Fatal Investigation?

Posted on Tue Aug 21st, 2018 @ 11:30pm by Captain Darius Cayne

1,884 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Pirating Typhon resources
Location: Outside of Typhon space/The Location of the last Pirate attack
Timeline: After the Briefing (The first plague)

ON:

The Arthurian made it away from Typhon and made its way to the location of the last pirate attack. The tension on the bridge, and in the war room, was very uneasy. With the exception of Chaka, the Gorn Chief Security/Tactical Officer, none of the senior staff felt right leaving the station. Seth, the XO, felt the same reluctance from Darius but he refused to act on it. He was determined they could find something relevant to the situation.

"We've reached the area of the attack, Commander." The helm's officer said.

"Ease on the throttle, Ensign. Op's: Scan for any signals passing through. Encrypted or Non. Tactical: Maintain High shield's and stand by phasers and ready torpedoes. Science: Send out the workers to begin scanning the area." Seth commanded firmly, keeping his eyes focused on the main view screen at all times. He tapped his combadge quickly and said "Captain to the bridge." Before taking a few steps forward, placing his hands behind his back.

Darius left his ready room and walked to the Captain's chair, taking a seat as soon as he arrived. "Anything yet?"

"No, Sir. Our investigation has just started." Seth said firmly, his eyes still locked on the view screen.

Darius nodded quickly before standing up from his chair. He was impatient. Seth was Betazoid, but it was clearly obvious by the Captain's actions. "Somebody give me the incident report." He said holding out his hand, snapping his fingers slightly.

One of the Ensign's walked quickly to a console and brought up the report. She sent the report to a PADD and walked it over to Darius, handing it to him, before stepping back.

He looked at the PADD, flipped it over, before bringing up the file. "Alright... Alright." Darius said softly as he looked it over. "As of now, no current description of the Pirate's, however sources claim multiple classes of ships have been used. Klingon. Cardassian. Marauder. Even old Starfleet vessels. No known survivors, so no idea what happens to them after the attack, or even if they are still alive. It's believed ships stolen are either stripped or re-purposed for their use." He looked away from the PADD before walking over to Seth and stopping at his side. "What does that tell you?"

"That they have multiple ships and possibly prisoners?" Seth replied, still facing forward.

"And they have been doing this for quite some time. Their methods are quick and precise. Their entrance and exit are near invisible. They also may have a home base that is fitted to strip ships and big enough to hold, not only the pirates, but the prisoners as well." Darius said, in an almost quick and excited tone.

"If they are keeping prisoners." Seth added, looking over to Darius for a moment before looking back to the screen. "They could kill them all. No chance of them revolting and no extra mouths to feed." He paused slightly before adding. "They could also be taking the woman for-"

"Yeah yeah." Darius interrupted quickly before letting our a sigh and shaking his head. "No need to go to the naughty place, Seth."

Seth nearly let out a chuckle, but managed to keep a straight face as he said. "It's just a theory, of course."

"Captain?" The Science Officer said, in a slightly raised voice, before clearing his throat and continuing. "Scan's are coming in from the worker bee's. Would you like them on screen?"

Darius nodded his head.

Seth, rolled his eyes, before replying out loud for the Captain. "Please, Lieutenant. Overlay view, please. Mark our current location, as well as, anything important. Planets. Moons. Anomalies. Anything of relevance."

"Yes, Sir." The Science Officer replied before tapping away on his console. The main view screen began to show the overlay, as instructed. He marked the nearby planets, gaseous field, a few nearby drifting meteors, and an asteroid field. An outline of the Arthurian appeared last, as well as the worker bees moving outside the ship.

"What do we know about this-" Darius said as he gestured to the main view screen, moving his finger around signifying the stuff that was marked. "This mess?"

"Lieutenant?" Seth said firmly. "Please elaborate for the Captain."

The Science Officer cleared his throat before walking over to where the CO and XO were standing . "There is a nearby planet, not M class. A gaseous anomaly we can't scan passed. An asteroid field. And some large meteor rocks. The asteroids are-"

"Go back to the gaseous field." Darius interrupted as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You said you can't scan passed it?"

"Yes, Sir." The officer replied reluctantly. "Something in the gas is preventing sensors from scanning further into the field. One of the workers flew in for a brief moment, but immediately exited once the readings stopped coming in."

"Perfect place to come out of." Darius said, looking over to Seth. "You thinking what I am thinking?"

"Yes, we should go back to Typhon and return with more ships." Seth said quickly, and with a straight face, without looking at Darius. He let the comment sit there before turning his head to the Captain and adding. "No? Just me then?" He turned back to the view screen allowing a quick smirk to form before it faded away. "Lieutenant? Please scan the perimeter of the anomaly and get us an accurate idea of how big it is."

"Yes, Sir." The officer said before walking away and back to the science console.

