[Silynn]

Dorvan V
Outlying Village

A few short minutes later, he had a chance to see Martin and Chief Hayes. They were now getting treated for their injuries by the medical team, leaving just Jei and Cushing. The Elder was taking him and Nurse White to see them in his house. He entered after Ahtahkakoop but moved aside for the Nurse when he noticed Jei laying on a type of sofa with several bloody streaks on her neck. She woke up with a start as White got to work. The nurse began speaking to her patient reassuringly and the two stuck up a conversation as she began treating her injury.

Jei’s pulse was still rapid. She was still sore and jumpy from the experience. The last she remembered was experiencing the pain end of a stun baton. Yet now sitting before her was a Starfleet Nurse, Ensign Mell White. Her lips were moving but the ringing in Jei’s ears, from her amp’d state, didn’t allow her to hear them initially. But the ringing faded as her vision sharpened and Jei heard Ensign White’s voice.

Ensign White began scanning Jei with her medical tricorder with one hand while using the other to gently coax Jei to lay back down. “It’s ok, Petty Officer Han. You’re safe now. Let me finish attending to your injuries and we’ll have you back aboard the ARES in no time.”

Jei looked over and saw Commander R’Turan standing next to Christopher, who was fast asleep. Immediately, Jei tensed up as she didn’t see Martin or Chief Hayes.

Instinctively understanding Jei’s searching the room with a surge of anxiousness, Ensign White gave Jei a warm smile. “Chief Hayes and Petty Officer Kowalski are fine. They are being attended to as well. Please… Jei, you can relax now. You are in safe hands. I won’t let anything or anyone hurt you. Ok?”

Taking a deeper breath, Jei decided she could trust Ensign White’s words, and allowed herself to be coaxed down onto the sofa again. “Is Chr…Doc Cushing ok?”

Mell smiled and nodded in the affirmative, as she pulled out a dermal regenerator. “He’s just asleep. The stress must have really gotten to him. Commander R’Turan even flew the Captain’s Yacht himself, as he didn’t want to delay your rescue. You all gave us quite the scare.”

“We lost Amita… Specialist Patel. She died in the crash,” informed Jei.

Mell gently wiped away Jei’s tears and gave Jei a reassuring nod. “We know. But let’s put that behind us for now and focus on getting your injuries treated and get you safe back aboard the ARES. Ensign White finished administering her medical treatments with a mild dose hypo shot. “Alright, let’s get you up on your feet.”

The nurse first helped Jei sit up, then draped Jei’s arm around her shoulder. “Ok, ready… easy goes… it. There.”

Jei felt a bit dizzy, but it subsided. Mell had a strong grip and hold onto Jei, that she felt safe. “Thanks.”

“I . . . apologize for not finding you sooner. We were busy with our own fight,” he nodded, thinking about the surprise they would have in seeing the Ares being escorted by the two Prometheus Class starships in orbit, along with the Sydney. The carcass of the Nausicaan Destroyer would also be in view when they headed back to the ship. Twitching his tail to push those thoughts aside, he spoke to the others, “Come on, let’s get all of you home.”

The group headed outside and joined the other officers in the center of the village. Remembering to be courteous, he shook hands with the Village Elder, “Thank you for helping our people. Is there anything we can do in return?”

“Our communications to the Main Settlement were disrupted,” he answered, “We could use some help getting them up again.”

“We’ll send down an engineer to fix them,” R’Turan replied before going over to help Doctor Riley with the Chief. The group picked their way back to the Captain’s Yacht, going carefully to avoid injuring anyone further.

“I can’t wait to get back to the ship,” the Chief said as they walked, “I’ll finally be able to sleep in my own bed tonight!”

The Commander growled softly, “You’ll be back on the ship soon and reporting straight to Sickbay; all four of you! You gave us a scare disappearing like that so you’re going to stay where we can keep an eye on you!”

“Ha! So you do care,” Martin laughed despite the obvious pain he was in.

“That’s not the only reason I want to get back,” the Chief commented.

“The other reason,” R’Turan grunted, not very interested right now in why the missing officers were eager to return. Going back to a safe place was more than enough.

“The Captain let us know to go radio silent on this crazy expedition not long before we left,” he replied, taking a moment to catch his breath. The comment made everyone stop and look at the Chief, “Hey, it’s not my place to question the Captain’s orders.”

Jei thought of Amita again and looked at Christopher. She heard Chief Hayes, Martin, and Christopher offer up some responses to Commander R’Turan’s de facto order. Especially, as everyone felt the ship was still in danger.

“Quiet! All of you!” R’Turan swiftly silenced the outraged responses with a glare. Although this revelation was a bit of a shock, he kept the words Teriir told him after their first battle with the Orions in mind. He needed to think clearly and the flurry of shouts wasn’t going to solve this or get answers, “I doubt the Captain would ever give such an order and put all of you in danger like that intentionally. We’re going back to the ship and we will sort this out then.”

Jei raised her hand to get Commander R’Turan’s attention.

The Catian was a bit caught-off guard at the gesture, especially as he felt he closed further arguments. Yet, he bit his initial reaction and decided to hear the Petty Officer Han, as she didn’t raise the fuss as the other three did. “We’re not in a classroom, Petty Officer Han. What is it?”

Jei fished out a data chip from her pocket and offered it to the ARES First Officer. “Before I rigged the shuttle Ramses to blow, I downloaded the shuttle’s data core into this chip. I thought the shuttle logs could help identity what exactly hit us. But, after hearing the nausicaan’s talk… I think they probably wanted something in the Ramses’ data core.”

R’Turan took the offered data chip and nodded. “Thank you, Petty Officer.”

