Striking While The Iron Is Hot! (Part 2)

Posted on Wed Dec 11th, 2024 @ 1:37am by Captain Taiga Aisaka & Lieutenant JG Kurumi Hatanaka & Petty Officer 1st Class Yoshika Miyafuji & Commander Thomas Johnson & Commander Chisato Nishikigi & Major Chiyo Shimada & Lieutenant JG Nezuko & Jennifer Daxer & Lieutenant Takina Inoue & Lieutenant Mizuki Nakahara & 1st Lieutenant Hann Rudd
Edited on on Wed Dec 11th, 2024 @ 1:39am

1,432 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: The Nursery
Location: Elachi Nursery

Previously on Star Trek Tokyo:

Once everyone was in position, Chisato reached over and unclipped a flash grenade from her belt.

"On your signal, Commander," she nodded.

Thomas said nothing just gave a nod of confirmation to go ahead.

The doors snapped open and Chisato lobbed the flash grenade into the room. It went off in a blinding- but harmless- flash of light, giving Daxer and the Marines the chance to get off a few shots.

"Don't shoot!" came a voice from within. "DON'T SHOOT!!!!"

And now the continuation...

"Then don't give us a reason to." Thomas replied as he glanced to where the voice was coming from.

Out from behind what looked like a strange stasis pod a young woman emerged. She wore a dirtied gold Starfleet uniform which was in rags now. Visible scars on her body and skin could be seen and her short blonde hair was matted and messy. "Don't shoot..." she said as she held her hands up. "I'm Ensign Syaro Kirima from the Starship Oceania." she explained. "Captain Nakamura managed to free a couple of us before the Elachi recaptured her. I've been trying to sabotage their systems." she seemed to be in a state of panic. "I knew she got a message out, I helped her with that and this place is huge. I don't know where she is..."

Thomas lowered his weapons looking around, various machines, holding... people... various stages of transforming. Some seemed to be just beginning, some seemed almost complete. Noticing the others with weapons still trained on those inside the room.

"These are the crew from the Oceania, but they are all male... where are the females?" He asked raising the weapon once again.

"In the lower deeper areas." Syaro explained. "Its where Captain Nakamura and I escaped from. There were two others, but the Elachi took them whilst the Captain and I escaped to the higher levels." She told the Commander. "They keep the females and the breeding nursery deeper in the facility it seems. They make us give birth to their young... Its... not nice..." she said looking down at the floor.

"Do you know why they're doing this?" Chisato asked. "Is there any incentive for the Elachi to be forcefully breeding with you in this manner as opposed to their more traditional means of reproduction?"

"If I were to guess..." Syaro said as she looked around at the pods. "I would say it's faster than turning us into them." She looked down at the floor for a moment, then back up to Chisato. "They use some sort of machine to insert the foetus into our wombs. After just under four weeks... I think... Its hard to keep track of time... the... 'baby' starts to work its way out." Syaro explained. "Thats how Captain Nakamura escaped, when one of hers was trying to come out the Elachi attend to it, and she somehow found the strength to get past them and escape. She then released me and we attempted to get a message out." she told them. "I've been hiding and evading them ever since."

"Ok... We have a problem." She said, taking two steps back from the group she'd scanned, pulling the hammer back on her gun. "This group is too far gone, and they're gonna wake up any minute."

Without waiting for a reply, Daxer fired a full clip of calculated shots. It was enough explosive damage to destroy that group of machines, and the 'survivors' held within, without harming the surrounding groups.

As she dropped her empty clip in to her hand to replace it, Jen stood staring at what she'd done for the few seconds it took, silently chanting to herself 'the needs of the many.' over and over again. The moment the clip was in, and the gun was primed, she regained her senses returning her attention to the others in the room. "We should gather who we can, and move on."

"Such violence..." Chisato lamented as she stared forlornly at the charred wreckage.

Thomas remained silent for a moment, kind of a moment of silence for their fellow officers. "There will be time for mourning later... we have more to find." He composed himself once again. Turning to the Ensign. "Do you know where to go." He asked as he pulled his spare weapon and handed the weapon to her. "You know how to use this right."

Syaro nodded. "Yeah, but I've never fired one before. I was only a week out of the Academy when the Oceania was destroyed." She explained as she gingerly took the phaser. "We didn't even have a chance down in Engineering, we were overwhelmed instantly by their boarding parties. Since I'm so small and weak, they captured me quickly." she said sadly. "I'm sorry, I'm a pathetic excuse for an officer."

"You are stronger than you think Ensign... look around... you are one of the survivors. You have overcome what none should have ever have to go through... you are stronger than you think. Pathetic is not a word I would describe you." He gave her a reassuring look. "Stay in the middle of the group, you will be fine."

"From what I've discovered of this place, there are about thirty levels." Syaro said. "The female pods are about level twenty. I don't know whats deeper than that." Syaro explained to the group as she made her way into the center of the group. "There is some sort of main staircase shaft through those doors," She pointed to a large reinforced door on the otherside of the room. "Although, there are maintance ducts and crawlways throughout. Thats how I've been moving around, there's no sensors in them from what I can tell."

Yoshika approached Syaro. She began to waft the wand from her medical tricorder over her. "Don't worry, just running a routine scan." She said with a smile. "You've been through a lot, that I can tell from these readings. But I think you should be ok for now..." she turned to the rest of the group. "Any of you got any field rations. She could really use some sort of proper food. Anything butn what she has been eating... what have you been eating?"

Syaro shrugged. "The Elachi use this strange gray substance to feed us." she explained. "Its like a thick soup but with no taste. I can only assume its to keep us alive. I've managed to find stores of it on a lower level, they don't seem to measure how much is used... So I just help myself..." She looked at Yoshika. "I can't really say what it is, because I don't really know. All I know is it keeps us somewhat fed."

"Not on our priority list," Thomas replied, "Unless shes going to die of starvation within the next few minutes she can wait. Lets continue." He turned to the ensign. "If you know the way through the ducts... I guess that is probably be fastest way. Quite possibly the best way to avoid any unnecessary firefights."

"The entrance to the tubes are over there," Syaro said pointing to a nearby wall where a small hatch entrance could just be seen.

"Allow me," Mizuki offered as she grabbed a piece of debris and used it as leverage to pry the hatch open. "There we go!

Chisato stepped forward and poked her head into the tubes to get a look around.

"Nice and roomy in here," she remarked. "It's almost twice as big as a Jefferies Tube!"

"That sounds... less than ergonomical," Takina piped up.

"Look on the bright side, Takina-Chan," Chisato replied as she stuck her head back out. "If the Elachi are going to be making it this easy for us to be moving around their top-secret breeding facility, they might as well just hand us the keys!"

"Commander, I agree, this does seem easy. But something isn't right. Its too quiet especially if this is their main breeding, transformation centre... Its not going to be all fun and games. I can guarantee it." Thomas replied as he entered the tubes.

"They already know we're here, and they've probably figured out why." Daxer said calmly, looking between Chisato and Thomas. "The Elachi are brutal, and highly intelligent creatures. The best option is to always assume any obvious path is a trap. Better to be prepared and be wrong, than to be wrong and unprepared."

To be continued...

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