A Mission of Mercy

Posted on 10 Sep 2018 @ 7:01pm by Captain Jasmine Somers FCapt & Captain Maia Sterling & Lieutenant Paul Winchester & 1st Lieutenant Josefina (Fina) Macapuno
Edited on on 10 Sep 2018 @ 7:04pm

3,084 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: S02 Episode 4: The Avian Flew the Cukoo's Nest (Main Story)
Location: USS Tomcat/Space/Gorn Transport
Timeline: Mission 5 Day 13

[ON]

- Bridge -

Early hours of the next day the USS Tomcat arrives at the location of the distress call from a Gorn Hegemony Cruiser, the ship kept its distance as the ship’s sensors start scanning the area.

Sitting in her command chair Somers looks at her XO “Commander use long range sensors to scan for any hostile ships” she ordered

Maia scanned as they came in range. “Sensors reading one damaged MA12 Gorn heavy battle cruiser, Captain. No other ships within sensor range. Uh… Captain sensors indicate that the damage was internally generated. Detecting extensive damage to weapons, propulsion and power plants. Most of the primary systems are down. She’s running on auxiliary impulse power. The ship is venting drive plasma. Detecting high levels of gamma and delta radiation, accessing the ship’s registry. The ship is the HGS Slargh, Captain Xeed last known to be in command”. Maia reported. “Looks like it could have been a possible mutiny or sabotage, Captain,” Maia added.

*ponders a moment* “Keep scanning Commander, we will be dropping from warp soon” Somers said as she thought this news over, it did not sound good and tactical would have to adjust for these events.

“Aye Captain”, Maia said getting ready to switch to short-range sensors.

With this done she turned to Tactical “Lieutenant Macapuno keep an eye on tactical scanners” Somers said swivelling her chair around to look at Delfin’s replacement on the bridge at this moment.

As if on cue the Tomcat dropped to impulse and Tactical immediately got to work and it was not long before a report came in.

Deep in thought but outwardly alert, Josefina who was already locked in on the Gorn mothership that was now slowly moving closer to the Tomcat, “now at a range of 18 kilometres away, noticed a strange occurrence coming from the stern of the Gorn cruiser or whatever they called it” Josefina said. “Captain you better look at the main viewscreen;” as Josefina switched her tactical viewer to the main projection screen…

Suddenly in front of everyone’s eyes, the entire front projector lit up with the surrounding black background, and surrounding stars in this system. In an instant, a point of light began to move slowly to the Tomcat. It was the Gorn ship that was slowly drifting towards the ship, but instead of it acting as though it was damaged, the Gorn mothership had the characteristics of someone very delicately piloting the ship closer to the Tomcat, and now at less than 16 kilometres away.

“Hmm” Somers pondered then looked at Sterling “Commander Sterling, prepare an Away Team, besides yourself, you will want an engineer, a doctor and two Security personnel, your team will be going in after an assault team has secured the ship if it is a case of internal mutiny, then I want the Rifles to secure the area and assist the loyalists in securing their ship before sending over a technical team”

“Aye Captain we will need heavy enviro-suits, to protect from the radiation and the heat on board that ship is in excess of 140 Degree. Normal for a Gorn intolerable for us”. Maia replied.

While her orders were being carried out she looked at the viewscreen which was trained on the Gorn cruiser, she studied the state of current events and thought long and hard, she was running scenarios through her mind, she was no Vulcan, so she knew she could not anticipate everything, but she wanted to anticipate as much as she could, her and her crew’s life depended on this.

Turning to face Winchester as the ship dropped from warp “yes launch the alert fighters Lieutenant” Somers said.

“Roger that Captain, Fighters have launched,” replied Paul looking back at the Captain, “Klingon fighters are ready Captain, do you wish them to launch?” he asked.

“Not yet, we keep the numbers low for the moment, do not want to spook the Gorn” Somers responded.

She then turned to Sterling who was in the process of organizing her Technical Away Team “Commander communicate with the Gorn ship and see what help they require” she said to her First Officer.

