The First Group

Posted on Thu Nov 20th, 2025 @ 5:54pm by Chief Helmsman Kalahaeia t'Leiya & Executive Officer Jake Ford

Mission: Shackles
Location: Planet Surface
Timeline: After "On the Planet"
725 words - 1.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Jake pushed through the undergrowth at a reasonable pace; there was little doubt Kali could keep up, he was sure of that. Indeed, she was probably close to reminding him of how much she was capable of moving faster than he was, and this was a casual pace for her. Strange, he noted, that he felt lately like he understood that perspective more. Something about his past experiences had shaped a part of him to almost agree with it.

"There's an outcrop just up ahead. Seems like a good place to make the first contact and then peel off and let the next team handle them," he said, not doing a great job of hiding his breathlessness. "You want to pincer, or shall we stay on the same side to cover our backs?"

Kali silently held up two fingers; indicating the latter: Orions were definitely among the sort of opponents you needed covering-of-backs for even more than average; and given they had the other teams in play, she'd much rather stack the deck towards 'odds of survival' even if it perhaps would lower the odds of taking out the entire group at once.

He nodded, motioning to the elevated ridgeline. It wasn't much but it would give at least a little advantage.

"Remember the plan: we take them by surprise and then break off; let the others take the second run at them. Classic skirmish. You ready?" he asked softly, readying his phaser rifle.

Kali gave a brisk nod; hand phaser in one hand, knife in the other.

They didn't have to wait long, and the Orions didn't seem to be too concerned about stealth at this point, chopping through the undergrowth and grumbling at one another. Jake lay prone, his rifle mounted on the outcropping and his eye looking for a leader; taking out the command structure was a tried and tested tactic, and made sense here - if he could figure out which one was in charge. Probably the most talkative...

He glanced once at Kali, took a breath, and opened fire.

The first Orion the dropped from Jake's first shot had the others reacting exactly about as quickly as Kali might've guessed they would; weapons out and heads on a swivel immediately, with only a second or two before the return fire from several. She hit one with her first shot, but didn't drop him; and wasn't sure if her next few shots hit any or not, as she was rather more focused at that point on avoiding getting hit as well.

Jake took a couple more shots before rolling sideways with the rifle to adjust his angle and confuse their response. He was only vaguely aware of Kali's movement in his peripheral vision, having to rely on instinct and assumption about where she would be. A slightly high-aimed shot deliberately forced one of the covering Orions to shift, making a perfect opening for the Romulan to strike.

Kali’s next shot hit the Orion in question square on the general location of the Orion heart, and he dropped near-instantly. The rest of the group unfortunately took the opportunity presented by their engagement with him to make themselves scarce, and she cursed under breath. “Next team’ll have to get the rest.” She warily kept her phaser in a ready stance in case any hidden surprises popped up, but shifted her grip on her knife in the other hand to free one finger - specifically, the middle one - to flip up for a moment in the general direction the surviving pirates had gone.

Jake nodded, firing off one or two more rounds from the rifle to encourage the Orions to keep going.

"We did our job," he nodded, staying prone for the moment. "Nice work back there. Gonna need to take you up on some lessons when we get back to the ship. Either that or I need to lose a few pounds..."

"It's not weight that matters. It's what it's made of. Definitely heard that a ton as a kid from my dad, who used to be a security officer." She dropped the phaser to a rather relaxed low ready and shrugged her shoulders and eyebrows. "Let's go link up with the rest. Just not so fast that we catch up with the pirates...."