Star Trek: Eventide 777 - main-cargo-bay

Several containers were opened as teams of mercencaries got out of the containers and prepared for their attack. There with at least 200 combatants split into several groups with weaponary from every every interstellar power. They all split up all moving out of the cargo bay into the corridor overwhelming the gaurds and elimating them before they could make a call to anyone.

[D] Some of the mercs had made their way back into the cargo bay and had started looting all that they could.

She walked in and made her way over to the transporter pad that was constructed here and examined it, hoping to find a operation console.

There was a console there it was operational the display flickered a bit but, was still operable.

Thank goodness. She walked over to it and tried to pull up the transporter logs. Mainly as to what ship recieved the transports.

They were beamed to what was the General's old Command ship. It seemed they were transported all to the same ship. Most likely the General wanted to keep them on her ship together.

She nodded and downloaded the information before pressing her badge.

She went straight to the door.

Julius arrived holding his briefcase tightly for his scheduled rendezvous. He was about to be even richer off of this deal.

The Cardassian had been waiting, leaning against a wall. He spoke sternly yet concisely. "I expect you to be more timely if we ever meet again."

He shrugged "Its fine... plus it's worth the wait." He placed his briefcase on the table revealing several smuggled weapons. "I promise you they are of the highest quality."

He picked up a klingon weapon and aimed it at the wall feeling it in his hand. "These are quite perfect aren't they."

He overheard footsteps in there direction and slammed the briefcase closed, then leaning against it in his best attempt at nonchalant.

3

He placed the hand with the phaser behind his back obscuring the weapon. He was going to act formally towards the starfleet officers.

The doors slid open and Dagis entered the cargo bay, looking around rather casually, but also keeping her wits about her. She was very quick to eye Mr. McLellan… And a Cardassian. They were not acting normal.

Connor walked in right behind her and slid into a position immediately next to her.

Jes walked in close behind, scanning the cargo bay as she entered.

It was reasonable to presume they heard the doors opening and closing, she saw them alright, they were standing there like deer in headlights. “Looks like we walking in on something we’re weren’t supposed to see.” She said speaking rather lowly toward Dagis.

He asked formally. "Do we have a problem officers? I certainly don't want any trouble. I'm just a lowly book salesman."

1

"I'm just here purchasing some rare cardassian novels. I'm sure we couldn't possibly have any problem." He was visibly sweating.

The Ferengi walked over to the two at a reasonable pace. “Mr. Howard, at this time you are being removed from Starbase 777 for the the offence of verbally assaulting a Bajoran and using a racial slur aboard a Federation starbase. Please come with us and we will escort you to the shuttlebay.” Dagis said in a frankly very professional tone, eyeing the Cardassian the entire time. She didn’t trust him one bit.

She studied the NPC's panicked face as she walked up behind the Ferengi. Interesting.

He slickly moved his hand to take a bar of latinum from the cardassian. "I don't believe you will... don't make me call my friends in starfleet command."

Mona met the man with an eyebrow raise. She wasn’t pleased with that response. “Sir, need we remind you… this isn’t your choice. Please try not to make this more difficult than it needs to be. We’ve got orders from the chief of security. And I’m sure Starfleet command would agree with your removal from this station. So I would strongly suggest, you make the right choice in this situation.” The Captain made a brief glance toward Dagis, a kind of ‘I’ve got your back look’ however that may appear. She’s a Starfleet officer she gets it, it’s the look.

He chuckled. "Why don't you just come over here and arrest me then. I promise I use my one phone call very very wisely."

Dagis silently gestured for the two Security officers to move forward and arrest the man, all while subtly moving her hand towards the phaser holstered on her hip. “Well, if you won’t cooperate, we have no choice but to do just that.”

She nodded and stepped towards the NPC. "I'm sorry Sir, but your under arrest." She said calmly.

Conner moved immediately infront of Julius, right next to the cardassian.

The cardassian rolled his eyes. "This isn't going to work for me." He pulled his hand out from behind his back and took aim at PO McDavid, hitting him directly in the shoulder. He then dived behind a stack of crates.

He dived to the ground not wanting to get shot himself. He balled up and cowered hoping no one would kill him.

