Battle of the Computer Core

Posted on 20 Mar 2017 @ 3:31pm by Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Commodore Harvey Geisler & Lieutenant Commander Temerant Bast & Lieutenant Commander Gemma Alexander & Lieutenant JG Dean Winchester

5,700 words; about a 29 minute read

Mission: Endgame
Location: Secondary Core - DS 11
Timeline: MD 17

Previously

Once everyone was down, Camila checked her tricorder and saw the secondary computer core was just ahead of them. "Leave the forcefield generator there," she instructed, which would block station personnel from approaching them from behind for a short time. She checked her Type III phaser rifle and started forward with the others coming up behind her.

Bast felt a cold touch in the back of his mind. Instinctively he jumped, and raised his weapon, searching the corridor in front of them. "They're here," he called out.

Now

The moment Commander Bast said that words that chilled her spine, Camila paused and looked at the others. "From here on out, everyone needs to keep a sharp eye on what's around us," she said. "If you see a team member acting strangely, don't hesitate to stun them. They may be under Selamat control. If you see something that shouldn't be here or find yourself someone else, call for help in any way that you can. Eyes open, ears open and let's move." She checked her tricorder for life signs, then headed forward with her Type III phaser rifle leading the way and hoped that she didn't end up having to shoot one of her own people.

Thatcher swallowed nervously but carefully held her own phaser rifle as she moved next to Bast, her senses on hit alert as adrenaline flowed. She didn't want to even take her hands off her weapon long enough to reprogram her wrist mounted tricorder to improve it, she just tried keep it in focus as she watched corridor and anyone in her peripheral vision. She kept the fear at possibly being taken over in the deep, back of her mind as she focused on doing her job and tried to keep her breathing even.

Winchester clinched his jaw and moved to the rear, covering the team. He was a little nervous, but more than anything else resolved not to let anything or anyone sneak up or even get close to the team.

Bast swallowed hard as he made a visual scan of the area. He could see nothing out of the ordinary, but the unmistakable cold touch of the Selamat was very present in the back of his mind. His eyes kept going around the room. He looked at the Andorian guard standing next to him. The Ensign's antennae twitched nervously as he turned his phaser rifle every which way, spinning in circles, examining every nook and corner in the room they were in.

"There!" called out the Andorian, his antennae standing upright. "A Selamat!"

He pointed at Thatcher, and raised his rifle to fire.

Thatcher had started to turn at the call of a Selamat in the direction of the voice, her eyes scanning but not seeing one. What she saw as she spun around was one of her teammates pointing a weapon at her. Her own was already raised because of the situation. At the Chief's words she nodded, "Th'or remember me we trained together, I owe you 5 credits because of last weeks card game..." She said not sure what would help not wanting to stun him but ready if it came to that. What really concerned her was if he was affected there was a Selamat nearby, so out of the corner of her eye she saw Bast and tried to keep him in focus just in case.

Th'orherhohr nervously shifted his weight from foot to foot as he wielded his phaser rifle at the Selamat figure standing before him. "You're not Thatcher...." he said, anxiety and distress making his voice quiver. "You're a Selamat... You got that information out of my brain somehow..."

Meanwhile Bast checked the display on his tricorder, and continued visually scanning the corridor for evidence of the Selamat. His eyes settled on a recessed area, where his tricorder's thermal scans indicated a slight temperature variation. He fired a phaser pulse, and a Selamat figure crumpled to the ground.

Winchester meanwhile saw Th'orherhohr aiming at Thatcher. Hoping to divert his attention and keep Thatcher from getting hurt, and keeping his weapon in the low ready position, he yelled, "Th'orherhohr, you want to point that at a Selamat, point it at me, I'm a Selamat!"

"Stop!" Camila ordered Winchester as she saw Ensign Th'orherhohr aim at Thatcher. She quickly brought her rifle around like a club and smacked the Andorian in the wrist to make him drop the Type III. "Snap out of it, Th'orherhohr! We're your friends!"

She looked to Bast when he fired his phaser and then saw the Selamat. "Nice shooting, Commander," she said. "Are you okay, Ensign?" she asked the Andorian while keeping her rifle ready.

The Andorian let out a sharp yelp as Camila struck his wrist with her rifle. He lowered his own phaser, and clutched his bruised wrist with his free hand. His antennae were moving rapidly, dropping close to his forehead, extending updards, then falling to the sides, retracting and extending, betraying his level of agitation. His eyes moved to each of his teammates in confusion as he tried to catch his breath. He finally let his eyes rest on Thatcher.

