The first plague (Part 5)

Posted on Fri Dec 29th, 2017 @ 9:27am by Captain Darius Cayne & Captain Landon Mabrade & Colonel Wilhelm Baron von Hackleberg & Commander Ashe Rii'Na MD & Commander Raven Adams & Lieutenant Aria Kanzaki & Lieutenant JG Terry Wu & Lieutenant JG Serena Giacomo & Khiy Tal'ehrihn
Edited on on Fri Dec 29th, 2017 @ 11:00am

1,506 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Pirating Typhon resources
Location: Briefing room

OLD

Khiy leaned back in his chair and tapped on the table. "The big question I have is really quite simple. It's the same question your average pirate asks himself about everything; 'how do I profit?' Their ships are taking damage and expending ordinance, those are big out of pocket expenditures. Currently they are operating at a loss. How do they profit?"

NEW

Aria had been listening, but had been deep in thought at the same time. She was scrolling down her PADD's interface as she thought of possible links between these Pirate attacks and the recent attacks on Typhon. "So we're backed into a corner, with no reinforcements from Starfleet. We've got pirates running around everywhere and we still have no idea who was the mastermind behind the terrorist attacks" she muttered to herself as she scrolled through the information.

"Captain" she said simply. "I believe that we should tighten security on all ships in and out of the sector" she explained. She looked around at everyone. "Technically, we don't have warrants to stop and search ships. However Starfleet does have the legal warrant to search any ship as a 'health and safety' inspection" she told them all. "There has to be something linking these attacks to the regular station traffic, but we won't know until we find out what's special about those ships" she explained. "It could be cargo, even computer information. Something has to link them."

"No. I disagree about health and safety checks on ships. But we do need to crack down on any ships that don't have proper authorization and follow up on what authorization they do have. If we double check every ship and every document, we'll be far more likely to catch fraudulent documentation."

"Can we outfit more scanning capability for ships, make sure we have the time to do all this checking?" Mabrade asked. "But we still need to know why Pirates are wasting time and resources on a vain move?" He scratched his chin. "I will get with the Admiralty and see who is closest and what would be be leaving open should we call for help. Not that I want to say 'Ma-te' yet. This is getting bad and since TGT is taking a beating I would not hesitate if they want to fortify and repair a bit?" He looked towards Khiy. "You are a major ally here and I believe in taking care of our own; that includes your organization. We have each other backs so if you need it we bring in the Calvary?" Mabrade assured. "So what we need is information, how do they know when and who to attack, how are they getting the information and what could be worth all this effort by Pirates? I would think we should get on those points as well as beefing up what we can do to protect ourselves and allies?" He took in the eyes of everyone in the room. "They are playing a game, targeting specifically to get a reaction. I want to react outside their plans and hit them while they are not prepared for it. We need to find an objective valued enough for Pirates to lose money and resources."

"All I need is to set up several computers and load in Federation data on all active ships. Most starships have the capability, but I want to add all civilian ships as well. That could take a day or two to get set up. Then it will simply be a matter of verifying IFF codes with visuals and commanders. I can also have an active system that will tell us about any ships that are supposed to be in the area so we can verify against that as well," Raven said. It would go a lot faster if Darius decided to help her instead of storming off like he did. She really wasn't sure what was going on with him. She'd been so busy it had been a couple of days since she'd seen him last. She was definitely going to talk to the team on Tiberius X to see if they had any information she could use, and with Admiral Hunter. He had his finger in more pies than she cared to count.

She glanced at Serena and wondered if she and Wu should be sent out in a freighter to see what they could run into. She'd have to ask Mabrade about that later.

"Another two weeks and I could have the third ship rarin' to go," Billy Jo said. "I've had some problems with parts from back home lately. You'd think a shipyards way out here would be able to get engine upgrades when they needed 'em. The old warp core just isn't up to spit at the moment."

"If you send me a list of parts you need," N'alae said to Billy Jo, "I can see if we have anything in our inventory that we can spare. I could also ask my logistics officer to look into procuring a few items for you through his contacts. We will be ordering some parts for our own repairs. As Khiy mentioned, we've also suffered some losses." She looked over to Mabrade. "That is of course if Starfleet doesn't mind making a few outside purchases, considering the situation." She quickly added, "We have expenses of our own." With the retrofits in full swing on the Morning's Wake, Sonos had built on his good repute with his contacts and suppliers of late. The parts and materials her engineer required for the work hadn't come cheap. They'd jump at the chance to fill another order for him; counting their good fortune with every bill posted to TGT. This was a bad time to have more ships in for repairs... 

"That would be mighty kind of you," Billy Jo said. "And if we have anything you need, just let me know. We have a pile of supplies, just not a lot in the way of engines."

Terry had been listening thoughtfully to all the talk going on when he saw something appear on his wrist PADD. "The Arthurian has left the station." He said plainly, lest the announcement ramp up tensions in the room. "I, um... I don't want to be presumptuous, but if he's going to be out there, anyway, maybe order him to put a priority on capturing one of the pirate vessels with its flight data intact, so we know where they're operating out of?" He didn't know where Cayne stood on the station's chain of command, and didn't care, because right now, his impression of the big guy wasn't quite complimentary.

"Or tell him to get his butt back here and tell us what he'd been keeping to himself." Serena retorted she had no idea of the guy was always that pissed off but she was pretty sure that if he gave her snark like that again he was going to have some 'surprises' in his boots or something. Hairballs or something a vole's head maybe. She also hoped if Terry was sent off in a freighter or something she would be allowed to give him some back up, she tapped his foot, with her own again, with a wry grin. 

"The Captain seems a bit out of sorts. Perhaps he is just 'walking it off'" Khiy suggested, not looking to further tarnish the man's reputation.

Raven's PADD buzzed that she had a message. After what Terry said, she quickly pulled it up and read it over. It was from Darius. He said he loved her, but he was going to do something stupid and possibly become a martyr. To her love meant trust and trust meant talking, working together. Darius didn't seem to want to do that. Not with her, anyway. He didn't seem to trust that she knew what she was doing. Then again, she hadn't told him about Morticia or her life before Starfleet. She was going to, especially with this current problem, but now that was impossible. She wanted to cry, slam her hand against the table, hide in her quarters, or disappear into space. She'd tried the space one once before. The emotions were too painful to deal with in public. She needed to get away and deal with this. "If you will excuse me, I need to go," she said, standing. "Captain, I will see what I can learn about the recent pirate activity, and I will coordinate with TGT."

Aria's comm badge chirped. She tapped it to answer the comm call. "Excuse me a second" she said to the others as she opened the channel.

"Chief, Security here down on the docking ports. The Athurian is powering up and is preparing to leave" the officer reported. "We haven't had clearance yet sir from Operations or Security. Your orders chief?" they asked.

Aria sighed as she looked over to Mabrade. "Secure the docking clamps lieutenant. If the Athurian doesn't have permission to leave then don't allow it to" she replied simply. 

TBC

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