Star Trek: Theurgy

CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

May 04, 2015, 11:15:56 AM

Chapter 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]
Attn: Zenozine, Doctor Maya, CanadianVet, Axius, Triage & RosariaRosette.
Later, in the Brig, also IronFerrox, Cathreen Dawinter & Kurohigi

[ USS Theurgy | Lower Shuttle Bay | Deck 07 ]
Attn: Wenn Cinn, Axius vel Onea & Cameron Henshaw

While the Intelligence Officer's announcement was heard on the intercom, the group remained set on reaching the shuttle bay. After the words fell silent, they did not hear anything more for a minute, during which time they continued to close in on their destination. Yet as they peek beyond the last intersection, they espied two vigilant guards outside the doors of the shuttle bay. It became evident that the bay area had not been left unchecked.

This was when the voice of T'Rena was heard - a reply to Trent's speech.

[Captain T'Rena to Lieutenant Commander Trent, this is not acceptable, and I hope you realise how futile your efforts truly are. We are about to upload a reprogrammed version of the Ship A.I. from her mobile emitter and into the pasitronic brain core. Whatever access you might have gained from Lieutenant Fedd will then be rescinded and if you do not surrender immediately, Thea's first act to further our cause will be to shut down life support on your Battle Bridge. So unless you put away your weapons and surrender, you will be taking the lives of everyone on that bridge with you as you draw your last breaths. You will not be able to shut her out of her own systems, so I do suggest you comply.]

Cold, dispassionate words - as if she read the tenants of Kolinahr.

[State your choice, Lieutenant Commander.]

There was due cause for worry, for it was as the Vulcan claimed - and Vulcans were not prone to lie - then things were rather grim. If Thea had been lost to them, what was the ship but a vessel that had lost its soul? The two guards, not spotting the group led by the Chief of Security, soon turned and entered the shuttle bay - vanishing from sight. It was therefore evident that they were patrolling the large area, and Cinn, Axius, Cameron and their companions had just caught the guards when their route took them to the corridor.

[T'Rena, this is Lieutenant Commander Trent. First, as an officer and a delegate of this ship's lawful commanding officer, I do not recognize your authority or your rank as you and Vasser have obviously chosen to dispense with any Starfleet protocols or procedures unless you find it convenient.]

It was Carrigan Trent again, answering the Vulcan's ultimatum on the public channel.

[You want to murder me? Be my guest. But bear this in mind. I'm betting not only my life but that of everyone in this room with me that right now, there's dozens on this ship who just decided to start fighting back. And over here, I have Ensigns Kenneth Urban, Nizni Peri and Pavel Yelchin as well as. Master Chief William O'Connell and again, I'm wagering all our lives that they've got friends who would take exception to their being murdered.]

One of the deck hands that had accompanied the Chief of Security's team grunted in affirmation to that announcement. It was time to lay claim on the transporter systems of one of the shuttles, but how much resistance awaited them beyond those doors? After the guard returned into the shuttle bay, the corridor lay quiet besides the conversation on the intercom, which continued uninterrupted...

---

[ USS Theurgy | En-Route Deck 05 | Deck 07 ]
Attn: Tessa May Lance & Sten Covington. Optionally: Morrigan

The distraction team, lead by Tessa May Lance, was making their way down the corridors while Carrigan Trent's words continued to be heard over the intercom.

[Unless you can show me where in Starfleet regulations and orders it states that sabotage, murder, coercion, mind-rape, mutiny and conspiracy are lawful ways to relieve an officer of his command, I. Will. Not. Yield. This is a Captain Ives's ship and I will fight to keep her as such. Go ahead. Murder us and make martyrs of the five of us. Polarize every man and woman you haven't brainwashed or murdered against you, encourage them to fight to the death. Even if you prevail, you won't have a crew left in the end.]

Had things truly escalated so far? Had the gruesome battle in the Flight Hangar just been the beginning? How far were Vasser and his Vulcan right-hand-woman willing to go? Were they listening to the last words of the Intelligence Officer and his team? On which of the Battle Bridges were they? Wenn Cinn had ordered them to move towards the Life Support systems and Deck 05's Battle Bridge. Was it possible that they, the distraction team, were the closest one to lend aide?

[Now here are my terms. You, Vasser and your cohorts will disarm. Captain Ives, Commander Rez and any other detainee you hold will be released. You and yours will return to the Harbinger and you will surrender all command authority over her and wait there with your warp core cold and all tactical systems physically disabled. Then, the brainwashing will be reversed and we will part ways. Whoever willingly buys into your vision will be allowed to join you and everyone who still sees themselves as Starfleet personnel will be allowed to stay with us.]

Terms that were, perhaps, too fair in regard to what Vasser and T'Rena had done that morning. And yet they were terms that were in line with the creed of Starfleet as it once were. There were individuals from the Harbinger that did not deserve such leniency. Two of which appeared ahead of the distraction team, springing their ambush. Sten Covington knew the two quite well from the Festival of the Moon - those who had attempted to force themselves on Narik Cinsaj in the middle of the night.

They were Petty Officers Sullivan and Tilliander, otherwise known as Smoke and Titan from the Harbinger's Tactical Conn division.

Once they spotted the distraction them ahead of them, they opened fire - leaning out from their chosen cover while their energy beams scorched the bulkheads around Goldeneye and Papa Bear. Two of the men behind them fell to the deck plates - stunned and out cold. The cover they picked were the opposite walls of an intersection - the last intersection between the distraction team and the Vector 02 Battle Bridge.

[Comply and have a chance at going forward with your vision of things or face an entire crew that will fight you tooth and nail,] finished the Intelligence Officer, his voice overriding the shooting. [Trent out.]

"Like hell we are," said Smoke with a confident grin. There were no further words given. No glib remarks. Just cold pragmatism behind their actions, just like if they sat in their cockpits. The two Tactical Conn pilots were not idle behind the cover they had found either. Titan held out his phaser rifle and shot blindly down the corridor towards the distraction team, while Smoke powered up a phaser grenade - soon tossing it down towards Sten and Tessa. Two more on Tessa's and Sten's team fell, and the grenade was just about to go off...

---

OOC: Attn: All - In order to read the dialogue between T'Rena and Carrigan Trent in its entirety, which most people on the Theurgy will be able to hear on the intercom, you should read the paragraphs in italics in the different relevant sections in this post. This thread will also include the people in the Brig once the rescue party gets there.

Shuttle Bay team, I will post a tactical map as required as soon as I learn what manner of approach you chose to reach a shuttle. Perhaps you won't need it and we can focus on the arrival to the Brig.

Distraction team, below is a quick map to help you get your bearings. RosariaRosette, this is one option for where Morrigan may appear, but to make the ic-timing work, she'll have to arrive by turbolift at the end of the intercom dialogue and hear the shooting from a distance. [Show/Hide]

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This Chapter in the Theurgy story is dedicated to Mr. Leonard Nimoy, 1931-2015. May he never be forgotten.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #1 – May 05, 2015, 07:24:14 AM

[Fasha "Morrigan" | USS Theurgy | En-Route Deck 05 | Deck 07 ]

Fasha did a quick weapons check as she knelt beside the control panel to the right of the turbolift doors. From what she could see all of her weapons were operational. She clipped Oracle's hand phaser to the waistband of her Starfleet issue undergarments and pulled the type-3 phaser she'd taken from Nightmare from it's slung position on her shoulder. The weapon was cold but in her hands it felt like it could burn her at any moment. This weapon had killed one of her comrades and the very thought of using it made Fasha's stomach turn. She pushed down her discomfort and took a deep breath moving into a slightly crouched position beside the door the weapon gripped firmly in her grasp as the turbolift continued to ascend. As the turbolift arrived the doors slid open and an automated voice announced her arrival.