"I could have sworn..." he said finally.

Thatcher gave a small understanding and sympathetic smile, "That's what they do, make reality shift for you. Fortunately we've got advantages..." She nodded at Di Pasquele and Bast thankfully, "We can do this. No hard feelings, Just take a second, breath and settle, alright?" she said really thankful the Chief stopped him from shooting her and Commander Bast made it unneeded that Thatcher stun her shipmate. She had felt a vague sense of something but was not near enough to have gotten her around in time.

Not far away, what was left Deep Space 11's security had gathered around the computer core. Most of the other boarding parties had been repelled, and it was now down to two different teams; one from the Valcour and the other from the Black Hawk. As security elements could now focus on the remaining teams, Lieutenant Shirsh Furarn, the station's Assistant Chief of Security and a Tellarite, sent a scout party head to probe what was coming their way. Normally, sensors would be used, but one of the repelled teams had already found a way to disable the station's sensors so that personnel could travel undetected. A Selamat scout had just reported the location of the team from the Black Hawk and gone silent.

Just ahead of the Black Hawk team, two armed crewman peered around the corner. The Black Hawk team appeared distracted, likely the fallout from overpowering the nearby downed Selamat. As one of the scout team prepared to call in the location, the other peered out from behind their cover and fired a blast at the clustered boarding party, hoping to reduce the strength of the oncoming storm. If this shot missed, then the security crewman's career was over anyway.

Camila's attention jerked from the Ensign the moment she heard the whine of a phaser and saw Petty Officer Araws Norass go down. She jerked her phaser rifle around and fired without aiming as she laid down cover fire as there was no place to take cover. "Everyone, lay down a barrage and follow me!" she yelled before she headed directly toward the source of the phaser fire.

Four Security personnel fell in step behind the Chief, firing at random in overlaying laps of fire while the two remained with Thatcher, Winchester and Commander Bast and layed down some cover fire, too.

Bast moved close to the wall, took aim at the attacking officers from the station, and fired. But the officers were nimble and had minimized their exposure, taking cover behind crates that were lining the corridor.

Winchester re-energized his sheild and steped out in the middle of the corrador, laying down withering fire down from where they were being advanced on.

Sparks and debris flew from the bulkheads behind the scout team. The one who fired, peered out and squeezed off a couple more shots at the unprotected oncoming storm before standing and retreating.

Thatcher moved in front of Bast, thinking "Of course they attack when there’s no cover" in a way one might remark upon the weather. "Shield Wall" she said thinking to protect the fallen petty officer, Commander Bast and fire from a position of some bit protection. In a fluid motion she swung the phaser rifle on hits strap on her back as, with her other hand, pulled the shield she carried in front of her. She held the shield up and pulled out her type two, she sensed the body of Norass just behind her and as the others gave covering fire, risked a quick glance at her tricorder to check his vitals and note other station teams nearby as she moved toward the Chief, giving covering fire. She mentally cursed as the Petty Officers vitals were gone.

One of the Security personnel grabbed a Anesthazine grenade, activated it and threw it down the hall seconds before he went down.

"Masks on!" Camila said as she put her own on and continued to lay down a barrage of fire. She paused to switch out the cell of her rifle before she began firing again as they fought for every inch of ground to the core.

At the Chief's yell Thatcher ducked her head behind her shield long enough to pull the mask, hanging around her neck, back on her face. It was a bit restrictive carrying a shield since it occupied one hand but for Thatcher it's benefits shouldn't be ignored. At a little less than 5'4 she wasn't tall and could with 'turtling' hide 3/4 of her body behind it. So decent were her defensive tactics that Turtle was her nickname at the academy. Her body sideways, better to protect her body she moved forward carefully and constantly firing.

Winchester still continued to advance, his rate of fire never letting up.

As the patrol had retreated, there was no one left to take down. The fire from the Black Hawk's team, however, caused considerable damage to the bulkhead. There had one section to go until they arrived at the core.

Bast sealed his face mask, and followed the group, phaser held at the ready.

* * *

The scouts returned from their patrol and dove behind some of the cover that had been set up. "Lieutenant," the lead officer reported, "We saw ten intruders. One of them is down, but the rest will be here soon."

Lieutenant Shirsh Furarn, the Tellarite leader, growled at the report. "You should have died stopping them," he told them. Only he and two others near him knew the truth: The Consortium controlled Deep Space 11. If they were to survive this situation, then all of the invaders had to die, and everyone on his team was expendable.

