S5: E1 - Honor Against Glory

[Ian Galloway]

[ USS Challenger - Bridge - Awhile ago ]

Jettis' brow raised at the man's tone, one quirking higher than the other. He remained silent for a moment, appraising him. "I had every intention in you leaving in what they had given permission for. But very well - if you and the Sciences agree higher sensor capabilities are needed to follow the ion train..." He turned back to T'Kel. "Amend that to ask the Galgans permission to launch our Delta flyer, the Mjolnir."

He turned back to Stryfe. "If permission is given, you will depart with Lieutenant Randell from Sciences, as well as security back up, in case you come into.. less than savory company."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Morgan opened a channel and spoke in her most official tone.

"USS Challenger to Galgan Space Control, we have evidence a cloaked shuttle has touched down on your world, we would like to launch a shuttle to follow up on an ion trail we have discovered, do we have your permission to do so?"

There was a short pause before an equally officious voice replied.

"What is your evidence to support this claim?"

"Stand by Control, I'm sending you all the data we've collected."

There was a longer pause.

"It is clear you sensors are superior to ours. You have permission to track this ion trail, but not to land. If you can locate the intruder, you are to inform us immediately, we will vector in a pair of our patrol craft to support you should you find anything substantive."

"Understood control. Challenger out."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Galga VI, Conference Facility, Federation Quarters]

Rhymus sat in the Federation Quarters' living room with Petty Officer Shurile, keeping an ear to the ongoing general situation via their combadges, as well as defending the Captain from any other assassins. Speaking of, the situation had truly taken a turn for the worse. The plot was little short of pan-galactic in scale. Poisoned Klingon Bloodwine, sold by Ferengi merchants, with Romulan Assassins looking to tie up loose ends. And what was worse, nothing had been found to exonerate anyone. Chancellor Martok could dither on about honor and his belief in the strength in the Alliance all he pleased but without any true proof that the Klingons, or the Ferengi, or the Romulans for that matter, weren't behind the plot it was a useless gesture.

He was also very pleased with the engagement in the Ferengi Quarters. It had been a close call, with Ensign T'Vas poisoned by an assassin's blade. But Chief Petty Officer Blackfeather had been well up to the task, and Rhymus's trust in the man had been well-placed. The situation had been handled before Rhymus could have moved from the Galgan Control Center to the Ferengi Quarters.

"Understood, Lieutenant. We'll be ready." 

The words had not been chosen idly. Twice now, they had been taken by surprise by these assassins, and it had almost cost a life both times. It would not happen a third. Not so long as Rhymus stood.

As Rhymus left the Federation Quarters with the rest of the Federation Entourage, he removed the dress jacket from his shoulder and wrapped it around his phaser. Holding the jacket close to his chest would provide easier access to the weapon.

Keeping a trained eye on the various delegates, a strange feeling sat in the pit of Rhymus's stomach. He had had a close look at Chancellor Martok's team when they had their encounter in the ballroom, a small elite force to defend the leader of the Klingon Empire. A smaller force than the one currently presented before them.

Rhymus leaned towards Captain Galloway and Chief Blackfeather as President Blackwell spoke to the assembled delegates. He brought a hand up to conceal his mouth, disguising the movement as a yawn or cough.

"Look alive." He said to the both of them. "Something is wrong here."

Rhymus did not have the luxury of explaining further. Hopefully his general warning would have them on edge enough to make their own plans. After all, the first step to defeating a known ambush was to spring it.

[Galgan Conference Facility]

Rhymus noted rather than the six Klingons that were at the reception, now there were at least thirty scattered throughout the conference room. The stood around in groups of two to six putting on a great show of intimidation that kept all the other guests well away from the front of the room and the podium set up there. As conference was about to begin, President Blackwell was moving to the podium to speak.

As Shazham actively scanned the room the bulk of what he sensed among the crowd was curious, envious, jealous, hope, or a host of other benign emotions. The Klingons, who were notoriously easy to read, but their emotions were more along the lines of angry, bored, or arrogance. However,  he note a curious thing, there was one group of Klingons he couldn't read, there were six of them near the front and their minds were completely closed to him. Something only a highly disciplined or well trained telepath could manage to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lieutenant jg Lagar
[Brig - USS Challenger]

Lagar nodded in assent. He was at the service of the Acting Captain, and remained within the Brig, calm and steady. His role in this moment was to observe his patient, note his physiological responses to questioning, note facial expressions upon being asked different things, and to watch the man's blood pressure. Any of these little signs could point to potential angles from which to approach the Romulan for further information. Thankfully, the Phylosian's alien make-up meant he could more comfortably observe a person without alerting them overmuch; most people didn't tend to notice when a plant was starting at them, did they?

