Exeter Compile 14 Dates: September 1, 2020 to September 7, 2020 Mission: The Flames of Purity, Day 15, 16 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Mission: The Flames of Purity Day: 15 Stardate: 2445.09.15 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< (USS Exeter - Personal Territory - Dog(sg) Laila Williams - 1854) (Runabout Muskogee – Cockpit – Lieutenant Ire Williams and SPC Ensign Rylee Page – 1929) (Asteroid Base - OPS Centre- Ensign Paul Sleeford -1934) (Prophet's Truth – Brig – FO Lt(sg) Ailynn Bracken – 1956) (Flames of Retribution - Bridge - Tel'ni'li -2000) (USS Exeter - Shuttlebay two - ACFO Ens(sg) Trinity Frost - 20:01) (USS Exeter - Bridge – CSO Lt JG Erin Cortez - 2003) (USS Exeter - Bridge -aCTO/COO Lieutenant jg Ravok- 20:04) (USS Exeter - Bridge - CSO Lieutenant JG Erin Cortez - 20:04) (USS Exeter - COUNS Offices - Counsellor, Ens, Jestayre "Jester" Lavorre - 2004) (Flames of Retribution - Holding Cell One- ACFO, Ensign Ronnie Winters and R&SE Director Ashlyn Williams - 20:06) (Asteroid Base – Lower Section, Underground forest – SPC Ensign Greta Smith - 2006 ) (Asteroid Base – Lower Section, Underground forest – Sec/Tac - Ens. Stan More 20:08 ) (USS Exeter – Stellar Cartography - Ensign – David Clarke - 20:09) (Prophet’s Truth, Bridge - FO/CEO Atho Turil & CSO- Dr Fave Itel – 2010) (Asteroid Base - Ops control Room - SOPS Ensign Billy Alexander - 2010) (Asteroid Base – Lower level – Underground Forest – Engineer - Ensign – Galu Vozi - 2010) (Flames of Retribution - Holding Cell Three – CFO – Lieutenant – Ire Williams - 20:11) (Asteroid base- ops centre, Sec Officer Ensign Paul Sleeford - 20:12) (Asteroid Base – Lower level – Underground Forest – SPC Ensign Greta Smith - 2012) (USS Exeter – Stellar Cartography – Ensign – David Clarke - 2013) (Asteroid Base – Lower level – Underground Forest – Sec/Tac Ens. Stan More - 20:14 ) (USS Exeter - Hangar bay - SPC Ensign Rylee Page - 2014) (Prophet’s Truth, Brig – CSO – Dr. Fave Itel – 2015) (USS Exeter – Bridge - CSO Lieutenant JG Erin Cortez - 2015) (Asteroid Base – Lower level – Underground Forest – SPC Ensign Galu Vosi- 2015) (Prophet’s Truth, Brig – FO Lt(sg) Ailynn Bracken – 2016) (USS Exeter - Ready Room - CO, Lt. Commander Trip Williams & Counsellor, Ens, Jestayre "Jester" Lavorre - 2018) (Prophet’s Truth, Brig – MO, Ensign SG Kyros Ryelle, MD – 2018) (Asteroid Base – Lower Section, Underground Forest – 2O/CEO – Lieutenant Keira Merek 2018) (Asteroid Base – Lower Section, Underground Forest - Sec/Tac Ens. Stan More - 20:19) (Prophet’s Truth, Brig – CSO – Dr. Fave Itel – 2020) (USS Exeter – Transporter room 1 – Sec Officer Ensign Paul Sleeford & Ensign JG Greta Smith- 20:25) (USS Exeter – Transporter room 1 - Sec/Tac Ens. Stan More - 20:26) (USS Exeter – Transporter room 1 – (SPC) Sec/tac. Po3 Sytuk- 20:27) (USS Exeter - Sickbay - Sec/Tac Ens. Stan More - 20:30) (USS Exeter – Engineering – Engineer – Ensign – Galu Vosi - 2030) (USS Exeter - Bridge - CO, Lt. Commander Trip Williams - 2030) (USS Exeter - Bridge - ACFO Ens(sg) Trinity Frost - 20:32) (USS Exeter - Bridge - aCTO/COO Lieutenant jg Ravok- 20:33) (USS Exeter - Ready Room- CO, Lt. Commander Trip Williams - 2035) (USS Exeter - Personal Quarters - Sec/Tac Ens. Stan More - 20:36) (USS Exeter – Personal Quarters – (SPC) Sec/tac. Po3 Sytuk- 20:37) (USS Exeter - Personal Quarters - Sec/Tac Ens. Stan More - 20:37) (USS Exeter – Sickbay - SPC Ensign Greta Smith & SPC Ensign Rylee Page - 20:39) (USS Exeter – Bridge - Sec Officer Ensign Paul Sleeford - 2040) (USS Exeter - Bridge - CSO Lieutenant JG Erin Cortez - 20:42) (USS Exeter – Ready Room – Sec Officer Ensign Paul Sleeford 20:42) (USS Exeter – Ready Room – CO, Lt. Commander Trip Williams 20:43) (USS Exeter - Bridge - aCTO/COO Lieutenant jg Ravok- 20:44) (USS Exeter - Gym - Sec/Tac Ens. Stan More - 20:50) (USS Exeter – Bridge– CO, Lt. Commander Trip Williams 20:50) (USS Exeter - Bridge - aCTO/COO Lieutenant jg Ravok- 20:52) (USS Exeter - Deck 20 Security office Sec Officer Ensign Paul Sleeford -20:55) (USS Exeter - Holodeck - SPC Ensign Rylee Page - 2056) (USS Exeter - Personal Quarters - SPC Ensign Greta Smith - 2102) (Flames of Retribution - Holding Cell Three – CFO – Lieutenant – Ire Williams - 21:11) (USS Exeter, COUNS Office -Ensign Greta Smith & COUNS, Ens Jestayre “Jester” Lavorre - 2113) (USS Exeter - Deck 3- Room 2383 Merek/ Shara shared quarters- aCTO/COO Lieutenant jg Ravok- 2114) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Mission: The Flames of Purity Day: 16 Stardate: 2445.09.16 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< (USS Exeter – Ready Room – Lt. Commander Trip Williams - 00:05) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Begin Compile >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Mission: The Flames of Purity Day: 15 Stardate: 2445.09.15 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< (USS Exeter - Personal Territory - Dog(sg) Laila Williams - 1854) Squeaky Rabbit stared at her. The room was moving in a ways that it hadn’t before, and that made Laila worry, she whined slightly as she rocked in her her bed. Mommy and her visitor seemed happy, the smell of their emotions, content, ease, and friendship. Mommy had smelt different recently, but now, she was sitting nicely in her chair, happy and smiling. Her friend seemed nice, and had smelt like warm hugs. She’d had nails that got to the right places on a tummy rub too, and before being sent to her bed, which she happily had done, The one called Caity was talented. Feeling tired anyway, perhaps the tummy rub had done the trick, snorting as she lay down, she eyed up squeaky rabbit before going to sleep. Squeaky rabbit was up to something. Suddenly , Laila awoke the young black lab jumped to her feet, the room smelled wrong. Annoyed and worried, she barked. She could see mommy disappearing, and not through the thing in the corner, the thing that she normally left by. Laila was worried, and she could tell that the Caity one was scared too. Whining at everything she didn’t understand she rested her head on Caity’s lap, whining deeply, before smelling the ground at where Mommy had been. Barking at the spot and whining once more she rested her head on Caity’s lap again. She whined deeply. Trying to calm down the Caity one. (Reply Caity) Suddenly. Laila realised who was behind it all. Squeaky Rabbit stared at her. Growling suddenly, Laila knew that Squeaky Rabbit had to die. Fully intent on tearing Squeaky Rabbit a new one she shot across the floor, and bit. The squeak distracted her, and she began playing with Squeaky Rabbit. Squeaky Rabbit made the silliest noises. Holding it in her mouth she remembered that Mommy wasn’t here. Whining as she padded forward. She looked around, up at the big deep splashy room with the waterbowl that she wasn’t allowed to drink out of, the big soft comfy room that mommy and daddy slept in, Mommy wasn’t anywhere. She stared at the thing where Mommy and Daddy appeared, but it didn’t open at all. There was only the Caity, and she smelt like scared. This was all Squeaky Rabbit’s fault. Suddenly knowing that the Caity could deal with Squeaky Rabbit and his dastardly plans, Laila picked up Squeaky Rabbit and placed her in the Caity’s lap, whining as she did. “The Caity has to Kill Squeaky Rabbit.” she whined at Caity. Her doggy whines utterly non-understandable to the inferior human ear. (Reply Caity) (Posted by Mark) (Runabout Muskogee – Cockpit – Lieutenant Ire Williams and SPC Ensign Rylee Page – 1929) =^= Listen to me Ensign. That isnt my call to make. I don't decide who throws their lives away. That's not my job, my job as acting chief tactical officer is to ensure the survival of the ship, and the crew. If the conversation turns bad. I would suggest you get the hell out of here. There is no need to senselessly kill yourselves when we are capable of destroying them. They weren't willing to talk before , but now that they know we mean business, they are=^= ~At least they are talking~ He glanced out at the moving Saber as he did another turn to keep out of the ships firing arcs and in position on their post side. ~But they have not stopped moving~ =^=Ire , you know the right thing to do. You more than anyone else know what to do in moments that you have not even a moment of time to react, I trust you my friend=^= ~We will be okay. Take care of things at your end and I’ll make sure Page gets home okay~ Ire thought =^=Ensign Page, as I am still the full chief of operations , a word or 50 words will be had with you about respecting the captain's authority when discussing terms of surrender with a hostile force as concurrent with Starfleet protocol 117section C on bridge communication decorum and etiquette...Ravok out=^= Ire gave a mental wince as he heard Ravoks words to Page. ~RAVOK no my friend not on an open comm channel. No matter how pissed you are. Praise in public, ream in private~ There was silence for a moment after the comm channel was cut before Ire spoke. “I am sorry about that. That was not an appropriate moment to have that kind of comment. I will speak to him when we get back.” Shaking her head, Rylee closed her eyes for a moment, "No need. He was right." “Still there is a time and a place. I need you focused here and now. Not what might happen later.” Looking at Ire, Rylee sighed and replied simply, "What do you need me to do, Sir?" Ire scanned the ship's status indicator. “Get the aft shields up first but if we have no power then we are stuck anyway. ” Nodding, Rylee stood from her seat, grabbed the engineering kit and walked to the back of the shuttle, fighting the urge to punch one of the bulkheads in frustration. ~what an idiot! What in hell were you thinking making that kind of comment over the comm?~ she thought to herself as she lifted off one of the panels and pulled out the tricorder and ran a quick scan. "Seems that hit we took from the sabre damaged one of the power circuits. Shouldn't take a minute to repair." Ire nodded and said “Yes go for it while we have a moment.” As she began working, taking a breath inward, Rylee shook her head again at the silly mistake she had made. She knew that the Lieutenant's words were right but it didn't stop the sting of them filtering into her mind. ~after all the work you put in to get here… the last thing you need is a mark on your service record for something this silly.~ Ire glanced over and saw that the comms link from Exeter was blinking. He activated it as he began a arching turn to keep the port side of the saber in target lock. =^=Ire take up a defensive Position alongside the Exeter. I don't trust our friend. And the fact they have protomatter bothers me. I think they have a bigger hand than they are letting on. Take up the port side. Standard blockade formation. Just like when he stopped those smugglers who stole bio-neural gel from Jupiter Station. I doubt they have a large Starship around here=^= “Understood Skipper, moving to port side of you for a standard blockade formation.” =^=And be careful. You've already taken some damage. Have Page start making some repairs=^= “Yes Skipper she is already on it. Heading over now.” He reversed the turn and set in a course that would bring them back to Exeter but not expose them too much to the Sabres firing arcs. “You got all that .” He called back to Page Looking up, Rylee offered a simple nod in response. “How are you doing back there?” "Almost done." She replied, replacing the damaged and now repaired circuit back in place. "Just need to run a last scan to make sure everything is fine." “Good we will be in position shortly and have some of those systems up will be great.” Looking down at the tricorder, Rylee began the scan and watched as the data scrolled up on the small screen on the instrument. Smiling to herself, she turned to Ire, "All good here. I managed to reroute some power from the damaged tractor beam to feed into the shields. You should be good to raise aft." “Great work.” Ire tapped the controls and was happy to see the aft shields raise. As she replaced the bulkhead, a sound came from the tricorder. Raising an eyebrow, she looked down and her eyes grew wide. "Oh no. No no no." He tried to look round but could not see where Page was. “What’s happening?” Pulling the bulkhead back from its housing, she tossed it to one side as leant in, "Sir, you need to disconnect." Ire frowned “What why?” "Power surge, damnit…. There must have been more damage here than the scan showed. " Grabbing one of the tools, Rylee leant into the opening infront of her and yelled, "I'm going to try and redirect it but you need to unplug now…." As she reached forward with the to, she knew that this would be close. Redirecting the power away from where the Lieutenant was plugged in, away from any already damaged systems or essentials, she knew there was one of a few places it would go. ~here goes nothing~ she thought to herself as she began to work. “Ow hell” He turned back to his console and began to close down the link. After a moment, Rylee heard a hum, a machinery like him and closed her eyes. ~thi s is gonna hurt….~ she thought to herself but didn't finish her train of thought. An arc of current left a slightly damaged conduit, connected with her left hand and her mind went blank as her body jerked backwards into the opposing bulkhead. The process of Ire doing an emergency disconnect from the Runabouts computer would have only taken a few seconds but even that was too slow the power surge tore through the conn console and into the data port cable. It’s in built monitoring systems recognised the surge in the unit which attached the cable to the console and began to sever the data path way. The surge blew past the unit before it had completed its task and surged up the cable where it reached the surge protector which physically sliced the cable apart disconnecting Ire physically from the computer. This last final ditch attempt was only partially effective as it slammed into the delicate circuit frying the system and sending electrical pulses into his brain. Ire gave a gasp of surprise as all his muscles tensed as he blacked out and slumped in his chair. Groaning, Rylee opened her eyes and hissed. Looking down at her hand, she could tell it had been pretty badly burnt. Turning her head towards Ire, a wave of nausea filled her and she gulped it down. "Sir…" she spoke weakily “Unnnn.” "You alive over there?" “Yeeess…..I….aaammm……. hooowww aaaarrreee….. yyyooouuuu?” Wincing, Rylee sat up slowly and looked at her hand. ~well that's going to leave a mark.~ Ire blinked hard trying to clear the fuzz out of his brain and took a deep breath but all he could smell was burnt circuitry and charred flesh. He reached with a shaky hand to the data port at the back of his head and winced as his fingers touched raw. ~Ow that’s not good….Page need to get her~ He moved over to get out of his seat but his legs crumpled under him and he hit the deck. He moved forwards on shaky arms and legs. “Paaageee tttaaalllkk ttoo me.” He tried to get his mouth around the words. "Ire and Trinity, stand down, lower shields and return to the Exeter." Reaching her her combadge, Rylee tapped it slowly and spoke, "Sir, we're lowering shields now. Heading back shortly. Little slow but we'll be home." As she reached for the console to lower the shields, she glanced over at Ire, "Hold on, Sir. I'll get you to sickbay." She stated, tapping on a console nearby her, she lowered the shields. He could feel his speech returning but his motor control was still shaky and he talked to her as he dragged himself across the deck towards her. “Page the med kit to your right, there by the bulk head, you need the dermal regenerator for the burns and the one of the two hyposrays. One contains a sedative and the other one has analgesia. Take the ……” His words were cut short as a beam, an unmistakable transporter beam enveloped him. Swearing loudly, Rylee stood slowly and walked to her seat at the front of the shuttle. ~maybe the Exeter read the damage and took him to sickbay?~ she thought to herself as she grabbed the hypospray with the analgesia in it and pressed it against her hand. "Trip to Muskogee, is Ire with you?" "No, Sir. Transporter took him." "Damn they got him too." Rylee's eyes grew wide now knowing that it wasn't their ship that had Ire. As she set a pre programmed course to return to the ship, one thought entered her mind, ~she is going to kill me~ (Reply none) (Posted by Jackie and robbie) (Asteroid Base - OPS Centre- Ensign Paul Sleeford -1934) Sitting on his slab Sleeford felt at peace, the cares of his life where floating away on a warm wind, as he sat there the occasional slight tinkling of a bell announced the departure of another being to, well he didn’t know but assumed that one day his turn would come and he’d find out where everyone went. The stabbing pain in his lower abdomen, made Sleeford open his eyes, biting his lip to stop screaming, he turned to see who or what had attacked him in this peaceful place, feeling a warm wet trickling down his skin he looked down to see a blooded red line across his stomach. Blinking Sleeford saw a world of green and the concerned face of Doctor Polden, groaning and reaching Sleeford rolled on to his left hand side, rolling back he struggled to a sitting up slowly he nodded to Polden. “Thanks doc.” (Reply Polden IYW) Slowly getting to his feet Sleeford checked the display in his helmet, he’d been out of the game for 20 seconds, it had felt like an eternity. Checking himself over he gave a satisfied grunt, finding no other damage, the scaring across his abdomen would completely vanish in a matter of hours, the QM would have words about the uniform and gear but Sleeford could handle a desk jockey. Removing his helmet he placed on the floor next to his rifle, glad to see the world in it’s normal colours, even if they where grey and a dirty brown. Hearing Sytuk shouting across the room Sleeford turned Sytuk called across. " Lieutenant we have company " Sleeford watched as the large Reman removed his rifle and peer at the console " They want a fight , It looks like we don't have choice " Looking across at the first officer, Sleeford saw the determination on her face. “Then let us not disappoint. Billy, confirm data transfer completion to Exeter. Sytuk, Sleeford take front quarter..” (Reply Billy, Sytuk) Squatting to pick up his rifle , Sleeford smiled at the young doctor. “Looks like I’m about to undo all your good work doc. “ (Reply Polden) Pushing his helmet towards the console, sleeford loosened his knife in the waist band, and the one in his boot, if he was to go down he was taking as many as he could. “Billy. Kaz. Take our six. Standing orders regarding shoot to stun.” She stood up fully, suddenly unafraid. “Mr Sytuk, Mr Sleeford. We take the front. Alpha team, let it be known, that should I die here, that you have followed my orders, and worn your uniforms with honour.” Looking up to where the First officer stood, Sleeford laughed slightly. “With all due respect...” The rest of his sentence was cut short as the first officer was transported away. “What the..Some one tell me what the hell just happened?” (Reply any alpha) Further conversation was cut short by an incoming transmission from Exeter. "Alpha and Beta Teams, it seems our enemy, well..... damnit they won, they got away, and they have all our Bajoran crew. Billy take lead of Alpha Team, finish getting that info and get back. Beta Team, Merek, see if there is any proto matter left on the base, find it, secure it, and get back here. Time is of the essence. I want us out of here ASAP." =/\=Acknowledged.