The Search within the search pt.1
Posted on Wed Sep 15th, 2021 @ 12:52am by Lieutenant Commander Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell & Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Commander Finchley Kerr & Commander Savar cha'Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen & Lieutenant Commander Sandra "Phantom" Risa & Lieutenant Commander Shylow Vitari & Lieutenant Chester "Duo" Maxwell & Commander Dean House & Lieutenant Commander Thriss Kla'ren & Lieutenant Commander Aurora Vali & Lieutenant JG Avarak
Mission:
Gamma Quadrant
Location: Gamma Quadrant
Timeline: Current
The USS Sunfire exited out of the wormhole and into the Gamma Quadrant, and being on high alert, their sensors were at full reach so that they weren't met with another surprise attack.
[Bridge, USS Sunfire]
At his station, Finchley had configured his sensors to detect any hydrogen oxide particles. The information he'd received from his contacts on the USS Patterson had been passed onto his Captain, but that was only a small part of the much larger picture as to why they were there.
Looking at Rhenora, he awaited the Captains orders as to what she wanted them to do next.
" Alright Team, look sharp, we don't want any surprises" Rhenora spoke calmly but with authority, well aware of the gravity of the situation. If they could find the two Bajoran ships before either the Dominion, Cardassians or the USS Patterson then much grief could possibly be avoided. Their last known location was in an ion cloud nearby, and the Sunfire Captain had full intentions of getting there and finding them first.
" Helm - set a course for the ion cloud. Heading 287 mark 2, ahead full impulse" She ordered.
"Understood. Setting course for ion cloud, 287 mark 2 full impulse," Sandra said, guiding the Sunfire ahead as ordered.
"All hands yellow alert, sensors at maximum, find a way to penetrate the cloud as much as we can."
Aurora had been off the bridge dropping Sidak at nursery as well as catching up on her Counselling duties. With a break in her schedule she made her way to the bridge, stepping out of the turbolift she offered a smile as she walked across to her seat.
" Glad you could join us Aurora" Rhenora welcomed as the counsellor took her seat on the bridge, it was a joy to see the young mother blossom in both her career and her family life.
“Thank you” Aurora smiled warmly. “You know me I love being up here when time allows.”
"We're looking for two Bajoran ships...our sensors are having some trouble with the ion cloud - we could use someone with your ability" The Captain smiled.
Aurora nodded. “I’ll keep my senses alert and see what I can do. It’s tricky in that I have to filter out our own crew from what I’m sensing.”
At his station, Finchley was looking through the onscreen sensor information to determine if any of it was going to be a viable lead. After a few minutes, he noticed that there were a few random hydrogen oxide particles being flagged up, but nothing that was a solid trail. Then something else caught his eye, an unexpected reading.
"Captain, my sensors are picking up traces of Darnacite near the ion cloud, it's not an element or crystalline form that any Federation ship uses, or Bajoran as far as I can tell. The traces appear to have come from a vector adjacent to this sector, but it's only tracible for one sector before it peter's out" Finchley reported.
" You think it may be the Cardassians?" Rhenora asked cautiously, watching the peices of the puzzle begin to move in her mind. "Keep tracking it, and change heading to follow"
"It might be Cardassians. Suggest we go to red alert. If indeed it is them we must be prepared to launch the Ready 5 fighters," Sandra said, carefully flying the ship.
[Arngard bridge, Cardassian Hideki Class heavy cruiser]
Gul Traman sat in his chair watching the Starfleet ship as it approached the ion cloud.
"Glinn!", he snapped, looking round at the officer standing three feet away.
"Yes Sir!" the Glinn answered, quickly moving forward.
"Order the other two ships to keep on searching, we're moving to the edge of this ion cloud, I want to see what the Federation ship's doing here" Traman said.
"At once Gul" the Glinn replied, moving off swiftly.
Looking to his helm officer, Traman said "Keep us within the ion cloud, it'll shield us from their sensors for a while yet, they'll need to come in closer before they know anything about us and by that time, it may be to late for them."
The helm officer nodded their head and set about his task.
[USS Sunfire bridge]
"That's Cardassian isn't it, Commander? During the Dominion War some of their ships were equipped with a type of cloaking device." House gave a glance over to Finch.
"So far as I was aware, it was used as a transducer in their phaser arrays Lieutenant" Finchley replied to Dean "However, it's not to say they haven't adapted it for another use."
"They did get a lot of things then, so there is no telling. I could fire a probe and in that vector, so it not only will check out the cloud but also the Darnicite. Two birds." Dean raised an eyebrow.
"A good call" Finchley replied "Have it skirt the ion cloud five hundred meters out, it's internal sensors will penetrate up to a sector inside the cloud, and have it scan for two sectors out along the trail...I have a strange gut feeling about this, I can't quite put my finger on it, but..."
"That was the idea. Besides, if anyone is out there and close, they've already seen us. It's time we see them." Dean tapped along the console setting up the parameters for the the probe. "Ready to fire, Captain."
"Fire the probe" Rhenora ordered, settling into her chair and waiting for the results. This situation could go down a number of ways and she wanted to be prepared for all of them. "Standby weapons and shields"
Fingers multi-tasked as the probe was fired and House kept the shields and weapons charged and on standby since they were already at yellow alert.
[Arngard bridge]
"The Federation vessel has launched a probe Sir" a Trooper called to Traman.
"Deploy cloak now!" Traman ordered.
The Trooper quickly did as he was ordered and almost instantly the Hideki Class ship disappeared.
TBC
