Finding Answers

Posted on Aug 18, 2019 @ 5:53am by Lieutenant Jasmine Yu
Edited on on Aug 18, 2019 @ 5:54am

Mission: Last Days of Empire

“Finding Answers”
(contd from ‘Good Cop, Bad Cop, and Worse Cop’)

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Location: USS PHOENIX
SD: [2.19] 0816.2349
Scene: Hallway-> Turbo lift
TI: Before arrival at the coordinates provided by J’hora


Upon the away team’s return from the Bazaar, the galaxy class warship had left the moon and set off for its new destination – a sector of space between Klingon and Orion space. Jasmine frowned, concerned over what the Phoenix was going to find there in the middle of nowhere. Would the ship come out of warp in the middle of a battle between the Klingons and Orions, indicating a full-scale war between the two entities had erupted? Or perhaps they’d find the SATET itself, though the young woman suddenly felt a sense of dread as her mind raced to the possible conditions of the LUNA class starship. She had hoped to not find the vessel either completely destroyed, floating dead in space or being captured by either the Orions or Klingons.

A cheerful yap broke the security chief out of her thoughts and the Asian woman’s gaze fell downwards, a warm smile gracing her features. Wei, her corgi puppy, looked up at her as she attempted to wag her short tail. The pup let out a low bark, nuzzling against Yu’s leg. Jasmine chuckled, bending down to pet the little one. Wei barked again as the pair stopped before a turbo lift.

“So how about a trip to the arboretum?” Jasmine smiled again and the puppy as if understanding, bounced up and down, yapping continuously, when the doors to the lift parted with a whooshing sound. “Come on,” Jasmine said, ushering the puppy up onto the lift. Just as they were entering, the raven haired woman felt a soft brushing against her left leg and arched her brow. She raised an eyebrow at the sight of a small cat family of Persian breed with thick and fluffy grey fur, trotting off the lift. The feline group comprised of an adult female, padding down the corridor with her litter of possibly three to four kittens. But as the doors closed behind her, the young woman came to a sudden realization glancing behind her. **That cat and her kittens are unaccompanied. **

Wei yapped and then there was a low bark, not from the puppy. Jasmine sighed and turned around, spotting the ship’s resident pug, standing quietly at the back of the lift. Smooshy, as usual, had been wandering around. “And where are you off to?” She gently chided him.

Smooshy gave her a long, lingering stare and let out a soft whine, while Wei bounced around beside him, barking happily.

“Yu to security.” Jasmine tapped on her comm. badge. “While I was on Deck 10, saucer section, I spotted a cat with kittens moving around unaccompanied. They are described to be grey and of Persian breed. Please find the owner and return the cat family to them.”

[[Understood, Lieutenant.]]

Jasmine sighed again, glancing at Smooshy. “Alright, you can come with us to the arboretum but after that it’s back to Counseling for you.”

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Scene: Transporter Room 1
TI: After arrival at the coordinates


All suited up and ready to go, Jasmine, along with Commander Jake Crichton, Ensigns Alison Samson and Lynette Ryan, stepped onto the transporter pads. Jasmine let out a sigh, tapping on the clear visor as her gaze moved to the side and then down to her waist, where a type 2 phaser was lying snug in its holster. The weapon was brought as part of standard procedure and Yu hoped to not having to use it, while the away team was down in the Orion vessel. Considering, no life signs were detected, it was unlikely they’d encounter hostiles as soon as they beamed down but she didn’t want to take any chances.

“Ensign, we’re ready to beam down,” Jake addressed the transporter chief by speaking through the microphone that, along with other audio equipment, were integrated into the suit’s helmet.

Stiles Orion nodded. “Understood, sir. Energize.”

Jasmine inhaled in a deep breath, feeling the bluish hue transporter beam engulf her.

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Location: Orion Wanderer-class Blockade Runner
Scene: Corridor-> Bridge


The four officers, comprising the away team, had materialized in a dark and narrow corridor in the head module of the starship – the section left unscathed and where the bridge was housed. Jasmine immediately pulled out her tricorder and began scanning her surroundings. “No life signs detected,” she informed, speaking through the suit’s microphone.

Jake’s voice was heard through her helmet’s speakers. “Alright, my tricorder shows the bridge is straight ahead at about six feet from our position.” The ExO took a step forward with Ryan and Samson following him, both officers also having their tricorders out and scanning the area as well. Jasmine took the rear and kept glancing around. A moment later, they stopped in front of large double doors, left partly open and Jasmine sighed, noticing a green hand stuck in the opening. She didn’t need a tricorder to deduce that hand belonged to an Orion.

"We are here,” Crichton announced, bending down, sticking his left glove digits into the opening. “Let’s pry this door open.” He was joined by Lynette who took the other side and together, they, using all their strength, slowly pulled the doors apart. As the doors parted, a corpse of a large Orion male was seen dropping to the ground with a loud thud.

While Jake, Jasmine and Lynette, slid into the room, maneuvering themselves around the body, Alison began scanning the Orion with her tricorder. A moment later, the doctor glanced upwards at her fellow officers. “This male Orion died from a stab wound on his lower left abdomen.”