=/\= Billy replied. Looking at the others Sleeford felt a sense of defeat, the entire mission had been to stop this kind of thing from happening, sighing he walked across to the console. “Well Ensign, ,where are our ‘friends outside now? And what are your orders?” (Reply Alexander) Looking over the console past the younger man, Sleeford scanned the screens, “Seems their not as interested in getting in as they where,” Pointing to a portion of the screen he continued, “Now I don’t read Bajorian, but that is a countdown if ever I saw one.” (Reply Alexander) Looking up Sleeford felt angry and annoyed, “Today can’t get any worse. Some one must really hate me.”, Taking a deep breath;” Okay is there any craft big enough to take both teams of this god forsaken rock, anything, Saber, worker bee, small shuttle, hell I’ll even take a dozen EVA suits tied together” (Reply Alexander) Nodding Sleeford turned to Sytuk he smiled slightly, “Okay time we kicked some backside and got the hell out of here, Mr Alexander contact Beta team, get them to meet us in the hanger bay, I’m taking that ship and flying us out before this place goes bang.” Taking his rifle Sleeford took the right hand side of the door and counted to three, the sound f the door being hammered in stopped as he got to one, frowning he looked back towards Alexander and raised his eyebrows. (Alexander IFW) As the door opened Sleeford expected a barrage of shots, when nothing happened he cautiously walked outside, his rifle in his shoulder , ready to fire at the first thing that moved. (reply Alpha) (posted by Alistair) (Prophet's Truth – Brig – FO Lt(sg) Ailynn Bracken – 1956) Ryelle was confused. One moment he was on the Asteroid base the next moment he was in a holding cell with the first officer. "What the hell is going on?" Ailynn looked at her surroundings, and her empty hand that only seconds ago had contained a phaser. “I’ve a couple of ideas, each unpleasant” Ailynn answered, frustrated. "It looks like we're not in Kendra province anymore." “The construction looks familiar, but I can’t place it.” Ailynn walked round, pulling at the door to no avail, and seeing the the type of window she felt her heart sink. "This is a bajoran interceptor ship. They must have had it hidden." “We must have been beamed aboard from the asteroid. Given this is a Bajoran ship, it’s reasonable to assume that our captives are Bajoran, since few others use those type of ships. Cultists then. We’ve been completely played.” Ryelle then sighed. "I think I can hear someone coming. What are your orders, sir?” “At the moment we’re utterly at their mercy, there’s no source of food or water in here, and no easy way out other than that one door. I’ll give them the standard speech about imprisonment and kidnap.” (Reply Ryelle) (posted by Mark) (Flames of Retribution - Bridge - Tel'ni'li -2000) The bridge was silent, almost disturbingly so. All eyes where on Tel'ni'li as she watched the view screen before her. The sabers and the interceptor had done thier jobs well. The experiments on the Genesis device were nearly complete. It was time to leave this base. It was nearly time to return home. But first she had to ensure the Federation would not involve themselves futher in Bajoran business, she had to liberate her bothers and sisters brainwashed by a false ideology. It pained her to watch the sabers take fire she knew that there where gonna be losses but she deemed them acceptable in the grand scheme of what was to come. Here on her bird of prey she watched. Everyone who held position here were trained for thier field. She had a full crew and her security contingent were all Bajoran military. Here close to her she kept her most loyal, they ones who felt the most betrayed by the actions of her people. They would die for her cause, all she had to do was ask it. "Captain, the Federation ship is lowering her shields." Called her science officer a Bajoran who had just graduated from the Federation academy before the Federation turned their backs on thier allies. Her boice still holding the cold bite of hate. "There scanning for teleporter lock." "Good," Tel'ni'li called as she stood, activating a comm line. Main teleporter we are feeding you sensor data on the location of our brethren once we drop cloak start the teleport." She didn't wait for a response as she turned to tactical. "Drop cloak." The Flames of Retribution had taken position just under their Federation foe hoping that the close proximity would confuse there sensors just long enough for them to get thier prize and escape. I was a risky dance. But one did not advance in life without risk. Time stretched into eternity the few short minutes the mass teleporter she had created for this type of operation seemed to never end. Until her comm came alive again. =/\= Teleport complete we got everyone. =/\= Smiling, Tel'ni'li looked at her flight officer. "Wormhole max warp. Get us out of here." She knew the risk of going to warp in the badlands. She also knew she would not stand a chance against an now angry Federation ship of the line. It was risky but also the lesser of two evils. (posted by Matt L.) (USS Exeter - Shuttlebay two - ACFO Ens(sg) Trinity Frost - 20:01) Incalculable fury. Trinity had made a hard, fast deck landing, immediately killed all the power and jumped out of the Chickasha. “SOMEONE EXPLAIN...NOW!” Trinity ripped off her flight helmet and threw it off to one side, her hair escaping in a cascade of auburn, burning fire like her current mood. The deck officer approached her gingerly, but was ushered away. A minute or two later a call came across the COMM. =/\=Lieutenant Ravok to flight ops, I need a qualified person at the conn immediately=/\= She tapped her commbadge, Confirm request Sir. Frost here, I’m on my way up. Frost out.” Running into the locker room, she pulled off her flight suit, and back into her duty uniform, teasing her hair out of the collar, she checked herself briefly in the mirror, and then strode across toward the turbolift. As she reached the Bridge, she nodded a greeting to Lt Ravok in the main chair, and sat at the helm controls. “Helm ready for further orders Sir.” Trinity called across the bridge. (Reply Ravok IYW ) “Aye Sir.” (posted by Mark) (USS Exeter - Bridge – CSO Lt JG Erin Cortez - 2003) The discussion between the Captain and the leader of the other ship had been taking place, but some had changed. Changed and very quickly, Erin began to realise that this was something more than just about a weapon. Glancing over at Trip, she saw the change in his demeanour almost instantly. As he spoke with the other ship, his words cool and collected, Erin brought up the scans she had kept running in her crystals which were now embedded in three crewmembers. She hadn't found out or been told who but they were crewmates nonetheless. Cocking her head slightly to one side as Trip spoke, his words matched what she was seeing. One of them was no longer on the base. As the commands were given for the shuttles to return, Erin kept her eyes on her console, determined to figure out if the cult had indeed gotten hold of a genesis device. Something caught her ears. A sound, the unmistakable sound of a transporter. Turning her gaze to the main bridge, she watched in fear as Doctor Vespers and the young pilot disappeared from the bridge. "Lietuenant Cortez, internal scan of the Exeter for all Bajoran lifesigns, whether they be full, half, a quarter, whatever. Anyone with Bajoran DNA." "On it, Sir." She replied succinctly, knowing that now was not the time for over complicated language. As her scan completed quickly, a slight gasp escaped her mouth. Turning back to the Captain, she looked at him and said, "Sir, there are none." "What do you mean there are no Bajorans on board!?!" Realising what this meant for the crew and, more particularly, for him, she chose her words carefully, "Sir, I'm sorry… they're all gone." Catching the look on his face, she turned back to her console, determined to figure out some way to help. As she began to analyse the reading from the transporter, a voice came through in the comm, "Ensign Clarke to Lieutenant Cortez.” "Go ahead, Ensign. " “Lieutenant I have the trail of what I think is the Bird of pray traveling at warp through the Badlands. The data is very tentative and I can only track them from their disturbance as they travel through the eddies and storms. it looks like from the direction of the trail they are heading back to Bajor but that’s only a rough direction” "Good work, Ensign. Keep a track on it and, please, keep sending me the data." (Reply Clarke) Sending the data forward to both Tactical and conn, Erin glanced at her console and watched the steady dots that indicated the crystal beacons, making sure that they stayed transmitting on their pre designated frequencies. (Reply Clarke, any) (Posted by Jackie) (USS Exeter - Bridge -aCTO/COO Lieutenant jg Ravok- 20:04) "Ravok, drop, shields on my mark and have the Transporter technicians ready to transport the Talwar and Rapier crews to our new holding cell" " Aye Sir" Ravok said, relieved this was coming to an end. Trip sat down, "Ravok, lower our shields, and ready Transport." Ravok lowered the shields as ordered. Looking down at his terminal he noticed something odd~ Transport delay? Did the tags not work?~ =/\=Transporter Room One, to bridge. Sir, we can't get a lock on the Bajoran Crews, they're gone, they've been beamed elsewhere. Not quite sure, can no longer get a lock.=/\= " What the Hell!!" Trip yelled out as he stood up quickly. Ravok looked to see the good doctor and Ronnie were gone. Ravok frantically tried to figure out what was going on as Trip was trying to get the others to do the same ~ Come on, come on~ He thought as he scanned the life signs of the Exeter's crew. ~ Oh no ~ a klingon bird of prey decloaked and jumped to warp. Ravok cued in on the two warp signatures. As commotion carried on around the bridge Trip once again spoke to Ravok. "Lt. Ravok, did you get the warp signatures of those two ships?" Ravok was in shock but answered " Yes sir I did" "Send a description of them and their warp signatures to Starfleet Intelligence. Maybe they can find them before they get away." " On it ...Sir" He replied in shock but knew he had to act fast. Ravok Keyed in his credentials and accessed a priority link with Starfleet intelligence, sending out the warp signatures with a brief message about what had just transpired. Trip opened a channel to the away teams to inform them and give them their remaining orders. He heard Mereks voice and felt a huge sense of relief, a sense of relief which was instantly smashed to hell, when the reality had set in. Ashlyn is gone, Bracken is gone, Ronnie, Ire… all gone. "Lieutenant, you have the bridge." Trip said to him, walking off to his ready room. Ravok looked around the Bridge. Pausing for a moment to clear his mind. ~ Alright, get it together for them...Pilot cool~ he opened his eyes slapping his commbadge. " Lieutenant Ravok to flight ops, I need a qualified person at the conn immediately " ( reply any flight ops if you want) " Lieutenant Ravok to all tactical , ops and engineering personnel. I want torpedo bays fully manned, all torpedo tubes primed and ready to go for possible precision combat. Engineering and ops see to all systems that need repair and recalibration. If your off duty at the moment consider yourself on duty until further notice. Ravok out." He looked over to the lips station " Ensign M'Rurrh, analyze the phaser shots we took from the saber , adjust our shield harmonics accordingly, also please gather personnel reports from around the ship. With some of the crew missing we need to patch up any holes in our roster immediately " ( reply M'Rurrh) He looked over to Science. " Lieutenant Cortez, make the appropriate Sensor recalibrations for emergence from the badlands. Don't put them in effect yet. You may however adjust the lateral sensor array from multiphasic scans to the previous spectrum. Maintain a weathered eye on everything " ( reply Erin) He opened a channel to the away teams. " Lieutenant Ravok to away teams, How are you looking down there?" ( reply away teams) " Keep up the good work, you all have performed most admirably, let us know when you are ready for transport, Ravok out." Ravok remained at the tactical station.He was making changes of his own and preparing for conflict in normal space outside the badlands. He wasn't concerned with the tactical abilities of a nearly century old bird of prey. He was glad they exposed themselves. Knowing that had cloaked ships at their disposal made things interesting, but He knew the inferior cloaking devices used by klingons had many flaws within themselves and the way they interfered with the weapons and shielding systems of the bird of prey. Ravok refused to sit comfortably in the command chair like he had done on other occasions. He was going to make sure that this ship was ready for action, wherever they were going to go. ( reply flight reply M'Rurrh, reply Erin , reply away teams reply any on the Exeter.) ( posted by Rob Davis) (USS Exeter - Bridge - CSO Lieutenant JG Erin Cortez - 20:04) " Lieutenant Cortez, make the appropriate Sensor recalibrations for emergence from the badlands. Don't put them in effect yet. You may however adjust the lateral sensor array from multiphasic scans to the previous spectrum. Maintain a weathered eye on everything " “Always do.” She replied with a slight wink and then turned her view back to the console. Knowing that the protomatter was in the field of play now had made her redouble her efforts to find a solution. The fact that her crewmates, one of who, was her best friend, had been taken before their eyes and, for want of a better way of putting it, under their noses, was setting a fire within her to find them. Pulling up the frequency data from the crystals, one of which she now knew was in Ailynn, she took a breath. ~at least you are still broadcasting, Blue. ~ she thought to herself as she began to read up on protomatter and the genesis device. (posted by Jackie) (USS Exeter - COUNS Offices - Counsellor, Ens, Jestayre "Jester" Lavorre - 2004) “I’m just not sure how I feel about working so closely with him,” the patient named… wait, she had to check. She flipped back a few pages on her notes to remind herself that the crewmans name was, “Jorella.” She said it outloud, interrupting the man mid-sentence, he began to look at her expectantly. ~Oops, that does it.~ Jester had been working double-shifts for the past few days trying to cram everyone in who wanted a session with one of the ship's Counsellors. Her sister had been immeasurably helpful, but her main focus was on couple counselling and often had to break into her own sessions to ask for advice with a patient. “Do continue.” she said, straightening her back in the comfy lounge chair as she smiled warmly. “What were you saying?” “Errrr.” the man from Engineering began. “See. I often find a quick interruption and your train of thought begins to disappear. Perhaps that’s what is needed?” she said brightly, “An interruption into your pattern of work. Have you spoken with your direct supervisor about changing up your shift pattern?” This was clearly a case of deep infatuation. Jorella was an Engineering intern who was on his first ship based mission. Clearly missing his family, clearly missing his friends and now latching on to a woman who seemingly had no interest in him. “Well, no. See, I didn’t think to speak with…” he was once again cut off mid-sentence, but this time it was by a transporter beam. A second past and he was gone. “How rude.” she said out-loud as she stood up in shock. Instinct told her this wasn’t a prank by one of his buddies down in Engineering and BOY if it was someone was about to get a telling off. Quickly moving across to her desk, she pulled out her emergency pocket phaser and pushed it into her pocket. “Counsellor Jester Lavorre to Operations. Crewman Jorella Jaimes had just been beamed from my office without authorization. Care to explain? You CAN respond to this message.” she said as she tapped her comm. Badge and moved to the door of the office to peer out. Her secretary was still at her desk, waved at her and then pointed to a cup of coffee. Jester nodded her head as she waited for the reply and the woman got up and headed over to make her a beverage. =^=Hold please.=^= a male voice came over the comm. ~What?!~ “What?!” Jester fumed as she stepped out of her office, “DO you mean by HOLD PLEASE? If I have to come down there, I can tell you now, that it will not be a pleasant experience for who-ever has come up with this bone-idle prank and be warned I will be having words with el-Capitan. You MUST respond to this message.” =^=Err. My apologies Counsellor. This is a ship wide issue, we’re trying to get a handle on this now. Who did you say had disappeared?=^= “Crewman Jorella Jaimes, from Engineering. You CAN respond to this message.” =^=Bajoran?=^= came the question. “I believe so. You CAN respond to this message.” she replied, growing more concerned. Was someone targeting and picking off Bajorans? Perhaps she should have paid more attention, or took more notes when the department briefings had come down on the mission the Exeter was currently pursuing. =^=Ensign Jester Lavorre, to my Ready Room now.