This is only a test, Part 1: Adversarial Preparations

Posted on Tue Jul 2nd, 2024 @ 1:48am by Captain Remy Johansen & Lieutenant Commander Razka Kas & Lieutenant Commander Maxun Spello & Lieutenant Commander Nash Winters & Major Clay McEntyre III & Lieutenant Eirly Andersen & Lieutenant Chrysanthe Capulet & Lieutenant Phaedrae Cyn & Chief Petty Officer Nevan Kayto

2,487 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Training Exercises
Location: USS Astrea
Timeline: After Ataran Mission

Nevan lived for these sort of drills. It always gave him a chance to work from the perspective of those he worked to oust the most. Dressed in all grey with everything sterilized from his clothing, including his comm badge, he had a small hand disruptor and a toolkit. Something that would be perfect for setting traps or disrupting communications and messing with the security folks that would be searching for them. His goal today wasn't to fight force on force, but to use the ships systems against the crew as a sabotuer.

Maxun stepped into the runabout that would act as the "bad guy" ship. When everyone was ready, they would depart the ship and warp away, out of the ship's sensors. Then, the test would begin. The goals of the opponents would be:

1. Get close enough to the ship to get aboard undetected.
2. Neutralize the security systems
3. Trap the crew in place
4. Take over the ship.

If they achieved all of that, then Maxun's team would be victorious. To make things interesting, he had suggested that a time limit be set up. If his team succeeded in their goals, within two hours of first being detected by the ship's long range sensors, then they would win. If even one member of the team evaded capture by the time the two hours was reached, they would win. Astrea's team would only win if the opponents were all captured before the timer stopped.

Kas smiled as he entered the cargo bay, looking at the runabouts. He had made some modifications to the shuttle they were taking. There would be plenty of surprises for their opponents. The Hybrid was wearing a black leathery-looking jumpsuit with two stun batons in place of his traditional knife and hatchet on his belt alongside his phaser. He was wearing tactical goggles and charcoal-colored headscarf with his rope braids hanging out of the back. He had intimate knowledge of boarding and anti-boarding actions. His only concern was that Capt. Johansen was aware of this, making this an interesting…

“Papa?”

Kas turned around surprised to see his daughter Keena holding her favorite doll. “Can we come with you? GoBa is scared.”

“No Little Star. Training exercises are no place for children.” Kas explained. “Now it's almost time for school and Miss Day is probably looking for you.”
“Wait,” Kas gave her a suspicious look. “How did you get off deck six?”

Keena didn't make eye contact as she held out his combadge.

“Young lady! You do not take from your elders, especially your parents!” His face was stern, but he felt a strange surge of pride at her ingenuity. “We will speak about this later. Now take that badge back to our quarters and go to class.”

Razka walked to the bulkhead, and press the button on the intercom. "Razka to Day."

=/\= Hello Mister Razka is Keena alright? She hasn't come to class.

"She's fine, she snuck out to see me off," Kas explained. "She'll be there a little bit."

Nash arrived in the shuttle bay just as little Keena was hurrying out. They almost ran into each other. “Whoa! Slow down, little one! Kas! Spello! It’s Nash! Ready to do this? I have some ideas. This is gonna be fun. Who wants to piss off Remy and take Astrea right out from under her?,” he joked with a devilish grin.

"Well," Maxun replied as he grinned in . "As I'm her new XO, I really need to make this look good!" He reached out and patted Nash on the shoulder.

From behind them the door opened again, this time admitting the blond chief of science. However she was kitted out in form fitting black clothes and soft leather shoes. She was pulling on black fingertipless gloves as she entered and looked to the group. "One real life criminal reporting for duty. "

The engineer looked over his shoulder when the hangar door opened. "Well, look at you! Ms. Capulet, always a pleasure,” Nash said as he greeted her with a high five. “They always said all-black was for villains, at least in the old twentieth century movies. Sorry I didn’t get the memo. I am appropriately dressed for the occasion, aren’t I?”

Chrys was not stupid and the look she gave the officer was one of coldness. "This is what I wore when I did jobs with my family." she retorted.