The Ferengi immediately pulled her phaser out of its holster and dove for cover behind some crates. "I knew that was gonna happen." She muttered to herself.

Her hands immediately pulled out her phaser and dived towards her own crates, planning to go around and catch the Cardassian from behind.

Connor was thrown back and immediately started bleeding hard. His shoulder leaking out blood onto the ground. He started screaming out in pain.

Damn! She thought to herself, pulling her phaser out of her holder and taking cover being a crate same as everyone else. Before she spotted Conner on the ground. She holstered her phaser again, and staying close to the ground, maneuvered out of cover and over to the PO. pulling him back behind her own cover, somewhat quickly before again unholstering her phaser. And peeking behind the crate. Well someone’s going to jail. “Just sit tight. We’ll get them.” She said to the PO, she didn’t know his name, or maybe she was told and she forgot. Poor thing, they have the best CMO luckily.

"Shoot." She peeked up from the Cargo box she was behind, all she needed was one chance, one shot. She'd be able to stun at least one of the two people. The Cardassian of course was the major threat. She waited for a good shot.

For his part the Cardassian layed in a suppressing fire without peeking from cover. He began firing off shots near to the officers but none of them landed.

Dagis looked around her environment for a second before quickly navigating her way behind crates to get a better vantage point, which she was quick to find. She found a gap between two crates she could shoot through if this Cardassian moved into her sights. She aimed her phaser near where the suppressive fire was coming from so she could fire as soon as she got the chance.

She began to go around the crates, making her way to the Cardassian whilst being hidden by the crates in front of her and speeding through the gaps before treading carefully.

He continued to unload his phaser into the crowd at one point grazing Mona with a shot while she was dragging Connor. He then shifted aim towards Jes taking a little bit longer to make his shots more precise.

She quickly ducked under the closest crate. Before appearing a few crates away from where she was at before and shot at the Cardassian before ducking for cover again.

It took the pain a while to work it’s way up but when it did, Mona was quick to grab her arm as if that would stop the pain, it felt as it a dozen fire ants had stung her at once. It tore right through her uniform and left a hideous bruise. Mona, using her strong arm now, took aim and had begun to lay down her own fire, luckily his aim was horrible so he only nicked her a little.

It was as soon as the Cardassian started to try and aim his weapon that Dagis saw the opportunity. She positioned herself a little better behind the crates, before drawing in breath to steady herself, closing one eye, aiming her phaser, opening that same eye again after aiming, and firing. If this shot hit, which in her mind was highly likely, the Cardassian would be stunned long enough for him to be detained.

The cardassian had moved slightly to reposition his weapon at the last second. The only partially landed on his elbow taking his arm out of action. He was now slugging to the side, no longer able to suppress Emin for the most part. He was still able to shoot but had little hope of hitting at any range.

The large suited man crawled over to hide by Mona almost crying. "Please just arrest me, I don't want to die... please just don't hurt me."

“I bet you don’t. Just stay close to the ground and I’ll have one of my Starfleet friends take you into custody.” Caddel kept her composure despite having the phaser burn. That was one down.

The Ferengi was very quick to quietly move further around cover to try and get a better shot off, or to come into point blank range with the Cardassian. Either worked for her right now.

She kept going till she was only a few cargo boxes away and shot again. Continually, a few short bursts until she ducked again or repositioned her gun.

Eventually the cardassian found himself surrounded. He layed down behind cover and tossed his weapon our from behind the crates. "I know when I'm beat, just don't shoot me being stunned is just too much of an annoyance."

5

The Ferengi quickly stood up and kicked his weapon far, far away from him, pointing her phaser at him in the process. “Ensign, arrest him.” She instructed Emin. “And someone get the Petty Officer to sickbay.”

She nodded and started to arrest the Cardassian, doing everything in order with what she had been taught at the academy.

“Setting up for emergency transport.” With a swift tap of her badge she called for the transport, and soon enough he was transferred away to sickbay. “I’ve got McLellan senior over here.” She called out to the rest of her team, phaser still trained on him. In case he tried anything again.

