Operation Veilstrike (Part 3)
Posted on Mon Oct 28th, 2024 @ 2:07am by Captain Forest Patton & Commander Alisa Mikhailovna Kujou & Lieutenant Commander Tazuko Miyahara & Lieutenant Connor Hayden & Lieutenant JG Jessica Stewart & Ensign Camille Fortin
Edited on on Mon Oct 28th, 2024 @ 2:08am
1,442 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Mystery at Ryloth
Location: Ryloth- Operational Warehouse
Timeline: A few days after Interlude 1
Previously on Star Trek: Oceanus...
As Kimith disappeared into the cantina's crowd, Divir remained seated for a moment, deep in thought. The arrival of the USS Oceanus, the establishment of a covert base, and the involvement of Camille Fortin signaled a significant Federation interest in Ryloth.
Divir activated a secure communicator concealed within his cloak. "Divir to all units. Increase surveillance on the warehouse district and all Federation operatives. Maintain transporter inhibitors in key areas. Be prepared to intercept targets if necessary. Discretion is paramount."
A series of acknowledgments came through the device. Satisfied, Divir deactivated the communicator and stood to leave. The stakes had risen, but so had the potential rewards. If played correctly, this situation could provide invaluable intelligence—or the means to cripple Federation efforts in the sector.
As he exited the cantina into the bustling streets of Ryloth, Divir blended seamlessly with the crowd, a phantom amid the throng. The game was in motion, and he intended to control every move.
And now... the continuation!
==== The Next Day ====
It was early, and a pair of figures walked in through the the back area the taller figure paused as he heard noises from the upper level, "Wait here." Connor said as he turned from behind a stack of shipping containers, he thought he saw the Commander in the distance, "Commander is that you?"
"Yes, it's me," Forest said. "I was inspecting our stock of supplies left for us by the authorities."
"I hit a snag last night" Connor started as he pointed to Camille "The locals installed transport inhibitors everywhere in town so we have an unplanned extra."
"That'll be a problem," Franklin said. "Any options?"
"Captain..." Connor started "Our intel was very out of date, we're going to need to do a full recon of the area before we can attempt to operate as planned."
"Sorry to interrupt..." Alisa's voice said from behind them. She stood there with a rather worried look on her face and a PADD in her hand. "I have the most recent update from Starfleet Intelligence and it's not good." She said to them both. She held the PADD out for one of them to take it. "It seems Captain, that someone knows that you're here. Heavens know how though."
On the PADD read the following. 'Operation Veilstrike intelligence report 0008. Captain Forrest Patton. New intelligence information obtained from communication monitoring suggests that your presence on the planet's surface is known. This is a risk to Operation Veilstrike's success.
Captain Forrest Patton us to withdraw from the planet Ryloth effective immediately. Lieutenant Commander Alisa Mikhailovna Kujou will take command of Operation Vielstrike effective immediately.
Signed - Starfleet Intelligence & Starfleet Command'
"I've verified these orders sir. They are genuine." Alisa said.
Steven took the pad, and looked at it. "It's a valid confirmation code, looke like this mission is done before it starts."
"Not quite over." Alisa said. "We can still proceed, just without our Captain."
The room fell silent as everyone came to grips with the ramifications of this new development.
"Damn..." Forest muttered as he ran a hand through his hair. "This is definitely going to complicate things..."
Alisa turned her attention over to Connor. "Get everyone into mission control. We need to plan our next move," she told him.
Connor looked at Alisa, "What about Ms Fortin here?"
"Bring her with," Forest ordered. "As of right now, she's as much a prime target as I am, so we'll need to plan out some contingency measures to try and relocate the two of us out of harm's way."
Camille looked at Connor, "Is it always like this?"
"We haven't had a phaser fight yet, but it's early." Connor said as he directed her over too the control room.
====Mission Control====
"So," Forest began as he turned to address the away team. "As it stands, we now have three major setbacks working against our favor: first, they know I'm here, so it's only going to be a matter of time before everyone else's position here is compromised; second, the locals have installed transporter inhibitors, so it'll be next-to-impossible for us to beam out; and as if that weren't already bad enough, the information that we previously were previously working off of is out-of-date, so we lack the advantage of the high ground."
He leaned forward, pressing his full weight against the rusty old conference table from which his subordinates were sitting. "I need ideas, and I need them ASAP; the longer we stand around here, the greater our chances of ending up in harm's way. No idea here is going to be treated as too crazy."
Connor looked around, "Intel kept a crash pad in town which we can assume is compromised too, keeping a low profile is a lot harder now, Camille and I could scout for a fallback location."
Jessica piped up "Would it not be simpler to have a half Klingon/human walk around unnoticed?" as she knew that no one would look twice at her, " I can check out the Pad under the house name," as it could be used as an embassy which under law no one would then dare touch.
"I like your thinking, Lieutenant," Forest concurred. "So long as no one sees you entering or leaving these premises, they probably won't think twice about associating you with me. At the same time, however, I don't think it's wise for you to be out there on your own, so it may behoove us to send you out with a small security detail, while still maintaining a low profile."
He glanced over at Tazuko. "Commander, your thoughts?"
"Given the patterns of hostility between the Klingon and Romulan Empires, a safehouse under the guise of a Klingon embassy would be a smart play." Tazuko commented. "However, in order for it to work, there needs to not already be a Klingon Embassy here on Ryloth, as it will then be easy to spot the phony embassy."
Forest nodded and turned his attention over to Connor. "Mister Hayden, given your experience, what would you say is the overall feasibility of this plan?"
"There's an old farm north-east of here that's another safehouse from the old days, it's remote, we can use transporters without notice and I know it's got a supply cache and it would be easier than trying to maintain a cover of some embassy, plus if we have any unwanted guests it's easily defended or evacuated." Connor said then added, "It's more comfortable than this place as well."
Forest carefully considered his options. "While I agree that the second option would be more economical, I think we still need to ascertain whether or not the location is out of the range of the transporter inhibitors before we relocate the bulk of our operations there."
He turned to Jessica. "To that end, I think Miss Stewart should scout out the farmstead, determine if we can safely beam an object back up to the Oceanus if we need to get out of here in a hurry."
Connoe smirked, "Since I know where it is I'll be tagging along, along with miss Fortin."
"Might I suggest that Lieutenant Hiiragi tag along with the test object in question:" Tazuko offered. "A crate of medical supplies would fly under the radar easier than munitions would."
"I agree," Forest nodded before turning his attention to Alisa. "Commander, would you care to offer your two cents before we set things into motion?"
"There may be a way to relocate and cover our tracks," Alisa said. "If we make it look like we've left and packed up. Then the Romulans will be more at ease." She explained. "We can have the Oceanus break orbit, hide her behind one of the planet's moons out of sight of their sensors. After we beam everything up and over to the new location. Hopefully they'll think we've left and their guard will drop a little. That'll give us opportunity to move in and snatch them."
"We are officially outside transporter inhibitors, but I'd like to mess with anyone whose followed us by chance by taking a sight seeing ride keeping anyone guessing on our exact numbers that this is little more than a small operation at the moment." Connor said as he reached for his backpack again.
"A clever bait-and-switch tactic; I like it," Forrest grinned, before turning to address the gathered assemblage. "Alright, everyone, listen up! So here's how things are going to go down..."
To be continued...
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