[PO3 Jovireh Velal - Serenity Colony - Main St.]

Jov gave Left Ear a reassuring smile, shaking her head slightly. "That's alright. I'm probably just being paranoid." Almost as soon as she was done speaking, there was a loud roar of an engine that was quite out of place in a location such as this, combined with a ruckus of tossed stones, metal collisions, gushing water... "Take cover!" she shouted to the team, drawing her phaser and spinning to face the vehicle that approached.

It stopped, and a large Orion got out and started to approach them, speaking to the colonists. So this was not the first appearance of the Syndicate. Sometimes Jovireh hated being right. Adjusting into a stable stance, she aimed her phaser at the Orion, speaking firmly and with authority. "This colony is under protection of Starfleet. I suggest you leave. Now." Somehow she doubted he'd heed her warning, especially if he was aware that their ship had just departed. But unless he became physically violent, she was obligated to try and diffuse the situation verbally. Sometimes she really hated that too.

[ CPO Kaya Som | Town Hall -> Outside to Main St ]

Kaya and Taron Lars' congenial chat had turned to shop talk, Taron self-effacing but proud of their agricultural systems and Kaya keen to

Then suddenly there was a ground-shaking crash outside and the entire town hall shook to its foundation, dust falling from the ceiling beams. Kaya instinctively ducked and she wasn't the only one who immediately made for the door.

Her first instinct was that it was an earthquake like the ones she'd grown used to on Trill, but quickly she realized it was nothing of the sort. Out in the gleaming light of day she saw the crash-landed ship in the demolished street and the figures emerging already confronted by Starfleet security.

Kaya swore under her break and Taron took a few steps back again. He knew what this was. If they could all just stay calm, he hoped.

"Who is that?" Kaya asked aloud.

"Not one to be messed about with," Taron answered through a stiffened jaw.

[ LT Joshua Niles - Serenity Colony, Main Street ]

Word that the Mac was being called away was not exactly a welcome sort of news for the Lieutenant.  Front Ear and the Mac dangling at the very far end of a very tenuous support chain was already a challenge in its own right, but leaving an away team unsupported on the ground,  was definitely not his idea of fun. Hell, being out on a barely-armed converted freighter hunting pirates was less than pleasant in its own right, but without so much as a paper-thin hull and some popguns on hand was its own breed of less than ideal in his mind.  

And it would play merry hell with his already disrupted time estimates, as even if the ground station components for the satellites, comms relays, sensors and weapons platforms were delivered, they would be little more than high-tech paperweights until the spaceborne assets could be deployed, which would require Mac and her small craft to get done.  Well, at least they came with a simulation mode so depending on how long the Mac would be gone, he would have an opportunity to start training what people Sheriff Marais intended to have manning those systems.  

However, if Starfleet had to have a second motto, it would be "Never get in love with any of your plans, because Murphy", and he would have to roll with those punches.  

As such, he would have to satisfy himself with the tour, and a less stringent timetable for the time being.  And besides, he reckoned there was much he could learn from Lang Marais, even in a short amount of time.  

However, those thoughts were interrupted when a small craft, heavily armed came screaming in and performed a swift landing right on the street, taking no particular care to avoid impacting anything.  From a red fixture that had been knocked down, a jet of water started shooting up into the sky like a geyser as landing legs crunched through the street's cobblestones.  However, this was not an out-of-control operation to Niles' eyes, it was a rapid insertion; he should know, he'd had to do much of the same in his flight training.  

Velal, thought, was the first one to respond as individuals, clearly well-armed thugs, came streaming out of the craft, and as he reached for his own phaser, he noticed the resigned look on Lang Marais face.  The old man hadn't even reached for his weapon, and he held out a hand towards the Lieutenant to indicate a need for restraint.  "Son, don't," he said softly, regretfully, and a hint of disgust dripping from his voice; that was a man who knew what he was facing, and had absolutely no liking for it.  And, even as the engineers were coming out of the town hall, and before any shooting would start, Niles understood that while the odds didn't look too bad just now, Marais knew something he didn't, something he didn't like but had accepted.  "Lower your weapon, PO."  Niles' voice was firm and even, and certainly sounding much more confident than he really felt.  Oh, he expected she wouldn't like that order; in fact he didn't like it himself.   But right now, there was exactly one individual with security experience present who knew what the hell was going on, and if he was stepping on an obvious desire to be doing something about it, then local experience had to be taken into account.  "Stand down, and you will not open fire unless ordered by Commander Quinn or myself.  Acknowledge the order, Petty Officer Velal."  

The Tactical Officer's voice hardened to what was a clear and unequivocal 'command' tone.  It rankled, but it was, in his judgement, the most appropriate thing to do.

