Security Investigations Part #2

Posted on 12 Jun 2020 @ 3:01pm by Lieutenant Colonel Alexandria Somers & Sergeant Major Christopher "Chris" Kildare & Captain Jelan Lemoris & 2nd Lieutenant Jennifer Goodwin & Staff Sergeant Lilliana Hawksley

2,534 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: S03 Ep 02 Trouble in the Sticks (Incidentals) Galen IV Phase 1
Location: Galen IV Cardassian Embassy/Various
Timeline: S3 Mission 3 MD 04.2.1

[ON]

After the Away team led by Alex had assembled in the shuttle bay they boarded a purloined shuttle that was originally from New Sydney, Kildare was last in so he closed the ramp and joined the others in the rear compartment.

"The Colonel can fly any shuttle," he said "but that is anything Starfleet has, this is not a Starfleet shuttle, so your guess is as good as mine," he said seriously.

Lilli grinned as she looked at Kildare, getting herself comfortable she relaxed back in her seat ready for the journey.

Goodwin merely nodded to acknowledge what Kildare said and made herself comfortable in her seat.

"Has this thing been modified in any way"? Jelan asked.

"Yes, it has" was all Kildare said and gave a smile before he returned to procrastination

In the cockpit, Alex went through the flight checklist like a pro, she stifled a laugh as Kildare spoke, she opened a channel to the flight controller =/\= NS09 to Tomcat Control all controls check green permission to depart?=/\= She asked.

=/\= Flight control to shuttle NS09, permission granted, safe journey, out =/\= came the response and Alex lifted the shuttle off the deck and flew it out through the barrier holding in the air.

Over the Internal Comms =/\= Good day good people, this is your Captain speaking, we have just left the ship and to maintain the deception we will be doing a short warp out and back into Galen IV space and into the range of their orbital sensors, please remember to keep your seatbelts on and tray table in their upright position and to Kildare, the comedian will you stop teasing them will you, pilot out =/\= she closed the line and did exactly as she said and warped out and after two hours dropped to impulse, changed her heading and returned to Warp and three hours later dropped from warp speed and opened a channel to ground control.

=/\= Galen IV Ground Control, this is Shuttle NS09 out of New Sydney, we have been contracted to investigate the Cardassian Embassy bombing, by request of the Cardassian Detapa Council, sorry for being late but our bosses would not let us have more than this shuttle, do we have permission to land? =/\= she asked.

=/\= Affirmative shuttle NS09 the Embassy has been cordoned off you are to follow the flight path we are sending to you and do not deviate from it, remain within the area, ground control out =/\= came the flat emotional voice of the controller.

As Alex did just that she smoothly hovered over the area and gently landed the shuttle and secured it from a flight when she was happy that all was well she left the cockpit and went into the back and looked at her team "okay people game faces on, we are now a New Sydney Security contract unit, Vail you will be the guard, the rest of us will look through the ruins, any questions?" she asked.

Lilli shook her head. “No questions Colonel.” She was the logical choice to keep an eye out for trouble, with her marine training and Betazoid senses.

Goodwin then stood up and gathered her gear. "I have no questions."

"Are we a diversion than for the other team?" Jelan asked.

Goodwin seemed to tense up when Jelan asked the question. oO Did I miss something, I thought we were to gather intel from the ruins, not act as a diversion unit. Oo

"Intel comes in many forms, it wouldn't hurt to do a bit of reconnoitre," Jelan said.

*Looks at Lemoris* "No we are not the decoy, our job is to gather intel from a tactical and security perspective and send the data up to the ship in pulse tight-beam transmissions, now get into the mindset that we are an independent Security Contractor come to look over the ruins, the Cardassian Government have cleared us for this and have agreed to be our admin back up, should anyone on Galen IV decide to check upon us, the Cardassians will say that they contracted a Security Team from New Sydney" the Colonel said stepping forward and doublechecking her double shoulder holsters.

"Aye Colonel, also keep in mind that phaser setting number one and two will have little effect on an infected person," Jelan stated.

"Staff Sergeant Vail, as you are our guard be aware that the symbionts can survive outside of a hosts body, so be alert," Sergeant Major Kildare said then looked to Somers "perhaps we should have two as visible guards Chief?" he suggested.

