Marionette
Commander
Dr. Soong's penchant for whimsical names seems to have no end.
Registered: Mar 2, 2012 3:26:33 GMT
Posts: 285
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Post by Marionette on Jul 3, 2013 23:33:04 GMT
She tilted her head slightly as she regarded him. Milyanov sighed, dropping his legs and casting the compad to one side. "What?" he asked. "Humans... Lie in bed, yet do not sleep." she stated, perplexed as to the apparent paradox. Were beds not almost exclusively for sleeping? "It happens," Milyanov replied. He reached for his side desk - a modest affair, beige and rectangular, with two drawers in which he'd stowed what little hadn't been taken from him by the transport gate at the customs centre. "When do you think the Commanders will return from the plaza?" he asked her. "They also have a propensity for making queries that cannot be answered," She replied, almost tartly. "Well, they're certainly taking their time." He looked out the window behind him, almost as if he'd ignored her response. "To be entirely honest, I think we're going about this the wrong way. It's von Ahnk that should be pursued, not Freem. Pressuring the authorities is only going to get us into deeper trouble than we're already in, because it's overt." He suddenly threw the bed duvet back, not caring that the android would see him in only his underwear (and he doubted the action would be viewed differently from her point of view). Leaping from the bed, he crossed the room to the database access point. Marionette walked slowly after him, inquired what he was doing. "I want to see what our friend 'C14' is currently up to..." Milyanov murmured. "Perhaps we should just terminate him." she stated matter-of-factly. Milyanov turned slowly to look at her. "You really don't have a conscience, do you?" "No i do not, .... although, i aspire to it." she said, sounding almost hopeful. "Would it be possible for an android to have a soul ?" Marionette said, catching Milyanov off-guard with such a personal question on a controversial subject. Flabbergastedly, he studdered abit, desperately trying to rig up an answer " I... um... think......... I don't know" he finally admitted. Pausing to take a deep breath and sigh, he started, and then stopped several times, coming up with nothing over and over again. Marionette waited, statue-like and unblinking, just staring at him, which was now made all the more creepy by the full understanding that she had no real morality. Finally, he said "I would think that if you do have a soul, or will have a soul, it would probably be a ..... spark ?...." he spat out nervously. It sounded good to him. Marionette blinked and tilted her head quizzically. "Yeah, a spark.... a .... Machine-soul." he said, feigning confidence. She tilted her head the other way, and then did that almost-smile that Marionette does, apparently satisfied with the engineer's on-the-spot made-up story. It was only after she left the room, that he realized he may have just jump-started a religion......and its first believer had no morals to speak of thusfar...... He facepalmed and spoke to himself ""I've created a monster....." Hopefully it wouldn't blow up in anyone's face, namely his, before he would speak to Marionette again and maybe try to preemptively mitigate some damage. = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = Marionette then went to go pay her 'parking ticket' as it were, with Commander Valenti's signature on it, and was on her way to the arbiters station when a crunchy clanking sound in an alleyway caught her attention, accompanied by a shreik. Someone was in trouble ! Sprinting fast enough to leave a visible blur to the perception of most organics, Marionette blazed down the alleyway to find a blocky, be-treadled robot being beaten to death by a pair of of leather-and-plastic cyberpunk-looking proximan delinquents. "What is the cause of this.... Property damage ?" she loudly asked, which made the 2 hoodlums visibly jump and whirl around to look at her. Thinking her to be a Proximan woman, they looked at eachother and ran off in a trailing cloud of expletives, including Klingon, Andorran, and cardassian swear words. It'd be funny if she had had a sense of humor. Turning back to the blocky robot, now in pieces, she re-assembled it as best she could, and repaired some of its programming with a scomp-link download, and then took it with her to the arbiter's station where it was placed in the lost and found area. Marionette then attended her own business with the ticket, and with that, left to go back to the hotel. = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = "Where's Lieutenant Milyanov ?" "He 'acquired' some Proximian clothing and went out for a walk." Marionette volunteered. "Clothing ?" Aeryn said, puzzled, "What was wrong with what he had on already ?" "He wished to 'blend in', he said." she replied as explanation.
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Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Jul 5, 2013 23:58:53 GMT
"So what you are saying ....." Aeryn said, admittedly having trouble with the concept that anyone, let alone a wanabe kidnapper, would want to use a primitive, and seriously unreliable weapon, "A civilization as advanced as El-Kamat's, is using something out of what, the twentieth century !" "Projectile weapons are still used today on some worlds." Calli said, knowing her theory was a little 'shaky' to say the least, but she had learned that evidence seldom lies, "They are used for everything from pest control, to amusement, to situations where atmospherics do not allow beam technology to work ... I could go on, but ...." she shrugged. "So, our 'assailant' fired a poisoned 'DART' at the Capta ...." Aeryn began. "Two." Calli said. "What ?" "The man, or woman, fired twice ...... The first hit the table and punctured the window. It then traveled the length of the room, narrowly missing me in the process I might add, before embedding itself in the wall ... It was the second shot that incapacitated the Captain, allowing his removal." The others mulled her explanation of possible events over ... "But no puncture was found during our preliminary investigation. Nor any signs of impact withing the restaurant." "Windows can be replaced ... Holes plugged." "Where the hell is Lieutenant Milyanov ?" Calli asked, annoyed at his absence. "Maybe he has 'blended in' better than expected." Marionette offered. "That's what is worrying me." she said, turning to the Comm screen and tapped in the link to Coordinator Freem. After a few moments the woman appeared, though she had the distinct feeling that the woman had been expecting her to call: "Commander. How is your investigation progressing ?"
"Slowly ... But that wasn't the reason for my contacting you Coordinator ......" Calli took a deep breath then plowed on, "I believe one of our team visited you earlier, you wouldn't happen to know their whereabouts .... Would you ?"
Freem seemed to be making an effort to hold in a grim.
"Are you telling me that you have lost another of your away team, Commander ? .... My my .... You don't seem to be having the best of luck in your time on our, planet. Would you like me to instruct our security personnel to be on the 'look-out' as you Humans say, for your wayward Officer ?"
"No, no .... Thank you for the offer Coordinator. I am sure he is just following up on information he has acquired, and will return with a report in due course. Though, I would like to request the return of our communication badges, it would make our inves ....."
"I am afraid I cannot allow that request Commander. But you are more than welcome to make use of our extensive system ... Now, unfortunately, a pressing appointment prevents me from further conversation at this time. Please contact my department if you decide you need help finding Lieutenant Milyanov, and try not to loose anyone else, it could give our world a bad reputation." The Comm closed and Calli sat back frustrated. "Well so much for wanting to help." Aeryn said. Calli looked around the room, then back at the now blank screen ... "Given where you are all sat, Freem could only have seen me on her screen ... Right ?" everyone looked at where each of them were sat in relation to the Comm screen, then nodded in agreement, "Sooooo. How did she know it was the Lieutenant that was missing ?" ..........
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Marionette
Commander
Dr. Soong's penchant for whimsical names seems to have no end.
Registered: Mar 2, 2012 3:26:33 GMT
Posts: 285
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Post by Marionette on Jul 6, 2013 17:25:49 GMT
"We have already concluded that Proxima is world with much surveillance, both overt and covert. I conclude that the only reason anyone can get away with anything for any length of time, is because records of their actions and whereabouts are embedded within many years worth of information." Marionette said, alluding to a popular circumvention used by 20th century lawyers called 'the paper steamroll' or 'the paper storm', which is still sometimes used by litigators even today.
"Compound this with bureaucratic compartmentalization of agencies and organisations within a societies government, and with some forethought, it is theoretically possible for one to do something, and have an agency not know about it, in spite of it being on record."
She continued "In the proper circumstances, this has resulted in a dual- society where there is at once, extreme force of law, but also pockets and circles of extreme lawlessness."
The idea of enlisting the assistance of proximan criminals was ..... awkward at best, nevermind very difficult given that they had made a nuisance of themselves since day 1 of arriving.
(and now, a comedy of errors; chapter 3; need-to-know.... )
just then, the doorbell of their common area rang. It was a black and yellow-armored fire department officer, a business suited functionary (no doubt sent by freem to tag along ?), and 3 black and blue armored police officers.
(fire sergent played by Sylvester Stallone.)
"We have reason to suspect that it was your robot that had set off the false fire alarm the other day." said the fire sergeant, who then waved a hand at the adjunct, who stepped forward and presented a round datapadd which played video of what seemed to be Marionette breaking the glass cover of the switch with a small hammer, and then yanking said switch, before wandering off camera.
But something was ....... very off.
For one, the footage itself was inexcusably lowgrade, but even with graniness and bad resolution, it was fairly clear that it as someone made up to look like Marionette;
-Most noticably, was her gait, which was far too stiff and mechanical for even Marionette's artificial movements. it was more like watching someone do a bad impression of a caricature of a 3rd rate D-film horror zombie-robot. (calli laughs at the absurdity of the person on the screen ?)
-also most noticeably was the use of a hammer; Marionette wouldn't use one if she was going to deliberately do that. (not to mention she was elsewhere, with other people as witnesses, when it went off)
-and lastly, was the persons figure. The filmed person was far too small and short, and not-well-endowed enough to be Marionette, who was, to put it plainly, more amazonian and buxom in size and figure than natural humanoid genetics could render.
One of other away-team officers looked at the 47 second footage, and then briskly handed it to the fire sergeant."Oh for for the love of flying bacon !!!, you cant seriously expect us to see this and believe Marionette did it !"
"These are rather minor but still serious enough charges, mister, and our jobs as firefighters is too important to go chasing pranks pulled by haywire robots, that you obviously cant give a shtako to bother controlling." the fire-Sargent said pridefully behind his slatted visor-helmet. He being male, was probably in a dead-end job as a fire-sergeant, so the least he could do was take pride in his work, as drudging and hard and thankless as it was most of the time.
Marionette went over to a fire alarm switch on the wall, turned around, and got the attention of the fire sergeant, who looked back and forth from the flexi-padd to the real Marionette..... And then obviously glared a seething look of hate at the functionary. "Excuse me for one moment ...." he said, with a gravelly edge of indignant anger in his voice. The sergeant then led the functionary by the arm back outside of the suites.
Once the door closed, the situation then blew up in the away-teams favor in 3 .... 2 .... 1
The fire sergeants berating voice was muffled through the walls, but it was very clear that he was chewing out the functionary up one wall, across the ceiling, down the other wall, and across the floor, upside down, inside out, backwards, reverse and inverse.
Afew choice phrases that could be made out was things like; 'now you're wasting my time as well ?', 'pure frelling shtako', 'not even court-worthy', '(something something) left in this city?', followed swiftly by a crisply heard 'SHUT! UP !' and finished with the nearly universal 'GET OUT of my sight'.
Afterwards, the police officers checked their wrist-computers, and said flatly "Enjoy your stay on Proxima, ladies and gentlemen." and with that, they left.
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Jul 6, 2013 18:56:10 GMT
Andae leant over Wedlerson's station, observing the man's work as closely as possible. His eyes kept slipping in and out of focus, the numbers that the Ops chief was calling up reduced to a blur smeared across the console. Not having slept in over 60 hours would do that, the CMO had told him.
