Security Mission

Posted on Wed Sep 5, 2018 @ 7:06pm by Commodore Michael Aravan & Lieutenant Ezekiel Stone & Lieutenant Commander Arrda & Lieutenant JG Lucia Cusack & Ensign Michael Donovan

Mission: Falling Star
Location: Security/Cassandara Site Two
Timeline: MD 34 || 1200 Hours

Douglas had gathered his staff to brief them on the upcoming mission. During the Senior Briefing, the mission had been for cooperative teams of Security and Marines to hit two locations on the planet and ensure that those responsible for the original attack did not hit those two places as well. When he had tried to contact S'er'in'e to meet with him and set up the cooperative effort, he had been informed that said individual was not on the ship. Then his own orders had been changed.

Confusion was the first emotion that had surfaced. Why had the Marine CO disobeyed a direct order and gone off alone? Before this, Douglas would not have pegged the feline for such behavior. Was it something to do with him? He had not sensed any conflict between them when they had spoken before.

In the end, it made no difference. Douglas had a job to do, and he would do it. So he had summoned his staff. Their new mission was to search the second location on the planet, Cunclohk, for those who were supposedly going to release the plague on it. Preparatory to this meeting, he had mapped out the area as well as he could with the limited information he had, and that map was displayed on the holographic table in the security conference room -- his main StratTac table in his office was still monitoring the ship and the security personnel that would remain here to continue vigilantly guarding it.

When his staff had finished filing in and taking their seats, he began the briefing by giving them what he knew so far from the senior staff briefing. He then laid out the pattern he thought would best cover the area they needed to cover in as little time as possible and then looked to his staff. "Are there any questions, comments, or ideas you wish to offer before we move forward?"

"Can I crack some skulls?" an Ensign asked.

For a moment, Douglas was frozen. His Starfleet training fled, and his Enforcer training rebelled; and all he could do was stare at the Ensign as if the man had grown two new heads. The first set of training, by virtue of it being older and longer-ingrained, to kick in was the Enforcer. His eyes fixed on the Ensign, and his expression became neutral. His Starfleet training kicked in then, and he frowned.

"Ensign, that is a very aggressive and inappropriate attitude for a member of Starfleet." he started. "We are here to protect the civilians on this planet, not to... 'crack some skulls'. And if that was intended as humor, it was badly timed and wholly inappropriate to the situation at hand." He then let his eyes move to the others in the room, in search of more constructive input.

Lucia nodded. "Yes - a phaser on stun setting is more than sufficient Lieutenant. As for any ideas then I believe the element of disguise may come in useful - if we blend in with the local population then those who want to release the plague won't recognise we're Starfleet. It'll give us the chance to use the element of surprise too"

Michael nodded in agreement with the Lieutenant when she mentioned the stun setting. "Dressing up like them will help with the blending in. But if we still walk, talk, and act like Starfleet, the disguises won't matter much. We'll have to blend in a little bit culturally, too. You know, loosen up a little." Michael then looked up at the holographic projection. "Where will we be beaming down? Outside the city or inside?"

"I can have a look in our database after the briefing and see if there's any information that may help us" Lucia replied.

Good ideas so far. Douglas nodded. "That does make sense. Don't take too long, though. Time is of the essence. We need to have boots on the ground, so to speak, within the hour. Also, we will not be beaming down but using a Runabout. And taking that and the disguise method into account, we will be landing here, outside of the city." He touched a point on the map a short way from the city, and it lit up in blue. "Also, we will want to come into the city in smaller clumps, not as one large group. We will split into two- and three-man teams to lower the potential for being seen as odd being all clustered together." He glanced over them again. "Anything else?"

"Exactly how am I supposed to 'blend in' short of artificial modifications?" Zak asked, gesturing primarily to his ears.

Douglas glanced to his assistant chief. "As this is a Romulan planet, I believe you will have the least trouble of all of us in the blending in department, Lieutenant Zak." he stated. "Any further questions?" If not, he needed to get them moving. He could feel the time ticking away in his head. He hated having almost no information since that meant that his ability to lead his team effectively was limited similarly. Today, and days like it, he missed the Enforcer Guild even more.

Michael shook his head. "Nope, not from me, sir." Runabouts were just fine with him. He just couldn't figure something out, though. He'd never met man with the pointed ears before, and that's what confused him. Crack heads sounded like a Romulan and then being concerned about blending in on a Romulan planet...that didn't fit. Michael shrugged it off and came back to the meeting.

Lucia shook her head in response to her department head's question.

"No sir" Lucia said.

"Good." Douglas cleared the holographic table. "Dismissed. We leave in fifteen."

***** Fifteen Minutes Later *****

The Security staff present and accounted for, and not dressed like Starfleet personnel, Douglas did one last head count before having everyone board the Runabout. Once everyone was in and ready, he came to stand behind Lieutenant Stone who would be flying them to their location.

"We're ready, Mr. Stone. Let's go." he told the pilot, having informed him in the intervening time where he would be setting the Runabout down.

Zeke turned his chair away from the Captain and faced the console, "Ladies and Gentleman welcome aboard the U.S.S. Knight, please be seated and enjoy your flight." he said while pressing various buttons on his controls, keying in sequences from pre-flight checks to transmitting their flight plan to Triumphant's computer for verification and take-off clearance.