[Brig - USS Challenger]

As soon as the stimulant was administered, the Romulan snapped to full alertness, much faster than a human would have. He attempted to lunge at the thing standing over him again, but the restraints prevented this. He then focused on the straps holding him in place and despite their extremely high tensile strength, Lagar could see they were straining to keep the Romulan down. All the while, the man said nothing, but the withering hatred in his eyes was enough to freeze the blood or the Phylosian equivalent from the unrelenting malice they projected. One thing was clear, the restraints would not last long.

[Lagar]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Morgan opened a channel and spoke in her most official tone.

"USS Challenger to Galgan Space Control, we have evidence a cloaked shuttle has touched down on your world, we would like to launch a shuttle to follow up on an ion trail we have discovered, do we have your permission to do so?"

There was a short pause before an equally officious voice replied.

"What is your evidence to support this claim?"

"Stand by Control, I'm sending you all the data we've collected."

There was a longer pause.

"It is clear you sensors are superior to ours. You have permission to track this ion trail, but not to land. If you can locate the intruder, you are to inform us immediately, we will vector in a pair of our patrol craft to support you should you find anything substantive."

"Understood control. Challenger out."

NPC - Lieutenant jg Randell
[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Science Officer Lieutenant Randell, junior grade, entered the Bridge at precisely the right time to join Vince in his assigned mission. Most recently, Randell had successfully studied and reported the unusual seismic activity on the planet Edoran, helping to lead to the location of the unusual and terrible Iconian device left behind on that world. Later, Randell had collaborated with Lieutenant Lagar to hunt down the Tigris, which had captured their crewmates. He was a capable officer, serious and focused, with a reputation for honesty.

The man nodded at Vince, the fingers of his hands flexing a little as he warmed them up. "Ensign, I'll follow your lead to the shuttle. Let's get underway."

[Brig - USS Challenger]

As soon as the stimulant was administered, the Romulan snapped to full alertness, much faster than a human would have. He attempted to lunge at the thing standing over him again, but the restraints prevented this. He then focused on the straps holding him in place and despite their extremely high tensile strength, Lagar could see they were straining to keep the Romulan down. All the while, the man said nothing, but the withering hatred in his eyes was enough to freeze the blood or the Phylosian equivalent from the unrelenting malice they projected. One thing was clear, the restraints would not last long.

Lieutenant jg Lagar
[Brig - USS Challenger]

What would last long in their stead would be the Phylosian's vine-like grip. In the interest of protecting his commanding officer, and in keeping his patient from being phasered to death by Security in a potential life-defending attack, Lagar surged forward. From his earliest days of martial practice on Phylos learning to subdue humanoids, to his extension of that training in the Academy not just in medical classrooms but in wrestling combat, Lagar knew how to move himself, and how to restrain. He couldn't 'punch', his tendrils hardly equipped to deal bludgeoning damage, and his curling quadruple legs didn't have the muscular and bone-enhanced 'spring' that made them ideal for kicking. Instead, Phylosians could entwine, twisting and holding and cutting off the flow of fluids and gunk that kept humanoids functioning.

Lagar put this talent to use now, his seven arms slithering and grasping to effectively mummify the struggling Romulan. The assassin now had the restraints of the Biobed and a living, growing thing, specifically trained in grappling, attempting to hold him down.

[Vince Stryfe]

.:: USS Challenger :: Bridge ::.

"It is clear your sensors are superior to ours. You have permission to track this ion trail, but not to land. If you can locate the intruder, you are to inform us immediately, we will vector in a pair of our patrol craft to support you should you find anything substantive." The planetary security rang over the intercom.

Vince started towards the lift to head down to the Flyer's resting spot when another person had come onto the bridge, a Lieutenant JG as he could see.

The man nodded to Vince" Ensign, I'll follow your lead to the shuttle. Let's get underway."

Vince just motioned to the lift, stepping inside, followed closely by the Lieutenant.

.:: USS Challenger :: Shuttle Bay ::.

Vince almost walked with a skip as he entered the shuttlebay. He was getting to do something finally. Although he had only been on the Challenger for a couple weeks, he was getting a little stir crazy, and this would help that out for sure. As he approached the Flyer he ran his hand down the side as he moved towards the rear. This was always his favorite of the shuttles. The capabilities of the shuttle are amazing, and the closest he'd get to flying a Valkyrie for now, so he was going to take it.

He looked back at the man following him," Already ran most of our pre checks on the way down here. So there's just a handful needing to be done still. Let's get inside, I want to be up and out in 5."

Vince found his place at the helm, and he was almost giddy. The Challenger was a bigger ship, but there were things in the Flyer that not even the massive starship could boast. He ran his fingers across the console, the lights flashed on, and he started to finish up the pre checks. The Lt. sat down next to him and started his part of the pre flight checks.

Vince cracked his knuckles," So is it gonna be just you and me then? Or is anybody else gonna pop up, cause I'm ready to fly."

[Ian Galloway]

NPC - Lieutenant Randell
[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Science Officer Lieutenant Randell, junior grade, entered the Bridge at precisely the right time to join Vince in his assigned mission. Most recently, Randell had successfully studied and reported the unusual seismic activity on the planet Edoran, helping to lead to the location of the unusual and terrible Iconian device left behind on that world. Later, Randell had collaborated with Lieutenant Lagar to hunt down the Tigris, which had captured their crewmates. He was a capable officer, serious and focused, with a reputation for honesty.

