Mission Three: Pirates and Doclin and Sully, Oh My

||Starbase 12
||Sickbay
||February 12, 2388
||0845


The last six months had meant a lot of change for Starbase 12.

They had become a Response Base, specializing in Diplomacy, Search and Rescue, and the occasional war-like mission, all jobs that their main 'Response Ship', the USS Redemption could easily perform. Sure, it was strange to have a ship equipped for war to also deal with diplomacy missions, but if it was needed then it was needed. More often than not, Diplomacy missions were handled by the USS Excel, but the main point was that everyone had to be on alert...it got stressful. The Starbase was a constant flux of people coming in, passing through, making treaties, needing a safe place to hide--they even got pirates and Ferengi looking to make trades. This last six months had definitely kept everyone on their toes.

Lillian had found herself really coming into her own too in this last six months, finding more confidence as of late, doing her job, keeping secrets, and even finding a bit of time to have a personal life. Things with Max and Taylor had just seemed so complicated because her feelings were obvious and she knew who she was drawn to, and then there was Max and Cecily, but Lillian knew she was at fault here with her incessant flirting both ways. In the end it had come down to a choice and the moment Taylor dragged her from a scene she was making drunk on the Promenade after losing patients on a hard mission, she went for it...things seemed to be pretty good there as well.

"Did all the patients check out?" Doctor Stone asked Lillian, her head snapping up.

Regardless of the man being older than her, Lillian was the CMO and he was in her office now with a PADD for her to look over and all she could do was smile at him and nod. It had been really busy and she hadn't slept yet, Redemption having brought her some patients to fix up a couple of mornings ago and she was in need of a very long sleep...she'd had yet to take a break and she'd been on duty the last 48 hours--such things happened when surgeries were involved. Surgeons in hospitals did it all the time and she had counteracted her sleep with protein and caffeine, but she was tired and just wanted to go and crawl into bed now that everything was nice and calm again.

"Yes, everyone is just resting and waiting for transports or job transfers. This place is getting busy," Lillian laughed, yawning and then sighing. "I really need to finish up this paperwork."

Doctor Stone shrugged a little. "I think that the captain will understand if you need to take a break and sleep all day. Besides, I can finish filling out the reports for you."

"Thank you, Ben, you're a life saver," Lillian said as she bounded up, kissing him on the cheek. "I think I might go sleep for a few days and then come back..."


<Taggles: EVERYONE>

||Kelait
||Quenn City
||February 12, 2388
||0900

Not every freighter was a bulky slab of metal that seemed to have propulsion systems jutting from the back. The VSS Fortuda was a sleek, well armed vessel. Albeit the latter fact had come from the refit of the freighter's original hull and systems to make it a more potent threat. Every freighter had some form or armament to deter or even disable anyone trying to board them. The Fortuda however had more or less equal the number of weapons when compared to a Vulnian military frigate. After all it was a pirate vessel and had to contend with the likes of Starfleet and the Klingon Defence Force when plucking cargo ships along the commerce lanes. The ship hung lazily in orbit over a planet with a blazing surface.

Captain Kayrn Wesi des Kvasir had gotten used to seeing smoking ruins where cities once stood. To call Quenn a city was a bit inaccurate since it was little more than a large town yet it did little to dull the feeling of melancholic bile in his chest as the man watched the smoke billow from fires set by phasers or disruptors. He didn't know what had been fired at the people living here nor did he know who was responsible. Kayrn knew what he would do to them if he got his hands on whoever it was however. He stood at the top of a small mount where an away team of his pirate crew had set up a relief encampment. Local law enforcement coordinated with his people to rescue those they could. Kayrn's medics and the ship's doctor went about their business weaving through the medical tents with medicine and scanners.

There was a roaring crackle above the camp as two pirate fighters streaked overhead. Kayrn had ordered some of his pilots to set up a deterring patrol pattern in case any attackers had a shuttle or were on foot. Armed and armoured ex-Vulnian guardsmen who also formed part of his crew had set up patrols and sniper nests to protect those doing the rescuing and those being rescued. It was easy to issue such orders as most of his crew were all ex-military either from the Royal Vulnian Guardsmen Corps or the Royal Vulnian Naval Fleet. They found comfort in Kayrn's rigid military structure and discipline. Of course he had aliens amongst his crew; Klingons, Cardassians, Bajorans and a few more in the mix.

Settling down on a rock from his venture point he wondered why he was doing this. The leadership of the colony had offered payment which Kayrn had turned down. He took his coin and prizes from fighting foes, not bled colonists. They were independent. More or less. The Vulnian respected that. Standing to his full height Kayrn pulled the slack out of his black pilot's jacket and sighed out. It was going to be a long day.

<tag: Any>

||Kelait
||Quenn City
||February 12, 2388
||0912


"This place is a disaster," the Vulnian said gently to herself, swallowing the lump in her throat.

Ena hadn't really figured out what it was that was the best use of her skills at the moment: there were enough medics and she only knew basic first aid to begin with. So instead, she decided to avert her eyes from the pain because it was breaking her heart and instead she went to stand next to Kayrn, who stood a good foot over her, but it didn't bother her all that much...it never had. He was a good captain and a good friend and it made her feel better about every bit of trouble that they got into to know that he still had a heart. There was no honor in attacking the weak, and at the moment they were doing the right thing by helping.

None of this had been an easy transition, military to 'pirate', but she felt content with where she was even though looking at the devastation around them made her insides cringed. This was a planned attack--that much was obvious. Someone or something had attacked this colony just for the Hell of it and Ena wanted to know all about it even though sometimes her curiosity took her places she had never meant to go and never wanted to be. She looked up at Kayrn and smiled, trying to pour comfort into everything she said, resting her hand on his arm a moment, her braid swishing as she turned her head.

"They're lucky we're around," she said gently before she bit her bottom lip. "Still, they're going to need to get off of this planet and I'm not sure we can just run around dropping people off. Are you mulling?" She ran her fingers along his arm gently, breathing deeply and then letting the breath out. "This was a good call..."


<Tags: Kayrn>

||Kelait
||Quenn City
||February 12, 2388
||0914

"Not everyone. Just the critically wounded." said Kayrn after a moment's thought. "After all this is their home and they won't want to leave it behind to be picked over by vultures. But their medical facilities are understaffed and overworked. Much like ours. Besides there are thousands of people on this world and no ship within lightyears has the carrying capacity short of a bulk freighter or troop transport. Then there's the business of finding them a new home. We're not miracle workers Ena, we'll do what we can and then we'll go on our way." He turned his head and gave a small smile before it was hidden beneath his stoic expression as he placed his hands into his pockets.