Lilli nodded. “It would be better to have two of us so we can watch each other’s backs.”

Jelan simply nodded in response.

The Colonel considers his suggestion "agreed, Lieutenant Goodwin you will also be guard, now initially the denizens will not think twice about us our cover is good, but the moment our true origin is discovered, they will be all over us, so keep in the character of Security personnel, that means try not to stand ramrod straight as we are supposed to be civilian's not military, understood?" Somers asked.

“Understood” Lilli smiled. “One of the upsides of being Fleet as well as Marine is you learn to be more relaxed. Don’t worry we’ll watch your backs.” She smiled at Goodwin.

"Aye, sir," Goodwin replied. "I am glad to help in any fashion needed for the success of the mission."

"I like your attitude, Lieutenant! We will definitely get it done with officers like you." Jelan said.

*Alex rolled her eyes, the latest Officers coming out the Academy were too polite* oO I am going to have to learn to be just as polite when I finally take command of the Tomcat Oo Alex thought to herself and groaned, she had been groomed to be a diplomat, but she had chosen to be a Marine "A positive attitude is good, now let's get this investigation underway" Somers said verbally.

"I go looking for bomb remains" Kildare simply said and exited the shuttle, he paused to look around and no one was really taking any notice of them he did notice some odd behaviour in some of the denizens, but shrugged and with his tools headed to the ruined embassy.

Alex exited next and she too looked around and had a bad feeling, but she squashed it as she stepped onto Galen IV and headed to search the ruins.

Lilli looked to Goodwin. “Best get after them, we need to be watching their backs as well as each other’s.” She offered a brief smile before heading out to join the others.

Jelan stepped out of the shuttlecraft and took a deep breath. The air had somewhat of bitterness to it, like unripe fruit, and she also sensed danger was all around them. It was nearing dusk. There wasn't much sunlight, but the temperature was fairly comfortable. There was no wind, not even a breeze at the moment. The marine looked around, there were crews all around the starport but no one approached them. She retrieved some of her gear then followed the colonel wherever she was leading them, probably lodging.

Goodwin grabbed her gear and put on her pack as she stepped out of the shuttle behind Jelan. She was also feeling the bitterness of the air. Goodwin has enjoyed her career so far but this was one mission that gave her that sinking feeling in her stomach. She was surely bringing up the rear which was what she enjoyed when in guard duty on a mission. While she was not telepathic she always had a good idea when someone or something was approaching her from behind and so she always picked the rear when heading out to a location.

Taking in a breath of air Kildare headed directly to the location where the bomb was reported to have been placed, he looked at the devastation and whistled as Alex stood next to him along with Lemoris "this is some destruction boss" Kildare said to the Colonel.

"I know, okay Mav, it is your Op, where do you want us?" the Colonel said knowing that this was his area of expertise, but she did have the slight pleasure of catching him off guard.

"Why don't you both space out and comb through the rubble and if you find anything out of the, shall I say ordinary let me know, you too Captain Lemoris," he said.

"Was this the remains of the Cardassian consulate"? Jelan asked.

There wasn't much left of it the place had been levelled. even the underground structures were devastated. No radiation to be found. just trace patterns of vermiculite rocket debris and residue. No life signs whatsoever.

"Looks like they hit this place from orbit with short-range rockets," Jelan said.

Lilli kept a cautious watch on the area around them, she was grateful to have her Betazoid senses as a backup. “All good here.” She smiled as she looked towards Goodwin.

"All Good over here as well" Looking back at Vail. "This place is sort of on the eerie side, don't you think?" Goodwin said to Vail.

Lilli nodded. “I’d agree with that, there’s just ... something in the air here. A hint of something that I’m not entirely sure I like.”

" I just feel like we are being watched from afar and it makes it even eerier overall." Goodwin then continued watching the perimeter of the area while also keeping track of the away team.

From where he was looking Chris located a piece of the explosive device, he pulled out a specialized tricorder and scanned it as he responded to Lemoris "No Captain Lemoris, this was definitely a bomb and an old design too, nothing electronic beyond the LCD timer here" Kildare said and whistled "hello, real low tech, no wonder why the Cardassians never saw it coming" he added placing the part gently in his pack after placing it in an evidence bag. Then while he waited for Lemoris to respond he went back to looking in the area he had found the last piece as he had located where the bomb was placed.

