Chasing The Turncoat Part II
Posted on Wed Apr 22nd, 2026 @ 7:12am by Makeba Brown & Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble & Major Edmund Merrick & Commander Rhupert Tyree & Petty Officer 3rd Class Emiko Marley & Lieutenant Mira Jayna & Lieutenant Junior Grade Gage Tohoyia
Edited on on Wed Apr 22nd, 2026 @ 7:27am
2,465 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
The Cure: Operation Kakori
Location: Breyet Nor - The Badlands
Timeline: MD004 1025 hrs
Chief Hastings straightened at the marine colonel's remark and said with a clear voice that only slightly bounced off the bulkheads, "We've got most of you bunking together with only a few deviations where any of you Pioneers might need to share with our crew. The galley is manned twenty four-seven as well as the replicators, now unless anyone has questions lets get you all sorted.
"I'd just like to say, its nice to be on a Defiant Class again." Mercy said.
Edmund had caught the glance that Emiko had given to Audie, his lips thinning. There was certainly something wrong there where the girl was concerned, there could be even more trouble brewing with her. Drawing in a breath he rose from the chair, looking at Neil. Then he spoke,
"As what was said, get yourselves situated and get rest before we head in to our mission." with that Edmund made his exit towards the transporter room.
Makeba and Gage, two of the the intelligence team from the Pioneer were going in first. Amy looked over towards Rhu, then back to the intelligence. Trying to get a read on them.
To Rhu and Tremble, "The team will be going via shuttle, are there details that we on the ship can be doing to help out for this mission? Or just be part of overwatch?"
Rhu had a few things in mind, but they didn't necessarily include the Pioneer's team. "Overwatch and I want a deep analysis of all ships and signals in the region as we transit. If we're not getting chased or shot at, we'll be seeding passive drones on our way out. There's about forty of them, Cardassian torpedo's with the warheads removed, though they have anti-tamper charges and are set to self-destruct if compromised. Valiant is to pull as much SIGINT as we can to see who all is involved in this secret club house."
Neil listened and didn't have anything to add. For the Cure, the Valiant was transport.
Makeba stepped into the Valiant's shuttle bay. She had changed out of her uniform and into standard clothing. Her old leather jacket felt like walking into your home after a long time away. She eyed the type 10 shuttle as it sat waiting on the deck plating. As she stepped into the shuttle she saw the rest of the team hot on her heels.
Jayna, dressed in worn black jeans, black boots, and a black tank top. She was standing off to the side, waiting quietly. She and Neil had talked about the mission earlier, but now she was taking a few minutes to quietly center herself. It was an old practice from when she still lived on Bajor and was now more a habit than a need. Still, she felt it helped her on covert jobs like this.
She nodded to Makeba when the other woman entered, but said nothing.
Emiko walked in the room, her face as impassive as ever. What was more striking was that she simultaneously looked ridiculous and desirable in what she perceived as Marquis styled clothing. She wore a worn-looking black leather jacket over a mesh khaki tunic. Her pants were an old American military styled set of odd greens. Her long hair was knotted up in a bun loosely held at the back of her head. "So?" she asked everyone around her, without any other context clues.
"So," Jayna replied.
"We need to make this look good. Pick up a phaser and fire at the shuttle. The idea is to make it look as if we stole this thing." Makeba said as she picked up the phaser. She fired at the port nacelle, making sure to not actually hit the nacelle. The scorch mark looked as if it was a shot that simply missed its target.
Jayna picked up a phaser and made a scorch mark across the side of the shuttle. Then she made one that was a little deeper, but didn't penetrate the outer skin.
Emiko lazily took a phaser and shot at random spots that were not the nacelle. She hoped that the randomness might make it look more realistic.
Amy nodded as to what Rhu had said, watching the prep before she went to start the analysis.
Four people split into two teams. Amy quietly mused. Gage and Makeba in one, Jayna and Emiko in another. Amy wondered about the youngest member of the intelligence group, Emiko. She could tell that the Petty Officer hadn't been on a mission before. It showed with just how Emiko was acting.
Amy truly hoped that this mission for the Pioneer team would work.
Jayna watched Emiko for a moment and sighed. She wasn't here for her shooting prowess, but for her computer and language skills. Still, did she really think random shots like that would look like someone was trying to hit the shuttle? Shaking her head, she went back to work.
Gage entered the shuttlebay, completely unimpressed with everything that was happening. He moved to stand next to Makeba. At least he knew that she was competent. He nodded to the new people, wondering how another layer of complexity was going to mess up their plans. He was wearing his normal undercover ops clothing. It was mostly gray and brown and appeared well-worn.
"So, who's in charge of this?" Gage asked in a tone that sounded bored.
Rhu nodded to the Colonel and exited. He had enough to do without watching ants swarming a pastry, making up their minds.
Neil's eyes met with the Valiant CO's as that worthy exited. He himself was loitering near the hatch, watching the intel team passively. He hadn't worked directly with any of them as he normally had his hands full and left that to Rowena and Tyler. Deciding the Valiant's CO had a point, Neil caught Jayna's eye and waived as he turned to the hatch himself.
Neil really didn't have better things to do, but they didn't need him hovering. The mission had been set and frag-orders issued. No more hand holding should be needed.
"Right, Lieutenant if you wouldn't mind I could use some help with the shuttle's transponder. I want this shuttle to read as heavily damaged on sensors." Makeba said to Gage. She liked the guy, he was not like other Starfleet Officers. He did not beat around the bush, just spoke from the hip and heart. That was something Makeba respected. So, she thought to get moving as soon as possible. "As for the rest I think we should get our gear stowed so we can launch as soon as possible." She addressed that last statement to Jayna. Jayna was the senior officer on the away mission and so protocol said she led the mission.
