AT/E01 - USS Callisto - Ancillary Locationa

[GM-01]

==Waverider Docking Port==

The docking area was empty; understandable since it had been depressurized only moments earlier. The control room, visible through the Liberty Bell's forward viewport, was also deserted; not even lit by the glow of active consoles.

Currently there was no way of knowing whether the arrival of the Liberty Bell had triggered an alert; it depended on what systems had been damaged during the Callisto's capture, and whether the Cardassians had bothered to repair them.

[Mara Calleja]

<< Philadelphia Away Team <<

Having had the go-ahead, Mara had checked her crybaby program quickly on the PADD she had stashed in a hip pocket. It was ready to go, she just had to get it across onto the Callisto’s computer.

That’s a problem for after we board she thought.

As the Waverider came in, Calleja stretched herself out before she took station by the hatch. She fitted her earpiece then unclipped the helmet from her belt and put it on. Readouts flashed across her vision before everything settled to green.

"Fleet code has been entered and is ready to transmit," Crawford announced. "Everyone needs to get in place for docking ASAP."

There was time for Mara to check her rifle one last time and then there was the faint rumble underfoot of the Waverider docking. She braced against the wall, a feral smile on her lips, and waited for the docking process to complete.

The plan - and that part hadn’t changed in the interim - was Miller from the right side hatch and sweeping the docking bay, whilst Calleja headed out of the left hatch and secured the control room. The rear hatch was a safe exit point as the Waverider had literally just emerged from space that way.

When the docking light flashed green, Mara lifted her rifle to her shoulder, exhaled slowly and then hit the button to open the hatch.

She moved slowly and cautiously as she stepped out onto the Callisto, her rifle swinging with her head as she looked around. The place looked deserted, which hopefully meant an easy job for Aeryn to sweep and clear.

The control room was completely dark, not so much as the light from a console piercing the gloom as the Bandaran approached. She entered and swept it. Nothing with grey skin jumped out at her but she kept her rifle raised.

“Control room secure,” she said into the commlink.

Calleja moved to cover the door into the docking area and wait for the rest of the team to disembark, standing ready in case Miller found something and needed her.

[Robin Mayfair]

<< Philadelphia Away Team <<

Robin stood up as the docking light lit and put her helmet on, making a motion to Emily to do the same. Her helmet lacked any of the sophisticated readouts of Security's, and that was fine with the nurse. They wouldn't be anything more than a distraction, and she wanted her genetically enhanced senses to be as clear as possible; they'd saved her life (and the lives of others) on more than one occasion. The earpiece in her right ear was set to the lowest volume level so as not to interfere with her hearing. She heard Mara's over it.

“Control room secure,” said the Bandaran.

And here we go.

== Tags ==

[Jay D'Mar]

D'Mar and Devereaux got to work immediatly and the transport scramblers and enhancers readied. D'mar was sure that everyone had heard her dressing down. They must have because she heard most of what the captain said about the change of plan from where she was at the transport station at the back of the Liberty Bell, as she waited for the computer's final answer. She didn't speak to anyone, unless someone spoke to her, she just kept her head down and went about her business and was ready just in time to disembark. The final thing was putting on her helmet whilst waiting to disembark. She carried on a shoulder strap her Cardassisn disrupter rife.

She had the funny feeling that there was a saboteur on board, or it may be her Cardassian xenophobia, an unfortunate part of her Bajor/Cardassian genetics. Still, she was more nervious and uneasy. She wanted to ask some crucial questions but didn't get the opportunity, partly her fault. A foreboding was coming over as she waited, a dark cloud of foreboding that she was going to die. It was decided from the very start that this was truly a suicide mission. If the objective of stealing the Callisto could not be achieved there was no escape plan, no one was to protect their home plate and when and if it came to the point of no return and they had to blow the Callisto up, everyone would be on it. No escape.

[Aeryn Miller]

Returning to the main cabin of the Liberty Bell after helping Mid Star, Aeryn spent the remaining minutes of their deadline getting into position. Aware of her part when it came to the plan for exiting the Waverider, and somewhat relieved that the fleet codes had got them this far, the COS did little in the way of talking. Instead, she gripped her rifle, taking the last few seconds of relative normality for all she could get, throwing in a deep breath for good measure, in order to prepare for whatever might await them once they had docked. Throwing a look of acknowledgement towards Mara as the Liberty Bell came to a complete stop, and without having to say a word, Aeryn was ready to begin her sweep the moment that they received the confirmation that it was safe to exit.

Unconcerned by the rear hatch, and hoping that someone would close the right side hatch upon her departure so as not to risk exposure, Aeryn took a look around the empty docking area. Not surprising really, considering that the bay had only just repressurised following their arrival, yet Aeryn wasn't going to be complacent either until she had completed her checks.

Moving with purpose and ensuring that the area remained clear, the redhead came around the front as Mara confirmed that the control room was secure. That made their job easy for now, as they still had to get to the computer core, and she quickly spoke into the commlink. " Docking area also secure".

Satisfied with what she was seeing, Aeryn made her way over to Mara, so they could wait for the others to join them.

== Tags ==

[Miles Grant]

<<Philadelphia Away Team<<

Once docking procedures had finished cycling, Miles grabbed his gear and prepared his rifle. Doing one last check that all systems were cleared, he took his place with Coleman in securing the Liberty Bell.

He heard the "clear" from Calleja and Miller for the control room and docking area, and with the rest of the crew making their way into the Callisto for their individual assignments, Miles followed suit, as he secured the Liberty Bell as he moved along.

When he made sure he was the last one out, he took extra precaution to double check that he had secured everything. The last thing they needed was their means of evac (if they weren't able to reclaim the Callisto) to be lost, either by improper securing, or Cardassian intervention. Taking one last look at things, he prepared to move out.

==Tag. GM input: How well does Miles secure the Liberty Bell?==

[Lucy Devereaux]

Lucy followed the rest of the crew out of the Liberty Bell. The state of Callisto’s launch bay was interesting. The Cardassian’s hadn’t made any repairs in over two years since they’d captured the vessel. The escape of the Callisto’s Waverider plus certain unconventional decisions meant that the crew had arrived undetected and unexpected. It was a good start.

Lucy couldn’t figure if she should be vexed or perplexed.  Ensign D’Mar was on very eager little beaver, and she didn’t know why. The Ensign had even started on the scramblers that the Captain had requested they deploy in the Computer Core. She approached with caution, especially since the D’Mar had a Cardassian disruptor rifle she wasn’t technically authorised to own or operate.

Lucy set down her gear and cautiously reaching out rapped three times on D’Mar’s shoulder. Anyone who managed to pack a non-Federation weapon and transport it for three days without being found needed to be approached carefully.

“Ensign D’Mar, I commend your enthusiasm and effort in deploying the scrambler. A little premature as from our surroundings and the Captain’s order we don’t actually need them until we make it to the Computer Core.”

Soon as we leave this docking bay will be a different matter. Question is what level of deployment the Cardassians have given to the Callisto. If they’re solely focused on the slipstream drive Engineering is going to be lively.

Lucy was concerned about Jay. Standard observation made it obvious that the young lady was tightly wound and being this close to Cardassian space wasn’t enhancing her calm. Lucy was no empath and between the armour and that disruptor rifle a hug just wasn’t going to cut it. Wise words might help, but she didn’t know the what the right words were.

Out of curiosity Lucy reached into her satchel and pulled out the tricorder. She remembered a bit of trivia from the handover of Terok Nor the Cardassian’s liked their vessels a little warmer than the average Starfleet vessel. It was a curiosity. If they were likely to be spending long periods on the Callisto there could be a clue.

== GM input request, does Lucy detect a higher than standard ambient temperature? ==

[GM-01]

==Grant: Clarification, how are you securing the Liberty Bell? I.e. what are you doing to make it secure?==

==Devereaux==

The Tricorder did, in fact, detect above-average temperatures in the corridors beyond the Waverider Dock. The humidity of the air was also above Earth-normal. For the more delicate members of the crew, it would be something of a shock to go from the comparatively-chilly dock area into the warm and humid corridors.

[Miles Grant]

==Apologies: Securing as in locking systems requiring vocal or code authorizations by the current crew, as well as shutting down all non-essential systems outside of those inlcuding, but not limited to, life support, grav, and, of course, the cloak. Ensuring physical items (weapons, tricorders, loose items, etc)are stowed and lockers, as they are, are shut. Making sure everyone else has exited the ship.==

[Lucy Devereaux]

Being right isn’t always a good thing.

The damage in the Waverider docking bay must have extended to the atmospherics. Lucy’s tricorder confirmed an interesting assumption. Outside of the bay was the usually clammy fug the Cardassians preferred. This was not going to be fun or easy. Black body suits and armor, practical, but a little problematic in the kind of temperatures beyond the door. It did depend on what the body suits were made out of.

A long soak in the shower after this is over. That sounds good.

“Captain, temperatures outside of this area are in the low 90s. It looks like the Cardassians got around to adjusting the temperature to something comfortable.”

Most of the crew were from temperate areas, most. Lucy didn’t know the full demographics, but it wouldn’t be a major issue for most. Looking into cooling and more specifically hydration was one thing to consider. The other was taking over Engineering. They could lower the temperature from there. Could prove tactically useful depending on the compliment of Cardassians assigned to the Callisto and whether there were guests from the Breen.

[Robin Mayfair]

Although the humidity was more than Robin liked the temperature didn't bother her. She had grown up on a rather hot planet, and the environment reminded her of Iota Tau's brief rainy season. It did indicate, though, that the Cardassians had been aboard and set the environmental controls to something they preferred. Not surprising, of course. It might be a concern if the away team had to spend a while here, but they had a mission to accomplish and they had to move fast. Robin had treatments available for any problems of heatstroke or dehydration if it became necessary.

Not as bad as the Kazon station back in the Delta Quadrant. That place was a sauna.

The nurse moved up, mindful to keep her place in the group and not get ahead. Taking out her custom medical tricorder, she set it for passive life scan and took some quick readings. It reduced the range, but at least it wouldn't trigger any sensors... not that the team wouldn't do that anyway if that system was running. She could only hope the Cardassians weren't expecting anyone to try and board the ship.

== GM input puh-leaze: Any life (besides us, of course) in the immediate vicinity? And if so, can Robin's tricorder determine anything about them? ==

[Emily Star]

<< Philadelphia Away Team <<

The thought of a warmer temperature didn't bother Emily at all. Vulcan was an arid planet and her father had refused to allow her environmental safety from it. She'd learned to play in it, just like the other kids. Although, she greatly preferred Earth. 

Walking up to D'Mar and Devereaux she gave a nod. They were her team and she'd follow them into the computer core without issue. Her brow quirked and she moved over to her Chief's side, "Hey, I think I missed the part about the canisters. We're not carrying them around with us. Are we hooking them up before we take off?" 

She tried to remember the previous orders and found herself lagging. She was pretty sure it hadn't been missed, but in her overwhelm the orders hadn't been digested properly.

[Benjamin Elias]

Benjamin breathed deep as the Liberty Bell finished docking, letting the action kind of flow around him as he took stock. He was as ready as he was likely to ever be, knowing that hacking wasn’t his specialty. But the systems he was about to work with were ones he knew fairly closely; Starfleet systems hadn’t changed that much in the past two years anyway, and he’d been used to working in-depth on them even before that point.
 
The question, of course, was what had the Cardassians done to the Callisto in the time they’d had it. Two years was a long time, and even though the Luna had looked fairly normal to a visual inspection outside, under the hood could be any number of changes. He just had to be ready, and within reason he was.
 
After all, he reminded himself, if you can’t steal it back, you can always just blow it up. The containers of antimatter he carried suddenly felt heavy on his back, but he just pulled down on the straps again to make sure it was fine. If he didn’t want to think too hard about the upcoming work, he definitely didn’t want to think about the explosives on his back. Sure, they were stored securely and well, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to be paranoid if he gave it too much thought.
 
Security fanned out, and he heard them clear the area on his in-ear comm. Grant and Coleman were working on securing the Waverider itself, he saw, while the medics were doing their own thing. He took another breath, and walked over to Ensign D’Mar. He’d heard the Captain earlier, but had let it pass unremarked because he’d been dressed down before, and hard, in public, by Tyra. He knew it was rough, and that it wasn’t exactly a high point in anyone’s career. But he knew he’d deserved his, and in this instance he didn’t think that Tyra had been entirely wrong. What he had to do now, though, was make sure the damage wasn’t crippling.
 
He looked the ensign over, noting the rifle with just a moment’s confusion before passing it on by. “Good work,” he told her, noting the scramblers packed and ready to move, but still readily deployable. “Make sure to stay with the security team and keep your head down; that rifle may feel comforting, but remember that fighting isn’t our job. Let them do what’s needed, and we do our part to make sure they – and, incidentally, we – get out of this alive.” He offered a smile and turned to walk out of the Waverider, trusting that she would follow.
 
He heard Devereaux give her report on the atmosphere in the ship – not surprising that the Cardassians would make it more hospitable for themselves, though annoying – and moved towards the main exit from the docking bay. “Well, environmental controls were already high on the priority list,” he said aloud, pointedly not mentioning the neurozyne just in case someone was listening. “Maybe we can turn the temperature down a degree or two while we’re in there.”
 
He knelt at the door and accessed the door controls, assessing them for any locks. Physical or electronic, locks of any kind were likely going to take up too much time for them to try and bypass, which is why he had brought a spare breacher charge down with him. One way or another, this door is opening, he declared to himself, and a smile crept onto his face.
 
==GM Input: How’s the door look? I’m not opening it, but can we get into the corridors when we’re ready, or am I placing the breacher?==

[Robin Mayfair]

"Hey, I think I missed the part about the canisters. We're not carrying them around with us. Are we hooking them up before we take off?"

"We're just gonna have to lug them around," Robin responded. "They have to be hooked up to the life support system, and that's in Engineering. It'll depend on how things go with the new plan. We do need to make sure they don't get shot if there's a firefight in the computer core. That would be... bad."

She paused. "Do you think you can handle carrying both packs if we split up?" Emily, a half-Vulcan, was far stronger than Robin was. If anyone on the team could do so it would be her, though it wouldn't be ideal. Eggs and baskets and all that. It'd probably be better to have another member of the team carry the second one, but things rarely went according to plan. Robin would figure that part out when they knew how their plan was going. And the second pack was a spare, brought along just in case. They had twice as many canisters as were needed.

Elias was setting up at the door, though he hadn't begun trying to open it yet. Robin took another nervous breath and motioned for Emily to join her behind where the fireworks would start if a firefight erupted.

Things might be about to get interesting.

== Tag Emily ==

[Jay D'Mar]

Jay D'Mar had followed Cdr Elias out of the Liberty Bell into the shuttle bay.  Lt Devereaux said something that she didn't understand so she said nothing. Then Lt Devereaux said something about the atmospheric conditions on the Callisto to the captain. The captain was one person she wanted to stay away from.

Those conditions inside Callisto sound good to me.

Cdr Elias approached. “Good work,” he told her, noting the scramblers packed and ready to move, but still readily deployable. “Make sure to stay with the security team and keep your head down; that rifle may feel comforting, but remember that fighting isn’t our job. Let them do what’s needed, and we do our part to make sure they – and, incidentally, we – get out of this alive.”

Nothing feels comforting about this situation at all, sir.

"Yes, sir" Jay replied in a low voice.

She looked for Lt Devereaux who was close by. She moved slightly to stand beside her and said, "I've been ordered to stick close by security till we get to the computer core."

Jay was most certainly tightly wound up, being this close to Cardassians in Cardassian space. She wasn't calm. She remembered the Federation report of "Gen-rex" and its escape from Cardassia when she was an infant, how the Cardassians tried to kill their own people, everyone on the ship full of escaping Cardassian refugees, fleeing from the oppressive regime after the Dominion genocide. Only 12 survived when the ship was destroyed.

She was born on Cadassia Prime and she knew what Cardassians did from the stories she had read on Bajor. Her mother would never speak of that time. Jay wanted nothing to do with Cardassians because they tried to kill her and her mother.

[GM-01]

==Elias==

The door was locked and the control panel was dark; which was standard for when the Waverider wasn't in the bay. Now that the Liberty Bell had docked, it wouldn't take too long to override the locking mechanism and open the door. Likely five minutes, no more than ten if he was extra careful. If there had been power to the Control Room, they could simply open it from there.

==Mayfair==

There were currently no other lifesigns within twenty meters of the away team on their current deck. A pair of Cardassians; one male, one female, were working in the crawlspaces one deck above the Waverider dock, however.

[Robin Mayfair]

Bingo. Crap, I hope Benjamin can get through that door without using the breaching charge.

Robin motioned upwards, unnecessarily. "No lifesigns within twenty meters on our deck. I've detected two Cardassian lifesigns, one male and one female, in the crawlspace one deck above the dock," she said, keeping her voice perhaps a little too hushed. It's wasn't like anyone could hear normal speech through a deck. The nurse shifted her canister pack to a more comfortable position, annoyed at her own behavior.

Knock it off. You're acting nervous. This isn't your first rodeo.

"Passive scans only unless they've already sounded the alarm, OK?" she said to Emily. It was annoying since the medical tricorders they carried were the best in the team at locating the enemy, but it was just the way it was. Screwing up on this mission would get people killed. Perhaps everyone.

== Tags ==

[Aeryn Miller]

Perhaps it was the gravity of the situation that had Aeryn trying not to show any sign of emotion as she stood by Calleja, waiting for the others to emerge from the Liberty Bell. Whatever it was, the COS quickly became reassured by the rifle that she was holding, safe in the knowledge that there would be no hesitation should they suddenly find themselves face to face with any Cardassians that happened to come this way. Aeryn took her job seriously and, yes, the temperature was a lot warmer than she would have liked, but that would be the least of their problems as long as they reached the Computer Core.

Making a mental reminder to keep herself alert for any side effects caused by the heat and humidity, Aeryn then refocused on the matter at hand, especially when people started to disembark, most notably Elias, as the CE approached the door and began his attempt at opening it. If anyone could, it would be Elias, and Aeryn didn't doubt his abilities for a second.

When Robin then quietly mentioned that there were no other life signs within twenty meters of their current position, Aeryn took note of that before the CMO went on to inform them about the two Cardassians in the crawlspace one deck above them. As if by instinct, the security officer let her gaze move upwards, and knew what she had to do.

" Be ready should they decide to come and check things out" she said to Mara, in case Elias had to use other means to get them where they needed to be.

== Tags ==

[Emily Star]

"Do you think you can handle carrying both packs if we split up?"

Emily reassured Robin, "Without an issue, I can manage them both." She attempted to offer a smile, "I could probably nab you too if needed." 

