[Capt. Walter, triage]

Charlie was not happy that two of his best officers were in such critical condition, especially since the ship was out of contact. He looked at Lieutenant Varis and asked "I don't suppose you have a trauma centre around?"

"Trauma centre? No. But we do have medical facilities nearby." The commando motioned to the treeline and said "McMillan, Holt, Brodrick, on me."

The trio that emerged from the trees were not like the rest of the people who had surrounded the shuttle. They had the air of professional soldiers around them, and they assessed the situation quickly while keeping alert for any danger. Keegan smiled and said "This is my team. We'll get your people to safety. The resistance fighters will keep the LFS off our backs while we make our way there. This is their turf, so they have a home field advantage, plus their larger numbers should attract pursuit away from us if we move quietly."

Charlie nodded and deferred to the lieutenant's expertise in these matters. He didn't trust the man completely, not yet. It was possible that this was all a clever ruse to capture them, and the LFS did have members of Starfleet who had defected, however his captain's intuition told him that his two wounded officers would die without assistance, so that justified the risk. And they were surrounded anyways, so trying to go with any other plan would probably just create more casualties. "Lead the way" Charlie said with feigned confidence.

Keegan motioned for his people to get the wounded our of the Nelson, and onto stretchers. He then looked at the Carina's crew and said "It's a bit of a hike, but we should get there before sunset."

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CO Commander Angela Kren - USS Broadsword (NCC-80864)
CMO Lieutenant Commander Edward Spears, MD - USS Victoria (NCC-74963)

Derek Walter - SM
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