(( TAG: Christopher, R’Turan-as needed))

[Asteropax]

USS Ares
Deck 14 - Yacht Causeway

Captain Teriir finished reading through the PADD Outfitter Sy had provided him with on the Cardassian/Human Hybrid mentioned to him during dinner as the Eris docked with the ship. He summarized the information in his head as he looked towards the doors which would open shortly for the now returned Officers and their urgent news. The other Senior Staff Members waited with him.

Jacob ‘Jake’ Desai. His father was Human while his mother was Cardassian. His parents met on a colony which was inhabited by both Federation and Cardassian colonists located in a region eventually known as the Demilitarized Zone. They fled persecution from their former neighbors to a far flung colony beyond the Caldos System where he was born. Jake joined Starfleet Academy at the age of 18 without even realizing his mixed heritage would bring him a great deal of negative attention. He managed to succeed despite the disdain of many classmates and had a bright future as a Security Officer; notably for his detective skills. He graduated this past year but his file from there was classified.

Something clearly happened to him which seemed almost public knowledge to some of the recent Academy Graduates such as Ensigns Walker and Oracle. Whatever it was couldn’t be good but his curiosity would have to wait as the airlock opened and the Officers inside came aboard.

“We’re pleased to see you all back safe and sound!” Teriir instantly walked up to all of them to welcome them, a broad smile appearing on his face. It turned sympathetic when he noticed the tension on their faces, “I’m sorry for what you went through. Please talk to us about what you went through and what you need; we’ll listen to you.”

(( TAG: Jei and Christopher ))

“I think right now,” R’Turan grunted with a low growl and twitching tail, interrupting other concerned greetings, “An explanation on your orders to them would be the most helpful thing.”

“An explanation?” Teriir asked, noting everyone fell silent at this.

“Yes, Captain,” the Commander replied, “What were your orders to the shuttle team?”

“To be honest,” the Captain responded, feeling somewhat put on the spot, “I had rather little to do with their prep-work. I did send them a message directly to the shuttle so they would be sure to see it while I was on the Lakota and before they departed the Main Settlement. In it, I let them know to contact the Ares with status updates each time they make contact with a settlement. This way we could lend assistance quickly if something came up. You were originally going to stop at multiple outlying settlements to deliver radiation cleansing supplies and medicine but . . . well, we all know what happened. We’ll need to get together fresh supplies to send out to the other settlements soon.”

“You mean,” Chief Hayes grunted from some pain he was in from his injuries, “You didn’t tell us to go radio silent?”

(( TAG: Everyone ))

Teriir stared at the Chief in disbelief, “I would never tell a shuttle heading into unsecured territory on what was to be a 3 day mission to go radio silent. As I mentioned in the order I sent to the shuttle; I wanted you to talk to us about your mission.”

“Wait a minute,” R’Turan began looking at the other Officers present, “If the Captain gave orders to tell everyone to keep in contact but then the Chief says he was told they needed to go radio silent . . . then who did?”

(( TAG: Everyone ))

When everyone was done denying any involvement in this surprising development, Teriir spoke up again, “If none of you informed the Chief of this, then . . . Chief Hayes?”

“Yes, sir?” the Chief did his best to stand at attention but needed to be supported because of his injuries.

“How did you receive the order to go radio silent?”

“It was given to me by messenger, Sir,” Hayes explained, “I then relayed it to Specialist Patel. We didn’t even look in the communication logs before leaving.”

“But the message should’ve been there, right?” R’Turan commented, his face twisted in a confused look as he tried to comprehend this information, “There would’ve been a pretty obvious notification on one of the consoles that you’d received a communication.”

“If there was, she never brought it up to me, Sir.”

“Since when did you start addressing Senior Officers like that?” Teriir asked, realizing how formal the respected Chief was being, “You’re being unusually professional right now.”

“I guess I’m getting ready to have a chat with Ensign Barron,” Hayes sighed, “He was the messenger who told me of the radio silent order shortly before we departed and was quite rude about it. He was rather direct in making me address him as a superior so I wanted to get it out of my system.”

“Barron?” Terrir caught himself gaping, “What was the Officer in charge of Cargo Hold 2 doing on Dorvan V giving you orders which went against mine and claiming they were from me?”

“Because,” R’Turran growled fiercely and started pacing the causeway, “He was setting you up! Is it a coincidence a shuttle told to go radio silent gets shot down by a Nausicaan weapon array which we didn't detect beforehand? No! He gets to the shuttle before you do and deletes the message from it. Then, he delivers your planned flight path and launch time so you could get shot down to become captives! He’s the Traitor we’ve been after!”

(( TAG: Everyone ))

(( OOC: A bit shorter than other posts I've been doing but I want to make sure we there isn't too much dialogue to read and respond to leading up to the confrontation. Some of the other "pieces falling together" stuff and us deciding to move to intercept him in the Diplomatic Complex will be in my next story post. ))

[WelshAvenger]

R’Turan purred softly, pleased to see Doctor Cushing nearby on a chair, sound asleep. He walked over to the Doctor and stood over him, “Doctor.”

The response wasn’t him waking up, so his eyes narrowed. Reaching down, he gave Cushing a small shake, “Doctor!”

Christopher stood bolt upright and screamed, fists raised before his eyes focused on the figure before him.

“It’s alright,” R’Turan responded stepping back be less intimidating, “We’re here to pick all of you up.”

"Commander?” Christopher couldn’t work out if he were just dreaming or not. “Sir, there’s just the four of us to evac. Amita....” His words wouldn’t come out.

“We know about Specialist Patel,” the Commander grunted, being careful not to seem dismissive of what felt like old information now. The last thing the missing crewmembers needed was an ‘apathetic’ Senior Officer, “We took on a prisoner when we sent down a search party to find you and she let us know what happened.”

"Sir, if you don’t mind me asking, but where the hell was the Ares when we needed her?” Christopher allowed a little emotion into his voice.