The fact she'd be responsible for ensuring all the Neurazine was deployed if that scenario occurred passed through her mind and then was promptly pushed out. She didn't have time for the worry of 'what ifs.' Right now they were working the scenario as it unfolded.  

Emily moved closer to Robin when she beckoned and watched as her tricorder scanned the area. 

"No lifesigns within twenty meters on our deck. I've detected two Cardassian lifesigns, one male and one female, in the crawlspace one deck above the dock," she said, keeping her voice perhaps a little too hushed. It's wasn't like anyone could hear normal speech through a deck. The nurse shifted her canister pack to a more comfortable position, annoyed at her own behavior.

"Passive scans only unless they've already sounded the alarm, OK?" she said to Emily. 

Her brow furrowed at the thought of the Cardassians possibly aware and incoming.Emily lifted her gaze upwards, "Maybe they're just performing maintenance. There's not many reasons to be in a crawlspace. Naps. Illicit meetings. Maintenance."

[Lucy Devereaux]

Lucy looked over at the young Ensign. Only a couple of inches shorter than herself, but there was something about the young lady Lucy couldn’t quite get her head around. Everybody on the crew had their stories. Some more dramatic or momentous than others. Definitely a heavy history. The question was did you let a heavy history drag you down or do you use it to build some metaphorical muscle?

A baptism of fire always leaves you with the smell of ashes. The trick is not to get burnt.

Jay mentioned advice she’d been given about sticking close to Security until they got to computer core. That was sage advice as the pair of them would have their hands full with the scramblers and enhancers. Almost a face card and certainly a part of the plan needed for setting up a beachhead. Keeping the Cardassians at arms’ length was good.

“Best thing to do is not be in their firing line when the action starts. Commander Coleman has a track record. Hope you do know how to use that rifle, if we are needed.”

Lucy had been a recipient of the Commander’s ire for justifiable reasons. Lessons had been taught and learnt. She had learnt that Commander Coleman in his previous role as Chief of Security and Lieutenant Miller had stunned the same Science midshipman during the mission to the Delta Quadrant.

According to Lieutenant Mayfair there were two Cardassians on the deck above, likely working in the Jeffries system, which was a bit of surprise.  It also looked as if the doors to the docking bay were locked. Seemed like an odd system, but it might have been rigged to help those who escaped in the original Waverider. It wouldn’t be long before Lieutenant Commander Elias had bypassed the locking mechanism.

It did look like he was considering blowing the doors or making a big hole in them. Explosions had a tendency of acquiring unwanted attention. Lucy wanted to believe that a secondary option or solution to the locked would present itself. She’d wait before adding her two cents to that issue. 

== tag =

[Mara Calleja]

It was quite the disconnect for Mara as she looked back towards the waverider to see her crewmates emerging from apparently nothing. The cloak was still engaged so the bay appeared empty, except for the growing number of Artemis crew.

Probably never gonna see that again she thought to herself, her mind wandering forward to potential consequences for that particular piece of technical freestyling.

Quickly she quashed the mental images and focused back on the task at hand. Elias dropped to one knee by the door controls and started to work. The looming Bandaran stood sentinel, her rifle still pressed to her shoulder just in case someone or something decided to come from the other direction unexpectedly. She had charges in her webbing and knew how to use them if she was needed, but if there was one person in Star Fleet who was unlikely to need anyone else’s assistance when it came to making things open or go bang, it was the Artemis’ Chief Engineer.

"No lifesigns within twenty meters on our deck. I've detected two Cardassian lifesigns, one male and one female, in the crawlspace one deck above the dock.”

The voice was Robin Mayfair’s, and it was like she was trying to be quiet just in case they were heard.

Tension must be startin’ to get to people. Which I get. They’re way out of their comfort zone here. Feels like ages ago now but pretty sure some colossal arsehole called them non-combatants for that. Wonder how that worked out.

The memory of her own quite spectacular faux pas at the briefing drew the faintest of wry smiles before Mara lowered her rifle, trusting the CMO’s assessment that there were no Cardassians anywhere near right now. She knew that Robin could see and hear things that she couldn’t.

"Be ready should they decide to come and check things out," Aeryn cautioned, the Security Chief having taken up station nearby.

“I was thinkin’ of bein’ a bit more proactive,” Mara replied. She looked around to find Tyra. “Captain. Once we get this door open, you want me to go take care of those Cardies?”

It went unsaid to spare the truly oblivious, but the Bandaran’s meaning was clear. Two enemy crew members working in a crawlspace were unlikely to be in any position to resist a blade through the neck. And given the stakes, she wouldn’t have any qualms about drawing first blood.

[Benjamin Elias]

On the bright side, the control panel was acting just like it was supposed to during a docking procedure. Normally, the doors would stay locked until the docking control team had solid indication of a clean dock and that everything was pressurized like it was supposed to be, and then they would unlock the door. Unfortunately, there was no docking control team, meaning he would have to do it himself.

He opened up the pouch on his right thigh, pulling out a few small tools, and started prying his way into the door panel. It would require less work to go to the control room, bring the equipment up, and unlock the door from there. However, it would take just about the same amount of time, and there was always the chance someone would notice powering up the Waverider docking stations. That was something they couldn't risk, not at this juncture.

He heard Mayfair behind him notifying the team about a pair of Cardassians just above them, and that reinforced his decision. He finally got the panel off and access to the manual controls behind it when he heard Tyra come up behind him. "Just a minute on the doors," he said as he started pulling out cable and getting them into a useful state. "The Cardassians weren't considerate enough to leave the door unlocked for us."

He focused on the job, tuning out the rest of the team as he worked. Hot wiring a door wasn't the most difficult task he had ever had to accomplish, either in Starfleet or outside of it. However, working with hot power leads was always something that required focus and attention. Finally, however, he had everything where he needed it, and nodded to himself. He secured everything for a moment, and then turned towards the Captain. "On your mark."

==Tag Crawford==
==GM Input for time elapsed==

[Miles Grant]

Feeling confident in clearing the Liberty Bell, Miles quickly fell into place with the rest of the group as they entered the Callisto. As there was no docking control team to cycle through the next steps of the docking procedure, it was something the crew would have to bypass.

Which was what Commander Elias began to take care of. As he went about that, everyone else made ready in various ways. There was some talk, the most prevalent to Miles being the back and forth on how to deal with the presence of two Cardassians above them. Between being ready in case they came to check as fielded by Miller and the complete opposite of wanting to engage and eliminate ahead of time from Calleja, there was a lot of planning.

Though, the presence of the Cardassians was not really a surprise, as Miles had felt the change in temperature almost immediately. As he listened to everything going on, he kept himself prepped. He took the opportunity to speak.

"I agree with Miller's plan," he said. "I'm not opposed to taking out the Cardassians, but I think it'd be more advantageous not to risk any of them knowing of our presence until we're ready for them to know of our presence according to the plan."

==Tags==

[Jay D'Mar]

Lt Devereaux said “Best thing to do is not be in their firing line when the action starts. Commander Coleman has a track record. Hope you do know how to use that rifle, if we are needed.”

What? The Commander has a habit of shooting his own people? Really?

But Jay didn't voice her thoughts. Instead, she answered the Lieutenant's question, "Yes, Lieutenant, I am proficient with this weapon. I like to give back what the Cardassians will give to us."

From then on she remained silent, speaking only when spoken too, if necessary. Through her mind she reviewed all she needed to do when their object, the computer core, was achieved.

[Tyra Crawford]

For the time being, and maybe for the first time in the history of her time in leadership, everyone seemingly was playing their part in the plan without egos, naivety or just plan idiocy causing deviation. Security had cleared their entrance points from the Liberty Bell, medical and science had all of their gear in line, engineering had their gear and were in place to get them through the control room door, and tactical was working on securing their vessel. So far, so good and yet, that was hardly a comforting thing in the long run. They still had a long way to go.

[No lifesigns within twenty meters on our deck. I've detected two Cardassian lifesigns, one male and one female, in the crawlspace one deck above the dock,] Tyra heard through the ear piece, her eyes shifting upwards for a fraction of a second as she navigated her way around to the front of the team.

Elias was working on the panel and offered a timeline for getting through the door, though she wondered if it wasn't a little optimistic. Regardless, she supposed it didn't matter; no amount of breathing down his neck would make it go faster. "I guess their mamas didn't teach them any hospitality... I'm shocked," she responded, offering a tiny grin before she turned.

She could hear Miller provide cautious guidelines for if the Cardassians moved, though that didn't take into consideration the fact that all it would take is a wayward scan by what was probably a maintenance team and they were discovered. However, she knew Miller rested on the conservative end of the security spectrum in direct contrast to Calleja, who offered her own suggestion to Tyra directly.

“Captain. Once we get this door open, you want me to go take care of those Cardies?”

Apparently, the spirit of democracy was well represented as Grant spoke up with his opinion, offering consensus to Miller's idea. "I agree with Miller's plan," he said. "I'm not opposed to taking out the Cardassians, but I think it'd be more advantageous not to risk any of them knowing of our presence until we're ready for them to know of our presence according to the plan."

Truthfully, Tyra didn't dislike Calleja's suggestion; it was aggressive but sometimes, boldness was needed over a safe, conservative approach. It was very likely that once the gloves came off, they'd be desperately relying on the old notion that "fortune favored the bold". At the moment, he two Cardassians in the tube were their biggest liability and they could easily make their way forward significantly more difficult with just an innocent scan.

It was almost without conscious effort that her brain filled each factor into its particular column of pro or con. The pro column was the potential elimination of two threats, possible acquisition of their communications, and maybe a preview of what they'd been doing to the Callisto. Tyra even noted that the task could be completed while the rest of the team moved on, assuming the access point was nearby. However, the con column held the potential for premature discovery via either failed stealth or weapons fire when fighting broke out in a confined space. Tyra trusted that Calleja was more than capable but Tyra knew first hand that moving silently in a Jefferies tube in full armor was nearly impossible unless someone planned to crawl at the slowest pace possible. And they certainly didn't have time for that.

Her blue eyes shifted to Grant initially. "You're being awfully generous to assume we have any say in when we're discovered."

Then, her gaze moved to Calleja and shook her head slightly. "I'd love to say 'yes' but we've got to keep our eye on the prize. Grant and Coleman in rear guard can keep an eye on them and handle them if they become an issue."

If there were any arguments, they would have been lost to Tyra as Elias asked for permission to pop the doors. "Show time. Everyone get in position. Elias, give us a count five, please," Tyra requested as she stepped back to allow Miller and Calleja the number 1 and 2 spots to lead them out.

== Tag guys! ==

[Aeryn Miller]

Mara's response to her cautious approach regarding the two cardassians on the deck above them, was something that Aeryn wasn't surprised about. If anything, it reflected their different styles when it came to their job, and while the Chief hadn't ruled out the possibility of taking care of them, she had simply been focused on where they needed to be. If it came to it, and they proved to be a problem, then Aeryn wouldn't hesitate to be as proactive as Mara, before the Assistant COS offered up her idea to the Captain.

In the meantime, Elias was making good progress with his attempts to access and open the door to the control room, while Grant agreed with Aeryn about using caution and his reasons why. The COS appreciated his support, and showed that ultimately no one had been wrong with how to go about it, and differing solutions were part and parcel of these situations. Of course, it wasn't a decision that neither of them could make as Elias then informed Tyra that he was ready to go on her mark.

The Captain then weighed in on what had been said, responding to Grant first before speaking to Mara. Offering a solution to her suggestion while reinforcing why they were here. It also became apparent that this wasn't the time for any arguments, as they were ordered to get into position and Elias was told to give them a count of five.

When the Captain stepped back, Aeryn stepped up in order to take the lead alongside Mara, ready to go as soon as the door had been opened.

== Tags ==

[Robin Mayfair]

== Yeah, Tyra, just wait until someone discovers a bowl of bat soup. Then you'll see real professionalism! ==

Robin hated this. She knew exactly what Mara meant about 'taking care' of the two Cardassians, and the idea deeply disturbed her... and yet she couldn't argue with it. She was a nurse, and she wanted the mission to go forward with as few deaths as possible on both sides, but that was ridiculously unlikely. If the Cardassians discovered them before they could make any progress then their job would become next to impossible.

Emily had let her know that she wouldn't have a problem being a pack mule if necessary, up to and including hauling along the tiny nurse. Robin had given her a nod and a grim chuckle in return.

Tyra, though, thought it was better if they kept going. Everyone was ready to move when the door was open and the signal given. Robin took up her position behind the other officers, waiting.

== Tags ==
== Quick question for Tyra: what setting would you have told the medics to set their phasers to? I'm assuming 3, heavy stun. Robin would know (and told Emily), but her player doesn't. ==

[Tyra Crawford]

== Don't tempt me... My trigger finger is getting itchy

Setting 3 to 4 would be the recommendation for pistols and I'd assume medics would elect to take the lower end.

Just remember, stunning people means we've got a timeline for them walking up and a need to restrain them.==

[Miles Grant]

Miles felt good and properly chided at the response from Captain Crawford. He did not let her see his brow furrow at her words, but, as he thought on it, he understood them. Her reaction to his words made sense as he replayed his words through his head. Whereas it was not his intent to imply they had full control over if/when they could "announce" their arrival, his words could be construed as such.

He merely nodded at her words, making note to be more careful with his wording in the future as Crawford moved on to replying to Calleja next, and it would appear they would be taking the cautionary route more akin to Miller's plan.

Miles did take his place with Coleman to watch the rear in case they did have company. There was little else for him to do at this moment, but he would still fulfill his duty.

[Benjamin Elias]

"Show time. Everyone get in position. Elias, give us a count five, please," the captain told him, and then retreated back to her own position in the advance. He took a deep breath, eyes closing for a moment as he listened to everyone shuffling to get into place. For a brief moment, he flashed back to the underground encounter with the Borg revenants on what would become known as the Megasphere, but he pushed the thoughts aside.

He opened his eyes and saw Miller and Calleja taking up their places, ready for to advance. "Five," he said aloud. It was louder than strictly necessary, given their in-ear audio, and he cleared his throat again.

"Four," he said in a more comfortable volume. He pictured Nathan and Price, remembering the mad dash through the tunnels, and had to fight down a momentary surge of panic. That was a long time ago, he reminded himself, and you've changed since then.

"Three," the count continued. He remembered the fights against the Kazon in the Delta Quadrant, and his training before and after. A stilling breath, and he focused again, the flashing of laser lights and the lunging of corpse-like drones drifting away again.

"Two," he said. They were ready for this, he knew. The Artemis crew was not only well trained, but were comfortable working together. At least, mostly; the two newest members of the team were still untested, but he had trust.

"One." He pushed all thought away. All that mattered now was the mission. He finished the circuit, forcing the door open, and swung his rifle up to a useful position.

"Go."

==Tags all, including GM==

[Mara Calleja]

Mara wasn’t surprised to see Miles disagree with her, and also not bothered in the least. She was pretty sure that others would be silently sharing the CTO’s viewpoint and that was fine too. The benefits of having a crew from different backgrounds and different perspectives was that they approached problems differently as well.

When Tyra inevitably - but more reluctantly than Mara was expecting - decided to hold fire for now, the Bandaran grinned and nodded her assent. She understood how it worked and, despite how it had looked at the briefing, had come to have faith in her CO. That in itself was a new experience for her but it was one that she hoped would last.

When Elias said he was ready, Mara took her place on point ready to lead the group out of the docking bay. She trusted Robin but she was taking no chances just in case there was something new and unforeseen on the other side of the door. Her rifle was pressed against her shoulder, and she braced herself as the engineer started the countdown behind her.

On ‘go’, the Amazonian Security officer was out into the corridor, relying on Aeryn to be right there with her to cover her blind side.

== GM input please - is there anything out in the corridor please? Enemies? Booby traps? Bat soup?

Assuming there’s nothing out there, Calleja will follow the path towards the computer core unless and until anyone calls halt. Tags back atcha! ==

[Emily Star]

Five
Four
Three
Two 
One

Emily was certain that the sound of Elias counting down would forever be embedded in her mind. Adrenaline had her tense; anxiety made her nauseated, but the unknown made her scared. Not the scared that sent one running, but the kind that prickled the hairs on the back of your neck.  Knuckles white as she held the strap of her gear, Emily waited along with the others. 

Her eyes swept around the small space. They all seemed so much more prepared than she was. Sure, she could handle herself, but who was she kidding? Em was a walking liability. They knew it, and she couldn't deny it. Mayfair, as had the Captain, offered her an out, and she'd stubbornly stayed. Was she going to regret that?

Go

It was time to move. She took a calming breath, controlled her nerves and waited to follow her team.

[Robin Mayfair]

As the "go" order was given Robin tensed in anticipation of the door opening. Her enhanced senses were open, ready for an enemy on the other side (despite her negative scan) and she felt the same as she had on Utopia Planitia, minus the casual contempt for the enemy's life that had frightened her so much.

Progress? Way too soon to tell. Maybe the therapy did help. Or maybe it's just because we haven't actually had any Cardassians shooting at us.

The young Lieutenant had been in enough of these situations by this point to at least know she wouldn't panic. The team had to keep their eyes on the prize and get to the computer core, and make as little noise as possible. This was only the beginning. She pulled her phaser and kept her eye on the tricorder results, looking for any activity from the two nearby Cardassians.

== Tags ==
== GM Input: Do the two Cardies stay there? ==
== Tyra: Don't worry, Robin's carrying enough sedatives to knock out the better part of the Alpha Quadrant, if it comes down to it. ==

[GM-01]

==Apologies for the delay, all. Life happens.==

==Elias==

It took precisely seven minutes, forty-three point six-two seconds to "hotwire" and unlock the door. He had shocked himself twice on circuits that shouldn't have contained enough power to shock him, and noted that several relays had current traveling the wrong way through them. Whatever repairs had been conducted to the Callisto following its capture, they had been barely competent and entirely inelegant, and possibly indicated the state of other systems.

==Calleja==

The doors slid open, allowing the Security Officer to see the corridor. It was lit only by red emergency lighting, and appeared deserted. Several panels had been ripped from walls, deck plates torn up, and scorch marks on the walls and floor around a ruptured bulkhead indicated a fairly serious plasma fire had erupted in this area.

This was confirmed by distinct smell of burned metals, polymers, and flesh.

The damage to the corridor being as severe as it was, it was going to be slow going until they passed the wreckage.

==Mayfair==

The two Cardassians appeared to be moving away, up an access shaft to the next deck above. Curiously, the Tricorder was now picking up Human lifesigns two decks above. About two dozen. Then the number dropped to eighteen. Then twelve. Then six. Then none.

The decrease appeared to be happening at intervals her engineered mind would quickly associate with transporter cycles.

[Aeryn Miller]

The countdown from Elias had begun as Aeryn settled into a ready stance, each number coinciding with each breath that she took. Her last chance to breathe as normal as possible before the adrenaline coursed through her veins and she was once again under its control. That feeling often carried the security chief through every second that she needed to focus on, and this had to be the biggest challenge that she had faced in the entirety of her career.

