Complications

Posted on Fri Apr 11th, 2025 @ 9:32pm by Jeassaho Kea (*) & Nollel Livaam (*) & Teresa Forrest & Chief Comms Rivek & Laurier Cami

Mission: Shackles
Location: SS Mary Rose - Bridge
2174 words - 4.3 OF Standard Post Measure

"Sooo...a little bird tells me it's a certain couple's anniversary coming up..." Cami cooed, poking at the engineering station controls while giving Jeassaho the slyest of coy smirks. The bridge rotation had been a bit of a strange one with all three of Gregnol, Ford and Burnie on the planet's surface, so the trio of women not normally used to manning the ship had been roped in to monitoring things. In Cami's mind, that meant space for some girl time. "So, what are you getting him this year? Planning a vacation to Risa?"

"Pregnancy and complication," Jeassaho answered from the spot at the helm where she was just observing operations more than anything else. Cami was there for Engineering so Jeassaho was there more as a back up to Nollel who was sat on the edge of the captain's seat after Jeasshao had refused it bowing to her despite Jeassaho being the one left in charge. She did not want to sit in the Captain's chair after seeing all the future.

Although Rivek's earpiece was set to monitor any frequencies from the planet, his attention was focused on the conversation at hand. While the subject matter wasn't one he was entirely interested in, he couldn't help but eavesdrop. He eventually gave up and joined the conversation. "Seems like an interesting anniversary gift. I'm sure he'll love it." Rivek's tone was flat, with a cadence of sarcasm. He was going to continue, but his ears picked up on another noise.

The surreptitious beeping on the navigation console didn't stand out much at first, but only once it became clear that it wasn't a normal noise did the Bajoran glance over to take a look. Her unfamiliarity with the console didn't prevent her from eventually figuring out what the sound was. It was an alert.

"Um...if I'm reading this right, there's a ship just entering the system..." she frowned, glancing at the other two. "I don't know who they are, but they're less than 30 minutes from orbit."

Jeassaho hoped up from the operations console to spin into the chair. She had thankfully gotten some training on Navigation and security from Starfleet despite the systems being ripped out you could not change much in all honesty about it all. The systems were all pretty similar. "Yellow alert," Jeassaho called and the computer instantly responded as Nollel rolled her eyes that the boys were away and trouble came their way.

"Hail them." Nollel ordered.

"Aye aye, sir," Rivek said with a weak salute. He spun in his chair to face his console. He opened hailing frequencies and pressed onto his earpiece to hear if there is a response. He calibrated the signal, trying to get a lock on the ship's communications receiver.

"Engineering... we might have incoming trouble so if you have turned anything off for maintenace. Turn it back on," Jeassaho advised as departments started to confirm their systems and readiness.

"Does the incoming trouble want coffee? Because the coffeemachine down here is out. Can't speak to the quality of the brew if I turn it back on again at this time," Teresa joked, before turning more serious. "Primary systems ready, we've got transporters, comms, shields, weapons, impulse and warp."

"A yellow alert without caffeine? Sounds like a nightmare." Rivek quipped before turning towards the center chair. "They haven't responded to the hail. But if you want to send them a message, you're live."

"This is the SS Mary Rose... we are on a Cargo run and have come into technical difficulties." Nollel declared as she sat a little more comfortable in the chair as they was going to require her to think without worrying that she was going to full out of the chair. Jeassaho glanced back at Nollel and rolled he eyes and Nollel fully understood what the woman was thinking it was typical that Grenol, Burnie and Ford were all off ship.

There was a moment of silence. Anticipation drew up bubbly feelings in Rivek's gut. Then there was a little beep, and then some wavering frequencies. His hand tapped his earpiece. "They're opening a channel." He flicked a switch and the image showed on the viewscreen.

The dark, almost mottled green skin of the Orion captain was barely illuminated enough for the assembled viewers to see his grinning face.

"Well, what do we have here?" the Orion captain cooed menacingly. "An antique starship right where one of our trade vessels mysteriously disappeared..."

Nollel smiled politely relieved that she was wearing her admin outfit with heels today as it always made her feel more confident and in control of the situation. "We have not met any fellow trading vessels I am afraid. If they were here they have been gone awhile."

Teresa arrived on the bridge in the middle of the conversation. Not wanting to interrupt what felt like a tense confrontation she remained silent, and quietly made her way to the Operations console. She wasn't Ops but Engineering, but knew enough about the ship's systems to be able to fill the position. Quietly she observed and listened, ready for anything.

"And yet here you are. A year later..." The Orion Captain sneered.

"Over a year? Wow, I guess things of slow moving in the Orion ... you are the Syndicate right?" Nollel asked rising to her feet purposely to use her outfit choice as she looked at the screen and smiled. "Are you the captain or are you the slave?" She demanded bravely as Jeassaho turned and smiled at the woman.

Rivek shuddered. He's had in run-ins with the Syndicate. There was always rumors that he, himself, was associated with them. Luckily, his Vulcan lineage stopped too many arguments. He got to his feet out of instinct. "Careful," Rivek said just low enough that his voice wouldn't transmit. It trembled slightly as he spoke.

"The Syndicate? That's a bold assertion! Is that all we Orions are to you? Slavers and pirates?" The Orion bristled, especially at the jab about being the slave. "Brave of you to challenge us in your glorified pleasure yacht. Our disruptors would cut through your fragile little hull even at half power..."