The runabout's hatches sealed as it lifted from the deck of the Triumphant. Nacelles on both sides began to glow a bright blue as the shuttle's core began to power the tiny craft while the thrusters propelling it forward burned bright red.

Upon confirmation from the Triumphant's flight control, Zeke increased the forward thrust and the runabout moved with an energetic whine. it leapt screaming from the Triumphant's shuttlebay and out into the vast space that lay beyond. The Runabout made a slow wide arc and then darted down to the planet below.

Several moments later the Runabout was on the planet's surface with its hatches opening.

Now that they were landed, Douglas exited the runabout and cast his gaze around, ensuring that they were unobserved. He then ordered everyone out and assigned them into teams of two. "Zak and Donovan, you are one team." He continued through the group of Security officers thusly. "And Cusack, you're with me. Each team will take a section of the city." He indicated each team's area on his PADD, one of his personal devices from Marai so that it didn't look Starfleet, as he continued. He then put the PADD in his inner coat pocket. "Keep comm. chatter to a minimum, only what is required for mission updates and emergencies if necessary, and in short bursts if possible." Short bursts made it harder for them to be traced. "Let's find these people before they kill anyone else. Move out."

A Romulan male in a military uniform approached the Federation personnel as they debarked. "I am Centurian Joncleb of the Romulan Police Force," he said in passable Standard. "I am to be your liason here."

Douglas frowned, motioning for his people to stand fast for the moment. Stepping up to the Romulan officer, he drew his well-trained calm around him. "As our liaison, perhaps you can give us more information about the situation on the ground?" he queried. If the man had been told to liaise with them, then he must know why they were here. Therefore, Douglas cut straight to the chase.

"And you would be?" Centurian Joncleb asked politely instead of answering the question.

A valid question, and one Douglas knew he should have answered before asked. He was slipping, it seemed, and he hated that. "Lieutenant Douglas Mallory, Chief Security Officer of the USS Triumphant he answered. Again, if this man was who he said he was, then he would know whom to expect, and the question was to ensure that Douglas and his team were whom they were supposed to be, so no point in keeping the information.

"We have a rough idea where the terrorists are holed up, but our own Security forces have been tied up trying to control looting in the capital," Joncleb told him. "I can lend you a dozen personnel, but no more."

Douglas nodded. "What you can spare will be of great help." he assured the officer. "And having a better idea of where to look for these people would decrease the risk to your citizens greatly."

Lucia nodded to her superior officer and glanced at the PADD briefly to see hers and Douglas' patrol area before doing a last minute check to make sure she had all of the equipment she needed.

Zak nodded, muttering.

Donovan looked at the Vulcan and smiled. Partnering up with him would be interesting, not to mention rooting out terrorists.

While the Romulan officer talked to his people, Douglas popped his head back into the runabout. "Mr. Stone, I need you to load up the readings we have of the chemicals used in the first attack and fly a standard search pattern over the city. You're looking for high concentrations of those chemicals. Report back the second you find anything." Yes, the Centurion was giving them men and a rough location the Romulans thought the criminals might be holed up in, but (a) they could be wrong, (b) he could be in on it and misleading them purposely, or (3) the criminals might have moved if they knew their site was compromised. In any of those cases, he wanted his own people looking as well, people he knew he could trust.

Zeke nodded, "Aye sir" he said as he maniupulated the Runabout's controls and loaded up the zig-zag flight pattern he preset before into the navigation system, holding off on initiation until all heads retracted from his runabout.

Douglas, satisfied that the pilot was going to carry out his order expertly, retreated from the runabout so that Stone could do just that. Returning to where he had been talking to Centurion Joncleb, Douglas waited for the man to finish his own conversation before informing him, "I'm having my pilot fly a search pattern over the city. We got readings of the chemicals used, so he will be looking for high concentrations of those chemicals just in case they either aren't where your people think they are or they have stored them in more than one location." HE paused a second, then added thoughtfully, "Unless that is a problem. If so, I can recall him." This was, after all, the other man's planet. Who was Douglas to dictate what happened here!

Joncleb inclined his head. "Would you permit one of my people to accompany your pilot, Lieutenant?" he asked. "He would be able to point out areas of interest."

Douglas thought for a second. Cooperation was the name of the game here, and how could the liaison officer help them if Douglas blocked his attempts to do so. "Of course. Do you want to board your man here or have Mr. Stone pick him up somewhere else?" Douglas, for security reasons, would prefer to board the man here where he could see it, but this was not his world.

Joncleb motioned to one of his men which were approaching. "Sub-Lieutenant Vromir will go with him, if that is acceptable," he said, indicating a young Romulan in protective gear of the Romulan police force.

Douglas studied the younger Romulan officer for a second then nodded. "Accepted." He poked his head back into the runabout. "Mr. Stone, there will be a Romulan officer accompanying you." He indicated the younger man behind him. "Sub-Lieutenant Vromir." He stepped aside and motioned for Vromir to enter the runabout. "He knows the city, so he can be of help in this."

Vromir gave a nod to his commander and the Starfleet Lieutenant, then got in the runabout.