The man nodded at Vince, the fingers of his hands flexing a little as he warmed them up. "Ensign, I'll follow your lead to the shuttle. Let's get underway."

.:: USS Challenger :: Shuttle Bay ::.

Vince almost walked with a skip as he entered the shuttlebay. He was getting to do something finally. Although he had only been on the Challenger for a couple weeks, he was getting a little stir crazy, and this would help that out for sure. As he approached the Flyer he ran his hand down the side as he moved towards the rear. This was always his favorite of the shuttles. The capabilities of the shuttle are amazing, and the closest he'd get to flying a Valkyrie for now, so he was going to take it.

He looked back at the man following him," Already ran most of our pre checks on the way down here. So there's just a handful needing to be done still. Let's get inside, I want to be up and out in 5."

Vince found his place at the helm, and he was almost giddy. The Challenger was a bigger ship, but there were things in the Flyer that not even the massive starship could boast. He ran his fingers across the console, the lights flashed on, and he started to finish up the pre checks. The Lt. sat down next to him and started his part of the pre flight checks.

Vince cracked his knuckles," So is it gonna be just you and me then? Or is anybody else gonna pop up, cause I'm ready to fly."

The Mjolnir was prepped by the time Stryfe and Randell reached the shuttlebay. Once aboard, they sealed the airlock and exited the forcefield and out into space, high above Galga VI.

Lieutenant jg Lagar
[Brig - USS Challenger]

What would last long in their stead would be the Phylosian's vine-like grip. In the interest of protecting his commanding officer, and in keeping his patient from being phasered to death by Security in a potential life-defending attack, Lagar surged forward. From his earliest days of martial practice on Phylos learning to subdue humanoids, to his extension of that training in the Academy not just in medical classrooms but in wrestling combat, Lagar knew how to move himself, and how to restrain. He couldn't 'punch', his tendrils hardly equipped to deal bludgeoning damage, and his curling quadruple legs didn't have the muscular and bone-enhanced 'spring' that made them ideal for kicking. Instead, Phylosians could entwine, twisting and holding and cutting off the flow of fluids and gunk that kept humanoids functioning.

Lagar put this talent to use now, his seven arms slithering and grasping to effectively mummify the struggling Romulan. The assassin now had the restraints of the Biobed and a living, growing thing, specifically trained in grappling, attempting to hold him down.

[Brig - USS Challenger]

The Romulan struggled far harder than Lagar would have thought possible and despite his skills and many limbs, he wasn't certain he would have been able to hold if not for the restrains on the biobed. The Romulan had fought silently since regaining consciousness, but as he realized he was not able to break free. He snarled.

"WHAT ARE YOU!"

[Lagar]

.:: USS Challenger :: Bridge ::.

"It is clear your sensors are superior to ours. You have permission to track this ion trail, but not to land. If you can locate the intruder, you are to inform us immediately, we will vector in a pair of our patrol craft to support you should you find anything substantive." The planetary security rang over the intercom.

Vince started towards the lift to head down to the Flyer's resting spot when another person had come onto the bridge, a Lieutenant JG as he could see.

The man nodded to Vince" Ensign, I'll follow your lead to the shuttle. Let's get underway."

Vince just motioned to the lift, stepping inside, followed closely by the Lieutenant.

.:: USS Challenger :: Shuttle Bay ::.

Vince almost walked with a skip as he entered the shuttlebay. He was getting to do something finally. Although he had only been on the Challenger for a couple weeks, he was getting a little stir crazy, and this would help that out for sure. As he approached the Flyer he ran his hand down the side as he moved towards the rear. This was always his favorite of the shuttles. The capabilities of the shuttle are amazing, and the closest he'd get to flying a Valkyrie for now, so he was going to take it.

He looked back at the man following him," Already ran most of our pre checks on the way down here. So there's just a handful needing to be done still. Let's get inside, I want to be up and out in 5."

Vince found his place at the helm, and he was almost giddy. The Challenger was a bigger ship, but there were things in the Flyer that not even the massive starship could boast. He ran his fingers across the console, the lights flashed on, and he started to finish up the pre checks. The Lt. sat down next to him and started his part of the pre flight checks.

Vince cracked his knuckles," So is it gonna be just you and me then? Or is anybody else gonna pop up, cause I'm ready to fly."

The Mjolnir was prepped by the time Stryfe and Randell reached the shuttlebay. Once aboard, they sealed the airlock and exited the forcefield and out into space, high above Galga VI.

