Chasing The Turncoat Part III

Posted on Wed Apr 22nd, 2026 @ 7:08am by Makeba Brown & Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble & Major Edmund Merrick & Sergeant Audie Fitch & Sergeant Kyle Walken & Commander Rhupert Tyree & Petty Officer 3rd Class Emiko Marley & Lieutenant Mira Jayna & Lieutenant Junior Grade Gage Tohoyia & Warrant Officer Mercy Ryan & Sergeant Major Lachlan Barr & Sergeant Adélaïde Moreau & Sergeant Andrew Shy
Edited on on Wed Apr 22nd, 2026 @ 7:35am

3,372 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: The Cure: Operation Kakori
Location: Breyet Nor - The Badlands
Timeline: MD004 1445 hrs

Last time on Chasing The Turncoat Part II
"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.
And Now The Continuation...
Makeba and Gage had made their way through the station. They had the obligatory meetings with the powers that be, and at least for the time being, they were accepted as members of the Maquis. At the moment they stood before the docking hatch. The idea now was to reroute the security feeds and get the hatch open. Everything at the moment went according to plan.

However, something nagged at the nape of Makeba's neck. This had been easy almost too easy. She glanced at Gage who worked the console on the other side of the hatch. "You have those feeds rerouted?" She asked and then stole a glance at the countdown on her wrist. It was getting close.

Gage grunted. "Almost there. Someone is on their game here, though. The primary was easy to bypass but there's a secondary and it is a real bear. All kinds of security nodes interspersed with the power system and there's a dead man switch hard wired into it. Give me another minute and I will reroute some power from the lighting and isolate the secondary on a separate loop."

Another long minute went by and the overhead light went out. Gage smiled and closed the panel.

"We should be all good."

"Right then. I am going to blow the airlock. Three, two, one, mark." She had her hand in a panel and pulled a wire. With a short spark and poof of smoke the airlock outer door opened. "Send the signal, let's get them in, and we can get moving."

"Major Merrick, the door is open. You are free to infiltrate. Quaid is being held in an Interrogation chamber. Looks like it's in the Central Core Deck Three." Gage said.

"Central Core, Deck Three." Edmund remarked.

He stood to one side to let the rest of the marines to go through, noting the way they stepped inside, making themselves seem like they belonged there. He was rather proud, of the way they carried themselves and how they acted, despite facing the odds they had with the Silence mission.

He looked at Gage. "Thank you and see you later." Edmund giving a nod as he followed after his people.

Once all of the Marines were aboard the station. Makeba knew that they had achieved their primary mission goal. Now, she would have to try an learn some things on her own. There was still the question in the back of her mind whether or not she would go back to the Pioneer. For now she would continue to their next official assignment. Makeba signaled Gage that they should be on their way. When he nodded back the two headed down the corridor to see what distractions they could muster.

The inner hatch cycled through its pressure check, the low mechanical thrum barely audible over the station’s background systems. Lachlan stood just off to one side of the airlock, one hand resting against the bulkhead as he watched the timer on his wrist display tick down. Around him, the team made their final adjustments—checking weapons, tightening straps, making sure nothing rattled that shouldn’t.

He let them finish. There was no need to rush this part.

“Right,” he said at last, voice low but carrying easily in the confined space. “Once that door opens, we move like we belong here. No drama, no wandering. Quaid is the objective. Everything else is background noise.”

His eyes moved from face to face, measuring, not lecturing.

“If anything shifts—security pattern changes, extra boots where there shouldn’t be—call it. Don’t try to solve it on your own. We adjust together.”

He glanced toward the sealed hatch and waited for the signal from Makeba and Gage that the docking bay was secure and the port was clear.

“We go on their word,” he added quietly.

A heartbeat later, the indicator shifted, and the inner airlock began to cycle open.

Lachlan pushed off the bulkhead and stepped forward.

Drawing slow, deep breaths, Audie relaxed through the surge of adrenaline that swept over her at the beginning of every mission. It was survival, she knew, the natural drug heightening her senses, but the spike in heart rate made her all too aware that they were stepping into danger, so she needed to temper that with the breathing.

In her head, she went over the gear she was carrying, even though she knew exactly where everything was, and that everything was there. At a moment's notice, she could grab whatever might be needed in an emergency, even if they were hanging upside down in the dark. Audie hoped that didn't happen!

Shy let himself out of the lavatory, closing the hatch quickly as he grinned at the other marines. " I wouldn't go in there even so for a few cycles. Apparently Betazoid food is, how they say giving me a Code Brown," the tactical ops sergeant said with amusement.

"I'm sad to hear that, Sergeant." Mercy said. "It doesn't do that to me, but then again, I am half Betazoid."

Edmund spoke up, looking at Shy, "Did you remember to light a match or is it too filled with methane and you didn't want the ship to explode?" having a slight smirk.

