S1E3 - New Horizons

[Jynaral Rkeran]

{Jynaral R'keran |Outpost Solare| Jeffries' tubes}

"oh, I'm...I'm sorry."

The Caitian's ears flicked back, doing his best to stay out of the way. But it was apparent than Feevo was just as much out of their element as he was. He looked around awkwardly, uncertain if he should aid with the apprehension.

"Do...do you need my help?"

[Nira Said]

[Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B]

The ship shook violently as the stray torpedo exploded. Apparently Therem's debris scans weren't as accurate as he had hoped, but he couldn't feel too upset since they did just hurl a magnetized asteroid at some pirate. As the injured officer was teleported off the ship, Therem made a mental note to bring his own safety equipment the next time they asked him to come along for the next space battle.

"Tachyon scans are running, commander. Also continuing scans for any dangerous debris.

| Lt. JG Fawkes | Science Officer | Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B |

While Fawkes continued various scans, the scientist overheard bits and pieces of Said and Aubrey's conversation. She had not intended to eavesdrop, but a few specific words, such as "cost of victory" and "Dominion War," caught her ear. As a scientist, Fawkes understood war as a sentient expression of territoriality, be it the territory of a planet, an area of space, a people, or an ideal. For all the advancements in technology and society, many sentients retained and succumbed to their animalist instincts. Charlotte remained silent on the subject, but her thoughts wandered momentarily.

"When a wolf kills a hare for food, we call survival of the fittest a part of nature. When one species attempts to kill, control, or conquer another, we call it barbarism. Why? We are all part of nature, just as the wolf, who must eat, and the hare, who wants to survive."

Fortunately, Commander Said broke Fawkes out of her thoughts, ordering another scan for tachyons signatures.

"Understood, Commander. Continuing tachyon scans."

Suddenly, the ship shook as an adrift torpedo slammed into the Horizon's hull. Fawkes nearly fell out of her seat but held on to the console. Shaken but uninjured, she watched the EMH attend to Addams. Fawkes returned to her scans, widening the sensor's scope to include floating debris.

As soon as the helm was clear she moved herself across.
Three whole consoles to herself! A distinct upgrade from the single at ops or the two small of her own shuttle.
"3 planes of travel,  3 axis of rotation,  2 dimensional flight controls, bi-vectorable primary thrust, single point secondary thrust"  She mused to herself as she looked at the various displays.
"Alright" She cracked her fingers and pulled across her settings.  The computer made some assumptions and adjusted much of the rest of the displays to match the style.
"That hit was to the starboard nacelle,
recommend reduced speed until i can rebalance the magnetic fields.." She trailed off searching for various functions.

She would have preferred to spend a lot longer studying the controls and getting to know the ships quirks and responce style  - but A there wasn't much time and B, she was dammed if she was going to let herself be seen as incapable.

"plotting course..  (not that way,
that star is unstable,  'this way' ye daft box of bits.)

The USS Horizon banked around (paying no regards to the standard Starfleet 'up') and pointed her nose at an empty tract of space.
Energising coils mounted behind the Bustard ramscoops began to glow under the strain of producing a magnetic distortion powerful enough to to buckle Subspace - and then she accelerated away at a speed that would make Einstein question his own laws.

"Warp 2, increasing to warp 4 once I've fixed this imbalance."
The fixing didn't take that long,  but looking up the warp field equations for a ship that you are not used to - did.

4 minutes later, the ship accelerated further as promised.

"computer, place main flight controls on screen 1, navigation on 3, load simulation of randomly generated asteroid field with 100% damage reduction to screen 2"

Then - she got to know the ship a little better.

[Ensign Kela Nelois - USS Horizon - Main Bridge]

Kela recieved his orders to go and assist engineering with repairs. He gave a small internal sigh, this wasn't the first time he was sent to do repair work and he never understood it. He wasn't an engineer. Even during his time in Betazoid Intelligence the most he's done is work in disabling simple firearms or repairing a damaged doorway. He had no training in ship repair.

But even so an order is an order and so after making sure everything was okay he got up from his station and walked to the Turbolift, "Main Engineering" he spoke to the turbolift which quickly began its journey to his desired destination.

But no sooner had it started then the sound of a large explosion hit the ship. Kela wasn't prepared and was thrown back by the explosion, his head hitting the back of the turbolift as the lights went out and emergency lights went on and he crumpled to the floor...

----

Kela awoke a moment later. The red lights of the turbolift dimly lit the room and he saw a few sparks across from him. It didn't look like he was moving. He tried to move but as he moved his head he felt an extreme pain pierce the back of his head, reaching behind him he felt a large cut and a lot of blood. He had to prevent himself from cursing as he dazily looked around. Of course, just his luck! Moments from getting up from his secure and braced seat something happens to the ship! And of course he is trapped in the turbolift, bleeding, with a possible concussion! His mind naturally went to blame the Commander, but he quickly tried to rid his thoughts of that. Of course its not the commanders fault. But she should know he has no training in ship repairs! He was assigned to be Chief Operations on the ship! Not some repairboy!