Ena had a habit and ability of calming Kayrn down. She also managed to get his blood pumping as well. Yet when times were tough she acted as an emotional anchor for Kayrn to be able to focus himself when thinking of a solution to problems. As a captain his ability to make choices was critical but it had always been on the lives of his crew that his judgement rested on. Having this many lives in his hands was making Kayrn nervous to do anything but let his crew help in any way they were able. With a sigh he shrugged and walked around Ena with a small nod. He was mulling, plotting and planning how to handle this particular problem.

"Once we locate a facility for the wounded to be transferred to we can make tracks to getting something... profitable done. Remaining in one place for too long is getting me land-crazy. Besides we need enough latinum to ensure we have a rather comfortable time on Risa." he said with a smile as he tried to take his mind off of the colony.

Tag: Any

||Starbase 12
||Captain's Quarters
||February 12, 2388
||0920

He sat in his chair and rolled a coin over his knuckles as he sat and pondered for a few moments. It seemed like he had precious few of these moments to himself these past six months, though he had certainly been enjoying whatever free time he could muster to spend time with Marlo. Their romance had developed after the incidents with the virus, but he had tried to keep it a secret relationship. They had dinners on the holodeck and spent time alone together in private. In public they were just as they had always been, two officers of Starfleet and co-workers. He sighed softly in memory of their few precious minutes together. He would try to see her tonight, but between his work and hers he doubted they would find much time. With all the new work from becoming a Response Base, everyone of his senior staff was being taxed a lot more in their daily lives. But most people were seeming to adapt to it fairly well. He still talked to Lillian, keeping her in the loop with everything that was happening. He smiled softly and stood up, getting dressed and ready for work. He zipped up his duty jacket and grabbed a PADD with his to-do list for the day. He shook his head, never quite being able to check everything off so he pushed things back.

His most important thing to do was to get down to Intelligence to check on the going-ons of the sector. Intelligence was their primary weapon as a Response Base, and he wanted to try to stick ahead of the curve. If anything was going to bubble up, he would rather it wasn't a surprise. That was why he had made it one of his first priorities. Defense and quick responders were what he needed most. He walked out the hallway and moved into the turbolift, taking it down to make his way towards Max's department. They were getting along better as of late, and it didn't seem like there was as much friction between his senior officers. Well, he was sure there was some, but everyone seemed to keep *that* on a low key. He chuckled, shaking his head. Perhaps he could keep Starfleet out of it for everyone's sake. He'd keep it quiet if he was able to, but for now it was time to work. As the doors of the turbolift opened, he put his smile away and got to work. This would be a long day.

||Kelait
||Quenn City
||February 12, 2388
||0914


"Risa will be much more fun," Ena said winking, her eyes twinkling as she thought about it. "I have plenty of ideas for what to do when we get there--they're keeping me going..."

She smirked at that, very obviously insinuating something but not necessarily meaning him. Ena enjoyed her time on her own and her time around other people, Kayrn complicating quite a lot of things for her even though she pretended that things weren't complicated at all. When it came to her feelings, Ena was normally really up front, but when it came to her more than friendly feelings for Kayrn, she kept them to herself and waved them off because he definitely got her blood pumping and she even got pleasant knots in her stomach sometimes around him. Thinking of Risa and trying to get him to be jealous was a long shot, but shots that she liked to take sometimes.

It wasn't as if she thought she was someone that he couldn't live without either--she knew that he could easily find someone else and move forward, and that hurt her a little bit. Actually, it hurt her a lot, but they were just friends and that was her doing because her jealousy had gotten the better of her and she'd reacted impulsively, not wanting to have anything to do with him romantically even though she instantly missed him. That feeling never went away, but she wanted him in her life more than she wanted him so that he could be in her bed, and right now it wasn't about Risa and trying and failing to make Kayrn jealous...it was about Kelait and the people here.

"Until then, though, we have to focus on them," she said gesturing to the ruins around them as she took a deep breath and rested her hand on his back, stroking it tenderly. "We should probably figure out what happened as well, and if there are people on their way here to try to lend a hand as well."


<Tags: Kayrn>

||Kelait
||Quenn City
||February 12, 2388
||0914

She was right and Kayrn knew it. Risa and any future jobs could wait while they did what they could for the colonists. With their replicators on the ship they could ferry supplies to the colony. That way food, water and medicine could reach people who needed it most. Not to mention those that needed advanced surgery could benefit from Fortuda's pristine medical bay. It couldn't house all of the critically wounded but those who desperately needed a surgery table would get it. Kayrn trusted his ship's medics and doctors to make the tough choices. In a way he respected them for being able to take such personal lives into their own hands. At least with Kayrn and the colony it was all faceless numbers. He'd never have to get to know those dying in beds and medical tents.

Kayrn kicked a piece of blackened metal and watched it skid across the grass. The hand on his back was enough to keep him calm. Barely. "I know what happened; they were attacked by cowards. The question is why? Planet's capital is little more than a trading outpost with a starport. There are no valuable minerals or resources. No real cash flows through here. Pirates don't attack without gain. No reward for risk? Not exactly smart. And we both know how pirates think don't we?" Kayrn smiled and took a step closer to Ena and looked down at her. His brown eyes held a soft light as he tried to hold back his emotions about the situation around him.

"The distress beacon is still chiming out." said Kayrn as he wrapped one around around Ena's shoulders. He gently pulled her too him before letting go and looked upwards. "Let's hope someone is listening."

Tag: Max!

||Cockpit
||USS Excel
||February 12, 2388
||0914


Megan had been adjusting to life on Starbase 12 with her older sister, just finishing up a Diplomacy mission and headed back on the USS Excel, letting her hair down. She was good at her job and at negotiating, glad she'd followed in Lillian's footsteps to do her strengths for Starfleet and not just for Betazed. A smile graced her lips as she thought about her recent success she'd get to bring back to Captain Sorren, nodding at a job well done and sipping her whiskey. Megan was different and yet so similar to her sister, more abrasive and set in her outgoing Betazoid ways...she also preferred alcohol to coffee.

Either way, most people thought that Megan and Lillian were a little weird because even with their Betazoid sweet tooths, they did like bitter and occasionally salty and sweet foods that they didn't have often. It was nice to be on a starbase where there were so many cultures coming together to let everyone try new things, Megan very happy with the slightly more shady trading that happened on the station: that meant Romulan Ale, which she was very fond of regardless of it being illegal. Lillian wasn't so happy about this side of her, but Megan had never really thought that she answered to her sister.

"Lieutenant?" came the pilot's voice.

Megan looked up and smiled that smile of hers. "How close are we to the starbase, Ensign?"

"We've got about 20 minutes," he responded with a grin. "I just thought of the punchline to the last joke."

"Took you long enough," Megan laughed, flipping her hair. "Do tell..."

||Starbase 12
||CEO Office
||February 12, 2388
||0925


"No, Daddy. I won't let it get in the way of my job--I promise. your littlest girl, still has hopes to become a Starfleet Admiral."

