Star Trek: Starbase 777

T’Shai walked into the command hub with a PADD in hand - she was here to collect reports and run diagnostics. Plus a secret third thing. divider

14:01

First stop was the weapon master control. Logging into the terminal, T’Shai sat down and opened the administrator login screen, copying a code from her PADD into the sign-in bar. The console beeped in agreement and gave T’Shai the primary control interface for the entire station. All it took was three button presses to shut it all down. Phasers offline ‘for maintenance’, torpedoes offline ‘for tube clearance’, fighter bays locked ‘for safety concerns.’ Excellent. divider

14:02

Signing off and shutting the console down, T’Shai then walked to the next Tactical Station. It was the exact same routine. Admin login > copy code > Access Granted - although this time, it was the shield the array. Exactly like before, all it took was one button and suddenly the station defences were offline ’for essential maintenance’. This. This is why Starfleet needed better authentication systems. Then again T’Shai wasn’t exactly meant to have this code anymore - she’d left the CTO position months ago (but not before cloning as many senior staff command codes as she could). divider

14:03

Third and finally was a stop to a different master control console. Specifically dock control, one of the Command Deck’s Ops console. Even more specifically, the Eventide’s purpose built docking bay. It was the exact same method as both other times beforehand. And as soon as she was in - she was done. Eventide was locked down for maintenance, that fuckass ship wasn’t going anywhere. divider

14:04

With her job done, T’Shai made one more stop at the communications station - sending out a ‘test frequency’ on an open band channel. Someone out there knew what it meant, and they’d be very pleased to hear it. With as much poise and dignity as she entered with, T’Shai left the command deck.

They were very pleased indeed.

... What's this? A communications channel crackling back to life? "...--ey! Hey! Shit, is everyone there dead?.. Cece, let's try another place..."

With crew back on the station from their first attempt at catching the IRW Temhruuhi, although glad that the Eventide crew had returned in one piece, there was still something else that Jena wanted to check before returning back with the others. Jena stepped off from the turbolift and looked around the command hub, allegedly where T'Shai began fiddling around with things which led to the raid on the station which resulted to the some of the crew to getting kidnapped. With tricorder on hand and phaser on holster, Jena began to investigate what exactly the tactical officer had done and logged it as evidence before resetting it back to normal to make things more convenient for the others. "This Lieutenant Commander Jenaha Sul, Chief of Security of Federation Starbase 777. This is a test transmission on open subspace frequency. Requesting confirmation of receipt—please acknowledge and report signal clarity. 777 out." When the security chief wrapped up with what she could, she sent out an actual test frequency and just stood there. Jena wondered where it all went wrong, and more importantly, if the missing crew are doing alright... (edited)

Jena could backtrack the steps T'Shai took to weaken the station. The usage of other people's codes - a solution so stupidly, so elegantly simple, possible only because of trust the starbase put into this officer. What seemed to be a respected Vulcan officer of a high rank... turned out to be anything but. A moment passed after the transmission test, then another, then another... "Starbase 777, this is USS Verdant. We are confirming the receipt of your test transmission, loud and clear." It works! A small relief... but a relief nonetheless. Makes you wonder if anything has been sent out before this test...

"Understood, thank you. Safe travels, USS Verdant." Jena said kindly. * *The moment she let go of the comms, after everything she has found, Jena snapped a turn and walked towards the security console. "Computer. Give me the records of any anomalous transmissions that were sent out and received prior to this test. And also prior to T'Shai's departure from 777."

The ACOS was lending a helping hand with Jena, trailing after her with a PADD in hand and taking notes. He was like a particularly large guard dog at the moment.

The ever reliable Computer soon provided a rather short list of anomalous transmissions. Many of them were marked as tests, some of them as mistakes. On surface level, that made a lot of sense. New wavelengths were tested all the time, and sometimes weird outside anomalies or space bodies could intervene. On the other hand... writing the word "palace" on a hut's wall did not automatically turn it into one. Was this a similar case..?

“Hrm…” Maxson stared at the screen over Jena’s shoulder, looking over all of the transmissions. Indeed, some of them certainly seemed routine, but it nevertheless caused him to raise his eyebrow, “Computer, isolate any transmission signals that present a similar wavelength to the one the Tal Shiar warbird used when hailing Eventide.” (edited)

Half of that handful suddenly blinked out of existence of the Computer's screen. The two security officers could see that the most recent transmission was made just some time before the abductions began...

“Confirmation,” He said lowly, “T’Shai was the catalyst behind this…” He wrote a few things on his PADD and pursed his lips together as he read over the notes. Having handled some damage control here at 777, he’d been getting up to speed on just how ruinous this has all been. “With the amount of transmissions sent, it calls into question if our former colleague was radicalized during her Starfleet tenure, or if the Tal Shiar has had a mole under our nose since her entrance into SFA…” He stroked his chin in thought. (edited)

Vara'l slipped in then. He'd briefly paused to visit the medical bay and had turned up now only after Telim had pulled back and asked him to get back to work. Asked him to get back to trying to ensure that Elohae returned home. So off he'd headed to what he'd decided would be his first port of call, the Command hub. "Jolan tru, all." He'd started then. "How are things going?"

Maxson lifted his gaze to Vara’l and gave a nod, “Jolan tru, Commander,” He set the PADD down on one of the consoles he and Jena had been bouncing between, “We’ve got confirmation that our communications are back in our control, as well as that T’Shai played a particularly large role in getting the Tal Shiar’s attention,” He folded his arms over his chest, furrowing his eyebrows and letting out a huff from his nose, “It’s not the whole picture, but it’s certainly coming into perspective.”

Vara'l nodded once then before he proceeded to say. "I wonder how long she's been a traitor or if she's a plant." The Romulan mused then before he looked about the room and stated. "Do we any indication on how much they've accessed and how many codes and attendant systems they've compromised?" He'd then asked.

He gestured toward the current transmissions on the screen, “This is how far our current research has gone, determining what transmissions were sent and where. These in specifics are those with a similar wavelength to the one the Tal Shiar warbird used,” He looked at Vara’l, “We’re just at the start of the investigation,” He tucked his hand back into his folded arms and turned back to the computer, “Computer, how many systems throughout 777 have been accessed using T’Shai’s emergency codes? Give priority to 24 hours before her most recent transmission.” (edited)

He came back from a bathroom break. Hey, you still had to go, even in a crisis! "We need to look into why this was even possible. Our security systems shouldn't be this easily accessible just by a previous member of senior staff. Maybe the cybersecurity folks can look into it."