[Deck 05]

At this point Fasha wasn't exactly clear on what the current situation was ship-wide but she could only assume that from the reports of weapon's fire she'd heard during her ascent from Deck 15 that the situation was anything but stable. Waiting for a few moments as the doors opened no phaser fire riddled the inside of the turbolift, no grenades were thrown indeed not a sound was heard except for the ever constant hum of the ship and the sound of weapons fire sounding in the distance. She slowly peeked around the corner careful not to expose herself anymore than necessary just as her training had taught her. The hall was clear it was apparent that the fighting was occurring somewhere that certainly wasn't here.

Quickly turning the corner she kept the Type-3 Phaser in her hands raised her eyes sharp staring down the sights as she slowly moved down the hall keeping close to the wall of the corridor. The farther she walked the closer the weapons fire she'd previously heard seemed to be. As she reached one of the many intersections leading to various parts of the ship she stopped lowering her rifle as she chanced a quick glance around the corner. Near the end of the corridor were two parties fighting it out. It was obvious one side was having more luck than the other in the conflict. She quickly ducked back behind cover from her brief observation she already recognized two from the losing side Tessa and Sten. The most obvious course of action to take would be to go assist them in fighting however they were engaging. But the words of her mentor rang clear in her mind.

"Don't fight a losing battle."

That wasn't to say that she planned to abandon her fellow pack members but from what she saw their position wasn't the greatest and to throw herself carelessly to battle would only add another body to their ranks rather than an actual advantage. It was apparent numbers was not to be the winning factor in this conflict. Moving away from the intersection Fasha went back the way she came she vaguely remembered passing by the hatch leading to one of the ship's jefferies tubes. If she was fortunate it would let out somewhere more tactically advantageous, somewhere she could better make a difference for her side. As she came upon the hatch she read the stenciled text above it.

[Life Support --->]

Punching the panel beside the hatch it quickly slid open allowing the Catachan woman access and with little time wasted she quickly ducked into the hatch climbing down into the maintenance tunnel the tube led to. The tunnel was dark illuminated only by the red lamps that seemed to be dotted throughout the it. Ducked down into a hunched position due to the close quarters of the tunnel Fasha quickly made her way through the tunnels until it led to the exit of the tube. She kept her rifle gripped in one hand as she climbed up the ladder reaching the exit hatch. Her hand hovered over the panel that would open the hatch for a moment before she finally punched the button. The hatch slid open she quickly moved out into the Life Support corridor keeping herself in a crouched position. She glanced left and could see two men using the intersection as cover firing at Sten and Tessa's group. Raising her rifle Fasha let loose a suppression volley in their direction aiming for the center mass of the man standing in the corridor with her.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #2 – May 09, 2015, 08:50:06 PM

[ Wenn Cinn | USS Theurgy | Lower Shuttle Bay | Deck 07 ]

Wenn Cinn took in the situation that they had stumbled into at the shuttle bay. As h examined the area he could not see the two crewmen who were running  security patrol. He assessed the situation and frowned as he took stock of how things were going for them. He sighed as he motioned for his team to move back from the grate. He wanted to address them and maintain some space so that no one would hear them by chance. Once he was a ways back he looked over the faces of his squad and he took a deep breath as he prepared his assessment.

"Alright, it seems we have a standard patrol team making their way through the shuttle bay, they seem to simply be moving on a standard patrol an if we wait  can simply let them pass us by. This would be a long wait most likely, bu it would be the path of lest resistance in this case." He took a deep breath."Sadly from the sound of the current situation I do not blieve that we are able to enjoy the luxury of any longer." He sighed and interlocked his fingers in front of him. "Our best option I feel is an ambush, we cannot allow them time to activate their com badges, if they get out word that we are in here our mission will become infinitely more difficult." He turned to look back down the jefferies tube.

He knew of two ways to approach this situation, but he did not like them. The outright ambush would is some of his team possibly getting shot, but it would take some waiting to get things into position, and that was time he did not believe that they had time to waste. His second option would be to draw them over to the grate and ambush them there...but they would have to me it feel mundane and keep the sound down at the risk of accidentally drawing attention to themselves. At least with them using the stun setting they would not have to worry bout being picked up on internal sensors.

Looking back to his team Cinn spoke. "We are going to need to perform an ambush, and there are a few ways we can go about it. We can either wait this patrol out and when they get to the area by the grate we kick it open and take them out as quickly as we can, the second option will play into the actions that they have been doing all day. Searching jefferies tubes has likely become mundane for them so if we make them come over here they might not call anything in and we will just open fire as soon as thy open up the grate." He rubbed his head and sighed. "Sadly neither plan is perfect so I would like to hear your ideas and get as many options as possible before we act." He looked over his group and waited for their ideas.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #3 – May 13, 2015, 08:10:57 AM

[ Cameron "Cam" Elizabeth Henshaw | Lower Shuttle Bay | Deck 07 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Wenn Cinn, Axius vel Onea

[Show/Hide]

Henshaw followed Cinn when he beckoned them to move back. Looking at his face, she guessed that he needed to discuss things, now that they had gotten a rough look at their intended destination, and seen some of the potential resistance in their way. The Bajoran's observation of the situation seemed sound, but Henshaw wasn't sure. There were very few of them, and Henshaw, while fairly good with a phaser, didn't like the thought of combat very much. Still, it was a necessity at this point, and when Cinn asked for ideas, she had a wild one.

"Or we can walk right in." She said, her tone serious, and she explained her motives, "A lot of people still don't know whose side I'm on. Irregardless of what transpired on the bridge..."

When she mentioned the bridge, she remembered Winterbourne, and watching him die. The announcement made by Trent confirmed her story to the crew she was with, and reminded her at the same time, how cheap life was to T'Rena and Vasser. But there was an additional snippet that she didn't know about: Sjaandin Fedd was dead. She felt an odd mixture of cold, pain, grief, pleasure, loss and satisfaction all at once at the news of his passing. It was complicated, to say the least, but she forced herself to push out the thoughts of Fedd's demise for the time being, and promise  herself that she would work it out later.

For now, though, she continued with what she was saying, "...I can pass it off as nerves being rattled during the height of the situation. I could go in there, assess the situation, and try and distract the lot while you and Onea prepare to storm the centre. It's risky, but it might work."

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #4 – May 13, 2015, 11:56:18 PM

[ Tessa May Lance | USS Theurgy | Ship's Corridors | Deck 05  ]

The ambush came out of nowhere.  Phaser beams shot down the corridor from the intersection ahead.  Tessa May Lance, callsign 'Goldeneye' darted to a door to her right and bounced off the door when it didn't open.  She fell to the deck and noticed two of Papa Bear's deck crew lying on the deck behind her, only they hadn't lost their footing.  
"Fuck," Tessa gasped.  "Damn."

Petty Officers Phuc and Dam were down, but whether they were stunned or dead there was no time to determine.  The decoy party had done their job; Tessa had led her lambs to the slaughter.  She was so depressed that she didn't even notice the grenade bounce down the hall and roll to a stop less than a meter in front of her.