“I . . . apologize for not finding you sooner. We were busy with our own fight,” he nodded, thinking about the surprise they would have in seeing the Ares being escorted by the two Prometheus Class starships in orbit, along with the Sydney. The carcass of the Nausicaan Destroyer would also be in view when they headed back to the ship. Twitching his tail to push those thoughts aside, he spoke to the others, “Come on, let’s get all of you home.”

Christopher nodded and walked over to Chief Hayes, helping the older man towards the shuttle.

--Snip--

“The Captain let us know to go radio silent on this crazy expedition not long before we left,” he replied, taking a moment to catch his breath. The comment made everyone stop and look at the Chief, “Hey, it’s not my place to question the Captain’s orders.”

Over the other voices, Christopher exploded, “REALLY, CHIEF? You tell me this as we’re being rescued? You couldn’t have thought to mention this TWO DAYS AGO?”

“Quiet! All of you!” R’Turan swiftly silenced the outraged responses with a glare. Although this revelation was a bit of a shock, he kept the words Teriir told him after their first battle with the Orions in mind. He needed to think clearly and the flurry of shouts wasn’t going to solve this or get answers, “I doubt the Captain would ever give such an order and put all of you in danger like that intentionally. We’re going back to the ship and we will sort this out then.”

Jei raised her hand to get Commander R’Turan’s attention.

The Catian was a bit caught-off guard at the gesture, especially as he felt he closed further arguments. Yet, he bit his initial reaction and decided to hear the Petty Officer Han, as she didn’t raise the fuss as the other three did. “We’re not in a classroom, Petty Officer Han. What is it?”

Jei fished out a data chip from her pocket and offered it to the ARES First Officer. “Before I rigged the shuttle Ramses to blow, I downloaded the shuttle’s data core into this chip. I thought the shuttle logs could help identity what exactly hit us. But, after hearing the nausicaan’s talk… I think they probably wanted something in the Ramses’ data core.”

R’Turan took the offered data chip and nodded. “Thank you, Petty Officer.”

Christopher slumped, “I don’t suppose it occurred to anybody to keep the officer informed about all these important things?” He looked at Martin, “Well? How about you? I suppose you’re a secret agent or something?”

Martin smiled back at him, “I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”

Strapping the Chief into his chair, Christopher looked him in the eye, his voice took on a wounded tone, “You could have told me, Chief.”

The Chief gripped Christopher’s arm gently, “Lad, we were in enough of a bind as it was. I didn’t want you to lose hope.”

“We’re pleased to see you all back safe and sound!” Teriir instantly walked up to all of them to welcome them, a broad smile appearing on his face. It turned sympathetic when he noticed the tension on their faces, “I’m sorry for what you went through. Please talk to us about what you went through and what you need; we’ll listen to you.”

Christopher wearily recounted the tale of the crash for his Captain, including the loss of Specialist Patel.

“I think right now,” R’Turan grunted with a low growl and twitching tail, interrupting other concerned greetings, “An explanation on your orders to them would be the most helpful thing.”

“An explanation?” Teriir asked, noting everyone fell silent at this.

“Yes, Captain,” the Commander replied, “What were your orders to the shuttle team?”

“To be honest,” the Captain responded, feeling somewhat put on the spot, “I had rather little to do with their prep-work. I did send them a message directly to the shuttle so they would be sure to see it while I was on the Lakota and before they departed the Main Settlement. In it, I let them know to contact the Ares with status updates each time they make contact with a settlement. This way we could lend assistance quickly if something came up. You were originally going to stop at multiple outlying settlements to deliver radiation cleansing supplies and medicine but . . . well, we all know what happened. We’ll need to get together fresh supplies to send out to the other settlements soon.”

--Snip--

Christopher listened as the evidence pointed in a whole new direction, "Before we string Barron up from a gibbet, which I'm happy to replicate by the way, can we at least allow the medical teams to take the Chief and Martin to sickbay? They're already overdue for treatment." Christopher caught the look the Chief gave him, "Oh, no Chief, I know you want to see justice served but I'm not going to allow you to lose your leg because you want to kick someone's ass. Not that you could anyway with that knee injury."

[Blaster]

USS Ares
Causeway

“To be honest,” the Captain responded, feeling somewhat put on the spot, “I had rather little to do with their prep-work. I did send them a message directly to the shuttle so they would be sure to see it while I was on the Lakota and before they departed the Main Settlement. In it, I let them know to contact the Ares with status updates each time they make contact with a settlement. This way we could lend assistance quickly if something came up. You were originally going to stop at multiple outlying settlements to deliver radiation cleansing supplies and medicine but . . . well, we all know what happened. We’ll need to get together fresh supplies to send out to the other settlements soon.”

“You mean,” Chief Hayes grunted from some pain he was in from his injuries, “You didn’t tell us to go radio silent?”

Tess arched one eyebrow at this, unsure what had happened, having not been around at the time.

Teriir stared at the Chief in disbelief, “I would never tell a shuttle heading into unsecured territory on what was to be a 3 day mission to go radio silent. As I mentioned in the order I sent to the shuttle; I wanted you to talk to us about your mission.”

“Wait a minute,” R’Turan began looking at the other Officers present, “If the Captain gave orders to tell everyone to keep in contact but then the Chief says he was told they needed to go radio silent . . . then who did?”

Tess looked around patiently, watching as everyone else shouted over each other about how they didn't send the message, then she said:

"Well, it certainly wasn't me" Tess said.

When everyone was done denying any involvement in this surprising development, Teriir spoke up again, “If none of you informed the Chief of this, then . . . Chief Hayes?”

“Yes, sir?” the Chief did his best to stand at attention but needed to be supported because of his injuries.

“How did you receive the order to go radio silent?”

