Allegiances 3 – Reporting in
by HoD Ro' Matlh & Sogh Thor'nan Mal'Kor & Soghla' Marie St. Helene & Soghla' HIchop Matlh & Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope & Soghla' Jared & Sogh Marla Varquis

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Title   Reporting in
Mission   Allegiances 3
Author(s)   HoD Ro' Matlh & Sogh Thor'nan Mal'Kor & Soghla' Marie St. Helene & Soghla' HIchop Matlh & Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope & Soghla' Jared & Sogh Marla Varquis
Posted   Mon Aug 15, 2011 @ 1:26am
Location   FHew Bridge
Timeline   A few minutes after returning from the Amerigo.
Looking through the view screen the station seemed quite tranquil. Jared had played with the sensors to screen out the interference of the dust and gas around them.

The ship itself was not so much cloaked as disguised. A normal cloak would shimmer and skip each time it tried to adjust to the thick dust. Instead, Jared had tied the cloak in with the Buzzard Ram-scoops and Navigational Deflector so that they were literally a floating cloud of gas. A cloud of gas in a nebula was so common it was better than a cloak.

The crew began to arrive on the bridge, and Ro' waited for all to be assembled. Tell was the last to arrive, having stabilised HIchop in the infirmary. The Klingon biology was pretty robust, and there was every chance he would survive, but if they could get to a proper medical facility the chances were increased.

When she arrived Ro' asked simply, "Report."

"This goes way beyond anything the Federation has done before." replied Tell "And I've a feeling we have only just scratched the surface of it."

"The Federation was working on some kind of biological weapon there. And they lost control of it. " said Thor'nan.

"What's over there doesn't bear reporting," Marie added acerbically, "and anyway, who'd believe us?" She looked at Tell, daring her to intervene before she said anything else. "They've got some sort of phase shifting technology but my guess is it's still unstable. There's also some sort of...creature. Unstable doesn't begin to describe that thing. I haven't seen anything like it before and I don't wish to see anything like it again."

Ro' considered, "So Hay'legh was right. They were doing cloak research, and bio-weaponry as well. The question is, now we have this information, what do we do with it?"

"Threaten to reveal all and the Federation will just scoff" Marie reflected. "Like I said, who'd believe us?" She looked round at the other faces assembled around her. "We'd have to get hard evidence and I, for one, am not going back there to get it!"

"No need to," Ro' said . "Jared, put up the data HIchop managed to grab."

A small computer screen on the wall began to display biological data including DNA samples and genetic codes for the creature they had faced. Most didn't understand what they were seeing, but they knew it was enough data to be convincing.

"There are Federation earmarks all over the work. Unfortunately, the Phase Cloak we did not get data about, and that is what the Romulans were really interested in. So, now we have three options. We can take the information back to the Klingon home world for consideration; we can release the information straight to the Romulans; or we can blow the station apart and remove all trace of the Federation's illegal acts and destroy all the research in the process."

"I'm all for blowing that place apart," Marie said, "but if we leave it at that then whoever is behind this will just move elsewhere. I doubt the real movers and shakers are on that station, just the poor sods working on the projects. I also highly doubt that is the only place where data is stored. No, we have to shut this down once and for all and that means going outside the Federation. I do have a suggestion...if we move quickly." She looked pointedly at Ro'.

"We run down one of those escape pods, capture the occupants and you can beat a confession out of them. The Romulans aren't going to be too squeamish about how we get proof of phase cloak experiments."

Tell shook her head. "Take someone higher up on the base instead." she suggested "Work on him or her instead. Find another way to beam in and then beam out."

"While I'm full of good ideas, I have another suggestion...."

"No more blowing things up." said Tell "The Federation might be one thing and another but its the stuff that holds the glue together. What is it?"

"We take the information on the cloaking devise to the Romulans but we take the information on that creature to the Klingons. That way, both have something to beat the Federation with. But if we make it sound like the Romulans were acting jointly with the Federation on this bio-engineering and the Klingons were acting jointly with the Federation on the cloak.... Well, maybe some sort of balance can be achieved while they yell at each other."

"I won't go against the Empire. I may be human, but the Empire raised me." said Thor'nan.

"Neither will I or the Federation," Tell replied. "But it has to be made public. Each side should know what's going on. We've done what we've been asked to do, let's hand it over to the mediators now. We can publish what we have found on the FNS; we have the evidence anyway."

"The news service?" Marie scoffed. "Who pays any attention to that? Everyone knows it's just a mouthpiece for the Council. Give the information to the Tal Shiar and whatever the Klingon equivalent is and let them do their damnedest. I have no interest in protecting, or covering for, anyone who can conceive of a project like that monster."

"They are a mouthpiece for the Fleet so they say. I say we publish and be dammed." Tell told her "I know someone on the FNS who'll do it and keep us out of it." Then Tell turned to Ro' " Or your daughter Ro' what about her? She's a Diplomat. Surely she would be able to do something about it?"

Ro' raised an eyebrow, "My niece, Haqtaj. Yes... she has a much better mind for this sort of thing, and this information would give a powerful political piece into the Klingon hands for further negotiations, since we have close ties to BOTH powers."

"If the Federation knew nothing of it then let them deny it. Much good it will do them," she sneered. "Someone knew about this! Somebody has to be held accountable!"

Ro' nodded, "That just leaves us with the question of what to do with the facility that..."

There was a sudden noise as the forward torpedo tubes unleashed a volley of ten torpedoes and Starbase Amerigo, unprotected by shields or counter measures, cracked open like and egg and erupted in flame and shrapnel. Ro' looked at the tactical panel where a grim faced HIchop was re-arming all weapon systems after the volley he had just unleashed.

"...just leaves us to set course for a Medical Facility and to make contact with Haqtaj." He corrected himself, un-phased by the destruction. "My brother, Matlh, ran a hospital on Q'onoS. We are close enough to stop there, then I can pass a message on to Haqtaj over secure channels. Helm, reverse course, get us out of this cloud!"