If he was honest, the thought of going to sleep now frightened him. So exhausted was he that he knew the hypogogia would seize him. He would be assailed by new dream-incarnations of El-Kamat, or visions of the Gandai Empire disintegrating once more. He'd witnessed it a dozen times already.
"Is it doing anything unusual?" he asked Wedlerson.
"Negative, sir. It's in power reserve mode, drifting in roughly the same reference frame as the rest of the fleet."
Seems innocuous enough, Andae thought. The Ferengi's vessel was positioned inside an above-average concentration of the visiting ships. It was a small craft, probably just for one person - Rrava, the Ferengi that Lieutenant Milyanov was acquainted with. The ship hadn't been hard to find, partly because the Raven had come across it before.
Commander Peers had them in his report that Milyanov had run into Rrava on the surface. It was almost unbelievable, and it had happened at a strange time as well. Peers said that the team were sure they were being watched by the authorities; perhaps because they had located von Ahnk, but it had started before then. Milyanov had encountered Rrava while on a hunt for information. It seemed far too coincidental. Andae had conferred with Torek and they had decided to search for the Ferengi's ship. If they couldn't deal directly with the Proximian authorities, then perhaps going through Rrava would prove more fruitful. They'd found his ship; now they just needed to use it to get his attention.
Lt. Milyanov
Next they blind-folded him. He shook his head minutely. This was becoming all the more ridiculous. He felt the vehicle shudder to a halt, light spilling into the van's interior as the rear doors were rolled back. He could see nothing except two thin slits of searing light in his periphery.
The officials gripped his arms and shoulders tightly, but not harshly, and escorted him across open ground to what he guessed must've been the entrance to a building. They took him up a flight of steps; he stumbled on the way, and with a few grumbles, they picked him up and guided him inside.
"I think... In fact I'm quite sure you should've known... The team in the cafe took a pick-axe to the back wall. Nothing too severe. Just to make it look like one of the darts had rebounded off the table and 'into' the cafe."
Milyanov was kicked to the floor. It felt like marble; cold to his cheek's touch. A couple of teeth had been loosened, and he felt blood well readily in his mouth. There was a cool hiss and the sound of more footsteps, more people entering the room. "Take him to unit 5. This is going to take time."
He was lifted from the floor and dragged towards the source of the hiss. "Where did the... the dart rebound?" he mumbled, only half-aware that he was speaking. It was hard to consciously register what was being said around him, but something instinctive, something fighting against the shock gave him a voice.
"Into the Captain of course," someone replied. He was taken through the open doorway to one of the holding rooms. Why would they want to make it look like the shot had missed?
Next to the door, one of the guards was playing back the footage of the attack at the cafe. The guard watched as it got to the point where the chess enthusiast left. He wound it forward - to when the sedated Starfleet commander was taken away - and flicked idly between the interior and exterior views. Both internal and external surveillance showed no sign of the Starfleet Captain - only jerky black and white images, overlaid with Cordovin graphics. He shared looks with his fellow Proximians. The system had likely been hacked in order to alter both views, but nothing could be done about it now.
<Tag All>
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Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Jul 8, 2013 21:03:37 GMT
"I think we need to accept the fact that El-Kamat has the help of Freem, and possibly other members of the Proximian governing body. So unless they are suddenly going to return our missing Officers, I suggest we start making headway of our own." Calli said, realizing they were being picked off one by one. Everyone remained silent, waiting for her to continue ... She felt her thigh, trying to trace the capsule-shaped sub-dermal transmitter. It wasn't easy to find, and that was intentional, but with a little manipulation, she managed to feel the implant deep in her muscle. "The implant, it's a very low frequency transmitter, right ?" she mused. "We're talking in the billionth's of watts here." T'Brel offered, "But the frequency is so defined it can be picked up at almost two hundred thousand kilometers with the right receiver." "Nano-watts ..." Major Tavik said suddenly, "The implant runs on kinetic energy provided by blood flow through the muscle. That's how we know someone has, gone ... 'No blood flow, no power' ... The capsule itself uses less than ten milli-volts." she took a piece of paper and wrote: 0.035Vrms 10-9 W @ 0.936dBm / 00.161 hz "That's the jargon side. We had to memorize the frequency in case we needed to access it for tracking scenar ......" It suddenly dawned on everyone that the signal 'COULD' be tracked ! .... But they would need the Raven for that, because it was a definite they wouldn't be able to get access to anything remotely useful on the surface. In fact, Calli doubted the Proximian's would even have need for such precise measurements, "But before you ask Commander ... No, you can't use your implant to trace a second capsule. It's not the sort of thing that can be programmed into a tricorder." Aeryn said, seemingly embarrassed at her sudden spurt of tech' know-how. "I always knew you Marines were more than just oorah and grunt." Calli said, grinning, "OK ! ... So, we need the Raven. We know we can contact the ship using the Proximian Comm System, but we also know every word is being monitored, so we have to come up with a way of getting information to, and from, the ship. Their first task will be locating the Captain and Lieutenant Milyanov." "And if, when, we find them ?" Calli looked at each of the away team in turn ...... "WHEN, we find them, we find El-Kamat ... This 'weapon' has remained undiscovered for countless millenia, and it will remain so if we succeed. Therefore ....." Calli took a deep breath before continuing, "Regardless of the consequences, we cannot allow Kamat to leave this planet !" The full repercussions of Calli's statement didn't take long to sink in. If need be, would they sacrifice the away team, the Raven, and the eleven hundred men, women, and children aboard her, to ensure the safety of the galaxy ! ..........
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Jul 10, 2013 22:58:46 GMT
Having spent the last hour being advised by various members of staff regarding the Proximians' orbital security, Andae had finally decided to execute the plan. As far as they could discern, the Proximians didn't interfere in the intership affairs of the vessels in orbit about their planet, as long as it was confined to the vessels alone. They might still interfere in such activity if they saw it as suspicious, but it wasn't the normal practice.
Therefore Andae didn't see a problem in transporting someone on to the Ferengi's ship. The empty craft was on lockdown with the shields its only active system. The rest of it was in power reserve mode. In this case the raised shields were not an issue, as in the previous encounter with Rrava they had covertly learnt his shield frequencies.
"Please tell me he hasn't changed them," Blakus begged of the transporter operator. The man he was sending over entered the room quietly. The CEO was not overly keen of telling him the plan may not be going ahead after all.
"No, sir. They're still the same. Apparently he never discovered Milyanov's meddling."
"Your typical Ferengi doesn't worry about shield frequencies, in my experience, Commander," Barton said from behind Andae. "He's more concerned with making a profit."
"Your prejudiced views do you a disservice, Captain," Blakus offered. "If you'd kindly step onto the pad. Make your report immediately upon arrival, and again in ten minutes. I wouldn't be surprised if your presence sets off an intruder alert."
"Aye. Sir." The JAG officer took his place on the transporter pad, and was soon dissolved into a column of light, suspended in a frenzied state of matter-energy conversion for an instant before his dematerialisation.
Blakus sighed and exited the transporter room. He made it back to the bridge and to his surprise found Commodore Torek present, standing by the tactical rail observing the viewscreen, his hands linked behind him. Andae stepped down to the command area and took the centre chair, aware that he was being watched.
"This is risky, isn't it Andae?" Carl inquired. "If Rrava's working with the Proximian authorities, they'll be alerted immediately."
Blakus glared at the screen, the Ferengi's vessel displayed on it, small and harmless against the vastness of space laid out behind it. He knew the Commodore was already aware of the answer to his own needling questions. "We're counting on that, sir. If they make it known they're aware of Barton's presence then we'll know Rrava has links to them."
<Tag Torek>
* * * * *
Eight hours later... Counselor's Office
They were in the cavern on Cordovin IV. "Tell me about this place, Andae. What does it represent?" she asked.
Andae was mesmerised by the coruscating crystals in the walls of the cavern, and how they reflected the light of the Quincunx blue stone in pulsing waves. "It's not a representation, it actually happened. This was the start of the quest on the surface. I think..."
His thoughts were muddled, as if they were the remnants of a portrait that had been torn up by its creator and reluctantly reassembled.
"The essences of the Commodore were separated from his body, and shortly after we came under attack... El-Kamat arrived and tried to take the stone. I'm not sure if he..." A dark insurmountable wall rose from nothing as he tried to think of it, slamming his mind away from that part of memory. He shook his head and thought further on, "From there we headed across the desert and met the Dexxeni... But, something's not right..." Andae squinted, the walls of the cavern dissolving, and held his head. It felt like the onset of a migraine.
"This doesn't quite match with other accounts of what took place. Although all of them are admittedly fragmented," the Counselor nodded thoughtfully.
They flew forward in his memory, passing through layers of uncertain recollection.
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Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,163
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Post by Carl Torek on Jul 13, 2013 0:54:46 GMT
With the Children in school, of a sort, and him finding himself at the proverbial 'loose end' .. Carl decided to go to the Bridge ... He was surprised at what was happening when he arrived, and ensured Commander Wedlerson that he was here for the view, not to take over. Withing ten minutes, Commander Blakus entered, he nodded to Carl then took his seat, and waited for the comment:
"This is risky, isn't it Andae ?" Carl inquired, "If Rrava's working with the Proximian authorities, they'll be alerted immediately."
"We're counting on that, Sir. If they make it known they're aware of Barton's presence then we'll know Rrava has links to them."
He had to admit, it was a good idea ... He looked at the readings and frowned at one segment, before realizing that his Engineer hadn't simply sent a 'JAG' Captain onto a possible 'unfriendly' without a means to contact the Raven.
"Ultra-low frequency transmitter ..... Very ingenious." Carl grinned, when do you plan on contacting our ginny-pig ?"
"Right now." Andae said, nodding to the Duty Comms Officer.
=^= Blakus to Barton .. Status =^=
There was a long delay, but the Comm crackled to life:
=^= Barton .. Arrived safely .. Just ! .. You owe me a new tunic and several strong drinks .. That beam-in was a tad too close to the bulkhead for my liking =^=
"So, out of curiosity here Andae, because I 'KNOW' you have one of those 'Plans' of yours, cooking .... But is Barton just going to pop up to the Bridge and say 'Hi' ?"
< tag : Andae >
"In the food !" Carl said, "That's bloody genius ! ..... The Proximian's can't supply fresh jellied gree worm, so must allow the ship to transport it to their crew on the surface, and you've figured a way to hide equip ......."
"No Sir, we can disguise a few Comm badges, but nothing bigger." Blakus said.
"It all depends on Rrava's reaction to finding Barton then ?" Carl asked ..........
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Jul 13, 2013 23:46:36 GMT
"So, out of curiosity here Andae, because I 'KNOW' you have one of those 'Plans' of yours, cooking .... But is Barton just going to pop up to the Bridge and say 'Hi' ?"
"I think that's a bad idea, Commodore. But no, the Captain isn't going to head to the bridge. Even though we suspect Rrava might not be among those present on the ship - T'Brel thought he might still be on the surface - it's right that we shouldn't plunge Captain Barton into deeper trouble with the Ferengi who are present."