“It was given to me by messenger, Sir,” Hayes explained, “I then relayed it to Specialist Patel. We didn’t even look in the communication logs before leaving.”

“But the message should’ve been there, right?” R’Turan commented, his face twisted in a confused look as he tried to comprehend this information, “There would’ve been a pretty obvious notification on one of the consoles that you’d received a communication.”

“If there was, she never brought it up to me, Sir.”

“Since when did you start addressing Senior Officers like that?” Teriir asked, realizing how formal the respected Chief was being, “You’re being unusually professional right now.”

“I guess I’m getting ready to have a chat with Ensign Barron,” Hayes sighed, “He was the messenger who told me of the radio silent order shortly before we departed and was quite rude about it. He was rather direct in making me address him as a superior so I wanted to get it out of my system.”

“Barron?” Terrir caught himself gaping, “What was the Officer in charge of Cargo Hold 2 doing on Dorvan V giving you orders which went against mine and claiming they were from me?”

“Because,” R’Turran growled fiercely and started pacing the causeway, “He was setting you up! Is it a coincidence a shuttle told to go radio silent gets shot down by a Nausicaan weapon array which we didn't detect beforehand? No! He gets to the shuttle before you do and deletes the message from it. Then, he delivers your planned flight path and launch time so you could get shot down to become captives! He’s the Traitor we’ve been after!”

"He may have done that so the Nausicaans would be able to keep some leverage if we freed the hostages and took their base, they still would have had some of our men." Tess said.

[LogicalLeopard]

“I guess I’m getting ready to have a chat with Ensign Barron,” Hayes sighed, “He was the messenger who told me of the radio silent order shortly before we departed and was quite rude about it. He was rather direct in making me address him as a superior so I wanted to get it out of my system.”

“Barron?” Terrir caught himself gaping, “What was the Officer in charge of Cargo Hold 2 doing on Dorvan V giving you orders which went against mine and claiming they were from me?”

“Because,” R’Turran growled fiercely and started pacing the causeway, “He was setting you up! Is it a coincidence a shuttle told to go radio silent gets shot down by a Nausicaan weapon array which we didn't detect beforehand? No! He gets to the shuttle before you do and deletes the message from it. Then, he delivers your planned flight path and launch time so you could get shot down to become captives! He’s the Traitor we’ve been after!”

(( TAG: Everyone ))

At the mention of Barron's name, Biiqs pulled up his service record on the PADD he was carrying. Before he could read it, the picture of the ensign provoked a memory.

"This Wallace Barron," he said to R'Turan, "He was on the Bridge when I first arrived aboard. I remember after our meeting, the explosion of the shuttle was detected. He was stationed at Tactical II and said that the explosion might have been natural, or something to do with a geothermal energy station."

He took a moment to glance at Barron' duty shift information. "Seems like Ensign Barron has been working a lot of double shifts recently, with stints on the bridge approved by....me?" Biiqs almost dropped the PADD.

"I've barely been aboard the Ares for more than 48 hours, and I haven't set or approved any departmental duty rosters other than those planetside!"

Through tightened lips, he inquired, "Computer, where is Ensign Wallace Barron?"

Ensign Wallace Barron is on Deck 10, Corridor 2

(( TAG: Teriir, Everyone ))

[Asteropax]

USS Ares
Deck 14 - Yacht Causeway

Captain Teriir’s lips went in a straight line. Everything that transpired before now all made sense with perfect clarity. If Ensign Barron had put the same effort he had into all of his various plots as his duties, he would be a remarkable officer. But that was clearly another life. He glanced over to Lt. Commander Biiqs as he spoke of Barron.

"This Wallace Barron," he said to R'Turan, "He was on the Bridge when I first arrived aboard. I remember after our meeting, the explosion of the shuttle was detected. He was stationed at Tactical II and said that the explosion might have been natural, or something to do with a geothermal energy station."

He took a moment to glance at Barron' duty shift information. "Seems like Ensign Barron has been working a lot of double shifts recently, with stints on the bridge approved by....me?" Biiqs almost dropped the PADD.

"I've barely been aboard the Ares for more than 48 hours, and I haven't set or approved any departmental duty rosters other than those planetside!"

Through tightened lips, he inquired, "Computer, where is Ensign Wallace Barron?"

Ensign Wallace Barron is on Deck 10, Corridor 2

“We need to get down there and intercept him before he reaches the Diplomatic Reception Lounge!” Teriir immediately knew what he was doing and began leading everyone out, “Come on, I’ll explain on the way.”

(( TAG: Everyone ))

“Grab some phasers from here. I have a feeling we may be in for a fight,” the Captain paused by a wall station containing weaponry. After taking a Type 1 phaser for himself, he allowed the others to take their pick and continued, “I know not all of us were here at the start of everything so I’ll explain everything from the top.”

“Just after the ship departed Deep Space 9, we were ambushed by a pair of Orion Syndicate Interceptors. They were informed of our position and route by someone on board but were destroyed before they could steal our relief supplies for Dorvan V’s civilians. Our original Commanding Officer, Captain Matthew Wilson, was badly wounded during the fight and was transferred over to a hospital ship for treatments. I was given a field promotion to Captain by Admiral Ross to assume command of the ship. I was the original Chief Tactical Officer and was responsible for assigning postings to the Tactical and Security Officers.”

Mr. Biiqs. After I was made the ship’s Captain, Lieutenants Kenny and Locke shared the duties of the CTO. Mrs. Kenny was responsible for the Tactical duties on the bridge until you came and took over. Ensign Barron should never have been on the bridge as he failed his qualification tests by a full 23% to be a Tactical Officer. I believe if you talk to her, she will admit to being forced by him to make him a bridge officer for any time I wasn’t on the bridge, using his connections to a Starfleet Admiral to threaten her. Since you didn’t have the chance to assign everyone, you didn’t know about his qualifications thus thought he’d always been there. This also explains why he was doing double shifts, as he was already in charge of security in Cargo Hold 2.”

