Herne Mission Report

ENS Hruska, ENS Kandegawa, and ENS Travers were assigned to Prime Team Operation under my command to investigate an attempted murder and kidnapping on Frillia. These crimes were believed to be related to the theft of NX-66 warp coil modules from the USS Alligator on Stardate 3712.15.

In the course of our investigation we obtained evidence indicating the stolen equipment may be en route to the planet Herne. We were ordered to continue to Hern undercover. Each of us was assigned 5,000 Federation credits in order to facilitate the operation. In order to explain a group of four fit young men, we decided our cover would be that of four ‘extreme travel’ enthusiasts on a trip. We purchased first-class one-way tickets aboard the SS Cassiopeia, along with civilian wardrobe, and traveled to Herne.

On 3712.19 we received a message from the USS Merlin, informing us the USS Alligtor had been attacked by a J-Class vessel, boarded by a crew of humans and Brecons, and all NX-66 modules taken. Video footage of the incident was provided. The Merlin informed us they would make top warp to Herne in order to assist us in our investigation and eventual apprehension of the thieves.

We arrived at Herne on Stardate 3801.13. Customs officials detected the weapons stored in our luggage and asked to search us. I demanded to speak with a supervisor. The head of customs for Frillia arrived and I requested privacy. I informed him of our mission and showed him our ID; the official let us pass without further search.

We booked a penthouse suite and began searching local records for mention of “ENDRIX.” Kandegawa soon discovered this was an alias used by an apparent teenager in various online forums. Kandegawa located a message indicating Endrix would be at the hotel bar that evening. Kandegawa and I also constructed a monitoring system, which we aimed out our window at the local spaceport, hoping to capture an image if the J-class vessel arrived here.

Later in the evening Kandegawa and I went downstairs to the hotel bar, leaving Hruska and Travers to watch for the J-class vessel. It was not long before an individual arrived who seemed young enough to be this Endrix. He was accompanied by an adult male and adult female. The female was a stunning beauty who attracted the attention of every man in the bar. Her male companion was wearing nanoplas armor which had been tailored to resemble fine casual wear.

Instructing Kandegawa to keep a close eye on Endrix, I approached their table and sat, offering them drinks. They accepted my presence and offer. I explained that I was visiting the planet for the first time and wondered if they had suggestions of things to do. Endrix became impatient and asked to leave; I attempted to introduce myself to him but he was not friendly. He left the table and sat in the corner, where Kandegawa observed the youth taking several IQ adders.

I continued speaking to the man and woman, attempting to ascertain their relationship. After a bit of time, I excused myself and walked across the crowded bar. I sat next to Endrix and uttered his name, informing him that I was the person he was supposed to meet that night. Without giving him a chance to speak, I told him that I would walk out and he should follow me, and that we would in turn be followed by someone else.

As I left the bar I approached Kandegawa and surreptitiously asked him to follow Endrix out of the bar. I then left the bar. Endrix followed, with Kandegawa on his tail. Finding an alley free of security cameras and human eyes, I had Endrix follow me. In the alley I instructed Endrix to give me the weapon I had seen in his pocket. He gave me his laser pistol as I requested. Kandegawa and I then began to question Endrix. He was however reluctant to provide information and began to grow suspicious. In order to force his cooperation, I showed Endrix my Stafleet credentials and told him I would place him under arrest for piracy and murder if he did not cooperate.

Endrix was shocked by the mention of the murder charge. He had no idea Kain-Kin was missing, or that Kin-Kain had nearly been killed. While he was still reluctant to cooperate, Endrix indicated that as he provided information for a living, he would be willing to be “hired” by me. I paid Endrix 1,000 Federation credits for information he had regarding Kain-Kin and Lenken Dynamics. Endrix requested an additional 1,000 credits for information on the whereabouts of the stolen NX-66 modules. Once he provided this information, I insisted Endrix accompany me to verify its veracity. He said he would do so for another 1,000 credits; I agreed to pay him the additional 2,000 credits once we had verified the warehouse was housing the NX-66 modules.

