Assignment Delta Quadrant- Con't.

Posted on Mon Jul 17th, 2023 @ 12:27pm by Admiral Deela T'Lar & Captain Jack Solomon & Lieutenant Commander Ariana Monroe-Wayne & Lieutenant Commander Anna Bagwell & Lieutenant Commander Nicholas Coleman & Lieutenant JG Deezell Vox & Lieutenant K’lar & Ensign Edg'rrr Anisu & Commander Namia Grian & 2nd Lieutenant Orjheza zh’Kaakret & Lieutenant JG Dye Heron

6,897 words; about a 34 minute read

Mission: Episode 116 - "A Bounty of Trust"
Location: Delta Quadrant-New Talax
Timeline: MD3 - 1530 hrs

USS Visionary, Bridge

Commander Coleman was sitting in the command chair of the USS Visionary. He hated waiting for reports, which is why he always tried to keep himself moving onboard the Starbase. Everything had been cleared of hostiles within the area by several of the ships within the fleet that came from 400, but Coleman knew better. There was always something that could go wrong, but he knew that was part of the reason why there were protocols in place for such incidents.

Coleman stood up and walked over to the Engineering station, where Anisu was gathering some schematics before heading over to help with the mission to the Talaxian colony. Coleman took the empty seat next to Ensign Anisu and said, "First of all Ensign, welcome onboard. Secondly, do you have everything you need?"

Edg'rrr was engrossed in the ship's library looking for more clues to his mystery before the captain's voice made his eye dart with Edg'rrr jolting snapping out of his trance. "Gah! Oh! Uh. Sorry. Sir captain! I mean Captain sit! I mean sir not sit captain! Wait. Nevermind. Hi!" Said Edg'rrr giving a very awkward smile hoping he didn't mess anything up as the captain's question caught up to him. "Sorry I haven't greeted you yet since I came onboard but I have been busy catching up with the Visionary's layout, crew assignments, and tasks. Happy to report we are finishing the recalibration on the shield emitters after the previous battle. Power conduits are stable for now but I wouldn't trust them a whole lot as the amount of power rushing into the tokamak could twist the field and cause a collapse. We've been looking into that."

Edg'rrr took a breath noticing the captain looking a little lost but understanding. "As for accommodations they've been excellent. So far I have just about everything I need." He said turning his attention back at the monitor bringing up a display of the Talaxian ship. "I have some footage from the away teams and other media that I asked the computer to work into the schematics to figure out a hypothesis. From certain commands and the way they each fired I basically figured someone on the crew just pressed a button opening fire. Until I got to looking at the brains of the ship. I guess you'd call it the motherboard." Edg'rrr raised a hand spreading two fingers apart as the display moved in to the circuitry of the ship.

"My new hypothesis is someone rigged these ships to remotely fire. You see here and here, no wait, ah there. That someone did a really rushed patch taking a few pathways and crossing them into really odd ones that normally may not have anything to do with each other. The work is hard to tell with the untrained eye I know yet to me it stands out almost as clear as day. Doesn't matter where in the galaxy you end up but a lot of tech seems to have familiar patterns." Said Edg'rrr scratching his head between his ears as his tail flicked curled around the stem of the chair. "This is where I fail to put this into a theory. There's no transmitter. No way the ship was talking to someone outside it for them to stealthy make the ship shoot. I came up here to tap into the ship's incoming logs from the teams, compile more data from the interviews of the crews, even some security videos of the ships departing and how they were built. The works."

"Well, I'm sure that if your hypothesis is true, there would have to have been someone, somewhere close by to be able to transmit the information to the ship to cause the damage that Mr. Neelix was asking about. Do you know if maybe one of the other Talaxian ships or crew could have transmitted something? Maybe it was imbedded in a transmission or a communique from another of the ships?" Coleman asked, curious as to where this was going.

