Episode 1: Coming Together

== Utopia Planetia Shipyards==
== Sol Sector 001 ==
== Space Dock 265 Alpha Deta ==

== Prologue==

Limping back from her last battle was the USS Redemption, a Galaxy Class Starship that had been the flagship for almost 10 years of now Admiral Matt Wood. The ship had been through hell and back numerous times and they were going to retire the old girl, salvaging what they could for other ships, but scuttling most of it to the decommission fields hidden somewhere in Alpha Quadrant. While the crew was sad to see her go, they were assured that their new home would be just as comfortable and endearing as the Redemption had been.

Most crewmembers didn’t believe it. This ship had seen them through most of their conflicts with the Drommies and then the Borg. It would have to be pretty special to be considered better than the Galaxy Class Starship.

As it turns out… it was.

A new Sovereign Class Starship, registered as the USS Redemption-A was at the Utopia Planetia Shipyards over Mars, going through final refit. The crew would get some much needed time off on Earth and then report to Mars to receive their new ship. Three weeks on Earth… that was reward enough for most of the crew members.

Others, though, has a more secretive task ahead of them.

== Earth ==
==San Francisco ==
== Starfleet Academy ==

Admiral Wood pulled up the collar of his coat to guard against the cold night breeze that was coming off the bay. He shivered a bit, not so much from the temperature, but more from what he had found out. The nagging feeling in his stomach had only grown more intense as each new piece of information was assembled. While he didn’t have everything he needed… soon he would.

A shadow moved in and alley and Wood stopped, his hand going to his phaser. “Who goes there?”

Nothing answered but more movement. Soon a group of men were advancing on Wood and though they looked like thugs, the way their handled themselves told Wood that these men had training. Wood back off and pulled out his phaser, and shot at the lead person… dropping them with a stun shot. The others took cover and Wood made a break for it.

“Get him!” came the cry over his shoulder and the men were after him like Klingons after bloodwine. He rounded the corner and took another shot, and then continued on, not looking back to see if he hit anything. Up ahead, another group of men ran out of another alley, blocking his path. Without stopping, he veered left, across the street and ran down the alley. It was a choke point that wouldn’t let them surround him… but it also left him barely any exits.

He fired again and again, but there were too many of them. Before they closed in, he took out his tricorder… the one that had all of the information he had been collecting on it and slapped his emergency transmitter on it. After the Battle of the Basin Rift, all high ranking officials had one.

“Energize” he said and it disappeared. He looked up to see the shadows crowd in on him. “That wasn’t a smart idea. Carpathia isn’t going to like this.” Admiral Wood opened his mouth, but a blow caught him on the back of his head. Strong arms grabbed him and as blackness took him, he was shoved into a waiting vehicle.


======

==USS Redemption-A==
==XO's Office, Main Bridge==

Dushall sat in his chair. His right index finger thumping against his right temple and his left hand fingers rapping on his wooden desk. He enjoyed the feel of the wood under his fingers. He found it a pleasant escape from the cold metal of the ships hull. Before him, standing at attention, was Lt. Edgar Halvet and Lt. Jaques Beckett. The look on his face was not one that many people have seen. If it wasn't for these two men he would have gotten a full nights sleep with Loki and his daughter Callie near by. Instead he was called in the middle of their camp fire dinner in the beautiful country of the Sequia Forest. He was instantly beamed up to the Redemption were these two men were waiting in the brig.

After spending all night getting reports and video calls from all the parties and authorities involved it had finally come down to this, to the appropriate action that would be taking place. As he looked through their records in silence one more time he looked up. It was a stall for his own satisfaction. He noticed that both of them were starting to sweat. Although the room was a cool 75 degrees it was the anticipation of what his verdict would be. Although they couldn't tell by looking at him he was smiling on the inside. "Sir if I may..." Dushall's eye's glared at him. "Did I say you could speak Lt. Halvet? As I recall you two are standing at attention and not rest." Lt. Halvet returned his gaze to the bulkhead behind the XO. "Aye aye, Sir." was his sharp reply.

"Gentlemen, I have spent the entire night reviewing the evidence of your little escapade yesterday. While you two were sleeping I was getting phone calls from the Constables Office, the Hospital, and even the Senator of Virginia wondering were his daughter is." He was interrupted by a chuckle from Lt. Beckett which abruptly stopped when he felt the penetrating glare of Dushall. "I have been in starfleet for a long time. I have seen my fair share of Liberty Screw Ups and even been in a few but this by far is the most outlandish one I have ever seen. What in the Galaxy made you two think it was okay to get into a fight, steal a car, pick up a group of girls that just so happened to include the Senators daughter and end up on a drunken road trip across eastern North America." He saw a hand raise up and slammed his fist on the desk. "That wasn't a question!"

"The Senators daughter has been returned to him safely and unharmed. The vehicle has been impounded and I was able to get all charges dropped against you." He noticed them holding back a smile. "All civilian charges, gentlemen. Your actions represent that of Starfleet and most importantly the USS Redemption and Admiral Wood. Because of your failure to conduct yourself accordingly to the standards of Starfleet and the Federation I am administering a NJP and recording it in your service records. You two are hearby demoted to Leiutenant Junior Grade and are reassigned under the COB to report for whatever menial duties he can come up with for the period of 30 days starting at shift change in 2 hours. You ship privliges will also be revoked and you two are restricted to quarters during the 30 days. You may leave only for work, 1 hour of gym time, and for the mess hall." He tossed the PADD onto the desk top and turned his chair facing the porthole filled with stars and the moon on the other side of earth. "Dismissed Gentlemen."

He looked at the time on his watch and better thoughts filled his head. Loki and Callie would be arriving any minute and the Redemptions new 2nd Officer should be here. The new ship was the latest in technology. It surpassed even the Enterprise in terms of firepower and manuverability. Still it did not feel like home to him. The Redemption was his home and this ship only carried its name. He hoped that soon it will hold it's spirit as well.

"Computer, Locate Admiral Wood." He said as he stood and poured himself a glass of water from the pitcher on the table next to the wall.

