looked to the leader to gauge his response.
The Monkey chief carefully looked over the pictures on the ground. He seemed to understand, but was hesitant. Then, without warning, he grabbed his small spear and started jumping up and down and screaming at the top of his lungs. The other monkeys followed suit.
Karissa gauged the response and realized they were ready to help her. She smiled and nodded. That was one hurdle crossed. Now they needed a plan of action!
Ryan opened his eyes. Benton was already up and inspecting his surroundings with Lieutenant O'Neal. Pike was leaning against a large rock and Chief Talsmin was still unconscious. They were in a cave of sorts, very cold and damp. They were in the underground caverns below the terrorists' main base.
"Whoah... I'm a little dizzy," said Ryan as he got to his feet.
"It'll pass, Captain," answered O'Neal.
"Are you all right, Admiral?" asked Ryan attending to Pike.
"Yes, fine," he smirked. "At least we're inside the base now."
"That's done it," said Benton with all the spirit he could muster. The forcefield holding them in the cave shimmered away. Benton and O'Neal hurried outside. A lot of shouting was heard and some phaser blasts, but it was soon quiet again. O'Neal and Benton came back in.
"Let's go," said O'Neal.
Benton and O'Neal gathered the team's equipment, as Ryan and Pike pulled Talsmin up and headed out the doorway.
"How many are there, Doc?" asked Tyran.
"Thirty five outside the complex alone. I can't scan inside, but I'd guess there's a lot more inside."
"Great...," sighed Kira. "Can you tell if the Captain is in there?"
"There's too many humans here. I wouldn't be able to pinpoint him even if I could scan into the complex."
"What about scanning for a Kelvan?" suggested Tricia.
"Doc?"
"I'd probably be able to detect a Kelvan.... Yes, Benton is inside, deep in the caves."
"It doesn't look like they got in by force," said Tyran. "There's no signs of battle."
"Then that can only mean one thing.... This is now a rescue mission.
A fire fight had quickly broken out inside the caves once the pirates found their captives had escaped. A small force of pirates had surprised them in a narrow tunnel. They were now pinned down behind what little cover they could find. O'Neal ducked out from a small alcove and managed to hit on of the pirates. The Bolian fell to the ground. Talsmin had just woken up and was taking cover behind a rock near Pike. Ryan glanced over at Benton in between taking pot shots at the pirates.
"Lieutenant, what are you fiddling with your tricorder for?!"
"Watch the Ferengi!" he shouted back. Ryan watched as the Ferengi suddenly fell crying in pain. "High frequency sound!" shouted Benton.
"Very nice!" shouted Ryan. He ducked out again and hit another pirate.
Outside, an alarm sounded and the pirates all left their positions and began running back into the complex. This was the second team's chance. They rushed out of the bushes as the pirates ran back into the complex.
Tyran took down three, while Kira fired some energy blasts taking down another four. They split up as the pirates began regrouping. Kira and Hancock ran right and Tricia and Tyran ran left. As they ran, a large phaser turret on top of the complex came to life and spun around towards them. They escaped down a ditch just as a volley of phaser blasts rained down on them.
"Kira, can you take out that gun emplacement?" asked Tyran, tapping his communicator.
[I'm afraid not. I can't get a shot at it. Will and I are pinned down here.]
"Tricia and I will take care of the gun then," replied Tyran.
[Be careful. Kira out.]
"Tricia, keep those pirates off us for a second," Tyran said as he began studying his tri-corder. The scans showed another two gun emplacements on the east and west sides of the complex. Their only chance to get out of their range was a run up to the complex itself.
"Commander, I need your help. I can't hold them all off." Tyran looked up and saw another twenty pirates of various species running at them. He ducked down again quickly as a shot nearly took his head off.
"Tricia, we're going to have to run for it. We need to get inside the complex to be able to get up to those guns."
"You're not serious! They'll shoot us before we get there."
"It's a chance we have to take. You ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
"Good. GO!"
Tyran rushed up and out of the ditch. Tricia followed behind him. Tyran switched to a hand phaser and shot at the pirates as he ran. A few of them fell, but he couldn't get a good shot while he ran. Tricia and Tyran passed beyond the pirates, who were still firing at them. The gun emplacements also began to lay down a barrage of fire on them.