There was a long, drawn-out chuckle at the other end of the call; Marlo had missed her father's rolling belly laugh. She really needed to try to make it home more often--especially since she'd finally told her parents she'd found a nice Bajoran boy to date, but outside of them and Lilly, no one knew--she hoped...they'd been very discreet. She sighed as she glanced over at a datapad. It seemed like she was always here--always working...and for the second time in her life she didn't like it. Things had finally calmed down since 'the epidemic' and her birthday was drawing ever closer. Her father was even pushing for her to take a trip home sooner rather than later.

"I know that look, baby girl. You still have work to do?"

Marlo scrunched up her nose and nodded. "Unfortunately it just seems to be piling up."

"Well shoo, then."

Marlo giggled, and nodded, blowing her parents kisses, and ending the call; she was slacking off, and she knew it. with a quick stretch she dove into her work...the sooner she got it done, the sooner she got out of her office, and got to do something--anything--fun. Maybe dinner, maybe not. she'd definitely play it by ear, unless something dire happened in between then and now...

||Kelait
||Quenn City
||February 12, 2388
||0930

Desmond saw his eighth lacerated spleen of the day and growled low under his breath. Why did these people even need their spleens? It seemed superfluous really, they didn't seem to be using them all that much before this attack on the planet. Least as far as he could tell, their lives were simply uneventful. Hardly any broken bones or any other previous injuries. Didn't these people have any sense of adventure? Even he had scars that reflected stories. He shook his head and grabbed some tools from his bag. This wasn't the work he was meant for. He was more of a scientist than a doctor, really. He shook his head as he continued his duty in the medical tents. Orders were orders, so he did what he could. He pilfered some loose currency from his patients when they weren't looking or were too unconscious to know any better. Old habits died hard, and outside of the stipend he got from Kayrn, he certainly wasn't being paid to be here. Might as well take advantage if they were going to be on the planet any length of time. Maybe he'd even buy Ena a drink. She certainly was attractive, wasn't that what you were supposed to do? Societal etiquette went way over his head sometimes. Eh he probably shouldn't, she and the Captain always seemed like they had a thing. He wasn't quite sure, but she was flirtatious enough with the man. He wanted to open up her brain and study it. Was that a weird thing? He didn't really know. He shrugged his shoulders and refocused on his work as another patient came in. Oh how droll, did someone bump their noggin? He checked the tent and nodded to the gentleman who had brought the unconscious man. After he left, Desmond pilfered his patient's pockets. He didn't seem to have very much, so Desmond only took a little bit. The currency on this planet was so odd. Why couldn't the entire universe just use latinum? It was so much easier.

It had gone on like this all through the night, and while Desmond was still human and felt sorry for these people, he didn't envy their state either. People who didn't take any chances in their lives were prey. And there was always a wolf to your sheep, that he knew all to well. His story was filled with both, and even at times he had been both predator and prey. He licked his lips as he decreased the swelling in the man's brain. Too bad he couldn't go deeper and find out what effect the damage had on it. But the Captain had given him strict orders not to experiment on anyone. And Desmond liked money more than he liked his experiments, because on the ship he could run whatever he wanted to out of his lab as long as he could fund it and find willing....test subjects. If that was called for at least. He chortled, patting the man on the shoulder he whistled for the soldiers outside to cart him out. He'd be fine as long as he didn't tumble off the stretcher and hit his head again. Concussions could be a nasty thing, oh yes. He shuddered, hoping nothing ever caused him a concussion. He couldn't afford to lose any knowledge of his past. His failures and successes were written down of course, but they were also encoded. If he forgot the code, they were meaningless notes. That would be a travesty, surely. He sighed as a woman came in for a change complaining of stomach pain. He wondered if she was penetrated by any shrapnel. And maybe what else had penetrated her in her life. But he kept his mouth shut, just going to work. People didn't appreciate his bluntness. He was far too direct with his colleagues, he was told. So he was learning, trying to tone things down for the betterment of mankind, or something like that. Mostly it was so Kayrn would keep giving him a paycheck. He wondered to himself if one day he could make a statue of himself out of latinum. That would be a glorious thing. He stopped daydreaming and got back to the mundane realm of the innards of this woman. He found what was wrong with her and did his best to patch her up, wondering how many hours he would be here. They had to get help sometime soon right? He could use an extra pair of hands. He looked at the woman's hands and pondered if he surgically attached them to prosthetic mechanical arms if he could use them. No, that wouldn't do at all. He shooed her out and smacked himself in the head. Stop with the curiosity! Just find one answer and help these people as best as you can, Grant! You'll be relieved soon enough...or so he hoped.

Shelley/Shiloh JP

||Starbase 12
||Intel Offices
||February 12, 2388
||0935

Max sat with his chin resting in his hand, staring at the monitor before him. His other hand flicked the console idly every few moments. The whole thing was remarkably casual considering how restricted the feeds he was watching were. Or what he was watching on them.

On one screen, Lillian made her way down a corridor, presumably having finished a long shift. On the other, Cecily appeared to be lecturing some Science department ensigns on some procedural matter. He had disabled the audio on both feeds, preferring to be alone with his thoughts as he watched them go about their lives oblivious to his observation.

It was all highly inappropriate and downright illegal, but in his mind Max justified this invasion of privacy and abuse of Starfleet resources for his own sake by telling himself that his work would suffer until he could make a decision. Things had cooled down between everyone following the outbreak, and were slowly warming up again. Now Max was wondering which of his two female colleagues he wanted to pursue something more than a professional relationship with.

At least the cooling down had applied to conflicts as well as relationships. People remained uncertain how much of past behavior had been caused by the outbreak, and so there had been more forgiving and forgetting than would otherwise happen, which had worked out to his advantage in some cases. But it did make things a bit boring of late. So now he was stalking two other officers and trying to make a decision.

Suddenly his door hissed open and one of his communications monitoring specialists rushed in waving a PADD. Max hadn't bothered to seal the door, and now didn't bother to look up, so deep was his apathy. The other man couldn't see the screen anyway, and this was most likely some tedious administrative matter that could be resolved with a brief command.

"Sir!" the officer gasped. "We've received a distress signal!"

"Another Ferengi freighter that ran out of deuterium in deep space? Tell Operations to send a shuttle then…" Max sighed disinterestedly, instead focusing on Cecily as she bent over a diagnostic readout from some experiment.

"No sir, this is from the colony on Kelait. They're under attack!" the junior officer spluttered excitedly.

Max shut off the feeds and sat up straight in his chair, heart pounding. Distress signals from colonies always filled him with apprehension given his experiences in the past. Now he locked his gaze on the other man. "What do we know so far? Anything confirmed?"

"Only that there were hostilities and numerous casualties," the ensign responded excitedly, and his enthusiasm was infectious.