Admiral Wood is in his quarters. The soft feminine voice replied.

A chuckle escaped as he knew that the Admiral was probably entertaining some beautiful foriegn dignitary and did not want to be disturbed. "I'll tell him about those two later." He said as he moved a reminder on his PADD to later on the next shift.

== USS Redemption ==
== Deck 2 ==
== Officer Rooms 31 & 33 ==

Zethra led his bag slide off his arm and down onto the couch that was situated below the rounded viewport that gave them a wide view of space and the activity that was happening on their side of the ship. Right now it was blocked by the space dock they were in, but Zethra imagined that it would give them a fairly open view of space. He turned and looked back at Lilly and Calle, who had followed in his footsteps.

“We’re home!” he said, smiling at both of them. So far the ship was having some perks that the Adarga didn’t have. Their room was two stories with a large loft up a set of stairs to the left. Two bedrooms down here were separated by the living area, dining area and kitchenette. That put Calle far away from Lilly and Zethra. Looking at Lilly, Zethra could see the same thought was crossing her mind. He pointed up to the loft.

“That would make a great workout facility for me and a place to store extra weapons and training gear."

Before the incredulous look in Lilly’s eyes could make the comments come out of her mouth, he grinned. He knew they had talked about making that room into something she wanted.

“Kidding!” he said, smiling and drawing her into his arms. “You know that will be my man cave.”

Lilly gave him a jab in his ribs. “If you don’t watch it, I’ll turn it into a scrapebooking/sowing room and invite all the women over to sow. Soon this entire place will be pink in lace.”

Zethra shuddered and let go of Lilly, putting his hands up in mock surrender. “I give up.”

Meanwhile Calle was off, exploring what was to be her new room. Looking around, Zethra noticed two other doors. One led off to the refresher and the other was a smaller room. “Room to grow”, was all Zethra said, but the smile on his face spoke volumes.

Lilly hesitated, but there was a huge grin on her face. “You sure?” she asked. He nodded. “Well, not like right this second, unless you want to lock Calle in her room, but she needs a younger sibling to boss around.”

Lilly laughed. “Oh she’ll be good at that. Speaking of boss, shouldn’t you be checking in by now?”

Zethra nodded. “Yeah, I’ll go check in with the CO or XO and then inspect the Marine Barracks, but I’ll be back in time for dinner.”

Giving her a little kiss on her nose, Zethra left, but stopped off to give Calle a hug. “I’ll be back later.”

It was a warm summers day on Archimedes with not a cloud in the sky, a gentle breeze blew through the herbs in the garden which carried a pleasant aroma through the windows into the workshop, standing in front of a holographic display was the tall strong looking man, his glasses sitting on his nose. He seemed to be shaking his head as the holographic display was running an engine sequence that was beginning to go awry.

"Lucius, we need to re-examine the data and evaluate the situation, we will find out why the engine implodes into itself" and Lucius just nodded at his old friend in agreeance, James Adama had been with him from the beginning all those decades ago...was it 50 years or was it less..he couldn't remember but they had started out together on Titan in the special engineering department for Star Fleet and they had come a long way together and were both from Archimedes.

But now they were retired and still working on Project Beowulf, the development of FTL drive which was being sponsored by private individuals and companies, mainly the Government of the Typhon Colonies on Archimedes but Lucius wasn't really happy, he was still bitter that he had never seen active service when he was in Star Fleet, he retired as a Commander of secret facility on Titan and hadn't seen any real active service.

Zarabeth his wife enters the huge workshop with a tray of tea and a data messenger, "Come come boys, you need to relax and have your tea, ive made sandwichs too" she said in her cheerfull manner, James eagerly grabbed a cucumber sandwich and his tea cup and began to tuck in.

"Darling" she said as she snuggled into Lucius "There is a message from the reservist officer, the messenger came about 10 mins ago, may be they are releasing you from your reserve duty?" Lucius grunted but James was quick to speak "I hope so, I don't ever want to go back, working with morons and idiots was enough but to be stuck on a ship with a bunch of beserkers is beyond the pale" he joked.

Lucius fired up the messenger and the star fleet logo appeared followed by a cheer full face of a young Lt who began with "Commander Arkham, please press your thumb to the tablet when requested" the screen went blank and then Lucius profile appeared and a request for thumb print authentication, he duly pressed his thumb.

The screen changed once more and was dialling an outside number, looking at Zarabeth and James with a raised eyebrow he said "Security is a bit Over the top don't you think?" and as he said that the image of Admiral Edwina Wakefield appeared, she was the head of the fleets Engineering arm "Its good to see you again Lucius, its been 20 years you havnt aged one bit" he smiled "Thank you Edwina, but what is this about?"

"Lucius, your needed. We at command are re-activating you, we have a rather special ship that we would like you to take command of its engineering as its Chief Engineer, the USS Redemption-A is in dry dock and needs an experienced hack to take care of her" Lucius rubbed his chin "Eddy, I cant accept, my research here is nearing completion" he was cut short "Lucius we have taken that into account, the Redemption has been installed with your own private workshops, independent computer system and enough room to develop your FTL drive system, you will have free reign to do as you please and you will receive all the help you would want from Star Fleet but".

"But..theres always a but Eddy" he said with a grim expression and she carried on "You will install the drive system once it has been perfected onto the Redemption" he simply nodded, the FTL drive system was years away from perfection.

"Now Eddy what if I refuse?" and she laughed "Lucius, your reactivation authority code and order has come from the President himself, I don't think you can refuse" he let out a sigh "Ok Eddy I will do it but Im going to need my wife as a civilian specialist and James Adama reinstated as senior lt-commander" James spat out his tea.

"Ok Lucius, their papers will follow, a shuttle will come and pick you up tomorrow at 0900hrs and take you to the dock and thank you, we do not have the resources to undertake the project ourselves nor to find an experienced Officer to run the engineering of our pride and joy. Good luck" and with that the screen went blank.

