Evil Little Trick

Posted on Sun Jun 21st, 2020 @ 6:19am by Cailus Griffin & Captain Nycolas Temple & Commander Owen Nash & Lieutenant Commander James Smith & Lieutenant JG Vecon Fick
Edited on on Tue Jul 7th, 2020 @ 1:39pm

Mission: Into the Wild
Location: Briefing Room

A Mission Post by Captain Nycolas Temple & Lieutenant Commander Owen Nash & Lieutenant James Smith & Lieutenant JG Cailus Griffin & Ensign Vecon Fick
Mission: Into The Wild
Location: Briefing Room
Timeline:
Mon Aug 21st, 2017 @ 1:34pm


Now out of danger, it was necessary for the Pandora's intelligence and tactical teams to come together to plan their next move. Entering into the Briefing Room, Nyx looked around and sighed. The room had been disturbed by the loss of stability on the ship, with the chairs and decorative plants strewn around in disarray, having fallen and tumbled around as the Pandora dove and shook while they were in the debris field.

Nyx made himself busy by standing up the chairs again and placing them back neatly around the meeting table, then tried to remember where exactly the plants used to go.

As he worked, he asked the computer to record his thoughts. "Captain's Log, Stardate 65376.74.

"The Pandora remains on a slow impulse speed as we sail away from the dark matter... anomaly... which we've thankfully survived. Though our great escape has not come without a share of damage. Not only to the hull and our crew, but to our sense of security too, thanks to the fear-based apparitions we experienced.

"We remain on yellow alert as the crew performs repairs, and we analyse the data our sensors managed to collect from the dark matter. But one thing is already clear to me. This was no natural phenomenon. Someone has set a very deadly and effective trap to lure in and destroy ships; and many others have unfortunately fallen victim to this evil little trick.

If the Pandora wants to make a positive impact on the Inconnu Expanse, we can start by shutting down this trap. End of log."

The ship's Security Chief was the first to arrive, entering through the doors as the captain finished his log entry. Cailus looked perfectly normal now, his uniform neatly pressed with the ever-present phaser on his hip, and he gave the captain a curt nod of greeting as he walked to a chair halfway down the table.

"Sir," he said, looking at Nyx with blunt directness as he sat, "I don't know you if you were made aware, but your wife suffered minor injuries when we entered the dark matter trap, a broken arm and a mild concussion." He paused, searching for the right words. "She was also somewhat rattled by the hallucinations, sir, but she was handling it relatively well when I left her in Sickbay, certainly more so than some of the security officers."

Nyx could have hugged the man, had it not been entirely inappropriate for the setting and, more importantly, unlikely to be well received by the Security Chief. Instead, the captain just put a friendly hand on his shoulder. "Yes, Lieutenant," he replied with a humble smile, "Thank you so much for looking after her. I owe you big time."

Uncomfortable, Cailus simply nodded in acknowledgement.

Smith arrived at the briefing room and looked around and head to seat near the Captain, he nodded to the security chief and sat down. Looking down at the PADD that he had with him he quickly browsed through the communications that he had received from various friends and Starfleet Intelligence. However, one caught his eye almost immediately.

Smith felt really uneasy it wasn't the first time that they had contacted him, Section 31 had continually tried to recruit him but he had turned them down each time and this time was no difference. Of course he had thwarted their efforts on several occasions, and was surprised they were interested in him. He tried to make it look natural as he placed the PADD in front of him and looked toward the Captain hoping he wouldn't notice his demeanour had changed.

Ensign Fick didn't like being late. He also didn't like being the first one or the last one in the room. When the doors slid open to the briefing room he additionally found that he was amazingly nervous. Of course he kept that under tight wraps, aside from some deep breathing. It was possible that he would be the lowest ranked person in this room and he wasn't sure if he wanted to be proud of that or terrified. He made his way quickly to the seat closest to the door and sat down, smiling a little, trying to look friendly. "Good morning," he finally managed, sitting up straighter in his chair and attempting to add an air of confidence.

Owen made his way into the meeting room with a Raktajino in his hand. He acknowledged the other officers in the room before taking a seat. "Apologies for my tardiness," he began. "It's been a long night in Engineering with several vital repairs needed whilst I've gotten Operations teams running damage control to several sections around the ship." Taking a further sip of his drink, he then activated his PADD. "On the bright side though, Klingons make a damn fine coffee!"

Giving a solemn smile to the crew, Nyx sat down in his chair and sighed, getting down to business. "Well, we certainly like to live dangerously on the Pandora. Have we never heard of a quiet day?"

Owen smirked a little at the Captains remark. "Hang on, we serve in Starfleet right? Do Starships or Starbases have quiet days sir?" he offered.

Temple looked to the Chief of Ops. "Apparently not Mr. Nash, but how are we looking?"

Owen looked at his PADD to confirm the reports that he had in front of him. "The situation from Ops is that we're cleaning up the messes that we're finding around the ship," he began. "Although the rotating modulation field we setup for the communications and sensor arrays seemed to do the trick. I recommend that we keep those in place for now just in case we come across any more traps like the last one."

Working through the list on his PADD, Owen rattled off updates about some minor repairs underway to secondary systems on various decks, however he concluded that things seemed to be getting back to normal. "Although I appreciate that we're one of two Starfleet ships out here, I'm pretty certain I'd be happier if the Pandora stayed in one piece for a little while longer... Which has me wondering about who set up that bloody trap in the first place..." he offered. "I've also sent the specs of the rotating modulation field system to the Palatine, just in case they run across something similar."

"Excellent!" Nyx managed a smile, "That will be of great assistance to us both. My commendations to your teams."

