Mission 17 - Inferno's Light

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Mission 17 - Inferno's Light

Post: # 3315Post Kersare
Wed Jun 02, 2010 1:14 pm

OFF: Please read the e-mail I have sent for further info and reference the Mission Discussion thread for this mission.

ON:
<<Starbase 386, Admiral Tavez's Office, Day 1, 0830>>

The last time Isabel had seen Admiral Olivia Tavez (NPC) was at the briefing following the Battle of Altorus. Truthfully, she didn't see any of the admirals all that often. The previous evening Isabel had received a message from Olivia's yeoman, requesting her presence this morning. So, after breakfast, she had headed over to 386 and now found herself outside the Admiral's office. Taking a breath, she straightened her uniform and stepped through the outer door.

"Good morning, Captain," the yeoman said with a smile. "Admiral Tavez is waiting for you, go on in."

"Thank you," Isabel replied with a nod. She walked past the yeoman to the door on the right and stepped forward, waiting for the door to swish open so she could enter. Isabel moved towards the Admiral's desk and waited to be acknowledged, not wanting to interrupt.

Olivia finished reading and set the PADD aside before looking up, "Good morning, Captain Kersare, have a seat." The woman gestured to the chairs sitting before her desk.

Isabel gave the woman a brief smile and sat in the right-most chair, "Good morning, Admiral."

They sat in silence for a few moments as Olivia chose her next words. "It is my understanding that the Malinche's refit is nearly complete." She knew that some officers got impatient with her, wanting her to rush through things. But Olivia liked to take her time, analyze the situation and think through things before speaking.

"Yes, ma'am. The Shipyard has a few finishing touches to take care of this morning, but Lieutenant Breland (NPC) assures me that the Malinche's refit will be complete by this afternoon at the latest," Isabel replied. She'd actually had the chance to get to know Mikaela a little better; the two had stayed in contact during the refit and Isabel was an engineer at heart anyway.

Olivia nodded, "Very good." Pausing to take a sip of her tea, she asked, "And how is your husband doing?"

Only moderately surprised by the question, Isabel replied, "He's doing well, ma'am, thank you for asking." She was sure that all the admiralty realized the situation with her husband, but most didn't bother to ask her about him. They likely figured that either she was handling it well or they'd hear if she wasn't.

"I hear he has taken a position in the Security/Tactical department aboard your ship," Olivia stated, looking over at Isabel.

"Yes, he has. He's been making good progress, overall, and had been training in the holodeck. My new Chief Security/Tactical Officer cleared him to work in the department," Isabel replied. Thus far, things seemed to have been going well, too. Some of the other officers were uncomfortable, of course, but most were getting used to the idea.

"And the rest of your new transfers, how are they doing?" Olivia folded her hands in front of her.

Isabel gave a brief smile, "They seem to be doing quite well. Most were only around for the stand off, which didn't exactly showcase their skills, but still."

Nodding, Olivia replied, "Given the alternative, I prefer the stand off." Although she hadn't been on the base at the time, Olivia had read the reports and had been in situations somewhat similar to it before.

"As do I," Isabel said. "Have there been any more reports of Elyshan activity?" The Malinche hadn't picked anything up before going in for her refit and Isabel hadn't heard anything, but that didn't necessarily mean that the Elyshans had simply gone away quietly.

"None so far, but that is not surprising. I'm sure we haven't heard the last of them," Olivia told her as she sat back in her chair slightly. Deciding it was time to get to the point, Olivia said, "I have your next assignment, Captain."

Isabel nodded, but said nothing. Undoubtedly either Olivia had a PADD for her with the relevant information or would simply explain it herself.

Picking up a PADD, Olivia held it towards Isabel and waited for the younger woman to take it. "You'll find the details contained in this PADD, Captain. Suffice to say that we're sending the Malinche to patrol the Cardassian Border. We've not gotten any specific reports of trouble, but the Malinche's tactical capabilities would be an asset."

"Thank you, Admiral," Isabel replied as she took the PADD. "When are we to leave for the border?"

"As soon as possible," Oliva said. "As soon as your crew is ready and the refit is complete - preferrably some time today, considering how long it will take to get there."

Nodding Isabel asked, "I'll notify them right away, ma'am. Is there anything else I should know?"

"Not at this time, Captain. If there are any updates, they'll be sent directly to you. Good luck," Olivia responded, giving Isabel a slight nod. She knew Isabel was a good Captain and that she had a good crew behind her. The assignment wasn't the most glamorous, but someone had to patrol the border and the Malinche had been chosen this time.

Isabel stood, "Thank you, ma'am. Have a good day."

"You as well, Captain Kersare," Olivia smiled. As the Captain left her officer, Olivia turned back to her schedule; a few more meetings with Commanding Officers and then some staff meetings. Not the most exciting day, but sometimes that was better.

<USS Malinche, Ready Room, 0945>

Having finished reading through the PADD that Olivia had given her, Isabel had moved on to the refit report. Only a handful of items were remaining and Isabel knew they wouldn't take much longer. When she had contacted Mikaela a few minutes ago, the shipyard foreman had informed her that they would be finished by 1100 hours.

Isabel tapped her comm badge, "Kersare to Malinche crew. Everyone must be back aboard the Malinche by 1300 hours. We will be departing for our next mission at 1400 hours; department heads should coordinate all final preparations for departure. Kersare out." She tapped her comm badge again to close the channel and leaned back in her chair. Normally she would've called the senior staff together for a briefing, but there wasn't much to tell. Instead, she would write up a summary and send it to all of them.

The crew had had a fairly lengthy shoreleave already, but Isabel thought it would be nice to allow them one last lunch on 386 if they so desired. The week-long trip to the Cardassian Border would likely not be overly exciting and, if they were lucky, their patrol duty would be equally as unexciting. It was probably for the best though as it would give them an opportunity to see what differences the refit had made.

OFF: Tag all! Have your final lunch on 386 if you wish or get started with departure preparations.
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Re: Mission 17 - Inferno's Light

Post: # 3318Post Vosh
Thu Jun 03, 2010 3:35 pm

<<USS Malinche>>
<Holodeck 1, 0948, Day 1>

Trace ducked under the man's wildly swinging arm, his leg coming up and around at the same time and slamming into the man's side. He crumpled to the ground. Trace spun around, grabbing another man's arm and dropping him to the ground before knocking him out cold.

The sun was beating down on him, well the simulated sun at least. He was sweating buckets...probably due to the fact that he had been at this for a few hours now. Another attacker charged, Trace hit him across the face with a roundhouse kick, sending him spinning to the ground.

"I thought that this was supposed to be hard," Trace grunted. He blocked several blows before knocking the man out with a right cross. "Computer increase difficulty setting to 10."

More of the men appeared on the temple roof, this time they were carrying deadly looking swords and daggers. Now, this would be the fun part, Trace thought to himself. He spun around, grabbing his Bat'leth off the holster in his back.

The first of the men charged, bringing his weapon swinging around to slice Trace in half. Trace caught the blow, shoving the man backwards with an impressive amount of force. Trace ducked under several more slashes, flipped forward and caught one man in the back with his own weapon. The man fell to the ground, out of the fight.

Trace side stepped several slashes, knocking away several blades before spinning in a circle and taking down several more men. His Bat'leth worked in a furious pattern, weaving a protective shell around him as he worked on dispatching the remaining attackers.

20 minutes later and all 10 men lay around the top of the temple, most of them still in one piece. Trace smiled to himself, this was the kind of workout that Lilana just loved and so did he.

"Computer phaser targeting range."

The scene around him shifted to show the targeting range for phaser practice. Trace walked over to the table and picked up a rifle. He spent the next 45 minutes going through his usual routine. When he was finished he closed down the program, grabbed his gear and headed to his quarters to shower and change.

<Vosh's Quarters>

After he was showered and changed he sat down at his terminal and sent another round of revisions to Aaron to look at for the training schedule. He then called up the location of one Joey (NPC) Summers. After making sure the rest of his work was mostly complete, Trace got up and headed toward holodeck 2.

<Holodeck 2>

He entered, looking around at the old fashioned boxing ring that was sitting there. Joey was there as well, shirtless and sweating. The other opponent in the ring was a Klingon, who at the moment, was bleeding from several cuts. Joey appeared to be bare knuckling the match, probably something that was not recommended.

