S1E1 - Testing Boundaries

[Charlotte Fawkes]

Lieutenant Danjar-Torra Addams

[Outpost Solaere - Deck 6 - Science Lab 4]

Torra had the crate on a hovercart as she maneuvered it into the Science Lab.

"Hello.  I'm Lieutenant Addams. I'm hoping someone can help me scan this beacon device to determine it's exact signal frequency and come up with a means of tracking that signal back to its source. "

| Ensign Fawkes | Science Officer | Science Lab 4 | Deck 6 | Outpost Solaere |

The maze of boxes and crates had dwindled to a manageable mess, and Science Lab 4 began to look like a lab instead of a store room. While going over a few specimens from the planet below, Charlotte was eager to explore the potted craters of Ciden IV. Superhot debris flung through space via a supernova was not an everyday find, and she often wondered about the long-term effects of such a cataclysm. Whether she would get the chance to study the area or not would likely not come up for some time. Until then, Fawkes would busy herself with settling in.

While setting up a geological scanner, Fawkes noticed a Grazerite with a crate on a hovercart enter the room. The ensign nodded politely as Lt. Addams asked for a scan of a beacon. "œLet's see what we can do," said Fawkes, retracing her tricorder. "œI'm sure you've scanned it before, but protocol dictates that I do it again. Starfleet likes redundancies."  Once the apparatus was safe, Charlotte placed the beacon in a chamber and initiated a forefield. "œI assume you don't want to turn it on in the open?" Fawkes asked, though the question was essentially rhetorical. "œComputer, scan the device for all known frequencies and store."

"œAcknowledged," responded the outpost's central computer.

The beacon initiated within the forcefield as the computer scanned the object. Seconds later, a frequency pattern appeared on the LCARS board. Fawkes made a copy on her PADD and transferred it to Lt. Addams. "œInteresting." With a few taps on the console, Fawkes lowered the forcefield and retrieved the beacon device. She then directed Adams to the digitized representation of the device's frequency.

"œWe have a relatively high frequency, and high frequencies do not travel as far as low frequencies. That means the signal's origin would be fairly close by within the Ciden system, which doesn't help much." Charlotte shrugged. "œHowever," Fawkes began, pointing to the wave-like pattern on the console. "œWe can mask or erase the frequency of everything else "" planets, stars, the station, etc. and simply follow this one."

[Feeva Drylo]

Outpost Solare
Medical

The others returned in due time, and the chaos in Sickbay had subsided enough that the Betazed counselor was able to breathe again.
Dr. Grippen appeared in front of her, and Feeva smiled.
"Hello!"

Hi, sorry about that chaos earlier. You should be really proud of yourself, you saved this flaxian's life. I'm not sure if the evacuation is happening yet, seems to be a false-alarm. This station's apparently had a full blown smuggling operation going on for some time and they've just uncovered it.

Fee opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out. There was a WHAT?! Finally, her brain clicked into gear.

"I...see. It was my pleasure to save his life, though I don't know for how long it will be," she said. "He is alive and breathing, but still critical, as well as he has a head injury from hitting the floor, though it is minor. With rest and medication, he should be ok, I'd presume," she said. She moved on to check patients in Biobeds, the calm demeanor returning.

"There's something else bothering me. That Flaxian was nearly killed and the person responsible, our very own chief of security, didn't really seem to care. Boasting about 'not knowing his own strength'. Normally I'd report this type of thing to the well, Chief of Security...

Feeva paused a moment. Why was she sharing this?

"Can I help? Perhaps getting into his head a bit might be a good idea. If you need to report it, obviously go to Captain Garrison," she said. "But perhaps also a report to the Fleet Medical Counsel, for further instruction," she advised. "After that, your guess is as good as mine. It IS curious that he seemed to not care. Do you think he may be behind it or had prior knowledge?"

[Kinley Garrison]

[Station Ops]

Kinley grabbed her phaser, just in case. Why me? Just as I just got assigned this position? She thought as she looked  at the internal maps of the station she had,  with the highlighted areas in question.  There were a lot of things to do, and she was already torn really thin.

As Gohun  reported, she nodded,

"œThanks for coming Mr. Gohun. Could you check out these transponding emitters and see if you can figure out a way to turn them off en masse?  We have a team in the labs working on that if you're interested in joining them. Good news, it is not a bomb, at least. " she said,  kind of relieved at that little fact.

"œMr. Dersch,  you have permission to move in.   If you find any, feel free to kick some butts." she said, giving a slight grin to try and ease the tension.

Nodding,  she took a moment to look to Nira. "œ Let's talk with this Cloten fellow.  It seems like he's the ringleader."