Jayna waved to Neil, acknowledging his exit. She didn't blame him. Part of her wanted to hole up somewhere and brainstorm about contingency plans. In her experience, things never went to plan and knowing your options gave you a better chance of surviving.
"Most of the transponder codes are set, but I haven't done anything to note the damage. You two can work on that while I make sure we haven't forgotten anything."
Gage nodded at Makeba and moved to the transponders. He pulled out a thin square piece of equipment from a pouch strapped to his leg. As an Infiltration Specialist, he'd had to learn the best ways to bypass or alter security. What he was doing was fairly similar. He accessed the small computer that ran the transponder and added a few strings of code that he knew would get them where they wanted to be.
"The transponder is set as requested. Should run well," he said as he replaced the tool in the pouch.
A few minutes later the shuttle was ready for launch. Makeba popped her head out of the shuttle. "We are good to go. You both should get on board and we can get this show on the road." She said to both Emiko and Jayna.
Emiko did as she was told, ready to embark on a world where the universal translator did not exist. Just that thought alone made her smile secretly.
Jayna nodded and grabbed her gear before walking onto the shuttle. This was going to work, she assured herself as she sat down and buckled in.
Once everyone was on board Makeba activated the shuttle and sent word to the Bridge that they had begun the launch sequence. "Once we clear the Valiant we are going to have to make for the station as quickly as possible. It needs to look as if we are still on the run. So, hang on." She keyed in the commands and the shuttle was let loose from the docking clamps. It descended through the launch shute and out into open space. She pulled the shuttle hard to starboard and engaged the impulse drive. The shuttle made its way through the plasma storm toward the looming station.
Amy listened, and watched as things were being prepped. She was a little bit concerned as to the somewhat inexperienced, Emiko. Though there was a time that she was also a new person, being on an away mission.
"Break a leg." Amy said, not wanting to jinx the mission. After all, they were going undercover and being actors on a dangerous stage.
Quietly she whispered the opening lines, for a speech by Jaques, in As You Like It
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts...
A furrow in her brow, as Amy decided to make her exit after the shuttle went on its way.
Jayna turned to Emiko. "How much field training do you have?"
"Not much," Emiko admitted. "I've mostly been in linguistics, but I have always felt that I would be very useful in the field."
That didn't make Jayna feel better. "Okay. Just remember to keep cool and work quickly. We don't know what we'll find once we get on the station, so stay calm." She should have considered some training beforehand, but with the short notice, it would have as much chance of confusing Emiko as it would of helping, so it was probably better they hadn't.
"My work is exceptionally quick and I have no trouble keeping my cool. I know that I may be a bit of a rookie, but you will not be disappointed in my skills."
Jayna nodded, taking Emiko at her word. The younger woman's work was good. That wasn't in question. It was her status as a rookie. But the best way to get experience was to get out in the field. Once they were back on the Pioneer, she would talk to Neil and Rowena about some field training exercises for the department. They could all use a refresher.
Makeba sat at the flight controls, there was a smile on her face. It seemed to be the first time she had smiled in quite some time. She beamed because this kind of flying was made for the Maquis, she loved the ducking and weaving of the plasma storms. "Alright everyone. Make sure your strapped in. Things are about to get bumpy. I am cutting the impulse drive. Engaging maneuvering thrusters. Gotta fool those sensors somehow. Brace yourselves." The shuttle made hard to port as a plasma storm missed the nacelle. "There is going to be more like that all the way in. Once we are in range. Petty Officer you are going to have to send the friendly message." Makeba did not mean to take command of any kind. However, she knew what that station would be looking for and tried to make sure they were exactly that.
As the shuttle made its way into the Badlands. Daynah Ral the XO of the Valiant sat on the Bridge and gave the order. An order that she thought she would never have to give. It was to fire on Starfleet personnel. The Valiant's phasers lanced out in an attack pattern. All arcs missed but were close enough that it seemed as an accidental miss. "Gods be with you. she thought to herself.
"She's good," Jayna thought. Fortunately. She used the time to get into the right mindset. Cold. Quiet. Mistrustful. A little angry. It had been a long time, but she hadn't forgotten those first years before she joined Starfleet. Or the ones after. It would help her be convincing when they got to the station.
The type 10 shuttle made its way to the station while dodging shots from the Valiant. Makeba was good at flying so good in fact that the shuttle made it to the docking platform without a vocal challenge from Empok Nor. Once they were down. Keebs opened the hatch and was greeted by a Maquis security detail. She expected this. "Hey long time no see. We managed to escape Starfleet. Got some new recruits here and a new shuttle for you." There was a moment of intense silence as the team scrutinized the new comers. The leader of the security detail stepped forward and smiled. "Keebs, it has been some time." He embraced her tightly. All at once Makeba Brown thought that this was going to be too easy.
A Joint Post By
Makeba Brown
HUMINT Agent, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble
Executive Officer, USS Pioneer
Battalion Commander, The Cure
Major Edmund Merrick
Company Commanding Officer Officer, The Cure
USS Pioneer
Commander Rhupert Tyree
Commanding Officer, USS Valiant
Lieutenant Amy Gordon
Chief Intelligence Officer, USS Valiant
Lieutenant Mira Jayna
Intelligence Officer, The Cure
USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Junior Grade Gage Tohoyia
Infiltration Specialist, USS Pioneer
Petty Officer Third Class Emiko Marley
Intelligence Communications Specialist, USS Pioneer
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