"Damn you Cinn!" Tessa sniveled.  "You sent us all to die!"

Suddenly phaser fire erupted out from the hall to the right.  It didn't fire from the intersection where the two Harbinger pilots had lied in wait for Tessa team, it fired into it from the direction of life support.  Either somebody loyal to Ives was guarding life support with their lives, or somebody on Vasser's side was really nearsighted.  It didn't matter, it meant the bad luck that dogged the Theurgy ever since she came on board didn't care who it tortured; anybody in a Starfleet uniform was fair game.  Come to think of it, Narik Cinsaj proved that you didn't even need to wear a Starfleet uniform to get it in the shaft.

Who fired those shots and whose side were they on?  Who knew?  And right now, who cared?  This was the moment Tessa and her team were waiting for.

"Charge!" Tessa screamed as she jumped to her feet and took off running.  She stepped on something that was in the corridor and it rolled forward, taking her feet out from under her and flying into the air as it did so.  As Tessa hit the deck second time (this time flat on her back) the grenade that Smoke had thrown was hurled right back at the Harbinger pilots.  A high pitched zapping noise filled the area as a bright light hurt her corneas right through her closed eyelids.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #5 – May 14, 2015, 08:22:29 PM

[ Sten Covington | USS Theurgy | Ship's Corridors | Deck 05  ]

The advance through the corridors had been unimpeded at first.  However, as they neared their destination phaser-fire erupted from the intersection and down the corridor.  As men dropped, the Chief of the Deck ignored Goldeneye's reaction and instead, his voice rumbled.  "Return fire!  Get into some cover!"

The weapon in Sten's hand shrieked as he stepped toward the nearest door, suppressing the two men who were engaging them, and seeing his opportunity to push forward, he did so even before the pilot gave her order to charge.  As he advanced, he saw something in the corner of his vision soaring towards the intersection even as he heard Lance hit the deck and then, the porcupine pattern of a phaser grenade firing was seen, and immediately after its detonation he surged forward even faster.

Upon reaching the intersection, Sten looked down to both unconscious mutineers.  One had slammed into the bulkhead when the grenade went off behind him and left a smear of blood behind where his nose had broken.  The other, it looked as though he'd been shot from the side.  And turning his head, the Chief saw its source, another pilot.  "Morrigan, good to see you," he rumbled as he holstered his hand phaser and scooped up the fallen rifle from the near aggressor.  And then, he recognized him.  The broken nose, the bruising on his face.  It was Smoke.  And that meant...

With his foot he flipped the man onto his back.  Titan.  The two men who tried to rape Narik the previous night.  Then, the Chief snarled and raised his foot, ready to stomp down hard upon Smoke's head.  Cinn had said stun only, but the sight of the Boslic's abused body brought uncontrollable rage to the forefront of Sten's mind and it overrode the Commander's orders.  And he was going to do just what he planned: to crush that pilot's skull.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #6 – May 15, 2015, 10:10:42 AM

[ Fasha | USS Theurgy | Ship's Corridors | Deck 05  ]

Fasha could hear the weathered gruff voice of Chief Covington boom from around the corner barking orders to his men as she unleashed burst after burst of phaser fire into Titan and Smoke's flank. One of her targets went down as a phaser shot scorched his side she was unsure if the man was dead or not but it didn't really matter to her if she had her way she'd make sure that the two wished they'd died here and now.

She saw a grenade roll into the intersection and quickly placed her arm before her face shielding her eyes from the blinding flash the phaser grenade gave off. Once the explosion had cleared she quickly raised her rifle approaching the two prone figures lying upon the ground. She kept the muzzle focused on both men ensuring that neither would suddenly sit up to try and gun her down with their weapon. As she approached she was able to confirm that both of her targets were indeed incapacitated.

A man entered from the main hall causing her to tense for a moment but immediately she recognized the rugged features of the Chief of the Deck and kept the muzzle of her rifle directed downwards. "Likewise Papa Bear." Fasha said nodding at the older man. She stood back as Sten moved to secure the weapons their foes had dropped but as he moved to scoop up one of the rifles a look of recognition seemed to light up upon the old man's face.

She watched as he flipped Titan onto his back and in an action that surprised her he let out a snarl brimming with rage. Perhaps some people would stop him with words insisting that killing him would be wrong, That despite whatever he'd done he had some semblance of a right to live. Unfortunately for Titan Fasha was not one of those people as she merely moved to watch Smoke keeping her weapon trained on him if he decided to wake up at all during Papa Bear's act of vengeance.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #7 – May 16, 2015, 08:46:58 PM

[ Wenn Cinn | USS Theurgy | Lower Shuttle Bay | Deck 07 ]

Cinn thought this over and nodded, it might be a good idea to use the confusion of the whole situation to their advantage, and after all at worst they would be dealing with the situation as it would be if things went poorly anyways, it the gr scheme of things this as a even trade off to put a risk on. Cinn eventually nodded to the plan. "Alright, it might be a valid plan to try and pull off. But we cannot go in through here, it will draw to many questions."

Cinn looked further ow the tubes. "You will leave the gear with us, head back to the the hall and get out there. Come into the shuttle bay though the doors and try and lead them so their backs are to this exit, once you are in position we will gt out an tun them, if we fail to take them out you can use your hand phaser to finish the job up fairly quickly."

Cinn hoped that this plan could work, they were already in position to take their first steps to requesting the captain, they just needed to get in and get this done before they were found out. They would be able to tun on the shields to the shuttle to keep themselves safe until they needed to do their beaming, and even then in the few seconds the shield would be down it would be unlikely that anyone could do enough damage to a shuttle with a phaser to halt their plans.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #8 – May 18, 2015, 07:15:50 PM

[ Cameron "Cam" Elizabeth Henshaw | Lower Shuttle Bay | Deck 07 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Wenn Cinn & Axius vel Onea

[Show/Hide]

"Okay. Here." Henshaw surrendered over all the gear and equipment, which would have raised questions anyhow, except for her phaser, which she kept holstered at her side. She nodded at Cinn and Onea, then sauntered out to the hall, where she took the time to poise herself and mental state of mind. She reminded herself that for this moment, she was with Commodore Vasser and Captain T'Rena. She had to keep her tone even and steady. Just because the other men might not have taken psychology or learnt to read tones (neither fact of which she was positive about) did not mean she should take it easy. Best to be on guard while looking relaxed and confident all at once. When the doors hissed upon, she marched right in without trying to be sneaky, a hand resting over her phaser, ready to be drawn, as if she were wary for danger, but confident all the same, and with a half-smile, half-scowl etched on her face.

She saw the security detail, and smiled at them placatingly, holding her palms upwards, "Easy now, I'm with Commodore Vasser and Captain T'Rena." She allowed her false American accent to play up again, since that would be something they were more familiar with rather than her true accent, which might raise questions. "I've been sent to perform additional sweeps of the decks after a prior team had gone through. I assume you guys haven't met any Trent wannabes on your patrols?"

As she spoke, she walked right up to them, forcing them to turn and keep their eyes on her, while she made subtle gestures with her hands, pointing in a specific direction, to sort of make them consciously or subconsciously look in the given direction, which prompted them to look away from where Cinn and Onea would be coming through. She soon had them facing her pointedly, and she turned around, slowly, sensuously, and most of all, in a distracting manner. There was an advantage to wearing skin tight uniforms and not wearing any underwear: Everyone can tell. And right now, that would be quite a distraction, especially with the way she was moving and posing. She rested her palms on her hips, "So...quite a mess we have, huh?"

