The Skein of Violence
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jayphailey
- Posts: 1578
- Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 pm
The Skein of Violence
Someone doesn't appreciate Task Force Taffy Six
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jayphailey
- Posts: 1578
- Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 pm
Re: The Skein of Violence
TSOV 01 - The Denver Mattson
It was another escort run. Bob relaxed in the command chair, and read reports. Task Force Taffy Six was being slowly stood down, re-equipped to fit this new Federation and the new mission of Starfleet. Bob knew he was in line for a new ship and it made him happy.
The Denver Mattson was a small ship. Too tight in many places. She had one job. Carry heavy phaser cannon into position and shoot until the problem went away. Bob and his crew were well practiced at this, but now the Thasite war was over, it was time for a change.
Bob knew he wasn’t in line for a cruiser or an explorer command. He’d have to work up to that. But he felt that if he applied himself, before long, the line ahead of him would empty out and he’d be offered a big ship to push.
The Kids from Arzala were coming up to speed pretty quickly. Their new escorts, the Shran class were comparable to Defiants, but were a little bigger and a little more comfortable for a longer mission.
This mission was transporting relief supplies and lateral to the Kaa Sectors. The Kaa were assholes, but they gleefully joined the anti-Thasite Alliance and were willing to do whatever it took to keep the Federation happy and on their side. Now the Federation was covering its end. They’d help the Kaa rebuild into a buffer state against the Thasites, so long as the Kaa adhered to Sentient rights and all that good Federation stuff.
The Ops station beeped with a familiar tone A distress call.
Cory Milley, the Ops officer said “Civilian ship in Distress, 5 light-years at bearing 193 mark 295. They report attack by pirates.”
Bob considered it. They only had three ships for this run. If he took two, that left one covering the convoy and that was a problem. But going alone was also risky.
He had faith in his ship and his crew. They’d muscled out of bad spots before. Pirates in this area were not well capitalized, so they frequently ran old ships with old cloaks and old weapons. Not terribly challenging for the Mattson.
Smith said “Alright. Let the Sroklan and the Limmwa know we’re deviating to check it out. They’re to stay with the convoy. Helm, set course to intercept, best speed, Engage.”
-*-
The Mattson came out of warp to a small independent trader. Not too many of those running alone these days. Too many pirates and enemy raiders.
As the Mattson approached, Milley reported “Hard to get a reading, they’re surrounded by drive plasma. Visually looks like moderate damage. I see lights on, IR scans show parts of the ship are at livable temperatures.”
Smith nodded “We’ll have to hard dock to search for survivors.
Milley said “I’m also reading subspace distortions at medium range.”
Smith nodded grimly “Yeah, I figured. Target one of those distortions and head for it at full Impulse.”
The Mattson turned quickly and streaked towards the mysterious distortion.
An Orion raider class ship decloaked and raised shields.
“Those are good shields. These guys aren’t punks.”
Four more Orion ships decloaked for a total of five.
“Wow. Someone’s headhunting. Execute attack pattern Alpha on the ship ahead of us.”
“They’re charging weapons. That’s weird.”
“What’s weird?”
“The energy signatures don’t look right.”
“How so?”
“I’ll need more time, but those aren’t standard disruptors.”
“Alright, we over run him and then break for daylight.”
As the two angry ships closed, the Orion started firing beams of energy into the Mattson.
“What the hell! Those are tetryon beams!”
“Like the Tholians use?”
“Yes! They’re draining our shields.”
Smith watched his shield strength drop. “Fire all weapons.”
The Mattson buzzed, hummed and thumped.
The enemy’s shields held longer than he liked and when they collapsed, tertiary shields and ablative armor protected the Orion ship
The two ships passed
The Mattson shuddered and seemed to lean way over
“Tractor beam! It’s draining our shields, too!”
“Polarize the hull!”
Smith watched the other four Orion ships approach at full impulse. He had moments until he was dog piled and he didn’t like it.
The Mattson polarized her hull and disrupted the tractor beam “Get us out of here!” Smith said
“Web snare incoming!”
“What?”
“Yeah, the Tholian weapon,”
“Dump the batteries into the Engines and begin evasive maneuvers!”
The Mattson was surrounded by orange energy webbing.
The ship shuddered as tetryon beams hit from all sides.
-*-
In the engineering compartment, Kim Perigosa saw the situation and yelled “Clear the Engineering Deck! Clear now!”
The Mattson’s Chief Engineer had a trick up her sleeve but it was dangerous to anyone not half borg by weight.
She called the Bridge “I’m going to break that web, but it’ll take the warp engines off-line, it’ll take a moment to reset after that!”
“Do it!” Smith yelled. They had to get away from the englobement by the Orion/Tholian ships or it was all over.
-*-
Perigosa set up the commands. And as the last crewmen fled the engineering compartment she activated the overload shields and her trick.
Heavy hull metal doors slid down over the entrance to the Engineering Compartment
The Mattson’s warp drives pulsed in ways they were not designed to.
The strange pulsing warp field that resulted broke up the energy webbing holding the escort.
As they began to be able to move again, another Orion ship got them with a tractor beam
The shields failed, Systems started to go off line. Planes started exploding.
“They’re hailing,” Cashon the XO said
“On screen,”
The firing slowed down some A face appeared on the screen. It was pale and plasticky looking. Bob recognized a type 0718 Android. There was one in Task Force Taffy Six.
“You are temporally deviant,” the Android said.
“You’re a type 0718 Positronic android. You’re supposed to be on our side.”
“Irrelevant. As a gesture of mercy and goodwill, we will allow non-deviant beings to eject from your ship before we destroy it.”
“What does that even mean?” Smith asked
“You are from another timeline. Another universe. Another time. This is inappropriate and dangerous. It must be ended.”
“You’re going to kill us for being from another timeline?”
“It is nothing personal. Your existence merely threatens the integrity of time itself. You cannot be tolerated. If you break time, it will result in misery and death for numbers of beings you cannot comprehend.”
“Why are you using Tholian weapons against us?”
“I will give you no tactical information. Surrender and let your temporally-consistent people live.”
Smith did the math. It didn’t look good. If Orion/Tholians were going to be doing more of this, someone had to warn everyone.
But… He couldn’t just roll over. It wasn’t in him and he figured it wasn’t in crew.
“Please hold,” Smith muted the screen and turned away “Get some of our Arzalan kids into shuttles and get them out of here. Someone has to warn Starbase Steele if we don’t make it.”
Chason also turned away from the screen “On it. I don’t know if we have any shuttles that aren’t original equipment.”
“Do the best you can.”
“Alright,” Smith unmuted the screen, “Go to hell. Tactical fire all weapons at that ship, full overloads.”
-*-
The fight was brutal, but the outcome was not in doubt.
As the ship spun and dodged to escape the withering enemy fire, she dropped three shuttlecraft.
One escaped.
In time the Denver Mattson was a tumbling wreck. Fires and hull breaches all over. Weapons and engines burned and melted.
Escape pods began flying away from the wreck.
The Orion ships scooped them all up.
-*-
Ensign Merilar got pulled from her esape pod, covered in grime and slightly burned. Orions roughly grabbed her, took her comm badge and searched her thoroughly, getting a small utility pack of tools and the phaser she’d hidden on herself.
In the shuttlebay, She could see another escape pod. Two people were pulled out. Harrison,and Doboman.
The Android scanned and dispassionately shot Harrison.
The Android came and scanned Merilar. Her mouth was dry and she could barely think let alone speak. The Android finished the scan and dispassionately moved on to other survivors.
Merilar realized the Android was shooting all the survivors who came from other timelines. “What good does that do? They’re still here in the wrong timeline!”
The Android stopped and spoke to her, projecting slightly to make up for the distance “Dead people do not take actions or change the flow of history. It is not a perfect solution, but an adequate one.”
“What about us?”
“You are not my problem.”
Merilar looked at the Orion holding her arm. He grinned, “That means you belong to us.”
That was the beginning of a bad time for Merilar and the survivors of the USS Denver Mattson.
It was another escort run. Bob relaxed in the command chair, and read reports. Task Force Taffy Six was being slowly stood down, re-equipped to fit this new Federation and the new mission of Starfleet. Bob knew he was in line for a new ship and it made him happy.
The Denver Mattson was a small ship. Too tight in many places. She had one job. Carry heavy phaser cannon into position and shoot until the problem went away. Bob and his crew were well practiced at this, but now the Thasite war was over, it was time for a change.
Bob knew he wasn’t in line for a cruiser or an explorer command. He’d have to work up to that. But he felt that if he applied himself, before long, the line ahead of him would empty out and he’d be offered a big ship to push.
The Kids from Arzala were coming up to speed pretty quickly. Their new escorts, the Shran class were comparable to Defiants, but were a little bigger and a little more comfortable for a longer mission.
This mission was transporting relief supplies and lateral to the Kaa Sectors. The Kaa were assholes, but they gleefully joined the anti-Thasite Alliance and were willing to do whatever it took to keep the Federation happy and on their side. Now the Federation was covering its end. They’d help the Kaa rebuild into a buffer state against the Thasites, so long as the Kaa adhered to Sentient rights and all that good Federation stuff.
The Ops station beeped with a familiar tone A distress call.
Cory Milley, the Ops officer said “Civilian ship in Distress, 5 light-years at bearing 193 mark 295. They report attack by pirates.”
Bob considered it. They only had three ships for this run. If he took two, that left one covering the convoy and that was a problem. But going alone was also risky.
He had faith in his ship and his crew. They’d muscled out of bad spots before. Pirates in this area were not well capitalized, so they frequently ran old ships with old cloaks and old weapons. Not terribly challenging for the Mattson.
Smith said “Alright. Let the Sroklan and the Limmwa know we’re deviating to check it out. They’re to stay with the convoy. Helm, set course to intercept, best speed, Engage.”
-*-
The Mattson came out of warp to a small independent trader. Not too many of those running alone these days. Too many pirates and enemy raiders.
As the Mattson approached, Milley reported “Hard to get a reading, they’re surrounded by drive plasma. Visually looks like moderate damage. I see lights on, IR scans show parts of the ship are at livable temperatures.”
Smith nodded “We’ll have to hard dock to search for survivors.
Milley said “I’m also reading subspace distortions at medium range.”
Smith nodded grimly “Yeah, I figured. Target one of those distortions and head for it at full Impulse.”
The Mattson turned quickly and streaked towards the mysterious distortion.
An Orion raider class ship decloaked and raised shields.
“Those are good shields. These guys aren’t punks.”
Four more Orion ships decloaked for a total of five.
“Wow. Someone’s headhunting. Execute attack pattern Alpha on the ship ahead of us.”
“They’re charging weapons. That’s weird.”
“What’s weird?”
“The energy signatures don’t look right.”
“How so?”
“I’ll need more time, but those aren’t standard disruptors.”
“Alright, we over run him and then break for daylight.”
As the two angry ships closed, the Orion started firing beams of energy into the Mattson.
“What the hell! Those are tetryon beams!”
“Like the Tholians use?”
“Yes! They’re draining our shields.”
Smith watched his shield strength drop. “Fire all weapons.”
The Mattson buzzed, hummed and thumped.
The enemy’s shields held longer than he liked and when they collapsed, tertiary shields and ablative armor protected the Orion ship
The two ships passed
The Mattson shuddered and seemed to lean way over
“Tractor beam! It’s draining our shields, too!”
“Polarize the hull!”
Smith watched the other four Orion ships approach at full impulse. He had moments until he was dog piled and he didn’t like it.
The Mattson polarized her hull and disrupted the tractor beam “Get us out of here!” Smith said
“Web snare incoming!”
“What?”
“Yeah, the Tholian weapon,”
“Dump the batteries into the Engines and begin evasive maneuvers!”
The Mattson was surrounded by orange energy webbing.
The ship shuddered as tetryon beams hit from all sides.
-*-
In the engineering compartment, Kim Perigosa saw the situation and yelled “Clear the Engineering Deck! Clear now!”
The Mattson’s Chief Engineer had a trick up her sleeve but it was dangerous to anyone not half borg by weight.
She called the Bridge “I’m going to break that web, but it’ll take the warp engines off-line, it’ll take a moment to reset after that!”
“Do it!” Smith yelled. They had to get away from the englobement by the Orion/Tholian ships or it was all over.
-*-
Perigosa set up the commands. And as the last crewmen fled the engineering compartment she activated the overload shields and her trick.
Heavy hull metal doors slid down over the entrance to the Engineering Compartment
The Mattson’s warp drives pulsed in ways they were not designed to.
The strange pulsing warp field that resulted broke up the energy webbing holding the escort.
As they began to be able to move again, another Orion ship got them with a tractor beam
The shields failed, Systems started to go off line. Planes started exploding.
“They’re hailing,” Cashon the XO said
“On screen,”
The firing slowed down some A face appeared on the screen. It was pale and plasticky looking. Bob recognized a type 0718 Android. There was one in Task Force Taffy Six.
“You are temporally deviant,” the Android said.
“You’re a type 0718 Positronic android. You’re supposed to be on our side.”
“Irrelevant. As a gesture of mercy and goodwill, we will allow non-deviant beings to eject from your ship before we destroy it.”
“What does that even mean?” Smith asked
“You are from another timeline. Another universe. Another time. This is inappropriate and dangerous. It must be ended.”
“You’re going to kill us for being from another timeline?”
“It is nothing personal. Your existence merely threatens the integrity of time itself. You cannot be tolerated. If you break time, it will result in misery and death for numbers of beings you cannot comprehend.”
“Why are you using Tholian weapons against us?”
“I will give you no tactical information. Surrender and let your temporally-consistent people live.”
Smith did the math. It didn’t look good. If Orion/Tholians were going to be doing more of this, someone had to warn everyone.
But… He couldn’t just roll over. It wasn’t in him and he figured it wasn’t in crew.
“Please hold,” Smith muted the screen and turned away “Get some of our Arzalan kids into shuttles and get them out of here. Someone has to warn Starbase Steele if we don’t make it.”
Chason also turned away from the screen “On it. I don’t know if we have any shuttles that aren’t original equipment.”
“Do the best you can.”
“Alright,” Smith unmuted the screen, “Go to hell. Tactical fire all weapons at that ship, full overloads.”
-*-
The fight was brutal, but the outcome was not in doubt.
As the ship spun and dodged to escape the withering enemy fire, she dropped three shuttlecraft.
One escaped.
In time the Denver Mattson was a tumbling wreck. Fires and hull breaches all over. Weapons and engines burned and melted.
Escape pods began flying away from the wreck.
The Orion ships scooped them all up.
-*-
Ensign Merilar got pulled from her esape pod, covered in grime and slightly burned. Orions roughly grabbed her, took her comm badge and searched her thoroughly, getting a small utility pack of tools and the phaser she’d hidden on herself.
In the shuttlebay, She could see another escape pod. Two people were pulled out. Harrison,and Doboman.
The Android scanned and dispassionately shot Harrison.
The Android came and scanned Merilar. Her mouth was dry and she could barely think let alone speak. The Android finished the scan and dispassionately moved on to other survivors.
Merilar realized the Android was shooting all the survivors who came from other timelines. “What good does that do? They’re still here in the wrong timeline!”
The Android stopped and spoke to her, projecting slightly to make up for the distance “Dead people do not take actions or change the flow of history. It is not a perfect solution, but an adequate one.”
“What about us?”
“You are not my problem.”
Merilar looked at the Orion holding her arm. He grinned, “That means you belong to us.”
That was the beginning of a bad time for Merilar and the survivors of the USS Denver Mattson.
-
jayphailey
- Posts: 1578
- Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 pm
Re: The Skein of Violence
There doesn't seem to be TSOV 2. Odd.
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jayphailey
- Posts: 1578
- Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 pm
Re: The Skein of Violence
TSOV 3 - Law and Order on Taucente
Sadalalan sat in a conference room. It looked much like any conference room on a starship. It was generic furniture and decor and equipment.
She was trying to fulfill an instruction she’d received and it wasn’t working well.
They were in a Federation building. It functioned in many ways like a consulate. The sign outside said “The United Federation of Planets, Incorporated of Taucente - a Subdivision of The United Federation of Planets.”
Sadalalan didn’t especially like the Corporate form of the Federation. They said it helped them get along on Taucente. Sadalalan considered it an over complicated waste of time. She didn’t say so. That wasn’t her job.
She was a spy turned erstwhile law enforcement officer. That was life in Starfleet. You trained for a complicated, difficult, and demanding job, and then you got in the field and did whatever needed doing.
Onnah Locarri was a tall, thin man, with a shock of white hair and a deep voice. His suit was the most expensive, high quality clothing that could be had on Taucente. His brief case was designer leather. Understated, but superior quality. His devices were similarly high quality and expensive.
“I remind everyone that what is said here is under the cloak of confidentiality, said in the service of resolving a dispute. Spreading information from this meeting without due cause will surely result in reputational damage,” Locarri said. “I encourage candor.”
Around the table everyone nodded assent. Holden Lanetly grinned.
“So, what is your complaint again?” Locarri asked Sadalalan.
“We are asserting that Xujedda and a team of Sathos people attempted to create a bio-weapon to use against the Thasites,” Sadalalan said.
“I see. Are you asserting this bio-weapon was used on anyone?”
“No. We arrived in time to shut the effort down and confiscate the equipment and raw material before the project was complete.”
“So, who was injured in this event?”
“Well, no one directly. This incident posed a risk and the intent of genocidal violence against the Thasites.”
“Do you represent the Thasites in this matter?”
“Um, no. We’re at war with the Thasites.”
“Then what is your interest?”
Mary Whitehead, the Manager of this branch of Federation Inc said “The Federation has an interest in preventing genocide.”
“Genocide as a concept?”
“Yes. We’re staunchly against genocide as a concept and as an act.”
“Does the Federation have any direct involvement here?”
“Yes. The Sathos faction in question took Federation money and resources and redirected them to this effort,” Sadalalan said.
“Then your conflict is one of misallocation of funds against your Sathos partners.”
Sadalalan blinked slowly “Technically true, but we place more importance on the bio-weapon.”
“The Bio-weapon you Sathos partners did not complete.”
“Correct.”
“Since there was no actual bio-weapon and no use of the bioweapon, and the parties the Bioweapon was aimed at are not here and are not alleging harm, I’m not sure what you want us to do.”
Shem Koblay wore a suit of riotous colors. His hair had substances in it that were meant to make it more attractive to females. He wore cologne. Sadalalan found him an unpleasant if odd sensory experience. “The use of the unit at 745 Best Business Park Way as a bio-lab to make a bio-weapon was a violation of the terms of the lease. We will be seeking a claim.”
“Was the unit damaged?”
“Well, they left a mess. And we’ll have to hire a decontamination team to make sure nothing unpleasant was left behind.”
Gaz Orixa was the representative for Federation, Inc. A local lawyer, in effect. Gaz was less upscale than the Bourse Representative, Locarri, but business-like and professional looking. He said, “Do you have evidence for your claim?”
Koblay pulled out a PADD. It was large, decorated, and had some brand name loudly emblazoned on it. He shows a scan of the office/shop facility until recently occupied by the Sathos party. It showed debris and generic office fittings left behind when the Federation crew removed the lab equipment.