NPC - Lieutenant jg Randell
[USS Challenger > Mjolnir]

The sober Science Officer had less of a 'skip' than the Flight Control Officer, but there remained a well-concealed eagerness under his placid surface. In the last few months, Evan Randell had not attended a single away mission, but he had read the away mission reports. Some of the more recent off-ship ventures of the Challenger crew had been, in Randell's view... difficult. The missions onto the surface of Edoran had been wrought with unexpected challenges from the native military and the assult of crowds of civilians, and more freshly the Schewbach Incident... Randell shuddered briefly on the turbolift, and yet again wondered how he, himself, might have reacted in those same circumstances. Returning his attention to the present, to this very mission in the midst of an attempted Presidential assassination, there was a very real and likely present threat. Cloaked foes could be lurking just on the edge of their scanners, ready to surge in and eradicate any tiny shuttle that dared unearth their misdeeds...

He watched as Vince gave the Mjolnir a touch with his hand, and listened as Vince made his announcement. "Already on my way, Ensign." he said in reply. He moved into the shuttle, taking his seat next to the younger human and running through his own checks, glad he had not shirked his holodeck practice time in the last month. For just a brief moment, Randell worried that the sound of cracking knuckles was something going terribly wrong in the shuttle, and he whipped his head to the side. He did his best to mask the reaction by quickly responding on the Ensign's query.

"Just an Ensign and a Lieutenant are assigned to this mission." he replied, tapping the final button on his own display that signalled the completion of his checks. "Let's away."

As they entered space high above the planet, Randell was already focusing on employing the Mjolnir's remarkably capable suite of scanner devices. They weren't quite at the best location yet, but there was no harm in getting the tech 'warmed up'. "Ensign, while I work our scanners, please maintain a signal to the Galgan patrol forces notifying them of our flight plan. I suspect they'll be a little less nervous about our movements if we take that extra step of keeping them informed, and they can better coordinate their patrols around us." He sniffed then, a nervous habit that cropped up when his heart started really beating. "In fact, let's ask them to keep their patrols away from that trail, their flights could make it more difficult for us to find what we're after..."

[Don Damien Addams]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Galgan Conference Facility]

Rhymus noted rather than the six Klingons that were at the reception, now there were at least thirty scattered throughout the conference room. The stood around in groups of two to six putting on a great show of intimidation that kept all the other guests well away from the front of the room and the podium set up there. As conference was about to begin, President Blackwell was moving to the podium to speak.

As Shazham actively scanned the room the bulk of what he sensed among the crowd was curious, envious, jealous, hope, or a host of other benign emotions. The Klingons, who were notoriously easy to read, but their emotions were more along the lines of angry, bored, or arrogance. However,  he note a curious thing, there was one group of Klingons he couldn't read, there were six of them near the front and their minds were completely closed to him. Something only a highly disciplined or well trained telepath could manage to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Galga Conference of house of fun]

Jealous. That was an interesting sense he felt. Anyways he had  moved up close to the Captain and he leaned to whisper to his superior officer.

"There are indeed of mix emotions to be read here sir, but those certain Klingon guards," he turned to them and looked at them as hoping the Captain would look. "Two clock," he added in case the Captain had needed a direction to look. "They are superior in mental blocking...I can't penetrate to them. Not sure that is a Klingon skill...or possible secret security in their fraction?" he shared. "Suggestion security watch over them carefully for everyone. I don't want to stir this in a weird way, but they can be possible dopplegangers of sort? I know but I am just throwing an odd bone in the court."

[Vince Stryfe]

.:: USS Mjolnir :: Ion Trail Location ::.

"Ensign, while I work our scanners, please maintain a signal to the Galgan patrol forces notifying them of our flight plan. I suspect they'll be a little less nervous about our movements if we take that extra step of keeping them informed, and they can better coordinate their patrols around us." Randell spoke, "In fact, let's ask them to keep their patrols away from that trail, their flights could make it more difficult for us to find what we're after..."

"Already set up our flight path with the planetary security, and patrol. The patrol is hanging back about two clicks to allow us uninterrupted scanning," Vince tapped at his console," I made sure they were up to snuff as we were pulling out of the ship."

Vince tapped away at his console some more. He had requested all gravimetric data from the area as they were headed down to the shuttle, from the Challenger and any that the Galgan  government may have had. At this point gravimetric data from the 'ship' they were looking for wouldn't be an option, but any data from the area for the last day or so could shed some light on things. He thumbed through the data, looking at everything thoroughly, not wanting to miss a thing. As he came across things that could be of note, he filed them for closer study when he got to them.

As more data scrolled in front of him, he reminded himself that he was pulling double duty on this. He had to be aware of everything around him in case he needed to react. The flyer was a very capable ship, but against anything of significant size, he'd have a hard time on his hands. He made a note of where the patrol craft were situated, formulating a battle plan if needed. His time as a fighter pilot was rushing into the forefront of his mind, where were they, what was on sensors that could effect them, where was the out, and where was the best route for attack. He ran through several scenarios in his mind of where the elusive ship could be, and how he would react. He smiled as he ran them through his mind, he was back in the thick of things, and he was enjoying every moment. This was his wheel house, it wasn't the messed up situation on Halcyon, no rouge psychotic geneticist, or crazed science experiments. It was him, a crewmate, and a very nice ship doing what they could to solve a mystery.