"Understood." The CTO responded then as he looked to Maxson then looked back to the Captain. "Yes sir." He then tapped his badge then and then called the cyber security people.

Mo was right. They shouldn't be. Not by one single person, anyways... As for Maxson's question, he could see that the person in question was damn busy prepping for the whole thing to go down. She managed to scuttle around the station’s entire defense network and weapon system, lockdown the docked ships, and shut down the station comms. Damn. How did she manage?

Maxson pursed his lips together rather tightly at the information the computer brought up, letting out a low hum as he mulled it over, “Well…as far as I’m aware, I’m fairly certain that T’Shai is incapable of being in two places at once, let alone…that many places,” He looked between Jena, Vara’l, and Mo, “Were I to wager a guess, there are a few more accomplices still aboard the station.”

The very tired looking pilot finally gets to the cmd-hub for some much needed de-brief and actually brief-brief of the situation. He nodded in greeting to those those acknowledging his arrival, but stayed quiet for a moment as to not interrupt the discussion, and to gleam what was being talked about.

"Only one way to find out... Computer, retrieve security footage of Station OPS, Engineering, and Quarters Corridors from before the whole raid began and systems failed." Jena requested as listened to what Maxson had suggested. If T'Shai were to have accomplices, they would've placed themselves in the more sensitive areas of the station. Station OPS would have been a fine place for one of them to slip into with significantly more access to the station's systems and data compared to the Command Hub since the former was where most of the Senior Staff did their duties. Engineering would also be a sensitive place vulnerable to potential attack in this scenario. And during the initial attack, there were emergency calls in the quarters about intruders. A wide sweep was needed if the computer can get that footage. (edited)

How curious. As the people in the command hub watched the fetched material, in some instances, there were signs of tampering, some more clear than others... could there be a pattern to these edits? Who could've done these edits, and why?..

"...Motherfuck!" Oh whoever did this was good... damn. Whoever else was also involved behind this really did their best to "Someone was definitely here then. Somewhere in the station in order to even push out these edits... Computer, trace down the signal where those edits where made..." Jena requested, then an idea popped into mind. Usually when editing something like a document, there would be a saved version history. A option where one could see the previous iterations of a file as it was being edited. "Computer, kindly also find the version history of that security footage, the last version prior to any edits and tampering and playback to the same timestamps." Jena requested before turning over to Maxson to quietly confide something to him. "I'm not exactly sure if that would work... but if it doesn't, we may need to call engineering to untamper this..."

Maxson furrowed his eyebrows to a knot, and pursed his lips together rather tightly. This did not give him a lot of faith in the hope that it would just be a standard rescue operation. From the looks of things, the remaining crew were still only at the start of this nightmare. When Jena confided in him, he whispered back, “It stands to reason that a fair amount of systems have been compromised…and personnel, for that matter,” He glanced at the others in the room before returning his gaze to the COS, continuing to whisper, “We can get engineering, but I’m uncertain as to where to place our trust, Jena.” (edited)

Wholly useless to the conversation at hand, given that he wasn't of any useful division, but Iviaan was here anyway. "This is the sort of operation that requires many people," he said to Jenaha's earlier point about more operatives, nodding in agreement. His hands were shaking too terribly to type, so he opted to switch the button on his PADD instead. "High risk, high reward, maybe?.. Passing it around makes room for more leaks, but also made it less possible to trace it to just one person.* They remained quiet, however, noticing Jenaha and Maxson whispering. No clue what they were saying. Important security things that didn't concern him, he was just the blue guy.

"If there are other collaborators, an engineering or ops officer is who I'd suspect first. They're the ones who would have the technical skill to be able to do something like this. Unfortunately, that doesn't narrow it down much." He hadn't the foggiest who it could be. He was just one man; he didn't know every single officer under his command. It could be anyone, from a fresh-faced ensign to seasoned senior staff (again). They could interview everyone, but that would take time they didn't have. They needed to narrow down the list of suspects further.

"I don't think the Brig can fit that many people." Jena commented quietly to Maxson. Yes they weren't sure who to even trust, but at the same time, engineering might either be the answer they needed or key to finding that answer at all. The Security Chief nodded in agreement with the Captain and Iviaan. This was an operation that required a lot of people, people in the inside most especially. Engineering, although said by Shane to be a "Fortress", it was the most vulnerable to any attack of espionage... * *Despite the fact that many engineer's were caught up in all this, there are still plenty of Engineering and OPS officers still in the station, so while yes it did help narrow things down, it wasn't by that much... unless... "I'm a Betazoid... I could pop in Engineering, check in on how things are doing, and pull any suspicious person in for... a chat." Jena suggested as she turned over to the Captain. It was definitely an option.

Maxson huffed, before responding, “No, it can’t, so we’d just have to play it safe,” He didn’t like being on the back step, though he had no idea how to properly vet anyone who they brought into this beyond the suggestion Jena gave after the two of them split from their little huddle. “…we wouldn’t want to cause our potential accomplice to become brazen if they think they’re cornered,” He said, “Especially if you’d be at this alone,” If only Allan were here. That was the one engineer he knew for certain would never turn tail.

"Then we'll just have to play their tactics back at them then." Jena suggested "Assign our own informant who is already in Engineering." she shrugged, if Allan or Alizati were here, this would've been significantly easier. But there were other options in play. Well. actually, an option. "Do you all think we can trust Commander Garcia?" Jena asked the room as she side stepped towards a console and pulled up her records, which is just a facy way of saying her roleplayer is reading Garcia's character sheet and backreading past messages so far at the moment. "She's probably the ranking engineer down there at this point, and the first engineer to contact us when all of this went down."

The records of previous versions were wiped. Careful, meticulous sanitary work... but someone had to do it, right? Someone had to hold the mop? Were there any fingerprints left?..

"I doubt someone actively working against our attackers is the spy. It's more likely to be someone under the radar. They needed T'Shai for her codes, but they don't need anyone else to be as high up." Would they also be Romulan, or would that be too obvious? He rubbed his chin in thought, like some sage old wizard missing his beard.