Jasmine glanced around and sighed, spotting a Klingon male, sprawled in a slightly upright position against the wall. The burnt hole through his forehead indicated he was shot dead by the attacker using an energy weapon but not at the highest setting that would have disintegrated the victim. She then spotted a mek’leth, stained with dried green blood, clutched in his hand. She watched Alison beginning to scan him and then turned to Jake and Lynette. “Well, it is confirmed the Klingons have managed to board this vessel.”

“Yes, it seems that way.” Jake nodded as Ryan made her towards one of the consoles. “But why did the Klingons board this vessel and then just abandon it?”

“Maybe they were searching for something in the Orions’ possession,” Jasmine suggested.

“Possibly.” The ExO turned to the assistant engineer. “Ensign, get to work on gaining access to the ship’s main computer. Whatever answers we need should be on there.”

“Yes sir.” The young woman nodded, turning around. Pushing off an Orion corpse that was found slumped over the console, Lynette pulled out her tools and the tricorder.

Meanwhile, Jasmine began taking a stroll around the bridge, while Alison moved onto examine another corpse. The Asian stopped by a large chair in the centre of the room, where a dead Orion woman sat – her head rolled back, her black eyes and mouth wide open. “Just found the ship’s commander.”

“It looks like the Klingons spared no one here,” Crichton remarked.

“Seems like it.” Jasmine sighed, spotting the Chief Medical Officer approach the Orion woman and beginning to scan her.

Jake glanced to the side, finding two more Orion corpses. One of them had their skull bashed against the wall, while the other had charred marks on his hands and a gaping hole in her chest. “The Klingon ship may have been badly damaged and were forced to make a quick getaway so that may be why they didn’t destroy this ship.”

“That would make sense.” Yu shrugged, returning her attention to the ship’s commander. “How did she die?”

“Asphyxia,” Samson replied and then pointing her gloved hand towards the Orion’s neck, where dark green marks were visible. “Most likely due to strangulation.”

“Klingon?” Jasmine inquired.

“Yes.” The blonde woman nodded.

Yu’s expression filled with concern. “I believe the Klingons may have been trying to force information out of this vessel’s commander and most likely killed her after they either got what they wanted or she just refused to give in.”

“It’s possible.” Alison nodded.

“Commander,” Ryan announced from her console. “I have managed to obtained access to the main computer and commencing download of the data to all our tricorders.”

“Good work,” Crichton said as he and Yu began watching the data stream on their respective tricorders. “Now we can find out what happened here.”

“From perusing through their tactical reports,” Jasmine said. “A single Klingon bird of prey - K'vort-class cruiser, had suddenly de-cloaked and launched the first attack.”

“So they were lying in wait like they knew the Orions would be here in this sector and ambushed them.” Jake furrowed his brow. “I still have yet to see anything about Book and the SATET.”

Jasmine continued eyeing the data, still pouring into her tricorder. “So the tactical reports also confirm the battle was short, resulting in a victory for the Klingons who boarded soon after delivering the decisive blow.”

“The Orions gave them a good fight,” Crichton added. “The Klingon vessel seemed to have sustained a lot of damage but not enough to cripple them. They did manage to leave the battlefield.”

“According to the reports,” Jasmine said. “The Orions neither called for reinforcements nor was given the chance to.”

Lynette exhaled a sigh of exasperation. “Commander, I’m unable to access some of the data as their files have been corrupted.”

“Transfer the data back to the ship,” Jake ordered. “Byte should be able to retrieve the information from those files.”

“Understood, sir.”

Jasmine sighed, glancing briefly at the doctor, who began to scan the next set of corpses – more Orions and another Klingon. When she returned her gaze back to the data stream on her tricorder, she raised an eyebrow. “There’s mention of the SATET from this report – well they didn’t specify the name but the description here matches that of a LUNA class starship and…” Her eyes widened. “They were planning to rendezvous with the SATET but no mention of when or whether that meeting even took place.”

“Byte’s initial analysis revealed weapon’s residue from Orion torpedoes and Klingon disruptors but no mention of Starfleet weaponry, which means the SATET was unlikely part of the skirmish, however that doesn’t rule out their presence or whether they played any role in the battle.” Jake said, scanning through the contents of the same report.

Yu shrugged. “I guess we wait for Byte to complete his analysis before finding out when this battle took place.” She let out a sigh.

“I can’t find any more data on the SATET nor anything on a meeting with this Orion starship,” the ExO said. “Maybe the information is found in those corrupted files as well as what exactly were the Klingons looking for here.”

“Commander, Lieutenant,” Alison brought up. “I am picking up traces of neurotoxin in the air.”

“Neurotoxin?” Jasmine sported an alarmed expression. “But our tricorder didn’t detect any in this ship’s atmosphere upon our arrival.”

“That’s correct.” The CMO sighed. “There were no traces of any kind of toxin in the air when we first arrived however we may have triggered something in here that led to releasing the neurotoxin.”

“A booby trap set up by the Orions to protect this ship from anyone attempting to salvage it,” Jake suggested. “Doctor, what are the risks we could be infected?”

“Our EVA suits should protect us from the toxin,” Alison replied.

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~*~
Ranjani S.
Writing for

Lieutenant Jasmine Yu
Chief of Security and Tactical
USS PHOENIX