The young Lieutenant suppressed an immediate urge to go for the cabin weapons locker when his passenger boarded. Zeke wasn't particularly fond of Romulans, given his experiences with them while in the Syndicate. But Starfleet training won out in the end and so he welcomed the Sub-Lieutenant aboard. "So Sub-Lieutenant huh, what comes after that?" he said trying to make idle chit-chat while engaging the runabout's ventral thrusters.

"After what?" Vromir asked. "We find the likely locations. We report back. My job is done."

The Starfleet pilot sighed, "Yeah, right." he said trailing off as he took offense to the declined diplomatic exchange. Zeke turned to Vromir and said, "There's a good chance we'll want more responsive maneuvering so I'll switch it to manual." he said as he turned off the auto pilot system and lowered the power to the inertial dampening system.

:: The runabout rose from the ground and performed a high energy turn exerting half the amount of real G-force experienced onto the cabin and passengers. Enough to force them to one side and then shot off at speeds against those sanctioned and agreed to by both factions moments before. ::

The Romulan settled down uninvited into the co-pilot's seat and studied the console for a moment. "For maximum range, I would fully extend the sensors."

Zeke nodded, he wasn't sure how much of their systems the Romulans knew about so he tested his hunch, tapping in a few lockouts to the co-pilot station while flying he then called to his side, "I'm a bit busy with flying, can you allocate more power to the sensors? The controls are in front of you." he then feigned focus on flying he could do in his sleep while really paying attention to Vromir and his ability if any to work the runabout's controls.

Vromir frowned as he looked over the controls for a moment before he shook his head. "I am unfamiliar with the functions on this runabout, Lieutenant," he said, wondering what the Starfleet officer had been trying to prove by assigning him that task.

The Starfleet officer made a 'tch' sound with his tongue, "Oh right, I'm sorry about that." he said as he dropped any pretenses that he had to focus on the flight controls and punched in a key combination with his right hand, "There, all available power to the sensors. You should see the readout now." he said pressing the final button to configure the terminal in front of Vromir into a full sensor display. "Let me know if you need me to explain anything," though he wondered how he could outside of using the same words on the screen as he didn't read or speak Romulan himself.

"I see it," the Romulan responded. "Are we on course for the correct sector you were assigned?" he questioned.

The Starfleet Lieutenant double checked his readout, "According to instruments were on a direct vector." he responded, "Just keep an eye on those sensors, I'll worry about the flying." he said slightly irritated his guest asked that.

"So far, there is no indication of a trace of the chemicals used," Vromir reported.

Zeke waited a few moments and after still hearing nothing from his counterpart he finally glanced down at the readout, what he saw shocked him. There were clearly traces of the chemical on the screen. Giant yellow indicators pointed them out specifically but Vromir said nothing.

Zeke took a moment to think about why when it hit him, "That's odd, I'm going to head to the back and realign the ventral array." he said casually, hoping it would seem routine. Zeke went to the back of the Runabout and stealthily tried to procure a sidearm from the cabin locker.

The Romulan looked at the human Starfleet pilot and cocked his head. "I don't know what you're attempting, but you should be aware that I am a member of the Cassandara Police Force and a volunteer on this mission," he said.

"Well, I'm a Starfleet Officer and I'm here on a voluntary mission as well. And I don't want to be shot in the back, so I'm going to hold onto this," he said placing the Type II in his holster. And then returned to his seat, "Now those readouts are showing trace amounts of what we're looking for, that's why they're yellow. Keep watch of them until they turn Green or Red and let me know when they do." he said sighing deeply, having hoped the Romulan would just have made it easier and attacked him as he went for the sidearm.

Vromir laughed. "And people say that the Romulan people are warlike and paranoid," he said dryly. "Is Starfleet harboring the same sentiments they accuse others of having?"

Ezekiel sighed again, and accelerated the Runabout even faster.

"Thank you for confirm...." the Romulan officer started to say when the runabouts alerts went crazy with warnings of incoming fire.

"Hang on!" Zeke said as he brought the Runabout straight up in a climbing maneuver to lower the ship profile from the Anti-Air below. "U.S.S. Knight to Triumphant, we're getting lit up down here. Taking evasive action," he said while switching off the master alarm control switch to quiet the defining alerts and klaxons.

=^=Affirmative Knight=^= Came the response from the Odyssey class in orbit.

A surface to air torpedo launched and locked onto the runabout and began to zero in on her.

Vromir looked at the display and then nodded. "I would suggest releasing countermeasures if you are capable of doing such," he said.

"No Vromir," came the very serious reply, "But we can try something you're not going to like."

The Runabout continued to cmib as fast as it could but it was quickly being outpaced by the incoming projectile.

Zeke transferred all the power from the Inertial Dampeners and some from the structural integrity to get a little more speed.

The torpedo reached a lateral point on their y axis and raced toward them in a straight line. As it did the shuttle performed a high energy turn and began screaming toward the planet surface.

Zeke fired two micro-torpedos at the one large torpedo coming to end them, as they and it played a game of chicken.

The Romulan merely braced himself and watched the readouts of the distance closing and wondered if the Starfleet officer were suicidal or merely crazy. However, the micro torpedoes made contact and the larger one exploded. "Evasive!" Vromir called out.