Mary Whitehead said, “Would it mollify you if we sent a crew to clean the place up and decontaminate it?”
Koblay blinked. It was a reasonable offer. But not exactly what he was expecting. “Sure, I guess.”
“So the Federation is claiming responsibility for the actions of the Sathos party that made the attempt at a bio-weapon?”
“No. The Sathos acted without our knowledge or consent. I just think it would be easier to clear the decks of any after-the-fact complications,” Whitehead said.
That made sense to the Taucente people in the room.
Orixa said, “Miss Xujedda, do you dispute that your team acted without the knowledge or consent of the Federation?”
The Sathos woman shook her head gently “Oh no. We did that. We were pretty sure the Federation absolutely would not like us building a bio-weapon so we took steps to complete the project without the Federation becoming aware.”
Sadalalan felt a sort of resignation from Xujedda, combined with curiosity. Understandable. The strange legal system of Taucente was difficult to understand.
“Are you really just here to confess and watch what will happen?” Sadalalan asked Xujedda.
“Please stay out of my mind,” Xujedda said “But yes. We have no idea how this will work out. If you were the Thasites, my crew would be dead and I’d be getting publicly tortured right now. I elected to stay personally and map out what happens in this case. Sathos people who were not involved in our project will observe and communicate the result to the rest of the Sathos people.”
“Where are the rest of your crew?” John Obegambe was the commanding officer of the terribly small Starfleet contingent assigned to Federation Inc.
“I have no idea. I deliberately stayed back and informed them so. So any plans we had in common were discarded. I presume they’re in space heading elsewhere right now,” Xujedda answered.
“So your crew has abandoned you and left you to absorb the consequences of this event?” Locarri asked
“By mutual agreement,” Xujedda relied.
“And Dr. Iramda-Chu,” Locarri turned to the Avian scientist at the table “What is your purpose here?”
“I am here mainly to apologize to the Federation and the people of Taucente. I got so engrossed in the technical challenge of constructing the Bio-Weapon, that I lost track of the ethical concerns. By doing this work I almost dragged you people into a war crime and I feel horrible about that.”
“Provide full records of your work and help my people decontaminate the work space, and we’ll call it good.” Whitehead said
“Really?” Iramda-Chu said
“Yes. It’s a well-known fact that the Irari can get engrossed in a project to the detriment of themselves and others. We won’t hold your natural thought process against you.”
Orixa, the representative for the Federation asked Xujedda “Did you know that the Irari were like that?”
She nodded gently “Oh, yes. We encouraged him to become engrossed. He was a wonderful tool for our project. We deliberately recruited an Irari bio-engineer in the hopes of getting this result.”
Everyone looked at her.
“Do you, ah, do you think you might owe Dr Iramda-Chu an apology for that?” Whitehead asked.
“Oh, yes. Yes indeed. Dr. Iramda-Chu. I apologize. We were behaving terribly and we used you. You should not feel bad about this incident. All the blame belongs to us. Not you.”
Dr Iramda-Chu tilted his head back and forth at Xujedda “I thought you liked me.”
“Oh, I do. You’re a lovely person. You were great fun to work with.”
“But you used me.”
“Yes. Our mission is one of generations. Millions have suffered and died in ways I don’t care to specify. I have seen members of my species tortured to death over the course of days. I’ll do anything to stop that. Including making a friend and then using that friend as a weapon. I am sorry if this hurts you, but this is how it must be.”
“You’re really not who I thought you were.”
“It’s rare for us to show anyone all of what we are.”
“Dr. Iramda-Chu, do you wish to file a claim?” Locarri asked
Iramda-chu fluffed his feathers and tilted his head some more “As I understand your process, I was hired to do a job. I did the job. I was paid for the job. If there was a fraud, it was a fraud of omission. I believe my case would be weak.”
Locarri nodded “I believe you’re correct.”
Sadalalan asked, “So what are we going to do about Ms. Xujedda here and her attempt at bio-warfare?”
Locarri asked Xujedda “Do you intend harm to the Bourse and the people of Taucente?”
Xujedda shook her head “No. That would interfere in liberating my people from the Thasites.”
Orixa asked, “How about the Federation or the Federation Incorporated of Taucente?”
“No, Not really. I feel saddened by the damage to our relationship. The Federation formed a safe haven for my people. Several bands of Sathos have taken on the mission of integrating into the Federation and building up a survivable population base here. I hope our actions won’t reflect poorly on them.”
“The Federation doesn’t assign guilt by race,” Whitehead said.
“We love you for that. I’ll take whatever punishment is assigned. I am sure that if you can catch my fellow co-conspirators they’ll adopt this attitude.”
“What punishment does the Federation have in mind for Ms. Xujedda?” Locarri asked.
“We certainly won’t be doing business with her again,” Whitehead sighed. “The problem here is that the actions took place on Taucente. By Federation Policy, Taucente jurisdiction holds. She’s a refugee in the Federation, so she can return to Federation territory any time after she’s done paying for her crime here.”
Locarri said “That interests me. If she’d taken her actions on a Federation world, for instance, Arzala, what would the result be?”
“Attempting to build and use a bio-weapon is a serious crime in our culture. The harms that could result are terrible, so we want to strongly discourage and disincentivize that sort of thing,” Whitehead said
“So your culture would base its judgment on the potential for harm?”
“Yes. In some cases, the harm is so egregious that to wait until after the fact would be unacceptable.”
Locarri nodded “Our culture handles these things a little differently. Since the weapon was not completed, and never came close to being deployed, there is no definable harm there. There is no cause for judgment. Also, the who is the wronged party and what the wrong is are very nebulous here. The Thasites might have a claim. But they aren’t here and are unlikely to be.”
“Your only definite and definable harm is the misallocations of funds. But if I understand it correctly, this was done covertly to avoid alerting parties hostile to your goals of your actions, so a public judgment of harm would not suit your goals. Is that correct?”
“Yes, Sir,” Sadalalan said.
“Then in this matter, I find that Ms. Xujedda owes you back the money she and her party took under false pretenses. Since Ms Xujedda is currently indigent, She must work for The Federation Inc, until her debt is repaid. Ms. Xujedda, can you comply with this judgment?”
Xujedda said, “I can, if the Federation wants me to work for them.”
Mary Whitehead just looked at Xujedda and Locarri, “Alright. I guess we can live with that.”
“Now let’s turn to the matter of just how much money Ms Xujedda owes. This debt is held to be shared by the members of her project to make the Bio-Weapon. All those involved owe this money. Any or all can pay. The debt stays until paid.”
Grabura, the Ferengi member of Sadalalan’s crew said “I have the figures right here.” She waved a PADD.
Holden, Corosa, and Kodal all came an agreement by glance and expression “We’re going to get something to eat. Call us if you need us.”
For a brief moment, Sadalalan pictured them escorting her out of the conference in a violent, shooting escape. “We will.”
The more action-oriented members of Sadalalan’s crew left the conference room.
Taraban told her “Turn it over to the local authorities,” and so she’d do that. She hoped she’d get the chance to recall every tedious detail at him.
-*-
As they left the Federation Inc building, Corosa asked “So they don’t have crime here? Just business to business lawsuits?”
Holden said “Yeah. It’s as if there was no government so they turned everything you’d want a government to do into a service and its provided by corporations. So law and order breaks down to property damage. If I shoot someone, I guess I’d be liable for their replacement cost.”
“Excellent,” Kodal said, “I can shoot you and make money on it.”
Mako said “You never shoot anyone unless you’re making money on it. Or unless they shoot at us first.”
“That’s a very good policy. If I let some rando shoot me dead, my future earnings potential will drop markedly,” Holden said “I think I’m going to retire here, once we’re done with all this Federation business.
Across the street, up on the roof of a business, a spider-like figure watched them go. It was coated with materials that mimicked the colors and shapes of its surroundings almost perfectly. As long as it held still, human eyes couldn’t see it. It was very good at holding still.
-*-
Gaz Orixa, Rep for UFP inc
John Obegambe, Lt. ℅ of the small Starfleet detachment
Mary Whitehead - Manager of the Division
Shem Koblay, Rep for the building
Dr. Iramda-Chu - Irari Scientist
Xujedda - The Tuxedo Sathos
Onnah Locarri Rep for the Bourse
Sadalalan sat in a conference room. It looked much like any conference room on a starship. It was generic furniture and decor and equipment.
She was trying to fulfill an instruction she’d received and it wasn’t working well.
They were in a Federation building. It functioned in many ways like a consulate. The sign outside said “The United Federation of Planets, Incorporated of Taucente - a Subdivision of The United Federation of Planets.”
Sadalalan didn’t especially like the Corporate form of the Federation. They said it helped them get along on Taucente. Sadalalan considered it an over complicated waste of time. She didn’t say so. That wasn’t her job.
She was a spy turned erstwhile law enforcement officer. That was life in Starfleet. You trained for a complicated, difficult, and demanding job, and then you got in the field and did whatever needed doing.
Onnah Locarri was a tall, thin man, with a shock of white hair and a deep voice. His suit was the most expensive, high quality clothing that could be had on Taucente. His brief case was designer leather. Understated, but superior quality. His devices were similarly high quality and expensive.
“I remind everyone that what is said here is under the cloak of confidentiality, said in the service of resolving a dispute. Spreading information from this meeting without due cause will surely result in reputational damage,” Locarri said. “I encourage candor.”
Around the table everyone nodded assent. Holden Lanetly grinned.
“So, what is your complaint again?” Locarri asked Sadalalan.
“We are asserting that Xujedda and a team of Sathos people attempted to create a bio-weapon to use against the Thasites,” Sadalalan said.
“I see. Are you asserting this bio-weapon was used on anyone?”
“No. We arrived in time to shut the effort down and confiscate the equipment and raw material before the project was complete.”
“So, who was injured in this event?”
“Well, no one directly. This incident posed a risk and the intent of genocidal violence against the Thasites.”
“Do you represent the Thasites in this matter?”
“Um, no. We’re at war with the Thasites.”
“Then what is your interest?”
Mary Whitehead, the Manager of this branch of Federation Inc said “The Federation has an interest in preventing genocide.”
“Genocide as a concept?”
“Yes. We’re staunchly against genocide as a concept and as an act.”
“Does the Federation have any direct involvement here?”
“Yes. The Sathos faction in question took Federation money and resources and redirected them to this effort,” Sadalalan said.
“Then your conflict is one of misallocation of funds against your Sathos partners.”
Sadalalan blinked slowly “Technically true, but we place more importance on the bio-weapon.”
“The Bio-weapon you Sathos partners did not complete.”
“Correct.”
“Since there was no actual bio-weapon and no use of the bioweapon, and the parties the Bioweapon was aimed at are not here and are not alleging harm, I’m not sure what you want us to do.”
Shem Koblay wore a suit of riotous colors. His hair had substances in it that were meant to make it more attractive to females. He wore cologne. Sadalalan found him an unpleasant if odd sensory experience. “The use of the unit at 745 Best Business Park Way as a bio-lab to make a bio-weapon was a violation of the terms of the lease. We will be seeking a claim.”
“Was the unit damaged?”
“Well, they left a mess. And we’ll have to hire a decontamination team to make sure nothing unpleasant was left behind.”
Gaz Orixa was the representative for Federation, Inc. A local lawyer, in effect. Gaz was less upscale than the Bourse Representative, Locarri, but business-like and professional looking. He said, “Do you have evidence for your claim?”
Koblay pulled out a PADD. It was large, decorated, and had some brand name loudly emblazoned on it. He shows a scan of the office/shop facility until recently occupied by the Sathos party. It showed debris and generic office fittings left behind when the Federation crew removed the lab equipment.
Mary Whitehead said, “Would it mollify you if we sent a crew to clean the place up and decontaminate it?”
Koblay blinked. It was a reasonable offer. But not exactly what he was expecting. “Sure, I guess.”
“So the Federation is claiming responsibility for the actions of the Sathos party that made the attempt at a bio-weapon?”
“No. The Sathos acted without our knowledge or consent. I just think it would be easier to clear the decks of any after-the-fact complications,” Whitehead said.
That made sense to the Taucente people in the room.
Orixa said, “Miss Xujedda, do you dispute that your team acted without the knowledge or consent of the Federation?”
The Sathos woman shook her head gently “Oh no. We did that. We were pretty sure the Federation absolutely would not like us building a bio-weapon so we took steps to complete the project without the Federation becoming aware.”
Sadalalan felt a sort of resignation from Xujedda, combined with curiosity. Understandable. The strange legal system of Taucente was difficult to understand.
“Are you really just here to confess and watch what will happen?” Sadalalan asked Xujedda.
“Please stay out of my mind,” Xujedda said “But yes. We have no idea how this will work out. If you were the Thasites, my crew would be dead and I’d be getting publicly tortured right now. I elected to stay personally and map out what happens in this case. Sathos people who were not involved in our project will observe and communicate the result to the rest of the Sathos people.”
“Where are the rest of your crew?” John Obegambe was the commanding officer of the terribly small Starfleet contingent assigned to Federation Inc.
“I have no idea. I deliberately stayed back and informed them so. So any plans we had in common were discarded. I presume they’re in space heading elsewhere right now,” Xujedda answered.
“So your crew has abandoned you and left you to absorb the consequences of this event?” Locarri asked
“By mutual agreement,” Xujedda relied.
“And Dr. Iramda-Chu,” Locarri turned to the Avian scientist at the table “What is your purpose here?”
“I am here mainly to apologize to the Federation and the people of Taucente. I got so engrossed in the technical challenge of constructing the Bio-Weapon, that I lost track of the ethical concerns. By doing this work I almost dragged you people into a war crime and I feel horrible about that.”
“Provide full records of your work and help my people decontaminate the work space, and we’ll call it good.” Whitehead said
“Really?” Iramda-Chu said
“Yes. It’s a well-known fact that the Irari can get engrossed in a project to the detriment of themselves and others. We won’t hold your natural thought process against you.”
Orixa, the representative for the Federation asked Xujedda “Did you know that the Irari were like that?”
She nodded gently “Oh, yes. We encouraged him to become engrossed. He was a wonderful tool for our project. We deliberately recruited an Irari bio-engineer in the hopes of getting this result.”
Everyone looked at her.
“Do you, ah, do you think you might owe Dr Iramda-Chu an apology for that?” Whitehead asked.
“Oh, yes. Yes indeed. Dr. Iramda-Chu. I apologize. We were behaving terribly and we used you. You should not feel bad about this incident. All the blame belongs to us. Not you.”
Dr Iramda-Chu tilted his head back and forth at Xujedda “I thought you liked me.”
“Oh, I do. You’re a lovely person. You were great fun to work with.”
“But you used me.”
“Yes. Our mission is one of generations. Millions have suffered and died in ways I don’t care to specify. I have seen members of my species tortured to death over the course of days. I’ll do anything to stop that. Including making a friend and then using that friend as a weapon. I am sorry if this hurts you, but this is how it must be.”
“You’re really not who I thought you were.”
“It’s rare for us to show anyone all of what we are.”
“Dr. Iramda-Chu, do you wish to file a claim?” Locarri asked
Iramda-chu fluffed his feathers and tilted his head some more “As I understand your process, I was hired to do a job. I did the job. I was paid for the job. If there was a fraud, it was a fraud of omission. I believe my case would be weak.”
Locarri nodded “I believe you’re correct.”
Sadalalan asked, “So what are we going to do about Ms. Xujedda here and her attempt at bio-warfare?”
Locarri asked Xujedda “Do you intend harm to the Bourse and the people of Taucente?”
Xujedda shook her head “No. That would interfere in liberating my people from the Thasites.”
Orixa asked, “How about the Federation or the Federation Incorporated of Taucente?”
“No, Not really. I feel saddened by the damage to our relationship. The Federation formed a safe haven for my people. Several bands of Sathos have taken on the mission of integrating into the Federation and building up a survivable population base here. I hope our actions won’t reflect poorly on them.”
“The Federation doesn’t assign guilt by race,” Whitehead said.
“We love you for that. I’ll take whatever punishment is assigned. I am sure that if you can catch my fellow co-conspirators they’ll adopt this attitude.”
“What punishment does the Federation have in mind for Ms. Xujedda?” Locarri asked.
“We certainly won’t be doing business with her again,” Whitehead sighed. “The problem here is that the actions took place on Taucente. By Federation Policy, Taucente jurisdiction holds. She’s a refugee in the Federation, so she can return to Federation territory any time after she’s done paying for her crime here.”
Locarri said “That interests me. If she’d taken her actions on a Federation world, for instance, Arzala, what would the result be?”
“Attempting to build and use a bio-weapon is a serious crime in our culture. The harms that could result are terrible, so we want to strongly discourage and disincentivize that sort of thing,” Whitehead said
“So your culture would base its judgment on the potential for harm?”
“Yes. In some cases, the harm is so egregious that to wait until after the fact would be unacceptable.”
Locarri nodded “Our culture handles these things a little differently. Since the weapon was not completed, and never came close to being deployed, there is no definable harm there. There is no cause for judgment. Also, the who is the wronged party and what the wrong is are very nebulous here. The Thasites might have a claim. But they aren’t here and are unlikely to be.”
“Your only definite and definable harm is the misallocations of funds. But if I understand it correctly, this was done covertly to avoid alerting parties hostile to your goals of your actions, so a public judgment of harm would not suit your goals. Is that correct?”
“Yes, Sir,” Sadalalan said.
“Then in this matter, I find that Ms. Xujedda owes you back the money she and her party took under false pretenses. Since Ms Xujedda is currently indigent, She must work for The Federation Inc, until her debt is repaid. Ms. Xujedda, can you comply with this judgment?”
Xujedda said, “I can, if the Federation wants me to work for them.”
Mary Whitehead just looked at Xujedda and Locarri, “Alright. I guess we can live with that.”
“Now let’s turn to the matter of just how much money Ms Xujedda owes. This debt is held to be shared by the members of her project to make the Bio-Weapon. All those involved owe this money. Any or all can pay. The debt stays until paid.”
Grabura, the Ferengi member of Sadalalan’s crew said “I have the figures right here.” She waved a PADD.
Holden, Corosa, and Kodal all came an agreement by glance and expression “We’re going to get something to eat. Call us if you need us.”
For a brief moment, Sadalalan pictured them escorting her out of the conference in a violent, shooting escape. “We will.”
The more action-oriented members of Sadalalan’s crew left the conference room.
Taraban told her “Turn it over to the local authorities,” and so she’d do that. She hoped she’d get the chance to recall every tedious detail at him.
-*-
As they left the Federation Inc building, Corosa asked “So they don’t have crime here? Just business to business lawsuits?”
Holden said “Yeah. It’s as if there was no government so they turned everything you’d want a government to do into a service and its provided by corporations. So law and order breaks down to property damage. If I shoot someone, I guess I’d be liable for their replacement cost.”
“Excellent,” Kodal said, “I can shoot you and make money on it.”
Mako said “You never shoot anyone unless you’re making money on it. Or unless they shoot at us first.”