Sideon spent a long time listening to the officers discussion, not having much expertise that isnt already present to add. But he did ponder the information and racked it round his troubled brain as much as he could. He pulls up to a console and brings up the data shown already to the group, basically having on playback loop trying to wring out an answer. The wiped records...wiped how thoroughly?

Zhi'rev had a duty to every officer and civilian who had been taken, a duty to return them back home safely, through whatever means he could. That was what being a member of a community was like... right? Well, now he was on the Command Hub floors, ready to help wherever he could, even if it was just by passing messages from one person to another.

23:50

Almost as if he had just remembered, his eyebrows shot up. The senators, had anyone checked in on them? He felt like that was a good usage of his time, so he readied himself to go. "I am going to speak with the senators. Where are they at this very moment? Does anyone know?"

Shuffling in behind Zhi’rev, PADD pressed against her chest, the young diplomatic cadet quickly caught up with the Lieutenant Commander and stood at attention beside him, having been acting as his shadow since the Eventide returned to the base.

Vara'l pulled out his PADD and proceeded to check to see if anything had been filed report wise that indicated where the Senators were. That and if the Senator's happened to be well.. still alive. Something that if anything, he wondered about, given how soundly the Tal Shiar had subverted and overwhelmed the station.

The cadet glanced toward Zhi’rev, clearing her throat slightly to catch his attention. It was usually how she did it, not wanting to frighten people by suddenly starting to speak when she moved so quietly, “Maybe we can, um…invite them up here? To meet us, Sir?”

He thought for a moment, maybe that would be the best option after all. "Good thinking cadet, let's invite them up here instead of going to them... perhaps we can use the Captain's Office, if that is alright with the Captain" He smiled reassuring-ly at her, glad to have her by his side. (edited)

Yali gave a little smile back to Zhi’rev. She liked shadowing him, he was very reassuring. Her smile ran away rather quickly as the weight of the situation at hand returned to her shoulders. She glanced at Captain Mo alongside her senior officer, hoping to receive some confirmation.

A little late to the party Aoife arrived to the command hub, with a cup of coffee that in fact looked more like a bucket of steaming tar. Her incomprehensible expression read as equal parts tired and pissed off with a hint of disbelief that they got taken off guard.

It was a joined effort from Intel, Security, and some of the trusted Republic officers that kept the senators safe. Indeed, the diplomats could arrange the meeting - with precautions and double-checks in tow, of course. As for Sideon's checking, the records were definitely worked on well. By whom? Maybe there was a way to see who, at those points in time, could have direct access to the footage and security cameras?..

"...Computer- Ah forget it! I'm just typing it down." The Betazoid said in frustration as she moved over towards the console, typing in override commands to get into the surveillance camera and recording access logs. This was Jena's literal actual child during her time working in the station, making sure it wasn't vulnerable to tampering, especially in a situation like this. She was mentally praying for this to work.

And work it did. Some time did pass, and sometime the program got stuck on certain percentages, but eventually a comprehensive list appeared of everything that had accessed the camera data for the past six months. Most of it seemed to be from automated processes (par for the course, it was the computer doing autosaves), that said there were a not insignificant amount of manual overrides - and thankfully the list also provided names, dates and access points. Oh yeah, it was all coming together.

Zhi'rev looked towards Yali and nodded, "Shall we speak with those senators now? I am sure they might have some valuable information." He offered with a smile, thinking of what he might say to them.

Yali gave Zhi’rev a little nod, having transferred the information they needed to arrange this meeting onto her PADD, “Let’s um…let’s get going, then. For the- The meeting,” Another little nod as she cringed at herself for not being able to get her thoughts out. She was ready to move in lockstep with the Lareth. This would be her first proper diplomatic meeting…she swallowed some of the anxiety.

"You are going to do great," Zhi'rev said before he started to walk towards the meeting place. He was more worried about his own performance in this meeting.

"To my office it is. Don't knock over any of the ornaments." The little wooden raccoons were still on his desk!

"Olright mate. Time to see who these people are..." Jena said to herself as she typed away on her console. Maybe she could check in with Garcia in case it's the same people or if they were all connected this entire time. Any piece of information helps so much in this endeavor.

Garcia's list was comprised of engineers and some operations officers. What Jenaha saw, however, were security officers. People responsible for cameras, people who had access to said cameras... simple, really. And oh so insidious.

*In a way, Jena was glad she didn't join the Captain and the others in checking in with those senators. Actually, they should've been glad Jena decided to stay behind, because Jenaha Sul did not have any kind words to say to a bunch of senators and diplomats after reading what she just found. *"Oh my fucking God...."

"What is it, Commander?" Iviaan curiously craned his neck, trying to get a look at just what she'd found. Being so useful and not at all useless. Oh, wait — "Is there any way for me to vet any medical officers?..*

"Check all medical access logs and transmission data. I know medical's significantly more touchy when it come's to data privacy, so that may be compromised too. If you can find names, send them to me at your earliest convenience, Lieutenant." *Jena answered, trying to keep down the amount of rage simmering boiling inside her right now. This was atypical for most Betazoids. *"Because the more the merrier for our new guests when they finally have their long overdue stay at the brig."

Grey eyes fixed upon Jenaha as they'd stated that. He'd also not accompanied the captain to the office. He wasn't a diplomat, he was and remained a CTO, diplomacy wasn't something you happened to be able to shoot at or deal with tactically. Or at least that was how he considered it. So when the lieutenant commander proceeded to say that, Vara'l fixed his eyes on them and proceeded to say. "What have you spotted?" As he asked that question then added. "Will you be needing tactical officers to assist in this?" A thought then proceeded to strike him as he pulled out his PADD and started to check if any Tactical officers happened to be listed amongst the suspicious. If that happened to be something he could check.

"Yes sir." Iviaan began to comb through as much as he could with his know-how. Trying to see if there was a pattern as to what data was being accessed frequently, or even downloaded, if he could get a look at that. "I haven't had to do this sort of thing before.." Even if he was trained on what to do in a mass data breach, he never thought he'd have to put it in practice.

