Stalemate

[Seiben 0]

Safely hidden behind an engineering console, Seiben peeks his head over and assesses the situation. Ten Marines have been shot and are laying unconscious whilst only perhaps five or six Romulans have been stunned by the Arcadia's crew. Certainly an away mission to remember Seiben thinks, if he so happens to come out of this alive. Seiben had just finished downloading the data from the facility's main computer core when a bunch of Romulans burst in an opened fire. Phaser fire blasted in the background and one blast even synged his hair. Seiben fired his phaser and shot the Romulan square in the face, he fell like a tonne of bricks. The Romulans had the crew at a kind of a disadvantage, however not one to give up so easily Seiben continues firing and made his way towards the exit. Seiben looked over at Lt. Trichon and Ens. Merri to see how they're doing. Trichon was providing cover for Hans and Merri to reach the exit.

 

Seiben shakes his head. Honestly, that guy is gonna get himself killed. Thinks Seiben. Seiben waves to Trichon signalling him to come, but with the phaser fire blasting over his head, Seiben doubts Trichon saw it. "Angegangen! Stoppen Sie, Herrn Hero Boy zu spielen und erhalten Sie hierhin, verdammt es!"Seiben yelled in German. Obviously, Trichon couldn't hear him, much less understand what he is saying, but at least it made Seiben feel better. Seiben fires at a few more Romulans and makes his way to the exit. It's still a few yards away, which is blocked by Romulans. He'll have to blast his way over there.

 

A quickthinking Marine, a 1st Lt. Boomhauer provided protection for Seiben, Merri and the others with him as they made their way to the doors. "I tellyouwat, man..allthesecrazydamnRommiesallovertheplace.. wecan'tlasmuchlongerhere,man" said Boomhauer in a Southern Texas drawl. Seiben nods. "I agree, but it's out onlyoption. It leads out into the corridors and back to the transport site and safety" said Seiben.

 

They stun a few more Romulans who got in their way and finally reach the door. "ItellyouwhatWemadeit,y'all.Nowlet'sgettheheckouttahere,man.Makelikeabananaandsplit" said Boomhauer. Seiben pressed the door panel, but to his dismay, it didn't open. He tried two more times, but it still remained open. "It's locked. The Romulans must have over-ridden the door controls" surmised Seiben. Two Romulans fire at Seiben, they miss but they manage to shoot out the door panel. It exploded in a spark of electricity and flying circuit boards and wires. Seiben and Boomhauer stun them with their weapons.

 

With no choice, but to fall back they duck behind the consoles and go back to their original location. They made their way back, and Seiben gave the bad news about the door to Trichon. "All that effort for nothing.. we're pretty much trapped" he said. Seiben could hear a deep sigh. He continues firing at the remaining Romulans. They look to be dropping like flies, but so are the Arcadia Marines and officers. So, what we have now is a classic stalemate. Thinks Seiben. Just like German and British troops in the trenches of World War I. High casualties from both sides, just for a few hundred years of ground.. and the next day.. the enemy forces would take it right back. A very vicious cycle indeed.

 

Seiben sees no forsee able end in sight to their battle. So, he simply remains focused on firing on the Romulans. A huge chuck of the console Seiben is hiding behind hit him in the head. That sure was a close one. He thinks. Seiben swiftly moves to another hiding spot closer to the others and continues to exchange phaser fire with the Romulans. Seiben reaches into his engineering kit and extracts the PADD containing the data he downloaded. It must be pretty important stuff in here to cause all these Romulans to ambush us like this, Seiben thinks. He would love to sit back in his office and read this over with a nice cup of French Vanilla Cappachino.

 

Seiben, fluent in English, French, German, Klingonese, and Vulcan can also speak, read and write Romulan -- to a much lesser extent. His current knowledge of Romulan technology, languistics and culture was taught to him by a Romulan defector living in Switzerland named Te'Karr. A high ranking Engineer in the Romulan Imperial Army. He was privvy to alot of Romulan Classified Technology and assisted in their manufacture. A key part in keeping the Federation one step ahead of the Romulans, Seiben was one of the very few people Te'Karr talks to and trusts. Seiben thinks he will be a valuable resouce to this away mission, which is why he volunteered to come on the away mission. Seiben puts the PADD in the engineering kit and continues the exchange of fire. There are high already high casualties on both sides and they are not even a half hour into the battle.

 

Seiben tries to think of alternatives of escape. Seiben taps his commbadge to request an emergency transport. However, all he gets is static. No help from the Arcadia, Seiben and the others are on their own. Stuck between a rock and a hard place. He looks around for an airduct or Jeffories tube, but can't find any access ports. His knowledge of the schematics of Romulan outposts, virtually non-existant. Seiben's arm starts to feel sore rom the constant phaser fire, but he still doesn't persist. Since long term phaser firing is not a required pre-requesite for Engineers, Seiben doesn't know how the Marines can keep it up for so long without having their energy zapping out of them with every blast. Seiben is mentally and physically exhausted from the shooting and running around. The situation doesn't look promising, but Seiben does his best to repell the Rommies. Outnumbered and outgunned.. Seiben thinks. What can I do now?

Edited January 23, 2004 by Seiben