Dagis turned her attention to the original reason for her even being here. She holstered her weapon and walked over to Mr. McLellan, before practically dragging him onto his feet by the arms. “What’s inside the briefcase, Julius Howard McLellan, of New York City, Earth?” She asked without a hint of amusement on her face.

Now that the gun fire had stopped and he could think he calmed himself and thought to what a lawyer would tell him to do. "I honestly could not tell you, I believe that briefcase belonged to the cardassian."

“I saw you with it earlier, and security footage will confirm it’s yours. Don’t lie to me, Julius. I’m a Ferengi, I can smell an untruth a mile off.” Dagis said rather simply, although internally quite enjoying herself. “I’m going to take a guess and say you’re an illegal arms dealer.” She said, before gesturing for Emin to go open the briefcase.

He shrugged. "That is a very rude accusation Lieutenant Commander. I had given that briefcase empty to the cardassian and he was meant to fill it with books which is what I assume is in it." He sounded almost genuine.

She opened the briefcase to reveal the illegal weapons.

She shook her head before cutting in joining the rest of the team. “Oh really? Are we just supposed to believe that a cardassian would come all the way out here just to buy some books in a dingy ass cargo bay? Yeah right.” She scoffed at the man, he could’ve played it off if the cardassian didn’t start spontaneously shooting at them. She was a little addicted to history herself but she wouldn’t die for it.

The Ferengi silently smirked when she saw what was in the briefcase.

He shrugged. "They were some very rare books. The cardassian government during the dominion years banned them and thus they are in short supply. I was going to arrange a deal with a buyer on ferenginar. I'm certain they could collaborate my story."

“Distinct lack of books, Julius. Either way, you’re under arrest for what I can only think is illegal arms dealing. There goes your chance at walking away from this without charges.” The Ferengi said plainly.

"That there madam is a false accusation, I promise that everything will be sorted out in due time." He placed his hands behind his back and prepared to he arrested.

“Yes everything will be sorted out in due time. When there’s a proper investigation, it’s really a shame.” Mona said bow realizing she’s probably going to have to tell his son that his father is going to jail. But after the way he’s been treated, he’ll probably be happy to hear that.

"I refuse to say anything more until I have a lawyer. I want my personal lawyer from Cardassia." He looked at the starfleet officers and awaited his transfer to the brig.

“I’m sure that can be arranged.” Dagis responded blandly, before tapping her commbadge. “Two to beam to the brig, separate cells.” She said over comms.

[D] Once the two arrested individuals were beamed out, Dagis left to carry on her day.

[D] Caddel herself went to the medical bay to be treated, and then went to arrange her meeting with Jack. (edited)

She left too.

A slight smile crept onto his face. Atleast she was nice which is more then he could say about most vulcans he had been around. "Perhaps just a lunch where we could go over things further and discuss things." He paused for a moment. "I think that if I got to know you better it may be able to make my job easier." It was a poor excuse for his actual reasons. Truely he simply wanted to have a chance to get to know the Vulcan.

"If you send me the list of Chemicals currently in storage, I suppose informing you about my findings would be possible while taking in sustenance." She was speaking a little slower than she normally did, as she attempted to interpret the Lieutenant's behavior, which was when she got the comm message. "It appears I am needed elsewhere, if you would send the Anaraneite Dilinide-Hypoxate to the bioscience lab that would be appreciated." With that she gave the Lieutenant another nod an turned to leave the room again.

Eshen turned up to the cargo bay in his uniform and the green eyeshadow and jade earrings. It was the usual vibe of 'pushing the limit a little, but still professional'. His hair was ponytail'd, his posture straight, but not stiff. It was a minor trade deal regarding some stem bolts, an extension of the agreement made with those Romulans from a week ago. The Romulan Senator would probably think little of it. Just discussing the terms of a contract. But for him, it was a new and exciting opportunity to talk to someone in the Big Leagues. He'd even studied what a stem bolt actually was. He was early, so as he awaited the senator, he explained to a nearby fellow Ensign what exactly they were used for. Unfortunately, the sound of a very loud forklift in the distance drowned them out, so no invisible audience would be able to hear them. (edited)

( @Alizati┊Aella┊Nalas┊Renakir )