Aye Captain switching to Short range communications. =/\= “This is the Federation Starship USS Tomcat, we are responding to your distress call. How can we be of assistance?” =/\=

For several seconds there was no response then over crackling communications a reptilian voice answered.

=/\= This is Captain Xeed of the HGS Sssslargh, We have sssustained internal damage from terroristsss, while we have put down the rebellion the damage was done was quite extensive we require medical assistance and whatever damage control teamsss you can provide =/\= Captain Xeed replied.

She looked at Sterling, “well it seems the assault team will not be required Maia, still take the designated team with you, I believe Taggart and Aldana are available for the Away Team, take two Fleet Security as escorts, to send in the marines even two would make the Gorn nervous, the last thing we want to do is increase the tensions” Somers said.

“Aye Captain. =/\= Gorn Cruiser Slargh, please be prepared to receive our damage control teams =/\= Maia sent.

“Captain the Slargh acknowledges”. Maia said getting up to head to the transporter room.

With a nod, Sterling left the bridge to gather her team together, so Somers contacted the Gorn ship =/\=USS Tomcat to HGS Slargh, Captain Xeed you there? This is Captain Somers commander of the Tomcat =/\=

=/\= Captain Soomerssss this is Captain Xeed. Gratitude for answering our distress call.=/\= Xeed replied in a heavily accented reptilian way.

=/\= I am sending over Commander Sterling and a team to help you out, please communicate with the shuttle when they are on approach, we are not familiar with Gorn docking procedures =/\= Somers said.

=/\= Gratitude Captain Soomerssss. =/\= Xeed replied.

=/\= Understood, Tomcat out =/\= Jasmine closed the link then opened another =/\= Somers to Sterling, use a shuttle, I do not want to drop the shields, the Gorn will guide you through their landing procedures, Lieutenant Aldana is in Cargo bay one prepping a Triage, but the lieutenant can stop that now and can join your away team =/\=

=/\= Aye Sir, Sterling out. =/\=

=/\= Understood Somers out =/\= Jasmine closed the link and looked at Winchester “Lieutenant use the Intel console at the back of the bridge and see if you can connect to the Gorn ship without them knowing, copy mission logs and Captain’s logs, I do not want to be caught flat-footed, also have the fighters form a C.A.P around both ships” she said.

As the Intel Officer left the helm another took his place “Ensign make sure we can move at a moment’s notice” she said to Ensign Barker, who had not been on the bridge in a long time.

“Yes, Captain” Barker responded and got to work.

“Roger that Captain Launching the backup squadrons” as he then rose and headed back towards the intelligence station as he knew that this was getting bothersome having to get up and down from one part of the bridge to the other. as he took his seat at the intelligence station he tapped in a few commands to start the covert link between the two ships and begin the download of the information. He said, “Download will take 2 hours Captain,”

Looking at him “I said copy Lieutenant, copy not download, less chance of being found out with copying” Somers emphasized.

“That’s what I’m doing, but the computer has taken the command as download Sir,” replied Paul as he turned to face Somers, he said,” It seems Swiftpaws left a program that automatically downloads every file,” as he knew that Swiftpaws would have made the program undetectable by the Gorn or anyone else for that matter. He thought to himself oO I wish she would have told me everything, Oo as he turned his chair back around.

Jasmine was looking extremely angry “damn that Mousian, *^£$%~#@$%£$”£$£% *effective swearing* she was trouble and brought life to this ship, but damn if she kept that one quiet, Lieutenant I want you to go through the Intel programs on this ship and find out which ones were installed by Commander Swiftpaws, make a list then show it to me, I need to know what else she put in there without my knowledge” Somers was extremely upset at this point.

“Sir, if I were Swiftpaws, I’d have them hidden and only activate when a specific word is entered,” replied Paul as he knew that this was going to be a long hard slog going through every intel program, he looked back at Somers and finished, “I expect this will take me at least 3 days Sir,”

She looked at him with barely contained fury, it was not directed at him he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but she held her tongue “When not on active duty make it your top priority” Somers ordered.

Winchester simply nodded and returned to his task at hand.