"Sorry sir I'm an engineer not a telegraph operator unfortunately. The comm officers will know better about picking up specific frequencies " Said Edg'rrr as that last word for his mind to think. "Sir that could be it.". He swung around looking at the display of the computer boards of the affected ships before bringing up crew positions on them on a separate display. "What if it looked like a malfunction because we're not thinking primitively. You don't need to send an electric signal but a small device that just sends a vibration to activate it? It would look similar to what we're seeing. You may need to look for someone with that small patched device. Possibly someone who might've had a way to steer the ships just right for plausible deniability. Like an engineer, helmsman, or," he pauses wondering if it might be the right choice but they would be a logical one for now, "the captains."

Coleman had a momentary look of shock on his face, but quickly covered it up. "Ensign, would you be able to find something like what you're describing if you were able to get onboard? I think a science team just beamed over to one of the ships and they're looking through one of the vessels that might be having some issues," Coleman asked, having a feeling that this young engineer could do it with relative ease, given the chance.

Edg'rrr thought about it for a moment running through ideas. "Possible. If the person involved is still close by. Of which I suspect they may be if only to see whatever bigger plan they have in mind pull through to fruition." Said Edg'rrr.

Coleman nodded, agreeing with the Ensign. "Mr. Anisu, I'd like for you to beam over with the science team. I think K'Lar is working over there right now and I'd like for you to see if you can find anything. You're a bright engineer and you're apart of the best team this side of the Beta Quadrant. Make us proud, Ensign," Coleman said with a small smile.

"Sir!" Said Edg'rrr giving a small salute before getting right to work planning out what he'll need for the mission.

USS Europa, Bridge

Jack sat in the centre seat of the Europa, having gotten used to the Luna Class Starship during the trip to the Delta Quadrant. His experience in this part of space wasn't great, however thanks to the number of races that the crew of the USS Voyage had encountered on their way back home, he was also uneasy about being here.

After his two years away from the station, Deela and his family, Jack was using this as a chance to get back to some norms. He'd been glad of the rest he was getting and was soon back to feeling comfortable within Starfleet luxuries and furniture, which reminded him to have the Operations team back at SB400 to work on making his quarters larger and more family sized.

Not a request that they hadn't heard of before from him, having done the same aboard the Ark Royal-A and Jack had decided that now he had a starship command again, to make sure that he was comfortable aboard.

He stood up from his chair and toured the Bridge, station by station, making sure all was well whilst the fleet was in Talaxian space. Seeing Caveel at the Xo station and Raven at the helm, Jack felt at ease knowing that he'd managed to get his starship crew re-assigned to the Europa. Walking behind to the Tactical station, Jack looked over at Aylek.

"How's it looking out there, Korso?" he asked.

"It's quiet so far. Nothing on sensors either." He went back to what he was doing.

Several of his senior officers had already congratulated Jack on his promotion, not that it was official yet, but having been informed that he should be wearing a red uniform and four gold pips on his collar was going down well. Something he needed to finalize with the Admiral when they got back. It felt good to be back in red again, with Jack recalling the last time that he wore that colour was back when he was an XO on the Wildcat and also a CO onboard the Valkyrie.

For some reason, during the journey, Jack's sleep kept getting interrupted by memories of the Valkyrie, his time as a prisoner of the Borg Queen... no a pet would have been a better description. And knowing that the Borg used to be in the Delta Quadrant... or still were, wasn't helping his mood.

Having toured the Bridge, he went back to the centre seat. "Maintain our current position within the fleet, Lieutenant," he ordered to Raven at the helm.

USS Essex Bridge

Deela was giving this situation some deep thought. She had all the information in front of her but there wasn't much to go on except that someone wanted the ships disabled or they were going to use them as weapons. They knew most of the races in the Delta Quadrant and she was sure there were more that they may not know. With the Borg no longer a major threat, anything goes. She had an idea although it would be a long shot. She glanced around the bridge, "Lt. Vashir, we already know who is in this quadrant. It could be anyone so we need to figure out who would profit most from taking over the planet."

Planetside

A man of large build had heard that there were a group of different ships patrolling New Talax. He learned of it when he couldn’t find his new found friend that was patrolling the area. He wasn’t happy. He had everything going his way and the plan was going to work beautifully. But with this new development, he was starting to panic. He approached another guy who always knows what’s going on, “Hey Zurick, what’s going on? I heard that we have a new bunch of ships patrolling the area.”