"If you have a moment during your scans, can you give me any data that might match up to these gravimetric readings," Vince pointed out the information, sending it to Randell," You have enough on your plate running scans, I know, but I might be able to help with things."

[Lagar]

.:: USS Mjolnir :: Ion Trail Location ::.

"Ensign, while I work our scanners, please maintain a signal to the Galgan patrol forces notifying them of our flight plan. I suspect they'll be a little less nervous about our movements if we take that extra step of keeping them informed, and they can better coordinate their patrols around us." Randell spoke, "In fact, let's ask them to keep their patrols away from that trail, their flights could make it more difficult for us to find what we're after..."

"Already set up our flight path with the planetary security, and patrol. The patrol is hanging back about two clicks to allow us uninterrupted scanning," Vince tapped at his console," I made sure they were up to snuff as we were pulling out of the ship."

Vince tapped away at his console some more. He had requested all gravimetric data from the area as they were headed down to the shuttle, from the Challenger and any that the Galgan  government may have had. At this point gravimetric data from the 'ship' they were looking for wouldn't be an option, but any data from the area for the last day or so could shed some light on things. He thumbed through the data, looking at everything thoroughly, not wanting to miss a thing. As he came across things that could be of note, he filed them for closer study when he got to them.

As more data scrolled in front of him, he reminded himself that he was pulling double duty on this. He had to be aware of everything around him in case he needed to react. The flyer was a very capable ship, but against anything of significant size, he'd have a hard time on his hands. He made a note of where the patrol craft were situated, formulating a battle plan if needed. His time as a fighter pilot was rushing into the forefront of his mind, where were they, what was on sensors that could effect them, where was the out, and where was the best route for attack. He ran through several scenarios in his mind of where the elusive ship could be, and how he would react. He smiled as he ran them through his mind, he was back in the thick of things, and he was enjoying every moment. This was his wheel house, it wasn't the messed up situation on Halcyon, no rouge psychotic geneticist, or crazed science experiments. It was him, a crewmate, and a very nice ship doing what they could to solve a mystery.

"If you have a moment during your scans, can you give me any data that might match up to these gravimetric readings," Vince pointed out the information, sending it to Randell," You have enough on your plate running scans, I know, but I might be able to help with things."

NPC - Lieutenant jg Randell
[USS Mjolnir - Ion Trail Location]

As Ensign Stryfe revealed that he had already set up their flight path with Galgan patrol forces, Randell managed a meagre "Ahh." in response. He hadn't expected Vince to have already handled those precautions, and he was now decently impressed. That helped Randell calm the little undesirable uncertainties that were floating around in his mind on this mission; with so few Starfleet officers assigned, it felt as though he had more room to make some tremendous mistake...

Randell went to work with a fervor, employing a reverse-spiral scanning pattern starting from the point where his Department had believed they were most likely to find evidence. It was complicated, heady work, so when the Ensign spoke again, the man's voice seemed to be echoing in from some great distance. "Certainly. Absolutely." he said in return. If the Flight Officer had a little room in his tasks, Randell wouldn't deny him the chance to contribute. Flight specialists likely had an eye for such work, as it was. Randell fed Vince's station a bevy of the available data, while accepting the information Vince sent his own way.

"A quick tip, if I may." he said, pausing for a moment, as he worked through another chunk, doublechecking the readings he was seeing as he put together the next sentence.  "It doesn't matter too much with me, but... Remember to refer to another Officer's rank from time to time." Another chunk down, no dice on that one. Randell continued.  "Some Starfleet officers get a little testy if you don't include their rank when you address them, at least when you first talk to them, then... Sprinkle it in after."

He stopped there, curious to see whether Vince would accept the advice, or consider it offensive that it was offered in the first place. Weren't flyboys a little averse to being given guidance by anyone who wasn't also a joystick jockey?

[Vince Stryfe]

.:: USS Mjolnir :: Ion Trail Location ::.

"A quick tip, if I may." Randall spoke up again  "It doesn't matter too much with me, but... Remember to refer to another Officer's rank from time to time." Another chunk down, no dice on that one. Randell continued.  "Some Starfleet officers get a little testy if you don't include their rank when you address them, at least when you first talk to them, then... Sprinkle it in after."

Vince cocked an eyebrow, looking over at the man," My bad Lieutenant Junior Grade, not to be rude, but I wasn't aware of the fact that we needed reminders of our rank. I usually don't have any problems in that department. When given an order I reply quickly answering the person by their rank. In a situation like this I'd prefer to go on a first or last name basis, or act like we can work well together and just talk to each other," Vince looked behind him waving at the empty cabin," Or do I need to remind everyone in the back what your rank is? Not everything has to be formal all the time if it doesn't need to be, unless a person wants an ego stroke."