“That’s a very good policy. If I let some rando shoot me dead, my future earnings potential will drop markedly,” Holden said “I think I’m going to retire here, once we’re done with all this Federation business.
Across the street, up on the roof of a business, a spider-like figure watched them go. It was coated with materials that mimicked the colors and shapes of its surroundings almost perfectly. As long as it held still, human eyes couldn’t see it. It was very good at holding still.
-*-
Gaz Orixa, Rep for UFP inc
John Obegambe, Lt. ℅ of the small Starfleet detachment
Mary Whitehead - Manager of the Division
Shem Koblay, Rep for the building
Dr. Iramda-Chu - Irari Scientist
Xujedda - The Tuxedo Sathos
Onnah Locarri Rep for the Bourse
-
jayphailey
- Posts: 1578
- Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 pm
Re: The Skein of Violence
TSOV 4 - Ambush at Sainte-Jeanne
Holden Lanetly enjoyed Sainte-Jeanne city. It was nice to know in this new, weird corner of space that there were still places that made sense. Money talked. People were serious about business here. Not that weird fluffy-headed communism of the Federation.
Not that Holden had any intention of letting go of his relationship with Starfleet. Replicators and energy-based economics were very nice. Generally, you didn't let go of an old deal until you had a better one in hand.
Here, on this planet latinum in pocket and a blaster at your side meant something. Taucente was halfway between a free port and a corporate world. Lanetly grinned to himself. The Federation struggled to cope with such a place. Their mindset really didn't fit it.
Holden and part of his crew exited the Federation of Taucente, Inc building.
"Where do we want to eat?" Holden asked.
They could have easily gotten any food on record from the replicators inside the Federation building. But Holden was feeling cooped up. The meeting with the lawyers and representatives was too much talking and not to his taste.
Kodal rotated her wrist and tapped a rectangle to activate the screen. "Zarna and Kugid say they have news for us. Let's go see what they found."
"Sure. Zarna has a talent for finding the most dangerous drinking holes on any given planet," Holden replied.
"Our work rarely happens in board rooms or temples," Kodal said
"They sure are cute together," Corosa said wistfully.
Kodal shared a glance with Holden. Holden's apprentice had a tendency to moon after romance. Kodal hoped that such idiocy wouldn't get her killed when it got him killed. Holden just gave a hint of a smile. What are you going to do?
Zarna replied to Kodals message and they followed her directions into the city.
-*-
Most of the area around Sainte-Jeanne city was suburbs. Neighborhoods or commercial areas where people paid an association to keep order.
Closer to downtown things were more jumbled. Corporate headquarters and shopping districts sat shoulder to shoulder. Different security companies overlapped. Security and Dispute Resolution Companies had a complex set of social rituals to avoid conflict and problems.
As they walked along a busy boulevard toward the spaceport, something caught Kodal's eye. An Orion walking the other way across the street. There was something about him giving her a bad vibe. Kodal subtly stepped up her visual scanning.
As they crossed a street, Kodal saw an opportunity. She pointed "That store has feminine garments that are colorful and dainty. I wish to examine them."
Corosa blinked at her in shocked surprise.
Holden grinned "Sure. Yeah. Let's see if we can find something for Grabura and Mako."
They walked into the clothing store.
It was a light and airy place. Music played. Customers and staff stared at the newcomers in shock. Usually, gunslingers and bounty hunters stayed closer to the starport.
"May I help you?" A middle-aged human woman with stylish hair and interesting clothing asked.
"I wish to see your selection of dainty undergarments," Kodal said, looking her right in the eye.
The woman blinked in surprise "Oh! Okay, right this way."
"You're doing this on purpose,” Holden said.
"Yes. In a number of ways. Open your eyes," Kodal said.
"We'll, ah, we'll be over here."
Kodal followed the saleswoman into the back of the store. She noted a younger sales associate speaking quietly on comms. The younger woman caught Lodal looking at her and turned away, visibly embarrassed at calling for backup.
Civilians.
At the back of the store, Kodal discovered that she had no idea whatsoever of how this store measured women or how their sizes worked. She listened with part of her mind to the explanation, but also carefully scanned the environment.
Holden and Corosa drifted over to a display of handbags and other decorative items. Holden tried to make heads or tails of what he was seeing while standing at a particular angle.
"What is this about?" Corosa asked.
"Kodal thinks she saw a tail.... and there he is," Holden said. He turned enough to catch a mirror where is watched the Orion casually loitering across the street.
Corosa became engrossed in a set of bejeweled sandals, "Why would someone follow us here? They don't know us yet."
"Maybe some of the techs that fled the lab we busted? Maybe someone doesn't like Federation people."
"Hard to imagine. Do you think we're marked as Federation guys?"
"Best to plan as if we are. We'd have to do some work on establishing our own reputation if we meant to stay."
"Do we want to do that? Stay here and build up a reputation?"
"That's a good question. There's stuff to like about this world."
After puttering around a bit, they noticed another follower joined the first.
Kodal measured several factors. How much gold pressed latinum did she have? How much did she have to spend? How much was it worth tactically? She reached a decision and selected a handful of sets of undergarments that struck her as light and comfortable in what she guessed were her own sizes and Makos. It was odd to be out in the city without Mako. But she was glad as well. Mako really wanted to make sure nothing bio-engineering-ish was going on. And she was safer in the Federation building.
Kodal went to the counter and paid for her loot with strips of gold pressed latinum.
"I wish to exit from the rear of the store," Kodal said to the saleswoman.
"Uhh, may I ask why?" The woman bagged up Kodal's purchase quickly.
"No. You may not. I will leave efficiently and without undue bother."
"Uhh, okay,” The woman said.
As Kodal turned to gesture to Holden and Corosa, a patrol vehicle arrived out front. Guards.
"Oh, please give me a moment. I've called our security on another matter,” The woman lied badly but with practice.
Holden and Corosa sauntered over to her. Holden grinned at the sight of her purchase. Kodal considered how she'd kill him and survive the wrath of their friends.
"Let's exit to the rear," Kodal said.
"I hope it's that easy," Corosa said
As they turned to leave, the guards entered the store "Excuse me." They were dressed in black and dark gray. Tactical dress. It was heavy enough to look less than comfortable. Kodal noted that there was a young guard and an older guard. The older guard had adjusted his gear for more comfort. The younger guard's gear was all new and worn by regulation.
Kodal, Holden, and Corosa stopped and looked at them
The two guards approached "You're a little out of your area,” The older guard said.
Kodal held up her bag "I am a customer of this establishment."
"Yeah, we don't usually see many of you mercenary types in this area."
A humorous thought struck Holden and he went with it "You see officer, we were walking toward Kaz-Dots, and we spotted a tail. We ducked in here to confirm. That's him across the street."
The guards' poker faces were pretty good. The older guard held up his work tablet and dialed up the scanners from his patrol vehicle. He showed a picture of the Orion tailing them to the party "This guy?"
"That's him," Holden grinned.
"We wish to exit by the rear of this store, to make his mission slightly more difficult," Kodal said. Telling the guards the truth was a radical tactic. She wondered how it would work out.
The older guard considered for half a beat, "Okay. Go ahead. Please don't come back. We don't want your troubles damaging our store or our other customers."
Kodal, Holden, and Corosa followed the middle-aged saleswoman to the back of the store. They exited to an alley and continued on their way.
Kodal looked casual, but she was observing carefully.
-*-
Closer to the Spaceport, things got more lively. There were more spacers around. Most were commercial folks, serving the local area. But there were more mercenaries visible, too.
The shops and services on offer became more germaine to that sort of customer, too. As they passed a holographic tattoo parlor, Kodal spotted one of the followers talking to muscle. Kodal peered into the window of the tattoo parlor, watching the reflections. Younger men. Armed. They were pretending to be tough as hard as they could. Bottom feeders. Always ready to dish out amateur violence for some credits. Gold pressed latinum here, Kodal corrected herself.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Holden said
A cargo van slid up to curb. It was beat up and nondescript.
Corosa ducked into the Tattoo parlor
The sliding side door of the cargo van opened up. A group of young men stuck weapons out the door.
Holden already had his pistols out and was blazing away.
Kodal pulled her own weapon and carefully shot the driver of the cargo van.
Voices were screaming. Kodal didn't listen. They weren't saying anything worth paying attention to.
The logic of the situation became clear. They had to fall back. Into the tattoo parlor.
Kodal stepped back and then sighted her next target. The follower who showed the muscle their pictures. She wanted to talk to him.
There he was, behind the onrushing gang of goons. Kodal shot him in his right hip. Then she fell back into the tattoo parlor.
The place was already shot up pretty badly. There were two people down and the rest were fleeing pell-mell out the back door. Kodal hoped the attackers didn't have them surrounded.
Holdens pistols were blazing non-stop. He was a good shot. It looked chaotic, like an idiot making noise, but through the windows and doors he was hitting goons.
Kodal felt in her pocket. Was it time? Next time she'd carry two. She took a small device out of her pocket, armed it and threw it through the doorway of the Tattoo parlor. Then she turned and covered her face.
The concussion grenade went off and shattered everything shatterable in sight.
People came the other way from the back. Patrons. The opposition did have them surrounded.
A large human man with an amazing amount of thick black body hair finished setting up his rotary blaster cannon. He was yelling something. Kodal couldn't hear a word.
Holden tapped Kodal's shoulder lightly, and made a head gesture towards the front door. Was he suggesting they flee? Or go around and counterattack? Either way was valid.
Kodal looked for Corosa.
He was the person the hairy man was yelling at. He had one arm down along his side. His sleeve was scorched. He was blazing away into the back hallway with his off hand. He had courage, that could be said for him.
Corosa realized what was going on and ducked out of the way.
The hairy man pointed his weapon down the back hallway and pressed the firing stud.
It is an old bromide: "There is no such thing as overkill. There is only 'open fire' and 'I need to reload." The Hairy man filled the hallway and whatever was behind the tattoo parlor with green beams, smoke, and debris.
Holden and Kodal ran out the front door. People were down all over. The street was clearing. Kodal hoped she didn't get shot by an over-eager bystander.
Holden went hard right and then hard right again. He was counter-attacking.
The Tattoo parlor stood on a mostly empty lot. Clues suggested there had been other buildings around it once.
Holden ran along some tarmac that had once been an alley. Goons ran around the corner of the building coming the other way.
Kodal and Holden shot them.
Holden and Kodal came around the back of the building. There were some vehicles parked. Another nondescript cargo van burned. It was absolutely riddled by fire from the hairy man's cannon. People ran. Some of them were probably goons from the attack. Kodal didn't care. She turned around and went and looked for the one man she'd injured. There he was. He was leaving a trail of blood as he tried to crawl away.
Kicking him in the head wouldn't avail much. He was in such pain as he wouldn't necessarily notice.
Kodal flipped him over. He screamed. Kodal jammed her blaster into his face. Then she took his devices off. How long would she have to interrogate him? He mumbled something.
"Who sent you?" Kodal snarled at him
He mumbled something else.
Damnit, maybe concussion grenades weren't the best idea. Kodal's hearing was damaged. Plasma grenades ... probably worse.
Flashing lights and emergency vehicles slid up. Kodal holstered her weapon and stood up, holding her hands out to her sides.
These guards probably wouldn't be as reasonable as the ones at the clothing shop.
Holden Lanetly enjoyed Sainte-Jeanne city. It was nice to know in this new, weird corner of space that there were still places that made sense. Money talked. People were serious about business here. Not that weird fluffy-headed communism of the Federation.
Not that Holden had any intention of letting go of his relationship with Starfleet. Replicators and energy-based economics were very nice. Generally, you didn't let go of an old deal until you had a better one in hand.
Here, on this planet latinum in pocket and a blaster at your side meant something. Taucente was halfway between a free port and a corporate world. Lanetly grinned to himself. The Federation struggled to cope with such a place. Their mindset really didn't fit it.
Holden and part of his crew exited the Federation of Taucente, Inc building.
"Where do we want to eat?" Holden asked.
They could have easily gotten any food on record from the replicators inside the Federation building. But Holden was feeling cooped up. The meeting with the lawyers and representatives was too much talking and not to his taste.
Kodal rotated her wrist and tapped a rectangle to activate the screen. "Zarna and Kugid say they have news for us. Let's go see what they found."
"Sure. Zarna has a talent for finding the most dangerous drinking holes on any given planet," Holden replied.
"Our work rarely happens in board rooms or temples," Kodal said
"They sure are cute together," Corosa said wistfully.
Kodal shared a glance with Holden. Holden's apprentice had a tendency to moon after romance. Kodal hoped that such idiocy wouldn't get her killed when it got him killed. Holden just gave a hint of a smile. What are you going to do?
Zarna replied to Kodals message and they followed her directions into the city.
-*-
Most of the area around Sainte-Jeanne city was suburbs. Neighborhoods or commercial areas where people paid an association to keep order.
Closer to downtown things were more jumbled. Corporate headquarters and shopping districts sat shoulder to shoulder. Different security companies overlapped. Security and Dispute Resolution Companies had a complex set of social rituals to avoid conflict and problems.
As they walked along a busy boulevard toward the spaceport, something caught Kodal's eye. An Orion walking the other way across the street. There was something about him giving her a bad vibe. Kodal subtly stepped up her visual scanning.
As they crossed a street, Kodal saw an opportunity. She pointed "That store has feminine garments that are colorful and dainty. I wish to examine them."
Corosa blinked at her in shocked surprise.
Holden grinned "Sure. Yeah. Let's see if we can find something for Grabura and Mako."
They walked into the clothing store.
It was a light and airy place. Music played. Customers and staff stared at the newcomers in shock. Usually, gunslingers and bounty hunters stayed closer to the starport.
"May I help you?" A middle-aged human woman with stylish hair and interesting clothing asked.
"I wish to see your selection of dainty undergarments," Kodal said, looking her right in the eye.
The woman blinked in surprise "Oh! Okay, right this way."
"You're doing this on purpose,” Holden said.
"Yes. In a number of ways. Open your eyes," Kodal said.
"We'll, ah, we'll be over here."
Kodal followed the saleswoman into the back of the store. She noted a younger sales associate speaking quietly on comms. The younger woman caught Lodal looking at her and turned away, visibly embarrassed at calling for backup.
Civilians.
At the back of the store, Kodal discovered that she had no idea whatsoever of how this store measured women or how their sizes worked. She listened with part of her mind to the explanation, but also carefully scanned the environment.
Holden and Corosa drifted over to a display of handbags and other decorative items. Holden tried to make heads or tails of what he was seeing while standing at a particular angle.
"What is this about?" Corosa asked.
"Kodal thinks she saw a tail.... and there he is," Holden said. He turned enough to catch a mirror where is watched the Orion casually loitering across the street.
Corosa became engrossed in a set of bejeweled sandals, "Why would someone follow us here? They don't know us yet."
"Maybe some of the techs that fled the lab we busted? Maybe someone doesn't like Federation people."
"Hard to imagine. Do you think we're marked as Federation guys?"
"Best to plan as if we are. We'd have to do some work on establishing our own reputation if we meant to stay."
"Do we want to do that? Stay here and build up a reputation?"
"That's a good question. There's stuff to like about this world."
After puttering around a bit, they noticed another follower joined the first.
Kodal measured several factors. How much gold pressed latinum did she have? How much did she have to spend? How much was it worth tactically? She reached a decision and selected a handful of sets of undergarments that struck her as light and comfortable in what she guessed were her own sizes and Makos. It was odd to be out in the city without Mako. But she was glad as well. Mako really wanted to make sure nothing bio-engineering-ish was going on. And she was safer in the Federation building.
Kodal went to the counter and paid for her loot with strips of gold pressed latinum.
"I wish to exit from the rear of the store," Kodal said to the saleswoman.
"Uhh, may I ask why?" The woman bagged up Kodal's purchase quickly.
"No. You may not. I will leave efficiently and without undue bother."
"Uhh, okay,” The woman said.
As Kodal turned to gesture to Holden and Corosa, a patrol vehicle arrived out front. Guards.
"Oh, please give me a moment. I've called our security on another matter,” The woman lied badly but with practice.
Holden and Corosa sauntered over to her. Holden grinned at the sight of her purchase. Kodal considered how she'd kill him and survive the wrath of their friends.
"Let's exit to the rear," Kodal said.
"I hope it's that easy," Corosa said
As they turned to leave, the guards entered the store "Excuse me." They were dressed in black and dark gray. Tactical dress. It was heavy enough to look less than comfortable. Kodal noted that there was a young guard and an older guard. The older guard had adjusted his gear for more comfort. The younger guard's gear was all new and worn by regulation.
Kodal, Holden, and Corosa stopped and looked at them
The two guards approached "You're a little out of your area,” The older guard said.
Kodal held up her bag "I am a customer of this establishment."
"Yeah, we don't usually see many of you mercenary types in this area."
A humorous thought struck Holden and he went with it "You see officer, we were walking toward Kaz-Dots, and we spotted a tail. We ducked in here to confirm. That's him across the street."
The guards' poker faces were pretty good. The older guard held up his work tablet and dialed up the scanners from his patrol vehicle. He showed a picture of the Orion tailing them to the party "This guy?"
"That's him," Holden grinned.
"We wish to exit by the rear of this store, to make his mission slightly more difficult," Kodal said. Telling the guards the truth was a radical tactic. She wondered how it would work out.
The older guard considered for half a beat, "Okay. Go ahead. Please don't come back. We don't want your troubles damaging our store or our other customers."
Kodal, Holden, and Corosa followed the middle-aged saleswoman to the back of the store. They exited to an alley and continued on their way.
Kodal looked casual, but she was observing carefully.
-*-
Closer to the Spaceport, things got more lively. There were more spacers around. Most were commercial folks, serving the local area. But there were more mercenaries visible, too.
The shops and services on offer became more germaine to that sort of customer, too. As they passed a holographic tattoo parlor, Kodal spotted one of the followers talking to muscle. Kodal peered into the window of the tattoo parlor, watching the reflections. Younger men. Armed. They were pretending to be tough as hard as they could. Bottom feeders. Always ready to dish out amateur violence for some credits. Gold pressed latinum here, Kodal corrected herself.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Holden said
A cargo van slid up to curb. It was beat up and nondescript.
Corosa ducked into the Tattoo parlor
The sliding side door of the cargo van opened up. A group of young men stuck weapons out the door.
Holden already had his pistols out and was blazing away.
Kodal pulled her own weapon and carefully shot the driver of the cargo van.
Voices were screaming. Kodal didn't listen. They weren't saying anything worth paying attention to.
The logic of the situation became clear. They had to fall back. Into the tattoo parlor.
Kodal stepped back and then sighted her next target. The follower who showed the muscle their pictures. She wanted to talk to him.
There he was, behind the onrushing gang of goons. Kodal shot him in his right hip. Then she fell back into the tattoo parlor.
The place was already shot up pretty badly. There were two people down and the rest were fleeing pell-mell out the back door. Kodal hoped the attackers didn't have them surrounded.
Holdens pistols were blazing non-stop. He was a good shot. It looked chaotic, like an idiot making noise, but through the windows and doors he was hitting goons.