And, if it looked like they would lose, Shirsh had orders to destroy the computer core. Other plans were in place for the Starbase, but the invaders could not be allowed to complete their mission. The Tellarite nodded to the two Selamat near him, who then disappeared into alcoves, preparing to snag the weaker minded ones as they came into range. If only they'd been paying closer attention to their flank...

From the other end of the corridor, Lyzandra and a couple men who were all too eager to do her bidding took aim at the group guarding the computer core. The two male officers were armed with Type III phaser rifles while she was armed with two Type II. The Orion woman looked between the two males with her and nodded her head, then the three of them began laying down a field of fire against DS11 personnel.

Unlike Camila's team, they didn't have masks, so they'd have to do what they could before making a hasty retreat once the gas got close enough to them. It was time to be free, and she saw the Black Hawk's as her ticket to that freedom.

The Selamat immediately went to work on these new arrivals but found their minds had already been warped by another. Overcoming that hurdle would be impossible, but controlling one mind would gain them three allies. As station security reacted, firing towards their rear flank, one of the Selamat probed the mind of the Orion woman, searching for something to use against them, all the while attempting to introduce the concept that her team was being fired upon from the rear.

Lyzandra felt it before she looked in the Selamat's direction. The influence was just too strong, and even if she wanted to fight against it, it would just be too hard. The Orion woman turned and began to fire behind them. Even though there was no one there to the others, she saw something entirely different. It was up to her to see to it that they remained safe.

The two officers with her thought it odd that she was firing upon nothing, but focused on what was happening in front of them. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know her actions weren't her own, and with that, the Selamat became the sole targets of their phaser fire. The phaser rifles were set to kill, and with their training, their aim was quite accurate. If they could take down the largest threats, the rest would be easier.

The Selamat had concealed themselves from view. Visual contact did indeed aide their efforts to probe minds, but as a species, they had become quite adept at sensing minds and twisting them. The Orion and her followers would not score a shot, but he could trick them into firing upon the EPS relays. One well placed shot, and four sections would erupt in plasma fires, disabling the intruders and preventing anyone from getting to the core.

Lyzandra felt her mind clear and blinked, then quickly turned back around. There was a haze of gas down the corridor, and without the proper equipment, running toward it was a bad idea. Still... there were people down there that needed her help, and she could hold her breath for at least a full minute before she needed to breathe.

With her mind made up, the Orion woman charged forward, waiting until the very last second to take the final breath she'd hold until she couldn't any longer. If she didn't make it off of the planetary base, at least she'd take comfort in knowing she and the others under the Consortium's thumb would be free. That's what mattered. That was all that mattered.

* * *

Hearing the whine of phaser fire ahead of them, Camila wondered if the still loyal Starfleet personnel on the station were taking a stand. Since no shots were coming at them, she activated her tricorder and saw the alien code of a Selamat which was hiding nearby. She activated her exographic targeting sensor and raised her Type III to the highest setting and vaporized the section of wall near where it was hiding and watched in satisfaction as the signal disappeared. "Move out!" she said as she switched out her power cell and charged forward again.

Without hesitation Thatcher followed her Chief, pausing to switch from a type 2 and shield to the phaser rifle before continuing carefully but swiftly. It was a trade off more fire power less protection but Thatcher felt they would need to go for broke to get this done.

"Be careful," warned Bast. "They can make you believe you're seeing their life signs on the tricorder and trick you into firing at something that'll just explode in your face."

"Understood", Winchester said, his face red as a beat, sweat glistening on his arms and face.

When everyone was caught up, Camila activated her Exographic Targeting Sensor and looked through the bulkhead to see what or who was coming their way. She cross checked her tricorder and motioned for two personnel to deploy Anesthizine and stun grenades after making sure everyone still wore their masks.

The two Security personnel armed and launched the grenades around the corner and they detonated a second later.

The omber haired Security Chief waited a second, then ran around the corner with her phaser rifle leading the way and her finger on the trigger with everyone coming up behind her as she headed for the room that housed the secondary computer core.

Shirsh was ready. At the moment the enemy grenades were spotted, he'd ordered a few of his own to be tossed out. As soon as they exploded, three grenades were tossed towards the enemy's position. When those exploded, a barrage of phaser fire quickly followed.