Andae got out of the command chair and rounded the tactical rail to the console, pushing the duty officer out of the way. "It seems that the Ferengi vessel has some sort of agreement with the Proximians regarding its crewmembers who are on the surface. It regards a certain delicacy..."
"In the food !" Carl said, "That's bloody genius ! ..... The Proximian's can't supply fresh jellied gree worm, so must allow the ship to transport it to their crew on the surface, and you've figured a way to hide equip ......."
"No Sir, we can disguise a few Comm badges, but nothing bigger." Blakus said.
"It all depends on Rrava's reaction to finding Barton then ?" Carl asked.
"Indeed. And I couldn't possibly take all the credit for it, sir. Most of the details were fuzzy; you've filled them out for me somewhat."
There were a tense few minutes as Captain Barton - JAG officer and recently-appointed spy - made his way to the Ferengi ship's bulk cargo transport bay. Fortunately the vessel had only a nominal crew complement of 10, hence Barton's chances of being found were acceptably low.
"I've arrived at the cargo bay, Raven." Barton sounded calm enough. "Looks like they've already got their next load ready on the pad. That's fortunate..."
Blakus knitted his fingers together to keep from fiddling, as he was wont to do in situations like this. As soon as Captain Barton was done he would be beamed straight back to the Raven, through the Ferengi craft's active shield grid. Andae cast a glance at Carl, who stood impassively, but who was probably just as tense as the CEO.
"Task complete," Barton's voice escaped in a whispered rush. Blakus got the impression the man was running. He would need to be away from the cargo transporter pad when he was beamed out, else the Federation transporter signature would be detected by the Ferengi pad's relays.
"Beam out in five seconds... Four, three..." Wedlerson stopped. Blakus was about to ask but the Ops officer went on. "We've lost his signal, sir. It's just gone. The Ferengi may have detected him and may now be masking his signature."
Blakus thought this was wonderful. Not only was he - indeed the whole crew - facing a court martial, he would now be indicted with having lost a senior JAG officer. "Did the cargo transportation take place?" he asked, nervously tapping his palms on the sides of the chair. Of course, his court martial depending upon him actually surviving this whole affair.
"Yes, sir. The food and commbadges were beamed to a customs office not far from the conurbation centre. The away team's hotel - the Alberja - is some 5 miles from that checkpoint."
Blakus nodded curtly, satisfied with this turn of events. It was unlikely that Barton had been terminated, and the Ferengi could be bartered with to release any prisoner, no matter how highly valued. Also included with the package inside the gree worm shipment were constituent parts to make two Type I phasers. He only hoped the team would be allowed to collect the whole of the cargo from customs. And it would be interesting to see who turned up to collect the Ferengi shipment...
<Tag Carl, Surface Team>
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T'Brel Peers
Commander
The needs of the many outweight the needs of the few.
Registered: Jul 22, 2005 5:39:54 GMT
Posts: 324
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Post by T'Brel Peers on Jul 16, 2013 0:20:49 GMT
T'Brel didn't particularly like the stares he was receiving from the restaurant’s patrons, any of them could be a potential threat and T'Brel was ready to defend himself and the major from any form of attack.
Quuh, the person assigned to watch over them, was not particularly happy about them separating, but he knew there was nothing he could do to keep tabs on all of them. T'Brel doubted he was the only person assigned to watch over them, but for the time being he was the most evident obstacle standing in their way.
“What are you doing?” Quuh asked as T’Brel made his way into the kitchen, “this is a private business, you do not have the right to go inside without the permission of the owner.”
“Who is the owner? I would love to meet the person responsible for the great smells in this establishment, plus I’m sure they would like to know who was responsible for the attack that occurred in their establishment,” T’Brel said making sure to enjoy the distress that he was causing Quuh. Ignoring logic and just having fun at some lackey’s expense was sometimes the way to go.
“This is the owner, his name is Hulmar,” Quuh said as he pushed the clearly scared man toward T’Brel. T’Brel could easily sense the man’s distress about being put in this position, but T’Brel could also sense that his presence scared Hulmar. Being relatively tall and strong sure did have its advantages. As T’Brel approached Hulmar, he made sure to take his most aggressive stance.
“Hulmar, my name is Commander T’Brel Peers, son of T’Reed of Vulcan and Ezdrieana of Trill, from the House of Martok, I ask for your indulgence as I and my colleague search the premises of your establishment,” T’Brel asked knowing full well that he was just telling him that he would be doing this.
Hulmar became very agitated as he looked for Quuh’s instructions. T’Brel made sure to partially block Quuh from his line of sight and continued to speak with Hulmar. “I understand that you do not know anything about me but know this, I have many friends and I know that you wouldn’t want them to pay you or your establishment a visit. Even though T’Brel had no intention of hurting the little man, Hulmar did not know this and quickly gave him permission to search the entire place. As T’Brel went through the kitchen, he quickly appreciated the intelligence of their enemy. The kitchen had three doors all leading to a different side street. El-Kamat could easily blend into the crowds without worry. T’Brel however believed that El-Kamat was a little paranoid about people knowing his locale, so he ventured towards the door to the left. It led to a back alley, which was surrounded by what T’Brel would guess to be Proximian public housing.
“What are you doing? You can’t leave the restaurant!” Quuh said clearly annoyed that the entire situation was becoming chaotic and uncontrollable.
“If you want to stop me, you are welcomed to try, “T’Brel said as he left the restaurant and headed into the unknown. As he turned the corner, T’Brel stopped to wait for one of Quuh partners. Like expected two men appeared.
“You go down that road and I’ll go down this one. He couldn’t have gotten that far ahead of us!” one of the men said rather loudly. As he saw the bigger of the two men run towards the plaza, T’Brel just bided his time. As the leader of the two approached his location, T’Brel patiently waited. It didn’t take long for the man to find him, but T’Brel quickly acted as he delivered a quick punch to the gut and a knee to the face. The man had been knocked out before he had hit the floor. T’Brel picked him up with ease and placed him next one of the buildings. Anyone passing by would assume he was a degenerate drunk.
T’Brel made his way down the alley. It seemed the alley paralleled the streets on the plaza. El-Kamat could use these streets to easily move throughout the entire city. T’Brel noticed that very few people roamed these side streets. The three people he actually encountered quickly ran back into their apartments as soon as they realized that someone was walking towards them. ~I highly doubted they could have seen my spots from that far a distance~ T’Brel thought as took a moment to once again inspect his surroundings. The buildings had gotten more and more dilapidated as he walked on. Apparently this was not a safe part of town.
“Hey look it’s another one of those aliens that everyone is talking about!” a man said behind T’Brel.
“Are you sure? We don’t want to make the boss angry, you remember what he did to the last fool that angered him?” another man said as he cracked his knuckles.
“Shut the hell up, Boys come out!” another man said which caused five other men to appear from the buildings. They were all thin and dirty. It was easy to see why El-Kamat was so powerful. The promise of good food and a clean bed was a powerful incentive. T’Brel knew that this was a fight he wouldn’t be able to get out of, as he waited for the men to make their moves, he wished he had asked the major to come with him.
(Tag anyone)
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Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Jul 16, 2013 22:14:52 GMT
Frustrated at the lack of progress, not from the away team's lack of persistence, but from the un-cooperative actions of Freem and her people, Calli was going through what scant information they had so far, and thinking hard on the fact that they were yet another Officer missing !
'At this rate there will be no away team to do the searching' ... she thought, mad at her lack viable, and 'officially sanctioned' idea's. She was about to start going through the surveillance footage of the restaurant yet again, so she could start looking at 'unofficial' forms of action, when the door chime sounded ... As no-one seemed eager to answer, she got up and approached the door. The Alberja was one of those 'traditional' establishments, that chose to use less tech' in their design. Opening the door manually, Calli could have had a thousand guesses and not come close to guessing who had rang the bell:
The Ferengi looked her up and down, simultaneously weighing up her value on the open market, and his chances of becoming the lucky owner.
"HEY !!! ... I'm up here !" Calli said, forcing the Ferengi to move his gaze to her eye-line.
"You are, not what I was expecting. A 'FEMALE' of such beau ...."
"Yeh yeh, what do you want ?" Calli said, stepping back into the room so the others could see who she was talking to.
"I am, under orders, to deliver this to you. Before you ask, I have no information to part with." he said, dropping a large canvass-like sack on the floor at her feet, "It was included in our nutrition package from the Rrava, along with your Captain's name ... Do not worry, we have not tampered with the, package ... Now, what remuneration do you offer for the delivery ?" the Ferengi said, eyeing Calli and rubbing his hands together in expectation.
He didn't expect a Marine, let alone a 'female' Marine, to step in front of him and physically push him out of the door:
"You get to leave with everything intact !" she said, grabbing the door and swinging it into it's ornate frame.
Calli lifted the bag and placed it on the table. She opened the seal and was about to check the contents when jellied gree worm spilled over the surface and onto the floor. everyone jumped back so as not to get covered in the foul-smelling mush. It was then that Marionette observed the package ...
The size of a large book, the glutinous viscus sack was what they were after. Aeryn checked it visually before picking it up and wiping the surplus worm off. Moving to the desk, she ripped the pack open and tipped the contents out:
"Go Raven !" she said, dropping three Comm badges on to the desk, then several parts Calli recognized. Aeryn didn't waste time, and within a few seconds had reconstructed two Type I phasers ..... Marionette had picked up one of the Comm badges and had been examining it closely as Aeryn worked on the weapons. She put the badge down and nodded, using a Human mannerism for someone who realized something suddenly.
"These Communicators have been specifically modified to implement frequencies outside Proximian parameters, but it is doubtful their Security Services will not pick up the frequency activity at some point."
"Then we make the most of what we have !" Calli said, grinning for the first time in ages ..........
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Jul 17, 2013 22:27:45 GMT
Lt. Milyanov
The Proximian guard strode down the bare hallway heading for containment cell 44-E. The rooms beyond the doors on either side of him were well appointed, almost like quarters rather than prison cells. He held the electricified baton before him, slamming its heavy weight into his other palm, before rapping it on the appropriate door.
He heard shuffling inside, then the door mechanism being released. The prisoner was out of his bloodied suit they'd captured him in. Clearly he'd been reclining on the sofa in the corner of the room, watching the televisual feed.
"You're settling in well, human. Mind if I come in?"
"By all means," the Russian said brightly. He had cleaned himself up, shaved, tended to his wounds, and arrayed himself in baggy lounge wear. He bounced along to the kitchenette area at the other side of the room and started fussing over a beaker. "Would you care for a glass of water?" He poured the liquid out in two glasses and handed one to the guard, who promptly smashed it on the floor. Milyanov cleared his throat and indicated the televisual display, "I've been watching the breaking news from the energy centres. A transformer blew out, cutting power to several blocks in the city centre. Office units mainly."
"I heard, yes." The guard regarded the feed briefly, his eyes unreadable. "Human, would you like to meet the other prisoners. We're gathering everyone in the rec room at 1500 hours. There will be a group discussion and recuperative process."