As Elias reached the final number and gave the order to go, Mara was the first of the pair to enter the corridor with Aeryn directly behind her. The glow of the emergency lighting was a stark contrast to the brightly lit waverider docking bay, although she quickly allowed her eyes to adjust, before noticing that the corridor appeared to be deserted. Whether that would be a good thing remained to be seen, but she wasn't about to rest on her laurels or slack off, not when there was work to be done.

Before that could happen, they needed to navigate the corridor safely, due to the amount of damage that the Callisto had suffered. It didn't bode well for other areas as Aeryn surveyed the panels that had been ripped from the walls, the torn-up deck plates, and the various scorch marks. Evidence of a severe plasma fire, the kind that burned and reflected into your very soul, even more so when the distinct smells invaded her senses.

Every step would have to be taken with great care until they passed the wreckage, and as such she gave a warning to those that followed her and Mara. " Be careful, there's a lot of damage out here, and we'll have to take things slowly".

It wasn't ideal, but it was better to go slow then rush and run the risk of injury before they got to where they needed to be.

== Tags ==

[Robin Mayfair]

== "Life. Don't talk to me about life." -Marvin The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ==

As the door opened, the whiff of burned corridor and an unfortunately familiar scent of burning flesh assaulted Robin's sensitive nose. A horrible and unwelcome memory popped into her head, of Kazon screaming and the smell of burned flesh that had been so strong it had managed to get through the filter mask she'd been wearing. She pushed it away with a bit of effort, helped by her tricorder's sensor registering movement.

"The Cardassians are moving," the CMO announced to the team. "Up an access shaft to the deck above." The tricorder beeped, suddenly registering new life forms, a lot of them.

"Wait! Human life signs, 23 of them, two decks above. No, five have disappeared, just now." There was a pause. "Six more gone."

That's a transporter cycle.

"They're being beamed away." There was another a pause as she waited, counting off precisely in her head. "Six left." Another pause, then the tricorder registered nothing, exactly when she expected. "They're gone."

Right now? Just as we arrived? Too convenient. We've either been spotted and they're moving the prisoners off the ship, or this is a trap and they were waiting for us. Even odds for either.

Her mood shifted. The young Augment felt her nerves vanish, felt the same sense of cold and calculating readiness for danger as she'd felt on Mars when facing the Breen. There was no fear, just a determination to survive. This time it didn't take her by surprise. It was just another bit of information for her mind to process.

"Captain, permission to active scan for the enemy?" she asked, all traces of her usual warmth gone. There was a slight chance it might trigger an alert if the Cardassians had set the ship's internal sensors to look for such thing, but the team needed to know if they were heading into an ambush. And this was a perfect spot for one, right past that wreckage.

== Tags ==

[Benjamin Elias]

Benjamin took advantage of the security team moving out to shake his hand a moment, trying to get proper feeling back in it. He hadn't mentioned it to anyone, but there was definitely something odd with the panel as he'd gotten it working. He'd been in the guts of Starfleet systems enough to know what was energized and what wasn't, and how to bypass things properly, but this time...

The way he saw it, as he crouched there and tried to think, there were two possibilities. First, that the Callisto had been more damaged than he thought and that the Cardassians had little idea how to put it back together. The other was that someone had done it deliberately, though he couldn't picture any situation or end goal that would make that likely. What's that old saying? he thought as he took his place in line near the Captain. Never assume malice when stupidity is sufficient? Something like that, at least.

He took one look at the corridor and decided that was definitely right. Stupidity was the likeliest option, though that wasn't entirely fair to the Cardassians who likely had next to no idea how to put Starfleet systems back together. Not in the mood to be fair, however, he stuck with stupidity. The smell of burned metal and even flesh was still strong in the corridor, and several deck plates and wall sections were either damaged, burned, or just missing entirely. This was as bad of a botched job as he'd ever seen.

Part of him wanted to say it was likely damage from the battle where Callisto had been lost, but the smells were far too recent for two years to have gone by. He took a breath, banishing any number of engineering accidents from his brain and focused on what he was seeing. He wasn't as familiar with the deep specifics of a Luna as he was with the Artemis, but from here at the bottom of the saucer, the main systems to try and power were the sensor arrays and some of the phaser arrays. Of course, if his recent attempt to override the door was indicative of how the rest of the ship had been repaired, then any number of things could have caused the EPS line to blow.

He got a closer look as they neared the damaged sections, and tried to determine the extent of the damage. He couldn't tap into the damage control system yet, lacking computer access as they did, and he didn't want to risk a detailed scan, but Starfleet systems worked long similar lines on their more modern ships. It was going to be a best guess, but some information was better than none, and he knew Tyra would want to know it - or at least that if she did, he wanted to have it.

"Be careful, there's a lot of damage out here, and we'll have to take things slowly," Miller called over the comms as they advanced, just as Mayfair started talking about human lifesigns, which were dwindling rapidly.

"Captain, permission to active scan for the enemy?" Mayfair asked, and Benjamin grimaced. Slow going through the debris combined with an active scan was begging for trouble. Then again, simply going slow through the debris was asking for trouble on its own.

"If they're beaming off humans," he said, "odds are good that they're going to do a scan soon to make sure they got all of them off the ship. We've got to get to the core before they do that." He made sure his equipment was secured and ready, because no matter what happened the next few minutes were going to be dicey.

==Tags==
==GM Input: what can I tell about the damage, and how extensive it is? Would it damage the weapons, life support, sensors either external or internal? Anything I can tell?==

[Tyra Crawford]

The doors opened, after some of the longest minutes of her life, to reveal a destruction that was unfortunately familiar to Tyra. She'd seen the destruction caused by plasma fires first hand. some caused by battle and some caused by more nefarious means, and had mucked through the wreckage looking for wounded and casualties. But it was the smell, the confirmation of likely losses, that was more recognizable. It was a scent that had filled her nostrils more times than she wanted to tally and would likely haunt her for the rest of her years.

"The Cardassians are moving," the CMO announced to the team, as if upholding Tyra's decision as the correct one. "Up an access shaft to the deck above."

But any satisfaction was short lived.

"Wait! Human life signs, 23 of them, two decks above. No, five have disappeared, just now." Robin paused. "Six more gone."

For a moment, Tyra's brow furrowed, raising her helmet ever so slightly. She knew how quickly lives could be snuffed out first hand but eleven in mere seconds seemed to be highly efficient, especially for a race that was more akin to a cat torturing mice than an efficient, lethal predator.

"They're being beamed away." There was another a pause as she waited, counting off precisely in her head. "Six left." Another pause. "They're gone."

While some might have felt relief at the news it was a tricorder or relief at having an answer to the possibility of hostages, Tyra felt nothing but simmering dread. This was the worst case scenario; not only did she now have serious doubts about the condition of the Callisto and its ability to even travel a short distance, she now had to consider not only the lives of the hostages but also the fact that they might merely be pawns on a chessboard that she hadn't gotten a full view of yet.

Sometimes, that innate alarm bell was more of a light tug but right that moment, it was clanging like a cowbell in a hurricane, demanding she remember her lesson. Most of her lessons had been taught in the most painful and bloody ways, and her lesson on traps was no different. It had been no fault of her own that Carraya should have been her grave, as it was many of her men, and it was no more her fault that it had been a trap from the beginning. But if she had listened to that alarm, maybe they wouldn't have ended up betrayed, pinned down, desperate to escape and fortunate to be alive, what few of them had survived. It was a question that had kept her up at night for months, though maybe that had also been an attempt to avoid waking up to the smell of burning flesh every morning.

It was Robin's voice, cold and efficient, that brought Tyra back from that scene of Hell. "Captain, permission to active scan for the enemy?"

The 'yes' was almost out of her mouth before her brain had caught up, before her experience could shove her emotions back into a dark box.

It wasn't that simple, not anymore. It was now even more imperative that they remained undetected for as long as they possibly could but the damage in front of them presented an issue, a possibility of hazards increasing either due to Cardassian ineptitude or ingenuity. Could they afford to take the time to navigate this corridor? Were the sensors in this section even operable to detect them?

"If they're beaming off humans," Elias said, "odds are good that they're going to do a scan soon to make sure they got all of them off the ship. We've got to get to the core before they do that."

[i]We need to get the scramblers up before they do that...[/b]

Without the hostages in play, it was a simpler answer. If they were detected because of wanting better intel, they were the ones that paid the price and that was a much easier pill to swallow. As it stood, there were likely, at least, 23 people that had already been failed by one commanding officer and she didn't intend to make that two. Their job would become significantly more difficult if the hostages came into play as anything other than a rescue objective so remaining undetected was paramount.

"Permission denied. If we light up their sensors now, we're sitting ducks with a lovely fatal funnel between us and our goal," she motioned towards the wreckage, which looked like it would take some time to wade through.

"Calleja and Miller, start moving us ahead. Careful but as quickly as possible. Be looking for traps or hazards. As soon as we know, we have been detected, it'll be time to run the gauntlet," she said. "And I need everyone focused. I know we have wrench and I know that there are likely strong feelings about said wrench but I need you to trust that I will make the right decision. After all, I'd much rather come home with survivors than Jal's ****tastic Failure Trophy," she motioned to the destroyed corridor ahead, "but we won't come home at all, if we don't reach the core."

She felt it as she settled back into the group, that warm heat right under her collarbone. It had come out just a little in her bitter remark towards the Callisto itself but that was nothing compared to what lingered right under the surface. She couldn't think of a fate worthy a captain and senior staff that had abandoned their junior officers and enlisted to such a fate as this, through what she could only assume was sheer cowardice, but if she survived this, she might be willing to find one.

There was little she detested more than cowards, particularly cowards that hid behind orders and rules to avoid making the hard choices or facing their consequences, and yet, it seemed the Fleet was becoming filled with the weak yes men of an admiral's wet dream. Soon, the Fleet would be a coward's paradise, where weak orders were an excuse to betray principles at every turn and yet, someone was always needed to clean up the messes of those weak men. It was practically her specialty at this point, their specialty at this rate.

As the front of the line began carefully moving forward, she turned to look back for Coleman. Of everyone present, he was likely the one with enough experience to understand exactly how difficult their position had become and carefully, she slipped back the few steps to say a quick word.

"I need your help. If we reach a point where we can't have our cake and eat it too," she knew he'd understand she was referring to Callisto and possible hostages, "check me. Don't let me get so locked on to both that we get neither," she requested. Her words were soft, just the touch of a waver to them. After all, Tyra knew her own weaknesses and stubbornness was high on the list.

== Tag! ==

[Robin Mayfair]

"Permission denied. If we light up their sensors now, we're sitting ducks with a lovely fatal funnel between us and our goal," Tyra said.

There was no questioning or irritation in Robin's mind at having her request denied. She was running through scenarios, possibilities, odds, but her enhancements didn't make up for lack of experience or lack of knowledge. The Captain had experience and none of them currently had knowledge. She merely responded, flatly, "Understood, Captain. Maintaining passive scans."

"Calleja and Miller, start moving us ahead," the Captain said. "Careful but as quickly as possible. Be looking for traps or hazards. As soon as we know, we have been detected, it'll be time to run the gauntlet. And I need everyone focused. I know we have wrench and I know that there are likely strong feelings about said wrench but I need you to trust that I will make the right decision. After all, I'd much rather come home with survivors than Jal's ****tastic Failure Trophy, but we won't come home at all, if we don't reach the core."

Robin took her place, on high alert, ready to move as soon as the Security officers gave the signal. The Captain moved up to Commander Coleman and said a few quiet words to him. The Augment heard but said nothing. Tyra was worried that she would push through even past the point of mission failure and needed Damien to check her, just in case.

In the meantime, the nurse continued her passive tricorder scans. Any information she could provide the team might be vital.

== Tags ==
== GM Input: Can Robin still detect the Cardassians, and if so have they continued movement? ==

[Jay D'Mar]

Jay D'Mar carried the transport inhibitors listened to the conversations of the group as they moved slowly out of the Waverider into the corridor and towards the damaged.

If the cardassians are moving humans with transporters, then their sensors may pick us up too. That is not good!

Speed of movement was of the essence now. But D'mar and Devereaux had awkward equipment to carry, especially in the damaged section ahead, that would slow them down.

Perhaps the Cardassians already know we are here; Cdr Elias seem to either be clumsy with the door panel or he had received several shocks deliberately. That would be a sneaky way of alerting the Caradassians to the presence of someone fiddling with a panel. Sounds like something Cardassians would do, to me! but she kept silence.

Another thought came across her mind, that she and Devereaux should be nearer the front of the line and into the core as soon as possible so that the transport inhibiters could be up and running as people entered the core rather than all be in the core waiting for the inhibitors to be set up. What should she do? Surely the captain or first office or Cdr Elias have recognised this? Say something and get blasted by the captain again or not say anything and still get blasted by the captain?

Jay had been ordered to stick close to Secuity and that's what she was going to do. She looked at Devereaux and gave her a nod that meant follow me and began to move up the line till she reached the two Secuity officer leading.

==Tag Lt Devereaux==

[Mara Calleja]

As the doors slid open and Mara led the way out into the corridor, she swore under her breath. Her helmet protected her from the worst of the smells but she knew the signs of a plasma fire even without them.

Was that fire during the ship’s capture, or after? she wondered to herself. ’Cause lookin’ at this, it looks like the Cardies were tryin’ to reverse-engineer the ship by pokin’ it with sticks and seein’ what happened.

Progress wasn’t anywhere near as quick as Mara wanted it to be, as she tried to pick a path through the debris. Anything that was obviously just detritus she kicked to one side to clear the way for the team that was coming up behind her. She heard Aeryn warn the team over the comm as she pressed on.

She also heard Robin report on the Cardassians moving away, and the human lifesigns being beamed away.

Well that complicates things…

The news of potential survivors from Callisto triggered conflicting emotions in the Bandaran as she kept going forward. Should they change the plan to include a potential rescue, or focus on their objectives and only those objectives?

I know I’m goin’ to get called callous and all the names under the sun, but we have to remember why we’re here. We have to secure the slipstream drive above all else. I hate that that probably means leavin’ 23 people captive. But if we try and freestyle to rescue them and compromise ourselves, now the Cardies got 30-somethin’ captives and grounds to start a war.

Mara heard the conversation between Benjamin, Robin and Tyra and the order that came from it, and she just about managed to suppress the treacherous laugh that bubbled up in her throat at the mention of the trophy.

“Acknowledged,” she said into the comm. “Can I get a volunteer up here to minesweep? Stay behind me, but watch a tricorder for any warnin’ signals or evidence that the Cardies have trapped this corridor? Nothin’ so far but we’re gonna have to pick up the pace, which means I need another pair of eyes.”

== Open tag if anyone wants the job!

Quick GM input - is there any evidence of potential traps please?

Additionally, is it all just debris and battle damage, or is there any kind of discernable pattern of work taking place? Have the Cardassians started working on terminals and conduits or removing particular parts of the ship for study? ==

[Emily Star]

“Acknowledged,” she said into the comm. “Can I get a volunteer up here to minesweep? Stay behind me, but watch a tricorder for any warnin’ signals or evidence that the Cardies have trapped this corridor? Nothin’ so far but we’re gonna have to pick up the pace, which means I need another pair of eyes.”

Emily's eyes perked up, but then the voice of her Chief came in and gave her a bit of a kick. 

Her job was to follow, keep people alive and not put herself in danger. The others were trained for that. No matter how helpful she desperately wanted to prove she was, this scenario was a big ball of unknown, nebulous chaos. And Emily was not to be volunteering outside her comfort zone. 

Instead, she dropped her eyes and explored the damage. What had happened here? 

[Aeryn Miller]

Having given her warning and not needing to repeat herself, given the state of the corridor and the level of expertise contained within the group, Aeryn proceeded forward, her eyes peeled for anything that might be out of place. As she walked carefully but with purpose, with everyone's safety firmly on her mind, the COS paused her thoughts when Robin informed them about the Cardassians but also the presence of survivors. Survivors who were being beamed away in an instant to god only knows where.

Going into this, they all knew that there might be the potential for survivors from Callisto's last ill-fated mission, but having that confirmation felt like a knife to the chest. Casting that thought aside, they had something more important to accomplish, not to mention surviving until they reached the core. As cruel as that might seem, Aeryn couldn't think about that now, especially as the conversation continued and the order was given by the Captain to keep going, carefully but quickly, and to look out for traps or hazards. Aeryn acknowledged it, after further explanation.

" Aye Captain," she said and carried out the order alongside Mara, as the Assistant COS called for a volunteer to help them clear the path with a tricorder. That made a lot of sense considering their role, and having an extra set of eyes would certainly be beneficial.


== Tags ==

== GM input. Do we encounter any hazards as we move forward? ==

[Lucy Devereaux]

Lucy considered the Ensign’s response. She seemed confident enough. Lucy wasn’t so sure in herself. She hadn’t been in serious action that she could recall. She had all the training and at least Cdr Coleman and Lt Miller knew to length of her skills. Better to leave the heavy stuff to Security. That had been her mistake on Utopia Planitia. Security had the training and they had cornered the saboteur, then she started crying and Lucy got it all wrong.

Lucy was puzzled that the scan for lifesigns detected one male and one female Cardassian in the access tunnels about the docking bay. They had to be engineers. She’d always imagined a Cardassian crew would be primarily male. Maybe they’d changed over the years. Robin had also detected around 23 humans disappearing in groups from two decks higher. Ben eventually got the doors open. If the door was a mess, it wasn’t a patch on the corridor beyond it.

Seriously!? What the actual ****!? The Cardassians have had this vessel for two years with potential prisoners. What have they been doing!?

Lucy’s memory was pulling up images from her studies. Cultures like the Cardassians didn’t like brightly lit vessels in the same way as Starfleet. The Cardassians were also noted to like leaving traps behind them. Jay had managed to shuffle her way along the queue until she was behind Aeryn and Mara.

Lucy hefted her portion of the transporter scramblers and enhancers and followed Jay until she was close enough to place a heavy hand on the Ensign’s shoulder. The young lady felt like an excitable puppy or toddler. Lucy kinda understood the sense of urgency, but the corridor beyond the docking bay had to be treated as hostile territory. It was the whole reason why Security was on point, while Damian and Miles were the rear guard.

“Slow down, Ensign.  Security don’t need us accidentally triggering traps. Sweep and clear. Lieutenant Miller and Calleja have point and don’t need us crowding them. That’s not exactly an easily traversable obstacle course.”

Doors and corners. ****ing doors and corners.