Lyzandra, and the two officers with her, came to a screeching halt when they saw the phaser fire through the gas in the corridor. While they were currently safe from the phaser fire, they needed to work quickly to start dropping people as fast as they could. Ducking into an alcove, the three of them took aim and fired just to the side of the area where the beams left the enemy phasers.

There was no doubt a few of them would drop, but they'd be able to lay down enough cover fire to distract them so Camila and her team could get where they needed to go. It was time for this to end.

Thatcher saw one of them throw something and dodged to the right side opposite another group of her team just as multiple beams of phaser fire came through the gap. No matter how high tech it always felt weird to where a mask to Thatcher but she was grateful as the hall filled with smoke and gas. She knelt on one knee to minimize her target profile and carefully aimed through the gap keeping up a constant thread of fire.

To say that the Selamat were concerned simply put it mildly. Their attempts to overpower the mind of the Orion woman were not meeting much success. As station security adjusted to handle the conflict from two flanks, the Selamat reached out to the minds of the boarding party, hoping to find just one weak link that would unravel the entire team.

Phaser fire shot in multiple directions, each shot missing a living target, but creating showers of sparks and debris as the Consortium kill shots began to dismantle whatever cover their attackers had shielded themselves behind. Access to the computer core was only available from either side of this corridor junction. Though the Consortium was cornered, they could easily defend, or even destroy if it came to it, the computer core. If Starfleet were to have any success, they would have to work quickly.

"Cover me!" called out Bast, throwing down his phaser rifle. He ripped open part of the bulkhead, and tried to reach the plasma conduit, in an attempt to stop the plasma flow and prevent an explosion.

Winchester moved to within a few few feet of Bast, his weapon pointed the direction they had just came.

Camila ducked down when the grenades went off and saw two of her people go down. She set her phaser to the highest setting and wide beam, then crawled forward until she could get a view of the doorway and opened fire. She swept the Type III rifle back and forth in a devastating attack until the power cell drained, then she slapped another in and waited for the smoke and dust to clear.

The surviving Security people suddenly turned on each other and phaser fire flashed among the group with three more going down and one using it on himself due to the Selamat's influence. The remaining two regrouped with Thatcher, Bast and Winchester and pressed forward.

It was a kind of hell, smoke and phaser fire was everywhere. Random bits of the battle field flowed throughout, yells, grunts of pain, smells of burnt flesh. People she'd served with for months and through other harsh conditions turned on one another. Thatcher was mild but this made her angry, she had been mad before but this was a cold anger. She didn't even have angry tears, her face had gone hard. She followed the Chief's lead and firing on wide beam everything that moved ahead of them. It was one thing to lose a fight but to lose because someone changed your reality? That was a special violation and she knew she'd be in a long line if they safely got their hands on the Selemat. Though personally Thatcher doubted he would survive if the Black Hawk survivors got to him.

One of the Selamat went down as his cover was vaporized. The remaining Selamat was satisfied, however, as the intruding team had been cut in half and now as plasma leaked into the corridor from a ruptured EPS conduit. One well placed phaser shot now would ignite the plasma, destroying the entire section. He reached out now to a member of the remaining station security, a mind who he knew he could easily influence, to train his phaser on the combustible gas.

Meanwhile, the Tellarite officer, grabbed four men and withdrew to the computer core. If the intruders managed to survive the plasma explosion, then the next fight would be in here. Either the intruders would fall, or the core would be destroyed.

"Everyone gather up!" Camila shouted as she slung the Type III phaser over her shoulder and gathered up a Type II from one of the fallen personnel. She adjusted the settings on it and pulled her other one. "We're going in hard and fast. They hold the computer core and we need it and we need it now. We've lost too many people to not get in there and do our job. Let's move!"

It felt like slow motion to Camila as she stepped into the open, both Type II phasers leading the way as she depressed the firing studs and headed into the melee head first. Anything that resembled a body was getting a shot sent its way as she bobbed, weaved, zigged and zagged as she moved in, a primal scream ripping from her throat.

Thatcher followed without hesitation and immediately entered behind the Chief, quieter but no less enraged than the rest of the team, she dodged to one side finger almost continuously on the trigger of the phaser rifle. Her world narrowed to taking out as many of them as she could take down before they got her. She moved randomly and fired at every one of the defenders she could reach. Her rifle clicked. It had run dry, rather than take the time to reload she simply dropped it and pulled out a type 2 as she pulled a knockout gas grenade, tossing it at a knot of defenders as she continued to move.