Vince stopped, and gave a harsh breath out of his nose," Let's start things this way. Hi, I'm Ensign Vince Stryfe, but you can just call me Vince, or Stryfe, whatever your preference. We're the only two here, so there's a good possibility that when you're talking, I know it's too me. I don't need to be reminded of my rank, but feel free to use my name. Or continue to treat my name as Ensign, I could really care less, Lieutenant Junior Grade, didn't catch your name earlier"

Vince stopped again, staring at Randell, waiting for the response. The kind of person Randell would be was about to be revealed. Either he takes the comments from him and is ok with it, or he was an uptight rank is all that matters, and promptly report Vince when they returned. If he wasn't going to send a report about it while they were on the flyer. Vince continued to stare, waiting for his response.

[Lagar]

.:: USS Mjolnir :: Ion Trail Location ::.

"A quick tip, if I may." Randall spoke up again  "It doesn't matter too much with me, but... Remember to refer to another Officer's rank from time to time." Another chunk down, no dice on that one. Randell continued.  "Some Starfleet officers get a little testy if you don't include their rank when you address them, at least when you first talk to them, then... Sprinkle it in after."

Vince cocked an eyebrow, looking over at the man," My bad Lieutenant Junior Grade, not to be rude, but I wasn't aware of the fact that we needed reminders of our rank. I usually don't have any problems in that department. When given an order I reply quickly answering the person by their rank. In a situation like this I'd prefer to go on a first or last name basis, or act like we can work well together and just talk to each other," Vince looked behind him waving at the empty cabin," Or do I need to remind everyone in the back what your rank is? Not everything has to be formal all the time if it doesn't need to be, unless a person wants an ego stroke."

Vince stopped, and gave a harsh breath out of his nose," Let's start things this way. Hi, I'm Ensign Vince Stryfe, but you can just call me Vince, or Stryfe, whatever your preference. We're the only two here, so there's a good possibility that when you're talking, I know it's too me. I don't need to be reminded of my rank, but feel free to use my name. Or continue to treat my name as Ensign, I could really care less, Lieutenant Junior Grade, didn't catch your name earlier"

Vince stopped again, staring at Randell, waiting for the response. The kind of person Randell would be was about to be revealed. Either he takes the comments from him and is ok with it, or he was an uptight rank is all that matters, and promptly report Vince when they returned. If he wasn't going to send a report about it while they were on the flyer. Vince continued to stare, waiting for his response.

NPC - Lieutenant jg Randell
[USS Mjolnir - Ion Trail Location]

Randell listened to the younger man's response, a little surprised at his take, but not too. Randell himself wasn't new to the various perspectives others took in Starfleet, and his nervousness aboard the Mjolnir today was borne from the nature of the mission, not from interpersonal conflict. Randell hadn't spent his time in the Academy, and then in Starfleet itself, never encountering responses like Vince's, so he kept his cool and just listened, analyzing the words Vince used. It appeared to Randell that Vince believed that the advice had come from a place of pride, of 'ego stroking'. The Ensign's reply certainly wasn't respectful, whereas Randell had given his tip with what he had hoped was a genuine tone. In fact, by offering his tip, Randell had meant to give Vince an edge in building the professional relationships that Randell believed were crucial to successful missions. The Schwebach Incident had been a deadly reminder of the importance of trusting ones fellow officers, and listening to their advice...

Vince did not have to stare long while waiting for a response. "It's not about the reminders, Ensign." he began, gently, easily. "And I suspect you don't know me well enough to judge that 'ego' is why I gave you that tip." He had to pause there, parsing through another several sentences of data on his scanner readouts. It also gave Randell time to try to think of what little data he had gathered about Vince to try to steer the conversation in a productive way. "Maybe... You'll tell me why you interpreted my advice that way?"

Oddly, this interpersonal drama was helping Randell calm down, giving him something to focus on in a layer above the data-crunching and scanner-modulating. His breathing became easier, and he wasn't turning his head with quite as much nervous energy.

[Vince Stryfe]

.:: USS Mjolnir :: Ion Trail Location ::.

"It's not about the reminders, Ensign." he began, gently, easily. "And I suspect you don't know me well enough to judge that 'ego' is why I gave you that tip." Randell paused as he looked at his console, then spoke again "Maybe... You'll tell me why you interpreted my advice that way?"

Vince made a slight grunt noise, not as a spiteful sound, more inquisitive," Well, most of the time when people bring up rank, there's only two reasons, most of the time. Either they are by the book jockeys and want everything to run as stated in all those pages of boring in the Starfleet handbook, or they want people to know their rank at all times," Vince now paused for a moment to gain his thoughts," It's like they need some sort of gratification all the time, and if you don't give it to them, then you're in the wrong, and off to the CO for a reprimand."