Lucy half wished they could have borrowed some Security from the Philadelphia. The Callisto was a mess and she didn’t want to consider what awaited them elsewhere.  With her hands full of equipment and Ensign she wasn’t ready to fall into a trap or a fire fight. The situation wasn’t just political it held all the potential to turn into a meat grinder. If they could reach the Computer Core in one piece that was just the first Rubicon.

Trust Security and keep an eye on your new charge.

== tag. ==

[GM-01]

==Elias==

The damage to the area, while extensive, seemed to be the result of ruptured EPS conduits and overloaded circuitry. Emergency circuit breakers elsewhere on the ship would preevent power surges reaching important systems like the Warp Core, but that power had to go somewhere, and this area looked like it had taken the brunt of it.

The sheer amount of damage to this section, ironically, boded well for the state of the Callisto's important systems.

==Mayfair==

The two Cardassians had moved beyond passive sensor tracking. However, as they moved along towards the Computer Core and that area entered the passive range of her Tricorder, half a dozen Cardassian lifesigns began to appear.

Four were stationary, within the Core room itself. Two were mobile, one inside and one outside, moving back and forth in short but effective patrol patterns.

==Calleja==

There were no signs of traps beyond those created by the damage. It also looked as though this area of the ship hadn't been visited since the ship was abandoned; the only reason there wasn't a thick layer of dust coating everything was that Life Support still functioned.

==Miller==

Having moved carefully around ruptured deck plating and conduits, the team came to a T-Junction in the corridor. The path directly ahead was blocked by a collapsed ceiling panel, but it would be possible for a smaller member of the team to wiggle their way up into the Jeffries Tubes between the decks if they wished. From there, they could access the Computer Core by stealth, or at least scout the location.

The path to the left was in a similar state of repair to the area they had just vacated, and according to the schematics, would lead them toward the Core itself.

[Robin Mayfair]

"Captain," Robin said, all business and all trace of her previous nervousness gone. "The two Cardassians have moved out of scan range but they were headed towards the core." She adjusted the settings on her custom tricorder, narrowing the sensor frequency but giving a slightly better range for a passive scan... at the cost of cutting out other information such as radiation or active sensors. Lucy would be able to pick up the slack in that regard, the nurse knew. Keeping track of enemy lifesigns was the medic's most important job at the moment.

"I'm picking up six more Cardassians. Four are stationary within the core and two look to be maintaining short patrol patterns, one inside the room and one outside. The outside Cardassian is patrolling at junction 6-14A."

Security had moved through the mess and Robin heard no sounds of a fight ahead, a good sign. The nurse waited for the Captain's response and the signal to move forward. Robin was impressed by Emily so far; she'd followed orders and been professional since the mission started, a far cry from a few of the Midshipmen that Star Fleet had handed the Artemis. The CMO probably would have volunteered for minesweeping duty when she'd been a middie, so eager she'd been to help and to be useful.

== Tags ==

[Aeryn Miller]

There was an inaudible sigh of relief from Aeryn as they successfully navigated the damage caused by the ruptured deck plating and conduits before the team came across a T-junction. It quickly became apparent that the path ahead was currently blocked by a collapsed ceiling panel, although a smaller member of the team might just be able to wiggle themselves through and up into the Jefferies tube, allowing them to access the core that way or report back on what they might find. Then there was the path to the left of them, which Aeryn knew led directly to the core, thanks to time well spent going over the Callisto schematics.

The Chief also noticed that it was in a similar state of repair to the corridor that they had just navigated through, but it was at least passable enough for all the team. She was about to inform the Captain of the options when Robin reported more information about the two Cardassians who were now headed for the computer core after leaving their last known position. Further still, it seemed as though the Cardassians had anticipated someone trying to access the core by placing guards inside and on patrol outside of it.

This complicated matters, but then again, nothing about this whole mission was straightforward, so she spoke up for a plan to be discussed and executed. " The path directly ahead is blocked, but someone small can access it and the core via the Jefferies tube, and we also have the path to the left of us that will take us directly to the core".

As for the six Cardassians that stood in their way, they had the means to handle them without hopefully alerting others to their presence, but how that happened would be up to the Captain.

== Tags ==

[Tyra Crawford]

Like with everything, there were pros and cons to having a command team with the same background but one of the things that she could appreciate most. There was a tendency to have the same weaknesses and flaws but there was also an understanding that made some things easier. In this instance, it worked to Tyra's benefit as it kept her conversation with Coleman short and sweet; he understood what she was asking and she felt confident that he'd check her, if the need arose.

With that done, she'd shifted back up the line, arching her eyebrow ever so slightly as she noticed that Devereaux and D'Mar had moved up into the third and fourth spots. She wondered if they had considered that such a spot would be more likely to put them in the middle of combat if the team took incoming fire but she figured that was a lesson best learned by trial and error. She settled into the fifth spot, which was traditionally, where the team leader went regardless, but it meant she could drag both of them backwards and out of the way if needed. It seemed like the best compromise that didn't involve her putting Harriman and herself in those spots.

She heard Calleja ask for a volunteer to minesweep and she assumed one of the two directly behind her would volunteer, though she didn't think that happened before they began to slowly creep forward in the hallway.

As they moved, it became apparent that this portion of the vessel was not heavily trafficked. Not only had they failed to clear the debris and damage from the explosion but it just looked abandoned. If she hadn't known any better, she'd think they were on one of those abandoned outposts that occasionally had to be cleared of outlaws, where the occupants cared little for upkeep. However, that wasn't a bad thing for them, necessarily.

As the team reached what Tyra could tell was an intersection of some kind, she heard Mayfair's voice in her ear, reporting more sensor results, including that their Cardassian friends had moved towards the computer core.

[I'm picking up six more Cardassians. Four are stationary within the core and two look to be maintaining short patrol patterns, one inside the room and one outside. The outside Cardassian is patrolling at junction 6-14A.]

"So eight total, including our friends from earlier? They must be working on the core, just our luck," Tyra answered.

It was only another few steps before the team came to a solid stop as the tip of the spear assessed the corridor. [The path directly ahead is blocked, but someone small can access it and the core via the Jefferies tube, and we also have the path to the left of us that will take us directly to the core,] Miller reported.

"How small is small? Could you or I fit in it, if we drop some gear? Or would it need to be someone smaller?" As Tyra asked, her head turned enough to catch sight of Mayfair in her peripheral view.

The CMO was definitely their shortest member but her charge, while lanky and tall, was bordering on unhealthily skinny. Either could probably fit through a small hole, though neither were her first choice. Miller, while taller than Mayfair, wasn't much heavier but her skills might be needed imminently. Herself, Devereaux and D'Mar all fell behind those three but Tyra, at least, knew she could handle small spaced if needed. What she did know was that Calleja and the men were likely all out.

==GM Input for Miller: Can we get a little more clarification on how small of a person could fit through that hole? ==

[Damien Coleman]

"I need your help. If we reach a point where we can't have our cake and eat it too, check me. Don't let me get so locked on to both that we get neither.”

Damian had locked eyes on Tyra as she spoke, letting the words and the tone sink in some. Crawford hadn’t been the only commanding officer he’d worked with that had a severe stubborn streak. He’d always wondered if that was part of the characteristics needed to be a successful CO. Though stubbornness wasn’t Tyra’s only attribute, and Coleman knew there were plenty of other traits she had that were much more important, and that led to her success as a leader. Yet in the recent past between them, her willfulness was a sticking point. What she asked of him just then, was borne out of a rational understanding of herself, which he appreciated and understood.

There was a welling of words that came up into his throat, but in the end, Damian couldn’t get them out. Anything he thought of would simply cheapen what she was asking of him, or muck up the clear direction of Tyra’s communication to him. Instead, Coleman settled for something more instinctual that had been curated in him by his superiors since the Academy. Nodding in the affirmative, he accepted the weight that she just put on his shoulders. Shortly thereafter, he began wondering just how exactly he’d follow through with such a commitment, if push came to shove.

Watching as Tyra made her way back up the line, Coleman gripped his rifle for some sort of reassurance. Something clicked in his brain when he felt the tool, the weapon, in his grasp; worrying about how to curtail one Tyra Crawford was a much further future problem than the present. There wouldn’t be any saving if they didn’t succeed in their next task. Rather quickly, Damian shifted himself back into the present.

Eventually the team came to a stop, as there was an apparent obstruction ahead. While the team ahead figured out their options Coleman swiveled in and half-turn and checked their six. It wasn't needed for him to clear what was behind them, not with the tricorders, but it certainly made Damian feel better. And gave him something more to do than worry how he'd contend with possible tough future choices.

[Miles Grant]

It was amazing to Miles how so much and so little could occur at the same time. He had spent the majority of the time since they had left the Liberty Bell more or less on "standby". He had heard the different conversations and updates, to include the human life signs that had slowly disappeared in groups of six...something akin to being transported out.

He would have preferred if they had been able to stop something like that from occurring, but they were already treading on eggshells. It seemed like no matter what they did, something else was always coming up that further complicated the situation.

He had heard a word during his time with Lina in York, namely during their adventure in the Jorvik Viking Centre: brobdingnagian. It meant "gigantic", and, honestly, the word gigantic no longer cut it when it came to describing how complicated the situation had become. So, brobdingnagian it was.

He still paid attention as they continued their movement through, noting the state of disrepair and updates on the Cardassian presence, which at this point had reached eight in close proximity.

He overheard the Captain's words to Commander Coleman. It was good to rely on someone to be kept in check, and Miles was glad this crew had that. Nevertheless, he kept focused as he stuck alongside Commander Coleman in the rear guard. He was concerned about needing someone to crawl through a smaller space in the Jeffries tube, but, if that was the best option to move forward, it would need to be done.

And, once again, the most he could really do was wait.

==Tag any==

[Benjamin Elias]

As Benjamin looked around at the corridor they were picking their way through - much slower than he wanted, but he wasn't in any position to argue - it became clearer what exactly had happened here, and he couldn't help but let out a low whistle. It wasn't often, after all, that one got to look at a blown circuit breaker from the inside. He could only assume that someone, somehow, had triggered a power buildup and had to shunt it somewhere fast to save the rest of the ship. He hesitated to think what he would do in similar straits, but then Artemis was fully crewed, while it was possible Callisto was operating with less than a skeleton crew.

Eventually, they came up to a T-junction in the hallway, and the group came to a stop. He looked over his shoulder at Coleman and Grant as they joined up, nodding at the FO as he did so and glad to have the pair of them covering his back - particularly since he felt particularly vulnerable with the explosives he was carrying. He heard Mayfair report on Cardassian lifesigns in the core and surrounding it, and took a calming breath. This was never going to be easy, but fortunately it wasn't his decision on how to get into the core. If it were up to me, he thought ruefully, we'd be heading back to the ship and drinking about now. But that's why he wasn't in command.

[The path directly ahead is blocked, but someone small can access it and the core via the Jefferies tube, and we also have the path to the left of us that will take us directly to the core,] Miller reported over the comms. He looked ahead and saw what she was talking about - the damage was even more extreme directly ahead. The other path was less blocked, but it was also essentially the front door for the core.

[How small is small?] Tyra asked in reply. [Could you or I fit in it, if we drop some gear? Or would it need to be someone smaller?]

Benjamin frowned, wondering. If Tyra was asking, she definitely wanted to get eyes in there first, but there weren't many good options within the team for the gap. He pulled out a padd and pulled up the schematics for the Luna-class. He quickly located the corridor they were at, and began to look for other options. Maybe there was another tube access nearby, or if worst came to worst he could potentially find a place to cut through to another deck so they could bypass the damage and the patrols.

==GM Input: any other options besides the hole of doom and the frontal assault?==

[Mara Calleja]

With no-one apparently willing to step up and make sure the path was safe, Mara sighed silently - her displeasure covered by her helmet - and fished her tricorder out of her webbing. She set it for passive scans to detect certain frequencies known for remote detonations, and to look for certain compounds that could indicate the presence of explosives. There was only so much it could do passively and without her actively looking at it as she synced it to her earpiece and clipped it to her belt, but that was the best she could do.

Truth be told Mara was OK with taking the risk - if she hadn’t been she would have held the team right there until she was. But she had been studying the damage and the ‘work’ the Cardassians had done and there was no pattern to any of it. It didn’t look like they’d been back down here since they’d taken the ship and they clearly weren’t expecting anyone else to come through.

Plus we have Robin on the tricorder watchin’ for anyone comin’ up behind us, and I think that’s a better indicator of how serious they are about intruders. And, spoiler alert, they apparently ain’t.

The Security officer listened as the CMO kept the team up to date with where the Cardassians were. So far the risk of discovery was low but there was no room for complacency as she led the team on through the corridor.

When they reached the fork and the collapsed ceiling, Mara brought the team to a halt and checked the path as Aeryn scanned the debris and potential ways through. The Bandaran listened as there was some back and forth between COS and CO, whilst looking at the pile of debris.

I wonder. Can this be shifted with brute force and ignorance? Enough to clear a path if we’re careful?

== GM input please. Would it be possible for the stronger members of the team to physically clear enough of the wreckage for the team to get through? Even if it’s single-file with a little climbing involved? ==

[Robin Mayfair]

"So eight total, including our friends from earlier? They must be working on the core, just our luck," Tyra answered.

"It may be eight, or the two from before might be part of the group in the core. The moved beyond sensor range before we moved up."

Based on passive scan range I'm only able to get a reading on the area just past the core, not enough to give more information.

Robin knew that the Captain would base her decisions around a worst-case scenario, meaning eight enemies. So far. The shortened passive scan range left multiple decks above that could be positively teeming with Cardassians, and it was virtually certain that the bridge and engineering had plenty of foes. Still, aside from the short patrol near the core she hadn't picked up any roving bands.

Aeryn reported [The path directly ahead is blocked, but someone small can access it and the core via the Jefferies tube, and we also have the path to the left of us that will take us directly to the core.]

Of all the team Robin was by far the smallest. In previous missions she might have been terrified at the idea of crawling through a Jeffries tube in an enemy-held ship by herself would have terrified the nurse, but in her current state it was just another part of the mission. If the Captain needed her to do so she would, without hesitation.

== GM Input: As the group moves does Robin detect anyone else? She's narrowed the tricorder passive scan to give only life readings to try and increase the range a bit. ==
== Tags ==

[GM-01]

==Crawford==

Any of the female members of the team, with the exception of Calleja, would be able to wriggle through the gap. Miller and Crawford would have to remove any equipment belts and body armor to do so. None of the male members would be able to fit through the initial opening.

==Calleja==

The debris from the collapsed corridor was extensive; while it would be possible for some of it to be removed, other pieces would require heavy equipment. There was also no guarantee that the corridor would withstand any disturbance of the debris currently propping it up.

==Elias==

There were, of course, Jeffries Tubes that would eventually reach the Computer Core. The closest access point was on the other side of the debris. The next closest was actually back in the Waverider dock.

==Mayfair==

In passive mode, even with range extended, the tricorder could only scan out to a dozen meters at most. Any more, and it would trip any internal security systems that were active. Currently, the only life signs detected were those in and around the Computer Core.

[Aeryn Miller]

[How small is small? Could you or I fit in it, if we drop some gear? Or would it need to be someone smaller?] came the reply from the Captain after Aeryn had given her the options about how they could proceed. Considering who was present, and the size of the hole between them and the Jefferies tube that could take someone to the core, the Security Chief took the time she needed to answer those questions, a minute, maybe a couple more.

" Yes, you or I could fit through if we lose our equipment belts and body armour" Aeryn began, figuring that whoever went through would have to have any gear passed through to them once they were on the other side. " If it were someone else going through, it would have to be one of the team's female members except Calleja."

Mara was, unfortunately, too tall, but if it ended up being Aeryn, then at least the rest of the team would still have someone taking the lead. She'd also ruled out Coleman, Grant, and Elias for similar reasons. Splitting up wasn't ideal either, but at the same time, it would allow whoever did go through to scout the area and report back, especially with the presence of the Cardassians. Again, it wasn't her call and she would follow whatever the Captain decided.

== Tags ==

[Mara Calleja]

Mara weighed up the debris pile and ran a few scans with her tricorder. Reluctantly she came to the conclusion that there was no shifting any of that mess.

F*ck. Close to something useful.

The Bandaran turned just as Aeryn reported in on who could access the Jeffries tubes.

"Yes, you or I could fit through if we lose our equipment belts and body armour," the COS began. "If it were someone else going through, it would have to be one of the team's female members except Calleja."

“There’s no way through the debris pile,” Mara said to Tyra, adding to the report. “Half that mess is structural at this point. We start liftin’ bits outta the way, we risk bringin’ down the rest of the ceiling.”

There was a split-second’s pause as the Security officer remembered something.

“If we’re going to scout through the tubes, is it worth seein’ if we can get the crybaby program workin’?” Mara asked. “If we can feed the Cardies some false alarms about fires or hull breaches, it might draw them out of the core and let us approach without havin’ to attack them head-on.”

The Bandaran had the program downloaded onto the PADD in her thigh pocket just in case it was needed. It had done the job aboard Graiark and cleared enough of the base security away to let her team extract the Sydesh clan.

For the moment, Mara wasn’t letting on that she’d heard Tyra talk about doing the scouting herself. The Lieutenant had agreed back on the Philly that she had to be OK with letting the Captain take risks with her own safety. But that one was a step too far.

I’ll grab someone else and stuff them through the hole before I let her drop her armour and weapons and go crawlin’ around with Cardassians in attendance. That is absolutely not happenin’.

== Pre-emptive GM input please - are there any accessible terminals nearby? ==

[Lucy Devereaux]

Lucy hoped she hadn’t been too harsh on Jay. The distance from the docking bay to the first impediment wasn’t bad, still wasn’t a walk in the park. Aeryn and Mara had done the footwork and it was more of a mess than she felt it was necessary, but at least it was lacking in traps. The deck ruptures were concerning. Heavy fighting had taken place, but a lack of engineering experience was slowing things.

The Cardassians had at least two dozen humans from somewhere. Lieutenant Mayfair was keeping it sensible by sticking to passive scanning. Lucy was surprised that her temperature scan had been low level enough to get details without setting off any alarms. A twelve meter scanning radius meant not knowing who you were walking into. Closed doors were useful, but corridors were a pain.

There was a wall of debris between the Away Team and a subtle way into the Computer Core. There was a hole, but half the team had a level of muscle mass which meant they wouldn’t fit. Aeryn and the Captain could, if they took off their armor. Drawback was how safe the hole was to scramble through in just the jumpsuits.

The other option was the direct approach. Front door and six to seven Cardassians. The team needed the Core, but alerting the Cardassians to their presence was not optimal. It was frustrating. Through would be a good start. Lucy wasn’t sold on the idea of running a crybaby, but she didn’t have the experience of Mara and the others.