"If you're trying to convince us you're not bullies you're not doing a good job of it," Tree blurted out, cringing inwardly the moment she realized that antagonizing the people with the armed warship might not be the smartest idea. Maybe this was why she was never given a position of authority while in the fleet.

Nollel glanced to her left as she heard the voice of the engineer but it was too late and the first shot hit the ship seconds later. Nollel rolled her eyes as the communication was cut and SS Mary Rose's lighting turned darker and the claxon sounded. "So much for the fragile little hull," Nollel commented as she brought up the damage report.

"Oh, Reuben is going to be cross," Jeassaho commented as she engaged the ships thrusters and moved out of the way of another disruptor.

Tree let out a curse in Klingon, Ferengi and Vulcan. The Vulcan one was particularly eloquent. Bracing herself against her console, wide stance, she gritted her teeth. "Rude!" she called out. "Forward shields took a hit, cycling and recharging - taking power from secondary systems. All weapons ready and available if you want to shoot back!"

"You think they know about the fancy new phasers the Fenris Rangers let us install?" Cami asked aloud, a faint grin forming on her face at the opportunity to actually get to use them. "Would be a real shame to let them go to waste."

"They have no idea," Neilla assured quietly. The other ship would not have baited them if they had any idea of what they carried onboard. "Fire them up Jeassaho." Neilla announced already knowing the Captain's wife would be already bringing up the system.

"Ready when you are," Jeassaho assured as she monitored power levels that Engineering would giving her across the console.

Rivek held his breath as he anticipated the order. "Is it too late to object?" he said half-heartedly. He knew it was either the Rosie or the orions, and he wasn't going to be blasted into space now.

"Power levels good, main power routed and ready, capacitor banks charged," Tree called out. "Someone bloody fire already!"

Nollel levelled the engineer a sharp look, her patience thinning. Without hesitation, she pressed the button herself. A pulse of energy surged through the ship or at the very least how she imagined it, and a brilliant beam shot out, illuminating the viewscreen with a harsh, white glow. The Orion ship trembled under the force of the blast, its hull shuddering as the impact rippled through its structure. For a moment, silence hung in the air—then retaliation came.

"They very much did not like that." Nollel gritted her teeth. This was far from over she thought to herself and pressed the weapon controls again as the vessel manoeuvered further away.

"Shields are holding up. Remind me to thank our Romulan friends." Cami gave an impressed nod of her head from the unfamiliar tactical station. "Shame Reuben isn't here to see it," she smirked. "Blowing up pirates would be a hell of an anniversary treat."

“I am sure the non romulans on board will appreciate that you only thank the Romulans.” Jeassaho commented not having been thinking of anniversary. That was a whole other thing she was not going into right then and there.

Rivek pressed on his earpiece. "They're broadcasting some very colorful language right now. I could try to translate it from Orion, but it wouldn't have the same sharpness." He turned toward the center seat. "It's not likely that they'll forget that."

"Sure hope not. Am not looking forward to trying this whole dance again," Tree scowled. "Starboard shields took a knock but holding. If you can keep them looking at our port side for - oh - the next 30 seconds I can cycle the starboard shields back to full power."

“No need to translate Rivek. I can imagine it.” Nollel commented as the Orion ship tried to return fire but it only shook the ship a little. They really did not know why had hit them when they had picked a fight with them. Jeassaho took the advice and span the ship around as SS Mary Rose fired off several more shots along the Orion’s left hand side and the other ship visably crackled.

"Aaaaaand .... Cycling starboard shields. We're vulnerable there. Twenty seconds and counting ..... Fifteen .... Ten ...." These things always took so long, Tree felt. It couldn't be easy on Nollel either, shew as sure. "Five ..... Three, two - aaaaaand starboard shields back up, ninety-seven percent."

Nollel did not get a chance to answer as the ship on the screen exploded into a million pieces in front of her eyes. "What happened there?" The exchange had not been so heated as to cause that kind of damage on one hit without any warning.

"They lowered their shield." Jeassaho admitted standing up not sure why they would do that mid battle.

"I'm sure we didn't hit them that hard," Tree offered, hands still working on the console. She'd had to pull some rabbits out of proverbial hats to cycle the starboard shields that fast. Tricks that would just give her more work doublechecking it didn't damage, overload or blow any circuitry or conduits. It probably had. Only then did it fully register what Jeassaho had said. "... Have you been up to shenanigans?"

"Their comms went silent too," Rivek reported. He spun around to face the center of the bridge. "Is this a trick? Maybe they are trying to trap us." It was a technique that Rivek was aware of for Orion pirates—to act like a disabled ship so they can lure in ships and attack them before they realize what's up. "Whatever it is, let's not power down the weapons yet."

"Power them down? I was more thinking 'finish them off' actually," Cami replied, her hand hovering over the button. "Nollel? What are we doing?"

“What can we do with the ship in a million pieces after they lowered their shields and stopped communication.” Nollel murmured looking at the screen and the ship arts drifting around in front of them. “Scan for any survivors and anything that might give an idea of why they lower their shields.

The gravity of the situation hit Tree hard now that the fear and adrenaline was slowly settling down, as was her heartrate. How many people had been on that ships? Had all of them deserved to die? "Scanning .... There's a lot of debris. Very - ... small debris."

Jeassaho frowned a little as she looked at the scans. She had no idea why they lower their shields but there was nothing that could be done about it now. The Orion ship was gone and with it the answers that they needed to explain the strange battle and easy win.