Zurick nodded, “Oh yeah. Ambassador Neelix called in a favor. He has this crazy notion that someone is sabotaging a few ships. I think he’s just paranoid but that’s just me. So far, it’s just speculation. He has no proof. They’re from the Federation from another quadrant. I think they said Starfleet.”

“Ah, I see. Okay, I was just wondering. Thanks.” Maxim smiled.

Zurick smiled back, “Hey, no problem.”

As Maxim walked away, under his breath, he said, “Oh, it IS a problem.”

Maxim went to his quarters and sent an encrypted message. Soon, his console beeped, I told you not to contact me. It’s too risky. What is so important that you’d risk getting caught?”

He frowned, “Neelix has called in a favor and there are new ships here. They’re not from this quadrant. It’s Starfleet a source told me.”

“And?” The voice said.

“Neelix is on to us.” Maxim sighed.

“That’s not good but then again, it may just work in our favor. They’ll think someone is targeting the ships around there. Have you finished his ship?”

“Yes, I have. But maybe I did it too soon. Should I reverse it until we come up with a new plan?” Maxim was worried.

“No. Stop worrying. We need that aversion.” He was pissed, “I better go. When I’m close, we’ll put my plan in action.”

“How? I worked on getting that one person trusting me and now he’s gone. I was going to use him to get you here. And there’s no time to find someone else.” Maxim stared at the man on the screen.

“I have an idea. I know someone who owes me a favor. Gotta go, later.” He ended the conversation and left.

After the screen went black, Maxim just hit his forehead on the desk in frustration. Now, he needed to find his two other allies and let them know what was going on.

Maxim found the others, "They're on to us."

"It gets worse, Horatio sighed, "They found all of our little adjustments we made. I'm done. I don't want to rule this planet."

His partner agreed, "I don't either. I have a decent job here and I'm not going to risk what I have. I'm out." They both started to walk away.

Maxim yelled out, "Wait! Where are you going?" They ignored him and walked away. Maxim was angry. He hit the wall with his fist, "Fine, I don't need you!" He walked off as well, hoping that Aurelius would hurry up and get there with his plan.

Talaxian Vessel of Interest

After transporting from the Cushing to the Visionary for a briefing, Lt. JG K'lar and Ensign Ulja Zelk beamed aboard the suspicious Talaxian vessel. The team of science officers would investigate the ship's sensors. Detailed logs might contain information about what could have been purposely targeted, by whom and when among others. A lack of targeting data might point more towards an accident.

The Starfleet pair met with two investigating Talaxians. One Talaxian was a tactical officer, the other was a science officer, both specialized in sensor technician abilities.

K'lar couldn't help but think of how alien this ship looked as they moved through its oddly backlit corridors. The foursome moved from the transporter room to the main sensor bay. An awkward silence took over the group as they moved quickly, tricorders in hand.

Dee and her team were now about the main vessel. Dee approached Neelix. She had read his file from his time with the USS Voyager and ever since, she had wanted to meet him.

"Neelix, I am Lieutenant Commander Deezel Vox. I am Starbase 400's Assistant Chief Engineer but for this assignment the Chief Engineer for the USS Cushing. I have come with four of my engineers to trying fix the damage to your ship. On a side note, maybe when this is all sorted and before we return to the Alpha Quadrant, I would like to try some of your legendary cooking." Dee said with a smile.

Neelix, although looking a little stressed, smiled, "Yes, I can do that." Neelix observed Vox for a moment, "I heard that what I suspected is true. I knew it. I tried to tell them that and I was right. I was told that it was rigged to blow up but I don't know why someone would want to do that." He took a breath and let it out, "Okay, I will leave you to it. The ship is cleared with the exception of your people, just incase something goes wrong."

Neelix started to walk off, then he turned around, "When you are done, you know where to find me for that meal."

"You have a deal Mr. Neelix." Vox replied.