[Lt. Commander Isaiah Quinn - Main Street, Serenity]

It wasn't ideal for the Mac to be called away with the away team planet-side, but it was always a possibility of the job. Still, this was a situation where they were dealing with Federation citizens, and not an unknown quantity. For the most part, this was a relatively non-hostile situation and fairly routine. Quinn briefly took inventory of the away team before turning his attention back to Mara so that she could proceed with the tour and answering his questions. "Now, where were we?" he asked.

The supplies were soon beamed down in the location that Quinn had suggested. He wanted to proceed with some of the tour before dispatching Velal to deal with distributing those supplies as Niles had assigned her. It made sense to get a general lay of the land if only to make her duties more efficient. Not to mention gain a little insight into his own queries currently plaguing him about this place. Serenity was living up to its name all too well. And Mara Rexan had found a clever way to dance around answering some of his most direct and simple questions.

Quinn was just about to state as much when the unexpected happened upon them. A loud rumbling crash of some sort of airship seemed to capture all of their attention. He applauded the quickness of his security team, but it soon became apparent how futile such gestures were. Niles was right. Cooler heads would prevail here, and Velal seemed to understand as much as she followed the lieutenant's orders. Quinn couldn't help but notice something he hadn't noticed at first about the colonists. There was an air of familiarity. Suffice it to say they were no were near as surprised as the rest of the away team.

"You anticipated this, didn't you?" Quinn confronted Mara. His eyes narrowed as he stared at her. "You knew... and said nothing." Whatever her reasons, as far as Quinn was concerned, they had better have been pretty damned good. If this was what had been going on before they arrived, a lot of things were finally beginning to add up. The elevated number of supplies... the radio silence.... Quinn reached up to tap his commbadge only to hear it wouldn't establish it's typical link. The Mac was (most likely) still out of range or the communications net surrounding them had been jammed.

Quinn's eyes fell to the large Orion that began barking orders. This wasn't going to be a situation that they could shoot themselves out of. They were outnumbered, outgunned, but from where Quinn stood, certainly not outsmarted or outclassed. It was a theory he aimed to put to the test. If only to buy them all enough time for the Mac to return. Because when it did, Thea would surely try to establish communication with the team, and when she didn't, well... they just had to hold out that long.

The Orion seemed amused by Velal's declaration that the colony was under Starfleet's protection. It quickly became apparent that the Orion was arrogant, and clearly dealing from a position of strength. He was too comfortable. Perhaps that was something that Quinn could use. He fired his rifle, stunning the sheriff. A similar fate was met by the other colonists. Only Mara and the away team remained standing.  As the Orion ordered them to surrender, Quinn nodded to his officer signaling for them to comply.

"You really didn't think any of this through, did you?" Isaiah said. "You had a working arrangement before. That's certainly over now. If you'd only waited a few hours, you could have kept this going on indefinitely. Clearly, you know how to apply pressure. You had the colonists right where you wanted them." Isaiah took a deep breath. "It says quite a lot about you. Mainly... that you're not the one calling the shots. It's a clear preponderance of testicular fortitude in the vast absence of rudimentary aptitude."

Quinn slowly lifted his hands as his eyes kept on the Orion. Somehow, he felt if the Orion's attention was on him, the rest of the away team was somewhat safer. Plus, he wanted to see just how much he could learn from this Orion, such as why they were there. Despite his postering, Quinn was confident in his tactical assessment. It was foolish to act now, when they could have waited for the Mac and the away team to leave. That naturally suggested that they had some other motive this time. The only question was what.

---

Tag: Thea Baker (Mara), Judith Eastman (Jaggah), Joshua Niles , Shavan Th'zhaar , Kaya Som , Jovireh Velal , Ozu Saya (Left Ear)

[Lt Shavan Th’zhaar - Main Street, Serenity]

Shavan tilted his antennae forward as he felt a sudden foreboding and sensed something moving in that direction. That was all the warning he got, before a fraction of a second later the raiders ship crashed into the street ready to fire. He didn’t think, just reacted on instinct and ducked for cover behind a low wall, drawing his phaser.

Within seconds, they were surrounded. Shavan froze, a cold, sinking feeling in his gut. He barely registered the exchange between the security officers, the stunned colonists or the click of the phaser’s power dying.

He’d seen this enough times, albeit from the other side, to know what to do without thinking. Just stay quiet and let them have what they wanted. Which was clearly more than just the supplies, but that fact didn't change the immediate situation. As much as he would have loved to vaporize the man in charge, that wasn’t happening. Resistance right now would only make things worse for the colonists.

