Ready Room - Deck 1

Lou was flabbergasted that he made such a critical error in judgement. He could've killed his Chief Sec/Tac Officer along with the Security and Engineering Teams with his apparent lack of foresight. The Captain was ashamed of himself, to say the least.

Capt Marino: Marino to Mr. D'Shoua! Cancel my last set of instructions! Meet us back on the Bridge!

Slightly flushed in the face, Lou rose from his chair and started to make for the door of his Ready Room.

Capt Marino: Commander Kee, let's wait for Counselor Elbrun and go back to the Bridge and deal with these Holy Rollers.

The Captain stood in the open doorway and waited for Cmdr Kee and Counselor Elbrun to exit the Ready Room and join him on the Bridge. The whole situation was very unnerving to Capt Marino. He hoped this mission was going to be one of simple decisions, not one filled with so many challenges to his abilities as a Commanding Officer.

Transporter Room 1 - Deck 6

Jared heard the excitement in the Captain's voice and could sense something was wrong, he canceled his request for an Engineering Team and sent the Security Team back to their regular duties while at Red Alert. LtCmdr D'Shoua tapped his Combadge and responded to Capt Marino.

Lt. Commander D'Shoua: Acknowledged, D'Shoua out.

The Chief Sec/Tac Officer gave his Assault Phaser Rifle to the Transporter Chief to stow back in the Armory and made his way down the corridor to the Turbolift and took it to the Bridge. As he exited, he saw Capt Marino, Cmdr Kee and Counselor Elbrun coming out of the Ready Room. Jared resumed the Sec/Tac Station on the Bridge and waited to be brought up to speed by anyone willing.
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Lt. Commander Jared D'Shoua
Chief Security/Tactical Officer, USS Infiniti

Bridge - Deck 1

James exited the Ready Room with Kestra and returned to their seats on the Bridge, along with Capt Marino. It was good to see Jared at his station and not as a casualty of the situation they were currently in. The XO could see the look of confusion on LtCmdr D'Shoua's face and filled him in on what they learned thus far.

Cmdr Kee: Let me fill you in on what Counselor Elbrun told Captain Marino and I in the Ready Room. It turns out Captain Narrad-Sar and his group are on a Holy Mission to destroy those vessels because they're evil. We're going to find out exactly what about the ships makes them evil and why they need to be destroyed. As for why your Away Mission was aborted, I figured since the explosives were Matter/Anti-Matter based they may have proximity detonators on them. They could've detonated as soon as you materialized aboard the ship. That's what we know so far, Jared.

Now that James filled in LtCmdr D'Shoua as well as everyone else on the Bridge of what they currently knew. It was time for Capt Marino to show what he learned in the Command Training Program about being a diplomat and find out why the Orion Captain felt the need to destroy the abandoned vessels and what was so evil about them.
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Commander James L. Kee
Executive Officer, USS Oriskany

When the Captain walked back on to the Bridge and took his seat in the Center Chair, he was all smiles because he felt a renewed sense of energy.

Capt Marino: Mr. Boffi, unmute the Captain please.

When the mute was lifted on the Orion Captain, Lou spoke to him in a less stern manner.

Capt Marino: Captain Narrad-Sar please lower your shields, I'm curious to know why must you destroy these abandoned ships. What evil do they posses that you feel you must destroy?

The CO was really curious to know the answer and hoped his sincerity shown through to Capt Narrad-Sar.

Michaelangelo did as the Captain ordered and removed the mute function from the Orion Captain so they could speak once again. This time after Capt Marino spoke, Capt Narrad-Sar seemed much more civil and less imposing.

Capt Narrad-Sar: I won't lower our shields until I'm sure you won't send boarding parties to capture our vessel. The ships abandoned here were infested with Demons from Hell. They captured the souls of who they possessed and left their swollen and deformed flesh behind. We need to destroy those ships so they can't come back and attack other vessels moving through the area.

The Captain seemed quite adamant about what he said to Capt Marino. LtCmdr Boffi fully recognized what the Orion was referring to. He wondered if his Captain recognized it too or would Cmdr Kee have to fill him in. Michaelangelo knew he'd find out soon enough when Capt Marino responded.
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Lt. Commander Michaelangelo A. Boffi
Chief Operations Officer, USS Oriskany

Lou was totally blown away by what Capt Narrad-Sar described as the reason the abandoned vessels needed to be destroyed. He was very familiar about what he was talking about...the Deltaurans!

Capt Marino: Yes, these demons you speak of have been wiped out on Stardate 239508.17 by the Federation in the Battle of Sector Epsilon. They no longer exist and I have come back to recover our ships that were victims in that battle so their remains could be brought back to their families. Let me recover our ships, I promise no harm will come to you. Please disarm the explosives on these vessels. Our tow ships are en route.