=^= the voice was different and clearly that of the el-Capitan, Trip. “I’ll be back for the coffee.” she said as she rushed past her secretaries desk, “On my way, Captain.” she then said as she replied to the communication in a calming and reassuring voice. Captain Williams had sounded, what was it? Concern, Worry… perhaps, emotional? Something had happened. (Reply none/any) (Posted by Jono Bradley - Jester Lavorre) (Flames of Retribution - Holding Cell One- ACFO, Ensign Ronnie Winters and R&SE Director Ashlyn Williams - 20:06) "MUM!!!" Ronnie picked herself up and came bounding over catching her in a hug. "Sorry Ash." She paused, "I don't know why I called you Mum. That's awkward, I haven't had a faux paux like that since my first year of the academy." Hugging Ronnie back, Ash smiled gently, dismissing the apology. “It’s fine.” Over the last year she’d grown quite fond of the young Officer that seemed to be around all the time. The amount of time that she spent with Trip should have worried her, but for some reason it simply didn’t, and not just because she knew Trip would never hurt her in any way. She gently released the hug. “Any clue where we are? I was in my quarters with Caity and then I was here.” "It looks like we are onn a Klingon ship. Though who runs it I don't know. I guess we'll find out." “I don’t like it. I’m not ashamed of admitting to being scared.” "Don't worry, I'll make sure you're safe." Ash looked around at the other occupants of their cell, and the other that she could see, a cold feeling sinking in her heart. “You notice anything we all have in common?” Ronnie gave another glance, “Yeah, looks like we’re all ove Bajoran heritage. I guess that means we can assume who our captors are.” Ronnie looked around and ran her hands through her hair, then reached into her pocket and pulled out a hair tie and tied her hair into a ponytail. Ronnie was an odd anomaly. She was ½ human, ¼ bajoran, and ¼ betazoid. She didn’t really feel Bajoran or Betazoid, and usually just said she was human. Visually she had no external features of either species. At first glance she could pass as full human. And while she didn’t have full empathic powers, sometimes, she could get a glimpse of something, when someone was really telegraphing their emotions. “Why are you so worried Ash? Is everything ok?” Ash shook her head. She however didn't want to open up about her deepest worries. "I spoke to Trip and Ailynn about these extremists. It scares me how much the message of the Prophets is twisted to suit the…" "Its going to be ok." "I'm sorry. I'm…" Ashlyn shrugged, "...I'm just scared. I haven't had the training that you all have. You're all so fearless. You, Trip, Ailynn. I'm just a stupid scared girl." As she spoke Ashlyn picked at a lock of raven-black hair, and checking the ends, trying to stop the welling fear within her. Ash could feel her emotion getting away from her again, and the tears welling up. "Youre tougher than you know. Besides Trip will move heaven and earth to rescue you." “I know.” She dabbed her eyes. “I know that I’m being silly.” Ash smiled wanely. "But its probably best if we don't let them know who you are." Ashlyn’s face fell, she knew, her face suddenly felt cold, and clammy, a pressing sense of terror in her bladder. “Wh..what? Who am I?” She managed to control her reply. There was no-way that Ronnie could know about who Ashlyn’s true father had been. "The captains wife of course. What did you think I meant?' Ash rubbed her eyes. “I’m so on edge Ronnie, I’m so sorry. No, you’re correct, of course.” "I understand. But he'll find us. They'll find us." “I need to think about something else. You know what I’ve realised, that you and I have never really had a great deal of time to talk much just us. You’re always dashing off on some adventure with Trip.” She smiled gently. “Tell me about you. Yourself." "Umm. Well what do you want to know?" “Your parents.” Ash said. “They must be proud?” "I mean, I was raised by my grandmother on Earth. Lost both my parents when I was little. Home schooled. Didnt have many friends. But then I got to the academy and crushed it." “I even knew that.” Ashlyn pinched her nose, tears welling up again. “What is wrong with me? I’m so sorry Ronnie, My brain is swiss cheese.” she pulled herself together though. “Your gran, she seems like a totem in your life. Tell me about her.” "She passed away the year I joined the academy. She was amazing. My rock. She challenged me, raised me, made me who I was. One of the sweetest people I've ever met." “I wish I had someone like that.” Ash realised how that sounded. “When I was growing up I mean. Back when I was a kid I had a drunk abusive father and nothing else save the bruises.” "That sounds awful." “Kinda was, My path crossed with Ailynn’s a bit and she stood up for me, but she was more of a target than I was.” "How did you cope?" “Honestly?” Ashlyn sighed. “I didn’t. Not until the base reopened on Mars. It was only then that I could feel like life was worth living again.” once more she realised what she was saying. “I’m sorry. That was too much.” "No its ok. Distracts from the situation at hand." “Since then though, well, there isn’t a kid in this sector doesn’t love ‘Floppy Bunny’s bad fur day!’ I took to writing children's books, didn’t use my own name of course. ‘Jenny Sloash’ took the credit. A simple anagram.” Ashlyn smiled shyly, the success that she’d had with those books still embarrassed her. "Don't forget the Dragon books written as Jones Ashford. I never read them, but Trip told me about them." Ashlyn scowled playfully. “He should know better.” She sighed. “Since you’ve asked. “They were written at a very painful part of my life, and the first was a simple move toward catharticism. The two sequels; put me through college and, well, they weren’t done in any sense of altruism.” "So you moved onto bunnies." “Hey! You upset Floppy Bunny you upset me!” Ashlyn smiled warmly. Changing the gist of the conversation, Ashlyn made an observation. “So, you and Ailynn seem to have hit it off. I see you chatting quite a bit." "Well we all need people who can keep our secrets. Ailynn is that person for me." “We do, and I’m glad you picked her. Both for yourself and her. Ailynn is a terribly lonely girl underneath that exterior, but also it’ll be good for you I think.” Ronnie then looked around. "I guess we have to play the waiting game, huh." Ash nodded gently. "If I know Trip he's tearing his hair out in hot pursuit. Besides. If we escape too early, then the Fleet will never find the base of Operations. By my guess we're headed deep into the badlands." "Who knows. I guess we'll need to wait and see." (Reply none) (Posted by Will and Mark (SPC's)) (Asteroid Base – Lower Section, Underground forest – SPC Ensign Greta Smith - 2006) Looking around, the wonder of what she was seeing was matched only by the confusion and concern. Having read up on starfleet history during quiet times in her old office on mars, Greta knew enough to know what was going on here. The protomater, she remembered the tales of the genesis device. The Pah Wraith cult having gotten hold of or made one of these was a terrifying thought. Rolling her shoulder back, Greta groaned slightly. Turning to the Doctor, she opened her mouth to request a second hypospray. As her mouth opened, Ryelle was enveloped in what looked like a transporter beam. “ Why did they leave us behind? “More asked “Medical emergency on board maybe?” “ No idea. Come to think of it. That transporter beam did nay look like it was one of ours.” The fellow scotsman replied. “True…. But who else would have taken our doctor?” =/\= "Alpha and Beta Teams, it seems our enemy, well..... damnit they won, they got away, and they have all our Bajoran crew. Billy take lead of Alpha Team, finish getting that info and get back. Beta Team, Merek, see if there is any proto matter left on the base, find it, secure it, and get back here. Time is of the essence. I want us out of here ASAP." =/\= As she heard the words of the Captain, Greta’s breath stopped. Despite the warm temperature of the cave, her blood ran cold. She knew that she was beginning to tremble and didn’t care. (reply beta) Pulling off her tactical helmet, she drew in several sharp breaths and closed her eyes. ~all the bajoran crew…~ She was almost not aware of the rest of the team around her, doing their jobs. Her helmet dropped to the floor with an audible thump. Closing her eyes, she knew. She knew what had happened, what someone was about to say to her and she didn’t want to hear it. Stumbling a few steps forward, she felt something building inside her. Emotion, fear, utter despair. Closing her eyes once again, she felt the blood drain from her face as she dropped to her knees, shaking. (reply beta) Balling up her fists, the first thing that she became aware of was the soft grass infront of her. Then, the sound. The sound that, to her, almost seemed to fill the cave they were in. A sound of pain. It took her a moment to realise that the sound was coming from her. A scream of utter rage, fear and desperation knowing that someone had stolen something from her that meant more to her than life. Her love. Screaming again, she punched the ground hard, not caring or feeling anything but a pain deep in her soul. ~ Ire…~ (Reply Beta, Any) (Posted by Jackie) (Asteroid Base – Lower Section, Underground forest – Sec/Tac - Ens. Stan More 20:08 ) Stan had just been on the brink of speaking to Ryelle. When a transporter beam engulfed him and he vanished. More gave a frown in puzzlement. Why had Only Ryelle been beamed away? What was the purpose of leaving the other members of Beta team behind? With these questions now doing a dance around his head. More scanned the area Ryelle had only moments before. Been standing in. It was virtually useless trying to tell who or what, beamed him away. Now if this had been the old days. When Security officers wore red and died more often. It would of been easier. Those old transports had a knack of leaving the odd cell behind sometimes. But not today’s modern transporters. Fizzle fizzle your gone. “ Why did they leave us behind? “More asked ( Reply , Beta team ) “ No idea. Come to think of it. That transporter beam did nay look like it was one of ours.” Stan said ( Reply , Beta team ) =/\= "Alpha and Beta Teams, it seems our enemy, well..... damnit they won, they got away, and they have all our Bajoran crew. Billy take lead of Alpha Team, finish getting that info and get back. Beta Team, Merek, see if there is any proto matter left on the base, find it, secure it, and get back here. Time is of the essence. I want us out of here ASAP." =/\= More wanted to swear loudly as he heard the message. But manners and the recent chat with the CO , stopped him. “ There is much skulduggery a foot if I am nay the grandson of a Edinburgh Gardner. Renowned for her roses and brightly coloured flowers of the spring season and no mistake...” He quoted instead. ( Reply , Beta Team ) ( Posted by:- Norman 🐼) (USS Exeter – Stellar Cartography - Ensign – David Clarke - 20:09) David swore as the Klingon Bird of pray leaped to warp. It had come out of no where and then raced off. He had been puzzled why they had not cloaked but that was not his problem. He accessed the controls of the stellar cartography and recused the scale so that it was showing all of the bad lands. “Okay so the Bird of Pray was heading in this direction that gives them a choice of three fastest routes out of the bad lands at warp…..Where would I go if I wanted to clear the area while being hunted by a Starfleet vessel.” They would also want a path which is less need to reduce speed as they would want to get as far away as they could before the Exeter started to chase. As he looked he could see the slight deviations in the storm fronts and clouds which could only be made by something traveling at warp trying to wind its way through. “Got yah.” He grinned as he tapped his comm badge. “Ensign Clarke to Lieutenant Cortez.” (Reply Cortez) “Lieutenant I have the trail of what I think is the Bird of pray traveling at warp through the Badlands. The data is very tentative and I can only track them from their disturbance as they travel through the eddies and storms…..” He entered the controls on his console transferring the data to her location. “…..it looks like from the direction of the trial they are heading back to Bajor but that’s only a rough direction” (Reply Cortez) (Reply Cortez,any) (Posted by Robbie)(SPC David Clarke) (Prophet’s Truth, Bridge - FO/CEO Atho Turil & CSO- Dr Fave Itel – 2010) Itel broke the tension on the bridge when he burst out in nervous laughter, then spoke. “You did it. You crazy root farmer you did it!” “We did it.” Turil corrected him. “Why don’t you check in on our guests?” “They are secure in the brig.” Dr. Fave said, unsure of where the first officer was leading the conversation. “Yes, and they are our guests, and not our prisoners.” Atho Explained, “they are only in the brig so that we can assure our mission, that they won’t spoil it and so that they don’t hurt themselves meddling in our ship. They are there for their own safety. Make sure that they have some food and drink, pillows, blankets that sort of thing.” “Understood.” The scientist answered. “Make sure they know I’ll be by later to check on them and to, talk…. But don’t let them out.” “May I check on the device?” Itel asked not sure of what he was supposed to do. “After you’ve reported back to me. I want to know anything of value they tell you before I go and speak with them.” Turil said, “..and Itel, we’ll be starting night operations soon, so we can all get some rest on our way back to the Gamma quadrant.” “I will.” “Good man.” (posted by Todd) (Asteroid Base - Ops control Room - SOPS Ensign Billy Alexander - 2010) The fact that the terrorists had taken the First Officer, that had filled Billy with anger, but af “Well Ensign, ,where are our ‘friends outside now? And what are your orders?” "Just hang tight." Billy said grumpily. He was focused on trying to get the data collated and uploaded and he didn't really what to think about next steps at the moment. He wasn't supposed to lead the mission, he just was supposed to be the data guy. Now the first officer was gone, someone he had known since he was a kid, and he just wanted to to do his job and get back on ship. Looking over the console past the younger man, Sleeford scanned the screens, “Seems their not as interested in getting in as they where,” ~It's probably because no one is home.~ Billy thought to himself. He wanted to say it out loud. He thought he had said it out loud. But it was only until a few seconds had passed that he realized he was thinking to himself rather than speaking out loud. Pointing to a portion of the screen he continued, “Now I don’t read Bajorian, but that is a countdown if ever I saw one.” Billy looked over and saw the countdown. "Yes that is a self destruct countdown. Started right after the Lieutenant was taken away.We've got roughly 30 minutes." He then looked back at the terminal then back to Sleeford. "Can you give me a little bit of space, I'm trying to work hastily here and i need a bit of space." Billy was irritated, not at sleeford, just with the way the whole day had gone. Just seemed like everything was going wrong and nothing seemed right. He was annoyed, he was sure Sleeford was annoyed. He didn't even want to think about what Sytuk was thinking about. Looking up Sleeford felt angry and annoyed, “Today can’t get any worse. Some one must really hate me.”, Taking a deep breath;” Okay is there any craft big enough to take both teams of this god forsaken rock, anything, Saber, worker bee, small shuttle, hell I’ll even take a dozen EVA suits tied together” ~It's gonna be ok buddy, this system is pretty old, and pretty basic. Firewalls aren't all that strong. Let's see, I'm linked to the Exeter, download Intel encryption program Alpha. Apply it to the self destruct fire wall. Bob's your uncle. And there you go.~ Billy turned and looked at the team, "All done, lets go." Nodding Sleeford turned to Sytuk he smiled slightly, “Okay time we kicked some backside and got the hell out of here, Mr Alexander contact Beta team, get them to meet us in the hanger bay, I’m taking that ship and flying us out before this place goes bang.” "Paul...." Billy said rubbing his eyes..... "It's gonna be alright, I disabled the Self destruct. Besides, Exeter's transporters still work." (reply Sleeford) "Exeter is still out there, there are no enemies in orbit, and the entire base is empty, except for us and Beta. You can breathe now buddy. It's gonna be ok." (reply Sleeford) "Alexander to Merek" Billy said tapping his commbadge. "I got the data. Local memory is wiped clean, copy of it is secured on the Exeter." (reply Merek) "See you on the other side." Billy then turned back to the group and walked over to them to the point where they were all in close proximity. "Alpha team to Transporter Room One." =/\=Transporter Roome One here.=/\= "Four to beam up." =/\=Acknowledged=/\= As the Transporter beam began to envelop Alpha team, Billy turned to Sleeford, "You did good down here. May feel like a loss, but trust me, I'm pretty sure the Captain will be pleased by your performance. You showed real leadership. He'll like that." (reply Sleeford iyw) (reply Sleeford, Merek, Alpha team) (posted by Will) (Asteroid Base – Lower level – Underground Forest – Engineer - Ensign – Galu Vozi - 2010 ) He was stunned by the report that all the bajoran members of the crew had been abducted especially as it had happened in front of his eyes. Confusion had turned to panic and then anger as the situation had taken hold. A piercing scream sliced through his thoughts like some one had stabbed him. He could feel the pain, anger and total despair in its sounds. He flinched and turned half rising his phaser until he saw Smith who had dropped to her knees on the grassy floor. He could see the utter distraught on her face. ~Ow no~ He saw her ball up her fist and slammed it hard into floor as she gave out another heart-breaking scream. ~No no no no~ He was over to her in couple of strides, knelt down beside her and gently held her now bleeding fist as he wrapped her other arm around protectively. “It’s going to be okay. Stop that you will hurt yourself. We will get him back; we will get them all back. It will be okay. Everything will be okay.” (Reply Greta) (Reply Greta, Beta Team) (Posted by Robbie)(SPC Galu Vozi) (Flames of Retribution - Holding Cell Three – CFO – Lieutenant – Ire Williams - 20:11) Ire felt himself being released by the transporter beam felt the cold metallic floor which he now lay apone. He heard two other voices, slowly rolled over onto his back and winced as the back of his head pressed the burnt skin into the floor. He saw two people in the room with him. The first person was Dr Vesper but the other was a man he had not met. "And I don't think I know you? Commander Tyko Nix, SFI. And you?" “Lieutenant Ire Williams Sir.” He looked over at Vesper. “Hi Doctor.” He groaned as he slackly pushed himself up into a sitting position. "Well I wish I was meeting you under better under circumstances. Though not the first time I've made new friends in a prison cell." Ire looked around as the chard flesh and circuits smell changing to something more different. ~What happened to Rylee. I hope she is okay~ “Do you know where we are? Did you see Ensign Page she was with me in the Runabout?” (reply Nix, Vesper) (Reply Nix, Vesper) (Posted by Robbie) (Asteroid base- ops centre, Sec Officer Ensign Paul Sleeford - 20:12) Sleeford waited near the door for all hell to be let loose, if he was going to be blown to atoms in less then 30 minutes then he’d take as many of the cultists with him, lifting his rifle, he selected a higher setting, one that would make sure the forces attacking his small team would stay down. "Paul...." Billy said rubbing his eyes..... "It's gonna be alright, I disabled the Self destruct. Besides, Exeter's transporters still work." The tension left Sleeford like a shuttle leaving the man bay at full impulse, his shoulders sagged as he took a deep breath, “That’s the best piece of news I’ve heard so far today, we still need to get out of here and that’s not going to be easy, there’s people wo want us dead out there” "Exeter is still out there, there are no enemies in orbit, and the entire base is empty, except for us and Beta. You can breathe now buddy. It's gonna be ok." Laughing Sleeford turned towards Alexander, “I’ll breath when I’m home and everyone in back safe. Lets get of this lump of rock” "Alexander to Merek" Billy said tapping his commbadge. "I got the data. Local memory is wiped clean, copy of it is secured on the Exeter." (reply Merek) "See you on the other side." As Alexander came to the small group Sleeford slipped his rifle over his back pointing the barrel towards the floor. "Alpha team to Transporter Room One." =/\=Transporter Roome One here.