[sub]Collab with [@Morden Man][/sub]

Assembled in the Transporter Room of the USS Orion was the away team set to board the Jem'Hadar fighter bearing down on the Orion. The Cephalian, Commander Poxx, flanked by Lieutenant Malachi Brown and four security officers. Captain Vaella had given them their marching orders - board the Jem'Hadar ship, left rudderless now their Vorta had been transported aboard the Orion, and pursue those left behind. Once it had been locked down and a warning buoy had been left behind they would head to Vulcan. Successfully locking it down was [i]far[/i] from a foregone conclusion. The away team approached the transporter tentatively as the prospect of battle dawned on them.

"You ever lead an away team, Commander Poxx?" Malachi asked, stepping aboard the transporter.

"No, though I've served on many." Poxx replied dryly.

Within moments, the away team was beamed onto the ship. The first, and most jarring change as always, was the sudden change in temperature and atmosphere. It was cold, with an unpleasant dampness to the air. The Jem'Hadar ships interior was immensely different from that of the Orion -- The walls were a dark gunmetal grey

Commander Poxx stepped forward, drawing his phaser, switching a small dial. He was nervous, but not as nervous as the young men in red shirts behind him. To his side was Lieutenant Brown.

"My team and I will deactivate the computer core." Poxx said to Lieutenant Brown. "If anything goes wrong, you'll hear it on your communicator."

Poxx gave a quick nod before turning, with one raised arm directing three security officers to follow him down a long corridor.

Lieutenant Brown watched as the Cephanian disappeared towards the computer core with two security officers. He respected Poxx’s coolness under pressure and more importantly he trusted him to return his security officers in one piece.
 
“Well, it looks like the engine room is ours, boys.” Malachi said as he turned to the two security officers with him.
 
He had made sure to keep the nervous blue-skinned officer from earlier with him. He’d learned on their way to the transporter that his name was D’wkin. The other was a human named Anthony with long flowing blonde hair that reached his shoulders. They were both young, younger than Malachi would have liked, but there was little room for choice in these matters when there was a war on.
 
Malachi reached down for his phaser and led the two down a narrow corridor towards the engine room.
 
“Keep your wits about you and your eyes open,” Brown muttered. “The Jem’Hadar are warriors. They live and breathe death and destruction. They will [i]not[/i] hesitate to shoot you on sight.”
 
They passed what looked to be Jem’Hadar quarters. Austere, empty rooms with little to no decoration. To the Jem’Hgar anything but war was considered a sign of weakness. There were no pictures, no books, and there were [i]certainly[/i] no beds. As they reached the mouth of one, a rattling noise made its way towards them.

D'wkin gripped his phaser tight. "What is that?"

There at Malachi's feet was a cannister he recognised instantly as a stun grenade. He flicked one of his muscular legs towards it and kicked it away from the three of them. As it tumbled away the grenade exploded and a shock of light knocked the men back. As the light cleared Brown, D'wkin, and Anthony fought to regain their balance. At the end of the corridoor several Jem'Hadar fighters appeared. They took aim at the security officers as the Starfleet men struggled to regain their balance.

"Let the bastards have it," Malachi called out as he opened fire.

[hr][hr]

Poxx walked quickly and silently through the fighter ship, with the three officers following behind in a V formation. The alarms going off provided [i]some[/i] distraction from the away party, and Poxx hoped to maintain the element of surprise for as long as possible, though he knew it would not take long for the away teams to be discovered. Reaching a corner, Poxx raised his arm again as a wordless signal for his men to stop.

Poxx closed his eyes, and emitted a sharp breath accompanied by a high-pitched chirp. [i]Sonar.[/i] He sensed three lifeforms around the corner, and motioned for the men behind him to draw their phasers. He chirped again. This time, the vibrations indicated that the three lifeforms were in front of them, though the corridor was as empty as it had ever been. Poxx paused for a moment, thinking to himself.

[i]Echolocation cannot be tampered with. Where are they?[/i]

Poxx stood perfectly motionless, before opening fire. Immediately, the sillhouette of a Jem'Hadar lit up where Poxx had fired as if appearing from thin air before vaporizing instantly. The ensigns behind him followed suit, opening fire at the seemingly empty hallway, revealing and killing the two Jem'Hadar that had accompanied their fallen comrade.

Poxx chirped again, ensuring the corridor had been cleared. "Pay close attention to any strange shadows you see. The Jem'Hadar can shroud themselves in an instant."

[hr][hr]

Anthony fired two shots in quick succession and the last Jem'Hagar warrior fell to the ground. He stood over at it for a second, his phaser pointed at his head, and squinted down the barrel of his phaser to make sure the Jem'Hagar was dead. Once he was satisfied he looked to Malachi with a smile.

"Dead, sir."

Malachi limped forward. "Glad to hear it. Now let's get to the bloody engine room before they send more of these things our way."

Brown had been dinged in the fighting and bore a deep cut to his forearm. D'wkin had stuck his head out of cover at the wrong moment and had nearly paid with it for his life. Had Brown not been there he might have been. The Lieutenant had managed to pull him out of the way at the cost of his left arm. It dangled by his side, bleeding and useless, as looked the blue-skinned security officer.

