Hey hey we're the Merc-ees.

Posted on Fri Jun 22, 2018 @ 11:14pm by Lieutenant Annora Tessaro & Captain Maritza Soran & Commander Caleb Ryan & First Lieutenant Gordon Blue

1,582 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Victory Conditions
Location: Deep Space 5
Timeline: MD8- 1200

ON

The alarms sounded as the defense grid of the Project Offices were breached, according to the computer network. The interior scans were scrambled and unable to confirm any information. The exterior scans showed three individuals leaving the office; two males and a female.

In the Security Office, Ensign Coleman registered the alarm from the Project Offices. Internal scans were unable to provide information, but thankfully sensors in the corridor were still functioning. Silencing the alarm, she reached out to the nearest security patrol.

"Ensign Coleman to Petty Officer Akioka. It appears we have a situation at the Project Offices. Three individuals just left the vicinity after the alarms went off. Appears to be two males and one female. I'm erecting force fields at junctions four and seven."

The Bajoran security guard and her Andorian partner wasted no time heading that direction. "Roger that. On our way."

Jen was in a turbo lift and six decks away from the offices when she came out of her lift. The fact she had worn a uniform meant she could mingle into the working crowd, but what she needed now was to be different. Inside the lift she had reversed the jacket to be a pink casual style coat. The satchel also reversed to seem like a small purse after she extended a small strap and slung it over her shoulder.

Leader had managed to get to a turbolift as well before he detonated the charges. He figured that few second head start would help, of course.

Six decks and he was on the scheduled level. The tool box was in hand despite the reversible jacket, red to contrast the black of the uniform, and the collar peeled to be tee style collar. He looked casual, with the exception of the tool box. Once he found a restroom, that would be ditched in a stall with a timer on the remaining charge, just enough to call attention to that area and occupy a little more time of the security forces.

Dev was not so lucky. He had paid more attention to his path. He needed three sections to find a turbolift so not to be 'too close' to his cohorts. The fact the force fields were now blocking him meant he had taken too long.

Someone locked the gate to playground area, Dev texted.

You should have stayed with play group, Nos relayed.

Dev was always a weak link. The man stood to do things as he was told. The fact he had to be told made him a liability in Nos' opinion, but the man could fight and kill with the best of them, so he did serve a purpose.

Smaller gate is open. Have fun playing chutes and ladders. Nos had managed to get the jefferies tube access hatch open for exactly thirty seconds.

Dev looked for the access and pulled the hatch, quickly shimmying in and replacing it behind him. The force field would light up again in a few seconds after Dev had started down towards a ladder. He had eight decks to go down to meet with the others.

Moving at a light jog, the two security guards quickly reached junction seven. A small crowd was starting to gather, but was kept away from the crime scene by the force fields.

"Akioka to Coleman, we've reached junction seven. There's several spectators nearby. We could use some assistance."

Back at Security Control, Coleman dropped the force field just long enough to allow her coworkers access. "Understood. I'll send someone for crowd control."

As they passed a jefferies tube, Tihr noticed the shimmer of a force field snapping back into place, only a few meters past were the doors to the Project Offices standing wide open. The jagged edges suggested some sort of explosion. Upon performing a quick sweep, Tihr turned his attention the errant force field. "Ma'am, I think someone ducked down the jefferies tube. The force field seemed to reactivate after we entered."

Akioka frowned. "Considering they got this far without being caught, it wouldn't surprise me. It also means our suspects could be anywhere on the station."

The four man fire team came from the opposite direction, rifles at the ready.

"Sergeant Wilkins," the lead man introduced. "How can we help? Secure area maybe?"

The arrival of the green shirted Marines was a welcome sight to the security team. In a situation such as this, it never hurt to have extra assistance. Plus, the sight of rifle toting Marines might serve to keep some of the rubberneckers away from the crime scene.

"That would be helpful, yes. Maybe the Prophets will shine upon us and someone stuck around to watch their handiwork. We still need to investigate the actual sight of the explosion."