(( TAG: Biiqs ))

“With him on the bridge, he had access to a number of important ship systems, such as a full readout of our ship’s combat capabilities. Shields, weapons, everything. With him conspiring with the Nausicaans, he could’ve been able to give them everything about us for their earlier attack on the Ares. Not to mention, ways to prevent our sensors from accurately detecting threats in the case of the shuttle which got shot down.”

“But there wasn’t any sort of sabotage when we were fighting the Nausicaan Raiders, Destroyer or their fighters,” R’Turan pointed out at Teriir’s side, “No communications were sent and if they had such intel, they would’ve used it. Unless . . .”

“What is it, Commander?” Teriir turned and asked him. R’Turan pulled out a data chip from a pocket in his uniform and held it out to show everyone.

“Miss Hans gave this to me when we left the surface of Dorvan V,” he explained, “She downloaded the shuttle’s data core into it. Barron must’ve downloaded his information into the Ramses for the Nausicaans to find. It’s no wonder they were putting our people through hell down there; they were wanting this information for their impending attack on our ship. Destroying the shuttle may have erased the data but they hoped someone saved their intel inadvertently.”

“Get that data chip to Lieutenant Locke in the Security Complex and have him assemble a team to join us,” the Captain ordered. He and the others watched as the Commander hurried off towards the turbolift. Teriir began speaking again while moving towards the turbolift as well, “The question of how Barron managed to get down to Dorvan V to plant the information on the shuttle and remove my message is easily answered; his posting in Cargo Hold 2.”

“Mr. Rosek. Storm. After we take Mr. Barron into custody, I want you to review both the damage to the Ares from the first attack and take another look at the sabotages we’ve had with equipment on the planet surface. Specifically, take a look at the sensor arrays we deployed around the Main Settlement and that device found in the Embassy. I think you’ll find the first attack damaged some of our equipment in Cargo Hold 2, requiring us to rebuild much of it. Barron intentionally sabotaged the communication equipment there to cover up the message he sent to the Orions. I have a feeling that hold contains the part needed to maintain the sensor arrays and construct the device. He had everything he needed laying around to perform his sabotages without us knowing. He must’ve modified the cargo transporter to better support lifesigns, allowing him to beam down undetected. The logs may be erased but I wouldn't be surprised if records of energy surges were kept at the same time as his supposed time on duty in there.”

(( TAG: Rosek & Storm ))

As they all entered the turbolift, another thought crossed his mind, “I don’t know how he was able to pull all of this off or the extent of his sabotages but we’ll be able to find out much more easily soon. There is enough solid evidence as there is to place him in the brig for awhile so we can investigate. We’re going to get to the bottom of this as soon as we prevent him from crashing the Ambassadors’ dinner party."

(( TAG: Everyone ))

(( OOC: I’ll provide some links to the posts containing information to check out later in the Chapter 2 Discussion Thread for everyone to see. This way we can all have refreshers on all of the evidence we’ve been collecting throughout the 3 Mission Chapters (Prelude and Ch 1 & 2). There's more than what I'll initially provide as there are quite a few shockers I want us to have during the confrontation.

We'll be running into Barron as planned in the corridors outside of the Diplomatic Reception Lounge.

[Silynn]

USS Ares
Deck 14 - Yacht Causeway

Captain Teriir’s lips went in a straight line. Everything that transpired before now all made sense with perfect clarity. If Ensign Barron had put the same effort he had into all of his various plots as his duties, he would be a remarkable officer. But that was clearly another life. He glanced over to Lt. Commander Biiqs as he spoke of Barron.

“We need to get down there and intercept him before he reaches the Diplomatic Reception Lounge!” Teriir immediately knew what he was doing and began leading everyone out, “Come on, I’ll explain on the way.”

Jei wasn’t sure what to do. She was the only enlisted person present, among all of these senior officers. But Christopher waved her to follow. Without hesitation, Jei followed the gaggle of senior officers.

“Grab some phasers from here. I have a feeling we may be in for a fight,” the Captain paused by a wall station containing weaponry. After taking a Type 1 phaser for himself, he allowed the others to take their pick and continued, “I know not all of us were here at the start of everything so I’ll explain everything from the top.”

Jei stood on the fringe, and let the officers arm themselves. Jei didn’t feel she needed to be armed as there were more than enough officers who were now armed. She was only there as an observer and that she still technically was assigned to Dr. Cushing’s away team. She hadn’t been dismissed yet.

Only Christopher seemed to notice, and he just gave Jei a nod in understanding. As the group of officers became moving again, with Captain Teriir explaining and briefing things. Jei only partially paid attention, as a lot of it was above her paygrade.

- SNIP -

“Mr. Rosek, Mr. Storm. After we take Mr. Barron into custody, I want you to review both the damage to the Ares from the first attack and take another look at the sabotages we’ve had with equipment on the planet surface. Specifically, take a look at the sensor arrays we deployed around the Main Settlement and that device found in the Embassy. I think you’ll find the first attack damaged some of our equipment in Cargo Hold 2, requiring us to rebuild much of it. Barron intentionally sabotaged the communication equipment there to cover up the message he sent to the Orions. I have a feeling that hold contains the part needed to maintain the sensor arrays and construct the device. He had everything he needed laying around to perform his sabotages without us knowing. He must’ve modified the cargo transporter to better support lifesigns, allowing him to beam down undetected. The logs may be erased but I wouldn't be surprised if records of energy surges were kept at the same time as his supposed time on duty in there.”