Vince realized that his little spat wasn't the right way to have approached Randell's, suggestion, as it were, and curled his lips, looking out the window of the ship," So I shouldn't have jumped to a conclusion there, but I did. It's really kind of a pilot thing from what I can tell. We get so engulfed in what we do, that we see things as rank to be trivial. When I'm in a hostile situation, I think off the top of my head, and names come to me faster than rank, so I use them. To explain more, when I'm flying, I treat everything as a potential hostile situation, so I want to use short, quick responses so I don't waste any time doing what I need to do."

Vince looked back over at Randell," I'm sorry, shouldn't have popped off like that."

[Lagar]

.:: USS Mjolnir :: Ion Trail Location ::.

"It's not about the reminders, Ensign." he began, gently, easily. "And I suspect you don't know me well enough to judge that 'ego' is why I gave you that tip." Randell paused as he looked at his console, then spoke again "Maybe... You'll tell me why you interpreted my advice that way?"

Vince made a slight grunt noise, not as a spiteful sound, more inquisitive," Well, most of the time when people bring up rank, there's only two reasons, most of the time. Either they are by the book jockeys and want everything to run as stated in all those pages of boring in the Starfleet handbook, or they want people to know their rank at all times," Vince now paused for a moment to gain his thoughts," It's like they need some sort of gratification all the time, and if you don't give it to them, then you're in the wrong, and off to the CO for a reprimand."

Vince realized that his little spat wasn't the right way to have approached Randell's, suggestion, as it were, and curled his lips, looking out the window of the ship," So I shouldn't have jumped to a conclusion there, but I did. It's really kind of a pilot thing from what I can tell. We get so engulfed in what we do, that we see things as rank to be trivial. When I'm in a hostile situation, I think off the top of my head, and names come to me faster than rank, so I use them. To explain more, when I'm flying, I treat everything as a potential hostile situation, so I want to use short, quick responses so I don't waste any time doing what I need to do."

Vince looked back over at Randell," I'm sorry, shouldn't have popped off like that."

NPC - Lieutenant jg Randell
[USS Mjolnir - Ion Trail Location]

Well that was a good result! Randell made a mental note, in his ever-increasing tome of mental notes, that observing another person and listening to their word choice was often quite beneficial...

"Hostile situations often demand that we think off the top of our heads." Randell agreed. "When you're at the helm, you're responsible for moving a ship that carries hundreds of lives." He paused there, knowing he didn't need to explain the importance of Vince's duties to him. "I accept your apology... Vince... If you'll accept mine for offering un-asked for advice. It's one of my own troubling habits."

At that point, Randell found something that might be worth analyzing further, so he passed it over to Vince for a sort of 'sanity check', to make sure another pair of eyes saw the same thing.

[Jettis Jyur]

[Brig - USS Challenger]

The Romulan struggled far harder than Lagar would have thought possible and despite his skills and many limbs, he wasn't certain he would have been able to hold if not for the restrains on the biobed. The Romulan had fought silently since regaining consciousness, but as he realized he was not able to break free. He snarled.

"WHAT ARE YOU!"

[ USS Challenger - Brig ]

Once the stimulant was administered, things erupted into activity. The man's eyes popped open widely, and the fighting began.

At first Jettis watched him with what seemed to be content - the man was struggling futilely. Until his eyes slipped over to the connectors of the shackles, and for a moment his brow creased with sorry. Even the high-tension restraints seemed to be sweating under the immense pressure of the Romulan fighting back.

Lagar however sprung to action quickly, wrapping the man up and after a few moments, subduing his fiery fight. Jettis have a small nod of appreciation towards Lagar, eyes conveying more than his body language. Before his gaze slipped back to the now defeated man. "That is officer Lagar. I suspect you haven't encountered many Phylosians, but perhaps now isn't the time for a xenobiology lesson."

Jettis hummed, as for the first time in awhile, Jettis used his empathic abilities on duty. The occasions where he would dare slip into grey territory were few and far between, but if any situation warranted it, this one was certainly it. Between that, and Lagar's monitoring, they would hopefully get a more genuine impression off of the man.

"What we do need to talk about, is your assassination of the President, and attempted assassination of another dignitary present at the conference. The Ferengi, I can only assume was to ensure there was no loose ends left untied. Am I correct?" Despite the deliberate question, he didn't exactly expect the man to answer. It was at this point he hoped  Lagar's bioscanning would come in handy, as a sort of makeshift lie-detector.

He also chose his words carefully, perhaps leading the man to believe his original mission had been carried out. By the time the President was beamed back down to the planet, the Romulan was snugly tucked into the Brig, most likely unconscious. He could only hope the man didn't catch a glimpse of the President during his escape attempt. "I also assume you are a minion of Thelal's. What I want to know is why. There have been many attempts to bring down the Federation, but few as persistent as you. There must be a reason."

[Ian Galloway]

[ USS Challenger - Brig ]

Once the stimulant was administered, things erupted into activity. The man's eyes popped open widely, and the fighting began.

At first Jettis watched him with what seemed to be content - the man was struggling futilely. Until his eyes slipped over to the connectors of the shackles, and for a moment his brow creased with sorry. Even the high-tension restraints seemed to be sweating under the immense pressure of the Romulan fighting back.