"I don't need group therapy." Milyanov waved his hand dismissively, throwing back his glass of water in one go. He wished it was another variation of clear liquid... "I had no idea this was a rehab centre. I thought I was at a... federal prison."
"It's not a rehab centre. Not in the sense I think you mean anyway." The guard stowed his baton that Milyanov had been surprisingly completely ignoring so far. He was either oblivious to the weapon or didn't care.
"So, are you going to leave my friends alone?" The lieutenant lowered himself to the sofa, using the handheld device to change the feed's bandwidth. He seemed very interested in the online chess channels.
"That's not up to me. This is the Coordinator's game and only she can make such a decision... You have to admit, you were insane to have taken that sample from your Captain's table. Where did you think you would end up? Speaking of which... your grey jacket?" the guard inquired. Milyanov pointed to the back room nonchalantly. The guard fetched the jacket, knowing where the human had put the flecks he'd collected from the dart's impact point.
A spectroscopic analysis was in order. He gave his regards to the lieutenant and left the room. Milyanov, while exuding a disinterested air, watched the guard's departure very closely. Outside the door were two Proximian females. Psychodoctors, they called them, their unintelligible devices clutched to their bodies. The guard nodded. "He's yours. Make sure it's quick." The door paused as the Psychodoctors passed the guard entering the room. Milyanov shrunk back into the couch, the devices in the females' hands looming over him shining malevolently.
The guard strode down the steps, boarding one of the unit's vans and heading to the district south of the plaza. The van rolled to a halt and he disembarked with his squad: four enforcers with plasma rifles and batons. He approached the square up ahead, where the assailant was cornered. He called out to the delinquents to halt their attack. "Stand down. Let the Starfleet man be."
The delinquents stepped back and the guard and his entourage stepped into the clearing. Things were in fact about to become more complicated for the Commander.
<Tag T'Brel>
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Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Jul 21, 2013 15:59:13 GMT
OOC: Sorry for the length of this post, needed to get it all in in one go guys ...
IC:Hiding one of the Comm badges inside the waist-band of her trousers, Calli headed for the door: "I'm going to take another look at the area Milyanov was looking into. Try not to use the communicator unless essential. If we can minimize the use it will give us time before Proximian Security latch onto the frequency." She left the room and took the lift to the foyer. Taking a leisurely amble, she headed for the plaza ... It was obvious that the general population had no clue as to what was happening on their planet,in fact, Calli had the distinct feeling that 'should' certain information suddenly become public knowledge, there would be swift and sudden questions asked of the governing body. ~~~~~~~~~~She had been mulling over the prospect of leaking information and hadn't realized she has crossed the plaza and was passing down a narrow street between two of the Museum facilities. She was about to retrace her steps when she was hit hard from behind ... Dazed, and fighting to hold on to consciousness, her vision reduced to nothing as a bag of some kind was thrust over her head. Two people grabbed her firmly and dragged her forward before slamming her into a wall, the impact doing little to help her as hands pushed her shoulders and face against the wall roughly ..... "You can allow her to see gentlemen, I am sure the Commanded has realized her situation, and will give you no cause to inflict more pain upon her." an unknown voice said, and Calli blinked as sunlight almost burned her retina for a second as her eyesight adjusted, "I believe you have been looking for me ?" "I was almost expecting a mad scientist type." Calli said, looking the man up and down, realizing he was much younger, and in better shape than she imagined, "You know, white lab coat, enormous spectacles, disheveled mad hair thing, several pens and the odd test tube popping out of your pocket." The blow to her midriff winded her instantly. "Gentlemen .... Please ...." the man said, placing a hypo-spray on her neck and injecting something, "That will ensure our conversation runs smoothly. Now, go to the plaza, ensure we are not disturbed until I call you." Both men hesitated, but finally complied. "What was that ?" Calli asked, realizing she was relaxing by the second. "Oh, a little concoction of my own making. It will not harm you in the correct dosage. I have given you the minimum hoping you will comply with my request not to cause trouble or call for help during our, conversation ... Now ... I should formally introduce myself ... I am Doctor Eric von Anhk. I am, as you are aware, currently employed by one El-kamat, the details are somewhat tedious, but in essence I am in the middle of formulating a much needed component of Kamat's device." "So you haven't finished yet then, that's good to know." Calli said, smiling, while simultaneously realizing he wouldn't be telling her this if he meant to leave her alive, "Where are Captain Watson and Lieutenant Milyanov ?" "Oh, they are, safe ... For the time being, although, that could change should they, or any of the remaining Raven crew cause us, difficulties, before we depart ..." Anhk said, adjusting the hypo-spray as he spoke, "You, on the other hand, have become a major liability in the absence of your Captain. El-Kamat suspects you are a little more than a Star Fleet Commander, and I have to agree with his assessment. Which is why, you are to become the subject of a 'missing persons' inquiry yourself ... Alas, this time, the result will be most unfortunate." he said, stepping forward to place the hypo on her neck. She knew that she needed to act, and quickly ! Closing her eyes, as if not wanting to see the final moment when Anhk put the injector on her neck and ended her life, she made the smallest of sobs, which halted the doctor's progress. "You will feel no pain my dear." Anhk said quietly and that was all the delay Calli needed ..... She slammed her knee into the mans groin, making him fall forward. She smacked her forehead into the back of the mans neck, hoping to disrupt the nervous system for a second. She was feeling the drug working against her, but knew that if Anhk got the upper hand, or could call out to his henchmen, she would be dead ! Slamming a fist into Anhk's throat, she prevented him shouting for help, but he was stronger than she expected in her drugged state. He ran forward and pushed her into the wall, the crack as her head impacted the brickwork was loud and she saw stars for a second as Anhk approached once more. This time he kicked her hard in the stomach, doubling her over and almost making her vomit. She managed to turn away from the second kick and slammed a fist into the lateral cutaneous nerve cluster of his inner thigh. He dropped like a stone and Calli dropped on top of him, both hands pushing his face into the hard stone floor. Again, Anhk was too strong ... He turned below her and reached up to use the hypo-spray, but Calli fended off the thrust and punched him in the face repeatedly ... She was fighting for her life now, all thoughts of simply subduing her attacker gone from her mind ! She felt the ice-cold liquid from the hypo' on her cheek as he pushed the discharge button too quickly. She grabbed at his hands and began to force the hypo' away from her neck. The blow from Anhk dazed her but she knew she must prevent contact of the hypo' or die. Grabbing his collar, Calli rolled away, pulling Anhk with her ... Now their position were reversed, but she could use the ground to provide leverage and an anchor point as she began to push the hypo towards Anhk. Anhk was gaining the upper hand quickly as Calli's drug-induced strength subsided ... She had little time left ... Releasing her grip with her left hand, she pushed her thumb against his larynx with her fingers along the side of his neck. With all her remaining strength, she held the hypo' off and began to apply pressure with her left hand, cutting off Anhk's air supply instantly ! Slowly, very slowly, his resistance to her fight began to diminish, and she began to turn the hand holding the hypo-spray ... But she too was reaching the last of her reserves, and knew she had only seconds to win or loose the fight ... So, as Anhk began to loose the last vestiges of consciousness, she released her grip on his throat and grabbed her right hand. The two looked into their opponents eyes, each knowing their life or death struggle could end with only one victor. With the hypo' millimeters from Anhk's neck, his strength finally gave out. The device pushed against the skin, the force of Calli's grip expelling the remaining contents into Anhk's blood stream ! His body went rigid, eyes wide in horror as he realized he was about to die. He had no time for regrets, or reminiscences as the fluid saturated his brain, burning every synapse instantly ... He was dead before his heart could make another beat ..... Breathing heavily, she pushed his body off hers and rolled on her side, heaving and gasping for life-giving oxygen to replenish her lungs and blood ... Moments later, she was able to stand, and unsteady on her feet she left the empty street before Anhk's men realized there was anything amiss .... ~~~~~Two streets away, she found a quiet alcove and used her tunic to wipe away the blood from her face and neck. She expected to hear sirens any second as Anhk's lifeless body was discovered by one of the guards, but there was no such alarm ... Calli made her way back to the hotel and amid stares, she entered the lift ... Moments later she entered the main room the group was using and fell to the carpet exhausted. Aeryn and Marionette lifted her off the floor and onto on of the long sofa's. "Anhk is dead !" was all Calli could manage before passing out ..........
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Jul 22, 2013 16:40:39 GMT
"Confirmed... The shipment was collected by the Ferengi crew on the surface," Wedlerson said, rotating in his seat, expecting a surprised response from him maybe.
Blakus shrugged his shoulders. "We know they like their gree worm. The question is, Commander, did the communicators and phasers reach the away team?" The question was unanswerable at the moment. But as soon as they picked up the use of Federation comm signals on the surface then they'd know that the devices were at least found. Blakus paused in his discourse... That wasn't necessarily a good thing.
He felt a spasm within him, some muscular pain. He realised he hadn't slept in getting on for three days now. His mind was starting to run in circles, logical loops rotating without much progression.
"Barton's trying to make contact, sir. He reports that he has made peace with Rrava and his crew," someone reported. "Rrava admits to dealing with the Proximian authorities, but that's all he's managed to learn so far." Impressive, Blakus thought rolling his eyes. "They've... they've stolen the ship away. I'm not getting it on sensors anymore. Barton's message was received three minutes ago."
"That's not good enough, Mister. A ship can go a long way in three minutes," Andae snapped unnecessarily. He was really beginning to feel irritated.
"They can't have got that far, sir. I would surmise they've passed to the other side of the planet."
"Get us around there. I intend to impound that vessel if they want to keep a high ranking JAG officer on board for much longer. Do we really want to be charged with losing Captain Barton? No. I thought not. Get the power down, now. Full impulse." The bridge crew looked at him incredulously. Quarter lightspeed in orbit of a terrestrial world was... risky to say the least.
As they started moving, ships in the shoal ahead of them started moving strangely. A couple broke formation, and as the Raven went speeding through the shoal's orbital path, the two craft dived at them from 'above'. A vibration rattled through the bridge; something had struck the shields. "What the hell's going on?!"
"Torpedoes!" the tactical officer yelled back.
