Beachhead

Posted on Tue Oct 19th, 2021 @ 3:01pm by Captain Shran dh'Klar & Lieutenant Commander Deanna Celes & Lieutenant Ayana Hillis & Lieutenant Aiko Kato & Lieutenant Commander Shoniara T’ghann-Travis Dr

Mission: Breen in Paradise
Location: Class-P planet

Weasley took point as they continued through the tunnel. Ayana was behind him only about 10 ft. and Shran and Celes were closely behind her, with Dex and Aiko along with the other security officer bringing up the rear. Celes continued to scan and monitor the information in her tricorder as they pressed forward in a very slow and deliberate fashion.

As Aiko pressed deeper into the tunnel with the Away Team, she kept her eyes peeled as best as she could. She wondered what possible motive the Breen would have for establishing a beachhead in Federation space. It was a clear act of war with little wiggle room for interpretation or explaining away.

Even if the Breen were counting on their presence being covert, the risk-benefit ratio for potentially incurring the wrath of the Federation was too high a risk - in Aiko's opinion anyway.

And it was this thought that perplexed her the most. Was this some breakaway faction that had somehow gone rogue, or was this covert mission sanctioned by the Breen government? She suspected those were the kind of questions that the Captain was seeking to find.

The gravity of this mission suddenly dawned on her. She wondered if this team and their actions to date and in the next few hours were the opening paragraph to yet another war. Was the Federation ready for that, she pondered.

Was she ready? The question hung in her mind unanswered.

Dex continued slowly and silently along the tunnel taking up the rear with Aiko and the security officer. She suddenly remembered she had not asked him his name. She always made it a priority to make sure she had everyone’s names on away teams, It made it much easier to reassure a crew member whose name one knew. She glanced again at Aiko still worried about her. She thought about the Breen and why they were on this world, also what did it have to do with the virus that had been loose on the ship. She smiled with grim satisfaction at the thought of asking them ‘nicely’ to give up that particular secret. She shivered ‘it was very cold despite her Arctic gear, she was not used to this much cold. She had recorded their temperatures as they had entered the cave system and decided to check everyone again once, and if they stopped. Captain Shran of course would be in his element.

Celes looked at Shran as she was continuing her scans. Shran got Ayana's attention quickly and they stopped. He looked to Celes, "What is it Deanna?"

"I am detecting power signatures, Breen power signatures. Multiple life signatures. I believe we are coming up on an open cavern space, and detecting two large flowing underground springs that are along the border that come to a joining point on the far side. It would seem we have found what you are looking for captain."

Shran considered the information. He wasn't with a large offensive force, but perhaps the size of his team would allow for covert. "Is the base shielded?"

"I am detecting a shield generator, but currently inactive. We are not expected."

Shran smiled as an idea began to come into his mind. "Did you bring the gear?"

Celes nodded. "Of course sir."

Shran called Ayana over and then turned and called Dex and Aiko over as well. "This is going to be fun."

Dex caught Shran up and looked quizzically at him not sure that the possible loss of life and injuries could be called ‘fun’. Since arriving on board this was the most animated that she had seen him, almost happy. She looked for Aiko still worried about her and her last involvement with the Breen.

Aiko walked over to Shran and the other members feeling the gnawing cold in her bone. She was grateful for the small measure of warmth that came with huddling together. She let her rifle sling down her shoulder as she blew warm air into her palm and rubbed it together to create heat in them.

"Fun sir?" she repeated curious to know what was about to go down. "Pray tell...anything that's going to get the blood running is welcome about now." She did not know if the others that did not have a natural affinity for the colder environment were feeling the same biting cold that she did. Aside from Dex, whom she had seen shiver every now and then, the security team was very stoic and controlled in their movements and attitude.

It almost made Aiko wonder if she was lax in upkeeping with her training regimen.

Dex moved up to her. She withdrew a small square and activated the heat inside. She gave it to Aiko. “This should warm your hands up, lasts a couple of minutes, not long but it is better than nothing. How are you holding up?”