As soon as the projectiles made contact, Ezekiel pressed the preset button to shunt the reserve power into the port thruster. With the inertial dampeners off and the structural integrity field weakened the Runabout's frame bent visibly as it janked to the side avoiding contact with the mid air collision. The force of the move threw the cabin occupants from their seats.

Only the Runabout's pre-programmed computer prevented them from nose diving into the planet surface as it lifted enough to prevent the craft from disintegrating on the firma below, but scraped hard on the planet's surface.

As he was thrown from the seat, Vromir uttered something in Romulan that the Universal Translator wouldn't translate before he managed to get upright again. He winced as he saw the ground rushing up at them and then wondered if he were dead before the computer pulled them up at the last moment despite the brush with certain doom.

He quietly got into his seat again and looked over at the Federation pilot. "You," he said. "Are crazy."

Stone likewise climbed into his seat, "I hope they don't have any more of them." he looked at the Runabouts readings and saw they had cleared away from the area with all the speed they accumulated with the engine power and gravity assisted dive, "I would hazard a guess that's the area we need to be looking?" Zeke turned to Vromir and gave a half smile, "Want to go back?"

"I would wager the way we wish to go is in the direction which the torpedo came from," Vromir said. "However, I would alert Lieutenant Mallory."

Zeke nodded, "Good idea" he opened a comm channel, =/\=Lieutenant Stone to Lieutenant Mallory. =/\=

Douglas frowned at the call. Had they found it already? He seriously doubted it; missions never went that smoothly. Not in the Enforcer Guild and not in Starfleet. Giving Joncleb a slightly apologetic look, he activated his comm. =/\= Mallory here. Go ahead. =/\=

Zeke looked over the Runabouts systems while reporting in, =/\= Sir, we think we have a fair idea where the opposition is. Someone welcomed us to the area with a torpedo. =/\=

Douglas frowned, casting a quick look to his Romulan companion. =/\= Where are you, Lieutenant? =/\= He was going to compare the lieutenant's coordinates with Joncleb's information and see if they were the same. If not, they would have to figure out how to check both sites given that they could have split their forces.

After checking their current position, =^= "About Thirteen Hundred Kilometers to the South, Southwest of you current position."=^= Zeke then looked to Vromir to confirm his estimation.

"That would be thirteen kilometers," Vromir said dryly as he looked at the sensors. "Not thirteen hundred."

Douglas frowned. Hoe did a trained Starfleet pilot mstake thirteen for thirteen hundred? Maybe the man was more rattled by being shot at than he let on. Whatever the cause, though, Douglas had a mission to perform. =/\= One moment. =/\=

Glancing at his Romulan counterpart, Douglas asked, "What is the location your people suspected the criminals of being in?" He wanted to compare the locations in case they were different. After all, they might have spread out to make capture more difficult or to ensure that the contagion spread faster.

Joncleb listened in on the conversation, then consulted a map on the triangle. "What are the coordinates of where they were attacked?"

Zeke double checked his readout, it was clearly reading 1,300 Kliometers. He glanced over at Vromir's console and could see a different readout. The Starfleet Lieutenant kick the console and the readout on his screen changed to match the other at 13 at lat: 57.50485, Longitude: 39.98337.

=^= "Correction, Thirteen, at cooredinates, North Negative Five-seven point five-oh-four-eight-five north, three-nine point nine-eight-three-three-seven. How Copy?" =^= Zeke spoke into the com.

The senior Romulan offered entered the coordinates that came from the Federation officer's combadge into his PADD. "This matches one of the suspected areas, which is now confirmed," he said.

Douglas frowned in thought for a moment. =/\= Stay where you are for now, Lieutenant. Transport my team, including Centurion Joncleb, to the coordinates and await my signal. =/\=

Zeke punched in the key sequence for a site to site transport, ensuring the procedure was as seamless as possible as the automated routine materialized the ground team and passed them through the Runabout's buffers and then re-materialized them to area on the planet's surface far beneath the airborne Runabout.

When the transporter effect faded, Douglas cast his gaze around quickly to identify any potential threats in the immediate vicinity. Seeing none imminent, he glanced sidelong at Cusack. "Lieutenant Cusack, give me a perimeter scan." His eyes and other senses kept alert, though. Someone was here; they had fired at his runabout crew. It was just a question of... where they were skulking.

Lucia nodded. "I'm on it"

Lucia took out her tricorder and started to scan the area around them as requested. She was determined to find out who had shot at them but wherever they were hiding it was a good hiding place. The Italian-born security officer gently rotated around on the spot until her tricorder picked up their attacker.

"They're in this direction. Distance...between 25 and 50 metres" Lucia said.

Douglas frowned, motioning to his team to fan out. Hand signals indicated who should pair with whom in the broadened formation. Clustered too closely, they would make easy targets for their enemy. Spaced too far apart, and they would be hard-pressed to back each other up. Thus, he wanted them fanned out but not too far. He motioned to two of the other security officers to take point. Cusack and a second officer were sent to the left while Donovan and a third were motioned toward the right. He and Joncleb would be backup to whichever party needed it, but they maintained a short distance behind the two officers.

The air was so quiet that not even the buzz of a small insect would go unnoticed. The buildings around the away team seemed to be completely abandoned and there weren't even any Romulans nearby to give the Federation personnel a hard time. Three buildings look like they had been on fire and the fourth was crumbling, but not even the bark or growl of an animal came from them.