As Trace watched the Klingon came in for another attack but Joey was faster, hitting the Klingon with several right and left hooks before hitting him square in the face with a pretty powerful blow. The Klingon staggered under the assault before Joey sent him to the mat with an uppercut.

"Impressive," Trace smiled.

"Always," Joey smiled, taking a drink from his water bottle. "Is there something that I can help you with?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you would be up for teaching some boxing lessons."

"From what Adam says, I really don't think that you need any help in defending yourself."

"It's not for me actually, although I could certainly use some pointers."

"Then who's it for?" Joey asked.

"The rest of the ship...anyone that wants it really."

"Why ask me?"

"According to your files, you were one of the best boxers that the academy has ever seen...you were only the 8th person to take home the championship all four years."

"Well, I am good," Joey smiled. "I could certainly impart what I know. Sure, sign me up."

"Great, we can sit down and work out times later."

"No problem."

Trace headed out of the holodeck, pulling his PADD out of his pocket and sending a message to Aaron.

OFF:
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Re: Mission 17 - Inferno's Light

Post: # 3325Post Masterson
Sat Jun 05, 2010 3:04 pm

ON: [[Masterson's Quarters, USS Malinche, MD01, 0610]]

A slight hum filled the room as a plate of eggs, hashbrowns, and toast shimmered into existence. Aaron reached in and lifted the small breakfast tray out of the replicator slot. Turning, he carried the tray over to the small table where evidence of the work he had been doing the night before still remained. He supported the tray with one arm while he used the other hand to move aside a few of the PADDs that had been laying out.

Once he had cleared out enough space, he set the tray down on the table and pulled out the chair so that he could sit down to a quick breakfast. He unfolded the napkin with a quick flip of his wrist and laid it out on his lap. Reaching for a PADD with one hand, Aaron lifted a bite of egg and hashbrowns to his mouth and bit down. He'd never really had any trouble with replicated food, despite the stories he'd heard from some people. Breakfast this morning was no exception.

Aaron continued to eat as he skimmed through the reports on the PADD, trying to remember everything from the night before. There were a few things he wanted to do before the Malinche was due to launch, even though they still hadn't heard what their next assignment would be, which had pushed him to make it a late night. In hindsight, he probably should have turned in a bit earlier.

The sound of the doorchime broke through Aaron's thoughts. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he called out, "Enter." He took another bite as the door hissed open. Sure enough, Mike (NPC) was standing just outside, a beaming smile on his face.

"Good morning," he said cheerfully as he bounced into the room. He quickly made his way over to the table where Aaron was finishing his breakfast. Approaching from behind, Mike placed his hands on Aaron's shoulders and rested his chin on Aaron's head. "Whatcha working on," he asked, peering down at the PADD Aaron was still holding in his hand.

"Just getting ready," Aaron replied, lowering the PADD to the table and finishing the last of his breakfast, "We could be getting our next assignment any day now."

"Always prepared, huh," Mike remarked, lightly massaging Aaron's shoulders.

"Never hurt," Aaron said, getting to his feet. Mike took a step back as Aaron grabbed his tray and returned it to the replicator. Reaching over to the closet, Aaron pulled out his uniform jacket. He slipped his arms into the sleeves before zipping it up.

"I reserved us some holodeck time this evening," Mike said, leaning against the table that Aaron had just vacated.

Aaron smiled as he picked up his commbadge and put it into place on his uniform. He was still a little leery about how they were going to work out their relationship, given that he was Mike's superior officer. He'd made his concerns clear to Mike after the captain had approved the transfer and it was comforting to see that Mike was making an effort to address those concerns. Once he got past his duty as a department head, Aaron was actually quite happy to have Mike aboard. Even with subspace communications, nothing could replace being able to spend time with Mike in person.

"We'll see how it all turns out," Aaron said, "I don't think there should be anything going on tonight."

"That's what you said last night," Mike reminded him with a wag of his finger. Aaron couldn't help but laugh a little. He had said that he wouldn't be busy yesterday, but then he'd ended up working late and lost track of the time. Thankfully, Mike was the kind of person who could understand that.

"I mean it this time," Aaron said, stacking a few PADDs from the table, "Promise."

Mike put an arm around Aaron's shoulders and gave him a quick kiss. "Take it easy today," he said as the door slid open, "Don't forget...Holodeck 2, 1920 hours."

"I won't," Aaron assured him, stepping out into the corridor after Mike. The door slid closed behind them. "See you later," Aaron said, turning and starting down the corridor. He was ready to start the day. If they were lucky, they might even have their assignment orders soon.

OFF

A JP by

Ensign Mike Kepler (PNPC)
Security Officer
USS Malinche

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USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

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Re: Mission 17 - Inferno's Light

Post: # 3355Post Vosh
Wed Jun 16, 2010 7:50 am

<<USS Malinche>>
<Trace's Quarters, Day 1, 1145>

Trace stepped out of the sonic shower, feeling much more refreshed after his spending a good deal of the morning overseeing the refit of the guidance system for the torpedoes. After he had parted ways with Aaron he had gone and done a quick work out; nothing to serious and then headed back to his quarters to take a shower.

There were a few messages waiting for him, most of them of a personal nature and one from the commission reminding him that his monthly journal was due. Trace made a face, he wasn't a fan of the journal; mostly because he didn't really think that it applied to him. Some Joined Trills had trouble adjusting to the various personalities that were floating around inside of them. Trace didn't really seem to have that problem.

Well, that wasn't the total truth. He did at first. The most confusing thing about it for him was the fact that before the joining he was a straight male; now he found himself looking at members of the same sex and actually finding them attractive. This was something that was talked about of course but even Trace would admit that it was slightly confusing. He shook his head, remembering that he actually found his boss attractive the first time that they had met.

Now, that was something that was going to take some getting used too. Of course, Trills had long moved past the archaic same sex relationship debate but he was still slightly surprised when he found himself looking at a man; although his last host was a female.

And then there was their doctor...she too was an impressive specimen of womanhood. He toyed with the idea of asking her out but then decided that was probably stepping over the line, given the fact that she was technically his superior officer and all. He closed down the terminal and then checked his watch; he still had the rest of the afternoon off. He thought about calling Aaron, maybe taking some time to get to know his boss a little bit more.

Then he remembered that the Hope and that nice Bolian waitress were still docked at the station.... He slipped on a new uniform and headed out toward 386. Even if he couldn't find her there were still a couple of shops on the promenade that he wanted to visit.

<Station Promenade, 1200>

There was something about the station that Trace found attractive, he wasn't sure what it was exactly. Although, it could have been the people, Trax, the third host for Vosh was an avid people watcher and sociologist and would have loved observing the various cultures and exchanges that seemed to go here.

"Good afternoon sir."

Trace turned around to see Adam (NPC) and Tavi (NPC) standing there. Trace had yet to meet the young man that Jason and his soon to be husband, Adam, had adopted. He had been hearing a lot about him though. The blonde haired youth smiled and bowed.

"Tavi, meet our assistant tactical/security chief, Trace Vosh," Adam said.

"Pleased to meet you...human?"

"Trill," Trace smiled. "And its good to see you again too."

Tavi looked up up and down for a moment before talking. "If you're a Trill then were are your spots?"

"Tavi, that's awful rude," Adam sighed. "Sorry about that Trace it seems that he's just really honest."

"Nothing wrong with that," Trace smiled. "Truth is Tavi, I have a rare medical condition for a Trill that you can't see my spots on my face and neck but you can everywhere else."

Tavi merely nodded.

"I'd love to stay and chat but Jason wants him to have some more clothes, I think he's around here somewhere trying to get some lunch, you should join him," Adam suggested.

"Maybe I will, it was nice to meet you Tavi."

"Nice to meet you too Mr. Vosh."

OFF:
Last edited by Kersare on Wed Jun 16, 2010 8:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Edited due to continuity; Isabel asked that everyone be back on the Mali by 1300 hrs
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Re: Mission 17 - Inferno's Light

Post: # 3366Post Barrett
Fri Jun 18, 2010 8:28 am

<<Station 386>
<Promenade, 1210, Day 1>

Getting back over to the station was pretty easy, finding a good place to eat wasn't. Nearly everything was pretty much filled up. Trace was about to walk out of another resturant when someone waved him down. It was Jason Barrett from the Malinche. Trace wandered over, sitting down next to his XO.