=/\= "Four to beam up." =/\=Acknowledged=/\= As the Transporter beam began to envelop Alpha team, Billy turned to Sleeford, "You did good down here. May feel like a loss, but trust me, I'm pretty sure the Captain will be pleased by your performance. You showed real leadership. He'll like that." (posted by Alistair) (Asteroid Base – Lower level – Underground Forest – SPC Ensign Greta Smith - 2012) Greta felt the arm around her and one hand on her now bleeding fist. A voice spoke in her ear, “It’s going to be okay. Stop that you will hurt yourself. We will get him back; we will get them all back. It will be okay. Everything will be okay.” Biting her lip, her breath catching in her chest, she opened her eyes and looked at her hand, enclosed in the green skin of the person who knelt beside her. “I…. what do i do?” (Reply Vozi) “They took him… simply because of …..” (Reply Vozi) Flexing her fingers that the orion held, she hissed slightly, closed her eyes again for a moment and opened them, “Can you get me some fabric or something?” (Reply Vozi) “I can’t do my job with this bleeding and right now, my job is all i can focus on.” (reply Vozi) “No, Dammit because if i stop and think about what he…. What could be happening to him, i won’t get off this damn floor.” (Reply Vozi) (Reply Vozi, Beta) (Posted by Jackie) (USS Exeter – Stellar Cartography – Ensign – David Clarke - 2013) =^=Good work, Ensign. Keep a track on it and, please, keep sending me the data=^= “Yes Ma’am.” He focused the information that he was getting to that specific area of the Badlands and looked for any abnormalities in the weather patterns. ~Where are you, come on where did you go~ He zoomed the image in closer to the image was starting to blur. He saw a faint ripple as a cloud her and there came into contact with a shielded starship going at warp. He pulled the image back and with some quick calculations, realized that they would exited the Badlands in a mater of seconds. ~Okay so what else…………a metaphasic sweep could do it but that was only if they were cloaked and anyway there were to far with in the Badlands to scan anything that far away without a lot of degradation of the sensor information~ There was the Warp Trail but that would begin to dissipate with the effects of the Badlands. He was still unsure why the bird of pray had not cloaked but he would take as much good fortune as he could get. ~Better tell the boss the bad news~ “Ensign Clarke to Lieutenant Cortez (Reply Cortez) “Ma’am they have left the Badlands and their warp trail is dissipating and will be nearly useless when we reach it. They have not cloaked at the moment which is a plus but we are just too far into the Badlands to get a more accurate bearing. I am sorry I can’t think of any way we can track them. Unless there is something you can recommend?” (Reply Cortez) (Reply Cortez, any) (Posted by Robbie)(SPC David Clarke) (Asteroid Base – Lower level – Underground Forest – Sec/Tac Ens. Stan More - 20:14 ) Anger.Rage.Stan wanted to set his Phaser rifle on vaporise. Start shooting at the vegetation destroy everything. How dare they take people from their crew. However Trips words echoed in Mores head. Then he heard the scream. At first he thought it had come from him. Maybe it had come from perhaps an animal? Then he caught site of Greta ‘s face. More backed away from her momentarily afraid. Vozi rushed over to her. Which was just as well because Stan had no idea , what to say. He placed a hand on a nearby bush. Pulling some branches in anger. “ They took every Bajoran why? They could of scooped us away. We would make more worthwhile hostages..... Why just the Bajorans? “ Stan asked, ( Reply , Beta team ) “ I am sorry just trying to make some sense from this. Ouch....” The branch Stan had pulled away from the bush. Had ignited in his hand. Luckily his suit had protected him from another burn. More immediately pulled out his tricorder. He looked at the readings and shook his head. “ Just as I suspected proto matter was used in the creation of this forest. It’s unstable. Another wee problem for the pot.” Stan said ( Reply , Beta Team ) ( Posted by:- Norman 🐼) (USS Exeter - Hangar bay - SPC Ensign Rylee Page - 2014) A sigh of relief escaped Rylee as the shuttle finally landed in the hangar bay of the Exeter. Closing her eyes for a brief moment, she fought down the urge to run out of the door and hide. Even though her logical mind knew that what had happened to Lieutenant Williams hadn’t been her fault, there was a measure of guilt inside her. Opening her eyes, she looked down at her still badly burnt hand and shook her head slightly. ~Couldn’t stop him getting hurt, couldn’t stop him being taken. Damn it all.~ she thought to herself as she stepped out of the shuttle, pulling the top of her flight suit off as she did. Even this sent a wave of pain through her hand and she sat down heavily on a nearby bench. Fighting down a wave of nausea, she rested her head on her good hand and closed her eyes. ~We’ll get them back, we have to.~ (Reply any in the hangar bay) (Posted by Jackie) (Prophet’s Truth, Brig – CSO – Dr. Fave Itel – 2015) “Atho sent me down here, you can bug him on the bridge if you’d like, or you can let me in and stop wasting both of our time.” The Scientist said. “Fine, just don’t do anything stupid.” The guard said, and opened the door. Itel himself had never seen into their “brig” which was really a cluster of four small crew quarters two on each side of an adjoining hallway, that were converted into a brig. He noticed all the access panels for maintenance were outside of the individual cells themselves, so prisoners and guests alike had no way to access them. Inside each room was a bare mattress with a soft plastic coating which to him didn’t look too uncomfortable, but easy enough to clean and reuse. There was no forcefield like in the fancy Federation brigs available on most ships, this was a physical heavy duranium door with impact resistant window about face height, able to take a hit from the likes of a charging elephant. Underneath that was a sliding door actuated from the outside often called the “food slot” because most often that’s what it was used for. Itel knocked on the duranium door which made a dull ringing sound. “Starfleet?” his voice could be heard only slightly muffled through the very heavy door. (Reply Bracken, Reyelle) “I brought you some food.” He added. (Reply Bracken, Reyell) (Posted by Todd) (NPC Atho Turil & Dr Fave Itel) (USS Exeter – Bridge - CSO Lieutenant JG Erin Cortez - 2015) =/\= Ensign Clarke to Lieutenant Cortez =/\= The voice of one her staff broke her concentration and she tapped her combadge and spoke with a clipped tone, “What can i do for you Ensign?” “Ma’am they have left the Badlands and their warp trail is dissipating and will be nearly useless when we reach it. They have not cloaked at the moment which is a plus but we are just too far into the Badlands to get a more accurate bearing. I am sorry I can’t think of any way we can track them. Unless there is something you can recommend?” Closing her eyes for the briefest of moments, Erin tapped her console with her fingers, “Can you tell which way they were heading or project a most likely path?” (reply Clarke) “Then get to it.” (Reply Clarke) Sighing, Erin shook her head, “I’m sorry, Ensign. My tone was not correct. Things are a little tense up here right now and i should not have let it affect my manner.” (Reply Clarke) “You’re doing a great job. Keep it going and see if you can estimate their path.” (Reply Clarke, any) (Posted by Jackie) (Asteroid Base – Lower level – Underground Forest – SPC Ensign Galu Vosi- 2015) “I…. what do i do?” “Everything will be okay but we can’t stay here.” “They took him… simply because of …..” “I know they did but we will get them back.” ~You should not promise things that you can’t achieve but I can’t just leave her on the floor we need to get back and functioning~ Galu thought Flexing her fingers that the orion held, she hissed slightly, closed her eyes again for a moment and opened them, “Can you get me some fabric or something?” “Of course.” Galu popped over his kit and pulled out a long white piece of cloth and wrapped it around her bleeding hand. “I can’t do my job with this bleeding and right now, my job is all i can focus on.” “You need time to process this. It’s a big shock.” “No, Dammit because if i stop and think about what he…. What could be happening to him, i won’t get off this damn floor.” He looked at her concerned. “Okay but just don’t let your pain become all-consuming or you will lose yourself and you will be no use to anyone especially with helping getting the others back.” ~I know what it is like~ (Reply Greta) “Come on let’s get you off the floor. We need to get to our destination.” (Reply Greta) (Reply Greta Beta) (Posted by Robbie) (Prophet’s Truth, Brig – FO Lt(sg) Ailynn Bracken – 2016) A knock emanated from duranium door which made a dull ringing sound. “Starfleet?” the male voice could be heard only slightly muffled through the very heavy door. “I brought you some food.” He added. Ailynn’s voice spoke back, firm and clear, her no-nonsense tone crisp. “My name is Dr Ailynn Bracken, Lieutenant Senior Grade, First Officer on the USS Exeter. You have illegally kidnapped Federation citizens, holding us, and numerous others captive contrary to Federation Law Section 112 subsection a. Furthermore, notwithstanding and not limited to violations of sections 113 through 116 regarding illegal capture and holding captive of Starfleet Officers for purposes unknown; although both the Prophets Fire and the Cult of the Pah Wraiths have extensive ties to illegal slavery, which I can only assume you yourself are guilty of, that’s not even mentioning the countless cases of torture and murder of Bajorans on the asteroid base that your cult took over. Lastly, It is a war crime to hold captive a Medical Doctor under any circumstances. Therefore these numerous issues having been listed I formally demand my and my fellow Officers immediate release, along with the other Federation Citizens formerly held captive aboard the previously mentioned, now destroyed asteroid base.” (Reply Itel) (Posted By Mark) (USS Exeter - Ready Room - CO, Lt. Commander Trip Williams & Counsellor, Ens, Jestayre "Jester" Lavorre - 2018) Exiting the turbolift with as much gusto as she could, Jester headed straight for the Captain's Ready Room. Noting as she moved around the Bridge, the overly concerned faces on most of the officers present she made sure to lock eyes with anyone who looked her way and give them a reassuring smile and wink. Once she got to the door of the Ready Room, she stayed outside of its sensor range for but a second to recompose herself and then stepped forward and allowed the door to automatically open and greet her entry. Stepping in she spotted the Captain sitting behind his desk looking intently at a screen, as if wishing that what-ever he was looking at was either with him or he was with it. “What can I do for you, Captain?” she said, notifying him of her presence if the door hadn’t done that already. Trip stood up and walked over to the couch and lounge chairs in his office. “Have a seat counselor.” She nodded to him and closed the gap between her and his desk, “Thanks.” The reply came as she sat down on the chair, leant back and readied herself. “To get you up to speed, all our crew and civilian staff with Bajoran dna, as well as all prisoners we were about to take have been abducted by the terrorists we’ve been engaged with. Not to mention they escaped with what might be a working genesis device. Basically we failed. I failed.” “Oh.” Was all she could say, she spotted the Captain's reaction and decided she needed to explain, “I may owe the Transporter chief an apology, I just had one of my clients transported out of the room whilst mid-session and thought they were pulling a prank.” She smiled wryly. His face didn’t seem to register the amusement she’d expected to elicit. “Counselor I need an emergency psychological evaluation to make sure that I’m not emotionally compromised.” Jester’s brow furrowed as she began to wonder whether she’d gotten Trips psychological profile wrong. Failure wasn’t something she’d expected to trip the Captain up to this degree. Losing that many crew members in one go, she supposed that could begin to emotionally compromise him but he’d have gone through training in how to deal with that. She nodded, “OK, Trip. Talk to me.” A pause and then she continued, “Really talk to me.” Trip collapsed into his favorite chair and clenched his fists to make sure he didn’t scream. “Regardless of them getting away, they took my crew, they took my best friend, they took my wife….they took Ash….they took my everything…..Ash….and…. Look, I need to know if I’m fit for command, and if I can get a counselor to sign off, then if anyone tries to challenge me, or if I doubt myself, then I know. But if I am compromised then I can get someone in place to get my family back. Get my people back.” Understanding now, she leaned forward. “Why were they taken?” "Because they were bajorans." Jester smiled a wide grin, “THAT, I had figured out already. I’m not just a pretty face, you know?” "Our enemy believes that they are liberating them. And I keep wondering. Had I acted on my gut and fired. Would she still be here. I mean they. Well and she." “You didn’t trust your gut, or you didn’t want to act on it?” she asked, sitting back further into the seat. "Because I don't want to be a killer. But if they hurt her. I just…. Might…. Lose myself." She narrowed her eyes whilst watching the Captain in his seat. “I’m sure there is a lesson in this somewhere and mayhaps, you’ll be able to find it on reflection. However, we should deal with the immediate crisis first. Do you think there is a more capable officer on this ship that could lead your crew in this rescue mission?” “No.” He paused. “Let me explain, sorry that seemed so callous. Most of us are relatively young officers, with only a year under our belt. My second officer is a hell of an engineer. But her command experience is limited. Not to mention the fact that she is needed in engineering. My third officer is, well, complicated. Given her service history, and this conversation is confidential. Given her service history, she should be commanding her own ship. But she’s not, even when the fleet needs competent commanding officers out there, she hasn’t spoken up and taken charge, and that perceived inaction to take command gives me pause. Not to mention that again, given the nature of the chase, she is more useful in her current role than in charge. Outside of the command staff, well Master Chief Knight and Master Chief Brown both have decades of experience under their belts, but neither have had the command experience. Not to mention it would be highly irregular. Then there is Ravok. Ravok served with me as the Flight Squadron Executive Officer for a year. In a sense, given the nature of the wing, he has that experience. But he’s emotional. At times he can be a bit too impulsive, and well, he can be a bit too Romulan, which depending on the day is both a compliment and a curse. I love the guy, but he’s not ready to take the big chair just yet. Someday, I know he’ll be a captain some day, but he needs the seasoning. We all do. And I need him where he is. He’s covering two departments, if he takes command, then ops and tactical will need to be filled. Sadly, we are too green to really have someone just step up. And everyone needs to be where they are. The only person I’d feel comfortable with, is Ailynn, and they took her.” She stayed quiet for a moment to see if he’d continue, Jester loved it when people made her argument for her. “So you see that's why I need to know if I’m emotionally compromised or not. Because if I’m not, great, if I am. It’s gonna be a tough call. By line of succession, it would be Merek, but we need her in the Engine room. So counselor, I guess, let’s dive in.” “It seems to me that it makes no difference if you are or aren’t emotionally compromised.” she said with a shrug, “You’ve just told me that there is no one on the ship with the requisite experience to take over and deliver the mission successfully. Let me ask you this, do you feel emotionally compromised? What’s your understanding of the phrase?” "Honestly. I don't know. I guess when your emotions so overwhelm you, that you can't act or think rationally." “That’s pretty close to what they mention in section c.2 of Starfleet Order 104. I guess you remember it from your Officers training?” Jester said. "But I've never dealt with this before. I'm angry, I'm upset. I want people to pay….but I have a job to do right? And I'm a Starfleet officer. I should behave like one, right? “Certainly!” she explained with a mock banging of her fist on the chair. “You’re also a husband and a friend. You should act like those too though? I think you may be misunderstanding the use of the word compromised. Are your emotions debilitating? Are you unable to continue with command?.” "No. I mean, I want vengeance, but I still believe in the right reason and following protocol. I'm not gonna go all Captain Ahab." “You’ve built a team around you which is not afraid to speak their mind and tell you when… when frankly you’re being a jerk or making the wrong decision. Do you think they would hold their tongue if they think you’re making a decision to the benefit of Ashlyn but the detriment of your crew?” "No. I know. And she'd never forgive me if I did. It's more, exactly what you said. I just don't want to leave room for doubt. Lest anyone forget, I'm still an insecure 23 year old at times." His age still surprised her. 23 and in command of Starfleet newest ship. There were only a few Captains in the history of the Federation which had managed such a feat. It reminded her that she was sat across from someone that was so clearly the future of Starfleet and the Federation and he clearly knew it. He felt it and he wanted to make sure that -even if it was just for show- his crew, his people… his tribe could continue to trust him to do the right thing in the direst of circumstances. “I think you’ve answered your own question Trip. If you can’t fully trust yourself, you can trust the people you’ve got around you. Heck, I’ll make my sign off conditional on the fact that I’m taking up a spot on the Bridge until we have a resolution and I’ll keep an eye on your decisions for you.” "While I accept your condition, I don't want this to be a formality. I want a real assessment. I don't get special treatment. So, ummm are there any questions? Ink blots?" Jester smiled, she always found it interesting when clients assumed that her job was to ask questions. It was merely to get to the bottom of whatever was worrying them, which she felt that they had done. If it made him feel more comfortable though… “How have you been sleeping since we left drydock?” She shifted into a more professional tone to help him feel like they were in an archetypal counselling session. "Honestly, the best sleep of my life." Trip answered. ‘How’s your relationship with the senior officers? You’ve already expressed doubt at their ability to step up if required.” "It's not doubt… it's.. I'm sure I they can do it. But we need them where they are. Plus, well, we're all inexperienced and I still remember the heavy weight of having leadership thrust upon you with no experience when I was tasked with the fighter wing. Being placed in charge of defending the Sol sector at 22. I had a great support system to help me do it. We're in a crisis, with no ready replacements. We lost our FO our Chief flight officer, our CMO. Our CTO is getting medical attention on Deep Space 9. Pull a thread and they wont have the support they need. But I trust them with my life." “Good to know.” She said, “We all rely on not just you, but your team to be making the decisions that keep this ship moving forward. Now. What’s the plan? Obviously our Bajoran crew has been stolen, your mission lies incomplete in front of you. What do we do first, Captain? "I knew this might happen. I kept the reality that they might abduct Bajorans secret from most of the crew to not incite panic. But I also ordered the first officer who is also my best friend to be implanted with a sub dermal tracker. So as long as we're in the same quadrant we'll know where they are. Granted I sent my best friend into danger, knowing full well she might get caught and gave us the means to track her." “And how do you feel about having to make that choice?” "I knew if they took her, they'd take the rest of our crew with Bajoran ancestry. If we were still standing we'd be able to rescue them. If we were killed before that, Starfleet would get the signal and find them. At least they'd be safe in the end. I’d make the same call again." “You may have to.” Jester pointed out, “If you thought it was a possibility, was there no way of putting something in place to stop them from being able to steal our personnel?” "They're only concerned with our Bajoran crew. Besides