Lucius looking at Zarabeth and James smiled. "Ok pack your bags, back to the grind stone we go" James grumbled and stormed off to his quarters and Zarabeth hugged him "This is what you have always wanted my darling, you will see duty aboard a ship" he patted her on the bum "Go Zara, pack your belongings I need to download the computer for transfer".

With everyone out of the way he then spoke up "You heard that didn't you Fred?" then from no where a hologram of Fred Dibnah appeared "Aye I did Lucius, I will start transferring and processing the labs computers for you, I will copy myself and you will be ready to go, stay safe" he then disappeared.

Fred the computer was dangerously close to becoming self aware, he was the embodiment of Lucius work and the research of hundreds of other prominent scientists and engineers, he was knowledge and knowledge was the computer and it seemed to have a knack of learning as it went which was not in its programming.

Lucius began to shut his lab down and pack for the trip.

Lucius put on his uniform, his uniform of a special engineer from Titan, it was unique and different to others but served as a boiler suit at the same time, was very practical yet smart looking, the shuttle had arrived and everything was aboard, meeting Zarabeth at the ramp he looked for James who came shuffling out of the house and locked the door, he too wore his special engineers uniform and smiled "Ok Lucius lets do this!" he stormed up the ramp and strapped himself in.

The shuttle took off, it met a ferry liner just above the atmosphere of Archimedes which transported them the rest of the way to the space docks in side Federation space, transferring to a station they found their next shuttle which would take them to the Redemption.

As the shuttle approached Lucius peered out of the window "A modified Sovereign class, very nice very nice indeed" he muttured, the shuttle docked and they disembarked.

The ship still had that new ship smell and people busied themselves though seemingly had the time to offer a look of curiosity at Lucius and James due to their uniforms, it was rare to see such Engineers outside of Titan wearing these uniforms after all the special projects department of star fleets engineering was a law unto itself and was of mythical proportions some even questioned if it existed at all!

A couple of Yeomans helped with the luggage, one young man was keen "Commander Arkham, welcome aboard, your quarters are prepared, we are unloading your equipment and setting up your computer for you in your own workshop and lab. Everything is being take care of, Engineering is ready for you when you see fit to make your first inspection" Lucius nodded and carried on walking.

After a couple of turbo lift drops and several steps a long the engineering corridor to the engineers quarters, Lucius told Zarabeth to settle in, himself and James would report in.

Lucius was very happy and seemed to have a skip in his step which was noticeable by James "Your like a child Lucius, your more pleased to be here then me" and Lucius smiled in his benevolent way "James, make the most of it, this is why we signed up for Star Fleet!" James shuddered "Speak for yourself bud, I signed up to meet the women" they both laughed as they approached the bridge.

As the bridge doors slid open to reveal the wonder and miracle that was the most advanced bridge design and technology in the fleet it dawned on Lucius that he didn't even know who the CO was, obviously it was an Admiral, it would have to be but which one??

Sitting in the CO's chair was the COB and Lucius asked him "Where may I find the CO?" COB smiled "Over there Sir in the ready room!" he saluted and sat back down.

Lucius and James stood by the door and gingerly pressed the door button.

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG

TAG XO DUSHALL


Cmdr Lucius Arkham


Zarabeth Arkham, Lt retired. Civilian specialist.


Lt.Cmdr James Adama

== XO Office ==
== Main Bridge ==

Stepping up to the door, Zethra waited to be let in. By accessing the computer, he learned the Admiral Wood was still off duty, so checking in with the Executive Officer was protocol. The door chimed, announcing his presence.

"Enter", rang Dushall’s voice through the door. It was actually an intercom that activated when the door was chimed. When the gentleman entered Duhsall knew who he was right off the bat. The Admiral and he went through thousands of files of potential 2nd Officers to replace the fallen Commander Cory Hanson. It was difficult and tedious to find someone of the same caliber that could fill the Commander’s shoes. A moment of grief entered his mind at the memory of his friend dying. He could still hear his screams as he was burned alive after he secured the hatch from the inside. His sacrifice saved hundreds of life and gave the Redemption the chance to win her battle. "Ah, please take a seat Mr. Kaine." He waved not at the chair in front of his desk but instead to two chairs that were separated in the corner by a small end table.

Zethra walked in and snapped off a salute to the XO. Then he took the seat offered to him by Dushall. As he sat down, he quickly took inventory of the room and its belongings… or lack there of. Much could be learned by the momentos that a person kept around, but this room was decidedly bare. Whether by design or just moving into a new place, Zethra didn’t know, but time would tell. He turned his attention back to the Captain. While on most ships, a Captain commanded the ship, this was one of the few rare occasions that an Admiral had direct control of vessel. Inwardly, Zethra wondered if Dushall was taking as Zethra was… considering that they were both working a position that was typically a grade below what they could be doing. Of course he didn’t say that… his face was a mask of professionalism.

Dushall took the opposite seat and laid his glass of water down. "I bet your wondering how you ended up from being a XO on the Adarga to 2nd Officer on the Redemption." He took another sip trying to lighten the atmosphere. "Let me get you a glass." He walked over to the counter and poured another glass of spring water and handed it to the Lt. Colonel. "It's fresh spring water. Not that replicated crap." Sitting down he continued where he left off. "Trust me when I tell you that this is by no means a demotion or a punishment for anything you have done. Your record, although colorful, is pristine with blotches in just the right spots. The Admiral and I went through 1,247 possible candidates for the position of 2nd Officer. It took over a week to weed it down to ten and then another 3 weeks to weed it down to 2 and then 2 more weeks to weed it down to you." He smiled and took another sip as he reclined a little. "When the Admiral wants someone he gets them. And we both wanted you on this ship. If anything this is a promotion. Serve your time on this ship and you will be seeing that Star pip on your collar in 4 years along with your choice of command."