When she saw the hairball, aka Cloten,  being brought up, fortunately in chains, she tried to give a stern nod.  Nira could probably give him the "œBad cop" routine,  and probably would,  but right now, she wanted to talk to him. He might not listen, but that was up to him at this point as the brigs were going to be very full after this day.

"œMr. Cloten, I am tired of your shenanigans here, and I really would like your full cooperation before things get messier than they already are. I know things got off on the wrong foot here, but I'm sure we can discuss things reasonably.   What's your relation to these Orions, and where does the syndicate  come into all this? And why are you guys here? " she asked.

[J.B Dersch]

[Station Ops]

Kinley grabbed her phaser, just in case. Why me? Just as I just got assigned this position? She thought as she looked  at the internal maps of the station she had,  with the highlighted areas in question.  There were a lot of things to do, and she was already torn really thin.

As Gohun  reported, she nodded,

"œThanks for coming Mr. Gohun. Could you check out these transponding emitters and see if you can figure out a way to turn them off en masse?  We have a team in the labs working on that if you're interested in joining them. Good news, it is not a bomb, at least. " she said,  kind of relieved at that little fact.

"œMr. Dersch,  you have permission to move in.   If you find any, feel free to kick some butts." she said, giving a slight grin to try and ease the tension.

Nodding,  she took a moment to look to Nira. "œ Let's talk with this Cloten fellow.  It seems like he's the ringleader."

When she saw the hairball, aka Cloten,  being brought up, fortunately in chains, she tried to give a stern nod.  Nira could probably give him the "œBad cop" routine,  and probably would,  but right now, she wanted to talk to him. He might not listen, but that was up to him at this point as the brigs were going to be very full after this day.

"œMr. Cloten, I am tired of your shenanigans here, and I really would like your full cooperation before things get messier than they already are. I know things got off on the wrong foot here, but I'm sure we can discuss things reasonably.   What's your relation to these Orions, and where does the syndicate  come into all this? And why are you guys here? " she asked.

[Lt. JG JB Dersch | Ops | Deck 1 | Outpost Solaere]

After dropping the furball off, Dersch got more orders from the Commander. "œMr. Dersch,  you have permission to move in.   If you find any, feel free to kick some butts." she said, giving a slight grin

After receiving instructions from the Commander, Dersch nodded in acknowledgment and replied, "Understood, Commander." Without wasting any time, he swiftly turned around and headed back to Deck 10, eager to carry out his assigned tasks.

[Lt. JG JB Dersch | Security Office | Promenade | Deck Ten | Outpost Solaere]

With purposeful strides, he stepped onto the deck, his eyes scanning the area, taking in every detail. His voice was firm and commanding as he issued orders, "Breach Team 1 and 2, prepare for breach on my count!" Dersch moved quickly, positioning himself around the entryway, his senses on high alert. He received confirmation from the others, and with a nod, he gave the signal, "BREACH!"

As he pushed through the entryway, he yelled, "SECURITY, NO ONE MOVE!" His heart was racing as he had to quickly dodge phaser fire. His partner was quick to respond, and together, they took down the suspect. But their job was far from over, and they still had more to deal with. He also heard commotion coming from Breach Team 2, and he knew that they had to act quickly and cautiously to ensure everyone's safety.

Dersch and his partner were under heavy fire as they moved across the area. In an attempt to protect his partner and himself, Dersch made the hand sign for 'cover me' and quickly moved behind some crates. Phaser shots flew over his hand as he took cover. Once he was safely behind the crates, he covered his partner as he ran across the area to reach another point of cover.

Dersch realized that they needed to create a distraction to get out of the crossfire, so he pulled out a smoke grenade from his backpack. He carefully pulled the pin and threw the grenade towards the group who were firing at them. The smoke grenade exploded, creating a thick smokescreen that obscured their vision. Dersch and his partner used the smokescreen to their advantage and moved away from the area to safety.

In the midst of the smoky battlefield, he tightly gripped his weapon and pulled the trigger, unleashing four deafening shots. He then braced himself for what was to come, knowing that the opposing team had likely taken cover as well.

[Lindsey]

[{NPC} Lieutenant Shujip | Freighter Dock Six | The Jackal, Lower Level | Deck Twelve | Outpost Solaere]

"Help us, my ass," snarled Shujip, now that the human confessed to triggering off the lights. "That blackout was doing more harm than good. You're staying with us, girlie; whoever from the Syndicate shows up to answer the beacon, you're going with them, so as we get back on their good graces...the sooner you're gone, Dez," he added to Dez, "the better..."

He noticed something at the crates, a few people hiding about them. Virtually left alone while the rest of the gang was grumbling and murmuring near the doors. One of them was a huge somebody...

