"Sounds of Freedom"
[Previous post: "Executive Deployment"]
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Stardate: 60325.1330
Setting: SURIAL III, Underground cell
The sounds of battle echoed through the corridors like thunder. There was no mistaking it for anything other than what it was, their prison was being attacked, but the questioned remained: by whom?
Every now and then the ceiling would shake sending a cloud of dust falling on top of Uxtar who could do nothing by hope that the blast had taken out some of the people that had been persecuting his crew, his friends. The Hirogen would have liked nothing more than to join the fight, but Uxtar had yet to break free from his bonds, so instead he waited.
The blasts seem to come from all around him which made Uxtar picture the prison they were in to be dead center of the battle. Maybe Starfleet had finally located them and sent a full battalion of marines to their rescue. The FCO grinned as he imagined a few dozen Marine transport cruisers sensing down wave after wave of soldiers to sweep over the prison and free those trapped inside. If the power and number of the blasts were any indications, the battle was intense and he figured that within an hour or so the prison would fall. At least that was the hope the Hirogen clung to.
Trained to be the hunter that he had once been, Uxtar quickly recognized that the sounds of battle had changed after a few minutes. The sounds of the war happening overhead had not changed; there had simply more distinct sound of struggles, these ones coming from the other side of the door. Could the Marine rescue team have already penetrated the bases' defenses? As unlikely as it might have been, Uxtar smiled at the possibility.
"You would think that they thought you were dangerous or something," Commander Sarah Wellington said after the door to Uxtar's cell was blasted open and Doctor Barbara Tanmsin and the FO rushed in.
"Are you alright Ensign?" The CMO asked, looking at the Hirogen to see if she could detect any visible injuries.
"I am just thirsty," Uxtar replied. "For some water and pay back."
"You'll get your chance," Major Simpson said tossing a Cardassian phaser riffle to the Hirogen who had just been freed of his bonds.
"Come on, let's move!" Lieutenant Ariel Pennysworth, the MERCURY's OPS office said from the corridor while helping Captain Jonnathen Arlington stay on his feet. They had been given an advantage; now all that they needed to do was to make full use of it without risking making things worse for everyone. If the battle that raged overhead was between the Federation and the Cardassians, the MERCURY would join in and help as much as they could. If the battle was against two opposing forces, they would just use the chaos to escape and get as far away as possible. Everyone had waited for the right time to come, and now here it was.
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Mark Hutchings {h172mark16@fastmail.us}
Ensign Uxtar
Former Flight Control Officer 2005 post #348
USS MERCURY
