Assemble
Posted on Wed Sep 20th, 2017 @ 1:06pm by Lieutenant Commander Jordan Gunning & Lieutenant Commander Izize sh'Ekesariss & Lieutenant Sydney Palmieri M.D., Ph.D. & Lieutenant (P) Finnley Rothbort & Dahleya
Mission:
The Band (Episode 1)
Location: Orbital Station - Cestus III
They all eyed one another around the table in the tiny meeting room which looked like it had been designed for - and built by - Tellarites. The scale was tiny and most of the bulkheads were filled in a furious red, the colour of dried blood and spit. It was curiously fitting.
Ize didn't look particularly pleased at the assembled group and Gunning didn't really blame her. They were still short an engineer, their preferred candidate having been accidentally ejected from an airlock during a drunken supply run, and the three members of their senior staff all had their reasons to be scrutinised. Well, perhaps not Palmieri, although how she was going to cope going into live combat zones was anyone's guess. Dahleya was Gunning's main concern. He had leverage over Roth, as the pilot preferred to be known, but Dahleya held all the cards in that particular relationship. If it wasn't for her distaste for the Sojourners' methods of doing business he'd be watching his back every time he went to the head.
He pressed the activator on the holographic projector and the Starfleet insignia appeared, rotating serenely in mid-air. "You've all been granted sufficient security clearance within Starfleet to hear this briefing. Congratulations - I guess. You are the members of a Starfleet rapid response or 'hazard' team with mission parameters to pursue and subdue Sojourner remnant targets. You'll be pleased to hear that we've actually been assigned a vessel to do this with and you'll also be pleased to hear that the old Miranda class in the dock you all thought you were going to end up with is being turned into a museum." Gunning flicked his finger over the PADD, changing the display to a sleek, flat, Defiant-class vessel.
"This is the USS Virgil and is your home for the foreseeable future. Newly developed with our goal in mind, it has a larger shuttlebay for - get this - a larger shuttle and a prototype heat sink which I'm told is so unreliable we'll be lucky to survive a week if we use it." Jordan was excited in some form but there was trepidation in there too. Aside from the fact they were on a Starfleet ship there was no backup, no support, no official record of them being out on manoeuvres. That meant that if someone blew them to bits, there'd be very little to say they'd ever been out in space.
He started thinking about what his obituary would lead. Jordan Gunning: never could make a decision and stick to it. Idiot.
Dahleya was leaning back in her chair, her ankles crossed and boots on the table. She shrugged in response to the change in plans. "I don't really care what ship we're in, as long as the pay's the same. Though I suppose it's good to know that we won't be cruising around in a museum piece."
Ize shot Dahleya a sideways glare and restrained herself from saying something. She had to keep telling herself that these wasn't the typical Starfleet crew she was used to working with; she couldn't chew them out every time they skirted the bounds of insubordination like she would any other junior officer. Gritting her teeth, she turned her attention back to the ship, quietly pleased that they weren't given the old Miranda-class ship.
"Oh, but museum pieces can have so much character," Roth said, gently rocking and swinging on his chair, hands on his lap was clearly unsure what else to do with them. "You know, the rattling... that particular musk an old engine room gets that lets you know the core is only a few bad years away from blowing up in your face..."
Dahleya scoffed. "I would prefer not spending the last of my days on a Starfleet death trap. If your famed engineers can't keep that engine maintained, maybe it is best that we have the newer ship."
"Yeah let's take what they've given us and call it a win." Gunning replied, cutting through the hubbub of conversation that was building up. "We have sealed orders - a lead on a safety deposit box. The assumption is that whatever's in it will give us the information we need to track down our first target. Unfortunately we can't just walk in and take it." He pressed a button and a photograph appeared on the display of a blown out vault. "Because someone already has."
Dahleya took her feet off the table and leaned forward. The mystery suddenly had her attention. "Interesting. Looks like a pretty clean blast. Whoever prepared the explosive knew what they were doing. Any leads beyond this image here?"
"They'd have needed a fast ship to get away clean from a heist like that," Roth said, sitting forward himself. "Explosion like that attracts a lot of attention; you're going to want to get out of there fast, before the local Feds can react. Either that, or they're laying low and waiting for everything to blow over before slipping off planet."
"Nothing beyond what they have. The bank's security was compromised and there are no orbital sensors to give us a gen on whether they got off world or not." The bank, located outside the city of Toyun on Asterisia IV was considered a high security facility, more akin to a military compound than a commercial bank. However the thieves had got in, they'd likely had help. Another photo appeared on the display, showing the bank building flanked by high walls, towers, guards and more surveillance equipment than you could shake a stick at. "However they did it, I'm assuming they had to have help."
Sydney nodded. "Agreed. I suppose the next obvious question is, who on the inside would have motive to assist with something like this? An obvious motivation could include monetary gain, but there are others. What do we know about the people working in or associated with the bank?" Palmieri was also going to have to get used to her new environment and potentially informal working conditions. She was more accustomed to law enforcement and Starfleet associated work environments.
"I'm glad you asked." Gunning threw a PADD across the table at the Doc. "That contains the criminal and personnel records of everyone working at the bank from senior management right down to the guy that cleans the nozzles on the soup dispensers. They're all vetted and checked by a central regulatory body which is supposed to keep people with a sketchy past from getting into jobs with the bank. There's a chance that they could have been forged but it's as good a place to start as any."
"The rest of you, we need to get some kind of gen on what happened. Anyone with their ear to the ground, try to see if there's been any suspicious movements or chatter. I doubt it'll turn up anything but you never know your luck. I'll meet you on the Virgil in two hours - be prepared for launch." He eyed each person at the table individually before realising what they were all thinking. "Your gear has already been moved on board. Welcome to Starfleet, your privacy is not your own."
"Somehow I'm not surprised," Dahleya quipped. "I go through my list of contacts. I might have someone who's heard something, but I doubt they'll answer me if I call on a Starfleet channel. But worst case, there's always people people we can grease on site."
Gunning rolled his eyes, glad Starfleet had given them a solid supply of latinum to take with them.
Commander Jordan Gunning, Lieutenant Commander Ize sh'Ekesariss, Lieutenant Finnley Rothbort, Lieutenant Sydney Palmieri, Dahleya