He tapped his comm badge, "This is ensign Kela, I am stuck in Turbolift 1...need an avacuation to sickbay. What happened?" Hopefully transporter's were still operational or someone could cut through the doors and help him out.

[Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B]

The impact with the mine had certainly taken out turbolift function. Both Nira and the EMH double-taked upon hearing Kela was trapped inside one.

"Bridge to Ensign Nelois. We got struck by one of the pirates' improvised mines. If turbolifts aren't working, we'll have to stick to the stairwell for the time being."

"I'll arrange for a transport to Sickbay,"  The EMH replied.  "Stand by, Mister Nelois."

Nira looked around at the remaining bridge crew. She was especially impressed at how Lindsay figured out the helm quickly.

"You're doing good so far, Ms. Aubrey," Nira said. "I guess we'll get to our destination quicker than anticipated. Bridge to transporter room, beam any occupants in the turbolift to Sickbay."

"Acknowledged," came the reply.

"Then if you'll excuse me, I have a couple of patients to administer to," the EMH said before he transmitted away.

One Hundred Minutes Later...

Ship's Log, supplemental. We have arrived at the main satellite hub for the tachyon detection grid, right at the Romulan border. As we work on a link connection with the platform and uploading the network data, connecting to the Horizon's computers, we have a moment of respite, although we're at alert.

I can understand the alertness; the last time we were here, we never had a chance to get linked to the platform, seeing as how we were chased away by pirates. Now that we're here, alone, we're on the alert for potential ambushes, but I feel more confident with the Horizon and her firepower.

Repairs are in effect while the respite is taken advantage of, and we have pulse phasers back online. The EMH is working on Lieutenant Addams and Ensign Nelois. What's more, we had a brief escort from the Ayato, with a transfer of a handful of personnel, including, apparently, Richard Litt, Challenger's former helmsman.

Our current task with regards to the platform overall: Find out who specifically had been using it to aid the pirates, and to uncover the mines. Our uplink with the platform is giving us plenty of information on the latter.

[Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B]

"Report," said Nira when she came back from the mess hall.

"Well, I got some good news and bad news," Ruzal muttered as she returned to her chair. "The good news is that we're mostly connected to the platform, and we have had no interruptions from the pirates. We got data feed from the satellite network through the platform. We won't know yet who's used it, but we have detection data. Primarily about the mines; in terms of activity of cloaked data, we won't know information yet, but we're getting data about the mines. We won't know entirely until we're uploaded completely.

"Here's the bad news: We can confirm that there are cloaked antimatter mines scattered throughout the system, and according to the satellite data, most of the mines are concentrated along the Romulan border. We haven't picked up on all of them, but we got enough data to confirm the presence of mines."

Nira practically collapsed into the captain's chair in horror. "Do the pirates, let alone the people who got the pirates onto this, know what they're doing? Mining a star system is an act of war, and if most of mines here are concentrated directly at the Romulan border, it could imply the pirates - or rather, whoever put the pirates up to the raids here - are going to commit an act of war against the Romulan Free State."

"Well, we can expect our upload will be finished shortly," Ruzal replied. Nira nodded and looked around. "Ms. Aubrey, hold position, but be prepared for evasive action if pirates surprise us. Dersch, any sightings of cloaked ships? Fawkes, Therem, can you confirm what Commander Mail has indicated?" And as she asked for reports, she wondered if Richard Litt was still getting to know the Horizon.

Additionally, she felt a bit of worry about Solaere. No word was heard from the station since the Horizon left to join the escort convoy.

[Nira Said]

Lt. Sven Aune.  Science Lab 2

Sven cradled his blackened hand.  The skin was charred and flaking off.  On the upside, the nerves were dead.  On the down side, the nerves were dead.  And the necrosis was spreading up his thick forearm.

The EMH was being overly dramatic, as he always was.

"Look, I appreciate the prayers, but I think I should get to sick bay."

What was the point of sending the EMH there to the lab? He knew Drylo was in the middle of a reconnaissance mission, so she was indisposed.  And she wasn't a medical doctor persay.

The large man made his way to the medbay, just as when the yellow alert was issued.

Good. Lexana made it to ops

"Knock knock.  I think I need some help.  My hand is dead."  He announced to any medical staff that was available.

[Emergency Medical Hologram Mark II | Science Lab Two >- Sickbay | Deck Twelve >- Deck Fourteen | Outpost Solaere]

"So we shall," the EMH said. "Computer, medical site to site transport for Lieutenant Aune."

Once Aune was in Sickbay, the EMH transmitted back over and got to work. "Right, let's get to work on that hand of yours. We better get to work on you so you don't lose it," he added, noticing how bloody serious the hand had gotten.

He got out a particular hypospray - in fact, the spray application variant used a century and a quarter before - muttering, "I wondered when these museum pieces were going to come in handy." He then applied half a dozen CCs of kelotane and sprayed up Aune's hand and lower arm.