"Good afternoon sir," Trace said.

Jason waved his hand. "We're off duty, Jason will work just fine. Have you eaten yet?"

Trace shook his head, the steaming pile of food that Jason had on his plate looked completely mouth watering. The waiter came over and Trace ordered some food, along with something to drink.

Jason took a drink of his water before sitting back in the chair. "So, how are you liking life on the Malinche so far?" Jason asked.

"Its interesting," Trace smiled. "I ran into Adam (NPC) and Tavi (NPC) just a little bit ago actually."

"I swear to you he's only 10 years old and full of enough energy to power three starships."

"Kids usually are," Trace smiled, he wanted to dig into the food that the waiter had brought over but didn't want to look like a big pig in front of his boss. "My first host had three kids, all of them boys and two of them were twins."

"Twins? And how did you handle that...or sorry, how did Kayla handle that?" It was going to take some getting used too, talking about Trace's past hosts. Jason wasn't really sure what the proper way to refer to them was.

"Wow, that must have been interesting," Jason said, taking another bite of his food. "I guess I've never really asked a Trill this before but how do you keep everything straight inside your head? I mean you are what the fifth host, right?"

Trace nodded, taking a bite of his food. "Yes sir...err...I mean Jason. It's not actually as bad as people seem to think it is."

"I bet it gives you a lot of experience to draw on."

"Very much so, my last host was a great Marine and I've managed to be able to incorporate a number of her skills into my own...I've never really had a passion for science but the knowledge that Kayla had, that was my first host, seems to have helped me in a number if situations."

"Good to know."

"What happened to Tavi's parents?"

"No one is really sure," Jason said. "He's part human but that's about all that we know. We've tried getting more information but there really isn't anything else that we could find out. Seems that Tavi was only 2 when he was brought there so he doesn't really remember his parents either."

"From what information I can gather, the monks seem pretty far removed from the main population," Trace said, taking another bite. "How's Tavi adjusting to all this technology?"

"Pretty good so far, although he went waveriding with Joey (NPC) a while back, that was an interesting experience to watch. I don't think that I have ever paid so much attention to anything in my life. Do you ever stop worrying about them?"

"No," Trace smiled. He could recall many times that Kayla, his first host, spent worrying about all of her kids. Then again her kids did seem more prone to taking on dangerous activities. "At least Kayla, the first host never did. I can still remember the first time that her son broke his arm rock climbing, he was about Tavi's age."

"Did he learn his lesson?" Jason asked, although he already knew the answer.

"Are you kidding me? That just made him do it more...by the time he was 14, he was scaling peaks that most guides tended to stay away from."

"How did she...I mean you handle it?" Jason asked, he was once again unsure of the right way to ask it.

"She handled it the best way that she could, she spent a lot of time at work and got him the best gear that money could buy and the best lessons that money could buy. She even got into it herself after awhile, although she wasn't nearly as good as him," Trace said. "He got hurt a few more times but each time was easier to handle."

"You're telling me it gets easier?" Jason asked.

"To a certain point," Trace shrugged. "At least it did for her. She wasn't too keen on him continuing to endanger himself but realized he loved doing it."

Jason nodded. That made him feel a little better, although he realized that it was going to take a lot of practice if Tavi decided to get involved in anything that was dangerous. Although, the kid did spend several hours a day practicing his own martial arts.

"And at least you have a medical officer to prescribe you something," Trace smiled.

"Amen to that."

OFF:

A JP brought to you by:

Ensign Trace Vosh
Assistant Tactical/Security Chief
USS Malinche

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Re: Mission 17 - Inferno's Light

Post: # 3374Post Kersare
Mon Jun 21, 2010 9:07 am

ON: <<USS Malinche, Ready Room, Day 1, 1352 hours>>

Once all the crew were back on board, Isabel had begun her final preparations before they left Starbase 386. It was time for their next mission, which would admittedly be something of a change of pace. Some of the crew seemed fairly restless, so in her mind the timing was good. Unfortunately they'd have another week of travel time to the border, but it would be a chance to make sure there weren't any bugs after the minor refit. She stood and headed out of the Ready Room to see who was already on the bridge and who still needed to arrive before they could depart.

<Bridge>

Jason yawned, Tavi had both he and Adam (PNPC) up at the crack of dawn to run laps around the promenade; not that Jason and Adam minded the exercise but doing at 0500 seemed a little bit excessive. Adam had taken the day off in sickbay to get Tavi's homeschooling underway, luckily the department of education had just created a great holodeck program to do just that. He saw Captain Kersare enter from the ready room and gave her a nod.

Isabel walked past the Flight Control and Operations stations, then circled to stand behind her chair for the time being. She had a better vantage point this way and wasn't quite ready to sit anyway. Most already on the bridge seemed to be finishing up their final checks before departure. They had a few minutes until then.

Looking up from his position at tactical, Aaron smiled a little when he saw the captain emerge from her ready room. Things were beginning to settle into place for the Malinche's imminent departure and he felt a sense of anticipation for the event, being that it was his first as a member of the ship's crew.

Sean looked up from his position at operations as the Captain passed by the station. While he didn't exactly know what to think of the Captain herself, she had been able to manage things quite well. *The profile on her needs to be updated* he thought to himself as he checked the readouts from a diagnostic he had just finished.

Trace stepped out onto the bridge. He had spent the better part of his night fine tuning all the phaser rifles and hadn't gotten to bed until pretty late. He had been up that morning early to help oversee the final adjustments to the torpedo guidance system with Aaron. He was beginning to like his boss more and more. He caught sight of the helm and part of him was itching to be back behind the wheel of a ship like this. He had heard that she was pretty nimble when needed. Smiling, Trace headed over to secondary security/tactical station.

Jason nodded to Vosh; he needed to make some time to sit down and talk to the young man, maybe get to know him a little bit better. Of course most of his free time was spent attending to Tavi, who seemed to have a curiosity about pretty much everything.

"Hopefully, this mission will be less...exciting then our last one," Jason said, handing Kersare a PADD. "Although instinct tells me that's not going to be the case."

Taking the PADD, Isabel chuckled, "How many of our missions aren't exciting, Commander?" It seemed to her that even if their mission started out being routine, by the end it was anything but.

"And is your instinct usually right sir?" Trace asked, turning around from his station.

"Eh, not all the time," Jason shrugged. "But just in case I am right I am glad that we finally have a full security/tactical staff."

"No excitement, got it," Aaron said, as if he was making a simple note for later reference. He minimized the display he had been reviewing on the tactical console and checked to make sure all his systems were reading green.

“I wouldn’t say no excitement but not blowing anything up is a good thing to try and strive for,” Jason said.

<Science Lab>

Aaron left the science department for the bridge as the Malinche was about to depart. In many ways he was glad shore-leave was ending, it wasn't near as restful as expected.

<Bridge>

Jake exited the turbolift and stepped onto the bridge for duty for the first time since he arrived. He had been cleared conditionally by Lt. Zeral and the doctor to be kept under Taryn's (PNPC) watchful eye. The bridge was buzzing with activity as the staff continued with preparations for departure. Now it was time for him to do his part.

He made his way down to the Flight Control station where Taryn was sitting. He placed his hand on her shoulder. "Ma'am, I got this one."

Taryn turned and smiled. She was thrilled to finally see Jake on the bridge. It had been quite a fight to get him here. She knew full well there was still more to come but she would guide him through. "Mr.McCarty, I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up. Take your station." she replied rising from the seat.

Jake sat down at the helm and turned to the console. The configuration was different from the Destiny, however, he was able to recognize most of the controls, the rest he would learn on the fly or with Taryn's help.

Taryn leaned down to Jake placing her mouth by his ear. "You look a little lost; did you take time to run the simulation I prepared for you?" she asked.

Jake snickered. "Nah, but don't worry I'll catch on quick."

Taryn scoffed. "Just don't make me look bad or I'll make you feel worse." she turned and sat down at another bridge station.

Sean looked over at the pair out of the corner of his eyes. Even though he couldn't hear everything that was being said, he could make out most of it and he chuckled slightly to himself as he checked some things with the dock master.

Once everyone was present, Isabel glanced around quickly before saying, "Status reports? Are we ready to depart?"