The grenade exploded, dropping several of the station security team members. The amount of phaser fire continued to diminish as numbers fell on both sides, but it did not stop. In fact, all that remained began to train their fire on the crazed blonde who relentless charged at them. To aid the fight, the Selamat reached out to the Orion and her team once more, projecting the image of a bold blonde Rambo who was bound to overpower them -- but only if she was allowed to shoot first.

Winchester slung his weapon behind his back and charged the crazed blond, crashing into her midsection in a flurry of violence.

Lyzandra saw the crazed female version of Rambo charging and shook her head. Overpowering them wasn't going to happen. "No!" The Orion woman shouted, charging Camila with a look of pure hate in her eyes. It paid to be a bit stronger than the average human woman. She didn't even wait before closing the gap between them before she was launching herself at the Security officer's midsection.

The lone Selamat smiled, his sharp teeth exposed to the light. He was quite pleased, having finally disrupted the invaders. Even the sudden pounce by the impossibly tall security guard was unexpected, but favorable. The Selamat would use this confusion to his advantage.

All he had to do now was make sure none survived. He closed his eyes once more, focusing now on the mind of the Orion. She could overpower the blond and ensure a Consortium victory.

Thatcher was to one side of her Chief, battle having separated the team somewhat, when she turned at a shout of "No!" only to see the Orion charging at Di Pasquale. She didn't have time for pretty plots or to look for the selemat doing the damage, for she knew instinctively that's what it had to be, she just reacted. She aimed her type 2 phaser, still set to stun and fired at the crazed orion mid flight toward her Lt. since she couldn't shoot Winchester who was grappling, another selemat casualty, Di Pasquale without hitting the Chief. One problem at a time.

Lyzandra went down like a ton of bricks, hitting the floor with a thud as the phaser did its job and put her out. For the one phaser she had fired at her, Thatcher now had two pointing at her as the two individuals from the Orion woman's Pheromone Fan Club began to fire on her with their own phasers set to stun. Seeing Lyzandra go down as she did triggered something inside of them, and rage was beginning to set in.

Thatcher saw the two men move and would like to have much more eloquent but all her brain got out was "Ooops" she dove to side, realizing she set off the Orion's Thing 1 and Thing 2. She was not expecting to get out of this but was going to try. Two bolts of heavy stun slammed into the wall above her head, so close she'd swear she felt heat. Of course sometimes it helped to crunch and be small. She continued to dodge, finally getting her shield shield up and around in front of her as she returned fire.

The two officers didn't have time to deal with Thatcher, but the fact she'd been able to dodge two beams of phaser fire baffled them. Still, she was a minor thorn in the side compared to those still standing, and there was a larger objective still at play. Despite the Orion woman being out, they looked to one another and knew they needed to carry on with her wishes. Each individual picked up one of the phasers Lyzandra dropped, and jumped back into the fray.

Camila went down under Winchester's heavy weight, her phasers still firing as she hit the floor. She twisted around under him using her Jiu Jitsu to get on her side. Once she was there, she brought her right arm up and smacked the phaser against the side of Winchester's head while kicking out at his legs. He still outweighed her by eighty pounds, but she was hoping that she would be able to stun him enough to get him off of her and that the enemy didn't decide that moment to kill them both.

Winchester hit the floor, his head spinning. He was still trying to fight, but was extremely disoriented.

The Selamat frowned. His best hope for derailing the team had just been phasered. He reached out to probe the remaining minds. Maybe there was a way to salvage the situation...

A sharp eyed Vulcan noticed something in the corner of the room and turned his phaser and fired at the same time. He stepped forward and leaned down to Vulcan nerve pinch Winchester before he went down a second later by a random phaser hit.

The Selamat slumped over, stunned by the phaser blast. He'd be unconscious for at least an hour, unfortunately for the Consortium. All that stood between the invaders and the Computer Core now were the Tellarite Lieutenant and three other station security.

Camila shoved Winchester off of her and came up in a crouch with her phasers in her hands and advanced into the room where the computer core was. "We're. On. Your. Side!" she screamed, just wanting to get the isolinear chip in so everyone could hear the message station wide. "The Selamat was controlling you. We don't need to fight!"

The two members of the PFC made their way into the control room with their phasers blasting. They'd lay down enough cover fire for Camila to make it. "You! The blonde! Go! Now!" The older of the two shouted.

It was evident that the new arrivals were unprepared to meet the phaser barrage that awaited them. Blast after blast came from the rifles held by station security. The Tellarite's position was well defended, as long as someone didn't try and use the egress access from the rear.