Maia took the Runabout Tiger's Claw to the Gorn Cruiser Slargh and was on that vessel almost two hours when she hailed the Tomcat.

=/\=Sterling to Tomcat, come in=/\=

“Captain Xeed has informed me that the Gorn Ship Varas has been dispatched to assist. Due to the lethal exposure of Gamma and Delta radiation Captain Xeed urges us to return to the Tomcat for decontamination. Do you concur =/\=

Pressing the button on her chair =/\= Heed his advice Commander, and get back quickly, it was hard to find a replacement for Major Markov, finding one for you will be even harder, come back safe, Somers out =/\= Jasmine closed the link and looked at Winchester. “Lieutenant Winchester, halt what you are doing with the copying, come out of it and close the system down and return to Conn, the moment the Gorn ship arrives recall the fighters and then when all is secured take us back to the planet” Somers ordered.

“It seems this program, Sir, has downloaded everything quicker than I knew,” replied Paul as he could not believe how fast the program had worked, as he shut down the Intelligence console once more and headed back to the conn. upon sliding into the chair, Paul pressed the recall commands to the flight control ordering all fighters to return. He said, “Recall sent Sir,”

*Sighing Heavily* “Lieutenant Winchester when it is safe to do so do what I asked earlier about searching for the programs Swiftpaws put in,” she said and fell into a grizzled silence.

“As soon as I finish my shift Ma'am, I will start my search,” he responded as he knew that Swiftpaws had not left any messages about these programs and what they were meant to do.

“Excellent, do your best Lieutenant, but be wary Sheela was sly and you might encounter anti-tampering programs” Somers finished.

"Understood Captain," replied Paul as he knew that Swiftpaws might be capable of, after all, he had found one of her programs by accident and now had to find what word went with what program.

*Smiling* "Excellent" Somers simply said and left Winchester to do his thing.

- Space - Main Shuttle Bay -

=/\= Sterling to Tomcat prepare to receive the Tiger’s Claw and notify Decon teams of our arrival =/\=

The Tiger’s Claw landed on pad C then the Decon team took care of the runabout, crew and equipment.

=/\= Roger that Tiger’s Claw, teams are standing by=/\= replied Paul sending the commands to the flight deck to prep for the Tiger’s Claw’s arrival, he also made sure that the pilots were not affected and had them do the same as a precaution.

- Tactical Station - Bridge -

Reading her controls like a symphony conductor, Joe made a few finite adjustments as the drama with the Gorn was now playing out. Josefina tried to contact the shuttle, and finally finding a very small non-fragmented zone where the Tomcat could signal the shuttle, she got an answer. As she sent the message through the computers to clean it up.

Turning on her chair, Josefina said “Captain, I got a small communication burst from the surface… It says ‘Gorn planetside’” replied Josefina who was still continuing to try to find a way to get in touch with the landing party, “and we now have one very dead Gorn as the result.”

Looking at the replacement tactical officer “send the details and such over to communications and the preliminary results down to medical, we will be returning to the planet shortly” Somers said.

Continuing to look at her Tactical Panel, Josefina was busy moving the controls to match the current situation, always keeping in mind that the Gorns never told the truth, even if they were in peril. This she learned from her Uncle the General. Though she never did like him, however, she loved to hear his war stories, and one of them was his view on the Gorns... "Never let it be said that the Gorns will always tell you the truth" continued her uncle... In some respects, they follow a strange cult-like following of the \ir own version of the old Japanese Code of Bushido. They would rather die than tell the truth", and it has cost me several thousand Marines to find this out" her uncle would always say.

As Josefina was sitting there, she finally got a burst signal from the surface..."Captain" replied Josefina; a second message from the Surface, and it doesn't sound good..."Lt. Delfin killed a Gorn guard, they're all trapped inside the mine, Master Gunnery Sergeant Altuvas Derrigo is now MIA, and they had to return back to the shuttle with .... "the source of the Starfleet Signature" replied Josefina, as she turned her head to where Captain Somers was...

Looking at Macapuno "send all that over to Communications Lieutenant, secure from Yellow Alert, Lieutenant Winchester takes you a break from Intel and make sure everything is locked down in the flight bays and that the shuttle has been secured" Somers ordered.

