[Act 1/Act 2] Second Secretary Aitas - File Structure

[Aitas]

((Bridge, USS Independence-B))

Aitas: ~You’ll need to ensure the default feed from the bridge is misleading, Lieutenant.~

Miller: Understood, Aitas, I can make that work. I will reroute the sensor feed to create a dummy loop. ::hands darting across console:: 

Aitas said nothing. Another empath might have noticed the sudden flicker of frustration, quickly buried under her usual restraint. 

Moore: ::Still watching Stros.:: Commander, unauthorized beam-ins are detained, and medical is responding to treat wounded.

Ukinix: Thanks Lieutenant. ::To Stros:: Mind telling me how you did that?

Stros: Response

Aitas: Is there anything else I can assist with?

Stros: Response

Miller: Incoming transmission, Commander. Shall I patch it through? 

Ukinix: ::To Stros:: You know anything about this? Should I be wary? More fake cave signals, or a fake message?

Stros: Response

Ukinix: ::To Miller:: Righto, patch it through.

Richards: =/\= Richards to Independence. =/\=

Ukinix: =/\= Ukinix here Nathan, go ahead mate. =/\=

Richards: =/\= We’ve found a landing pad down here with some Talon Scouts. Looks like a couple might be missing. Might explain what happened to the colonists. =/\=

Ukinix: =/\= I can probably explain one of them. The head of research I think headed here in one of them with half of the colonists, who have just now beamed themselves on board the ship somehow. We have some of the colonists here. =/\=

Richards: =/\= Wait, you what? =/\=

Ukinix: =/\= I’m getting more information now about the rest of the colonists. See what you can find out about that second scout. Chat soon, let Hops know if you get a chance. Ukinix out. =/\=

Ukinix: You need to explain to us what that cave system is.

Stros: Response

Ukinix: Right. And now we have the rest of the colony to find. ::To Eliana:: Lieutenant Miller, hail the away--

Alarms sounded throughout the bridge.

Ukinix: Report.

Aitas: I’m seeing increased lag throughout the communication systems.

Moore: Response.

Miller: ::Urgently checking her console:: I am detecting multiple sensor anomalies and an energy spike consistent with a cloaked vessel. 

Stros?: Response.

Ukinix: ::Nervously:: That would be consistent with a cloak--

Phaser fire impacted the hull and the bridge shook. Aitas held onto the edge of her console with enough strength to slightly bend one of the edges.

Moore: Response

Ukinix: Red Alert! On screen!

Ukinix: Evasive manoeuvres!

Miller: Engaging in pattern Gamma-2-4-Beta. Be prepared for swift and sudden moves!

Aitas pointedly made sure she was safely secured. As much as she could be. A broken rib and punctured lung from being tossed about a bridge was not an experience she wished to repeat. 

Ukinix: ::Turning to Stros:: Bloody take the engineering console! And status!

Stros: Response

Moore: Response

Ukinix: ::To Kaito:: Hold fire. ::To Aitas:: Remind them of the Khitomer Accords, Second Secretary?

Aitas: Sending; they’re already shutting down our communications. Even odds that it went through. 

Ukinix: Shields?

Stros: Response

Computer: Warning. Shield systems, deactivated. Warning. Weapons systems, deactivated. Warning. Communications systems, deactivated. Warning. Warp core shutdown procedure, commenced.

Stros: Response

Ukinix: Interlink?

Stros: Response

Moore: Response

Ukinix: ::To Moore:: Return fire! ::To Miller:: Get us out of here! Now

Miller: On it, Commander! Engine controls are sluggish. Trying to get a big impulse burst to get us out of here. I suggest redirecting any remaining power into engines to get us the fastest way out of here. 

Stros/Moore: Response

Ukinix: What’s our status, everyone.

Moore/Stros: Response

Miller: All flight control systems are intact for the time being. However, we have limited warp and impulse controls, meaning we can fly but are limited in speed and range. I am working to see if I can fix the issue faster. One more thing, Captain, we are currently dead on comms. There are no incoming or outgoing comms for the moment. I am running a level 3 diagnostic on them right now.

Aitas: Intact.  Though I must reiterate that anything that goes through our systems may have been overheard; or could be once comms are restored. As I don’t have extensive expertise on this project, :: she inclined her head toward Stros:: I will volunteer myself to transport messages as needed.