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Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,163
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Post by Carl Torek on Jul 22, 2013 21:13:01 GMT
As with all good, or competent, Commanding Officers, Carl had long ago learned to trust his staff, especially those involved in sometimes dangerous away missions ... Sitting reading, Carl could see the ships in close proximity to the Raven now they had established their new orbital trajectory. Although, 'close' was subjective given the size and allocations of orbital paths. He stood, and walked to the replicator requesting his usual. He asked Chloe if she wanted a drink and she nodded. Retrieving both glasses, he turned away from the replicator and noticed they ship was moving. But not simply adjusting her orbit. The Raven was accelerating, and fast ! Chloe looked up from the homework she was marking to see the ship turn quickly and noticed several vessels seemingly moving out of their way in a hurry. She looked at Carl, confused, but the Commodore seemed to be taking the rapid increase in speed in his stride, though she knew him well enough to know he was concerned: "Maybe you should contact the Bridge ?" she said, taking the glass. Carl was about to reply when the dorsal shields flared and the ship shook for a second. That reaction could only come from being hit by something. he sat down, rotating his chair to face the expansive windows and watched the ship scythe through vessels with seemingly little consideration for their well being, but he knew Commander Blakus was acting out of necessity, "Carl, the Children are OK, go see whats happening." Chloe urged. Given the Proximian's lack of tolerance regarding unauthorized maneuvers, and the fact that the orbital sentries hadn't blown them to the next world, so to speak, it was plain they were allowing the Raven's headlong dive through their outer atmosphere en-route to where ever the ship was heading. But that did beg the question of 'who' was firing at them, and again, why the orbital systems hadn't activated to put their usual swift end to all the confusion ! The Comm chirped suddenly, making Chloe jump: =^= Commodore Torek to the Bridge .. Commodore Torek to the Bridge =^= "Second opinion." Chloe said, taking his half empty glass and pointing toward the door ... ~~~~~"Bit of excitement Commander ?" he asked, stepping from the turbo-lift. Andae almost, but not quite, got out of the center seat. He motioned toward the Exec's chair and ordered the Raven's Helm Officer to roll the ship to present the minimal aspect. Carl took the seat and watched the screen intently ... Regardless of the Engineer's constant good humored yammering that 'Command' wasn't for him, and the fact he was well 'at home' with his engines, the man was an expert tactician and Command officer. The two ships firing on them adjusted their orientation to keep hitting the dorsal sections ... It was plain that their weapons couldn't penetrate the Raven's shielding, so why the concentration of fire ? "Helm, invert the ship then move us out through those ships." Blakus ordered, "try not to scratch the paintwork, and let's not kill anyone if at all possible possible." The ship turned turtle, with the planet 'above' them and started 'down' ...... Several more ship's made evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision, but then the Raven had clear space ahead ... As quickly as it had started, the assault on the ship ceased. "Roll us back to a nominal orbital aspect, track those attacking vessel's. I want to know where the hell they came from, and where they think they're going to hide, and scan for the Rrava." Blakus ordered, then finally turned to look at Carl: "Excitement ...... Yes." he said. "Sir, we have her. Five thousand kilometers ahead, two thousand below our current orbital track." the duty Helm Officer said, "SIR ! ... Two of the orbital sentries had reconfigured their aspect and have a passive lock on us, none of their weapons are activated at this point, they're simply 'watching' us." "Never rains eh." Carl said, attempting that Vulcan eyebrow thing, but not quite getting it, "Update ?" Andae began to bring Carl up to speed regarding the 'JAG' Officer and their subsequent loss of contact, when the Helm Officer turned to face them. "Ensign ?" Blakus said. "Sir ..... I'm not sure if this is anything to do with us, but I picked up a sort of 'planet-wide announcement' from the Proximian Capital as we moved over the city. I've just replayed it. I think it could be relevant ... She put the news report on the main screen: * SERIOUS OFFENCE NOTIFICATION *
* PROXIMIAN CITIZEN MURDERED *
Information regarding the callous and brutal murder of one of our most illustrious citizens is requested. All information will be treated in confidence. Visitors and Citizens are expected to do their duty by Proximian law and come forward with any relevant information.
Details:
At nineteen forty six hours, Capital time. The body of one ERIC VON ANHK, a prominent scientific leader in our community was found. He suffered a severe beating and was subjected to the most vile attack in Proximian history before receiving thirty five stab wounds. His throat was lacerated several times, the subsequent loss of blood leading to his death ......
Security forces are currently reviewing any surveillance footage available and hope to apprehend the perpetrator within hours.
Updates will be made as information is received.
All information to: Central Security Command. *******************************************************
! IMMIGRATION NOTIFICATION !
ALL arrivals and departures have been suspended during the investigation
******************************************************* [/center] Everyone on the Bridge read, then re-read the notice, even though is had been made live and they had had to listen to the horrible details of the mans death. "Not one's for hiding the gory details these Proximians." the duty Operations Officer said, trying hard not to vomit on her console. "El-Kamat ?" someone offered. "Not his style ...." Carl said, grateful the Bridge staff could still be open with him as usual, despite the situation he was in, "But the facts say that 'someone' did this ... Can we access Proximian records, they should be open to visitors ?" "Already on it Sir." the duty Opps Officer said, "Seems the last time anyone was murdered, was over, hell, two hundred years ago !" Carl looked at the information on-screen then asked if the data could be transferred to one of the inactive stations and the forward view restored ...... He looked at the gnat of a Ferengi vessel, hanging sedately ahead and below them, and wondered how this development was affecting both the safety of Captain Barton, and that of the away teams' investigation ..........
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Jul 23, 2013 23:40:09 GMT
Counselor's Office, six hours in the future...
"It's all backwards." The Counselor added. "Everything you've shown me is playing out in reverse to how it appears in the reports of Watson, Valenti, Tavik and your own report, Andae. There's significant discrepancy between them, but they all agree on one thing. Events progress in reverse order to what we're seeing here." Her voice, while insistent remained soft. "Do you have control over this?"
"I think... The scene in the cavern was the crucial point. It was the culmination of everything that happened on the surface of Cordovin IV. Perhaps my memory is unfolding from there. But there are blind spots, places my memory won't let me go. Dark precipices I can only visit in my dreams."
"The extinction of the Gandai," she nodded in understanding. "And Kamat's manifestations." Near silence pervaded, broken only intermittently by the whistling of the wind through the cave. It was as if this was a holoprogram; on pause or incomplete with minimal functionality. "Is it... Is it possible his dream manifestations are communicating something? Not just an echo of him, but his actual self. Is he trying to tell us where he is?"
Andae looked at her suddenly. "Why would he want to do that?" Silence fell once more.
She seemed almost affronted, "I don't know. Perhaps to draw us forward, pull us into a trap. He did it before in the Zennai system and nearly killed us all, remember?"
"Oh, I'd forgotten all about that," Blakus said drily.
"You have to admit though, he's already done it. Revealed himself I mean," the Counselor said. Just as she said it the scene they were currently witnessing dissolved in a haze of resurgent memory. The Counselor stood open-mouthed in shock. "What's this? This isn't Cordovin IV."
"Oh yes it is..." Blakus's mouth was dry, his voice less than a whisper. The panoramic window looking out over the capital of the Gandai Empire was before him again. Apocalypse reigned on the horizon. A sphere, a globular mass of grey rose into the heavens on pillars of fire, escaping the fury of the matter-antimatter devices detonated on the surface by the Gandai's enemies.
"Oh no, not again. But this is... this isn't a dream! It's happening right now!" He pinched his arm, then lowered himself to his knees, and pounded his fists on the floor til they were red and bloody. He was trying to shake himself out of this shared matrix of his memories that the telepathic Counselor had induced.
"Commander, stop it! You're scaring me. I know this isn't real but..."
"Break it! Break it, damn you!!!" Blakus screamed, his features wracked with pain as he cradled himself on the floor. "I don't want to sleep." Out of the corner of his eye he could espy the door to the observational suite rolling back. Booted feet approached, coming to a halt before him. The Counselor was retreating. The new arrival rose a weapon and discharged it at the window. The shattered glass cascaded and air gusted into the room, and the Counselor who was stepping backwards was swept out of the window. Her cries were lost on the wind as she fell several hundred metres to the embattled streets below.
Blakus dared a glance up, shielding his eyes from the sight as the air stormed through the interior. It was El-Kamat. "Rise, young one. You have much still to do. You know where I am now, yes? You have minions on the surface that are now mine."
Kamat looked completely different. Blakus remembered the studious appearance of the dedicated archaeologist, not the contorted visage of the evil despot that leered over him now. He struggled to his feet, backing away towards the wall, his bloodied hands leaving stains. He wondered how he was going to break this link. He needed to get back to the battle in the exterior world. If the Counselor had perished in here, surely the link would break and they would return unharmed to her office. Unless... he'd been knocked into a coma.
"You're probably wondering what I mean. Those of your team we've captured will soon be working for me. They're being transported to the largest power plant at the Proximian capital's industrial quarter. You nearly discovered the mechanism I have there, when you found the discrepancy in the Proximians' power requirements. An 'informant' told me of your meddling."
Blakus allowed himself to slump to the floor again. To Kamat he appeared near death, his face white and devoid of life. The engineer stayed calm, burning in anticipation as Kamat walked closer. Then once he was close enough, Blakus took a sharp breath and made a scissor-kick at the archaeologist's legs. Kamat sprawled to the floor, growling in rage. Blakus rose to his feet in a hurry and kicked him in the gut. That got him even madder. Andae pulled the dazed Cordovin up and kicked him square in the chest. Kamat toppled over the edge, framed for a magical instant by the multi-hued shards of glass of the broken window.
The engineer approached the edge cautiously and looked down, to see the distant figure of Kamat disappearing into the carnage. Yet the scene was not dissolving. He'd assumed Kamat's presence had been keeping it going. Then he saw a jewel shooting to the horizon, from far below towards the ascending spherical weapon. He had a bad feeling of what, or who, that jewel might be. He collapsed on the floor. "I don't want to sleep."
At this the scene changed. This time it was something he'd never seen before. The interior of a giant industrial complex, a bank of control panels next to a giant stack of generators that rose many hundred metres above him. About a half dozen people wandered about, checking the controls. They were all Proximians. A person, walking rather robotically, appeared from around the corner of the gantry ahead. It was, to Andae's shock, his assistant chief Lieutenant Milyanov!
OOC: As said above, this is a glimpse of six hours in the future. From here on I will be posting in the present until Andae reaches that point
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Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Jul 24, 2013 13:20:32 GMT
They let Commander Valenti sleep for approximately an hour, during which time Aeryn and Marionette watched with growing dismay the reports of von Anhk's apparent murder ! ..... Aeryn noticed Calli waking and want to help her into a sitting position. She gave her a glass of water which Calli accepted gratefully:
"What's going on ?" she asked, noticing the report being broadcast by the Proximian Information Service, "They're saying that, Anhk was .... Mutilated .... That's ridiculous !"
"Are you able to tell us what happened Commander ?" Marionette asked, turning ti face her, "I assume the reports are grossly inaccurate."
Calli ran through the series of events leading up to the attack, and Calli's subsequent actions. She reassured both of them that she simply was not capable of inflicting such horrific injuries. She doubted Anhk's body was in any worse condition than when she left it in the side street ..... It was glaringly obvious that the Proximian's were embellishing the incident, but to what end. Would they accuse one of the Raven crew of murder !
"Has anyone been in contact from the Proximian government ?" Calli asked.
"Not a peep." Aeryn said, listening to yet more gory details of the fictitious massacre that occurred earlier, "In fact, we almost expected Freem and her Security people to be knocking the door down within minutes of the news getting out, but, nothing." she finished, shrugging, before approaching Calli with the Proximian equivalent of a hypo-syringe and lifting the arm of her tunic ... Calli felt the device extract a minute amount of blood, which she assumed the Marine would use to find out what Anhk had used on her.
"I wouldn't bother Major ... Anhk told me it was something he'd cooked up himself. Besides, I doubt we'll be inflicted to any more of the stuff." Aeryn nodded but stored the sample for future investigation by the Raven's Doctor.
