Security personnel raced for the shuttle bay access doors and positioned themselves along the corridor, some hanging in open doorways for cover others kneeling or crouching at the end of the corridor, aiming their phaser rifles with grim purpose at the doorway.
Security chief Lehman frowned. This was not a good fighting position, but there was nothing else to do. Starships weren't meant to be fought in and they relied on intruder control systems like containment fields and paralyzing gas. Unfortunately these systems were now out because of the enemy ion charge attack. He only hoped that their troopers weren't as obviously advanced as their ships.
He shook his head as he felt the impact of the enemy troop transport against the outer door of the shuttle bay. Of course, that was all wishful thinking.
"Ok, boys, stay cool. Remember shoot what you can see and make sure your enemy is down before moving on." He called out to his men. Many shifted nervously as they heard the shuttle bay doors blasted open and the sound of heavy machines moving beyond.
Lehman looked up at the sounds, trying to decipher what they meant, what were they doing on the other side of the door. Unfortunately they were as blind as a bat and crippled.
Then he heard something against the door. His face hardened as he knew what was coming next.
"Here they come." Someone muttered behind him.
The shuttlebay doors suddenly flared up as a storm of sparks raced along the outer edges of the door then they exploded outward. The security troops closest to the door were downed by flying shrapnel. Angry crimson bolts exploded out as several white shapes burst through, heedless of security's return fire. Lehman took aim and fired, his phaser bolt caught one of the white armored shaped right in the chest, lifting it off his feet and it flying backwards. He heard the screams of his men, as they were cut down by the enemy's guns.
As the smoke cleared, he could clearly see that they were white armored humanoids, several of them were lying strewn across the floor at the shuttle bay doors but there were more coming, storming into the corridor, heedless of losses or enemy fire. They were like the Borg that way and Lehman hated the Borg.
Even the shots that missed, struck walls or ceiling and the resulting shrapnel from the blasts were slicing through his men like flechette rounds.
"Fall back to secondary defense point, Sona, Smith, lay down some suppressing fire!" He shouted.
Sona nodded and began firing in a spread across the corridor, Smith took a bolt to the face and his head disappeared in a cloud of blood and bone. Lehman watched some of his men begin to break and panic, the enemy troopers did not hesitate to surge forward and continued firing, some into the backs of his fleeing men. Lehman took several more carefully aimed shots and fell back.
The troopers followed like hungry wolves, always keeping the Starfleet security personnel in sight, always firing, once again, even missed shots proved deadly for his men as hot shrapnel cut through flesh and bone.
The security troops were starting to panic and Lehman was afraid that by the time they reached the second defense point they would not be in any condition to fight. Fortunately they made the sharp turn and most of the men stopped at their next position, many turning and firing a steady stream of phaser fire back at the corner. The first few white armored troops turned the corner and were felled by a hail of phaser fire, several got snap shots off, downing more of his men.
He noted grimly that more than half of his defensive force was down or dead. The enemy troopers stopped coming, and he heard their running steps halt, his grip on his phaser tightened. The sharp turn at this junction gave them a slight advantage in that the enemy had to make the turn blind, essentially giving his men a free shot at their attackers.
A small silver globe suddenly bounced down the corridor towards them. Lehman's eyes widened and he started to shout a warning when the thermal detonator exploded. The concussion knocked the tightly wedged security troops down and the blast was immediately followed by enemy fire as the troopers raced around the corner. One in particular was fast and deadly, his fire was deadly accurate and three more of his men struggling to rise were cut down.
"This position is untenable, fall back to defense position three." He shouted, trying to get a bead on the lead trooper that was causing so much carnage, moving among the other troopers like a pack leader. Position three was their last position before the boarders would gain access to the main turbolifts and the rest of the ship. Position three was known as Alamo position and he did not expect to be heading there within minutes of the boarding action. He cursed the lack of containment fields as he hauled one of his men up by his arm and shoved him down the corridor, firing blindly over his left shoulder as his men scrambled to get out of the corridor, and hopefully out of sight of the enemy fire.
Lehman knew as they rounded the next corner that this battle was lost, less than 15 men followed him out where he had led 40 to the shuttle bay. As they ran Lehman slapped his combadge as a blaster bolt missed his head by inches, exploding further down the corridor.
"Security to Bridge, we are being overwhelmed by boarders, some kind of troopers breaking through lines, advise engineering that they'll have company very soon. Lehman out."
The leading element of Stormtroopers eagerly followed the fleeing Starfleet security personnel, but the lead trooper held up a closed fist and the main body of troops halted obediently, many dancing on the balls of their feet like dogs ready to be let loose.
The lead stormtrooper removed her helmet. Mara Jade's hair was plastered to her head with sweat and she was breathing heavily. She hated stormtrooper armor, particularly the helmet. Despite all the wonderful features, she felt like she was buried alive, and blind. Peripheral vision was shot to hell in this thing. Of course, in boarding actions, there was nothing like the protection the armor afforded so she suffered the discomfort because at least she wouldn't suffer the fate that some of these Federation troops experienced. She noted with a detached interest the numerous shrapnel wounds inflicted on the bodies of the dead enemy security personnel. She dropped the helmet to the ground.
"The lead element will continue to hunt down the rest of the defenders. You all will follow me to the nerve centers of this vessel. Lord Marek wants prisoners so from here on set your weapons to stun. Lord Marek assures me any bridge officer killed in the boarding action will result in the offending trooper's death as well as his squad mates. Are we clear?"
"Yes ma'am." The troopers responded in unison, diligently switching over to stun mode on their weapons.
"Squad Gamma, you go down and take Engineering, make sure that we stop any act of sabotage or self destruction. The rest of you follow me to the bridge."
The troopers quickly split up and raced through the winding corridors, crewmen huddled in their quarters or stations, hearing a sound that they did not think they would ever hear, the march of invading troops in their corridors.