Jei’s ears perked up as she caught technical babble. She knew transporter logs were stored in multiple locations. Specifically, that in the Engineering systems, all transporter logs were duplicated due to maintenance and back-ups. Even if the local transporter logs were erased at the console, security had a duplicate copy, as well as engineering. A person having full access to all three is rare and why that subroutine was in place.

Jei didn’t say anything, as her superior, Commander Rosek, was present and more than capable to provide the Captain with that same or better information.

As they all entered the turbolift, another thought crossed his mind, “I don’t know how he was able to pull all of this off or the extent of his sabotages but we’ll be able to find out much more easily soon. There is enough solid evidence as there is to place him in the brig for awhile so we can investigate. We’re going to get to the bottom of this as soon as we prevent him from crashing the Ambassadors’ dinner party."

Jei watched the officers pile into a turbolift, as Lieutenant Storm and Commander Rosek replied to Captain Teriir’s inquiries. The lift looked crowded once Christopher got in. Jei hesitated outside for a moment then decided to not get onto the lift. As it wasn’t her place and she didn’t need to be at whatever confrontation that was about to occur.

(( TAG: Everyone ))

[Blaster]

USS Ares
Deck 14 - Causeway

“Grab some phasers from here. I have a feeling we may be in for a fight,” the Captain paused by a wall station containing weaponry. After taking a Type 1 phaser for himself, he allowed the others to take their pick and continued, “I know not all of us were here at the start of everything so I’ll explain everything from the top.”

Tess picked up a Type 1 Phaser, preferring something easy to use and it was lighter then the Type 2.

As they all entered the turbolift, another thought crossed his mind, “I don’t know how he was able to pull all of this off or the extent of his sabotages but we’ll be able to find out much more easily soon. There is enough solid evidence as there is to place him in the brig for awhile so we can investigate. We’re going to get to the bottom of this as soon as we prevent him from crashing the Ambassadors’ dinner party."

Tess entered the Elevator, trying to figure out what Barron was up to. She wondered why he would be heading to the Diplomatic Area....

[Redking353]

“Mr. Rosek. Storm. After we take Mr. Barron into custody, I want you to review both the damage to the Ares from the first attack and take another look at the sabotages we’ve had with equipment on the planet surface. Specifically, take a look at the sensor arrays we deployed around the Main Settlement and that device found in the Embassy. I think you’ll find the first attack damaged some of our equipment in Cargo Hold 2, requiring us to rebuild much of it. Barron intentionally sabotaged the communication equipment there to cover up the message he sent to the Orions. I have a feeling that hold contains the part needed to maintain the sensor arrays and construct the device. He had everything he needed laying around to perform his sabotages without us knowing. He must’ve modified the cargo transporter to better support lifesigns, allowing him to beam down undetected. The logs may be erased but I wouldn't be surprised if records of energy surges were kept at the same time as his supposed time on duty in there.”

Rosek nodes to Storm

"On it sir"

[LogicalLeopard]

USS Ares
Deck 14 - Yacht Causeway

Captain Teriir’s lips went in a straight line. Everything that transpired before now all made sense with perfect clarity. If Ensign Barron had put the same effort he had into all of his various plots as his duties, he would be a remarkable officer. But that was clearly another life. He glanced over to Lt. Commander Biiqs as he spoke of Barron.

“We need to get down there and intercept him before he reaches the Diplomatic Reception Lounge!” Teriir immediately knew what he was doing and began leading everyone out, “Come on, I’ll explain on the way.”


“Grab some phasers from here. I have a feeling we may be in for a fight,”

Biiqs pulled a Type 1 phaser for himself, inserting it into the holster that he still wore on his uniform due to his time on the surface. The captain was right. If this Ensign was mixed up with Nausicaans and Orions, they may have a fight on their hands.

Mr. Biiqs. After I was made the ship’s Captain, Lieutenants Kenny and Locke shared the duties of the CTO. Mrs. Kenny was responsible for the Tactical duties on the bridge until you came and took over. Ensign Barron should never have been on the bridge as he failed his qualification tests by a full 23% to be a Tactical Officer. I believe if you talk to her, she will admit to being forced by him to make him a bridge officer for any time I wasn’t on the bridge, using his connections to a Starfleet Admiral to threaten her. Since you didn’t have the chance to assign everyone, you didn’t know about his qualifications thus thought he’d always been there. This also explains why he was doing double shifts, as he was already in charge of security in Cargo Hold 2.”

"Blackmail, or the same juggling act he's been playing with false signatures and approvals and such. If he can forge my name electronically, he can forge an admiral's. Getting access to the bridge station was key, though. With the accesses available there, there's no shortage of ways he could manipulate and conceal information." A chilling thought occured to him. "Or wreak havoc in other ways."

“With him on the bridge, he had access to a number of important ship systems, such as a full readout of our ship’s combat capabilities. Shields, weapons, everything. With him conspiring with the Nausicaans, he could’ve been able to give them everything about us for their earlier attack on the Ares. Not to mention, ways to prevent our sensors from accurately detecting threats in the case of the shuttle which got shot down.”

---Snip---

“Get that data chip to Lieutenant Locke in the Security Complex and have him assemble a team to join us,” the Captain ordered. He and the others watched as the Commander hurried off towards the turbolift. Teriir began speaking again while moving towards the turbolift as well, “The question of how Barron managed to get down to Dorvan V to plant the information on the shuttle and remove my message is easily answered; his posting in Cargo Hold 2.”

---Snip---

As they all entered the turbolift, another thought crossed his mind, “I don’t know how he was able to pull all of this off or the extent of his sabotages but we’ll be able to find out much more easily soon. There is enough solid evidence as there is to place him in the brig for awhile so we can investigate. We’re going to get to the bottom of this as soon as we prevent him from crashing the Ambassadors’ dinner party."