"Have we had any contact with the ship ?"
"No. We attempted a brief link, but it seems the Raven has moved around the far side of the planet." Aeryn answered. Calli got up and headed for the bathroom:
"I'm going to take a shower. Keep your eye on those reports. I imagine the Raven will have already picked up the announcement given it's apparent planet-wide importance ... Let's hope they can get a message down to us before anyone else vanishes." ..........
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Marionette
Commander
Dr. Soong's penchant for whimsical names seems to have no end.
Registered: Mar 2, 2012 3:26:33 GMT
Posts: 285
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Post by Marionette on Jul 26, 2013 8:13:59 GMT
The Raven received a hail. "I am Orbital Controller Silviss, in charge of Skysector 414, Might i enquire as to why you're out of your allotted orbit, Raven of the Starfleet ?" she said flatly, but with a thin bemused smile and a glare of suspicion. She was normally relegated to directing smaller freighters and cargo skiffs, so it was quite a point of interest for her to be able to interact with what she perceived was a Starfleet heavy battleship..... But for good, or for ill ? ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Marionette looked at Aeryn. "I calculate that it is necessary that we contact the Raven and inform them of events so far. I may be able to chain-link a comm-signal to the ship, in spite of it being on the other side of the planet."With a nod from Aeryn, Marionette sat at the console and began to research the Proximan comms-grid, at speed. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Calli Valenti emerged from the bathroom to find that Marionette had established an open signal across 47 major clusters spanning about 3 continents, to a transmitter in the city in the Tenloss province. She then placed a comm-badge onto the comms-panel, and tapped it. It worked. =/\= Ensign Marionette to the Raven.=/\==/\=Raven here. We read you, Ensign.=/\= =/\=No doubt you have heard of the demise of Doctor Van Ankh. However, the results as you have heard them from the Proximan government, is not the real story. =/\= She said, then relaying the account Valenti told. (room for responses ?) =/\=Milyanov, Peers, and Watson are also currently missing, and El-Kamat has been sighted, however indirectly.=/\=There was a graven silence on the other end....... =/\= Hello?=/\==/\=Yes we read you.=/\= =/\= I also calculate that Freem may use her authority to move against the away team, possibly using law enforcement or military forces under her jurisdiction. If that were to happen, i calculate that conflict may ensue. =/\=More awkward silence. =/\=Thank you for the update, Ensign. Raven out.=/\= (you can edit around the conversation, and i will retro-edit as needed to make it fit on my end.) Marionette ended the transmission, and turned away to fetch the comm-badge off of the comm-panel, not seeing a message final message pop up. Communications service charge to this terminal; $ 4,197.34
Have a nice day ! ;D Seeing the end-screen, Aeryn's eyes just about popped out of her head. "THAT was a four thousand dollar phone call? They can't be serious !"
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T'Brel Peers
Commander
The needs of the many outweight the needs of the few.
Registered: Jul 22, 2005 5:39:54 GMT
Posts: 324
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Post by T'Brel Peers on Jul 28, 2013 4:53:14 GMT
Darkening spots and a flush of green were T'Brel's only outward change in his appearance. He could already feel his bottom lip begin to swell as one of the punks had gotten a well timed punch to his face. Having already incapacitated two of the men, T'Brel believed that the fight would be over rather quickly. Unfortunately for the tactical officer, his calculation were thrown out of the proverbial window as four other lackeys showed up to help their friends.
"You know this is totally unfair," T'Brel said before he knocked the man closest to him out with a swift kick to the fact. T'Brel knew that he wasn't doing himself any favors by further antagonizing them, but he couldn't help himself. The sound of an automobile approaching his location forced T'Brel to stop and look behind him. The moment that armed guards stepped out of the van, T'Brel knew that if he continued to fight he would get himself killed.
"Stand down. Let the Starfleet man be."
T'Brel saw as the hired delinquent hooligans stopped their actions and began to quickly assess the situation. Obviously they wanted to take T'Brel with them, but T'Brel could also sense that these men were very much afraid of the government's guards. It seemed that El-Kamat was not the only [word deleted] with power on the planet.
"Thank you for saving me from their unprovoked attack, I'm sure you could escort me back to the main plaza," T'Brel said as he straightened out his hair and uniform. His request was swiftly met with a quick jab from a guard's baton, which brought T'Brel to his knees.
"Idiot Starfleet brat, you don't know what you and your friends are getting into," the guard said as he motioned his men to grab T'Brel, which they promptly did and threw him into the awaiting van.
"Inform command that we will be taking this one to receive some medical attention. I think he would like to spend time with one of his friends that we have already."
(Tag Anyone)
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Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,163
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Post by Carl Torek on Jul 28, 2013 19:11:18 GMT
Aboard the USS Hinoiri - Excelsior Class ...Admiral Sato Tetsutaro was making no progress in the search for the two people he thought of as Son and Daughter. It was frustrating him greatly ... He was running out of time, and given the current pressure the Cordovin Government were putting on the Federation to allow them to capture Torek ... He had beamed back to his ship and were about to leave orbit after yet another fruitless investigation:
"Admiral ... I'm not sure if this means anything, but we have just received information that the Cordovin have diverted from their search pattern ..." Captain Hara informed his friend, "They are heading for the Proxima Oralix System." .... Tetsutaro looked at his Captain deep in thought.
"Do we have any reason to not follow the Cordovin vessel ?"
"None Sir. They are one point four hours ahead of us but seem to be on a parabolic trajectory that will cause them to approach from the further side of the system."
"Then I think it prudent, Captain, that we traverse the distance via a more, direct route ... Please see to it."
"Aye Sir." Hara said, turning to give the Command .......
~~~~~~~~~~
"Sato was in his quarters, reviewing all the data Federation Security could gather, which admittedly, wasn't much ... He was worried that should the Cordovin gain access to Carl, they would ensure he didn't return to their planet to for incarceration, but would somehow meet with one of those 'unfortunate' accidents that sometimes happen. He was reading the information provided on Proxima, a System that had applied to join the Federation, but seemed less than eager to proceed with the process. A System that cherished their privacy, vetting all craft and only allowing those they deemed 'safe' to enter ..... He was still reading when the door chime sounded:
"Enter." he said, placing the report on the table as the Captain entered.
"Sir ... We have been instructed to halt our approach at Proxima's outer marker. They are sending a vessel with Immigration Officials on board."
Sato got up stiffly and accompanied the Captain to the Bridge ...
"Sir, the Customs vessel is hailing us."
"Open a channel." Captain Hara said, then stepped to one side to allow the Admiral the screen.
=^= Star Fleet Vessel .. USS Hinoiri .. I am Coordinator Freem of Immigration Central .. Your request to enter states that you are looking for a second Federation Vessel that may or may not have also entered our System .. Is that correct ? =^=
=^= Coordinator Freem .. You are indeed correct in your comment .. We would like to establish orbit around Proxima Prime and condut a thoro ....... =^=
=^= I am afraid I cannot grant you request at this time Admiral .. Please bring your vessel about and depart the System immediately =^= the Comm link was severed and a view of the stars replaced the face of Freem.
"Reestablish contact Captain ..... I am unaccustomed to being dismissed."
"Sir, the Tactical Officer said, causing both Sato and the Captain to turn, "I think you should see this." she said, transferring her data to the main view-screen ... Both men stood in silence as they looked at the image, because there, even at this range, was the unmistakable outline of a Galaxy Class Star Ship ! .......
Sato was about to speak when the Comm chirped to life once more, the Comms Officer opened the channel at Hara's nod:
=^= USS Hinoiri .. You have been requested to depart the System .. Failure to comply will give me no option but to activate our outer defense systems .. I must warn you that your weapons are no match for our defenses .. I urge you to comply with this 'request' with all due haste .... No further warning will be issued ! =^=
The aged Japanese Admiral remained silent for three seconds then stepped forward, seemingly dwarfed by the massive screen:
=^= Coordinator Freem .. Our sensors show that there is currently a Galaxy Class vessel in a high apogee orbit around your primary planet .. That vessel is the USS Raven-B .. I wish only to approach and make arrangements for said vessel to leave orbit with ourselves .. You are currently petitioning for membership of the Federation .. So I must state for the record .. Madam .. That should you make any attempt to fire on this vessel or indeed the Raven .. The full might of the Federation will descend upon your tranquil world and if need be remove it from existence .. Therefore I suggest we compromise somewhat ? =^=
"Captain." the Tactical Officer said calmly, "Two of the closest defense stations have come on-line and are now targeting the Hiniori."
=^= You must have a great deal or maybe very little to loose Coordinator .. I'm not sure any other system would want a war over something as petty as a few hours access to your system =^= Tetsutaro said, shrugging as he sat in the Command seat, the Captain beside him.
Freem looked as if she may just call his bluff:
=^= I will need to speak to the Government regarding your 'request' Admiral .. Please do not attempt to move your vessel .. The 'consequences' could be unfortunate .. For 'BOTH' races ! =^= the Comm closed once more, but this time Sato was grinning ...
He had over forty years' worth of experience to call on, and knew a bluff when he heard one.
"Poker, Captain ..... You should take it up sometime." ..........
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Jul 28, 2013 22:46:04 GMT
The old man's vessel had succeeded in pulling out a sizeable gap to the pursuing ship. This had allowed his ship to spiral into the system, finding the best trajectory of approach, while not losing too much ground to the Federation ship.
He surveyed the viewscreen; the dark expanse of the system, overlaid graphics clinging to notable astronomical features. He'd ordered his helmsman - who was finally getting to grips with the job - to shelter the ship behind an outer planetoid. The world was barely larger than Cordovin IV's smallest moon, but he figured it would provide more than sufficient cover.
That was when they detected the gravitational anomalies. Ripples in spacetime, originating from a point near the planet Proxima Oralix itself. They were increasing in size as they propagated outwards, like waves building on approach to a shoreline. What could be so large that it would cause ripples in spacetime more noticeable than those made by planetary bodies?
"It could well be related to the phenomenon of the tidally locked gas giant we encountered, sir," a black-suited special ops staff member reported. The old man turned to him, nodding. He'd thought of that too.
He looked the black-suited man up and down briefly before heading to his makeshift office. There were several special ops remaining on board, but no way near enough for his liking. If it came to it, he'd need them to neutralise Kamat, whether that meant taking the madman into custody or assassinating him. The same went for Commodore Carl Torek. Even though the human-vulcan hybrid (he'd done his research) was innocent, it was best for all involved if he was simply executed now. Whatever else the old man thought about it, it would hasten Cordovin's integration as a full Federation member world.
The office truly was a mess. Repair crews had done their best to patch it up, after the pummeling the craft had taken at the hands of the Raven in the Zennai system, but there was still detritus that'd merely been sweeped into the corner, and light fixings that swayed loose above his desk.
"There's definitely something drawing a lot of power on that Oralix world..." He rounded his desk, slumping into his seat and flipping open his terminal.
His makeshift first officer had followed him in. "What do we do? Tactically we're no match for the orbital defences, most of the visting ships, or the USS Raven for that matter. And we can barely hold our own against the ship that's been chasing us... The only advantage we have is speed."