"Spotted that we've been compromised for six bloody months." Jena announced, taking in a deep breath "Or even longer-- How the hell does that even happen???" Jena said as she combed through the logs searching for answers, not mad but heavily disappointed at this information before she turned over to Iviaan once she composed herself "It's okay, Maxson could assist you if you need the help. And Vara'l" She snapped to attention as she turned over to him "Effectively... this station's on lockdown starting whenever we get Captain's sign off from this first. So... yes all available, trustworthy tactical and security personnel should be on the ready... probably be no use, dunno if they left the station with the others, but doesnt hurt to do a sweep while we dig for more answers."

Vara'ls whole posture hardened with that. With fury. "Six." He repeated then before he looked down at his PADD, searched for any sign of Tactical officers who also warranted suspicion. "I do not know for sure, but any of the answers that I can come up with are not good." Guilt something that whispered through him then along with disappointment and the snarled refrain of utter anger at himself at all that had occurred. "I'll take it to the captain." He then frowned and stated after he'd mulled things over for a moment. "It wouldn't surprise me if some remained in pace, to monitor our progress and help them prepare for any further attempted rescues we might try and affect." The Romulan mused then before he added. "Especially if they don't think there's any suspicion that's been levelled at them, though I suspect that if that's the case that may...change." The xB looked away then and huffed. "Considering who they've snatched."

Mirroring the revelations of his colleagues, Sideon muttered to himself quietly. "Six...months" So much has happened in that time and so much with the potential of dangerous security compromises. A system and data breach of this severity was incredibly serious and weighed on him enough just as an officer of starfleet, let alone those directly in the divisions of responsibility, even if it was out of the domain of error. The lieutenant pulled up the names provided by the commanders search, and began a computer search cross referencing them against transit logs present at the station. "I have access to the flight logs and transit data too and fro the station with my work in traffic control, im running a search against the potential individuals...im worried that if those of concern didn't flee immediately elsewhere, they could have went to other starbases or star fleet institutions....we might not have been the only location compromised and this could at least help in providing information should that be the case." The progress bar on the search didn't move too quickly on this however. "Its a lot of data to sift through, but any lead is a lead...might need to check in with operations for transporter logs as I dont have direct access to those in the same database to perform a quick match search."

The medical files have been breached by a slew of medical officers - high-ranking, but just a mere handful, their target being motly the medical files of the officers aboard. Some notable exceptions were species-related - like synthetic lifeforms, rarer ones from other quadrants, etcetera... Vara'l managed to find some low-ranking officers, possibly tied to the somewhat recent issue of weapon malfunctions. That and, of course, T'Shai's presence. As for Sideon's inquiry, a lot of the names have since left the station - just days before the attack. Some of them, however, were still here - perhaps to see and feel out the situation post-raid... (edited)

Vara'l looked to Sideon then and proceeded to angle his PADD toward them. Asked then. "Any of these names still on the station?" Voice one that had had all but calm pulled out of it. Anger something that simmered within him, snarled within him. Bouyed him to keep to his duty. Growled at him to approach this with efficiency, tortured him with failures guilt and the worry he harboured for Elohae. But most of all, resolved his thoughts together as he stared at those names. As he fixed those names in his mind. As he beheld those officers from Tactical that were listed. He'd clean his department, in cooperation with the other officers present he'd lend his weight to the lockdown that had been proposed. A thought that turned him to look to Sul for a moment. "Found some in Tactical." He'd stated then. "I'll throw my full support behind your proposal to the Captain on this,I'm fully in favour of getting acquainting some with the brig, though we'll have to close off all avenue's for their potential escape prior to this and ensure we act quickly, before it...gets out they're under suspicion."

"I knew this was an in-depth infiltration, but this..." Iviaan rubbed his temples, antennae drooped low and expression grim. Under their noses all this time. There were suspicious happenings, investigations, but they'd done all they could, hadn't they? He forwarded everything to Jenaha as expected. "We did our best, Commander. This is not something we could have figured out alone," he tried.

Comparing the CTO's list with Sideon's, he could conclude that said officers have all left a day before the attack. Motherfuckers. All of this devastation only solidified the need for action. But where one would even start?..

Vara'l mentally resolved to pass said list to Starfleet intellegence. He warred a bit with perhaps ensuring it was passed to other sources, sources that knew people who happened to not think too much of Tal Shiar traitors, but he remained a Starfleet officer. Leave that until..another time. Until he'd discovered the fate of Elohae. Of others. "We need to consult with the Captain, get a sign off on a lockdown, coordinate with remaining intellegence personnel too." The CTO observed then before he checked his PADD, noted how long he'd happened to have been working. "If we're going to go for these people, we'll want to proceed under the suspicion they're armed and dangerous potentially with Tal Shiar training I imagine." He paused then before he expanded on that. "So we'll want to close off as many avenues for them to slip the net that we can as we move in."

"This station's not only in lockdown... we're effectively under quarantine..." Jena commented to what Vara'l recommended as she checked to see just how many of her security officers were involved as well, and which areas of station security they were in charge of. "No vessel is neither leaving or coming within transporter range of this Station... maybe it's a bit too much, maybe I'm just mad that more than 6 months of my work went down the toilet... but hell I feel like that's a fair recommendation to make as well wouldn't it, mate?" If there were any more people incoming, or suspects planning to make their leave, Jena felt it's best to lockout any opportunities for either happening. "As Security Chief, I can bring all of this up with the Captain if we're all in agreement for this."

"That's the best thing we can do right now," Iviaan agreed with a nod. He felt so out of place, but he hoped everything would be alright with the precautions they were throwing up..

"Alright. Sent word to the Captain." Jena said before she walked over to a replicator and replicated herself some Chocolate cake with some chocolate pudding on top. She's quite angry and hasn't eaten anything for quite a while, holding everything in the best she could for the most part in order to keep her composure, at least when she speaks to the Captain again. "He says locking down the station might conflict with something. I believe they're hatching a new plan of their own that might involve leaving the station, or sending a ship off station... We'll just see what happens."

"If leaving the station is needed, it might be best to have at least a local station lockdown and a vetted crew for whatever the captain intends..." He dragged his palms across his face as he contemplated what might need to be done. "No matter what the station is a risk factor now, we cant avoid dealing with it." (edited)

"My thinking is..." takes a bite of Chocolate cake and pudding. Yum! Jokes aside, that helps! "It's either we send someone out, and risk a suspect getting in that vessel, or sabotaging it. Or we pray the gang... lives somehow... and make sure we're on the all clear here before we act... Although the Tal'Shiar are probably done with us, we're still in a very vulnerable position if they aren't done just yet..."