Ukinix: Tactical assessment, Lieutenant Moore?

Moore/Stros: Response

Ukinix: That Delta Quadrant Klingon colony, um... :clicking fingers:: ghevchoq voqwI’. That’s a *loooong* way from the Barossa sector. And there’s been no reports of them going rogue.

Aitas: I received a short briefing about them; they’ve been very quiet overall. A few more pilgrims after Frontier Day, but none via warships that we know of. 

There were a great many things to keep track of in the Delta Quadrant, many unfamiliar and thus unpredictable. One Klingon colony that largely kept to themselves hadn’t been high on the list of concerns.

Miller: ::tapping hands on console:: Yes, I can get us short-range comms only, with audio, but the quality will not be the best.  :: tapping commands into console:: Ok, it should work now, Captain, but remember you may hear extra static or choppy voices in the channel. 

Stros: Response

Ukinix: =/\= This is Commander Wil Ukinix, Commanding Officer of the USS Independence-B. We’re Starfleet, in case there’s any confusion. We mean you no harm, we’d just like to talk. =/\=

Ushahl?: =/\= Response? =/\=

(OOC: Ushahl is an MSPNPC. More details to follow in an OOC email soon)

Computer: Warning. Shields systems, deactivated. Warning.--

Ukinix: --not again--

Computer: Life Support systems, deactivated. Replicator systems, offline.

Ukinix: If they’re using Interlink, and they can see our systems... can we see theirs?

Computer: Starfleet database, updated. Red Alert status, reset.

Stros: Response

Moore: Response

Ukinix: Lieutenant Miller, take us to moon thirteen, the natural interference around it might provide us some cover.

Moore: Response

Miller: ::nodding head:: On it, Captain, impulse engines engaged, and we now headed towards moon thirteen.

Ukinix: Aitas, I know we’ve lost contact with Amity now, and the away team, but can you find *anything* about that Bird of Prey?

Aitas: I’ve an idea of where to look. 

How exactly Interlink worked was a bit obscure still, but if it connected to the Independence-B systems then, well, the connection would work both ways. She started a broad range search, and set Fureri to enter a similar set of commands on a timer to hide that the bot was directly linked in to her.

And thankfully nothing else.

Moore: Response

Miller: Nothing on scanners at the moment. 

Stros: Response

Miller: ::Frowning slightly:: I feel like they have cloaked themselves again.

Ukinx/Moore/Stros: Response 

Miller: I'm recalibrating the sensor sweep to filter for residual warp signatures and magnetic displacement—if they’re hiding, I want to know where. With your permission, Captain, I’d also like to boost the deflector modulation. We might be able to mask our emissions more effectively near the moon.

Ukinx/Moore/Stros: Response 

Miller: If we’re being watched, I’d rather not give them a clean shot next time. I also want to figure out this “Interlink” system. 

Aitas: I’m afraid it’s not a matter of ‘if’. It’s a matter of how closely.

Ukinx/Moore/Stros: Response 

A series of records began to scroll across Aitas’ console, in many respects no different than that from the Starfleet files. But there were little details of translation and formatting, and a quick check of the file locations confirmed it. The Independence-B was reconnected to…something.

Aitas: ::calmly: Lieutenant Miller, I would ask that you cycle your interference method at the first opportunity. And please refrain from verbally repeating the details.

Ukinix/Moore/Stros/Miller: Response 

Given more time, perhaps she could have gone through and arranged for all of the available storage on the other ship to be filled with copies of the Khitomer Accords. As it was, they were in a hurry.

Aitas: Can confirm the Bird of Prey hasn’t visited ghevchoq voqwI’ directly. But they have a lot of files on it, and the Kuvah’magh figure that colony was established around. 

Ukinix/Moore/Stros/Miller: Response 

Aitas: If I may; they seemed rather afraid of talking to us. It’s enough to make me wonder just what they’re worried we might say.

Diplomacy might change a bit when you were dealing with Klingons, but that was true of every species. It was just a matter of finding what you had to offer each other.

Even if that often was 'we don't kill each other in a particularly stupid fashion'.

Ukinix/Moore/Stros/Miller: Response 


Tag/TBC

Second Secretary Aitas

Federation Diplomatic Corps

Amity Outpost

O239307A10