The Chase

Posted on Wed Jun 30th, 2021 @ 1:00pm by Captain Shran dh'Klar & Lieutenant Commander Deanna Celes & Lieutenant Ayana Hillis & Commander Jonathan Grayson & Commander Samantha Howard & Lieutenant JG James Phoenix

Mission: A Dark Looking Glass
Location: Mirror Universe

Shran was becoming incensed. He had begun chasing the rebels with troops, but somehow they had managed to disappear. He tossed one man aside and then another against a wall as he looked around the corridor for where they might be. He hit a comm panel on a nearby wall, "Ops, scan the area. Do you detect lifeforms anywhere in this area besides my location?"

"Checking...confirmed. Detecting Terrans and one Betazoid in the conduit, section L23 and moving" came the reply from Ops.

"Activate force fields" replied Shran.

"Unable to comply. We have a partial crash of the main computer. Security fields are disabled."

Shran slammed his fist into the wall, causing a sizeable dent. He looked to the troops, "Pursue them through the conduits. Keep me informed of your progress. I'll move to intercept them."

Celes shook her head as she pulled away from the long range telepathic link. She looked to the rebels and others, "They are aware of our location, but security fields are down so they have to pursue us. Troops are moving to give chase from our ntrance point and Shran is moving to cut us off. We need to move."

Sam nodded grimly as they kept moving through the access tubes, it would only be a matter of time before they were discovered. Up ahead she could hear someone else moving in the tubes.

"Shhhh!" She hissed, wishing for some kind of scanning device.

"Figured I'd find you here" came a voice with an Irish brogue.

"How goes the fight Smiley?" asked a rebel.

"Good. We've cripple the security fields and they'll soon learn we have disabled the station's weapons." Smiley looked at all the people packed into the tube, taking a long minute to look at Jon and the others. "It would seem we have some unexpected visitors. I doubt Captain Sisko would be happy you are here."

"We didn't have any choice in the matter I assure you." Jon replied, I'm Commander Jonathan Grayson, This is Dr. Samantha Howard and finally there is Ensign James Phoenix with friend.

" The Intendant is trying to kill us, we're from another universe and need to get back there" Sam implored, giving the rest of her team a look and hoping she wasn't overstepping her bounds.

Jon smiled gratefully at Sam. "The Doctor speaks the truth. We aren't from this universe and the Intendant is trying to kill us. Can you help us get back to our universe?"

Smiley gave a chuckle. "Bloody obvious you aren't from around here. We can get you back, but we need to retake the station first. Besides, I'd like to get my men back from your side" he said with a smile.

"The troops are closing in. We need to move" said Celes.

"Who is leading the Intendant's troops?" asked Smiley.

"Shran" Ayana replied, her voice full of emotion.

Smiley looked dejected. "She would have an attack dog like him running things." He looked around, "Alright, this way. We'll move towards the central core, then split up. I got a few ideas as to really make these buggers hurt."

Sam nodded, wondering how long the injections she had given the team to get them on their feet and moving would last. They needed medical treatment, more than her basic medkit could provide but she was confident she could keep them moving until they got off this spinning hell hole. Somewhere in the distance they heard the troops moving again.

As they made their way through the access tunnels, Ayana couldn't help but think to herself. Her thoughts were of Shran, but they weren't the negative thoughts the others were likely having. He was a frightening person to be sure, dedicated to his work, but he had his reasons for that, and he also had a softer side. He was fiercely protective of family, as all Andorians were, and he had lost his to the Alliance long ago. The Intendant had found this out and used that information as a means to bend him to her will, placing his families death on Terrans rather than the Alliance itself. Shran had been filled with anger, anguish, and hate for a long time, but on Terok Nor he found someone who he could care for in Ayana, and he kept that secret. Ayana wondered what would happen as they continued their escape, and would Shran find them and if so, what would he do?

Celes couldn't help but hear Ayana's thoughts. Such strong emotions were difficult to block out. She was aware of the secret relationship, but never spoke of it to anyone. Would this be a time that it could be used as a bargaining chip for her freedom? She mulled that over as she continued to move.

Sam followed the rest of the team, hand protectively on her medkit as they moved, she feared it would be instrumental in getting them through. Smiley had mentioned going to the central core and doing some damage, she could only guess what that damage would be. Cardassians stations weren't skill listing.

"Just tell us what you need us to do" she huffed as they continued to move.

Smiley turned and looked at the group. "Alright, take Rodriguez here. Go down this shaft two levels, then make a right and it will take you to a large computer bundle. Disrupt the ODN relay and set it for a cascade overload. That will blind their internal sensors and communications, at least for a bit. Then head to the cargo bay and we'll meet you there. Bashir should be arriving soon with his boarding parties to really make things wild around here."

"We should go with them" said Ayana.

"She's right" said Celes.

"Right, well, go on then" replied Smiley. "We'll catch up after we cause a bit more mischief ourselves and see if we can't finally nab the Intendant."

" You got it" Sam nodded as the group scurried through the lesser known access tunnels and corridors of the mighty station following the ragtag group of terrorists. Whilst not a fan of their techniques, she understood it was their only chance to get out of this universe.

Jon moved with others. All he wanted to was get off the station and back to their universe, have a hot meal, a shower and sleep in his bed. "How you holding up Sam?" He asked his friend as he came up next to her as they made their way through the maze of tunnels.

"I'll get there - I can't promise anything after" She grumbled as the hypo slowly started to fade. They would get off this forsaken pile of Cardassian rubbish and get back to their universe, there was no other alternative.

James had his arm around Ash who was going in and out of consciousness in the tunnels, making it a struggle to carry her. However, he remained silent. His thoughts kept going back to the Alpha 3 mission. He didn't know if in his universe Ash was alive or dead. All he knew is that he needed to save his best friends mirror counterpart, and aide the rest of his fellow officers.

They neared the central core, an increase in patrols making it clear the next phase of their plan was going to be tricky.

"Now what?" Sam asked of Smiley.

"Time to disable the ODN circuits" said Celes.

"I can handle that" said Ayana as she pushed past the others to reach the the circuits. "Once I finish this, we need to move. It'll overload in 60 seconds, and the explosion will be...big."

" Again with the explosions" Sam retorted as the team scurried backwards to find cover whilst Ayana worked.

Ayana worked diligently for several minutes while the others kept look out. Finally she turned and looked at everyone, "Time to go" she said in a frenzied tone. With that everyone made a hurried get away. As they made their way down the service shaft, a loud explosion could be heard. Suddenly it seemed liked power was shutting down across the level at the very least.

TBC