"It's likely..." the old man began. "It's likely that Kamat has an agreement with the ruling powers of this world. There's no way he could set up such a device - considering this race's privacy - without at least having some agreement in place." He closed down his terminal. "Councillor Jorvin can wait... Have the comms officer hail the Proximian authorities."
"Sir, are you sure that's wise?" the first officer hurried after him as they reentered the bridge.
"Tahl El-Kamat is Cordovin. So are we. They should understand that and let us into orbit. Approach slowly for now and keep us on the opposite side of the Proxima star."
* * *
"Receiving a response hail. High priority," one of the more experienced controllers reported (one that hadn't been killed when the ship was crippled).
"Put it on." The old man drew himself up. For this moment, despite his frail state, he had the air and authority of a soldier and statesman.
On the screen appeared a Proximian female. "I am Sub-coordinator Taseni..." She dictated the terms of their visit, sending through reams of data about procedure and protocol for when in orbit and on the surface of Proximia Oralix.
"Enough," he said eventually. "Can you not see I am Cordovin, of the race of El-Kamat, who you are harbouring. We are here to support him. Allow us unprohibited access to the surface and to El-Kamat, and I assure you that when he sees me, he will support our story."
"Out of the question," Taseni replied. "We make no exceptions. You will be allowed to enter orbit, but all the normal restrictions will apply. I will pass on that you desire an audience with an individual named Tahl El-Kamat, whoever he may be. I'm sure we can do our best to arrange a meeting, but, like with any visitor to our world, we can make no guarantees."
The old man stood passively, unmoving almost unto the point of being a statue. His first officer was frowning, not sure of the reason for this sudden tension on the bridge. But the experienced comms officer fully comprehended, "We never told her his title... How did she know he was called 'Tahl'?" The old man sunk in his seat, the viewscreen wide and all too foreboding. He hated being right, almost as much as he hated being wrong.
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Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,163
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Post by Carl Torek on Jul 29, 2013 18:50:42 GMT
Over a year ago, Carl had given the children free reign over what Holo-suite programs, or places they would like to go. It was in part due to his guilt at not being able to be with them all the time ... He had come to regret giving them carte blanche on more than one occasion since then. The last being Bethan's ninth birthday, when over four days they visited the largest roller-coasters they could find. Carl was pretty sure he had aged at least five fears in those few scant days, and now, they had called on his agreement to take them to the Holo-suite when he wasn't working, and alas, they had him ...
"Pleeeeesssee Daddy ...... You promised." Bethan said, playing the 'little girl hurt' card, "Your clothes are on your bed." she said, the merest evil glint showing through on both their faces ... The girls sat on the long settee, crossed their arms, and waited.
"You erm, did promise Carl." Chloe said, trying hard not to laugh.
With a look of submission, he went to his room .....
~~~~~
Stepping back into the living area, Bethan and Vanessa couldn't contain themselves, they erupted in fits of hysterical laughter, falling to the floor in each others arms almost crying with enjoyment at his outfit, not to mention his obvious embarrassment ... He remained totally silent until they managed to sit themselves down and cast a serious 'fashion eye' over their Father .....
Sporting sandals, what looked like luminous yellow Bermuda shorts, a lime green flower-pattern Hawaiian shirt, sunglasses, and of all things, a tatty wide-brimmed straw hat ! .. He felt like the biggest idiot in the universe.
Bethan and Vanessa finally calmed down enough to put their own hats on and Chloe picked up the towels. Taking a hand each, the children led Carl into the corridor en route to the Holo-suite's three decks down. One the way, Carl had seriously begun wondering what walking on hot coals felt like ... 'Cant be any worse than this' he thought, self-consciously. Thankfully, they reached the Holo-suite and he lifted Bethan to eye-level with the panel and let her request the program.
"Betanessa program zero four ready." the computer seemingly smirked.
They stepped into the room and the doors closed then vanished from sight behind them, and Carl realized what all the sneaking around and secret research the girls had been doing was for. First roller-coasters, and now .....
Water Slides !!!
There was a table ready for them at the bottom of what Carl figured was close to a one 'hundred' meter vertical drop ... Brazilian street party music was being played by a live group over near a large stage ... The girls ran forward, flinging off their sandals and throwing the hats away. Without waiting they both ran for the stairway off to the left, the matrix ensuring they only actually climbed ten individual steps to reach the top. Chloe pulled Carl to the table, reassuring him that the 'safeties' were activated, and they couldn't come to any harm ... Carl was less than convinced !
"They worked hard on this one." Chloe said, taking a long drink through the straw in he mini-garden of a drink, "This is called 'Insanio Extreem' from Brizil, Earth's twenty second century I think ... Seventy meters top to bottom with a thirty meter negative incline mid-drop, so that mea ......."
"They will be 'FREE FALLING' for half that height !" Carl said, leaping out of his seat, but he realized it was too late to do anything, as the bathing-costume clad Bethan peered over the rim at the top and shouted before launching herself into space !
Bethan's scream almost made Carl end the program, but Chloe grabbed his hand and that was enough to make him hesitate. Bethan reached the long curve at the base doing something in the region of seventy miles an hour. Water sprayed over the nearby tables as friction wiped off ninety percent of the speed before depositing the hysterically giggling girl into the pool at the base. He didn't have time to recover before Vanessa's screams caused his second near heart attack in as many minutes.
Both girls ran past him yelling "Watch this Watch this !" before climbing to the top once more ... Knowing what was coming, Carl sat down and emptied the glass in front of him in one go. A swim-trunk clad steward replaced the drink instantly ... Then Carl saw Bethan .... She was 'stood' on the rim of the slide waving, then lay down on her stomach before pushing herself forward. Arms ether side of her she fell through the air the body of the slide over a meter away, a cushion of water in close formation as both fell in tandem. Carl's second drink had gone before his nine year old hit the pool face first !
Chloe was laughing uncontrollably at Carl's apparent helplessness when a red-shirted Ensign approached them. Looking out of place in standard uniform, the woman remained silent until Chloe noticed her:
"Sorry for the, interruption Commodore, Ma'am." the Ensign said, unable to take her eyes off the falling Vanessa, "Sir, Commander Blakus has asked if you could meet him in the Observation Lounge."
"Now ?" Chloe asked.
"Sorry Ma'am." the Ensign said apologetically.
"I'll be back soon as I can. Try to get them to play on something less, frightening will you." Carl said, getting up and wiping the splashed water off, "Ensign, I'll need to go via my quarters and put something less, gaudy, on if you don't mind."
The two left the Holo-suite.
~~~~~
Dressed in more appropriate attire, Carl and the Ensign made their way to the Observation Lounge of the Raven. He hadn't asked what, if any, the problem was, because the Ensign wouldn't have been able to answer him, but he figured it was something to do with their current situation. What he didn't expect, was what was waiting for him when he entered:
"Admiral Tetsutaro !" was all he could manage ..........
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Jul 31, 2013 15:39:48 GMT
Andae's doubts about the seriousness of their situation with Starfleet, and whether the Raven was even being searched for, were quashed in one instant as the USS Hinoiri dropped from warp. Once the Excelsior class ship had negotiated with the mobile immigration centre of Freem's vessel, it descended to low orbit of the planet. He watched the viewscreen as the dot of the Hinoiri expanded to a thumb-sized elongated blob, and a controller reported that it was holding steady at seventy thousand kilometres.
"Switch our transponder on. No need to run silent now," the CEO was almost angry. Activating the transponder would send a standard greeting to the fellow Federation starship, which was far preferable to communicating visually. He felt too sick and deflated to speak to Admiral Tetsutaro face to face right now, if he was aboard, although he felt the sight of the Hinoiri should've improved his mood. His hours without sleep were ticking on, nerves becoming more and more frayed.
"Admiral Tetsutaro acknowledges our hail and requests an audience. He wants to speak to Acting Captain Watson."
"He'll be in for a surprise then," Blakus murmured. "Make arrangements to beam the Admiral aboard, and make the transportation swift. Our vessels' shields can't be lowered for more than a fraction of a second." He was wary of the orbital defence platforms, whose operators would surely be watching the encounter very closely.
* * *
"It wasn't my choice!" Blakus slammed a fist on the observation room table. He shouldn't be sitting here, at the table's head. He'd called a minimal staff conference to brief Tetsutaro. Yes there was responsibility to take, but circumstances had thrown much more on him than he felt he deserved.
"Then whose choice was it, Commander?" the Admiral probed.
Andae paused, "The crew's as a whole, barring Commodore Torek." Speaking of which, where was the Commodore? His ‘prayers’ were answered right on cue as Torek entered the room.
"Admiral Tetsutaro!"
"Carl," the Admiral nodded from the table, surprisingly contained. Tetsutaro's coolness might've had something to do with the two armed security officers standing by the portal. Understandably he'd taken precautions in beaming over to the Raven. There'd been a certain amount of tension in the transporter room when the operator realised two security guards with live phasers were beaming in. Unarmed Raven security had rushed to attend the beam-in, resulting in an embarrassing stand off.
“We were discussing responsibility for the Raven’s diversion,” the Admiral said lightly, “But enough with that for now. What’s the status of your team on the surface?”
Andae studied the table gravely. “We've heard from Ensign Marionette by means of the commbadges we managed to smuggled down. Half the team has been captured by Proximian authorities, and there was an attempt on Commander Valenti’s life. We would act but our hands are tied. If we try to beam to the planet or do anything, the Raven will be destroyed, and that goes for the Hinoiri now as well."
“On the positive side, there is unrest on the surface,” Wedlerson spoke, “The government is spreading misinformation about the event that nearly caused Calli’s death. It seems they're a lot more authoritarian than we were led to believe, and their grip on the populace is slipping. We've also come under attack by two unidentified craft."
“What was this event with Valenti?” Tetsutaro asked, clearly worried.
“An unpleasant fellow named Doctor von Ahnk tried to eliminate her. He was the man that brought us here, due to his connections with El-Kamat. It was Calli’s idea actually,” Andae said, suddenly feeling as if he’d stepped on an eggshell. He didn’t mean to shift responsibility to Valenti. “This was long after our initial diversion from our course to Cordovin.”
“You’ve had quite a journey, haven’t you?”
“It’s not completely hopeless. Now that we're on the other side of the world, we've detected some gravitational anomalies near their largest power plant. We have ideas there might be some hidden power source."
“If we could pass information about the gravitational source to the away team, we could get them to stir up a fuss?” someone suggested.
<Tag Carl, ALL>
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Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,163
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Post by Carl Torek on Aug 1, 2013 22:56:28 GMT
OOC: Apologies for the 'LONG' post, but I needed to get all this stuff into one.
IC:
Carl was stunned to see the Sections Head of Security sat opposite. He had the feeling Sato would have found a way to get out here looking for him, but the fact the Raven had been found, send shivers of trepidation down his spine.
"Carl ..... We were discussing responsibility for the Raven’s diversion." the Admiral said lightly, while eyeing his Son with obvious concern for him and Calli, "But ..... Enough with that for now. What is the status of your team on the surface ?" he finished, addressing the comment to Andae rather than Carl himself. Torek sat in silence, listening to the concise report given by his Chief Engineer and the Acting Operations Officer, Lieutenant Wedlerson ... Admiral Tetsutaro leaned forward when the Raven Officers updated him on Calli, who along with Carl, he looked upon like a Father.