Lagar however sprung to action quickly, wrapping the man up and after a few moments, subduing his fiery fight. Jettis have a small nod of appreciation towards Lagar, eyes conveying more than his body language. Before his gaze slipped back to the now defeated man. "That is officer Lagar. I suspect you haven't encountered many Phylosians, but perhaps now isn't the time for a xenobiology lesson."

Jettis hummed, as for the first time in awhile, Jettis used his empathic abilities on duty. The occasions where he would dare slip into grey territory were few and far between, but if any situation warranted it, this one was certainly it. Between that, and Lagar's monitoring, they would hopefully get a more genuine impression off of the man.

"What we do need to talk about, is your assassination of the President, and attempted assassination of another dignitary present at the conference. The Ferengi, I can only assume was to ensure there was no loose ends left untied. Am I correct?" Despite the deliberate question, he didn't exactly expect the man to answer. It was at this point he hoped  Lagar's bioscanning would come in handy, as a sort of makeshift lie-detector.

He also chose his words carefully, perhaps leading the man to believe his original mission had been carried out. By the time the President was beamed back down to the planet, the Romulan was snugly tucked into the Brig, most likely unconscious. He could only hope the man didn't catch a glimpse of the President during his escape attempt. "I also assume you are a minion of Thelal's. What I want to know is why. There have been many attempts to bring down the Federation, but few as persistent as you. There must be a reason."

[Brig - USS Challenger]

The Romulan's hatred was almost palpable as it radiated off of him as he gave both Starfleet officers withering stares. However, besides his one outburst regarding Lagar, the Romulan returned to an attitude of sullen silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Galga Conference of house of fun]

Jealous. That was an interesting sense he felt. Anyways he had  moved up close to the Captain and he leaned to whisper to his superior officer.

"There are indeed of mix emotions to be read here sir, but those certain Klingon guards," he turned to them and looked at them as hoping the Captain would look. "Two clock," he added in case the Captain had needed a direction to look. "They are superior in mental blocking...I can't penetrate to them. Not sure that is a Klingon skill...or possible secret security in their fraction?" he shared. "Suggestion security watch over them carefully for everyone. I don't want to stir this in a weird way, but they can be possible dopplegangers of sort? I know but I am just throwing an odd bone in the court."

[Galgan Conference Facility]

When Shazham mentioned there was a group of Klingons that he couldn't read, it triggered something in Ian's gut, whether a long lost memory or a fragment of an incident in his past, but something about the term doppleganger made him surge forward into action. The group of six Klingons the Betazoid had pointed out had moved from a cluster to a half circle with the open end facing the President as she stepped to the podium.

As he ran at maximum speed he could see the Klingons beginning to draw weapons and with a final surge, he leapt the last two meters and tackled the President, knocking her to the floor and out of the line of fire as the Klingons began firing their disruptor pistols with abandon.

The first thing to happen was the podium exploded as it took multiple hits and this made Ian gasp as several fragments struck his back as he lay on top of Blackwell, shielding her body with his own. The next thing to happen was unmitigated chaos as guests started screaming and several other Klingons began shooting at the first group.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Shuttlecraft - Mjolnir]

As Vince followed the path Randell called out from his scans, their progress was more frustrating that fruitful. The rogue ion trail had just degraded too far to track in the upper atmosphere. However, just as Randell was about to give up, his eyes widened and he gave Vince a look of amazement.

"The old trail is gone, but I'm picking up a new one and based on the gravitic anomalies that you said to look for, this thing is not only moving, but it's moving fast. Bearing 161 mark 15!"

[Jettis Jyur]

[Brig - USS Challenger]

The Romulan's hatred was almost palpable as it radiated off of him as he gave both Starfleet officers withering stares. However, besides his one outburst regarding Lagar, the Romulan returned to an attitude of sullen silence.

[ USS Challenger - Brig ]

The Romulan simply met Jettis' gaze, with seemingly no reaction to anything he'd said. Not eve the implication that the President had died. Whether it be because he knew otherwise, or just simply because he refused to talk, Jettis would never know. Surely something had to make the man crack, but what?

"Rest assured, with the plethora of evidence you've so graciously provided, Starfleet will be able to launch an investigation now. You and I both know that even if Thelal did come back for you, rescue one of his own, it's to clean up collateral damage." Jettis' gaze penetrated through the man, looking for any inkling of wavering support, or logical reasoning. "Cooperating with us is much more beneficial to you at this time, and will especially be in the future. We can bring you into protective custody, as I'm sure you know more than I your failure will not be.. tolerated well. We can bring you to somewhere safe until you can have a fair judicial trial." Though he sensed these words may have no effect - the man had tried suicide in a final act of desperation. But perhaps the threat of what awaited him back in Romulan territory, was more scary than whatever Starfleet had in store for the man. At the very least, it wasn't an immediate, unwavering death sentence.