The Ensign made sure to stay close to Garcia as he made his way to the command hub; it was daunting to say the least. He had barely emerged from Engineering since he had arrived on the Starbase only a few days ago. Nevertheless; after hearing that call over comms; he was determined to help. Dwyer knew he'd be meeting a fair few new faces; he'd need to be on his best behavior. Cautiously, he entered through the doorway, eyes searching prudently.

Silver, however, was already here, adding to the number of engineers present. She stood at attention, fully charged and ready for whatever might be thrown at her. Silver was usually very much a pacifist, detesting all violence. This mess, however, had sparked a change in her. If a phaser was what she needed to hold instead of a wrench, she would hold it, and use it just as well. She wanted her friends back. She wanted her 777 family back.

Triple ensign whammy, huh?.. Saith was quiet, jaw set, bouncing his leg rhythmically. He'd done enough sitting around. He had to do something. He wasn't going to be a coward anymore.

*The Lt. gets there after wrapping up preparations in ops. Though volunteering in earnest, he felt a particular responsibility to those captured as he was part of the crew that was unable to prevent it from happening in the first place. * "Good day everyone. How are we all feeling?"

Arriving with Gene, Garcia positioned herself among the others. All eager to get their colleagues, and friends, back it seemed. “Good day Lieutenant. Terrible, but hoping this meeting leads to solving that!”

"Honestly, if anyone was doing particularly well at this moment I would be more concerned commander. But yes, lets hope our success changes it." He took a moment to head over to a replicator, and an even longer moment to weigh how much caffeine he has already consumed today, but decides to disregard any concern and just requests something anyway. "Coffee, Red eye." Oh yeah, this would be needed. (edited)

Out of the boat and into the fire. Or whatever the saying was. This one had definitely been here, on the station, the whole time. Asleep through a red alert, perhaps? Likely! Sauntering into the command hub with hands planted firmly in her pockets, she passed a look across the faces present, not recognising any and then wondering if she had expected anything different. Oh, great. At least she'd found a comfy spot against the wall by the exit to lean on.

Aoife walked into the command hub looking even more annoyed than she usually did. There was for sure enough tension in her trademark bun to snap a pencil in half. As she walked into the room she glanced at the new Lieutenant, a fellow read head in a tactical uniform. Not unlike her a year or so ago sitting at the edge of the room observing. Unfortunately for the introvert in Aoife she was the ranking intelligence officer and had to be present. "Alright people what have I missed while I was on my latest conference call with the brass who don't know how anything works."

Ev'kor walked into the command hub too, aware of what the rescue mission was going to be and needing to be there. His father had tried to protest, which had caused a spat between him and Letor, and Ev'kor had taken that time to get into his uniform and report to the command hub. He wasn't sure if he'd be telling anyone about his experience in dealing with things like this, yet. But he was going to offer his help where he could. "Good day," he greeted the people already in the hub, taking a seat not too far from the centre to stand out as a loner, but far enough away to not pull attention to himself.

He was here for the mission, even if he might not meet the requirements exactly, he was good at talking his way out of problems (and into problems, if he was being honest). He took a seat somewhere that wasn't already taken, and looked around subtly, still on edge, with a PADD full of information in his hands.

Guess who was making an appearance on this mission... Diahjir! He wanted to help, and he was a medic, so it made sense. Besides, he felt like it was his duty to help his officers get back.

Vara'l arrived after a brief rest and visit to see Telim again. He slipped in quietly and nodded to those officers he knew. Once in he settled near where Aoife and the other people he knew were. Not many of his friends happened to be around at the moment. So while he happened to be on the job, there was part of him who wanted to be nearer to people he knew as this was discussed.

Yali was…probably not going to actually go on this mission, but she was going to help in any way she could. Zhi’rev had given her a quizzical look when she followed him into the command hub, but she was mostly here to help with strategizing and disseminating the information they’d received from trial and error during the interrogation period and from Whisper, “…um…” She cleared her throat, before raising her voice a bit, “H-Hello, everyone, uh…i-if you have your PADDs with you, you’ll have…received a small summary of the- th-the information we have available to us at this moment in time, uh…a-as compiled by myself and Lieutenant Commander tr’Lareth.” (edited)

Pulling out a PADD, Sideon double fisted the device and his coffee, eyeing it over while he took a long long sip of his drink "Great work, Cadet - Commander" Showing his appreciation and encouragement to them both with a nod, particularly to the officer in training as he was sure this whole situation was quite the experience for them so new to situations with this level of consequences. "Hopefully we can arrive at an effective plan, plenty is at stake." Punctuating his point by taking, yet another, long sip of coffee. It was strong, and assumidly basically bean syrup at this point. Not the worse vice to have in a moment of stress, but im sure the medical team might have some slight scowls of concern.

Saith studied his PADD quietly for a moment, taking a look at the information available to them. "So, what's the best way to go about this, d' you all think?.." he glanced around at the group. "I've never, uh, broke into a high-security prison before, so.... "

“…um…” She mulled over the question. Yali was never one for tactics, but she had to think of something, right? “For an approach, uh…the senators mentioned that they would notice an incursion on their territory, so…um…it may be good to disguise our warp signature as a warbird, or- o-or ask to commandeer one.”

"And what- hope these fellas don't notice 'n unscheduled warbird dodderin' about?" Amber piped up from where she stood outside the main circle, already seeming quite restless. "We know where they are, don't we? So 'ere's my bloody masterpiece, a'right?" Amber raised her hands to shoulder-level, palms splayed, "fastest ship ya can get yer hands on, we'll beeline the course. Foot, pedal, flat on the floor." She, naturally, pointed to the floor. "we get in, we get out, rough up a few o' these fuckers along the way. Then we, y'know,-" She moved her hands to her center, then made a separating, expanding motion between all her fingers, alongside an attempt at an explosion sound with her breath. "-level the place."

He'd long since left ops, here to see everyone off after the plan was set, though some part of him wished he could go with them. He wouldn't be much use, but his heart tugged toward those in the prison who he wanted to see the faces of the most. He'd been trying not to think about the fact that they might be dead already for most of the mission. "They'll blast us if we rush right in. Also, we'd need to get absolutely everyone out before we blew up the place." Unfortunately, it was not within Starfleet's jurisdiction to blow people up.