The malaise that had afflicted Max previously was gone, and his command presence was quick to reassert itself. "Inform the Captain immediately and send a Level 1 announcement to put the other departments on the alert. I want a sitrep on my desk in five minutes, and I want T'Vek in here to explain it in six. Get moving!" he said officiously, and the ensign nodded and rushed out.

Max returned his attention to the console, no longer spying on coworkers but instead calling up files on Kelait and the surrounding systems. Thoughts of women needed to be forgotten for the time being…still, he wondered for a moment if both of them would show up at the inevitable briefing.

||Science Labs
||Starbase 12
||February 12, 2388
||0932


Cecily was trying to do her very best everywhere. She went to the counselors when she needed to, she kept up with all of her work, and she was even working better with Lillian even though those who knew them best knew that they still had a fair amount of disdain toward each other that wasn’t likely to just go away. Her focus was on making the Starbase a better place and on dealing with dealing with people since lately she’d kind of wished she didn’t have to interact with them.

“What are you doing?” Cecily asked a sleep deprived new ensign. “I’m pretty sure that I told you to take samples, not mix samples. Look, just hands off.”

She sighed loudly and the ensign moved away, Cecily dismissing them for now because she didn’t want to look at them anymore. Like Lillian, she was a bit sleep deprived and she moved over to allow a Lieutenant JG in, taking a deep breath. More than anything, Cecily wanted some kind of distraction, which was new for her and something she hadn’t really wanted since the virus incident. It had been nice to have a break from her work, but at the same time that whole thing had become one giant nightmare and honestly she was still semi avoiding Max even though she’d forgiven him of course. Maybe he just wasn’t used to that kind of attention and he jumped to the worst possible conclusion while infected, but any number of terrible things could have happened and since then, their meetings had been brief at best even though she wanted more than that.

It was a little sad.

Actually, Cecily probably would speak to him for longer than a cordial conversation between peers, but he was the XO and that meant that he was off limits—appealing as that thought was though, which made her just want him more. She had to shake the thoughts away and get over it, right? Of course right. Right now she was looking at samples from the last rescue, a ship that had weird residue on the hull and she’d promised she’d get the results to Max as soon as possible, so maybe they could clear the air? Six months was a long time to hold a grudge and Cecily for one, wanted the whole thing off of her mind and off of her conscience…

“Can you take this over, Ensign Krenn?” Cecily asked him slowly. “I know that it’s been kind of stressful lately, but this needs to be done. If Commander Ritter doesn’t get his answers then you’re all fired.”

Ensign Krenn sighed. “What about you?”

“I have immunity with the captain and the 2XO at the moment, who both owe me favors for helping with that bacteria outbreak last month,” Cecily laughed before shrugging. “So get me a clear read out so that I can give it to Commander Ritter within the hour. This is no time to slack off.”

“Yes, Lieutenant,” the ensign sighed, going back to his work even though he’d rather be sleeping as well.

“Good, I like the submission,” Cecily responded before heading into the back.

||Kelait
||Quenn City
||February 12, 2388
||0940

A group of four armoured figures approached Kayrn and Ena. Their armoured boots gave them extra height above the pair, just a few inches which seemed to give them a rather dominating appearance. They carried the trusty Guardsman plasma rifle issued to the Vulnian military. Even their armour and backpacks where Vulnian issued. Yet they had their own touches or additions to what used to be their standard equipment during their time within the Empire's military. One had a Klingon disruptor pistol in place of his plasma sidearm and the leader of the group had an Andorian ushaan-tor stuffed into a hand-made sheath. The lead pirate took off his full faced helmet to reveal a man who looked in this mid-thirties with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes; signs of a Traxian Vulnian.

Traxians were Vulnian citizens who lived on the frozen wasteland planet of Traxis. It was a major naval base and scientific centre to the Empire which made it a prime target. In their wars with the Kzinti, Klingons and Romulans the icy planet had seen some of the brutal fighting in the Alpha Quadrant even by Dominion War standards. As such they had a deep mistrust and even xenophobic hatred towards aliens. Petty Officer Makit seemed to stow away his personal feelings for alien crew members and now he seemed more than content to aid the stricken colonists by doing what he did best; endless patrolling. He was a six-hundred odd year old warrior who had served in the Royal Vulnian Guardsmen Corps and had seen enough war to last a life time. Kayrn wondered what the burning colony would do to his memories in the military.

"Report." said Kayrn who tucked his hands into his pockets. "Find anything Mak?"

"We found what looks the remains of a defence camp. One photon ground-to-air launcher and a sensor array to track targets." explained the pirate who shrugged. "Managed to salvage the sensor log recorder, it's in my pack. We inspected the part of the sensor that acts as a type of early warning system. The damage looks physical rather than weapon's fire."

Kayrn blinked at both pieces of news. A sensor recorder would be key to finding those responsible if it was properly salvaged and if the information inside wasn't too corrupted. "Excellent. Get that to an engineering tech as soon as you can but...you said that the early warning systems had been what? Tampered with?"

"Looks like sir." confirmed Makit. "Also aside from the ship weapon damage there are signs of small arms fire. Someone hit the colony on the ground too, either a sleeper team trying to get back to their vessel or whoever attacked launched an assault. Strange thing is...no hostile bodies."

"Mmm. Thanks. I'll mull that over."

<tag: any>

||Main Engineering
||USS Redemption
||February 12, 2388
||0945

The USS Redemption sat connected to starbase 12 by it's docking arm as inside a team of engineers went over the ship, giving the ship it's monthly check up. Given it's status as the station's combat ship it could be sat unmanned and powered down for days if not weeks at a time. With this in mind it was decided that the ship would undergo regular checks to make sure everything was in order.

"Zron, what's the status on the deck 4 EPS grid?" Gabe asked, placing his half empty cup of tea on the master systems display in front of him. They'd been at it for nearly five hours now, checking and rechecking systems. Fatigue was starting to hit most of the team, other then Gabe and Zron.

"It was fine last time you asked Gabe, and that was five minutes ago." The Andorian said with a chuckle, a chuckle that was cut short a few seconds later, "Ah.. we're getting flutuations in the grid now, Taps 356 through 364."

Gabe nodded and turned his attention to the terminal he'd hooked into MSD. That was the fifth time since they'd started their checkup. "Ok, lets just replace the damn things, those taps drop out far too much. Jones, M'rassa your up. I need ya to replace EPS taps 356 through 364 on deck 4."

The pair acknowledged his order and left engineering while Gabe ran through the data the ships systems had collected on the flutuations. He committed it all to memory then switched the terminal back to it's normal display mode.

"Okay other then that i think the Redemption's ready for a clean bill of health."

"Good, I need breakfast and a chance to put my feet up, i don't know about you?" Zron replied, sliding his tricorder into the holster on his belt, His antennae lowering almost flat to his head.