"Tactical systems are secured," Aaron announced from his position at tactical, "If we do run into any 'excitement', we'll be ready for it."

“Famous last words,” Jason smiled.

"Being prepared is always a good idea," Isabel responded. "Hopefully it'll be a fairly quiet journey to the border, at the least."

Being a good tactical officer was just like being a good lifeguard. In addition to both being positions and training that Aaron held, it was common for individuals from either position to feel the most success when they were the least required. The best lifeguard never got wet because they always made sure they were proactive about creating a safe environment. The same held true for tactical and security officers. Being better prepared meant that they would be less needed, which meant that they were doing their job properly. “Yes, ma’am,” Aaron agreed, looking up from his console.

Trace looked over at Aaron, who merely nodded. This was Trace’s first time on the Malinche when she would be heading out on an actual mission and the thought of it was a rather exciting one.

“Security board is all green sir, all outer hatches are closed and sealed and all areas of the ship secure. We are ready for launch,” Trace said.

Jake turned back to the Captain. "Ma'am, propulsion and warp systems online and nominal; ready to commence disembark procedures on your mark."

Isabel nodded, "Thank you, Lieutenant." A few more departments needed to give their report, then they could be underway. Tapping her comm badge, Isabel said, "Kersare to Engineering. Engineering status, Mr. Peters?"

<Engineering>

Peters looked up at the MSD display and tapped in a sequence of commands. After a moment one of the indicators changed slightly. He made another couple of small adjustments, then tapped his commbadge.

"Our new systems are behaving perfectly, Captain. We're ready to depart whenever you are," Peters reported. For once he wasn't worried about the yard engineers not having taken the unique situations a starship could find itself in into account. Most of 386's yard engineers had recently been posted to starship assignments, so they were familiar with the weird things that could happen while a ship was away from starbase. Of course, he was still keeping an eye on things... just in case.

<Bridge>

"Thank you, Mr. Peters," Isabel replied. She could only hope that the systems would continue to behave. Of course, they would have a week to find out if something was wrong, but if something was going to go wrong, it likely wouldn't happen at a convenient time.

After securing her station at the shuttlebay, L'Randil decided to make herself useful and go to her other duty station, engineering. She walked in to see the bustle of the terminals reporting and crewman attending them. She nodded to the other power systems specialist on duty and sat down at the second seat to monitor the terminal as the ship got underway.

"Science division is fully ready to go Captain. The resources available at the station allowed us to complete a few experiments ahead of schedule. The skirmish had no significant effect on any of the experiments still underway." Until he knew more about the upcoming mission, that was the extent of Aaron's report. Depending on the mission, there may be need to make some changes.

"Good to hear, Lieutenant Steele, thank you. During the week, have your department research the area we're patrolling to see if there are any significant anomalies we should be aware of," Isabel said. "I'll be sure your department gets the patrol area coordinates."

“I’ll be sure to do that Captain. If we’re assigned to a standard patrol sector, there most likely won’t be any new anomalies, but usually there are several interesting items out there to keep an eye on just the same. The nice thing is they’ve been cataloged and studied already so we know what to look for, not as exciting I know but it does make our job a little easier," Aaron replied.

Sean spun around to get a better look at the captain from his position. "Everything looks clear on my end, Ma'am. Dock master is giving us the go ahead on departure, whenever you're ready."

Having received all the status reports, Isabel moved around her chair and took her seat. Nora was already seated next to her, as was Jason. She tapped her fingers on the display to her right and scanned through the information quickly. Isabel turned back to Sean, "Lieutenant, please inform the dock master that we are ready to depart."

Sean tapped a few commands into the console before him and waited a moment before announcing, "We're cleared and dock master wishes us an uneventful mission."

“Don’t scrape the paint Mr. McCarty,” Jason said, he made sure to keep the humor in his voice.

Jake smiled. "No need to worry sir, the Malinche is in good hands."

"Clear moorings, release docking clamps and umbilicals. Mr. McCarty, port thrusters, 3 second bursts until we're clear and then one quarter impulse power away from the Starbase," Isabel ordered.

Jake turned back to the console eager to get the mission underway. "Docking clamps released, firing port thrusters." Moments later the Malinche had clear from Starbase 386. "Ma'am we are clear from Starbase 386, one quarter impulse." Jake smiled as he once again was filled with the excitement he cherished so much, despite the routine nature of the departure.

Taryn rose from her seat and approached Jake. "Well done Mr.McCarty. There may be some hope for you yet."

Jake laughed. "I'll take that as a compliment ma'am."

<Engineering>

Peters watched the status monitors like a hawk as the Malinche cleared moorings and departed Starbase 386. "Easy does it, kid," he whispered to himself. "Let's not bump anything on our way out."

He paid special attention to the thruster status screen. One of the more extensive upgrades the Malinche had received was the installation of new firing nozzles for the RCS thrusters. The Yard engineers had spent over a day fine-tuning the new thrusters, but Peters was still a bit nervous about how they would operate for the first few dozen flight hours.

Fortunately everything went well as the Malinche disengaged from the station and shifted to Impulse power. Peters tapped his commbadge. "Engineering to Bridge. Warp Power is available whenever you're ready for it, Captain."

<Bridge>

With the Malinche banking smoothly away from the station, Jason breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t as if he thought that McCarty was actually going to crash them into something…ok…maybe he did think that a little bit, but who could blame him. He looked down at his own display, so far everything was shaping up to be a pretty uneventful start of what he hoped would be an uneventful mission.

Trace smiled, he didn’t know much about this McCarty guy but he appeared to be a good pilot. He made a mental note to check into his background when he got off the bridge. Looking back at his screens he ran a final sweep through the internal sensors, nothing had chanced since they launched. Trace turned his seat around so that he could watch the star lines streak by. To say that he was excited by his first time on the mission with the Malinche would have been an understatement.

"Thank you, Mr. Peters," Isabel replied after tapping her comm badge. She waited, watching the Malinche pull away from the starbase. It would likely be the last time she saw the base for awhile. Looking towards the Flight Control console once they were a safe distance away, she said, "Mr. McCarty, set a course for 342 mark 17, warp 7."

Jake punched the coordinates into the console. "342 mark 17 course laid in ma'am."

Nodding, Isabel said, "Engage." Time to set off on their next mission. Warp 7 would get them to the border in a week, which was well within the time frame for their arrival, according to their mission details.

Jake gave the console a final tap and the Malinche burst into warp towards her destination.

Now knowing the exact coordinates, Aaron was able to pull up information about the region and forward it down the to the science labs. There was also bound to be items of interest along the way but traveling at warp 7 would allow the Malinche’s crew only a fleeting glance at whatever was out there. Although he had spent a good portion of his career patrolling the border, Aaron was never fully comfortable with the idea. If yet another war with Cardassia were to occur, the patrols most likely would not be able to stop it but would suddenly find themselves on the front line.

As the core settled into it's warp speed hum, L'Randil leaned back in her seat to watch the readouts but mainly the activity of the engineering department. The ensign sitting next to her smiled when he looked at the caitian.

"Are you new on board, Miss?" He asked with a friendly tone. "You have that expression."

L'Randil shook her head with a slightly embarrassed smile. "No, I just don't get in here much. Perhaps I should. There is so much more happening up here than in the shuttlebay."

Once the Malinche was at warp, Isabel stood and glanced around the bridge. Everyone was settling into their positions well - especially considering that for about half them this was their first actual mission aboard the ship. It would still take a little while for them to fully settle into their roles on the Malinche and into their interactions with the others, but this was a good start. Of course, the next seven days were likely to be fairly routine, but after that, who knew?

OFF: JP brought to you by:

Ensign Trace Vosh
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

and

Ensign L'Randil N'rass
Shuttle Maintenance Specialist
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

and

Lieutenant JG Jake McCarty
Assistant Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

and

Lieutenant JG Aaron Masterson
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

and

Lieutenant Sean Hansen
Chief Operations Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

and

Lieutenant Aaron Steele
Chief Science Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

and

Lieutenant Commander Todd Peters
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

and

Lieutenant Commander Jason Barrett
Executive Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

and
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Captain Isabel Kersare
Commanding Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

Barrett
Senior Staff
Posts: 273
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Location: Omaha, NE
Contact:

Re: Mission 17 - Inferno's Light

Post: # 3376Post Barrett
Tue Jun 22, 2010 10:04 am

<<USS Malinche>>
<Barrett-Townsen Quarters, Day 1, 1855>

Jason stretched as the doors opened. Tavi (PNPC) was sitting cross legged on the couch, his eyes closed and breathing deeply. Jason guessed that he was probably meditating...although how he could do it out in the main living area with Adam (NPC) working away was beyond him. He shook his head, giving Adam a quick peck on the cheek.

