Borderlands

Posted on Mon Jan 18th, 2021 @ 9:58pm by Captain Maia Sterling & Lieutenant Steve O'Carroll & Lieutenant Commander Sheena Toran-Blake & Lieutenant Commander Ryan Blake & Lieutenant Commander Havri Belbre & Lieutenant JG Nishu Yalet

Mission: The Thorion Conundrum Mission Brief
Location: Border of Throrion-4
Timeline: 239412.24

Epilogue: The Lady Luck and her escort ships, The Ma’ab, The Frick and the Nimue made a clean getaway and was already nearly a full sector away. Normally Arwella thought to herself they would dispense with the hit and run tactics and either enslave the whole crew or have gone after any that had escaped. There were several escape pods. Her small fleet was more than a match for a single Federation starship, possible two or three. Last year she had learned not to trust those in power with regard to the Orion syndicate so had made some crew changes while she repaired her diminished fleet and damaged starship. In the ongoing year she got rid of the old Orion derelicts using them for spare parts and established a base shipyard and repair facility in the Ort belt of the Denorious asteroid field. Even disguising it as a casino. Her organization was close to the Cardassian Empire and managed to buy an old dilapidated Terrok Nor class station. The Lady Luck herself didn’t look like any starship in the region and was more a combination of ships. It took almost a year working with the BLA to restore the station and her ship. After the Orion Syndicate banished her and her henchmen, she was forced to seek new allies to wreak terror in her part of the quadrant. So far she had been successful. What she couldn’t she stole with impunity. She made sure to cover her tracks by keeping her trail along the same path as commercial traffic. There would be no way for anyone to track them. She did however have need of the Pergium on Thorion-3. Why buy it when you could excavate it right out of the ground. Anyone that got in her way would be eliminated and she had a lot of scores to settle. She had many spies throughout the sector and knew the Federation was going to establish a presence on Thorion 4. She rather hoped it would be the USS Tomcat. She wouldn’t mind destroying her and killing Captain Somers out of spite for all the damage they caused her. Her small fleet was safely tucked away in her shipyards where the freighters they captured and the equipment they stole were being modified. A shame they were going to Throrion-3 instead of being fully loaded with Pergium. It would take a little more time but Arwella was sure she could make a tidy profit from her venture. Time would tell.

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[On]

Bridge USS Leto NCC-80916

Captain’s Log Stardate 239412.24
We have taken aboard eight Saurian miners who were hi-jacked. We answered their distress call and found them floating in space. The apparent leader Stroth says they were attacked by four ships, 3 Klingon K’Vort Class Battlecruisers and another ship of unknown design, however they were boarded by Orion pirates who are known to hunt prey in this sector. They killed most of the Saurian’s approximately 183 of them and stole the industrial mining equipment they had in their possession. Could it be that the Orion pirate Arwella actually survived her last encounter with the Starship Tomcat? We scanned the immediate area for more survivors and sent a subspace message to Thorion-4 informing them of what happened. So the Thorion authorities are on alert for possible incursions into their territory. It could be a needle in a haystack though as many alien miners have already made incursions into Thorion space on a quest to get rich quick. The Leto is back on our original course to Thorion 4 and I have ordered a yellow alert Just in case we are being stalked by a cloaked ship or ships. Commander Sterling Maia A. Reporting. Log Out.


The USS Leto crossed the border between Federation space and Orion space without incident, they were less than two hours away from Thorion-4 star system. So far they had not been hailed or challenged. There were several other ships in the area, civilian ships, miners and passenger liners several freighters going in both directions.

“Mr. Barton take us down to warp two,” Maia ordered.

“Aye Captain,” Mr. Barton replied.

Warp two was a much safer velocity than warp 7. Especially with as much traffic as was in the area.

“Lt Brannon please perform a soft scan of any vessels we encounter. Looking for the ships that Mr. Stroth lost,” Maia said.

Ms. Brannon replied, "Aye Captain. Also will see if I can scan for known associates as well. And known spies as well. Star Fleet has identified several of them.."

Seems to me you will have your hands filled on this assignment, Angie. With the mad rush to get to the Pergium, and the powers that are involved, I'm sure there are many operatives who are seeking an advantage here." Maia replied

“Number one you have the bridge, let me know when we reach the Thorion border.”

"Understood captain," Sheena said as she took the center seat. "Mr. Bannon, maintain tactical scans on the area. Let me know if anything out of the ordinary pops up," she added.

"Aye Captain", Brannon replied.

Maia left the bridge and decided to get something to eat. It had been a while since she had any food and while she didn't like skipping meals the rescue operation certainly cut into her normal schedule. Now that they were back on there way She felt free to take care of her rumbling stomach. For her it was simple. A chicken sandwich and a bowl of tomato soup. She ate heartily. She reflected on the pirate incursions and wondered what incidents the Thorions had come to deal with.

Ryan, Samantha and Ambassador Langley entered the mess hall. All three spotted Maia sitting at her favorite table and made a beeline directly towards her. Ryan addressed Maia upon their arrival at her table. "Captain, I don't wish to intrude, but Ambassador Langley and Doctor Blake wanted a quick word with you."

"Please have a seat, join me. How can I be of service to all of you?" Maia said.

Ryan took a seat next to Maia as his sister and the ambassador sat down across from Maia. Henry spoke first. "I was hoping to go over the away team assignments for establishment of the embassy on Thorion IV." He gestured to Samantha. "Doctor Blake will also need a support team for her mission to Thorion III to conduct a geological survey of the largest Pergium deposits."

"Excellent, who did you want on your teams"? Maia asked.