"Six CCs of kelotane," the EMH said. "And I'll get a cast for that hand and arm; given what's going on on the station, I imagine you're going to be needed urgently; you'll need to return for another application of kelotane and perhaps some minor surgery. Mister Rimous? Can you assist me?"

[Charlotte Fawkes]

[Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B]

The impact with the mine had certainly taken out turbolift function. Both Nira and the EMH double-taked upon hearing Kela was trapped inside one.

"Bridge to Ensign Nelois. We got struck by one of the pirates' improvised mines. If turbolifts aren't working, we'll have to stick to the stairwell for the time being."

"I'll arrange for a transport to Sickbay,"  The EMH replied.  "Stand by, Mister Nelois."

Nira looked around at the remaining bridge crew. She was especially impressed at how Lindsay figured out the helm quickly.

"You're doing good so far, Ms. Aubrey," Nira said. "I guess we'll get to our destination quicker than anticipated. Bridge to transporter room, beam any occupants in the turbolift to Sickbay."

"Acknowledged," came the reply.

"Then if you'll excuse me, I have a couple of patients to administer to," the EMH said before he transmitted away.

One Hundred Minutes Later...

Ship's Log, supplemental. We have arrived at the main satellite hub for the tachyon detection grid, right at the Romulan border. As we work on a link connection with the platform and uploading the network data, connecting to the Horizon's computers, we have a moment of respite, although we're at alert.

I can understand the alertness; the last time we were here, we never had a chance to get linked to the platform, seeing as how we were chased away by pirates. Now that we're here, alone, we're on the alert for potential ambushes, but I feel more confident with the Horizon and her firepower.

Repairs are in effect while the respite is taken advantage of, and we have pulse phasers back online. The EMH is working on Lieutenant Addams and Ensign Nelois. What's more, we had a brief escort from the Ayato, with a transfer of a handful of personnel, including, apparently, Richard Litt, Challenger's former helmsman.

Our current task with regards to the platform overall: Find out who specifically had been using it to aid the pirates, and to uncover the mines. Our uplink with the platform is giving us plenty of information on the latter.

[Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B]

"Report," said Nira when she came back from the mess hall.

"Well, I got some good news and bad news," Ruzal muttered as she returned to her chair. "The good news is that we're mostly connected to the platform, and we have had no interruptions from the pirates. We got data feed from the satellite network through the platform. We won't know yet who's used it, but we have detection data. Primarily about the mines; in terms of activity of cloaked data, we won't know information yet, but we're getting data about the mines. We won't know entirely until we're uploaded completely.

"Here's the bad news: We can confirm that there are cloaked antimatter mines scattered throughout the system, and according to the satellite data, most of the mines are concentrated along the Romulan border. We haven't picked up on all of them, but we got enough data to confirm the presence of mines."

Nira practically collapsed into the captain's chair in horror. "Do the pirates, let alone the people who got the pirates onto this, know what they're doing? Mining a star system is an act of war, and if most of mines here are concentrated directly at the Romulan border, it could imply the pirates - or rather, whoever put the pirates up to the raids here - are going to commit an act of war against the Romulan Free State."

"Well, we can expect our upload will be finished shortly," Ruzal replied. Nira nodded and looked around. "Ms. Aubrey, hold position, but be prepared for evasive action if pirates surprise us. Dersch, any sightings of cloaked ships? Fawkes, Therem, can you confirm what Commander Mail has indicated?" And as she asked for reports, she wondered if Richard Litt was still getting to know the Horizon.

Additionally, she felt a bit of worry about Solaere. No word was heard from the station since the Horizon left to join the escort convoy.

| Lt. JG Fawkes | Science Officer | Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B |

Fawkes had been reviewing her scans when asked to confirm Commander Mail's findings. "Affirmative, Commander Said. According to the latest tachyon scans, these Starfleet anti-matter mines are scattered across the Romulan border." Charlotte initiated another scan for tachyon particles, specifically as a byproduct of cloaked mines or ships. What she discovered was intriguing. "It appears that multiple tachyon clusters, the mines, have been there for some time, possibly for several months, while others have appeared more recently." Fawkes spun around from her console. "Commander, we'll have better analysis once we connect to the platform grid. However, we can estimate that whoever is behind this action has been planning this maneuver for months, and pirates are usually creatures of opportunity. Just food for thought, Commander."

[Richard James Litt]

[Lt. Litt · Bridge · Deck One · USS Horizon]

Litt had been away for some time. Between going back and forth between courses and the death of Sam's husband, he ended up being away for a long time, but the time had finally come to go back to work.

He was transported by Ayato, heading to his new mission at Outpost Solaere to help however he could. He had been informed that the climate in the region was not the best, with several pirate attacks.

Richard hurried as soon as he arrived and without thinking twice he headed towards the bridge so he could report for duty.

"Richard Litt, reporting for duty!" He said as soon as he entered the bridge, heading towards the woman who was in charge there. "I'm here to help as much as possible!" He completed it and then waited for some instruction.