"It would seem I'm a bit under dressed for the occasion then" the Betazoid joked. "Or maybe I'm more appropriately dressed to be the mad hacker. I suppose we'll see." Kayto was looking forward to breaking out some of his previous engineering skills.

Hack was right. Chrys rolled her eyes and walked over to stand beside the XO and crossed her arms. She had been born and raised in the underworld of the galaxy and she knew more about it than that officer who thought it was all a fucking joke. Anyone with or without telepathic powers could tell he had really pissed her off.

Her anger certainly was felt by Nevan. But he'd dealt with much worse in his career and smiled at the woman "Relax Lieutenant, the only way we're going to have a chance at being successful is if we work together. We'll have plenty of time to be serious and stressed out once the operation starts." The NCO rechecked to ensure his disruptor was set to stun and his power cell was charged.

“Commander Winters.” Kas handed PADD to Nash, ‘I’ve made some modifications to the Potomac. That will give us an edge.”

Nash took the PADD from Kas. “Let’s take a look, Lieutenant. I don’t think she likes me. Capulet, I mean. It’s only a drill, you know.” He studied the changes that Razka made to the shuttle.

“Recalibrated the thrusters, sensors, adjusted shield harmonics. You also disabled one of the subspace antennae. All impressive, Kas, but why mess with the subspace comms? What were you thinking?”

"Disabling the subspace antennae was the only way to completely disable the subspace transponder," Kas explained. It was clear the commander had never stolen a Federation shuttle. "With all due respect Sir; you Federation types rely too much on your sophisticated technology. That is how my people have been able to pass undetected when we chose."

“That’s good…. very good. I like it. Can’t fight against what you can’t see. And yes, I’ve depended on Starfleet and Federation tech my whole career. You can help us think outside the proverbial box,” Nash said.

The Hybrid stepped closer to Nash and spoke in a low voice. "The crew doesn't need to like each other to work together... And my name follows the Bajoran tradition. My surname is Razka."

“Understood. You’re right, of course. Let’s hope this is just a temporary blip. I can get along with anybody. I apologize for the name thing. I respect and honor Bajoran tradition. Remind me, please, if I …. fuck up again.”

Chrys waited for everyone to settle down. She looked at Spello. "Is this it?" she asked. "Because if it is, staying in one place is putting a target on our backs way too soon."

Looking over his "crew", Maxun spoke up. "Alright, everyone get aboard. After we launch and get away from the ship, and her many ears, we will discuss our strategy." He moved to the open hatch of the runabout and waited for the group to board. "Mister Kas, as you are more familiar with the runabout, you'll be the pilot. Nash, you take the Engineering station, Chrys, you're on the science station. Razka, please take the co-pilot position."

Not being assigned a particular station for the trip, Kayto figured he'd make himself useful for the ride "I'll re check all of our gear on the way, never can have too many pre combat checks. We'll be ready."

“That's Mr Razka Sir,” Kas said in a neutral tone. “Razka is my surname; it's Bajoran. With all due respect, I believe the pilot seat should be mine. The Pilot shouldn't be distracted by command duties on a mission such as this. I humbly request that you put our lives in my hands."

Kas kept his face and demeanor neutral, waiting for the Commander's response to his request. Indifferent to the reactions of his crewmates to the flowery language he defaulted to when agitated. At heart, he was a Quath'Mar. A child of the stars and this was his way.

Maxun considered the request, then nodded. "Very well, Mister Razka. The helm is yours. Mister Kas, you take the co-pilot position. Now, let's get aboard, everyone. The sooner we take over the ship, the sooner I'm buying the first two rounds for everyone."

Nash situated himself in front of the engineering station and ran his hands along the smooth surface of the interface. ‘Magnificent little ship’, he thought to himself. He ran a quick system and backup check and reported to Commander Spello. “Everything looks good here, Commander. Warp and impulse engines coming online. Power distribution in sync ship wide.”

"Excellent, Mister Winters. I have a feeling we are gonna need every trick in your arsenal for this test."

Nash laughed out loud. “I was hoping you would say that. Just say the word. And call me Nash.”

Maxun nodded and smiled.

