"The Prize of the Hunt"
[Previous post: "Fight"]
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Setting: USS HATHOR, Deck 2, Corridor
The good news was Uxtar, Pravat and the other Marines had made a great
deal of progress against the Imperians, forcing them back. The bad
news was that the modified pulse riffles were being burnt out faster than
the robots were being sent to the scrap yard.
The other good news was that thanks to there having been many such
riffles, the Hirogen and Enaran had been able to discard their weapons
and get new ones. The additional bad news was that Uxtar and Pravat
had in their hands the last of these modified weapons.
The real bad news was that those two pulse riffles were on the verge of
becoming useless and there was still two Imperians directly ahead of
them. As the power levels of the pulse riffles gradually decreased,
the advance of the team had slowed to the point of being completely
stopped. Now all that the two Sec/Tac officers could do was to fight to a
standstill until their weapons ran dry.
At first it had appeared as if the modified pulse riffles would take
care of the Imperian problem without having to rely on the trap that
had been set in section 15. A few moments later though, after the first
set of riffles had given up, Uxtar and Pravat had figured that they might
be able to just corral the blasted mechanical pains in that section and
wait to see what would happen next. Now, with the last of their
advantage almost gone, the Enaran and Hirogen feared that they would
not be able to complete the mission that they had been given.
"Can you believe this?" Uxtar said as he fired the last ounce of power
that had been left in his weapon. "We are only yards away from getting
those things where they needed them to be."
"Ever played Parisy's Squares?" Pravat asked taking the Hirogen off
guard by the unexpected question.
"What? I mean yes, but why ask this *now*?" the Hirogen hunter asked
in return, watching the Enaran throw his spent riffle at the two Imperians
still standing.
"The Andorian sweep," was all that the Marine said which caused Uxtar
to glance at the two Imperian robots before looking back at Pravat.
"It is a highly illegal play," the Hirogen pointed out.
Pravat nodded and smiled, "I know."
The next thing that happened sent the CMO screaming in fright as she watched the two warriors rush headlong into the Imperians, tackling them with all of their might. The sound of bones being crushed against the metallic plating of the robot's armors filed the corridor making Lea's blood grow instantly cold.
The good news was that the force of the tackle had been sufficient to
push the two Imperians well beyond the limits of section 15, the bad
news having been that both Pravat and Uxtar had remained on the floor
where they had landed. The CMO rushed in under the protection of the
rest of the Marines even though their side arms would have no effect
should another Imperian made its presence known.
While listening to the rants of the Doctor who was kneeling over then,
Uxtar and Pravat watched as the force field to section 15 was activated
and the area beyond it filled with a strange watery mist. At first
there had seemed to be no effect as the Imperians worked to deactivate
the energy barrier that stood in their way, but after a few seconds
something happened. The movements of the robots became erratic, even
chaotic until they finally stopped before the mechanical automaton
crashed onto the deck, lifeless and powerless.
"Illegal play or not," Pravat grinned, "it looks like we managed to win
the game."
"The only thing you two have *won* is time in sickbay," the CMO spat at
the two downed men, her tricorder hovering over their preferred shoulders.
Uxtar and Pravat laughed as they lay on the floor, the stress of their
battle against the Imperians now being let out in a fashion that the
ship's Cns would very likely find both amusing and interesting from a
psychological point of view.
###
[Earth is the insane asylum for the universe.] 2006 post #088
Stardate: 60341.1735
Mark Hutchings {h172mark16@fastmail.us}
Ensign Uxtar
Chief Security Officer
USS HATHOR