In seconds Josefina had already transferred the information to the communication officer, and now with the ship going off 'yellow alert', she sat back in her chair, wondering just how she did...

However, as Joe began to relax along with the crew from the Yellow alert, the message she sent to communication was intercepted by someone or somebody in the dark deep bowels of Starfleet Intelligence... "Ensign, what news on the Tomcat" called out a nameless Lieutenant Commander. "Speaking up from her console, the young ensign related the incident on the planet, and the death of the Gorn, along with the current fate of the entire Shuttle. "Hmm, was the only word she heard from the LCDR as he made his way out the door, down a long corridor.

As the LCDR reached the door which only said "Black Widow", he entered and now standing at attention as a much higher ranking Starfleet Intelligence Officer had her back towards him, he related the message. "Are you sure of this Commander?" asked the soft voice of the woman... "Yes ma'am" replied the LCDR. Turning around Admiral Miyaka Nagasuma who always had the stern face of a taskmistress, said "continue with intercepting any messages from the Tomcat to and from Starfleet; especially what Lt. Delfin is doing" replied Admiral Nagasuma. "Yes, ma'am" replied the LCDR, Begging your pardon Admiral, "may I ask why are we interested in Lt. Delfin" replied the young Commander

"No you may not, Commander; and if I were you, "I would not say anything about our conversation" replied the Admiral. "Now you have my permission to leave and return back to your post" spoke Admiral Nagasuma.

Turning to a computer and inputting a series of passwords, all the Admiral said "So far Lt. Delfin has shown her ability to formulate a plan of action against a much bigger and stronger adversary, a Gorn; and to kill him without resorting to the standard Marine Weapons" replied the Admiral. This section will continue to monitor the actions of Lt. Delfin" Admiral Nagasuma out.

Once the message had been inputted, seconds later she pressed the button that sent the message to another department, where I would go up the chain of command within the Special Operations Group, and eventually the Commander in Chief of Starfleet and the Commandant of the Marine Corp.

Finally, with that done, Admiral Nagasuma went back to sitting cross-legged on the Tatami covered floor, picked up an ancient Koto, and began to play a melodious tone, that sounded like a funeral dirge.

"Roger that Captain, I will head back to the flight bay now if I may be excused," asked Paul for permission to leave the bridge as he quickly sent a message via Lauren that he was about to head down.

Once the Tigers claw had safely landed Commander Sterling ordered a decontamination team to cleanse the runabout and all the equipment aboard. Then she ordered her team into decontamination. Once they were given the all clear Maia told them to report to their duty stations.

- Bridge -

On the bridge, Jasmine received notification that the Tigers claw had landed and was secured she tapped her Commbadge =/\= Somers to Sterling, Commander when you are done with decon get yourself to the bridge, we are about to return to the planet =/\=

=/\= On my way Captain =/\= Maia sent and closed the link.

Suddenly the little screen on her chair arm came to life she called up the message it said [Lieutenant Jg Wakeham Paul Alasia PhD - New Diplomatic Officer has arrived on SB51 and is awaiting assignment - Karyn] "hmm... okay Cous, that is surprising news, still about damn time we had one out here" she said to herself and logged the notification into her files and looked up as Sterling arrived on the bridge "Okay Helm set course back to the planet warp six, engage when Ready" she ordered and looked to Sterling with smile as the Tomcat came about and entered warp as other Gorn ships arrived to assist their stranded companion.

[OFF]

Captain Jasmine Somers
Commander Officer
USS Tomcat

Commander Maia Sterling
First Officer/Chief Science Officer
USS Tomcat

Lt. Jg Nicole Taggert
Assistant Chief Engineer
USS Tomcat

Lt. Jg Amiri Aldana 365 D.V.M., M.D
Assistant Chief Medical Officer/Counsellor
USS Tomcat

Lieutenant JG Paul Winchester
Intelligence/HCO
USS Tomcat

2nd Lieutenant Jennifer Goodwin [PNPC: Dodd]
Marine Officer
USS Tomcat

 

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