Douglas frowned, his internal tension rising. It was too quiet. All of his instincts screamed that they were walking into a trap, but what could he do. Those cretins who were killing civilians were in here somewhere, and it was his team's job to see that they were stopped. So, trap or not, he had to go in here.

And yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that this was... unnatural. He glanced sidelong at his Romulan counterpart, assessing his reaction, before motioning to the left and right side pairs to keep their eyes peeled.

A tricorder beeped and one of the Security personnel looked at. "I'm detecting a buildup of chemicals used in the attack, Lieutenant."

Douglas frowned. "Which building?" He couldn't move his people in until he knew which direction to move them.

The Ensign checked his tricorder and swept it in a hundred and eighty degree arm, then stopped and pointed at once of the three that looked like they had been on fire. "There, sir."

Douglas frowned and looked toward the indicated building. "All right, people. It appears they know we're here. Let's get to them before they can set this stuff off. You two, take the back of the building." he ordered, indicating Donovan and his partner. "You two cover them." he added, motioning to Cusack and her teammate. "Lieutenant Zak, you, me, Robertson and Kenmore have the front. Keep low, and let's go."

With that, he and his partner took up on either side of Zak and his partner. They would move when Zak and his partner did. Douglas could have gone first, but at his size, he made a very inviting target. Zak was smaller and less likely to be immediately threatening. Not to mention that it would be very difficult for the shorter people to see what was coming past Douglas' 6 foot 7 inch frame.

Lucia nodded to confirm that she'd understood her orders and gestured to her partner to follow her when she was ready. Lucia had been partnered with a Betazoid security officer who she had worked with before when they went on the away mission to the Orion market.

Mikey could see this turning into something rather interesting...for the other guys. Donovan waved his teammate over and headed toward the back of the building. He really hoped this wouldn't turn into a firefight. Not with chemical residue around.

The rest of the Security detail formed up and fans out to cover the areas that the Lieutenant had indicated and checked their weapons, then indicated they were ready.

Douglas gave one last check to his weapon then signaled for the teams to move in quickly. There was no time for hesitation or pussyfooting around. He nudged Zak to indicate that they should press forward since the man had been facing away from him -- being in front of Douglas meant that he would not have seen the hand signals used to order forward progress.

Zak started to move forward when four large metal balls flew through the air and landed in the middle of the Security team. Immediately, some form of smoke started to pour out of them and Zak started coughing as he pulled his mask over his face. "We're under attack!" came his muffled call.

Douglas pulled his own mask up. "Masks up!" he called calmly but urgently to his team. Squatting down, he pulled the sleeve of his jacket down over his hand and grabbed one of the metal spheres. Quickly, before it damaged the jacket and then him -- that was his intention anyway -- he hurled it back the way it had come. If no one followed his lead, he would follow it with the others. Hopefully, they could put much of the damaging smoke back in the faces of those who had thrown it at them.

Donovan started coughing before he got his mask up. It took a few seconds for the smoke to clear the mask, but when it did, he took a defensive posture. He then noticed that one of the large metal balls was gone and that the Chief was standing near them. He looked around for something that he could use to push them out of the way. Or lob it back. Shrugging, he took off his jacket and put the arms together to form a sort of sling. Michael kicked one into the hold and picked up the arms. He then spun around and released one of the arms, letting the ball fly back towards its origin.

Lucia and her partner simultaneously reached for their masks whilst coughing from the smoke. Once Lucia had secured her mask and had stopped coughing she looked around the area briefly and then at her colleagues.

"Where did they come from?" Lucia asked.

Immediately following that came a barrage of disruptor fire near the group, but it didn't seemed to be aimed at anyone in particular, but it was heavy and Zak and other personnel scrambled for cover.

Lucia instinctively grabbed her partner's arm and dragged her to the nearest place which would give them sufficient cover from their assailants - with disruptor passing just over their heads as they ducked down.

When the disruptor fire came, Douglas leapt toward the right behind some discarded cargo crates. Not for the first time since he had joined Starfleet, he missed his Enforcer armor. For one thing, the helmet had a HUD in it that would have provided him sensor data to determine where to return fire.

"Pinpoint and return fire!" he called to his people. He would be able to tell from their return phaser fire who was functional and who was down. Unfortunately, he did not have the luxury of time to determine that separately from his order to fire.

He poked his head from behind the crates to both return some fire with his phaser and to evaluate the potential cover between his team and the building they were being assaulted from. He needed to know if there was enough cover that his team could move forward, leap-frogging past one another behind cover while closing in on their attackers.

The disruptor fire seemed to come from the second story of the crumbling building, but after a moment, it stopped and everything went quiet again.

"This is some really weird shit," Zak said to no one in particular. "It almost seems automated."

Douglas frowned and glanced toward the building where the disruptor fire had come from. "Scan that building. Any life signs?" He wanted more information, but it was clear that information was a rare commodity these days.

Lucia reached for her scanner and pointed it in the direction of the building. After a few moments or so of scanning she Italian born security officer reported her findings to Douglas.

"I'm picking up four life signs Lieutenant" Lucia reported.

"I'm showing ten life signs," Zak said after he looked at his tricorder. "Something doesn't feel right."

