The three officers triple-checked their phasers as the civilian vessel grew larger in their view ports. “45 seconds!” the young Ensign called out as they approached the docking port. Siobhan, outfitted in her duty Starfleet uniform with both a type-2 phaser and type 3 phaser rifle, began powering them up and preparing them for use.

In her mind, this was the most dangerous part of any mission…she never knew what she was going to find soon as the airlock opened. It could be friendly faces, or it could be disruptor blasts. Nonetheless, she had a job to do and do it she would. As the shuttle gets closer to the docking ring, the pilot calls out the timing.
“Five seconds out! Prep for boarding!”

Final equipment checks are made as a dull thud and clunking is heard, the telltale sound of a successful hard dock.

Phasers are levelled at the door as the airlock hisses, pressurizing the area between the two doors with breathable air. A click, and the panel illuminated green, indicating safe to open the hatch.

“Let’s go. Stay liquid!” CPO Pria calls out, as the members of the “Initial Boarding Team” level their phaser rifles at the door, ready to fire at a moment’s notice.

As the hatch opens, an eerie silence fills the shuttle cabin. The boarding party proceeds to clear the vessel, deck by deck, though the vessel deck seemed eerily empty to the boarding team. Siobhan brought up the rear, sweeping through the corridors, ensuring that no one snuck up behind the team.

Though not her usual position, she had been received some tactical training on boarding suspect ships, though she still felt out of her element. Her mind began to wander to other places, mainly about how much work she had left to catch up on. Being the ranking JAG officer onboard, her caseload was immense, and that was in addition to her operations duties on the Bridge. It had been a long week and… a shout brought her back to the present.
“Commander! Look out!”
Siobhan turned to look, just as a disrupter blast hit the bulkhead above her. Throwing herself to the deck, she activated her rifle and began slowly crawling to cover.
“This is Petty Officer Walters from the Starfleet Ship Los Angeles. Cease fire and lay down your arms!”
The only response is more disrupter fire. Siobhan, during a lull in the blasts, returns fire with her phaser.
“Tasha, how many are there? Do we know?”
“At least four. Based on the pattern of disrupter fire…I think!” Petty Officer Walters turns and fires her rifle several times, suppressing the enemy fire. “Crewman, move!”

As PO Walters fires, one of the members of the boarding team advances down the corridor to a more tactically advantageous position.
“Suppressing fire!!” The crewman calls out as he sprays phaser fire down the corridor, allowing the other members to move up.

An enemy pops his head up, thinking the barrage of phaser fire is over and he can return fire. He is rewarded with a blast of phaser fire to his chest, knocking him out. The remaining hostiles throw their disrupters on the floor and call out: “We’re putting our weapons down.”
PO Walters slowly stands from her position, phaser rifle aimed directly at the three.
“Turn around! Hands on your head, interlace your fingers.”
The three individuals comply and are soon zip tied and in custody.

The team leaves the Crewman to guard the four individuals (including the unconscious person) while the rest of the team sweep the place to ensure that there are no other “surprises.”

At the bridge, the boarding team found three more individuals, but these didn’t put up a fight. After detaining the full crew (and gathering them into one place), an exhaustive search of the vessel was conducted. During the sweep of the aft cargo hold, a secret holding area was discovered, stacked full of counterfeit Starfleet phaser rifles. In total, 30 crates were found, with eight rifles per crate; the seizure, once totaled, numbered about 240 rifles. The crew of the smuggling vessel was arrested for smuggling illegal weapons and transported aboard the Los Angeles.

Siobhan knew she was in for a long day of paperwork.