"Breakfast sounds good actually. Once Jones and M'Rassa are done we'll get outta here, until then we keep an eye on things and think about how good it's gonna be to have a nice juicey breakfast." Gabe said with a sly smile, knowing Zron would now be wanting that meal even more.

"Your an ass you know that?" Zron chuckled, Gabe joining him a second later.

"Fine, lets go help with those taps, that way we can eat sooner." Gabe answered with a nod.

||Starbase 12
||Intel Offices
||February 12, 2388
||0937

Moments from the door, Gan received a comm to go to the Intel Offices. It seemed urgent, but it wasn't as though he had to sprint the last twenty feet. He walked into the offices and surveyed what was going on. He moved towards Max immediately. "Good morning Commander. What's going on?" He received Max's briefing on Kelait and what had happened on the surface. He took this into consideration, but most of his decision making had already been made for him. His XO had sent out a Level 1 announcement so even as they spoke, people were being made aware of the situation. He would have to call a brief Senior Staff Meeting and decide who would go on the away mission on the Redemption. He didn't know quite yet who he would send. He pressed his comm-badge and requested a meeting in the briefing room. He nodded, "Find out anything else you can Commander and bring it the the briefing at 1000 hours. I'll organize the away team and they'll set out for Kelait."

He turned on his heel and walked out of the office as quickly as he could and started to head towards Engineering. He stopped himself midway though, figuring going to see Marlo might be a little suspicious, even if he was thinking about leading this away mission with Lillian or another one of her medical staff. He shook his head, he'd see her at the briefing and perhaps they could have a few moments after to talk at least a little. This mission would mostly be aiding the wounded and securing the area, so he knew there wasn't much likelihood for a fight. But he would be prepared for one nonetheless. He walked down the corridor and into the turbolift, preparing his notes on his PADD for the briefing that he would give in twenty minutes.

||Starbase 12
||Security Viewing Room
||February 12, 2388
||0940


"Kintes, Jacobs, Sykes, Greton! Why in Gre'thor, would you think this is a job well done? I could ask why your work is so shoddy but I have a feeling I know why. You were all competing to get it done faster to impress a certain Betazoid Sli-Vak who got into all your pants." Tay'Li growled.

She whisked a PADD off of her desk and hurled it towards her men, it hurtled past Greton's ear, and slammed against the wall behind him. They knew she didn't have to miss if she didn't want to and she knew she should be heading to the briefing but she needed a moment to scold her team. They'd all turned in shoddy reports when she came to see how they were doing in cataloging footage and logging any suspicious things they found--but it was obvious they'd been distracted by Megan Crae, who'd cycled through her whole team and half of hers and Marlo's staff in less than six months--making them distracted and competitive as a group of young Klingon boys in jak'tahla--adolesence.

Tay'Li closed her eyes as she ran her fingers along the upper edge of her mek'leth. The Klingon sword-like blade weapon, approximately half as long as a bat'leth, which she occasionally favored the smaller (and easily concealable) mek'leth instead of the larger, bulkier bat'leth which she kept on her person at all times, as she started to slowly count to ten until she was interrupted by Sykes clearing his throat. She gripped the handle of the blade and opened her eyes--the deep brown staring coldly into blue.

"With all due respect ma'am--" Sykes began.

She whipped the blade out of it holder on her hip and stabbed it into the panel in front of her, causing them all to jump.

"I know you can't start something like that, because if you had any respect for me, you would've done your job and I wouldn't have to be here right now telling you all to redo everything. You should only have to do each job once, because I just wasted my time here having to review each report and then I'll have to waste time later, reviewing each one again--I should only have to read each report once--because you do it so well, you can move on to the next task that requires your attention. So do me a favor, gentlemen, and don't pretend to respect me and my time."

She chose her words slowly and deliberately, trying to keep her nostrils from flaring. She re-sheathed her knife, and began to stalk past them.

"I miss happy Tay'Li, who bought us dinner." Jacobs whispered, hoping it was low enough for their boss not to hear...it wasn't.

Tay'Li walked up to her team, grabbed the two heads on the outside and smacked the four heads together--not hard enough to break anything, but hard enough to rattle them.

"That Tay'Li was a fluke. If you four weren't such clods, maybe she'd show up more often. Now if I have to come in here again, it will be the last time. If you boys don't want to be discharged from Starfleet, I suggest you get your acts together." She snarled, before turning on a dime and leaving the room in a huff.

Hopefully Gan wouldn't mind that she was a little late to the briefing--seeing as she was the new chief of Security...

||Taylor's Quarters
||Starbase 12
||February 12, 2388
||0935


Lillian groaned, the alert reaching her of course since she was the 2XO, making her furrow her brow and scrunch up her nose, continuing down the corridor to her destination. She'd already told Taylor that she was on her way, knowing she should have been sleeping, but he was doing paperwork in his quarters and she wanted a 'good' reason to be tired...she didn't want to be on hold for a potential catastrophe. She wanted to see Taylor and then just sleep all day, not deal with this and maybe if she just ignored it and didn’t show up, everything would be fine. After all, she’d been on her feet for ages and she didn’t want to do it anymore. She wasn't even in her uniform anymore and she certainly didn't want to have to put her uniform back on and go to a briefing. Forget that.

"Taylor," she said gently as she rang the door chime once and then again impatiently.

The door opened to reveal a marine in his fitness trousers, his chest glistening with sweat as he sighed out. "Oh, Lillian." he said as he pinched his brow. He had been doing self made circuit set in his quarters since 1st Platoon had taken over the gym for the day. Taylor didn't want to put off the platoon sergeant's vibe any more than he wanted to be subjected to the noise. Physical training was less about fitness and discipline for Taylor any more. It was about stress relief and given his heavy work load the stress had seemed to multiply.

"Sorry I uh....forgot you were coming over. Mind has been all over the shop trying to keep it together. Not only do I have to keep the CO up to date...but the regimental commander as well. So much for promotion being something to strive for."

"Sounds stressful..." Lillian began, chewing on her bottom lip as her eyes roamed over Taylor's sweaty torso.

She wanted to seem more put together than this but he was just so...did he have to be sweaty? It was bad enough that she wanted him on a normal basis, but this was something else all together and she found herself forcing herself to look into his eyes. Without thinking much more on it, she kissed him tenderly, pulling back and smirking. Right now all thoughts were on her original plan and then she'd see if Gan even needed her.

"There are other ways to relieve stress..." she said with a twinkle in her eye.

There was a small surprised groan from Taylor's mouth as he felt himself stumbling back against the door frame as his hands clutched Lillian's hips. His eyes snapped closed as he deepened their kiss before it broke. His eyes seemed to catch the twinkle and he wondered if he'd have missed it without his cybernetic 'upgrade' given to him by Starfleet Medical's finest. "Oh I bet you know many being with black eyes and all. So tell me Lillian is this what you came for? Going from word sparring to...a visit?"