Maxim was on Neelix's ship in wait. He had snuck in when the ship was being evacuated. He was pissed that he had done all this work for a man that he owed his life and one person was going to ruin it. He needed to stop whoever it was. He saw five people walk in with Starfleet uniforms and another two earlier, one of which was Klingon. He needed to figure out how to stop them all but he needed the right moment to attack. He'd have to get rid of them, one by one if needed. He also knew he wasn't a match for the Klingon so he'd try to avoid him at all costs.

As the team headed down the corridor, Dee spotted something that wanted fixing. She hopeless at not fixing everything she saw. It was kind of an obsession. "Hey team, head on, I need to do this quick fix. I know I know its not important but I can't help myself. " Her team nodded and continued on. Dee got out her tool kit and began work. It only took her two minutes. As she stood and put away her tool kit, she heard a noise from behind her...

"Damn." Maxim said under his breath after he accidently made a noise. He was startled when he saw that it was a female Starfleet officer. He was taught that you never hit a woman but what was he going to do? He had to stop her and the others from ruining what he did. He had no plan in mind now that his victim was a woman and she heard him. He asked himself if he should just pretend to be someone also working on the ship or just immobilize her so he could get to the others. He didn't have a phaser but he had a dagger. He didn't want to kill her but he also knew if he didn't succeed, he'd be dead soon at the hands of Aurelius. He needed to have things ready for him.

Maxim walked out, hoping that those working on the ship wasn't expecting anyone to try anything, "Hi. I didn't mean to startle you. I forgot my tools in engineering that I need."

"Oh right." She didn't recognize him and he didn't seem to be an engineer based on his clothing. She was somewhat suspicious of him.

He couldn't tell if she was suspicious of her or not. He tried to be charming although he was nervous inside. He was about to go against everything he believed in. His nerves got to him. He accidentality dropped the dagger which fell at her feet. In an instance, he went for the dagger. As he did, he pushed Vox back so hard that it sent her falling backwards and onto the ground. He went for the dagger but his foot hit it, sending it out of reach.

"Engineer my ass." She exclaimed getting on her feet. She unbuckled her tool belt. It dropped to the floor and she pushed it to one side with her foot. She spotted where the dagger had gone to, looked back at Maxim who had also located it. They both went to grab the dagger but Dee tackled him to the ground just inches from the dagger. The two struggled. He was definitely stronger than Dee but she knew she could not let him get his dagger.

They tussled about the corridor, exchanging punches and kicks. It was at this moment, Dee felt a sharp pain in her side. Maxim had managed to get the dagger and had stabbed her in the far right side of her abdomen. She saw the dagger in her side, stared Maxim right in the eyes and in one swift move, pulled the dagger from her side and slammed it into the top his right thigh, causing him scream in pain, falling backwards into a bulkhead, clutching his leg.

Clutching her side, feeling the blood between her fingers... "If I am going no where, neither are you." She exclaimed. With a blooded hand she taps her combadge.

=^= Vox to anyone, I've been attacked by some guy, he's down with a dagger in his leg right now. I've been stabbed. Need assistance. Loosing conscious,...=^= her hand slipped from her badge as she passed out.

K'lar heard the message, hairs on his neck stiffening along with his posture. He tapped his commbadge quickly, having an idea of a few places where her team could be working.

"Vox, this is K'lar. I am inbound." He turned to the Talaxians working with them. Do you know where her team is working?"

"Why yes, actually", said the Talaxian tactical officer named Moog. He withdrew a weapon and said, "This way."

Moog started walking at first, activating his own communicator. "This is Moog to security. We have an intruder."

"Your ship has a sickbay right?" Ensign Zelk asked the Talaxian science officer.

"Indeed", replied Olavaeg, not carrying a phaser in lieu of his science tricorder. "We should be able to beam her there. If not, we should get a doctor here."

The group now ran to the ship's nearest turbolift before being sped towards Vox. Alarms sounded throughout the ship. The color of the backlit walls had changed, flashing in tune with the alarm.

K'lar's phaser was holstered on his hip, his science tricorder holstered higher on his abdomen. It sounded as if the intruder was down, but it wasn't clear.. Zelk was unarmed, seemingly hiding behind K'lar and the Talaxians in the lift. He had the suddenly unenvious task of carrying the PADD as he had been taking notes. The young Ensign was frightened beyond his wits.