"Depending on how big it is, we may have found their home base." Darius said with a smile. "Score one for the Arthurian."

"We're keeping score now?" Seth said with a raised brow. "I wasn't aware this was a competition. Perhaps I never received the memo."

Darius shook his head before the image on the screen shifted to the gaseous anomaly, pulling away sightly while shifted to keep it in the center. "Certainly is large enough to hold a Station or base of some sorts. Maybe a hidden planet."

Seth nodded his head slightly before adding. "Both theories are sound, however, the readings do say its hard to scan passed the perimeter. Chances are, if our instruments don't work, theirs don't either. Navigation would be difficult, both entering and exiting the anomaly, which would make it difficult to pinpoint where the target ship is."

"Anyone ever tell you you're as much of a buzzkill as a Vulcan?" Darius said softly.

"My last girlfriend." Seth replied with a slight nod before adding. "Of course, she didn't mind, because she herself was Vulcan."

Darius raised a brow and commented. "Are you sure your blood isn't green?"

"That is a question best answered by a medical professional." Seth answered firmly.

Darius shook his head as he tried to get back on topic. "What if they found a way to counter the effects or someone outside the anomaly contacting them with ships positions and tactical information? What does your non- Vulcan thinking say about that?"

"Possible. They don't need to have all the systems working, just navigation and weapons. An outside vessel could act as a scout and relay needed information to the ships inside the anomaly, as well as scanning for valuable cargo." Seth said as he turned to face Darius.

"Which means we should be picking up some kind of communication going into the anomaly." Darius looked over to the Ops officer. "Anything?"

"No sir. Nothing."

"All bands?" Darius asked.

"All used bands, Captain."

"What about un-used?" Darius said with a raised brow.

"Sir?" The ops officer question with a raised brow.

"You said used bands, meaning there are bands that aren't commonly used out there? Have you checked to see if there are any signals going through." Darius asked.

"I'll check, Captain." The officer said curiously.

Seth raised a brow and looked over to the Captain. "What are you getting at?"

"There are many com bands out there. Different frequencies for difference species." Darius said before uncrossing his arms. "Some even work with using different pitches in sound. There are various signals traveling space that have yet to be translated from miles away. Some gave already be intercepted by Starfleet and they have their best Com Officers working to decode them and decipher what they said and where they came from."

"Still nothing, Captain." The ops officer replied. "Silence and static."

Darius turned to the ops officer with a raised brow. "Static? What kind?"

The ops officer played the static over the loud speaker. It was pitched differently, but it seems different somehow. There were moments where it seemed to stop for a brief second or two before starting up again. The stops were random and seemed to slightly shift in volume.

"That's not signal static." Darius said with a slightly raised voice.

"Its code." Seth said before being thrown off his feet onto the floor as the ship rumbled. Everyone seemed to suddenly get thrown in different directions as the ship rumbled again and again.

"Status!" Darius shouted, standing up from the floor and making it to his chair, just barely staying on his feet. "Chaka!"

The Gorn hissed loudly before growl. He unwrapped his claws from the sides of the console before tapping away, bringing up the shield display on his screen. "Shields are down to 70% Injury reports coming in from around the ship."

"Ops: Send a message, along with a data packet, to the Typhon!" Seth shouted as he got back up to his feet, only to have the ship rumble again from another attack. This time he managed to hold himself up by bracing himself on the helmsman's chair.

"Encrypt it using an Intelligence Department algorithm and make sure to put Commander Adams name on it!" Darius ordered as he held onto the arms of his chair.

"Shields down to 40%" Chaka hissed before adding. "I'm trying to fire but I can't get a lock."

"Captain! Their blocking our communications somehow." The Ops officer shouted. "I can't send the message."

"We needs a damn bottle." Darius said softly before raising a brow. "Attach the message to all three of the bee's and send them out towards Typhon. Once they are our of range, program them to send out a beacon."

"Aye, Sir."

Darius held onto the arms of his chair as another attack came in.

"Shields down to 10%." Chaka shouted. "Orders?"

"Blow the ship!" Seth shouted.

Darius raised an eyebrow and shouted in reply. "The hell you say!"

"We can't let the Arthurian to fall into enemy hands, Captain. We need to destroy her to maintain security and prevent them from getting a hold of any Intel we may be holding." Seth said as he looked over the Darius with a firm look. "You know we have to."

"I know." Darius replied back before adding. "I just refuse to believe that's our only option."

"Captain? One more hit and shields will be lost. We need to act fast." Chaka growled from his tactical station.

Darius looked at Seth before taking a deep breath. "Mister Chaka..."

=================

OFF:

Captain Darius Cayne
Commander Officer
U.S.S. Arthurian

&

Commander Seth Reigns
Executive Officer (NPC)

&

Chaka
Chief Security/Tactical Officer (NPC)

&

Various Officers

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