"I do know quite a few," Lillian admitted with a shrug asking the computer to lock the doors and disable the video so she wasn't in too much trouble for skipping this meeting that would undoubtedly be called to convene before she kissed Taylor again. "You were the first person I thought about on my way to my quarters after a long shift and I think it's safe to say that since you're half dressed and sweaty, you might as well have a good reason to be that way. Besides, name me one time I've been in and out of your quarters without having a good, long visit first."

Maybe the poor marine thought she was using him, but after six months of wearing him down to a place where he had the same level of affection for her that she did him, it was hard to keep her hands to herself. He'd already scared her more than once with the thought that he could die and she definitely enjoyed spending time with him even when it was a few words here and there at a briefing or about work in passing when they were both far too busy--Hell, she'd enjoyed fighting right alongside him the three times they had to. Right now, however, she'd been devoid of his company in any form for a good 40 hours and she couldn't bare it any longer.

"I think you knew what you signed up for but the question is," Lillian said playfully as she pulled her shirt off and then leaned in to his ear, "do you have the stamina for it?"

"Pft...computer, reactive video." he said as he slammed Lillian against the bulkhead with a smile. His teeth roughly grazed over her throat as he moved to loosen her pants. A growing desire was slowly but surely building within Taylor the more time Lillian spent each waking second within his quarters like...this. Not like the CMO or the 2XO. Not like a fellow Starfleet officer. Instead she was something else during these moments. During this moment. Pressing himself closer to Lillian he pulled her pants down a bit before descending to his knees, working down the material to her ankles as he nibbled down her leg. He was primal, raw. Each nibble was more a light bite which left marks in her flesh.

Looking up at the Betazoid the marine smiled and shrugged. "Well." he said. "I'm the best man on this station for stamina. The best man you'll ever have and that's a fact."

She might have at one point just a little while ago wanted to crawl into bed and never get up, but wants prospect of being with Taylor at the moment to 'properly' exhaust her had a whole new wave of energy. Lillian shivered and whimpered, smiling down at him and reaching out for him. Her fingers tangled in his hair, gently kicking off her pants and taking in a deep breath.

"Hey...you know I want you for more than sex, right?" she asked, suddenly affectionate. "You sweaty gets me good and hot but I've also missed you--its been two days and I needed to see your face..."

The sudden change of tone had caught Taylor off guard to the point he looked up at her again with concern. He had never really seen any indication of Lillian wanting anything more than bedroom fumbles. Of course Taylor wasn't exactly the best at reading the signs and hints women often dropped. Standing up he gave Lillian a small smile as he pulled the doctor to his chest.

"Missed me huh?" he asked with a teasing grin. "Here I thought we had this little arrangement. But aye, I figured. And that's ok with me. Tell you what...tonight...stay with me. I'll make you something to eat, we can put on a vid...we'll make a night of it."

"We do, I just needed you to know," she told him with a shrug as she got her bra off and then pushed his pants down before she wrapped her arms around his neck.

She was afraid she didn't deserve him, taking this as he gave it because it let her be close to him even though she wanted more--of course she did. The idea of dinner with him made her beam, kissing him passionately and letting her nails rake down his abs. She had him naked now, so she wrapped her hand around him as she bit his bottom lip, moaning against his mouth.

"I would love to do that," she told him accepting the date. "At the moment though, there's something new I'd like to try..."

"I like new..." panted Taylor as he parted his legs slightly at the feeling of Lillian's hand around his flesh. The nail marks along his toned body was a nice touch and it was obvious to Taylor that she wanted something more than an offer of dinner.

"Please show me doctor...I'm very eager to see your new...technique."

Giggling, Lillian maneuvered them to the bed, needing to let her back hit a mattress at some point, sighing when her communicator went off because she was the 2XO. She was about to be summoned back on her feet and she understood that, but it would be really nice to just get to do this and then pass out...even if that meant sleeping here in Taylor's quarters for the rest of the day because if she passed out, she was going to be out for hours. Hell, she didn't know how she had the stamina now, but it was probably the adrenaline from the admissions and her desperate want to be close to him that kept her awake.

"Meetings can be skipped right?" Lillian asked as it kept beeping and she pushed Taylor onto the bed, his legs hanging off the edge as she climbed on top of him. "I'm thinking sheets as restraints, what about you?"

He grinned as she sat on top of him and made the suggestion. "Missed and avoided." he purred as he used his strength to push Lillian onto her back. "And I like that idea but if you think I'm the one being restrained you have a funny idea about me." said Taylor before he lowered his lips onto her mouth gently, stroking her face as the communicator kept on chiming. The noise got so annoying that he took the communicator and cut the comm link before tossing it behind him.

"Now doctor, ready to beg?"


JP by These Lovelies
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|| Jaros II
|| Spaceport
|| February 12th, 2388
|| Morning

"Thumbprint here for your personal effects," the bored clerk said, handing Lars a PADD with scanner. Lars pressed his thumb to the screen and waited for the confirmation. After the beep, he handed it back to the clerk, who checked it before sliding a small storage bin across the counter. Lars opened it up to reveal the few items he had stored before being incarcerated.

A Starfleet Intelligence uniform, some Romulan currency, a pair of leather gloves, a datadisk with holodeck programs, and a few bottles of alien alcohol. Not much. But he preferred to travel light anyway. As he loaded the things into the standard issue duffel bag, Lars noticed one thing missing.

"Where are my rank pips?" he asked quietly.

The clerk raised an eyebrow, checked for himself that the two gold pips were not on the uniform, then walked into a separate storage area. Soon he returned and matter-of-factly dropped the missing pins into Lars' hands. Meeting the other man's gaze, the clerk confided "Don't put 'em on until you're off world. Bad luck."

Lars just nodded and pocketed the pins in his unmarked jumpsuit. Normally he wasn't superstitious either, but something about this place made him not want to be seen in uniform. He had arrived as a prisoner, not officially part of Starfleet, and he felt like he should leave the same way.

Even though he was now officially part of Starfleet again. After months of waiting and evaluations, he was through with processing and ready for release. In truth he was not excited to be leaving, as he preferred to not get excited about anything. So he gave the clerk a final nod (and was ignored), shouldered his duffel bag, and walked down the hall to the final release station.

The Security officer there reviewed his PADD with documentation, nodded, and gave final authorization. With that it was official. He was free. Well, as free as someone in his line of work could be anyway.

"Shuttle from the USS Fleming will be here an hour. Once they offload their cargo you can ride up again. The Fleming will stop at Starbase 12 next and then you'll be set. Congratulations on your release, Lieutenant, and good luck. Keep your nose clean," the Security officer said earnestly, and Lars ignored his impulse to snort "Yeah, right." Instead he made his way to the arrival lounge and sat, duffel bag on his knees, waiting for the ship that would take him to his new assignment…and her.

