Stumbling Home...
Posted on Sun Sep 21st, 2025 @ 5:41pm by Lieutenant Rowena "Rena" Campbell & Captain Lorut Vila & Captain Maxwell Culver & Commander Rylen Lyo & Lieutenant Commander Chester Ripley & Lieutenant Commander Hunter Langford & Lieutenant Commander Odren Xall & Lieutenant Commander Ishmael Nisim & Lieutenant Commander Frasier Greene & Lieutenant Kieran Thale & Lieutenant S'Tera & Lieutenant JG Lydia Dutton & Ensign Madeline Valles
0 words; about a 1 minute read
Mission:
Echos of the Obsidian
Location: Unknown area of Cardassian Union Airspace
Timeline: MD-01
After turning over the remnants of the Enterprise-B to the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, Vila sat at the Command console, streams of data rolling in front of her. This wasn't good.
They'd run into a spot of trouble in the DMZ on the way back from the last mission, near the outer limits of Cardassian airspace. Being this close to home had her already a bit on edge, and the damage they'd taken meant that they couldn't make it all the way to DS9. She knew that a few planets were off limits-as part of the Treaty of Bajor, two were claimed by Cardassia as their territory. She was happy to avoid those, anyway.
"Helm, set course to land at Theta Zicarus in one hour. It is technically uninhabited but there is a small outpost that is operated by Bajor occasionally when it is needed for battle. The data says it's available to dock, and I alerted the singular station master of our arrival. DS9 is on call for support, in case. Engineering, prep a team and begin repairs when we dock," she instructed.
Chet was filling in as the helmsman. Apparently, several of the helm department had gotten ill at the same time, so he was pulling double shifts. “Aye, aye, Cap’n,” he responded, his warm tone resounding on the bridge.
She glanced at Lyo.
"With luck, we can get back to DS9 and sitting in Quarks in three days," she said. Well, THEY could. She planned to duck down to the planet and see her mother. Maybe she'd take Fraiser along, too. She'd love that.
Rylen gave Lorut a crisp nod. He could use a little down time himself, as he had affairs from the Homefront to deal with…eventually. His mother, from the House Lyo compound on Valt, has messaged him several times and they warranted a response from him in his capacity as High Lord. “Send a list of requisitions to Theta Zicarus for them to begin replicating the necessary parts. Prepare to engage at warp seven.”
“Course and speed laid in,” Chet informed the bridge crew. His fingers poised to press the ship into high warp.
Continuing to keep his skills sharp Doctor Greene was once again on the bridge at the auxiliary Ops station and glanced at his shoulder at the Captain as she added her final comment. Given the harrowing events of the Enterprise he knew professionally the crew would benefit from some down time on the station. On a personal level he hoped for some quality time with Vila to soothe away the tension of command.
"Thank you, Chet," Vila acknowledged, giving him a nod and a smile. "Science? Please launch the probes to establish atmospheric pressure ahead. Ops, how are we looking?" She asked. She smiled at both officers in turn.
"Launching probes now!" with that she pressed the button and said probes were away. "Ok captain, probes launched and on their way!"
"So far so good, all things considered, Captain," Greene replied.
"Thank you. Ops, please open a channel, ship wide." She waited a moment before speaking.
"This is your captain speaking. I know we're limping along like a dog with a hurt paw, but we're alive. We're all safe, and we're all together. Please remember that. Now, we're setting course for Theta Zicarus. We will need all hands upon arrival. After that, please look forward to one-week-long shore leave at DS9. If you have any questions, please direct them to your department Chief. Thank you."
She settled back. At least it was getting easier over time. She still wished that Max was around, and she was just the XO still. It was way less stressful.
"S'Tera, has any data about the atmosphere come back yet?" She asked.
"Yes captain, the climate control is on however it should not be on." S'tera reported.
Thale had been quietly tracking border telemetry and movement reports, his console scrolling with subspace signatures and border activity patterns. When the captain glanced his way, he inclined his head.
“Strategic Operations has no immediate threats on scope, Captain. Cardassian patrol patterns remain consistent with treaty boundaries, though I’m logging faint echoes of recent warp activity along the Zicarus vector.” His antennae shifted slightly, betraying his focus. “It’s inconclusive at this range, but worth keeping Tactical alert during approach.”
He routed the contact data to Vila’s chair console. “I’ll maintain continuous monitoring and advise if the situation escalates.”
