Personal Log || Kerenal || "We all flee in hope of finding some ground of security"

Posted on 241502.15 @ 6:33pm by Lieutenant Kerenal

Mission: Holy Cow
Location: Various

=/\= Federation Backwater, =/\=

The puddle bulged and split as the leather booted foot hammered down in the centre of it, splashing dirty water against the legs that drove on forward without another thought, a moment after it had come to rest, another two, then three, four feet found it at staggered intervals, a chase through the darkened, rain soaked alley, footsteps and shouted orders echoed between the concrete buildings that rose either side, muffled slightly by the trash and another detritus that accrued in the darkness.

Turning a corner quickly, the fleeing man let out a smile as he saw the clearing, with his stride unbroken he raises his arm, his wrist coming close to his mouth, “Exodus, Prepare for launch, immediate departure!” his voice rings out against the city that has begun to thin behind him, his pursuers have fallen behind enough for him to get away... just...

His mind races as he reaches the rear ramp of the heavily modified shuttle and turns to watch them, a bullet ricochets off the hull plating next to his face and forces him inside, the ramp lifting as soon as he was inside, the engines screaming as the shuttle hovers for a few seconds before the nose tilts upwards, the underside of the wings glowing with a bright green light before the whole craft bolts away, angling for an exit velocity of the planets gravity.

=/\= Several Days Later, near the Nirua Homeworld =/\=

“Goddamn it! That bloody Vulcan said it'd be a simple mission, a simple walk and talk!” Kerenal shouted to himself as he hammered a fist on the flickering Primary console of the Exodus, around him the cockpit was half filled with smoke, warning alarms went off all around him and filled the air with a bright orange light, it had once been a smaller shuttle assigned to the Defiant class escort ships, big enough for one, maybe two occupants comfortably and never meant for long term isolated deployment.

Years of tinkering and development had left the Exodus unique, she now sported a full miniature warp reactor, a cloaking device, three wings that held enhanced sensor suites and weapons and in the back compartment, a very specialised device that could be deployed from the rear hatch in times of great need, developed by the very Vulcan who had sent him on the suicide mission, developed for Starfleet but never put into production because of the unique nature of the weapon.

The Exodus rocked as another salvo of weapons fire hit the shields and caused another console to explode, “Exodus, deploy it, now!” Kerenal shouted over the din of the alarms.

One simple command caused the entire rear compartment to pressurize and seal itself off from the cockpit, the rear hatch opening quickly and a turret deploying, there was no energy build-up though, the weapon drew minimal power from each system, remaining undetectable until it was too late.

“Drop to one quarter impulse and vent five percent of the aft plasma storage, give manual firing control to the primary console,” the El-Aurian commanded as a joystick rose from under the console, the viewscreen becoming an aft view with a series of cross-hairs, “Audio readout of their distance, one thousand metre intervals,”

[Unidentified Vessel at Twenty Thousand Metres and Closing.] the computer replied as the targets got bigger on the screen before him.

The countdown was agonising, they thought they had wounded their prey by the trap was being set, the only thing Kerenal needed was for them to drop within ten thousand metres, his shields were still up so they would sit and ask to talk with him, all the while he was selecting the best place to strike.

[Unidentified Vessel holding at Nine Thousand, Four Hundred Metres.] came the statement he had been waiting for.

Slowly the turret angled towards the enemy ship as Kerenal used his free hand to analyse the ship for it's systems and weak structural points, where he could do the most damage whilst also giving him optimal time to get out of range before the results of his attack truly came to fruition.

Beneath his hand, the console beeped as they attempted to open communications, surely offering terms for his surrender, offering grace if he would inform against his employers, a light chuckle emanated from his throat as he found what he was looking for and rotated the turret a degree to the left.

There was no beam of light, no energy discharge, no torpedo when the weapon fired, just a solid hunk of metal encased in plasma shell, generated from the warp plasma and a small field generator implanted into the centre of the slug, hidden from their sensors, the slug and it's payload struck their shields, the plasma forcing a hole open and the slug continuing on to strike the bare hull, ripping through armour, bulkheads, structural supports and tearing right through the anti-matter storage pods before punching a hole out the other side of the craft which began listing and bulging as the reactions began.

“Exodus, full power to the impulse engines and get the warp drive heated up,” Kerenal shouted as he pushed the joystick away and hammered on the controls, causing the modified shuttle to streak away from the stricken ship as it's hull rippled, explosions rocking through the decks as it detonated in a shower of debris and fire.

They weren't fast enough though and the small craft was caught in the shockwave which knocked the power offline and left the Exodus drifting in space, the last thing Kerenal saw before he slipped into unconsciousness was the silhouette of what looked to be a Starfleet ship against the sun of the nearby system.

(To Be Continued...)

Former Lieutenant Kerenal
Former Starfleet Officer
Listed MIA, approximately 5 months