"Zig zag, Tricia! It'll be harder for them to hit you. And don't look back!"
Sean walked up and looked over the bodies of the dead pirates.
"Ferengi, Bolians, Nausicaans, a Son'a. These aren't usually the type of species you'd find to be involved with each other..."
"No, it's not," added Pike. "But Vince Kelly was one of the Galaxy's greatest terrorists in the past few decades, so it's not really surprising. He was probably paying them a fortune!"
[Ki... aptain Evans....]
"Kira? Is that you?" asked Evans. "I can barely hear you."
[.......tside, un.... eav.... ire......]
"Kira? Kira?" but it was no use, the comm link was dead. "Well, we know they're alive now."
"One of them, at least," grunted Benton.
"Lieutenant!" scolded Pike. "We should try to get to the surface. I'm sure Karissa is with Kira," said Pike reassuringly.
Tyran and Tricia burst through a side door of the complex and breathed a sigh of relief. They looked upwards at a huge spiraling staircase going up to the top floor, and had to duck out of the way just as quickly as a phaser beam came from somewhere near the top. A grenade then followed it. Tyran quickly grabbed it and threw it out the door. Screams could be heard as it blew away some of the pursuing pirates from outside.
"Quickly, we have to go up. Watch my back, Trish," said Tyran as he hurried up the staircase, all the while avoiding the phaser beams from above and trying to hit the pirate.
Trisha meanwhile, was following a bit further behind, gunning down the pirates as they poured through the doorway.
Tyran decided to try a new tactic and stood perfectly still. He stood there and waited. As he expected a head emerged from above the railings at the top. With lightning fast reflexes, Tyran drew his phaser and blasted the pirate. "Let's go." he said as he ran down and took Tricia's hand. He hurried up the stairs with her in tow.
The two of them finally came to the top. Tyran heaved open a large metal door. They went through and then he bolted it shut behind them. They were on the roof. Tyran hurriedly disposed of the gunner in the turret with a shot to the chest. He then quickly made his way to another of the turrets. Before the gunner knew what was happening, he was dead too. Tricia ran up behind him. Tyran climbed into the turret and fired a few shots at the last remaining turret. It exploded and rained bits of metal down onto the roof.
"Tricia, I want you to stay here and man this turret. Give us some air cover."
"Why? Where are you going?" she asked.
"I have to get back down there and help Will and Kira," he said, unpacking his backpack.
"How? You can't go down the way we came, it's full of pirates!" she protested.
"I don't intend to," he said as he pulled out some rope.
"Your not....?"
"I am."
Ryan and his team were running through the tunnels. The tunnels were getting brighter, and the walls were getting smoother and more man-made, they must have been getting closer to the surface. As they ran, O'Neal fell to the floor beside Ryan, with a scream. Talsmin fell too. Ryan, Pike and Benton all scattered for cover. In the dark, Ryan caught sight of a large pirate running off back in to the depths of the caves.
"O'Neal, Talsmin, are you ok?" Ryan asked.
"I'm all right; he only got my leg," replied O'Neal. There was no response from Talsmin.
"He's still alive, Ryan," said Pike as he ran a tricorder over him. Benton, pass me the medical kit."
"I'm going after him," said Ryan as he picked up his phaser rifle."
"It's not worth it," replied Pike. But Ryan was gone already.
Tyran connected the rope to his harness, and put it on. He secured it to the roof and walked to the edge.
"See you when this is all over, Lieutenant," he said as he disappeared over the side, leaving Tricia alone.
Tyran reached the bottom as quickly as he could. He quickly took off the harness and took up his rifle again. He could hear where Kira and Will were holding out. He got up to move toward them, but froze in his tracks. A thundering crash came from the forest followed by the hum of machinery and the cracking of wood. Tyran watched as tanks started pouring out of the forest. To accompany the tanks, three fighter aircraft also appeared on the horizon.
"Kira, Kira come in," he said, but his comm badge just chirped away. *Must be a dampening field up.* There was nothing Tyran could do now but watch as the monstrous tanks rolled out of the forest toward Kira's position.