"Bless your heart," Aiko nearly exclaimed as Aiko activated the device and instantly felt warmth in her hand. She turned to Dex, "I've been better," she replied truthfully, grinning to herself as she thought the overconfident she had given the transporter chief about her ability to handle the cold just before beaming down. "That said, I've also experienced worse...so I guess it's a matter of perspective."

Celes began digging equipment from her backpack. She was pulling out some sort of strange looking metallic armbands. She handed three to Ayana and one to Shran and then walked over and handed one each to Dex and Aiko.

"Perks of having friends in high places in the intelligence community" Celes said with a smirk.

Shran put the armband on. He looked at Dex and Aiko, "As I said, fun." He looked at Celes and she nodded.

"Personal cloaking devices. Developed during the Dominion War based on information gathered about the Jem'Hadar." She gave another devilish grin.

Dex was surprised, the Vulcan science Academy had been working on personal cloaking devices for years, and here they were. ‘This would be…interesting’. She put it on. ‘How did it work’ she thought? She looked at Shran, he looked so…..animated, much more so that when he was on the bridge, he seemed to be enjoying this much more and Dex wondered if this had been his life at some time. She knew Andorians were secretive about their personal lives and although there was some background to his medical records she found herself interested in the man himself. She checked on Aiko.

Aiko smiled reassuringly at Dex, feeling much better. There was quite nothing like new fancy gadgets to boost the mood and it was sweetened all the more by the fact that the said fancy toy gave them a significant tactical advantage of the Breen.

She put on the armband and studied it briefly before turning to Shran knowing that the Captain was about to issue his orders for engaging the Breen.

"The devices are fairly easy to use. They sync up with your brainwaves. Once activated you can actually simply think about cloaking of decloaking and you actually will. For those of us with telepathic abilities, they work even better, with a better signal strength. One thing of note, they will mask your devices as well unless you lose physical contact with them. And you will decloak for a split second should you fire a weapon, so keep that in mind before firing a phaser." Celes looked at Shran.

"Thanks for the quick briefing Deanna. Now then, we'll continue moving towards the base like normal for now. Once the base is in sight, we'll activate the cloak and penetrate the base unseen. For now, we'll remain a single unit, though we may break into groups if necessary once we breach the Breen encampment. Questions?"

“Captain” Dex asked, “may I ask exactly what our mission here is bearing in mind I am responsible for the medical care of our team and possibly wounded Breen?” What she really meant to ask was Is this really necessary, to endanger the lives she was responsible for.

"Doctor, you know more about this Breen virus than anyone else. I suspect they may have vital information here regarding it, perhaps even a laboratory where it was cooked up. I'm certain you'd be interested in seeing the information about that virus yourself and if possible, disposing of that virus firsthand. As for the rest of us, well, they are in Federation territory and have initiated hostilities towards the Federation with an unprovoked attack on Casperia Prime and with an act of bioterrorism on my ship. Either of these things would be considered acts of war. It would be my job to stop their hostilities and that is just what we are going to do." Shran looked focused, intense even, a look quite different from his typical subdued one.

“Thank you Captain for reassuring me we will not be having too much…. Fun.” She raised an eyebrow. “I would indeed like to get my hands on the virus, but, I will of course remember that even in war there may be simple acts of kindness that might not go unnoticed.” She smiled at him. She had not seen that look in his eyes before and was reminded of Puss on Vulcan searching for a small p’siat amongst the rocks both that same intense look.

"No question from me Captain," Aiko replied. She was curious to try out this personal cloaking device, but beyond that, she was also eager to put an end to this Breen incursion.

Shran and the away team proceeded forward through the passageways in a slow and cautious manner. Ayana was keeping a close eye on things as Celes remained glued to her tricorder and Shran was using his extrasensory perception that came from his antennae. Despite all of that, they remained a very cautious group. Finally, after 15 minutes of slow movement they came to a stop as the perimeter of the Breen beachhead was located.

Shran looked at Celes who nodded a few moments later and then looked at Ayana, and then looked back at Dex and Aiko and gave them the basic gist of what was happening next telepathically. They were going to cloak and make for what looked to be either a science building or possibly a storage bunker. IN either case it looked like the place to be. Everyone would need to move swiftly and as silently as possible.

TBC