Lars had to again remind himself to not get excited about anything.

||Bridge
||USS Redemption
||February 12, 2388
||0950

"Bloody hell." Gabe said under his breath as he was about to leave. The engineering team he'd brought with him now gathered on the Bridge.

"Okay people looks like breakfast's gonna have to wait. We picked up a distress call twenty minutes ago from Kelait, as such it falls to us to bring the redemption up to full power and run the pre-flight checks." Gabe smiled slightly as he watched Zron's antennae slowly druped, "I know, I know. So lets get this done ASAP.

He made his way to the engineering station at the back of the bridge, "Computer transfer engineering controls to the bridge and transfer startup progress to the main viewscreen."

The viewscreen switched from it's stand by mode to a wire frame visual of the Redemption, various sections of the ship marked in red as they too sat in stand by mode.

"Right, Bringing warp core up to full power, Jones take the Helm, M'Rassa the science station is yours for now, Zron ya have tactical."

"Warp core at 60 percent." he said as the warp core on the visual display slowly changed from red to orange then green.

"Warp core up to standard output." He added before making his way over to Ops.

The team worked quietly for the next few minutes as they woke the ship up from it's slumber before announcing the ship's readiness..

"Science systems are online."

"Helm online."

"Tactical online."

"Ops online, well that was pretty painless."

=/\= Sharpe to Gan, Captain the Redemption's ready to go whenever ya are. =/\=

||Kelait
||Quenn City
||February 12, 2388
||0955


Within the pirates' communication tent within the relief camp Kayrn sat behind a desk with a heated ration meal of cybir stew, gravy and dumplings. A glass of Romulan ale had been poured neatly in a small glass before him as his eyes scanned the reports of his scouting parties on a PADD in front of him. Licking gravy from his lips as he cut into a dumpling his mind wandered about the sensor log box. If repaired correctly it would serve as a means to track down the attackers of the colony. Revenge was half the motive. These people obviously had no need for wealth since they were obviously wealthy. Hunting them down might prove a profitable venture.

Before taking a piece of stew into his mouth Kayrn activated his communicator. "Ena, Desmond. Come to the command tent. Need to talk to you about the situation." he said before continuing his meal. Sitting beside him was his Iskurian sabre wolf; Yanka. Hailing from the evolutionary home planet of the Vulnians, sabre wolves stalked the jungles of Iskur and were prized as honour trophies. As pets however they were easily domesticated as family members or attack hounds. Yanka seemed to function as both. She was about the same size as an North American cougar.

The female canine had bright scarlet fur and fangs that protruded past her upper lip. Kayrn watched as Yanka licked her snout at the sight of the meal.

"Mine." said Kayrn as he looked over and poked the wolf's nose. The hound whined before Kayrn took the last dumpling and placed the plate in front of Yanka, leaving her some meat and gravy. As the wolf lapped the plate Kayrn leaned in his seat with one hand stroking Yanka's back and the other holding his glass of Romulan ale.

With the summons from the Captain, Desmond felt the urge to laugh at people as they came in subside. Talk about the situation? He wanted to take his surgical instruments and start tossing them around the tent and then start pulling out his hair. He liked his hair where it was though, so he kept from doing it for the past twenty minutes or so. Had it only been twenty minutes? It had felt like days! He sighed softly at put his tools down nodding to the guards, "I'll be back in a jiffy, gentlemen." He was short with them, and he was tired. It made him frazzled, but he would be able to deal with things as they were. He would find Kayrn in the communication tent with the distress beacon he was sure. With his dog. He had always wanted to study the large wolf, wondering why it was red. As a predator, the red must make it easier to spot, right? One would think so. Though maybe it's habitat on the home planet of Kayrn's people was red. Or pink. Then it would blend in pretty well he supposed. Maybe he would ask Kayrn, he was insatiably curious about it. He shook his head and stalked off, walking towards the communication tent.

Walking along, he saw the destruction and chaos caused by the attack. It made him feel like there was a hole inside of him, all the sorrow of these people. He didn't feel bad for helping to patch them up and get them back on their feet now. He shook his head, who could do all of this? Well hopefully they could find out and get out onto the trail. He felt like these people deserved some sort of righteous retribution. He ducked into the tent and smiled softly, looking down at the wolf. "You know, I've had something that's been itching at me for ages. Is she like..supposed to be red? Can I have a cutting of her fur? Can you show me where her home is?" He chuckled softly, kneeling in front of the large wolf. He looked it straight in the eyes without flinching. It was an animal thing. He understood instinct better than human behavior, that was for sure.

Yanka seemed to raise her head at the prospect of having the human kneel in front of her. For a moment she bared her teeth as if she was going to snap her jaws around his throat before her tough tongue licked from chin to forehead before ducking her head down to finish her meal. The pirate captain chuckled as he sipped on his Romulan ale. "I think she likes you doctor. I'm sure she won't mind a clipping as long as you're gentle." he said as he settled in his chair for a bit. "And yes she's to be red. Iskurian wolves are pack hunters; their colours can act as a driving force towards hidden pack members in the green jungle. Ever hear the Vulnian creation myth? The Death Goddess slit the throat of the mightiest wolf and forged the Vulnians from the blood. I suppose that makes Yanka and I kin."

Chuckling, Kayrn placed two glasses in front of Desmond on his desk before pouring a helping of Ale into each of them. "But of course a man of logic and science sees the myth."

"I was enjoying a nice...chat," Ena said as she entered the tent, smiling when Yanka's ears perked up.

She had a bit of an understanding with the wolf and because of her history with Kayrn, Ena and Yanka got along just fine and she was glad to see her and vice versa. Her whole face lit up and she decided not to try and make Kayrn jealous because it never worked and she would rather spend time with the wolf. This was probably a meeting about what to do before they left, but at the same time, there was time to pet Yanka and she hurried over to her, the wolf's tail wagging a bit, her tongue on the move as Ena let her fingers tangle in the brilliant red fur. Ena giggled and nuzzled her face in the wolf, more than pleased to be here at the moment regardless of what they were all going to discuss.

"Nice to know that us women still understand each other," Ena told Yanka as she kissed her snout. "I bet Daddy doesn't even have ale for me, does he, Little One?" Ena asked, referring to Kayrn as she resorted to some form of baby talk without the babying voice. "What shall we talk about, Boss?"

"Ale right there." said Kayrn who pointed to the two glasses, one for each of the officers. "And I've been thinking about the attack here. One of our Stalker teams found a sensor log recorder from a nearby air-defence tower. They also found evidence of sabotage in their early warning system. Whoever did this planned the attack and we're not going to find them sitting here." With a sigh Kayrn poured himself another shot of the blue liquid before slamming it back, placing the glass onto his fold away desk.

"Leaving those in need is never correct. Morally. Practically however we are limited to what we can do. Desmond...you served in Starfleet. Any bases nearby that'll pick up that distress call?"