"You alright?"

D'wkin nodded and the three Starfleet men pushed further into the Jem'Hagar ship. Brown could feel the blood trickling down the inside of his uniform as they went. There was no time to stem the bleeding. They had a mission. The mission [i]always[/i] came first.

The approach to the engine room was conspicuously unguarded. It put Malachi ill at ease. He felt like they were walking straight into a trap. If he'd had Poxx's echolocation trick he could have figured out what they were walking into. Instead he'd have to trust his gut. As they reached the doors to the engine room he pulled a grenade from his hip and gestured to D'wkin and Anthony to toss him theirs. Brown pressed a finger to his lips and very slowly approached the engine room doors. D'wkin crept to the opposite side and let his hand float over the commands to the doors as he awaited Brown's command.

The Lieutenant counted down from five on his fingers.

"Five..." Brown mouthed as he activated the grenades. "Four... three..."

D'wkin jammed the button and Malachi launched the grenades into the engine room right as the door opened. The Starfleet officers entered the room once the explosion had passed, though the light still lingered, and opened fire on the Jem'Hagar that occupied it. Formidable as the Jem'Hagar were, they fell swiftly under the volley of phaser fire given the effects of the grenade.

Malachi smiled triumphantly and ordered his men deeper into the engine room.

"The sooner we get this done the sooner we can get out of here." 

[hr][hr]

Poxx chirped again, sensing four lifeforms around the next corner. He raised his phaser to fire, retracting it immediately when he saw that it was only Malachi and his men.

"Lieutenant Brown, do any of your ensigns require medical attention?" He asked, gesturing to the young man's arm. Before Malachi could respond, there was a crash at the end of the hall -- The door Poxx had jammed had been blasted open, and a wave of Jem'Hadar began to flood the hall, firing at the Starfleet officers. The two commanders ducked behind the corner to take cover as another [i]bang[/i] sounded, accompanied by a large flash of light and eruption of smoke.

Immediately, the Cephanian grabbed at his throat, covering the vents in the device around his gills. Commander Poxx took three steps back, before turning and dropping to one knee, gasping for air.

Brown covered his mouth with his elbow and reached down to Poxx. "I won't have you dying on my watch, Commander." Malachi murmured as the Starfleet men opened fire on the Jem'Hadar fighters swarming towards them. Though warrior after warrior fell the Jem'Hadar's numbers seemed not to thin and the security officers were soon overrun.

"There are too many!" the blue-skinned officer shouted.

Beside him a blaster tore through Anthony's thigh and he fell to his knees. The blue-skinned security officer knelt beside him and took aim at the Jem'Hadar long enough for the Lieutenant to reach for his comm.

"Brown to Transporter Room," Brown called. "We need some help here. Anthony's been hit. I need you to get him out of here whilst we head to the computer room."

After a few seconds a familiar haze lit up Anthony's body and he was beamed back to the USS Orion. D'wkin took cover and the other security officers secured themself behind the many beams that lined the corridoor of the Jem'Hadar's ship.

The blue-skinned security offer looked towards Brown and Poxx. "Get to the computer room. We can hold the corridoor for a while, Commander."

Poxx nodded to the officer and turned to run with Malachi to the door at the end of the hall -- The Computer Room.

As the two entered, the door closed behind them, locking in place. In front of them was the ship's computer core, and behind it, the Jem'Hadar First, with a phaser rifle at the ready. He immediately fired two rounds, incinerating Poxx's phaser.

"Prepare to [i]die[/i]." The Jem'Hadar barked, firing at Malachi.

Brown ducked behind a computer console as the blast from the phaser rifle skimmed narrowly past his head. He glanced down at the open wound on his arm that had all but rendered it useless and grimaced. "I'm not sure how much help I'm going to be, Commander... my arm... it's..."

The Jem'Hadar unfurled another blast from his rifle that once more skimmed past the Lieutenant's head. He ducked further behind the console, gripping his phaser tightly in his good hand, awaiting Poxx's move.

Poxx rushed towards the First, chirping much more deeply than he had before. The Jem'Hadar dropped his rifle, holding his head in pain. Immediately, the Cephanian sent a punch flying at the First, connecting cleanly with his nose. In a single, fluid motion, Poxx grabbed the back of the First's neck, swinging himself behind the Jem'hadar, holding him in  a strong grip.

"You will not be victorious, fish m-"

The Jem'Hadar's taunts were cut short by the sound of phaser fire, and a newfound gaping hole in the First's face. Across the room, Malachi sat with his back pressed to the wall, holding his damaged arm with one hand and his phaser in the other.

"Let's get out of here, Commander." Malachi said, standing up and grimacing slightly. Poxx turned to the console, and began entering a list of commands, before the lights of the screen changed from blue to red, and then blacked out completely.

Malachi muttered something into his communicator, and within seconds, he, Poxx, and the rest of the officers in the hallway were beamed back to the transporter room.