Arriving just on time, Valleka walked into the cargo bay as if it were her own personal runway. She was dressed in the typical Romulan Republic dress uniform, not in senator's robes. Those werre bulky and only for ceremonial purposes anyway. She much prefer the Republic Uniform, especially the skirt that came with it to show off her legs oh lah lah. She was greeted by one of the workers at the entrance and led to where the stembolts were. Fifty gross, right? The command ensign immediately caught her eye. The green eyeshadow and jade earrings were definitely not part of the Starfleet uniform. A man who liked to add some flare to his outfit, not bad. Unlike other Romulans, Valleka did not like the bowl cut and instead opted for a more elegant hairstyle. Her black hair was pulled back in two french braids with small silver hairclips to hold down any stray hairs. It looked like she had the whole galaxy in her hair, well, she thought she did. "Jolan tru, I take it you must be Ensign K'Tann?" She immediately recognised the boy's pointed ears and forehead ridges, he was most certainly mixed.

Right. What level of expression did Romulans appreciate? They embraced their emotions, unlike Vulcans, so his usual polite, warm smile would probably be appropriate. She was a little more extravagant than most Romulans he'd met, though. In fact, she was pushing it professionally as much as he was. Her hair was braided and she wore the standard Romulan Republic uniform with flair. He greeted her in Rihannsu, though his accent wasn't nearly as odd as Mo's had been; he was glad he'd kept his skills sharp recently in his conversations with Renakir. "I am! Ensign Eshen K'Tann, though you may address me however you wish, and as he and him." Offering a Senator the choice to potentially call him by his first name might seem a little informal to some, but it wasn't if you read between the lines, which any Romulan worth their cyanide would do naturally. After all, she was the one in power here, and so it would be appropriate for her to call him whatever she wished, and he'd made it clear it was perfectly acceptable to call him K'Tann or even Ensign if she wanted, since those were included in 'however'. To be short, it was an expression of subservience. If he'd insisted she called him by his first name, however, that would have been scandalous indeed. "How may I address you in return?"

She was thoroughly impressed by the man's Rihannsu and his natural charm and it showed clearly on her face. It seemed like she was checking him out as much as he was her-- or was she just sizing him up as a possible threat? The name Eshen K'Tann was fascinating, she had never heard that combination of syllables. Her curiosity was evident from the way she raised her eyebrows when Eshen said his name. "It is nice to meet you, Ensign K'Tann," She stayed formal in her speech, replying back in Rihannsu. This made it two Starfleet Rihannsu speakers, the Academy must have an amazing language programme she thought. Although, stationing officers with Rihannsu ability on 777 was a no brainer, she wouldn't be surprised if most people on the station spoke at least conversational Rihannsu. "Senator T'Rylov is fine," She introduced herself with a friendly and soft tone. It was a stark contrast to what her resting bitch face may lead other to expect out of her. In reality, Valleka was a kind and understanding woman, she cared about her people and bringing peace throughout the Republic. "However Valleka is also acceptable, I am not here just for business, I am also interested in learning about the station and its crew," She took a step closer to Eshen, trying to figure out what he could be thinking. He was certainly half Vulcan judging from his ears. From an outsider's perspective it was a normal conversation, but Valleka was definitely sizing Eshen up. How much could he tell her about the station?

Eshen was by no means a stranger to being looked at, but this was a little different. Was he being checked out or sized up? To be honest, if his experiences with Romulans so far meant anything, the line between the two was awfully thin. If Renakir lived in a society where the border between sexual and political tension was so hard to define, no wonder he was the way he was. He'd established himself as the subservient one here, as was appropriate when the other person had as much status as she did, so he kept his body language open and receptive, his arms relaxed by his side and palms turned slightly forward almost as one would do to show one was unarmed. "Well, Valleka, I happen to be acquainted with quite a wide range of people here, so, please, feel free to consider me an informant." Was he flexing his social web a little? Maybe. Not to mention establishing a use for his company beyond just being some guy she could talk to about stem bolts, which was vital to get in as soon as possible since there was only so much stimulating and lucrative conversation he could make of that.

