Bridge - Deck 1

Lou's giant fruit bats fluttering in his stomach had settled down now that it was time to get down to work. He was pleased for the Wildcards getting into position so quickly. Capt Marino was sure to thank LtCol Carrera and give new orders to both LtCmdr D'Shoua and LtCmdr Boffi.

Capt Marino: Thank you, Colonel Carrera. Mr. D'Shoua, engage Tractor Beam on the lead unregistered ship. Mr. Boffi, open a hailing frequency to that ship!

The CO made sure his uniform was straight, before standing in the middle of the Bridge to address the commander of the unregistered lead vessel.

Capt Marino: Unknown ship, this is Captain Louis Marino of the Federation Starship Sutherland. That ship you are pillaging is Federation property you are to cease and desist...and surrender immediately. I await your reply.

The Captain waited for the Viewscreen's image of the vessels to be replaced by the image of the face of whoever was commanding that ship. If all went well, they wouldn't even have to fire a shot. That was truly the outcome Lou was hoping for. He'd find out for sure as soon as his hail was answered.

Michaelangelo monitored the channel he opened for Capt Marino and waited for a response, when one finally came through, he put on screen for the Captain. What appeared was a large Orion male with a serious scowl on his face. Had the Counselor been here she would've sensed just how furious the commander of this vessel was.

Capt Narrad-Sar: I'm Captain Narrad-Sar of the Orion Syndicate. These vessels are in neutral space claimed by no one. Any abandoned vessels become the property of whomever finds them, Captain Marino. Your actions are considered an act of hostility towards the Orion people. Disengage your Tractor Beam and call off your fighters...and we won't contact our battle fleet to come to our aid. I expect you to comply in a swift amount of time, Captain.

The Orion Captain's scowl hadn't changed and he stared down Capt Marino as he stood there on the Bridge between the Flight Control and Operations Stations. LtCmdr Boffi knew his Captain was in a tight situation. He began running a Long Range Sensor Scan of the sectors surrounding Sector Epsilon to see if he could locate the Orion battle fleet. This way he could give an option to Capt Marino if he needed it.
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Lt. Commander Michaelangelo A. Boffi
Chief Operations Officer, USS Oriskany

Hearing what Capt Narrad-Sar said really ruffled Lou's feathers! He was not about to take that kind of talk from somebody from the Orion Syndicate! The Syndicate's activities included gambling, racketeering, smuggling, piracy, slave-trading, extortion, and assassination.

Capt Marino: Captain Narrad-Sar those are Federation registered vessels! You had better step away from them, non compliance will result in further action! We will not stand down, you have my answer.

Lou signaled LtCmdr Boffi to mute the channel and gave some more orders to his Bridge crew.

Capt Marino: Mr. Boffi, any signs of a battle fleet on Long Range Sensors?

The Captain turned towards the back of the Bridge so he could face LtCmdr D'Shoua at the Sec/Tac Station.

Capt Marino: Mr. D'Shoua, Red Alert! Target their weapons and engines, be sure to shoot to disable. I want them alive!

The CO tapped his Combadge to call down to the Counselor's Office, he really needed her back on the Bridge as soon as possible.

Capt Marino: Marino to Counselor Elbrun, make sure the Yeoman and Mr. Windsor are secure, then return to the Bridge immediately.

As the Lou waited for his orders to be carried out, he motioned for LtCmdr Boffi to keep Capt Narrad-Sar on mute till he responded to what the Captain had told him. Capt Marino did not want to show his hand too early and let the Orion know what he was planning. He read about how cunning they were and he wanted this entanglement to end peacefully. But what Capt Narrad-Sar did was basically issue a threat to Sutherland, and that was something Lou did not take lightly.

As Michaelangelo muted the conversation, he had just finished running scans in all the sectors surrounding Sector Epsilon, the Captain called for the information. The LtCmdr Boffi was pleased he began the scanning process ahead of when Capt Marino asked for it. This surely cut down on the wait time.

Lt. Commander Boffi: Negative, Sir. I've checked this sector and all the surrounding ones, no sign of an Orion battle fleet that I've been able to detect, Captain.

The Chief Ops Officer was glad Capt Marino summoned Counselor Elbrun to the Bridge. Her insight into this situation would be invaluable to the Captain. With her Betazoid abilities of being an empath and telepath, she would be able to tell Capt Marino whether or not Capt Narrad-Sar was lying about his battle fleet. If that was the case, it would really give the Captain the upper hand!
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Lt. Commander Michaelangelo A. Boffi
Chief Operations Officer, USS Oriskany

When Jared heard the call for Red Alert, he tapped his console bringing the ship to full readiness. The Bridge lighting changed and went dim with the klaxon going off and the lighting around the Commander Center flashing red. This sent the crew to Battle Stations, the Weapon and Defense Systems were primed and ready. LtCmdr D'Shoua raised Sutherland's Shields that completely surrounded their vessel and locked Phasers on Capt Narrad-Sar's engines and weapon systems...but there was one problem with that.

Lt. Commander D'Shoua: Captain, their ship has no weapons of any kind! I can't lock Phasers on what they don't have! If we fire on an unarmed vessel, we'll be in violation of interstellar law, Sir!