The Lt. nodded along with the captain, having been there first hand to witness and take part in the last scuffle. "Yes we were seriously out matched with both individual firepower and by number....it seems they have invested many resources into whatever plan they have, yet unless we pull together a fleet and risk losing lives to save lives, we are not going to be able to match combat head on..." He lulled over the data sitting on his PADD once more, small ideas forming but never with enough confidence in them to share. "We dont even know what other limitations are gonna prevent us from extraction...perhaps a scouting run is needed? But that comes with its own risks..." (edited)

"Well... the idea of using a warbird, or pretending to be one's enticing" Jena commented to the Cadet's idea as she quickly wiped a bit of tomato sauce off her lip. Mentally thanking Garcia for lodging the idea of lasagna in her head, this whole ordeal was more frustrating than stressful and she coulf feel that amongst her fellow crew here. "Hide in plain sight. Go in there with a Romulan Warbird, or cloak the Eventide to appear like one, and call in to dock." The Betazoid Security Chief suggested. *"We need not fight our way there, and if we aren't going straight in there, doing that could make a scouting run easier since they wouldn't hold up their guns against their own." *She paused, and realized the potential flaw of them being figured out and exposed anyway. "Not right away, at least." (edited)

He shook his head. "I wouldn't want to use up our tricks on a scoutin' run. If we're going to disguise ourselves as a warbird, it's unlikely that'll work twice." He felt a little bad shooting down ideas considering he hadn't come up with any of his own yet, but his roleplayer's brain had been on fire recently, so you'll have to excuse him.

"Thats true, not like we have many tricks to spare that would be useful here..." Back to scouring over the PADD, and desperately trying to get the last drops out of his coffee, he considered the camouflage option more. "How effective is our masking systems? We know they have previously been able to see through our cloaking tech, im concerned just how effective a direct and active attempt at using that tech could be without additional support."

"That's fair." Jena's roleplayer would also like a lasagna, but he should be going to sleep right now . In all seriousness though, Jena had a feeling if they were going to try things, then there better be a chance they be able to turn back without getting shot down. "They're most effective when everything's shut off or in their lowest possible levels. So, unable to respond quickly enough in that state, we'd be a sitting duck amongst hawks, mate." Jena answered the Ezra's question "That reminds me... whatever facility they brought out friends to is probably shielded as well, so transporters would be blocked off until we figured how to deal with that as well..."

The download of Whisper and Co's files soon prompted a holographic map to pop up. On it, was the display of multiple space sectors; a bright spot, like a north star, was marking the Starbase in the Xarantine sector; a red one, on the edge between the Rator and Unroth sector, marked something as "obj. of interest". Beside that red dot was a smaller projection of a dwarf planet. On it, a relatively small, vaguely hexagonal complex was blueprinted, with an indication of it's two other levels going deeper underground. Alongside all of that, there was an incoming call.

Before he took the call, he checked the caller ID or whatever, then accepted the hail (assuming the caller idea wasn't 'nefarious tal shiar who still have your guys nya ha ha'). It was probably just the hackers. (edited)

Indeed they were! The ID matched the previous one that displayed itself during their conversation with the duo.

Yep. Definitely taking that hail. "Hello hello?"

Garcia appeared to become visibly more excited upon the return of the hackers. “Best bet ever!” She half-whispered to herself and those close to her. She did not wish to interrupt the captain’s business.

This time, it was Cephalon who showed up on the screen. Crimson red eyes blinked at the amount of people in the room, before the Reman offered a nod: "Starbase 777. Where do you wish to start with this plan?"

He stared back with void-black eyes that glittered from the lights of the screen and the consoles like a sky full of stars. "Well, some people were suggesting cloaking ourselves as a warbird. I think you'd have a good idea as to whether or not that'd work."

"Actually, about that. We have a bit of a question," something lit up in that otherwise calm, aloof gaze. "When we went after the mogai, it, admittedly, took us a moment to notice that your ship - the Eventide - was not there anymore. Just... no one behind us. What happened?.."

The question immediately called her attention and she eyed the ensigns that had helped her in figuring that puzzle out. A small smile poking on her lips and a bit of pride as well. Still she waited for the captain to take the lead of the conversation, as it was expected.

"I wasn't on the ship that day, so I believe that is better explained by someone who was. Anyone?" He looked around.

Speaking up from the side, Sideon nodded to the captain as he stood up and introduced himself formally to the contact. "Cough Im Lt. Ezra, the helmsman of the Eventide during that time...During our pursuit we had a total nullification of our shield systems, as well as our comm link to you. Around that same time many more vessels decloaked and started a full assault. We attempted our own cloak masking. but it was ineffective. With no shields, they managed to land some heavy hits on our impulse engines and warp capabilities...We were basically left stranded. We abandoned ship to ensure the safety of the crew, and its a lucky thing we didnt get far from the station as recovery of everyone as well as the ship was effective." "As for how our shields were down..." Assuming a more detailed explanation on the technical side would be needed, he looked over to the engineers and nodded at those who seemed like they wanted to add more specifics to take the floor.

She piped up then, at the lieutenants cue. “Well, Garcia, Lt. Cdr., but we already spoke before…” She smiled. “Our shields were actually, in fact, not nullified. They were reversed by action of a code planted in our system, waiting for an outside trigger. To be very brief… shields are supposed to deflect. What the Tal Shiar managed to do was invert that function, inverting our power and generating what was practically a magnet for anything they wanted to throw at us. Which is why we received so much damage. We managed to find the code and purge it, the Eventide should be clear from their influence now.” She tried to make herself as clear as possible without taking too much time. This was not a technical meeting, their objective now was figuring out a plan to get their people. If anyone later would be interested in a detailed review, she would be more than happy to indulge.