Frustration filled Camila as she saw the current position was well defended, but she resolved to find a way. She pulled an Anesthizine grenade and a stun grenade when the two other officers who had came with Lyzandra distracted the Tellarite and threw them at the enemy position. She retrieved her phasers as the grenades exploded and quickly backtracked out of the room as she remembered a secondary way.

Thatcher had moved to return fire on the orions Thing 1 and 2set only to discover they were back to being on their side, that must mean the Selemat is down finally. A part of her mind still amazed they missed, she fully expected to go down. As soon as her Chief's grenades went off she laid down heavy, and hopefully distracting, covering fire as she turtled with her shield as Di Pasquale ran by.

Camila ran down the corridor firing at anything that moved and down another section. She consulted her tricorder quickly before she phasered a new door leading to the rear access hatch to the secondary core. She paused before she saw no one was around and quickly but quietly opened the hatch. She saw a terminal and pulled the isolinear chip from the pouch in her belt where it had been stored and crept for the terminal as quietly as she could. A open port caught her eye and she took a deep breath while the others were still distracted and popped the chip into it, hoping that it wouldn't get her killed before she could make her escape.

Shirsh continued to fire as his mind started to haze. The anesthezine was beginning to take effect. The phaser fire began to slow as his fortifications began to be overrun. A well placed shot took down one of the men the Orion woman had controlled. A few blasts escaped into the corridor, but none hit targets.

One of his men fell to the gas. Another to a phaser hit.

The Tellarite’s vision blurred. “NO!” he screamed, continuing his own barrage. He’d empty that clip before this was over.

Suddenly, the lights and nearby consoles flickered. A strange sound came from the core, a series of whirrs, clicks and buzzes.

“What?” he demanded, groggily turning around to see the blonde lieutenant standing there. “No,” Shirsh muttered, pulling out a detonator from the holster on his waist. His thumb was meant to flick the top open, but he could not pop the safety top.

The sounds stopped, and all of the controls went dark. Suddenly, the image of a human male appeared a screen on each console in the room, corridor and base.

”Attention all hands. I am Commodore Zachary O’Connell. Many of you regard me as a traitor, that I, along with Admiral Adislo and Commodore Cameron, have subscribed to the threat known as the Consortium.”

The images changed, as Shirsh turned to look at a monitor. His other hand began to fumble with the detonator, trying to remove the safety top. The gas was still overpowering.

An image of Gavara IV appeared. ”The Consortium smuggled arms to Gavara IV under the guise of medical shipments.”

The screen changed, showing Yolvanda II. ”A plaque nearly wiped out New Risa, a Wadi-operated pleasure planet.”

Security footage from the USS Pinnacle being chased by the Hammerhead and Antares. ”Hunted down and destroyed those who would not submit to Consortium rule.”

The familiar purple-and-blue nebula appeared, along with security footage from the Black Hawk, showing a Romulan Valdore. ”Tried to capture a Romulan Thalaron generator.”

Security footage from Starbase Unity, showing the Consortium’s brutality as it barraged the base. ”Attempted mass murder.”

The screen returned to Commodore O’Connell. ”Think now of the orders you were issued as Starfleet forces beamed onto Deep Space 11. Our weapons were set for stun. What were yours set as?

“Think of the Security Forces and Marines deployed throughout the station and New Bajor, procedures that were implemented that were more intense than the Dominion War. Do you really think Starfleet would order such things… or have you been cooperating with the real Consortium all this time. Surrender now. Arrest Commodore Terlexa, Queen Bee of the Consortium, and all will return to normal.”

The screen cleared, leaving behind contact information for the USS O’Carroll, though she was currently engaged with Consortium forces in orbit of the planet.

“No…” whispered the groggy Tellarite, the gas finally declaring victory. He was unable to detonate the explosives, and dropped the detonator as he succumbed at last, collapsing to the floor, an apt visual metaphor for the failed Consortium effort.

Throughout the damaged corridor, Starfleet personnel of the lower ranks emerged from hiding. Not a single one showed hostility, in fact, many held their hands up high, indicating a surrender.

"Round them up," Camila ordered the surviving members of her away team, which amounted to Bast, Thatcher and Winchester. She went to take the detonator where it had fallen and secured it before she looked at the others. "I'm sure your willing surrender will be viewed favorably," she said tiredly. "Right now, consider yourselves under arrest by the order of Commodore O'Connell and the United Federation of Planets."

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