Lucy had her bag, but she couldn’t bring the engineering kit and the scramblers if she was among the ones to go through. Standing about was a pain. There had to be a way to take the Core. With Robyn checking for lifesigns Lucy set her tricorder to passive reading and linked the output to her PADD. She’d find out if the tricorder was able to detect any more barriers like the wall of debris.

== GM input request, is Lucy able to build up a map of the ship using passive scans of the Away Teams surroundings? ==

[Tyra Crawford]

[Yes, you or I could fit through if we lose our equipment belts and body armour,] Aeryn began. [If it were someone else going through, it would have to be one of the team's female members except Calleja.]

Tyra shifted, her torso twisting as much as possible in body armor, to look at the available options. As she did so, she could hear Calleja make a suggestion about her software, though Tyra didn't immediately respond.

Her blue eyes rested on Devereaux for less than half a second, her mind quickly calculating that the young woman was almost as likely to throw herself through a grate to find out what a Cardassian hug was like as she was to do as instructed. If it hadn't been for their earlier encounter, her gaze might have stayed on D'Mar for a few moments longer but whether it was a concern for loyalty or a lack of focus, Tyra quickly moved on to the other options. There was Harriman but while she trusted Carol in a fight, she wasn't sure she trusted her to have the self control needed to scout ahead.

And then, her eyes fell on the medical duo, gaze moving from the tall, lanky midshipman to her diminutive boss and back again. There was the tiniest of sighs that escaped Tyra's lips as she untwisted herself again, her helmeted head shaking ever so slightly.

The fact of the matter was it had to be a two man team; it wasn't fair to leave someone to fend for themselves. One of them needed to be combat capable, which was Miller, Harriman or herself, and the other could be a wild card. The two man team couldn't be a composition that hindered the main team's ability to survive and succeed but needed to be able to survive on its own.

"We're going to put two bodies up as a scout team. If they can find either an over watch position or an insertion for neurozine ahead of the forward assault, awesome but their goal is not to engage. Access to the computer core is secondary for the scouts."

She paused for just a second, her head moving as she looked at Mara and then, back at Coleman. It was enough of a movement to likely telegraph her next words. "Midshipman Star will be coming with me for that assignment. I can't send non-security up there to be a defenseless and I can't weaken our forward attack or aft defenses by sending security. We are not engaging, just scouting."

"If we stop reporting findings, indicate an encounter or signal distress, get in there ASAP. No holds barred. Speed and violence of action to take the core and then, get us out of whatever jam we got into. We are secondary," Tyra finished as she already began to unclasp her belt and armor.

"Middie, c'mere," she said, motioning for Star to move up to behind Calleja and Miller. "Take your bag off. Take one cannister out -- we're going to stage it in the tube in case we find an access point for it. The rest will be handed off to Harriman. Make sure you have some neurozine grenades," Tyra instructed as she carefully put her rifle against the wall as she wiggled out of her body armor.

Once her armor was against the wall, she picked the rifle back up, adjusting the sling so that it would sit tightly along her spine in the valley of her muscles. She, then, grabbed the holstered pistol off the front of the armor and twisted the holster attachment so it would attach to her under belt like a tradition holster. No, it wasn't her old faithful, given to her by Jenny, but it would do the trick in a hurry. Then again, she was more likely to use her knife in the tube than a gun as it stood. The next off the belt was the gas mask, which she hooked to the under belt, and then, she snagged two rifle magazines for one cargo pocket and two pistol magazines for the other. It was probably rather telling that she didn't grab any restraints.

"Give me the cry baby program. I'll be first in -- hand me my belt and vest once I've cleared the area. At minimum, I can stage it in here. Once kiddo follows behind, give her the neurozine cannister to stage," she instructed, the first directed to Calleja and then, the rest to whoever wanted to be helpful that wasn't holding point.

Now, she looked at Star, what little of her face was visible through her helmet looked serious. "I need you to gather all of your wits and common sense together and stay calm for this. Just follow my lead, m'kay?"

Once she had some acknowledgement, she shook off that feeling that she was taking yet another green midshipman on an ill fated adventure that would leave her questioning why the Academy did such a terrible job at preparing them for the field. All she could do was remind herself that the ultimate outcoming usually was okay, at least in Elias' case.

"Wish us luck," she commented dryly as she began the careful process of maneuvering through the hole and up into the tube system.

==GM Input: How's the wiggling and squeezing journey going? What's the tube look like? ==

[Emily Star]

Emily watched. As she always did. So many different personalities in a small space yet the level of calm varied between them all and Em found herself getting distracted as leadership figured out their plan of attack. She kept tuning into the different team member and making mental notes of their various vibe levels.

A voice pulled her out of her own thoughts and she focused just in time to hear her name. Her name.

Her brow lifted briefly but then settled. Logically it was sound and it’s not like she was doing anything worthwhile at the moment.

"Midshipman Star will be coming with me for that assignment. I can't send non-security up there to be a defenseless and I can't weaken our forward attack or aft defenses by sending security. We are not engaging, just scouting."

The only thing that made her slightly anxious was being in such close range of the Captain. She’d want to do her best, which always made her anxiety rise.

"Middie, c'mere," she said, motioning for Star to move up to behind Calleja and Miller. "Take your bag off. Take one cannister out -- we're going to stage it in the tube in case we find an access point for it. The rest will be handed off to Harriman. Make sure you have some neurozine grenades," Tyra instructed as she carefully put her rifle against the wall as she wiggled out of her body armor.

“Got it,” She said before lowering her pack and pulling out one of the canisters. Em quickly checked the nozzle and then grabbed a few grenades. Shooting a glance at Harriman, she offered her the bag strap to take over.

"Give me the cry baby program. I'll be first in -- hand me my belt and vest once I've cleared the area. At minimum, I can stage it in here. Once kiddo follows behind, give her the neurozine cannister to stage," she instructed, the first directed to Calleja and then, the rest to whoever wanted to be helpful that wasn't holding point.

Kiddo. How embarrassing.

Em’s stepdad had told her to take nothing personal in her first year. Was this what he’d meant? Her nose twitched, but she was grateful her face remained still. It almost cracked. Almost.

Now, she looked at Star, what little of her face was visible through her helmet looked serious. "I need you to gather all of your wits and common sense together and stay calm for this. Just follow my lead, m'kay?"

Em nodded. Follow the leader. How hard was this going to be? Once again, their intensity when speaking made her feel completely unprepared and far too dismissive of danger. She took a deep breath and steeled herself as best she could given the variables they were missing.

[Benjamin Elias]

Benjamin was not surprised, but was still disappointed. His attempt to find an alternate path struck out, with no good targets for bypassing the choke point ahead. Well, you never know unless you check, he reminded himself. To try and mollify himself, he isolated the Jeffries tube ahead and the surrounding area on the map and saving it as a separate datafile before unhooking his tricorder from his belt.

He listened as the team tried to decide who was going to brave the gap, but felt fairly certain it wouldn't be him just from a visual inspection. Instead, he did what he could to help: using passive sensors, he got as close as he could without jeopardizing the integrity of the area and scanned as far as he could into the system. He pulled that data together with the map and consolidated them for transfer.

By this time, the Captain had made both a fairly obvious - for her, anyway - and a very interesting choice of team: herself and the new Medical midshipman. Benjamin was less than surprised she was going to go in herself, as Tyra was the sort that often led from the front. But bringing along a completely untested midshipman was potentially problematic, though given the sheer number of times he'd seen or heard of her doing so, going all the way back to his friend Nathan when they had both just come aboard the Gettysburg, perhaps he shouldn't have been too shocked to see it happen this time.

With the team selected, he dumped the datafile he'd collected to their tricorders, so they had at least an idea of what they were getting into. "Map for you, captain," he told Tyra as she went by, and then cleared out to let Calleja get ready to pass the gear along.

Instead, he took the neurozine canister and moved forward with Star, preparing to help her up into the tube, and set a hand on Star's shoulder as they waited her turn. He reached down to the pouch he was carrying and pulled out a breaching charge. "Put this in a spare pocket," he told her. "Captain will know if you need it, but I'd rather you had it available if needed." He gave her a smile. "And don't worry; she's made a habit of these little excursions with the new officers, and they usually come back alive." He winked and chuckled at his own joke, and then stood by to offer what assistance he could.

==Tags Crawford, Calleja and Star==

==GM Input: Whatever information he could gather about the tunnel, please share with him and the scout team.==

[Aeryn Miller]

There had been a fleeting thought that had arrived and departed as soon as it had crossed Aeryn's mind, one of mental preparation in case she was the one being sent through the gap. Thankfully, that little foray into her thoughts, as brief as it was, allowed the COS to listen as Mara gave her report about the debris pile, before offering to give whoever was going through, her crybaby programme. That would be a useful tool, but once again, it fell to those in charge to make that decision.

If it were Aeryn, then she would take it, and then the Captain answered, laying out her choices and plan of action. It made sense to have a two-person scout team, although she wasn't surprised when the Captain chose herself or Mid Star, knowing full well that this wasn't the time to say otherwise. Besides, the Captain was right, this was the way it had to be done. The decision had been made, a plan was being executed, leaving Aeryn to retain her role as lead, along with Calleja, to protect the others, and take the other path available to them.

The scout team may be secondary but also vital, and depending on what happened next, they had more options than before, with Calleja and Elias being on standby to pass equipment through to the Captain and Star. Aeryn remained in position, watching to ensure that they got through safely, and then they would be ready to move forward, carefully and quickly.

== Tags ==

[GM-01]

==Lucy==

The problem with using passive sensors to make a map is that it relies on active emissions from other sources. She would be able to build a map using the energy running through the EPS conduits, but if any power had been diverted, it would throw off any route she might try to create. To make a proper map, she would need to go active.

==Calleja==

Like most starships, there were consoles every so often on the walls. They all appeared dark and unpowered, however, with several having cracked or burst screens caused by battle damage and EPS surges.

==Elias==

According to the map, the scouts would need to work their way forward about ten meters to the nearest junction room, then follow a connecting tube another ten meters to the mid-level of the Computer Core.

==Crawford==

Wriggling through the debris was the most difficult part; the hole was oddly-shaped and some of the edges were sharp and caught at the two women's clothing, not tearing the reinforced material but still leaving painful scratches on their arms and backs.

Once through, however, the Jeffries Tube itself looked intact. In the dim emergency lighting, it looked as though the emergency doors ahead had been propped open, indicating that at some point someone had either tried or intended to try making repairs in this area. The junction area was visible ahead, looking deserted.

[Mara Calleja]

When Tyra made eye contact with Mara, the Bandaran knew exactly what was coming.

Don’t you f*ckin’ dare…

As the Captain outlined her plan, the Security officer’s grip tightened on her rifle until it groaned. This was exactly what she didn’t want to happen. The one person she was charged with protecting was going to strip off her armour and weapons and go crawling around in a place that Calleja couldn’t get to, but Cardassian weapons fire sure as hell could.

Mara didn’t move for several seconds as she silently fought with herself. She wanted to pin Tyra down, nail her to the wall with a knife if she had to, and send someone less mission-critical in her place. Which was frankly anyone else on the team.

But at the same time, she knew exactly how that would pan out for the mission. She would be publicly undermining her commanding officer and probably stepping over the line from insubordination to mutiny. There was also the fact that she had given her word that she would follow orders back on the Philadelphia after the briefing, which already seemed months away and not a matter of days.

There was a faint chime in the Captain’s earpiece to indicate a private channel from Calleja, and when Mara spoke it was only Tyra who could hear her.

“This is a needless risk. One of those I wanted you to promise me you wouldn’t take,” she said, her voice level. “But I’m not gonna go against you. I said I wouldn’t and I keep my word. I have to have faith in you that you’re makin’ the right call. So that’s what I’m gonna do.”

She switched her comms back to the team in general and did as she was asked, slinging her rifle across her body and passing up the equipment as Crawford and Star worked their way into the tube. The PADD containing the program was pulled out of her pocket and handed over a touch reluctantly, but the Security officer followed her orders.

With the sub-team on their way, Mara drew a type II in her left hand and checked her grenade stash. If the order was given, she was to unleash hell and quickly. That at least she knew she could do.

Would probably make me feel better about all this as well. Cardies can’t shoot the Cap’n with my knife through their f*ckin’ neck.

She took a deep breath to calm herself down, keeping her temper buried behind willpower strong enough to bend metal around. When battle was eventually joined she had to be clear-headed. For now though, she just had to wait, watch and listen.

[Carol Harriman]

Carol just stood in anticipation of what the next order would be. She watched people closely, not just as part of supporting security, but because she was curious. Many seemed anxious about things. Carol was one of them. They were in the middle of a mission that really didn’t exist. They didn’t know what was around the proverbial corner, people giving ideas left and right. She was ready to volunteer to go scouting.

Carol listened and watched the others on this trip. She was ready to do what was needed, including serve as a scout, but watching the captain think through the choices, Carol knew she wasn't the captain's choice.

What the actual ****? 

She didn't need to hear the plan. She'd served with the captain long enough to just know. Carol wasn't angry, but felt something that wasn't typical or at least for early career. She was starting to feel...  

Doubt. What the actual ****?!  Get over it Carol. This isn't the time for this ****. You have to stay focused.

Shaking her head ever so slightly to empty her head of any feelings she may have had, Carol resumed her usual confident posture. She knew the crew wouldn’t be happy with the captain's plan…or at least she hoped no one would be happy…not to mention there was not much they could do to stop her. Carol stayed ready to stop anyone who protested the plan...and to jump out of the way of the Captain's sidearm if that protest happened. 

Wonder if I could take her... 

So, no matter what people wanted to do, this was it. She gave a glance to their security chief as the plan for the captain and youngest of the crew prepared. As they prepared, her eyes went to watching the crew.

Who are you? and you? and you?....  What are your deepest aspirations?  What do you do when you're just being you... not being a military officer?  

Despite what Carol may have wanted to say to the captain, she’d stay back. She'd watch over the crew just as if they were the captain. She looked at the captain again.

Yea... Captain Crawford is important, but who’s to say she’s any more important than anyone else? We shouldn’t lose anyone if we’re smart about our work.

Carol continued to just watch the backs of the folks involved. She kept alert, using her visual and auditory senses, waiting for the next order.

[Robin Mayfair]

"Midshipman Star will be coming with me for that assignment. I can't send non-security up there to be a defenseless and I can't weaken our forward attack or aft defenses by sending security. We are not engaging, just scouting."

Robin shouldn't have been surprised, but she was. She wondered if Coleman would say anything to stop her.

That isn't her job. Captains don't scout ahead. She's needed to command and coordinate our team, and she's just as capable of forward assault as any member of Security. And to take a Midshipman...

But it wasn't the medic's place to object and she knew it. That was the First Officer's job, to rein in their Captain when they wanted to go off and do something dangerous. Robin also knew that there was no stopping Tyra Crawford when her mind was made up, so the only thing there was to do was to accept it and adapt. And while Tyra had been nothing but respectful and supportive it was likely that she still viewed the nurse as only a little less green than the Midshipman she was taking with her.

So, just like everything else on this ridiculous mission Robin accepted the reality of the situation. She heard the Captain giving instructions to Emily, so as the two of them squeezed through the debris she keyed in the Midshipman's helmet earpiece communicator to open a private channel. Emily wouldn't be able to respond without being overheard, but she could at least listen.

"Emily, follow her lead and do everything she tells you. Captain Crawford has a lot of experience, so trust in that. You'll get through this. Keep passive scanning as you work your way through the tubes so you don't get surprised. And keep her alive. That's your main priority. If she's seriously wounded drag her out of there if you can, and if she gives you lip about it tell her that's a medical order coming from the CMO. Good luck."

No pressure. And it's not like Tyra Crawford listens to doctors... but then, I'm a nurse.

She switched to overall team coms so everyone could hear. "Remember, code 166745 on your tricorders activates the neurozine canisters. To activate a single one key in dash and then the canister number. Captain and Doctor Star, you have canister one." The canisters wouldn't activate unless keyed in, so there was no danger in an accidental release of the gas... unless the canister was shot, in which case it wouldn't matter.

With that Robin resumed her scans, keeping her enhanced senses open for any sign of danger as the team progressed through the corridors.

== GM Input: Please let me know if Robin detects any sign of trouble as we move. ==

[Tyra Crawford]

It was a tight fit as Tyra tried to wiggle her way through the hole, feeling the sharp edges catch on her uniform and any exposed equipment. It reminded her of squeezing through tight slot canyons when she was younger, though this held none of that thrill for adventure. She was well past feeling any level of excitement or thrill from these moments; it was now merely a consideration of what needed to be done. And this needed to be done.

As she managed to wiggle free, her hand came to rest on her holster as her blue eyes scanned the vacant tube from her position on her stomach. Seeing that it was empty, she rolled onto her butt to pull her legs in and then, she rocked up into a sitting position so that she could receive her equipment back. She was grateful that, even though she'd noted plenty of disapproval, there was, at least, enough trust between the group to do what she felt was necessary. Even from Mara, though the woman still voiced her concerns and grievances, and Tyra couldn't fault her for saying what she would have in her shoes. If everything went to plan, they could all hash this out and pour out their displeasure at her feet over a beer when this was done.

"Thank you," she said through the gap to Calleja once she had everything. The tone suggested she wasn't just talking about the offered gear or the PADD.

With her gear pulled inside, she pulled it out of the way for Star to climb in. She unsnapped her sling to pull her rifle free, laying it on the deck facing down the tube as she worked to get, at least, her belt back on. It would take less than a second to have it leveled down and fired if needed, though inaccurately, but she got the belt on quickly thanks to years of practice. It wasn't quite lined up perfectly but it was still functional. Star was just managing to wiggle inside when Tyra considered her vest; it was essentially a security officer's safety blanket, particularly for those who had fought actual ground combat but what if they needed to exfile the way they'd come in? She'd slow them down dumping it, even with how quickly she could, but alternatively, if they never made it back to this point, she'd be armor-less for the rest of her existence in this Hell hole.

"Cover both ends of the tube for a second," she requested of Star as she rocked back onto her butt to more easily don her vest. Fortunately, this design had quick releases on the shoulders and sides and she'd only triggered one when she'd dumped it. It made it a quick process to put back on, only pausing to make sure it was as streamlined as possible with her back up sidearm reaffixed. With that done, she repositioned her rifle for crawling through the tunnel, lengthening the rifle sling so that it hung vertical along her front torso but with only an inch or two of space when hanging. It made it so that all she had to do was get her hand on the trigger, move body parts out of the way and start firing to land rounds down range while on all fours.

She heard Robin reiterate the instructions for the cannisters, including the number of the canister they had taken. The nurse's efficiency and thoroughness caused a grim smile to cross Tyra's lips; truth be told, she would have preferred to have taken Robin with her for her ability to be calm under pressure and her efficiency at all things. However, not only had it not made sense to remove what little experience the team had but Robin would be a calm head in crisis, not to mention she wouldn't get distracted from her task. She wasn't sure the same could be said for the Midshipman but one on one, Tyra could manage that. Plus, Tyra had seen midshipman rise to occasion when there was no other choice.