Travers piloted our rented aircar to the warehouse address provided by Endrix. The teen then requested his money, but I insisted we had to verify the modules were inside first. He then demanded to be released, saying he would forgo payment. I ordered Kandegawa to subdue Endrix; the ensign administered a sedative that would provide unconsciousness for at least 15 minutes. I secured Endrix, removing his special sunglasses, and placed him in the rear cargo area of the vehicle.

The team approached the warehouse. Kandegawa and I assessed the best tactical approach to the location. We decided to employ the demolitions and stun grenades we had procured from the USS Merlin. Kandegawa and Travers approached the large door, intending to remove the door with demolitions. They were given the priority of disabling the ship inside the warehouse. Hruska and I approached the side door, which we would also demolish and enter. Three individuals we located behind that small door, once of them Orion, probably the war-veteran Thalal.

Our demolitions succeeded in disabling the doors. Kandegawa and Travers entered, encountering an armed (no pun intended) Brecon female. Kandegawa subdued her with a phaser blast. They informed me via communicator they had secured the hangar/warehouse area.

Once the side door was blown, I tossed in a flash-stun grenade. Most of the occupants inside were either stunned from the demolitions or by my grenade. However, with the sunglasses I had taken from Endrix, I could see the Orion through the smoke of the blast. He appeared to be aiming a beam rifle at me. I fired five shots from my phaser carbine and disabled the Orion. I order Hruska to cover the doorway as I approached. I took a step into the doorway and fired at the Brecon brigand who was attempting to grab a rifle on the table. He was immediately disabled. A human near me (Capri Tropp, the man who had contacted Kain-Kin) suddenly lunged at me and tried to grapple. I dodged his grasp and stepped back through the doorway. Aiming my rifle from the hip, I took another step backward, luring Tropp out into the open. As he stepped through the doorway, Hruska fired his phaser and disabled Tropp.

We secured the unconscious prisoners, searching their bodies and removing their body armor. We then searched the warehouse and found half the NX-66 shipment aboard the small ship. Searches also revealed the body of the warehouse owner, hidden in the warehouse office.

Kandegawa examined the warehouse and ship computers while Travers made the vessel ready for flight. Police soon arrived. The chief of police was on the scene, so I spoke with him about our assignment and some related matters. I impressed upon him the importance of the security of Thalal and Tropp, allowing that the Brecons and the dead warehouse owner were local matters. The chief agreed to provide secure custody for Thalal and Tropp while awaiting the arrival of Federation Patrol and the USS Merlin. AT this point I paid Endrix the remaining 2,000 credits and explained to the police chief that the young man had been instrumental in this operation. The chief agreed to make sure Endrix got home safely.

Kandegawa discovered that the remaining NX-66 modules would be at a location on Hearn known as Reese Flats at midnight. We immediately notified the USS Merlin of the situation and began our departure for Reese Flats.

En route to Reese Flats, we observed a large object hurtling through the sky. The object appeared to crash near our destination coordinates, though a large storm made sensor readings difficult. We located the crash site and began to investigate. The ship was a small cargo vessel, bearing a Macrotech logo and the registry name Ghost Rider. It was loaded with several cases of what appeared to be exo-skel suits. Further investigation of the contents of the cases revealed they were battle armor. We reasoned that this individual was prepared to trade the battle suits for the NX-66 modules.

Another sensor sweep revealed an individual on foot making his way quickly toward a nearby settlement. Kandegawa’s scans indicated the individual entered a house and was killed. We approached the house with caution. A female individual was observed outside the house; scans indicated she was armed. Hruska and I approached the vehicle. I ordered the woman to exit the vehicle unarmed. She exited with her laser. I ordered her to drop her weapon. She dropped the laser and ran around the vehicle, taking cover. I then fired a single stun blast from my phaser carbine and disabled the woman.