Ensign Fick sat quietly and observed, taking notes on his PaDD of things he thought he might need to remember later. He also made a silent observation that it was sort of ironic what the Academy prepared someone for and where it fell a little short. Sure, he had attended and participated in plenty of scenarios, but the reality of it was a much different experience.

"The dark matter and the debris field are connected," Nyx began. "Our analysis of the ruined ships have led to a grave conclusion. I believe the cause of the debris field itself is the work of the Ravagers."

Nyx sighed, looking to the crew with a grim face, "The parts were a collection of different ships from a variety of origins. Markings and sensor readings are consistent with our local intelligence of vessels that had been attacked and conquered by the Ravagers in the past twelve months. We also have seen similar debris fields left by the Ravagers in other areas of the Inconnu Region, which have begun to be known as their Killing Fields."

Smith stood up from the table and started to pace a bit, not realizing that the rest of those present were probably watching his behavior Smith turned to look at the Captain trying not to let his emotions get the best of him, "I've dealt with the Ravagers twice during my career, the first time was when my ship was captured after the Captain disobeyed direct orders. I was beat and drugged so they could try and pull information from me, and the last time I faced the Ravagers was when they attacked DS7. I was called away to what appeared to be a distress call, but once we reached the coordinates nothing was there. My team and I received a distress call from the Marine Major in charge, Major Smith. They were being attacked by a large unknown force. By the the time we made it back the station had been destroyed and there were no survivors. My men and I tried to take on the few ships that were still there, but we were crippled and left to die in space. My data and scans of those ships have been uploaded to the Pandora's computer. We need to learn how they are getting their vessels and if any other races are assisting them." Smith stopped talking and sat back down, he felt his heart was racing and he hoped that the ship's counselor wasn't watching him too, because he was trying not to show the hate and detest he was feeling for the ravagers. Smith looked back at the Captain, " Sorry sir, felt I needed to add some personal history to what we know as well."

Temple stood as well and patted his old friend on the shoulder, "No worries, Lieutenant. It's important to know who we're dealing with."

Fick watched silently as Lieutenant Smith paced back and forth in front of the group. His story caused a little bit of unease in the pit of Fick's stomach, much like the debris field had the first time he had seen it. He briefly hoped that maybe the debris field was just where ships went to die, but now he felt sort of ridiculous for thinking it. The truth was rather horrifying. All those ships and all those people. It occurred to him, in that moment, that he wasn't even really sure what a Ravager was. He felt a little foolish, but he was told often that no question was stupid and if you had a question it was possible that others did too, although looking around the table at the more seasoned officers he was certain that he was going to sound stupid anyway. He lifted his hand a little. "Uh... sorry, Sir?" His eyes were on Nyx. "Captain? What... exactly is a Ravager?"

"The Ravagers are bandits and pirates specific to this region," Nyx replied matter-of-factly for the young officer, "They are aggressive, violent, and are known to attack their targets with a coordinated swarm. We believe they were responsible for the loss of Deep Space 7, as part of an increased seizure of territory and power in the Inconnu Expanse."

"Thank you, sir," Fick replied when the Captain was done.

Nyx then gave a frown, "We know they lack techical expertise and capabilities, but they have the home ground advantage. It's my view that we should find a safe place to hold up and ensure we haven't been followed."

Cailus chimed in then, his expression grave. "We're down to only fifteen photon torpedoes sir, way below the safe minimum complement for combat operations. Getting out of the...uh...Killing Field..." he hesitated, plainly uncomfortable saying the phrase, "required almost all of our available munitions. Until we can get a substantial resupply from Starfleet, our ability to defend ourselves is compromised."

Owen nodded as he listened to Cailus' update on munitions. "Well, I agree that we need time to make repairs and get the ship... ship-shape again," Owen admitted. "However with the munitions complement an issue as well, we'll need support from the Palatine to get back up to specs, Captain," he explained as he put a list of much needed supplies on the wall monitor and walking over to it.

"Whilst each vessel of the Luna Class is well adapted to operating in unknown space with the best materials used in the construction of each Starship, we still expend energies and the like as any other starship does," Owen explained as he slowly ran the list on the monitor and also transferred a copy to each station in the meeting room.

"However, with our run-in with the Tzenkethi and then running across the Killing Field, we've been bloody unlucky during our explanation of this region to take more of a hit than normal." As he sat back down in his seat, Owen was very clear. "This presents us with an opportunity to repair our wounds sir."

Nyx looked at the list and sighed, "No one said this trip was going to be easy. And it appears that the Palatine will have to go around the trap if they wish to avoid it, which will add at least five days to their journey, even at their top speed. We can't hang around here and wait to see if the Ravagers have spotted us. You're right Mr. Nash, we need that opportunity to repair."

The captain stood and indicated to the large LCARS screen on the wall, which now showed a star map of the region, "This is the most recent charts we have to go on. I think our best bet at lying low is here." He pointed to a small dot in the middle of an empty area, and it magnified upon his touch. "This is Salvaxe, a class L planet home to the Mendazians. The USS Merrimack discovered it almost by accident during their original crossing and it's entirely secluded."

"Miraculously, it is located safely between the two stars of the area, in a tiny corridor that just manages to sustain life." He continued, "The Mendaz were thought to be totally isolated with no known contact with outside races, owing to their planet's position and culture. The path to get there is tight, which means there's no trade or travel route through the region and thus making it the perfect location to hide out."

Nyx put on a smile, "If there are no objections, I say we head for Salvaxe and await the Palatine there. We'll be able to repair safely and maybe not have something try to kill us for once."

Owen nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a plan to me. I'll signal the Palatine to make them aware of the rendezvous and the dangers they will come across on the way to us."

"Great idea, Mr. Nash. Alright, that's it everyone," Nyx clapped his hands together. "Ensign Fick, please take over the helm and set a course for Salvaxe. Meeting adjourned."

OFF