Rescue Run, part 1

Posted on Mon Apr 24th, 2023 @ 6:43pm by Lieutenant Commander Diane Doctrine & Lieutenant Etan tar-Lexros & 1st Lieutenant Kayleigh London

Mission: Starship Side Quest
Location: USS Eldritch
Timeline: Current

ooc: a bit about Captain Olivaw's ship... this information is classified. Your character doesn't know it unless the Captain Olivaw tells. ;^)

The USS Eldritch, an Insignia Class ship, did not have a very long run. Less than fifty were produced. They were as long and abeam as a Galaxy class vessel but only had twenty decks. The saucer section was round rather than oval and the neck between the saucer and engineering section was non-existent.

This particular vessel was used largely as a test bed for technology Starfleet Intelligence assimilated from other cultures. As such there many redundant systems in case one of the experimental ones failed at a critical time. She could out run and out gun most other ships of the line but because of the extra mass of the redundant systems she was heavy for her size. She handled like a pregnant elephant. The helms people hated the flight characteristics especially during combat operations. Also because of the redundancies, she didn't have the creature comforts other starships had of similar size. There was only one holodeck, one lounge, no arboretum, and most of the junior officer's quarters were double bunked.

The Eldritch, or ‘Ellie’ as the crew affectionately called her, was stealthy, fast, and powerful. She was made for missions like this.

==Transporter Room 2, USS Eldritch==

Captain Olivaw waited in the transporter room for the signal from the Resolution. He thought it was good that Diane was bringing and entire team of senior officers as some of his were currently on leave. She managed to bring aboard officers who could fill in the necessary gaps.

The signal came and Olivaw looked to his transporter operator, "Energize Mister Jenkins."

The group materialized on the pad and when the sequence was finished Diane was standing in front of the crowd. The Betazoid captain offered a much warmer welcome to his good friend and was shown to the rest. Even though they were friends, they maintained a professional demeanor.

"Diane," Daneel greeted her. "It's good to see you again."

"Dany! It's good to see too," Diane stepped down from the pad, "I brought the gang," she introduced each person and Captain Olivaw who shook each one's hand. "Welcome aboard. The bridge already has coordinates, we'll be leaving momentarily. First I'd like us all to head to our conference room and you can meet the rest of my staff... who's not vacation."

They were all led to the conference room on deck two. Already seated at the table were a Klingon woman and a red-headed, freckled youngster.

"Diane, you already know Lieutenant Vam'wa," Daneel motioned to the Klingon, "my chief flight controller, and Lieutenant Orville Diaz, my chief engineer."

Diane pointed at each of her crewmates and offered their names, "Doctor Milton, Lieutenant Aalis Rinne, Lieutenant Etan tar-Lexros, Lieutenant Tale Gilohesh, Major Alisa Nisu, and Lieutenant Kayleigh London."

"Great," Daneel said taking the chair at the head of the table, "One thing I have to say to our guests, there's a lot of classified things on this particular ship. Please, no wondering below deck six unless there's an emergency. My crew knows who you are and they will bring you back to the upper decks if you're caught. An questions on that?"

"Point me in the direction of the medical bay," Tale said. She was tired and felt like her head would split in half with a mere rattle with this headache she had. "So the Doctor and I can get set up."

“Main sickbay is on deck five ma’am,” Daneel answered. His Betazoid senses picked up some distress from the emerald woman, “I’m sure they can get you something to help you feel better also,” he added sympathetically.

Tale nodded heaving the sparingly medical bag over her shoulder. Her hearing kept buzzing infrequently, causing her deafness in her ear intermittently. She hoped the Doctor that she was playing surgeon for had heard what deck. Because she wasn't asking again.

"Nice to meet you, sir." Kayleigh saluted correctly. "I am currently serving as a counsellor but I am a fully trained combat marine and I have brought my gear. So use me as you see fit." Ren was like a brother to her and she hoped to kick the shit out of however had done this.

Etan nodded at the warning from the Captain. He'd gotten used to the intelligence section on the Resolution and working within the confines of that situation. Like all skilled Ops staff, he'd heard about the so-called "ghost fleet" - ships that were designed by high echelons in the SCE in secret for Intelligence use or other covert operations. This vessel was one of them, apparently. He'd never expected that he'd set foot on such a ship, but the Resolution had obviously changed the course of his life. He just kept a grip on his PADD, which contained the list of all parts which they'd need to salvage for the Resolution's repairs, hoping that the Engineering staff and his team would be able to perform the preliminary repairs. "Aye, sir."