Donovan stopped firing and held his phaser to his side. "Automated fire, four and then ten life signs...I'd say it doesn't feel right. Doesn't even make any sense."

Douglas frowned. This likely meant that their opponents were using some kind of sensor fooling, which only made things more complicated. But they were running out of time; these people knew they were here and could release the virus at any moment which meant that he had no time to be overly strategic about this. He hated that, but that was the fact of the situation.

He paused for a single moment, pulling his neutrality about him to allow him top truly process the situation and strategize. What did he have so far? There were several buildings here, any of which could house the virus and their targets. The attacks, the disruptor fire, had not been properly aimed. None of those bolts had hit anyone, and he was fairly certain that, aside from stormtroopers, no one shot that badly. This implied that the weapons firing at them were likely automated to sweep the area if motion/bio-signs were detected. This likely meant that no one was actually manning them.

Then there were the two sets of readings. This generally implied that sensor fooling technology was in play and either malfunctioning or not powerful enough to fool all sensors all the time. Which meant that they needed to be able to determine what readings were real and what were fake.

"Everyone, double-check your equipment. Make sure it's functioning properly." he ordered. "We need to filter out any anomalous signals that may be confusing our equipment."

Lucia performed a diagnostic on her scanner to make sure it was working correctly. After running a second just to make sure the confused look on her face said it all.

"I've ran two diagnostics and they both report my scanner is working correctly" Lucia said.

Douglas frowned. That did fit with his theory that there were sensor foolers in play. He paused for a single moment, allowing his Enforcer training to take over and drive him into the Neutrality from which he could clearly analyze. He then adjusted his own tricorder, rescanned, adjusted again and rescanned again. He was filtering out diffrent bandwidths, narrowing the number of things that could be hampering his ability to see where he needed to go. After the third rescan, he smiled a nasty little smile. "Now I've got you." he muttered before putting away his tricorder.

He looked at his team. "Form up. Our targets are in that building." he said, pointing to the building on the right that looked as if it had been burned to a shell. "There is a spot I can't scan on the third floor. My guess is that our targets are in there." He studied the building, thinking through the strategy.

If he were in that building, he would have laid traps for anyone entering it. He would have assumed that his automated defenses would not kill everyone and made anyone coming in work for every square foot of ground. That meant that they would need to move slower to avoid getting scragged by the traps.

"We need to move quickly, but watch everything carefully. They may have set traps inside the building." he continued. "Let's go." Thus saying, he started forward, weapon ready, eyes watching every corner, crevice and shadowed spot as he went. He did not like this -- his instincts told him this was a very bad idea -- but there was no choice. Time was not their friend. So in they went, him in the lead.

Lucia gestured to her partner to stay behind her and watch the rear as they went towards the building. With her own rifle at the ready Lucia had a distinct feeling they were being watched - yet she wasn't sure where from. The atmosphere of where they were sent a shiver down her spine.

Douglas led the team through the building, carefully observant to avoid any potential traps. The problem here was that their targets were on the third floor, and the building looked like it had been nearly demolished in a fire. This likely meant that the lifts would not be working -- he would not have preferred the lifts at any rate as it meant that his team would be easy prey with nowhere to disperse -- which left only stairwells. He paused and scanned the interior again, determining where the stairwells were in relation to their targets.

The tricorder indicated a stairway on the left which seemed to be the most structurally sound even though it had some debris halfway up. The blank spot on the tricorder didn't move and there was no other sound of attack.

Zak and his partner took up a flanking position to make sure no one came up on them from behind and others came up behind Mallory while scanning everything.

Douglas studied the tricorder readings as they moved. When they reached the foot of the stairway, he put the tricorder away and focused on the way in front of them. His weapon out and ready, he looked at his team. Noting Zak and his partner taking up the rear, he nodded approval. He looked to one of the others in the middle of the formation. "Keep an eye on those readings. If anything changes, let us know." He looked at the rest. "Everyone else, as quiet as possible. Let's go."

Thus saying, he turned and started up the staircase, careful to move as quietly as he could. That was the last thing they needed, heavy footfalls on the stairs giving away their position. Every sense he had was on high alert as they slowly mounted the stairs toward the third floor.

Zak had been working on something on his tricorder before he grinned. "We got access to the Romulan planning and building computers, Lieutenant. I have a full 3D layout of it. What's better is that some of the old spying equipment from the Tal Shiar days is still semi functional." He raised the tricorder and had it display the holographic map above it. He tapped the screen and six computer rendered sexledss figures appeared on the upper floor where the blind spot was.

Douglas nodded approvingly at Zak, pleased at the young Security Officer's initiative. "Good work." he complimented quietly, taking a moment to look at the holographic image before motioning for the team to continue forward.

The security team continued up the staircase, stopping only long enough to move the debris out of their way as quietly as possible. After that, they continued to the third floor landing where Douglas stopped them with a hand gesture and motioned for Zak to show him the hologram again. He studied it to see if any of their targets had changed locations and whether or not the information on them had gotten any more detailed now that they were closer.

Zak shook his head. "This is as good as it gets, Lieutenant until we eyes on target," he said. Two of the six figures had moved to the north side of the floor while the other four were at the south side.