[Kinley Garrison]

[Jeffries tubes]

[As the Mole]

The mole froze as he was revealed. What?! A mindreader?! The game was afoot now. They were onto him, and he was in trouble. The exit wasn't too far away, at least. So, he ran, or at least he tried to, as the mindreader woman  grabbed his arm. Wresting free from her, he bolted towards the exit where the others came from. "Out of my way!"" he shouted, barreling his way out of there as he bolted towards the exit.

[As Kinley]

Spotting Feeva, Kinley could see that there was a guy with her that she was grabbing, and the guy didn't look like anyone she knew. Nodding to Feeva and Jynaral. "That's him! We have to follow him!"

Kinley tried to tackle him but ended up  overcompensating due to the faulty gravity and slammed herself into the bulkhead, and jostling her sore ribs, sending her wincing. At that moment, she got a message from ops. It seemed like there was some problems with the life support systems too. Fortunately something fixable.

"You-you have my full permission to do that. The mole is on the run. He's a bolian.  We have visual but requesting security for backup.

[Therem Estraven]

"Here's the bad news: We can confirm that there are cloaked antimatter mines scattered throughout the system, and according to the satellite data, most of the mines are concentrated along the Romulan border. We haven't picked up on all of them, but we got enough data to confirm the presence of mines."

Nira practically collapsed into the captain's chair in horror. "Do the pirates, let alone the people who got the pirates onto this, know what they're doing? Mining a star system is an act of war, and if most of mines here are concentrated directly at the Romulan border, it could imply the pirates - or rather, whoever put the pirates up to the raids here - are going to commit an act of war against the Romulan Free State."

Fawkes had been reviewing her scans when asked to confirm Commander Mail's findings. "Affirmative, Commander Said. According to the latest tachyon scans, these Starfleet anti-matter mines are scattered across the Romulan border." Charlotte initiated another scan for tachyon particles, specifically as a byproduct of cloaked mines or ships. What she discovered was intriguing. "It appears that multiple tachyon clusters, the mines, have been there for some time, possibly for several months, while others have appeared more recently." Fawkes spun around from her console. "Commander, we'll have better analysis once we connect to the platform grid. However, we can estimate that whoever is behind this action has been planning this maneuver for months, and pirates are usually creatures of opportunity. Just food for thought, Commander."

[Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B]

Therem nodded in agreement with Fawkes and Ruzal's respective reports. He wasn't as technically skilled as them, but he had some other avenues of gathering intel. He discretely hit up some on his contacts (since there was nothing else to do on the station) and had learned that some group had been buying and transporting explosives.

"Commander, I would just add that my sources tell me that heavy explosives have been moving into the area since April, but activity really ramped up in the last couple of days. Maybe a third party just used the pirates to lure the Federation into this minefield to escalate tensions. Luckily you guys didn't lose any ships, that really would've led to a war."

[Stryker]

Lt. Sven Aune. Sickbay. Outpost Solare.

Sven let the stuffy doctor do his job,  but he was in no condition to climb about in Jeffery tubes and chase criminals.

He tapped his com badge.

"Lt. Martinez, report to the Jackel.  Armed.  There is a Bolian suspect that may he involved with sabotaging the station. Locate Drylo."

Martinez acknowledged and moments later the hawk faced woman had drylo's position.  She entered the tubes and headed towards the

She acknowledged, and within moments she came face to face with the blue faced suspect.

"You're under arrest." She said plainly.  She was a rough and tough woman, and the scar that ran across her face showed that she was no stranger to combat and scuffles.

[Danjar-Torra Addams]

Lieutenant Danjar-Torra Addams
[Outpost Solaere - Deck One - Operations Center]
[DAY TWO - (Launch of the Horizon)]

[Jeffries tubes]
[As Kinley]

Spotting Feeva, Kinley could see that there was a guy with her that she was grabbing, and the guy didn't look like anyone she knew. Nodding to Feeva and Jynaral. "That's him! We have to follow him!"

Kinley tried to tackle him but ended up  overcompensating due to the faulty gravity and slammed herself into the bulkhead, and jostling her sore ribs, sending her wincing. At that moment, she got a message from ops. It seemed like there was some problems with the life support systems too. Fortunately something fixable.

"You-you have my full permission to do that. The mole is on the run. He's a bolian.  We have visual but requesting security for backup.

Torra was relieved to receive almost immediate permission from the Commander and in turn immediately set to work doing the reroute, even as the Commander continued to speak, stating they had visual on the mole - a Bolian - and making a request for Security as backup.

Torra wanted to comply with Garrison's order to call for backup security, but even another moments delay to shutting that bulkhead door would potentially put the station further at risk.  The call to security would have to wait until after the reroute.

The Grazerite worked rapidly to draw on all the emergency power that normally would 'keep the lights on' and the comms working to that one door in Ring 3.  This resulted in a complete blackout.  No emergency power to the lights, and communications were down.

The only upside to this was that Torra's plan for the bulkhead door to activate, worked.  The doors began to close and after 5 long seconds, Ring 3 Section 4 was sealed off.  A confirmation of this popped up on Torra's console - the only console she'd left active.  Then Torra set about undoing her reroute and returning the emergency power back to the lights and comms.