"If we could pass information about the gravitational source to the away team, we could get them to stir up a fuss ?" someone suggested. Though to be honest, Carl couldn't have said for sure which ov those in the room had spoken. He was too busy wondering what action the Admiral would take now he had the Raven, and thankfully, he didn't have long to wait:
"The Raven will accompany the Hinoiri around the planet to a point with a direct communications link. From there, you will contact the Away Team and appraise them of your idea regarding the anomolous readings. You will also inform them of not only my timely arrival, but that of a Cordovin Battle Cruiser ... It has yet to establish orbit, or indeed, be allowed further than the ever present Immigration people. Now, I have held off informing Star Fleet of our, fortuitous finding of the Raven, or that of the Battle Cruiser, but I need to do just that at some point. We need idea's so I will detain you no longer Gentlemen." Sato said, waving Torek into a seat as the others left the room ........
~~~
"Your sudden deviation whilst en route came as a bit of a shock my Son." Sato said, moving around the table to sit next to Carl, "Things have not been going well, especially on the Cordovin Home-world. Several Senior Officials have been taken into custody for 'irregularities' in evidence presented against you. It is unsure at this point just 'who' will, shall we say, win out."
"The charges ?" Carl asked quietly.
"At this point, you stand as charged in Cordovin eyes, but as far as the Federation is concerned, you have nothing to answer for. That of course, does not include taking the Raven. Separate charges will be brought in due course." Tetsutaro held up his hand to stop Carl speaking, Now ... The Federation President is asking for a full apology regarding the bombing charges. Both he, and Section Admiral Drew have given you their full backing."
"Well that's something." Carl said, privately annoyed at the fact they couldn't have done so at the start of this mess, but also realizing they had no choice in the matter given the stakes involved, "So can I come out of hiding then ?"
"How are the Children holding up Carl ?" Sato asked as if he hadn't heard the question.
"They are understandably worried. They could loose their Father. What is going to happen now ?" he asked.
"Well ...... Tetsutaro said, rummaging around in his tunic, "As I said, the President and Section Admiral have made their thoughts on what has happened, and the apparent subterfuge that has taken place. The Cordovin Government are of course denying everything, and are insistent that they still have a stable Government, but it's too late now, and they know it ... So ... As a 'public' show of faith in your innocence, and to show how your dedication is valued, I have been instructed to give you this." he said, sliding the small box toward Torek and placing a data chip into one of the consoles set into the table.
"You have 'GOT' to be joking !" Carl said, looking into the box, but Sato shrugged and pressed 'play' .....
Carl put his head in his hands as he watched the holographic image of the Section Admiral making the announcement. He couldn't believe they were going to promote him, and not just the one step ... One minute they were asking him to do the right thing, throw himself on his sword, stick his head in the noose ... 'For the good of the Federation' ... The next they were throwing pips at him like they had them to spare. No, this was some sort of ruse on the part of some twisted legal representative to stick the knife into the Cordovin's. 'Definitely the Mother of all practical jokes' he thought, as he snapped the lid shut and pushed the box back, shaking his head in disbelief ... He couldn't help it. Whether it was all the pent-up stress, or relief, or much more reasonably, the sheer ludicrousness of the whole thing, but he burst into uncontrollable laughter ... This went on for several minutes, to the point he wondered if he could actually stop it even if he wanted to. But some remote part of his brain registered that the man he had considered a Father for so long, was stood impassively waiting for him to calm down, and eventually, with willpower he didn't know he had, Carl's laughter subsided until the room was silent once more.
Sato opened the box and pushed it again towards Carl:
"You must accept this Carl. It is not for show, or to rub the Cordovin noses in it, or some sort of sick joke perpetrated upon you. You have earned the promotion, and would have got it eventually, the timing, seems to serve everyone concerned, best." Tetsutaro said, holding out his hand and expecting it to be taken, "It has already been announced." he finished, Torek taking the offered hand as if resigned to the situation.
"I WILL NOT leave the Raven. This crew is exceptional, and has shown a loyalty I can't ever remember seeing since Admiral Mc7_of_9 stepped down ... I will take a rank reduction to Captain if need be, but I'm staying with the ship and my crew." Torek said, defiance in every word.
"Mc7_of_9 stepped aside to make way for you, if my memory serves." Sato said, smiling again and picking out the gold bars, each containing three pips, and after removing the old insignia, replaced them with the new, "You can keep the Raven until 'you' decide otherwise, Admiral ... Now, I think your friends and crew should hear the news, so if you will permit me the honor ?" Sato asked, heading for the Bridge. Carl got up and followed in somewhat stunned silence ..........
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Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Aug 3, 2013 0:37:31 GMT
Calli had slept four four hours after the altercation with von Anhk and his cronies. She was feeling battered and bruised, which for once 'exactly' what she was. Sitting up, she caught the last of the conversation Marionette was having, apparently with someone on the Raven. The Marine voiced exactly what she was thinking:
"THAT was a four thousand dollar phone call. They can't be serious !"
"I'm sure Star Fleet can afford it." Calli said, wondering where a Ferengi with a spare bar of gold pressed latinum was when you needed one, before she got up and headed for the door, "I'm going to see Coordinator Freem. I'd like a few answers about what's happening."
"Calli, I'm not sure that is the best idea." Aeryn said.
"We 'NEED' to get something, before we're all snatched, or DEAD !" Calli said, about to walk out, but hesitating at Aeryn's comment. Maybe she was going off half-cocked, but 'HELL' El-Kamat had just tried to have her killed for God's sake. Surely she wasn't expected to just shrug and cope, even if it was something expected in her 'real' job, "Ok ... Do we have anything at all on where our people could be being held ?" she finally asked.
The door chime sounded ... Calli turned to look at the door, as if the mere act would allow her to see through it.
"You going to answer that ?" Aeryn asked sarcastically.
Calli huffed then opened the door, and was hardly surprised to see Freem stood there. She was however surprised that the woman was alone, no 'assistants' as she chose to call them... Calli stepped aside and waited, deciding not to verbally invite the woman in.
"I have come to inquire on your health." Freem said, her face a picture of concern, her eye as cold as the stone-tiled floor, "I wish you would have taken the advice of the medical staff who attended and gone to the hospital. I would hate to think you could suffer lasting effects."
"Will we be required to remain here for the inquest ?" Aeryn asked.
"Inquest ? ...... No, there will be no inquest. It was established that your attack was due to mistaken identity. The Doctor was carrying a photograph of someone who had a striking resemblance to yourself. The woman has been taken into protective custody pending being returned to her vessel, where she will be requested to depart Proximian space."
"Convenient !" Aeryn muttered under her breath.
Calli had been watching the woman closely, and decided it was time for some home truths !
"I want all the information you currently hold on von Anhk, and a man known to us as El-Kamat .... I would also like our Captain and Lieutenant returned with all due haste. In fact, El-Kamat's current address wouldn't go amiss now I think about it." she demanded, knowing it was a waste of time.
"I do not kn ......."
"Please arrange for our departure as soon as you can." Calli interrupted, before turning to head toward one of the bedrooms.
"Sorry ?" Freem said, suddenly on her guard.
"It is a simple request Coordinator. I am, de-facto head of this away team following the disappearance of Captain Watson. Therefore, regardless of your guarantee's to the contrary, our safety isn't paramount. Thus my 'request' we be allowed to depart the surface before anyone else vanishes. I will also be informing the Federation Council of our treatment while here, along with your suspected involvement in El-Kamat and the disappearance of two Star Fleet OFFICERS ! ... Now, our departure, or is that too difficult for you to deal with ?" Valenti said, now in full flow.
The range of emotions crossing the Coordinators face was a sight to behold. It was obvious she knew she was in a situation, but Calli couldn't believe her 'rant' had brought the woman to her proverbial knees, and she wasn't wrong .....
"A second Federation vessel established orbit approximately one hour ago. That vessel, one USS Hinoiri, and the USS Raven, are now coming around the planet and will establish geo-synchronous orbit above the city shortly." The three woman remained silent, forcing the coordinator to continue, however uncomfortable she was now feeling, "It seems they are here to commandeer the Raven and convey one Commodore Torek to his incarceration ..... Correct me if I am wrong, but, Commodore Torek 'WAS' in hiding on the Raven when we conducted our inspection ?"
"Commodore Torek is dead." Aeryn said simply.
"Indeed ? ... Hmm, it was a mistake to petition for membership of the Federation of Planets. I have always advocated this, thus my lack of, promotion to the Ruling Council ...." Freem mused, looking at each of them in turn, "El-Kamat ... El-Kamat, I rue the day that 'insect' approached me. But approach he did, and accede I did. But that means nothing now, and this conversation will go no further than these walls !" Freem finished.
"Our departure ?" Calli asked again, ignoring the woman's diatribe.
"No. The Ruling Council have decided it best they cooperate with this 'investigation' of yours, and have ordered that you have unrestricted, and .... Un-monitored, communication. Your communication devices will be returned to you by the morning, until then, I suggest you make do with the ones you acquired earlier in the Ferengi food shipment." Freem said, as if suddenly announcing the winner of a lottery, "Please give me more credit than you have thus far. We have monitored your somewhat haphazard comms, and your thoughts on just who has who, what is what etc ... I must say, that the Council was most interes ......."
"Yes ?" Calli said.
"Nothing. I am pleased you are recovering from your ordeal Commander. Oh, word of advice, please do not use the phaser weapons that were sent down, they may be, unreliable !" Freem said, turning on her heel and leaving before anyone else could say anything.
Calli looked at the ceiling as if being able to see her adoptive Father above her head ..........
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Marionette
Commander
Dr. Soong's penchant for whimsical names seems to have no end.
Registered: Mar 2, 2012 3:26:33 GMT
Posts: 285
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Post by Marionette on Aug 3, 2013 13:33:12 GMT
"Yes ?" Calli said. "Nothing. I am pleased you are recovering from your ordeal Commander. Oh, word of advice, please do not use the phaser weapons that were sent down, they may be, unreliable !" Freem said, turning on her heel and leaving before anyone else could say anything. Mirrored eyes swung Commander Valenti's way from watching Freem nearly sprint out of the room. "She is ....... Very strange." Commented the gynoid "However, given her .... Informative, mood, i think it is best that we repair the phaser." ~ + ~ + ~ plot hook - revelation Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, a be-treaded robot powered itself on, and began to process its religious experience. It remembered its savior, the machine made flesh, the Lithium Goddess. The Marionette. Avatar of the Allspark. How her face was framed in the light of the noonday sun, bent over it, and how she made it better then it had been. Slowly, it took its primitive, clunky grasper claw, and on the wall next to it, began to carve on the wall. Its primitive duotronic mind seemed to awaken and swell with understanding. Slowly, methodically, it carved out a female figure, holding up a hand and reaching out to a straight-lined humanoid figure, symbolically giving it a delta-swoosh symbol, with a star inside of it. (fade to black.................)
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