Kandegawa and Travers entered the house from the rear as Hruska and I entered from the front door, which appeared to have been recently entered forcefully. Following Kandegawa’s scans, we located a female child and her dog. The child informed us that a strange man had entered the house and threatened them, and her sister had shot the man and killed him. The parents of the two children were said to be at a local PTA meeting.

We located the body of the intruder in an upstairs bathroom of the home. The individual appeared to have died while seeking first aid for his severe laser burn.

Police were found to be en route to the location. We informed them of the situation and returned to the crash site. Kandegawa search the ship’s navigational logs and found it had originated at Wintermoon Station. We contacted local police and obtained transportation, via the services of Summersun and Macrotech, to Wintermoon Station. Morgan crane of Macrotech requested their head of security, Saia-Nat, accompant us on this investigation. As the station is officially the property of Macrotech, and they agreed that the mission and investigation were under my direction, I did not find any reason to refuse this request.

We approached Wintermoon Station in stealth mode and began a reconnaissance to gather data. Scans revealed a very large (almost two-miles long) ship docked at the station. The ship appeared to be of unknown alien origin. Kandegawa opened a secure channel to the Merlin and informed them of our situation. We proceeded to move closer to the alien vessel for more scans. Kandegawa discovered that seventeen of the NX-66 modules appeared to be on the alien ship, arrayed in such a manner as to suggest a makeshift propulsion rig. Scans also indicated several biosigns on the alien ship as well as the space station.

Using our vacc suits to transfer from the shuttle, Kandegawa and I boarded the alien vessel. As we made our way to the vessel’s reactor we located the source of the biosigns. We continued to the reactor, which Kandegawa de-activated in such a manner that it would take several minutes to bring the reactor online. We additionally mined the NX-66 modules with small demolitions in order to disable the ship if necessary. We then returned to the area where we had scanned the biosigns. The chamber appeared to store thousands of embryos, each held in a stasis chamber.

We continued through the ship toward the docking port. Scans revealed several individuals exiting the station and heading in our direction. We avoided this group and continued to the air lock. We disabled the security mechanisms in the docking ring and entered the space station. We sealed the docking ring behind us in order to delay the group on the alien vessel if they should return. Kandegawa disabled the cargo transporter and we took control of a cargo ship in the station’s hangar. We piloted the ship out of the hangar and contacted Travers on the Macrotech shuttle. I requested that Saia-Nal have Macrotech send ships to assist us.

We then hailed the occupiers of Wintermoon Station and ordered their surrender, informing the occupiers they were in violation of Federation law. The leader of the occupiers, who identified himself as Abraham, indicated that humans had stolen their ship and they were simply trying to get underway again. We agreed to meet and discuss the situation.

Upon hearing his story and seeing other evidence, I believed Abraham was telling the truth: Macrotech had discovered his vessel adrift and boarded it, intended to steal their technology and scavenge the vessel. As leader, he could not allow it. Though they are in embryonic stasis, Abraham and some of his race are powerful telepaths and were able to control the bodies of some Macrotech employees. He placed the majority of people on the station into hibernation; then, with a few controlled bodies, he and his people set about to repair their ship and get underway.

I agreed to accompany and assist Abraham, if he and his people would return to their ship and release the Macrotech employees. Abraham agreed to these terms. He and his people returned to the ship and we got underway. As we were leaving the station, four Macrotech/Summersun ships approached us aggressively. I hailed the ships and informed them that the alien vessel was under Starfleet command, and thus under Federation jurisdiction. The vessels stood down and we continued our departure.

I was later contacted by Hruska and Travers, who informed me that the four Macrotech vessels had fired on them. They had succeeded in disabling three of the ships, and the fourth fled rather than take damage. They boarded the station and by observation confirmed several portions of Abraham’s story (such as the station crew being in stasis); however, they were unable to gather evidence or data from the station’s computers.

Hruska informed me that Saia-Nal had also attacked them, and had injured Travers with a knife. Hruska disabled Saia-Nai and took her into custody. I then ordered them to make sure Travers was stable, then rendezvous with the Merlin.