This is how we get them.

Posted on Sun Nov 28th, 2021 @ 11:47pm by Captain Maia Sterling & Lieutenant Commander Sheena Toran-Blake & Commander Ryan Blake & Lieutenant Commander Robert Hendon & Lieutenant Commander Havri Belbre & Lieutenant Maria McMahon & Lieutenant Kasey Tanger & Lieutenant Commander Rick Gibbs & Captain Karyn Somers & Doctor Samantha Blake, Ph.D (Geology) & Senior Chief Petty Officer Henry 'Hank' Keitel

Mission: The Riixian Insurection
Location: Bridge/Various
Timeline: During Away Teams, Before Are We.

[ON]

"This isn't good. The Caliphaté are using guerilla tactics as far as I can tell. Not all of our officers are trained in dealing with that." Tapping on his console. Beaming Hank and Sheena back up, they were done there for the moment. No need for them to stick around for anyone else to show up.

"I've got Commander Toran and Senior Chief Keitel in Transporter Room Three. The ones they tagged are aboard as well, Ma'am. I'm trying to locate the other two teams." Listening to the comms the best he could. "As far as I can tell, Beta is pinned down, trying to get that database, Captain." Ricks fingers still moving furiously over his console, considering that he is monitoring three teams, and all of the hostiles. "I'm not sure I can do much to help them. Wait!" Blowing up the schematic a moment, "Brannon, there's a junction behind Lieutenant Dougherty. You can take that to get to a spot to defend while the device is being beamed up and then your team."

"I'm having a little issue getting a complete lock on Gamma Team, Captain. They keep moving erratically. I'm working on it."

=/\= Gamma Team Leader to Leto =/\= Somers began =/\= we are about to get to the engineering on this ship, so going radio silent, be ready with that transporter as I feel that we will need to be pulled out PDQ, so wait till you hear from me again =/\= Somers said.

=/\=Leto to Gamma Leader, Leto acknowledges, good luck=/\=

- Sickbay -

As Maria appeared in Sickbay still groggy from being stunned and trying to focus on Ryan, she asked "Are we back yet?" as she knew that the effects of a stun had taken their toll on her as she guessed it must have been a high stun setting that hit her. as she looked at Blake for a minute she then passed out again.

Ryan carried Maria and set her down on a biobed as he called for the medical staff. "Lieutenant McMahon took a single phaser blast to the chest, she is breathing and has a pulse. She briefly regained consciousness. I am guessing the phaser was set to stun and not kill."

Hendon had been following Ryan into Sickbay. He had also been injured trying to help. Typical of some people. Shoot the medic so no one can help the wounded. Luckily it was just a glancing blow to his leg.

A strong feel of déjà vu came over him. Only last time he did not have an injury as well.

“ They got my ankle. Never mind me let’s see Maria first. I need a cardio stimulator and a hypo…..NOW!” He said. His injured ankle getting the best of him and his temper.

Ryan stepped back after placing Maria on the biobed. He watched as Doctor Hendon and the medical staff treated Maria for her injury.

Peeters was relieved to sit this one out until she saw the victims entering the sickbay and even an injured Dr Hendon. He was on a tantrum and she decided to follow him and see whats was going on. I gave him the hypo before hooking up the cardio stimulator to the victim and reading the results. "Doc, she has an irregular pulse, can I administer an anti clot hypo?

Robert gave a start he had not seen Peeters behind him. “Oh hello. Yes please if you could. I need to get this ankle sorted.” He replied

Peeters simply nodded and got to work.

Hendon limped over to a biobed but did not lay on it. Instead, he leaned against it and ran a probe over his ankle. Shaking his head he was about to pick up another device. When he noticed a patient needing help and left his injured ankle alone to help them.

Brannon replied,=/\= "We will be ready to transport in 10 minutes. We have barricaded into defensive positions. We can hold on here for a while with little effort. The door is jammed to prevent them from opening it. And if they try to blast through we have available cover to protect ourselves.