Kodal felt in her pocket. Was it time? Next time she'd carry two. She took a small device out of her pocket, armed it and threw it through the doorway of the Tattoo parlor. Then she turned and covered her face.
The concussion grenade went off and shattered everything shatterable in sight.
People came the other way from the back. Patrons. The opposition did have them surrounded.
A large human man with an amazing amount of thick black body hair finished setting up his rotary blaster cannon. He was yelling something. Kodal couldn't hear a word.
Holden tapped Kodal's shoulder lightly, and made a head gesture towards the front door. Was he suggesting they flee? Or go around and counterattack? Either way was valid.
Kodal looked for Corosa.
He was the person the hairy man was yelling at. He had one arm down along his side. His sleeve was scorched. He was blazing away into the back hallway with his off hand. He had courage, that could be said for him.
Corosa realized what was going on and ducked out of the way.
The hairy man pointed his weapon down the back hallway and pressed the firing stud.
It is an old bromide: "There is no such thing as overkill. There is only 'open fire' and 'I need to reload." The Hairy man filled the hallway and whatever was behind the tattoo parlor with green beams, smoke, and debris.
Holden and Kodal ran out the front door. People were down all over. The street was clearing. Kodal hoped she didn't get shot by an over-eager bystander.
Holden went hard right and then hard right again. He was counter-attacking.
The Tattoo parlor stood on a mostly empty lot. Clues suggested there had been other buildings around it once.
Holden ran along some tarmac that had once been an alley. Goons ran around the corner of the building coming the other way.
Kodal and Holden shot them.
Holden and Kodal came around the back of the building. There were some vehicles parked. Another nondescript cargo van burned. It was absolutely riddled by fire from the hairy man's cannon. People ran. Some of them were probably goons from the attack. Kodal didn't care. She turned around and went and looked for the one man she'd injured. There he was. He was leaving a trail of blood as he tried to crawl away.
Kicking him in the head wouldn't avail much. He was in such pain as he wouldn't necessarily notice.
Kodal flipped him over. He screamed. Kodal jammed her blaster into his face. Then she took his devices off. How long would she have to interrogate him? He mumbled something.
"Who sent you?" Kodal snarled at him
He mumbled something else.
Damnit, maybe concussion grenades weren't the best idea. Kodal's hearing was damaged. Plasma grenades ... probably worse.
Flashing lights and emergency vehicles slid up. Kodal holstered her weapon and stood up, holding her hands out to her sides.
These guards probably wouldn't be as reasonable as the ones at the clothing shop.
-
jayphailey
- Posts: 1578
- Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 pm
Re: The Skein of Violence
TSOV 5 - Lost Pieces
Jay came into my office. T’aesla was already there, along with Tovan Khev, her XO. They were cute kids. Also in my Office was Juan Deppner, a human member of T’aesla’s Romulan crew. She was resolutely relaxed and casual, flopped sideways in one of my office chairs, dangling her boots in the air.
Jay came to the faint attention Starfleet used as an acknowledgment, “Admiral,”
I grinned “Captain. Have a seat.”
He sat down “Hey T’aesla. Tovan. Young lady.”
“Look at this.” I handed him a PADD
He looked at it, “Huh. Pathfinder class.”
“Look at the power system specs,” I said,
He paged through the specs. After a while he looked up at me “Adaptive power distribution? It looks almost Borg.”
“Yeah. While we were stealing Voth and Iconian tech, these guys were borrowing tricks from the Borg.”
He kept reading “Wait, wow.”
“Yup. That new system can almost match our tech for power transfer, but it’s not tearing itself apart to do so. You can design operational modes to reduce wear, or throw big energy if you need to. It even has some self-repair capacity to it. These guys will last a lot longer than our ships.”
“And they’ll be more flexible for what missions they do.”
“So, what do you think, does a Pathfinder sound good to you?”
He blinked at me “Sure! If Starfleet wants me to drive one of these around, I think I can do that.”
“Okay, we’ll get one started. But that’s going to take some time. Before then, there’s a mission I’d like you to do for me.”
“Okay. What am I doing?”
“You know This Starfleet has the same problems ours did, but for much better reasons. Not enough qualified people. Starfleet Officers take a long time to grow.”
Jay nodded “Okay.”
“They had the Archimedes Scandal here, too. So, they came to the same answers our Federation did. All Starfleet Officers have to attend Starfleet Academy. But now, Starfleet Academy can’t graduate enough cadets to keep up. And the travel times to and from the academy are long. Before Disodium it could be a year’s travel time away. So not enough Starfleet Officers to go around.”
“These guys did a number of workarounds, training up enlisted folks to cover, using reserve officers, acting officers. One Starbase commander introduced Warrant Officer ranks. Supposedly his Warrant Officers were Officer Candidates waiting to go back to Earth.
“The way this Starfleet is working around it now is to drop any requirement to train at Earth, except for command and enculturation classes.”
“Enculturation classes? Sounds like something the Tal Shiar would do.” T’aesla said.
“In the Archimedes Scandal, an Andorian Admiral used Starfleet ships to blockade a Tellarite port during a trade dispute. It was seen as wildly partisan, and Starfleet's reputation as a service for the whole Federation was damaged, badly. Also, Starfleet did not like the Admiral’s thought process. So, the idea was to train all cadets together and encourage them to see Starfleet and the Federation as their team, not just their homeworld.”
T’aesla nodded “Okay. I can see that.”
“Okay, so what’s my assignment?” Jay asked.
“The other side of the workaround is mobile Starfleet campuses. They acquired a number of star liners and refit them as flying educational facilities. Load up a pile of cadets, train them while you drive to Earth, and on the way back. By the end, they should have a good chunk of Starfleet Academy completed but without being gone for six years. What I’d like you to do, is while the shipyard here builds a Pathfinder class for you, I’d like you to drive an Academy ship back to earth, train up the kids as you go, and drive them back here.”
Jay thought about it. It was a different job than we were used to. “I can do that,” He decided.
“The Cadets will be Arzalans?” T’aesla asked.
“Mostly. There’ll be a handful of other local folks.”
“So why are we here?” T’aesla asked.
“Well, there’s another workaround. After a lot of talking and foot shuffling, the Vulcans have named you all agents of the V’Shar.”
Juan looked at me “That’s Vulcan Security. We’re going to be Vulcan cops?”
“You’ll be on detached assignment to us. Starfleet Command didn’t feel comfortable adopting Romulans into Starfleet without a lot more metaphorical poking and prodding. The Vulcan Space Service was also reluctant to move. So, our friend in Vulcan Security found a workaround. Technically you work for her now.”
T’aesla processed this for a moment “What does this mean?”
“Well, what I’d like you to do, is I’d like you and as many of your crew as feel comfortable doing so to join Jay’s crew on the Academy ship for the trip back to Earth. I’d like you to pass all the classes, but also, I’d like you to teach the newbies what you know from practical experience. So, you’re both students and teachers.”
“Do you think Starfleet Command will be less suspicious of us if we do this?”
“I think so.”
“What do you think?” T’aesla said to Tovan and Juan.
Tovan sighed and looked at the overhead. “Honestly, it sounds like a break. I could get used to not fighting for a while.”
“I won’t be going,” Juan said flatly. “I did my time in Starfleet.”
“About that,” I said.
Juan looked at me.
“Juan, you’ve been …. Down a road. Parts of your experience were pretty ugly. I’ve been watching you. With your crew, you’ve grown into a new woman.”
She squinted at me.
“That whole journey, from good to bad and back to good. I want that. I want that person and that experience in my fleet. I think what you’ve made of yourself is exemplary, and I think you, as you are now, would be a great asset to the fleet.”
“What are you saying?” she asked, with a hostile edge. She stood up, no longer aggressively relaxed.
“I want to offer you your commission back. I think Starfleet was wrong to drum you out. I think you’ve proven that.”
She looked like she was going to cry. Or attack me. Or both. She looked at T’aesla.
T’aesla said “Juan, we never discussed it, but we could all see. Losing Starfleet was hard for you. We’ve all suffered losses. It’s rare to be able to undo it. To get something, anything back. Take it back. For some reason, when it happens for one of us, it’s good for all of us.”
“If it helps, I have absolutely no intention of separating you from your crew,” I said.
Juan was crying, “I… I have to think about this.”
“There’s plenty of time,” I said.
Juan turned and walked briskly out of my office.
T’aesla stood up, “I think some booze might be called for, If you’ll excuse me, Admiral.”
I nodded, T’aesla followed Juan out of my office.
My comm system beeped. Urgent message. I answered it.
The file that was displayed laid out the whole incident. I looked at it scrubbing my face.
“Jay,” my brother said “What is it?”
I put the message up on the big display.
“We lost the Denver Matson,” I said.
The file showed a long-range scan of the USS Denver Mattson getting pounded by Orion ships. They were escorting a relief mission into Kaa space. The Convoy had three escorts. The Mattson and two new ships built by the Arzalans. Bob Smith, the commander of the Mattson probably ordered the newbies to stay with the convoy. So, they watched and scanned, helpless to assist.
“What the hell, those are tetryon beams,” Jay said
I zoomed in on the tactical analysis. Sure enough. tetryon beams and disruptors. One of the Orions launched a thermionic torpedo. A Tholian weapon. The Tholians were buffing Orion Raiders.
The attack played out. The Mattson fought hard, but ended up crippled.
After that, it was brutal and one-sided.
The wonderfully accurate and powerful sensors of this Federation gave us a recorded front-row seat as our co-workers were murdered.
In the end, escape pods and shuttles fled the burning wreck. The Orions shot some. They tractored others aboard. The people captured would not be having a good time.
Then the Orion ships cloaked. Their cloaks were good. Even our amazing sensors could only see occasional vague distortions.
I had to work on moderating myself. I wanted to roar and throw things.
My brother had a similar look on his face. It surprised me. Usually, he looked pleasant and affable. To see him filled with rage was something of a shock. Did I look like that, angry?
“Alright,” I said. The only way to cope with the emotions was by doing something constructive. “Jay, what’s the condition of the Tereshkova?”
He nodded. Put the emotion aside and get to work “I think I can have her moving in two hours.”
“Do it,” I said “Tovan, round up your folks. You’ll fly cover for the Tereshkova. Go find what you can. Ideally, I want those Orions’ heads on pikes. Whatever progress you can make in that direction is good. “
I turned around and took one of my phasers off the wall of my office. I had some of the weapons I picked up in my travels on the wall, like a display. I checked the phaser. Fully charged, active focus green, MacPherson amplifier ready. It was ready to dish hysterical, unrestrained phaser fire at a touch. I slipped it back in its holster and clipped it to my side.
Tovan was already heading out the door. Jay looked at me “Is it like that?”
I stood up “I’m going to act like it is until I know it’s not.”
He thought about it and nodded “Yeah. Yeah, I guess so, huh.”
I stood up and loaded the scans of the battle onto my PADD “Let’s get to work.”
Jay came into my office. T’aesla was already there, along with Tovan Khev, her XO. They were cute kids. Also in my Office was Juan Deppner, a human member of T’aesla’s Romulan crew. She was resolutely relaxed and casual, flopped sideways in one of my office chairs, dangling her boots in the air.
Jay came to the faint attention Starfleet used as an acknowledgment, “Admiral,”
I grinned “Captain. Have a seat.”
He sat down “Hey T’aesla. Tovan. Young lady.”
“Look at this.” I handed him a PADD
He looked at it, “Huh. Pathfinder class.”
“Look at the power system specs,” I said,
He paged through the specs. After a while he looked up at me “Adaptive power distribution? It looks almost Borg.”
“Yeah. While we were stealing Voth and Iconian tech, these guys were borrowing tricks from the Borg.”
He kept reading “Wait, wow.”
“Yup. That new system can almost match our tech for power transfer, but it’s not tearing itself apart to do so. You can design operational modes to reduce wear, or throw big energy if you need to. It even has some self-repair capacity to it. These guys will last a lot longer than our ships.”
“And they’ll be more flexible for what missions they do.”
“So, what do you think, does a Pathfinder sound good to you?”
He blinked at me “Sure! If Starfleet wants me to drive one of these around, I think I can do that.”
“Okay, we’ll get one started. But that’s going to take some time. Before then, there’s a mission I’d like you to do for me.”
“Okay. What am I doing?”
“You know This Starfleet has the same problems ours did, but for much better reasons. Not enough qualified people. Starfleet Officers take a long time to grow.”
Jay nodded “Okay.”
“They had the Archimedes Scandal here, too. So, they came to the same answers our Federation did. All Starfleet Officers have to attend Starfleet Academy. But now, Starfleet Academy can’t graduate enough cadets to keep up. And the travel times to and from the academy are long. Before Disodium it could be a year’s travel time away. So not enough Starfleet Officers to go around.”
“These guys did a number of workarounds, training up enlisted folks to cover, using reserve officers, acting officers. One Starbase commander introduced Warrant Officer ranks. Supposedly his Warrant Officers were Officer Candidates waiting to go back to Earth.
“The way this Starfleet is working around it now is to drop any requirement to train at Earth, except for command and enculturation classes.”
“Enculturation classes? Sounds like something the Tal Shiar would do.” T’aesla said.
“In the Archimedes Scandal, an Andorian Admiral used Starfleet ships to blockade a Tellarite port during a trade dispute. It was seen as wildly partisan, and Starfleet's reputation as a service for the whole Federation was damaged, badly. Also, Starfleet did not like the Admiral’s thought process. So, the idea was to train all cadets together and encourage them to see Starfleet and the Federation as their team, not just their homeworld.”
T’aesla nodded “Okay. I can see that.”
“Okay, so what’s my assignment?” Jay asked.
“The other side of the workaround is mobile Starfleet campuses. They acquired a number of star liners and refit them as flying educational facilities. Load up a pile of cadets, train them while you drive to Earth, and on the way back. By the end, they should have a good chunk of Starfleet Academy completed but without being gone for six years. What I’d like you to do, is while the shipyard here builds a Pathfinder class for you, I’d like you to drive an Academy ship back to earth, train up the kids as you go, and drive them back here.”
Jay thought about it. It was a different job than we were used to. “I can do that,” He decided.
“The Cadets will be Arzalans?” T’aesla asked.
“Mostly. There’ll be a handful of other local folks.”
“So why are we here?” T’aesla asked.
“Well, there’s another workaround. After a lot of talking and foot shuffling, the Vulcans have named you all agents of the V’Shar.”
Juan looked at me “That’s Vulcan Security. We’re going to be Vulcan cops?”
“You’ll be on detached assignment to us. Starfleet Command didn’t feel comfortable adopting Romulans into Starfleet without a lot more metaphorical poking and prodding. The Vulcan Space Service was also reluctant to move. So, our friend in Vulcan Security found a workaround. Technically you work for her now.”
T’aesla processed this for a moment “What does this mean?”
“Well, what I’d like you to do, is I’d like you and as many of your crew as feel comfortable doing so to join Jay’s crew on the Academy ship for the trip back to Earth. I’d like you to pass all the classes, but also, I’d like you to teach the newbies what you know from practical experience. So, you’re both students and teachers.”
“Do you think Starfleet Command will be less suspicious of us if we do this?”
“I think so.”
“What do you think?” T’aesla said to Tovan and Juan.
Tovan sighed and looked at the overhead. “Honestly, it sounds like a break. I could get used to not fighting for a while.”
“I won’t be going,” Juan said flatly. “I did my time in Starfleet.”
“About that,” I said.
Juan looked at me.
“Juan, you’ve been …. Down a road. Parts of your experience were pretty ugly. I’ve been watching you. With your crew, you’ve grown into a new woman.”
She squinted at me.
“That whole journey, from good to bad and back to good. I want that. I want that person and that experience in my fleet. I think what you’ve made of yourself is exemplary, and I think you, as you are now, would be a great asset to the fleet.”
“What are you saying?” she asked, with a hostile edge. She stood up, no longer aggressively relaxed.
“I want to offer you your commission back. I think Starfleet was wrong to drum you out. I think you’ve proven that.”
She looked like she was going to cry. Or attack me. Or both. She looked at T’aesla.
T’aesla said “Juan, we never discussed it, but we could all see. Losing Starfleet was hard for you. We’ve all suffered losses. It’s rare to be able to undo it. To get something, anything back. Take it back. For some reason, when it happens for one of us, it’s good for all of us.”
“If it helps, I have absolutely no intention of separating you from your crew,” I said.
Juan was crying, “I… I have to think about this.”
“There’s plenty of time,” I said.
Juan turned and walked briskly out of my office.
T’aesla stood up, “I think some booze might be called for, If you’ll excuse me, Admiral.”
I nodded, T’aesla followed Juan out of my office.
My comm system beeped. Urgent message. I answered it.
The file that was displayed laid out the whole incident. I looked at it scrubbing my face.
“Jay,” my brother said “What is it?”
I put the message up on the big display.
“We lost the Denver Matson,” I said.
The file showed a long-range scan of the USS Denver Mattson getting pounded by Orion ships. They were escorting a relief mission into Kaa space. The Convoy had three escorts. The Mattson and two new ships built by the Arzalans. Bob Smith, the commander of the Mattson probably ordered the newbies to stay with the convoy. So, they watched and scanned, helpless to assist.
“What the hell, those are tetryon beams,” Jay said
I zoomed in on the tactical analysis. Sure enough. tetryon beams and disruptors. One of the Orions launched a thermionic torpedo. A Tholian weapon. The Tholians were buffing Orion Raiders.
The attack played out. The Mattson fought hard, but ended up crippled.
After that, it was brutal and one-sided.
The wonderfully accurate and powerful sensors of this Federation gave us a recorded front-row seat as our co-workers were murdered.
In the end, escape pods and shuttles fled the burning wreck. The Orions shot some. They tractored others aboard. The people captured would not be having a good time.
Then the Orion ships cloaked. Their cloaks were good. Even our amazing sensors could only see occasional vague distortions.
I had to work on moderating myself. I wanted to roar and throw things.
My brother had a similar look on his face. It surprised me. Usually, he looked pleasant and affable. To see him filled with rage was something of a shock. Did I look like that, angry?
“Alright,” I said. The only way to cope with the emotions was by doing something constructive. “Jay, what’s the condition of the Tereshkova?”
He nodded. Put the emotion aside and get to work “I think I can have her moving in two hours.”
“Do it,” I said “Tovan, round up your folks. You’ll fly cover for the Tereshkova. Go find what you can. Ideally, I want those Orions’ heads on pikes. Whatever progress you can make in that direction is good. “
I turned around and took one of my phasers off the wall of my office. I had some of the weapons I picked up in my travels on the wall, like a display. I checked the phaser. Fully charged, active focus green, MacPherson amplifier ready. It was ready to dish hysterical, unrestrained phaser fire at a touch. I slipped it back in its holster and clipped it to my side.
Tovan was already heading out the door. Jay looked at me “Is it like that?”
I stood up “I’m going to act like it is until I know it’s not.”
He thought about it and nodded “Yeah. Yeah, I guess so, huh.”
I stood up and loaded the scans of the battle onto my PADD “Let’s get to work.”