The Captain kept everything as honest as he could considering the Orion Captain was just trying to protect the galaxy from the Deltaurans. He was really expecting to hear religious rhetoric about something that could only be considered mythical, but to his surprise, it was the genuine article.

Keeping his eyes on the console before him, Michaelangelo saw that Capt Narrad-Sar's ships had lowered their Shields! The Chief Ops Officer let Capt Marino know immediately, that way he'd know the Orion Captain was being compliant.

Lt. Commander Boffi: They're dropping their Shields, Captain. I'm also detecting the cases of Matter/Anti-Matter explosives on the abandoned vessels are being beamed off. There all gone, Sir.

On the Main Viewscreen Capt Narrad-Sar actually smiled and expressed gratitude towards them.

Capt Narrad-Sar: We have complied, Captain Marino. The explosives have been removed from your abandoned vessels. Thank you for ridding the Demons from the area. It's safe once again for passenger and cargo ships to pass through. We shall leave you in peace, once your Squadron of fighters lets us pass.

The Orion Captain's attitude had made a complete turnaround now that he knew the Demons were destroyed. All Capt Marino had to do was have the Wildcards allow the Orion ships to pass undisturbed, then they could begin scanning for any hidden survivors among the abandoned vessels. They would most likely be scared, hungry and in need of medical care. There was too much going on back when Oriskany was here last time for them to scan each vessel for anyone hiding aboard. The Deltaurans had already begun to infest their ship, which lead to a series of unfortunate events. Needless to say, Sutherland was here now, so the rescue operation could begin.
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Lt. Commander Michaelangelo A. Boffi
Chief Operations Officer, USS Oriskany

The Captain couldn't be more relieved when he heard Capt Narrad-Sar's response. He immediately let LtCol Carrera know he should tell the 58th Squadron to let the Orion ships pass, they were not pirates and committed no crimes.

Capt Marino: Colonel Carrera, inform the Wildcards to allow these four Orion ships to pass undisturbed, they are unarmed and not criminals.

With that situation handled, Lou set forth upon the next part of their mission...to look for survivors.

Capt Marino: Mr. Boffi, now that those ships are safe let's scan them for life signs and any precious cargo.

The CO relaxed now that the dilemma with the Orion Captain was over. He was so glad to of had the assistance of Cmdr Kee and Counselor Elbrun with their insight into the situation. Without their help, this would've been a complete disaster. Lou definitely planned on entering a commendation for both of them in his log.

Watching the Orion ships leaving the area got Michaelangelo to relax more knowing they were all safe from Capt Narrad-Sar's mission to destroy those vessels. When they went to Warp, the Chief Ops Officer breathed a sigh if relief.

Lt. Commander Boffi: The Orion ships have Warped out of the system, Captain. Scanning abandoned vessels for survivors now, Sir.

The Lieutenant Commander scanned the vessels in the immediate area and was unable to determine if there were any survivors. If they were using equipment to hide their lifesigns so the Deltaurans wouldn't detect them, it may be prudent to beam over search parties onto the vessels to see if they could be located and beamed aboard.

Lt. Commander Boffi: I've scanned the vessels in the immediate area, Sir. Indications negative at this time. If they're using technology to hide their lifesigns from the Deltaurans, we may have to send search parties over to the vessels to make sure nobody is there.

Michaelangelo continued scanning as best we could as he waited to hear from Capt Marino or anyone else on the Bridge. If they did have to beam search parties onto each ship, it was surely going to take a lot of time. It was a good thing there was currently no threats in the Zathura System at the present time.
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Lt. Commander Michaelangelo A. Boffi
Chief Operations Officer, USS Oriskany

Lou was happy to hear the report from LtCmdr Boffi that the Orions left the Zathura system. The news of there being no survivors detected was very disappointing, however Mr. Boffi's idea of them using lifesign masking devices gave him some hope to find some out there among the abandoned vessels.

Capt Marino: Thank you, Mr. Boffi. Please check the manifest of those ships and send them to Commander Kee's PADD.

Now that they knew these vessels were not dangerous anymore, it was time to see if they have anything of interest to protect.

Capt Marino: Commander Kee, I would like you to lead and organize search teams to recover survivors, data from the computer cores and precious cargo, if any. Have each team report to you and then report to me. After these vessels are thoroughly swept, we can contact the tow ships and move onto the next group of vessels. Make the teams up of whatever personnel you think you might need.

The Captain waited to hear back from both LtCmdr Boffi and Cmdr Kee regarding the orders he just gave. Now that the Orions left the area, they could do what they were expected to do before the tow ships arrived. Keep the area secure, find survivors and take possession of all highly valuable cargo so they're not pilfered by anyone. Lou planned on following his mission parameters to the letter.