*Consider me an informant, Valleka's eyes widened and a grin crept across her face as she heard those words. This Ensign was certainly going to be useful to her, was that his intention? Vulcans may have not kept secrets like Romulans, but they knew how to keep a conversation interesting. She took note of his body language, relaxed shoulders, arms by his side. Starfleet did train their diplomats well, she thought.* "Well, first I wanted to confirm the stembolts. 50 gross if I am not mistaken," She looked at the box and then at Eshen as she shifted her weight to her other leg and kept her eyes focused on the ensign. Perhaps after this she would invite him to dinner. Would that be strange? She just wanted to do research.

Now that was a good reaction. He knew his use of the word 'informant' was a good choice. Not that he was planning on telling her Federation secrets any time soon, but it was a word any Romulan would be pleased to hear, and really, they both knew that. "After much debate, I believe it was," Eshen replied. Seriously, those small-time Romulan diplomats had made such a big deal out of this. They were stem bolts, not the newest weapon in the next big galactic arms race, but it was all part of the Romulan-Federation feud that definitely wasn't still happening, he supposed. Plus they had a lot to prove. He could relate, as a small-time Federation diplomat himself.

Valleka sighed as she popped open the box and looked at the stacks of stembolts. It was no secret that she was less than thrilled to have to deal with this. She had no idea what they were nor did she see their significance to the Republic. "You know ensign, these things mean nothing to me," Valleka pulled out one of the stembolts and laughed. Be friendly, that's how you reel them in. Earn their trust and you can get any information you want. She put the stembolt back into the box and flipped her hair over his shoulder. Even though she was just a senator, she acted like a whole queen. Well, in her mind she was. "Hmmm I'm much more curious about you, you're half Vulcan, aren't you? Genetic cousins of Romulans."

Eshen was not quick to laugh around people he didn't consider personal friends, but he shot her a friendly smile back. Though one could never be sure whether amiability was genuine in these situations, it wouldn't be any fun to reject it. Besides, he was glad she'd admitted to not care about the stem bolts at all. It meant he didn't have to, either. Now he had space to pretend to care about a bunch of other things instead. Though, to be honest, she was already interesting enough he might not need bother pretending. One of the Romulan diplomats last time had been incredibly dry and uncultured, and yet thought himself the most interesting Romulan in the galaxy, and yet he'd had a better time over the last minute than he'd had for the whole three goddamn hours of their stem bolt discussion. It was insulting, really. He clearly hadn't known any of the three E's ,and certainly not the secret advanced, fourth E: be Entertaining. "We are indeed. I learned Rihannsu quite young. My father said it was important for me to learn the language of our brethren." Not to mention he was a criminal who dealt with a lot of Romulans and Ferengi, but Eshen had never been able to prove that. Hell, she seemed smart and had a lot more resources at her disposal than he did, so she'd probably be able to bust his dad's ass better than he could. Eshen quickly snuffed out the brief scheme that formed in his mind wherein he and this random Senator lured his father on board and tricked him into exposing himself, because he'd met the woman five seconds ago, it wasn't her business, and, as complicated as his feelings about his father were, he didn't want the man dead. "My second heritage," Eshen continued, deliberately avoiding the use of the word 'half', "As you've probably surmised, is Klingon, and I grew up on Earth. I am a true representation of the Federation melting pot."

1

The smile was all Valleka needed to see that Eshen and her were on the same page. The ensign seemed smart, very good for diplomacy and above all he was handsome. It was always hard to tell with Vulcannoids, they had incredibly long lifespans and did not age the same way humans did. Seeing how he was just an ensign, she assumed he was probably around her age. Valleka shifted her gaze from Eshen to observer her surroundings. The cargo bay had a lot of other things besides stembolts, but maybe that was an adventure for another time. "That is very smart of your father-- The Vulcan, am I right?" She inquired with a slight raise of her eyebrow. She spoke with confidence, like a woman who always knew what she wanted. Under the surface though, she was a bit intimidated by the station. So many races intermingling, it seemed like a disaster waiting to happen and she didn't trust a single soul on board. "Klingon and Vulcan, raised on earth. That is quite an experience, ensign," The gears in her head were turning and she tapped her finger on her lips. "I've never been to earth-- come to think of it I've only lived on..Well I was born on Romulus and raised partly on Remus," She said thoughtfully. "Then Rator III... Yep, none like earth. Just Romulans, all the time," A light chuckle escaped her lips as she closed the box of stembolts and shook her head. Unlike Renakir, Valleka wasn't afraid to speak more casually with more spontaneity. She could be calculated and cunning, but that wouldn't get her any friends, well, not friends outside of her own people that is.