Zethra didn’t say anything, but gave a slight shrug. He was formulating what he wanted to say when Dushall got up and brought him a glass of water. At first he was just going to let it sit there, but when Dushall said that it was fresh, he reached out and took a drink. Those damn replicators could get you anything you wanted… as long as you didn’t care that it didn’t taste just like the real thing. 96.6667% of the real thing isn’t the real thing. He set the glass down and listened to what the XO had to say. It was nice to hear that he was chosen out of all those officers… most of which were probably as qualified or more qualified than he was. It was not out of the realm to pull a Marine Officer over to be an officer on a ship crewed by Fleet personnel… it just was that common. When Dushall has finished his speil, Zethra leaned in closer.

“So, Captain, what is it really that I am doing here… and why did you and the Admiral want me? It’s not like there aren’t a flock of good officers coming out of the Academy who’s career path is better than mine. Not many CO’s want to have a Marine on their staff.”

"Good question," He took another sip and rested the glass back on the table. "The Admiral and I believe that the best teams are not ones that specialize in one particular thing. The best team is versatile, able to adapt to different situations. Sure there were others out there who other Flag Officers would have picked over you the first day of looking through your record but Admiral Wood has never been a straight collar, poster child definition of a Starfleet Officer and he would not tolerate having someone like that serving on his ship. Especially as a 2nd Officer." He leaned a little closer to the Lt. Colonel. "Between you and me I think the Admiral picks people that remind him a little about himself."

”That does make sense.” Said Kaine, finishing off his water and leaning back. “On the versatility thing. I’m not sure that there is really anyone LIKE the Admiral. But we can all hope to achieve the things that he has achieved.” Kaine let it go unsaid about any involvement with Carpathia. While he knew that the Admiral didn’t care much for the new president of the federation, Kaine didn’t know as much about the Captain here.

“So, Captain, what is our next move? I saw that we are slated to leave dock in 5 days. I take it the rest of the bridge officers and department heads will be here by then for a meeting. Any word though on if and when a marine detachment will be assigned to the Redemption’s Barracks?”

"Yes, Our fearless Marines." Dushall walked over to his desk and picked up a tablet. "The Marine Captain and Admiral Wood worked together some years ago when he was just a Sergeant. Admiral Wood was the reason he made it to a officer rank. We will be meeting up with the 2rd Force Recon Marine Battalion, Echo Company in route to the Klingon border. According to Admiral Woods notes, 'It is imperative that we meet them away from all shipping lanes and frequently traveled routes.' Wwe are schedualed to meet them one week after we depart."

When he finished the door chimed and he knew that his meeting with the 2nd Officer was done. "Enter." He saw as a man old as time himself entered the room with another officer. Immediately he recognized them as the new Cheif Engineer and his assistant. "Ah, you made it Commander." He went over and shook the old mans hand. "I'm Captain Dushall, the XO. This gentleman is Lt. Col. Zethra Kaine, the 2nd Officer and Marine CO." He picked up another datapadd but this one with the report roster. "Looks like everyone reported in early with the exception of a few straglers here and there. All department heads are on board. That's interesting because most of them weren't suppose to be here for another 3 days. Well gentlemen it looks like we might be able to leave early if they finish all the minor repairs quickly."

Kaine wondered about meeting a marine contingent away from "well traveled space" in contested waters, but he didn't have time to ask about it. The door chimed again and then opened. An older man, gruff looking, entered and looked around. Kaine began to run through the staff in his head. Not the Chief Medical Officer... she was a woman. This must be the Chief Engineer. He nodded to the man as a way of greeting and shook out his hand.

"You must be the Chief Engineer. Forgive me, but what is your name?"

{OOC - I'm also going to hit the ship with security teams while we are still in this room.}

"Sweet mother of...!"

Clarissa hopped on her one foot, grimacing as the toy that had found it's way under her foot yet again. She swore that whenever she was running late, she'd step on her daughter's toy or bottle, trip on her spouse's pants... something.

Brushing her hair in the mirror, she recapped the toothpaste and rolled her eyes simultaneously as she shook her head. She fluffed her hair and put the non-regulation clip in her hair and touched it lightly; it had been a gift from her husband. Throwing her white lab coat on around her shoulders, she picked up a very pouty little girl and whispered into her ear and then they left their quarters to search out an elusive daddy.

Walking to the turbolift, she let the tiny wriggling child press the call button for the turbolift.

"Daddy." The tiny girl's voice called out.

"Command not recognized."

"Daaaddeee!" Gracie stated petulantly, perpetuating the pout.

Clarissa laughed and stated, "Bridge." And put down her daughter as her body twisted and writhed to get down from her mother's grasp to jump around on the floor.

"Da..da..da..da...."

Holding Gracie's hand, the two ladies walked out of the Turbolift together, in search of the elusive daddy. Pressing the chime, she waited patiently to be allowed entrance; Gracie danced on one foot and then onto her other one.

Before the Engineering Chief could return the handshake from Kaine, a transporter beam appeared over his shoulder on the bridge. Kaine caught the reflection of another transporter beam behind them against the wall of the XO's office. As he started to move toward it, a squad of security officer rematerialized in front of them.

More noticeably was the fact that they were armed with Type II Pulse Phaser Rifles... and they were pointed right at their heads!

Out in the bridge, more security officers moved to the controls and stationed themselves around the bridge, covering the officers on duty.

"What is the meaning of this?" ask Kaine, tensing for a fight. The lead security officer, a Lieutenant by rank, just smirked. "If you would accompany us to the bridge, I'm sure this can be all sorted out." He made it clear that it was not a request that should be refused. Kaine looked over at Dushall, to see what signal he would give.

== All over the Redemption ==

The bridge was not the only place for security teams to appear. In all, over 10 security teams had appeared at key locations... sickbay, armory, engineering and the cargo bays.

Though in her berth in the shipyards at Utopia Planetia over Mars... the Redemption was under seige.


{OOC - So if you are not on the bridge you can npc the security group, but no active engagement just yet. For all you know this is a security drill}

Dushall was holding Grace when he saw the shimmer in front of them. His training kicked in as scenarios started to race through his mind. As the XO to a Fleet Admiral on his personal Flagship, Dushall was privy to certain information. There was no schedualed visitors nor any training events. Until he knew for sure what was going on he needed to make sure he was prepared.