Lucia studied the hologram for a few moments and made sure her partner did as well so they both knew what was going on. The equipment Zak was using was something Lucia knew Martha would love to get a closer look at - albeit that was going to be unlikely.

That meant that Douglas would need to guess. Unless. "Zak, can that equipment give us any better idea where the chemicals might be that we're looking for?" he asked. He would prefer to go after that group first, and the fact that they were split up made his chance of correctly guessing 50/50, though two were likely a lookout pair and four were more likely to be guarding the device used to disseminate the chemicals. But he wanted to be as sure as he could be.

"I can't be sure, Sir. Not with the tricorder, but I am picking up concentrated amounts of it to the south." Zak responded after a minute.

Douglas nodded. "All right, people, this is it. We take the four. Give them no time to react. When the door opens, stun everyone, no hesitation." He ordered. They could sort the bodies afterward. "Go!"

At his command, the security team moved quickly but as quietly as they could toward the south end of the building. When they reached the door, he gave a final look to Zak's holographic display to get a feel for where the people were beyond that door. He gave his team a moment to do likewise, then he signaled for them to go, masks on.

Lucia had set her weapon to maximum stun as soon as they arrived at the door. Upon Douglas' command the Italian woman took a few steps away from the door and then quickly but quietly ran up to it - striking it as hard as she could with her foot flat to the door's surface.

As Cusack kicked the door open, the rest of the team, lef by Douglas, spilled into the room, phasers firing on maximum stun. He was giving the enemy no time to react or to set off that bomn thing of theirs. His own rifle was set on wide-angle stun so that he could, hopefully, catch as many of them as possible in the beam simultaneously.

Sure enough, the four Romulans there were taken by surprise and none of them managed to get off a shot. However, the noise of the phasers alerted the other Romulans to the north and shouting was heard.

Donovan's team followed the others in opened fire as well. But when he heard the shouting coming from the other direction, he shook his head. "Figures. Take up a flanking position over there," he said to his team. "Move a few of the containers if you need to. Let's see if we can't catch them off guard."

Douglas approved of Donovan's idea, but they also needed to find the chemicals. He glanced to Cusack and her partner. "Bind these." he indicated the four stunned individuals "so they don't cause us any more trouble." He then looked to Zak and his partner. "We need to find the device they were going to use to disseminate the solution." Donovan already had his group setting up an ambush for any others who came in here to attack them.

"Aye sir" Lucia replied.

Lucia placed her rifle over her shoulder. She then reached for the two small bundles of binding rope from her small satchel and tossed one of them to her partner. The two security officers then proceeded to tie up the stunned Romulans.

Zak scanned the area with his tricorder, then stopped as he pointed it to the north. "It's back with those other two Romulans, Lieutenant. There appears to be a fight in progress."

Douglas looked at the tricorder over the younger man's shoulder and frowned. "Well, whoever's in battle with them just bought us an advantage." he said. Looking to his team, he called out. "All right, people, they're to the north of us. Let's finish this." He started toward the door, pausing to turn and look at his team. "You all know what's coming, but remember these uniforms are armored. They will protect us from some of what they throw. So we go in hard and fast, take them down and retrieve that stuff before they can use it again." He made a motion with his hand indicating they should form up and follow him. "Let's move!"

Having said this, he turned and headed down the hall toward where the other two Romulans were embattled with unknown forces. He did not know who those were -- for all he knew they could be a separate group of dissidents bent on using the weapon the first group created or bought -- but it didn't matter just then. His plan here was stun them all and sort the bodies afterward.

Hearing his team behind him, he pressed forward, using the element of surprise to his full advantage. As his team reached the door to that room, he repeated Cusack's maneuver, kicking it in hard and firing his phaser as he went. His fire was swift and wide-beamed to catch as many as possible in the beam. Even if someone from the Triumphant or friendly Romulans got caught in it, they would only wake up with a headache. Better to be safe and stun them all than sorry and miss even one hostile.

Lucia and her partner had stayed behind Douglas - albeit with their phaser rifles ready and aimed - as he kicked the door in and swept the room with his phaser. Once Douglas had stopped firing the Italian woman gestured to her partner.

"We'll get those two tied up before they wake up" Lucia said.

Sure enough, the Romulans didn't have a chance and went down without too much of a fight where they had stood.

Zak was scanning with his tricorder when he pointed it a wall. "Sir, there's a hollow space behind this and I'm picking up the chemicals. Also, the building..isn't that secure."

Donovan and his team had dispatched the Romulans decently enough and brought up the rear. He'd entered just in time to hear the pause about the building security. "Um, what do you mean?" he asked.

Alarm bells immediately began to ring for Lucia. That could mean virtually anything - although the Italian had an idea of what Zak's statement about the building's insecurity meant.

Zak looked at the other Security personnel in a bit of disbelief. Everyone had seen the state of decay and how unsafe the building was before they even entered. "It means that the place could collapse at any second. We need to get this bomb and get out. Whatever cloaked the Romulans is still in effect and we can't beam out."

Douglas frowned. He had expected that Zak had meant the safety concern of the building being old and damaged. The rest they had handled. He glanced to his team. "I'm aware of the state of the building. We need to make sure this thing won't blow up in our faces if we move it, though." he said, more to himself than to his team. "Let's get this space opened and see what we've got."