Ishmael stepped off the turbolift. There was an incident in the armory that he had to deal with. Apparently an ensign moved an entire locker of phasers to the wrong locker. So they thought that we had lost 8 phaser rifles, which isn't good. It was resolved though. He moved to the tactical console and took his seat, "Captain we have resolved the issue in the armory. Did I miss anything?"
Vila shook her head but smiled lightly. "Thank you, Commander. Not much; we're getting ready to head to our docking location to be repaired enough to tow into DS9," she said.
She moved her gaze to Thale. "Acknowledged. Thank you," she said. "Good work!" She said. She was trying to recognize the crews' strengths but not OVERDO the praise.
"Commander Nishim, please prep yourself to join the team that will board the Outpost itself," she said. IT wasn't an outpost so much as a small-scale station-full capacity was one hundred people, used as an emergency site during the Occupation to hold refugees before they left for other parts of the Sector or the Quadrant altogether. It was a large, concrete building with barracks on one end, a communal refresher room, communal kitchenette, and then a main Ops area in a separate building, with five rooms. It was bare, sparse, and utilitarian. It was meant to be-temporary. "I don't expect trouble, but just in case," she said.
Soon, they made the approach. Vila clicked the ship wide comms. =/\= All hands, prep for docking procedures. =/\=
They were interrupted by a ping from the outer comms. "Put that through, please, Dr Greene," she said.
"Yes, ma'am," the Doctor acknowledged.
A face appeared. A Cardassian one. Vila's face tightened and she nearly panicked, but a few hard inhales and she was able to speak.
"Hello," she said, tightly. "Can I help you?"
Across the bridge Frasier sat straighter in his seat at the Cardassian figure filled the viewer unexpectedly. He quickly looked over to Vila and noticed her body language had tightened considerably as too had her voice. The Dominion Occupation had left the Captain traumatised consequently her reaction to Cardassian personnel was somewhat strained especially when surprised such as now. He had to quash down the desire to stand protectively beside her as the two of them spoke knowing his actions would detract from her position of authority.
"I am Legate Sparmit Jac. State your business in this sector," he said. If he had noticed that she was Bajoran, he didn't show it. Or he had ignored it.
"I am Captain Lorut Vila, USS Intrepid. We radioed ahead to the station agent, Major Nairut Jobom," she said. "We were given permission to dock for repairs and a tow into DS9. We will not be deviating from that course," she said, her voice steady.
The Cardassian's visage remained straight.
"The Major has been dispatched," he said. "This is now Cardiassian Union space, and you, Bajoran, are an interloper here."
It was quiet for a moment before Vila spoke, this time even more steely than before.
"Are you declaring an act of war in defiance of the Treaty of Bajor? If so, I must alert the other ships in the area. The Federation will respond with the full might of Starfleet," she said. She sounded more sure than she felt. She paused a beat, silencing the channel.
"Lyo, get Command and DS9 on my viewer in my Ready Room, please. Join me there. Commander Ripley, you have the Bridge," she said, standing up.
Lyo gave the Captain a crisp nod of acknowledgement, working the small console attached to his seat. The tiny screen was somewhat inefficient, but Rylen knew every menu and sub-menu by heart so accessing the subspace comm array only took a few seconds.
"Everyone, please stay where you are and continue on."
The sudden turn of events had the bridge crew on edge, and given both his inexperience and personal interest in the Captain, Doctor Greene was anxious about the new situation. He could feel the mood grow with each passing moment as behind closed doors the future was being decided.
A moment later, she was in her Ready Room, a fresh cup of coffee at her side, and Lyo across from her. The Legate's stony face was still on the screen. She spoke.
"Let me beam down first. Investigate. I am the only one who knows how they operate," she said. "You need to start initiating Fleetwide emergency procedures. DS9 is currently under Captain John Flowers. Call there and ensure that everything is ok," she said. She finally clicked back over to the Legate.
“Captain,” began Lyo in a hushed tone. Protocol clearly dictated that in a situation such as this that he, in his authority as Executive Officer, should take the lead in this matter.
"Everything is in order," she began, and just as she spoke, she disappeared from Lyo's view and off the ship.
The small view screen clicked off when the Captain vanished into a faint yellowish vortex that was a signature of Cardiassian transporter technology. It took the XO longer than it should have to react, honestly…but once he regained his faculties after a few seconds, he turned back to the bridge and begin issuing orders rapid fire.
“Lieutenant Thale,” began the Kriosian. “Take us to Red Alert. Commander Nisim, target that outpost. And get Legate Jac back on comms now. The Captain has been beamed off the ship.”