Even though it was the first day he met Kaine he could tell what he was thinking. Dushall returned the look, one that would tell him to wait for his signal. "Well Gentlemen, looks like it's off to the bridge." As Kaine exited his office and in the moment he blocked the doorway it was Dushall's turn to lower Gracie and pull out a Type 1 phaser from underneath his desk and inserted it up his sleeve and then gripped his left sleeve he made sure his sword hilt was right were it should be.

He gave Loki a look that she should know all too well. A look that said "be on guard" or "something is up". Kneeling down to Grace he gave her a kiss on the head and said, "Go to mommy, Princess." Then he stood and walked onto his bridge with a security guard holding a phaser on him.

When they entered the bridge Dushall looked around and got a count on how many guards have beamed across, where they were at, and where their phasers were positioned. "I am the Executive Officer of this ship and I demand to talk to your Commanding Officer."

<Tag Security>

Emily Star was not having a good day.

The previous day had been acceptable. The quiet shuttle ride to where the USS Redemption was docked had been twelve hours of boredom but had gone relatively well. The pilot, whom Emily would rather not see again, had spent half the voyage fantasizing about her bent over the console. She'd tuned him out as best she could but after the first five hours, her wall was weakening and her temper had risen considerably.

Thankfully she'd avoided ramming his head into the wall.

However now she was ready to settle into her room and, despite being told she'd have a single room given her rank, she was stuck with a roomate. As if the Redemption didn't have enough room! She was furious and it was taking all of her Vulcan nerve to fight the frown that wanted to settle on her face.

Emily knew she had to meet the XO eventually, as well as the CO. Lodging a complaint was never a good way to start a conversation, however it was necessary and if that was the grounds they met on - at least they'd get to see a side of her that was impressive. She was not a woman you wanted to say no to.

Halfway to the turbolift, Emily heard the familiar sound of a teleport. She turned to see a security team.

"Hey!" Her feet turned without thinking, "What the hell are you doing on my ship?"

"Keep calm, we're here because-"

Her fist ended his sentence, "Don't lie to me. I'm not in the mood" God that felt good!!, "Someone else lie to me, please! I could use the workout."

{{OOC - Sorry was waiting to accomodate the newer people, but continuing on.}}

== On the Bridge ==

"I am the Executive Officer of this ship and I demand to talk to your Commanding Officer."

As to answer the XO, the Security Officer directed his attention to the viewscreen. It displayed an officer looking very smug... and overweight. It was Admiral Reynolds of the USS Wardog. It was known through Fleet that he was Carpathia's lapdog and his showing up rarely meant something good... especially here on Admiral Wood's ship.

"Well now, Commander Dushall. Where are our manners?" Reynolds said in a mocking tone. "Is this how to treat any of our guests?" His gaze flicked over to Clarissa and Calle-Grace. "I see you family is growing too."

Zethra tried to hide it from his face, but he hated that man. During the Dominion War, Zethra and his squad had been beamed down to the surface of an unnamed planet. They were there for a take and hold mission, meant to wipe out a Jem’Hadar barracks and processing center. Intel was bad and it turned out to be a full blown base. When the Jem’Hadar ships showed up, Admiral Reynolds had booked it out of there, tail between his legs, stranding the marines on the planet. What was supposed to be a 10 hour mission became a 4 day brutal test of all their training. When reinforcements did arrive, the Marine force of 500 had been whittled down to only 38. Only after additional troops had secured the area and the Jem’Hadar had been killed off or retreated, had Admiral Reynolds returned.

Carpathia paraded him around the Federation like a hero while the Marines were left to bury 462 of their own.

Yep he hated this man.

The bridge doors to the turbolift opened and three more security officers walked in.

“We didn’t find it, Admiral, but we did find his transporter badge. There is no sign of his emergency transporter tag nor of his tricorder. He must have masked one transfer with the other. We are currently securing the armor, sickbay, and engineering with other teams. All crewmembers are being routed to the lounges for processing.

Admiral Reynolds’ face filled with color. “Where is the tricorder?” he shouted down at Dushall

{tag the bridge staff}

== In the Hallway ==

"Don't lie to me. I'm not in the mood" God that felt good!!, "Someone else lie to me, please! I could use the workout."

The response she received was the business end of several phaser rifles pointed at her torso. “We are here are official business and if you stand in the way, I will burn you where you stand.” He motioned to the turbolift that she was probably heading too… the one that led to the bridge. “Keep moving out in front of us and don’t do anything stupid, or we will carry your body to the bridge.” He motioned with his rifle for Emily to enter the turbolift with him. “The rest of you fan out. We are looking for Admiral Wood’s Tricorder.”

The rest of the security forces nodded and the doors shut, whisking the turbolift up to the bridge.

== All over the ship ==

Security teams began to collect crewmembers who were out in the hallways into the lounges. Those in their rooms found themselves sealed in with their access codes unable to open the doors.

{Tag all}

*---------Allana bent over slowly to pick up her bag off the floor. She was acutely aware of the pilot shuttle looking back over at her as she did so. She had put on this low plunging top and short skirt that showed off much of her skin. She knew that shuttle pilots didn’t have much excitement in their day and he was kinda cute, so she made it worth his while. She stood up, slinging her back over her shoulder and shot him a smile. He turned back around, but not before his face flushed red. “Catch you later.”

*---------Then she exited the shuttle into chaos. Security teams were armed and rounding up crewmembers and herding them off holding areas. “What in the hells of Andoria is going on here?” she asked. One of the security guards stopped and looked at her and then approached her. She was waiting for him to answer her question when he just grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the door. “You are all being processed in the forward lounge.”