In total, the station was dark for 45 seconds.  A lot could happen in that span of time...  Torra hoped the Commander still had visual on the Bolian mole.  She opened a comm line to all Security only to realize belatedly she didn't know WHERE in the Jeffries to send the backup

"Commander - what is your location?"

[Lindsey]

[Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B]

"Well, we can expect our upload will be finished shortly," Ruzal replied. Nira nodded and looked around. "Ms. Aubrey, hold position, but be prepared for evasive action if pirates surprise us. Dersch, any sightings of cloaked ships? Fawkes, Therem, can you confirm what Commander Mail has indicated?" And as she asked for reports, she wondered if Richard Litt was still getting to know the Horizon.

[ Chief Petty Officer | Helm | USS Horizon ]

Dang she loved to fly, there was a sort of singing that flowed through her veins from her toes to her head.  the subtle feel of the changes in the G-force in the gap between the helm's command and the internal dampeners catching up.  She'd love to see what this sort of ship could really do, but doubted that she'd be allowed to kick 90% of the crew out and have the chief engineer rig all the ships systems in favour of propulsion and manoeuvrability - but a girl can dream right?

The Horizon had been stationary for an hour now and she had finally had time to arrange the helm a little better.  Vector controls to the left, split throttles on the right, navigation plotter and sensors far Left, superstructure and power reads far right.  Now it was true that every ship was different (even sisters) and this one was no different.  Either from manufacturing or maintance or possibly design (don't know, don't really care!) the Horizon had a sight imbalance when throttling up both main thrusters.

"Captain and Weapons?  Strangely enough I have no idea what any of your standard attack or defensive patterns are.  But the thrusters pull to the Right a little - so Aubrey1 involves a dive to to the Right before corkscrewing clockwise down and under.  Aubrey2 begins full reverse with the tail dropping and then the nose flipping over the top to end up inverted.  I'll let you know what Aubrey3 is when we're halfway though it.  I've a bunch of others which are mainly evasive - designed to escape from [ahem] Starfleet when carrying cargo..."

she grins guiltily before retuning to Starfleet for Dummies and reading

[Nira Said]

[Lt. Litt · Bridge · Deck One · USS Horizon]

Litt had been away for some time. Between going back and forth between courses and the death of Sam's husband, he ended up being away for a long time, but the time had finally come to go back to work.

He was transported by Ayato, heading to his new mission at Outpost Solaere to help however he could. He had been informed that the climate in the region was not the best, with several pirate attacks.

Richard hurried as soon as he arrived and without thinking twice he headed towards the bridge so he could report for duty.

"Richard Litt, reporting for duty!" He said as soon as he entered the bridge, heading towards the woman who was in charge there. "I'm here to help as much as possible!" He completed it and then waited for some instruction.

| Lt. JG Fawkes | Science Officer | Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B |

Fawkes had been reviewing her scans when asked to confirm Commander Mail's findings. "Affirmative, Commander Said. According to the latest tachyon scans, these Starfleet anti-matter mines are scattered across the Romulan border." Charlotte initiated another scan for tachyon particles, specifically as a byproduct of cloaked mines or ships. What she discovered was intriguing. "It appears that multiple tachyon clusters, the mines, have been there for some time, possibly for several months, while others have appeared more recently." Fawkes spun around from her console. "Commander, we'll have better analysis once we connect to the platform grid. However, we can estimate that whoever is behind this action has been planning this maneuver for months, and pirates are usually creatures of opportunity. Just food for thought, Commander."

[Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B]

Therem nodded in agreement with Fawkes and Ruzal's respective reports. He wasn't as technically skilled as them, but he had some other avenues of gathering intel. He discretely hit up some on his contacts (since there was nothing else to do on the station) and had learned that some group had been buying and transporting explosives.

"Commander, I would just add that my sources tell me that heavy explosives have been moving into the area since April, but activity really ramped up in the last couple of days. Maybe a third party just used the pirates to lure the Federation into this minefield to escalate tensions. Luckily you guys didn't lose any ships, that really would've led to a war."

[ Chief Petty Officer | Helm | USS Horizon ]

Dang she loved to fly, there was a sort of singing that flowed through her veins from her toes to her head.  the subtle feel of the changes in the G-force in the gap between the helm's command and the internal dampeners catching up.  She'd love to see what this sort of ship could really do, but doubted that she'd be allowed to kick 90% of the crew out and have the chief engineer rig all the ships systems in favour of propulsion and manoeuvrability - but a girl can dream right?

The Horizon had been stationary for an hour now and she had finally had time to arrange the helm a little better.  Vector controls to the left, split throttles on the right, navigation plotter and sensors far Left, superstructure and power reads far right.  Now it was true that every ship was different (even sisters) and this one was no different.  Either from manufacturing or maintance or possibly design (don't know, don't really care!) the Horizon had a sight imbalance when throttling up both main thrusters.