The whole story received a lot of (carefully reigned in to hide his interest) nodding: "I see. I'm sorry we abandoned you, truly. It's not every day you hear about something like... this, happening to a ship. Glad all of you are okay, though. Including the vessel." He then leaned back in his seat, thinking. "We're dealing with a prison, here. It is a relatively small one, meant to house just around 50 souls at a time, not including the staff. Which might sound easy, but... it's not. The smaller the place is, the easier it is to keep an eye on it and protect it, you know?.. We already know that there is a shielding up around the building, as well as anti-guest measures always pointing up at the skies..." Cephalon used both of his palms to form finger guns as he said that. "Like that. The only presence they tolerate is warbirds leaving and arriving with supplies. So... perhaps pretending to be one could work, if that is what you were going at, Captain. If that is your plan, we could even provide you with a real thing. Free State insignia and all..?" "All of this is cool and all, but he is forgetting to mention one important thing," ah, there Whisper was. She weasel'd her way into the frame, frowning at the screen: "Besides your people, there are others. And we want them out. We also want to take the Tal Shiar officers. I can practically see some of you nursing a thought of shooting them between their eyes or dropping a torpedo onto the complex, but these are our people - and so they will be given to the Republic for further judgement and decisions surrounding them. I hope that is okay with you, Captain?.."

"I had no such inclinations toward shooting or torpedoes." He may have personal investment in the rescue, but he wasn't inclined toward vengeance. "We will rescue as many people as we can; puttin' aside the ethics of it briefly, if all you want in exchange for providin' us a real warbird is we save some lives, that sounds like a fair deal to me."

"I take it that having extra hypos would be a good idea then? That way we can take out some agents without killing them..." He said, finally saying something on the meeting itself. He wasn't too sure of himself, however, despite his position, he had mostly served on hospitals -- seeing the aftermaths of things like these.

The doors to the Command Hub would swish open. Four stepped through and stood off to the side. Their pupils sharpened to a tac within a sea of amber. Their implants that littered their head with tubes and moving parts whirred in the background of the various conversations. Aria was in danger. Retrieval and Safety protocols are active. Combat Protocols are set to be engaged upon further orders. Specificities will determine addendum choice. Four was ready. Their arms that were at their sides stayed solid as well. As if they were at parade rest. Their heart almost in a similar state. Fear. It was heavy. Breathe. Like Dr. Alin taught. Four took a deep breath in and held it for two seconds before then letting it out. They were careful not to make any sort of sound. They didn't want to impose on a conversation they were still ascertaining the entire narrative of. Aria was strong. She'd persevere. If only she didn't have to. Sadly, Four wondered if such things were avoidable. The Elements and Dravasai would agree with that notion. Four didn't like them all that much right now.

"That would be a good idea. I also want to assure you that while both warbirds aren't of medical specialty, the medical facilities they house are adequate... I just hope that they will be enough for everyone," she nodded to Diahjir's words, before refocusing on Mo. "Well, you save some lives and provide a muscle. Granted, this is a collaborative effort, and we will do our best to help you guys out as well."

Saith's leg continued bouncing in a rhythmic pattern, silently under the table as he took everything into focus. "I wanna save as many people as we can," he mumbled under his breath, recognizing this was not his conversation, and he had no room to input. "If - If the people are infiltrating, like the summary said, we have to be careful. Is there any way to know friendly faces?.."

Four heard Saith's comment. They recognized him from the away mission to the A.I. on that frozen world. A small bead of regret resurfaced after Four remembered how stern they were. There was no excuse for it. Whatever possible means of ascertaining friend or foe would most likely be inhibited. Their arms untensed before speaking up a bit themselves. "It depends on the number of infiltrators. If it is a small enough number we could potentially memorize their faces if given pictures or descriptions." Four thought for a moment before then shrugging. "Or, a call and receive codeword could be implemented for identification if it is possible to reach the other infiltrators? Perhaps one that is already established could be used? Without knowing their backgrounds we unfortunately cannot provide any personalized or potentially efficient assistance with our knowledge base of resistance signage." They hoped that would help. Four was getting used to this talking thing still. Especially, with giving actual ideas. Four paused once Whisper popped up on the screen. Just giving a nod. They'd fulfill their role as a Republic officer and bring back as many Tal Shiar for trial, while fulfilling a personal objective.

”So… I am no tactical officer but I have seen my share of missions.” Garcia pipped up. “It is possible that the agents infiltrated have altered their appearances and assumed new identities… going on face alone could be messy, so I think our best shot would be some sort of code like you said.” She looked at Four, waiting to see if they would agree with her analysis or not.

"We agree. That is something that we had not initially considered. However, that does make sense given the nature of the infiltrators and the means they would potentially have to their disposal. Thank you, Lieutenant Commander. A call and response codeword we would agree then would be the most statistically probable to be efficient." Four bowed their head a bit out of habit. They didn't keep it there for long. Just rose up again before waiting to see what was required of them next.

"What do you suggest as a code, then?" she asked. "It needs to be unique and unlikely to be said by a real Tal Shiar agent in near any circumstance."

"Perhaps, a code could be, the Jackals howl at a lost moon? Or, a shortened version of such a code if it is determined to be too long. Jackal refers to the traditional name of the jackal's knife that is wielded by Remans. The lost moon is in reference to Remus. If it is too long or cumbersome we apologize. Quick computations of new ideals is still being integrated within our thought patterns. They are rather inefficient still." Four stopped and looked to the others. Not wanting to rule the entire conversation but feeling as though they wanted to at least emulate how they thought of Allan, Aria, and Dr. Alin. "Of course, other ideas from those that are present would be greatly appreciated."

He tilted his head. Huh. He didn't know about any of that. Strangely poetic. "Would be jackal's moon for short."

"Or, call Jackal, response Moon." *Jena suggested. The best idea she had in mind was using Kirk and Spock, or some variations which at some point led her to Curb and Spork. *

If it were a less serious meeting, Saith would let out a soft 'awooo' under his breath. It wasn't, though, so he didn't. He'd said enough stupid things for today, he thought. "Cool," he added instead.

"This is one weird game of marco polo." He laughed, then sighed. The joke had not cheered him up. "All who are for call Jackal, response Moon, say aye."

"Aye, Captain." Four said with a bow of their head. Internally they were quite flustered at the efficiency that had been produced. It was far higher than expected. This was good.

"Ironic, given one of the codenames here is Jackal," there were quite a lot of Remans in the cell, after all. "But... the call-response thing could work, yeah. So, we have a way to discern our four fake agents. We have a way to get in. Now... about navigating the damn place." "There are three levels," Cephalon picked up. "We suspect a large laboratory on the second level, and the main logistics - commander room, security, all of that - are on the first. Third one is... the coldest one. The prison is basically three rings on top of each other, connected via stairs and turbolifts."