We are in the position now. and ready to do it soon. Thanks, we are in a position now and ready to defend."=/\=

=/\=Negative Lieutenant there are no life forms aboard that ship We have beamed them to the Brig. Return with your equipment. Leto Out =/\=

Turning to Lt. Gibbs

"Once they are back on board have the science teams and engineering go over any technology recovered we must learn how it works," Maia said from the bridge.

Gibbs rubbed his nose a little, "I'd be careful with those. They could have been set up with traps, explosives." Sending the order to the science teams, and engineering.

LT Brannon finished what needed to be done with her team. =/\= Transporter Room lock on to this signal and transport immediately to Cargo Bay 1. =/\=
U
She looked at the rest of the team, "Gather anything that looks important and prepare to beam back to the Leto."

LT Brannon's team gathered together in a group. =/\= Transporter Room 1, we are ready to beam back to the Leto. ENERGIZE.=/\=

Sheena was pacing back and forth. Something just didn't sit well with her. oO If they had augmented their abilities, how would they do it, but not show any outward signs of it? Oo she thought.

Captain Sterling was waiting in transporter room 2 when Brannon's team beamed back.

"Welcome back Lt Brannon, you're team did a good job. Now let's get that equipment you found to engineering so they can do a detailed analysis." Maia said.

Brannon replied, "Thanks Captain, We were lucky, it could have been touchy. We sent back 12 prisoners' and the unit as well. And recover 10 handheld units as well. I sent 9 to engineering for them to look at but kept one. They are very simple to use and have various settings from light to heavy like our phaser. The instructions are in Betazed. But I am able to read it. And also it is so simple to use I could have anyone ready to use them in about 30 minutes. "

She held out the one she was carrying, " as you can see there is a power switch and then the settings switch. Low power is green medium is yellow and high in red. The high settings can be fatal. So it would be only if authorized by senior officers or chain of command."

"Very interesting have you analyzed it? what type of beam does it fire?" Maia asked.

"It fires a beam similar to our phasers and it is so good if you hit someone in the leg it still affects their minds. By travelling through the Nervous system. Quite efficient but is still simple to use and easy to conceal as well. Much like our hand phasers." replied Brannon.

"Here check it out, Lieutenant." As she reaches it to Lieutenant Somers.

Taking the offered item Karyn looks at it "Interesting" she said moving it from one hand to another "light and ergonomically shaped, what type of energy does it use?" Karyn asked studying it as she asked her question.

"It fires Nadion particles? That is basically the same as our phasers." Maia said.

Looking up with a raised eyebrow "parallel technology to Starfleet, that is really interesting" she said then looked at Brannon "what else do you know about this device Lieutenant?

Brannon replied, On light settings, it causes headaches and minor discomfort. But at full strength it can cause major problems to the nervous system and if held on someone long enough. Can cause the brain to rupture causing serious and painful death. So these are major systems to deal with. I fired it at a rodent-type creature on the Betazed ship and it died almost instantly. So it shows how powerful these are."

"How many of these things did you say you brought back with you? 10 Total we will have to see what engineering comes up with," Maia said.

I would like permission to keep one of them to further understand the working of it Captain. And let engineering work with the other 9. Knowing it better may come in handy when we arrive at Betazed. And allow me to better explain it to the Betazed Security Council. So they know we are friends and not enemies. Plus I would be able to better train security and marine personnel in how they work as well." Replied Brannon.

"Okay," Karyn said simply but privately wondered why would Brannon want to keep the weapon at hand, "um... Lieutenant is it not protocol to keep all weapons in the ship's armoury? and where it can be studied" She asked Brannon.

"She does have a point, Angelique, However, you do control the armoury. Test the weapon and see what kind of technology you can glean from it."

Brannon replied "I am only holding it long enough to take it to the Holosuite to do some tests with it. I have a few rodent-type animals that need to be disposed of to prevent them from causing any problems. They can be further test subjects to see further how the weapons work. Once finished it will be secured in the armoury, where only senior staff and engineering have access to all of them. If you have no objections Captain. Both of you are welcome to observe the tests if you wish." As she looked at Captain Sterling and Lt Somers.