"Hi dad," Tavi said, without even opening his eyes. "How are things?"

"Well, we didn't scrape any paint leaving 386 and none of the refits caused us to blow up so I would say that's a very good sign."

"Does that happen a lot?" Tavi asked, opening his eyes. "I mean the ships blowing up part."

"No, I was just being sarcastic."

Tavi nodded and then flipped off the couch, landing perfectly. Jason was surprised that he was able to accomplish that given the low ceilings in the room. Then again, Jason was surprised by many things that Tavi could do.

"I'm going to go get ready...Joey (NPC) said he would be here around 1915."

"And where is Joey taking him tonight?" Jason asked, watching as Tavi bounded from the room. "Seems like he spends more time with him then we do."

"Oh stop it," Adam stated, playfully punching his arm. "Joey is actually really great with him. I think they are going to the holodeck to watch a baseball game. Tavi has been going on and on about wanting to see one since they talked about in his class via subspace yesterday."

"I was never any good at that game," Jason grunted, pulling a chair up so that he could see what Adam was working on. "Now rugby, that was fun. What are you doing anyways?"

"Nothing important," Adam said, clearing the screen. "Did you finish up your report for Nassar?"

Jason nodded. "Although I am still not entirely sure how their whole EPS system works. From what we can tell their hull armor is stronger then anything we have ever seen, piercing it would take a quantum torpedo at nearly point blank range."

"Nassar won't be happy to hear that."

"Well, it actually gets better," Jason said. "Jadan and I may have found a possible weakness. We were looking at their EPS systems...or at least what we assume were their EPS systems and found out that they are extremely sensitive to high frequency EM energy. If we ever come into armed conflict with them, rotating through the upper EM bands on the phasers would take down their entire EPS network."

"That's at least something," Adam nodded.

Tavi came out of his bedroom, baseball hat and all.

Jason and Adam just looked at each other and smiled.

OFF: Alright, come on guys...lets get some posts in!
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Lieutenant Commander Jason Barrett
Executive Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

Masterson
Senior Staff
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Re: Mission 17 - Inferno's Light

Post: # 3385Post Masterson
Fri Jun 25, 2010 10:25 am

<<USS Malinche>>
<Torpedo Control Room, Day 1, 0715>

Trace was in a good mood, although still a little tired. He had spent the majority of his night fine tuning the phaser rifles and although he appeared to have made some good headway, he still had about 100 or so left to go. He hadn’t realize how many of them were it was enough to almost drive him a little mad. At the moment he was standing in torpedo control, helping Aaron to oversea the refit of the guidance system. He was sipping at a cup of black coffee. They didn’t really need to be there; the techs seemed to be doing a good job of it.

"Late night with the phaser rifles, huh," Aaron remarked casually as he waited for the tech team to finish their assessment. In the short time that the two of them had been working together, Aaron had already seen how dedicated Vosh could be to a task that he genuinely believed in. Turning his head so that he could look over toward the Trill, Aaron asked, "Coffee addict?"

“No sir, I’m just not really a morning person. The previous host for the Vosh symbiot loved being up early, so did the one before that but not me. If I had my way I would take the night shift every chance I got,” Trace smiled.

"I'm sure that could be arranged, if you'd like," Aaron said with a slight chuckle, "If I may ask, how many hosts have you had?"

“I’m actually the fifth host for the symbiot,” Trace said, taking another drink of his coffee. “The first host was a science officer, the second a tactical officer that later became the head of Trill Naval Security, the third a diplomat, and the fourth a Trill Marine. That’s were I got my bat’leth, Liliana the last host spent a lot of time among Klingons.”

"Sounds like a lot of experience to digest," Aaron observed, accepting a PADD from one of the technicians and glancing over its contents. So far, things seemed to be progressing well enough, which was a good sign, with the departure time rapidly approaching.

“I suppose so…although having all those memories and experiences floating around in there can get a little crowded sometimes. We have to keep in regular contact with the commission for the first three years to make sure that we are adjusting fine.”

Aaron had worked with Trill's before, but he'd never actually sat down to talk to any one of them in depth about personal history. Most of what he did know of Trill society came from his culture courses at the Academy. He nodded to show that he understood what Vosh was saying while still reading over the test results.

“I finished the new training rotation,” Trace said, handing the PADD to Aaron. “Joey (NPC) has agreed to teach boxing lessons, Jason has agreed to give us some martial arts lessons too and Adam (NPC) even volunteered to teach some bat’leth and battlefield medic classes.”

Accepting the second PADD, Aaron adjusted his focus to the new information. He knew he wouldn't have time to review it in depth until later, but he skimmed over it to give himself a general idea. "That's good to hear," he said, going back to the last of the test results. He passed the PADD back to the technician and nodded once to show his approval. "I'll have to look it over and get back to you, but it looks good so far," Aaron said with a smile.

"Thanks, hopefully this will not only improve or own combat effectiveness but will also give the crew something else to do to keep in shape instead of the usual boring routines."

That was one that that Trace hated; he really couldn't stand being bored while working out. It was something that none of the hosts for the Vosh symbiont had been able to do; well maybe Trax. He was a diplomat and seemed to have an endless supply of patience, something that Trace had not gotten from him. At least he was getting along with his boss.

"There's also something that I have been meaning to talk to engineering about."

“Oh,” Aaron asked, wondering what it was that Vosh had come up with this time. Having a member of the team who was so willing to put his ideas out there was a very good thing. No team would get anywhere without taking a chance and hearing out new ideas.

"A new design for the phaser arrays," Trace explained. "Well, new is maybe the wrong word...just an updated design. If we placed EPS taps in the main phaser generators we could increase our phaser yield by almost 20%. I've looked into the regulations, so far its not violation of any safety code that I am aware of. The idea came to me when I was thinking about my first host, Kayla. She did the same thing on the ship she served on and it seemed to serve her them pretty well."

Again, Aaron did not think he’d have the time to give Vosh’s idea the attention it deserved at the moment, but he at least wanted to encourage the Trill to pursue it. “Sounds like it would give us an advantage if we needed it,” Aaron observed.

"I just wanted to get your approval to look into it more before I started diving right in," Trace said.

“I appreciate that,” Aaron replied, “and I’d certainly run it past Engineering and Operations to see what they might think. When I get the chance, I’ll take a closer look at it too.” He briefly surveyed the technicians again, hoping to determine how much longer they would be working. With the departure so close, he was trying to tie up as many loose ends as possible.

"Where do you think that we are going next?" Trace asked. He checked his PADD, happy to see that the guidance system was nearly finished. He had a few other things that were on his to do list this morning.

Aaron thought for a moment. It was a casual question, one that often made its way amongst the crew prior to a departure. He'd heard it whispered or spoken amongst the Malinche crew for the past several days and he knew that he'd thought about it once or twice himself during that time. "Well, from what I've been getting in the reports, I'm thinking we're in for a nice patrol," Aaron replied, "Something quiet and routine."

”I wasn’t aware that this ship did anything ‘routine’,” Trace smiled. He had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be as easy as Aaron was making it sound.

Seeing that the technicians were starting to wrap things up, Aaron turned away from the work area. He smiled a little at Vosh's statement. One of the first things one learned while serving in Starfleet is that life was never ordinary. "Okay, so maybe it won't exactly be...'routine'," he conceded.

“Do you have any plans for later tonight?” Trace asked. “Assuming we don’t blow up getting out of the starbase that is.”

"Oh, somehow I doubt that we'll be needing to worry about that," Aaron said with confidence, "Why? What did you have in mind?"

“Seems that all we do is talk business I thought that maybe you and Mike (NPC) would like to get together and do something non-work related. I have a pretty passable bowling holo program if you are interested.”