And indeed, it was. Federation against Federation. Henshaw would never get over it. Still, she had a part to play, and she hoped Cinn and Onea would come in. She tried to give them a hint, "But all clear here, right?"

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #9 – May 19, 2015, 12:54:09 AM

[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Corridor | Deck 05 ] Attn: Tessa May Lance, Fasha & Sten Covington

Having left the Upper Computer Core behind and been running as fast as her emitter's small anti-gravitational units allowed her to, Thea may not have been winded from the physical exertions of her hardware, but her pasitronic brain's processor was solely dedicated to solve problems across the ship as best as her limited means could do so. She no longer had a ship-wide holographic grid to utilise in detaining mutineers, just as little as she could use any forcefields to keep them from moving around. The ship's surveillance systems had been completely destroyed during the first battle against Cala, so she could not pinpoint people by any other means than her internal sensors. She could not make site-to-site transports either since the sabotage in Main Engineering. She did have the ability to lock people into rooms, but with most of the mutineers armed, they could cut through her bulkheads.

What quickly proved most beneficial was to use the intercom and establish communication between the resistance cells across the ship - to rally the Ives Loyalists and tend to their immediate needs as best as she might with overdue information. As she ran, she was talking to crewmembers in almost twenty different places. One of those she spoke to was Lin Kae - her Holographic Specialist - who was just a hundred meters in the opposite direction from which she now ran.

Ahead of her, she spotted people standing in an intersection, and she raised her rifle mid-run to stun them if they proved to be mutineers. Yet when her projection's optical sensors established the identities of the people, she left her finger off the trigger of her assault rife. Two of the Lone Wolves, the Chief of the Deck and a couple of his deckhands, all armed and seemingly victorious in taking out two Harbinger pilots. As her sprint drew to a halt, she had accessed her internal sensor logs and traced back their movements through the ship - seeing their life-signs originating from Deck 15 and witnessing the readings of weapons fire that had been exchanged there. The average possibility that any of them were mutineers, based on her sharp assessment, was as low as 7.345 %.

"Multiple life-signs are moving in on this positi-" she started to say to them, since there was time for little else, but then she saw what Chief Warrant Officer Covington meant to do. "The subject does not pose any immediate threat. If you mean to end his life, you would be in violation of conventions dating back to the twentieth century. Moreover, it would be to repeat the crimes of Declan Vasser and T'Rena to resort to their methodology."

She then looked towards both the Catachan Colonist named Fasha - who seemed to have been fighting in her underwear - and to Tessa May Lance, both whom were fighter pilots who found themselves stranded inside their base ship. "I was heading towards Deck 08 and to assist in the capture of T'Rena, but right now, there are ten life-signs moving in on this location. My communication logs shows that these mutineers called for them. ETA 30.534 seconds from that direction. "

She pointed in the direction that led to the Battle Bridge, and then she told them the news.

"The Calamity dropped out of Warp outside this nebula we are hiding in, undoubtedly having noticed the readings of weapons fire from afar more than an hour ago, at which point five of the Lone Wolves escaped the Harbinger and its attack fighters." Thea put the butt of her rifle against her shoulder and took aim - about to intercept the mutineers as soon as the first ones came into view.

"Even if Captain Ives has not been restored to command, Commodore Vasser must be replaced, but it would be tactically unwise to do so when he is the only one at my CONN. Therefore, I kindly request that you make your way to Deck 01. I will follow your progress on the intercom. Please make haste while I keep them occupied."

She might have sounded calm, pragmatical, but her emotion ship was feeding her fear that she had a hard time to keep from lagging her response time. Question was, would they leave her behind to follow her recommendation?

"Please decide now," she said to them again, moving to take cover by the wall of the intersection - running footsteps already heard in the distance.

---

OOC: Attn: Here is the earlier map to help you get your bearings. Thea arrived from the right-hand side: [Show/Hide]

A post for the shuttle bay team is next...

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #10 – May 19, 2015, 01:46:31 AM

[ Axius vel Onea -NPC- | Lower Shuttle Bay | Deck 07 ] Attn: Wenn Cinn & Cameron Henshaw

Still having been unable to find any clothes since he had been intercepted in the locker room back in the Flight Hangar, Quake had come to wear the dust of the first fight and the grime of the jefferies tubes as a kind of suit - covering his body like a second skin. It provided some camouflage, at least, even if it was worthless in terms of protection.

"She would not have suggested it if she hadn't thought she could do it," he said quietly to Lieutenant Commander Wenn, whom he imagined was the kind of officer that did look after those under his command. The opposite of Vasser and his Vulcan harlot, whom he was especially disgusted with because of his native views. As a Câroon, he was immune to telepathic and empathic abilities, and the fact that such techniques could be used to twist people's minds so completely  further facilitated his opinion on the matter. It made him shudder to think that someone could be reprogrammed like some kind of computer, and that it could be done with such bloody ease.

It was time to move out, and Axius followed the directions given by the large Bajoran that led the way into the shuttle bay area. From afar, Axius saw how Ensign Henshaw had been more than equal to her self-allotted task. If he had not been mostly inclined towards men, he might have tripped over his own feet when watching the human female draw everyone's eyes to herself. He had noticed her lack of undergarments back in Below Decks, but if there was anyone who could wear that look and get away with it, it would be her.

There were three Harbinger personnel stepping up to her, one whom seemed to be the leader. The other two were the ones that they had spotted patrolling the area. The Trill in charge was a Junior Tactical Officer that Axius had spotted in a briefing held on Theta Eridani IV. He was six feet and wide of shoulders, with the flat cheeks that women fancied and almost turquoise blue eyes. Frankly, Axius would not have minded chatting some more with him. That was, of course, before he proved to be a bloody mutineer. His name... Was it Tew? Junior Lieutenant Tew. He was almost certain.

"We are clear here," said Tew, and his profile suggested a smile, "but let me get this right. You were sent alone to do sweeps for resistance cells in this area? How many weapons are you hiding underneath that uniform?"

"I think we need to see her entire arsenal, don't you think?" said the one on Henshaw's right, leering at her.

"Yeah, she must have used those weapons to woo Ives, so I'd be damn if I wouldn't like a sample of that," said the one on the left, a clever gleam in his eye. "Smart to apply for the Yeoman position even though you were an Ensign. Commodore Vasser and Captain T'Rena really thought this true ahead of time, eh?"

Axius did not know what to think about what was being said, so he looked to Wenn Cinn - wondering if they and the deck hands straggling behind them ought to stun the trio in their backs. As for Henshaw, Axius had a hunch that Henshaw had been earnest with them, but this was the first time hearing Harbinger people speak of Henshaw's transfer.

As for Captain Ives having sex with his newly recruited Yeoman, well, on one level Quake sympathised with the Chameloid if that was the case, for obvious reasons... But on another. No, it did not look so good if he'd had since he was always very keen on sticking to regs no-matter what.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #11 – May 20, 2015, 07:29:05 AM

[ Tessa May Lance | USS Theurgy | Ship's Corridors | Deck 05  ]  Attn: Auctor Lucan, Morrigan & Sten Covington.

"Are you all right Ma'am?" Petty Officer Adara Hussein of deck ops asked her as she helped Tessa back to her feet. 

"Peachy," Tessa winced.  "How are our guys?"