-
jayphailey
- Posts: 1578
- Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 pm
Re: The Skein of Violence
TSOV 6 Consequences
Onnah Loccari sighed to himself, and looked around the chamber. They were using one of the shuttle hangars next to the Federation Inc building.
Long tables and multiple chairs held the claimants in a gun fight. Usually shootouts near the starport were simpler. It was easy to hang the blame on the dead or the fled and process it as an insurance claim.
Landlords and business owners bought insurance in the area to pool the risk and the recovery resources. In the worst places, insurance gave breaks for mitigation efforts or hired their own security to prevent losses.
The major security companies, insurance companies, and dispute resolution companies all had existing relations, allowing problems to be settled quickly, efficiently, and to the satisfaction of the right people.
In this case, too many people survived, resulting in a rat’s nest of claims and counterclaims.
“This meeting will come to order, please,” Loccari said
People mostly settled down. “We will now review the facts of this case. The core of the issue is the shoot out that happened three days ago, at 1523 local time.”
They spent the next two hours reviewing a shoot-out that lasted maybe a few minutes, in detail.
Loccari kept a straight face, but he was faintly impressed with the quality of thuggish violence-dealers the Federation Inc hired. If he was in the market for gunslingers who were violent, but in no way subtle, you could do worse.
The case broke down to a pretty clear example of self-defense. Loccari carefully and systematically dismissed the wrongful death claims made by the survivors, family, and ambulance chasers. If you took a cash payment to get into a stupid gunfight, then injury and death were a natural outcome.
Slightly worse were the patrons and victims inside the tattoo parlor. They had a claim against the attackers, but also against the gunslingers for retreating into the tattoo parlor.
The Federation Inc. surprised Loccarri by offering generous settlements there. But their goal wasn’t profit. It was PR, so their settlements made sense from that point of view.
Next was the hairy tattoo artist. His business had been extensively damaged, one of his tattoo artists killed and customers injured or killed.
Locarri assessed an 80/20 responsibility with eighty percent of the liability going towards the attackers and twenty percent going towards the Federation hirelings. No doubt the Federation would cover that.
Locarri was just settling into the idea that he’d run with the eighty-twenty responsibility split when they broke for lunch.
-*-
Gaz Orixa, Mary Whitehead and John Obigambe were meeting with Mako, Kodal, Holden and Corosa.
“I really enjoy what passes for cyber security around here,” Mako said.
“You know, that by stealing Mister Wongra’s device and penetrating his security, you open yourself up to counterclaim,” Orixa said.
“Yeah, about that,” Holden said “We don’t want to introduce the device or any of the contents into evidence here.”
“That means your official claim probably stops with Mister Wongra and the meager contents of his personal accounts.”
“Yeah, I don’t think the official channels are going to tell us what we want to know,” Holden said
“What did you find, young lady?” Origambe asked
Mako showed him the recorded call. A man dressed like a salesman said “Wongra. I have some business for you. Clients of mine want a hit on some scumbag spacers. “
“How much and which ones?” Wongra asked.
The salesman named a price and then added “Plus a bonus of two thousand per head.”
“They want their heads?”
“No, it’s a figure of speech. Just get scans of them dead, and you’re in.”
“What’d these guys do?”
“They’re breathing air and some bad people would prefer they weren’t. Trust me, the less you know the better.”
Wongra made a counteroffer.
Salesman laughed and said, “No, fuck you.”
Then they dickered until they met somewhere in the middle.
Holden did the math in his head “That’s less than I’m used to, but more than those mooks were worth.”
Mary Whitehead looked at him “And you’re used to having a price on your head?”
Holden grinned and shrugged “I’m popular with all the right people.”
Corosa added “Not around here. We used to run in a different region.”
“I collect such bounties,” Kodal said.
“I do as well,” Zarna said.
Kodal said “It seems the middleman got enough money to hire someone with skill, skimmed a fraction of it, and then hired his stupid friends.”
Zarna chuckled “He’s going to find that a poor business strategy.”
Mako pressed play again
“Alright, who’s catching?” Wongra asked
The salesman downloaded a file.
It was everyone on the Obsidian Shellana II
Holden tilted his head “They even have my droid on the list. Who assassinates a droid?”
“Ahem,” Sadalalan said.
“My co-equal, shipmate, and partner,” Holden said with exasperation.
“How did they get this information?” Obigambe asked.
“That’s a good question,” Mako said “I think somewhere along the lines Starfleet’s system has been compromised.”
Obigambe said “And what do you want to find the intrusion and fix it?”
Mako grinned with surprise. She wasn’t used to that attitude. “Let me get back to you on that one.”
Mako turned to Kodal and Holden “The only thing everyone on this list has in common is the incursion.”
“We did work on the Muv’Kama thing together,”
“We were never all out of the ship at the same time, there. Grabura was never part of any gunfight,” Mako pointed out.
“She has her priorities straight,” Holden said.
“Who was it who fired his dual-blaster pistols so much they almost melted?” Kodal asked.
“Once the firefight starts, my goal is to escape it with my handsome ass intact and my freedom assured.”
Zarna made a show of looking at Holdens ass and making a “Meh, I’ve seen better” motion.
Obigambe sighed. It was like junior high school with gunfights. “We need to find out who the guy talking to Wongra is. We need to find out who hired that guy and why.”
“Let me call a few friends, then I’ll get to work on finding him,” Mako said.
Orixa said “Administrator Whitehead, I believe we have some leverage. Perhaps Mister Wongra would be willing to listen to a reasonable offer.”
“That’s a lovely idea. Let’s do that.” Mary Whitehead said.
“This I gotta see,” Holden said.
Orixa and Whitehead shared a look, and then resigned themselves. Orixa downloaded some of the data Mako liberated from the attackers device.
-*-
Itapa Wongra was in a wheelchair, talking to his own representative. The blaster shot through his hip ruined him and the emergency room only treated him so much before his money ran out.
Orixa, Whitehead and Holden knocked and then entered the office. “Mister Wongra, we’d like to discuss a settlement.”
“What your offer?” Wongra’s representative was a young person and bore a suspicious resemblance to Wongra himself.
“We have come into information suggesting that you were hired by this man,” Orixa showed Wongra an image of the salesman looking guy “We’d like his name.”
Wongra shook his head “No. I inform on my guys and my reputation is garbage. I’ll never work again.”
“We’re willing to drop a good deal off our demands for the liability settlement,” Orixa said.
Wongra chuckled “Oh, good the hole I’m in is slightly less impossibly deep.”
“Medical care,” Whitehead said “We’ll treat your injuries.”
Both Wongra and his representative glared at Whitehead “What?”
“You’re in that wheelchair because you ran out of money, and losing that fight already damaged your reputation,” Whitehead said “The Federation doesn’t charge for medicine. We’ll fix that.”
“Why would you do that when I tried to kill your guy?”
“I’m told he’s used to people trying to shoot him,” Whitehead said dryly. “We’d like you to promise not to try and kill anyone while we’re treating you.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Wongra said.
“The Federation runs along different lines than you’re used to. Once the immediate fighting is over, we help everyone we can.”
Wongra said, “All I have to do is give you the name of my contact.”
Whitehead let it hang for a while. Then a little while more. But she couldn’t hold it “No. We’re going to do that anyway, because it’s the right thing to do. I have to think of another way to bribe you.”
Wongra and his representative looked at each other stunned.
“We are still offering to settle your liability for somewhat less,” Orixa said. “That part is contingent on telling us his name.”
Whitehead asked, “How many in your family Mister Wongra?”
Wongra looked at his representative and then said “Me and my little sister, why?”
“Free passage,” Whitehead said, “To any planet in the Federation. I’ll put you down as economic refugees. You’ll get to live somewhere civilized. You’ll never be homeless or go hungry. If you want to contribute and earn energy credits, you’ll be trained for free.”
“That’s bullshit,” Wongra said
“What do you have to lose, at this point?”
Wongra stared at his sister, acting as his representative “Yeah. Yeah. Get us out of here.”
His sister said “Itapa, no. Once you give them what they want, they have to reason to help you with anything.”
Orixa said “Young lady, a deal is a deal. We live and die by our reputation around here. I think Administrator Whitehead’s offer is fantastically generous. But she knows us. She didn’t put that on the table in order to yank it away. The Federation’s reputation is on the line, here.”
“Liata Novoja is the guy,” Wongra said. “He sent us after you.”
“Alright,” Whitehead said “Young lady, go get your stuff. You live here until I get you on a ship.”
“You guys are so weird,” Wongra said
“No more blasters,” Whitehead said “School yard tough guy time is over. Time for you to grow up. Time to relate to the world like an adult does.”
Wongra was insulted, hurt, and confused “Uh… okay?”
Whitehead looked pointedly at Holden. He grinned “Better you than me, kid.” and left the room.
Onnah Loccari sighed to himself, and looked around the chamber. They were using one of the shuttle hangars next to the Federation Inc building.
Long tables and multiple chairs held the claimants in a gun fight. Usually shootouts near the starport were simpler. It was easy to hang the blame on the dead or the fled and process it as an insurance claim.
Landlords and business owners bought insurance in the area to pool the risk and the recovery resources. In the worst places, insurance gave breaks for mitigation efforts or hired their own security to prevent losses.
The major security companies, insurance companies, and dispute resolution companies all had existing relations, allowing problems to be settled quickly, efficiently, and to the satisfaction of the right people.
In this case, too many people survived, resulting in a rat’s nest of claims and counterclaims.
“This meeting will come to order, please,” Loccari said
People mostly settled down. “We will now review the facts of this case. The core of the issue is the shoot out that happened three days ago, at 1523 local time.”
They spent the next two hours reviewing a shoot-out that lasted maybe a few minutes, in detail.
Loccari kept a straight face, but he was faintly impressed with the quality of thuggish violence-dealers the Federation Inc hired. If he was in the market for gunslingers who were violent, but in no way subtle, you could do worse.
The case broke down to a pretty clear example of self-defense. Loccari carefully and systematically dismissed the wrongful death claims made by the survivors, family, and ambulance chasers. If you took a cash payment to get into a stupid gunfight, then injury and death were a natural outcome.
Slightly worse were the patrons and victims inside the tattoo parlor. They had a claim against the attackers, but also against the gunslingers for retreating into the tattoo parlor.
The Federation Inc. surprised Loccarri by offering generous settlements there. But their goal wasn’t profit. It was PR, so their settlements made sense from that point of view.
Next was the hairy tattoo artist. His business had been extensively damaged, one of his tattoo artists killed and customers injured or killed.
Locarri assessed an 80/20 responsibility with eighty percent of the liability going towards the attackers and twenty percent going towards the Federation hirelings. No doubt the Federation would cover that.
Locarri was just settling into the idea that he’d run with the eighty-twenty responsibility split when they broke for lunch.
-*-
Gaz Orixa, Mary Whitehead and John Obigambe were meeting with Mako, Kodal, Holden and Corosa.
“I really enjoy what passes for cyber security around here,” Mako said.
“You know, that by stealing Mister Wongra’s device and penetrating his security, you open yourself up to counterclaim,” Orixa said.
“Yeah, about that,” Holden said “We don’t want to introduce the device or any of the contents into evidence here.”
“That means your official claim probably stops with Mister Wongra and the meager contents of his personal accounts.”
“Yeah, I don’t think the official channels are going to tell us what we want to know,” Holden said
“What did you find, young lady?” Origambe asked
Mako showed him the recorded call. A man dressed like a salesman said “Wongra. I have some business for you. Clients of mine want a hit on some scumbag spacers. “
“How much and which ones?” Wongra asked.
The salesman named a price and then added “Plus a bonus of two thousand per head.”
“They want their heads?”
“No, it’s a figure of speech. Just get scans of them dead, and you’re in.”
“What’d these guys do?”
“They’re breathing air and some bad people would prefer they weren’t. Trust me, the less you know the better.”
Wongra made a counteroffer.
Salesman laughed and said, “No, fuck you.”
Then they dickered until they met somewhere in the middle.
Holden did the math in his head “That’s less than I’m used to, but more than those mooks were worth.”
Mary Whitehead looked at him “And you’re used to having a price on your head?”
Holden grinned and shrugged “I’m popular with all the right people.”
Corosa added “Not around here. We used to run in a different region.”
“I collect such bounties,” Kodal said.
“I do as well,” Zarna said.
Kodal said “It seems the middleman got enough money to hire someone with skill, skimmed a fraction of it, and then hired his stupid friends.”
Zarna chuckled “He’s going to find that a poor business strategy.”
Mako pressed play again
“Alright, who’s catching?” Wongra asked
The salesman downloaded a file.
It was everyone on the Obsidian Shellana II
Holden tilted his head “They even have my droid on the list. Who assassinates a droid?”
“Ahem,” Sadalalan said.
“My co-equal, shipmate, and partner,” Holden said with exasperation.
“How did they get this information?” Obigambe asked.
“That’s a good question,” Mako said “I think somewhere along the lines Starfleet’s system has been compromised.”
Obigambe said “And what do you want to find the intrusion and fix it?”
Mako grinned with surprise. She wasn’t used to that attitude. “Let me get back to you on that one.”
Mako turned to Kodal and Holden “The only thing everyone on this list has in common is the incursion.”
“We did work on the Muv’Kama thing together,”
“We were never all out of the ship at the same time, there. Grabura was never part of any gunfight,” Mako pointed out.
“She has her priorities straight,” Holden said.
“Who was it who fired his dual-blaster pistols so much they almost melted?” Kodal asked.
“Once the firefight starts, my goal is to escape it with my handsome ass intact and my freedom assured.”
Zarna made a show of looking at Holdens ass and making a “Meh, I’ve seen better” motion.
Obigambe sighed. It was like junior high school with gunfights. “We need to find out who the guy talking to Wongra is. We need to find out who hired that guy and why.”
“Let me call a few friends, then I’ll get to work on finding him,” Mako said.
Orixa said “Administrator Whitehead, I believe we have some leverage. Perhaps Mister Wongra would be willing to listen to a reasonable offer.”
“That’s a lovely idea. Let’s do that.” Mary Whitehead said.
“This I gotta see,” Holden said.
Orixa and Whitehead shared a look, and then resigned themselves. Orixa downloaded some of the data Mako liberated from the attackers device.
-*-
Itapa Wongra was in a wheelchair, talking to his own representative. The blaster shot through his hip ruined him and the emergency room only treated him so much before his money ran out.
Orixa, Whitehead and Holden knocked and then entered the office. “Mister Wongra, we’d like to discuss a settlement.”
“What your offer?” Wongra’s representative was a young person and bore a suspicious resemblance to Wongra himself.
“We have come into information suggesting that you were hired by this man,” Orixa showed Wongra an image of the salesman looking guy “We’d like his name.”
Wongra shook his head “No. I inform on my guys and my reputation is garbage. I’ll never work again.”
“We’re willing to drop a good deal off our demands for the liability settlement,” Orixa said.
Wongra chuckled “Oh, good the hole I’m in is slightly less impossibly deep.”
“Medical care,” Whitehead said “We’ll treat your injuries.”
Both Wongra and his representative glared at Whitehead “What?”
“You’re in that wheelchair because you ran out of money, and losing that fight already damaged your reputation,” Whitehead said “The Federation doesn’t charge for medicine. We’ll fix that.”
“Why would you do that when I tried to kill your guy?”
“I’m told he’s used to people trying to shoot him,” Whitehead said dryly. “We’d like you to promise not to try and kill anyone while we’re treating you.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Wongra said.
“The Federation runs along different lines than you’re used to. Once the immediate fighting is over, we help everyone we can.”
Wongra said, “All I have to do is give you the name of my contact.”
Whitehead let it hang for a while. Then a little while more. But she couldn’t hold it “No. We’re going to do that anyway, because it’s the right thing to do. I have to think of another way to bribe you.”
Wongra and his representative looked at each other stunned.
“We are still offering to settle your liability for somewhat less,” Orixa said. “That part is contingent on telling us his name.”
Whitehead asked, “How many in your family Mister Wongra?”
Wongra looked at his representative and then said “Me and my little sister, why?”
“Free passage,” Whitehead said, “To any planet in the Federation. I’ll put you down as economic refugees. You’ll get to live somewhere civilized. You’ll never be homeless or go hungry. If you want to contribute and earn energy credits, you’ll be trained for free.”
“That’s bullshit,” Wongra said
“What do you have to lose, at this point?”
Wongra stared at his sister, acting as his representative “Yeah. Yeah. Get us out of here.”
His sister said “Itapa, no. Once you give them what they want, they have to reason to help you with anything.”
Orixa said “Young lady, a deal is a deal. We live and die by our reputation around here. I think Administrator Whitehead’s offer is fantastically generous. But she knows us. She didn’t put that on the table in order to yank it away. The Federation’s reputation is on the line, here.”
“Liata Novoja is the guy,” Wongra said. “He sent us after you.”
“Alright,” Whitehead said “Young lady, go get your stuff. You live here until I get you on a ship.”
“You guys are so weird,” Wongra said
“No more blasters,” Whitehead said “School yard tough guy time is over. Time for you to grow up. Time to relate to the world like an adult does.”
Wongra was insulted, hurt, and confused “Uh… okay?”
Whitehead looked pointedly at Holden. He grinned “Better you than me, kid.” and left the room.
-
jayphailey
- Posts: 1578
- Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 pm
Re: The Skein of Violence
TSOV - 7 Engine Rich Exaust
USS Valentina Tereshkova
Jay Seven Commanding
We came out of warp in system NFC F973. It was a nothing little M class dwarf with the usual collection of dull garbage around it.
We began scanning. The Valentina Tereshkova had been refit with the new Federation scanners. That obviated some of our electronic warfare capacity, but the increase in range and acuity of the new sensors was amazing.
I looked around at the bridge of my ship and sighed a little. She’d been my home during the war. She’d been torn up, but always bounced back for me. The Intrepids were tougher than they had any right to be.
There were signs of trouble. Our power transfer system was showing signs of wear. Our warp core was near the end of its useful life. It needed a full rebuild. The weapons coils were heating up faster than when they were new. The hull frame stress measurements were in the yellow.
We’d used her up fighting and then fighting the Thasites.
All she had to do was hold together through this one more mission.
The Virinat separated from us and we linked sensors. The Virinat hadn’t been upgraded like we had, but her sensors were fine, and through networking magic, both sets of sensors could reveal more working together than either ship could see on its own.
The star system was a graveyard. Our shipmates on the Denver Mattson perished here.
We carefully scanned the remains of the battle and the debris.
Most of the Mattson was still here. Just in a different form. The dead were still here. A few were still in some form that could be recognized. We recovered those we could.
Most of the crew of the Mattson were turned into hot vapor by the exploding warp core. They were scattered atoms across the crime scene. We looked for clues and flew around in a haze of humanoid smoke.
The normal local gasses held some clues. They’d been colored, altered by the high-powered beams fired nearby. The debris held clues. Energy signatures, and other forensics.
There was debris that did not come from the Mattson. Orion hull metal. Orion drive plasma. The Mattson left claw marks on her attackers and they bled into local space.
In some cases, literally. We got bio traces and even small chunks of Orion and Klingon remains.
Once we had DNA from the attackers we could begin to track down who they were, maybe.