"All right then," Daneel began, "Diane, I believe you have some information to share?"

Diane hadn't yet taken a seat. She stood next to the chair Captain Olivaw was sitting in. "A... let's say mystery person for the time being, who wants to remain anonymous and apparently seems to care for Soran has contacted me twice expressing concern for him. He sent me some files about a program 'Commander Wagnor was in while in the Angosian military. The Sentinel Program. It seems people in Soran's group of sentinels have been targeted and it's entirely within the realm of possibility he's on this list and next. We have to find them and bring them home. We're heading to their last known location and we'll to track Wagnor and Lieutenant Jansen... I mean Carey... from there."

Captain Olivaw's badge chirped for attention, "Williamson to Captain Olivaw?"

The captain tapped his badge and replied, "Go ahead."

"We've just detected an explosion at Toshi Station."

Daneel's and Diane's eyes locked. "Increase speed to warp nine."

"Aye Sir."

"Your friends may have been kidnapped and now they're being taken somewhere else," Daneel looked at Diane again, "...and now our quarry is attempting to cover their tracks. Any idea who they might be?"

Diane scratched her head. "Possibly. The mystery caller mentioned a couple names and there are some other Angosians mentioned in the files he sent me. The leader of this Sentinel Program. A Joth Mangath. He's been reported dead but there are rumors of sightings and DNA of his was found at Roth IV after reports of his death. Rumors also include him working with other non-UFP friendly governments. And there's Ichatha, an Angosian that ran their psychic defense program."

Etan was trying not to be overwhelmed, but there was a lot going on and not a lot of time to process. His best skills were employed in the day-to-day work of a large ship. A lightning rescue like this was something where he constantly felt himself on the back foot. Still, an explosion at a nearby station. It was terrifying, but he could fix his mind on that, try to figure out the problem that needed solving. That and the fact that he knew he was on a ship that was about to be under massive stress - warp nine was nominally a safe maximum cruise speed for some ships, but he'd never served on a vessel that liked it very much. "Uh, sirs? Have the Science officers aboard identified what kind of explosion? We might be able to better identify the threat if we can run a spectrographic analysis while en route. If you'll allow, I'm qualified to run spectrography."

"Good," Captain Olivaw looked right at the young Lieutenant, "My ops manager is on vacation. You can fill in for him. Once we get to the bridge handle that for us. We'll also need to scan for impulse engine trails and warp signatures. I have a feeling who ever took Wagnor and Jansen didn't stick around for the explosion." He looked towards Diane now, "Care to fill in for the XO?"

Daneel knew perfectly well how Diane felt about that. Of course he asked anyway. "Fine," she uttered. Then with a little more enthusiasm, "All right people, let's get to the bridge."

"Where do you want me?" Kay asked. "I can do combat and or medical, whatever is needed most."

Daneel cast a scrutinizing look at her, "Can you operate a tactical console?"

"I am not an expert but I can manage, sir." Kay said honestly. Her dad had come up through tactical and he had taught all his kids how to fly and fly well. And there had been some lessons at the marine academy.

Daneel stood at the ready room door, "Just point and shoot," he made a finger gun and pointed it at the main viewscreen, "You can handle that."

"Captain," Williamson stood up from the center seat as the Eldritch's commanding officer strode onto the bridge with members of the Resolution's crew. "Long range is picking up another ship headed towards Toshi Station."

Daneel looked at Diane, "Expecting company?"

Diane shook her head, "No."

Daneel looked to Lieutenant tar-Lexros, "Engage the cloak please. Also, keep an eye out for any other ships in the area of Toshi Station."

==Meanwhile, in Sickbay==

=^= Medical bay to Bridge, Gilohesh here. Could it be possible that I get access to Commander Wagnor's medical records?

Tale had many things, Soran's files and his war documentation. She didn't have his sealed medical records. She sat at the medical bay computers with error message after error message. She liked to have these things memorized before she went into battle.

"We'll be getting you access momentarily," a disembodied voice came from the console, "Please wait..." A few moments later the console confirmed to Lieutenant Gilohesh did, in fact, have access to Soran Wagnor's sealed medical files.

"Well that was easier than I thought, I figured I'd have to bribe someone," Tale muttered from the sickbay.

TBC...