"Stunned," the mechanic replied.  "They must want us alive.  Do we leave them behind or take them with us?"

"I'll check with Papa Bear," Tessa murmured, "and give myself time to answer that question," she silently added as she walked over to corridor's intersection to join the others.  She arrived in time to see Papa Bear, the two remaining volunteers for the decoy party and her fellow Valkyrie pilot  Lieutenant Junior Grade Fasha, also known as Wolf-12, callsign Morrigan, standing over the comatose forms of two Harbinger pilots.  The four of them were conferring with Thea, who Tessa was glad to note was not-quite-so offline or reprogrammed as T'Rena would have them believe.

"I was heading towards Deck 08 and to assist in the capture of T'Rena, but right now, there are ten life-signs moving in on this location," Thea reported. "My communication logs show that these mutineers called for them. ETA 30.534 seconds from that direction."

"That doesn't give us much time..." Tessa replied, but Thea wasn't finished.

"The Calamity dropped out of Warp outside this nebula we are hiding in, undoubtedly having noticed the readings of weapons fire from afar more than an hour ago, at which point five of the Lone Wolves escaped the Harbinger and its attack fighters," The heavenly hologram continued as she turned away and looked down the sights of her phaser rifle down the corridor that lead to the Battle Bridge.  "Even if Captain Ives has not been restored to command, Commodore Vasser must be replaced, but it would be tactically unwise to do so when he is the only one at my CONN. Therefore, I kindly request that you make your way to Deck 01. I will follow your progress on the intercom. Please make haste while I keep them occupied.  Please decide now," she added as she took cover at the corner the intersection.

"You heard her, let's take the bridge," Tessa ordered as got to her feet and turned to lead the group back the way they came. "Ditch the combadges and move like you've got a purpose!"  She may have been leading the expendable distraction team, but Commander Cinn would have to admit that attacking the bridge was one hell of distraction.  It wasn't until she heard the shots behind her that Tessa realized that she wasn't leading a distraction team anymore, she was leading a strike team on a mission they couldn't fail.  What they did now mattered, and failure was not an option.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #12 – May 23, 2015, 07:27:35 AM

[ Wenn Cinn | Lower Shuttle Bay | Deck 07 |USS Theurgy ]

Wenn Cinn nodded as he was comforted by Axius. "I know, I would not have sent her had I thought that she would be unable to handle herself...But something is off, very very off bout this, they are not acting like themselves, these people seem almost as if they are being driven by primal desires..." He watched as the Mutineers began to get closer and more bold with Cameron, this was not right, they were moving towards sexual acts, by the word of the prophets, REALLY! this was going to just be life on this ship, something sexual as going to happen at every turn for them.

Cinn's face broke into a disgusted snarl as he looked to his team. "Ready phasers, we fire when I give the word." He looked back out at the situation as it unfolded for Cameron, he could not imagine how horrible it must be to know that she was being used as bait to these perverts while people who could help her sat only a stones throw away. He looked back to everyone again after getting another check on things and he spoke in a cold tone. "I will signal for Henshaw to drop, the instant that she hits the ground, or upon recognition that she is in danger we will strike to protect our own." He readied his own weapon before setting his plan into action.

The grate silently swung open and Cinn flagged own Cameron as best he could before he gave her a sign to drop to the ground, an he even mouthed it to her to "Drop Down" so that she would be out of the crossfire and hopefully spared from the ambush as he looked back to his mean an motioned for them to get into position to fire before turning his attention back to the scene in front of him and he waited for things to play out just a bit longer before he took action. Deep down Cinn as worried, he was concerned that he might hit Cameron with hi ambush, despite the allegations against her she was still of Theurgy and so was he, if they did not have trust then they would have nothing, he needed to trust her since she put her trust in him, and he did not want her to blieve that that trust had been misplaces.

As the seconds continued to count down Cinn thought to himself, "Come on Henshaw make our move, drop to the ground, go limp, get our of the way, I do not ant you to gt it." His mind was rife with concerns, but as a commander he had to make the hard decisions, and that meant sacrificing one crewman to possibly save the ship, and in this moment Henshaw had volunteered herself for that position. An such a selfless act was not something that Cinn wanted to waste.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #13 – May 23, 2015, 07:10:46 PM

[ Cameron "Cam" Elizabeth Henshaw | Lower Shuttle Bay | Deck 07 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Wenn Cinn & Axius vel Onea

[Show/Hide]

Henshaw's eyes darted back and forth between the men, her face a neutral, even expression, yet her heart began to beat in silent panic. Granted, in many ways, she had brought this upon herself in the way she had handled her relationships with the people on board the Harbinger. All the ever-growing unpleasant memories, and taking on the experiences of the crew, their sorrows, their troubles. It had taken its toll on her as well. That was one of her motivations for making the transfer. That Captain Ives was such an intriguing and attractive personality certainly helped make her more interested, and she would not deny that she had very quickly developed nearly primal desires regarding the Theurgy's captain, be it male, or female in form. But these men...their line of dialogue had quickly gone from suspicion to looking for something else.

But taking a stand as a proud officer, Henshaw, shifted her body fluidly, all those frequent workouts paying off, as one hand swiftly glided over the undrawn phaser while another hand raised out to forestall an advance on her person. "Ah ah ah, now, boys." She grinned at them with her lips but not with her eyes, "I don't need more than one weapon. And I was just following up behind the primary sweepers. Even so, I want you to consider something: Why would I be so bold to move alone unless I knew I can handle myself, huh?" The phaser, while still holstered, was bent at an angle so that she could shoot Tew at the very least if he wanted to make moves on her.

Her eyes caught the hand signals of Cinn and while she managed to avoid looking directly at him, as she didn't want to give his position away, she could roughly guess that he wanted a clear shot of these men, and she was in the line of fire presently. But she had a wild idea to help Cinn and the team, with the only risk being herself since she had managed to keep the attention of all three men on herself. Taking her hand off her phaser for a moment, she began to saunter up to the leader, Tew, "But on the other hand...you're not half-bad yourself."

She easily crossed the small distance between her and the tall, handsome man, lifting her hands to drape them on his shoulders as she all but pressed her body close to him, she gritted her teeth through her closed lips. Take this one little pleasure, you sick bastard. She thought furiously, Because this is as close as you'll ever get to feeling me up. And she drove her knee into his groin with all the force she could muster, pulled back, and delivered a vicious forward kick into his sternum. As the momentum of kicking into a much larger form drove her backwards, she reached for her phaser, and allowed herself to move back and as both her legs were on the ground she leapt backwards, shouting "NOW!"

Oh this is going to hurt like hell... twisting her body to present a harder target to hit while she sailed into the air, she fired wildly at one of the men, and then landed hard. Ignoring the throbbing pain of landing on an elbow, the young woman desperately rolled sideways, doing her best to attempt avoiding the return fire, and hoping to God that Cinn and the others were ready to fire at the drop of a hat.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #14 – May 23, 2015, 08:00:08 PM

[ Wenn Cinn | Lower Shuttle Bay | Deck 07 |USS Theurgy ]

Cinn had not been anticipating what Cameron ha been planing, but all the same she had managed to get herself clear of their light of fire while getting off some suppressing fire of her own. As she had yelled out hr signal Cinn raised his weapon an yelled his own command to his squad."Fire!" Cinn spared no time displaying his abilities as a marksman. He took one aimed shot to the mutineers and hit Tew right in the side of the head. He let his team take out the rest of the mutineers before he turned his attention back to them.