"Where did you get rodents Lieutenant?" Maia asked.

"They were trapped in a couple of cargo bays. It appears they came over when we transported supplies before at our last stop when we took on supplies. I checked the ship completely and with sensors and now know all of them have been captured. I planned to put them off at a planet that we passed close enough to and let them take care of them. But now they will be excellent test subjects for the weapons." Replied Brannon.

"At least they aren't as bad as Cardassian voles," Maia stated.

"I agree Captain," Replied Brannon. "They multiply by 12 with each female per 24 hour period. These as from a newly found planet called Adoriz and are very similar to a rat on earth. But don't multiply as fast either. They reproduce once every 42 days. And neither was female."

=/\= Tanger to Sterling, Some of the telepathic dignitaries are curious about the status of the proceedings, can I provide them with an update? =/\=

=/\= You can invite them in if you like, We are prepared to answer questions now =/\= Sterling replied.

=/\= Thank you, ma'am, I will have them report momentarily. =/\= Tanger replied as he then communicated with the dignitaries in person.

The dignitaries then filed into the room where the captain was.

Saagu walked into the room, She saw Lt Brannon, Captain Sterling and a Marine LT talking about something. She walked over and said hello. "Hello, Captain how are things going with your teams right now." As she looked at something LT Brannon was holding in her hand, but did not ask about it.

Sheena walked in at the end of the discussion, "Wait, it affects the nervous system? What then would concentrate the power to project the psionic attacks? I have a theory that within the brain, there is a tiny device that channels this power and it can be directed point-blank or wide range. You put three or four of these minds together and the destructive force would be 10 times worse than with just 1." she said, not sure she would be understood.

Brannon replied, "What I was thinking. I planned to bring this to engineering so you could go over it. But we did download the main computer core. ANd also all we could find on find on the large device we recovered as well. as on the handheld units like this one. It appears the handheld units are quite effective. But the main unit is amazing. Here is a container with everything we got Sheena. I hope all this can help us learn more about these things and also maybe find a way we can defend against them as well. All weapons systems have a flaw that allows someone to defend against them. And we need to find that weakness in these.

"Ambassador Saagu" Maia acknowledged.

"We were just discussing some startling discoveries we've made about the Caliphate operatives," Maia said.

"Dr Hendon has informed me that the Caliphate is using devices implanted into the brains of the Caliphate operatives to focus and help direct their psionic energy, but he is still researching it. We need to give him more time to come to the truth of the matter." Maia continued.

For most of this Karyn remained silent and she looked up when someone entered "hello there" she said to the new arrival who had just joined them.

"Karyn have you met Ambassador Saagu"? the Captain asked.

"Nice to meet you, LT Somers, I heard part of it and am glad we are learning from it. Medical teams on Betazed have limited numbers of them to examine. When we capture one of the Caliphates. Before we could look them over someone helps them escape. So we know very little about them. "Replied Ambassador Saagu.

Looking at Sterling "No I have not had the pleasure Captain" and then nodding her head in polite response "nice to meet you too Ambassador Saagu" she responded and looked at the Ambassador with a friendly smile, she was trying to recall what she was taught about diplomatic niceties, while she never followed as much as her sister, her father and Mother drilled into her the diplomatic niceties.

"I have good news all our away teams have returned with no casualties We have also secured some Caliphate technology which our own scientific staff and engineers are working to determine how they work, and we have also captured twenty-four Caliphate prisoners. Though they all seem to have a neurological implant imbedded into the cerebral hemisphere of their brains. the Captain said.

Saagu smiled, "Nice to meet both of you too. Wish it was under better circumstances though. And this technology is very enlightening too. I hope we can counter it before it is too late."

Looking a little surprised "ah both good and alarming news is that Captain" Somers said and fell silent to let those more qualified do their thing.

"I am sure that Dr Hendon will be able to determine what they are and how they work," Maia said confidently.