Henry gestured to Samantha to speak first. She glanced at her PADD before looking back up to Maia and speaking. "I would like to include another person with some experience with geology. It is my understanding that ship's engineers have some experience with geological surveys due to their working with dilithium. Lieutenant Dougherty would prove most useful I think."

Henry spoke up next. "It's been established that a large contingent of the marines will be reassigned to the embassy security detail. The actual embassy infrastructure will still need to be set up. With you permission, I would like for Lieutenant O'Carroll to work on setting up the communications and computer facilities I will need. I also think a member of the security department will be needed to set up some additional technical security measures at the embassy compound."

Ryan looked at Henry and his sister before addressing Maia. "I would like to add a small security team to Saman...to Doctor Blakes team. There is still the possibility of a hostile Orion presence on Thorion III that must be considered." He paused for a moment thinking of what else should be addressed. "Both teams will need a Starfleet officer to lead the away teams."

"I don't have any problem with that as long as she doesn't. Has she been instructed in proper security procedures for away missions?" Maia asked.

Ryan glanced at Maia. "Who are you speaking about sir."

"Samantha." Maia said.

Samantha chuckled as she gave Maia a nod of her head. "You don't have to worry about me Captain Sterling. I have been on thirty nine planetary surveys. Fourteen of which were under the authority of Starfleet, the remainder being under the auspice of the Federation Science Council."

Henry glanced at Ryan. He could tell the young man was a bit concerned about his sister going on an away mission that had the potential to become dangerous what with the possible presence of Orions in the vicinity. He wished he could recommend he join his sister on the survey mission, but Ryan had the expertise to expedite the diplomatic mission. "I would like to ask that you assign Lieutenant Blake to the away team to Thorion Four. He has the knowledge and experience I will need to get the embassy set up."

"I'm always going to worry about my crew, however I know enough to get out of the way when they don't need me." Maia replied.

She was the Chief Engineer, so her place was often in the depths of the ship, but for once, Jamie thought to attend to her station on the bridge. She exited the turbo lift, dressed in a perfect uniform, though perhaps a little tighter than regulation, as her own curves were a little more than most. She bounced in time to her walk and she felt the looks on her from one or two of the men on the bridge, something she was getting used to by now.

"Computer, import user profile Dougherty 327 Alpha," she said as she sat at the engineering console.

"User settings and preferences imported," the computer reported. Interface elements moved around, macros came across, and button combinations appeared in a way that made more sense to Jamie. She also had to make slight changes to the colorations due to her having more cones in her eyes than others, letting her see more intense color combinations than even Saurians.

"There we go," she said. "Subspace field within normal parameters...field stable and balanced," she said to herself as she walked through all the stats as the ship went at a leisurely warp 2, "deflector at 97.43% efficiency...I can fix that later...core working within normal parameters."

Brannon replied, "Captain soft scans show several Orion ships in the area. None are warships though. They appear to be transport ships and I am unable to determine the cargo they are carrying. I am hoping to stray across the Ships carrying the stolen mining equipment. So we can use it to negotiate them and have an upper hand on them.

Nishu was on guard duty roaming the halls making sure there were no problems while everyone else was busy elsewhere. So far no problems If any she will be told or see before the problem starts. She continued on watching people go by as she headed for the closest to the turbo lift before she was walking there and tapped her Comm badge to her. “Lt Brannon this is Ltjg Yalet I'm checking in with you security-wise is there a certain place you need me to be?” Nishu said as she was nearby the Turbo lift waiting for her Security chief to answer.

"LT Yalet continue your rounds and let me know if something is going. Our channel is secure to security, only us and the CO plus the XO can hear any communications." Replied Brannon.

Nisha heard what her security chief says and continued on rounds as she was told.” Aye sir I’m" on rounds now so far so quiet but I will keep looking sir.” Nisha said after she tapped off and looked around for anything suspicious.


Noticing the Chief opening up her console, Sheena waited for her to finish her checks first, then, "Everything good with engineering. ChEng?" she asked.

"Aye Sir" She stated.

"Commander we are being hailed from Thorion 4". The Comm officer Ensign Bell said.

Message as follows: "Federation Starship Leto, This is Bashir Jo'Lan of Thorion-4. We welcome you and will send escorts to you upon your arrival at the border. Please acknowledge". "Federation Starship Leto, This is Bashir Jo'Lan of Thorion-4. We welcome you and will send escorts to you upon your arrival at the border. Please acknowledge".

"Captain Sterling to the bridge." Sheena said hitting the intercom.

Nisha was still on rounds as she kept walking about and so forth recognizing 2 officers yelling ready to throw blows, Nisha went up to them to see if she could break up the fight between the two officers.

Maia got to the bridge moments later.

"This is the Starship Leto, Captain Maia Sterling commanding. We acknowledge your signal and are prepared to be escorted." Maia replied.

"Captain there are approximately seventy vessels approaching us at sub-light speed." Ops stated.

Maia recognized them as Thorion Balistas, and Javelins.

"Helm reduce speed to their pace." Maia said.

The Leto spent the next two hours being escorted at 1/2 impulse to Thorion 4 protected on all sides by Thorion Defense Force.

[OFF]

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A post by

Cdr Maia A. Sterling
Commanding officer
USS Leto

LCdr Sheena Toran
Executive Officer
USS Leto

Lt Ryan Blake
Chief Strategic Operations Officer
USS Leto

Lt Angelina Brannon
Chief Security Officer
USS Leto

Lt Jamie Dougherty
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Leto

Lt Jg Nisha Yalet
Security Officer
USS Leto

Lt Jg Jason Barton
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Leto