*---------“Oh hell no!” she said jerking her arm out of his hand. She was all for the rough stuff, but she was usually the one that initiated it. She spun around out of his grip and he followed through by slapping her across the face. Anger spread out from her faster than the pain. As he tried to grab her arm again, she grabbed his forearm and pulled him close. He was beginning to realize he was too close to bring his rifle in line so he tried to back up. Allana brought the palm of her hand up and brought it up against his nose as hard as she could. She was rewarded with a snap and a gush of blood. The security officer’s head snapped back and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

*---------Allana grabbed his rifle and checked the charge. It was set to stun and she left it there. Then she stowed her bag in the corner and approached the door. As it opened, she looked both ways and then headed to the left.

Clarissa’s heart beat stopped if only for a moment as the shimmering stopped and weapons were trained on her and the rest of the crew. Her next thought was of Gracie, the deft movements of her spouse were second nature and the look they shared spoke volumes.

Shielding her young daughter from the view of the weapons, she watched Dushall advance cautiously onto the Bridge. And followed behind, slightly angry that she could not have been prepared enough to keep their daughter from witnessing this. The anger turned to irritation at the man on the view screen; Admiral Reynolds. She shuddered and turned away to bend down and look in her daughter’s face.

"Well now, Commander Dushall. Where are our manners? Is this how to treat any of our guests? I see you family is growing too."

“Ma..ma…maaa” Was the wavering response of fear Gracie replied.

Hefting her daughter onto her hip, she moved towards the Turbolift; they weren’t needed on the Bridge. Dushall could deal with Reynolds. She stopped short and pivoted, holding up one hand at the advancing Security officer.

“I would not dare take another step towards me.” Clarissa warned.

“Where is the tricorder?” She heard Reynolds bellow.

Gracie covered up her hears and whimpered. “Bad man. Loud.”

“That’s right baby… bad men forget to use their inside voice.” She shot Reynolds and snarky look, then shot it back at the officer who moved behind her. “Don’t you dare.” Ice dripped from her voice. “Last warning.”

She didn’t know what tricorder Reynolds meant, but it must have meant to contain something dangerous. She looked back at Dushall and then to Kaine. Finally, as she felt her daughter begin to shake, she’d had enough. She slowly placed Callie-Grace onto her feet on the Bridge floor. With precise movements, she turned to look at Admiral Reynolds.

“Admiral Reynolds, do you not know the protocol? Looking for a tricorder is a waste of Federation resources and time! You send Security to attempt at scaring good men and women for a lark? I wonder if Carpathia knows how much of a fool you make him look. Now if you don’t mind,” Loki’s voice got lower and icier, “we have a ship to get out and you know… do our jobs… to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before…”

<tag>

LT Corey Forman (NPC)
Deck 6
USS Redemption

Forman was walking down the corridor when the security teams boarded. Being the Security Officer on Duty he was aware of all training exercises that were to be conducted during his shift and this was not one of them. Deciding it would be better to avoid the teams until he got a clearer picture he knew that he would need to find the XO and figure out what was happening. He lifted his hand and tapped his comm badge. =^=Bridge this is LT Forman=^= Hearing only the static of white noise he figured that this was definitely wrong. Something was going on.

Pulling out his phaser pistol he slowly turned the corner to make his way to a security locker. When he got there he found the door secured as every other door in the corridor was secured in row. "DAMN IT!" He yelled as his closed fist hit the door. His frustration was silenced as he heard several guards talking as they rounded the corner. Turning around he headed back the corridor he came from with his pistol in hand.

His heart was racing as he tried to calm his breath. He had trained his whole career but this was the first posting he had that would take him places to use his training. A cruel realization occurred to him that the first time he will employ what he has learned would be on his own people. As the team approached his corner he held his breath, ready to fire in a instant. He pointed the business end of the pistol towards their approach with it slightly in front of his face.

The guards passed by and were too busy talking that they didn't see him waiting for them. Once they were pass a sigh of relief escaped him. He moved to the other corner across his corridor so if they turned they wouldn’t see him. He waited until they turned and then made his way after them with his phaser at the ready. When he made it to the end he poked his head out and saw that they were turned to the right but they weren’t talking they were slowly approaching the end of their corridor. Keeping his phaser at the ready and pointed in their direction he slowly walked up while taking cover in doorways to the locked rooms.

They were silent as they waited and Forman watched. In a instant the guard at the corner swung out his rifle and Forman saw a pair of white legs in sneakers kick out and a tail of red hair fall to the floor. All three guards surrounded the crewman and pointed their rifles at her. He watched as they grabbed her and started to pull her down where she had just come from. He sprinted to the end of the corridor where they took her out. He looked down in their direction and saw that their backs were still to him. His heart raced and then he felt the surge of adrenaline. It was as if time slowed or his mind was racing faster but he was sprinting at full force. He raised his pistol and took out the guard in the back who was following the other two holding the girl. The guard fell down with a thunk. The other two heard the noise and started to turn. He moved his pistol but didn’t have time to fire. Instead he let go of it and leaped forward. His arm wrapped around the guards chest and took him down. He used his leverage to swing the guard and him around backwards as his hand grabbed the pistol grip of the rifle and pointed it towards the other guard. They hit the ground and the instant he sighted it on the last guard he fired then squeezed the neck of the guard he tackled and snapped it.

Pushing the limp body off of him he started to get up when he felt a stinging pain in his chest. His hand reached for his left side and he could feel the break of one of the ribs under the skin. “Are you okay?” He said to the Red Headed female. He pulled the guards rifle to him and was trying to use it to get him to his feet. When he was up he checked the other two guards. Two dead and the one he shot was stunned. Slowly he grabbed the other two rifles and picked up his pistol. “Are you okay?” He asked again.

<Tag Sydney>

Captain Eric Dushall
Bridge
USS Redemption

"Well now, Commander Dushall. Where are our manners? Is this how to treat any of our guests? I see you family is growing too."

Dushall knew who the Admiral was. Although he had never seen him, his reputation has preceded him along with his cowardice. He was no more than a henchman of the current President of the Federation, a lap dog that obeyed every command as long as it didn’t put his life in danger. Keeping a straight face Dushall moved to stand in front of the Command chair. “Good Afternoon Admiral.” He looked around at the security guards standing with phasers at the ready. “As I am aware, normally guest knock before entering someone else’s house.”