Chryanthe rolled her eyes. If they had a plan she had yet to hear it but if it relied solely on that Engineer, well why was she even here then? She sat at the station glanced at the controls and considered the feasibility of feedback loops to anoy the engineer.

Kas had a calm smile on his as he warmed up the engines, he was in his element. He was a little concerned about how Keena would behave in his absence, but he put side to focus on the task at hand.

Once everyone was at their stations, Maxun closed and sealed the hatch. "Mister Razka, as soon as you have clearance from the...well, the individual that you left in charge while we are away...please take us out and bring us to a stationary position centered on the bow of the ship, at a kilometer distance."

Kas got permission to launch from the bridge and they off, as the runabout left the shuttlebay and moved to position. Maxun moved over to his Science Chief. "Miss Capulet, as you are better at sensors, I want you to devise a program that will make us seem invisible to the Astrea's sensors. Use any means necessary. As we are the villains here, we are going to act like it." He turned and addressed the rest of the team. "And that goes for everyone. The Astrea will be playing by Starfleet rules. As we know what those rules are, we know where we can avoid them. Mister Razka, Mister Kas, this means not flying like Starfleet. Be creative in your maneuvers. Don't give them a chance to find a pattern. Nash? Your main job will be to shut down the Astrea in such a way, that we four would be able to take her with as little simulated bloodshed as possible. We may be pirates, but I don't like getting blood on my ships. It's hell to clean." He then looked at Nevan. "Petty Officer Kayto, I'm going to need you to be a jack of all trades, I'm afraid. Lend your assistance to any team member that requires it." He grinned slightly, then asked the group, "any questions?"

"Aye aye cap'n, Bosun Kayto at your service" the man quipped back jokingly. It was time to start coloring outside the lines. Nevan went and found himself a station near Nash in case he needed something for the moment.

Chrysanth merely nodded pulled a small tricorder like device from her jacket pocket and placed it on the console. "Sensor uplink commenced" a small voice came from the device. "Orders?"

"Link to Science station 1 on the Bridge of the Astrea. Use my codes" Chrys told the device.

"Linked" the voice replied.

Chrys then calmly began hacking the system. She had years of practice and was one of the few officers, Intelligence kept an eye on while steering clear of her. "We should blind them in 40 seconds." She announced to the group.

‘The blood comes off the bulkheads. The hands and hearts of those who shed it are never clean,’ Kas thought as he maneuvered the ship.

“Commander with the changes I made to the shield harmonics, I may be able to maneuver the Potomac inside the Astrea's shields. From there, I see two have two options. We can transport ourselves onboard, or Attach our airlock onto a maintenance hatch and enter engineering.”

Nash politely interrupted. “If I can add something, Commander….either option would require Astrea’s shields to be down, or least be at a low enough threshold to, let’s say, force our way through. A phased polaron burst, or a series of them, will weaken the shields for a short time. We can fly right through the shields and dock to an exterior hatch. If we get the timing right, Astrea won’t have time to adjust. And with the adjusted harmonics, she won’t see us until it’s too late.”

"Transporting in we'd need a way to mask ourselves re materializing, I'll come up with a series of points we could go without most likely being recognized but chances are we won't be able to all go together. We'd have to split up." Kayto added.

Maxun considered everything that was said, then spoke. "Actually, Nash, using bursts of any kind could raise alarms. However, if we adjust our shield harmonics to match those of the Astrea's, we can slip right in without them seeing us, provided their sensors are blind to our approach." He then looked at Kayto. "An excellent idea. Work with Lieutenant Capulet on it. Perhaps, we can kill two birds with one stone." He continued to think, then said, "If you two can figure out how to both beam us onto the battle bridge, and bring them here to the shuttle, which will need to have all command systems locked out, at the same time, it would go a long way to us winning and taking Astrea over."

Nevan returned a smile and then made his way over to the Science officer and found a panel next to her where he could work. He began compiling a series of locations he knew to have minimal monitoring. And while it meant more of a walk for them to make it to their destination but still maintain the element of surprise, they may have a chance to pull off what was being ordered. It was likely they would have heavy security around the battle bridge itself.


> > > TBC > > >

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