"Sinjax," he growled at another fellow Nausicaan, "somebody's snooping around the crates. Make sure it's not that damn turtle; if it is, watch yourself, Chelon claws are poisonous..."

But something else got his attention. Two, actually. One was a Starfleet runabout, and the latest model of runabout at that, hovering above the dock, blocking the path of the freighter. It was an obvious obstruction, and it might as well flash a sign under it: No. One. Leaves.

The other was the redhead suddenly disappearing in a swirl of blue particles. It was too late, she was gone. He was seething in fury...

Now just hold on, yer great lump.  You weren't doing that great considering the things heading your way
She made to follow Dez but started to feel a knowing sense of (not quite) pins and needles associated with moving during a beam out
Oh Fuc
| Ops, Deck 1 | Outpost Solaere]

K!
The room came to view, she'd not seen this location before, Consoles and Starfleet uniform where everywhere.
She looked at the box in her hands (with it's flashing light) and then up at the nearest Uniform
Someone order a Pizza?  She gives a nervous grin

today had not exactly gone acording to any plan

[Danjar-Torra Addams]

Lieutenant Danjar-Torra Addams
[Outpost Solaere - Deck 6 - Science Lab 4]

| Ensign Fawkes | Science Officer | Science Lab 4 | Deck 6 | Outpost Solaere |

The maze of boxes and crates had dwindled to a manageable mess, and Science Lab 4 began to look like a lab instead of a store room. While going over a few specimens from the planet below, Charlotte was eager to explore the potted craters of Ciden IV. Superhot debris flung through space via a supernova was not an everyday find, and she often wondered about the long-term effects of such a cataclysm. Whether she would get the chance to study the area or not would likely not come up for some time. Until then, Fawkes would busy herself with settling in.

While setting up a geological scanner, Fawkes noticed a Grazerite with a crate on a hovercart enter the room. The ensign nodded politely as Lt. Addams asked for a scan of a beacon. "œLet's see what we can do," said Fawkes, retracing her tricorder. "œI'm sure you've scanned it before, but protocol dictates that I do it again. Starfleet likes redundancies."  Once the apparatus was safe, Charlotte placed the beacon in a chamber and initiated a forefield. "œI assume you don't want to turn it on in the open?" Fawkes asked, though the question was essentially rhetorical. "œComputer, scan the device for all known frequencies and store."

"œAcknowledged," responded the outpost's central computer.

The beacon initiated within the forcefield as the computer scanned the object. Seconds later, a frequency pattern appeared on the LCARS board. Fawkes made a copy on her PADD and transferred it to Lt. Addams. "œInteresting." With a few taps on the console, Fawkes lowered the forcefield and retrieved the beacon device. She then directed Addams to the digitized representation of the device's frequency.

"œWe have a relatively high frequency, and high frequencies do not travel as far as low frequencies. That means the signal's origin would be fairly close by within the Ciden system, which doesn't help much." Charlotte shrugged. "œHowever," Fawkes began, pointing to the wave-like pattern on the console. "œWe can mask or erase the frequency of everything else "" planets, stars, the station, etc. and simply follow this one."

Torra handed over the beacon device.  At the woman's remark about not activating it in the open...Torra gave slight sad smile.  "I believe the damage is already done.  We have a cargo hold near full of them.  All activated."

The Grazerite quietly observed while the science officer explained the process as she worked.
"That is excellent news.  Thank you."

Torra then tapped her commbadge.

"Lieutenant Addams to Commander Said.  I'm here at the Science Lab and the Ensign here..."   Torra paused looking towards the woman realizing now that the woman hadn't introduced herself.   It took a moment for Torra, who as Ops worked on the administration of all personnel, to recall the names of those who worked in the Science  department  (which tended to be over run by Vulcans and Males).

"Um.. Ensign Fawkes, I believe.   She's managed to isolate the specific high frequency of the beacon and once the crates in the hold have been deactivated, we can use this information to track the missing crates.  Do we have your permission to proceed?  High frequencies have a shorter range- no farther than the Ciden system - so we should act swiftly in case the crate has already been loaded onto a departing ship that might be leaving the system.  I'd like permission to take out a shuttle and do a sweep of the system, with focus on the Federation settlement and Romulan encampment." 

A few vessels had come and gone from the station in the early part of her shift and Torra worried that those might have contained some of the smuggled goods. 

[Nira Said]

[Commander Nira Said | Operations Center | Deck One | Outpost Solaere]

"Good to hear about your caution, Torra," said Nira, although it meant that the inventory she provided meant there was more contraband to find.  "You and Savar and your departments may easily get to the crates easily enough once the rest of the gang is removed to the Brig. Said out."

A moment later, a redheaded woman appeared in Ops, apparently holding a crate. Nira stared hard at her and folded her arms.