The doors opened and they sped down the hall towards the scene.

Maxim didn't know where to run. The ship wasn't a ship but a Baxial freighter. He never understood why Neelix refused to get a new ship after 23 years. Holding his breath, he pulled the dagger out of his thigh, took off his shirt and made a bandage out of it. He winced as he tightened it. Despite the pain, he moved though the small freighter until he could find a spot to hide. The alarms throughout the vessel were going off so he knew it would be a matter of time.

Vox was drifting in an out of consciousness and in one of her conscious moments, she realised her attacker had managed to get away, leaving the bloodied dagger behind. "Next time, don't be so lenient." she muttered to herself as she once again became unconscious.

Anna heard the transmission and grabbed a medical bag. Running to the transporter room she was beamed over to Neelix’s freighter, to where Vox was located.

Bending down, Anna went to work, first scanning Vox, then starting to treat her on site. It was the wound to her side that had Woodhouse the most concerned about. “Don’t you worry.” Anna whispered. “I am going to have you good as new in no time.”

Vox opened her eyes. "Anna? It is you. Saved." She muttered struggling to keep conscious from her blood loss. But Anna was sorting her out the best she could.

“Stay still.” Anna whispered. “I’m patching you up best I can so we can transport back to sickbay.”

"Yes Doctor. I had him, I nearly had him." She said, she laughed "Oww" she exclaimed stifling her giggle.

“You will be fine.” Anna told her. She pressed her comm and ordered a transport back to her sickbay for the two of them so she could treat Vox properly and have her on the mend.

A few moments later they materialized in sickbay back on the ship. Anna called a nurse over and they immediately went to work. Anna wasn't going to let anything happen to Vox.

"Are we in sickbay?" Vox asked. "Which ship?" She added.

"Essex." Anna replied. "You need to lay back and let me work on your injuries so you can be around to fight another day." She was concentrating on the stab wound. It would have been fatal had she not gotten there as quickly.

"Is my symbiont ok, is Vox ok? " Dee asked.

K'lar, Zelk and the two Talaxian investigators made their way to Vox. After quickly gathering a description of the attacker, they sped off to check the corridors. This ship wasn't too large. The Talaxians split off in one direction.

K'lar and Zelk headed deep into the bowels of the ship. They figured the attacker would try to hide.

The Talaxian's first stop was to raise shields. This would not stop an escape pod from launching, but would interfere with a transporter escape. They hadn't noticed the intruder along their trip to the controls.

K'lar and Zelk intensified their search. "I have a faint life sign on my tricorder", Zelk finally told K'lar.

The Klingon moved in close to the Ensign. "Lead me towards him... Stay low. Stay quiet", K'lar said.

They moved in the direction of the signal reading.

Maxim had no where to go. He couldn't beam off and there was no where to run. He was trapped. It was just a matter of minutes before he would be caught. He also had no weapons and his thigh was still bleeding and it wasn't stopping. He fell to the ground, his back leaning against the wall and he could feel himself being drained of his blood. He was done. Either Aurelius would kill him or he'd be on some god forsaken planet as a prisoner. He didn't know that Aurelius was being apprehended as he sat there bleeding.

It didn't take long for the pair to track Maxim's life sign. Ensign Zelk was terrified as he saw Maxim's figure come into focus. K'lar growled, keeping his phaser holstered. He sized up the situation quickly, taking in Maxim's posture and noticing he was unarmed.

"Lay down! Put your hands on top of your head!", K'lar shouted, ready to sprint and tackle Maxim. He had to restrain the anger that he felt towards this man for attacking Dee.

K'lar tapped his commbadge. "This is K'lar to Commander Grian, I have the suspect wanted for attacking Vox cornered.. Injured. Requesting security backup."

"Grian here. Good work. We are beaming a security team to your location now. Expect them in the next 30 seconds. Grian out.". The security team soon materialized next to K'lar and the wounded and captured Maxim.

Maxim threw up his hands, "You got me but it really doesn't matter because I'm a dead man anyway." He didn't put up any resistance.