"We've definitely got enough to commit him to the brig. The false orders to Chief Hayes are enough to put him away. The question is, why the Ambassadors? I missed the purpose for their presence. Are they dealing with an issue that concerns the Nausicaans and Orions? Hostages, maybe?"

(( TAG: Teriir, Everyone ))

[WelshAvenger]

USS Ares
Causeway


Attachment 9773

Attachment 9774

Christopher listened to the others as they went through their theories. He glanced at Jei and could see the look in her eyes. He gave her arm a gentle squeeze of reassurance and then cleared his throat. "Ahem, excuse me, gentlemen? This list of charges are all very well but I feel you're missing the greater picture."

He looked at the assembled faces, all staring back at him.

"Well, isn't it obvious? Ensign Barron was instrumental in the attack on our shuttle which resulted in the death of Specialist Patel. She died saving our lives and her conduct during the crash was worthy of a field commission which I will be asking for at a more appropriate time. I want Barron charged with Accessory to Murder first and foremost. We owe Amita Patel nothing less than that."

Attachment 9774

[Josh Broughm]

USS Ares
Causeway

Storm was handed a phaser, but he politely refused, raising his bionic arm with index finger sticking out.

- I come with pre-packaged heat. Pew-pew & all.

He then looked at Christopher & said,

- I have a feeling that he'll be charged with more than murder & sabotage.

Storm heard the order & said,

- Aye sir. What if he decides to off himself?

(T(AG TERRIR))

[LogicalLeopard]

USS Ares
Causeway


Attachment 9773

Attachment 9774

Christopher listened to the others as they went through their theories. He glanced at Jei and could see the look in her eyes. He gave her arm a gentle squeeze of reassurance and then cleared his throat. "Ahem, excuse me, gentlemen? This list of charges are all very well but I feel you're missing the greater picture."

He looked at the assembled faces, all staring back at him.

"Well, isn't it obvious? Ensign Barron was instrumental in the attack on our shuttle which resulted in the death of Specialist Patel. She died saving our lives and her conduct during the crash was worthy of a field commission which I will be asking for at a more appropriate time. I want Barron charged with Accessory to Murder first and foremost. We owe Amita Patel nothing less than that."

Attachment 9774

Biiqs nodded in understanding, and elaborated on his earlier words. "Very true, Doctor. I was referring to the initial charges to commit him to the brig. The additional charges, such as the ones concerning conspiring with the enemy and Amita's murder - and yes, I intend to charge him with First Degree Murder, as her death was a proximate result of his felonious conduct - those sort of charges will be filed soon afterward, after we get his statement and assemble the rest of the evidence. Rest assured, though, Amita will have her justice, and so will everyone else whose safety was threatened or violated."



(( TAG: Christopher, Everyone ))

[Asteropax]

USS Ares
Turbolift to Deck 10

Captain Teriir listened to everyone expressing their views on Baron and the penalties he would be facing. He knew he would see to it he had the book thrown at him. Amita Patel's killer would face justice for his crimes against her and the Federation but there was far more to it than just her death. There were quite a few points brought up by everyone yet the one which disturbed him the most was the idea of how Baron was able to do so much. Although everything pointed to him, they were missing something.

Forging signatures is actually rather easy and anyone can do it; forging the access codes which enabled someone to do everything the signature says they can is insanely difficult. He hadn’t been successful in this as Baron hadn’t been able to do something drastic. Or already had but it got solved without them realizing? Whatever it was, Teriir knew from the records he had on Baron that he completely lacked the skill needed to pull that off. He needed to receive help from someone but from who was the harder question. They would get answers once he was dumped into the brig.

He sensed they were about to get to Deck 10 and realized only he and Storm were among those present who knew why the Ambassadors were there, “The Ambassadors are here because they are enroute to a conference on Cardassia. It’s for seeing about further cooperation between the Federation and Cardassia. They stopped here to get a first hand look at how some of the Independent Planets within Cardassian Territory are faring. I think Baron is heading there to take some of them hostage. For what reason, I don’t know and there’s little time to think through everything.”

(( TAG: Everyone ))

Teriir took off to a run down the corridor as soon as the doors opened, skidding to a halt just before he could turn the corner. Peeking around into the other corridor, he noticed Ensign Barron was already there but was busy typing at a wall console. He signaled everyone to stay back for a moment and quickly entered in a command on a wall console next to him. He spoke quietly to the Senior Officers with him.

“I just signaled the bridge to lock down the ship and to monitor the security feed here in case something happens. I’m going to try to talk to Ensign Baron before we take him as I have a feeling he’s up to something at that console. Let me get him away from it so you can stun him. I know I’m risking myself, but it’s unlikely he’ll listen to anyone else. I know you’ve got my back.”

Taking a breath, he took a risk and took of the belt which he’d put on to carry the phaser he picked up. Baron would likely get tipped off something was wrong if he approached him armed. He carefully picked his way towards Barron and was able to get close enough to look over his shoulder, “Whatcha doing?”

“Oh jeez!” Baron visibly jumped and looked at him, “That’s the second time this mission you’ve nearly given me a heart attack!”

“My apologies, Ensign,” he gave him a fake smile and looked to the console. He tilted his head to feign curiosity, “Is there a reason you’re preparing to enter anesthizine into the Diplomatic Lounge?”

“Well,” Baron started to explain but got no further as a transporter effect was heard nearby. Teriir looked over and saw R’Turan and a collection of Security Officers, including Lieutenant Locke, materializing. They must’ve used the site to site function to get there quickly. Unfortunately, there went the element of surprise and the other Senior Officers came out of their hiding place and blocked his path the other way.

“Don’t move,” R’Turan hissed harshly, “Traitor!”

Ensign Baron looked from the Senior Officers, to Teriir, to R’Turan, and back again. He proceeded to straighten himself out smiled, “I had a feeling I was found out.”