"Rator III?" Eshen said, his ears twitching in surprise. "I have a friend who grew up there. And maybe Remus, too, I'm not sure." Renakir was a Reman, but that didn't necessarily mean he grew up there. "Also, yes, it was my father. I was never given his surname, but it's T'upenz." He wondered if she would know it. He really had no idea how deep his father was into this. Maybe he was a small-time crook, maybe he was the most wanted man in the quadrant... It was probably somewhere between the two, he guessed, but he really had no way of knowing. He'd never been worthy enough to invite into the fold. "If you want to experience Earth, though, Senator, I would be delighted to show you around the Environmental Ring sometime. It's not exactly Earth, but it bears similar qualities." And there was the finisher. Honestly, it was kind of a ballsy offer for an Ensign to make to a Senator, but in his defense they were technically in his territory right now, and she did say she wanted to learn more about the station. Besides, if he'd read her right 'til now, he'd get a polite declination at worst, and the risk was well worth the reward. "It would certainly be informative."

"Oh, do you now?" The more Eshen spoke, the more her curiousity grew. It was not surprising to know another Romulan who grew up on Rator III, but to also have spent time on Remus. She made a mental note to ask him more about this friend, she had a feeling it was Renakir, but was too focused on learning about Eshen. "T'upenz, interesting," She spoke as if the name rang a bell, but didn't give off any more hints than that. "I can only imagine the struggles you must have faced as a hybrid, I hear a lot of people still hold prejudices. Everyone calls Romulans cut throat, but it's not like other races are all full of angels," She had been reading up her earth history and it was clear that despite never having been to earth, she was well versed in the culture. The idea of heaven and hell, various religions, and cultural beliefs. "Oh, are you offering to tour me around? That sounds lovely, ensign, I would be happy to, you can message me whenever you're free and we can meet up. I do have some other business to attend to on my trip, but I am sure we can find a time."

Well, she didn't say she'd never heard of his father. That was... Something. One day Eshen would learn the full extent of his Sa'mekh's criminal resume, but today was not that day. "Yes, quite, prejudices abound - but I prefer to think of myself as a walking conversation starter." After all, they were talking about it right then. "You're quite well-read, but I expected nothing less from someone of your stature. Would you like to finish up here and exchange information, then?"

"I would be happy to," Valleka said as she took another look at the box of stembolts and then at the nice ensign with the flashy eye shadow. She gave him her comms code with the kindest of smiles. In many ways, she acted more human than Romulan. She was very open and not afraid to speak her mind and she (tried) not to have too much subtext. After all, she was here to make positive relationships, not plot out possible threats. Well, maybe she was, but no one would ever know. "Thank you again, Ensign. It really was a pleasure meeting you."

1

TW: Blood, horror. It was a completely normal day in the cargo bay, and a shipment of various cargo had just arrived to be sorted through. The person in charge of this task was Petty Officer Wilson, of whom had been working as a Quartermaster for over two decades now. It was while organising the crates that they came across a stasis box with no recipient. "Huh, no recipient." Said Wilson, an eyebrow raised. It was quite common for there to be missing labels or information, so they weren't all that surprised. They decided the best thing to do would be to check if the recipient was written on the inside of the box, but before they got chance they realised something. "Oh, the stasis lock broke. Oh, I hope whatever is in this isn't super perishable." The Petty Officer said with a slightly worried tone, before opening the side of the box slightly and slowly to make sure nothing fell out. However, something started pouring out. Something red. Blood. "What the fuck...?" Wilson uttered under their breath, before opening the box the rest of the way with baited breath. Upon opening the box enough it soon became very horrifyingly apparent that there wasn't some raw meat, or an animal, or even blood samples in there, but a Human body, of which quickly fell out as soon as the side of the box was fully opened. The Quartermaster jumped back in horror, eyes wide and the colour rapidly draining from their face. "Shit..." They muttered, before a shaky hand tapped the commbadge attached to their uniform jacket. "@Medical to the main cargo bay! I've found a body!"

