round 22 LtCmdr. Kelly - Lights Out

[Brek]

((Hemix - The Island - Plains))

:: Tyler had been doing his best to reassure the shaken Security crewman. He wanted to assuage her guilt, but more than that, he needed Tula to be firing on all cylinders if they ran into trouble again. Tula had somehow managed to keep her pack and Tyler was greedily adding it's contents to their inventory when he heard Whittaker call out to Ezo::

Whittaker: “Mirra?”

::Tyler turned to see the young doctor staring into the trees, a troubled look playing across her face.::

Ezo: ::quietly to Tyler:: Sir...I-

:: She trailed off just as Tyler's eyes found the spot she was focused on. The sun was completely down at this point, and whatever she was staring at was lost in the dense foliage. He was just about to turn back to the supplies, when he heard a primal roar and everything changed.

In his mind Tyler was trying to process the situation, but it was all happening at lightning speed. Emerging silently from the trees, the monstrous form of Nugra was barreling down on him with teeth bared. The Gorn moved with impossible speed and Tyler had barely gotten a hand on his phaser when he was within striking distance. Bracing himself for contact, he watched his worst nightmare unfold.::

Ezo: ::darting out:: NO!!

::It was immediately clear to Tyler that Nugra was targeting him specifically, but in all of his training he'd never prepared for a situation like this. For just a moment, he hesitated, and in that split-second Mirra threw herself into the path of the rampaging Gorn. Tyler didn't have time to feel bad about that, as he tried to dodge Nugra's attack at the last minute. He was tertiarily aware of Nugra brushing Ezo aside with relative ease, sending the pretty young doctor flying, as he frantically tried to get clear of the Intel Chief's reach. Mirra's sacrifice had cost Nugra a bit of critical momentum and when he finally arrived at Tyler's position, he was almost out of the way. Almost.

The Gorn's clawed arms extended as far as they could, desperately reaching for his escaping prey. Tyler felt streaks of fire on his face, starting somewhere above the eyebrow and dragging down through his cheek. Knocked off balance and blinded by blood that flowed freely into his eyes, Tyler felt the full 350 pound weight of the massive lizard on top of him, sending him crashing to the ground. Tyler raised his hands, desperately trying to fend off the Gorn's claws as they tore at his chest. The security EV suit was more heavily armored than the others, but he knew it couldn't stand up to the terrible claws for too long.::

Whittaker: “NO!”

::Struggling and grunting as he attempted to stop his superior officer from ripping the rest of his face off, Tyler felt himself losing strength. A pain in his ribs told him that at least one of the claws had punctured his armor, his jaw throbbed from one of the beasts vicious strikes, and he was dizzy from his already concussed head hitting the ground. Nearby he saw the prone form of Ensign Ezo, apparently trying to apply pressure to her injuries and was overcome with a feeling of hopelessness. He had failed her just like he'd failed Roland and Lewis and soon he'd fail himself. In what he knew would be his last moments, all he could think about was how different things could've been if he had just trained a little harder.::

Kelly: oO I'm sorry...Oo

::Suddenly a bright orange light bathed the scene and a phaser beam leapt out to strike Nugra, offering Tyler a momentary reprieve from his savage attack. Summoning the last of his strength, Tyler tried to crawl away but the Gorn was just too heavy and he was pinned. As the Gorn howled, Tyler saw the source of the phaser blast take a step closer, ratcheting up the intensity of the next attack. Another stream of phased energy struck Nugra, this time with enough power to force him to turn away from Tyler and face the Engineer. He wanted to help, to grab a phaser and come to their rescue but all he could manage was a raspy groan. Completely drained of energy, bruised and bleeding in 20 different places and dizzy from head trauma, Tyler's world faded from view just as he heard Theo take one final shot.::

::Darkness::

TBC

LtCmdr. Tyler Kelly

Chief Security Officer

USS Columbia

O238811CD0