The Chief Sec/Tac Officer wasn't satisfied with just Capt Narrad-Sar's ship, he scanned the other 3 ships as well and to his amazement, none of the ships had any weapons!

Lt. Commander D'Shoua: It looks like none of his ships are armed with any weapons, Captain. That seems really odd for an Orion pirate ship, they must be independent scavengers and not really part of the Syndicate, Sir. I doubt they're part of a battle fleet as well.

With that said, Jared still kept a lock on Capt Narrad-Sar's ship with the Tractor Beam. By holding the ship, while caught pillaging a Federation registered vessel, the Captain was within his right to hold them and place Capt Narrad-Sar under arrest. LtCmdr D'Shoua waited to hear what was going to happen next...
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Lt. Commander Jared D'Shoua
Chief Security/Tactical Officer, USS Infiniti

Lou listened in bewilderment wondering why would a ship of this size have no weapons and why would they not be registered in our logs if they were Orion Syndicate. The Captain needed these questions answered.

Capt Marino: Mr. D'Shoua, stand down weapons! Form a Security Team to arrest Captain Narrad-Sar, hes a high value target. I want his ship boarded and him along with his crew arrested. Search the ship and recover any stolen cargo.

The CO turned around to face the Ops Station and gave another order to LtCmdr Boffi.

Capt Marino: Mr. Boffi, continue to scan for a battle fleet and if anything appears I want to know about it immediately. Also scan the Federation vessels, let's see what these pirates are after.

As Lou waited for his orders to be carried out, he waited for Counselor Elbrun to arrive on the Bridge. She would be necessary in finding out just what Capt Narrad-Sar was up to out here and what was he going after aboard the abandoned vessels.

Jared did what he hoped the Captain would do, he powered down the Weapon Systems but since he didn't mention their Alert Status, he kept it as Red Alert. He tapped his console and alerted the Security Team to meet him in the Transporter Room on Deck 6.

Lt. Commander D'Shoua: Weapons standing down, Captain. I'll lead the Security Team over to arrest Captain Narrad-Sar and let you know how that goes.

The Chief Sec/Tac Officer secured his station and exited the Bridge via the starboard Turbolift. He headed for Deck 6 to meet with the Security Team so they could beam over and take the Orion Captain into custody. Jared didn't foresee any problems with this transaction since there was no fleet of battleships coming to their aid.
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Lt. Commander Jared D'Shoua
Chief Security/Tactical Officer, USS Infiniti

Kestra arrived on the Bridge as ordered by Capt Marino and could sense all the stress and confusion going on. LtCmdr Elbrun wished she arrived earlier to help the Captain, but she was unaware of a situation that needed her attention until now. However, hearing the ship going to Red Alert while she was in the Turbolift was a clue.

Lt. Commander Elbrun: You called for me, Captain? Both Jansen and Alex are safe in my office as ordered, Sir.

Capt Marino was standing in the middle of the Bridge looking concerned for what had transpired. She hoped by taking a seat in the empty chair to the left of the Captain's Chair, that would make Capt Marino take his seat and relax somewhat. She did notice that LtCmdr D'Shoua was not at his station behind them, so Kestra was curious as to his whereabouts.
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Lt. Commander Kestra Elbrun
Counselor, USS Infiniti

Lou was very happy to see LtCmdr Elbrun arrive on the Bridge. The Captain quickly took his seat next to where the Counselor was seated and greeted her, along with explaining why he summoned her to the Bridge.

Capt Marino: Hello Counselor, I'm glad to hear Yeoman Panettiere and Mr. Windsor are safe. I have some questions about our current situation... Why aren't these ships armed and why are they saying there Orion Syndicate when their ships come back as unregistered? If I open a hailing frequency to the main ship lead by Captain Narrad-Sar, can you use your abilities to read him and tell me what he's thinking and even doing here? Mr. D'Shoua is preparing for an Away Mission to arrest the Captain with a Security Team.

The Captain waited in his chair, between Cmdr Kee and LtCmdr Elbrun, to hear back from either the Counselor or LtCmdr Boffi. Lou was really curious as to why those ships would come out here without weapons in an area like this. Surely they knew ships were coming under distress out here and for all they knew they could've become victims too. The situation was most perplexing, to say the least.

James was confused by the Captain's lack of knowledge regarding the Orion Syndicate. They were basically a criminal organization that did whatever it wanted with no set of rules to abide by in regard to the laws sanctioned by any other government. Before Kestra could speak up, he injected himself into the conversation.

Cmdr Kee: Captain, the Orions don't keep their ships in Federation registry or anyone else's for that matter. We'd be lucky to even know if Narrad-Sar's ship has a name. It's very common for their ships to be considered unregistered, Sir. As for why these ships don't have any weapons, your guess is as good as mine.

The XO looked over at Counselor Elbrun as if to say Please continue... so she could go on with what she was going to say to Capt Marino. This situation was certainly confusing for the CO, that much was certain. It was very beneficial that James and Kestra were there to help him through it.
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Commander James L. Kee
Executive Officer, USS Oriskany