"Captain and Weapons?  Strangely enough I have no idea what any of your standard attack or defensive patterns are.  But the thrusters pull to the Right a little - so Aubrey1 involves a dive to to the Right before corkscrewing clockwise down and under.  Aubrey2 begins full reverse with the tail dropping and then the nose flipping over the top to end up inverted.  I'll let you know what Aubrey3 is when we're halfway though it.  I've a bunch of others which are mainly evasive - designed to escape from [ahem] Starfleet when carrying cargo..."

she grins guiltily before retuning to Starfleet for Dummies and reading

[Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B]

Nira turned and grinned at Lieutenant Litt. That smile of his seemed addictive, and she grinned back at him. She didn't serve much with Litt, but she knew him as a good officer on the Challenger.

"Welcome aboard the Horizon, Mister Litt," Nira said. "Good to see you again after that time on the Challenger. Man the Mission Operations station," she ordered, gesturing to the chair on the opposite end from Ruzal's. "See if you can link with the helm and help our volunteer helmswoman get to know her station. Help her get to know attack patterns and maneuvers," she added, remembering that Litt was a helmsman.

Nira then took in the reports from Fawkes and Therem. Those were facts to take in. Disturbing facts.

"Well, Lieutenant Fawkes," she said, "I think the food for thought was certainly enough for a feast. It's true they're creatures of opportunity, but it's a good chance they - or rather, their leader, or leaders - are planning for something bigger. They have to know this is a critical new trade route that can head into Free State space and toward Free State core worlds. And given the recent instances of the pirates able to take down Norexean class warbirds before their attack on Solaere, chances are, they had help from the mines.

"And speaking of the mines," Nira added, looking at Therem, "if there had been an especial presence of mines since April, then I can presume where they're getting the mines: industrial replicators stolen from a convoy from Efrosia, one of their raids in April... specifically on Stardate 79272.2. One could assume the couple of days of ramping up could come down to the Horizon's victories..."

"...except the Horizon arrived yesterday," Ruzal pointed out. "She wasn't active until earlier today."

"Exactly," said Nira with a knowing nod. "That's why I said one would assume that. And most of their mines are on the Romulan border of the Ciden system. Therefore," she added ominously, "somebody must using the pirates to begin a war with the Romulans. They're anticipating a potentially big Romulan force and they want to be ready for them.

"But why attack that convoy of Corps of Engineering ships?" asked Ruzal.

"I'd presume the pirates want Starfleet out of the way," Nira said. "They have to know that Starfleet would cut off support if that convoy failed to reach its destination: Outpost Solaere and Oaish'le. They would hope that Starfleet personnel would be withdrawn from Ciden or be forced out, and perhaps force out the refugees now living in Oaish'le. Or starved out without aid."

"But then who the hell would that benefit?!?" Ruzal said in a horrified gasp.

"Xolo. Roshard. New Jericho," Nira said in ominous realization.

Ruzal stared in shock before replying, "Why the HELL is a lone colony determined to wage war on the Romulan Free State? They'd stand no chance without Starfleet!"

"I think that's where those mines would come in," Nira added bitterly. "And the New Jericho authorities have no qualms of hiring mercenaries, let alone pirates, to do their dirty work. However, that's something of which we'll find proof later. Our current priority are the pirates.

"Mister Litt, I realize you're new to this situation, and you probably must be taken aback by what I had described," Nira added to Litt in explanation. "Commander Mail, can you explain the situation to Mister Litt, please?"

Ruzal proceeded to explain in a low voice to Litt, standing above him at his station. By the time she finished, the uplink was completed. Ruzal returned to her station and stared with a furrowed brow.

"We don't just have exactly where the mines are. We have records of previous activity. The tachyon grid's picked up clusters of ships every few days throughout the past two months...their patterns, they look familiar...per symbiotic memory," she added, gesturing at a spot where her Trill symbiote resided.

"Fawkes, Therem, can you check these patterns to confirm? Cross-reference with the computers for a pattern match, I have an inkling what pattern they're using..." But was interrupted from a call from the Ops console...

[Nira Said]

[Jeffries tubes]

[As the Mole]

The mole froze as he was revealed. What?! A mindreader?! The game was afoot now. They were onto him, and he was in trouble. The exit wasn't too far away, at least. So, he ran, or at least he tried to, as the mindreader woman  grabbed his arm. Wresting free from her, he bolted towards the exit where the others came from. "Out of my way!"" he shouted, barreling his way out of there as he bolted towards the exit.

[As Kinley]

Spotting Feeva, Kinley could see that there was a guy with her that she was grabbing, and the guy didn't look like anyone she knew. Nodding to Feeva and Jynaral. "That's him! We have to follow him!"

Kinley tried to tackle him but ended up  overcompensating due to the faulty gravity and slammed herself into the bulkhead, and jostling her sore ribs, sending her wincing. At that moment, she got a message from ops. It seemed like there was some problems with the life support systems too. Fortunately something fixable.

"You-you have my full permission to do that. The mole is on the run. He's a bolian.  We have visual but requesting security for backup.

Lt. Sven Aune. Sickbay. Outpost Solare.

Sven let the stuffy doctor do his job,  but he was in no condition to climb about in Jeffery tubes and chase criminals.