Looking around at the rest of the team, Edmund added, "Best thing for all of you; all of us, is just to take a few deep breaths, and let it out slowly. You get too keyed up, you make mistakes. Yes, we're going into a dangerous situation, we'll be able to make through it, to adjust. I've got confidence in all of you."

Lachlan’s expression didn’t shift much at Shy’s comment, but the look he gave him was enough.

“Save it,” he said evenly. “You can entertain us on the way back.”

There was no edge to it, just timing. This wasn’t the moment.

He let Edmund finish, nodding once in agreement rather than adding to it.

“The Major’s right. Breathe. Keep it steady. We’ve done worse.”

His eyes moved across the team one last time, checking hands, shoulders, posture. No tremor he didn’t like. No one too wound tight.

The hatch indicator flicked from amber to green, and the inner airlock began to cycle with a low mechanical whine. A thin line of light appeared at the seam as pressure equalised.

Lachlan shifted his weight forward.

“On me.”

The hatch rolled fully open, revealing the dim, industrial lighting of the docking bay beyond. He stepped through without hesitation, trusting the rest to fall in behind him as they moved into Breyet Nor.

Mercy followed the Top into the Cardassian station, 'Ruby' over her shoulder and hand on her standard Marine side-arm, as she swept the corridor.

Walken was next in, his rifle left slung with his side arm in hand and at the ready. Takes up less room, when these corridors can get narrow with all these marines in them. "You never know what kind of hidey-holes they are in."

Swaggering was something Audie knew well, it was a skill she had practiced pretty much since she'd been orphaned and needed to appear more confident than she was. Of course, now that she was older, a Marine, confidence wasn't lacking, and the swagger was just a show of that confidence.

As they entered the heart of the bay, she took it in, looking for the small details, and for anything that might be important later, once they'd obtained their goal.

Lachlan cleared the hatch first out of habit, stepping into the dim industrial lighting of the Cardassian docking bay. The place smelled faintly of coolant and old metal, the sort of sterile, utilitarian atmosphere Cardassian engineers seemed to favour. He gave the immediate area a quick sweep, more out of instinct than expectation, then shifted a step to the side to open the lane behind him.

Once the team began filing through, he glanced back toward Merrick and gave a small nod.

“Docking bay’s quiet,” he said under his breath. “All yours, sir.”

With that he fell in just off the Major’s shoulder, letting Merrick take the lead while his attention drifted outward again—corridors, gantries, maintenance access points, anywhere someone might be watching when they shouldn’t be.

The station itself hummed with that low, constant Cardassian machinery tone, the kind that made it hard to tell whether a noise belonged there or not. Lachlan preferred it that way. Silence meant attention.

He kept his voice low enough for the team.

“Stay tight and keep it tidy. We’re visitors here, remember.”

Then he let the Major run the show as the team moved deeper into Breyet Nor.

Shy waited his turn to file into the more populated areas of the station, his pace nonchalant as he kept a few paces behind Mercy and kept his eyes roving. Since this was an Order station, he wasn't quite sure what to expect in the way of amenities that they might be able to play off of to fit in.

It wasn't lost on Edmund at the mix of people on Breyet Nor. The way they walked, moved, the way the people dressed. All mixtures from the life of hard knocks. Military in movement.

Hard bitten, scarred individuals. All having weapons they could grab at a moments notice. He mused in his mind, the Badlands, fitting name where scum and villainy sought refuge there.

He noticed a mess hall, the doors opening to let people in and out. Edmund continued on past those doors. Going inside, that would draw too much attention.

Moving away from the 'busy' area Edmund continued on, walking as if he belonged there. They needed to get to where Quaid was, and in such a way that they won't get challenged yet.

Turbolift would be one way, a quick determination in Merrick's mind, that might not be a good idea. Crawlspace, get themselves to the level they need to go.

"Find a hatch and get us into a crawlspace." Edmund said quietly passing this along.

Mercy spotted a maintenance hatch. "Found one." She said, taking a code breaker from her pocket and placing it on the hatch, and it began to go through all the possible combinations.

Lachlan didn’t stop moving when Mercy called it, but his attention shifted immediately, eyes flicking to the hatch and then outward to the flow of traffic around them.

“Keep walkin’,” he murmured, just loud enough for those closest to hear. “Don’t bunch up.”

He drifted a half step wider, angling his body to break line of sight from the main corridor without making it obvious. To anyone passing, it looked like a group slowing to check bearings, nothing more.

“Walken, take the far side,” he added quietly. “Shy, with me.”

Between them, they created a loose screen, just enough to mask Mercy’s hands at the panel while still looking like they belonged there. No sudden movements, no sharp turns — just bodies placed where they needed to be.