"I'll have to check with him," Aaron replied. He'd been spending too much time getting ready for departure to think about what he was going to be doing later that evening. It could very well be that Mike already had something planned. If not, Aaron would be sure to bring up the suggestion.

"Good," Trace nodded. "Looks like they are almost done here. I'm going to go tackle a few more rifles before, do you need me for anything else sir?"

"No, thank you," Aaron said, "I think that will be all."

"Then hopefully I will see you later," Trace smiled.

Aaron watched out of the corner of his eye as Vosh disappeared through the door. Turning his full attention back to the technician team, he was pleased to see that they were, in fact, almost through. Maybe he would have a little extra time to go over Vosh's ideas before departure after all.

OFF

A JP by

Ensign Trace Vosh
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Malinche

and
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Lt. JG Aaron Masterson
Chief Security/Tactical Officer & 2XO
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

Vosh
Junior Staff
Posts: 75
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2010 8:55 pm

Re: Mission 17 - Inferno's Light

Post: # 3388Post Vosh
Sat Jun 26, 2010 11:51 pm

<<USS Malinche>>
<Armory, Day 1, 1900>

Trace set the PADD down on the table, rubbing the back of his neck in the process. Their departure had been uneventful and so far nothing had really come up. Trace had decided that they really didn't need both senior most officers in the security/tactical department on the bridge and with Aaron's permission headed to the armory to get some things finished up.

So far things had been going well for Trace; he was still getting used to everyone's personalities but that was something that was going to take some time adjusting too. The doors to the armory opened up and Joey Summers (NPC) walked in, several phaser rifles slung over his shoulder.

"Do you have any idea how many of these things we have on this ship?" Joey asked, putting the weapons down. "I mean I think that we could lose a few tons if we just got rid of some of them."

Trace smiled. "Well, I don't think that's the case. Thanks for getting those though, I could have gotten them myself."

"Nah," Joey said, sitting down across from Trace at the work station table. "I wasn't really doing anything anyways."

"No women to charm?" Trace asked, quirking an eyebrow. He picked up one of the rifles that Joey had put down and went to work. That was one thing that Trace learned very early on in coming aboard the Malinche. Joey Summers like to flirt with everyone...and that met everyone. His PADD, the one that he carried around as a personal one beeped. Trace looked down and saw that it was from Mariel; the Bolian waitress. Smiling to himself, he sent a quick message back and then looked up at Joey.

"Well, there are always plenty of women to charm," Joey smiled. "I just thought that you might get lonely down here surrounded by all your weapons."

"Boys with toys," Trace smiled, setting down the now tuned rifle. "Do you have all your lessons drawn up for boxing?"

Joey nodded. "I was surprised to see your name on the list though."

Trace chuckled. "Well, my third host, although he was a diplomat used to love the sport...I can't really fathom why though. I thought that I might give it a shot."

"You'll like it," Joey smiled. "How many more of these things do you have to do anyways?" Joey asked, indicating the rifles.

"18...I think," Trace said, looking from the rifle he was working on and mentally counting. "Well, I think that its 18."

"Wow, that does not sound like fun. I used to have to defrag the computer core on a weekly bases when we were on the Hale," Joey said. "Most boring 6 hours of my life. Even worse then Professor Bott's lectures on interspecies mating protocol."

Trace made a face. He didn't really think that the lectures that Bott gave were that bad. The man did have a rather monotone voice that could have been some people to sleep.

"I wanted you too look at this," Trace said, handing Joey a PADD. "Its an upgrade for our targeting sensors. I wanted to get your opinion before I brought it to Aaron's attention."

"I thought that you had that whole increase phaser yield idea?" Joey asked, taking the PADD.

"I did...I looked into it though and it was sort of fraught with problems that might cause a feedback surge that would totally take out an entire array. This upgrade would rely more on programming then actually monkeying with hardware."

"I'll take a look at it," Joey said, standing up. "If you finish this up pretty soon I think that me and Tavi are going to catch a game on the holodeck, say around 1930ish, you're welcome to join us."

That got Trace's attention, for some reason the ancient earth sport of baseball was a passion for the last host of the Vosh symbiot and one for him too. And Aaron and Mike (NPC) already had plans; it beat staying in his quarters and not really doing anything. Trace decided that he would go, he hadn't seen a baseball game in awhile.

"Alright, I should be done in a bit...see you there."

Joey nodded and headed out of the armory, Trace went back to work.

OFF:
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Ensign Trace Vosh
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

Peters
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Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2006 2:17 pm
Location: Space, the final frontier...
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Re: Mission 17 - Inferno's Light

Post: # 3395Post Peters
Wed Jun 30, 2010 11:29 pm

<USS Malinche, Chief Engineer's Office, Day 1, 1200 hrs>

L'Randil walked through the corridor from the shuttle bay to engineering in her sauntering slight limp. The limp was minor enough at this point that she went without her brace and most people couldn't tell she winced slightly under certain motions of that knee, but she liked it that way. To make a scene was not her style, nor was rehab.

When she got to engineering the hum of the core and the bustle of the operations made her sigh with a smile. She went over to the Chief's office and pushed the chime and waited.

"Come in," Peters said as he looked up. When L'Randil entered he flashed her a smile. "What's new, pussy cat?"

"Sir, I have a request." The Caitian said as she came to the desk and sat down opposite of the officer.

"Peters nodded. "As long as you don't want to turn any of the recruits into scratching posts, I think we can probably come to some agreement. Shoot."

"As much as I like working on small craft and fighters, I know my career will be better off with some full size ship work. Besides, there is so much life here. The bay is just seeming more and more confining to me." L'Randil valued his opinion and the fact she could be open with him about her feelings.

"So you want to pull shifts in Engineering?" Peters asked, just to make sure he was clear about what she was asking.

The Caitian nodded. "Something like that." She replied with a smile.

"I think we can do that," Peters answered. "Anything in particular you want to specialize in?"

"I seem to have specialized in power systems, although in large ship systems I don't have much experience one way or another. Where would you see fit to place me?"

"Hmm..." Peters thought for a moment. "I think we'll start you in Power systems... you'll work a few shifts with Lieutenant C'eltor. After awhile I'll look into moving you around some."

"Yes, Sir." The ensign responded. "Just out of curiosity, what was your specialty?" She hoped it was not too forward of her to ask but felt the urge to ask anyway.

"Stellar Cartography," Peters answered with a smile. He wondered how the ensign would react to that. After all, most Chief Engineers had a specialty in... Engineering.

She was taken aback by the answer. With an ear tilted down and a slight head tilt, she asked "With all due respect Sir, how does a cartographer become a Chief? I am still not completely understanding Fleet regs, but that does seem...unusual."

"Oh, it's definitely out of the ordinary," Peters replied with a small chuckle. "You see, about 8 years ago I was the Chief Science Officer on the USS Tasmania. We were on a very boring mission... not too far from where the Malinche is heading right now.'

Peters paused for a second, thinking back. After a moment, he continued, "The Tasmania was not nearly as well armed as the Malinche, though. Anyway, in the wee hours of the morning we were attacked by Breen raiders. They scored a direct hit to the Engineering section and most of the Engineering staff was blown into space. Since I minored in Warp Field theory and dual majored in Stellar Cartography and Quantum Physics in the Academy, I volunteered to help out."

L'Randil nodded. "I see. Necessity is the force that drives us all." She paused. "Breen? Was that during the Dominion war or a separate conflict?"

"Oh, that was a good three years after the Dominion War. I don't think Starfleet ever determined why the Tasmania was attacked. The Breen government denied any knowledge and the ship was destroyed by its own crew after being disabled by the ships that responded to our distress signal." Peters shrugged. "Unfortunately a lot of good people died that day."

L'Randil sighed. "It seems we all get one or two battles in this job that change us. Mine was Borg. Let's hope the future is somewhat more peaceful." She smiled. "So when should I start? I have to tell Roen or will you tell her? That command distinction is somewhat confusing to me."

"I'll talk to Roen and then work with her to arrange the duty roster," Peters answered. "You should be neck deep in EPS conduit maintenance by the end of the week."

The ensign laughed. "Sounds good, Sir. I will be looking forward to it." She smiled with a flick of her tail to follow. It gave her a little bit of a spring to think of a new thing to learn.

"Are you going to be at the tennis game tomorrow?" Peters asked.