Aurelius's Shuttle/Seven Fighters

Aurelius's plan was coming into play. He was able to convince a team of rogue aliens to help him with promises of grandeur. They were game. Aurelius knew that it was a suicide mission for them but he didn't tell them that. He just needed them to keep the Federation ships busy and buy him time.

The seven fighters came into range, shields raised and ready to start a fight. Per Aurelius's orders, one of the fighters attacked his shuttle in view of the Federation ships, making it look like they were after him. They were ordered to attack his shuttle and where exactly to hit him. After the fighter fired upon him, the small shuttle started to drift towards the planet. Aurelius just needed to get close enough to beam down to the planet. He knew that they wouldn't concentrate on a shuttle that's not a threat. He could see too that Neelix's vessel was still there, which told him that Maxim failed his mission.

The fighters were on their own. Now that they accomplished that part of the plan, the Federation ships were next. Since Neelix's vessel was no longer part the of the plan, the fighters were. A fire fight was about to begin...

USS Europa, Bridge

"Captain, we have incoming," Korso reported from Tactical with some urgency.

"Talk to me Sam," Jack said as he stood up from the centre seat and made his way quickly to the Tactical station.

"Seven fighters incoming, with Shields raised and weapons armed, they are on a direct course for the Fleet sir," he confirmed.

"Red Alert! All hands to Battle stations!" Jack yelled as he made his way to the helm. "Korso, Raise Shields and Arm weapons wait for them to take the first shot, if they want to come in hot, then that's their call to make." Looking at Raven, he could see that she was ready.

"Raven, on my mark, engage attack pattern Gamma, but let them fire first, I want that to be clear," he said to her and she nodded her confirmation.

As he made his way back to the centre of the Bridge, Jack grabbed hold of the arm as the Europa rocked under the first barrage of incoming fire. Falling into the seat, Jack looked straight ahead. "Ok, that's their first shot. Korso, open fire with phasers only, look to disable first. Raven, engage with attack pattern gamma, lets show them what a Luna Class starship has for them."

As the Europa began its maneuvers, Jack gave his next order. "Taloris, open a channel to the Essex, get me Admiral T'Lar," he said as the Europa rocked from taking another hit.

"Shields at 85"

USS Essex, Bridge

Deela was shouting out orders, "Raise shields!"

"Admiral. The Europa is contacting us." Deela nodded.

Deela had a short conversation with her husband as they were fighting with the bad guys.

The Essex was also being fired upon. She had no idea who they were. She had never seen them before. She didn't really care. They were attacking them with no provocation. She had a feeling that this all had to do something with the sabotages.

"Lt. Lux, scan for other vessels in the area." She was worried that there may be more from where they came from.

Lux scanned, "Admiral, there is a unidentifiable shuttle drifting towards the planet. There is one life sign but the shuttle is damaged."

Deela was getting more and more suspicious but right now, they had bigger fish to fry. She turned to communications, "Open all frequencies and hail those fighter." But no one would answer. They just kept attacking them.

"Xalanth, they don't want to answer us as to why they are doing this, then by all means, do what you have to do. Just get those two off of us."

Deela noted that there were seven of those fighters, two on them and one for each ship. There were not any ships around. Why just these fighters, why not more? And no mother ship to lead them? She thought this to be very weird. And why did they fire upon a shuttle that wasn't a threat?

Ariana rushed out of the turbolift and onto the bridge, taking her seat. “Why is it everything happens when I’m off the bridge? What did I miss?”

"Just someone who thinks they can overpower us and destroy our ships, that's all." Deela looked at her for a moment, "We are going to prove them wrong.

USS Cushing, Bridge

The Red Alert Klaxon was thundering around the bridge and the whole ship. With Vox not aboard, engineering was in the hands of Lieutenant Rogers, who was looking a little unnerved but the team was right behind him, already securing the vital systems and erecting the forcefield around the warp core.

On the bridge, Grian was already co-ordinating with the other ships in the fleet on how best, despite her limited tactical systems, the Cushing could be of use. Grian had positioned the Cushing so that she could act as a barrier to try an contain the fighters so the Europa and others had a good chance of showing them they were making a foolish attack.