Lachlan kept his gaze moving, never settling too long on any one face, watching for the small signs — a second glance, a change in pace, someone paying a bit too much attention.

“Take your time,” he said under his breath to Mercy, tone calm. “No one’s lookin’ twice.”

Edmund was surprised at how quickly the hatch had been found. Mercy
was proving to be rather resourceful, though maybe they could have found one a little further away from the foot traffic.

Andrew kept shifting his interval and gawking about like he might not have been on the station before. Most of the personnel didn't meet his eyes, or their own flitted away immediately after making contact with his. Except for the Cardassians. Cardassians, as a rule, had high opinions of themselves and this lot even more so if Andrew was any judge. Or as the Colonel might say, Uppity pricks. Smirking, he winked at the next Cardassian female he passed and then slid away again as the marines did their infiltration thing.

Mercy worked at the locking mechanism for the jefferies tubes. Cardassian locks were tricky, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. Luckily Shy had provided just the distraction that was needed. The light on the security scanner flashed green. She slid it back into her pocket, and then quietly opened the hatch. She moved away to let the others enter first, in case she had to create a diversion.

As The Cure moved into the jefferies tubes, a message came through on Edmund's subdermal implant communicator. It was from Daynah Ral on the Valiant. Emiko Marley and Mira Jayna had been captured. Although Daynah hated it she relayed the order that they were acceptable losses in this mission. An expression of concern appeared, then swiftly disappeared on Edmund's face. Edmund's eyes flickered over towards Lachlan, then to Walken, Moreau, and Shy. His lips formed a grim line as Edmund came to a decision.

Merrick got everyone into the tube and gathered them at the first junction. "It seems that two of our team Marley, and Jayna have been taken prisoner. We do not know where they are being held. But, I would start with the Brig. Walken, take Moreau and Shy and try to find them. Once we have Quaid I will signal you and then it will be time to leave. You have until then to find them. Our first mission is get Quaid, the second rescue the other two, no one gets left behind, and I mean no one." Edmund's voice having a rather determined tone to it.

Andrew knelt with the others in the junction and slipped his carbine from beneath the coat he wore, double checking it. "We've about a kilo of high yield boom between us. Brigs on these stations are pretty hard targets. Crawl spaces around them tend to be ray shielded with enhanced sensor nets and a phase shielding matrix. Maybe we should exit and just try and walk in?" he glanced at the assembled team and didn't voice how good an idea it was to split the party.

Edmund looked at Shy and just gave a slight shake of his head in the negative.

Lachlan held position at the rear of the file, one hand braced lightly against the frame of the hatch as the last of them slipped into the jefferies tube. He waited until Merrick was fully inside before pulling the hatch in behind him, easing it shut rather than letting it clang. The faint hum of the station pressed in around them, tighter now, more confined.

He listened to Merrick’s orders without interruption, eyes flicking briefly to Walken, then to Moreau and Shy as their tasking became clear.

A beat passed.

“Walken,” he said quietly, voice carrying just enough to cut through the cramped space. “You’re not on a smash-and-grab down there.”

His gaze settled on him properly now.

“If they’re holdin’ them, they’ll be watchin’ for exactly that. Keep it quiet as long as you can. Last thing Marley and Jayna need is the whole deck comin’ down on top of them before you even find the door.”

He shifted slightly, giving Moreau a look next.

“You’re the ghost on this one. If it turns loud, it’s already gone wrong.”

Then to Shy.

“And you—keep your head. Don’t go lookin’ for a better fight than the one you’ve got.”

There was no edge to it, just experience speaking plain.

Lachlan gave a small nod toward the junction ahead.

“Find them, mark your route, and don’t get turned around. When the call comes, you move. No delays.”

He leaned back just enough to clear the way forward again, attention already returning to the rest of the team and the path ahead.

“Good hunting.”

Adélaïde met Lachlan’s look, gave a small nod.

“Understood.”

She shifted her weight slightly in the cramped space, already thinking it through. “We keep it quiet. Get eyes on first, don’t touch anything we don’t have to.”

A brief glance toward Walken, then Shy.

“Brig’ll be tight, but there’s always something feeding into it. We find that, we stay ahead of whoever’s watching.”

That was enough. She settled back, ready to move when they did.

"Breaching that brig will get loud, no matter how we do it," Shy said as he rolled his shoulders and touched his push-knives handle. "And messy. Quiet is going to be a relative term. But it should be fun..." He said the last with a grin.

A quiet smile from Edmund, as he looked at those he chose to do this rescue.

"I'll see you on the flipside, and when we get back, drinks are on me" Edmund stated. He hoped that he will see them after this.
To Be Continued...

A Joint Post By:

Makeba Brown
HUMINT Agent, USS Pioneer

Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble
Executive Officer, USS Pioneer
Battalion Commander, The Cure