Bombs Away
Posted on Tue Apr 22nd, 2025 @ 12:02am by Captain Winfield Hood & Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble & Lieutenant Commander Dara Jax & Glinn Kalim
Edited on on Tue Apr 22nd, 2025 @ 7:46pm
1,425 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Back To Basics - Empok Nor Episode 3
Location: Ops - Central Core Deck 1 - Empok Nor
Timeline: MD004 1900 hrs
Glinn Kalim stood his extra watch stoically. It gave him the chance to view other shifts to ensure their performance met his expectations. Through the first part of the watch, all was normal. His presence kept the watch officers bent to their duties and he nodded approvingly to himself as he reviewed the stations daily reports. Traffic was continuing into creep up as more and more trade traversed through the system, much of it routed into and out of Cardassian space rather than just passing through.
He approved of that. It meant more prosperity for his people and stability for the government.
Then the decking rumbled under his feet and alarms began to strobe. Other explosions rippled, tossing crew members about and he found himself knocked to his knees as sparks and smoke erupted from several consoles. Climbing to his feet, he surveyed operations, waiting until one of the Starfleet officers said. "Glinn. Reports are flooding in from the lower promenade. Explosion at Neverwinter Nights and at docking ports five, eight and fifteen. The Enchen Sna is adrift, her moorings broken completely. No idea if there was crew aboard or not. The Figaro is heavily damaged and was losing atmosphere until the automatics aboard cut in and sealed her."
Kalim quit biting the inside of his mouth then and said, "Red Alert. Deploy damage control parties and notify medical."
Touching his console, he watched as the air handling system cut in, removing the smoke and overt smell of fried electronics from the compartment. The console's color's shifted under his fingers and he said, "Operations to Captain Hood. We have explosions on the lowest level of the promenade and docking rings."
"Acknowledge XO. Meet me on the Promenade. Commander Jax you as well. Hood out." Winfield jogged from his quarters all the way there. His thoughts dwelt on when the station was taken by the Order and New Maquis. Is this them again, or is this something else rearing its head? When he arrived he saw the damage teams working furiously and Kalim was there already. The Cardassian was on top of things as usual.
Stepping away from where he was attempting to get a systems panel online with a Marine damage control team member, Kalim took a position next to Hood and said, "Sir. Right now we know that an explosive on unknown type was detonated within the Neverwinter night club approximately eighteen minutes ago. Emergency response personnel are responding. Seventeen minutes ago, other explosives where detonated within docking ports eight, five and fifteen. The Enchen Sna has been secured via tractor beam and emergency halyards are securing him to the hull until we can get the ship pulled into a salvage bay, which should be ready within the hour. There were two crew persons aboard, both dead when the ship was vented to vacuum."
Taking a breath, the Glinn paused and then continued. "The Figaro's systems were better and there wasn't loss of life there. I've directed Security to ensure the civilian populace is secure and then sweep for other devices. Marine damage control personnel are deploying per SOP. Colonel Woods has reached out and has reinforcements ready to lend aid pending your request. He has scrambled the fighter wings and increased our exterior security. I have not informed the Federation nor the Council deeming that to be your prerogative. Sir."
"Thank you XO. Have the Colonel launch Alert one and two squads. Put them on defensive station. Were there any deaths on the Promenade?" Hood survey what he saw here. The only bright side of this was his teams had come together with professionalism and reacted swiftly. It was indeed a site to behold.
"No sir," the Glinn said, not needing to look at a readout for the numbers. "The explosions were contained to this area and the docking areas mentioned. There are however unconfirmed reports of missing persons. With everything else, that will take time to pin down. Once we muster full emergency response and assure there aren't secondary devices to target them, we'll be able to get into that." He shrugged then, "Maybe five, six hours before we run down numbers on what we know. Missing persons reports are already coming in. Security and Engineering are going to be overtaxed for the next week to ten days. I presume, once safety conditions are assured, you'll want the engineers to focus on the docking ring first?"
Dara thought this station was cursed. Jax, the symbiont inside her more restless than usual. Recently the station had gone through a lot and these explosions, these possible bombings, made life on the station even more tentative than it should be. "We might want to put out an internal message for all unessential personnel and civilians to stay in their quarters until we know we are safer." Dara suggested. "Power distribution across the station has been affected due to these explosion and the activation of emergency forcefields and fire suppression systems."
"Yes, have K'Gunn make sure that is done, as well has make sure his people keep the Promenade secure. I want this side of the Promenade closed until the investigation is concluded. No ship is to leave this station. I do not care if they are Starfleet. Fact is whoever did this could be anyone and with the New Maquis around we cannot put past the idea that Starfleet is involved. I know the USS Valiant and USS Carthage are in port. Have the Carthage assist Dr Abernathy with the injured. Their Sick Bay can handle the overflow patients. Put the Valiant on stand by we may need them to pursue." Winfield stroked the goatee on his chin. "What a day for the Commodore to take the Pioneer on a joy ride." He said with a sigh in his voice.
Kalim's communicator chirped as the trio walked, surveying the damage. He activated his ear piece and listened to a report, his mouth starting to sag a bit and he stopped abruptly. Behind Captain Hood and Commander Jax now, he said. "Captain. There's a report just coming in. The SS Savant Royal has been hit by raiders and as of right now, the Brigadier and Doctor Sobel are missing, along with a number of other passengers. Reports are sketchy, but they may have been taken."
"A coordinated effort..." Winfield began. "...It is possible that this explosion was a distraction for the kidnapping. I will head over and talk to Colonel Woods. He has command of the Marines as of now. Finding the General is going to be his problem. Finding who the hell did this is going to be our problem. Jax, take Paret and inspect the area within and around the club. I want to make sure that the station itself is not damaged in anyway."
Dara nodded. "Of course captain. Gil and I will head there now." she said simply.
Kalim knew, when Hood said our, it boiled down to him. Hood would focus on getting the station operational, dealing with any political ramifications (including handhold and reassurances). Kalim's jaw tightened as he reviewed just part of the damage and said, "By your leave, Captain, I'll go touch base with all departments in person then get you a list of updates within the hour. Once the departments are fully engaged and have everything we can supply them with, I'll get back to security and help there."
"Get it done Glinn. Also, contact Gul Markuul in the Cardassian Defense Forces. See if they have any contacts or any intelligence to share on terrorist groups that may want to threaten Cardassian interests." Hood looked around and sighed heavily. If he hadn't quit smoking while in the Academy this would be a fine time for a smoke. "I will be at Ops." He turned to head in that direction as he began to think what he would tell the Ambassadorial Council about this incident.
A Joint Post By
Captain Winfield Hood
Commanding Officer, Empok Nor
Glinn Kalim
Executive Officer, Empok Nor
Lieutenant Commander Dara Jax
Chief Operations Officer, Second Officer, Empok Nor
Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble
Executive Officer, USS Pioneer
Battalion Commander, The Cure
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