7

"ACMO Lieutenant M'ow," Hsarr panted as they slid into the cargo bay, looking down at the body. It was bleeding and lying on the floor, contorted. Officer Wilson looked horrified, which was understandable. And the human, because the patient was human, looked...vaguely familiar.

Wilson looked over at the ACMO as they entered and quickly beckoned them over. “I-I don’t know how it got here! It was in this stasis box! I just opened it and it fell out!” The Quartermaster explained, sounding entirely shaken up by all of this.

"Okay, alright. Thank you," Hsarr nodded, approaching slowly as they pulled out a medical tricorder, getting a reading on the body. It was alive, which was great. "You did the right thing. I'll do all I can, I promise," They assured the poor Quartermaster, who looked and sounded like he was going to cry as soon as he was alone.

The figure was alive but just, the tricorder indicated. As soon as the cryostasis had been lifted it had resumed whatever sort of damage had been done, blood pooling from wounds behind dark clothing akin to scrubs. There were a group of open wounds to the chest resulting in the blood loss, a grizzly-looking open fracture to the radius, a traverse fracture to the left femur, a handful of bruising from what looked like some sort of struggle, and most notably, prominent damage to the brain’s prefrontal cortex. Observations indicated they were peri-arrest and about two steps from falling into agonal breathing with a poor respiration rate and heart rate bradying down from its already slow pattern. Having been removed from cryostasis so suddenly it was evident that their body temperature was in the severely hypothermic range – to the extent that there was still frost dusting the figure’s features. But Hsarr was right, this person was familiar: despite the bloodied and bruised features and appearance which was even more haggard than it had been before you could still make it out. This ‘body’ was that of Vincent Ferrufino, the starbase occupant who had been reported missing just over a month ago.

7

3

Vince- Hsarr covered their mouth with a paw, shaking the horror at this revelation off. They would save him They could handle this. They were ACMO, this was their job. "I need your help," They said, turning to the Quartermaster with a grave expression. "I need you to start applying pressure to the open wounds to slow the bleeding," Hsarr instructed, kneeling beside Vincent and popping open the medkit. They withdrew a hypospray and loaded exactly 100ccs of epinephrine into the cartridge. They pressed the hypo against Vince's neck, letting the contents release into the man's bloodstream, before turning him so that he was lying flat and removing a cardiostimulator and letting it charge. They then pressed it to Vincent's chest as the heartbeat reverted back to a sinus rhythm. Then, they tapped their COMM badge. "Two for emergency medical transport to sickbay," They ordered as Hsarr and Vincent were swallowed by shimmering yellow-ish light and taken to the hospital ring.

It was only fifteen minutes later that both Elwyn, some other Security officers, and a cleanup crew arrived to deal with the huge and very bad not good biohazard. The Ensign, of course, was here to assess the situation from a health and safety perspective. Upon entering the young android’s attention was drawn to the hideous amount of blood on the floor, in the crate, and basically everywhere nearby. It was horrible. Her eyes widened, before quickly shaking her head and going to business, pulling her PADD out to take pictures and write notes. This was grim. “Okay, wear appropriate full-coverage PPE and search for evidence. I don’t want anyone entering here until there’s no biohazard. The stasis box needs taking to the Constabulary Ring for forensics, and a sample of the blood on the ground does too. After that, clean up. Let’s not miss anything.” She instructed to the other officers, who got right to work.

1

Upon hearing the call for Security Elwyn’s attention spiked. “I’m gonna take that. You guys keep working on this.” She said to the group of officers, before heading out at a brisk walking pace.

It was after some time that Security and Operations finally finished cleaning up the mess in the cargo bay. Pictures and samples had been taken, and the stasis box was now on its way to the Constabulary Ring for forensics. The biohazard cleaning team had finally been able to clean this place up and return it to normal.