<USS Avalon> "Federation vs. Coalition" Pt. 1

?Federation vs. Coalition? ? Part One
by Commander Javan Sierra
& Lieutenant Caine Reilly McKinsley




Word had been relayed from several places that members from the ship tailing the Avalon had beamed aboard. There were several decks that were crawling with them, but none had yet stepped foot on deck seven. There had been a lull in the fighting and Javan was tired of manning his post, but he knew that orders were orders and there was no way to disobey them. So there he stood in the dimmed darkness with a cold phaser rifle cradled delicately in his hands.

The darkness was only kept at bay by the radiance of his feminine companion. Caine Reilly McKinsley, newly promoted with two golden pips on her collar, stood silently against the bulkhead. She hadn't spoken in a long time, but she kept her eyes trained on the corridor to the back of Javan. It was a pincher type set up. Javan watched one end, she watched the other to ensure safety. "Darlin', are you all right?"

Her breathing was heavy and she swore that the entire ship could hear her heart; it was pounding so loud. "I'm fine," Caine said quietly, wishing she were just about anywhere but there. "You know, just fighting for my life for the second time in my life, at least I'm with someone I care for this time," she said, trying to make a joke and liven things up. The tension was getting to her and she knew it was getting to Javan, she could feel it but she wasn't exactly sure how she could. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I'm use to doing this type of stuff. No matter whether or not we're in our time or five centuries in the future, it's all in a days work. I'm tired. I'm hungry. And my shoulders are killing me." Javan felt the tension in her words and felt the waver in her voice. She was scared; damn it, they were all scared. Javan couldn't count the times where he'd been in the same position - fighting for his life and the lives of everyone else. This time was different, somehow. There was something in the air, there was something in the sweat, and there was something in the shedding of blood.

Caine let out a low, bitter laugh. "If we weren't stuck like this I would offer to massage your shoulders, but seeing as that would get us killed I think I'll stay right here." She hated this, feeling like animals trapped in a cage. It made her want to just go crazy and start shooting without thinking, she wanted to be free and it was nearly killing her to be scared like this. "We'll get out of this, won't we?" Caine asked, her voice low and with a small break in it. She didn't want to appear vulnerable, but with Javan she knew it would be okay.

Knocking over a cargo container, Javan motioned for her to sit down. She looked at him and hesitated, but he pushed her into the seat nonetheless. "I've been in tighter spots than this and I'm sure that I'll see bigger and worse fights - I'm sure we'll get out of this. Unfortunately, it's just a matter of time. As far as I'm concerned we've already won." He was, as a matter of fact. If he hadn't had the opinion of their situation, which was extremely hopeless, they'd have lost already. Granted that they hadn't encountered any resistance yet, they would. Slowly, he began to knead Caine's shoulder muscles. She needed it more than he did.

Javan's hands felt like a piece of heaven at that moment but she was still scared to put her guard down. These people were seriously out to kill them and nothing would stop them from completely their mission; she was sure of that. Even though she didn't have any special abilities she could sense that the ship reeked of fear from its crew and passengers and that the people chasing them were confident in their duty. "Javan, can you sense the people out there, all of them? It's weird, but I can. I just know what they?re feeling. They?re scared, all of them are ? we need to win this."

"It's overwhelming. So much confusion, panic, hysteria, sadness, and so many other feelings in between. It's a jumble of emotions. I have to push it all away and focus on what I'm feeling and what I'm doing." Javan knew that the Avalon needed the win, but in a future where their enemies had several hundreds of years in tactical, technological, and intellectual advantage it seemed fruitless. Something about fighting Cardassians and Romulans ? who were, for the most part, the Federation's ally ? was not something he wanted to do. "We'll overcome the odds."

Two people walked up, Lieutenant Zachary Winters and Ensign Ryan Hollander. Winters was bleeding from his right eye ? which had all but swelled shut ? and Hollander?s arm was badly burned on the left side. They both looked liked they had just taken a stroll through the burning fields of Grethor. "Commander, they've gotten Deck One and Deck Thirteen. They're moving in all directions. We think that Captain Ketchum has rerouted power and control through Engineering."