"Thank you, Mister Devereaux," she said, and she looked back at the redhead with a scowl, notwithstanding her joke. In fact, she opened the blinking crate, and inside were a series of aerosol sprays. Cleverly disguised with outward bottles as they were, the labels claiming them to be cleaning spray were loose, and under them were labels with the real name of the spray. It was, in fact, the narcotic spray known as Splinter. Granted, she didn't need the loose labels to tell her, not when the scanners picked up and identified what was really in the spray bottles.

Curling her lip, she seized the crate from the woman's hands and handed it to one of the other officers on Ops, Crewman Lenexah Seran, a fellow Betazoid, and said, "Crewman Seran, take this crate to the restroom and send the sprays down the toilet. And don't think of taking it yourself, we'll know if you do," she added sternly.

Seran nodded and headed for the bathroom just as Dersch entered with Cloten. Cloten had noticed a crate being brought in and scowled, then he saw the redhead and tilted his head in befuddlement.

"Ah, thank you, Mister Dersch, for delivering Mister Cloten," said Nira. As Kinley began speaking to Cloten, Nira approached the redhead. "Let me guess, trying to escape in that Orion freighter? Only ship to dock there. And I guess I should've known better, that somebody else could try to get in. Computer, identify this redheaded woman before me and provide a brief summary of criminal activities."

"Lindsay Aubrey. Multiple accounts of smuggling."

It was brief, but it told Nira all she needed to know.

"It seems, Mister Cloten," she added hard, seeing as how Kinley was adopting the weary "good cop" stature while Nira was going full on "bad cop," you have a compatriot in your criminal sphere, if not a comrade."

"Like if I know who she is," muttered Cloten derisively.

"Well, Commander Garrison and I will have words with you shortly," said Nira, grabbing an arm and putting her in her chair. "Computer, erect level eight forcefield around my chair and the individual sitting in it."

Once Miss Aubrey was well and truly confined inside, guaranteed not to go anywhere, she went back to Cloten.

[Nira Said]

[Continuance of the above post...]

"Now, regarding Commander Garrison's questions..."

"Please, my connection to the Orion Syndicate would be a book in and of itself," sneered Cloten. "As to why we are here, I already told you. Starfleet was moving back in, and we were anxious to get our crap off as fast as possible...though unfortunately, there's so much we weren't able to get it off quickly enough. As to Orions, they're my compadres, and some of them, as Nira here knows, they serve in my crew."

"Then explain something in particular," snarled Nira softly. "All your crates are rigged with beacons. To what purpose?"

"Oh, them," said Cloten. "In a nutshell, they're alarms. They're each rigged with a homing beacon that's designed to send out an alert signal if the crates have been tampered with, ideally if they get opened wide enough...I assume it was you who tripped it," he added, looking around at Miss Aubrey. "Generally, it's ideal to disarm them first by providing the proper access code, which we all possess. Open 'em too wide without them, they're set off. And because they're connected remotely to each other, if one goes off, they all go off."

"And I'm presuming somebody in the Orion Syndicate will have picked up the homing signal?" hissed Nira softly.

"Yep, and if the tamper alert's gone off, somebody's going to show up to remove the contraband the quicker way," retorted Cloten with a curled lip. "In other words, I hope you're ready for a party. Specifically, a raiding party."

Nira scowled at him just as Torra called in again. She left Kinley to Cloten for more questions and responded back. She raised her eyebrows with interest at the news that, with help from the new Science ensign Charlotte Fawkes, she can trace the signals to where any off-station contraband can be found.

"Good work, Torra," she said. "You have my permission to proceed, and fast. Take one of the runabouts and conduct your sweep. I'll be sending a flight officer to pilot you. Said out."

She then turned to the only other flight officer available. "Mister Ch'ishrelnin, get a runabout ready, don't bother with preflight checks; the sooner you get Lieutenant Addams to work her sweep and back to the station, the better. We may be expecting company soon."

The young Andorian nodded and was off. Nira got back to Cloten while Kinley was doing her "good cop" routine.

[Nira Said]

[Lt. JG JB Dersch | Security Office | Promenade | Deck Ten | Outpost Solaere]

With purposeful strides, he stepped onto the deck, his eyes scanning the area, taking in every detail. His voice was firm and commanding as he issued orders, "Breach Team 1 and 2, prepare for breach on my count!" Dersch moved quickly, positioning himself around the entryway, his senses on high alert. He received confirmation from the others, and with a nod, he gave the signal, "BREACH!"

As he pushed through the entryway, he yelled, "SECURITY, NO ONE MOVE!" His heart was racing as he had to quickly dodge phaser fire. His partner was quick to respond, and together, they took down the suspect. But their job was far from over, and they still had more to deal with. He also heard commotion coming from Breach Team 2, and he knew that they had to act quickly and cautiously to ensure everyone's safety.