there is only one surefire way to stop them is to beat them." “Hmm.” Jester said, stretching out her response to see if it would irritate the Captain. Trip began rubbing his eyes. "Are any of your questions related to my mental state." She smiled, “All of my questions give me an insight into your mental state Trip. That’s why I do what I do and you do what you do. Look. I’d be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more concerned about you, if you weren't distressed, upset, yes, a little emotional about losing your wife, friends and crew. If you were walking around like a robot, showing no emotion and pretending not to feel it, is the least healthy option. Not only for you, but for those you lead also. What I’m more interested in is whether you’re going to be able to harness those emotions in a healthy way. Are you going to be able to go back to trusting your gut, when you second guessed it earlier?” "Well yeah. I know better now." “Good.” Jester said. "And I'll keep my head on a swivel." “Excellent.” she stood up. “I can’t but feel that you didn’t quite what you wanted from this meeting, Captain.” she said referring back to his rank rather than his name. “Know that my door is always open and this is something you should not go through alone. I will be on the Bridge over the next few days to keep an eye out and I fully expect you to get some sleep. Staying up and worrying will do us no good. Put your plans into place and then trust your crew to carry them out whilst you close your eyes.” and with that, she turned and marched out of the Ready Room and straight into the Main Bridge. It was full of activity, a quick look around the Bridge helped her reorient herself having never been on the Exeter’s bridge. The three chairs in the centre were empty which confused her a little as usually she’d expected to see whoever was in command sat there. Moving quickly she headed to them and took a guess at where to sit. She noticed the Lieutenant behind the tactical console keeping an eye on her so she winked at him and smiled before sitting down in the left chair, pulling out a padd and beginning to take notes. (Reply any present/none) (Posted by Will & Jono Bradley - Jester Lavorre) (Prophet’s Truth, Brig – MO, Ensign SG Kyros Ryelle, MD – 2018) As the First Officer spoke, Ryelle sat quietly in the corner. He took out a set of prayer beads that he had in his pocket and began saying a quiet prayer while the first officer spoke. When she finished, he placed the beads in his pocket again and stood up to face their visitor. "Sir, I wouldn't waste too many breaths with our jailers. I doubt they will be reasonable and care about your demands. I apologize for my insubordination. But we are talking about people who have turned their backs on their own people, their own beliefs, for what? Power? Because they are angry? These are children throwing a temper tantrum, a very deadly temper tantrum. I wouldn't expect much cooperation from them." (reply Bracken) "Of course this is the part where they say that we are misguided, that the Bajoran people have been corrupted, and we must pay for the sins of being aligned with the Cardassians. Isn't that right? They would cut of their noses to spite their faces. We lived in relative peace with the Cardassians for 40 years after the Dominion War before they joined the Federation. Yet, unfortunately, for my many their blood still boils. Whether it be the Cardassian True Way or these misguided children of Bajor. They refuse to see forgiveness and peace is the current will of the prophets. Or are you here to tell me how wrong we are?" (reply Itel) (reply Bracken, Itel) (posted by Will) (Asteroid Base – Lower Section, Underground Forest – 2O/CEO – Lieutenant Keira Merek 2018) Beta team had just arrived at some sort of underground oasis, they had a few minutes to look around. Keira was taken in by the wonder of it all. Minus the solar lamp up above this was a full floral ecosystem inside an asteroid. ~How could they have even set this up?~ Out of the corner of her eye she noticed sparkling lights. She turned to see empty space where Dr. Kryos was standing before. “ Why did they leave us behind? “More asked “Medical emergency on board maybe?” “ No idea. Come to think of it. That transporter beam did nay look like it was one of ours.” The fellow scotsman replied. “True…. But who else would have taken our doctor?” “All valid points…” Keira said. =^= Alpha and Beta Teams, it seems our enemy, well..... damnit they won, they got away, and they have all our Bajoran crew. Billy take lead of Alpha Team, finish getting that info and get back. Beta Team, Merek, see if there is any proto matter left on the base, find it, secure it, and get back here. Time is of the essence. I want us out of here ASAP.=^= “Acknowledged.” Keira responded. “ There is much skulduggery a foot if I am nay the grandson of a Edinburgh Gardner. Renowned for her roses and brightly coloured flowers of the spring season and no mistake...” He More said. It seemed like an ancient proverb of his people, but Keira wasn’t familiar with it. She saw Vozi helping Greta up off the floor. ~He’s helping her I don’t have to, yet.~ Just the same Keira kept an eye on her friend. “ They took every Bajoran why? They could of scooped us away. We would make more worthwhile hostages..... Why just the Bajorans? “ Stan asked. “If it wasn’t our transporter beam and they took the Bajorans that means it’s probably part of a larger plan… or maybe they thought they were doing the recuing?” “ I am sorry just trying to make some sense from this. Ouch....” The branch Stan had pulled away from the bush. Had ignited in his hand. Luckily his suit had protected him from another burn. More immediately pulled out his tricorder. He looked at the readings and shook his head. “ Just as I suspected proto matter was used in the creation of this forest. It’s unstable. Another wee problem for the pot.” Stan said. “Then this was a level of the experiment. Call this a small scale test. Maybe a proof of concept, to iron out the wrinkles.” Keira hypothesized. “Are you OK?” Keira turned to Greta as her concern for her friend overcame her. (Reply Greta) “All the same, I heard the announcement, I want you and Vozi to head back. If they did take all the Bajorans then there’s reason to believe they took all the ones on the asteroid too, including their own. So More and I can handle finding any protomatter they may have left behind.” Keira said. (Reply Greta, Vozi) As the pair transported away, Keira turned to More. “Okay Ensign, lock and load phaser rifles at high ready.” She waited for him to ready his phaser rifle. (Reply More) As he readied his rifle Keira grabbed one of the fruits from the tree, and stowed it in a pocket, for them to analyze on the ship. She knew Trip planned on blowing this thing to pieces and knowing how far they had come might give them a timeline of how close they were to completion. Once she saw he was ready, she readied her own phaser, mounting the tricorder so she could get readings while she looked for trouble, “Bounding over-watch, yeah?” (Reply More) “We alternate moving forward.” She stated, for her clarification or his, didn’t matter, they needed to be perfectly coordinated. “While one is moving forward to cover the other is keeping aim in the direction of travel on the other side of the corridor for potential threats. Once we get a rhythm going, we will move quite rapidly.” (Reply More) “We’ll start on either sides of the far exit. I’ll move forward first, looking for cover. Once I set in place, either behind cover or in the prone or kneeling, I’ll tell you, then you go, take your 3-5 second sprint to cover, tell me when you’re set to cover me, and I’ll sprint, and so on. Ready?” She said. (Reply More) Wasting no time Keira took off in a dead sprint. She was glad she spent all that time keeping her cardiovascular health up to stuff. She slid in behind a pile of cargo crates, and posted up on top. She leaned against them slightly ensuring she left the smallest silhouette she could. “Ready!” She called out to More. (Reply More) She could hear More’s foot falls behind her rapidly approaching. He found a spot just 40 meters in front of her. (Reply More) Again she took off in a sprint but in the first two eye blinks realized there was no immediate cover for her. At the three second mark she dove to the ground. ~I’m up, they see me, I’m down.~ The mantra they had drilled into her head her freshman year of Academy training was ringing through her head. She quickly got up to the kneeling position, because she was favoring speed. The kneeling position wasn’t the best for avoiding fire but is was quicker to start running again from the kneeling. (Reply More) They did this again several times until they had covered what would have cost them twenty to thirty minutes doing it slowly and methodically. The tricorder insisted they were almost to the other protomatter reading. On the next bound they came to they came to an old handle knob type door at the end of the hall. Keira got to it first. Using hand and arm signals she motioned for More to approach. She also indicated the door opened to the right and was, according to her tricorder, unlocked. She scanned for traps and there were none. ~They probably didn’t have time.~ (Reply More) Keira released her rifle which hung freely on the harness. Her left hand was on the door handle and her right signaled to More when to proceed inside. One…two…three, and she opened the door. (Reply More) She followed right on his heels turning the opposite direction he did to clear the other half of the room. There was a small lab with various components strewn about in front of them. Someone had left in a hurry. In the middle of the room was a stasis chamber of Tzenkethi origin. As she approached it the tricorder was giving readings that this was the source of the protomatter signature. The container was open and completely empty. The protomatter was gone. (Reply More) “Looks that way.” Keira tapped her combadge. “Beta detachment to Exeter, we found the secondary signal or what’s left of it.” (Reply Exeter) “It’s gone. We did surmise that the likely source of the protomatter was the Tzenkethi. I can bring it with us, other than that, we have received no resistance and are ready to beam back as soon as we make it to a safe transport point.” (Reply Exeter) “Understood, Beta Detachment out.” (Reply More, Exeter) (Posted by Todd) (Asteroid Base – Lower Section, Underground Forest - Sec/Tac Ens. Stan More - 20:19) Once the sound of the transporter died away , Kiera turned to Stan. “Okay Ensign, lock and load phaser rifles at high ready.” She ordered “ Aye ma’am “ He replied solemnly. Stan readied his rifle as Keira grabbed one of the fruits from a tree, and stowed it in a pocket. Judging by the fact Keira still had two fully working hands. He surmised that the fruits were more stable. Then the things they were growing from. “Bounding over-watch, yeah?” She ordered, “ Um......” Stan began, “We alternate moving forward.” She stated, for her clarification. “While one is moving forward to cover the other is keeping aim in the direction of travel on the other side of the corridor for potential threats. Once we get a rhythm going, we will move quite rapidly.” “ Understood.” Stan replied “We’ll start on either sides of the far exit. I’ll move forward first, looking for cover. Once I set in place, either behind cover or in the prone or kneeling, I’ll tell you, then you go, take your 3-5 second sprint to cover, tell me when you’re set to cover me, and I’ll sprint, and so on. Ready?” She said. “ Ready “ Stan replied Wasting no time Keira took off in a dead sprint. Stan saw her slide behind a pile. They had writing on them that he did not recognise. “Ready!” She called out to More. “ Well, who wants to live forever?” Stan said under his breath as he ran, He found a spot just 40 meters in front of her. “ I half expected to be shot at,” Stan said aloud Stan watched her run. Something about all this felt wrong. Surely by now someone should be taking shots at them? He did not like how open Keira’s position was. “ Ready ma’am” He said They reached an old style type door. With a handle you turned to open it. The tricorder gave off several loud beeps. What they were after was behind the door. “ I have a bad feeling about this,” He warned Counting down she opened the door.Stan flung himself back expecting a blast or a Phaser beam. Through the centre of his head. “ I’ll go in first.” Stan said Inside was a small lab that looked like someone. Had been busily grabbing what they could. Before fleeing in panic. In the middle of the room was a stasis chamber. The design was familiar to Stan but he could not put a finger on it. As they approached it their tricorders were giving readings. This was the source of the protomatter signature. The container was open and completely empty. The protomatter was gone. “ Oh my. Looks like we are to late.” Stan said “Looks that way.” Keira tapped her combadge. “Beta detachment to Exeter, we found the secondary signal or what’s left of it.” As she spoke to the ship. Stan examined the container. He did not get a chance to look closer. No sooner had he started scanning. She told him they were beaming away. (reply none) (posted by Norman) (Prophet’s Truth, Brig – CSO – Dr. Fave Itel – 2020) Itel didn’t even get two words out before the one in command red began to speak. “My name is Dr Ailynn Bracken, Lieutenant Senior Grade, First Officer on the USS Exeter. You have illegally kidnapped Federation citizens, holding us, and numerous others captive contrary to Federation Law Section 112 subsection a. Furthermore, notwithstanding and not limited to violations of sections 113 through 116 regarding illegal capture and holding captive of Starfleet Officers for purposes unknown; although both the Prophets Fire and the Cult of the Pah Wraiths have extensive ties to illegal slavery, which I can only assume you yourself are guilty of, that’s not even mentioning the countless cases of torture and murder of Bajorans on the asteroid base that your cult took over. Lastly, It is a war crime to hold captive a Medical Doctor under any circumstances. Therefore these numerous issues having been listed I formally demand my and my fellow Officers immediate release, along with the other Federation Citizens formerly held captive aboard the previously mentioned, now destroyed asteroid base.” The very tall woman spoke in a very “I’m used to getting my way” tone of voice. “Doctor,” He said in a tone one would greet a colleague. “That’s quite a speech, we’ll get to that in a moment, first introductions. My name is Doctor Fave. My doctorate is in Horticulture and Physics with a specialty energy waves and particle physics. Is your doctorate in medicine or another science?” (Reply Bracken) “I see, curious a medical doctor wearing command colors,” Fave admitted. “do you prefer Doctor or Lieutenant when being addressed?” (Reply Bracken) Fave nodded. “And you? What is your name in the blue?” (Reply Reyelle) “Doctor Kyros? Another doctor?” Itel stated. (Reply Bracken, Reyelle) “Yes, your speech. Your reference to Starfleet regulations. If my memory serves, and it often does, the Federation’s and Star Fleet’s for that matter are based off of the Geneva and Hague Conventions from the early to mid twentieth century on Earth, correct?” (Reply Bracken) “I have logs stating that both of you were armed with phasers, phasers I relieved you of, a weapon capable of doing what artilleries did in the time those original documents were written. Armed with such weapons what assurances do we have that you were non-combatants? If medical personnel engaged in offensive operations they would lose such protected status.” (Reply Bracken) “Well, I’m sorry but your word isn’t good enough. It will have to go to our senior leadership on if they believe you or not.” (Reply Bracken) “We aren’t treating you like prisoners of war, which those sections of your Federation code are forbidding. Prisoners of War are able to be made to do hard labor, but you aren’t. As medical professionals you are allowed to tend to your own wounded, that is the extent of what we can make you do. What we are currently doing is tending to your needs. I brought some food and water, pillows and blankets. I now see that you are one male and one female, do you wish to be separated for modesty’s sake?” (Reply Bracken, Reyelle) (Posted by Todd) (USS Exeter – Transporter room 1 – Sec Officer Ensign Paul Sleeford & Ensign JG Greta Smith- 20:25) The cavern changed to the bright crisp, clean transporter room, as the beam released Sleeford he turned to the younger Ensign. “I feels like giant loss, as for the tea and hero biscuits, they can wait until we have our friends back, but thanks. “ As the other team appeared Sleeford approached slowly nodding to More. “Greta” Standing off to one side, Greta didn't hear Sleeford. Flexing her hand now wrapped up by Vozi, she took several deep breaths and picked up her Tactical helmet from the floor. “Ensign Smith?” She heard the voice this time but didn't in the same vein. Although she knew she had to do her job, her mind was racing. Knowing what could be happening had dulled the physical pain she was in but her mind was another matter. Taking a deep breath and hating himself for what he was about to do Sleeford faced Greta. “ENSIGN SMITH FRONT AND CENTRE, NOW” "GET THE HELL…." Holding up his hand to stop the outburst, Sleeford smiled slightly. “Greta stop. I’m standing you down for twenty four hours. Please don’t make me make it an order.” Placing his hand gently on her shoulder Sleeford gave it a soft squeeze. “We’ll get him back, we’ll get them all back I promise. Now please go home, get that sweaty, dirty uniform off, shower, eat and rest if you can and promise me you’ll get that hand looked at” Looking at him with a fire in her eyes, Greta knew he was her superior but she couldn't help herself, " I need to work. I can't sit in my…. Our quarters by myself." Sleeford tried to smile but failed. He didn’t want to go down this road, like himself she was sweaty, dirty, tired, more then pissed off, annoyed and ready to kick someone’s backside and punch a head or three. "Make it a God damn order then. Do it!" Shaking his head Sleeford stared at Smith, “Okay if you insist. Ensign Smith G, you are hereby ordered to stand down for twenty four hours, starting as of now, you are permitted to go to the mess and the medical centre, other than that you are confined to quarters.” "Confined? You can't do that! " she forced down her anger which she knew wasn't directed at Sleeford. She was angry, scared and in pain. “Greta, I can if I have to, if I think the welfare of one of my officers is at risk. Please don’t make this harder than it is.” Scoffing a little, Greta stepped forward one single step and said, "Hard? Really? The man I love has been kidnapped and I can't do a thing about it because you want me to stand down!" Looking directly in to her eyes Sleeford saw the anger, the rage that he barely held in check himself. Taking a breath to calm himself down before they both lost control he paused for a split second. “What good are you going to be to Ire, if you can hardly walk or think straight. Come to think on it, how do you think, we all feel, we were the security detachment, meant to keep everyone safe. Well we messed that one up good and proper. I let the first officer get beamed out from under my bloody nose, like you I’ve been on my feet since god knows when. “ Taking a deep breath Sleeford fought to calm down, he knew it wasn't Greta’s fault.” “Look we need to be on top form when the time comes. All of us will need to be ready to get our friends back” Closing her eyes, Greta trembled slightly and took a deep breath. Opening her eyes, she knew that the pain she felt inside was evident to him, to all around her. "Sir… I can't just sit and not do anything. I…" “I’m going to see the old man now, I’m going to request leading an away team to get our friends, I want you” Looking round at the others, “All of you ready to go, that means rested, physically and mentally. I know it’s hard. When the time comes I promise, I’ll knock on your door personally” Nodding, Greta wiped her face and stepped back from Sleeford, knowing that she had just gotten in his face made her a little ashamed of her actions. "Sir…. I'm sorry." Sleeford smiled, “For what Ensign? Go before I change my mind “ "Shower does sound good right about now." She replied and turned to walk away. “Stan, Sytuk, please escort Greta to her quarters via sickbay. Then stand down for twelve hours. Do the same as I told Greta, shower, rest and eat. Now go” Glaring at him slightly, Greta shrugged in resignation that she couldn't get out of going. ~he isn't what people think he is.