He motioned for them to hold fire and motioned for them to advance no the defeated squad. As he got close enough he turned to Axius. "Axius, I want you ad the others to  clean up this mess, get those mutineers bound and stowed away somewhere they will not be found, and collect their com badges, we will be needing them. I am going to make sure that Henshaw is alright."Cinn did not repeated himself, he assumed that his squad would know well enough to just do as he re directed and get the job done while he did his part.

Walking over to Cameron he offered his hand to her. "That was a very risky move Yeoman Henshaw, but I am glad you manage to keep your wits about you. If I had known that they would have gotten so perverse I would have attempted resolving this another way." Cinn had seen enough of how unwanted sex had complicate things in the past, it was certainly the last thing that Cameron needed after seeing a fellow officer killed in front of her, and then being branded a traitor by association. It truly was a marvel that she ha not broken ow or snapped yet, she truly had the makings of a fine officer.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #15 – May 25, 2015, 05:30:11 PM

[ Cameron "Cam" Elizabeth Henshaw | Lower Shuttle Bay | Deck 07 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Wenn Cinn & Axius vel Onea

[Show/Hide]

Thankfully, Cinn and the others had handled the situation quickly. She had looked up in time to see to her satisfaction, that in addition to damaged family jewels, he got a stun blast right to his head. Though on the other hand, he might become more stupid than he already is. Any dumber, and he might really become dangerous, was what Henshaw thought. Now that the immediate danger was past, the young woman allowed herself to moan and groan a little, now that she could feel all the pains from that crazy landing and rolling around. She was going to be pretty bruised up everywhere, for sure. And this was one more reason she was going to start wearing extra protective clothing, padding, whatever. Just anything to make sure that if she ever decided to jump and throw herself five feet in the air, she would have something protecting her elbows, knees and all other vital joints, because there was nothing funny about dropping on your funny bone.

When she saw Cinn's offered hand, and heard him speak, she smiled and took his hand, but groaned through gritted teeth as she rose to her feet, "Unnngh! It seemed like a good idea at the the time..." she rubbed her hurt elbow, "...and...hnh!...wow, if I had known it was going to hurt this much, I probably wouldn't have pulled off what I did."

"And don't worry about the planning, sir. It's one of the reasons I transferred from the Harbinger. They mistook friendliness and openness as an invitation for something else." She shrugged and holstered her phaser once more, "Well, we achieved our goal at least. What's next?"

She was eager to get things going and getting to the captain. The sooner the better.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #16 – May 27, 2015, 05:39:35 AM

[ Sten Covington | USS Theurgy | Ship's Corridors | Deck 05 ]

Covington was ready to bring his reinforced safety boot down upon the pilot's head.  He was a strong, large man.  Between his mass and his strength, hammering his heel down upon Smoke's head would be lethal; perhaps not instantly but the damage to his brain would eventually end his life.  But instead, he was interrupted by the arrival of Thea, citing the Geneva Convention as a reason not to kill the pathetic excuse for a man before him. 

"Thea, there's rules that go back a lot further than the twentieth century.  These two things tried to rape Nahrik Cinsaj after the beach party.  I stopped them then and I thought that would have been it.  This morning, she's found raped and murdered in my fighter bay!"  Only a particularly dense Vulcan would miss the utter fury that contorted his features and the tone of his voice.  To him, this was not murder, this was the delivery of proper justice.  Do not steal, do not murder, do not rape.  Those rules were of common decency and went back thousands of years in thousands of cultures. 

However, there was no further time to discuss the matter when a warning about a counterattack was made, along with the information about what was transpiring on the Bridge.  And despite himself and the circumstances, Sten smiled.  Lance did not hesitate or waffle or seek to avoid the situation.  She remembered she was an officer and acted the part.  As his men secured the weapons of the Harbinger pilots, the Chief of the Deck turned his mind to the matter at hand. 

"You all heard the Ma'am!  Hussien, take point!  Remainder, remember your combat training, we're looking at a withdrawal under fire here!"

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #17 – May 27, 2015, 10:21:43 AM

[ Fasha | USS Theurgy | Ship's Corridors | Deck 05 ]

Fasha stayed behind for a moment silent as everything was said and the others made their way down the hall. She would follow in time but she just couldn't leave knowing the crime these two had committed. The muzzle of her rifle lifted it would be so simple to just pull the trigger and wipe both of them from the face of the galaxy. Her finger tensed on the trigger of the rifle just a tiny twitch and one shot would be all she needed to end them both.

But instead she lowered the muzzle taking her finger off the trigger opting instead to kneel down beside the unconscious smoke and grip him by the front of his flight suit. Before driving her fist into his nose and releasing him letting the force of her punch bounce the back of his skull back against the floor before standing and leaving. Perhaps it would kill him perhaps it wouldn't regardless of if it did or not she didn't care for the result. She'd leave his life to whatever fate had in store for him.

She then followed after the rest of the group taking up the rear of the group jogging to catch up before the hostiles Thea had mentioned came and found her. She could feel a tinge of regret budding in her stomach if those hostiles found Smoke and Titan they would just be revived. Her grip on her rifle tightened "I should have ended them..." Fasha thought as she followed Lance and Covington.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #18 – May 27, 2015, 01:16:18 PM

[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Corridor | Deck 05 ] Attn: Tessa May Lance, Fasha & Sten Covington

Phaser trained on the corridor, Thea's simulated breathing made her golden chameleon body-suit gleam in the overhead lights. In the background processes of her digital mind, she was in communication with several resistance cells, and one of them was Lin Kae and his two companions. As she stood there at the corner of the intersection, she turned her head and looked down the corridor from whence she had come before she had encountered Chief Covington and two of the Lone Wolves.

Her dear friend was down that corridor, and she hadn't been able to see him... one last time.

The mutineers appeared, and despite how her emotion chip had made her cry, her eyes were sharp as she opened fire - consecutive beams smiting the distance. The brilliant lines made the Harbinger people fall one by one, and It took her well under twenty seconds to have hit them all, despite their efforts to take cover. Once they were immobilised, she moved on - setting off to deal with her top priority.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, she assured herself that if she was successful, she wouldn't be betraying Captain Ives' trust. Instead, they might gain an ally with all the answers they might need.

---

[ Axius vel Onea -NPC- | Lower Shuttle Bay | Deck 07 ] Attn: Wenn Cinn & Cameron Henshaw

Tense as he was, Axius had enough weapon training behind him to know how to place his shots without hitting Ensign Henshaw. It had been a quick affair to immobilise the three mutineers, and when it was done, the Chief of Security ordered to ensure that they would not be bothering anyone until order had been restored on the ship.

"Aye, aye," he'd said and done as told, working with the deck hands that had accompanied them to deal with the three unconscious Harbinger men.

Once it had been done, the bodies being stored in the control room of the shuttle bay where operations and conn personnel usually worked, Axius returned to Lieutenant Commander Wenn Cinn and Henshaw, for whom Axius had newly earned respect for. It was definitely more to her than a glorified assistant to the Captain, and hopefully, Ives would see that instead of believing that she'd been working to oppose them. Even though Axius could understand how someone in Henshaw's position would be key to this mutiny, he had utter faith in the word of Sten Covington. If the Chief of the Deck believed that there were iron in her words, then Quake had no further doubts. Papa Bear knew his business.