Dersch and his partner were under heavy fire as they moved across the area. In an attempt to protect his partner and himself, Dersch made the hand sign for 'cover me' and quickly moved behind some crates. Phaser shots flew over his hand as he took cover. Once he was safely behind the crates, he covered his partner as he ran across the area to reach another point of cover.

Dersch realized that they needed to create a distraction to get out of the crossfire, so he pulled out a smoke grenade from his backpack. He carefully pulled the pin and threw the grenade towards the group who were firing at them. The smoke grenade exploded, creating a thick smokescreen that obscured their vision. Dersch and his partner used the smokescreen to their advantage and moved away from the area to safety.

In the midst of the smoky battlefield, he tightly gripped his weapon and pulled the trigger, unleashing four deafening shots. He then braced himself for what was to come, knowing that the opposing team had likely taken cover as well.

[{NPC} Lieutenant Shujip | Freighter Dock Six | The Jackal, Lower Level | Deck Twelve | Outpost Solaere]

Shujip was becoming restless, and so were the rest of the boys. What was more, Sinjax and a couple of his men were brought down at once. He saw somebody with pointed ears get the drop on him with a neck pinch. A Vulcan. But before he could do a thing about it, the Starfleeter security officers surprised them.

There were sparse amounts of Security, but with the smoke grenades and the disorganized panicked crowd, they easily fell to the officers.

"GET OUT OF HERE, DEZ!" Shujup roared as he fought with disruptors and seeing his comrades stunned down around him, as much as he could see in the smoke. It wasn't long before he could see some of his fallen comrades transported out, and soon, it was just him and a sparse handful left surrounded by Dersch and his security officers.

[Meanwhile, between the Romulan border and the unofficial Orion Syndicate border...]

The tamper alert was sent on Orion Syndicate signals, but because a certain Romulan warlord who controlled a good portion of the Orion Syndicate had access to those signatures, it meant he was the first to pick it up. Source of the transmission: from Ciden IV.

Ah. Ciden. A name long associated with dormant trouble, with its reputation of being a backwater on the Romulan border. Ignored for too long. Well. It was time for the Syndicate to answer the summons.

[Charlotte Fawkes]

Lieutenant Danjar-Torra Addams
[Outpost Solaere - Deck 6 - Science Lab 4]

Torra handed over the beacon device.  At the woman's remark about not activating it in the open...Torra gave slight sad smile.  "I believe the damage is already done.  We have a cargo hold near full of them.  All activated."

The Grazerite quietly observed while the science officer explained the process as she worked.
"That is excellent news.  Thank you."

Torra then tapped her commbadge.

"Lieutenant Addams to Commander Said.  I'm here at the Science Lab and the Ensign here..."   Torra paused looking towards the woman realizing now that the woman hadn't introduced herself.   It took a moment for Torra, who as Ops worked on the administration of all personnel, to recall the names of those who worked in the Science  department  (which tended to be over run by Vulcans and Males).

"Um.. Ensign Fawkes, I believe.   She's managed to isolate the specific high frequency of the beacon and once the crates in the hold have been deactivated, we can use this information to track the missing crates.  Do we have your permission to proceed?  High frequencies have a shorter range- no farther than the Ciden system - so we should act swiftly in case the crate has already been loaded onto a departing ship that might be leaving the system.  I'd like permission to take out a shuttle and do a sweep of the system, with focus on the Federation settlement and Romulan encampment." 

A few vessels had come and gone from the station in the early part of her shift and Torra worried that those might have contained some of the smuggled goods.

| Ensign Fawkes | Science Officer | Deck 6, Science Lab 4 | Outpost Solaere |

When Adams spoke the ensign's name, Fawkes nodded in the affirmative to the tall Grazerite, not wishing to interrupt her conversation. As she could hear bits of the conversation "" something about the settlements from the planet, the scientist moved into the back of the lab and continued to unpack.

The next crate she opened contained a variety of plants marked for their point of origin. Though Fakes was keenly interested in botany, it was not her specialty. The only thing for her to do was comm the station's xenobotinist, if there was one.

"œWas that all you needed, Lt. Adams?" asked the scientist. Charlotte wanted to ensure the Grazerite was satisfied before continuing with her work.

[Danjar-Torra Addams]

Lieutenant Danjar-Torra Addams
[Outpost Solaere - Deck 6 - Science Lab 4]

| Ensign Fawkes | Science Officer | Deck 6, Science Lab 4 | Outpost Solaere |

When Addams spoke the ensign's name, Fawkes nodded in the affirmative to the tall Grazerite, not wishing to interrupt her conversation. As she could hear bits of the conversation "" something about the settlements from the planet, the scientist moved into the back of the lab and continued to unpack.