Towards the negative Y axis of the crime scene we struck pay dirt. One of the Orions took damage to his warp drives. We found bits of warp coil and traces of drive plasma. This was a deep wound on a starship.
To cloak, he would have had to lock down the damaged nacelle, vent all plasma, and then, once cleared he might be able to cloak. But he’d be driving away on one nacelle, with a damaged warp drive system.
That meant limited range and reduced speed. They’d be wounded and vulnerable. So they’d want to shake off pursuit and head somewhere safe to try and find repair.
We consulted our intel records. There were three known Orion-friendly worlds within short range.
We looked at each of the three and tried to guess. How would a wounded ship try to juke its pursuers and head for each world?
Again, we hit pay dirt. On the third world on the list, Taucente. A metaphorical trail of Starship blood. Faint, but if you knew what you were looking for, there it was. An engine-rich exhaust. His damaged nacelle was melting itself and leaving the debris as bread crumbs.
I looked at the facilities at Taucente and one name caught my eye. “Huh. I didn’t know they had that guy here.”
-*-
Li’ira Six
CO IKV Brethenga
I called the Brethenga.
Li’ira was wearing the new leather jacket uniform. She made it look very good.
Her crew was half Starfleet and half pirate. She was pushing the IKV Brethenga. An Orion-built assault carrier.
We were all concerned about the Brethenga’s crew. When facing a Tzenkethi mobile starbase, a horde of Hur’Q or fleets of invading Terran fascists, they were great. Mucho violence available on demand.
In this new universe? Not so much need for a violent pirate crew. I knew my brother was working hard to find a way to soft-land them without them running away to be pirates again.
“Captain Seven,” She smiled. My heart fluttered some. “How may I help you today,” she continued.
“You heard about the Denver Mattson?” I asked.
A Klingon woman at Ops said, “They died with Honor.”
Li’ira nodded “We heard.”
I pressed a button to transmit information “I have a lead on the attackers. I was wondering if you’d like to help me go poke around and see if we can track them down?”
The Green Orion Woman XO looked at Li’ira. The Klingon woman at ops looked at Li’ira. The Klingon man at Engineering looked at Li’ira. The Gorn at the tactical console seemed uninterested.
Li’ira glanced at the data I sent and did a double-take. “You’re kidding me. Madran? Here?”
“Not our Madran,” I said
“Last time I met him I had to literally put a phaser up his nose to get him to keep his hands off me,” Li’ira said
“Yeah. He tried to bribe me with a reproduction of the Tox Utat,” I said.
“You think he’s sheltering the Orions who attacked the Mattson?”
“He might be. Maybe. Possibly. We want to go take a look.”
“We’ll meet you there,” Li’ira said “Helm, set course for Taucente and engage.”
USS Valentina Tereshkova
Jay Seven Commanding
We came out of warp in system NFC F973. It was a nothing little M class dwarf with the usual collection of dull garbage around it.
We began scanning. The Valentina Tereshkova had been refit with the new Federation scanners. That obviated some of our electronic warfare capacity, but the increase in range and acuity of the new sensors was amazing.
I looked around at the bridge of my ship and sighed a little. She’d been my home during the war. She’d been torn up, but always bounced back for me. The Intrepids were tougher than they had any right to be.
There were signs of trouble. Our power transfer system was showing signs of wear. Our warp core was near the end of its useful life. It needed a full rebuild. The weapons coils were heating up faster than when they were new. The hull frame stress measurements were in the yellow.
We’d used her up fighting and then fighting the Thasites.
All she had to do was hold together through this one more mission.
The Virinat separated from us and we linked sensors. The Virinat hadn’t been upgraded like we had, but her sensors were fine, and through networking magic, both sets of sensors could reveal more working together than either ship could see on its own.
The star system was a graveyard. Our shipmates on the Denver Mattson perished here.
We carefully scanned the remains of the battle and the debris.
Most of the Mattson was still here. Just in a different form. The dead were still here. A few were still in some form that could be recognized. We recovered those we could.
Most of the crew of the Mattson were turned into hot vapor by the exploding warp core. They were scattered atoms across the crime scene. We looked for clues and flew around in a haze of humanoid smoke.
The normal local gasses held some clues. They’d been colored, altered by the high-powered beams fired nearby. The debris held clues. Energy signatures, and other forensics.
There was debris that did not come from the Mattson. Orion hull metal. Orion drive plasma. The Mattson left claw marks on her attackers and they bled into local space.
In some cases, literally. We got bio traces and even small chunks of Orion and Klingon remains.
Once we had DNA from the attackers we could begin to track down who they were, maybe.
Towards the negative Y axis of the crime scene we struck pay dirt. One of the Orions took damage to his warp drives. We found bits of warp coil and traces of drive plasma. This was a deep wound on a starship.
To cloak, he would have had to lock down the damaged nacelle, vent all plasma, and then, once cleared he might be able to cloak. But he’d be driving away on one nacelle, with a damaged warp drive system.
That meant limited range and reduced speed. They’d be wounded and vulnerable. So they’d want to shake off pursuit and head somewhere safe to try and find repair.
We consulted our intel records. There were three known Orion-friendly worlds within short range.
We looked at each of the three and tried to guess. How would a wounded ship try to juke its pursuers and head for each world?
Again, we hit pay dirt. On the third world on the list, Taucente. A metaphorical trail of Starship blood. Faint, but if you knew what you were looking for, there it was. An engine-rich exhaust. His damaged nacelle was melting itself and leaving the debris as bread crumbs.
I looked at the facilities at Taucente and one name caught my eye. “Huh. I didn’t know they had that guy here.”
-*-
Li’ira Six
CO IKV Brethenga
I called the Brethenga.
Li’ira was wearing the new leather jacket uniform. She made it look very good.
Her crew was half Starfleet and half pirate. She was pushing the IKV Brethenga. An Orion-built assault carrier.
We were all concerned about the Brethenga’s crew. When facing a Tzenkethi mobile starbase, a horde of Hur’Q or fleets of invading Terran fascists, they were great. Mucho violence available on demand.
In this new universe? Not so much need for a violent pirate crew. I knew my brother was working hard to find a way to soft-land them without them running away to be pirates again.
“Captain Seven,” She smiled. My heart fluttered some. “How may I help you today,” she continued.
“You heard about the Denver Mattson?” I asked.
A Klingon woman at Ops said, “They died with Honor.”
Li’ira nodded “We heard.”
I pressed a button to transmit information “I have a lead on the attackers. I was wondering if you’d like to help me go poke around and see if we can track them down?”
The Green Orion Woman XO looked at Li’ira. The Klingon woman at ops looked at Li’ira. The Klingon man at Engineering looked at Li’ira. The Gorn at the tactical console seemed uninterested.
Li’ira glanced at the data I sent and did a double-take. “You’re kidding me. Madran? Here?”
“Not our Madran,” I said
“Last time I met him I had to literally put a phaser up his nose to get him to keep his hands off me,” Li’ira said
“Yeah. He tried to bribe me with a reproduction of the Tox Utat,” I said.
“You think he’s sheltering the Orions who attacked the Mattson?”
“He might be. Maybe. Possibly. We want to go take a look.”
“We’ll meet you there,” Li’ira said “Helm, set course for Taucente and engage.”
-
jayphailey
- Posts: 1578
- Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 pm
Re: The Skein of Violence
TSOV 8 Threads
Taucente
Kodal Karvim, Bounty Hunter
Yeasgra Ippan, local investigator
Kodal entered the apartment behind Ippan. He was good at illicit entry. She wanted to make sure there was nothing dangerous in the apartment, but Ippan just smirked at her.
There were two sides to hunting people. The immediate, physical side. You had to be better with a gun, quicker with a fist than they. But the majority of hunting people was social. Kodal learned a lot watching Ippan slide through St Jeanne in a charismatically greasy way. He seemed to know everyone, and could wheedle favors from most of them. He was a smaller man with a taste for loudly colored shirts, and a catchy smile. He seemed to genuinely like everyone.
Kodal didn’t trust him half as far as she could throw him, but his relentless friendliness bore fruit.
The apartment was quiet. Something undefinable hung in the air. A faint smell Kodal knew.
Ippan looked at her with big eyes. Kodal held up a finger to her lips and drew her blaster. Ippan stayed back and let her work.
Carefully Kodal cleared the apartment. It was a two bedroom place with a large living room. There were three dead people there. In the main bedroom, a man and a woman. They were naked. The man lay atop the woman. They’d been stabbed. It looked like a surprise. They were distracted and their enemy approached and struck.
In the second bedroom, there was Liata Novoja. The quarry. He’d been standing up. Stabbed through. There was a hole in the wall above him. On the bed, a bag, over turned. Contents spread on the bed. Some clothes and some gear, Some gold pressed latinum.
Novoja had been facing his enemy. A small weapon lay across the room. Novoja’s right arm looked damaged. He’d tried to do something, but it was too late and his opponent was too tough.
The Federation and Kodal wanted Novoja for information. Kodal looked for Novoja’s personal devices. None were visible.
Just to be thorough, Kodal checked the bathroom and the closets. All the clothing in the closets were female types.
Kodal returned to the living room holstering her blaster, “We’re too late. Someone has killed our target and the other people in this apartment. No one is alive here, besides us.
Ippan sighed “I’m sorry to hear that. How well did you know Novoja?”
“I know he made terrible hiring decisions, I know he was a middleman for someone I’d like to speak with,” Kodal said “This is all I know.”
“You’re a pretty tough cookie.”
Kodal stared at him blankly.
“Seeing dead people doesn’t affect you.”
“How I feel about anything is not your concern. Do you wish to help me search for clues?”
“Not really. But I know an expert scanner who gets called for this sort of work all the time. Usually works for insurance companies that have to pay for dead people. They like to find other parties responsible.”
“Call him,” Kodal said. She didn’t figure the small Starfleet contingent on Taucente included a forensics investigator.
Ippan retreated to the hallway to work his connections.
Kodal realized she’d have to start carrying a tricorder. They were too handy.
She looked at the dead people again. They’d been stabbed with a triangular blade. They bled out very quickly. The blood had already congealed. Kodal left footprints in it. The attacker left no foot prints.
Kodal looked at the living room floor, carefully. There were very odd points there. Small circular impressions in blood. No footprints. A person or a droid with feet that came to points.
Usually when killing people in close quarters, blood gets everywhere. Kodal tried to make sense of what she was seeing.
-*-
The Apartment was crowded now. Origambe and six of his Starfleet Security people controlled the scene.
“Why didn’t you call us, first?”
“How many murders have you investigated and discovered the culprit?” Kodal asked.
“That’s not the point.”
“It is. I strongly suspect that whoever killed Novoja is the one who hired him to kill me. I am motivated to find him. You foisted Ippan on me. In retrospect, that was a good tactic. Ippan is a good hunter in that context. Ippan knew a forensic scanner. Under the same principle I reached out for someone skilled.”
Origambe sighed “Okay. At least you called us at all.”
“I have something,” Gremla said. Gremla was a Pachekki person, from a world half way across the region. They were humanoid, but not human. Gremla loved their job.
“The apartment is under the name of the female victim, Kellama Prozan She is listed as a part time administrative worker. But she also appears on a few directories of sex workers. The male victim found with her is named Lorgar Sulador, he is a salesman of construction equipment. I have notified his insurance company.”
Origambe looked irritated “I wish you’d asked me before notifying other people.”
Gremla looked at Origambe with an inscrutable expression for a moment, “You can split my bill with Lorgar’s Insurance company. Most people like that part.”
Gremla continued, “Given Ms Prozan’s side business, the DNA traces in this apartment are riotous. Even given a time window for the murders, I cannot exclude anyone.”
“Did you notice the circular traces on the carpet? Like the one near your left foot?” Kodal asked
Gremla grinned widely. Pachekki dentition was alien. They almost looked like they had a mouthful of worms. “You saw that? Fascinating, isn’t it? I suspect a mechanical conveyance. The only fresh DNA in the spots is from the victims blood. I am still analyzing my first scan of the tracks. My guess is that is had six legs each coming to a point, and weighed something in excess of three hundred kilograms.”
“A droid then,” Kodal said.
“A what?”
“A…” Kodal struggled with the correct terms “A mechanical form. Artificial. Possibly a person.”
Gremla looked thoughtful “Unusual, but not unheard of. I shall re-examine my scans with an eye towards that.”
“Did anyone see such a being?” Kodal asked
Origambe pointed out the door “Ippan already has my people asking. Nobody seems to have seen or heard much of anything.”
Gremla looked sad “Privacy is a strong taboo among the humans here. People often deny seeing anything or knowing anything until after they know death is involved. Even then, only reluctantly. It makes things harder, but assures a constant flow of work and money for me.”
“Perhaps we can follow the track left by the pointed feet of the droid outside the apartment?” Kodal asked
“I enjoy your thought process,” Gremla said
-*-
On the roof, Gremla happily followed their scanner. It looked different from anything used by Starfleet. It was obviously heavily modified.
Origambe followed behind, with his tricorder linked to Gremla’s scanner. His tricorder was recording Gremla’s scans
Gremla followed small traces of DNA across the roof, to the corner. “Hmm. The traces end here,” They altered the parameters of the scan “Yes. A transporter signal. An interesting one, too. Not the usual machines. Can you identify it?”
Origambe said “Probably. But it’ll take a while. The trace is thin. Your machine is really good to pull the signal out of the noise.”
Gremla smiled again “It should! It cost me enough! But oh, the different things I can scan. Very good for assembling hidden stories.”
-*-
Mary Whitehead ended the video meeting. It was a wonder anything got done on Taucente. The insurance for all three victims and The Federation, Inc wrangled over who was going to pay how much for the investigation and how much for the reward offered for the identity or capture of the responsible party.
Mary knew that in some corners of the Federation, some installations used Ferengi business managers for just this reason.
For a brief moment, Mary pictured her self dickering over the price of a Ferengi and knew she’d already been on Taucente too long.
Orgambe came in “We identified the transporter from Gremla’s scan.”
“And?”
“It’s Tholian,”
Mary squinted “Why are the Tholians hiring thugs to kill Federation contractors?”
-*-
“All I know is that this must be Holden’s fault,” Kodal said.
Mako snickered.
“All I know of the Tholians is what I was told when we first got here. They are giant crystalline spiders in space suits. Shoot early, shoot often, they’re not here for tea,” Holden said.
Mary looked at him “I need more context,”
Holden said “uhhhh, just after I was picked up by a Federation Starship, we got into a fight with the Tholians.”
“That would have been handy to know.”
“You think they’re holding a grudge? I was a passenger. I didn’t even fire any weapons or anything.”
“I have no idea what the Tholians are doing. This is really out of their normal patterns.”
“I think it’s time we left,” Holden said “If these Tholian guys are after us, then motion is our best defense. And it would draw whatever the Tholians have in mind away from the outpost.”
“That assumes they’re only after you. We may already have the stink of what’s antagonizing the Tholians on us.”
“It’s a game of probabilities,” Holden said “What seems more probable?”
“I agree,” Kodal said “We should move.”
“Hold on for a bit. I want to know why this is happening.” Whitehead said.
“Three days,” Holden said “Then we hit hyperspace. The great cure for many ills.”
“That explains a lot,” Kodal said.
“Hyperspace, Huh?” Mary said
“A….. a figure of speech,” Holden said.
-*-
Mary Whitehead looked at her screen in frustration.
Holden Lanetly and his ship The Obsidian Shellana were contractors to Starfleet, a “Task Force Taffy Six”. The earliest mentions she could find of Task Force Taffy Six were from 14 months ago. And everything she could see was heavily redacted.
The only sources of information that really told her anything were non-Federation news organizations. An Orion news feed decrying the terrible oppression of a planet called Muv’Kama, by a militarized Starfleet task force.
An account of a battle in the Azure Nebula against Tholians, told by passengers on a Starliner that was protected by a Starfleet taskforce.
Whitehead could confirm the nebula. It was thirty sectors away. She could confirm Muv’Kama, a failed Orion Colony recently brought under Federation administration. She could confirm the Starliner SS Saphire Princess itself. Advertisements declared it was newly refurbished six months ago.
But everything Starfleet related was redacted. Mary sent messages to a few people she knew back on Earth. Whatever it was, Starfleet was keeping it close to their chest. But maybe one of her friends could lift the veil a bit.
-*-
Two days later, Mary was working on her usual administrative tasks, waiting for her messages to be answered by her friends in San Francisco, when Sadalalan, the Anelilog knocked on her door.
**May I speak to you for a moment?**
“Sure, Sadalalan, Come in.” Mary was glad for the excuse for a break.
**You’ve been researching Task Force Taffy Six. You’ve sent messages to some of your friends on Earth.** Sadalalan said
“Umm, yes, How did you know that?” Mary asked
**I bring the answer. We’re asking your friends gently to let this matter lie. And we’re asking you to do the same.**
“Who’s we?”
**Starfleet Intelligence.**
“You work for Starfleet intelligence?”
**I do. In the official documentation, I’m control for Holden and his crew. They see it a little differently.**
“What is going on with those people? And this task force?”
**They’re friends of ours. But the story is difficult and complicated. It involves things that don’t bear much poking into.**
“Okay. One question, are the Tholians after your guys or our mission here?”
**We believe they’re after our guys. We’re working on understanding the problem.**
“Then the quicker you guys move along, the quicker things get back to normal-ish around here.”
**We have a favor to ask.**
“Oh?”
**What can you find out about Madrans Magnificient Metals?**
“Why?”
**We only have suspicion and conjecture as yet. Any information you can give us will help us narrow things down.**
“I’ll have what we know transmitted to your ship in a couple of hours.”
**We will reimburse your budget for anything you spend on information for us, plus a sizable mark up.**
Mary steepled her fingers, “I’m not used to Starfleet people bribing me.”
**We want to show our support for your project here. We’d like to see you succeed.**
“And…”
**And you’re tied into an interesting network here. Might as well see if someone shady knows something.**
Mary smiled sadly “I hate this place. Everything is shady and has a price tag.”
Sadalalan moved closer and took Mary’s hand **You’re not alone. We’ll see what we can do.**
“What does that mean?”
**I don’t know yet. When we find out, we’ll let you know.**
“Huh.”
-*-
Note - The Federation Inc of Taucente gets a group of Ane and a Ferengi business manager several weeks later. But fitting into the flow of this story was difficult.
Taucente
Kodal Karvim, Bounty Hunter
Yeasgra Ippan, local investigator
Kodal entered the apartment behind Ippan. He was good at illicit entry. She wanted to make sure there was nothing dangerous in the apartment, but Ippan just smirked at her.
There were two sides to hunting people. The immediate, physical side. You had to be better with a gun, quicker with a fist than they. But the majority of hunting people was social. Kodal learned a lot watching Ippan slide through St Jeanne in a charismatically greasy way. He seemed to know everyone, and could wheedle favors from most of them. He was a smaller man with a taste for loudly colored shirts, and a catchy smile. He seemed to genuinely like everyone.
Kodal didn’t trust him half as far as she could throw him, but his relentless friendliness bore fruit.