A lone fighter decided to make a run at the Cushing, slamming her with its phasers cannons, giving the ship and crew a good jostling. But, Rodriguez was at the tactical station and was somewhat of a sharp shooter. With the help of Lewis at the helm, the two were able to quickly take out that pesky little fighter, with only a 5% drop in shields. The Cushing had two other ships helping her keep the fighters contained so the more powerful ships, like the Luna Class, could sort them out.

=^=Cushing to Europa, this is Grian. We have them blocked from escaping, so show them what you got. Cushing out. =^=

Delta Quadrant Space, Proximity To Fleet Location

2nd. Lt. Orjheza zh'Kaakret couldn't help but find herself distracted as her fighter launched into deep space. Before departure she had been sent off by engineer and fighter mechanic 2nd. Lt. Kara sh'Zax.

"Stay safe for our future", were Kara's words which rung throughout Orjheza's ears. The two had recently agreed to begin forming an Andorian bond group. All the pair needed was to find two compatible males.

Orjheza and Jaxon launched from the Kearsage. Two other fighters launched from a nearby ship. It took a little time for the two groups to spin up individually for a strategically timed launch.

Soon they approached the enemy fighters, forcing them to make a decision. The two pairs met up along the flight path, approaching the enemy fighters as they harassed the fleet's vessels.

"Let's try to keep them from massing up", Orjheza said over the fighter network.

"They're trying to overwhelm the Cushing", Jaxon replied.

The aggression of the Starfleet fighters would force the enemies to confront them. If the enemy chose to dogfight the fighters, they might fly predictable evasive patterns for starship phasers.

USS Cushing, Bridge

Sparks shot down from the ceiling of the bridge as the Cushing took another pounding from the fighters that were now swarming around ship. Lewis and Rodriguez were doing what they could to keep strongest part of the ship's shields. Rogers and his team in engineering were using every trick in the book to keep the ship's defences working. The Cushing's phasers were firing everywhere, trying to hit the fighters. She had taken out two of them.

Three fighters were now disabled. The two fighters that were firing upon the Essex broke away and were now coming to the rescue of their compadres. The fire fight continued.

Planetside

Horatio and his partner, who just so happen to be his wife, were enjoying not having to worry about anything. Their life was great. There wasn't anyone trying to tell them what to do and they felt safe. That feeling subsided very quickly. Aurelius was trying to contact them. He needed them to carry out his plan. The two looked at each other.

"We need to make a decision. Are we going to help him or do we turn our backs on them?" Horatio looked at his wife.

"I don't want to be ruled by a power hungry idiot. I love my life here, I'm happy." She put her hand on her stomach, "I was going to tell you later but..." She paused, "I'm pregnant. I want to raise my children here. We have all we need."

"Pregnant?" He was shocked, "Then the decision is made. We need to go to Neelix and let him know about Aurelius."

They knew that this may jeopardize their life on New Talax but they'd take the chance...for their unborn child.

They found Neelix and told him what happened. Horatio was obviously sorry that he helped Aurelius. "We were scared. He was going to kill us if we didn't help him. I know that this may get us kicked off this planet but my wife is pregnant and we want to remain here and raise our child." They continued to tell Neelix what their part was and who else was involved.

Neelix, being a softy and knowing that they were truly sorry, Neelix agreed to let them stay without any consequences. But there was another problem that he was made aware of.

Neelix told them, "Right now, those ships up there are under attack. If anything happens to any of them up there, there will be nothing I can do for you. The Federation will hold you a co-conspirators."

Horatio nodded, "Aurelius is right now in a shuttle waiting for us to get him down here. Maxim, the man I told you about, is the one who sabotaged your ship and he has rigged a few things here. We were just the lookout. I know where he set things up. I will get the authorities here and show them where. Please don't have us arrested. I'm so sorry for helping."

Neelix sighed, "Go on now. Fix this. I need to contact them and let them know what's going on."

USS Essex, Bridge

Deela was chasing at them, the two that broke off to help the others. Neelix contacted Deela, "Admiral, I have two people here that know what is going on. There is a shuttle that has someone of interest in it. He's the culprit responsible for what is happening now."