The next crate she opened contained a variety of plants marked for their point of origin. Though Fawkes was keenly interested in botany, it was not her specialty. The only thing for her to do was comm the station's xenobotinist, if there was one.

"œWas that all you needed, Lt. Addams?" asked the scientist. Charlotte wanted to ensure the Grazerite was satisfied before continuing with her work.

Nira scowled at him just as Torra called in again. She left Kinley to Cloten for more questions and responded back. She raised her eyebrows with interest at the news that, with help from the new Science ensign Charlotte Fawkes, she can trace the signals to where any off-station contraband can be found.

"Good work, Torra," she said. "You have my permission to proceed, and fast. Take one of the runabouts and conduct your sweep. I'll be sending a flight officer to pilot you. Said out."

She then turned to the only other flight officer available. "Mister Ch'ishrelnin, get a runabout ready, don't bother with preflight checks; the sooner you get Lieutenant Addams to work her sweep and back to the station, the better. We may be expecting company soon."

The young Andorian nodded and was off. Nira got back to Cloten while Kinley was doing her "good cop" routine.

Torra was pleased to receive permission to do the requested sweep; even more so when Nira indicated that she would assign a pilot to assist - not that Torra didn't know how to operate shuttle well enough on her own. It just meant she wouldn't be alone.

Torra also wanted to seek clarification on her orders to destroy the crated goods.  Yet before she could ask, Nira closed the comm.   The Grazerite realized her friend must be extremely busy.  Well, Torra decided she would her make her suggestion to the commander later; for now she would risk reprimand for not following orders - by not destroying the crate as she'd been directed to.

While she pondered how best to do this, the science officer - Ensign Fawkes asked her a question: was that all she needed?

Torra nodded slowly.  "Yes...  unless you might be interested in tracking down any missing crates with me?  I can do it on my own, but there's always greater safety in numbers." Perhaps that was only a saying held by herd species but Torra found it often to be true.  "I'm certain I can get approval from your department head for your assistance."

Torra once more hacked the device and deactivated the beacon.  With that done she messaged the OPs console, requesting a site to site transport of the crate back to the cargo hold it was found in.  She then contacted Savar.

"Lieutenant Addams to Lieutenant Savar, I've had the crate I took with me transported back to the cargo hold with its beacon deactivated.  Ensign Fawkes was quite helpful in isolating the frequency of the beacon.  I'd like to 'borrow' her if I may to locate any off station contraband.  Commander Said has granted me permission to take a shuttle to do so immediately.  Also, the crates containing Romulan ale, please set these aside rather than recycling the contents.   I have a suggestion for a more beneficial use of them that I wish to present to the Commanders once they are not so busy."

[J.B Dersch]

[{NPC} Lieutenant Shujip | Freighter Dock Six | The Jackal, Lower Level | Deck Twelve | Outpost Solaere]

Shujip was becoming restless, and so were the rest of the boys. What was more, Sinjax and a couple of his men were brought down at once. He saw somebody with pointed ears get the drop on him with a neck pinch. A Vulcan. But before he could do a thing about it, the Starfleeter security officers surprised them.

There were sparse amounts of Security, but with the smoke grenades and the disorganized panicked crowd, they easily fell to the officers.

"GET OUT OF HERE, DEZ!" Shujup roared as he fought with disruptors and seeing his comrades stunned down around him, as much as he could see in the smoke. It wasn't long before he could see some of his fallen comrades transported out, and soon, it was just him and a sparse handful left surrounded by Dersch and his security officers.

[Meanwhile, between the Romulan border and the unofficial Orion Syndicate border...]

The tamper alert was sent on Orion Syndicate signals, but because a certain Romulan warlord who controlled a good portion of the Orion Syndicate had access to those signatures, it meant he was the first to pick it up. Source of the transmission: from Ciden IV.

Ah. Ciden. A name long associated with dormant trouble, with its reputation of being a backwater on the Romulan border. Ignored for too long. Well. It was time for the Syndicate to answer the summons.

[Lt. JG JB Dersch | Freighter Dock Six | The Jackal, Lower Level | Deck Twelve | Outpost Solaere]

Dersch's perked up as a sudden yell broke the silence. The voice was loud and authoritative, "GET OUT OF HERE, DEZ!" he heard it distinctly. Dersch couldn't help but wonder who Dez was and why they were being yelled at.

As more shots were fired, the situation became increasingly tense. Dersch knew he had to act quickly. He motioned to his partner to move in and hit the center.