The apartment was quiet. Something undefinable hung in the air. A faint smell Kodal knew.
Ippan looked at her with big eyes. Kodal held up a finger to her lips and drew her blaster. Ippan stayed back and let her work.
Carefully Kodal cleared the apartment. It was a two bedroom place with a large living room. There were three dead people there. In the main bedroom, a man and a woman. They were naked. The man lay atop the woman. They’d been stabbed. It looked like a surprise. They were distracted and their enemy approached and struck.
In the second bedroom, there was Liata Novoja. The quarry. He’d been standing up. Stabbed through. There was a hole in the wall above him. On the bed, a bag, over turned. Contents spread on the bed. Some clothes and some gear, Some gold pressed latinum.
Novoja had been facing his enemy. A small weapon lay across the room. Novoja’s right arm looked damaged. He’d tried to do something, but it was too late and his opponent was too tough.
The Federation and Kodal wanted Novoja for information. Kodal looked for Novoja’s personal devices. None were visible.
Just to be thorough, Kodal checked the bathroom and the closets. All the clothing in the closets were female types.
Kodal returned to the living room holstering her blaster, “We’re too late. Someone has killed our target and the other people in this apartment. No one is alive here, besides us.
Ippan sighed “I’m sorry to hear that. How well did you know Novoja?”
“I know he made terrible hiring decisions, I know he was a middleman for someone I’d like to speak with,” Kodal said “This is all I know.”
“You’re a pretty tough cookie.”
Kodal stared at him blankly.
“Seeing dead people doesn’t affect you.”
“How I feel about anything is not your concern. Do you wish to help me search for clues?”
“Not really. But I know an expert scanner who gets called for this sort of work all the time. Usually works for insurance companies that have to pay for dead people. They like to find other parties responsible.”
“Call him,” Kodal said. She didn’t figure the small Starfleet contingent on Taucente included a forensics investigator.
Ippan retreated to the hallway to work his connections.
Kodal realized she’d have to start carrying a tricorder. They were too handy.
She looked at the dead people again. They’d been stabbed with a triangular blade. They bled out very quickly. The blood had already congealed. Kodal left footprints in it. The attacker left no foot prints.
Kodal looked at the living room floor, carefully. There were very odd points there. Small circular impressions in blood. No footprints. A person or a droid with feet that came to points.
Usually when killing people in close quarters, blood gets everywhere. Kodal tried to make sense of what she was seeing.
-*-
The Apartment was crowded now. Origambe and six of his Starfleet Security people controlled the scene.
“Why didn’t you call us, first?”
“How many murders have you investigated and discovered the culprit?” Kodal asked.
“That’s not the point.”
“It is. I strongly suspect that whoever killed Novoja is the one who hired him to kill me. I am motivated to find him. You foisted Ippan on me. In retrospect, that was a good tactic. Ippan is a good hunter in that context. Ippan knew a forensic scanner. Under the same principle I reached out for someone skilled.”
Origambe sighed “Okay. At least you called us at all.”
“I have something,” Gremla said. Gremla was a Pachekki person, from a world half way across the region. They were humanoid, but not human. Gremla loved their job.
“The apartment is under the name of the female victim, Kellama Prozan She is listed as a part time administrative worker. But she also appears on a few directories of sex workers. The male victim found with her is named Lorgar Sulador, he is a salesman of construction equipment. I have notified his insurance company.”
Origambe looked irritated “I wish you’d asked me before notifying other people.”
Gremla looked at Origambe with an inscrutable expression for a moment, “You can split my bill with Lorgar’s Insurance company. Most people like that part.”
Gremla continued, “Given Ms Prozan’s side business, the DNA traces in this apartment are riotous. Even given a time window for the murders, I cannot exclude anyone.”
“Did you notice the circular traces on the carpet? Like the one near your left foot?” Kodal asked
Gremla grinned widely. Pachekki dentition was alien. They almost looked like they had a mouthful of worms. “You saw that? Fascinating, isn’t it? I suspect a mechanical conveyance. The only fresh DNA in the spots is from the victims blood. I am still analyzing my first scan of the tracks. My guess is that is had six legs each coming to a point, and weighed something in excess of three hundred kilograms.”
“A droid then,” Kodal said.
“A what?”
“A…” Kodal struggled with the correct terms “A mechanical form. Artificial. Possibly a person.”
Gremla looked thoughtful “Unusual, but not unheard of. I shall re-examine my scans with an eye towards that.”
“Did anyone see such a being?” Kodal asked
Origambe pointed out the door “Ippan already has my people asking. Nobody seems to have seen or heard much of anything.”
Gremla looked sad “Privacy is a strong taboo among the humans here. People often deny seeing anything or knowing anything until after they know death is involved. Even then, only reluctantly. It makes things harder, but assures a constant flow of work and money for me.”
“Perhaps we can follow the track left by the pointed feet of the droid outside the apartment?” Kodal asked
“I enjoy your thought process,” Gremla said
-*-
On the roof, Gremla happily followed their scanner. It looked different from anything used by Starfleet. It was obviously heavily modified.
Origambe followed behind, with his tricorder linked to Gremla’s scanner. His tricorder was recording Gremla’s scans
Gremla followed small traces of DNA across the roof, to the corner. “Hmm. The traces end here,” They altered the parameters of the scan “Yes. A transporter signal. An interesting one, too. Not the usual machines. Can you identify it?”
Origambe said “Probably. But it’ll take a while. The trace is thin. Your machine is really good to pull the signal out of the noise.”
Gremla smiled again “It should! It cost me enough! But oh, the different things I can scan. Very good for assembling hidden stories.”
-*-
Mary Whitehead ended the video meeting. It was a wonder anything got done on Taucente. The insurance for all three victims and The Federation, Inc wrangled over who was going to pay how much for the investigation and how much for the reward offered for the identity or capture of the responsible party.
Mary knew that in some corners of the Federation, some installations used Ferengi business managers for just this reason.
For a brief moment, Mary pictured her self dickering over the price of a Ferengi and knew she’d already been on Taucente too long.
Orgambe came in “We identified the transporter from Gremla’s scan.”
“And?”
“It’s Tholian,”
Mary squinted “Why are the Tholians hiring thugs to kill Federation contractors?”
-*-
“All I know is that this must be Holden’s fault,” Kodal said.
Mako snickered.
“All I know of the Tholians is what I was told when we first got here. They are giant crystalline spiders in space suits. Shoot early, shoot often, they’re not here for tea,” Holden said.
Mary looked at him “I need more context,”
Holden said “uhhhh, just after I was picked up by a Federation Starship, we got into a fight with the Tholians.”
“That would have been handy to know.”
“You think they’re holding a grudge? I was a passenger. I didn’t even fire any weapons or anything.”
“I have no idea what the Tholians are doing. This is really out of their normal patterns.”
“I think it’s time we left,” Holden said “If these Tholian guys are after us, then motion is our best defense. And it would draw whatever the Tholians have in mind away from the outpost.”
“That assumes they’re only after you. We may already have the stink of what’s antagonizing the Tholians on us.”
“It’s a game of probabilities,” Holden said “What seems more probable?”
“I agree,” Kodal said “We should move.”
“Hold on for a bit. I want to know why this is happening.” Whitehead said.
“Three days,” Holden said “Then we hit hyperspace. The great cure for many ills.”
“That explains a lot,” Kodal said.
“Hyperspace, Huh?” Mary said
“A….. a figure of speech,” Holden said.
-*-
Mary Whitehead looked at her screen in frustration.
Holden Lanetly and his ship The Obsidian Shellana were contractors to Starfleet, a “Task Force Taffy Six”. The earliest mentions she could find of Task Force Taffy Six were from 14 months ago. And everything she could see was heavily redacted.
The only sources of information that really told her anything were non-Federation news organizations. An Orion news feed decrying the terrible oppression of a planet called Muv’Kama, by a militarized Starfleet task force.
An account of a battle in the Azure Nebula against Tholians, told by passengers on a Starliner that was protected by a Starfleet taskforce.
Whitehead could confirm the nebula. It was thirty sectors away. She could confirm Muv’Kama, a failed Orion Colony recently brought under Federation administration. She could confirm the Starliner SS Saphire Princess itself. Advertisements declared it was newly refurbished six months ago.
But everything Starfleet related was redacted. Mary sent messages to a few people she knew back on Earth. Whatever it was, Starfleet was keeping it close to their chest. But maybe one of her friends could lift the veil a bit.
-*-
Two days later, Mary was working on her usual administrative tasks, waiting for her messages to be answered by her friends in San Francisco, when Sadalalan, the Anelilog knocked on her door.
**May I speak to you for a moment?**
“Sure, Sadalalan, Come in.” Mary was glad for the excuse for a break.
**You’ve been researching Task Force Taffy Six. You’ve sent messages to some of your friends on Earth.** Sadalalan said
“Umm, yes, How did you know that?” Mary asked
**I bring the answer. We’re asking your friends gently to let this matter lie. And we’re asking you to do the same.**
“Who’s we?”
**Starfleet Intelligence.**
“You work for Starfleet intelligence?”
**I do. In the official documentation, I’m control for Holden and his crew. They see it a little differently.**
“What is going on with those people? And this task force?”
**They’re friends of ours. But the story is difficult and complicated. It involves things that don’t bear much poking into.**
“Okay. One question, are the Tholians after your guys or our mission here?”
**We believe they’re after our guys. We’re working on understanding the problem.**
“Then the quicker you guys move along, the quicker things get back to normal-ish around here.”
**We have a favor to ask.**
“Oh?”
**What can you find out about Madrans Magnificient Metals?**
“Why?”
**We only have suspicion and conjecture as yet. Any information you can give us will help us narrow things down.**
“I’ll have what we know transmitted to your ship in a couple of hours.”
**We will reimburse your budget for anything you spend on information for us, plus a sizable mark up.**
Mary steepled her fingers, “I’m not used to Starfleet people bribing me.”
**We want to show our support for your project here. We’d like to see you succeed.**
“And…”
**And you’re tied into an interesting network here. Might as well see if someone shady knows something.**
Mary smiled sadly “I hate this place. Everything is shady and has a price tag.”
Sadalalan moved closer and took Mary’s hand **You’re not alone. We’ll see what we can do.**
“What does that mean?”
**I don’t know yet. When we find out, we’ll let you know.**
“Huh.”
-*-
Note - The Federation Inc of Taucente gets a group of Ane and a Ferengi business manager several weeks later. But fitting into the flow of this story was difficult.
-
jayphailey
- Posts: 1578
- Joined: Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 pm
Re: The Skein of Violence
TSOV 9 - It's hard to find good help
Madran's Magnificent Metals - a Space station in the same solar system as Taucente
Li'ira Six, Green Orion Woman CO IKV Brethenga
Klovdda, Green Orion Woman, XO IKV Brethenga
Li'ira and Klovdda entered the conference room just off the showroom floor.
Screens showed highly detailed pictures of the slaves available in the slave market.
The mix of high-tech and a stone age social institution always made Li'ira's head spin a little.
Li'ira and Klovdda were dressed as businesswomen, to do deals for their principle, Boss Six. It worked on Muv'Kama.
Madame Zelkis swept into the room. She was dressed in a chain mail bikini, festooned with precious metals and jewels. She had shoulder pads on, seeming mainly to act as landscape for more bling. She had a cape that wouldn't be out of place on a Klingon warlord. Her green skin shone with the effort of slaves and expensive skin care products.
"How sweet," she smiled "You're here to make a deal."
Klovdda, with a completely straight face took out a dagger and stabbed it into the table by its point.
The message was clear "Deal or fight. Both are options."
Zelkis laughed. Li'ira could smell her pheromones. Li'ira said "There's money on the table. Let's take the easy way out, and make a deal, here."
Zelkis looked Li'ira straight in the face "You're very reasonable." The woman's face changed. Li'ira could see anger there. Deep anger that made no sense at all.
Li'ira felt her stomach drop.
Zelkis said "I'm going to break you. I'm going to hurt you like no one ever has. I'm going to shatter your body, your mind, your heart, and your soul. And I'm going to love every minute of it."
Klovdda grabbed her dagger
Suddenly half a dozen large people were in the room pointing weapons.
Li'ira said "I urge you to reconsider. You're about to unleash something here. I'm really not sure it'll be controllable or good for anyone."
"Do you think we don't know who you are? In your ratbag Klingon/Orion ship? You've been watched since you came into this region. We know what your ship is capable of. We can hold her off indefinitely."
"You don't know my crew," Li'ira said.
Zelkis brightened "You're Li'ira! You're POPULAR! Not only do I get to smash your stupid little Federation pedestal, not only do I get to smash your stupid little Federation-addled face, but the video will earn me a FORTUNE! I'll be able to sell strips of your corpse from here to the galactic rim!"
Now you've set a new bar for me to be creative. You've made me the happiest woman in this sector."
"This is a bad idea."
"No, YOU'RE the bad idea, you miserable green CUNT! Driving around space like you're free! Filling your head with stupid nonsense! YOU'RE AN ANIMAL AND I'M GOING TO TEACH YOU JUST WHAT A DEGRADED MISERABLE BITCH YOU REALLY ARE!"
Zelkis' face was contorted by incoherent rage.
A Green Orion who hated Green Orions worse than any Gold Orion ever could.
Li'ira and Klovdda looked at each other in horror.
-*-
Tiefa, Golden Orion Man, Lt IKV Brethenga Security
Roxa, Purplevanian woman, Lt. jg. IKV Brethenga Engineering
Teifa saw the lighting in the slave market change. Not good. He shifted the ornate Dr Pepper slushie cup in his hand and looked at his padd. It was a disguised tricorder. He tilted the "Madran's" baseball cap back on his head.
Tiefa had been an assassin and a leg breaker in his previous life. Moron tourist was frequently a lovely cover.
Madran’s was a low-rent truck stop of a place. The casino games were transparently rigged. The holosuites were over priced.
They sold replicated chachkis and souveniers for goodness sake. The job board listings had a smell of desperation about them. The crew were basically Carnies promoted to the limits of their competence and beyond.
Teifa really hoped nothing stupid was in the offing.
He nodded to his date. Roxa was a perfect accessory for cover. All the trashy attempts at fun were new to her and she was genuinely enjoying herself.
Tiefa nodded in the direction of the slave market, "Go ask for our friends. I have a bad feeling about this."
Roxa sobered and headed that way. Tiefa sat down on a bench next to a sad little tree and, while rearranging his touristy crap, he scanned the slave market.
Roxa walked up to the door of the slave market. It didn't open. From the static electrical charge in the air, they had shielding up. Serious shielding.
Roxa located an exposed piece of metal and slapped on it. "Hey! Is anyone in there?" She called.
A very large Green Orion man leaned out of a doorway and shook his head at her.
Roxa kept knocking "Hey! Are my friends in there?"
She made enough of a pest of herself so that the large Green Orion man came to the door
"We're closed," he snarled
"I'm looking for my friends! They just went in there!" Roxa said, play acting a dumb tourist for all she was worth.
"No one's in here. We're closed." The large man insisted
"They have my money! Did you see which way they went?"
"No. One. Is. Here." The man said, "Please leave."
"Okay, sorry." Roxa said "You don't know where my friends are, do you?"
The man turned and walked back into the door way he appeared from.
Roxa walked back to Teifa. "Isolation field. Grade two. It'll take heavy weapons to break it."
Tiefa looked at her "How do you know that?"
"I've been around enough of them, I think the Captain's in trouble."
Teifa looked at his scan. Not only was Roxa right about the isolation field, but they had communication and transporter scramblers in place.
"I think you're right," Teifa said. He hoped they weren't already too late.
-*-
IKV Brethenga
B'etara, Klingon Woman, Lt Commander, Ops Officer IKV Brethenga
M'rel, Klingon Male, Lt. Chief Engineer IKV Brethenga.
B'etara stood tall on the Bridge of the Brethenga. She was in full Klingon Regalia, with a Bat'leth in her hands, and an antiproton pistol tuned to be especially destructive against Borg nanites on her hip. An Antiproton beam wouldn't be fun for anyone, borg or no.
"Madran the Ferengi," She intoned "Hear me! I am B'Etara of the Starship Brethenga!"
"Look, please calm down. There's a misunderstanding in progress, I'm sure we can all work this out," Madran said.
"You will release all slaves to my custody! The question before you is how much fun do we get to have before we get to the slaves."
"I thought you were only after-"
"ALL YOUR SLAVES ARE MINE NOW, MADRAN! I'm going to enjoy reducing your hard earned infrastructure and assets to ruins! Power reactors! Computers! Fabrication Equipment! And of course, last on your list, your crew. We're going to blast them all to melted, chunky goo!"
"PLEASE!" Madran all but wailed "All my wealth and savings are here! Let me work this out."
"I give you ten minutes, Madran! Then the PARTY STARTS!" B'etara bellowed.
"I hate Klingons! I hate everyone!" Madran screamed, "Let me see what I can do!"
"Rest Assured Madran, We all hate you, too! Please give us an excuse. We haven't had a good old-fashioned massacre in ages."
Making a high-pitched whining noise, Madran cut the channel.
"Do you think he bought it?" B'etara asked.
M'Rel checked his disruptor rifle "Were you bluffing?"
"I was not."
M'rel looked her right in her face "Then today is a good day for a lot of people to die."
B'etara sighed and discovered that she'd actually hoped it would work as a bluff. But she knew. A lot of the Brethenga's crew was into it. Now they'd get their chance to rampage.
-*-
USS Valentina Tershkova, Taucente Orbit
Jay Seven, Human Male, Captain, CO USS Valentina Tereshkova
B'etara's message played on our screen. Madran's screeching in a smaller window.
"Jesus Christ," I scrubbed my face. Things were spiraling out of control.
Three of the Orion attackers were at Madrans, we had clear scans. I didn't know if the Brethenga could take them. One was shut down pretty cold and we could see the damage done to her nacelle by the Denver Mattson.
Li'ira wanted to try to bargain for the return of the Starfleet People captured by the Orions. We'd overpay to get them back. Better than weapons fire. Often slavers were often reasonable about it. They were in business to make money.
But this, this was just dumb. Why attack customers coming to overpay you? Obviously, I didn't know enough.
"Call Origambe!" I said, "Then set course for Ferris, Get us there five minutes ago!"
The Commander of the Starfleet crew at the Taucente outpost said "We saw. Be careful, the Taucente people do not like raids in their territory."
"Show them the scans! We have to get our people out of there. "
Origambe nodded "Good luck."
Kenda said "You rank B'etara. You could order her to stand down."
I felt my face do something funny "We've got to get Li'ira out of there. I couldn't bear my brother's face if something happened. Will a Klingon raid make them kill her? Or will a delay give them time to kill her?"
Kenda looked me in the face. "I have no idea."
"So we go with the default. Act now. Act quickly. Go all the way."
-*-
Madrans Magnificent Metals Ops
Madran, Ferengi Male, Proprieter Madrans Magnificent Metals
Madran saw Zelkis on the screen. He saw she had a crew beating and restraining two Green Orion women.
Madran was not entirely sure what was going on, but he was pretty sure that now was not the time for recreational torture and mayhem.