"I suppose we are to power up one of these shuttles and prepare to beam into the Brig?" he said after Henshaw asked her question, and he looked towards Wenn Cinn in affirmation. "Do we need to assemble and arm some bomb first? Leave the shuttle to me in that case."

This was it. It was time to liberate the Captain and the others in the Brig. Then Commodore Vasser would pay dearly for his treason...

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #19 – May 29, 2015, 11:51:41 PM

[ Eun Sae Ji | USS Theurgy | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 15 ]

Eun Sae stood in the midst of the Theurgy's ruined Fighter Assault Bay. Her hand reached up to tug lightly on her hair as everything that was happening sank in. It hadn't been long since she'd been transported aboard the Theurgy with orders to begin preparations to get the FAB back in working order. In the beginning she could only wonder what had happened that the Theurgy's own deck crew couldn't fix. The moment she'd appeared in the bay she couldn't describe the sick feeling that seemed to coil up in the pit of her stomach.

She took a few small steps towards pilots lounge there were large holes melted through the walls and bits of glass littering the floors around the windows. Inside she could see black scorch marks from where phaser fire had struck. Memories of better days passed her mind as she approached the office. Days of when she'd spent her time elbow deep in the guts of a Valkyrie while Sten Ahjussi would play music over the hangar's intercom system. Or slower days when she'd sat in the deck crew lounge trying to learn the basics of Poker from some of the older members of the crew.

All of it seemed like such a distant memory now and the scene around her seemed to only add a sense of guilt upon the already sick feeling she felt. She knew that her presence likely wouldn't have had any sway on the outcome but the thought that she should have been here still lingered in her mind. Did this have anything to do with what she'd witnessed earlier this morning. The conversation she'd managed to overhear whilst she was calibrating the thrust output on one of Valkyrie II's belonging to one of Phantom's pilots after getting a complaint about some sort of overheating issue.

Commander, I would ask if you enjoyed the party last night, but I know the answer and I don't really care anyway. I will convene with my pilots shortly. Your orders?"

Eun Sae froze as she sat inside the cockpit of one of the Valkyrie's uploading a copy of the Fighter's engine output statistics to her PADD so she could review it during calibration. It was her hope that Phantom would have already left by now to start the debriefing with his squadron it was no secret that the scarred man scared her to a certain extent. She sank into the seat of the fighter keeping her head low below the edge of the canopy only taking small chances to peak out at the scene unfolding nearby.

"To close your mouth and understand before you speak," said T'Rena gravely, and put her hand on his cheek. "My thoughts to y-"

He snatched her wrist and kept the hand away. "Understand what?" he asked, not liking mind tricks one bit. Of what issue did she speak?

The Vulcan did not look like she did, but the irritated frown was plainly there nonetheless. "How you can save the last few pilots you have left." Slowly, she twisted her wrist against his thumb to come loose from the grip, and Phantom did not move away when he heard her words. "You will understand a new purpose in this fool's errand we are on, and see our future for what it may be. What we need to do... to avoid it more unnecessary deaths."

Was this what it took to prevent unnecessary death? Her bitterness towards the Vulcan commander of the Harbinger deepened as she glanced back towards the bodies that lay scattered around the bay. Could she have warned the Theurgy of this before it even began? Would it made a difference if she had? So many questions on what she could have done spun around her mind.

Her hands traveled up to her head taking handfuls of her hair and tugging on it as the weight of the situation came crashing down on her harder than it had before. The doors of the hangar sliding open however quickly snapped her out of her mental breakdown before she could spiral deeper into it. She quickly ducked down moving over to the shattered window wincing as the glass crunched beneath her boots and cut into her knee as she peeked over the edge of the window to see who had entered.

Her eyes immediately recognized the individual striding through the hangar. She stood and stepped out of the ruined lounge "Thea?" Eun Sae called watching as the woman's bodysuit changed from Security Orange to the stark white color worn by Tac-Conn officers. Eun Sae stopped in her tracks as a thought traveled through her mind. Officially Eun Sae was now a member of the Harbinger's crew would Thea see her as an enemy now?

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #20 – June 02, 2015, 11:22:02 PM

[ Wenn Cinn | Lower Shuttle Bay | Deck 07 |USS Theurgy ]

Wenn Cinn took in the situation at hand and nodded as he began to answer his teams questions. "The bomb is a simple chemical reaction, we simply start the reaction and be it out. The two bombs will do all the blinding we need before we arrive, it is a very quick reaction so we will save that for right before we send them off. Before we power on anything we need to go over how we will set up a way to beam out, seeing as we will be limited on the size of a group that can be beamed out we will beam out the captain an any other loyal crew being kept prisoner, then the military part of the team will be pulled out. To get lock on coordinates we will need to make a beacon to set up a radius to beam out of. Once we have all that we will need to act fast, the team will beam in, the ship will activate its shields to keep our method of beaming safe, and when you detect the beacon in the brig you will beam out everyone so that we can be in and out before anything can be done about either part of this operation."

Cinn was certain that this was going to be a lot to take in, but it was what needed to be known, it was the finalization of their rescue plan, his team would handle things as best they could upon arriving in the brig, and hopefully the team at the shuttle would be able to keep their cool and await the beacon. It wouldn't be hard to get one, most devices came supplied with a means to send a signal, Cinn was certain that if needed they could make a confiscated combadge fill the part if there was nothing thy could use in the shuttle.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #21 – June 03, 2015, 02:11:20 AM

[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 15 ] Attn: Eun Sae Ji

Hearing her name echo across the flight hangar, Thea turned on her heel with her Type-III phaser assault rifle coming up - eyes along the sights.

The source of the voice came from a familiar face which belonged to the area, but not to the current crew manifest. Thea kept her rifle raised as she watched the Head of Fighter Propulsion emerge out of the debris, wondering if her optical sensors were directed at someone who's organic mind had been altered to view the future like the Vulcan named T'Rena did, or if Eun Sae Ji was the same woman that had been aboard her since her own commissioning. As advanced as her internal sensors were, she could not penetrate the secrets of the human mind. She wished there was a dataport she could have used, like in Ravenholm's case - a woman that might have died to protect Thea.

"Did you come near your First Officer during the time you spent on the Harbinger, or at any given point since she became my Commanding Officer?" she asked the human, referring to herself as the ship as opposed to its projected interface hologram - the digital soul that was about to go against Captain Ives' orders.

Thea was not sure whether she had to shoot Eun Sae or not, because if the human had escaped the Vulcan's notice, then she could be of great assistance. If she was one of the mutineers that had remained to guard the area, however, then she would be of no use at all before Sarresh Morali, Ryuan Sel and the Vulcans on Ives' side could restore Eun Sae to her rightful mind. At which point it would be too late to help Thea in her undertaking.

"Petty Officer Ji," she pressed, unmoving as a statue where she stood - the sound of her projected audio echoing in all directions across the devastation, "Did the Vulcan named T'Rena come close to you? Did she lay her hand on you and show you what she believes is the future? Do you believe in Captain Ives still, or have you forsaken our true mission?"

She might have been unable to deactivate her emotion chip, but given how personally invested she was in her current operation, Thea could not let sentimentality get in her way.  Her face was void of emotive inflections - analysing the technician where she stood and hoping that there was truth to be heard. Hours, minutes and seconds spent in communication and face-to-face interaction with the Petty Officer streamed through Thea's analysis as she watched the woman - trying to spot any irregularities that might suggest a lie. She hoped she wouldn't.