Slowly, he lowered the weapon.

[Charlie Fox - Common Area, Enlisted Quarters]

"Yes! Round and floaty." Charlie's eye was still closed, like she was looking into the scope of a gun. Or drunk. "Pah, cube. Cube!" She rolled her eyes then, but her gaze returned quickly to Kaya's hands as she sensed their approach to the home stretch. There was quiet for a few moments as the engineer worked, sure hands moving to complete the former battle drone; to make him whole again.

Whole and round.

Charlie bit her lip when the time came to test out efficacy of all the efforts. The mess on Kerelia, the unexpected emotions during her ride back to Front Ear, and then the tentative hope when the trill engineer offered to help, all of that had built to this moment. She pulled her PADD from behind her, were it had slid down the back of the chair's crappy, deflated cushion, and tapped the screen. The connection appeared immediately. "So far so good..."

She activated Olsen. The little holorecorder blinked at them once, twice, then a steady, tiny light followed by a near-silent whir as it began to rise into the air. The noise Charlie herself made resembled an excited creature being offered its favourite treat. She raised her arm and twisted her wrist, index finger drawing a circle in the air. Olsen responded by sailing across the room, his main recording lens following them, the subject, as the drone itself flew a 360° maneuver. She'd been afraid that all programming would have been lost to damage and that she'd have to begin again from the ground up, but it seemed like the basics at least had been retained in memory.

Smiling, Charlie held out her hand, palm up, and waited as Olsen hovered toward home. "Thanks, Kaya," she muttered. "I owe you one."

[Kova Sh'qaleq - Chief Engineer's Office, Front Ear Station ]

It was quite possible that any response that left Saya's lips would be an annoyance, but the raising of that damned raised Vulcan eyebrow was an insult to injury. It was the most sanctimonious gesture the entire race had. It was the grandest nonverbal insult. Humans tended to raise their middle finger to deliver such a message. Klingons laughed at you. Ferengi... existed hissed. But Vulcans... it was as if they decided to not make an effort at insulting you with that eyebrow.

"Uncomfortable?!" Kova repeated. She was just about to explain in explicit detail just how uncomfortable it had been when a bonafide waste of green-blooded space made his presence known. Why he had decided to personally thank Ozu for preferential treatment in person was beyond her. Though, that wasn't enough. He went on to deal his usual juvenile insults, though not only at Kova, but at her entire race.

Before Kova knew it, she had ceased a handful of his uniform, and taken a step to close the distance between herself and the Vulcan. This was likely what he wanted. Some sort of excuse to force her into a cell, or to have her lose her position in the Security office. To wipe that smug look from his face, it would have been well worth it. Though, instead of giving him any further ammunition, she simply glared into his eyes. "Don't test me, phuuzhca[fn]anal orifice[/fn]!" Kova continued to glare at him. "Just ask any Klingon what they think about today." It was the only warning he was going to get. She began to release her hold of his uniform, disgusted with even touching him at all.

[Lt. Paawin Riyo - Front Ear - Sickbay]

In the midst of preparing the anesthetic, Riyo paused when he heard a rather strange sound come out of the patient's mouth, followed by a bunch of words that made no sense in a sentence. Suddenly concerned about the potential for neural trauma, he grabbed his tricorder and turned to face the biobed. Immediately recognizing the dazed and amused expression on Sven's face, he relaxed with a soft chuckle. He was high as a satellite. While it wasn't a common reaction to the medication, it wasn't unheard of, and wasn't any cause for concern. Being high was better than being in agony. "That's a fascinating thought, Mr. Aune. Keep on it and let me know what you come up with." Finishing preparing the anesthetic, he injected it against the man's large neck, hoping it took affect as quickly as the last one did.

[T’Laara - Park -> Deck 15]

T’Laara stared in dismay at the bowl of soup that materialized instead of a towel, the tips of her ears turning green as she continued to drip water on the floor in front of the captain. “Thank you, but it would be more logical for me to return to my own quarters to change.” It would only mean the difference of a few more minutes in the turbolift, which she followed the couple to, but then stood back and waited for one going in the right direction instead.

And waited. And.. waited. Finally, the door swept open, and she stepped forward, only to gasp and jerk back as she almost fell through empty air. More cautiously, T’Laara held onto the side of the door frame and stared down the empty tunnel plummeting into darkness. Tilting her head up, she thought she could just make out the bottom of the lift stuck a few decks above.

Fortunately, the same lift Judy and Max had taken came back again, and appeared to be functioning normally. “Deck 15,” she instructed, shivering a little. The cold only got worse as she stepped out into the corridor outside her quarters, which was absolutely freezing. What was going on today?