He tapped his com badge.

"Lt. Martinez, report to the Jackel.  Armed.  There is a Bolian suspect that may he involved with sabotaging the station. Locate Drylo."

Martinez acknowledged and moments later the hawk faced woman had drylo's position.  She entered the tubes and headed towards the

She acknowledged, and within moments she came face to face with the blue faced suspect.

"You're under arrest." She said plainly.  She was a rough and tough woman, and the scar that ran across her face showed that she was no stranger to combat and scuffles.

[Deej Cloten | Proximate Jefferies Tube >- Private Dock Storage | The Jackal | Promenade | Deck Twelve | Outpost Solaere]

The problem was that the mole was already on the run from Martinez, and Cloten could hear the footsteps pounding.

The fact that noises were going on in the Jefferies Tubes below prompted Cloten to listen in. Power limits meant he could not overhear from his own security feed, but he compensated for it with a small network of ear cups hidden in panels of which he can eavesdrop on conversations as a backup - in essence, Cloten's version of cups or cans attached to strings. And they didn't just enable him to listen a deck below, but even two decks below, but it was all; any further decks was pushing it.

The loss of gravity perturbed him and his customers a lot. He had headed down to Deck Twelve to make sure none of his more sensitive equipment was compromised by the gravity and emergency systems when he heard the noises below. His potent hearing, however - rivaled only by the hearing of Ferengi and El-Aurians - caught voices from one of his listeners in passing, and he pressed his ears in as best as he could. Being two decks down, he couldn't hear very well, but he determined this had to be the murder hobo hiding out in random places. He recognized the voices of Garrison and Drylo, but the male voice sounded familiar...

He heard the footsteps, and realized they were heading up his direction. He barely got to his own PADD and sent a call for help to his boys, indicative from simple color codes - another power-saver, and his boys were trained in Cloten's own assigned codes - when the fellow emerged. And they met eye to eye. The lighting was good enough that Cloten got a good look at him.

"Dralin!" he said in surprise. "It's you?"

"Well, if it isn't you, you backstabbing furball," Xinor Dralin growled.

Inwardly, Cloten had to admit that he was surprised. True, he rarely ever saw Xinor Dralin's rumored handiwork of sabotage and hacking - he paid more attention to his fancy and elaborate ways to kill people, one of the best assassins in the quadrant as he is - but he was surprised that somebody of Dralin's reputation had arrived without notification. He was surprised to find the hobo hiding out between the tubes and screwing around the systems was Dralin.

He was definitely surprised by what Dralin was wearing. He commonly wore armor, but at present, he was wearing a Starfleet Uniform. He knew that Dralin had been a court-martialed Starfleet officer, but what did old Outpost Seven mean to him?

"The hell with you, I have no time for this," snapped Dralin in turning...

[Charlotte Fawkes]

[Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B]

Nira turned and grinned at Lieutenant Litt. That smile of his seemed addictive, and she grinned back at him. She didn't serve much with Litt, but she knew him as a good officer on the Challenger.

"Welcome aboard the Horizon, Mister Litt," Nira said. "Good to see you again after that time on the Challenger. Man the Mission Operations station," she ordered, gesturing to the chair on the opposite end from Ruzal's. "See if you can link with the helm and help our volunteer helmswoman get to know her station. Help her get to know attack patterns and maneuvers," she added, remembering that Litt was a helmsman.

Nira then took in the reports from Fawkes and Therem. Those were facts to take in. Disturbing facts.

"Well, Lieutenant Fawkes," she said, "I think the food for thought was certainly enough for a feast. It's true they're creatures of opportunity, but it's a good chance they - or rather, their leader, or leaders - are planning for something bigger. They have to know this is a critical new trade route that can head into Free State space and toward Free State core worlds. And given the recent instances of the pirates able to take down Norexean class warbirds before their attack on Solaere, chances are, they had help from the mines.

"And speaking of the mines," Nira added, looking at Therem, "if there had been an especial presence of mines since April, then I can presume where they're getting the mines: industrial replicators stolen from a convoy from Efrosia, one of their raids in April... specifically on Stardate 79272.2. One could assume the couple of days of ramping up could come down to the Horizon's victories..."

"...except the Horizon arrived yesterday," Ruzal pointed out. "She wasn't active until earlier today."

"Exactly," said Nira with a knowing nod. "That's why I said one would assume that. And most of their mines are on the Romulan border of the Ciden system. Therefore," she added ominously, "somebody must using the pirates to begin a war with the Romulans. They're anticipating a potentially big Romulan force and they want to be ready for them.

"But why attack that convoy of Corps of Engineering ships?" asked Ruzal.

"I'd presume the pirates want Starfleet out of the way," Nira said. "They have to know that Starfleet would cut off support if that convoy failed to reach its destination: Outpost Solaere and Oaish'le. They would hope that Starfleet personnel would be withdrawn from Ciden or be forced out, and perhaps force out the refugees now living in Oaish'le. Or starved out without aid."

"But then who the hell would that benefit?!?" Ruzal said in a horrified gasp.