"Yeah, there was nothing to give off a signal that could be detected. Keep that in mind, Chris, these bluegills are intelligent and can adapt to the situation. The Cardi's never saw it coming. We will though." Jelan said.

At her location, Alex was combing through the wreckage and stumbled across another, she froze, as she made such things in her spare time as a hobby, she was all too aware of how dangerous this item was she had come across. "Hey Mav, I found a live one here!" She announced.

Chris was up in a flash and moved quickly along to where Alex was and scooted her out of the way and scanned it and did quite an impressive swearing vocabulary "Colonel cold you and the Captain join the others up front, I need concentration to do this" he said.

"Understood" Somers responded she looked at Lemoris "Jelan, get your rump to Goodwin and Vail, we got a UXB and Kildare needs to disarm it," the Colonel said.

"Roger that Colonel," Jelan said.

He high-tailed it over to Goodwins team Riki-Tik.

As both officers rejoined the others standing guard the Colonel looked at Goodwin and Vail "we got a UXB, be alert" was all she said.

“Understood” Lilli looked at Goodwin. The last thing they needed was anyone interrupting and disturbing the disarming process, it could spell disaster. “Let’s keep a tight perimeter and keep a close watch for any trouble.”

"Jennifer be careful we've found some more unexploded ordinance," Jelan said.

"Understood," Goodwin replied as she stopped any movement and froze in her place. "Still can't shake this feeling of being watched from afar."

Back at the bomb Kildare lightly scanned the UXB and grunted in curiosity, he put the scanner down and pulled out a unique screwdriver, it was old school like most of his tools, that way there was little or no chance of electrical interference. he pries the cover off and inhales sharply "okay old-school, which means there is a backup to the power" he said to himself and pulled out a magnifying glass to see the microcircuitry in the bomb he had to appreciate the make of this, primitive as it was, the work was an impressive piece of engineering, but he was better and quickly found the backup timer and a surprising third one, now he was impressed and realized that most bomb disposal officers may have missed such a triple backup, oO but wahy? Oo he thought to himself it was redundant, but finding no other he worked his magic and slowly disconnected link after link, it was time-consuming.

Alex looks over to where her friend is disarming the UXB, on occasion, his body language showed surprise, but only once, but he was using his vintage toolset which told her there was more to the bomb than she had thought, she turned to the others "do any of you have any idea on how big of an explosion that bomb would make of it had gone off? The first one was to weaken the building, but somehow the explosion was more and that other one would have done a lot more damage" the Colonel said.

Goodwin was keeping her eyes wide open and not only was she watching Kildare in his working to disarm the explosive device, she was peering in the distance around the perimeter as she could not help but feel there was at least one person or some device watching her and the team. It could have been nerves as she had not been in this type of field situation in a very long time. But she was alert to help protect her crewmates and the mission.

Lilli could have stopped to simply watch the artistry of Kildare’s skills in defusing the bomb, but she had to keep her wits about her. She had a very distinct sense that they were being very closely watched.

Jelan for his part needed to get to the high ground as he knew they were being watched. The hairs on the back of his head always stood up when they were being spied upon. He knew Kildare was an expert with bombs and such so he swung around looking for whoever was spying on them. He stealthily disappeared using his training and experience while Kildare was disarming the bomb. A skill he picked up as a ground pounder. His senses were elevated and attuned. There was someone here, it wasn't the same feeling he got with electronic surveillance. He went to the highest possible position and looked down. there was someone hiding in the crates near where Kildare and the others were. He quietly made his way to the intruder.

TBC...

[OFF]

Lieutenant Colonel Alexandria Somers [P: Somers]
Acting MCO

Marine Captain Jelan Lemoris[P: Sterling]
95th Rifles Bravo Unit Officer

2nd Lieutenant Jennifer Goodwin [P: Dodd]
Marine Officer 95th Rifles

Sgt Major Chris 'Maverick' Kildare [P: Somers]
95th Rifles Demolitions

Staff Sergeant Lilliana Vail [P: Arderne]
95th Marine Medic

 

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