SIM:TDakora: Should've Gone To Risa

((Cargo Bay 7 - Deep Space K-7))

He could've been on Risa right now. In fact, that was where the official travel plans he'd filed back on DS224 said he and the XO were going. It had been a funny little inside joke at the time, but he now found himself wishing he was there or on the Excal or anywhere. Just, not here.

A dilapidated, filthy, urine-scented, ancient cargo bay; That was where Talos Dakora was going to die.

At least, that was looking like an uncomfortably probable outcome at the moment.

Their anonymous contact had turned out to be a small army of Klingons, seemingly bent on killing them for... Well, Talos really didn't know what the hell they'd done to wind up in the Klingon's sights and as another phaser blast spanged off of a cargo rack just a few centimeters above his head, he didn't exactly have the time to give the question a thorough analysis.

Soon, their enemies would get their acts together and hit them from multiple sides at once and then it would be curtains on the MacKenzie-Dakora Show.

He pared down the rapid-fire stream of thoughts into just the important stuff and spoke.

Dakora: We need to move before they flank us.

He blind-fired over the top of the crate with his tiny little Type 1 phaser, wishing like hell he had a nice compression rifle set to wide-beam right about now. MacKenzie produced a phaser of her own from her boot and Talos couldn't help but grin a little, despite their grim circumstances. It seemed neither of them were particularly good at "coming unarmed."

MacKenzie: Let’s go for the door before they have a chance to get it together. We can use the crates for cover if we need to, but I’m hoping we have the advantage of speed.

She looked him dead in the eyes.

MacKenzie: Cover me.

With heavy-booted footsteps fast approaching, Talos didn't hesitate. Popping up from his cover, he did his best to lay sweeping streams of cover fire from his under-powered weapon. At the same time, MacKenzie launched into a sprint toward the exit.

Talos gave her a sort of abbreviated two-count, before he darted off in the same direction, zigging and zagging a bit as phased energy impacted spectacularly all around them and occasionally firing wildly behind him to slow down their pursuers.

He stumbled as a massive impact crashed into his upper back, but he managed to keep his feet.

A little-known feature of the sim-leather jackets often worn by SFI Officers was the layer of monotanium weave that covered the vital areas. That, coupled with a set of high-impedance polyduranide capacitors, would absorb a hit or two from a high-powered phaser before losing their effectiveness. It was the only reason Talos persisted in wearing them on missions like this, despite Commander Niac's constant ribbing. That, and he thought they looked pretty damn cool.

Judging by the pain radiating from his back and shoulders, he wouldn't be shrugging off another hit.

Ahead, he could see the doors with the large white seven painted on them. They just had to...

He gritted his teeth and hissed in pain as a shot passed so close to his head it singed his ear. He'd just turned back to loose a few shots at his attackers when he heard something he'd never heard before; MacKenzie was screaming.

Talos whirled back around to see the big Klingon, the boss, lift his only friend for a thousand parsecs off the ground by her arm, causing it to flex in an unnatural way. Unable to take a shot without potentially hitting MacKenzie, he surged forward, eschewing any attempts at self-preservation and launching his formidable bulk at the aggressor with the intent to maim, damage, and destroy.

Dakora: Addison!!

He almost made it. Almost. For some reason, it occurred to him at that moment that he'd never said her first name aloud before. This might've garnered further thought if a Klingon gang member hadn't emerged from one of the rows of shelving along his path and landed a positively brutal right hook directly to the side of Talos' head.

Then, nothing occurred to Talos at all.

TBC

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Lt.Talos Dakora

Chief Intelligence Officer

USS Excalibur-A

O238811CD0

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