"Understood. The tube is clear so far. The junction door is propped open so someone has been here at some point. The map says we should only have to go 20 meters. We're moving to the junction now," Tyra reported over the commlink before looking at Star.

"Let's go. All I need from you, right now, is to watch the passive scanner and keep an eye on our aft," she ordered, her words were calm and level as if this was a routine exercise. "And no loud noises."

With that, she carefully began moving forward towards the junction door. Her blue eyes were constantly moving, looking for signs of recent activity and warnings of what might be ahead. She made a concerted effort to keep her breathing quiet, not to avoid detection, but to hear any noises that might be ahead of them.

== GM Input: Do they make it to the junction without hearing or seeing anything indicating activity? If so, what does the junction hold for them? Are the hatches for above and below access open or accessible? Any signs of repairs being done? ==

[GM-01]

==Crawford==

Getting to the junction was easy; from there the tubes split off in four directions on the same level (straight ahead, left, right, and back the way she had come) as well as access points to the decks above and below. Noise from the shaft to the left echoed through the tubes; it was indistinct, but it was definitely the sound of heated voices speaking Cardassian.

The tubes on the same level were deserted, and the hatch to the deck above was closed and locked. The hatch for the next deck down, the deck they had technically just left, was bulged upwards along with a significant amount of the floor plating; there had been a particularly violent explosion beneath the area she stood, and the fact the plating had held was testament to the builders at whatever shipyard had constructed the Callisto.

There was no sign of any repairs having been started in this area.

==Mayfair==

Two of the bio-readings from the Computer Core began to move away from where they had been stationary, out of the door at the end of the corridor they were about to move down. They were heading toward the Away Team at a brisk walk.

==Everyone except the Scouts==

Two voices began to drift down the corridor. They were speaking Cardassian, and their tone, rate of speech, and economy of language suggested the owners were military, not scientists.

[Robin Mayfair]

"Movement," Robin said quietly into her helmet mic so that the team could hear without her having to raise her voice. "Two, moving out of the core and directly towards the away team at a brisk walk." As she spoke she heard them talking. They were talking loudly enough that the entire team could hear them. Military, it sounded like to her.

Doesn't sound like they're aware of us. If they were they wouldn't be speaking so loudly.

She drew her phaser, not intending to use it unless there was no choice. That was unlikely given Aeryn and Mara's positions, thankfully. The two Security officers should more than be capable of taking out the two, and quietly.

[Emily Star]

Instead, he took the neurozine canister and moved forward with Star, preparing to help her up into the tube, and set a hand on Star's shoulder as they waited her turn. He reached down to the pouch he was carrying and pulled out a breaching charge. "Put this in a spare pocket," he told her. "Captain will know if you need it, but I'd rather you had it available if needed." He gave her a smile. "And don't worry; she's made a habit of these little excursions with the new officers, and they usually come back alive." He winked and chuckled at his own joke, and then stood by to offer what assistance he could.

Emily blinked at Elias’s hand on her shoulder. His words were less than comforting, and she’d picked up on the immediate shift in vibe from a few of the team members regarding the Captain’s decision to head this excursion. That and the decision to bring her along. Which didn’t help.

It’s not personal. They don’t know you.

“Thanks,” Emily said quietly. 

Once the captain was in, Emily followed, with no issue aside from feeling a sharp edge or two that caused her to shift to avoid piercing her uniform. Pulling herself into a seated position, she turned back to accept the canister from Ben. Carrying it without making noise was going to be a delicate thing. As she settled it on her lap, she blinked and nodded when the captain asked her to watch both ends.

While the Captain was putting her vest on, Emily heard the Chief’s voice come over her comms.

"Emily, follow her lead and do everything she tells you. Captain Crawford has a lot of experience, so trust in that. You'll get through this. Keep passive scanning as you work through the tubes so you don't get surprised. And keep her alive. That's your main priority. If she's seriously wounded, drag her out of there if you can, and if she gives you lip about it tell her that's a medical order coming from the CMO. Good luck."

If she could have groaned in response, she would have. She got it; keep her safe. The Captain was an important woman. Do as she’s told. Don’t do anything stupid.

"Let's go. All I need from you, right now, is to watch the passive scanner and keep an eye on our aft," she ordered, her words were calm and level as if this was a routine exercise. "And no loud noises."

Really? No loud noises? Did she think Emily was stupid? Keeping a straight face, she nodded and followed the Captain. Thankfully movement, even with the canister, wasn't that difficult. She was able to follow and keep quiet while doing so.

[Mara Calleja]

Mara nodded at the unexpected thanks from Tyra. Stepping away from the tube entry, she looked around again at the junction they found themselves in. It wasn’t an easily defensible position, with the rubble pile a tangled mess and virtually nothing else to take cover behind.

Just have to use the corners well and duck, I guess.

The Lieutenant had come through a lot of boarding actions and ship-to-ship combat in the past and she was plenty capable of hatching a plan when needed. It did feel different now though, being in Cardassian territory and relying on stealth.

"Movement." The voice was quiet and it was Robin’s. "Two, moving out of the core and directly towards the away team at a brisk walk."

“Heard,” Mara said instantly. She looked around again before she replied. “If we shoot, we’ll set off every alarm on the ship. Suggest we set an ambush at this corner. They won’t be expectin’ us so I can definitely get one with a blade before they see me. It’s the second one that’s gonna be the problem. Lieutenant Miller, get everyone else clear and cover me? Don’t shoot unless you have to.”

As she shifted her type 2 to her right hand and drew a knife with her left, Calleja knew she was straddling the line between assertiveness and taking over. Equally, this was what she was on the team for. She’d spent most of her life with a knife in hand and at this point the blade was practically an extension of her arm.

There was also no doubt in Mara’s mind about taking lives. She didn’t like doing it but the Captain had spelled out the consequences of this mission failing. In order for the team to succeed, these guards had to go down without raising the alarm. Shooting at them would raise the alarm. Her way wouldn’t.

She started to move into position. As she crept towards the corner, she tried to tune in to what the Cardassians were saying, unsure if the universal translator could get a clean read. There was a big difference between guards who were investigating something anomalous, and those just on another patrol on a ship that was supposed to be empty.

== Tags all! And a quick GM input please - can we understand what the Cardassians are talking about? Any sign they’ve detected us? ==

[Aeryn Miller]

Aeryn had a feeling that Mara wasn't too happy about the decision that had been made, but at the same time it didn't stop the Bandaran from assisting the Captain, as both Tyra and Star disappeared through the gap that would lead them beyond the damage to this particular corridor. Watching to ensure there weren't any problems, Aeryn then listened as Robin reminded them of the access code that would activate the neurozine. It wasn't as if the COS had forgotten, but she appreciated it all the same, as the Captain then reported in about what they had found so far on the other side.

However, before Aeryn could acknowledge the Captain, they had more pressing concerns as Robin detected movement up ahead, specifically two of the eight Cardassians protecting the core, walking towards the remaining members of the away team. Sure enough, she heard them, talking normally as if they didn't have a single care in the universe. From what she could tell, they sounded like they belonged to the military as opposed to scientists. Regardless of who they were or their intentions for leaving the core, those from the strike team couldn't afford to be discovered, at least not yet.

This gave them the element of surprise and a way to reduce the number of Cardassians surrounding their intended destination. It was Mara who instantly suggested a plan, although her second was clearly thinking along the same lines as the COS herself. Yes, Aeryn could have pulled rank and changed positions, but this was why she trusted Mara, plus when it really came down to it, working in tandem was one of the reasons why they worked so well together.

If the ambush succeeded, it left one Cardassian for them to deal with, one Cardassian who wasn't going to raise the alarm, and bring reinforcements. This had to be done as quickly and efficiently as possible, and only use phasers as a last resort, and if necessary Aeryn wouldn't hesitate in using one of the neurozine grenades currently strapped to her thigh.

" Agreed, I've got your back" was Aeryn's reply, acknowledging that she accepted the plan and her role in the ambush.

" Everyone get clear" she ordered, knowing that she didn't have to tell Coleman, Grant or anyone else how to protect themselves, and more importantly protect Elias as previously discussed. With everyone hopefully out of sight, Aeryn turned her attention on providing cover for Mara, her breathing suprisingly calm as they waited for the Cardassians to appear.

== Tags ==

[Carol Harriman]

As they watched the captain and youngest of the crew disappear the tension ramped up due to the announcement there were two Cardassians approaching. Plans were put into place quickly, with the security officers taking control. Carol was ready to use what was needed to take care of the situation, yet that didn’t stop her heart from taking brobdingnagian beats. She looked around, wondering if others felt the same.

Whatever happens could make… or break this.

She watched Mara prepare with a knife. It was going to be tricky to get both. Carol waited for orders from their first officer or security chief, until then, making sure she moved in a place to be able to provide cover.

****. I really don't want to record deaths again. I guess if they get us first, I won't have to do it. Hopefully we get them first. I just gotta be ready to back them. 

== Sorry for the short/bad post.  ==

[Benjamin Elias]

Benjamin wasn't surprised at the minimal response from Star; this was the most he'd spoken to her in the short time she'd been aboard, and at a very odd time, as well. But that was what it was; he'd wanted to make sure they were ready for anything and tried to pass along some reassurance. The fact that you appear to have failed miserably doesn't negate the fact you tried, he reminded himself.

Before long, though, they were clear. He'd passed along the map - what of it there was, at least - and turned back to their now shortened team in time for the alarm to be sounded by Mayfair.  "Movement," she said quietly "Two, moving out of the core and directly towards the away team at a brisk walk."

He was less surprised by Calleja's confirmation that they'd heard, and that she wanted to set up an ambush. It was the obvious move from the security people, but that didn't mean it was a bad one. Miller quickly agreed to the plan, though he hadn't heard from Coleman yet. Either way, he wasn't a front-line combatant, and so moved further back from the junction in the corridor to clear the way for the people who should actually be involved in a fight. Still, he readied his phaser pistol, leaving the bulkier rifle for a later moment, because he knew that plans rarely stayed simple.

He found D'Mar and found a spot against the wall next to her. "How're we doing?" he asked quietly. It had only been a few minutes, but it had been quite the few minutes.

==Tag D'Mar==

[Miles Grant]

Everything was happening fast, yet painstakingly slow all at the same time. After what appeared to be internal debate from the Captain, it had been decided that she and the Medical Midshipman would be going through the smaller spaces to scout ahead and possibly find a way to give them a leg up.

Once again, Miles had to endure the hurry up and wait game as the rest were now in a position to wait for one of a handful of things to happen. The first, most hopeful situation, was the Captain and Star carrying out their plan without issue. The other options were something going wrong and the team going in, guns blazing.

So, they prepared for the second and were taking positions. After a few moments, however, something caught Miles' attention. Voices. He listened closer to discern and, though he didn't know what was being said, he could pick up the fact it was in Cardassian. And the tone was militaristic.

Apparently, most everyone else had also heard the voices. It was Calleja who had suggested the ambush, with Miller agreeing to the plan. Once everything was set, everyone got into position for the ambush. Miles pressed as much of his bulk as he could against the bulkhead and dropped to one knee, prepping his rifle as the group waited for the Cardassians to come.

[Robin Mayfair]

"Everyone get clear" Aeryn ordered. Robin instantly responded, flattening herself against a bulkhead, arms down, and trying to present as little a profile as she could. Security would have to act quickly, because there were no good hiding places in the corridor. For once the young woman was grateful for being so petite. Her job was to just stay out of the way and not get shot while Aeryn and Mara did their work.

[Tyra Crawford]

As they reached the junction, Tyra motioned for Star to stay still for a moment. In the process, the redhead caught sight of the neurozine canister the young woman was akwardly luging around, which the girl had admiringly been moving silently. Tyra had intended for the canister to be stagged where they'd entered but she supposed it made more sense to keep it close, even if it was a risk on a minor level.

The redhead inched forwarded into junction room once she'd seen that the top and bottom hatches were closed -- likely broken in the case of the bottom hatch -- and that the tubes in her direct view were empty. As she stepped inside, she was able to clear all of them visually but then, she heard the voices from the left tube, though they were muffled and distorted as if they were a level below or above. At that point, Mayfair's report came through her headset and she didn't bother hiding the grimace it caused.

It was bad timing but she had to believe that her people could take care of it without her hovering there. They knew not to use phasers unless absolutely needed but even more critically, to not let them communicate externally to other Cardassians. And she knew that reiterating that point was likely to just distract them at a time where they could not be distracted.

Tyra quickly motioned for the medical midshipman to move into junction room. She put her finger to her lips before pointing towards the left tube, hoping the young woman understood that they needed to be incredibly quiet as they moved forward.

As Star moved, she took a moment to glance at the map Elias had provided them, double checking which tube was the correct one. Once she was certain, she motioned to the center tube and signaled they'd proceed now.

Tyra was careful as she crawled into the next tube. She shifted forward enough that Star could crawl in as well but not too far just yet. "Stage the canister here near the entrance of the tube so you have free hands to passive scan as we move forward," she whispered, her voice barely above a murmur as she purposefully leaned back so Star could hear her.

Once she'd gotten an acknowledgement, she started crawling forwards. The map indicated it was only another ten meters so Tyra began looking closely for access points and vents, anything that would give them a view of the core or access to the computer core. Admittedly, she didn't want to access the core but Elias had walked her through how to access it enough to put in the fleet codes; they'd walked through the process while installing the cloak, just in case things went terribly wrong.

She sent up a silent prayer that the rest of the team could handle two stray Cardassians effectively. Their chances of survival and success very well might rest on that point.

== GM Input: From your input, I couldn't tell whether the center or left tube led to the core but assume Tyra can read a map better than me and would have picked the right one. What do we see and hear in the tube? Do we find any vents or hatches leading into the core? Or the computer core access point? ==

[Damien Coleman]

Plans could never be concrete, else they’d just sink an entire operation the moment that it started. That didn’t mean that Coleman liked the idea of Tyra going off with a Midshipman who wasn’t Security. It was yet another situation in a long line of situations where she was putting herself in peril. Damian let a puff of exhalation escape his nose as he crunched and churned the scenario mentally, even though he already knew what the answer would be that he’d come to. There were no better options. Sending Robin in with Star wasn’t an option. Sure, Mayfair knew how to handle herself well enough, as she’d shown way back with the Kazon. But that didn’t mean she was regularly training as security, or had veteran combat experience. There could have been an argument made for Miller to go with, or perhaps Harriman. Yet Coleman already tallied the odds, knowing strengths and weaknesses. Miller was good, but didn’t have the operational experience of Tyra. Harriman had the background too, but again Crawford simply had more experience.

“Good luck,” Coleman replied quietly to Tyra and with a stern face, but he nodded too, conveying that he wasn’t going to fight her on the matter; it was the best of their choices.

Watching both Tyra and Emily wriggle their way through the debris, Coleman wondered just how they’d all gotten into the mess they were in again. Starfleet could have had SEJO in their shoes, with better equipment, training, and experience. There was something fishy about the politics of it all, and Damian had to wonder if Tyra had royally pissed someone off at the Brass level. Or was it something else? Corruption? Incompetence? Coleman had to shake his head to clear the conundrum from it.

[Movement], he heard Robin’s voice over the comms.

Shit.

Moving up from the rear, Coleman’s eyes searched the corridor ahead of them.

[Two, moving out of the core and directly towards the away team at a brisk walk.]

Calleja immediately raised an important problem as Damian met up with her and Miller. Any shots would almost certainly raise an alert. Worse still, the energy discharge would light them up on internal scans, pinpointing their exact location to any Cardassian security teams. When Mara suggested an ambush, it caused Coleman to raise a brow for just a moment, but it dropped right back down. That was their best bet; take the two out as quietly as they could, or at the very least without phaser fire.

“Grant, Harriman, make sure you keep your heads on a swivel for anything coming from our rear,” he direct comm’d them.

Slinging his rifle, Coleman then approached Calleja as Aeryn ordered everyone to get clear. Using a knife wasn’t his particular forte, but he did know how to grapple, and he sure as hell knew how to throw a knockout punch. If Mara could take down the first Cardie through the door, Damian was certain he could tie up the second one, if not take them out too. Even if he didn’t take them out, he’d keep them occupied long enough for Calleja to finish the dirty work.

“Mara, you know you got point and are gonna kick this whole thing off if they come any closer,” Coleman direct comm’d Miller and Calleja.

“I’ll take second in the stack since Aeryn will have us covered. Once you start on the first Cardassian through, I’ll occupy the second, hopefully surprised Cardassian,” he took up position so that he’d have quick access to follow through with the plan.

Coleman trusted Calleja to take out the first Cardassian with ease. And he also trusted Miller to cover them too. Damian readied his hands for a close quarter take down. There wasn’t a hesitation of what he had to do, and Damian would do it with cold precision. Pressing against the bulkhead, Coleman coiled himself, ready to spring.

== tags Grant, Harriman, Miller, and Calleja.

GM input: how fast does it seem like they are walking, if Damian can hear footfalls? Also, how loud are they talking? Like they aren’t expecting anyone to be around and pretty loud, yes? ==

[Benjamin Elias]

Benjamin leaned against the wall, and listened to the security team develop their plan around them. He heard Miller respond in his ear, and then saw Coleman talking, but didn't hear him; presumably he'd directed his comms to people individually. He was glad for the small tactical net they'd set up, letting them be quieter without going through the ship's comm network and alerting everyone aboard to someone else being here.

He thought about that for a second, and nearly slapped his forehead with how stupid he was. Security was going to be hard pressed to take down both Cardassians silently; the odds of at least one of them being able to get some kind of alert off were definitely non-zero. Could he do something about it? He didn't know, but he pulled out his tricorder to see.

He knew that he could use it to set up a wide-area jamming field, but that wouldn't help much as the range would cover most of the ship if he remembered correctly. He did, however, have a thought. He pulled up a broadcast program and started messing with the parameters. He picked a large datafile and ran it through several cycles of compression, and then picked the absolute widest set of frequencies he could, covering essentially the entire spectrum. With the density of the highly-compressed file and the sheer number of frequencies all trying to be transmitted at once, it shouldn't have the clarity to get far, and the particular program he was using was intended for line-of-sight transmission between two tricorders meaning it shouldn't spread beyond this deck. Of course, that also meant he'd have to see the Cardassians he was trying to jam.

Or, at least, the tricorder would.

He touched his comm and looked up at Coleman. "I've got an idea," he said on a closed channel between them, "that should keep them from transmitting a distress call. But I need my tricorder to have line of sight, and it's untested. Do you need it?"