He then moved to the wall and scanned it with his own tricorder, looking for signs of a locking mechanism, a hinge or some other thing that would indicate a way to properly open the area. He hesitated to simply force it given that such an action might set off the very bomb they were trying to prevent the detonation of.

The tricorder didn't pick up anything that would likely set off the bomb, but it also didn't reveal anything behind the wall other than the chemicals, either.

"Want me to set my phaser on a narrow beam and cut this section of the wall out, Chief?" Zak asked. "It shouldn't jeopardize the load bearing supports at all."

Sadly, it wasn't the load-bearing supports he was most worried about. Using the scan results, Douglas marked out a square on the wall a foot and a half on all sides the location of the chemicals. "This far should be safe. Let's get this stuff and get out of here."

It did occur to him that they would need to get those Romulans out as well. He tried his comm, using the frequency Jncleb had given him as his personal one. =/\= Mallory to Joncleb. =/\= he tried. It was very likely that the comm signal would be blocked by the same thing blocking transporters, but he had to try. Let the Romulan get his own people.

There was no response from the Romulan.

Zak quickly and efficiently cut out the area and pulled the section of the wall away from it. When he set it down and looked in it, he gasped. "L-lieutenant....you need to look at this, Sir."

Douglas always hated hearing that sentence, whether as an Enforcer or as Starfleet. It always, without fail, meant that there was something terrible where the one making the statement was. Giving up on the comm -- it seemed not to be working anyway -- he moved to stand beside Zak, he looked at what the younger man had.

Inside was a small square box that had explosives strapped to it and three different timers with under five minutes remaining on them.

"Great Mother Creator..." he hissed under his breath. This was not only not good; it was decidedly terrible! There was no way in hell they were going to get all three disarmed before at least one of them ended. But that was likely the point, he thought. Only one likely set off the bomb, but there was no way for them to know which one it was. And by the time they figured that out, it likely would have run out.

So then what was he supposed to do? He could get it outside and have Zeke use the runabout's transporter to disperse its molecular construct, widest angle of dispersion. That might work... if he could get it out of here in enough time. There was certainly not enough time to find whatever was blocking transporters.

Reaching a decision, he asked one more question first. "Zak, is there any evidence of motion triggers for this thing?" Moving it carefully out of the wall may simply not have been enough to trigger it. But what he had planned was going to jostle it much more.

"I'm not picking up anything, Sir," Zak said after he scanned it, and looked as nervous as a long tailed Targ in a room full of hungry Klingons. "I suggest we blow the wall out over there an toss it out. We may be able to get in contact with the runabout so they can transport it out somewhere safe."

Douglas nodded. The younger man was right; the time allowance here was too small for anything more sophisticated. "Blow the wall." he ordered. Picking up the device, he attached his comm badge to it. He only hoped that, from the blown-out wall the comm badge would work again.

Zak adjusted the settings on his phaser again to the highest and aimed for the wall the Lieutenant had pointed at. He checked his tricorder, then fired and blew out a six foot diameter hole. "Done, Sir."

Douglas nodded, taking the device to the hole. Standing right at the edge, he tapped a comm badge he had borrowed from one of the security officers. =/\= Mallory to runabout. =/\=

=^=Vromir here=^=

Thank the Goddess! he thought. He did wonder what had become of Stone, but that could wait. =/\= I need you to lock onto my comm badge. In five seconds, transport it and what it's attached to. Do not rematerialize it, though. Beam it out widest angle of dispersion. Copy? =/\=

=^=Acknowledged, Lieutenant,=^= The Romulan replied.

Once he received confirmation, he set himself. Bracing himself, he cocked back the arm with the device in it and threw it up and away from the building as hard as he could. He then watched tensely to see the transporter effect take it away... hopefully. Silently, he sent a prayer to the Mother Creator that this would not go completely sideways.

Vromir worked the transporter controls while the Federation pilot flew the runabout and nearly missed the small flying object. "Sir, she's going to...got her!" he exclaimed as he got a lock on it and dematerialized it. =^=Got it, Lieutenant,=^= he responded as he followed the Federation officer's suggestion and beamed it as far from the city as he could on the widest dispersal settings.

Douglas felt his whole body relax and release a breath he had not realized that he had been holding. He almost dropped the comm badge he had been using to speak to the Romulan officer, but he caught it and answered. =/\= Good work, Vromir. =/\= he complimented the Romulan officer. =/\= Stand by. =/\=

Turning from the window, he closed the channel and looked at his team. "Good work, team. Now let's get these guys outside where they can be picked up by their own authorities." he instructed. He then turned back toward the hole in the wall and adjusted the comm badge's frequency to the one Joncleb had given him. =/\= Mallory to Joncleb. Can you receive? =/\=

Lucia was pleased their mission had been successful. Looking to her partner with a satisfied smile they then headed back towards where the captured Romulans were ready to be turned over to their own authorities.

Donovan nodded. He was happy that he hadn't been blown up. Or injured. Or anything else that would prohibit him from enjoying some much needed rest after this little excursion. If he got that. He might have to wait until the next shore leave. Then he grinned. He didn't expect that he'd get much rest then, either. One was always moving around during shore leave.

It was a short time later that the away team landed back on the Triumphant and all that remained was the final reports and a chance to relax before they were in the thick of it once again.