"Sir, internal sensors registered an unauthorised transport localized in the Captain's ready room," Lieutenant JG Lydia Dutton confirmed from the bridge's Engineering station. "The transporter signal is confirmed to be Cardassian, but I'm having trouble pinpointing its origin or destination. They may have deployed a scattering field of some sort."
Behind Commander Lyo the inner workings of Doctor Frasier Greene's brain came to a jarring halt as news broke that Vila had been abducted. He felt detached from his body, aware of the bustling noise around him and the muddle of voices but they were all white noise compared to the overwhelming voices resounding within his soul and crushing sense of failure. I should have been there to protect her...I failed her
“We need to find out where the Captain was taken,” said Lyo, perhaps a little louder than he had intended, as he sank into the XO’s chair. “I need options, folks.” He snapped his fingers twice. “Come on, let’s have them.”
The bridge lights snapped to red. Thale’s hands flew across his console, shields rising as weapon systems came to life. The scattering field was messy, but he forced the sensors to focus, stripping out interference until a narrow transporter vector resolved on his display.
He tapped the channel open.
“Origin point is the northern comm array,” he reported flatly. “They masked the beam under background subspace noise, but I have a solid trace.”
A fresh sweep showed the warp echoes again — faint, but persistent. He tightened his scan and tagged the contacts for continuous tracking.
When Lyo called for options, Thale didn’t hesitate.
“Three choices,” he said crisply. “Hold position and negotiate — risk they move her. Disable their transport grid with a precision burst — fastest option, but provocative. Or wait for reinforcements from DS9 — safest, but slowest.”
He kept his eyes on the screen, fingers already queuing up the calibration.
“I recommend option two. I can tune a disruptor burst to punch a narrow hole in the scattering field. It’ll be enough for a transporter lock if we move fast.”
Lyo’s order came, and Thale acknowledged with a sharp nod.
“Calibration in progress. Target solution updates every three seconds. We’ll be ready on your mark.”
His fingers flew again, aligning the disruptor solution with surgical precision. The firing vector turned green on his console. Ready.
Lyo rapped his index finger on the outer casing of his chair’s console in a precise, rhyming pattern. As much as he wanted to blow these people to Kingdom Come, protocol had to be followed. The peace treaty needed to be respected. “Hold your fire a moment, Lieutenant,” he said. “We don’t shoot first. But keep your finger on that trigger. Open a channel.” There was a short semi-whistle, the standard indicator that a comm frequency was opened. “Legate Jac, out of respect for our Treaty I am granting you the opportunity to return Captain Lorut peacefully. You have one standard minute to comply. There will be no other warnings. End transmission.”
The Legate's face remained stony as the transmission arrived. A moment later, the screen on the Intrepid went blank. He was gone.
Thale’s jaw tightened, but his tone stayed steady.
“Understood, sir. Weapons hot and standing by.”
He locked the firing solution and kept it primed, one hand resting on the control surface. The disruptor burst was ready to fire on his command — a single press and the scattering field would be gone. His eyes never left the tactical display, tracking both the outpost and the faint warp echoes edging closer.
“Counting down sixty seconds,” he added quietly, already timing the window in case the order came to act.
The jarring sound of the Red Alert jolted Doctor Greene back into the present but the taste of bile and guilt remained lodged in his throat. He couldn't contain himself as the scheming face of Legate Jac goaded them on the viewer and the Doctor quickly rose to his with a curse word upon the tip of his tongue before the screen quickly descended into blackness.
Lyo stood from his seat, moving a half-step forward as if to punctuate his next sentence prematurely. “Be prepared to lock on to the Captain. Mister Thale, once the timer has reached sixty seconds you may fire. Minimal necessary force, if you please.”
Tag: Whoever.
Vila appeared in a holding cell on the planet below. She was immediately pissed. She reached for her phaser-missing. Of course it was. She sighed. "What is going on?" She called out. Where was she?! A Gul appeared in front of her. "Captain Lorut Vila. You've come a long way."
Vila set her face. "I ask again. Where am I?"
"Outpost Kora II."
She nodded. She understood the meaning.
-------
A Mission Post by:
Capt. Lorut Vila
Commanding Officer
USS Intrepid
&
Commander Rylen Lyo
Executive Officer
USS Intrepid
&
Lieutenant JG Lydia Dutton
Engineering Officer
USS Intrepid
&
Lieutenant Kieran Thale
Chief Strategic Operations Officer
USS Intrepid
&
Lieutenant Commander Frasier Greene
Chief Medical Officer/Operations Assistant
USS Intrepid.
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