Deela knew something was strange about this whole thing and now it made sense.

"Admiral T'Lar to Lt. Commander Coleman. There is a shuttle that is carrying the one responsible for this whole thing. I need you to get a tractor beam on it and reel it in. I will cover you."

Coleman saw it on the viewscreen of the Visionary and replied, "Yes, Ma'am. We're engaging the tractor beam now and towing them into our main shuttlebay. We've got security ready to meet them and take them into custody."

The Essex started to fire upon the fighter that was on the Visionary's tail. Seeing that the Visionary was going after the shuttle, they knew that it was over. They started to run with their tails between their legs.

From the bridge of the Essex, the crew could see Orjheza's fighter getting behind an approaching enemy fighter. The opponent seemed bent on trying to attack the larger ships despite the Federation fighters' presence.

This worked out to the starfighters' advantage. Orjheza locked in behind the enemy, phasers tearing into its shields with precision, pulse fire. Totally worked up, Orjheza was able to cut off the enemy's intended direction of travel with a wall of phaser fire. The computer assisted her efforts to match the enemy move for move, red pulses speeding ahead and making contact with the vessel.

It exploded soon after its shields fell, finally trying to run from the formation. Other fighters formed up behind Starfleet's attempting to push the smaller ships from the area. When that didn't work, they retreated and went out of weapons range.

Maxim was now on the USS Visionary and Aurelius was now on the USS Cushing and in custody. The remaining fighters were gone now and everything that was done was undone.

USS Essex, Bridge

Deela watched the viewscreen as the fighters took off. Both ships had done their parts and Vox was in sickbay.

"Admiral, shall I set a course and intercept the remaining fighters?"

Deela shook her head, "No, leave them. I doubt if they're going to try anything." She thought for a moment, "I am going to beam down to the planet and meet with Neelix. Contact the Cushing and the Visionary and have them meet me down on the planet with the prisoners." Her XO nodded.

Deela beamed down to meet Neelix and turn over the prisoners to the authorities on the planet until they can figure out what was going on.

Planetside

Maxim was being attended to for his wound and Aurelius was being held at thee planet's brig. Neelix approached Deela. He was happy to see her, "Admiral T'Lar!"

"Hello Neelix. Everyone is in custody and those fighters are gone. The man who orchestrated the whole thing is in custody and the one responsible for the sabotaging is being treated for wounds at your medical facility. We haven't been able to get anything out of this man except that his name is Aurelius. We think he is an Etanian."

"Ah yes Admiral. I am familiar with them."

"Until I get instructions from Starfleet Headquarters, we'll keep them in your security facility. I'll be having a few of my security detail also keep an eye on them. As soon as Maxim is healed, we'll be interrogating him and see if he'll give Aurelius up." Deela assured him.

Neelix sighed, "I should tell you, that I have two more people that know what is going on and this plot of Aurelius's. I would appreciate it if you'd not take any action against this couple. They were very helpful in correcting a few wrongs. It's because of them that we are safe now."

Deela would still have to confer with Starfleet and find out how to proceed. It would be all up to Starfleet, not her, "Okay then. I need to get back to my ship. I'll let you know when I find out something."

"Thank you again Admiral. I appreciate your help. I'm just happy to know that I was not worrying about nothing." He thought for a moment, I heard that a Lieutenant Vox was injured. With your permission, I'd like to bring over something that I promised her."

"Permission granted." Deela beamed back up to the ship.

About two hours later, she was contacted by someone she recognized, "Admiral T'Lar, Deela It's been a while. Thank you for your help. We have already arrested the person on our side who helped that Maxim person. We've also decided that we are not going to prosecute the couple that helped per Neelix's request. I'm en route to you as we speak. So I will be taking over the capture of Aurelius and Maxim."

"Are you sure?" Deela didn't like not seeing something through. But she also knew the reputation of the person she was speaking to.

"Deela, we need you all back at Starbase 400. We're taking extra caution just incase. I will keep you apprised of the situation. As soon as we get there and they are secured, you are all free to go back home."

The screen no longer held the image of the person she was talking to.

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