The bridge doors to the turbolift opened and three more security officers walked in.

“We didn’t find it, Admiral, but we did find his transporter badge. There is no sign of his emergency transporter tag nor of his tricorder. He must have masked one transfer with the other. We are currently securing the armor, sickbay, and engineering with other teams. All crewmembers are being routed to the lounges for processing.

Admiral Reynolds’ face filled with color. “Where is the tricorder?” he shouted down at Dushall

He was about to answer when his wife interrupted in her normal abrupt way. It was one of the things about her that he loved. She was so straight forward.

“Admiral Reynolds, do you not know the protocol? Looking for a tricorder is a waste of Federation resources and time! You send Security to attempt at scaring good men and women for a lark? I wonder if Carpathia knows how much of a fool you make him look. Now if you don’t mind,” Loki’s voice got lower and icier, “we have a ship to get out and you know… do our jobs… to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before…”

Her interruption gave him a chance to think of what to do. With his head turned towards the general direction of his wife he gave Kaine another look that would have told him it’s almost time and to get into the best position possible. If it was going to happen it needed to happen quickly and when the moment was right. Any sooner and they could all die. Any later and they would all be imprisoned, tortured, and then killed. Neither of those would work for him. He then interrupted his wife by raising his hand and turned towards the aging Admiral.

“It seems you have us cornered Admiral.” He was trying to play towards the Admirals known personality. “A man of your tactical skill has planned for every aspect of this search and I know that the Tricorder you are looking for is not like any other. It would take you weeks to search through every single one on this ship in hopes of looking for the Admirals. As long as you spare my crew I will provide you the tricorder you seek.”

Dushall walked towards his office and was followed by two guards. When the doors closed behind them he felt the retracted knife in his sleeve and released it. The hilt slid to his hand and when he depressed the button the blade snapped out while he twisted and in one swoop he took off both heads of the guards behind him. Blood spurted as the heads and bodies fell to the floor in a heavy thunk.

He couldn’t believe this was happening. Wood was right. He said something like this would happen months ago. It was his prediction that made him and Dushall create a program with the late Chief Engineer Michael Willis. Its primary function was to in one second switch the calibration of the shields and phasers. It would reset the access codes to the computers systems so no one other than the ships Commanding Officer and XO could take control.

He walked to the desk and turned on his computer. Accessing the main computer he accessed a file called “Rouge” and opened it. “Computer, activate Rouge Protocol. Authorization Code: Echo Delta 1-3-1-8.”

Rouge Protocol activated and Dushall moved to a hidden panel in the wall. When it opened he grabbed two rifles and two stun grenades. Moving to the door he set the timer on the grenades, activated them, and then when the door swooshed open he threw them, one on the lower deck and one on the back upper deck of the bridge. He turned and covered his ears when he heard them go off. He stood and entered the bridge. He fired his rifle at the two closest guards and tossed his other rifle up to Kaine when he saw him ready after a guard was on the ground at his feet.
All the security guards were down and stunned. When the smoke cleared and the last guard was taken out Dushall moved to the screen. He lifted up a tricorder he grabbed off of the floor and out of the view of the wide gaped Admiral. Shaking it in his hand he smiled at the Admiral. “Your move, Admiral.”

“Raise shields and ready phasers and torpedoes. Give me a SITREP on the boarding parties. He turned to Arkham. Take some men and grab a security team that’s available and get to Engineering. If we can’t move then we are dead.”

<Tag All>

oc - I would just like to clarify that I use different colors to show different things going on in my posts

Cyan is for outward actions
White is for anything Allana says
Violet is for anything she thinks to herself

*--------- Allana had made it to Deck 6. True it had only been two decks but when every time you turned a corner or the turbolift opened was almost a heart stopping experience. She also realized that she was likely to be shot on site; a tall Andorian female in a short tight black dress with black boots holding a Starfleet issued phaser rifle was not a site that many security squads would take lightly. Again, she could hope that they would all be men and stare at her legs long enough for her to shoot them. But not likely.

*--------- Up ahead there was a sound of phaser fire followed closely by some grunts and thuds. Either there is a skirmish up ahead or someone likes it really rough She opted that it was the first, but was secretly hoping for the second. Quickly, she pushed herself up against the wall and slide to the edge and looked around. Down on the ground, she saw an attractive red headed human woman in workout clothes helping a security officer off the ground. Around were three other security officers, either dead or stunned. The other security guard was picking up the weapons.

*-------- Allana stepped out from around the corner, training her rifle on the security guard. “Stop!, who goes there?” Well that sounded really stupid Al, really stupid, she thought. A smiled started to twist up at the corners of her lips. ”Okay, I admit, that sounded stupid. What’s going on here? Who are you, too?”

In the blink of an eye, things happen before Loki can talk her husband out of acting.

… in fact, that summed up most of their marriage together her and Dushall.

As the microseconds spanned hours, she simply ignored Dushall’s movements, knowing it wasn’t going to pretty and shielded their daughter’s eyes from the impending deaths that would befall the inept guards. She saw Kaine’s movements and knew too that he was just as crazy as her husband was and that he was a safe option.

Tick tock chimed the micro second clock.

Duck, swing, lift Gracie, pivot, don’t move the hand from her eyes.... the familiar tango of mother and daughter on the Bridge. It wasn’t the first time, nor would it be their last.

As the phaser blast tore apart the chest cavity of the guard who had once been standing beside her, Clarissa bumped into Kaine and stepped on his foot. The momentum carrying her into him; but as he headlined himself into a guard that was sent hurtling over the useless guard rail, it obviously hadn’t been a disturbance.

Shaking loose the cobwebs Dushall’s grenades had caused, Clarissa checked on Callie-Grace’s condition. The tears that streaked her face made Clarissa angry. Looking up at the urgent sound of a man’s voice, she was confused.

”What’s that Kaine?”

“This man needs medical attention.”

”Oh, right.” She saw the hole in the man’s neck, the blood seeping out, the ragged breath and the sallow pallor of the unfortunate guard’s face. He’d taken a beating in more ways than one. Putting her hand on the man’s laceration, Clarissa looked around.