LT Brannon replied, "Dr Hendon, here are some of the implants I recovered as well that had not been placed into some of the Caliphates. I was thinking these may help you learn more about how they work. The others are in Engineering for them to check out and see what they can find out. too. Also Captain due to the number of these I recovered it appears they were planning to put them in other Caliphate members as well. It appears they are adding to their ranks as we speak."

Knowing what the devices were capable of he carefully took them from Brannon.

"While they are adding to their ranks we will be adding to our defences as well," Maia stated.

Looking at the devices "some of those remind me of sub-dermal implants, all Marines have them implanted, I have one implanted, it allows for unit cohesion and is undetectable by enemy sensors. These implants while reminiscent of what I have are a bit more advanced and make me nervous" she said and looked at the rest "I advise caution when examining those devices" Somers finished.

“Actually we have already discovered some of the things these nasties can do. Including a very diabolical way of keeping the wearer loyal. You were lucky Angela they could have turned you into a fleshy jigsaw puzzle.” Robert said.

"What is it that they do exactly Dr. Hendon and how we protect others from its effects?" Maia asked.

" Explode. There is a built-in charge that can either be set off when an attempt to remove them or by remote control. The only to protect them is to remove them. Which we are working on now." Robert reported.

Brannon replied, "I suspected the possibility and placed them in special cases that cannot be penetrated by any type of communications device. Dr. Hendon. And I made sure others were out of the danger area when I moved them in case one did explode. I did not want to endanger anyone else while doing it. I was also the only one carrying them and transported back alone to prevent endangering anybody else. I had the transporter chief clear the transporter room and then proceed to move them carefully.

“ Good thinking. Best keep them in those cases though just in case someone tries to set them off. I rather like have two working hands.” Hendon said.

Also Captain some of the prisoners told me they wanted to defect from the Caliphrate but was unable to do so because of the explosive charge in the implant. I had them placed in a separate cell to prevent the ones loyal to the Caliphrate from discovering this. And protect them. Till Dr. Hendon removes the devices the cell is protected from all communications."

“Then we better get started on removing these beauties as soon as possible. We will need to set up a communication dampening field around sickbay. Just in case they try and activate the implants explosive charges.” Hendon said.

"Makes sense Betazoid's value truth more than just about anything, looks like we have our work cut out for us." maia stated

"Lt Brannon, get me the names of those defectors, and we will put them at the top of the removal list." Maia continued.

They were the ones that told me about the explosives in the devices. Said if anyone tries to defect it keeps them from doing so. And keeps all the information they have confidential. Here are the names of them as she passes the tablet to Captain Sterling. Besides yourself, we are the only one that knows their names. I promised if they cooperated we would help them and also help with their defense in their court cases when they are tried on Betazed." Brannon replied.

Hendon began typing on his padd. It’s screen flashed several figures and he looked up.

“Ok we can begin once the security measures are in place. We’ll need sickbay cleared just in case. Permission to use the Holo deck as a temporary sickbay?”Robert asked

"Alright the holodeck is yours until further notice". Maia replied.

"I will have a security team guarding the door of the suite and also ordinance disposal teams standing by to deactivate the explosive charges once they are removed. This ensures the security of the Leto." Replied Brannon

"Outstanding, just be sure they are properly prepared." Maia ordered.

[End]

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A post by:

Captain Maia A Sterling
Commanding Officer
USS Leto NCC-80916

&

Commander Sheena Toran
Executive Officer
USS LEto NCC-80916

&

Lt Commander Ryan Blake
Chief of Strategic Operations/20
USS Leto Ncc-80916

&

LT Angelina Brannon
Chief of Security/Tactical [Officer
USS Leto NCC-80916

&

Lt JG Rick Gibbs
Chief Tactical Officer
USS Leto NCC-80916

&

Dr. Robert Hendon
Chief Medical Officer
USS Leto NCC-80916

&

1Lt Karyn Somers
95th Rifles Det A Executive Officer
USS LEto NCC-80916

&

Nurse Kimberly Peeters
Head Nurse
US Leto NCC-80916

&

Lieutenant Kasey TAnger
Chief Diplomatic Officer
USS Leto NCC-80916