~ she thought to herself. (Reply More, Suytk) Watching the trio as they left Sleeford closed his eyes, other than the conversation he’d had with his stepfather, about why his real dad had left, that had been one of the hardest ‘chats’ he’d had to have with anyone. Taking his helmet he walked to the closest turbo lift, as the door opened he realise that he looked a mess, his tactical uniform, was dirty and ripped across the abdomen, his gloves bloodied and grazed, he looked nothing like a Starfleet officer, more like a renegade mercenary. (Posted by Alistair and Jackie S) (USS Exeter – Transporter room 1 - Sec/Tac Ens. Stan More - 20:26) Things seemed to flash by Stan. One moment he had been standing in the forest. Next it melted away to be replaced by the Exeter. Good clean circulated air. No dust no exploding plants no one out to kill them. But that was not quite true. Someone had stolen members of the crew. That thought stuck out in his mind the most. Some low life animals had dared. Dared to steal away members of the crew. This made him more angry. Under their noses someone had DARED DARED! To kidnap his fellow crew. Greta seemed to be taking it the worst. He nodded at Sleeford as he removed his helmet. He felt like hitting it on the floor until it broke. But More held off doing so. “Stan, Sytuk, please escort Greta to her quarters via sickbay. Then stand down for twelve hours. Do the same as I told Greta, shower, rest and eat. Now go” Sleeford told them. “ Yes sir. I need to get my hip checked out anyway. “ Stan said (Reply, Sytuk) “Got a wee bit to close to an explosion.” Stan told Sytuk (posted by Norman) (USS Exeter – Transporter room 1 – (SPC) Sec/tac. Po3 Sytuk- 20:27) As the scenery changed from that of the enemy base to the transporter room on the Exeter, Sytuk stood on the transporter, in silence. A thousand, no a million things ran through his mind so fast he couldn't make sense of any of it. The image of Bracken disappearing right in front of him was the only image that remained clear. While Ensign Smith was coming to terms with what happened and having Ensign Sleeford level her out. Sytuk felt nauseous, for the first time since he was a child. He looked around the room , not being able to focus on anything in particular. Their words were lost on him. Their human language made no sense to him at that moment. ~Ash…~ The only world that made sense in his mind was her name, the name of his first true friend. The room was spinning , through his confusion he heard his name. " “... Sytuk,... es...Greta ... ..er via ….. Then ...nd ….. hour... Do the sa...e as I tol.. ….shower, … ..t Now…." Sleeford's words made no sense. Sytuk walked towards the door and left the transporter room. Ensigns Smith and More walked out with him. Once they left the transporter room Sytuk walked away from them in the other direction away from them and proceeded to the turbolift. (posted by Rob) (USS Exeter - Sickbay - Sec/Tac Ens. Stan More - 20:30) In Sickbay it was clear people were in shock. Stan limped to a bio bed but kept his comments to himself. But in his minds eye a red mist was descending. The image of Ryelle with a look of surprise. As the transporter beam took them away. Kept working through. As luck would have things Mores injured hip looked worse then it was. Soon it was all patched up and Stan was able to leave. (posted by Norman) (USS Exeter – Engineering – Engineer – Ensign – Galu Vosi - 2030) Galu had made his way to engineering as soon as the other members of the Beta team had left the transporter room. He needed to do something to help get the crew and his friends back. As he entered engineering a smiled danced across his face as he felt the deep thrumming of the warp core in front of him. ~Its nice to be home~ He looked over to see Kryx at a console. “Hay Kryx everything okay down here?” (Reply Kryx) “Good.” =^=Captain to engineering=^= He looked around and saw that Merek had not arrived yet so shrugged to himself and answered the call. “Engineering here.” =^=We ok to warp=^= He quickly glanced over the master console in front of him and was satifed that everything was doing what it was supposed to be doing. “Yes Captain warp engines are ready for your command.” He looked back at Kryx as the channel closed. “So anything exciting happen while I was gone?” (Reply Kryx) (Reply Kryx, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Exeter - Bridge - CO, Lt. Commander Trip Williams - 2030) Trip reentered the bridge and sighed. It was time to get under way. “Transporter room, do we have everyone off of the Asteroid base.” =/\=Yes sir, minus the First Officer and Doctor Kyros. Everyone else is accounted for.=/\= “Captain to engineering,” He said tapping his commbadge. “We ok to warp.” (reply Engineering if you want) Trip nodded and ended the exchange. “Ensign Frost, set a course following along the tracking data from Lieutenant Bracken and Dr. Vesper. Begin us on that course on impulse.” (reply Frost) “Ravok as soon as we are a safe distance, fire torpedoes at the two sabers and the asteroid base. We don’t have time to tow the Sabers and we dont want anything on that base falling in the hands of profiteers.” (reply Ravok) Trip waited a moment for them to be clear of the Asteroid base and then watched as proton torpedoes were launched at the the targets destroying them. “Ensign Frost, calculate the fast intercept course and engage at the appropriate warp speed to catch up to them, without shooting past them. I don’;t want them getting to far ahead.” (reply Frost) “Ravok, stand down the red alert. You have the bridge again while I log some paperwork.” (Reply Ravok) “As soon as I get back we’ll call for a shift change, we’ve had too many people working without a break, they should try and get some rest and sleep while they can.” Trip then returned to his ready room. (reply Ravok, Frost, Engineering if you want) (posted by Will) (USS Exeter - Bridge - ACFO Ens(sg) Trinity Frost - 20:32) “Ensign Frost, calculate the fast intercept course and engage at the appropriate warp speed to catch up to them, without shooting past them. I don’;t want them getting to far ahead.” Trinity nodded a response, and looked at the tactical data that she had. Extrapolating the last few known positions, she layed in a fast intercept course. Heading 248 mark 16. Warp 7. Setting the ship onto one quarter impulse, and moving them out of range of the asteroid.” A few moments passed. “Warp ready at your Command Sir." (Reply Ravok) Trinity tapped out the command that threw the ship into warp field, then turned to Ravok. “Sir, I’m correcting as we go, but current heading and speed, it will have us approaching the Jundland Viel in approximately 9 hours.” The Jundland Viel was a hostile region of the Badlands that was notoriously badly mapped. (Reply Ravok, any Bridge) (posted by Mark) (USS Exeter - Bridge - aCTO/COO Lieutenant jg Ravok- 20:33) “Ravok as soon as we are a safe distance, fire torpedoes at the two sabers and the asteroid base. We don’t have time to tow the Sabers and we dont want anything on that base falling in the hands of profiteers.”Trip commanded " Yes sir" Ravok responded as he punched in the commands and locked on targets. And opened fire destroying them with no difficulty. “Ensign Frost, calculate the fast intercept course and engage at the appropriate warp speed to catch up to them, without shooting past them. I don’;t want them getting too far ahead.” Trip ordered Ensign Frost. “Ravok, stand down the red alert. You have the bridge again while I log some paperwork.” Trip said. " Aye Sir" Ravok stood down from red alert. “As soon as I get back we’ll call for a shift change, we’ve had too many people working without a break, they should try and get some rest and sleep while they can.” Trip proclaimed as he took his leave of the bridge. “Warp ready at your Command Sir." Ensign Frost said. Ravok leaned forward on the tactical station. He had never given the word to jump to warp, apparently there was some wild tradition among starfleet officers to state a unique phrase when ordering a jump to warp. He didn't have to think long before the words that Baker would say before every flight, left his mouth. " Let's get it" With those words said Trinity tapped out the command that threw the ship into warp “Sir, I’m correcting as we go, but current heading and speed, it will have us approaching the Jundland Viel in approximately 9 hours.” " Very well Ensign" Ravok replied as he looked around the bridge, knowing those around him were highly capable, but Trip brought up a good point , everyone had been working hard and performing well under high levels of stress. Ravok was even tired and he was used to being awake for 36 hours at a time and sleeping for 8. Ravok looked up to see Ensign Sleeford walking toward him. “Ensign Sleeford reporting back in. I’ve stood down, Smith, More and Sytuk, 12 hours minimum.” " Good work Ensign, We all need a little down time. I'm going to need you to do the same. " Ravok responded “Do we know where they went?" Sleeford asked while looking down at the terminal. " They haven't went anywhere , that would imply they have arrived at their destination. They are currently being tracked via tracking devices provided by Lieutenant Cortez, we have two signatures we are tracking. Doctor and Lieutenant Bracken." Ravok said. Nodding Sleeford turned to face Ravok and lowered his voice, “If they use that device they have it will create absolute carnage.” Ravok nodded his head and looked him in the eye " We're starfleet stopping carnage is what we do best " He said with a half hearted smile. “Is the old man in?”Ensign Sleeford asked. Ravok smirked " If by old man, you mean the captain, yes he is in his ready room. But I am curious as to how he is the 'Old man' according to your records you are 11 years older than him. " He paused. " I'm sorry for all the time I have spent around humans, your phrases leave me... perplexed to say the least, Go speak to the captain." Ravok said, nodding his head toward the ready room door. He watched as Sleeford walked off to speak with the captain. Ravok tapped his commbadge " Ensign T'kel report to the bridge immediately for duty at tactical " =/\= Yes sir..=/\= The vulcan Ensign responded. A few moments later Ensign T'kel emerged from the turbolift and headed onto the bridge, walking straight to tactical. " Ensign, you made here fast." Ravok said, happily standing away from the station. " You stated you wanted me to report immediately, is the time of my arrival not acceptable to your request Sir?" Ensign T'kel asked as he started analyzing the tactical readouts. " Such punctuality isn't the norm, in my experience. " Ravok responded. T'kel made no remark about Ravoks reposnse but questioned him instead " Sir, I see you have parametric field stress scans active along with Warp current sensors. " Ravok nodded his head " Of coarse I do they had a cloaked bird of prey and they are traveling at warp. I'm killing two birds with one stone." T'kel looked at Ravok. " Sir, it is my 'experience' " the vulcan officer said putting great emphasis on the word experience " That running both scans simultaneously can cause an overload on passive neutrino scanning and also cause inaccuracies to the detection of eddy currents produced by a vessels warp. Therefore rendering the active warp current sensor sweeps useless. Not to mention it appears that you have their warp signatures logged and reported , also you have tracking beacons following the paths of both ships, further reinforcing the point.Sir" Ravok stepped to T'kel " Your point being Ensign?" He asked in serious and inquisitive tone. " My point being that you are wasting resources on scans that are inaccurate" Ravok nodded his head and stepped alongside T'kel at the tactical station. " While I admire your attention to detail, and concern about the wasting of ships resources. I am left with no other option than to defend my reasons. " Ravok said taking a deep breath and pointed to the terminal in front of them. " If you look here , you'll see the warp current bandwidth is at level 7 with a harmonisation index of 3.27 this index reflects their warp signature , yes but that's only to keep a back log of them at warp at level 7 with the parametric field scans running at level 4 it creates what I like to call sensor pattern crossover effect. This provides the extra ability to detect ships with warp signatures we haven't identified to be registered within the eddy current spectrum. So if the have friends meeting up with them at a set location we will be able to detect their friends with accuracy and precision, so in the simplest of ways I can explain it , we aren't tracking them with warp current scans , we are catching any possible reinforcements they might have on the way. Therefore giving us a significant tactical advantage or catching them with their pants down without them even knowing . " Ravok said with a smile of arrogance, as T'kel looked at everything Ravok had just pointed out. " Interesting" T'kel said. Ravok patted the Ensign on the shoulder. " Let's call this a lesson in the differences between Logic and deception." Ravok said , grinning ear to ear. " You have tactical and I'm going to sit in the captains chair" he concluded leaving the vulcan tactical officer and walking to the command chair to take his seat. " Ensign M'Rurrh, how are we looking from your point of view? " Ravok asked. ( reply M'Rurrh) ( reply M'Rurrh) ( posted by Rob Davis) (USS Exeter - Ready Room- CO, Lt. Commander Trip Williams - 2035) Trip returned to his ready room and sat down. He had given the order to begin the pursuit of the enemy, but he knew he needed some time to decompress. He had been on the clock for over 12 hours. He was feeling fatigued and a little bit tired. He knew many of the crew were feeling the same way, especially the senior staff and away team members who had essentially pulled a double shift. He would order all those who have exceed 10 hours of shift time to go off duty, and for Beta shift to end as schedule and Gamma shift to begin as scheduled, to allow for people to rest. The crew was tired and needed sleep. Still he needed to file one last thing. "Computer, begin recording Personal log." =/\=Affirmative=/\= "Captain's log, Stardate: 2445.09.15. We are currently making our way out of the badlands en route to purse the terrorist cult known as the Prophet's Fire as they make their way to the Gamma quadrant, with about 42 members of our crew and civilian staff. Among those taken are my First Officer, Lt. Ailynn Bracken, and my wife Ashlyn Williams. Heaven help me if their family finds out. As Ash is Lynn's aunt, it means that the both fall under the matriarchal protection of Vice Admiral Dale Bracken. Miss Dale as I like to call her, is not only my mother in law, but my mentor. And knowing how she can be, I am absolutely certain that if she finds out what happened before I can rescuee Ash and Lynn, then my head will be on a silver plater, served John the Baptist style. Still, I fear for all the members of my shipboard family that were taken, including our CMO, and some of my closest friends on board in Ire Williams and Ronnie Winters. 42 crew taken. Ironic really, that is the number I killed on board one of the commandeered Sabers. An act that was done in self-defense. Still the Irony is not lost on me. We have the power to catch up and overtake them. And now that I know how dastardly they can be, I'll be less inclined to show mercy." Trip paused, "No that is ia a lie, I don't think i can show anything but mercy. They are fueled by anger and hate. I should show them mercy. Cut through that shell of violence. Of course I say mercy, but what I mean is mercy in the context of our Federation legal system. Mercy however, all depends on what happens when we catch up to them. They are building something, they may have already done it. Something that in the wrong hands could be devastating to the Galaxy at large. We have to stop them before they use the Genesis device. Computer end log for now." Trip then took a deep breath, sighed, and took a few moments to collect himself. (reply none) (posted by Will) (USS Exeter - Personal Quarters - Sec/Tac Ens. Stan More - 20:36) Lillian could tell her master was upset. She gave him her paw as he sat down. Then placed her head on his lap. Stan idly scratched her behind the ear. He ordered a bowl of simulated beef stew. With a glass of cold spring water. Then he laid down and closed his eyes. “ So. What are ye gonna do now?” Said a voice Stan sat bolt upright. A man he had never seen before stood by his bed. (Reply, Sytuk ) ( Posted by:- Norman 🐼) (USS Exeter – Personal Quarters – (SPC) Sec/tac. Po3 Sytuk- 20:37) Upon entering his quarters ,He tapped his commbadge. " Sytuk to Ashlyn Williams " He knew she was gone but he felt compelled to reach out to her in his shock. [[Ashlyn Williams is no longer aboard the Exeter]] The computer replied. Sytuk felt his rage swell. He closed his eyes and took deep panicked breaths, trying to contain his rage. He opened his eyes and rushed to his easel, placing a blank canvas on it and grabbed his paints and began painting. Using red , pink , tan , black , brown , and various other colors. He painted frantically using both hands tossing brushes to the floor if he didn't need them. Sytuk had never painted like this in his life. Each stroke of the brush was an attempt to hold his rage deep down in his gut. After a few minutes he stopped. His brow was glistening with sweat, his breathing heavy , his eyes filled with fear. He fell to his knees in front of the canvas. The painting was of Lieutenant Bracken. This was the first painting of a person he had been able to do. It depicted Lieutenant Bracken being pulled into the darkness, the shadows, the void. Half of her face was consumed with darkness. The look in her eye was the very look she had when she took the life of the cultist. Sytuk scooted back away from the canvas and leaned his back against the couch. A grin came across his face as he looked at it. He began laughing like a maniac. An uproarious laughter filled his quarters. Sytuk stood to his feet, still laughing. He walked over to the Easel and gently touched the canvas on the painted , half darkened face of Lieutenant Ailynn Bracken. " They have no idea what you're willing to do for the ones you love, but I do. Yes I do." He said continuing his laughter as he stared into the painted eyes of Ailynn... ( reply none need) ( posted By Rob Davis- ( spc) Sytuk) ( USS Exeter - Personal Quarters - Sec/Tac Ens. Stan More - 20:37 ) The man was in his late fifties he had greying hair and a neatly trimmed beard. His eyes looked familiar. They