"Yes, Sir. I will be there." She affirmed and left the room, almost forgetting her sore joints.

OFF: This has been a joint post with

Ensign L'Randil N'rass
Shuttle Maintenance Specialist
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A
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Tony
AKA
Lieutenant Commander Todd Peters
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

Rho
Senior Staff
Posts: 88
Joined: Wed May 13, 2009 1:04 pm

Re: Mission 17 - Inferno's Light

Post: # 3400Post Rho
Thu Jul 01, 2010 11:26 am

<<USS Malinche, Intel Offices, Day 1, En Route, 1402 hours>>

Alexis wasn’t on the Bridge for the ‘ceremonial’ departure of the Malinche from Starbase 386. Granted she was a Senior Officer, but there just wasn’t much for Intel to do at Mission Ops. Besides, the past few days of shoreleave on the Starbase had been a bit too much for her. There were all those people swarming around and some even wanted to talk to her. She even found herself ‘opening up’ at times. Something that never would have entered her mind months ago. This crew was having an affect on her… and she wasn’t sure whether it was for the good or bad. All she knew was that she needed solitude and routine, which she found in the offices.

Ensign Derrin (NPC) was monitoring the departure proceedings while Rachel (NPC) and Jol (NPC) started their research on the Cardassian’s recent activities along the border. Jornic (NPC) and Firvan (NPC) were going over some the recent information from Starfleet Intelligence regarding the Cardassian Union in general. “Ma’am, we’ve entered warp,” said Michael.

Alexis was standing in the center of the room, hands clasped in the small of her back. She seemed to everyone else to be meditating. “Thank you Ensign. Let me know if anything out of the ordinary crops up.”

“Will do, Lt. Rho,” answered Ensign Derrin.

“Good.” She turned her attention to Jornic and Firvan. “Petty Officer Firvan, I want an comprehensive, updated report within the next forty-eight hours.”

“Aye, ma’am,” replied Firvan. The Andorian’s antennae twitched a bit at the short timetable for such a request. Alexis noticed.

“If my timetable is a problem…Petty Officer…I can find something else for you to do. I’m sure Ensign N’rass has something good and greasy that needs cleaned down in the shuttle bay,” announced Alexis.

Firvan bristled. He didn’t like the idea of dirt and grease. “No ma’am, there’s no problem. I’ll have it done.”

“That’s better.” Without moving, she addressed Rachel. “Warrant Officer Tilden, anything?”

“According to what we’ve found so far, it’s been pretty quiet. After the Dominion War, the Union drew inward and began a reconstruction period.” Rachel stopped.

Chief Petty Officer Jol continued with the specifics. “Cardassia Prime was the worst hit. Over eight hundred million Cardassians were killed when the Dominion and Breen fleets attacked from orbit and the Jem'Hadar attacked on the surface. Their military was greatly reduced and, according to the Cardassian Finance Ministry, the economy was crippled. It takes a while to recover from all the famine, disease and resulting death.”

“See if we can listen in on the Cardassian Communication Service,” said Rho. “They might give us some insight into what we can expect by what’s considered ‘big news’ within the Union.”

Rachel nodded her head, “Yes ma’am.”

Alexis went into her office and closed the door. They had seven days before they would reach the patrol area. In order to keep her boredom down, she decided to make a few calls to find out if SI still had an operative within the Cardassian Ministry of Trade. If he was, that would be the person to find out about the cargo ship’s route and this whole Tarkal shipping container fiasco. Besides, he might be able to provide some information for their current mission.

OFF:
All Intel NPC's
played by: Lieutenant JG Rho

and
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Lieutenant JG Alexis Rho
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A
"My mind is the only sanctuary that has not been stolen from me. People have tried to breach it before, but I've learned to defend it vigorously, for I am only safe with my innermost thoughts."

Vosh
Junior Staff
Posts: 75
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2010 8:55 pm

Re: Mission 17 - Inferno's Light

Post: # 3406Post Vosh
Fri Jul 02, 2010 12:28 am

<<USS Malinche>>
<Holodeck 1, Day 2, 0700>

Trace tried to dodge the punch but wasn’t fast enough and Joey’s (NPC) fist struck him in the head with a remarkable amount of force, what was even more surprising was that Trace was vividly aware that Joey could have hit him with a lot more force then that had he actually been trying. Trace shrugged the blow off and was about to hit back when the bell sounded.

“Good match,” Trace said, as they exited the ring.

“You were holding back,” Joey said, tossing Trace a water bottle. “I thought that you said we weren’t going to do that.”

“You were holding back too,” Trace responded, taking a long drink of water. “I’ve seen you hit holograms way harder then you hit me.”

“Holograms don’t have expert weapons training and can’t kill me in my sleep,” Joey smiled.

“I take offense to that,” Trace stated. “I wouldn’t kill you in your sleep, that’s entirely to easy. I do like some sort of a challenge.”

Joey smiled. “See you later today at the phaser range?”

“Sure thing.”

<Armory, 0800>

After Trace had gotten showered, changed, and something to eat he headed down to the armory. All the rifle calibrations were complete and it seemed like as good a place as any to get some work done. Truth be told, he didn’t really have an office but found that working in the armory was almost a calming experience. He set down his coffee and pulled up the targeting sensor schematics on his display.

He had been working on the targeting program all night long and then into the wee hours of the morning before finally deciding to give it up. The baseball game had proven a pretty good distraction and Tavi was certainly interesting. Trace had done some research on the monks that raised him. They appeared to abhor violence in every sense of the word, with the exception that it might be necessary to use against ‘great evil.’ Trace wasn’t sure what great evil met but he did find it rather curious that the monks didn’t seem that all involved with the resistance during the Cardassin occupation. He made a mental note to check into it later.

Shaking that thought away, Trace opened up a new project profile. His idea seemed easy enough in theory but he had no idea how it would pan out in real life. He started flipping through screen after screen, realizing that he didn’t really know what exactly he was looking for. His idea had been to adjust the targeting sensors so that they automatically fired at the weakest point in the shields of any ship, that combined with auto cycling the ships weapons should provide an edge, even if a small one, to the Malinche in combat.

The trick was going to be getting the sensor array and the targeting sensors to work together. The two systems were already pretty close together, although getting them to interact without taking away part of the Malinche’s resources would be the tricky part. He looked through both schematics a few times before deciding that he should talk to someone in operations…Joey maybe? He would talk to him after phaser range practice, perhaps he had some suggestions. He didn’t want to bother the operations chief with it yet.

Saving what he had, he looked down to the next item on his list. He groaned out loud, the torpedo inventory was due. That wasn’t really even that hard to do, just time consuming and very boring. He hated doing it on the Iowa and for a brief moment thought about ordering Ensign Kepler (NPC) to do it. No, he wouldn’t do that. He had always said that he wouldn’t make his people do anything that he wasn’t really to do himself.

Trace sighed heavily, sighing off and sending a message to Aaron to let him know that was were he was going to be for the next several hours. He also sent a message to Lt. Commander Barrett and Captain Kersare, letting them know what he was up too.

OFF:
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Ensign Trace Vosh
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

Barrett
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Re: Mission 17 - Inferno's Light

Post: # 3418Post Barrett
Mon Jul 05, 2010 11:11 am

<<USS Malinche>>
<Secondary Computer Core, Day 2, 1245>

"I just still don't see how that's a good idea," Joey stated, scanning another gel pack with his tricorder.

Ryan Morris (NPC) looked oddly at him. Ryan was older then Joey and spent several years with the Untied Earth Marines before actually joining Starfleet. Unlike Joey, who typically threw himself at women, Ryan was very reserved. Joey had no idea why that was the case, he was athletic, good looking, smart...Joey could easily see how someone could fall in love with him.

"You just don't see it as a good idea because you don't want to admit that I might be right about something," Ryan said, folding his arms across his chest.

"That's not it at all," Joey said. Well, maybe that was part of it but Joey didn't want Ryan to know that. He hated it when he was proved wrong...it tended to happen a lot lately.

Ryan quirked an eyebrow as Joey placed the scanned gelpack back.

"Look, I didn't even know you had a girlfriend...which is great but asking you to move in with you is like a death sentence for a relationship."

"Look at Jason and Adam (NPC)."