==Tag Coleman==

[Mara Calleja]

Mara was quietly relieved to hear her ‘suggestion’ was being acted on, and she looked around to see Aeryn and Miles covering her.

OK, that’s good. If this goes wrong, that should be enough fire for me to get outta dodge.

When the FO appeared at her back, that was a moment of surprise for Calleja. She knew the man was a former Chief of Security himself, but she still wasn’t expecting him to join her.

[Mara, you know you got point and are gonna kick this whole thing off if they come any closer. I’ll take second in the stack since Aeryn will have us covered. Once you start on the first Cardassian through, I’ll occupy the second, hopefully surprised Cardassian.]

“You got it,” Mara replied. “And thanks. I’m good with a blade, but gettin’ both before the second guy screams or shoots… That was a big ask. Glad for the back-up.”

Knowing that she had support, Calleja holstered the phaser to leave her other hand free. Mentally she ran through a number of killing strokes that she knew worked on Cardassians, confident that she could have her target down right around the same time he knew she was there.

OK. Let’s do this.

Taking position at the front of the group and right on the corner out of sight, Mara waited for the Cardassians to appear.

== GM input please - I think we’re set. Where’s our friends in black? 

Mara’s plan is simple. Knife through the neck, up through the jaw, on the first one to appear until he stops moving. Then back up Coleman and kill the one he’s grappling with. ==

[Aeryn Miller]

Aeryn might not have seen her instructions being carried out, but she heard the rest of the team move out of sight, while she maintained her cover position between them and Mara. As the minutes ticked by or was it only seconds?, either way, the Cardassians approach was imminent, and the COS was sure as hell, that they wouldn't get any further. It was then that Damian came up to her and Mara, not that it surprised Aeryn, who had remained calm, despite the situation, and listened as he spoke to them both directly.

[Mara, you know you got point and are gonna kick this whole thing off if they come any closer.] He began. [I’ll take second in the stack since Aeryn will have us covered. Once you start on the first Cardassian through, I’ll occupy the second, hopefully surprised Cardassian.]

From his tone alone, Aeryn could feel the trust emanating from him, as well as the additional boost his presence would bring to the forward defences. Sure, he could have remained at the rear with Grant and Harriman, but Aeryn also knew her Mentor and between the three of them, and those trained at the back, that they would bring an end to this threat swiftly.

" Me too, and I'll take care of the rest" she added, after Mara had spoken. As much as she would like to get her hands on the enemy, the plan was solid, and she was as ready as ever as Mara moved up and prepared herself for the Cardassians arrival. Aeryn shifted slightly to account for the change, staying silent and out of sight as needed until the ambush began.


== Tags ==

[Emily Star]

The thought of the team interacting with Cardassians caused a mix of feelings—the first being relief that she wasn’t there and then guilt at being relieved. For the first time, everything wasn’t hypothetical. This was about to become very real.

Tyra was careful as she crawled into the next tube. She shifted forward enough that Star could crawl in as well but not too far just yet. "Stage the canister here near the entrance of the tube so you have free hands to passive scan as we move forward," she whispered, her voice barely above a murmur as she purposefully leaned back so Star could hear her.

Emily nodded, letting the Captain know she understood. She caught a surprising tremor in her hand as she rigged the canister up. It connected perfectly, per Mayfair’s instructions, and once she’d triple-checked it - she gave the Captain a thumbs up.

Moving was easier now without the canister, and she continued to passive scan as they went. Emily watched the Captain calmly and efficiently. It was impressive and right in line with the lore about her. The rest of the crew may not have felt enthusiastic at her choice to be latched with the newbie, but that decision fit with the depiction of her character. Emily felt a light smirk forming. If they got out of this unscathed, she'd use her words better to get to know the woman. 

For now, she pushed down the anxiety as they waited to hear from the team.

[GM-01]

==Crawford==

The tunnel to the left led straight to the Computer Core's mid-level. There was no complete floor level on the schematics, just some gratings to allow for maintenance access to the cores themselves; the Jeffries Tube would dump them out on one of those if they moved far enough along.

Before that, however, were the access ports for the ventilation system. In the event of an attack, the Computer Core was one of the areas on the ship designed to hermetically seal itself and run off its own independent air supply until the crisis was averted or help came. The maintenance panels for those systems, including valves to connect extra air tanks, were in the floor of the Jeffries Tubes about ten meters ahead of their current position. All it would take would be to plug in the container, override the main life support system, and open the valve.

The Cardassians would be neutralized within a minute at most.

==Coleman==

The Cardassians appeared to be walking at a brisk but not hurried pace; faster than a regular patrol but slower than reacting to an emergency. His Security training and personal experience suggested they'd been alerted to something in the area, but didn't consider it to be an immediate threat to the ship or its captors.

Of course that changed when they rounded the corner and laid eyes on a very well-armed Starfleet team. While the closest to the wall met his end at Calleja's blade, the other quickly raised his rifle with his finger already closing round the trigger. At this kind of range, he wouldn't even need to aim; he would hit someone, with devastating consequences.

==Calleja==

The knife slid through the Cardassian's thick skin with a sickening tearing noise, and jammed when it hit something solid. The Cardassian's eyes widened as blood splashed from his mouth, and the rifle discharged as the last few electrical impulses traveled from brain to trigger finger. The beam liquidized a section of floor plating a meter square, and Calleja would need to move quickly away to avoid superheated metal burning through her boot.

The Cardassian, now limp as a boneless fish, dropped to the floor. All two hundred ten pounds of him threatening to take Calleja down unless she reliquished her grip on the blade, still firmly wedged in his neck.

==All==

No immediate alarm sounded due to the discharge of the weapon, but that didn't mean the sound hadn't carried back down to the Computer Core. The team would need to deal with the second Cardassian and hurry to their target before reinforcements arrived.

[Damien Coleman]

Judging by their hurried pace, Damian concluded that the Cardassians were aware of something. What that was, and how they knew it, he didn’t know. Perhaps the team had shown up on scanners somehow, but maybe they just looked like stray captured personnel. If they had known there was a boarding team, they would have been moving much differently, and with larger numbers of responding force. Whatever the cause it didn’t matter much. All Coleman could hope for was that they were moving too fast to be able to react.

As they continued to approach, Damian steadied himself and took in some solid breaths. With his boxing experience, he had fast hands and deft feet. Closing the distance wouldn’t be the issue, plus there was the hope that Calleja not only took out one of the Cardassians, but stunned the second with surprise of it all.

This would be so much easier if we could just light them up…

The footfalls got closer, and Calleja looked like a cat ready to pounce, claws out as it were. As the Cardassians rounded the corner, they certainly looked surprised. Mara’s attack was sudden and fierce, and the discharge of one of their weapons was unexpected. Despite what he’d heard from the Cardassians earlier, it did seem like they were expecting more trouble than just some civilians, as they had their fingers on the triggers.

Still, Coleman moved in on his target, seeing the rifle getting raised as he drew closer. With everyone hugging the wall, there was one option that seemed best to avoid anyone getting shot. Carefully rushing, using his fancy footwork to keep out of the blast zone of the rifle, Damian used the Cardassian’s momentum against him. Pushing the barrel of the rifle upwards, it would mean the ceiling might get melted a bit, but those still pressed against the walls behind him shouldn’t get shot. Normally, Damian might use only one hand for the rifle, and use his spare hand for a strike. Instead, he used both hands in order to better control where the rifle was pointed, to make sure it didn’t stray towards the rest of his crew behind him.

Wrestling with the Cardassian wouldn’t be the issue, Coleman knew. Because all he had to do was stall for time. Calleja had artfully taken out the lead Cardie. Damian just needed to occupy his target and let Mara knife the bastard in the back.

== GM input: Outcome of Coleman’s actions please ==

[Mara Calleja]

Mara waited as the voices and footsteps got closer. The universal translator could pick up enough of the Cardassian conversation to give the distinct impression they knew something was up but they certainly weren’t expecting to come face to face with the enemy here.

As she held position, the adrenaline was surging through her veins, singing its siren song of impending action. It was taking all her willpower to hold but hold she did. She wasn’t nervous or worried about the prospect of combat as others might have been in her place. She’d been here so many times before that it just didn’t bother her any more. When the deed was done and the team was home, Mara would allow herself to reflect and regret. But not a moment before. Her focus on the job at hand was total.

The moment she saw the flash of black uniform and grey skin, Calleja pounced. Her knife hit home with every ounce of her prodigious strength right behind it. The impact took it through the enemy soldier’s neck and up into his skull. His eyes showed surprise, shock, horror and then fixed on empty space as his killer watched, her own stare cold and dispassionate.

His weapon discharged and Mara had to nimbly step aside to avoid any nasty after-effects. Her knife had gotten lodged in the Cardassian’s head and she let it go as he fell, knowing she had an identical one on her right hip and the concealed blade strapped to her arm.

As Damian got to grips with the soldier’s rifle, Mara ripped the second knife from its sheath and came in from behind. The blade was aimed at the back of the Cardassian’s neck in another textbook killing blow from the reformed gang fighter.

== GM input please - can Mara take out the second Cardassian? ==

[Tyra Crawford]

There wasn't much Tyra would consider pleasant about trekking through Jeffries tubes and no amount of experience changed that. The tiny abrasions on her hands from wiggling through the gap stung and itched, even though with the protection of her gloves. Her knees suffered a similar fate but she soldiered onward, forcing the discomfort to the back of her mind.

Her blue eyes were constantly moving along the tube section in front of her, looking for both abnormalities in the tube and for landmarks that would tell her how close they were getting to their destination. Her progress very abruptly stopped when she registered the familiar environmental system override in the floor up ahead.

"Get the canister," she said quietly over her shoulder, knowing they hadn't crawled that far from where she had told Star to stage the canister.

Tyra crept forward to look at the access ports, which as expected looked very similar to Artemis' set up. As a security officer, she'd had a lot of experience with these types of ports and the needed overrides. They'd utilized them to dump neurozene into parts of Outpost 10 while taking it over years ago, a successful maneuver that she had reused numerous times, but she'd also used them to keep environmental systems online in specific parts of the ship during difficult battles in the Romulan War, where engineers were too busy keeping the ship in one piece and teams were having to fight their way to reclaim parts of the ship. And of course, there were the less official experiences, like making sure a meeting didn't run over by using a canister of an odious nature with a timer.

Once Star brought the canister, Tyra motioned for her to set it down next to the valve. "Don't plug it in yet," she said softly.

From Tyra's less official experience, she knew that it was better to start the override process before plugging in the canister because a canister hooked up for too long without any action would sometimes show up on the main environmental controls if someone was paying attention.

Once Tyra made sure the console was working, she didn't immediately start the bypass for the gas canister. Instead, she accessed the environmental system's maintenance menu for its security profile, attempting to utilize her fleet code to silence any security protocols associated to the environmental system. She was about to make an attempt to go further and see if she could use that security profile as a jumping off point to access the entire ship's security profile when she heard the unmistakable sound of a weapon discharging.

"****," she muttered. It didn't matter who discharged the weapon, though the fact that it was one solitary shot told her a lot. Inexperienced officers often fired a single round when overwhelmed or surprised, where as an experienced officer fired a single round because they had the control to only fire what was needed. Which this was, she had no idea but it meant they didn't have any extra time anymore.

"Plug the canister in," she instructed to Star as her fingers began to rapidly work over the console, working through the override steps carefully but with new urgency.

"Deploying neurozene in the core. I repeat deploying neurozene in the core. Utilize gas masks as soon as possible," she instructed through the team's channel.

With the canister plugged in, Tyra paused in finalizing the step. "Put your mask on and monitor your tricorder. I need to know as soon as the Cardassians in the core are down, or if they don't go down."

Tyra didn't need to put a mask on as her helmet sealed itself under her chin but there was a spare gas mask on her belt in case there was a failure in her system or someone else's. Once her orders were acknowledged by Star, Tyra pushed the final button to complete the process, waiting for the familiar sound of the valve attached to the canister opening and pumping neurozene.

The redhead shifted backwards, putting her back against the tube in a way that allowed for her to cover both ends of the tube in case her attempts to silence any security protocols didn't work. She unhooked the sling to free her rifle so that it was now free to swing however she needed it. She didn't think it was fair to ask the midshipman to watch her tricorder and cover an end of the tube and frankly, Tyra was more than capable.

== GM Input: Is Tyra able to override any security measures attached the environmental system with the fleet code? Specifically any alarms or notifications regarding alternative air sources being plugged in. Are they successful in pushing neurozene into the computer core? ==

[Benjamin Elias]

There was a phrase that Benjamin had seen - and on occasion used - in after-action reports, and not the good kind. The phrase was simply 'overtaken by events'. It seemed innocuous on it's own, a simple way of saying that the action moved faster than anticipated. However, every time he had seen the phrase show up, it was covering a multitude of problems, and rarely portended good things coming further along in the report.

As Benjamin stood there, tricorder in hand, watching as the Cardassians turned the corner, he anticipated the liberal use of the phrase in the reports from all of the Artemis personnel.

Instead, he closed the program on his tricorder, knowing that the weapons discharge was as good of a signal as anything their comms would have produced. He just hoped it wasn't detected by the bridge, because there was no hope that the others in the computer core had missed it. He also holstered the pistol he had drawn and swung his rifle around to check as he stayed clear of the fight; he was more likely to be in combat now than he had been, and wanted to be prepared.

His comm crackled. [Deploying neurozene in the core. I repeat deploying neurozene in the core. Utilize gas masks as soon as possible,] Tyra messaged, and he swore under his breath. He reached for his mask, but his hand brushed his flask first and he couldn't resist getting a single pull from it before putting it back away and getting the mask in place.

He left the mask off for just a moment as he turned to the other people not involved in the fight - D'Mar, Grant, Devereaux, and Harriman - and spoke. "You heard the lady," he said to them. "Masks up on the double, and get ready to move fast to the computer core." Stealth was rapidly becoming a thing of the past, and he figured their tactical advance was going to be more of a sprint once the second Cardassian was down. At least when you get home from this, he thought morbidly, you'll have a nice, long vacation in whatever penitentiary they decide to throw you in.

==Tags to most everyone==

[Robin Mayfair]

In her current ultra-focused state Robin felt nothing as Mara sunk her knife into the Cardassian's neck. Coleman was already moving to intercept the other one and set up another strike by the Bandaran Security officer. No shock, no horror, just acceptance of the death of an enemy and a need to complete the mission. His dying discharge hit the floor and showed that his weapon had been set to kill. A hit on a human would have likely vaporized them. No alarm sounded, though... at least one that could be heard by the team. The CMO was aware that she should feel horror at what she'd just seen, especially given her sensitive nature... but she didn't.

[Deploying neurozene in the core. I repeat deploying neurozene in the core. Utilize gas masks as soon as possible.] The Captain's voice came over her earpiece and the nurse reached into her bag for her gas mask, fastening it with a swift movement born from experience even as Elias gave the order to do so. "Understood," she said flatly as she said as she checked the seal and took a breath of the slightly chemical-scented air. With that the nurse prepared to follow the team as they advanced.

== Tags ==

[Aeryn Miller]

From what Aeryn could tell as the Cardassians finally came into visual range, they had been alerted by something but showed no sign of rushing as if it was a real emergency. Her PR1 held steady covering both Coleman and Calleja as the latter began her perfectly timed ambush, there was little that the COS could do other than keep a close eye on the melee occurring in front of her while ensuring that enough distance was put between the Cardassians to prevent them from attacking the others behind her.

Mara soon got hold of the first Cardassian with relative ease, her movements calculated and precise, however, it wasn't the time to marvel at her expertise, as her victim managed to discharge his rifle, melting the deck plate in the process, before he fell where he landed. That left the second Cardassian who was already aiming in their direction, his finger poised around the trigger. Aeryn knew what would happen if he got to fire it, especially this close to his intended targets.

That didn't stop Damian from using his skills to his advantage by rushing the Cardassian, before pushing the rifle upwards out of harm's way. This would allow Mara the opportunity to dispatch him, like his counterpart moments before. Although instinct was telling Aeryn to help, to aim for the Cardassian as soon as she had a clear shot. A wave of almost helplessness washed over her, understanding the risks but if there was a way for her to help then she would.

Timing was essential and so she bided her time, watching, anticipating and was ready to take care of the problem should the need arise. Regardless if the alarm didn't sound, the team would have to get moving asap if they had any chance of getting to the core before reinforcements arrived. They couldn't move until the remaining Cardassian had been dealt with, and then came the call from the Captain over the comm.

Aeryn didn't need to tell the others to comply as they would have already heard it, not wanting to waste precious seconds lowering her rifle, Aeryn did reach up to ensure that her helmet was sealed to prevent the gas from seeping in, with her mask on standby then she returned to what was happening in front of her. Silently waiting to assist before making sure that they got to the core without further issue.

== Tags ==

[Emily Star]

"Get the canister," she said quietly over her shoulder, knowing they hadn't crawled that far from where she had told Star to stage the canister. 

"On it," Emily said quietly as she reversed the way they'd came. Way to go, you found your voice. It only took far too long for it to arrive. With a sigh she gently removed the connections for the canister. Once again she quietly carried it up to where Crawford was. Her back was far from happy and she longed to stretch. 

Once Star brought the canister, Tyra motioned for her to set it down next to the valve. "Don't plug it in yet," she said softly.

Emily nodded, and then watched as the Captain set to work accessing the system. It was rather impressive and the young Vulcanoid was following along in the process, completely engrossed, until the sound of weapon fire caused her to startle. The canister that had been seated on her lap loosly was now tightly held in her fingers as she looked back the way they came, "Oh no." She said quietly. 

"Plug the canister in," she instructed to Star as her fingers began to rapidly work over the console, working through the override steps carefully but with new urgency.

Emily nodded, hooking the canister connection into the system, "All set." She confirmed, thankful to be doing more than nodding. 

With the canister plugged in, Tyra paused in finalizing the step. "Put your mask on and monitor your tricorder. I need to know as soon as the Cardassians in the core are down, or if they don't go down."

"You got it," Emily said, as she moved to unlatch the mask on her hip and pull it onto her face. Once checking it was secure she gave the Captain a nod and watched as the senior office then pushed the button. With her tricorder Emily watched, curiously, as information flitted on the screen.

[GM-01]

==Crawford==

The command codes were accepted and allowed her to bypass the security on the emergency vents. When Star plugged in the canister and the vent was activated, a reassuring hissing told the tale of a potent sedative/mild neurotoxin flooding the sealed room. From below they could hear muffled shouts of alarm, some weak pounding on the doors, and then silence.

==Calleja and Coleman==

Grabbing the rifle with both hands, it transpired, was a mistake. Though Coleman was 193lbs of pure muscle, the Cardassian was larger and stronger; topping Coleman by at least six inches and easily swinging him into Calleja's path. With a brutal shove, he forced Coleman back into the other Security Officer, who slammed into the bulkhead temporarily stunned.