reminded him of his mother. “ Ye donna remember me do ya. It’s yer grandmothers fault. Oh we don’t want to many pictures of ye. It’ll bring back luck ye mark my words. Our bairn will nay marry. Woe will come to this house...stupid women.” The man said. “ Grandfather?” Stan said “ Butch Mc Taggard at yer service. Before ye say anymore. Nay use my real name if yer please grandson. The last time I saw thee you were just a babe in arms. Balling for a wet nurse. Now behold yer. A man. “ Butch said. “ But you died during the Dominion war.” Stan said. “ Never trust a Cardassian who smiles to much. Because he will still be smiling. Even after putting a hole big enough to fit yer fist through yer forehead. So as I said before. What are yer gonna do now?” Butch relied “ Go to the Gym use a punch bag. I need to get rid of this anger!” Stan said “ They took yer crew mates. Laddie. Is that all yer gonna do? “ Butch said “ These vessels I take it they still carry shuttlecraft. Why not take one and kidnap their loved ones.” His grandfathers voice seemed to change. Morph into a deeper version of Greta’s. “ I can’t do that. It is against......” Stan began “ Yer a COWARD. Go and hide COWARD go and hide...... Cry baby bunting daddy’s gonna a hunting...” The figure seemed to change. It now had all the faces of the kidnapped crew. “ Please I can’t. Ordered to rest.” Stan moaned. “ COWARD COWARDLY COWARDLY CUSTARD CANT BE THE MUSTARD!” The figure began to sprout claws of fire. “ NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” Stan opened his eyes. Lillian gave a concerned bark. Shaking Stan stroked her head. “ Just a bad dream. Just a bad dream.” Stan said ( Reply , No one ) ( Posted by:- Norman 🐼) (USS Exeter – Sickbay - SPC Ensign Greta Smith & SPC Ensign Rylee Page - 20:39) As Greta sat silently on the biobed, her tactical uniform top lay beside her and her vest top clearly showing the burn on her shoulder, she rested her wrapped fist on her leg. Staring into space, she wanted nothing more than to just not be there. To be looking for the others, for Ire. But she knew that Sleeford had been right. Not only was she not physically ready to look for them, she knew deep in her soul, that she wasn’t mentally ready to do it. The shock of hearing that the man she loved had been taken simply because of his heritage was burning within her. She barely noticed the nurse fix the burn on her shoulder and then begin to look at her hand. After spending a few minutes alone in the hangar bay, Rylee had slowly walked up to sickbay. Feeling like a failure, she noticed that a few people, mainly security Taking a seat on a biobed, she looked over at the occupant of the next bed to her and froze. ~Oh crap….. ~ she thought to herself as she recognised the crestfallen and devastated face of Ire’s Fiancé. As the nurse dealt with her hand quickly, Rylee glanced over at Greta, took a deep breath and spoke softly, “Excuse me, Ma’am… are you Greta?” Looking up, Greta saw the young Trill woman before her and nodded. “I.. am.” Standing from the bed, Rylee walked over to her and said, “I’m sorry.” Greta’s face registered confusion at first and not for the first time in the last hour, she closed her eyes. Knowing what the woman was referring to, she opened them as they glistened slightly, “Thankyou…. “ “I don’t think you quite understand what i mean…” Rylee began. “.... I … i was with Ire when he was taken. We were in a shuttle, outside the ship…. There was a power surge, i tried to stop it but he got injured…. We both did…. He tried to tell me what to do to treat my hand but he was taken before he finished…” A soft smile crept onto Greta’s face as she replied, “That’s Ire for you. Looking after everyone.” Rylee dropped her gaze to the floor, “I should have been able to stop him going…. The shields….” Greta hopped off the bed as the nurse stepped away from her. She knew her hand was not completely fixed but she needed to be anywhere but in sickbay. Looking at the woman infront of her, she placed a hand on her shoulder and said, “It wasn’t your fault.” Looking up at her, Rylee nodded, “It’s funny because, right before…. Ire told me that you weren’t as scary as i thought you were.” “He would say that because he knows i can kick his ass and do on a regular basis.” Rylee smiled, a short giggle escaping her lips as she nodded. “He’s a good guy, i can tell he loves you.” She put a hand on Greta’s and said, “We’ll get them all back. I will make sure Ire comes home to you. If for no other reason then i want to see you kick his ass.” Greta smiled a little and nodded, “We should get a drink when this is all over. Right now, i need to change and shower. I smell like the back end of haggis after a bad curry.” Raising an eyebrow in confusion, Rylee didn’t say anything, just nodded and said simply, “That sounds like a plan. At least you don’t smell like a barbecue.” (Reply None) (Posted by Jackie) (USS Exeter – Bridge - Sec Officer Ensign Paul Sleeford - 2040) As the door opened he walked onto a quite bridge, looking round he saw the same shock and anger he felt. Walking across to the tactical deck he stopped and nodded to Ravok. “Ensign Sleeford reporting back in. I’ve stood down, Smith, More and Sytuk, 12 hours minimum.” (Reply Ravok) Looking at the main screen Sleeford spoke, “Do we know where they went?” (Reply Ravok) Nodding Sleeford turned to face Ravok and lowered his voice, “If they use that device they have it will create absolute carnage.” (Reply Ravok) Looking across to the ready room Sleeford sighed slightly, “Is the old man in?” (Reply Ravok) (Posted by Alistair) (USS Exeter - Bridge - CSO Lieutenant JG Erin Cortez - 20:42) Sitting stoic at her station, a million and one things were whirring through Erin’s mind. Chiefly amongst them was the fate of her close friend, Ailynn. Keeping an eye on blue, the tracking crystal that had been placed within her, Erin sighed heavily. ~Oh hunny, you fought for me during one of the darkest periods of my life. Now we are coming to…~ A small beep from the console broke her train of thought. Looking at the readings, Erin raised an eyebrow. ~Surely…. Oh now that is something i didn’t expect…. I think…. We don’t have a huge amount of time to do this.~ she thought to herself. “Sir?” (reply Ravok) “I’ve been monitoring the trackers that were placed in the crew by the good doctor and…. Well…” (reply Ravok) “The ship that took them is in reasonably close proximity to a plasma storm that is boosting the frequency of the crystals. They still can’t be detected but, if i am right, we have a small window.” (reply Ravok) “Sir, does Lieutenant Bracken know morse code?” (reply Ravok) “I can modify the sensors to transmit along the 45 bandwidth of the crystal’s vibrational frequency. We can send a brief, and i mean brief, message. No more than a few words.” (reply Ravok) “It will be morse code, so she will feel each pulse. It won’t be painful at all, more like an itch that she can’t scratch. But, it we are going to do this, we need to do it soon.” (reply Ravok) “Because that ship will be moving out of range in the next 15 minutes and we will loose the window. So, with all due respect, what do you want me to send?” (reply Ravok) (Posted by Jackie) (USS Exeter – Readyroom – Sec Officer Ensign Paul Sleeford 20:42) Pressing the door chime Sleeford waited, looking down at his uniform he shook his head, he looked a bigger tramp then he realised, stifling a yawn he waited for permission to enter (Reply Williams) Approaching the desk, Sleeford could see the captain was feeling the same anger as most of the crew. Looking directly into the CO’s face rather then above his head Sleeford spoke. “I’m volunteering to lead the away team to get our people back.” (Williams) “I’ll be candid sir, I read two words on the panel Billy was uploading that scare the shit out of me. Genesis and Bajor. I can speculate as much as any on the ship, but if they have a Genesis device, they should be stopped as soon as.” (Williams) Hiding the yawn best he could Sleeford’s body was beginning to rebel, he’d been on his feet since the start of beta shift yesterday, something over twenty eight hours, he was on his reserves of energy, it was only anger that was keeping him going. “I’ve stood More, Sytuk and Smith down for a shift, Smith in particular need to be off duty. For no other reason then she can rest and be ready to get Ire back. “ Blinking Sleeford looked at the captain, surprised that he was there. “Sorry sir, I was rambling , I need to rest or something” (Williams) Leaving the captain to his thoughts and plans, Sleeford walked out of the ready room and paused as the door shut, walking slowly to the turbolift he waited until the door shut. “Deck twenty, security office” (posted by Alistair) (USS Exeter – Readyroom – CO, Lt. Commander Trip Williams 20:43) "Enter." Trip said lifting his head from tracking the Exeter's course and formulating strategy. He looked up and saw Ensign Sleeford walk in. "Is there anything I can help you with Ensign?" “I’m volunteering to lead the away team to get our people back.” Trip nodded and smiled. He wasn't sure who would be on the away team yet, let alone lead it. So he simply smiled back and replied, "I will take that under consideration Ensign." “I’ll be candid sir, I read two words on the panel Billy was uploading that scare the shit out of me. Genesis and Bajor. I can speculate as much as any on the ship, but if they have a Genesis device, they should be stopped as soon as.” "I understand that Ensign and that is my top priority." Trip tried his best not to call the Ensign by the name of Captain Obvious. He could tell Sleeford meant well. “I’ve stood More, Sytuk and Smith down for a shift, Smith in particular needs to be off duty. For no other reason then she can rest and be ready to get Ire back. Sorry sir, I was rambling , I need to rest or something” "Take your own orders, you're off duty until no earlier than 0800." Trip waited as Sleeford turned and left. He was contemplating placing a do not disturb sign on his office door. Still he need to make one last set of orders. Standing up he then exited onto the bridge. (posted by Will) (USS Exeter - Bridge - aCTO/COO Lieutenant jg Ravok- 20:44) Having only been in the command chair for a few moments Erin chimed in. "Sir?” He looked over to his right, over at the science station. " Yes Lieutenant?" “I’ve been monitoring the trackers that were placed in the crew by the good doctor and…. Well…” Erin paused. " Well what? " He asked. “The ship that took them is in reasonably close proximity to a plasma storm that is boosting the frequency of the crystals. They still can’t be detected but, if i am right, we have a small window.” " A small window for what Lieutenant?" Ravok once again asked, wondering what Erin was dancing around. “Sir, does Lieutenant Bracken know morse code?” Erin asked. Ravok laughed " Who would even know that ancient method of communication? She might as well know smoke signals or ancient bajoran monolith glyphs from the praxtin era." He responded. " But then again Lieutenant Bracken is a highly resourceful individual, so she may know it. " He concluded. “I can modify the sensors to transmit along the 45 bandwidth of the crystal’s vibrational frequency. We can send a brief, and i mean brief, message. No more than a few words.” Lieutenant Cortez stated. " Brief ? How will this affect her ?" Ravok asked with concern for his fellow officer's safety. “It will be morse code, so she will feel each pulse. It won’t be painful at all, more like an itch that she can’t scratch. But, if we are going to do this, we need to do it soon.” Erin answered. " Why soon? I'd like a little more ground to go on with your idea." Ravok stated his primary concern was the safety of not only Lieutenant Bracken both those with her. “Because that ship will be moving out of range in the next 15 minutes and we will loose the window. So, with all due respect, what do you want me to send?” Erin asked inquisitively Ravok thought for a moment. " 15 minutes? I want your complete assurances that this isn't going to put them in jeopardy. If you can give me your word, I will allow it to happen." He stood up from the command chair and walked over to the science station and crouched down next to Erin. " Give me your word Rinam " He said quietly. ( reply Erin ) He smiled " I trust you and even if she doesn't know morse code a repetitive pulse will hopefully be enough to catch her attention. But what message would be short enough for her to know it's us ?" He asked as he thought. Suddenly it hit him like a bolt of lightning. " She's gonna kill us but send her this." He said reaching onto Erin's terminal and typing the single word to be sent, more specifically a name. After typing it he looked at Erin. ( reply Erin.) " Send it now." He said standing up and walking back to the command chair taking a seat. ( reply Erin ) ( posted by Rob Davis) ( USS Exeter - Gym - Sec/Tac Ens. Stan More - 20:50 ) Stan had been ordered to rest for twelve hours. But his dream had unsettled him. He knew it was his subconscious crying out for justice. But until at least the next twelve hours. Any plans being worked out. Would be kept under wraps until then. More knew the Exeter had a gym. All he needed was a punch bag. A good sturdy pair of boxing gloves and either a real or holo trainer. To make sure Stan did not put himself out of action. Finding almost what he needed. He could not see a trainer around. Stan set himself up. Thankfully the modern boxing gloves were self tightening. So he did not need help putting them on. Then he found a punch bag and started to punch it. ~ 1 2 1 2....I am not a coward.....1 2 1 2 3 4 ...... have to wait........ 1 2 3 4........1 2 3 4.....could do nothing.......1 2 3 4...... not a coward......~ He though as he worked out ( Reply , Trainer ) Stan looked around. He had thought there was no one else here. Taking a step back he took a breath. “ Sorry I dinna see you there.”Stan said. ( Reply , Trainer ) “ This is me relaxing! See hardly broke a sweat. Anyway isn’t it better me doing this. Then to dwell on what happened. A good one two of the old fistey cuffs. Will soon have me ready as a spring lamb.” Stan said ( Reply , Trainer ) “ As always.” Stan said ( Reply , Trainer ) ( Posted by:- Norman 🐼) (USS Exeter – Bridge– CO, Lt. Commander Trip Williams 20:50) Trip walked over to the captains chair, as soon as it was vacated he sat down and opened a shipwide channel. "Attention all hands, this is the Captain. We have begun are pursuit of those who have taken our shipmates. We will get them back. We may be a young crew, but we are tenacious. We are hungry. We will not be stopped. You have all worked admirably today, but even with the crisis, we must be attentive to our physical limitations. We will need to be firing on all cylinders when we come upon our prey. Make mistake from this point on we are the hunter. It may feel like a loss, but this is only halftime, and we get the ball first. I hereby order Alpha shift personnel who are still on duty to officially go off duty. That includes all senior staff. Command Staff who wish to remain on duty must gain approval from me. All Beta shift personnel who went on duty during Alpha shift are to also go off duty. All remaining Beta Personnel will remain on duty until shift change. Gamma shift will come on duty as normal, but check with your department supervisors if there is a need for coverage. Rest well, perform well. We will prevail." Trip then sighed and turned to Ravok, "Bud, go ahead and go off duty, I'll take care of the bridge until Gamma shift comes on." (reply Ravok, room for more if you want) (reply all iyw, ravok) (posted by Will) (USS Exeter - Bridge - aCTO/COO Lieutenant jg Ravok- 20:52) Trip walked onto the bridge and Ravok stood up out of the command chair to allow the captain to take his seat. Ravok shuffled over to the side as Trip opened a ship wide channel. After Trips announcement Ravok sat in the first officer seat to Trips right hand side. He wanted to say so much to him. But didn't know the words. Ravok leaned forward placing his elbows on his own knees and rubbed his temples to relieve the stress. Trip turned to him after sighing and said."Bud, go ahead and go off duty, I'll take care of the bridge until Gamma shift comes on." Ravok looked to his left and straightened up in the chair, nodding his head. " Yeah it's for the best." Ravok said and leaned closer to Trip and placed a hand on his shoulder. " I'm here if you need me...bro" He said quietly , disregarding rank and speaking to him as his friend. Ravok needed if only for a second to put aside all the starfleet stuff and let Trip know that as his friend he was there for him. Just like he knew Trip would do the same if the situation was reversed. Ravok understood the necessary distance Trip had to establish in their relationship. But both had each other's backs when all the odds were stacked against them, no matter what. ( reply Trip) Ravok smiled briefly at him. " We will prevail Sir." He remarked, simply echoing Trips closing words in his announcement. Before standing up. ( reply Trip) ( reply Trip) ( posted by Rob Davis) (USS Exeter - Deck 20 Security office Sec Officer Ensign Paul Sleeford -20:55) Walking into the smaller office, which he’d claimed when his took on Gamma shift. Dropping his helmet by the door, he stooped to unlace his boots, kicking them next to helmet, crossing to the small replicator he grabbed a coffee, sitting on the chair he placed his feet on the desk and stared at the opposite wall, plans and ideas, flowing and forming. Placing his coffee on the desk Sleeford closed his eyes. (Replies Williams (CO)) (Posted by Alistair) (USS Exeter - Holodeck - SPC Ensign Rylee Page - 2056) Standing outside the holodeck, Rylee took a deep breath in and sighed. Dressed in a black crop top and black leggings, she entered in the desired programme and stepped through the doors. Instantly transported back to her old dojo outside the academy on earth, she couldn't help but smile as she began stretching. Sometabout this place calmed her mind. Whether it was the fact that she was going to work out her frustrations at not being able to help Ire or the other crew that were taken or just the fact that she felt like she had made a mistake contacting the ship the way she had, there was something inside her that needed an outlet. After a few minutes of stretching, Rylee stood, still and said,"Computer, create an opponent for me. Level 2." To her right, a man appeared. Dressed in relatively the same clothes as her, he immediately took a fighting stance and, with a sneer, advanced towards her. Smiling sweetly, Rylee threw a punch towards his face with her right hand and, as he blocked it easily, swung her left hand up and caught him on the chin. Smirking as he staggered back, she moved forward and ducked, swinging her right leg round, catching him behind his leg, sending him off balance and flying backwards onto the floor. As she looked at him, he growled low and swung his left leg out, catching her slightly on her side. Catching her breath, Rylee took a step back and smiled. "Okay, cheap shot but fine. You want to play that game. Come on then." (Reply any who want to join Rylee on the holodeck) (Posted by Jackie) (USS Exeter - Personal Quarters - SPC Ensign Greta Smith - 2102) After showering, Greta had changed into a comfy pair of jeans, tshirt and cardigan. Although physically fine, her mind whirled. She knew she had been ordered to rest but even lying on their couch hadn't helped. Sleep would not come. Sitting up, she ran her fingers through her hair and tapped the combadge on her cardigan. "Smith to Lavorre." =^=Jester here, were you looking for me or my sister? Not that it matters, I suppose. Same job, same last name!