“We have enough evidence to convict you of treason, sabotage, and murder. Among other things” Teriir said, moving to close out the commands Baron had been entering into the wall mount console. It was clear now he was in the midst of preparing to take someone inside hostage for some reason, perhaps a trade of sorts for something he was wanting. As soon as he was done getting rid of the gas, he felt himself shoved out of the way.

“Computer! Activate Program Baron Alpha 5!” Baron yelled as he entered something else into the console. A moment later, he heard several phasers fire off and a low hum nearby. Shooting a look around, he realized a set of forcefields was now separating him from the Senior Officers and the Security detail. He was locked in with Barron and - wait a minute; where did Ambassadorial Aide Erikson come from? Then he realized the young man stepped out of a refresher in the corridor. Barron burst out laughing, “Gotcha! I don’t need to take any more hostages when the person I want to talk to is already here!”

Teriir would’ve started fighting him but couldn’t risk it as the Ensign drew a phaser and moved to stand out of reach from he and Erikson. Everyone stood still for a few moments and then he spoke up, “If you were wanting to talk to me, you could’ve done it in private without a phaser.”

“My party, my rules,” Baron grinned back before turning his gaze towards the forcefield where the Security detail stood, “You may want to step away from that console.”

“Why?” Lieutenant Locke glared back.

A moment later Baron turned to Erikson. Teriir’s eyes widened as the phaser beam made contact with the Aide. A moment later he was gone. Vaporized. His scream turned from agonizing to a faint echo in a split second.

“No tampering with the forcefields or beaming anyone out. You do that and you will be looking for another new Captain,” Baron sighed, satisfied he had everyone’s attention. Teriir met his eyes. They were those of someone who was pleased with the murder they’d just commited. The Ensign continued, “I’m aware phasers set on maximum have a bad habit of burning holes in people during beam outs. You may get Captain Terrier here but some of him will be rematerializing just about everywhere; leaving his mark across the galaxy.”

“If you try to beam me out,” he continued, pulling out a small device from a pocket, “This is a detonator. I have a whole bunch of Cardassian made munitions stashed away in Cargo Hold 2. You do anything stupid and I blow them. They aren’t enough to take out the ship but the blast will take out most of the quarters on nearby.”

“MURDERER!!!” R’Turan roared and slammed a fist into the forcefield, “You’re going to pay for that!”

“Temper, temper, Mr. Kitty,” Baron rolled his eyes at the Commander then turned to Teriir, “So you know, I was originally going to take that whore Gul Enok called a ‘daughter’ and his ‘grandson’ hostage to get your attention as the Nausicaans attacked the ship. Shame they got impatient. I’m still glad my people are still able to carry out the important part of the plan.”

“Who are you talking about?” Teriir was unusually calm despite what was happening. He needed to figure out what Barron was doing and if they could stop it.

“Ha! While you were coming to get me, I told everyone checking out Cargo Hold 2 to clear out!” Baron chuckled loudly, “The Bajoran Humanitarian Team you picked up on DS9 was kidnapped by a group of people who feel as I do; that Cardassia hasn’t paid enough for the deaths they’ve caused. They are heading over to the cargo hold to pick up their weapons and begin the assault on the Main Settlement of Dorvan V.”

“What do you have to gain by attacking an Embassy!” The Captain snapped, furious that the young man was even suggesting attacking civilians. He suddenly paused, realizing what he was actually doing, “No, you’re attacking the native population on Dorvan V. Killing them with Cardassian weapons to make it look like they did it.”

“Bravo. You want a cookie?” Baron mocked him before smiling broadly, “I can envision the news headlines; ‘hundreds of innocents massacred by Cardassians’. I believe we can all agree the Federation will cutoff support for those things we’ve been giving supplies to over the past few years. That’s the kind of people they are anyway. True, I was going to eliminate the Bajorans too. They have enough history with the Cardassians that their true role will go unrealized.”

“I don’t understand why you would even consider doing this. The murder of who knows how many innocents. Why?” As Teriir spoke, he turned around to the Senior Officers and looked to them. Though no sound escaped his mouth, his expression was a scream, “GO!!!”

(( TAG: Everyone ))

The Captain turned back to Baron, realizing he needed to stall the treacherous Ensign while they stopped the attack which was about to happen. The only thing he could think of was to talk to him; keep him distracted for as long as possible.

(( OOC: This is where we split up. Some of you can stick around with me and listen to the dialogue I’ll be having with Barron and his revealing / confirming everything he’s done. Everyone else needs to get over to Cargo Hold 2 on the double to stop the Bajoran Extremists from attacking the colony. More Security Officers will meet you there.

As the Bajorans are only just getting their supplies now and are discussing their final plan of action, you will be able to catch them in the cargo hold. The ship is going on lockdown due to my character informing the bridge what’s going on so they will not be able to beam down when they’re ready. I’m leaving how you capture them up to you. ))

[Blaster]

USS Ares
Deck 10

Tess watched Baron as he started talking to the Security and the Captain.

Then she heard a phaser go off, and saw the Aide vaporise, she realised Baron's mistake. Killing the Aide may have stunned everyone, but he was one hostage down and that meant if they got the Captain back the only leverage he had would be the "Bomb".

Tess was tempted to go down to the Cargo bay, however she knew that was illogical. She had no way to disarm the "Munitions" and didnt feel like trying her luck. She got the feeling the Bajoran Extremists wouldn't listen to simple logic. However she had an idea.

She knew full well if they tried to lower the field, the Captain would be vaporised and then he would detonate the bombs. If they defused the bombs, he could still shoot the Captain, but his most likely course of action would be to try and detonate the bombs first.

She walked over to Biiqs.

"Do you have any way to diffuse the bombs in the Cargo bay and deal with the Extremists?" She asked.

((TAG: Biiqs))