"That's different," Joey frowned. He made sure the gelpack was connected, entered the bypass code and went to the next one. "Besides, they were dancing around their feelings for each other for a long time."

"And I really do like her, you really should meet her sometime."

"What's her name again?"

"Kayla Turino, she works for Storm Vehicle Incorporated."

Joey nodded, he had heard of the starship design firm; more recently it appeared that they had opened up a branch at Starbase 386.

"What are you doing anyways?" Ryan asked, as Joey scanned another gelpack.

"Routine maintenance," Joey responded. "After the stand off with the Elyshans I think everyone wants to make sure that everything is in perfect working order."

"You know that will never happen on a starship," Ryan pointed out. "Something, at some point is going to start working less then perfect. Maybe we are all overreacting to it. After all, the Elyshans with drew and there hasn't been anything happening on the border for months. The Cardassins are still too busy trying to rebuild after the Dominion War."

"I know...I still can't believe that was over 10 years ago."

"Time does have a way of moving forward faster then we expect," Ryan smiled. "I know our assistant chief has been working around the clock. I heard that you were teaching him boxing lessons?"

"Yeah," Joey said. He replaced the scanned gelpack and grabbed the next one in line. "He's pretty good at it too, what about you? You been enjoying his new classes?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, they aren't too bad. Although I hear he is looking into some sort of martial arts that Jason's son practices."

Now it was Joey's turn to nod. "It some form of ancient Bajoran martial art, I'm not entirely sure what its called but according to Jason it looks an awful lot like Ba Gua."

Ryan just looked at him.

"What? You're the security expert, shouldn't you know what that means?"

"No, I don't know every martial art known to man you know."

"Its a form of fighting that uses dynamic circular movements and quick directional changes. This technique uses centripetal force to generate power, and uses nearly constant circular movement to create angles between the combatants," Joey said. "Both me and Adam took some classes from a B Gau master our second and third summers in San Francisco."

Ryan nodded.

"Just let me finis this up and then we can go grab lunch."

OFF:

NPC'S Played by:
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Lieutenant Commander Jason Barrett
Executive Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

Tallix
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Re: Mission 17 - Inferno's Light

Post: # 3421Post Tallix
Thu Jul 08, 2010 3:49 am

<<Starbase 386, Crew's Quarters, Day 1, 1235>>

Draelius Tallix hefted his duffel bag and scanned the room one last time, ensuring that the only items left belonged to his bunkmate, Ta'rek (NPC). The Klingon stood stiffly by the door, and Draelius had an easy enough time sensing his friend's inner conflict. “It's all right. You don't have to get emotional. But it's nice to know I'll be missed.”

Ta'rek tried to scoff gruffly, but it came out as a poorly disguised chuckle. “How many times must I tell you...”

“To stay out of your head? At least one more, evidently.” Draelius finished the Klingon's sentence with a grin.

With mock irritation, Ta'rek shook his head and then extended a hand to the Betazoid. “It has been an honor to serve with you, Draelius. If you were not so homely, one might take you for a Klingon.”

Draelius gripped his friend's hand firmly and smiled back. “And if you weren't so mean, one might take you for a Cardassian.”

The two laughed and then fell into the kind of comfortable silence that can only exist between the closest of friends. They had been transferred into the Intel Corps on Aldani IV around the same time and had been thrown together as bunkmates by accident. The ensuing personality conflicts had taken months and several interventions by their superiors, but eventually their adversarial relationship had given way to friendship. Ever since, they had been as close as could be, even requesting to continue as roomates on the newly completed Starbase 386. Their opposing viewpoints had often been instrumental in sorting out difficult, sometimes even nigh-impossible scenarios. Draelius felt as close to Ta'rek as he had his own brother, and leaving him behind had been one of a very few hesitations in requesting a transfer. The deed was done now, however, and there was no sense in lingering any longer.

“Take care, old friend. We'll meet again, I'm sure.” With that, Draelius adjusted the strap on his duffel and headed for the turbolift down the hall. His sadness faded quickly under the anticipation of heading back to a starship. The USS Malinche was scheduled for departure in just over a half hour. He checked the time as he stepped aboard the turbolift and smiled. He was due aboard the ship in twenty minutes to meet with his new superiors – plenty of time, especially given it was doubtful they even knew about him yet. While the lift took him to the promenade, he pulled a PADD from a pouch on the side of his bag and scanned the information Miller had given him regarding the Malinche and her captain, one Isabel Kersare. He didn't know what kind of strings Lieutenant Commander Miller (NPC) had pulled - or yanked, more likely - to get him on board, but he hoped he hadn't ruffled too many feathers. Nobody wanted to start a new assignment on the captain's bad side.
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Lieutenant JG Draelius Tallix
Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

Barrett
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Re: Mission 17 - Inferno's Light

Post: # 3426Post Barrett
Sun Jul 11, 2010 2:36 am

<<USS Malinche>>
<Day 4, 0400, Astrometrics>

Jason took another long drink of his coffee, taking a look at all the information that was flowing through the sensors. He had been unable to sleep since about 0345 and decided that there was no reason to toss and turn and keep Adam (NPC) awake. Their ride to the patrol zone had been relatively uneventful so far, except a few minor flight control glitches that McCarty and company seemed to have well under control.

Jason leaned back in the chair, propping his feet up on the station as he picked up another PADD. Personnel reports were due and he had a huge stack of paperwork that appeared to be building up not only on his desk but also in his subspace inbox. He made a mental note to put in another request for a yeomen when they got back to base. Maybe he could get the yeomen to plan the wedding for him.

Jason winced, that was a topic that he was trying to avoid as well. He had no idea how to plan one and Adam didn't really appear to be much help either. He didn't even have a clue as to who his best man was going to be; the only other crew member he was really close too was Joey (NPC) who Adam had already claimed for himself.

The doors to astrometerics opened up and Ryan Morris (NPC) walked in. Jason turned around, nodding to the ensign. According to Joey, Ryan had just started up a rather serious relationship...much to Joey's dismay. Jason was glad that the ensign, only a year his junior had managed to find someone, although with his athletic build, warm personality, and quick wit Jason would have pegged that as happening years ago.

Ryan appeared to be carrying a Padd and handed it to Jason. "Or latest sensor sweep of the last sector, nothing too entertaining."

"I didn't know that you worked the night shift," Jason said, taking the PADD from him. "Or are you just bored and awake too?"

"No, I traded a shift with Anthony (NPC), I wanted the night off so that I could talk to my girlfriend when she came online. Afterwards I guess I really wasn't tired anymore."

Jason nodded, he remembered when he was with the Maran Navy, he had plenty of nights where he would talk to Adam and then not be able to sleep for hours afterwards.

"Something on your mind?" Jason asked, gesturing toward the empty chair next to him.

Ryan shrugged and sat down. "I don't know sir...something about this mission seems off to me. There hasn't been any real activity in this area of space for months now. Do you think that StarFleet knows something that they aren't telling us?"

"I would say that StarFleet knows a lot of things that they aren't telling us," Jason said. "But I don't think any of that pertains to the mission at hand."

"Maybe...something seems off about this sir," Ryan said, sighing before looking at the data that was flowing by on the large screen. "Oh and congratulations on the wedding and adoption."

"Relax ensign," Jason said. "Hell, you went up against the Borg and won. And thanks, although I never would have thought that planning a wedding would be so hard. Hell, I really could use a yeomen to throw all this off on."

"You'd make a yeomen plan your wedding?"

"Maybe," Jason shrugged. "Truth of the matter is that both me and Adam just want something simple but neither of us has had any free time to sit down and work out what simple is."

Ryan nodded. "Any other word for StarFleet Intelligence?"

"If we did get any, they aren't sharing with us," Jason sighed. He really hated how elusive the intelligence types could be, although he supposed he was being a hypocrite considering his involvement with the SAG. "But I doubt that they came up with anything."

Jason tapped a key on his PADD and it brought up a sector wide map of the area that they were supposed to patrol.

"There really isn't much there to be honest," Jason said. "Maybe a few nebulas but nothing that's worth anyone poking their noses around. There are some colonies too but they haven't reported anything out of the ordinary. Hopefully, this will be a nice little cruise."

"I hope you are right sir," Ryan sighed.

"Oh, I generally am," Jason smiled back.

OFF:
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Lieutenant Commander Jason Barrett
Executive Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

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