While Coleman and Calleja tried to regain their senses, the Cardassian had drawn his sidearm and was levelling it at the direct threat to his person; at this range any discharge would burn through Coleman and Calleja, as well as the bulkhead behind them.

==Mayfair==

Despite the violence taking place around her, Mayfair's attention would be drawn to the changes on her Tricorder. The Cardassians in the Computer Core were now far weaker lifesigns; indicating unconsciousness. The two guards, however, were moving quickly in their direction.

Power levels were also rising in the conduits around the junction they were standing in, suggesting that someone was trying to bring internal forcefields online.

[Robin Mayfair]

"Looks like the ones in the core are unconscious," Robin said into coms as the melee erupted. "Two more guards are headed our way, moving fast." This was turning into a mess already, with the First Officer being slammed into Mara, stunning her. The nurse pushed herself as flat as she could against the bulkhead, hoping to keep what little cover there was between her and the fight as well as staying out of the way of Grant or Harriman if they moved up and took a shot. Aeryn was the only Security officer close to the Cardassian, though.

She chanced another glance into her tricorder. Automatic sensors had detected an energy rise in the conduits right where the rest of the team was located and a small alarm symbol showed on the tricorder's display. "We've got a surge in energy in the conduits next to the team," she continued into her earpiece so the team could hear. "Someone might be trying to bring force fields online."

If that happened they were screwed, easy meat for the Cardassians. The nurse had to hope that either Benjamin could do something about it or Tyra could shut it down with her command codes.

== Tags all ==
== GM Input: Robin will continue to monitor the movements of the enemy as well as anything else her tricorder can detect that's noteworthy ==

[Tyra Crawford]

There was a moment where the silence of the tube felt deafening, though Tyra supposed there were worst fates under the circumstances. And then, the familiar hiss of the valve opening reached her ears.

The sound of panic in the form of shouting and yelling below them was reassuring but what wasn't reassuring was that the rest of team had yet to report back in.

"Confirm they're down with a passive scan and then, I need you to crawl ahead. You should be able to see into the core to confirm visually and then, look for a way down. We need to start securing them ASAP."

"While you do that, I'm going to try to make our lives a little easier... hopefully," she added, shifting to lean over the maintenance console in a way that would allow Star past her.

Her codes had worked for the environmental system and she needed to hope they'd work for a security override. Regardless of what was happening with the rest of the team, the fact that the entire computer core team was now down wouldn't go unnoticed for long and she needed to make sure that she had some control before that happened. Mentally, she calculated how much time she had to work with before it was critical that they had the unconscious Cardassians restrained.

She was careful to backtrack back to the environmental security protocols and used that to access the security root menu. Her first goal was to lock out external communications with her fleet code. It wasn't a difficult task nor one she was unfamiliar with, having utilized the tactic numerous times when taking back SF vessels or boarding enemy vessels. Elias would likely be able to reinforce her lock out when he was able but it would do for the short term.

Her next goal was uploading Calleja's cry baby program, which would create phantom alerts and alarms that would hopefully distract the Cardassians from sending their entire security force to the computer core. However, she wouldn't activate it until she was certain that external communications were down. They didn't need to start making red flags if those flags could be communicated outward.

As it uploaded, she began to work on locking out the transporters, though she considered environmental controls. Admittedly, they should have all been wearing rebreathers by now but she'd rather not have to worry about it. However, it seemed like a concern that could wait until she knew what their exact status was. There was another step that was more crucial at the moment.

Lastly, she tried to lock out bulkhead deployment to the fleet code, not wanting the team to be successfully separated by such a tactic. There'd be time to try to use the bulkheads against the Cardassians but for now, this was about buying them more time.

Every few taps on the console, she'd pause, listening for sounds of movement in the tubes or below them. She had slung her rifle and had unholstered her pistol, holding it in her left hand as she worked. There was the occasional glance at Star, making certain the girl was still within sight and doing as asked.

== GM Input: Is she successful in locking out external communications? Does the crybaby program upload? Was she able to lock out transporters or bulkhead deployment? =

== Star, just remember to ask the GM if you want any information on your next post ==

[Aeryn Miller]

Again time felt as though it had come to a halt as Aeryn kept her weapon action ready, well aware that it could come down to the very millisecond to protect her friend and her mentor. Despite Damian's best efforts, the Cardassian remained upright and in a position to fire his potential kill shot without a second thought. Worse yet and due to his unexpected height, he was able to push Damian into Mara, likely stunning them both while leaving them vulnerable, and easy targets.

The COS knew what would happen if his aim was successful, and she wasn't about to standby and let him take out two of their team. Aeryn was also aware of the report coming in from Robin regarding the scout team’s success with the neurozine, and how two other Cardassians were headed in their direction.

Those could be dealt with, along with trying to prevent the security measures that they were attempting to put in place in order to stop them from reaching the core. She hadn't come all this way to fail now or to let anyone die. Unable to answer since she was the only one in place to stop this particular Cardassian, and knowing what she had to do, especially with having him in her sights, and quickly without harming those in danger. Memories of old battles and the colony surfaced briefly, remembering what it took and how she wasn't going to repeat it, and once Coleman and Calleja were clear, Aeryn took her shot.

== Tags ==

== GM input, does Aeryn successfully take out the Cardassian before he can hurt Coleman & Calleja? ==

[Benjamin Elias]

Benjamin finished getting his mask on and was looking to D'Mar's to make sure she was fine as he heard the scuffle really get in gear behind him. He turned to look in time to see Coleman fall into Calleja, the result of... Wow, that man is large. Benjamin had to wonder where the six-foot-eight if he was an inch tall, and with enough size and mass to simply manhandle the highly trained boxer of a first officer, had even found a uniform, much less how he had gotten onto the ship. 

He was pulled out of his distraction as Robin spoke up. She confirmed the enemy in the core appeared to be unconscious, and that there were a couple more coming up the corridor. However, it was the next statement that brought him to a full alert.  [We've got a surge in energy in the conduits next to the team,] she said. [Someone might be trying to bring force fields online.]

A string of curses ran through his head and possibly through his mic; he wasn't sure if he actually said them or not and didn't have time to worry about it as he pulled out his tricorder and confirmed her readings. He knew he didn't have much time, and that this was going to be messy as a result.

Normally, if he wanted to disable forcefields, he'd have to get into a wall junction and manually divert power from the emitters. Unfortunately, in a junction like they were, the access points he needed were normally outside the junction. If he took his time, he'd be cut off from what he needed to do. In addition, if he tried to do that it was quiet likely that they would lose the initiative and they'd be taken out by reinforcements from the bridge or elsewhere once someone started squawking on comms.

There was simply no time. So he used the only tool he had at his disposal that could work in the time allotted. He pulled out his phaser, took aim at the frame of the corridor heading towards the computer core - counting his blessings that Federation ships were standard designs so he knew where the various emitters were located - and raked a shot across the entire line on setting 5. If his aim was true, he should have knocked out enough emitters to at least give them some more breathing room when the fields came up, if not keep the corridor clear down towards the computer core.

==GM Input: does it work?==

[Miles Grant]

Being the rear guard was a task Miles always took seriously. It was his job in this position to ensure his crew's flank was covered from hostiles. It was, in his opinion, one of the most important tasks anyone could be assigned. The biggest downside?

The wait. The possibility that, should no one come to the rear, there was a feeling of not contributing to the mission at hand. Not doing more. And if something happened in the front that he could assist with or prevent something bad from happening, it could easily weigh on the mind and heart.

Needless to say, when the action got kicked off, and the two Cardassians had been engaged, all Miles could do at the moment was grit his teeth and focus on the task at hand: making sure the team wasn't flanked. He could hear the comms with brief updates. Things did appear under control, but there was still much going on.

He waited for any signal that would mean he would need to intervene, or for any hostiles to enter his line of fire. He took a deep breath, steadying himself for what may come.

==Tag==

[GM-01]

==Crawford==

Shutting down the Callisto's communications was fairly quick; she simply disabled the transmitters and prevented any communications going out from the Callisto. Internal communications using the Callisto's own systems was also a fairly simple feat to disable, but would not affect the Cardassians' commbadges. The crybaby program went into the system, but from her current position she wouldn't be able to determine how successful it would be.

With precious moments ticking by, Crawford finally disabled the internal bulkheads. Whether she had prevented any deploying already, she couldn't tell, and she'd have to re-enable them if the ship expected to see combat; otherwise they would not deploy in the event of a hull breach.

==Miller==

The blood-red bolt of phaser energy slammed into the Cardassian and burned through his armored uniform. For a moment it looked as though it had no effect, as he began to track his weapon in her direction, before his arm went slack and he topped forward into a heap on the floor.

==Elias==

The emitters exploded one by one as the beam sliced through them, showering the people below with sparks. When his barrage had ceased, the corridor was once again silent.

==All==

After a few moments of silence following the chaos of the ambush on the two Cardassians, more footfalls could be heard echoing from the corridor. Alarmed shouts in Cardassian, having evidently heard the phaser-fire, added to the cacophony. Within moments the two Cardassians moved into view, at a full run, disruptor rifles blazing. Beams blazed past the away team, fortunately missing everyone, but definitely suppressing any safe movement from their current position.

[Emily Star]

"Looks like the ones in the core are unconscious," Robin said into coms as the melee erupted. "Two more guards are headed our way, moving fast."

Emily kicked herself for letting Mayfair beat her to it. She had one job and she'd missed the beat to say anything. However the fact there were more guards moving fast made her nervous, "You'd said we weren't engaging, just scouting but is that still the plan?" 

Her question sounded stupid even to her the moment it left her mouth, "I just mean is there a way to help them without going back?"

[Tyra Crawford]

Tyra's rapid tapping seemed to have paid off as she was able to take down external and internal communications, along with successfully uploading Calleja's program and taking control of the emergency bulkheads. She couldn't tell whether she'd managed to get control of the transporters or not and she was beginning to debate how much time she could afford to waste on confirming her attempt when the deck below seemed to erupt in the unmistakable sounds of a firefight.

She froze for a second, every single instinct in her demanding that she crawl back the way she came and add her firepower to the fight. However, that wouldn't save anyone, not really. The threads of Fate had likely already been twisted and tangled into a concrete braid encompassing that group's destiny and she could almost feel her own threads pulling her down the tunnel towards the core, towards their hope of success. This was their best chance to take the core, to attack from a new angle that, maybe, would give them a chance.

And yet, taking the core with just a young medical midshipman in tow would require favors from Fate herself and some careful strategy. Quickly, her fingers moved over the console as she made an attempt to lock out all of the door access to the computer core, in the hope that she could at least prevent one means of being overwhelmed.

With that done, she holstered her pistol and grabbed her rifle once more, turning to follow where she had sent Star to scout ahead. As she turned to look for Star, the gray of the tube seemed to give way to the brown gray of chiseled rock, the marks of damage blending into the rough surface of a rock face, but only for a second.

"Did you ever read 'The Charge of the Light Brigade'?" Steve's gravelly voice echoed through the crude tunnel from behind her, even though he probably had spoken rather quietly.

A much younger Tyra Crawford wanted to pause to send a pointed look back but she'd already found that the rough surface of the tunnel wasn't agreeable to stopping at all, having already eaten through her gloves and into her hand.

"What? No, I'm more of a Sherlock and Poirot fan… not military history. Wrong Crawford for that," her voice almost sounded scornful but she was too exhausted for that.

"When we get out of here, you should. It's also a poem, not a history book," he'd answered, almost sounding amused by her.

She'd mentally scoffed at the optimism, not seeing any light at the end of this particularly hellish tunnel. They were two hours into trying to crawl around the advancing Romulan front line with civilians in tow with a very likely chance that they'd exit the tunnel only to have to make a last stand to allow the civilians time to reach the evacuation point. There was nothing that was giving her very positive feelings.

"Why? I can't say I particularly enjoyed your last suggestion of the Art of War, though We Were Soldiers Once was a better read. I can't imagine what a poem can do for my strategic skill set."

She heard his slight snicker, followed by a grunt as he hit a rock. "Because at some point in your career, you're probably going to lead men into the jaws of death and the mouth of Hell or what feels like it. The poem hits a little different in that moment, when you're pushing half a league onward. Maybe it'll help you lead some of them out of it…"

She'd frowned, that skepticism level at its height but she'd shrugged, putting one hand in front of the other. "Well, I survived Sun Tzu so I think I can handle a few lines of poetry if it'll make you happy."

Truth be told, she'd scoffed even after reading The Charge of the Light Brigade after escaping that hellhole of a planet. It had been well written and had invoked emotions that most soldiers would deny but it hadn't seemed life altering. However, the first time she'd ever been tasked with leading men into a seemingly impossible situation, she'd found herself quietly reciting it. Not because it was an overly cheery tale but because there was some hope to be found in the fact that some of the 600 had come home so maybe, just maybe, Fate would smile on them too.

Now, she found herself quietly reciting it as she crawled forward, trying to catch up to Star. The mission had seemed impossible from the beginning but now that everything had seemingly gone off the rails, it felt all the more impossible. And yet, there had to be hope in whatever form that might take.

The young midshipman hadn't gotten very far, likely paused by the sound of the fight below them, and Tyra could only imagine what was going through the young woman's head. However, she had a good idea, having been a midshipman in a bad situation and having led enough of them into nightmares.

"You'd said we weren't engaging, just scouting but is that still the plan?" She heard Star ask as she caught up to her. "I just mean is there a way to help them without going back?"

"We help them by taking the core. And we do that by continuing forward," Tyra said softly. "The tunnel should turn into a grated platform ahead and we need to find a way down from there. I need you to focus on two things with your tricorder: the consciousness of the Cardassians that we're about to detain and the arrival of any reinforcements. The gig is up so active scans."

The redhead paused, not having pushed past Star yet to retake the lead, and she rocked back a little so she could see the young woman. "I need to know one thing before we proceed and I need you to be absolutely honest with me: if it comes to it and it very likely will, are you capable of actually using your phaser on another living being? If you aren't, I need to know right this second."

The sounds of battle below, though, reminded Tyra that they didn't have time for stationary heart to hearts and that it might not even matter what Star's answer was. She either had a sense of self-preservation or she didn't; time would likely tell which was the truth.

"Answer on the go," Tyra said rather briskly as she wiggled past Star to lead the way, her rifle in hand as she crawled forward towards the core. The platform shouldn't have been more than ten meters beyond the maintenance console and with luck, there might be an access point to the core before the platform.

== Tag Star! Feel free to start scanning as we move! ==

== GM Input: Was Tyra able to lock the doors to the computer core? Do they find the platform/ some sort of access to the computer core? If they find the platform, is there a way down and can they see the unconscious Cardassians? ==

[Robin Mayfair]

Robin let out a yelp as the emitters blew, one uncomfortably close to her. Still, the Chief Engineer's improvised plan seemed to have worked as no force fields sprung up to trap the Artemis crew. Aeryn efficiently dispatched the remaining Cardassian before he could get a shot off, but it was short relief as the two other Cardassians moved into the corridor and opened up with their disruptors, thankfully missing everyone. They wouldn't keep missing for long, though.

There was no way for her to move, flat as she was against the corridor wall with only the barest cover of a bulkhead support, and that wasn't much at all. Robin found herself holding her breath and trying to merge with the wall as if she could pass through it by sheer force of will. Time slowed down as the nurse found herself remembering the similar position she'd been in during the incident on Utopia Planitia, but this time there was a lot more range between her and the enemy. The Breen had only gotten one shot off, while the Cardassians were keeping up suppressing fire to prevent anyone from moving out and getting a shot off, at least from where she was. She was no Security officer, but she was puzzled by their actions.

They're running down the corridor, though. Foolish. They should have pulled back into cover and held down suppressing fire while reinforcements showed up. Force us to advance on them rather than closing. If one of her officers had done that Aeryn would have had their heads.

There was nothing for the nurse to do but wait. She gripped her phaser tightly, ready to take a shot if it presented itself... but that would only be if several of her crewmates were already hit.

[Mara Calleja]

As she went in, Mara had to adjust her aim. Impossible though it seemed, it was like the Cardassian was literally growing in front of her. Her best guess had him pegged at 6’8” at least.

Not the biggest bastard I’ve ever killed.

The next thing to go through her mind was the First Officer. The mountainous Cardassian swung Coleman around like he was a rag doll and crashed him straight into the Bandaran, who had no time to react before he hit her and drove her head-first into the bulkhead.

Even through her helmet, the impact turned Mara’s vision blurred and made her world swim in front of her. Her knife dropped to the floor and she staggered as she tried to re-orientate herself. She fought for control, knowing that she was defenceless until she could see straight, but it was a heavy blow and it took a couple of seconds to get straightened out. Seconds she didn’t feel like she had.

Luckily for her, by the time the Security officer had managed to pull herself together, Aeryn had taken the shot and cored the grey-skinned giant.

“Thanks,” Mara said into the comm as she shook her head to finally clear it, stooping to retrieve her knife. “Boss, you OK?” she asked Damian. Considering how hard the blow had been for her, he had to have taken a knock as well.

And then the shooting started.

Instinctively Mara flattened herself against the wall as disruptor beams ripped past her. Caught out in the corridor, there was nowhere to go to get safe, and that applied just as much for the rest of the team as it did for her.

If it all went to shit, the orders were to make it sudden and violent. And looks like it’s gone to shit to me.

“Flash bomb, cover me,” Calleja said into the open channel as her free hand fished one out of her webbing. Normally she’d have gone for a fragmentation or high explosive but given how close they were to a collapsed ceiling, the risk was just too great of causing more damage and completely cutting off the team from their objective.

Mara primed the grenade with her thumb and hurled it at the Cardassians with the venom of a pitcher unleashing a fastball. Without a moment’s pause she drew her phaser and counter-charged the oncoming enemy, staying close to the wall and loosing off a volley of fire as she moved. The flash bomb would go off imminently and flood the corridor with a blinding pulse of light. She trusted their gear to protect the Star Fleet team and hoped that Miller, Grant or a recovered Coleman would be able to send the Cardassians ducking with supporting fire.

Calleja was gambling that between the grenade, the return fire and 210lbs of oncoming armoured Amazon, that would be enough to throw the Cardassians’ aim off and let the Artemis crew regain control of the situation. Even if the enemy focused on her, that left a lot of guns pointed at them with time to aim. And if Mara was still upright when she reached the Cardassians, then they would have a whole new level of problem to deal with when she went for their throats.

Her position tight to the wall made the angle tighter for the Cardassians and reduced the risk of friendly fire as much as possible, but she was still taking a hell of a chance.

== Tags all! If anyone would like to return fire, now would be an excellent time… 

GM input please. Can Mara drive back the Cardassians, or at least distract them so the team can advance? And if she makes it to them, can she take either of them out? ==