As they closed in on the scene, they saw a lone figure standing. It was Pearson, who appeared to be in a state of shock. Dersch motioned his partner to move around behind Pearson and be ready to cuff him.

"YOU!" Dersch shouted, pointing his gun at Pearson, "Let me see your hands!" His voice was firm and commanding, betraying none of the fear he felt inside.

[Dr Taja Grippen]

Outpost Solare
Medical

The others returned in due time, and the chaos in Sickbay had subsided enough that the Betazed counselor was able to breathe again.

Dr. Grippen appeared in front of her, and Feeva smiled.

"Hello!"

Fee opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out. There was a WHAT?! Finally, her brain clicked into gear.

"I...see. It was my pleasure to save his life, though I don't know for how long it will be," she said. "He is alive and breathing, but still critical, as well as he has a head injury from hitting the floor, though it is minor. With rest and medication, he should be ok, I'd presume," she said. She moved on to check patients in Biobeds, the calm demeanor returning.

Feeva paused a moment. Why was she sharing this?

"Can I help? Perhaps getting into his head a bit might be a good idea. If you need to report it, obviously go to Captain Garrison," she said. "But perhaps also a report to the Fleet Medical Counsel, for further instruction," she advised. "After that, your guess is as good as mine. It IS curious that he seemed to not care. Do you think he may be behind it or had prior knowledge?"

[Outpost Solaere, Deck XIV, Medical]

Taja was glad to have a counselor by her side, they were a reassuring presence and always knew the right things to say. Part of the job description she supposed.

"I'm not sure yet, and now isn't the right time. All hell is breaking loose on the promenade, once we get the situation under control we can unpick this later. I'm sure our chief was acting in self defense, surely he wouldn't punch this man without provocation."

Then he made a new call:  "Doctor Grippen, regarding that Flaxian, how good of a condition is he in? I can arrange comfortable quarters for him - better than a brig cell - as long as he is under guard."

Speaking of the Devil... "His situation remains critical and is under close supervision. He isn't in any state to be mobile anytime soon. I have erected a forcefield in his treatment room whilst you deal with the promenade situation."

Taja then turned her attention back to Feeva, "Is that dinosaur still in my office? I really need another go-juice but we can't let that thing out to run rampage about the place when we have patients everywhere..."

[Kinley Garrison]

[Outpost Solaere, Deck XIV, Medical]

Taja was glad to have a counselor by her side, they were a reassuring presence and always knew the right things to say. Part of the job description she supposed.

"I'm not sure yet, and now isn't the right time. All hell is breaking loose on the promenade, once we get the situation under control we can unpick this later. I'm sure our chief was acting in self defense, surely he wouldn't punch this man without provocation."

Speaking of the Devil... "His situation remains critical and is under close supervision. He isn't in any state to be mobile anytime soon. I have erected a forcefield in his treatment room whilst you deal with the promenade situation."

Taja then turned her attention back to Feeva, "Is that dinosaur still in my office? I really need another go-juice but we can't let that thing out to run rampage about the place when we have patients everywhere..."

[Continuance of the above post...]

"Now, regarding Commander Garrison's questions..."

"Please, my connection to the Orion Syndicate would be a book in and of itself," sneered Cloten. "As to why we are here, I already told you. Starfleet was moving back in, and we were anxious to get our crap off as fast as possible...though unfortunately, there's so much we weren't able to get it off quickly enough. As to Orions, they're my compadres, and some of them, as Nira here knows, they serve in my crew."

"Then explain something in particular," snarled Nira softly. "All your crates are rigged with beacons. To what purpose?"

"Oh, them," said Cloten. "In a nutshell, they're alarms. They're each rigged with a homing beacon that's designed to send out an alert signal if the crates have been tampered with, ideally if they get opened wide enough...I assume it was you who tripped it," he added, looking around at Miss Aubrey. "Generally, it's ideal to disarm them first by providing the proper access code, which we all possess. Open 'em too wide without them, they're set off. And because they're connected remotely to each other, if one goes off, they all go off."

"And I'm presuming somebody in the Orion Syndicate will have picked up the homing signal?" hissed Nira softly.

"Yep, and if the tamper alert's gone off, somebody's going to show up to remove the contraband the quicker way," retorted Cloten with a curled lip. "In other words, I hope you're ready for a party. Specifically, a raiding party."

Nira scowled at him just as Torra called in again. She left Kinley to Cloten for more questions and responded back. She raised her eyebrows with interest at the news that, with help from the new Science ensign Charlotte Fawkes, she can trace the signals to where any off-station contraband can be found.

"Good work, Torra," she said. "You have my permission to proceed, and fast. Take one of the runabouts and conduct your sweep. I'll be sending a flight officer to pilot you. Said out."

