[sb118-ops] LT. JG S'zurak - Time to Smile
Alex Leatherman
(( The Angry Pigeon ))
S’zurak: Now we are not alone in the hunt.
McLaren: This isn't our hunt, S’zurak…
Munshi: ::A dry, lopsided smirk crossing his face as he watched the Orion's shield registers fluctuate under the Starfleet bombardment:: The bridge team just leveled the field equation, Commander. The Marauder's targeting systems are completely glitched by the deflector feedback. Lieutenant, please adjust your heading to vector zero-four-zero—ride the wave of that debris before their countermeasures cycle back online!
McLaren: Good to know.
S’zurak: Adjusting.
A final, stray green disruptor shot headed their way, narrowly missing the shuttle's bow once again.
Munshi: ::Monitoring the thermal dissipation of the near-miss:: That last bolt generated a significant radiation backwash, but our structural integrity remains stable. Statistically, the Orions are treating the Thrusters as the primary threat. It’s simple industrial triage—you neutralize the heavy mass first.
McLaren: Get us to the mining rig... before the Orions decide theyve made a mistake letting us putter around out here…
S’zurak: Sssir. The Thrusters-?
Munshi: ::Re-routing the auxiliary power reserves to ensure the docking systems were fully online:: Initiating a localized sensor shroud now, ma'am. I’m modulating our transponder to match the surrounding planetary debris. If Nysari or Reence check their rear scans, we’ll look like an inert piece of silicate rock drifting toward the outpost.
McLaren: They'll be fine... Wyn can handle himself and Mi'shune is probably the best pilot we have. :: She paused, thinking back to a certain scrappy Cardassian/Bajoran writer she had known. :: Ok maybe 2nd best, but the other one isn't here right now…
Munshi: ::His fingers flying across his PADD to clear the atmospheric latency:: From what I saw of Mi'shune's performance parameters during our last mission and while testing out the MFT, her reaction time operates on a highly optimized heuristic model. If anyone can out-maneuver an Orion target lock using a bulky civilian cargo bay, it is her. The odds are well-calibrated.
S’zurak: Charting course to the mining facility.
Sol stood and peered over S'zurak's shoulder out the viewport as the ancient Nybarrite mining rig loomed larger in the glass. Stitched together from salvaged freighter plating and exposed metal struts, it hung like a hollow duranium skeleton against the barren red sphere of Drakos Prime below. It looked like an engineering nightmare—primitive, frozen, and completely held together by spite.
Sol pointed to a protruding section on the dorsal rim where an empty, heavily weathered docking port sat.
McLaren: We should be able to dock there... Im sure theres someone waiting for us... they cant possibly have missed the excitement going on out here.
Munshi: ::Reading the structural scans of the platform:: That indexing ring is an obsolete Nybarrite configuration, Commander. It looks like it hasn't seen regular maintenance since the Cardassian Occupation. I’ll have to override the Pigeon's automated anchoring seals and force a manual magnetic latch. It’s going to be a very bumpy connection.
S’zurak: The shuttle will hold.
A loud, unshielded clonk echoed through the cabin as the shuttle's landing collar forcefully grabbed the rig's outer frame. They were docked.
Sol looked at S’zurak, her hand intuitively dropping to the retrofitted Romulan disruptor tucked into her utility vest.
McLaren: You can take point when we enter... I think the sight of a seven foot Gorn... might give them some pause if theyre less than friendly.
That remark was not unexpected.
S’zurak: Let’sss hope for friendly.
Munshi: ::Unlocking his utility vest toolkit, his voice flat and analytical as the airlock chime turned green:: I’ll stay half a step behind you with the structural scanner, sir. If the local enforcers attempt to breach the hatch, I can activate a localized feedback loop to short out their small arms. Let's see what kind of prison architecture we're dealing with.
S’zurak: I could smile, if you think it would help.
McLaren: Response(s)?
Munshi: Airlock seal is holding at ninety-two percent, but the atmospheric breakdown inside that rig is highly irregular, sir. The carbon-dioxide scrubbers are failing, and there is a high-frequency micro-vibration echoing through the core struts. The local enforcers here aren't just running a tight prison layout; they are actively working the hardware past its design limits to keep those furnaces churning.
S’zurak: I’ll try not to take too long.
McLaren: Response(s)?
((Nybarrite Alliance Mining Rig))
The air of the Pigeon mixed with the stale air of the mining rig as Alok released a latch. S’zurak’s turn. Time to smile.
Munshi: ::Stepping in behind S’zurak, his scanner throwing a faint blue wireframe projection across the dark threshold:: The structural path into the main hangar corridor is clear, but I'm picking up moving mass aggregates ahead. Multiple humanoids, but the kinetic signature is uneven—lethargic pacing mixed with high-tempo enforcer patterns. Commander Foster’s intel about a slave labor layout matches the math perfectly.
S’zurak stepped out of the airlock into the mining rig. It was dim. Crates, tools, and nets were scattered loosely throughout the compartment. A group approached from deeper within the station. The one in front was female and carried what appeared to be a sword while the others spread slightly behind her like enforcers.
S’zurak: ::smiling broadly, sure to show all his teeth:: Hello there. I wasss told this would improve firssst impressions.
McLaren/Munshi: Response(s)?
Khorra: Response?
S’zurak: Hm. It usually worksss better on people who are not armed.
McLaren/Munshi: Response(s)?
Khorra: Response?
S’zurak: I take it visitorsss are uncommon out here.
McLaren/Munshi: Response(s)?
Khorra: Response?
Lieutenant JG S'zurak
Tactical Officer
Starbase 118 Ops
O240205S13