"The Captain, is he all right?"

"Don't know."

"Well, find out." Javan was upset that the crew hadn't been fighting hard enough, but he was one to talk since the only thing he was trying to fight was his girlfriend's fatigue. "Let me know the moment that something happens. If something happens that threatens the integrity of the crew or the safety of this you are to notify me immediately, understood?"

Hollander nodded and turned around. The duo limped away and Javan returned to Caine's shoulders. "If the Captain goes down then we're completely screwed, for lack of a better word. Granted we could function, but the crew isn't going to rally under Skyler or myself. We've got too much bad blood between us. If Ketchum is killed, so is the Avalon."

The strain was getting to her. With a heavy sigh, she dropped her head into her hands, looking down at her feet. "No one can command this ship the way Captain Ketchum can. I just hope he is alive and stays that way; the crew needs him. I almost hate to say it, but without the captain, it would almost be like there was no hope, everyone would feel it." Caine covered her eyes with the butt of her hands and pressed tightly, hoping to repel the feelings and thoughts in her brain. "We have to do something, I feel guilty for just sitting here when part of the ship has been taken and the Captain unaccounted for."

"Caine, we have our orders. The best way to support the Captain is to do what we've been ordered to do." Javan moved in front of the cargo containers. That's when he heard it. The familiar hissing of transporter technology filled the corridor and before he had even blinked seven soldiers of the Tempest loomed in front of him. Cardassians, humans, and Romulans alike stood next to each other in matching uniforms with matching weapons cradled on their hips. "Down!"

Giving out a small yelp of surprise, Caine threw herself to the floor behind the cargo containers and pulled out her phaser. The soldiers were intimidating, perfectly uniformed and perfectly deadly. They immediately began to fire in a systematic order that made her think for a moment of the Borg before she raised herself high enough to take a shot at one of the soldiers, hardly doing any damage.

He rolled without thinking and fell in next to Caine. Taking a quick flip to his right he fired two rounds into the nearest Tempest officer, dropping him like a bad habit. The remaining six began to march forward and fired at the cargo containers, showering sparks on himself and Caine. Several obscenities ran through his mind as he fired another set of random shots over his head. Another blaring and incessant hiss echoed in his ears as another set of troops materialized behind the six already on board. They were losing ground ? and fast. "Caine, fall back to the checkpoint in the next section. Tell them to establish a forcefield perimeter!"

Taking a moment to look at Javan, she nodded her consent and waited for a small break to run for it. Making her way backwards, Caine got to a certain point before she turned her back to the fighting and ran like hell. She felt a sharp pain in her side but ignored it, knowing it could be any minor little problem. Caine hit the checkpoint and immediately began barking orders for a forcefield perimeter to be set up around the soldiers, she only hoped that more didn't come. She had run away and the forcefield would be able to keep them at bay, at least for a little while. She moved into a defensive position and waited.

Managing to drop another two before scampering back to their retreat point, Javan felt himself break a sweat. Merging into the rest of the group Javan made the motion for the forcefields to be set up. The crisp sound of the electrodes snapping into place was like music to his ears. Ten soldiers walked up to the forcefield and the Cardassian up front smirked. Odd, Javan thought, but that all changed when the Cardassian and the rest of his group stepped through the forcefield with ease. "Fire!" Javan opened fire from his newly attained position.

To add to matters, another squad transported in behind the forcefield.

Curse words ran through her head as Caine began to fire on the enemy, strange though, she never thought she would call the Federation her enemy. Nothing seemed to stop them though, even as soldiers were hit and taken out, they still came. For every one soldier that was taken out, they took about three of the Avalon crew. It seemed to be a losing battle with no end.

Their numbers were dwindling.

Down to seven of his own officers against twenty or more of theirs, Javan made a decision. "All right, fall back again. Climb to deck eight and head through the security training holodeck there. Head for the Aero Shuttle!"

Time to make this a two-front war.

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