Bridge Training Cardassian Conspiracy (Part VI)

Posted on Tue Mar 5th, 2024 @ 8:14am by Cadet Senior Grade Meghan Stefani & Cadet Senior Grade Daniel Weaver & Cadet Senior Grade K’tarra Smythe & Cadet Junior Grade Emma Mendez & Cadet Junior Grade Shafin Todenhöfer
Edited on on Tue Mar 5th, 2024 @ 10:33am

1,302 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: The Cadet Cruise
Location: Bridge

[PREVIOUSLY]

Meghan's hand tightened on his arm. He was right, this WAS a trap, but he couldn't take the bait set just for him. He had to forget his father was behind this and work with his crew to get through this training. However, she was sorely tempted to find the man and give him a piece of her mind. Or, better yet, she'd contact Daniel's mother and tell HER what her ex-husband was doing to sabotage their son's career.

{CONTINUED]

K'tarra entered quietly. She had gotten caught up in a repair at a junction tying a section of the ship to the EPS flow. A relay converter had shorted. The ship's reserve engineer used the chance to show the Klingon hybrid cadet a few things.

She made her way to the large engineering station, studying the readouts on each of the three screens. Her head turned, K'tarra listening to catch up on what she'd missed.

With a firm look on his face, he turned away from the group at the Science Console, to head to the center of the bridge. As he stopped in front of the Captain's chair he looked sternly at the main viewer. "Open a channel to the Cardassian ship."

"Aye, sir." The Ops Cadet replied, tapped on the console and adding quickly. "Channel opened."

Daniel waited for a minute before speaking in a stern tone. "Cardassian ship. You have yet to provide us with proof of the crimes of that Bajoran ship and its crew. Therefore, we are prepared to defend it. That ship sent out a distress call and Starfleet answered it, so we aren't going to back down and play your waiting game. You have 15 minutes to stand down and leave this sector or you will be fired upon. Cavalier Out."

Shafin took a deep breath. That's a choice he thought, but any action was action. Progress needed to be made.

Meghan sighed. Not her choice, but she hoped the commodore recognized that Daniel was taking command. Maybe not the way his father wanted, but he was NOT his father. He was magnitudes better.

The Ops console toned. Upon checking it, the Ops Cadet let out a slight concerning sigh. "Cardassians responding, Sir. Video up."

The image of the Cardassian Gul Tusar appeared on the screen. His expression showed he was not pleased with the reaction. "Starfleet ship. You are interfering with a Cardassian matter and this may be considered an act of war. Are you prepared to deal with that consequence?"

"Everything against you Cardassians is an act of war!" Daniel shouted. "Disagreeing with your claims to a planet; Act of war. Not seeing your side in a disagreement; Act of war. Tell me, Gul Tusar, when you argue with your wife at home which one of you gets to say it’s an 'act of war' or do you save that reasoning for those who don't share your complexion?"

Gul Tusar stared intently at the Cadet and soon a smile formed on his face. "Captain, I will give you one last chance to back down and we can forget this entire incident occurred."

"The only person here who is running out of time is you, Tusar." Daniel said as he sat down in the Captain's chair and firmly gripped the arms. He leaned back against the cushion and looked firmly back at the Cardassian. "You've wasted 5 minutes and are now down to 10. Tactical: Got to red alert. Ensure shields are at full and charge weapons array. Make sure the torpedo tubes are loaded."

"Shields up. Phasers are charged and torpedo tubes are loaded Captain," Emma replied as her fingers danced over the tactical console.

"Engineering: Make sure we have as much power as we need. Helm: Prepare for evasive maneuvers on my mark."

"Now I am giving you the last chance, Gul Tusar. Stand down." Daniel said firmly, his eyes never wavering from the view screen, constantly locked on the Cardassian on it. "Are you prepared to turn this incident into an act of war? Over Bajoran criminals?"

The Gul stood there staring before finally replying. "I would have imagined a Starfleet Captain being more civil and open to negotiation. However, seeing as how you are a Bajoran, I can't say I am surprised. Your people have never known what's good for them and that's way, the mighty Cardassian Union, had to step in and show you the right way. You're about to be another Bajoran casualty in a long line of Bajorans who thought they were stronger than me, Captain." He smirked as he raised his head up slightly and adding. "And you're hubris is about to take that ship and its crew with you."

Daniel gripped firmly on the arms of the chair. While his expression hadn't changed, the Cardassian's words struck a nerve. Inside he was fuming and he wanted nothing more than to fire the first shot, but he was smart enough to know that would lead to bigger problems. Instead, he only replied with. "Just like a Cardassian. Too many words. You're running out of time, Tusar. Choose your next move wisely, because that ship wasn't the only one who sent out a request for help. Cavalier Out."

The Ops Cadet cut the channel off when ordered. After that, he let out a deep breath. He looked over to Shafin and raised a brow. Even he knew this was a bad idea, but he wasn't about to say anything out loud.

Shafin looked at Daniel and just shook his head. "Give us the good in the hereafter and protect us from the punishment of the fire" muttered what the universal translator picked up from the Acting First Officer, but Vulcan it was not.

This was far from the diplomatic approach that Shafin was hoping for, but not everything could be resolved peacefully. Shafin knew that. He may not have agreed with how Daniel was handling this, but his position as First Officer was not to outwardly challenge nor defy Daniel.

Meghan glanced at Shafin. She related more to his way of dealing with situations than Daniel's, but she would support her captain.

Then she smiled at Daniel so he'd know she was firmly on his side.

Daniel sat there at the Captain's chair, quiet for a few seconds, before standing up to look around the bridge. He took a moment, looking at all the cadets, before focusing on Meghan and smiling. He then turned his attention to Shafin and nodded, before speaking firmly. "We're probably going to get into a fight. That's on me. It's probably not how this whole thing was planned to go, but it's where we are. I can't say we'll win, because I'm not sure, but I know we'll give them a hell of a fight. Why? Because I believe in this crew. I believe in all of you to do everything you can to hit back harder and move faster. She's an old ship... but she's our ship and she's been through a lot of fights." He looked around the bridge at everyone before adding with a smile. "What's one more to this old girl?" He patted a part of the ship and nodded. "I'll tell you what it is. Just another day in her long and brave career." He looked at the group again. "So, let's give her another win last win. Real or not, huh?"

(To be continued...)

Cadet Senior Grade Meghan Stefani
Acting Chief Science Officer

Cadet Senior Grade K'tarra Smythe
Acting Chief Engineer

Cadet Senior Grade Daniel Weaver
Acting CO

Cadet Junior Grade Shafin Todenhöfer
Acting XO

Gul Tusar
NPC by Daniel Weaver

Cadet Junior Grade Emma Mendez
Acting Chief of Security

 

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