Thea also hoped that she'd have a chance to do what she had to, regardless the risk. The cost to her crew.

[Red Alert. Red Alert. All hands to battle stations. Red...]

The loud klaxon, and her own disembodied voice on the intercom heralded the arrival of her daughter... and her destination.

---

[ Axius vel Onea | Lower Shuttle Bay | Deck 07 ] Attn: Wenn Cinn & Cameron Henshaw

Listening, Axius tried to translate the almost military way in which the large Bajoran spoke into simple, everyday terms. Security seemed to speak in code in some ways, but after enough time hanging with them at the gymnasiums on the ship, Axius was confident he had caught on to what Wenn Cinn was saying.

"With a beacon, you mean that we need at least one fresh combadge, right?" he said in verification, "I mean, of course, a clean one that is not tied to Thea but to the shuttle instead. As long as we are not inside the holding cells, the transporter inhibitors don't work, right? So it's a matter of first getting everyone out of there, then getting them into the radius of a transporter signal lock for the combadge, and then giving the operator here in the shuttle a head-count on how many to beam back, right? Like a regular transporter room only... not."

Axius may have been too simplistic in his terminology for the Bajoran's taste, but he was just a fighter jockey not some Cadassian Occupation survivor who'd forgotten more ways to kill people than Axius had ever learned. "I will pick the shuttle based on the availability of one - or more - of those beacons you want. I won't be touching any bombs though. I will be waiting in the shuttle that best suits your needs."

Then he moved out, keeping a look-out for more mutineers even if the entire shuttle bay lay quiet. Hopefully the bombs would not take too long to make, and they could get the Captain out before...

[Red Alert. Red Alert. All hands to battle stations. Red...]

Oh, piss on the ground and make the earth weep, what is it now?

Then it struck him. It could only be one reason the Red Alert was sounded.

"The Calamity!" he called back to Wenn Cinn, Henshaw and the Bear Cubs. "We better get a move on!"

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #22 – June 03, 2015, 05:08:58 AM

[ Eun Sae Ji | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 15 ]

Eun Sae shut her eyes as the rifle was brought to bear upon her. She waited for a moment her fists clenched tightly at her sides as she waited for whatever pain the shot from the phaser would cause. Would it burn? Would it be quick? Would she even feel it? All those questions raced through her mind but after a few moments she cracked open one of her eyes to see Thea had not yet pulled the trigger on her.

She and Thea stood silently for what to Eun Sae felt like an eternity simply looking at one another. She relaxed a small bit if she wasn't dead yet and if she could manage it she'd stay that way for a while perhaps things weren't as bad as they seemed. As Thea spoke Eun Sae thought about why it would have mattered if she'd been close to T'Rena or not. At least that was the thought that lingered, until her mind was drawn back to what she'd witnessed already. At one point it had seemed that Wing Commander Kilinvoss was against anything that the Vulcan woman had to say. The next it seemed he was more akin to her own personal attack dog.

Eun Sae shook her head "No! I barely even spoke with her I swear!" Eun Sae said as she stared at the rifle aimed at her. Her body was tense it was no way she could feel at ease with the weapon aimed in her direction. Her body trembled slightly in her time upon the Theurgy she'd grown used to Thea's holographic projection being an avatar of usefulness and pleasantness. Never once had she thought that she'd see Thea as the cause of something for her to fear.

As Thea spoke again the sound of her voice echoing throughout the entire Fighter bay Eun Sae visibly flinched. Would Thea believe any answer she gave? "S-She didn't touch me!" Eun Sae called out. When the topic regarding Captain Ives and the mission they'd set out on came into question however she bit her lip a tell that had developed over the past year of something bothering her. "If I didn't believe in the mission...I wouldn't have bothered coming back..." Eun Sae said frowning.

"Please don't shoot." Eun Sae whispered

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #23 – June 03, 2015, 12:35:14 PM

[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Fighter Assault Bay | Deck 15 ] Attn: Eun Sae Ji

Watching the technician protest in her innocence, Thea observed her with unblinking eyes - matching her behaviour with the surveillance logs she had on Eun Sae. Her processing of the collective data was in real-time to Eun Sae's facial expressions - the matches made in minute precision and generating a cumulative result. By the time the human had ceased to speak, and she had weighed in known factors about the human psyche and the circumstances of the crisis - the sight of the very location in which they stood - Thea had determined that the odds that Eun Sae spoke the truth was 92,453 %. This barring outlying factors for which she did not have any raw data to add to the analysis.

"I believe you," she said and powered down her weapon, which may have been set to stun to begin with, but would not serve any purpose in making a request to the woman. "My apologies. It has been verified that T'Rena has utilised the Vulcan mind-meld to ensure the loyalty of Declan Vasser's subjects, and there is no means in which I can quickly determine whether or not it has been done to an individual. Even if you had been subjected to the mind-meld, I would not have done anything else than stun you. I hope you understand the necessity of my actions."

Lowering the rifle to her side after powering it down, Thea stepped up to the technician and laid her hand on her shoulder, hoping that she would recognise her projection as an ally and no more a threat to her person. To further restore a degree of trust, Thea smiled to Eun Sae, speaking selected words of reassurance. "The resistance is winning ground, and I have established communication between the people loyal to Captain Ives. All over the ship, we are fighting back, and I will once more belong to the Theurgy's rightful crew and its Commanding Officer. I need your help, Petty Officer Ji, because I am the only one that have any change of a non-hostile resolution with the Calamity. My daughter, who has now verified our location and means to destroy me and everyone aboard."

When re-evaluating her words, the outcome suggested that Thea had not been very reassuring at all. It did, however, urge for the haste she required.

"Are you willing to help me speak with my daughter and convince her to cease her hostilities?"

Perhaps 'speaking' would prove inferior to restoring her ethical subroutines, but it was the standard phrase - words based on social conventions that the organics had dictated long before she was commissioned.

Re: CHAPTER 04: Invictus [04: Retaliation]

Reply #24 – June 03, 2015, 01:11:13 PM

[ Cameron "Cam" Elizabeth Henshaw | Lower Shuttle Bay | Deck 07 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: Wenn Cinn & Axius vel Onea

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Henshaw listened to Cinn's explanation after Onea's suggestion about a bomb with a frown, because she was having a hard time following the Bajoran's straightforward-yet-confusing exposition. It wasn't that it was nonsensical, but rather it was a different type of lingo and slang that she wasn't used to, and Onea appeared to be having slightly similar problems tough he evidently grasped it better than she did, and she turned to listen to him when he "translated" Cinn's explanation and mission plan. That made more sense now, though she still struggled to fully grasp it, and she realized that this was not her skill set at all. She was more of a counsellor and a listener to people's woes and troubles, and comforting, advising and encouraging them. It wasn't too different from what she was now doing for Captain Ives. And that thought led her to gloomy fears of what the captain must still be thinking about her right now.

Then Onea urgently mentioned the Calamity, and that made Henshaw blanch. The memories of her sister's death fresh in her mind, and all those lives lost that day. Now in addition to Vasser's takeover, they had to deal with that blasted ship?!? Someone really hated the Theurgy and those within it, that was for sure. Turning to Cinn, she spoke urgently, "Please tell me what you want me to do." They needed to get Ives back in command, as soon as was realistically possible. So she silently wished luck to any and all people who were loyal to Ivea and Trent, and that they would all make it to see to the Calamity.