Lest we forget... – Point of no return
by Soghla' Jared

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Post Details

Title   Point of no return
Mission   Lest we forget...
Author(s)   Soghla' Jared
Posted   Mon Aug 30, 2010 @ 2:23am
Location   The Miletus HQ Admin Complex
Timeline   After Jared splits off from Ro's team, 1.8 hours till night
OOC: I hope everyone's ready for the big plot twist!! >:)

Jared and Heghrup walked along the corridor of the complex, moving away from the others. They came to a security door, but Jared quickly found one of the nearby piles of clothing and retrieved a device that looked a little like a security card or a computer chip. He fiddled with it and an electronic tool from his pocket for a moment, and then held it up to a panel beside the door, which obligingly slid open.

"So... Heghrup..." Jared began as they moved through the door, which closed again behind. "I don't think we've ever actually had a proper conversation since you've come aboard!"

Heghrup didn't look at him, warily scanning the corridors ahead for trouble.

"No," he conceded.

Jared nodded. True klingon warrior. No small-talk. Not a word out of place. He thought for a moment.

"Tell me the three greatest and most glorious moments of your life. Your three greatest moments of victory."

Heghrup frowned, giving him a questionable look. Jared didn't back down.

"That's an order," he added. "If I'm going to have an armed escort, I want to know what his battle credentials are."

Heghrup looked thoughtful as they reached a stairwell leading up. Jared checked another directory plaque on the wall and then gestured for them to ascend. Eventually, the warrior spoke.

"In the conflict with the Federation before the Dominion war, I was with a team that assaulted a defence post in the Oleandus system. It was a hanger for launching interceptor craft. Our team breached the perimeter, boarded two Federation runabouts, and set their cores to breech. The explosion destroyed the hanger and crippled the station, and we lost no men. It was a glorious sight to see."

Jared nodded.

"Not bad. That's no mean feat. No explosives, but one big bang!"

They reached the top of the stairwell, where the modified security pass allowed them through another doorway. Jared checked another directory on the other side of the door, and then lead them along a corridor, using the Federation tricorder to navigate.

"That's one. What's your second glory moment?"

Heghrup frowned with thought, as they passed through another security door.

"During the dominion war, our Vor'cha cruiser had it's weapons disabled by a larger Breen craft. Our captain ordered all available warriors to the transporters, and then rammed her engine section - teleporting us to the bridge section as we breeched the shields. Though it cost us many warriors, we took the bridge and rendered the ship inoperable before a K'Vort class transported us off and began firing on her. We were victorious against the greater ship."

Jared nodded again.

"Impressive. You're a warrior with some experience, I can see. I think this is where we're going!"

He gestured up ahead to a row of windows looking on to what looked like some sort of administrative office area. They could see piles of clothes littered around inside - not uniforms, but civilian clothes. Heghrup drew his disruptor warily as they approached the door.

"Almost certainly not needed," Jared commented as he swiped the security pass. The door slid open a little jerkily. It was, after all, millennia old. You could kind of tell by the smell of the air, which had an... oddly flat quality to it. Not quite stale, but... somehow dull. Nothing - plant or animal - had breathed in this space for time beyond memory.

And yet on another level, it looked just like an office.

Jared headed for the one enclosed office in the space. It seemed to be some kind of superior's office, with a computer that looked slightly larger and more elaborate than anything else in the office area. There were clothes in the seat in front of the terminal. There was also an empty glass on the table, and a half-full bottle of something translucent red beside it.

So the boss knew what was coming, Jared thought quietly to himself. Sits down in the middle of the final battle for Miletus, and has a quiet drink.

There was already a security pass in a slot beside the computer terminal, which drew a smile from Jared. That would make things easier!

"And your third glory moment?" he asked Heghrup as he attempted to start the computer up. As the Klingon warrior thought about his reply, it began to make an odd musical rasping sound. Jared kicked the mechanism under the desk, which make the sound become a lot smoother. Things started to appear on screen.