Pointing at the underside of a console, Doctor Loki pointed at it. [blue]”Gracie, hunny. Mommy needs her blue bag. Just like the one she has in Sickbay... there’s one there. Get it for me.”[/color] She tried not to wince, as her daughter trembled in fear and cried aloud. [blue]”Come on baby, I know you’re afraid. But this man needs your help.”[/color] She cajoled her little girl into helping despite her fear.

She was rewarded with her bag after a few minutes, ‘Risa opted not to think about the mother of the year award she wasn’t going to be winning... ever. [blue]”Good girl. Now you sit right here and look at my tricorder and tell me if he’s going to live, okay Doc?”[/color] She tried to sound happy, making the horrible experience seem like it was pretend, that the man’s life blood wasn’t seeping through her fingers, that her husband was possibly sealing their fate... again. That this was just another playtime with mommy and daddy, and the Bridge crew and that the scary purple faced man on the view screen wasn’t about to give the order to kill them all.

”Bad beeps” Came the stern voice of her daughter, stunning Clarissa back to the moment of reality.

Silently, Clarissa injected her patient with pain killers and oxygen. The laser scalpel was almost out of power and of course, she didn’t have a booster pack to fully finish the job. As it flickered out of power, she hoped it had been enough to staunch the bloody mrsess.

The officer’s ragged breath returned as there was better flow of oxygen. He was still too weak, or too concerned about his condition to offer any resistance. Kaine looked over at Clarissa’s handy work while training his recently acquired rifle on the others. He had an idea about what to do with them... but in the end, they were just following orders.

“Hey Captain, we might want to get this man to sickbay and I would be more comfortable without your daughter here.” He didn’t want it to get too bloody with Calle here.” He looked down at Calle and then at Clarissa. They were stuck a little bit. There were still security troops around the ship and no telling what they would run into on the way, but things were far from stable here on the bridge.

And the whole time Kaine was thinking... “Where in the hell was the Admiral?”

Meanwhile on the screen, Admiral Reynolds’ face was going through two different emotions. Rage turned his face purple and sputter, but the realization that he was stuck between a rock and hard place made him bite back any words that he may wanted to say. Finally, he forced out a simple phrase.

“Fine”, he said, glaring down at Dushall. “I’ll trade you that tricorder for your lives. You beam it over with my men, then I’ll let you go. Deal?”

tag

{JP brought to you by

Lt. Commander Clarissa Locke
&
Lt. Colonel Zethra Kaine

LT Corey Foreman (NPC)
USS Redemption

As the two women began talking Foreman was trying to remain upright against the pain of his cracked possibly broken ribs. "Foreman. Corey Foreman. I'm the Security Officer on Duty right now." As sweat beaded on his head from the exertion it took to work against the pain he couldn't help but count his lucky stars. Not only had he taken out several armed and trained security officers in one go there were two, count them two, beautiful women in front of him. Chuckling he spoke up, "All we need is a Orion woman and a bottle of Romulan Ale and my ultimate fantasy would be coming true."

Almost instantaneously a feeling of regret washed over him. In his normal state he would have never spoken that way to a woman. His raising taught him better then that and his views on being a Starfleet Officer would have dictated better reserve. He was a gentleman raised in the country side of Virginia. His family roots were traced back to the likes of the great General Robert E. Lee, a fact that he was proud of. Even if he chose the losing side of the American Civil War.

Pushing against the wall he stepped up to the console on the wall. Putting in his access codes he was able to get more information then the red headed Ensign Curtis. "Looks like there are multiple teams on the ship that are not part of the crew. Internal sensors are tracking 52 in all." Wincing his head lowered as he tried to breath in and push through the pain. Looking up he continued to read, "All hatches have been secured and it seems that all other personnel have been moved to the starboard cargo bay." He input some more codes and the screen showed a route of corridors and turbolifts. "Right now there is no one on the way to the sickbay. If we head out now we should be able to make it there."

He rolled on his feet to where his back was against the bulkhead. "The call is yours. I'm in no condition to issue orders. Once my adrenaline wears out I'm probably gonna be unconscious."

<Tag Allana and Sydney>

Captain Eric Dushall
USS Redemption

Dushall knew he couldn't trust Reynolds. As soon as he beamed the tricorder over to his ship he would destroy them whether or not it was the real one or a fake. "I will hold onto the tricorder until you can get your Master on the screen himself. In the meantime I want you to order your security teams to drop their weapons and gear where they stand and move to the main shuttle bay. If you don't order them right now then the contents of this tricorder will be making it's way all across the Galactic News Networks. And Admiral, you do not want that to happen. Believe me. Dushall out!"

He tapped a button on the console and the screen went blank. The thick reinforced transparasteel showed important information as on a HUDs display on a starfighter. Filling the rest of the "window" was the flagship of Admiral Reynolds blanketed by the drapes of stars that composed the galaxy. For the moment his job was done. He suspected that the Admiral would comply with his request and start sending his teams to the shuttlebay. His thoughts swarmed his head trying to figure out what was going on. Then two words struck him. Clara and Gracie.

He moved to the back area of the bridge where the two were when he last saw them. He knew that Clara was fully capable of protecting their daughter and had a feeling that both of them were okay. Still he couldn't help but get sick to his stomach at the thought that there was a chance that one of them was hurt in the cross fire, let alone that Gracie would be scarred by this event for the rest of her life. Poor girl, he thought as he rounded the security console and she was there playing on her moms datapad. He knelt next to Clara and held her hand softly. When he looked at her he knew that he was in for a scolding as soon as they were safe. He kissed her forehead gently and looked at Kaine.

"Move the wounded into the conference room and lock the door. Clara, please get our daughter comfortable in the Admirals office." He turned to Kaine, "Get a team and search the Admirals quarters. That was the last place the computer picked up his signal. And bring me anything that you find. We have no more then 30 minutes to get the frack out of here or else we are going to be turned into space debris."

<Tag All>