Garcia furrowed her brows. “You said there are plenty other prisoners aside from our people. Liberating and getting everyone out without alerting them is unlikely. Taking down all the agents and avoiding causalities and destruction on both sides is even more unlikely. If we could disable their defenses and get a way for our transport beams to lock in though…. We could get the prisoners out in the blink of an eye.” She spoke almost as if she was alone, looking at no officer in particular. Anyone could see the woman was already calculating on her head, planning out scenarios of how they could tamper with the Tal Shiar’s systems.

"If they're alert to us in this scenario, and there's no barrier to us using transporters, that applies to them, too; they could transport the prisoners back out. Then we'd transport them back in. Back 'n forth forever. Like two people yoinking someone in and out of a doorway." He made a tug o' war sort of motion. (edited)

"Heh. Marco; Polo is also an option. Jekyll and Hyde another" Jena shrugged before she looked over to Garcia and the Captain as they spoke about the tug of war situation that is finding another way to getting their friends and loved ones out of the Tal Shiar clutches. "Unless we could transmit a signal concentrated to overload everything in the... second level's main logistics right? That level, or blow something up that is capable of frying out their shield transmitters, we're out of dice and stuck on... well, as the Captain put it." The security chief mirrored the tug o' war motion. "Either way, their side has to give, so we can pull our people out."

"There's also the issue of how this prison was built," Cephalon gestured at the blueprint-y schematic. "More than half of it is underground, and the whole building is built in - and out of local stone that interferes with the signal. We've had similar issues before, and those were overcome by manually putting transporter tags on people... so perhaps that and commbadges could work? Do keep in mind that a transporter has a limited amount of people it can grab at one time, and besides your 18, there will be twice, if not thrice as more. They will notice the cells becoming empty..."

"If we are going to get a war bird to borrow, and we're brainstorming still, we could try to Trojan Horse it.... Trojan.. Rorse it?" Jena suggested with a shrug. "If they managed to do it to us, what's stopping us from doing the same to them. Them we're a supply ship, put on some good disguises, an accent, and somehow try to blend in to them until we at least figure out where they are or how to disable their defenses" The Betazoid paused a bit. She looked over to Vara'l if he's in the room. "That probably sounded a lot more offensive than it was in my head. Apologies in advance, but you all get what I mean right?"

Vara'l grunted slightly then and proceeded to shrug as he reacted to what they said. Smiled at what they said as he stated. "Didn't offend me at all." Voice soft before he added. "It'd be very very difficult for us to manage that, though if we could well." The Romulans jaw worked a bit then. "It'd give us a way in." The CTO's jaw worked a bit then before he stated. "If anything it seems to me like the question is how to get there without being intercepted and destroyed." He raised a finger. "How to get down to the planet and in without being killed or captured." He raised a second finger. "And then, how to get out of the prison with our people, your people and any additional prisoners without us all getting shot." The Romulan finished then. "Would that about summarise it Sir?"

"I believe the current plan is -" he cleared his throat - "Step one: approach while pretending to be a supply ship on their side, using our allies' romulan ship. Step two: as Sul suggested, infiltrate as romulans, still pretending to be shiar. Step three: as Cephalon suggested, find our people and put transporter tags on them to whisk them away." (edited)

"How are we going to do Trojan Rorse without getting shot at going in and out is the next question now" Jena said, seeing the theme in what Vara'l has stated earlier. "And what should we do, when, because we will most definitely be, shot at" (edited)

"Shoot back?" Amber said, quite flatly at that. The idea of waltzing into a hostile prison without arms was not one that she really enjoyed.

Vara'l nodded slightly then as he considered the situation, analysed it through multiple points and proceeded to say. "I'm not sure that inviltation as the Tal Shiar would work for long sir unless we know enough of their operating proceedures and codes to deal with any challenge we're likely to face as 'new' personnel coming to the facility." Vara'l observed initially before he then looked to be in deeper thought and observed. "..But it only really needs to get us through the door and in." He then looked very thoughtful as he then asked. "Once inside the facility, if we get access to their systems, could it be possible to do as they did to us?" The Romulan asked then. "Establish ingress through having one of our engineers subvert one of their consoles and allow a hacker to play havoc with them while we work?" He inquired before saying. "If we even can get temporary control, if theres more than one turbo lift." He paused. "Well, we could lock them in it or we can affect a way to either get our people the opportunity to try for a break out." He inhaled and then paused as he grimaced, fully aware of the possibility a large number of the officers happened to be wounded. "That or make it hard for the guards to try and kill them." He then nodded at Suls point. "Aye." Then looked to Amber. "If we began doing that too early they'd be able to affect a response and we'd not make it in." He paused. "Going out though, yes that'd be likely part of whatever we do."

A casual reminder that the vessel you guys are arriving on is posing as a supply delivery. (edited)

"We could probably send that engineer in doing the most boring and mundane task imaginable in terms of Tal'Shiar operations that would let them get close to their Main Logistics Area, like let's say, pushing a cart of supplies around" Jena suggested. "If they needed additional equipment to help them bypass their consoles, it would at least not look that suspicious"

"Between step two and step three, shutting down comm and security systems would be a good call also," Cephalon nodded along. "Then you can proceed with the clear-out."

"I'll add it to my mental plan." He tapped his temple. It was all written down in there, as well as the entire station roster. That was how he knew everyone's names. Well, not literally everyone, but a lot of people. "We'll need hackers for that. People in intelligence, or occupations similar."

Vesta had been off station for quite a while now. She had been struggling following her recovery from the Borg cube, and then to make matters worse she got news that her father's healthhad taken a turn. A heart procedure was needed, and Vesta took the opritonuity to take temporary leave and return to Trill to see him. Since then her father had flown through the procedure and was back at full strength, a few therapy sessions for Vesta later and she was back on a transport back to 777. She hadn't even been back on duty for a full 48 hours when she call for help in a rescue mission was made. No better way to get back into the swing of things then going undercover as a romulan and rescuing your co-workers from the Tal Shiar she supposed. She did not add to the conversation, she just read what they were disscussing and got herself briefed on the situation up to this point on her PADD