"What did you do to antagonize the Klingons? They're up here being loud and making demands!"
"They want my toys," Zelkis hissed. "Tell them no."
Madran blinked, he'd never seen Zelkis this worked up "You give those slaves right back!" Madran yelled "The Klingons are going to start shooting! They gave us ten minutes! Do you know how much restraint that is for Klingons?"
"You and your friends can take that ship, you hopeless worm. Check your information. The Brethenga is on the bounty list."
Madran checked. They had a bounty list from their new clients. Madran hadn't paid a lot of attention to that. Bounty-hunting people and starships was a game for people much more risk-tolerant than he.
"You're awfully casual about starting a battle on my dime, Zelkis! Morons kill the bounties, then we get paid to repair the damage. You're reversing the Latinum flow, here!"
"Fuck you. Fuck your Latinum. Kill that ship, and I might let you live!" Zelkis hissed and cut the channel.
Madran felt things spiraling out of his control. Technically, Zelkis worked for him. Her opinion on that point seemed to be evolving and Madran wasn't sure how to assert his authority.
"Hakeev," He turned towards another asset "Round up some people and go get all the slaves you can out of there. I'll buy us time dickering with the Klingons about that while you figure out how to suppress Zelkis."
The one-eyed Romulan glared at Madran. "Each moment that passes, my respect for you diminishes. Did you not know she would one day try to assassinate you? Did you have no plan in place for that eventuality?"
"Of course I did! But this.... this is bullshit! We've got to get out of this before the shooting starts! You can berate me in that superior Romulan way AFTER we unfuck this mess!"
"And what is your plan for when I assassinate you and take over this shit hole?"
"As the Great Exchequer is my witness, I bet long on greed overriding stupidity. I truly thought both you and Zelkis would be content to let the Latinum roll in, and to use this place as a platform to stupid things to someone ELSE."
Haakeev laughed "Perhaps you're not as stupid as I thought."
"STOP! ANGRY! SHOOTY! KLINGONS! NOW! INSULTS! LATER!" Madran shrieked.
-*-
CR Cybernetic Parrots Claw
Kommas, Golden Orion Man, Commander
"Get as much of the crew back as you can. We leave dock in seven minutes. Power up all systems, and rig for a fight. They brought us another bounty ship. It's payday, people."
The crew of the Cybernetic Parrots Claw began to move.
-*-
CR Languid Andorian
Zeorla Kaan, Human woman, commanding officer
"Get everyone back that you can. Power us up and get ready to fight."
"That Klingon is very confident."
"They've had things their way for too long. They're over confident. Just like the Mattson. And just like the Mattson, I expect they'll die bravely. We'll need to hole up somewhere else after this is over. Find me a good place. "
"Yes, Captain."
"Any word on the Latinum Sword?"
"They're shut down cold. They won't be active for this fight."
"Then we'll have to fight smart."
"Aye, Captain."
-*-
Obsidian Shellana II, on Taucente
Holden Lanetly came out of the flight deck
"Listen up! One of our teams ships is about to engage a pirate base in this system. We're going to go assist."
Grabura gawped "Are you out of your mind? We're not a combat unit! We're intel! Be intelligent!"
"Yeah, boss. This doesn't sound like you," First Mate Corossa said.
"What's the rest of the story?" Akaavi Spaar asked.
"My sister's on the Brethenga. Knowing her, she'll be leading from the front," Holden said grimly.
"What do you expect us to do about it?" Grabura asked
"Nothing, whatever you want. I have to go." Holden said "We launch in three. Be on the ship or off it."
"That Orion Lord was right! You bounce from one suicidally brave rescue mission to the next!" Grabura cried.
"Not true. In between rescues, I drink, gamble, womanize and scramble for money."
Bowdaar growled in his wookie language "[Much more of the scrambling for money than the other things.]"
"True. Okay, make up your mind. In or out."
Holden returned to the flight deck to continue to prepare for take off.
The rest of the Obsidian Shellana crew looked at each other. None left.
-*-
IKV Brethenga Flight deck
Della Gold walked up to Jensen Lanetely with a large PADD under her arm.
"Things are about to become very chaotic," She said
"They might do the smart thing," Lanetely said.
"I notice you and your troops are preparing for an assault."
"I didn't say it was likely."
Della showed the PADD to Lanetely "If we land here, I predict the best chance for success."
Lanetley studied the PADD "Looks like an unused cargo dock."
Della nodded "We stand some chance of surprising the opposition from there."
"Why not beam there now?"
"Transporter inhibitors are already in effect. It doesn't take The Force to predict violence and chaos in the immediate future."
Lanetly turned towards her troops "Alright! The mission is to recover the Captain and the XO. And any other Federation slaves we happen across. I expect you to fight like I've trained you!"
One of Lanetly's people said "Or better."
"Or better," She agreed.
Talash, the huge Gorn Chief of Security loomed over the party. "The rest of us will be the distraction. We will attack strategic points to take the station, and steal any good loot or information we happen across.
Make noise. Yell, scream, do property damage. But move with care and do not take excessive risks. These scum are not worth losing any of you over. "
"We love you, too big guy."
Talash made a gurgling, growling noise that sounded as angry as hell. "Love. Humorous."
"Sure thing, Talash. You're the grim mercenary tough guy. As cold as a Vulcan."
The sign came to man all fighters and attack shuttles.
Soon the battle would start.
Madran's Magnificent Metals - a Space station in the same solar system as Taucente
Li'ira Six, Green Orion Woman CO IKV Brethenga
Klovdda, Green Orion Woman, XO IKV Brethenga
Li'ira and Klovdda entered the conference room just off the showroom floor.
Screens showed highly detailed pictures of the slaves available in the slave market.
The mix of high-tech and a stone age social institution always made Li'ira's head spin a little.
Li'ira and Klovdda were dressed as businesswomen, to do deals for their principle, Boss Six. It worked on Muv'Kama.
Madame Zelkis swept into the room. She was dressed in a chain mail bikini, festooned with precious metals and jewels. She had shoulder pads on, seeming mainly to act as landscape for more bling. She had a cape that wouldn't be out of place on a Klingon warlord. Her green skin shone with the effort of slaves and expensive skin care products.
"How sweet," she smiled "You're here to make a deal."
Klovdda, with a completely straight face took out a dagger and stabbed it into the table by its point.
The message was clear "Deal or fight. Both are options."
Zelkis laughed. Li'ira could smell her pheromones. Li'ira said "There's money on the table. Let's take the easy way out, and make a deal, here."
Zelkis looked Li'ira straight in the face "You're very reasonable." The woman's face changed. Li'ira could see anger there. Deep anger that made no sense at all.
Li'ira felt her stomach drop.
Zelkis said "I'm going to break you. I'm going to hurt you like no one ever has. I'm going to shatter your body, your mind, your heart, and your soul. And I'm going to love every minute of it."
Klovdda grabbed her dagger
Suddenly half a dozen large people were in the room pointing weapons.
Li'ira said "I urge you to reconsider. You're about to unleash something here. I'm really not sure it'll be controllable or good for anyone."
"Do you think we don't know who you are? In your ratbag Klingon/Orion ship? You've been watched since you came into this region. We know what your ship is capable of. We can hold her off indefinitely."
"You don't know my crew," Li'ira said.
Zelkis brightened "You're Li'ira! You're POPULAR! Not only do I get to smash your stupid little Federation pedestal, not only do I get to smash your stupid little Federation-addled face, but the video will earn me a FORTUNE! I'll be able to sell strips of your corpse from here to the galactic rim!"
Now you've set a new bar for me to be creative. You've made me the happiest woman in this sector."
"This is a bad idea."
"No, YOU'RE the bad idea, you miserable green CUNT! Driving around space like you're free! Filling your head with stupid nonsense! YOU'RE AN ANIMAL AND I'M GOING TO TEACH YOU JUST WHAT A DEGRADED MISERABLE BITCH YOU REALLY ARE!"
Zelkis' face was contorted by incoherent rage.
A Green Orion who hated Green Orions worse than any Gold Orion ever could.
Li'ira and Klovdda looked at each other in horror.
-*-
Tiefa, Golden Orion Man, Lt IKV Brethenga Security
Roxa, Purplevanian woman, Lt. jg. IKV Brethenga Engineering
Teifa saw the lighting in the slave market change. Not good. He shifted the ornate Dr Pepper slushie cup in his hand and looked at his padd. It was a disguised tricorder. He tilted the "Madran's" baseball cap back on his head.
Tiefa had been an assassin and a leg breaker in his previous life. Moron tourist was frequently a lovely cover.
Madran’s was a low-rent truck stop of a place. The casino games were transparently rigged. The holosuites were over priced.
They sold replicated chachkis and souveniers for goodness sake. The job board listings had a smell of desperation about them. The crew were basically Carnies promoted to the limits of their competence and beyond.
Teifa really hoped nothing stupid was in the offing.
He nodded to his date. Roxa was a perfect accessory for cover. All the trashy attempts at fun were new to her and she was genuinely enjoying herself.
Tiefa nodded in the direction of the slave market, "Go ask for our friends. I have a bad feeling about this."
Roxa sobered and headed that way. Tiefa sat down on a bench next to a sad little tree and, while rearranging his touristy crap, he scanned the slave market.
Roxa walked up to the door of the slave market. It didn't open. From the static electrical charge in the air, they had shielding up. Serious shielding.
Roxa located an exposed piece of metal and slapped on it. "Hey! Is anyone in there?" She called.
A very large Green Orion man leaned out of a doorway and shook his head at her.
Roxa kept knocking "Hey! Are my friends in there?"
She made enough of a pest of herself so that the large Green Orion man came to the door
"We're closed," he snarled
"I'm looking for my friends! They just went in there!" Roxa said, play acting a dumb tourist for all she was worth.
"No one's in here. We're closed." The large man insisted
"They have my money! Did you see which way they went?"
"No. One. Is. Here." The man said, "Please leave."
"Okay, sorry." Roxa said "You don't know where my friends are, do you?"
The man turned and walked back into the door way he appeared from.
Roxa walked back to Teifa. "Isolation field. Grade two. It'll take heavy weapons to break it."
Tiefa looked at her "How do you know that?"
"I've been around enough of them, I think the Captain's in trouble."
Teifa looked at his scan. Not only was Roxa right about the isolation field, but they had communication and transporter scramblers in place.
"I think you're right," Teifa said. He hoped they weren't already too late.
-*-
IKV Brethenga
B'etara, Klingon Woman, Lt Commander, Ops Officer IKV Brethenga
M'rel, Klingon Male, Lt. Chief Engineer IKV Brethenga.
B'etara stood tall on the Bridge of the Brethenga. She was in full Klingon Regalia, with a Bat'leth in her hands, and an antiproton pistol tuned to be especially destructive against Borg nanites on her hip. An Antiproton beam wouldn't be fun for anyone, borg or no.
"Madran the Ferengi," She intoned "Hear me! I am B'Etara of the Starship Brethenga!"
"Look, please calm down. There's a misunderstanding in progress, I'm sure we can all work this out," Madran said.
"You will release all slaves to my custody! The question before you is how much fun do we get to have before we get to the slaves."
"I thought you were only after-"
"ALL YOUR SLAVES ARE MINE NOW, MADRAN! I'm going to enjoy reducing your hard earned infrastructure and assets to ruins! Power reactors! Computers! Fabrication Equipment! And of course, last on your list, your crew. We're going to blast them all to melted, chunky goo!"
"PLEASE!" Madran all but wailed "All my wealth and savings are here! Let me work this out."
"I give you ten minutes, Madran! Then the PARTY STARTS!" B'etara bellowed.
"I hate Klingons! I hate everyone!" Madran screamed, "Let me see what I can do!"
"Rest Assured Madran, We all hate you, too! Please give us an excuse. We haven't had a good old-fashioned massacre in ages."
Making a high-pitched whining noise, Madran cut the channel.
"Do you think he bought it?" B'etara asked.
M'Rel checked his disruptor rifle "Were you bluffing?"
"I was not."
M'rel looked her right in her face "Then today is a good day for a lot of people to die."
B'etara sighed and discovered that she'd actually hoped it would work as a bluff. But she knew. A lot of the Brethenga's crew was into it. Now they'd get their chance to rampage.
-*-
USS Valentina Tershkova, Taucente Orbit
Jay Seven, Human Male, Captain, CO USS Valentina Tereshkova
B'etara's message played on our screen. Madran's screeching in a smaller window.
"Jesus Christ," I scrubbed my face. Things were spiraling out of control.
Three of the Orion attackers were at Madrans, we had clear scans. I didn't know if the Brethenga could take them. One was shut down pretty cold and we could see the damage done to her nacelle by the Denver Mattson.
Li'ira wanted to try to bargain for the return of the Starfleet People captured by the Orions. We'd overpay to get them back. Better than weapons fire. Often slavers were often reasonable about it. They were in business to make money.
But this, this was just dumb. Why attack customers coming to overpay you? Obviously, I didn't know enough.
"Call Origambe!" I said, "Then set course for Ferris, Get us there five minutes ago!"
The Commander of the Starfleet crew at the Taucente outpost said "We saw. Be careful, the Taucente people do not like raids in their territory."
"Show them the scans! We have to get our people out of there. "
Origambe nodded "Good luck."
Kenda said "You rank B'etara. You could order her to stand down."
I felt my face do something funny "We've got to get Li'ira out of there. I couldn't bear my brother's face if something happened. Will a Klingon raid make them kill her? Or will a delay give them time to kill her?"
Kenda looked me in the face. "I have no idea."
"So we go with the default. Act now. Act quickly. Go all the way."
-*-
Madrans Magnificent Metals Ops
Madran, Ferengi Male, Proprieter Madrans Magnificent Metals
Madran saw Zelkis on the screen. He saw she had a crew beating and restraining two Green Orion women.
Madran was not entirely sure what was going on, but he was pretty sure that now was not the time for recreational torture and mayhem.
"What did you do to antagonize the Klingons? They're up here being loud and making demands!"
"They want my toys," Zelkis hissed. "Tell them no."
Madran blinked, he'd never seen Zelkis this worked up "You give those slaves right back!" Madran yelled "The Klingons are going to start shooting! They gave us ten minutes! Do you know how much restraint that is for Klingons?"
"You and your friends can take that ship, you hopeless worm. Check your information. The Brethenga is on the bounty list."
Madran checked. They had a bounty list from their new clients. Madran hadn't paid a lot of attention to that. Bounty-hunting people and starships was a game for people much more risk-tolerant than he.
"You're awfully casual about starting a battle on my dime, Zelkis! Morons kill the bounties, then we get paid to repair the damage. You're reversing the Latinum flow, here!"
"Fuck you. Fuck your Latinum. Kill that ship, and I might let you live!" Zelkis hissed and cut the channel.
Madran felt things spiraling out of his control. Technically, Zelkis worked for him. Her opinion on that point seemed to be evolving and Madran wasn't sure how to assert his authority.
"Hakeev," He turned towards another asset "Round up some people and go get all the slaves you can out of there. I'll buy us time dickering with the Klingons about that while you figure out how to suppress Zelkis."
The one-eyed Romulan glared at Madran. "Each moment that passes, my respect for you diminishes. Did you not know she would one day try to assassinate you? Did you have no plan in place for that eventuality?"
"Of course I did! But this.... this is bullshit! We've got to get out of this before the shooting starts! You can berate me in that superior Romulan way AFTER we unfuck this mess!"
"And what is your plan for when I assassinate you and take over this shit hole?"
"As the Great Exchequer is my witness, I bet long on greed overriding stupidity. I truly thought both you and Zelkis would be content to let the Latinum roll in, and to use this place as a platform to stupid things to someone ELSE."
Haakeev laughed "Perhaps you're not as stupid as I thought."
"STOP! ANGRY! SHOOTY! KLINGONS! NOW! INSULTS! LATER!" Madran shrieked.
-*-
CR Cybernetic Parrots Claw
Kommas, Golden Orion Man, Commander
"Get as much of the crew back as you can. We leave dock in seven minutes. Power up all systems, and rig for a fight. They brought us another bounty ship. It's payday, people."
The crew of the Cybernetic Parrots Claw began to move.
-*-
CR Languid Andorian
Zeorla Kaan, Human woman, commanding officer
"Get everyone back that you can. Power us up and get ready to fight."
"That Klingon is very confident."
"They've had things their way for too long. They're over confident. Just like the Mattson. And just like the Mattson, I expect they'll die bravely. We'll need to hole up somewhere else after this is over. Find me a good place. "
"Yes, Captain."
"Any word on the Latinum Sword?"
"They're shut down cold. They won't be active for this fight."
"Then we'll have to fight smart."
"Aye, Captain."
-*-
Obsidian Shellana II, on Taucente
Holden Lanetly came out of the flight deck
"Listen up! One of our teams ships is about to engage a pirate base in this system. We're going to go assist."
Grabura gawped "Are you out of your mind? We're not a combat unit! We're intel! Be intelligent!"
"Yeah, boss. This doesn't sound like you," First Mate Corossa said.
"What's the rest of the story?" Akaavi Spaar asked.
"My sister's on the Brethenga. Knowing her, she'll be leading from the front," Holden said grimly.
"What do you expect us to do about it?" Grabura asked
"Nothing, whatever you want. I have to go." Holden said "We launch in three. Be on the ship or off it."
"That Orion Lord was right! You bounce from one suicidally brave rescue mission to the next!" Grabura cried.
"Not true. In between rescues, I drink, gamble, womanize and scramble for money."
Bowdaar growled in his wookie language "[Much more of the scrambling for money than the other things.]"
"True. Okay, make up your mind. In or out."
Holden returned to the flight deck to continue to prepare for take off.
The rest of the Obsidian Shellana crew looked at each other. None left.
-*-
IKV Brethenga Flight deck
Della Gold walked up to Jensen Lanetely with a large PADD under her arm.
"Things are about to become very chaotic," She said
"They might do the smart thing," Lanetely said.
"I notice you and your troops are preparing for an assault."
"I didn't say it was likely."
Della showed the PADD to Lanetely "If we land here, I predict the best chance for success."
Lanetley studied the PADD "Looks like an unused cargo dock."
Della nodded "We stand some chance of surprising the opposition from there."
"Why not beam there now?"
"Transporter inhibitors are already in effect. It doesn't take The Force to predict violence and chaos in the immediate future."
Lanetly turned towards her troops "Alright! The mission is to recover the Captain and the XO. And any other Federation slaves we happen across. I expect you to fight like I've trained you!"
One of Lanetly's people said "Or better."
"Or better," She agreed.
Talash, the huge Gorn Chief of Security loomed over the party. "The rest of us will be the distraction. We will attack strategic points to take the station, and steal any good loot or information we happen across.
Make noise. Yell, scream, do property damage. But move with care and do not take excessive risks. These scum are not worth losing any of you over. "
"We love you, too big guy."
Talash made a gurgling, growling noise that sounded as angry as hell. "Love. Humorous."
"Sure thing, Talash. You're the grim mercenary tough guy. As cold as a Vulcan."
The sign came to man all fighters and attack shuttles.
Soon the battle would start.