Desmond sipped gingerly at the Romulan ale that he had been provided. He wasn't a big fan of alcohol in general, but it was pretty good. Alcohol dulled his senses and he preferred to keep those intact at all possible times. But refusing would have been rude, so he drained the glass quickly after a few sips. It was like swimming, you started in the shallow end then tried to get as deep as you could without drowning. He chuckled to himself, watching the interaction between Ena and the wolf. He would take a cutting of her fur at a later date, it wasn't all that important at this moment in time. He wondered at the myth told to him by Kayrn. Every people had a creation myth, people were constantly searching for why they were made and what that meant. Millenia had be spent in that quest, so he wasn't about to delve into it again.

Pondering for a moment back to his Starfleet days, he plotted where they were in his head and what stations might be within range of this distress beacon. "Well the beacon'll get probably a good, oh I don't know. A thousand A.U.s? Maybe more, I haven't looked at the device, so I'm unsure of it's length of decay. So the only station that might get that signal in this area would be twelve I suppose. I haven't heard much about the station recently, but the rumors as I was leaving Starfleet seemed to indicate that it was undergoing some staffing changes due to an accident on an away mission. But I was already on my way out so I know little if any about the personnel on the station. If they received the distress call, they will respond as soon as they can manage. But with all due respect sir, if they have anyone with them from my academy days...well, I didn't exactly leave Starfleet on the best of terms." He shrugged his shoulders, "But what will be will be. I will stay in the medical tent as long as you need me to, Captain." And as long as you keep paying me well, he thought to himself.

"Decided then!" said Kayrn who smacked his hands together and rubbed them against one another. "We will begin to lessen our relief efforts and let Starfleet find the signal and deal with this mess. The medical tents will be the last to go so you can do your work doctor. No sense leaving in the middle of treatment. I'll pull our defensive perimeter closer to this tent and the medical tent so we're not over stretching for no reason. We will then leave this Godsforsaken planet and find out where our mystery murderers are. Ena? Thoughts?"

"Do you really want to seek out murderers?" Ena asked him as she looked up from playing with Yanka. "We were in the area to respond and we did and we helped and they will help and that is a job for Starfleet, isn't it? We're not a military regiment anymore, Kayrn. This isn't our battle, be it the right thing to do or not and I certainly don't think that whatever did this damage from space, couldn't rip us completely and utterly apart if we went up against it. As the captain, your job is to protect the crew and run us headlong into danger without any idea about what we're about to face. We don't have the information to run off and play hero yet."

She took a deep breath and stood up, rubbing the wolf between the ears. "If we're going to do this, we have to treat it differently than the way we treat everything else. We cant just hunt them when it's possible that our prey is more equipped than us to handle us. If you want to do that, we need to see what Starfleet knows. For that, we need a whole other plan and if you want me to tell you what I think, then you can ask me nicely." Ena smiled at that last part and reached for her ale, sipping it and keeping eye contact with Kayrn just in case he picked up on the sexual innuendo of the 'asking nicely' part. "Why...did you have a plan?"

Rolling his eyes Kayrn poured himself another drink before slamming it back. Placing the glass stopper in the bottle's opening he tucked it away into his bag before leaning forward. Kayrn clasped his hands on the desk before shaking his head at Ena. "The Fortuda isn't just some armed freighter picking a living Ena. She's armed enough to be considered a military vessel if someone is inclined to call her that. With time and any amount of firepower any ship could do the same amount of damage. We've got the sensor log recorder. Once we find the ship we can do research and recon. I'm not just jumping in here blind."

With another shake of his head Kayrn continued. "We've bet off Klingons, Orions and Starfleet vessels before. Not only that but we've crippled them too. Have a little faith Ena...I know what I'm doing. Besides imagine the riches on that ship either in cargo or equipment..."

"Well, my opinion is that you're getting ahead of yourself just because we've beaten odds before. You have no idea what we're getting into yet, but you're the captain. All I can do is tell you what I think and do whatever it is that you make me do," Ena admitted with a shrug, heading for the tent flap. "In the mean time I'm going to go back to doing what it was that we were doing when we got here--helping to clean things up. Excuse me, Captain."

Of course she was interested in riches and she loved a good battle, but she couldn't help but feel like they were missing a big piece of the puzzle...they honestly had no idea what it was that they were getting themselves into. Maybe it was just any other ship, but maybe it was something so much more than that and it was going to get them all killed and Ena quite liked staying alive. Either way, she didn't like arguing with Kayrn and the eye rolling and head shaking and the fact that he was the captain had her leaving his company for now...she didn't want to have to deal with it, so she disappeared back out with the others.

"Lots of fire in that one." said Kayrn to the doctor as he sighed out. "Traxis is a cold planet but it seems that didn't cool her head. "You can go doctor. Just be ready to leave the surface at a moment's notice."

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||VSS Fortuda
||Bridge
||February 12, 2388
||1002

It had been minutes from Kayrn's choice to start pulling away his relief forces from the planet's surface for him to decide to return to the Fortuda. He could trust Ena and Desmond to oversee the retreat to the ship. Instead Kayrn figured that his time would be better spent overseeing his vessel from the bridge. A Vulnian bridge was far different than most when compared to the ships of the galaxy. Rather than chair for the captain and first officer there was a holographic display table. A silver-blue model of the Fortuda was hovering around a yellow planet. The tactical display was probably one of the most important tool for a ship's commander. Rather than rely on what was being said from ship officers Kayrn could see a battle unfold before his eyes.

As he passed the threshold several heads turned. There was already a female at the display table; dark haired and dark skinned with a hawk-like expression. "Captain on deck!" she snarled in a military crispness that would have given a drill sergeant the chills. Kayrn smiled at Lance-Captain Hoki Gevkek des Chadeem and nodded to her. She, like most of the Vulnian crew, were ex-military. She still wore her Royal Vulnian Naval Fleet duty uniform; a blue jacket, trousers and black combat boots. She had a short sword scabbard and a pistol holster 


"As you were." he said kindly as he stepped in front of tactical display and clasped his hands behind his back. "What's the status of the vessel Lance-Captain?"

"All quiet on the watch sir!" reported Hoki dutifully. "No ships have entered the system. As far as we know at least."

Silently Kayrn nodded and looked over the bridge. The were control consoles with holographic keys for the helmsmen. Sometimes he looked towards Ena as she worked and gave a warm smile to the back of her head before his eyes returned to star charts or tactical information. Along one side were the Tactical desks. Tactical was in charge of the sensors, communications and the shields. They were also the captain's Intelligence department and as such they guarded their consoles jealously. On the opposite side was Gunnery. A simple enough name; Gunnery was in charge of the ship's plasma cannons and torpedo launchers. A team of gunners allowed the Fortuda to engage multiple targets with a lot more efficiency than one man and a console.

"Alright. Now we wait for the rest of the crew..."

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