"James, south end, Markson, north end," the sergeant ordered. "The turbolift is secured, but what of the jefferies? Has anyone checked them, ma'am?" he asked.

"On this level? Not fully." She didn't like being shown up by the Marines. While glad for their assistance, there was still some friendly rivalry between the two.

"Petty Officer Tihr believes one of the culprits used jeffries tube Delta-7 to escape the area. There are teams checking the various access points in hopes of a break."

Akioka paused as an update from Control came over her comm badge. "The station has been placed on a lock-down, and extra scrutiny is on any ships wanting to leave the station. Hopefully the added pressure will cause them to slip up."

About that time the force field turned off. "Come on through, Sergeant. Our orders are to carry out a preliminary search of the room. A joint Engineering/Security Forensics team is on their way for a more detailed search."

"If you do not mind," the sergeant began, "my partner and I will take a look down this jeffries tube, and if we hurry we might even have gained some ground."

Down the corridor, Akioka could see several security personnel pushing their way through the crowd. With their arrival, it would lessen the need for the Marines. "Have at it, Sergeant. We should be able to handle things here. Thanks for the assist."

PO2 Travis Nottingham used his broad shoulders to plow a path through the crowd as he approached Akioka. Nottingham’s usual partner was Ensign Mayhew, but she was away on assignment. The tall Human with brown hair and eyes eyed the hole that was the Project Office’s door and gave a low whistle.

“Where do you need me, sir?” Travis asked.

With others arriving, Akioka reengaged the force field. She'd let the others deal with the civilians while they entered the crime scene. "You're with me and Tihr. We're going to sweep the project office in preparation for the forensics team. Considering our friends' method of exit, we should proceed with caution in case there are other surprises waiting."

“Understood,” Travis said, pulling out his security tricorder. It could detect explosives, so hopefully they wouldn’t miss anything. “Did we get nothing on the security sensors? Was this another one of those sensor scramblers we’ve been chasing?”

In all the chaos, she hadn't received a detailed briefing on what led up to the break in. All she had to go off of was what Ensign Coleman relayed to her. "We got some data off the corridor sensors, but those inside the office were scrambled at the time of the incident. It appears the break in was carried out by three individuals. Beyond that, information is sketchy. It's possible there's a connection, but it's too early to tell."

Finally getting a chance to examine the door, Akioka studied the blast pattern. "It appears they blew the doors from the outside. What do your tricorder scans indicate?"

“Standard explosive residue components. Nothing fancy or unique. Tricorder agrees with your blast pattern analysis,” Travis told Akioka. He moved over to the security panel and plugged in to run a diagnostic on the sensors to see how they had been scrambled or compromised.

The heaviest damage to register on the tricorder readings were the hard copy files and the secure safe. All the drawers and doors were singed after the anti-theft charges incinerated the data contained within. This was a standard security protocol for the level of clearance given the project. The mobile computer core was also damaged.

She took in the information from her own tricorder and that from Travis. "It appears the protocols worked as advertised, but also makes it hard to tell if they were able to get any information before triggering the security system."

Her own sweep showed no signs unexploded ordinance, which was a good sign.

“Very professional,” Travis said, putting away his tricorder. “Any word on the subjects Security was chasing?”

Akioka shook her head. "Not at the moment. It's a big station. If nothing else, I'm sure it will be covered during the end of shift brief. Even if the lockdown is lifted before all are apprehended, we'll maintain a higher vigilance level for a few days."

Off:



Ensign Cindy Coleman
Security Officer
NPC Annora Tessaro

PO2 Travis Nottingham
Security Officer
NPC Caleb Ryan

PO3 Karin Akioka
Security Officer
NPC Annora Tessaro

Crewman Byril Tihr
Security Officer
NPC Annora Tessaro

Sergeant Wilkins
Starfleet Marines
NPC Gordon Blue

Corporal James
Starfleet Marines
NPC Gordon Blue

PFC Markson
Starfleet Marines
NPC Gordon Blue

Jen, Leader, Nos, & Dev
Terrorists
NPC Gordon Blue

 

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