She then turned to the only other flight officer available. "Mister Ch'ishrelnin, get a runabout ready, don't bother with preflight checks; the sooner you get Lieutenant Addams to work her sweep and back to the station, the better. We may be expecting company soon."

The young Andorian nodded and was off. Nira got back to Cloten while Kinley was doing her "good cop" routine.

[Main Ops]

Listening to reports coming in from everyone, Kinley nodded.

"œThat is great news. Permission granted. she said to  Torra as she messaged the team in the science labs.

The medical team had their patient under forcefield. At least that was something.

She turned back to Cloten.  He was as skeezbally as they came,  and this might be a bad idea, but there were way too many people at risk if they continued this crazy illegal operation  and given how sneaky he was, she wouldn't put it up against him to pull some stunt like this again if this was his old stomping grounds. . . "œI see.  So, you're their boss.    You know this stunt's probably going to get you a long time in jail.  Why don't we make a deal? "œ

[meanwhile]

[As Steve]

[ Dr. Grippen's office]

The office was very nice to sit in, and Steve was a very respectful boy as he made himself comfy while waiting for his human,  but Steve was getting restless. It had been a while since the counselor and doctor had been by, and outside,  it sounded like there was an alert! What if people got hurt? Or if there was a bad guy who wanted to hurt the doctors? That was the scariest idea of all. He had to do something.

Hopping on one of the side tables next to a comfy chair, gently trying not to knock anything over,  Steve looked at the door.  Doors were really meant for humans, not holographic raptors. Chirping, he tried having it open, but to no luck.  He wasn't fully synched with the computers onboard after all right now and the doors wouldn't recognize him anyway.  Not to mention any manual controls would be too tall for him to reach being so small. So, he might have to wait for someone else to open it.

[Charlotte Fawkes]

Lieutenant Danjar-Torra Addams
[Outpost Solaere - Deck 6 - Science Lab 4]

Torra was pleased to receive permission to do the requested sweep; even more so when Nira indicated that she would assign a pilot to assist - not that Torra didn't know how to operate shuttle well enough on her own. It just meant she wouldn't be alone.

Torra also wanted to seek clarification on her orders to destroy the crated goods.  Yet before she could ask, Nira closed the comm.   The Grazerite realized her friend must be extremely busy.  Well, Torra decided she would her make her suggestion to the commander later; for now she would risk reprimand for not following orders - by not destroying the crate as she'd been directed to.

While she pondered how best to do this, the science officer - Ensign Fawkes asked her a question: was that all she needed?

Torra nodded slowly.  "Yes...  unless you might be interested in tracking down any missing crates with me?  I can do it on my own, but there's always greater safety in numbers." Perhaps that was only a saying held by herd species but Torra found it often to be true.  "I'm certain I can get approval from your department head for your assistance."

Torra once more hacked the device and deactivated the beacon.  With that done she messaged the OPs console, requesting a site to site transport of the crate back to the cargo hold it was found in.  She then contacted Savar.

"Lieutenant Addams to Lieutenant Savar, I've had the crate I took with me transported back to the cargo hold with its beacon deactivated.  Ensign Fawkes was quite helpful in isolating the frequency of the beacon.  I'd like to 'borrow' her if I may to locate any off station contraband.  Commander Said has granted me permission to take a shuttle to do so immediately.  Also, the crates containing Romulan ale, please set these aside rather than recycling the contents.   I have a suggestion for a more beneficial use of them that I wish to present to the Commanders once they are not so busy."

| Ensign Fawkes | Science Officer | Deck 6, Science Lab 4 | Outpost Solaere |

Confident that the Lieutenant had everything she needed, Charlotte was prepared to return to unpacking. To her astonishment, Adams asked if the ensign wanted to tag along with her. "œEhm "¦ sure "" I mean, yes, ma'am." she replied, craning her neck upward. "œAnd you are correct, there's safety in numbers, always. Allow me to get my gear, and I'll be back directly."

While the Grazerite spoke with Charlotte's Vulcan supervisor, the science officer jogged off to retrieve her phaser and tricorder. That Admas spoke of safety in numbers suggested they could run into danger, so Fawkes chose a Type 2 phaser, affixed it to her belt, and did the same with the tricorder. With luck, she could get a few readings for the lab.

"œThank you, Lieutenant. I haven't been to the planet yet and am anxious to experience it myself." She knew the politics of the region "" the refugees and the colonists, but Fawkes was far more interested in any scientific research she might squeeze in. Also, she'd never met anyone from Adams' species and was welcomed a possible new friend.

Standing in front of Danjar once again, Fawkes looked up. She was nearly a foot shorter than the Lieutenant. "œOne question before we go. What are we looking for?" Fawkes smiled sheepishly. "œI don't like to eavesdrop."