"Xolo. Roshard. New Jericho," Nira said in ominous realization.

Ruzal stared in shock before replying, "Why the HELL is a lone colony determined to wage war on the Romulan Free State? They'd stand no chance without Starfleet!"

"I think that's where those mines would come in," Nira added bitterly. "And the New Jericho authorities have no qualms of hiring mercenaries, let alone pirates, to do their dirty work. However, that's something of which we'll find proof later. Our current priority are the pirates.

"Mister Litt, I realize you're new to this situation, and you probably must be taken aback by what I had described," Nira added to Litt in explanation. "Commander Mail, can you explain the situation to Mister Litt, please?"

Ruzal proceeded to explain in a low voice to Litt, standing above him at his station. By the time she finished, the uplink was completed. Ruzal returned to her station and stared with a furrowed brow.

"We don't just have exactly where the mines are. We have records of previous activity. The tachyon grid's picked up clusters of ships every few days throughout the past two months...their patterns, they look familiar...per symbiotic memory," she added, gesturing at a spot where her Trill symbiote resided.

"Fawkes, Therem, can you check these patterns to confirm? Cross-reference with the computers for a pattern match, I have an inkling what pattern they're using..." But was interrupted from a call from the Ops console...

| Lt. JG Fawkes | Science Officer | Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B |

"Aye, Commander. Scanning the network from the uplink." Fawkes analyzed the network, hoping to whittle down the mysterious pattern Said spoke of, but discovered more unanswered questions instead. "The tachyon network has discovered numerous cloaked vessels with the distinct pattern." Charlotte fed the data to the computer, referencing the frequency. "But there is something else." Fawkes then conducted a complete spectrum analysis on the network. "What is curious is that a Starfleet signal has accessed the network, and all communication is blocked." The lieutenant looked over her shoulder to the commander. "Someone has been tampering with the grid."

[Jynaral Rkeran]

[Jeffries tubes]

[As the Mole]

The mole froze as he was revealed. What?! A mindreader?! The game was afoot now. They were onto him, and he was in trouble. The exit wasn't too far away, at least. So, he ran, or at least he tried to, as the mindreader woman  grabbed his arm. Wresting free from her, he bolted towards the exit where the others came from. "Out of my way!"" he shouted, barreling his way out of there as he bolted towards the exit.

[As Kinley]

Spotting Feeva, Kinley could see that there was a guy with her that she was grabbing, and the guy didn't look like anyone she knew. Nodding to Feeva and Jynaral. "That's him! We have to follow him!"

Kinley tried to tackle him but ended up  overcompensating due to the faulty gravity and slammed herself into the bulkhead, and jostling her sore ribs, sending her wincing. At that moment, she got a message from ops. It seemed like there was some problems with the life support systems too. Fortunately something fixable.

"You-you have my full permission to do that. The mole is on the run. He's a bolian.  We have visual but requesting security for backup.

[Jynaral R'keran| Jeffries tubes| Outpost Solaere]

Jynaral paused, a moment of indecision and uncertainty; he hadn't trained for this! He just fixed broken transponders and overtaxed EPS conduits. It was a critical pause - and perhaps not a good look if he ever wanted a promotion - that gave the Bolian a chance to escape, a headstart in their would be chase.

"O-oh. Right! Yes ma'am!"

Jynaral was not a fighter, really. He didn't have a head for a scrap, that sort of killer instinct one needs to really thrive in hand to hand combat. This was, incidentally, much to the frustration of his Klingon self-defense instructor at the academy. This is because he had other assets.

For one, Jynaral was very large.

Like a panther chasing his prey, the caitian took off in an explosion of motion, leaving his commanding officer behind. Truthfully, the bolian had no chance of escaping on foot and not because of the engineers speed. See, R'keran now knew what the Bolian sounded like. R'keran now knew what the Bolian smelled like.

But there were a lot of ways they could cause trouble in the meantime. They could find a weapon, a hostage, or a way to kill themselves or others...

Jynaral stopped, mid chase, standing up tall as an idea struck him. He knew exactly where the bolian was, and these conduits had pipes of Tricylium Oxide running through them...Tricylium Oxide was a rather outdated form of air scrubbing. It could cheaply clean huge volumes of air and was simple to replicate, which made it, briefly, popular in stations like this. However, it had a particularly...peculiar side effect in large doses.

Jynaral hit his comm badge.

"Feeva Drylo." He called out to the medic. "How long can a bolian be exposed to an atmosphere full of Tricylium Oxide before passing out...but before suffering any brain damage?"

[Zavrol Gohun]

At ops

Gohun knew there was not a lot of time he would have to counter the sabotage on the computers. The first thing he needed to do was write a counter virus program. With that Gohun started using the unused ops console. Fortunately many of the systems are separated and need someone to be at the physical location to upload programs. Which means that Gohun would have to go to other stations for the antivirus to be dispersed but first it had to be programmed. With that Gohun started to access the virus and a very weird thing happened. The virus started fighting back which means the virus had counter virus measures to protect itself. This should be fun Gohun thought.