=^= "Sorry to bother you so late." =^=Not a concern! What can I do for you Greta?=^= "Could I…. I need to talk to someone. " =^= Well that’s what I’m good at, talk we can! Would you like to meet me at my office… or somewhere less formal?=^= "Anywhere but my quarters…. Sorry, our quarters. Your office is fine." =^=Of course. My office is plenty comfy, is there anything specific on your mind?=^= Her voice came over the comm in a comforting way with a hint of sadness. "I wouldn't be surprised if you already heard about…" =^=Yes, well. How about we meet at my office and go through it.=^= "I can be at your office in a few minutes." =^=See you then!=^= (posted by Jono and Jackie) (Flames of Retribution - Holding Cell Three – CFO – Lieutenant – Ire Williams - 21:11) Ire had been in the holding cell for what seamed like a long time. He guessed that is might have been at least an hour but though it might be more. He was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall which its coolness felt good on the charred skin on back of his head. The smell of burnt flesh had dissipated and the pain was now just a dull throb which was good. He was running through his thump touching finger exercises for the millionth time. His coordinating was getting better which was a relief as he had been secretly worried that he had done some permeant damage to his motor skills. Although it was getting better, he was by no way back to his normal speed. ~I hope they got Greta off the moon because she will be doing her nut about this. She is the more sensible of us I would have taken the runabout and gone charging off after her. She will be okay Trip would have gotten the away teams off the surface before looking for them that is if there was still an asteroid to get the teams off~ He stamped on that hard on that thought he could not think that way. He needed to make sure that he would get back to her. ~She is fine. Of course she is fine. There is nothing for you to worry about. She will be there waiting for you when you get back~ He released that he had stopped his finger exercises and started again as he glanced over at Nix and Vesper his cell companions. (reply Nix, Vesper) (Reply Nix, Vesper) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Exeter, COUNS Office - Ensign Greta Smith & COUNS, Ens Jestayre “Jester” Lavorre - 2113) Having spent a small portion of time on the Bridge she’d made her way back to the office after heeding Ensign Smith’s call for help. A member of the crew actively needing her help, rather than the passive eye she was giving to the Captain became a priority. She’d spoken with Lieutenant Ravok before leaving the Bridge and asked him to take notes on the Captain's composure whenever she wasn’t on the Bridge. She made it to the office before Greta had. Unlocked the door and set the lighting higher. The Ensign walked in, she looked clearly in distress and Jester assumed- if her memory was correct that her partner had some Bajoran ancestry. This had to be why she was looking for help. Jester smiled towards her, “Tell me Greta, are you a hugger or a fighter?’ She held out her arms and looked towards a punching bag in the corner. Looking at the woman infront of her, Greta looked at the lunch bag and then back, "Depends on who you ask. There's a piece of the floor of that base that would say yes and I'm pretty sure Ensign Sleeford thinks I am a fighter." She paused for a second, wrapping her arms around herself, "Ask… Ire… he would say no." Jester moved slowly towards the woman, understanding that she was in pain. Waited a second and then put an arm around her and led her towards some of the comfier seats silently. “And I’m sure he would know best.” she finally said as she took a seat. Taking a shaky breath, Greta sat down on the couch nearby and tried to steady her breathing, "He… he's half bajoran." “I’d guessed.” Jester said empathetically, “there’s quite a few of them who have gone missing.” Nodding, Greta closed her eyes, "We were in the base when the Captain told us all. I didn't take it that well…" “Me either. Although my reaction was for a different reason,” she said with a half smile appearing on her face. “There’s a transporter technician somewhere on the Exeter who got the brunt of my feelings when I thought they were pulling a prank by beaming a client out of my office half way through a session.” "I may have punched the cavern floor." She replied, unconsciously flexing her hand slightly. Jester frowned, “and I don’t supposed that helped too much.” she leant forward, “let me take a look. No permanent damage, I hope.” She waited for Greta to extend her hand back out from the holding pose she’d taken when thinking about Ire. “I’m not a medical Doctor, but it doesn’t look too bad. A bit of bruising and I’m sure it’ll hurt in the morning. I hope you did some damage to the wall?” "The floor took the worst of it. It's been fixed but it's sore. " Sensing that she really needed to talk more about Ire than about herself, she switched the conversation up, “How long have you and Ire been together?” Smiling softly, "We've known each other for a good few years. I was his flight officer when we were back on Mars. Explosive decompression really bonds two people." Greta responded, smiling to herself. “I’ll take your word for it.” Jester said with a sarcastic tone, happy to see the woman lightening slightly. "It's funny because I never really looked at him like that. Then bang, all of a sudden, it hit like a ton of bricks. Now, we're engaged. I… honestly, I'm scared. I've lost people in my life before but this…" “It’s not going to help, but you have to realise that everyone on this ship will work tirelessly to get them back.” Jester offered. She knew it would provide very little reassurance to Greta but it was at least worth saying out loud. "I know that. Of course I do." She replied, rubbing her forehead slightly. "It's the thought of what could happen, what could be happening now that is killing me." “Hm, and there you have it, the crux of a loving relationship. The pain and the worry, it will kill us if we let it.” "I just wish I didn't react the way I did. I'm sure by now the Captain knows what happened." “I’m sure he does, will he do anything about it, well I doubt it. He feels it himself, you know? A young one that one, but with so much responsibility. He worked with Ire and yourself on Mars didn’t he?” "He was our flight commander. He's a good guy. The four of us, myself, Ire, Lieutenant Ravok and the CO are all old friends." Greta smiled, thinking back to the good natured banter they all shared. "Ire insisted we had to tell him about us before anyone else did. Pilots are pretty good at gossip sometimes." “Did you know Ashlyn as well then? From before all this.” she waved her arms around the ship. "No, met her in passing but, know her, no." Greta looked at the woman and continued, "Can I be honest?" “Always. There’s really no point being dishonest.” Jester shrugged. "I'm… scared. Not just for Ire…" she paused for a moment, her brain fighting between two sides of her. The one, deeply concerned and worried, the other a deep burning anger. "I… it's… I'm so angry. I've never seen what my father used to call the red mist. But now, I'm fighting it." “.. and what does that feel like? The red mist.” "It's like I have a fire burning in me. I can’t really describe it. I know, in my heart that I would never let it get out of control but it's there." “Ok.” she took a beat to think. Greta was clearly more upset then angry, perhaps confused. People of action often flailed when there was no obvious course of action to take. “I think… your initial reaction was to reach out with anger and that’s why you punched the wall, or the floor. Whichever.” she stopped again, it was against how she liked to deal with things to openly psychoanalyse a patient in front of them, but it felt like it might help her. “It seems to me like you need something to do and if it were me I would start by breaking down the next hour or so into smaller achievable actions until your calm enough to get to sleep naturally.” Greta nodded. She knew the woman was speaking the truth. "My mind is racing right now and, everytime I close my eyes, all I can see is… what could be happening. Ire's strong, I know that. Anyone that can put up with a half crazy Scottish female fighter pilot has to be. Right now though, I don't feel it. " “I’m sure wherever Ire and the rest of the Bajoran descendants are, it won’t help them to know that you’re going stir crazy with worry. Listen. What’s the best thing you can do to help them now? It’s to be prepared to jump when the Captain points. The best way to do that? A good nights rest. The best way to do that? To calm yourself, put your mind in a different state. You can still worry, but.. What do you do to relax?” "I could be flippant here but I won't. By myself? I like to read, I have holodeck programs that I run. But the holodeck is off limits right now…. I seriously doubt that I'm going to be allowed anywhere near the away team after how I reacted to Ensign Sleeford earlier. Before you ask, no I didn't punch him as well. I … may have been a little confrontational. That's the Celtic fire." she replied, leaning her head forward slightly. "It's a blessing and a curse. It's give me fight, strength but it also gives me anger. I shouted at him, got in his face and am lucky I'm not on report right now." “Everyone’s running at a higher temperature because of what’s happened, I’m sure he understood that.” "I… just feel so helpless and, thanks to my own stupidity, I just ballsed up my chance of helping to find them." “Not necessarily. You’ve made a good, logical step to come see me. That’ll show those in charge that you know that you were wrong and are taking steps to fix it.” "Ensign Sleeford basically confined me to quarters and I highly doubt I'll be on the team to go get them…." She responded sadly. “I imagine you would have done the same if someone had gotten in your face,” Jester pointed out. "Probably. I just feel so … scared." “This isn’t going to be resolved tonight, get up tomorrow morning, go to work, make your apologies and excuses. No ones going to hold it against you and if they do, send them to me.” Jester winked. "If I'm allowed to work that is. To be honest, sleep is furthest from my mind right now. I don't know if I could sleep." “Try.. if you can’t let me know, I’ll be up for a while. I could always prescribe you something to help you sleep, but I’d rather not. "I can only promise to try." “Good.” Jester smiled warmly. “Now, time for bed?” Greta looked at her and sighed. "Bed… sleep I could do, just not in that bed alone. I might go replicate some bedding and crash on the couch." Standing, she looked at the young woman. "Thank you…" As she spoke, the voice of the Captain came through the comm, =/\= Attention all hands, this is the Captain. We have begun are pursuit of those who have taken our shipmates. We will get them back. We may be a young crew, but we are tenacious. We are hungry. We will not be stopped. You have all worked admirably today, but even with the crisis, we must be attentive to our physical limitations. We will need to be firing on all cylinders when we come upon our prey. Make mistake from this point on we are the hunter. It may feel like a loss, but this is only halftime, and we get the ball first. I hereby order Alpha shift personnel who are still on duty to officially go off duty. That includes all senior staff. Command Staff who wish to remain on duty must gain approval from me. All Beta shift personnel who went on duty during Alpha shift are to also go off duty. All remaining Beta Personnel will remain on duty until shift change. Gamma shift will come on duty as normal, but check with your department supervisors if there is a need for coverage. Rest well, perform well. We will prevail. =/\= Looking back at Jester, Greta shook her head slightly, "I don't know how he is staying so calm. I'm a mess and we're not married. " Pausing, she pulled her cardigan around her again, taking some comfort from its warmth. "I should go, try and sleep. I have some apologies to make in the morning. " “You can sleep here if you’d rather not go back to your Quarters?” she stood and pointed towards one of the side doors. Smiling softly, Greta shook her head, "Confined to quarters, remember. But Thankyou. I'll be okay, I just…. " she yawned widely, "...need to hope I sleep." “I can countermand those orders if required, but if you’re sure. Let me know if you change your mind.” Jester said as she lead the woman to the exit. (Reply any/none) (Posted by Jackie and Jono) (USS Exeter - Deck 3- Room 2383 Merek/ Shara shared quarters- aCTO/COO Lieutenant jg Ravok- 2114) Ravok walked into his quarters, the lights were already on. His cousin Nesha was sitting there on the couch with Venus, the dog. " What are you doing here ?" Ravok asked, not trying to sound rude. Nesha looked at him " You and Keira have both had long days. I came here to check on the animal, because believe it or not I have a soft spot in my heart for inferior beings. " she paused. " A small soft spot, but just big enough to care about this fury beast ." Ravok looked around " Look Keira should be home any minute, I'm sure she's not up for entertaining guest. " Nesha stood up. " Well then I will take my leave. I've given Venus a bath, fed and watered her and before you even asked I provided canine supplement 74, it looked disgusting but the animal seemed to enjoy it." " Thank you Nesha, You may go." Ravok replied sharply. Not even looking at her as he scanned through replicator options. Nesha laughed and walked over to him " So rude" she remarked. " I wasn't rude , I thanked you and dismissed you. I consider that objective and direct. " Ravok responded, still scanning the options. " You are going to pick the Ceaser Salad , you always pick it. Stop wasting your time." Nesha said as she walked to the door. Ravok looked at her. " Nesha wait" She stopped and looked back at him. " I'm sorry , today has been a bad day. Seriously thank you for everything. " Ravok said, as his replicated option appeared before him. It was in fact a ceaser salad as Nesha predicted. He grabbed the bowl and fork and walked to the table, sitting down. Nesha looked over to the table. " You're welcome Lathuel" She said as she turned to leave but paused. " By the way did you happen to put any more thought into our discussion from the other day ? " Ravok laughed as he crammed the salad into his mouth and shook his head. " Why not ?" She questioned taking a few steps toward him and crossing her arms, waiting for a good enough answer. Ravok placed his fork down, swallowing his food and turned in his chair toward her. " Because it's been nearly 60 years and if you want my honest opinion the romulan race has had plenty of time to bolster their numbers. The destruction of Romulus killed 900 million out of a population of 6 Billion. We didn't become an endangered species, Nesha. The idea that the romulan race is somehow in despair and at risk for going extinct is propaganda. All apart of the Romulan free states plan to make it seem like they care about the future of our people when all they care about is holding onto our past. " " Propaganda? " She asked slightly upset. " Yes clear and blatant propaganda to oppose the Romulan republic." Ravok answered. " The republic wants nothing more than to have us kneel and beg and apologize for who we are.!!! " Nesha said with conviction. Ravok jumped up quickly and approached her, his face green with frustration. " Not who we are but what we did. Is it so wrong to be apologetic for our ancestors being tyrants and murderers?" Nesha laughed. " Murderers and Tyrants ? We were Romulan and at one time that meant something we brought the Beta quadrant to heel. The empire brought order to chaos, power to the powerless. We marched under the Raptors wings. We.." Before she could finish, Ravok caught her off. " Shut up now! This is my home and I won't hear it in here. The star empire is gone. The romulan territories are that remains. The Republic, The Free State, The Clans of Shrev , The Coalition. The Star Union, none of it matters to me , it never has and it never will. The Federation is my home, starfleet is my home. The people on this ship are my people and if you can't accept that then you need to take that uniform off and go running back to ' Your' people, because you have no place here " He declared with his fist clenched with anger. Nesha stood there in shock. She had never seen her cousin so passionate about anything. He walked away and sat down at the table. " Besides I'm not providing my genetic material to anyone for any reason except for the creation of my own family under my name, with the woman I love." Nesha tapped her foot. " Yes , with the woman you love " she said raising her head but looked down on him with her eyes. " And with her , you'll make beautiful children. But they will always be different" Ravok turned his head and looked up at her. " GET OUT! " He yelled at her. Nesha backed up with a smile on her face , knowing her words got to him. When Nesha left, Ravok grabbed his half eaten bowl of salad and disposed of it. He had lost his appetite. ~ What the hell is wrong with her?~ He thought as he proceeded to the bathroom and undressed. Turning on the shower he hopped in quickly, hoping to be done by the time Keira arrived. ( reply none needed. Maybe Merek arrives ) ( posted by Rob Davis) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Mission: The Flames of Purity Day: 16 Stardate: 2445.09.16 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< (USS Exeter – Ready Room – Lt. Commander Trip Williams - 00:05) Gamma shift had finally come on duty and Trip was exhausted. He had consumed so many energy drinks over the course of the day he probably could have gotten sponsorship latinum. He had made sure to eat dinner a few hours earlier, but he was frazzled. But he was still learning how to a handle a crisis like this, and his first officer was gone. He walked over to Ready Room's wash room and opened the door. Entering he splashed some water on his face, looked in the mirror and sighed. He felt alone, he didn't want to be in his quarters alone. Plus he wanted to be near the bridge. He had asked one of the crewmen to take care of Layla for the evening. The poor young yeoman who unfortunately had the job of taking care of her when Trip or Ash were busy. He was thankful that when designing the Exeter, they gave the Ready Room a full bathroom, just in case. He then moved over t the closet and took out a blanket and pillow. There were spare uniforms hanging in the closet. One in command red, one in captain variant's white, and one dress uniform. Taking the pillow and blanket he walked over to the couch and began laying it out. He then went into the washroom and changed into a PT uniform. A light grey shirt that had the word Exeter witten on the front and NCC-1672-C on the back. He then wore red shorts with the Starfleet Arrow on the left leg. Moving over to the couch he laid down and got comfortable. "Computer, turn off lights and set alarm for 0500." With another short sigh he closed his eyes, all he could think about was how much he missed the proxmity of his wife. The sound of her breath, the feel of her skin. The way she hogged the covers. He felt alone. But he knew he needed sleep if he was going to get her back. Finally he began to drift off to sleep, hoping that there would be no crisis to awake him while he slept. (reply none, or any brave enough to wake up the captain) (posted by Will) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< End Compile >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<