"At the end of the Dominion war, our K'Vort was crippled and boarded by Jem Hadar forces from an enemy troop transport. We fought them for twenty minutes throughout the ship, and in the engineering section we made a stand. I personally beheaded two Jem Hadar with my Batleth, and then when disarmed I killed a third with my bare hands in unarmed combat. We held them long enough for the engineer to bring the weapons back online and destroy the enemy transport, after which we re-took the ship one chamber at a time. We turned defeat into victory that day."

Jared nodded, also watching what was coming up on the computer screen.

"That's a fairly impressive resume, Heghrup! I'll remember that!"

He smiled at what he saw on screen. Primary systems access! This man must have been an administrator. With a little fiddling, he'd be able to assess all the key systems from this terminal.

He looked up at his escort.

"Listen, Heghrup, it looks like I'm into the system now, which means there's no real danger any more. I can actually shut down threats from here. You can head back and join Ro and the others now!"

"No," Heghrup replied flatly.

"It's going to be pretty dull up here! I'm just going to be fiddling with the computer. The others are going to be finding robot suits and experimental weapons, and maybe even fighting the occasional automated defence system."

"No," Heghrup repeated, with no variation in tone.

"You can see the auto-defences up here," Jared said, pointing to one of two large, squat mechanism on the roof of the office area. "They're dead as doornails. There's dust on them. I'm in no danger!"

"No," Heghrup said again.

"This is hardly the assignment for a warrior of your prestige!"

"No."

Jared thought for a moment.

"I could order you to go back to the others!"

"The captain's orders override yours," Heghrup replied bluntly. "My duty is to escort you to the office complex, and then back to the captain."

Jared sighed. Klingons and duty.

He was into the core systems now, with root access to the primary defence functions. They system designers obviously hadn't counted on any enemies getting this far into the complex. Not without one of the locals having time to pull the access card out of the reader.

He brought up a schematic of the complex, which showed the "borrowed" combat suits as tiny green blips. Looked like Ro and friends were on sub-level 9.

Jared was running out of time. They were too close.

He glanced up at Heghrup. The warrior was busy staring at the auto-defences. Plus, he couldn't understand the computer text anyway, so he had no way to understand what Jared was doing.

His hands worked fast on the touch-pad.

- Access facility root systems.
- Access defence systems.
- Access internal defence grid.
- Access automated sentry systems.

This was the moment where everything changed. It had been good running with the Klingons. Their empire was certain to burn itself out in a few centuries at most, but the stories of them would go on for millennia. In a thousand years, cultures would still have tales of fierce, noble savages with curved blades and shaggy hair. But this was probably the end of that ride for Jared.

He looked up at Heghrup.

"Are you sure there's nothing I could say to get you to go back and join the others?" he asked.

Heghrup shook his head. Jared shrugged, and looked back to the computer.

- Access initialisation routine.

ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO ACTIVATE AUTOMATED SENTRIES?

Jared's fingers hovered over the final key.

He looked up at Heghrup again. One last chance.

"If you knew for sure that staying here would get you killed in the next ten minutes... would you still stay?"

Heghrup paused thoughtfully for a moment. Then he nodded.

"I would stay at my post, and fall honourably. Today is a good day to die."

Jared said nothing for a moment.

"Well said," he replied, after a pause.

He sighed.

"I'm sorry, Heghrup," he said. He tapped the final key.

"For what?"

There was a sudden sound of pneumatic mechanisms kicking into life. Heghrup turned to see the auto-defence turrets on the roof unfolding, each revealing two large-bore projectile weapons.

"Jared! The auto-defences!"

"I know. I'm sorry!"

Heghrup raised his disruptor and fired as the turrets pivoted to bring their weapons to bare. His weapon was far more advanced than the native mechanism, and he managed to destroy one of the four guns and damage the second before they could draw a bead.

There was a roar of weapons fire.